101,340 research outputs found

    Hydroelectric power plant management relying on neural networks and expert system integration

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    The use of Neural Networks (NN) is a novel approach that can help in taking decisions when integrated in a more general system, in particular with expert systems. In this paper, an architecture for the management of hydroelectric power plants is introduced. This relies on monitoring a large number of signals, representing the technical parameters of the real plant. The general architecture is composed of an Expert System and two NN modules: Acoustic Prediction (NNAP) and Predictive Maintenance (NNPM). The NNAP is based on Kohonen Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ) Networks in order to distinguish the sounds emitted by electricity-generating machine groups. The NNPM uses an ART-MAP to identify different situations from the plant state variables, in order to prevent future malfunctions. In addition, a special process to generate a complete training set has been designed for the ART-MAP module. This process has been developed to deal with the absence of data about abnormal plant situations, and is based on neural nets trained with the backpropagation algorithm.Publicad

    Crisis Communications: How Businesses Respond in the Wake of Tragedy

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    Crisis communication is an ever-evolving form of communication that is integral to a business’s success. When tragedy strikes, businesses must have a thorough plan of response that manages the situation and protects their brand. This paper discusses the definition of crisis communication, its history, and how modern trends like social media, have revolutionized it. This study is important because it influences a business’s public perception, and sustainability. Thorough knowledge of crisis communication is critical to a business student’s education and will prepare them for working in fast-paced communication and business environments. An analysis of this topic should yield an understanding of crisis communication and how it can be best applied in crisis situations

    Automated Generation of Geometric Theorems from Images of Diagrams

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    We propose an approach to generate geometric theorems from electronic images of diagrams automatically. The approach makes use of techniques of Hough transform to recognize geometric objects and their labels and of numeric verification to mine basic geometric relations. Candidate propositions are generated from the retrieved information by using six strategies and geometric theorems are obtained from the candidates via algebraic computation. Experiments with a preliminary implementation illustrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed approach for generating nontrivial theorems from images of diagrams. This work demonstrates the feasibility of automated discovery of profound geometric knowledge from simple image data and has potential applications in geometric knowledge management and education.Comment: 31 pages. Submitted to Annals of Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence (special issue on Geometric Reasoning

    Determinants of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction among practitioners employed in intercollegiate sport organizations

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    The purpose of this study was to gain insight into factors that influence job satisfaction and dissatisfaction among intercollegiate athletics department employees. Factors influencing job satisfaction could impact one’s job performance and willingness to remain in a job. When employees are satisfied with their work, they are more likely to remain at their job and successfully complete tasks in association with the job (Kaltenbaugh, 2009; Dixon & Warner, 2010). In order to gain insight with regard to factors influencing job satisfaction, five individuals who were employed within intercollegiate athletics departments participated in this study. Four of the participants worked at NCAA Division I institutions. One participant worked at an NCAA Division II institution. Two themes responsible for feelings of satisfaction and two themes connected to feelings of dissatisfaction emerged from the interview data. The themes related to satisfaction were: (a) student development and achievement and (b) workplace relationships and environment. The themes related to dissatisfaction were: (a) personnel management and (b) financial pressures /lack of resources. Further examination of perspectives and experiences of current employees could be beneficial to those who are interested in pursuing a career in this profession. Understanding the elements that contribute to job satisfaction could help upper level management attract and retain quality employees. In addition, these findings can help individuals who possess an interest in entering the sport industry be better prepared for the challenges and circumstances they might encounter

    Semantics for incident identification and resolution reports

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    In order to achieve a safe and systematic treatment of security protocols, organizations release a number of technical briefings describing how to detect and manage security incidents. A critical issue is that this document set may suffer from semantic deficiencies, mainly due to ambiguity or different granularity levels of description and analysis. An approach to face this problem is the use of semantic methodologies in order to provide better Knowledge Externalization from incident protocols management. In this article, we propose a method based on semantic techniques for both, analyzing and specifying (meta)security requirements on protocols used for solving security incidents. This would allow specialist getting better documentation on their intangible knowledge about them.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2013-41086-

    Putting out the Cerro Grande fire: a case study in government crisis communication

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    In 2000, the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) initiated a prescribed burn, which went awry, prompting New Mexico's largest wildfire to date. This paper examines the NPS’s crisis response in an effort to determine its media response, how that response reflected ‘best practices’ in crisis management, and whether the organization’s response was appropriate for the type of crisis it faced. The case suggests the government can benefit from lessons learned in the private sector

    Domestic Violence in the National Football League

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    This study was conducted to examine the relationship that existed between domestic violence incidents involving National Football League (NFL) players and the popularity of the league. With more media coverage on players’ off the field exploits there was potential that players committing crimes as heinous as domestic violence was having an impact on how fans consumed the NFL’s products. This was initially sparked by the widely publicized incident featuring former Baltimore Ravens running back, Ray Rice. As the league struggled to figure out on how to best handle player discipline for domestic violence the public opinion of the NFL diminished. Fan behavior was the measurable component for NFL popularity and was examined by looking at metrics such as television viewership and game attendance. Domestic violence incidents were totaled from an NFL player arrest database. The incidents were examined for physical violence and any resulting player releases. By compiling secondary data describing fan behavior and comparing it to total domestic violence incidents among NFL players it could be seen that fan behavior was generally unchanged by NFL players committing domestic violence. The study provided a look into the impact of players off field behavior on the business of the NFL. What was found was there was not conclusive evidence that a relationship between domestic violence in the NFL and the league’s popularity exists. Despite predictions that fan behavior display a noticeable change in relation to domestic violence incidents in the NFL, the data did not reflect such a finding, and statistical tests did not reflect a significant relationship. For the NFL, it may reveal that behavior of their fans, such as attending games or consuming NFL products from home, may not be hampered by the off the field follies of the league’s players. However, having already weathered a storm of criticism regarding the league’s policies and demeanor towards domestic violence, understanding how people respond to such incidents could prove critical for the NFL long term
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