Augmented binary multi-labeled CNN for practical facial attribute classification

Both human face recognition and generation by machines are currently an active area of computer vision, drawing curiosity of researchers, capable of performing amazing image analysis, and producing applications in multiple domains. In this paper, we propose a new approach for face attributes classification (FAC) taking advantage from both binary classification and data augmentation. With binary classification we can reach high prediction scores, while augmented data prevent overfitting and overcome the lack of data for sketched photos. Our approach, named Augmented binary multilabel CNN (ABM-CNN), consists of three steps: i) splitting data; ii) transformed-it to sketch (simplification process); iii) train separately each attribute with two convolutional neural networks; the whole process includes two networks: the first (resp. the second) one is to predict attributes on real images (resp. sketches) as inputs. Through experimentation, we figure out that some attributes give high prediction rates with sketches rather than with real images. On the other hand, we build a new face dataset, more consistent and complete, by generating images using Style-GAN model, to which we apply our method for extracting face attributes. As results, our proposal demonstrates more performances compared to those of related works

Towards the Control and Prevention of Waste in IT Service Operation Using Fuzzy Logic: Focus in Incident Management Process

All production lines are continuously confronted with the phenomenon of waste, especially in IT operations. A waste is assessed in terms of the required resources and the cost employed to solve the problem behind it. Eliminating the waste in daily operations is essential to improve IT service management. This article aims to provide an estimation of the level of potential waste, where waste generation trends are provoked by the activities of IT service management processes. We are going to focus particularly on the possibility of applying a Lean improvement process to IT services processes when using fuzzy logic method. We specifically demonstrate our contribution through the application of fuzzy analysis to the incident management process. This approach also aims at developing a theoretical and pragmatic model and promoting the knowledge of IT experts. In order to make our framework as generic as possible, concepts of IT operations, including the incident management, are inspired by the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), the most prominent framework for IT service governance according to the current literature

L’intégration de l’approche nudge dans le marketing des entreprises touristiques marocaines et son impact sur l’enjeu environnemental : cas des hôtels de la ville de Rabat.

Le tourisme international connait une croissance continue. Au Maroc et selon la vision 2020, le secteur du tourisme est un système évoluant, cette évolution a provoqué des effets sur l’environnement. En l’occurrence, les entreprises touristiques marocaines doivent impliquer des actions éthiques et d’intégrer l’écologie dans la stratégie touristique.Cet article discute l’intégration de l’approche Nudge dans le marketing des entreprises touristiques marocaines pour encourager les touristes à prendre des bonnes décisions et adopter des comportements éthiques liés aux enjeux de l’environnement. En se basant sur une analyse de la littérature existante, l'objectif de cet article est de détecter l’impact des méthodes Nudges en particulier dans le cas des hôtels de la ville de rabat sur les préoccupations environnementales.Mots clés : éthique, marketing, tourisme, Nudge, comportemen

LES PUBLICITES DE SENSIBILISATION ET LEUR IMPACT SUR LA PERCEPTION DES CITOYENS MAROCAINS A L’EGARD DE LA COVID-19

Le coronavirus ou la Covid-19 pourrait être évité car il s’agit d’une maladie transmutable et affecte les personnes de différentes manières. Il est un phénomène social qui touche la santé des citoyens et qui a mis fin à la vie de plusieurs personnes ces deux années. Le marketing social est une approche pour changer les comportements d’une audience et cherche à contribuer à la résolution des problèmes de société. Les publicités persuasives diffusées s’attachent à convaincre les citoyens marocains pour changer leurs comportements à travers des messages préventifs et par l’utilisation des différents moyens de communication sociale. Mon article vise à déterminer l’impact des publicités de sensibilisation sur la perception des citoyens marocains à l’égard du Coronavirus. Dans ce contexte, nous allons réaliser une étude quantitative pour détecter leur impact sur la perception des citoyens, afin d’apporter des pistes d’amélioration pour améliorer les publicités de sensibilisations au Maroc. Coronavirus or Covid-19 could be prevented as it is a communicable disease that can affect people in different ways. It is a social phenomenon that impacts citizens’ health, but at the same time it has ended the lives of numerous people in the last two years. Social marketing is an approach to changing an audience’s behavior that seeks to contribute to solving societal problems. The broadcast persuasive advertisements strive to convince Moroccan citizens to change their behavior through preventive messages and the use of different means of social communication. My article aims to determine the impact of awareness advertisements on the perception of Moroccan citizens towards the Coronavirus. In this context, we will carry out a quantitative study to detect their impact on the perception of citizens, in order to provide measures for improvement to upgrade awareness-raising advertisements in Morocco.

Border surveillance monitoring using Quadcopter UAV-Aided Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper we propose a novel cooperative bordersurveillance solution, composed of a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) deployed terrestrially to detect and track trespassers, and a set of lightweight unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAVs) in the form of quadcopters that interact with the deployed WSN to improve the border surveillance, the detection and investigation of network failures, the maintenance of the sensor network, the tracking of trespasser, the capture and transmission of realtime video of the intrusion scene, and the response to hostage situations. A heuristic-based scheduling algorithm is described to optimize the tracking mission by increasing the rate of detected trespassers spotted by the quadcopters. Together with the design of the electrical, mechanical and software architecture of the proposed VTail quadcopter, we develop in this paper powerless techniques to accurately localize terrestrial sensors using RFID technology, compute the optimal positions of the new sensors to drop, relay data between isolated islands of nodes, and wake up sensors to track intruders. The developed VTail prototype is tested to provide valid and accurate parameters’ values to the simulation. The latter is conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed WSN-based surveillance solution

First report of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides on citrus in Algeria

Wither-tip symptoms of twigs were observed on cultivated sweet orange and lemon trees in Algeria. The causal agent was identified as Colletotrichum gloeosporioides on the basis of cultural and morphological features. The identification of the fungus was confirmed by sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer region of rDNA. Pathogenicity tests revealed that C. gloeosporioides isolated from withered twigs caused typical anthracnose symptoms on orange leaves. This is the first report on Colletotrichum gloeosporioides as causal agent of anthracnose in Citrus trees in Algeria

STM study of metallic nanostructures in graphene : growth, properties and induced defects

Le graphène, premier cristal purement bidimensionnel à avoir été obtenu, possède des propriétés électroniques uniques grâce à sa structure de bande en « cône de Dirac ». Au-delà des modifications et du contrôle de ses propriétés intrinsèques, il est aujourd’hui crucial d’étudier ses interactions avec divers environnements afin de créer de nouvelles applications : fonctionnalisation par des molécules, utilisation en tant que substrat pour des molécules ou des atomes métalliques, création de défauts structuraux ou chimiques, élaboration de multicouches à l’aide d’autres matériaux quasi-bidimensionnels (hétérostructures de type Van der Waals).Graphene, the first purely bidimensionnal crystal to be obtained holds unique electronic properties thanks to its "Dirac cones" band structure. Beyond the possible modifications of its intrinsic properties, it is now crucial to study its interactions with a diverse set of environments to create new applications: molecules functionnalization, as a substrate for molecules or metal adatoms, chemical or structural defect engineering or crafting of multilayered new materials such as van der Waals heterostructures.From a fundamental point of view, graphene synthesised on silicon carbide (SiC) is ideal. It provides a subtrate suited for scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and physical deposition of metals as its synthesis takes place under vacuum through the evaporation of silicon.We studied the Gr/SiC(000-1) (carbon-rich face) at the local scale using STM and tunnel spectroscopy (STS) to analyse on one hand the effect of metal deposition on the graphene as a substrate and on the other hand the effects of the same deposition before the synthesis on the creation of defects in the graphene

The significance of ZUS pension account status for the old-age pension system

Przedmiotem opracowania jest analiza kontekstu, zakresu, rozwoju i rekomendacji zmian informacji o stanie konta, wysyłanej corocznie do kilkunastu milionów ubezpieczonych w Zakładzie Ubezpieczeń Społecznych, zawierającej m.in. dane o bieżących składkach opłacanych przez płatników, zwaloryzowanej kwocie zgromadzonych przez całą karierę zawodową składek i kapitale początkowym oraz kwocie hipotetycznej emerytury obliczonej w kilku wariantach. Problemem badawczym jest znaczenie tego dokumentu oraz stojącej za nim instytucji prawnej dla sposobu funkcjonowania systemu emerytalnego. Zbadano źródło potrzeby informowania o stanie konta oraz rolę ewidencji składek emerytalnych w zreformowanym systemie emerytalnym. Przeanalizowano obecny zakres dokumentu, a także przedstawiono, w jakim kierunku od 1999 r. podążała jego ustawowa regulacja. Rozpatrzono również zastrzeżenia co do metodologii obliczania hipotetycznej emerytury oraz sformułowano rekomendacje zmian. Informacja o stanie konta wpisuje się w aksjologię wzrostu indywidualnej odpowiedzialności za zabezpieczenie na starość, wzrostu przejrzystości systemu i aktywniejszej polityki informacyjnej w tym zakresie. Pozwala bowiem na bieżącą kontrolę wpływu składek od płatników, a także przekazuje syntetyczną informację o stanie konta i prognozie przyszłej emerytury.The paper analyses the context, scope, development, and utility of ZUS pension account status – the document sent annually to every person actively or inactively insured within the Polish state old-age pension scheme, currently covering over 19 million persons. The account status informs the insured about the recent inflow of their contributions, the sum of accumulated retirement savings, including indexation, initial capital representing the contributions paid prior to the pension reform in 1999, and a few variants of the pension forecast. The paper seeks to explain the significance of the ZUS pension account status for the functioning of the scheme. In order to do so, the role of recording and informing the insured about their individual contributions is analysed within the context of the current pension scheme paradigms. Then, the scope of the data included in the document, and its past development, is examined. Finally, the paper assesses the criticism towards some of the solutions used in the document, and proposes modifications. The ZUS pension account status fits well into the new Polish pension system; one which expects the insured party to take more responsibility for their own old-age security, and provides them with instruments to control the current inflow of their contributions, monitor the status of the account, and forecast the level of their future retirement income