First Responders' Localization and Health Monitoring During Rescue Operations

Currently, first responders’ coordination and decision-making during res-cue, firefighting or police operations is performed via radio/GSM channels with some support of video streaming. In unknown premises, officers have no global situational awareness on operation status, which reduces coordination efficiency and increases decision making mistakes. This paper pro-poses a solution enabling the situational awareness by introducing an integrated operation workflow for actors localization and health monitoring. The solution will provide global situational awareness to both coordinators and actors, thereby increasing efficiency of coordination, reducing mistakes in decision making and diminishing risks of unexpected situations to appear. This will result in faster operation progress, lower number of human casualties and financial losses and, the most important, saved human lives in calamity situations

Crisp-linear-and Models in Fuzzy Multiple Objective Linear Fractional Programming

The aim of this paper is to introduce two crisp linear models to solve fuzzy multiple objective linear fractional programming problems. In a novel manner we construct two piece-wise linear membership functions to describe the fuzzy goal linked to a linear fractional objective. They are related to the numerator and denominator of the fractional objective function; and we show that using the fuzzy-and operator to aggregate them a convenient description of the original fractional fuzzy goal is obtained. Further on, with the help of the fuzzy-and operator we aggregate all fuzzy goals and constraints, formulate a crisp linear model, and use it to provide a solution to the initial fuzzy multiple objective linear fractional programming problem. The second model embeds in distinct ways the positive and negative information, the desires and restrictions respectively; and aggregates in a bipolar manner the goals and constraints. The main advantage of using the new models lies in the fact that they are linear, and can generate distinct solutions to the multiple objective problem by varying the thresholds and tolerance limits imposed on the fuzzy goals

Obituary

On 6th February, Professor Ioan Dzitac passed away. &nbsp

Surface Roughness Image Analysis using Quasi-Fractal Characteristics and Fuzzy Clustering Methods

In this paper the authors describe the results of experiments for surface roughness image acquisition and processing in order to develop an automated roughness control system. This implies the finding of a characteristic roughness parameter (for example Ra) on the bases of information contained in the image of the surface. To achieve this goal we use quasi-fractal characteristics and fuzzy clustering methods

Raising Energy Saving Awareness Through Educational Software

A study that I have conducted on a sample of 395 children aged 6 to 12, from both the urban and the rural environments, shows that an increasing number of them use computer related technologies. Today there are an increasing number of web sites that inform the user of different ways to save energy and to reduce energy consumption because it is only natural that the modern information society would go online to research such topics. The development of an educational application that is focused on teaching the children about energy saving is represented on a timeline. We conducted a study in which a number of 29 children, aged between 8 and 10, use this educational application and a questionnaire. We describe the methodology used in the process of data gathering and then the results are interpreted. The state of happiness and fatigue of the child user has a great potential of influencing the way in which he or she uses the application, and implicitly it’s educational impact. Because we want to be able to reform these concepts, we will base our work on a series of Markov models and we will define some measures that are relevant to our goal

Tourism – economic growth nexus. The case of Romania

The development of tourism is usually associated, in positive terms, with economic development, foreign currency inflows, employment opportunities, infrastructure improvements, sustainable development and poverty alleviation. However, the nature of the tourism-growth relationship is still a matter of academic debate, and, perhaps, an expression of the inconsistencies and contradictions of public policies designed to support this industry. Researchers and practitioners have not yet come to an agreement on a number of fundamental questions: does tourism stimulate economic growth or the converse, and whether the causality, if it does exist, is uni or bidirectional, is constant or can change its direction in the medium - or long run. The present paper investigates the relationship between Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and international tourism in Romania, over the 1995–2016 period. Our results show that the causal effect of the GDP on the international tourist arrivals and on the international tourism receipts is significant in the long run in Romania. In the short-run, we find a unidirectional causal relationship from the international tourism receipts to GDP, and a bidirectional causal relationship between GDP and the number of international tourist arrivals. First published online 8 May 202

PID and Fuzzy-PID Control Model for Quadcopter Attitude with Disturbance Parameter

This paper aims to present data analysis of quadcopter dynamic attitude on a circular trajectory, specifically by comparing the modeling results of conventional Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) and Fuzzy-PID controllers. Simulations of attitude stability with both control systems were done using Simulink toolbox from Matlab so the identification of each control system is clearly seen. Each control system algorithm related to roll and pitch angles which affects the horizontal movement on a circular trajectory is explained in detail. The outcome of each tuning variable of both control systems on the output movement is observable while the error magnitude can be compared with the reference angles. To obtain a deeper analysis, wind disturbance on each axis was added to the model, thus differences between each control system are more recognizable. According to simulation results, the Fuzzy-PID controller has relatively smaller errors than the PID controller and has a better capability to reject disturbances. The scaling factors of gain values of the two controllers also play a vital role in their design

Adaptive Web Applications for Citizens’ Education. Case Study: Teaching Children the Value of Electrical Energy

Long-term energy saving and reduction of environmental consequences of energy consuming are among the most challenging objectives of our time. People are prone to routine and habit. To change these habits is almost a Sisif’s work. In spite of continuous efforts from environmental specialists, we are witnessing an increase in electricity (and gas) consumption, at least at the level of households. Studies carried on have shown that consumers have in many cases an irrational behaviour. To correct that, researchers are studying consumers’ decision making behaviour and try several intervention measures. In our paper we are presenting the design and development of a web based adaptive system aimed to educate citizens for an electrical energy saving behaviour. The system is composed of three subsystems: adaptation system, user’s profile and knowledge base. We have used a user-centered design approach. For adults, users’ profiles are build taking into account age group, educational level, gender, income, professional aspects, consuming behaviour. A set of questionnaires have been designed in order to collect users’ data. For children, the standard profiles are more complicated and, in function of the age group, can be obtained off line through interviews or/and through online activities (games, quizzes etc.). The knowledge base is build for the electrical energy domain. The adaptation sub-system will present information to the user based on s/he profile. The system is populated with data for users of 6 to 10 years of age. For this users group a social and affective interaction design approach was used

Technical Solution for a Real-Time Air Quality Monitoring System

This article will present a simple technical solution for a low-power and real-time air quality monitoring system. The whole package of software and hardware technical solutions applied for recording, transmitting and analyzing data is briefly described. This original monitoring system integrates a single chip microcon-troller, several dedicated air pollution surveillance sensors (for PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, CO, O3, VOC, CO2), a LoRaWAN communication module and an online platform. This system was tested and applied under real field conditions. Depending on the measured values, it provides alerts, or, it can lead to the re-placement of specific components in the exhaust equipment. This article will pre-sent some experimental results, validated also by official measurements of government operated air quality stations

A Fuzzy Group Decision-making Model for Determining the Most Influential Persons in the Sustainable Prevention of Accidents in the Construction SMEs

Safety in the sustainable construction is a game with uncertain reality, with human’s life. Managers in power, involved in the construction project life cycle, create rules for the game and are the main players. The project’s success can be perceived differently by stakeholders. A company’s competitiveness, successful implementation of the projects and effective safety management depends on the strategic allocation of its human resources in order to select a proper project team in alignment with employee capabilities. This requires detailed factors reflecting their role (in line with their interests and attitudes) and knowing which of them has a decisive influence on the successful implementation of the project. The real data describing key factors in this concept can be provided as uncertain conditions. This work presents a novel integrated modified fuzzy group decision-making approach to select and rank the most influential persons ensuring the sustainable prevention of accidents at work in the small and medium-sized construction enterprises. This model includes the Delphi method and fuzzy extensions of Eckenrode’s criteria rating method. The proposed model could be expanded in order to select the most suitable individuals for sustainable management of safety and, moreover, for the effective implementation of safety and health measures