Advancing Text-to-GLOSS Neural Translation Using a Novel Hyper-parameter Optimization Technique

In this paper, we investigate the use of transformers for Neural Machine Translation of text-to-GLOSS for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing communication. Due to the scarcity of available data and limited resources for text-to-GLOSS translation, we treat the problem as a low-resource language task. We use our novel hyper-parameter exploration technique to explore a variety of architectural parameters and build an optimal transformer-based architecture specifically tailored for text-to-GLOSS translation. The study aims to improve the accuracy and fluency of Neural Machine Translation generated GLOSS. This is achieved by examining various architectural parameters including layer count, attention heads, embedding dimension, dropout, and label smoothing to identify the optimal architecture for improving text-to-GLOSS translation performance. The experiments conducted on the PHOENIX14T dataset reveal that the optimal transformer architecture outperforms previous work on the same dataset. The best model reaches a ROUGE (Recall-Oriented Understudy for Gisting Evaluation) score of 55.18% and a BLEU-1 (BiLingual Evaluation Understudy 1) score of 63.6%, outperforming state-of-the-art results on the BLEU1 and ROUGE score by 8.42 and 0.63 respectively.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Attractiveness of Foreign Direct Investment and Export Performance in Morocco: The Case of the Automotive Industry

Thanks to its geopolitical position and its know-how, Morocco has established itself as a leader in the automotive sector on the continent. The Moroccan automotive industry has experienced remarkable growth in recent years. A dazzling progression that is not about to stop. Thus, Morocco has become the 28th largest car exporter in the world, first in North Africa and second on the African continent.Its performance is particularly remarkable in terms of exports and job creation, for which the sector is growing at a double-digit rate with more than 80.000 people in 2016 compared to 39.131 in 2008. Cabling is the leading employer segment with nearly 69.5% in 2016, followed by seats and seat covers (9%) and automotive manufacturing (8.3%).And with MAD58.8 billion in export sales in 2017, compared with MAD12.7 billion in 2007, the automotive sector is the leading export sector. This performance contributed to the overall evolution of Moroccan exports by nearly 36.7%. In 2017, the automotive sector became the country’s leading export sector for the fourth consecutive year. Its share rose to 23.6% in 2017 (5.5% of GDP) from 10.1% in 2007 (2.1% of GDP).An analysis of Moroccan export markets by destination shows that France and Spain are Morocco’s main customers. Thus, cabling remains the main export segment to Spain. On the other hand, for France, Germany, Italy, Turkey and the United Kingdom, automotive manufacturing is the predominant branch in exports. Outside European countries, exports of vehicles produced in Morocco doubled to Algeria between 2016 and 2017, and have increased in recent years to Asian countries, mainly China.Foreign direct investment income from the automotive industry rose sharply to MAD3.3 billion in 2017, up from MAD0.7 billion in 2010. France remains the leading direct investor in the automotive sector (82% in 2017), followed by the USA (8%) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Production and exports should continue to rise thanks to a MAD6 billion investment by PSA Peugeot Citroën, which will set up a plant in Morocco in the municipality of Ameur Seflia, in the Gharb Chrarda-Beni Hssen region, on the edge of the Atlantic Free Zone integrated industrial platform

L'impacte de la connexió del tramvia per la Diagonal de Barcelona

Barcelona és una ciutat que des dels seus inicis ha aconseguit veure gran, i una ciutat que veu gran és una ciutat que sap respondre a i preveure els reptes als quals es poden afrontar els seus habitants. Un d'aquests reptes davant els quals Barcelona ha sabut respondre és el de la mobilitat urbana, i en concret el transport públic. Encara que tot èxit sempre va agafat de la mà d'alguns defectes que en alguns casos són bastant importants, Barcelona no ha estat l'excepció d'aquesta regla. Quan es va decidir tornar a implantar el tramvia després que hagi desaparegut a la fi del segle XX, la xarxa de transport públic es va veure reforçada amb la implantació de les línies conegudes avui dia com Trambaix i Trambesòs. Aquest projecte encara que va ser implantat en les dues extremitats de la ciutat, nord i sud, hi havia un tram central que per a molts no tenia sentit que l'esmentat tram manqués de plataforma tramviària. És per això que la idea d'unir les dues xarxes de tramvia ha estat present en la planificació del transport públic tant a la Generalitat com en el propi Ajuntament de Barcelona. Al PDI 2001-2010 es va introduir per primera vegada el projecte d'unió i des de llavors va anar adoptant protagonisme en els plans i la política de mobilitat fins a l'arribada al govern municipal de Barcelona en Comú, que ha fet seu el projecte d'unió, al formar part d'una de les seves promeses electorals. Aquesta tesina ha fet una anàlisi amb la recopilació de diferents estudis realitzats sobre aquest projecte i analitzat des del punt de vista ambiental, econòmic i social l’impacte que aquesta ampliació ha de produir en el context de la nostra ciutat.Barcelona es una ciudad que desde sus inicios ha conseguido ver grande, y una ciudad que ve grande es una ciudad que sabe responder a y prever los retos a los cuáles se pueden afrontar sus habitantes. Uno de estos retos frente a los cuáles Barcelona ha sabido responder es el de la movilidad urbana, y en concreto el transporte público. Aunque todo éxito siempre va cogido de la mano de algunos defectos que en algunos casos son bastante importantes, Barcelona no ha sido la excepción de esta regla. Cuándo se decidió volver a implantar el tranvía después de que haya desaparecido a finales del siglo XX, la red de transporte público se vio reforzada con la implantación de las líneas conocidas hoy en día como Trambaix i Trambesòs. Este proyecto aunque fue implantado en las dos extremidades de la ciudad, norte y sur, había un tramo central que para muchos no tenía sentido de que dicho tramo careciera de plataforma tranviaria. Es por eso que la idea de unir las dos redes de tranvía ha estado presente en la planificación del transporte público tanto en la Generalitat como en el propio Ayuntamiento de Barcelona. Al PDI 2001-2010 se introdujo por primera vez el proyecto de unión y desde entonces fue adoptando protagonismo en los planes y la política de movilidad hasta la llegada al gobierno municipal de Barcelona en Común, que ha hecho suyo el proyecto de unión, al formar parte de una de sus promesas electorales. esta tesina ha hecho un análisis con la recopilación de diferentes estudios realizados sobre este proyecto y analizado desde el punto de vista ambiental, económico y social del impacto que esta ampliación debe producirse en el contexto de nuestra ciudad.Barcelona is a city that from the beginning has managed to see great, and a city that sees large is a city that knows how to respond to and anticipate the challenges to which its inhabitants can face. One of these challenges to which Barcelona has been able to respond is that of urban mobility, and in particular public transport. Although every success is always handled by some defects that in some cases are quite important, Barcelona has not been the exception to this rule. When it was decided to reintroduce the tram after it disappeared at the end of the 20th century, the public transport network was reinforced by the introduction of lines known today as Trambaix & Trambesòs. Although this project was implemented at both ends of the city, north and south, there was a central section that for many it did not make sense that this section lacked a tramway platform. That is why the idea of joining the two tram networks has been present in the planning of public transport both in the Generalitat and in the Barcelona City Hall itself. At the PDI 2001-2010 the union project was introduced for the first time and since then it has been taking center stage in the plans and the mobility policy until the arrival to the municipal government of Barcelona in Comú, which has made its union project, as part of one of its electoral promises. This dissertation has done an analysis with the compilation of different studies carried out on this project and analyzed from the environmental, economic and social point of view the impact that this extension must produce in the context of our city

Analyse phytosociologique des formations de matorral du massif des Béni-Snasséne (Maroc Oriental)

Phytosociological analysis of Béni-Snassène shrubland (Morocco oriental). The study consists in defining the phytosociological units in which one line up the formings of the Béni-Snassène matorral, to specify their floristiques affinities with the groupings which their are close and their positions in the dynamic series of the region and finally to determine the climatic conditions and edaphic in which they develop. The methodology of approach used for that is known phytosociological or sigmatist. This one allowed the individualization of eight vegetable associations among which each is examined on the plans floristique, biogeographic, ecological and dynamic. These associations are arranged as follows: Classe of Quercetea ilicis with three associations integrated into the order of Pistacio-Rhamnetalia and the alliance of Asparago-Rhamnion; Classe of the Cisto-Lavanduletea with a single association belonging to the order of Halimietalia-riphaeo atlantici; Classe of the Rosmarinetea with four associations being attached to the order of Cisto mauritanici-Thymetalia munbyani

MANAGING DEMAND FOR SCARCE WATER RESOURCES: AN EVALUATION OF CURRENT APPROACHES

Increasing water scarcity due to droughts and competition for water resources is threatening the ability of cities all over the world, even those that are well-resourced, to provide their residents with basic water services. My three-paper dissertation addresses three different areas of intervention aimed at addressing water scarcity. In my first paper, I address incentives to create technologies that address water scarcity. Concerns of a “deficit” of water-related technologies question the widely held belief that we can innovate our way out of water crises. In the context of the United States, I exploit temporal and spatial variation in the incidence of drought and the implementation of water technology clusters to explain changes in water-related patenting activity. I find that patenting activity does not increase following droughts, which suggests few incentives to innovate exist. I do find that water technology clusters boost water-related innovation, suggesting that additional policy interventions may be warranted. In my second paper, I provide insights into price-based rationing for managing residential water demand, an increasingly popular demand management tool. The efficacy and distributional impacts of this approach depends on households’ heterogeneous price sensitivity. I estimate heterogenous price responses for single family households in Chapel Hill, NC using a household-level panel dataset that features a large change in marginal water prices and a novel measure of local hydrological stress. Contrary to prior research, I find households with presumably strong preferences for irrigation are no less price sensitive than other households. In my third paper, I examine water utility compliance with state-imposed mandates for water conservation during severe droughts. States use mandates as a policy intended to address conflicting incentives for conservation by water utilities. Using data on urban water utilities in California subjected to a year-long mandate, I provide evidence that mandating higher conservation objectives does not lead to water utilities increasing water conservation. Moreover, I show that compliance is higher for water utilities where customers actively complain about “water waste.” In this context, private citizen activism appears to be an overlooked aspect of local agency compliance.Doctor of Philosoph

Les banques participatives au Maroc et le financement de la petite et moyenne entreprise : cas de la région Casablanca – Settat

Ces dernières années, la banque participative a constitué un domaine de concurrence important pour les systèmes bancaires du monde entier. Il s'agit d'un nouveau mode de financement basé sur le partage des pertes et des profits. En 2015, la Banque centrale du Maroc a mis en œuvre une loi bancaire réglementant les opérations des banques participatives sur le marché financier marocain. Cette contribution minimale est due à la difficulté qu'ont ces entreprises à obtenir du financement. Dans ce contexte, les banques participatives établies au Maroc en 2017 proposent des produits conformes à la charia, basés sur le partage des profits et des pertes, qui peuvent apporter des solutions de financement aux PME. A travers les résultats de nos recherches quantitatives touchant 89 PME marocaines, On peut dire que les banques participatives, notamment le produit Moudaraba et le produit Moucharaka (finançant des projets d'investissement à moyen et long terme) et le produit Salam (répondant aux besoins en fonds de roulement à court terme), peuvent contribuer efficacement au financement des PME Marocaines. &nbsp

Video Shot Boundary Detection using the Scale Invariant Feature Transform and RGB Color Channels

Segmentation of the video sequence by detecting shot changes is essential for video analysis, indexing and retrieval. In this context, a shot boundary detection algorithm is proposed in this paper based on the scale invariant feature transform (SIFT). The first step of our method consists on a top down search scheme to detect the locations of transitions by comparing the ratio of matched features extracted via SIFT for every RGB channel of video frames. The overview step provides the locations of boundaries. Secondly, a moving average calculation is performed to determine the type of transition. The proposed method can be used for detecting gradual transitions and abrupt changes without requiring any training of the video content in advance. Experiments have been conducted on a multi type video database and show that this algorithm achieves well performances

Covid-19 : Test du secteur financier des pays africains Cas des banques marocaines

En raison du contexte sanitaire national et international lié à la pandémie de la Covid-19, l’économie nationale est suspendue.4.2 millions de ménages travaillaient dans le secteur informel soit 16.8 millions de marocains si on compte 4 personnes par ménages selon des annonces du gouvernement sont devenus inactifs sans couverture médicale et sociale, au niveau du commerce extérieur, la chute des importations et des exportations liée à la forte dépendance de l’économie nationale vis-à-vis du reste du monde , la crise a également démontré la fragilité des infrastructures de la santé publique. Pour limiter les impacts socioéconomiques de la pandémie le Maroc  a  pris d’urgence plusieurs mesures pour  couvrir les dépenses de la santé public, maintenir le pouvoir d’achat des ménages, éviter les faillites d’entreprises et accroissement du chômage. Tout au long de cette étude nous avons essayé d’analyser ses apports sur l’économie nationale  Pour ce faire nous avons mis l’accent sur deux axes essentiels ; Politique monétaire : Apport de liquidités pour préserver la stabilité du marché financier. système bancaire marocain : Capacité des banques commerciales de financier l’économie en période de récession. &nbsp

Contemporary management of mature permanent teeth with pulp exposure due to caries

Introducción: Históricamente, se ha desaconsejado el uso de la terapia pulpar vital (TPV) en dientes permanentes maduros con exposición pulpar por caries, y se ha recomendado en estas situaciones realizar una pulpectomía. Objetivos: El presente trabajo tiene como objetivos comprobar si existe evidencia científica que justifique realizar TPV en dientes permanentes adultos con exposición pulpar por caries, establecer el protocolo clínico más adecuado en este tipo de situaciones, además de determinar los materiales más recomendados para ello. Método: se utilizó para la búsqueda de la literatura científica la base de datos PubMed. Los términos Mesh y palabras claves empleadas fueron los siguientes: ("carious exposure" OR "pulp exposure") AND ("mature teeth" OR "permanent teeth" OR "closed apices") AND ("vital pulp therapy" OR “treatment” OR “management”). Resultados: para asegurar el éxito de la TPV es crucial valorar la hemorragia pulpar y no guiarse solo por los signos y síntomas preoperatorios. No controlar el sangrado en un tiempo razonable (2-10 minutos), indica que no se ha eliminado por completo la pulpa inflamada y entonces el tratamiento deberá modificarse pasando del recubrimiento pulpar directo (RPD) a pulpotomía parcial, de ésta a pulpotomía total o a pulpectomía. Conclusiones: Existe evidencia científica de que la TPV es una terapia válida y segura en dientes permanentes maduros con pulpa sana o pulpitis reversible cuando se produce la exposición por caries. Algunos autores sugieren que la terapia vital pulpar podría ser válida en dientes con pulpitis irreversible o periodontitis apical, pero se necesitan más estudios dada la heterogeneidad de los resultados.Introduction: Historically, the use of Vital Pulp therapies (VPT) has been discouraged in mature permanent teeth with pulp exposure as a consequence of caries removal, recommending pulpectomy in these scenarios. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether there is scientific evidence that justifies Vital Pulp Therapies in mature permanent teeth with pulp exposure due to caries, to establish the most appropriate clinical protocol in this cases, and to identify the most recommended materials for this procedures. Method: PubMed database was used to search the scientific literature, since it is the main database used by the health sciences professionals. The Mesh terms and keywords used were: ("carious exposure" OR "pulp exposure") AND ("mature teeth" OR "permanent teeth" OR "closed apices") AND ("vital pulp therapy" OR "treatment" OR "management"). Results: To ensure the success of vital pulp therapies it is important to evaluate pulp hemorrhage and not be simply guided by preoperative signs and symptoms. Failure to control bleeding within a reasonable time (2-10 minutes) indicates that the inflamed pulp has not been completely removed and then the treatment procedure should be modified from direct pulp capping to partial pulpotomy, from partial pulpotomy to total pulpotomy or pulpectomy. Conclusions: The scientific evidence supports that pulp vital therapies are useful and reliable therapies in mature permanent teeth with sound pulp or reversible pulpitis when caries exposure occurs. Some authors suggest that pulp vital therapy could be also effective in teeth with irreversible pulpitis or apical periodontitis, but further studies are needed due to the heterogeneity of the results.Universidad de Sevilla. Máster Oficial en Odontología Restauradora Estética y Funciona