Voronoi diagrams in the max-norm: algorithms, implementation, and applications

Voronoi diagrams and their numerous variants are well-established objects in computational geometry. They have proven to be extremely useful to tackle geometric problems in various domains such as VLSI CAD, Computer Graphics, Pattern Recognition, Information Retrieval, etc. In this dissertation, we study generalized Voronoi diagram of line segments as motivated by applications in VLSI Computer Aided Design. Our work has three directions: algorithms, implementation, and applications of the line-segment Voronoi diagrams. Our results are as follows: (1) Algorithms for the farthest Voronoi diagram of line segments in the Lp metric, 1 ≤ p ≤ ∞. Our main interest is the L2 (Euclidean) and the L∞ metric. We first introduce the farthest line-segment hull and its Gaussian map to characterize the regions of the farthest line-segment Voronoi diagram at infinity. We then adapt well-known techniques for the construction of a convex hull to compute the farthest line-segment hull, and therefore, the farthest segment Voronoi diagram. Our approach unifies techniques to compute farthest Voronoi diagrams for points and line segments. (2) The implementation of the L∞ Voronoi diagram of line segments in the Computational Geometry Algorithms Library (CGAL). Our software (approximately 17K lines of C++ code) is built on top of the existing CGAL package on the L2 (Euclidean) Voronoi diagram of line segments. It is accepted and integrated in the upcoming version of the library CGAL-4.7 and will be released in september 2015. We performed the implementation in the L∞ metric because we target applications in VLSI design, where shapes are predominantly rectilinear, and the L∞ segment Voronoi diagram is computationally simpler. (3) The application of our Voronoi software to tackle proximity-related problems in VLSI pattern analysis. In particular, we use the Voronoi diagram to identify critical locations in patterns of VLSI layout, which can be faulty during the printing process of a VLSI chip. We present experiments involving layout pieces that were provided by IBM Research, Zurich. Our Voronoi-based method was able to find all problematic locations in the provided layout pieces, very fast, and without any manual intervention

Attitude Towards Peer-to-Peer Accommodation: Evidence from Tourists in the Philippines

The study responds to the paucity of understanding of tourists\u27 attitudes toward peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation services in less-developed economies. By gaining insights into the extant literature, the study proposes and tests a research model that accents the impact of perceived economic benefits, social incentives, and trust on consumers’ attitudes towards P2P accommodation. Notably, it also explores the potential attitudinal effect of the new materialist lifestyle. Data were collected through a web-based survey involving 112 consumers aware of P2P accommodation with prior domestic tourism experience in the Philippines. Partial least squares structural equation modelling technique was employed for data analysis. The findings reveal that only economic benefits and trust perceptions can predict consumers’ attitudes towards P2P accommodation services. Considering this, accommodation providers should continue to emphasize the economic value of their services to expand the customer base. Additionally, platform and accommodation providers can also enhance trust-building initiatives to reduce consumers\u27 risk perceptions potentially aggravated by the ongoing pandemic

Structural evaluation of attitudes towards rural tourism: A proposed study

People are visiting rural places of interest like never before; this has garnered much interest in tourism academia. With scholastic advances in the field of sustainable tourism development over the last 4 decades, it is important that growth should be managed and measured through the paradigms of sustainable tourism development (Institutional, Economic and Environmental), that becomes the essence of this conceptual paper wherein an attempt is made to predict the attitudes of tourists towards rural destinations in order to further comprehend the economic dynamics of sustainable tourism development and its implication on rural destinations. The study aims to utilise existing epistemological aspects pertaining to the investigation of tourist behaviour, the authors have attempted to adapt the Theory of Planned Behaviour and use one of its verticals that is `attitude' to study the population

Best proxy to determine firm performance using financial ratios: A CHAID approach

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the best predictor of firm performance among different proxies. A sample of 287 Czech firms was taken from automobile, construction, and manufacturing sectors. Panel data of the firms was acquired from the Albertina database for the time period from 2016 to 2020. Three different proxies of firm performance, return of assets (RoA), return of equity (RoE), and return of capital employed (RoCE) were used as dependent variables. Including three proxies of firm's performance, 16 financial ratios were measured based on the previous literature. A machine learning-based decision tree algorithm, Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detector (CHAID), was deployed to gauge each proxy's efficacy and examine the best proxy of the firm performance. A partitioning rule of 70:30 was maintained, which implied that 70% of the dataset was used for training and the remaining 30% for testing. The results revealed that return on assets (RoA) was detected to be a robust proxy to predict financial performance among the targeted indicators. The results and the methodology will be useful for policy-makers, stakeholders, academics and managers to take strategic business decisions and forecast financial performance.Internal Grant Agency (IGA) in Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Czech Republic [IGA/FAME/2022/012]Tomas Bata University in Zlin, TBU: IGA/FAME/2022/01

Motivation among travel agents in India: The moderating role of employee's expertise and marital status

This study contributes to the literature by offering insights over the relationship between job satisfaction and work stress with employees' motivation among travel agencies in India. The paper aims to determine the impact of job satisfaction and work stress on employees' motivation level with a specific focus on the moderating impact of employees' expertise and marital status in the context of travel agencies in Southern India. A survey was conducted over employees of travel agencies in Southern India by adopting scales from the extant studies, and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling through Smart PLS. The outcome of the study reveals that job satisfaction has a strong significant effect on employees' motivation, unlike work stress and employees' expertise has a partial significant moderating effect on the relationship between work stress and motivation. The study stressed much about the combined effects of the mediators. The present study has tested the new composite scale to measure the overall motivational level, unlike the previous studies. The survey was conducted between November 2019 and December 2019 and entails 164 respondents, the majority of the subjects are millennials between 18 and 35 years, with 43.3% having master's degree, all were found to be pre-qualified for the investigation. © 2020 LLC CPC Business Perspectives. All rights reserved

Financial Anxiety, Financial advice, and E-payment use: Relationship and perceived differences between males & females of Generation Z

This study sets out to solve a couple of research problems. First, to explore the correlation between individuals' financial anxiety, financial advice, and EPS (electronic payment system use) initially. Secondly, to explore the perceived differences among males and females, and to answer whether the gender inequality still prevalent amongst generation Z in India. This study applies basic statistics, spearman correlation and Man-Whitney U test on the dataset collected through 205 questionnaires from the northern states in India. The outcomes reveal few significant correlations and also give a positive indication that the gender differences are reducing, especially among the youth belonging to generation Z. Keeping in mind policymaker's viewpoint, it is vital to fully understand financial anxiety, financial advice seeking behaviour and EPS use, for designing better social policies, to empower the upcoming generation with adequate skills and abilities to tackle financial anxiety, avail proper financial advisory services and use EPS appropriately. This paper offers insights for the stronger investigations in future. The originality of the paper lies in the chosen variables, which are not explored thoroughly yet. The present research is an initial investigation concerned with young generations' financial anxiety, financial advice and EPS usage pattern. It contributes to the existing literature and intends to attract the attention of the researchers towards the investigated relationships. However, limitations detected in self-reporting and generalisation of the outcomes in other contexts, but authors believe that they can be overcome with further and extended research. © 2020 Innovare Academics Sciences Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved

Job insecurity across various occupation in Czech Republic

Job security for most working population is crucial in ensuring living standards. The main goal of this article is to find out, based on the analysis of employment, unemployment, vacancies, and wages in various job categories in the Czech Republic between 2015 and 2022, which job groups are most prone to job insecurity and job loss. Data from the Information System on Average Earnings (ISPV) and MLSA portal were used to analyse the structure of job seekers and job vacancies and to establish employment and wages. Data were processed using descriptive statistical methods. An evaluation of the variance was performed among the selected variables. A t-test was used to measure differences in job security between the observed employment categories. The results show that higher-skilled worker requirements characterize the best job classes regarding job security and wages. On the other hand, the unstable job categories with high unemployment rates and low wage rates were support and unqualified jobs and service and sales jobs. A final important finding is that firms are creating jobs with low educational requirements, which may indicate stagnation in future job innovation.Tomas Bata University in Zlin [IGA/FaME/2022/007

Measuring business process innovations among tourism enterprises in the Czech Republic: A PLS-GLM approach

The Czech Republic has experienced momentous tourism expansion in recent years. Nevertheless, there is a lack of empirical investigation about this development. Innovations are an essential factor for the sustainable development of the tourism industry in the Czech Republic. The paper expounds on the effect of technical and process innovations among the tour and travel companies in the Czech Republic. The study surveyed 96 travel and tour operators aged 18-40 working in the various small, medium, and large travel agencies to determine their perceptions towards innovation in their respective travel businesses. A two-phased statistical process that combined PLS-SEM and GLM examined the responses of the individuals. It revealed that technical innovation had a robust and positive relationship with corporate profitability. Process innovation remains a grey area for Czech travel businesses. The study builds upon the Process Innovations in Colombia's Tourist Enterprises or PICTE framework to induct critical insights for travel agencies and tour operators to provide these businesses a way forward and make them more competitive and sustainable. It has been observed that tourism businesses that were not early adopters of disruptive technologies became vulnerable to market mechanisms. Therefore, the relevance of this study is further accentuated. COVID-19 has accelerated the climate of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) among Czech tour and travel operators, many of whom winded up or downsized operations. Many of these firms were in the medium and small segments. In light of the present situation, it becomes imperative that travel service providers invest in modern technologies and ensure the same diffusion among the staff. The paper gave the strategies towards human resource mapping and digital transformations for the best interest of the tourism industry. Future studies are recommended to focus on longitudinal measures towards understanding innovation propensities among small and medium-sized businesses. Mixed method studies are encouraged to comprehend the corporate dynamics of change management.TACR [TL01000191

Pomegranate and sweet lime juices along with green coconut water promote rapid restoration of haematological parameters in patient infected with dengue: A case report

We report a case of dengue fever in a 9-years old Indian child. She was given “anti-hyper thermic” drug paracetamol and anti-biotic amoxicillin for 5 days. The patient was detected with dengue infection (NS1 positive) with a 5 days history of high fever and headache. After scrutinizing the haematology data, the medications (paracetamol & amoxicillin) were stopped and only diet which was continued is fruit juices (pomegranate and sweet lime juices along with green coconut water) as nutritional supplement. After 48 hours of continuous administration of nutritional supplements, blood parameters showed immense change. From this case study it can be stated that, infection with dengue and subsequent decline in the platelet and leukocyte count can well be restored with pomegranate, sweet lime and green coconut water. Keywords: Dengue, Pomegranate, Sweet Lime, Green Coconut Wate

Harnessing the power of virtual reality: Enhancing telepresence and inspiring sustainable travel intentions in the tourism industry

This study investigates how virtual reality (VR) can enhance telepresence and stimulate VR use and travel intentions in the sustainable tourism industry. 512 local and international tourists in Vietnam participated in an online survey after experiencing a VR experiment. They interacted with an app presenting a sustainable tourist destination based on nature, with the treatment group using VR sets and the control group viewing it on a 2D screen. Results indicate that VR-based tours facilitate greater telepresence than 2D presentations. VR is not a substitute for actual travel, with higher intentions reported to use VR in the future and to visit the tourist destination in real life due to their greater telepresence and perceived enjoyment from VR. This has implications for nature-based sustainable tourism, with further research needed for other types of tourism, including extreme activities. © 2023 The Author