Sustainable Equilibrium Index (SEI): A Measure to Analyze the Systemic Dependences in Territorial Development

<p><em>Regional prosperity not only depends on economic issues but also in social and environmental aspects. Achieving a sustainable growth path in the long term implies “coherence” in the advancement of these three dimensions (avoiding potential imbalances threatening that path). Here the notion of “sustainable” competitiveness arises. In this context, the objective of this paper is to demonstrate, through a quantitative methodology, that the coherence of economic, social and environmental dimensions is in fact at the core of regional prosperity and regional gap. To do so, the paper analyses the systemic interdependencies between these three fields using a quantitative methodological approach: the Sustainable Equilibrium Index (SEI). The results include the overall estimates for the SEI in each Spanish region as well as a detailed decomposition of the index by economic, social and environmental fields. Finally, recommendations are made to consider SEI as a metric for the upcoming RIS3 strategies.</em></p>

Download Full-text

A long-term study of children with autism playing with a robotic pet

Interaction Studies ◽

10.1075/is.10.3.04fra ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 324-373 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

Dorothée François ◽

Stuart Powell ◽

Kerstin Dautenhahn

Keyword(s):

Play Therapy ◽

Methodological Approach ◽

School Setting ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Human Robot Interaction ◽

Three Dimensions ◽

Robot Assisted ◽

Term Study ◽

Long Term Study

This paper presents a novel methodological approach of how to design, conduct and analyse robot-assisted play. This approach is inspired by nondirective play therapy. The experimenter participates in the experiments, but the child remains the main leader for play. Besides, beyond inspiration from non-directive play therapy, this approach enables the experimenter to regulate the interaction under specific conditions in order to guide the child or ask her questions about reasoning or affect related to the robot. This approach has been tested in a long-term study with six children with autism in a school setting. An autonomous robot with zoomorphic, dog-like appearance was used in the studies. The children’s progress was analyzed according to three dimensions, namely, Play, Reasoning and Affect. Results from the case-study evaluations have shown the capability of the method to meet each child’s needs and abilities. Children who mainly played solitarily progressively experienced basic imitation games with the experimenter. Children who proactively played socially progressively experienced higher levels of play and constructed more reasoning related to the robot. They also expressed some interest in the robot, including, on occasion, affect. Keywords: Human–Robot Interaction, Robot-Mediated Therapy, Robot-Assisted Play, Non-Directive Play Therapy, Assistive Technology, Autism, Children

Download Full-text

The Potential Use of Drones for Tourism in Crises: A Facility Location Analysis Perspective

Journal of Risk and Financial Management ◽

10.3390/jrfm13100246 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (10) ◽

pp. 246

Author(s):

Shiva Ilkhanizadeh ◽

Mahmoud Golabi ◽

Siamand Hesami ◽

Husam Rjoub

Keyword(s):

Open Space ◽

Sustainable Growth ◽

Mixed Integer ◽

Historic Sites ◽

Tourist Attractions ◽

Innovative Products ◽

Potential Use ◽

Do So

Considering the recent lockdowns and travel bans due to COVID-19, novel tourism strategies are necessary to face the increasing need for innovative products and services and to ensure long-term sustainable growth. This study looks into the potential use of drones in providing online virtual tours of open-space tourist attractions. To do so, a novel mixed-integer linear mathematical model is developed to optimally determine the number and location of required facilities and the number of drones assigned to each center. The model is applied to a case study of Rome by selecting six historic sites as the tourist attractions and considering several candidate locations for establishing the facilities. The results of different potential scenarios imply that the project is profitable, even if the demand for virtual tours is low.

Download Full-text

Threatening Conditions and Challenges in the Modern Living of the Old People in Republic of Macedonia

European Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies ◽

10.26417/ejis.v2i2.p110-115 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 110

Author(s):

Hava Rexhep

Keyword(s):

Kidney Diseases ◽

Methodological Approach ◽

Research Problem ◽

Functional Dependency ◽

Old People ◽

Stomach Diseases ◽

Social Challenge ◽

The Social ◽

Build System

The aging is not only a personal but also a social challenge from several aspects, several dimensions; a challenge aiming to build system approaches and solutions with a long term importance. Aims: the main aim of this research is to investigate the conditions and challenges in the modern living of the old people, primarily in terms of the social care. However, this research is concentrated on a big group of the population and their challenges are the most intensive in the modern living. The investigation of the conditions and challenges in the aging are basis and encouragement in realizing the progressive approaches in order to improve the modern living of the old people. The practical aim of the research is a deep investigation and finding important data, analyzing the basic indicators of the conditions, needs and challenges in order to facilitate the old population to get ready for the new life. Methods and techniques: Taking into consideration the complexity of the research problem, the basic methodological approach is performed dominantly by descriptive-analytical method. The basic instrument for getting data in the research is the questionnaire with leading interview for the old people. Results: The research showed that the old people over 70-79 years old in a bigger percentage manifested difficulties primarily related to the functional dependency, respectively 39,33 % of the participants in this category showed concern about some specific functional dependency from the offered categories. The percentage of the stomach diseases with 38,33 % is important, as well as the kidney diseases with 32,83% related to the total population and the category of the old people over 80. Conclusion: The old people very often accept the life as it is, often finding things fulfilled with tolerance and satisfaction. However the health problems of the old people are characterized with a dominant representation. The chronic diseases and the diseases characteristic for the aging are challenge in organizing adequate protection which addresses to taking appropriate regulations, programs and activities.

Download Full-text

Techno-Economic Planning and Operation of the Microgrid Considering Real-Time Pricing Demand Response Program

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14154597 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (15) ◽

pp. 4597

Author(s):

Zi-Xuan Yu ◽

Meng-Shi Li ◽

Yi-Peng Xu ◽

Sheraz Aslam ◽

Yuan-Kang Li

Keyword(s):

Real Time ◽

Demand Response ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Environmental Aspects ◽

Component Size ◽

Cost Of Energy ◽

Four Seasons ◽

Demand Response Program ◽

Real Time Pricing

The optimal planning of grid-connected microgrids (MGs) has been extensively studied in recent years. While most of the previous studies have used fixed or time-of-use (TOU) prices for the optimal sizing of MGs, this work introduces real-time pricing (RTP) for implementing a demand response (DR) program according to the national grid prices of Iran. In addition to the long-term planning of MG, the day-ahead operation of MG is also analyzed to get a better understanding of the DR program for daily electricity dispatch. For this purpose, four different days corresponding to the four seasons are selected for further analysis. In addition, various impacts of the proposed DR program on the MG planning results, including sizing and best configuration, net present cost (NPC) and cost of energy (COE), and emission generation by the utility grid, are investigated. The optimization results show that the implementation of the DR program has a positive impact on the technical, economic, and environmental aspects of MG. The NPC and COE are reduced by about USD 3700 and USD 0.0025/kWh, respectively. The component size is also reduced, resulting in a reduction in the initial cost. Carbon emissions are also reduced by 185 kg/year.

Download Full-text

Computer-assisted sign language translation: a study of translators’ practice to specify CAT software

Machine Translation ◽

10.1007/s10590-021-09278-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Marion Kaczmarek ◽

Michael Filhol

Keyword(s):

Sign Language ◽

Language Translation ◽

Computer Assisted ◽

Translation Process ◽

Sign Languages ◽

Subjective Data ◽

Do So

AbstractProfessional Sign Language translators, unlike their text-to-text counterparts, are not equipped with computer-assisted translation (CAT) software. Those softwares are meant to ease the translators’ tasks. No prior study as been conducted on this topic, and we aim at specifying such a software. To do so, we based our study on the professional Sign Language translators’ practices and needs. The aim of this paper is to identify the necessary steps in the text-to-sign translation process. By filming and interviewing professionals for both objective and subjective data, we build a list of tasks and see if they are systematic and performed in a definite order. Finally, we reflect on how CAT tools could assist those tasks, how to adapt the existing tools to Sign Language and what is necessary to add in order to fit the needs of Sign Language translation. In the long term, we plan to develop a first prototype of CAT software for sign languages.

Download Full-text

Mapping of affordability levels for photovoltaic-based electricity generation in the solar belt of sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia and South Asia

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-82638-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sándor Szabó ◽

Irene Pinedo Pascua ◽

Daniel Puig ◽

Magda Moner-Girona ◽

Mario Negre ◽

...

Keyword(s):

East Asia ◽

South Asia ◽

Electricity Generation ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Solar Photovoltaic ◽

Term Operation ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

High Level ◽

Do So

AbstractLack of access to modern forms of energy hampers efforts to reduce poverty. The provision of electricity to off-grid communities is therefore a long-standing developmental goal. Yet, many off-grid electrification projects neglect mid- and long-term operation and maintenance costs. When this is the case, electricity services are unlikely to be affordable to the communities that are the project’s primary target. Here we show that, compared with diesel-powered electricity generation systems, solar photovoltaic systems are more affordable to no less than 36% of the unelectrified populations in East Asia, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. We do so by developing geo-referenced estimates of affordability at a high level of resolution (1 km2). The analysis illustrates the differences in affordability that may be found at the subnational level, which underscores that electrification investments should be informed by subnational data.

Download Full-text

Alternative Exhaust Emission Factors from Vehicles in On-Road Driving Tests

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14123487 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (12) ◽

pp. 3487

Author(s):

Wojciech Gis ◽

Maciej Gis ◽

Jacek Pielecha ◽

Kinga Skobiej

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Nitrogen Oxides ◽

Particle Number ◽

Exhaust Emission ◽

The European Union ◽

Environmental Aspects ◽

Vehicle Category ◽

Urban Rural ◽

European Union Legislation ◽

Do So

On-road driving tests are performed to determine the emission of harmful exhaust compounds from vehicles. These primarily include carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particle number. However, there is a lack of indicators that combine the first three substances that are the most important in assessing the environmental aspects of vehicles. The purpose of this article is to indicate the possibility of assessing emissions in real driving conditions from light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles of different categories. In order to do so, a portable emissions measurement system (PEMS) and an instrument for measuring the particle number were used. The tests were carried out on routes designed to comply with the requirements and regulations laid down in the European Union legislation. On-road emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particle number have been determined. Factors have been determined as the multiplication of these compounds for each vehicle category in three phases of the test: urban, rural, and motorway. A new way of assessing emissions from vehicles using new factors has been proposed.

Download Full-text

Chatbot to improve learning punctuation in Spanish and to enhance open and flexible learning environments

International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education ◽

10.1186/s41239-021-00269-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Esteban Vázquez-Cano ◽

Santiago Mengual-Andrés ◽

Eloy López-Meneses

Keyword(s):

Learning Process ◽

Latent Dirichlet Allocation ◽

Distance Matrix ◽

Ease Of Use ◽

Three Dimensions ◽

Pairwise Distance ◽

Control Group ◽

Quantitative Methodology ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

Experimental Group

AbstractThe objective of this article is to analyze the didactic functionality of a chatbot to improve the results of the students of the National University of Distance Education (UNED / Spain) in accessing the university in the subject of Spanish Language. For this, a quasi-experimental experiment was designed, and a quantitative methodology was used through pretest and posttest in a control and experimental group in which the effectiveness of two teaching models was compared, one more traditional based on exercises written on paper and another based on interaction with a chatbot. Subsequently, the perception of the experimental group in an academic forum about the educational use of the chatbot was analyzed through text mining with tests of Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), pairwise distance matrix and bigrams. The quantitative results showed that the students in the experimental group substantially improved the results compared to the students with a more traditional methodology (experimental group / mean: 32.1346 / control group / mean: 28.4706). Punctuation correctness has been improved mainly in the usage of comma, colon and periods in different syntactic patterns. Furthermore, the perception of the students in the experimental group showed that they positively value chatbots in their teaching–learning process in three dimensions: greater “support” and companionship in the learning process, as they perceive greater interactivity due to their conversational nature; greater “feedback” and interaction compared to the more traditional methodology and, lastly, they especially value the ease of use and the possibility of interacting and learning anywhere and anytime.

Download Full-text

Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan and Health Security

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13084403 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (8) ◽

pp. 4403

Author(s):

Ilenia Spadaro ◽

Francesca Pirlone

Keyword(s):

Virus Disease ◽

Methodological Approach ◽

Point Of View ◽

Urban Mobility ◽

Territorial Development ◽

Sustainable Mobility ◽

Development Environment ◽

Health Security ◽

European Guidelines ◽

Sustainable Urban Mobility

The topic of sustainable mobility is now a priority at the urban level. Today’s cities are often very busy, polluted, and dangerous. Therefore, to encourage sustainable mobility is important; it brings territorial development, environment, health, society, and economy benefits. The corona virus disease-19 (COVID) emergency, which occurred at the beginning of 2020, highlighted the already critical situation in many cities and how our mobility habits were not, even before, so sustainable. Within sustainable mobility, the concept of safety and security is important to consider. In the literature, safe mobility is often associated with the theme of accidents. The pandemic has highlighted the need to consider safety also from a health point of view. Municipalities, as known, also according to European guidelines, have a specific tool at their disposal to promote sustainable mobility: the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP). This paper intends to propose a methodological approach aimed at integrating the health security aspect in the SUMP. In this research, in order to promote safe mobility, different aspects were considered: accidents, risk perception, and health emergencies. For each aspect, specific indicators and good practices were proposed for the achievement and monitoring of the expected results. The paper refers to the European context with particular attention to Italy; La Spezia was chosen as a case study.

Download Full-text

MBCL-14. A STUDY OF LOW-DOSE CRANIOSPINAL RADIATION THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH NEWLY DIAGNOSED AVERAGE-RISK MEDULLOBLASTOMA

Neuro-Oncology ◽

10.1093/neuonc/noaa222.490 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (Supplement_3) ◽

pp. iii390-iii391

Author(s):

Aaron Mochizuki ◽

Anna Janss ◽

Sonia Partap ◽

Paul Fisher ◽

Yimei Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Overall Survival ◽

Radiation Therapy ◽

Treatment Modalities ◽

Average Risk ◽

Craniospinal Radiation ◽

Grade 5 ◽

Therapy Studies ◽

Do So

Abstract INTRODUCTION Medulloblastoma is one of the most common malignant brain tumors in children. To date, the treatment of average-risk (non-metastatic, completely resected) medulloblastoma includes craniospinal radiation therapy and adjuvant chemotherapy. Modern treatment modalities and now risk stratification of subgroups have extended the survival of these patients, exposing the long-term morbidities associated with radiation therapy. METHODS We performed a single-arm, multi-institution study, seeking to reduce the late effects of treatment in patients with average-risk medulloblastoma prior to advances in molecular subgrouping. To do so, we reduced the dose of craniospinal irradiation by 25% to 18 gray with the goal of maintaining the therapeutic efficacy as described in CCG 9892 with maintenance chemotherapy. RESULTS 28 patients aged 3–30 years were enrolled across three institutions between April 2001 and December 2010. Median age at enrollment was 9 years with a median follow-up time of 11.7 years. The 3-year relapse-free (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were 78.6% (95% CI 58.4% to 89.8%) and 92.9% (95% CI 74.4% to 98.2%), respectively. The 5-year RFS and OS were 71.4% (95% CI 50.1% to 84.6%) and 85.7% (95% CI 66.3% to 94.4%), respectively. Toxicities were similar to those seen in other studies; there were no grade 5 toxicities. CONCLUSIONS Given the known neurocognitive adverse effects associated with cranial radiation therapy, studies to evaluate the feasibility of dose reduction are needed. In this study, we demonstrate that select patients with average-risk medulloblastoma may benefit from reduced craniospinal radiation dose of 18 gray without impacting relapse-free or overall survival.

Download Full-text