Front Matter: Volume 2

This PDF file contains the front matter of the Proceedings of CBU in Natural Sciences and ICT Volume 2 including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, Introduction, and Conference Committee listing.

BIG DATA AND DECISION-MAKING SUPPORT

INTRODUCTION: Nowadays, Big Data is created in previously unimaginable quantities. Newly generated data from various Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and their use have never reached their current dimensions. Along with this trend, the availability of devices capable of collecting this data increases, the time for their evaluation is reduced and the volume of data collected at the same time increases. The most important task of research and development in this area is to bring solutions suitable for processing large amounts of data because our current storage and processing capabilities are limited and unable to compete with the storage, processing and publication of the resulting data. OBJECTIVES: Point out the importance of implementing Big Data technology. METHODS: To achieve the goal, the following methodological approach was chosen: study and processing of foreign and domestic literature, acquaintance with similar solutions for data processing, definition of Big Data and IoT, proposal for using Big Data solution to support decision-making, risk definition and evaluation. RESULTS: With the growing amount of disparate and incoherent data and the further growth of the Internet of Things, it is now almost impossible to evaluate all available information correctly and in a timely manner. Without this knowledge, the company loses its competitive advantage and is unable to respond in a timely manner to client requests. CONCLUSION: Implementing a solution for processing Big Data to support decision-making in the company is a complex process. As part of the implementation and use of the Big Data solution to support decision-making, the company must be prepared for the emergence of various problems. We can assume that Big Data technology will constantly be evolving in terms of streamlining analytical tools for obtaining information from large volumes of generated data. Therefore, it is appropriate to create space for the implementation of Big Data technology.

A COMPARISON OF CREATING AN ANDROID APPLICATION USER INTERFACE IN XAML AND IN C# CODE

Almost every Android user application has some kind of user interface. Android programmers who create Xamarin.Forms applications and who uses the Microsoft Visual Studio development environment to do so can create user interfaces in the XAML (the Extensible Application Markup Language) or in the C# programming language. This paper deals with a comparison of creating this user interface by the first and the second way. We demonstrate the differences in the creation of Android application user interfaces in XAML and in C# by way of using two of our Android applications which were created by the Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 Enterprise, which work as text editors with the ability to store text to disc, and have user interfaces that are visually identical. However, the user interface of the first Android application was created in XAML with a C# support code, whereas the user interface of the second Android application was created entirely in C#. While comparing the source codes of the user interfaces of both these Android applications, we identify the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches to creating a user interface and we try to find out which of these approaches is better for maintaining and modifying user interfaces. In this study, we also contrast the processes of handling events of controls of a user interface created in the XAML code for the first Android application as well as that of the same user interface created in the C# code for the second Android application. Furthermore, we were interested in determining whether the different ways of creating user interfaces affected the execution time of basic operations that included disc files that were performed on the same data by both the applications. We assume that it does not fundamentally affect the execution time, and so, we performed an experiment to confirm or refute our assumption.

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE USABILITY OF DIFFERENT PRODUCTION SCHEDULING ALGORITHMS AND RULES

Production scheduling optimization is a very important part of a production process. There are production systems with one service object and systems with multiple service objects. When using several service objects, there are systems with service objects arranged in a parallel or in a serial manner. We also distinguish between systems such as flow shop, job shop, open shop and mixed shop. Throughout the history of production planning, a number of algorithms and rules have been developed to calculate optimal production plans. These algorithms and rules differ from each other in the possibilities and conditions of their application. Since there are too many possible algorithms and rules it is not easy to select the proper algorithm or rule for solving a specific scheduling problem. In this article we analyzed the usability of 33 different algorithms and rules in total. Each algorithm or rule is suitable for a specific type of problem. The result of our analysis is a set of comparison tables that can serve as a basis for making the right decision in the production process decision-making process in order to select the proper algorithm or rule for solving a specific problem. We believe that these tables can be used for a quick and easy selection of the proper algorithm or rule for solving some of the typical production scheduling problems.

DATAFICATION AS A NECESSARY STEP IN THE PROCESSING OF BIG DATA IN DECISION-MAKING TASKS OF BUSINESS

The digital transformation of business in the light of opportunities and focusing on the challenges posed by the introduction of Big Data in enterprises allows for a more accurate reflection of the internal and external environmental stimuli. Intuition ceases to be present in the decision-making process, and decision-making becomes strictly data-based. Thus, the precondition for data-based decision-making is relevant data in digital form, resulting from data processing. Datafication is the process by which subjects, objects and procedures are transformed into digital data. Only after data collection can other natural steps occur to acquire knowledge to improve the company's results if we move in the industry's functioning context. The task of finding a set of attributes (selecting attributes from a set of available attributes) so that a suitable alternative can be determined in its decision-making is analogous to the task of classification. Decision trees are suitable for solving such a task. We verified the proposed method in the case of logistics tasks. The analysis subject was tasks from logistics and 80 well-described quantitative methods used in logistics to solve them. The result of the analysis is a matrix (table), in which the rows contain the values of individual attributes defining a specific logistic task. The columns contain the values of the given attribute for different tasks. We used Incremental Wrapper Subset Selection IWSS package Weka 3.8.4 to select attributes. The resulting classification model is suitable for use in DSS. The analysis of logistics tasks and the subsequent design of a classification model made it possible to reveal the contours of the relationship between the characteristics of a logistics problem explicitly expressed through a set of attributes and the classes of methods used to solve them.

AN APPROACH FOR DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF CPSS- EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS IN BULGARIAN SCHOOL

Modern realities in the era of Industry 4.0 and the global Covid-19 pandemic place new challenges to education. It is a fact that classical learning, supported by modern information and communication technologies, provides an effective learning process, but the Covid-19 realities require a rapid transition to distance absentee learning. The use of computer-based training systems and cloud platforms has its advantages, but also problems related to the low level of personalization of the learning process and the adaptability of the learning content to the specific characteristics of each student. Cyber-physical and social systems (CPSS) largely solve the problems associated with integrating processes and interactions in the virtual world with the dynamically changing conditions of the physical world in which learning occurs. This gives grounds to draw the attention of specialists to the creation of CPSS educational platforms for secondary school. Following this approach, we created a prototype of ь CPSS educational space called BLISS. The results of the test application of this platform in the school environment give us reason to believe that if we put the learner with his/her peculiarities, goals, and interests at the center of such a system, and present him/her in the virtual space through his / her personal assistant, we could significantly increase the interactivity of the learning process and the adaptability of the offered learning content.

MODEL-ORIENTED PROGRAMMING

The problem of complex multi-component system processing arises in many fields of science and engineering. A system can be described in terms of its components, behavior, and interaction. This work proposes a new declarative Turing complete “model-oriented” programming paradigm based on the concept of “model-component” - a complex structure with well-defined characteristics and behavior, and no external methods. The set of model-components is closed under the union operation of model-components into “model-complex”. The proposed approach allows the program to describe the complex system and behavior of its components in a declarative way, possesses a higher level of encapsulation than the object-oriented paradigm, involves a reduced amount of imperative programming, and is naturally focused on parallel computations.

DESIGN OF SPECIALIZED SURGICAL SCREW INSERTED IN PLATE TYPE CERVICAL IMPLANT

In the field of Implantology the screws are an important part because they transfer the loads that occur in the bones. Surgical screws are similar to those in Mechanical Engineering, but the materials should have specific characteristics like biocompatibility, strength, corrosion resistance and fatigue strength. The main function of the surgical screw is to create pressure between two bones which is necessary in order to heal the injured bones. The surgical screw transforms all forces of the movements to pressure and distributes the pressure on the bone’s surfaces. Surgical screws can help in the setting of implants into an injured area. It also ensures static position of the injured bones. The research aims to analyse how the surgical screw type affects the bone of the patient with the help of the Finite Elements Method (FEM). Based on the results from the analysis of the surgical screw a new specialized surgical screw was designed with complex geometry to withstand the occurring loads and also be able to transfer them to the bone tissue. In additional, a comparison analysis between two different types of surgical screws was conducted. This paper shows how a surgical screw could be optimized in order to improve its function with the help of virtual tools. Finally, the materials used are biocompatible and often used for such screws and surgical implant analysis, the challenge was to recreate the bone tissue properties and to used them in the FEM analysis.

STUDENTS 'OPINION OF A SELECTED EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION ON THE USE OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION IN ORDINARY LIFE

Technological progress is becoming more significant every year, and people are witnessing a number of innovations that are becoming part of their daily lives. The development of technology is advancing at great speed because the needs and requirements of people are becoming more and more difficult to meet, and so innovations are being developed to help fulfill these needs. However, not all people accept technological progress and innovation positively. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the opinion of people, specifically students of the selected higher education institution, on new technologies and innovations. In particular we wish to evaluate their general attitude towards technological innovation, but also their views on the use of specific technologies such as robots, drones or autonomous vehicles. Students' responses as to whether they would like them and whether they would be satisfied with the aforementioned innovations being widely used in the future vary. Some would benefit from the use of such innovations, others would not. Some students don't like it because people could lose their jobs and others don't really believe in such innovations. The results of the paper provide an evaluation of all the answers given by the students.

STUDY OF THE DIGITIZATION LEVEL OF MANUFACTURING COMPANIES

Today, advances in ICT are exponential in nature, and many technologies are now being added from which businesses can benefit from their application in their processes. Digitization is a wide area that already finds active application in businesses processes. It helps create new possibilities in terms of improving process performance, responding more quickly to changes, or helping to reduce costs for different production areas. In general, digitization in an enterprise can be understood as having specific financial as well as personnel requirements. There are few levels of digitalization that we can achieve (document digitalization, digital factory, virtual factory, and smart factory). The research goal of the article is a detailed description and comparison of the individual digitization levels and their tools. The article contains two case studies in which the analysis of processes in the form of questionnaires defines the appropriateness of the level of digitization. Also, based on the analysis, it is possible to say each of the levels of digitization has a particular area of application depending on the nature of production. The main findings of the case studies are that irrelevant digitization is costly and personally demanding without achieving more significant results without analysis. Companies' more efficient operation can be achieved even if the company does not use the latest technological advances and what simple changes need to be incorporated.