Search results for "Making"

Mountain dairy wastewater treatment with the use of a 'irregularly shaped' constructed wetland (Aosta Valley, Italy)

2014

Abstract In mountain areas, economical activities related to milk processing represent both a key source of income and job opportunities. One of the main characteristics of cheese production is the seasonal variability in the volume of milk processed and wastewater production that tend to limit the capacity of ecosystems to absorb their inputs. In alpine environment, the scarcity of plain surfaces and the climatic conditions results in the need for high CW performances of variable nutrient inputs in different seasons. By evaluating a CW seasonal efficiency for dairy wastewaters in a mountain region (Aosta Valley-NW Italy), this research was aimed to understand how performances of nutrient r…

SUP&R DST: SUstainable pavement & railways decision support tool

2018

6th International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering, IALCCE 2018; Ghent; Belgium; 28 October 2018 through 31 October 2018, GHENT, BELGIQUE, 28-/10/2018 - 31/10/2018; In order to help the decisions makers to efficiently address eco-design for transport infrastructure technologies, a decision support toll (DST) was developed in the scope of the training-through-research programme Sustainable Pavements & Railways Initial Training Network (www.superitn.eu). It consists of a computational platform that implements a conceptual framework developed to quantify sustainability. It comes with a set of sustainability indicators tailored to both road and railway systems as well as several ob…

A novel framework for MR image segmentation and quantification by using MedGA

2019

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Image segmentation represents one of the most challenging issues in medical image analysis to distinguish among different adjacent tissues in a body part. In this context, appropriate image pre-processing tools can improve the result accuracy achieved by computer-assisted segmentation methods. Taking into consideration images with a bimodal intensity distribution, image binarization can be used to classify the input pictorial data into two classes, given a threshold intensity value. Unfortunately, adaptive thresholding techniques for two-class segmentation work properly only for images characterized by bimodal histograms. We aim at overcoming these limitations and…

An Architecture for Observational Learning

2014

In this thesis I present an architecture that learns new skills through observation and adapts to the environment through situated experience in the world. Such an architectural growth is bootstrapped from a minimal initial knowledge and the architecture itself is built around the biologically-inspired notion of internal models. The key idea, supported by findings in cognitive neuroscience, is that the same internal models used in overt goal-directed action execution can be covertly re-enacted in simulation to observe and understand the actions of others. The system applies these concepts to learning higher order cognitive functions like learning problem solving skills and social interactio…

Immigration, decision making and teenagers. An exploratory research in Palermo.

2017

For immigrant teenagers, especially newcomers, inclusion in school represents an additional challenge to the already complex transition from childhood to adolescence. The article proposes an exploratory research piloted in Palermo in 2016/2017 on a sample of 200 immigrant teenagers from non-European countries who are already included in the Italian school system. The aim of the research is to describe and to identify four areas: linguistic, communicative and relational difficulties, the role of training in immigrant country, reflections on their school path, decision making.

Collaboration and Decision Making in Crisis Situations

2016

[EN] Emergencies are critical situations that demand immediate action to avoid adverse consequences to life and property. Recent events around the world highlight the importance of the theme. A key challenge in Emergency Management is decision-making under time pressure, with an overload of unconfirmed, uncertain and conflicting information, including the management of many people, with distinct and possibly fluid roles, in different places. Collaboration in these settings is an interesting element, since emergency response generally involves multiple agencies and the public, which, having different views, protocols and priorities, must act in concert to handle the situation. In addition, a…

Challenges in academic commercialisation: a case study of the scientists' experiences

2017

This paper introduces findings from a 2-year commercialisation project, KnoPro, where a Finnish university and few life science companies together with a number of intermediary organisations searched for business opportunities for academic research. The data of this intensive case study are organised in narrative episodes in which the actors attached versatile meanings to commercialisation. The episodes illustrate how academics approach commercialisation from the research perspective without true commercial efforts. They prioritise research and teaching ahead of commercialisation which constitutes a challenge for commercialisation. According to this study, successful commercialisation neces…

Shared Leadership Regulates Operational Team Performance in the Presence of Extreme Decisional Consensus/Conflict: Evidences from Business Process Re…

2018

Speak their Language : Designing Effective Messages to Improve Employees’ Information Security Decision Making

2018

Employee disinterest in information security remains one of the greatest impediments to effective information security management programs. How can organizations enhance the persuasiveness of the information security messages used to warn employees of threats and encourage employees to take specific actions to improve their security? We use fear appeal theory and the elaboration likelihood model to argue that security messages presented using more personally relevant language are more likely to induce employees to engage in the recommended protective security behaviors. Our strategy uses organization identification theory to segment employees into two groups and then develops security messa…

Evidence-Based Knowledge Management: an approach to effectively promote good health-care decision-making in the Information Era.

2009

The sharing of information and the growth of knowledge together represent a foundation for the promotion of quality improvement of health care systems. This paper concerns knowledge, not only from an epistemological point of view, but also from a pragmatic one. In our paper, knowledge is discussed as the hub to promote better decision making and continuous professional development. Effective thinking is particularly needed. The critical point is to think about how health care systems can develop both an effective knowledge management network and how health-care organizations can actually be based on it. In this way, knowledge and knowledge hierarchy are defined according to Russel Achkoff's…