Search results for "Opera"

Agent-based modelling of values: the case of value sensitive design for refugee logistics

2020

We have used value sensitive design as a method to develop an agent-based model of values in humanitarian logistics for refugees. Schwartz's theory of universal values is implemented in the model in such a way that agents can make value trade-offs, which are operationalized into a measure of refugee wellbeing and a measure of public opinion about how the refugee logistics is being handled. By trying out different ‘value-scenarios’, stakeholders who are responsible for, or involved in refugee logistics can have insights into the effects of various value choices. The model is visualized and made usable as a platform (interactive website) for decision-makers to understand the trade-offs in pol…

RISULTATI DI UNA INDAGINE EFFETTUATA PRESSO L'AOUP “PAOLO GIACCONE” DI PALERMO PER LA VALUTAZIONE DEI COMPLESSI OPERATORI

2006

Qualitative models of equipment units and their use in automatic HAZOP analysis

2000

Abstract The use of qualitative models in a support system for HAZOP analyses, in connection with an algorithm for finding the causes and the consequences of variable deviations, is described. The models use several representation structures among which mini-trees constitute the most important from the logical-functional point of view. The models are conceived both for continuous and batch plants. For the latter procedures, regulating the use of equipment units are also modelled using similar structures while equipment units are considered in various phases of their functioning. A brief description of the prototype support system, in which the models are implemented, is also given.

Improved route planning and scheduling of waste collection and transport

2006

The collection of waste is a highly visible and important municipal service that involves large expenditures. Waste collection problems are, however, one of the most difficult operational problems to solve. This paper describes the optimization of vehicle routes and schedules for collecting municipal solid waste in Eastern Finland. The solutions are generated by a recently developed guided variable neighborhood thresholding metaheuristic that is adapted to solve real-life waste collection problems. Several implementation approaches to speed up the method and cut down the memory usage are discussed. A case study on the waste collection in two regions of Eastern Finland demonstrates that sign…

Evaluation of the effect of chance correlations on variable selection using Partial Least Squares -Discriminant Analysis

2013

Variable subset selection is often mandatory in high throughput metabolomics and proteomics. However, depending on the variable to sample ratio there is a significant susceptibility of variable selection towards chance correlations. The evaluation of the predictive capabilities of PLSDA models estimated by cross-validation after feature selection provides overly optimistic results if the selection is performed on the entire set and no external validation set is available. In this work, a simulation of the statistical null hypothesis is proposed to test whether the discrimination capability of a PLSDA model after variable selection estimated by cross-validation is statistically higher than t…

Higher education and the development of competencies for innovation in the workplace

2012

PurposeThis paper aims to analyze the production function nexus between higher education practice and the development of innovation‐related competencies by university graduates in Spain. The research hypothesis is the presence of statistically significant relationships between the development of innovational competencies and the modes of teaching and learning used in higher education practice.Design/methodology/approachThe relationships are modeled through a set of stochastic frontier and variance component equations with the development of each competency as the dependent variable. The main explanatory variables capture the prevalence of diverse teaching/learning modes and the behavior of …

A Spatial Difference-in-Differences Estimator to Evaluate the Effect of Change in Public Mass Transit Systems on House Prices

2014

Evaluating the impact of public mass transit systems on real-estate values is an important application of the hedonic price model (HPM). Recently, a mathematical transformation of this approach has been proposed to account for the potential omission of latent spatial variables that may overestimate the impact of accessibility to mass transit systems on values. The development of a Difference-in-Differences (DID) estimator, based on the repeat-sales approach, is a move in the right direction. However, such an estimator neglects the possibility that specification of the price equation may follow a spatial autoregressive process with respect to the dependent variable. The objective of this pap…

POOLED ESTIMATES OF INCIDENCE OF ENDOPHTHALMITIS AFTER INTRAVITREAL INJECTION OF ANTI-VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR AGENTS WITH AND WITHOUT TOPI…

2017

Purpose: To assess the effect of topical antibiotic prophylaxis on postoperative endophthalmitis after intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor agents.Methods: A systematic literature search was performed from inception to March 2016 using PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library, to identify articles that reported cases of endophthalmitis after intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor agents. We used a pooled analysis to estimate the incidence of cases of endophthalmitis who developed after injections performed with and without topical antibiotic prophylaxis. We used regression analysis to explore the effects of stu…

A method of desingularization for analytic two-dimensional vector field families

1991

It is well known that isolated singularities of two dimensional analytic vector fields can be desingularized: after a finite number of blowing up operations we obtain a vector field that exhibits only elementary singularities. In the present paper we introduce a similar method to simplify the periodic limit sets of analytic families of vector fields. Although the method is applied here only to reduce to families in which the zero set has codimension at least two, we conjecture that it can be used in general. This is related to the famouss Hibert's problem about planar vector fields.

Octupolar excitation of ion motion in a Penning trap: A theoretical study

2014

Abstract High-precision Penning-trap mass spectrometry uses the resonant conversion of the magnetron motional mode into the cyclotron motional mode to determine the cyclotron frequency of the ions under investigation. Usually the conversion process is performed by interaction of the ions with external quadrupolar rf-fields. Recently it was found that conversion by means of octupolar rf-fields entails a tremendous increase in mass resolution and is thus of great interest. However, the conversion results depend in an intricate way on the amplitudes and phases of the octupolar rf-field and of the motional modes of the ions. Experimental progress was hampered by the lack of an underlying theory…