Search results for "Risk analysis"
showing 10 items of 375 documents
Food safety risk analysis from the producers' perspective: prioritisation of production process stages by HACCP and TOPSIS
2018
[EN] From the manufacturers perspective, the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system nowadays represents the mainly way to implement the food safety risk management in food industries. Nevertheless, the identification and prioritization of hazards as the outcome of the first principle of HACCP is not sufficient to identify production process stages that more significantly and critically contribute to the consumer¿s risks. With this recognition, the present paper proposes a Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) approach based on HACCP and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to individuate production process phases on which implementing co…
The new world of human genetic technologies: The policy environment and impacts of genetic screening tests
1995
Today it is possible to screen for mutated DNA sequences which do not induce any diseases but predispose to develop diseases under certain environmental condition. These latter disorders are called “multifactorial” since they result from the interplay of genetic and environmental factors. Among multifactorial disorders there are job-related diseases whose genetic component can be identified by genetic screening tests. The use of these tests to predict occupational disorders, to cut down on them, and to save costs—in particular for absenteeism, health care, and lawsuits—is of interest to employers and insurers. As for employees, it could entail an extremely deep invasion of privacy, economic…
Planning for an environment-friendly car
2000
During the process of developing a new product, consciously or unconsciously, a number of decisions are made that affect the environment, thus making a company responsible not only for the technical performance but also for the “environmental performance” of a product. This research paper broadly speaks about this development process and lists the various tools available to the modern decision maker for balancing the ecological, economical and technological aspects of production. The focus of this paper is on the environmental issues in the automobile industry and environmental impacts presently associated with the automobile life cycle. The paper reviews existing tools and opportunities fo…
Progress in analysis of residual antibacterials in food
2007
Abstract Residual antibacterials in food constitute a risk to human health. Although epidemiological data on the real magnitude of their adverse effects are very scarce, they indicate that food could be an important avenue for evolution and dissemination of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Analysis of these residues plays a key role in ensuring food safety, to the point that the European Union has not only established maximum residue limits but also requirements concerning the performance of analytical methods and the interpretation of the results. These specifications have had a great influence on protocols and techniques applied. In this review, we discuss the progress of rapid screening me…
IS evolution benefit assessment: Challenges with economic investment criteria
2007
Maintenance and system evolution activities have a significant role in the information system (IS) life cycle. It has been estimated that approximately 80% of the total IT expenses are allocated for maintenance activities [20]. According to Lehman’s first law, maintenance is necessary, because software needs to be continuously improved or it will get out of date and cannot respond to the requirements of its environment [19]. Despite the importance of IS evolution investments, there is a gap between the IT related costs and company profitability [27]. Brynjolfssen [10] described this as a productivity paradox: information technology utilization has increased since the 70’s but simultaneously…
A Cooperative Multi-Agent System for Crowd Sensing Based Estimation in Smart Cities
2020
The concept of Smart City has spread as a solution to ensure better access to information and services to citizens, but also as a means to reduce the environmental footprint of cities. To this end, a continuous and wide observation of the environment is necessary to analyze information that enables government bodies to act on the environment appropriately. Moreover, a diffused acquisition of information requires adequate infrastructure and proper devices, which results in relevant installation and maintenance costs. Our proposal enables reducing the number of necessary sensors to be deployed while ensuring that information is available at any time and anywhere. We present the HybridIoT syst…
Data-driven Interactive Multiobjective Optimization : Challenges and a Generic Multi-agent Architecture
2020
In many decision making problems, a decision maker needs computer support in finding a good compromise between multiple conflicting objectives that need to be optimized simultaneously. Interactive multiobjective optimization methods have a lot of potential for solving such problems. However, the growth of complexity in problem formulations and the abundance of data bring new challenges to be addressed by decision makers and method developers. On the other hand, advances in the field of artificial intelligence provide opportunities in this respect. We identify challenges and propose directions of addressing them in interactive multiobjective optimization methods with the help of multiple int…
STCMS: A Smart Thermal Comfort Monitor For Senior People
2020
Undoubtedly, the steady increase in the number of elderly people is not to be underestimated. These demographic changes call attention to new challenges regarding adequate aging-in-place strategies. Since the majority of the senior population spend up to 90% of their time indoors, appropriate and comfortable housing represents an important foundation for such strategies. In this respect, different types of data gathered from sensors, connected devices, and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies come to play an important role to support services for the elderly population in indoor environments. One of the aspects of concern is thermal comfort. In this paper, we introduce a new deep learning-…
Modelling the Tactical Behaviour of the Australian Population in a Bushfire
2015
This paper is concerned with the development of an agent-based model of population behaviour during a bushfire, to form the basis of a simulator that will be used as a decision-support tool for emergency managers. To ensure the validity of the simulation results, it is essential that the model, and the underlying agent architecture, are as realistic as possible. After providing some context about recent bushfires in Victoria, Australia, we justify the need for a BDI (belief, desire, intention) agent architecture. Although some tools exist to support the integration of such agents in simulations, they are infrequently used. We therefore show how an existing methodology for modelling military…
Modeling Vaccine Allocations in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study in Australia
2020
Timely allocation and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines on a large scale is a highly complex, dynamic, and context-specific task. The focus of this research on optimizing vaccine allocation is on the downstream part of a COVID-19 vaccine supply chain. Previous research on vaccine supply chains and pandemic supply chains has not fully incorporated the multitude of factors and underlying constraints affecting a vaccine supply chain which can be optimized to mitigate the risk of infection. An effective model is needed to conceptualize the process of the downstream vaccine supply chain to ensure efficient coordination and timely distribution of vaccines to the population. This paper develops a …