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In this paper, we present an overview of Nearest neighbour (NN) methods, which are frequently employed for solving classification problems using supervised learning. The article concisely introduces the theoretical background, algorithmic, and implementation aspects along with the key applications. From an application standpoint, this article explores the challenges related to the 5G and beyond wireless networks which can be solved using NN classification techniques.

The Microsoft HoloLens is a head-worn mobile augmented reality device. It allows a real-time 3D mapping of its direct environment and a self-localisation within the acquired 3D data. Both aspects are essential for robustly augmenting the local environment around the user with virtual contents and for the robust interaction of the user with virtual objects. Although not primarily designed as an indoor mapping device, the Microsoft HoloLens has a high potential for an efficient and comfortable mapping of both room-scale and building-scale indoor environments. In this paper, we provide a survey on the capabilities of the Microsoft HoloLens (Version 1) for the efficient 3D mapping and modelling of indoor scenes. More specifically, we focus on its capabilities regarding the localisation (in terms of pose estimation) within indoor environments and the spatial mapping of indoor environments. While the Microsoft HoloLens can certainly not compete in providing highly accurate 3D data like laser scanners, we demonstrate that the acquired data provides sufficient accuracy for a subsequent standard rule-based reconstruction of a semantically enriched and topologically correct model of an indoor scene from the acquired data. Furthermore, we provide a discussion with respect to the robustness of standard handcrafted geometric features extracted from data acquired with the Microsoft HoloLens and typically used for a subsequent learning-based semantic segmentation.

Policies for investment in biofuel production facilities and feedstock may be necessary in order to meet climate and renewable energy targets. These policies entail a trade-off between high transportation costs of biomass and economies of scale of production facilities. We develop a spatial optimisation model and investigate the cost-effective localization of production facilities for ethanol from agricultural land in Sweden. Feedstock costs are found to be most important in determining the location, although high feedstock density motivates locating large facilities in areas with high feedstock costs. At higher production, feedstock from the whole country is preferred despite high transport costs.

This paper presents the first usage of road surface defects as a means of vehicle position detection. Whilst several applications are possible, this work focuses on use in Formula E racing, where several driver information systems depend heavily upon accurate vehicle position estimation, including energy management advice and split time information, and where use of common positioning systems such as GPS is forbidden. Teams currently estimate the position on track by integrating vehicle speed, but this is susceptible to error accumulation throughout a lap, diminishing the precision and value of driver information systems. This work presents a method to improve the vehicle's position estimate by detecting bumps in the road surface using suspension damper displacement data, an approach which is novel because it is independent of common positioning techniques such as GPS. These bumps are used as positionally-fixed checkpoints around the track, allowing the positional estimate to be regularly corrected, mitigating drift in the original estimated position. Results of the bump detection algorithm developed show for the first time that this technique can pinpoint the vehicle position with a precision of 1.41m standard deviation, with scope for further improvement. This result is significant for positioning surface vehicles where other more standard techniques are precluded. In the Formula E application the approach is found to improve the precision (consistency) of the vehicle positional estimate for large parts of the circuit, which will allow higher quality and more reliable information to be given to the driver, thereby giving a competitive advantage.

Background Uterine adenomyosis is a benign disease, common among women in their 40 and 50 s, characterised by ectopic endometrial tissue in the uterine myometrial layer. Adenomyosis causes infertility and has a negative effect on the outcomes of in vitro fertilisation (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) embryo transfer (ET) cycles. It has also been reported to have different characteristics depending on the adenomyotic lesion localisation. The effect of its localisation on IVF/ICSI-ET outcomes is unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether adenomyotic lesion localisation, assessed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), was associated with outcomes of IVF/ICSI-ET cycles. Methods This multicentre, joint, retrospective cohort study analysed the medical records of 67 infertile patients with adenomyosis who underwent IVF/ICSI with fresh and frozen-thawed ET at five participating facilities from January 2012 to December 2016 and for whom MRI data were available. Fifteen patients were excluded; therefore, the MRI data of 52 patients were evaluated by two radiologists. We assessed the localisation of and classified adenomyotic lesions into advanced (invades the full thickness of the uterine myometrium), extrinsic (localised on the serosal side), and intrinsic (localised on the endometrial side) subtypes. Results There were 40 advanced, nine extrinsic, and three intrinsic cases, and the outcomes of 100, 27, and nine ET cycles, respectively, were analysed. Pregnancy loss/clinical pregnancy and live birth rates of the advanced, extrinsic, and intrinsic groups were 64 % (16/25) and 9 % (9/100), 33.3 % (3/9) and 22.2 % (6/27), and 50 % (1/2) and 11.1 % (1/9), respectively. A logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, prior miscarriage, and body mass index showed that the extrinsic group had fewer pregnancy losses (odds ratio 0.06; 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 0.00–0.54, p = 0.026) and more live births (odds ratio 6.05; 95 % CI: 1.41–29.65, p = 0.018) than the advanced group. Conclusions Adenomyotic lesions exert different effects on IVF/ICSI-ET outcomes. Thus, MRI assessments of adenomyosis in infertile patients are beneficial. Establishment of treatment plans based on adenomyotic lesion localisation should be considered.

In this study, the purpose is to provide an efficient and original indoor area localization and presentation via picture and the voice assistance in a museum, using beacon devices based on the Bluetooth Low Energy technology infrastructure and embedded electronic circuit systems. In this context, a localization procedure is carried out via a Bluetooth module and an embedded microcontroller. A hardware as well as a software was developed in order to read the data broadcasted from radio frequency beacons, which support Bluetooth 4.0 technology. By using AT commands and a location identification system as well as a software which is designed and implemented on a microcontroller system detects the nearest beacon, therefore the desired area, based on the ID numbers of beacons and received signal strengths. Using this system, visitor locations can be determined and visitors are provided with visual or audio content based on their distance to the artworks. This study may be a prototype base application for future developments.

In Slovakia there is no tradition of localisation of video games. Foreign countries, however, have much to offer regarding the academic environment and practical outcomes. The Slovak market does not even offer Slovak localisations of video games for children who are entitled to Slovak localisations pursuant to Slovak legislation. Our paper aims to examine the issue of Slovak video game localisation, present the most serious results of our research, and offer goals for future research aimed at specific aspects of localisation of video games for Slovak children and their multimodality.

In today's highly competitive global business landscape, customers demand personalised products and responsive distribution systems, hence fuelling the concept of Distributed Manufacturing (DM) as a paradigm that suggests the geographical distribution of manufacturing systems adjacent to the markets enable ‘production on demand’. To this end, the objective of this research is to explore the DM concept to inform firms about the dynamically changing manufacturing environment, along with the emerging opportunities, and support business stakeholders in implementing DM-oriented strategies to achieve digitalisation, personalisation, and localisation. More specifically, the present research builds upon the Dynamic Capability Theory (DCT) and conducts semi-structured interviews with a panel of 16 experts from the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods, Automotive, and Engineering industries to develop 12 exploratory industry cases. Our analysis highlights three strategies that companies can adopt to implement DM and realise shorter lead times and personalised product offerings, namely: (i) small-scale DM; (ii) in-house decoupled manufacturing; and (iii) outsourced decoupled manufacturing. However, the economic viability of the DM concept is identified as a significant barrier to relinquish the traditional centralised economies-of-scale. This research contributes by applying the DCT to the DM concept to advocate the viability and sustainability of manufacturing systems in the era of Industry 4.0. Pertaining to the originality of this research, limited work is available on the applicability of DM in industries, from the DCT perspective, to accomplish competitive advantages in the dynamic environment of manufacturing.

INTRODUCTION[|] Of the ischemic strokes, 25 % involve the posterior circulation ischemic infarcts (POCI) and pontine infarctions account for about 7% of all ischemic strokes. Isolated pontine infarctions are usually classified into two types: paramedian pontine infarcts (PPIs) and small deep pontine infarcts (SDPIs). The main pathogenesis of each of the two types differ. Our study was designed to investigate the main causes of isolated pontine infarctions. [¤]METHODS[|]A retrospective search of the patient database of our institution was performed for a total of 122 patients who were admitted to our neurology clinic between January 2010 and June 2018. Acute ischemic stroke patients, comprising 48 PPI patients and 74 SDPI patients, were enrolled. Routine etiological investigations were performed for each patient, and clinical data were collected.[¤]RESULTS[|]Of the 122 enrolled patients, the most frequent etiological cause of isolated pontine infarction was small vessel disease. There were 48 with PPI and 74 with SDPI patients. Hypertension was the most frequent chronic risk factor with the ratio of 68 %. But there was no significant difference in the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, dislipidemia, coronary artery disease between patients with PPI and SDPI. In PPI group echocardiography was normal in all patients. In SDPI group 11 patients had abnormal cardioembolic findings and it was significantly important. Also male predominancy was detected in SDPI group and in males cardioembolic echocardiography findings were more prevalent than females.[¤]DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION[|]Cardioembolism may be the major cause of SDPI while basillar artery (BA) atherosclerosis remains the cause of PPI in our study. This information may assist in therapeutic approaches of isolated pontine infarction subtypes.[¤]

This paper presents a novel method for a precise localization of the automated-fiber-placement head, without the need for a data access to the machine control. It is based on a sub-pixel accurate optical-flow-algorithm which determines information about the heads movement by means of the material flow in sequences of IR images. Using local curvatures in the temperature field of the IR images, feature matrices are created which can locally be compared to the features of successive images. Thus, the translation between images become visible. This enables the possibility to perform an accurate ($$16.8\,\upmu{\mathrm{m}}$$ 16.8 μ m ) and self-sufficient process monitoring that additionally is capable of capturing the motion and position information of the AFP system and can be linked to existing algorithms for defect detection and classification.

Global staffing is a crucial factor for the success of the overseas operations of multinational corporations (MNCs). This study examines the contextual and organisational factors that affect the localisation of subsidiary staffing in the overseas operations of Japanese multinational companies. Using panel data containing more than 15 000 observations of Japanese overseas subsidiaries and a random-effects logit model, we found that the cultural distance between the home country and the host country has a significant impact on the localisation of subsidiary staffing. In addition, the strategic importance of subsidiaries, as well as the local market orientation and business experiences in the host country, but not research and development (R&D) intensity of Japanese parent firms, have a significant impact on the localisation of foreign subsidiary staffing. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Datasets of mobile phone trajectories collected by network operators offer an unprecedented opportunity to discover new knowledge from the activity of large populations of millions. However, publishing such trajectories also raises significant privacy concerns, as they contain personal data in the form of individual movement patterns. Privacy risks induce network operators to enforce restrictive confidential agreements in the rare occasions when they grant access to collected trajectories, whereas a less involved circulation of these data would fuel research and enable reproducibility in many disciplines. In this work, we contribute a building block toward the design of privacy-preserving datasets of mobile phone trajectories that are truthful at the record level. We present GLOVE, an algorithm that implements k-anonymity, hence solving the crucial unicity problem that affects this type of data while ensuring that the anonymized trajectories correspond to real-life users. GLOVE builds on original insights about the root causes behind the undesirable unicity of mobile phone trajectories, and leverages generalization and suppression to remove them. Proof-of-concept validations with large-scale real-world datasets demonstrate that the approach adopted by GLOVE allows preserving a substantial level of accuracy in the data, higher than that granted by previous methodologies. This work was supported by the Atracción de Talento Investigador program of the Comunidad de Madrid under Grant No. 2019-T1/TIC-16037 NetSense.

Shanghai’s modern architectural heritage in the 19th and early 20th centuries is an essential aspect of modern Chinese architectural history because of its outstanding characteristics and well-preserved conditions. Modern Shanghai architecture was transformed by the importation of Western structural technologies and materials in addition to their forms and institutions. After 100 years of development since 1843, there were over 100 important buildings in the Bund area by 1943. These buildings were built in different periods using the best available structural technologies. This study focuses on the technological dimension of modern Shanghai architecture. Based on an architectural survey and a literature investigation of the Bund buildings, this study explores the evolution of modern structural technologies in Shanghai by analysing the Bund buildings’ key structural factors. The influences of the localisation and implementation of Western architecture’s building technologies in Shanghai were also analysed, including time of importation, characteristics and integration of local craftsmanship and materials. This study focuses on the method and analyses of architectural technology history from not only technological and historical perspectives, but also a social sciences perspective.

Humanitarian governance is usually understood according to the classic, Dunantist paradigm that accords central importance to international humanitarian agencies. However, this is increasingly paralleled by 'resilience humanitarianism' that focuses, among other things, on including national actors in humanitarian governance. This article views humanitarian governance as emerging through interactions between authorities, implementing agencies and communities. It is based on interactive ethnography in five countries by Partners for Resilience (PfR). Using the Theory of Change (ToC) tool, it analyses the various interpretations and priorities of actors involved in humanitarian problems, solutions and programme governance. For example, PfR had a 'software' focus, aiming to unlock communities' potential for resilience, whereas communities and authorities preferred to receive tangible 'hardware' support. The findings highlight the crucial role of local authorities in shaping humanitarian aid. This is especially pertinent in view of the international agenda to localise aid, which requires the understanding and support of national actors in order to responsibly protect the vulnerable.

Introduction Pour les grands distributeurs et les industriels, la question de l’externalisation des activités logistiques à des prestataires spécialisés se pose depuis une trentaine d’années, avec la création puis l’expansion continue de puissantes entreprises comme Kuehne+Nagel, XPO Logistics, Geodis ou encore FM Logistic, dont le métier est de proposer à leurs clients des services logistiques personnalisés, intégrant une multitude de composantes (transport, préparation de commandes, gestion...

Introduction Le samedi 15 juin 1963, Carrefour, une petite société de commerce de détail de Haute-Savoie, qui avait été créée en juillet 1959 pour exploiter deux supermarchés, à Annecy-Parmelan (juin 1960, sur 650 m2) et Cran-Gevrier (avril 1963, sur 850 m2), ouvrait, son troisième magasin à Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, une ville de classes moyennes de 18000 habitants, en banlieue sud de Paris, à côté du nouvel aéroport d’Orly. Ainsi que le mentionnait l’Enseigne sur la façade principale, ce ma...

Le retailing – ou commerce de détail – est un secteur d’activité en développement constant depuis des années sur les marchés français, européen et mondial créant ainsi de la valeur, des opportunités entrepreneuriales et des emplois. Cependant, peu d’auteurs se sont penchés sur les problématiques liées au retailing. En l’honneur du professeur Gérard Cliquet, à l’IGR-IAE Rennes – Université de Rennes 1, plusieurs de ses anciens doctorants, de ses doctorants et de ses collègues ont accepté de contribuer à cet ouvrage. La première partie est dédiée au retailing en général, incluant notamment la distribution, le commerce de détail et les réseaux de points de vente. La seconde partie est dédiée à la localisation au sens large du terme : localisation des points de vente d’un réseau, urbanisme commercial, localisation en lien avec l’émergence de l’Internet, et localisation des produits au sein d’un point de vente. Cet ouvrage multidisciplinaire pourra susciter l’intérêt d’enseignants-chercheurs et d’étudiants de différentes disciplines des sciences de gestion mais aussi, de professionnels du secteur en quête d’un éclairage original pouvant les conduire à de nouvelles pratiques.

Introduction Entreprendre en tant que commerçant implique de choisir entre l’indépendance absolue et l’adhésion à un réseau, qui permet notamment de bénéficier d’une enseigne commune. Alors que l’entrepreneuriat est souvent considéré comme une expérience et un défi à titre individuel, il peut aussi être envisagé dans une perspective collective (Bataille-Chedotel & Huntzinger 2004). Les entrepreneurs susceptibles de tenir un commerce ont plus de probabilités d’obtenir de meilleurs résultats en...

Introduction Bien que le commerce de détail organise depuis longtemps les échanges entre les hommes, sa structuration demeure récente. Les points de vente se professionnalisent, les épiceries de quartier laissent désormais la place à des magasins de proximité, savamment organisés, nouveaux fers de lance des réseaux de grande distribution. Les hypermarchés se sophistiquent constamment au gré des innovations technologiques, ils deviennent de vrais temples de la consommation. D’un essor croissan...

Introduction L’innovation est un thème qui a été largement exploré : étude de la nature des objets techniques et du processus de leur concrétisation technique, culturelle et sociale (Latour 1992 ; Sfez 1973), définition de l’innovation et analyse des mécanismes de diffusion, de succès et d’échec des innovations (Akrich, Callon & Latour 1988 ; Schumpeter 1934), logique et organisation de la conception des produits (Duchamps 1999 ; Weil 1996 ; Midler 1993), étude des liens entre innovation prod...

Introduction Depuis quelques années, la grande distribution alimentaire s’est lancée sur le créneau de la proximité et a développé de nouveaux concepts que ce soit en France (Carrefour avec Carrefour City, Carrefour Contact et Carrefour Express ; Casino avec Casino Shop et Casino Shopping et les enseignes Monop’ et Monop’Daily, Super U avec Utile et U Express ou encore Auchan avec A2Pas) ou à l’étranger (Tesco, Walmart… ). Ces magasins ont parfois été désignés comme des convenience stores à l...

Introduction L’Éthiopie, la République Démocratique du Congo, la Côte d’Ivoire, le Mozambique, la Tanzanie et le Rwanda sont dans le top 13 des pays avec le taux de croissance cumulé le plus élevé pour la période 2014-2017, sur la base des Perspectives économiques mondiales de la Banque Mondiale. En plus de la croissance économique, la croissance démographique est aussi à souligner. Par exemple, la République Démocratique du Congo, l’Éthiopie et l’Égypte seront parmi les douze pays les plus p...

Introduction Le ralentissement de la croissance des ventes de la marque de distributeur (MDD) depuis 2012 (en recul de 2 points entre 2013 et 2015) amène les distributeurs à recentrer leurs efforts et leurs choix stratégiques sur cet outil, source d’unicité et de création de valeur à long terme pour le client. L’article 62 de la loi du 15 mai 2001 définit la MDD comme « le produit dont les caractéristiques ont été définies par l’entreprise ou le groupe d’entreprises qui en assure la vente au ...

La première partie de cet ouvrage préparé en l’honneur du professeur Gérard Cliquet est dédiée au retailing en général, incluant notamment la distribution, le commerce de détail, les réseaux de points de vente et les entreprises plus globalement. Le retailing est un secteur d’activité en développement constant depuis des années sur le marché français et crée de nombreuses opportunités entrepreneuriales et opportunités d’emplois. Dans le premier chapitre de cette première partie, Marc Filser p...

Introduction L’analyse de la localisation porte sur la modélisation et la formulation d’un ensemble de problèmes et de solutions associés à l’emplacement d’établissements dans un espace donné (ReVelle & Eiselt 2005). Dans la littérature sur le commerce de détail, la localisation est clairement et depuis longtemps considérée comme un déterminant majeur de la performance des firmes (Jones & Simmons 1987), et comme un facteur de performance décisif pour les réseaux de distribution (Cliquet 1998)...

Introduction « La France est le seul pays en Europe où l’arsenal législatif, en matière de commerce, est tout à la fois aussi fourni que mal appliqué. Pire encore, non seulement toutes ses lois ont été violées et détournées de leur objet, mais elles ont favorisé des rentes de situation et accéléré le développement de fortunes… Elles ont été à l’origine d’un système de corruption qui n’a pas d’équivalent dans l’histoire de notre pays. » (Bothorel & Sassier 2005) La réglementation relative à l’...

Introduction Depuis sa formulation première dans le rapport « Intelligence économique et stratégie des entreprises » du Commissariat général du Plan de 1994, l’intelligence économique s’est imposée aux entreprises comme une démarche managériale nécessaire dont l’objectif est de rationaliser les flux d’informations stratégiques et opérationnelles autour d’un dispositif unificateur (Lebrument & De La Robertie 2012). Paradoxalement, l’intelligence économique est l’objet d’assez peu de travaux de...

Introduction Les réseaux de franchise, en tant qu’organisations hybrides, ont été, et restent des objets organisationnels très étudiés en raison notamment de leur performance et de leur déploiement très important dans notre environnement commercial. Si de nombreuses recherches ont été menées pour expliquer l’intérêt du franchisage par rapport au succursalisme (Oxenfeld & Kelly 1968 ; Barroncelli & Manaresi 1996 ; Kaufmann & Dant 1996, etc.), de non moins nombreux travaux ont été conduits afin...

Introduction théorique à la problématique Si la détermination de la localisation optimale des offres, compte tenu de leur caractère complémentaire ou non, est un problème crucial en merchandising, les méthodes employées sont pour l’essentiel encore purement empiriques. L’adoption d’une posture plus scientifique mène ici : en 1) à une formalisation mathématique du problème ; en 2) à la définition d’un protocole de résolution numérique, explicitant les différents choix à effectuer et les altern...

Introduction La dynamique du commerce de détail constitue une interrogation lancinante pour les entreprises de ce secteur, dont la presse professionnelle se fait constamment l’écho. Or, force est de constater que la recherche académique en distribution ne reflète que très partiellement l’importance de ce thème. En parcourant les sommaires des principales revues de recherche consacrées à la distribution, on observe une évolution similaire à celle des revues généralistes en marketing : l’analys...

Introduction La presse professionnelle se fait quotidiennement l’écho d’initiatives d’enseignes qui mettent en place différents dispositifs liés à leur stratégie omni-canal, par exemple la livraison en 3 h pour la FNAC, l’e-réservation chez Célio ou encore la solution KiabiConnect qui permet aux utilisateurs de partager leur expérience de shopping en magasin avec leurs amis via les réseaux sociaux. Par la mise en place de telles solutions web-to-store et store-to-web, les enseignes s’efforcen...

Introduction Les premiers oculomètres (en anglais, eye-tracker) ont été conçus à la fin du xixe siècle (Huey 1898 ; Delabarre 1898 ; Dodge & Cline 1901). Ils étaient souvent intrusifs, pouvant nécessiter par exemple une anesthésie locale quand un matériel était déposé à la surface de l’œil. Tout au long du xxe siècle, les systèmes d’enregistrement des mouvements des yeux ont été améliorés afin d’aboutir à des dispositifs à la fois non invasifs pour le participant et plus faciles d’utilisation...

Wire-guided localisation (WGL) has been the mainstay for localising non-palpable breast lesions before excision. Due to its limitations, various wireless alternatives have been developed. In this prospective study, we evaluate the role of radiation-free wireless localisation using the SAVI SCOUT® system at the London Breast Institute. A total of 72 reflectors were deployed in 67 consecutive patients undergoing breast conserving surgery for non-palpable breast lesions. The mean interval between deployment and surgery for the therapeutic cases was 18.8 days (range: 0–210). The median deployment duration was 5 min (range: 1–15 min). The mean distance from the lesion was 1.1 mm (median distance: 0, range: 0–20 mm). The rate of surgical localisation and retrieval of the reflector was 98.6% and 100%, respectively. The median operating time was 28 min (range: 15–55 min) for the therapeutic excision of malignancy and 17 min (range: 15–24) for diagnostic excision. The incidence of reflector migration was 0%. Radial margin positivity in malignant cases was 7%. The median weight for malignant lesions was 19.6 g (range: 3.5–70 g). Radiologists and surgeons rated the system higher than WGL (93.7% and 98.6%, respectively, 60/64 and 70/71). The patient mean satisfaction score was 9.7/10 (n = 47, median = 10, range: 7–10). One instance of signal failure was reported. In patients who had breast MRI after the deployment of the reflector, the MRI void signal was &lt, 5 mm (n = 6). There was no specific technique-related surgical complication. Our study demonstrates that wire-free localisation using SAVI SCOUT® is an effective and time-efficient alternative to WGL with excellent physician and patient acceptance.

We consider a mobile robot localising itself through a set of UWB wireless anchors. We show how the use of an appropriate localisation algorithm allows for an analytical estimate of the localisation uncertainty. This information is used to build a potential-based motion planning algorithm that drives the robot along trajectories, while achieving a good tradeoff between moving toward the goal and keeping localisation uncertainty reasonably low.

Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic brought unprecedented changes leading to ‘business unusual’ in all facets of life and livelihood on a global scale. The restrictions on gathering, social distancing and lockdown measures necessitated by the need to curtail its spread, had, and still have an enormous impact on the educational sector as indeed all spheres of life. These measures implied a change in the traditional modus operandi of curriculum and delivery options for educational institutions in South Africa in the bid to continue academic sessions. Hence, a transition of educational institutions from physical interactions to virtual meetings and the need to evolve curriculum contents and delivery. Aim: With the peculiarity of the South African socioeconomic and political space, this article assessed the viability of curriculum change and delivery options (e-teaching and learning) for both students and instructors in the higher institution and the varied implications. It drew from discourses around the theory of localisation within educative context to create a more student-centred approach especially with the situation of less physical contact. Setting: The discourse is set within the South African educational space. Method: Considering the novelty of Covid-19 research and the challenge of contact, the study adopted a participatory action desktop research method to collect and analyse secondary data. The article vividly discussed how institutions transitioned to a localisation of frameworks and policies to ensure successful academic sessions. Results: The educational landscape in South Africa is still plagued with historical antecedents of social injustice, funding, and resource allocation as well as the ever-present pressure of making education affordable to majority of local students. Also, the weakness of the online teaching methods to the physical contact method for learners and practitioners could be summed up into the issues of connectivity, technical knowledge, and attention span. Conclusion: The conclusion enumerated the need for the implementation of policies and frameworks on proper utilisation of online systems to adjust to the demands of less contact-based approaches in favour of virtual approaches. The study called for adequate consideration to issues around the localisation of teaching and learning techniques considering the peculiarities of South Africa with focus on the opportunities, feasibility, and challenges of online measures especially for those in economically disadvantaged spaces.

Purpose The study aimed to evaluate audiological benefits, quality of hearing and safety of two Bonebridge generation: BCI601 and BCI602 (MED-EL, Innsbruck, Austria) in children. Methods Twelve children were implanted: five BCI601 and seven BCI602 comprising of ten conductive hearing loss, and two single sided deaf SSD subjects. Audiological outcomes tested were sound field audiometry, functional gain, speech recognition threshold (SRT50), speech recognition in noise (SPRINT) and localisation abilities. Subjective measures were Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ12). Results The mean FG with the BCI601 was 25.0 dB and with the BCI602 28.0 dB. The benefit in SRT50 was 23.2 dB and 33.8 dB, respectively. The mean benefit in SPRINT was 15% and 6.7% and the localisation ability improved from 33.3° to 16° and from 26.2° to 17.6°, respectively. The two SSD subjects reported a FG of 17 dB, a benefit in SRT50 of 22.5 and a benefit in SPRINT of 20%. Subjective outcomes improved significantly and even exceeded the values of their age-and sex matched normal hearing peers. One revision was reported: a retroauricular emphysema above the implant occurred 12 months post-OP, it was resolved operatively with the implant still being functional. Conclusion The pediatric cohort reports significant audiological benefit, even exceeding that of the age- and sex matched control. The combination of the high safety and audiological benefit makes the Bonebridge a comfortable and effective option in hearing rehabilitation in children.

In Algeria, private physicians settle much more in the northern regions of the country and preferably in the large metropolises than in the rest of regions. The purpose of this article is, first, to analyze the inequity in — and the evolution of — the geographical distribution of Algerian private physicians and, secondly, to estimate the main determinants of doctors’ density in 1998 and 2017. The inequalities in distribution is measured using the Gini index and the coefficient of variation. The econometric models (static and dynamic) were estimated by the ordinary least squares. Our results show that overall disparities increased slightly between 1998-2017. The same well-endowed wilayas (departments) still continue to attract new physicians. The econometric estimate suggests that the population density and per capita social security expenditure are the main determinants of physicians’ geographic location in both the static and dynamic models. Ultimately, the increase in the number of trained physicians does not automatically solve the problem of their geographical distribution, particularly in a context characterized by the absence of any government policy towards the private healthcare. En Algérie, les médecins libéraux s'installent beaucoup plus dans les régions du nord du pays, et de préférence dans les grandes métropoles, que dans le reste des régions. L’objectif de cet article est, premièrement, d’analyser les inégalités et l'évolution de la répartition géographique des médecins libéraux algériens et, deuxièmement, d’estimer les principaux déterminants de leur densité médicale en 1998 et 2017. Les inégalités sont mesurées par l'indice de Gini et le coefficient de variation. Les modèles économétriques (statique et dynamique) ont été estimés par la méthode des moindres carrés ordinaires. Nos résultats montrent que les disparités globales ont légèrement augmenté entre 1998 et 2017. Les mêmes wilayas (départements) bien dotées continuent toujours d'attirer les nouveaux médecins. L'estimation économétrique suggère que la densité de la population et les dépenses de la sécurité sociale par habitant sont les principaux déterminants de la localisation géographique des médecins, à la fois dans les modèles statiques et dynamiques. En définitive, l'augmentation du nombre de médecins formés ne résout pas automatiquement le problème de leur répartition géographique, notamment dans un contexte caractérisé par l'absence de toute politique publique à l'égard du secteur privé des soins. En Argelia, el ejercicio libre de los médicos se localiza con mayor presencia en las regiones del norte del país, y preferentemente en las grandes metrópolis. Este artículo presenta dos objetivos. El primero corresponde a analizar las desigualdades y evolución en la distribución geográfica de los médicos argelinos y, en segundo lugar, estimar las principales determinantes de su densidad médica en 1998 y 2017. Las desigualdades se medien mediante el índice de Gini y el coeficiente de variación. Los modelos econométricos (estáticos y dinámicos) fueron estimados por el método de mínimos cuadrados ordinarios. Los resultados expresan que las disparidades aumentaron ligeramente y de manera global entre 1998 y 2017, donde los departamentos (wilayas) bien dotados continúan atrayendo a nuevos médicos. La estimación econométrica tanto estática como dinámica, sugiere que la densidad de población y el gasto en seguridad social per cápita se constituyen como las principales determinantes en la localización geográfica de profesionales. Así, el incremento del número de médicos formados no resuelve automáticamente el problema de su distribución geográfica, particularmente en un texto de usencia de una política pública hacia el sector sanitario privado.

The article broadly examines how humanitarian aid for Rohingya refugees inadvertently harmed poorer hosts and adversely affected local capacities for peace. The article also discusses possible ways of easing tension and improving social cohesion in the refugee-hosting areas, while also highlighting how policy- and mandate-related constraints hinder a humanitarian response anchored in the "Do No Harm" principle. Finally, the article concludes with the argument that the humanitarian agencies should not just limit themselves to identifying the unintended consequences and lapses in the intervention. Instead, the Do No Harm principle should lead humanitarian aid agencies to make an active effort to accept responsibility for the harm while taking all necessary steps to mitigate or avoid harming in future interventions.

Dundee City has been successful in installing green infrastructure for charging electric vehicles (EVs). This intervention matches the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of affordable clean energy (SDG 7), sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11) and climate action (SDG 13) of the United Nations General Assembly Agenda 2030 (Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development). Local authorities can align interventions with SDGs according to needs. The purpose of this paper is to consider whether Dundee’s EV strategy represents the most viable and equitable intervention that could be adopted given the city’s context. We adopt a positive review and value argumentation approach to determine the extent to which the strategy satisfies the criteria of “level of urgency”, “systemic impact” and “policy gaps”, which have been employed in the extant literature as the basis for a multi-criteria analysis (MCA). We eclectically review elements of the strategy against the city’s peculiar physical and socio-economic environment, as well as argue their fit against these criteria. We interpret these criteria based on the complementarity and benefits of the strategy from the lenses of SDG 7, SDG 11 and SDG 13. Additionally, we consider the alignment of the EV strategy with the other SDGs. The criteria also allow us to evaluate the strategy based on the localisation principles of equity, acceptability and affordability of the intervention. Our review shows that the EV strategy represents a sustainable and community life-enhancing intervention that aligns with some key SDGs. However, the outcome raises concerns about the equitability of the strategy. Smaller, similar or bigger cities could utilise this approach. However, we recommend the evaluation of local priorities to improve alignment with the SDGs and the provision of clear justifications for selecting an intervention from a range of responses.

This study aims to help people working in the field of AI understand some of the unique issues regarding disabled people and examines the relationship between the terms “Personalisation” and “Classification” with regard to disability inclusion. Classification using big data struggles to cope with the individual uniqueness of disabled people, and whereas developers tend to design for the majority so ignoring outliers, designing for edge cases would be a more inclusive approach. Other issues that are discussed in the study include personalising mobile technology accessibility settings with interoperable profiles to allow ubiquitous accessibility; the ethics of using genetic data-driven personalisation to ensure babies are not born with disabilities; the importance of including disabled people in decisions to help understand AI implications; the relationship between localisation and personalisation as assistive technologies need localising in terms of language as well as culture; the ways in which AI could be used to create personalised symbols for people who find it difficult to communicate in speech or writing; and whether blind or visually impaired person will be permitted to “drive” an autonomous car. This study concludes by suggesting that the relationship between the terms “Personalisation” and “Classification” with regards to AI and disability inclusion is a very unique one because of the heterogeneity in contrast to the other protected characteristics and so needs unique solutions.

5h International Symposium on Multidisciplinary Studies and Innovative Technologies, ISMSIT 2021 -- 21 October 2021 through 23 October 2021 -- -- 174473, Wireless sensor and actor networks (WSANs) compose of ordinary sensor networks and actor devices equipped with various capabilities. These networks are crucial technologies which are located at the communication layer of Internet of things. Actors (agents) are employed to provide decentralized control of the sensor networks. We propose an actor controlled framework for localization and clustering in sensor networks. To the best of our knowledge, our framework is the first which offers both localization and clustering within constant message complexity per node. In this structure, a mobile actor device traverses the sensor network to localize and cluster the sensor nodes. Total energy consumption of the sensor nodes using this method are reduced compared to the distributed approaches. Moreover, cluster quality of our algorithms is better than their counterparts. We show that our framework provides a suitable infrastructure for cluster-based applications in an energy efficient manner. © 2021 IEEE.

Aquest article descriu el disseny i la implementació d'un nou entorn per a la interconnectivitat de components de localització distribuïts, tant de codi obert com a propietari, donant així resposta a l'escassetat d'estudis d'investigació rellevants en aquesta àrea, ja que considerem que la interoperabilitat és clau per aconseguir la integració completa de diferents entitats. La solució que proposem permet la interoperabilitat mitjançant un esquema d'arquitectura orientada a serveis (SOA) que es basa en els estàndards de localització habituals. Descriurem un escenari d'ús genèric i l'arquitectura de l'entorn que ens permetrà estudiar qüestions d'interoperabilitat en els processos de localització. Aquest entorn va ser presentat amb èxit en el CNGL Public Showcase que es va celebrar a la seu de Microsoft, Irlanda, el novembre de 2010., This paper describes the design and implementation of a novel environment for the inter-connectivity of distributed localisation components - both open source and proprietary - in response to the scarcity of relevant research in this area, as we view interoperability as being the key to the seamless integration of different entities. The proposed solution promotes interoperability through the adoption of a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) framework based on established localisation standards. We describe a generic use scenario and the architecture of the environment that allows us to study interoperability issues in localisation processes. This environment was successfully demonstrated at the CNGL Public Showcase in Microsoft, Ireland, November 2010., Este artículo describe el diseño y la implementación de un nuevo entorno para la interconectividad de componentes de localización distribuidos, tanto de código abierto como propietario, con el propósito de paliar la escasez de estudios de investigación relevantes en esta área. A nuestro entender, la interoperabilidad es clave para conseguir la integración completa de diferentes entidades. La solución que proponemos permite la interoperabilidad mediante un esquema de arquitectura orientada a servicios (SOA) que se basa en los estándares de localización habituales. Describiremos un escenario de uso genérico y la arquitectura del entorno que nos permitirá estudiar cuestiones de interoperabilidad en los procesos de localización. Este entorno fue presentado con éxito en el CNGL Public Showcase que se celebró en la sede de Microsoft en Irlanda en noviembre de 2010.

Computer-aided detection, localization, and segmentation methods can help improve colonoscopy procedures. Even though many methods have been built to tackle automatic detection and segmentation of polyps, benchmarking of state-of-the-art methods still remains an open problem. This is due to the increasing number of researched computer vision methods that can be applied to polyp datasets. Benchmarking of novel methods can provide a direction to the development of automated polyp detection and segmentation tasks. Furthermore, it ensures that the produced results in the community are reproducible and provide a fair comparison of developed methods. In this paper, we benchmark several recent state-of-the-art methods using Kvasir-SEG, an open-access dataset of colonoscopy images for polyp detection, localization, and segmentation evaluating both method accuracy and speed. Whilst, most methods in literature have competitive performance over accuracy, we show that the proposed ColonSegNet achieved a better trade-off between an average precision of 0.8000 and mean IoU of 0.8100, and the fastest speed of 180 frames per second for the detection and localization task. Likewise, the proposed ColonSegNet achieved a competitive dice coefficient of 0.8206 and the best average speed of 182.38 frames per second for the segmentation task. Our comprehensive comparison with various state-of-the-art methods reveals the importance of benchmarking the deep learning methods for automated real-time polyp identification and delineations that can potentially transform current clinical practices and minimise miss-detection rates. The work of Debesh Jha is funded by the Research Council of Norway project number 263248 (Privaton). The computations in this paper were performed on equipment provided by the Experimental Infrastructure for Exploration of Exascale Computing (eX3), which is financially supported by the Research Council of Norway under contract 270053. Parts of computational resources were also used from the research supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Oxford BRC with additional support from the Wellcome Trust Core Award Grant Number 203141/2/16/Z. The work of Sharib Ali is supported by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre.

Colorectal cancer is one of the world leading death causes. Fortunately, an early diagnosis allows for effective treatment, increasing the survival rate. Deep learning techniques have shown their utility for increasing the adenoma detection rate at colonoscopy, but a dataset is usually required so the model can automatically learn features that characterize the polyps. In this work, we present the PICCOLO dataset, that comprises 3433 manually annotated images (2131 white-light images 1302 narrow-band images), originated from 76 lesions from 40 patients, which are distributed into training (2203), validation (897) and test (333) sets assuring patient independence between sets. Furthermore, clinical metadata are also provided for each lesion. Four different models, obtained by combining two backbones and two encoder&ndash, decoder architectures, are trained with the PICCOLO dataset and other two publicly available datasets for comparison. Results are provided for the test set of each dataset. Models trained with the PICCOLO dataset have a better generalization capacity, as they perform more uniformly along test sets of all datasets, rather than obtaining the best results for its own test set. This dataset is available at the website of the Basque Biobank, so it is expected that it will contribute to the further development of deep learning methods for polyp detection, localisation and classification, which would eventually result in a better and earlier diagnosis of colorectal cancer, hence improving patient outcomes.

ESREL 2020 PSAM 15, 30th European Safety and Reliability Conference and the 15th Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management Conference, Venise, ITALIE, 01-/11/2020 - 06/11/2020; The introduction of satellite-based localization techniques, relying on GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems), for railway operation is a promising, though challenging issue. Such a technical breakthrough aims to achieve a substantial gain for the railway sector in terms of competitiveness. In recent years, several projects have investigated the introduction of GNSS in railways. However, no proposed solution has been proven to fulfill the railway safety requirements. Moreover, traditional safety assessment methods present limitations in dealing with the complexity of such systems, raising the need to set up new approaches to this aim. The work discussed in this paper is part of a general model-driven approach for safety evaluation of GNSS-based localization in railway operation. In particular, we discuss the main features of our model-based approach and we elaborate on the different safety features that can be investigated based on our models. Considering the safety-critical aspect of the localization function, formal verification methods based on model-checking are adopted to provide safety evidence. Concretely, the overall behavior of the system will be expressed in a modular representation based on the timed automata notation supported by the UPPAAL tool. Such a modular approach permits to consider a variety of system architectures in different operational contexts. We also provide an illustration while taking into account a particular viewpoint that focuses on the operational context. This work can be seen as a first attempt towards adopting model-driven techniques for assessing and qualifying GNSS-based localization systems for railway operation.

Highlights • Refugee-led organisations have pivoted their existing service provision to fill assistance gaps related to public health during COVID-19. • Five areas in which refugees are or could be responders to COVID-19: providing public information, supplementing capacity gaps, healthcare delivery, shaping social norms, and virus tracking and contact tracing. • RLOs can be key actors in refugee assistance if mechanisms are found to identify effective organisations, offer funding, and build their capacities., The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing socioeconomic impact on already marginalised refugee communities demonstrate both the need for, and lack of, localisation in humanitarian and development responses. Our research with organisations founded and led by refugees, termed here refugee-led organisations (RLOs), in camps and cities in Kenya and Uganda shows their potential to be an asset in the response to COVID-19 and in contributing to more effective and participatory forms of humanitarian assistance. In this research note we draw on pre-pandemic research with around 80 RLOs and follow-up research with 15 in Uganda and Kenya who are actively responding to the pandemic and its effects. We identify five key areas in which refugees are or could be involved as responders to COVID-19 and other pandemics: providing public information, supplementing capacity gaps, healthcare delivery, shaping social norms, and virus tracking and contact tracing. Our research during COVID-19 shows how RLOs have pivoted their existing service provision to fill assistance gaps, including in areas directly related to public health. As the humanitarian system searches for ways to implement remote and participatory approaches to refugee assistance, RLOs offer great potential, if mechanisms can be found to identify those that are effective, provide them with funding, and build their capacities.