Experts In Different Fields Research Articles

“rubber band” - a practical support tool for integrated and resource-efficient early design in construction

The planning and construction sector is one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters and has shown the lowest increase in productivity among economic sectors over the last century. Increasing complexity and performance requirements in building projects require the collaboration of ever more interdisciplinary project teams, but conventional planning tools often do not facilitate a tangible knowledge exchange between project stakeholders from different fields of expertise. This is most notable in early project phases when fundamental design decisions are made. To address this challenge, we introduce a flexible and expandable digital workflow using a single 3D-model to integrate and moderate expertise from multiple project stakeholders such as architects, structural engineers, energy planners, contractors, and future users. This workflow creates a “rubber band” between different interdependent design goals and constraints, offering an opportunity to negotiate and optimize design parameters early-on. The framework is an addition to conventional planning tools whose complexity and costs often prevent stakeholders in the building industry from embracing the potentials of the digital transformation.

How Do Stakeholders Perceive Transit Service Quality Attributes? – A study through Fuzzy-AHP

This study examines stakeholders’ perspective about nine major attribute sets which comprehensively define transit service quality. A novel linguistic AHP scale was used to form a judgement matrix based on experts’ opinion which simplifies the understanding between two criteria and thus respondents’ (stakeholders) fatigue and complexities reduces while filling the survey. The Saaty’s bi-directional scale is made unidirectional by applying the linguistic scale as extremely lower (reciprocal values) to equal and then to extremely higher. Stakeholders were from different fields of expertise like academia, research, policy makers, service operators or providers, and industry professionals. A judgement matrix was arrived at through Fuzzy-AHP analysis while using disaggregated and aggregated opinions of the stakeholders. The stakeholders’ opinion was analyzed as: individual stakeholders’ groups; academicians vs non-academicians; and combined opinion. One-way ANOVA test was performed to examine the similarity in decision making across the stakeholders. Though no statistical significance was found across stakeholder level, however, the perceptions vary or sync across the groups based on attributes’ inherent value or characteristics. The matrix allowed the categorization of the attributes based on their importance as highly, moderately, and least important. Higher importance has gone to infrastructure (system infrastructure, and ease and convenience) and operational attributes (Customer service, comfort, and service frequency) whereas, lower importance has gone to functional attributes (safety, security, and travel time reliability). The analysis allows us to arrive at probable weights which shall be given to the different attributes while planning for the improvements in the transit services in a geographical region.

Online Focus Groups for the Development of a Usability Evaluation Tool: Lessons Learned

Introduction: Focus group discussions are a well-established method for acquiring insights from experts in different fields. This method requires special amendments when it is used for the development of different tools in the healthcare domain. The objective of this paper is to present the lessons learned from online focus group sessions held for the development of a heuristic usability evaluation tool for mobile health applications.Material and Methods: Two online focus group sessions were conducted with the participation of ten medical informatics experts to develop the tool. The sessions were recorded using screen recording software. The comments provided by the experts were categorized, and the lessons learned from these sessions were identified and reported.Results: The experiences achieved from the online focus group sessions were categorized into the following ten lessons. 1. Engage the participants fully in online session discussions 2. Use an appropriate and interesting format. 3. Select an appropriate number of people for online sessions 4. Invite people having the closest expertise related to the research topic 5. Employ a technical support technician in addition to the coordinator. 6. Prevent the emergence of a new topic in sessions. 7. Arrange the required hardware and software facilities before the session. 8. Prepare the content in an appropriate language. 9. Use online tools to schedule sessions. 10. Use screen-recording software.Conclusion: This paper reports the lessons learned from holding online focus group sessions in the process of developing a heuristic usability evaluation tool for mobile health applications. Although these lessons were learned in a study focusing on the development of a usability tool, they can also be used to improve the results of focus group sessions in other fields of medical informatics.

Light and Affordable Vision System for Mouth Opening–Closing Movement Deviation Assessment in Women with Mild Temporomandibular Joint Disorder

(1) Background: This paper aims to demonstrate a novel and, in terms of application, universal method of the qualitative and quantitative assessment of mandibular movement. (2) Methods: Mandibular movements are recorded by a mono-vision system where a digital camera is fixed on a special extension arm attached to the patient’s head. The described method was used to check lateral deviations in 25 women with mild temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) and in 25 women from the control group. The maximum deviation (MAX) and mean deviation (MSE) parameters were examined. In addition, the occurrence of parafunctions and joint clicking in the temporomandibular joints was checked in the examined individuals. (3) Results: Among the women with mild TMD, a significantly higher MSE parameter was found compared to the control group. Joint clicking also occurred significantly more frequently. The parameter of MAX did not differ significantly between the examined groups. (4) Conclusions: In women with mild TMD, a lack of movement coordination between the right and left joints can be observed. The method’s high availability combined with simple use makes it a valuable tool for experts in different fields who diagnose and treat stomatognathic system disorders.

A Reuse-Oriented Visual Smart Contract Code Generator for Efficient Development of Complex Multi-Party Interaction Scenarios

Multi-party interaction scenarios usually involve interaction and collaboration between multiple participants, such as business negotiation, teamwork, etc. In multi-party interaction scenarios, trust mechanisms are needed to ensure the use of rights and the fulfillment of obligations. The use of blockchain and smart contracts to establish a decentralized trust mechanism is a solution. The development process of smart contracts may require experts in different fields to design them together, and it is difficult for non-experts to understand smart contract code. The traditional method of smart contract development is for the developer to manually write the smart contract code, which may lead to low development efficiency and the inability of the scene participants to understand the smart contract code. To address this challenge, we propose a reuse-oriented visual smart contract generator to efficiently develop complex multi-party interaction scenarios. This paper proposes a model based on BPMN that uses smart contracts to express the process of multi-party interaction so that the parties in various domains understand the business requirements. Then, a multi-layer reusable library is proposed and used to generate a visual solidity code. We also integrate code compilation, security checking, and deployment into the target blockchain environment for testing. The function of the tool is verified in the case of flight delay insurance, which shows that it can aid the automated development of smart contracts for multi-party interaction scenarios. At the same time, the feasibility of the tool is verified by five cases selected from the literature, which shows that it can aid the development of smart contracts to achieve a high degree of reusability.

The Status of Rehabilitation in Iran: Barriers and Facilitators

Objectives Rehabilitation is one of the basic services for the elderly and people with disabilities and provides the possibility of equal opportunities and participation in the society. In fact, it is one of the main pillars of the health; however, less attention has been paid to this issue in Iran, and it does not have a specific place in the health system. The present study aims to find barriers and facilitators regarding rehabilitation programs for the elderly and people with disabilities in Iran. Methods & Materials This is a qualitative study using content analysis method. Participants were 13 experts in different fields of rehabilitation who were selected using a purposive sampling method which continued until the data saturation. The data were collected using a semi-structured in-depth interview from February 2021 to February 2022. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, and then were analyzed by using conventional content analysis method and using constant comparative analysis. Results Two main categories of barriers and facilitators, each with 4 sub-categories were identified. The barriers were: High number of rehabilitation trustees, lack of awareness of officials and people, lack of attention to the role of the municipality in rehabilitation, and poor rehabilitation management. Facilitators were: Building culture in the field of rehabilitation and disability, improving the insight of officials, the role of rehabilitation specialists, benefiting from the experiences of other countries Conclusion The identified barriers and facilitators can help officials and policymakers in Iran to improve the status of rehabilitation and provide better services to people with disabilities.

Global Politics of Knowledge Production: The Challenges of Islamization of Knowledge in The Light of Tradition Vs Secular Modernity Debate

This paper argues that the main objective of the ‘Islamization of knowledge’ project is to assert Muslim ownership over their institutions by developing an alternative system of learning/knowledge production that serves as a foundation for re-inventing/renewing the Islamic traditions to cope with the multitude of challenges that Muslims face today. These challenges stem from a number of intertwining factors that influence this process, including the modern advances that accompanied the colonial and post-colonial developments that shaped and reshaped the intellectual culture and institutions of Muslim and non-Muslim societies precisely by allowing Western methodological approaches to set the agenda and the objectives of the schools. Accordingly, proponents of the Islamization of knowledge such as Naquib al-Atas, Ismail al-Faruqi, Taha Jaber al-Alwani, and others have developed their own different approaches to the production of knowledge and in so doing have generated a philosophical discourse that offers a critique of modern/Western knowledge and its epistemological and methodological assumptions. What, therefore, has been the outcome of the Islamization of knowledge project in terms of producing, for instance, Islamic social sciences, broadly defined, in the areas of, say, economics, sociology, political science, and so on? How have normative teachings of Islam, its ethical concerns, and Muslim efforts to come to terms with modernity (an ideology that carries the values and ideas of triumphant capitalism and secularism) been incorporated into these disciplines to counter or respond to Western hegemony and Eurocentric and orientalist order of knowledge? Finally, have Muslims succeeded in bringing together scholars of the text (fuqaha) and scholars of the context (experts in different fields of knowledge from social sciences to sciences) to deal with pressing modern problems that require new interpretations? This paper will attempt to answer some of these questions.

Selection of Charging Station Location based on Sustainability Perspective using AHP Method

The acceleration of electric vehicle (EV) development in Indonesia to support energy and environmental sustainability has taken over and attracted the attention of many parties. Various policies, programs, and research outputs have made the public aware of EVs. However, the availability of charging stations (CS) in the community and the optimal placement are matters of great concern as CS is an essential infrastructure that enhances EV development. Therefore, to support sustainable urban development, CS location selection must consider a sustainability perspective in decision-making. In this study, we employed Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method to assess the best placement of CS in Surakarta based on a sustainability perspective. Ten sub-criteria were identified based on a literature review to establish a hierarchy structure of the problem. We distributed a questionnaire to five experts in different fields to assess the importance scale for each sub-criteria and five alternatives location. The priority value and rank of each sub-criteria and alternative were generated. We found that CS 1 obtains the highest-ranking of preferable sites. The level of water and vegetation damage, service capacity, and impact on society are the most critical parameters that must be considered carefully in choosing a CS location. This study supplements literature for location selection and the application of the AHP method.

Cultivated Manatee Meat Aiding Amazon Biodiversity Conservation: Discussing a Proposed Model

Cultivated meat (CM) is a disruptive technology that provides an alternative to animal protein. In this context, the Amazon manatee (Trichechus inunguis) emerges as an important case. Although it is illegal to hunt this large mammal, its meat continues to be consumed, causing several threats to its natural habitat. The aim of this study is to explore the impacts of introducing the Amazon manatee CM into the traditional meat value chain as a tool to aid the biodiversity of the Amazon Basin. Thus, we developed a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats matrix from the content analysis of 11 interviews conducted between October 2021 and May 2022. The interviewees were experts in different fields, ranging from financial analysts of novel food technologies to biologists, researchers, and others. We presented the theme of illegal hunting and its consequences during the interviews, followed by the CM process, and explained how the royalties from the sale of this innovative product could help to preserve Amazon biodiversity through the proposal of a new business model. The main findings suggest that the proposed model would produce good results, but the threat of a rebound effect from the consumption of wild animals was mentioned in most responses, especially by actors involved in conservation. The strengths and opportunities of this disruptive narrative mainly focused on preserving biodiversity and promoting environmental awareness, combining the conservation of wildlife and the consumption of novel food. The weaknesses included the lack of knowledge and the non-existent market. This framework is relevant for policymakers, nongovernmental organizations, and researchers seeking to improve the sustainability not only of the species found in the Amazon, but also around the world.

A Multi-Agent Framework for Smart Grid Simulations: Strategies for power-to-heat flexibility management in residential context

The complexity of a system, such as the Smart Grid, comes from the interaction of different fields of expertise and actors cooperating together. As a result, co-simulation frameworks are emerging to meet the need for analysis from a broader perspective. The feature to better understand the Smart Grid environment is the ability to simulate its different components simultaneously. Therefore, we propose a multi-agent co-simulation framework that can serve as a test-bed for multiple Smart Grid strategies. In particular, we focus on Demand Response programs that exploit the thermal behaviour of residential buildings. The proposed framework is modular to test Plug&Play models. Moreover, it is highly flexible and configurable to evaluate realistic scenarios. We tested the platform on a case study of 1,000 buildings, performing an analysis of the effects of micro temperature deviations in buildings on the primary grid substation balancing problem. The results show the flexibility of the platform in testing different strategies. Moreover, power imbalances could be mitigated simply by acting on the indoor temperature set-points with smaller deviations.

Emission reduction targets and electrification of the Finnish energy system with low-carbon Power-to-X technologies: Potentials, barriers, and innovations – A Delphi survey

Energy systems are rapidly changing, and many promising low-carbon solutions are now available for different industries. For a society to efficiently implement these promising technologies, experts and policymakers from different fields must comprehensively understand the possibilities and barriers of these technologies. This paper investigates how experts in different fields perceive the transition by conducting two broad Delphi surveys regarding energy transition and greenhouse gas emission targets in the context of Finnish society. The focus of the research is Power-to-X technologies, the required actions and barriers for achieving emissions targets, and societal electrification. The results reveal that while it is possible to achieve the ambitious emissions targets, a variety of political and technological changes are required. It is also established that Finnish society will increase low-carbon electricity consumption in the near future. For instance, Power-to-Gas and Power-to-Fuel technologies are viewed possible technologies for achieving the targets.

Pola Komunikasi Laki – Laki dan Perempuan Dalam Tradisi Karo Suku Tengger

The Karo traditional ceremony is often referred to as the Karo holiday or Praise Karo, which is a ritual ceremony of the Tengger Tribe which consists of various kinds of rituals. At this Karo Ceremony, the Tengger people commemorate Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa (God) who created two types of human beings (Karo), namely men and women as their ancestors. In a series of rituals performed by many men, such as the sodoran and the tip dance. Researchers investigated how the communication patterns of men and women in the Karo tradition of Jetak Village. This study used a qualitative method by trying to study deeply about the perspective of male and female communication patterns in the karo tradition of the tengger tribe, Jetak village. The results of this study indicate that the communication process that occurs between men and women in the karo tradition is a model of a divided, balanced communication pattern. Where the communication that occurs is well established and dynamic. In this pattern of communication, men and women have different areas of power. Men and women are seen as experts in different fields. During the communication process, there are different forms of conversation between men and women of the Tengger tribe. These differences can be distinguished in the form of feminine and masculine language styles. The women of the Tengger tribe will show themselves as responsive individuals and their goal is none other than to maintain friendly relations with each other, while their men will speak with clear objectives, not to beat around the bush. In addition to the form of conversation, there are different communication behaviors during the communication process between men and women, namely among them report talks conducted by men and report talk conducted by women, in the tradition of karo - men of the Tengger tribe who are more active in speaking in the public sphere and women who are more active in speaking in the private sphere (private speaking).
 Keywords: Communication, Karo Customs, Tengger

A novel normal wiggly hesitant fuzzy multi-criteria group decision making method and its application to electric vehicle charging station location

Electric vehicle charging station location (EVCSL) is critical to promoting the electric vehicle industry and how it is evaluated is typically a MCDM issue. In this paper, an applicable multi-criteria group decision support model is developed to evaluate the electric vehicle charging station location. To do this, we used normal wiggly hesitant fuzzy set to describe the fuzzy decision-making information, which can further dig the potential uncertainty. Considering that the experts’ preference can lead to significant changes in the results, k-means clustering method is used to group the experts in different fields. Moreover, the improved correlation coefficient and standard deviation (CCSD) method is used to determine the criterion weights, and considering that prospect theory can reflect the mental behavior of experts and the simplicity and efficiency of weighted aggregated sum product assessment (WASPAS) method, a combined ranking model is proposed to evaluate the alternatives comprehensively. The procedure of the model is given in detail, and the example of electric vehicle charging station location evaluation is employed to demonstrate our results. Comparative analyses and discussion show that the proposed model has powerful effectiveness, performs better than other existing methods, and largely extends the applicability of the method with theoretical and practical implications.

Identifying the Needs of Older Adults Associated with Daily Activities: A Qualitative Study

By 2050, older adults will constitute 16% of the world population; hence, there is an urgent demand and challenge to design solutions (products and services) that meet the needs of this age group. This study sought to analyse the needs that impact the well-being of Chilean older adults and present possible solutions through the design of products. A qualitative study was used, where focus groups were held with older adults, industrial designers, health professionals, and entrepreneurs on the needs and design of solutions for older adults. A general map was obtained that linked the categories and subcategories related to the relevant needs and solutions, which were then classified in a framework. The resulting proposal places the needs in different fields of expertise; and thus, enables positioning, broadening, and expanding upon the map to share knowledge, between the user and key experts, to co-create solutions.

Identifying the Essentials of Corporate MOOCs’ Application to the Leading Organizations

The purpose of this study is to identify the essentials of corporate MOOCs' application to the leading organizations. This basic research was conducted using a qualitative research synthesis technique. The statistical population includes documents retrieved by searching the Persian and Latin web databases (n=165) using a criterion sampling method (2013- 2020). A total of 73 sources were selected. Theoretical saturation of themes was reached by the 48th sample. In order to collect data, the library research method was used. The collected data were then analyzed using a thematic analysis technique. Finally, to validate the proposed model, a total of 6 experts in different fields were selected using a purposive sampling method, and they approved the final model after modifications. Based on the research findings, the essentials identified include: the main personal, educational, and organizational themes. Clarification of the logic behind and reason for learning is among essentials in designing and formulating any learning from virtual training (e-learning). This is of paramount importance, especially in learning based on corporate MOOCs as an innovation and transformation towards training and improving human resources. This logic prevents the possible resistance of managers and officials, and even the organizations and corporations' staff themselves to learning using corporate MOOCs.

EAL/D or an additional need? A cycle of learning, teaching and assessment to discern if an EAL/D student has additional needs to learning English

Classroom teachers concerned with the academic or literacy progress of their English as an Additional Language/ Dialect (EAL/D) learners may ask the question: Does my EAL/D learner have additional needs to learning English? As young EAL/D learners are still in the process of learning English as well as developing their home language/s, deciding whether a student has a learning difficulty additional to English language learning needs can be difficult. A search of available information about assessment and identification of EAL/D learners with additional needs reveals information from a variety of sources and educational jurisdictions. These include EAL/D specialists and researchers as well as from the areas of Speech Pathology and Psychology. Approaches to assessment and identification vary with the different fields of expertise offering different perspectives. This has led to a tension in schools with teachers wanting a quick definitive answer to whether a student has an additional need to learning English and what must be done to remedy the situation. This report describes a cycle of teaching learning and assessment that offers a response to this dilemma. It involves planning for language growth, rather than for a deficit, and monitoring the everyday teaching and learning of the classroom for the learner in question before referring onto another professional.

Heritage Building Conservation Projects Decision-Making Processes

Restoration projects of historical buildings involve decision-making processes that require researchers from different fields of expertise to work together. One of the most challenging stages of conservation projects is making decisions. Scientific committees need information about the entire life of the buildings to decide on conservation strategies. In addition, communication and information exchange between stakeholders are critical issues in restoration projects. This research examines restoration projects from a project management perspective with a systematic literature review. In this study, firstly, a literature review was conducted to see the decision-making processes in historical heritage research. Then, by using the content analysis method, the main themes of the current research were determined. The problems experienced in the field are mostly project management based. Some of the important research themes are determined as, special laws for conservation projects, collaborative planning, risk management, resource management, and interdisciplinary work environments.

Branding for heritages, the ancient tourism leads to improvement of the local economy (evidence from a study in Iran)

The dimensions of this phenomenon discussed by in-depth semi-structured interviews with 18-member samples composed of experts in different fields: marketing, economic, tourism and cultural heritage. Six main categories, 61 sub-categories and 171 concepts categorised by applying grounded theory method were used in the study. The findings showed that the historical place-branding model is composed of the causal, core, contextual, interfering factors, strategies and consequence. In addition, the results of the experts' opinion survey revealed that having a brand specific to historical places could lead to increased income, job creation, produce of local tourism production, economic dynamics, and eco-tourism development in historic areas.

3D building interior modelling for navigation in emergency response applications

• Broad perspective review on building interior modelling. • Three-dimensional model representations for navigation in emergency response. • Application requirements on a spatial model: space subdivision, topology representation, semantics and graphic representation. The aim of this paper is to present a broad perspective on applications dealing with 3D building models and indoor navigation during an emergency. This is an immense topic, which has been considerably investigated by researchers from different fields of expertise: construction, cognition, spatial information science, cartography, robotics, mathematics, engineering, etc. It is not possible to provide one, complete approach to the problem, because it largely depends on the application. However, some solutions are prevailing, and they are adopted by others. In this paper there is an attempt made to signalise specific directions and trends related to the topic. They include building model requirements, navigation network generation and representation, and 3D visualisation of models and navigation paths. These issues are important in the process of rapid model generation, which is suitable for decision support and situational awareness systems for first responders. The authors highlight issues that may be investigated by young researchers or may be considered as alternatives by more experienced ones. The paper is therefore the aim of this paper is to summarise the contemporary research conducted in various research teams, as well as to present author’s own observations and experiences.

Sinus Tachycardia: a Multidisciplinary Expert Focused Review.

Sinus tachycardia (ST) is ubiquitous, but its presence outside of normal physiological triggers in otherwise healthy individuals remains a commonly encountered phenomenon in medical practice. In many cases, ST can be readily explained by a current medical condition that precipitates an increase in the sinus rate, but ST at rest without physiological triggers may also represent a spectrum of normal. In other cases, ST may not have an easily explainable cause but may represent serious underlying pathology and can be associated with intolerable symptoms. The classification of ST, consideration of possible etiologies, as well as the decisions of when and how to intervene can be difficult. ST can be classified as secondary to a specific, usually treatable, medical condition (eg, pulmonary embolism, anemia, infection, or hyperthyroidism) or be related to several incompletely defined conditions (eg, inappropriate ST, postural tachycardia syndrome, mast cell disorder, or post-COVID syndrome). While cardiologists and cardiac electrophysiologists often evaluate patients with symptoms associated with persistent or paroxysmal ST, an optimal approach remains uncertain. Due to the many possible conditions associated with ST, and an overlap in medical specialists who see these patients, the inclusion of experts in different fields is essential for a more comprehensive understanding. This article is unique in that it was composed by international experts in Neurology, Psychology, Autonomic Medicine, Allergy and Immunology, Exercise Physiology, Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine, Endocrinology, Cardiology, and Cardiac Electrophysiology in the hope that it will facilitate a more complete understanding and thereby result in the better care of patients with ST.