Support System Model Research Articles

An integrated crop model and GIS decision support system for assisting agronomic decision making under climate change

The semi-arid tropical (SAT) regions of India are suffering from low productivity which may be further aggravated by anticipated climate change. The present study analyzes the spatial variability of climate change impacts on groundnut yields in the Anantapur district of India and examines the relative contribution of adaptation strategies. For this purpose, a web based decision support tool that integrates crop simulation model and Geographical Information System (GIS) was developed to assist agronomic decision making and this tool can be scalable to any location and crop. The climate change projections of five global climate models (GCMs) relative to the 1980–2010 baseline for Anantapur district indicates an increase in rainfall activity to the tune of 10.6 to 25% during Mid-century period (2040–69) with RCP 8.5. The GCMs also predict warming exceeding 1.4 to 2.4°C by 2069 in the study region. The spatial crop responses to the projected climate indicate a decrease in groundnut yields with four GCMs (MPI-ESM-MR, MIROC5, CCSM4 and HadGEM2-ES) and a contrasting 6.3% increase with the GCM, GFDL-ESM2M. The simulation studies using CROPGRO-Peanut model reveals that groundnut yields can be increased on average by 1.0%, 5.0%, 14.4%, and 20.2%, by adopting adaptation options of heat tolerance, drought tolerant cultivars, supplemental irrigation and a combination of drought tolerance cultivar and supplemental irrigation respectively. The spatial patterns of relative benefits of adaptation options were geographically different and the greatest benefits can be achieved by adopting new cultivars having drought tolerance and with the application of one supplemental irrigation at 60days after sowing.

Ontology-centered environmental information delivery for personalized decision support

Data on observed and forecasted environmental conditions, such as weather, air quality and pollen, are offered in a great variety in the web and serve as basis for decisions taken by a wide range of the population. However, the value of these data is limited because their quality varies largely and because the burden of their interpretation in the light of a specific context and in the light of the specific needs of a user is left to the user herself. To remove this burden from the user, we propose an environmental Decision Support System (DSS) model with an ontology-based knowledge base as its integrative core. The availability of an ontological knowledge representation allows us to encode in a uniform format all knowledge that is involved (environmental background knowledge, the characteristic features of the profile of the user, the formal description of the user request, measured or forecasted environmental data, etc.) and apply advanced reasoning techniques on it. The result is an advanced DSS that provides high quality environmental information for personalized decision support.

Research on Effective Evaluation of POL Support System Based on the Internet of Things and Cloud Theory

Many factors should be studied during the course of the evaluation of POL support efficiency, especially the evaluation of POL support efficiency based on the internet of the things. To avoid uncertainty and randomness of correlative assessment works, simplifying the complexity of effectiveness evaluation of POL support system based on the internet of things, the principles of cloud theory is adopted. The effectiveness evaluation model of POL support system is established based on cloud theory in this paper. After the analysis of the influence factors of the evaluation of POL support based on the internet of the things, a three-level index system is established, and the course of the cloud evaluation is described step by step. After the precise calculation, the total result of the evaluation can be obtained. From the final result, it can be learned that the POL support efficiency based on the internet of things is excellent. The conclusion can be used in the evaluation of the POL support efficiency based on the internet of things and the cloud theory.

Analysis and Modeling of Academia's Collaborative Decision Support System Based on Key Performance Indicators and Degree of Certainty

Increasingly, academia is relying on a novel concept of virtual teams for Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) processes amongst the students across the globe (different cultures). To facilitate collaboration in international virtual teams there is a need to support cross-cultural decision making through a series of steps required to improve problem solving and decision making. In this paper we analyze the CDM processes in international virtual environment and discuss the opportunity to support CDM through the use of a Computer-Aided Collaborative Decision Making (CA-CDM). In CA-CDM students declare their knowledge in terms of the Degree of Certainty (DC) during the collaboration process. In this research, a process model based on various Key Performance Indicators (KPI) designed to figure out the key challenges, performance and differences in CDM. Based on these KPI variables and their scores, two different models are suggested to calculate the difference and similarity in CDM. The designed computer-supported environment supports CDM processes to address critical thinking, deep learning and knowledge transformation. In this computer program model, based on Degree of Certainty of each peer student, each student declares their communication certainty before starting a virtual interaction to support a CDM process. Incorporation of the suggested KPIs modeling; this learning environment will optimize the output of virtual team decision support collaboration.

Three-dimensional modeling of the pelvic floor support systems of subjects with and without pelvic organ prolapse.

The purpose of this study was to develop three-dimensional finite element models of the whole pelvic support systems of subjects with and without pelvic organ prolapse (POP) that can be used to simulate anterior and posterior wall prolapses. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed in one healthy female volunteer (55 years old, para 2) and one patient (56 years old, para 1) with anterior vaginal wall prolapse. Contours of the pelvic structures were traced by a trained gynecologist. Smoothing of the models was conducted and attachments among structures were established. Finite element models of the pelvic support system with anatomic details were established for both the healthy subject and the POP patient. The models include the uterus, vagina with cavity, cardinal and uterosacral ligaments, levator ani muscle, rectum, bladder, perineal body, pelvis, obturator internus, and coccygeal muscle. Major improvements were provided in the modeling of the supporting ligaments and the vagina with high anatomic precision. These anatomically accurate models can be expected to allow study of the mechanism of POP in more realistic physiological conditions. The resulting knowledge may provide theoretical help for clinical prevention and treatment of POP.

Smart Maintenance Decision Support Systems (SMDSS) based on Model and Market Information

This paper investigates the prioritization of maintenance for the case of a fleet of electrical equipment, specifically circuit breakers, in an electric power system. The most common failure modes are documented in terms of events taking a breaker offline to establish a predictive maintenance analysis which can make use of real-time, remote, condition monitoring. These factors (parameters) are established based on industry data, defined, and compared to those considered in previous studies. Saaty’s Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to prioritize the order in which maintenance is performed on a fleet of SF6 gas filled circuit breakers. An example of a small circuit breaker fleet is used to establish maintenance priority for breakers in the sample network. The AHP model is integrated with a Marketing Information System (MkIS) for use in engineered-to-order product manufacturing sector. The combined system is defined as a Smart Maintenance Decision Support System (SMDSS). The SMDSS has been developed using conventional maintenance modeling and decision support system algorithms and is integrated with an MkIS to provide maintenance service offerings (quotations) for maintenance solution output. The SMDSS input consists of output from two analytical models: a dependent component model (DCM) and a circuit breaker fleet prioritization maintenance AHP model. To validate the system, the model outputs are reviewed and a sample quotation is provided based on the logic of the combined application.

Using ecological indicators and a decision support system for integrated ecological assessment at two national park units in the mid-Atlantic region, USA.

We implemented an integrated ecological assessment using a GIS-based decision support system model for Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River (UPDE) and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (DEWA)—national park units with the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Our assessment examined a variety of aquatic and terrestrial indicators of ecosystem components that reflect the parks’ conservation purpose and reference condition. Our assessment compared these indicators to ecological thresholds to determine the condition of park watersheds. Selected indicators included chemical and physical measures of water quality, biologic indicators of water quality, and landscape condition measures. For the chemical and physical measures of water quality, we used a water quality index and each of its nine components to assess the condition of water quality in each watershed. For biologic measures of water quality, we used the Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera aquatic macroinvertebrate index and, secondarily, the Hilsenhoff aquatic macroinvertebrate index. Finally, for the landscape condition measures of our model, we used percent forest and percent impervious surface. Based on our overall assessment, UPDE and DEWA watersheds had an ecological assessment score of 0.433 on a −1 to 1 fuzzy logic scale. This score indicates that, in general, the natural resource condition within watersheds at these parks is healthy or ecologically unimpaired; however, we had only partial data for many of our indicators. Our model is iterative and new data may be incorporated as they become available. These natural parks are located within a rapidly urbanizing landscape—we recommend that natural resource managers remain vigilant to surrounding land uses that may adversely affect natural resources within the parks.

An Investigation of the Appropriateness of Tourism Development Paradigms in Rural Areas from Main Tourism Stakeholders’ Point of View

Rural tourism or tourism in rural areas is a new form of activity that can bring economic and social benefits to the society. It will not only generate employment for the people but it can also develop social, cultural and educational values; therefore, rural tourism has attracted increasing attention from governments, NGOs and other organizations. Economic regime change from Fordism to post-Fordism and cultural regime change from Modernism to post-Modernism resulted in the emergence of new forms of tourism such as Pro-Poor Tourism (PPT), Community-Based Tourism (CBT), and Community Benefit Tourism Initiative (CBTI). Moreover, it should be considered that stakeholders’ views such as local communities’ and local operators’ opinions on tourism development within their region vary significantly based on some variables such as their perception of benefits, and their expectations. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the appropriateness of tourism paradigms developed in rural areas from main stakeholders’ point of view by doing a comparative study of CBT and CBTI in 2 villages of Lower Kinabatangan region to find out the main stakeholders’ choice of appropriate tourism paradigm in their regions as well as their reasons. The local communities of Mukim Batu Puteh village and Sukau village alongside the homestay operators from Batu Puteh village and eco-lodge operators from Sukau village have been considered as the main stakeholders in the region. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were employed to achieve the research goals; first of all, a Decision Support System (DSS) model was created based on the 42 research variables as its input data by undertaking Cybernetic Analytic Network Process (CANP) method. The DSS model which was verified through a Delphi technique, measured the local communities’ and local operators’ choices of CBT and CBTI through specific questionnaires. The results of the first on-the-ground study revealed that both local communities from the 2 villages together with the homestay operators from Batu Puteh village preferred CBT as the appropriate tourism paradigm for their region while eco-lodge operators from Sukau village preferred CBTI as the appropriate tourism paradigm in the region. Finally, it should be emphasized that the result of qualitative survey validates the result of quantitative study; therefore, there is no doubt about their choices. Consequently, the research goals are met totally since the researcher concludes that the main reason for the difference in eco-lodge operators’ choice with others’ choice refers to the fact that these eco-lodge operators are totally outsiders and non-indigenous people while other three groups of our respondents are totally locals and indigenous people of the region. Therefore, this research article recommends that outsiders who want to bring and develop new forms of tourism such as CBTI for rural people should consider locals’ perceptions and expectations of tourism venture in their village while listening to their voices.

Model for a Specific Decision Support System for Crew Requirement Planning in Ship Management

Ship management has to face volatile business conditions, escalating volumes of information, and increasing complexity of company processes. Especially crewing, as one main task with significant fixed operating costs, imposes increasing demands for decision support. This contribution proposes a specific decision support system (SDSS) model for crew requirement planning for medium and large-sized shipping companies on an online analytical processing (OLAP) related structure. It gives a brief investigation of core information needs and associated basic data types before the model is developed. Additionally the underlying mathematical scheme and an appropriate user interface are depicted.

Sensitivity Analysis of Carrier Aviation Support System Based on Fuzzy-ANP

System sensitivity is an important basis for carrier aviation support system design and improvement. According to research presented fuzzy network analysis (Fuzzy-ANP) to achieve sensitivity analysis of carrier aviation support system. The first is based on ANP method to establish sensitivity analysis network model of carrier aviation support system, followed by the application of fuzzy theory to determine the weight of sensitivity analysis index, and finally enter specific technical parameters based on secondary subsystem or device of carrier aviation support system, sensitivity analysis, corrected analytical model, proposed carrier aviation support system design suggestions.

Numerical analysis of the support system in the transition zone of the Esfahan subway project

This paper presents the design and 3D numerical modeling of the temporary support system for the twin tunnels in the transition zone of the Esfahan subway project. Ground movements caused by tunneling beneath urban areas can have a significant impact on adjacent structures and therefore require consideration when choosing the excavation method and the type of support system. Due to the old buildings in the historical city of Esfahan, this research requires parametric studies for the use of simulation techniques. This paper focuses on 3D stability analysis and design of the support system required to control the critical strain and ground movement due to excavation of the transition area of the twin tunnels in the Esfahan subway project. A numerical model is developed to estimate the excavation effects on the critical strain and ground settlement and also the effect of reinforcement measures. In the 3D numerical model, a constitutive law characterized by the time-dependent stiffness and strength of the shotcrete is employed. Results show that the suggested support is sufficient to control the settlement and critical strain due to tunneling. Comparison between the 2D model prediction and the results of corresponding 3D model indicates that the conformity between 2D and 3D analysis results decreases in the transition region. One of the most useful methods to determine the induced seismic loads, the use of time-history dynamic analysis is usually done for major projects. In this paper, for the twin tunnels of subway, Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua (FLAC) software is used for this purpose.

Application of a collaborative modelling and strategic fuzzy decision support system for selecting appropriate resilience strategies for seaport operations

The selection of an appropriate resilience investment strategy to optimize the operational efficiency of a seaport is a challenging task given that many criteria need to be considered and modelled under an uncertain environment. The design of such a complex decision system consists of many subjective and imprecise parameters contained in different quantitative and qualitative forms. This paper proposes a fuzzy multi-attribute decision making methodology for the selection of an appropriate resilience investment strategy in a succinct and straightforward manner. The decision support model allows for a collaborative modelling of the system by multiple analysts in a group decision making process. Fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) was utilized to analyse the complex structure of the system to obtain the weights of all the criteria while fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) was employed to facilitate the ranking process of the resilience strategies. Given that it is often financially difficult to invest in all the resilience strategies, it is envisaged that the proposed approach could provide decision makers with a flexible and transparent tool for selecting appropriate resilience strategies aimed at increasing the resilience of seaport operations.

Modeling and Simulation of Ship Intermediate-Level Support System Based on HLA

Ship intermediate-level support system is complex system. The modeling and simulation of the system are difficult. To solve this problem, we apply both UML and HLA for modeling and simulation of ship intermediate-level support system. First, UML is used to model the use case model and interaction model. On the basis of the models above, HLA is used to model object models. Finally, according to the simulation models above, simulation software is developed and simulation case is analyzed, which shows the simulation models can be used to evaluate and optimize ship intermediate-level support system by simulation.

에이징 인 플레이스 실현을 위한 일본의 고령자 지원체계 연구 - 지역포괄케어시스템의 구축을 중심으로 -

This study attempts to provide implications for developing more efficient and effective community-based support system with AIP perspective for the elderly in Korea. The main purpose of this study is to analyze Japan's community-based integrated care system that respond to the concept of aging in place (AIP) and its cases. In Japan, they have offered Community-Based Service since 2005, and the advanced system which include integrated support categories and consolidated community/local resources will started in 2015 by The revision of Long-term Care Insurance policy, 2012. The result of policy analysis and case studies are as follows: 1) The suggestion for ideal support system model promoted a relationship of multiple agents include private sectors even resident and senior and specified responsibility sharing, 2) the system proposed Not only health and medical care support, living care and residence are also addressed as a comprehensive support. and 3) the amount of available community resource is different by each local government, but the effort to get the understanding of community residents and to connect with a potential community resource is also essential aspect to set effective community-based support system.

Implementing a web-based decision support system for disaster logistics: A case study of an evacuation location assessment for Indonesia

Decision support systems have increasingly played a critical role in disaster logistics. This study outlines the processes required to build an effective and reliable decision support system to assess the feasibility of public facilities during an evacuation after a disaster has occurred. The purpose of this study is to build a model of a web-aided decision support system to assess the extent to which public facilities can be used as evacuation centers for the victims of an earthquake and/or tsunami. An outcome from this research is an innovative system with direct web-based accessibility, involves many decision-makers and employs multiple criteria and inputs. Even though the system has been specifically designed for evacuation scenarios in Indonesia, the system can be used for disaster scenarios in other countries as well. There are several stages in this study where the first stage identifies and selects attributes, assembles a comprehensive computer application, and employs object-oriented programming (OOP), verification and validation of the system. The role of information systems and decision support systems are critical when informing decision-makers about evacuation location alternatives and to assess their feasibility immediately after a disaster occurs. The results from this study confirm that this system can provide critical and timely insights into complex evacuation scenarios. An additional benefit of this system is the user-friendly web-based application ensuring data access from any global location with internet access.

Free-flight measurement technique in the free-piston high-enthalpy shock tunnel.

A novel multi-component force-measurement technique has been developed and implemented at the impulse facility JAXA-HIEST, in which the test model is completely unrestrained during the test and thus experiences free-flight conditions for a period on the order of milliseconds. Advantages over conventional free-flight techniques include the complete absence of aerodynamic interference from a model support system and less variation in model position and attitude during the test itself. A miniature on-board data recorder, which was a key technology for this technique, was also developed in order to acquire and store the measured data. The technique was demonstrated in a HIEST wind-tunnel test campaign in which three-component aerodynamic force measurement was performed on a blunted cone of length 316 mm, total mass 19.75 kg, and moment of inertia 0.152 kgm(2). During the test campaign, axial force, normal forces, and pitching moment coefficients were obtained at angles of attack from 14° to 32° under two conditions: H0 = 4 MJ/kg, P0 = 14 MPa; and H0 = 16 MJ/kg, P0 = 16 MPa. For the first, low-enthalpy condition, the test flow was considered a perfect gas; measurements were thus directly compared with those obtained in a conventional blow-down wind tunnel (JAXA-HWT2) to evaluate the accuracy of the technique. The second test condition was a high-enthalpy condition in which 85% of the oxygen molecules were expected to be dissociated; high-temperature real-gas effects were therefore evaluated by comparison with results obtained in perfect-gas conditions. The precision of the present measurements was evaluated through an uncertainty analysis, which showed the aerodynamic coefficients in the HIEST low enthalpy test agreeing well with those of JAXA-HWT2. The pitching-moment coefficient, however, showed significant differences between low- and high-enthalpy tests. These differences are thought to result from high-temperature real-gas effects.

Models of context-aware decision support systems in dynamic structured domains

Some existing approaches to representation and organization of contexts in different information systems are analyzed. A two-level context management model for intelligent decision support in dynamic structured domains is proposed. A model for description of information resources of an open information environment is given. A technology model of context-aware decision support system is designed.

Bioeconomic Model of Decision Support System for Farm Management: Proposal of a Mathematical Model

The declining profitability of agriculture and livestock production, increasing climatic variations, and growing concern over the environmental impact of farming challenge farm management. In this context, we propose a generalized mathematical bioeconomic macro model for livestock production systems. This model resulted from a multidisciplinary effort to integrate major databases of climate, soil, plants, animals, and their economic aspects, searching for representing a livestock production similar to Brazilian systems of pasture-based beef cattle production. This work is divided into four submodels: (i) herd structure and animal characteristics; (ii) animal nutrient requirements; (iii) meteorological–soil–pasture–animal integration; and (iv) economic. We adopted the system dynamics modelling methodology, composed of differential and integral equations in structured iThink 9.1.4 software. The equations herein proposed were adapted from pre-existing studies, and we intend to include them into a macro model in the future and use them to build different scenarios based on real data. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Current Trends of Economic Modelling of Sustainable Corporate Performance and Reporting – Review and Research Agenda

Currently there is a massive deployment of information and communication technologies in modeling of advanced quantitative methods (optimization, stochastic and dynamic programming) in economy. Also, there is a deployment of methods from the field of artificial intelligence (neural networks, genetic algorithms) in order to construct a mathematical decision model applied in the economic sphere. Accuracy of the experiment economy can be improved by including non-deterministic factors (uncertainty, uncertainty, risk).The purpose of this paper is to identify current and future directions for research of economic modelling of sustainable corporate performance and reporting, which include environmental indicators (measuring the environmental impact on resources), social indicators (health and safety, human rights, ethical behavior etc.), corporate governance indicators (related to efficiency, structure and responsibilities of the governance) and the economic value of the company, where is considered combination of Sustainable Value Added, Economic Value Added and Data Envelopment Analysis methods. The solution is to analyze the possibilities of the method of artificial intelligence, when you build a descriptive model of a decision support system, aimed at simplifying the decision process.

Vulnerability Analysis of Soft Caving Tunnel Support System and Surrounding Rock Optimal Control Technology Research

The vulnerability assessment model, composed by 11 vulnerability factors, is established with the introduction of the concept of “vulnerability” into the assessment of tunnel support system. Analytic hierarchy process is utilized to divide these 11 factors into human attributes and natural attributes, and define the weight of these factors for the model. The “vulnerability” applied io the assessment of the tunnel support system model is reached. The vulnerability assessment model was used for evaluating and modifying the haulage tunnel #3207 of Bo-fang mine panel #2. The results decreased the vulnerability of the tunnel support system and demonstrated acceptable effects. Furthermore, the results show that the impact of human attributes on tunnel support systems is dramatic under the condition that natural attributes are permanent, and the “vulnerability” is exactly a notable factor to manifest the transformation during this process. The results also indicate that optimizing human attributes can attenuate vulnerability in tunnel support systems. As a result, enhancement of stability of tunnel support systems can be achieved.