Simultaneous Past and Current Social Interaction-aware Trajectory Prediction for Multiple Intelligent Agents in Dynamic Scenes

Trajectory prediction of multiple agents in a crowded scene is an essential component in many applications, including intelligent monitoring, autonomous robotics, and self-driving cars. Accurate agent trajectory prediction remains a significant challenge because of the complex dynamic interactions among the agents and between them and the surrounding scene. To address the challenge, we propose a decoupled attention-based spatial-temporal modeling strategy in the proposed trajectory prediction method. The past and current interactions among agents are dynamically and adaptively summarized by two separate attention-based networks and have proven powerful in improving the prediction accuracy. Moreover, it is optional in the proposed method to make use of the road map and the plan of the ego-agent for scene-compliant and accurate predictions. The road map feature is efficiently extracted by a convolutional neural network, and the features of the ego-agent’s plan is extracted by a gated recurrent network with an attention module based on the temporal characteristic. Experiments on benchmark trajectory prediction datasets demonstrate that the proposed method is effective when the ego-agent plan and the the surrounding scene information are provided and achieves state-of-the-art performance with only the observed trajectories.

Policy options for strengthening evidence-informed health policy-making in Iran: overall SASHA project findings

Background The institutionalization of evidence-informed health policy-making (EIHP) is complex and complicated. It is complex because it has many players and is complicated because its institutionalization will require many changes that will be challenging to make. Like many other issues, strengthening EIHP needs a road map, which should consider challenges and address them through effective, harmonized and contextualized strategies. This study aims to develop a road map for enhancing EIHP in Iran based on steps of planning. Methods This study consisted of three phases: (1) identifying barriers to EIHP, (2) recognizing interventions and (3) measuring the use of evidence in Iran's health policy-making. A set of activities was established for conducting these, including foresight, systematic review and policy dialogue, to identify the current and potential barriers for the first phase. For the second phase, an evidence synthesis was performed through a scoping review, by searching the websites of benchmark institutions which had good examples of EIHP practices in order to extract and identify interventions, and through eight policy dialogues and two broad opinion polls to contextualize the list of interventions. Simultaneously, two qualitative-quantitative studies were conducted to design and use a tool for assessing EIHP in the third phase. Results We identified 97 barriers to EIHP and categorized them into three groups, including 35 barriers on the “generation of evidence” (push side), 41 on the “use of evidence” (pull side) and 21 on the “interaction between these two” (exchange side). The list of 41 interventions identified through evidence synthesis and eight policy dialogues was reduced to 32 interventions after two expert opinion polling rounds. These interventions were classified into four main strategies for strengthening (1) the education and training system (6 interventions), (2) the incentives programmes (7 interventions), (3) the structure of policy support organizations (4 interventions) and (4) the enabling processes to support EIHP (15 interventions). Conclusion The policy options developed in the study provide a comprehensive framework to chart a path for strengthening the country’s EIHP considering both global practices and the context of Iran. It is recommended that operational plans be prepared for road map interventions, and the necessary resources provided for their implementation. The implementation of the road map will require attention to the principles of good governance, with a focus on transparency and accountability.

E-waste Management In Indian Microscale Informal Sectors – An Environmental Perspective Towards Policy Regulation

Inappropriate e-waste processing in the informal sector is a serious issue in developing countries. Field investigations in microscale informal recycling sites have been performed to study the impact of hazardous metal(loid)s (released from e-waste dismantling) on the environment (water and soil). Eight hazardous metal(loid)s (Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, As, Hg, Ni and Cr) were found at elevated levels in the monitored water and soil samples (Sangrampur, West Bengal) as a consequence of widespread informal e-waste handling and primitive processing. Pd, Cu and As were found in high concentrations in water samples (1.62, 1.40, 0.03 mgL-1 respectively). Significant levels of Cu, Pd and Cd were detected in collected soil samples, both topsoil (Cu up to 2328.60 ± 217.60, Pb up to 342.90 ± 32.36 and Cd 18.34 ± 3.81 mgkg-1) and subsurface soil (2491.40 ± 276.20, 1853.33 ± 144.79, 25.90 ± 9.53 mgkg-1), compared to the levels of Zn, As, Hg, Ni and Cr. The results of seasonal variation indicated that higher levels of these hazardous meta(loids) were detected in the pre-monsoon (Nov – May) season than the rest of the year, as open dumping/burning of e-waste were practiced commonly and frequently in the monitored sites. The results highlighted that the composition and the handling of e-waste were important factors affecting the metal(loid) concentrations. E-waste policy and legislation have great influence on the handling and disposal procedures. A novel improved e-waste management practice has been proposed to encourage eco-friendly and safe e-waste disposal. It is recommended that regulatory agencies and manufacturers should create a road map to convince the informal sector to develop a systematic approach towards a more standardized formal e-waste management practices at the microscale field level.

Revisiting the Past to Understand the Present: The Linguistic Ecology of the Singapore Deaf Community and the Historical Evolution of Singapore Sign Language (SgSL)

Singapore, a young nation with a colonial past from 1819, has seen drastic changes in the sociolinguistic landscape, which has left indelible marks on the Singapore society and the Singapore deaf community. The country has experienced many political and social transitions from British colonialism to attaining independence in 1965 and thereafter. Since independence, English-based bilingualism has been vigorously promoted as part of nation-building. While the roles of the multiple languages in use in Singapore feature prominently in the discourse on language planning, historical records show no mention of how these impacts on the deaf community. The first documented deaf person in archival documents is a Chinese deaf immigrant from Shanghai who established the first deaf school in Singapore in 1954 teaching Shanghainese Sign Language (SSL) and Mandarin. Since then, the Singapore deaf community has seen many shifts and transitions in education programming for deaf children, which has also been largely influenced by exogeneous factors such as trends in deaf education in the United States A pivotal change that has far-reaching impact on the deaf community today, is the introduction of Signing Exact English (SEE) in 1976. This was in keeping with the statal English-based bilingual narrative. The subsequent decision to replace SSL with SEE has dramatic consequences for the current members of the deaf community resulting in internal divisions and fractiousness with lasting implications for the cohesion of the community. This publication traces the origins of Singapore Sign Language (SgSL) by giving readers (and future scholars) a road map on key issues and moments in this history. Bi- and multi-lingualism in Singapore as well as external forces will also be discussed from a social and historical perspective, along with the interplay of different forms of language ideologies. All the different sign languages and sign systems as well as the written/spoken languages used in Singapore, interact and compete with as well as influence each other. There will be an exploration of how both internal factors (local language ecology) and external factors (international trends and developments in deaf education), impact on how members of the deaf community negotiate their deaf identities.

Strengthening Visceral Leishmaniasis Diagnosis Capacity to Improve Access to Care in Kenya: The Example of Marsabit County

BackgroundVisceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar, is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) that is fatal if not treated early. The WHO targets the elimination of VL as a public health problem in its 2030 NTD road map. However, improving access to VL diagnosis and treatment remains a major challenge in many VL-endemic countries. Kenya is endemic for VL and is among the top 6 high-disease burden countries in the world.MethodsFIND, through its activities in improving the diagnosis of VL and supporting the elimination of the disease in Kenya, has worked with various county ministries of health (MOH) and central MOH over the last couple of years. FIND’s activities in Marsabit county started in 2018. In this work, we present the implementation of activities and the impacts in Marsabit county. We reviewed the data for 2017 and 2019 outbreaks (before and after the implementation of FIND’s activities) and assessed the importance of improving access and community sensitization to VL diagnosis. We assessed the contribution of each facility to the total distance traveled from a perspective of location optimization.ResultsThere was a sharp increase in the number of people tested in the 2017 outbreak compared to the 2019 outbreak. In 2017, 437 people were tested compared to 2,338 in 2019. The county reported 234 and 688 VL cases in 2017 and 2019, respectively. The data revealed a shift in the demographic structures of cases toward the younger population (mean age in 2017 was 17.6 years and 15.3 years in 2019), with more female cases reported in 2019 compared to 2017. In 2017, 44.4% were 10 years of age or under. In 2019, the proportion 10 years or below was 52.2%. The addition of two new diagnosis facilities in 2018 resulted in a decrease in the distance traveled by confirmed VL cases from 28.1 km in 2017 to 10.8 km in 2019. Assessing the impact of facility placement indicated the most optimal facilities to provide VL diagnostic services and minimize the distance traveled by patients. Adding new facilities reduces the travel distance until a point where the addition of a new facility provides no additional impact.ConclusionThe results from this study indicate the need to carefully consider the placement of health facilities in improving access to VL diagnosis and treatment and could serve as an investment case in deciding when to stop adding new facilities in a particular setting. Extending the activities in Kenya to other VL-endemic countries in East Africa will contribute significantly toward the elimination of the disease, addressing the needs of marginalized populations and leaving no one behind.

An Ambitious Vision for the Future of Scientific Ocean Drilling

Scientific ocean drilling is an enduring paragon of global research, advancing knowledge of Earth and informing scientists and educators for 55 years. A new road map plots the way to further discovery.

Multi-Agent Real-Time Advanced Metering Infrastructure Based on Fog Computing

This effort to make the power grid more intelligent is tightly coupled with the deployment of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) as an integral part of the future vision of smart grid. The goal of AMI is to provide necessary information for the consumers and utilities to accurately monitor and manage energy consumption and pricing in real time. Immediate benefits are enhanced transparency and efficiency of energy usage and the improvement of customer services. Although the road map toward successful AMI deployment is clearly defined, many challenges and issues are to be solved regarding the design of AMI. In this paper, a multi-agent AMI based on the fog-computing approach is presented. Architecture follows structural decomposition of AMI functionalities encapsulated in a form of local and area-specific service components that reside at the different tiers of hierarchically organized AMI deployment. Fog computing concepts provide the framework to effectively solve the problems of creating refined and scalable solutions capable of meeting the requirements of the AMI as a part of future smart grid. On the other hand, agent-based design enables concurrent execution of AMI operations across the distributed system architecture, in the same time improving performance of its execution and preserving the scalability of the AMI solution. The real-time performance of the proposed AMI solution, related to the periodic and on-demand acquisition of metering data from the connected electricity meters, was successfully verified during one year of pilot project operation. The detailed analysis of the performance of AMI operation regarding data collection, communication and data availability across the deployed pilot AMI, covering several transformer station areas with diverse grid topologies, is also presented.

Unveiling the Experience of IZTECH

Izmir Institute of Technology (IZTECH), a university campus located in a rural area, establishes a different social and spatial relationship with the city and its immediate surroundings. This chapter focuses on assessing the socio-spatial sustainability of the campus before and during the pandemic, together with the evaluation of UI GreenMetric World University Rankings (GreenMetric). The study has the basis of the content analysis of IZTECH GreenMetric evaluations and a critical review of sustainability issues through questionnaire technique applied to campus users, including administrative, academic staff, and students at IZTECH. The multidimensional survey has been designed to grasp the perspectives of the campus users on the sustainability performance of the campus, and to gather some intangible data on the COVID-19 period and its impacts on the use of campus spaces. In conclusion, this chapter is going to suggest a road map to guide sustainability measures of campuses for more adaptable and resilient solutions under unexpected circumstances.

Transition From Traditional Grid to Smart One

Smart grids have become an urgent need to overcome the challenges of the 21st century. To transit the traditional grid to smart one, there must be a well thought out plan, called road map, which is also being carefully developed by organizations according to standards for deploying smart networks. Most studies focused on modernizing distribution networks because it was passive and technologically poor. Two approaches to developing distribution networks were presented. The smart grid modernization was also presented from social and psychological perspectives.