Exploiting an Ontological Model to Study COVID-19 Contagion Chains in Sustainable Smart Cities

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the deaths of millions of people around the world. The scientific community faces a tough struggle to reduce the effects of this pandemic. Several investigations dealing with different perspectives have been carried out. However, it is not easy to find studies focused on COVID-19 contagion chains. A deep analysis of contagion chains may contribute new findings that can be used to reduce the effects of COVID-19. For example, some interesting chains with specific behaviors could be identified and more in-depth analyses could be performed to investigate the reasons for such behaviors. To represent, validate and analyze the information of contagion chains, we adopted an ontological approach. Ontologies are artificial intelligence techniques that have become widely accepted solutions for the representation of knowledge and corresponding analyses. The semantic representation of information by means of ontologies enables the consistency of the information to be checked, as well as automatic reasoning to infer new knowledge. The ontology was implemented in Ontology Web Language (OWL), which is a formal language based on description logics. This approach could have a special impact on smart cities, which are characterized as using information to enhance the quality of basic services for citizens. In particular, health services could take advantage of this approach to reduce the effects of COVID-19.

Data-Driven Construction Safety Information Sharing System Based on Linked Data, Ontologies, and Knowledge Graph Technologies

Accident, injury, and fatality rates remain disproportionately high in the construction industry. Information from past mishaps provides an opportunity to acquire insights, gather lessons learned, and systematically improve safety outcomes. Advances in data science and industry 4.0 present new unprecedented opportunities for the industry to leverage, share, and reuse safety information more efficiently. However, potential benefits of information sharing are missed due to accident data being inconsistently formatted, non-machine-readable, and inaccessible. Hence, learning opportunities and insights cannot be captured and disseminated to proactively prevent accidents. To address these issues, a novel information sharing system is proposed utilizing linked data, ontologies, and knowledge graph technologies. An ontological approach is developed to semantically model safety information and formalize knowledge pertaining to accident cases. A multi-algorithmic approach is developed for automatically processing and converting accident case data to a resource description framework (RDF), and the SPARQL protocol is deployed to enable query functionalities. Trials and test scenarios utilizing a dataset of 200 real accident cases confirm the effectiveness and efficiency of the system in improving information access, retrieval, and reusability. The proposed development facilitates a new “open” information sharing paradigm with major implications for industry 4.0 and data-driven applications in construction safety management.

BIM-enabled learning for building systems and technology

This paper presents a series of educational case studies for the BIM-enabled pedagogical approaches for learning building systems and technology in the early stages of architectural education and provides evidence-based arguments about the influence of BIM on the students’ learning processes. Using a dual-channel pedagogical framework the study employed an object-oriented ontological approach tightly integrated with the parameterization of building components and their behaviors. Students experienced a fully BIM-enhanced course for learning fundamental concepts of building systems and technology where the creation of parametric BIM models was the main vessel for comprehensive understanding. The results show significant conceptual and practical advantages of BIM-enabled learning as well as the observed challenges in an educational context. The study also suggests positive educational transformations due to carefully devised BIM-based pedagogical frameworks for the understanding of building systems through parametric thinking and modeling. Based on a grounded theory approach, the findings are synthesized in a theoretical learning model including the systemic relationships between building technology content and parametric BIM methodology.

An Ontology Based Approach for Regulatory Compliance of EU Reg. No 995/2010 in Greece

Illegal logging has always been considered as a major environmental and social global concern, as it is directly associated with deforestation and climate change. Nowadays, EU Regulation No 995/2010 has been successfully enforced to impede the placement of illegally produced timber within the EU market and therefore to efficiently enhance sustainable forest management and restore ecosystem balance. However, EU 995 regulatory compliance and enforcement itself is quite complex, since it requires long-term conformity, on a common basis for various heterogeneous groups and communities of stakeholders, in a global, even beyond EU, rule regulation framework. To make things worse, such a framework must be applied to the entire supply distribution chain and a wide variety of wood products, ranging from paper pulp to solid wood and flooring. Hence, in such complex and multivariate information environments, an ontological approach can more efficiently support regulatory compliance and knowledge management, due to its openness and richness of semantics for representing, analyzing, interpreting and managing such kind of information. In this paper, a rule-based regulatory compliance ontology is proposed, which fully captures EU Regulation No 995/2010 concepts and compliance rules and guidelines, as well as Greek legislations governing wood trade. The proposed ontology can be the basis for a computerized system providing automated support for illegal wood trade and monitoring EU regulation information provision and audit information storage and analysis.

Psycho-social Impact of Covid 19 and Technological Intervention towards Preserving Social Interactions in Sri Lanka

COVID 19 pandemic has been made plenty of socio-economic and health crisis in worldwide. The research problem in this study was, how does technology intervene in social interaction and the research question was ‘what is the psycho-social effects of social distance during the Covid 19 period’. Study Objectives were limited to identifying the features of the psycho-social situation of students who are in the age group of 18-25 and to identifying the technological impact of maintaining social interaction. The alternative hypothesis was, ‘there is an impact between technological intervention towards preserving social interactions. The ontological approach of this research is objectivism and the epistemological approach is positivistic. The research type is descriptive, cross-sectional and quantitative. The research was designed with a survey method. The hypothesis was tested through validated questionnaires. The sample was obtained using the simple random method which is representing the probability sampling method. There is more time to spend with family members. Family contact for more than 16 hours has been increased by 9%. Talking time with friends has been increased. The time allocated for studies has been relatively reduced. But the time for leisure time activities has been increased. Outdoor sports by young people have dropped by 32%. Young people are isolated in every way. Young people use technology to reduce distance. The most common devices are smartphones and laptops. 47% of young people have not seen a doctor during the Covid period for any disease. Only about 10% have seen a doctor for mucosal diseases. About 50% of young people have stress. Anxiety and depression are also more with young people. There is no mental disease with 33% of them. They mostly feel loneliness, tension, and frustration. But some of them feel relaxed and happy.50% of them feel that they have extra time during this period. They use it to chat with family members and friends. But they lost their extra-curricula activities. They have an idea to adjust to new normal situations via technology.

From IT service management to IT service governance: An ontological approach for integrated use of ITIL and COBIT frameworks

Some companies have achieved better performance as a result of their IT investments, while others have not, as organizations are interested in calculating the value added by their IT. There is a wide range of literature that agrees that the best practices used by organizations promote continuous improvement in service delivery. Nevertheless, overuse of these practices can have undesirable effects and unquantified investments. This paper proposed a practical tool formally developed according to the DSR design science approach, it addresses a domain relevant to both practitioners and academics by providing IT service governance (ITSG) domain model ontology, concerned with maximizing the clarity and veracity of the concepts within it. The results revealed that the proposed ontology resolved key barriers to ITSG process adoption in organizations, and that combining COBIT and ITIL practices would help organizations better manage their IT services and achieve better business-IT alignment.

The oldest odonyms of Lviv

Street names were not often the subject of thorough research. The authors mostly record the first mention of a street in the sources but never notice the process (in some cases quite long) of the name formation. This research focuses on the names that were used for a short time or disappeared together with the object around which they signified the space. The sources of this work were the four oldest city books of Lviv: the book of the council and the bench court, two books of income and expenditure, and the book of a bench, covering the period 1382–1448, although with certain intervals. Such sources are heterogeneous, but they record the names in different areas of use, which statistically only emphasizes the constant use of such names. The goals of this study are to collect all the oldest odonyms of Lviv from preserved sources and publish their translation into Ukrainian; to present the chains of their formation; and to analyze the names of streets that no longer exist. The methodological framework of the research is based on the ontological approach to space, which means the study of relations, connections, and interactions between the actual names and denotatum-objects, i.e. the terrain that describes the name. Also we used the genetic method, which consists in the sequential disclosure of the origin and development of a historical phenomenon and aims to study the dynamics of the object’s evolution through time. After compiling the database, the sufficient availability of factual material allowed to use a typological method through which, based on common features, it was possible to distinguish two types of street names: proper names and descriptive names. The first type includes established names that have the denotatum “street”. The second includes the names without denotatum; they often have a preposition (however, they invariably perform an informative function). In the list where the found odonyms are sorted according to the chronology of use, we can trace their stages of formation. Some of the names are conditionally localized. The summary asserts that almost all found odonyms in the city centre were formed by the middle of the 15th century and were almost invariably used in the following years. In the suburbs, there are only a few names. Since the suburbs were developed rather slowly until the 16th century, there was practically no need for new odonyms.

Perspectives of Muslim husbands' roles in women's health and cancer in Indonesia

<p>In developing countries such as Indonesia, women face many health issues, including cancer. Social, cultural and economic factors are known barriers to women accessing health services and achieving a good health. Studies in Indonesia suggest that husbands’ support may influence women’s health behaviour, including women in breast and cervical screening and treatments. However, little is known in Indonesia about husbands’ roles in women’s health, including illness prevention, early detection, and treatment of women’s cancer. The main objectives of this study were to uncover Muslim husbands’ roles and perspectives regarding women’s health and women’s cancer, and to establish whether there were different perspectives of husbands’ roles related to geographical location, age or other social, health or cultural characteristics. This study used an Islamic ontological approach. The Basic Model of Religiosity and Health, the Health Belief Model, and the Help-Seeking Behaviour and Influencing Factors Framework theories informed data collection. A descriptive exploratory methodology was used. Methods included focus groups with 11 groups (n=73) of married Muslim men, and interviews with married Muslim women (n=20) and health professionals (n=10) from rural and urban areas of West Java province, Indonesia. Data were analysed using two techniques: the Comparative Analysis for Focus Group and the Comparative Analysis for Interviews. The findings revealed that Islamic teaching has an extremely significant position for Muslims husbands in guiding them in their family’s roles. Muslim husbands were very involved in women’s health and cancer. These roles were influenced by internal and external factors. Husbands’ significant roles in women’s health include maintaining women’s health and facilitating health treatments. However, they have a limited role in disease prevention, and early detection of women’s cancer. Muslim husbands’ limited health literacy of women’s cancer was a significant barrier in rural and downtown areas. This study’s findings contribute to a new perspective on religion as a vital influence and driver of health and health behaviour in nursing theory. There is a need for Indonesian nursing practice to incorporate a cultural safety approach to caring for Muslim husbands and wives, and for nurses to ensure men are more fully informed about women’s health. This study identified the need for improvements in health services and a reform of the health system especially in improving husbands’ knowledge and awareness of women’s cancer, and the dissemination of information about women’s cancer services, especially in rural and downtown areas. Additional health education programmes including some that target men’s health literacy are required alongside improvements in health services, especially women’s cancer services.</p>