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For achieving the profitable human activity recognition (HAR) method, this paper solves the HAR problem under wireless body area network (WBAN) using a developed ensemble learning approach. The purpose of this study is,to solve the HAR problem under WBAN using a developed ensemble learning approach for achieving the profitable HAR method. There are three data sets used for this HAR in WBAN, namely, human activity recognition using smartphones, wireless sensor data mining and Kaggle. The proposed model undergoes four phases, namely, “pre-processing, feature extraction, feature selection and classification.” Here, the data can be preprocessed by artifacts removal and median filtering techniques. Then, the features are extracted by techniques such as “t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding”, “Short-time Fourier transform” and statistical approaches. The weighted optimal feature selection is considered as the next step for selecting the important features based on computing the data variance of each class. This new feature selection is achieved by the hybrid coyote Jaya optimization (HCJO). Finally, the meta-heuristic-based ensemble learning approach is used as a new recognition approach with three classifiers, namely, “support vector machine (SVM), deep neural network (DNN) and fuzzy classifiers.” Experimental analysis is performed.

The proposed HCJO algorithm was developed for optimizing the membership function of fuzzy, iteration limit of SVM and hidden neuron count of DNN for getting superior classified outcomes and to enhance the performance of ensemble classification.

The accuracy for enhanced HAR model was pretty high in comparison to conventional models, i.e. higher than 6.66% to fuzzy, 4.34% to DNN, 4.34% to SVM, 7.86% to ensemble and 6.66% to Improved Sealion optimization algorithm-Attention Pyramid-Convolutional Neural Network-AP-CNN, respectively.

The suggested HAR model with WBAN using HCJO algorithm is accurate and improves the effectiveness of the recognition.

This study aims to elucidate the role of curved walls in the presence of identical mass of porous bed with identical heating at a wall for two heating objectives: enhancement of heat transfer to fluid saturated porous beds and reduction of entropy production for thermal and flow irreversibilities.

Two heating configurations have been proposed: Case 1: isothermal heating at bottom straight wall with cold side curved walls and Case 2: isothermal heating at left straight wall with cold horizontal curved walls. Galerkin finite element method is used to obtain the streamfunctions and heatfunctions associated with local entropy generation terms.

The flow and thermal maps show significant variation from Case 1 to Case 2 arrangements. Case 1 configuration may be the optimal strategy as it offers larger heat transfer rates at larger values of Darcy number, Da_m. However, Case 2 may be the optimal strategy as it provides moderate heat transfer rates involving savings on entropy production at larger values of Da_m. On the other hand, at lower values of Da_m (Da_m ≤ 10⁻³), Case 1 or 2 exhibits almost similar heat transfer rates, while Case 1 is preferred for savings of entropy production.

The concave wall is found to be effective to enhance heat transfer rates to promote convection, while convex wall exhibits reduction of entropy production rate. Comparison between Case 1 and Case 2 heating strategies enlightens efficient heating strategies involving concave or convex walls for various values of Da_m.

The paper provides an overview of research published in the innovation and operations management (IOM) literature on 15 methods for cost management in new product development, and it provides a comparison to an earlier review of the management accounting (MA) literature (Wouters & Morales, 2014).

This structured literature search covers papers published in 23 journals in IOM in the period 1990–2014.

The search yielded a sample of 208 unique papers with 275 results (one paper could refer to multiple cost management methods). The top 3 methods are modular design, component commonality, and product platforms, with 115 results (42%) together. In the MA literature, these three methods accounted for 29%, but target costing was the most researched cost management method by far (26%). Simulation is the most frequently used research method in the IOM literature, whereas this was averagely used in the MA literature; qualitative studies were the most frequently used research method in the MA literature, whereas this was averagely used in the IOM literature. We found a lot of papers presenting practical approaches or decision models as a further development of a particular cost management method, which is a clear difference from the MA literature.

This review focused on the same cost management methods, and future research could also consider other cost management methods which are likely to be more important in the IOM literature compared to the MA literature. Future research could also investigate innovative cost management practices in more detail through longitudinal case studies.

This review of research on methods for cost management published outside the MA literature provides an overview for MA researchers. It highlights key differences between both literatures in their research of the same cost management methods.

Based on data collected over a 15 year period (2000–2015) for 89 countries selected across nine geopolitical regions of the world, the purpose of this paper is to explore the role of economic development and the Hofstede index of national cultures in influencing level of government effectiveness and ICT diffusion; as well as the impact of ICT diffusion on government effectiveness. The level of economic development and a country’s ranking on the E-government index were found significant in explaining ICT diffusion and level of government effectiveness, respectively. But the findings also indicate that only the cultural factors such as Indulgence and long-term orientation (LTO) were quite significant in explaining level of government of effectiveness and ICT diffusion, respectively. The findings conclude that while some cultural factors may provide partial explanations for a country’s level of government effectiveness or ICT diffusion, but for other cultural elements, the path of influence is still unclear and at best debatable. Hence, in light of the growing emphasis placed on it in the literature, the effect of culture is limited and may have been overstated. ICT diffusion, while a necessary tool for administrative efficiency, is only but one piece of a larger puzzle and should be developed in consideration of and in the context of a broader framework of economic development, institutional design and behavioral practices.

This study examines how existing ICT diffusion and infrastructures among a set of 89 countries spread across nine world geopolitical zones has been able to improve their government effectiveness – as measured by their relative scores or rankings on the global “government effectiveness index” over a 15 year period (2000–2015); and also how specific cultural factors may influence the level of ICT diffusion. Drawing data from the United Nations e-Government knowledge database, the United Nations Development Program, the GlobalEconomy.com, as well as other socio-demographic sources, I examine key and associated indicators that influence information technology diffusion and its contributory effects on level of government effectiveness; as well as the impact of national cultures on ICT diffusion.

Overall, the finding from this analysis point to the fact that only two of the Hofstede national culture variables were significant (LTO and Indulgence). The other four national culture variables (Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity/Femininity and Uncertainty Avoidance) were not. Indulgence has a negative effect on level of government effectiveness, while LTO has a positive effect on ICT diffusion. The other culture variables were not significant in any of the regression models, but they seem to congregate much closer to or around the mean.

This is the only work of its kind that has utilized the seven Hofstede indicators to test for the relationship between culture and technology over a long period of 15 years.

Much of the discussion surrounding the antivaccine movement focuses on the decision of parents to not vaccinate their children and the resulting danger posed to others. However, the primary risk is borne by the child left unvaccinated. Although living in a developed country with high vaccination rates provides a certain amount of protection through population immunity, the unvaccinated child is still exposed to a considerably greater risk of preventable diseases than one who is vaccinated. I explore the tension between parental choice and the child’s right to be free of preventable diseases. The chapter’s goal is twofold: to advocate for moving from a dyadic framework – considering the interests of the parents against those of the state – to a triadic one, in which the interests of the child are given as much weight as those of the parent and the state; and to discuss which protections are available, and how they can be improved. Specific legal tools available to protect that child are examined, including tort liability of the parents to the child, whether and to what degree criminal law has a role, under what circumstances parental choice should be overridden, and the role of school immunization requirements in protecting the individual child.

This paper synthesizes the extant geographically distributed work literature, focusing on how geographic distribution affects coordination and communication, knowledge sharing, work design, and social identity. Geographically distributed audit arrangements, such as group audits and offshoring, are becoming increasingly prevalent in audit practice. However, little empirically is known about how working across cities, countries, and continents affects auditors, the audit process, or audit quality. To this end, the synthesis seeks to stimulate research investigating the implications of geographically distributed work arrangements in auditing, by surveying the extant literature within the management and social psychology disciplines and developing eighteen research questions for future audit research to consider. The synthesis reveals that geographically distributed audit work is likely to be very different from work performed in more traditional arrangements and therefore cannot be treated by audit researchers, practitioners, or standard setters as replications of domestic processes abroad. As a result, the synthesis focuses on building a greater understanding of the changes in day-to-day auditing, the consequences of such changes, and interventions that may moderate the challenges encountered in geographically distributed audit arrangements.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the Soret and Dufour effects on the double-diffusive convective boundary layer flow of a nanofluid past a moving wedge in the presence of suction.

The similarity transformation is applied to convert the governing nonlinear partial differential equations into ordinary differential equations. Then, they are solved numerically by the fourth-order Runge–Kutta–Gill method along with the shooting technique and the Newton–Raphson method. In addition, the ordinary differential equations are also analytically solved by the homotopy analysis method.

The results for dimensionless velocity, temperature, solutal concentration and nanoparticle volume fraction profiles, as well as local skin friction coefficient and local Nusselt and local Sherwood numbers are presented through the plots for various combinations of pertinent parameters involved in the study. The heat transfer rate increases on increasing the Soret parameter and it decreases on increasing the Dufour parameter. The mass transfer behaves oppositely to heat transfer.

In engineering applications, a wedge is used to hold objects in place, such as engine parts in the gate valves. A gate valve is the valve that opens by lifting a wedge-shaped disc to control the timing and quantity of fluid flow into an engine.

No such investigation is available in literature, and therefore, the results obtained are novel.