100 research outputs found
114 - Mahsa Ghorbani
No full textStock price prediction is one of the most challenging problems in finance and is receiving considerable attention from researchers. The literature provides strong evidence that prices can be predicted from past price data as well as other fundamental and macroeconomic variables. We propose a filtering operation using covariance information in order to predict future stock prices. We use daily historical price data for Generals Electric Company to illustrate our method, which shows promising results in terms of the estimation performance and volatility
Urban Flood Resilience : From Benchmarking Resilience to Accelerating Transformation Using Crowdsourcing Data
No full textThis thesis represents a significant contribution to the field of disaster resilience in the context of flood hazards in Iran and Germany. In the face of increasingly unpredictable climate-related extreme events, it is imperative to integrate good governance and sociotechnical advances and empower people to develop transformative, collaborative, and innovative approaches to resilience. The thesis makes three important contributions to developing, testing, and improving methods for assessing and strengthening resilience to flooding:
First, from an idiographic or top-down perspective, to operationalize the concept of disaster resilience as an important milestone for better-understanding resilience characteristics. The first contribution presents a multi-criteria approach (composite indicator building) to develop a resilience index for benchmarking flood resilience, and a hybrid multi-criteria decision-making method (AHP-TOPSIS) to comparatively assess the level of flood resilience in Tehran, Iran.
Second, for linking top-down and bottom-up approaches to enable change in disaster resilience, a comprehensive framework for scaling transformative urban resilience through crowdsourcing and Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) is proposed. Key legal, institutional, social, economic, and technical issues are identified to formalize the process of adopting these new data sources in resilience initiatives.
Third, from a nomothetic or bottom-up perspective, semantic (LDA) and spatiotemporal (KDE) analyses of social media crowdsourcing (Twitter) and an online survey are applied to analyze the 2021 flood in Germany and incorporate collective intelligence into disaster resilience studies. The real-time collective sensing approach reflects the optimized diversity and a spectrum of people's experiences and knowledge related to flood disasters and highlights the sociocultural characteristics of communities. This approach could also be an alternative to traditional participatory techniques to enable real-time situational awareness and unfolding of such events at a fraction of the cost to inform disaster resilience initiatives.
This work, therefore, provides innovative approaches and data to support disaster resilience initiatives. The integrated framework and multidisciplinary methodology provide a solid foundation for future research in this area, contributing to a more resilient future where policy, people, and technology work harmoniously to address challenges and create evidence-based solutions in a place-based, inclusive, and forward-looking manner
Nurturing success with learning disabilities in French immersion with teachers' and parents' support and collaboration
No full textThis paper draws upon my six years of teaching French as the second or foreign languages as well as my academic experiences in the Master of Education program. Within the past six years, I have perceived the second language acquisition to be an enjoyable and pleasant journey for all my students similar to what I experienced as a child. However, having faced various learning styles and needs as well as the uncertainty of some parents about the placement of their children with learning disabilities in French Immersion, I gravitated to inquire more into the compatibility of this program for my at-risk students. The French Immersion program is suitable for the students with learning disabilities if they can be provided with proper support in positive and motivating learning environments, such as school and home. This knowledge would benefit the teachers and parents who need to be ensured that the inclusion of the students with learning difficulties in French Immersion is educationally sound. Through the analysis of different strategies and accommodations, this paper discusses how the students with learning disabilities and their families can address their concerns and avoid some challenges, such as transition to English-only programs after having built several years of connections and friendships and the associated social-emotional impacts. This paper also seeks to convey the message to the teachers that learning disability should not hinder language acquisition. The implications emerged from this awareness are that educators and parents can advocate for the students with learning disabilities through their collaborative efforts, so that they can have equitable access to learning French in supportive and inspirational learning environments.Not peer reviewedcapstoneFrench immersionlearning disabilitysecond language acquisitioninclusionary practiceshome-school collaborationhome-school collaboratio
The wisdom of crowds for improved disaster resilience: a near-real-time analysis of crowdsourced social media data on the 2021 flood in Germany
No full textTransformative disaster resilience in times of climate change underscores the importance of reflexive governance, facilitation of socio-technical advancement, co-creation of knowledge, and innovative and bottom-up approaches. However, implementing these capacity-building processes by relying on census-based datasets and nomothetic (or top-down) approaches remains challenging for many jurisdictions. Web 2.0 knowledge sharing via online social networks, whereas, provides a unique opportunity and valuable data sources to complement existing approaches, understand dynamics within large communities of individuals, and incorporate collective intelligence into disaster resilience studies. Using Twitter data (passive crowdsourcing) and an online survey, this study draws on the wisdom of crowds and public judgment in near-real-time disaster phases when the flood disaster hit Germany in July 2021. Latent Dirichlet Allocation, an unsupervised machine learning technique for Topic Modeling, was applied to the corpora of two data sources to identify topics associated with different disaster phases. In addition to semantic (textual) analysis, spatiotemporal patterns of online disaster communication were analyzed to determine the contribution patterns associated with the affected areas. Finally, the extracted topics discussed online were compiled into five themes related to disaster resilience capacities (preventive, anticipative, absorptive, adaptive, and transformative). The near-real-time collective sensing approach reflected optimized diversity and a spectrum of people’s experiences and knowledge regarding flooding disasters and highlighted communities’ sociocultural characteristics. This bottom-up approach could be an innovative alternative to traditional participatory techniques of organizing meetings and workshops for situational analysis and timely unfolding of such events at a fraction of the cost to inform disaster resilience initiatives
A Framework for Scaling Urban Transformative Resilience through Utilizing Volunteered Geographic Information
No full textResilience in the urban context can be described as a continuum of absorptive, adaptive, and transformative capacities. The need to move toward a sustainable future and bounce forward after any disruption has led recent urban resilience initiatives to engage with the concept of transformative resilience when and where conventional and top-down resilience initiatives are less likely to deliver effective strategies, plans, and implementable actions. Transformative resilience pathways emphasize the importance of reflexive governance, inclusive co-creation of knowledge, innovative and collaborative learning, and self-organizing processes. To support these transformative pathways, considering techno-social co-evolution and digital transformation, using new data sources such as Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) and crowdsourcing are being promoted. However, a literature review on VGI and transformative resilience reveals that a comprehensive understanding of the complexities and capacities of utilizing VGI for transformative resilience is lacking. Therefore, based on a qualitative content analysis of available resources, this paper explores the key aspects of using VGI for transformative resilience and proposes a comprehensive framework structured around the identified legal, institutional, social, economic, and technical aspects to formalize the process of adopting VGI in transformative resilience initiatives
Harnessing Crowdsourcing Data for Comprehensive Green Window View Analysis
No full textThe paradigm of sustainable resilient cities underscores the importance of how to withstand and rapidly
recover from natural disasters, pandemics, or chronic stresses associated with increasing urbanization,
environmental degradation, and climate change through the use of advanced technologies and data analytics.
Access to urban green spaces is a key requirement for developing and maintaining a sustainable, resilient,
and healthy city, as described in Sustainable Development Goal 11.7 and the Sendai Framework. Due to
necessary triple inner urban development processes that creates multifunctional spaces in urban areas, the
resulting vertical and horizontal densification often leads to an impairment of visual access to urban green
spaces. Green window views, which reveal visual access to green spaces from buildings, provide a
significant impact on multidimensional aspects of urban dwellers. Still, few studies present how this form of
access, in its quantitative and qualitative complexity, should be operationalized into a tool for urban
planning. Given socio-technical advances, crowdsourcing, as an increasingly popular participatory method
for collecting and managing data, has the potential to contribute to the realization of inclusive planning by
incorporating passive and active participatory processes and open-source standards. Therefore, this study
aims to integrate key aspects of crowdsourced-based approach and window view accessibility analysis. By
leveraging the power of crowdsourcing, we investigate the potential of Volunteered Window View Imagery
(VWVI) for green window view analysis. Incorporating VWVI enables informed decisions by urban
planners, ensuring resilient, inclusive, and accessible urban green spaces. This integration of VGI and
window view analysis advances sustainable and resilient urban development
Abschlussbericht
No full textIGG hatte sich zum Ziel gesetzt, ein neues Instrument zur Konzeption, Operationalisierung und Umsetzung von Resilienz in Stadtplanungssystemen zu entwickeln. Wir lieferten neue Erkenntnisse darüber, wie Resilienzdenken und damit verbundene Konzepte, wie beispielsweise transformative Fähigkeiten, in Planungstheorien und -praktiken umgesetzt werden können. Ziel war es, die Wege und Kompromisse zu untersuchen, durch die Interaktionen innerhalb von Planungssystemen Möglichkeiten für Resilienz einschränken oder eröffnen, und wie diese Ergebnisse durch kontextuelle, theoretische und methodische Fortschritte zu einer effektiven Stadtplanung und Resilienz im Kontext von Natur- und Klimagefahren sowie der raschen Urbanisierung beitragen können.
Kontextuell untersuchte unser Teilprojekt transformative Resilienz als neue Herausforderung und Chance für Stadtplanung und Governance-Systeme im Kontext des Klimawandels und von Naturkatastrophen. Dies steht im Einklang mit politischen und akademischen Initiativen, die die Mängel und die Notwendigkeit einer grundlegenden Veränderung herkömmlicher Planungs- und Governance-Modelle hervorheben. Konzeptionell haben wir einen neuen konzeptionellen Rahmen entwickelt, der die transformative Resilienz von Planungs- und Governance-Systemen beschreibt. Dieser Rahmen ermöglicht den Übergang von der Theorie zur Praxis und erläutert die Chancen und Grenzen bestehender Governance-Modelle und Planungssysteme im Hinblick auf transformative Resilienz. Operativ haben wir einen erklärenden und interpretativen Ansatz zur Operationalisierung des konzeptionellen Rahmens für transformative Resilienz entwickelt, der auf einem qualitativen und leistungsbasierten Scorecard-Ansatz basiert.
Darüber hinaus hat IGG einen neuen Fahrplan für die Nutzung von VGI als fortschrittliche partizipative Methode zur Einbindung der Bürger in die Verbesserung der Resilienz vorgelegt. So wurde der entwickelte Rahmen beispielsweise im Kontext Deutschlands getestet und die Anwendung des Konzepts der „Weisheit der Massen“ zur Verbesserung der Katastrophenresilienz durch die Nutzung von Crowdsourcing-Daten aus sozialen Medien während der Überschwemmungen in Deutschland im Jahr 2021 untersucht
INCOR Basic Infrastructures and Services for Enhancing Inclusive Community Disaster Resilience in Iran. Final report of the definition phase
No full textIm Band 2/2019 werden Ergebnisse und Inhalte der Definitionphase des Deutsch-Iranischen Projektes „Basis-Infrastrukturen und Services einer inklusiven Katastrophenresilienz im Iran – Basic Infrastructures and Services for Enhancing Inclusive Community Disaster Resilience in Iran“ (INCOR) veröffentlicht. Er gibt einen Überblick über die Inhalte des Projekts und beleuchtet die Hintergründe und Konzeption. Weiter werden Synergien zwischen dem Resilienz-Ansatz für Kritische Infrastrukturen und dem Ansatz der „inclusiveness“ nach UN HABITAT beschrieben. Außerdem wird über die Iranisch-Deutschen Experten Workshops in Teheran und Köln berichtet, welche den internationalen Austausch von Katastrophenschutz-Managern förderten. Abschließend werden Möglichkeiten genannt, wie INCOR dem Sendai Framework beiträgt
Structural changes of conversion metal fluoride cathodes in lithium ion batteries
No full textCurrently, cathode materials for Li-ion batteries are based on intercalation processes where, during charge and discharge processes, Li intercalates into the crystal lattice while maintaining the host crystal structure. More recently, new cathode materials have been introduced based on conversion reactions involving phase transformation and complete reduction of the host transition metal. In addition, conversion reactions involve two or more Li ions with a resulting much higher capacity than obtainable for intercalation materials. However, mechanism of phase transformation and cycling reversibility are at present still poorly understood. In this study transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques including selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern, annular dark field (ADF) STEM image, and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) with nanoscale spatial resolution were used to study the phase evolution and structural changes of iron fluorides (FeFe2, FeO0.7F1.3, FeF3) after various discharge/charge cycles. Additionally, the changes of the Fe valence states upon cycling were determined using EELS by measuring the L3/L2 intensity ratio of Fe-L edge. The structural transformations of FeO0.7F1.3 during the first lithiation show that litiahation contains two regions. The first region, lithiation is an intercalation reaction iii with reduction of Fe3+ to Fe2+. The second region of lithiation involves a conversion reaction, with the formation of metallic Fe, LiF, and Li0.7Fe2+0.5O0.7F0.3 (rocksalt type) phases. The first delithiation process follows a different conversion reaction path compared to the first lithiation reaction involving the formation an amorphous rutile-type phase along with with the rocksalt-type phase. Interestingly, upon full recharge (delithiated electrode), the measured average Fe valence state returns back to its initial value of Fe2.7+. The growth of a solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer formation at the electrode/electrolyte interface is observed for the iron fluoride compounds (FeF2, FeF3, and FeOF) after cycling. The evolution of the SEI layer formation after cycling has been studied for the FeF2 samples in details by EELS and XPS. We observed the growth of SEI layer with cycle number, which mainly contained LiF and Li2CO3 compounds. Two degradation mechanisms are identified. First, the increase in the decomposition product layer after cycling inhibits complete reconversion process. Second, dissolution of Fe into the SEI layer after cycling which leads to the loss of active material.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Mahsa Sin
Nutrition and wound healing: vitamins
No full textSufficient nutrition is important for all medical surgical patients. In the clinical setting, many patients postoperative receive multivitamin and minerals to maintain adequate nutrition. This poster presentation will address the importance of supplementary vitamins to wound healing. Complications of delay wound healing includes adhesions, contractures, dehiscence, evisceration, granulation tissue, fistula formation, Infection, hemorrhage, formation of
hypertrophic scars and keloids (Lewis, Dirksen, Heitkemper, Bucher, & Camera, 2014). Conclusion: through this project we have learned that malnutrition contributes to delayed wound healing. Each vitamin we have discussed plays an important role in each stage of the healing process: inflammatory, proliferative and remodeling phase. Based on our literature review, patients who were receiving nutritional supplementation displayed a significant decrease in wound size as compared to those who did not. We now have a better understanding of supplemental nutrition (vitamins) on post surgical patients in our clinical setting and will further promote these findings through patient teaching.Not peer reviewedStudent Research Day Poster (2017
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