L'intelligence émotionelle et le leadership

Le titre de l'essai « L'intelligence émotionnelle et le leadership » fait le lien avec le nouveau concept de la connaissance de soi et les relations interpersonnelles. Le récit du cheminement du directeur général, les expériences qu'il a vécues et surtout les caractéristiques de son modèle de gestion, où les relations interpersonnelles et le développement des qualités humaines occupent une place prépondérante, font appel à l'exploitation de nouveaux talents. Le nouveau contexte de travail issu des récents bouleversements des structures scolaires, jumelé au nouveau modèle de gestion imposé par la loi 180, fait ressortir encore plus les besoins des employés au regard des relations, de l’empathie et des communications humaines. Dorénavant, la visibilité de la direction d'école sera beaucoup plus grande, de sorte que ses aptitudes ou ses carences personnelles et relationnelles seront davantage perçues. [...]

Scalable unstructured mesh decomposition

As the efficiency of parallel software increases it is becoming common to measure near linear speedup for many applications. For a problem size N on P processors then with software running at O(N=P ) the performance restrictions due to file i/o systems and mesh decomposition running at O(N) become increasingly apparent especially for large P . For distributed memory parallel systems an additional limit to scalability results from the finite memory size available for i/o scatter/gather operations. Simple strategies developed to address the scalability of scatter/gather operations for unstructured mesh based applications have been extended to provide scalable mesh decomposition through the development of a parallel graph partitioning code, JOSTLE [8]. The focus of this work is directed towards the development of generic strategies that can be incorporated into the Computer Aided Parallelisation Tools (CAPTools) project.

Artificial intelligence and criminal evidence: A few topics

Abstract not available

Analysis on the connotation of probability in the artificial intelligence algorithm for economic decision making.

This paper analyzes the inner relations between classical sub-scheme probability and statistic probability, subjective probability and objective probability, prior probability and posterior probability, transition probability and probability of utility, and further analysis the goal, method, and its practical economic purpose which represent by these various probability from the perspective of mathematics, so as to deeply understand there connotation and its relation with economic decision making, thus will pave the route for scientific predication and decision making.

Applied web traffic analysis for numerical encoding of SQL Injection attack features.

SQL Injection Attack (SQLIA) remains a technique used by a computer network intruder to pilfer an organisation’s confidential data. This is done by an intruder re-crafting web form’s input and query strings used in web requests with malicious intent to compromise the security of an organisation’s confidential data stored at the back-end database. The database is the most valuable data source, and thus, intruders are unrelenting in constantly evolving new techniques to bypass the signature’s solutions currently provided in Web Application Firewalls (WAF) to mitigate SQLIA. There is therefore a need for an automated scalable methodology in the pre-processing of SQLIA features fit for a supervised learning model. However, obtaining a ready-made scalable dataset that is feature engineered with numerical attributes dataset items to train Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Machine Leaning (ML) models is a known issue in applying artificial intelligence to effectively address ever evolving novel SQLIA signatures. This proposed approach applies numerical attributes encoding ontology to encode features (both legitimate web requests and SQLIA) to numerical data items as to extract scalable dataset for input to a supervised learning model in moving towards a ML SQLIA detection and prevention model. In numerical attributes encoding of features, the proposed model explores a hybrid of static and dynamic pattern matching by implementing a Non-Deterministic Finite Automaton (NFA). This combined with proxy and SQL parser Application Programming Interface (API) to intercept and parse web requests in transition to the back-end database. In developing a solution to address SQLIA, this model allows processed web requests at the proxy deemed to contain injected query string to be excluded from reaching the target back-end database. This paper is intended for evaluating the performance metrics of a dataset obtained by numerical encoding of features ontology in Microsoft Azure Machine Learning (MAML) studio using Two-Class Support Vector Machines (TCSVM) binary classifier. This methodology then forms the subject of the empirical evaluation.

Scalable semantic aware context storage

The number of connected devices collecting and distributing real-world information through various systems, is expected to soar in the coming years. As the number of such connected devices grows, it becomes increasingly difficult to store and share all these new sources of information. Several context representation schemes try to standardize this information, but none of them have been widely adopted. In previous work we addressed this challenge, however our solution had some drawbacks: poor semantic extraction and scalability. In this paper we discuss ways to efficiently deal with representation schemes' diversity and propose a novel d-dimension organization model. Our evaluation shows that d-dimension model improves scalability and semantic extraction.

An ecosystem of products and systems for ambient intelligence – the AAL4ALL users perspective

Texto completo em atas de encontros científicos internacionais com arbitragem

Potential of civic crowdfunding to the intelligence of cities and social innovation: an exploratory study

The concepts of smart city and social innovation in combination with the increasing use of ICT by citizens and public authorities could enhance the involvement of people on the decisions that directly affect their daily life. A case study approach was adopted to illustrate the potential of civic crowdfunding for increasing the participation and collaboration between citizens, firms and government. The analysis of two exemplary cases shows that civic crowdfunding platforms could be used by public administration to engage communities in the search of solutions to local problems. Likewise, it could be used to reinforce the community ties and to leverage the bonds among the stakeholders and the partners of the community ecosystem.

Improvement of Virtual Screening Predictions using Computational Intelligence Methods

Virtual Screening (VS) methods can considerably aid clinical research, predicting how ligands interact with drug targets. However, the accuracy of most VS methods is constrained by limitations in the scoring function that describes biomolecular interactions, and even nowadays these uncertainties are not completely understood. In order to improve accuracy of scoring functions used in most VS methods we propose a hybrid novel approach where neural networks (NNET) and support vector machines (SVM) methods are trained with databases of known active (drugs) and inactive compounds, this information being exploited afterwards to improve VS predictions.

Espionage against Poland in the Documents and Analyses of the Polish Special Services (1944 - 1989) - as Illustrated by the Intelligence Activities of the USA

The text analyses the intelligence activity against Poland in the period 1944-1989. The paper also contains a case study, i.e. an analysis of the American intelligence service activity held against Poland. While examining the research thesis, the author used the documents and analyses prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In order to best illustrate the point, the author presented a number of cases of persons who spied for the USA, which was possible thanks to the analysis of the training materials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs directed to the officers of the Security Service and the Citizens’ Militia. The text tackles the following issues: (1) to what extent did the character of the socio-political system influence the number of persons convicted for espionage against Poland in the period under examination?, (2) what was the level of interest of the foreign intelligence services in Poland before the year 1990?, (3) is it possible to indicate the specificity of the U.S. intelligence activity against Poland? 1) The analysis of data indicates that the period 1946-1956 witnessed a great number of convictions for espionage, which is often associated with the peculiar political situation in Poland of that time. Up to 1953, the countries of the Eastern bloc had reproduced the Stalin’s system, which only ceased due to the death of Stalin himself. Since then, the communist systems gradually transformed into the system of nomenklatura. Irrespective of these changes, Poland still witnessed a wave of repressions, which resulted from the threats continuously looming over the communist authorities – combating the anti-communist underground movement, fighting with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the Polish government-in-exile, possible revisionism of borders, social discontent related to the socio-political reforms. Hence, a great number of convictions for espionage at that time could be ascribed to purely political sentences. Moreover, equally significant was the fact that the then judicial practice was preoccupied assessing negatively any contacts and relations with foreigners. This excessive number of convictions could ensue from other criminal-law provisions, which applied with respect to the crimes against the State, including espionage. What is also important is the fact that in the Stalin’s period the judiciary personnel acquired their skills and qualifications through intensive courses in law with the predominant spirit of the theory of evidence and law by Andrey Vyshinsky. Additionally, by the decree of 1944 the Penal Code of the Polish Armed Forces was introduced; the code envisaged the increase in the number of offences classified as penalised with death penalty, whereas the high treason was subject to the military jurisdiction (the civilians were prosecuted in military courts till 1955; the espionage, however, still stood under the military jurisdiction). In 1946, there was introduced the Decree on particularly dangerous crimes in the period of the State’s recovery, which was later called a Small Penal Code. 2) The interest that foreign intelligence services expressed in relation to Poland was similar to the one they had in all countries of Eastern and Central Europe. In the case of Poland, it should be noted that foreign intelligence services recruited Polish citizens who had previously stayed abroad and after WWII returned to their home country. The services also gathered information from Poles staying in immigrant camps (e.g. in FRG). The activity of the American intelligence service on the territory of FRG and West Berlin played a key role. The documents of the Ministry of Internal Affairs pointed to the global range of this activity, e.g. through the recruitment of Polish sailors in the ports of the Netherlands, Japan, etc. In line with the development in the 1970s, espionage, which had so far concentrated on the defence and strategic sectors, became focused on science and technology of the People’s Republic of Poland. The acquisition of collaborators in academic circles was much easier, as PRL opened to academic exchange. Due to the system of visas, the process of candidate selection for intelligence services (e.g. the American) began in embassies. In the 1980s, the activity of the foreign intelligence services concentrated on the specific political situation in Poland, i.e. the growing significance of the “Solidarity” social movement. 3) The specificity of the American intelligence activity against Poland was related to the composition of the residency staff, which was the largest in comparison to other Western countries. The wide range of these activities can be proved by the quantitative data of convictions for espionage in the years 1944-1984 (however, one has to bear in mind the factors mentioned earlier in the text, which led to the misinterpretation of these data). Analysing the data and the documents prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, one should treat them with caution, as, frequently, the Polish counter-intelligence service used to classify the ordinary diplomatic practice and any contacts with foreigners as espionage threats. It is clearly visible in the language of the training materials concerned with “secret service methods of the intelligence activity” as well as in the documents on operational activities of the Security Service in relation to foreigners. The level of interest the USA had in Poland was mirrored in the classification of diplomatic posts, according to which Warsaw occupied the second place (the so-called Group “B”) on the three-point scale. The CIA experienced spectacular defeats during their activity in Poland: supporting the Polish underground anti-communist organisation Freedom and Independence and the so-called Munich-Berg episode (both cases took place in the 1950s). The text focuses only on selected issues related to the espionage activities against Poland. Similarly, the analysis of the problem has been based on selected sources, which has limited the research scope - however, it was not the aim of the author to present the espionage activity against Poland in a comprehensive way. In order to assess the real threat posed by the espionage activity, one should analyse the case of persons convicted for espionage in the period 1944-1989, as the available quantitative data, mentioned in the text, cannot constitute an explicit benchmark for the scale of espionage activity. The inaccuracies in the interpretation of data and variables, which can affect the evaluation of this phenomenon, have been pointed out in the text.

Depression and physical disability in chronic pain: The mediation role of emotional intelligence and acceptance

Emotional intelligence (EI) and acceptance have previously been identified as potential factors in the adjustment to chronic pain (CP). This study examined the associations between CP experiences, depression, and physical disability. It further investigated the mediating effect of EI and acceptance in the relationship between CP experiences, depression, and physical disability and how this changes with the duration of the CP. Method: A cross-sectional design, employing validated questionnaires, was used to measure pain experience, physical disability, depression, EI, and acceptance in 133 CP patients. Results: All variables were found to be significantly associated in theoretically predicted ways. The relationship between CP experiences and depression was mediated by both factors, as high EI and acceptance promoted a decreased influence of pain on depression. By contrast, the relationship between CP experiences and physical disability was mediated by acceptance, but not by EI. Further, the temporal stability analysis of this mediation model showed that long-term CP patients are better able to make use of these factors. Conclusions: The relationship between the experience of pain and depression or physical disability seems to be significantly mediated by factors such as EI and acceptance. This study lends further support to the development of more encompassing models that take both control and non-control variables into account when conceptualising the adjustment to CP. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

Scalable synthetic method for IT-SOFCs compounds

Póster presentado en: 12th EUROPEAN SOFC & SOE FORUM 2016. 5–8 July 2016, KKL Lucerne/Switzerland