Doping by athletes is a serious problem plaguing competitive sports around the world. Reviewing history, the traditional British endurance race is the source of doping in modern sports. Science and technology is the main driving force of social development. The competitive level of human beings has reached the height close to the limit of human potential, and it is difficult to improve sports performance by using conventional training methods, which makes athletes seek external and powerful means to improve their performance, and the achievements of natural science just meet this demand. This has also become a seemingly unavoidable phenomenon. On the one hand, this practice has been condemned by the public, on the other hand, it has become a serious problem in sports.
Preserving roads involves regularly evaluating government policy through advanced assessments using vehicles with specialized capabilities and high-resolution scanning technology. However, the cost is often not affordable due to a limited budget. Road surface surveys are highly expected to use low-cost tools and methods capable of being carried out comprehensively. This research aims to create a road damage detection application system by identifying and qualifying precisely the type of damage that occurs using a single CNN to detect objects in real time. Especially for the type of pothole, further analysis is to measure the volume or dimensions of the hole with a LiDAR smartphone. The study area is 38 province’s representative area in Indonesia. This research resulted in the iRodd (intelligent-road damage detection) for detection and classification per type of road damage in real-time object detection. Especially for the type of pothole damage, further analysis is carried out to obtain a damage volume calculation model and 3D visualization. The resulting iRodd model contributes in terms of completion (analyzing the parameters needed to be related to the road damage detection process), accuracy (precision), reliability (the level of reliability has high precision and is still within the limits of cost-effective), correct prediction (four-fifths of all positive objects that should be identified), efficient (object detection models strike a good balance between being able to recognize objects with high precision and being able to capture most objects that would otherwise be detected-high sensitivity), meanwhile, in the calculation of pothole volume, where the precision level is established according to the volume error value, comparing the derived data to the reference data with an average error of 5.35% with an RMSE value of 6.47 mm. The advanced iRodd model with LiDAR smartphone devices can present visualization and precision in efficiently calculating the volume of asphalt damage (potholes).
This paper examines the effect of governance in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Specifically, this study investigates (i) the interacting impact of government efficiency, regulatory quality, and the rule of law alongside other socioeconomic variables to determine foreign capital inflow (FCI) based on each economic SSA bloc; and (ii) the characteristic drivers of FCI, impacting economic growth in the SSA countries. Descriptive statistics, static models, least square dummy variables (LSDVs) and the dynamic system general method of moment (GMM) were employed as the study’s estimating techniques. Based on the result of the LSDV, food security and the rule of law significantly impact FCI in the sub-economic blocs in the region. Only six countries across the four economic blocs responded to food security and the rule of law in the model. The dynamic system-GMM provided evidence of five socioeconomic variables and three governance variables contributing to FCI. The findings revealed (i) regulatory quality and the rule of law are governance variables that significantly impacted FCI; and (ii) food security failed to significantly impact FCI in the SSA region. However, inflation, life expectancy, the human capital index, exchange rate and gross domestic product (GDP) growth impacted FCI significantly. In the aggregate, inflation, regulatory quality, exchange rate and the human capital index exhibited positive relationships, while other variables such as life expectancy, government effectiveness and the rule of law appeared significant but inversely impacted FCI in the SSA region. The key policy implication recommendation from this study is that a good legal framework could moderate the flow of foreign capital in favour of growth as it creates a strong foundation for sustainable economic development in the region.
The study aims to explore the role of artificial intelligence in enhancing the efficiency of public relations practitioners in Jordanian telecommunication companies. This study belongs to the category of descriptive research and adopted a survey methodology. The study surveyed (86) individuals representing the community of public relations practitioners and customer service personnel in the Jordanian telecommunication companies Zain and Orange.The study findings revealed that less experienced public relations personnel in Zain and Orange, with less than five years of experience, exhibit greater acceptance and enthusiasm for using artificial intelligence applications compared to their more experienced counterparts. The study also indicated that most public relations practitioners in Zain and Orange perceive artificial intelligence applications to have a moderate to significant contribution to achieving public relations functions and enhancing their work, reflecting technological advancement and the need to adapt to rapid changes in the business environment. Moreover, the study also discussed the limits, including that artificial intelligence can analyze large amounts of data related to the market and the audience, which provides further research and study.
In the current context of China’s vigorous development of its high-speed rail (HSR) network to accelerate the realization of connectivity, which is the aim of the “Belt and Road” initiative, it is crucial to study how the specific opening of HSR enhances enterprise human capital investment efficiency. Using a multiple-time-point difference-in-differences (DID) regression model, we empirically study data from listed Chinese companies. An HSR opening can promote the efficiency of an enterprise’s human capital investment. We further explore the relationship between HSR and a company’s human capital investment, by considering the moderating effects of firm property rights and foreign shareholding. Our findings indicate that these factors can enhance the impact of HSR on the efficiency of firms’ investments in human capital. Finally, to ensure the reliability of our experimental findings, we employed a combination of propensity score matching and the DID methodology. The findings of this study offer empirical evidence that can inform enterprise management strategies and provide valuable insights for policymakers seeking to promote economic growth.
Introduction: In Central Europe, in Hungary, the state guarantees access to health care and basic health services partly through the Semmelweis Plan adopted in 2011. The primary objectives of the Semmelweis Plan include the optimisation and transformation of the health care system, starting with the integration of hospitals and the state control of previously municipally owned hospitals. The transformation of the health care system can have an impact on health services and thus on meeting the needs of the population. In addition to reducing health inequalities and costs, the relevant benefits include improving patients’ chances of recovery and increasing patient safety. The speciality under study is decubitus care. Our hypothesis is that integration will improve the chances of recovery for decubitus patients through access to smart dressings to promote patient safety. Objective: to investigate and demonstrate the effectiveness of integration in improving the chances of recovery for decubitus ulcer patients. Material and methods: The research compared two time periods in the municipality of Kalocsa, Bács-Kiskun County, Southern Hungary. We collected the number of decubitus patients arriving and leaving the hospital from the nursing records and compared the pre-integration period when decubitus patients were provided with conventional dressings (01.01.2006–2012.12.31) and the post-integration period, which entailed the introduction of smart dressings in decubitus care (01.01.2013–2012.12.31). The target population of the study was men and women aged 0–99 years who had developed some degree of decubitus. The sample size of the study was 4456. Independent samples t-test, Chow test and linear trend statistics were used to evaluate the results. Based on the empirical evidence, a SWOT analysis was conducted to further examine the effectiveness of integration. Results: The independent samples t-test model used was significant (for Phase I: t (166) = −16.872, p < 0.001; for Phase II: t (166) = −19.928, p < 0.001; for Phase III: t (166) = −19.928, p < 0.001; for Phase III: t (166) = −16.872, p < 0.001). For stage III: t (166) = −10.078, p < 0.001; for stage IV: t (166) = −10.078, p < 0.001; for stage III: t (166) = −10.078, p < 0.001). for stage III: t (166) = −14.066, p < 0.001). For the Chow test, the p-values were highly significant, indicating a structural break. Although the explanatory power of the regression models was variable (R-squared values ranged from 0.007 to 0.617), they generally supported the change in patient dynamics after integration. Both statistical analyses and SWOT analysis supported our hypothesis and showed that integration through access to smart dressings improves patients’ chances of recovery. Conclusions: Although only one segment of the evidence on the effectiveness of hospital integration was examined in this study, integration in the study area had a positive impact on the effective care of patients with decubitus ulcers, reduced inequalities in care and supported patient safety. In the context of the results obtained, these trends may reflect different systemic changes in patient management strategies in addition to efficient allocation of resources and quality of care.
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