In the actual era, the human being has decided to go beyond his own intelligence, for a better un... more In the actual era, the human being has decided to go beyond his own intelligence, for a better understanding of the world, and an easier life style, hence he created Artificial Intelligence. Robots, smartphones, machines and softwares, that once were a pure creation of sci-fi writers imagination over a decade before, are becoming gradually essential to our daily life, and the fact that the economy, especially marketing, profits from it, is inescapable. Given that Neuromarketing, is mainly based on technological tools, its combination with AI could certainly improve it, to collect and measure the consumer's emotion with more accuracy. In this paper, we present a literature review of Neuromarketing and AI, and the current usage of AI in marketing studies with different technologies, and as we found out that few academics and scientific articles take an interest on the topic, we will be giving some perspectives and guidance questions for future researches and experimental studies.
Instability in the prices of agricultural products has become a grave global concern in the prese... more Instability in the prices of agricultural products has become a grave global concern in the present context and this calls for imminent and significant attention for seeking plausible solutions. Price instability is a general feature of competitive markets and it indicates important signs to producers and consumers. However, the efficacy of this system breaks down due to economic shocks. After any economic crisis there is often a steep and unpredictable increase in the prices of agricultural products. This anomaly needs the intervention of policy makers and strategists who must enlist measures to contain the price volatility. High volatility also has harmful and negative impact on poor people in a developing country, more so when they have to spend 70 percent of their income in procuring the food itself. According to FAO estimates, due to global financial crisis, around 80 million people have become malnourished. The financial crisis of 2007-2008, also known as the global financial crisis, is considered by many economists to have been the worst financial crisis since the great depression of the 1930s. Recession is an economic instability caused through the variation of aggregate demand and aggregate supply in economy. Due to the process of globalization it has both direct and indirect adverse impact on rest of the other countries in the world, be they the developed or the developing countries. In macroeconomics, the concept of instability refers to an uncertain movement of a random variable over a period of time. Volatility in agricultural commodity prices assumes a lot of importance because the uncertainty entailed is one of the major factors that affect the income security of producers and traders and it threatens the performance of agriculture as well as the welfare of the consumers. According to World Bank Report 2013, 1.2 million people are still living below 1.25 USD per capita per day. India's success in addressing food inflation, therefore, has important implications for global food security. Price rise adversely impacts the income and has substitution effect on food consumption by the poor, consequently, leading to serious implications on the household welfare. Price volatility can also have strong implications for food security policies such as public distribution system and minimum support price or procurement price that serve as safety nets for producers as well as consumers. This study attempts to examine the extent and graph of fluctuation of food prices in pre and post-recession from 2002 to 2015. The study maps normal volatility or more volatility of prices in wheat or rice in a stipulated timeframe. The research has elementally focused on the prices of two food crops which are wheat and rice because these two crops are staple crops of the country and help in meeting a significant proportion of the daily calorie needs of the people. The data has been taken from the reliable and authentic data sources such as MOSPI data set. The monthly data has been taken for the time period from 2002 to 2015 in context of the Indian economy. Furthermore, this time period has been divided into two sub-categories, in pre and the post-recession period. The main purpose of this study is to examine the impact, if any, of external shocks such as global financial recession on the instability of food prices in Indian economy. To fulfill this aim, we have applied the ARCH/GARCH (GARCH.1.1) Model. To conclude, in the pre-recession period, the instability in price of wheat and rice has increased with high rate but the instability on prices of wheat is higher as compared to prices of rice. This is largely due to the influence by (own shock) or due to the past information about prices of agriculture commodities. Further, in the post-recession period, volatility on food prices of wheat and rice is largely influenced by the global financial crisis and past information about the prices of agriculture commodities. This study aims at a more conclusive approach by enunciating some suggestions and recommendations for policymakers which are: Concerted efforts are required by all stakeholders to ensure more investment in agricultural sector including agribusiness. Pivotal shift in policy by the governments in the wake of looming economic volatility or instability is essential with the key focus on food security and trade policy that effectively stems the adverse impact of price rise on the consumers and producers. It is imperative to ensure the timely availability and accessibility to good quality seeds, eco-friendly fertilizers, sensitisation on irrigation techniques for farmers, providing subsidies as and when required to the target groups. Public Distribution System (PDS) also needs a more efficacious and equitable approach.
Le présent papier a pour but d'explorer la relation entre la RSE, la gouvernance et la performanc... more Le présent papier a pour but d'explorer la relation entre la RSE, la gouvernance et la performance des PME cotées dans le cadre d'une économie émergente. La méthodologie adoptée est l'utilisation d'un panel de données avec comme méthode statistique la régression, sur un échantillon de 13 PME cotées sur la bourse de Casablanca, entre 2010 et 2016. Pour l'estimation de la gouvernance nous avons retenu quatre mécanismes liés au conseil d'administration. Or, Pour appréhender la performance, nous avons retenu cinq indicateurs. Avec pour variables de contrôle le taux d'endettement, les opportunités de croissance et l'âge de la PME. Les principaux résultats révèlent deux constats majeurs, l'un suggère la neutralité de la RSE alors que l'autre indique que seul le mécanisme de la structure de propriété a un effet significatif sur la performance financière mesurée par la marge sur EBE.
The aim of this research is to study the determinants of the foreign demand on the tourism servic... more The aim of this research is to study the determinants of the foreign demand on the tourism services in Ahaggar region-Algeria-for the period 1999-2012. We used a range of economic and non-economic variables, which can affect tourism demand to any tourist destination, such as per capita income in the tourists' home countries, relative price, the real effective exchange rate, in addition to dummy variables reflect the security situation in the region. The data were analyzed using panel data econometric techniques (fixed/random effects model). The study concluded that per capita income in the tourists' home countries had a positive impact on the flow of tourists to the region; whereas security chaos in Tunisia and Libya 2011 and Mali in 2012 had a negative impact; but the real effective exchange rate, the relative price and internal security risk (the kidnapping of 32 foreign tourists in 2003) had only secondary effects.
La croissance des entreprises est un pilier fondamental de la croissance économique de tout pays.... more La croissance des entreprises est un pilier fondamental de la croissance économique de tout pays. Plusieurs chercheurs depuis les années 50, ont essayé de démystifier ce phénomène qui s'avère à la fois complexe et multi dimensionnel eu égard des multiples facteurs susceptibles d'expliquer la croissance d'une entreprise. Le présent article, à travers, une étude réalisée auprès de cent entreprises marocaines (très petites, petites et moyennes) vise à élucider les déterminants relatifs à la croissance des firmes en étudiant trois types de déterminants ceux relatifs aux dirigeants, à l'entreprise et l'environnement. Nous déduisons que la croissance des entreprises marocaines est plus expliquée par les déterminants relatifs à l'entreprise en l'occurrence la qualité de ses produits et ceux liés aux dirigeants plus précisément leurs expériences professionnelles, leurs choix stratégiques et leurs traits de personnalité. Néanmoins, les facteurs relatifs à l'environnement se sont avérés plus contraignants et présentant des obstacles à la croissance.
Dans le contexte économique actuel et devant cette concurrence rude et acharnée, la fidélisation ... more Dans le contexte économique actuel et devant cette concurrence rude et acharnée, la fidélisation des clients distributeurs représente un paradigme essentiel pour les entreprises afin de maintenir un bon niveau de rentabilité. Au début, la relation qui liait les fournisseurs avec leurs distributeurs était conflictuelle et a généré des pertes flagrantes pour les deux parties, d'où la nécessité de mettre fin à ces conflits a imposé un partenariat entre les deux parties et donc un passage du marketing transactionnel vers un marketing relationnel plus approprié, tout en essayant d'instaurer des stratégies de fidélisation des distributeurs qui sont devenus de plus en plus volatils. La fidélisation des consommateurs a fait l'objet de plusieurs recherches, mais on a constaté un manque au niveau des recherches académiques traitant la fidélisation dans le contexte inter-organisationnel et surtout la relation fournisseur/distributeur. L'objectif de cet article est donc de montrer que les relations entre fournisseurs et distributeurs peuvent dépasser l'affrontement en s'inscrivant dans une logique de partenariat et de coopération, ainsi qu'approfondir la compréhension du rôle des déterminants relationnels sur la fidélité des distributeurs.
La production de fourrage hors sol ou la culture de fourrage vert hydroponique permet de fournir ... more La production de fourrage hors sol ou la culture de fourrage vert hydroponique permet de fournir aux animaux un fourrage vert de très bonne qualité. Une étude visant à évaluer cette technique (Miralles Bruneau et al, 2015) [1] a permis de préciser la valeur alimentaire de ce fourrage et les résultats positifs sur la croissance et l'état général des animaux, notamment chez les femelles reproductrices. Or, les coûts de production sont élevés. Cependant, il reste de nombreux questionnements sur l'optimisation de cette technique et sur la stratégie d'affourragement à moyen et à long terme. Au Maroc, face aux changements climatiques, une seule coopérative pionnière « Ait Si Salem » située dans la région Souss Massa, qui a mené, depuis 2 ans, la culture de fourrage vert hydroponique en partenariat avec l'Université Ibn Zohr et l'Office Régionale de la Mise en Valeur Agricole Souss Massa. Partant du constat qu'en sciences de gestion, les politiques de management auraient toutes, pour ambition ultime, de contribuer à la performance de l'entreprise et que la capacité d'innovation d'une entreprise serait une condition sine qua non de cette performance. Ce nouveau procédé, appelé fourrage vert hydroponique, pourra-t-il contribuer à la performance de la coopérative ? Quel est l'impact de cette nouvelle approche sur sa structure financière et sur sa profitabilité ? A partir de ce constat, une démarche exploratoire comparative a été menée basée sur une analyse des données comptables et financières de la coopérative avant et après l'introduction de la culture hydroponique. L'étude empirique repose sur une analyse par ratios de la performance et de la structure financière suivie par une étude économétrique à travers un modèle de l'effet de l'innovation sur la performance et la structure financière.
The purpose of this paper is to present the main current unconventional monetary policies, as wel... more The purpose of this paper is to present the main current unconventional monetary policies, as well as the effects that the introduction of such policies have on certain macroeconomic variables. Given the fact that in times of major crises, the monetary policy instruments normally used by central banks may no longer have the same effects that they have during the periods of economic stability, a number of unconventional monetary policies, such as quantitative easing, should be used in order to stimulate the economy. The first part of this paper aims to create an overview of the concept of unconventional monetary policy by highlighting the most relevant definitions, as well as presenting the main current measures of unconventional monetary policy, while the second part of the paper aims to identify the effects that the introduction of such monetary policies have on the economy and on certain macroeconomic variables.
After the 2008 Great Financial Crisis (GFC), Central Banks main tools tagged as unconventional an... more After the 2008 Great Financial Crisis (GFC), Central Banks main tools tagged as unconventional and still, there is a debate on how effective they were. The Federal Reserve (FED) has committed itself to adapt its monetary policy framework and has begun the most extensive currency printing action in the world. Other major central banks did slightly the same interventions. The Unconventional Monetary Policies (UMPs) that central bankers in Advanced Economies (AEs) have initiated over the last several years have generated unprecedented excess of liquidity in the international financial system, partially channelled to Emerging Market Economies (EMEs). They confronted massive spillovers from AEs central banks explosion of balance sheet and raised worries about possible adverse cross-border effects of such unprecedented accommodative policy. The vast majority of EMEs adopted inflation targeting, combined with controlled floating-as opposed to developed economies that have opted for free-floating regimes. The effect of EMEs monetary authority's management of these capital flows was made with the cost of the exchange rate, subjecting it to significant variations, and increased volatility. The importance of the exchange rate in carrying out monetary policy of EMEs is also reflected by the evolution of the foreign exchange reserves during the last two decades. Remedying the effects of the crisis and managing capital flows have supplemented EMEs monetary frameworks with macro-prudential measures. The two elections also outline the high sensitivity of EMEs to capital flows and exchange rate fluctuations, giving rise to possible policy compromises. It may burden growth and inflation stabilization or long-term macroeconomic stability. The article main aim is to perform a literature review regarding the effectiveness of unconventional monetary policy (UMP) for both AEs and EMEs. We conclude that interest rates, FX interventions, macroprudential and regulatory measures, communication are part of the toolkit of the central bankers in the future, complemented by structural reforms, and international policy coordination.
Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (VSLAM) has seen an incredible interest amongst rese... more Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (VSLAM) has seen an incredible interest amongst research community in recent years due to its capability to make the robot truly independent in navigation. In this paper we present a framework for Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (VSLAM) to address the challenge of light intensity in an environment The framework addresses this challenge by introducing image filtering algorithm, together with the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) algorithm for localization and mapping and A* algorithm for navigation into the VSLAM framework to improve the robustness of the system in a static environment. The methodology used to perform experiment in research is simulation. Experimental results show a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.13m, which is minimal when compared with other SLAM systems from literature. The inclusion of an Image Filtering Algorithm has enabled the VSLAM system to navigate in a noisy environment.
Internet has become a core pillar of the modern information society, the number of visitors to th... more Internet has become a core pillar of the modern information society, the number of visitors to the Internet (about 58 percent of the global population) and the rapid growth in the amount of accessible digital information have created a potential threat of information overload. Therefore, timely access to items of interest on the Internet is hindered. Recommender systems are capable of mapping available content/items to user's interest, choices or detect behaviour in order to handle this issue of information overload encountered by Internet users. The system needs to have adequate information about the user to recommend relevant items to the user. This paper endeavours to group users with approximately the same risk levels of being recommended irrelevant content/items. The theory of diffusion of innovation was used in grouping users into categories. The MovieLens dataset was used in the experiment. The risk of calculating the correct rating of a user in each category was obtained then we tested whether the risk values came from different samples using F-test. The results indicated that the users in this dataset may be grouped in only three categories of the Technology Diffusion Model. We concluded that our method of knowing the users of a recommender system will improve the recommendation of relevant content/items to the users. We recommend researchers to then decide the recommender system algorithm/s to use for different categories of users being in rating prediction, ranking and/or recommendation stages.
The next generation of Location-Based Services (LBSs) will be notably decided by geofencing appli... more The next generation of Location-Based Services (LBSs) will be notably decided by geofencing applications and online background tracking. The majority of people have become active mobile technology users wherever they are and anytime. They request information anytime, anywhere, so it has to be personalized and contextual to better satisfy their needs. At the same time the service providers would want to find out whether their clients are within their neighbourhood so that they can alert them of events or services in their proximity. Geofence which is a small geographic area that is outlined to produce a location event as soon as a user enters or leaves this geofence. To process this event in the context of a location based service is considered as one of the best technologies to virtually connect mobile customers and service providers. Online tracking continuously monitors the whereabouts of a customer enabling service providers to avail location-based events to the customer. This paper endeavours to highlight geofencing technologies, their uses and then look at the challenges and issues within this area. The building blocks of geofencing and the technology of marking the region of interest are explained. In conclusion it was foundout that geofencing can be used to offer personal and contextual services to mobile users anywhere and anytime.
It is important to design a controller which makes the system insensitive to parameter variations... more It is important to design a controller which makes the system insensitive to parameter variations and external disturbances. As it is very well known, Variable Structure Systems with Sliding Modes provides a controller which makes the system insensitive to parameter variations and external disturbances. It is also desirable that the controller should be designed in a way not to waste excessive amount of control effort. The optimal control is achieved through the minimization of a performance index in a way to regulate the states and minimizing the control effort. This problem is defined as an Optimal Linear Regulator problem. In this paper, an effort is carried out to utilize the advantages of Variable Structure System (VSS) theory' results to Continuous and Discrete-Time Optimal Control Problems. The switching hyperplane matrix parameters which provides the desired new system dynamic are used as the performance index matrix parameters. That is equivalent to minimizing the switching hyperplane where the states are forced to stay on the switching hyperplane with minimum control effort without chattering around the switching hyperplane with high frequency. The theory is extended to the Discrete and Continuous Time Stochastic Optimal Control Problems. It is shown that the application of VSS theory' results in an Optimal Control regulator problem can force the system states in a region where the system states are insensitive to plant parameter variations and external disturbances while at the same time the states are regulated in an optimal fashion with minimum control effort.
In this paper, a robust fuzzy model predictive control (MPC) strategy was proposed for leading to... more In this paper, a robust fuzzy model predictive control (MPC) strategy was proposed for leading to promote a comfortable micro-climate for the plants growth inside a greenhouse. Based on Takagi-Sugeno (TS) fuzzy model and a non-parallel distributed compensation (non-PDC) fuzzy controller, the MPC problem can be reduced to sufficient conditions expressed as linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). To show the merit of the applied method against external disturbances and model parameter uncertainties, several simulation experiments were performed.
The internet is omnipresent in our daily lives. As a result, potential attacks and compromises be... more The internet is omnipresent in our daily lives. As a result, potential attacks and compromises become possible to illegally access our data. With a focus on keeping our machines safe, research on malware detection field is strongly active, especially with the help of machine learning. Machine learning has been evolved into this field in the last two decades. Support Vector Machines SVMs, random forests, logistic regression and deep artificial neural networks ANNs were employed in different combinations in order to get high performance results, and thus to correctly identify malware from benign files. Since Windows machines are the most popular in the area of desktop and laptop computers, we are building our study upon the portable executable (PE) format; the file format for executables of Windows operating systems. Accordingly, features were extracted from the PE header fields to be used as inputs to our model. Several researches considered dealing with executable files as images a good way to benefit from the advantages of Convolutional Neural Networks CNNs to detect malware. In our study, we are using a relatively new class of CNNs, namely Residual Networks ResNets. These are CNNs based on shortcut connections for feature reuse. The extracted PE features were converted to byte values, afterwards fed to the ResNet model as greyscale images. The obtained results were reasonably satisfying.
In a difficult energy and economic context, the expectations in terms of renewable energies in ge... more In a difficult energy and economic context, the expectations in terms of renewable energies in general and solar energy in particular, are more and more important The major challenges for researchers and industrialists in this field are to increase the efficiency and reduce the costs of cells, modules and photovoltaic systems in order to make them as competitive as possible. In this context, we are focused in this paper on two technologies: photovoltaic (PV) technology and concentrated photovoltaic (CPV). First, we will present generalities and notions on the CPV technology, solar energy and solar radiation. World markets will be cited, but also the Moroccan market with a special mention of Noor Ouarzazate station in southern Morocco. The second part is dedicated to two modelling and simulation of a CPV cell performed under Matlab / Simulink software; these simulations are done under different sunshine conditions, and different concentrations. A comparison between the performances and yields of the two CPV modelling and the PV technology, will be exposed. All for practical validation with real data from the Noor station.
Conventional process monitoring often assumes that process data follow a Gaussian distribution wi... more Conventional process monitoring often assumes that process data follow a Gaussian distribution with linear correlation. However, this type of constraint can not be satisfied in practice because many industrial processes are nonlinear in nature. This paper proposes an improved multivariate statistical process monitoring scheme based on the Stacked Sparse Autoencoder (SSAE) to detect and reconstruct the potential invalid/missing data. The Squared Prediction Error (SPE) index is used for novelty detection with an adaptive non-parametric confidence limit derived from the kernel density estimate (KDE) to reduce false alarms. Based on the reconstruction principle, an improved sensor validity index (SVI) is proposed to identify the faulty/missing data. The experimental results using both synthetic and actual data from a drinking-water treatment plant, reveal the effectiveness of the proposed scheme and show its capacity to detect and identify sensor failures.
The present work is dedicated to the performance analysis of solar chimney power plants with and ... more The present work is dedicated to the performance analysis of solar chimney power plants with and without thermal storage system. The performance prediction is carried out according to Schlaich's and Hammadi's mathematical models. The analysis is based on variable solar incident radiation along the day. Obtained results enable us to understand the influence of meteorological conditions, the importance of the thermal storage system and evaluate the effect of geometrical parameters on the power production. Good agreement is observed between the results of this study and those obtained experimentally and theoretically from the literature review.
Nos travaux de recherche ont pour but d'étudier expérimentalement les argiles compactées saturées... more Nos travaux de recherche ont pour but d'étudier expérimentalement les argiles compactées saturées utilisées dans la construction de la barrière passive du Centre de Stockage des Déchets (CSD). Le choix du matériau utilisé pour la construction de la barrière passive est une argile qui provient de deux gisements différents, à savoir celui d'Adrar et de Timimoun. Dans la première partie, on s'intéresse à la connaissance des différentes caractéristiques physiques, chimiques et mécaniques de ces argiles. La seconde étape de cette étude, nous a conduit à traiter les essais oedométriques qui permettront de trouver les paramètres de gonflement (taux et pression de gonflement). On a poursuivi nos travaux de recherche dans la détermination du coefficient de perméabilité par les deux méthodes de Casagrande et Taylor.
This paper concerns the study of danger about the installations of the sites of renewable energie... more This paper concerns the study of danger about the installations of the sites of renewable energies, more exactly wind farms after we had shown the dangers which could alter a wind turbine and minimize the most commons accidents in the worldwide, we noticed that the high speed of the wind always returns as main or secondary cause in the incident. It is in this context that a program with the PYTHON software was established to warn(prevent) the accidents for such wind turbine in such region, in the same time it will help us to compare between different methods so this allows us to view a feasibility and to choice the adequate territory or an adequate wind turbine in order to preserve the durability of the device by getting it a performance continues in complete safety .
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