Search results for: technological protection measure

Authors: Yue Sun, Yuan Wang

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The Grand Canal of China has been in use for more than two thousand years. It runs through the central and eastern regions of China and communicates with the five major river systems of Haihe River, Yellow River, Huaihe River, Yangtze River and Qiantang River from north to south. It is a complex, systematic and comprehensive water conservancy project in the period of agricultural civilization and includes the three parts of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, the Sui and Tang Dynasties Canal and the Eastern Zhejiang Canal. It covers eight provinces and cities including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Henan and Anhui. The Grand Canal is an important channel connecting the Central Plains and the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, and it is also an important waterway trade channel. Nowadays, although the Grand Canal no longer bears the burden of communicating water transportation between the north and the south, the site of the Grand Canal is still a “historical museum” of the lifestyle of people who lived on the canal from the Ming and Qing Dynasties to the Republic of China. By means of literature reading and field investigation, this paper compares the different protection strategies of the Grand Canal in the region between the ancient villages of Huaxian and Xunxian, which witness the vicissitudes of canal water transport, to explore whether the protective renovation of historical and cultural routes is “protection” or “destruction”, and puts forward some protection suggestions.

Keywords: The Grand Canal, heritage conservation, cultural route, ancient villages, strategies

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Authors: Serges Mendomo Meye, Li Guowei, Shen Zhenzhong

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Earthquake is one of the main loads threatening dam safety. Once the dam is damaged, it will bring huge losses of life and property to the country and people. Therefore, it is very important to research the seismic safety of the dam. Due to the complex foundation conditions, high fortification intensity, and high scientific and technological content, it is necessary to adopt reasonable methods to evaluate the seismic safety performance of concrete arch dams built and under construction in strong earthquake areas. Structural seismic vulnerability analysis can predict the probability of structural failure at all levels under different intensity earthquakes, which can provide a scientific basis for reasonable seismic safety evaluation and decision-making. In this paper, the response surface method (RSM) is applied to the seismic vulnerability analysis of arch dams, which improves the efficiency of vulnerability analysis. Based on the central composite test design method, the material-seismic intensity samples are established. The response surface model (RSM) with arch crown displacement as performance index is obtained by finite element (FE) calculation of the samples, and then the accuracy of the response surface model (RSM) is verified. To obtain the seismic vulnerability curves, the seismic intensity measure ??(?1) is chosen to be 0.1~1.2g, with an interval of 0.1g and a total of 12 intensity levels. For each seismic intensity level, the arch crown displacement corresponding to 100 sets of different material samples can be calculated by algebraic operation of the response surface model (RSM), which avoids 1200 times of nonlinear dynamic calculation of arch dam; thus, the efficiency of vulnerability analysis is improved greatly.

Keywords: high concrete arch dam, performance index, response surface method, seismic vulnerability analysis, vector-valued intensity measure

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Authors: Yonggu Jang, Jisong Ryu, Woosik Lee

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The study aims to address the limitations of existing underground facility exploration equipment in terms of exploration depth range, relative depth measurement, data processing time, and human-centered ground penetrating radar image interpretation. The study proposed the use of 3D absolute positioning technology to develop a precision underground facility exploration system. The aim of this study is to establish a precise exploration system for underground facilities based on 3D absolute positioning technology, which can accurately survey up to a depth of 5m and measure the 3D absolute location of precise underground facilities. The study developed software and hardware technologies to build the precision exploration system. The software technologies developed include absolute positioning technology, ground surface location synchronization technology of GPR exploration equipment, GPR exploration image AI interpretation technology, and integrated underground space map-based composite data processing technology. The hardware systems developed include a vehicle-type exploration system and a cart-type exploration system. The data was collected using the developed exploration system, which employs 3D absolute positioning technology. The GPR exploration images were analyzed using AI technology, and the three-dimensional location information of the explored precise underground facilities was compared to the integrated underground space map. The study successfully developed a precision underground facility exploration system based on 3D absolute positioning technology. The developed exploration system can accurately survey up to a depth of 5m and measure the 3D absolute location of precise underground facilities. The system comprises software technologies that build a 3D precise DEM, synchronize the GPR sensor's ground surface 3D location coordinates, automatically analyze and detect underground facility information in GPR exploration images and improve accuracy through comparative analysis of the three-dimensional location information, and hardware systems, including a vehicle-type exploration system and a cart-type exploration system. The study's findings and technological advancements are essential for underground safety management in Korea. The proposed precision exploration system significantly contributes to establishing precise location information of underground facility information, which is crucial for underground safety management and improves the accuracy and efficiency of exploration. The study addressed the limitations of existing equipment in exploring underground facilities, proposed 3D absolute positioning technology-based precision exploration system, developed software and hardware systems for the exploration system, and contributed to underground safety management by providing precise location information. The developed precision underground facility exploration system based on 3D absolute positioning technology has the potential to provide accurate and efficient exploration of underground facilities up to a depth of 5m. The system's technological advancements contribute to the establishment of precise location information of underground facility information, which is essential for underground safety management in Korea.

Keywords: 3D absolute positioning, AI interpretation of GPR exploration images, complex data processing, integrated underground space maps, precision exploration system for underground facilities

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Authors: Youcef Serhane, Abdelkrim Bouzaza, Dominique Wolbert, Aymen Amin Assadi

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Throughout history, the use of chemical weapons is not exclusive to combats between army corps; some of these weapons are also found in very targeted intelligence operations (political assassinations), organized crime, and terrorist organizations. To improve the speed of action, important technological devices have been developed in recent years, in particular in the field of protection and decontamination techniques to better protect and neutralize a chemical threat. In order to assess certain protective, decontaminating technologies or to improve medical countermeasures, tests must be conducted. In view of the great toxicity of toxic chemical agents from (real) wars, simulants can be used, chosen according to the desired application. Here, we present an investigation about using a photocatalytic filtering reactor (PFR) for highly contaminated environments containing diethyl sulfide (DES). This target pollutant is used as a simulant of CWA, namely of Yperite (Mustard Gas). The influence of the inlet concentration (until high concentrations of DES (1200 ppmv, i.e., 5 g/m³ of air) has been studied. Also, the conversion rate was monitored under different relative humidity and different flow rates (respiratory flow - standards: ISO / DIS 8996 and NF EN 14387 + A1). In order to understand the efficacity of pollutant neutralization by PFR, a kinetic model based on the Langmuir–Hinshelwood (L–H) approach and taking into account the mass transfer step was developed. This allows us to determine the adsorption and kinetic degradation constants with no influence of mass transfer. The obtained results confirm that this small configuration of reactor presents an extremely promising way for the use of photocatalysis for treatment to deal with highly contaminated environments containing real chemical warfare agents. Also, they can give birth to an individual protection device (an autonomous cartridge for a gas mask).

Keywords: photocatalysis, photocatalytic filtering reactor, diethylsulfide, chemical warfare agents

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Authors: M. Ezati Kooshki , H. Pourmohamad

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Leaf spring dampers are used for commercial vehicles and heavy tracks. The main function of this damper in these vehicles is protection against damage and providing comfort for drivers by creating suspension between road and vehicle. This paper presents a new device, circular leaf spring damper, which is frequently used on vehicles, aiming to gain seismic protection of structures. Finite element analyses were conducted on several one-story structures using finite element software (Abaqus, v6.10-1). The time history analysis was conducted on the records of Kobe (1995) and San Fernando (1971) ground motions to demonstrate the advantages of using leaf spring in structures as compared to simple bracing system. This paper also suggests extending the use of this damper in structures, considering its large control force despite high cycle fatigue properties and low prices.

Keywords: bracing system, finite element analysis, leaf spring, seismic protection, time history analysis

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Authors: Chung-Yu Wu, Chia-Chi Chang, Wei-Ming Chen, Pu-Wei Wu, Shih-Fan Chen, Po-Chun Chen

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Electrostimulation medical devices for neural diseases require electroactive and biocompatible materials to transmit signals from electrodes to targeting tissues. Protection of surrounding tissues has become a great challenge for long-term implants. In this study, we designed back-end processes with compatible, efficient, and reliable advantages over the current state-of-the-art. We explored a hermetic packaging process with high quality of adhesion and uniformity as the biocompatible devices for long-term implantation. This approach is able to provide both excellent biocompatibility and protection to the biomedical electronic devices by performing conformal coating of biocompatible materials. We successfully developed a packaging process that is capable of exposing the stimulating electrode and cover all other faces of chip with high quality of protection to prevent leakage of devices and body fluid.

Keywords: biocompatible package, medical microelectronics, surface coating, long-term implantation

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Authors: M. H. Saeed, M. Rasool, M. A. Jawed

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Arc Flash Analysis has been a subject of great interest since the electrical fire incidents have been reduced to a great extent after the implementation of arc flash study at different sites. An Arc flash in substations is caused by short circuits over the air or other melted conductors and small shrapnel. Arc flash incidents result in the majority of deaths in substations worldwide. Engro Fertilizers Limited (EFERT) site having a mix of vintage non-internal arc rated and modern arc rated switchgears, carried out an arc flash study of the whole site in accordance with NFPA70E standard. The results not only included optimizing site protection coordination settings but also included marking of Shock and Arc flash protection boundaries in all switchgear rooms. Work permit procedures upgradation is also done in accordance with this study to ensure proper arc rated PPEs and arc flash boundaries protocols are fully observed and followed. With the new safety, protocols working on electrical equipment will be much safer than ever before.

Keywords: Arc flash, non-internal arc rated, protection coordination, shock boundary

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Authors: Damayanti Sen

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The Fair and Equitable Treatment standard has emerged as a core tenet of a formulated legal structure aimed at encouraging investment through the granting of a secure and stable environment for the investor in the Host State. As an absolute, non-contingent standard, it constitutes an independent and reliable system for the protection of the investor and is frequently invoked and applied in investor-state dispute settlement under bilateral and multilateral investment treaties. Thus far, the standard has been examined principally as a measure for determining the responsibility of host countries towards investors and investments. The conduct of investor in applying the Fair and Equitable Treatment Standard is relatively unexplored. Such an assessment may be necessary in light of the development of new defenses to demands of host governments to confine the application of the standard in order to ensure a proper balance between the protection of investors and the inherent right of a State to regulate economic conduct within its borders. This paper explores the implications of including considerations of investor conduct in the determination of whether an act of the host country’s administrative and/or judicial authorities has breached the fair and equitable treatment principle. The need for such defenses are of special concern for governments of developing countries, whose limited resources can affect their ability to provide an effective evaluation of the nature of the proposed investment, and, subsequently, to ensure that the expected benefits are realized. On the basis of conceptual analysis, and emerging international judicial and arbitral case law, this paper suggests that investor duties such as, the avoidance of unconscionable conduct, the reasonable assessment of investment risk in the host country, and a duty to operate an investment reasonably are leading to a new limit upon the fair and equitable treatment standard- one that can be succinctly captured in the phrase “Caveat Investor”.

Keywords: BITs, FET Standard, investor behavior, arbitral case law

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Authors: Guerrero Ramírez Sandra, Ramos Salinas Norma Maricela, Muriel Amezcua Vanesa

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This article presents the beginning of a wider study that intends to demonstrate how within organizations of the automotive industry from the city of Querétaro. Knowledge management and technological management are required, as well as people’s initiative and the interaction embedded at the interior of it, with the appropriate environment that facilitates information conversion with wide information technologies management (ITM) range. A company was identified for the pilot study of this research, where descriptive and inferential research information was obtained. The results of the pilot suggest that some respondents did noted entity the knowledge management topic, even if staffs have access to information technology (IT) that serve to enhance access to knowledge (through internet, email, databases, external and internal company personnel, suppliers, customers and competitors) data, this implicates that there are Knowledge Management (KM) problems. The data shows that academically well-prepared organizations normally do not recognize the importance of knowledge in the business, nor in the implementation of it, which at the end is a great influence on how to manage it, so that it should guide the company to greater in sight towards a competitive strategy search, given that the company has an excellent technological infrastructure and KM was not exploited. Cultural diversity is another factor that was observed by the staff.

Keywords: Knowledge Management (KM), Technological Knowledge Management (TKM), Technology Information Management (TI), access to knowledge

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Authors: Ahmet Erdoğan, Şahin Kesici, Mustafa Baloğlu

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Information technologies have lead to changes in the areas of communication, learning, and teaching. Besides offering many opportunities to the learners, these technologies have changed the teaching methods and beliefs of teachers. What the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) means to the teachers is considerably important to integrate technology successfully into teaching processes. It is necessary to understand how to plan and apply teacher training programs in order to balance students’ pedagogical and technological knowledge. Because of many inefficient teacher training programs, teachers have difficulties in relating technology, pedagogy and content knowledge each other. While providing an efficient training supported with technology, understanding the three main components (technology, pedagogy and content knowledge) and their relationship are very crucial. The purpose of this study is to determine whether motivational beliefs and self-regulated learning strategies are significant predictors of mathematics teacher candidates' TPACK perceptions. A hundred seventy five Turkish mathematics teachers candidates responded to the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and the Technological Pedagogical And Content Knowledge (TPACK) Scale. Of the group, 129 (73.7%) were women and 46 (26.3%) were men. Participants' ages ranged from 20 to 31 years with a mean of 23.04 years (SD = 2.001). In this study, a multiple linear regression analysis was used. In multiple linear regression analysis, the relationship between the predictor variables, mathematics teacher candidates' motivational beliefs, and self-regulated learning strategies, and the dependent variable, TPACK perceptions, were tested. It was determined that self-efficacy for learning and performance and intrinsic goal orientation are significant predictors of mathematics teacher candidates' TPACK perceptions. Additionally, mathematics teacher candidates' critical thinking, metacognitive self-regulation, organisation, time and study environment management, and help-seeking were found to be significant predictors for their TPACK perceptions.

Keywords: candidate mathematics teachers, motivational beliefs, self-regulated learning strategies, technological and pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge

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Authors: Oluwole Enoch Adeniran

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Peace studies and conflict resolution; though a relatively new discipline had attracted scholars from far and near. It had enhanced a purposeful training of mind of young adult among other categories of learners. It provides a platform through which university under-graduates and post-graduates students are exposed to the rudiments of peace building, peacemaking and peace keeping towards a successful conflict resolution. The paper historicizes peace education as most desirable in any human society that desired development. It aims at educating children and young adults in the dynamics of peaceful conflicts resolution at home, in school and communities (states) throughout the world for a purposeful technological development. It also aims at exposing students to the nature of conflict and how to manage and resolve conflicts in order to promote national unity for meaningful development. The paper argues that, for a state to record any meaningful socio-economic, political and technological development; a conducive and peaceful atmosphere must be put in place. This theoretical paper emerged in the context of historical specificities of conflict resolution from a general conceptual framework. It then concludes with suggestions on the modes of conflict prevention, conflict management and conflict resolution for an ideal technologically advanced society.

Keywords: history, education, peace, unity, technology and development

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Authors: Umugwaneza Francoise, Ntamazeze Janviere, Donghong Ding

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Entrepreneurship has been considered by majority people from developing world as “no other option” kind of career. Consequently, for a long time entrepreneurship in developing countries has been mainly practiced by people who have low or not at all formal education. Even today, to some extent, much of the actions taken by governments, donors and some societies have tendency to consider entrepreneurship as an instrument to lift up the most vulnerable population including uneducated women, school drop outers, people with disabilities and other groups who live with some sort of vulnerability. However, there is a shortage of knowledge based and know-how entrepreneurship in developing countries. Although, the entrepreneurship done with formal educated people would contribute indispensably and sustain the development, the low numbers of formal educated people become entrepreneurs in developing countries. Empirically, this paper investigated the influential factors affecting the entrepreneurial motivation, intentions and decision among African scientists and engineers postgraduate from china universities since 1995 to 2014. Results revealed that 39% are entrepreneurs, 43% work for private sectors and 18% work for governments. Only 6% of respondents are in technological entrepreneurship related to their field of graduation. Study location, mentors or research supervisors and life style are the major factors influenced their decisions to become entrepreneurs whereas complex financial systems and political instability pushed some to employments. Interestingly, significant number of entrepreneurs did not have any entrepreneurial intentions. This paper concludes with suggestions to policy makers and investors in order to encouraging technological entrepreneurs which will provide more opportunities, create jobs and improve people’s quality of life.

Keywords: technological entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial motivation, entrepreneurship decision making, entrepreneurship intentions, formal education

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Authors: Khelifi Mustapha, A. Moulay lakhdar, I. Elawady

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We will study the unequal error protection for VQ image. We have used the Reed Solomon (RS) Codes as Channel coding because they offer better performance in terms of channel error correction over a binary output channel. One such channel (binary input and output) should be considered if it is the case of the application layer, because it includes all the features of the layers located below and on the what it is usually not feasible to make changes.

Keywords: vector quantization, channel error correction, Reed-Solomon channel coding, application

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Authors: Muhammad A. Khan, Waseem Shahzad

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Analysis of protein sequences is carried out for the purpose to discover their structural and ancestry relationship. Sequence similarity determines similar protein structures, similar function, and homology detection. Biological sequences composed of amino acid residues or nucleotides provide significant information through sequence alignment. In this paper, we present a new similarity/dissimilarity measure to sequence alignment based on the primary structure of a protein. The approach finds the distance between the two given sequences using the novel sequence alignment algorithm and a mathematical model. The algorithm runs at a time complexity of O(n²). A distance matrix is generated to construct a phylogenetic tree of different species. The new similarity/dissimilarity measure outperforms other existing methods.

Keywords: alignment, distance, homology, mathematical model, phylogenetic tree

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Authors: Faduma Ahmed-Ali

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The up and coming new generation of travelers will change how the world will achieve its global connectivity. The goal is that through people and technological advancement world-wide, people will be able to better explore the culture and beauty, as well as gain a better understanding of the core values of each host countries treasures. Through Rika's unique world connection model approach, the tourist can explore their destination with the help of local connections. Achieving a complete understanding of the host country while ensuring equal economic prosperity and cultural exchange is key to changing the face of tourism. A recent survey conducted by the author at Portland International Airport shows that over 50% of tourists entering Portland, Oregon are more eager to explore the city through local residents rather than an already planned itinerary created by travel companies. This new model, Rika, aims to shed light to the importance of connecting tourists with the technological tools that increase connectivity to the locals for a better travel experience and that fosters shared economic prosperity throughout a community achieving the goal of creating a sustainable, people driven economy.

Keywords: RIKA, tourism, connection, technology, economic impact, sustainability, hospitality, strategies, tourism development, environment

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Authors: Nopadol Burananuth

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The purposes of this research paper were to study the relationship between the economic factor and political factor, the relationship between political and economic factor and social factor, and the effects of economic factor, political factor, and social factor to the people’s perception about ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). A total of 400 samples were selected from four sub-districts from Arunyaprathet District, Srakaow Province. Data analysis method included multiple regression analysis. The findings revealed that political factor depended on trade cooperation, transportation cooperation, and communication cooperation. Social factor was depended on disaster protection, terrorism protection, and international relations. In addition, the people’s perception of the AEC depended on disaster perception, terrorism protection, international relations, transportation cooperation, communication cooperation, interdependence, and labor movement.

Keywords: economic factors, perception, political factors, social factors

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Authors: U. Ravi Babu, Mohd Mastan

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The present paper proposes a novel approach for handwritten digit recognition system. The present paper extract digit image features based on distance measure and derives an algorithm to classify the digit images. The distance measure can be performing on the thinned image. Thinning is the one of the preprocessing technique in image processing. The present paper mainly concentrated on an extraction of features from digit image for effective recognition of the numeral. To find the effectiveness of the proposed method tested on MNIST database, CENPARMI, CEDAR, and newly collected data. The proposed method is implemented on more than one lakh digit images and it gets good comparative recognition results. The percentage of the recognition is achieved about 97.32%.

Keywords: handwritten digit recognition, distance measure, MNIST database, image features

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Authors: Lidia Sanchis-Marco, Antonio Rubia, Pedro Serrano

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This paper studies the informational content of pricing errors in the term structure of sovereign CDS spreads. The residuals from a non-arbitrage model are employed to construct a Price discrepancy estimate, or noise measure. The noise estimate is understood as an indicator of market distress and reflects frictions such as illiquidity. Empirically, the noise measure is computed for an extensive panel of CDS spreads. Our results reveal an important fraction of systematic risk is not priced in default swap contracts. When projecting the noise measure onto a set of financial variables, the panel-data estimates show that greater price discrepancies are systematically related to a higher level of offsetting transactions of CDS contracts. This evidence suggests that arbitrage capital flows exit the marketplace during time of distress, and this consistent with a market segmentation among investors and arbitrageurs where professional arbitrageurs are particularly ineffective at bringing prices to their fundamental values during turbulent periods. Our empirical findings are robust for the most common CDS pricing models employed in the industry.

Keywords: credit default swaps, noise measure, illiquidity, capital arbitrage

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Authors: Sohrab Donyavi

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The global construction market is experiencing significant shifts, particularly for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), driven by the dual imperatives of technological advancement and sustainability. MSMEs play a crucial role in the construction industry, often being the backbone of economic development and fostering entrepreneurial skills. However, their dominance has also led to industry fragmentation and challenges such as technological lag and declining profit margins, which threaten their global competitiveness. This paper explores the integration of technology and sustainability in reshaping the paradigms for MSMEs in the construction sector. The adoption of advanced technologies, such as building information modeling (BIM) and AI, are pivotal for promoting sustainable construction practices. These tools enable MSMEs to design and construct environmentally responsible buildings, thereby contributing to the industry's sustainability goals. The research highlights that achieving sustainability in construction involves significant efforts in conservation, recycling, and the development of new materials and technologies. This approach aligns with the broader goal of integrating economic, environmental, and social aims into firm objectives to create long-term value while ensuring the protection of natural resources for future generations. Critical factors for implementing sustainable oriented innovation (SOI) practices in MSMEs include top management support, government initiatives, and financial resources. These factors are essential for fostering an environment conducive to innovation and sustainability. Furthermore, the empowerment of MSMEs through improved governance, market-oriented programs, sustainable productivity growth, and access to financing is vital. In developing regions like Indonesia, these strategies are crucial for enabling MSMEs to thrive in the face of globalization. The tendency of large firms to grow larger with the help of technology and globalization has led to the emergence of a high-technology oligopoly, posing a significant challenge to traditional construction practices. This shift necessitates that MSMEs adapt by leveraging technology and embracing sustainable practices to remain competitive. The research underscores the importance of integrating technology and sustainability not only as a competitive strategy but also as a means to contribute to the global effort of environmental conservation and sustainable development. This paper concludes that the successful integration of technology and sustainability in MSMEs requires a multifaceted approach. It involves the adoption of advanced technological tools, strong support from top management, proactive government policies, and access to financial resources. By addressing these factors, MSMEs can overcome the challenges of industry fragmentation, technological lag, and declining profit margins. Ultimately, this integration will enable MSMEs to play a pivotal role in driving the construction industry towards a more sustainable and technologically advanced future. The findings and recommendations are based on a comprehensive case study utilizing semi-structured interviews, observations, questionnaires, and document reviews.

Keywords: MSMEs, construction, technology, sustainability, innovation

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Authors: Mohammad Abdel Fattah Mohammad Kewisha

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Microbial deterioration of ancient materials became one of the biggest problems facing the workers in the field of cultural heritage protection because the microbial deterioration of artifacts causes detrimental effects on the aesthetic value of the monuments due to colonization, whether they are made of inorganic materials such as stone or organic like wood, textiles, wall paintings, and paper. So, the early identification of the bacterial strains that caused deterioration is the most important point for the protection of monument objects. The present study focuses on the Bacillus spp. group, which was isolated from some biodeterioration monuments from different areas of Egypt. The investigated objects in this study were made from organic materials (cellulose), paper, textile, and wood. Isolated strains were identified up to the species level biochemically. Eleven bacterial isolates were obtained from collected samples. They were taken from different archaeological objects, four microbicides, cetrimonium bromide, sodium azide, tetraethyl ammonium bromide, and dichloroxylenol, at various concentrations ranging from 25 ppm to 500 ppm. They were screened for their antibacterial activity against the Bacillus spp. isolates, and detection of Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). It was also necessary to indicate the ideal Minimum inhibitory concentration for each strain for the purpose of biotreatment of the infected monuments with less damaging effect on monument materials.

Keywords: microbial deterioration, ancient materials, heritage protection, protection of monuments, biodeteriorative monuments

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Authors: SeungKu Ahn, Sewon Lee

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This study examines the effects of regulatory policies on corporate R&D activities and innovation and suggests regulatory directions for the enhancement of corporate performance. This study employs a regression model with R&D activities as dependent variables and the regulatory index as an independent variable. The results of this study are as follows: The regulation is negatively associated with the input and output of R&D activities. The regulation encourages small and medium-sized firms to invest in R&D. The regulation has a positive effect on patent applications for small and medium-sized firms.

Keywords: governmental regulation, research and development performance, small and medium-sized firms, technological innovation

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Authors: E. Saeedian, M. Shakerian, A. Zarif Sanayei, Z. Rakeb, F. N. Alizadeh, S. Sarshough, S. Sina

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Radiological protection for plants and animals is an area of regulatory importance. Acute doses of 0.1 Gy/d (10 rad/d) or below are highly unlikely to produce permanent, measurable negative effects on populations or communities of plants or animals. The advancement of radio diagnostics for domestic animals, particularly dogs and cats, has gained popularity in veterinary medicine. As pets are considered to be members of the family worldwide, they are entitled to the same care and protection. It is important to have a system of radiological protection for nonhuman organisms that complies with the focus on human health as outlined in ICRP publication 19. The present study attempts to assess surface-skin entrance doses in small pets undergoing abdominal radio diagnostic procedures utilizing a direct measurements technique with a thermoluminescent dosimeter. These measurements allow the determination of the entrance skin dose (ESD) by calculating the amount of radiation absorbed by the skin during exposure. A group of Thirty TLD-100 dosimeters produced by Harshaw Company, each with repeatability greater than 95% and calibration using ¹³⁷Cs gamma source, were utilized to measure doses to ten small pets, including cats and dogs in the radiological department in a veterinary clinic in Shiraz, Iran. Radiological procedures were performed using a portable imaging unit (Philips Super M100, Philips Medical System, Germany) to acquire images of the abdomen; ten exams of abdomen images of different pets were monitored, measuring the thicknesses of the two projections (lateral and ventrodorsal) and the distance of the X-ray source from the surface of each pet during the exams. A group of two dosimeters was used for each pet which has been stacked on their skin on the abdomen region. The outcome of this study involved medical procedures with the same kVp, mAs, and nearly identical positions for different diagnostic X-ray procedures executed over a period of two months. The result showed the mean ESD value was 260.34±50.06 µGy due to the approximate size of pets. Based on the results, the ESD value is associated with animal size, and larger animals have higher values. If a procedure doesn't require repetition, the dose can be optimized. For smaller animals, the main challenge in veterinary radiology is the dose increase caused by repetitions, which is most noticeable in the ventrodorsal position due to the difficulty in immobilizing the animal. Animals are an area of regulatory importance. Acute doses of 0.1 Gy/d (10 rad/d) or below are highly unlikely to produce permanent, measurable negative effects on populations or communities of plants or animals. The advancement of radio diagnostics for domestic animals, particularly dogs and cats, has gained popularity in veterinary medicine. As pets are considered to be members of the family worldwide, they are entitled to the same care and protection. It is important to have a system of radiological protection for nonhuman organisms that complies with the focus on human health as outlined in ICRP publication 19. The present study attempts to assess surface-skin entrance doses in small pets undergoing abdominal radio diagnostic procedures utilizing direct measurements.

Keywords: direct dose measuring, dosimetry, radiation protection, veterinary medicine

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Authors: Chamseddine Barki, Salam Labidi, Hanen Boussi Rahmouni

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In this article, we present the principle and suitable methodology for the design of a medical ontology that highlights the radiological and dosimetric knowledge, applied in diagnostic radiology and radiation-therapy. Our ontology, which we named «Onto.Rap», is the subject of radiation protection in medical and radiology centers by providing a standardized regulatory oversight. Thanks to its added values of knowledge-sharing, reuse and the ease of maintenance, this ontology tends to solve many problems. Of which we name the confusion between radiological procedures a practitioner might face while performing a patient radiological exam. Adding to it, the difficulties they might have in interpreting applicable patient radioprotection standards. Here, the ontology, thanks to its concepts simplification and expressiveness capabilities, can ensure an efficient classification of radiological procedures. It also provides an explicit representation of the relations between the different components of the studied concept. In fact, an ontology based-radioprotection expert system, when used in radiological center, could implement systematic radioprotection best practices during patient exam and a regulatory compliance service auditing afterwards.

Keywords: knowledge, ontology, radiation protection, radiology

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Authors: Vivian Caroline Koerbel Dombrowski

Abstract:

Armed conflicts have always meant the ultimate expression of power and at the same time, lack of understanding among nations. Cities were destroyed, people were killed, assets were devastated. But these are not only the loss of a war: the environmental damage comes to be considered immeasurable losses in the short, medium and long term. And this is because no nation wants to bear that cost. They invest in military equipment, training, technical equipment but the environmental account yet finds gaps in international law. Considering such a generalization in rights protection, many nations are at imminent danger in a conflict if the water will be used as a mass weapon, especially if we consider important rivers such as Jordan, Euphrates and Nile. The top three international documents were analyzed on the subject: the Stockholm Convention (1972), Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Convention (1977) and the Rome Statute (1998). Indeed, some references are researched in doctrine, especially scientific articles, to substantiate with consistent data about the extent of the damage, historical factors and decisions which have been successful. However, due to the lack of literature about this subject, the research tends to be exhaustive. From the study of the indicated material, it was noted that international law - humanitarian and environmental - calls in some of its instruments the environmental protection in war conflicts, but they are generic and vague rules that do not define exactly what is the environmental damage , nor sets standards for measure them. Taking into account the mains conflicts of the century XX: World War II, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War, one must realize that the environmental consequences were of great rides - never deactivated landmines, buried nuclear weapons, armaments and munitions destroyed in the soil, chemical weapons, not to mention the effects of some weapons when used (uranium, agent Orange, etc). Extending the search for more recent conflicts such as Afghanistan, it is proven that the effects on health of the civilian population were catastrophic: cancer, birth defects, and deformities in newborns. There are few reports of nations that, somehow, repaired the damage caused to the environment as a result of the conflict. In the pitch of contemporary conflicts, many nations fear that water resources are used as weapons of mass destruction, because once contaminated - directly or indirectly - can become a means of disguised genocide side effect of military objective. In conclusion, it appears that the main international treaties governing the subject mention the concern for environmental protection, however leave the normative specifications vacancies necessary to effectively there is a prevention of environmental damage in armed conflict and, should they occur, the repair of the same. Still, it appears that there is no protection mechanism to safeguard natural resources and avoid them to become a mass destruction weapon.

Keywords: armed conflicts, criminal liability, environmental damages, humanitarian law, mass weapon

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Authors: Rachel Falconer

Abstract:

Background: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child sets out the duties placed on signatory nations to take measures to protect children from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and maltreatment. The systems for ensuring this protection vary globally, shaped by national welfare policies. In England and Finland, past research has highlighted differences in how child protection issues are framed and how state agencies respond. However, less is known about how such differences impact processes of social work judgment and decision making in practice. Method: Data was collected as part of a wider PhD project in three stages. First, social workers in sites across England and Finland were asked to complete a short questionnaire. Participants were then asked to comment on two constructed case vignettes, and were interviewed about their experiences of child protection decision making at the point of referral. Interviews were analyzed using NVivo to draw out key themes. Findings: There were similarities in how the English and Finnish social workers responded to the case vignettes; for example, participants in both countries expressed concerns about similar risk factors and all felt further assessment was needed. Differences were observed, in particular, in regard to the sources of support and guidance participants referred to, with the English social workers appearing to rely more upon managerial input for their decisions than the Finnish social workers. These findings suggest evidence for two distinct decision making approaches: ‘supervised’ and ‘supported’ judgement. Implications for practice: The findings have relevance to the conference theme of research and evaluation of social work practice, and support the findings of previous studies that have emphasized the significance of organizational factors in child protection decision making. The comparative methodology has also helped to demonstrate how organizational factors can influence practice in different child protection system ‘orientations’. The presentation will discuss the potential practice implications of ‘supervised’, manager-led approaches to decision making as contrasted with ‘supported’, team-led approaches, inviting discussion about the relevance of these findings for social work in other countries.

Keywords: child protection, comparative research, decision making, social work, vignettes

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Authors: Abdelhalem Shahen

Abstract:

The world is now experiencing a digital revolution and greatly accelerated technological developments, in addition to the transition from the economy in its traditional form to the digital economy, which has resulted in the emergence of new tools that are appropriate to those developments, and from this, this paper attempts to explore the economic characteristics of the bitcoin currency that circulated recently. Due to the many advantages that distinguish it from money in its traditional forms, which have a range of economic effects. The study found that Bitcoin is among the technological innovations, which contain a set of characteristics that are worth studying, those that make it the focus of attention, such as the digital currency, the peer-to-peer property, Lower and Faster Transaction Costs, transparency, decentralized control, privacy, and Double-Spending, as well as security and Cryptographic, and finally mining.

Keywords: Digital Economics, Digital Currencies, Bitcoin, Features of Bitcoin

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Authors: Aly Elshafei, Daniela Romano

Abstract:

With the development of autonomous vehicles, a human-machine interaction (HMI) system is needed for a safe transition of control when a takeover request (TOR) is required. An important part of the HMI system is the ability to monitor the level of situational awareness (SA) of any driver in real-time, in different scenarios, and without any pre-calibration. Presenting state-of-the-art machine learning models used to measure SA is the purpose of this systematic review. Investigating the limitations of each type of sensor, the gaps, and the most suited sensor and computational model that can be used in driving applications. To the author’s best knowledge this is the first literature review identifying online and offline classification methods used to measure SA, explaining which measurements are subject or session-specific, and how many classifications can be done with each classification model. This information can be very useful for researchers measuring SA to identify the most suited model to measure SA for different applications.

Keywords: situational awareness, autonomous driving, gaze metrics, EEG, ECG

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Authors: Heloisa H. Miura, Luiza M. Pallone

Abstract:

In Brazil, people forced to move due to environmental causes, called 'environmental migrants', have always been neglected by public policies and legislation. Meanwhile, the numbers of climate-induced migration within and to Brazil continues to increase. The operating Immigration Law, implemented in 1980 under the Brazilian military regime, is widely considered to be out of date, once it does not offer legal protection to migrants who do not fit the definition of a refugee and are not allowed to stay regularly in the country. Aiming to reformulate Brazil’s legislation and policies on the matter, a new Migration Bill (PL 2516/2015) is currently being discussed in the Senate and is expected to define a more humanized approach to migration. Although the present draft foresees an expansion of the legal protection to different types of migrants, it still hesitates to include climate-induced displacements in its premises and to establish a migration management strategy. By introducing a human rights-based approach, this paper aims to provide a new multidisciplinary perspective to the protection of environmental migrants in Brazil.

Keywords: environmental migrants, human mobility, climate change, migration policy

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Authors: Anna Citterbergova

Abstract:

This study explores the safeguards and guarantees to children’s personal data protection under the current EU and US legislative framework, namely the GDPR (2018) and COPPA (2000). Considering that children are online for the majority of their free time, one cannot overlook the negative side effects that may be associated with online participation, which may put children’s wellbeing and their fundamental rights at risk. The question of whether the current relevant legislative framework in relation to the responsibilities of the internet service providers (ISPs) are adequate safeguards and guarantees to children’s personal data protection has been an evolving debate both in the US and in the EU. From a children’s rights perspective, processors of personal data have certain obligations that must meet the international human rights principles (e. g. the CRC, ECHR), which require taking into account the best interest of the child. Accordingly, the need to protect children’s privacy online remains strong and relevant with the expansion of the number and importance of social media platforms to human life. At the same time, the landscape of the internet is rapidly evolving, and commercial interests are taking a more targeted approach in seeking children’s data. Therefore, it is essential to constantly evaluate the ongoing and evolving newly adopted market policies of ISPs that may misuse the gap in the current letter of the law. Previous studies in the field have already pointed out that both GDPR and COPPA may theoretically not be sufficient in protecting children’s personal data. With the focus on social media platforms, this study uses the doctrinal-descriptive method to identifiy the mechanisms enshrined in the GDPR and COPPA designed to protect children’s personal data. In its second part, the study includes a data gathering phase by the national data protection authorities responsible for monitoring and supervision of the GDPR in relation to children’s personal data protection who monitor the enforcement of the data protection rules throughout the European Union an contribute to their consistent application. These gathered primary source of data will later be used to outline the series of benefits and challenges to children’s persona lata protection faced by these institutes and the analysis that aims to suggest if and/or how to hold ISPs accountable while striking a fair balance between the commercial rights and the right to protection of the personal data of children. The preliminary results can be divided into two categories. First, conclusions in the doctrinal-descriptive part of the study. Second, specific cases and situations from the practice of national data protection authorities. While for the first part, concrete conclusions can already be presented, the second part is currently still in the data gathering phase. The result of this research is a comprehensive analysis on the safeguards and guarantees to children’s personal data protection under the current EU and US legislative framework, based on doctrinal-descriptive approach and original empirical data.

Keywords: personal data of children, personal data protection, GDPR, COPPA, ISPs, social media

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Authors: Tzipi Eshet

Abstract:

The primary objectives of this work are the examination of public preferences and attributed importance to different characteristics of coastal cliff protection alternatives, and drawing conclusions about the applicable alternative in Beit-Yanai beach. Erosion of coastal cliffs is a natural phenomenon that occurs in many places in the world. This creates problems along the coastlines, which are densely populated areas with highly developed economic activity. In recent years, various aspects of the aeolianite cliffs along the Israeli coast have been studied extensively. There is a consensus among researchers regarding a general trend of cliff retreat. This affects civilian infrastructure, wildlife habitats and heritage values, as well as Increases the risk to human life. The Israeli government, committed to the integrated coastal zones management approach, decided on a policy and guidelines to deal with cliff erosion, which includes establishing physical protection on land and in the sea, sand nourishment and runoff drainage. Physical protection solutions to reduce the rate of retreat of the cliffs are considerably important both for planning authorities and visitors to the beach. Direct costs of different protection alternatives, as well as external costs and benefits, may vary, thus affecting consumer preferences. Planning and execution of sustainable coastal cliff protection alternatives must take into account the different characteristics and their impact on aspects of economics, environment and leisure. The rocky shore of Beit-Yanai Beach was chosen as a case study to examine the nature of the influence of various protective solutions on consumer preferences. This beach is located in the center of Israel's coastline, and acts as a focus of attraction for recreation, land and sea sports, and educational activities as well. If no action will be taken, cliff retreat will continue. A survey was conducted to reveal the importance of coastal protection alternatives characteristics and the visual preferences to visitors at beach Beit-Yanai and residents living on the cliff (N=287). Preferences and willingness-to-pay were explored using Contingent-Ranking and Choice-Experiments techniques. Results show that visitors’ and residents’ willingness-to-pay for coastal cliff protection alternatives is affected both by financial and environmental aspects, as well as leisure. They prefer coastal cliff protection alternatives that are not visible and do not need constant maintenance, do not affect the quality of seawater or the habitats of wildlife and do not lower the security level of the swimmers. No significant difference was found comparing willingness-to-pay among local and non-local users. Additionally, they mostly prefer a protection solution which is integrated in the coastal landscape and maintains the natural appearance of the beach. Of the possible protection alternatives proposed for the protection of the cliff in Beit Yanai beach are two techniques that meet public preferences: rock revetments and submerged detached breakwaters. Results indicate that the visiting public prefer the implementation of these protection alternatives and will be willing to pay for them. Future actions to reduce retreat rate in Beit-Yanai have to consider implications on the economic, environmental and social conditions, along with weighting public interest against the interest of the individual.

Keywords: contingent-ranking, choice-experiments, coastal cliff protection, erosion of coastal cliffs, environment

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