Search results for: store environment

Authors: G. L. Rithika, Arvind B. S., Akash R., Ananda Vinayak, Hema M. S.

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Cryptocurrencies were first launched in the year 2009 and have been a great asset to own. Cryptocurrencies are a representation of a completely distinct decentralization model for money. They also contribute to the elimination of currency monopolies and the liberation of money from control. The fact that no government agency can determine a coin's value or flow is what cryptocurrency advocates believe makes them safe and secure. The aim of this paper is to analyze the economic implications of cryptocurrency and how it would disrupt traditional financial systems. This paper analyses the growth of Cryptocurrency over the years and the potential threats of cryptocurrency to financial systems. Our analysis shows that although the DeFi design, like the traditional financial system, may have the ability to lower transaction costs, there are multiple layers where rents might build up because of endogenous competition limitations. The permissionless and anonymous design of DeFi poses issues for ensuring tax compliance, anti-money laundering laws and regulations, and preventing financial misconduct.

Keywords: cryptocurrencies, bitcoin, blockchain technology, traditional financial systems, decentralisation, regulatory framework

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Authors: Nilanjana Chanda, Rangeet Bhattacharyya

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Grover’s search algorithm is the fastest possible quantum mechanical algorithm to search a certain element from an unstructured set of data of N items. The algorithm can determine the desired result in only O(√N) steps. It has been demonstrated theoretically and experimentally on two-qubit systems long ago. In this work, we investigate the fidelity of Grover’s search algorithm by implementing it on an open quantum system. In particular, we study with what accuracy one can estimate that the algorithm would deliver the searched state. In reality, every system has some influence on its environment. We include the environmental effects on the system dynamics by using a recently reported fluctuation-regulated quantum master equation (FRQME). We consider that the environment experiences thermal fluctuations, which leave its signature in the second-order term of the master equation through its appearance as a regulator. The FRQME indicates that in addition to the regular relaxation due to system-environment coupling, the applied drive also causes dissipation in the system dynamics. As a result, the fidelity is found to depend on both the drive-induced dissipative terms and the relaxation terms, and we find that there exists a competition between them, leading to an optimum drive amplitude for which the fidelity becomes maximum. For efficient implementation of the search algorithm, precise knowledge of this optimum drive amplitude is essential.

Keywords: dissipation, fidelity, quantum master equation, relaxation, system-environment coupling

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Authors: Anthony Cogrove, Shagun Saikia, Pradeep Deshpande

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Introduction: Management of anxiety in rehabilitation setting often is a challenge and is usually done by using medication. The role of psychology and the creation of a quite environment in order to reduce stimulation helps in the process. We have a hypothesis that feedback from a calm visual imagery with soothing music help in reducing anxiety in these setting Aim-To explore the possibility of using virtual reality in the management of anxiety in a setting of neuro-rehabilitation unit. Method: Six patients in an inpatient rehabilitation unit with acquired brain injury subjected to a low stimulation calming visual motion picture with calm music. Six sessions were conducted over 6 weeks. All sessions were performed in a separate purpose built room in the unit. . A cohort of 6 people with various neurological conditions were involved in 6 sessions of 30 minutes during their inpatient rehabilitation. They reported benefit from using the virtual reality environment in reducing their anxiety. Results: All reported improvement in their anxiety levels. They felt there was a calming effect of the session. There was a sense of feeling of self empowerment on direct questioning. Conclusion: Virtual reality environment can aid the traditional rehabilitation techniques used to manage the levels of anxiety experienced by people with acquired brain injury undergoing inpatient rehabilitation.

Keywords: neurological rehabilitation, virtual reality, anxiety, calming environment

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Authors: Ummeh Saika, Toshio Kikuchi

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Population growth and urbanization is a global phenomenon. As the rapid progress of technology, many cities in the international community are facing serious problems of urbanization. There is no doubt that the urbanization will proceed to have significant impact on the ecology, economy and society at local, regional, and global levels. The inhabitants of Dhaka city suffer from lack of proper urban facilities. The green spaces are needed for different functional and leisure activities of the urban dwellers. Again growing densification, a number of green space are transferred into open space in the Dhaka city. As a result greenery of the city's decreases gradually. Moreover, the existing green space is frequently threatened by encroachment. The role of green space, both at community and city level, is important to improve the natural environment and social ties for future generations. Therefore, it seems that the green space needs to be more effective for public interaction. The main objective of this study is to address the effectiveness of urban green space (Urban Park) of Dhaka City. Two approaches are selected to fulfill the study. Firstly, analyze the long-term spatial changes of urban green space using GIS and secondly, investigate the relationship of urban park network with physical and social environment. The case study site covers eight urban parks of Dhaka metropolitan area of Bangladesh. Two aspects (Physical and Social) are applied for this study. For physical aspect, satellite images and aerial photos of different years are used to find out the changes of urban parks. And for social aspect, methods are used as questionnaire survey, interview, observation, photographs, sketch and previous information of parks to analyze about the social environment of parks. After calculation of all data by descriptive statistics, result is shown by maps using GIS. According to physical size, parks of Dhaka city are classified into four types: Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large parks. The observed result showed that the physical and social environment of urban parks varies with their size. In small size parks physical environment is moderate by newly tree plantation and area expansion. However, in medium size parks physical environment are poor, example- tree decrease, exposed soil increase. On the other hand, physical environment of large size and extra large size parks are in good condition, because of plenty of vegetation and well management. Again based on social environment, in small size parks people mainly come from surroundings area and mainly used as waiting place. In medium-size parks, people come to attend various occasion from different places. In large size and extra large size parks, people come from every part of the city area for tourism purpose. Urban parks are important source of green space. Its influence both physical and social environment of urban area. Nowadays green space area gradually decreases and transfer into open space. The consequence of this research reveals that changes of urban parks influence both physical and social environment and also impact on urban life.

Keywords: physical environment, social environment, urban life, urban parks

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Authors: Ajay Krishan Tiwari

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Studies on educational psychology have demonstrated the interest of the child's psychological and cognitive environment in the quality of their school commitment. The educational psychologist works with children and adolescents to remedy these factors. The task of the educational psychologist is to liberate the child and adolescent intellectually. Its purpose is to harmonize the child with the system of learning. Psychoanalytic support requires practice in creativity, reading, math, and meditation methods. The goal of educational psychology is to restore the desire and enjoyment of learning. The educational psychologist takes into account the concerns and personality traits that hinder student learning and restores self-esteem. Educational psychologists specialize in supporting children or adolescents who have a different approach to learning. Its role is to consider the child as a whole (cognitive, affective, physical, school, family factors, etc.). It welcomes the child's way of thinking and participates in its development. It is an essential point of contact between the child and his school environment.

Keywords: educational psychology, educational theories, psychologist, cognitive environment, psychoanalytic support, enjoyment of learning

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Authors: McClain Thiel

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Object detection and localization has historically required two or more sensors due to the loss of information from 3D to 2D space, however, most surveillance systems currently in use in the real world only have one sensor per location. Generally, this consists of a single low-resolution camera positioned above the area under observation (mall, jewelry store, traffic camera). This is not sufficient for robust 3D tracking for applications such as security or more recent relevance, contract tracing. This paper proposes a lightweight system for 3D person tracking that requires no additional hardware, based on compressed object detection convolutional-nets, facial landmark detection, and projective geometry. This approach involves classifying the target into a demographic category and then making assumptions about the relative locations of facial landmarks from the demographic information, and from there using simple projective geometry and known constants to find the target's location in 3D space. Preliminary testing, although severely lacking, suggests reasonable success in 3D tracking under ideal conditions.

Keywords: monocular distancing, computer vision, facial analysis, 3D localization

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Authors: Noor Us Saher

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Oceans and Marine areas have a great importance, mainly regarding food resources, fishery products and reliance of livelihood. Aquatic pollution is common due to the incorporation of various chemicals mainly entering from urbanization, industrial and commercial facilities, such as oil and chemical spills. Many hazardous wastes and industrial effluents contaminate the nearby areas and initiate to affect the marine environment. These contaminated conditions may become worse in those aquatic environments situated besides the world’s largest cities, which are hubs of various commercial activities. Heavy metal contamination is one of the most important predicaments for marine environments and during past decades this problem has intensified due to an increase in urbanization and industrialization. Coastal regions of Pakistan are facing severe threats from various organic and inorganic pollutants, especially the estuarine and coastal areas of Karachi city, the most populated and industrialized city situated along the coastline. Metal contamination causes severe toxicity in biota resulting the degradation of Marine environments and depletion of fishery resources and sustainability. There are several abiotic (air, water and sediment) and biotic (fauna and flora) indicators that indicate metal contamination. However, all these indicators have certain limitations and complexities, which delay their implementation for rehabilitation and conservation in the marine environment. The inadequate evidences have presented on this significant topic till the time and this study discussed metal pollution and its consequences along the marine environment of Pakistan. This study further helps in identification of possible hazards for the ecological system and allied resources for management strategies and decision making for sustainable approaches.

Keywords: coastal and estuarine environment, heavy metals pollution, pollution indicators, Pakistan

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Authors: Ansal D'cruz, Anurup K., Saritha G. Parambath

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Physical and mental strain is a growing concern arising from various stressors in an urban context. However, these stressors are relatively less explored in the domain of urban design, especially in Indian cities where the central business district falls within the heritage core. An attempt is made in the context of the heritage core of Thiruvananthapuram city, Kerala, to understand and identify the connection between the built environment and urban stress. The criteria for establishing the indicators were obtained through a systematic literature review. A thorough study conducted in Gandhi Park, East Fort area using the identified criteria resulted in valuable insights into various urban stressors. Onsite surveys established the correlation between the built environment and user stress levels. The study concludes with guidelines for approaching urban stress in urban parks in an Indian context.

Keywords: urban stress, built environment, mental health, urban stressors, urban design

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Authors: Clement Temaneh-Nyah, Josiah Makiche, Josephine Nujoma

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This paper considers the characterisation of a complex electromagnetic environment due to multiple sources of electromagnetic radiation as a five-dimensional surface which can be described by a set of several surface sections including: instant EM field intensity distribution maps at a given frequency and altitude, instantaneous spectrum at a given location in space and the time evolution of the electromagnetic field spectrum at a given point in space. This characterization if done over time can enable the exposure levels of Radio Frequency Radiation at every point in the analysis area to be determined and results interpreted based on comparison of the determined RFR exposure level with the safe guidelines for general public exposure given by recognised body such as the International commission on non-ionising radiation protection (ICNIRP), Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the National Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA).

Keywords: complex electromagnetic environment, electric field strength, mathematical models, multiple sources

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Authors: Han Hyuk Cho, Hanik Jo

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In recent years, coding education has been globally emphasized, and the Free Semester System and coding education were introduced to the public schools from the beginning of 2016 and 2018 respectively in Korea. With the introduction of the Free Semester System and the rising demand of Computational Thinking (CT) capacity, this paper aims to design ‘Coding Environment’ and Minecraft-like Turtlecraft in which learners can design and construct mathematical objects through mathematical symbolic expressions. Students can transfer the constructed mathematical objects to the Turtlecraft environment (open-source codingmath website), and also can print them out through 3D printers. Furthermore, we design learnable mathematics and coding curriculum by representing the figurate numbers and patterns in terms of executable expression in the coding context and connecting them to algebraic symbols, which will allow students to experience mathematical patterns and symbolic coding expressions.

Keywords: coding education, computational thinking, mathematics education, TurtleMAL and Turtlecraft

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Authors: Chiung-Hui Chen

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With advancements in science and technology, the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) has gradually developed. The development of the intelligent environment adds intelligence to objects in the living space by using the IoT. In the smart environment, when multiple users share the living space, if different service requirements from different users arise, then the context-aware system will have conflicting situations for making decisions about providing services. Therefore, the purpose of establishing a communication and negotiation mechanism among objects in the intelligent environment is to resolve those service conflicts among users. This study proposes developing a decision-making methodology that uses “Event Agents” as its core. When the sensor system receives information, it evaluates a user’s current events and conditions; analyses object, location, time, and environmental information; calculates the priority of the object; and provides the user services based on the event. Moreover, when the event is not single but overlaps with another, conflicts arise. This study adopts the “Multiple Events Correlation Matrix” in order to calculate the degree values of incidents and support values for each object. The matrix uses these values as the basis for making inferences for system service, and to further determine appropriate services when there is a conflict.

Keywords: internet of things, intelligent object, event agents, negotiation mechanism, degree of similarity

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Authors: Matjaz Prek

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Impact of three different combinations of cooling and ventilation systems on the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) has been studied. Comparison of chilled ceiling cooling in combination with displacement ventilation, cooling with fan coil unit and cooling with flat wall displacement outlets was performed. All three combinations were evaluated from the standpoint of whole-body and local thermal comfort criteria as well as from the standpoint of ventilation effectiveness. The comparison was made on the basis of numerical simulation with DesignBuilder and Fluent. Numerical simulations were carried out in two steps. Firstly the DesignBuilder software environment was used to model the buildings thermal performance and evaluation of the interaction between the environment and the building. Heat gains of the building and of the individual space, as well as the heat loss on the boundary surfaces in the room, were calculated. In the second step Fluent software environment was used to simulate the response of the indoor environment, evaluating the interaction between building and human, using the simulation results obtained in the first step. Among the systems presented, the ceiling cooling system in combination with displacement ventilation was found to be the most suitable as it offers a high level of thermal comfort with adequate ventilation efficiency. Fan coil cooling has proved inadequate from the standpoint of thermal comfort whereas flat wall displacement outlets were inadequate from the standpoint of ventilation effectiveness. The study showed the need in evaluating indoor environment not solely from the energy use point of view, but from the point of view of indoor environmental quality as well.

Keywords: cooling, ventilation, thermal comfort, ventilation effectiveness, indoor environmental quality, IEQ, computational fluid dynamics

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Authors: Gopinath Rathod, Vinod Puranik

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Growing business recognizes environmental consciousness as an important concept for survival in the competitive scenario. Environmental consciousness is a critical intersection between manufacturing and product design processes with environmental issues and concerns. This article presents a project in which quality function deployment (QFD) for environment (ECQFD) has been applied to rotary switches for enabling environmentally conscious design in the early stage of product development. ECQFD is capable of handling simultaneously the environmental and traditional product quality requirements. ECQFD consists of four phases. ECQFD phases I and II are concerned with the identification of parts that are important in enhancing environmental consciousness. ECQFD phases III and IV are concerned with the evaluation of effect of design improvement on environmental quality requirements. The case study has been practically validated which indicated the receptivity of applying ECQFD in industrial scenario.

Keywords: quality function deployment, environment, product design, design for environment, rotary switches

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Authors: Teles de Sales Bezerra, Saulo Aislan da Silva Eleuterio, José Anderson Rodrigues de Souza, Jeronimo Silva Rocha

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Propagation in radio frequency is a constant concern in the application of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), the behavior of an environment determines how good the quality of signal reception. The objective of this paper is to analyze the behavior of a WSN in an environment for agriculture where environmental variables are present and correlate the capture of values received signal strength (RSSI) with a propagation model.

Keywords: propagation, WSN, agriculture, quality

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Authors: Rigers Dodaj

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Nowadays, the environment is a critical goal for civil engineers, human activity, construction projects, economic growth, and whole national development. Regarding the development of Albania's economy, people's living standards are increasing, and the requirements for the living environment are also increasing. Under these circumstances, environmental protection and sustainability this is the critical issue. The rising industrialization, urbanization, and energy demand affect the environment by emission of carbon dioxide gas (CO2), a significant parameter known to impact air pollution directly. Consequently, many governments and international organizations conducted policies and regulations to address environmental degradation in the pursuit of economic development, for instance in Albania, the CO2 emission calculated in metric tons per capita has increased by 23% in the last 20 years. This paper analyzes the importance of civil engineering and economic growth in the sustainability of the environment focusing on CO2 emission. The analyzed data are time series 2001 - 2020 (with annual frequency), based on official publications of the World Bank. The statistical approach with vector error correction model and time series forecasting model are used to perform the parameter’s estimations and long-run equilibrium. The research in this paper adds a new perspective to the evaluation of a sustainable environment in the context of carbon emission reduction. Also, it provides reference and technical support for the government toward green and sustainable environmental policies. In the context of low-carbon development, effectively improving carbon emission efficiency is an inevitable requirement for achieving sustainable economic and environmental protection. Also, the study reveals that civil engineering development projects impact greatly the environment in the long run, especially in areas of flooding, noise pollution, water pollution, erosion, ecological disorder, natural hazards, etc. The potential for reducing industrial carbon emissions in recent years indicates that reduction is becoming more difficult, it needs another economic growth policy and more civil engineering development, by improving the level of industrialization and promoting technological innovation in industrial low-carbonization.

Keywords: CO₂ emission, civil engineering, economic growth, environmental sustainability

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Authors: Kalina Alina Aidarovna, Khayrullina Yulia Sergeevna

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The question of forming quality housing and living environment remains a vexed problem in the current situation of high-rise apartment building in big cities of Russia. At this start up stage of the modern so-called "mass housing" market it needs to identify key quality characteristics on a different scale from apartments to the district. This paper describes the methodology of qualitative assessment of modern mass housing construction, made on the basis of the ITMO university in cooperation with the institute of spatial planning "Urbanika," based on the case study of St. Petersburg’s residential mass housing built in 2011-2014. The methodology of the study of housing and living environment goes back to the native and foreign urbanists of 60s - 80s, such Jane Jacobs, Jan Gehl, Oscar Newman, Krasheninnikov, as well as Sommer, Stools, Kohnen and Sherrod, Krasilnikova, Sychev, Zhdanov, Tinyaeva considering spatial features of living environment in a wide range of its characteristics (environmental control, territorial and personalization, privacy, etc.). Assessment is carrying out on the proposed system of criteria developed for each residential environment scale-district, quarter, courtyard, building surrounding grounds, houses, and flats. Thus the objects of study are planning unit of residential development areas (residential area, neighborhood, quarter) residential units areas (living artist, a house), and households (apartments) consisting of residential units. As a product of identified methodology, after the results of case studies of more than 700 residential complexes in St. Petersburg, we intend the creation of affordable online resource that would allow conducting a detailed qualitative evaluation or comparative characteristics of residential complexes for all participants of the construction market-developers, designers, realtors and buyers. Thereby the main objective of the rating may be achieved to improve knowledge, requirements, and demand for quality housing and living environment among the major stakeholders of the construction market.

Keywords: methodology of living environment, qualitative assessment of mass housing, scale-district, vexed problem

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Authors: Mohammed A. M. Ibrahim

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This paper investigate the utilization of wire and wireless networks to be platform for distributed educational monitoring system. Universities in developing countries suffer from a lot of shortages(staff, equipment, and finical budget) and optimal utilization of the wire and wireless network, so universities can mitigate some of the mentioned problems and avoid the problems that maybe humble the education processes in many universities by using our implementation of the examinations system as a test-bed to utilize the network as a solution to the shortages for academic staff in Taiz University. This paper selects a two areas first one quizzes activities is only a test bed application for wireless network learning environment system to be distributed among students. Second area is the features and the security of wireless, our tested application implemented in a promising area which is the use of WLAN in higher education for leering environment.

Keywords: networking wire and wireless technology, wireless network security, distributed computing, algorithm, encryption and decryption

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Authors: Smithinun Thairoongrojana

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This research is a qualitative research with three main purposes: (1) to develop the local tax map software system to be linked to the main Local Tax Map System (LTAX3000) system; (2) to design and develop a program for tax data fieldwork on wireless devices and link it to LTAX3000 database of Surat Thani Municipality; (3) to develop the human resource responsible for the fieldwork to be able to use the program and maintain the system and also to be able to work with the dynamic of technologies. In-depth interviews with the two groups of samples, the board of Surat Thani Municipality and operation staff responsible for observing and taxing fieldworks were conducted. The result of this study demonstrates the new developed fieldworks system that can be used both stand-alone usage and networking usage. The fieldworks system to collect and store the variety of taxing information within Surat Thani Municipality will be explained. Then the fieldwork operation process development and the replacement of transferring and storing the information via the network communication.

Keywords: Local tax map, software system development, wireless devices, human resource

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Authors: Sara Mota Carmo

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Wind energy applied in architecture has been largely abandoned due to the uncomfortable noise it causes. This study aims to investigate the acoustical performance in the urban environment and indoor environment of a double-skin wind energy facade. Measurements for sound transmission were recorded by using a hand-held sound meter device on a reduced-scale prototype of a wind energy façade. The applied wind intensities ranged between 2m/s and 8m/s, and the increase sound produced were proportional to the wind intensity.The study validates the acoustic performance of wind energy façade using a double skin façade system, showing that noise reduction indoor by approximately 30 to 35 dB. However, the results found that above 6m/s win intensity, in urban environment, the wind energy system applied to the façade exceeds the maximum 50dB recommended by world health organization and needs some adjustments.

Keywords: double-skin wind energy facade, acoustic energy facade, wind energy in architecture, wind energy prototype

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Authors: Aymen Sassi

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The equipment of vehicles with wireless communication capabilities is expected to be the key to the evolution to next generation intelligent transportation systems (ITS). The IEEE community has been continuously working on the development of an efficient vehicular communication protocol for the enhancement of Wireless Access in Vehicular Environment (WAVE). Vehicular communication systems, called V2X, support vehicle to vehicle (V2V) and vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) communications. The efficiency of such communication systems depends on several factors, among which the surrounding environment and mobility are prominent. Accordingly, this study focuses on the evaluation of the real performance of vehicular communication with special focus on the effects of the real environment and mobility on V2X communication. It starts by identifying the real maximum range that such communication can support and then evaluates V2I and V2V performances. The Arada LocoMate OBU transmission system was used to test and evaluate the impact of the transmission range in V2X communication. The evaluation of V2I and V2V communication takes the real effects of low and high mobility on transmission into account.

Keywords: IEEE 802.11p, V2I, V2X, mobility, PLR, Arada LocoMate OBU, maximum range

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Authors: Sirajoddeen Al-Ameen

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Researchers seek to introduce development leading to technologies that address environmental problems and learn how to interact with stakeholders, managers, and policymakers for appropriate actions. One of the greatest strategies that African countries need to consider in realizing sustainable development is effective, efficient, credible, and lasting environmental sustainability and ensuring that future generations have access to natural resources to live in a better way. Therefore the coordinated set of participatory and continuously improving processes of analysis, capacity, planning, and investment seeks to integrate the social and environmental objectives of society, and this is not given priority in Nigeria. Environmental sustainability is a field where people can understand the natural environment and public works for sustainable development. Sustainable development requires shifts from ordinary ways of doing things to modern ways of executing activities ranging from low to high productivity, the creation and adoption of new strategies, new skills, and knowledge. It ensures a developed world with a secure and healthy environment for all; human beings, animals, and plants alike. This paper is to carry out a review of various literature sources to ascertain the potential strategy of environment and sustainable development reform using the content analysis method to discuss the environmental strategies towards sustainable development in Nigeria. The objective of this paper is to enable Nigerians to understand and have an orientation on how to manage environmental resources and avoid environmental impact on the ecosystem, and also to find sustainable solutions for environmental issues without compromising economic development.

Keywords: development, environment, strategies, sustainable

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Authors: Adamu Muhammed Tukur

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Pulp and paper industry is one of the fastest growing industries due to an increased demand in paper products. For it to satisfy this ever increasing demand, it adopts new technological innovations some of which are proved to affect our environment negatively. Global consumption of paper has increased by 400% in the last four decades and this suggests that more research is required to assess the impact of industrial effluents to our environment and public health. Paper products are generally biodegradable, however, the processes involved in its production which involve the use of mainly bleaching agents and other non-biodegradable substances pose serious problem to the environment. There are more than 250 chemicals released in paper mill waste and some are xenobiotics. Different methods such as physical and chemical methods can be adopted for the remediation of the effluents but are proved to be costly and not safe to the environment. On the other hand, biological method is shown to be less costly and environmentally friendly. Microorganisms and their enzymes have shown a promising future for bioremediation of effluents related to paper mill. Many studies prove that one of the major pollutants in the paper mill effluent is phenol especially its chlorinated derivatives. Pentachlorophenol is extremely hazardous to living cells and therefore need to be removed from the environment. Microorganisms including bacteria and fungi have the potential to degrade phenolic compounds e.g. Bacillus stearothermiphilus, Pseudomonas putida, Coricus versicolor, Sphingomonas chlorophenolica, Fusarium sp, Bacillus subtilis and P. aeroginosa. Enzymes used for the degradation include phenol hydrooxylase, polyphenoloxylase, laccase, peroxidase among others. Lignin is another important pollutant and is resistant to microbial degradation but it has been proved that certain bacteria and fungi like can degrade it. Among the fungi white-rot fungi like Fomes lividus and Trametes vesicolor are the most important bioremediators. This review focused on use of microorganism to reduce or eradicate pollutants released from the paper industry. It can serve as a review for further research to be conducted especially in the field of Biotechnology.

Keywords: bioremediation, pulp and paper, pentachlorophenol, environment

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Authors: Brian Ceh, Alison Jackson-Holland

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Food deserts are a reality in some cities. These deserts can be described as a shortage of healthy food options within close proximity of consumers. The shortage in this case is typically facilitated by a lack of stores in an urban area that provide adequate fruit and vegetable choices. This study explores new avenues to better understand food deserts by examining modes of transportation that are available to shoppers or consumers, e.g. walking, automobile, or public transit. Further, this study is unique in that it not only explores the location of large grocery stores, but small grocery and convenience stores too. In this study, the relationship between some socio-economic indicators, such as personal income, are also explored to determine any possible association with food deserts. In addition, to help facilitate our understanding of food deserts, complex network spatial models that are built on adequate algorithms are used to investigate the possibility of food deserts in the city of Hamilton, Canada. It is found that Hamilton, Canada is adequate serviced by retailers who provide healthy food choices and that the food desert phenomena is almost absent.

Keywords: Canada, desert, food, Hamilton, store

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Authors: Reza Safari, Ali Rajabzadeh Ghatari, Raheleh Hossseinzadeh Mahabadi

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In the present world, there are different pressures on firms such as competition, legislations, social etc. these pressures force the firms to follow “survival” as their primary goal and then growth. One of the main factors that helps firms to reach their goals is proper financial performance. To find out about the financial performance, a firm should monitors its financial performance. Financial performance affected by many factors. This research seeks to clear which financial performance indicators are most important according to Environmental situation of a firm and what are their priorities. To do so, environmental indicators specified as presented on OECD Key Environmental Indicators 2008 and so the financial performance indicators such as Profitability, Liquidity, Gearing, Investor ratios, and etc. At this stage, the affections questioned through questionnaires. After gaining the results, data analyzed using Promethee technique. By using decision matrixes extracted from those techniques an expert system designed. This expert system suggests the suitable financial performance indicators and their ranking by receiving the environment situation given environment indicators weight.

Keywords: environment indicators, financial performance indicators, promethee, expert system

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Authors: M. Bazin, I. Bouguir, D. Combe, V. Germain, G. Lassade

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The problem of managing a fleet of quad-rotor drones in a completely unknown environment is analyzed in the present paper. This work is following the footsteps of other studies about how should be managed the movements of a swarm of elements that have to stay gathered throughout their activities. In this paper we aim to demonstrate the limitations of a system where absolutely all the calculations and physical movements of our elements are done by one single external element. The strategy of control is an adaptive approach which takes into account the explored environment. This is made possible thanks to a set of command rules which can guide the drones through various missions with defined goal. The result of the mission is independent of the nature of environment and the number of drones in the fleet. This strategy is based on a simultaneous usage of different data: obstacles positions, real-time positions of all drones and relative positions between the different drones. The present work is made with the Robot Operating System and used several open-source projects on localization and usage of drones.

Keywords: cooperative guidance, distributed control, unmanned aerial vehicle, obstacle avoidance

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Authors: David Barney, Francis Pleban, Muna Muday

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The purpose of this study was to explore gender differences of former physical education students related to reflective experiences of competition in physical education learning environment. In the school environment, students are positioned in competitive situations, including in the physical education context. Therefore it is important to prepare future physical educators to address the role of competition in physical education. Participants for this study were 304 college-aged students and young adults (M = 1.53, SD = .500), from a private university and local community located in the western United States. When comparing gender, significant differences (p < .05) were reported for four (questions 5, 7, 12, and 14) of the nine scaling questions. Follow-up quantitative findings reported that males (41%) more than females (27%) witnessed fights in physical education environment during competitive games. Qualitative findings reported fighting were along the lines of verbal confrontation. Female participants tended to experience being excluded from games, when compared to male participants. Both male and female participants (total population; 95%, males; 98%; and females 92%) were in favor of including competition in physical education for students. Findings suggest that physical education teachers and physical education teacher education programs have a responsibility to develop gender neutral learning experiences that help students better appreciate the role competition plays, both in and out of the physical education classroom.

Keywords: competition, physical education, physical education teacher education, gender

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Authors: Maja Sajdak

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The aim of this article is to identify the measures companies undertake in order to adapt to the environment as well as discussing their diversity and effectiveness. The research methods used in the study include an in-depth analysis of the literature and a case study, which helps to illustrate the issue in question. Referring to the concept of agility, which is firmly embedded in the theory of strategic management and has been developed with the aim of adapting to the environment and its changes, the paper first examines different types of adaptation measures for companies. Then the issue under discussion is illustrated with the example of the company Hortimex. This company is an eminent representative of the world’s leading manufacturers of food additives and ingredients. The company was established in 1988 and is a family business, which in practice means that it conducts business in a responsible manner, observing the law and respecting the interests of society and the environment. The company’s mission is to develop a market in Poland for the products and solutions offered by their partners and to share their knowledge of additives in food production and consumption.

Keywords: adaptation measures, agile enterprise, flexibility, unanticipated changes

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Authors: Essam Almuhsin, Ben Soh, Alice Li, Azmat Ullah

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It is widely accepted that university students must acquire new knowledge, skills, awareness, and understanding to increase opportunities for professional and personal growth. The study reveals a significant increase in users engaging in e-coaching activities and a growing need for it during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper proposes an e-coaching methodology for higher education in Saudi Arabia to address the need for effective coaching in the current online learning environment.

Keywords: role of e-coaching, e-coaching in higher education, Saudi higher education environment, e-coaching methodology, the importance of e-coaching

Procedia PDF Downloads 106

Authors: Kerem Ok, Serafettin Senturk, Serdar Aktas, Cem Cevikbas

Abstract:

Mobile technology is very popular nowadays and it provides a digital world where users can experience many value-added services. Service Providers are also eager to offer diverse value-added services to users such as digital identity, mobile financial services and so on. In this context, the security of data storage in smartphones and the security of communication between the smartphone and service provider are critical for the success of these services. In order to provide the required security functions, the SIM card is one acceptable alternative. Since SIM cards include a Secure Element, they are able to store sensitive data, create cryptographically secure keys, encrypt and decrypt data. In this paper, we design and implement a SIM and a smartphone framework that uses a SIM card for secure key generation, key storage, data encryption, data decryption and digital signing for mobile financial services. Our frameworks show that the SIM card can be used as a controlled Secure Element to provide required security functions for popular e-services such as mobile financial services.

Keywords: SIM card, mobile financial services, cryptography, secure data storage

Procedia PDF Downloads 311

Authors: Cinzia Carrodano, Dimitri Konstantas

Abstract:

Risk is part of our lives. In today’s society risk is connected to our safety and safety has become a major priority in our life. Each person lives his/her life based on the evaluation of the risk he/she is ready to accept and sustain, and the level of safety he/she wishes to reach, based on highly personal criteria. The assessment of risk a person takes in a complex environment and the impact of actions of other people’actions and events on our perception of risk are alements to be considered. The concept of Holistic Risk Assessment (HRA) aims in developing a methodology and a model that will allow us to take into account elements outside the direct influence of the individual, and provide a personalized risk assessment. The concept is based on the fact that in the near future, we will be able to gather and process extremely large amounts of data about an individual and his/her environment in real time. The interaction and correlation of these data is the key element of the holistic risk assessment. In this paper, we present the HRA concept and describe the most important elements and considerations.

Keywords: continuous data, dynamic risk, holistic risk assessment, risk concept

Procedia PDF Downloads 126