Search results for: anti-cyber and information technology crimes law

Authors: Wanhyun Cho, Seongchae Seo, Soonja Kang

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In this work, we propose a variational technique for image contrast enhancement which utilizes global and local information around each pixel. The energy functional is defined by a weighted linear combination of three terms which are called on a local, a global contrast term and dispersion term. The first one is a local contrast term that can lead to improve the contrast of an input image by increasing the grey-level differences between each pixel and its neighboring to utilize contextual information around each pixel. The second one is global contrast term, which can lead to enhance a contrast of image by minimizing the difference between its empirical distribution function and a cumulative distribution function to make the probability distribution of pixel values becoming a symmetric distribution about median. The third one is a dispersion term that controls the departure between new pixel value and pixel value of original image while preserving original image characteristics as well as possible. Second, we derive the Euler-Lagrange equation for true image that can achieve the minimum of a proposed functional by using the fundamental lemma for the calculus of variations. And, we considered the procedure that this equation can be solved by using a gradient decent method, which is one of the dynamic approximation techniques. Finally, by conducting various experiments, we can demonstrate that the proposed method can enhance the contrast of colour images better than existing techniques.

Keywords: color image, contrast enhancement technique, variational approach, Euler-Lagrang equation, dynamic approximation method, EME measure

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Authors: Jong-Bae Lee, Seongsoo Lee

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Local interconnect network (LIN) is a communication protocol that combines sensors, actuators, and processors to a functional module in automotive applications. In this paper, a LIN ver. 2.2A controller was designed in Verilog hardware description language (Verilog HDL) and implemented in field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Its operation was verified by making full-scale LIN network with the presented FPGA-implemented LIN controller, commercial LIN transceivers, and commercial processors. When described in Verilog HDL and synthesized in 0.18 μm technology, its gate size was about 2,300 gates.

Keywords: local interconnect network, controller, transceiver, processor

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Authors: Mihretu Erjabo

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Halaba special district is characterized by drought, soil erosion, high population pressure, poor livestock production, lack of feed for livestock, very deep water table, very low productivity of crops and food insufficiency. In order to address these problems, the woreda agricultural development office along with other management practices such as soil physical conservation measures agroforestry was introduced decades ago as a means to alleviate the problem. However, the level of agroforestry adoption remains low. Objective of this study was to identify the factors that influence adoption of agroforestry technologies by farmers in the district. Random sampling was employed to select two kebele administrations and respondents. Data collection was conducted by rural household questionnaire survey, participatory rural appraisal, questionnaires for local and woreda extension staff, secondary data resources and field observation. A sample of 12 key informants, 6 extension staffs, and 182 households, were used in the data collection. Chi square test used to determine significant relationships between adoption of agroforestry and 15 selected variables. Out of which eleven were found to be significant to affect farmers’ adoptiveness. These were frequency of visits of farmers (13.39%), participation in training (11.49%), farmers’ attitude towards agroforestry practices (10.61%), frequency of visits of extensionists (10.38%), participation in extension meeting (10.34%), participation in field day (10.28%), land holding size (9.29%), level of literacy (8.78%), awareness about the importance of agroforestry technology packages (7.06%), time taken from their residence to nearest extension (5.04%) and gender of respondents (3.34%). This study also identified various factors that result in low adoption rates of agroforestry including fear of competition, seedling, rainfall and labour shortage, free grazing, financial problem, expecting trees as soil degrader and long span of trees and lack of need ranking. To improve farmers’ adoption, the factors identified should be well addressed by launching a series and recurrent outreach extension program appropriate and suitable to farmers need.

Keywords: farmers attitude, farmers participation, soil degradation, technology packages

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Authors: Hasrat Arjjumend, Sabiha Alam

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The Nagoya Protocol is landmark international legislation governing access to genetic resources and benefit sharing from utilization of genetic resource and traditional knowledge. The field implications of the international law have been assessed by surveying academic/ research institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs) and concerned individuals, who gave their opinions on whether the provider parties (usually developing countries) would ensure effective participation of Indigenous people and local communities (ILCs) in establishing the mechanisms to inform the potential users of traditional knowledge (TK) about their obligations under art. 12.2 of Nagoya Protocol. First of all, involvement and participation of ILCs in suggested clearing-house mechanisms of the Parties are seldom witnessed. Secondly, as respondents expressed, it is doubtful that developing countries would ensure effective participation of ILCs in establishing the mechanisms to inform the potential users of TK about their obligations. Yet, as most of ILCs speak and understand local or indigenous languages, whether the Nagoya Protocol provides or not, it is a felt need that the Parties should disclose information in a language understandable to ILCs. Alternative opinions indicate that if TK held by ILCs is disclosed, the value is gone. Therefore, it should be protected by the domestic law first and should be disclosed then.

Keywords: genetic resources, indigenous people, language, Nagoya protocol, participation, traditional knowledge

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Authors: Erica Lima

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In Brazil, considering the (little) age of translation studies, it can be argued that the University of Campinas is traditionally an important place for graduate studies in translation. The story is told from the accreditation for the Masters, in 1987, and the Doctoral program, in 1993, within the Graduate Program in Applied Linguistics. Since the beginning, the program boasted cutting-edge research, with theoretical reflections on various aspects, and with different methodological trends. However, on the one hand, the graduate studies development was continuously growing, but on the other, it is not what was observed in the undergraduate degree program. Currently, there are only a few disciplines of Translation Theory and Practice, which does not seem to respond to student aspirations. The objective of this paper is to present the characteristics of the university’s graduate program as something profitable, considering the concern in relating the research to the historical moment in which we are living, with research conducted in a socially compromised environment and committed to the impact that it will cause ethically and socially, as well as to question the undergraduate program paths. The objective is also to discuss and propose changes, considering the limited scope currently achieved. In light of the information age, in which we have an avalanche of information, we believe that the training of translators in the undergraduate degree should be reviewed, with the goal of retracing current paths and following others that are consistent with our historical period, marked by virtual and real, by the shuffling of borders and languages, the need for new language policies, greater inclusion, and more acceptance of others. We conclude that we need new proposals for the development of the translator in an undergraduate program, and also present suggestions to be implemented in the graduate program.

Keywords: graduate Brazilian program, undergraduate Brazilian program, translator’s education, Unicamp

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Authors: Sasan Aryaee, Mahdi Ravanshadnia

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Naturally, any activity is associated with risk, and humans have understood this concept from very long times ago and seek to identify its factors and sources. On the one hand, proper risk management can cause problems such as delays and unforeseen costs in the development projects, temporary or permanent loss of services, getting lost or information theft, complexity and limitations in processes, unreliable information caused by rework, holes in the systems and many such problems. In the present study, a model has been presented to rank the environmental risks of oil and gas projects. The statistical population of the study consists of all executives active in the oil and gas fields, that the statistical sample is selected randomly. In the framework of the proposed method, environmental risks of oil and gas projects were first extracted, then a questionnaire based on these indicators was designed based on Likert scale and distributed among the statistical sample. After assessing the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, environmental risks of oil and gas projects were ranked using the VIKOR method of multiple-criteria decision-making. The results showed that the best options for HSE planning of oil and gas projects that caused the reduction of risks and personal injury and casualties and less than other options is costly for the project and it will add less time to the duration of implementing the project is the entering of dye to the environment when painting the generator pond and the presence of the rigger near the crane.

Keywords: ranking, multi-criteria decision making, oil and gas projects, HSEmanagement, environmental risks

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Authors: Oseni Taiwo Amoo, Bloodless Dzwairo

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In this paper, we extend the versatility and usefulness of GIS as a methodology for any river basin hydrologic characteristics analysis (HCA). The Gurara River basin located in North-Central Nigeria is presented in this study. It is an on-going research using spatial Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and Arc-Hydro tools to take inventory of the basin characteristics in order to predict water abstraction quantification on streamflow regime. One of the main concerns of hydrological modelling is the quantification of runoff from rainstorm events. In practice, the soil conservation service curve (SCS) method and the Conventional procedure called rational technique are still generally used these traditional hydrological lumped models convert statistical properties of rainfall in river basin to observed runoff and hydrograph. However, the models give little or no information about spatially dispersed information on rainfall and basin physical characteristics. Therefore, this paper synthesizes morphometric parameters in generating runoff. The expected results of the basin characteristics such as size, area, shape, slope of the watershed and stream distribution network analysis could be useful in estimating streamflow discharge. Water resources managers and irrigation farmers could utilize the tool for determining net return from available scarce water resources, where past data records are sparse for the aspect of land and climate.

Keywords: hydrological characteristic, stream flow, runoff discharge, land and climate

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Authors: Md. Monjurul Islam, Tofael Ahamed, Ryozo Noguchi

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Progress continues in the fight against hunger, yet an unacceptably large number of people still lack food they need for an active and healthy life. Bangladesh is one of the rising countries in the South-Asia but still lots of people are food insecure. In the last few years, Bangladesh has significant achievements in food grain production but still food security at national to individual levels remain a matter of major concern. Ensuring food security for all is one of the major challenges that Bangladesh faces today, especially production of rice in the flood and poverty prone areas. Northern part is more vulnerable than any other part of Bangladesh. To ensure food security, one of the best way is to increase domestic production. To increase production, it is necessary to secure lands for achieving optimum utilization of resources. One of the measures is to identify the vulnerable and potential areas using Land Suitability Assessment (LSA) to increase rice production in the poverty prone areas. Therefore, the aim of the study was to identify the suitable sites for food grain crop rice production in the poverty prone areas located at the northern part of Bangladesh. Lack of knowledge on the best combination of factors that suit production of rice has contributed to the low production. To fulfill the research objective, a multi-criteria analysis was done and produced a suitable map for crop production with the help of Geographical Information System (GIS) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Primary and secondary data were collected from ground truth information and relevant offices. The suitability levels for each factor were ranked based on the structure of FAO land suitability classification as: Currently Not Suitable (N2), Presently Not Suitable (N1), Marginally Suitable (S3), Moderately Suitable (S2) and Highly Suitable (S1). The suitable sites were identified using spatial analysis and compared with the recent raster image from Google Earth Pro® to validate the reliability of suitability analysis. For producing a suitability map for rice farming using GIS and multi-criteria analysis tool, AHP was used to rank the relevant factors, and the resultant weights were used to create the suitability map using weighted sum overlay tool in ArcGIS 10.3®. Then, the suitability map for rice production in the study area was formed. The weighted overly was performed and found that 22.74 % (1337.02 km2) of the study area was highly suitable, while 28.54% (1678.04 km2) was moderately suitable, 14.86% (873.71 km2) was marginally suitable, and 1.19% (69.97 km2) was currently not suitable for rice farming. On the other hand, 32.67% (1920.87 km2) was permanently not suitable which occupied with settlements, rivers, water bodies and forests. This research provided information at local level that could be used by farmers to select suitable fields for rice production, and then it can be applied to other crops. It will also be helpful for the field workers and policy planner who serves in the agricultural sector.

Keywords: AHP, GIS, spatial analysis, land suitability

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Authors: Mette Pedersen

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This paper outlines the criteria that assessment specialists use when they design the 'Persuasive Essay' task for the four Advanced Placement World Language and Culture Exams (AP French, German, Italian, and Spanish). The 'Persuasive Essay' is a free-response, source-based, standardized measure of presentational writing. Each 'Persuasive Essay' item consists of three sources (an article, a chart, and an audio) and a prompt, which is a statement of the topic phrased as an interrogative sentence. Due to its richness of source materials and due to the amount of time that test takers are given to prepare for and write their responses (a total of 55 minutes), the 'Persuasive Essay' is the free-response task on the AP World Language and Culture Exams that goes to the greatest lengths to unleash the test takers' proficiency potential. The author focuses on the work that goes into designing the 'Persuasive Essay' task, outlining best practices for the selection of topics and sources, the interplay that needs to be present among the sources and the thinking behind the articulation of prompts for the 'Persuasive Essay' task. Using released 'Persuasive Essay' items from the AP World Language and Culture Exams and accompanying data on test taker performance, the author shows how different passages, and features of passages, have succeeded (and sometimes not succeeded) in eliciting writing proficiency among test takers over time. Data from approximately 215.000 test takers per year from 2014 to 2017 and approximately 35.000 test takers per year from 2012 to 2013 form the basis of this analysis. The conclusion of the study is that test taker performance improves significantly when the sources that test takers are presented with express directly opposing viewpoints. Test taker performance also improves when the interrogative prompt that the test takers respond to is phrased as a yes/no question. Finally, an analysis of linguistic difficulty and complexity levels of the printed sources reveals that test taker performance does not decrease when the complexity level of the article of the 'Persuasive Essay' increases. This last text complexity analysis is performed with the help of the 'ETS TextEvaluator' tool and the 'Complexity Scale for Information Texts (Scale)', two tools, which, in combination, provide a rubric and a fully-automated technology for evaluating nonfiction and informational texts in English translation.

Keywords: advanced placement world language and culture exams, designing presentational writing assessments, large-scale standardized assessments of written language proficiency, source-based language testing

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Authors: Xunan Huang, Caicai Zhang

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This paper investigated the code-mixing features in Mandarin-English bilingual children in Singapore. First, it examined whether the code-mixing rate was different in Mandarin Chinese and English contexts. Second, it explored the syntactic categories of code-mixing in Singapore bilingual children. Moreover, this study investigated whether morphological information was preserved when inserting syntactic components into the matrix language. Data are derived from the Singapore Bilingual Corpus, in which the recordings and transcriptions of sixty English-Mandarin 5-to-6-year-old children were preserved for analysis. Results indicated that the rate of code-mixing was asymmetrical in the two language contexts, with the rate being significantly higher in the Mandarin context than that in the English context. The asymmetry is related to language dominance in that children are more likely to code-mix when using their nondominant language. Concerning the syntactic categories of code-mixing words in the Singaporean bilingual children, we found that noun-mixing, verb-mixing, and adjective-mixing are the three most frequently used categories in code-mixing in the Mandarin context. This pattern mirrors the syntactic categories of code-mixing in the Cantonese context in Cantonese-English bilingual children, and the general trend observed in lexical borrowing. Third, our results also indicated that English vocabularies that carry morphological information are embedded in bare forms in the Mandarin context. These findings shed light upon how bilingual children take advantage of the two languages in mixed utterances in a bilingual environment.

Keywords: bilingual children, code-mixing, English, Mandarin Chinese

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Authors: Achirawatt Tungsombatsanti, Toansakul Santiboon, Kamon Ponkham

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Strategies of the STEM education was aimed to prepare of an interdisciplinary and applied approach for the instructional of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in an integrated students for enhancing engagement of their science skills to the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) method in Borabu School with a sample consists of 80 students in 2 classes at the 12th grade level of their learning achievements on electromagnetic issue. Research administrations were to separate on two different instructional model groups, the 40-experimental group was designed with the STEM instructional experimenting preparation and induction in a 40-student class and the controlling group using the PBL was designed to students identify what they already know, what they need to know, and how and where to access new information that may lead to the resolution of the problem in other class. The learning environment perceptions were obtained using the 35-item Physics Laboratory Environment Inventory (PLEI). Students’ creating attitude skills’ sustainable development toward physics were assessed with the Test Of Physics-Related Attitude (TOPRA) The term scaling was applied to the attempts to measure the attitude objectively with the TOPRA was used to assess students’ perceptions of their science attitude toward physics. Comparisons between pretest and posttest techniques were assessed students’ learning achievements on each their outcomes from each instructional model, differently. The results of these findings revealed that the efficiency of the PLB and the STEM based on criteria indicate that are higher than the standard level of the 80/80. Statistically, significant of students’ learning achievements to their later outcomes on the controlling and experimental physics class groups with the PLB and the STEM instructional designs were differentiated between groups at the .05 level, evidently. Comparisons between the averages mean scores of students’ responses to their instructional activities in the STEM education method are higher than the average mean scores of the PLB model. Associations between students’ perceptions of their physics classes to their attitudes toward physics, the predictive efficiency R2 values indicate that 77%, and 83% of the variances in students’ attitudes for the PLEI and the TOPRA in physics environment classes were attributable to their perceptions of their physics PLB and the STEM instructional design classes, consequently. An important of these findings was contributed to student understanding of scientific concepts, attitudes, and skills as evidence with STEM instructional ought to higher responding than PBL educational teaching. Statistically significant between students’ learning achievements were differentiated of pre and post assessments which overall on two instructional models.

Keywords: learning instructional managements, problem-based learning, STEM education, method, enhancement, students learning achievements, science attitude, physics classes

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Authors: Zhao Yang Liu, Jing Tao

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The Asian long-horned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae), is a wood-borer and polyphagous xylophages native to Asia and killing healthy trees. As it causes serious danger to trees, the beetle has been paid close attention in the world. However, the genetic markers limited, especially microsatellite. In this study, 24 novel simple sequence repeat (SSR) molecular markers, a powerful tool for genetic diversity studies and linkage map construction, were developed and characterized from whole genome shotgun sequences. We developed SSR loci of 2 to 6 repeated and perfect units including 9895 points, the density of SSRs was found one SSR per 56.57 kb and the abundance of SSR was 0.02/kb, besides 140 types of repeats motifs were found. Half of the 48 pairs SSR primers (containing 4 di-, 7 tri-, 2 tetra- and 11 hexamers SSRs) we selected randomly from 1222 pairs of primers were polymorphism. The number of alleles for these markers in 48 individuals varied from 3 to 21 with an average of 7.71, the number of effective alleles ranged from 1.22 to 9.97 with an average of 3.54. Besides this, the polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.18 to 0.89 with a mean of 0.65, And Shannon's Information index (I) ranged from 0.46 to 2.62 with an average of 1.44. The results suggest that the method for screening of SSR in the whole genome is feasible and efficient. SSR markers developed in this study can be used for population genetic studies of A. glabripennis. Moreover, they may also be helpful for the development of microsatellites for other Coleoptera.

Keywords: SSR markers, Anoplophora glabripennis, genetic diversity, whole genome

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Authors: Itamir de Morais Barroca Filho, Cephas A. S. Barreto, Ramon Malaquias, Cezar Miranda Paula de Souza, Arthur Costa Gorgônio, João C. Xavier-Júnior, Mateus Firmino, Fellipe Matheus Costa Barbosa

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Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in healthcare are crucial for efficiently delivering medical healthcare services to patients. These ICTs are also known as e-health and comprise technologies such as electronic record systems, telemedicine systems, and personalized devices for diagnosis. The focus of e-health is to improve the quality of health information, strengthen national health systems, and ensure accessible, high-quality health care for all. All the data gathered by these technologies make it possible to help clinical staff with automated decisions using machine learning. In this context, we collected patient data, such as heart rate, oxygen saturation (SpO2), blood pressure, respiration, and others. With this data, we were able to develop machine learning models for patients’ risk of death and estimate the length of stay in ICU beds. Thus, this paper presents the methodology for applying machine learning techniques to develop these models. As a result, although we implemented these models on an IoT healthcare platform, helping clinical staff in healthcare in an ICU, it is essential to create a robust clinical validation process and monitoring of the proposed models.

Keywords: ICT, e-health, machine learning, ICU, healthcare

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Authors: Anuja Askhedkar, G. H. Agrawal, Madhu Gudgunti

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Direct Charge Transfer Switched Capacitor (DCT-SC) DAC is the internal DAC used in Delta-Sigma (∆∑) DAC which works on Over-Sampling concept. The Switched Capacitor DAC mainly suffers from mismatch among capacitors. Mismatch among capacitors in DAC, causes non linearity between output and input. Dynamic Element Matching (DEM) technique is used to match the capacitors. According to element selection logic there are many types. In this paper, Data Weighted Averaging (DWA) technique is used for mismatch shaping. In this paper, the 4 bit DCT-SC-DAC with DWA-DEM technique is implemented using WINSPICE simulation software in 180nm CMOS technology. DNL for DAC with DWA is ±0.03 LSB and INL is ± 0.02LSB.

Keywords: ∑-Δ DAC, DCT-SC-DAC, mismatch shaping, DWA, DEM

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Authors: Thiago Brito Bezerra, Mauro Lopes de Freitas, Waldir Sabino da Silva Júnior

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The Sigma-Delta A/D converters have been proposed as a practical application for A/D conversion at high rates because of its simplicity and robustness to imperfections in the circuit, also because the traditional converters are more difficult to implement in VLSI technology. These difficulties with conventional conversion methods need precise analog components in their filters and conversion circuits, and are more vulnerable to noise and interference. This paper aims to analyze the architecture, function and application of Analog-Digital converters (A/D) Sigma-Delta to overcome these difficulties, showing some simulations using the Simulink software and Multisim.

Keywords: analysis, oversampling modulator, A/D converters, sigma-delta

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Authors: Maria Evnevich

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In modern conditions, in most markets, price competition is becoming less effective. On the one hand, there is a gradual decrease in the level of marginality in main traditional sectors of the economy, so further price reduction becomes too ‘expensive’ for the company. On the other hand, the effect of price reduction is leveled, and the reason for this phenomenon is likely to be informational. As a result, it turns out that even if the company reduces prices, making its products more accessible to the buyer, there is a high probability that this will not lead to increase in sales unless additional large-scale advertising and information campaigns are conducted. Similarly, a large-scale information and advertising campaign have a much greater effect itself than price reductions. At the same time, the cost of mass informing is growing every year, especially when using the main information channels. The article presents generalization, systematization and development of theoretical approaches and best practices in the field of customer focus approach to business management and in the field of relationship marketing in the modern digital economy. The research methodology is based on the synthesis and content-analysis of sociological and marketing research and on the study of the systems of working with consumer appeals and loyalty programs in the 50 largest client-oriented companies in Russia. Also, the analysis of internal documentation on customers’ purchases in one of the largest retail companies in Russia allowed to identify if buyers prefer to buy goods for complex purchases in one retail store with the best price image for them. The cost of attracting a new client is now quite high and continues to grow, so it becomes more important to keep him and increase the involvement through marketing tools. A huge role is played by modern digital technologies used both in advertising (e-mailing, SEO, contextual advertising, banner advertising, SMM, etc.) and in service. To implement the above-described client-oriented omnichannel service, it is necessary to identify the client and work with personal data provided when filling in the loyalty program application form. The analysis of loyalty programs of 50 companies identified the following types of cards: discount cards, bonus cards, mixed cards, coalition loyalty cards, bank loyalty programs, aviation loyalty programs, hybrid loyalty cards, situational loyalty cards. The use of loyalty cards allows not only to stimulate the customer to purchase ‘untargeted’, but also to provide individualized offers, as well as to produce more targeted information. The development of digital technologies and modern means of communication has significantly changed not only the sphere of marketing and promotion, but also the economic landscape as a whole. Factors of competitiveness are the digital opportunities of companies in the field of customer orientation: personalization of service, customization of advertising offers, optimization of marketing activity and improvement of logistics.

Keywords: customer focus, digital economy, loyalty program, relationship marketing

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Authors: Chuang-Hung Lin, Cheng-Yuan Hsu, Jia-Yan Lin

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It is an indispensible strategy to adopt greenery approach on architectural bases so as to improve ecological habitats, decrease heat-island effect, purify air quality, and relieve surface runoff as well as noise pollution, all of which are done in an attempt to achieve sustainable environment. How we can do with plant design to attain the best visual quality and ideal carbon dioxide fixation depends on whether or not we can appropriately make use of greenery according to the nature of architectural bases. To achieve the goal, it is a need that architects and landscape architects should be provided with sufficient local references. Current greenery studies focus mainly on the heat-island effect of urban with large scale. Most of the architects still rely on people with years of expertise regarding the adoption and disposition of plantation in connection with microclimate scale. Therefore, environmental design, which integrates science and aesthetics, requires fundamental research on landscape environment technology divided from building environment technology. By doing so, we can create mutual benefits between green building and the environment. This issue is extremely important for the greening design of the bases of green buildings in cities and various open spaces. The purpose of this study is to establish plant selection and allocation strategies under different building sunshade levels. Initially, with the shading of sunshine on the greening bases as the starting point, the effects of the shades produced by different building types on the greening strategies were analyzed. Then, by measuring the PAR( photosynthetic active radiation), the relative DLI( daily light integral) was calculated, while the DLI Map was established in order to evaluate the effects of the building shading on the established environmental greening, thereby serving as a reference for plant selection and allocation. The discussion results were to be applied in the evaluation of environment greening of greening buildings and establish the “right plant, right place” design strategy of multi-level ecological greening for application in urban design and landscape design development, as well as the greening criteria to feedback to the eco-city greening buildings.

Keywords: daily light integral, plant design, urban open space

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Authors: Monica Arnaudo, Monika Topel, Bjorn Laumert

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Within the Swedish context, the current trend of relatively low electricity prices promotes the electrification of the energy infrastructure. The residential heating sector takes part in this transition by proposing a switch from a centralized district heating system towards a distributed heat pumps-based setting. When it comes to urban environments, two issues arise. The first, seen from an electricity-sector perspective, is related to the fact that existing networks are limited with regards to their installed capacities. Additional electric loads, such as heat pumps, can cause severe overloads on crucial network elements. The second, seen from a heating-sector perspective, has to do with the fact that the indoor comfort conditions can become difficult to handle when the operation of the heat pumps is limited by a risk of overloading on the distribution grid. Furthermore, the uncertainty of the electricity market prices in the future introduces an additional variable. This study aims at assessing the extent to which distributed heat pumps can penetrate an existing heat energy network while respecting the technical limitations of the electricity grid and the thermal comfort levels in the buildings. In order to account for the multi-disciplinary nature of this research question, a cosimulation modeling approach was adopted. In this way, each energy technology is modeled in its customized simulation environment. As part of the cosimulation methodology: a steady-state power flow analysis in pandapower was used for modeling the electrical distribution grid, a thermal balance model of a reference building was implemented in EnergyPlus to account for space heating and a fluid-cycle model of a heat pump was implemented in JModelica to account for the actual heating technology. With the models set in place, different scenarios based on forecasted electricity market prices were developed both for present and future conditions of Hammarby Sjöstad, a neighborhood located in the south-east of Stockholm (Sweden). For each scenario, the technical and the comfort conditions were assessed. Additionally, the average cost of heat generation was estimated in terms of levelized cost of heat. This indicator enables a techno-economic comparison study among the different scenarios. In order to evaluate the levelized cost of heat, a yearly performance simulation of the energy infrastructure was implemented. The scenarios related to the current electricity prices show that distributed heat pumps can replace the district heating system by covering up to 30% of the heating demand. By lowering of 2°C, the minimum accepted indoor temperature of the apartments, this level of penetration can increase up to 40%. Within the future scenarios, if the electricity prices will increase, as most likely expected within the next decade, the penetration of distributed heat pumps can be limited to 15%. In terms of levelized cost of heat, a residential heat pump technology becomes competitive only within a scenario of decreasing electricity prices. In this case, a district heating system is characterized by an average cost of heat generation 7% higher compared to a distributed heat pumps option.

Keywords: cosimulation, distributed heat pumps, district heating, electrical distribution grid, integrated energy systems

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Authors: Jenny Ringblom, Marie Proczkowska, Laura Korhonen, Ingrid Wåhlin

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Background: Emergence delirium is a well-known behaviour of perceptual disturbances that may occur after general anaesthesia in children. Children with emergence delirium are often confused; they cry, are involuntarily physically active and are almost impossible to console. The prevalence varies considerably between about 13% and 53%. Research has mainly focused on how different medication accents affect the incidence of emergence delirium, but less is known about parents’ experiences of emergence delirium during the recovery process. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe parents’ experiences and reflections during their child's emergence delirium behaviour when recovering from anaesthesia. Method: The study has a qualitative design, and the data has been analyzed using thematic analysis. A total of 16 parents were interviewed at two county hospitals in Sweden. Results: When the parents reunited with their child at the recovering unit, they felt as if they were encountering an incomprehensible scenario. When watching their child demonstrating emergence delirium, they experienced fear and insecurity and had feelings of powerlessness and guilt. Information and previous experience turned out to offer relief and being seen by the healthcare staff when they, in their vulnerability, failed to reach or console their child gave hope and energy. Conclusion: Emergence delirium must be extensively considered in children undergoing general anaesthesia. Healthcare staff needs to be aware of the parental difficulties it may cause. There is also important to know what parents experience as relieving, such as receiving information and when staff members are being available, responsive and supportive during the wake-up period.

Keywords: emergence delirium, experiences, pediatrics, parents, postoperative care

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Authors: Abdessalam Hijab, Eric Henry, Hafida Boulekbache

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The complexity of the city makes sustainable management of the urban environment more difficult. Managers are required to make significant human and technical investments, particularly in household waste collection (focus of our research). The aim of this communication is to propose a collaborative geographic multi-actor device (MGCD) based on the link between information and communication technologies (ICT) and geo-web tools in order to involve urban residents in household waste collection processes. Our method is based on a collaborative/motivational concept between the city and its residents. It is a geographic collaboration dedicated to the general public (citizens, residents, and any other participant), based on real-time allocation and geographic location of topological, geographic, and multimedia data in the form of local geo-alerts (location-specific problems) related to household waste in an urban environment. This contribution allows us to understand the extent to which residents can assist and contribute to the development of household waste collection processes for a better protected urban environment. This suggestion provides a good idea of how residents can contribute to the data bank for future uses. Moreover, it will contribute to the transformation of the population into a smart inhabitant as an essential component of a smart city. The proposed model will be tested in the Lamkansa sampling district in Casablanca, Morocco.

Keywords: information and communication technologies, ICTs, GeoWeb, geo-collaboration, city, inhabitant, waste, collection, environment

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Authors: Jaweriya Aftab, Madho Mal, Hamida Memon

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The first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Pakistan was recorded on February 26th, 2020. While the country went through various phases of lockdowns, the importance of proper sensitization campaigns was highlighted by healthcare workers to combat misinformation. Past studies via Google trends analysis have shown a rise in public interest in multiple COVID-19-related symptoms as well as cardiovascular symptoms. As there is a paucity of data related to the trends in Pakistan, we conducted a retrospective analysis to bridge further information. Methods: As per the recommendations from past studies, a Google trend analysis was conducted for various symptoms, including ‘Fever’, ‘Chest Pain’, ‘Shortness of Breath’, and ‘Cough’ between 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2021. The trends in various search results were analyzed and modeled. Results: Our analysis found various rises in public interest in the various symptoms (fever, chest pain, shortness of breath, and cough) that correspond closely to the wave of the virus's spread in the country. Conclusion: Our study confirms similar trends in Pakistan as previously reported in studies from India, USA, and UK, whereby the public interest in various COVID-19 symptoms rose with the number of cases. This further highlights the need for a strong approach to combat misinformation during such a critical period.

Keywords: covid, trend, Pakistan, public

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Authors: Vladimir A. Todiras

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Spatio-temporal models provide new possibilities for real-time action in pest risk analysis. It should be noted that estimation of the possibility and probability of introduction of a pest and of its economic consequences involves many uncertainties. We present a new mapping technique that assesses pest invasion risk using online BioClass software. BioClass is a GIS tool designed to solve multiple-criteria classification and optimization problems based on fuzzy logic and level set methods. This research describes a method for predicting the potential establishment and spread of a plant pest into new areas using a case study: corn rootworm (Diabrotica spp.), tomato leaf miner (Tuta absoluta) and plum fruit moth (Grapholita funebrana). Our study demonstrated that in BioClass we can combine fuzzy logic and geographic information systems with knowledge of pest biology and environmental data to derive new information for decision making. Pests are sensitive to a warming climate, as temperature greatly affects their survival and reproductive rate and capacity. Changes have been observed in the distribution, frequency and severity of outbreaks of Helicoverpa armigera on tomato. BioClass has demonstrated to be a powerful tool for applying dynamic models and map the potential future distribution of a species, enable resource to make decisions about dangerous and invasive species management and control.

Keywords: classification, model, pest, risk

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Authors: S. Adhirai Subramaniyam, Paramjit Singh

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This paper presents major issues in cloud computing. The paper describes different cloud computing deployment models and cloud service models available in the field of cloud computing. The paper then concentrates on various issues in the field. The issues such as cloud compatibility, compliance of the cloud, standardizing cloud technology, monitoring while on the cloud and cloud security are described. The paper suggests solutions for these issues and concludes that hybrid cloud infrastructure is a real boon for organizations.

Keywords: cloud, cloud computing, mobile cloud computing, private cloud, public cloud, hybrid cloud, SAAS, PAAS, IAAS, cloud security

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Authors: Suteera Pradubwong, Darawan Augsornwan, Pornpen Pathumwiwathana, Benjamas Prathanee, Bowornsilp Chowchuen

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Background: Cleft lip and palate (CLP) congenital anomalies have a high prevalence in the Northeast of Thailand. A care team’s understand of treatment plan would help to guide the family of patients with CLP to achieve the treatment. Objectives: To examine the impact of the empowering volunteer project, established in the northeast Thailand. Materials and Methods: The Empowering Volunteer project was conducted in 2008 under the Tawanchai Royal Granted project. The patients and family’s general information, treatment, the group brainstorming, and satisfaction with the project were analyzed. Results: Participants were 12 children with CLP, their families and five volunteers with CLP; the participating patients were predominantly females and the mean, age was 12.2 years. The treatment comprised of speech training, dental hygiene care, bone graft and orthodontic treatment. Four issues were addressed including: problems in taking care of breast feeding; instructions’ needs for care at birth; difficulty in access information and society impact; and needs in having a network of volunteers. Conclusions: Empowering volunteer is important for holistic care of patients with CLP which provides easy access and multiple channels for patients and their families. It should be developed as part of the self-help and family support group, the development of community based team and comprehensive CLP care program.

Keywords: self-help and family support group, community based model, volunteer, cleft lip-cleft palate

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Authors: Junia Braga, Antonio carlos Martins, Marcos Racilan

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Drawing on the ecological approach, this paper reports a qualitative study that aims to understand how mobile technologies were integrated during the pandemic in the context of language teaching and the use of these technologies in post-pandemic times. Seventy-six teachers answered a questionnaire about their experiences. The findings show how the network with peers scaffolded this experience and played a crucial role in their appropriation of those technologies. They also suggest that this network may have contributed to the normalisation of digital technology use.

Keywords: ecological perspective, language teaching, mobile technologies, teacher education

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Authors: Shafiq ur Rehman, Zubair Ahmed Shaikh

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This research provides the comparative study of different mobile payment system and proposes an efficient solution of mobile payment system. The research involves discovering how the mobile payment methods can be used and implemented keeping user and system interaction under consideration. The implementation of Nielsen’s heuristic and universal design principles enhanced the user’s interaction design and made the system more appropriate, understandable and visible to the end user. The design of application is greatly affected by the user driven factors. These factors help in the efficiency of the application usage.

Keywords: mobile payment system, m-commerce, usability, near field communication

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Authors: Ali S. Al-Aufi, Ibrahim S. Al-Harthi, Yousuf S. AlHinai, Ali H.S. Al-Badi, Zahran S. Al-Salti

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Social media tools have currently been leading a major change in the flow and use of information for different life aspects within people and between people and their governments. They represent powerful channels for direct exchanges of information, ideas, and suggestions for purposes of civic participation. The current study aims at investigating Omani citizens’ perceptions, expectations, and motivations of their uses of social media tools to interact with the government for civic participation. A quantitative methodology was used to collect data through self-administered questionnaires from a random sample of university students and staff drawn from Sultan Qaboos University, considering them as well-informed and typically active users of social media. The literature was comprehensively reviewed to retrieve relevant empirical studies that particularly investigated the use of social media for civic engagement which provided a basis for the construct of the questionnaire; taken into consideration the delineated dimensions of perceptions, expectations, and motivations. The findings of the study offer practical and useful recommendations for governmental units in Oman and similar contexts in the region to inform better and efficient use of social media tools to interact with citizens in issues related to civic engagement; particularly to make best use of these tools for improving services and developing existing and newer initiatives, and hence, encouraging and strengthening citizens’ involvement for civic engagement.

Keywords: social media, social networking sites, web 2.0, civic engagement, civic participation, oman

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Authors: Xiuguo Zhao, Xudong Ren, Chen Su, Xinxi Xu, Fu Niu, Lingshuai Meng

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The respiratory diseases such as asthma, emphysema and bronchitis are connected with the air pollution and the number of these diseases tends to increase, which may attribute to the toxic aerosol deposition in human upper respiratory tract or in the bifurcation of human lung. The therapy of these diseases mostly uses pharmaceuticals in the form of aerosol delivered into the human upper respiratory tract or the lung. Understanding of airflow structures in human upper respiratory tract plays a very important role in the analysis of the “filtering” effect in the pharynx/larynx and for obtaining correct air-particle inlet conditions to the lung. However, numerical simulation based CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) technology has its own advantage on studying airflow structure in human upper respiratory tract. In this paper, a representative human upper respiratory tract is built and the CFD technology was used to investigate the air movement characteristic in the human upper respiratory tract. The airflow movement characteristic, the effect of the airflow movement on the shear stress distribution and the probability of the wall injury caused by the shear stress are discussed. Experimentally validated computational fluid-aerosol dynamics results showed the following: the phenomenon of airflow separation appears near the outer wall of the pharynx and the trachea. The high velocity zone is created near the inner wall of the trachea. The airflow splits at the divider and a new boundary layer is generated at the inner wall of the downstream from the bifurcation with the high velocity near the inner wall of the trachea. The maximum velocity appears at the exterior of the boundary layer. The secondary swirls and axial velocity distribution result in the high shear stress acting on the inner wall of the trachea and bifurcation, finally lead to the inner wall injury. The enhancement of breathing intensity enhances the intensity of the shear stress acting on the inner wall of the trachea and the bifurcation. If human keep the high breathing intensity for long time, not only the ability for the transportation and regulation of the gas through the trachea and the bifurcation fall, but also result in the increase of the probability of the wall strain and tissue injury.

Keywords: airflow structure, computational fluid dynamics, human upper respiratory tract, wall shear stress, numerical simulation

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Authors: Arjun Chatterjee

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The India-China border clash in Galwan valley in June 2020, the first deadly skirmish between the two Asian giants in the Himalayan border area in over four decades, highlighted the need to examine the notion of ‘authenticity’ in journalistic practices. Information emanating from such remotely located, sparsely populated, and not well-demarcated international land borders have limited sources, restricted to official sources, which have their own narrative. Geopolitical goals and ambitions embolden narratives of nationalism in the media, and these often challenge the notion and understanding of authenticity in journalism. The Indian press, contrary to the Chinese press, which is state-owned, is diverse and also confrontational, where narratives of nationalism are differentially interpreted, embedded, and realised. This paper examines how authenticity has become a variable, rather than a constant, in conflict reporting of the Sino-Indian border clash and how authenticity is interpreted similarly or differently in conflict journalism. The paper reports qualitative textual analysis of two leading English language newspapers – The Times of India and The Hindu, and two mainstream regional language newspapers, Amar Ujala (Hindi) and Ananda Bazar Patrika (Bengali), to evaluate the ways in which representations of information function in conflict reporting and to recontextualize (and thus change or modify the meaning of) that which they represent, and with what political and cultural implications.

Keywords: India-China, framing, conflict, media narratives, border dispute

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Authors: Piotr Prewysz-Kwinto, Grazyna Voss

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In June 2013, the European Parliament and the Council adopted a directive on financial reporting (Directive 2013/34/EU). The main objective was to simplify the principles of the preparation of financial statements, including the principles of the presentation and disclosures of financial information by adapting reporting burdens to the type and size of an undertaking. Therefore, the Directive introduced a classification of all undertakings into five groups, i.e. micro, small, medium-sized, large and public-interest entities, and defined in detail the classification criteria. The principles of the preparation of financial statements and the presentation of financial information as well as applicable simplifications were defined for each group. The EU Member States had to implement the provisions of Directive 34 relating to accounting and financial reporting into domestic norms until January 1, 2016. In Poland, the provisions of Directive 34 were implemented into domestic accounting norms specified in the Polish Accounting Act on a gradual basis. On July 11, 2014, the Polish Parliament adopted an amendment to the Act, introducing the Directive's solutions for micro-undertakings and on July 23, 2015, for the remaining undertakings. The aim of this paper is to present Polish solutions relating to financial reporting after the implementation of Directive 34 and the results of the survey conducted among accountants regarding the evaluation of the implemented simplifications for micro and small undertakings.

Keywords: accounting standards, financial reporting, financial statement, simplification

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