Search results for: policy and standard

Authors: Saroj Kumar Rath

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When insurgency erupted in Kashmir in 1989, it was quickly backed by Pakistan. Kashmir witnessed terrorism for more than a decade till 2004 when Indian forces decimated militancy. After the US pressure in 1992, terrorist training camps of Pakistan shifted to Afghanistan and al Qaeda and the Taliban had taken over training of Kashmiri militants in Afghanistan after 1997 as part of their global jihad. The Indo-Pak rivalry over Kashmir dispute had taken a new turn in the aftermath of 9/11 developments. Islamabad viewed its Afghan policy through the prism of denying India any advantage in Kabul. Pakistan was successful in refuting Indian presence in Kabul for a decade through the Taliban. After the 9/11 attacks the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) saw Northern Alliance, supported by the Americans and all of Pakistan’s regional rivals – India, Iran, and Russia – as claiming victory in Kabul. For Pakistan’s military regime, this was a strategic disaster and prompted the ISI to give refuge to the escaping Taliban, while denying full support to Hamid Karzai. The new development in Afghanistan prompted India to establish a foothold it had lost nearly a decade earlier. India established diplomatic contacts with Afghanistan; supported the Karzai government and funded aid programs. Pakistan alleged that Indian agents are training Baloch and Sindhi dissidents in Pakistan through Afghanistan. Kabul had suddenly become the new Kashmir – the new battleground for India-Pakistan rivalry.

Keywords: Afghan imbroglio, Kashmir conflict, Indo-Pak rivalry, US policy in South Asia

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Authors: Zoe Chang, Max Williams, Gautham Das

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The purpose of this study is to evaluate the incorporation of hemp fibers (HF) in concrete. Hemp fiber reinforced concrete (HFRC) is becoming more popular as an alternative for regular mix designs. This study was done to evaluate the compressive strength of HFRC regarding mix procedure. Hemp fibers were obtained from the manufacturer and hand-processed to ensure uniformity in width and length. The fibers were added to the concrete as both wet and dry mixes to investigate and optimize the mix design process. Results indicated that the dry mix had a compressive strength of 1157 psi compared to the wet mix of 985 psi. This dry mix compressive strength was within range of the standard mix compressive strength of 1533 psi. The statistical analysis revealed that the mix design process needs further optimization and uniformity concerning the addition of HF. Regression analysis revealed the standard mix design had a coefficient of 0.9 as compared to the dry mix of 0.375, indicating a variation in the mixing process. While completing the dry mix, the addition of plain hemp fibers caused them to intertwine, creating lumps and inconsistency. However, during the wet mixing process, combining water and hemp fibers before incorporation allows the fibers to uniformly disperse within the mix; hence the regression analysis indicated a better coefficient of 0.55. This study concludes that HRFC is a viable alternative to regular mixes; however, more research surrounding its characteristics needs to be conducted.

Keywords: hemp fibers, hemp reinforced concrete, wet & dry, freeze thaw testing, compressive strength

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Authors: Ofelia Loani Elvir Lazo, Roya Yumul, David Chernobylsky, Omar Durra

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Background: It is crucial to detect the patient’s existing anxiety to assist patients in a perioperative setting which is to be caused by the fear associated with surgical and anesthetic complications. However, the current gold standard for assessing patient anxiety, the STAI, is problematic to use in the preoperative setting, given the duration and concentration required to complete the 40-item questionnaire. Our primary aim in the study is to investigate the correlation of the Yumul Visual Facial Anxiety Scale (VFAS) and Numerical Verbal Rating Scale (NVRS) to State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) to determine the optimal anxiety scale to use in the perioperative setting. Methods: A clinical study of patients undergoing various surgeries was conducted utilizing each of the preoperative anxiety scales. Inclusion criteria included patients undergoing elective surgeries, while exclusion criteria included patients with anesthesia contraindications, inability to comprehend instructions, impaired judgement, substance abuse history, and those pregnant or lactating. 293 patients were analyzed in terms of demographics, anxiety scale survey results, and anesthesia data via Spearman Coefficients, Chi-Squared Analysis, and Fischer’s exact test utilized for comparative analysis. Results: Statistical analysis showed that VFAS had a higher correlation to STAI than NVRS (rs=0.66, p<0.0001 vs. rs=0.64, p<0.0001). The combined VFAS-Categorization Scores showed the highest correlation with the gold standard (rs=0.72, p<0.0001). Subgroup analysis showed similar results. STAI evaluation time (247.7 ± 54.81 sec) far exceeds VFAS (7.29 ± 1.61 sec), NVRS (7.23 ± 1.60 sec), and Categorization scales (7.29 ± 1.99 sec). Patients preferred VFAS (54.4%), Categorization (11.6%), and NVRS (8.8%). Anesthesiologists preferred VFAS (63.9%), NVRS (22.1%), and Categorization Scales (14.0%). Of note, the top five causes of preoperative anxiety were determined to be waiting (56.5%), pain (42.5%), family concerns (40.5%), no information about surgery (40.1%), or anesthesia (31.6%). Conclusıons: Both VFAS and Categorization tests also take significantly less time than STAI, which is critical in the preoperative setting. Combined VFAS-Categorization Score (VCS) demonstrates the highest correlation to the gold standard, STAI. Among both patients and anesthesiologists, VFAS was the most preferred scale. This forms the basis of the Yumul Faces Anxiety Scale, designed for quick quantization and assessment in the preoperative setting while maintaining a high correlation to the golden standard. Additional studies using the formulated Yumul Faces Anxiety Scale are merited.

Keywords: numerical verbal anxiety scale, preoperative anxiety, state-trait anxiety inventory, visual facial anxiety scale

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Authors: Manana Lobzhanidze

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Introduction: The paper will argue that labor migration is the most important problem Georgia faces today. The structure of labor migration by age and gender of Georgia is analyzed. The main driving factors of circular labor migration during the last ten years are identified. While studying migration, it is necessary to discuss the interconnection of economic, social, and demographic features, also taking into consideration the policy of state regulations in terms of education and professional training. Methodology: Different research methods are applied in the presented paper: statistical, such as selection, grouping, observation, trend, and qualitative research methods, namely; analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, comparison ones. Main Findings: Labour migrants are filling the labor market as a low salary worker. The main positive feedback of migration from developing countries is poverty eradication, but this process is accompanied by problems, such as 'Brain Drain'. The country loses an important part of its intellectual potential, and it is invested by households or state itself. Conclusions: Labor migration is characterized to be temporary, but socio-economic problems of the country often push the labor migration in the direction of longterm and illegal migration. Countries with developed economies try to stricter migration policy and fight illegal migration with different methods; circular migration helps solve this problem. Conclusions and recommendations are included about circular labor migration consequences in Georgia and its influence on the reduction of unemployment level.

Keywords: migration, circular labor migration, labor migration employment, unemployment

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Authors: Ganfeng Yu, Yuefeng Ma, Shanliang Yang

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The word discovery is a key problem in text information retrieval technology. Methods in new word discovery tend to be closely related to words because they generally obtain new word results by analyzing words. With the popularity of social networks, individual netizens and online self-media have generated various network texts for the convenience of online life, including network words that are far from standard Chinese expression. How detect network words is one of the important goals in the field of text information retrieval today. In this paper, we integrate the word embedding model and clustering methods to propose a network word discovery framework based on sentence semantic similarity (S³-NWD) to detect network words effectively from the corpus. This framework constructs sentence semantic vectors through a distributed representation model, uses the similarity of sentence semantic vectors to determine the semantic relationship between sentences, and finally realizes network word discovery by the meaning of semantic replacement between sentences. The experiment verifies that the framework not only completes the rapid discovery of network words but also realizes the standard word meaning of the discovery of network words, which reflects the effectiveness of our work.

Keywords: text information retrieval, natural language processing, new word discovery, information extraction

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Authors: Olusegun Ayodeji Olagunju, Christine Tyreesa Pillay

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Biodiesel from waste sources is regarded as an economical and most viable fuel alternative to depleting fossil fuels. In this work, biodiesel was produced from three different sources of waste cooking oil; from cafeterias, which is vegetable-based using the transesterification method. The free fatty acids (% FFA) of the feedstocks were conducted successfully through the titration method. The results for sources 1, 2, and 3 were 0.86 %, 0.54 % and 0.20 %, respectively. The three variables considered in this process were temperature, reaction time, and catalyst concentration within the following range: 50 oC – 70 oC, 30 min – 90 min, and 0.5 % – 1.5 % catalyst. Produced biodiesel was characterized using ASTM standard methods for biodiesel property testing to determine the fuel properties, including kinematic viscosity, specific gravity, flash point, pour point, cloud point, and acid number. The results obtained indicate that the biodiesel yield from source 3 was greater than the other sources. All produced biodiesel fuel properties are within the standard biodiesel fuel specifications ASTM D6751. The optimum yield of biodiesel was obtained at 98.76%, 96.4%, and 94.53% from source 3, source 2, and source 1, respectively at optimum operating variables of 65 oC temperature, 90 minutes reaction time, and 0.5 wt% potassium hydroxide.

Keywords: waste cooking oil, biodiesel, free fatty acid content, potassium hydroxide catalyst, optimization analysis

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Authors: Chukwu Fidelis Ndubuisi, Madufor Michael Ozims, Asogwa Vivian Ndidiamaka, Egenamba Juliet Ngozi, Okonkwo Stephen C., Kamah Chukwudi David

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Deflection of the vertical is a quantity used in reducing geodetic measurements related to geoidal networks to the ellipsoidal plane; and it is essential in Geoid modeling processes. Computing the deflection of the vertical component of a point in a given area is necessary in evaluating the standard errors along north-south and east-west direction. Using combined approach for the determination of deflection of the vertical component provides improved result but labor intensive without appropriate method. Least square method is a method that makes use of redundant observation in modeling a given sets of problem that obeys certain geometric condition. This research work is aimed to computing the deflection of vertical component of Owerri West local government area of Imo State using geometric method as field technique. In this method combination of Global Positioning System on static mode and precise leveling observation were utilized in determination of geodetic coordinate of points established within the study area by GPS observation and the orthometric heights through precise leveling. By least square using Matlab programme; the estimated deflections of vertical component parameters for the common station were -0.0286 and -0.0001 arc seconds for the north-south and east-west components respectively. The associated standard errors of the processed vectors of the network were computed. The computed standard errors of the North-south and East-west components were 5.5911e-005 and 1.4965e-004 arc seconds, respectively. Therefore, including the derived component of deflection of the vertical to the ellipsoidal model will yield high observational accuracy since an ellipsoidal model is not tenable due to its far observational error in the determination of high quality job. It is important to include the determined deflection of the vertical component for Owerri West Local Government in Imo State, Nigeria.

Keywords: deflection of vertical, ellipsoidal height, least square, orthometric height

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Authors: Amin Banae Babazadeh

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In the contemporary world, NGOs are considered as important tool for motivating the community. So they committed their true mission and the promotion of civic participation and strengthen social identities. Functional characteristics of non-governmental organizations are the element to leverage the centers of political and social development of powerful governments since they are concrete and familiar with the problems of society and the operational strategies which would facilitate this process of mutual trust between the people and organizations. NGOs on the one hand offer reasonable solutions in line with approved organizations as agents to match between the facts and reality of society and on the other hand changes to a tool to have true political, social and economic behavior. However, the NGOs are active in the formulation of national relations and policy formulation in an organized and disciplined based on three main factors, i.e., resources, policies, and institutions. Organizations are not restricted to state administration in centralized system bodies and this process in the democratic system limits the accumulation of desires and expectations and at the end reaches to the desired place. Hence, this research will attempt to emphasis on field research (questionnaire) and according to the development evolution and role of NGOs analyze the effects of this center on youth. Therefore, the hypothesis is that there is a direct relationship between the Enlightenment and the effectiveness of policy towards NGOs and solving social damages.

Keywords: civic participation, community vulnerability, insightful, NGO, urmia

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Authors: Ekta Pandey

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The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry is ranked third largest by volume and fourteenth by value. It thus accounts for 10% of world’s production by volume and 1.5% by value according to Department of Pharmaceuticals, Government of India. The industry has shown phenomenal growth over past few years, moving from US $ 1 billion turnover in 1990 to a turnover of around US $30 billion in 2015. The Indian pharmaceutical sector is ranked seventeenth in terms of export value of active pharmaceutical ingredients and dosage forms to more than 200 countries around the globe. It has shown tremendous changes especially after Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement. Recognizing the immense potential for growth and its direct impact on Indian economy, it is important to look up the industrial policies adopted since Indian independence which turnaround the Indian pharmaceutical industry. A systematic review of changes in market structure of Indian pharmaceutical industry due to shift in policy regimes is done from 1850 to 2015 using secondary peer reviewed published research work. The aim is to understand the impact of anti-trust laws, intellectual property rights, industry competition acts and regulations are quite crucial in determining effective economic policy and have overall lasting effects on international trade and ties. The proposed paper examines the position of Indian domestic firms relative to multinational pharmaceutical firms tries to throw some light on the growth curve of Indian pharmaceutical sector.

Keywords: active pharmaceutical ingredients, competition act, pharmaceutical industry, TRIPS

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Authors: Olaf Visker, Arnout De Vries, Lambert Schomaker

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Predictive policing refers to the usage of analytical techniques to identify potential criminal activity. It has been widely implemented by various police departments. Being a relatively new area of research, there are, to the author’s knowledge, no absolute tried, and true methods and they still exhibit a variety of potential problems. One of those problems is closely related to the lack of understanding of how acting on these prediction influence crime itself. The goal of law enforcement is ultimately crime reduction. As such, a policy needs to be established that best facilitates this goal. This research aims to find such a policy by using adversarial agent-based modeling in combination with modern reinforcement learning techniques. It is presented here that a baseline model for both law enforcement and criminal agents and compare their performance to their respective reinforcement models. The experiments show that our smart law enforcement model is capable of reducing crime by making more deliberate choices regarding the locations of potential criminal activity. Furthermore, it is shown that the smart criminal model presents behavior consistent with popular crime theories and outperforms the baseline model in terms of crimes committed and time to capture. It does, however, still suffer from the difficulties of capturing long term rewards and learning how to handle multiple opposing goals.

Keywords: adversarial, agent based modelling, predictive policing, reinforcement learning

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Authors: Binod Duwadi

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This article examines the language and literacy practices of English Code-mixing in Nepalese Classroom. Situating the study within an ecological framework, a systematic functional linguistic (SFL) approach was used to analyze students writing in two Neplease schools. Data collection included interviews with teachers, classroom observations, instructional materials, and focal students’ writing samples. Data analyses revealed vastly different language ecologies between the schools owing to sharp socioeconomic stratification, the structural organization of schools, and the pervasiveness of standard language ideology, with stigmatizes English code mixing (ECM) and privileges Standard English in schools. Functional analysis of students’ writing showed that the nature of the writing tasks at the schools created different affordances for exploiting lexicogrammatically choices for meaning making-enhancing them in the case of one school but severely restricting them in the case of another- perpetuating the academic disadvantage for code mixing speakers. Recommendations for structural and attitudinal changes through teacher training and implementation of approaches that engage students’ bidialectal competence for learning are made as important first steps towards addressing educational inequities in Nepalese schools.

Keywords: code-mixing, ecological perspective, systematic functional approach, language and identity

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Authors: Sheelagh Heugh, Michael Upton, Kriya Kalidas, Stephen Breen

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This article aims to create awareness of the opportunities and issues the artificial intelligence (AI) tool GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer-3) brings to higher education. Technological disruptors have featured in higher education (HE) since Konrad Klaus developed the first functional programmable automatic digital computer. The flurry of technological advances, such as personal computers, smartphones, the world wide web, search engines, and artificial intelligence (AI), have regularly caused disruption and discourse across the educational landscape around harnessing the change for the good. Accepting AI influences are inevitable; we took mixed methods through participatory action research and evaluation approach. Joining HE communities, reviewing the literature, and conducting our own research around Chat GPT-3, we reviewed our institutional approach to changing our current practices and developing policy linked to assessments and the use of Chat GPT-3. We review the impact of GPT-3, a high-powered natural language processing (NLP) system first seen in 2020 on HE. Historically HE has flexed and adapted with each technological advancement, and the latest debates for educationalists are focusing on the issues around this version of AI which creates natural human language text from prompts and other forms that can generate code and images. This paper explores how Chat GPT-3 affects the current educational landscape: we debate current views around plagiarism, research misconduct, and the credibility of assessment and determine the tool's value in developing skills for the workplace and enhancing critical analysis skills. These questions led us to review our institutional policy and explore the effects on our current assessments and the development of new assessments. Conclusions: After exploring the pros and cons of Chat GTP-3, it is evident that this form of AI cannot be un-invented. Technology needs to be harnessed for positive outcomes in higher education. We have observed that materials developed through AI and potential effects on our development of future assessments and teaching methods. Materials developed through Chat GPT-3 can still aid student learning but lead to redeveloping our institutional policy around plagiarism and academic integrity.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, Chat GPT-3, intellectual property, plagiarism, research misconduct

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Authors: Victoria Siriaki Jorry, I. S. Mbalawata, Hayong Shin

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The main objective in a change detection problem is to develop algorithms for efficient detection of gradual and/or abrupt changes in the parameter distribution of a process or time series data. In this paper, we present a modified cumulative (MCUSUM) algorithm to detect the start and end of a time-varying linear drift in mean value of a time series data based on likelihood ratio test procedure. The design, implementation and performance of the proposed algorithm for a linear drift detection is evaluated and compared to the existing CUSUM algorithm using different performance measures. An approach to accurately approximate the threshold of the MCUSUM is also provided. Performance of the MCUSUM for gradual change-point detection is compared to that of standard cumulative sum (CUSUM) control chart designed for abrupt shift detection using Monte Carlo Simulations. In terms of the expected time for detection, the MCUSUM procedure is found to have a better performance than a standard CUSUM chart for detection of the gradual change in mean. The algorithm is then applied and tested to a randomly generated time series data with a gradual linear trend in mean to demonstrate its usefulness.

Keywords: average run length, CUSUM control chart, gradual change detection, likelihood ratio test

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Authors: G. Wimmers

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The University of Northern British Columbia needed a new laboratory building for the Master of Engineering in Integrated Wood Design Program and its new Civil Engineering Program. Since the University is committed to reducing its environmental footprint and because the Master of Engineering Program is actively involved in research of energy efficient buildings, the decision was made to request the energy efficiency of the Passive House Standard in the Request for Proposals. The building is located in Prince George in Northern British Columbia, a city located at the northern edge of climate zone 6 with an average low between -8 and -10.5 in the winter months. The footprint of the building is 30m x 30m with a height of about 10m. The building consists of a large open space for the shop and laboratory with a small portion of the floorplan being two floors, allowing for a mezzanine level with a few offices as well as mechanical and storage rooms. The total net floor area is 1042m² and the building’s gross volume 9686m³. One key requirement of the Passive House Standard is the airtight envelope with an airtightness of < 0.6 ach@50Pa. In the past, we have seen that this requirement can be challenging to reach for industrial buildings. When testing for air tightness, it is important to test in both directions, pressurization, and depressurization, since the airflow through all leakages of the building will, in reality, happen simultaneously in both directions. A specific detail or situation such as overlapping but not sealed membranes might be airtight in one direction, due to the valve effect, but are opening up when tested in the opposite direction. In this specific project, the advantage was the overall very compact envelope and the good volume to envelope area ratio. The building had to be very airtight and the details for the windows and doors installation as well as all transitions from walls to roof and floor, the connections of the prefabricated wall panels and all penetrations had to be carefully developed to allow for maximum airtightness. The biggest challenges were the specific components of this industrial building, the large bay door for semi-trucks and the dust extraction system for the wood processing machinery. The testing was carried out in accordance with EN 132829 (method A) as specified in the International Passive House Standard and the volume calculation was also following the Passive House guideline resulting in a net volume of 7383m3, excluding all walls, floors and suspended ceiling volumes. This paper will explore the details and strategies used to achieve an airtightness of 0.07 ach@50Pa, to the best of our knowledge the lowest value achieved in North America so far following the test protocol of the International Passive House Standard and discuss the crucial steps throughout the project phases and the most challenging details.

Keywords: air changes, airtightness, envelope design, industrial building, passive house

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Authors: Tydra Preyear, Victor Clincy

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Quantum computing presents many computational advantages over classical computing methods due to the utilization of quantum mechanics. The capability of this computing infrastructure poses threats to standard cryptographic systems such as RSA and AES, which are designed for classical computing environments. This paper discusses the impact that quantum computing has on cryptography, while focusing on the evolution from classical cryptographic concepts to quantum and post-quantum cryptographic concepts. Standard Cryptography is essential for securing data by utilizing encryption and decryption methods, and these methods face vulnerability problems due to the advancement of quantum computing. In order to counter these vulnerabilities, the methods that are proposed are quantum cryptography and post-quantum cryptography. Quantum cryptography uses principles such as the uncertainty principle and photon polarization in order to provide secure data transmission. In addition, the concept of Quantum key distribution is introduced to ensure more secure communication channels by distributing cryptographic keys. There is the emergence of post-quantum cryptography which is used for improving cryptographic algorithms in order to be more secure from attacks by classical and quantum computers. Throughout this exploration, the paper mentions the critical role of the advancement of cryptographic methods to keep data integrity and privacy safe from quantum computing concepts. Future research directions that would be discussed would be more effective cryptographic methods through the advancement of technology.

Keywords: quantum computing, quantum cryptography, cryptography, data integrity and privacy

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Authors: Abdulrahman Abdulrahman

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Critical depth meters, such as abroad crested weir, Venture Flume and combined control flume are standard devices for measuring flow in open channels. The discharge relation for these devices cannot be solved directly, but it needs iteration process to account for the approach velocity head. In this paper, analytical solution was developed to calculate the discharge in a combined critical depth-meter namely, a hump combined with lateral contraction in rectangular channel with subcritical approach flow including energy losses. Also analytical formulae were derived for approach velocity head coefficient for different types of critical depth meters. The solution was derived by solving a standard cubic equation considering energy loss on the base of trigonometric identity. The advantage of this technique is to avoid iteration process adopted in measuring flow by these devices. Numerical examples are chosen for demonstration of the proposed solution.

Keywords: broad crested weir, combined control meter, control structures, critical flow, discharge measurement, flow control, hydraulic engineering, hydraulic structures, open channel flow

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Authors: Muhammad Muhammad Suleiman

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The Nigerian political system has witnessed rising occurrences of election malpractice in the last decade. This has been due to election rigging and other forms of electoral fraud. In order to find a sustainable solution to this malpractice, the introduction of electronic voting (e-voting) has been suggested. This paper reviews the challenges, benefits, and issues associated with e-voting as a panacea for election malpractice in Nigeria. The review of existing literature revealed that e-voting can reduce the cost of conducting elections and reduce the opportunity for electoral fraud. The review suggests that the introduction of e-voting in the Nigerian political system would require adequate cybersecurity measures, trust-building initiatives, and proper legal frameworks to ensure its successful implementation. It is recommended that there should be an effective policy that would ensure the security of the system as well as the credibility of the results. Furthermore, a comprehensive awareness campaign needs to be conducted to ensure that voters understand the process and are comfortable using the system. In conclusion, e-voting has the potential to reduce the occurrence of election malpractice in the Nigerian political system. However, the successful implementation of e-voting will require effective policy interventions and trust-building initiatives. Additionally, the costs of acquiring the necessary infrastructure and equipment and implementing proper legal frameworks need to be considered.

Keywords: electronic voting, general election, candidate, INEC, cyberattack

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Authors: Priya Narayanan

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Despite several studies having been conducted on the highly subjective concept of place attachment in the last 60 years, there is a lack of consensus among researchers about how it can be measured empirically. Further, there is no available literature that discusses how a place can be manipulated via design and/or policy to allow people to feel/get attached to it, an aspect that seems to be the need of the hour in a world where a substantial population is living in shelter homes as war/climate/social refugees. Consequently, this paper draws from studies on place, affordance and attachment to conceptualize an objectively measurable entity in place attachment affordance by asking ‘whether and to what degree a place allows one to form attachment bonds with it’ rather than the generally asked ‘whether and to what degree one is/feels attached to a place’. Towards this, the place attachment affordance scale (PAAS) has been developed to not only quantitatively measure place attachment affordance but also act as a point of entry into a more in-depth analysis of both place policy and place properties. To illustrate the validity of the scale, the study uses PAAS to compare shelter homes for women in crisis with the homes they once lived in to glean the degree to which both places afford the formation of place attachment bonds to the residents. PAAS has also been used to compare shelter homes as places of short-/long-term residence for the residents and as places of work for the staff. Based on the results, it is suggested that place attachment and built environment researchers employ the PAAS as an objective measurement tool to better understand not only the presence or absence of attachment bonds with place but also the attributes of place that encourage or discourage the same. The study also briefly discusses the universality of the PAAS, although further fieldwork might be required to substantiate the same.

Keywords: place attachment, affordance, shelter homes, home, scale, environmental psychology

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Authors: Ali Asghar Sotoudeh

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Since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the subsequent regime change, internal conflicts between political and ethnic-religious groups have become a hallmark of Iraqi political dynamism. The most important manifestations of these conflicts are the Kurdish-central government conflicts, as well as fundamentalism since 2003. As a result, it seems not only US presence in Iraq under the pretext of fighting terrorism and expanding democracy has not had a positive effect on controlling fundamentalism and political stability in Iraq, but it has paved the way for the formation and continuation of geopolitical crises in the form of disputes over territory and sources of power. In this regard, given the importance of the study, the main purpose of this study is to examine the process of the impact of US regime-change policy on the formation and continuation of geopolitical crises in Iraq. The central question of this study is, what effect has the US regime change policy had on Iraq's domestic political processes? Findings show that regime change and subsequent imposed federalism have widened the gaps in Iraq's sectarian-ethnic system. As a result, the geopolitical crisis in the context of the dispute over geographical territory and sources of power between ethnic-religious groups has become the most important political dynamic in Iraq since the occupation. The research method in this article is descriptive-analytical, and the data collection method is library and internet resources.

Keywords: Iraq, united states, geopolitical crisis, ethno-religious conflict, political federalism

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Authors: Nicolas D. Norboge

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Purchasers of municipal bonds in primary and secondary markets are increasingly expecting issuers to disclose environmental, social, and governance factors (ESG) inissuance and continuing disclosure documents. U.S. tolling authorities are slowly catching up with other transportation sectors, such as public transit, in integrating ESG factors into their bond disclosure documents. A systematic mixed-methods evaluation of publicly available bond disclosure documents from 2010-2022 suggest that only a small number of U.S. tolling authorities disclosedall ESG factors; however, the pace has accelerated significantly from 2020-2022. Because many tolling authorities have a direct financial stake in the growth of passenger vehicle miles traveled on their toll facilities, and in turn the burning of more climate-warming fossil fuels, one crucial questionthat remains is how bond purchasers will view increasedESG transparency. Recent moves by large institutional investors, credit rating agencies, and regulators suggestan expectation of ESG disclosure is a trend likely to endure. This researchsuggests tolling authorities will need to proactively consider these emerging trends and carefully adapt their disclosure practiceswhere possible. Building on these findings, this research also provides a basic sketch framework for how issuers can responsibly position themselves within the changing global municipal debt marketplace.

Keywords: debt policy, ESG, municipal bonds, public-private partnerships, public tolling authorities, transportation finance, and policy

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Authors: Werner Grommes

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The institute of occupational safety and health works in a working group for building a normative standard for illuminated warning vests and did a lot of experiments and measurements as basic work (cooperation). Intelligent car headlamps are able to suppress conventional warning vests with retro-reflective stripes as a disturbing light. Illuminated warning vests are therefore required for occupational safety. However, they must not pose any danger to the wearer or other persons. Here, the risks of the batteries (lithium types), the maximum brightness (glare) and possible interference radiation from the electronics on the implant carrier must be taken into account. The all-around visibility, as well as the required range, play an important role here. For the study, many luminance measurements of already commercially available LEDs and electroluminescent warning vests, as well as their electromagnetic interference fields and aspects of electrical safety, were measured. The results of this study showed that LED lighting is all far too bright and causes strong glare. The integrated controls with pulse modulation and switching regulators cause electromagnetic interference fields. Rechargeable lithium batteries can explode depending on the temperature range. Electroluminescence brings even more hazards. A test method was developed for the evaluation of visibility at distances of 50, 100, and 150 m, including the interview of test persons. A measuring method was developed for the detection of glare effects at close range with the assignment of the maximum permissible luminance. The electromagnetic interference fields were tested in the time and frequency ranges. A risk and hazard analysis were prepared for the use of lithium batteries. The range of values for luminance and risk analysis for lithium batteries were discussed in the standards working group. These will be integrated into the standard. This paper gives a brief overview of the topics of illuminated warning vests, which takes into account the risks and hazards for the vest wearer or others

Keywords: illuminated warning vest, optical tests and measurements, risks, hazards, optical glare effects, LED, E-light, electric luminescent

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Authors: Elisabetta Ceretti, Silvia Bonizzoni, Alberto Bonetti, Milena Villarini, Marco Verani, Maria Antonella De Donno, Sara Bonetta, Umberto Gelatti

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Introduction: Air pollution is a global problem. In 2013, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified air pollution and particulate matter as carcinogenic to human. The study of the health effects of air pollution in children is very important because they are a high-risk group in terms of the health effects of air pollution and early exposure during childhood can increase the risk of developing chronic diseases in adulthood. The MAPEC_LIFE (Monitoring Air Pollution Effects on Children for supporting public health policy) is a project founded by EU Life+ Programme which intends to evaluate the associations between air pollution and early biological effects in children and to propose a model for estimating the global risk of early biological effects due to air pollutants and other factors in children. Methods: The study was carried out on 6-8-year-old children living in five Italian towns in two different seasons. Two biomarkers of early biological effects, primary DNA damage detected with the comet assay and frequency of micronuclei, were investigated in buccal cells of children. Details of children diseases, socio-economic status, exposures to other pollutants and life-style were collected using a questionnaire administered to children’s parents. Child exposure to urban air pollution was assessed by analysing PM0.5 samples collected in the school areas for PAHs and nitro-PAHs concentration, lung toxicity and in vitro genotoxicity on bacterial and human cells. Data on the chemical features of the urban air during the study period were obtained from the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection. The project created also the opportunity to approach the issue of air pollution with the children, trying to raise their awareness on air quality, its health effects and some healthy behaviors by means of an educational intervention in the schools. Results: 1315 children were recruited for the study and participate in the first sampling campaign in the five towns. The second campaign, on the same children, is still ongoing. The preliminary results of the tests on buccal mucosa cells of children will be presented during the conference as well as the preliminary data about the chemical composition and the toxicity and genotoxicity features of PM0.5 samples. The educational package was tested on 250 children of the primary school and showed to be very useful, improving children knowledge about air pollution and its effects and stimulating their interest. Conclusions: The associations between levels of air pollutants, air mutagenicity and biomarkers of early effects will be investigated. A tentative model to calculate the global absolute risk of having early biological effects for air pollution and other variables together will be proposed and may be useful to support policy-making and community interventions to protect children from possible health effects of air pollutants.

Keywords: air pollution exposure, biomarkers of early effects, children, public health policy

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Authors: Sarah Misplon, Wim Marneffe, Johan Helling, Jana Missiaen, Inge Decock, Dries Myny, Steve Lervant, Koen Vaneygen

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The aim of this study was twofold. First, we investigated whether the current funding from the national health insurance (NHI) of home hospitalization (HH) for oncological patients is sufficient in Belgium. Second, we compared patient’s experiences and preferences of HH to the standard of care (SOC). Two HH models were examined in three Belgian hospitals and three home nursing organizations. In a first HH model, the blood draw and monitoring prior to intravenous therapy were performed by a trained home nurse at the patient’s home the day before the visit to the day hospital. In a second HH model, the administration of two subcutaneous treatments was partly provided at home instead of in the hospital. Therefore, we conducted (1) a bottom-up micro-costing study to compare the costs and revenues for the providers (hospitals and home care organizations), and (2) a cross-sectional survey to compare patient’s experiences and preferences of the SOC group and the HH group. Our results show that HH patients prefer HH and none of them wanted to return to SOC, although the satisfaction of patients was not significantly different between the two categories. At the same time, we find that costs associated to HH are higher overall. Comparing revenues with costs, we conclude that the current funding from NHI of HH for oncological patients is insufficient.

Keywords: cost analysis, health insurance, preference, home hospitalization

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Authors: Md. Shafiullah

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This study delves into the evolving landscape of urban childcare in Bangladesh, focusing on the experiences and challenges faced by parents in Dhaka city. This paper argues that the traditional childcare arrangement of city families is inadequate to meet the development needs of children. The study aims to explore the childcare challenges faced by urban parents as they transition from traditional family-based childcare networks to alternative caregiving arrangements amidst urbanization, economic shifts, and social transformations. Utilizing a mixed-method research approach, combining quantitative surveys (n = 200) and four qualitative interviews, the research examines the parental viewpoints on childcare practices and the role of societal norms and values. The study finds childcare crises in both the family and daycare settings. In family care, caregiving suffers from the less availability of grandparents, a lack of skills of caregivers, and a lack of child interaction. As for the daycare, it is affected by the absence of appropriate policies, a lack of quality, health and safety concerns, affordability issues, and cultural concerns. Additionally, the study highlights inadequacies in childcare policies and regulatory frameworks, calling for comprehensive reforms to address the childcare vacuum in urban areas. By shifting the focus from developed to developing countries, this study contributes to the literature and suggests policy implications for Bangladesh and beyond.

Keywords: childcare, child development, childcare policy, daycare, Bangladesh

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Authors: Ivanova B. Natalia, Djambova Т. Svetlana, Hristev S. Ivailo

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The acoustic properties of recycled felt panels have been investigated using various methods. Experimentally, the sound insulation of the panels has been evaluated for frequencies in the range of 600 Hz to 4000 Hz, utilizing a small-sized acoustic chamber. Additionally, the sound absorption coefficient for the frequency range of 63 Hz to 4000 Hz was measured according to the EN ISO 354 standard in a laboratory reverberation room. This research was deemed necessary after conducting reverberation time measurements of a university classroom following the EN ISO 3382-2 standard. The measurements indicated values of 2.86 s at 500 Hz, 3.23 s at 1000 Hz, and 2.53 s at 2000 Hz, which significantly exceeded the requirements set by the national regulatory framework (0.6s) for such premises. For this reason, recycled felt panels have been investigated in the laboratory, showing very good acoustic properties at high frequencies. To enhance performance in the low frequencies, the influence of the distance of the panel spacing was examined. Furthermore, the sound insulation of the panels was studied to expand the possibilities of their application, both for the acoustic treatment of educational and multifunctional halls and for sound insulation purposes (e.g., a suspended ceiling with an air gap passing from room to room). As a conclusion, a theoretical acoustic design of the classroom has been carried out with suggestions for improvements to achieve the necessary acoustic and aesthetic parameters for such rooms.

Keywords: acoustic panels, recycled felt, sound absorption, sound insulation, classroom acoustics

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Authors: Stig H. Jørgensen, Trond Nordfjærn, Øyvind Teige Hedenstrøm, Torbjørn Rundmo

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The aim of the paper is to estimate and forecast road traffic injuries in the coming 10-15 years given new targets in urban transport policy and shifts of mode of transport, including injury cross-effects of mode changes. The paper discusses possibilities and limitations in measuring and quantifying possible injury reductions. Injury data (killed and seriously injured road users) from six urban areas in Norway from 1998-2012 (N= 4709 casualties) form the basis for estimates of changing injury patterns. For the coming period calculation of number of injuries and injury rates by type of road user (categories of motorized versus non-motorized) by sex, age and type of road are made. A prognosticated population increase (25 %) in total population within 2025 in the six urban areas will curb the proceeded fall in injury figures. However, policy strategies and measures geared towards a stronger modal shift from use of private vehicles to safer public transport (bus, train) will modify this effect. On the other side will door to door transport (pedestrians on their way to/from public transport nodes) imply a higher exposure for pedestrians (bikers) converting from private vehicle use (including fall accidents not registered as traffic accidents). The overall effect is the sum of these modal shifts in the increasing urban population and in addition diminishing return to the majority of road safety countermeasures has also to be taken into account. The paper demonstrates how uncertainties in the various estimates (prediction factors) on increasing injuries as well as decreasing injury figures may partly offset each other. The paper discusses road safety policy and welfare consequences of transport mode shift, including reduced use of private vehicles, and further environmental impacts. In this regard, safety and environmental issues will as a rule concur. However pursuing environmental goals (e.g. improved air quality, reduced co2 emissions) encouraging more biking may generate more biking injuries. The study was given financial grants from the Norwegian Research Council’s Transport Safety Program.

Keywords: road injuries, forecasting, reduced private care use, urban, Norway

Procedia PDF Downloads 237

Authors: Bernard Kumi-Boateng, Joseph Edem Vigbedor, Irene Asante Sakyi

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Globally, especially in developing nations, governments persistently prioritize poverty alleviation and eradication as key objectives. Numerous international organizations also acknowledge the urgent need to reduce poverty levels over the next decade, making poverty reduction a critical global issue. During the past three decades, the government of Ghana has developed and subsequently implemented several development policy frameworks as part of its poverty reduction programmes. In order to reduce and alleviate poverty, one of the parameters that play a key role is statistics on poverty. However, in many developing countries such as Ghana such statistics do not exist thus it makes poverty alleviation intervention a bit scattered and untargeted. Due to this, there exist a major problem presently; that is reaching the poor to address their specific needs. In response to this challenge, there is therefore the need to produce poverty map to assist policy makers. This research therefore sought to use GIS to map out poverty endemic areas by displaying the spatial dimensions of poverty and identify the poverty pockets across the country adopting a Multidimensional (Non-Monetary) Poverty Index approach. Ten indicators which were categories under three dimensions were used. Results of the study showed that across Ghana, a considerable percentage of household are deprived in several non-monetary poverty indicators. Analysis of these indicators revealed wide disparities by region. Generally, wide disparities exist between the proportion of households deprived in the three northern regions and their counterparts in southern Ghana.

Keywords: GIS, multidimensional poverty index, indicator, dimension, poverty

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Authors: Miroslava Markovic, Snezana Rajkovic, Ljubinko Rakonjac, Aleksandar Lucic

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Oak powdery mildew is a serious problem on seedlings in nurseries as well as on naturally and artificially introduced progeny. The experiments were set on oak seedlings in two nurseries located in Central Serbia, where control of oak powdery mildew Microsphaera alphitoides Griff. et Maubl. had been conducted through alternative protection measures by means of various dosages of AQ-10 biofungicide, with and without added polymer (which has so far never been used in this country for control of oak powdery mildew). Simultaneous testing was conducted on the efficiency of a chemical sulphur-based preparation (used in this area for many years as a measure of suppression of powdery mildews, without the possibility of developing resistance of the pathogen to the active matter). To date, the Republic of Serbia has registered no fungicides for suppression of pathogens in the forest ecosystems. In order to introduce proper use of new disease-fighting agents into a country, certain relevant principles, requirements and criteria prescribed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) must be observed, primarily with respect to measures of assessment and mitigation of risks, the list of dangerous and highly dangerous pesticides with the possibility of alternative protection. One of the main goals of the research was adjustment of the protective measures to the FSC policy through selection of eco-toxicologically favourable fungicides, given the fact that only preparations named on the list of permitted active matters are approved for use in certified forests. The results of the research have demonstrated that AQ-10 biofungicide can be used as a part of integrated disease management programmes as an alternative, through application of several treatments during vegetation and combination with other active matters registered for these purposes, so as to curtail the use of standard fungicides for control of powdery mildews on oak seedlings in nurseries. The best results in suppression of oak powdery mildew were attained through use of AQ-10 biofungicide (dose 50 or 70g/ha) with added polymer Nu Film-17 (dose 1.0 or 1.5 l/ha). If the treatment is applied at the appropriate time, even fewer number of treatments and smaller doses will be just as efficient.

Keywords: oak powdery mildew, biofungicides, polymers, Microsphaera alphitoides

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Authors: Alicja Kot-Niewiadomska

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Securing sustainable access to raw materials is vital for the growth of the European economy and for the goals laid down in Strategy Europe 2020. One of the most important sources of mineral raw materials are primary deposits. The efficient management of them, including extraction, will ensure competitiveness of the European economy. A critical element of this approach is mineral deposits safeguarding and the most important tool - spatial planning. The safeguarding of deposits should be understood as safeguarding of land access, and safeguarding of area against development, which may (potential) prevent the use of the deposit and the necessary mining activities. Many European Union countries successfully integrated their mineral policy and spatial policy, which has ensured the proper place of mineral deposits in their spatial planning systems. These, in turn, are widely recognized as the most important mineral deposit safeguarding tool, the essence of which is to ensure long-term access to its resources. The examples of Austria, Portugal, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, discussed in the paper, are often mentioned as examples of good practices in this area. Although none of these countries managed to avoid cases of social and environmental conflicts related to mining activities, the solutions they implement certainly deserve special attention. And for many countries, including Poland, they can be a potential source of solutions aimed at improving the protection of mineral deposits.

Keywords: mineral deposits, land use planning, mineral deposit safeguarding, European practices

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Authors: N. Nalini, Bhanu Prakash Gopularam

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The term data security refers to the degree of resistance or protection given to information from unintended or unauthorized access. The core principles of information security are the confidentiality, integrity and availability, also referred as CIA triad. Cloud computing services are classified as SaaS, IaaS and PaaS services. With cloud adoption the confidential enterprise data are moved from organization premises to untrusted public network and due to this the attack surface has increased manifold. Several cloud computing platforms like OpenStack, Eucalyptus, Amazon EC2 offer users to build and configure public, hybrid and private clouds. While the traditional encryption based on PKI infrastructure still works in cloud scenario, the management of public-private keys and trust certificates is difficult. The Identity based Public Key Cryptography (also referred as ID-PKC) overcomes this problem by using publicly identifiable information for generating the keys and works well with decentralized systems. The users can exchange information securely without having to manage any trust information. Another advantage is that access control (role based access control policy) information can be embedded into data unlike in PKI where it is handled by separate component or system. In OpenStack cloud platform the keystone service acts as identity service for authentication and authorization and has support for public key infrastructure for auto services. In this paper, we explain OpenStack security architecture and evaluate the PKI infrastructure piece for data confidentiality. We provide method to integrate ID-PKC schemes for securing data while in transit and stored and explain the key measures for safe guarding data against security attacks. The proposed approach uses JPBC crypto library for key-pair generation based on IEEE P1636.3 standard and secure communication to other cloud services.

Keywords: data confidentiality, identity based cryptography, secure communication, open stack key stone, token scoping

Procedia PDF Downloads 384