Search results for: coastal environments

Authors: Aziza S. Al Adhoobi, Amna Al Ruheili, Saud M. Al Jufaili

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This study investigates the potential effects of climate change on the habitat suitability of two Aphaniops species (Teleostei: Aphaniidae) found in the Oman Mountains and the Southwestern Arabian Coast. Aphaniops kruppi, an endemic species, is found in various water bodies such as wadis, springs, aflaj, spring-fed streams, and some coastal backwaters. Aphaniops stoliczkanus, on the other hand, inhabits brackish and freshwater habitats, particularly in the lower parts of wadies and aflaj, and exhibits euryhaline characteristics. Using Maximum Entropy Modeling (MaxEnt) in conjunction with ArcGIS (10.8.2) and CHELSA bioclimatic variables, topographic indices, and other pertinent environmental factors, the study modeled the potential impacts of climate change based on three Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs 2.6, 7.0, 8.5) for the periods 2011-2040, 2041-2070, and 2071-2100. The model demonstrated exceptional predictive accuracy, achieving AUC values of 0.992 for A. kruppi and 0.983 for A. stoliczkanus. For A. kruppi, the most influential variables were the mean monthly climate moisture index (Cmi_m), the mean diurnal range (Bio2), and the sediment transport index (STI), accounting for 39.9%, 18.3%, and 8.4%, respectively. As for A. stoliczkanus, the key variables were the sediment transport index (STI), stream power index (SPI), and precipitation of the coldest quarter (Bio19), contributing 31%, 20.2%, and 13.3%, respectively. A. kruppi showed an increase in habitat suitability, especially in low and medium suitability areas. By 2071-2100, high suitability areas increased slightly by 0.05% under RCP 2.6, but declined by -0.02% and -0.04% under RCP 7.0 and 8.5, respectively. A. stoliczkanus exhibited a broader range of responses. Under RCP 2.6, all suitability categories increased by 2071-2100, with high suitability areas increasing by 0.01%. However, low and medium suitability areas showed mixed trends under RCP 7.0 and 8.5, with declines of -0.17% and -0.16%, respectively. The study highlights that climatic and topographical factors significantly influence the habitat suitability of Aphaniops species in Oman. Therefore, species-specific conservation strategies are crucial to address the impacts of climate change.

Keywords: Aphaniops kruppi, Aphaniops stoliczkanus, Climate change, Habitat suitability, MaxEnt

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Authors: Siti Rahmawati

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Indonesia has had long period of monetary economic crisis and it is followed by an upward trend in the price of fuel oil. This situation impacts all aspects of tuna fishermen community. For instance, the basic needs of fishing communities increase and the lower purchasing power then lead to economic and social instability as well as the health of fishermen household. To understand this AHP method is applied to acknowledge the model of tuna fisheries management priorities and cold chain marketing channel and the utilization levels that impact on human health. The study is designed as a development research with the number of 180 respondents. The data were analyzed by Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. The development of tuna fishery business can improve productivity of production with economic empowerment activities for coastal communities, improving the competitiveness of products, developing fish processing centers and provide internal capital for the development of optimal fishery business. From economic aspects, fishery business is more attracting because the benefit cost ratio of 2.86. This means that for 10 years, the economic life of this project can work well as B/C> 1 and therefore the rate of investment is economically viable. From the health aspects, tuna can reduce the risk of dying from heart disease by 50%, because tuna contain selenium in the human body. The consumption of 100 g of tuna meet 52.9% of the selenium in the body and activating the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidaxe which can protect the body from free radicals and stimulate various cancers. The results of the analytic hierarchy process that the quality of tuna products is the top priority for export quality as well as quality control in order to compete in the global market. The implementation of the policy can increase the income of fishermen and reduce the poverty of fishermen households and have impact on the human health whose has high risk of disease.

Keywords: management of tuna, social, economic, health

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Authors: Minakshi Jain, I. P. Singh

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Due to the era of outstanding technology and modern lifestyle, human beings are debasing their physical, psychological, and mental well-being. The effect of this leads to a trail of chronic diseases like anxiety, loneliness, and depression, especially in children and young adults. This is visible in individuals who suffer from clinical depression, which leads to impaired mood and distortion of cognition, particularly in children. The Members of the WHO European Region made a declaration to provisioning each child with access to healthy and safe environments by 2020, and the decision was taken at the Conference on Environment and Health in 2010 as an initiative to improve access to green spaces in cities which provides universal access for quality spaces for both social interaction and human well-being. In line with this, the paper aims to establish a prospective study on linking green spaces and CBT (Cognitive behavior therapy) in order to treat disorders with reference to children and young adults. A questionnaire was adopted to explore the possibility of green spaces as additive measures for the existing modes of therapy. The results adapted from the questionnaire show that certain species of vegetation have a significant effect in enhancing effective mental well-being.

Keywords: CBT, therapeutic gardens UCLA loneliness scale, anxiety, depression, green spaces, biophilia, environmental psychology

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Authors: Ziraguen O. Williams, Shield B. Lin, Fouad N. Matari, Leslie J. Quiocho

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Simulation for seated row exercise was a continued task to assist NASA in analyzing a one-dimensional vibration isolation and stabilization system for astronaut’s exercise platform. Feedback delay and signal noise were added to the model as previously done in simulation for squat exercise. Simulation runs for this study were conducted in two software simulation tools, Trick and MBDyn, software simulation environments developed at the NASA Johnson Space Center. The exciter force in the simulation was calculated from the motion capture of an exerciser during a seated row exercise. The simulation runs include passive control, active control using a Proportional, Integral, Derivative (PID) controller, and active control using a Piecewise Linear Integral Derivative (PWLID) controller. Output parameters include displacements of the exercise platform, the exerciser, and the counterweight; transmitted force to the wall of spacecraft; and actuator force to the platform. The simulation results showed excellent force reduction in the actively controlled system compared to the passive controlled system, which showed less force reduction.

Keywords: control, counterweight, isolation, vibration.

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Authors: Thomas Ruppert, Shana Jones, J. Scott Pippin

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State and federal government agencies within the United States have recently invested substantial resources into studies of future flood risk conditions associated with climate change and sea-level rise. A review of numerous case studies has uncovered several key themes that speak to an overall incoherence within current flood risk assessment procedures in the U.S. context. First, there are substantial local differences in the quality of available information about basic infrastructure, particularly with regard to local stormwater features and essential facilities that are fundamental components of effective flood hazard planning and mitigation. Second, there can be substantial mismatch between regulatory Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) as produced by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and other 'current condition' flood assessment approaches. This is of particular concern in areas where FIRMs already seem to underestimate extant flood risk, which can only be expected to become a greater concern if future FIRMs do not appropriately account for changing climate conditions. Moreover, while there are incentives within the NFIP’s Community Rating System (CRS) to develop enhanced assessments that include future flood risk projections from climate change, the incentive structures seem to have counterintuitive implications that would tend to promote moral hazard. In particular, a technical finding of higher future risk seems to make it easier for a community to qualify for flood insurance savings, with much of these prospective savings applied to individual properties that have the most physical risk of flooding. However, there is at least some case study evidence to indicate that recognition of these issues is prompting broader discussion about the need to move beyond FIRMs as a standalone local flood planning standard. The paper concludes with approaches for developing climate adaptation and flood resilience strategies in the U.S. that move away from the social welfare model being applied through NFIP and toward more of an informed risk approach that transfers much of the investment responsibility over to individual private property owners.

Keywords: climate change adaptation, flood risk, moral hazard, sea-level rise

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Authors: Khouloud Safa Azoud, Süleyman Baştürk

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In the pursuit of cleaner and more sustainable urban environments, advanced technologies play a critical role in evolving sanitation systems. This paper presents two distinct advancements in automated cleaning machines designed to improve urban sanitation. The first advancement is a semi-automatic road surface cleaning machine that integrates human labor with solar energy to enhance environmental sustainability and adaptability, especially in regions with limited access to electricity. By reducing carbon emissions and increasing operational efficiency, this approach offers significant potential for urban sanitation enhancement. The second advancement is a multifunctional semi-automatic street cleaning machine equipped with a camera, Arduino programming, and GPS for an autonomous operation aimed at addressing cost barriers in developing countries. Prioritizing low energy consumption and cost-effectiveness, this machine provides versatile cleaning solutions adaptable to various environmental conditions. By integrating solar energy with autonomous operating systems and careful design, these developments represent substantial progress in sustainable urban sanitation, particularly in developing regions.

Keywords: automated cleaning machines, solar energy integration, operational efficiency, urban sanitation systems

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Authors: Samuel Nii Tackie, Oyebade K. Oyedotun, Ebenezer O. Olaniyi, Adnan Khashman

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Artificial neural networks have been used in different fields of artificial intelligence, and more specifically in machine learning. Although, other machine learning options are feasible in most situations, but the ease with which neural networks lend themselves to different problems which include pattern recognition, image compression, classification, computer vision, regression etc. has earned it a remarkable place in the machine learning field. This research exploits neural networks as a data mining tool in predicting the number of times a student repeats a course, considering some attributes relating to the course itself, the teacher, and the particular student. Neural networks were used in this work to map the relationship between some attributes related to students’ course assessment and the number of times a student will possibly repeat a course before he passes. It is the hope that the possibility to predict students’ performance from such complex relationships can help facilitate the fine-tuning of academic systems and policies implemented in learning environments. To validate the power of neural networks in data mining, Turkish students’ performance database has been used; feedforward and radial basis function networks were trained for this task; and the performances obtained from these networks evaluated in consideration of achieved recognition rates and training time.

Keywords: artificial neural network, data mining, classification, students’ evaluation

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Authors: Zainab Yahaya Suleiman

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Physical fitness, as one of the most important keys to a healthy wellbeing, is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity. As a result, the fitness world is expanding every day. It is believed that a fitness centre is a place of healing and also the natural environment is vital to speedy recovery. The aim of this paper is to propose and designs a suitable location for a fitness centre in Batagarawa metropolis. Batagarawa city is enriched with four tertiary institutions with diverse commerce and culture but lacks the facility of a well-equipped fitness centre. The proposed fitness centre intends to be an organically sound centre that will make use of principles of organic architecture to create a new pleasant environment between man and his environments. Organic architecture is the science of designing a building within pleasant natural resources and features surrounding the environment. It is regarded as visual poetry and reinterpretation of nature’s principles; as well as embodies a settlement of person, place, and materials. Using organic architecture, the design was interlaced with the dynamic, organic and monumental features surrounding the environment. The city has inadequate/no facility that is considered organic where one can keep fit in a friendly, conducive and adequate location. Thus, the need for establishing a fitness centre to cater for this need cannot be over-emphasised. Conclusively, a fitness centre will be an added advantage to this fast growing centre of learning.

Keywords: organic architecture, fitness center, environment, natural resources, natural features, building design

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Authors: S. N. Al-Bahry, Y. M. Al-Wahaibi, S. J. Joshi, E. A. Elshafie, A. S. Al-Bimani

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Oman is one of the oil producing countries in the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf region. About 30-40 % of oil produced from the Gulf is transported globally along the seacoast of Oman. Oil pollution from normal tanker operations, ballast water, illegal discharges and accidental spills are always serious threats to terrestrial and marine habitats. Due to Oman’s geographical location at arid region where the temperature ranges between high 40s and low 50s Celsius in summers with low annual rainfall, the main source of fresh water is desalinated sea and brackish water. Oil pollution, therefore, pose a major threat to drinking water. Biosurfactants are secondary metabolites produced by microorganisms in hydrophobic environments to release nutrients from solid surfaces, such as oil. In this study, indigenous oil degrading thermophilic spore forming bacteria were isolated from oil fields contaminated soil. The isolates were identified using MALDI-TOF biotyper and 16s RNA. Their growth conditions were optimized for the production of biosurfactant. Surface tension, interfacial tensions and microbial oil biodegradation capabilities were tested. Some thermophilic bacteria degraded either completely or partially heavy crude oil (API 10-15) within 48h suggesting their high potential in oil spill bioremediation and avoiding the commonly used physical and chemical methods which usually lead to other environmental pollution.

Keywords: bacteria, bioremediation, biosurfactant, crude-oil-pollution

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Authors: Achinthya Bandara

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The Portuguese were the first known European Nation to colonize Ceylon during the early 16th century. When the Portuguese set sail in the late 15th century towards the East and West, they first landed in Pondicherry (Pondicherry), an eastern coastal location of early India and established their trade in the Indian Oceanic regions. Sri Lanka (Ceylon until 1972) made its first contact with the Portuguese just a few years after they anchored in India, the Luso-Sri Lankan contact was initiated and became prominent across the time, even during the later colonial rules, i.e., Dutch and British. Such connections created a Luso-Asian hybrid culture in Ceylon that shared both Sri Lankan and European identities. Portuguese Creole communities were prominent among them as an ethnic group with Portuguese descent interwoven with local traditions and customs, yet outcast by the mainstream Portuguese colonials. Hugh Nevil, a British Civil Servant who served Ceylon in the early 1800s, had collected a considerable amount of such Luso-Asian Literature belonging to Sri Lankan Portuguese creole communities, including 180 Portuguese creole verses sung by the creole communities in Eastern Sri Lanka. Though the collection was studied to uncover literature traits, few or no known studies focused on the anti-colonial subaltern discourse appearing in the shades of this work. It is evident that these verses contain local anti-colonial ideologies that create a platform to place them as elements of Luso-Asian subaltern literature. This research explores how the language and content of these verses contradict the mainstream colonial ideologies we intend to position within a regional anti-colonial subaltern context. As this is part of a long-term research project that translates the whole collection into Sinhalese and Tamil, this study will show evidence from early 1800s verses to suggest how Luso-Asian communities create a unique subaltern linguistic and literary discourse.

Keywords: Luso Asian creoles, Luso Asian subalterns, anti-colonial ideologies, Sri Lanka Portuguese creole

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Authors: O. Phewnil, S. Khowhit, W. Inkapatanakul, A. Boutson, K. Chunkao, O. Chueawong, T. Pattamapitoon, N. Chanwong, C. Nimpee

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The King’s Royally Initiated Laem Phak Bia Environmental Research and Development Project (“the Royal LERD Project”) is located in Laem Phak Bia Sub-District, Ban Laem District, Phetchaburi Province, Thailand. Phetchaburi municipal wastewater was treated with a simple technology by using aquatic plants, constructed wetland, oxidation ponds through a nature-by-nature process. The effluent from the Royal LERD Project was discharged into Laem Phak Bia muddy beach. The soil sediment samples were collected from two zones (200 and 600 meters from the coast of the beach), and tested for cation-exchange capacity (CEC), pH and organic matter and soil particles content. The marine water samples were also collected from the beach in wet and dry seasons and analyzed for its quality and compositions, including but not limited to, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), dissolved oxygen (DO), suspended solids (SS), nutrients, heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Hg, and Pb), and phytoplankton at high and low tides. The soil texture was sandy loam with high concentration of calcium and magnesium which showed a property of base (pH 8). The marine water was qualified with the standard limits of coastal water quality. A dominant species was Coscinodiscus sp. It was found approximately 70.46% of total phytoplankton species in Meretrix casta gastrointestinal tract. The concentration of the heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Ni and Pb) in the tissues and water content of two species of hard clams indicated that heavy metals in Meretrix casta were higher than those in Meretrix meretrix. However, the heavy metals in both species were under the standard limits and safe for consumption. It can be concluded that nutrients in effluent from the wastewater treatment systems play important role in promoting the growth of phytoplankton and generating abundance of hard clams on muddy beach.

Keywords: wastewater, phytoplankton, hard clam (Meretrix spp.), muddy beach

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Authors: Y. K. Leong, J. C. W. Lan, H. S. Loh, P. L. Show

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Being biodegradable, non-toxic, renewable and have similar or better properties as commercial plastics, polyhydroxy alkanoates (PHAs) can be a potential game changer in the polymer industry. PHAs are the biodegradable polymer produced by bacteria, which are in interest as a sustainable alternative to petrochemical-derived plastics; however, its commercial value has significantly limited by high production and recovery cost of PHA. Aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) offers different chemical and physical environments, which contains about 80-90% water delivers an excellent environment for partitioning of cells, cell organelles and biologically active substances. Extractive bioconversion via ATPS allows the integration of PHA upstream fermentation and downstream purification process, which reduces production steps and time, thus lead to cost reduction. The ability of Ralstonia eutropha to grow under different ATPS conditions was investigated for its potential to be used in a bioconversion system. Changes in tie-line length (TLL) and a volume ratio (Vr) were shown to have an effect on PHA partition coefficient. High PHA recovery yield of 65% with a relatively high purity of 73% was obtained in PEG 6000/Sodium sulphate system with 42.6 wt/wt % TLL and 1.25 Vr. Extractive bioconversion via ATPS is an attractive approach for the combination of PHA production and recovery process.

Keywords: aqueous two-phase system, extractive bioconversion, polyhydroxy alkanoates, purification

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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: Xiao-lei Wang

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The Novel Concept Combination (NCC) refers to the unique ability of multilingual children to creatively merge and integrate different linguistic and cultural elements to form innovative and original concepts. Children raised with more than one language often exhibit this skill in their daily communication, such as creating innovative metaphors that enrich their communication, showcasing their creativity in conveying the essence of their messages. This paper explores NCC abilities in multilingual children by focusing on two male trilingual siblings exposed to Chinese, French, and English from birth. The siblings were observed for 19 years in their daily context. Seventy-six hours of video-recorded data were used for this study (38 hours for each participant). A coding scheme developed by Wang et al. was employed to code the recorded data. The results suggest that these multilingual siblings proportionally increased their NCC skills over the years, emerging at age 3 and peaking at age 15. The characteristic of their NCC lies in their capacity to not merely replicate linguistic elements of different languages but to recreate, reshape, and reconstruct novel ideas in communication, enriching their interactions. The paper also addresses the educational implications for educators and parents, emphasizing the importance of valuing these novel ideas in everyday environments to encourage NCC development. This, in turn, contributes to cognitive and social development.

Keywords: multilingual children, novel concept combination, multilingual creativity, linguistic richness

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Authors: Zahra Khodaee

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Background and Objective: The attractive potential for tourism in the southern islands of Iran, Kish, and Qeshm and recently Hendurabi, are becoming more and more popular and object of increased attention from the investors. The Iranian coral reef islands, with the exception of Kish and Qeshm, have not undergone sufficient development. The southern islands of Iran have faced two problems with climate change and the desire for the presence of tourists. The lack of proper planning, inefficient management, and lack of adequate knowledge of ecosystems of offshore regions have severely damaged the world natural heritage. This study was conducted to consider the correlation of tourism, development, and ecosystem because there is a need for further addressing the ecotourism in coral islands. Method: Through qualitative research, this paper was used of library studies and field studies and surveying to study the physical (objective-subjective) physical factors of ecotourism development in Honduran Island. Using SPSS software and descriptive-analytical method was shown the results. The survey was conducted with the participation of 150 tourists on Kish islands, who were chosen at random and who expressed their desire to travel to Hendurabi Island. Information was gathered using SPSS software and unique statistical T-test. The questionnaire was put together using AMOS software to ensure that the questions asked were sufficiently relevant. Findings: The results of this study presented that physical factors affecting the development of ecotourism in two categories are objective and subjective factors because IFI factor = 0.911 and CFI Factor = 0.907 into the target community. Discussion and conclusion: The results were satisfactory in that they showed that eco-tourists attached importance to see views, quiet, secluded areas, tranquility security, quality of the area being visited, easy access to services these were the top criteria for those visiting the area while they adhere to environmental compliance. Developing Management of these regions should maintain appropriate utilization along with sustainable and ecological responsibility.

Keywords: ecotourism, coral reef island, development management, Hendurabi Island

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Authors: Roxana Maria Angelescu, Doina Răducanu, Mariana Lucia Angelescu, Ion Cincă, Vasile Dănuţ Cojocaru, Cosmin Cotruț, Şerban Nicolae

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Titanium alloys are often used for biomedical applications as hard tissue replacements, such as: orthopedic implants, spinal fixation devices and dental implants. Their advantages are well known and demonstrated: excellent mechanical properties, biocompatibility and good corrosion resistance, but it is also known that the main disadvantage of the metallic materials is their tendency of corrosion in in-vivo environments. In 1987, titanium was found to be the only metallic biomaterial that osseointegrates. The aim of this study was to investigate the microstructure and the corrosion behavior of the Ti-20Nb-5Ta wt% alloy. In this case Nb stabilizes the β-Ti structure and Ta is a highly passivating metal. The as studied alloy was melt under argon protective atmosphere in a levitation induction melting furnace, type FIVE CELES - MP25, with a nominal power of 25 kW and a melting capacity of 30 cm3. The microstructure of the as studied alloy was analyzed by using the electronic microscope Tescan Vega II-XMU. The phase structure of the as studied alloy was determined, as well as the crystalline grain size (100-200µ). To determine the corrosion behavior of the as studied alloy, the technique used was the linear polarization, with the PARSTAT 4000 potentiostat, produced by Princeton Applied Research; potentiodynamic curves were obtained with the VeraStudio v.2.4.2 software.

Keywords: corrosion resistance, microstructure, titanium alloys

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Authors: Sarah M. Oteifa, Lobna A. Sherif, Yasser M. Mostafa

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Visually impaired people, in their daily lives, face struggles and spatial barriers because the built environment is often designed with an extreme focus on the visual element, causing what is called architectural visual bias or ocularcentrism. The aim of the study is to holistically understand the world of the visually impaired as an attempt to extract the qualities of space that accommodate their needs, and to show the importance of multi-sensory, holistic designs for the blind. Within the framework of existential phenomenology, common themes are reached through "intersubjectivity": experience descriptions by blind people and blind architects, observation of how blind children learn to perceive their surrounding environment, and a personal lived blind-folded experience are analyzed. The extracted themes show how visually impaired people filter out and prioritize tactile (active, passive and dynamic touch), acoustic and olfactory spatial qualities respectively, and how this happened during the personal lived blind folded experience. The themes clarify that haptic and aural inclusive designs are essential to create environments suitable for the visually impaired to empower them towards an independent, safe and efficient life.

Keywords: architecture, architectural ocularcentrism, multi-sensory design, visually impaired

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Authors: Sarita Kumari, Ranjit Kumar Upadhyay

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This paper deals with plankton-fish dynamics where the fish population is growing logistically and nonlinearly harvested. The interaction between phytoplankton and zooplankton population is considered to be Crowley-Martin type functional response. It has been assumed that phytoplankton grows logistically and is affected by a space-dependent growth rate. Conditions for the existence of a positive equilibrium point and their stability analysis (both local and global) have been discussed for the non-spatial system. We have discussed maximum sustainable yields as well as optimal harvesting policy for maximizing the economic gain. The stability and existence of Hopf –bifurcation analysis have been discussed for the spatial system. Different conditions for turning pattern formation have been established through diffusion-driven instability analysis. Numerical simulations have been carried out for both non-spatial and spatial models. Phase plane analysis, the largest Lyapunov exponent, and bifurcation theory are used to numerically analyzed the non-spatial system. Our study shows that spatial heterogeneity, the mortality rate of phytoplankton, and constant harvesting of the fish population each play an important role in the dynamical behavior of the marine system.

Keywords: optimal harvesting, pattern formation, spatial heterogeneity, Crowley-Martin functional response

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Authors: B. Siva Kumar Reddy, B. Lakshmi

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WiMAX is a high speed broadband wireless access technology that adopted OFDM/OFDMA techniques to supply higher data rates with high spectral efficiency. However, OFDM suffers in view of high Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR) and high affect to synchronization errors. In this paper, the high PAPR problem is solved by using phase modulation to get Constant Envelop Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (CE-OFDM). The synchronization failures are brought down by employing a frequency lock loop, Poly phase clock synchronizer, Costas loop and blind equalizers such as Constant Modulus Algorithm (CMA) equalizer and Sign Kurtosis Maximization Adaptive Algorithm (SKMAA) equalizers. The WiMAX physical layer is executed on Software Defined Radio (SDR) prototype by utilizing USRP N210 as hardware and GNU Radio as software plat-forms. A SNR estimation is performed on the signal received through USRP N210. To empathize wireless propagation in specific environments, a sliding correlator wireless channel sounding system is designed by using SDR testbed.

Keywords: BER, CMA equalizer, Kurtosis equalizer, GNU Radio, OFDM/OFDMA, USRP N210

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Authors: Selma Sbit, Mohamed Bechir Dadi, Belgacem Chibani Rhaimi

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Incorporating Home eNodeB (HeNB) in cellular networks, e.g. Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A), is beneficial for extending coverage and enhancing capacity at low price especially within the non-line-of sight (NLOS) environments such as homes. HeNB or femtocell is a small low powered base station which provides radio coverage to the mobile users in an indoor environment. This deployment results in a heterogeneous network where the available spectrum becomes shared between two layers. Therefore, a problem of Inter Cell Interference (ICI) appears. This issue is the main challenge in LTE-A. To deal with this challenge, various techniques based on frequency, time and power control are proposed. This paper deals with the impact of carrier aggregation and higher order MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) schemes on the LTE-Advanced performance. Simulation results show the advantages of these schemes on the system capacity (4.10⁹ b/s/Hz when bandwidth B=100 MHz and when applying MIMO 8x8 for SINR=30 dB), maximum theoretical peak data rate (more than 4 Gbps for B=100 MHz and when MIMO 8x8 is used) and spectral efficiency (15 b/s/Hz and 30b/s/Hz when MIMO 4x4 and MIMO 8x8 are applying respectively for SINR=30 dB).

Keywords: capacity, carrier aggregation, LTE-Advanced, MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output), peak data rate, spectral efficiency

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Authors: Yee Hui Lim, Elena Gusareva, Irvan Luhung, Yulia Frank, Stephan Christoph Schuster

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Environmental pollution from microplastics (MPs) is an emerging concern worldwide. While the presence of microplastics has been well established in the marine and terrestrial environments, the prevalence of microplastics in the atmosphere is still poorly understood. Wet depositions such as rain or snow scavenge impurities from the atmosphere as it falls to the ground. These wet depositions serve as a useful tool in the removal of airborne particles that are suspended in the air. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the presence of atmospheric microplastics and fibres through the analysis of air, rainwater and snow samples. Air samples were collected with filter-based air samplers from outdoor locations in Singapore. The sampling campaigns were conducted during and after each rain event. Rainwater samples from Singapore and Siberia were collected as well. Snow samples were also collected from Siberia as part of the ongoing study. Genomic DNA was then extracted from the samples and sequenced with shotgun metagenomics approach. qPCR analysis was conducted to quantify the total bacteria and fungi in the air, rainwater and snow samples. The results compared the bioaerosol profiles of all the samples. To observe the presence of microplastics, scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used. From the preliminary results, microplastics were detected. It can be concluded that there is a significant amount of atmospheric microplastics present, and its occurrence should be investigated in greater detail.

Keywords: atmospheric microplastics, metagenomics, scanning electron microscope, wet deposition

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Authors: Joanna Bielecka-Prus

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In the view of increasing number of labour migrations associated with broadly understood economic crisis, many families experience migration separation. Currently, in the era of globalization, migration movements include an increasing number of families, more and more frequently a new type of family, a transnational family. Accordingly, the functions of the family, family practice of care, and the relationships between members of the group change especially in the case of female migration. Sociologists highlight the emotional aspects of migrants’ family lives: managing emotions, coping with guilt, loneliness and rejection. Not without significance is the fact that today's public discourse often represents migrant women in a negative light. On the one hand, consumption and expanding material resources are assessed positively, on the other hand, deficits emotional and devastation of family life in the transnational families appear. Opinions expressed by different environments: the media, the political environment, etc. do not always take into account the context of mobility and their different effects on family life. The paper will present the analysis of qualitative studies of Polish female migrants’ families left-behind (children, parents, caregivers N = 100) and their coping strategies in different situations in the event of migration separation. The main area of care deficit will be defined and it will be showed who and how help to solve the problems.

Keywords: care, children left behind, female migration, parents left behind

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Authors: Bruno Mazorra Roig

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In the realm of cost-sharing mechanisms, the vulnerability to Sybil strategies, where agents can create fake identities to manipulate outcomes, has not yet been studied. In this paper, we delve into the intricacies of different cost-sharing mechanisms proposed in the literature, highlighting its non-Sybil-resistance nature. Furthermore, we prove that under mild conditions, a Sybil-proof cost-sharing mechanism for public excludable goods is at least (n/2 + 1)−approximate. This finding reveals an exponential increase in the worst-case social cost in environments where agents are restricted from using Sybil strategies. We introduce the concept of Sybil Welfare Invariant mechanisms, where a mechanism maintains its worst-case welfare under Sybil strategies for every set of prior beliefs with full support even when the mechanism is not Sybil-proof. Finally, we prove that the Shapley value mechanism for public excludable goods holds this property and so deduce that the worst-case social cost of this mechanism is the nth harmonic number Hn under the equilibrium of the game with Sybil strategies, matching the worst-case social cost bound for cost-sharing mechanisms. This finding carries important implications for decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), indicating that they are capable of funding public excludable goods efficiently, even when the total number of agents is unknown.

Keywords: game theory, mechanism design, cost sharing, false-name proofness

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Authors: Mohammad Muhebbullah Ibne Hoque, Zheng Jun, Wang Guoying

Abstract:

Salinity stress is one of the most important abiotic factors contributing to crop growth and yield loss. Exploring the genetic basis is necessary to develop maize varieties with salinity tolerance. In order to discover the inherent basis for salinity tolerance traits in maize, 121 polymorphic SSR markers were used to analyze 163 F2 individuals derived from a single cross of inbred line B73 (a salt susceptible inbred line) and CZ-7 (a salt tolerant inbred line). A linkage map was constructed and the map covered 1195.2 cM of maize genome with an average distance of 9.88 cM between marker loci. Ten salt tolerance traits at seedling stage were evaluated for QTL analysis in maize seedlings. A total of 41 QTLs associated with seedling shoot and root traits were detected, with 16 and 25 QTLs under non-salinity and salinity condition, respectively. And only 4 major stable QTLs were detected in two environments. The detected QTLs were distributed on chromosomes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and chromosome 10. Phenotypic variability for the identified QTLs for all the traits was in the range from 6.27 to 21.97%. Fourteen QTLs with more than 10% contributions were observed. Our results and the markers associated with the major QTL detected in this study have the potential application for genetic improvement of salt tolerance in maize through marker-assisted selection.

Keywords: salt tolerance, seedling stage, root shoot traits, quantitative trait loci, simple sequence repeat, maize

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Authors: Asim Majeed, Rehan Bhana, Mak Sharma, Rebecca Goode, Nizam Bolia, Mike Lloyd-Williams

Abstract:

This study aims to investigate and explore the underlying causes of security concerns of customers emerged when WHSmith transformed its physical system to virtualized business model through NetSuite. NetSuite is essentially fully integrated software which helps transforming the physical system to virtualized business model. Modern organisations are moving away from traditional business models to cloud based models and consequently it is expected to have a better, secure and innovative environment for customers. The vital issue of the modern age race is the security when transforming virtualized through cloud based models and designers of interactive systems often misunderstand privacy and even often ignore it, thus causing concerns for users. The content analysis approach is being used to collect the qualitative data from 120 online bloggers including TRUSTPILOT. The results and finding provide useful new insights into the nature and form of security concerns of online users after they have used the WHSmith services offered online through their website. Findings have theoretical as well as practical implications for the successful adoption of cloud computing Business-to-Business model and similar systems.

Keywords: innovation, virtualization, cloud computing, organizational flexibility

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Authors: Zabeehullah, Fahim Arif, Yawar Abbas

Abstract:

Software Defined Network (SDN) is a next genera-tion networking model which simplifies the traditional network complexities and improve the utilization of constrained resources. Currently, most of the SDN based Internet of Things(IoT) environments use traditional network routing strategies which work on the basis of max or min metric value. However, IoT network heterogeneity, dynamic traffic flow and complexity demands intelligent and self-adaptive routing algorithms because traditional routing algorithms lack the self-adaptions, intelligence and efficient utilization of resources. To some extent, SDN, due its flexibility, and centralized control has managed the IoT complexity and heterogeneity but still Software Defined IoT (SDIoT) lacks intelligence. To address this challenge, we proposed a model called Deep Routing Strategy (DRS) which uses Deep Learning algorithm to perform routing in SDIoT intelligently and efficiently. Our model uses real-time traffic for training and learning. Results demonstrate that proposed model has achieved high accuracy and low packet loss rate during path selection. Proposed model has also outperformed benchmark routing algorithm (OSPF). Moreover, proposed model provided encouraging results during high dynamic traffic flow.

Keywords: SDN, IoT, DL, ML, DRS

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Authors: Aman Kaur, Colin Ribton, Wamadeva Balachandaran

Abstract:

Electron beam welding due to its inherent advantages is being extensively used for material processing where high precision is required. Especially in aerospace or nuclear industries, there are high quality requirements and the cost of materials and processes is very high which makes it very important to ensure the beam quality is maintained and checked prior to carrying out the welds. Although the processes in these industries are highly controlled, however, even the minor changes in the operating parameters of the electron gun can make large enough variations in the beam quality that can result in poor welding. To measure the beam quality a simple device has been designed that can be used at high powers. The device consists of two slits in x and y axis which collects a small portion of the beam current when the beam is deflected over the slits. The signals received from the device are processed in data acquisition hardware and the dedicated software developed for the device. The device has been used in controlled laboratory environments to analyse the signals and the weld quality relationships by varying the focus current. The results showed matching trends in the weld dimensions and the beam characteristics. Further experimental work is being carried out to determine the ability of the device and signal processing software to detect subtle changes in the beam quality and to relate these to the physical weld quality indicators.

Keywords: electron beam welding, beam quality, high power, weld quality indicators

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Authors: Andrey Khalov

Abstract:

The rapid proliferation of unstructured data in IT infrastructure management demands innovative approaches for extracting actionable knowledge. This paper presents a framework for ontology-based knowledge extraction that combines relational graph neural networks (R-GNN) with large language models (LLMs). The proposed method leverages the DOLCE framework as the foundational ontology, extending it with concepts from ITSMO for domain-specific applications in IT service management and outsourcing. A key component of this research is the use of transformer-based models, such as DeBERTa-v3-large, for automatic entity and relationship extraction from unstructured texts. Furthermore, the paper explores how transfer learning techniques can be applied to fine-tune large language models (LLaMA) for using to generate synthetic datasets to improve precision in BERT-based entity recognition and ontology alignment. The resulting IT Ontology (ITO) serves as a comprehensive knowledge base that integrates domain-specific insights from ITIL processes, enabling more efficient decision-making. Experimental results demonstrate significant improvements in knowledge extraction and relationship mapping, offering a cutting-edge solution for enhancing cognitive computing in IT service environments.

Keywords: ontology mapping, R-GNN, knowledge extraction, large language models, NER, knowlege graph

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Authors: Veronica Kah Jo Wong, Yoke Mui Lim, Nurul Sakina Mokhtar Azizi

Abstract:

The impact on the construction industry in Malaysia is unprecedented, as the government implemented a lockdown to restrict human movement in an effort to stop COVID-19 from spreading. Quantity surveyor (QS), as one of the key construction professionals, found that the working practices and environments for quantity surveyors today have changed due to the current pandemic. The QS profession must deal not only with changes in project issues but also with a different working environment in which most people are required to work from home and follow the standard operating procedures. Therefore, QS should be flexible, agile, and have the capability to adapt to the current working practices by strengthening their competencies. Adapting to the current and recovering environment of COVID-19 may result in the emergence of a new competence such as skill and knowledge for QS in order to maintain the quality of performance in the delivery of their professional services. Thus, this paper's objective is to investigate the changes in knowledge and skills in quantity surveyors. The data will be collected through interviews with registered professional QS to gain better insights that are specific in this industry, and the findings will be verified using the Delphi method. It is hoped that new knowledge and skill will be found from the study and will not only contribute to the betterment of the professional QS but also in guiding higher learning institutions to incorporate the new competencies into their curriculum.

Keywords: competency, COVID-19 pandemic, Malaysia, quantity surveying

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Authors: Amit Kumar, Amanpreet Chander, Ashish Sahani

Abstract:

This paper presents our recent work on real-time human activity detection based on the media pipe pipeline and machine learning algorithms. The proposed system can detect human activities, including running, jumping, squatting, bending to the left or right, and standing still. This is a robust solution for developing a yoga, dance, metaverse, and fitness application that checks for the correction of the pose without having any additional monitor like a personal trainer. MediaPipe solution offers an open-source cross-platform which utilizes a two-step detector-tracker ML pipeline for live detection of key landmarks on our body which can be used for motion data collection. The prediction of real-time poses uses a variety of machine learning techniques and different types of analysis. Without primarily relying on powerful desktop environments for inference, our method achieves real-time performance on the majority of contemporary mobile phones, desktops/laptops, Python, or even the web. Experimental results show that our method outperforms the existing method in terms of accuracy and real-time capability, achieving an accuracy of 99.92% on testing datasets.

Keywords: human activity detection, media pipe, machine learning, metaverse applications

Procedia PDF Downloads 177