Search results for: coastal and marine tourism threats

Authors: Uzoma Igboji

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Cybercrimes involves crimes committed on the internet using the computer as a tool or targeted victim. In Nigeria today, there are many varieties of crimes that are committed on the internet daily, some are directed to the computers while the others are directed to the computer users. Cyber terrorism, identity theft, internet chat room, piracy and hacking are identified as types of cyber crimes. Usually, these crimes are perpetrated in forms of like sending of fraudulent and bogus financial proposals from cyber crimes to innocent internet users. The increasing rates of cyber crimes have become strong threats to the society, organizations and country’s reputation, E-commerce growth, denial of innocent Nigerian opportunity abroad and reduced productivity. This study identified some of the causes of cybercrimes to include urbanization, high rate of unemployment, corruption, easy accessibility to internet and weak implementation of cyber crimes in Nigeria. Therefore, internet users should inculcate the habit of continuously updating their knowledge about the ever changing ICTs through this, they can be well informed about the current trends in cybercrimes and how the cybercrimes carryout their dubious activities. Thus, how they can devise means of protecting their information from cyber criminals. Internet users should be security conscious at all times .Recommendations were proposed on how these crimes can be minimized if not completely eradicated.

Keywords: cyber-crimes, cyber-terrorism, cyber-criminals, Nigeria

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Authors: Okorowo Cyril Agochi

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The Niger Delta Region of Nigeria is home to about 20 million people and 40 different ethnic groups. The region has an area of seventy thousand square kilometers (70,000 KM2) of wetlands, formed primarily by sediments deposition and makes up 7.5 percent of Nigeria's total landmass. The notable ecological zones in this region includes: coastal barrier islands; mangrove swamp forests; fresh water swamps; and lowland rainforests. This incredibly naturally-endowed ecosystem region, which contains one of the highest concentrations of biodiversity on the planet, in addition to supporting abundant flora and fauna, is threatened by the inhuman act known as gas flaring. Gas flaring is the combustion of natural gas that is associated with crude oil when it is pumped up from the ground. In petroleum-producing areas such as the Niger Delta region of Nigeria where insufficient investment was made in infrastructure to utilize natural gas, flaring is employed to dispose of this associated gas. This practice has impoverished the communities where it is practiced, with attendant environmental, economic and health challenges. This paper discusses the adverse environmental and health implication associated with the practice, the role of Government, Policy makers, Oil companies and the Local communities aimed at bring this inhuman practice to a prompt end.

Keywords: natural combustion, emission, environment, flaring, gas, health, Niger Delta

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Authors: Tomas Seidl

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'Enjoy the Czech traditions with all sences!' is the main communication headline of one of the major current marketing project representing the intangible cultural heritage of the Czech Republic to its visitors. The project CZ.1.06/4.1.00/12.08915 and CZ.1.06/4.1.00/12.08916 which is solved in the period 2013-2015 is co-financed form the EU financial sources from the Integrated Operational Programme. The primary goal of the project was to analyze the dislocation and potential of the intangible cultural heritage in the Czech Republic. Further goal was to prepare a useful regionalization. An as solution based on the outcomes the creative and media strategy was created and prepared. The processor – CzechTourism expect the following web and mobile application development and successful marketing campaign in 2015.

Keywords: traditions, intangible cultural heritage, Czech Republic, CzechTourism, digital performance

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Authors: Jiri Barta

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At the present time, awareness, education, computer simulation and information systems protection are very serious and relevant topics. The article deals with perspectives and possibilities of implementation of emergence or natural hazard threats into the system which is developed for communication among members of crisis management staffs. The Czech Hydro-Meteorological Institute with its System of Integrated Warning Service resents the largest usable base of information. National information systems are connected to foreign systems, especially to flooding emergency systems of neighboring countries, systems of European Union and international organizations where the Czech Republic is a member. Use of outputs of particular information systems and computer simulations on a single communication interface of information system for communication among members of crisis management staff and setting the site interoperability in the net will lead to time savings in decision-making processes in solving extraordinary events and crisis situations. Faster managing of an extraordinary event or a crisis situation will bring positive effects and minimize the impact of negative effects on the environment.

Keywords: computer simulation, communication, continuity, critical infrastructure, information systems, safety

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Authors: Abidi Myriam, Ben Amor Rim, Gueddari Moncef

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Understanding ecosystem response to the restoration project is essential to assess its rehabilitation. Indeed, the time elapsed after restoration is a critical indicator to shows the real of the restoration success. In this order, the south lagoon of Tunis, a shallow Mediterranean coastal area, has witnessed several pollutions. To resolve this environmental problem, a large restoration project of the lagoon was undertaken. In this restoration works, the main changes are the decrease of the residence time of the lagoon water and the nutrient concentrations. In this paper, we attempt to evaluate the trophic state of lagoon water for evaluating the risk of eutrophication after almost 16 years of its restoration. To attend this objectives water quality monitoring was untaken. In order to identify and to analyze the natural and anthropogenic factor governing the nutrients concentrations of lagoon water geochemical methods and multivariate statistical tools were used. Results show that nutrients have duel sources due to the discharge of municipal wastewater of Megrine City in the south side of the lagoon. The Carlson index shows that the South lagoon of Tunis Lagoon Tunis is eutrophic, and may show limited summer anoxia.

Keywords: geochemistry, nutrients, statistical analysis, the south lagoon of Tunis, trophic state

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Authors: M. Moslehpour, S. Khorsandi

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As transition to widespread use of IPv6 addresses has gained momentum, it has been shown to be vulnerable to certain security attacks such as those targeting Neighbor Discovery Protocol (NDP) which provides the address resolution functionality in IPv6. To protect this protocol, Secure Neighbor Discovery (SEND) is introduced. This protocol uses Cryptographically Generated Address (CGA) and asymmetric cryptography as a defense against threats on integrity and identity of NDP. Although SEND protects NDP against attacks, it is computationally intensive due to Hash2 condition in CGA. To improve the CGA computation speed, we parallelized CGA generation process and used the available resources in a trusted network. Furthermore, we focused on the influence of the existence of malicious nodes on the overall load of un-malicious ones in the network. According to the evaluation results, malicious nodes have adverse impacts on the average CGA generation time and on the average number of tries. We utilized a Trust Management that is capable of detecting and isolating the malicious node to remove possible incentives for malicious behavior. We have demonstrated the effectiveness of the Trust Management System in detecting the malicious nodes and hence improving the overall system performance.

Keywords: CGA, ICMPv6, IPv6, malicious node, modifier, NDP, overall load, SEND, trust management

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Authors: Sayem Zafar, Mahmood Rahi

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Rigorous international maritime regulations are in place to limit boat and ship hydrocarbon emissions. The global sustainability goals are reducing the fuel consumption and minimizing the emissions from the ships and boats. These maritime sustainability goals have attracted a lot of research interest. Energy harvesting and storage system is designed in this study based on hybrid renewable and conventional energy systems. This energy harvesting and storage system is designed for marine applications, such as, boats and small ships. These systems can be utilized for mobile use or off-grid remote electrification. This study analyzed the use of micro power generation for boats and small ships. The energy harvesting and storage system has two distinct systems i.e. dockside shore-based system and on-board system. The shore-based system consists of a small wind turbine, photovoltaic (PV) panels, small gas turbine, hydrogen generator and high-pressure hydrogen storage tank. This dockside system is to provide easy access to the boats and small ships for supply of hydrogen. The on-board system consists of hydrogen storage tanks and fuel cells. The wind turbine and PV panels generate electricity to operate electrolyzer. A small gas turbine is used as a supplementary power system to contribute in case the hybrid renewable energy system does not provide the required energy. The electrolyzer performs the electrolysis on distilled water to produce hydrogen. The hydrogen is stored in high-pressure tanks. The hydrogen from the high-pressure tank is filled in the low-pressure tanks on-board seagoing vessels to operate the fuel cell. The boats and small ships use the hydrogen fuel cell to provide power to electric propulsion motors and for on-board auxiliary use. For shore-based system, a small wind turbine with the total length of 4.5 m and the disk diameter of 1.8 m is used. The small wind turbine dimensions make it big enough to be used to charge batteries yet small enough to be installed on the rooftops of dockside facility. The small dimensions also make the wind turbine easily transportable. In this paper, PV, sizing and solar flux are studied parametrically. System performance is evaluated under different operating and environmental conditions. The parametric study is conducted to evaluate the energy output and storage capacity of energy storage system. Results are generated for a wide range of conditions to analyze the usability of hybrid energy harvesting and storage system. This energy harvesting method significantly improves the usability and output of the renewable energy sources. It also shows that small hybrid energy systems have promising practical applications.

Keywords: energy harvesting, fuel cell, hybrid energy system, hydrogen, wind turbine

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Authors: Raju Singh, Shikha Singh

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This article is note for managing Autistic Child during the Corona time line. It becomes very critical for the primary caregiver as corona pandemic poses new challenges and completely variety of threats to line of treatment, growth, socialization, mental health for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and, so for the family of the children. It is a highly distressful situation, where the line of treatment has shrunken, physical contact has reduced and therapies footprints reduced in several parts of the world. As children with ASD already face socialization challenges, isolation rules imposed by individuals (or social groups), government agencies have only made the situation worse for the children with ASD and their family. This note will try to touch the basics on understanding the ASD and related development disorders, challenges, impact, and suggest approaches to deal with such situation. This document also covers data analysis, deep dive into the increasing impact of ASD on children. This document can also act as a baseline for many researchers, psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists to view the problem statement and measure its impact.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, mental health, applied behavior therapy, occupational therapy, social anxiety

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Authors: Aliaksei Patsekha, Michael Hohenberger, Harald Raupenstrauch

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An effective emergency response to accidents with chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive materials (CBRNE) that represent highly dynamic situations needs immediate actions within limited time, information and resources. The aim of the study is to provide the foundation for division of unsafe area into risk zones according to the impact of hazardous parameters (heat radiation, thermal dose, overpressure, chemical concentrations). A decision on the boundary values for three risk zones is based on the vulnerability analysis that covered a variety of accident scenarios containing the release of a toxic or flammable substance which either evaporates, ignites and/or explodes. Critical values are selected for the boundary definition of the Red, Orange and Yellow risk zones upon the examination of harmful effects that are likely to cause injuries of varying severity to people and different levels of damage to structures. The obtained results provide the basis for creating a comprehensive real-time risk map for a decision support at CBRNE operations.

Keywords: boundary values, CBRNE threats, decision making process, hazardous effects, vulnerability analysis, risk zones

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Authors: Samuel Onyekachi Chidi

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Nigeria today faces more internal threats stemming from ethnic and religious conflicts than external sources. This article seeks to examine the ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria from 2015 to 2021 and their impact on national security. The research was guided by six objectives. The theoretical framework adopted for this study is Structural Conflict Theory, which provides an adequate explanation, a predictive rationale for the frequent occurrence of ethno-religious conflicts and a tendency to provide the necessary insight for their resolution. The results of the study revealed that there is a strong relationship between ethnicity, religion, conflict and national security and that the ethno-religious conflicts experienced in Nigeria have gross implications for national security. The study recommends that the secularity of the Nigerian state be restored and preserved and that the state of origin be removed and replaced by the state of residence in all our national documents, as this will reduce ethnic identity, which is in opposition to nationalism. Religious leaders, traditional rulers, the media and other stakeholders should support the government in its fight to reduce ethno-religious conflict by sensitizing its youth, preaching unity and peaceful coexistence, and discouraging the use of violence as a means of settling disputes between groups and individuals.

Keywords: ethnicity, religion, conflict, national security

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Authors: Marina Sousa, Célia Barreto Carvalho, Carolina da Motta, Joana Cabral, Vera Pereira, Suzana Nunes Caldeira, Ermelindo Peixoto

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Paranoid ideation is a common thought process that constitutes a defense against perceived social threats. The current study aimed at the characterization of paranoid ideation in youths and to explore the possible predictors involved in the development of paranoid ideations. Paranoid ideation, shame, submission, early childhood memories and current depressive, anxious and stress symptomatology was assessed in a sample of 1516 Portuguese youths. Higher frequencies of paranoid ideation were observed, particularly in females and youths from lower socio-economic status. The main predictors identified relates to submissive behaviors and adverse childhood experiences, and especially to shame feelings. The current study emphasizes that the these predictors are similar to findings in adults and clinical populations, and future implications to research and clinical practice aiming at paranoid ideations are discussed, as well as the pertinence of the study of mediating factors that allow a wider understanding of this thought process in younger populations and the prevention of psychopathology in adulthood.

Keywords: adolescence, early memories, paranoid ideation, parenting styles, shame, submissiveness

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Authors: Vasudha Saraogi

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Heritage hotels are architectural marvels and embody a number of values of heritage discourses within them. The adaptive re-use of old structures to make them commercially viable as heritage hotels, not only boosts tourism and the local economy but also brings in development for the neighborhood in which it is located. This paper seeks to study the value created by heritage hotels in general and French Haveli (Ahmedabad) in particular using the single case study methodology. The paper draws upon the concept of the Italian model of Albergo Diffuso and its implementation via French Haveli, for value creation and development in Dhal Ni Pol (a historic neighborhood) while recognizing the importance of stakeholders to the process of the historic neighborhood upliftment.

Keywords: heritage discourses, historic neighborhoods, heritage hotel, Old City Ahmedabad

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Authors: Cheng-Yu Tsai, Chiung-En Huang, Ming-Tsang Wu

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among leisure motivation, leisure attitude, and health promotion lifestyle. The participants were recruited from a convenience sampling that subjects were at least 55 years of age in Tainan City, Taiwan. Three hundred survey instruments were distributed, and 227 effective instruments were returned, for an effective rate of 75.7%. The collected data were analyzed statistically. The findings of this research were as follows: 1.There is significantly correlated between leisure motivation and leisure attitude. 2. There is significantly correlated between leisure attitude and health promotion lifestyle. 3. There is significantly correlated between leisure motivation and health promotion lifestyle.

Keywords: leisure motivation, leisure attitude, health promotion lifestyle, tourism

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Authors: Serkan Kocapinar

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Since June 2014, the extremist terrorist group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, with its financial resources, as well as the world’s richest in terms of human resources, is a terrorist organization utilizing the most advanced weapons. It has established a state in the occupied region, appointed provincial and district managers, and declared the so-called Caliphate. Despite being a terrorist organization, it is selling the oil which it has seized from the captured regions with low prices. Consequently, it has been achieving great income from these sales. Currently the actual number of terrorists in the area is around from 20,000 to 31,000 according to the CIA assessment. It is estimated that it has extended its domain beyond from the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific coast and has had millions of supporters worldwide. In addition, it is claimed that it has several sleeper cells in some countries and could perform very catastrophic attacks to the countries fighting against it by activating its cells when necessary. The sharp rise of ISIS in just a year has also attracted the attention of terrorist groups such as Boko Haram around the world and some groups expressed their allegiance to ISIS. With this growing power and influence, ISIS is becoming more and more effective threat for not only the region but also for the entire world. The purpose of this study is to show what lies under the rising of ISIS terror organization and how it affects the security concerns.

Keywords: ISIS, security, terrorism, threats

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Authors: Sitaram Dahal

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Among many strategic and practical needs in overcoming the threats and challenges being experienced in the global environment, constitutional provision for Rights to live in clean and healthy environment is one and so is the school curriculum incorporating information on such rights. Government of Nepal has also introduced information on rights to live in clean and healthy environment, as provisioned in its interim constitution of 2007, in the secondary level curriculum of formal education. As the predetermined specific objective of such curriculum is to prepare students who are conscious of citizens’ rights and responsibilities and are able to adopt functions, duties and rights of the rights holders and duty bearers; the study was designed to assess the effectiveness of such curriculum. The study was conducted in one private school and a community school to assess the effectiveness of such curriculum. The study shows that such curriculum has been able to make students responsible duty bearers as they were aware of their habits towards environment. Whereas only very few students are aware enough as being rights holders. Students of community schools were aware rights holders as they complain if they are not satisfied with the environment of the school itself. But private school is far behind in this case. It can be said that only curriculum with very few portion of information on such rights might not be capable enough to meet its objective.

Keywords: curriculum, environmental rights, constitution, effectiveness

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Authors: Kavitha Thamadharan, Nurazean Maarop

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The implementation of e-assessment as tool to support the process of teaching and learning in university has become a popular technological means in universities. E-Assessment provides many advantages to the users especially the flexibility in teaching and learning. The e-assessment system has the capability to improve its quality of delivering education. However, there still exists a drawback in terms of security which limits the user acceptance of the online learning system. Even though there are studies providing solutions for identified security threats in e-learning usage, there is no particular model which addresses the factors that influences the acceptance of e-assessment system by lecturers from security perspective. The aim of this study is to explore security aspects of e-assessment in regard to the acceptance of the technology. As a result a conceptual model of secure acceptance of e-assessment is proposed. Both human and security factors are considered in formulation of this conceptual model. In order to increase understanding of critical issues related to the subject of this study, interpretive approach involving convergent mixed method research method is proposed to be used to execute the research. This study will be useful in providing more insightful understanding regarding the factors that influence the user acceptance of e-assessment system from security perspective.

Keywords: secure technology acceptance, e-assessment security, e-assessment, education technology

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Authors: Belgheis Ebrahimi, Jun Lu

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In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the potential of marine-based functional foods and combination therapies in promoting a healthy lifestyle and exploring their effectiveness in preventing or treating diseases. The combination of marine bioactive compounds or extracts offers synergistic or enhancement effects through various mechanisms, including multi-target actions, improved bioavailability, enhanced bioactivity, and mitigation of potential adverse effects. Both the green-lipped mussel (GLM) and fucoidan derived from brown seaweed are rich in bioactivities. These two, mussel and fucoidan, have not been previously formulated together. This study aims to combine GLM oil from Perna canaliculus with low molecular weight fucoidan (LMWF) extracted from Undaria pinnatifida to investigate the unique mixture’s anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. The cytotoxicity of individual compounds and combinations was assessed using the MTT assay in (THP-1 and RAW264.7) cell lines. The anti-inflammatory activity of mussel-fucoidan was evaluated by treating LPS-stimulated human monocyte and macrophage (THP1-1) cells. Subsequently, the inflammatory cytokines released into the supernatant of these cell lines were quantified via ELISA. Antioxidant activity was determined by using the free radical scavenging assay (DPPH). DPPH assay demonstrated that the radical scavenging activity of the combinations, particularly at concentrations exceeding 1 mg/ml, showed a significantly higher percentage of inhibition when compared to the individual component. This suggests an enhancement effect when the two compounds are combined, leading to increased antioxidant activity. In terms of immunomodulatory activity, the individual compounds exhibited distinct behaviors. GLM oil displayed a higher ability to suppress the cytokine TNF- compared to LMWF. Interestingly, the LMWF fraction, when used individually, did not demonstrate TNF- suppression. However, when combined with GLM, the TNF- suppression (anti-inflammatory) activity of the combination was better than GLM or LWMF alone. This observation underscores the potential for enhancement interactions between the two components in terms of anti-inflammatory properties. This study revealed that each individual compound, LMWF, and GLM, possesses unique and notable bioactivity. The combination of these two individual compounds results in an enhancement effect, where the bioactivity of each is enhanced, creating a superior combination. This suggests that the combination of LMWF and GLM has the potential to offer a more potent and multifaceted therapeutic effect, particularly in the context of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. These findings hold promise for the development of novel therapeutic interventions or supplements that harness the enhancement effects.

Keywords: combination, enhancement effect, perna canaliculus, undaria pinnatifida

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Authors: F. Felipe

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Air Defense Systems contain high-value assets that are expected to fulfill their mission for several years - in many cases, even decades - while operating in a fast-changing, technology-driven environment. Thus, it is paramount that decision-makers can assess how effective an Air Defense System is in the face of new developing threats, as well as to identify the bottlenecks that could jeopardize the security of the airspace of a country. Given the broad extent of activities and the great variety of assets necessary to achieve the strategic objectives, a systems approach was taken in order to delineate the core requirements and the physical architecture of an Air Defense System. Then, value-focused thinking helped in the definition of the measures of effectiveness. Furthermore, analytical methods were applied to create a formal structure that preliminarily assesses such measures. To validate the proposed methodology, a powerful simulation was also used to determine the measures of effectiveness, now in more complex environments that incorporate both uncertainty and multiple interactions of the entities. The results regarding the validity of this methodology suggest that the approach can support decisions aimed at enhancing the capabilities of Air Defense Systems. In conclusion, this paper sheds some light on how consolidated approaches of Systems Engineering and Operations Research can be used as valid techniques for solving problems regarding a complex and yet vital matter.

Keywords: air defense, effectiveness, system, simulation, decision-support

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Authors: Christina Surmei

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Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is defined as a diverse range of developmental conditions that affect an individual’s functionality. ASD is not linear, and individuals can present with deficits in social interaction, communication, and demonstrate limited, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests, or activities. These characteristics may be observed in a variety of ways and range from mild to severe. ASD may include autism disorder, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, Asperger’s, or other related pervasive developmental disorders. Modern slavery is defined as 'situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, and abuse of power or deception'. A review of the literature investigated the prevalence of research regarding ASD and modern slavery. Two universal search engines and five online journals were used as the apparatuses of inquiry. The results revealed two editorials, one study, and one act, totaling four publications attesting to ASD and modern slavery as a joint entity. This is representative of a vast absence of research. However, as individual entities research on autism and modern slavery is in a general high occurrence. This paper has identified a significant gap in research on ASD and modern slavery, and initiates the dialogue to unpack a significant global issue in society today.

Keywords: autism spectrum, education, modern slavery, support

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Authors: Zakaria Elkhwesky, Islam E. Salem, Mona Barakat

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The purpose of this study is to analyze the importance of disability management practices (DMPs) and the level of implementation from viewpoints of food and beverage (F & B) managers, F and B entry-level employees, working in F & B departments, and human resources (HRs) managers in five-star hotels in Egypt. It also examined the moderating effect of team orientation (TO) between the importance and the implementation. Data were collected from 400 participants. The correlation proved to be significant, moderate, and positive between the importance and the implementation of DMPs. More, the findings revealed that the relationship between the importance and the implementation is significantly more positive under the condition of a high encouragement of TO.

Keywords: disability management practices, diversity management, team orientation, HR management, hospitality, and tourism operations

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Authors: Ravi Kumar Pandit

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Climate change is regarded as one of the most fundamental threats to sustainable livelihood and global development. There is growing a global concern in linking community-managed forests as potential climate change mitigation projects. This study was conducted to explore the local people’s perception on climate change and the role of community forestry (CF) to combat climate change impacts. Two active community forest user groups (CFUGs) from Kaski and Syangja Districts in Nepal were selected as study sites, and various participatory tools were applied to collect primary data. Although most of the respondents were unaware about the words “Climate Change” in study sites, they were quite familiar with the irregularities in rainfall season and other weather extremities. 60% of the respondents had the idea that, due to increase in precipitation, there is a frequent occurrence of erosion, floods and landslide. Around 85% of the people agreed that community forests help in stabilizing soil, reducing the natural hazards like erosion, landslide. Biogas as an alternative source of cooking energy, and changes in crops and their varieties are the common adaptation measures that local people start practicing in both CFUGs in Nepal.

Keywords: climate change, community forestry, global warming, adaptation in Nepal

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Authors: Thi Hai Anh Nguyen, Pantea Aria

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Tiki is one of the leading e-commerce companies in Viet Nam. Since the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 has been spreading around the world. Thanks to this pandemic, the Tiki platform has many strengths and has faced many threats. Customer behaviour was forecasted to change during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the investigation is (1) Identifying factors affecting online consumer behaviour of Tiki in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, (2) Measuring the level of impact of these factors, and (3) Recommendations for Tiki to improve its business strategy for the next stage. This research studies eight factors and collected 378 online surveys for analysis. Using SPSS software identified five factors (product, price, reliability, and web design) positively influencing customer behaviour. COVID-19 factor does not impact significantly Tiki’s customer behaviour. This research conducted some qualitative interviews to understand shopping experiences and customers’ expectations. One of these interviews’ main points is that Tiki’s customers have high trust in the Tiki brand and its high-quality products. Based on the results, the Tiki corporation should secure its core value. Tiki’s employees and logistics systems should be well-trained and optimized to improve customer experiences.

Keywords: COVID-19, e-commerce, impact, pandemic, Vietnam

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Authors: Cuong V Nguyen, Ralph Horne, John Fien, France Cheong

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Social vulnerability to climate change is increasingly being acknowledged, and proposals to measure and manage it are emerging. Building upon this work, this paper proposes an approach to social vulnerability assessment using a new mechanism to aggregate and account for causal relationships among components of a Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). To operationalize this index, the authors propose a means to develop an appropriate primary dataset, through application of a specifically-designed household survey questionnaire. The data collection and analysis, including calibration and calculation of the SVI is demonstrated through application in case study city in central coastal Vietnam. The calculation of SVI at the fine-grained local neighbourhood scale provides high resolution in vulnerability assessment, and also obviates the need for secondary data, which may be unavailable or problematic, particularly at the local scale in developing countries. The SVI household survey is underpinned by the results of a Delphi survey, an in-depth interview and focus group discussions with local environmental professionals and community members. The research reveals inherent limitations of existing SVIs but also indicates the potential for their use in assessing social vulnerability and making decisions associated with responding to climate change at the local scale.

Keywords: climate change, local scale, social vulnerability, social vulnerability index

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Authors: Francis Gbogbo, Angelica Ama Essandoh, Wendy Teresa Baffoe, Henry Groos, Charles Mario Boateng, Emmanuel Robert Blankson

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Baseline data on plastic landing by fishers and monitoring of this is important in evaluating the success of plastic waste management efforts. This study investigated plastic and fish landed by beach seine fishers in Ghana, together with the rate of plastic deposition on an adjoining beach. Plastic constituted 31.6% of the total catch, and 41.7% of the fish landed by weight. There were significant differences between the average weight of fish (139.58±53.6kg) and plastic (65.73±14.6kg) landed per fishing session and the catch per unit effort of fish (183.4±76.7 kg/day) and plastic (88.4±35.2 kg/day). The mean weight of plastic landed per fishing session was higher than the mean weight of each of the 26 species of fisheries. The rate of plastic deposition on the beach was 8.1±2.5 plastic items per m2 per tidal cycle or 0.35±0.11kg plastic per m2 per tidal cycle, with food packs and tableware dominating the deposited plastic. The results suggested that ongoing water sachets and plastic bottle recycling in Ghana are yielding results and calls for targeted efforts in plastic food packs and tableware management.

Keywords: fishig, landing, plastic waste, intertidal area, fishing effort

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Authors: M. Irannezhad, E. H. N. Gashti, U. Moback, B. Kløve

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Climate change because of increases in concentration level of greenhouse gases emissions to the atmosphere will result in mean sea level rise about +1 m by 2100. To prevent coastal floods resulted from the sea level rising, different flood control structures have been built, e.g. the Thames barrier on the Thames River in London (UK), with acceptable protection levels at least so far. Gothenburg located on the southwest coast of Sweden, with the River Göta älv running through it, is one of vulnerable cities to the accelerated rises in mean sea level. Developing a water level model by MATLAB, we evaluated using a sea barrage in the Göta älv River as the flood control structure for protecting the Gothenburg city during this century. Considering three operational scenarios for two barriers in upstream and downstream, the highest sea level was estimated to + 2.95 m above the current mean sea level by 2100. To verify flood protection against such high sea levels, both barriers have to be closed. To prevent high water level in the River Göta älv reservoir, the barriers would be open when the sea level is low. The suggested flood control structures would successfully protect the city from flooding events during this century.

Keywords: climate change, flood control structures, gothenburg, sea level rising, water level mode

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Authors: K. Subbaiah, C. V. Jayakumar

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Friction stir welding is a solid state welding process. Friction stir welding process eliminates the defects found in fusion welding processes. It is environmentally friend process. 5000 and 6000 series aluminum alloys are widely used in the transportation industries. The Al-Mg-Mn (5000) and Al-Mg-Si (6000) alloys are preferably offer best combination of use in Marine construction. The medium strength and high corrosion resistant 5000 series alloys are the aluminum alloys, which are found maximum utility in the world. In this review, the tool pin profile, process parameters such as hardness, yield strength and tensile strength, and microstructural evolution of friction stir welding of Al-Mg-Mn alloys (5000 Series) have been discussed.

Keywords: Al-Mg-Mn alloys, friction stir welding, tool pin profile, microstructure and mechanical properties

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Authors: Behbood Maashkar

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One of the principles for societies’ development is the requirement to consider past experiences. Man should always take advantage of the predecessor’s experiences and analyze their works and methods. The predecessors have had a more friendly relationship with nature and their lives less damaged the nature, and it is one of the elements of green building. One of the things the ancients have observed in regard to green building in their houses, stores, sacred places, etc. was using wind-catchers as an air conditioning and cooling system which can be considered as the first foundations of green building. In designing houses Iranian architects have paid a great attention to the factor of making use of more shaded area in hot season and insulation of wall and ceiling against influence of hot weather and also air circulation inside the building. In order to circulate the air inside closed spaces and decrease the temperature, they have considered different winds which blow in Iran and its effective power, and in order to make use of it they invented wind catcher. Direction of wind blow and its height from the earth as well as the time and duration of wind blow and other factors have been effective in making different types of wind catchers. Using wind catchers has been and is prevalent mainly in central and south regions of Iran, coastal areas of Persian Gulf, and Khorasan, especially in cities like Yazd, Kashan, Bam, Abarghoo, Jahrom, and Tabas.

Keywords: environment pollution, green building, Iran, wind catchers

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Authors: Norshazmira Mat Azmi, Sayidal El Fatimah Masnan, Shatirah Akib

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Boundless renewable energy, such as tidal energy, tidal current energy, wave energy, thermal energy and chemical energy are covered and possessed by oceans. The hybrid system helps in improving the economic and environmental sustainability of renewable energy systems to fulfill the energy demand. The objective and concept of hybridizing renewable energy is to meet the desired system requirements, with the lowest value of the energy cost. This paper reviews applications of using hybrid power generation system for remote area. It also highlights the future directions to investigate the impacts of surface waves on turbine design and performance. The importance of understanding the site-specific wave conditions could also been explored.

Keywords: hybrid, marine current energy, tidal turbine, wave turbine

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Authors: Umair Shafique, Hafiz Usman Zia, Fiaz Majeed, Samina Naz, Javeria Ahmed, Maleeha Zainab

Abstract:

The Internet of Things (IoT) has become a hot topic for the last couple of years. This innovative technology has shown promising progress in various areas, and the world has witnessed exponential growth in multiple application domains. Researchers are working to investigate its aptitudes to get the best from it by harnessing its true potential. But at the same time, IoT networks open up a new aspect of vulnerability and physical threats to data integrity, privacy, and confidentiality. It's is due to centralized control, data silos approach for handling information, and a lack of standardization in the IoT networks. As we know, blockchain is a new technology that involves creating secure distributed ledgers to store and communicate data. Some of the benefits include resiliency, integrity, anonymity, decentralization, and autonomous control. The potential for blockchain technology to provide the key to managing and controlling IoT has created a new wave of excitement around the idea of putting that data back into the hands of the end-users. In this manuscript, we have proposed a model that combines blockchain and IoT networks to address potential security and privacy issues in the healthcare domain. Then we try to describe various application areas, challenges, and future directions in the healthcare sector where blockchain platforms merge with IoT networks.

Keywords: IoT, blockchain, cryptocurrency, healthcare, consensus, data

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Authors: Chao Yang, Jinchuan Zhang, Yongqiang Xiong

Abstract:

The Lower Cambrian Niutitang Formation shale (NFS) deposited in the marine deep-shelf environment in Southeast Upper Yangtze (SUY), possess excellent source rock basis for shale gas generation, however, it is currently challenged by being over-mature with strong tectonic deformations, leading to much uncertainty of gas-bearing potential. With emphasis on the shale gas enrichment of the NFS, analyses were made based on the regional gas-bearing differences obtained from field gas-desorption testing of 18 geological survey wells across the study area. Results show that the NFS bears low gas content of 0.2-2.5 m³/t, and the eastern region of SUY is higher than the western region in gas content. Moreover, the methane fraction also presents the similar regional differentiation with the western region less than 10 vol.% while the eastern region generally more than 70 vol.%. Through the analysis of geological theory, the following conclusions are drawn: Depositional environment determines the gas-enriching zones. In the western region, the Dengying Formation underlying the NFS in unconformity contact was mainly plateau facies dolomite with caves and thereby bears poor gas-sealing ability. Whereas the Laobao Formation underling the NFS in eastern region was a set of siliceous rocks of shelf-slope facies, which can effectively prevent the shale gas from escaping away from the NFS. The tectonic conditions control the gas-enriching bands in the SUY, which is located in the fold zones formed by the thrust of the Southern China plate towards to the Sichuan Basin. Compared with the western region located in the trough-like folds, the eastern region at the fold-thrust belts was uplifted early and deformed weakly, resulting in the relatively less mature level and relatively slight tectonic deformation of the NFS. Faults determine whether shale gas can be accumulated in large scale. Four deep and large normal faults in the study area cut through the Niutitang Formation to the Sinian strata, directly causing a large spillover of natural gas in the adjacent areas. For the secondary faults developed within the shale formation, the reverse faults generally have a positive influence on the shale accumulation while the normal faults perform the opposite influence. Overall, shale gas enrichment targets of the NFS, are the areas with certain thickness of siliceous rocks at the basement of the Niutitang Formation, and near the margin of the paleouplift with less developed faults. These findings provide direction for shale gas exploration in South China, and also provide references for the areas with similar geological conditions all over the world.

Keywords: over-mature marine shale, shale gas accumulation, structure-complicated area, Southeast Upper Yangtze

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