Search results for: property development

Authors: Asma’a Mahfoud, Abu Bakar Md. Sultan, Abdul Azim Abd, Norhayati Mohd Ali, Novia Admodisastro

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Obfuscation is a practice to make something difficult and complicated. Programming code is ordinarily obfuscated to protect the intellectual property (IP) and prevent the attacker from reverse engineering (RE) a copyrighted software program. Obfuscation may involve encrypting some or all the code, transforming out potentially revealing data, renaming useful classes and variables (identifiers) names to meaningless labels, or adding unused or meaningless code to an application binary. Obfuscation techniques were not performing effectively recently as the reversing tools are able to break the obfuscated code. We propose in this paper a hybrid obfuscation technique that contains three approaches of renaming. Experimentation was conducted to test the effectiveness of the proposed technique. The experimentation has presented a promising result, where the reversing tools were not able to read the code.

Keywords: intellectual property, obfuscation, software security, reverse engineering

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Authors: CarlyWill Sloan

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Racial disparities in criminal justice outcomes are well-documented. However, there is little evidence on the extent to which racial bias by prosecutors is responsible for these disparities. This paper tests for racial bias in conviction by prosecutors. To identify effects, this paper leverages as good as random variation in prosecutor race using detailed administrative data on the case assignment process and case outcomes in New York County, New York. This paper shows that the assignment of an opposite-race prosecutor leads to a 5 percentage point (~ 8 percent) increase in the likelihood of conviction for property crimes. There is no evidence of effects for other types of crimes. Additional results indicate decreased dismissals by opposite-race prosecutors likely drive my property crime estimates.

Keywords: criminal justice, discrimination, prosecutors, racial disparities

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Authors: Tengqin Han

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Delinquency has been a crucial factor in economics throughout the years. Commonly seen in credit card and mortgage, it played one of the crucial roles in causing the most recent financial crisis in 2008. In each case, a delinquency is a sign of the loaner being unable to pay off the debt, and thus may cause a lost of property in the end. Individually, one case of delinquency seems unimportant compared to the entire credit system. China, as an emerging economic entity, the national strength and economic strength has grown rapidly, and the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate has remained as high as 8% in the past decades. However, potential risks exist behind the appearance of prosperity. Among the risks, the credit system is the most significant one. Due to long term and a large amount of balance of the mortgage, it is critical to monitor the risk during the performance period. In this project, about 300,000 mortgage account data are analyzed in order to develop a predictive model to predict the probability of delinquency. Through univariate analysis, the data is cleaned up, and through bivariate analysis, the variables with strong predictive power are detected. The project is divided into two parts. In the first part, the analysis data of 2005 are split into 2 parts, 60% for model development, and 40% for in-time model validation. The KS of model development is 31, and the KS for in-time validation is 31, indicating the model is stable. In addition, the model is further validation by out-of-time validation, which uses 40% of 2006 data, and KS is 33. This indicates the model is still stable and robust. In the second part, the model is improved by the addition of macroeconomic economic indexes, including GDP, consumer price index, unemployment rate, inflation rate, etc. The data of 2005 to 2010 is used for model development and validation. Compared with the base model (without microeconomic variables), KS is increased from 41 to 44, indicating that the macroeconomic variables can be used to improve the separation power of the model, and make the prediction more accurate.

Keywords: delinquency, mortgage, model development, model validation

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Authors: Shuaibu Umar Abdul

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The essence of any state as well as government is to ensure and advance the security of lives and property of its citizens. As a result, providing security in all spheres ranging from safeguarding the territorial integrity, security of lives and property of the citizens as well as economic emancipation have constitute the core objectives cum national interest of virtually all country’s foreign policy in the world. In view of this imperative above, Nigeria has enshrined in the early part of her 1999 constitution as amended, as its duty and responsibility as a state, to ensure security of lives and property of its citizens. Yet, it does not make any significant shift as it relates to the country’s fundamental security needs as exemplified by the current enormous security challenges that reduced the country’s fortune to the background in all ramifications. The study chooses realist paradigm as theoretical underpinning which emphasizes that exigency of the moment should always take priority in the pursuit of foreign policy. The study is historical, descriptive and narrative in method and character. Data for the study was sourced from secondary sources and analysed via content analysis. The study found out that it is lack of political will on the side of the government to guarantee a just and egalitarian society that will be of benefit to all citizens. This could be more appreciated when looking at the gaps between the theory in Nigerian foreign policy and the practice as exemplified by the action or inaction of the government to ensure security in the state. On this account, the study recommends that until the leaderships in Nigerian foreign policy recognized the need for political will and respect for constitutionalism to ensure security of its citizens and territory, otherwise achieving great Nigeria will remain an illusion.

Keywords: foreign policy, nation, national security, Nigeria, security

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Authors: Nikhil Verma, Akshay Kant Mishra, Rishabh Rastogi, Bikarama Prasad Yadav

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Emerging fire incidents are the protuberant contributor out turning into life loss, property damage and importantly firefighters. It insinuates that a firefighting and rescue operation of the existing equipment or apparatus and their proficiency is limited, particularly in annihilating firefighting environments. The proposed methodology will help in developing a technology which can be useful in minimizing the risks and losses due to fire. In this paper, design and development of combat mini vehicle comprising of multi-purpose nozzle system is proposed which can target diverse fires simultaneously at distinct time and location. Basically, the system is semi-automated type protection system which can be manoeuvred by controller. Designing of robust vehicle based on semi-automated protection type system is consummated using SolidWorks platform. Concept of developing a robust vehicle will help to fight fires in multiple directions reducing the time required to douse multiple fires.

Keywords: fire douse vehicle, multiple fires, multi-purpose nozzle, semi-automated system

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Authors: Roman Girma Teshome

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The intersection between development and human rights has been the point of scholarly debate for a long time. Consequently, a number of principles, which extend from the right to development to the human rights-based approach to development, have been adopted to understand the dynamics between the two concepts. Despite these attempts, the exact relationship between development and human rights has not been fully discovered yet. However, the inevitable interdependence between the two notions and the idea that development efforts must be undertaken by giving due regard to human rights guarantees has gained momentum in recent years. On the other hand, the emergence of sustainable development as a widely accepted approach in development goals and policies makes this unsettled convergence even more complicated. The place of sustainable development in human rights law discourse and the role of the latter in ensuring the sustainability of development programs call for a systematic study. Hence, this article seeks to explore the relationship between development and human rights, particularly focusing on the place given to sustainable development principles in international human right law. It will further quest whether there is a right to sustainable development recognized therein. Accordingly, the article asserts that the principles of sustainable development are directly or indirectly recognized in various human rights instruments, which provides an affirmative response to the question raised hereinabove. This work, therefore, will make expeditions through international and regional human rights instruments as well as case laws and interpretative guidelines of human rights bodies to prove this hypothesis.

Keywords: sustainable development, human rights, the right to development, the human rights-based approach to development, environmental rights, economic development, social sustainability

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Authors: Ayoub El Bourtali, Abdessamed Najine, Amrou Moussa Benmoussa

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It is becoming more and more necessary to manage flood risk, and it must include all stakeholders and all possible means available. The goal of this work is to map the vulnerability of the Oued Derna-region Tagzirt flood zone in the semi-arid region. This is about implementing predictive models and flood control. This allows for the development of flood risk prevention plans. In this study, A resistivity survey was conducted over the area to locate and evaluate soil characteristics in order to calculate discharges and prevent flooding for the study area. The development of a one-dimensional (1D) hydrodynamic model of the Derna River was carried out in HEC-RAS 5.0.4 using a combination of survey data and spatially extracted cross-sections and recorded river flows. The study area was hit by several extreme floods, causing a lot of property loss and loss of life. This research focuses on the most recent flood events, based on the collected data, the water level, river flow and river cross-section were analyzed. A set of flood levels were obtained as the outputs of the hydraulic model and the accuracy of the simulated flood levels and velocity.

Keywords: derna river, 1D hydrodynamic model, flood modelling, HEC-RAS 5.0.4

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Authors: Vibhuti Amarnath Madhu Agrawal

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Intellectual Property are two emerging concepts that are growing at a fast pace and have the potential of having a huge impact on the economy in the coming times. In simple words, AI is nothing but work done by a machine without any human intervention. It is a coded software embedded in a machine, which over a period of time, develops its own intelligence and begins to take its own decisions and judgments by studying various patterns of how people think, react to situations and perform tasks, among others. Intellectual Property, especially Copyright Law, on the other hand, protects the rights of individuals and Companies in content creation that primarily deals with application of intellect, originality and expression of the same in some tangible form. According to some of the reports shared by the media lately, ChatGPT, an AI powered Chatbot, has been involved in the creation of a wide variety of original content, including but not limited to essays, emails, plays and poetry. Besides, there have been instances wherein AI technology has given creative inputs for background, lights and costumes, among others, for films. Copyright Law offers protection to all of these different kinds of content and much more. Considering the two key parameters of Copyright – application of intellect and originality, the question, therefore, arises that will awarding Copyright protection to a person who has not directly invested his / her intellect in the creation of that content go against the basic spirit of Copyright laws? This study aims to analyze the current scenario and provide answers to the following questions: a. If the content generated by AI technology satisfies the basic criteria of originality and expression in a tangible form, why should such content be denied protection in the name of its creator, i.e., the specific AI tool / technology? B. Considering the increasing role and development of AI technology in our lives, should it be given the status of a ‘Legal Person’ in law? C. If yes, what should be the modalities of awarding protection to works of such Legal Person and management of the same? Considering the current trends and the pace at which AI is advancing, it is not very far when AI will start functioning autonomously in the creation of new works. Current data and opinions on this issue globally reflect that they are divided and lack uniformity. In order to fill in the existing gaps, data obtained from Copyright offices from the top economies of the world have been analyzed. The role and functioning of various Copyright Societies in these countries has been studied in detail. This paper provides a roadmap that can be adopted to satisfy various objectives, constraints and dynamic conditions related AI technology and its protection under Copyright Law.

Keywords: artificial intelligence technology, copyright law, copyright societies, intellectual property

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Authors: Hend Alrasheed

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Due to their different properties that have led to avoid several limitations of classic client/server systems, there has been a great interest in the development and the improvement of different peer to peer systems. Understanding the properties of complex peer to peer networks is essential for their future improvements. It was shown that the performances of peer to peer protocols are directly related to their underlying topologies. Therefore, multiple efforts have analyzed the topologies of different peer to peer systems. This study presents an overview of major findings of close experimental analyses to different topologies of three unstructured peer to peer systems: BitTorrent, Gnutella, and FreeNet.

Keywords: peer to peer networks, network topology, graph diameter, clustering coefficient, small-world property, random graph, degree distribution

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Authors: Samuel Richard Marcourt

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The economic impact of community sports facilities can be examined through various dimensions, such as job creation, tourism, local business development, and property values. The aim of the study is to evaluate the economic impacts of community sports facilities on residents who lived within 500m radii of 4 Astro Turf soccer facilities in Ghana. The results of the study were based on the responses from in-depth semi-structured interviews with 16 purposively selected participants aged between 25 and 55 years. Participants’ responses revealed that community sports facilities create direct and indirect benefits for residents. Further, the direct benefits include job creation and employment among residents in the locality. Again, the promotion of local entrepreneurship and small business development, as well promotion of tourism, were indirect benefits. Consequently, the study provides useful data for stakeholders, including The Ministry of Sports, Ghana Football Association (GFA), and Government and non-governmental organizations, to construct more community sports facilities to assist in reducing the level of unemployment in Ghanaian communities.

Keywords: economic impact, community sports facilities, Astro turf, residents

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Authors: R. Eslami-Farsani, S. M. S. Mousavi Bafrouyi

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During past decades, increasing demand of modified Fiber Metal Laminates (FMLs) has stimulated a strong trend towards the development of these structures. FMLs contain several thin layers of metal bonded with composite materials. Characteristics of FMLs such as low specific mass, high bearing strength, impact resistance, corrosion resistance and high fatigue life are attractive. Nowadays, increasing development can be observed to promote the properties of polymer-based composites by nanofillers. By dispersing strong, nanofillers in polymer matrix, modified composites can be developed and tailored to individual applications. On the other hand, the synergic effects of nanoparticles such as graphene and carbon nanotube can significantly improve the mechanical, electrical and thermal properties of nanocomposites. In present paper, the modifying of FMLs by nanofillers and the dispersing of nanoparticles in the polymers matrix are discussed. The evaluations have revealed that this approach is acceptable. Finally, a prospect is presented. This paper will lead to further work on these modified FML species.

Keywords: fiber metal laminate, nanofiller, polymer matrix, property modification

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Authors: Joseph Marzouk Gerais Abdelmalak

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The interface between development and human rights has long been the subject of academic debate. Therefore, to understand the dynamics between the two concepts, a number of principles have been adopted, ranging from the right to development to a human rights-based approach to development. Despite these attempts, the exact connection between development and human rights is not yet fully understood. However, the inherent interdependence between these two concepts and the idea that development efforts should be undertaken with respect for human rights guarantees have gained momentum in recent years. It will then be examined whether the right to sustainable development is recognized.The article therefore concludes that the principles of sustainable development are recognized, directly or indirectly, in various human rights instruments, which represents a positive answer to the question posed above. Therefore, this work discusses international and regional human rights instruments as well as case law and interpretative guidelines from human rights bodies to demonstrate this hypothesis.

Keywords: sustainable development, human rights, the right to development, the human rights-based approach to development, environmental rights, economic development, social sustainability human rights protection, human rights violations, workers’ rights, justice, security

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Authors: Tsegay Giday Woldu, Haibin Zhang, Xin Zhang, Yemane Hailu Fissuh

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It is well known that nonlinear conjugate gradient method is one of the widely used first order methods to solve large scale unconstrained smooth optimization problems. Because of the low memory requirement, attractive theoretical features, practical computational efficiency and nice convergence properties, nonlinear conjugate gradient methods have a special role for solving large scale unconstrained optimization problems. Large scale optimization problems are with important applications in practical and scientific world. However, nonlinear conjugate gradient methods have restricted information about the curvature of the objective function and they are likely less efficient and robust compared to some second order algorithms. To overcome these drawbacks, the new modified nonlinear conjugate gradient method is presented. The noticeable features of our work are that the new search direction possesses the sufficient descent property independent of any line search and it belongs to a trust region. Under mild assumptions and standard Wolfe line search technique, the global convergence property of the proposed algorithm is established. Furthermore, to test the practical computational performance of our new algorithm, numerical experiments are provided and implemented on the set of some large dimensional unconstrained problems. The numerical results show that the proposed algorithm is an efficient and robust compared with other similar algorithms.

Keywords: conjugate gradient method, global convergence, large scale optimization, sufficient descent property

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Authors: Hosam Gamil Sharoubim Abdalla

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The interface between development and human rights has long been the subject of academic debate. Therefore, to understand the dynamics between the two concepts, a number of principles have been adopted, ranging from the right to development to a human rights-based approach to development. Despite these attempts, the exact connection between development and human rights is not yet fully understood. However, the inherent interdependence between these two concepts and the idea that development efforts should be undertaken with respect for human rights guarantees have gained momentum in recent years. It will then be examined whether the right to sustainable development is recognized. The article, therefore, concludes that the principles of sustainable development are recognized, directly or indirectly, in various human rights instruments, which represents a positive answer to the question posed above. Therefore, this work discusses international and regional human rights instruments as well as case law and interpretative guidelines from human rights bodies to demonstrate this hypothesis.

Keywords: sustainable development, human rights, the right to development, the human rights-based approach to development, environmental rights, economic development, social sustainability human rights protection, human rights violations, workers’ rights, justice, security

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Authors: Muhammad Arsalan

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The efficiency of a financial intermediation system is assessed by its ability to achieve allocative efficiency, asset transformation, and the subsequent economic development. Islamic Banking and Finance (IBF) was conceived to serve as an alternate financial intermediation system adherent to the injunctions of Islam. A critical appraisal of the state of contemporary IBF reveals that it neither fulfills the aspirations of Islamic rhetoric nor is efficient in terms of asset transformation and economic development. This paper is an intuitive pursuit to explore the economic rationale of established principles of IBF, and the reasons of the persistent divergence of IBF being accused of ruses and sophistry. Disentangling the varying viewpoints, the underdevelopment of IBF has been attributed to misinterpretation of Riba, which has been explicated through a narrow fiqhi and legally deterministic approach. It presents a critical account of how incorrect conceptualization of the key injunction on Riba, steered flawed institutionalization of an Islamic Financial intermediation system. It also emphasizes on the wrong interpretation of the ontological and epistemological sources of Islamic Law (primarily Riba), that explains the perennial economic underdevelopment of the Muslim world. Deeming ‘a collaborative and dynamic Ijtihad’ as the elixir, this paper insists on the exigency of redefining Riba, i.e., a definition that incorporates the modern modes of economic cooperation and the contemporary financial intermediation ecosystem. Finally, Riba has been articulated in an agency theoretic framework to eschew expropriation of wealth, and assure protection of property rights, aimed at realizing the twin goals of a) Shari’ah adherence in true spirit, b) financial and economic development of the Muslim world.

Keywords: agency theory, financial intermediation, Islamic banking and finance, ijtihad, economic development, Riba, information asymmetry

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Authors: Mina Rashad Saad Abdelnoor

Abstract:

The interface between development and human rights has long been the subject of academic debate. Therefore, to understand the dynamics between the two concepts, a number of principles have been adopted, ranging from the right to development to a human rights-based approach to development. Despite these attempts, the exact connection between development and human rights is not yet fully understood. However, the inherent interdependence between these two concepts and the idea that development efforts should be undertaken with respect for human rights guarantees have gained momentum in recent years. It will then be examined whether the right to sustainable development is recognized. The article therefore concludes that the principles of sustainable development are recognized, directly or indirectly, in various human rights instruments, which represents a positive answer to the question posed above. Therefore, this work discusses international and regional human rights instruments as well as case law and interpretative guidelines from human rights bodies to demonstrate this hypothesis.

Keywords: sustainable development, human rights, the right to development, the human rights-based approach to development, environmental rights, economic development, social sustainability human rights protection, human rights violations, workers’ rights, justice, security

Procedia PDF Downloads 27

Authors: Samy Ayoub Abdou Ghobrial

Abstract:

The interface between development and human rights has long been the subject of academic debate. Therefore, to understand the dynamics between the two concepts, a number of principles have been adopted, ranging from the right to development to a human rights-based approach to development. Despite these attempts, the exact connection between development and human rights is not yet fully understood. However, the inherent interdependence between these two concepts and the idea that development efforts should be undertaken with respect for human rights guarantees have gained momentum in recent years. It will then be examined whether the right to sustainable development is recognized. The article therefore concludes that the principles of sustainable development are recognized, directly or indirectly, in various human rights instruments, which represents a positive answer to the question posed above. Therefore, this work discusses international and regional human rights instruments as well as case law and interpretative guidelines from human rights bodies to demonstrate this hypothesis.

Keywords: sustainable development, human rights, the right to development, the human rights-based approach to development, environmental rights, economic development, social sustainability human rights protection, human rights violations, workers’ rights, justice, security

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Authors: M. Ramachandra, G. Dilip Maruthi, R. Rashmi

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This paper aims to study the corrosion property of aluminum matrix nanocomposite of an aluminum alloy (Al-6061) reinforced with zirconium dioxide (ZrO₂) particles. The zirconium dioxide particles are synthesized by solution combustion method. The nanocomposite materials are prepared by mechanical stir casting method, varying the percentage of n-ZrO₂ (2.5%, 5% and 7.5% by weight). The corrosion behavior of base metal (Al-6061) and Al/ZrO₂ nanocomposite in seawater (3.5% NaCl solution) is measured using the potential control method. The corrosion rate is evaluated by Tafel extrapolation technique. The corrosion potential increases with the increase in wt.% of n-ZrO₂ in the nanocomposite which means the decrease in corrosion rate. It is found that on addition of n-ZrO2 particles to the aluminum matrix, the corrosion rate has decreased compared to the base metal.

Keywords: Al6061 alloy, corrosion, solution, stir casting, combustion, potentiostat, zirconium dioxide

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Authors: Tristance Kee

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With the unprecedented increase in elderly population globally, it is critical to search for new sustainable housing and urban development alternatives to traditional housing options. This research examines concepts of elderly migration pattern in the context of a high density city in Hong Kong to Mainland China. The research objectives are to: 1) explore the relationships between soon-to-be-old elderly and their intentions to move to Mainland upon retirement and their demographic characteristics; and 2) What are the desired amenities, locational factors and activities that are expected in the soon-to-be-old generation’s retirement housing environment? Primary data was collected through questionnaire survey conducted using random sampling method with respondents aged between 45-64 years old. The face-to-face survey was completed by 500 respondents. The survey was divided into four sections. The first section focused on respondent’s demographic information such as gender, age, education attainment, monthly income, housing tenure type and their visits to Mainland China. The second section focused on their retirement plans in terms of intended retirement age, prospective retirement funding and retirement housing options. The third section focused on the respondent’s attitudes toward retiring in Mainland for housing. It asked about their intentions to migrate retire into Mainland and incentives to retire in Hong Kong. The fourth section focused on respondent’s ideal housing environment including preferred housing amenities, desired living environment and retirement activities. The dependent variable in this study was ‘respondent’s consideration to move to Mainland China upon retirement’. Eight primary independent variables were integrated into the study to identify the correlations between them and retirement migration plan. The independent variables include: gender, age, marital status, monthly income, present housing tenure type, property ownership in Hong Kong, relationship with Mainland and the frequency of visiting Mainland China. In addition to the above independent variables, respondents were asked to indicate their retirement plans (retirement age, funding sources and retirement housing options), incentives to migrate to retire (choices included: property ownership, family relations, cost of living, living environment, medical facilities, government welfare benefits, etc.), perceived ideal retirement life qualities including desired amenities (sports, medical and leisure facilities etc.), desired locational qualities (green open space, convenient transport options and accessibility to urban settings etc.) and desired retirement activities (home-based leisure, elderly friendly sports, cultural activities, child care, social activities, etc.). The finding shows correlations between the used independent variables and consideration to migrate for housing options. The two independent variables indicated a possible correlation were gender and the frequency of visiting Mainland at present. When considering the increasing property prices across the border and strong social relationships, potential retirement migration is a very subjective decision that could vary from person to person. This research adds knowledge to housing research and migration study. Although the research is based in Mainland, most of the characteristics identified including better medical services, government welfare and sound urban amenities are shared qualities for all sustainable urban development and housing strategies.

Keywords: elderly migration, housing alternative, soon-to-be-old, sustainable environment

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Authors: O. I. Ekwueme

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New media technologies are noted for their immense contributions in various sectors of the economy which are believed to have resulted in the development of European countries. There is an assumption that we cannot have development communication without communication development, but we are not sure if new media technologies contribute to development in the South-East zone, Nigeria. The study employed mixed method and discovered that new media technologies have a very minimal relationship to development in the South-East zone, Nigeria. It was discovered that the media report on development news is basically informative instead of interactive. The South-East zone is scarcely covered unlike other zones. It argued that the communication technologies introduced in Nigeria was as a result of their struggle for independence. It was recommended that media organisations in the South-East zone should give adequate coverage to the zone, and be more interactive.

Keywords: communication, development, new media, technologies

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Authors: S. Al-Fadala, J. Chakkamalayath, S. Al-Bahar, A. Al-Aibani, S. Ahmed

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Globally, the use of pozzolan in blended cement is gaining great interest due to the desirable effect of pozzolan from the environmental and energy conservation standpoint and the technical benefits they provide to the performance of cement. The deterioration of concrete structures in the marine environment and extreme climates demand the use of pozzolana cement in concrete construction in the Gulf region. Also, natural sources of cement clinker materials are limited in the Gulf region, and cement industry imports the raw materials for the production of Portland cement, resulting in an increase in the greenhouse gas effect due to the CO₂ emissions generated from transportation. Even though the Gulf region has vast deposits of natural pozzolana, it is not explored properly for the production of high performance concrete. Hence, an optimum use of regionally available natural pozzolana for the production of blended cement can result in sustainable construction. This paper investigates the effect of incorporating natural pozzolan sourced from the Gulf region on the performance of blended cement in terms of heat evolution and strength development. For this purpose, a locally produced Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and pozzolan-incorporated blended cements containing different amounts of natural pozzolan (volcanic ash) were prepared on laboratory scale. The strength development and heat evolution were measured and quantified. Promising results of strength development were obtained for blends with the percentages of Volcanic Ash (VA) replacement varying from 10 to 30%. Results showed that the heat of hydration decreased with increase in percentage of replacement of OPC with VA, indicating increased retardation in hydration due to the addition of VA. This property could be used in mass concreting in which a reduction in heat of hydration is required to reduce cracking in concrete, especially in hot weather concreting.

Keywords: blended cement, hot weather, hydration, volcanic ash

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Authors: Teodorica G. Ani

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Economic activity requires an encouraging regulatory environment and effective rules that are transparent and accessible to all. The World Bank has been publishing the annual Doing Business reports since 2004 to investigate the scope and manner of regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. A streamlined business environment supporting the development of competitive small and medium enterprises (SMEs) may expand employment opportunities and improve the living conditions of low income households. Asia has emerged as one of the most attractive markets in the world. Economies in East Asia and the Pacific were among the most active in making it easier for local firms to do business. The study aimed to describe the ease of doing business and its effect to economic growth among selected economies in Asia for the year 2014. The study covered 29 economies in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Middle Asia. Ease of doing business is measured by the Doing Business indicators (DBI) of the World Bank. The indicators cover ten aspects of the ease of doing business such as starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. In the study, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was used as the proxy variable for economic growth. Descriptive research was the research design used. Graphical analysis was used to describe the income and doing business among selected economies. In addition, multiple regression was used to determine the effect of doing business to economic growth. The study presented the income among selected economies. The graph showed China has the highest income while Maldives produces the lowest and that observation were supported by gathered literatures. The study also presented the status of the ten indicators of doing business among selected economies. The graphs showed varying trends on how easy to start a business, deal with construction permits and to register property. Starting a business is easiest in Singapore followed by Hong Kong. The study found out that the variations in ease of doing business is explained by starting a business, dealing with construction permits and registering property. Moreover, an explanation of the regression result implies that a day increase in the average number of days it takes to complete a procedure will decrease the value of GDP in general. The research proposed inputs to policy which may increase the awareness of local government units of different economies on the simplification of the policies of the different components used in measuring doing business.

Keywords: doing business, economic growth, gross domestic product, Asia

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Authors: Khaled Elbehiery, Hussam Elbehiery

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Smart cities are a framework of technologies along with sustainable infrastructure to provide their citizens an improved quality of life, safer environment, affordability, and more, which in turn helps with the society's economic growth. The proposed research will focus on the primary building block of the smart city; the infrastructure of the house itself. The traditional method of building houses has been, for a long time, nothing but a costly manufacturing process, and consequently, buying a house becomes not an option for everyone anymore. The smart cities' Modular Houses are not using traditional building construction materials; the design reduces the common lengthy construction times and associated high costs. The Modular Houses are technological homes, low-cost and customizable based on a family's requirements. In addition, the Modular Houses are environmentally friendly and healthy enough to assist with the pandemic situation.

Keywords: smart cities, modular houses, single-unit property, multi-unit property, mobility features, chain-supply, livable environment, carbon footprint

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Authors: Ashley Venerable, Rosario Tatlonghari

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This study identified how college deaf students of Bartimaeus Center for Alternative Learning in Tiaong, Quezon, Philippines view development using visual communication techniques and generating themes from responses. Complete enumeration was employed. Guided by Constructivist Theory of Perception, past experiences and stored information influenced perception. These themes of development emerged: social development; pleasant environment; interpersonal relationships; availability of resources; employment; infrastructure development; values; and peace and security. Using the National Economic and Development Authority development indicators, findings showed the deaf students’ views on development were similar from the mainstream views. Responses also became more meaningful through visual communication techniques.

Keywords: deaf, development, perception, development indicators, visual communication

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Authors: Fanqiang Kong, Chending Bian

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In this work, we exploit two assumed properties of the abundances of the observed signatures (endmembers) in order to reconstruct the abundances from hyperspectral data. Joint-sparsity is the first property of the abundances, which assumes the adjacent pixels can be expressed as different linear combinations of same materials. The second property is rank-deficiency where the number of endmembers participating in hyperspectral data is very small compared with the dimensionality of spectral library, which means that the abundances matrix of the endmembers is a low-rank matrix. These assumptions lead to an optimization problem for the sparse unmixing model that requires minimizing a combined l_2,p-norm and nuclear norm. We propose a variable splitting and augmented Lagrangian algorithm to solve the optimization problem. Experimental evaluation carried out on synthetic and real hyperspectral data shows that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithms with a better spectral unmixing accuracy.

Keywords: hyperspectral unmixing, joint-sparse, low-rank representation, abundance estimation

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Authors: M. Peña Aguilar Juan, Valencia Luis, Pastrana Alberto, Nava Estefany, A. Martinez, M. Vivanco, A. Castañeda

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This paper seeks to compare the innovation of Mexico from an economic and human perspective, with the seven most innovative countries according to the Global Innovation Index 2013, done by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The above analysis suggests nine dimensions: Expenditure on R & D, intellectual property, appropriate environment to conduct business, economic stability, and triple helix for R & D, ICT Infrastructure, education, human resources and quality of life. Each dimension is represented by an indicator which is later used to construct a radial graph that compares the innovative capacity of the countries analysed. As a result, it is proposed a new indicator of innovation called The Area of Innovation. Observations are made from the results, and finally as a conclusion, those items or dimensions in which Mexico suffers lag in innovation are identify.

Keywords: dimension, measure, innovation level, economy, radar chart

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Authors: Sameh Sarwat Melek Mikheal

Abstract:

The relationship between development and human rights has long been the subject of academic debate. To understand the dynamics between these two concepts, various principles are adopted, from the right to development to development-based human rights. Despite the initiatives taken, the relationship between development and human rights remains unclear. However, the overlap between these two views and the idea that efforts should be made in the field of human rights have increased in recent years. It is then evaluated whether the right to sustainable development is acceptable or not. This article concludes that the principles of sustainable development are directly or indirectly recognized in various human rights instruments, and this is a good answer to the question posed above. This book therefore cites regional and international human rights agreements such as , as well as the jurisprudence and interpretative guidelines of human rights institutions, to prove this hypothesis.

Keywords: balance, counter-terrorism, cyber-terrorism, human rights, security, violation sustainable development, the right to development, the human rights-based approach to development, environmental rights, economic development, social sustainability human rights protection, human rights violations, workers’ rights, justice, security

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Authors: Ziwei Huang

Abstract:

In order to promote Inventory development in Shenzhen, the market-oriented real estate development mode has occupied a dominant position in the urban renewal activities of Shenzhen. This research is based on the theory of role relationship and urban regime, taking the Mutoulong community as the research object. Carries on the case depth analysis found that: Under the situation of absence and dislocation of the government's role, land property rights disputes and lack of communication platforms is the main reason for the problems of nail households and market failures, and the long-term delay in the progress of old city reconstruction. Through the analysis of the cause of the transformation problem and the upper planning and interest coordination mechanism, the optimization strategy of the old city transformation is finally proposed as follows: the establishment of interest coordination platform, the risk assessment of the government's intervention in the preliminary construction of the land, the adaptive construction of laws and regulations, and the re-examination of the interest relationship between the government and the market.

Keywords: Shenzhen city, Mutoulong community, urban regeneration, urban regime theory, role relationship theory

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Authors: Viola Hubačová Pirová

Abstract:

The assessment of psychomotor development allows us to identify children with motor delays, helps us to monitor progress in time and prepare suitable intervention programs. The foundation of psychomotor development lies in pre-school age and is crucial for child´s further cognitive and social development. Many assessment tools of psychomotor development have been developed over the years. Some of them are easy screening tools; others are more complex and sophisticated. The purpose of this review is to describe the history of psychomotor assessment, specify preschool children´s psychomotor evaluation and review eight psychomotor development assessment tools for preschool children (Denver II., DEMOST-PRE, TGMD -2/3, BOT-2, MABC-2, PDMS-2, KTK, MOT 4-6). The selection of test depends on purpose and context in which is the assessment planned.

Keywords: assessment of psychomotor development, preschool children, psychomotor development, review of assessment tools

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Authors: Halina Veloso e Zarate, Manuela Triggianese

Abstract:

The urban challenges posed by rapid population growth, climate adaptation, and sustainable living have compelled Dutch cities to reimagine their built environment and transportation systems. As a pivotal contributor to CO₂ emissions, the transportation sector in the Netherlands demands innovative solutions for transitioning to low-carbon mobility. This study investigates the potential of transit oriented development (TOD) as a strategy for achieving carbon reduction and sustainable urban transformation. Focusing on the Lombardijen station area in Rotterdam, which is targeted for significant densification, this paper presents a design-oriented exploration of a low-carbon transport node. By employing a research-by-design methodology, this study delves into multifaceted factors and scales, aiming to propose future scenarios for Lombardijen. Drawing from a synthesis of existing literature, applied research, and practical insights, a robust design framework emerges. To inform this framework, governmental data concerning the built environment and material embodied carbon are harnessed. However, the restricted access to crucial datasets, such as property ownership information from the cadastre and embodied carbon data from De Nationale Milieudatabase, underscores the need for improved data accessibility, especially during the concept design phase. The findings of this research contribute fundamental insights not only to the Lombardijen case but also to TOD studies across Rotterdam's 13 nodes and similar global contexts. Spatial data related to property ownership facilitated the identification of potential densification sites, underscoring its importance for informed urban design decisions. Additionally, the paper highlights the disparity between the essential role of embodied carbon data in environmental assessments for building permits and its limited accessibility due to proprietary barriers. Although this study lays the groundwork for sustainable urbanization through TOD-based design, it acknowledges an area of future research worthy of exploration: the socio-economic dimension. Given the complex socio-economic challenges inherent in the Lombardijen area, extending beyond spatial constraints, a comprehensive approach demands integration of mobility infrastructure expansion, land-use diversification, programmatic enhancements, and climate adaptation. While the paper adopts a TOD lens, it refrains from an in-depth examination of issues concerning equity and inclusivity, opening doors for subsequent research to address these aspects crucial for holistic urban development.

Keywords: Rotterdam zuid, transport oriented development, carbon emissions, low-carbon design, cross-scale design, data-supported design

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