Search results for: behavioral signatures

Authors: Roza Rahbari

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After the Nigatta earthquake in Japan, in 1960, the liquefaction and its related hazards, moved to the thick of matter. Most of the research have been carried out on clean sands and silty sands so far, in order to study the effect of fine particles, confinement pressures, density and so on. However, because of this delusion that adhesiveness of clay prevents the liquefaction in sand, studies on clayey sands have not been taken seriously. However, several liquefactions happened in clayey sands in recent years, and lead to the necessity of more studies in this field. The studies which were carried out so far focused on high plastic clays. In this paper, the effect of low plasticity clays on the behavioral characteristics of sands is discussed. Thus, some triaxial tests were carried out on clean sands and clayey sands with different percentages of added clay. Specimens were compacted in various densities to study the effect of quantity of clay on various densities, too. Based on the findings, the amount of clay affects the behavior of sand greatly and leads to substantial changes in peak bearing capacity and steady state values.

Keywords: Liquefaction, clay, sand, triaxial, monotonic.

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Authors: Nighat Mir, Sayed Afaq Hussain

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Advent enhancements in the field of computing have increased massive use of web based electronic documents. Current Copyright protection laws are inadequate to prove the ownership for electronic documents and do not provide strong features against copying and manipulating information from the web. This has opened many channels for securing information and significant evolutions have been made in the area of information security. Digital Watermarking has developed into a very dynamic area of research and has addressed challenging issues for digital content. Watermarking can be visible (logos or signatures) and invisible (encoding and decoding). Many visible watermarking techniques have been studied for text documents but there are very few for web based text. XML files are used to trade information on the internet and contain important information. In this paper, two invisible watermarking techniques using Synonyms and Acronyms are proposed for XML files to prove the intellectual ownership and to achieve the security. Analysis is made for different attacks and amount of capacity to be embedded in the XML file is also noticed. A comparative analysis for capacity is also made for both methods. The system has been implemented using C# language and all tests are made practically to get the results.

Keywords: Watermarking, Extensible Markup Language (XML), Synonyms, Acronyms, Copyright protection.

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Authors: Marios Poulos, George Bokos

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This paper makes an attempt to solve the problem of searching and retrieving of similar MRI photos via Internet services using morphological features which are sourced via the original image. This study is aiming to be considered as an additional tool of searching and retrieve methods. Until now the main way of the searching mechanism is based on the syntactic way using keywords. The technique it proposes aims to serve the new requirements of libraries. One of these is the development of computational tools for the control and preservation of the intellectual property of digital objects, and especially of digital images. For this purpose, this paper proposes the use of a serial number extracted by using a previously tested semantic properties method. This method, with its center being the multi-layers of a set of arithmetic points, assures the following two properties: the uniqueness of the final extracted number and the semantic dependence of this number on the image used as the method-s input. The major advantage of this method is that it can control the authentication of a published image or its partial modification to a reliable degree. Also, it acquires the better of the known Hash functions that the digital signature schemes use and produces alphanumeric strings for cases of authentication checking, and the degree of similarity between an unknown image and an original image.

Keywords: Computational Geometry, MRI photos, Image processing, pattern Recognition.

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Authors: A. I. Alajtal, H. G. M. Edwards, M. A. Elbagermi

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Raman spectroscopy is currently a part of the instrumentation suite of the ESA ExoMars mission for the remote detection of life signatures in the Martian surface and subsurface. Terrestrial analogues of Martian sites have been identified and the biogeological modifications incurred as a result of extremophilic activity have been studied. Analytical instrumentation protocols for the unequivocal detection of biomarkers in suitable geological matrices are critical for future unmanned explorations, including the forthcoming ESA ExoMars mission to search for life on Mars scheduled for 2018 and Raman spectroscopy is currently a part of the Pasteur instrumentation suite of this mission. Here, Raman spectroscopy using 785nm excitation was evaluated for determining various concentrations of beta-carotene in admixture with polyaromatic hydrocarbons and usnic acid have been investigated by Raman microspectrometry to determine the lowest levels detectable in simulation of their potential identification remotely in geobiological conditions in Martian scenarios. Information from this study will be important for the development of a miniaturized Raman instrument for targetting Martian sites where the biosignatures of relict or extant life could remain in the geological record.

Keywords: Raman spectroscopy, Mars-analog, Beta-carotene, PAHs.

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Authors: Javadi Alimohammad, Zanjanizadeh Homa, Javadi Maryam

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Regarding the multi-media property of internet and the facilities that can be provided for the users, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the users- behavioral patterns and the impact of internet on taboos of marriage. For this purpose a survey technique on the sample size amounted 403 students of governmental guidance schools of city of Mashhad in country of Iran were considered. The results showed, the process of using various internet environments depends on the degree of the users- familiarity with these sites. In order to clarify the effects of the Internet on the taboos of marriage, the non – internet parameters also considered to be controlled. The ttest held among the internet users and non-users, indicated that internet users possess lower taboos of marriage. Extraction of the effects of internet via considering the effects of non-internet parameters, indicate that addiction to the internet, creating a cordial atmosphere, emotional communication, and message attractive factors have significant effects on the family's traditional values.

Keywords: Internet, taboos of marriage, family, masscommunication, computer mediate communication.

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Authors: Muhamad Abduh, Jarita Duasa, Mohd. Azmi Omar

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Unlike its conventional counterpart, Islamic principles forbid Islamic banks to take any interest-related income and thus makes deposits from depositors as an important source of fund for its operational and financing. Consequently, the risk of deposit withdrawal by depositors is an important aspect that should be wellmanaged in Islamic banking. This paper aims to investigate factors that influence depositors- withdrawal behavior in Islamic banks, particularly in Malaysia, using the framework of theory of reasoned action. A total of 368 respondents from Klang valley are involved in the analysis. The paper finds that all the constructs variable i.e. normative beliefs, subjective norms, behavioral beliefs, and attitude towards behavior are perceived to be distinct by the respondents. In addition, the structural equation model is able to verify the structural relationships between subjective norms, attitude towards behavior and behavioral intention. Subjective norms gives more influence to depositors- decision on deposit withdrawal compared to attitude towards behavior.

Keywords: Islamic bank, structural equation model, theory of reasoned action, withdrawal behavior

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Authors: Farzana Sharmin, Mohammad Tipu Sultan, Benqian Li

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Advancement of new media technology and consumption of social media have altered the way of communication in the tourism industry, mostly for consumers’ travel planning, online purchase, and experience sharing activity. There is an accelerating trend among young consumers’ to utilize this new media technology. This paper aims to analyze the attitude of young consumers’ about social media use for travel purposes. The convenience random sample method used to collect data from an urban area of Shanghai (China), consists of 225 young consumers’. This survey identified behavioral determinants of social media consumption by the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB). The instrument developed support on previous research to test hypotheses. The results of structural analyses indicate that attitude towards the use of social media is affected by external factors such as availability and accessibility of technology. In addition, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control have partially influenced the attitude of respondents’. The results of this study could help to improve social media travel marketing and promotional strategies for respective groups.

Keywords: Social media, theory of planned behavior, travel behavior, young consumer.

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Authors: Tatiana N. Astakhova, Alexander E. Saprygin, Tatiana A. Golovko, Alexander N. Savostyanov, Mikhail S. Vlasov, Natalia V. Borisova, Alexandera G. Karpova, Urana N. Kavai-ool, Elena Mokur-ool, Nikolay A. Kolchano, Lyubomir I. Aftanas

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The aim of the study is to compare behavioral and EEG reactions in Turkic-speaking inhabitants of Siberia (Tuvinians and Yakuts) and Russians during the recognition of syntax errors in native and foreign languages. Sixty-three healthy aboriginals of the Tyva Republic, 29 inhabitants of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, and 55 Russians from Novosibirsk participated in the study. EEG were recorded during execution of error-recognition task in Russian and English language (in all participants) and in native languages (Tuvinian or Yakut Turkic-speaking inhabitants). Reaction time (RT) and quality of task execution were chosen as behavioral measures. Amplitude and cortical distribution of P300 and P600 peaks of ERP were used as a measure of speech-related brain activity. In Tuvinians, there were no differences in the P300 and P600 amplitudes as well as in cortical topology for Russian and Tuvinian languages, but there was a difference for English. In Yakuts, the P300 and P600 amplitudes and topology of ERP for Russian language were the same as Russians had for native language. In Yakuts, brain reactions during Yakut and English language comprehension had no difference, while the Russian language comprehension was differed from both Yakut and English. We found out that the Tuvinians recognized both Russian and Tuvinian as native languages, and English as a foreign language. The Yakuts recognized both English and Yakut as foreign languages, but Russian as a native language. According to the inquirer, both Tuvinians and Yakuts use the national language as a spoken language, whereas they do not use it for writing. It can well be a reason that Yakuts perceive the Yakut writing language as a foreign language while writing Russian as their native.

Keywords: EEG, brain activity, syntactic analysis, native and foreign language.

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Authors: Peter Clutterbuck, Terry Rowlands, Owen Seamons

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In this paper we describe one critical research program within a complex, ongoing multi-year project (2010 to 2014 inclusive) with the overall goal to improve the learning outcomes for first year undergraduate commerce/business students within an Information Systems (IS) subject with very large enrolment. The single research program described in this paper is the analysis of student attitudes and decision making in relation to the availability of formative assessment feedback via Web-based real time conferencing and document exchange software (Adobe Connect). The formative assessment feedback between teaching staff and students is in respect of an authentic problem-based, team-completed assignment. The analysis of student attitudes and decision making is investigated via both qualitative (firstly) and quantitative (secondly) application of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) with a two statistically-significant and separate trial samples of the enrolled students. The initial qualitative TPB investigation revealed that perceived self-efficacy, improved time-management, and lecturer-student relationship building were the major factors in shaping an overall favorable student attitude to online feedback, whilst some students expressed valid concerns with perceived control limitations identified within the online feedback protocols. The subsequent quantitative TPB investigation then confirmed that attitude towards usage, subjective norms surrounding usage, and perceived behavioral control of usage were all significant in shaping student intention to use the online feedback protocol, with these three variables explaining 63 percent of the variance in the behavioral intention to use the online feedback protocol. The identification in this research of perceived behavioral control as a significant determinant in student usage of a specific technology component within a virtual learning environment (VLE) suggests that VLEs could now be viewed not as a single, atomic entity, but as a spectrum of technology offerings ranging from the mature and simple (e.g., email, Web downloads) to the cutting-edge and challenging (e.g., Web conferencing and real-time document exchange). That is, that all VLEs should not be considered the same. The results of this research suggest that tertiary students have the technological sophistication to assess a VLE in this more selective manner.

Keywords: Formative assessment feedback, virtual learning environment, theory of planned behavior, perceived behavioral control.

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Authors: Madhushi Bandara, Dharshana Kasthurirathna, Danaja Maldeniya, Mahendra Piraveenan

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Community detection is an extremely useful technique in understanding the structure and function of a social network. Louvain algorithm, which is based on Newman-Girman modularity optimization technique, is extensively used as a computationally efficient method extract the communities in social networks. It has been suggested that the nodes that are in close geographical proximity have a higher tendency of forming communities. Variants of the Newman-Girman modularity measure such as dist-modularity try to normalize the effect of geographical proximity to extract geographically dispersed communities, at the expense of losing the information about the geographically proximate communities. In this work, we propose a method to extract geographically dispersed communities while preserving the information about the geographically proximate communities, by analyzing the ‘community network’, where the centroids of communities would be considered as network nodes. We suggest that the inter-community link strengths, which are normalized over the community sizes, may be used to identify and extract the ‘overlay communities’. The overlay communities would have relatively higher link strengths, despite being relatively apart in their spatial distribution. We apply this method to the Gowalla online social network, which contains the geographical signatures of its users, and identify the overlay communities within it.

Keywords: Social networks, community detection, modularity optimization, geographically dispersed communities.

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Authors: Peerapong Uthansakul, Monthippa Uthansakul

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The rapid growth of e-Commerce services is significantly observed in the past decade. However, the method to verify the authenticated users still widely depends on numeric approaches. A new search on other verification methods suitable for online e-Commerce is an interesting issue. In this paper, a new online signature-verification method using angular transformation is presented. Delay shifts existing in online signatures are estimated by the estimation method relying on angle representation. In the proposed signature-verification algorithm, all components of input signature are extracted by considering the discontinuous break points on the stream of angular values. Then the estimated delay shift is captured by comparing with the selected reference signature and the error matching can be computed as a main feature used for verifying process. The threshold offsets are calculated by two types of error characteristics of the signature verification problem, False Rejection Rate (FRR) and False Acceptance Rate (FAR). The level of these two error rates depends on the decision threshold chosen whose value is such as to realize the Equal Error Rate (EER; FAR = FRR). The experimental results show that through the simple programming, employed on Internet for demonstrating e-Commerce services, the proposed method can provide 95.39% correct verifications and 7% better than DP matching based signature-verification method. In addition, the signature verification with extracting components provides more reliable results than using a whole decision making.

Keywords: Online signature verification, e-Commerce services, Angular transformation.

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Authors: A. S. Adesuyi, Z. Munch

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This study investigates the use of a time-series of MODIS NDVI data to identify agricultural land cover change on an annual time step (2007 - 2012) and characterize the trend. Following an ISODATA classification of the MODIS imagery to selectively mask areas not agriculture or semi-natural, NDVI signatures were created to identify areas cereals and vineyards with the aid of ancillary, pictometry and field sample data for 2010. The NDVI signature curve and training samples were used to create a decision tree model in WEKA 3.6.9 using decision tree classifier (J48) algorithm; Model 1 including ISODATA classification and Model 2 not. These two models were then used to classify all data for the study area for 2010, producing land cover maps with classification accuracies of 77% and 80% for Model 1 and 2 respectively. Model 2 was subsequently used to create land cover classification and change detection maps for all other years. Subtle changes and areas of consistency (unchanged) were observed in the agricultural classes and crop practices. Over the years as predicted by the land cover classification. Forty one percent of the catchment comprised of cereals with 35% possibly following a crop rotation system. Vineyards largely remained constant with only one percent conversion to vineyard from other land cover classes.

Keywords: Change detection, Land cover, NDVI, time-series.

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Authors: Meng-Cong Zheng, Yu-Sheng Chen

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The meeting behavior is a pervasive kind of interaction, which often occurs between the passenger and the shuttle. However, the meeting point set up at the Taoyuan International Airport is too far from the entry-exit, often causing passengers to stop searching near the entry-exit. When the number of people waiting for the rush hour increases, it often results in chaos in the waiting area. This study tried to find out what is the key factor to promote the rapid finding of each other between the passengers and the pick-ups. Then we implemented several design proposals to improve the meeting behavior of passengers and pick-ups based on behavior mapping and post-occupancy evaluation to enhance their meeting efficiency in unfamiliar environments. The research base is the reception hall of the second terminal of Taoyuan International Airport. Behavioral observation and mapping are implemented on the entry of inbound passengers into the welcome space, including the crowd distribution of the people who rely on the separation wall in the waiting area, the behavior of meeting and the interaction between the inbound passengers and the pick-ups. Then we redesign the space planning and signage design based on post-occupancy evaluation to verify the effectiveness of space plan and signage design. This study found that passengers ignore existing meeting-point designs which are placed on distant pillars at both ends. The position of the screen affects the area where the receiver is stranded, causing the pick-ups to block the passenger's moving line. The pick-ups prefer to wait where it is easy to watch incoming passengers and where it is closest to the mode of transport they take when leaving. Large visitors tend to gather next to landmarks, and smaller groups have a wide waiting area in the lobby. The location of the meeting point chosen by the pick-ups is related to the view of the incoming passenger. Finally, this study proposes an improved design of the meeting point, setting the traffic information in it, so that most passengers can see the traffic information when they enter the country. At the same time, we also redesigned the pick-ups desk to improve the efficiency of passenger meeting.

Keywords: Meeting point design, post-occupancy evaluation, behavioral mapping, international airport.

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Authors: D. S. A. Nanayakkara, K. J. P. G. Perera

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E-commerce platforms have revolutionized the shopping experience, offering convenient ways for consumers to make purchases. To improve interactions with customers and optimize marketing strategies, it is essential for businesses to understand user behavior, preferences, and needs on these platforms. This paper focuses on recommending businesses to customize interactions with users based on their behavioral patterns, leveraging data-driven analysis and machine learning techniques. Businesses can improve engagement and boost the adoption of e-commerce platforms by aligning behavioral patterns with user goals of usability and satisfaction. We propose TheAnalyzer, a clustering-based system designed to enhance business productivity by analyzing user-profiles and improving human-computer interaction. TheAnalyzer seamlessly integrates with business applications, collecting relevant data points based on users' natural interactions without additional burdens such as questionnaires or surveys. It defines five key user analytics as features for its dataset, which are easily captured through users' interactions with e-commerce platforms. This research presents a study demonstrating the successful distinction of users into specific groups based on the five key analytics considered by TheAnalyzer. With the assistance of domain experts, customized business rules can be attached to each group, enabling TheAnalyzer to influence business applications and provide an enhanced personalized user experience. The outcomes are evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively, demonstrating that utilizing TheAnalyzer’s capabilities can optimize business outcomes, enhance customer satisfaction, and drive sustainable growth. The findings of this research contribute to the advancement of personalized interactions in e-commerce platforms. By leveraging user behavioral patterns and analyzing both new and existing users, businesses can effectively tailor their interactions to improve customer satisfaction, loyalty and ultimately drive sales.

Keywords: Data clustering, data standardization, dimensionality reduction, human-computer interaction, user profiling.

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Authors: Akrem Sellami, Imed Riadh Farah

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Hyperspectral imagery (HSI) typically provides a wealth of information captured in a wide range of the electromagnetic spectrum for each pixel in the image. Hence, a pixel in HSI is a high-dimensional vector of intensities with a large spectral range and a high spectral resolution. Therefore, the semantic interpretation is a challenging task of HSI analysis. We focused in this paper on object classification as HSI semantic interpretation. However, HSI classification still faces some issues, among which are the following: The spatial variability of spectral signatures, the high number of spectral bands, and the high cost of true sample labeling. Therefore, the high number of spectral bands and the low number of training samples pose the problem of the curse of dimensionality. In order to resolve this problem, we propose to introduce the process of dimensionality reduction trying to improve the classification of HSI. The presented approach is a semi-supervised band selection method based on spatial hypergraph embedding model to represent higher order relationships with different weights of the spatial neighbors corresponding to the centroid of pixel. This semi-supervised band selection has been developed to select useful bands for object classification. The presented approach is evaluated on AVIRIS and ROSIS HSIs and compared to other dimensionality reduction methods. The experimental results demonstrate the efficacy of our approach compared to many existing dimensionality reduction methods for HSI classification.

Keywords: Hyperspectral image, spatial hypergraph, dimensionality reduction, semantic interpretation, band selection, feature extraction.

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Authors: A. Udayakumar, M. Rizvan Basha, M. Stalin, V.V Bhanu Prasad

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Three dimensional non-Interlaced carbon fibre reinforced silicon carbide (3-D-Cf/SiC) composites with pyrocarbon interphase were fabricated using isothermal chemical vapor infiltration (ICVI) combined with polymer impregnation pyrolysis (PIP) process. Polysilazane (PSZ) is used as a preceramic polymer to obtain silicon carbide matrix. Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), Infrared spectroscopic analysis (IR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis were carried out on PSZ pyrolysed at different temperatures to understand the pyrolysis and obtaining the optimum pyrolysing condition to yield β-SiC phase. The density of the composites was 1.94 g cm-3 after the 3-D carbon preform was SiC infiltrated for 280 h with one intermediate polysilazane pre-ceramic PIP process. Mechanical properties of the composite materials were investigated under tensile, flexural, shear and impact loading. The values of tensile strength were 200 MPa at room temperature (RT) and 195 MPa at 500°C in air. The average RT flexural strength was 243 MPa. The lower flexural strength of these composites is because of the porosity. The fracture toughness obtained from single edge notched beam (SENB) technique was 39 MPa.m1/2. The work of fracture obtained from the load-displacement curve of SENB test was 22.8 kJ.m-2. The composites exhibited excellent impact resistance and the dynamic fracture toughness of 44.8 kJ.m-2 is achieved as determined from instrumented Charpy impact test. The shear strength of the composite was 93 MPa, which is significantly higher compared 2-D Cf/SiC composites. Microstructure evaluation of fracture surfaces revealed the signatures of fracture processes and showed good support for the higher toughness obtained.

Keywords: 3-D-Cf/SiC, charpy impact test, composites, dynamic fracture toughness, polysilazane, pyrocarbon, Interphase.

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Authors: Amira, A. Goma, U. E. Mahrous

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Welfare may be considered to be a subjective experience; it has a biological function that is related to the fitness and survival of the animal accordingly, researches have suggested that welfare is compromised when the animal's evolutionary fitness is reduced. This study was carried out to explain the effect of some managerial stressors as handling and restraint on behavioral patterns and biochemical parameters of rats. A total of 24 (12 males & 12 females) Sprague-Dawley rats (12 months & 150-180g) were allotted into 3 groups, handled group (4 male & 4 female), restrained group (4 male & 4 female) and control group (4 males & 4 females). The obtained results revealed that time spent feeding, drinking, movement and cage exploration frequencies increased significantly in handled rats than other groups, while lying time and licking increased significantly in restrained rats than handled and controls. Moreover, social behavior decreased in both stressed groups than control. Triglycerides were significantly increased in handled rats than other groups, while total lipid, total protein and globulin significantly increased in both treated groups than control. Corticosterone increased in restrained and handled rats than control ones. Moreover, there was an increment in packed cell volume significantly in restrained rats than others. These deducted that if we want to study the effect of stress on animal welfare it is necessary to study the effect of such stressors on animal’s behavior and physiological responses.

Keywords: Behavior, handling, restraint, rat, welfare.

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Authors: Emilia Nercissians

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Neoclassical and functionalist explanations of self organization in multiagent systems have been criticized on several accounts including unrealistic explication of overadapted agents and failure to resolve problems of externality. The paper outlines a more elaborate and dynamic model that is capable of resolving these dilemmas. An illustrative example where behavioral diversity is cobred in a repeated nonzero sum task via evolutionary computing is presented.

Keywords: evolutionary stability, externalities, neofunctionalism, prisoners' dilemma.

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Authors: Mohammad Tipu Sultan, Farzana Sharmin, Ke Xue

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Social media create a better opportunity for travelers to search for travel information, select destination and share their personal experiences of the travel. This study proposes a framework which describes the relationships between social media, and positive or negative tourism experience sharing impact on destination choice. To find out new trends of travelers behavioral intention, we propose an extended theoretical model, the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). We conducted a survey to analyze three external factors, subjective norms, and positive and negative experience influence on travel destination choice. Structural questionnaire analysis was employed to confirm the proposed research hypothesis within the relationship between consumer influences on the shared experience of social media. The results of the study confirm that sharing positive experiences influence the positive effect of destination choice, while negative experiences decrease the destination selection option. The results indicate that attitudes, subjective norms are passively influenced by shared experience. Moreover, we find that sharing live pictures of travel experiences through social media helps to reduce negative perceptions of the destination brand. This research contribution is useable to the research field as a new determination factor and the findings could be used by destination organization management (DMO) to enhancing their tourism promotion through social media.

Keywords: Destination choice, tourism experience sharing, Theory of Reasoned Action, social media.

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Authors: B. Parchem, M. Watanabe, D. Modrakovic, L. Mathew, A. Franklin, M. Cao, R. E. Broudy

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Objective: Executive functioning (EF) deficits underlie several mental health diagnoses including ADHD, anxiety, and depression. Community mental health clinics face extensive waitlists for services with many referrals involving EF deficits. A pilot trial of a four-week group therapy was developed using key components from Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and mindfulness with an aim to improve EF skills and offer low-fee services. Method: Eight adults (M = 34.5) waiting for services at a community clinic were enrolled in a four-week group therapy at an in-house training clinic for doctoral trainees. Baseline EF, pre-/post-intervention ADHD and distress symptoms, group satisfaction, and curriculum helpfulness were assessed. Results: Downward trends in ADHD and distress symptoms pre/post-intervention were not significant. Favorable responses on group satisfaction and helpfulness suggest clinical utility. Conclusion: Preliminary pilot data from a brief group therapy to improve EF may be an efficacious, acceptable, and feasible intervention for adults waiting for services at community mental health and training clinics where there are high demands and limits to services and staffs.

Keywords: Executive functioning, cognitive-behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, mindfulness, adult group therapy.

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Authors: Joseph Zernik

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Validity, integrity, and impacts of the IT systems of the US federal courts have been studied as part of the Human Rights Alert-NGO (HRA) submission for the 2015 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of human rights in the United States by the Human Rights Council (HRC) of the United Nations (UN). The current report includes overview of IT system analysis, data-mining and case studies. System analysis and data-mining show: Development and implementation with no lawful authority, servers of unverified identity, invalidity in implementation of electronic signatures, authentication instruments and procedures, authorities and permissions; discrimination in access against the public and unrepresented (pro se) parties and in favor of attorneys; widespread publication of invalid judicial records and dockets, leading to their false representation and false enforcement. A series of case studies documents the impacts on individuals' human rights, on banking regulation, and on international matters. Significance is discussed in the context of various media and expert reports, which opine unprecedented corruption of the US justice system today, and which question, whether the US Constitution was in fact suspended. Similar findings were previously reported in IT systems of the State of California and the State of Israel, which were incorporated, subject to professional HRC staff review, into the UN UPR reports (2010 and 2013). Solutions are proposed, based on the principles of publicity of the law and the separation of power: Reliance on US IT and legal experts under accountability to the legislative branch, enhancing transparency, ongoing vigilance by human rights and internet activists. IT experts should assume more prominent civic duties in the safeguard of civil society in our era.

Keywords: E-justice, federal courts, United States, human rights, banking regulation.

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Authors: M. R. Akshaya, Veena Rao

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Pet population in India is increasing phenomenally owing to the changes in urban lifestyle with increasing number of single professionals, single parents, delayed parenthood etc. The animal companionship as a means of reducing stress levels, deriving emotional support, and unconditional love provided by dogs are a few reasons attributed for increasing pet ownership. The consequence is the booming of the pet care products and dog care centers catering to the different requirements of rearing the pets. Dog care centers quite popular in tier 1 metros of India cater to the requirement of the dog owners providing space for the dogs in absence of the owner. However, it is often reported that the absence of the owner leads to destructive and exploratory behavior issues; the main being the anxiety disorders. In the above context, it becomes imperative for a designer to design dog boarding centers that help in reducing the separation anxiety in dogs keeping in mind the different interior design parameters. An exploratory research with focus group discussion is employed involving a group of dog owners, behaviorists, proprietors of day care as well as boarding centers, and veterinarians to understand their perception on the significance of different interior parameters of color, texture, ventilation, aroma therapy and acoustics as a means of reducing the stress levels in dogs sent to the boarding centers. The data collected is organized as thematic networks thus enabling the listing of the interior design parameters that needs to be considered in designing dog boarding centers. 

Keywords: Behavioral response, design parameters, dog boarding centers, interior environment.

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Authors: Anthony Spiteri Staines

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This paper examines the modeling and analysis of a cruise control system using a Petri net based approach, task graphs, invariant analysis and behavioral properties. It shows how the structures used can be verified and optimized.

Keywords: Software Engineering, Real Time Analysis andDesign, Petri Nets, Task Graphs, Parallelism.

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Authors: Levent Basayigit, Sinan Demir, Yusuf Ucar, Burhan Kara

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Many research projects require accurate delineation of the different land cover type of the agricultural area. Especially it is critically important for the definition of specific plants like cannabis. However, the complexity of vegetation stands structure, abundant vegetation species, and the smooth transition between different seconder section stages make vegetation classification difficult when using traditional approaches such as the maximum likelihood classifier. Most of the time, classification distinguishes only between trees/annual or grain. It has been difficult to accurately determine the cannabis mixed with other plants. In this paper, a mixed distribution models approach is applied to classify pure and mix cannabis parcels using Worldview-2 imagery in the Lakes region of Turkey. Five different land use types (i.e. sunflower, maize, bare soil, and cannabis) were identified in the image. A constrained Gaussian mixture discriminant analysis (GMDA) was used to unmix the image. In the study, 255 reflectance ratios derived from spectral signatures of seven bands (Blue-Green-Yellow-Red-Rededge-NIR1-NIR2) were randomly arranged as 80% for training and 20% for test data. Gaussian mixed distribution model approach is proved to be an effective and convenient way to combine very high spatial resolution imagery for distinguishing cannabis vegetation. Based on the overall accuracies of the classification, the Gaussian mixed distribution model was found to be very successful to achieve image classification tasks. This approach is sensitive to capture the illegal cannabis planting areas in the large plain. This approach can also be used for monitoring and determination with spectral reflections in illegal cannabis planting areas.

Keywords: Gaussian mixture discriminant analysis, spectral mixture model, World View-2, land parcels.

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Authors: Laura Çami (Vorpsi), Xhon Skënderi

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In today's rapidly evolving technological landscape, the traditional principles of contract law are facing significant challenges. The emergence of new technologies, such as electronic signatures, smart contracts, and online dispute resolution mechanisms, is transforming the way contracts are formed, interpreted, and enforced. This paper examines the implications of these technological advancements on the constitutional principles of contract law. One of the fundamental principles of contract law is freedom of contract, which ensures that parties have the autonomy to negotiate and enter into contracts as they see fit. However, the use of technology in the contracting process has the potential to disrupt this principle. For example, online platforms and marketplaces often offer standard-form contracts, which may not reflect the specific needs or interests of individual parties. This raises questions about the equality of bargaining power between parties and the extent to which parties are truly free to negotiate the terms of their contracts. Another important principle of contract law is the requirement of consideration, which requires that each party receives something of value in exchange for their promise. The use of digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies, has created new challenges in determining what constitutes valuable consideration in a contract. Due to the ambiguity in this area, disagreements about the legality and enforceability of such contracts may arise. Furthermore, the use of technology in dispute resolution mechanisms, such as online arbitration and mediation, may raise concerns about due process and access to justice. The use of algorithms and artificial intelligence to determine the outcome of disputes may also raise questions about the impartiality and fairness of the process. Finally, it should be noted that there are many different and complex effects of technical improvements on the fundamental constitutional foundations of contract law. As technology continues to evolve, it will be important for policymakers and legal practitioners to consider the potential impacts on contract law and to ensure that the principles of fairness, equality, and access to justice are preserved in the contracting process.

Keywords: Technological advancements, constitutional principles, contract law, smart contracts, online dispute resolution, freedom of contract.

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Authors: Chi-Shan Chen, Mao-Chou Hsu, Feng-Chuan Pan

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The incidence of oral cancer in Taiwan increased year by year. It replaced the nasopharyngeal as the top incurrence among head and neck cancers since 1994. Early examination and earlier identification for earlier treatment is the most effective medical treatment for these cancers. Although the government fully subsidized the expenses with tremendous promotion program for oral cancer screening, the citizen-s participation remained low. Purpose of this study is to understand the factors affecting the citizens- behavior intensions of taking an oral cancer screening. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, this study adopted four distinctive variables in explaining the captioned behavior intentions.700 questionnaires were dispatched with 500 valid responses or 71.4% returned by the citizens with an age 30 or above from the eastern counties of Taiwan. Test results has shown that attitude toward, subjective norms of, and perceived behavioral control over the oral cancer screening varied from some demographic factors to another. The study proofed that attitude toward, subjective norms of, and perceived behavioral control over the oral cancer screening had positive impacts on the corresponding behavior intention. The test concluded that the theory of planned behavior was appropriate as a theoretical framework in explaining the influencing factors of intentions of taking oral cancer screening. This study suggested the healthcare professional should provide high accessibility of screening services other than just delivering knowledge on oral cancer to promote the citizens- intentions of taking the captioned screening. This research also provided a practical implication to the healthcare professionals when formulating and implementing promotion instruments for lifting the screening rate of oral cancer.

Keywords: Theory of planned behavior, oral cancer, cancer screening

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Authors: Ladda Leungratanamart, Seree Chadcham

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Fluid intelligence declines along with age, but it can be developed. For this reason, increasing fluid intelligence in young adults can be possible. This study examined the effects of a two-month treadmill exercise program on fluid intelligence. The researcher designed a treadmill exercise program to promote cardiorespiratory fitness. Thirty-eight healthy voluntary students from the Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Chon Buri were assigned randomly to an exercise group (n=18) and a control group (n=20). The experiment consisted of three sessions: The baseline session consisted of measuring the VO₂max, electroencephalogram and behavioral response during performed the Raven Progressive Matrices (RPM) test, a measure of fluid intelligence. For the exercise session, an experimental group exercises using treadmill training at 60 % to 80 % maximum heart rate for 30 mins, three times per week, whereas the control group did not exercise. For the following two sessions, each participant was measured the same as baseline testing. The data were analyzed using the t-test to examine whether there is significant difference between the means of the two groups. The results showed that the mean VO₂ max in the experimental group were significantly more than the control group (p<.05), suggesting a two-month treadmill exercise program can improve fluid intelligence. When comparing the behavioral data, it was found that experimental group performed RPM test more accurately and faster than the control group. Neuroelectric data indicated a significant increase in percentages of alpha band ERD (%ERD) at P3 and Pz compared to the pre-exercise condition and the control group. These data suggest that a two-month treadmill exercise program can contribute to the development of cardiorespiratory fitness which influences an increase fluid intelligence. Exercise involved in cortical activation in difference brain areas.

Keywords: Treadmill exercise, fluid intelligence, raven progressive matrices test, %ERD of upper Alpha band.

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Authors: Tomas Makaras, Gintaras Svecevičius

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Landfill waste is a common problem as it has an economic and environmental impact even if it is closed. Landfill waste contains a high density of various persistent compounds such as heavy metals, organic and inorganic materials. As persistent compounds are slowly-degradable or even non-degradable in the environment, they often produce sublethal or even lethal effects on aquatic organisms. The aims of the present study were to estimate sublethal effects of the Kairiai landfill (WGS: 55°55‘46.74“, 23°23‘28.4“) leachate on the locomotor activity of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss juveniles using the original system package developed in our laboratory for automated monitoring, recording and analysis of aquatic organisms’ activity, and to determine patterns of fish behavioral response to sublethal effects of leachate. Four different concentrations of leachate were chosen: 0.125; 0.25; 0.5 and 1.0 mL/L (0.0025; 0.005; 0.01 and 0.002 as part of 96-hour LC50, respectively). Locomotor activity was measured after 5, 10 and 30 minutes of exposure during 1-minute test-periods of each fish (7 fish per treatment). The threshold-effect-concentration amounted to 0.18 mL/L (0.0036 parts of 96-hour LC50). This concentration was found to be even 2.8-fold lower than the concentration generally assumed to be “safe” for fish. At higher concentrations, the landfill leachate solution elicited behavioral response of test fish to sublethal levels of pollutants. The ability of the rainbow trout to detect and avoid contaminants occurred after 5 minutes of exposure. The intensity of locomotor activity reached a peak within 10 minutes, evidently decreasing after 30 minutes. This could be explained by the physiological and biochemical adaptation of fish to altered environmental conditions. It has been established that the locomotor activity of juvenile trout depends on leachate concentration and exposure duration. Modeling of these parameters showed that the activity of juveniles increased at higher leachate concentrations, but slightly decreased with the increasing exposure duration. Experiment results confirm that the behavior of rainbow trout juveniles is a sensitive and rapid biomarker that can be used in combination with the system for fish behavior monitoring, registration and analysis to determine sublethal concentrations of pollutants in ambient water. Further research should be focused on software improvement aimed to include more parameters of aquatic organisms’ behavior and to investigate the most rapid and appropriate behavioral responses in different species. In practice, this study could be the basis for the development and creation of biological early-warning systems (BEWS).

Keywords: Fish behavior biomarker, landfill leachate, locomotor activity, rainbow trout juveniles, sublethal effects.

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Authors: Yuri Boiko, Iluju Kiringa, Tet Yeap

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Current drainage attack suggested previously is further studied in regular settings of closed-loop controlled Brushless DC (BLDC) motor with Kalman filter in the feedback loop. Modeling and simulation experiments are conducted in a MATLAB environment, implementing the closed-loop control model of BLDC motor operation in position sensorless mode under Kalman filter drive. The current increase in the motor windings is caused by the controller (p-controller in our case) affected by false data injection of substitution of the angular velocity estimates with distorted values. Operation of multiplication to distortion coefficient, values of which are taken from the distortion function synchronized in its periodicity with the rotor’s position change. A saw function with a triangular tooth shape is studied herewith for the purpose of carrying out the bias injection with current drainage consequences. The specific focus here is on how the asymmetry of the tooth in the saw function affects the flow of current drainage. The purpose is two-fold: (i) to produce and collect the signature of an asymmetric saw in the attack for further pattern recognition process, and (ii) to determine conditions of improving stealthiness of such attack via regulating asymmetry in saw function used. It is found that modification of the symmetry in the saw tooth affects the periodicity of current drainage modulation. Specifically, the modulation frequency of the drained current for a fully asymmetric tooth shape coincides with the saw function modulation frequency itself. Increasing the symmetry parameter for the triangle tooth shape leads to an increase in the modulation frequency for the drained current. Moreover, such frequency reaches the switching frequency of the motor windings for fully symmetric triangular shapes, thus becoming undetectable and improving the stealthiness of the attack. Therefore, the collected signatures of the attack can serve for attack parameter identification via the pattern recognition route.

Keywords: Bias injection attack, Kalman filter, BLDC motor, control system, closed loop, P-controller, PID-controller, current drainage, saw-function, asymmetry.

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Authors: Feryal Aslani, Mohammad Mousakhani, Alireza Aslani

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One of the most important areas of knowledge management studies is knowledge sharing. Measured in terms of number of scientific articles and organization-s applications, knowledge sharing stands as an example of success in the field. This paper reviews the related papers in the context of the underlying individual behavioral variables to providea direction framework for future research and writing.

Keywords: future research, individual variables, knowledge sharing, organizational behavior

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