Search results for: Environmental Kuznets Curve

Authors: Nur Nadiah Abd Hamid, Ahmad Abd. Majid, Ahmad Izani Md. Ismail

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Linear two-point boundary value problem of order two is solved using extended cubic B-spline interpolation method. There is one free parameters, λ, that control the tension of the solution curve. For some λ, this method produced better results than cubic B-spline interpolation method.

Keywords: two-point boundary value problem, B-spline, extendedcubic B-spline.

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Pirestani, Mehdi Shafaghati, Amir Ahmad Dehghani

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From the beginning of creation, human being has ever fought against the ecosystem by changes has made in environment. The most environmental changes on the nature have been done after starting the concentrated life in the same region. Dams are one of the most important buildings in water resources and transferring. These buildings have been made from old times without access to hydrological, hydraulically, hydro mechanical information. Dams have positive and negative effects on environment. Constructing a dam relatively causes equal ecological consequences. According to different criteria, environmental effects of dams can lead short term and long term damages. These effects may influence on the situation and treatment of meteorology, biology, culture, ancient works, etc and severely causes to change and complicate it. So considering importance of positive effects of dam construction, it is necessary to minimize negative environmental effects of dams to achieve a stable development. In this article the considered effects and their solutions in influencing on assessment of destructive environmental effects of dams construction have been surveyed and presented.

Keywords: Dam, Environment, Water Resources, Assessment

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Authors: Nelson F.F. Ebecken, Gilberto C. Pereira

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The objective of this work is to explicit knowledge on the interactions between the chlorophyll-a and nine meroplankton larvae of epibenthonic fauna. The studied case is the Arraial do Cabo upwelling system, Southeastern of Brazil, which provides different environmental conditions. To assess this information a network approach based in probability estimative was used. Comparisons among the generated graphs are made in the light of different water masses, application of Shannon biodiversity index, and the closeness and betweenness centralities measurements. Our results show the main pattern among different water masses and how the core organisms belonging to the network skeleton are correlated to the main environmental variable. We conclude that the approach of complex networks is a promising tool for environmental diagnostic.

Keywords: Coastal upwelling, Ecological networks, Plankton - interactions, Environmental analysis.

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Authors: M. van der Bank, C. M. van der Bank

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Alternative Dispute Resolution denotes all forms of dispute resolution other than litigation or adjudication through the courts. This definition of Alternative Dispute Resolution, however, makes no mention of a vital consideration. ADR is the generally accepted acronym for alternative dispute resolution. Despite the choice not to proceed before a court or statutory tribunal, ADR will still be regulated by law and by the Constitution. Fairness is one of the core values of the South African constitutional order. Environmental disputes occur frequently, but due to delays and costs, ADR is a mechanism to resolve this kind of disputes which is a resolution of non-judicial mechanism. ADR can be used as a mechanism in environmental disputes that are less expensive and also more expeditious than formal litigation. ADR covers a broad range of mechanisms and processes designed to assist parties in resolving disputes creatively and effectively. In so far as this may involve the selection or design of mechanisms and processes other than formal litigation, these mechanisms and processes are not intended to supplant court adjudication, but rather to supplement it. A variety of ADR methods have been developed to deal with numerous problems encountered during environmental disputes. The research questions are: How can ADR facilitate environmental disputes in South Africa? Are they appropriate? And what improvements should be made?

Keywords: Alternative dispute, environmental disputes, non-judicial, resolution and settlement.

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Authors: Vinita V. Sondur, Vilas B. Sondur, Narasimha H. Ayachit

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It is observed that the Weighted least-square (WLS) technique, including the modifications, results in equiripple error curve. The resultant error as a percent of the ideal value is highly non-uniformly distributed over the range of frequencies for which the differentiator is designed. The present paper proposes a modification to the technique so that the optimization procedure results in lower maximum relative error compared to the ideal values. Simulation results for first order as well as higher order differentiators are given to illustrate the excellent performance of the proposed method.

Keywords: Differentiator, equiripple, error distribution, relative error.

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Authors: Ahmet Tekcan

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Let F(x, y) = ax2 + bxy + cy2 be a positive definite binary quadratic form with discriminant Δ whose base points lie on the line x = -1/m for an integer m ≥ 2, let p be a prime number and let Fp be a finite field. Let EF : y2 = ax3 + bx2 + cx be an elliptic curve over Fp and let CF : ax3 + bx2 + cx ≡ 0(mod p) be the cubic congruence corresponding to F. In this work we consider some properties of positive definite quadratic forms, elliptic curves and cubic congruences.

Keywords: Binary quadratic form, elliptic curves, cubic congruence.

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Authors: Süha Yılmaz, Melih Turgut

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The curves, of which the square of the distance between the two points equal to zero, are called minimal or isotropic curves [4]. In this work, first, necessary and sufficient conditions to be a Pseudo Helix, which is a special case of such curves, are presented. Thereafter, it is proven that an isotropic curve-s position vector and pseudo curvature satisfy a vector differential equation of fourth order. Additionally, In view of solution of mentioned equation, position vector of pseudo helices is obtained.

Keywords: Classical Differential Geometry, Euclidean space, Minimal Curves, Isotropic Curves, Pseudo Helix.

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Authors: N. Dahbi, D-E. Arafah

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The effect of chemical treatment in CdCl2 on the compositional changes and defect structures of potentially useful ZnS solar cell thin films prepared by vacuum deposition method was studied using the complementary Rutherford backscattering (RBS) and Thermoluminesence (TL) techniques. A series of electron and hole traps are found in the various as deposited samples studied. After treatment, perturbation on the intensity is noted; mobile defect states and charge conversion and/or transfer between defect states are found.

Keywords: chemical treatment, defect, glow curve, RBS, thinfilm, thermoluminescence, ZnS, vacuum deposition

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Authors: Florian Gschösser, Walter Purrer

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The paper shows examples for the (environmental) optimization of production processes for asphalt mixtures applied for typical road pavements in Austria and Switzerland. The conducted “from-cradle-to-gate” LCA firstly analyzes the production one cubic meter of asphalt and secondly all material production processes for exemplary highway pavements applied in Austria and Switzerland. It is shown that environmental impacts can be reduced by the application of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and by the optimization of specific production characteristics, e.g. the reduction of the initial moisture of the mineral aggregate and the reduction of the mixing temperature by the application of low-viscosity and foam bitumen. The results of the LCA study demonstrate reduction potentials per cubic meter asphalt of up to 57 % (Global Warming Potential–GWP) and 77 % (Ozone depletion–ODP). The analysis per square meter of asphalt pavement determined environmental potentials of up to 40 % (GWP) and 56 % (ODP).

Keywords: Asphalt mixtures, environmental potentials, life cycle assessment, material production.

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Authors: Alexander Y. Vaninsky

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Environmental performance of the U.S. States is investigated for the period of 1990 – 2007 using Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). The SFA accounts for both efficiency measure and stochastic noise affecting a frontier. The frontier is formed using indicators of GDP, energy consumption, population, and CO2 emissions. For comparability, all indicators are expressed as ratios to total. Statistical information of the Energy Information Agency of the United States is used. Obtained results reveal the bell - shaped dynamics of environmental efficiency scores. The average efficiency scores rise from 97.6% in 1990 to 99.6% in 1999, and then fall to 98.4% in 2007. The main factor is insufficient decrease in the rate of growth of CO2 emissions with regards to the growth of GDP, population and energy consumption. Data for 2008 following the research period allow for an assumption that the environmental performance of the U.S. States has improved in the last years.

Keywords: Stochastic frontier analysis, environmental performance, interstate comparisons.

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Authors: Alaa Fahmy

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Key management represents a major and the most sensitive part of cryptographic systems. It includes key generation, key distribution, key storage, and key deletion. It is also considered the hardest part of cryptography. Designing secure cryptographic algorithms is hard, and keeping the keys secret is much harder. Cryptanalysts usually attack both symmetric and public key cryptosystems through their key management. We introduce a protocol to exchange cipher keys over insecure communication channel. This protocol is based on public key cryptosystem, especially elliptic curve cryptosystem. Meanwhile, it tests the cipher keys and selects only the good keys and rejects the weak one.

Keywords: Key management and key distribution.

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Authors: Rayeheh Khatami, Toktam Hanaei, Mohammad Reza Mansouri Daneshvar

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The growth of the agricultural sector is known as an essential way to achieve development goals in developing countries. Urban agriculture is a way to reduce the vulnerability of urban populations of the world toward global environmental change. It is a sustainable and efficient system to respond to the environmental, social and economic needs of the city, which leads to urban sustainability. Today, many local and national governments are developing urban agriculture as an effective tool in responding to challenges such as poverty, food security, and environmental problems. In this study, we follow a perspective based on urban agriculture literature in order to indicate the urban agriculture’s benefits in environmental planning strategies in non-western countries like Iran. The methodological approach adopted is based on qualitative approach and documentary studies. A total of 35 articles (mixed quantitative and qualitative methods studies) were studied in final analysis, which are published in relevant journals that focus on this subject. Studies show the wide range of positive benefits of urban agriculture on food security, nutrition outcomes, health outcomes, environmental outcomes, and social capital. However, there was no definitive conclusion about the negative effects of urban agriculture. This paper provides a conceptual and theoretical basis to know about urban agriculture and its roles in environmental planning, and also conclude the benefits of urban agriculture for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers who seek to create spaces in cities for implementation urban agriculture in future.

Keywords: Urban agriculture, environmental planning, urban planning, literature.

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Authors: V. Komarova

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The main purpose of this research is the calculation of implicit prices of the environmental level of air quality in the city of Moscow on the basis of housing property prices. The database used contains records of approximately 20 thousand apartments and has been provided by a leading real estate agency operating in Russia. The explanatory variables include physical characteristics of the houses, environmental (industry emissions), neighbourhood sociodemographic and geographic data: GPS coordinates of each house. The hedonic regression results for ecological variables show «negative» prices while increasing the level of air contamination from such substances as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and particles (CO, NO2, SO2, TSP). The marginal willingness to pay for higher environmental quality is presented for linear and log-log models.

Keywords: Air pollution, environment, hedonic prices, real estate, willingness to pay.

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Authors: Christoph Mayer, Dominik Holzmann

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This paper presents the development of a compact, portable and easy to handle solar cell characterization device. The presented device reduces the effort and cost of single solar cell characterization to a minimum. It enables realistic characterization of cells under sunlight within minutes. In the field of photovoltaic research the common way to characterize a single solar cell or a module is, to measure the current voltage curve. With this characteristic the performance and the degradation rate can be defined which are important for the consumer or developer. The paper consists of the system design description, a summary of the measurement results and an outline for further developments.

Keywords: Solar cell, photovoltaics, PV, characterization.

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Authors: A.H. Sajedipoor, N. Hedayat , M. Mashal, R. Nazarzadeh

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Sedimentation formation is a complex hydraulic phenomenon that has emerged as a major operational and maintenance consideration in modern hydraulic engineering in general and river engineering in particular. Sediments accumulation along the river course and their eventual storage in a form of islands affect water intake in the canal systems that are fed by the storage reservoirs. Without proper management, sediment transport can lead to major operational challenges in water distribution system of arid regions like the Dez and Hamidieh command areas. The paper aims to investigate sedimentation in the Western Canal of Dez Diversion Weir using the SHARC model and compare the results with the two intake structures of the Hamidieh dam in Iran using SSIIM model. The objective was to identify the factors which influence the process, check reliability of outcome and provide ways in which to mitigate the implications on operation and maintenance of the structures. Results estimated sand and silt bed loads concentrations to be 193 ppm and 827ppm respectively. This followed ,ore or less similar pattern in Hamidieh where the sediment formation impeded water intake in the canal system. Given the available data on average annual bed loads and average suspended sediment loads of 165ppm and 837ppm in the Dez, there was a significant statistical difference (16%) between the sand grains, whereas no significant difference (1.2%) was find in the silt grain sizes. One explanation for such finding being that along the 6 Km river course there was considerable meandering effects which explains recent shift in the hydraulic behavior along the stream course under investigation. The sand concentration in downstream relative to present state of the canal showed a steep descending curve. Sediment trapping on the other hand indicated a steep ascending curve. These occurred because the diversion weir was not considered in the simulation model. The comparative study showed very close similarities in the results which explains the fact that both software can be used as accurate and reliable analytical tools for simulation of the sedimentation in hydraulic engineering.

Keywords: SHARC, SSIIM, sedimentation, Dez diversion weir, Hamidieh dam, Intake structures

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Authors: Johanna Anteroinen, Wonjae Kim, Kari Stadius, Juha Riikonen, Harri Lipsanen, Jussi Ryynanen

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Graphene-metal contact resistance limits the performance of graphene-based electrical devices. In this work, we have fabricated both graphene field-effect transistors (GFET) and transfer length measurement (TLM) test devices with titanium contacts. The purpose of this work is to compare the contact resistances that can be numerically extracted from the GFETs and measured from the TLM structures. We also provide a brief review of the work done in the field to solve the contact resistance problem.

Keywords: Contact resistance, graphene, TLM

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Authors: Derya Eren Akyol, Gonca Tuncel, G. Mirac Bayhan

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Activity-Based Costing (ABC) which has become an important aspect of manufacturing/service organizations can be defined as a methodology that measures the cost and performance of activities, resources and cost objects. It can be considered as an alternative paradigm to traditional cost-based accounting systems. The objective of this paper is to illustrate an application of ABC method and to compare the results of ABC with traditional costing methods. The results of the application highlight the weak points of traditional costing methods and an S-Curve obtained is used to identify the undercosted and overcosted products of the firm.

Keywords: Activity-based costing, cost drivers, overheads, traditional costing.

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Authors: Aline Alves Bandeira, Maria Cecília de Paula Silva

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The existing legal gap regarding thes treatment and final disposal of industrial effluents in Brazil promotes legal uncertainty. The government has not structured itself to guarantee environmental protection. The current legal system and public policies must guarantee the protection of bodies of water and an effective treatment of industrial effluents. This is because economic progress, eco-efficiency and industrial ecology are inseparable. The lack of protection for the water bodies weakens environmental protection, with abuses by companies that do not give due treatment to their effluents, or fail to present the water balance of their factories. It is considered necessary to enact a specific law on industrial effluents related to a National Industrial Effluent Policy, because it is the location of the largest Integrated Industrial Complex in the Southern Hemisphere. The regulation of this subject cannot be limited by decrees of the local Executive Branch, allowing the inspection of the industrial activity or enterprise to be affected fundamentally by environmental self-control, or by private institutions.

Keywords: Effluent policy, environmental law, environmental management, industrial effluents.

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Authors: Mohammad Ali Tabarzad, Caro Lucas, Ali Hamzeh

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Generalization is one of the most challenging issues of Learning Classifier Systems. This feature depends on the representation method which the system used. Considering the proposed representation schemes for Learning Classifier System, it can be concluded that many of them are designed to describe the shape of the region which the environmental states belong and the other relations of the environmental state with that region was ignored. In this paper, we propose a new representation scheme which is designed to show various relationships between the environmental state and the region that is specified with a particular classifier.

Keywords: Classifier Systems, Reinforcement Learning, Relational Representation, XCSF.

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Authors: M. Sharifi, M. Mirzaii, F. Bolourinovin, H. Yousefnia, M. Akbari, K. Yousefi-Mojir

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A multilayer passive shield composed of low-activity lead (Pb), copper (Cu), tin (Sn) and iron (Fe) was designed and manufactured for a coaxial HPGe detector placed at a surface laboratory for reducing background radiation and radiation dose to the personnel. The performance of the shield was evaluated and efficiency curves of the detector were plotted by using of various standard sources in different distances. Monte Carlo simulations and a set of TLD chips were used for dose estimation in two distances of 20 and 40 cm. The results show that the shield reduced background spectrum and the personnel dose more than 95%.

Keywords: HPGe shield, background count, personnel dose, efficiency curve.

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Authors: Marco Kennemann, Steffen C. Eickemeyer, Peter Nyhuis

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Due to the growing dynamic and complexity within the market environment production enterprises in particular are faced with new logistic challenges. Moreover, it is here in this dynamic environment that the Logistic Operating Curve Theory also reaches its limits as a method for describing the correlations between the logistic objectives. In order to convert this theory into a method for dynamically monitoring productions this paper will introduce methods for reliably and quickly identifying structural changes relevant to logistics.

Keywords: Dynamics, Logistic Operating Curves, Production Logistics, Production Planning and Control

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Authors: M. Wendeker, K. Siadkowska, P. Magryta, Z. Czyz, K. Skiba

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In the paper environmental impact analysis the optimal Diesel engine for a light helicopter was performed. The paper consist an answer to the question of what the optimal Diesel engine for a light helicopter is, taking into consideration its expected performance and design capacity. The use of turbocharged engine with self-ignition and an electronic control system can substantially reduce the negative impact on the environment by decreasing toxic substance emission, fuel consumption and therefore carbon dioxide emission. In order to establish the environmental benefits of the diesel engine technologies, mathematical models were created, providing additional insight on the environmental impact and performance of a classic turboshaft and an advanced diesel engine light helicopter, incorporating technology developments.

Keywords: Diesel engine, helicopter, simulation, environmental impact.

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Authors: Syuichi Kubota, Kayoko Yamamoto

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This study aims to identify the current situation and problems of environmental statement for major four home appliances (refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and television receivers) sold at online stores in Japan, and then to suggest how to improve the situation, through a questionnaire survey conducted among businesses that operate online stores and online malls with multiple online stores. Results of the study boil down to: (1) It is found out that environmental statement for the home appliances at online stores have four problems; (i) less information on “three Rs" and “chemical substances" than the one on “energy conservation", (ii) cost for providing environmental statement, (iii) issues associated with a label and mark placement, and (iv) issues associated with energy conservation statement. (2) Improvements are suggested for each of the four problems listed above, and shown are (i) the effectiveness of, and need to promote, a label and mark placement, (ii) cost burden on buyers, and (iii) need of active efforts made by businesses and of dissemination of legal regulations to businesses.

Keywords: Home Appliances, Environmentally-FriendlyProduct, Environmental Statement, Online Store, Japan.

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Authors: Vilém Pařil, Dominika Tóthová

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This paper discusses the value theory in cultural heritage and the value theory in environmental economics. Two economic views of the value theory are compared, within the field of cultural heritage maintenance and within the field of the environment. The main aims are to find common features in these two differently structured theories under the layer of differently defined terms as well as really differing features of these two approaches; to clear the confusion which stems from different terminology as in fact these terms capture the same aspects of reality; and to show possible inspiration these two perspectives can offer one another. Another aim is to present these two value systems in one value framework. First, important moments of the value theory from the economic perspective are presented, leading to the marginal revolution of (not only) the Austrian School. Then the theory of value within cultural heritage and environmental economics are explored. Finally, individual approaches are compared and their potential mutual inspiration searched for.

Keywords: Cultural heritage, environmental economics, existence value, value theory.

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Authors: Ejikeme Kanu

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This research explores the environmental justice of host communities in south-eastern Nigeria whose source of livelihood has been destroyed due to oil exploitation. Environmental justice scholarship in the area often adopts Western liberal ideology from a more macro level synthesis (Niger Delta). This study, therefore, explored the sufficiency or otherwise of the adoption of Western liberal ideology in the framing of Environmental Justice (EJ) in the area which neglects the impact of colonialism and cultural domination. Archival research supplemented by secondary analysis of literature guided this study. Drawing from data analysis, the paper first argues that micro-level studies are required to either validate or invalidate the studies done at the macro-level (Niger Delta) which has often been used to generalise around environmental injustice done within the host communities even though the communities (South-eastern) differ significantly from (South-south) in terms of language, culture, the socio-political and economic formation which indicate that the drivers of EJ may differ among them. Secondly, the paper argues that EJ framing from the Western worldview adopted in the study area is insufficient to understand environmental injustice suffered in the study area and there is the need for EJ framing that will consider the impact of colonialism and nonrecognition of the cultural identities of the host communities which breed EJ. The study, therefore, concludes by drawing from decolonial theory to consider how the framing of EJ would move beyond the western liberal EJ to Indigenous EJ.

Keywords: Culture, decolonial, environmental justice, indigenous environmental justice, nonrecognition.

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Authors: Aline Alves Bandeira, Luís Pedro Lima, Maria Cecília de Paula Silva, Paulo Henrique de Viveiros Tavares

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Nowadays, the study of public policies regarding management efficiency is essential. Public policies are about what governments do or do not do, being an area that has grown worldwide, contributing through the knowledge of technologies and methodologies that monitor and evaluate the performance of public administrators. The information published on official government websites needs to provide for transparency and responsiveness of managers. Thus, transparency is a primordial factor for the execution of accountability, providing, in this way, services to the citizen with the expansion of transparent, efficient, democratic information and that value administrative eco-efficiency. The ecologically balanced management of a Smart City must optimize environmental education, building a fairer society, which brings about equality in the use of quality environmental resources. Smart Cities add value in the construction of public management, enabling interaction between people, enhancing environmental education and the practical applicability of administrative eco-efficiency, fostering economic development and improving the quality of life.

Keywords: Accountability, environmental education, new public administration, smart cities.

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Authors: Travis Morris

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The purpose of this study is to measure the intersection of environmental security entities in terrorist propaganda. To the best of author’s knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to examine this intersection within terrorist propaganda. Rosoka, natural language processing software and frame analysis are used to advance our understanding of how environmental frames function as emotive triggers. Violent jihadi demagogues use frames to suggest violent and non-violent solutions to their grievances. Emotive triggers are framed in a way to leverage individual and collective attitudes in psychological warfare. A comparative research design is used because of the differences and similarities that exist between two variants of violent jihadi propaganda that target western audiences. Analysis is based on salience and network text analysis, which generates violent jihadi semantic networks. Findings indicate that environmental frames are used as emotive triggers across both data sets, but also as tactical and information data points. A significant finding is that certain core environmental emotive triggers like “water,” “soil,” and “trees” are significantly salient at the aggregate level across both data sets. All environmental entities can be classified into two categories, symbolic and literal. Importantly, this research illustrates how demagogues use environmental emotive triggers in cyber space from a subcultural perspective to mobilize target audiences to their ideology and praxis. Understanding the anatomy of propaganda construction is necessary in order to generate effective counter narratives in information operations. This research advances an additional method to inform practitioners and policy makers of how environmental security and propaganda intersect.

Keywords: Emotive triggers, environmental security, natural language processing, propaganda analysis.

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Authors: Eun-Jun Yoon, Kee-Young Yoo

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Recently, Jia et al. proposed a remote user authentication scheme using bilinear pairings and an Elliptic Curve Cryptosystem (ECC). However, the scheme is vulnerable to privileged insider attack at their proposed registration phase and to forgery attack at their proposed authentication phase. In addition, the scheme can be vulnerable to server spoofing attack because it does not provide mutual authentication between the user and the remote server. Therefore, this paper points out that the Jia et al. scheme is vulnerable to the above three attacks.

Keywords: Cryptography, authentication, smart card, password, cryptanalysis, bilinear pairings.

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Authors: S. Souli, Z. Lachiri

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In this paper we propose a robust environmental sound classification approach, based on spectrograms features driven from log-Gabor filters. This approach includes two methods. In the first methods, the spectrograms are passed through an appropriate log-Gabor filter banks and the outputs are averaged and underwent an optimal feature selection procedure based on a mutual information criteria. The second method uses the same steps but applied only to three patches extracted from each spectrogram.

To investigate the accuracy of the proposed methods, we conduct experiments using a large database containing 10 environmental sound classes. The classification results based on Multiclass Support Vector Machines show that the second method is the most efficient with an average classification accuracy of 89.62 %.

Keywords: Environmental sounds, Log-Gabor filters, Spectrogram, SVM Multiclass, Visual features.

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Authors: Obaidullah Nadeem, Rizwan Hameed

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The preparation of good-quality Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports contribute to enhancing overall effectiveness of EIA. This component of the EIA process becomes more important in situation where public participation is weak and there is lack of expertise on the part of the competent authority. In Pakistan, EIA became mandatory for every project likely to cause adverse environmental impacts from July 1994. The competent authority also formulated guidelines for preparation and review of EIA reports in 1997. However, EIA is yet to prove as a successful decision support tool to help in environmental protection. One of the several reasons of this ineffectiveness is the generally poor quality of EIA reports. This paper critically reviews EIA reports of some randomly selected projects. Interviews of EIA consultants, project proponents and concerned government officials have also been conducted to underpin the root causes of poor quality of EIA reports. The analysis reveals several inadequacies particularly in areas relating to identification, evaluation and mitigation of key impacts and consideration of alternatives. The paper identifies some opportunities and suggests measures for improving the quality of EIA reports and hence making EIA an effective tool to help in environmental protection.

Keywords: Environmental Impact Assessment, EIA Guidelines, EIA Reports, Pakistan.

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