Search

The transport sector is experiencing a notable transition towards sustainability, propelled by technological progress, innovative materials, and a dedication to environmental preservation. This study explicitly examines the incorporation of electric vehicles (EVs) into the power grid, with a particular emphasis on passenger automobiles. Our analysis emphasises the vital importance of updated transport infrastructure in decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and aiding carbon reduction efforts in electricity networks. The analysis uncovers that adopting electric vehicles offers significant advantages, including enhanced grid efficiency and decreased emissions. However, it also brings issues concerning the design and operation of power systems at both the transmission and distribution levels. Key players are crucial in tackling these difficulties to improve electric vehicle integration into the grid. The study determines the most effective ways for distributing and providing electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and investigates the efforts made to establish common standards in order to solve current challenges. This research contributes to the advancement of sustainable mobility and energy systems by conducting a thorough examination of the impact of electric vehicles on power systems and offering appropriate integration solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the institutional threshold effects of foreign aid on foreign direct investment (FDI). Design/methodology/approach: This paper develops a theoretical model from an extended Solow model that introduces the conductive effect of institutions in an aid recipient country towards the capacity of attracting FDI. This study evidences threshold effects with the most recent panel threshold models that consider endogeneity issues. The data on economic institutions and foreign aid are decomposed into disaggregated level to reveal the detailed threshold pattern. Several sample subsets are used for a heterogeneity analysis. Findings: Conducting empirical research on a sample of 62 countries during the period 2003–2016, this study finds robust evidence of the existence of an institutional threshold in the aid–FDI nexus which a country must attain to reap the full attraction of FDI by foreign aid providing financial resources. Furthermore, foreign aid tends to promote FDI in institutions characterized by a right-sized government, a strengthened legal system and an appropriate regulatory environment. On the other hand, aid may crowd out FDI. The results are robust to regional combinations and a subset of low and lower-middle-income countries. In addition, this study finds that aid targeted at social infrastructure and services has a positive effect regardless of institutional threshold. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the literature by introducing a non-linear and discontinuous effect of aid on FDI, i.e. a threshold effect, highlighting the relevance of legal systems and regulations and the possibility of a crowding-out effect on FDI for specific institutional regimes. The thresholds provide a guide for donor countries to ensure aid effectiveness at the risk of being counterproductive and for recipient countries to better assess the institutional dimensions that need to be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Ciência & Saúde Coletiva is the property of Associacao Brasileira de Pos-Graduacao em Saude Coletiva and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Key Takeaways: While the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) applies to all public water systems in the United States, the severity and prevalence of violations vary among locations. A study investigated drinking water quality, indicated by statistics of the SDWA in the 13 Appalachian states from 2010 to 2022, to identify any differences in violations. The need for better water system management and infrastructure in economically disadvantaged regions is clear, along with public education and effective policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism is a major source of income for many regions; however, its impacts on residents' daily lives are significant, especially regarding their travel behavior. Local transportation infrastructure is challenged by large tourist flows, and thus residents need to adapt to the new environment by changing their usual habits, such as travel mode, frequency, destination etc. In this study, a multinomial logistic regression mode choice model is developed to capture tourism impacts on residents' travel behavior, using data from the island of Rhodes, Greece. According to study findings, tourism has in fact an impact on residents' travel mode preferences, as they tend to opt for more agile modes such as motorcycles, instead of cars, and adopt defensive driving during tourist seasons. This study can facilitate public transport operators, planners, and municipalities in tourist regions, to apply effective policies to mitigate negative impacts of tourism in local traffic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modeling spatial search processes such as residential location search are challenging, particularly, due to the need to deal with a large dataset and wide array of factors. This introduces a multi-dimensionality challenge to location search modeling. With the motivation to accommodate multi-dimensionality, this paper develops a machine learning–based Gaussian mixture model (GMM) for location search. This study accommodates the effects of several factors including accessibility, land use, dwelling, transportation infrastructure, and neighborhood attributes on location search decisions. The spatial unit of analysis is dwelling-level. This study conceptualizes that households' search for location based on their reason to move. The pool of alternatives for each household is generated based on probability estimates of GMM. The location choice model considering the reason-based GMM outperforms the model without considering relocation reasons in GMM and random sampling-based model in-terms of predictive performance. The search model has been implemented in an integrated urban model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The smart grid is a promising solution for modernizing electrical power systems in a digital world. However, cybersecurity threats pose significant risks to the grid's integrity and resilience. False Data Injection Attacks (FDIA) have shown serious risks to disrupt the power system infrastructure. SHASARIMAX is a novel framework designed to address these challenges by combining distinct elements of Secure Hash Algorithm-256 (SHA256) and SARIMAX. Cryptographic hashing techniques and advanced modelling of SHA-SARIMAX actively detect and recover corrupted values in time series datasets affected by FDIA. This approach detects and recovers corrupted values in time series datasets affected by FDIA, leveraging cryptographic hashing techniques and advanced modelling. The proposed framework achieves a 99.90% accuracy rate from the original corrupted data. Thus, the SHA-SARIMAX demonstrates its applicability and suitability for implementation within smart grids, specifically for addressing the recovery of original data from the corrupted data affected by FDIA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Ciencias Sociales (13159518) is the property of Revista de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad del Zulia Venezuela and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista de Ciencias Sociales (13159518) is the property of Revista de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad del Zulia Venezuela and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Baner-Balewadi was a rural area that transformed into a residential suburb and is now metamorphosing into a commercial and educational hub of Pune city. This area is now a part of Pune Municipal Corporation and is occupied by various schools, universities, and IT companies. The decadal population growth rate of the Baner-Balewadi area is 275%; it is much higher than the Pune district's and city's growth rate, which makes it a fascinating area for this study. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in this area covering three major regions: Balewadi Highstreet, Baner-Balewadi road, and NICMAR University. The data for 15 parameters were gathered, a total of 38 survey samples were collected using stratified random sampling, and land use was mapped to understand the grassroots reality. Thereafter, the parameters were analysed using a descriptive statistical technique, and spider mapping was used for data presentation. The strengths and challenges regarding infrastructural services, transportation, socio-economic factors, environment, and land use were identified. The results show that the waste collection is strong, but there are drinking water issues in the area. The recent development is causing stress on the infrastructural services and unregulated land-use change leading to environmental degradation. The metro construction is causing a lot of noise and air pollution, and people will still prefer buses as a transportation medium in the future because of good connectivity. The study is concluded with area-wise parametric recommendations made after examining the advancement, challenges, and gaps identified at the grassroots from both stakeholders' and experts' perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the initial settlement across metro Chicago, residents relegated cemeteries to the edge of municipalities, but the edge soon became the middle. As population increased and spread outward, burial grounds were moved farther from the city center. Lincoln Park cemetery's (1836–1859) partial removal is perhaps the best-known example. In the 1860s, public-health official Dr. John Rauch led the movement to end burials within the city limits. He was especially critical of burials at Lincoln Park, which risked contaminating Lake Michigan, Chicago's water supply. Most of, but by no means all, the bodies were moved to Graceland, Rosehill, Oakwood, and other recently established cemeteries outside the city limits, making way for the expansion of Lincoln Park to the south. Today, many once outlying cemeteries comprise prime real estate. Infrastructure projects as well as new housing and shopping-mall developments impinge on forgotten family cemeteries, "vacated" cemeteries, "inconveniently" situated cemeteries, and poor-farm cemeteries. The following examples, taken from cultural resource management (CRM) projects conducted by Midwest Archaeological Research Services (MARS), Inc., over a 30-year period, provide an overview of the impact of development on cemeteries (Figure 1). Archaeological surveys identified undisturbed and previously disturbed graves. Excavation and analysis of these burial remains provide information about early settlement, family life, religious institutions, and social structure. Most of the human remains recovered have been reinterred in another final resting place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key Takeaways: The Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) is a US Environmental Protection Agency finance program that has gained bipartisan support over its decade of existence. WIFIA is designed to accelerate nationally or regionally significant infrastructure projects by providing low‐interest loans for water projects. Loan amounts vary across project types, but not among project types per capita. Generally, stormwater and drinking water project types have lower loan amounts, while wastewater and reuse project types have a wider range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the transport and logistics system in the direction of Russian-Chinese cross-border cooperation is an important direction not only from the point of view of economic prospects, but also from the point of view of political cooperation. The article is devoted to the development and substantiation of proposals for deepening the integration processes of the transport and logistics market of Russia and China. The trends in the development of the world market of transport and logistics services are analyzed with an emphasis on the border regions of Russia and China; identified its key problems and possible directions for their solution to deepen the subsequent integration between the border regions; an assessment of the effectiveness of the development of the transport infrastructure of the border regions of Russia, as well as the prospects for integrating Russia into the system of world economic relations in the Asia-Pacific region (APR) is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of the present study is to explore the factors that influence the residential location choice of households in the Indian context. Design/methodology/approach: Two sub-urban towns of Kolkata, i.e. Biddhanagar Municipal Corporation and Rajarhat Newtown, are taken as case studies. In total, 34 variables are considered related to the household's socioeconomic background (10), dwelling (3), travel (2) and level of importance of neighborhood characteristics (19). A revealed preference household survey is conducted, which resulted in the collection of 390 samples. Firstly, 19 level of importance variables are deduced to 3 latent factors using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. After that, a utility function is estimated using a multinomial logit regression to identify significant factors. Findings: The results indicate the significance of car ownership, work travel time, work mode, monthly income, proximity to work, proximity to family/relative/friends, proximity to quality schools, quality of physical infrastructure such as water availability, power availability and housing typology among others in the residential location choice of households. Research limitations/implications: Kolkata, a major metropolitan area in eastern India, has been experiencing space constraints to cater to the housing demand of the ever-increasing population. Although satellite towns are being developed, the infrastructure landscape in such towns is uneven, resulting in more housing demand in one area than another. The study furnishes significant findings to develop more informed policies to attract households in low-demand areas and manage high-demand areas to achieve sustainable planning. Originality/value: Considering the importance of geographical context, it is the first study on residential location choice, providing a perspective of household behavior from eastern India. It also shows the importance of physical infrastructure attributes in residential location choice for developing countries, which is seldom employed in the current practice. Moreover, previous studies (although few) done in India consider the objective value of location characteristics. The present study focuses on subjective value or the level of importance perceived by respondents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the internet has created a global community by connecting millions of individuals, devices, and organizations. Unfortunately, internet connectivity is still not available to many people around the world. To provide everyone with internet access, network infrastructures must be expanded, and internet connection costs must be reduced, particularly in developing regions. Therefore, Wireless Community Networks (WCNs) have emerged as a crucial alternative for individuals who lack direct access to internet services provided by traditional internet service providers. This research paper aims to investigate the routing protocols that have been widely employed in WCNs over the past decade. Specifically, it focuses on evaluating the strengths and limitations of these protocols to assess their effectiveness and reliability in establishing optimal routing paths for end-to-end message delivery across the network. A set of recommendations and future directions are proposed to facilitate further research into unresolved challenges related to WCN routing protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The network computing-based teaching project information sharing platform is an educational platform that uses the modern network technology and computing resources to realize the information sharing and cooperation between teachers and students. However, the traditional method of the generating the teaching project information sharing platform has some problems such as slow transmission speed and limited storage space. Therefore, this paper studies the information sharing platform of teaching project based on network computing, and studies the method of the information sharing platform of teaching project based on network computing by literature research, empirical analysis and other methods. Through the comprehensive analysis of the relevant research and practical cases in this field, the basic principles, technical architecture and functional characteristics of the platform are more clearly understood. The information sharing platform of teaching project based on network computing can realize the information transmission and storage of teaching project within its own platform so as to avoid the shortcomings of the traditional method due to the difference of storage space, speed and operation mode. Compared with the traditional method, the information sharing platform of teaching project based on network computing can achieve higher transmission speed, larger storage space, better security and better user experience. The platform adopts modern network infrastructure and distributed storage computing technology to realize the faster and more efficient transmission and processing of data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the high-quality development of transportation in China, highway bridges, as the core part of transportation infrastructure, have received widespread attention for their safety and operation management. Especially in the field of super large bridges, due to their importance in transportation and enormous social benefits, safety and operation management are particularly crucial. This research focused on the operation and maintenance management of super large bridges, especially how to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of bridge operation and maintenance management through BIM (Building Information Modeling) technology. This technology deepened the understanding of bridge structure and performance by establishing a detailed BIM model. By standardizing model data and establishing coding systems, data interoperability and management efficiency were improved, providing decision support for the daily management and maintenance of bridges. According to experimental data, it can be concluded that the accuracy of basic information judgment, temperature and humidity accuracy, bridge status judgment accuracy, and operation and maintenance information accuracy of BIM dynamic temperature recognition and maintenance technology for bridges were among four sets of data. The accuracy rates of all four data items were between 91.20% and 94.27%, indicating a high accuracy rate. The comprehensive application of these technologies aims to improve the operation and maintenance management level of super large bridges, ensure their long-term stability and safety, and contribute to the sustainable development of transportation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyze the development of research themes in the public–private partnership (PPP) project policy strategy for broadband infrastructure from 2000 to 2021 and identify the most popular research topics. Systematic literature review (SLR) of 927 Google Scholar and Scopus publications, followed by bibliometric analysis, co-occurrence keywords, and in-depth qualitative approaches with content analysis, was performed. Articles are classified based on the source of publication, year of publication, country of origin, journal ranking, and research theme. This study finds that previous studies discussed the development of policy strategies and regulatory theory. Most articles were published in journals indexed under Q1, while only one was published under Q4. This study highlights the importance of government initiatives in developing broadband infrastructure through PPPs. The findings show that the policy strategy, legal framework, and regulations influence the success of PPP schemes. Private sector involvement can reduce costs and provide access to resources and expertise the public sector may still need to gain. This study suggests that policymakers encourage the participation of the private sector in broadband infrastructure projects and provide incentives for them, such as public funding. This study benefits governments or policymakers who intend to implement the PPP scheme to deliver public services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Relações Internacionais is the property of Relacoes Internacionais and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Relações Internacionais is the property of Relacoes Internacionais and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article proposes a concept of organizing access to the guaranteed resource of the 5 G cluster information environment, structured in the form of a hierarchy of logical network segments. This framework presents an interrupt access control scheme that exhibits survivability characteristics important to mission-critical applications. Analytically, the author's concept is represented by an irreversible Markov process, for which a system of equilibrium equations and stationary probabilities are defined. Based on the latter, a qualitative metric was formulated, which included such indicators as the average number of requests accepted for service in the 5 G cluster, the probability of losing an incoming request, and the average volume of network resource units used in the 5 G cluster. For the single input data that characterizes a real NS 5 G cluster, a comparison of the author's and known competing access control schemes in terms of formulated qualitative metrics is implemented. The obtained results showed that the author's concept prevails over the competitor in the range of low loads. Note that in this range, the advantage of the author's scheme over the competitor significantly increases with the increase in the number of network segments into which the information environment of the 5 G cluster is divided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study published in the American Water Works Association's journal, AWWA Water Science, compared different methods for removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from groundwaters. The study found that treatment by separation technologies, such as adsorption on granular activated carbons (GAC) or anion exchange resins, is currently the most practical and cost-effective way to remove PFAS from water. The study also highlighted the importance of considering the individual PFAS compound and the quality of the water being treated when selecting the most efficient removal method. Additionally, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has allocated funding for water infrastructure upgrades in Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska as part of President Biden's Investing in America agenda. The funding aims to address aging water infrastructure, lead pipes, stormwater management, and emerging contaminants like PFAS. The EPA also announced the expansion of its Closing America's Wastewater Access Gap Community Initiative to include 150 additional rural communities, providing technical assistance on accessing federal wastewater funding. [Extracted from the article]

This study principally addresses the challenges associated with streaming videos in wireless Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), primarily constrained by wireless channels and node mobility. This study proposes a novel routing protocol incorporating a feedback mechanism and cross-layer architecture, supported by three key enhancements. First, it incorporates a route recovery strategy for detecting link failures and re-establishing connections based on predefined Quality of Service (QoS) metrics. Second, a novel algorithm estimates the available bandwidth, enabling dynamic adaptation of bitrate at the application layer concerning the source video. This novel rate-adaptive approach utilizes a scalable layered structure of the video coding, thereby removing layers that the network cannot efficiently support due to bandwidth limitations. Third, a gateway discovery procedure enhances the connectivity among MANETs and other infrastructure networks. This method employs available bandwidth as a parameter while selecting appropriate gateways and dynamically adjusts operational parameters like proactive area size and advertisement message frequency. The performances of the proposed Enhanced OLSR (E-OLSR) protocol are compared with the state-of-theart routing procedures such as Adhoc on-demand distance vector (AODV), destination sequenced distance vector (DSDV), and optimized link state routing (OLSR), in terms of metrics like packet delivery ratio (PDR), end-to-end (E2E) delay, throughput, as well as energy consumption. The simulation results demonstrated notable improvements, including reduced packet delay, fewer dropped packets, and decreased link failures, indicating effective utilization of available bandwidth. The overall performance of the proposed E-OLSR protocol exceeds other traditional protocols and its security is enhanced through the integration of Blockchain Technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing tendency to assess resilience and sustainability of critical infrastructures (CI), given the significant increment in high-impact natural hazard events affecting socio-economic welfare. Historically, these assessments have been conducted separately due to the independent evolution of each concept. However, recent contributions tend to integrate them. This paper provides a state-of-the-art review of integrated assessments for resilience and sustainability in CI, examining concepts, indicators, frameworks, and methodologies. Additionally, a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis was performed to gain further insights into the prospects of integrated assessments. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology, eligibility criteria were established, leading to the selection of twelve studies. These works were compared based on five dimensions (economic, environmental, social, technical, and governance) to highlight the differences in the indicators used. While all studies considered the social, environmental, and economic dimensions, some did not further analyze sufficient indicators to evaluate environmental and social effects, with governance often neglected. This study emphasizes the relevance of establishing common metrics for a convergent frame for the resilience and sustainability assessment. The findings presented suggest that integrated assessments lead to a more strategic use of resources toward more resilient CI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hebrew University in Israel is launching a unique mental health trauma center in response to the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas that resulted in the deaths of over 1,200 Israelis and the displacement of tens of thousands more. The trauma center aims to develop new clinical approaches and train therapists to address the unique traumas experienced by the survivors. The center will provide evidence-based practices and technologies to enhance healing and recovery, conduct research, and offer comprehensive care. The institute is actively seeking support to fund its operations. [Extracted from the article]

Dams are one of the larger infrastructures of human civilization in the 21st century and subjected to increasing safety monitoring in the frame of global change. The quick development of SAR interferometry and processing capabilities allow near-real time monitoring of dams and associated areas and infrastructures. A pilot project for the surveillance and management of embankment dams, EyeRADAR-Dam has been developed in an industry-academia collaboration, supported by scientific validation. The potential of EyeRADAR-Dam lies in the integration via API of monitoring data and SAR time series dating from 1992 to present. The processed SAR data is input to the platform, together with relevant monitoring data (climate, topography, geotechnics, hydrology, flows...). A two-scale approach allows monitoring the entire reservoir, with slopes and infrastructures as a whole while simultaneously monitoring in detail critical infrastructures and dam body. EyeRADAR-Dam is part of a new generation of management platforms that integrate space data in daily operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large infrastructure projects (if successful) have a significant effect on societies and can boost long-term economic output, but they are also problematic if they fail. Massive amounts of public money can evaporate in a few projects, and that can destroy the public finances of a small economy. A large public investment project, which usually involves national pride, produces little or nothing of value compared to its investment. At the same time, it prevents the rise of small projects and sucks up resources for a very long time. In an effort to understand how large infrastructure projects are being prepared in Ethiopia, the author has previously conducted an inquiry into the country's project preparation and decision-making processes. The results of the study indicated many shortcomings: limited or no use of a formal project governance system, a top-down approach, a culture of overlooking project-related risks, exaggerating project benefits, and optimism bias. In this study, the author further examines the previous findings, presents an improvement option for the country's project governance system, and recommends that, no matter how eager we are to transform the country, there is no need to rush to implement large and complex infrastructure projects with several unclear risks and consequences ahead. Priority should be given to setting up political and technical gatekeeping mechanisms, (go/no go) stages, that can stop wrong projects before conception. Parallelly, such mechanisms enable valuable project concepts to be selected, implemented, and linked with other prime streams of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using and connecting different technologies to improve the quality of urban life is a significant challenge for smart cities. The interconnection of transport, energy, water, public lighting, and other urban infrastructure systems is critical to providing quality services to citizens and reducing environmental impact. However, data interoperability from these systems is a significant challenge, as data is mainly stored in different formats and locations from various sources. This paper examines the challenges of integrating existing datasets in intelligent cities and proposes solutions to create secure and interoperable data-sharing environments. To this end, an approach called data federation is discussed by implementing a federated platform for integrating such data. However, it is essential to note that there may be challenges in terms of cybersecurity and interoperability. This is where context brokers play a crucial role, regulating access to data by enforcing rules and providing security standards. In this way, these challenges can be managed appropriately, ensuring data protection and the system's proper functioning. Finally, it is essential to mention that this work is linked to a smart cities project, which aims to promote innovation in smart cities by implementing several innovative solutions. The study presented in this research contributes to understanding the challenges in smart cities. It proposes solutions for creating secure and interoperable data-sharing environments, which are essential both for the project's success and for the development of smart cities worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex infrastructure projects need sustainable contract models where all in the chain are paid for the value they deliver. The Norwegian construction industry faces challenges since the most common contracts used provide unfavorable incentives. The purpose of this study is to examine which contracts are used in the industry today, what mechanisms can be implemented to better facilitate the distribution of financial gain and at the same time encourage all stakeholders to work for the greater good of the project. Literature and document studies were performed, and seven interviews were conducted. Findings show that current standard contracts for designers are outdated and not well-suited for modern design practices. The findings show also that incentives related to target price with collaboration elements /partnering, performance, progress, and energy consumption, are most effective in promoting fair financial distribution and encouraging actors to work for the project's benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex infrastructure projects have an increasing need to engage contractors in the pre-construction phase. Recent studies show that the early involvement of the contractor has a positive impact on the quality of the design, safety, cost, and time. The purpose of this study is to examine the main supporting design activities in the design-subphase in the pre-construction phase and examine which of these can benefit most from ECI. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, along with 3 workshops, literature studies, and document studies. 16 design activities were identified, and it was concluded that the top three activities that could benefit most from ECI are Constructability Reviews, Operability Reviews , and Design Reviews. Results showed an overall agreement that it would be beneficial to involve contractor competence during the late design-sub phase, more precisely during the transition from late schematic to detailed design process. Results from interviews are in contrast with the literature findings, which indicate that the early conceptual phase is most beneficial as the contractor impact is highest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complexity of large infrastructure projects requires the use of methodological methods that can examine how various systems interact rather than just evaluating isolated systems (e.g., either risks or stakeholders). Although the project management literature has invested major efforts into unidimensional networks to study risks or stakeholders separately, there are missing multidimensional analyses that combine complementary perspectives. This study develops a multilayer network analysis by integrating the economic transaction between stakeholders and risks to expose the motives of project underperformances. A large infrastructure education project in Italy is used to demonstrate the application of this technique for identifying potential issues in risk allocation that may result in underperformance among stakeholders. The implementation of the multilayer network demonstrated that stakeholders within the public sector with active participation in the monetary transfers but low-risk exposition tend to perform adequately, which emphasizes the relevance of risk transfer to the contractor. Conversely, lower eigenvector and betweenness values in the multilayer network respecting these metrics in the money flow network expose risk allocation issues affecting the performance of the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the United States continues to grow and urbanize, local governments have tried to manage this growth to mitigate the external impacts that new developments can cause. One method by which state and local governments seek to control growth within their borders is by imposing conditions on the issuance of building permits--otherwise known as exactions. Exactions, however, face federal constitutional limits under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment, which applies to state and local governments through the Fourteenth Amendment. In Nollan v. California Coastal Commission and Dolan v. City of Tigard, the U.S. Supreme Court restricted exactions in certain situations by requiring that, prior to imposing the exaction, the government make an individualized determination that the condition has an "essential nexus" and is "roughly proportionate" to the foreseen harm from the development. The Nollan/Dolan test is primarily grounded in a fear of government overreach and coercion of property owners. The courts agree that the Nollan/Dolan test applies when a government agency, such as a zoning board, imposes an exaction on a discretionary and ad hoc basis. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, has not yet determined whether exactions that are generally imposed on property owners through a legislative action, such as an ordinance, must comply with the Nollan/Dolan test. On the one hand, a legislatively imposed exaction is like a typical land use regulation, to which the Court has granted broad deference. But on the other hand, such exactions still carry the risk of government overreach by unfairly targeting a small, politically unpopular group: developers. This Note evaluates the debate over whether the Nollan/Dolan test should apply to legislatively imposed exactions and ultimately concludes that it should not. Legislatively imposed exactions are fundamentally different from administrative exactions because of their greater democratic legitimacy. Indeed, courts already recognize and are hardening this line between legislative and administrative actions, as evidenced by the nondelegation doctrine. Thus, the Nollan/Dolan test should not apply to legislatively imposed exactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, we have been experiencing fast proliferation of different types of ransomware targeting home users, companies and even critical telecommunications infrastructure elements. Modern day ransomware relies on sophisticated infection, persistence and recovery prevention mechanisms. Some recent examples that received significant attention include WannaCry, Petya and BadRabbit. To design and develop appropriate defense mechanisms, it is important to understand the characteristics and the behavior of different types of ransomware. Dynamic analysis techniques are typically used to achieve that purpose, where the malicious binaries are executed in a controlled environment and are then observed. In this work, the dynamic analysis results focusing on the infamous WannaCry ransomware are presented. In particular, WannaCry is examined, during its execution in a purpose-built virtual lab environment, in order to analyze its infection, persistence, recovery prevention and propagation mechanisms. The results obtained may be used for developing appropriate detection and defense solutions for WannaCry and other ransomware families that exhibit similar behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ghana's democratic progress in the Fourth Republic is often linked to the management of peaceful elections, successful political alternations, and some public trust in democratic institutions. However, pockets of violence have also marred and derailed some progress. While the capacity to reduce political tensions and resolve electoral disputes has gained significant scholarly attention, scholars still overlook the role of infrastructure for peace (I4P) in the analysis. Focusing on the Ghanaian National Peace Council, this qualitative study examines the extent to which I4P prevents electoral disputes, what its strengths and challenges are, and how the ongoing challenges might be remedied. Findings on peace accords, election observation, and policy dialogue processes were significant before, during, and after electoral manifestations. A formalized I4P was also productive through institutional partnerships. However, institutionalization within governmental structures and its consequential budgetary limitations necessitate prudent management of its peace fund to facilitate emergent conflict situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, scientific document centers face increasing demands on data collection, storage, integration, processing, and analysis for information systems and infrastructure. These centers are the most important and reliable sources of governance for the advancement of different areas of each country and their success requires proper performance. The present study was conducted to propose a data governance model in the countries scientific document centers to show how data governance should be appropriate for these scientific centers. The Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology (IranDoc) was selected as the study. This research has analyzed the content of texts in the field of scientific document centers with a meta-combined method. 15 articles and dissertations related to this field were purposefully selected and reviewed by qualitative content analysis. The basic model was used to design the data governance model of scientific document centers. The research findings identified five main components of data governance including “planning”, “organizing and managing”, “performance”, “implementation” and “evaluation”. Each of these main components has sub-components, which finally identified 38 sub-components for data governance of scientific document centers with a combination of texts. These components help to implement data governance for scientific document centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of GWP: Gesellschaft Wirtschaft Politik is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The accelerated adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs) necessitates innovative and effective pricing strategies for charging infrastructure. This study leverages the MATSim (Multi-Agent Transport Simulation) framework to meticulously evaluate the performance of two distinctive EV charging pricing models: time-based charging and a hybrid model integrating both usage-based and time-based components. Driven by the pivotal question of how EV charging should be optimally priced—whether contingent on energy consumption or charging duration—the research endeavors to conduct two simulations. These simulations aim to provide a comprehensive comparative analysis, evaluating metrics such as total power derived from grids, utility revenue, charging station queues and served vehicles. In the time-based charging scenario, EVs incur charges based on their plugged-in duration, reflecting a pricing approach that correlates directly with the time a vehicle remains connected to the charging station. In contrast, in the hybrid model, EVs undergo initial billing based on usage until a predetermined battery charge point is reached, such as achieving a full battery. Subsequently, time-based pricing takes effect until the user disconnects the vehicle. The findings indicate that, in the combined approach, utility owners have the potential to generate more revenue. Conversely, the time-based approach demonstrates a capacity to serve a higher number of electric EVs, with comparable queue lengths observed in both approaches. Importantly, using the results of this paper, policymakers can suggest pricing schemes that maximize benefits for utility owners, reduce queues at charging stations, and ensure the security of power grids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern networks no longer only require a good level of quality of service. Indeed, thanks to the powerful infrastructures of operators and the variety of bandwidth available to businesses, Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) is now a reality. For this reason, security is currently a major challenge for businesses of all sizes, because all corporate data is exchanged via this public infrastructure. The problem of choosing the right security attributes for a given company for a specific flow always remains a challenge for the research community. Companies are currently opting for multi-site architectures for several reasons, including established business-to-business, business-to-consumer, or business-to-government partnerships. Our article involves measuring the impact of the security layer on the performance of multi-site infrastructures by varying a combination of 1) the number of sites, 2) the encryption algorithms, 3) the hashing algorithms, 4) the key extraction algorithms, and 5) the nature of the traffic (real-time, elastic, network). The results obtained will enable a company to choose the attributes that offer the best indicators of quality of service, taking these different variables into account. For the experimental study to be valid, we took measurements on a connected campus of several sites using solutions from different manufacturers, namely Cisco and Fortinet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the pursuit of sustainable urban transportation, the transition from traditional fossil fuel-powered buses to battery electric buses (BEBs) presents a significant leap forward. However, this shift introduces a critical challenge in the form of the BEB scheduling and charger location (EBSCL) problem. The limited driving range of BEBs necessitates the strategic reassignment of buses for service trips, known as the electric vehicle scheduling problem. Simultaneously, the optimal placement of charging infrastructure adds complexity to the overall transit electrification process. Our study addresses this challenge by proposing an integrated model that optimizes both BEB scheduling and charger location. The source code is available at https://gitlab.com/AmirDavatgari/etcp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel framework for enhancing privacy in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) by integrating homomorphic encryption with machine learning applications. VANETs, essential for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), face significant challenges in privacy and security due to their highly dynamic and heterogeneous nature. Our framework addresses these challenges by employing a simplified but effective machine learning algorithm, the K-nearest neighbors (KNN), to ensure the security and privacy of the network. The flexibility of the framework allows for the incorporation of other machine learning algorithms, enhancing its adaptability and efficiency in various VANET scenarios. Key to this framework is the use of homomorphic encryption (HE), a cryptographic technique that enables computations on encrypted data without the need for decryption. This feature preserves data confidentiality and allows for secure third-party computations. Our paper discusses the evolution and types of homomorphic encryption, emphasizing the importance of Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) for its ability to evaluate complex polynomial functions. The paper also highlights the different domains of cybersecurity concerns in VANETs, including in-vehicle systems, ad-hoc and infrastructure networks, and data analysis. The proposed framework aims to mitigate these vulnerabilities, particularly focusing on preventing common attacks like DoS and location tracking. A significant advantage of our approach is its general nature, making it applicable to various privacy issues in VANETs. We propose the potential integration of homomorphic encryption with other privacy-preserving techniques, such as differential privacy or secure multi-party computation, to enhance computation times while ensuring robust privacy protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The convergence of modern technology and supply chain operational dynamics has shaped the fabric of today's freight transportation practice and made the role of electric vehicles (EVs) profoundly significant in regular use in business operations. In addition to the expanding prevalence of EVs and charging infrastructures for medium and heavy-duty supply chain transport systems, it challenges the business community for deployment purposes. Moreover, these intelligent transport systems for modern supply chain organizations delve into the heart of a transformative realm, offering opportunities for academics and practitioners to explore the tools, strategies, methodologies, and training operation managers that propel enterprises toward EV-driven operational excellence. This paper describes a reference map that relates to different interface types and consists of various categories of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE). The paper also reviews security and privacy threats associated with the reference map interfaces and relevant components and presents highlighted security protection solutions in academic literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of electric vehicles offers a promising approach to achieving a more sustainable transportation system, given their lower production of direct emissions. However, the limited driving range and insufficient public recharging infrastructure in some areas hinder their competitiveness against traditional vehicles with internal combustion engines. To address these issues, this paper introduces an "iterative route cover optimization method" to suggest charging station locations in high-demand regions. The method samples routes from a route choice set and optimally locates at least one charging station along each route. Through iterative resampling and optimal allocation of charging stations, the method identifies the potential recharging demand in a location or a region. We demonstrate the method's applicability to a transportation network of the southern part of Sweden. The results show that the proposed method is capable to suggest locations and geographical regions where the recharging demand is potentially high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) and the Internet of Things (IoT), which has revolutionized patient care through features like remote critical care and real-time therapy, is examined in this study in response to the changing healthcare landscape. Even with these improvements, security threats are associated with the increased connectivity of medical equipment, which calls for a thorough assessment. With a primary focus on addressing security and performance enhancement challenges, the research classifies current IoT communication devices, examines their applications in IoMT, and investigates important aspects of IoMT devices in healthcare. The evaluation extends so far as to examine an IoMT-based system in the healthcare space, highlighting limitations in Industry 5.0 and healthcare institutions. IoMT devices are systematically categorized according to how well they can strengthen infrastructures; this process exposes operational flaws, gaps in the literature, and real-world risks. The importance of this research is in its thorough analysis of the security and operational facets of IoMT devices, with the explicit objective of promoting secure and efficient medical practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the significance of the Budapest-Belgrade railway project in the context of Hungary's foreign policy identity under the Orbán regime. It claims that existing explanations have so far failed to appreciate the project's symbolic importance for enacting and reproducing the Orbán government's self-conception in foreign affairs. This self-conception is notable for locating Hungary at the crossroads, geographically as well as normatively, between East and West and for appraising the country as a great conduit between and across these spaces. By viewing the railway upgrade as an element of identity politics, the article moves beyond the literature's crude notion that this is a political project simply because it seems not to make sense economically. We conduct a discourse analysis to trace the meaning of the project in a set of chosen texts from key actors in Hungarian politics. Besides appreciating the infrastructure project as a marker of identity, the article also shows that the Orbán government's emphasis on connecting distant worlds reveals a normatively Chinese approach to international politics in Central and Eastern Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Europe's food sector infrastructure—which includes agricultural land, food production, processing companies, food safety, agri-transport, logistics, and agri-research and development—has become interconnected since the development of the single market. As a result, food production in Europe has now developed into a transcontinental system. Under a wider policy of Chinese outward FDI by means of the Go Global policy, Chinese companies are increasing their investments in the foreign agri-food sector. Chinese firms are increasingly acquiring agri-food companies in Europe. This is part of a broader state policy to increase Chinese food security. These concepts are analyzed using a governance approach. China is not a unitary actor investing in Europe's food sector infrastructure. Rather, the investment pattern differs between Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and private companies. The aim of this article is to understand why China continues to invest in European agricultural infrastructure despite growing tensions. The article argues that knowledge transfer from the EU agri-food sector allows China to meet its national objective of upgrading the Chinese food system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enterprise Information Systems (EIS) supporting Business Processes (BPs), particularly Sensitive Business Processes (SBPs), should be characterized by integrity, flexibility, and interoperability. However, the urbanization approach, which we rely on to implement these systems, must address the "three fit" problems that hinder the realization of these desired features at both the business and technical infrastructures: "vertical fit" problems – concerning the business infrastructure; "horizontal fit" problems and "transversal fit" problems – concerning the technical infrastructure. We argue that for overcoming those problems, it is necessary to define an explicit framework for specifying BPs/SBPs. We present in this paper our conceptual specification for the BPs/SBPs modeling domain in the form of a core domain ontology, in order to overcome "horizontal fit" and "transversal fit" problems. Specifically, we introduce (i) our reference ontological framework and (ii) provide an overview of the Core Ontology of Sensitive Business Processes (COSBP). Our focus lies in the representation of SBPs in order to overcome "vertical fit" problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]