230 research outputs found
AAKE-BIVT: Anonymous authenticated key exchange scheme for blockchain-enabled internet of vehicles in smart transportation
No full textThe next-generation Internet of vehicles (IoVs) seamlessly connects humans, vehicles, roadside units (RSUs), and service platforms, to improve road safety, enhance transit efficiency, and deliver comfort while conserving the environment. Currently, numerous entities communicate in the IoVs environment via insecure public channels that are susceptible to a variety of security assaults and threats. To address these security challenges, we design an anonymous authenticated key exchange mechanism for the IoVs in smart transportation supported by blockchain, referred to as AAKE-BIVT. AAKE-BIVT securely transmits traffic information to a cluster head, before heading to a nearby RSU utilizing the established secret session keys via mutual authentication and key agreement. A cloud server (CS) then securely aggregates data from related RSUs and generates transactions. The CS combines the transactions into blocks in a peer-to-peer network of CSs, and the blocks are confirmed and added to the blockchain via a voting-based consensus method. By means of rigorous informal security studies and formal security analysis through the random oracle model, we reveal that the proposed AAKE-BIVT is resistant to a broad range of potential security assaults in the IoVs environment. Furthermore, a comparative study reveals that AAKE-BIVT outperforms existing state-of-the-art techniques, in terms of security and functionality while being more efficient in terms of communication and computation. Additionally, the blockchain simulation validates the implementation viability of our proposed AAKE-BIVT
Long-term warming and elevated CO2 increase ammonia-oxidizing microbial communities and accelerate nitrification in paddy soil
No full textMorpho-Physiological and Enzymatic Responses of Zinnia (Zinnia elegans L.) to Different Metal Hoarded Wastewaters
No full textWastewater, as an irrigation source, offers various advantages, significantly enhancing soil fertility, crop development, soil health, and preventing soil alkalinization. The introduction of non-conventional water resources (treated greywater, and treated wastewater) in floriculture plays a crucial role in water conservation. This study examined the impact of treated greywater (wastewater generated from domestic activities such as bathing, showering, laundry, and dishwashing) and treated wastewater (water from toilets, showers, kitchen sinks, and industrial processes) on photosynthetic characteristics, stress-related metabolites, and antioxidative enzymes in zinnia plants. A six-month pot experiment was conducted, with three water sources (canal water, treated greywater, and treated wastewater) and two zinnia varieties (Peter pan and Dreamland). During the flowering stages, when the zinnia flower petals were fully opened. Several parameters were measured, including pigments, photosynthetic attributes, total soluble protein, hydrogen peroxide and glycinebetaine. Moreover, antioxidant enzymatic activities like peroxidase (POX), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) were also investigated in zinnia plants to assess their resilience against abiotic stressors caused by high levels of heavy metals and excessive nutrients present in wastewaters. Results indicated that treated greywater (TGW) significantly improved vegetative parameters, such as plant height, leaf number, leaf area, and stem diameter. Additionally, flowering attributes, including the number and diameter of flowers, as well as fresh and dry plant biomass, increased in Peter pan variety under treated greywater irrigation. Chlorophyll and carotenoid contents were notably reduced in plants irrigated with treated greywater and treated wastewater. Photosynthetic attributes, such as stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, and photosynthetic rate, significantly improved in zinnia plants under treated greywater irrigation. Stress-related metabolites and antioxidant enzymatic activities also showed substantial enhancements under treated greywater irrigation. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) confirmed the positive effect of treated greywater on flower quality, plant biomass, and physiological processes. Utilizing treated greywater and wastewater for Zinnia cultivation is a promising approach. Ensuring the ongoing monitoring and management of harmful substances in wastewater is vital, involving regular testing, quality control, and other actions. This practice contributes to environmental conservation, sustainable agriculture, efficient water resource management, reduced energy use, and enhanced soil health, making it a cost-effective and eco-friendly option for floriculture
Development of Seersucker Knitted Fabric for Better Comfort Properties and Aesthetic Appearance
No full textSeersucker is a thin puckered woven fabric in which some threads bunched together, giving a wrinkled appearance in place. Conventionally seersucker fabric is produced on weaving machines with some special warp tensioning devices. The aim of this work was to develop knitted seersucker fabric on single cylinder weft knitting machine using plain jersey structure. Core spun cotton yarn and cotton plain yarn of same linear density were fed at regular intervals to the feeders on the machine. The produced sample has a regular puckering stripe along the width of the fabric with same height. Air permeability and moisture management tests of wet processed samples were performed. The results indicated that the knitted seersucker fabric has good comfort properties as well as better aesthetic appearance
Impact of Globalization on Youth: (A Case Study of Southern Punjab)
No full textThe study was conducted on the topic “Impact of Globalization on Youth (A Case Study of Southern Punjab)” with the aim to evaluate the level of awareness about globalization, positive and negative impact of globalization, impacts of changing and restructuring the social structure of the society due to global village and values changing due to globalization. For purpose of data collection interview schedule was use as tool and selects 200 respondents from four Districts of Southern Punjab by using convenient sampling technique. The results showed that the globalization has its negative effects on youth some of the effects are; values for elder decrease, people become materialistic, having love for others instead of parents, people adopting new fashion and trends due to the globalization. All these factors affect the culture and society negatively
Examining the Dynamics of Customers Behavioral Intentions: An Empirical Analysis of Factors Influencing Fin-Tech Adoption in the Banking Sector of Pakistan
No full textPurpose: The main aim of this study was to investigate the factors that influence the customers’ behavioral intention to adopt financial technologies (Fin-tech) in the banking sector of Pakistan. These factors include perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude towards use, environmental concerns and demographic variable age was taken as moderator in this study.
Design/Methodology/Approach: The primary data was collected from 600 customers of the banking sector located in the region of southern Punjab, Pakistan, using simple random sampling techniques from those who are using technologies for their financial activities. The five-point Likert scale was used for data collection and the Google form was used to collect the data as this is the most efficient way.
Findings: The findings of this study reveal that many factors including perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude towards use, and environmental concerns play a positive and significant role in the adoption of financial technologies for their business activities for the customers of the banking sector. At the same time, age was taken as a moderator which significantly moderated the relationship between environmental concerns and behavioral intention to adopt fin-tech.
Implications/Originality/Value: This study gave a detailed understanding of the factors influencing the adoption of Fin-Tech and is also helpful for the researchers, academician, business owners and policymakers for taking decision-makers about enhancing financial activities and getting more efficient and effective responses from the customers for adopting the financial technologies for their business activities and also generate a valuable business for their organizations
Performance Analysis of Learning-Based Disturbance Observer for Pulsed Superconducting Cavity Field Control
No full textThe use of Disturbance Observer-based (DOB) control is widespread in stabilizing the electromagnetic field in superconducting radio frequency cavities to facilitate beam acceleration in particle accelerators. Repetitive disturbances such as beam loading and Lorentz force cavity detuning are compensated by DOB control, and their suppression is enhanced through the incorporation of a learning scheme into the conventional disturbance observer. This paper evaluated the performance of a learning-based disturbance observer for compensating beam loading and cavity detuning in pulsed superconducting radio frequency cavities and proposes modifications for better field stability. A superconducting cavity baseband model for π-mode was simulated in Matlab/Simulink with a trapezoidal beam pulse as the input disturbance and different cavity detuning values to analyze the controllers’ performance. The simulations were conducted for multiple observer filter bandwidths to evaluate the performance of the learning-based disturbance observer under plant model uncertainties and different detuning values. The results demonstrate that the learning-based disturbance observer yields faster convergence to the reference input and lower tracking errors during the flat top of pulse voltage in comparison to conventional disturbance observer control
Impact of Basel III framework on financial distress: A case study of Pakistan
No full textPurpose: New liquidity rules phased under the Basel lll define the new stable funding ratios (NSFR) increase the stability of the funding structure of the financial institution. Using a Pakistani banking data, we tested the relevance of both Structural liquidity and Capital ratios as defined in the Basel lll. We used the broad definition of the failure and distress to check the status of the banking sector. If the banks fail, then it denoted by 1 otherwise 0. We use the logistic regression in our study. Estimate from several versions of the logistic probability model indicate that the likelihood of failure and distress decrease with increase liquidity holding while capital ratios are not significant. Our result provides support for the Basel lll that the NSFR has the inverse relation with the bank failure and distress. This study also compared the two versions of the NSFR. NSFR-10 and NSFR-14 are the two versions. Our analysis tells that the NSFR-14 is more reliable as compare to the NSFR-10. We also check the bank situations whether it lies in the failure and distress condition or in active banks. In this study we also check the other variables that have an important impact on the stability and failure and distress of the banks
Hybrid Power System Design and Dynamic Modeling for Enhanced Reliability in Remote Natural Gas Pipeline Control Stations
No full textThe most rapid and efficient method to transport natural gas from its source to its destination is through a pipeline network. The optimal functioning of control stations for natural gas pipelines depends on the use of electrical devices, including data loggers, communication devices, control systems, surveillance equipment, and more. Ensuring a reliable and consistent power supply proves to be challenging due to the remote locations of these control stations. This research article presents a case study detailing the design and dynamic modeling of a hybrid power system (HPS) to address the specific energy needs of a particular natural gas pipeline control station. The HOMER Pro 3.17.1 software is used to design an optimal HPS for the specified location. The designed system combines a photovoltaic (PV) system with natural gas generators as a backup to ensure a reliable and consistent power supply for the control station. Furthermore, it provides significant cost savings, reducing the cost of energy (COE) by USD 0.148 and the annual operating costs by USD 87,321, all while integrating a renewable energy fraction of 79.2%. Dynamic modeling of the designed system is performed in MATLAB/Simulink R2022a to analyze the system’s response, including its power quality, harmonics, voltage transients, load impact, etc. The experimental results are validated using hardware in the loop (HIL) and OPAL-RT Technologies’ real-time OP5707XG simulator
Assessing the Role of Economic Growth in Achieving Environmental Sustainability: EKC in Developing Countries
No full textThe persistent increase in environmental degradation has become a challenge for the researchers and policy makers in all the countries of the world. Several studies have scrutinized the impact of economic activities and the use of energy as an input on environmental degradation but the results of these studies were not clear due to several reasons. The present study tries to verify the EKC through economic activities and environmental degradation in 81 developing countries. For analysis purposes PQR and FGLS estimations techniques have been used on the annual panel data for the period 1990-2020. The results of this study show the existence of inverted U shaped EKC between economic activities and environmental degradation. Furthermore, all the selected countries lie on the positive side of the EKC. The study concludes that the government of these countries should take effective steps for the provision of more resources to enhance economic activities without compromising the environmental quality
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