Prospects of peer-to-peer SIP for mobile operators

Tämän diplomityön tarkoituksena on esitellä kehitteillä oleva Peer-to-Peer Session Initiation Protocol (P2PSIP), jonka avulla käyttäjät voivat itsenäisesti ja helposti luoda keskenään puhe- ja muita multimediayhteyksiä vertaisverkko-tekniikan avulla. Lisäksi tarkoituksena on arvioida P2PSIP protokollan vaikutuksia ja mahdollisuuksia mobiilioperaattoreille, joille sitä voidaan pitää uhkana. Tästä huolimatta, P2PSIP:n ei ole kuitenkaan tarkoitus korvata nykyisiä puhelinverkkoja. Työn alussa esittelemme SIP:n ja vertaisverkkojen (Peer-to-Peer) periaatteet, joihin P2PSIP-protokollan on suunniteltu perustuvan. SIP mahdollistaa multimedia-istuntojen luomisen, sulkemisen ja muokkaamisen verkossa, mutta sen monipuolinen käyttö vaatii keskitettyjen palvelimien käyttöä. Vertaisverkon avulla käyttäjät voivat suorittaa keskitettyjen palvelimien tehtävät keskenään hajautetusti. Tällöin voidaan ylläpitää laajojakin verkkoja tehokkaasti ilman palvelimista aiheutuvia ylläpito-kustannuksia. Mobiilioperaattorit ovat haasteellisen tilanteen edessä, koska teleliikennemaailma on muuttumassa yhä avoimemmaksi. Tällöin operaattoreiden asiakkaille aukeaa mahdollisuuksia käyttää kilpailevia Internet-palveluja (kuten Skype) helpommin ja tulevaisuudessa myös itse muodostamaan kommunikointiverkkoja P2PSIP:n avulla. Tutkimukset osoittavat, että näistä uhista huolimatta myös operaattorit pystyvät näkemään P2PSIP:n mahdollisuutena mukautumisessa nopeasti muuttuvan teleliikennemaailman haasteisiin. Nämä mahdollisuudet sisältävät operaattorin oman verkon optimoinnin lisäksi vaihtoehtoisten ja monipuolisempien palveluiden tarjoamisen asiakkailleen edullisesti. Täytyy kuitenkin muistaa, että näiden mahdollisuuksien toteuttamisten vaikutusten ei tulisi olla ristiriidassa operaattorin muiden palveluiden kanssa. Lisäksi tulisi muistaa, että tällä hetkellä keskeneräisen P2PSIP-standardin lopullinen luonne ja ominaisuudet voivat muuttaa sen vaikutuksia.The purpose of this thesis is to present the Peer-to-Peer Session Initiation Protocol (P2PSIP) being developed. In addition, the purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the impacts and prospects of P2PSIP to mobile operators, to whom it can be regarded as a threat. In P2PSIP, users can independently and easily establish voice and other multimedia connections using peer-to-peer (P2P) networking. However, P2PSIP is not meant to replace the existing telephony networks of the operators. We start by introducing the principles of SIP and P2P networking that the P2PSIP is intended to use. SIP enables to establish, terminate and modify multimedia sessions, but its versatile exploitation requires using centralized servers. By using P2P networking, users can decentralize the functions of centralized servers by performing them among themselves. This enables to maintain large and robust networks without maintenance costs resulted of running such centralized servers. Telecommunications market is transforming to a more open environment, where mobile operators and other service providers are challenged to adapt to the upcoming changes. Subscribers have easier access to rivalling Internet-services (such as Skype) and in future they can form their own communication communities by using P2PSIP. The results show that despite of these threats, telecom operators can find potential from P2PSIP in concurrence in adaptation to the challenges of the rapidly changing telecom environment. These potential roles include optimization of the network of the operator, but as well roles to provide alternative and more versatile services to their subscribers at low cost. However, the usage of P2PSIP should not conflict with the other services of the operator. Also, as P2PSIP is still under development, its final nature and features may change its impacts and prospects

State-Of-The-Art and Prospects for Peer-To-Peer Transaction-Based Energy System

Transaction-based energy (TE) management and control has become an increasingly relevant topic, attracting considerable attention from industry and the research community alike. As a result, new techniques are emerging for its development and actualization. This paper presents a comprehensive review of TE involving peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading and also covering the concept, enabling technologies, frameworks, active research efforts and the prospects of TE. The formulation of a common approach for TE management modelling is challenging given the diversity of circumstances of prosumers in terms of capacity, profiles and objectives. This has resulted in divergent opinions in the literature. The idea of this paper is therefore to explore these viewpoints and provide some perspectives on this burgeoning topic on P2P TE systems. This study identified that most of the techniques in the literature exclusively formulate energy trade problems as a game, an optimization problem or a variational inequality problem. It was also observed that none of the existing works has considered a unified messaging framework. This is a potential area for further investigation

Teenage pregnancy prevention: The church, community, culture and contraceptives

It is important to prevent teenage pregnancies to enhance their health, educational level and economic prospects. Peer education should be explored as a strategy to prevent teenage pregnancies. The purpose of this paper is to share the perceptions of peer educators who underwent a peer education-training programme and the effect it had on their own sexual behaviour. A qualitative descriptive, explorative and contextual research design was conducted, using in-depth interviews from 15 participants to gather data. The findings revealed that participants had positive educational experiences; positive personal growth; and wanted to become mentors for their peers. Despite their increased level of knowledge and positive experiences, some found it difficult to mentor others due to religion, culture as well as the opinion of their parents and community. Peer education will only have an effect on contraceptives if the church, the community, diverse cultural norms and traditions are included in the dialogue about contraception. (Afr J Reprod Health 2021; 25[6]: 51-57)

Can AI be used ethically to assist peer review?

As the rate and volume of academic publications has risen, so too has the pressure on journal editors to quickly find reviewers to assess the quality of academic work. In this context the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to boost productivity and reduce workload has received significant attention. Drawing on evidence from an experiment utilising AI to learn and assess peer review outcomes, Alessandro Checco, Lorenzo Bracciale, Pierpaolo Loreti, Stephen Pinfield, and Giuseppe Bianchi, discuss the prospects for AI for assisting peer review and the potential ethical dilemmas its application might produce

International learning as a driver of innovation in local-level policy-making: achievements and challenges from peer review of local homelessness policies

Analysis of housing and homelessness policies commonly focuses on the policy-making process at the national level, albeit recognising an important role for local agencies in policy implementation. This paper examines drivers for distinct local (city) level policy-making, and the potential role for international ‘peer review’ of local policies in sharing changing practice and enhancing the effectiveness of policy development and service delivery. The analysis reviews the first five years of annual peer reviews of city homelessness policies in Europe, mediated through the HABITACT European Exchange Forum on local homelessness strategies (2010-2014). After setting the context of EU-wide and national-level developments on homelessness policy, the paper examines the policy and practice responses of the case study cities that were subject to peer review, comparing city-level policy-making with the international research evidence base to reveal factors driving innovation at the local level. The process of peer review of city-level homelessness models is assessed through a comparison of the five reviews to date (each comprising an initial discussion paper, peer review workshop and post-workshop report) and the reflections of participating cities on the follow-up process, in order to assess the impact for both host and peer cities. The analysis confirms both the substantive role for local policy-making in meeting the needs of homeless people and the added value of a structured peer review process to support international lessonlearning and assess realistic prospects for the transferability of local policy innovations to peer cities with different national policy frameworks

Talking, Listening and Emancipation: : A Heideggerian Take on the Peer-Relation in Self-Help

This paper adds a phenomenological account to the discussion on what constitutes the favorable prospects of the peer-relation in the context of self-help. By drawing on Heidegger’s lectures on St Paul’s First Thessalonians, and engaging in dialogue with a fictive case, we show that more attention needs to be given to how meaning is enacted, rather than simply adopted, in the peer-relation; that is, away from experiential content towards the process of how experiential knowledge is transferred communicatively. This, we argue, may clarify the underpinnings of the peer-relation and its emancipatory potential. Our findings propose a reconsideration of the role played by communicative activities in self-help. And, whereas storytelling has often been propounded as a way to facilitate agency among self-helpers, also the act of listening should receive more attention. By considering listening as an expression of agency, attention is reversed from self-narration on behalf of the person expected to be helped from it, to participation in another person’s story. The enaction approach to the peer-relation elaborated on in this paper invites the reader to rethink the value of talking and listening in helping relationships

Faces and phases of Protestantism in African contexts : the Jacobus Capitein heritage

Peer reviewedThis essay explores the shape, form, tone, and outlook of Protestantism on the African continent. I present the argument that, by and large, ‘African Protestantism’ is of a different order for its Euro-American counterparts. In order to illustrate and pursue this line of argument, the case study of Jacobus Capitein, a 17th century African slave who was to later become the first Protestant minister trained in theology is advanced. Capitein, together with his work as a pastor at the slave castle called Elmina near the Ghanaian city of Cape Coast in Ghana, is held up as a mirror of African Protestantism. The essay concludes with a discussion about the prospects of Protestant Christianity in Africa.Church History Society of Southern Afric

Who And What Influences Choice Of University? Student And University Perceptions.

Emerging peer-to-peer communication via social media, and the role of influential peers, is changing the way that marketers communicate with prospects.  The model is changing from a sender-receiver model to one that includes influential peer-to-peer and receiver-to-sender communication.  This research examines this phenomenon in the context of student choice of a university.  What is the relative influence that various sources of information have on students’ choice of university?  How does the influence of friends and family members compare to the influence of non-personal media?  How do high-touch tools like campus visits compare to high-tech tools such as social media sites?  Results of a survey of students showed that parents, along with other family and friends, were the most influential sources of information.  Outside of personal contacts, a student’s visit to campus was highly influential.  Surprisingly, social media was not rated as highly influential compared to traditional media.  Results of a second survey of university employees generally predicted student responses well, although employees underestimated the influence of university representatives (faculty members, staff, and coaches) and underestimated the impact of a visit to campus as sources of information for prospective students

The Impact of Attachment and Optimism on Delinquency

The purpose of this study is to assess if justice-involved juveniles’ optimism toward future prospects mediates the relationship between parental and peer attachment and the likelihood of future delinquency. Theory and prior research support the argument that there is a negative relationship between parental and peer attachment and delinquency, and a negative relationship between optimism and delinquency. This study attempts to expand on this research by exploring whether parental and peer attachments influence delinquency through their influence on optimism for future prospects. This study utilizes data from the Pathways to Desistance Study, a panel study of seriously justice-involved youth, to assess that research question. The main findings of this study suggest that: parental attachment does not negatively influence delinquency directly when controlling for other factors; peer attachment positively predicts delinquency when controlling for other factors; optimism negatively predicts delinquency; and, parental and peer attachment are indirectly related to delinquency through the mediator of optimism. Policy implications include developing information and exercises on optimism within programming for at-risk and delinquent youth, especially for youth with low attachment to others, and providing trainings on how to encourage and build optimism for parents with at-risk and delinquent children.Keywords: juvenile delinquency, parental attachment, peer attachment, optimis

Взаємне навчання як спосіб розвитку інклюзивного освітнього середовища

У статті розглядаються можливості вдосконалення інклюзивного освітнього середовища, у якому виховується учень із синдромом Дауна. Наші висновки про переваги використання взаємного навчання/ репетиторство, створення спільних експертних груп у галузі інклюзивної освіти підтвердили претензії та висновки Європейського агентства розвитку спеціальної та інклюзивної освіти [3, 4, 5]. Практична значущість та перспективи використання взаємного навчання сприймається як унікальна можливість для досягнення кращих академічних результатів, а також можливість підвищити соціальний статус вихованців з обмеженими можливостями здоров’я, тому ми рекомендуємо це в якості ефективної стратегії інклюзивної освіти.The main topic of the paper is focused on the possibilities of improvement of inclusive educational environment where is educated a pupil with Down syndrome. Through longitudinal participative observation (2 school years) and ethnographically oriented research, we identified as a useful tool for this aim-creating and improving opportunities for his active participation and learning, peer tutoring/ learning and his participation in the cooperative peer group, which is organized during afternoon activities in school club of pupils. During his participation in the cooperative peer group he is doing his homework together with his classmates. If pupils have a problem, or they do not understand task request, we are there for offering an assistance and supervision. During these activities every pupil in the cooperative peer group has an opportunity to teach each other, help each other with homework. Our findings about benefits of using peer learning/ tutoring, creating cooperative peer groups in the inclusive education, confirm claims and conclusions of European agency for developmnet of special and inclusive education [3, 4, 5]. Another important tool, we used to applicate during learning in peer group, is Mediated Learning Experience based on Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment [6]. We believe, that the way of mediation of knowledge is the base for creating pupil’s active approach to learning ant this is one of the aims of organization of cooperative peer groups [10]. According to findings of researches focused on academic achievements and social status of pupil with Down syndrome educated in the mainstream classroom [2, 8], which describe peer learning as an effective strategy in both sides of education (achievements, social status) we decided to verify this through sociometric test. The test included two positive questions (1. With whom would you like to sit in the school-desk? 2. Whom would you invite to your birthday party? and one negative question (3. Whom would you not invited to your birthday party?). Pupils should write 3 names of classmates into each question. Results of sociometric test in the class, where was educated pupil with Down syndrome and where were peer cooperative groups organized regularly, shown his social status as a popular. The same result we gain in the repeated test. The main finding: pupil with Down syndrome received only positive nominations and these nominations awarded classmates who were participating in cooperative peer group regularly. Practical importance and prospects of the use of peer learning is perceived as a unique opportunity for achieving better academic results and as well as a possibility to improve the social status of pupils with disabilities, so we recommend this as an effective inclusive strategy