Putting Iterative Proportional Fitting on the researcher’s desk

‘Iterative Proportional Fitting’ (IPF) is a mathematical procedure originally developed to combine the information from two or more datasets. IPF is a well-established technique with the theoretical and practical considerations behind the method thoroughly explored and reported. In this paper the theory of IPF is investigated with a mathematical definition of the procedure and a review of the relevant literature given. So that IPF can be readily accessible to researchers the procedure has been automated in Visual Basic and a description of the program and a ‘User Guide’ are provided. IPF is employed in various disciplines but has been particularly useful in census-related analysis to provide updated population statistics and to estimate individual-level attribute characteristics. To illustrate the practical application of IPF various case studies are described. In the future, demand for individual-level data is thought likely to increase and it is believed that the IPF procedure and Visual Basic program have the potential to facilitate research in geography and other disciplines

Network layer access control for context-aware IPv6 applications

As part of the Lancaster GUIDE II project, we have developed a novel wireless access point protocol designed to support the development of next generation mobile context-aware applications in our local environs. Once deployed, this architecture will allow ordinary citizens secure, accountable and convenient access to a set of tailored applications including location, multimedia and context based services, and the public Internet. Our architecture utilises packet marking and network level packet filtering techniques within a modified Mobile IPv6 protocol stack to perform access control over a range of wireless network technologies. In this paper, we describe the rationale for, and components of, our architecture and contrast our approach with other state-of-the- art systems. The paper also contains details of our current implementation work, including preliminary performance measurements

Efficient energy management for the internet of things in smart cities

The drastic increase in urbanization over the past few years requires sustainable, efficient, and smart solutions for transportation, governance, environment, quality of life, and so on. The Internet of Things offers many sophisticated and ubiquitous applications for smart cities. The energy demand of IoT applications is increased, while IoT devices continue to grow in both numbers and requirements. Therefore, smart city solutions must have the ability to efficiently utilize energy and handle the associated challenges. Energy management is considered as a key paradigm for the realization of complex energy systems in smart cities. In this article, we present a brief overview of energy management and challenges in smart cities. We then provide a unifying framework for energy-efficient optimization and scheduling of IoT-based smart cities. We also discuss the energy harvesting in smart cities, which is a promising solution for extending the lifetime of low-power devices and its related challenges. We detail two case studies. The first one targets energy-efficient scheduling in smart homes, and the second covers wireless power transfer for IoT devices in smart cities. Simulation results for the case studies demonstrate the tremendous impact of energy-efficient scheduling optimization and wireless power transfer on the performance of IoT in smart cities

Implementing Nature-based Solutions and Green Infrastructure for Cities, Citizens and Rivers - The SEE-URBAN-WATER Project

Cities and their rivers are undergoing significant transformations owing to the impact of multiples challenges at a time such as rapid population growth, infrastructure development, and climate change. The consequences are evident in increased flood risks, groundwater pollution, accelerated soil erosion, drinking water scarcity, green space depletion, and biodiversity loss. In light of this, interest in novel concepts such as Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) is growing, extending beyond academia to influence micro-, meso-, and macro-urban scales. Motivated by the potential of NbS to deliver social, ecological, and societal benefits, the SEE-URBAN-WATER (SUW) research group aimed to provide a robust knowledge and methodological basis for achieving socio-ecological transformation through the inter- and transdisciplinary planning, design, and implementation of NbS and Green Infrastructures in highly urbanized areas susceptible to environmental and climate risks. From 2018 to 2023, SUW, funded within the framework of the Research for Sustainability program (known by its German acronym FONA) by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (abbreviated to BMBF in German), produced numerous master’s and doctoral theses, methodological frameworks, scientific publications, and technical guidelines. Nevertheless, this book goes beyond being a mere compendium of these outcomes; it clearly illustrates the systematic inter- and transdisciplinary evolution and interconnection of ideas for building more socially and environmentally resilient cities