Quality of Experience and Adaptation Techniques for Multimedia Communications

The widespread use of multimedia services on the World Wide Web and the advances in end-user portable devices have recently increased the user demands for better quality. Moreover, providing these services seamlessly and ubiquitously on wireless networks and with user mobility poses hard challenges. To meet these challenges and fulfill the end-user requirements, suitable strategies need to be adopted at both application level and network level. At the application level rate and quality have to be adapted to time-varying bandwidth limitations, whereas on the network side a mechanism for efficient use of the network resources has to be implemented, to provide a better end-user Quality of Experience (QoE) through better Quality of Service (QoS). The work in this thesis addresses these issues by first investigating multi-stream rate adaptation techniques for Scalable Video Coding (SVC) applications aimed at a fair provision of QoE to end-users. Rate Distortion (R-D) models for real-time and non real-time video streaming have been proposed and a rate adaptation technique is also developed to minimize with fairness the distortion of multiple videos with difference complexities. To provide resiliency against errors, the effect of Unequal Error protection (UXP) based on Reed Solomon (RS) encoding with erasure correction has been also included in the proposed R-D modelling. Moreover, to improve the support of QoE at the network level for multimedia applications sensitive to delays, jitters and packet drops, a technique to prioritise different traffic flows using specific QoS classes within an intermediate DiffServ network integrated with a WiMAX access system is investigated. Simulations were performed to test the network under different congestion scenarios

Market Chain Analysis of High Value Fruits in Bench Maji Zone, Southwest Ethiopia

This research aimed at assessing the market chain of banana, avocado and mango fruits in Bench Maji zone. Both primary and secondary data were collected from 2 purposively selected fruits producing districts namely North Bench and South Bench districts. Primary data were collected through semi-structured questionnaire and focus group discussion. A total of 150 households were selected by using systematic random sampling technique. In addition, 40 traders were selected by using simple random sampling technique. Market structure-conduct-performance analysis model was used to assess the performance of the fruits market. The result revealed that the participants in the fruits markets were identified as primary actors and secondary actors. Primary actors in the fruits market chain were producers, brokers/agents/, farmer traders, collectors, and wholesalers. Whereas, local tax authority, local police, transporters, and district Trade and Industry office were identified as secondary actors.  Fruits market in the area was characterized by non-competitive nature with concentration ratio ranging from 42 to 91.10% indicating the existence of oligopoly market structure. Entrance and exit in the fruits market was blocked by licensing and access to channel. A channel that links producers to local wholesalers through brokers was more efficient in terms of large volumes of sales. However, performance of the fruits market was affected by seasonality, the existence of few big traders, limited access to information, absence of organized market center and brokers’ interference. Therefore, attention has to be given to alleviate the problems so as to improve the performance of the fruits market. Keywords: Market chain, oligopoly, market concentration ratio and market performanc

ICT advancements and its undesired ramifications

Information and communication technology (ICT) has the credit to be relatively more closely related to the society facilitating economic transactions to be easy and fast and social wellbeing in all walks of life. It has had global and international importance, as it has worked as an important tool in globalizing the world, and has become a pressing necessity of the globalized world. Moreover, its relevance in the globalized world is intensifying, as its constructive role is every day spiraling. Its vale in that sense will go on mounting. On the other hand, its evil-ridden uses and abuses are menacing the people and countries around the world. Delinquent people and rogue countries are using the technology for achieving their sinister objectives. This aspect of the technology is bothering policymakers, business executives and individuals in the society. In view of this, two pertinent questions arise: one, which of the two aspects of the information and communication technology is dominant; and second, what preventive and punitive measures should we adopt in order to mitigate the evil use of the technology. A vivid comparison of both, which has been carried out in the paper, demonstrates that the beneficial use of the information and communication technology is predominantly high. Thus, our strategy, as the paper suggests, should be to support the useful aspect of the technology with useful conditionality so that it could abate and control its evil use, and to adopt preventive and punitive measures in order to defeat the evil-doers. For that, both legal and extralegal tools should be adhered to. Towards these, the paper offers some useful suggestions

Legal and policy framework for ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change in Malaysia: a reform oriented study

Rise of average global temperature and its global disastrous impacts, due to unusual weather conditions, are escalating despite greenhouse gases (GHGs) reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, as the mitigation mechanisms alone cannot do away with the sufferance of the people on long-term basis. It has to be combined with adaptation (Klein, Huq, Denton, & Downing, 2007). Adaptation to tenacious adverse impacts of climate change is crucial for alleviating the menace of the people. Adaptation within the context of UNFCCC is very restrictive and lacks detailed strategy. It is for this reason that mitigation measures combined with adaptation can best be practiced at regional, national and local level. (Koh and Lovleen, 2011; Sahraie, 2011, Othman, 2011). It has been said so in the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC, 2007. This is because although there are a number of strategies developed under its auspices, their implementation depends on a viable national adaptation plans and effective programmes of action within the Cancun Adaptation Framework and Nairobi Work Programme supported with encouraging transfer of environmentally sound technologies (ESTs), research support, financial support and support in capacity building. A successful programme at these levels depends on political will on the part of the state supported by all stakeholders, national and international, including people at the grass root level. All these have been well spelled out and discussed in the IPCC WGII AR5 entitled Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, released on 1 April 2014. (See infra

Antecedents of Consumer’s Purchase Intention of Counterfeit Luxury Product

This study analyzed the influential factors of consumers’ purchase intention towards counterfeit luxury products by considering the model of social status, integrity, and novelty seeking. Attitude towards counterfeit product was used as a mediator in the model. The causalities in the model of problematic purchase intention of consumers toward counterfeit luxury products are hypothesized. A total sample of 400 respondents with 385 effective samples was collected by distributing self-administered questionnaires to people from different sectors. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) through AMOS was adopted for the analysis. Consumers’ attitude towards counterfeit product was found to be positively and significantly related to purchase intention of counterfeit product. As for personality constructs, social status and novelty seeking were found to be positively related to attitude and purchase intention of counterfeit product while integrity did not show significant relationship with purchase intention. These results contribute towards marketing as a subject by advocating the theory used in this study and providing different results which have implications for academicians and managers. Keywords: Counterfeit, Social Status, Integrity, Novelty Seeking, Purchase Intentio

On concircular curvature tensor in a Lorentzian α-Sasakian manifold with respect to the quarter-symmetric non-metric connection

In the present paper, some properties of concircular curvature tensor in a Lorentzian α-Sasakian manifold with respect to the quarter-symmetric non-metric connection have been studied

Information asset as property: a legal perspective

‘Information asset’ has not been perceived only as a jargon of the information age we are living today. Rather, it has increasingly become the reality, where people and society attach more values on business information and information system. The contemporary ‘information age’ is, therefore, not merely about a change of gadgets, but more so about a change of a whole environment. It is an arena where information becomes the main asset of business and the most valuable property of its owner