Linking the government expenditures to the achievement of the Europe 2020 strategy indicators. Evidence from Central and Eastern European Countries

In order to evaluate the degree of sustainable development at CEEC (Central and Eastern European Countries) by means of an aggregate indicator and to determine if the government expenditures in the field of environment, environment protection, fuel, energy, education and social protection could influence the achievement of the Europa 2020 targets, a data panel of 10 CEEC for 2007–2018 period was analysed through Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) method and a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). To calculate the indicator, an algorithm that included six steps was used. The results of the study show, on long-term, statistically significant correlations between the target indicator and all the selected variables, except for the government expenditures with the education variable. However, on short-term, there were identified strong connections reflected in bidirectional causality between government expenditures with social protection and the target indicator. Also, on short-term, a strong causal relationship was identified from target indicator to the total government expenditures for education, from the environmental protection government expenditures to the government expenditures for social protection and from the total government expenditures for social protection to the total government expenditures for education. First published online 17 March 202

Connecting Blue Economy and Economic Growth to Climate Change: Evidence from European Union Countries

Blue Economy represents a new and interesting concept on a global level, both from the economic potential but also by the fact that it can be used to reduce environmental degradation. The main goal of this research is to identify the causality relations between the greenhouse gas emissions, the Blue Economy and economic growth based on a panel of annual data from the 28 countries that are members of the European Union (EU) over the 2009–2018 period. After applying stationarity and cointegration tests, the long term cointegration coefficients shall be determined with the help of the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) estimator. Granger causality estimation based on the vector error correction model (VECM) was applied to identify the causality relationship between the variables and to detect the direction of causality. Based on the identified causality relations, the Blue Economy has a significant influence on greenhouse gas emissions in the long run. Unidirectional causality relations were identified from the economic growth of greenhouse gas emissions in the long term, as well as from the greenhouse gas emissions on economic growth in the short term

The Design of an Intelligent Robotic Wheelchair Supporting People with Special Needs, Including for Their Visual System

The paper aims to study the applicability and limitations of the solution resulting from a design process for an intelligent system supporting people with special needs who are not physically able to control a wheelchair using classical systems. The intelligent system uses information from smart sensors and offers a control system that replaces the use of a joystick. The necessary movements of the chair in the environment can be determined by an intelligent vision system analyzing the direction of the patient’s gaze and point of view, as well as the actions of the head. In this approach, an important task is to detect the destination target in the 3D workspace. This solution has been evaluated, outdoor and indoor, under different lighting conditions. In order to design the intelligent wheelchair, and because sometimes people with special needs also have specific problems with their optical system (e.g., strabismus, Nystagmus) the system was tested on different subjects, some of them wearing eyeglasses. During the design process of the intelligent system, all the tests involving human subjects were performed in accordance with specific rules of medical security and ethics. In this sense, the process was supervised by a company specialized in health activities that involve people with special needs. The main results and findings are as follows: validation of the proposed solution for all indoor lightning conditions; methodology to create personal profiles, used to improve the HMI efficiency and to adapt it to each subject needs; a primary evaluation and validation for the use of personal profiles in real life, indoor conditions. The conclusion is that the proposed solution can be used for persons who are not physically able to control a wheelchair using classical systems, having with minor vision deficiencies or major vision impairment affecting one of the eyes

The Design of a Smart Lower-Limb Prosthesis Supporting People with Transtibial Amputation—A Data Acquisition System

For people with amputated lower limbs, it is imperative to make high-performance prostheses that reproduce, as accurately as possible, the functions of the amputated limb. In this case, a preliminary study of the lower limbs from a kinematic and dynamic point of view is necessary. This paper proposes a prosthesis design and a system for acquiring the information needed to determine the stepping phase kinematic and dynamic parameters of the legs. This system consists of a sensory system attached to the legs and a acquisition data unit built around a microcontroller. The sensory system is based on a sensory system for determining the weight distribution on the sole, made of resistive pressure sensors. The sensory system will be subjected to measurement repeatability and homogeneity tests to evaluate and validate the accuracy and error of the proposed solution. The data obtained by the sensory system is transmitted in real-time, via wi-fi, to a computer system for interpretation. After processing and interpreting the data using standard data sets for comparison, the position of the legs, the type of gait and the phase of movement can be determined. Constructively, the system is configurable and can be adapted to any person, male or female, regardless of shoe size