A literature review on connected vehicle use cases

Abstract. Explosive growth of Internet of Things and cloud computing technologies has enabled the creation of more connected vehicles. As vehicles are becoming more connected the use cases of surrounding them are ambiguous. The goal of this thesis is to perform a literature review to see what use cases there are for connected vehicles, and if it is possible to categorize these use case scenarios to clear categories. The results of this thesis indicate that there are three main use case categories for connected vehicles. First category was vehicle state monitoring which was used to monitor vehicle’s diagnostic data, to monitor emission control tampering and to determine if the vehicle has had a collision. Second category were about vehicle management where connected vehicle technologies were used to deliver smart vehicle information services and to perform remote updating of a vehicle. Third category was vehicle state controlling, where use case scenarios of this category created an adaptive suspension control application and battery usage optimization application by utilizing cloud backend. Safe route assisting application also utilized cloud technologies. As well as remote control of a vehicle and digital twin based driving assist system. These use case categories could also be differentiated by their communication method between the vehicle and remote backend. There are three main communication methods; active communication where remote backend only sent data to vehicle, passive communication in which the remote backend was passive receiver of the vehicle data and hybrid two-way communication between vehicle and remote backend. Primary contribution of this thesis was that framework for defining different connected vehicle use case scenarios was established. Primary limitation of this thesis was that low amount of publications were considered for review, and for future research it is recommended to expand this topic to include more publications for review and to also consider what are the common characteristics in each use case scenario

Sustainability Drivers and Challenges in the Hospitality Sector in Zimbabwe

The hospitality industry is one component of tourism that has adopted sustainable tourism principles. However, limited knowledge exists about what motivates hospitality establishments to adopt sustainable practices and the barriers they face, especially in the Global South. The purpose of this study is to analyze the drivers and challenges of the implementation of sustainability in the hospitality sector. The research investigated 125 hospitality establishments from different tourist locations in Zimbabwe using proportional stratified random sampling. In addition, a structured questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents from each hospitality establishment. The findings revealed that the main drivers of sustainability practices include regulatory compliance, improving the organization’s reputation, new market opportunities and professional ethics. On the other hand, the hospitality sector\u27s significant challenges in adopting sustainability principles include employees, managers, and customers\u27 lack of knowledge and negative attitude. This study adds to the growing body of literature on sustainability in the hospitality sector in the resource-constrained environments of the Global South

Business Models for Electronic Commerce - Analysis of Grocery Retailing Industry

Electronic commerce can dramatically alter the current delivery and sales channels, as well as value chains in many industries. Accordingly, consumers will change or supplement their channel preferences with increasing amount of electronic services available. This study focuses on the different types of business models used in the grocery retailing industry, to serve consumers. The empirical part of he analysis is based on a longitudinal analysis of existing EGS’ in 1998 and 1999 in Europe, North America and Pacific Asia. The analysis shows that the majority of the electronic grocery shops are extensions of existing physical stores. There are, however, some signs of interesting new business strategies. These strategies are compared to the theoretical alternatives proposed by the model of Customer Channels and conclusions are drawn regarding the development of electronic commerce in grocery industry

Long-term changes in the incidence of childhood epilepsy. A population study from Finland

BackgroundThe incidence of childhood epilepsy has changed during the past decades, but it is unclear whether it increased or decreased.MethodsChanges in drug-treated childhood epilepsy between 1968 and 2012 were evaluated using the Finnish nationwide register of all children, aged ≤ 15 years, on antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) prescribed for the treatment of epilepsy. The first registered entitlement to full-refundable AEDs was used as a proxy for newly diagnosed epilepsy. Incidence densities were calculated as ratios of annual new cases per 100,000 person-years in each calendar year during 1968 to 2012.ResultsThe annual incidence density of newly treated childhood epilepsy increased from 35 in the 1960s to 87 per 100,000 person-years in the 1990s and decreased thereafter to 61 per 100,000 person-years. Since 1996, the incidence density decreased 1–2% per year in children aged ConclusionThe incidence of drug-treated childhood epilepsy from the late 1960s to the early 1990s distinctly increased. The reasons for the increase are not fully understood but may include increasing ascertainment through improved diagnosis and a wider acceptance of AED treatment. Since the 1990s, a slight decline can be seen, probably reflecting the recent improvement in child health and safety.</p

Evaluation of a smartphone app for forest sample plot measurements

We evaluated a smartphone app (TRESTIMA(TM)) for forest sample plot measurements. The app interprets imagery collected from the sample plots using the camera in the smartphone and then estimates forest inventory attributes, including species-specific basal areas (G) as well as the diameter (D-gM) and height (H-gM) of basal area median trees. The estimates from the smartphone app were compared to forest inventory attributes derived from tree-wise measurements using calipers and a Vertex height measurement device. The data consist of 2169 measured trees from 25 sample plots (32 m x 32 m), dominated by Scots pine and Norway spruce from southern Finland. The root-mean-square errors (RMSEs) in the basal area varied from 19.7% to 29.3% and the biases from 11.4% to 18.4% depending on the number of images per sample plot and image shooting location. D-gM measurement bias varied from -1.4% to 3.1% and RMSE from 5.2% to 11.6% depending on the tree species. Respectively, H-gM bias varied from 5.0% to 8.3% and RMSE 10.0% to 13.6%. In general, four images captured toward the center of the plot provided more accurate results than four images captured away from the plot center. Increasing the number of captured images per plot to the analyses yielded only marginal improvement to the results.Peer reviewe

Spatial epidemiological patterns suggest mechanisms of land-sea transmission for Sarcocystis neurona in a coastal marine mammal.

Sarcocystis neurona was recognised as an important cause of mortality in southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) after an outbreak in April 2004 and has since been detected in many marine mammal species in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Risk of S. neurona exposure in sea otters is associated with consumption of clams and soft-sediment prey and is temporally associated with runoff events. We examined the spatial distribution of S. neurona exposure risk based on serum antibody testing and assessed risk factors for exposure in animals from California, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska. Significant spatial clustering of seropositive animals was observed in California and Washington, compared with British Columbia and Alaska. Adult males were at greatest risk for exposure to S. neurona, and there were strong associations with terrestrial features (wetlands, cropland, high human housing-unit density). In California, habitats containing soft sediment exhibited greater risk than hard substrate or kelp beds. Consuming a diet rich in clams was also associated with increased exposure risk. These findings suggest a transmission pathway analogous to that described for Toxoplasma gondii, with infectious stages traveling in freshwater runoff and being concentrated in particular locations by marine habitat features, ocean physical processes, and invertebrate bioconcentration