Social relationship based routing for delay tolerant Bluetooth-enabled PSN communications

PhDOpportunistic networking is a concept derived from the mobile ad hoc networking in which devices have no prior knowledge of routes to the intended destinations. Content dissemination in opportunistic networks thus is carried out in a store and forward fashion. Opportunistic routing poses distinct challenges compared to the traditional networks such as Internet and mobile ad hoc networks where nodes have prior knowledge of the routes to the intended destinations. Information dissemination in opportunistic networks requires dealing with intermittent connectivity, variable delays, short connection durations and dynamic topology. Addressing these challenges becomes a significant motivation for developing novel applications and protocols for information dissemination in opportunistic networks. This research looks at opportunistic networking, specifically at networks composed of mobile devices or, pocket switched networks. Mobile devices are now accepted as an integral part of society and are often equipped with Bluetooth capabilities that allow for opportunistic information sharing between devices. The ad hoc nature of opportunistic networks means nodes have no advance routing knowledge and this is key challenge. Human social relationships are based on certain patterns that can be exploited to make opportunistic routing decisions. Targeting nodes that evidence high popularity or high influence can enable more efficient content dissemination. Based on this observation, a novel impact based neighbourhood algorithm called Lobby Influence is presented. The algorithm is tested against two previously proposed algorithms and proves better in terms of message delivery and delay. Moreover, unlike other social based algorithms, which have a tendency to concentrate traffic through their identified routing nodes, the new algorithm provides a fairer load distribution, thus alleviating the tendency to saturate individual nodes

Inaugural Address

Dr Sarfraz Khan Qureshi, Director of Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a great pleasure for me to be present here this morning. Over the years, the Pakistan Society of Development Economists has made notable contributions to the profession of Economics and Planning. It has also helped to strengthen the evolution of scientific knowledge in Development Economics. More importantly, it has given an institutional shape to the exchange of ideas between economists, other social scientists, and policy-makers. I am happy to note that a large number of distinguished academics and policy-makers from all over the world regularly participate in the Society’s meetings. I earnestly hope that useful policy prescriptions will emerge from the deliberations that take place here about the major issues in economy. Indeed, I wish to extend my appreciation to the Society for providing a lively and effective platform both to researchers and policy-makers

Methyl mercury concentrations in seafood collected from Zhoushan Islands, Zhejiang, China, and their potential health risk for the fishing community

Seafood is an important exposure route for mercury, especially methyl mercury (MeHg). Therefore, we quantified MeHg concentrations in 69 species of seafood including fish, crustaceans and mollusks collected from Zhoushan Islands, China. MeHg concentrations ranged from 1. The daily dietary intake and hazard quotient for MeHg were calculated to estimate exposure and health risk through seafood consumption by local inhabitants. The calculated HQ was lower than 1, thus indicating that the exposure was below the risk threshold of related chronic diseases. However, higher MeHg concentrations in fish species such as Scoliodon sorrakowah and Auxis thazard are concerning and may pose health risk through continuous consumption by local inhabitants.China Spark Program (2015GA700094); Medical Health Science Foundation Program of the Health Department of Zhejiang Province (2020RC137); Science and technology Program of Zhoushan City (2017C32089); Medical Health Science Foundation Program of the Health Department of Zhoushan City (2018G02)) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Fellowships under the Chinese Academy of Sciences President's International Fellowship for Visiting Scientists (2018VCC0002).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Corporate Social Responsibility: Understanding the Legal Framework and Philanthropic Indian Companies

Business and conglomerates have never been an isolated entity as the entrepreneurs or the businessmen have always maintained a consistency in the internal and external management and also properly follow-up the movement that use to take place in the external business environment such as consumers, communities, stakeholders, shareholders, and by-laws. Gradually, with the passage of time in last three decades the changes that took place in the Indian cultural norms of corporations had brought forward the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) referring to bring about overall positive impact of corporations on the communities, societies, and environments in which they operate. The term CSR became popular in the 1960s and narrowly construed. It had remained a term used indiscriminately by many to cover legal and moral responsibility but in the present scenario, it has been used in a broader way. CSR promotes a vision of business accountability to a wide range of stakeholders, besides shareholders and investors. Key areas of concern are environmental protection and the wellbeing of employees, the community, civil society in general, customers, employees, investors, suppliers, and activist organizations both now and in the future. This article is exclusively based on secondary data and presents an in-depth conceptual framework of the CSR, major provisions and guidelines encrypted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India. Further, the fundamental principle, core elements and its role in nation development are discussed briefl y for the better understanding of the reader

Challenges and learning opportunities involved in the professional development of mathematics teachers within the government sector

As Professional Development Teachers (PDTs), we have been working in the government sector for the last several years to improve the profile of Mathematics teachers within the sector. Our experience of the Professional Development of teachers suggests that working in the government sector is not an easy task. However, neither is it an impossible one. The government’s system faces varied challenges in tackling the professional development needs of teachers. The most important one is the capacity of the professional staff to undertake this mammoth job. Secondly, there is a strong need to change the perceptions of policymakers to consider the professional development in the continuum rather than one singular event. This requires a strong support structure to conduct the Professional Development activities in an ongoing manner. Through our paper, we would like to outline our experiences to present how we have become engaged in the processes of developing Mathematics teachers within the government sector and what are the challenges that we are facing in continuing our efforts to take these efforts further. It is also very important to mention that the Mathematics Association of Pakistan (MAP) has remained very responsive to our ongoing professional needs to carry forward our responsibilities within the government sector

Spectrum of neurological disorders presenting at a neurology clinic in tertiary care hospital in peshawar, pakistan

To ascertain the spectrum of different neurological disorders presenting at a tertiary care neurology clinic in Peshawar, Pakistan. Method: A prospective observational study was conducted of all presentations to the neurology clinic in Northwest General Hospital and Research Center, over a period of one year extending from 1st February, 2013 to 31st January, 2014. Study population included 9386 patients from the neurology clinic over the period of one year. The age distribution of all patients was variable; the youngest patient seen was 1 year old while the oldest was 92 years of age. Appropriate history and neurological examination was conducted by consultant neurologist and classified patients into neurological diseases according to the International Classification of Disease (ICD-10) codes for neurology. Statistical analyses were carried out using the software SPSS version 11 and qualitative variables were presented as percentages. Results: A total of 9386 patients were examined and classified into different neurological disorders according to the International Classification of Disease (ICD-10) codes for neurology. Headache was the most common presentation (24%), followed by Cerebrovascular diseases (22%) and Epilepsies (17%). Conclusion: Headache was the most commonclinical presentation for neurology consultation followed by Cerebrovascular accidents (CVA) and epilepsy respectively. Almost all the categories of neurological disorders i.e. Inflammatory, Infective, Neoplastic and Degenerative Diseases were seen in the outpatient neurology clinic

Women are More Utilitarian for their Credit Card Usage

This paper aims to present the individual differences among credit card users with reference to their age and Sex. Data for the research were collected through a survey of customers of Credit Card users in Pakistan.  The results show that some age and Sex differences exist in the credit card usage. The research focuses on credit card services in Pakistan; further research from dispersed geographic areas may be necessary before generalization can be made on the entire service industry. Service providers can use this model for their market segmentation and targeting activities leading to better positioning their products/services in the competitive banking services. Although there are studies on individual differences of services; research on individual differences on credit cards is very limited; this research adds significant value on the subject area. Keywords: Age differences, Sex differences, Consumer Behaviour, Credit Card, Service

Selection of a Survey Research Instrument: Impediments of Personality Inventory in Non-English Speaking Countries like Pakistan.

This paper aims to share the experiences of using two empirically-related yet conceptually distinct instruments i.e., Goldberg’s IP-IP and Costa and McCrae’s NEO-PI-R to measure the respondent’s personality factors and facets. This research paper presents findings on six methodological issues i.e., sampling, validity, reliability, data collection, screening confirmatory factor analyses. For validity concerns both instruments reached to obsolescence as these were developed ages ago and not updated with pace of human development. For replication in non-English countries Goldberg’s IP-IP has edge over Costa & McCrae’s NEO-PI-R for three counts; (a) it has less words and relatively simple syntax made it really easy for participant with linguistic barriers; (b) shows no sign of US cultural specificity in terms of places, slang or implicit meanings made it closer to participants in a non-English speaking country like Pakistan and (c) it takes less than half time to complete the survey. For reliability issues NEO-PI-R represented better results. For both instruments consistency might be compromised while replicating these instruments in non English speaking country. IP-IP does not provide any guideline for data screening while NEO-PI-R provides a very detailed data screening process. During factor analyses it was revealed both instruments replicated five factor model at both levels i.e., first order factor analyses resulting in facets and second order factor analyses provided the factors but during the NEO-PI-R factor analyses it was observed that a large number of items were dropped out from the analyses that raised the question of item validity in non-English speaking countries. Keywords: Goldberg’s IP-IP, Costa & McCrae’s NEO-PI-R, Research Instrument, personality Inventory