Dynamic Packet Duplication for Industrial URLLC

The fifth-generation (5G) network is presented as one of the main options for Industry 4.0 connectivity. To comply with critical messages, 5G offers the Ultra-Reliable and Low latency Communications (URLLC) service category with a millisecond end-to-end delay and reduced probability of failure. There are several approaches to achieve these requirements; however, these come at a cost in terms of redundancy, particularly the solutions based on multi-connectivity, such as Packet Duplication (PD). Specifically, this paper proposes a Machine Learning (ML) method to predict whether PD is required at a specific data transmission to successfully send a URLLC message. This paper is focused on reducing the resource usage with respect to pure static PD. The concept was evaluated on a 5G simulator, comparing between single connection, static PD and PD with the proposed prediction model. The evaluation results show that the prediction model reduced the number of packets sent with PD by 81% while maintaining the same level of latency as a static PD technique, which derives from a more efficient usage of the network resources.

Back to Basics: City Services and 311 Service Requests

With data from service delivery requests in twenty-nine cities, this article reports on a comparative analysis of city service request systems (311 systems) and their operations. The study uses actual 311 service request data available through cities’ open data portals. A typology of thirty service type categories was created. Various hypotheses were tested. As city population increases, the number of service requests also increases. Garbage/recycling is the most commonly requested service, followed by code enforcement requests, parking, pickup of bulk items, and abandoned vehicles. Cities are no longer just using telephones for their users to submit requests but have also now incorporated other service channels. Service resolution times vary across cities and service category but there is some evidence that safety and health types of services receive priority and are resolved more quickly. The article ends with managerial and policy implications.

Use of Clean Energy in On-Farm Livelihood Security

Livelihood security in rural areas can be broadly divided into three categories based on land use as primary criterion. Livelihood such as agricultural production depends on land. All such predominantly land dependent activities are covered under on-farm livelihood options. These include cultivation of paddy, wheat, vegetables, etc. Those livelihood activities that do not require cultivation but are of manufacturing or service category are called non-farm activities. These include input and output services for agriculture, agro-processing, transport, education, health, warehousing, retailing, etc. There are some activities which do not require large amount of land ownership are covered under off-farm category. These include goatery, poultry, fishery, dairy, etc. They may require access to pasture for grazing, which can be part of community or forest land. On the basis of livelihood activities practiced by households in rural areas the clean energy requirement will vary. Current study emphasizes on successful development of solar operative irrigation appliances mounted over bi-cycle. On farm use of one such case study has been deliberated from rural areas of South Odisha where the diffusion of clean energy products has taken place.

An Overview of Ecosystem Service Studies in a Tropical Biodiversity Hotspot, Sri Lanka: Key Perspectives for Future Research

Tropical island countries are often highly populated and deliver immense ecosystem service benefits. As human wellbeing depends on these ecosystems, proper management is crucial in the resource-rich tropical lands where there is less related research. Though ecosystem service and biodiversity studies are a promising path to inform the ecosystem management for these mostly developing countries, published evidence of using ecosystem service studies in decision making is lacking. The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of ecosystem services and related research in Sri Lanka, examining trends and gaps in how these studies are conceptualized. Out of the considered 220 peer-reviewed articles, the majority of articles (48.2%) were terrestrial and forest related while coastal ecosystems were considered in 33.2% of studies. In most studies, the ecosystem service category studied was provisioning (31.5%) followed by regulatory service (28.7%). Studies investigating and quantifying ecosystem services, pressures on ecosystems, and their management were fewer compared to studies related to biodiversity or species introduction. Moreover, studies investigating the value of ecosystem services and biodiversity to the communities or involvement of stakeholders in the development of management actions regarding the ecosystem services were rare in Sri Lanka, and an intense focus from future studies in these aspects is timely and necessary.

5G Numerologies Assessment for URLLC in Industrial Communications

The fifth-generation (5G) network is presented as one of the main options for Industry 4.0 connectivity. Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) is the 5G service category used by critical mechanisms, with a millisecond end-to-end delay and reduced probability of failure. 5G defines new numerologies, together with mini-slots for a faster scheduling. The main challenge of this is to select the appropriate numerology according to radio conditions. This fact is very important in industrial scenarios, where the fundamental problems are interference and multipath propagation, due to the presence of concrete walls and large metallic machinery and structures. Therefore, this paper is focused on analyzing the impact of the numerology selection on the delay experienced at radio link level for a remote-control service. The study, which has been carried out in a simulated cellular factory environment, has been performed for different packet sizes and channel conditions, focusing on outliers. Evaluation results show that not always a higher numerology, with a shorter slot duration, is appropriate for this type of service, particularly under Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) conditions.

Land Certification Information System of Sidoarjo Regency Land Office

The purpose of this research is to build land certification information system of Sidoarjo Regency Land Office. The information system is a form of development in making it easier for prospective applicants to make land easier and faster. To support the performance of employees of the Sidoarjo Regency Land Office and facilitate users in the manufacture of land certificates. In this research the method used is software development life cycle. The stage cycle contains requirement definition, system and software design, implementation and unit testing, intergration and system testing, operation and maintenance so that the implementation can be maximized. The result of this research has been built an information system based on Land Certification that greatly facilitates the performance of employees of the Sidoarjo Regency Land Office. Conclusion of research and discussion that Land Certification information system runs well and smoothly. With the land information system is expected to help the work of officers of the office of the national land agency, so that the efficiency and effectiveness of service performance can be improved and accelerate the service of officers to land-making transactions in Sidoarjo Regency. Respondents to the trial there were 3 people of Sidoarjo Regency and 7 officers of the Sidoarjo Regency Land Office. Data collection methods are carried out with interviews, literature studies and questionnaires. Based on the results of soil certification information system analysis, some aspects of PIECES analysis have obtained quite good results. One of them can be seen from the results of service category analysis, where the overall percentage of test questionnaires that have been shared, on average fall into the range of the category ''Very Easy". The percentage of eligibility obtains a percentage of 100%. Thus it can be concluded that the information system has good quality and is very feasible for the process of processing land certification data.

An Overview of Ecosystem Service Studies in a Tropical Biodiversity Hotspot, Sri Lanka: Key Perspectives for Future Research

Tropical island countries are often highly populated and deliver immense ecosystem service benefits. As human wellbeing depends on these ecosystems proper management is crucial in the resource-rich tropical lands where related research is less. Though the ecosystem service and biodiversity studies are a promising path to inform the ecosystem management for these mostly developing countries published evidence of using ecosystem service studies in decision-making is lacking. The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of ecosystem services and related research in Sri Lanka examining trends and gaps and how these studies are conceptualized. Out of considered 139 peer-reviewed articles majority of articles 42.4% were terrestrial and forest related while coastal ecosystems were considered in 34.5% of studies. In most studies, the ecosystem service category was provisioning (33.8%) followed by regulatory service (30.9%). Studies investigating and quantifying ecosystem services, pressures on ecosystems, and their management were fewer compared to studies related to biodiversity or species introduction. Moreover, studies investigating the value of ecosystem services and biodiversity to the communities or involvement of stakeholders in the development of management actions regarding the ecosystem services were rare in Sri Lanka and intense focus of future studies in these aspects are timely and necessary.

The impact of service category and brand positioning on consumer animosity in the service sector – a social identity signaling perspective

Purpose The present research responds to researchers’ calls for more research of consumer animosity on potential boundary conditions (e.g. product categories) and marketing strategies that may mitigate such negative impacts on marketers’ product and/or brand performance, with a special focus on the soft service sector. This paper aims to address the unique characteristics of service internationalization, i.e. cultural embeddedness, hybridized country origins and high consumption visibility, by proposing a social identity signaling model to explain consumer animosity effects in the soft service sector. Design/methodology/approach Two surveys (Pretest with 240 participants and Study 1 with 351 participants) and one experiment (Study 2 with 731 participants) were conducted to empirically test our hypotheses in the Japanese-Chinese relationship context. Findings The stronger the national/cultural symbolism and social expressiveness, the stronger the consumer avoidance for the service category. Then the consumer culture positioning strategy that can mitigate an offending country’s cultural symbolism can reduce consumer avoidance. Originality/value This research introduces two factors that could affect the negative social identity signaling capacity of service categories in the animosity context: the national/cultural symbolism reflecting an offending country and the social expressiveness communicating social identity. In line with the social identity signaling perspective, the present research specifically uses consumer avoidance as the dependent variable to capture the notion that consumers avoid consuming services because they wish to avoid being associated with an offending country that may threaten their in-group social identities.

“Killed in An Explosion in the House of the Supreme Ruler”: Concerning the Analysis of Death Records of the Officers of the Admiral A. V. Kolchak’s Convoy, August 27, 1919

The study is devoted to the analysis of a group of unknown sources from the Historical Archive of the Omsk Region (fond of the Omsk Spiritual Consistory) that are being introduced into scientific use for the first time. These documents are associated with a tragic incident that resulted in the death of seven lower ranks, who provided security for Admiral A. V. Kolchak in Omsk. The contemporaries’ memoirs have served as an auxiliary source in the study. The relevance of this work is justified by contradictions in modern historiographic discussion regarding the cause of the explosion in the vicinity of the private residence of the Supreme Ruler in Omsk on August 25, 1919, as well as by great interest of the national scientific community in his person. Anthropological approach, principle of consistency, historical-systemic and comparative-historical method have served as methodological basis for the study. This theoretical totality suggests two points. First, consideration of the identified vital records as a natural consequence of the work of the Institute of the Russian Orthodox Church; second, critical comparative analysis of the new data and previous developments in historiography. The identified records have made it possible to establish the exact number of servicemen who died as a result of the tragedy, as well as their names, belonging to the service category of the lower ranks of the White Army, date of death, place and date of the funeral service and burial. The authors point out that the analyzed sources are also of key importance for studying the last days of the Omsk poet Yuri (Peter Ivanovich) Sopov, one of the victims of the explosion. In the conclusion, the thesis is emphasized of the need for basic and contextual use of vital records as a valuable documentary source on the past for conducting research on various aspects of the history of the Civil War. This publication may be of interest to specialists in source studies, researchers of the Civil War in the East of Russia, state security agencies of the anti-Bolshevik authorities, biography of Admiral A. V. Kolchak, local Omsk history.

Military service suitability among young men

Objective. To analyze main chronic diseases in 16-year-old boys and assess their significance in terms of military service. Materials and methods. In this observational cohort study, we analyzed medical records of 315 young men residing in Moscow. We used forms No 025/u ‘Medical outpatient card,’ and No. 112/u ‘Information on child development’ and their digital analogues (Unified Medical Information and Analytical System of Moscow). To identify dynamic changes in the structure of morbidity, we used the results of medical examinations of young men from the Central Military District (n = 239) for 2015, provided by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Data analysis was performed using the Statstica 6.0 software; we used the methods of descriptive statistics and Z-test. Differences were considered significant at р < 0.05. Results. More than one-third of participants (34.3%) were suitable for military service (Category A); 33% had minor limitations/were temporarily unsuitable for military service (Category B); 21% of young men had limited suitability for military service/were temporarily unsuitable for military service (Category C); 3.2% of participants were temporarily unsuitable for military service; 8.5% of participants were absolutely unsuitable for military service. Over 5 years, the structure of morbidity among young men of pre-conscription and military age has changed significantly: the number of patients with the most common pathologies making men unsuitable for military service (diseases of the musculoskeletal system and diseases of the eye and adnexa) has increased dramatically (a 3-fold and 7-fold increase, respectively). Conclusion. The simple information and analytical model proposed in this study allows the assessment of the dynamics of defense potential formation in the Russian Federation, as well as the evaluation of the effectiveness of pediatric care. Our findings suggest that it is necessary to perform a more thorough, early, timely examination of adolescents, correct their lifestyle, control the implementation of medical measures, increase the coverage of healthcare services for male children and adolescents. Keywords: military service, morbidity among adolescents, categories of suitability, medical examination.