This article summarizes a uniquely thorough study of the first generation of Palestinians to have lived the whole of their lives under occupation. Findings from group interviews and large, representative surveys of men and women from the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in 2011 draw a complex portrait of day-to-day life both currently and historically, including: widespread political activism that they continue to prize; high levels of exposure to often demeaning political violence and restriction of movement; limited access to basic resources, low employment stability and poverty; high levels of social cohesion, but also of lack of safety, political instability, fear for the future, stress, and feeling broken. Most were not optimistic in 2011 about the peace process but remained, confident in their ability to manage what the future brings. The findings also show that each of the three territories has unique types and levels of challenges.

Auto rickshaws are three-wheeled vehicles that are common in Asian cities. Because of the large number of rickshaws on the road and their older two-stroke engines, they have a significant negative impact on urban air quality. Recent changeovers to four-stroke engines as well as diesel, compressed natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas engines have succeeded in reducing the quantity of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. However, because of the large number of vehicles, the rickshaw “fleet” still represents a significant source of air pollution. There have been several studies that have examined the feasibility of converting an internal combustion engine (ICE) rickshaw to a photovoltaic or fuel cell (FC) hybrid electric configuration. These studies have typically used or modified a standard urban drive cycle. It is argued that such drive cycles do not accurately portray the demands on a rickshaw. Thus, the results may be misleading. In this study, a model of an ICE rickshaw was created and validated against experimental results. Two drive cycles that would closely emulate the true demands on a rickshaw operated in an urban environment were developed. A model of an FC hybrid rickshaw was created and tested. The effects of FC and battery capacities as well as the electric motor type on performance were studied. A comparison between ICE and FC hybrid rickshaw configurations was done using a realistic drive cycle. The ICE and the FC hybrid rickshaw models were created and assessed using the Powertrain System Analysis Toolkit software package. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The increasing incorporation of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices into critical industrial operations and critical infrastructures necessitates robust security measures to safeguard confidential information and ensure dependable connectivity. Particularly in Cyber Physical Systems (CPSs), IIoT system security becomes critical as systems become more interconnected and digital. This paper introduces a novel Lightweight Industrial IoT Authentication (LI2A) method as a solution to address security concerns in the industrial sector and smart city infrastructure. Mutual authentication, authenticated message integrity, key agreement, soundness, forward secrecy, resistance to a variety of assaults, and minimal resource consumption are all features offered by LI2A. Critical to CPS operations, the approach prevents impersonation, man-in-the-middle, replay, eavesdropping, and modification assaults, according to a security study. The method proposed herein ensures the integrity of CPS networks by verifying communication reliability, identifying unauthorized message modifications, establishing a shared session key between users and IIoT devices, and periodically updating keys to ensure sustained security. A comprehensive assessment of performance takes into account each aspect of storage, communication, and computation. The communication and computing capabilities of LI2A, which are critical for the operation of CPS infrastructure, are demonstrated through comparisons with state-of-the-art systems from the literature. LI2A can be implemented in resource-constrained IIoT devices found in CPS and industrial environments, according to the results. By integrating IIoT devices into critical processes in CPS, it is possible to enhance security while also promoting urban digitalization and sustainability.

The application of a pneumatic gantry robot to contour tracking is examined. A hybrid controller is structured to control the contact force and the tangential velocity, simultaneously. In a previous study, experimental contour tracking results for the robot were obtained with electronic proportional pressure control (PPC) valves. The results demonstrated the potential of pneumatic actuation for contour tracking applications. In another study it was found that improvement in performance was limited by system lag and Coulomb friction. A neural network (NN) compensator was developed to counter both effects. Simulation results demonstrated the effectiveness of the NN compensator. Although improvement in performance with NN compensation was significant, this was offset by the requirement for substantive design effort. This paper shows experimentally that equally significant improvement can be achieved by switching from PPC valves to proportional flow control (PFC) valves. The PFC approach requires less design effort.

In this paper, the application of a pneumatic gantry robot to contour tracking is examined. A hybrid controller is structured to control the contact force and the tangential velocity, simultaneously. A previous study provided controller tuning and model validation results for a fixed gain PI-based force/velocity controller. Performance was limited by system lag and Coulomb friction. New results demonstrate that even with perfect friction compensation, the limiting factor is the system lag. A neural network (NN) compensator was subsequently developed to counter both effects. Results for straight and curved edged workpieces are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the NN compensator and the capabilities of a pneumatic gantry robot.