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The purpose of this paper is to replace electronic meters with smart meters. Smart meters will provide high resolution real-time end-user power consumption data for utilities to better monitor and control the system, which is used for end users to better manage their energy usage and bills. By using smart meters, we can reduce the errors and also minimize human intervention in processing information in an efficient way. So that time will be reduced for organization functionalities and accuracy will be increase.

The authors propose a new cryptosystem based on factor problem over non commutative groups. They tried to use this cryptosystem in the field of electricity. They extend and transform this projected cryptosystem to design expert smart meters based on homomorphic encryption with factor problem.

In these smart meters, a monitoring system is integrated that preserves customer’s privacy by homomorphically accumulating the consumption of all n members of a specific domain.

This expert smart meter system has a proficient linear O(n) communication cost and is proven to protect customer's privacy even in the presence of a corrupted substation and some malicious smart meters.

Purpose – Intersections are hazardous locations and to improve their safety we need to understand the factors contributing to crashes at these locations and provide evidence-based recommendations to reduce them. This chapter provides a summary of the findings on infrastructure-related factors contributing to crashes at urban and rural intersections and some discussions on the implications and potential countermeasures.

Approach – A review of the literature on intersection crashes was performed to identify the infrastructure-related crash-contributing factors. Some discussions on the implications and potential countermeasures are then provided.

Findings – The factors contributing to road crashes are diverse and complex. While the safety effects of a few factors (e.g., exposure and speed) are relatively consistent, many factors have different impacts on crash frequency and severity (e.g., types of intersection) and different impacts on urban and rural intersections (e.g., bus stops).

Research Implications – More studies are needed on developing a stronger theoretical or conceptual foundation on the effects of roadway designs and traffic controls on different dimensions of safety (e.g., exposure, frequency, severity, etc.), types of crashes (e.g., head-on, rear-end, etc.) or road users involved (e.g., drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, etc.).

Practical Implications – Transport engineers need to be aware that some treatments may have different effects on different crash types and road users involved. Even though the overall safety may be improved by the treatments designed, they need to consider and mitigate any unintended consequences to satisfy the Pareto improvement principle and the social equity criterion.

The purpose of this study is to develop a chicken product that could supply calcium, vitamin E and vitamin C together with high sensory acceptability. The present study was envisaged to develop low-fat chicken patties fortified with calcium, vitamin E and vitamin C without any adverse effects on sensory attributes.

Three different levels of calcium lactate as a source of calcium viz. 1.5, 1.75 and 2.0 per cent, α-tocopherol acetate for vitamin E at 0.019, 0.023 and 0.029 per cent and ascorbic acid for vitamin C at 0.09, 0.12 and 0.15 per cent in low-fat chicken meat patties were tried and the optimum level was standardized based on physico-chemical, proximate and sensory parameters.

The calcium lactate at 1.75 per cent, α-tocopherol acetate at 0.029 per cent and ascorbic acid at 0.15 per cent were found to be optimum on the basis of proximate, physico-chemical and sensory parameters. The textural attributes of the standardized product was comparable to that of the control. The a*, b* and Chroma values for the low-fat chicken patties fortified with calcium, α-tocopherol and ascorbic acid were significantly higher (p < 0.01) than that of the control. The calcium and ascorbic acid concentration of the standardized product was significantly higher (p < 0.01) than that of the control.

The levels in the fortified product were found to be suitable to achieve a 20 per cent RDA of calcium and almost a complete RDA for vitamin C. The research findings demonstrated the development of a single-designer chicken product rich in calcium, vitamin C and vitamin E.

There has been a massive, revolutionary change over the past two decades in the travel and tourism industry. Mobile technology offers privileges to consumers in order to identify, customize and purchase tourism products and support the globalization of the industry by providing tools for developing, managing and distributing beneficiaries worldwide. These diligent advancements in mobile technology have made it extremely easy for everyone to know instantly as much about the world as they want. The use of smartphones, tablets and mobile devices has empowered global tourists with more flexibility, options and freedom to explore places than ever before. For that reason, mobile technology is a perfect fit for travel and tourism that plays an important role in massive cultural shift of consumer behaviour. All over the world, businesses are struggling to adapt to that incredible spread and impact of mobile technology and in the future, the technology will go on developing and adapting, as well. As mobile technology has been evolving rapidly and spreading across multiple tourism sectors, it is pivotal to take into account its role in creating innovative experiences for consumers and fostering a sustainable competitive advantage for suppliers in the tourism industry. Though mobile evolution has contributed to enhancing the travel factor at large, not much is known about how it has affected the tourism development. Finding this information is crucial for a deeper understanding of how consumers are using tourism-related mobile technology before, during and after their trip. It could provide meaningful perceptions to meet their expectations and to enhance their travel experiences. Therefore, this chapter aims to identify the potential of mobile technology in several businesses in the tourism sector providing guidance to understanding its role to enhance value creation in the future.

To improve insufficient management by artificial management, especially for traffic accidents that occur at crossroads, the purpose of this paper is to develop a pro-active warning system for crossroads at construction sites. Although prior studies have made efforts to develop warning systems for construction sites, most of them paid attention to the construction process, while the accidents that occur at crossroads were probably overlooked.

By summarizing the main reasons resulting for those accidents occurring at crossroads, a pro-active warning system that could provide six functions for countermeasures was designed. Several approaches relating to computer vision and a prediction algorithm were applied and proposed to realize the setting functions.

One 12-hour video that films a crossroad at a construction site was selected as the original data. The test results show that all designed functions could operate normally, several predicted dangerous situations could be detected and corresponding proper warnings could be given. To validate the applicability of this system, another 36-hour video data were chosen for a performance test, and the findings indicate that all applied algorithms show a significant fitness of the data.

Computer vision algorithms have been widely used in previous studies to address video data or monitoring information; however, few of them have demonstrated the high applicability of identification and classification of the different participants at construction sites. In addition, none of these studies attempted to use a dynamic prediction algorithm to predict risky events, which could provide significant information for relevant active warnings.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of factors associated with e‐learning, particularly computer attitudes and usability, on transfer of training in workplace e‐learning courses.

This study relied on quantitative data obtained from four online survey questionnaires. The sample of this study was 47 learners who took either one soft‐skill e‐learning course or one hard‐skill e‐learning course in a selected company and their supervisors.

The results demonstrated that learners' computer attitudes impact their perception of the usability of the e‐learning courses, and that this perception influences the degree of their transfer of training. The results imply that when learners come to an e‐learning class with positive attitudes toward computers, they feel the e‐learning course system to be more satisfactory and efficient, and accordingly they can better transfer what they have learned to job performance.

The sample of this study is limited. Further research studies with various learners should be conducted. Additionally, the measure of transfer merely relied on their perception of it. Further studies should give more attention to the multifaceted measures of the actual transfer. Finally, further research should be conducted to examine other general factors pertaining to the transfer of training in e‐learning settings in addition to computer attitudes and usability.

The study expands the knowledge base regarding transfer of training by focusing on e‐learning, which is rapidly growing and receiving great attention in the workplace, and thus contributes to the establishment of a more comprehensive model of transfer of training.

The purpose of this paper is not only to gauge the extent of technical efficiency in 31 state road transport undertakings (SRTUs) operating in India but also to explore the most influential factors explaining its variations across SRTUs.

Three popular data envelopment analysis (DEA) models, namely CCR, BCC and Andersen and Petersen's super‐efficiency models, have been utilized to compute various efficiency scores for individual SRTUs. A censored Tobit analysis is conducted to see which factors significantly explain the inter‐SRTU variations in efficiency.

The key findings of the DEA analysis are only five SRTUs define the efficient frontier, and the remaining 26 inefficient undertakings have a scope of inputs reduction, albeit by the different magnitude; the extent of average overall technical inefficiency (OTIE) in these SRTUs is to the tune of 22.8 percent, indicating that the sample SRTUs are wasting about one‐fourth of their resources in the production operations; managerial inefficiency (as captured by the pure technical inefficiency) is a relatively more dominant source of OTIE; and operation in the zone of increasing returns‐to‐scale is a common feature for most of the undertakings. The multivariate regression analysis using Tobit analysis highlights that the occupancy ratio is the most significant determinant for all the efficiency measures, and bears a positive relationship with overall technical, pure technical and scale efficiencies. Further, scale efficiency is also impacted positively by the staff productivity.

The results of this paper can be applied from management's perspective. The managers can assess the relative efficiency of their SRTUs in the industry and take corrective measures to improve efficiency by altering input‐output mix.

This paper provides more robust estimates of relative efficiency of the SRTUs and highlights the key determinants of overall technical efficiency.

The present study aims to use goat (Bhakarwali spp.) meat and its edible offal (heart and liver) in preparation of goat pickle and to enhance its shelf-life using food-grade glucono-delta-lactone (GDL) as the preservative.

The goat meat was used at 50 per cent and edible offals were used at 50 per cent, whereas liver and heart were used at 25 per cent each in the preparation of goat pickle. This formulation of goat meat pickle was prepared in two different oils, namely, mustard oil and olive oil. These designer goat meat pickles were evaluated based on physicochemical and sensory evaluation. Further, GDL was added to these designer pickles prepared in both mustard and olive oil, as preservatives and studied for its storage quality for 90 days at room temperature (30 ± 2°C). The prepared goat meat pickle was evaluated for physico-chemical, sensory and microbiological profiles on 0th, 15th, 30th, 45th, 60th, 75th and 90th day.

The pH was recorded significant (p < 0.05) decrease on successive days irrespective of oils (mustard and olive oil) and GDL as acidifying agent and preservative used, respectively, but the rate of decrease in pH was comparatively lower in goat pickle with added GDL. The protein, fats and ash levels significantly (p < 0.05) increased, and the moisture level significantly (p < 0.05) decreased from 0th day to 90th day of storage irrespective of oils and preservatives used. The overall acceptability score of goat pickle made in olive oil and with added GDL was significantly (p < 0.05) higher during storage. The designer goat pickle with addition of GDL was safe for human consumption even after 90 days, whereas designer goat pickle without addition of GDL, was safe till 60th day of storage.

The shelf-life of the product was evaluated till only 90 days, which should have been extended. However, the study was committed towards assessing the problem for only 90 days.

GDL can be used to preserve the goat pickle made of meat, and edible offal can be preserved for more than 90 days.

Because of utilization of edible offal, even low-income groups of population can consume animal protein at a lower cost.

Thus, the used food grade GDL at 0.02 per cent enhanced the shelf-life of the prepared designer goat pickle stored at room temperature (30 ± 20°C) by lowering its pH and acted as an excellent preservative.

The purpose of the study was to produce a healthier, convenient and traditional ready-to-eat (RTE) snack option with increased nutritional value, using spent hen meat, dietary fibre (DF) and simple technological methods. The product was designed to be stable without refrigeration and be easily adoptable by local self-help groups, rural women and youth and entrepreneurs in urban and semi-urban areas.

Conventional binder used for making snacks, i.e. rice flour was partially replaced by different sources of antioxidant DFs, i.e. oat flour (T₁ – 10%), finger millet flour (T₂ – 5%) and amaranth flour (T₃ –15%) to prepare spent hen snack sticks (SHSS). The snacks were then packaged in low density polyethylene (LDPE) pouches and evaluated for their storage stability at ambient temperature for a period of 35 days. Their physico-chemical, sensory and microbiological quality was evaluated at a regular interval of 7 days. The proximate composition of developed SHSS was compared to commercially available snack products (chakli/murukku – snacks without meat).

The fibre-enriched SHSS showed significant improvement in nutritive value, as they contained more fibre (p = 0.001) and protein (p = 0.029) than control SHSS. When compared to commercially available snack product SHSS showed three-fold significant increase in protein (p = 0.000) and ash content (p = 0.001) and only 11%–12% total fat as compared to 31% fat in the market-available product. The most acceptable treatment in terms of overall sensory quality and nutritional aspects was T₃; however, T₂ was more shelf-stable during the storage period. The study showed that fibre-enriched snacks can be stored at ambient temperature for up to 35 days without substantial loss in physico-chemical, sensory and microbial quality. Hence, substituting rice flour with DFs can lead to the development of products with better sensory attributes and improved functionality.

The simplicity of the product in terms of composition, machinery and low production costs makes it an easily adoptable one by small-scale entrepreneurs, especially those belonging to semi-urban areas.

Incorporation of spent hen meat, a relatively cheap but abundant source of protein, in RTE products can serve as an effective way to alleviate protein malnutrition, whereas addition of fibre further improves the functionality of the product. The methodology can be easily taken up by small-scale entrepreneurs and create a market for snack-based functional meat products.

This paper aims to develop a good quality pork sandwich spread incorporated with different levels of antioxidant mixture [butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) + butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT); 1:1] and to assess sensory, physico-chemical and microbiological properties of frozen product during storage.

Three levels of antioxidant mixture (BHA + BHT; 1:1) i.e. 100, 200 and 400 ppm were tried, and the product was compared for physico-chemical, microbiological and sensory properties along with the control during frozen storage (−18 ± 1°C).

pH and water activity decreased significantly (p < 0.05), whereas water holding capacity, 2-thiobarbituric acid reacting substances value, total plate count and psychrotrophic count increased significantly (p < 0.05) during storage period. No coliform, yeast and molds were detected throughout the study period. There was non-significant (p < 0.05) effect of antioxidant treatment on the scores of colour, texture, juiciness, adhesion ability and spreadability, but scores for flavour and overall acceptability significantly (p < 0.05) increased.

Pork sandwich spread is envisaged to help in providing nutrition to a large section of needy population and will add a new dimension to the convenience foods.

Antioxidant mixture (BHA + BHT, 1:1) treatment improved the sensory and microbiological properties of pork sandwich spread at frozen storage (−18 ± 1°C). At the end of storage period (60 days), the pork sandwich spread was found safe for human consumption. Hence, BHA and BHT antioxidant mixture could be used to improve quality attributes of meat products during storage.