The digital world tolerates a high volume of information and interactions. Considering the usage of electronic services by authorities, User Authentication (UA) is crucial. Numerous authentication methods are proposed in the literature; yet, identifying users based on their actual identities with the capability of global usage and respecting privacy is under research. By adopting Blockchain technology in the software industry, the record management systems have satisfied properties such as transparency, accountability, anonymity, and attack resiliency. Moreover, Smartphones are powerful devices capable of hosting a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) Card that secures the execution of processes involving use of sensitive information. A combination of these technologies is the foundation of a strong UA in cyberspace. In this thesis, we propose the design and prototype of Blockchain-based Global Authentication System (BBGAS) that offers a secure, privacy-preserving, and transparent authentication system based on users' biometrics via Smartphones appropriate for service provider applications.

The project focuses on the packaging process of the smart card manufacturing industry. The idea of the project concerns how to increase production packaging efficiency by introducing a control system. After taking an in-depth look at the current production environment, the following system goals were defined: packaging time reduction, cost reduction, decrease in human errors, and reducing the number of customer complaints. To achieve these goals, the thesis project was divided into the following tasks: discovering a feasible solution, actual system development, testing, and evaluation. The proposed system is based on hardware (i.e. barcode scanner, and barcode printer) integrated with customized control software. The barcode scanner acts as a bridge between the system and the production process by scanning a barcode printed on each product. The system prints the required information label for the product’s package according to the scanned product. This label is pasted on the product’s box and is used as a tracking tool during further production steps. The system is very flexible and suits any packaging model. Other functional properties maintained in the system include data security, product traceability, and real time production monitoring. Testing of the system was done in an actual production environment at an Oberthur Technologies manufacturing site. Two production lines were selected to test the system’s functionality, specifically the SIM card production packaging line and the Scratch card/ Bank Card production packaging line. The results obtained during the evaluation phase of the proposed system show that the proposed solution decreased the packaging processing time by (27.3%) over the previous values. Moreover, the resulting human error rate is close to (zero%). / Projektet fokuserar på förpackningen processen smartkortet tillverkningsindustrin. Tanken med projektet handlar om hur att öka effektiviteten produktionen förpackningar genom att införa ett styrsystem. Efter att ha tagit en fördjupad titt på den nuvarande produktionsmiljö, var följande systemkrav mål definieras: nedsättning förpackning tid, minskade kostnader, minskad mänskliga fel och minska antalet kundklagomål. För att uppnå dessa mål var examensarbetet indelad i följande uppgifter: att upptäcka en genomförbar lösning, faktisk systemutveckling, testning och utvärdering. Det föreslagna systemet bygger på hårdvara (dvs streckkodsläsare och streckkod skrivare) integreras med skräddarsydd styrprogram. Den streckkodsläsare fungerar som en bro mellan systemet och produktionsprocessen genom att läsa en streckkod tryckt på varje produkt. Systemet skriver den erforderliga informationen etiketten för produktens förpackning enligt den scannade produkten. Denna etikett klistras in på produktens ask och används som ett verktyg för spårning under ytterligare produktionssteg. Systemet är mycket flexibelt och passar varje förpackning modell. Andra funktionella egenskaper bibehålls i systemet inkluderar datasäkerhet, spårbarhet och i realtid övervakning av produktionen. Testning av systemet gjordes i en verklig produktionsmiljö i ett Oberthur Technologies tillverkningsanläggning. Två produktionslinjer valdes för att testa systemets funktionalitet, särskilt i SIM-kortet produktionen förpackning linje och skrapkort / Bank kortproduktion förpackningslinje. De resultat som erhållits under utvärderingsfasen av det föreslagna systemet visar att den föreslagna lösningen minskade tiden förpackningen behandling av (27,3 %) jämfört med föregående värden. Dessutom är den resulterande mänskliga fel som ligger nära (noll %).

L’évolution des réseaux informatiques, et notamment d’Internet, s’ancre dans l’émergence de paradigmes prépondérants tels que la mobilité et les réseaux sociaux. Cette évolution amène à considérer une réorganisation de la gestion des données circulant au cœur des réseaux. L’accès à des services offrant de la vidéo ou de la voix à la demande depuis des appareils aussi bien fixes que mobiles, tels que les Smartphones, ou encore la perméabilité des informations fournies à des réseaux sociaux conduisent à s’interroger sur la notion d’identité numérique et, de manière sous-jacente, à reconsidérer les concepts de sécurité et de confiance. La contribution réalisée dans ce travail de thèse consiste, dans une première partie, à analyser les différents modèles d’identité numérique existants ainsi que les architectures de fédération d’identité, mais également les protocoles déployés pour l’authentification et les problèmes de confiance engendrés par l’absence d’élément sécurisé tel qu’une carte à puce. Dans une deuxième partie, nous proposons, en réponse aux éléments dégagés dans la partie précédente, un modèle d’identité fortement attaché au protocole d’authentification TLS embarqué dans un composant sécurisé, permettant ainsi de fournir les avantages sécuritaires exigibles au cœur des réseaux actuels tout en s’insérant naturellement dans les différents terminaux, qu’ils soient fixes ou mobiles. Enfin, dans une dernière partie, nous expliciterons plusieurs applications concrètes, testées et validées, de ce modèle d’identité, afin d’en souligner la pertinence dans des cadres d’utilisation pratique extrêmement variés. / IT networks evolution, chiefly Internet, roots within the emergence of preeminent paradigms such as mobility and social networks. This development naturally triggers the impulse to reorganize the control of data spreading throughout the whole network. Taking into account access to services such as video or voice on demand coming from terminals which can be fixed or mobile such as smartphones, or also permeability of sensitive information provided to social networks, these factors compel a necessary interrogation about digital identity as a concept. It also intrinsically raises a full-fledged reconsideration of security and trust concepts. The contribution of this thesis project is in line, in a first part, with the analysis of the existing manifold digital identity frameworks as well as the study of current authentication protocols and trust issues raised by the lack of trusted environment such as smartcards. In a second part, as an answer to the concerns suggested in the first part, we will advocate an identity framework strongly bounded to the TLS authentication protocol which needs to be embedded in a secure component, thus providing the mandatory security assets for today’s networks while naturally fitting with a varied scope of terminals, be it fixed or mobile. In a last part, we will finally exhibit a few practical applications of this identity framework, which have been thoroughly tested and validated, this, in order to emphasize its relevance throughout multifarious use cases.

Actualmente existen pocas iniciativas reales para mejorar la forma de pago del transporte público en Lima. Para los usuarios del Metropolitano y los Corredores de Lima es común realizar largas colas para comprar tarjetas, recargar, consultar saldo e ingresar a los buses. Esto genera disconformidad que afecta el buen servicio de ambos sistemas de transporte. Metrofácil ayuda a ahorrar tiempo ya que ofrece beneficios como consulta de saldo, recargar, rutas, horarios, anuncios de incidencia en las estaciones, y la opción de una tarjeta virtual. Nuestro mercado objetivo son personas que tienen un smartphone, utilizan aplicaciones móviles, están dispuestos a realizar transacciones en plataformas virtuales y cuentan con una tarjeta de débito o crédito. El mercado potencial estimado de usuarios diarios son 625 763 personas. Los canales que utilizaremos son la aplicación móvil, redes sociales y página web. Tendremos como recursos claves las alianzas con entidades bancarias y como socios claves el área técnica, entidades financieras y Protransporte. Como campaña de lanzamiento se realizarán activaciones en las principales estaciones del Metropolitano y publicidad por redes sociales, la cual consistirá en generar interacción del público. Se ha estimado que el valor actual del proyecto es de S/. 5,118,004 soles y nuestra TIR es de 80%. Además, el tiempo para poder recuperar la inversión sería de 2 años 10 meses. Confiamos en que este proyecto brindará solución a la insatisfacción de miles de usuarios y será un primer paso a la reforma de transporte que tanto necesita la ciudad de Lima. / Currently there are few real initiatives to improve the form of payment of public transport in Lima. For users of Metropolitano and Corredores de Lima it is common to make long lines to buy cards, recharge and check balance. This generates disagreement that affects the good service of both transport systems. Metrofácil helps to save time since it offers benefits such as balance inquiry, recharge, routes, schedules, incidence announcements in the stations, and the option of a virtual card. Our target market is people who have a smartphone, use mobile applications, are willing to carry out transactions on virtual platforms and have a debit or credit card. The estimated potential market of daily users is 625 763 people. The channels we will use are the mobile application, social networks and web page. We will have as key resources alliances with banking entities and as key partners in the technical area, financial entities and Protransporte. As a launching campaign, activations will be made in the main stations of the Metropolitan and advertising by social networks, which will consist in generating public interaction. It has been estimated that the current value of the project is S /. 5,118,004 soles and our IRR is 80%. In addition, the time to recover the investment would be 2 years 10 months. We trust that this project will provide a solution to the dissatisfaction of thousands of users and will be a first step to the transportation reform that the city of Lima so badly needs. / Trabajo de investigación

Studying household finance and behavior is important not only for understanding the micro level behavior, but also to have a better understanding of the whole economy. The study of household behavior become even more important after the 2007 housing crises, and the giant effect it had (and is still having) on Wall Street and the whole US and global economy. This dissertation is an attempt to understand some of the household behavior: how does the new internet era affect the demand for credit cards, which attitudes influence the household's decision to file bankruptcy, and whether expenditure habits encouraged overspending. The study will use the micro level data provides by Survey of Consumer Finance SCF2007. In the first chapter, the study focuses on the effect of having internet access on household demand for credit cards, controlling for standard price, income effects and other financial and demographic variables. The internet changed the way consumer shops, with more information about the product, the market and the price. E-Commerce retail sales grew on average of 22% a year over the past decade; in the second quarter of 2009 it reached $32.4 billion. The study found that households who have access to the internet, carry around $862 more on their credit card balance, in average, than households who have no access to the internet. The second chapter investigates the effects of borrowing and saving attitudes on household decision to file for personal bankruptcy. The total non-commercial bankruptcy filings increased from 560,682 cases in 2006 to 784,079 in 2007. This increase continued through 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, with 1,031,443 cases filed in 2008 and 304,228 in the first three months of 2009. The study results suggest that borrowing and saving attitudes have no effect of household decision to file for bankruptcy except for paying credit card balance in full every month. The third chapter studies the relationship between eating out "Food-Away-From-Home" and overspending. Since 19% of household in the US are spending more than their income. The average for the past nine years (2000-2008) was 1.6%. Compared to other industrialized countries, the US had one of the worst personal saving rates during the past twenty years . The study found that eating out does not encourage overspending. On the contrary, the higher the ratio of FAFH to total food expenditures the less likely household will overspend.

This systematic review of the literature examined the effectiveness of the Power Card strategy to increase social skills in studies conducted with individuals with autism and other intellectual disabilities. Database searches conducted identified 12 studies that met the inclusion criteria with a total of 30 participants who had a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or an intellectual disability (IDD). The majority of the Power Card studies (n= 7) targeted social skills, while other targeted skills include direction following, on-task behaviors, latency to teacher cues, executive functioning, and personal space. All 12 studies were reviewed and analyzed for their intervention procedures such as the use of a scenario card, access to the Power Card after reading, if a functional behavior assessment (FBA) was completed, and how the special interest item (SIA) was chosen. Results of the review highlight the need for more research to evaluate which steps of the Power Card strategy are most effective, the need for a greater variety of target behaviors, and the need to focus on the maintenance and generalization of skills learned via the Power Card strategy. Relevant suggestions for future research and practice are discussed. / Applied Behavioral Analysis

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine elementary education teacher perceptions of the change process that occurred in a public-school district during the four-year transition from a traditional grade reporting process to a standards-based system. The director of elementary education and a district leadership team provided oversight as the initial teacher cohort participated in a full school year of planning and designing the new standards-based report card for kindergarten and was executed the following school year. First-grade cohort teachers began their initial year of planning and design the same year kindergarten began implementation. The second-grade teacher cohort followed with the same progression. This study was designed to collect qualitative data from district cohort teachers who participated in the shift to the standards-based report card. The evidence was used to determine the successes and challenges involved with the collaborative reform process between district leaders and grade level cohort members in designing, creating, and implementing the standards-based report card. The system-change that occurred was explored and compared to Fullan’s (2016b) three dimensions of change model. The results of this study demonstrate a general interpretation of how cohort teachers perceived the relationships and interactions that influenced the leadership quality, effectiveness, and sustainability of change.

Time-out, an effective way of controlling undesirable behavior in children, is considered to potentially yield limited effectiveness for individuals over the age of 11 due to their maturation and their parents’ ability to physically enforce time-out. A practical alternative to time-out for adolescents is Job Card Grounding. Job Card Grounding possesses the same behavioral components of time-out in that it provides a system through which parents can deliver consistent discipline and the adolescent has control over the frequency and duration of the consequence. This study is unique in that Job Card Grounding has not yet been empirically validated in the published literature, though researchers have believed for quite some time that it would be an effective means of managing behavior. Furthermore, recent publications indicate that Job Card Grounding would be an effective behavior management program for individuals ages 11-18 years because it has the recommended qualities of successful behavior management plans such as stability, consistency, and opportunities for positive reinforcement. The current study also explored the effectiveness of Job Card Grounding used in conjunction with a token economy. The effect of Job Card Grounding alone and in combination with a token economy to address the behavior of adolescent males who were wards of the state and resided in a therapeutic group home was assessed across two consecutive summers. In Year 1, an ABB+CA design was utilized to assess the effectiveness of the treatments. The second A phase in Year 1 was a natural withdrawal initiated by the adolescents’ caregiver. In Year 2, an AB design was utilized. The investigators were invited back in Year 2 to re-implement the treatment due to a return of undesirable behaviors. Job Card Grounding alone and with a token economy was found to be effective behavior management tools for this population across both years. The findings of this study may be useful for individuals who work with children and adolescents who have become too old or intellectually advanced for time-out procedures. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed in this paper.

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