American University in the Emirates

About: American University in the Emirates is a education organization based out in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is known for research contribution in the topics: The Internet & Higher education. The organization has 161 authors who have published 304 publications receiving 2954 citations. The organization is also known as: aue.

Effects of COVID-19 Home Confinement on Eating Behaviour and Physical Activity: Results of the ECLB-COVID19 International Online Survey.

Abstract: Background: Public health recommendations and governmental measures during the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in numerous restrictions on daily living including social distancing, isolation and home confinement. While these measures are imperative to abate the spreading of COVID-19, the impact of these restrictions on health behaviours and lifestyles at home is undefined. Therefore, an international online survey was launched in April 2020, in seven languages, to elucidate the behavioural and lifestyle consequences of COVID-19 restrictions. This report presents the results from the first thousand responders on physical activity (PA) and nutrition behaviours. Methods: Following a structured review of the literature, the “Effects of home Confinement on multiple Lifestyle Behaviours during the COVID-19 outbreak (ECLB-COVID19)” Electronic survey was designed by a steering group of multidisciplinary scientists and academics. The survey was uploaded and shared on the Google online survey platform. Thirty-five research organisations from Europe, North-Africa, Western Asia and the Americas promoted the survey in English, German, French, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese and Slovenian languages. Questions were presented in a differential format, with questions related to responses “before” and “during” confinement conditions. Results: 1047 replies (54% women) from Asia (36%), Africa (40%), Europe (21%) and other (3%) were included in the analysis. The COVID-19 home confinement had a negative effect on all PA intensity levels (vigorous, moderate, walking and overall). Additionally, daily sitting time increased from 5 to 8 h per day. Food consumption and meal patterns (the type of food, eating out of control, snacks between meals, number of main meals) were more unhealthy during confinement, with only alcohol binge drinking decreasing significantly. Conclusion: While isolation is a necessary measure to protect public health, results indicate that it alters physical activity and eating behaviours in a health compromising direction. A more detailed analysis of survey data will allow for a segregation of these responses in different age groups, countries and other subgroups, which will help develop interventions to mitigate the negative lifestyle behaviours that have manifested during the COVID-19 confinement.

A Blockchain Framework for Securing Connected and Autonomous Vehicles.

Abstract: Recently, connected vehicles (CV) are becoming a promising research area leading to the concept of CV as a Service (CVaaS). With the increase of connected vehicles and an exponential growth in the field of online cab booking services, new requirements such as secure, seamless and robust information exchange among vehicles of vehicular networks are emerging. In this context, the original concept of vehicular networks is being transformed into a new concept known as connected and autonomous vehicles. Autonomous vehicular use yields a better experience and helps in reducing congestion by allowing current information to be obtained by the vehicles instantly. However, malicious users in the internet of vehicles may mislead the whole communication where intruders may compromise smart devices with the purpose of executing a malicious ploy. In order to prevent these issues, a blockchain technique is considered the best technique that provides secrecy and protection to the control system in real time conditions. In this paper, the issue of security in smart sensors of connected vehicles that can be compromised by expert intruders is addressed by proposing a blockchain framework. This study has further identified and validated the proposed mechanism based on various security criteria, such as fake requests of the user, compromise of smart devices, probabilistic authentication scenarios and alteration in stored user’s ratings. The results have been analyzed against some existing approach and validated with improved simulated results that offer 79% success rate over the above-mentioned issues.