bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Measuring Research in RSS Feed Literature
Authors: Babu P. Ramesh
Published: January 2020

The study analyzes the publications on the research literature on RSS feed during 2008-2018. It is found that 175 publications only brought out by the researchers in the core area of computer science, library science, and engineering related field of research. The study analyzes that information science and library science areas are seen as the predominant areas, which have a plurality (39; 28.2%) of the publications distributed in the field. Shell International Ltd has the most (10; 5.71%) publications. USA occupied the top country. It contributed (10; 48%) of the publications on RSS Feed during the period of study.
Scientometric Analysis of Bioinformatics Literature
Authors: Veeramuthu P.
Published: January 2020

The study analyses the bioinformatics literature during 2007-2017. For this study, a total of 83,904 publications were analysed. This chapter evaluated 11 years of bioinformatics publications with the aid of scientometric tools to find out the year-wise distribution, prolific authors, subject-wise distribution, type of document, top 10 titles, top 10 institutions, country-wise distributions, and language-wise distribution. The findings revealed that a maximum of 10,821 publications were published in 2017. Among the prolific authors, Martens, L. is ranked 1. In the document type, journal articles occupied the first position, which contributed 44,515 records. Among the prolific titles, Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics has the highest contribution of publications (6,814). In the institution-wise distribution, Chinese Academy of Sciences is placed in first position, having contributed 1,576 publications. The majority of the publications (81,555) were published in English language only.
Numerical Study of Nanocomposites for Energy Applications
Authors: Kosti Siddhartha
Published: January 2020

Nanocomposites are defined as a combination of nanoparticles reinforced into the base material. They are of very small sizes (1nm = 10-9m) and possesses higher thermal properties. They are widely utilized in different applications, like in energy, construction, biomedical, chemical, electronics, agriculture, cosmetics, etc. This chapter deals with the application of nanocomposites (SiC/Al2O3/B4C/TiO2/ZnO/SiO2) in the field of energy applications by analyzing their properties (thermal-conductivity/density/specific-heat) using numerical models. The effect of nanoparticles reinforced wt. % concentration into a base material (Al6061/Al7075/H2O) is also analyzed. Results show that nanocomposites have higher effective thermal conductivity and are suitable for high heat-releasing energy devices. It is found that the addition of nanoparticles increases the surface area to volume ratio, which further increases the energy transfer rate. Results show that nanocomposites with lower effective density are suitable when there is a requirement of reduction in weight for the same heat release application.
Diverse Applications of Graphene-Based Polymer Nanocomposites
Authors: Majumdar Pradip , Chakrabarti Amartya
Published: January 2020

Polymer nanocomposites are unique materials reinforced with nanoscale additives. Among a variety of nanomaterials available to act as filler additives in different polymer matrices, graphene is the most versatile one. Graphene-based polymer nanocomposites have improved electrical, mechanical, chemical, and thermal properties, which make them suitable for applications in the electronics, energy, sensor, and space sectors. Graphene, the nanosized filler, can be prepared using either a top-down or a bottom-up approach and dispersed in the polymer matrix utilizing different conventional techniques. The nanocomposite materials find usage in suitable area of applications depending on their specific characteristics. This chapter discusses the current state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques for graphene and graphene-based nanocomposite materials. Application of graphene-based polymer nanocomposites in the various fields with an emphasis on the areas high heat flux applications requiring enhanced thermal conductivity will be an additional major focus of this chapter.
Strain Field Pattern Recognition for Structural Health Monitoring Applications
Authors: Sierra-Pérez Julián , Alvarez-Montoya Joham
Published: January 2020

Strain field pattern recognition, also known as strain mapping, is a structural health monitoring approach based on strain measurements gathered through a network of sensors (i.e., strain gauges and fiber optic sensors such as FGBs or distributed sensing), data-driven modeling for feature extraction (i.e., PCA, nonlinear PCA, ANNs, etc.), and damage indices and thresholds for decision making (i.e., Q index, T2 scores, and so on). The aim is to study the correlations among strain readouts by means of machine learning techniques rooted in the artificial intelligence field in order to infer some change in the global behavior associated with a damage occurrence. Several case studies of real-world engineering structures both made of metallic and composite materials are presented including a wind turbine blade, a lattice spacecraft structure, a UAV wing section, a UAV aircraft under real flight operation, a concrete structure, and a soil profile prototype.
Recent (Dis)similarity Measures Between Histograms for Recognizing Many Classes of Plant Leaves
Authors: Orozco-Alzate Mauricio
Published: January 2020

The accurate identification of plant species is crucial in botanical taxonomy as well as in related fields such as ecology and biodiversity monitoring. In spite of the recent developments in DNA-based analyses for phylogeny and systematics, visual leaf recognition is still commonly applied for species identification in botany. Histograms, along with the well-known nearest neighbor rule, are often a simple but effective option for the representation and classification of leaf images. Such an option relies on the choice of a proper dissimilarity measure to compare histograms. Two state-of-the-art measures—called weighted distribution matching (WDM) and Poisson-binomial radius (PBR)—are compared here in terms of classification performance, computational cost, and non-metric/non-Euclidean behavior. They are also compared against other classical dissimilarity measures between histograms. Even though PBR gives the best performance at the highest cost, it is not significantly better than other classical measures. Non-Euclidean/non-metric nature seems to play an important role.
Analytical Observations Between Subjects' Medications Movement and Medication Scores Correlation Based on Their Gender and Age Using GSR Biofeedback
Authors: Rastogi Rohit , Chaturvedi Devendra Kumar , Gupta Mayank , Sirohi Heena , Gulati Muskan , Pratyusha
Published: January 2020

Increasing stress levels in people is creating higher tension levels that ultimately result in chronic headaches. To get the best result, the subjects are divided into two groups. One group will be introduced under EMG, and the other will be handled under GSR. The change in the behaviour of subject (i.e., the change in the stress level) is measured at the intervals of one month, three months, six months, and twelve months. The main aim of the research is to study the effects of tension type headache using biofeedback therapies on various modes such as audio modes, visual modes, and audio-visual modes. The groups were randomly allocated for galvanic skin resistance (GSR) therapies, and the other one was control group (the group that was not under any type of allopathic or other medications). Except for the control group, the groups were treated in a session for 20 minutes in isolated chambers. The results were recorded over a specific period of time.
Emerging Instructional Design and Strategies for Online Courses
Authors: Gulbahar Yasemin , Adanır Gulgun Afacan
Published: January 2020

Due to rapid advancement in technology, massive changes have occurred in the educational context. Hence, educational institutions need to reshape their roles and responsibilities according to the new and innovative instructional technologies and approaches for meeting the goals of the digital era by building a digital teaching-learning culture. At this point, the major aspect is the learner, who is at the center of a teaching and learning process, which relies upon instructional design and strategies to deliver the content, and who will become the employee of the future workforce. Therefore, the design and delivery of instruction through innovative instructional strategies based on emerging learning theories are of the utmost importance. This chapter discusses the changing nature of digital teaching and learning from the perspective of delivering content and learning experiences through the effective orchestration of instructional design and strategies that are based on existing and emerging learning theories.
Playful Pedagogy
Authors: McCartney Melissa L.
Published: January 2020

Intentional humor used in online classes develops classroom community, creates student-faculty relationships, enhances peer-peer relationships, and increases student engagement. A learning environment with humor helps students and faculty engage with others, apart from their roles, and constructs a genuine sense of connection. When intentionally embedded into course content, humor has been seen to increase student satisfaction and motivation. When used effectively, humor reduces anxiety and a sense of threat, which helps students learn more effectively. The use of humor acts as a stress relief, which aids in cognition and long-term memory. Additionally, student perception of faculty who use humor is positive. In the online environment, humor can be embedded in a variety of technology-enhanced forms such as videotaped lectures, discussion threads, and posted as memes and gifs. This chapter reviews best practices for implementing humor into course design for online higher education.
Designing and Teaching for Student Engagement in Online Courses Through UDL
Authors: Owiny Ruby L. , Hartmann Elizabeth
Published: January 2020

Any course must be goal-focused and consider the needs of all learners. However, online courses require instructors to be proactive in planning for learning. Recruiting and sustaining engagement in an online course must be carefully considered and planned for during all learning modules or units. This chapter addresses how to keep students engaged by considering their affect, the general way students feel toward their learning. Affect impacts motivation, which in turn can impact how a student persists in a course. The Universal Design for Learning principle of engagement addresses the affect through three guidelines. These guidelines are explained in this chapter with potential barriers to student learning and motivation explained as well. Furthermore, possible solutions are provided to give readers examples of ways in which they might reduce or remove barriers to engagement in their online courses.
Surviving Learning and Teaching Online
Authors: Thompson Sherwood
Published: January 2020

The incorporation of high-impact teaching and learning practices with online students can be a rewarding experience. In this personal narrative, a comparison between online and face-to-face instructional practices is documented. This chapter illustrates that online instruction can be just as satisfying to an instructor as any other type of delivery model. The outcomes and implications are different, and the former experience has a more impactful outcome than the latter. This narrative supports the value of using high-impact teaching and learning practices to enhance instructional strategies, especially online.
The Enquiring University
Authors: Cleaver Elizabeth , Mclinden Mike , Lintern Maxine , Birch Andy
Published: January 2020

This chapter charts how in England, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) activities that may until recently have been seen as ‘marginal' or ‘added' value are increasingly viewed as strategic enablers. This is of potential interest to international audiences due to the growing and, arguably, unprecedented expectations placed on English universities to evidence the impact of their education through the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework. However, if SoTL is to become a fully functioning enabler of strategic transformation—rather than simply a cited exemplar or initiative—it needs to be systematically coordinated and evidenced. Drawing on a recently developed conceptual model—‘the enquiring university'—the chapter charts how the role and impact of SoTL can be coordinated, recorded, and evaluated through an emergent SoTL Strategic Implementation and Impact Framework. Finally, the authors illustrate its application through reference to an example of a SoTL activity aligned to two key elements of the framework.
Building Faculty SoTL Skills Through a Multi- and Interdisciplinary Writing Community of Practice
Authors: Sgoutas-Emch Sandra , Liu Judith , Meyskens Moriah , Salinas Tara Ceranic , Friedman Jane , Myers Perla
Published: January 2020

Cultivating a community of faculty to support Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) work at universities can be challenging. There are many obstacles to overcome—obstacles such as how to sustain such efforts over time. The Center for Educational Excellence set out to design a strategic plan designed to address certain barriers to SoTL work and to create a long-standing community of practice for a SoTL group of faculty members—a group that has lasted over nine years to date. This chapter outlines strategies employed over the years and the evolution of the interdisciplinary group from a learning community to community of practice. The stories of past and present members are included along with advice on how others may have successful programs at their universities.
At the Crossroads of Transformative Learning and SoTL
Authors: Plews Rachel C. , Laffranchini Ngoenha Moira
Published: January 2020

This chapter explores the ongoing collaboration between an educational developer and a faculty member at a university of teacher education in Switzerland as an inquiry into one's teaching practice to improve the implementation of the flipped classroom approach. Through the lens of transformative learning theory, the chapter examines how SoTL can serve as faculty enrichment in addition to an approach for systematic reflection on practice. Special attention is paid to the role of the educational developer as a mentor throughout the inquiry. The chapter concludes with practical strategies for developing a productive SoTL relationship between educational developers and faculty member, as well as visibility across an institution.
Practicing What We Teach
Authors: Amos Michelle L. , Ely Morgan
Published: January 2020

Using the SoTL framework provides students with an accessible, relevant model of professional and critical reflection on practice. Explicit participation in this research can benefit students with scaffolded practice applying reflection to instruction. Guiding students in examining assumptions around literacy supports meaningful integration of these skills in instructional design. This transformation of students' frames of reference requires meaningful reflection and a challenge to their current beliefs about disciplinary literacy. This study uses Reading/Writing Workshop format to individualize instruction, engage students in self-directed learning, and facilitate differentiation and formative assessment. This redesigned course used experiential learning and a social constructivist model to build collaboration and real-world communication skills. Transformation is supported through structured reflection. Thus, a data collection instrument was adapted from Brookfield's Critical Incident Questionnaire to guide students with specific, practiced, and meaningful reflection.
Enabling Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Activities Across a Curriculum Design Framework
Authors: Meth Deanna , Russell Holly R. , Fitzgerald Rachel , Huijser Henk
Published: January 2020

This chapter outlines the multiple ways in which Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) activities might be activated and/or realized through the processes of curriculum and learning design of a degree program. Key dual enablers for these activities are an underpinning curriculum framework, bringing a series of defined developmental steps each underpinned by SoTL, and the Curriculum Design Studio construct as a vehicle for collaborative ways of working between staff, including academics and curriculum designers and students. Drawing on evidence from the practices of four curriculum designers, examples are presented across a wide range of disciplinary areas. In many instances, SoTL not only brings an evidence base to the work, but also the potential for research outputs, thus becoming a useful lever for academic staff to engage in ongoing curriculum design discussions and evidence-informed practice. Such activities serve to mitigate against acknowledged challenges faced by academics such as lack of adequate time for such activities and the pressure to produce research outputs.
Exploring the Impact of SoTL on Day-to-Day Learning and Teaching
Authors: Carr Andrea Rose , Kelder Jo-Anne , Crawford Joseph
Published: January 2020

The Curriculum Evaluation Research (CER) Framework was developed as a response to increasing scrutiny and expectations of the higher education sector, including legislated standards for curriculum and professional teachers that explicitly require a systematic and comprehensive approach to evaluating curriculum. The CER Framework is designed to facilitate a scholarly environment to drive and assure the quality of a curriculum and the capabilities of its teaching team. It stems from a synthesis of teacher as action researcher (TAAR), quality improvement (QI), quality assurance (QA), and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) applied to the curriculum as it is designed, taught, and revised. In this chapter, the implementation of the CER Framework to the University College is reviewed and evaluated. The University College is an organisational unit comprises approximately 600 students and 80 staff. This chapter includes a reflection on the barriers and enablers of implementing the CER Framework.
Evolution of Accessibility Metadata in Educational Resources
Authors: Otón Tortosa Salvador , Ingavélez-Guerra Paola Cristina , Sánchez-Gordón Sandra , Sánchez-Gordón Mary
Published: January 2020

This chapter presents in a descriptive and visual way the evolution of accessibility metadata in educational resources, considering the different organizations and projects that contributed in investigations and establishment of standards for their implementation. The purpose is to justify the importance of its application in the optimal search of educational resources that responds to the needs and preferences of the user, considering the variability of learning and emphasizing the even greater requirements when dealing with students with disabilities. Accessibility is an issue that is developed optimally, and its adoption is increasing; however, in the area of virtual environments and digital educational resources, the use of accessibility metadata is still incipient and requires to be understood from its implementation of comprehensive manner and the suitability of its application.
Inclusive Education Through Accessible Mobile Serious Games
Authors: Jaramillo-Alcázar Angel , Criollo-C Santiago , Luján-Mora Sergio
Published: January 2020

Accessibility has been defined as the ability of an object to be used despite the condition or disability of a person. However, it is a feature that often has not been taken into account in the design of products or services, and the mobile serious game market is no exception. Accessibility guidelines were defined through the consolidation of different initiatives and good practices of video game developers as well as groups interested in providing accessibility to video games. Once the guidelines were defined, a method for evaluating the accessibility of mobile serious games was developed and applied in a mobile serious game. The purpose of this document is to propose an evaluation tool for those who wish to develop accessible mobile serious games for people with impairments and improve inclusive education.
HCI and User Experience Design Education
Authors: Abel Troy , Satterfield Debra
Published: January 2020

A thorough and robust understanding of responsible and ethical practices in UX is essential to user experience designers. Ethical UX practices include authentic inclusion, vulnerability in participants, the inclusion of IRB-protected groups in research, tolerance for risk and motivation, truth in research, fair and respectful conduct, informed consent, cultural sensitivity, accessibility in UX processes, stigmatized populations, idiosyncratic populations, right to privacy, and an understanding of ADA-compliant accommodations by UX researchers and participants. This chapter will introduce these principles as well as demonstrate one possible application in an undergraduate design classroom.
Educational Applications as a Support for Reading Disability at Elementary School
Authors: Muñoz-Arteaga Jaime
Published: January 2020

Reading is an important competency to be developed for children in the first years of elementary school. Reading becomes a mechanism that allows the children to interact with the world and identify their characteristics. Dyslexia is one learning disability frequently manifested in elementary school, and to identify it, teachers require extra educative resources, in particular educational applications. This work proposes a process model to design and develop educational applications considering the learning needs of children with dyslexia. It involves a user-centered approach because different perceptions of several actors are considered. The performance of the proposed model is explored in a case study and an evaluation, taking into account usability and accessibility factors.
A Software Testing Process Based in Gamification for Children With Down Syndrome
Authors: Mendoza González Alfredo
Published: January 2020

Evaluating software implies challenging users' abilities during a period, applying several assessments, and analyzing their evolution. This process might turn unpleasant and stressful, especially to those susceptible to anxiety and stress, such as Down syndrome users. The poor performance of unpleasant users generates unreal results. A gamified approach for software testing is proposed that maintains user motivation and engagement and reduces anxiety and stress. Common behaviors expected are anxiety, stress, unwilling to work, and in general, lack of motivation. Using gamification, makes it possible to succeed in controlling these common negative behaviors and stimulating the positive ones including the MDA framework into a generic learnability evaluation process, linking these two elements with the psychological approach of gestalt therapy. Gamifying the testing experience increased the quality of communication between users and applicators; provided a friendly, motivational, and engaging environment; and increased the rate of testing success and the range of potential participants.
Trends and Technologies in Big Data Processing
Authors: Choudhury Amitava , Rangra Kalpana
Published: January 2020

Data type and amount in human society is growing at an amazing speed, which is caused by emerging new services such as cloud computing, internet of things, and location-based services. The era of big data has arrived. As data has been a fundamental resource, how to manage and utilize big data better has attracted much attention. Especially with the development of the internet of things, how to process a large amount of real-time data has become a great challenge in research and applications. Recently, cloud computing technology has attracted much attention to high performance, but how to use cloud computing technology for large-scale real-time data processing has not been studied. In this chapter, various big data processing techniques are discussed.
A Novel Approach With Dynamic Fuzzy Inference for Big Data Classification Problems
Authors: Jin Shangzhu , Peng Jun
Published: January 2020

Currently, big data and its applications have become emergent topics. To deal with the uncertainty in data sets, fuzzy system-based models were explored and stand out for many applications. However, when a given observation has no overlap with antecedent values, no rule can be invoked, or even the invoked rules with missing values in classical fuzzy inference can also appear in big data environment, and therefore, no consequence can be derived. Fortunately, fuzzy rule interpolation techniques can support inference in such cases. Combining traditional fuzzy reasoning technique and fuzzy interpolation method may promote the accuracy of inference conclusion. Therefore, in this chapter, an initial investigation into the framework of MapReduce with dynamic fuzzy inference/interpolation for big data applications (BigData-DFRI) is reported. The results of an experimental investigation of this method are represented, demonstrating the potential and efficacy of the proposed approach.
Development of the Enhanced Piece-Wise Linear Neural Network Algorithm
Authors: Chan Veronica K. , Chan Christine W.
Published: January 2020

This chapter discusses development, application, and enhancement of a decomposition neural network rule extraction algorithm for nonlinear regression problems. The dual objectives of developing the algorithms are (1) to generate good predictive models comparable in performance to the original artificial neural network (ANN) models and (2) to “open up” the black box of a neural network model and provide explicit information in the form of rules that are expressed as linear equations. The enhanced PWL-ANN algorithm improves upon the PWL-ANN algorithm because it can locate more than two breakpoints and better approximate the hidden sigmoid activation functions of the ANN. Comparison of the results produced by the two versions of the PWL-ANN algorithm showed that the enhanced PWL-ANN models provide higher predictive accuracies and improved fidelities compared to the originally trained ANN models than the PWL-ANN models.
A Lexico-Syntactic-Semantic Approach to Recognizing Textual Entailment
Authors: Basak Rohini , Naskar Sudip Kumar , Gelbukh Alexander
Published: January 2020

Given two textual fragments, called a text and a hypothesis, respectively, recognizing textual entailment (RTE) is a task of automatically deciding whether the meaning of the second fragment (hypothesis) logically follows from the meaning of the first fragment (text). The chapter presents a method for RTE based on lexical similarity, dependency relations, and semantic similarity. In this method, called LSS-RTE, each of the two fragments is converted to a dependency graph, and the two obtained graph structures are compared using dependency triple matching rules, which have been compiled after a thorough and detailed analysis of various RTE development datasets. Experimental results show 60.5%, 64.4%, 62.8%, and 61.5% accuracy on the well-known RTE1, RTE2, RTE3, and RTE4 datasets, respectively, for the two-way classification task and 54.3% accuracy for three-way classification task on the RTE4 dataset.
NBPMF
Authors: Liang Zhewei , Lajoie Gilles , Zhang Kaizhong
Published: January 2020

Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique for determining the composition of a sample. Conventionally, peptide mass fingerprinting is widely used to identify proteins from MS dataset. Here, the authors developed a novel network-based inference software termed NBPMF. By analyzing peptide-protein bipartite network, they designed new peptide protein matching score functions. They present two methods: the static one, ProbS, is based on an independent probability framework; and the dynamic one, HeatS, depicts input data as dependent peptides. Moreover, they use linear regression to adjust the matching score according to the masses of proteins. In addition, they consider the order of retention time to further correct the score function. In the post processing, they design two algorithms: assignment of peaks and protein filtration. Finally, they propose two strategies to estimate the false discovery rate. The experiments on simulated, authentic, and simulated authentic dataset demonstrate that their NBPMF approaches lead to significantly improved performance compared to several state-of-the-art methods.
Analysis and Calculation of the Probability Selectivity Using the Modern Distributed Algorithms
Authors: Umarova Zhanat , Botayeva Saule , Zhidebayeva Aziza , Torebay Nursaule
Published: January 2020

The calculation of the characteristics of the selectivity in the membrane separation of mixtures, based on basic physicochemical characteristics of the solution, is a difficult task due to the large number of influencing factors. To solve this problem, for a theoretical evaluation of the selectivity of ultrafiltration membranes, modern distributed algorithms are used for a probabilistic approach, in which the mechanism of the separation process differs significantly from the separation mechanism in nanomembranes. As a result of the proposed models and modern distributed algorithms, estimates of the selectivity of nanofiltration membranes for individual ions were obtained. It was found that an important feature of mixing with the mixture flowing through the membrane is the dependence of the effective diffusion coefficient on time. Also, as a result of calculations by the proposed model, it was found that this feature is modeled by the coefficient of anomalous fractal diffusion in time, as well as by the displacement of the effective separation zone in the membrane.
Adapting Market-Oriented Policies for Scheduling Divisible Loads on Clouds
Authors: Majid Mimi Liza Abdul , Chuprat Suriayati
Published: January 2020

Cloud computing has become an important alternative for solving big data processing. Nowadays, cloud service providers usually offer users a virtual machine with various combinations of prices. As each user has different circumstances, the problem of choosing the cost-minimized combination under a deadline constraint as well as user's preference is becoming more complex. This article is concerned with the investigation of adapting a user's preference policies for scheduling real-time divisible loads in a cloud computing environment. The workload allocation approach used in this research is using Divisible Load Theory. The proposed algorithm aggregates resources into groups and optimally distributes the fractions of load to the available resources according to user's preference. The proposed algorithm was evaluated by simulation experiments and compared with the baseline approach. The result obtained from the proposed algorithm reveals that a significant reduction in computation cost can be attained when the user's preferences are low priority.
A New Eager Replication Approach Using a Non-Blocking Protocol Over a Decentralized P2P Architecture
Authors: Ezéchiel Katembo Kituta , Ojha Shri Kant , Agarwal Ruchi
Published: January 2020

Eager replication of distributed databases over a decentralized Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network is often likely to generate unreliability because participants can be or cannot be available. Moreover, the conflict between transactions initiated by different peers to modify the same data is probable. These problems are responsible of perpetual transaction abortion. Thus, a new Four-Phase-Commit (4PC) protocol that allows transaction commitment with available peers and recovering unavailable peers when they become available again has been designed using the nested transactions and the distributed voting technique. After implementing the new algorithm with C#, experiments made it possible to analyse the performance which revealed that the new algorithm is efficient because in one second it can replicate a considerable number of records, such as when an important volume of data can be queued for subsequent recovery of the concerned slave peers when they become available again.
Identifying the Ideal Types of Online Shoppers
Authors: Kettunen Eeva , Kemppainen Tiina , Lievonen Matias , Makkonen Markus , Frank Lauri , Kari Tuomas
Published: January 2020

The tremendous increase in online shopping has created a growing demand to understand online shopping behavior. This study contributes to this understanding by identifying ideal types among online shoppers. An ideal type is an analytical construct used to ascertain similarities and deviations to concrete cases in an individual phenomenon. Theoretically, the study draws from different perspectives to create a multifaceted view of online shoppers. The purpose is not to categorize online shoppers under a specific category but rather to help understand different typically occurring online shopping behaviors. Through thematic analysis of the data from 31 participants, this study presents five ideal types of online shoppers: conservative shoppers, rational shoppers, hedonistic shoppers, spontaneous shoppers, and vanguard shoppers. The formed ideal types serve as the main theoretical contribution of this study. From a practical standpoint, implications for online shop providers on how to accommodate the needs of each ideal type are provided.
Real-Time Indoor Geolocation Tracking for Assisted Healthcare Facilities
Authors: Gala Kinjal , Bryden Paul David , Paolini Christopher , Wang Matthew , Mihovska Albena Dimitrova , Sarkar Mahasweta
Published: January 2020

A leading cause of physical injury sustained by elderly persons is the event of unintentionally falling. A delay between the time of fall and the time of medical attention can exacerbate injury if the fall resulted in a concussion, traumatic brain injury, or bone fracture. The authors present a solution capable of finding and tracking, in real-time, the location of an elderly person within an indoor facility, using only existing Wi-Fi infrastructure. This paper discusses the development of an open source software framework capable of finding the location of an individual within 3m accuracy using 802.11 Wi-Fi in good coverage areas. This framework is comprised of an embedded software layer, a Web Services layer, and a mobile application for monitoring the location of individuals, calculated using trilateration, with Kalman filtering employed to reduce the effect of multipath interference. The solution provides a real-time, low cost, extendible solution to the problem of indoor geolocation to mitigate potential harm to elderly persons who have fallen and require immediate medical help.
Constructing New NLFSR Functions with Optimal Periods
Authors: Al-Hejri Ibraheem , Almuhammadi Sultan
Published: January 2020

Pseudorandom bit generators are essential components in many security applications. The security of the system relies on the security of its components. Feedback shift registers are commonly used to generate pseudorandom bits. Nonlinear feedback shift registers (NLFSRs) are known to be more secure than the linear ones. However, there is no mathematical foundation on how to construct NLFSR feedback functions with optimal periods. This article considers a new type of NLFSR capable of constructing feedback functions of degree 3 with optimal periods. Using their construction method, the authors propose new functions of this type.
A Semantic Map for Indoor Robot Navigation Based on Predicate Logic
Authors: Wang Hengsheng , Ren Jin
Published: January 2020

Interacting with mobile robots through natural language is the main concern of this article, which focuses on the semantic meaning of concepts used in natural language instructions to navigate robots indoors. Assuming the building structure is the prior knowledge of the robot and the robot has the ability of navigating itself locally to avoid collision with the environment, the building structure is represented with predicate logic on SWI-Prolog as the database of the indoor environment, which is called semantic map in this paper, in which the basic predicate clauses are based on two kinds of entities, namely ‘area' and ‘node.' The area names (in natural language convention) of indoor environment are organized with an ontology and are defined in the semantic map which includes the geometric information of areas and connection relationships between areas. With the semantic map database, functions for robot navigation, like a topological map, path planning, and self-localization, are realized through reasoning by properly designed predicates based on constraint satisfaction problem (CSP). An example building is given to show the idea proposed in this article, the real data of which was used to establish the semantic map, and the predicates for navigation functions worked well on SWI-Prolog.
Cultural and Contextual Affordances in Language MOOCs
Authors: Fuchs Carolin
Published: January 2020

This case study explores cultural and contextual affordances in language massive open online courses (LMOOCs), especially the extent to which an LMOOC effectively promotes optimal language learning. Participants included 15 language student teachers of English as a second or foreign language in a spring technology elective course at a private university on the East Coast. Student teachers enrolled in language MOOCs and tracked and evaluated their learning process and progress through weekly logs and surveys. Data was collected from weekly reflection logs and pre- and post-surveys. Results indicate that the cultural affordances were more salient in the advanced Spanish MOOC and the Hindi MOOC, while in the beginning-level LMOOCs, contextual factors were lacking overall.
Exploring the Role of Participation in Government Employees' Adoption of IT
Authors: Ben Rehouma Mariem
Published: January 2020

Employee participation in IT projects is considered to be a critical IT adoption factor in the public sector. However, research into the impact of participation on government employee adoption of IT is very limited. Therefore, this study investigates the role of participation in government employee adoption of IT. A qualitative research study was carried out and project managers were interviewed. Additionally, employees who participated in the introduction of the e-file in Germany were also interviewed. The findings reveal that information and communication, training and support, and active participation in project groups, the formal participation of the staff council and the exchange of experiences between governmental agencies all have a potential positive impact on government employee adoption of IT. However, managers have key positions in this context. Furthermore, barriers to participation, such as the lack of resources as well as a lack of willingness and qualifications, are also discussed.
A System Dynamics Model of Technology and Society
Authors: Omamo Amos O. , Rodrigues Anthony J. , Muliaro Wafula J.
Published: January 2020

Kenya has emerged in recent times as one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the world. There is not a single, widely used paradigm which has synthesised the various schools and theories dealing with technology and society. This article argues that the issue of mobile technology on society is a complex technical and social phenomenon that needs to be understood from both ICT and social science perspectives. This study used the concept of governance socio-techno-economic systems as the theoretical framework. System dynamics are used as both the methodology and tool to model the mobile industry impact on society. The study shows that the increase in social capital intensity is an important source of the economic growth. This increase will strengthen the accelerator mechanism of the economy and creates larger multiplier effects. The increase in social capital intensity can be obtained through managing innovation processes base on the development of education and the R&D capacity of the nation.
IL PRESENTE RICORDATO: SUONARE A MEMORIA, TRA DIDATTICA STRUMENTALE E SCIENZE COGNITIVE
Authors: Bordin Anna Maria
Published: January 2020

This study considers the analytical and gestural aspects of the performance from memory in the beginners in order to offer elements of comparison with similar studies on the performance from memory of advanced students and professionals. Three pianists aged 10 years have studied a piece taken from the Mikrokosmos of BartÃ³k unknown and suitable for their level of pianistic experience. During the learning path the teacher kept a diary. When they were able to play the pieces from memory fluidly, a first video recording of the performance was performed during a lesson. Later, after overcoming the problems occured in the first recording, the second performance was recorded in a semi-public context, and finally the last recording took place in front of an audience of about 50 people. The quantitative and qualitative analysis of the video recordings considered the formal structures of the pieces and the errors, comparing them with the evidences of the diary of the teacher. The results indicate a greater presence of errors in the measures that delimit the formal sections of the pieces.
Â«SOGNI E FAVOLE IO FINGOÂ». SULLA GENESI DEL Â«FRANKENSTEINÂ» DI MARY SHELLEY
Authors: Gaspari Gianmarco
Published: January 2020

During the summer of 1797, the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, according to what he declared, experienced, while sleeping, a vision inspiring him a poem of about three hundred lines: what he partially managed to transcribe, of that dream of poetry, is one of the most perfect examples of musicality in the English language. It is with Romanticism that dreams, removed from the bonds of foretelling and of the naÃ¯ve inferences of folklore, become generators of images, and also of words. Dreams indicated peculiar themes to FuÌˆssliâ€™s art, suggested novel plots to Stevenson and Dostoevskij, and, even before them, in 1818 they presented Mary Shelley, as she travelled towards Italy, with the subject of a new, immortal, story - the one of the scientist Frankenstein, who decides to play God in his power of giving life -, which is still haunting us nowadays.
Tax knowledge for the digital economy
Authors: Bornman Marina , Wassermann Marianne
Published: January 2020

Orientation: Because of the digital economy, taxpayers have access to new income streams. These virtual transactions have taxation consequences, and therefore taxpayers need specialised taxation knowledge to understand their tax obligations and act in a tax compliant manner.Research purpose: The aim of this article was to identify the unique tax knowledge requirements for individuals functioning in the digital economy by systematically reviewing literature on the tax challenges arising from this new economy. Applying a conceptual framework of tax knowledge, these knowledge requirements were categorised as either general, procedural or legal. By identifying these requirements, it was possible to point out the risks within these categories that may cause obstacles to individuals to act fully tax compliant.Motivation for the study: Understanding the different knowledge requirements of taxpayers may assist tax authorities to identify the tax compliance risks of these taxpayers in their capacity as individuals functioning in the digital economy.Research approach/design and method: A qualitative approach was used in the study through a thematic search of appropriate literature such as articles, reports, blogs and media releases. These documents were systematically reviewed to identify the knowledge requirements for individual taxpayers functioning in the digital economy.Main findings: The findings suggest that there are specific tax knowledge requirements in different areas that must be in place to ensure tax compliance in the digital economy. Any shortcomings in these areas of knowledge create the risk of non-compliance for individuals functioning in the digital economy.Practical/managerial implications: Taxpayers and tax authorities alike should take note of the risk areas identified in each area of knowledge (general, procedural and legal) and devise strategies to deal with taxation issues arising from transactions in the digital economy.Contribution/value-add: This study applied a tax knowledge framework and identified the general, procedural and legal tax knowledge requirements of individuals functioning in the digital economy. The study also pointed out associated compliance risks, which may assist tax authorities to target strategies for improving taxpayer knowledge in these three areas.
A quantitative cross-sectional survey of psychosocial stimulation and counselling interventions at nutritional rehabilitation units in Southern Malawi
Authors: Daniel Allison I
Published: January 2020

BackgroundInpatient treatment at nutritional rehabilitation units (NRUs) is needed for children who have severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and acute illness, loss of appetite, or severe oedema. World Health Organization guidelines state that nutritional counselling should be done with primary caregivers at NRUs. These recommendations also include psychosocial stimulation interventions to improve developmental outcomes in children with SAM. However, there is limited information about the delivery of these types of interventions for caregivers and children in NRU settings. The primary objective of this research was therefore to obtain data about NRU resources, activities, and protocols relevant to psychosocial stimulation and counselling interventions during inpatient treatment of children with SAM. MethodsA cross-sectional survey was administered by interview at all 16 NRUs in seven districts in Southern Malawi. Participants were health workers, nurses, and nutritionists employed at the respective NRUs. ResultsThe response rate was 100% across NRUs. Half of participants said that psychosocial stimulation interventions are conducted at their respective NRUs, yet none of the NRUs have protocols for delivery of these interventions. Furthermore, 7/16 (44%) NRUs have no resources for psychosocial stimulation including play materials. Thirteen of 16 (81%) participants said that they feel this type of intervention is very important and 3/16 (19%) participants said that this somewhat important for children with SAM. All NRUs provide counselling to caregivers about breastfeeding and nutrition; 15/16 (94%) also give counselling about water, sanitation and hygiene. ConclusionsUltimately, results from this survey highlighted that there is a need to invest in comprehensive interventions to improve developmental and nutritional outcomes in these vulnerable children requiring admission to NRUs.
Successful open surgical repair of an infrarenal, abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in a young Malawian female: A case report
Authors: Manda Geoffrey
Published: January 2020

A 39-year-old woman presented to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi  with a 3-week history of worsening peri-umbilical abdominal pain radiating to the lower back associated with anorexia, nausea and vomiting. There was no history of trauma, diarrhoea, obstipation, fevers, or urinary symptoms. She reported history of ‘spinal surgery’ performed 6 years prior due to a herniated intervertebral lumbar disk.