bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Approximate Sensory Data Collection: A Survey
Authors: Cheng Siyao , Cai Zhipeng , Li Jianzhong
Published: March 2017

With the rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoTs), wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and related techniques, the amount of sensory data manifests an explosive growth. In some applications of IoTs and WSNs, the size of sensory data has already exceeded several petabytes annually, which brings too many troubles and challenges for the data collection, which is a primary operation in IoTs and WSNs. Since the exact data collection is not affordable for many WSN and IoT systems due to the limitations on bandwidth and energy, many approximate data collection algorithms have been proposed in the last decade. This survey reviews the state of the art of approximatedatacollectionalgorithms. Weclassifythemintothreecategories: themodel-basedones, the compressive sensing based ones, and the query-driven ones. For each category of algorithms, the advantages and disadvantages are elaborated, some challenges and unsolved problems are pointed out, and the research prospects are forecasted.
Moderating Effects of Trust on Environmentally Significant Behavior in Korea
Authors: Moon Seong-Gin , Jeong Seong , Choi Yongrok
Published: March 2017

To treat environmental problems and to seek sustainable development, voluntary and cooperative efforts, which is really against the traditional mentality with the emphasis on the individual competitive optimization, became the key to maintain the sustainability of complex social and ecological systems. To understand the cooperative and voluntary individual’s environmentally significant behavior (ESB), this paper focuses on the role of trust, and assesses the effect of trust on the relationship between existing factors and ESB. A structural equation model (SEM) is constructed to estimate the moderating effects of trust on ESB in Korea. We found that people with a negative view on strict environmental regulations do not exhibit ESB and thus nudge policies could be much more effective than the forceful measure. It is noteworthy that public private partnership, as a kind of optimal trust, should be more promoted in the environmental protection policies.
Improved Decision Fusion Model for Wireless Sensor Networks over Rayleigh Fading Channels
Authors: Jamoos Ali
Published: March 2017

This paper deals with decision fusion in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) over Rayleigh fading channels. The likelihood ratio test (LRT) is considered as the optimal fusion rule when applied at the fusion center (FC). However, applying the LRT at the FC requires both the channel state information (CSI) and the local sensors’ performance indices. Acquiring such information is considered as an overhead in energy and bandwidth constrained systems such as WSNs. To avoid these drawbacks, we propose a modiﬁcation to the traditional three-layer system model of a WSN where the LRT is applied as a local decision making method at the sensors level. Applying the LRT at the sensors level does not require the CSI or the local sensors’ performance indices. It only requires the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Moreover, a new fusion rule based on selection combining (SC) is suggested. This fusion method has the lowest complexity when compared to other diversity combining based fusion rules such as the equal gain combiner (EGC) and the maximum ratio combiner (MRC). Simulation results show that the performance of the proposed model outperforms the traditional model. In addition, applying the EGC at the FC in the proposed model provides comparable performance to the traditional model that applies the LRT at the FC.
Plasma-Based Degradation of Mycotoxins Produced by Fusarium, Aspergillus and Alternaria Species
Authors: Ten Bosch Lars , Pfohl Katharina , Avramidis Georg , Wieneke Stephan , Viöl Wolfgang , Karlovsky Petr
Published: March 2017

The efficacy of cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAPP) with ambient air as working gas for the degradation of selected mycotoxins was studied. Deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, enniatins, fumonisin B1, and T2 toxin produced by Fusarium spp., sterigmatocystin produced by Aspergillus spp. and AAL toxin produced by Alternaria alternata were used. The kinetics of the decay of mycotoxins exposed to plasma discharge was monitored. All pure mycotoxins exposed to CAPP were degraded almost completely within 60 s. Degradation rates varied with mycotoxin structure: fumonisin B1 and structurally related AAL toxin were degraded most rapidly while sterigmatocystin exhibited the highest resistance to degradation. As compared to pure compounds, the degradation rates of mycotoxins embedded in extracts of fungal cultures on rice were reduced to a varying extent. Our results show that CAPP efficiently degrades pure mycotoxins, the degradation rates vary with mycotoxin structure, and the presence of matrix slows down yet does not prevent the degradation. CAPP appears promising for the decontamination of food commodities with mycotoxins confined to or enriched on surfaces such as cereal grains.
Impacts of Climate Change on the Water Quality of a Regulated Prairie River
Authors: Hosseini Nasim , Johnston Jacinda , Lindenschmidt Karl-Erich
Published: March 2017

Flows along the upper Qu’Appelle River are expected to increase in the future via increased discharge from Lake Diefenbaker to meet the demands of increased agricultural and industrial activity and population growth in southern Saskatchewan. This increased discharge and increased air temperature due to climate change are both expected to have an impact on the water quality of the river. The Water Quality Analysis Simulation Program (WASP7) was used to model current and future water quality of the upper Qu’Appelle River. The model was calibrated and validated to characterize the current state of the water quality of the river. The model was then used to predict water quality [nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) concentrations and oxygen dynamics] for the years 2050–2055 and 2080–2085. The modelling results indicate that global warming will result in a decrease in ice thickness, a shorter ice cover period, and decreased nutrient concentrations in 2050 or 2080 relative to 2010, with a greater decrease of nutrient concentrations in open water. In contrast to the effect of warmer water temperatures, increased flow through water management may cause increases in ammonium, nitrate, and dissolved oxygen concentrations and decreases in orthophosphate concentrations in summer.
Silencing of ATP4B of ATPase H+/K+ Transporting Beta Subunit by Intragenic Epigenetic Alteration in Human Gastric Cancer Cells
Authors: Lin Shuye , Lin Bonan , Wang Xiaoyue , Pan Yuanming , Xu Qing , He Jin-Shen , Gong Wanghua , Xing Rui , He Yuqi , Guo Lihua , Lu Youyong , Wang Ji Ming , Huang Jiaqiang
Published: March 2017

The ATPase H+/K+ Transporting Beta Subunit (ATP4B) encodes the β subunit of the gastric H+, K+-ATPase, which controls gastric acid secretion and is therefore a target for acid reduction. Downregulation of ATP4B was recently observed in
human gastric cancer (GC) without known mechanisms. In the present study, we demonstrated that ATP4B expression was decreased in human GC tissues and cell lines associated with DNA hypermethylation and histone hypoacetylation of histone H3 lysine 9 at its intragenic region close to the transcriptional
start site. The expression of ATP4B was restored in GC cell lines by treatment with the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor, 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine (5-AZA), or histone deacetylase inhibitor, trichostatin A (TSA), with further enhancement by combined treatment with both drugs. In contrast,
5-AZA had no effect on ATP4B expression in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and pancreatic cancer cell lines, in which ATP4B was silenced and accompanied by intragenic methylation. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) showed that, in BGC823 GC cells, histone H3 lysine 9 acetylation (H3K9ac)
was enhanced in the intragenic region of ATP4B upon TSA treatment, whereas 5-AZA showed a minimal effect. Additionally, ATP4B expression enhanced the inhibitory effects of chemotherapeutic mediation docetaxel on GC cell growth. Thus, as opposed to HCC and pancreatic cancer cells, the silencing
of ATP4B in GC cells is attributable to the interplay between intragenic DNA methylation and histone acetylation of ATP4B, the restoration of which is associated with a favorable anticancer effect of docetaxel. These results have implications for targeting epigenetic alteration at the intragenic
region of ATP4B in GC cells to benefit diagnosis and treatment of GC.
Development of microsatellite markers using Illumina MiSeq sequencing to characterize Ephedra gerardiana (Ephedraceae)
Authors: De Ji , Zhu Weidong , Liu Tianmeng , Wang Zhe , Zhong Yang
Published: March 2017

Premise of the study:

Ephedra gerardiana (Ephedraceae), occurring in the Himalayan ranges, is an important plant species used in Tibetan medicine. Due to the lack of molecular markers to characterize genetic diversity, knowledge for conservation and uses of E. gerardiana resources is limited; we therefore developed microsatellite markers for use in this species.

Methods and Results:

Using Illumina MiSeq sequencing technology, we developed 29 polymorphic microsatellite loci suitable for E. gerardiana, of which 15 loci also showed polymorphisms in two related Ephedra species, E. saxatilis and E. monosperma. The average number of effective alleles per locus ranged from two to six. The observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.23 to 0.83 and 0.44 to 0.86, respectively, in E. gerardiana populations.

Conclusions:

The developed 29 microsatellite markers are effective for the study of genetic structure and genetic diversity of E. gerardiana, and 15 of these markers are suitable for related Ephedra species.
Gas sensing properties of MWCNT layers electrochemically decorated with Au and Pd nanoparticles
Authors: Dilonardo Elena , Penza Michele , Alvisi Marco , Rossi Riccardo , Cassano Gennaro , Di Franco Cinzia , Palmisano Francesco , Torsi Luisa , Cioffi Nicola
Published: March 2017

Multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-based chemiresistors were electrochemically decorated with Au and Pd nanoparticles (NPs), resulting in an improvement in the detection of gaseous pollutants as compared to sensors based on pristine MWCNTs. Electrophoresis was used to decorate MWCNTs with preformed Au or Pd NPs, thus preserving their nanometer-sized dimensions and allowing the metal content to be tuned by simply varying the deposition time. The sensing response of unmodified and metal-decorated MWCNTs was evaluated towards different gaseous pollutants (e.g., NO2, H2S, NH3 and C4H10) at a wide range of concentrations in the operating temperature range of 45–200 °C. The gas sensing results were related to the presence, type and loading of metal NPs used in the MWCNT functionalization. Compared to pristine MWCNTs, metal-decorated MWCNTs revealed a higher gas sensitivity, a faster response, a better stability, reversibility and repeatability, and a low detection limit, where all of these sensing properties were controlled by the type and loading of the deposited metal catalytic NPs. Specifically, in the NO2 gas sensing experiments, MWCNTs decorated with the lowest Au content revealed the highest sensitivity at 150 °C, while MWCNTs with the highest Pd loading showed the highest sensitivity when operated at 100 °C. Finally, considering the reported gas sensing results, sensing mechanisms have been proposed, correlating the chemical composition and gas sensing responses.
Pediatric Minimum Speech Test Battery
Authors: Uhler Kristin , Warner-Czyz Andrea , Gifford Rene , Working Group PMSTB
Published: March 2017

Background:Assessment of patient outcomes and documentation of treatment efficacy serves as an essential component of (re)habilitative audiology; however, no standardized protocol exists for the assessment of speech perception abilities for children with hearing loss. This presents
a significant challenge in tracking performance of children who utilize various hearing technologies for within-subjects assessment, between-subjects assessment, and even across different facilities.Purpose:The adoption and adherence to a standardized assessment protocol could help
facilitate continuity of care, assist in clinical decision making, allow clinicians and researchers to define benchmarks for an aggregate clinical population, and in time, aid with patient counseling regarding expectations and predictions regarding longitudinal outcomes.Design:The Pediatric
Minimum Speech Test Battery (PMSTB) working group—comprised of clinicians, scientists, and industry representatives—commenced in 2012 and has worked collaboratively to construct the first PMSTB, which is described here.Conclusions:Implementation of the PMSTB in clinical
practice and dissemination of associated data are both critical for achieving the next level of success for children with hearing loss and for elevating pediatric hearing health care ensuring evidence-based practice for (re)habilitative audiology.
Swarm Intelligence for Electromagnetic Problem Solving
Authors: Mescia Luciano , Bia Pietro , Caratelli Diego , Gielis Johan
Published: March 2017

The chapter will describe the potential of the swarm intelligence and in particular quantum PSO-based algorithm, to solve complicated electromagnetic problems. This task is accomplished through addressing the design and analysis challenges of some key real-world problems. A detailed definition of the conventional PSO and its quantum-inspired version are presented and compared in terms of accuracy and computational burden. Some theoretical discussions concerning the convergence issues and a sensitivity analysis on the parameters influencing the stochastic process are reported.
Optimization of Process Parameters Using Soft Computing Techniques
Authors: Roy Supriyo , Kumar Kaushik , Davim J. Paulo
Published: March 2017

Machining of hard metals and alloys using Conventional machining involves increased demand of time, energy and cost. It causes tool wear resulting in loss of quality of the product. Non-conventional machining, on the other hand produces product with minimum time and at desired level of accuracy. In the present study, EN19 steel was machined using CNC Wire Electrical discharge machining with pre-defined process parameters. Material Removal Rate and Surface roughness were considered as responses for this study. The present optimization problem is single and as well as multi-response. Considering the complexities of this present problem, experimental data were generated and the results were analyzed by using Taguchi, Grey Relational Analysis and Weighted Principal Component Analysis under soft computing approach. Responses variances with the variation of process parameters were thoroughly studied and analyzed; also ‘best optimal values' were identified. The result shows an improvement in responses from mean to optimal values of process parameters.
A New SVM Method for Recognizing Polarity of Sentiments in Twitter
Authors: Roy Sanjiban Sekhar , Biba Marenglen , Kumar Rohan , Kumar Rahul , Samui Pijush
Published: March 2017

Online social networking platforms, such as Weblogs, micro blogs, and social networks are intensively being utilized daily to express individual's thinking. This permits scientists to collect huge amounts of data and extract significant knowledge regarding the sentiments of a large number of people at a scale that was essentially impractical a couple of years back. Therefore, these days, sentiment analysis has the potential to learn sentiments towards persons, object and occasions. Twitter has increasingly become a significant social networking platform where people post messages of up to 140 characters known as ‘Tweets'. Tweets have become the preferred medium for the marketing sector as users can instantly indicate customer success or indicate public relations disaster far more quickly than a web page or traditional media does. In this paper, we have analyzed twitter data and have predicted positive and negative tweets with high accuracy rate using support vector machine (SVM).
Optimisation of Machining Parameters in Electrical Discharge Machining of LM25-RHA Composites
Authors: Tiwari Srikant , Pradhan Mohan Kumar
Published: March 2017

Aluminium composites are tough to machine by using conventional method. In order to increase machinability of aluminium-based composite a non-conventional method of machining has been used. Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) is one of the kind of machining process which has often uses for machining of aluminium composites. The objective of this chapter is to determine the ideal setting of the process parameters on the electrical discharge machining while machining Aluminium-Rice Husk Ash (LM25-RHA) composites in which three different variation (4%, 8%, 12%) of Rice Husk Ash has been used. The parameters considered are pulse current (Ip), gap voltage (V) and pulse-on-time (Ton); whereas its effect are analysed on Electrode Wear Rate (EWR), Material Removal Rate (MRR) and Surface Roughness (Ra). The optimal setting of the parameters are determined through experiments planned, conducted and analysed using the Taguchi method.
Modelling and Optimization of End Milling Process Using TLBO and TOPSIS Algorithm
Authors: Tiwari Atul , Pradhan Mohan Kumar
Published: March 2017

To assure desire quality of machined products at minimum machining costs and maximum material removal rate, it is very important to select optimum parameters when metal cutting machine tool are used. Minimum Surface Roughness (Ra) is commonly desirable for the component; however Material Removal Rate (MRR) should be maximized. This chapter presents an approach for determination of the best cutting parameters precede to minimum Ra and maximum MRR simultaneously by integrating Response Surface Methodology with Multi-Objective Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution and Teaching and learning based optimization algorithm in face milling of Al-6061 alloy. 30 experiments have been conducted based on RSM with 4 parameters, namely Speed, Feed, Depth of Cut and Coolant Speed and three levels each. ANOVA is performed to find the most influential input parameters for both MRR and Ra. Later the multi-objective attribution selection method TOPSIS and multi objective optimization method TLBO is used to optimize the responses.
Surface Response Methodology Approach for Multi-Objective Optimization During Electrochemical Grinding of Al2O3/Al Interpenetrating Phase Composite
Authors: Bose Goutam Kumar , Pain Pritam
Published: March 2017

Now a day the advances in the material science lead to the development of advanced engineering materials like super alloys. The current research work focus on the selection of significant machining parameters initially depending on single objective and then multi objective responses, while machining alumina-aluminum interpenetrating phase composites during electrochemical grinding. Control parameters such electrolyte concentration (C), voltage (V), depth of cut (D) and electrolyte flow rate (F) have been considered for experimentation. Initially single objective optimal parametric setting is generated from Taguchi Methodology and Regression analysis. Further it is optimize using Response Surface Methodology. The contradictory responses like higher material removal rate (MRR), lower surface roughness (Ra), lower overcut (OC) and lower cutting force (Fc) are ensured by using Overlaid contour plots and Desirability functions. These soft computing techniques corroborates well during the parametric optimization of electrochemical grinding process.
Modeling of Polypropylene Modified Bitumen Mix Design Results Using Regression Analysis
Authors: Chhabra Kaval , Agrawal Divesh , Subbarao Saladi S. V.
Published: March 2017

This study investigates the effects of mixing Polypropylene waste plastics in the bituminous mix for the design of Flexible Pavement. Since, obtaining Marshall Test results from the bituminous mix is time-consuming, so if the practitioners measure the values of stability and flow by mechanical testing, other computations can be done by applying simple mathematical calculations. So, this study carried out stability and flow tests on different specimens made with varying bitumen and polypropylene plastic content. From the initial test results, the optimum bitumen and plastic contents are found. Further, the test results obtained from Marshall Test are modelled by identifying various input variables, which are various physical properties of the mix such as plastic content, bitumen content, air voids and unit weight. The regression modeling framework is adopted in this study to predict the Marshall stability and flow value. Since the developed models have yielded good results, these can be effectively used in parameter estimation, and thus aids the future researchers.
Prediction of Biosorption Capacity Using Artificial Neural Network Modeling and Genetic Algorithm
Authors: Mishra Prakash Chandra , Giri Anil Kumar
Published: March 2017

Artificial neural network model is applied for the prediction of the biosorption capacity of living cells of Bacillus cereus for the removal of chromium (VI) ions from aqueous solution. The maximum biosorption capacity of living cells of Bacillus cereus for chromium (VI) was found to be 89.24% at pH 7.5, equilibrium time of 60 min, biomass dosage of 6 g/L, and temperature of 30 ± 2 °C. The biosorption data of chromium (VI) ions collected from laboratory scale experimental set up is used to train a back propagation (BP) learning algorithm having 4-7-1 architecture. The model uses tangent sigmoid transfer function at input to hidden layer whereas a linear transfer function is used at output layer. The data is divided into training (75%) and testing (25%) sets. Comparison between the model results and experimental data gives a high degree of correlation R2 = 0.984 indicating that the model is able to predict the sorption efficiency with reasonable accuracy. Bacillus cereus biomass is characterized using AFM and FTIR.
Interrogating the Application of E-Governance for Service Delivery
Authors: Nchuchuwe Francis Friday
Published: March 2017

This study examined the application of e-governance for service delivery in Ojo and Alimosho Local government areas of Lagos State. Questionnaire and Interviews were used as major instruments for data collection alongside other secondary sources. The simple Random Sampling technique was used to derive a sample of 100 respondents from a population size of 748 workers from Ojo and Alimosho Local Government Areas. Simple percentages were used for the demographic data analysis, as well as to test the hypotheses. The findings revealed that the application of E-governance is still a far cry in the local governments. Generally, the concept is novel among the workers as it is generally construed to mean electronic payment of salaries and lodgments into the Banks by the citizens. Beyond this, it was revealed that such facilities like web sites, constant electricity supply, enabling environments to boost tele-density, internet diffusion, adult computer literacy, cyber cafes, computer, etc. were not adequately available as expressed by the respondents.
Development of an Inclusive Participatory Democracy System
Authors: Oni Aderonke A. , Ayo Charles K. , Azeta Ambrose A.
Published: March 2017

Barriers such as unequal access, lack of digital skill, low income and disability constitute limiting factors for technology-mediated citizens and government interaction in developing countries. It is against this backdrop that this work explores the integration of Voice, Web and SMS technologies, in Nigeria's democratic process. The proposed system takes advantage of the ubiquitous nature of mobile devices to explore the plausibility of increasing the level of citizens' participation in democratic practices, particularly, those in rural areas with no Internet access and the physically challenged electorates. The server module for the e-democracy system was developed in PHP. Ozeki SMS server and Voxeo Voice server were used for SMS transaction code and VoiceXML code respectively. The prototype e-democracy system shows that developing nations can take advantage of their present level of technological development to give voice to the voiceless and improve their democratic system.
E-Learning Adoption among Selected Secondary Schools of Ogun State, Nigeria
Authors: Adewusi Adedeji Oluwaseun
Published: March 2017

This chapter examines E-learning adoption in secondary schools of Ogun state. Constructivism Learning Theory was used to give theoretical explanation to issues of concern. Quantitative data was obtained from respondents who were purposively selected from 5 private and government owned secondary schools each. Results were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. This chapter was revealing as it concluded that despite the roles ICT-driven instructional aids has been playing in education, schools in Ogun state, especially the government-owned ones, are yet to extensively avail and adopt them for teaching and learning processes as a result of certain challenges. Owing to this, E-learning facilities are to be made available and teachers should be exposed to the use of E-learning in teaching and learning through training and continuous training as to keep them abreast of the innovation in education which will also help boost the quality of students being produced.
Conceptual Design and Usability Evaluation of a Grid Utility SECOnD Portal for Under-Resourced Business Enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Odusote Babafemi
Published: March 2017

Conventional grid-enabled portal designs have been primarily based on the usual traditional requirements specifications such as security requirements, grid resource requirements, job management requirements and the likes. However, the pay-as-you-use service provisioning model of utility computing platforms need to consider and satisfy certain salient requirements considered relevant in a bid to achieve better conceptual designs of Service-based Electronic Commerce On-Demand (SECOnD) that are well-usable for grid utility platforms such as the Grid-based Utility Infrastructure for Small, Micro, and Medium Enterprises (SMME) Enabling Technology (GUISET). The work aspect profiled in paper entails the conceptual design and usability evaluation of a SECOnD portal which serves as the uniform channel through which targeted under-resourced SMMEs can inexpensively access and use e-Commerce technologies and tools without owning them. The outcome of the evaluation experiment revealed that the service portal designed largely achieve the usability expectations of it users.
Countering MitM Attacks Using Evolved PathFinder Algorithm
Authors: Chliah Mouhcine , Orhanou Ghizlane , El Hajji Said
Published: March 2017

In this paper, we focus on attacks based on sniffing like MitM, and how to counter them from the network layer perspective. We've already developed an algorithm called pathfinder that allows us to forward segments from same packets via different paths. Doing so, we'll ensure that an attacker will not be able to get hands on the entire message being transmitted. So, in this paper, we'll start by recalling the first version of pathfinder algorithm, followed by an introduction to the newest release that allows us to handle hundreds of nodes in the same network, finally we'll put this algorithm under test by simulating a sniffing attack with Wireshark. The simulation proves, in addition to its efficiency to handle a great number of nodes, that this new way of routing will help facing a lot of attacks based on sniffing, and other type of attacks like DoS.
Characteristics of Cyberbullying Among Native and Immigrant Secondary Education Students
Authors: Comas-Forgas Rubén , Sureda-Negre Jaume , Calvo-Sastre Aina
Published: March 2017

This article details the results of a descriptive study that analyzes the characteristics and impact of cyberbullying among native and immigrant students enrolled in secondary education. Results indicate that immigrant children experience higher levels than native students of cyberbullying victimisation and they also perpetrate bullying to a greater degree through digital media; there were significant differences in the majority of cases analysed (immigrant students had higher levels of victimisation and perpetration than native students in 27 of 33 cyberbullying incidents studied). In addition, the study found that immigrant students considered being a native of another country to be an explanatory factor in their experiences with cyberbullying. Both groups showed similar frequencies in the explanation given for perpetrating cyberbullying: they bullied in response to being provoked.
Social Media Sites Use Intensity and Job Burnout Among the U.S. and Thai Employees
Authors: Charoensukmongkol Peerayuth , Moqbel Murad , Gutierrez-Wirsching Sandra
Published: March 2017

This research explored the effect of social network sites (SNS) use intensity in the workplace on three aspects of job burnout. The data were collected from non-teaching employees from universities in the U.S. (N = 174) and in Thailand (N = 182). Results from partial least squares regression revealed some evidence of the u-curve relationship between SNS use intensity and depersonalization in both countries. However, the u-curve relationship between SNS use and lack of personal accomplishment is only supported in U.S. samples. This suggests that while a moderate degree of SNS use at work tends to lower burnout, a high degree of use appears to create more burnout. The results also reveal a strong positive linkage between SNS use intensity and emotional exhaustion in U.S. samples. Overall, these findings imply that allowing employees to use SNS can provide some benefits, but it is important that employees do not overuse SNS to avoid burnout.
Mobile Affordances and Learning Theories in Supporting and Enhancing Learning
Authors: MacCallum Kathryn , Day Stephanie , Skelton David , Verhaart Michael
Published: March 2017

Mobile technology promises to enhance and better support students' learning. The exploration and adoption of appropriate pedagogies that enhance learning is crucial for the wider adoption of mobile learning. An increasing number of studies have started to address how existing learning theory can be used to underpin and better frame mobile learning activities. In particular, there are a number of learning theories that have been identified which particularly lend themselves to the specific affordances of mobile learning. This paper examines how mobile technology was incorporated within three different computing courses. These case studies explore how specific learning approaches (collaborative learning, connectivism and experiential learning) were adopted to frame the use of the technology within each course and how the affordances of mobile technology were harnessed to enhance and better support existing learning practices.
Creating Awareness around Rhizomatic Principles in mLearning
Authors: Mbati Lydia
Published: March 2017

Educational technological innovation to enhance the learning experience of students requires a sound understanding of intended learning outcomes and an understanding of the pedagogical affordances of technology. Literature reveals that an understanding of the application of mLearning in facilitating the achievement of specific learning objectives is limited. This may lead to negative quality perceptions and subsequently have a negative impact on the adoption of potentially rich technological resources. The challenge for educators is to create learning environments based on sound didactical principles. The purpose of this study is to highlight rhizomatic principles in mLearning practice using an integrated research synthesis. This may contribute to creating an awareness of, and a belief in rhizomatic principles in mLearning practice and this in turn may improve their practice. This is based on the premise of the theory of planned behaviour.
A Model of Emission Reduction Activity and Cost Reducing R&D
Authors: Kumar Manoj
Published: March 2017

In this paper, we have studied the links between (the timing of) innovation policies and abatement policies under different assumptions of innovation policies such as the possibilities to use patent life time as a policy instrument. We study the timing and interdependence between optimal innovation policy and environmental policy in a model with emission reduction (abatement) activity and cost-reducing R&D through increasing variety numbers. Our analysis is based on an R&D model supplemented with emission-abatement-pollution dynamics, and four imperfections related to innovations; too little production of patented abatement equipment due to monopolistic competition, positive spillovers of innovations due to finite patent lifetime, negative spillovers through crowding out effects within the abatement technology sector, and crowding out effects in other sectors. We find that optimal emission prices and R&D subsidies are substitutes over time. R&D subsidies for clean innovation should start high and fall over time, while optimal emission prices start low and go up. If the lifetime of patents is infinite, we replicate earlier results that suggest R&D policy to be independent of the stage of the environmental problem. Our main result demonstrates that the positive spillovers of innovations due to finite patent lifetime are particularly strong at the early phase of an environmental problem, and to account for this, optimal innovation policy needs to adjust dynamically.
Using Online Gaming as a Teacher Test Prep Model for Mathematics
Authors: Disseler Shirley A. , Allen Tawannah G.
Published: March 2017

In 2015, North Carolina's Division of Teacher Licensure instituted a new licensure examination modeled after the MTel for all elementary education majors. With the new examination came a new minimum passing score of 227. The importance of having a thorough understanding of the mathematics content is expected, yet teacher preparation programs struggle to help elementary pre-service teacher candidates who enter undergraduate programs without the solid mathematics foundations needed to be successful in passing the North Carolina General Curriculum Mathematics Licensure test. With this problem serving as the backdrop, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine if utilizing Lost Functions, an online gaming program developed by ATLT Gaming (2010), could serve as an innovative methodology to prepare teacher education candidates for the General Curriculum Mathematics Licensure test in elementary mathematics, possibly resulting in improved performance outcomes.
Jif-Based Verification of Information Flow Policies for Android Apps
Authors: Jimenez Lina M. , Ochoa Martin , Rueda Sandra J.
Published: March 2017

Android stores and users need mechanisms to evaluate whether their applications are secure or not. Although various previous works use data and control flow techniques to evaluate security features of Android applications, this paper extends those works by using Jif to verify compliance of information flow policies. To do so, the authors addressed some challenges that emerge in Android environments, like automatizing generation of Jif labels for Android applications, and defining translations for Java instructions that are not currently supported by the Jif compiler. Results show that a Jif-based analysis is faster and has a better recall than other available mechanisms, but it also has a slightly lower precision. Jif also provides an open source compiler, generates executable code for an application only if such application meets a defined policy, and checks implicit flows which may be relevant for highly sensitive applications.
Rule Based Replacement of Pronoun by Corresponding Noun for Bangla News Documents
Authors: Haque Md. Majharul , Pervin Suraiya , Begum Zerina
Published: March 2017

The object of this research work is to replace pronoun by corresponding noun for Bangla news documents. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first initiative to solve the problem of dangling pronoun where corresponding noun is not available. If the information retrieval procedures extract any sentence with dangling pronoun, it may raise confusion to the user. To mitigate this problem, a method has been proposed here by using general and special tagging, dependency parsing, full name identifying and finally pronoun replacing. For achieving the target of this method, 3000 Bangla news documents have been analyzed and some grammar books have been studied. Seven knowledgeable persons in the arena of Bangla language also helped us in this research work. Finally, the proposed method shows 71.80% accuracy in the evaluation for replacing pronoun.
Usability Review of Corporate Websites
Authors: Nathan Robert Jeyakumar , Musah Ibrahim , Dhillon Guru
Published: March 2017

Marketing and electronic commerce literature abound in criteria that contribute to the success of an online marketing website. Collectively the factors that contribute to the success of a website are known as the usability factors of websites. This chapter discusses seven of these usability factors that affect the Overall Web Usability (OWU), mainly examining the online industry in Malaysia. The extent of online security technology used, users' perception of online safety and security is also discussed. The chapter presents a comparative review of usability evaluations of websites from industries promoting and selling products online, versus websites of industries those promoting and selling services online. It presents a critical review of product-based websites usability versus service-based websites usability.
Impediments to Effective Management of Project Interdependencies
Authors: Bathallath Sameer , Smedberg Åsa , Kjellin Harald
Published: March 2017

Interdependencies between projects have come to play a more active role in the decision on IT/IS portfolios and their constituent projects. However, managing these interdependencies can be a complex task, especially when the number and degree of interdependencies among projects are high. In times of uncertainty, unexpected challenges can seriously disrupt projects and, consequently, their interdependencies. This may threaten the project portfolio from achieving its final goal. The study aims to investigate the difficulties associated with managing project interdependence along the development cycle of the project portfolio. The study was conducted using a qualitative approach and semi-structured interviews with managers from four leading organizations in Saudi Arabia. The findings reveal three main categories of factors that increased the difficulty of managing project interdependencies in large IT/IS project portfolios: insufficient understanding of human responsibilities in the whole portfolio, unpredictability of the environment, and technology barriers and constraints.
Challenges to Implementing IT Support for Evidence Based Practice Among Nurses and Assistant Nurses
Authors: Rexhepi Hanife , Persson Anne
Published: March 2017

When practitioners make decisions as well as treat and care for patients they interpret patient specific information according to evidence based medical knowledge. This process is complex as evidence is infrequently available in a form that can be acted upon at the time decisions must be made. The aim of this paper is to (1) explore how primary, secondary and municipality care in Sweden work with the process of managing knowledge, (2) explore how nurses and assistant nurses experience availability of medical knowledge when and where they need it and (3) conditions for developing a coherent IT-based knowledge portal for different areas of knowledge bases in healthcare. The results show significant deficiencies in the knowledge management process of the participating organizations. The knowledge management processes are not embedded in business processes, activities and relationships, which cause major difficulties for practitioners to keep up with the latest medical evidence.
Minimization of Total Tardiness and Total Flowtime on Single Machine with Non-Zero Release Dates
Authors: Akande Saheed , Oluleye Ayodeji Emmanuel , Oyetunji Elkanah
Published: March 2017

This paper considers the bicriteria scheduling problem of minimizing the composite function of total tardiness and total flow time on single machine with non-zero release dates. The problem is strongly Non Polynomial (NP). Thus, two heuristics SA7 and SA8 were proposed to solve the problem. The generalized algorithm and the branch and bound procedure were also implemented. The four solution methods were tested on a total of 800 randomly generated problems ranging from 5 to 1000 jobs. Results based on effectiveness and efficiency show that the SA7 heuristic is the most suited solution method to solve the problem.
Surface Modification of Synthesized Layered Double Hydroxide [LDH] for Methylene Blue Dye Removal in Textile Industry via Photocatalytic Activity under Visible Light
Authors: Omdeo K. Gohatre , Ajay Vasudeo Rane , Krishnan Kanny , Abitha V.K. , Samarth Nikesh , Sabu Thomas , Mishra Satyendra
Published: March 2017

Layered double hydroxides (abbreviated as LDHs) are one of the nanoordered layered compounds. The importance of layered compound is based on their ability to retain chemical species with electrical charges compatible to those of the layers. In this study we have reported the synthesis of nanosized layered double hydroxide (LDH) by co-precipitation method using two different surfactants as cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and octadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (ODTMA) having different critical micelle concentration (CMC) /chain length and its comparative results on calcined surface modified LDH (CS-LDH). The structure of surface modified layered double hydroxide (CS-LDH) synthesized is unique and has important advantages to the photocatalytic activity. LDH has significant number of application due to their structural, chemical properties etc., these compounds can be used as catalyst, adsorbents, anion exchanger. The photocatalytic activity of prepared surface modified CS-LDH was tested on degradation of the methylene blue (MB) dye in an aqueous solution. The surface characteristics of LDH and CS-LDH were examined using Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-Visible spectrophotometer for Photocatalytic activity under visible light using MB dye. It was observed that highly exfoliated and basal spacing in CS-LDH-ODTMA which enhanced photocatalytic activity (Approx. 60% degradation) than that of comparison to CS-LDH-CTAB (Approx. 32% degradation).
Synthesis of Cadmium Sulfide Nanoparticles by Biomass of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici
Authors: Sandoval Cárdenas Diana Issell , Gomez-Ramirez Marlenne , Rojas-Avelizapa Norma G. , Vidales-Hurtado Mónica Araceli
Published: March 2017

This study describes extracellular biosynthesis of cadmium sulfide quantum dots by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici. Mycelia was incubated with a cadmium sulfate solution at 30°C and after 12 days the mixture became yellow, then the biomass was discarded through paper filtration. The filtrate containing extracellular cadmium sulfide quantum dots displayed increased UV-Vis absorption from 300 - 500 nm and fluorescence at 520 nm which was not shown when incubated without cadmium sulfide, thus indicating the presence of biologically synthesized quantum dots. Transmission electron microscope analysis of biologically synthesized quantum dots evinced individual 2 - 6 nm diameter circular nanoparticles of uniform size. Energy dispersive spectroscopy confirmed the presence of S and Cd. Additionally, this study showed the relevance in the use of positive and negative controls when evaluating the biosynthesis of CdS quantum dots using UV-Vis and fluorescence spectrophotometry.
Study on the Surface Damage Layer in Multiple Grinding of Quartz Glass by Molecular Dynamics Simulation
Authors: Liu Tao , Guo Xiao Guang , Li Qiang , Kang Ren Ke , Guo Dong Ming
Published: March 2017

The paper focuses on the surface damage of quartz glass in multiple grinding, so as to find out the machining parameters that can improve the surface quality of quartz glass. Molecular dynamics (MD) method is adopted to machine the quartz glass. Firstly, the initial grinding is done on quartz glass with the depth of 12 Å. Based on the initial grinding, no feed grinding processes are done for three times separately and the feed grinding processes are carried out on the damage layer left by the previous process. By the coordination number (CN), machined surface topographies of quartz glass are gained and regions of densification are marked. Moreover, the damage layer thickness of different machined surface is also calculated. By analyzing the density of different surface damage layers, the regulation of the density distribution is obtained. Finally, the nanoindentation hardness is gained by different load-displacement curves in nanoindentation simulation. The results show that the first no feed grinding and the second feed grinding can improve the accuracy and quality of grinding. Too many no feed grinding processes and other feed grinding processes will induce serious damage of the machined surface, which is clearly showed in the obvious increase in the density, hardness and thickness of the damage layer. At last, the results of the density analysis and nanoindentation also proved that the densification and hardness of quartz glass cannot increase unlimited. The results can be applied in the ultra-precision grinding of quartz glass to control the thickness of damage layer and improve the quality of processing.
Modification of BiOCl Nanosheets with Bi2O3 Nanoparticles by a Facile Two Step Method and the Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance of the Composites
Authors: Cui Zhan Kui , Hu Er Kang , Li Sen Lin
Published: March 2017

Bi2O3/BiOCl composite photocatalysts were produced by a facile two step method, including ultrasonically modifying BiOCl nanosheets with Bi nanoparticles first and the subsequent in situ thermal oxidation process. The samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, UV-vis and photoluminescence techniques. The photocatalytic activities were evaluated by photodegrading Rhodamine B under Xe light irradiation. The abilities of generating hydroxyl radicals during photocatalysis were tested by fluorescence method. The results show that Bi2O3 NPs were randomly distributed on the surface of BiOCl nanosheets. The photocatalytic efficiency was enhanced after modification and the best photocatalytic activity was obtained when the mole ratio of Bi2O3 to BiOCl was 0.24. The corresponding photochemical reaction rate of Bi2O3/BiOCl was 7 times that of BiOCl nanosheets and 5 times that of Bi2O3 nanoparticles. The improved performance of the composites was considered to associate with the extended light response range and the promoted charge carrier separation.
Ag Nanoparticle/Polydimethylsiloxane Composite Films for High-Sensitivity Strain Gauge Applications
Authors: Liu Li Shuang , Chou Xiu Jian , Chen Tao , Sun Li Ning
Published: March 2017

This paper presents a type of Ag/polydimethylsiloxane (Ag/PDMS) nanocomposite material for use in strain gauge element applications. In these elements, the Ag nanoparticles work as conductive elements by electron tunneling and the PDMS forms the tunneling dielectricstructure. In our experiments, the piezoresistance and piezocapacitance characteristics of these Ag/PDMS composites have been studiedunder applied rain/stress. From the results, the gauge factors for piezoresistance and piezocapacitance can reach up to 153 and 224, respectively. Also, when acting as strain elements, the Ag/PDMS composites show fine levels of repeatability and stability. The results given here prove that the material can be used to form anew type of high-sensitivity element for sensor applications. The detectionmethod used for the sensor signals also offersdiversity by including both piezoresistance and piezocapacitance.