bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cooperative Security Management: Toward a New Approach for Managing the U.S.-Russian Strategic Relationship
Authors: Dunn Lewis A.
Published: February 2025

U.S.-Russian strategic relations are approaching a turning point: a continued drift toward mutual suspicion, renewed military gamesmanship, and growing political-military confrontation or an opportunity provided by presidential elections in both countries to rethink and re-craft a non-adversarial relationship. Today's drift reflects many factors: past missteps; differences of interest and approach on specific issues; misperceptions; and the inherent difficulties of breaking free from the Cold War legacy. Among other issues on the agenda, action should be taken to address Russian uncertainty about U.S. strategic intentions; U.S. uncertainties about Russian commitment to preventing proliferation; and ways to build habits of cooperation in countering a terrorist WMD attack.
Prospects for Change in US Nuclear Policy
Authors: Cirincione Joseph
Published: February 2025

Three trends are converging to increase prospects for a fundamental change in global nuclear policies: the failure of the existing U.S. national security strategy to stem the growing proliferation threats; a nearly simultaneous global change in executive leadership; and a developing consensus across ideological lines for a renewed commitment to the elimination of nuclear weapons. Leading U.S. presidential candidates have endorsed nuclear disarmament and numerous experts and non-governmental organizations are developing comprehensive proposals, most prominently George Shultz, Henry Kissinger, William Perry and Sam Nunn. These campaigns have created political space for officials to embrace a more ambitious agenda than most previously had. There is a greater likelihood of historic change in global nuclear policy now than at any other moment in the past 15 years.
Learning using Large Datasets
Authors: Bottou Léon  , Bousquet Olivier
Published: February 2025

This contribution develops a theoretical framework that takes into account the effect of approximate optimization on learning algorithms. The analysis shows distinct tradeoffs for the case of small-scale and large-scale learning problems. Small-scale learning problems are subject to the usual approximation–estimation tradeoff. Large-scale learning problems are subject to a qualitatively different tradeoff involving the computational complexity of the underlying optimization algorithms in non-trivial ways. For instance, a mediocre optimization algorithms, stochastic gradient descent, is shown to perform very well on large-scale learning problems.
Geolocalisation in Cellular Telephone Networks
Authors: Denby Bruce  , Oussar Yacine  , Ahriz Iness
Published: February 2025

The paper gives an overview of GPS and radio interface based geolocalisation techniques for cellular telephone networks, including the E911 and E112 initiatives, Location Based Services, and law enforcement/security applications. An example of localisation using the Database Correlation Method is also presented.
Industrial Mining of Massive Data Sets
Authors: Fogelman-Soulié Françoise  , Marcadé Erik
Published: February 2025

Today data mining is more and more extensively used by very competitive enterprises. This development, brought by the increasing availability of massive datasets, is only possible if solutions to challenges, both theoretic and operational, are found: identify algorithms which can be used to produce models when datasets have thousands of variables and millions of observations; learn how to run and control the correct execution of hundreds of models; automate the data mining process. We will present these constraints in industrial contexts; we will show how to exploit theoretical results (coming from Vladimir Vapnik's work) to produce robust models; we will give a few examples of real-life applications. We will thus demonstrate that it is indeed possible to industrialize data mining so as to turn it into an easy-to-use component whenever data is available.
Accommodations for Mobility In The Workplace: A Comparison of Workers with And Without Wheeled Mobility Devices
Authors: Zolna Jesse S.  , Sabata Dory  , Sanford Jon
Published: February 2025

Modifications to personal workstations and architectural changes to the work environment are some of the most common types of accommodation used to facilitate work performance by people with mobility impairments (Zolna, Sanford, Sabata, & Goldthwaite, in press). However, workplace accommodations may vary by what mobility function the person finds to be difficult. For instance, one might modify a personal workstation to reach their desk or equipment, but a different kind of accommodation to a personal workstation could be used to improve seating for those remaining at the desk or using a computer for long periods of time.
It's all about the Information: The Role of Informatics in Telecare
Authors: Glascock A.P.  , Kutzik D.M.
Published: February 2025

As Telecare becomes increasingly a component of care models, there must be a shift away from the current emphasis on the technology used to collect and transfer data, toward a focus on the information provided to caregivers and the subsequent actions and outcomes. In response to this need, the Caring Home Initiative, a multi-year, multi-site study that collects evidence on the use of Telecare in real world care environments, was undertaken.
Political Violence, Psychology and Youth
Authors: Owen Fidan Korkut
Published: February 2025

This presentation will discuss the psychological origins of violent behavior among youth. Because youth are increasingly involved in and affected by violence it is thought that there may be some developmental characteristics which are contributing to this phenomemon. Violent behavior among human beings will be examined in terms basic human needs for power, dominance, and control as well as from a developmental perspective and and in terms of other enviromental realities which may contribute to increased risk of violent behavior. It is important to explore other contributing events including politics, economics, religion, and even love as factors which may contribute to violent behavior among young people. To begin to identify the contributing factors to this ever increasing and destructive pattern of behavior may provide clues to finding ways to intervene and reduce violence. Understanding these complex psycho-sociological reasons for violence is the foundation upon which future prevention policies can be successfully created.
The Road to Insurgency: Drawing Ordinary Civilians into the Cycle of Military Intervention and Violent Resistance
Authors: Ferguson Neil  , Burgess Mark
Published: February 2025

Northern Ireland has endured a turbulent violent history since its inception, with the last 40 years being characterised by ethnic conflict and a fledging peace process. This chapter explores the findings from a series of interviews with individuals who had used violence during the conflict to pursue political goals. The focus is on the processes involved in deciding to join Loyalist or Republican paramilitary groups and employ violence to bring about political change and also on how they view the current peace process in Northern Ireland. The interviewees' accounts echo features identified by other researchers as being antecedent to paramilitary membership, such as having the support of the immediate community, or the involvement of prior family members (see Crawford, 2003; Post, Sprinzak & Denny, 2003). However, the rational decisions revealed in these accounts demonstrate that the interviewees engaged in rational decision making as opposed to either being mindlessly stimulated into membership in response to an environmental stimulus, or joining an armed group due to some underlying personality characteristic. These results highlight the degree to which individuals bear, and accept, personal responsibility for joining a paramilitary group (as opposed to membership simply being stimulated by uncontrollable dispositional or situational forces).
The Future of Legal Aspects of Combating Terrorism
Authors: Cryer Robert
Published: February 2025

This paper will not speculate directly about exactly what will happen to the law in the future. There are far too many variables at issue for any such prediction. The discussion will limit itself to identifying trends that are likely to have an impact on the law in this area. The first part of this paper will argue that the rhetoric adopted by many after the 11 September attacks was of a “war on terrorism” as a legal paradigm. However, the concept of a separate, non-territorial armed conflict on terrorism has begun to fall from favour. Rather, there is a move towards improving the existing law on the basis that the relevant law is criminal law. This is the approach that has been taken by various organs of the United Nations. This second part of this paper outlines the development of the law on terrorism: the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, and developments on the issue of human rights and terrorism. While not compromising with the terrorists, there is an increased recognition of the social conditions which have facilitated the spread of terrorism.
Laws and Rules for Soldiers in Armed Conflicts, Crises and Counter-Terrorism
Authors: Aytaç Osman
Published: February 2025

The first part of this paper gives an overview of the Law of Armed Conflict. There are various international treaties governing armed conflicts: the main Hague Conventions (1907) and Geneva Conventions (1949), the Hague Cultural Property Convention (1949 and 1954), the protocols added to the Geneva Conventions, and the convention on certain conventional weapons (1977 and 1980). LOAC is described according to its basic principles and definitions. The second part of the paper concentrates on Rules of Engagement, one of the best tools available to policy-makers to help manage armed forces during a crisis. ROE are guidelines specifying under what conditions or circumstances force may be used to satisfy political and/or military demands. As these will vary greatly from situation to situation, this paper does not describe ROE, but discusses the principles of how ROE should be drawn up. Tension inescapably exits in a system that subordinates armed forces under civilian control while retaining military command. Managing this tension by delineating the boundaries of military action in support of political objectives is another major role of ROE. There are vital links between the strategic and tactical levels of conflict. The strongest of these links are often ROE. The ROE for counter-terrorist operations are different to war and crisis ROE in terms of applicable law and the political desire.
The Unified System of Provisioning of Information Services at the National Level
Authors: Fotenco V.  , Lipin G.
Published: February 2025

The paper is dedicated to the question of priority on creation of unified system of information services provisioning at national level. The basic arguments referring to the creation of the system in the Republic of Moldova are stated in the paper. The general provisions and content of the system of information services provisioning are presented at the principal part of the paper. The proposals regarding the role and place of national systems of information services provisioning with regard to attraction of investment in state IT-sector are provided at the final part of the paper (liping@registru.md).
ICT for Employability
Authors: Peacock Sylvia E.
Published: February 2025

Given the growing importance of ICT in the workplace, understanding digital inequality is essential for both academics and politicians in a modern, competitive, and knowledge-based labour market. The implementation of policy measures should, as a priority, focus on lower educated and unemployed older workers to systematically close the generation gap and further career progress. Research on ICT access of employed and unemployed senior citizens targets two developmental lags currently producing social tension. An individual lag occurs if social structures and working environments change more rapidly than people's abilities. A structural lag occurs if a mismatch exists between the changing capabilities of older people and their opportunities on the labour market. This article shows that the duration of computer access positively influences the likelihood of employed people to remain employed, indicating the current developmental lag to be of individual origin. Computer illiterates are increasingly marginalized due to the speed of technological development and a progressive updating of job requirements.
Design for All: A Practitioner's View
Authors: Moore Patricia A.
Published: February 2025

Beyond the traditional resistance to change, researchers and practitioners eager to promote Design for All in the area of ICT must recognize some specific challenges to their efforts. Among the key hurdles to be faced are the language and nomenclatures utilized to address and describe the agenda at hand. Next in order of importance is the erroneous assumption that Design for All is a sideline to the primary offering of good design and that, for some reason, if a design satisfies the needs of consumers who use wheels to ambulate, fingertips to see, eyes to hear, and adaptive technologies to navigate the consumer world, they could not be considered a member of the whole group of consumers who do not require those forms of assistance. By design, every individual should be included in the plethora of product and environmental opportunities for employment, entertainment, housing, and transportation etc. Regardless of age or level of ability, each consumer has the expectation and the right to access the goods and services they uniquely require to live the life they chose to lead.
Quality of Life: Conceptual Challenges in Exploring the Role of ICT in Active Ageing
Authors: Gilhooly Mary L.M.  , Gilhooly Kenneth J.  , Jones Ray B.
Published: February 2025

The chapter aims to examine the definitional challenges associated with the term quality of life, measurement challenges, the challenges associated with enhancing quality of life, and the role of information and communication technologies (ICT) in quality of life in old age, and finally comments on the challenges of a modern information society for older people. The term quality of life started as a social scientific index of the relative well-being of whole populations, i.e. the state of states. Nowadays quality of life is more likely to be viewed as an individualized aspect of the modern psyche. This shift in conceptualization is problematic in that, if quality of life is individualized, it cannot be meaningful to assess it in the same way for everyone. Nevertheless, over the years a vast range of methods of measuring quality of life has emerged, leading to several measurement challenges. Wealth, health and social relations have all been found to be prime determinants of subjective quality of life; for ICT to enhance quality of life for older people they need to mediate the relationships between these three important factors and quality of life. To date there is relatively little evidence that ICT has improved the quality of life of older people. Suggestions are made as to why ICT is unlikely to influence life quality for older citizens. The chapter is drawn to a close by asking if quality of life is a meaningless term and if the future is bleak for old people in a modern information society. The answer to both questions is no.
Towards a Governance of Identity Security Systems
Authors: Didier Bernard  , Bournon Loïc
Published: February 2025

Recently, there has been a growing interest in the technologies of identity and identification. Many governments are keen on enhancing identity systems and introducing biometric technology in order to securitize the identities of their citizens. As it happens, the introduction of these identity systems is raising many concerns over the issue of privacy and the protection of fundamental rights. In this article, we draw on some sources in order to suggest a framework for the governance of identity systems. We begin by considering the guidelines of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) from which we derive a set of principles that are relevant to the governance of identity security systems. We then discuss the use of Expression of Needs and Identification of Security Objectives (EBIOS) as a valid methodology for governing identity. Finally, we address the issue of security management and its relation to identity systems.
Ubiquitous platform for vehicles of passengers' public transport
Authors: García Carmelo R.  , Alayón Francisco  , Álvarez Daniel  , Pérez Ricardo  , Padrón Gabino
Published: February 2025

In this article we describe a ubiquitous system developed and implanted in a public transport company. The system provides services to different actors inside and outside the vehicle as: drivers, operation maintenance and staff and travellers control. The main benefit of the system is that it solves the traditional problems of current systems installed on vehicles of road transport companies, providing the typical features, and also makes possible to develop new ones. This article describes the main features of the system: objectives, overall structure and operating principles and, finally, two examples of ubiquitous applications that run on it.
From the Home to a BlackBerry: Informatics-based Telehomecare
Authors: Glascock Anthony P.  , Kutzik David M.
Published: February 2025

Research on remote monitoring technologies has led to the development of an Informatics-based Telehomecare system that both allows data input and information display on a BlackBerry mobile device. This integrated system has the advantage over more conventional Telehomecare systems of providing caregivers with usable information as they are delivering care in the homes of their clients.
Semantic Interactions for Context-aware and Service-oriented Architecture
Authors: Khouja Mehdi  , Juiz Carlos  , Puigjaner Ramon  , Kamoun Farouk
Published: February 2025

Designing an architecture that supports pervasive computing usually addresses two issues: the context within interact the system components and the services which are available in the environment. This paper proposes a semantic approach to design an architecture for pervasive systems focusing on these two issues. The ambient is viewed as a set of context elements named CoxEl. Physically a CoxEl is a (mobile) device presents in the environment. The core of a CoxEl is an ontology that represents the context, the services, the resources and the neighbourhood of every CoxEl. This ontology is also used for semantic interaction between the CoxEls. This paper illustrates the different semantic interactions that may occurs among the CoxEls. It also describes the roles that play the CoxEls within the ambient.
User Interfaces for the Digital Home on the basis of Open Industrial Standards
Authors: Klima Martin  , Macik Miroslav  , Urdaneta Elena  , Buiza Cristina  , Carrasco Eduardo  , Epelde Gorka  , Alexandersson Jan
Published: February 2025

In this paper we describe the design, development and evaluation of user interfaces for a modern digital home based on the ISO/IEC 24752 standard: Universal Remote Console—URC. Two target groups were addressed: seniors aged 65years and above and people suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Our goal is to de-sign user interfaces (UI) for our target groups that make use of all available modalities, such as, graphics, voice, and video. We provide a set of recommendations and design patterns for developing UIs for seniors and Alzheimer's disease patients. We present the results of tests of user interfaces designed for smart home environment.
Simplifying Human to Environment Interaction through Touch Computing
Authors: López-de-Ipiña Diego  , Vazquez Juan Ignacio
Published: February 2025

This work analyses the use of NFC technology to simplify the interactions of users with context-aware services offered by intelligent environments. Touch Computing is a novel explicit user interaction mechanism in which users accompanied by their NFC-enabled mobile devices request services from the environment by touching tags or other NFC-enabled devices. This paper describes the deployment of three NFC-aware services within SmartLab, our AmIdedicated lab, and the user experience derived from them. Moreover, it analyses the possibilities offered by the current state of the art on NFC and suggests some future lines of work, which may revert into its more widespread deployment in the near future.
Agent Based Risk Patient Management
Authors: Gachet Diego  , de Buenaga Manuel  , Giráldez Ignacio  , Padrón Victor
Published: February 2025

This paper explores the role of information and communication technologies in managing risk and early discharge patients, and suggests innovative actions in the area of E-Health services. Treatments of chronic illnesses, or treatments of special needs such as cardiovascular diseases, are conducted in long-stay hospitals, and in some cases, in the homes of patients with a follow-up from primary care centre. The evolution of this model is following a clear trend: trying to reduce the time and the number of visits by patients to health centres and derive tasks, so far as possible, toward outpatient care. Also the number of Early Discharge Patients (EDP) is growing, thus permiting a saving in the resources of the care center. The adequacy of agent and mobile technologies is assessed in light of the particular requirements of health care applications. A software system architecture is outlined and discussed. The major contributions are: first, the conceptualization of multiple mobile and desktop devices as part of a single distributed computing system where software agents are being executed and interact from their remote locations. Second, the use of distributed decision making in multiagent systems, as a means to integrate remote evidence and knowledge obtained from data that is being collected and/or processed by distributed devices. The system will be applied to patients with cardiovascular or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD) as well as to ambulatory surgery patients. The proposed system will allow to transmit the patient's location and some information about his/her illness to the hospital or care centre.
PIMS as a Communication Tool Between PfP Nations in Support of Civil Emergency Preparedness
Authors: PIMS
Published: February 2025

PIMS support for PfP nations has been evolving for more than ten years. Originally, the efforts were primarily focused on providing connectivity and computer equipment, as well as supporting various events. But over the past three years PIMS has additionally been developing and implementing tools for better information sharing, employing Internet based concepts and technologies
Licensing of Hazardous Industries and Public Participation in the Ukraine
Authors: Bodnarchuk Tetyana
Published: February 2025

In Ukraine goals of industrial development should correspond to the strategy of technological and ecological safety on the basis of sustainable development. This article deals with the mechanisms of technological emergency management and licensing of environmentally hazardous branches of industry in Ukraine, and the public impact on environmental policy.
Introduction: The Needs of People with Dementia and Their Carers and the Potential Role of Design and Technology
Authors: Marshall Mary
Published: February 2025

This book is about involving people with dementia in the development of design and technology and, as such, it meets one of the needs we all have, which is to be taken seriously and listened to. The editors' ambition is to take up the challenge of sharing expertise in involving people with dementia as users in the design process. Their aim is to increase the understanding of the subjective needs of people with dementia and the way this understanding can promote and improve their involvement in the design process.
The Silent Integration, the Role of Binationals. The Case of Moroccans in Europe
Authors: Dahiri Mohammed
Published: February 2025

Integration in the host country of the binationals is most of the time silent. The Moroccan workers settled in Europe have one main issue: to send back to the home country as much money as they can. By doing so, they contribute to the economic growth of their region of origine, they sustain their families and villages, they promote education and development. In 2007, the remittances transfered by Moroccans reached more than 4 billions of euros.
La mobilité financière des binationaux
Authors: Almeras Guillaume
Published: February 2025

Les transferts de devises réalisés par les binationaux maghrébins représentent des sommes importantes, près de 8 milliards d'euros, dont près de 5 milliards d'euros pour le Maroc. Ces transferts ne cessent d'augmenter et si l'utilisation de ces fonds n'est pas organisé, leur utilisation change : on passe du soutien financier aux familles dans les pays d'origine à des investissements dans l'immobilier. Ces flux peuvent contribuer au développement de la région.
Les binationaux : la clé du développement économique et social du Maghreb ?
Authors: Lahnait Fatima
Published: February 2025

Le Maghreb souhaite que sa diaspora contribue de façon conséquente à son développement économique et social à l'instar des diasporas chinoise et indienne. S'agit-il là d'un simple voeu pieux ou est-ce que cet espoir peut se concrétiser ? Dans un contexte de mondialisation et d'une Europe soumise à une concurrence acharnée, les binationaux constituent une chance pour la dynamisation de la coopération de l'Europe avec le Maghreb. Ils sont en effet des ponts entre les rives Nord et Sud de la Méditerranée. Cette perspective permettrait de leur donner un sens existentiel et de leur offrir un rôle social à jouer. Il convient d'exploiter les liens linguistiques, culturels et financiers existants entre les binationaux et leurs pays d'origine pour construire une zone de prospérité partagée entre les deux rives de la Méditerranée.
Space-Time Measures of Transportation Vulnerability
Authors: Miller Harvey J.
Published: February 2025

The terrorist attacks such as 11 September 2001 attack on New York City, 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombing, and the 7 July 2005 attack on the London subway demonstrated that contemporary societies are vulnerable to disruption of transportation lifelines. The loss of transportation lifelines can strangle lifestyles and economies by making normal activities difficult or impossible. Existing methods for analyzing and transportation network vulnerability do not explicitly recognize potential impacts on human lives since they focus on network reliability and performance only. This chapter discusses space-time vulnerability (STV) measures that recognize human activity patterns and their influence on individual susceptibility to network disruption. It outlines a research agenda based on measuring the loss of space-time autonomy from transportation disruption.
Grid and P2P Paradigms for Parallel Processing
Authors: Xhafa Fatos
Published: February 2025

Grid computing originated as paradigm for high performance computing and massive parallel processing. Currently, Grid systems have become an important paradigm for efficiently solving large scale complex problems from many fields. On the other hand, P2P paradigm originated from file sharing but each time more is being used for the development of large scale distributed platforms. Grid and P2P systems have thus followed different trajectories pushed by different motivations, needs and research communities. Yet, both paradigms are evolving in a way that each time more they are sharing common characteristics and are mutually benefiting from their best features. Among these characteristics, we could distinguish the cooperative model for solving complex problems by exploiting the large computing capacity offered by the nodes of the system altogether. As such, Grid and P2P systems have achieved notable success, in particular, for e-Science applications, a family of complex applications arising in science and engineering that need considerable computation power.
Runtime Prediction in Desktop Grid Scheduling
Authors: Hellinckx Peter  , Verboven Sam  , Arickx Frans  , Broeckhove Jan
Published: February 2025

The efficient allocation of tasks to available resources is a key feature of resource management and scheduling systems. This is particularly true in large scale, distributed infrastructures spanning many administrative domains such as grids or peer-to-peer networks. The mapping of applications or tasks to the physical system is subject to many constraints, requirements and objectives. Some of these derive from the application that may e.g. have a complex work flow or a hard deadline. Others arise from the nature of the resources such as computational or network capacity. If the infrastructure has a dynamic configuration, such as a desktop grid, resource uptime and application runtime become critical factors in the scheduling algorithms.
“Terrorism Watch” or “Natural Hazard Mitigation” Why the Difference?: Community Policing in the Indian Context
Authors: Arlikatti Sudha
Published: February 2025

Since the new millennium, the Indian government has moved from the traditional command and control style of emergency management to a more problem solving style characterized by continuity, coordination and cooperation in an effort to reduce the losses to lives and property from natural and manmade disasters and to channel special attention towards women, children, the elderly, and minorities in an attempt to reduce their vulnerability to these disasters. This practice is also a bid to increase trust and confidence among the citizens in the Indian government. The author discusses community policing experiments that have been successfully adopted as well as the challenges of sustaining them in a culturally diverse developing country. The article concludes by suggesting how to possibly expand and sustain community involvement as a means to create disaster resilient and sustainable communities leading to a better future for the Indian populace.
The Role of ‘Cultural Communities’ in Preventing Terrorism in the West
Authors: Ayache Alain-Michel
Published: February 2025

The intention of this paper is to provide the few means by which Western governments may be able to stop terrorism or avoid its implantation in the West, specifically by becoming closer to “cultural communities.” This would mean by understanding their concept of “citizenship” and “allegiance” to their new country versus their motherland and also highlighting their reactions and analysis of social issues that are their main concerns. This might, perhaps, lead in many cases towards “dealing with the devil” rather than fighting it.
EU Approaches to WMD Proliferation and WMD Terrorism
Authors: Ellner Andrea
Published: February 2025

This chapter outlines the emergence and explains the rationale of the European Union's strategies and polices aimed at preventing nuclear proliferation to states and terrorists. It charts briefly the EU's response to the illicit trade in nuclear materials in the 1990s, which already raised concerns about terrorist access to such materials, and contrasts this with the US approach. It then shows where and explains why the EU has since made substantial progress in defining and implementing a non-proliferation strategy which focuses on the control and containment of nuclear material, technology and know-how. The rise of global terrorism and the transatlantic rift over Iraq are identified as key stimuli for the EU's formulation of two central documents: the European Security Strategy and WMD Non-Proliferation Strategy. At the core of both is the EU's emphasis on strengthening multilateral approaches to security. The chapter shows how this is translated into the EU's nuclear non-proliferation policies and discusses where the EU has a credibility problem. The final part of the chapter suggests which lessons learnt from the Libyan experience might be applied in EU (and US) approaches to Iran.
Characterization of Matrices and Graphite Forms of Cast Irons by Electromagnetic Nondestructive Evaluation
Authors: Uchimoto Tetsuya  , Takagi Toshiyuki
Published: February 2025

Mechanical properties of cast irons are mainly determined by two factors of microstructures, graphite forms and matrices. Both graphite forms and matrices affect electromagnetic properties very complicatedly. The authors have investigated electromagnetic properties of flake graphite cast irons and ductile cast irons in relation to the their microstructures, and applied electromagnetic nondestructive evaluation method such as eddy current method and DC potential drop method to characterize microstructures of various kind of cast irons. In this paper, we review relationship between electromagnetic properties and microstructures. Issues discussed include ferrite and pearlite ratio in ductile cast irons which decides the hardness, and graphite forms in fake graphite cast irons which is important to estimate damping and wear properties of flake graphite cast irons. Finally, we discuss feasibilities of some applications of electromagnetic nondestructive evaluation methods to characterize graphite forms and matrices of cast irons.
GMR Sensor-Based Eddy Current Testing of SCC in Welded Inconel 182 Plate Samples
Authors: Krzywosz Kenji J.
Published: February 2025

GMR stands for giant magnetoresistance but the overall effective sensing size is around 1 mm in diameter. It represents the latest solid state thin-film magnetic sensor technology for detecting minute magnetic field perturbation, both DC and AC field, originating from materials under test. With wider frequency response of DC to megahertz range, it's ideally suited for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) applications involving detection of both DC field and AC field. To detect AC eddy current-to-flaw perturbation field, a separate excitation field is required to introduce eddy currents in a test sample.
Investigation of Cu-Pc Thin Films on ITO Substrate by Using a Near-Field Microwave Microprobe
Authors: Sargsyan Tigran  , Enkhtur Lkhamsuren  , Melikyan Harutyun  , Babajanyan Arsen  , Kim Seungwan  , Kim Jongchel  , Lee Kiejin
Published: February 2025

The Copper (II) phthalocyanine (Cu-Pc) thin film was deposited on ITO glass by high vacuum evaporation method. In order to study the effect of heat-treatment conditions the film characteristics of CuPc thin films were prepared at room temperature and annealing at various temperatures. The changes of the α- and β- phases of Cu-Pc thin films due to the increasing annealing temperatures were observed by using X-ray diffraction, electronic absorption spectra, and near-field microwave microprobe.
Corrosion Under Insulation: Electromagnetic NDE Capabilities
Authors: Nakagawa N.  , Lo C.C.H.  , Shen Y.
Published: February 2025

Industrial systems such as chemical plants use extensive piping systems for transporting hazardous materials and pressure. Their integrity must be maintained stringently against degradations such as corrosion. According to Ref. [1], “chemical process system components are often made of carbon steel or steel alloys, and are covered with insulation.” Insulation may trap moisture underneath, causing “corrosion under insulation (CUI). This refers only to damage occurring between the inside layer of the insulation and the outside surface of the metal components.” Generally, piping may develop flaws such as cracks, pitting, local thin areas (LTAs), and blisters, among which CUI tend to form pits and LTAs on the outside surface [2]. Thus, characteristically, damages of CUI are local, the size ranging from much smaller than the pipe diameter to similar to the diameter.
Self-calibrated Swept Frequency Eddy Current Measurements for Surface Characterization
Authors: Lo Chester  , Frishman Anatoli M.  , Shen Yuping  , Nakagawa Norio
Published: February 2025

We report on a self-calibrated, swept frequency eddy current (SFEC) technique for characterization of surface conditions of materials such as residual stresses or service-induced degradation. We started with the lift-off normalized V-component signal technique, which was introduced to suppress the lift off noise and instrumentation effect. The technique was expanded to a wider frequency range by using multiple coils. Our theoretical study shows that the V-component signals are insensitive to coil dimensions, thus enabling multiple coil measurements in separate frequency bands, while yielding a continuous broad-band data. We demonstrate the technique on two surface-modified materials, namely Inconel 718 samples shot peened at 4A to 8A, and an Ag-1.5at%Al alloy subjected to surface oxidation. For each sample, the V-component signals measured using two dissimilar sets of coils and instruments were found to overlap, confirming that the signals are insensitive to coil dimensions and instrumentation. The bulk conductivities of the samples were determined by inverting the low frequency data. The bulk conductivities were then used to constrain model-based inversion of the high frequency data to obtain conductivity profiles from which the residual stress profile of the shot-peened Inconel 718 and the oxidization depth of the Ag-Al alloy can be inferred.
Monitoring Domestic Activities with Temporal Constraints and Components
Authors: Cirillo M.  , Lanzellotto F.  , Pecora F.  , Saffiotti A.
Published: February 2025

Intelligent environments are increasingly rich in ubiquitous sensing capabilities that can be leveraged to know which actions a user is engaged in at any given moment in time. The ability of an intelligent environment to recognize a high-level plan of activities performed by the user in a smart home would allow to construct proactive services, such as reminding, forecasting and providing timely physical support. This article proposes an approach to human activity recognition based on temporal planning. The approach leverages on one hand the ubiquitous sensors provided by the PEIS-Home, a sensor-rich intelligent environment, and, on the other hand, the temporal representation and reasoning capabilities of OMPS, a constraint-based temporal planning and scheduling framework.
Discovering Frequent Sets of Actions in Intelligent Environments
Authors: Aztiria Asier  , Izaguirre Alberto  , Basagoiti Rosa  , Augusto Juan Carlos  , Cook Diane J.
Published: February 2025

Intelligent Environments depend on their capability to understand and anticipate user's habits and needs. Therefore, learning user's common behaviours becomes an important step towards allowing an environment to provide such personalized services. We have developed a system which learns user's patterns taking into account the special features of Intelligent Environments. Due to the complexity of the system, this paper will focus on a specific part of such a system, the module that discovers what sets of actions are frequently carried out by the user.
Location Aware Distributed Agents in Intelligent Environments
Authors: Hoyle Brian S.
Published: February 2025

Many environments have informal or formal spatial properties and requirements which are related to these. In many real-world applications the delivery of these requirements does not exploit their spatial organization. Sensor and actuation networks offer a generic platform from which a wide range of applications can be realized in many fields. The paper reviews the generic needs of application, from environmental monitoring and control to security and surveillance, which may be classed as spatially critical, where the location corresponding to a sensor or action point must be known. Such networks can deploy appropriate means to estimate the location of their fixed and mobile nodes. A methodology is presented whereby the intrinsic knowledge of location provides the opportunity for a network to use this data to facilitate major inter-node cooperation. This in turn enables new distributed functionality allowing networks to intrinsically execute distributed tasks. The network can automatically segment into regions based upon node location. Tasks can be routed to appropriate nodes through location-based mechanisms. Nodes within a nominated region can each execute a task at each node, or cooperate to fulfill a distributed task, through knowledge of the proximate set of nodes. Hence the network is able to form an intelligent environment in which requirements are met through the node agents and their spatial distribution. This contrasts for example, with a classical wireless sensor network approach in which data is typically routed to a sink for evaluation.
Environmental User Preference Learning for Smart Homes
Authors: San Martín Luis Ángel  , Peláez Víctor M.  , González Roberto  , Campos Antonio M.
Published: February 2025

The ubiquitous computing concept was introduced by Weiser in 1991. In spite of the advances achieved since then, the use of ubiquitous spaces is not yet widespread in home environments, due to the difficulty in using context information and artificial intelligence algorithms. This work combines ontologies and machine learning techniques to infer environmental user preferences automatically. These preferences will allow the development of context-aware applications for the home environment that will adjust it proactively, depending on user preferences. These kinds of applications will contribute to the development of the ambient-assisted living concept and therefore to the improvement of the quality of life.
Integrating Common Sense in Physically Embedded Intelligent Systems
Authors: Daoutis Marios  , Coradeschi Silvia  , Loutfi Amy
Published: February 2025

In this paper we describe an implemented framework that integrates knowledge representation and reasoning in a symbiotic system. In such systems a number of heterogeneous sensors pervasively embedded in the environment, mobile robots and humans co-exist and communicate. In this work, the integration is mediated through perceptual anchoring, which creates and maintains the correspondences between the symbol system and the perceptual data that refer to the same physical object. The overall framework is evaluated using ResearchCyc as the knowledge representation and reasoning system, within the context of a physical testbed, which consists of a small apartment-like home.
WADS: A Web Anomaly Detection System
Authors: García-Cervigón Manuel  , Vázquez Juan
Published: February 2025

Nowadays, the Web has evolved into a mandatory business channel. Online banking is a good example of how millions of costumers rely on virtual channels for business transactions. Nevertheless due to multiple scandals regarding security flaws, it becomes complicated moving a business from a physical scenario to the digital world. Therefore, security applications become highly necessary. Monitoring systems like HIDS intend to create a more reliable scenario for companies but because number of sessions linked to e-banking Web servers it is barely impossible to detect fraud in real time. We propose a novel method for detecting anomalies in e-banking services by integrating efficient clustering systems based in sequence alignment and graph mining.
An Adaptive Type-2 Fuzzy Logic Based Agent for Multi-Occupant Ambient Intelligent Environments
Authors: El-Desouky Bahaa  , Hagras Hani
Published: February 2025

This paper presents an enhanced type-2 fuzzy logic based agent that can be embedded in multi-occupant Ambient Intelligent Environments (AIEs). The agent utilizes the power of type-2 fuzzy logic in modeling various types of uncertainties (especially inter-user uncertainties) and the agent non-intrusively learns the collective behavior of the occupants from their individual type-1 profiles. Knowledge about the users' behavior and preferences is encoded in the form of type-2 rules and membership functions. The agent then uses the captured behavior to control the environment on behalf of the users and adapt in the short term as well as to long term changes in the environment or the users' habits. Multiple real world experiments were carried out in the Intelligent Classroom (iClass) (which is based in the Ambient Intelligence Centre “AMIC” at the German University in Cairo (GUC)), to evaluate the performance of the agent.
Plan Recognition in Instrumented Environments
Authors: Schneider Michael
Published: February 2025

Plan recognition is the process of inferring a user's plans and goals by observing her behavior. With their sensors, instrumented environments provide a good infrastructure for the application of plan recognition, and in return can benefit from plan recognition knowledge by better supporting their users. This article addresses specific issues that arise if plan recognition is applied in physical environments. A plan recognition model based on dynamic Bayesian networks is presented and practically applied in an instrumented kitchen scenario. Furthermore, a utility function for sensor information is derived from this model, which can be used to solve the problem of sensor selection in real-world plan recognition applications.
Towards Emotion, Age- and Gender-Aware VoiceXML Applications
Authors: Schmitt Alexander  , Heinroth Tobias  , Bertrand Gregor
Published: February 2025

This paper presents a speaker classification architecture for VoiceXML-based applications. Our analysis component receives user utterances from the VoiceXML platform, performs feature extraction and classifies speaker characteristics such as age, gender and emotional state. This additional information about the speaker can be employed to adapt system prompts and the dialogue strategy to specific user groups. The implementation of our prototype shows, that speaker classification is feasible without significant delays and with high accuracies of over 95% for anger detection and gender classification.
The Art of Mobility
Authors: Rieser Martin
Published: February 2025

This paper will examine and critically align a number of projects using mobile and pervasive technologies, which have challenged the design and delivery of mobile services from around the world, as documented on the author's weblog and forthcoming book Mobile Audience. The examined range of artist's work in locative media also raises key questions on the underlying conceptual frameworks necessary for an effective locative experience.
Exploring Adjustable Autonomy and Addressing User Concerns in Intelligent Environments
Authors: Ball Matthew  , Callaghan Vic  , Gardner Michael  , Trossen Dirk
Published: February 2025

Various approaches to the configuration and control of intelligent environments have been researched in the past. The majority of these however, make use of either exclusively autonomous or exclusively end-user driven techniques which, in certain situations, may be an issue. A number of users may be reluctant to allow an autonomous system to monitor and interpret every action they take while, on the other hand, some users may be unable or unwilling to program and configure such a complex (end-user driven) system alone. This work-in-progress paper outlines our preliminary work aimed at exploring a solution to this issue by investigating the possibility of creating a hybrid autonomous-agent/end-user driven system that enables the user to set the level of autonomy for any given part of an intelligent environment. The principle contributions of this paper are to expose the issues regarding intelligent environment management systems, to give a comprehensive review of related work on adjustable autonomy and to present a conceptual model and an autonomy metric that can be used as a foundation of future research into developing hybrid autonomous-agent/end-user driven systems. This work forms part of an ongoing three year research project, funded by BT, that seeks to understand and address user concerns with the aim of equipping intelligent environments with better management systems and, furthermore, making intelligent environments more commercially deployable. Given the ongoing nature of this work, we propose to report any significant progress of this research at subsequent IE conferences until this work is complete.