bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Model-based Auditability of Clinical Trial Recruitment
Authors: Curcin Vasa  , Lim Choi Keung Sarah N.  , Danger Roxana  , Rossiter James  , Zhao Lei  , Arvanitis Theodoros N.
Published: February 2025

Detailed insight into the recruitment parameters of a clinical trial is crucial to interpretation of its results, and reasons for its success or failure. Such recruitment is increasingly done through specialized software tools, sometimes linked to Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems, enabling automated capture of audit logs. However, in the absence of shared semantic models underpinning these logs, gathered data remains insular and opaque. We propose a standardized syntactical representation to capture the provenance of the recruitment task, and ground it in CRIM, a variant of the established PCROM information model for research in primary care. The method has been successfully prototyped in the EU FP7 TRANSFoRm project, where the recruitment eligibility query module has been integrated with a provenance capture infrastructure, resulting in the full reproducibility of the study design process.
Detecting Effective Classes of Medical Incident Reports based on Linguistic Analysis for Common Reporting System in Japan
Authors: Fujita Katsuhide  , Akiyama Masanori  , Toyama Nobuyuki  , Kamemori Yasuko
Published: February 2025

The analysis of medical incident reports is indispensable for patient safety. Most incident reports are composed from freely written descriptions, but an analysis of such free descriptions is not sufficient in the medical field. In this study, we aim to conduct new findings using incident information, to clarify improvements that should be made to solve the root cause of an accident, and to ensure safe medical treatment through such improvements.
An Example of an Application of the Semiotic Inspection Method in the Domain of Computerized Patient Record System
Authors: Tancredi Weronika  , Torgersson Olof
Published: February 2025

Efficiently navigating through an interface and conducting work tasks in flow is what GUI designers strive for. Dental professionals, who alternate between examination and treatment of a patient and insertion of data into the Computerized Patient Record system, particularly need an interface that would facilitate the workflow. In this paper we present an inspection evaluation of an existing and widely used Computerized Patient Record system. The Semiotic Inspection Method was applied with the expectation that the method could provide evidence that task flow, navigation and wayfinding were major usability issues of the interface. Also expected was that the Semiotic Inspection would reveal the means and strategies used in the interface in order to communicate the flow. The analysis conducted using the Semiotic Inspection Method showed inconsistencies in the communication of the way forward through the interface. In addition, the profile of the users, regarding digital skills, appears to be ambiguous. Finally, the strategies used in the interface for conveying the workflow could be identified as well.
It Is Time for Self-Incident-Reporting for Patients and Their Families in Every Health Care Organization: A Literature Review
Authors: Kinnunen Ulla-Mari  , Sarantob Kaija
Published: February 2025

The purpose of this literature review is to find out how incidents related to unintended consequences in caring processes are reported by patients or their families, and the status of patient reporting systems globally. The focus of the study is on patient self-reporting systems, and patient centrism. For that purpose, this scoping review examines studies that summarize the current position of patient self-reporting in health care. Scopus, PubMed including MEDLINE, and Cochrane retrievals, and hand search revealed in 50 articles for further analysis. The results showed that patient-reported incidents are still ifrequently researched. Patient reporting systems were implemented to some extent, but not worldwide in spite of the existence of several report systems. More research is obviously needed, especially within organizations where patient self-reporting systems are in use.
High Intensity, Multimodality and Incoherence: Grand Challenges in the Analysis of Data for Health-Enabling Technologies
Authors: Kohlmann Martin  , Gietzelt Matthias  , Marschollek Michael  , Song Bianying  , Wolf Klaus-Hendrik  , Haux Reinhold
Published: February 2025

When working with health-enabling technologies, researchers all over the world usually have to analyze highly intensive, multimodal and incoherent data. We explain that there is a lack of systematization within the set of methods of analysis suitable for these data. As a first step towards a methodology in this context, we present the Systematic Nomenclature for Contexts, Analysis Methods and Problems in Health-Enabling Technologies (SNOCAP-HET).
The Temporal Landscape of Residential Aged Care Facilities – Implications for Context-Sensitive Health Technology
Authors: Georgiou Andrew  , Tariq Amina  , Westbrook Johanna I.
Published: February 2025

Health information technology (IT) can have a profound effect on the temporal flow and organisation of work. Yet research into the context, meaning and significance of temporal factors remains limited, most likely because of its complexity. This study outlines the role of communications in the context of the temporal and organizational landscape of seven Australian residential aged care facilities displaying a range of information exchange practices and health IT capacity. The study used qualitative and observational methods to identify temporal factors associated with internal and external modes of communication across the facilities and to explore the use of artifacts. The study concludes with a depiction of the temporal landscape of residential aged care particularly in regards to the way that work is allocated, prioritized, sequenced and coordinated. We argue that the temporal landscape involves key context-sensitive factors that are critical to understanding the way that humans accommodate to, and deal with health technologies, and which are therefore important for the delivery of safe and effective care.
Personal Data Ecosystem (PDE) – A Privacy by Design Approach to an Individual's Pursuit of Radical Control
Authors: Cavoukian Ann
Published: February 2025

Personal data in the networked world is considered “the new oil” – its collection is said to enhance user experience but is in the control and for the profit of others, leading to a lack of transparency and erosion of privacy. Expectations surrounding what constitute a healthy privacy-protective relationship between individuals and organizations are being reset under the umbrella of the emerging Personal Data Ecosystem (PDE). The PDE is supported by new technologies and services, such as Personal Data Vaults (PDV) and data sharing platforms. These technologies and services allow individuals to control and manage their own information. While PDE developments are positive from a privacy perspective given the control they provide to the individual, in the wrong hands, one's PDV and activities within the PDE could be exploited as a major surveillance tool. The paper introduces Privacy by Design (PbD) which the author sees as essential to the success of the PDE. For several years, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Canada, has examined emerging technologies and best practices that are relevant to the PDE, which can assist in developing the PDE in a manner consistent with PbD. By following PbD, privacy in the PDE can indeed be assured.
Beyond Concurrent Engineering: Parallel Distributed Engineering for More Adaptability and Less Energy Consumption
Authors: Fukuda Shuichi
Published: February 2025

A Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP) or Neural Network model is proposed to re-organize industries so that they can share knowledge and experience among them. This re-organized industry framework, which is called Parallel Distributed Engineering here, develops interchangeable components at its intermediate level and combines them into final products to meet the requirements of customers. Thus, it brings forth greater flexibility to adapt to very frequently and extensively changing situations and what is more important, it reduces time, cost and energy consumption and increase productivity considerably. And it will satisfy customers more because their diverse requirements can be more precisely met.
A Design Method for Unexpected Circumstances: Application to an Active Isolation System
Authors: Inoue Masato  , Takahashi Masaki  , Ishikawa Haruo
Published: February 2025

The early phase of design contains multiple sources of unexpected circumstances which include the change or addition of performance requirements or design conditions with the process of the design phases. Therefore, designers are required to design considering those unexpected circumstances in the after phases. Previously, we proposed a preference set-based design (PSD) method, which obtains a unique design solution set from a point of view of design preference and robustness under various sources of uncertainties while incorporating the designer's preference in the early phase of design. PSD method represents the uncertain design information as the interval set. This paper proposes a new design method based on PSD method which can obtain diverse possible design solution sets for unexpected circumstances by deriving the multiple feasible design domains which satisfy the required performances. Obtaining diverse possible design solution sets could deal with the unexpected circumstances by selecting the optimal design solution from obtained diverse possible design solution sets in the early phase. In this paper, the proposed design method is applied to the design problem of an active isolation system of 4-story building to correspond to the additional unexpected earthquake ground motion which the designer cannot consider at the early phase of design.
Provisioning Service Resources for Cloud Manufacturing
Authors: Kong Lingjun  , Xu Wensheng  , Cha Jianzhong
Published: February 2025

Cloud manufacturing is a new service-oriented networked manufacturing paradigm which can integrate various physical manufacturing resources and manufacturing capacities and provide manufacturing services of the lifecycle for the product. It is a new research direction in the field of the advanced manufacturing. In this paper, a provisioning method of service resources for cloud manufacturing is studied. Firstly, the service-oriented architectures are investigated to decide the service architecture for the encapsulation of manufacturing resources. Then a three-step provisioning method of manufacturing services are proposed, a function-classification based manufacturing service interface is defined, and the encapsulation strategies for four categories of manufacturing resources including intelligence resource, knowledge resource, tool resource and manufacturing capacity are put forward, and the dynamic provisioning process of manufacturing service is described. By the proposed method, the four categories of manufacturing resources can be dynamically provisioned as services with well-defined service interfaces for cloud manufacturing.
Development of a Parametric Form Generation Procedure for Customer-Oriented Product Design
Authors: Lin Ming-Chyuan  , Lin Yi-Hsien  , Chen Ming-Shi  , Lin Jenn-Yang
Published: February 2025

Currently, the involvement of consumer requirements in the early stage of product development has become an important issue in product design. The designer needs to correctly and immediately do customer requirement analysis and make decisions in the process of design alternative recommendation. However, the designer is usually difficult to grasp customer requirements. Fortunately, the enforcement of computer software and upgraded efficacy of computer hardware allow an embodiment representation of design alternatives to link customers with designers. Therefore, the objective of this research is to develop a parametric product design system that can provide designers with an interactive interface to consider customer requirements in the early stage of product development. The design of ear phones is used as a case to explore the applicability of the parametric product design system. The function of parametric design in the CATIA software is also used to help construct design appearance for the generated ear phones.
QFD Application on Developing R&D Project Proposal for the Brazilian Electricity Sector: A Case Study – System Assets Monitoring and Control for Power Concessionaires
Authors: Pereira João Adalberto  , Canciglieri Júnior Osíris  , De Lima Juliana Pinheiro  , Da Silva Samuel Bloch
Published: February 2025

This work shows how to conduct a transition from a technological need of a power utility to adequate planning for an innovative system R&D project proposal. In the highly competitive world of electricity commercialization, and in accordance to ANEEL (Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency) principles, one consideration about new R&D projects proposals is that it needs to present innovative technological solutions to fill technical gaps at operating systems. Due to the multidisciplinary nature and technological complexity of these kinds of projects it is considered that project management by Concurrent Engineering, specific Models for Product Development and its associated tools could be fully applicable to this proposal. In this context established models and tools created for the Product Development Process were recently adapted by Pereira & Canciglieri Júnior (CE2012) for projects like that. Among the tools, it is highlighted the QFD (Quality Function Deployment) successfully used on initials phases of new projects to specify the project requirements and the product characteristics from the needs of the customers. In this sense, this work presents a Case Study where the QFD was applied to establish the requirements for a new R&D project proposal to the Brazilian electrical sector. This work illustrates the Pre-Development phase of a Product Development Model where the characteristics of an R&D project are defined. Its main objective is an Experimental Development project for an innovator technological system to control assets in the process maintenance on the energy power utilities. The used analysis unit was the process of elaboration of a new R&D project proposal to Brazilian power utilities, where QFD was applied to reach the concepts of the R&D project proposal. These concepts are: the expertise of the multidisciplinary team; the project development steps and their simultaneity; the allocation of the “gates” and the technologies that may be used to solve the problem. This phase was then conducted by the development project team coordinator, closely watched by the manager of the project who has in mind the energy company strategic plan to the project.
A Framework and Generator for Large Parameterized Feature Models
Authors: Rößger Robert  , Rock Georg
Published: February 2025

The customer oriented individualization of products is getting more and more important for the production industry. Especially in car manufacturing industry we can observe a dramatically increasing number of product variants not only related to different car concepts but also concerning different functionality as for example in car entertainment. In order to cope with this increasing complexity in terms of product features and their interrelationships, manufacturers more and more build on a formal approach called feature modeling that allows for a formal analysis of the specified variability artifacts with the help of specialized proving engines as for example SAT-solvers. The development of such proving engines and their test is quite complicated also due to the fact that manufacturers do not disclose the real development data for understandable reasons. Thus, a framework is needed that enables the proving engine developers to test their engines on nearly real data and to show the potential and possibilities of their engines without having the real development data at hand. This paper presents a framework for generating especially large parameterized feature models used for load testing and benchmarking feature model analysis tools, as well as two usage scenarios: the first one runs a typical benchmark with large feature models on two versions of the theorem prover SPASS, the second shows the integration of the generator in a client-server environment where its functionality is hosted on a website, i.e. using the browser as a frontend working on tablets and modern smartphones.
Implementation of an Artificial Neuro-Electronic System for Moisture Content Determination of Subbase Soil
Authors: Shetu N.S.  , Masum M.A.
Published: February 2025

In this paper, a new approach will be proposed to determine the moisture content of subbase soil in a view to suppress the limitations of existing methods while maintaining the better accuracy. This innovation embeds an automatic electronic control as well as an artificial neural network (ANN) in the framework for time optimization. Artificial neural network and automatic electronic control both together can be termed as artificial neuro-electronic control. The artificial neural network has been trained by mapping the weights of soil samples at specific time steps to the respective final moisture contents. As a result, the system can be able to predict the final moisture content by analysing fewer data samples in the very beginning of moisture content determination tests. Validation of the predictive results has also been conducted in real time for soil samples suitable for subbase layer of a pavement to ensure the system feasibility for laboratory and field uses. Experiments show that this fully automatic system can exhibit a significant accuracy and precision for the evaluation of moisture content in about 50% reduced time compared to the standard microwave based method.
Conceptual Design of Sustainable Liquid Methane Fuelled Passenger Aircraft
Authors: Burston M.  , Conroy T.  , Spiteri L.  , Spiteri M.  , Bil C.  , Dorrington G.E.
Published: February 2025

Motivated by concerns over rising costs of Jet-A fuel and the current limitations of “drop-in” fuel substitutes, it is proposed that biomethane (or Bio-LNG) provides a promising sustainable aviation fuel. This paper discusses some technical considerations for converting a jet airliner to biomethane fuel. Following consideration of aircraft configuration alternatives and performance issues, a conceptual design is presented where cryogenic methane is stored in both an insulated wing-box and under-wing pods. It is concluded that the weight penalty of such a cryogenic fuel system would be relatively modest, hence the range and payload capability of existing Jet-A aircraft can be matched.
Automatic Generation of Curved Shell Plates' Processing Plan Using Virtual Templates for Knowledge Extraction
Authors: Sun Jingyu  , Hiekata Kazuo  , Yamato Hiroyuki  , Nakagaki Norito  , Sugawara Akiyoshi
Published: February 2025

An approach of extracting the tacit knowledge during the curved shell plates' manufacturing process by automatically generating the processing plan using virtual templates is discussed. First, the curved shell plates are extracted from 3D measured data divided into many regions by obstacles. Then, the virtual templates are generated from ship's design data. Finally, the processing plans consisting of the heating areas for bending curved shell plates are automatically generated. By analyzing the correlation between the generated plan and the actual plan, the tacit knowledge such as the processing rules and habits under different situation which used to be hardly discovered or educated during the manufacturing process is extracted and represented using Ripple-Down Rules.
An Ontology-Based Approach for Aircraft Maintenance Task Support
Authors: Verhagen Wim J.C.  , Curran Richard
Published: February 2025

A relatively low level of digitalization in the maintenance domain, a reliance on legacy, paper-based work processes and systems and a lack of information exchange across stakeholders work together to complicate the consistent execution and record keeping of maintenance tasks. This has a negative effect on the efficiency and costs of product support and phase-out. This paper moves towards a ‘push-of-the-button’ digital solution for capturing and using aircraft maintenance task knowledge, processes and history to support maintenance execution and prove continued airworthiness compliance. It proposes the use of Enterprise Knowledge Resources – engineering task representations containing the required knowledge, process and outputs for a task – embedded within a semantic context model based on a Product-Process-Resource structure. A proof of concept application has been developed that incorporates a sample EKR within a knowledge management solution to support the capture, use and maintenance of the required elements for executing a specific maintenance task: the modification and detailed inspection of the main track downstop of the leading edge slats of the Boeing B737 aircraft. The developed system has the potential to improve the efficiency of maintenance task execution and record keeping. Future work includes extension of the proof of concept, such that it enables the user to automatically import knowledge from aircraft manufacturers as well as automatically record the results of maintenance task execution.
A Hybrid Model for New Product Development – A Case Study in the Brazilian Telecommunications Segment
Authors: Sales Odivany P.  , De Souza Teófilo M.  , Canciglieri Júnior Osiris
Published: February 2025

This paper presents a hybrid model for the integrated development of products based on the decision models Funnel and Stage Gate. This hybrid model was designed in its complete and simplified versions with the main purpose of technological support in the process of developing new products based on the maturity development level of the company. The simplified model was applied in the development of a new product in a Brazilian telecommunications company through a case study, its results were described and analyzed and recommendations for the continuity of the research were presented.
A Low Cost CDF Framework for Aerospace Engineering Education Based on Cloud Computing
Authors: Xu Dajun  , Bil Cees  , Cai Guobiao
Published: February 2025

Concurrent Design Facility (CDF) is an effective and efficient manner to implement Concurrent Engineering methodology. In aerospace engineering education, CDF is invaluable to lecturers by enabling the entire student team to gain cross-discipline skills and at the same time stay at the cutting edge of technology. Establishment of CDF is always consuming much money on hardware and software. This paper presents a low cost CDF framework which is suitable for aerospace engineering education in class room based on cloud computing. An important aspect of CDF is collaboration between multidisciplinary specialists or virtual specialists in the environment of engineering education. Collaboration in CDF requirement some dedicated hardware or software to exchange file, manage knowledge, collaborative work on writing report, and even remote communicate with other work teams in traditional means. Emergence and development of cloud computing have made above-mentioned requirements become very easy to be fulfilled. Some public cloud computing servers, such as Google Drive, SkyDrive, Dropbox, Mendeley, can be used in CDF for education to save investment on hardware and software related to data, file, and information exchange. Google Talk and Skype can be used to remotely communicate with work team at other location. This CDF framework has many benefits, include low cost on hardware, software and human, reduce preparation time, and easy to deploy in classroom education.
Living with water in the urbanized Mekong Delta: The canal as multi-scale design tool and adaptive strategy
Authors: Pham Dieu Quang
Published: February 2025

The Mekong Delta is a waterlogged delta region, where rivers, canals and flooding control works have determined the form of the landscape in continuous shifts, and influence each other. Recently, the local community has become more vulnerable to the social, spatial and scalar distribution of risks for two main reasons: (1) the complexity of the delta itself as a result of large-scale investment in water infrastructure to ‘open up’ and protect the delta from salinization and flooding over recent centuries; and (2) the complexity of the effects of climate change.
Shifting Typologies: The Recentralization of Tokyo and the Dojunkai Apartments
Authors: Pompili Marco
Published: February 2025

Despite the economic and demographical decline that has afflicted Japan since the late 1990s, the capital city, Tokyo, has continued to grow. Until roughly 1995 the city developed in a well-known carpet-like manner, but over the last 15 years urban development has been concentrated within the inner-city wards, which, once depopulated, have gradually regained their residential identity. This has resulted in a significant transformation of the urban form and space. The review of existing literature on this topic suggests that this is a relatively recent, interdisciplinary field of research with substantial contributions from scholars in the human sciences, but with only limited contributions from architecture or urban design specialists. Thus this paper intends to add to the current research by making connections between the processes inherent in the phenomenon and their spatial outcomes. In particular the sites once occupied by the Dojunkai Apartments (1924–1934), which were redeveloped during the first decade of the 2000s, will be analysed. The discussion will highlight the differences between typological and organizational principles underpinning pre- and post-redevelopment forms.
The Role of Green Spaces in the Integration of City and Territory: A Study in Porto Alegre
Authors: Salomao Piccinini Livia  , Rigatti Décio  , Trusiani Elio
Published: February 2025

This article presents the current state and initial results of research carried out by a collaborative exchange between UFRGS, Brazil, and Sapienza, Universita di Roma, Italy, since 2009, employing a method of spatial analysis that was applied to favelas in Porto Alegre. It presents some results from the study of the Vilas Planetario, Princesa Isabel and Teresina, showing the development of a critical analysis for these parts of the city using a morphological, environmental and perceptive approach that attempts the restitution of informal settlements and preservation of interaction and integration – which is found in the formal city – also after institutional intervention. Trying to locate the role of open space to consolidate the post-intervention situation, the more recent development of the research takes the open space as the foundation of the entire urban recuperation of the informal city. These are adopted as conceptual structures and are reflected in the projectable operations, the concepts of connection, transition, fruition and transformation-substitution that are taken here as keywords. The study is applied to Vila Santana II, in Porto Alegre.
Using Virtual World Training to Increase Situation Awareness during Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
Authors: Creutzfeldt Johan  , Hedman Leif  , Felländer-Tsai Li
Published: February 2025

Situation awareness (SA) is a critical non-technical skill which affects outcome during emergency medical endeavors. Using a modified self-report instrument a significant increase of SA was found during multiplayer virtual world CPR team training among 12 medical students. Further a correlation between SA and attention was noted. Being a vital factor during the process of video-game play, we argue that this skill is suitably practiced using this training method.
Closed-Loop Healthcare Monitoring in a Collaborative Heart Failure Network
Authors: Modre-Osprian Robert  , Pölzl Gerhard  , Von Der Heidt Andreas  , Kastner Peter
Published: February 2025

Heart failure (HF) is a growing public health problem. The management of HF is usually multi-disciplinary and should comprise the cooperation of all groups of individuals involved in the care like clinicians, cardiologists, general practitioners, internists, nurses, relatives and patients. There is an ongoing debate with regard to monitoring and the optimal level and intensity of care for which kind of patients. Based on our experience with the recently established HF network HerzMobil Tirol, we developed a concept how to combine mHealth-based telemonitoring and disease management programs. The collaborative HF management concept timely and efficiently closes the feedback loop between patients and care providers and allows for continuity of care. The aim is to gradually adjust intensity of care according to the patients' level of disease severity and risk of readmission after hospital discharge along the overall trajectory of illness. Next steps will be to investigate how to define shared decision making, rights, duties, responsibilities and liabilities of the individual stakeholders as well as to analyze business models for reimbursement.
A Digital-First Authoring Environment for Enriched e-Books using EPUB 3
Authors: De Meester Ben  , De Nies Tom  , Ghaem Sigarchian Hajar  , Vander Sande Miel  , Van Campen Jelle  , Van Impe Bram  , De Neve Wesley  , Mannens Erik  , van De Walle Rik
Published: February 2025

The overall majority of books are currently being made with primarily a printed outcome in mind. To make a digital version of these books, most manuscripts need to be re-processed, which usually results in customary built e-books. This need for a customized authoring workflow for every electronic version of a book makes it impossible to build e-books in a cost-effective way. In this paper, we propose a novel workflow that incorporates both print and digital book authoring.
The Implementation Experience of an Electronic Referral System in Saudi Arabia: A Case Study
Authors: Alshami Mohammed  , Almutairi Safar  , Househ Mowafa
Published: February 2025

More than 2000 Primary Healthcare Centers (PHCs) in Saudi Arabia refer the cases of patients who require additional healthcare services to general hospitals and specialized hospitals. Improving the method of communication between PHCs and the hospitals decreases the number of clinical visits to hospitals and improves patient care. The development of health information technology in Saudi Arabia over the last 5 years has improved the communication system between the primary healthcare and specialist physicians. The purpose of this case study is to report on the experiences of implementing the EHALA electronic referral system at a local Saudi hospital. The e-referral system “EHALA” was implemented in 2013 by the MOH in the central region as a unified health information system that connected almost 380 PHCs and more than 40 hospitals. The KSHCD was among the hospitals that benefited from the e-referral system. The hospital has advanced and improved communication with PHCs and hospitals in less than one year. Early findings suggest that the EHALA has streamlined and expedited the communication process for the PHCs and the hospital, which has improved the patient's continuity of care. However, several challenges remain such as lack of computer skills by staff, lack of interest in using EHALA, and lack of a clear change management strategy which is impacting the usability of the EHALA system.
A Hybrid EAV-Relational Model for Consistent and Scalable Capture of Clinical Research Data
Authors: Khan Omar  , Lim Choi Keung Sarah N.  , Zhao Lei  , Arvanitis Theodoros N.
Published: February 2025

Many clinical research databases are built for specific purposes and their design is often guided by the requirements of their particular setting. Not only does this lead to issues of interoperability and reusability between research groups in the wider community but, within the project itself, changes and additions to the system could be implemented using an ad hoc approach, which may make the system difficult to maintain and even more difficult to share. In this paper, we outline a hybrid Entity-Attribute-Value and relational model approach for modelling data, in light of frequently changing requirements, which enables the back-end database schema to remain static, improving the extensibility and scalability of an application. The model also facilitates data reuse. The methods used build on the modular architecture previously introduced in the CURe project.
Semi-Automatic Segmentation Methods for 3-D Visualization and Analysis of the Liver
Authors: Selver M. Alper  , Fischer Felix  , Gezer Sinem  , Hillen Walter  , Dicle Oğuz
Published: February 2025

Pre-evaluation of donors prior to surgery of living donated liver transplantation is one of the challenging applications that computer aided systems are needed. The precise measurement of liver volume requires effective segmentation procedures, while three dimensional rendering of the segmented data provides demonstrative information to radiologists and surgeons before surgery. The Insight Toolkit provides effective algorithms for segmentation, which are also optimized for high computational performance and processing time. Furthermore, An ITK pipeline can be combined with a VTK pipeline, so that the result of segmentation can be represented directly in 3-D using VTK. Therefore, there is an on-going trend for developing ITK/VTK based systems. This study presents quantitative and qualitative performance evaluation of two effective ITK algorithms on segmentation of liver from CTA data sets.
A Concept of a MIABIS based Register of Biosample Collections at the Medical University of Innsbruck
Authors: Hofer Philipp  , Fiegl Heidi  , Angerer Justina  , Mueller-Holzner Elisabeth  , Chamson Martina  , Klocker Helmut  , Steiner Eberhardt  , Hauffe Helga  , Zschocke Johannes  , Goebel Georg
Published: February 2025

The knowledge about the quality of samples and associated clinical data in biospecimen collections is a premise of clinical research. An electronic biosample register aims to facilitate the discovery of information about biosample collections in a hospital. Moreover, it might improve scientific collaboration and research quality through a shared access to harmonized sample collection description data. The aim of this paper is to present a concept of a web-based biosample register of the existing biosample collections at the Medical University of Innsbruck. A uniform description model is built based on an analysis of the sample collection data of independent sample management systems from two departments within the hospital. An extended set of attributes of the minimum dataset used by the Swedish sample collection register (MIABIS) has been applied to all biosample collections as a common description model. The results of the analysis and the data model are presented together with a first concept of a sample collection search register.
Comparison of Enhancement Methods for Mammograms with Performance Measures
Authors: Kurt Burçin  , Nabiyev Vasif V.  , Turhan Kemal
Published: February 2025

Mammograms are generally contaminated by noise which assures the need for image enhancement to aid interpretation. The enhancement of mammograms is a very important problem for easy extraction of suspicious regions known as regions of interest (ROIs). This paper introduces comparison of various hybrid enhancement algorithms based on mathematical morphology, contrast stretching, wavelet transform, anisotropic diffusion filter and contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization (CLAHE). The performances of algorithms have been compared by using three global image enhancement evaluation measures; Enhancement Measure (EME), Absolute Mean Brightness Error (AMBE) and Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR). For this study, we have used MIAS database. Experimental results show that the combination of mathematical morphology, anisotropic diffusion filter and CLAHE methods, yields significantly superior image quality and provides more visibility for the suspicious regions.
ICT Health 2013: Infrastructure and Adoption by Healthcare Providers in Brazil
Authors: Marin Heimar F.  , Senne Fabio  , Barbosa Alexandre
Published: February 2025

The potential offered by intensive and strategic adoption of information and communication technologies for obtaining advances in the health sector is worldwide recognized. In order to monitor the implementation of ICT in health policies in Brazil and to establish internationally comparable indicators, a nationwide survey was conducted to identify the current implementation of information and communication technologies in Healthcare facilities and its adoption by providers. Data collection was carried out from February to August 2013 using two structured questionnaires. The results obtained showed that the access to internet is nearly universal in the country but clinical information systems are still in its infancy when it comes to more complex functionalities and linked to clinical decision support. Healthcare professionals indicated that the main barrier to adopt is the lack of availability related to the patient information.
The Use of Big Data for Development Goals
Authors: de Cordes Nicolas
Published: February 2025

We are starting to see examples where big data analytics are used for humanitarian goals and social development. Amongst others, Data for Development (D4D), the project set up by Orange in Ivory Coast and Senegal, demonstrated the value and feasibility of sharing mobile data from private companies in a responsible way. It uses a risk-based approach to conciliate the respect of users' privacy, while enabling open innovation in the service of local development and humanitarian interventions. This chapter will argue that big data technologies are able to disrupt the way we address development goals, and that their responsible usage is an extraordinary opportunity as we face increasing challenges for the evolution of the world at large. It is therefore a necessity for those in the field to find a way to develop the domain of Data for Development, by defining appropriate regulations, opening access to multiple data sets, or setting up the necessary processes and data sharing culture. This will contribute to the improvement of public policies and the creation of new services to improve the access to knowledge, and foster collaboration between people for the welfare and resilience of our societies.
An Open System for Social Computation
Authors: Robertson David  , Moreau Luc  , Murray-Rust Dave  , O'Hara Kieron
Published: February 2025

Part of the power of social computation comes from using the collective intelligence of humans to tame the aggregate uncertainty of (otherwise) low veracity data obtained from human and automated sources. We have witnessed a surge in development of social computing systems but, ironically, there have been few attempts to generalise across this activity so that creation of the underlying mechanisms themselves can be made more social. We describe a method for achieving this by standardising patterns of social computation via lightweight formal specifications (we call these social artifacts) that can be connected to existing internet architectures via a single model of computation. Upon this framework we build a mechanism for extracting provenance meta-data across social computations.
Ten Governance Concerns about the Nature and Use of Data
Authors: Notturno Mark Amadeus
Published: February 2025

The emergence of big data and the data revolution raises a number of governance concerns about the nature and use of data. This chapter describes nine such concerns that an international group of data experts articulated and explored during a series of online discussions devoted to that issue. I then conclude the chapter by arguing against a common interpretation of evidence-based policy decisions – namely, the use of data to try to justify or promote public policy proposals – and in favor of a more critical, and self-critical, approach to evidence-based public policy decisions that uses data to criticize policy proposals instead of trying to justify them. I also argue that we should pay greater attention to the underlying philosophical beliefs, concerns, goals, values, interests, and priorities that motivate them.
Testing and nonlinear numerical modelling of fibre pull-out mechanism from cementitious materials
Authors: Abdulle Faisal  , Xiao Robert
Published: February 2025

The benefits of using micro-fibres as a crack controlling measure for concrete have encouraged their widespread use in the construction industry in recent years. However, there are currently no design standards that cover the specification of micro-fibres due to difficulties in quantifying their performance, owing to the random distribution and orientation characteristics of these fibres when added to the concrete mix. Therefore, the main focus of this research has been to carry out experimental testing and numerical simulation of single fibres, with different geometrical and mechanical properties, embedded in cementitious matrix and subjected to pull-out loading. A series of pull-out tests were carried out to study the main factors that affect the performance of fibres and to compare those with results from numerical analysis. Three-dimensional (3D) solid finite elements have been used to numerically model the matrix and fibres. Contact and target elements were used to create a bonded contact between the fibre and matrix models, and Cohesive Zone Material (CZM) model has been employed to simulate the failure mechanisms of the pull-out tests. Comparison of results revealed close agreements between the experimental tests and numerical simulations, and recommendations are made where significant differences between the results were identified.
Effects of recycled aggregates on the properties of fresh and hardened concrete
Authors: Makhathini B.N.  , Dawneerangen A.  , Shohniwa A.T.
Published: February 2025

Construction and Ready-Mix waste constitutes one of the increasing waste potentially useful material is disposed of as landfill. The environmental and economic implications of these are no longer considered sustainable and, as a result, the construction industry is experiencing challenges to overcome this practise. This investigation was aimed at examining the effects of recycled aggregates, ready-mix waste and laboratory waste on the properties of fresh and hardened concrete. Demolished material exhibited lower compressive and flexural strength and high initial slump. Laboratory waste on the other hand, showed a slight decrease in compressive and flexural strength, it however had a constant initial slump and good durability properties. The returned ready mix stone and sand material showed more positive results in most properties as compared to the other two waste materials. This work has demonstrated that there is a potential in utilising recycled aggregate in producing concrete although the actual percentage of substitution has to be determined by the intended application.
Cement calorimetry with different condition of calcium sulfate and water reducer admixture
Authors: Donza Horacio  , Rahhal Viviana
Published: February 2025

Heat development during portland cement hydration is affected by the type of cement used, by the presence of additions and admixtures, by “water/binder material” ratio, by the calcium sulfate state, and others. Hydration process can be monitored by calorimetric techniques which permits to evaluate from the time that cement comes into contact with water, the paste behavior through the release rate of heat produced by the interpretation of acceleration or delay of hydration reactions as well as the intensity of the heat release occurring. In this paper the influence of water-reducing admixtures in cement with low C3A content, which was previously heated to remove partially and totally the combination water of calcium sulfate, are evaluated. Through a calorimeter, hydration development under isothermal conditions (20 and 30 °C) was studied. Results show that in general increasing the dose of admixtures the hydration reactions are delayed, and on the other hand because of the prior heating of cement significant changes are produced in the acceleration of these reactions. With increasing temperature, the hydration reactions occur earlier with higher intensity peaks.
Foam concrete landfill use in landslide hazardous area in West Şırnak Road
Authors: Tosun Yıldırım İ.
Published: February 2025

There are steeper slopes, sliding large land masses or rocks in Şırnak City and the surrounding areas. Underground water and harsh climatic conditions contain high risk hazard areas in urban living site with higher population density. In order to eliminate landslides and related events, significant precautions should be taken. The mapping of landslide risk may ease to take precautions. Even the application of landfill rock may reduce water content of soil. In this research, fly ash and Mine Waste shale stone were used with low density foam concrete. Waste mixture at certain proportions decreased cement use. Shale stone as fine aggregate instead of fly ash in specific proportions improved mechanical strength and porosity. Hence landslide hazardous area could be safer for urban living.
Pozzolans as a binder for affordable building materials in Uganda
Authors: Balu-Tabaaro William
Published: February 2025

Due to the rapid increase in population in Uganda demand for housing has outstripped housing availability. This is largely due to the high cost of building materials most of which are imported at high cost. The majority of the population of Uganda many of whom live in rural areas cannot afford these high cost materials and hence cannot build durable and decent houses. Traditional building materials like burnt bricks are getting more expensive due to shrinking availability of fuel energy resources, especially firewood. The cutting down of large chunks of forests to generate firewood is creating a lot of environmental problems, such as degradation, soil erosion and weather uncertainties. Hope therefore lies in the development of alternative building materials that are cheaper and that have little impact on the environment.
Potential South African standard sand for cement mortar testing and research
Authors: Ekolu Stephen O.
Published: February 2025

Mortars are used extensively in accelerated methods of testing the physical properties of cementitious materials. Mortar strength is invariably used to determine cement strength grade of cements and for general evaluation of material behavior, as typically employed in research and testing. Presently, the South African (SA) cement industry imports standard from Europe for cement testing purposes. This study was conducted to formulate South African standard sand that could be used to conduct mortar strength tests for compliance to specifications and for general research purposes.
Palm Kernel Incinerated Ash as low cost concrete component
Authors: Agbenyeku Emem-Obong Emmanuel  , Okonta Felix Ndubisi
Published: February 2025

The incorporation of commercially available fly ash (FA) as low cost material in concrete has long been established. Large quantities of FA are utilized for research and field applications because of the pozzolanic characteristics. One of many pozzolanic materials is palm kernel incinerated ash (PKIA). The abundance of PKIA as an agricultural waste material in West Africa obtained by the incineration of palm kernel husk and shells in milling boilers paved way for this study. Specimens containing 50%PKIA were cast and cured both in water and air and their compressive strength and shrinkage behaviours were investigated with and without the addition of superplasticizer (hydroxylated carboxylic (HC) acid) in comparison with controlled specimens containing 100%OPC. Results showed that the strength development in PKIA green concrete at all ages of curing; 7,14 and 28days were lower than OPC concrete. On the addition of superplasticizer, strength of 36.9N/mm2was observed for specimens with superplasticizer as against 31.7N/mm2for specimens without superplasticizer on the 28day. The water curing method produced the best results while the predicted shrinkage strain of the green concrete in accordance to ACI 209R-92 standard was higher than the control specimens.