bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Integrated Electronic IQA System for HEI
Authors: Shawyun Teay
Published: August 2018

Most HEIs have piecemeal partially linked QMS (quality management system) or mechanisms to manage the data, statistics, and documents. The integrated eIQA structured in nine e-modules are aimed at integrating the quality-information-planning trilogy into a paperless online real-time era of quality-information-planning management working in conjunction with each other holistically to support the key management and institution performance management and informed decision making. The linkages are established via the key reports, statistics, documents, action plans, and projects required of quality management and accreditation across the QMS-PMS (planning management system) duo, as supported by a data warehouse and its application data marts that interlink the nine e-modules in eIQA.
A Study on Extensive Reading in Higher Education
Authors: Presadă Diana , Badea Mihaela
Published: August 2018

As practicing university teachers, the authors have noticed that students tend to focus exclusively on syllabus reading materials, ignoring reading for pleasure outside the classroom. Rarely taught in ordinary university classes, extensive reading skills may play an important part in the foreign language teaching and learning process. Given these facts, the authors decided to pilot an extensive reading program at the academic level, the ultimate aim being to implement it in the future. Therefore, the purposes of the chapter are to discover students' attitudes towards extensive reading and to assess the results of the pilot as reflected in their opinions with a view to conceiving a large-scale future reading program. The study attempts to shed light on the issues triggered by the introduction of such a program into the curriculum of philological students, being mainly concerned with the practical side of the phenomenon and highlighting the interdependence between the findings and the latest theories in the field.
Using Communities of Inquiry Online to Perform Tasks of Higher Order Learning
Authors: Tirado-Morueta Ramon , Maraver-López Pablo , Hernando-Gómez Ángel
Published: August 2018

In this chapter, the community of inquiry model is used as an analytical framework, along with quantitative content analysis and social network analysis, in order to understand how social and cognitive presence and group structure are affected by the type of learning task and social networks. Discussion forums were employed focusing on three types of tasks: analyzing, evaluating, and creating. Over a period of three academic years, a total of 96 discussion forums were analyzed. Results show how social and cognitive presence are affected by social group structure and centrality of coordinators, depending of type of learning task.
Predicting Students Grades Using Artificial Neural Networks and Support Vector Machine
Authors: Umair Sajid , Sharif Muhammad Majid
Published: August 2018

Prediction of student performance on the basis of habits has been a very important research topic in academics. Studies show that selection of the correct data set also plays a vital role in these predictions. In this chapter, the authors took data from different schools that contains student habits and their comments, analyzed it using latent semantic analysis to get semantics, and then used support vector machine to classify the data into two classes, important for prediction and not important. Finally, they used artificial neural networks to predict the grades of students. Regression was also used to predict data coming from support vector machine, while giving only the important data for prediction.
The Relationship Between Online Formative Assessment and State Test Scores Using Multilevel Modeling
Authors: Karpinski Aryn C. , D'Agostino Jerome V. , Williams Anne-Evan K. , Highland Sue Ann , Mellott Jennifer A.
Published: August 2018

The relationship between one online formative assessment program in reading and state test scores in reading was examined using existing data (N=208) in four cohorts across elementary, middle, and high school from 2004/2005 to 2009/2010. The following research question was addressed: What is the relationship between online formative assessment score growth and state test score growth? Two-level time-varying covariate growth models were used. The results indicated that gains in online formative assessment scores over time covaried significantly and positively with state test score gains. Although causal inference is limited, the demonstrated relationship can provide teachers/administrators with evidence of the benefits of technology-based formative assessment practices. This relationship is reassuring given the number of educators who are using technology-based and/or online teaching tools in the classroom, and the number of administrators who are seeking to increase the use of technology as a learning tool in their schools.
The Role of Distance Education in Global Education
Authors: Kasemsap Kijpokin
Published: August 2018

This chapter indicates the overview of distance education and the importance of distance education in global education. Distance learning becomes an alternative to traditional classrooms. Students can benefit from the flexibility that comes with distance learning, and for students who do not have the time or money to attend the traditional schools, distance learning can provide a path to higher education. Distance learning can increase the opportunities for students across the globe, ensuring that students do not have to choose a school based on its location. Distance-based learning offers more flexibility to students in terms of how and when they take classes. The chapter argues that facilitating distance education has the potential to improve educational performance and gain sustainable competitive advantage in global education.
Artificial Ethics
Authors: Pană Laura L.
Published: August 2018

We live in a partially artificial intelligent environment in which human intelligent agents are accompanied and assisted by artificial intelligent agents, continually endowed with more functions, skills, and even competences, and having a more significant involvement and influence in the social environment. Therefore, artificial agents need to become and moral agents. Human and artificial intelligent agents are cooperating in various complex activities, and thus, they develop some common characteristics and properties. These features, in turn, are changing and progressing together with several increasing requirements of the different types of activities. All these changes produce a common evolution of human and artificial intelligent agents. Under these new conditions, human and artificial agents need a shared ethics. Artificial ethics can be philosophically grounded, scientifically developed, and technically implemented, and it will be a more clear, coherent, and consistent ethics, suitable for both human and artificial moral agents, and will be the first effective ethics.
Artificial Intelligence
Authors: Walczak Steven
Published: August 2018

Artificial intelligence is the science of creating intelligent machines. Human intelligence is comprised of numerous pieces of knowledge as well as processes for utilizing this knowledge to solve problems. Artificial intelligence seeks to emulate and surpass human intelligence in problem solving. Current research tends to be focused within narrow, well-defined domains, but new research is looking to expand this to create global intelligence. This chapter seeks to define the various fields that comprise artificial intelligence and look at the history of AI and suggest future research directions.
Computational Intelligence Approaches to Computational Aesthetics
Authors: Lakshika Erandi , Barlow Michael
Published: August 2018

Computational aesthetics is an area of research that attempts to develop computational methods that can perform human-like aesthetic judgements. Aesthetic judgements are often subjective, and as such, the development of computational models of aesthetics is highly challenging. This chapter summarizes the advancements in the area of computational aesthetics and how computational intelligence techniques are applied in art and aesthetics ranging from simple classification problems to more advanced problems such as automatic generation of art artefacts, stories, and simulations. The chapter concludes by summarizing major challenges that need to be addressed, and future directions that need to be undertaken in order to make significant advancements in the area of computational aesthetics and its applications.
Incremental Approach to Classification Learning
Authors: Naidenova Xenia Alexandre
Published: August 2018

An approach to incremental classification learning is proposed. Classification learning is based on approximation of a given partitioning of objects into disjointed blocks in multivalued space of attributes. Good approximation is defined in the form of good maximally redundant classification test or good formal concept. A concept of classification context is introduced. Four situations of incremental modification of classification context are considered: adding and deleting objects and adding and deleting values of attributes. Algorithms of changing good concepts in these incremental situations are given and proven.
3D Scanning and Simulation of a Hybrid Refrigerator Using Photovoltaic Energy
Authors: Morales Edith Obregón , Bueno José de Jesús Pérez , Esparza Juan Carlos Moctezuma , García Diego Marroquín , Pérez Arturo Trejo , Romero Roberto Carlos Flores , Ramírez Juan Manuel Olivares , López Maria Luisa Mendoza , Ulloa Juan Carlos Solís , Vong Yunny Meas , Obregón Víctor Hugo Rodríguez
Published: August 2018

In this chapter, a methodology that starts from the measurement and recording of real prototype geometries up to simulations to evaluate parameters, improvements, or performance under various conditions is proposed. Here a case study of a solar powered refrigerator with storage capacity for 50 kg of fruit is presented. The refrigerator comprises two systems: vapor-compression and Peltier. The methodology consisted in acquiring by a 3D laser scanner or coordinate measuring machine (CMM) and in some small complex items using a 3D photogrammetry scanner. These data were transferred first as a CAD or SolidWorks® geometry and subsequently transferred to domains geometry useful for ANSYS or COMSOL simulation software. These models with high-resolution brings the simulations closer to real prototypes. As a source of direct information from the prototypes, thermal images obtained using a thermographic camera were taken. Also, wireless sensors were installed for temperature and humidity monitoring. The analyses of the energy efficiencies of both prototypes were performed.
Uniform Random Number Generation With Jumping Facilities
Authors: Chen E. Jack
Published: August 2018

A facility for generating sequences of pseudorandom numbers is a fundamental part of computer simulation systems. Furthermore, multiple independent streams of random numbers are often required in simulation studies, for instance, to facilitate synchronization for variance-reduction purposes, and for making independent replications. A portable set of software utilities is described for uniform random-number generation. It provides for multiple generators (streams) running simultaneously, and each generator (stream) has its sequence of numbers partitioned into many long disjoint contiguous substreams. Simple procedure calls allow the user to make any generator “jump” ahead/back v steps (random numbers). Implementation issues are discussed. An efficient and portable code is also provided to implement the package. The basic underlying generator CMRG (combined multiple recursive generator) combines two multiple recursive random number generators with a period length of approximately 2191 (≈ 3.1× 1057), good speed, and excellent theoretical properties.
Development of Image Engineering in the Last 20 Years
Authors: Zhang Yu-Jin
Published: August 2018

This chapter provides a summary of a bibliography series on image engineering (IE) for 20 years. This bibliography series already contains more than 12,000 publications selected from more than 50,000 publications in IE-related journals. Twenty years ago, a bibliography series on IE was started. With a set of carefully selected journals and a thorough reading on the papers published, several hundreds of papers related to IE have been chosen each year for further classification and statistical analysis. This chapter will present an overview of this survey series by showing the ideas behind and consideration on this work, as well as the comprehensive statistics obtained from this work. Some insights from it are also discussed.
Cyberbullying
Authors: Marzano Gilberto
Published: August 2018

Cyberbullying is a new, alarming, and evil phenomenon closely connected with relational changes that new technologies are causing in contemporary society. It consists in using the internet to harass, threaten, and harm individuals who are the weakest and most vulnerable. Victims of cyberbullying are mightily children and adolescents. In fact, young people are immersed in new digital technologies and use them without knowing their implications. In fact, there isn't the internet for children and the internet for adults. Both adults and children use the same devices, tools, and ways of communicating and interacting.
The Fundamentals of Human-Computer Interaction
Authors: Kasemsap Kijpokin
Published: August 2018

This chapter explains the overview of human-computer interaction (HCI); cognitive models, socio-organizational issues, and stakeholder requirements; HCI and hand gesture recognition; and the multifaceted applications of HCI. HCI is a sociotechnological discipline whose goal is to bring the power of computers and communication systems to people in ways and forms that are both accessible and useful in the effective manner. HCI plays an important role in identifying the environmental and social issues that can affect the use of systems, and provide techniques to ensure the design of the system will be usable, effective, and safe. HCI draws on computer science, computer and communications engineering, graphic design, management, psychology, and sociology as it tries to make computer and communications systems ever more usable in executing tasks. HCI is an important consideration for any business that uses computers in their everyday operation.
Towards an Interdisciplinary Socio-Technical Definition of Virtual Communities
Authors: Ruhi Umar
Published: August 2018

The objective of this chapter is to offer a holistic perspective of virtual communities (VCs) by outlining their underlying concepts and fundamental properties. Firstly, the chapter offers a brief synopsis of research fields that form the basis of socio-technical research on VCs. Key issues and theoretical orientations from four research streams are discussed, namely sociological/psychological, technological, business/management, and economic perspectives. Following this review, the chapter provides a summary of four interdisciplinary literature domains that have significantly contributed to the body of knowledge on VCs. These include computer-mediated communication, community informatics, knowledge management, and internet marketing. Definitions from seminal research studies in these domains are subsequently synthesized to propose an interdisciplinary socio‐technical definition of VCs. The proposed definition offers a nascent ascriptive characterization of VCs along five dimensions of participants, purpose, platforms, protocols, and persona, together constituting the 5 Ps of VCs.
The Trajectivity of Virtual Worlds
Authors: Duret Christophe
Published: August 2018

This chapter will propose an ontology of virtual environments that calls into question the dichotomy between the real and the virtual. This will draw on the concepts of trajectivity and “médiance” in order to describe the way virtual environments, with their technological and symbolic features, take part in the construction of human environments. This theoretical proposition will be illustrated with the analysis of Arcadia, a virtual environment built in Second Life. Finally, a meso-criticism will be proposed as a new approach for the study of virtual environments.
Business Model Innovation-Oriented Technology Management for Emergent Technologies
Authors: Seidenstricker Sven , Antonino Ardilio
Published: August 2018

The diffusion of new technologies into the market challenges technology management in research and practice. Technology commercialization and detecting markets at an early stage of technology development have been considered in the research on technology management in recent years; however, all technologies, when it comes to the market, need to be embedded in sustainable business models. The research and concepts of business model innovations might offer support to identify market gaps which fit emerging technology and define requirements for its development; hence, the diffusion rate for new technology, as well as its scope for competitive advantage, can be increased. This chapter elaborates three main steps for developing new business models for emergent technologies through the management of technologies and influencing their development at an early stage.
Computer-Assisted Parallel Program Generation
Authors: Kawata Shigeo
Published: August 2018

Parallel computation is widely employed in scientific researches, engineering activities, and product development. Parallel program writing itself is not always a simple task depending on problems solved. Large-scale scientific computing, huge data analyses, and precise visualizations, for example, would require parallel computations, and the parallel computing needs the parallelization techniques. In this chapter, a parallel program generation support is discussed, and a computer-assisted parallel program generation system, P-NCAS, is introduced. Computer-assisted problem solving is one of key methods to promote innovations in science and engineering, and contributes to enrich our society and our life toward a programming-free environment in computing science. Problem-solving environments (PSE) research activities started to enhance the programming power in 1970s. The P-NCAS is one of the PSEs; the PSE concept provides an integrated human-friendly computational software and hardware system to solve a target class of problems.
Decimal Hardware Multiplier
Authors: Vestias Mário Pereira
Published: August 2018

IEEE-754 2008 has extended the standard with decimal floating-point arithmetic. Human-centric applications, like financial and commercial, depend on decimal arithmetic since the results must match exactly those obtained by human calculations without being subject to errors caused by decimal to binary conversions. Decimal multiplication is a fundamental operation utilized in many algorithms, and it is referred in the standard IEEE-754 2008. Decimal multiplication has an inherent difficulty associated with the representation of decimal numbers using a binary number system. Both bit and digit carries, as well as invalid results, must be considered in decimal multiplication in order to produce the correct result. This chapter focuses on algorithms for hardware implementation of decimal multiplication. Both decimal fixed-point and floating-point multiplication are described, including iterative and parallel solutions.
Eight Tips for the Theme “Data and Forecasts”
Authors: Drivet Alessio
Published: August 2018

Paul was a common octopus living in a public aquarium in Germany. It became internationally known during the World Cup in 2010 when it was used to “predict” the results of football games. Paul correctly predicted all the outcomes. What animal was better than an octopus, with its eight tentacles-tips, in lending itself to introduce non-deterministic phenomena? In the chapter, teachers who want to develop the theme “data and forecasts” find eight ideas. These ideas are supported by the use of artifacts, digital tools, and web resources.
Haptics-Based Systems Characteristics, Classification, and Applications
Authors: Bayousuf Abeer , Al-Khalifa Hend S. , Al-Salman Abdulmalik
Published: August 2018

Haptics-based systems have had a significant impact in a variety of fields, such as surgical simulation, rehabilitation, technology designed to help the blind and visually impaired, education and training, entertainment and leisure activities such as video games, art and design, online consumer activity, security, and mobile phones. Despite this, haptics-based applications are still in their infancy, and their development is ongoing. In this chapter, the authors present the concept of haptics, its characteristics, classification, and applications. Thus, the outline of the chapter is as follows: Section 2 defines the concept of haptics. Section 3 presents the components of haptics-based system architecture in a virtual environment. Section 4 provides the characteristics and classification of haptic devices. Section 5 presents examples of haptics-based systems in different areas. Finally, Section 6 concludes the chapter with future research directions.
The Holon/Parton Structure of the Meme, or The Unit of Culture
Authors: Velikovsky J. T.
Published: August 2018

This chapter uses systems theory and complexity theory to describe the holon/parton structure of the unit of culture, also known as the meme. The structure of the unit of culture viewed as the holon-parton is a conceptual, theoretical, practical, and scientific tool for identifying and analyzing units (as parts, and as wholes), potentially within all symbol systems in culture. The theoretical perspective adopted in this chapter is evolutionary systems theory. Memes are defined as units of culture, or ideas, processes, or products.
Immersing People in Scientific Knowledge and Technological Innovation Through Disney's Use of Installation Art
Authors: Lillie Jonathan , Jones-Lillie Michelle
Published: August 2018

This chapter argues that installation art is a powerful, but underused, method for presenting scientific knowledge and visions of technological innovation. It reviews Disney's extremely successful exhibits at the 64-65 fair as iconic examples of art installations designed to provide strong narrative experiences of technological innovation. Disney used different aspects of installation art to present powerful immersive installations as presentation of technological and scientific knowledge through multiple media. The goal is to identify general methods for conveying such knowledge to general, lay audiences in ways that might not only encourage greater understanding, but also inspire future generations toward scientific and technological discovery.
Indicators of Information and Communication Technology
Authors: Abdrakhmanova Gulnara , Gokhberg Leonid , Sokolov Alexander
Published: August 2018

Information and communication technology (ICT) has become a major driver of changes in economic, social, public, and private life, leading to emergence of the information society and digital economy. Identification of key trends and analysis of transformation processes can only be made on the basis of reliable statistical data. Development of relevant international statistics plays a leading role here; hence, via establishing and updating relevant standards, it allows to measure development of the information society in a global scale, and benchmark positions of individual countries in the worldwide economic environment. ICT indicators are based on general (definitions and classifications, similar data collection methodologies) and specialized statistical standards, whereas harmonized methodology provides highly compatible indicators for different countries. The objective of this chapter is to present a systemic overview of internationally accepted definitions of main ICT indicators based on accumulated methodological standards and practical experience.
Recurrent Neural Networks for Predicting Mobile Device State
Authors: Rodriguez Juan Manuel , Zunino Alejandro , Tommasel Antonela , Mateos Cristian
Published: August 2018

Nowadays, mobile devices are ubiquitous in modern life as they allow users to perform virtually any task, from checking e-mails to playing video games. However, many of these operations are conditioned by the state of mobile devices. Therefore, knowing the current state of mobile devices and predicting their future states is a crucial issue in different domains, such as context-aware applications or ad-hoc networking. Several authors have proposed to use different machine learning methods for predicting some aspect of mobile devices' future states. This chapter aims at predicting mobile devices' battery charge, whether it is plugged to A/C, and screen and WiFi state. To fulfil this goal, the current state of a mobile device can be regarded as the consequence of the previous sequence of states, meaning that future states can be predicted by known previous ones. This chapter focuses on using recurrent neural networks for predicting future states.
A Bio-Inspired, Distributed Control Approach to the Design of Autonomous Cooperative Behaviors in Multiple Mobile Robot Systems
Authors: Yasuda Gen'ichi
Published: August 2018

This chapter deals with the design and implementation of bio-inspired control architectures for intelligent multiple mobile robot systems. Focusing on building control systems, this chapter presents a non-centralized, behavior-based methodology for autonomous cooperative control, inspired by the adaptive and self-organizing capabilities of biological systems, which can generate robust and complex behaviors through limited local interactions. With autonomous behavior modules for discrete event distributed control, a modular, Petri net-based behavioral control software has been implemented in accordance with a hierarchical distributed hardware structure. The behavior modules with respective pre-conditions and post-conditions can be dynamically connected in response to status events from action control modules at the lower level to achieve the specified overall task. The approach involving planning, control, and reactivity can integrate high-level command input with the behavior modules through the distributed autonomous control architecture.
Telesurgical Robotics and a Kinematic Perspective
Authors: Nisar Sajid , Hasan Osman
Published: August 2018

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has revolutionized the world of surgery. On one hand, it offered many revolutionary advantages; on the other hand, it proved to be a tedious and sophisticated technique for surgeons. Telesurgical robotics came forward to assist surgeons and made surgeries even further innovative, safer, and efficacious. Kinematic—a fundamental and foremost design step—acts as the lynchpin of performance of a surgical robot. It plays a decisive role and defines the capabilities and viability of a robot vis-à-vis its application. This chapter tries to understand the kinematic design approaches in practice so far and discusses their features and potential shortcomings. Some of the notable kinematic structures are explained in detail, and an all-inclusive consideration to the kinematic aspects of the existing designs has been given. Based on the key challenges identified, possible solutions are suggested, which is followed by future research directions and conclusion.
Using Global Appearance Descriptors to Solve Topological Visual SLAM
Authors: Rojo Lorenzo Fernández , Paya Luis , Amoros Francisco , Reinoso Oscar
Published: August 2018

Mobile robots have extended to many different environments, where they have to move autonomously to fulfill an assigned task. With this aim, it is necessary that the robot builds a model of the environment and estimates its position using this model. These two problems are often faced simultaneously. This process is known as SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) and is very common since when a robot begins moving in a previously unknown environment it must start generating a model from the scratch while it estimates its position simultaneously. This chapter is focused on the use of computer vision to solve this problem. The main objective is to develop and test an algorithm to solve the SLAM problem using two sources of information: (1) the global appearance of omnidirectional images captured by a camera mounted on the mobile robot and (2) the robot internal odometry. A hybrid metric-topological approach is proposed to solve the SLAM problem.
Electronic Information Systems Usage by the Consumers' of Agro-Food Products for Expressing Complaints
Authors: Assimakopoulos Costas
Published: August 2018

In this article, consumer dissatisfaction of agro-food products is studied. Specifically, the main reasons for triggering dissatisfaction are identified and ranked. Additionally, the factors that affect consumer's complaining behavior is also studied and the level of complaining adoption are investigated. Moreover, consumer's future intention to complain traditionally or electronically is depicted. Here, an important difference has been detected. The future intention will be stronger and by electronic means. The study has identified that the electronic information systems, although not popular for the time being in the area of agro-food products, have a great possibility to be used in the future due to the intention of the consumers to intensify their complaining behavior as an easy way to achieve strengthening of the effects of their complaints.
Reducing Risk Through Academic Community Engagement in Homeland Security and Emergency Management
Authors: Denham Magdalena , Khemka Ashish Kumar
Published: August 2018

This inquiry engaged graduate students in the Homeland Security and Emergency Management program course designated as Academic Community Engagement (ACE) at an Institution of Higher Education (IHE) in rural Texas. The purpose was to evaluate an American Red Cross (ARC) risk-reduction Home Fire Campaign initiative and to implement new strategies designed by students and grounded in after action reports (AARs) and principles of emergency management (EM). Vygotsky's model of social learning and Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) framed the study. Students partnered with the ARC, emergency responders, and civil society organizations to (a) assess the effectiveness of the ARC-led campaign; (b) apply EM principles in designing the student-led campaign; (c) implement EM principles to new capability-building strategies; and (d) offer recommendations. Comparative analyses of separate campaign events in the community revealed reciprocal benefits; solutions devised by students enhanced program effectiveness and expanded social capital; students reported deep contextualized learning.
Internet of Things-Based Emergency Response Management
Authors: Ghoni Ruzlaini , Ibrahim Tarmizi
Published: August 2018

Disaster leads to huge destruction in terms of economic and human lives. While several technologies are available to cater disaster's occurrence, the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm has opened a promising door toward dealing with disasters. This article proposes IoT-based emergency response management, which is a standalone system that enables wireless connection to trapped survivors, and to the Internet or any extended network during emergency relief operations. The system integrates heterogeneous wireless devices and various communicating technologies to enable end-to-end network connectivity, which is monitored by a cloud IoT platform. The collected data is then pushed to the control center using multi hop device-to-device communication. The overall system performance was evaluated according to relevant metrics including end-to-end link quality estimation, throughput, and delay.
Retailing Mobile App Usefulness
Authors: Sunday Adewale Olaleye  , Salo Jari , Sanusi Ismaila Temitayo , Okunoye Adekunle O
Published: August 2018

Despite the huge leap of mobile apps, there are limited empirical studies that focus on the relationship between customer perception of performance expectation, trust, tension free and mobile apps usefulness. This study integrates and extends the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) with trust and gratification theories to explain mobile app usefulness to retailing customers. Quantitative methodology and variance structural equation modelling forms the data analysis technique for this study. The primary objective of this article is to examine the mobile app usefulness in the context of retailing customers. Specifically, the study intention is to illuminate the retailers and other stakeholders to invest positively on mobile app market segment and to optimize their mobile app strategy for the betterment and advancement of their business especially in getting more revenue from the mobile app segment. The study highlights practical implications and emphasize an appropriate future study.
Examining the Role of Mobile Self-Efficacy in the Word-of-Mouth / Mobile Product Reviews Relationship
Authors: Furner Christopher P , Zinko Robert , Zhu Zhen
Published: August 2018

This article examines the role that mobile self-efficacy plays in the relationship between word of mouth and mobile product reviews. Using a mobile product review simulator, the authors demonstrate an inverted U-shape relationship where individuals prefer moderate information quality rather than either low or excessive information quality when assessing the trustworthiness of on-line reviews. Furthermore, mobile self-efficacy was shown to interact with information quality to increase trust and purchase intention.
A Hybrid System to Support the Psychological Intervention for Children With Autism
Authors: Robles-Bykbaev Vladimir , Galán-Mena Jorge , López-Nores Martín , Robles-Bykbaev Yaroslava , Cornejo-Reyes Javier , Quisi-Peralta Diego , Pazos-Arias José , Lima-Juma Diego , León-Wong Verónica Cevallos
Published: August 2018

The World Health Organization (WHO) claims that 1 in 160 children present an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, the real estimation in low- and middle-income countries can be higher and currently is so far unknown. In many Latin American countries, it is essential to develop intelligent tools that can provide support during the psychological diagnosis and intervention of children with ASD. To this aim, this article presents an approach that models the most relevant elements of rehabilitation/educational activities for children with ASD and discuss how to support them through robotic assistants, mobile applications and Multi-Sensory Stimulation Environments (MSEE). The authors tested the proposed system in four different real scenarios: the perception of 47 children without ASD concerning the robotic assistant, the feasibility of using ontology-based reasoning to select therapeutic activities, the opinion of 9 experts on ASD regarding the MSSE and the perception of 36 children with ASD about the robotic assistant.
Influence Factors for Innovation in Digital Self-Preparedness Services and Tools
Authors: Gräßler Iris , Pottebaum Jens , Scholle Philipp
Published: August 2018

IT support for crisis and continuity management covers all stages from prevention through preparedness to response and recovery. The application of innovative technologies often implies the need for structural and procedural changes for users and reliable assessment of future business opportunities for service and tool providers. Scenario-technique is a methodology to systematically assess possible future developments to derive conclusions for strategic planning. This methodology is adapted to the domain of self-preparedness and self-protection. This article contributes domain-specific influence factors which are identified by literature research and reflecting interview with all stakeholder groups. For each influence factor, projections are derived using different types of trend analysis and forecasting methods. Influence factors and projections build a knowledge-base which enables generation of scenarios as a fundament for strategic decisions to support crisis and continuity management.
Engineering Management
Authors: Essila Jean C.
Published: August 2018

This article continues the conversation about the formation, history, and evolution of the EM concept. It contributes to the description and advancement of engineering management (EM) as an emerging discipline, by providing a new conceptual model that depicts a framework for distinguishing a generalist-engineering manager from a discipline-specific one, such as a systems engineering manager. It discusses the challenging social responsibilities facing engineering managers and their roles. It also examines the EM body of knowledge including the engineering design management, and the need for effective engineering managers who can anticipate technical challenges and work with various stakeholders to create a better future in technical organizations.
Improving Adaptive Filters for Active Noise Control Using Particle Swarm Optimization
Authors: Monteiro Rodrigo P. , Lima Gabriel A. , Oliveira José P. G. , Cunha Daniel S. C. , Bastos-Filho Carmelo J. A.
Published: August 2018

The excessive exposure to certain kinds of acoustic noise can lead to health problems. To avoid this situation, the use of noise attenuation devices is a standard solution. Among those devices, the active noise control (ANC) systems have gained prominence over the years, mainly due to the technological development and costs reduction of electronic components. Despite good performance of ANC concerning low-frequency noise attenuation, the convergence speed for this kind of system is still an important issue when it deals with real-time applications in dynamic environments. This article presents an alternative solution to accelerate the active attenuation system response. This solution is based on the use of sets of coefficients, which are employed during the adaptive filter initialization and are obtained via a training process with particle swarm optimization (PSO). Two objective functions were tested: one based on the response time itself and the other one based on the magnitude reduction of the residual noise. The coefficients obtained through this process provided response time reductions up to 98.3% concerning adaptive filters initialized with null coefficients. The article is an extended version of the conference paper Accelerating the Convergence of Adaptive Filters for Active Noise Control Using Particle Swarm Optimization, published in LA-CCI 2017.
Human Resources and their Tendency to Information Security Crimes Based on Holland Theory
Authors: Al-Ajlouni Mahmoud Mohammad
Published: August 2018

Security systems are often the target of cyber-criminals and professional hackers, but often they fail in hiding all traces of the attack, thereby leaving critical evidence that could lead to identifying and arresting the criminal. However, hacking skills vary from one hacker to another depending on the hacker's personal traits, behavior, and intellectual tendencies. The aim of this study is to develop a proposed descriptive model of the behavioral patterns and motives of hackers based on programmable psychological theories, modeled using object-oriented programming models. The study proposes a descriptive model of an inverse algorithm that simulates Holland's Theory of Behavioral Patterns. Findings show that this descriptive model is applicable to be produced as a code map for the human resources of an investigative nature.
Criação em Winnicott e recri(e)ação filosófica
Authors: Santos Eder Soares
Published: August 2018

O objetivo deste artigo é mostrar que a adolescência, no processo do amadurecimento pessoal, tal como compreendida por Winnicott, pode ser considerada um momento privilegiado para o exercício da reflexão filosófica. Ainda que a imaturidade seja a característica mais marcante dessa fase do amadurecimento, trazendo com ela muitas tensões para os jovens e os adultos, procurarei destacar que está aberta ao adolescente – junto com seu potencial criativo – a possibilidade de colocar questões caras à filosofia – como a do existir – com a chance de recriar suas próprias respostas, recreando-se com a filosofia. Recriação/recreação que só pode se dar sem se reivindicar para o adolescente a necessidade do rigor filosófico na formulação de suas explicações, mas fomentando nele a oportunidade de explorar o espaço potencial em que a filosofia deve ser desenvolvida.
Théodule Ribot: a liberdade em face da hereditariedade e da memória
Authors: Frezzatti Jr. Wilson Antonio
Published: August 2018

O filósofo e psicólogo francês Théodule Ribot pretendia estabelecer uma psicologia experimental, ou seja, uma psicofisiologia, e, para isso, precisava superar a psicologia fundada na noção de alma. As tradicionais noções de alma imortal, de consciência, de vontade e de livre arbítrio, entre outras, são substituídas por fenômenos fisiológicos. O objetivo deste trabalho é pensar a liberdade humana num contexto no qual fatores deterministas, como a hereditariedade e a memória, são preponderantes. Ribot considera que a antítese entre determinismo e liberdade é insolúvel no âmbito científico, uma vez que ela é uma questão metafísica. Entretanto, a psicologia deve renunciar à metafísica e esta, por sua vez, deve perecer em razão de suas próprias contradições. Há, no pensamento de Ribot, um ceticismo em relação àquilo que podemos conhecer fora da ciência.
Determinação espacial das grandezas e libertas philosophandi no jovem Cassirer, intérprete de Descartes e Leibniz
Authors: Lomonaco Fabrizio
Published: August 2018

A questão do espaço em sua versão moderna retorna ao centro das análises de Cassirrer, logo após o período de Berlim (1906-1919), mas também em seus escritos de teoria filosófica e filosofia Dall’Umanesimo all’Illuminismo, título de uma coleção italiana. Este artigo tem como foco as referências a Descartes e examina seu ponto de vista sobre o espaço e o lugar, considerando também os desdobramentos em Leibniz. Não leio a extensa produção científica de Cassirer com base em um rígido padrão de continuidade, mas pretendo enfatizar o compromisso de combinar o interesse teórico e histórico com um estilo de pensamento que nem sempre coincide com o da Escola de Marburg.
Optimal Locations of Biomass Logistics Centers for Energy Uses in the Province of Badajoz (Spain)
Authors: López-Rodríguez Fernando , García Sanz-Calcedo J. , Moral García Francisco J.
Published: August 2018

The forest biomass of the province of Badajoz (southwestern Spain) is around 274,335 tons, which is equivalent to 112,000 toe of energy. Consequently, the quantification, analysis, and mapping of the energy potential from the residual biomass, considering the most important forestry species of the studied province, were performed. Moreover, the optimum locations of biomass logistics centers were established. Results of this study are within the value chain of biomass, regarding to the production, transformation, commercialization, and use of the existing biomass to generate energy, heat, and electricity.
Examination of Biodegradable Magnesium Screw Processed by Equal Channel Angular Pressing: A Novel In Vivo Study in Rabbits
Authors: Damayanti Ista , Latief Benny Syariefsyah , Latif Abdul , Priosoeryanto Bambang Pontjo , Supriadi Sugeng , Latief Fourier Dzar Eljabbar
Published: August 2018

Magnesium alloys have shown potential as biodegradable metallic materials for oral and maxillofacial surgery applications due to their degradability. Biodegradable magnesium are advantageous over existing biodegradable materials such as polymers, ceramics and bioactive glasses in load-bearing applications where sufficient strength and Young’s modulus close to that of the bone are required.
Characterization of Cassava Fibre for Potential Wound Dressing Application
Authors: Kushigbor Stanley Dickson , Adem Bernard Elorm , Wadieh Sarah Ofori , Kwaku-Anim Grace , Danso Michael Frimpong , Amenorpe Godwin , Kaufmann Elsie Effah
Published: August 2018

Wound dressing is the application of a sterile pad to protect a wound from further harm and promote healing. Over the past decades, various materials including calcium alginate, hydrogel, hydrocolloid and gauze based wound dressing materials have been developed. Unfortunately, shortcomings such as potential allergic reaction, high cost, short shelf life and scarcity have been associated with their use. In developing countries such as Ghana, sterilized gauze is commonly used in wound dressing but it causes scar formation and traumatic pain during removal. In addressing the issues of cost and availability, there may be local materials like cassava (Manihot esculenta) with the ability to aid in wound healing. Cassava is a cheap staple crop grown in Africa which is rich in carbohydrate, fibre and minerals. This research characterized three genotypes of cassava (IITA-TMS-GAEC-160006 (IT6), IITA-TMS-GAEC-160004 (IT4) and Afisiafi (Afi)). These genotypes have been studied in terms of their fibre content, fluid absorption capacity, hemolytic ability and their ability to promote rapid blood coagulation (coagulation time). Fibre samples were soaked in deionized (DI) water and PBS (Phosphate buffered saline) and at different time intervals the swollen samples were weighed. Fibre samples were also brought into contact with human blood and toxicity of samples determined. The results reveal that the rate of absorption of fluid by fibres in both DI water and PBS ranges between 0.66-0.93 g/min and fibres are generally non-toxic to blood cells. The fibre properties were compared with gauze and from these, some genotypes of cassava fibre were recommended for further research towards the design of a wound dressing material.
Rapid Protocol of Porcine Kidney Decellularization
Authors: de Souza Fernanda Rocha , Dalboni Maria Aparecida , Kaasi Andreas , de Abreu Pestana José Osmar Medina , Vieyra Adalberto Ramón , de Souza Nádia Karina Guimarães
Published: August 2018

Chronic kidney disease is a problem that has grown in recent decades worldwide. The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) estimates that the number of patients will double in the next 10 years. Dialysis and kidney transplantation are the treatments used for chronic kidney disease. There is hope in slowing down chronic kidney disease or even stopping its progression. Bioengineering and cell therapy are the main fields in kidney regeneration research using three-dimensional matrices in which cells are cultured, an ideal solution for scarcity organs for kidney transplantation. The difficulty in re-creating a functional kidney due to the complexity of its three-dimensional structure and its composition of different cell types and that can be incorporated in vivo with low immunogenicity is a very difficult task. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to meet the enormous demand for new treatments, developing strategies of tissue engineering on the basis of the decellularization of the porcine kidney performed through a new cell removal protocol. We determined the effective removal of cells by histologic and immunohistochemical analyses, showing the preservation of type IV collagen and fibronectin. Therefore, this method is a quick way to obtain decellularized porcine kidneys for future recellularization studies.