bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Functional Comparison of High and Low Molecular Weight Chitosan on Lipid Metabolism and Signals in High-Fat Diet-Fed Rats
Authors: Liu Shing-Hwa , Chiu Chen-Yuan , Shi Ching-Ming , Chiang Meng-Tsan
Published: July 2018

The present study examined and compared the effects of low- and high-molecular weight (MW) chitosan, a nutraceutical, on lipid metabolism in the intestine and liver of high-fat (HF) diet-fed rats. High-MW chitosan as well as low-MW chitosan decreased liver weight, elongated the small intestine, improved the dysregulation of blood lipids and liver fat accumulation, and increased fecal lipid excretion in rats fed with HF diets. Supplementation of both high- and low-MW chitosan markedly inhibited the suppressed phosphorylated adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase-α (AMPKα) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPARα) protein expressions, and the increased lipogenesis/cholesterogenesis-associated protein expressions [peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ), sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c and -2 (SREBP1c and SREBP2)] and the suppressed apolipoprotein E (ApoE) and microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTTP) protein expressions in the livers of rats fed with HF diets. Supplementation with both a low- and high-MW chitosan could also suppress the increased MTTP protein expression and the decreased angiopoietin-like protein-4 (Angptl4) expression in the intestines of rats fed with HF diets. In comparison between low- and high-MW chitosan, high-MW chitosan exhibits a higher efficiency than low-MW chitosan on the inhibition of intestinal lipid absorption and an increase of hepatic fatty acid oxidation, which can improve liver lipid biosynthesis and accumulation.
Demonstration of an SDM Network Testbed for Joint Spatial Circuit and Packet Switching †
Authors: S. Luis Ruben , Furukawa Hideaki , Rademacher Georg , J. Puttnam Benjamin , Wada Naoya
Published: July 2018

We demonstrate a spatial division multiplexing (SDM) network testbed composed of three nodes connected via 19-core multi-core fibers. Each node is capable of joint spatial circuit switching and joint packet switching to support 10 Tb/s spatial circuit super channels and 1 Tb/s line rate spatial packet super channels. The performance of the proposed hybrid network is evaluated, showing successful co-existence of both systems in the same network to provide high capacity and high granularity services. Finally, we demonstrate an optical channel selection associated with the quality of service requirements on the SDM network testbed.
Unsupervised Segmentation Evaluation Using Area-Weighted Variance and Jeffries-Matusita Distance for Remote Sensing Images
Authors: Wang Yongji , Qi Qingwen , Liu Ying
Published: July 2018

Image segmentation is an important process and a prerequisite for object-based image analysis. Thus, evaluating the performance of segmentation algorithms is essential to identify effective segmentation methods and to optimize the scale. In this paper, we propose an unsupervised evaluation (UE) method using the area-weighted variance (WV) and Jeffries-Matusita (JM) distance to compare two image partitions to evaluate segmentation quality. The two measures were calculated based on the local measure criteria, and the JM distance was improved by considering the contribution of the common border between adjacent segments and the area of each segment in the JM distance formula, which makes the heterogeneity measure more effective and objective. Then the two measures were presented as a curve when changing the scale from 8 to 20, which can reflect the segmentation quality in both over- and under-segmentation. Furthermore, the WV and JM distance measures were combined by using three different strategies. The effectiveness of the combined indicators was illustrated through supervised evaluation (SE) methods to clearly reveal the segmentation quality and capture the trade-off between the two measures. In these experiments, the multiresolution segmentation (MRS) method was adopted for evaluation. The proposed UE method was compared with two existing UE methods to further confirm their capabilities. The visual and quantitative SE results demonstrated that the proposed UE method can improve the segmentation quality.
Evaluation of Hydrocarbon Soil Pollution Using E-Nose
Authors: Bieganowski Andrzej , Józefaciuk Grzegorz , Bandura Lidia , Guz Łukasz , Łagód Grzegorz , Franus Wojciech
Published: July 2018

The possibility of detecting low levels of soil pollution by petroleum fuel using an electronic nose (e-nose) was studied. An attempt to distinguish between pollution caused by petrol and diesel oil, and its relation to the time elapsed since the pollution event was simultaneously performed. Ten arable soils, belonging to various soil groups from the World Reference Base (WRB), were investigated. The measurements were performed on soils that were moistened to field capacity, polluted separately with both hydrocarbons, and then allowed to dry slowly over a period of 180 days. The volatile fingerprints differed throughout the course of the experiment, and, by its end, they were similar to those of the unpolluted soils. Principal component analysis (PCA) and artificial neural network (ANN) analysis showed that the e-nose results could be used to detect soil contamination and distinguish between pollutants and contamination levels.
Position Estimation and Compensation Based on a Two-Step Extended Sliding-Mode Observer for a MSFESS
Authors: Li Shusheng , Fu Yongling , Liu Ping
Published: July 2018

This paper aims to deal with the problem of rotor position estimation and compensation for a magnetically suspended flywheel energy storage system under the consideration of measurement noise and unknown disturbances. First, the flywheel system working principle and description are analyzed and, based on this, the mathematical model as well as the coordinates transformation are introduced. For the purpose of the state estimation, a two-step extended sliding-mode observer is considered to obtain the estimates of the rotor angular position. In this control strategy, a traditional sliding-mode observer is adopted as a first-step original state estimator. After that, the relationship between the angular position and the estimation error is established and a second-step observer is designed to obtain the estimation of the error. The estimated error is then used to compensate the real values of the rotor angular position generated by the first-step observer. To reject the influences of the measurement noise and unknown disturbances, the H∞ optimization strategy is considered to determine the second-step observer structure. Finally, experimental results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. It is demonstrated that the proposed two-step observer method has a better estimation accuracy and control performance.
The Semiotics of the Evolving Gang Masculinity and Glasgow
Authors: McLean Robert , Holligan Chris
Published: July 2018

Glasgow has a persistent and historical gang culture. Dimensions of ‘the gang’ are widely recognized in terms of behavior, formation, membership, and territoriality. The gap in our knowledge lies in the nature of a gang’s evolutionary flexibility. Given that life-course criminology foregrounds continuity and change in offending, it is surprising that this evolution has gone unrecognized in Scotland. Many contemporary studies of youth gangs connect ‘gang talk’ exclusively with territoriality and masculinity overlooking criminal progression. The argument of this article does not dispute the dominant received conceptualization of the youth urban street gang. The article’s contribution is to progress beyond these narrowing tropes and chronological age boundaries to encompass a more complex portrayal of Glasgow gangs and the lives of the indigenous Scottish young lads who were interviewed. The article does this by voicing the lived experiences of those whose lives are enmeshed with gang membership and whose linguistic register rarely achieves a serious platform in the middle-class world in control of the British media.
Optimizing the Design of a Vertical Ground Heat Exchanger: Measurement of the Thermal Properties of Bentonite-Based Grout and Numerical Analysis
Authors: Kim Daehoon , Oh Seokhoon
Published: July 2018

We prepared bentonite-based grouts for use in the construction of vertical ground heat exchangers (GHEs) using various proportions of silica sand as an additive, and measured the thermal conductivity (TC) and specific heat capacity (SHC) of the grouts under saturated conditions. Furthermore, we performed numerical simulations using the measured thermal properties to investigate the effects of grout-SHCs, the length of the high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe, the velocity of the working fluid, and the operation time and off-time during intermittent operation on performance. Experimentally, the grout TCs and SHCs were in the ranges 0.728–1.127 W/(mK) and 2519–3743 J/(kgK), respectively. As the proportions of bentonite and silica sand increased, the TC rose and the SHC fell. Simulation showed that, during intermittent operation, not only a high grout TC but also a high SHC improved GHE performance. Also, during both continuous and intermittent operation, GHE performance improved as the working fluid velocity increased, and there was a critical working fluid velocity that greatly affected the performance of the vertical GHE, regardless of operation mode, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe length, or grout thermal properties; this value was 0.3 m/s. Finally, during intermittent operation, depending on the operation time and off-time, critical periods were evident when the ground temperature had been almost completely restored and any beneficial effect of intermittent operation had almost disappeared.
An EWMA-DiD Control Chart to Capture Small Shifts in the Process Average Using Auxiliary Information
Authors: Mughal Muhammad Anwar , Azam Muhammad , Aslam Muhammad
Published: July 2018

Among the Statistical Process Control (SPC) techniques, control charts are considered to be high weight-age due to their effectiveness in process variation. As the Shewhart’s charts are not that active in monitoring small and moderate process variations, the statisticians have been making efforts to improve the performance of the control chart by introducing several techniques within the tool. These techniques consist of experimenting with different estimators, different sampling selection techniques, and mixed methodologies. The proposed chart is one of the examples of a mixed chart technique that has shown its efficiency in monitoring small variations better than any of the existing techniques in the specific situation of auxiliary information. To show and compare its performance, average run length (ARL) tables and ARL curves have been presented in the article. An industrial example has also been included to show the practical application of the proposed chart in a real scenario.
An enigmatic new species of Panorpa Linneaus from the Bashan Mountains (Mecoptera, Panorpidae)
Authors: Hua Yuan , Tao Shi-Heng , Hua Bao-Zhen
Published: July 2018

A new species of Panorpidae,Panorpabashanicolasp. n., is described and illustrated from the Bashan Mountains in central China. The new species is characterized by the following characters: vertex black, with two pale longitudinal stripes and four pale rounded spots; vein 1A ending before the origin of Rs; meso- and metanotum pale, and the pale color extending to tergum III in V-shape; male epandrium emarginate distally in deep U-shape; hypovalves without basal stalk, completely represented by a pair of short hypovalves, extending to distal third of gonocoxite, with five black stout setae in distal portion; paramere simple, S-shaped; a bundle of long hairs between dorsal and ventral valves of aedeagus; dorsal valves of aedeagus much longer than ventral valves and curved ventrally, with distal portion foot-shaped; female medigynium twice as long as wide, with stout axis extending over one-third its length beyond main plate.
Impact of Interactive Education on Health Care Practitioners and Older Adults at Risk of Delirium: A Literature Review
Authors: Coyle Miriam Anne , Chang Hui Chen , Burns Pippa , Traynor Victoria
Published: July 2018

The current integrative literature review explored the impact of interactive delirium care education in facilitating knowledge transfer to health care practitioners and improving health outcomes for older adults. Academic databases, including MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Web of Science, were searched using the terms
delirium
and
simulation
or
interactive education
. Selected articles were analyzed using Critical Appraisals Skills Programme tools. Twenty studies were reviewed and three themes generated to explain the current understanding of the impact of interactive delirium care education on outcomes for: (a) individuals with delirium; (b) organizational health care; and (c) health care practitioners. The current review demonstrated that interactive education is a promising contemporary approach for raising awareness about best practice delirium care by health care practitioners. Due to gaps in the literature, future educational research in the area of delirium care education needs to adopt a more consistent method of reporting findings to ensure successful transferability across care settings. [
Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 44
(8), 41–48.]
Recognizing the Science of Peace to Build Positive Peace
Authors: Prater David E.T. , Hiller Patrick T.
Published: July 2018

Different academic disciplines conceive of peace through their respective lenses. Often overlooked are the theories and guiding principles of the field of peace and conflict research itself. Peace science, the discipline examining the causes of war and conditions for peace, can help bridge the gap between peace movement moralism and pragmatism toward achieving peace on multiple levels. A research-practice communication gap is discussed as a strong impediment in making peace science relevant. Communication barriers, the requirements of academic publishing and the lack of public relevance for academia are examined. Examples of often under-recognized peace research contributions are presented within the framework of the Global Peace System. In doing so, the potential and actual relevance of those research contributions to real-world peace and justice issues is emphasized. The authors recommend that peace researchers make conscious efforts to contribute to peacebuilding practices, public discourse and attempt to reach audiences beyond academia in general.
Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking
Authors: Walker Polly O.
Published: July 2018

This chapter explores Indigenous conceptualizations of peace, focusing on some Native American, First Nations, Native Hawaiian, and Australian Aboriginal approaches, with an emphasis on peacemaking ceremonies. The author articulates some of the central tenets of Indigenous paradigms and explains how these shape historical and contemporary peacemaking, both among Indigenous peoples and between Indigenous and Western peoples. The ways in which colonialism has impacted Indigenous peacemaking are also explored, along with examples of the resilience of Indigenous approaches to peace. Finally, the chapter proposes ways in which “collaborations of integrity” have transformed contemporary conflicts by re-centering Indigenous peacemaking processes.
Exploring Peace Perspectives Through the Lens of Gender Inequality
Authors: Loew Dana Julia
Published: July 2018

The purpose of this chapter is to explore the relationship between peace processes, gender equality, and communication by introducing feminist and intersectional approaches as tools to assess and deconstruct underlying power structures. The author argues for a human rights-based approach to gender equality and a deconstruction of essentialist understandings of “women,” calling for a perspective on peace that is responsive to the experiences of minorities and the marginalized. The chapter seeks to outline ways for individuals and groups to engage around the topics of power, oppression, and marginalization, and to create space for a more inclusive dialogue as the basis for a peace culture. Coeducation, the media, and a change in discussion culture are established as essential in creating a peace culture that allows all individuals to live empowered and fulfilling lives in a peaceful society void of structural violence, regardless of their gender, race, class, or sexual orientation.
Plan Ceibal as Where Technology Accelerates Pedagogy
Authors: Brechner Miguel
Published: July 2018

This chapter describes how the government of Uruguay believes that all children have the right to have technology at their fingertips and that all children have the right to connectivity and access to the internet, that it is as important to have electricity and running water as to have access to the internet, and that it would have a high impact on the country's technological deployment and, obviously, on education and teaching. The parts of the chapter are concerned with the technology and pedagogy relationship: how to improve pedagogy through technology, the importance of teaching English and math online with help of education inspectors and the teachers using modern platform—virtual classrooms, books in digital format, digital technology laboratories—that allows collaborative work, work on projects, logical thinking, an online assessment system. All these integrated tools transfer to the biggest investments which the author calls “global learning network.”
Changes in the Engineering Competence Requirements in Educational Standards
Authors: Berestov Aleksandr Vasilyevich , Baryshev Gennady Konstantinovich , Biryukov Aleksandr Pavlovich , Rodko Ilya Igorevich
Published: July 2018

This chapter presents prognostic analysis results concerning the changes in the engineering competence requirements. It is noted that professional competences of future experts in this field are undergoing certain changes related to the need for operating complex systems and working in a team in uncertain contexts in order to support and ensure good management throughout the entire high-tech systems life-cycle. It has been established that certain technological areas of the National Technology Initiative (NTI), which is being implemented now, are not provided with the educational training programs by the adopted Federal National Educational Standards (FNES). This chapter also focuses on the role of Worldwide CDIO Initiative international engineering standards of education in the development of new engineering competence assessment tools to enhance the national system of educational standards and includes National Research Nuclear University MEPhI's own educational standards in higher education as an example.
Aiding the Transition of Students From School Into Technical University
Authors: Tsibizova Tatiana
Published: July 2018

This chapter is about different aspects of creating university-based professionally orienting environment. Issues of students' professional self-determination in transition from secondary education to high school are considered. The author suggests to arrange resource center as a training and research innovative complex for solution of youth's problems with early professional orientation, their motivation, for recruitment and selection of the most prepared for further study. As a result of the center's usability there is a developing trend towards form and direction diversity in scientific, educational, and industrial integration, growing university penetration into secondary school, and high school scientific research's impact into industry.
The Problem-Oriented Approach in the Basic Mathematical Courses for Engineering Education
Authors: Dotsenko Olga Alexandrovna , Zhukov Andrey Alexandrovich , Kochetkova Tatiana Dmitrievna , Leontyeva Elena Gennagyevna
Published: July 2018

Problem-based learning takes a well-deserved place in the educational programs of leading universities in the world. Meanwhile it is known that this approach has been well developed for training students of economy and medicine. There are certain difficulties in setting targets as well as in teaching methods in basic technical subjects, in particular in the mathematical courses. The chapter presents an analysis of the peculiar features of problem-based learning in a research university for basic courses of the first two years of study. The discipline “Numerical Methods and Mathematical Modeling” is given as an example of the application of this approach. The main topics are proposed and lesson plans are provided. The information support of the courses is carried out in the learning management systems. The elements of this approach have been put into practice of training course and it was shown that the material was achieved much better.
Application of Interactive Technologies in Engineering Education in the Research University
Authors: Baryshev Gennady Konstantinovich , Berestov Aleksandr Vasilyevich , Bozhko Yuri Valentinovich , Konashenkova Nadezhda Aleksandrovna
Published: July 2018

The chapter describes the problem of application of interactive technologies of engineering education in the contemporary world-class research university: National Research Nuclear University “MEPhI” (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute). The results of the ongoing process of transformation of engineering education in compliance with the CDIO (conceive-design-implement-operate) international and Russian federal national educational standards are discussed. The pilot projects on the modernization of engineering educational programs have demonstrated that interactive technologies are effective in fixing sustainable results of developing and monitoring the students' project-implementational and other engineering skills.
New Trends in Teaching English at a Russian Technical University
Authors: Margaryan Tatiana , Alyavdina Natalia
Published: July 2018

Today, English for specific purposes (ESP) in its various aspects is taught all over the world. In Russia, ESP is a requirement of tertiary education. Educators must develop students' language proficiency relative to professional communication, with respect to the new Federal State Educational Standard. The academic staff of the Linguistics Department at Bauman Moscow State Technical University (BMSTU) skillfully combines traditional teaching approaches and modern techniques. This chapter discusses modern trends in teaching ESP at Russian technical universities and looks into current approaches in this field. The chapter may contribute to a better understanding of primary challenges in ESP, which must be considered when implementing the Federal State Educational Standard.
Content- and Language-Integrated Learning
Authors: Kirsanova Galina V. , Lazarev Vladimir A.
Published: July 2018

Content- and language-integrated learning (CLIL) has been considered from the perspective of communicative competence development in the context of teaching professionally oriented English language in a technical university. The chapter outlines the main aspects underlying CLIL and describes the experience of teaching English to students majoring in Photonics in the format of “binary” classes involving two teachers: of English and of physics of lasers. Classes have been designed for 3rd- to 4th-year students who had mastered basic linguistic-cultural communicative competences and went on to continue using English in professionally oriented situations. This way of team teaching contributes to the development of communication skills in the students' professional area and facilitates the assimilation of curricular material by students.
The Concept of Teaching Course on Intelligent Information Systems
Authors: Chernenkiy Valeriy M. , Gapanyuk Yuriy E. , Terekhov Valery I. , Revunkov Georgiy I. , Fedorenko Yuriy S. , Gusev Juan Carlos Gonzalez
Published: July 2018

This chapter proposes the concept of hybrid intelligent information system (HIIS) as a “glue” concept that helps to unite disparate sections of a course on intelligent information systems. The chapter discusses a generalized structure of HIIS based on modules of consciousness and subconsciousness. The authors show that a HIIS may be implemented using a multiagent approach based on holonic organization. They provide a formalized model of metagraph and a review of methods to describe holonic agents based on the metagraph approach. Thus, a HIIS allows one to combine different approaches which are taught in a course on intelligent information systems.
Using Snapshots for Organizing Work Environment With Virtual Machines
Authors: Kalistratov Alexey Pavlovich , Zaikin Sergey Igorevich , Kuzovlev Viatcheslav Ivanovich , Semkin Pyotr Stepanovich
Published: July 2018

The chapter reveals the issue of implementing snapshots for maintaining virtual machines used for students' lab stands. Hence, implementing that backup/restore method means significant reduction of the amount of effort required for lab stands maintenance. The actuality of this chapter is in the increasing appliance of virtualization methods in the educational process, as it currently is not very developed due to the lack of a systematic approach to the development and application of new technologies. The object of study is the practical part of the course “Network Software” of the Department IU5 in BMSTU. The subject of research is the process of preparing a virtual stand for lab works. The purpose of research is to prove the significance of applying virtualization technologies such as using snapshots in the educational process.
Identifying Students' Meta-Competences During Laboratory Work on a Unique Scientific Equipment
Authors: Malakhov Andrey Anatiljevich , Smirnova Elena V. , Vishnyakov Nikolay , Kholomina Tatiana , Willmot Peter
Published: July 2018

The chapter is devoted to the development of an analytical methodology of forming future engineers' meta-competences (interdisciplinary, meta-creative, and meta-cognitive) when he/she works on unique scientific equipment. The authors research a hypothesis about the possibility of estimating quality of education and identifying competences in engineering courses by measurement of students' activities as well as outcomes. An example is described of the criterion revealing during laboratory work with a scanning probe microscope “Nanoeducator.” The experiment is a part of a multifunctional scientific complex for the development and research of thin films. Results of the parameter evaluation are shown in graphs using MATLAB software. This chapter is a new direction towards discovering methods and algorithms to define and evaluate future engineers' meta-competence.
Monitoring of Staffing Nanoindustry
Authors: Grekhov Maxim M. , Byrkin Victor A. , Vasiliev Oleg S. , Likhomanova Polina A. , Grekhov Alexey M.
Published: July 2018

Leading organizations of the national nanotechnology network (NNN) monitor staffing and develop mechanisms for coordination of educational processes of enterprises of the nanotechnology industry. To estimate the current state of training for nanotechnology industry in the leading universities of the Russian Federation, a study of their publications indexed in the Scopus database in 2012, 2014, and 2015 years in the subject area of “nano” was made. As a result of analysis, the universities, which form the background for the production of highly qualified specialists in the field of nanotechnology, were determined.
Intense Training of Bachelors
Authors: Dubkov Michael Victorovich , Muratov Evgeniy Rashitovich , Kostrov Boris Vasilevich , Loginov Alexander Anatolich , Nikiforov Michael Borisovich , Novikov Anatoly Ivanovich , Tarasov Dmitry , Stojanovic Radovan
Published: July 2018

Long-term practice to employ the university graduates to work in industrial enterprises as well as the analysis of the “adaptation” process of a young specialist to the production process show that during the first two years he has to learn new areas of expertise. Teaching of these disciplines within the frames of main educational program is limited by student workload and is hardly advisable due to the narrow specifics. More detailed preparation is possible for the students enrolled in the university according to the enterprise targeting with the future specialty. The chapter considers in detail target preparation of specialists in technical vision systems for aircraft industrial enterprises. A number of original scientific results received by the authors being used in academic process are given.
Technology Entrepreneurship in the Concept of Development of the Innovative System of a Technical University
Authors: Vlasova Vita , Pilyugina Anna
Published: July 2018

Issues of scientific and technological development of economy determine the need for changes to the management system in the organizations of scientific and educational services, including higher education. Scientific, technical, educational, and innovative activities of technical universities are designed to promote the development of students' technological entrepreneurship. The chapter examines different (institutional, mental, interuniversity, etc.) student entrepreneurship development barriers. It identifies the key stakeholders (their role and motivation), in accordance with the levels of their involvement in the process of promotion of entrepreneurship in the university environment. It presents the approaches to the formation of a system of stimulation and a complex of activities, which are held at the platform of the technical university.
The Role of Universities in Industry 4.0 Era
Authors: Yavuztürk Haldun , Kalender Zeynep Tuğçe , Vayvay Ozalp
Published: July 2018

In every industrial era, one of the most important issues is the adaptation of business conditions to operational and administrative processes. Nowadays, as in every field of business-life, globalization and high competition highlighted the importance of entrepreneurship and innovation. The focal point of competition has changed to the position to innovate products at desired and required amounts, times, and quality with affordable price so taking advantage requires integrated management skills. Universities play a key role at this point thus entrepreneurs and researcher universities has emerged. In this study, after a general overview on evaluation of innovation and entrepreneurship concepts, the importance of them are explained in the view of industry 4.0. Then, a model of entrepreneurial and researcher universities is explained in detail with the analysis of several countries' models. The study reveals the role of universities in the innovation and entrepreneurship framework and to generate awareness about industry-university collaborations in the new industrial era.
Towards Industry 4.0
Authors: Lezak Emil , Ferrera Enrico , Rossini Rosaria , Masluszczak Zofia , Fialkowska-Filipek Malgorzata , Hovest Gunnar Große , Schneider Alexander , Lourenço Emanuel J. , Baptista Antonio J , Cardeal Gonçalo , Estrela Marco , Rato Ricardo , Holgado Maria , Evans Steve
Published: July 2018

An overview of the work under development within the EU-funded collaborative project MAESTRI is presented in this chapter. The project provides a framework of new Industrial methodology, integrating several tools and methods, to help industries facing the fourth industrial revolution. This concept, called the MAESTRI Total Efficiency Framework (MTEF), aims to advance the sustainability of manufacturing and process industries by providing a management system in the form of a flexible and scalable platform and methodology. The MTEF is based on four pillars: a) an effective management system targeted at continuous process improvement; b) Efficiency assessment tools to support improvements, optimization strategies and decision-making support; c) Industrial Symbiosis paradigm to gain value from waste and energy exchange; d) an Internet-of-Things infrastructure to support easy integration and data exchange among shop-floor, business systems and MAESTRI tools.
A Quick Overview of Different Spectrum Sensing Techniques
Authors: Joshi Pooja , Bagwari Ashish , Negi Ashish
Published: July 2018

The next generation of emerging wireless technology is dealing with spectrum shortage. For appropriate and practical implementation of latest wireless technologies, the sufficient amount of frequency is needed. Cognitive radio (CR) is introduced as a proficient nominee to manage spectral undersupply problem, as it rapidly increases the use of underutilize spectrum via spectrum sensing. This chapter introduces brief start about spectrum holes in addition to spectrum sensing framework. Further, the chapter explains the issues in spectrum sensing and how the cooperative sensing technique is fit to overcome these issues like shadow fading and receiver uncertainty. Consequently, the various non-cooperative sensing techniques are also discussed including their test statics. The advantages and disadvantages of different sensing techniques is exhibited at the end.
Basic Spectrum Sensing Techniques
Authors: Bhuvaneswari P. T. V.  , Bino J.
Published: July 2018

Cognitive radio network (CRN) is an upcoming networking technology that can utilize both radio spectrum and wireless resources efficiently based on the information gathered from the past experience. There are two types of users in CRN, namely primary and secondary. PUs (PU) have the license to operate in certain spectrum band while the secondary (SU) or cognitive radio (CR) users do not have the license to operate in the desired band. However, they can opportunistically utilize the unused frequency bands. Spectrum sensing, spectrum management, spectrum sharing, and spectrum mobility are the four major functions of cognitive radio systems. The main objective of spectrum sensing is to provide better spectrum access to CR users, without causing any harmful interference to PUs. Sensing accuracy is considered as the most important factor to determine the performance of cognitive radio network. In this chapter, the challenges and requirement involved in spectrum sensing are detailed. Further, various spectrum sensing basic techniques are also discussed in detail.
Review of Spectrum Sensing Techniques in Cognitive Radio Networks
Authors: Omer Ala Eldin
Published: July 2018

Most frequency spectrum bands are licensed to certain services to avoid the interference between various networks, but the spectrum occupancy measurements show that few portions of this spectrum are fully efficiently used. Cognitive radio is a future radio technology that is aware of its environment, internal state, and can change its operating behavior (transmitter parameters) accordingly. Through this technology the unlicensed users can use the underutilized spectrum without causing any harmful interference to the licensed users. Its key domains are sensing, cognition, and adaptation. The spectrum sensing problem is one of the most challenging issues in cognitive radio systems to detect the available frequency bands. This chapter introduces the concepts of various transmitter detection techniques, namely energy detection, matched filter detection, and cyclostationary feature detection. The chapter also discusses other sensing techniques that are introduced to enhance the detection performance of the conventional energy detector. Additionally, the introduced sensing techniques are implemented using extensive MATLAB simulations and their performances are evaluated and compared in terms of sensing time, detection sensitivity, and ease of implementation. The implementation is based on BPSK and QPSK modulation schemes under various SNR values for AWGN noisy channel with Rayleigh fading.
Spectrum Sensing Techniques
Authors: Biswas Rajib
Published: July 2018

Cognitive radio has come a long way in the recent years with the advent of improved algorithms and instrumentation. However, for ease and efficient working of cognitive radio, there is a need to have effective detection of spectrum sensing. The objective of spectrum sensing techniques is to find spectrum holes which can be accessible by the users of cognitive radio. The deployment of suitable sensing techniques reduces undesirable congestion in traffic and enhancement of spectrum usage. All these require sensing techniques whose main goal is oriented towards efficient identification and subsequent deployment of spectrum. This chapter is aimed to give a brief overview of some spectrum sensing techniques. An attempt is made to give the characteristics of the highly deployable sensing schemes. Accordingly, the merits and demerits are comprehensively highlighted. Further, emphasis has been given to relevant future challenges.
Spectrum Sensing and Identification Techniques of Cognitive Radio Networks
Authors: Kittali Rashmi M. , Sutagundar Ashok V.
Published: July 2018

Cognitive radio emerged as one of the key enabling technologies of dynamic spectrum access, addressing the problem of inefficient usage of the available radio spectrum. It aims at providing more effective and convenient communication capabilities. Cognitive radio which is considered as the key technology for future mobile computing and wireless communications can form cognitive radio networks (CRN) by extending the features of radio link to network layer functions and above. The cognitive radio systems have the ability to exploit the spectrum holes by detecting and using them in an opportunistic manner through spectrum sensing. This chapter will brief the various architectures of cognitive radio networks, terminal capabilities of cognitive radio as nodes of CRN highlighting the spectrum sensing ability and different methods of it, and some applications of CRN.
Cognitive Radio Network for E-Health Systems
Authors: Gupta Shashank , Singhal Shikha , Sinha Adwitiya
Published: July 2018

The world is witnessing widespread roots of ubiquitous computing across disciplines and industries. It is equipped with the ability to monitor anything from anywhere with efficient, easy, and equitable goods that offer services for everyone. This has become possible through usage of wireless technologies, which possess an extensive scope in healthcare domain. However, despite various advantages, wireless technologies are faced with distinct challenges in hospital environment. For instance, wireless devices often tend to cause electromagnetic interference to critical medical devices resulting in malfunctioning. Further, with ubiquitous computing, sensitive data about health state of patients is constantly being shared remotely from one place to another. Therefore, systems in place must address requirements of data security, and thus privacy. For this purpose, the chapter presents a collaborative study on cognitive-radio-based healthcare system, including advantages, architecture, and challenges related to implementation of cognitive radios in hospital environment.
Entrepreneurial Skill Acquisition Priorities of Artisans in Cultural Tourism Destinations
Authors: Vinodan A. , Meera S.
Published: July 2018

The purpose of this chapter is to identify entrepreneurial skill acquisition priorities of artisans and its dimensional orientation in cultural tourism destinations of India. The study adopted the exploratory sequential method, employed in-depth interview in qualitative stage, and structured questionnaire in the quantitative stage for primary data collection. Factor analysis was done for identifying dimensions of entrepreneurial skill acquisition priorities. Data gathered from three cultural tourism destinations of Andhra Pradesh, India. The results indicate that there are 17 indicators pertaining to entrepreneurial skill acquisition priorities, with three distinct dimensions consisting of (1) managerial skill, (2) initiating skill, and (3) destination-specific skill. This emphasizes that focus has to be given while imparting entrepreneurial training for artisan aspiring for grabbing cultural tourism opportunities. The study highlights the importance of framing broader strategies in skill development programs based on the destination-specific requirements of artisans for an inclusive growth, which may, in turn, meet the conservation and management needs of craft/artwork and also to expand economic opportunities in this informal sector.
Career Management in Tourist Guidance
Authors: Esen Funda Ön , Bahar Ozan
Published: July 2018

Today, one of the most important concepts in terms of human resources is a career. Today, many people are setting individual career goals for their work life and trying to improve their performance in order to achieve them, and many businesses are making great efforts to create career plans for the personnel that they employ and to implement them successfully. Career may not hold the same meaning for everyone. For some, a career is advancing in their work, for some achieving higher positions, for some improving themselves, and for some realizing themselves. In today's competitive conditions, where career is becoming more and more important both in terms of businesses and employees, tourism enterprises that want to gain an advantage over the target market and professional tourist guides representing countries, cultures, and people of the country must place importance on career management. Focusing on the importance of career management and career development practices in terms of tourist guides, this study assesses career management practices that can be used to improve the personal accomplishments and performances of tourist guides, as well as perform their profession correctly and promote employee and tourist satisfaction.
Alternative Accommodation Businesses Within the Context of Future Jobs in the Tourism Industry
Authors: Gökdeniz Ayhan
Published: July 2018

The rapid development of transportation and communication technologies, improvements in distribution of income, and expansion of the right to vacation to masses are growing the tourism market all over the world. The demands are diversifying and different sub-markets that address the increasingly varied understandings of vacation and accommodation are emerging in the growing tourism market. This study is the summary of the project TR/22/TRA2/0005 supported by the GMKA within the Financial Assistance Programs in 2013 and completed on February 21, 2014. Additionally, in this study, the activities carried out within the scope of the project were examined especially in terms of the webpage, tangible outputs of the project have shed some light on the future of secondary homes, and concrete suggestions were offered in terms of work to be done hereafter. This study has examined alternative accommodation businesses as a new field of work that sheds light on the future of the tourism sector. In this framework, alternative accommodation businesses (such as Airbnb, HomeAway) are discussed.
The Role of the Organizational Actor in the Process of Social Transformation in Territories
Authors: Correia Suzanne Érica Nóbrega , Macário de Oliveira Verônica , Goméz Carla Regina Pasa
Published: July 2018

To discuss the role of the organizational actor in the process of social transformation in territories as a promoter of social gains and responses is what this chapter is all about. The discussion was carried out through theoretical landmarks on social innovation, and an empirical study in the articulation of the semi-arid (SAA) organization, which is aimed at creating conditions for coexistence with the most arid region of Brazil. Results show that the organizational actor plays the roles of enhancing the society capacity to act, to create new roles and relationships with the other actors, and to promote access to resources, thus enabling family farmers to better meet their own needs. It is concluded that the social innovation initiative studied is characterized by its dissemination in sync with specific actions articulated in a network and adapted to the contexts, with the organizational actor as the pivot and representative of the paradigmatic transition.
Learning Processes in Impact Communities
Authors: Oliveira Lídia , Melro Ana Luísa Rego
Published: July 2018

Engagement processes are facing a lot of challenges since the boom of the IT. This is true when there is a face-to-face engagement process, but also when the ties are mostly virtual. Nowadays, access to social networks, platforms for content posting and sharing (blogs, wikis, etc.), and for collaborative work are changing the way people engage. Those tools have enriched the processes, but also initiated new challenges. Knowledge sharing and transfer are processes that occur when several factors are combined. One of them, and the most important, is the existence of human critical mass capable of thinking the world and finding ways of changing it for the better, in this specific case social entrepreneurship. The authors studied a pilot of an impact community, its path, and the challenges it has faced. They also implemented four interviews to specialists in the areas of networks, social entrepreneurship, and learning.
Social Online Networks as Spaces of Knowledge Creation, Management, and Dissemination
Authors: Ribeiro Raimunda Araujo , Oliveira Lídia , Furtado Cassia Cordeiro
Published: July 2018

This chapter presents the purposes, uses, and perceptions of Luso-Brazilian lecturers/researchers in the information science and documentation area on the use of online social networks in academic environments as spaces for communication, collaboration, interaction, and availability of content, in the paradigm of science 2.0. To answer the questions and the objective outlined, a survey questionnaire was applied, including both multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions. The questionnaire was made available, in an online platform, to teachers/researchers linked to post-graduate programs in the area of information science in Brazil and Portugal.
Visualizing Historical Patterns in Large Educational Datasets
Authors: Martins Tiago , Gonçalves Daniel , Gama Sandra
Published: July 2018

With the increase in the number of students worldwide, it has become difficult for teachers to track their students or even for institutions themselves to identify anomalies in degrees and courses. The sheer amount of data makes such an analysis a daunting task. A possible solution to overcome this problem is the use of interactive information visualization. In this article, the authors developed a visualization that allows users to explore and analyze large datasets of academic performance data allowing the analysis and discovery of temporal evolution patterns for courses, degrees and professors. The authors applied the techniques to fourteen years of data for all students, courses, and degrees of a Portuguese engineering college. The system's usability and usefulness were tested, confirming its ability to allow analysts to efficiently and effectively understand patterns in the data.
The Lives of Others
Authors: Antonio Rui , Mendes da Silva Bruno , Rodrigues João M.F. , Tavares Mirian Nogueira
Published: July 2018

“The lives of others” is an interactive audiovisual installation that is based on a voyeuristic approach of the binomial inside / outside and private / public, between the finished product presentable to the public and the mechanism that generates it. This mechanism consisting of physical devices and logical-mathematical instructions usually remains in the private sphere, is the interior of the work that is not seen, which belongs only to the creator / author. “the lives of others” quest for demystify the separation of the visual apparatus and the mechanism that generates this external system, making both visible and bringing to the public sphere the elements usually hidden.