bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE DOUBLE-PEAKED SN 2013ge: A TYPE Ib/c SN WITH AN ASYMMETRIC MASS EJECTION OR AN EXTENDED PROGENITOR ENVELOPE
Authors: Drout M. R. , Milisavljevic D. , Parrent J. , Margutti R. , Kamble A. , Soderberg A. M. , Challis P. , Chornock R. , Fong W. , Frank S. , Gehrels N. , Graham M. L. , Hsiao E. , Itagaki K. , Kasliwal M. , Kirshner R. P. , Macomb D. , Marion G. H. , Norris J. , Phillips M. M.
Published: April 2016

We present extensive multiwavelength (radio to X-ray) observations of the Type Ib/c supernova (SN Ib/c) SN 2013ge from −13 to +457 days relative to maximum light, including a series of optical spectra and Swift UV–optical photometry beginning 2–4 days post-explosion. This data set makes SN 2013ge one of the best-observed normal SNe Ib/c at early times—when the light curve is particularly sensitive to the progenitor configuration and mixing of radioactive elements—and reveals two distinct light curve components in the UV bands. The first component rises over 4–5 days and is visible for the first week post-explosion. Spectra of the first component have blue continua and show a plethora of moderately high velocity (∼15,000 km s−1) but narrow (∼3500 km s−1) spectroscopic features, indicating that the line-forming region is restricted. The explosion parameters estimated for the bulk explosion (

M

ej

∼ 2–3

M

⊙

;

E

K

∼ (1–2) × 1051 erg) are standard for SNe Ib/c, and there is evidence for weak He features at early times—in an object that would have otherwise been classified as Type Ic. In addition, SN 2013ge exploded in a low-metallicity environment (∼0.5

Z

⊙

), and we have obtained some of the deepest radio and X-ray limits for an SN Ib/c to date, which constrain the progenitor mass-loss rate to be

M

˙

< 4 × 10−6 

M

⊙

yr−1. We are left with two distinct progenitor scenarios for SN 2013ge, depending on our interpretation of the early emission. If the first component is cooling envelope emission, then the progenitor of SN 2013ge either possessed an extended (≳30

R

⊙

) envelope or ejected a portion of its envelope in the final

≲
1

yr before core collapse. Alternatively, if the first component is due to outwardly mixed 56Ni, then our observations are consistent with the asymmetric ejection of a distinct clump of nickel-rich material at high velocities. Current models for the collision of an SN shock with a binary companion cannot reproduce both the timescale and luminosity of the early emission in SN 2013ge. Finally, the spectra of the first component of SN 2013ge are similar to those of the rapidly declining SN 2002bj.
A COMPREHENSIVE INVESTIGATION ON THE SLOWING DOWN OF COSMIC ACCELERATION
Authors: Wang Shuang , Hu Yazhou , Li Miao , Li Nan
Published: April 2016

Shafieloo et al. first proposed the possibility that the current cosmic acceleration (CA) is slowing down. However, this is rather counterintuitive because a slowing down CA cannot be accommodated in most mainstream cosmological models. In this work, by exploring the evolutionary trajectories of the dark energy equation of state w(z) and deceleration parameter q(z), we present a comprehensive investigation on the slowing down of CA from both the theoretical and the observational sides. For the theoretical side, we study the impact of different w(z) using six parametrization models, and then we discuss the effects of spatial curvature. For the observational side, we investigate the effects of different type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO), and cosmic microwave background (CMB) data. We find that (1) the evolution of CA is insensitive to the specific form of

w

(
z
)

;

in contrast, a non-flat universe favors a slowing down CA more than a flat universe. (2) SNLS3 SNe Ia data sets favor a slowing down CA at a 1σ confidence level, while JLA SNe Ia samples prefer an eternal CA; in contrast, the effects of different BAO data are negligible. (3) Compared with CMB distance prior data, full CMB data favor a slowing down CA more. (4) Due to the low significance, the slowing down of CA is still a theoretical possibility that cannot be confirmed by the current observations.
PATTERNS OF ACTIVITY IN A GLOBAL MODEL OF A SOLAR ACTIVE REGION
Authors: Bradshaw S. J. , Viall N. M.
Published: April 2016

In this work we investigate the global activity patterns predicted from a model active region heated by distributions of nanoflares that have a range of frequencies. What differs is the average frequency of the distributions. The activity patterns are manifested in time lag maps of narrow-band instrument channel pairs. We combine hydrodynamic and forward modeling codes with a magnetic field extrapolation to create a model active region and apply the time lag method to synthetic observations. Our aim is not to reproduce a particular set of observations in detail, but to recover some typical properties and patterns observed in active regions. Our key findings are the following. (1) Cooling dominates the time lag signature and the time lags between the channel pairs are generally consistent with observed values. (2) Shorter coronal loops in the core cool more quickly than longer loops at the periphery. (3) All channel pairs show zero time lag when the line of sight passes through coronal loop footpoints. (4) There is strong evidence that plasma must be re-energized on a timescale comparable to the cooling timescale to reproduce the observed coronal activity, but it is likely that a relatively broad spectrum of heating frequencies are operating across active regions. (5) Due to their highly dynamic nature, we find nanoflare trains produce zero time lags along entire flux tubes in our model active region that are seen between the same channel pairs in observed active regions.
PROVIDING STRINGENT STAR FORMATION RATE LIMITS OF z ∼ 2 QSO HOST GALAXIES AT HIGH ANGULAR RESOLUTION
Authors: Vayner Andrey , Wright Shelley A. , Do Tuan , Larkin James E. , Armus Lee , Gallagher S. C.
Published: April 2016

We present integral field spectrograph (IFS) with laser guide star adaptive optics (LGS-AO) observations of z ∼ 2 quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) designed to resolve extended nebular line emission from the host galaxy. Our data was obtained with W. M. Keck and Gemini North Observatories, using OSIRIS and NIFS coupled with the LGS-AO systems, respectively. We have conducted a pilot survey of five QSOs, three observed with NIFS+AO and two observed with OSIRIS+AO at an average redshift of z = 2.2. We demonstrate that the combination of AO and IFSs provides the necessary spatial and spectral resolutions required to separate QSO emission from its host. We present our technique for generating a point-spread function (PSF) from the broad-line region of the QSO and performing PSF subtraction of the QSO emission to detect the host galaxy emission at a separation of ∼0.″2 (∼1.4 kpc). We detect Hα narrow-line emission for two sources, SDSS J1029+6510 (z
Hα
= 2.182) and SDSS J0925+0655 (z
Hα
= 2.197), that have evidence for both star formation and extended narrow-line emission. Assuming that the majority of narrow-line Hα emission is from star formation, we infer a star formation rate (SFR) for SDSS J1029+6510 of 78.4 M
⊙ yr−1 originating from a compact region that is kinematically offset by 290–350 km s−1. For SDSS J0925+0655 we infer a SFR of 29 M
⊙ yr−1 distributed over three clumps that are spatially offset by ∼7 kpc. The null detections on three of the QSOs are used to infer surface brightness limits and we find that at 1.4 kpc from the QSO the un-reddened star formation limit is ≲0.3 M
⊙ yr−1 kpc−2. If we assume typical extinction values for z = 2 type-1 QSOs, the dereddened SFR for our null detections would be ≲0.6 M
⊙ yr−1 kpc−2. These IFS observations indicate that while the central black hole is accreting mass at 10%–40% of the Eddington rate, if star formation is present in the host (1.4–20 kpc) it would have to occur diffusely with significant extinction and not in compact, clumpy regions.
EVIDENCE FOR REFLECTED LIGHT FROM THE MOST ECCENTRIC EXOPLANET KNOWN
Authors: Kane Stephen R. , Wittenmyer Robert A. , Hinkel Natalie R. , Roy Arpita , Mahadevan Suvrath , Dragomir Diana , Matthews Jaymie M. , Henry Gregory W. , Chakraborty Abhijit , Boyajian Tabetha S. , Wright Jason T. , Ciardi David R. , Fischer Debra A. , Butler R. Paul , Tinney C. G. , Carter Brad D. , Jones Hugh R. A. , Bailey Jeremy , O’Toole Simon J.
Published: April 2016

Planets in highly eccentric orbits form a class of objects not seen within our solar system. The most extreme case known among these objects is the planet orbiting HD 20782, with an orbital period of 597 days and an eccentricity of 0.96. Here we present new data and analysis for this system as part of the Transit Ephemeris Refinement and Monitoring Survey. We obtained CHIRON spectra to perform an independent estimation of the fundamental stellar parameters. New radial velocities from Anglo-Australian Telescope and PARAS observations during periastron passage greatly improve our knowledge of the eccentric nature of the orbit. The combined analysis of our Keplerian orbital and Hipparcos astrometry show that the inclination of the planetary orbit is

>
1
.°
22

, ruling out stellar masses for the companion. Our long-term robotic photometry show that the star is extremely stable over long timescales. Photometric monitoring of the star during predicted transit and periastron times using Microvariability and Oscillations of STars rule out a transit of the planet and reveal evidence of phase variations during periastron. These possible photometric phase variations may be caused by reflected light from the planet’s atmosphere and the dramatic change in star–planet separation surrounding the periastron passage.
SYSTEMATIC AND STOCHASTIC VARIATIONS IN PULSAR DISPERSION MEASURES
Authors: Lam M. T. , Cordes J. M. , Chatterjee S. , Jones M. L. , McLaughlin M. A. , Armstrong J. W.
Published: April 2016

We analyze deterministic and random temporal variations in the dispersion measure (DM) from the full three-dimensional velocities of pulsars with respect to the solar system, combined with electron-density variations over a wide range of length scales. Previous treatments have largely ignored pulsars’ changing distances while favoring interpretations involving changes in sky position from transverse motion. Linear trends in pulsar DMs observed over 5–10 year timescales may signify sizable DM gradients in the interstellar medium (ISM) sampled by the changing direction of the line of sight to the pulsar. We show that motions parallel to the line of sight can also account for linear trends, for the apparent excess of DM variance over that extrapolated from scintillation measurements, and for the apparent non-Kolmogorov scalings of DM structure functions inferred in some cases. Pulsar motions through atomic gas may produce bow-shock ionized gas that also contributes to DM variations. We discuss the possible causes of periodic or quasi-periodic changes in DM, including seasonal changes in the ionosphere, annual variations of the solar elongation angle, structure in the heliosphere and ISM boundary, and substructure in the ISM. We assess the solar cycle’s role on the amplitude of ionospheric and solar wind variations. Interstellar refraction can produce cyclic timing variations from the error in transforming arrival times to the solar system barycenter. We apply our methods to DM time series and DM gradient measurements in the literature and assess their consistency with a Kolmogorov medium. Finally, we discuss the implications of DM modeling in precision pulsar timing experiments.
THE CRITICAL MASS RATIO OF DOUBLE WHITE DWARF BINARIES FOR VIOLENT MERGER-INDUCED TYPE IA SUPERNOVA EXPLOSIONS
Authors: Sato Yushi , Nakasato Naohito , Tanikawa Ataru , Nomoto Ken’ichi , Maeda Keiichi , Hachisu Izumi
Published: April 2016

Mergers of carbon–oxygen (CO) white dwarfs (WDs) are considered to be one of the potential progenitors of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). Recent hydrodynamical simulations showed that the less massive (secondary) WD violently accretes onto the more massive (primary) one, carbon detonation occurs, the detonation wave propagates through the primary, and the primary finally explodes as a sub-Chandrasekhar mass SN Ia. Such an explosion mechanism is called the violent merger scenario. Based on the smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations of merging CO WDs, we derived a critical mass ratio (q
cr) leading to the violent merger scenario that is more stringent than previous results. We conclude that this difference mainly comes from the differences in the initial condition of whether or not the WDs are synchronously spinning. Using our new results, we estimated the brightness distribution of SNe Ia in the violent merger scenario and compared it with previous studies. We found that our new q
cr does not significantly affect the brightness distribution. We present the direct outcome immediately following CO WD mergers for various primary masses and mass ratios. We also discussed the final fate of the central system of the bipolar planetary nebula Henize 2-428, which was recently suggested to be a double CO WD system whose total mass exceeds the Chandrasekhar-limiting mass, merging within the Hubble time. Even considering the uncertainties in the proposed binary parameters, we concluded that the final fate of this system is almost certainly a sub-Chandrasekhar mass SN Ia in the violent merger scenario.
De la République romaine à la République française : exemple historique et scénographie
Authors: Maingueneau Dominique
Published: April 2016

Cet article met en contraste deux exemples historiques (EH) liés à la Révolution française ; bien que séparés par plus de deux siècles, ils participent de la même culture politique. Le premier, un exemple historique verbal, ouvre un discours de Robespierre devant l’Assemblée constituante en faveur de l’abolition de la peine de mort (30 mai 1791) ; le second est emprunté à la profession de foi du candidat José Bové, lors des élections présidentielles de 2007. Cette étude permet de prendre la mesure de la diversité des modes d’inscription de l’EH dans un texte : il peut être localisé et explicite (Robespierre) ou structurer implicitement l’ensemble de l’argumentation (Bové). Elle permet aussi et surtout de montrer que l’EH atteint son rendement maximal quand il peut réfléchir les conditions mêmes de l’énonciation qui le convoque.
Figurer la dystopie pour éclairer l’utopie : une fonction de l’exemple historique
Authors: Danblon Emmanuelle
Published: April 2016

Dans cet article, on analyse la dystopie comme la mise en récit de l’EH comme dans sa fonction de guide vers une utopie. Les figures de l’énigme et de l’amplification sont analysées ici à partir de deux cas particuliers qui entretiennent un rapport différent à la mémoire orale.
Exemple historique, comparaison, analogie, métaphore : sont-ils interchangeables ?
Authors: Koren Roselyne
Published: April 2016

La lecture de publications scientifiques ou d’argumentaires profanes référant à l’emploi de l’exemple historique (EH) permet d’observer un phénomène inattendu : les auteurs de métadiscours critiques ayant l’EH pour objet cessent fréquemment de distinguer, dans le feu de la démonstration, entre exemple, comparaison, analogie ou encore métaphore historique. Ces notions surgissent alors plus ou moins simultanément sous la plume des auteurs et semblent être perçues comme interchangeables. Dans le registre scientifique, l’analogie est un « terme couvrant » qui englobe les notions de métaphore, de comparaison et d’exemple (Plantin 2011). Par ailleurs, l’EH des « années trente » et de ses crises économiques, politiques et sociales peut servir de cadre à un discours médiatique où ces notions apparaissent sans être clairement distinguées. La présente contribution entend explorer les voies qui mènent d’un argument à l’autre et mettent sur le même plan des figures fondant la structure du réel comme l’EH, l’analogie ou la métaphore et des figures ayant la structure préalable du réel référentiel pour fondement comme la comparaison, argument « quasi-logique ». On analyse deux exemples types, un article consacré à l’accusation de « populisme » et à l’EH des années trente et l’article d’un historien, « Un nazisme tropical », et on propose quelques hypothèses explicatives concernant la porosité de frontières pourtant bien réelles entre l’EH et l’analogie ou la comparaison.
Historia Magistra Vitae : Le topos de « l’Histoire comme maître de la vie » dans les controverses publiques sur la représentation de Soi et de l’Autre
Authors: Forchtner Bernhard
Published: April 2016

L’idée que « le passé » puisse contribuer à mieux guider le présent est un topos populaire dans les débats publics. En recherchant la manière dont ce topos de la historia magistra vitae peut être utilisé dans des discours, des représentations et leurs conséquences, cet article cherche à voir comment des affirmations qui disent avoir appris « les leçons » du passé peuvent donner un sens à des acteurs, des événements, des objets et des processus contemporains. On pose donc des questions telles que « sur quels passés et quels présents ce topos se base-t-il ? » et « à quelles conclusions possibles accède-t-on dans l’utilisation de ce topos dans des luttes publiques sur la ligne de démarcation entre “eux” et “nous” ? » Au lieu de proposer une étude de cas, cet article offre une typologie abstraite de telles affirmations, en conceptualisant quatre sortes d’utilisation : les rhétoriques de jugement, les rhétoriques de l’échec, les rhétoriques de repentance, et les rhétoriques de jugement-repentance. Ce faisant, il établit une distinction minutieuse entre ces diverses utilisations, et procure un cadre qui permettra de mieux les comprendre à travers une série de cas.
From Data-Centered to Activity-Centered Geospatial Visualizations
Authors: Buchel Olga , Sedig Kamran
Published: April 2016

As geospatial visualizations grow in popularity, their role in human activities is also evolving. While maps have been used to support higher-level cognitive activities such as decision-making, sense making, and knowledge discovery, traditionally their use in such activities has been partial. Nowadays they are being used at various stages of such activities. This trend is simultaneously being accompanied with another shift: a movement from the design and use of data-centered geospatial visualizations to activity-centered visualizations. Data-centered visualizations are primarily focused on representation of data from data layers; activity-centered visualizations, not only represent the data layers, but also focus on users' needs and real-world activities—such as storytelling and comparing data layers with other information. Examples of this shift are being seen in some mashup techniques that deviate from standard data-driven visualization designs. Beyond the discussion of the needed shift, this chapter presents ideas for designing human-activity-centered geospatial visualizations.
Built Environment and Driving Outcomes
Authors: Wang Xiaoguang , Kostyniuk Lidia , Barnes Michelle
Published: April 2016

This study demonstrates a segment-based approach to integrate GIS and GPS data to address questions about the connections between the built environment and travel behaviors. Methods and challenges of GPS/GIS integration are discussed, and an application integrating GPS naturalistic driving data from Southeast Michigan together with GIS data from several sources is demonstrated. The integrated dataset is used to explore connections between the built environment and driving behavior, specifically between business concentration, driving speed, vehicle stops and rear-end crashes. Driving speed, an important determinant of driver behavior linked to traffic safety, is found to be inversely related to business concentration, a pattern that does not vary by time of day. Rear-end crashes are found to increase with vehicle stops which increase with business concentration. This demonstration showed that fusing GPS and GPS data provides spatial intelligence which can be used to address planning, traffic safety, and transportation related issues.
Revolutionary and Evolutionary Technology Design Processes in Location-Based Interactions
Authors: FitzGerald Elizabeth , Adams Anne
Published: April 2016

Development and deployment of location-based systems is a key consideration in the design of new mobile technologies. Critical to the design process is to understand and manage the expectations of stakeholders (including funders, research partners and end users) for these systems. In particular, the way in which expectations impact upon technology development choices between small-scale, ‘high tech' innovations or larger scalable solutions. This paper describes the differences in a revolutionary design process (for ‘high tech' prototypes or catwalk technologies) versus an evolutionary design process (for scalable or prêt-a-porter systems), as exemplified in two location-based mobile interaction case studies. One case study exemplifies a revolutionary design process and resultant system, and the other an evolutionary design process and system. The use of these case studies is a clear natural progression from the paper that first described the concept of ‘catwalk technologies' (Adams et al, 2013), which itself drew upon research that used mobile devices for outdoor 'in the wild' locations. This paper presents a set list of fifteen heuristic guidelines based upon an analysis of these case studies. These heuristics present characteristics and key differences between the two types of design process. This paper provides a key reference point for researchers, developers and the academic community as a whole, when defining a project rationale for designing and developing technical systems. In addition, we refer to the role of the researcher/research team in terms of guiding and managing stakeholder and research team expectations and how this relates to the planning and deployment of catwalk or prêt-à-porter technologies. Lastly, we state how this research has vital implications for planning and enacting interventions and sequences of interactions with stakeholders and, crucially, in the planning of future research projects.
Using Temporal Versioning and Integrity Constraints for Updating Geographic Databases and Maintaining Their Consistency
Authors: Jaziri Wassim , Sassi Najla , Damak Dhouha
Published: April 2016

The use of geographic data has become a widespread concern, mainly within applications related to spatial planning and spatial decision-making. Therefore, changing environments require databases adaptable to changes that occur over time. Thus, supporting geographic information evolution is essential and extremely important within changing environments. The evolution is expressed in the geographic database by series of update operations that should maintain its consistency. This paper proposes an approach for updating geographic databases, based on update operators and algorithms of constraints integrity checking. Temporal versioning is used to keep the track of changes. Every version presents the state of the geographic database at a given time. Algorithms of constraints integrity checking allow maintaining the database consistency upon its update. To implement our approach and assist users in the evolution process, the GeoVersioning tool is developed and tested on a sample geographic database.
Uberveillance
Authors: Hayes Alexander
Published: April 2016

The intensification and diversification of surveillance in recent decades is now being considered within a contemporary theoretical and academic framework. The ambiguity of the term ‘surveillance' and the surreptitiousness of its application must now be re-considered amidst the emergent concept of Uberveillance. This chapter presents three cases of organisations that are currently poised or already engaging in projects using location-enabled point-of-view wearable technologies. Reference is made to additional cases, project examples, and testimonials including the Australian Federal Police, Northern Territory Fire Police and Emergency Services, and other projects funded in 2010 and 2011 by the former Australian Flexible Learning Framework (AFLF), now the National VET E-learning Strategy (NVELS). This chapter also examines the use of location-enabled POV (point-of-view) or Body Wearable Video (BWV) camera technologies in a crime, law, and national security context, referencing cross-sectoral and inter-disciplinary opinions as to the perceived benefits and the socio-ethical implications of these pervasive technologies.
Exploration of Location-Based Services Adoption
Authors: McKenna Brad , Tuunanen Tuure , Gardner Lesley A.
Published: April 2016

The purpose of this chapter is to explore aspects of user perceptions of their use of location-based services. As mobile technologies become more ubiquitous in the general population, it is reasonable to assume that individuals will consume services and software to enhance their aspirations and entertainment desires. This study begins by constructing a location-based service prototype simulation. It then conducts an experiment and analysis based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. A survey was developed to extract usage information from participants, followed by an analysis of the results using PLS. The analysis shows significant indicators that suggest behaviour patterns of early adopters of location-based services are being observed. This chapter applies the UTAUT model using a location-based service experiment to understand the underlying perceptions of individuals who may adopt location-based services. The authors study the effects of multiple parameters on the use of a location-based service simulation. Through this simulation and a following survey, current perceptions of LBS are investigated and insights gained.
Employing a Mixed Method to Explore Mobile Social Media Users' Big Data Privacy Concerns
Authors: Yang Kenneth C. C. , Kang Yowei
Published: April 2016

Since its introduction in the early 21st century, mobile social media have played an indispensable part in contemporary human experiences. The convergence of social networking and mobile technologies and services creates a fascinating circumstance because the pervasive nature of mobile social networking technologies has impacted on users' privacy. The chapter employed a mixed research method to collect and analyze mobile social media users' experiences and privacy concerns in the age of Big Data. A total of 57 participants were included in this study. Collected data was analyzed by examining mobile social media users' experiences and their concerns over privacy. Findings from this study showed the rising concerns over personal privacy as a result of convergence of mobile social media and Big Data practices by the advertising industry. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.
Information Visualization Techniques for Big Data
Authors: Hsu William H.
Published: April 2016

This chapter presents challenges and recommended practices for visualizing data about phenomena that are observed or simulated across space and time. Some data may be collected for the express purpose of answering questions through quantitative analysis and simulation, especially about future occurrences or continuations of the phenomena – that is, prediction. In this case, analytical computations may serve two purposes: to prepare the data for presentation and to answer questions by producing information, especially an informative model, that can also be visualized. These purposes may have significant overlap. Thus, the focus of the chapter is about analytical techniques for visual display of quantitative data and information that scale up to large data sets. It begins by surveying trends in educational and scientific use of visualization and reviewing taxonomies of data to be visualized. Next, it reviews aspects of spatiotemporal data that pose challenges, such as heterogeneity and scale, along with techniques for dealing specifically with geospatial data and text. An exploration of concrete applications then follows. Finally, tenets of information visualization design, put forward by Tufte and other experts on data representation and presentation, are considered in the context of analytical applications for heterogeneous data in spatiotemporal domains.
Which Way Is Up?
Authors: Farrelly Glen
Published: April 2016

Despite the growing prominence of locative media, its potential influence on our relationships to our places has not been well understood. Based on previous studies, this paper argues that locative media can affect our spatial relationships in various ways and thereby improve our sense of place. To understand how this can be accomplished it is important to examine the features and affordances of the medium along with user practices and outcomes in relation to place. A brief history of locative media is offered to demonstrate a progression from an early focus on wayfinding to current applications that offer a variety of place-related experiences. Subsequent sections outline four qualities about locative media that combine to differentiate it from other media in regards to place, which are its interactivity, reach, mobility, and vocality. The possible user outcomes of social navigation, autobiographical insideness, defamiliarization and refamiliarlization, and spatial interaction are examined as ways in which locative media can enhance sense of place.
New Developments in Geographical Information Technology for Urban and Spatial Planning
Authors: Tenedório José António , Rebelo Carla , Estanqueiro Rossana , Henriques Cristina Delgado , Marques Luís , Gonçalves José Alberto
Published: April 2016

Measuring urban form, modelling 3D point clouds and visualizing data within an (augmented) mixed reality environment through mobile devices are three of the new developments in Geographical Information Technology for urban and spatial planning. New geographical information technology supports data representation for urban and spatial planning. This chapter has two main objectives: (i) to demonstrate that geographical information technology supports every stage of urban and spatial planning, and (ii) to argue that technologies are a means for the external representation of cities and territories. The chapter sections include measuring urban form (quantitative analysis of urban shape), modelling 3D point clouds for the extraction of urban parameters, and the visualization of virtual models through mobile devices.
Green Marketing Initiatives and Sustainable Issues in Hotel Industry
Authors: Kasliwal Neeti , Agarwal Srishti
Published: April 2016

With the fast degradation of the environment and changing lifestyle of the consumers, the companies have started moving towards the concept of green marketing. Although green marketing has been able to address concerns of green consumers but as anticipated has not shown much expected results from companies as well as from mainstream consumers' acceptance level. This chapter is an attempt to draw attention towards sustainable issues in hotel industry, what are the opportunities' and challenges' the hotels are facing with respect to green initiatives and how successful the present companies are in incorporating the green practices. The authors conclude the chapter giving the focus on future research directions in green marketing and green practices to be followed by hotel industry.
Corporate Online Reporting and Their Determinants in Indian Services Sector
Authors: Soriya Sushila , Dhaigude Amol S.
Published: April 2016

The study examines the status of corporate online reporting in the Indian services sector. It also explores the pattern and determinants affecting corporate online reporting. The paper uses content analysis for investigating the level and extent of corporate online reporting. A corporate online reporting index has been developed for the study, dividing the frame into three major headings namely, general, financial and presentation indexes. OLS regression is used for checking the determinants affecting corporate online disclosure. The study yields three major findings. First, results reveal that corporate online reporting measured by the three different indexes has a significant relationship with the size of the hotel. Second, there is negative and significant association between certain key determinants such as productivity, shareholders profitability and liquidity of the companies. Finally, other determinants such as profitability, leverage and growth are not significantly associated with corporate online reporting of the Indian service sector firms. The paper is built around the concept of transparency and reporting on the web that may facilitate the investors and stakeholders. The result is a novel approach to discuss corporate online reporting and transparency that contributes to other critical voices concerned about the value and effects of corporate online reporting.
Cloud Federations
Authors: Assis Marcio R. M. , Bittencourt Luiz Fernando , Tolosana-Calasanz Rafael , Lee Craig A.
Published: April 2016

With the maturation of the Cloud Computing, the eyes of the scientific community and specialized commercial institutions have turned to research related to the use of multiple clouds. The main reason for this interest is the limitations that many cloud providers individually face to meet all the inherent characteristics of this paradigm. Therefore, using multiple cloud organizations opens the opportunity for the providers to consume resources with more attractive prices, increase the resilience as well as to monetize their own idle resources. When considering customers, problems as interruption of services, lack of interoperability that lead to lock-in and loss of quality of services due to locality are presented as limiting to the adoption of Cloud Computing. This chapter presents an introduction to conceptual characterization of Cloud Federation. Moreover, it presents the challenges in implementing federation architectures, requirements for the development of this type of organization and the relevant architecture proposals.
Highly Available Fault-Tolerant Cloud Database Services
Authors: Jaiswal Chetan , Kumar Vijay
Published: April 2016

Legacy database systems manage transactions under a concurrency control and a recovery protocol. The underlying operating system creates transaction execution platform and the database executes transactions concurrently. When the database system fails then the recovery manager applies “Undo” and/or “Redo” operations (depending upon the recovery protocol) to achieve the consistent state of the database. The recovery manager performs these set of operations as required by transaction execution platform. The availability of “Virtual” machines on cloud has given us an architecture that makes it possible to eliminate the effect of system or transaction failure by always taking the database to the next consistent state. We present a novel scheme of eliminating the effect of such failure by applying transaction “roll-forward” which resumes its execution from the point of failure. We refer to our system as AAP (Always Ahead Processing). Our work enables cloud providers to offer transactional HA-DBMS as an option that too with multiple data sources not necessarily relational.
Federated IaaS Resource Brokerage
Authors: Veloso Bruno , Meireles Fernando , Malheiro Benedita , Burguillo Juan Carlos
Published: April 2016

This paper presents the CloudAnchor brokerage platform for the transaction of single provider as well as federated Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) resources. The platform, which is a layered Multi-Agent System (MAS), provides multiple services, including (consumer or provider) business registration and deregistration, provider coalition creation and termination, provider lookup and invitation and negotiation services regarding brokerage, coalitions and resources. Providers, consumers and virtual providers, representing provider coalitions, are modelled by dedicated agents within the platform. The main goal of the platform is to negotiate and establish Service Level Agreements (SLA). In particular, the platform contemplates the establishment of brokerage SLA – bSLA – between the platform and each provider or consumer, coalition SLA – cSLA – between the members of a coalition of providers and resource SLA – rSLA – between a consumer and a provider. Federated resources are detained and negotiated by virtual providers on behalf of the corresponding coalitions of providers.
GPGPU as a Service
Authors: Prades Javier , Campos Fernando , Reaño Carlos , Silla Federico
Published: April 2016

Current data centers leverage virtual machines (VMs) in order to efficiently use hardware resources. VMs allow reducing equipment acquisition costs as well as decreasing overall energy consumption. However, although VMs have noticeably evolved to make a smart use of the underlying hardware, the use of GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) for General Purpose computing (GPGPU) is still not efficiently supported. This concern might be addressed by remote GPU virtualization solutions, which may provide VMs with GPUs located in a remote node, detached from the host where the VMs are being executed. This chapter presents an in-depth analysis about how to provide GPU access to applications running inside VMs. This analysis is complemented with experimental results which show that the use of remote GPU virtualization is an effective mechanism to provide GPU access to applications with negligible overheads. Finally, the approach is presented in the context of cloud federations for providing GPGPU as a Service.
Exploring the Research Domain of IT Governance in the SME Context
Authors: Huygh Tim , De Haes Steven
Published: April 2016

This research aims to explore the research domain of IT governance in the SME context. To meet this objective, a small systematic literature review procedure is used. Results indicate that IT governance in the SME context has been researched previously, albeit not extensively. There seems to be consensus among authors that IT governance is important for SMEs as well as larger organizations. Additionally, many authors indicate that SME specificities will likely influence the nature and implementation of IT governance in the SME context. There also appears to be no great variety in research strategies used in this niche research domain. Regarding the contemporary state of IT governance in SMEs, authors seem to indicate that there is room for improvement. Finally, there is no published framework for IT governance that is tailored for SMEs, although the need for this is directly reported in the literature. This paper concludes by discussing some potential directions for future research, starting from the state-of-the-art of the research domain.
Traffic Analysis Based on Short Texts from Social Media
Authors: Saldana-Perez Ana Maria Magdalena , Moreno-Ibarra Marco
Published: April 2016

Social networks provide information about activities of humans and social events. Thus, with the help of social networks, we can extract the traffic events that occur in a city. In the context of an urban area, this kind of data allows to obtaining contextual real-time information shared among citizens that will be useful to address social, environmental and economic issues. In this paper, the authors describe a methodology to obtain information related to traffic events such as accidents or congestion, from Twitter messages and RSS services. A text mining process is applied on the messages to acquire the relevant data, then data are classified by using a machine learning algorithm. The events are geocoded and transformed into geometric points to be represented on a map. The final repository lets data to be available for further works related to the traffic events on the study area. As a case of study we consider Mexico City.
Urban Computing and Smart Cities Applications for the Knowledge Society
Authors: Torres-Ruiz Miguel J. , Lytras Miltiadis D.
Published: April 2016

During the last years, we faced a tremendous development of mobile sensing applications powered by innovative technologies related to ubiquitous and pervasive computing, volunteered geographic information, crowdsourcing and social networks. Nowadays, we are living in the next digitally enriched generation of social media in which communication and interaction for user-generated content is mainly focused on improving the sustainability of smart cities. Thus, urban computing is defined as the technology for acquisition, integration, and analysis of big and heterogeneous data generated by a diversity of sources in urban spaces, such as sensors, devices, vehicles, buildings, and human, for tackling the major issues that cities face. Moreover, this technology is seeking ways to reduce inefficiencies and to be more agile in responding to citizens' needs in order to create smart cities. In this position paper, we address the content to describe the urban applications and the challenges for open research problems that are presented in the big cities.
A Comprehensive Review of Particle Swarm Optimization
Authors: Benuwa Ben Bright , Ghansah Benjamin , Wornyo Dickson Keddy , Adabunu Sefakor Awurama
Published: April 2016

Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is a heuristic global optimization method. PSO was motivated by the social behavior of organisms, such as bird flocking, fish schooling and human social relations. Its properties of low constraint on the continuity of objective function and the ability to adapt various dynamic environments, makes PSO one of the most important swarm intelligence algorithms and ostensibly the most commonly used optimization technique. This survey presents a comprehensive investigation of PSO and in particular, a proposed theoretical framework to improve its implementation. We hope that this survey would be beneficial to researchers studying PSO algorithms and would also serve as the substratum for future research in the study area, particularly those pursuing their career in artificial intelligence. In the end, some important conclusions and possible research directions of PSO that need to be studied in the future are proposed.
Frequency Analysis of Lean Manufacturing System by Different Critical Issues in Indian Automotive Industries
Authors: Nallusamy S.
Published: April 2016

Lean manufacturing system sees to the exclusion of non value added activities in the industrial atmosphere and reorganizes the existing production procedures, processes to attain enhancement in terms of cost reduction, increase in quality and profit. The objective of this research article is to recognize the critical issues of lean execution and to assess their role of critical issues in organisational performance. Business type, Usage period of lean, Benefits achieved through lean, Occurrence of lean activities, Turnover rate, Employees training, Percentage of customer satisfaction and Delivery defect rate in Indian automotive industries are the different critical issues considered to measure the impact of lean system. An experimental study was conducted through a well structured questionnaire circulated to employees at various levels in the automotive manufacturing industries in Tamilnadu for arriving at the objectives. Frequency analysis was carried out for various critical issues and the results have been tabularized in order to find out the hypothetical co-relations between the various issues. Each issue has been a reason for lean production success, which is proved using the hypothesis testing. The findings through hypothetical means of survey reveals that, both industrial and employees performance has found to be absolutely affected by successful lean implementation in Indian automotive industries.
Stabilization Potential of Cement Kiln Dust Treated Lateritic Soil
Authors: Oluremi Johnson R. , Siddique Rafat , Adeboje Ekundayo P.
Published: April 2016

A dark reddish-brown lateritic soil collected from existing borrow pit abandoned by Reynold Construction Company Ltd behind New WAZOBIA Market on Latitude 08008′N and Longitude 04014′E along Ogbomoso-Ilorin Express road, Ogbomoso, Oyo State. Nigeria was treated with cement kiln dust (CKD), a by-product of long wet kiln, obtained from West African Portland Cement Organisation (WAPCO), Ewekoro, Ogun State, Nigeria, under varying moulding water content.The results show gradual reduction in the plasticity index of the samples, decrease in the maximum dry densities (MDD) with corresponding increase in the optimum moisture contents (OMC) of the treated soil samples. The unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of the treated samples increases with both increase in the treatment content as well as compactive effort from British Standard (BS) to West African Standard (WAS) however, there was reduction in the UCS with varying moulding water content as the water content increases and decreases relative to optimum moisture content. The maximum UCS was obtained at optimum moisture content.Cement kiln dust though regarded as waste can therefore serve as potential material in the stabilization of the lateritic soil when compacted at moisture content within its OMC.
Diagnostic Challenge of Desmoplastic Melanoma
Authors: Andreevscaia Olga , Theate Ivan , Goossens Cathy , Vanhooteghem Olivier
Published: April 2016

Desmoplastic melanoma (DM) is a rare variant of spindle-cell malignant melanoma. DM is easily misdiagnosed at an early stage because it can be confused with benign entities. Histological analysis, including careful attention to the presence of atypical spindle cells, as well as to lymphocytic aggregates in an abundant fibrotic stroma in the dermis, provides clues for diagnosis. The adjunction of an immunohistochemical panel, and particularly testing for S-100 protein, is needed for the final diagnosis.
Cancers in Young Patients in Uyo (Niger-delta Region of Nigeria): Magnitude of the Problem and Histopathological Prolife
Authors: Abudu Emmanuel Kunle , Akinbami Oluyinka Samuel
Published: April 2016

Cancers are thought to be rarer in younger population, but emerging data show an increasing incidence of these diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinicopathological characteristics of cancer among young patients (≥30 years) in Uyo, Nigeria. All specimens were collected and reviewed during the period January 2007-December 2012; complete clinicopathological data were also considered. A total of 108 cases of proven cancers were diagnosed (3.4%), accounting for 14.1% of all malignancies. A male:female ratio of 1:3.2 was recorded. Among 0-14-year-old patients, the most common malignancy was embryonal cancer (50.0%), followed by non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (18.8%). Carcinoma of the breast and soft tissue sarcoma represent first and second cancers in those patients (40.7% and 13.0% respectively). Carcinoma of uterine cervix and nodal lymphomas were the third and fourth most common cancers respectively (10.2% and 7.4%), significantly higher in the 21-30 years and 0-10 years age groups. Invasive ductal carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, Kaposi sarcoma and Hodgkin's lymphoma were the most common histologic types of cancers in breast, uterine cervix, lymph node and soft tissue (79.6%, 90.0%, 44.4%, 50.0% respectively). This study shows that embryonal cancer was the most common malignancy in patients aged 0 to 14, while carcinoma of the breast and soft tissue sarcoma were the two most common cancers in patients from 5 to 30 years-old.