bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Feature Selection of Time Series MODIS Data for Early Crop Classification Using Random Forest: A Case Study in Kansas, USA
Authors: Hao Pengyu , Zhan Yulin , Wang Li , Niu Zheng , Shakir Muhammad
Published: April 2015

Currently, accurate information on crop area coverage is vital for food security and industry, and there is strong demand for timely crop mapping. In this study, we used MODIS time series data to investigate the effect of the time series length on crop mapping. Eight time series with different lengths (ranging from one month to eight months) were tested. For each time series, we first used the Random Forest (RF) algorithm to calculate the importance score for all features (including multi-spectral data, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), and phenological metrics). Subsequently, an extension of the Jeffries–Matusita (JM) distance was used to measure class separability for each time series. Finally, the RF algorithm was used to classify crop types, and the classification accuracy and certainty were used to analyze the influence of the time series length and the number of features on classification performance; the features were added one by one based on their importance scores. Results indicated that when the time series was longer than five months, the top ten features remained stable. These features were mainly in July and August. In addition, the NDVI features contributed the majority of the most significant features for crop mapping. The NDWI and data from multi-spectral bands also contributed to improving crop mapping. On the other hand, separability, classification accuracy, and certainty increased with the number of features used and the time series length, although these values quickly reached saturation. Five months was the optimal time series length, as longer time series provided no further improvement in the classification performance. This result shows that relatively short time series have the potential to identify crops accurately, which allows for early crop mapping over large areas.
A Resonant Pressure Microsensor Capable of Self-Temperature Compensation
Authors: Li Yinan , Wang Junbo , Luo Zhenyu , Chen Deyong , Chen Jian
Published: April 2015

Resonant pressure microsensors are widely used in the fields of aerospace exploration and atmospheric pressure monitoring due to their advantages of quasi-digital output and long-term stability, which, however, requires the use of additional temperature sensors for temperature compensation. This paper presents a resonant pressure microsensor capable of self-temperature compensation without the need for additional temperature sensors. Two doubly-clamped “H” type resonant beams were arranged on the pressure diaphragm, which functions as a differential output in response to pressure changes. Based on calibration of a group of intrinsic resonant frequencies at different pressure and temperature values, the functions with inputs of two resonant frequencies and outputs of temperature and pressure under measurement were obtained and thus the disturbance of temperature variations on resonant frequency shifts was properly addressed. Before compensation, the maximal errors of the measured pressure values were over 1.5% while after compensation, the errors were less than 0.01% of the full pressure scale (temperature range of −40 °C to 70 °C and pressure range of 50 kPa to 110 kPa).
Potential of acylated peptides to target the influenza A virus
Authors: Lauster Daniel , Pawolski Damian , Storm Julian , Ludwig Kai , Volkmer Rudolf , Memczak Henry , Herrmann Andreas , Bhatia Sumati
Published: April 2015

For antiviral drug design, especially in the field of influenza virus research, potent multivalent inhibitors raise high expectations for combating epidemics and pandemics. Among a large variety of covalent and non-covalent scaffold systems for a multivalent display of inhibitors, we created a simple supramolecular platform to enhance the antiviral effect of our recently developed antiviral Peptide B (PeBGF), preventing binding of influenza virus to the host cell. By conjugating the peptide with stearic acid to create a higher-order structure with a multivalent display, we could significantly enhance the inhibitory effect against the serotypes of both human pathogenic influenza virus A/Aichi/2/1968 H3N2, and avian pathogenic A/FPV/Rostock/34 H7N1 in the hemagglutination inhibition assay. Further, the inhibitory potential of stearylated PeBGF (C18-PeBGF) was investigated by infection inhibition assays, in which we achieved low micromolar inhibition constants against both viral strains. In addition, we compared C18-PeBGF to other published amphiphilic peptide inhibitors, such as the stearylated sugar receptor mimicking peptide (Matsubara et al. 2010), and the “Entry Blocker” (EB) (Jones et al. 2006), with respect to their antiviral activity against infection by Influenza A Virus (IAV) H3N2. However, while this strategy seems at a first glance promising, the native situation is quite different from our experimental model settings. First, we found a strong potential of those peptides to form large amyloid-like supramolecular assemblies. Second, in vivo, the large excess of cell surface membranes provides an unspecific target for the stearylated peptides. We show that acylated peptides insert into the lipid phase of such membranes. Eventually, our study reveals serious limitations of this type of self-assembling IAV inhibitors.
Baseline Prevalence and Emergence of Protease Inhibitor Resistance Mutations following Treatment in Chronic HCV Genotype-1-Infected Individuals
Authors: Nguyen Linh Thuy , Gray Emma , Dean Jonathan , Carr Michael , Connell Jeff , Gascun Cillian De , Nguyen Lan Anh , O'Leary Aisling , Bergin Colm , Hall William , Norris Suzanne
Published: April 2015

Background

The HCV NS3/4A serine protease inhibitors (PIs) boceprevir (BOC), telaprevir (TVR) and simeprevir (SMV) are approved for treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. The present study investigated the prevalence of HCV NS3 drug resistance mutations (DRMs) associated with HCV genotype-1-infected individuals at baseline and in viral breakthrough following BOC and TVR treatment.

Methods

HCV genotype-1-infected individuals were enrolled in a multicentre, prospective outcomes study. The HCV NS3 viral protease was analysed for DRMs at baseline ( n=164) and at viral breakthrough ( n=18) following BOC/ TVR treatment.

Results

Viral NS3 protease subtype analysis showed 65.2% (107/164) were HCV subtype-1a and 34.8% (57/164) were HCV subtype-1b infections. Naturally occurring PI DRMs in NS3 (V36L, T54S, V55A, Q80K/R and I132V) were identified in 57.3% (94/164) cases at baseline. The NS3 Q80K polymorphism was found in 43/107 (40.2%) of HCV subtype-1a and exclusively in clade 1 (43/82; 52.4%) versus clade 2 viruses (0/25; 0%, P<10-6). The pretreatment I132V variant was found in 78.9% (45/57) of subtype-1b. Of 18 patients who had viral breakthrough, the majority was subtype-1a (77.8%, 14/18). BOC/TVR-associated DRMs were detected in 94.4% (17/18), of which 64.7% (11/17) emerged on-treatment.

Conclusions

To ensure the most appropriate direct-acting antiviral-based treatment regimen is employed, baseline reporting of clade and resistance mutations for HCV sub-type-1a using nucleotide sequence-based analysis is warranted prior to commencement of therapy.
A preliminary inventory of the catfishes of the lower Rio Nhamundá, Brazil (Ostariophysi, Siluriformes)
Authors: Collins Rupert , Duarte Ribeiro Emanuell , Nogueira Machado Valéria , Hrbek Tomas , Farias Izeni
Published: April 2015

The Rio Nhamundá is a poorly-known clearwater river draining the southern Guiana Shield of Brazil. In this study we report the findings of a preliminary ichthyological survey, focusing on catfishes (Siluriformes). We identify a total of 36 species (31 genera, seven families) from the Nhamundá, including 11 species already recorded from the river. Overall, our survey results show that even rapid surveys can provide important information on Amazon fish biodiversity, suggesting potential new species, providing range extensions for nominal species, and additionally highlighting taxa in need of taxonomic revision and genetic study. As well as the traditional forms of data collected on biodiversity surveys (i.e. preserved specimen vouchers), our study also provides "new" types of data in the form of DNA barcodes and images of fishes exhibiting colouration in life, information that will be invaluable in future work addressing difficult groups.

O Rio Nhamundá é um rio de água clara, pouco conhecido, que drena parte do Escudo das Guianas em território brasileiro. Nesse estudo, nós reportamos os resultados de um levantamento ictiofaunístico preliminar dessa área, tendo como foco os bagres (Siluriformes). Nós identificamos um total de 36 espécies (31 gêneros, sete famílias) provenientes de nossa coleta, e adicionamos 11 espécies já conhecidas para o rio. De maneira geral, os resultados de nossa pesquisa mostram que mesmo levantamentos rápidos podem gerar informações importantes sobre a biodiversidade de peixes amazônicos, sugerindo potenciais espécies novas, ampliando a área de distribuição de espécies, além de apontar a necessidade de revisões taxonômicas e estudos genéticos para alguns taxa. Para além das formas tradicionais de dados coletados em pesquisas de biodiversidade (i.e. espécimes preservados), nosso estudo fornece "novas" formas de dados, como DNA barcodes e imagens com o padrão de coloração dos espécimes vivos, informações essas que serão de valor inestimável para futuros estudos que abordem grupos taxonômicos difíceis.
Prendre la parole en séance plénière
Authors: Navarre Maud
Published: April 2015

Cet article analyse les prises de parole des femmes et des hommes lors des séances plénières de trois institutions politiques locales. L’objectif est de saisir dans quelle mesure les modalités d’intervention orale, qui jouent un rôle central dans l’acquisition d’une légitimité pour exercer le métier d’élu, diffèrent selon le sexe grâce à l’observation des interactions, l’analyse quantifiée des prises de parole et des entretiens menés sur cet exercice oratoire. Les coûts de la prise de parole sont plus élevés pour les femmes que pour les hommes. Ces différences sont accentuées dans les assemblées mixtes. Les plus grandes difficultés des femmes les conduisent à mobiliser des comportements alternatifs, variables selon l’expérience politique.
Être éboueur-e à Paris
Authors: Le Lay Stéphane
Published: April 2015

Le métier d’éboueur-e à Paris, bien que classé dans la catégorie d’ouvrier non qualifié, ne peut être compris sans l’analyse de dimensions mal prises en compte dans les qualifications professionnelles, alors qu’elles renseignent le « drame social du travail » d’activités enserrées dans le cadre du service (au) public. Pourtant, ces dimensions relationnelles et affectives font l’objet d’une attention renforcée de la part de la municipalité, sous l’effet de deux grandes dynamiques politiques. La première est liée au recrutement de femmes, ouverture ayant entraîné des changements dans le travail. La seconde provient d’un renforcement des exigences en matière de nettoiement : il est attendu de la part des agents une meilleure qualité de service et une attention plus marquée à l’« image de la ville ». Ainsi, le métier d’éboueur-e interroge à sa manière le processus de déségrégation de la classe ouvrière, formant une figure d’« ouvrier-e de service » typique des classes populaires actuelles.
Popliteal vein aneurysm presenting as recurrent pulmonary embolism
Authors: Lim Joel , Marshall Martin
Published: April 2015

Although rare, popliteal vein aneurysms can lead to pulmonary emboli, which can be fatal. We present a case of a popliteal vein aneurysm in a 39-year-old female who presented with her third episode of pulmonary embolism despite being on anticoagulants. Computed Tomography Venogram demonstrated a large Popliteal Vein Aneurysm measuring 71 x 36 x 77 mm which was surgically repaired. According to the current literature, anticoagulation is insufficient therefore early surgical intervention is recommended as it is safe and effective.
Proposed Solution to the Problem of Thermal Stress Induced Failures in Medical Electronic Systems
Authors: Lakshminarayanan V. , Sriraam N.
Published: April 2015

The concept of miniaturization has propagated to all types of electronic applications. The complexity of electronic systems has been increasing due to increase in the number of functions and features offered to the users. At the same time the number of devices working per unit volume of the system has increased enormously, due to which the power density per unit volume has increased. Dissipating high power in small volumes has increased the thermal problems in all types of electronic systems, including medical gadgets. Thermal stress has been identified to be the major cause of failure of electronic devices in electronic systems, based on the analysis of failures, based on research work. The causative mechanism of failure of semiconductor device package due to thermal overstress in medical electronic systems is the differential expansion between plastic and metal parts of the device which causes a differential strain and package failure. Selection of materials with similar coefficient of thermal expansion is important to prevent thermal overstress caused failures. In this paper, we discuss a technique which uses mathematical analysis to provide a solution to this problem of selecting the suitable material to prevent differential thermal stress failures in medical electronics systems.
Business Intelligence as a Service
Authors: Spruit Marco , de Boer Tim
Published: April 2015

Demand for business intelligence (BI) applications continues to grow even at a time when demand for most information technology (IT) products is low, showing the importance of BI products for a modern organization. However, globalization changes the way organizations use BI, where geographic location and time independency is becoming more and more important. Gartner's hype-cycle on BI depicts the technology of BI as a Service as being almost on top of the hype cycle, indicating there are high expectations of this new technology. This research advances on existing literature on business intelligence and cloud computing from a development perspective by introducing the concept of business intelligence as a service (BIaaS). The most important deliverable is the BIaaS capability maturity model (CMM) that is introduced here. The BIaaS CMM explains the conceptual model of BIaaS by the creation of the first BIaaS capability model containing key capabilities of BIaaS. The capability model is further enhanced with maturity levels depicting the importance of each BIaaS capability, a maturity matrix suggesting a roadmap for BIaaS solution development, and a BIaaS assessment model introducing a tool for finding problem areas in existing BIaaS solutions. The developed BIaaS CMM ought to support (starting) BIaaS vendors to develop BIaaS solutions by providing an assessment tool for BIaaS solutions. The assessment outcome provides the current maturity of the BIaaS solution and also includes problem areas for solution improvement. The introduction of the CApability Maturity Positioning (CAMP) method for the development of a maturity matrix, which results in the BIaaS maturity model, is significantly different from conventional maturity modeling. To calculate the weight of each capability from the BIaaS capability model, a thorough product review of existing business intelligence and cloud computing products is performed. Analysis of the results and normalizing the outcome of that analysis together with the introduction of a calculation mapping, is input for the creation of the maturity matrix. The maturity matrix is the essential foundation for the developed business intelligence as a Service capability maturity model, which is the main deliverable of this research.
The Changing Face of Electronic Aggression
Authors: Virkar Shefali
Published: April 2015

Over the last two decades, public confidence and trust in Government has declined visibly in several liberal democracies, giving way instead to disillusionment with current political institutions, actors, and practices; rendering obsolete or inappropriate much of traditional democratic politics. Simultaneously, digital technologies have created huge opportunities for public bodies and agencies. In analysing the No. 10 Downing Street ePetitions Initiative based in the United Kingdom, this chapter engages with issues related to the innovative use of digital network technology by Government to involve citizens in policy processes and to buffer national security within existing democratic frameworks. The work examines whether the application of new digital platforms to participatory democracy in the Government 2.0 era leads eventually to radical transformations in government functioning and the body politic, or merely to modest, unspectacular political reform and to the emergence of technology-based obsessive-compulsive pathologies and trolling behaviours amongst individuals in society.
Energy Efficiency Oriented Scheduling for Heterogeneous Cloud Systems
Authors: Lin Weiwei , Yang Chao , Zhu Chaoyue , Wang James Z. , Peng Zhiping
Published: April 2015

Nowadays, how to improve energy efficiency has become a challenging problem in cloud computing. However, most existing efforts in improving the energy efficiency of a cloud system only focus on resource allocation at the system level like managing physical nodes or virtual machines. This paper tries to address the energy efficiency problem of a heterogeneous cloud system at the task scheduling level. A novel task scheduling algorithm is proposed to reduce the energy consumption of the system while maintaining its performance, without closing or consolidating any system resources such as virtual machines or storage systems. The algorithm dynamically monitors CPU and memory load information of participating nodes on a heterogeneous Hadoop platform with Ganglia, then selects and submits an appropriate task to the node with relatively low workload to avoid excessive energy consumption on some nodes. Experimental results show that this novel scheduling algorithm can effectively improve the energy-saving ratio of a heterogeneous cloud platform while maintaining a high system performance.
Methodology for Information Management and Data Assessment in Cloud Environments
Authors: Kiran Mariam , Katsaros Gregory , Guitart Jordi , Prieto Juan Luis
Published: April 2015

The emergence of cloud technologies has affected the service computing ecosystem introducing new roles and relationships as well as new architectural and business models. Along with the increase of capabilities and potentials of the service providers comes the increase of the information available and issues to efficiently manage it. In this paper, an architectural approach is presented that involves a combination of a cloud-enabled data model, the monitoring infrastructure and the establishment of assessment mechanisms which are based on factors such as trust, risk, energy and cost (TREC factors). This architectural model discusses the monitoring features as well as the how the assessment functionalities can work together with other components to produce a self-reliant cloud ecosystem preventing any fails during the service lifecycle. This paper elaborates on how the self-management, by using decision-making processes, can maximise business level objectives of the providers. The results presented in the paper show how the suggested architecture can help develop efficient cloud architecture.
Question Answering
Authors: Singh Vaishali , Dwivedi Sanjay K.
Published: April 2015

With the huge amount of data available on web, it has turned out to be a fertile area for Question Answering (QA) research. Question answering, an instance of information retrieval research is at the cross road from several research communities such as, machine learning, statistical learning, natural language processing and pattern learning. In this paper, the authors survey the research in area of question answering with respect to different prospects of NLP, machine learning, statistical learning and pattern learning. Then they situate some of the prominent QA systems concerning these prospects and present a comparative study on the basis of question types.
Text Clustering using Distances Combination by Social Bees
Authors: Bouarara Hadj Ahmed , Hamou Reda Mohamed , Amine Abdelmalek
Published: April 2015

Recently, the researchers proved that 90% of the information existed on the web, were presented in unstructured format (text free). The automatic text classification (clustering), has become a crucial challenge in the computer science community, where Most of the classical techniques, have known different problems in terms of time execution, multiplicity of data (marketing, biology, economics), and the initialization of cluster number. Nowadays, the bio-inspired paradigm, has known a genuine success in several sectors and particularly in the world of data-mining. The content of our work, is a novel approach called distances combination by social bees (DC-SB) for text clustering, composed of four steps: Pre-processing using different methods of texts representation (bag of words and n-gram characters) and the weighting TF-IDF, for the construction of the vectors; Bees' artificial life, the authors have imitated the functioning of social bees using three artificial worker bees(cleaner, guardian and forager) where each one of them is characterized by a distance measure different to others generated from the artificial queen (centroid) of the cluster (hive); Clustering using the concept of filtering where each filter is controlled by an artificial worker, and a document must pass three different obstacles to be added to the cluster. For the experiments they use the benchmark Reuters 21578 and a variety of validation tools (execution time f-measure and entropy) with a variation of parameters (threshold, distance measures combination and texts representation). The authors have compared their results with the performances of other methods existed in literature (Cellular Automata 2D, Artificial Immune System (AIS) and Artificial Social Spiders (ASS)), the conclusion obtained prove that the approach can solve the text clustering problem; finally, the visualization step, which provides a 3D navigation of the results obtained by the mean of a global and detailed view of the hive and the apiary, using the functionality of zooming and rotation.
The Use of Arabic WordNet in Arabic Information Retrieval
Authors: Abbache Ahmed , Barigou Fatiha , Belkredim Fatma Zohra , Belalem Ghalem
Published: April 2015

Research and experimentation using Arabic WordNet in the field of information retrieval are relatively new. It is limited compared to the research that has been done using Princeton WordNet. This work attempts to study the impact of Arabic WordNet on the performance of Arabic information retrieval. We extend Lucene with Arabic WordNet to expand user's queries. The major contribution of this study is to propose an interactive query expansion (IQE) methodology using the word's part-of-speech, according to the part it plays in a query. First, the user selects the appropriate part of speech for each term in the original query, and then he reselects the appropriate synonyms. Experimental results show that our IQE strategy produces a good Mean Average Precision (MAP), it is able to improve MAP by 12.6%, but no variant of automatic query expansion (AQE) strategies did. Nevertheless, the experiments allow us to conclude that with an appropriate use of Arabic WordNet as a source of linguistic information for AQE can improve effectiveness for Arabic information retrieval.
Closing Ontologies to Define OLAP Systems
Authors: Torres Manuel , Samos José , Garví Eladio
Published: April 2015

Ontologies can be used in the construction of OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing) systems. In such a context, ontologies are mainly used either to enrich cube dimensions or to define ontology based-dimensions. On the one hand, if dimensions are enriched using large ontologies, like WordNet, details that are beyond the scope of the dimension may be added to it. Even, dimensions may be obscured because of the massive incorporation of related attributes. On the other hand, if ontologies are used to define a dimension, it is possible that a simplified version of the ontology is needed to define the dimension, especially when the used ontology is too complex for the dimension that is being defined. These problems may be solved using one of the existing mechanisms to define ontology views. Therefore, concepts that are not needed for the domain ontology are kept out of the view. However, this view must be closed so that, no ontology component has references to components that are not included in the view. In this work, two basic approaches are proposed: enlargement and reduction closure.
Factors Affecting Team Motivation
Authors: Misirli Ayse Tosun , Verner June , Markkula Jouni , Oivo Markku
Published: April 2015

Motivation in software engineering is a complex topic. Cultural background is reported to be one of the factors moderating software engineers' motivation and project outcome. The authors conducted a survey with 36 software engineers from Finland to explore 1) the relationship between team motivation and project outcome, 2) factors that motivate Finnish engineers, and 3) how these motivational factors are related. The authors compare Finnish motivational factors with those identified in prior research. In addition they build a prediction model to identify the best indicators of team motivation for Finnish software engineers. Their results show that teamwork is the only culturally independent motivational factor. Having 1) a project manager with a clear vision (project manager vision) and 2) a project manager given full authority to manage the project (project manager authority) are also significant motivational factors among Finnish engineers. There are significant associations between some factors, e.g., customer involvement and staff appreciation. While these factors partially explain motivation in software engineering, cultural differences also play an active role in explaining team motivation. Their questionnaire needs to be updated to enable measurement of motivation for modern development practices such as agile development.
TESTAR
Authors: Vos Tanja E.J. , Kruse Peter M. , Condori-Fernández Nelly , Bauersfeld Sebastian , Wegener Joachim
Published: April 2015

Testing applications with a graphical user interface (GUI) is an important, though challenging and time consuming task. The state of the art in the industry are still capture and replay tools, which may simplify the recording and execution of input sequences, but do not support the tester in finding fault-sensitive test cases and leads to a huge overhead on maintenance of the test cases when the GUI changes. In earlier works the authors presented the TESTAR tool, an automated approach to testing applications at the GUI level whose objective is to solve part of the maintenance problem by automatically generating test cases based on a structure that is automatically derived from the GUI. In this paper they report on their experiences obtained when transferring TESTAR in three different industrial contexts with decreasing involvement of the TESTAR developers and increasing participation of the companies when deploying and using TESTAR during testing. The studies were successful in that they reached practice impact, research impact and give insight into ways to do innovation transfer and defines a possible strategy for taking automated testing tools into the market.
Design of an AC Conductivity Measurement Setup for Sensor Materials Characterization
Authors: Rajappan Nisha , Madhusoodanan K.N.
Published: April 2015

AC conductivity measurement can be an effective method for the study of sensor material characteristics for gas sensing. The authors have designed and fabricated a sensitive set up for sensor material characterization using ac conductivity measurement. The set up fabricated is employed for bulk samples. AC conductivity cell with cold fingertip that can facilitate measurement in the range 80 K to 500 K has been fabricated. The necessary vacuum lines and gas feed throughs are provided in order to study the gas sensing characteristics of semiconductor gas sensor materials. A programmable PID temperature controller and the necessary signal conditioning circuits are designed and incorporated into the system. AC conductivity measurement is carried out using Fluke PM 6306 impedance analyzer.
The Learning Style-Based Adaptive Learning System Architecture
Authors: Chen Chyun-Chyi , Chiu Po-Sheng , Huang Yueh-Min
Published: April 2015

In the current study of learning process that show learners will take a different way and use different types of learning resources in order to learning better. Any many researchers also agree that learning materials must be able to meet the various learning styles of learners. Therefore, let learners can effective to improve their learning, for different learning styles of learners should be given different types of learning materials. In this paper the authors propose a learner's learning style-based adaptive learning system architecture that is designed to help learners advance their on-line learning along an adaptive learning path. The investigation emphasizes the relationship of learning content to the learning style of each participant in adaptive learning. An adaptive learning rule was developed to identify how learners of different learning styles may associate those contents which have the higher probability of being useful to form an optimal learning path. In this adaptive learning system architecture, it will according to different learning styles given different types of learning materials and will according to learner's profile to adjust learner's learning style for providing suitable learning materials.
Open Educational Resources and Open Language Learning for Taiwanese Adult Learners
Authors: Lin Yu-Ju , Kim ChanMin
Published: April 2015

The Internet offers easy access to open resources, especially for educational use. However, the quality of open resources has been constantly criticized (). The purpose of this study was to examine English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) open educational resources (OERs) and to make recommendations for designing ESL OER websites that supported open language learning. Both the ESL learning (i.e. motivation, learning styles, and learning beliefs) and technical (i.e., the usability of websites in consideration of the three essential components: information, interaction, and interface) aspects were investigated in this study. The study findings showed that the following elements were important in both ESL learning and technical aspects: prior experience, ESL learning characteristics, and ESL learning beliefs. Based on these findings, recommendations for ESL OER web design and implications for open language learning are elaborated.
Using a Social Network Game as a Teaching Tool for Visual Merchandising
Authors: O'Toole Erica , Lee Seung-Eun
Published: April 2015

The purpose of this study was to apply a Social Network Game (SNG) for teaching visual merchandising to college students. Based on design-based research paradigm, the present study utilized the EGameFlow model to measure students' perceived enjoyment of using the SNG, Fashion World, in visual merchandising classes. In addition, this study examined which dimensions of EGameFlow were significant indicators of student satisfaction. Findings from this study suggest that the use of an SNG can be an effective tool in teaching visual merchandising. A majority of positive trends in constructs of EGameFlow suggested students enjoyed the use of this SNG as a learning tool. In addition, challenge and immersion were significant indicators of student satisfaction through the game. Discussion and implications for using SNGs as a teaching tool were provided based on the results of this study.
Mean Sojourn Time in Multi Stage Fork-Join Network
Authors: Barron Yonit
Published: April 2015

Fork-Join queue networks (F-J) have received increasing attention during the last Decade, due to their ability to model parallel and distributed computer processing, supply chains and assembly systems. However, most research is focused on a single stage processing, and only scant work exists on F-J with two or more stages. In this paper, the author investigates (through simulation) the performance behavior of a multi-stage system; in particular, the performance of a synchronized system is compared to an unsynchronized system regarding three major factors: (1) the number of parallel tasks; (2) the number of serial stages and (3) the utilization.
Comprehensive Risk Abatement Methodology as a Lean Operations Strategy
Authors: McLaughlin B. D.
Published: April 2015

Conventional Analytical and Maintenance procedures are assimilated into a Comprehensive Risk Abatement Strategy comprising Process, Objectives, Balanced Progress Methodology and Lines of Communication between process and objectives. This Comprehensive Risk Abatement Strategy (Enterprise Wellness Way) is applicable to all types of enterprise (manufacturing, service and medical).
Risk Analysis Using Simulation Software Applied on a Road Infrastructure Project
Authors: Desai Vijaya S.
Published: April 2015

Risk management in infrastructure projects has been a very important process to achieve the project objectives, namely: time, cost, quality, safety and environmental sustainability. Huge investments are made in infrastructure construction projects like roads, railways, ports, airports, electricity, telecommunication, oil gas pipelines and irrigation. This growing Increase in investment in infrastructure investment projects demands requires close monitoring of costs to ensure a net return. The evaluation of returns on investment at the conceptual stage plays a vital role in this phase. Software tools help in bringing out near accurate analysis of returns on investments and to support project viability under multiple circumstances. The paper presents an analysis of how software was applied to evaluate and mitigate risk during the case of a six lane road infrastructure project. The unit of analysis was the impact of cost of construction cost, interest rates for loans, methods of depreciation, revenue sharing on various financial indices: IRR, MIRR, DSCR and payback period. The interpretation was that software tools can be used to perform risk analysis, sensitivity analysis and scenario analysis. The case study makes a contribution to the body of knowledge by developing guidelines for using software tools in risk management.
A System for the Semi-Automatic Evaluation of Clinical Practice Guideline Indicators
Authors: Quimbaya Alexandra Pomares , Amórtegui María Patricia , González Rafael A. , Muñoz Oscar , Bohórquez Wilson Ricardo , García Olga Milena , Ascanio Melany Montagut
Published: April 2015

This paper presents EXEMED v2, a system that allows the evaluation of clinical practice guideline indicators. EXEMED v2 includes a knowledge base that supports the definition of executable rules applied over Electronic Health Records (EHR) in order to measure its compliance with a specific clinical guideline. Taking into account that an EHR may include structured attributes and narrative text attributes, EXEMED v2 analyzes both types. The process of evaluation in EXEMED v2 is to define the rules; once the rules are defined EXEMED v2 extracts from the EHR the facts that allow evaluating whether each one of them was accomplished or not. This evaluation includes different levels of certainty, allowing in some cases the interaction of a human evaluator to confirm (or not) automatic evaluation decisions. The functionality of EXEMED v2 was validated applying it in a case study of Acute Myocardial Infarction.
Reading Numbers System for Portuguese Language
Authors: Teixeira João Paulo , Mota Carolina , Sampaio Cátia
Published: April 2015

The paper presents an algorithm for read common numbers until one million in Portuguese language. The record and cutting process of the digit speech sounds deserved a special attention to improve the speech sound output. A special attention is required for the correct inclusion of the particle ‘e' (and) to provide better naturalness of the read numbers. The system has the ability of simulate the human biologic speech sound production in the task of reading numbers. The system is based in the concatenation of carefully recorded edited and selected speech segments corresponding to the digits. The naturalness of the system was improved with the use of speech files of read digits in different positions (beginning, middle and end) and using digits concatenated with the particle ‘e' before, after and before and after the digit.
Informed Consent in Electronic Medical Record Systems
Authors: Yu Bo , Wijesekera Duminda , Costa Paulo
Published: April 2015

Informed consents, either for treatment or use/disclosure, that protect the privacy of patient information subject to law that in certain circumstances may override patient wishes, are mandatory practice in healthcare. Although the healthcare industry has widely adopted Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems, consents are still obtained and stored primarily on paper or scanned electronic documents. Integrating a consent management system into an EMR system involves various implementation challenges. The authors show how consents can be electronically obtained and enforced using a system that combines medical workflows and ontologically motivated rule enforcement. Finally, the authors describe an implementation that uses open-source software based addition of these components to an open-source EMR system, so that existing systems needn't be scrapped or otherwise rendered obsolete.
A Cognitive Architecture for Visual Memory Identification
Authors: Jaime Karina , Torres Gustavo , Ramos Félix , Garcia-Aguilar Gregorio
Published: April 2015

Memory is an important process of human behavior. In particular visual memory encode, store, and retrieve acquired knowledge about the environment. The visual memory system involves different kinds of processes, such as sensory input and short-term visual memory. The model presents a first approach for visual memory recognition that supports the three stages mentioned above. The model design is based on neuroscience results. The model consists of nodes. Each node represents a brain area that is involved in the visual memory system. The nodes run in a distributed system and send messages with visual memory information. This document presents only the memory system specifications that support a cognitive architecture for visual object identification. The authors validated the model with two case studies: known and unknown stimulus.
A Particle Swarm Optimization Approach for Reuse Guided Case Retrieval
Authors: Nouaouria Nabila , Boukadoum Mounir , Proulx Robert
Published: April 2015

The success of Case Based Reasoning (CBR) problem solving is mainly based on the recall process. The ideal CBR memory is one that simultaneously speeds up the retrieval step while improving the reuse of retrieved cases. In this paper, the authors present a novel associative memory model to perform the retrieval stage in a case based reasoning system. The described approach makes no prior assumption of a specific organization of the case memory, thus leading to a generic recall process. This is made possible by using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to compute the neighborhood of a new problem, followed by direct access to the cases it contains. The fitness function of the PSO stage has a reuse semantic that combines similarity and adaptability as criteria for optimal case retrieval. The model was experimented on two proprietary databases and compared to the flat memory model for performance. The obtained results are very promising.
Using Incoming Traffic for Energy-Efficient Routing in Cognitive Radio Networks
Authors: Mavromoustakis Constandinos X. , Bourdena Athina , Mastorakis George , Pallis Evangelos
Published: April 2015

This paper proposes an energy-efficient routing scheme that is based on a resource intensive traffic-aware approach, enabling for the maximization of the energy conservation in cognitive radio networks. The proposed approach interrelates the moments of the backward difference traffic, together with the sleep-time duration, towards tuning the activity periods of the network nodes. The effective operation of the proposed scheme, in terms of minimum energy consumption, minimum delays and maximum number of the routing paths established, is achieved through the exploitation of a signaling mechanism. The validity of the proposed traffic-aware scheme is tested, through several simulation tests, by obtaining multiple performance evaluation results. The experimental results verified the proper operation of the proposed scheme to maximize the energy conservation, optimize the data exchange among the network nodes and minimize the routing delays.
How to Design an Active e-Course?
Authors: Belcadhi Lilia Cheniti , Ghannouchi Sonia Ayachi
Published: April 2015

Active Learning improves student attitudes and develops thinking and writing skills. It is increasingly recommended as a teaching method to improve learning. In this paper the authors are interested in the transformation of a face-to-face active course into a web-based active course. An instructional design approach based on meta-models for transforming active-based courses into online courses is proposed. This approach provides a detailed description of meta-models and processes of instructional design for active e-courses as well as the main involved actors. In order to evaluate and validate the proposed meta-models a case study has been carried out. It concerned the transformation of an entrepreneurship active course into an online version and its deployment. The proposed instructional design process constitutes the kernel of an authoring tool for the design of an active e-course, which permits to support the instructional designer in the production of active e-courses.
Towards Energy Intensity Reduction of Machining Fabrication Procedures
Authors: Karpov A.V.
Published: April 2015

The article is devoted to the rational consumption of energy resources when processing of blanks of machine component parts with metal-cutting tools during machine-building production. The scientific and methodological approach to the establishment of energy-efficient processing conditions is proposed, the one is based on the optimization of fabrication procedures according to new energy efficiency criterion. It was given the study of advantages and disadvantages of known methods of fabrication procedures optimization according to the criterion of the lowest specific energy intensity. New integral indicator of energy efficiency of cutting operation is formulated as a ratio of constructional material specific energy intensity to the specific energy consumption in the cutting area. The methods of determining of energy efficiency figure with taking into account the properties of processed material, the behaviors of its deformation and fracture, type of formed chippings and technological purpose of processing are offered. Optimization of machining fabrication procedures with usage of new criterion permits reduction of energy costs in the cutting area by 18-22% in comparison with applicable processing conditions.
Machinability of Calcium Steel in Deep Hole Drilling with Small Diameters Gun Drills
Authors: Kirsanov S.V. , Babaev A.S
Published: April 2015

The information about machinability of two steel – with calcium additives and without in gundrilling are given. Experimentally determined technological characteristics of calcium steel AC41Cr4 machinability in deep hole drilling with the gun drills of diameter 2.05 mm. The results of measurement fluctuation of average diameters of holes and surface roughness are given. Microphotographs of different forms of chips after gundrilling are presented. Information about steel with calcium additives machinability was described.
Reduction of Metal Consumption in View of Mining Cutting Tools Operation
Authors: Prokopenko Sergey A.
Published: April 2015

Existing technologies of manufacturing and operation of picks at mining machines entail high level of metal waste and result in unreasonably high economic costs of engineering and coal mining industries. It is proposed to manufacture reusable picks with a changeable working part of the head. Contrary to the common beliefs the in situ testing confirmed the feasibility of using such picks for rock breaking, as well as their high efficiency.
Thermally Conductive Polymeric Materials and their Usage in LED-Devices
Authors: Lebedev Sergey M. , Gefle Olga S. , Amitov Ernar T.
Published: April 2015

The main thermal and morphology properties of novel thermally conductive polymeric materials are studied in this work. Novel thermally conductive materials can be used as heat-releasing materials in LED-lamps.
Assumed Mechanism of Polymeric Deposit Formation in Recycle Propylene Washing Column during Bulk Polymerization
Authors: Mayer Edward , Trofimova Alla , Mashukov Vasiliy , Pestryakov Alexey
Published: April 2015

This study presents the results of polymeric deposit analysis from propylene washing column of «Spheripol» process polymerization unit using such methods as gel-permation chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray phase analysis, IR and NMR13C-spectroscopy and analytical process control methods. For comparison the relative data for larger volume polypropylene grades have been presented as well. Based on the findings and available similar practice in a slurry process an assumed formation mechanism was proposed for the discussion.
Mechanical Behavior of Light Alloys with Bimodal Grain Size Distribution
Authors: Skripnyak Vladimir A. , Skripnyak Evgeniya G. , Skripnyak Nataliya V.
Published: April 2015

Deformation and damage at the meso-scale level in representative volumes (RVE) of light ultrafine grained (UFG) alloys with distribution of grain size were simulated in wide loading conditions. The computational models of RVE were developed using the data of structure researches aluminum and magnesium UFG alloys on meso-, micro -, and nanoscale levels. The critical fracture stress on meso-scale level depends not only probabilistic of grain size distribution in RVE but relative volumes of coarse grains. Microcracks nucleation is associated with strain localization in UFG partial volumes in alloys with bimodal grain size distribution. Microcracks branch in the vicinity of coarse and ultrafine grains boundaries. It is revealed that the occurrence of bimodal grain size distributions causes the increasing of UFG alloys ductility, but decreasing of the tensile strength. The distribution the shear stress and the local particle velocity takes place at mesoscale level under dynamic loading of UFG alloys with bimodal grain size. The increasing of fine precipitations concentration not only causes the hardening but increasing of ductility of UFG alloys with bimodal grain size distribution.
An Application of Spark Plasma Sintering for Compaction of Refractory Oxides and Nitrides
Authors: Matrenin S.V. , Ovechkin Boris , Tayukin R.V.
Published: April 2015

The results of investigation of physical and mechanical properties of ceramic materials manufactured by compaction of alumina, zirconia, and aluminum oxynitride powders using spark plasma sintering (SPS) are presented. It is found out that the ceramics thus produced exhibit improved density and microhardness compared to the materials sintered at high temperature in a resistance furnace.
A Cylindrical Shell Made of Glass-Metal Composite
Authors: Pikul V.V. , Goncharuk V.K. , Maslennikova I.G.
Published: April 2015

A technique is developed for fabrication of a shell from glass-metal composite based on the borate glass and aluminum alloy. The metal–glass interface was studied by the optical and atomic force microscopy, it was found the presence of a diffuse layer with thickness of about 1 micron. The diffuse layer composition was studied by the XPS.