bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Short-term consumption of a plant protein diet does not improve glucose homeostasis of young C57BL/6J mice
Authors: Lamming Dudley W. , Baar Emma L. , Arriola Apelo Sebastian I. , Tosti Valeria , Fontana Luigi
Published: August 2017

Recently, it has become apparent that dietary macronutrient composition has a profound impact on metabolism, health and even lifespan. Work from many laboratories now suggest that dietary protein quality – the precise amino acid composition of the diet, as well as possibly the source of dietary protein – may also be critical in regulating the impact of diet on health. Perhaps in part due to the naturally low methionine content of plants, vegan diets are associated with a decreased risk of diabetes and improved insulin sensitivity, but this association is confounded by the lower overall protein intake of vegans. Here, we test the effect of consuming isocaloric rodent diets with similar amino acid profiles derived from either plant protein or dairy protein. We find that male C57BL/6J mice consuming either diet have similar glycemic control, as assessed by glucose, insulin, and pyruvate tolerance tests, and have similar overall body composition. We conclude that short-term feeding of plant protein has no positive or negative effect on the metabolic health of young male C57BL/6J mice, and suggest that dietary interventions that alter either dietary protein levels or the levels of specific essential amino acids are more likely to improve metabolic health than alterations in dietary protein source.
Off-Design Performances of Subcritical and Supercritical Organic Rankine Cycles in Geothermal Power Systems under an Optimal Control Strategy
Authors: Gao Tieyu , Liu Changwei
Published: August 2017

The conditions of heat source and heat sink in a geothermal ORC system may frequently vary due to variations in geological conditions, ambient temperature and actual operation. In this study, an off-design performance prediction model for geothermal ORC systems is developed according to special designs of critical components, and an optimal control strategy which regards the turbine guide vane angle, the refrigerant pump rotational speed and the cooling water mass flow rate as control variables is proposed to maximize the net power output. Off-design performances of both subcritical and supercritical ORCs are analyzed. The results indicate that, under the optimal control strategy, the net power output of both ORCs increase with greater geothermal water mass flow rate, higher geothermal water inlet temperature and lower cooling water inlet temperature, which is mainly due to a greater working fluid mass flow rate, higher turbine inlet pressure and lower condensing pressure, respectively. The net power output of supercritical ORC is always greater than that of subcritical ORC within the range of this study, but the difference tends to decrease when supercritical ORC activates the geothermal water reinjection temperature restriction.
An Investigation into the Effect of Scour on the Loading and Deformation Responses of Monopile Foundations
Authors: Tseng Wei-Chen , Kuo Yu-Shu , Chen Jing-Wen
Published: August 2017

Severe foundation scour may occur around monopile foundations of offshore wind turbines due to currents and waves. The so-called p-y curves method is suggested in the existing design recommendations to determine the behavior of monopiles unprotected against scour and the reduction of effective soil stress is accounted for by the extreme scour depth. This conservative design approach does not consider the geometry of the scour hole and the effect of pile diameter on the soil resistance. An underestimated foundation stiffness would be obtained, thereby influencing the predicted overall response of the support structure of an offshore wind turbine. In this study, we calculated the load-deformation response and foundation stiffness of a monopile when scour occurred. The influence of pile diameter on the initial modulus of subgrade reaction, and the modification of the ultimate soil resistance of a monopile subject to scour are evaluated. The commercial software BLADED was used to simulate the dynamic response of the reference offshore wind turbine with monopile unprotected against scour at Chang-Bin offshore wind farm in Taiwan Strait. The results showed that when the p-y curve suggested by existing design regulation was used to calculate the load-deformation response, the foundation stiffness was underestimated where the scour depth was greater than the pile diameter, but the foundation stiffness was overestimated when the scour depth was less than the pile diameter.
A Randomized Crossover Trial on Acute Stress-Related Physiological Responses to Mountain Hiking
Authors: Niedermeier Martin , Grafetstätter Carina , Hartl Arnulf , Kopp Martin
Published: August 2017

Green exercise, defined as physical activity in natural environments, might have positive effects on stress-related physiological measures. Little is known about the acute effects of green exercise bouts lasting longer than 60 min. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyze the acute effects of a three-hour green exercise intervention (mountain hiking) on stress-related physiological responses. Using a randomized crossover design, 42 healthy participants were exposed to three different conditions in a field-based experiment: outdoor mountain hiking, indoor treadmill walking, and sedentary control condition (three hours each). At baseline and at follow-up (five minutes after the condition), stress-related physiological responses (salivary cortisol, blood pressure, and heart rate variability) were measured. Salivary cortisol decreased in all conditions, but showed a larger decrease after both mountain hiking and treadmill walking compared to the sedentary control situation (partial η2 = 0.10). No differences were found between mountain hiking and treadmill walking in salivary cortisol. In heart rate variability and blood pressure, changes from baseline to follow-up did not significantly differ between the three conditions. The results indicate that three hours of hiking indoors or outdoors elicits positive effects on salivary cortisol concentration. Environmental effects seem to play a minor role in salivary cortisol, blood pressure, and heart rate variability.
Effect of Angelica sinensis Root Extract on Cancer Prevention in Different Stages of an AOM/DSS Mouse Model
Authors: Zhao Bochen , Kang Qian , Peng Yu , Xie Yuanping , Chen Cheng , Li Bingshao , Wu Qing
Published: August 2017

Angelica sinensis root (ASR) extract was obtained to investigate its effects on colorectal carcinogenesis in different stages of an Azoxymethane/Dextran sodium sulphate (AOM/DSS) model. In this study, we showed that ASR extract administration in the initial stage of the AOM/DSS model had cancer preventive effects with decreasing tumor incidence and a high-grade of intraepithelial neoplasia incidence. With respect to DNA damage, the amounts of 8-oxoguanine and γ-H2AX were suppressed in colon tissue. The balance of apoptosis and proliferation was approaching the normal state. In contrast, ASR extract administration in the promotion stage of the AOM/DSS model accelerated the progression of carcinogenesis. The maximum tumor size reached 49.85 ± 25.04 mm3. High-grade pathological changes were significantly increased. Decreased DNA damage and P53 level reflected the disrupted reactive oxygen species (ROS) concentration in colorectal tissue, which led to an imbalance of proliferative and apoptotic relationships. These findings suggested that the cancer-preventive effect of ASR extract may be stage-dependent in the process of carcinogenesis.
Porous Graphene Oxide Prepared on Nickel Foam by Electrophoretic Deposition and Thermal Reduction as High-Performance Supercapacitor Electrodes
Authors: Xu Yunhe , Li Jun , Huang Wenxin
Published: August 2017

A simple electrophoretic deposition method was developed to prepare graphene oxide (GO) films on the frameworks of nickel foam without any conductive agents and polymer binders. Then, GO was transformed into thermally-reduced graphene oxide (RGO) at an appropriate temperature. The effects of deposition voltage and thermal reduction temperature on the electrochemical properties of RGO were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge/discharge. The appropriate combination of deposition voltage and thermal reduction temperature was established. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, differential thermal analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffractometry were applied to validate the results, which showed that the highest specific capacitance of RGO was obtained when the deposition voltage was 60 V and the thermal reduction temperature was 300 °C. The specific capacitance values calculated by CV and galvanostatic charge/discharge were 139 F·g−1 (0.005 V·s−1) and 151 F·g−1 (1 A·g−1), respectively. The specific capacitance of RGO maintained 55% and 66% of the initial value when the scan rate and the current density were increased up to 0.3 V·s−1 and 10 A·g−1, respectively. RGO also displayed an excellent cycling stability by maintaining 98% of the initial specific capacitance after 500 cycles.
Response of Dermal Fibroblasts to Biochemical and Physical Cues in Aligned Polycaprolactone/Silk Fibroin Nanofiber Scaffolds for Application in Tendon Tissue Engineering
Authors: Chen Chih-Hao , Chen Shih-Hsien , Kuo Chang-Yi , Li Meng-Lun , Chen Jyh-Ping
Published: August 2017

Silk fibroin (SF) and fiber alignment were introduced into polycaprolactone (PCL)-based electrospun nanofibers as chemical and physical cues for tendon tissue engineering applications. The physicochemical properties of random PCL (RP) nanofibers, random PCL/SF (RPSF) nanofibers and aligned PCL/SF (APSF) nanofibers were characterized for fiber orientation and SF blending effects. An in vitro cell culture with rabbit dermal fibroblasts (RDFBs) on nanofibers indicated that SF promotes cell proliferation to a higher extent than fiber alignment. Cells aligned in the direction of fiber axes could be confirmed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation and cytoskeleton staining. The quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) experiments indicated up-regulated gene expression of tendon marker proteins (type I collagen (Col I), fibronectin and biglycan) on APSF nanofibers and tendon reconstruction was confirmed from Col III gene expression. Animal experiments with Achilles tendon defect repairs in rabbits were carried out with RPSF and APSF scaffolds. The beneficial effects of fiber alignment were verified from histological and immunohistochemical staining, where cell migration and extracellular matrix protein deposition tend to stretch in a parallel direction along the axial direction of APSF nanofibers with enhanced Col I and tenascin C production. Biomechanical testing indicated the tensile stiffness and maximum load of cell-seeded APSF scaffolds were 60.2 and 81.3% of normal tendon values, respectively, which are significantly higher than cell-seeded RPSF or acellular APSF and RPSF scaffolds. These results suggest that APSF nanofiber scaffolds combined with RDFBs have the potential to repair the gap defects of Achilles tendons in vivo and to effectively restore the function and structure of tendons.
An Improved Vegetation Adjusted Nighttime Light Urban Index and Its Application in Quantifying Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Carbon Emissions in China
Authors: Meng Xing , Han Ji , Huang Cheng
Published: August 2017

Nighttime Light (NTL) has been widely used as a proxy of many socio-environmental issues. However, the limited range of sensor radiance of NTL prevents its further application and estimation accuracy. To improve the performance, we developed an improved Vegetation Adjusted Nighttime light Urban Index (VANUI) through fusing multi-year NTL with population density, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and water body data and applied it to fine-scaled carbon emission analysis in China. The results proved that our proposed index could reflect more spatial variation of human activities. It is also prominent in reducing the carbon modeling error at the inter-city level and distinguishing the emission heterogeneity at the intra-city level. Between 1995 and 2013, CO2 emissions increased significantly in China, but were distributed unevenly in space with high density emissions mainly located in metropolitan areas and provincial capitals. In addition to Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangzi River Delta and the Pearl River Delta, the Shandong Peninsula has become a new emission hotspot that needs special attention in carbon mitigation. The improved VANUI and its application to the carbon emission issue not only broadened our understanding of the spatiotemporal dynamics of fine-scaled CO2 emission, but also provided implications for low-carbon and sustainable development plans.
Assessing the Efficiency of Public Universities through DEA. A Case Study
Authors: Visbal-Cadavid Delimiro , Martínez-Gómez Mónica , Guijarro Francisco
Published: August 2017

This paper presents the results of an efficiency study of Colombian public universities in 2012, conducted using the methodology of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the models CCR, BCC and SBM under output orientation. The main objective is to determine technical, pure technical, scale and mix efficiencies using data acquired from the Ministry of National Education. An analysis of the results shows the extent to which outputs of inefficient Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) could be improved and the possible cause of this inefficiency. The universities were also ranked using a Pareto efficient cross-efficiency model and a study was made of changes to overall productivity between 2011 and 2012. The results showed Tolima, Caldas and UNAD to be the best-performing universities, with Universidad del Pacífico as the worst performer. Malmquist index was applied to analyze the change in productivity from 2011 to 2012. The Universidad de La Guajira showed great improvement in technical efficiency between 2011 and 2012.
Vector Similarity Measures between Refined Simplified Neutrosophic Sets and Their Multiple Attribute Decision-Making Method
Authors: Chen Jiqian , Ye Jun , Du Shigui
Published: August 2017

A refined single-valued/interval neutrosophic set is very suitable for the expression and application of decision-making problems with both attributes and sub-attributes since it is described by its refined truth, indeterminacy, and falsity degrees. However, existing refined single-valued/interval neutrosophic similarity measures and their decision-making methods are scarcely studied in existing literature and cannot deal with this decision-making problem with the weights of both attributes and sub-attributes in a refined interval and/or single-valued neutrosophic setting. To solve the issue, this paper firstly introduces a refined simplified neutrosophic set (RSNS), which contains the refined single-valued neutrosophic set (RSVNS) and refined interval neutrosophic set (RINS), and then proposes vector similarity measures of RSNSs based on the Jaccard, Dice, and cosine measures of simplified neutrosophic sets in vector space, and the weighted Jaccard, Dice, and cosine measures of RSNSs by considering weights of both basic elements and sub-elements in RSNS. Further, a decision-making method with the weights of both attributes and sub-attributes is developed based on the weighted Jaccard, Dice, and cosine measures of RSNSs under RSNS (RINS and/or RSVNS) environments. The ranking order of all the alternatives and the best one can be determined by one of weighted vector similarity measures between each alternative and the ideal solution (ideal alternative). Finally, an actual example on the selecting problem of construction projects illustrates the application and effectiveness of the proposed method.
Foodborne Disease and the Need for Greater Foodborne Disease Surveillance in the Caribbean
Authors: Lee Brendan
Published: August 2017

The Caribbean is a net importer of food, and with billions of dollars’ worth of food products being imported each year, territorial governments are now seeking to encourage local production of foods in an attempt to stem the loss of foreign exchange from these economies with little resilience. The Caribbean, however, lacks the comprehensive food safety system that should be a corollary to successful food production. Regional authorities underestimate the burden of foodborne diseases especially on its workforce and major economic base, the tourism industry. Anecdotally after every mass event in the region, many officially unreported cases of gastroenteritis are recognized. This short communication makes the argument of the importance of food borne illnesses specific to the Caribbean, and improvements that could be made to surveillance to reduce negative outcomes associated with the food supply chain.
Intrapreneurship and Enterprise 2.0 as Grounds for Developing In-House Digital Tools for Handling METS/ALTO Files at the University Library Belgrade
Authors: Smolenski Nikola , Kostic Milena , Sofronijevic Adam Milorad
Published: August 2017

The chapter is based on experience of authors who work at different positions at University Library “Svetozar Markovic” in Belgrade, Serbia. This library has been aiming at creation of efficient, creative work environment in the last decade and one of the main pay-offs has been the development of a unique set of digital tools for handling METS/ALTO files. The chapter will present both managerial background and ICT related details that encompass this complex process. It will also aim at providing examples of good practice in implementation of Enterprise 2.0 and fostering of intrapreneurship that may be employed in other library environments with notes on specifics of the University Library Belgrade and its relations to more general managerial issues and challenges that may be useful for other librarians.
Hands-On Xen
Authors: Ahmad Khaleel , Ansari Masroor , Kamal Afsar
Published: August 2017

Xen is an open source virtualization framework in distributed system based on rapid elasticity on broad network access. It is a cost-effective platform for resource pooling and allows easy access to run any code any time from everywhere by any user. It is a hypervisor using a microkernel design, provides services that allow multiple operating systems to execute on the same computer concurrently. In other words, the hypervisor was made accessible to the world directly from any location, anticipating a fully virtualized cloud base environment, which is turned into cloud computing.
Hands-On Network Device Virtualization With VRF (Virtual Routing and Forwarding)
Authors: Deka Ganesh Chandra , Das Prashanta Kumar , Borah Rahul
Published: August 2017

Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF) is a technology that allows multiple instances of IP (Internet Protocol) routing table to co-exist within the same Router at the same time. The routing instances are independent, allowing the same or overlapping IP addresses to be used without conflict. Using VRF technology, users can virtualize a network device from a Layer 3 standpoint of creating different “Virtual Routers” in the same physical device. Internet Service Providers (ISP) often use VRF technology to create separate routing table in a single physical Router which are completely isolated one from the others. This chapter discusses about the configuration of VRF-Lite in GNS3 (Graphical Network Simulator-3) on RIP/v2, EIGRP and OSPF protocols.
MRI Denoising for Healthcare
Authors: Joshi Kalyani Rajiv , Oza Shraddha Dinesh
Published: August 2017

Biomedical Image processing is an important research domain which contributes to the human health care. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the most popularly used medical imaging modality for its ability to scan any organ or tissue of a body without causing health risk to patient. Because of immense potential of MRI in health care it is very popular with the researchers. Along with improvisations in MR machines, the researchers are exploring different de noising filters, implementation techniques, and platforms so as to improve the MR image quality and enhance accuracy of diagnosis. The chapter discusses all the aspects of MRI - its physics, image attributes, rician noise pdf, different denoising filters and their implementation aspects. The performance analysis being significant in evaluating image quality, different quality measures used are discussed in details. The chapter also briefs about possible opportunities of research in the said domain.
Social Entrepreneurship and Social Inclusion in Peru
Authors: Martinez Piedad Cristina , Salazar Erick Oswaldo , Buelvas Armando Miguel
Published: August 2017

The objective of this chapter is to explore social inclusion in Peru from a case of social entrepreneurship located in Peru. The main factor associated with social exclusion in Peru is poverty, while the factors associated with social inclusion are advances reached in education, job creation, creation of social enterprises and consolidation of an ecosystem for the creation of companies. The main characteristics of the entrepreneur are the ability to identify context and opportunities, perceived self-efficacy, not fear of achieving their visions and goals, the need to generate social change, the ability to participate in networks and a high level of training. The main characteristics of social entrepreneurship are the creation of social value and innovation, provide a quality service and the benefits granted to its clients, facilitate access to a decent job or the creation of their own company; the access to social security through an employment contract; and salary that may allow them to access the necessary resources to achieve their well-being.
Entrepreneurial Finance for Vulnerable Communities
Authors: Sanchez-Barrios Luis Javier , Gómez-Núñez Liyis
Published: August 2017

This study presents the financial progression of an associative initiative of a vulnerable community in Colombia, from early stages to growth. Initially, basic financial concepts are presented, together with the phases traditionally defined by previous literature. The case is then presented in terms of funding alternatives for entrepreneurs in Colombia, stages followed by the association and funding throughout such stages. Results show that even though the case under analysis presents similar features to those of new ventures started by non-vulnerable individuals, its specificities make it unique; concepts anticipated by existing literature were not fully applicable in this case. A set of issues and solutions are presented regarding entrepreneurial finance for vulnerable communities and in particular, for the case under analysis. Finally, further avenues of research and conclusions are presented.
Developing Innovation Using Entrepreneurial Strategies
Authors: Velasco Diana Carolina , Pulgarín Sergio
Published: August 2017

This chapter analyzes the entrepreneurial strategies that Colombian coffee growers develop in order to deal with adverse social, economic, and environmental conditions. These entrepreneurs are part of a long and rich heritage dating as far back as the end of the 19th century, when coffee became an important economic resource in Colombia. Constant variations, including coffee price volatility, instability of exchange rates, or environmental factors, such as climatic change and crop disease, are common conditions for coffee farmers. In order to survive during turbulent environments, coffee growers have adopted strategies such as the introduction of new services and final products; improvements in the production chain; horizontal and vertical cooperation; creativity and flexibility in order to be resilient to the changing market conditions. More than 560,000 vulnerable families in Colombia depend on coffee production as a main source of income, so studies to help strengthen their business are highly relevant.
The Entrepreneur and Its Vision of Economic Development
Authors: Coronado Angelica María Jimenez , Ariza Carmen Esther Marquez
Published: August 2017

The main objective of this study, developed in the capital of Haiti, is to determine the effect of the business fabric to strengthen the social, economic, political and environmental structure of some variables of economic performance pertinent to the lack of alternatives and the need to meet basic daily needs and to identify innovation factors in different sectors to boost the economy in Haiti, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor study (GEM, 2016). The methodology is based on qualitative descriptive study developed from 17 in-depth interviews to determine the economic strategies of sustainability from the informality in young people and women with a greater perspective of innovation and challenge in spite of the environmental catastrophes that have not allowed the continuous growth of the Business economy. The results suggest some basic elements to build integral and dynamic strategy that seeks to attack the structural aspects and the manifestations to create impacts in the enterprise achieving sustainable and sustainable companies that can achieve changes with capacity for innovation.
Reforming Classroom Education Through a QQ Group
Authors: Yang Yang , Zhu Xiaohui , Jin Cailian , Li Jiacheng Jia
Published: August 2017

The aim of this study is to discover a way to support school-family communication and classroom education by using QQ, which is a very popular instant messenger in China. This study focused on a banzhuren and his class from a primary school in Shanghai. A QQ group was developed to communicate with his students' parents and improve the classroom education. By observation, interviews, and questionnaires, the authors found out the function of the QQ group and the opinions and experiences of the QQ group from the banzhuren, some subject teachers, parents, and students. The platform was used to show the records of school activities, share information bulletins, support learning outside of school, and address problems between school and family. All teachers, parents, and students considered the platform to be helpful, although some problems arose. Possible solutions for these problems and further research directions are discussed.
Embracing Computer Corpora in the Language Learning Classroom and Using It in Your Classroom
Authors: Durand Sally
Published: August 2017

Among the many facets of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), studies using computer language corpora have risen to considerable prominence in research agendas. The author argues that corpora are useful tools for practicing teachers. However, the myth that “corpus-based research is too complicated to be useful for teachers” (Conrad, 2009) prevails in pedagogical contexts. This chapter strives to dispel that myth by synthesizing a wealth of research and their accompanying pedagogical applications. Secondly, it shares specific pedagogical activities to implement corpus data in classroom teaching. These corpus-informed classroom strategies provide concrete examples that will assist TESOL/TEFL teachers in making their coursework authentic and therefore more meaningful to students learning language.
The Usefulness of Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) as Tools for Promoting Second Language Acquisition
Authors: Dixon Daniel H. , Christison MaryAnn
Published: August 2017

The purpose of this chapter is twofold (1) to review the benefits of online videogames for promoting second language acquisition (SLA), specifically massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) and (2) to present new research that seeks to explain why and how MMORPGs may be beneficial. The findings from the research indicate that MMORPGs are beneficial to SLA primarily because they provide opportunities for interaction in the target language through participation in collaborative problem solving tasks. The results of the research presented in this chapter show (1) that the requirements of input and output for successful gaming allow for a type of interaction in which the focus on language form leads to modified-output, (2) that players have opportunities to negotiate input as a means of completing in-game tasks, and (3) that in-game tasks are similar to instructional tasks that are believed to be beneficial for SLA in the context of a classroom.
Augmented Reality
Authors: Le Nhu , Dinh Hanh
Published: August 2017

Rapid advancement in technology has altered the way language education is conceptualized and practiced. Technological tools, when effectively integrated with appropriate pedagogical foundations, can enhance the quality of teaching and learning experiences. Augmented reality (AR) has emerged as one of the latest technologies offering a new way to bridge virtual and reality worlds. Due to the widespread proliferation of digital technology, the implementation of AR on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets has become a growing trend in educational settings. Regardless of the advantages that AR technology brings to language classrooms, there have been very few studies exploring the design, evaluation, and applications of AR for educational purposes. Therefore, this chapter aims to (a) introduce AR technology in learning environments, (b) embrace its potentials and foreseeable hindrances to language education, (c) discuss practical and applicable ways to use this merging technology effectively in the classroom, and (d) propose some issues for future research.
Internet of Things for Smart Cities
Authors: Khare Pallavi , Khare Akhil
Published: August 2017

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. The Internet of Things (IoT) shall be able to incorporate transparently and seamlessly a large number of different and heterogeneous end systems, while providing open access to selected subsets of data for the development of a plethora of digital services. Building a general architecture for the IoT is hence a very complex task, mainly because of the extremely large variety of devices, link layer technologies, and services that may be involved in such a system.
An Intelligent Parking System in Smart Cities Using IoT
Authors: Das Amardeep , Dash Prasant Kumar , Mishra Brojo Kishore
Published: August 2017

Smart City is the product of accelerated development of the new generation information technology and knowledge-based economy, based on the network combination of the Internet, telecommunications network, broadcast network, wireless broadband network and other sensors networks where Internet of Things technology (IoT) as its core. Traffic congestion caused by vehicle is an alarming problem at a global scale and it has been growing exponentially. Searching for a parking space is a routine (and often frustrating) activity for many people in cities around the world. This search burns about one million barrels of the world's oil every day. A smart Parking system typically obtains information about available parking spaces in a particular geographic area and process is real-time to place vehicles at available positions. In our proposed chapter, we will be discussing the advanced features of IoT in order to development an intelligent parking management system in a smart city i.e. called as Smart Parking system.
A Study on Performance of E-Commerce Web Applications
Authors: G Sreedhar
Published: August 2017

The growth of World Wide Web and technologies has made business functions to be executed fast and easier. E-commerce has provided a cost efficient and effective way of doing business. In this paper the importance of e-commerce web applications and how Internet of Things is related to e-commerce is well discussed. In the end-user perspective, the performance of e-commerce application is mainly connected to the web application design and services provided in the e-commerce website. A grading system is used to evaluate the performance of each e-commerce website.
Predictive Analytics to Support Clinical Trials Get Healthier
Authors: Lodha Ankit , Karara Anvita
Published: August 2017

The concept of clinical big data analytics is simply the joining of two or more previously disparate sources of information, structured in such a way that insights are prescribed from examination of the new expanded data set. The combination with Internet of Things (IoT), can provide multivariate data, if healthcare organizations build the infrastructure to accept it. Many providers are able to integrate financial and utilization data to create a portrait of organizational operations, but these sources do not give a clear idea of what patients do on their own time. Embracing the centrality of the IoT would relinquish the idea that provider is the only pillar around which healthcare revolves. This chapter provides deeper insights into the four major challenges: costly protocol amendments, increasing protocol complexity and investigator site burden. It also provides recommendations for streamlining clinical trials by following a two dimension approach-optimization at a program level (clinical development plan) as well as at the individual trial candidate level.
Developing Reflection with the Use of a Teacher Journal
Authors: Derenowski Marek
Published: August 2017

If the educators are willing to develop their reflectivity on what they have habitually considered genuine, the teaching may transform them into professionals who are vitally open to the students and to the world. For that reason, the first part of the chapter concerns the process of becoming reflective educators whereas the consecutive section introduces teacher journal as a means of developing reflectivity. The next part of the chapter comprises a study which is an attempt to analyze and describe the data gathered from the entries in teacher journals. An additional effort will be made to examine which elements of the classroom interaction are influenced and which are ignored by teachers during the process of reflective development. The chapter ends with conclusions and suggestions for further research directions.
Tracing the Development of Reflective Competence in Multi-Sited ITE Involving Telecollaboration
Authors: Antoniadou Victoria
Published: August 2017

This chapter illustrates the process and outcomes of developing reflective competence according to three preservice teachers who participated in a multi-sited learning environment, involving integrated telecollaboration. The learning environment fused together university, virtual and school sites. An ethnographic multiple case study with quantitative measurements was employed to analyse the year-long trajectory of the preservice teachers' learning to reflect. We gathered audio-visual data from beginning to end of the year, indicating participants' growing ability to reflect on their own practices, and leading cognitive change and transformation of classroom practices. By tracing multimodal interactions sequentially, we were able to extract guidelines for creating useful collaborative artifact ecologies in Initial Teacher Education and discuss the relationship between reflection, cognitive development and different personality traits. Based on our findings, we empirically substantiate the argument that reflective competence can indeed trigger transformation in Initial Teacher Education.
Media Regulation and Freedom of Expression in Black Africa
Authors: Endong Floribert Patrick C.
Published: August 2017

Since the 1990s, Black African states have been subjected to endogenous and exogenous political pressures which have compelled them to variously adopt a number of pro-democracy reforms. Though lauded in a number of quarters, these sweeping political reforms have merely been on paper. This is so as, cardinal democracy indexes such as freedom of expression, press freedom, freedom of thought and political pluralism among others, have remained more a myth than a reality in these countries. Using a comparative analysis of the political situation in Cameroon and Nigeria, this chapter argues that press freedom and liberal democracy are still mere ideals, not yet backed by evidential political will in both countries. The same multifaceted abuses of the press still prevail in the two states. This chapter however, underscores the vibrancy and political maturity of the Nigerian press which differentiate it from its counterparts in other African countries, notably in Cameroon.
An Empirical Study of the Effect of Design Patterns on Class Structural Quality
Authors: Yu Liguo , Ramaswamy Srini
Published: August 2017

Design patterns are standardized solutions to commonly encountered problems using the object-oriented programming paradigm. Applying design patterns can speed up software development processes through the reuse of tested, proven templates, or development paradigms. Accordingly, design patterns have been widely used in software industry to build modern software programs. However, as different design patterns are introduced to solve different design problems, they are not necessarily superior to alternative solutions, with respect to all aspects of software design. One major concern is that the inappropriate use of design patterns may unnecessarily increase program complexity, such as class structural quality. Theoretical analysis of the effect of design patterns on software complexity has been widely performed. However, little work is reported to empirically study how design patterns might affect class structural quality. This chapter studies six components from five open-source Java projects and empirically investigates if design patterns can affect class structural quality. The chapter finds that pattern-involved classes are more complex than pattern-free classes and recommends the cautious use of design patterns to avoid unnecessary increases in class complexity and decrease in class structural quality.
Attaining Semantic Enterprise Interoperability Through Ontology Architectural Patterns
Authors: Saripalle Rishi Kanth , Demurjian Steven A.
Published: August 2017

Enterprise Interoperability Science Base (EISB) represents the wide range of interoperability techniques that allow the creation of a new enterprise application by utilizing technologies with varied data formats and different paradigms. Even if one is able to bridge across these formats and paradigms to interoperate a new application, one crucial consideration is the semantic interoperability to insure that similar data is reconciled that might be stored differently from a semantic perspective. In support of this requirement, usage of ontologies is gaining increasing attention as they capture shareable domain knowledge semantics. The design and deployment of an ontology for any system is very specific, created in isolation to suit the specific needs with limited reuse in the same domain. The broad proliferation of ontologies for different systems, which, while similar in content, are often semantically different, can significantly inhibit the information exchange across enterprise systems. This situation is attributed, in part, to a lack of a software-engineering-based approach for ontologies; an ontology is often designed and built using domain data, while software design involves abstract modeling concepts that promote abstraction, reusability, interoperability, etc. The intent in this chapter is to define ontologies by leveraging software design pattern concepts to more effectively design ontologies. To support this, the chapter proposes Ontology Architectural Patterns (OAPs), which are higher-level abstract reusable templates with well-defined structures and semantics to conceptualize modular ontology models at the domain model level. OAP borrows from software design patterns inheriting their key characteristics for supporting enterprise semantic ontology interoperability.
A Roadmap on Awareness of Others in Accessible Collaborative Rich Internet Applications
Authors: Almeida Leonelo D. A. , Baranauskas M. Cecília C.
Published: August 2017

Web 2.0 represents a shift from static to highly dynamic, participative, and collaborative Web. However, most of Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) are still not accessible; as a consequence, universal participation is still far from being a reality. Providing accessible means for “awareness of others” (i.e. a perception of the activities of others in the system) is essential in RIAs to enable collaboration among all users. This chapter explores, through a systematic literature review, studies approaching the topic in accessible collaborative RIAs. The authors also identify the technologies proposed, extended, or used by those studies. As results they characterize the studies in the area and clarify the state-of-the-art of technologies for supporting awareness of others. Finally, the authors propose a set of guidelines aiming at supporting the design of mechanisms for awareness of others in collaborative RIAs.
Developing Secure, Unified, Multi-Device, and Multi-Domain Platforms
Authors: Atzeni Andrea , Lyle John , Faily Shamal
Published: August 2017

The need for integrated cross-platform systems is growing. Such systems can enrich the user experience, but also lead to greater security and privacy concerns than the sum of their existing components. To provide practical insights and suggest viable solutions for the development, implementation, and deployment of complex cross-domain systems, in this chapter, the authors analyse and critically discuss the security-relevant decisions made developing the Webinos security framework. Webinos is an EU-funded FP7 project, which aims to become a universal Web application platform for enabling development and usage of cross domain applications. Presently, Webinos runs on a number of different devices (e.g. mobile, tables, PC, in-car systems, etc.) and different Operating Systems (e.g. various Linux distributions, different Windows and MacOSx versions, Android 4.x, iOS). Thus, Webinos is a representative example of cross-platform framework, and even if yet at beta level, is presently one of the most mature, as a prototype has been publicly available since February 2012. Distilling the lessons learned in the development of the Webinos public specification and prototype, the authors describe how potential threats and risks are identified and mitigated, and how techniques from user-centred design are used to inform the usability of security decisions made while developing the alpha and beta versions of the platform.
HOD2MLC
Authors: Saripalle Rishi Kanth , Demurjian Steven A. , Blechner Michael , Agresta Thomas
Published: August 2017

Ontologies have gained increasing usage to augment an application with domain knowledge, particularly in healthcare, where they represent knowledge ranging from: bioinformatics data such as protein, gene, etc. to biomedical informatics such as diseases, diagnosis, symptoms, etc. However, the current ontology development efforts and process are data intensive and construction based, creating ontologies for specific applications/requirements, rather than designing an abstract ontological solution(s) that can be reusable across the domain using a well-defined design process. To address this deficiency, the work presented herein positions ontologies as software engineering artifact that allows them to be placed into the position to share the captured domain conceptualization and its vocabulary involving disparate domain backgrounds, that can then be created, imported, exported and re-used using different frameworks, tools and techniques. Towards this end, the authors propose an agile software process for ontologies referred to as the Hybrid Ontology Design & Development Model with Lifecycle, HOD2MLC. To place HOD2MLC into a proper perspective, they explore, compare, and contrast it to existing ontology design and development alternatives with respect their various phases as related to the authors' work and phases in varied SDP models.
Design of the While Listening Activities in Interactive Multimedia Listening Software
Authors: Turel Vehbi , Waraich Atif
Published: August 2017

This chapter focuses on the design of the while-listening activities while designing and developing interactive multimedia listening software (MLS) that aims to enhance language learners' listening skills as a part of learning English as a second. The language learners' perceptions towards the type (priority) as well as the number of the while listening activities (questions) on screen at one time were investigated. In total, 56 (N = 56) language learners participated in this study. The study was mostly quantitative and partly qualitative in nature. The quantitative results were analysed with SPSS. The qualitative data were analysed by examining the participants' responses gathered from the open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews, and by focusing on the shared themes among the responses. The results reveal that the language learners think that the priority as well as the number of the while listening activities on screen at one time can help as well as hinder their focus and comprehension at the while-listening stage in terms of different aspects.
Quality Assurance in Agile Software Development
Authors: Dubielewicz Iwona , Hnatkowska Bogumiła , Huzar Zbigniew , Tuzinkiewicz Lech
Published: August 2017

Agile methodologies have become very popular. They are defined in terms of best practices, which aim at developing good quality software faster and cheaper. Unfortunately, agile methodologies do not refer explicitly to quality assurance, which is understood as a planned set of activities performed to provide adequate confidence that a product conforms to established requirements, and which is performed to evaluate the process by which products are developed. The chapter considers the relations of agile practices with software life cycle processes, especially those connected to quality assurance, and tries to answer the question of which agile practices ensure software quality. Next, agile practices associated with quality assurance are assessed from different perspectives and some recommendations for their usage are given. It is observed that modeling has a particular impact on quality assurance.
Bespoke Mobile Application Development
Authors: Bermingham Nevan , Prendergast Mark
Published: August 2017

Smartphone usage by students has increased rapidly over the last number of years, and it is expected that the utilisation of mobile applications in educational environments will continue to increase. This chapter focuses on a bespoke mobile application which aims to facilitate the transition of Foundation students to Higher Education in an Irish setting. Foundation students comprise of Access and International Students participating on pre-degree foundation courses. These students experience a major life change in making this transition and it is important that efforts are made to ensure a successful adjustment experience. Research suggests that mobile technologies can play a central role in this endeavour by offering support and access to particular information needs. This chapter will detail the design and development of a bespoke mobile application with such a purpose in mind and will also describe how the app was field tested with a cohort of incoming Foundation students in an Irish third level institute.