bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Secure Computations Through Checking Suits of Playing Cards
Authors: Miyahara Daiki , Mizuki Takaaki 
Published: January 2023

AbstractCard-based cryptography started with the “five-card trick” designed by Den Boer (EUROCRYPT 1989); it enables Alice and Bob to securely evaluate the AND value of their private bits using a physical deck of five cards. It was then shown that the same task can be done with only four cards, i.e., Mizuki et al. proposed a four-card AND protocol (ASIACRYPT 2012). These two AND protocols are simple and easy even for non-experts, such as high school students, to execute. Their only common drawback is the need to prepare a customized deck consisting of red and black cards such that all cards of the same color must be identical. Fortunately, several existing protocols are based on a standard deck of playing cards (commercially available). Among them, the state-of-the-art AND protocol was constructed by Koch et al. (ASIACRYPT 2019); it uses four playing cards (such as ‘A, J, Q, K’) to securely evaluate the AND value. The protocol is elaborate, while its possible drawback is the need to repeat a shuffling operation six times (in expectation), which makes it less practical.This paper aims to provide the first practical protocol working on a standard deck of playing cards. We present an extremely simple AND protocol that terminates after only one shuffle using only four cards; our proposed protocol relies on a new operation, called the “half-open” action, whereby players can check only the suit of a face-down card without revealing the number on it. We believe that this new operation is easy-to-implement, and hence, our four-card AND protocol working on a standard deck is practical. We formalize the half-open action to present a formal description of our proposed protocol. Moreover, we discuss what is theoretically implied by introducing the half-open action and show that it can be applied to efficiently solving Yao’s Millionaires’ problem with a standard deck of cards.
ODDE and Debts
Authors: Hülsmann Thomas 
Published: January 2023

AbstractRecent monetary policies of quantitative easing have produced a cognitive dissonance with the previous “there is no money” mantra and invite us to revisit our understanding of the costs and economics of distance education (DE). It turns out that study of the costs of DE was narrowly rooted in neoclassical microeconomics. Consequently, DE has focused on driving down costs and devolving costs to the students, thereby contributing to increasing student debt. The chapter summarizes the efficiency gains of traditional DE and their changes due to the emerging affordances of information and communication technologies (ICT). The chapter also notes changes in the “macroeconomic weather conditions,” which have led to regarding education less as means to raise productivity than as a center for profit itself. As a consequence, cost efficiency gains have often not been handed to the learner, leading to rises in tuition fees and, consequently, student debt.The second half of the chapter introduces modern money theory (MMT), a different economic paradigm, which suggests that monetary sovereign countries have enough policy space not to focus narrowly on driving down costs. It notably suggests that devolving costs to students turns out, from the MMT perspective, to be misguided. It identifies a policy space which can be used to build in additional resilience, especially required in times of crises.
Quality Assurance in Online, Open, and Distance Education
Authors: Jung Insung 
Published: January 2023

AbstractOver the past few decades, online, open, and distance education (ODE) has enjoyed phenomenal growth across different regions, and with the spread of the COVID-19 virus, its use has adopted more quickly and widely at all levels of education in both developed and developing countries. There has also been a surge in trans-institutional online courses and programs. Despite this surge in widespread practice of ODE, an image problem that perceives ODE as a second-rate education, indicated by Daniel (Quality assurance and accreditation in distance education and e-learning: Models, policies, and research. Routledge, New York, 2011) a decade ago, still exists, meaning that there is a need for even stronger measures to ensure that ODE is as good as in-person education and that quality assurance (QA) systems are in place as it enters the mainstream of education.Applying QA to ODE processes and outcomes is a relatively new phenomenon. Drawing upon previous literature on quality and QA in ODE, including institutional case studies, this chapter examines various definitions of quality and QA in ODE practice, difficulties, and challenges presented by QA in ODE and the role of stakeholders in QA in ODE. It then discusses how different ODE institutions judge and assure the quality of their courses, programs, and services and what values and assumptions underpin such QA approaches. It finally draws conclusions about what still needs to be considered and actioned.
Quality Assurance Systems for Digital Higher Education in Europe
Authors: Ubachs George , Henderikx Piet 
Published: January 2023

AbstractSince the corona crisis, digital higher education practices permeate higher education in Europe. In degree education, various digital pedagogies are used in courses and programs, such as synchronous hybrid, blended, and online education and distance learning. In addition to degree education, higher education institutions offer online continuing education and open education through MOOCs. Microcredentials are high on the agenda of the European Commission, national governments, and institutions.The international dimension has also become important in all these areas. Universities organize joint curricula and virtual mobility schemes. This development has even been reinforced by the European Universities Initiatives of the European Commission (EUI), which already created 41 university alliances across Europe.Digital education plays a vital role in creating a new pedagogical landscape shaping the Commission’s Transformation of the European University 2030. This has implications for the internal and external quality assurance of education, which should lead to better quality and more robust maturity.This chapter illustrates how quality assurance models and practices in Europe have evolved towards a multilevel and multi-stakeholder approach. It describes the development of quality assurance systems and guidelines for digital higher education in Europe in recent decades. In addition, it focuses on new quality assurance challenges to respond to the next stages of development in higher education, keeping pace with future innovations. Finally, it provides an overview of the current position of quality assurance with the most important conclusions.
Digital Information and Library Services in ODDE
Authors: Owusu-Ansah Christopher M. , Rodrigues Antonio da Silva 
Published: January 2023

AbstractThis chapter is anchored on Collaboration being a new construct in the Digital Library Reference Model proposed by the DELOS Network of Excellence on Digital Libraries. The chapter argues that distance learning library services will be significantly enhanced with a collaboratively implemented digital library service taking into cognizance the role of collaboration in strategic planning and policy development, provision of digital collections and information services, and technological infrastructure and skills development in the distance education context. The study concludes that the collaborative model for implementing digital libraries in open, distance, and digital education (ODDE) can ensure that digital libraries are collaboratively designed leading to wider acceptance and use in ODDE.
Administrative Support System
Authors: Teixeira António Moreira 
Published: January 2023

AbstractAdministrative support provided to teachers, learners, and staff is critical for ensuring the quality of the teaching and learning experience in open, distance, and digital education (ODDE). Having been seen for a long time as a peripheral function, administrative support is now recognized as playing a decisive role in suppressing student dropout, improving teaching effectiveness, and promoting learning success. This chapter examines in detail how administrative support systems are organized and should be redesigned to efficiently assist stakeholders. This analysis is conducted in the framework of the ongoing digital transformation process of higher education institutions (HEIs). Reference models for implementing digital learning innovation are described and analyzed. The chapter proposes that administrative student support in ODDE should not be organized as a separate autonomous structure. It is argued that in such complex and unstable innovation-driven institutional environments, the learner, faculty, and staff administrative support system should be designed as a hub of resources and services operating within an open and flexible learning ecosystem. It is suggested that multidisciplinary teams are set across the HEIs to collaboratively design, deliver, and support ODDE provision. Administrative staff professional development is also suggested to be reorganized in this innovative framework.
Supporting Learners with Special Needs in Open, Distance, and Digital Education
Authors: Kocdar Serpil , Bozkurt Aras 
Published: January 2023

AbstractOpen, distance, and digital education (ODDE) is meant to provide unique educational opportunities for everyone, including learners with special needs. While promising flexible and accessible learning experiences for learners with special needs, ODDE may simultaneously result in the creation of certain barriers. Supporting learners with special needs in ODDE environments, therefore, becomes a critical task for all educational institutions. This chapter focuses on the challenges that learners with special needs encounter during their learning process in ODDE, as well as those mechanisms that can be used to support them in order to overcome these challenges, such as means of increasing accessibility, recognizing Universal Design for Learning principles, using assistive technologies, providing accommodations, and adaptations in terms of pedagogical, managerial, social, and technical support. The chapter suggests that ODDE is inclusive in nature and that it should therefore further focus on empathy and care-oriented pedagogies. ODDE, inspired by openness philosophy, envisions equity, equality, and justice for every learner, including learners with special needs.
Developing Digital Literacy for Teaching and Learning
Authors: Marín Victoria I. , Castañeda Linda 
Published: January 2023

AbstractDigital literacy is a critical competence for empowering citizenship in a digital world. It has become a key element in teaching and learning across the different educational stages that has been addressed since the last decade of the twentieth century within the field of open, distance, and digital education. The literature so far has not agreed on a common definition, but multiple international, national, and even local, frameworks exist to foster digital literacy and to evaluate and certificate it, especially with a focus on educators and students in different educational levels, but also with the citizen perspective. These frameworks are reviewed in this chapter, along with the evolution and conceptualization of digital literacy and some strategies to foster digital literacy in different educational sectors, with a focus on the educator as a key player in this fostering action. The most remarkable challenges for developing digital literacy for teaching and learning include the same conception of digital literacy, which is multiple and situated, the digital divide and the actual consideration of digital literacy as a social practice. Being digital literacy a transversal competency nowadays, clear implications for education can be drawn, such as reshaping organizations to the digital conditions, thinking on digital literacy as a collective effort, and enriching the global discourse through diversity in debates.
Online Doctoral Education
Authors: Lee Kyungmee 
Published: January 2023

AbstractThis chapter discusses different factors underpinning the development of online doctoral education and pedagogical concerns influencing the design of online doctoral programs. The rapid development of online doctoral education has been guided by recent changes in doctoral education and distance education contexts, both conceptually and empirically. To develop a comprehensive understanding of the nature of online doctoral education, 47 journal articles concerning the design of existing online doctoral programs were systematically selected and reviewed. The review results demonstrate that online doctoral education is a complex entity developed and influenced by a dynamic interplay among multiple factors relevant to different aspects of online higher education, professional doctoral education and internationalized education. However, there has been a lack of holistic research approaches to develop a comprehensive understanding of online doctoral education. In particular, literature grounded in online higher education and professional doctoral education scholarship has not been effectively integrated and synthesized, creating an unhelpful chasm. Within the chasm, a range of pedagogical concerns and contradictions have emerged in online doctoral programs, which can be understood and addressed only when online doctoral educators have a holistic perspective bridging the two. Therefore, while the present review reveals valuable insights into online doctoral education research and practice, it also suggests that more research needs to be conducted using a more comprehensive theoretical understanding of online doctoral students and their experiences.
Designing Online Learning in Higher Education
Authors: Martin Florence , Bolliger Doris U. 
Published: January 2023

AbstractDesign is critical in online learning. This chapter reviews research and practice on designing effective online courses in higher education. Firstly, the importance of design in online learning is described including asynchronous, synchronous, and bichronous delivery methods, as well as the significance of course organization and meeting learner needs in online courses. Secondly, we provide a brief overview of online course design research in higher education. Thirdly, standards and rubrics for online course design from US colleges and universities as well as professional organizations across the world are reviewed. Fourthly, we describe a research-based and validated online course design element rubric, which includes overview, course presentation, interaction and communication, assessment and evaluation, and student support. Fifthly, the chapter describes how instructors can be prepared for and supported in online course design, incorporating administrator support, pedagogical support, technology support, and personnel support. Sixthly, the role of instructional designers in online course design is described. The chapter concludes with recommendations for instructors and designers and topics for future research.
Serious Games and Game-Based Learning
Authors: Schrader Claudia 
Published: January 2023

AbstractThis chapter summarizes theory and empirical research concerned with the use of serious games and game-based learning in educational contexts. Relevant characteristics and theoretical foundations of the value of games are assessed. The reviewed empirical findings indicate a strong effect of serious games and game-based learning on learner motivation, affect, and cognitive outcomes. However, the direction of their impact is not always straightforward as it depends on the interplay of conditions including the game type, design features, learner characteristics, and learning activities. This chapter suggests that developers and educators take this interplay into account to ensure optimal learner experiences when developing or choosing serious games or game-based learning approaches for educational purposes.
Newer Theories for Digital Learning Spaces
Authors: Downes Stephen 
Published: January 2023

AbstractThe emergence of newer theories for digital learning spaces occurs because of a general dissatisfaction with the theorizing of earlier generations of open and distance education (ODE). After an outline of the traditional conception of the requirements for a “learning theory,” this chapter traces the sources for this dissatisfaction in traditional theories such as behaviourism and cognitivism, then traces some theoretical attempts to address them. It identifies a range of emerging theories, including connectivist pedagogy, personal learning environments, and open educational practices, characterizing these in terms of their response to the original dissatisfaction. It then returns to the characterization of a “learning theory,” suggesting that in the light of this new work a reconceptualization of theory may be required.
#KitaJagaKita: (De)legitimising the Government During the 2020 Movement Control Order
Authors: Lee Charity 
Published: January 2023

AbstractOn 18th March 2020, the Malaysian government enforced a movement control order (MCO) that required everyone to stay in their homes until 4th May 2020 to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. During this time, social media became not only a source of information for citizens but also the main space for their mediated social and public lives. Besides the hashtags #stayhome and #dudukrumah, the hashtag #KitaJagaKita started trending as netizens and civil society took the initiative to champion the proper enforcement of the MCO and safe distancing, as well as to find solutions for the shortage of medical safety equipment. This chapter presents findings from a discourse analysis on the discourses surrounding the hashtag #KitaJagaKita on Twitter and its use to (de)legitimise the Perikatan Nasional government and its leader, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. Pro-government netizens use the hashtag to represent the government as protecting citizens through its policies and guidelines, and fellow citizens, who adhere to the MCO, as partnering in this effort. Netizens who are less supportive of the government, however, argue that the government is not doing enough to protect citizens and healthcare workers. They use the hashtag to criticise government policies and a lack of decisiveness and speed in properly implementing the MCO. They also use the hashtag to rally citizens to take care of each other by fundraising and finding “better” solutions for healthcare workers.
Women Representation on Editorial Boards in Latin America Journals: Promoting Gender Equity in Academic Surgery, Anesthesia, and Obstetrics
Authors: Campos Letícia Nunes , Naus Abbie , Rangel Ayla Gerk , Brandão Gabriela Rangel , Faria Isabella , Pierre Tayana Assomptia Jean , Freire Camila Verônica Souza , Schlindwein Sofia Schmitt , Feres Brenda , Wagemaker Sofia , Salgado Lucas Sousa , Ferreira Roseanne , Ferreira Júlia Loyola 
Published: January 2023

AbstractBackgroundInequitable representation in journal editorial boards may impact women's career progression across surgical, anesthesia, and obstetric (SAO) specialties. However, data from Latin America are lacking. We evaluated women's representation on editorial boards of Latin America SAO journals in 2021.MethodsWe conducted a cross‐sectional analysis, retrieving journals through Scimago Journal and Country Rank 2020. Journals were included if active, focused on SAO topics, and publicly provided information on editorial board staff. Editorial board member names and positions were extracted from journals’ websites. Members were classified into senior (e.g., editor‐in‐chief), academic (e.g., reviewer), and non‐academic roles (e.g., administrative office). Women's representation was predicted from first names using Genderize.io. The number of women SAO physicians per country was obtained from articles and governmental reports.ResultsWe included 19 of 25 identified journals and analyzed 1,318 names. Three anesthesiology, seven obstetric, and nine surgical journals represented five Latin American countries. Women held 17% (224/1,318) of board positions [p < 0.0001; 95% CI(0.14, 0.19)]. Women held fewer academic roles (14.3%, 155/1,084) compared to senior [28.9%, 64/221 (p < 0.001)] and non‐academic roles [38.4%, 5/13 (p = 0.042)]. Surgical journals had fewer women (7.7%, 58/752) compared to anesthesia [25.5%, 52/204 (p = 0.006)] and obstetrics [31.5%, 114/362 (p < 0.001)]. Women's proportion on editorial boards increased according to the number of women SAO physicians per country (p < 0.001).ConclusionsOur study assessed the composition of editorial boards from Latin America SAO journals and demonstrated that women remain underrepresented. Our findings highlight the need for regional strategies to advance women's careers across SAO specialties.
Tissue structure and mechanical properties of the exoskeleton of the huge claws of the mud crab, Scylla serrata
Authors: Inoue Tadanobu , Hiroto Takanobu , Hara Yuka , Nakazato Koji , Oka Shin-ichiro 
Published: January 2023

AbstractThe mud crab, Scylla serrata, has huge claws in comparison with its body size. The color of the claw top’s finger surface changes from white to deep-mottled blue, and this discoloration was strongly associated with the change in hardness inside the finger cross section. With special attention to the discoloration points, the tissue structure of the exoskeleton was investigated via scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the mechanical properties were examined using Vickers hardness and nanoindentation tests. The exocuticle in the deep blue surface exoskeleton was as thin as that in other crustaceans, and the exoskeleton was occupied by the endocuticle with a twisted plywood structure. On the other hand, in the white surface exoskeleton, the thickness of the hard and dense exocuticle accounted for 52–59% of the exoskeleton thickness. This percentage increased at the claw tip. The hardness of the exocuticle was 2.5 times that of the endocuticle, and the microstructures and mechanical properties gradually varied at the boundary between the exo- and endocuticle. The mechanical properties were almost constant in the exocuticle, but calcium (Ca) concentrations decreased from the outer surface toward the boundary in that region and magnesium (Mg) concentrations increased. The change in the unit cell volume obtained via XRD suggested that some of the Ca atoms in the calcite crystal structure in that region were replaced with Mg atoms. Changes in crustacean coloration may help us to understand the tissue structure and mechanical properties within the exoskeleton.
Graphical Abstract
Gut-on-a-chip for exploring the transport mechanism of Hg(II)
Authors: Wang Li , Han Junlei , Su Weiguang , Li Anqing , Zhang Wenxian , Li Huimin , Hu Huili , Song Wei , Xu Chonghai , Chen Jun 
Published: January 2023

AbstractAnimal models and static cultures of intestinal epithelial cells are commonly used platforms for exploring mercury ion (Hg(II)) transport. However, they cannot reliably simulate the human intestinal microenvironment and monitor cellular physiology in situ; thus, the mechanism of Hg(II) transport in the human intestine is still unclear. Here, a gut-on-a-chip integrated with transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) sensors and electrochemical sensors is proposed for dynamically simulating the formation of the physical intestinal barrier and monitoring the transport and absorption of Hg(II) in situ. The cellular microenvironment was recreated by applying fluid shear stress (0.02 dyne/cm2) and cyclic mechanical strain (1%, 0.15 Hz). Hg(II) absorption and physical damage to cells were simultaneously monitored by electrochemical and TEER sensors when intestinal epithelial cells were exposed to different concentrations of Hg(II) mixed in culture medium. Hg(II) absorption increased by 23.59% when tensile strain increased from 1% to 5%, and the corresponding expression of Piezo1 and DMT1 on the cell surface was upregulated.