Showing papers in "Springer US in 2019"

Recent progress in Ti-based nanocomposite anodes for lithium ion batteries

Abstract: Studying on the anode materials with high energy densities for next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is the key for the wide application for electrochemical energy storage devices. Ti-based compounds as promising anode materials are known for their outstanding high-rate capacity and cycling stability as well as improved safety over graphite. However, Ti-based materials still suffer from the low capacity, thus largely limiting their commercialized application. Here, we present an overview of the recent development of Ti-based anode materials in LIBs, and special emphasis is placed on capacity enhancement by rational design of hybrid nanocomposites with conversion-/ alloying-type anodes. This review is expected to provide a guidance for designing novel Ti-based materials for energy storage and conversion.

Handbook of vocational education and training: developments in the changing world of work

Abstract: This handbook considers the changing worlds of work to which vocational education and training (VET) must respond, as well as insisting that VET should not be narrowly seen to cater only for the formal economy. Issues of economies of care, the challenge of sustainability, planning, and finance are considered, as are the rise of private provision and the role of training in enterprises of varying sizes. The handbook also considers the evolving nature of vocational learning and how this intersects with curriculum and instruction, with a particular emphasis on the major debates about competence that have characterized the field for a quarter century. Since learning cannot be considered in isolation from teaching or the education of teachers and instructors, this is another strand of the handbook that flows into discussions on the measurement of both instruction and learning. While the learning-teaching relationship is of key importance, recent years have seen growing interest in questions of wider learner support and the handbook also contains a section on this issue. The handbook contains almost 100 chapters from an international group of authors, addressing issues from the perspective of small-scale and detailed empirical work through to national and comparative surveys. The handbook is also future-focused in identifying promising new directions in research and development.

Healthcare Sensing and Monitoring

Abstract: This chapter presents an overview of many wearable devices of different types that have been proven in medical and home environments as being helpful in Quality of Life enhancement of elder adults. The recent advances in electronics and microelectronics allow the development of low-cost devices that are widely used by many people as monitoring tools for well-being or preventive purposes. Remote healthcare monitoring, which is based on non-invasive and wearable sensors, actuators and modern communication and information technologies offers efficient solutions that allows people to live in their comfortable home environment, being somehow protected. Furthermore, the expensive healthcare facilities are getting free to be used for intensive care patients as the preventive measures are getting at home. The remote systems can monitor very important physiological parameters of the patients in real time, observe health conditions, assessing them, and most important, provide feedback. Sensors are used in electronics medical and non-medical equipment and convert various forms of vital signs into electrical signals. Sensors can be used for life-supporting implants, preventive measures, long-term monitoring of disabled or ill patients. Healthcare organizations like insurance companies need real-time, reliable, and accurate diagnostic results provided by sensor systems that can be monitored remotely, whether the patient is in a hospital, clinic, or at home.

Measurement of associated production of a W boson and a charm quark in proton–proton collisions at [radical]s=13TeV

Abstract: Measurements are presented of associated production of a W boson and a charm quark (W + c) in proton– proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35.7 fb−1 collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC. The W bosons are identified by their decay into a muon and a neutrino. The charm quarks are tagged via the full reconstruction of D∗(2010)± mesons that decay via D∗(2010)± → D0 +π± → K∓ +π± +π±. A cross section is measured in the fiducial region defined by the muon transverse momentum p T > 26 GeV, muon pseudorapidity |ημ| < 2.4, and charm quark transverse momentum pc T > 5 GeV. The inclusive cross section for this kinematic range is σ(W + c) = 1026 ± 31 (stat)+76 −72 (syst) pb. The cross section is also measured differentially as a function of the pseudorapidity of the muon from the W boson decay. These measurements are compared with theoretical predictions and are used to probe the strange quark content of the proton.

On Burr III Marshal Olkin Family: Development, Properties, Characterizations and Applications

Abstract: In this paper, a flexible family of distributions with unimodel, bimodal, increasing, increasing and decreasing, inverted bathtub and modified bathtub hazard rate called Burr III-Marshal Olkin-G (BIIIMO-G) family is developed on the basis of the T-X family technique. The density function of the BIIIMO-G family is arc, exponential, left- skewed, right-skewed and symmetrical shaped. Descriptive measures such as quantiles, moments, incomplete moments, inequality measures and reliability measures are theoretically established. The BIIIMO-G family is characterized via different techniques. Parameters of the BIIIMO-G family are estimated using maximum likelihood method. A simulation study is performed to illustrate the performance of the maximum likelihood estimates (MLEs). The potentiality of BIIIMO-G family is demonstrated by its application to real data sets.

Face Recognition Using Exact Gaussian-Hermit Moments

Abstract: Face recognition systems have gained more attention during the last decades. Accurate features are the corner stones in these systems where the performance of recognition and classification processes mainly depends on these features. In this chapter, a new method is proposed for a highly accurate face recognition system. Exact Gaussian-Hermit moments (EGHMs) are used to extract the features of face images where the higher order EGHMs are able to capture the higher-order nonlinear features of these images. The rotation, scaling and translation invariants of EGHMs are used to overcome the geometric distortions. The non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) is a popular image representation method that is able to avoid the drawbacks of principle component analysis (PCA) and independent component analysis (ICA) methods and is able to maintain the image variations. The NMF is used to classify the extracted features. The proposed method is assessed using three face datasets, the ORL, Ncku and UMIST which have different characteristics. The experimental results illustrate the high accuracy of the proposed method against other methods.

An integrated approach of multiple correspondences analysis (MCA) and fuzzy AHP method for occupational health and safety performance evaluation in the land cargo transportation

Abstract: Land cargo transportation is one of the components of the logistics chain with high impact on economic and social development worldwide. However, problems such as top logistics costs, deficiencies in transportation infrastructure and the failure to adopt good operating practices in aspects such as quality, environment, and occupational safety and health affect the ability of companies to comply with the agreements, requirements, and regulations of the clients and other interested parties. One of the most relevant problems for the sector is associated with the high accident rates that make this medium less advantageous compared to other means of transport with impact on operational costs, on logistics indicators, on compliance with legal regulations and customer satisfaction. However, although there are legal standards and management standards in occupational safety and health, evaluating performance can become a difficult and subjective process, due to the complexity of the land cargo transportation and the different interest groups involved. Besides, there is little information in the literature that provides solutions for the industry. Therefore, this document presents an integrated approach between multi-criterion decision making models (MCDM) and the Multiple Correspondences Analysis (MCA) to facilitate the evaluation and improvement of occupational health and safety performance, with a logical process, objective, robust and using both qualitative and quantitative techniques, with real application in the land cargo transportation sector. First, the multivariate method of Multiple Correspondences Analysis (MCA) was used for the evaluation of a sample of companies in the industry, considering the factors and sub-factors identified in the first stage and performing correlational analyzes among the variables. Subsequently, a multicriteria decision-making model was designed to determine the factors and sub-factors that affect occupational health and safety performance through the technique of the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP). Finally, improvement strategies are proposed based on the approaches suggested in this document.

Interdisciplinarity and Problem-Based Learning in Higher Education: Research and Perspectives from Aalborg University. Innovation and Change in Professional Education.

Abstract: 1. Introduction -- Section I – Conceptualising Interdisciplinarity in Problem-Based Learning -- 2. Problem-based projects, learning and interdisciplinarity in higher education; Annie Aarup Jensen, Ole Ravn and Diana Stentoft -- 3. Trust me, I am the Doctor: Bridging disciplinary education and interdisciplinary professionalism; Patrick Kjaersdam Telleus -- 4. Beyond the two cultures: PBL and transgressive interdisciplinarity in the Techno-Anthropology programme; Maja Hojer Bruun -- 5. Three challenges facing new students in problem-based and interdisciplinary learning; Diana Stentoft -- 6. Supervising the interdisciplinary PBL project: Scaffolding the open-ended space of scientific possibilities; Ole Ravn -- Concluding section one – an outsiders’ perspective on conceptualising PBL and interdisciplinarity -- 7. Toward an interdisciplinary learning community of PBL supervisors and students; Lisa Lattuca -- Section II – Practising Interdisciplinarity in Problem-Based Learning -- 8. Opening the PBL Game: Problem construction in interdisciplinary project work in multicultural groups; Kirsten Jaeger and Annie Aarup Jensen -- 9. Developing successful group process in interdisciplinary projects; Chunfang Zhou and Lone Krogh -- 10. Students’ positioning in transdisciplinary project-based learning; Alice Juel Jacobsen and Tom Borsen.-11. Student interdisciplinary practices in a PBL study environment; Anette Lykke Hindhede, Marie Martinussen and Karin Hojbjerg -- Concluding section two – an outsiders’ perspective on practicing PBL and interdisciplinarity -- 12. The problem, the group meeting/tutorial, the PBL process and learning; Terry Barrett -- Notes on Contributors. .

A joint velocity-intermittency analysis reveals similarity in the vertical structure of atmospheric and hydrospheric canopy turbulence

Abstract: Turbulent flow through and over vegetation continues to draw significant research attention given its relevance to a plethora of applications in earth and environmental science. Canopy flows are characterized by three-dimensional coherent vortical motions not directly accessible from single-point measurements, which pose a challenge to formalizing links between vegetation structure and turbulent motion. A joint velocity-intermittency technique is applied to velocity data collected within and above aquatic vegetation in a hydraulic flume and above a forested canopy. The approach reveals behavior that provides greater insight into canopy flow dynamics than may be inferred from the vertical profiles of mean velocity, turbulence intensity and Reynolds stresses, which are the quantities usually studied. There is a remarkable similarity in the structure of such flows between the forest canopy and the flume study despite large differences in morphology and stem rigidity. In particular, these results determine an outer flow type arising above 1.5 canopy heights, while turbulent in-rushing events are most significant at the zero-plane displacement. The approach also implies ways in which improved models for canopy turbulence may be developed.

Coconut (Cocos nucifera) Oil

Abstract: The coconut (Cocos nucifera L., family Arecaceae) is an important fruit tree in the world. Copra, the dried kernel, is mainly used for oil extraction. Coconut oil is one of the most important edible oils for domestic use. The oil is rich in medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) and exhibits good digestibility. Different coconut oils are produced from different parts of coconut by different means. Copra as well as refined, bleached and deodorized (RBD) oils are produced from dried coconut kernel, with a difference that RBD oil undergoes chemical refinement and bleaching. The brown testa of the coconut is used for the preparation of coconut testa oil (CTO), which is actually a byproduct of coconut oil preparation. Compared to corpa oil (CO) and RBD oils, virgin coconut oil (VCO) is extracted depend on a “wet method” using fresh coconut milk. As there is no specific method of preparation of VCO has been established, all types of preparations that do not involve refinement and alterations in the oil are considered as a virgin. This chapter will cover the preparation of different oils from coconut, chemistry of coconut oils, blending of coconut oil with other edible oils and biological activities of coconut oils.

Student performance assessment using clustering techniques

Abstract: The application of informatics in the university system management allows managers to count with a great amount of data which, rationally treated, can offer significant help for the student programming monitoring. This research proposes the use of clustering techniques as a useful tool of management strategy to evaluate the progression of the students’ behavior by dividing the population into homogeneous groups according to their characteristics and skills. These applications can help both the teacher and the student to improve the quality of education. The selected method is the data grouping analysis by means of fuzzy logic using the Fuzzy C-means algorithm to achieve a standard indicator called Grade, through an expert system to enable segmentation.

On the Alleged Problem of Legal Normativity

Abstract: Many contemporary philosophers of law believe that one of the central problems of the field is that of explaining the normativity of law. But it is not clear that this is a problem at all, or at least that it is different from the problems that have been exhaustively addressed and analyzed for generations. Once we deconstruct the alleged problem of normativity into its component parts, we can appreciate that legal normativity is either conditional, or is instead but a small variation on age-old questions about the moral obligation, if any, to obey the law simply because of its status as law. There are interesting modern versions of these positions, but in the final analysis David Enoch is correct in labeling the problem of legal normativity as a “pseudo-problem.”

Religion aus kultursoziologischer Perspektive

Abstract: Der Beitrag zeigt am Beispiel ausgewahlter Ansatze und Autor_innen auf, welche Perspektiven durch eine kultursoziologische Herangehensweise fur das soziologische Forschen und Nachdenken uber Religion eroffnet werden. Nach einer Einleitung, die aufzeigt, wie stark bei vielen der soziologischen Klassiker religions- und kulturanalytische Zugange miteinander verwoben sind, wird die Bedeutung der Definition von Religion und Kultur im Hinblick auf deren mehr oder weniger trennscharfe Abgrenzung voneinander thematisiert. Dies bereitet die Diskussion der Frage vor, wie sich die Positionen kultursoziologisch arbeitender Religionssoziolog_innen vor dem Hintergrund der Sakularisierungs- bzw. Resakralisierungsthese gestalten. Als beide Tendenzen aufgreifende Synthese wird das Konzept der „Popularen Religion“ vorgestellt. Im Sinne eines Ausblicks auf neue Themenfelder der Religionssoziologie wird abschliesend ein kultursoziologisch angeleiteter Blick auf religiose Emotionen prasentiert.