The relationship between information and communication technologies adoption and management

This paper examines the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) adoption on management praxis. The study, building on the theoretical framework developed by Scott Morton and his colleagues, attempts to identify the dynamic relationships between ICT adoption and management efforts towards modernization and reorganization. Using data from leading Greek firms, we report evidence as to how changes in strategy, organizational structure, management systems, and human skills link with the current and prospective level of use of various types of advanced ICT. Findings generally appear to suggest that Greek firms are in a process of recognizing the potential of ICT to enable and support changes that are necessary for successfully competing in a hyper-competitive environment. In particular, ICT adoption is shown to affect strategy by supporting long-term strategic objectives and the quest for profitability. Indirectly, it also links to strategic planning systems. ICT is found to be related to an internal environment characterized by open organization and flexibility. Finally, the results show that the sample firms recognize the need for multi-skilled personnel to exploit the advantages stemming from ICT adoption.     

Preparation and characterization of IrxPt1−xO2 anode electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction

Towards competent production of clean and electrolytic hydrogen, proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis offers several advantages, such as high purity of the produced gases, very high level of operation safety and direct storage of gases under high pressure. The work presented deals with the development of efficient PEM water electrolyzers, employing high specific surface area Ir_xPt_1−xO₂ electrocatalysts synthesized by the modified Adams fusion method. A typical three-electrode cell was used to evaluate the performance of the materials for water splitting. The performance of electrodes for oxygen evolution reaction was assessed by steady-state current–potential measurements while their electrochemical characteristics and stability were studied by cyclic voltammetry. It was found that Ir–Pt bimetallic oxide electrodes present a stable performance for oxygen evolution reaction. Their intrinsic electrocatalytic activity in combination with their large surface area and stability are quite promising for the development of economically feasible electrocatalysts for PEM water electrolyzers.     

CO tolerance and durability study of PtMe(Me = Ir or Pd) electrocatalysts for H2-PEMFC application

In the present work, carbon supported PtMe (Me = Ir or Pd) electrocatalysts, with different atomic ratios (Pt/Me (20 wt%) = 3:1, 1:1, 1:3), are thoroughly investigated towards CO tolerance and durability, as anode and cathode for H₂-PEMFCs (hydrogen fed proton exchange membrane fuel cells) application. The electrocatalysts are prepared via a pulse-microwave assisted polyol synthesis method and their durability and electrocatalytic activity in presence and absence of CO are evaluated using the techniques of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), chronoamperometry (CA) and rotating disk electrode (RDE). For the investigation of CO tolerance a protocol is set that could be used by other research groups, since various procedures are reported in literature. It is found that Pd/C shows higher CO tolerance than Pt/C, while the PtPd₃/C exhibits the highest CO tolerance ability, even after being exposed for 9 h at 400 ppm CO. Despite the fact that Pt₃Ir/C shows higher CO tolerance ability than Pt/C, it cannot resist at such high CO concentrations for more than 6 h. Finally, it is found that PtIr/C and PtPd/C exhibit very good durability even after 5000 accelerated durability test (ADT) cycles, while Pt₃Pd/C and PtPd/C present the highest mass activities (339.4 and 410 mA/mg_Pt respectively at 0.9 V), which are 4 and 5 times higher than the one observed over commercial Pt/C (82.75 mA/mg_Pt).     

Personalized and content adaptive cultural heritage path recommendation: an application to the Gournia and Çatalhöyük archaeological sites

User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction - Although abundant research work has been published in the area of path recommendation and its applications on travel and routing topics, scarce work has...     

Monitoring of time between events with a double generally weighted moving average control chart

Monitoring of time between events (TBE) instead of the number of events is used in high‐quality processes where the events occur rarely. This article presents a double generally weighted moving average control chart with a lower time‐varying control limit to monitor the TBE (regarded as DGWMA‐TBE chart). The design parameters of the proposed chart are provided, and through a simulation study, it is shown that the DGWMA‐TBE chart is more effective than the DEWMA and GWMA charts in detecting moderate to large shifts. Furthermore, the DGWMA‐TBE chart is very robust for the same range of shifts when the TBE observations follow a Weibull or a lognormal distribution. Finally, examples are also presented to enhance the performance of the proposed chart.     

Oxygen reduction and hydrogen oxidation reaction on novel carbon supported PdxIry electrocatalysts

In the present work Vulcan XC-72 carbon supported Pd, Ir and Pd_xIr_y (with x:y atomic ratios of 3:1, 1:1, 1:3) electrocatalysts are thoroughly investigated for the reactions of hydrogen oxidation (HOR) and oxygen reduction (ORR). The catalysts are prepared via a pulse-microwave assisted polyol synhtesis method. The techniques of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) are adopted to investigate the elemental composition, the structure, and the morphology of the as prepared electrocatalysts.Their electrocatalytic properties toward HOR and ORR are evaluated by the aid of cyclic voltammetry (CV) and rotating disk electrode (RDE) techniques. It is found that after the addition of even a small amount of iridium, the electrocatalytic activity of pure palladium is enhanced toward both reactions.According to the obtained results the highest HOR and ORR electrocatalytic activity enhancement is exhibited by PdIr (1:1) sample. The order of the electrocatalytic activity is found to be PdIr > PdIr₃ > Pd₃Ir > Pd > Ir for HOR and PdIr > Pd₃Ir > PdIr₃ > Pd > Ir for the ORR, respectively.     

eWALL: An Open-Source Cloud-Based eHealth Platform for Creating Home Caring Environments for Older Adults Living with Chronic Diseases or Frailty

Independent living of older adults is one of the main challenges linked to the ageing population. Especially those living with diseases like COPD, MCI or frailty, need more support in everyday life and this is by itself a big societal challenge with impact in multiple sectors. In this paper we present eWALL, an innovative open-source eHealth platform that aims to address these challenges by means of an advanced cloud-based infrastructure. eWALL is designed in an innovative manner and achieved technical breakthroughs in eHealth platforms, while prioritizing user and market needs that are often abandoned and are the major reason for technically sound solutions that fail. We consider this as an opportunity and we aim to change the eHealth systems’ experience for older adults and break the barriers for the penetration of ICT solutions.     

A moving average control chart using a robust scale estimator for process dispersion

Control charts are one of the most powerful tools used to detect and control industrial process deviations in statistical process control. In this paper, a moving average control chart based on a robust scale estimator of standard deviation, namely, the sample median absolute deviation (MAD) statistic, for monitoring process dispersion, is proposed. A simulation study is conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed moving average median absolute deviation (MA‐MAD) chart, in terms of average run length for various distributions. The results show that the moving average MAD chart performs well in detecting small and moderate shifts in process dispersion, especially when the normality assumption is violated. In addition, this chart is very efficient, especially when the quality characteristic follows a skewed distribution. Numerical and simulated examples are given at the end of the paper.     

Study of the Involvement of Phosphatidic Acid Formation in the Expression of Wound‐Responsive Genes in Cotton

Plants use phospholipase D (PLD, EC 3.1.4.4)/phosphatidic acid (PtdOH) for the transduction of environmental signals including those coming from wounding. Based on our previous findings suggesting that wound‐induced PLDα‐derived PtdOH can act as a local signaling molecule in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), we show that wounding immediately increases local NADPH oxidase (NADPHox) and cellulose synthase A (CeSA) gene expression. After developing a novel fluorimetric assay for the investigation of n‐butanol inhibitory effect on PLD activity, we show that only NADPHox gene upregulation is reduced when n‐butanol is applied prior to wounding. This suggests that NADPHox is a possible downstream target of PLD function, while a different CeSA‐involving response system may exist in cotton. Overall, this study provides new knowledge on signal‐transduction mechanisms following wounding of cotton leaves.