Semantically enriched Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) platform

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are becoming an essential source of information for both students and teachers. Noticeably, MOOCs have to adapt to the fast development of new technologies; they also have to satisfy the current generation of online students. The current MOOCs’ Management Systems, such as Coursera, Udacity, edX, etc., use content management platforms where content are organized in a hierarchical structure. We envision a new generation of MOOCs that support interpretability with formal semantics by using the SemanticWeb and the online social networks. Semantic technologies support more flexible information management than that offered by the current MOOCs’ platforms. Annotated information about courses, video lectures, assignments, students, teachers, etc., can be composed from heterogeneous sources, including contributions from the communities in the forum space. These annotations, combined with legacy data, build foundations for more efficient information discovery in MOOCs’ platforms. In this article we review various Collaborative Semantic Filtering technologies for building Semantic MOOCs’ management system, then, we present a prototype of a semantic middle-sized platform implemented at Western Kentucky University that answers these aforementioned requirements.     

大体积混凝土承台温控分析

以中博会展中心大体积承台的施工为例,探讨了大体积混凝土施工的温度控制措施;按平面应变理论建立了数值分析模型,利用有限元对大体积承台进行了温度场和应力场的模拟分析;对承台内部的混凝土温度进行了测量,并对实测结果进行了分析。     

“慕课”对我国高职教育发展的启示

大规模网络开放课程（ MOOC,慕课）为网络时代的学习者提供了一种新的知识获取渠道和学习模式,成为一种全新的学习途径。通过梳理和总结MOOC发展的历史,分析了MOOC项目的主要特点,从教学和人才培养、终身教育体系下学习型社会的形成两个方面着手,提出了MOOC对我国高职教育进一步快速良性发展的启示。     

基于贝叶斯压缩感知的毫米波MIMO信道估计

针对毫米波大规模多输入多输出(MIMO)通信系统中存在的硬件成本高、能耗大等问题,混合模拟-数字的收发机架构是一个很有前景的解决方案,然而系统的信道估计问题却成为一个挑战。在考虑正交频分复用和频率选择性衰落信道模型的前提下,提出了一种使用贝叶斯压缩感知理论来估计信道的方法。贝叶斯压缩感知算法可以在稀疏信道先验知识不完备的情况下,实现更高精度的信道估计。仿真结果验证了所提方法的有效性,与正交匹配追踪算法相比,在信噪比为30dB时,归一化均方误差降低了约25dB。     

Instructional quality of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

We present an analysis of instructional design quality of 76 randomly selected Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The quality of MOOCs was determined from first principles of instruction, using a course survey instrument. Two types of MOOCs (xMOOCs and cMOOCs) were analysed and their instructional design quality was assessed and compared. We found that the majority of MOOCs scored poorly on most instructional design principles. However, most MOOCs scored highly on organisation and presentation of course material. The results indicate that although most MOOCs are well-packaged, their instructional design quality is low. We outline implications for practice and ideas for future research.     

LA-ICP MS Characteristic of Geochemical Composition of Veins Rocks from the Central Part of the Khibina Massive in Kola Peninsula,Northern Russia

This paper discusses the vein rocks located in the central part of Khibina Mts.. These rocks are located on the border of two zones： ore and external. In the ore, zone is present titanite-nepheline bodies whilst in the outer zone are massive-syenites ＂khibinites＂. The veins can be divided into： mikrosyenites, melteigites and other rock types （e.g., tinguaites）. The results of LA-ICP MS （laser ablation of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry） indicate that these rocks are associated with deep zones which formed as a result of injection of primary magma and contamination of fluids during migration, where there have hydrothermal processes. Rock-forming minerals, their corrosion and accessory minerals indicate these processes, too.     

Real-time data mining of massive data streams from synoptic sky surveys

The nature of scientific and technological data collection is evolving rapidly: data volumes and rates grow exponentially, with increasing complexity and information content, and there has been a transition from static data sets to data streams that must be analyzed in real time. Interesting or anomalous phenomena must be quickly characterized and followed up with additional measurements via optimal deployment of limited assets. Modern astronomy presents a variety of such phenomena in the form of transient events in digital synoptic sky surveys, including cosmic explosions (supernovae, gamma ray bursts), relativistic phenomena (black hole formation, jets), potentially hazardous asteroids, etc. We have been developing a set of machine learning tools to detect, classify and plan a response to transient events for astronomy applications, using the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey (CRTS) as a scientific and methodological testbed. The ability to respond rapidly to the potentially most interesting events is a key bottleneck that limits the scientific returns from the current and anticipated synoptic sky surveys. Similar challenge arises in other contexts, from environmental monitoring using sensor networks to autonomous spacecraft systems. Given the exponential growth of data rates, and the time-critical response, we need a fully automated and robust approach. We describe the results obtained to date, and the possible future developments.     

Production of Strong Steel‐Aluminum Composites by Formation of Intermetallic Phases in Compound Forging

In times of increasing energy costs automotive light weight construction is gaining more importance. The production of hybrid compounds by forging is a promising method to successfully manufacture functional parts by applying resource‐saving process steps. However, in compound forging of steel‐aluminum parts shrinking gaps may form because of the different thermal expansion coefficients. To avoid these unwanted gaps, it is necessary to achieve a firmly bonded joint e.g. by intermetallic phases. This paper deals with the investigation of the influences of different sample preparations, process parameters and true strains on the formation of intermetallic phases. Thus, the optimum production parameters for compound forging of steel‐aluminum parts will be determined.     

A thermal active restrained shrinkage ring test to study the early age concrete behaviour of massive structures

In massive concrete structures, cracking may occur during hardening, especially if autogenous and thermal strains are restrained. The concrete permeability due to this cracking may rise significantly and thus increase leakage (in tank, nuclear containment…) and reduce the durability.The restrained shrinkage ring test is used to study the early age concrete behaviour (delayed strains evolution and cracking). This test shows, at 20 °C and without drying, for a concrete mix which is representative of a French nuclear power plant containment vessel (w/c ratio equal to 0.57), that the amplitude of autogenous shrinkage (about 40 μm/m for the studied concrete mix) is not high enough to cause cracking. Indeed, in this configuration, thermal shrinkage is not significant, whereas this is a major concern for massive structures.Therefore, an active test has been developed to study cracking due to restrained thermal shrinkage. This test is an evolution of the classical restrained shrinkage ring test. It allows to take into account both autogenous and thermal shrinkages. Its principle is to create the thermal strain effects by increasing the temperature of the brass ring (by a fluid circulation) in order to expand it. With this test, the early age cracking due to restrained shrinkage, the influence of reinforcement and construction joints have been experimentally studied. It shows that, as expected, reinforcement leads to an increase of the number of cracks but a decrease of crack widths. Moreover, cracking occurs preferentially at the construction joint.     

Design and Implementation of An Active Multibeam Antenna System with 64 RF Channels and 256 Antenna Elements for Massive MIMO Application in 5G Wireless Communications

This paper focuses on the design and implementation of an active multibeam antenna system for massive MIMO applications in 5G wireless communications. The highly integrated active multibeam antenna system is designed and implemented at 5.8 GHz with 64 RF Channels and 256 antenna elements. The 64-channel highly integrated active multibeam antenna system provides a verification platform for digital beamforming algorithm and massive MIMO channel estimation for next generation wireless communications.