Distance learning, virtual classrooms, and teaching pedagogy in the Internet environment

The Internet and distance learning have created a new business and a new teaching pedagogy. The purpose of this paper is to show how data communication technologies have affected distance learning and pedagogy, and help teachers and students in virtual classrooms. In particular, the paper addresses the history of distance learning, current issues, the federal government’s role, and four specific areas of improvement: curricula change, new patterns of interaction, changes in organizational structures, and the roles and activities of participants in both business and academic distance-learning environments.     

面向教学的三维变换算法可视化方法研究

在深入研究计算机图形学三维变换算法原理的基础上,分析了算法可视化的实质,建立了三维坐标系,并实现了坐标的投影变换,运用动态演示的方法,结合交互控制技术,实现了三维变换算法可视化教学演示系统CAI.学习者可以更快、更准确地理解计算机图形学三维变换的算法实质,有效地提高了教学质量.     

Ultrasound Transducers for Large-Scale Metrology: A Performance Analysis for Their Use by the MScMS

The Mobile Spatial coordinate Measuring System (MScMS) is a distributed wireless-sensor-network-based system used to perform dimensional measurements of large-scale objects. The system consists of a wireless mobile probe with ultrasonic (US) transceivers, the position of which is determined using a distributed constellation of US transceivers arranged around the measuring area. These US transceivers, which are known as Crickets, transmit US signals to each other and measure their time of flight (TOF) to determine the mutual distances. The MScMS is able to calculate the Cartesian coordinates of the object surface points touched by the wireless mobile probe. This paper aims to experimentally evaluate the performance of the US transducers on each of the MScMS Crickets. The experiments are designed and performed by means of a statistical factorial plan to identify the most important factors affecting the transducers' performance on TOF measurements. Particular attention is given to the error derived by the US signal attenuation and the method of US pulse detection. The results are analyzed in detail and fully interpreted. Finally, some considerations about possible actions to improve the MScMS measuring system are given.      

Not too big,not too small: the appropriate scale

The tools we use at the human scale, whether mechanical, medical or microelectronic, depend on materials for which some other scale of length or time is critical. Often this is the mesoscale, between the scales of engineering and of atomic science. Linking underlying processes to what we handle is sometimes called 'spanning' (or 'bridging') length scales, giving the impression that the mesoscale is a swamp to be crossed without getting mud on our boots. This is misleading: we do not wish to span the mesoscale, but to work at the appropriate scale, and to connect that to our human needs. The appropriate scale need not rule out multiscale computer modelling, in which some supercode integrates relevant scales in one pass, hoping to combine the best of methods for two or more levels. But the reality for such attempts, too often, is that the worst of both regimes are found. Happily, simpler strategies at a judicious scale will often suffice.     

Prisoners, chickens, volunteers, free riders and suckers: dilemmason the Internet

The World Wide Web enables users to access a variety of multimedia resources distributed around the world. Its ease of use has attracted many new users to the Internet and the emergence of commercial Internet providers has facilitated this growth. Although most people welcome the breakdown of elitist access to the Internet, it has had an impact on the performance experienced by the individual user. `Game theory' is used to examine the conflict of self interest versus group interest within a shared network environment like the Internet     

基于网络环境的“机电传动控制”教改试验研究

文章针对基于网络的现代化教学，介绍了基于网络资源利用的“机电传动控制”课程教改试验过程，其中的经验和存在的问题为网络环境下的教学提供有益的参考。     

PIZnet, the joint Internet site for German patent information centres

The objective of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Patentinformationszentren e.V. (The Association of German Patent Information Centres) is to encourage the ongoing development of the centres and to achieve broader public dissemination of industrial property rights information. Since use of the Internet has steadily increased amongst wide sections of the public in recent years, and since patent offices have taken steps to give the public free access to patent information, the association has set up a Germany-wide network known as PIZnet (“PIZ” standing for “patent information centres” in German) in co-operation with the Federal Printing Office. This network includes a presentation on all German patent information centres and the services they provide, it answers questions on the patent system, publishes offers of licences, and covers much else besides.     

Priorities for Standards and Measurements to Accelerate Innovations in Nano-Electrotechnologies: Analysis of the NIST-Energetics-IEC TC 113 Survey

In 2008, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Energetics Incorporated collaborated with the International Electrotechnical Commission Technical Committee 113 (IEC TC 113) on nano-electrotechnologies to survey members of the international nanotechnologies community about priorities for standards and measurements to accelerate innovations in nano-electrotechnologies. In this paper, we analyze the 459 survey responses from 45 countries as one means to begin building a consensus on a framework leading to nano-electrotechnologies standards development by standards organizations and national measurement institutes. The distributions of priority rankings from all 459 respondents are such that there are perceived distinctions with statistical confidence between the relative international priorities for the several items ranked in each of the following five Survey category types: 1) Nano-electrotechnology Properties, 2) Nano-electrotechnology Taxonomy: Products, 3) Nano-electrotechnology Taxonomy: Cross-Cutting Technologies, 4) IEC General Discipline Areas, and 5) Stages of the Linear Economic Model. The global consensus prioritizations for ranked items in the above five category types suggest that the IEC TC 113 should focus initially on standards and measurements for electronic and electrical properties of sensors and fabrication tools that support performance assessments of nano-technology enabled sub-assemblies used in energy, medical, and computer products.     

Hollywood, the Internet and the World: A Geography of Disruptive Innovation

During the past decade, the Hollywood studios have broadly sought to subdue, rather than explore, the technological possibilities of the Internet. Specifically, the studios have used their ownership of creative works to control the speed and direction of innovation in an emerging digitally networked social and economic environment, which is built upon the Internet and an ecology of hardware and software technologies. In this paper, I use a relational perspective to examine two critical aspects of this case study. The first concerns the cognitive and discursive dimensions of firm strategy. The second concerns the formation and enactment of firm strategy within networks of social relations. The argument is therefore twofold. On the one hand, I argue that the Hollywood studios are seeking to create a “closed” sphere of innovation on a global scale, which enables the absolute defence of property rights. However, this has alienated a broad spectrum of new creative freedoms, causing a “bifurcation” of the networked environment. On the other hand, I argue that this strategic response must be understood in relational terms. The closed sphere has been legitimated, enacted and performed within relational networks at a regional scale in Los Angeles. The paper is based on unprecedented access to the Hollywood studios, combined with interviews across the media, entertainment and technology industries. The overall goal of the paper is to construct an “economic geography” of disruptive innovation under conditions of oligopoly.     

Smart Grids with Intelligent Periphery:An Architecture for the Energy Internet

A future smart grid must fulfi ll the vision of the Energy Internet in which millions of people produce their own energy from renewables in their homes, offi ces, and factories and share it with each other. Electric vehicles and local energy storage will be widely deployed. Internet technology will be utilized to transform the power grid into an energysharing inter-grid. To prepare for the future, a smart grid with intelligent periphery, or smart GRIP, is proposed. The building blocks of GRIP architecture are called clusters and include an energy-management system(EMS)-controlled transmission grid in the core and distribution grids, micro-grids, and smart buildings and homes on the periphery; all of which are hierarchically structured. The layered architecture of GRIP allows a seamless transition from the present to the future and plug-and-play interoperability. The basic functions of a cluster consist of ①dispatch, ② smoothing, and ③ mitigation. A risk-limiting dispatch methodology is presented; a new device, called the electric spring, is developed for smoothing out fl uctuations in periphery clusters; and means to mitigate failures are discussed.     

An integrated model for the production-inventory-distribution problem in the Physical Internet

In contrast to traditional supply chain networks, Physical Internet (PI) is an interconnected open global logistics network based on open PI hubs and standard PI-containers that has the potential to achieve ground-breaking improvements in integrated production-inventory-distribution management. In this paper, to quantify the advantages of PI from a cost performance perspective, we propose a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) formulation for addressing the problem that combines an integrated production-inventory-distribution decision with PI, which has been addressed separately in the existing literature. The results of computational experiments show that while achieving a comparable or better service level, PI can achieve significant cost savings compared to a traditional supply chain network with a dynamic configuration and a hybrid configuration. Moreover, we investigate the impact of several problem parameter changes on the total costs under each network setting, and managerial insights are derived.     

Student Participation,Faculty Involvement,and Costs in the NGV Challenge — A Large-Scale Automotive Design Project

Large-scale automotive design projects offer an outstanding opportunity for students to obtain practical experience in engineering design. This paper reports a survey of faculty advisors for student teams participating in the Natural Gas Vehicle Challenge. About fifteen students were typically involved in the project at each university participating in the competition. Five or six were typically “key” to the project. Usually faculty advisors had a research interest in automotive engineering or alternate fuels, and they often incorporated the project into a design course. Although the funding level for such a design project varied substantially, the typical funding level was about $25,000, most of which came from local sponsors. Faculty advisors often commented on the educational value of the project and their satisfaction in working closely with students.     

The Internet and the revolution in distribution: a cross-industry examination

Distributors and channels of distribution have existed since time immemorial. Channels of distribution have existed to get products to consumers cheaper, faster, and more effectively. Distribution encompasses various types of activities, depending on the type of and point in the supply chain where value is added. A supply chain constitutes a set of activities ranging from production and manufacturing, to logistics, warehousing, transportation, and final delivery of goods to the customer (Handfield RB, Nichols EL. Introduction to supply chain management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1999). Through their interactions with suppliers, manufacturers, and end customers, distributors thus perform an important intermediary role in matching supply with demand.In this paper, the impact of the Internet on the value chain is discussed. In order to explore issues pertaining to this transformation in greater detail, three industries that have been either radically altered by the Internet, or that are facing tremendous challenges as they head into the future, are considered. They are (a) the retailing industry, (b) banking, brokerage and financial services, and (c) the music industry. The objective is to elicit the underlying managerial implications and imperatives through this cross-industry examination.     

Analytical Description for Solid-State Phase Transformation Kinetics:Extended Works from a Modular Model,a Review

Solid-state phase transformation plays an important role in adjusting the microstructure and thus tuning the properties of materials.A general modular,analytical model has been widely applied to describe the kinetics of solid-state phase transformation involving nucleation,growth and impingement;the basic conception for iso-kinetics which constitutes a physical foundation for the kinetic models or recipes can be extended by the analytical model.Applying the model,the evolution of kinetic parameters is an effective tool for describing the crystallization of enormous amorphous alloys.In order to further improve the effectiveness of this kinetic model,recently,the recipes and the model fitting procedures were extended,with more factors(e.g.,anisotropic growth,soft impingement,and thermodynamic driving force)taken into consideration in the modified models.The recent development in the field of analytical model suggests that it is a general,flexible and open kinetic model for describing the solid-state phase transformation kinetics.