TAPAS: Trustworthy privacy-aware participatory sensing

With the advent of mobile technology, a new class of applications, called participatory sensing (PS), is emerging, with which the ubiquity of mobile devices is exploited to collect data at scale. However, privacy and trust are the two significant barriers to the success of any PS system. First, the participants may not want to associate themselves with the collected data. Second, the validity of the contributed data is not verified, since the intention of the participants is not always clear. In this paper, we formally define the problem of privacy and trust in PS systems and examine its challenges. We propose a trustworthy privacy-aware framework for PS systems dubbed TAPAS, which enables the participation of the users without compromising their privacy while improving the trustworthiness of the collected data. Our experimental evaluations verify the applicability of our proposed approaches and demonstrate their efficiency.     

Semantic Web and Social Web heading towards Living Documents in the Life Sciences

Rather than a document that is constantly being written as in the wiki approach, the Living Document (LD) is a document that also acts as a document router, operating by means of structured and organized social tagging and using existing ontologies. It offers an environment where users can manage papers and related information, share their knowledge with their peers and discover hidden associations amongst the shared knowledge. The LD builds upon both the Semantic Web, which values the integration of well-structured data, and the Social Web, which aims to facilitate interaction amongst people by means of user-generated content. In this vein, the LD is similar to a social networking system, with users as central nodes in the network, with the difference that interaction is focused on papers rather than people. Papers, with their ability to represent research interests, expertise, affiliations, and links to web based tools and databanks, are the central axis for interaction amongst users. To support this, we have also implemented a novel web prototype that enables researchers to accomplish three activities central to the Semantic Web vision: organizing, sharing and discovering. Availability: http://www.scientifik.info/livingdocument.     

Synthesis of oil based hyperbranched resins and their modification with melamine-formaldehyde resin

In this research hyperbranched resins containing fatty acid residues were synthesized. Dipentaerythritol which has six hydroxyl groups was used as the core molecule, and it was transesterified with (i) castor oil, and (ii) a mixture of castor oil and linseed oil at 240 °C. The resulting molecule had hydroxyl containing ricinoleic acid residue coming from castor oil. It was then esterified with dimethylol propionic acid at 140 °C in the presence of para-toluene sulfonic acid used as catalyst. The hyperbranched resin thus produced was then mixed with melamine-formaldehyde resin to improve its properties. The resins were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, and the thermal properties were determined by DSC. The resins were thermally stable up to 316 °C. The viscosity of the resin that was synthesized by using only castor oil was 3.0 Pa s, while the one synthesized by using 50% linseed oil had a viscosity of 1.0 Pa s. When reacted with dimethylol propionic acid the viscosity of the former resin increased to 7.0 Pa s, and that of the second to 3.7 Pa s. The hyperbranched resins showed excellent adhesion, gloss, flexibility, and formability. The mixed resin (i.e. hyperbranched and melamine-formaldehyde) had higher hardness values but lower gloss, adhesion, and bending resistance. Both types of resins also had good impact and abrasion resistances.     

The state of the art on buffer allocation problem: a comprehensive survey

The buffer allocation problem is an NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem and it is an important research issue in designing manufacturing systems. The problem deals with finding optimal buffer sizes to be allocated into buffer areas in a production system to achieve a specific objective. This paper presents a comprehensive survey on buffer allocation problem in production systems. To provide a systematic review of current relevant research, first studies are grouped in two categories: 1. Reliable production lines, 2. Unreliable production lines. Next, the studies in each group are reviewed based on topology of the production line, the solution methodologies suggested and the objective function employed. The aim of this review is twofold. First, it provides an overview of recent advances in the field in order to highlight the new trends in solution methodology. Second, it presents ideas for future research by identifying gaps in the current literature.     

The impact of Social Multimedia Systems on cyberlearners

The phenomenon of social learning analytics presents a synergy between variety of disciplines, such as business intelligence, educational data mining, cyberlearning, and cyber infrastructure. The main contribution of this research is to combine two types of social learning analytics, social learning network analysis and social learning content analysis in studying the impact of the Social Multimedia Systems (SMSs) on cyberlearners. The research study provided in this paper is based on the survey data collected in spring 2011 at Western Kentucky University. The evidence obtained from the analysis shows that SMS impacts (a) the digital communication between faculty and students; (b) students’ success and grades; (c) the amount of materials covered and learned; (d) the effectiveness of studying; (e) the depth of learning; (f) the ability to focus on the most important learning objectives; (g) the degree of collaboration among students; and (h) the students’ motivation of studying.     

An investigation on the optimal location of ozonation within biological treatment for a tannery wastewater

The objective of this study was to evaluate the optimal location of ozonation within biological treatment for a typical tannery wastewater by giving special attention to biodegradability‐based chemical oxygen demand (COD) characterization. As treating the raw tannery effluent solely by biological treatment is not adequate to meet the discharge standards owing to the high level of biorecalcitrant COD at the outlet, the application of chemical oxidation, i.e. ozone together with biotreatment (pre‐ozonation or in mid‐ozonation or post‐ozonation) was investigated. The tannery effluent under investigation had initially inert soluble COD (S_I1) and particulate COD (X_I1) fractions corresponding to 9% and 13% of the total COD (C_T1), respectively, whereas each component of the biodegradable part—readily biodegradable COD (S_S1), rapidly hydrolysable COD (S_H1), and slowly hydrolysable COD (X_S1)—accounted for around 26% of the total COD (C_T1). Pre‐ozonation, undesirably competing with biotreatment for the removal of degradable organics, was shown to be insufficient both in terms of total COD (C_T1) and inert COD (C_I1) removal efficiencies. The scheme of biological treatment + ozonation + biological treatment could be applied successfully when 42.8 mg O₃ min^?1 was introduced for 5 min with a utilized ozone percentage of 76% at a point in biological treatment where the readily biodegradable COD (S_S1) was depleted through biochemical reactions. Such an alternative yielded satisfactory outcomes when both total COD (C_T) and inert COD (C_I) removal efficiencies per utilized ozone ratios were considered. With post‐ozonation, on the other hand, the highest inert COD (C_I) removal efficiencies together with an effluent quality meeting the discharge standards could be obtained. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Exergy analysis of industrial pasta drying process

In this study we present an energy and exergy modelling of industrial final macaroni (pasta) drying process for its system analysis, performance evaluation and optimization. Using actual system data, a performance assessment of the industrial macaroni drying process through energy and exergy efficiencies and system exergy destructions is conducted. The heat losses to the surroundings and exergy destructions in the overall system are quantified and illustrated using energy and exergy flow diagrams. The total energy rate input to system is 316.25 kW. The evaporation rate is 72 kg h^?1 (0.02 kg s^?1) and energy consumption rate is found as 4.38 kW for 1 kg water evaporation from product. Humidity product rate is 792 kg h^?1 (0.22 kg s^?1) and energy consumption rate is found about 0.4 kW for 1 kg short cut pasta product. The energy efficiencies of the pasta drying process and the overall system are found to be as 7.55–77.09% and 68.63%. The exergy efficiency of pasta drying process is obtained to be as 72.98–82.15%. For the actual system that is presented the system exergy efficiency vary between 41.90 and 70.94%. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of high temperature and cooling conditions on aerated concrete properties

In this study, effect of elevated temperatures and various cooling regimes on the properties of aerated concrete is investigated. Air cooled materials are tested at room temperature and in hot condition right after the fire. Water quenching effect is determined by testing the material in wet condition right after the quenching and in dry condition at room temperature. Unstressed strength of the material tested hot is relatively higher than air cooled unstressed residual strength up to 600 °C. On the other hand, water quenching decreases the percentage of the strength particularly when the material is wet right after the quenching; strength is lost gradually as the temperature rises. As a result, if the quenching effect is disregarded, temperature rise does not have a considerable effect on the strength of the aerated concrete approximately up to 700–800 °C. It is able to maintain its volumetric stability as well. However, more care needs to be taken in terms of its use above 800 °C for fire safety.