Evolving privacy: From sensors to the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) envisions a world covered with billions of smart, interacting things capable of offering all sorts of services to near and remote entities. The benefits and comfort that the IoT will bring about are undeniable, however, these may come at the cost of an unprecedented loss of privacy. In this paper we look at the privacy problems of one of the key enablers of the IoT, namely wireless sensor networks, and analyse how these problems may evolve with the development of this complex paradigm. We also identify further challenges which are not directly associated with already existing privacy risks but will certainly have a major impact in our lives if not taken into serious consideration.     

全球化与马克思主义中国化发展关系解读

在中国日益融入全球化进程的情势下,必须重新解读全球化与马克思主义中国化之间的多维关系。全球化不仅塑造了马克思主义中国化开启的历史前提、构成了马克思主义中国化进程中始终关注和回应的时代背景,还给发展带来新的挑战和机遇;与此同时,随着有中国特色社会主义事业的发展,马克思主义中国化也影响和改变着全球化。     

A survey of challenges in modelling and decision-making for discrete event logistics systems

In this paper, we consider discrete event logistics systems (DELS). DELS are networks of resources through which material flow. They have been the subject of a large body of analytic research. A huge variety of specific models exists that generally require application by model and/or solution experts to answer narrowly-defined logistics questions about inventory, sourcing, scheduling, routing, etc. It has, however, proven difficult to integrate these models in any comprehensive way into information systems for logistics because of the lack of conceptual alignment between the models produced by researchers and the information systems deployed in practice with which they should be integrated. In this paper, we systematically identify several challenges for DELS research. We analyse the root of the difficulties for applying academic research results in DELS, and indicate some potential future research directions.     

Co-gasification of coal and biomass an emerging clean energy technology: Status and prospects of development in Indian context

Co-gasification of coal and biomass is emerging as potential clean fuel technology to achieve high thermodynamic efficiency with relatively low CO2 emission. The coal and biomass have been exclusively gasified more than a century to obtain gas–liquid fuels and the production of chemicals. Co-gasification has higher efficiency than the solitary coal gasification because the cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin content of biomass help to ignite and enhance the rate of gasification. It is suggested that the extensive research on carbon reactivity pattern, heat release, reaction kinetics, etc. may support to reduce the uncertainties in the co-gasification performance of coal and biomass blends, particularly in India. The prospects of co-gasification technology in Indian context have been discussed considering the abundance of varieties of coal and biomass. The suitability of existing gasifier procedures and their limitations with operating parameters like temperature, residence time, density optimisation, feed rate, agglomeration intensity, the tar formation and techno-economics involved are described. Also, this paper reviews the research highlights of the history of co-gasification and the advancement in upcoming challenges like a design of gasifier, access and preparation of biomass, disposal of residue, environmental concerns and reassurance to the operators for execution of large and small-scale projects.     

Low carbon housing refurbishment challenges and incentives: Architects’ perspectives

The UK has a legally binding commitment to reduce CO₂ levels by 80% by 2050 relative to the 1990 emissions baseline. The existing housing stock, which accounts for approximately 30% of total UK energy demand, has the potential to provide significant opportunities for this reduction; however, currently there are no legislative measures driving widespread low carbon housing refurbishment (LCHR) design and construction. Architects have a decisive role to move forward the LCHR agenda owing to their leadership and significant involvement in the initial briefing, conceptual and design development phases of a project, regardless of project procurement types and project sizes. Hence, the aim of this research is to investigate the key challenges and incentives for achieving LCHR in England from architects’ perspectives.     

满足各种挑战的WCSP封装持续增长

晶圆级芯片尺寸封装（WCSP）消除了类似传统的芯片键合、引线键合和倒装芯片贴装过程的封装工序。这种办法可以为半导体产品用户实现更快的上市时间。WCSP封装应用空间正在扩大到新的领域,并根据管脚数量和器件类型进行细分。WCSP封装正在集成无源、分立元件、射频和存储器器件方面得到应用,并扩展到逻辑集成电路和MEMS器件。但伴随着这种应用的增长出现了很多问题,其中包括随着芯片尺寸和管脚数量的增长对电路板可靠性的影响。概述当今的挑战,以及这些集成和硅通孔技术的未来趋势。     

An empirical examination of benefits,challenges, and critical success factors of industry 4.0 in manufacturing and service sector

Industry 4.0 marks a new paradigm and has expanded its domain from theoretical concepts to real-world applications. Industry 4.0 is, however, still in the state of infancy and conceptual state wherein it is not clear as to how to incorporate many dynamic technological concepts in different sectors. Previous studies have conceptually delineated the benefits, challenges, and CSFs of Industry 4.0, however, there is yet to be an empirical study that critically examines the differences in benefits, challenges, and critical success factors (CSFs) of Industry 4.0 in both manufacturing and service industries and rank them. This study through an online survey captures the view of senior management professionals who have experience in Industry 4.0 implementation in major companies in Asia, Europe, and North America. 96 senior management professionals participated in this study through an online survey. The qualitative data on benefits and challenges were analysed using thematic analyses. The quantitative data on critical success factors were ranked using the normalisation of the mean to find the most important factors. Further agreement analysis was conducted in the manufacturing and service sectors for the CSFs. This study identifies the top five benefits and challenges in the manufacturing and service industries. The CSFs for Industry 4.0 was put forward and ranked in both the manufacturing and service industries.     

What hinder the further development of wind power in China?—A socio-technical barrier study

Promoting wind power is a long-term strategy of China to respond to both energy shortage and environmental pollution. Stimulated by various incentive policies, wind power generation in China has achieved tremendous growth, with the cumulative installed capacity being the largest worldwide for five consecutive years since 2010. However, obstructed by various barriers, wind power provides only 2.6% of national electricity generation in China, despite the strong support from the government. From a socio-technical transition perspective, this paper aims to systematically analyze the barriers hindering the further development of China's wind power. A wind power niche model is established to illustrate the complex interactions among actors in the wind power industry and electricity supply regime. Then, qualitative content analysis is adopted to process the related evidence and data, and four categories of socio-technical barriers are identified, including technology, governance, infrastructure and culture barriers. The study shows that various interrelated barriers form a blocking mechanism which prohibits the further development of wind power in China. Policy suggestions are proposed to eliminate the barriers and further empower the wind power niche. The lesson learned from China can offer useful references for other economies to promote wind power industries of their own.     

Food safety modernization act: A quality management approach to identify and prioritize factors affecting adoption of preventive controls among small food facilities

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law in the United States in 2011, shifting the existing food safety focus from a reactive to a preventive approach. According to literature, legislative requirements of FSMA can be challenging for small food facilities affected by the regulations immediately or in near future. Thus, the purpose of this research was to utilize quality management tools to identify and prioritize major challenges faced by small food facilities in adopting the preventive controls' component of the FSMA legislation. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews of food industry representatives and academic professionals from the Midwest region of the United States. An affinity diagram was used to identify the set of challenges that emerged from the interviews, following which a weighted multi-voting survey was used to prioritize the identified challenges. Major identified challenges included: understanding of the FSMA law, cost of implementation, timeline for implementation, employee preparedness, absence of quality culture, and employee willingness. Furthermore, a difference was observed in how industry representatives and academic professionals rank ordered the above-listed challenges.     

浅谈性能化防火设计在万达商业综合体中的应用

本文分析万达模式商业综合体的功能组合特点及其防火设计面临的难点与挑战．并结合工程实例介绍性能化防火设计在万达商业综合体工程中的应用。