Automating Research Data Management Using Machine-Actionable Data Management Plans

Many research funders mandate researchers to create and maintain data management plans (DMPs) for research projects that describe how research data is managed to ensure its reusability. A DMP, being a static textual document, is difficult to act upon and can quickly become obsolete and impractical to maintain. A new generation of machine-actionable DMPs (maDMPs) was therefore proposed by the Research Data Alliance to enable automated integration of information and updates. maDMPs open up a variety of use cases enabling interoperability of research systems and automation of data management tasks. In this article, we describe a system for machine-actionable data management planning in an institutional context. We identify common use cases within research that can be automated to benefit from machine-actionability of DMPs. We propose a reference architecture of an maDMP support system that can be embedded into an institutional research data management infrastructure. The system semi-automates creation and maintenance of DMPs, and thus eases the burden for the stakeholders responsible for various DMP elements. We evaluate the proposed system in a case study conducted at the largest technical university in Austria and quantify to what extent the DMP templates provided by the European Commission and a national funding body can be pre-filled. The proof-of-concept implementation shows that maDMP workflows can be semi-automated, thus workload on involved parties can be reduced and quality of information increased. The results are especially relevant to decision makers and infrastructure operators who want to design information systems in a systematic way that can utilize the full potential of maDMPs.

Misalignment fading effects on the ACC performance of relay-assisted MIMO/FSO systems over atmospheric turbulence channels

<span>The continuous development of internet of things (IoT) technology enables many devices to be interconnected through the external environment. Meanwhile, 5G technology provides an enhanced quality of services with high data transmission rates, requiring IoT implementation in the 5G architecture. Free-space optical communication (FSO) is considered a promising technique that can provide high-speed communication links, so FSO is an optimal choice for wireless networks to fulfill the full potential of 5G technology, providing speeds of 100 Gb/s or more. By implementing 5G features in IoT, IoT coverage and performance will be enhanced by using FSO models. Therefore, the paper proposed and investigated the multiple-input and multiple-output/free-space optical communication (MIMO/FSO) model using subcarrier quadrature amplitude modulation (SC-QAM) and relay stations over atmospheric turbulence channels by log-normal and gamma-gamma distribution under different turbulence conditions. The performance is examined based on the average channel capacity (ACC), which is expressed in terms of average spectral efficiency (ASE) parameters while changing the different parameters of the model. The mathematical formulas of ACC for atmospheric turbulence cases are calculated and discussed the influence of turbulence strength, the different number of relay stations, misalignment effects, and different MIMO configurations.</span>

The Wireless Control Bus: Enabling Efficient Multi-Hop Event-Triggered Control with Concurrent Transmissions

Event-triggered control ( ETC ) holds the potential to significantly improve the efficiency of wireless networked control systems. Unfortunately, its real-world impact has hitherto been hampered by the lack of a network stack able to transfer its benefits from theory to practice specifically by supporting the latency and reliability requirements of the aperiodic communication ETC induces. This is precisely the contribution of this article. Our Wireless Control Bus ( WCB ) exploits carefully orchestrated network-wide floods of concurrent transmissions to minimize overhead during quiescent, steady-state periods, and ensures timely and reliable collection of sensor readings and dissemination of actuation commands when an ETC triggering condition is violated. Using a cyber-physical testbed emulating a water distribution system controlled over a real-world multi-hop wireless network, we show that ETC over WCB achieves the same quality of periodic control at a fraction of the energy costs, therefore unleashing and concretely demonstrating its full potential for the first time.

Mœbius: metaprogramming using contextual types: the stage where system f can pattern match on itself

We describe the foundation of the metaprogramming language, Mœbius, which supports the generation of polymorphic code and, more importantly, the analysis of polymorphic code via pattern matching. Mœbius has two main ingredients: 1) we exploit contextual modal types to describe open code together with the context in which it is meaningful. In Mœbius, open code can depend on type and term variables (level 0) whose values are supplied at a later stage, as well as code variables (level 1) that stand for code templates supplied at a later stage. This leads to a multi-level modal lambda-calculus that supports System-F style polymorphism and forms the basis for polymorphic code generation. 2) we extend the multi-level modal lambda-calculus to support pattern matching on code. As pattern matching on polymorphic code may refine polymorphic type variables, we extend our type-theoretic foundation to generate and track typing constraints that arise. We also give an operational semantics and prove type preservation. Our multi-level modal foundation for Mœbius provides the appropriate abstractions for both generating and pattern matching on open code without committing to a concrete representation of variable binding and contexts. Hence, our work is a step towards building a general type-theoretic foundation for multi-staged metaprogramming that, on the one hand, enforces strong type guarantees and, on the other hand, makes it easy to generate and manipulate code. This will allow us to exploit the full potential of metaprogramming without sacrificing the reliability of and trust in the code we are producing and running.

Design and Simulation of Manufacturing Organizations Based on a Novel Function-Based Concept

Historically, researchers and managers have often failed to consider organizations as a sum of functions leading to a set of capabilities that produce a product that can serve society’s needs. Furthermore, functions have increased with the development of industrial revolutions, however, many manufacturing organizations have not realized their full potential. As a result, many industrial organizations do not know why, where, and when the existing functions and projects for implementing new functions fail where tactical and strategic functions of a manufacturing organization are commonly over-seen. Thus, the aim of this research was to propose a holistic approach for manufacturing organizations in order to model their functions enabling the assessment, design, management, and control of operations and performance as well as to identify improvement potentials. For this purpose, a conceptual model was developed based on the evolution of functions along with the industrial revolutions. Moreover, using the conceptual model, manufacturing organizations can be modeled, considering common organizational functions in the respective areas of production, maintenance, and quality, etc., in the three planning horizons—strategic, tactical, and operative. As a result, the model serves as a basis for the integral management and control of manufacturing organizations. Moreover, it can be also used as a basis framework for a digital twin model for organizations. Thus, a system dynamics simulation model based on the conceptual model was developed for a generic organization. The goal of the simulation model is to provide an exemplary digital model of a manufacturing organization in which the different functions are applied with different methods, systems, and/or individuals along the development phases.

Served on a Plate: A Late Medieval Ceramic Vessel with Sgraffito Decoration of a Sailing Ship from the Ropotamo Underwater Excavations, Black Sea, Bulgaria

We report on the interpretation of a late medieval Eastern Mediterranean glazed ceramic vessel with sgraffito decoration depicting a sailing ship. The artefact represents a chance find that was recovered outside the excavation area of the Ropotamo underwater archaeological excavations on the Southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in 2017. Fragments of late medieval sgraffito-decorated ceramics with depictions of sailing ships are rare. Complete examples can be considered exceptional. The Ropotamo artefact is of particular interest due to the freehand execution of its decoration, which suggests some understanding of contemporary ship proportions and seafaring practices on behalf of the artisan. The specimen is analyzed against similar artefacts and discussed in the context of maritime graffiti from the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean regions. The aim is to establish its potential for studying archaeological ceramics and evaluate the extent to which the decoration reflects aspects of Eastern Mediterranean maritime culture of the late Byzantine and early post-Byzantine periods. More research is required to appreciate the full potential of the Ropotamo artefact. A hypothesis for origin, dating and significance has been proposed. However, due to a shortage of published parallels, it may be subject to further refinements in the future in case more stratified similis are identified.

Developing an Intentionally Designed Physical Activity Model of Programming for Children’s Structured Recreation in Canada

Sport and education organizations have established models to ensure that coaches and teachers understand the physical, social, emotional and mental development of children. Such pathways of intentionally designed models fail to exist in the recreation sector where many physical activity (PA) programs are mainly developed based on convenience and instructor availability rather than on established credentials and current pedagogy practices. Addressing this gap, this paper explores the creation of an intentionally designed model of programming for children’s structured recreation, which is defined as sport or PA-based programs that are planned and led by an instructor. This proposed model is contextualized within the province of Alberta, but may be applicable across the nation. The authors further define “intentionally designed” as the development of purposeful programming with specific objectives that align with outside sources. One such source comes from the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association, who has created a Canadian Recreation Framework, an initiative to ultimately develop the well-being of all Canadians. The proposed, structured recreation model also incorporates several guiding principles including physical literacy and sport philosophy. Physical Literacy (PL) focuses on the lived body as the embodied dimension of our human experience, and how it can be enriched through various experiences that enable us to reach our full potential (Whitehead, 2007). It is about viewing the body holistically rather than separate from the entire being. By planning diverse PA in four environments, including land, water, air, and ice, the model also aligns with the sports sector and its philosophy of developing both fundamental movement skills and fundamental sport skills. Moreover, with allocated playing time, intentionally designed structured lesson plans, and one consistent leader in each activity, the model aims to increase the participants’ motor proficiency and levels of PA while building their confidence and competence across distinct exercises. The execution of the proposed recreation model involves a four-month program where participants rotate to a different PA environment each month and attend two classes per week, cumulating in 32 total classes. Management implications are discussed to determine how recreational professionals can achieve the intended outcomes of the model. Finally, further research is necessary to determine if this model can increase participants’ motor proficiency and positively influence physical activity behaviors in the recreation sector.

Role of Solvent Polarity on Dispersion Quality and Stability of Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes

Dispersion of carbon nanotubes (CNT) in solvents and/or polymers is essential to reach the full potential of the CNTs in nanocomposite materials. Dispersion of CNTs is especially challenging due to the van-der-Waals attraction forces between the CNTs, which let them tend to re-bundle and/or re-aggregate. This paper presents a brief analysis of the quality and stability of functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (fMWCNT) dispersion on polar solvents. A comparative study of functionalized CNT dispersion in water, methyl, and alcohol-based organic solvents has been carried out and the dispersion has been characterized by UV-VIS spectroscopy, electrochemical characterization such as cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Visual analysis of the dispersion has been investigated for up to 14 days to assess the dispersion’s stability. Based on the material characterization, it was observed that the degree of affinity fMWCNT with -COOH group highly depends on the polarity of the solvent, where the higher the polarity, the better the interaction of fMWCNT with solvents.

Audiobooks: Improving Access to and Use of Learning and Teaching Materials for the Print-Disabled

Equal access to books and other educational materials presents equal opportunities for all to acquire education, develop skills, and realise their full potential. Drawing on data gathered through focus group discussions and interviews, our study discusses access and use of books in braille by the print-disabled in special schools/education in Ghana. The study found the supply and access to books in braille by students and teachers inadequate to support teaching and learning, mainly due to the challenges with production. Given the poor access teachers and students have to publications in braille, we argue that audiobooks be adopted as a supplementary reading format for the print-disabled in Ghana so they can have access to equal educational opportunities as their non-disabled colleagues.