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In this paper we tackle a problem of representative measuring points selection for temperature field reconstruction. This problem is a version of the more general Representative Selection (RS) problem, well-known in computer and data science. In this particular case, the objective is to select the best set of N measuring points (i.e. N representative points), in such a way that a reconstruction error is minimized when reconstructing the monthly average temperature field. We use a novel meta-heuristic algorithm, the Coral Reefs Optimization with Substrate Layer (CRO-SL), which is an evolutionary-type method able to combine several different search procedures within a single population. The CRO-SL is combined with the Analogue Method (AM) to identify the most representative points. This approach exhibits strong performance from experiments with gridded and un-gridded temperature field datasets (European Climate Assessment & Dataset (ECA) and ERA-Interim reanalysis (ERA)). Different aspects such as the error assessment and the comparison with alternative approaches, are discussed in the experimental analysis of this article. We show that the algorithm performs better than a greedy approach, i.e. the best solution for N points is different from the N best individual predictors. The solutions obtained with the proposed methodology are climatologically consistent and include points from Scandinavia, Central and Southern Europe, the Black Sea and Central and South Western Asia as the more representative in the case of the ECA dataset; similar areas are selected for ERA. We have found out that once the number of stations/points goes over a threshold, the improvement in the model is obtained by increasing the density of data in the given zones, instead of adding data from different zones to the algorithm. The method proposed may have direct application in Palaeoclimalogy, where there are a large amount of distributed proxies with scarce information, so the proposed approach could be useful to select the most important ones to reconstruct a desired field. • We solve a problem of representative measuring points selection for temperature field reconstruction. • The Analogue Method is used as reconstruction algorithm. • An evolutionary-type meta-heuristic is proposed to select the best set of representative points. • A reconstruction error for the temperature field is minimized by the algorithm. • Experiments in two monthly temperature datasets in Europe have shown the good performance of the algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working with Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) is challenging, especially for learners, as ICT control most of their work environment. These learners need to be supported with solutions that are up-to-date with the technological challenges, and can keep up with the fast-paced evolving ICT. Acquiring new knowledge is important for the progress of learners, but it is getting harder to obtain with the overwhelming amount of resources produced by many Information Systems (ISs) in the learning environment. In order to help learners manage resources, we are following the approach of System of Information Systems (SoIS) to support learners. The SoIS gives the opportunity to explore how individual and organisational learning can be enhanced through a combination of different ISs in the learning environment. In this context, we look into the orchestration of SoIS that can provide the ability to index, share, annotate, and recommend important resources in the learning environment. In that sense, this paper presents the approach of SoIS to support learners with a case study at the University of Technology of Compiègne. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the development of research in computer science in 15 Eastern European countries following the breaching of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted a bibliometric analysis of 82,121 computer science publications indexed in the Web of Science database and investigated publication, citation, and collaboration patterns of the individual countries. Findings – Poland has been the most productive country, followed by Russia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, and Slovenia. Publication rates have increased substantially over the period, but this has not been accompanied by a corresponding increase in the quality of the publications. Hungary and Slovenia are the most influential countries in terms of citations per paper. Artificial Intelligence is the most frequently occurring computer science subject category, with Interdisciplinary Applications the category with the greatest impact. USA, Germany, UK, France, and Canada are the most frequently collaborating western nations, and papers published in collaboration with US authors accrue the most citations. Originality/value – This is the first ever bibliometric study of the whole post-communist Eastern European computer science research as indexed in the Web of Science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A classic result known as the speed-up theorem in machine-independent complexity theory shows that there exist some computable functions that do not have best programs for them (Blum in J. ACM 14(2):322–336, and J. ACM 18(2):290–305, ). In this paper we lift this result into type-2 computations. Although the speed-up phenomenon is essentially inherited from type-1 computations, we observe that a direct application of the original proof to our type-2 speed-up theorem is problematic because the oracle queries can interfere with the speed of the programs and hence the cancellation strategy used in the original proof is no longer correct at type-2. We also argue that a type-2 analog of the operator speed-up theorem (Meyer and Fischer in J. Symb. Log. 37:55–68, ) does not hold, which suggests that this curious speed-up phenomenon disappears in higher-typed computations beyond type-2. The result of this paper adds one more piece of evidence to support the general type-2 complexity theory under the framework proposed in Li (Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Theoretical Computer Science, pp. 471–484, and Proceedings of Computability in Europe: Logical Approach to Computational Barriers, pp. 182–192, ) and Li and Royer (On type-2 complexity classes: Preliminary report, pp. 123–138, ) as a reasonable setup. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to assess the main implications for innovation and competitiveness of social computing trends that promote swift social and economic relations. They are increasingly being considered by policymakers, both as tool and object for policymaking (i.e. how social computing could play a role in information society policies). Therefore, a general issue for the paper is represented by the lessons to be learned in terms of policy-related consequences for Europe. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is based on an extensive desk-based survey of secondary data available from reports, studies and most recent statistics, from internet audience measurement companies, international research companies, research projects of non-profit centers, international firms or the industry itself. Findings - The diffusion and usage of social computing applications have been growing at an exponential rate. A powerful feature emerges, i.e. the new user as supplier, co-producer or innovator of the service. New areas of innovation lie at the crossroads of an increasingly complex process of both tacit and codified knowledge production. They affect the way people find information, learn, share, communicate and consume and the way business is done. New players and markets provide significant threats and opportunities for the ICT and media industries. New players have a smaller cost base, viable business models and a real market. Research limitations/implications - Comparative and systematic research of the fast growing social computing trends is needed over longer periods of time. Practical implications - The paper provides the first evidence on the size and weight of these trends, as well as on their social and economic relevance. It raises the need for more research, e.g. on the areas that would be most impacted and to what extent, as well as a wealth of policy-related research questions. Originality/value - Since social computing is an emerging phenomenon, the work is innovative and novel because it attempts to draw a first solid overall picture of the development of these trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws attention to the specific aspect of institutional environments in international matchmaking for innovation. While technology is largely global this exploratory study of 18 cross-border cases between Europe and China points to the impact of distant institutional environments on the success and structure of cross-border collaborative innovation. Addressing differences in governance, market regulation, policy, IPR protection, language and culture like the Chineseguanxiare specific services based on dedicated capabilities of international innovation intermediaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to manifest the intellectual and cognitive structure of CORINE Land Cover (CLC) research applications. Data from the Web of Science (WoS) was used to delimit publication on CLC during the period from 1985 until 2019 (29th April), retrieving a total of 873 documents. Through author citations, the origins and the most influential papers were identified. The main lines of research were identified from word co-occurrences extracted from the titles, keywords, and abstracts of the papers. In the view of both structures, it can be concluded that CORINE land cover constitutes a relatively young set of scientific data, with a constant expansion and a strongly interdisciplinary structure. The development of this application is dependent on the knowledge of such research areas as geography, remote sensing, ecology, forestry, agriculture, engineering, optics, and/or computer science. We believe that this information could be very useful for CLC users, as it reflects a large-scale analysis of the research lines of CLC and illuminates how research has changed over time in diverse areas of applications. Moreover, this study is intended to offer a useful tool for the CLC scientific community, showcasing the main research lines and the most noteworthy papers. Finally, the methodology used in this study can be replicated in many other fields of science to explore its intellectual and cognitive structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We are talking about the most beautiful woman in the world, about the largest cave in Europe, about the best sportsman of a particular year. We have even started to rank companies according to their “intellectual assets”, universities according to their “importance”, and scientists according to their “impact”. It is time that we protest against this culture of “linearity” in a world that is multi-faceted, where many things cannot be described by one parameter, but only (if at all) by a very long vector of parameters. In this paper, I investigate this phenomenon to some extent as it applies to (computer) scientists and also indicate a link to the information avalanche we are confronted with. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper describes a practical experience of adapting the teaching of a course in Computer Technology (CT) to the new demands of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). CT is a core course taught in the first year of the degree program Technical Engineering in Management Computing in the Faculty of Computer Science at the University of A Coruña (UDC), Spain. The contents of this course are mainly devoted to the design of digital systems. The main purpose of the adaptation has been to focus more on students, clearly defining the abilities they will develop during the course and suggesting activities that facilitate the development of those abilities. The aim of this work is to describe how this adaptation was performed, the materials and activities prepared, the difficulties encountered, the goals achieved and the response of students and teachers to these changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving energy efficiency in order to reduce CO2 emissions is a permanent challenge in the European space. Smart metering could help for improving energy efficiency by offering information about the way in which the energy is used. Smart metering will be based on large volumes of sensor data, since energy monitoring will bring together sensor data from various critical areas. The main purpose of this paper was to present the selection mechanism for a scalable storage solution, based on the requirements of the DEHEMS (Digital Environment Home Energy Management System) project. With regular sensor readings coming at every 6 seconds, there is an impressive amount of data collected even for the minimal target of about 250 households, 10 sensors per user. With these huge data streams that are non-stationary time-series data, collected at discrete intervals, the DEHEMS project has to offer a solution for storing and retrieving sensor data in a responsive way. We have tested both collection speed and aggregation speed for reasonable data streams of sensor data. The tests were performed on various database models, with their associated representations, including relational databases, key-value stores, column stores, self-tuning databases, as well as time-series enabled database systems. These experiments confirmed that column stores and keyvalue stores perform better than relational databases, while time-series databases outperform all the others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Croatia and the UK have list-based general practice systems: patients register with a single practice. They are also progressively computerising family practice. We set out to identify and report where these countries might learn from each other's experience. Method Experiences, similarities and differences were derived from a literature review and visits to practices in Croatia and the UK. Results Both countries had developed unique but sophisticated paper-based primary care record systems. They have now moved to promote the computerisation of primary care; both countries see this as integral to patient safety, quality improvement and derivation of data for health service management. However, the development of primary care computing has been an organic process with small suppliers producing trial systems with natural selection of the more effective system. Conclusions IT has the potential to improve patient safety and the quality and efficiency of primary care. The lack of a theoretical framework for the comparison of systems hampers the development and selection of an optimum system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the influx of computer science graduates from South Asia into Europe and North America. It analyses the need and supply chains between two points and identifies the pros and cons of the education imparted to these graduates. The effects of social disorder due to migrations are addressed. The resulting technological vacuum in the donor countries is also analysed. It concludes with recommendations to reduce the impact on both the donor and receiving countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces the August 1994 issue of "IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering", which contains papers chosen from the 1993 European Conference in Software Engineering held in Germany. The conference was oriented towards presenting the strengths of European software engineering and in exploring the interaction between software engineering and other related areas of computer science and engineering. Of the six papers chosen, three are concerned with system specification where European work has traditionally been strong. The other three papers cross boundaries in that they address issues of distributed software engineering and software engineering and cooperative work.