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Around a third of the total population of Europe suffers from mental disorders. The use of electroencephalography (EEG) together with Machine Learning (ML) algorithms to diagnose mental disorders has recently been shown to be a prominent research area, as exposed by several reviews focused on the field. Nevertheless, previous to the application of ML algorithms, EEG data should be correctly preprocessed and prepared via Feature Engineering (FE). In fact, the choice of FE techniques can make the difference between an unusable ML model and a simple, effective model. In other words, it can be said that FE is crucial, especially when using complex, non-stationary data such as EEG. To this aim, in this paper we present a Systematic Mapping Study (SMS) focused on FE from EEG data used to identify mental disorders. Our SMS covers more than 900 papers, making it one of the most comprehensive to date, to the best of our knowledge. We gathered the mental disorder addressed, all the FE techniques used, and the Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithm applied for classification from each paper. Our main contributions are: (i) we offer a starting point for new researchers on these topics, (ii) we extract the most used FE techniques to classify mental disorders, (iii) we show several graphical distributions of all used techniques, and (iv) we provide critical conclusions for detecting mental disorders. To provide a better overview of existing techniques, the FE process is divided into three parts: (i) signal transformation, (ii) feature extraction, and (iii) feature selection. Moreover, we classify and analyze the distribution of existing papers according to the mental disorder they treat, the FE processes used, and the ML techniques applied. As a result, we provide a valuable reference for the scientific community to identify which techniques have been proven and tested and where the gaps are located in the current state of the art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information about the Global Conference on Wireless and Optical Communications held on 18th till 20th September, 2017 in Spain organized by University of Malaga and Mehran University of Engineering and Technology. It talks about water management Cyber Physical System, controlling actuator with the internet, monitoring sensors, the speed in the network, having an interactive physiotherapy by packaging them into virtual reality and lightning detection system.

Origami, an ancient form of papercraft, provides a way to develop functional structures for engineering applications. In this paper, we report an approach to design and manufacture a stretchable circuit board (SCB) with origami structures. The benefits of developable, flat-foldable, and rigid-foldable origami-based structures as SCBs are discussed, and a representative structure, Miura fold (or Miura-ori), is chosen to be investigated. Under the constraints induced by the mounted components' dimensions, the Miura-ori structures for specific applications can be defined. We propose three methods for better fabrication, including direct folding, stiffness modification, and kirigami enhancement, to improve a planar sheet's foldability. A wearable ECG (electrocardiogram) system based on MO-SCB (Miura-ori enabled SCB) technology is built, and the stretchable portion is made of commercial FPCBs (flexible printed circuit board), providing desired stretchability and reliability. The proposed technology routine is compatible with industrial production and may pave the application of stretchable electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An adaptive system is able to adapt at runtime to dynamically changing environments and to new requirements. Adaptive systems can be single adaptive entities or collective ones that consist of several collaborating entities. Rigorous engineering requires appropriate methods and tools that help guaranteeing that an adaptive system lives up to its intended purpose. This paper introduces the special section on "Rigorous Engineering of Collective Adaptive Systems." It presents the 11 contributions of the section categorizing them into five distinct research lines: correctness by design and synthesis, computing with bio-inspired communication, new system models, machine learning, and programming and analyzing ensembles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of requirements is typically considered as an important factor for the quality of the end product. For traditional up-front requirements specifications, a number of standards have been defined on what constitutes good quality : Requirements should be complete, unambiguous, specific, time-bounded, consistent, etc. For agile requirements specifications, no new standards have been defined yet, and it is not clear yet whether traditional quality criteria still apply. To investigate what quality criteria for assessing the correctness of written agile requirements exist, we have conducted a systematic literature review. The review resulted in a list of 16 selected papers on this topic. These selected papers describe 28 different quality criteria for agile requirements specifications. We categorize and analyze these criteria and compare them with those from traditional requirements engineering. We discuss findings from the 16 papers in the form of recommendations for practitioners on quality assessment of agile requirements. At the same time, we indicate the open points in the form of a research agenda for researchers working on this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This editorial article discusses recent findings in the optimization and engineering for sustainable development. The current Special Issue (SI) of the Optimization and Engineering journal stems from the 2022 Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems Conferences. These events included the 5th South East European, 3rd Latin American, and 17th SDEWES Conferences. Being selected from conference presentations, the papers in SI represent the main topics in optimization approaches that integrate various life-supporting systems discussed during these three events. After careful selection, the current SI accepted ten excellent papers summarized here. These contributions use differentiated modeling approaches and supporting tools, such as P-graph and network-flow modeling, computational fluid dynamics, pinch analysis (PA), and the Geographic Information System. The range of optimization methods includes mixed-integer linear and mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MILP and MINLP), dynamic programming, stochastic optimization, and PA and P-graph extensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

His main interests include resource optimization technique, adaptive resource provisioning, multi-objective optimization, computational intelligence, incomplete information processing, cloud computing, and security. The evaluation showed that these apps had an acceptable score on the System Usability Scale (SUS). The paper "Influence of Belbin's Role Theory on Database Design: Experimenting with Software Engineering Students" explores the benefits of using Belbin's role theory of team and individual related tasks in the software development process, particularly for Database Design (DB) Design. The authors argued that the usability evaluation described in this work can serve as a reference for developers seeking to improve learning monitoring and personalization services in software applications. [Extracted from the article]

Nanotechnology is a research field that has potential to drive the progress of mankind for the next few decades. Its application is found in every discipline, ranging from material science to space communication. Owing to its potential for ubiquity, and capability of replacing many general purpose technologies, co-existence of several paradigms are expected in nanotechnology. Flow Vergence (FV) gradient has been recently introduced as a metric to mine the network of scientific literature for detecting the paradigm shifts. In this paper, we have performed citation network analysis of scientific publications in nanotechnology from research area 'engineering' for identification of paradigms related to the same. Flow vergence gradient revealed 18 subnetworks that deal with 25 likely pivots of paradigm shifts. Major paradigm shifts can be found in the field of targeted drug delivery. Nanonetworks, a crossover of IT, BT and nanotechnology is the another interesting paradigm shift identified. An extended subnetwork analysis has been conducted to identify the competing or complementary nature of the emerging paradigms in the subnetworks. A framework for this has also been introduced. This analysis revealed that most of the paradigms in the targeted delivery are competing paradigms. Complementary paradigms are also identified in nano electronics and targeted drug delivery. Policy implications from this identification for various target groups are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A response from the author of the article "Feather structure, biomechanics and biomimetics: the incredible lightness of being" that was published in the 2014, volume 155 issue, is presented.

Experimental Philosophy (X-Phi) is now a fully-fledged methodological project with applications in almost all areas of analytic philosophy, including, as of recently, aesthetics. Another methodological project which has been attracting attention in the last few years is conceptual engineering (CE). Its areas of implementation are now diverse, but as was the case initially with experimental philosophy, aesthetics has unfortunately been left out (or perhaps aestheticians have failed to pay attention to CE) until now. In this paper, I argue that if conceptual engineers are interested in expanding their project to the field of aesthetics, which would greatly benefit the field, then they should rely on the existing experimental work of aestheticians. Experimental philosophers have only recently started to join forces with conceptual engineers in various fields, as well as to explore the methodological implications of such an alliance. This paper goes a step further by not only arguing that CE has potential in aesthetics, but that the way to realize this potential is to piggyback, so to speak, on the work of experimental aestheticians. In other words, instead of building a CE project in aesthetics from the ground up, this paper describes the support that CE can and should derive from current experimental aesthetics, thereby making the former's development more efficiently realizable. Furthermore, I argue that doing so would also be beneficial to experimental aesthetics. Currently, the integration of X-Phi to the wider field of aesthetics is losing ground because certain objections—notably, the objection that X-Phi cannot be of relevance to normative questions—have not been properly refuted. By pairing up with a normative programme like CE, though, experimental aestheticians should finally be able to put these objections to rest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The creation of blockchain-based software applications requires today considerable technical knowledge, particularly in software design and programming. This is regarded as a major barrier in adopting this technology in business and making it accessible to a wider audience. As a solution, low-code and no-code approaches have been proposed that require only little or no programming knowledge for creating full-fledged software applications. In this paper we extend a review of academic approaches from the discipline of model-driven engineering as well as industrial low-code and no-code development platforms for blockchains. This includes a content-based, computational analysis of relevant academic papers and the derivation of major topics. In addition, the topics were manually evaluated and refined. Based on these analyses we discuss the spectrum of approaches in this field and derive opportunities for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complexity is often regarded as a "problem" to solve. Instead of attempting to solve complexity, we follow systems engineering practices and switch back to the problem domain, where a major obstacle is the impossibility to universally define complexity. As a workaround, we explored complexity characterization and its existing shortcomings, including: lack of standardization, inconsistent semantics, system-centricity, insufficiently transparent reasoning, and lack of validation. To address these shortcomings, we proposed a compilatory framework to characterize complexity using the Five Ws information-gathering method. The answer to the WHO question proposed four complexity viewpoints; the answer to the WHY question proposed a two-dimensional structure for complexity drivers; and the answer to the WHAT question derived generalized complexity challenges. As a preliminary step to show the potential of the framework to characterize complexity, we used and validated it as a tool to structure general literature related to complexity. In general, our findings suggest that papers with complexity solutions do not frame their research within the complexity problem domain, hindering the contribution evaluation. Through the viewpoints, we identified general research gaps of six solution directions. From the drivers, we noted three observations in the discourse of complexity origins: (1) a system-driven tendency, (2) a preference for concreteness vs. abstraction, and (3) an unclear distinction between origins and effects. Through the challenges' findings we explored two hypotheses: (1) a system-centric preference; and (2) a solution-oriented vision, both of which were supported by the results (most challenges relate to the system viewpoint and challenges are defined based on solution directions). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reveals a small chapter of the history of the development of metallurgical science and technology in the Soviet Union. The point at issue is the development of scientific contacts between the American and Soviet metallurgical scientists in the second half of the 1950s. The successes of the USSR in the space race had demonstrated to the Western countries the real scientific and economic power of the country and thus shown both the unconstructiveness of the policy of isolation and the benefits of economic cooperation. The high level of development of metallurgical science and technology in the USSR had thus surprised the American specialists. The Ural Polytechnic Institute was one of those universities visited by the American guests. This paper is devoted to this chapter of history and continues the material published earlier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanical equipment usually operates in noisy and variable load environments, which presents serious challenges for existing intelligent diagnostic models. In addition, there are few labelled fault samples in real engineering scenarios, which makes it difficult to perform accurate fault identification for mechanical equipment. Thus, to solve the problem of diagnostic model performance degradation under small sample, noisy and variable load environments, this paper proposes a Multiscale Dilated Convolution and Swin-Transformer (MSDC-Swin-T) method for small sample gearbox fault diagnosis. First, we design the Coordinate Reconstruction Attention Mechanism (CRAM), which enhances the capture of impulse information by coordinate reconstruction. In addition, a multiscale convolutional token embedding module is constructed to extract local features at different scales, and its ability for capturing important features is adaptively enhanced by CRAM. Then, Swin-Transformer is utilized for modeling global dependencies, thus mining more subtle fault features. Finally, the effectiveness and stability of the MSDC-Swin-T is proved on two gearbox datasets. The experiments show that MSDC-Swin-T has superior diagnostic performance under small sample with noise and variable load environments. The diagnostic accuracy is better than the state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses the problem of finding the necessary and sufficient conditions to be satisfied by the engineering moduli of an anisotropic material for the elastic energy to be positive for each state of strain or stress. The problem is solved first in the most general case of a triclinic material and then each possible case of elastic syngony is treated as a special case. The method of analysis is based upon a rather forgotten theorem of linear algebra and, in the most general case, the calculations, too much involved, are carried out using a formal computation code. New, specific bounds, concerning some of the technical constants, are also found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ontologies constitute the semantic model of Knowledge Graphs (KGs). This structural association indicates the potential existence of methodological analogies in the development of ontologies and KGs. The deployment of fully and well-defined methodologies for KG development based on existing ontology engineering methodologies (OEMs) has been suggested and efficiently applied. However, most of the modern/recent OEMs may not include tasks that (i) empower knowledge workers and domain experts to closely collaborate with ontology engineers and KG specialists for the development and maintenance of KGs, (ii) satisfy special requirements of KG development, such as (a) ensuring modularity and agility of KGs, (b) assessing and mitigating bias at schema and data levels. Toward this aim, the paper presents a methodology for the Collaborative and Hybrid Engineering of Knowledge Graphs (CHEKG), which constitutes a hybrid (schema-centric/top-down and data-driven/bottom-up), collaborative, agile, and iterative approach for developing modular and fair domain-specific KGs. CHEKG contributes to all phases of the KG engineering lifecycle: from the specification of a KG to its exploitation, evaluation, and refinement. The CHEKG methodology is based on the main phases of the extended Human-Centered Collaborative Ontology Engineering Methodology (ext-HCOME), while it adjusts and expands the individual processes and tasks of each phase according to the specialized requirements of KG development. Apart from the presentation of the methodology per se, the paper presents recent work regarding the deployment and evaluation of the CHEKG methodology for the engineering of semantic trajectories as KGs generated from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) data during real cultural heritage documentation scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This theme section brings together the latest research at the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and model-driven engineering (MDE). Over the past years, we have witnessed a substantial rise of AI successfully applied to different domains, including software development and MDE. Dedicated events at the intersection of AI and MDE have been created, too, such as the MDE Intelligence workshop series co-located with the MODELS conference. This theme section covers research contributions integrating AI components into MDE approaches—increasing the current benefits of MDE processes and tools and pushing the limits of "classic" MDE with the goal to provide software and systems engineers with the right techniques to develop the next generation of highly complex model-based systems—and applications of MDE to the development of AI components. In total, nine submissions were accepted in the theme section after a thorough peer-reviewing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex systems are difficult to manage, operate and maintain. This is why we see teams of highly specialised engineers in industries such as aerospace, nuclear and subsurface. Condition based monitoring is also employed to maximise the efficiency of extensive maintenance programmes instead of using periodic maintenance. A level of automation is often required in such complex engineering platforms in order to effectively and safely manage them. Advances in Artificial Intelligence related technologies have offered greater levels of automation but this potentially pivots the weight of decision making away from the operator to the machine. Implementing AI or complex algorithms into a platform can mean that the Operators' control over the system is diminished or removed altogether. For example, in the Boeing 737 Air Max Disaster, AI had been added to a platform and removed the operators' control of the system. This meant that the operator could not then move outside the extremely reserved, algorithm defined, "envelope" of operation. This paper analyses the challenges of AI driven condition based monitoring where there is a potential to see similar consequences to those seen in control engineering. As the future of society becomes more about algorithm driven technology, it is prudent to ask, not only whether we should implement AI into complex systems, but how this can be achieved ethically and safely in order to reduce risk to life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The background of this Special Issue (SI) of the Optimization and Engineering (OPTE) journal is the 2021 Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES) Conference. This broad field was discussed by the participants of the 16th SDEWES Conference held in Dubrovnik, Croatia. This SI aims to bring together articles that discuss recent advances in optimization methods and algorithms that integrate various life-supporting systems. A decision-making problem often appears as a parameter estimation problem; it can be formulated as an optimization model and solved using different optimization algorithms and techniques. All papers included in this OPTE journal SI consider aspects of numerical analysis, mathematical modelling, and computational methods involved in investigating, planning and implementing sustainable development. In this context, the guest editors have confidence that the selected papers and addressed issues will substantially contribute to the increase of the knowledge body published in the OPTE journal, and the SI will be a powerful platform for researchers to discuss, share, and disseminate new ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to call attention to the potential of using film in engineering ethics education, which has not been thoroughly discussed as a pedagogical method in this field. A review of current approaches to teaching engineering ethics reveals that there are both learning outcomes that need more attention as well as additional pedagogical methods that could be adopted. Scholarship on teaching with film indicates that film can produce ethical experiences that go beyond those produced by both conventional methods of teaching engineering ethics and more arts-based methods such as fiction, as well as connect ethics learning outcomes and issues to the lifeworld of a person. The paper further illustrates the potential of using Miyazaki Hayao’s film The Wind Rises for highlighting a range of ethical issues pertaining to engineering. It also discusses the important role educators play in how film can be used effectively in the classroom. Synthesizing a range of sources from film theory to the use of film in business and medical education, the paper makes the case for using film in engineering ethics education and calls for more research on the use of this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Model-driven engineering (MDE) is believed to have a significant impact in software quality. However, researchers and practitioners may have a hard time locating consolidated evidence on this impact, as the available information is scattered in several different publications. Our goal is to aggregate consolidated findings on quality in MDE, facilitating the work of researchers and practitioners in learning about the coverage and main findings of existing work as well as identifying relatively unexplored niches of research that need further attention. We performed a tertiary study on quality in MDE, in order to gain a better understanding of its most prominent findings and existing challenges, as reported in the literature. We identified 22 systematic literature reviews and mapping studies and the most relevant quality attributes addressed by each of those studies, in the context of MDE. Maintainability is clearly the most often studied and reported quality attribute impacted by MDE. Eighty out of 83 research questions in the selected secondary studies have a structure that is more often associated with mapping existing research than with answering more concrete research questions (e.g., comparing two alternative MDE approaches with respect to their impact on a specific quality attribute). We briefly outline the main contributions of each of the selected literature reviews. In the collected studies, we observed a broad coverage of software product quality, although frequently accompanied by notes on how much more empirical research is needed to further validate existing claims. Relatively, little attention seems to be devoted to the impact of MDE on the quality in use of products developed using MDE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In both co-authored and solo-authored work over the past decade, we have developed the idea of "metalinguistic negotiation". On our view, metalinguistic negotiation is a type of dispute in which speakers appear to use (rather than explicitly mention) a term in conflicting ways to put forward views about how that very term should be used. In this paper, we explore four possible dimensions of variation among metalinguistic negotiations, and the interactions among those dimensions. These types of variation matter for understanding the nature, and the potential range, of the phenomenon of metalinguistic negotiation. As an illustration of the latter, we argue in our concluding section that understanding the full range of forms that metalinguistic negotiations can take has implications for debates about the "implementation" of conceptual engineering proposals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting ethical practice within an organization has been a continuous challenge in the business ethics community. To enrich organizational practices for promoting business ethics across an organization, this paper aims to introduce the voices of practitioners working in organizations that offer exemplary practices. Based on semi-structured interviews with 21 engineers working in the health products industry, we identified 12 pervasive ethical values that we grouped to four categories: fiduciary, economic, engineering, and process values. As ethics has been embraced as a core element of the ethical practice of our study participants regardless of their rankings and roles in their organizations, we investigated organizational strategies for promoting ethical practice. We identified four categories of organizational strategies: symbols, memberships, practices, and systems. Each strategy affected the 12 ethical values in different ways. Lastly, we identified three characteristics of the industry contexts that appeared to influence ethical values: customer impact, economic norms, and highly regulated industry. We discuss how the findings from this paper can potentially promote new discussions and practices in the business ethics community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanocellulose, as a native renewable material extracted from cellulosic biomass, has gained increased attention in biomedical applications due to its unique physical features, biocompatibility, low toxicity, and modifiable surface chemistry. However, as a candidate for biomedical uses, native nanocellulose still has some limitations, including mechanical properties that are incomparable to those of natural tissues, a lack of biodegradability in vivo, and insufficient cell adhesion support, all of which prevent the widespread use of nanocellulose in the biomedical field. Recently, surface or interface engineering has been advocated as a promising strategy for tailoring the bioactivities and physiochemical properties of native nanocellulose for specific biomedical applications. This review paper focuses on recent advances in nanocellulose surface and/or interface engineering strategies for potential biomedical applications. The features of native nanocellulose that are similar to those of biomaterials have been emphasized. It also proposed a roadmap for the development of nanocellulose-based biomaterials, along with bottlenecks and prospects. This review paper emphasizes a new concept for nanocellulose-based biomaterials development strategies based on nanocellulose surface and interface properties for potential biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The papers covered a wide range of fundamental studies, industrial practices, and engineering innovations by applying knowledge on microsystems. Authors of selected papers from the conference were invited to submit full length papers for possible inclusion in this special issue of Microsystem Technologies (MST). This special issue on Innovation, Communication and Engineering consists of selected papers presented at the International Conference on "Innovation, Communication and Engineering", in 2018.The conference covered broad topics, including information science, innovation design, industrial design, applied mathematics, computer science, cultural and creative research, electrical and electronic engineering, mechanical engineering, automation engineering, green technology and architectural engineering, material science, and other related fields. [Extracted from the article]

It is reported that engineering for play-based settings is a new body of knowledge under debate and contradictory. Many studies show how play-based settings are full of engineering possibilities for young children, whilst others have identified missed engineering teaching possibilities. In order to better understand the research, this paper answers the questions, 'How is engineering knowledge being constructed through research into play-based settings?', and 'What do the results show for practice and future engineering research for preschool settings?' To answer these questions, a critique of those studies which focused on engineering education in play-based settings was undertaken. By examining existing studies in relation to the study designs and the results, this paper reports on how categories of engineering knowledge were established and how knowledge was constructed for engineering education for play-based settings. Using cultural-historical theory, the results show that studies of play-based setting have primarily been guided by practices from only some engineering professions, knowledge construction is based on both pre-defined and emergent categories, and research has tended to focus mostly on constructing (e.g. blocks). Gendered engineering knowledge was also identified, suggesting only partial understandings of engineering education evident. The critique not only identified knowledge construction that positively contributes to scholarship but also found gaps in what was being studied, thereby contributing to research by cautioning against full acceptance of the existing analytical concepts in the literature and suggesting that the building of a broader set of analytical categories for future research is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

User participation and involvement in software development are considered to be essential for a successful software system. Three research areas, human aspects of software engineering, requirements engineering, and information systems, study these topics from various perspectives. We think it is important to analyze user participation and involvement in software engineering comprehensively to encourage further research in this area. We investigate the evidence on effects of user participation and involvement on system success and we explore which methods are available in literature. A systematic mapping study was conducted. The systematic search yielded 3,698 hits, from which we identified 289 unique papers. These papers were reviewed by the first author based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The second author validated the selection of papers by reviewing the reasons for exclusion and inclusion and the corresponding papers on a sample base. 58 of the 289 papers were selected (22 statistical survey and meta-study papers and 36 methods papers). Based on the empirical evidence of the surveys and meta-studies, we developed a meta-analysis of structural equation models. This overview demonstrates that most papers showed positive correlations between aspects of development processes (including user participation) and human aspects (including user involvement) and system success. The analysis of the proposed solutions from the method papers revealed a wide variety of user participation and involvement practices for most activities within software development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work is the extended version of a paper presented at the conference HMM2021, about the history of mechanical engineering. First, the initial cultural and industrial steps in the robotic field in Japan are introduced, to display the beginning of this interlaced path, before WW2; then, in the context of the aftermaths of the war, some famous anime heroes are presented as ancestors of the coming mecha anime series. The rising research in the field of robotics and more generally the developments of contemporary Japanese automation industry are then drawn, as a technological substrate for mecha conception. In particular, Masahiro Mori studies are taken into consideration to identify an actual robot design pattern to apply to the following comparative description and examination of the different mecha; finally, thanks to this analysis, the common breeding ground whence robotics and mecha (and their reciprocal influences) arise, is outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Model-driven engineering (MDE) uses models as first-class artefacts during the software development lifecycle. MDE often relies on domain-specific languages (DSLs) to develop complex systems. The construction of a new DSL implies a deep understanding of a domain, whose relevant knowledge may be scattered in heterogeneous artefacts, like XML documents, (meta-)models, and ontologies, among others. This heterogeneity hampers their reuse during (meta-)modelling processes. Under the hypothesis that reusing heterogeneous knowledge helps in building more accurate models, more efficiently, in previous works we built a (meta-)modelling assistant called Extremo. Extremo represents heterogeneous information sources with a common data model, supports its uniform querying and reusing information chunks for building (meta-)models. To understand how and whether modelling assistants—like Extremo—help in designing a new DSL, we conducted an empirical study, which we report in this paper. In the study, participants had to build a meta-model, and we measured the accuracy of the artefacts, the perceived usability and utility and the time to completion of the task. Interestingly, our results show that using assistance did not lead to faster completion times. However, participants using Extremo were more effective and efficient, produced meta-models with higher levels of completeness and correctness, and overall perceived the assistant as useful. The results are not only relevant to Extremo, but we discuss their implications for future modelling assistants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the anomalies generated by various subsurface targets and their responses to different geophysical techniques in various subsoil types is critical to near-surface geophysical investigations. Geophysical test site (GTS) plays a vital role in near-surface geophysical investigations and related Earth sciences to adequately predict the geometries and anomalies generated by the subsurface targets. Therefore, developing a GTS on a site requires some technical efficiencies, mechanical procedures, engineering concepts and scientific approach, depending on the operating environment and the purpose of construction. This paper reviews the evolving roles of GTS in engineering, sciences, and technology via remarkable pedagogical and scientific research. The procedures for designing and installing GTS were also discussed. Every constructed GTS is unique and has its operating environment and sets of scientific requirements. As a result, the execution of GTS should be subjected to numerous factors that invariably affect the overall long time usage and performance. Comparative studies of GTS activities indicate that GTS is a vital geophysical research and academic platform to enrich the outcomes of the geophysical modelling for near-surface geophysical applications in engineering, science and technology. The evolving application of GTS has greatly impacted the field of science and engineering by enhancing the knowledge and understanding of the earth's interior, which invariably affects the engineers, geophysicists, archaeologists and geologists to be critical in the analysis, interpretation, and providing precise and accurate information of subsurface anomalies underlying the uppermost soil of the earth's crust. After a critical investigation, it was noted that the installation of GTSs is usually conceived to replicate situations often encountered in field investigation contexts. Examination shows that GTS can provide an ideal platform for young geoscientists, engineers and archaeologists to acquire the requisite skills, knowledge, technical know-how, and professional techniques for resolving near-surface challenges in real-life work situations. More also, a well-developed and equipped GTS could be a watershed in technological advancement, research development, and new scientific ideas. The GTS platform also indicates a promising pedagogical approach to geophysical educational usage, research mobilization, and development of new shallow geophysical techniques for various near-surface investigation and calibrating/testing geophysical equipment, which invariably catalyzed engineering designs, scientific concepts and technological advancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the transformative potential of Large Language Models Artificial Intelligence (LLM AI) in educational contexts, particularly focusing on the innovative practice of prompt engineering. Prompt engineering, characterized by three essential components of content knowledge, critical thinking, and iterative design, emerges as a key mechanism to access the transformative capabilities of LLM AI in the learning process. This paper charts the evolving trajectory of LLM AI as a tool poised to reshape educational practices and assumptions. In particular, this paper breaks down the potential of prompt engineering practices to enhance learning by fostering personalized, engaging, and equitable educational experiences. The paper underscores how the natural language capabilities of LLM AI tools can help students and educators transition from passive recipients to active co-creators of their learning experiences. Critical thinking skills, particularly information literacy, media literacy, and digital citizenship, are identified as crucial for using LLM AI tools effectively and responsibly. Looking forward, the paper advocates for continued research to validate the benefits of prompt engineering practices across diverse learning contexts while simultaneously promoting potential defects, biases, and ethical concerns related to LLM AI use in education. It calls upon practitioners to explore and train educational stakeholders in best practices around prompt engineering for LLM AI, fostering progress towards a more engaging and equitable educational future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Human Resources Development Service of Korea developed a digital exam for five representative engineering categories and conducted a pilot study comparing the findings with the paper-and-pencil exam results from the last three years. This study aimed to compare the test efficiency between digital and paper-and-pencil examinations. A digital examination was conducted with 93 participants through two rounds of test-status measurements. We collected the following data: early check-out rate, pass rate, and the average total response time per grade. The composition ratio of each question type in the digital exam was determined per the "Exam Operation Regulation" and selected from a databank spanning five years by experienced instructors. The early check-out rate of the digital exam at the Engineer level was 90% (percentage points), approximately 15%p higher than that for the paper-and-pencil exam, but the pass rate was low (9.8%p); the response time per question for the digital exam was approximately 0.2 min shorter. The results for both exams were similar in the Industrial Engineer category. The early check-out rate did not positively affect the exam pass rate, but the time taken depended on the number and characteristics of the subjects. It is necessary to improve the simplification and convenience of digital examinations, optimize test environments, and establish operation and management systems in line with the change in the Korean Technical Qualification Framework. We also suggest a gradual shift to digital examination by developing questions and tools using technologies to accurately measure individual abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The engineering vehicle detection is a key issue for the raw material warehouse scenes. Through the engineering vehicle detection, the working conditions of engineering vehicles in the raw material warehouse can be intelligently managed to prevent large-scale smoke pollution and the danger of smoke and dust. In this paper, we propose an intelligent method based on the framework of YOLOv4-Tiny for locating and identifying the engineering vehicles. In our detection task, the monitoring scenes are complex with a lot of interference. And the scope of monitoring is large. In order to solve these challenging problems, we introduce the Split-attention module to the network, which can adaptively extract important information of the image and improve the receptive field of detection. In addition, we introduce the Dynamic ReLU function to the network, which allow the network to adaptively learn more suitable ReLU parameters based on the input. We also collect a large number of images obtained from the front-end cameras and create a self-built dataset of engineering vehicles. In this paper, we test our method on the COCO dataset and the self-built engineering vehicle dataset. Experimental results show that our method proposed in this paper can detect engineering vehicles with higher accuracy and faster speed, which can be used for engineering vehicle detection in the scenes of raw material storage warehouses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper serves as a resource guide for Sports Engineering educators. The paper covers key topics in Sports Engineering, including ball impact, friction, safety and materials. A variety of resource types are presented to reflect modern methods of learning and searching for information, including textbooks, research and review papers, websites and videos. The field could benefit from more resources specifically designated for teaching Sports Engineering, particularly textbooks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a comphrensive review of the critical aspects of nonlinear modeling for evaluating the seismic response of masonry structures, emphasizing the issues relevant to engineering practice. Currently, the specialized technical community shares the opinion that, for a performance-based approach, numerical models are the only tools sufficiently effective to support the seismic assessment of existing buildings. However, their potential often falls short when attempting to accurately describe the behavior of masonry structures. In fact, these structures feature highly complex architectural configurations, different masonry types, and various structural solutions, meaning that extra care is required in numerical modeling. This is especially true when the modelers do not have a solid background in the software chosen and may not be practiced using the vast variety of options offered by the software houses. They are often unaware of the consequences that questionable modeling choices may have on the results obtained by the models. These extremely complex topics are treated in the paper from an engineering practice perspective, providing an in-depth overview of the challenging issues related to the use of different modeling strategies. The paper covers strategies ranging from the Equivalent Frame approach (widely used in common engineering practice) to more refined techniques like 2D and 3D Finite Element procedures based on continuous, discrete, and micro-mechanical approaches. Critical aspects in the modeling of both in- and out-of-plane responses of masonry, as well as the critical issues in wall-to-wall connections and diaphragm roles are investigated. All the examined issues are clarified through numerical examples highlighting also how a consistent and integrated use of different procedures may be beneficial. Finally, some of most relevant challenging issues concerning the use of numerical models in seismic assessment with the nonlinear static approach are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social companion robots are getting more attention to assist elderly people to stay independent at home and to decrease their social isolation. When developing solutions, one remaining challenge is to design the right applications that are usable by elderly people. For this purpose, co-creation methodologies involving multiple stakeholders and a multidisciplinary researcher team (e.g., elderly people, medical professionals, and computer scientists such as roboticists or IoT engineers) are designed within the ACCRA (Agile Co-Creation of Robots for Ageing) project. This paper will address this research question: How can Internet of Robotic Things (IoRT) technology and co-creation methodologies help to design emotional-based robotic applications? This is supported by the ACCRA project that develops advanced social robots to support active and healthy ageing, co-created by various stakeholders such as ageing people and physicians. We demonstra this with three robots, Buddy, ASTRO, and RoboHon, used for daily life, mobility, and conversation. The three robots understand and convey emotions in real-time using the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence technologies (e.g., knowledge-based reasoning). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]