Online Store Locator: An Essential Resource for Retailers in the 21st Century

Most retailers use their websites and social media to increase their visibility, while potential customers get information about these retailers using the Internet on electronic devices. Many papers have previously studied online marketing strategies used by retailers, but little attention has been paid to determine how these companies provide information through the Internet about the location and characteristics of their stores. This paper aims to obtain evidence about the inclusion of interactive web maps on retailers’ websites to provide information about the location of their stores. With this purpose, the store locator interactive tools of specialty retailers’ websites included in the report “Global Powers of Retailing 2015” are studied in detail using different procedures, such as frequency analysis and word clouds. From the results obtained, it was concluded that most of these firms use interactive maps to provide information about their offline stores, but today some of them still use non-interactive (static) maps or text format to present this information. Moreover, some differences were observed among the search filters used in the store locator services, according to the retailer’s specialty. These results provided insight into the important role of online store locator tools on retailers’ websites

Evolutionary Algorithms for Community Detection in Continental-Scale High-Voltage Transmission Grids

Symmetry is a key concept in the study of power systems, not only because the admittance and Jacobian matrices used in power flow analysis are symmetrical, but because some previous studies have shown that in some real-world power grids there are complex symmetries. In order to investigate the topological characteristics of power grids, this paper proposes the use of evolutionary algorithms for community detection using modularity density measures on networks representing supergrids in order to discover densely connected structures. Two evolutionary approaches (generational genetic algorithm, GGA+, and modularity and improved genetic algorithm, MIGA) were applied. The results obtained in two large networks representing supergrids (European grid and North American grid) provide insights on both the structure of the supergrid and the topological differences between different regions. Numerical and graphical results show how these evolutionary approaches clearly outperform to the well-known Louvain modularity method. In particular, the average value of modularity obtained by GGA+ in the European grid was 0.815, while an average of 0.827 was reached in the North American grid. These results outperform those obtained by MIGA and Louvain methods (0.801 and 0.766 in the European grid and 0.813 and 0.798 in the North American grid, respectively)

OpenZmeter: An Efficient Low-Cost Energy Smart Meter and Power Quality Analyzer

Power quality and energy consumption measurements support providers and energy users with solutions for acquiring and reporting information about the energy supply for residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. In particular, since the average number of electronic devices in homes increases year by year and their sensitivity is very high, it is not only important to monitor the total energy consumption, but also the quality of the power supplied. However, in practice, end-users do not have information about the energy consumption in real-time nor about the quality of the power they receive, because electric energy meters are too expensive and complex to be handled. In order to overcome these inconveniences, an innovative, open source, low-cost, precise, and reliable power and electric energy meter is presented that can be easily installed and managed by any inexperienced user at their own home in urban or rural areas. The system was validated in a real house over a period of two weeks, showing interesting results and findings which validate our proposal

Student Response Systems: A Multidisciplinary Analysis Using Visual Analytics

In recent years, several innovations have emerged in the field of education, including Blended-Learning, Massive Open Online Courses, Flipped Classroom and Gamification. In particular, several investigations have highlighted the effectiveness of student response systems, or clickers, in different subjects and disciplines. Although some literature reviews have been published on this subject, none of them offer a review of a large volume of publications from a multidisciplinary approach. Similarly, in the literature there are no studies that have analyzed scientific collaborations on this subject. To respond to these concerns, we proposed the use of a bot to retrieve information from a large number of papers (1696 documents co-authored by a total of 4091 researchers) included in the Scopus database. The disciplines covered include natural sciences, engineering and technology, medical and health sciences, agricultural and veterinary sciences, social sciences and humanities, and the arts. The review of the literature reveals that student response systems are generally well-perceived by teachers and students in all the disciplines. Another interesting result achieved from visual data obtained using network visualization software and word clouds is that student response systems are mainly used in some disciplines, such as physics, chemistry, medicine, and nursing. It is clearly observed that the relationship between researchers from the same country is stronger than between researchers from different countries. Finally, some reflections are included on the role of student response systems in online teaching, especially regarding the changes experienced after the COVID-19 pandemic

Symmetry in Engineering Sciences II

Symmetry can be understood in two different ways: as a property or as a principle. As Plato said, the symmetry that can be seen in nature is not random in itself, because it is a result of the symmetries of the physical laws. Thus, the principles of symmetry have been used to solve mechanical problems since antiquity. Today, these principles are still being researched; for example, in chemical engineering, the spatial symmetry properties of crystal lattices are being studied, or in electrical engineering, the temporal symmetry of the periodic processes of oscillators can be observed. This Special Issue is dedicated to symmetry in engineering sciences (electrical, mechanical, civil, and others) and aims to cover both engineering solutions related to symmetry and the search for patterns to understand the phenomena observed

Green Packaging from Consumer and Business Perspectives

Sustainable development is a global objective that aims to address the societal challenge of climate action, the environment, resource efficiency, and raw materials. In this sense, an important strategy is the promotion of green packaging, that is, the use of sustainable materials and designs for the packaging of goods. In recent years, many research works have been published in the specialised area covering the different perspectives and dimensions of green packaging. However, to our knowledge, no previous investigations have analysed the research activity on green packaging from business and consumer perspectives. The present study intends to fill this gap by analysing all of the publications found in the Scopus database with the help of visual analytic tools, including word clouds and Gephi network visualization software. More specifically, our study analyses the impact of green packaging from business and consumer viewpoints, including some specific issues such as the design and materials used in green packaging, green packaging costs, marketing strategies and corporate social responsibility related to green packaging, and the impact of green packaging in waste management, the circular economy, logistics, and supply chain management. The results obtained reveal the growing interest of scholars and researchers in all of these dimensions, as is made patently clear by the increasing number of journal publications in recent years. The practical implications of this study are significant, given the growing awareness among companies and consumers about the importance of the promotion of sustainable development through green packaging alternatives. More specifically, the results of this research could be very useful for all of those agents who are interested in learning about the main lines of research being developed in the field of green packaging

Analysis of power flow under non-sinusoidal conditions in the presence of harmonics and interharmonics using geometric algebra

The calculation of power flow in power systems with the presence of harmonics has been properly studied in the scientific literature. However, power flow calculation considering interharmonic components is still an open question. Traditional methods based on the IEEE1459 standard have proven to be valid and accurate only for linear and sinusoidal systems, but have been criticized for non-linear and non-sinusoidal systems because they are not able to explain correctly the current and voltage interactions beyond the active power. This paper proposes the use of a novel mathematical framework called geometric algebra (GA) to study the power flow considering the interaction of current and voltage harmonics and interharmonics. The use of GA enables the precise determination of the direction and magnitude of the total and single active power flow for each component, as well as other power elements related to the non-active power due to cross interaction. Moreover, this paper makes a novel contribution to the definition of interharmonics in geometric algebra space that has not been done before. To test the validity of the method, both linear and non- linear circuits are proposed and solved by applying voltages and currents with harmonic and interharmonic components. The results obtained show that power flow can be analyzed under the prism of the principle of energy conservation (PoCoE) in a way that allows a better understanding of the power spectrum due to the interaction of harmonics and interharmonics of voltage and current

A new approach to single-phase systems under sinusoidal and non-sinusoidal supply using geometric algebra

The aim of this work is to present major upgrades to existing power theories based on geometric algebra for single-phase circuits in the frequency domain. It also embodies an interesting new approach with respect to traditionally accepted power theories, revisiting power concepts in both sinusoidal and non-sinusoidal systems with linear and nonlinear loads for a proper identification of its components to achieve passive compensation of true non-active current. Moreover, it outlines traditional power theories based on the apparent power S and confirms that these should definitively be reconsidered. It is evidenced that traditional proposals based on the concepts of Budeanu, Fryze and others fail to identify the interactions between voltage and current harmonics. Based on the initial work of Castro-Nu ́n ̃ez and others, new aspects not previously included are detailed, modified and reformulated. As a result, it is now possible to analyze non sinusoidal electrical circuits, establishing power balances that comply with the principle of energy conservation, and achieving optimal compensation scenarios with both passive and active elements in linear and non-linear loads

All-in-one three-phase smart meter and power quality analyzer with extended IoT capabilities

The traditional power grid is evolving into a new smart grid that requires better coordination of supply and demand, making it necessary to establish precise monitoring strategies in order to determine grid status in real-time. With the aim of providing a low-cost device based on open-hardware and open-source software to the technicians, engineers, and scientists around the world, this paper presents the three-phase openZmeter (3Ph-oZm), an all-in-one device that allows measuring and computing electrical data related to energy and power quality features in three-phase power networks. It has been designed to perform advanced computations for voltage, current, frequency, power, and energy. 3Ph-oZm is able to process high order harmonics, and log power quality disturbance events defined according to the recommendations of some international standards organizations. The data and its associated features are processed on-site using custom software specifically designed and programmed for this purpose that relies on advanced signal analysis techniques. This smart meter significantly improves the capabilities of the single-phase version, and overcomes certain shortcomings of other commercial devices, both in terms of versatility and data acquisition and processing capabilities. The system has been calibrated and validated using laboratory testing set-up and real-world applications, such as long-term photovoltaic power plant metering. The capabilities of 3Ph- oZm can also support a variety of other electrical applications, such as three-phase induction motor health monitoring, energy savings, or microgrid state estimation