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In this chapter, the authors provide a historical overview of the development of comparative and international education in North America from 1920s to the beginning of the twenty-first century. The authors document the significant role some of the most influential leaders played to help lay the foundation for comparative education societies in Canada, Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, and the United States. Using historical comparative research technique, the authors examine the many interconnections of current and past leaders. The authors conclude with recommendations on how knowing the history can help strengthen comparative and international education development well into the future.

A concrete material model is presented. The model is based on non‐associated plasticity for the pre‐failure and ductile post‐failure regimes and fracture (smeared crack approach) for the brittle post‐failure regime. The implementation of the constitutive model in the 2‐D elements of a general purpose non‐linear incremental finite element code is discussed. Some important numerical features of the implementation are the implicit integration of the stress/strain relation and the use of an efficient symmetric stiffness formulation for the equilibrium iterations.

The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has profoundly affected family and school life. Evidence demonstrates how pandemic-induced online learning and home confinement can influence family dynamics and, consequently, students’ mental health and quality of life. This chapter extends the literature by building upon the perspective of family systems theory and focusing the analysis on graduate students who are underrepresented in COVID-19 research. Drawing from an online survey among 337 graduate students enrolled in a state university in the Philippines during the second year of the pandemic, this study examines the three family relationship domains (cohesion, expressiveness, and conflict), their predictive relationships with life satisfaction, and the mediating role of mental well-being on these relationships. Findings indicate favorable levels of cohesion, expressiveness, and conflict in the family. Respondents’ age, sex assigned at birth, and marital status were significantly correlated with at least one domain of family relationship. Cohesion and expressiveness yielded significant positive predictive relationships on mental well-being and life satisfaction. Furthermore, findings indicate the partial mediation of mental well-being on the relationship between cohesion and life satisfaction and full mediation on expressiveness and life satisfaction.

The purpose of this paper is to calculate the financial inclusion index and analyze its dynamics in developing countries.

The authors use the two-stage principal component analysis (PCA) method and consider financial technology innovations to improve the accuracy of the financial inclusion index.

The authors found a downward trend in the financial inclusion index in most developing countries over the study period. The authors also found that a high financial inclusion index is linked to high scores in the Doing Business and high business climate regulation ranking. In addition, the authors observed that the rates of low financial inclusion in developing countries are due to low utilization of and unequal access to financial services.

The analysis suggests that policymakers in developing countries could invest in digital infrastructure to extend access to financial services in remote areas. They could also encourage financial innovation, particularly in financial technologies, by adopting flexible regulatory frameworks. Promoting the financial inclusion of marginalized groups through targeted initiatives tailored to their needs is another solution. They could also encourage the use of financial services by raising awareness and educating populations through training programs. Finally, to improve the business climate, governments could simplify administrative procedures and promote transparency and legal stability.

Unlike previous studies, the use of the two-stage PCA method and the consideration of financial technology (Fintech) innovations such as mobile money in the determinants of the financial inclusion index improve the accuracy of the index.

The purpose of this paper is to provide theoretical guidance and an experimental basis for a smart anti-corrosion coating of halloysite nanocontainers loaded with benzotriazole (BTA) inhibitors on copper in a marine corrosion environment.

In the present study, the smart anti-corrosion coatings of halloysite nanocontainers loaded inhibitors on copper were synthesized by adding BTA inside the halloysite nanocontainers. Then, the halloysite carrier’s surface topography and composition in the halloysite were observed using scanning electron microscopy. After the successful synthesis of the coating, the inhibitor’s physical and chemical properties, as well as the mass change in halloysite, were evaluated in terms of temperature fluctuation and time using thermal gravity analysis (TGA). Finally, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used to check the pH selectivity for the self-releasing of BTA out of the nanocontainers.

The results indicate that the efficiency of the nanotubes was enhanced by calcination at high temperatures. The thermal gravity analysis by TGA shows that halloysite nanoparticles store inhibitors BTA and there are approximately 37.39 Wt.% BTA loaded in each nanocontainer. The release of the preloaded BTA from the halloysite nanocontainers is pH 7 in a 3.5% NaCl solution.

The development of a new environmentally safe coating for corrosion protection of metallic surfaces has attracted great interest in material science over the past few years. At present, halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) have become a research hotspot internationally and are widely used in nanocomposites, catalysis, nanofiltration, drug sustained-release and other fields. However, the application of HNT is limited by its modification methods. As the carrier of metal nanocorrosion inhibitor in the Marine corrosive environment, the modification research of HNT still needs to be further studied and improved so as to expand the practical application of HNT in the Marine corrosive environment. In this paper, the modification of HNTs was investigated and observed. Four different modification schemes were used to observe and compare the structural properties of the nanotubes under different conditions so as to provide a theoretical basis for the further loading of HNTs as corrosion inhibitors.

The purpose of this study is to present the state of the art for fiber Bragg grating (FBG) acceleration sensing technologies from two aspects: the principle of the measurement dimension and the principle of the sensing configuration. Some commercial sensors have also been introduced and future work in this field has also been discussed. This paper could provide an important reference for the research community.

This review is to present the state of the art for FBG acceleration sensing technologies from two aspects: the principle of the measurement dimension (one-dimension and multi-dimension) and the principle of the sensing configuration (beam type, radial vibration type, axial vibration type and other composite structures).

The current research on developing FBG acceleration sensors is mainly focused on the sensing method, the construction and design of the elastic structure and the design of a new information detection method. This paper hypothesizes that in the future, the following research trends will be strengthened: common single-mode fiber grating of the low cost and high utilization rate; high sensitivity and strength special fiber grating; multi-core fiber grating for measuring single-parameter multi-dimensional information or multi-parameter information; demodulating equipment of low cost, small volume and high sampling frequency.

The principle of the measurement dimension and principle of the sensing configuration for FBG acceleration sensors have been introduced, which could provide an important reference for the research community.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a contemporary look at the current state‐of‐the‐art in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) for structure health monitoring (SHM) applications and discuss the still‐open research issues in this field and, hence, to make the decision‐making process more effective and direct.

This paper presents a comprehensive review of WSNs for SHM. It also introduces research challenges, opportunities, existing and potential applications. Network architecture and the state‐of‐the‐art wireless sensor communication technologies and standards are explained. Hardware and software of the existing systems are also clarified.

Existing applications and systems are presented along with their advantages and disadvantages. A comparison landscape and open research issues are also presented.

The paper presents a comprehensive and recent review of WSN systems for SHM applications along with open research issues.

In this work, the paper aims to demonstrate the feasibility of plastic optical fiber (POF) based accelerometers for the structural health monitoring (SHM) of civil engineering structures based on measurements of their dynamic response, namely to estimate natural frequencies. These sensors use POFs, combining the advantages of the optical technology with the robustness of this particular kind of fiber. The POF sensor output is directly compared with the signal from an electrical sensor, demonstrating the potential use of such sensors in structural monitoring applications.

Within this work, the paper demonstrates the feasibility of using a low-cost acceleration system based on a POF accelerometer on the dynamic monitoring of a civil engineering structure, aiming its natural frequency evaluation, which is a primary parameter to be used in SHM methods and numerical models calibration.

A low-cost POF-based accelerometer was used in the characterization of a civil engineering structural component, located in a building at the University of Aveiro Campus, being used to estimate its natural frequency with a relative error of 0.36 percent, comparatively to the value estimated recurring to a calibrated electronic sensor.

Optical fiber sensors take advantage of the fibers properties, such as immunity to electromagnetic interference and electrical isolation. They are very attractive for use in hostile environments, like submerse environments or flammable atmospheres where electrical currents might pose a hazard. The advantages of POF itself should also be considered, like resistance to hash environments, robustness, flexibility, low-cost interrogation units and high numeric aperture (lower cost components). The paper demonstrates the feasibility of using a low-cost acceleration system based on a POF accelerometer on the dynamic monitoring of a civil engineering structure, aiming its natural frequency evaluation.