bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
International Political Competition in the Post-Soviet Central Asian Space
Authors: Malysheva D.
Published: July 2021

The article analyzes the innovations that determine the main directions and specific characteristics of international political competition in Central Asia. Particular attention is paid to political alternatives presented by the leading partners of the Central Asian countries – Russia, China, Turkey and Iran. In the context of the rivalry unfolding in the post-Soviet Central Asian space, the multi-vector policy of the five Central Asian states opens up a “window of opportunity” for various external forces to influence political and economic processes in the region in such a way that its states become objects of multilateral contention. Russia, which has the most powerful economic and military-political resource in the CIS, has a serious potential to promote its interests in Central Asia. They are primarily aiming at maintaining political stability in the Asian part of the post-Soviet space. Russia is also initiating many integration innovations in Central Asia, developing military cooperation with the countries of the region. At the same time, in Central Asia, Russia is confronted by rival forces. In the forefront is China. This great power has significantly expanded its influence in Central Asia, especially within the framework of the One Belt, One Road initiative. Economic, political, and cultural structures operating in Central Asia under the aegis of Turkey act often as alternatives to Russian integration projects. But Turkey, like Iran, has restrictions on its activities in Central Asia. Therefore, the effectiveness of the policy of these large Middle Eastern states is lower than that of Russia and China. China, Russia, and Iran are motivated to limit US influence in Eurasia, which occasionally drives them closer. In a sense, Turkey agrees with the idea of reducing the political presence of non-regional states in Central Asia. But when the US ceases to be a priority in the foreign policy of all four states, the rivalry between them may re-emerge. This will inevitably lead to a clash of interests, an increase in competition of ideas, integration projects, political and military strategies.
Change of Political Elites in Georgia and Patrimonialism
Authors: Mukhanov V.
Published: July 2021

The article examines the process of formation of the political elite in Georgia during the period of independence, starting from the cardinal de-Sovietization of management personnel in the 90s, and ending with the last significant appointments in the era of B. Ivanishvili. The stages of evolution and transformation of the elite are analyzed in detail – under E. Shevardnadze, M. Saakashvili, and B. Ivanishvili, the peculiarities of the personnel policy of this or that Georgian leader are highlighted. Both the very course of the change and rejuvenation of the elite and the change in its educational background and political guidelines are traced. The article shows that despite all these changes the nature of government in Georgia has not been changed. The political regime in Georgia is still a kind of patronage rule. The author examines its characteristic features, analyzes the reasons for survivability of such a form despite repeated changes and political parties in power.
CSTO: at the Close of the Second Decade of Its History
Authors: Krivopalov A.
Published: July 2021

Following the events of 1991, Russia established either bilateral or multilateral relations with most of the independent states that emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union. In each individual case, these relations were characterized by a specific set of advantages and disadvantages. The article explores the evolution of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) through the lens of this fundamental duality. This overview in no way claims to be a complete or exhaustive study on the subject. However, its relevance is supported by the fact it moves beyond the purely descriptive approach which still dominates the study of the CSTO and the crisis that has gripped the organization. There is a demand for a clearer structural and theoretical framework explaining the difficulties Russia has faced in promoting its integration efforts in the post-Soviet space. The undeniable advantage of the bilateral approach is its institutional simplicity. In a multilateral system or a block of states, it is far more difficult to coordinate the interests of every individual nation, especially if they maintain membership in a number of integration groups at the global or regional level. One of the strengths of the multilateral format, which involves a stricter adherence to collective obligations, is that it serves as a structural framework for major integration projects that can have a significant positive effect on the international standing of those who initiate them. The author concludes that in 2002–2008, during the early period of CSTO’s existence, cooperation was predominantly multilateral in nature, with the participating countries – those representing the Central Asian core of the organization – rallying around Moscow, unified by the commonly perceived threats generated by the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan. However, even at this early stage, there were signs within the CSTO foreshadowing a shift from multilateral military-political cooperation to a more basic format – that of a collection of bilateral ties between Russia and its allies. The past 20 years of Russia’s relations with its neighbors have demonstrated that the historical momentum for convergence is, in fact, not strong enough to offset the centrifugal forces pulling nations away from one another.
From Rethinking the Soviet Model to Searchinhg for China’s Path
Authors: Borokh O. , Lomanov A.
Published: July 2021

The article is focused on the evolution of the approaches of the Communist Party of China’s leadership to the Soviet model; it analyzes changing accents in its understanding that dominated in different periods, and the normative conclusions made from critical understanding of the Soviet experience. In 1956, Mao Zedong called to “take the USSR as a mirror” and underscored the importance of national specifics in modernization process. Since the late 1970s, Deng Xiaoping considered the Soviet model completely outdated and ineligible to any improvement, his reforms policy excluded any possibility of China’s return to the Soviet patterns. He solved the task of taking lesson from the “Soviet warning” in economy by abandoning high centralization and rigid planning. Since the 1990s, the themes of stability of party power, amassing public support, and ability of the ruling party to respond decisively to serious crises, occupied an increasingly prominent place in the Chinese debates on the Soviet lessons. Under Xi Jinping, the attention focused on the influences of the loss of political convictions by the party members and of the spread of “historical nihilism” on the collapse of the USSR and the downfall of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The focus in rethinking of the Soviet model shifted to the spheres of control over administrative power, institutionalization of rights, fight against corruption, modernization of the governance system. The chain of continuity of China’s development course is built around the theses about the priority of national specifics and a critical attitude towards foreign experience. It is concluded that during the period of reforms, the development of market economy in China went far beyond the original framework of Soviet centralized planned economy. In the political sphere, Soviet lessons keep their relevance and serve as a justification for the course of strengthening the ideological cohesion of the ruling party.
Relationship marketing practices for retention of corporate customers in hospitality contract catering
Authors: Christou Evangelos
Published: July 2021

Customer retention is specific to the context of each firm, and this is rarely recognized in models for customer retention. This paper studies how customer retention in hospitality business-to-business contract catering depends on the relationship substance built up due to interaction between the parties. Relationship substance may be of a more or less embedded ind, which is explored here in the form of relationship satisfaction and organizational change in the buying firm. A conceptual model is developed and tested on a sample of business relationships in business-to-business contract catering. The results support the fundamental effect that relationship satisfaction improves customer retention. The research also finds that the purchase development of contract catering customers increases retention, in particular if the customer who purchases more is also satisfied. However, when the contract caterer has achieved change in the customer firm, customer is reduced. Evidently, these customers consider that they are done with the seller and move to other sellers, or reduce their purchases altogether.
Unexploited potentials of networking in the hospitality business - Slovenia's case
Authors: Sedmak Gorazd , Planinc Tanja , Planinc Saša
Published: July 2021

In addition to theoretical arguments advocating various advantages of industrial networking, many examples of good practices and positive experiences can be found worldwide. Therefore, in many countries political measures have implemented to boost strategic partnership between companies. Nevertheless, examples of good practices of networking in the hospitality business are still relatively rare. In this paper, results of a study on the potentials for good practice in this regard and some reasons for the current state of poor networking in the Slovene hospitality sector are presented. The research consists of two parts. Managers of hospitality companies and leaders of two formal networks were interviewed for this purpose. The quantitative approach with Likert-type ordinal scale was used with the former group, while semi-structured interview and qualitative analysis was employed for the latter. The results revealed some interesting differences in the operational focus between formal and informal networks in terms of goals sought by their members. Strategic cooperation with the suppliers turned out to be the most common field of networking, while the principal obstacles for more intensive networking seem to lie in the conservative character of managers in the hospitality business, distrust and lack of time and organizational knowledge. This research fills the gap in dealing with industrial networking by confronting formal and informal strategic cooperation praxes in hospitality business.
Applying the modified SWOT–AHP method to the tourism of Gornje Međimurje
Authors: Fabac Robert , Zver Ivan
Published: July 2021

The development of tourism in rural areas supports economic development and growth of these areas. The prerequisite of successful development is the existence of strategic priorities in tourism. The Gornje Međimurje area has the characteristics of a rural region which generates recognizable successes in development of an authentic touristic attraction. Guidelines specified by the official Tourism Development Strategy (Ministry of Tourism, 2003) can serve as possible strategic orientations/options in that respect. In particular, the guidelines that refer to Central Croatia include: orientations toward rural tourism, health tourism, sport tourism, and congress tourism. This paper aims to contribute to the formulation of future tourist orientation of this region by the evaluation of strategic alternatives using the combined SWOT-AHP (short for Strenghts, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats and Analytical Hierarchical Process) method. In this paper we propose a modified version of the method, so that the absolute values of SWOT factors coefficients are used as criteria previously specified by AHP, but with a different procedure of evaluating (strategic) alternatives. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for tourism were described, which was based on judgments of experts; the appropriate weight was given to SWOT groups and factors using the AHP method. The relevance of potential strategic alternatives was determined with regards to global values of elements (factors) contained in SWOT groups, while also taking into consideration negative contributions of Weaknesses and Threats to the strategic situation. Thus, the strategic priorities for tourism development of Gornje Međimurje were obtained and the option of rural tourism was estimated as being most attractive.
Tourist ecology politics: the case of Crete Greece and Saranda Albania
Authors: Karagiannis Stephanos , Polo Antoneta
Published: July 2021

The large amount of money spent and the great number of travelers depicts the importance of tourism. Tourists travel to and from all areas around both hemispheres searching for a variety of experiences. Tourism industry has developed positively and has increased in different ways, regarding its type or scale. Therefore, tourists and tourism industry develop accordingly and frequently very fast, so as to change trends or other external factors. Tourism, therefore, is an industry of attracting visitors, taking care of their needs and meeting their expectations. The area of environmental ecology, however, is characterized by an attempt to solve many complicating environmental issues. Ecosystems and traditional villages, which are fragile and invaluable are affected by factors as the overexploitation and the misuse of natural resources, the lack of organized area planning, the insufficient urban waste management (uncontrolled urban waste disposal etc.) as well as the lack of respect in the marine ecology (pollution, fishing areas degradation etc).
Stress and stress management in a higher education tourism institution
Authors: Rok Marija
Published: July 2021

In modern societies stress has become a widespread phenomenon and therefore an issue of major concern to employees, organizations and the state. Organizations (i.e. management) that want to be competitive in the dynamic environment of today have to handle the problem of stress successfully. Higher education is not immune to this problem. The overall purpose of this analysis is to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon of stress among scholars in tertiary education. Teachers’ work has always been considered to be very stressful. The aim of this research has been to find out how they combat stress operatively and strategically in a tourism educational institution. The case study method was used and data was collected in semi-structured interviews. Content analysis of the interviews was used to determine stress perception, assessment, and management on an individual and institutional level. While employees show great awareness regarding the effects of stress on their lives and apply several coping techniques, the institution seems to be rather uninformed about stress and, what is more, seems to generate causes of stress. Based on these findings, strategies are proposed for stress management within institution. So far research on occupational stress among academics has been conducted mostly in Anglo- axon environments. This paper gives an in-depth insight into this issue in a context of a Slovenian tertiary education institution.
Biochemistry, Not Oncogenes, may Demystify and Defeat Cancer
Authors: Kulsh Jay
Published: July 2021

Presence of mutated genes strongly correlates with incidence of cancer. Decades of research, however, has not yielded any specific causative gene or set of genes for the vast majority of cancers. The Cancer Genome Atlas program was supposed to provide clarity but it only gave much more data without any accompanying insight into how the disease begins and progresses. It may be time to notice that epidemiological studies consistently show that the environment, not genes, has the principal role in causing cancer. Since carcinogenic chemicals in our food, drink, air and water are the primary culprit, we need to look at the biochemistry of cancer, with focus on enzymes which carry out any and all transformations in a cell. In particular, attention should be paid to the rate-limiting enzyme in DNA synthesis, ribonucleotide reductase (RnR) which is tightly linked to tumor growth. Beside the circumstantial evidence that cancer is induced at its vulnerable active-site by various carcinogens, there exists experimental proof of its role in initiating retinoblastoma and HPV-related cervical cancers. Blocking the activity of RnR is a certain way to arrest cancer.
A Novel Approach to Learning Models on EEG Data Using Graph Theory Features - A Comparative Study
Authors: Prakash Bhargav , Kumar Baboo Gautam , Baths Veeky
Published: July 2021

Functional Connectivity analysis using Electroencephalography signals is common. The EEG signals are converted to networks by transforming the signals into a correlation matrix and analyzing the resulting networks. Here, four learning models, namely, Logistic Regression, Random Forest, Support Vector Machine, and Recurrent Neural Networks, are implemented on the correlation matrix data to classify them either on their psychometric assessment or the effect of therapy; The EEG data is trail-based/event-related. The classifications based on RNN provided higher accuracy( 74-88%) than the other three models( 50-78%). Instead of using individual graph features, a correlation matrix provides an initial test of the data. When compared with the time-resolved correlation matrix, it offered a 4-5% higher accuracy. The time-resolved correlation matrix is better suited for dynamic studies here; it provides lower accuracy when compared to the correlation matrix, a static feature.
Study on Temperature Variance for SimCLR based Activity Recognition
Authors: Kumar Pranjal
Published: July 2021

Human Activity Recognition (HAR) is a process to automatically detect human activities based on stream data generated from various sensors, including inertial sensors, physiological sensors, location sensors, cameras, time, and many others. In this paper, we propose a robust SimCLR model for human activity recognition with a temperature variance study. In this work, SimCLR, a contrasting learning technique is optimized via regulating the temperature for visual representations, is incorporated for improving the HAR performance in healthcare.
Universal Set of Primers for DNA Identification of Alien Fish Species in Central Russia (Volga-Kama Region)
Authors: Karabanov Dmitry P. , Bekker Eugenia I. , Pavlov Dmitry D. , Borovikova Elena A. , Kodukhova Yulia V. , Kotov Alexey A.
Published: July 2021

Reliable species identification is critical for detection and monitoring of biological invasions. In this study, we propose four sets of primers for efficient amplification of several loci, including the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase-c (COI) subunit I gene which is a basis for DNA barcoding. This set of primers gives a shorter product which can be used in high-throughput sequencing systems for metabarcoding purposes. Another mitochondrial locus encoding the large ribosomal subunit (16S) may be useful to study the population structure and as an additional source of information in the metabarcoding of communities. We propose to use a set of primers for the nuclear locus of the small ribosomal subunit (18S) as a positive control and to verify the results of the barcoding. Our proposed sets of primers demonstrate a high amplification efficiency and a high specificity both for freshwater alien and indigenous fishes. The proposed research design makes it possible to carry out extremely cheap studies on the assessment of biological diversity using genetic analysis without expensive equipment, and with the technique for conducting laboratory work and processing of the results available to any researcher. The paper also presents original data on the genetic polymorphism of all mass alien fish species in the Volga-Kama region. High efficiency of DNA identification based on our primers is shown as compared to traditional monitoring of biological invasions.
Long-Range Static and Dynamic Previtreous Effects in Supercooled Squalene - Impact of Strong Electric Field
Authors: Starzonek Szymon , Drozd-Rzoska Aleksandra , Rzoska Sylwester J.
Published: July 2021

The evidence is presented for the long-range previtreous changes of two static properties: dielectric constant ( ) and its strong electric field related counterpart - the nonlinear dielectric effect (NDE). Notable is the evidence for the functional characterizations of (T) temperature changes by the ‘Mossotti Catastrophe’ formula, and NDE vs. T evolution by the relations resembling one developed for critical liquids. The analysis of dynamic properties based on the activation energy index excluded the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann (VFT) relation as a validated tool for portraying the evolution of the primary relaxation time. Such a result questions the commonly applied ‘Stickel operator’ routine as the reliable tool for determining the dynamic crossover temperature. It is worth stressing that the strong electric field radically affects the distribution of relaxation times, the form of the evolution of the primary relaxation time as well as the fragility. Obtained results support the concept of a possible semi-continuous phase transition hidden below Tg. Studies were carried out in supercooled squalene, the material with extremely low electric conductivity, strongly elongated molecule, and vitally important for biology and medicine related issues.
Age-Related Changes in Hemispherical Specialization for Attentional Networks
Authors: Casagrande Maria , Agostini Francesca , Favieri Francesca , Forte Giuseppe , Giovannoli Jasmine , Guarino Angela , Marotta Andrea , Doricchi Fabrizio , Martella Diana
Published: July 2021

Many cognitive functions face a decline in the healthy elderly. Within the cognitive domains, both attentional processes and executive functions are impaired with aging. Attention includes three attentional networks, i.e., alerting, orienting, and executive control that showed a hemispheric lateralized pattern in adults. This lateralized pattern could have a role in modulating the efficiency of attentional networks. For these reasons could be relevant to analyze the age-related change of hemispheric specialization of attentional networks. This study aims to clarify this aspect with a lateralized version of the ANTI-Fruit. One hundred sixty-seven participants took part in this study. They are divided in three age groups: early adulthood (N=57; Range: 20-30); late adulthood (N=57; Range 31-64) and elderly/older people (N=57; Range: 65-87). Results confirm the previous outcomes on the efficiency and interactions among attentional networks. Moreover, an age-related generalized slowness was evidenced. These findings also support the hypothesis of a hemispheric asymmetry reduction in elderly/older adults. This pattern could partially explain the decrease in attentional functioning in elderly/older age.
Cascade Network with Deformable Composite Backbone for Formula Detection in Scanned Document Images
Authors: Hashmi Khurram Azeem , Pagani Alain , Liwicki Marcus , Stricker Didier , Afzal Muhammad Zeshan
Published: July 2021

This paper presents a novel architecture for detecting mathematical formulas in document images, which is an important step for reliable information extraction in several domains. Recently, Cascade Mask R-CNN networks have been introduced to solve object detection in computer vision. In this paper, we suggest a couple of modifications to the existing Cascade Mask R-CNN architecture: First, the proposed network uses deformable convolutions instead of conventional convolutions in the backbone network to spot areas of interest better. Second, it uses a dual backbone of ResNeXt-101, having composite connections at the parallel stages. Finally, our proposed network is end-to-end trainable. We evaluate the proposed approach on the ICDAR-2017 POD and Marmot datasets. The proposed approach demonstrates state-of-the-art performance on ICDAR-2017 POD at a higher IoU threshold with an f1-score of 0.917, reducing the relative error by 7.8%. Moreover, we accomplished correct detection accuracy of 81.3% on embedded formulas on the Marmot dataset, which results in a relative error reduction of 30%.
Pengaruh Literasi Keuangan, Penerapan Pengelolaan Keuangan Dan Perilaku Menabung Terhadap Kesiapan Pensiun: Studi Empiris Pada ASN Wanita Di Lingkungan Pemeritah Provinsi DKI Jakarta
Authors: Wardani Ori Tunggul
Published: July 2021

Kesiapan menghadapi masa pensiun adalah kemampuan individu untuk menjadikan kehidupannya nyaman dimasa pensiun, hal tersebut dapat tercapai apabila individu tersebut melakukan persiapan. Individu yang bekerja harus bertanggung jawab atas kehidupan di masa pensiun yang akan mereka hadapi, termasuk individu yang bekerja di lingkungan pemerintah. Pegawai pemerintah dengan fasilitas program dana pensiun belum terjamin dapat hidup nyaman di masa pensiunnya. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh literasi keuangan, penerapan pengelolaan keuangan dan perilaku menabung terhadap kesiapan pensiun ASN wanita di lingkungan Pemerintah Provinsi DKI Jakarta. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif. Objek penelitian ini adalah Kesiapan Pensiun ASN wanita Pemerintah Provinsi DKI Jakarta. Unit analisis yang digunakan adalah 36 SKPD Pemerintah Provinsi DKI Jakarta. Penentuan sampel menggunakan teknik probability sampling. Jumlah sampel yang digunakan sebanyak 389 sampel. Metode yang digunakan metode survey dengan kuisioner. Desain penelitiannya deskriptif dan tipe penelitan yang digunakan explanatory research. Metode analisis data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini meliputi: analisis statistik deskriptif dan analisis statistik parametrik. Teknik analisis yang digunakan adalah uji validitas, uji reliabilitas dan uji hipotesis menggunakan SEM (Structural Equation Modeling). Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah literasi keuangan, penerapan pengelolaan keuangan dan perilaku keuangan berpengaruh secara positif terhadap perilaku menabung.
Lingkungan Bisnis Eksternal Pengarus Faktor Lingkungan Bisnis Ekternal Dan Faktor Manajerial Terhadap Perencanaan Stratejik Untuk Meningkatkan Kinerja PT Wijaya Karya (Persero) Tbk
Authors: Haryanto Agus
Published: July 2021

Abstract

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh Lingkungan Bisnis Eksternal dan Faktor Manajerial, terhadap Perencanaan Stratejik serta dampaknya pada Kinerja PT. Wijaya Karya (Persero) Tbk. Penelitian ini bersifat cross-sectional yaitu suatu jenis penelitian yang melakukan pengumpulan informasi/kuesioner hanya satu kali dalam satu waktu tertentu kepada sampel. Karena data yang dikumpulkan sekaligus pada satu saat tertentu dan hanya sekali saja dengan cara menyebarkan kuesioner kepada karyawan. Dari populasi karyawan PT. Wijaya Karya (Persero) Tbk. sebanyak 150 orang karyawan, sampel yang di gunakan pada penelitian ini adalah sebanyak 121 orang karyawan. Metode sampling dalam penelitian ini diambil secara proporsif (judgement sampling) yaitu diambil dari karyawan level middle-up manajemen yang terlibat dalam penyusunan perencanaan strategi dan operasional, serta minimum 4 tahun masa kerja. Pada penelitian ini, metode analisis data menggunakan Model persamaan struktural (SEM) untuk menilai hipotesis karena memiliki kemampuan untuk memperkirakan berbagai hubungan dan saling keterkaitan hubungan ketika menerangkan kesalahan pengukuran dalam proses estimasi.

 

Hasil Penelitian untuk kinerja PT. Wijaya Karya (Persero) Tbk.Nilai T hitung = 3,368 pada variable lingkungan bisnis eksternal terhadap variabel perencanaan stratejik, nilai T hitung = 3,726 pada variable lingkungan bisnis eksternal terhadap variabel kinerja, nilai T hitung = 3,113 pada variabel faktor manajerial terhadap variabel perencanaan stratejik, T hitung = 2,787 pada variabel faktor manajerial terhadap variabel kinerja, dan nilai T hitung= 2,933 pada variable perencanaan stratejik terhadap variabel kinerja dimana nilai ini memenuhi syarat T hitung >t tabel yang memenuhi syarat signifikansi antar variabel. Sehingga dapat disimpulkan bahwa terdapat pengaruh langsung antara lingkungan bisnis eksternal dan faktor manajerial terhadap kinerja perusahaan yang dimediasi oleh perencanaan stratejik.

 

Kata Kunci : Lingkungan Bisnis Eksternal, Faktor Manajerial, Perencanaan strategis, Kinerja Perusahaan.
Studi Kinerja UMKM Ditinjau Dari Orientasi Pasar, Orientasi Kewirausahaan dan Inovasi: Kasus Pada Lokbin Kecamatan Cempaka Putih Jakarta Pusat
Authors: Sisi Suryaningsih
Published: July 2021

Kinerja UMKM merupakan hasil pekerjaan individu maupun kelompok individu yang mempunyai hubungan kuat dengan strategis organisasi, kepuasan pelanggan dan memberikan kontribusi pada ekonomi. Dan untuk pengukurannya dapat dilakukan dengan dengan dua pendekatan, yaitu secara financial dan non financial. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengaruh dari Orientasi pasar dan Orientasi Kewirausahaan terhadap Kinerja UMKM melalui Inovasi sebagai mediating. Penelitian menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif. Dengan jumlah responden sebanyak 80 pelaku UMKM. Data diperoleh melalui instrumen berupa kuesioner dengan alat bantu analisis yaitu partial least square (PLS) melalui software SmartPLS 3.0. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan berpengaruh positif dan signifikan pada inovasi dan orientasi pasar terhadap kinerja, orientasi pasar dan orientasi kewirausahaan terhadap inovasi, dan orientasi kewirausahaan terhadap kinerja UMKM melalui inovasi sebagai mediating. Sedangkan hasil penelitian menunjukan berpengaruh negatif dan tidak signifikan pada orientasi kewirausahaan terhadap kinerja UMKM, orientasi pasar terhadap inovasi, serta orientasi pasar terhadap kinerja UMKM melalui inovasi sebagai mediating.
SATISFACTION AND TRUST ANALYSIS OF SIPP ONLINE BPJS KETENAGAKERJAAN USERS: WHAT IS THE ROLE OF EASE OF USE, VARIATIONS IN WEB DESIGN AND FUNCTIONS?
Authors: Kuntadi Adi Setyawan  , Usep Suhud  , Agung Wahyu Handaru
Published: July 2021

This study aims to review and reconfirm research on customer satisfaction and customer trust in online applications. In this study, the object raised is SIPP Online, developed by BPJS Ketenagakerjaan at the branch office of BPJS Ketenagakerjaan Kelapa Gading. This research model includes Customer Satisfaction, Customer Trust, Variation of Functions, and Web Design. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to test the path analysis of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) by operating the AMOS 22 application for testing research models. The sample in this study amounted to 315 PIC companies participating in BPJS Ketenagakerjaan. In this study, there are seven direct hypotheses and three indirect hypotheses (mediation). The results of this study indicate that all hypotheses made in the study are statistically accepted. The limitation in this research is that the study's scope only includes the Kelapa Gading branch of the BPJS Ketenagakerjaan.
THE INFLUENCE OF COMPETENCE AND COMMUNICATION ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE OF INTERNAL AUDIT WORK UNIT AT PT BANK MANDIRI (PERSERO), TBK WITH MEDIATION VARIABLE JOB SATISFACTION
Authors: Marwah Aya Shofia
Published: July 2021

This study aims to analyze the influence of competence and communication on internal audit employees' performance at PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk with the mediating variable of Job Satisfaction. The population in this study were 284 employees of the internal audit of PT Bank Mandiri Tbk. Whereas in this study using saturated samples, the entire population of this study became research respondents. The data collection method is by distributing questionnaires as a primary data collection tool. Furthermore, the data is processed and analyzed using the Amoss 26 Structural Equation Models method. This study uses competency and communication independent variables as well as employee performance-dependent variables and job satisfaction mediation variables. The results of the study prove that there is an effect of competence on job satisfaction; there is an effect of communication on job satisfaction; there is an influence of competence on performance; there is an effect of communication on performance; there is an effect of job satisfaction on performance; there is an influence of competence on performance through job satisfaction; there is an effect of communication on performance through job satisfaction.
Performance Assessment of Composite Skirted Ground Reinforcement System in Liquefiable Ground Under Repeated Dynamic Loading Conditions
Authors: P Vijay Kumar S , Shanmugam Ganesh Kumar , Gupta Saurabh Dutta
Published: July 2021

Occurrence of earthquake generates both horizontal and vertical ground motions. In saturated sands, combination of generated ground motions and pore water pressures induces soil liquefaction. In this study, a composite skirted ground reinforcement system was developed to mitigate generation of pore water pressure in liquefiable soils and also to attenuate incoming ground motions to the foundation. The composite system contains Poly Urethane foam as an isolation barrier for ground motion attenuation with stone columns for improving both soil densification and drainage. The performance of this composite reinforcement system was evaluated under repeated acceleration loading conditions to estimate its efficiency. For testing, saturated ground model having 40% and 60% relative density was prepared and investigated with and without the composite reinforcement system. Test results showed that, the developed skirted ground reinforcement system effectively mitigates the interaction of incoming ground motions with the foundation and also improves the re-liquefaction resistance of soil compared to that of unreinforced ground.
Severe Congenital Neutropenia Due To G6PC3 Deficiency Case Series of Five Patients and Literature Review
Authors: Vélez-Tirado Natalia Female , Yamazaki-Nakashimada Marco Antonio , Valentín Enrique Lopez , Partida-Gaytan Armando , Scheffler-Mendoza Selma C , Semerena Genny M Chaia , Alvarez-Cardona Aristóteles , Gutiérrez Marcos Alejandro Suárez , Torres Edgar Alejandro Medina , Capetillo Patricia Baeza , Hirschmugl Tatjana , Garncarz Wojciech , Espinosa-Padilla Sara Elva , Hernández Jesús Aguirre , Klein Christoph , Boztug Kaan , Reyes Saul O Lugo
Published: July 2021

Glucose-6-phosphate catalytic subunit 3 (G6PC3) deficiency is characterized by severe congenital neutropenia with recurrent pyogenic infections, a prominent superficial venous pattern, and cardiovascular and urogenital malformations, caused by an alteration of glucose homeostasis, with increased endoplasmic reticulum stress and cell apoptosis. We describe five new cases from Mexico, and review 89 more patients reported in the past decade, to delineate the most frequent laboratory and genetic features, their treatment, and outcomes, and to expand the knowledge of syndromic and non-syndromic phenotypes in these patients.
The Effect of Global Warming and Acidification on PAHs Bioaccumulation in Pearl Oyster Pinctada Radiate
Authors: Jafari Fatemeh , Naeemi Akram Sadat , Noorinezhad Mohsen , Sohani Mohammad Mahdi
Published: July 2021

Warming and acidification are expected impact of climate change that will affect marine areas in the future. These areas are, furthermore, vulnerable to strong anthropogenic stresses such as chemical pollutants. Nevertheless, the consequences of both stressors for marine ecosystems and organisms are still unidentified. The present study aims to examine, for the first time, the effect of temperature and CO2 pressure increase on bioaccumulation of phenanthrene as a PAHs model in four tissues, gills, digestive gland, muscle and mantle of a commercially important pearl oyster Pinctada radiata. Oysters were exposed to various combination of the ambient temperature and pH currently measured in Persian Gulf (T = 24 ºC and pH = 8.1) and the expected ocean warming and acidification (T = 28 ºC and pH = 7.6), as well as proper PhE concentration (0.8 ng.l− 1) during 28 days. In all exposures, higher PhE contents were observed under hypercapnia and warming condition in the digestive gland and gills, followed by the mantle and muscle. Generally, the results visibly reveal that longer exposure period led to promote PhE bioaccumulation in all tissues under ocean warming and acidification environment which was time-dependent pattern of PhE accumulation in P.radiata. Present-day PhE environmental concentrations, which combined with ocean warming and acidification, may lead to rigorous interruption of physiological functions can be extra threatened the ecological fitness of pearl oysters.
A level set-based approach for modeling cellular rearrangements in tissue morphogenesis
Authors: Mohammad Rhudaina Z. , Murakawa Hideki , Svadlenka Karel , Togashi Hideru
Published: July 2021

Among morphological phenomena, cellular patterns in developing sensory epithelia have gained attention in recent years. Although physical models for cellular rearrangements are well-established thanks to a large bulk of experimental work, their computational implementation lacks solid mathematical background and involves experimentally unreachable parameters. Here we introduce a level set-based computational framework as a tool to rigorously investigate evolving cellular patterns. We investigate its mathematical and computational properties, showing that it significantly surpasses existing schemes in its ability to correctly handle complex topology changes, including frequent cell intercalations. Combining this accurate numerical scheme with an established mathematical model, we show that the new framework features minimum possible number of parameters and is capable of reproducing a wide range of tissue morphological phenomena, such as cell sorting, engulfment or internalization. In particular, thanks to precise mathematical treatment of cellular intercalations, this method is the first to successfully simulate experimentally observed development of cellular mosaic patterns in sensory epithelia.
The Combination of Bacillus Subtilis wt55 with AiiO-AIO6 Improve The Resistance of Zebrafish To A. Veronii Infection by Simple Collocation Rather Than B. Subtilis Quorum-Quenching Recombinant Expression Strain
Authors: Yao Yuan-Yuan , Xia Rui , Yang Ya-Lin , Gao Chen-Chen , Zhang Feng-Li , Hu Juan , Hao Qiang , Ran Chao , Zhang Zhen , Zhou Zhigang
Published: July 2021

Disease problems will seriously restrict the sustainable development of aquaculture, and the environmental-friendly prevention strategies are urgently needed. Probiotics and quorum-quenching enzyme are innovative strategies to control bacterial diseases. The bacteriostatic effect of B. subtilis wt55 strain and quenching enzyme AiiO-AIO6 in vitro showed wt55 inhibit the growth of A. veronii, but AiiO-AIO6 did not. Therefore simple combination of B. subtilis wt55 strain and AiiO-AIO6 was used to evaluate potential synergistic effect. The results showed this combination could significantly reduce the number of invasive A. veronii in gut after challenge, corresponding to the lower intestinal alkaline phosphatase activity. In vitro co-culture experiments showed this combination could inhibit the growth of A. veronii. Direct immersion of germ-free zebrafish proved AiiO-AIO6 did not directly regulate the innate immune response of the host, but wt55 did it, and the combination of wt55 and AiiO-AIO6 could significantly reduce the expression of NF-κB and proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β, increase the expression of lysozyme gene. The gut microbiota induced by either experimental diet was transferred to germ-free zebrafish, and the results showed that intestinal microbiota also plays a regulatory role. The gut microbiota from combination group could significantly inhibit the expression of IL-1β and NF-κB, and increased the expression of TGF-β and lysozyme. Given the effectiveness of this combination, a B. subtilis quorum-quenching recombinant expression strain in which AiiO-AIO6 was surface displayed on the spores and secreted by vegetative cells was built. The results showed that the survival rate after challenge was lower than that of the group treated with AiiO-AIO6 or wt55 alone, and the expression of proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β and NF-κB were significantly higher. Our study demonstrated the effectiveness of B. subtilis and AiiO-AIO6 simple combination and established an efficient B. subtilis expression system.
Finite-Time Coordinated Path Following Control of Leader-Following Multi-Agent Systems
Authors: Chen Weibin , Chen Yang-Yang
Published: July 2021

The applications of the continuous feedback method to achieve both path following and a formation moving along desired orbits at a finite time is presented. It is assumed that the topology among the virtual leader and the followers is directed. An additional condition of so called barrier function to yield all the agents moving within a limited area is designed. A novel continuous finite-time path following control law is first designed based on the barrier function and backstepping. Then a novel continuous finite-time formation algorithm is designed by regarding the path following errors as disturbances. The settling time properties of the resulting system are studied in detail. Simulations are presented to validate the proposed strategies.
Ameliorative role of Silicon on Osmoprotectants, Antioxidant Enzymes and Growth of Maize Grown Under Alkaline Stress
Authors: venkataraman Sriramachandrasekharan Malayappa , Natarajan Gokula Priya , Rengarajan Manivannan , Samy Prakash Muthu Arjuna
Published: July 2021

Purpose

Maize is grown under a wide spectrum of soil and climatic conditions. Maize is moderately sensitive to salt stress and response of maize under alkaline stress is scanty. Further, silicon is known to protect crops from abiotic stress. Hence, a pot experiment was conducted to study the mechanism on the effect of silicon on maize grown in alkaline stress
Methods

Maize CO 8 was grown in soil treated with four levels of alkaline stress (0, 25, 50, 75 mM) created through addition of sodium carbonate and three levels of silicon (0,100 and 150 kg ha− 1) applied to root through sodium meta silicate. The experiment was conducted in factorial CRD with three replications.
Results

Alkaline stress at graded levels caused reduction in growth (5 to 16%), dry weight (28 to 59%) and relative water content (5 to 23%). But electrolyte leakage (6 to 49%), proline (26 to 62%), phenol (8 to 44%), protein (6 to 19%), anti-oxidant systems viz., peroxidase (30 to 52%), SOD (4 to 16%) and catalase activities (32 to 127%) increased with increase in alkaline stress level. Soil application of silicon at different levels improved growth ( 5 to 10%) and dry weight (17 to 30%) of maize, relative water content (6 to 12%) and antioxidant enzymes ( 25 to 52%), water soluble protein ( 7 to10%), phenol ( 10 to 18%) while reduced electrolyte leakage( 15 to 25%) and proline( 17 to 29%).
Conclusions

It is evident from the study that root supplementation of silicon improved the growth and dry weight of maize crop grown in alkaline stress soil through its action on antioxidant systems and maximum effect was evident with 150 kg Si/ha
Construction of a Cost-Effective Domestic Wastewater Disinfection Filter from Biosynthesized Compared to Commercial Nanosilver
Authors: Taher Heba S. , Sayed Rania , Loutfi Asmaa , Abdulla Hesham Mohammed
Published: July 2021

Biosynthesis of nanoparticles is considered one of the most significant aspects of nanotechnology, it is an eco-friendly process. In this paper, Streptomyces sp. U13 (KP109813) was used to biosynthesize silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) to construct a cost-effective wastewater disinfection filter. A comparison between the biosynthesized nanosilver and a commercially available ink nanosilver was done on both their characteristics and wastewater disinfection efficiency. The nanometrological characteristics of the biosynthesized and commercially available nanosilver such as structure, shape, size, and optical properties were investigated using the X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), high resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM), and UV-Visible spectroscopy, respectively. Ag NPs were loaded on two substrates, foam and limestone gravel. Ag NPs attached to limestone gravel better than foam and eliminated all coliforms. Wastewater disinfection under different conditions was tested. The results concluded that the type of substrate controls the amount of Ag NPs that loaded on it and thus control the disinfection process. No significant difference between using biosynthesized nanosilver and commercially available ink nanosilver in wastewater disinfection. Using limestone gravel filter loaded with 200 mg/l Ag NPs with contact time 150 min are required to reduce the number of coliforms to nil.
Investigations on Water Jet Peening of AZ31B Mg Alloy for Bio Medical Implants
Authors: Mohan Mugilvalavan , Radhakrishnan Muruganandhan , Natarajan Yuvaraj
Published: July 2021

Among different unconventional peening technique, water jet is cold working process has capable to produce surface topography on wide variety of materials. This paper deals with the effect of water jet peening on the corrosion resistance and the surface topography of AZ31B Mg alloy. Variations in water jet peening variables including standoff distance, traverse speed and multiple passes have been employed in this study. A study of the enhancement in hardening and roughening effect was made following the peening process. 29.44% Improvements in microhardness and 31.06% reduction in surface roughness were observed on the peened surfaces. Optimal peened surface was obtained through use of the multi-objective optimization technique, namely, TOPSIS, which utilizes response variables such as micro hardness and surface roughness. In this study, Surface Topography, XRD Analysis and Electrochemical test were conducted. In addition, analysis of the Microstructure of corroded region was made in the unpeened and optimized peened surfaces. Surface topography parameters including Sa, Sq, SSk, Sku results confirmed the suitability of the peened surface for ooseointegration and cell growth. FWHM value measured from XRD peaks showed the formation of grain refinement on the peened surface, and the results showed promising improvements in the corrosion resistance compared to the unpeened AZ31B Mg alloy.
Screening and Identification of the Botanical Attractant From a Chinese Tea for Aedes Albopictus Oviposition
Authors: Xie Li-Hua , Liu Tong , Yang Wen-Qiang , Xie Yu-Gu , Zhao Si-Yu , Wu Kun , Zhou Xiao-Hong , Gu Jin-Bao , Chen Xiao-Guang
Published: July 2021

Background: The use of oviposition attractants is a promising approach to control populations of mosquito vectors at the source; however, the knowledge on oviposition stimulation in Aedes albopictus is very limited. In recent years, tea bags have been proven to attract Aedes aegypti to lay eggs, but the sources of tea are wide and varied; moreover, the factors and mechanisms in tea bags that attract mosquitoes remain unclear.Methods: The effects of three kinds of Chinese tea, nonfermented, fully fermented and postfermented, were comparatively evaluated for their ability to attract mosquito oviposition at dose of 5g/L, 1.5g/L and 0.5g/L, respectively. The attractants in the Liu-pao tea infusion were isolated with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS).Results: Among the three types of fermented teas, the Guangxi Liu-pao tea infusion was a successful oviposition attractant for Ae. albopictus at all the dose tested, and the average OAIs of 5 g/L Liu-pao tea soaked for 7 d and 14 d were 0.73 and 0.67, respectively. Further, in one month of soaking 0.5g/L Liu-Pao tea, the average oviposition activity indexes (OAIs) for Ae.aegypti of soaking for 21 d and 28 d were 0.89 and 0.63, respectively. Functional analyses showed that the compound cedrol at 1 mg/L tested for Ae. albopictus, the average OAI was 0.38.Conclusion: Liu-pao tea can effectively attract Ae. albopictus to lay eggs, and cedrol is one of the ingredients attracting Aedes mosquitoes to lay eggs. These results shed light on the development of Aedes mosquito oviposition attractants and will help to develop innovative monitoring and prevention strategies for Aedes-borne diseases.