bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Study of the Wound Healing Activity of the Gel with a Comprehensive Therapeutic Effect
Authors: Brkich Liliana Lyubanovna , Nedorubov Andrey Anatolievich , Pyatigorskaya Natalia Valeryevna , Brkich Galina Eduardovna , Odintsova Elena Sergeevna
Published: March 2019

AIM: The study was aimed at researching the specific wound healing activity of the drug with a comprehensive therapeutic effect based on derivatives of glucosamine and acrylic polymers to treat the infected wounds of various origins on a model of a planar infected wound.
METHODS: The model of septic wounds in rats as per the method of P.I. Tolstykh was used during the study of the specific activity of the drug with a comprehensive therapeutic effect based on derivatives of glucosamine and acrylic polymers for the treatment of infected wounds. The infection was performed with the S. aureus and E. coli strains. The study lasted 18 days, and during this period no full scarring occurred. The wound diameter was chosen as the effectiveness criterion. The planimetric method was used to assess the course of the wound process in experimental animals.
RESULTS: The obtained data prove the specific action of the drug with a comprehensive therapeutic action based on derivatives of glucosamine and acrylic polymers to treat the infected wounds of various origins. The study has shown that bacterially infected wounds healed worse than noninfected ones. Both types of wounds — infected and uninfected ones — healed faster when applying the test drug or Levomekol ointment.
CONCLUSION: On the model of a planar infected wound, the developed drug with a comprehensive therapeutic action has shown better wound healing effect compared with the Levomekol reference drug.
Benzofurocaine: effects on experimental periodontitis, anti-diabetic activity and molecular mechanisms of action
Authors: Galenko-Yaroshevsky Pavel A. , Popkov Victor L. , Bedrosova Karine A. , Faustov Leonid A. , Sukoyan Galina V. , Zadorozhny Andrey V. , Gulevskaya Ol’ga N. , Uvarov Aleksandr V. , Dobrodomova Valeriya S.
Published: March 2019

Introduction: A promising compound for the treatment of inflammatory periodontal diseases is benzofuracaine (BFC) .BFC has pronounced anti-inflammatory, analgesic, reparative, hypoglycemic and other effects. Objective: To assess the influence of benzofuracaine on experimental periodontitis and to study its antidiabetic activity and molecular mech-anisms of action

Materials and methods: The work was performed on 232 white nonlinear rats of both sexes and 55 male mice. To assess the effect of BFС on experimental periodontitis, the amount of gingival fluid (AGF) was determined, an in-depth morphofunctional study of periodontal tissues was conducted, as well as the study of the biochemical composition of the gingiva and blood. Antidiabetic properties were studied using the glucose tolerance test (GTT), as well as the as-sessment of endothelium-dependent vasodilation and transmembrane K+-currents on an isolated aortic segment of ratswith streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus (DM).

Results and discussion: In experimental periodontitis, BFC improves the morphological picture and decreases AGF, in-creases the level of blood microcirculation in the attached gingiva, has a normalizing effect on the prekallikrein-kallikrein system, reduces the synthesis of bradykinin, proinflammatory cytokines and PGE2, increases the level of VEGF, reduces the level of endothelin-1, increases the ATP content and NADH-ubiquinone-reductase activity, exhibits antioxidant properties,reduces the content of nitrosothiols and NO metabolites (NO2/NO3), increases the level of transferrin; when conducting a

glucose tolerance test in mice, it reduces the level of glucose in the blood, but in this respect is inferior to glibenclamide, has a hypoglycemic effect in the early stages of diabetes (30 days), tends to restore endothelium-dependent dilatation of smooth muscle cells (SMC) of the aorta and does not affect the functioning of the K+-channels of the aortic SMC.

Conclusion: BFС is an effective drug for the treatment of periodontitis and can be recommended for further preclinical and clinical studies.
Gender and age differences of compliance in liver transplant recipients
Authors: Kosmacheva Elena D. , Babich Anna E.
Published: March 2019

Introduction: The aim of the paper was to evaluate the compliance in patients who have undergone orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Materials and methods: A voluntary anonymous survey was conducted among liver transplant recipients. The control group included patients with chronic non-infectious diseases requiring persistent treatment. The questionnaire “The level of Compliance” designed by R.V. Kadyrov was used. Results and discussion: The following compliance levels were identified in liver transplant recipients: the general level – 95.8±9.4; the social level – 30.4±4.2; the emotional level – 33.3±3.7; the behavioral level – 32.0±3.8. The com-pliance levels of the control group were significantly lower compared to the values of group 1, respectively: the general level – by 9%, the social level – by 5.6%, the emotional level – by 10.3% and the behavioral level –by 11.9%. The general compliance level of the recipients under 50 years old reached 93.5±6.8; the social compliance level – 28.9±3.9; the emotional compliance level – 33.6±2.9 and the behavioral compliance level –31.0±2.2. Conclusions: Liver transplant patients have higher levels of general, behavioral and emotional compliance compared to patients with chronic diseases. Neither gender nor age differences were identified in any types of compliance.
Parasitic copepods (Crustacea, Hexanauplia) on fishes from the lagoon flats of Palmyra Atoll, Central Pacific
Authors: Soler-Jiménez Lilia C. , Morales-Serna F. Neptalí , Aguirre-Macedo Ma. Leopoldina , Mclaughlin John P. , Jaramillo Alejandra G. , Shaw Jenny C. , James Anna K. , Hechinger Ryan F. , Kuris Armand M. , Lafferty Kevin D. , Vidal-Martínez Victor M.
Published: March 2019

We surveyed copepods parasitic on the fishes at Palmyra, a remote atoll in the Central Indo-Pacific faunal region. In total, we collected 849 individual fish, representing 44 species, from the intertidal lagoon flats at Palmyra and recovered 17 parasitic copepod species. The parasitic copepods were:OrbitacolaxwilliamsionMulloidichthysflavolineatus;AnuretesserratusonAcanthurusxanthopterus;CaligusconfususonCarangoidesferdau,Carangoidesorthogrammus,Caranxignobilis,Caranxmelampygus, andCaranxpapuensis;CaliguskapuhilionChaetodonaurigaandChaetodonlunula;CaliguslaticaudusonRhinecanthusaculeatus,Pseudobalistesflavimarginatus,M.flavolineatus,Upeneustaeniopterus,Chrysipteraglauca, andEpinephalusmerra;CaligusmutabilisonLutjanusfulvusandLutjanusmonostigma;CaligusrandallionC.ignobilis;Caligussp. onL.fulvus;CaritusserratusonChanoschanos;LepeophtheiruslewisionA.xanthopterus;LepeophtheirusuluusonC.ignobilis;DissonussimilisonArothronhispidus;Nemesissp. onCarcharhinusmelanopterus;HatschekialongiabdominalisonA.hispidus;HatschekiabicaudataonChaetodonaurigaandChaetodonlunula;KroyerialongicaudaonC.melanopterusandLernanthropussp. onKyphosuscinerascens. All copepod species reported here have been previously reported from the Indo-Pacific but represent new geographical records for Palmyra, demonstrating large-scale parasite dispersion strategies.
Polyhedral conic kernel-like functions for SVMs
Authors: ÖZTÜRK GÜRKAN , ÇİMEN EMRE
Published: March 2019

In this study, we propose a new approach that can be used as a kernel-like function for support vector machines (SVMs) in order to get nonlinear classification surfaces. We combined polyhedral conic functions (PCFs) with the SVM method. To get nonlinear classification surfaces, kernel functions are used with SVMs. However, the parameter selection of the kernel function affects the classification accuracy. Generally, in order to get successful classifiers which can predict unknown data accurately, best parameters are explored with the grid search method which is computationally expensive. We solved this problem with the proposed method. There is no need to optimize any parameter in the proposed method. We tested the proposed method on three publicly available datasets. Next, the classification accuracies of the proposed method were compared with the linear, radial basis function (RBF), Pearson universal kernel (PUK), and polynomial kernel SVMs. The results are competitive with those of the other methods.
Power quality improvement of smart microgrids using EMS-based fuzzy controlled UPQC
Authors: HOSSAM-ELDIN AHMED A. , MANSOUR AHMED A. , EL-GAMAL MOHAMMED , YOUSSEF KARIM H.
Published: March 2019

The prevalent power quality problems in smart microgrids and power distribution systems are voltage sag, voltage swell, and harmonic distortion. The achievement of pure sinusoidal waveform with proper magnitude and phase is currently a great research and development concern. The aim of this paper is to evaluate and mitigate the smart microgrid harmonics, voltage sag, and voltage swell throughout a 24-h cycle, taking into consideration the variation in solar power generation due to changes in irradiation received by photovoltaic cells, the variation in wind power generation due to changes in wind speed, and the variation of linear and nonlinear load profiles during the day’s cycle. The mitigation of the power quality issues manifested in current harmonics, voltage sag, and voltage swell is achieved through the implementation of a new fully fuzzy controlled unified power quality conditioner (UPQC). It is controlled by an energy management system (EMS). This paper introduces a new control system for the UPQC using full fuzzy logic control. Moreover, fuzzy control is used in current control instead of proportional integral controllers so that it has acceptable performance over a wide range of operating points. The novel approach of an EMS-connected UPQC activates the UPQC at the required time only into the grid. This approach has many benefits by increasing the UPQC lifetime. The effect of the proposed system on the aforementioned issues has been validated through simulation by MATLAB/Simulink. The results are compared with those obtained by conventional methods. The results verify the superior performance of the proposed UPQC to mitigate the problems of current total harmonic distortions, voltage sag, and voltage swell under different operating conditions during the monitoring period.
Ambroise et Martin
Authors: Tessera Miriam Rita
Published: March 2019

La basilique Saint-Ambroise, à Milan, conserve un
précieux autel d'or carolingien commandé par l’archevêque Angilbert II
(824-859) dans le cadre du renouvellement du culte d’Ambroise promu
après la conquête du royaume d’Italie par les Francs. Sur la face
arrière de cet autel sont représentées des scènes de la vie de saint
Ambroise, parmi lesquelles se trouve la scène des funérailles de saint
Martin à Tours auxquelles assiste saint Ambroise. La bilocation
d'Ambroise – il célèbre la messe à Milan en même temps qu'il participe
aux funérailles à Tours – est figurée aussi sur la mosaïque de
l'abside. La question se pose de savoir à quelle période du pontificat
d’Angilbert il faut en attribuer la réalisation en connexion avec les
translations de reliques que l’archevêque utilisa comme outils
politiques et spirituels. La date de la mosaïque est très difficile à
déterminer mais pourrait aussi remonter au même archevêque pour des
raisons historiques. On montre ici dans quelles circonstances
politiques de telles œuvres ont pu être produites : promotion de Milan
dans le royaume carolingien d'Italie et dans l'Empire grâce à la
valorisation du saint patron, compétition ou collaboration avec Rome,
relations avec des hauts-lieux francs tels que Fulda et Tours.
Lorient, grand port de dimension mondiale de la façade atlantique française (1783-1787) ?
Authors: Le Bouëdec Gérard , Kimizuka Hiroyasu
Published: March 2019

Cet article a pour ambition de présenter Lorient
comme un port mondial au xviiie siècle. 
Dans une première partie nous définissons ce qu’est un port mondial
sur la façade Atlantique-Manche française dans une perspective
comparative en fournissant des indicateurs permettant de confronter
les données des ports de Rouen, Le Havre, Nantes, La Rochelle,
Bordeaux à celles de Lorient : le mouvement d’ensemble du port, la
trilogie des trafics ultra-marins, du cabotage international et du
cabotage national et régional, les fonctions d’armement et de
construction navale. Cette étude comparative, du fait des sources et
des monographies publiées, n’est possible que dans la deuxième moitié
du xviiie siècle et même dans la dernière
décennie de l’Ancien Régime seulement, mais ceci convient parfaitement
pour l’étude du cas de Lorient dans la seconde partie de cet article.
En effet si l’on peut suivre à peu près la croissance du port de la
seconde Compagnie des Indes, ce n’est qu’entre 1783 et 1787 que la
dimension mondiale du port de Lorient s’affirme le mieux et revêt donc
un caractère temporaire.
Les quévaisiers de Lanvellec à la fin du xviiie siècle. Leur place dans la société paroissiale
Authors: Léon Erwan
Published: March 2019

En Bretagne sous l’Ancien Régime, les quévaisiers
étaient des paysans travaillant sur les terres des abbayes
cisterciennes de Bégard et du Relec et sur celles des Hospitaliers de
Saint Jean de Jérusalem. Ce mode de tenure peu répandu donnait aux
tenanciers et à leur famille la possibilité de demeurer sur leurs
terres sans limitation de durée et se distinguaient, de ce point de
vue, des paysans soumis au domaine congéable et susceptibles d’être
congédiés. En contrepartie, les règles de l’usement de quévaise
donnaient, initialement, peu de marges de manœuvre aux tenanciers. Cet
article vise à analyser la condition économique et sociale des
quévaisiers de la paroisse de Lanvellec, dans le diocèse de Tréguier,
à la fin du xviiie siècle. Une analyse
généalogique et l’exploitation des terriers disponibles permettent de
confirmer la stabilité des familles tout au long de ce siècle grâce à
des successions de père en fils – ou en fille. Des indices du statut
économique de ces paysans sont établis à partir d’un rôle de
capitation de 1739. Ils montrent que ces paysans ne se distinguent pas
vraiment des domaniers qui les entourent. Certains sont pauvres,
d’autres un peu plus aisés avec une contribution atteignant tout juste
10 livres. Quelques familles de quévaisiers, enfin, participent
activement aux responsabilités paroissiales, y compris à son corps
politique.
Two Decades of Making Oral History in Romania
Authors: Ursu Ioana
Published: March 2019

As communism performed a constraint of both individual and collective memory, its fall in 1989 opened the path to a plurality of voices that generated alternative accounts to the official discourse maintained by the regime. While many victims were sharing their stories of suffering, compromise, resistance or dissent, oral history was taking its first steps in connection to these unique and valuable testimonies. The interest of the researchers gradually expanded towards documenting different aspects of everyday life and identities during communism and post-communism. Starting with an approach of the theoretical and ethical issues behind Romanian oral history making, the paper reviews the main initiatives leading to the establishment of oral history as an academic discipline, while at the same time inquiring into the reasons that propelled the practice of oral history in Romania. Both the actors and institutions that have made and managed oral history will be taken into account.
Interroger et valoriser les archives de la littérature orale
Authors: Grégoire Claire
Published: March 2019

Depuis 2016, dans le cadre du projet collectif sur le conte de tradition orale, le consortium des ethnologues travaille à la mise en place d’un référentiel des titres uniformes des contes en s’appuyant sur la classification Aarne-Thompson-Uther (1910-2004). L’objectif du référentiel est d’assister les ethnologues et autres chercheurs qui s’intéressent aux contes de tradition orale, mais aussi les archivistes qui doivent classer et organiser les contes présents dans leurs fonds (que ce soit sous format audio, vidéo ou sous format papier). Le référentiel est en ligne grâce au logiciel libre Opentheso qui utilise le format SKOS pour la description des données. Ce format particulier permet de représenter la logique hiérarchique de la classification ATU, tout en répondant à l’exigence d’interopérabilité et de pointage vers d’autres référentiels (type Idref).
Arsenic Exposures, Poisoning, and Threat to Human Health
Authors: Chikkanna Arpitha , Mehan Luv , P. K. Sarath , Ghosh Devanita
Published: March 2019

Arsenic (As) is a naturally occurring metalloid which induces high toxicity to both human and animal health. Although As has some applications in industrial, medicinal and agricultural fields, the increasing concentrations of As in drinking water sources had made it a potential threat to living organisms. Inorganic As is naturally present in groundwater and is adsorbed by plants and crops through the irrigation system. This leads to its accumulation in crops and translocation to humans and animals through food. Increased levels of As can cause various health disorders through acute and chronic exposures such as gastrointestinal, hepatic, respiratory, cardiovascular, integumentary, renal, neurological, and reproductive disorders including stillbirth and infant mortality. Arsenic is also capable of inducing epigenetic changes, thereby causing gene mutations. This chapter focuses on the possible sources of As, leading to environmental contamination and followed by its hazardous effects which pave the way to various human health manifestations.
Lifelong Consumption of Plant-Based GM Foods
Authors: Ogwu Matthew Chidozie
Published: March 2019

Genetically modified (GM) crops are cultivated in over 30 countries with their products and by-products imported by over 60 countries. This chapter seeks to highlight general concerns and potential lifelong effects of consuming GM plant-based food. The consumption of GM plant-based food is as risky as consuming conventional plant-based food. However, the alien genes in these products may be unstable leading to antinutritional and unintended short-term consequences. Due to the paucity of research, no long-term effects have been attributed to the lifelong consumption of these products. Nonetheless, possible lifelong health and socioeconomic effects may result from outcrossing of genes, increasing antibiotic resistance, development of new diseases, as well as potential effects on the environment and biodiversity. Biotechnology companies need to invest more in interdisciplinary research addressing the potential lifelong effects of these products. Although GM foods are safe for consumption, clarification of current risks and lifelong effects are required.
The Waste-Energy-Health Nexus
Authors: Sarigiannis Denis Andreas , Gotti Alberto C. , Karakitsios Spyros P.
Published: March 2019

The main issues that pertain to the health burden from waste management and energy resource use are laid out highlighting the aspects that determine actual exposure and the socio-economic conditions that underlie them. Case studies covering biomass burning, acute and chronic exposure to urban and industrial waste are described. They refer to different areas in Europe and socio-economic strata focusing on susceptible population groups, which may be affected by enhanced exposure to environmental toxicants stemming from municipal and industrial waste management and domestic heating or cooking using biomass. These features make socio-economic status and the consequent social (in)justice a key determinant of overall exposure early in life. The latter results in a high probability of onset or exacerbation of adverse health outcomes both in the medium term and later in life. Additional factors that affect the health impacts of environmental exposures comprise choice of diet, education level of parents, access to green or blue space and housing condition.
Glyphosate Toxicology
Authors: Krimsky Sheldon
Published: March 2019

This chapter explores the glaring scientific differences in the human health assessment of the popular herbicide glyphosate between European and American institutions. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen, while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded that glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans. Both IARC's and the EPA's carcinogenic risk assessment processes are discussed. This work reveals uncertainties in the sciences of toxicology and epidemiology, as well as assumptions made in their applications for evaluating glyphosate. These uncertainties, along with the political context of chemical risk assessment, are at the root of the divergent findings on the carcinogenic risks of glyphosate.
IoT-Based Management of Smart Microgrid
Authors: Chhaya Lipi
Published: March 2019

The present power grid is going through a substantial and radical transformation process. Unification of existing electrical infrastructure with information and communication network is an unavoidable requirement of smart grid deployment and operation. The key characteristics of smart grid technology are full duplex communication, advanced metering infrastructure, integration of renewable and alternative energy resources, distribution automation and complete monitoring, as well as control of entire power grid. Smart grid communication infrastructure consists of varied and hierarchical communication networks. Application of smart grid can be realized in the various the facets of energy utilization. Internet of things also plays a pivotal role in smart grid infrastructure as it provides a ubiquitous communication network. This chapter describes an implementation of internet of things (IoT)-based wireless energy management system for smart microgrid communication infrastructure.
Synergism Between Microbes and Plants for Soil Contaminants Mitigation
Authors: Kumar Vivek
Published: March 2019

Soil mitigation is an approach to reduce the soil degradation occurring in all aspects. Soil contamination mainly happens due to release of varieties of inorganic and organic constituents into soil. Presence of highly poisonous contaminants into soil in high concentrations is enough to cause a threat to ecosystem and on human health. Sustainable approaches can be designed by the direct and indirect utilization of microbes and plants to reduce the soil pollution load. The utilization of microbes with plants in “synergy” is considered as one of the most fruitful approaches for the removal of soil pollutants. It is well known that plant host a variety of microbes in their roots, rizosphere, and shoot by giving them essential environment to flourish and colonize. Similarly, microbes benefit by making available certain soil nutrients to plants and also help in maintaining the overall health of soil. This chapter will emphasize the problems related to soil degradation by metals, pesticides, and hydrocarbons, and their remediation by the utilization of plant-microbial synergism system.
Red Mud (RM) and Soil Amelioration
Authors: Kumar Amit
Published: March 2019

Rapid growth in industrialization, which is necessary and inevitable for society progress, has also created negative encroachment. Red mud produced during alumina production has strong alkanity in a pH range of 10-13% because of the sodium hydroxide solution used in the refining process. The base is strong enough to kill plant and animal life, and due to finer particle and trace metal content, it creates soil contamination, ground water pollution, and suspension in ocean; hence, we need precautions while we use this waste to add with soil. Red mud occupies a large area or its deposition in it. Red mud has properties similar to sandy clay. Red mud has property similar to clay and sand, even if it does not contain quartz or clay mineral. Bauxite residue/red mud can be mixed with variant type of saline soils, acid soils organic rich material, and silicate soil suitable pH conditions were achieved to promote vegetation growth.
Social Justice and Advocacy in University-Based Play Therapy Training Clinics
Authors: Brown Emily C. , Oliveira Emily
Published: March 2019

This chapter examines how university training programs and clinics can help play therapists develop social justice advocacy competency. Developing social justice advocacy can help play therapists understand social inequalities and oppressive systems, experience empathy with clients, and integrate advocacy action into their work. Training programs can help facilitate social justice advocacy for students through curriculum focus, service learning, and continuing education opportunities that promote awareness and empathy. Play therapy services offered in university clinics also offer opportunities for interns to increase understanding of social justice advocacy through client interactions and clinical supervision. Clinic directors promote social justice advocacy through managing just organization procedures and coordinating advocacy and outreach initiatives.
Play-Based Bereavement Centers for Children and Families
Authors: Turner Renee
Published: March 2019

This chapter outlines the structure and therapeutic foundation for a play-based bereavement center geared toward children and families experiencing grief. Organizational structure and duties are discussed along with information regarding developing a playful facility including art/expressive writing, music, drama, symbolic play, and emotional regulation and release therapeutic opportunities. The author focuses on the supervision and training of community volunteers and counselors-in-training to increase positive outcomes and drive sustainability.
The Polish Problem in the Soviet-American Relations (1944-1945)
Authors: Ayriyan Radmila , Egorov Alexander
Published: March 2019

The chapter is an attempt to analyze the Polish problem and its influence on the development of Soviet-American and Russian-Ukrainian relations. The Polish problem consists of two parts: firstly, the question of territorial claims of the Soviet power concerning Western Ukraine and Western Belarus (the territory of Poland till 1939); secondly, the return of the Polish government-in-exile to Warsaw and its recognition as the only legitimate government. The chapter examines the evolution of the US position, which was caused by the logic of development, and not by the change of the state leader, as it is commonly believed. The presence of the Soviet army on the territory of Poland has created objective difficulties in the return of the Polish territories and the comeback of the Polish government from emigration. Despite pressure from the multi-million Polish diaspora, American presidents could not resist the will of the Soviet Union and were forced to abandon further disputes. The history that became a reality in 2014 in Ukraine led to an unprecedented war of memories.
Monuments to Heroes or Construction of Memory About the April Uprising of 2010 in the Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan)
Authors: Kojobekova Aijarkyn
Published: March 2019

This chapter deals with the events of April 7th, 2010 in Kyrgyzstan, which are officially referred to as the second revolution against authoritarianism, when 86 demonstrators were shot in front of the governmental house (White House) in Bishkek. The official position is depicted regarding April 7th and the monuments to the fallen demonstrators on the basis of the Presidential speeches and opinions of academics and students as well as the materials from internet forums as a mirror of public perception.
A Theoretical Approach to the Definition of Entrepreneurship From a Multidisciplinary Perspective
Authors: Gámez-Gutiérrez Jorge Alberto , Gamez Abril Nicolas
Published: March 2019

Capitalism has required the function of the entrepreneurs, people who use creativity, understood as the ability to solve problems and put innovation into practice. Firms can be social, public, and private; in this last case, the creation of an enterprising company involves new products, new production methods, the opening of new markets, the development of new sources of raw materials and inputs, and the creation of new market structures in the industry. This chapter is a bibliographical review of the theories of entrepreneurship from economics, sociology, psychology, and management aiming to contribute to the construction of a definition of entrepreneurship and entrepreneur that can be accepted by scholars in this field.
Proposal of a Business Model Based on the Triple Business Performance-E
Authors: Rey-Campero Carlos Ricardo
Published: March 2019

This chapter aims to analyze the relationship between business models and dynamic capabilities in firms of the systems development sector of Bogota (Colombia). Based on the theoretical framework of business models, the author applies an analysis based on principal categorical components and categorical regression. Results show a correlation between the elements of the business model (strategy and dynamic capabilities) and business performance. In conclusion, the author proposes a business model endowed with efficiency, effectiveness, and efficacy for newly created micro, small, and medium-sized family firms that highly correlates with business performance.
The Electronic Obsolescence as an Opportunity for Social Entrepreneurship
Authors: Cardona Diego Lopez , Hoyos Rocio del S. Tabares
Published: March 2019

The chapter contains the concepts of social entrepreneurship, planned and perceived obsolescence, corporate social responsibility, the legal framework for electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) waste, and reverse logistics, as theoretical support from different authors. Applied to Manizales, Colombia, the study was conducted with a quantitative and qualitative approach. The information was collected through surveys and interviews with 26 entrepreneurs and 331 households' consumers to know the type of appliances, how they buy, change, and use them, and the chain of intermediaries. With planned and perceived obsolescence, products lose their life in a short time, are dumped as waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), and collected by people of a low educational and economic level that survive in precarious conditions. Due to these results and conclusions, the authors offer in the chapter the opportunity to generate proposals for their inclusion and social development.
Joint Liability Lending, Entrepreneurial Development, and Poverty Reduction
Authors: Boachie Christopher
Published: March 2019

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the effect of joint liability lending on micro businesses in Madina municipality. Joint liability lending has become a popular and fashionable word in financial and development circles. It is a cross-sectional survey study and used both primary and secondary data on joint liability lending. The study reveals that joint liability lending improves entrepreneurship and reduces poverty. There exists a significant relationship between joint liability lending and a high repayment rate. The implications are that individual within the group are encouraged to continue saving and microfinance institutions should continue investing in educating and training clients to improve upon their micro businesses.
Going Beyond GDP
Authors: Ates Seyithan Ahmet , Ateş Muradiye , Yülek Murat Ali
Published: March 2019

A redirection towards wellbeing with a view to produce lasting social and economic vitality for the global civilization necessitates moving from conventional economic methods towards innovative solutions, which are necessary to face challenges of today and the future to foster sustainable growth. Social innovation and its agents can be considered as a toolbox which may facilitate a transition by positively influencing wellbeing, developing ways of integrating it into policy, and promoting it as an alternative measure of progress. Social innovation may increase the role of civil society in solving social problems, while sustaining and improving people's wellbeing beyond increasing their welfare in monetary term. By providing up-to-date solutions to challenges ranging from global warming to fair income distribution, and from social innovative entrepreneurs to grass-rooted innovation, social innovation seems to be capable of transforming the society in a way to tackle with a new kind of societal problems, and of exploring new ways to create added value for the economy.
Digital Moms
Authors: Treviño Teresa
Published: March 2019

Given the rise of new technologies and the resultant changes in consumer behavior, marketing practices need to evolve, which requires organizations to rethink their strategies. Having a digital marketing strategy can establish a direct dialog with customers, thereby increasing knowledge about customers, suppliers, and partners, as well as building, consolidating, and maintaining brand awareness. However, little is known about the attitudes and perceptions of consumers toward popular digital marketing tools that can strategically be used in an integrated digital marketing strategy. Therefore, the objective of this research is to understand the perceptions of digital moms toward technology and digital marketing strategies. Following a qualitative and interpretative approach, the results contribute to the literature by (1) addressing the symbolic meanings that technological tools have in the lives of this group of consumers and (2) providing insights on how different digital marketing strategies commonly implemented by brands are perceived by digital moms.
Evolving Faster Than Lightning
Authors: Barbery-Montoya Danny C.
Published: March 2019

This chapter aims to show the extent of digital marketing when using technological tools to create interaction between the company, customers, and stakeholders. The literature about the main tech tools used nowadays was extensively read to develop this chapter. Next, the authors delve into the digital behavior of the consumer when using these tools. Thus, they propose the OXS model to show the stages of eBehavior and connected with digital marketing tools (DMT) backed with security, which creates a new value string (digital) that results in a more powerful and effective eWOM. The proposal of this model explains the classification of brands within the digital context.
Lean Supply Chain Management and Sustainability
Authors: Sony Michael
Published: March 2019

Lean supply chain management is one of the emergent fields of interest among academics and practitioners. Many organizations are using Lean principles in their supply chain. However, the success of the initiatives is mixed. The purpose of this chapter is to evaluate existing literature on Lean supply chain management and sustainability to construct a model for sustainable implementation of Lean supply chain management through an integrative review. An integrative review methodology is followed to review the existing 39 literature to construct a sustainable LSCM model. This chapter further discusses the integration philosophy of eight pillars of Lean supply chain management with sustainability using the triple bottom line approach. This is the first chapter as per the knowledge of the author to discuss the issues of sustainability in Lean supply chain management.
Consumer Awareness and Degree of Engagement With Circular Economy Practices
Authors: Anlas Selcen
Published: March 2019

Transforming into a circular economy (CE) requires cooperation and support from all actors within the society. Consumers, as a main actor, can significantly support or obstruct a CE transition through their market power. This chapter attempts to understand the awareness and engagement degree of Turkish consumers regarding the concept and practices of CE. Per results of the survey conducted online, it can be concluded that Turkish people have some awareness (64%) of the concept of CE. However, 61.2% believe CE focuses on recycling whereas 48.2% believe it is about saving. Of the respondents, 25.9% are entirely unaware of the benefits of CE; 95.7% of consumers are not open to buy second hand, hire or reuse as an alternative to traditional ownership. A majority of Turkish consumers practice selective waste management and believe they protect the environment through saving energy and water.
Integrating Performance Measurement Systems Into the Global Lean and Sustainable Construction Supply Chain Management
Authors: Tatlici Gamze , Sertyesilisik Begum
Published: March 2019

The construction industry is one of the industries that have a great impact on the economy. A construction supply chain (CSC) is an important process affecting the circular economy (CE) and sustainability in practice. In order to analyze the efficiency of CE and CSC, a performance measurement system (PMS) is needed. At such a point, adopting a PMS to a supply chain at relatively early stages of a project could lead to sustainable supply chain management (SCM). Collaboration between all parties such as designers and contractors will be advantageous to gain competitiveness in the sector. This chapter aims to determine the need of PMS adaptation to construction supply chain process for sustainable and lean construction supply chain management based on the literature review. This chapter is expected to be beneficial for academics, researchers in the relevant field as well as policy makers and professionals.
JIT Inventory Management Strategy
Authors: Smith Alan D.
Published: March 2019

Implementing a just-in-time (JIT) inventory management strategy seems to be the latest hot topic in the business world, particularly in manufacturing industries. In today's competitive supply chain environment, more and more companies are either adopting JIT methodology or at least beginning to research and understand how JIT would affect their business. But what exactly is JIT? Many companies may be already putting into practice some of the concepts of JIT – such as looking at always improving or trying to reduce waste in terms of product or labor steps. Some companies may be fully ready to embrace a JIT operating process; yet, perhaps JIT is not the best choice for their business. The goal of this chapter is to develop a better understanding of JIT, from this history behind its inception to the various risks and benefits that relate to adopting JIT from an interdisciplinary/strategic approach to a transdisciplinary viewpoint. Those strategies, which include the basic methods of minimum stock, economic order quantity (EOQ), and Safety stock methods, are explored and explained in this chapter.
Transdisciplinarity Practice in Higher Education
Authors: Bain Bernice , Griffith Keely , Varney Jennifer
Published: March 2019

This chapter communicates a learning configuration based on a literature review of transdisciplinary practices across higher education institutions. The knowledge of transdisciplinary practice will be expanded through the review of scholarly work by those in higher education and industry. The practices should be applied across disciplines. In order to achieve transdisciplinarity in higher education, co-dependent collaboration of curriculum frameworks, learner, and education strategies must exist. Industry leaders, such as Amazon, Google, and Purdue Global, are solving complex problems and making innovative changes that require experience and exposure across knowledge areas including technology, teaming, and problem solving. This means higher education institutions no longer have the convenience to view academics through independent curriculum and faculty lenses. While collaborative approaches have been used in the past, a transdisciplinary approach should now include industry perspective, evolving learner needs, and education strategies.
Women Professors' Ways of Working in Academia
Authors: Wlodarsky Rachel L. , Hansman Catherine A.
Published: March 2019

Faculty members face many challenges, among them maintaining a healthy work-life balance, and although this need is not gendered (i.e., males who have sole custody of their child[ren], gay couples with children), in this chapter, the authors have chosen to focus on the challenges women faculty members in higher education face, particularly balancing their work and personal lives. In the examination of research studies and literature, the authors sought to address their research questions, which concerned which women's development theories might frame and explain women professors' academic identity, the recognition of unique pressures faced by women faculty members in their quest for tenure and promotion, and how these issues impact faculty members who are striving to balance personal and professional lives. Several recommendations for institutions of higher education are discussed, among them employing an ethic of care to design and implement supportive mentoring and other programs for women faculty members.
Social Constructivism as a Theoretical Foundation of Cross-Cultural Mentoring for Foreign-Born Faculty
Authors: Han Pi-Chi
Published: March 2019

Globalization results in the diffusion of people across geographical boundaries. Over the past twenty years, the number of foreign-born faculty has continued to increase in American universities.. Foreign-born faculty represent a significant labor force in the global academic settings; they bring in diversity, new perspectives, and innovative skills wherever they teach. Research asserts that foreign-born faculty encounter huge cultural change that make their lives tremendously difficult in the host country. Furthermore, studies also suggest that cross-cultural mentoring may serve as a solution to help foreign-born faculty adapt to the host countries.. However, there has been a lack of theoretical justification to conceptualize cross-cultural mentoring. This chapter proposes the theory of social constructivism as the theoretical foundation and suggests an action-reflection practice to help the theory building inquiry and conceptualize cross-cultural mentorship for foreign-born faculty.
The Relationship Between Nigerian University Students' Body Literacy Level and Their Awareness of Embodied Learning
Authors: Paul Akpomuje
Published: March 2019

Although there is growing global interest in health awareness, and emergence of scales to measure health literacy, there is less effort in empirical research in ascertaining the level of body literacy of different groups of individuals in determining how much information and understanding individuals have about their bodies. The academia may be successful in enhancing cognitive and psychomotor skills of students, but how have these enhanced students' knowledge to issues concerning their bodies and health such as blood pressure, blood sugar, genotype, body mass index, feeding habit, etc., and the decisions/actions they make/take regarding these, and the implications of these to being embodied learners? This study sampled 120 participants to investigate the body literacy level of postgraduate and undergraduate students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, their level of awareness to risk, and their challenges of being bodily literate through a self-developed questionnaire which translated into a 21-item body literacy measurement scale.
Shared Leadership and Team Performance
Authors: Martins Ana , Martins Isabel
Published: March 2019

This chapter contributes to the existing evidence on the constructs of shared leadership, social, and emotional capitals to demonstrate their significant galvanizing effect on team and organizational performance through trust. This study aimed to ascertain how leadership self-efficacy might influence shared leadership team, trust, and performance in this IT Company. Managers with self-reported ratings for the self-efficacy attributes cluster of leadership demonstrate greater probability of improving both perceived and actual employee performance. The emerging results concur with the aforementioned premise because these appear to emphasize the leadership self-efficacy attributes cluster of problem solving. These results may have a positive impact on the team and organizational performance as a whole.
Construction of Deep Convolutional Neural Networks For Medical Image Classification
Authors: Rama A  , Kumaravel A  , Nalini C
Published: March 2019

Implementing image processing tools demands its components produce better results in critical applications like medical image classification. TensorFlow is one open source with a machine learning framework for high performance and operates in heterogeneous environments. It heralds broad attention at a fine tuning of parameters for obtaining the final models, to obtain better performance. The main aim of this article is to prove the appropriate steps for the classification techniques for diagnosing the diseases with better accuracy. The proposed convolutional network is comprised of three convolutional layers, preceded by average pooling with a size equal to the size of the final feature maps. The final layer in this network has two outputs, corresponding to the number of classes considered to be either normal or abnormal. To train and evaluate such networks like the Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN), a dataset of 2000 x-ray images of lungs was used and a comparative analysis between the proposed DCNN against previous methods is also made.
Multi-Lingual Scene Text Detection Using One-Class Classifier
Authors: Mukhopadhyay Anirban , Kumar Sourav , Chowdhury Souvik Roy , Chakraborty Neelotpal , Mollah Ayatullah Faruk , Basu Subhadip , Sarkar Ram
Published: March 2019

The main purpose of scene text recognition is to detect texts in a given image. The problem of text detection and recognition in such images has gained great attention in recent years due to rising demand of several applications like visual based applications, multimedia and content-based retrieval. Due to low accuracies of existing scene text detection methods, an improved pipeline is developed for text localizing task. First, candidate text regions are generated using Maximally Stable Extremal Region and Stroke Width Transform methods that capture true positives along with many false positives. A One Class Classifier is trained to label the candidate regions obtained, as text or non-text, which in this case is suitable as non-text class cannot be adequately represented to train a binary classifier. The one class classifier is trained with some popular feature descriptors like Histogram of Oriented Gradients, Grey Level Co-Occurrence Matrix, Discrete Cosine Transform and Gabor filter. Experimental results show high recall for text containing regions and reducing false positives.
A Methodology for Automatic Formal Verification of Enterprise Architecture
Authors: Babkin Eduard , Malyzhenkov Pavel , Ivanova Marina , Ponomarev Nikita
Published: March 2019

For over a decade, IT-business alignment has been ranked as a top-priority management concern, but there is little research on practical ways to achieve the alignment. EA development is a continuous iterative process, which implicitly ensures the achievement of a specific IT-business alignment level. Therefore, it is necessary to formalize the requirements for architecture and be able to automatically verify them. The authors propose a new methodology for detecting logical contradictions in enterprise architecture models based on a model checking approach adopted in the context of business modeling. In such a methodology, they use ArchiMate standard for a conceptual enterprise architecture description language which is fully aligned with TOGAF. The authors also offer several important verification queries and demonstrate practical applicability of their approach using a software prototype of the modeling tool which exploits MIT Alloy Analyzer model checking framework integrated with AchiMate Archi workbench.