bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Metal Ion Separation with Functional Adsorbents and Phytoremediation Used as Sustainable Technologies
Authors: Satoh Minoru
Published: December 2016

The amounts of “Electronic wastes” including heavy metals are increasing day by day. Such waste is in the rich resource of various metals having the precious metals. Therefore, these wastes are considered as urban mine, if people successfully can separate them to each source. In sustainable viewpoints, separation technologies applied for such electronics waste are essential and important to efficiently recover various metals at a low concentration from these sources. This chapter reviews functional adsorbents made of polymers, ionic liquid, and dendrimer. Also, membrane technology is introduced as separation toll for heavy metals. Among them, topics of phytoremediation are made as an effective sustainable method, utilizing certain plants to clean up the environmental contaminants. Here, plants are able to remove harmful chemicals such as metals, which are present in the soil, when their roots absorb water and nutrients from the contaminated soil, sediment and surface, or ground water. The contaminants are removed by trapping them into harvestable plant biomass. Furthermore, cleanup methods of environments and recovery of precious and rare metals are mentioned for sources of urban and submarine mines with low cost and high recovery efficiency.
Ionic Liquids and Poly (Ionic Liquid)s Used as Green Solvent and Ultrasound Responded Materials
Authors: Li Kai , Kobayashi Takaomi
Published: December 2016

Ionic liquids (ILs) have been known as a class of green solvent and played an important role in green chemistry in recently years. Materials based on ILs, such as poly(ionic liquid) and polymer/ILs composites, are also widely investigated and possess many unique properties and applications. In this chapter, green solvent IL is reviewed and the responsive behavior of ILs based materials to external stimulus, like ultrasound (US), is introduced. Especially, it is described that FT-IR spectroscopy was effective for analyzing hydrogen bonding in ILs, polymeric ILs and PVA/IL composites. In addition, shear viscosity and viscoelasticity measurement and techniques of two-dimensional correlation and deconvolution are applied to analyze the change of interaction between IL to different substances and US responded behavior.
Mobile Technology Integration and English Language Learners
Authors: Hur Jung Won
Published: December 2016

The purpose of this chapter is to report a case study examining the benefits and challenges of iPad use to help ELLs develop language proficiency. Based on the differentiated instruction framework, the author integrated iPads into a grade 4-5 ELL classroom and investigated learning impacts through classroom observations and interviews with the teacher and students. The findings of the study presented that iPad integration helped make learning engaging, provided various options appropriate for leaners' needs, and promoted learning outside of the classroom. Although important learning benefits were observed, several challenges were also reported such as a lack of appropriate ELL educational apps, a limitation of multitasking, and difficulties of monitoring students' learning progresses.
Enhancing Learner-Centered Instruction through Tutorial Management Using Cloud Computing
Authors: Thuku John K. , Maina Elizaphan M. , Ondigi Samson R. , Ayot Henry O.
Published: December 2016

Integration of modern technology in enhancing learner-centered approach to instruction is increasingly being encouraged in higher education. Cloud computing has enhanced the way data is shared and stored. Learning resources can be stored in cloud computers thus, enabling groups of students to collaborate and edit shared materials. In addition, it also provides a number of advantages such as reduce storage cost, enhanced security, accessibility of learning materials and easy communication. Tutorial classes can take advantage of cloud computing to have the tutorial learning resources stored in the cloud. This will allow learners to collaborate online and edit tutorial materials regardless of the physical location of the participants. This book chapter discusses how cloud computing technologies can be utilized in education sector and proposes a cloud computing model which can be incorporated in a tutorial class to improve learner-centered teaching pedagogies in a tutorial class.
The Use of Social Media to Facilitate Real-Time eLearning
Authors: Kahenya Njoroge P.
Published: December 2016

The case study focused on the motivation behind usage of social media as alternative tools to the institution's eLearning program, by online classes' facilitators, at a local private university in Kenya. The case study involved 45 faculties involved in facilitating online classes. The survey applied questionnaires generated using Google docs, one of the social media tool used by the same faculty to communicate with students enrolled in the online classes. The primary reasons why facilitators used social media tools were; the learners were already using social media for non-academic purposes and therefore the need to factor in tools which students are conversant with and comfortable to use; social media tools were seen to offer a fast real-time communication; some social media tools enabled group discussions on the go; and, social media are informal tools for general instructions and guidance with regard to the course requirements.
Distance Learning in Kenyan Universities
Authors: Kithinji Winfred K. , Kanga Anne W.
Published: December 2016

Anchored on the premises that Distance Learning (DL) is fundamentally learner centered (LC), and that universities facilitate DL programs through various forms of media and technologies, this study investigated the contribution of learner characteristics to academic performance among distance learners. Adopting the triangulation design validating quantitative data model, the predictive power of the following variables was examined: age, gender, entry qualification, region of residence, employment status, marital status, academic self-concept, and study strategies. Findings show that learner characteristics were positively related to academic performance. The overall regression model was significant (F (8,162) =2.633, p<.05). While the multiple correlation coefficient was .339, the study found that approximately 11.5% of the variance of academic performance was associated with learner characteristics (r2=.115). Specifically, employment status and study strategies were statistically significant predictors of CGPA [(t=3.16, p<.05) and (t=2.23, p<.05) respectively]. Study recommended that universities should profile distance learner characteristics and align student needs with all the instructional processes of DL.
Promoting Active Learning in Mathematics Teacher Education
Authors: Taylan Rukiye Didem
Published: December 2016

Teacher educators have a responsibility to help prospective teachers in their professional growth. It is important that teacher educators not only teach prospective teachers about benefits of active learning in student learning, but that they also prepare future teachers in using pedagogical methods aligned with active learning principles. This manuscript provides examples of how mathematics teacher educators can promote prospective teachers' active learning and professional growth by bringing together the Flipped Classroom method with video content on teaching and learning as well as workplace learning opportunities in a pedagogy course. The professional learning of prospective teachers is framed according to the components of the Pedagogical Content Knowledge (Park & Olive, 2008; Shulman, 1986). Implications for future trends in teacher education are provided.
There Is an App for That Too
Authors: Waller Lloyd G.
Published: December 2016

Combating corruption is critical to the economic and social development of a country. Recent discussions surrounding strategies to combat corruption now include the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Currently, there is a growing body of research on the role of ICTs to combat corruption, however scholarly research on the use of these technologies by citizens in this regard is wholly lacking. The objective of this study is to address this gap in the literature as well as to popularize citizen-centric empowerment strategies to combat corruption around the world.
Hashtag Ideology
Authors: Samarjeet Smarak
Published: December 2016

Hashtag is powerful in nature and gains undivided attention of the social media users. The dialectical phenomenon existing around these hashtags portrays collective consciousness spread across continents. Moreover, the discourse specific political engagements have one thing in common – fuelling global sentiment, perhaps, that is more homogenous and speculative. But the real question is how powerful as this hashtag phenomenon has become? Is it a disruptive culture that has become part of our everyday life? Consequently, the aim of this chapter is to deal with the recent hashtag phenomenon, engaging users in personal and social level. Hashtags such as #BringBackOurGirls and #HeForShe are used in this chapter as a case study to understand the power relations they exercise in the social media space and across cross-media platforms. The aim of this chapter is to contribute to the growing literature of social media activism and the hashtag ideology.
Navigating the Nexus between Social Media, Political Scandal, and Good Governance in Nigeria
Authors: Essien Essien
Published: December 2016

The advent of the social media revolution in contemporary time has had a phenomenal impact in almost every area of human endeavor in many societies. However, social media has some credibility burden that could hinder its effective use and also produce unintended consequences such as political propaganda, and other unwholesome activities as it affects politics and governance. This study sought to assess the nexus between social media, political scandal and good governance in Nigeria. It also assessed the success or otherwise of the institutional counter-measures in checkmating the excesses of social media. Situated within the framework of reputation repair and social responsibility theories, the paper acknowledges that the conventional mass media has ties with the political and economic forces in the society, thus, are somewhat incapacitated in rising to the societal challenges. Consequently, the paper presents the social media as a veritable alternative, arguing that social media tools have what it takes to serve as a platform for citizen participation in governance.
Social Media's Role in Alleviating Political Corruption and Scandals
Authors: Manrique Cecilia G. , Manrique Gabriel G.
Published: December 2016

This chapter is an attempt to show how the use of social media in one country, the Republic of the Philippines, has grown and has been used to encourage political awareness and participation among the Filipino masses. The country is ranked among the most technologically savvy in the world but ironically is also considered one of the most corrupt countries as well. The authors believe that, as a result of the showings Filipinos have made when called upon via social media to oust corrupt officials, there is a method whereby such knowledge can be harnessed for the good thus alleviating scandals and ultimately corruption in the country. This research points to the direction the country, and various other countries in the world in similar situations, may take in order to combat corruption through greater citizen participation.
Participation, Civil Society and the Facebook Use of NGOs in Turkey
Authors: Demirhan Kamil
Published: December 2016

This study finds out the use of Facebook by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Turkey to engage the social and political events of the country. NGOs are civil society organizations aiming at promoting participation of citizens in social and political issues. They are a part of democratic system and they have important role to struggle with corruptions and improve the legitimacy of political-legal organization in political system. NGOs work using social networks and promoting civic culture. Therefore, the use of new communication and interaction channels is necessary for NGOs to develop social networks and civic participation. Social media can be a new channel to promote social and political life. This study focuses on Facebook activities of 40 NGOs selected from eight different activity fields: politics, environment, woman rights, economy, emergency, education, human rights, and democracy. It uses content analysis method to understand the NGOs' activities in Facebook, in terms of social and political issues realized in the year of 2012.
Environmental Management and Waste Management
Authors: Kasemsap Kijpokin
Published: December 2016

This chapter indicates the advanced issues of environmental management; Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing; waste management, environmental sustainability, and environmental benefits; Solid Waste Management (SWM); electronic waste management; construction waste management; and the importance of Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM). Environmental management is a systematic strategy that companies can apply to find the different ways for saving water, energy, and materials, and for reducing the negative environmental impacts. Environmental management aims to prevent pollution, preserve natural resources, and reduce environmental risks toward creating an environmentally-friendly image with different stakeholders. Effective waste management method reduces the consumption of natural resources and lowers the ultimate needs for waste disposal. The chapter argues that enhancing environmental management and waste management has the potential to increase environmental performance toward environmental sustainability.
Green Supply Chain Management Theory and Practices
Authors: Sezen Bülent , Çankaya Sibel Yildiz
Published: December 2016

Increases in environmental problems require companies to be more aware towards the environment and take precautions regarding the problems. As a result, companies have started to embrace the concept of green supply chain which includes environmental issues rather than the concept of supply chain which is based on profitability. Green supply chain (GSC) has emerged as an important component of the environmental and supply chain strategies. In order to make a supply chain green, it is necessary to consider all activities in the supply chain such as raw material procurement, inbound logistics, transformation, outbound logistics, marketing, after-sales and appropriate product disposal. This paper aims to review different GSCM dimensions in the literature by explaining green supply chain concept and address the activities/practises that can be used to ensure these dimensions are green.
Governance of Supply Chains for Sustainability
Authors: Özbilen Pınar
Published: December 2016

The main objective of this chapter is to shed some light on governance and membership strategies of network organizations. Today's business environment compels firms to join forces in order to be competitive and sustainable. However, the success of the networks mainly depends on their network composition and how they are governed. In this chapter, the author proposes some strategies and the proper governance structure facilitating these strategies by taking the effects of severity of resource acquisition challenges and external legitimacy of whole network organization into consideration. The arguments are based on Resource Based Theory and Stakeholder theory. Moreover, the author of this chapter suggests a counter example for the claim propounded by Provan and Kenis (2007) that the evolution of network governance from more formalized one to the less formalized one is unlikely. From these respects, the chapter contributes to the literature since mentioned points have been rarely discussed.
Life Cycle Costing on Waste Management
Authors: Gören Sami
Published: December 2016

Sustainability is the essential key point in every aspect of our life. It cannot be successful when it is limited to some certain issues in daily life. It is a revolutionary step for continuous development without any impact to the nature that should be adapted to the economy, manufacturing, urbanization, industrialization, etc. Increasing population and increasing wealth causes increase in the necessities of the human being. If it is considered as inevitable to give many bad impacts to the environment, this type of perspective is more dangerous and harmful to the environment and society than giving unconscious damages. This point of view might make these impacts to be accepted as legal, and this is what should be strongly discarded. There should be a new concept which enlarged our sphere of concern to include the entire physical environment including animals, plants, and landforms.
A New Barrier for the Future of Energy Market in Turkey
Authors: Okay Esin
Published: December 2016

The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA) in Turkey has implemented a risk based framework since 2006, making bold moves of resulted in a stellar increase of capital adequacy in Turkish Banking System. But the enactment of the new law for the Internal capital adequacy assessment process (ICAAP) is evaluated as being quite an early adoption. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) points that Turkey has early-adopted the implementation recommending further discussions for a reconsideration of the target capital adequacy ratio. The banks have already found it difficult to follow up high capital adequacy especially while financing energy projects, as the Turkish Banking system is preparing for the requirements of Basel III framework. Under the new regulation, the ICAAP is expected to decrease the capital adequacy of banks in Turkey. Meanwhile, the challenge in adopting ICAAP can be an additional barrier standing in the way to the development of energy market.
Multi-Criteria Decision Making Techniques for Green Supply Chain Management
Authors: Güner Samet , Cebeci Halil İbrahim
Published: December 2016

Due to increasing importance of environmental issues, green practices became an important part of supply chain management. Today, various multi-criteria decision making techniques (MCDM) have been utilized for incorporation of green efforts in supply chain practices effectively. The purpose of this paper is examining the existing application areas of MCDM techniques in green supply chain management (GSCM) literature. Three questions will be investigated in relation to this issue: 1) Which MCDM techniques were prevalently applied in GSCM literature? 2) Which MCDM techniques have been overlooked in GSCM literature? 3) What are the major application areas of MCDM techniques in GSCM practices? To this aim, literature is reviewed between the period of 2008 and the first half of 2016. In total, ninety eight journal articles were examined. Consequently, this paper represents a detailed picture of application areas of MCDM techniques in GSCM practices and can definitely give a blueprint to researches in solving multiple objective problems effectively in the area of GSCM.
A New Multi-Criteria Solving Procedure for Multi-Depot FSM-VRP with Time Window
Authors: Guezouli Lahcene , Abdelhamid Samir
Published: December 2016

One of the most important combinatorial optimization problems is the transport problem, which has been associated with many variants such as the HVRP and dynamic problem. The authors propose in this study a decision support system which aims to optimize the classical Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem by considering the existence of different vehicle types (with distinct capacities and costs) and multiple available depots, that the authors call the Multi-Depot HVRPTW by respecting a set of criteria including: schedules requests from clients, the heterogeneous capacity of vehicles..., and the authors solve this problem by proposing a new scheme based on a genetic algorithm heuristics that they will specify later. Computational experiments with the benchmark test instances confirm that their approach produces acceptable quality solutions compared with previous results in similar problems in terms of generated solutions and processing time. Experimental results prove that the method of genetic algorithm heuristics is effective in solving the MDHVRPTW problem and hence has a great potential.
Status of Six Sigma and Other Quality Initiatives in Foundries Across the Globe
Authors: Modi Vinitkumar Kiritkumar , Desai Darshak A
Published: December 2016

Foundries are actively involved to reduce the scrap rejection and rework during the manufacturing process of the components and improving their sigma level. In 2014, global casting production in foundries are increased to more than 105 million metric tons, an increase of 2.3%, according to this year's MODERN CASTING Census of World Casting Production. This all papers discus various tools and techniques used in various phases of DMAIC like a ANOVA, process map, the cause effect matrix diagram, statistical methods, SQC, design of experiments (DoE) and Taguchi methods Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process(FAHP) Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) which used by various foundries of world to enhance their manufacturing performance. Defect reduction is therefore chosen as the Critical-to- Quality (CTQ) factor, for world class quality in foundry products. Analysis is carried out using various software like Minitab, SPSS, and SPC for Excel etc. Study shows Six Sigma is a well-structured methodology to achieve expected goal which is need of the day in globally competitive era.
A Customer-Oriented Task Scheduling for Heterogeneous Multi-Cloud Environment
Authors: Pande Sohan Kumar , Panda Sanjaya Kumar , Das Satyabrata
Published: December 2016

Task scheduling is widely studied in various environments such as cluster, grid and cloud computing systems. Moreover, it is NP-Complete as the optimization criteria is to minimize the overall processing time of all the tasks (i.e., makespan). However, minimization of makespan does not equate to customer satisfaction. In this paper, the authors propose a customer-oriented task scheduling algorithm for heterogeneous multi-cloud environment. The basic idea of this algorithm is to assign a suitable task for each cloud which takes minimum execution time. Then it balances the makespan by inserting as much as tasks into the idle slots of each cloud. As a result, the customers will get better services in minimum time. They simulate the proposed algorithm in a virtualized environment and compare the simulation results with a well-known algorithm, called cloud min-min scheduling. The results show the superiority of the proposed algorithm in terms of customer satisfaction and surplus customer expectation. The authors validate the results using two statistical techniques, namely T-test and ANOVA.
NoSQL Application Redesign may be Unnecessary for Most Corporation Cloud Migration Deployments
Authors: Muller Curtis J. , Davis Aaron Christopher
Published: December 2016

A great deal of cloud research implies that application redesign is a necessity in order to take full advantage of migration to the cloud, and developers are urged to consider migrating legacy application onto various NoSQL architectures. It may be argued however, that many enterprises have non-web-centric business models and relatively few of their applications may need the database scaling capability that cloud deployment with NoSQL affords. The authors contend that these corporations, in the process of cloud migration, are less motivated by the promise of NoSQL than by gaining greater operational efficiencies and cost-effectiveness. Several Cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) migration scenarios for five top cloud vendors were studied using cost versus effectiveness ratios (CE). The results show that the greatest cost-benefit was gained by simply moving off physical resources and onto the cloud. This was coined the 'simple yet effective' model, as opposed to continuing along the technology curve to fully implement NoSQL solutions, coined the 'complex and robust' model.
Predicting Dysfunctional Internet Use
Authors: Stodt Benjamin , Wegmann Elisa , Brand Matthias
Published: December 2016

Internet addiction (IA) and cyberbullying (CB) represent two examples of dysfunctional Internet use (DIU) which are accompanied by negative consequences. In terms of prevention, the training of technical and reflective skills (Internet literacy) will be discussed with regard to these patterns. This study investigates the role of age, conscientiousness, and Internet literacy on IA symptoms and the participation in CB. Analyses reveal that positive attitudes towards online production and interaction and lower self-regulative skills can be associated with severe IA symptoms. Cyberbullies display less skills in reflecting on Internet content and also prove to have less self-regulative skills. Younger and less conscientious individuals are more likely to use the Internet dysfunctionally. Furthermore, significant correlations between experiences as a cyberbully and IA symptoms were found. In conclusion, the authors suggest that current media/Internet literacy curricula should be complemented by teaching reflective and regulative skills to prevent Internet users from negative consequences.
Adolescent Problematic Gaming and Domain-Specific Perceptions of Self
Authors: Mills Devin J. , Mettler Jessica , Sornberger Michael J. , Heath Nancy L.
Published: December 2016

Problematic video game use (PVGU) is an inability to meet personal and social responsibilities due to video gaming. It is estimated to affect 5 to 6% of adolescents. Research demonstrates greater video game engagement is associated with a poorer perception of self in several domains; however, the relation between PVGU and self-perception has not yet be examined. The present study explored this association using a sample of 758 Grade 7 adolescents (55.1% Female; Mage= 12.34 years; SD = 0.49 years). Results revealed greater PVGU to be associated with a poorer perception of self within the behavioural conduct and close friendship domains. Similar differences emerged when examining reports of self-perception across the PVGU classifications (i.e., None, Minimal, At-Risk, Problematic). Unexpectedly, two interactions between gender and PVGU classifications were observed for the behavioural conduct and self-worth domains of self-perception. The discussion addresses the implications of these findings and points to areas of future research.
A Framework of Event-Driven Traffic Ticketing System
Authors: Wang Jia , Ngueyn Minh , Yan Weiqi
Published: December 2016

This paper presents a new scheme to implement an event-driven traffic ticketing system. The system consists of two modules, namely, (1) event detection module, (2) database management module to execute information retrieval and deliver traffic tickets. In this paper, the notable contribution is an automatic detection of traffic ticketing events from video footages and immediate notification of such event when a car is passing the white stop line before a red traffic light. The results show the authors' work is efficient and could detect the events precisely.
Multidimensional Business Benchmarking Analysis on Data Warehouses
Authors: Campbell Akiko , Mao Xiangbo , Pei Jian , Al-Barakati Abdullah
Published: December 2016

Benchmarking analysis has been used extensively in industry for business analytics. Surprisingly, how to conduct benchmarking analysis efficiently over large data sets remains a technical problem untouched. In this paper, the authors formulate benchmark queries in the context of data warehousing and business intelligence, and develop a series of algorithms to answer benchmark queries efficiently. Their methods employ several interesting ideas and the state-of-the-art data cube computation techniques to reduce the number of aggregate cells that need to be computed and indexed. An empirical study using the TPC-H data sets and the Weather data set demonstrates the efficiency and scalability of their methods.
Improved Approximation Algorithm for Maximal Information Coefficient
Authors: Wang Shuliang , Zhao Yiping , Shu Yue , Shi Wenzhong
Published: December 2016

A novel statistical maximal information coefficient (MIC) that can detect the nonlinear relationships in large data sets was proposed by Reshef et al. (2011), with emphasis being placed on the equitability, which is a very important concept in data exploration. In this paper, an improved algorithm for approximation of the MIC (IAMIC) is proposed for the development of the equitability. Based on quadratic optimization processes, the IAMIC can search for a more optimal partition on the y-axis rather than use that which was obtained simply through the equipartition of the y-axis, to enable it to come closer to the true value of the MIC. It has been proved that the IAMIC can search for a local optimal value while using a lower number of iterations. It has also been shown that the IAMIC provides higher accuracy and a more acceptable run-time, based on both a mathematical proof and the results of simulations.
Teaching with a Tablet PC
Authors: Joordens Matthew
Published: December 2016

The modern Tablet PC, such as the Surface Pro® is a flexible teaching tool. It can be used to increase the lecturer's productivity in note taking and in assignment marking. It can be used in the lecture room with increased interaction. With a few minor accessories it can be used to record many aspects of a lecture or presentation. It can also be used to record short topic segments that can be used as references or summaries by students. Containing the abilities of both a tablet device with multi touch, a pen interface for accurate drawing and handwriting and with the power of a full PC, it is a complete teaching studio.
Tribological Behavior of Electroless Ni-P, Ni-P-W and Ni-P-Cu Coatings
Authors: Sahoo Prasanta , Roy Supriyo
Published: December 2016

The present paper considers the comparative study of tribological characteristics of various electroless alloy coatings viz. Ni-P, Ni-P-W and Ni-P-Cu. The tribological behavior of these coatings depends on various parameters like load, speed, lubricant, chemical compositions and heat treatment temperature to a great extent. One of the main effects of heat treatment on these coatings is phosphide precipitation, which makes them suitable for anti-wear applications. The property of binary Ni-P can be further improved by depositing third particles electrolessly. The phase structure of the coatings depends on the amount of phosphorous and heat treatment temperature. The tribological behavior of heat treated samples reveals that Ni-P-W deposit shows higher coefficient of friction and lowest wear among these three types coatings. Very high tungsten concentration retard the phosphide precipitation, thus low concentration of tungsten and low heat treatment temperature produce better coating. In case of Ni-P-Cu, medium concentration of copper and medium heat treatment temperature produces better coating.
Development and Assessment of a New Flow-Through Test Instrument to Study Wear and Erosion Effects of Nanofluids
Authors: Molina Gustavo J. , Aktaruzzaman Fnu , Soloiu Valentin , Rahman Mosfequr , Martin Kenshantis
Published: December 2016

Nanofluids, the suspensions of nano-size powders in ordinary fluids, are of technical interest for their enhanced cooling properties, but their possible erosion-corrosion effects on cooling-system materials are mostly unknown. This paper discusses the rationale for designing and developing a new test-rig with flow-through parallel to the tested surfaces. The instrument conduct-chamber accommodates multiple specimens for simultaneous testing, and controlled fluid speed and temperature. This study shows that the new rig yields measurable surface-modifications from nanofluid action in reasonable test-times. Results are presented for a nanofluid (of 2%-alumina-nanopowder in water) that is recirculated in parallel-flow contact with polished aluminum and copper. Surface modifications are assessed by roughness, weighing of removed-material, and optical-microscopy, and results indicate that nanopowders can lead to patterns of wear, erosion and corrosion that are substantially different than those typically obtained from the base-fluids.
iChecker
Authors: Choi Samuel P. M. , Lam Sze Sing
Published: December 2016

Academic plagiarism is regarded as a serious offense and much effort in the past has been devoted to build stand-alone plagiarism detection systems for a specific language. This paper proposes a new information retrieval-based plagiarism detection algorithm that handles multilingual documents and enables seamless integration with learning management systems. The proposed algorithm employs information retrieval and sequence matching techniques to identify suspected plagiarized sentences and permits parametric control to reduce both false-positive and false-negative results. The full-featured implementation, called iChecker, not only could quickly identify suspected plagiarized works but also ease academics' effort to evaluate the severity of the offence by a quantified measure. Currently iChecker is adopted by over 300 courses (with some having several hundred of students) and has obtained satisfactory results. During 2012 to 2016, iChecker has processed and verified a total of 276,943 documents in English, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese text.
Differential Effects of Marketing Messages in Online Advertising for an MBA Program
Authors: Harris Michael L. , Musgrove Carolyn Findley , Ernstberger Kathryn W. , Cox K. Christopher , Choi Pilsik
Published: December 2016

As Business programs compete for prospective MBA students, they need to understand what messages capture the attention of these students, prompting them to seek additional information about the program. In light of new program options and the changing competitive environment, the messages that are effective today may be quite different from those that resonated just a few years ago. Since different messages may be relevant to different target markets, this study focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of certain messages in reaching working professionals who are seeking a flexible MBA program. The results show that a message indicating national ranking is more effective than messages of value or convenience.
Keeping Adult Education in the Mix
Authors: Andrews Josie L. , Taylor Jonathan E.
Published: December 2016

Generally, educators dislike marketing their programs and have traditionally operated on a “build it and they will come” principle. This method is potentially jeopardizing the sustainability of adult education graduate programs throughout the United States, resulting in some graduate programs being integrated into larger programs, discontinued, or even closed. In this article, the authors focus on adult learners in adult education graduate contexts and posit that marketing does not have to be driven blindly by market forces, but instead can be used to build more useful and viable graduate programs that fit the highly contextualized needs of adult learners. To bridge this gap, the 4P's of marketing, which have been referred to as “the holy quadruple…of the marketing faith,” will be presented and then integrated with adult education praxis with the intention of providing a way forward for bringing adult learners together with relevant programs and creating ethical and sustainable programs (Kent, 1986, p. 146).
Use of Symbaloo Edu for Improving Information Management Processes in Work by Modules
Authors: Biel Pilar , Pérez Ester , Rodrigo Carmen , Serrano Ana
Published: December 2016

The case presented in this paper is framed within the context of Work by Modules taken during the first year-first semester of the Industrial Design and Product Development Engineering Degree at the University of Zaragoza, and its objective is to improve the processes involved in information management required to perform this work. For this purpose, the design of a personal learning environment (PLE) is proposed, using Symbaloo Edu. This tool provides methodological support to select and organize information sources, and its use favours collaborative work while helping to develop digital competencies, providing students with an environment that complements formal learning. Results show that between 70 and 75% of the students viewed PLE as a tool that made them feel more active and autonomous in their learning process.
Flipping the Classroom to Gain Time
Authors: Peres Paula , Mesquita Anabela
Published: December 2016

This article describes the European project GainTime developed in the educational field. The objectives of the project concern the development of professional and pedagogical competences among teachers and trainers. It intends to enhance learning through the use of Information and Communication Technologies and increase the access to Open Educational Resources (OER) with the aim to combine higher levels of excellence and attractiveness with increased opportunities for all. To attain the objectives, an online course that teaches teachers on how to innovate in their classroom, specially using flipped classroom and games supported on OER, will be developed. The target of the project is secondary education. In order to identify the best practices in Portugal concerning the use of flipped classroom and games as well as creative classroom, a questionnaire was administered and results are presented. Furthermore, the handbook regarding the master model developed as well as the online courses are also presented.
A System to Manage Grammatical Level Tests in the Context of Language Schools
Authors: Cabezuelo Antonio Sarasa
Published: December 2016

A common problem in schools teaching languages is the preliminary assessment of students' knowledge to assign a skill level in the language that they would like to learn. Normally, level tests consist of an oral test, a written test and a listening test. All these tests can be performed through from a remote location, though the written test is less complicated to perform through correspondence since it generally does not require the presence of an examiner. This article describes how has been automated the performance and management of level tests of the written kind in the specific case of teaching Spanish to foreigners at the University of Zaragoza.
Participatory Action Research in the Field of Neonatal Intensive Care: Developing An Intervention to Meet the Fathers’ Needs. A Case Study
Authors: Noergaard Betty , Johannessen Helle , Fenger-Gron Jesper , Kofoed Poul-Erik , Ammentorp Jette
Published: December 2016

Background

In neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) health care professionals typically give most of their attention to the infants and the mothers while many fathers feel uncertain and have an unmet need for support and guidance. This paper describes and discusses participatory action research (PAR) as a method to improve NICUs’ service for fathers. Our goal is to develop a father-friendly NICU where both the needs of fathers and mothers are met using an approach based on PAR that involves fathers, mothers, interdisciplinary healthcare professionals, and managers.

Design and methods

This PAR process was carried out from August 2011 to July 2013 and included participant observations, semi-structured interviews, multi sequential interviews, workshops, focus groups, group discussion, and a seminar. The theoretical framework of validity described by Herr and Anderson's three criteria; process-, democratic-, and catalytic validity were used to discuss this PAR.

Results

Twelve fathers, 11 mothers, 48 health professionals and managers participated in the PAR process. The collaboration ensured the engagement for viable and constructive local changes to be used in designing the concept of the father friendly NICU.

Conclusions

This paper contributed new knowledge of how PAR can be used to ensure that participants engaged in the field are involved in the entire process; consequently, this will ensure that the changes are feasible and sustainable.
Intentional and Unintentional Medication Non-Adherence in Hypertension: The Role of Health Literacy, Empowerment and Medication Beliefs
Authors: Náfrádi Lilla , Galimberti Elisa , Nakamoto Kent , Schulz Peter J.
Published: December 2016

Background

Medication non-adherence is a major public health issue, creating obstacles to effective treatment of hypertension. Examining the underlying factors of deliberate and non-deliberate non-adherence is crucial to address this problem. Thus, the goal of the present study is to assess the socio-demographic, clinical and psychological determinants of intentional and unintentional non-adherence.

Design and methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted between March, 2015 and April, 2016. The sample consisted of hypertension patients holding at least one medical prescription (N=109). Measurements assessed patients’ medication adherence, health literacy, empowerment, self-efficacy, medication beliefs, and patients’ acceptance of their doctor's advice, socio-demographic and clinical characteristics.

Results

Patients who occasionally engaged in either intentional or unintentional non-adherence reported to have lower adherence selfefficacy, higher medication concern beliefs, lower meaningfulness scores and were less likely to accept the doctor's treatment recommendations. Patients who occasionally engaged in unintentional nonadherence were younger and had experienced more side effects compared to completely adherent patients. Adherence self-efficacy was a mediator of the effect of health literacy on patients’ medication adherence and acceptance of the doctor's advice was a covariate.

Conclusions

Regarding the research implications, health literacy and adherence self-efficacy should be assessed simultaneously when investigating the factors of non-adherence. Regarding the practical implications, adherence could be increased if physicians i) doublecheck whether their patients accept the treatment advice given and ii) if they address patients’ concerns about medications. These steps could be especially important for patients characterized with lower self-efficacy, as they are more likely to engage in occasional nonadherence.
Skin: A mirror of internal malignancy
Authors: Vora Rita V , Kota RahulKrishna S , Diwan Nilofar G , Jivani Nidhi B , Gandhi Shailee S
Published: December 2016

Skin manifestations are a reflection of many of the internal diseases. Sometimes, skin disease may be the only manifestation of the internal disease. Internal malignancies may give rise to a number of cutaneous manifestations through their immunological, metabolic, and metastatic consequences. Curth proposed criteria to establish a causal relationship between a dermatosis and a malignant internal disease. Malignancy can present with a plethora of cutaneous manifestations. Here, we describe in brief about various skin manifestations of internal malignancies.
Should every patient with pancreatic cancer receive perioperative/neoadjuvant therapy?
Authors: Nitsche Ulrich , Kong Bo , Balmert Alexander , Friess Helmut , Kleeff Jörg
Published: December 2016

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a highly aggressive disease, and medical as well as surgical therapeutic options are limited. This article reviews stage dependent treatment options, with a special focus on the current controversy of perioperative treatment regimens in initially borderline resectable or locally advanced patients. Neoadjuvant treatment can potentially increase the rate of complete tumor resection and may be more effective than adjuvant systemic therapy. Further, in the case of disease progression during or after neoadjuvant therapy, patients can be spared extensive surgery. Today, common therapeutic regimens include gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel and FOLFIRINOX, as well as chemoradiation. However, because of the paucity of evidence from randomized trials, most guidelines do not recommend neoadjuvant therapy in resectable tumors, and for borderline or locally advanced tumors only within clinical trials. Importantly, every patient should be discussed in multidisciplinary tumor boards.
Status of barium studies in the present era of oncology: Are they a history?
Authors: Mahajan Abhishek , Desai Subash , Sable Nilesh Pandurang , Thakur Meenakshi Haresh
Published: December 2016

With the advent of the modern imaging technologies, the present era of oncology is seeing steady decline in requests for barium studies due to the many reasons. It is prudent to mention here, that, barium examinations cannot be made obsolete! Our aim to preserve the age old technique of barium studies not only to keep it going on but also for the betterment and appropriate management of the patient. Our goal is not to “save” barium studies simply to keep this technology alive, per se, but rather to preserve barium radiology for the quality in patient care.
A rare case of lung cancer presenting as an ischioanal fossa mass
Authors: Shetty Nishitha , Singh Ranvijay , Naveed Maryam , Ronghe Ashwini M , Barot Falguni Shashikant
Published: December 2016

Lung cancer metastasis commonly involves the adrenal glands, liver, bone, and brain. However, it can have some rarer forms of metastatic presentation making diagnosis difficult, especially in nonsmokers. We describe a rare case of lung cancer with metastasis to the ischioanal fossa. Overall, this case emphasizes that consideration should be given to wide range of diagnosis in atypical cases of anorectal masses. Lung cancer presenting as an ischioanal mass is not reported so far.
Apremilast
Authors: Bubna Aditya Kumar
Published: December 2016

Apremilast is an oral phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor, now approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the management of psoriatic arthropathy (PsA). As biologic therapy is associated with significant amounts of adverse effects, newer treatment options with an efficacious outcome, sans the toxicity, is something all clinicians would implement readily in their therapeutic regimens. Apremilast is one such drug which has shown promise in the management of psoriasis, PsA, and a few other dermatologic disorders. This review will throw light on the dermatologic perspective regarding apremilast.
Different Treatment Modalities in the Treatment of Childhood Lichen Planus
Authors: Nischal Urmila , Kharkar Vidya
Published: December 2016

Introduction:

Although rarely described in the Western literature, childhood lichen planus (LP) is noticed much more frequently in the Indian subcontinent. Oral and potent topical corticosteroids commonly used for the treatment of childhood LP can result in significant side effects.

Methods:

In a open non-randomized follow up study of 49 children, various treatment modalities were tried based on inclusion exclusion criteria.

Results:

A total of 49 children had generalized or localized LP, of which 5 patients did not complete prescribed therapy. Out of 25 patients who were started with oral dapsone, a total of 20 patients completed therapy. These patients showed a significant improvement showing relief from itching associated with flattening of lesions. Complete response was seen in three-fourth of metronidazole-treated patients by 20 weeks. Remaining 11 patients who were treated oral, topical, or intralesional therapy also showed improvement as predicted. Dapsone and metronidazole therapy did not result in any side effects in this study.

Conclusion:

Dapsone can be utilized as an effective steroid-sparing agent in the treatment of childhood LP.
Sorafenib-induced Pemphigus Vulgaris
Authors: Deshpande Ajay
Published: December 2016

Sorafenib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved for the treatment of primary kidney cancer, advanced primary hepatocellular carcinoma and radioactive iodine-resistant advanced thyroid carcinoma. Sorafenib is known to cause milder cutaneous side effects such as maculopapular rash and serious cutaneous drug reactions such as desquamation of the skin, hand-foot syndrome Stevens-Johnsons syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis. We report a histopathologicaly proved case of pemphigus vulgaris caused by sorafenib.