bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analyse socio-institutionnelle de l’Office parlementaire d’évaluation des choix scientifiques et technologiques (OPECST)
Authors: Delvenne Pierre
Published: October 2019

Il existe en Europe une diversité de modèles, d’approches et de pratiques de Technology Assessment (TA). De nombreux travaux ont déjà permis de catégoriser les organisations existantes en Europe. Pour appréhender d’une manière commune cette variété de TA on se réfère à deux dimensions principales : l’institutionnalisation par rapport au Parlement et le type de missions et de méthodologies poursuivies par le TA. Enzing (2012), Hennen & Ladikas (2009), Cruz et Sanz (2005) distinguent trois modèles : la « Commission parlementaire » (France, Grèce, Italie, Finlande), le « bureau parlementaire » (Suède, Allemagne, Royaume-Uni, Catalogne Parlement européen) et le modèle de « TA indépendant » (Suisse, Pays-Bas, Danemark, Norvège, Autriche) appelé aussi « modèle interactif ».
An Approach to Diversity and Cultural Competence Curriculum in Public Administration
Authors: King Bridgett A.
Published: October 2019

There are a variety of approaches that can be utilized to facilitate public administration students and practitioners using culturally responsive approaches in their professional lives. The importance of understanding cultural diversity extends not only to individual interactions but also the structure of organizations and organizational decision making. The chapter presents one approach to providing students with a diversity-focused curriculum in a graduate-level public administration program. This approach includes an overview of the historical legacy of diversity in public administration, legally required and voluntary approaches to organizational diversity, models that can be used to assess the diverse cultural experiences of individuals for more personalized practice, and activities that can be utilized and adapted to educate public administration students and practitioners on issues of diversity and cultural competency.
Voices of Experienced Physical Educators of English Language Learners
Authors: Delk Desmond Woodruff
Published: October 2019

The purpose of this chapter was to explore the factors that impact the teaching behaviors and goals of physical education teachers of English language learners (ELLs). Guided by the tenets of the theory of planned behavior, field notes and interviews of four PE teachers were conducted. Using qualitative methods through an interpretivist paradigm, the researcher found that these teachers 1) used an array of strategies to teach ELLs (peer helpers, demonstrations, Spanish infusion, and classroom routines) and 2) aspire to create inclusive and comprehensive learning environments for ELLs irrespective of administrative and parental engagement. The findings from this study indicate that the participants exhibit a commitment to diverse pedagogical approaches when teaching ELLs. Their limited background knowledge on teaching ELLs has forced these educators to develop unconventional practices and implement a variety of pedagogical approaches to ensure that all students learn, including ELLs.
Technology and Sharing Economy-Based Business Models for Marketing to Connected Consumers
Authors: Dadwal Sumesh Singh , Jamal Arshad , Harris Tim , Brown Guy , Raudhah Siti
Published: October 2019

The new technological innovations are changing the ways businesses are being operated. The sharing economy-based new business models (SEBMs) using technology have many benefits at national, organisational, community, and individual levels. The sharing economy provides a huge potential of creating millions of jobs by leveraging the business sector and providing a new way to producers and consumers to meet each other's needs. To maintain and enhance the use of technology-enabled sharing economy-based models (SEBMs), it is paramount to understand these SEBMs models and the behavior of the market, particularly on how to influence the market's attitude towards using SEBMs. This chapter analyses the new sharing economy-based and technologically-enabled business models and their antecedents.
Characteristics of Millennials and Technology Adoption in the Digital Age
Authors: Nawaz Imad Yasir
Published: October 2019

This chapter explores the attitude and behaviour of Millennials towards digital platforms. Millennial or Generation Y is the much talked about generation among business circles at the moment, and considering their ways of thinking, behaving, and preferences, organisations are altering their practices as they are the active workforce at the moment. In this chapter, the authors have tried to explore various aspects of Millennial life, preferences, practices, and attitudes including their behavior towards work practices, corporate social responsibility, cultural variations, education, buying patterns and technology, technological devices, and social/digital platforms. Millennial consumers' behaviours are affected many personal factors such as gender identity, income level, education, geography, political affiliations, and religion and non-personal factors, such as organisational effort, brand, technological factors, social pressures, and so on.
The Role of Digital Advertising in Shaping Ideals and Consumption Choices in the Digital Era
Authors: Baghdasaryan Lilit
Published: October 2019

Digital advertising is one of the most dominant elements of a communication mix. Consumption choices refer to the journey where consumers make decisions based on the problem-solving attributes of the products and services. The choices are conditioned with the reality shaped around us and social processes that impose ideal, self-identity, self-concept, ideal self, gender identities, and consumer cultures via visual digital designs and celebrity portrayals. Organisations aim to build digital advertisement strategies and create awareness of certain goods and services, but at the same time, the advertisement plays a significant role in generating new needs, new identities for consumers, and new role expectations. Digital technologies enable marketers to predict consumption behaviour and measure the consumer responses on key metrics of advertisement effectiveness.
The Impact of Augmented Reality Advertisement on Customer Engagement in the Era of Connnected Consumers
Authors: Islam Azharul
Published: October 2019

Innovation in technology is advancing by the day. As a latest and useful technology, augmented reality (AR) is drawing and getting attention from every sectors such as marketing, engagement, and user experience. Augment reality (AR) has become a recent trend for modern marketing. Marketers nowadays invest money and time in creation of new digital marketing platform for connected consumers. In this chapter, the researcher aims to discuss the impact of augmented reality advertisement on changing customer attitude towards brands. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the impact of AR advertising on customer engagement and enhance user experience. Furthermore, this research has pinpointed the impact of augmented reality advertisement on cognitive, affective, and behavioural engagement.
Developing Security Solutions for Telemedicine Applications
Authors: V. Pavithra , Chandrasekaran Jeyamala
Published: October 2019

Telemedicine is defined as the means of providing healthcare for people from a distance by the use of telecommunication and information technology. This technology is mainly useful in overcoming the obstacles of distance and provide enhancement in the access of medical services that would not be easily available in different rural areas. Telemedicine security includes issues such as confidentiality, integrity, and authentication that are also present in other systems involving information and data. Maintaining integrity of data stored and used is a huge problem for medical applications because it contains more sensitive medical records of patients which can cause severe ill effects on slight modification. In order to resolve the confidentiality and integrity issues of telemedicine applications, medical image encryption and watermarking comes into play. The security issues in telemedicine applications is to be given higher importance and thus choosing a reliable and effective approach or framework is more essential.
Auto-Detection of Human Factor Contents on Social Media Posts Using Word2vec and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM)
Authors: Yinka-Banjo Chika , Raji Gafar Lekan , Ohalete Ifeanyi Precious
Published: October 2019

The threat posed by cyberbullying to the mental health in our society cannot be overemphasized. Victims of this menace are reported to have suffered poor academic performance, depression, and suicidal thoughts. There is need to find an efficient and effective solution to this problem within the academic environment. In this research, one of the popular deep learning models—long short-term memory (LSTM)—known for its optimized performance in training sequential data was combined with Word2Vec embedding technique to create a model trained for classifying the content of social media post as containing cyberbullying content or otherwise. The result was observed to have shown improvements in its performance with respect to accuracy in the classification task with over 80% of the test dataset correctly classified as against the existing model with about 74.9% accuracy.
MOOCs, Artificial Intelligence Systems, and the Dilemma of Tertiary Education in the 21st Century
Authors: Wogu Ikedinachi Ayodele Power , Edogiawere Morris , Katende Jesse Oluwafemi , Awogu-Maduagwu Edith , Chukwuedo Charles Nathaniel , Misra Sanjay
Published: October 2019

Recent research on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the education industry for teaching and learning has stirred up a revolution via the use of platforms like the massive open online courses (MOOC) the likes of which the world have never seen before. Millions through this platform can now enroll online to get one form of education or the other. Many scholars, however, doubt the quality of education transmitted and acquired via these platforms; hence, some scholars describe the education gotten through this medium as artificial education. A situation that has resulted in a kind of revolution in the education industry described as education tsunami. The Marxian theory of alienation offers an appropriate theoretical platform for the analysis conducted in the paper. The ex-post factor method of analysis and Deidra's critical analytic method was adopted for attaining the objectives of the paper. The dilemmas eroding the quality of education were identified. Blended learning approaches, as against present methods, were recommended.
Virtual Collaboration Tools for Project Managers
Authors: Rozman Tomislav
Published: October 2019

This chapter examines virtual collaboration tools from the perspective of project managers of EU-funded projects. The chapter overviews virtual collaboration tool types, users types, and their motivation to use the chosen tool alongside the human factors. The authors have observed 40 EU project managers, who have managed 244 EU projects. Despite of the abundance of modern, web-based, and mobile tools, project managers are still not familiar with the advantages of cloud-based document systems and communication tools. Factors such as un-friendliness, security concerns, and lack of IT skills prevent more wide usage of virtual collaboration tools. Live meetings are still perceived as the most efficient channel for distributing and receiving project tasks, but they are closely followed by virtual meetings using the communication software. The authors propose a standardized process of including virtual collaboration tools to distributed project teams. Their experiences show that strong leadership and defined process increase the usage of IT tools and consequently the success of EU-funded projects.
Human Factors in Distance Learning
Authors: Rothkrantz Leon J. M. , Fitrianie Siska
Published: October 2019

In this chapter, the authors present a massive open online course (MOOC) on a flooding disaster in the city of Prague. The goal of the MOOC is to increase awareness of citizens of Prague about flooding disasters and to provide a training facility for first responders and the crisis management team of the city. The MOOC is modeled and organized as an IT project. A dedicated didactical model has been designed for distant-learning. To complete a MOOC successfully, three human factors have to be considered: physical ergonomics, cognitive ergonomics, and organizational ergonomics. As an example of interactive learning materials, the authors describe a game-based assignment, where students have to take a role in the virtual crisis management team and to save citizens, properties, and infrastructure as much as possible. This assignment is organized as IT projects, where the human factors play again an important role. The chapter will also discuss educational experiments.
Employee Engagement in India
Authors: Tomar Jitendra Singh
Published: October 2019

Rise in economy and higher global standards are making Indian organizations to develop employee-centric HR policies for optimal use of workforce. Organizations, operating in global environment, are more sophisticated, have better HR policies, leading to increased productivity through better engagements. A better engaged workforce has improved the bottom lines of these companies significantly. This study explores employee engagement factors by recording perception of 500 employees serving 10 prime business sectors in India and compares the engagement antecedents in these sectors. Thematic analysis is done on identified themes: insightful work, pragmatic management, positive work environment, growth opportunity, and engaging leadership. These significant factors are visualized specifically for IT sector. By resolving the engagement issues raised in this study, it is anticipated that the employers can address overall efficiency of their workforce and improve the employer-employee relationship.
Approaches and Methods for Individual Performance Assessment in Information Systems Projects
Authors: Pereira José Luís , Varajão João Eduardo , Pinto Carlos Sousa , Silva António
Published: October 2019

Organizations have to manage human resources effectively, as these are fundamental to their success. Indeed, it is widely recognized that human resources have a direct influence in the performance of organizations. Therefore, organizational success is highly dependent on an adequate management of human resources. In this context, the performance assessment of people is crucial, as it is an important process for implementing efficient and effective motivational and rewarding systems. However, in the case of information systems projects, there is not much research work focused on human resources performance evaluation. This chapter aims to contribute to fill this gap by reviewing several approaches and methods for performance assessment, which can be applied to information systems projects. The presented approaches and methods are focused on personality, behaviors, comparison, and outcomes/results.
Beyond the Stars
Authors: Kessinger Michael W. , Nettleton Kimberely Fletcher , Lennex Lesia C.
Published: October 2019

When students are identified for gifted services, one of the first questions asked by parents is, “What will my child be doing that is different from what is being done now?” The purpose of this first chapter is to provide a foundation as the reader proceeds through the following chapters in the book. The chapter presents the characteristics of gifted students along with the ways gifted services are delivered to students at various levels. This chapter, and actually the whole book, looks at ways to meet the needs of gifted students in the K-12 environment. Gifted students need instruction that enriches their conceptual attainment, helps them make connections and patterns between content areas, and develops an understanding of real-life applications of content. The growing availability of technological resources has empowered teachers to meet the academic needs of students and provide an enriched learning experience for all students. The wide range of software has provided gifted students opportunities to independently explore areas that would not be possible in the regular classroom.
Integration of Educational Software in Teaching Gifted Students in K-12 Classrooms
Authors: Khazanchi Pankaj , Khazanchi Rashmi
Published: October 2019

Technology is greatly integrated into K-12 classrooms in teaching gifted students. The use of software surrounds us in our everyday life. Educational software provides students a unique and personalized learning experience. Many teachers use the software in delivering content knowledge in the field of math, science, social studies, reading, and language arts. Enhancing critical and creative thinking skills in students and preparing gifted students' talent is an important goal of teachers in the 21st century. Educational software technology can enhance these skills by creating optimal learning environments. It plays an important role in learning and teaching in K-12 classrooms and brings positive improvement in students' achievement. Educational software improves self-directed learning and problem-solving skills in students. Educational software also improves communication between teachers, students, and parents. This book chapter seeks to provide a broad overview of available educational software in teaching gifted students in K-12 classrooms.
An Educational Method for Theoretical Fields Through Dynamic Visualization
Authors: Namihira Hiroto
Published: October 2019

This chapter proposes a new educational methodology for theoretical contents. It aims to effectively transmit theoretical content meanings. Here, the effects of content visualization enhance the transmission of meaning. By processing visual information, the human brain can immediately understand the mutual relationships between elements in addition to the whole meaning. Comprehension becomes increasingly effective when movement is added to static information. The new educational methodology proposed here is based on such visualization. It is called “The Dynamic Visualization Method.” It is designed so students can visually set allowable conditions before processing them. This selective freedom enables students to extract their hidden leaning interests. Mathematical processes were used to verify the effectiveness of this methodology. A variety of items were thus adopted ranging from the elementary-school to university levels. The contents of those items are visualized in this chapter. The educational effects are then discussed.
Technology for Gifted Students
Authors: Anderson Cindy L. , Anderson Kevin M.
Published: October 2019

This chapter proposes that software design using software with programming capabilities, such as Classroom Suite, is a good activity for gifted students to increase their science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills while designing appropriate learning activities for all students, including those with disabilities. The chapter describes design techniques that gifted students can apply during the development, offers as an example the design process for one of the authors' own Classroom Suite instructional games, and concludes with a description of several other games designed by the authors as further examples of the kinds of instructional software that gifted students can develop for students with disabilities using Classroom Suite.
Gifted School Activities With DropTalk, Parent-Teacher Notebook, and SmileNote for Students With Disabilities
Authors: Aoki Takamitsu , Nakagawa Noriko , Ishitobi Ryoichi , Nakamura Susumu , Inoue Shoko , Kinoshita Makoto , Yamashita Masayuki , Ikuta Shigeru
Published: October 2019

Three programs, DropTalk, Parent-Teacher Notebook, and SmileNote, were developed by teachers at schools for special needs education to help students with various disabilities, in collaboration with businesses supportive of students with disabilities. DropTalk was developed to help students with nonverbal communication by using Pictogram and text overlaid with voice/sound. A digital-based Parent-Teacher Notebook was developed to share the valuable data on each student between their home and school. The shared data are effectively used to build up individual support plans. SmileNote was developed to help students with nonverbal communication disabilities present their wills, hopes, and desires to the classmates and others. In this chapter, the aims and valuable functions in three software applications are described in detail, and self-made contents created with the software and gifted school activities conducted at several schools for special needs education are depicted.
Gifted Flipped Learning for Math Classroom With Video Materials
Authors: Matsunami Noriyuki , Nagai Masahiro
Published: October 2019

The chapter describes the flipped classroom practice with video contents in elementary school arithmetic. Japanese students have acquired relatively high scores in international well-known competency-achievement tests like PISA and TIMISS, and then, it is believed that the educational system in Japan gets in good success to put the basic competency onto the students. However, the teachers in Japan feel that the students should acquire more ability to apply the basic competency to the real problems smoothly and actively. The authors performed flipped classroom at an elementary school using consulting preparatory teaching videos for partial flipped teaching, transferring “understanding subjects,” “recalling already learned items,” and “self-solving” to home learning, and closely connecting learning (preparation) at home and in the classroom to upgrade the students' abilities that can solve more complex and advanced problems smoothly.
Curation of Your Online Persona Through Self-Care and Responsible Citizenship
Authors: Rogers Sandra Annette
Published: October 2019

With each blog post, tweet, and online project, internet users are building their online reputation whether they want to or not. In the absence of professional branding, users' online presence contributes vastly to what brands them. Through critical digital pedagogy, teachers and students question all technology practices (e.g., self, school, society). This chapter addresses the safety, security, and perception of their online data through self-determined prevention, weeding, and branding based on their short- and long-term goals. Methods, resources, and a lesson plan are provided as guidance to support students' wellbeing pertaining to the online dimensions of their academic and personal lives. Strategies discussed include online identity system checks to review current digital footprint and data vulnerabilities, contemplation of technology usage in terms of self-care and responsible citizenship, and curation and development of their online persona. These participatory practices address two of the ISTE Standards for Students regarding digital citizenship.
Terrains of Myths and Devotion
Authors: Okawa Eiji
Published: October 2019

How do religious imaginings and practices reconstitute the environment and situate communities in the surrounding space? What can religious institutions tell us about the historical interplays among myths, societal formations, and terrains of the earth? This chapter inquires these questions with a case study from preindustrial Japan. The Buddhist monastery of Kôyasan in the mountains of Kii province in western Japan enjoyed historical prominence both on political and spiritual terms. In the late medieval era (14th to 16th centuries), it presided as a landholding overlord and ruled large estates in the plains below. As a site of popular devotion, it developed in the early modern era (or Tokugawa, ca. 1600-1867) a transregional network of worshippers who sought its ritual services that promised salvation in the afterlife. What, then, propelled Kôyasan to its historical prominence? By contextualizing clerical practices with the mythical landscape of the monastery, the chapter uncovers how Kôyasan's success was undergirded by the ritual reconstitution of the land and soil.
Foreign Aid and Family at Risk
Authors: Takamatsu Kana
Published: October 2019

This chapter uses the case study of Myanmar to examine how the foreign aid policy should have supported families facing risks. The chapter addresses the issue of poverty, which continues to be the gravest risk in the developing countries. Family could be the cause of poverty as well as the solution of poverty in foreign aid policy discussion. The situation of poverty and migration as risk management tools is examined. Interviews of migrant workers in Thailand and Japan were conducted. There is also a discussion about the developments of Myanmar and foreign aid and how the international community has inadequately responded to the democratization of Myanmar and to the needs of its people.
Migrant Care Workers, Skill Regimes, and Transnational Subjects in East Asia
Authors: Ogawa Reiko
Published: October 2019

This chapter discusses the concept of skills in care work and demonstrates how it has been discursively constructed in Japan and Taiwan. The kind of work that the migrant care workers undertake is differentiated according to the migration-care nexus resulting in very different kind of tasks these migrants are required to perform. Secondly, the global care labor market is unevenly constructed with different requirements and conditions. The migrant care workers are differentiated according to the capital they possess and what they acquire in their migration process. What became apparent is that unlike skilled work where people can step-up their career by gaining skills and in some cases permanent residence, care labor market in East Asia does not lead to unilateral development of careers. The global care labor market expanded the opportunity for migrants, but it is not only uneven but also precarious and migrants expect short-term return without great expectations for career development.
Politics Matters
Authors: Chan Raymond K. H.
Published: October 2019

Hong Kong's public health services gradually developed since the 1950s. They are mainly funded by taxes, supplemented by minimal user fees. In the late 1980s, the government recognized the limitations of this financing model and has subsequently proposed alternative methods of funding. Their proposals have been rejected by various stakeholders, who represent different, and even conflicting, values and interests; and eventually can only end up with a limited voluntary health insurance scheme. This chapter describes the development of health services and the debates that have surrounded health financing since the late 1980s. It shows that the health finance debate in Hong Kong is not a simple issue that can be tackled by rational planning; instead, it is a complex consequence of welfare politics in an increasingly mobilized society.
Changing Employment Trends, Childcare Patterns, and Work-Family Reconciliation in Taiwan
Authors: Tsai Pei-Yuen
Published: October 2019

This article reviews the development of employment and childcare trends in Taiwan to show how these changing phenomena affect Taiwanese families and contribute to families' difficulties in work-family reconciliation. The first section of this article demonstrates the changes in household structure and employment in Taiwan. The second part focuses on the transformation of childcare arrangements to demonstrate Taiwanese families' decisions between work and childcare. A concluding section sums up the implications of these phenomena.
Food Safety Concerns in Tokushima
Authors: Burns Catherine , Cullen Anne , Katayama Kumiko
Published: October 2019

This chapter offers a qualitative examination of the perceptions of food safety and purchasing practices of members from two consumer co-operatives in contemporary rural Japan. Few studies have focused on the impact of the Fukushima nuclear accident on consumers residing far from contaminated areas. A common view is that geographical proximity and the elapse of time determine the degree of consumer concern about radioactivity: fears diminish with distance and time. However, some scholars argue that distance from Fukushima is exacerbating unfounded fears about radioactive contamination of foods and therefore consumers continue to avoid purchasing Fukushima produce. These 'avoiders' tend to be portrayed in unflattering terms. This study explores a sample of consumer responses to Fukushima produce, sources of trust, and the role of the co-operative.
Social Risk Discourse and Japan
Authors: Merviö Mika Markus
Published: October 2019

In terms of risk society, Japan is following the rest of its peers in entering the world risk society, but in a selective way of ignoring some parts of the discourse. This chapter will show how long of a process it was for the concepts of risk society, reflexivity, and individualization to enter Japanese social and political discourses. As a result, the public policies in many areas have lacked in direction and coordination. In Japan, the risk discourses have often failed to go much beyond the security risks and natural hazards. However, there has also been new research on social risks, such as on so-called new risks-associated individualization and with family and work. The common theme is that traditional social institutions are eroding while both individualization and traditional (family-based) values coexist. However, the enormous significance of environmental risks for the future has, unfortunately, not been taken seriously enough in social and political discourses in Japan and, consequently, the public policy responses reflect these weaknesses.
An Efficient VNS Algorithm to Solve the Multi-Attribute Technician Routing and Scheduling Problem
Authors: Frifita Sana , Mathlouthi Ines , Dammak Abdelaziz
Published: October 2019

This article addresses a technician routing and scheduling problem inspired from an application for the repair of electronic transactions equipment. It consists of designing routes for staff to perform requests while considering certain constraints and resources. The objective is to minimize a linear combination of total weighted distance, overtime, and maximize the served requests. An efficient meta-heuristic algorithm based on variable neighborhood search with an adaptive memory and advanced diversity management method is proposed. Numerical results show that the meta-heuristic outperforms the best existing algorithm from the literature which is a Tabu Search.
Digital-Based Incubator Framework Modelling for University
Authors: Halim Fandi , Gunawan  , Agustina
Published: October 2019

A business incubator is an entity which supports a developing business through providing resources and services and has become more common as the number of entrepreneurs increases. This is especially in the university environment for its ability to become a product or service for students entrepreneurs. The research is aimed at modeling a digital-based business incubator framework for universities who intend to establish their own incubators. Research was conducted by analyzing previous models and research. The framework consists of 4 stages which include: preparation, pre-incubation, incubation, and post-incubation. Each stage has its own activity to help prepare an outcome for the next stage. Also considered are its success factor.
Fuzzy Driven Decision Support System for Enhanced Employee Performance Appraisal
Authors: Arogundade Oluwasefunmi 'Tale , Ojokoh Bolanle , Asogbon Mojisola Grace , Samuel Oluwarotimi Williams , Babatope Sunday Adeniyi
Published: October 2019

Employee performance appraisal is often considered a core management task in most standard organizations because it could potentially inspire an employee towards the pursuit of organizational goals and objectives. Meanwhile, issues such as delay in appraisal processes, inevitable human error, and emotional status of the appraiser, are common with the traditional appraisal methods. Hence, this research proposes a fuzzy decision-support system based on Henri Fayol's 14 principles of management for the appraisal of employees' performance. A questionnaire consisting of 44 structured questions was designed based on these principles and administered to the employees of Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria. Fuzzy inference system that incorporates Mamdani computational technique was built based on the feedback extracted from the questionnaires, and used for appraising the employee performance. Experimental results show that the proposed system could predict the appraisal status of an employee with 75% accuracy in comparison to the conventional appraisal method.
An Integrated Structural Equation Model of eHealth Behavioral Intention
Authors: Prybutok Gayle , Ta Anh Viet , Liu Xiaotong , Prybutok Victor
Published: October 2019

eHealth offers promising tools and services to manage and improve the quality of health as well as the potential to provide accessible health information all over the world. The relatively low adoption rates among eHealth users motivates us to develop an integrated model to explain the learning process and provide essential antecedents of eHealth behavioral intention. The integrated model is empirically tested by using different structural equation modeling (SEM) methods, including partial least squares SEM (PLS-SEM), PLSc, and covariance-based SEM (CB-SEM). The model successfully explains the learning process and provides essential antecedents of eHealth behavioral intention. The findings support the interplay of social, cognitive, and personal factors that impact 18-30-year-old users' learning process related to eHealth behavioral intention. The results empirically show that these three types of SEM techniques provide consistent results with respect to path coefficients and coefficients of determination. The findings indicate that CB-SEM and PLS-SEM provide adverse consequences of interaction-term path coefficients.
Integration of Examination Strategies in E-Learning Platform for Assessment of Collaborative Activities
Authors: Aouine Amina , Mahdaoui Latifa
Published: October 2019

In this article, the authors propose a set of examination strategies for distributing tasks of collaborative activities. The first purpose behind this proposal is to assess fairly the learners who are involved in group or team work at the e-learning platform. Indeed, in the literature, few methods are used to assess the learners' individual contributions to the collective or collaborative work. Therefore, the proposal of this article is based mainly around this issue. This will lead to an approach to assess individuals within the learning group (or team), which in turn, will allow to assess the group (or team) as a learning entity.
New Views Combined With New Technologies in the Tourism Sector
Authors: Delcart Louis
Published: October 2019

In today's economies, tourism is often used as a means to provide areas with few structural employment opportunities with the tools for economic development. This is especially when the areas in question are attractive because of their natural resources or because of their cultural and/or historical background. To get the best results from the tourism efforts in a city or region, all parties involved must work together, managed by the local government. The task is to make choices in which tourist category the city or region wishes to differentiate itself from the others. If a regional or local government coordinates initiatives with determination and competence, a complete region can enjoy a much higher added value, which by far exceeds the tourist aspect. The regional governments should keep the larger picture of regional development in perspective.
Social Mediatization of Biodiversity
Authors: Castro-Margate Leia Fidelis Gisela Fiadchongan
Published: October 2019

In January 2018, the Mount Pulag National Park in the northern Philippines caught fire. As a key biodiversity area and popular ecotourism and mountaineering site, the burning also lit a fire among social media users. This article follows the viral posts and the social media commentary using social mediatization as a lens. It aims to look into the constructs on biodiversity of social media users using textual analysis. Without using scientific terminology, social media users have been able to show a profound understanding of biodiversity. These includes the concepts of natural regeneration, ecological balance, deep ecology, and normative constructs on how the public should treat nature following the ‘leave no trace' philosophy. They have also issued calls for better management of the national park and bringing to justice of those responsible for its degradation.
Opções de ações e disclosure: o nível de divulgação das instituições financeiras
Authors: Batista Sammy Ferreira , Luz Janayna Rodrigues de Morais , Carvalho José Ribamar Marques de , Albuquerque de Melo Lúcia Silva
Published: October 2019

As opções de ações a funcionários que têm como vantagem a possibilidade do colaborador participar na valorização futura da empresa estão no cerne de crises financeiras e escândalos corporativos relacionados, principalmente, à manipulação de demonstrações contábeis. Diante dos novos dispositivos como os da Lei Sarbanes-Oxley (2002) e de Basiléia III (2010) emergem entre outros objetivos garantir maior transparência na gestão de empresas. Nesse sentido, o presente estudo buscou avaliar o nível de disclosure das instituições financeiras pós-crise financeira de 2008 dos programas de pagamento a funcionários. A amostra foi composta pelos principais bancos de 33 países, os denominados “grandes de demais para quebrar” que são mais propensos a absorver recursos públicos como forma de evitar sua falência, totalizando uma amostra total de 172 instituições.  A qualidade das informações foi medida pela soma unitária de itens presentes ou não nas demonstrações financeiras, buscou-se estabelecer uma classificação para se pontuar países e instituições individualmente quanto às práticas de divulgação por meio de um conjunto de informações qualitativas e quantitativas que estavam nas notas explicativas. Os resultados indicam que o nível disclosure é influenciado pelo grupo cultural abordado conforme de modelo de Gray (1988), com o destaque do grupo cultural anglo-saxônico pela qualidade das informações e a uniformidade dos resultados. Observou-se que a aderência a esses programas de remuneração é influenciada pelo tamanho da economia dos países, com exceção de países como Alemanha, México e a Índia.
Thermo-Oxidative Behavior of Carbon Black Composites for Self-Regulating Heaters
Authors: Setnescu Radu , Lungulescu Marius , Bara Adela , Caramitu Alina , Mitrea Sorina , Marinescu Virgil , Culicov Otilia
Published: October 2019

The composite materials for self-regulating heaters are conductive composites based on a polymer matrix and a dispersed conductive filler consisting in either carbon black or another carbon material, such as graphite or nanotubes. Similar materials are suitable for sensors and current limitations. As these materials used in heating applications work usually at elevated temperatures in presence of air, the ageing processes would be an important limiting factor of their lifetime. Therefore, thermal oxidation processes and crystallinity changes during the service of these products are of major interest in durability studies. The potential interference of carbon-based materials with the oxidation and ageing of polymer matrix shall be known in order to correctly estimate the durability of such materials. The effect of radiation exposure is studied taking into account the potential use of such materials in radiation environments. In this work, the activation energies of some initial, unaged and aged products at elevated temperatures are compared in order to characterize the effect of thermo-oxidative ageing and hence to evaluate their durability. The effect of some antioxidants is also discussed. The crystallinity, calculated from DSC was used for evaluation of the physical changes induced within the aged materials, following the procedures described in previous work. FTIR-ATR technique was used for characterization of chemical changes induced by ageing.
Evaluating possible intraspecific variation in resistance of western hemlock (Pinaceae) toAdelges tsugae(Hemiptera: Adelgidae)
Authors: Rose Alexander , Ross Darrell W. , Wallin Kimberly F.
Published: October 2019

Western hemlock,Tsuga heterophylla(Rafinesque) Sargent (Pinaceae), trees growing in a clonal, commercial seed orchard on Whidbey Island, Washington, United States of America were assessed forAdelges tsugae(Annand) (Hemiptera: Adelgidae) infestation levels to determine whether there was any evidence of resistance to this herbivore. Join-count statistics revealed thatA. tsugaeinfested trees were not clumped, but instead were randomly distributed throughout the seed orchard. Chi-square analyses suggested that there is a genetic basis for different levels ofA. tsugaeinfestation among the genets represented in the orchard. However, since none of the genets were completely free ofA. tsugaeinfestation, differences among genets seem to be related more to susceptibility or tolerance than complete resistance. Among the 17 genets that had five or more ramets in the seed orchard, only one had more than one ramet free ofA. tsugae. That genet had four of five ramets that were free ofA. tsugae. However, it is not possible to say whether that was due to chance or inherent tree characteristics that make it less susceptible toA. tsugaeinfestation.
Topical Adjuvant Application during Subcutaneous Vaccination Promotes Resident Memory T Cell Generation
Authors: Lai Jacqueline C. Y. , Cheng Wing Ki , Hopkins Patrick D. , Komba Mitsuhiro , Carlow Douglas A. , Dutz Jan P.
Published: October 2019

Skin tissue resident memory T cells (TRM) provide superior protection to a second infection. In this study, we evaluated the use of topical CpG oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) as adjuvant to generate skin TRM in mice. Topical or s.c. CpG ODN adjuvant administration at the time of a s.c. Ag injection led to an accumulation of CD103− CD8 T cells in the epidermis. However, only mice with CpG ODN administered topically had significant numbers of CD103+ Ag-specific CD8 T cells persisting in the local epidermal skin, enhanced circulating memory cells in the blood, and showed protection from intradermal challenge with melanoma cells. Generation of Ag-specific CD8 T cells was dependent on TLR9 expression on hematopoietic cells and partially dependent on receptor expression on stromal cells. Topical challenge of immunized mice at a distal site led to significant expansion of Ag-specific T cells in the blood and accumulation in the challenged skin. We demonstrate that local and systemic T cell memory can be generated with topical CpG ODN at the time of s.c. immunization, suggesting a new method of enhancing current vaccine formulations to generate tissue TRM.
IL-36γ Is a Key Regulator of Neutrophil Infiltration in the Vaginal Microenvironment and Limits Neuroinvasion in Genital HSV-2 Infection
Authors: Gardner Jameson K. , Swaims-Kohlmeier Alison , Herbst-Kralovetz Melissa M.
Published: October 2019

HSV-2 is a neurotropic virus that causes a persistent, lifelong infection that increases risk for other sexually transmitted infections. The vaginal epithelium is the first line of defense against HSV-2 and coordinates the immune response through the secretion of immune mediators, including the proinflammatory cytokine IL-36γ. Previously, we showed that IL-36γ treatment promoted transient polymorphonuclear cell infiltration to the vaginal cavity and protected against lethal HSV-2 challenge. In this report, we reveal that IL-36γ specifically induces transient neutrophil infiltration but does not impact monocyte and macrophage recruitment. Using IL-36γ−/− mice in a lethal HSV-2 challenge model, we show that neutrophil counts are significantly reduced at 1 and 2 d postinfection and that KC-mediated mature neutrophil recruitment is impaired in IL-36γ−/− mice. Additionally, IL-36γ−/− mice develop genital disease more rapidly, have significantly reduced survival time, and exhibit an increased incidence of hind limb paralysis that is linked to productive HSV-2 infection in the brain stem. IL-36γ−/− mice also exhibit a significant delay in clearance of the virus from the vaginal epithelium and a more rapid spread of HSV-2 to the spinal cord, bladder, and colon. We further show that the decreased survival time and increased virus spread observed in IL-36γ−/− mice are not neutrophil-dependent, suggesting that IL-36γ may function to limit HSV-2 spread in the nervous system. Ultimately, we demonstrate that IL-36γ is a key regulator of neutrophil recruitment in the vaginal microenvironment and may function to limit HSV-2 neuroinvasion.
Green tea catechins for chemoprevention of prostate cancer in patients with histologically-proven HG-PIN or ASAP. Concise review and meta-analysis
Authors: Perletti Gianpaolo , Magri Vittorio , Vral Anne , Stamatiou Konstantinos , Trinchieri Alberto
Published: October 2019

A focused, single outcome meta-analysis on the protective role of extracts of green tea catechins against prostate cancer. Randomized, placebo-controlled studies enrolling patients with a histologically confirmed diagnosis of high-grade Prostate Intraepithelial Neoplasia or Atypical Small Acinar proliferation but no prostate cancer were included. Meta-analysis for binary data was performed using Mantel-Haenszel statistics, using a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was investigated by calculating the I2. Four studies matched the inclusion criteria for the review. The pooled population was 223 patients; 114 and 109 patients were randomized to catechin and placebo groups, respectively. Nine cases of prstate cancer occurred in the catechin arm (7.9%), and 24 cases were reported in the placebo arm (22%). Pooled analysis resulted in a significant reduction of cancer risk in favor of the catechin arm (risk-ratio = 0.41; 95% CI: 0.19- 0.86; I2 = 0). In conclusion, our data suggest that the intake of concentrated green tea catechin preparations may confer a significant protective effect to carriers of early neoplastic lesions in the prostate. The quality of the evidence is moderate, and additional, largescale studies are warranted to substantiate these preliminary findings.
Chronic prostatic infection: Microbiological findings in two Mediterranean populations
Authors: Stamatiou Konstantinos , Magri Vittorio , Perletti Gianpaolo , Papadouli Vaia , Recleiti Nectaria , Mamali Vassiliki , Zarkotou Olympia
Published: October 2019

Introduction/Aim: Despite accumulated knowledge, several microbiological aspects of chronic bacterial prostatitis (CBP) remain uncertain. The aim of our study was to determine microbiological characteristics on our CBP population. Materials: The material of this retrospective study consisted in bacterial isolates from urine and/or prostatic secretions or sperm cultures (total ejaculate) obtained from individuals with prostatitis symptoms and from patients with febrile relapses of CBP visiting our department, from 03/2009 to 03/2015. Retrospective data from an Italian single-center database (years 2009-2015) were also collected for a tentative comparison of pathogen prevalence between chronic bacterial prostatitis cases assessed in Greece and Italy. Results: A total of 389 bacterial isolates obtained from eligible Greek patients constituted the material of the study. While E coli was the most frequent individual pathogen, Gram-positive species were overly more frequent than Gram-negative. Besides the high frequency of E. coli and E. faecalis isolates the most remarkable similarity between Greek and Italian databases was the wide array of different Gram-positive and Gram-negative species isolated from CBP patients. Conclusions: In Greece, the incidence of CBP is possibly higher than that reported in international surveys. Similarities between Greek and Italian databases suggest geographical trends in CBP epidemiology.