bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Global Crop Value Chains: Shifts and Challenges in South-North Relations
Authors: Nier Stefan , Klein Oliver , Tamásy Christine
Published: March 2019

The worldwide importance of crop production is undisputed due to its function for basic nutrition of billions of people. Yet, the emergence of global forces implies severe consequences for the organization of crop value chains. These forces particularly include processes of liberalization and deregulation, the dominance of large retail groups as well as ever-changing consumer demands, leading to continuous reconfigurations of crop value chains. Based on a literature review, this paper aims at thematically ‘organizing’ and differentiating the key findings of relevant empirical studies on global crop value chains, with a particular focus on South-North relations. Thereby, current shifts and challenges are identified and analysed with special attention paid to spatio-relational dimensions. The spatial perspective is important since crop value chains both shape and are shaped by specific geographical settings which is, among others, considered in the growing literature on food geographies. Overall, we could extract three strands of literature on global crop value chains: the integration of smallholders; the role of food standards; and the effect of ‘hidden’ dynamics. These issues especially reveal the interdependencies between the Global South and the Global North as a crucial feature of contemporary crop production and distribution systems. These are A further outcome of the literature analysis is the derivation of suggestions regarding future research and areas of needed progress.
On the Environmental and Social Sustainability of Technological Innovations in Urban Bus Transport: The EU Case
Authors: López Cristina , Ruíz-Benítez Rocío , Vargas-Machuca Carmen
Published: March 2019

Logistics in urban areas are currently suffering a radical transformation due to increasing population concentration and the massive use of cars as the preferred transport mode. These issues have resulted in higher pollution levels in urban environments and traffic congestion, impacting the world globally. Facilitating the use of sustainable transport modes is widely regarded as a necessity to cope with these adverse effects on citizens’ life quality. Hence, some regions, such as the European Union, are encouraging bus transport firms to make their business models more environmentally and socially sustainable. The aim of this research is thus to explore how technological innovations adopted by urban bus companies can improve cities’ sustainability. With this in mind, a combined Importance Performance Analysis (IPA)–Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was applied. In this way, their environmental and social sustainability effects were separately represented through hierarchical structures. Subsequently, the importance and performance ratings of technological innovations in each sustainability dimension were estimated, and thus two IPA grids were generated. These grids support managers in the establishment of more effective action plans to improve logistics sustainability in cities. The findings also provide guidance to governments on the technological innovations that should be promoted in future urban mobility plans.
How Product Attributes and Consumer Characteristics Influence the WTP, Resulting in a Higher Price Premium for Organic Wine
Authors: Mauracher Christine , Procidano Isabella , Valentini Marco
Published: March 2019

Sustainable production systems have become a relevant issue for consumers in the wine industry. Several studies have revealed that consumers are increasingly interested in organic wine and have attempted to estimate the price premium that consumers would have to pay for this ‘new’ product. The aim of this paper is to assess the role of organic attributes in driving consumer choice, and how consumer socio-demographic characteristics influence the price premium for organic wine. An on-line survey was administrated among Italian wine consumers (N = 317) and an ordinal logistic regression model, based on cumulative probability distribution, was estimated. The results show important differences in the Willingness to Pay (WTP) between different market segments. Younger people have a more positive attitude towards wine with sustainable characteristics, and we found that consumers aged under 50 have a higher WTP. Price is another attribute that affects preferences for organic wine: consumers that state that price is a very important factor in the choice of a bottle are less willing to pay for organic wine. Consumers characterized by a low consumption frequency have a higher WTP for organic wine.
Adoption Intention of Fintech Services for Bank Users: An Empirical Examination with an Extended Technology Acceptance Model
Authors: Hu Zhongqing , Ding Shuai , Li Shizheng , Chen Luting , Yang Shanlin
Published: March 2019

Along with the development of Fintech, many scholars have studied how information technology is applied to financial services with a focus on extended methods for application. Few scholars have studied the influence mechanism behind the adoption of Fintech services. This paper proposes an improved technology acceptance model (TAM) that incorporates user innovativeness, government support, brand image, and perceived risk as determinants of trust to investigate how users adopt Fintech services. We designed a questionnaire, sent it to active customers of the Hefei Science and Technology Rural Commercial Bank, and obtained 387 eligible responses. We analyzed the data with a structural equation model (SEM) to test the hypotheses, including the relationships of all latent variables. The results reveal that users’ trust in Fintech services has a very significant influence on users’ attitudes for adoption. In addition, perceived ease of use and perceived risk does not affect users’ attitudes toward the adoption regarding Fintech services. This study contributes to the literature of the adoption of Fintech services by providing a more comprehensive view of the determinants of users’ attitudes by combining trust of Fintech services with TAM.
Upper Bound of the Third Hankel Determinant for a Subclass of q-Starlike Functions
Authors: Mahmood Shahid , Srivastava Hari M. , Khan Nazar , Ahmad Qazi Zahoor , Khan Bilal , Ali Irfan
Published: March 2019

The main purpose of this article is to find the upper bound of the third Hankel determinant for a family of q-starlike functions which are associated with the Ruscheweyh-type q-derivative operator. The work is motivated by several special cases and consequences of our main results, which are pointed out herein.
Improved Parallax Image Stitching Algorithm Based on Feature Block
Authors: Shi Huaitao , Guo Lei , Tan Shuai , Li Gang , Sun Jie
Published: March 2019

Image stitching aims at generating high-quality panoramas with the lowest computational cost. In this paper, we present an improved parallax image-stitching algorithm using feature blocks (PIFB), which achieves a more accurate alignment and faster calculation speed. First, each image is divided into feature blocks using an improved fuzzy C-Means (FCM) algorithm, and the characteristic descriptor of each feature block is extracted using scale invariant feature transform (SIFT). The feature matching block of the reference image and the target image are matched and then determined, and the image is pre-registered using the homography calculated by the feature points in the feature block. Finally, the overlapping area is optimized to avoid ghosting and shape distortion. The improved algorithm considering pre-blocking and block stitching effectively reduced the iterative process of feature point matching and homography calculation. More importantly, the problem that the calculated homography matrix was not global has been solved. Ghosting and shape warping are significantly eliminated by re-optimizing the overlap of the image. The performance of the proposed approach is demonstrated using several challenging cases.
Application of MCDM Methods in Sustainability Engineering: A Literature Review 2008–2018
Authors: Stojčić Mirko , Zavadskas Edmundas Kazimieras , Pamučar Dragan , Stević Željko , Mardani Abbas
Published: March 2019

Sustainability is one of the main challenges of the recent decades. In this regard, several prior studies have used different techniques and approaches for solving this problem in the field of sustainability engineering. Multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) is an important technique that presents a systematic approach for helping decisionmakers in this field. The main goal of this paper is to review the literature concerning the application of MCDM methods in the field of sustainable engineering. The Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection Database was chosen to identify 108 papers in the period of 2008–2018. The selected papers were classified into five categories, including construction and infrastructure, supply chains, transport and logistics, energy, and other. In addition, the articles were classified based on author, year, application area, study objective and problem, applied methods, number of published papers, and name of the journal. The results of this paper show that sustainable engineering is an area that is quite suitable for the use of MCDM. It can be concluded that most of the methods used in sustainable engineering are based on traditional approaches with a noticeable trend towards applying the theory of uncertainty, such as fuzzy, grey, rough, and neutrosophic theory.
Research of SWNMF with New Iteration Rules for Facial Feature Extraction and Recognition
Authors: Zhou Jing
Published: March 2019

Weighted nonnegative matrix factorization (WNMF) is a technology for feature extraction, which can extract the feature of face dataset, and then the feature can be recognized by the classifier. To improve the performance of WNMF for feature extraction, a new iteration rule is proposed in this paper. Meanwhile, the base matrix U is sparse based on the threshold, and the new method is named sparse weighted nonnegative matrix factorization (SWNMF). The new iteration rules are based on the smaller iteration steps, thus, the search is more precise, therefore, the recognition rate can be improved. In addition, the sparse method based on the threshold is adopted to update the base matrix U, which can make the extracted feature more sparse and concentrate, and then easier to recognize. The SWNMF method is applied on the ORL and JAFEE datasets, and from the experiment results we can find that the recognition rates are improved extensively based on the new iteration rules proposed in this paper. The recognition rate of new SWNMF method reached 98% for ORL face database and 100% for JAFEE face database, respectively, which are higher than the PCA method, the sparse nonnegative matrix factorization (SNMF) method, the convex non-negative matrix factorization (CNMF) method and multi-layer NMF method.
Naja mossambica mossambica Cobra Cardiotoxin Targets Mitochondria to Disrupt Mitochondrial Membrane Structure and Function
Authors: Zhang Boris , Li Feng , Chen Zhengyao , Shrivastava Indira H. , Gasanoff Edward S. , Dagda Ruben K.
Published: March 2019

Cobra venom cardiotoxins (CVCs) can translocate to mitochondria to promote apoptosis by eliciting mitochondrial dysfunction. However, the molecular mechanism(s) by which CVCs are selectively targeted to the mitochondrion to disrupt mitochondrial function remains to be elucidated. By studying cardiotoxin from Naja mossambica mossambica cobra (cardiotoxin VII4), a basic three-fingered S-type cardiotoxin, we hypothesized that cardiotoxin VII4 binds to cardiolipin (CL) in mitochondria to alter mitochondrial structure/function and promote neurotoxicity. By performing confocal analysis, we observed that red-fluorescently tagged cardiotoxin rapidly translocates to mitochondria in mouse primary cortical neurons and in human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells to promote aberrant mitochondrial fragmentation, a decline in oxidative phosphorylation, and decreased energy production. In addition, by employing electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and protein nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy and phosphorescence quenching of erythrosine in model membranes, our compiled biophysical data show that cardiotoxin VII4 binds to anionic CL, but not to zwitterionic phosphatidylcholine (PC), to increase the permeability and formation of non-bilayer structures in CL-enriched membranes that biochemically mimic the outer and inner mitochondrial membranes. Finally, molecular dynamics simulations and in silico docking studies identified CL binding sites in cardiotoxin VII4 and revealed a molecular mechanism by which cardiotoxin VII4 interacts with CL and PC to bind and penetrate mitochondrial membranes.
Educational Material about Influenza Viruses
Authors: Lakdawala Seema S. , Nair Naina , Hutchinson Edward
Published: March 2019

To supplement a special edition of the journal Viruses, entitled “What’s New with Flu?”, influenza virus researchers have worked together to generate simple educational material to communicate their science to school students. Educational materials suitable for a range of ages are included, from coloring exercises for younger students through to explanations of cutting-edge science in straightforward language for older students. This article contains a handout with influenza facts, a coloring page, a glossary and word find and a connect-the-dots exercise explaining the ideas behind recently published scientific papers. Together, these materials are intended to make research on influenza viruses more accessible to students and teachers.
Forensic Hydrology Reveals Why Groundwater Tables in The Province of Noord Brabant (The Netherlands) Dropped More Than Expected
Authors: Witte Jan-Philip M. , Zaadnoordijk Willem Jan , Buyse Jan Jaap
Published: March 2019

Since the nineteen fifties, groundwater levels in the Netherlands dropped more than as simulated by hydrological models. In the rural sandy part of the Netherlands, the difference amounts to approximately 0.3 m on average. The answer to the question of what or who caused this ‘background decline’ of groundwater tables may have juridical and financial consequences, especially since Dutch farmers are entitled to financial compensation for crop damage caused by groundwater abstractions. In our forensic study, we investigated how anthropogenic changes in groundwater recharge from 1950 to 2010 affected groundwater levels. In this period, crop yields in agriculture have risen sharply, and, because crop water use is proportionate to crop production, this led to more crop evapotranspiration and subsequently less groundwater recharge. Urban expansion and forestation has also led to a decrease in groundwater recharge. We showed that these changes in recharge may have caused a decline of groundwater of 0.2–0.3 m over 60 years (1950–2010). The simulated drawdown caused by groundwater abstractions appeared to depend on the amount of groundwater recharge related to land use and crop yield. This means that to properly evaluate the effects of a particular groundwater abstraction, one should account for the hydrological history of the landscape since the start of that abstraction.
Recharge of River Water to Karst Aquifer Determined by Hydrogeochemistry and Stable Isotopes
Authors: Guo Yi , Qin Dajun , Sun Jie , Li Lu , Li Fulin , Huang Jiwen
Published: March 2019

The Jinan Karst Spring System in Shandong province, China, has suffered to maintain groundwater level and spring flowing for decades. Recharge of river water to karst aquifer in Jinan is important for the outflowing of four large karst springs in the city center. Field investigations were conducted for two times in May and October, 2015, respectively and water samples were collected for hydrogeochemical and isotopic measurements. Results showed that (a) the water type was predominantly Ca-HCO3-SO4 for karst groundwater, and Ca-Mg-SO4 for river water; (b) the concentration of HCO3− and NO3− in karst groundwater were higher than that in river water, in contrast, the concentration of SO42− and K+ in karst groundwater were lower than that in river water; (c) the δ2H and δ18O values with average of −51.2‰ and −6.6‰ for river water is more enriched than the values in groundwater samples (−59.1‰ and −8.3‰), in that river experienced evaporation in the upstream reservoir; (d) Based on the distribution pattern of δ18O, groundwater near river bank was found to be recharged from river water and found a preferential flow path in karst aquifer situated from Dongkema to Manzizhuang near the river bank. This study provides useful information for understanding of the hydraulic connection between river water and karst aquifer, and benefit the protection and management of water resources.
Effects of No-Tillage and Conventional Tillage on Physical and Hydraulic Properties of Fine Textured Soils under Winter Wheat
Authors: Castellini Mirko , Fornaro Francesco , Garofalo Pasquale , Giglio Luisa , Rinaldi Michele , Ventrella Domenico , Vitti Carolina , Vonella Alessandro Vittorio
Published: March 2019

The conversion from conventional tillage (CT) to no-tillage (NT) of the soil is often suggested for positive long-term effects on several physical and hydraulic soil properties. In fact, although shortly after the conversion a worsening of the soil may occur, this transition should evolve in a progressive improvement of soil properties. Therefore, investigations aiming at evaluating the effects of NT on porous media are advisable, since such information may be relevant to better address the farmers’ choices to this specific soil conservation management strategy. In this investigation, innovative and standard methods were applied to compare CT and NT on two farms where the conversion took place 6 or 24 years ago, respectively. Regardless of the investigated farm, results showed negligible differences in cumulative infiltration or infiltration rate, soil sorptivity, saturated hydraulic conductivity, conductive pores size, or hydraulic conductivity functions. Since relatively small discrepancies were also highlighted in terms of bulk density or soil organic carbon, it was possible to conclude that NT did not have a negative impact on the main physical and hydraulic properties of investigated clay soils. However, a significantly higher number of small pores was detected under long-term NT compared to CT, so we concluded that the former soil was a more conductive pore system, i.e., consisting of numerous relatively smaller pores but continuous and better interconnected. Based on measured capacity-based indicators (macroporosity, air capacity, relative field capacity, plant available water capacity), NT always showed a more appropriate proportion of water and air in the soil.
Integration of Isotopic (2H and 18O) and Geophysical Applications to Define a Groundwater Conceptual Model in Semiarid Regions
Authors: Anuard Pacheco-Guerrero , Julián González-Trinidad , Hugo Júnez-Ferreira , Carlos Bautista-Capetillo , Arturo Hernández-Antonio , Edith Olmos-Trujillo , Claudia Ávila-Sandoval
Published: March 2019

One-third of the global population depends on groundwater for drinking, which is an even larger proportion for arid regions. The integration of isotopic and geophysical applications has been very useful in understanding the process of groundwater recharge. The aim of this study is to define a conceptual model that describes groundwater functions within an aquifer located in a semi-arid region by identifying recharge patterns based on the isotopic characteristics of: Rainfall, surface water, shallow and deep groundwater, and incorporating regional geophysical data. We demonstrated that rainfall was affected by sub-cloud evaporation and altitude. Shallow and deep modern groundwater samples were clustered and exhibited similar evolution from rainfall. However, different groups recharged from different precipitation sources compared to the local one. In the current study, we analyzed the isotopic evolution of deep groundwater over a 10-year period, which was mainly affected by the incorporation of different flows with different isotopic signatures and the hydrodynamics of the area. We performed two geoelectrical sections in the study area to improve the understanding of the hydrogeological setting and water movement patterns. The new conceptual model should help stakeholders in the context of water management policies for the study area.
How to Enhance the Role of Science in European Union Policy Making and Implementation: The Case of Agricultural Impacts on Drinking Water Quality
Authors: Glavan Matjaž , Železnikar Špela , Velthof Gerard , Boekhold Sandra , Langaas Sindre , Pintar Marina
Published: March 2019

Throughout the European Union (EU), high concentrations of nitrates and pesticides are among the major polluting components of drinking water and have potential long-term impacts on the environment and human health. Many research projects co-funded by the European Commission have been carried out, but the results often do not influence policy making and implementation to the extent that is duly justified. This paper assesses several issues and barriers that weaken the role of science in EU policy making and EU policy implementation in the case of agricultural impacts on drinking water quality. It then proposes improvements and solutions to strengthen the role of science in this process. The analysis is conceptual but supported empirically by a desk study, a workshop, and complementary individual interviews, mostly with representatives of organizations working at the EU level. The results indicate that perceived barriers are mostly observed on the national or regional level and are connected with a lack of political will, scarce instruction on the legislation implementation process, and a lack of funding opportunities for science to be included in policy making and further EU policy implementation. In response to that, we suggest translating scientific knowledge on technological, practical or environmental changes and using dissemination techniques for specific audiences and in local languages. Further, the relationship between data, information and decision making needs to change by implementing monitoring in real-time, which will allow for the quick adaptation of strategies. In addition, we suggest project clustering (science, policy, stakeholders, and citizens) to make science and research more connected to current policy challenges and stakeholder needs along with citizen involvement with an aim of establishing sustainable long-term relationships and communication flows.
Generating Scenarios of Cross-Correlated Demands for Modelling Water Distribution Networks
Authors: Magini Roberto , Boniforti Maria Antonietta , Guercio Roberto
Published: March 2019

A numerical approach for generating a limited number of water demand scenarios and estimating their occurrence probabilities in a water distribution network (WDN) is proposed. This approach makes use of the demand scaling laws in order to consider the natural variability and spatial correlation of nodal consumption. The scaling laws are employed to determine the statistics of nodal consumption as a function of the number of users and the main statistical features of the unitary user’s demand. Besides, consumption at each node is considered to follow a Gamma probability distribution. A high number of groups of cross-correlated demands, i.e., scenarios, for the entire network were generated using Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) and the numerical procedure proposed by Iman and Conover. The Kantorovich distance is used to reduce the number of scenarios and estimate their corresponding probabilities, while keeping the statistical information on nodal consumptions. By hydraulic simulation, the whole number of generated demand scenarios was used to obtain a corresponding number of pressure scenarios on which the same reduction procedure was applied. The probabilities of the reduced scenarios of pressure were compared with the corresponding probabilities of demand.
A Model-Based Engineering Methodology and Architecture for Resilience in Systems-of-Systems: A Case of Water Supply Resilience to Flooding
Authors: Joannou Demetrios , Kalawsky Roy , Saravi Sara , Rivas Casado Monica , Fu Guangtao , Meng Fanlin
Published: March 2019

There is a clear and evident requirement for a conscious effort to be made towards a resilient water system-of-systems (SoS) within the UK, in terms of both supply and flooding. The impact of flooding goes beyond the immediately obvious socio-aspects of disruption, cascading and affecting a wide range of connected systems. The issues caused by flooding need to be treated in a fashion which adopts an SoS approach to evaluate the risks associated with interconnected systems and to assess resilience against flooding from various perspectives. Changes in climate result in deviations in frequency and intensity of precipitation; variations in annual patterns make planning and management for resilience more challenging. This article presents a verified model-based system engineering methodology for decision-makers in the water sector to holistically, and systematically implement resilience within the water context, specifically focusing on effects of flooding on water supply. A novel resilience viewpoint has been created which is solely focused on the resilience aspects of architecture that is presented within this paper. Systems architecture modelling forms the basis of the methodology and includes an innovative resilience viewpoint to help evaluate current SoS resilience, and to design for future resilient states. Architecting for resilience, and subsequently simulating designs, is seen as the solution to successfully ensuring system performance does not suffer, and systems continue to function at the desired levels of operability. The case study presented within this paper demonstrates the application of the SoS resilience methodology on water supply networks in times of flooding, highlighting how such a methodology can be used for approaching resilience in the water sector from an SoS perspective. The methodology highlights where resilience improvements are necessary and also provides a process where architecture solutions can be proposed and tested.
Four new corticioid species in Trechisporales (Basidiomycota) from East Asia and notes on phylogeny of the order
Authors: Liu Shi-Liang , Ma Hai-Xia , He Shuang-Hui , Dai Yu-Cheng
Published: March 2019

Four new species in Trechisporales from East Asia, Dextrinocystiscalamicola, Subulicystidiumacerosum, S.tropicum and Tubuliciumbambusicola, are described and illustrated, based on morphological and molecular evidence. The phylogeny of Trechisporales was inferred from a combined dataset of ITS-nrLSU sequences. In the phylogenetic tree, Sistotremastrum formed a family-level clade of its own, sister to the Hydnodontaceae clade formed by all other genera. Dextrinocystis, is for the first time, confirmed as a member of Hydnodontaceae. A key to all the accepted genera in Trechisporales is given.
First record of the genus Fagineura Vikberg & Zinovjev (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae) with descriptions of two new species from China
Authors: Liu Mengmeng , Li Zejian , Wei Meicai
Published: March 2019

Fagineura Vikberg & Zinovjev, 2000 is recorded from China for the first time. Two species of Fagineura are described as new, F.flactoserrulasp. n. and F.xanthosomasp. n. A key to the species of Fagineura worldwide is provided, now including four species. In addition, a simple phylogenetic analysis of Fagineura species is provided, based on sequences of the COI and NaK genes.
Social Disparities in Health Literacy in the United States
Authors: Fleary Sasha A. , Ettienne Reynolette
Published: March 2019

Health literacy has been identified as a contributor to both health disparities and social determinants of health. There is significant overlap in demographic characteristics of those who are at risk for health disparities and low health literacy. This study expanded the research on health literacy and disparities by quantifying the social disparities within health literacy using a relatively new methodology. We analyzed data from the 2013 Health Information National Trends Survey (
N
= 1,675). The Extended Gastwirth Index was used to determine the disparities in health literacy. Participants who were female, age 18 to 34 years, White, highly educated (postbaccalaureate), and with incomes ≥$200,000 had the highest health literacy and served as the reference groups. Males, age 35 to 49 years, who had high school graduates, and people who were Hispanic and with incomes between $50,000 and $74,999 had the highest disparities in health literacy. Income (∼30%) and education (∼37%) were the highest contributors to overall disparities in health literacy, whereas sex (∼3%) was the lowest contributor. The overwhelming contribution of income and education to disparities in health literacy and the range of disparities within these demographic characteristics highlight populations that could benefit from tailored interventions to improve their health literacy.

[
HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice
. 2019;3(1):e47–e52.]
Estudio de la dinámica sedimentaria de la Laguna costera del Sur de Túnez (Túnez, Mar Mediterráneo)
Authors: Abidi M. , Ben Amor R. , Gueddari M.
Published: March 2019

La laguna sur de Túnez, una laguna costera mediterránea poco profunda, se sometió a importantes trabajos de restauración durante el período 1998-2001, lo que ha llevado a cambios estructurales y funcionales de este ecosistema costero. En este trabajo se presenta un estudio integral de dinámica sedimentaria basado en datos hidrodinámicos, análisis granulométrico, mineralogía y evaluación de impacto. El proyecto de restauración, especialmente el establecimiento de la puerta de entrada de los canales de Rades y Túnez, impuso una dirección de flujo de agua este-oeste controlando la clasificación local de sedimentos. El análisis de tamaño de grano del sedimento superficial muestra que el fondo de la laguna está revestido por sedimentos finos (
L’image de la mer dans la peinture valencienne du XIXe siècle
Authors: Ferrer Montoliu Esther
Published: March 2019

L’objet de ce travail est d’offrir une nouvelle proposition théorique d’interprétation de l’image de la mer dans la peinture. Il se réfère particulièrement au contexte pictural valencien du XIXe siècle avec l’ambition de servir de modèle à d’autres périodes et aires culturelles. La réflexion se base pour l’essentiel sur la phénoménologie de Gaston Bachelard et de Maurice Merleau-Ponty et sur la théorie de l’imaginaire de Gilbert Durand. L’analyse a déterminé une grille de lecture des valeurs et des rapports qui confèrent une matérialité esthétique à la mer, identifiés par les composants essentiels à son image, à savoir la couleur, le son, le mouvement et l’infini, ainsi que les composants secondaires, résultat de son interaction avec d’autres éléments de la nature
De la mémoire souvenir à la mémoire originaire
Authors: Heredia Martine
Published: March 2019

Alors que, généralement, les tableaux de Millares renvoient une image insaisissable, les dessins sur papier de la série Mussolini nous mettent en présence d’images, au sens où on l’entend communément. Orienté par le titre, l’observateur continue de reconnaître, plus ou moins, les traits distordus d’un corps. Il s’agit ici de montrer que, quel que soit le support, les motivations de la démarche créatrice de Millares sont les mêmes : l’œil est invité à regarder moins ce que l’image représente que ce qu’elle produit. Ici, se joue un combat avec la figure qui rejoint celui de la matière, partant du même projet de donner forme à l’informe. L’image de Millares n’est pas chose passive, emmagasinée dans la mémoire, mais bien un intermédiaire entre souvenir et imagination créatrice. En puisant dans la mémoire collective, que le geste permet d’actualiser, Millares cherche à retourner à une expérience primordiale, où se trouve l’image originelle qui va nourrir sa création.Mientras que, por lo general, los cuadros de Millares presentan una imagen indefinible, los dibujos sobre papel de la serie Mussolini nos ponen en presencia de imágenes, en el sentido común de la palabra. Orientado por el título, el observador sigue reconociendo, más o menos, las formas retorcidas de un cuerpo. Me propongo mostrar que, cualquiera que sea el soporte, las motivaciones del proceso creador de Millares son las mismas: se invita al ojo a mirar menos lo que la imagen representa que lo que produce. Aquí, ocurre un combate con la figura que remite al de la materia, y que parte del mismo proyecto de dar forma a lo informe. La imagen de Millares no es cosa pasiva, almacenada en la memoria, sino un intermediario entre memoria e imaginación creadora. Sumiéndose en la memoria colectiva, que el gesto permite actualizar, Millares trata de volver a una experiencia primordial, en la cual se encuentra la imagen original que va a alimentar su creación.
Lorca et Goya
Authors: Amselem Line
Published: March 2019

En el romance « Reyerta » de Federico García Lorca percibimos varias referencias goyescas que no han sido analizadas como tales. Quisimos estudiar la legitimidad de un análisis comparativo entre obra poética y pictórica partiendo de una intuición de lectora/espectadora. Acabamos encontrando un conjunto de indicios más concretos que imaginarios, pues la redacción de « Reyerta » parece estrechamente relacionada con el contexto de celebración en 1927-28 del centenario de la muerte de Goya y con la escritura del primer guión cinematográfico de Luis Buñuel dedicado al pintor aragonés, que nunca llegó a rodarse.
La mémoire de la peur dans La teta asustada de Claudia Llosa
Authors: Benevent Gonzalez Silvina
Published: March 2019

El acontecimiento histórico es central en la segunda película de la peruana Claudia Llosa: La teta asustada (2009). Evoca el conflicto sangriento que arrasó Perú entre los años 80 y los 90. De antemano, el título señala las violencias y los terrores producidos por el grupo terrorista del Sendero Luminoso. En efecto, la historia de la protagonista Fausta se cristaliza en el recuerdo de la violación de la madre. Nos centraremos en una primera parte en las imágenes mentales nacidas de tal trauma que se transmite por la leche, según el imaginario quechua. La segunda parte tratará de las modalidades de transmisión del miedo cuando el cuerpo de Fausta funciona a modo de médium entre el acontecimiento y la historia individual. No obstante, el encuentro con el Otro es decir el protagonista marcará un proceso catártico que analizaremos en la última parte. La superación del trauma supone pues un equilibrio entre lo imaginario y lo simbólico, entre lo reprimido y lo dicho.
Optimising Tertiary Student Accommodation within University Neighbourhoods
Authors: Ike Nnenna , Baldwin Claudia , Lathouras Athena
Published: March 2019

Tertiary students’ activities within neighbourhoods adjacent to universities engender positive and negative impacts that have consequences for neighbourhood sustainability. This might lead to studentification, a process that triggers physical, economic and socio-cultural transformation of university towns. Where non-student residents perceive negative impacts, it can lead to conflict and resentment towards the student population, mistrust between student and local resident groups and a decrease in social capital.This paper uses a case study of two neighbourhoods adjacent to a university in Australia to explore ways to integrate students within university neighbourhoods to ensure those communities remain cohesive and sustainable. Focus groups of local residents were held to elicit data and answer the research questions. We refer to social capital and community development theories of social contact and dialogue, to identify how already studentified neighbourhoods or neighbourhoods, which have not dealt with an influx of ‘others’, might apply these theories to become more sustainable.Our unique contribution suggests the use of urban planning policy approaches, including careful dispersion of purpose-built-student-accommodation (PBSA) and registration/licencing of operators of shared housing/ house(s)-in-multiple-occupation (HMOs), to optimally integrate students within university neighbourhoods and mitigate the deleterious effects of studentification.
Mitigating Gridlock: Lessons on Regional Governance from the Organization that Keeps New York Moving
Authors: Plotch Philip Mark , Nelles Jen
Published: March 2019

The literature on metropolitan governance is replete with examples of collaborative efforts that have fallen short of expectations and grim prognoses of the potential for voluntary forms of regional governance. This article analyzes something often sought, and rarely found, in American metropolitan politics: successful, effective, and sustained interjurisdictional and interagency cooperation. TRANSCOM, a non-profit transportation organization, stands out as an instance of successful collective cooperation. Operating behind the scenes in one of the world’s most politically fragmented metropolitan areas, its secret has been (a) engaging and building upon a clear and focused mission; (b) demonstrating organizational legitimacy by providing tangible benefits to members; (c) executing its mission without impinging on members’ organizational autonomy; (d) creatively tapping into available resources; (e) sustaining buy-in by developing strong relationships with members; and (f) seeking out champions and empowering decisive and strategic leadership.
Change in Use and Development of Public Squares Considering Daily Temporalities.
Authors: Cherfaoui Dounia , Djelal Nadia
Published: March 2019

Cities are constantly changing. Spatial-temporal studies are essential to understanding these changes. Notions of urban temporalities introduced in these studies reveal changes in the mobility and movement of diverse groups of users in public spaces and particularly in public squares. What are the concrete changes of uses and conflicts in public squares? What are the development approaches that consider the changes of uses and conflicts? This article explores these questions using the case of the Emir Abd El Kader Square that is a central square in Algiers. A survey was conducted in the last two weeks of May 2016, considering working and weekend days. It required the observation of users and uses in the square at different times, and questionnaires distributed among users and urban planners. This study identifies use patterns in this public square as they occur during different times of the day and week and discusses the proposed re-development and improvement of the square. The results highlight the impacts of the daily temporalities and the influence of users in changing the distribution of uses and the development of the square.
The Political Mission of Contemporary Urban Statuary. Image, History and Territorial Identity in Montpellier (France)
Authors: Viala Laurent
Published: March 2019

This paper deals with the political dimension of the urban public space. It examines the political meaning of a contemporary statuary. The research carried out in Montpellier (France) deals with three public spaces which gather most of the contemporary statues. We explore the emblematic images (or images of images) of universal, real or mythical characters as several arguments in order to overhaul a new political order in and by the urban public space. This order is read in the perspective of an historical assertion of the territorial identity of the city of Montpellier. We use some aspects of the semiotic triad (icon, index, symbol) of Charles Peirce's theory of signs. First, we consider the new mesh size of the urban public space, which is understood as the expression of a territorial personal foresight, thought by Georges Frêche, former mayor of Montpellier. Then, the obsolete civic imagery is reformulated by valuing a social imagery which takes part in an historical urban rhetoric. A triple dimensioning of the historical path of Montpellier is identified: it appears as Mediterranean, revolutionary and global. Finally, in line with the critical urban geography developed, it results in three political effects of the statuary: the first formulates new principles for public-spiritedness and civility through the citadinity; secondly, in a form of paradox, these statues tell a story about the future of the city; last, it shows how a political leader makes space a political one.
Detection of Brain Tumor in MRI Images, Using a Combination of Fuzzy C-Means and Thresholding
Authors: Hamad Yousif Ahmed , Simonov Konstantin Vasilievich , Naeem Mohammad B.
Published: March 2019

The identification, segmentation, and detection of the infected area in brain tumor is a tedious and a time-consuming task. The different structures of the human body can be visualized by an image processing concept, an MRI. It is very difficult to visualize abnormal structures of the human brain using simple imaging techniques. An MRI technique contains many imaging modalities that scan and capture the internal structure of the human brain. This article concentrates on a noise removal technique, followed by improvement of medical images for a correct diagnosis using a balance contrast enhancement technique (BCET). Then, image segmentation is used. Finally, the Canny edge detection method is applied to detect the fine edges. The experiment results achieved nearly 98% accuracy in detecting the area of the tumor and normal brain regions in MRI images demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed technique.
A Study of Networking and Information Exchange Factors Influencing User Participation in Niche Social Networking Sites
Authors: Osorio Carlos Andres , Papagiannidis Savvas
Published: March 2019

This article tests a number of networking and information exchange factors that may influence users' participation in niche social networking sites (SNS). The factors identified in the literature review as influential for participation in social networking sites were implemented in a model tested using quantitative data from 152 users. Gratifications related to socialising, self-status seeking, social support, and learning and innovativeness were identified as significant for participating in niche SNS. As only a subset of the general purpose SNS gratifications were found to be of statistical significance for niche sites, it is suggested that further research that includes a wider set of factors is necessary to determine the similarities and differences between gratifications influencing participation in general purpose and niche SNS.
Defining The Concept Of Business Model
Authors: Bagnoli Carlo , Massaro Maurizio , Dal Mas Francesca , Demartini Matteo
Published: March 2019

Business Model (BM) literature is growing with many contributions from academics and practitioners. Interestingly, despite a large number of studies focused on BM, we found a lack of consistency in the definition of what a BM is. Using content analysis, this study aims to investigate previous studies searching for a shared definition of BM. A relevance assessment allows understanding most common elements that shape BM, allowing us to draw a definition of BM. Four main dimensions are derived to define the BM: the value dimension, the modeling principles dimension, the functional dimension, the strategy dimension. Finally, results show further needs of development.
New Evolutionary Adoption Model for Innovation Diffusion
Authors: Chikouche Somia , Bouhouita-Guermech Salah Eddine , Bouziane Abderraouf , Mostefai Messaoud
Published: March 2019

The study of innovation diffusion offers an insight into its adoption by a particular community, which has attracted the attention of many researchers. However, most of proposed models do not take all the fundamental elements for simulating the diffusion process into account. The main contribution of this article is proposing an original model founded on the evolutionary algorithm. The model simulates the adoption decision as a process of gradual acceptance and focuses on the representation of (1) the innovation features (2) the individuals' heterogeneity, (3) the social network (4) the communication influence. For this purpose, different simulation scenarios were carried out using a probabilistic foundation. The results validated the model's ability to determine the earlier adopters and therefore, demonstrated an explicit diffusion pattern without the need of historical data.
The Human Resource Component and the Role of Societal Membership in the Public Administrative Organization in Pre- and Post-Colonial Sri Lanka
Authors: Bandara C.M.Y.S.S. , Dissanayake K.
Published: March 2019

Public sector management in Sri Lanka has a long history which goes centuries beyond colonial administration. With the introduction of the colonial administrative system, drastic changes were made in the traditional indigenous public management mechanism that existed in pre-colonial Sri Lanka, resulting in extensive modifications in the human resource component. Although both traditional and post-colonial societies have been researched under many aspects, attention paid on the social organization in a human resource management perspective, focusing the human resource component and the role of organizational members in the administrative effort is near to the ground. Thus, this paper aims at distinguishing the attributes of traditional and post-colonial public administrative organization of Sri Lanka, with special emphasis on its human resource component and the role of societal members in the public administrative domain. Further, this paper searches the possibilities of reframing the role of citizens in order to improve the public service in the modern era, utilizing the themes underlying the attributes of the traditional system. This, being a desk research, the secondary data gathered for it from archival sources was comprehensively reviewed and analyzed with the support of memoing and constant comparison, in order to arrive at conclusions. In the traditional system, public administration was organized extending its structure over the entire social organization and all the societal members were acknowledged as direct stakeholders of the public administrative organization, constituting its human resource. In contrast, the colonial administrative mechanism formed a separate organization consisted of officers to manage the public affairs. As a result, the societal members’ role as active members of the public administrative system diminished and the citizens became mere service receivers. Alienation of citizens from direct involvement in public services created a sense of loss of ownership which made ground for less accountability, less responsibility and less commitment in communal matters. Even though the contemporary society is quite different from the traditional context, the shared values arising out of the traditional system may open new arenas for enforcing the commitment of citizens for better management of public resources and services by increasing their involvement.