bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Value Statements in Web Pages of Turkish State Universities
Authors: Altıntaş Füsun Çınar , Kavurmacı Ceyda
Published: September 2017

Values are significant in terms of creating behavioral outcomes both at individual and organizational level. The value statements determined at the organizational level reveal the basic policies and principles that the organization would adopt and make visible for its stakeholders during its operations. Values have the quality of reflecting cultural context. Therefore, the analysis of values is suitable for making cultural elements visible. In the present study, values will be addressed in the context of higher education institutions operating in Turkey. Several studies were conducted that scrutinized the use of organizational studies and higher education institutions in conjunction. The scope of the present study included the values determined by 102 state universities in their respective strategic plans that were obtained from the Council of Higher Education (YOK) data. The objective of the present study is to identify the basic tendencies in the value statements of the universities and to investigate which expressions were frequently used, using the content analysis method.
Multisensory Brand Experiences and Brand Love
Authors: Rodrigues Clarinda
Published: September 2017

In this chapter, the author examines the most important research in the field of sensory marketing, brand equity and brand love, that has been published over the past thirty years. Firstly, the author accounts for the significance of the five senses and sensory marketing which is regarded as a new marketing paradigm for the 21st century. Secondly, brand equity is discussed as a multidimensional concept, highlighting the pivotal role of emotional and sensory associations in creating a positive brand image and strong brand equity. Thirdly, brand love is analysed as an emerging brand-relationship concept in the field of experiential consumption. Fourthly, the significance of multisensory brand experiences is discussed as a means of making brands stand out in a competitive environment and inducing feelings of love towards a brand. Finally, brand sensoriality is pointed out as central to conveying experiential brand values through multisensory brand experiences, in several encounters.
An Examination of Determinants and Consequences of Emotional Attachment for Low Cost and Premium Service Brands
Authors: Yildirim Pinar , Aydin Asli Elif , Ozfidan Jansanem Jular
Published: September 2017

The purpose of this chapter is to develop a parsimonious framework to show the relationship between emotional attachment, its antecedents as perceived quality and brand consciousness and its consequences as WOM, negative WOM, brand commitment, and brand purchase share in service industry. The chapter further aims to highlight the role of pricing on emotional attachment and investigates whether the relationship between emotional attachment and consumer response differ between a low cost and a premium brand. Structural equation modeling is used to test the proposed framework across three service industries, namely retail, airline and telecommunication. Theoretical and practical implications are provided.
Influence of Marketing Mix Decisions on Emotional Branding and Its Effect on Customer Appeal
Authors: Choudhury Rahul Gupta
Published: September 2017

Emotional branding has become a necessity for most brands today. Brand loyalty can be developed by brands only when there is an emotional connection between the brand and its consumers. This chapter deals with the nuances and meaning of emotional branding and how it appeals to consumers. There is also a lot of discussion on how the elements of the marketing mix (4Ps) help the brands to attract and retain consumer loyalty over a long period of time. Marketing mix decisions are part of the overall marketing strategy of the firm as well as the brand, and more often than not - considerable changes have to be made in order to establish an emotional connection with the consumers. Research shows that today's consumers are more experience-oriented and hence, a positive experience motivates the customer towards repeat purchase and ultimately brand loyalty. The marketing mix should then be geared to provide a great product/service/brand experience to its consumers.
A Consumer-Based Branding Process
Authors: Duman Orhan
Published: September 2017

The branding process can be classified as business- and consumer-based branding. The current study introduces a model proposal to the consumer-based branding process. The model focuses on identifying and analyzing the process between consumers' perceptual benefits and emotional brand attachment. The related process focuses on the relationship between product performance, brand preference, subjective brand knowledge, self-based brand engagement and emotional brand attachment factors. The basic assumption of the model is that a consumer first benefits on the basis of brand performance, this benefit triggers brand preference, then this preference turns into subjective brand knowledge, brand knowledge supports consumer's self-based brand engagement, and eventually leads to emotional brand attachment. The analysis is based on the assumption that the consumer performs five main factors modeled in branding perception in the chain / sequential order.
Emotional Branding as a Strategy in Promoting Customer Loyalty
Authors: Patro Chandra Sekhar , Kamakula Madhu Kishore Raghunath
Published: September 2017

In the past decade, emotional branding has been emerged as an extremely influential brand management paradigm and is widely heralded as a key dimension to marketing success. Branding of emotions focuses upon the consumer and not the product at the very forefront; it examines how brands can communicate with consumers in a more rational and humanitarian manner and affect people deeply at the varying degree of the feelings and senses. Due to the steadily growing competition in the international market, brands have become an important component. Therefore, the objective of marketers is to understand the people's emotional desires and increase the consonance of the brand personality for their brands with the self-image of their target customers. The purpose of the chapter is to recognize the potential nature of emotions in creating strong brand attachments between consumers and brands, and promote active participation as it leads to customer loyalty. It also articulates the effects of interactive features that enhance emotional branding elements in a virtual community.
Graphical User Interface for the Control of a Biped Robot
Authors: Urrea Claudio , Mac-Evoy Carlos Cortés
Published: September 2017

The design and implementation of a graphical user interface (GUI) for the control and operation of a biped robot is presented. This GUI allows establishing communication between the user, the robot and a computer (controller) so that the robot can perform bipedal walking without the need to introduce commands that are not user-friendly. The developed graphic interface permits the user to carry out tasks operating on the robot without having to resort to commands that are not easy to use. This interface was created using the MATLAB-Simulink software and it presents important advantages compared to the manual operation of a robot.
Cellulose Application in Food Industry
Authors: Osorno Diego Mauricio Sanchez , Castro Cristina
Published: September 2017

Cellulose polysaccharide is the most important component in plants with a fascinating structure and properties. Despite the origin, cellulose is a linear homopolymer of ß-(1-4)-linked D-glucopyranose units varying mainly on purity, degree of polymerization (DP) and crystallinity index. This linear stiff-chain homopolymer is characterized by its hydrophilicity, chirality, biodegradability, broad chemical modifying capacity, and its formation of versatile semicrystalline fiber morphologies. This chapter aims to show the most important applications of cellulose in food, presenting other cellulose derivatives as methylcellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, and novel cellulose forms as bacterial cellulose. New frontiers, including environmentally friendly cellulose fiber technologies for food packaging, bacterial cellulose in foodstuff and other applications as thickening agent, stabilizing agent, gelling agent, suspending agent were highlighted with future aims, strategies, and perspectives of cellulose research and its applications.
Robust Stability Self-Tuning Fuzzy PID Digital Controller
Authors: Serra Ginalber Luiz de Oliveira , Costa Edson B. M.
Published: September 2017

A self-tuning fuzzy control methodology via particle swarm optimization based on robust stability criterion, is proposed. The plant to be controlled is modeled considering a Takagi-Sugeno (TS) fuzzy structure from input-output experimental data, by using the fuzzy C-Means clustering algorithm (antecedent parameters estimation) and weighted recursive least squares (WRLS) algorithm (consequent parameters estimation), respectively. An adaptation mechanism based on particle swarm optimization is used to tune recursively the parameters of a fuzzy PID controller, from the gain and phase margins specifications. Computational results for adaptive fuzzy control of a thermal plant with time varying delay is presented to illustrate the efficiency and applicability of the proposed methodology.
An Ant-Colony-Based Meta-Heuristic Approach for Load Balancing in Cloud Computing
Authors: Dam Santanu , Mandal Gopa , Dasgupta Kousik , Dutta Parmartha
Published: September 2017

This book chapter proposes use of Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), a novel computational intelligence technique for balancing loads of virtual machine in cloud computing. Computational intelligence(CI), includes study of designing bio-inspired artificial agents for finding out probable optimal solution. So the central goal of CI can be said as, basic understanding of the principal, which helps to mimic intelligent behavior from the nature for artifact systems. Basic strands of ACO is to design an intelligent multi-agent systems imputed by the collective behavior of ants. From the perspective of operation research, it's a meta-heuristic. Cloud computing is a one of the emerging technology. It's enables applications to run on virtualized resources over the distributed environment. Despite these still some problems need to be take care, which includes load balancing. The proposed algorithm tries to balance loads and optimize the response time by distributing dynamic workload in to the entire system evenly.
Intelligent Radial Basis Function Neural Network for Intrusion Detection in Battle Field
Authors: Ganapathy Kirupa
Published: September 2017

Defense at boundary is nowadays well equipped with perimeter protection, cameras, fence sensors, radars etc. However, in battlefield there is more feasibility of entering of a non-native human and unknowing stamping of the explosives placed in the various paths by the native soldiers. There exists no alert system in the battlefield for the soldiers to identify the intruder or the explosives in the field. Therefore, there is a need for an automated intelligent intrusion detection system for battlefield monitoring. This chapter proposes an intelligent radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) technique for intrusion detection and explosive identification. The proposed intelligent RBFNN implements some intellectual components in the algorithm to make the neural network think before learning the training samples. Involvement of intellectual components makes the learning process simple, effective and efficient. The proposed technique helps to reduce false alarm and encourages timely detection thereby providing extensive support for the native soldiers and save the life of the mankind.
“Virtual Reality” Reconsidered
Authors: Benjamin Garfield
Published: September 2017

The term ‘virtual reality' is used widely in contemporary culture to evoke the false worlds of the imagination digital technology has enabled us to create. However, the term itself remains ill defined, particularly amidst recent developments in theories of virtuality and reality that have left contradictory marks on VR. The phrase ‘virtual reality' has become problematic, and is in need of a reconsideration for its continued relevance. This chapter assesses the term throughout its development and in the context of other theorisations such as cinema and cyberspace that have dominated recent digital theory. Taking the Deleuzian expansion of the Virtual and the Lacanian expansion of the Real, the chapter interrogates the constituent processes of VR to suggest a new mode of conceiving the technologies in terms of a parallax between virtual-real and physical-digital within contemporary thought, which will then be applied to a conceptual framework for digital creative practices.
Data Mining-Based CBIR System
Authors: Kohli Shruti , Gupta Vijay Shankar
Published: September 2017

Multimedia mining primarily involves information analysis and retrieval based on implicit knowledge. The ever increasing digital image databases on the internet has created a need for using multimedia mining on these databases for effective and efficient retrieval of images. Contents of an image can be expressed in different features such as Shape, Texture and Intensity-distribution (STI). Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) is the efficient retrieval of relevant images from large databases based on features extracted from the image. The emergence and proliferation of social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and other multimedia networks such as Flickr has further accelerated the need of efficient CBIR systems. Analyzing this huge amount of multimedia data to discover useful knowledge is a challenging task. Most of the existing systems either concentrate on a single representation of all features or linear combination of these features. The need of the day is New Image Mining techniques need to be explored and a self-adaptable CBIR system needs to be developed.
The Use of Eye Tracking as a Research and Instructional Tool in Multimedia Learning
Authors: Scheiter Katharina , Eitel Alexander
Published: September 2017

The present chapter summarizes the state of the art of using eye tracking in research on multimedia learning. It first provides an overview the various eye tracking parameters that have been used in this field before describing its various functions as a research tool. As a research tool eye tracking serves to test and refine assumptions regarding the process of learning with multimedia, explain the origin of individual differences in learning outcomes, gives insight into the effects of instructional interventions at a process level, and enriches other forms of assessment. In addition, more recently eye tracking has also been used to develop materials aimed at supporting multimedia learning. Thus, it also serves as an instructional tool when it used to design adaptive instruction or to model cognitive processes relevant to multimedia learning. The chapter concludes with a description of some of the challenges in using eye tracking in multimedia research.
Design Patterns for Integrating Digitally Augmented Pop-Ups With Community Engagement
Authors: Fredericks Joel , Tomitsch Martin , Stewart Laura
Published: September 2017

This article explores the opportunities of translating existing community engagement techniques into digitally augmented pop-up interventions, for on-the-spot feedback around infrastructure within the built environment. Pop-up interventions allow for more inclusive forms of community engagement through the combination of digital and physical media. The paper draws on Alexander et al.'s idea of pattern languages to put forward a set of design patterns for integrating digitally augmented pop-ups into community engagement activities. The patterns are based on a review and analysis of existing community engagement techniques, digital technologies used in urban environments, data from our own field studies and a focus group with engagement professionals. The aim of the patterns is to: (1) capture collective wisdom; (2) reuse and extend ideas; and (3) converge on designs that work for communities.
Reasoning Qualitatively about Handheld Multimedia Framework Quality Attributes
Authors: Hein Daniel , Saiedian Hossein
Published: September 2017

Today's mobile handheld devices, such as smartphones and action cameras, are well equipped for a wide range of multimedia and context-aware tasks. Such tasks can leverage traditional services like streaming audio and video as well as newer services like sensor fusion. Ubiquitous network access, coupled with an increasingly sophisticated mixture of device-based hardware and software, is enabling context-aware applications at an unprecedented rate. The objective of this chapter is to discuss specific quality attributes with respect to device-side software architectures providing these multimedia and sensor capabilities. This chapter focuses specifically on device-side client architectures rather than network or server architectures. Specific domain requirements and quality attributes are first derived through a synthesis of current research and industry trends, and subsequently analyzed. The analysis reveals some qualitative results that seem unintuitive at first glance but that become more understandable when provided with rationale relative to the handheld domain context.
Abuse of the Social Media Brain
Authors: Kohle Fritz , Raj Sony Jalarajan
Published: September 2017

Despite the criticism in the mainstream press regarding the use and abuse of digital and social media, its use has been increasingly encouraged and supported in schools and universities. This chapter examines the social media behaviour of techy-savvy undergraduate students at NHTV, University of Applied Sciences, Breda, The Netherlands, from the perspective of an independent documentary producer and educator, to determine whether any correlation between the amount of time spent online and the use of cognitive functions exists. Media producers require an audience capable of critical thought, and teachers educate future audiences to acquire the necessary cognitive skills. Hence, the chapter analyses how the viewer's cognitive functions impaired by the use of social and digital media affects the reception of media products. This further leads to a more critical concern about the educators' response to the challenges provided by social and digital media.
Digital Marketing Strategy for Affinity Marketing
Authors: Mekonnen Aster
Published: September 2017

Integration of digital marketing into overall business strategy is no longer an option, it is imperative for success. Yet, not all have tapped into this. Another opportunity that could leverage an organisation in today's competitive environment is affinity marketing. Successful implementation of affinity marketing has the potential to enhance participation, raise revenue, increase retention and provide a mutually beneficial arrangement for the partners involved. Yet, despite its appeal and the popularity it achieved in the late 1980s and early 1990s, uptake of the scheme has slowed down. Whilst some affinity partners have embraced digital marketing to an extent, most are not using it effectively to drive and sustain their affinity marketing scheme. Cognisant that affinity marketing is still a lucrative area, this chapter sets forth a digital marketing strategy for affinity marketing, e-affinity marketing, as this is where the added value for the 21st century customer is envisioned.
Potentials of Digital Assistive Technology and Special Education in Kenya
Authors: Hamidi Foad , Owuor Patrick Mbullo , Hynie Michaela , Baljko Melanie , McGrath Susan
Published: September 2017

Technology specifically designed for people with disabilities is important in lowering boundaries to education, employment and basic life needs. However, the growth of a vibrant tech sector in Kenya has had little effect on the prevalence of digital assistive technology in the country. In this chapter, the authors report on initial explorations undertaken in Kisumu, Kenya to identify existing strengths, relationships, and gaps in access to digital assistive technology. The goal was to explore opportunities for initiatives in participatory design of assistive technology, using an international community/academic partnership. Relevant literature and projects from the areas of Information and Computer Technology for Development (ICT4D), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Critical Disability Studies are reviewed and, these theories are grounded in the authors' experience working with stakeholders in the region. The conclusion discusses promising future directions for participatory and collaborative research in Kenya, and more broadly in the East African context.
Postindustrial Guidelines for Socio-Economical Reformations
Authors: Ekaterina Andreeva , Elena Kozlova
Published: September 2017

Postindustrialization today belongs to the most important criteria of national economic competitiveness and a factor which directly determines country's positioning in the world economy and international labor distribution. Under the conditions of resource potential limitedness of industrial development as such, this makes extremely actual the search for new principles and new mechanisms for accelerated postindustrial modernization. In this chapter we carry out the analysis of postindustrialization as a socioeconomic phenomenon in order to reveal the fundamental causes of its origin and the whole wide spectrum of its consequences which are supposed to transform the global economic system. We also plan to present the conceptual grounds of infrastructural and institutional provision for postindustrial modernization viewed here as a large-scale reform of a socioeconomic system of a country under the intellectualization of production relations initiated and fully supported by the state.
Cross-Regional Interactions as a Source for Innovative Reformation
Authors: Elokhova Irina V. , Dubrovskaya Julia V. , Kozonogova Elena V.
Published: September 2017

The processes of disintegration in the 90th of the last century negatively influenced the Russian Federation economic environment. Differentiation of economic activity conditions sustained essential growth. According to experts the total volume of cross-regional economic relations became 4 times lower. Practically the split of economy into export sector and sector working for home market took place. Meanwhile, the achievement of sustainable economic growth, the rise of the country' competitiveness and transfer to the innovative model of development depends directly on successful overcoming of autarkic tendencies. It requires the reform of cross-regional relations' system aimed at efficient use of territories competitive advantages both in the interests of definite regions and state in whole. Solution of the defined problems is in the competence of federal and regional authorities interested in transition of the Russian industry into the innovative setup.
Case Studies in Applying Data Mining for Churn Analysis
Authors: Lomax Susan , Vadera Sunil
Published: September 2017

The advent of price and product comparison sites now makes it even more important to retain customers and identify those that might be at risk of leaving. The use of data mining methods has been widely advocated for predicting customer churn. This paper presents two case studies that utilize decision tree learning methods to develop models for predicting churn for a software company. The first case study aims to predict churn for organizations which currently have an ongoing project, to determine if organizations are likely to continue with other projects. While the second case study presents a more traditional example, where the aim is to predict organizations likely to cease being a subscriber to a service. The case studies include presentation of the accuracy of the models using a standard methodology as well as comparing the results with what happened in practice. Both case studies show the significant savings that can be made, plus potential increase in revenue by using decision tree learning for churn analysis.
Perceived Innovation and Quick Response Codes in an Online-to-Offline E-Commerce Service Model
Authors: Lin Shinyi , Chen Shao-Chun , Chuang Shu-Hui
Published: September 2017

The prevalent consumption channel with portable devices has led to an emerging pattern of online–to-offline (O2O) purchasing behavior. By applying the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the theory of planned behavior as the theoretical framework, this study investigated consumers' perceptions toward applying quick response codes (QR codes) for shopping. Of the research sample, a total of 338 valid returns were investigated using a structural analysis with the partial least squares method. The results indicate that perceived innovation leads to greater perception of usefulness and ease of use. From the view of the TAM, the ease of QR code use does not influence the attitude of users regarding employing QR codes for shopping. The results lend support to the practical implications of the emerging O2O consuming behavior using QR codes with portable devices. Further findings and discussion are elaborated in this paper.
The Influence of Perceived Risk, Shopping Value and Opinion Leader to Explore Online Consumer Purchase Intention
Authors: Chen Yi-Fen , Tsai Chia-Wen , Lin Po-Hung
Published: September 2017

Opinion leaders play important roles in interpersonal communication. Marketers can contact the opinion leaders and reduce costs and improve overall communication efficacy by communicating effectively with them. This study investigates the opportunity of consumers becoming opinion leaders and also investigates the effects of perceived risk and shopping value on online consumer purchase intention. This study surveyed college students in northern Taiwan (59 respondents) to explore college students' online nail polish purchase intentions. This study applies social network analysis (SNA) and regression to examine hypotheses within a theoretical framework. The results showed that consumers feel a higher perceived risk and positive advice given by an opinion leader can enhance purchase intentions. The results further indicated that higher the consumers' shopping value, higher their purchase intention. The findings of the study offer sales and management professionals methods for communicating with online shoppers more effectively. Thus, in addition to marketers' focus on makeup markets above, they can also expand their vision to wider markets.
Health Consensus
Authors: Monguet J.M. , Trejo A. , Martí T. , Escarrabill J.
Published: September 2017

New tools are needed to facilitate the involvement of health professionals in healthcare participative processes, partially because a relevant segment of healthcare knowledge and decision-making is capillary distributed among them. A collaborative design strategy has been applied to the creation of an Internet tool to produce digitally adapted Delphi for healthcare purposes. During the period 2012-16 the prototype of the tool has been gradually improved through its application to 18 real cases. It is proposed the model Health Consensus as a digitally adapted Delphi supported by the various capabilities of Internet. The authors agree that Health Consensus is a useful and expandable tool for participative processes. The Internet provides several opportunities to overcome many of the limitations of conventional Delphi, as well as improving the final studies with new functionalities.
An Approach to Configuration Management of Scientific Workflows
Authors: Sirqueira Tassio Ferenzini Martins , Braga Regina , Araújo Marco Antônio P. , David José Maria N. , Campos Fernanda , Ströele Victor
Published: September 2017

A scientific software ecosystem aims to integrate all stages of an experiment and its related workflows, in order to solve complex problems. In this vein, in order to assure the experiment proper execution, any modification that occurs must be propagated to the associated workflows, which must be maintained and evolved for the successful conduction of the research. One way to ensure this control is through configuration management using data provenance. In this work, the authors use data provenance concepts and models, together with ontologies to provide an architecture for the storage and query of scientific experiment information. Considering the architecture, a proof of concept was conducted using workflows extracted from the myExperiment repository. The results are presented along the paper.
Design and Development of Real Time Patient Monitoring System with GSM Technology
Authors: Suryanarayanan Sindhu , Manmadhan Sreekala , Rakesh N.
Published: September 2017

Technology keeps evolving every second. Humans receive all the essential information with just one touch. Be it the weather forecast or ordering any grocery or communicating with one's peers, everything happens so easily and efficiently. It is undoubtedly user friendly. When the same technology associates itself with the medical equipment it becomes easier to fetch and process the patient's data in real time. It also helps to make several life-saving, spontaneous decisions for the critical care. This paper talks about the patient monitoring system. The physiological parameters of the patient are continuously monitored in real time using sensors. The data that is obtained from the sensor is then sent to an Arduino Uno microcontroller where it is analyzed. If the patient's data differs from the required threshold values, an emergency message is sent to the assigned doctor's mobile. This is done using the GSM module which is interfaced with the microcontroller. Verifying the system in software is done using Proteus.
Investigation of Ultrasonic Effect on Morphology, Optical and Growth Properties of ZnO Quantum Dots
Authors: Moghaddam Elaheh , Youzbashi Amir Ali , Kazemzadeh Asghar
Published: September 2017

Recent advances in nanomaterials have been led by new synthetic methods that provide control over size, morphology and crystal quality of materials. The present study is tried to discuss the effect of ultrasonic waves on characteristics of ZnO quantum dots by study of UV absorption, photoluminescence spectroscopy, X ray diffraction patterns, transmission electron microscopy and growth stages of two samples prepared by sonochemical and conventional methods. The results demonstrated that the quantum dots synthesized under ultrasonic waves were of smaller size with more narrow size distribution. Also, improvement of their crystal quality was inferred from investigation of visible emission intensity. The use of ultrasonic waves caused the phase purity of nanocrystals obtained by complete conversion of precursors into ZnO. Further, the study of their growth stages indicated that the rapid nucleation and nucleation growth were followed by Ostwald ripening process which improve the crystal properties. The better crystal quality of ultrasonic prepared ZnO indicated the enhancement of its applicability to be used for optoelectronic applications.
Evolution of Optical and Structural Properties of Silicon Nanocrystals Embedded in Silicon Nitride Films with Annealing Temperature
Authors: Benyahia Bedra , Tiour Faiza , Guerbous Lakhdar , Chaoui Rachid , Menous Isa , Mahmoudi Brahim , Mefoued Amine , Guenda Abdelkader
Published: September 2017

In this work, Hydrogenated silicon rich nitride (SRN) films were deposited by varying NH3/SiH4 ratio and thermally annealed within the temperature range of 700-1000 °C in N2 ambient to precipitate silicon nanocrystals in the film. The optical and structural properties of SiNx:H films were studied. Chemical composition and structural investigations were performed by Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), Infrared and Raman spectrometry experiments.Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) indicates a new band which appeared as a “shoulder” in the 850-900 cm−1 range and is attributed to a reordering in the films towards an increased SiN4 bonding configuration resulting from the precipitation of silicon nanocrystals.The Raman analysis clearly evidences a high density of Si nanoclusters as shown by the broadened and asymmetric Raman peak approaching 520 cm-1.Strong visible photoluminescence (PL) can be observed in silicon nitride and the evolution of the photoluminescence with annealing temperature is correlated to the evolution of the structure. Radiative defects in the films and the quantum confinement effect in silicon nanoparticles were proposed to explain the origin of light emission from the samples.
Controlling of Polarity on the Surface Passivation Mechanism of Al2O3 for Black Silicon by CLD
Authors: Zhang Bing Ye , Wang Yu Jun , Han Lu , Li Yong Xiang , Liu Ai Min
Published: September 2017

Thin Al2O3 films were deposited on p-type black silicon (b-Si) by using chemical liquid phase deposition (CLD) technique. The influence of annealing temperatures on the structural and optical properties of Al2O3 films was investigated. The b-Si with 80-nm Al2O3 films exhibits a low total reflectance of 5%. The sample annealed 300 °C exhibits negative fixed charge with the density of 1.5×1012 cm-2. With the increasing of annealing temperature, negative shift of C-V curve was observed, indicating the polarity of fixed charge changes to positive, with maximal the density of 8.7×1011 cm-2. The evolution of the polarity of fixed charge is assigned to the decreasing of O: Al ratio caused by the transition of the crystalline type of Al2O3. The change of fixed charge polarity in Al2O3 provides a feasible route for both p- and n-type Si passivation in Si solar cells by adjusting the thermal post-treatment.
Mechanical Property of TiO2 Micro/Nano Surface Based on the Investigation of Residual Stress, Tensile Force and Fluid Flow Shear Stress: For Potential Application of Cardiovascular Devices
Authors: Han Cong Zhen , Li Jing An , Zou Dan , Luo Xiao , Yang Ping , Zhao An Sha , Huang Nan
Published: September 2017

The micro-patterned TiO2 nanotube has been anticipated for potential application for cardiovascular implanted devices for its excellent drug loading/ release function and biocompatibility. However, its mechanical behavior has rarely been studied as the cardiovascular devices. The tube length is a crucial factor which not only decides the drug loading ability but also influences the devices’ mechanical behavior. Therefore, in this work, the micro-patterned TiO2 nanotubes with different tube length (MNT2, MNT4 and MNT6) were fabricated, and their surface energy, residual stress, tensile tolerability and blood flow shear stress tolerability were determined, respectively. The results showed that the microstructure reduced the surface energy of the nanotubes surfaces, enhanced or reduced surface tensile tolerability when parallel or vertical to the strain orientation, and also increased the nanotubes surfaces residual stress; In addition, both micro/nano and single nano surfaces possessed good blood flow shear stress tolerability. These results indicated that the micro/nano surfaces possesses excellent mechanical properties for surface modification of cardiovascular devices.
Design and Electronic Characterization of Bio-Molecular QCA: A First Principle Approach
Authors: Dey Debarati , Roy Pradipta , De Debashis
Published: September 2017

Molecular Quantum-dot Cellular Automata is the most promising and challenging technology nowadays for its high operating frequency, extremely high device density and non-cryogenic working temperature. In this paper, we report a First Principle approach based on analytical model of 3-dot Bio Molecular Quantum-dot Cellular Automata. The device is 19.62Å long and this bio molecular Quantum dot Cell has been made with two Adenine Nucleotide bio-molecules along with one Carbazole and one Thiol group. This whole molecular structure is supported onto Gold substrate. In this paper, two Adenine Nucleotides act as two quantum dots and Carbazole acts as another dot. These 3-Quantum-dots are mounted in a tree like structure supported with Thiol group. This model has been demonstrated with Extended Hückel Theory based semi-empirical method. The quantum ballistic transmission and HOMO-LUMO plot support the polarization state change. This state changing ability has been observed for this molecular device. Therefore, this property has been investigated and reported in this paper. HOMO-LUMO plot shows the two logic states along with null state for this 3-dots system. This phenomenon illustrates how the charge transfers take place. Two polarization states along with one additional null state have been obtained for this bio molecular nano device. This molecular device has been operated with 1000THz frequency. This nanoscale design approach will initiate one step towards the modeling of high frequency bio molecular Quantum dot Cell at room temperature.
Influence of Coating Deposition Parameters on the Mechanical and Tribological Properties of TiCN Coatings
Authors: Petkov Nikolay , Bakalova Totka , Bahchedzhiev Hristo , Kejzlar Pavel , Louda Petr
Published: September 2017

This paper is a continuation of our previous work. The article presents an investigation of the influence of coating deposition parameters, in particular a variation with 50% of both cathodic arc current and bias voltage, on the mechanical and tribological properties of TiCN coatings deposited by the cathodic arc evaporation of metals at a constant gas ratio. The thicknesses of the coatings are measured by the Calotest method using a 30-mm hard steel ball. The determined values are in the range of 734 – 1534 nm. Surface morphology and chemical composition are estimated by a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and an Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS) of SEM. The determined values of nanohardness are in the range of 10 - 23 GPa and adhesion values are in the range of 28 - 70 N. Tribology of the TiCN coatings is investigated with three different load forces (3N, 5N and 8N) by the CETR UMI Multi-Specimen Test System from Bruker with an Si3N4 ball counter-body. The friction coefficient is measured in the range of 0.19 - 0.23. Coating wear and wear of the counter-body are calculated, according to the standard EN1071-13:2010, wherein the values of the latter are in the range of (2.5 - 30) x 10-6 mm3.
Serum alkaline phosphatase in oral squamous cell carcinoma and its association with clinicopathological characteristics
Authors: Acharya Swetha , Kale Jyoti , Rai Pragati , Anehosur Venkatesh , Hallikeri Kaveri
Published: September 2017

Context: Biochemical changes occur in biological fluids and tissues of different types of malignancies. Tumor markers in serum, tissue, and other body fluids during neoplastic process are of clinical value in the management of patients with cancers. Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity is potentially a useful indicator for detection of malignancies, but its status in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is less explored. Aims: The aim of this study is to evaluate the serum level of ALP in OSCC patients and assess its relation with the clinicopathological features. Settings and Design: A total of 175 participants (145 OSCC patients and 30 healthy controls) were included in the study. One hundred and forty-five patients with OSCC who underwent treatment at our institution were included to obtain the clinicopathological data. Materials and Methods: Fasting blood ALP activity was evaluated using ALP assessment kit and biochemistry analyzer. Statistical Analysis Used: The data were analyzed by SPSS-21 software (SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 21.0, Armonk, NY, USA), using t-test, Mann–Whitney U, and Kruskal–Wallis tests. Results: Raised ALP was seen in 24% of OSCC patients. The mean ALP in OSCC was significantly higher than the control. ALP level in patients with advanced stage was significantly higher than with early stage. The serum ALP level in OSCC patients with bone involvement (BI) by local extension of tumor was significantly higher than without BI. Conclusion: ALP showed statistically significant differences in relation to tumor stages and BI. Hence, ALP could be useful in advanced stage disease for expressing the endurance of patient and tumor expansion. Elevated ALP in OSCC patients may indicate BI.
Metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumor: A regional cancer center experience of 44 cases
Authors: Suresh Babu M. C. , Chaudhuri Tamojit , Babu K. Govind , Lakshmaiah K. C. , Lokanatha D. , Jacob Linu Abraham , Rudresha A. H. , Lokesh K. N. , Rajeev L. K.
Published: September 2017

Background: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract. Historically, a poor prognosis for metastatic disease has been reported with systemic chemotherapy. Significant advances have been made in the last decade, since the introduction of different tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Unfortunately, even though the TKIs have been used for a long time, there are very few published data of the experience of TKI therapy in metastatic GIST from India. Materials and Methods: Patients diagnosed with metastatic GIST from January 2005 to October 2016 at our center, who received first-line therapy with imatinib 400 mg/day, were reviewed retrospectively. Patients' profile, response to treatment, toxicity of TKI therapy, time to progression, and survival were evaluated. Results: Of the 44 metastatic GIST patients, 23 (52.2%) were males. Median age at diagnosis was 48 years. The most common presenting symptom was an abdominal pain (52%), followed by weight loss (23%). Most frequently affected metastatic site was liver (57%), followed by peritoneum (16%), and lungs (4.5%). Metastases to both liver and peritoneum were found in 10 patients (22.5%). All patients were initially treated with imatinib at a dose of 400 mg/day. Disease stabilization was documented in 21 cases (48%), and 13 patients (29%) achieved a partial response. TKI therapy was well-tolerated in most cases. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 26 months, and estimated median survival was 48 months. Patients with lung metastases have a significantly inferior median PFS and overall survival, in comparison to patients with other metastatic sites (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Imatinib therapy was well tolerated and induced a sustained clinical benefit in more than half of the patients with metastatic GIST. Lung metastases seemed to be a poor prognostic factor in this patient population.
Risk Factors for a Second Episode of Hemoptysis
Authors: Seki Nobuhiko , Shiozaki Go , Ota Mayuko , Ota Shuji , Seki Reishi , Seto Takashi , Uematsu Kazutsugu , Eguchi Kenji
Published: September 2017

Objectives

Hemoptysis is an alarming symptom of underlying lung disease. Clinicians are often unsure how to deal with and follow up patients who have had a single episode of hemoptysis, especially if the cause remains unknown despite thorough examination, because a second, more severe episode of hemoptysis might occur despite an apparently stable condition. Investigations were done, using multivariate analyses, to see whether several clinical factors present during an initial episode of hemoptysis could be used to predict a second episode.

Subjects and Methods

Eighty patients with an initial episode of hemoptysis who underwent both computed tomographic and bronchoscopic examinations from 2003 through 2005 were reviewed.

Results

The isolation of bacteria from bronchial lavage fluid (odds ratio 13.5, P = 0.001) and the failure to determine the cause of the initial episode of hemoptysis (odds ratio 7.0, P = 0.014) were significant independent predictors of a second episode of hemoptysis. Subset analysis showed that isolation of either Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Haemophilus influenzae increased the likelihood of a second episode of hemoptysis (P = 0.077), even if colonization, representing host-bacterial equilibrium, had occurred. Furthermore, the failure to determine the etiology of an initial episode of hemoptysis was associated with an increased risk of a massive second episode (P = 0.042), regardless of the volume of the initial episode.

Conclusions

In patients with bacterial colonization of the respiratory tract or an initial episode of hemoptysis of unknown etiology, there is an increased possibility of a second episode of hemoptysis.
Natriuretic Peptide and High-Sensitive Troponin T Concentrations Correlate with Effectiveness of Short-Term CPAP in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Coronary Artery Disease
Authors: Strehmel Ralf , Valo Misa , Teupe Claudius
Published: September 2017

The risk of cardiovascular complications is increased in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the most effective way to treat clinically significant OSA. We hypothesized that the concentrations of the cardiac risk markers N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and high-sensitive troponin T (hs-TropT) correlate with the effectiveness of CPAP therapy in patients with OSA and coexisting coronary artery disease (CAD). Twenty-one patients with severe OSA and coexisting CAD (group 1) and 20 control patients with severe OSA alone (group 2) were treated with CPAP and monitored by laboratory-based polysomnography. NT-proBNP and hs-TropT levels were measured before and after CPAP. Apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and oxygen desaturation were similar in both groups. In group 1, hs-TropT levels correlated with AHI and oxygen desaturation upon CPAP. Elevated NT-proBNP levels in group 1 were significantly reduced by CPAP. NT-proBNP levels correlated with AHI and showed negative correlation with ST-segment depression. No such correlations were found in group 2. CPAP has the potential to normalize elevated NT-proBNP serum levels in patients with severe OSA and coexisting CAD. Levels of NT-proBNP and hs-TropT correlated with AHI and oxygen desaturation.
The Respiratory Exchange Ratio is Associated with Fitness Indicators Both in Trained and Untrained Men: A Possible Application for People with Reduced Exercise Tolerance
Authors: Ramos-Jiménez Arnulfo , Hernández-Torres Rosa P. , Torres-Durán Patricia V. , Romero-Gonzalez Jaime , Mascher Dieter , Posadas-Romero Carlos , Juárez-Oropeza Marco A.
Published: September 2017

Background

The respiratory exchange ratio (RER) indirectly shows the muscle's oxidative capacity to get energy. Sedentarism, exercise and physically active lifestyles modify it. For that reason, this study evaluates the associations between RER during sub-maximum exercise and other well established fitness indicators (body fat, maximum heart rate, maximum O2 uptake, workload, and lactate threshold), in physically active trained and untrained men.

Methods

The RER, O2 uptake and blood lactate were measured in eight endurance trained and eight untrained men (age, 22.9 ± 4.5 vs. 21.9 ± 2.8 years; body mass, 67.1 ± 5.4 vs. 72.2 ± 7.7 kg; body fat, 10.6 ± 2.4% vs. 16.6 ± 3.8% and maximum O2 uptake, 68.9 ± 6.3 vs. 51.6 ± 5.8 ml · kg−1 · min−1), during maximum exercise test and during three different sub-maximum exercises at fixed workload: below, within or above the lactate threshold.

Results

Endurance trained men presented higher O2 uptake, lower blood lactate concentrations and lower RER values than those in untrained men at the three similar relative workloads. Even though with these differences in RER, a strong association (p < 0.05) of RER during sub-maximum exercise with the other well established fitness indicators was observed, and both maximum O2 uptake and lactate threshold determined more than 57% of its variance (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

These data demonstrate that RER measurement under sub-maximum exercise conditions was well correlated with other established physical fitness indicators, despite training condition. Furthermore, the results suggest that RER could help obtain an easy approach of fitness status under low exercise intensity and could be utilized in subjects with reduced exercise tolerance.