bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Global Visual Motion Sensitivity: Associations with Parietal Area and Children's Mathematical Cognition
Authors: Braddick Oliver , Atkinson Janette , Newman Erik , Akshoomoff Natacha , Kuperman Joshua M. , Bartsch Hauke , Chen Chi-Hua , Dale Anders M. , Jernigan Terry L.
Published: July 2016

Sensitivity to global visual motion has been proposed as a signature of brain development, related to the dorsal rather than ventral cortical stream. Thresholds for global motion have been found to be elevated more than for global static form in many developmental disorders, leading to the idea of “dorsal stream vulnerability.” Here we explore the association of global motion thresholds with individual differences in children's brain development, in a group of typically developing 5- to 12-year-olds. Good performance was associated with a relative increase in parietal lobe surface area, most strongly around the intraparietal sulcus and decrease in occipital area. In line with the involvement of intraparietal sulcus, areas in visuospatial and numerical cognition, we also found that global motion performance was correlated with tests of visuomotor integration and numerical skills. Individual differences in global form detection showed none of these anatomical or cognitive correlations. This suggests that the correlations with motion sensitivity are unlikely to reflect general perceptual or attentional abilities required for both form and motion. We conclude that individual developmental variations in global motion processing are not linked to greater area in the extrastriate visual areas, which initially process such motion, but in the parietal systems that make decisions based on this information. The overlap with visuospatial and numerical abilities may indicate the anatomical substrate of the “dorsal stream vulnerability” proposed as characterizing neurodevelopmental disorders.
The Control of Single-color and Multiple-color Visual Search by Attentional Templates in Working Memory and in Long-term Memory
Authors: Grubert Anna , Carlisle Nancy B. , Eimer Martin
Published: July 2016

The question whether target selection in visual search can be effectively controlled by simultaneous attentional templates for multiple features is still under dispute. We investigated whether multiple-color attentional guidance is possible when target colors remain constant and can thus be represented in long-term memory but not when they change frequently and have to be held in working memory. Participants searched for one, two, or three possible target colors that were specified by cue displays at the start of each trial. In constant-color blocks, the same colors remained task-relevant throughout. In variable-color blocks, target colors changed between trials. The contralateral delay activity (CDA) to cue displays increased in amplitude as a function of color memory load in variable-color blocks, which indicates that cued target colors were held in working memory. In constant-color blocks, the CDA was much smaller, suggesting that color representations were primarily stored in long-term memory. N2pc components to targets were measured as a marker of attentional target selection. Target N2pcs were attenuated and delayed during multiple-color search, demonstrating less efficient attentional deployment to color-defined target objects relative to single-color search. Importantly, these costs were the same in constant-color and variable-color blocks. These results demonstrate that attentional guidance by multiple-feature as compared with single-feature templates is less efficient both when target features remain constant and can be represented in long-term memory and when they change across trials and therefore have to be maintained in working memory.
Zum Schweigen verdammt. Das Susanna-Fragment von Sibylla Schwarz
Authors: Kraft Stephan
Published: July 2016

This contribution aims at a fundamental repositioning of this fragment, which until now has received only little scholarly attention. It demonstrates that irrespective of the extensive contemporary tradition, Sibylla Schwarz conceptualized the biblical issue of Susanne consistently from a female perspective. Apart from the sexual threat itself, she focuses on the broad exclusion of women from public speech. The biblical source, in which the elders’ condemnation finally takes place without a statement by Susanna herself, stands in fundamental tension with Sibylla Schwarz’s interest in making herself audible. Also discussed is whether this may be one reason why the text in the end remained a fragment.
Sibylla Schwarz und die Petrarkisten
Authors: Kerth Thomas
Published: July 2016

In her essays on the sonnets of Sibylla Schwarz, which celebrate a same-sex love relationship, Erika Greber asserts, that these represent a new subgenre: lesbian Petrarchism. This designation emphasizes the gender of the poet and her muse, but ignores Schwarz’s actual innovations in the Petrarchan system. Schwarz adopts and recombines conventions of the male and female variants of the heterosexual Petrarchan sonnet in order to create a new poetic voice that meets the requirements of a de-physicalized female-female configuration.
Epigonalität und Originalität in der Gelegenheitsdichtung von Sibylla Schwarz
Authors: Jabłecki Tomasz
Published: July 2016

Due to its peculiarity and significance, occasional poetry occupies a special role in the literary output of Sibylla Schwarz. In her epithalamia, epicedia and other casual poems, in which she shows her thorough humanities education, one finds not only conventional, partly trite rhetorical figures, but also some interesting autobiographical references. The following article attempts to analyse the poet’s output with respect to the epigonic (imitative) character of her works both in the spirit of Opitz’s poetics and her own originality.
Sibylle – Clio – Thalia. Inszenierungen mythopoetischer Autorschaft im Titelkupfer und in Gedichten von Sibylla Schwarz
Authors: Siebenpfeiffer Hania
Published: July 2016

Frontispiece and dedication poems of Gerlachs edition of Sibylla Schwarz poetry openly refer to the early modern sibylline iconography by characterizing her as the “German” or “Eleventh Sibyl”. In the poems themselves other references are foregrounded, most prominent those to the apollonian muses Clio and Thalia, constructing a mythopoetic authorship and emphasizing the poetic quality of poetry in contrast to the prophetic. By giving him/herself a mythopoetic identity, the “I” transforms its poems into poetic heterotopias. In “Fretow”, they are given a concrete heterotopic counterpart. The poetic “Fretow” notably uncovers the reciprocal dependency of mythopoetic authorship and poetic heterotopia which characterizes Sibylla Schwarz’ poetic works.
Protecting the Home and Adequate Housing
Authors: Donders Yvonne
Published: July 2016

Many Roma, gypsies and travellers live in caravans or trailers, sometimes in together trailer parks or camps. This article analyses how this specific lifestyle connected to their housing is protected under the various regimes and provisions of international human rights law. Home and adequate housing, as well as family life and private life, are clearly protected under international human rights law. Moreover, Roma, gypsies and travellers are considered vulnerable communities for whom special measures need to be taken. States are for instance obliged to take the specific cultural interests related to the housing of Roma, gypsies and travellers into account. Although there is no accepted right to be provided with a home of choice, these rights imply an obligation to provide suitable alternative housing in cases of forced removal and sufficient procedural guarantees. This article is based on an analysis of several provisions in international and European human rights treaties covering non-discrimination, housing, private life and family life, including their interpretation by treaty monitoring bodies.
The Right to a Fair Trial and Judicial Economy at the International Criminal Court
Authors: Hobbs Patricia
Published: July 2016

Following the civil unrest in Kenya in 2008 and Kenya’s inability to prosecute the perpetrators of those crimes, the International Criminal Court (icc) prosecutor initiated proceedings proprio motu against Mr Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr William Ruto. Despite the impending prosecutions, Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto were elected as President and Deputy President of Kenya in 2013. Due to their prominent status, they both applied (separately) to be excused from continuous attendance at their trial proceedings. Mr Ruto’s argument was heard first, and Trial Chamber (A) granted the excusal request. In the course of Mr Kenyatta’s hearing by Trial Chamber (B), but before the Appeals Chamber reversed Mr Ruto’s Trial Chamber (A) decision, the issue of judicial economy was raised by the prosecution. Their contention was that Trial Chamber (B) should in fact wait for the Appeals Chamber’s final decision, but the Chamber dismissed the argument and proceeded with the decision at hand. This article contends that the Court missed a real opportunity to place judicial economy within the human rights discourse, particularly in the light of Article 21(3) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
PARE: Profile-Applied Reasoning Engine for Context-Aware System
Authors: Hoque M. Robiul , Kabir M. Humayun , Seo Hyungyu , Yang Sung-Hyun
Published: July 2016

Context reasoning is an important issue for a context-aware system. Generally, context reasoning is adopted to deduce new context based on the available contexts. The rule-based reasoning is one of the most well-known methods for context reasoning. However, it is difficult for the rule-based algorithm to reason personalized context, because it requires a large number of rules to apply the user's preferences. To address this weakness, in this paper we suggest the Profile-Applied Reasoning Engine (PARE). PARE is an enhanced rule-based reasoning method which uses profiles while reasoning contexts. By using profiles, PARE can become aware of the context that is preferred by a specific individual. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed reasoning engine, we compared the reasoning result of PARE with traditional rule-based reasoning in smart home domain. PARE shows better outcome for reasoning the personalized contexts than the traditional rule-based reasoning. In addition, by using profiles, a significant number of rules have been omitted and consequently the running time is also decreased. Moreover, PARE occupies less memory space which is restricted with number of variables of a rule. Therefore, PARE optimizes both runtime and memory space, which is valuable when making embedded context-aware system.
XRD investigation of the intercalation of nacrite with cesium chloride
Authors: Naamen S. , Jâafar N. , Ben Rhaiem H. , Ben Haj Amara A. , Plançon A. , Muller F.
Published: July 2016

An homogenous intercalated compound of dioctahedral 1:1 clay mineral with cesium chloride was prepared by immersing an homogeneous 8.4 Å hydrated nacrite in a CsCl-saturated solution. The nacrite/CsCl complex obtained was studied using X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The best agreement between the observed and the simulated ρ(z) (R = 7%) was obtained with one Cl− ion, one Cs+ ion and onewater molecule (per half-unit cell). The cation was located near the oxygen atom plane, while the anion was located near the hydroxyl groups of the adjacent layer. The number of the species intercalated in nacrite/CsCl was confirmed by TGA analysis. The best agreement between the calculated and the experimental hkl reflections, with h and/or k ≠ 0, corresponded to a stacking of 70% and 30% for T1 = −0.35a − 0.20b + 10.50n and T2 = +b/3 + 10.5n, respectively. These results indicate that the surface hydroxyls form hydrogen bonds with Cl− ions. The Cs+ ions are situated near the ditrigonal cavities of the tetrahedral sheet and they interact with the surface oxygen atoms whereas the H2O molecules interact with the intercalated species.
Efficient TALEN-mediated myostatin gene editing in goats
Authors: Yu Baoli , Lu Rui , Yuan Yuguo , Zhang Ting , Song Shaozheng , Qi Zhengqiang , Shao Bin , Zhu Mengmin , Mi Fei , Cheng Yong
Published: July 2016

Background

Myostatin (MSTN) encodes a negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass that might have applications for promoting muscle growth in livestock. In this study, we aimed to test whether targeted MSTN editing, mediated by transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), is a viable approach to create myostatin-modified goats (Capra hircus).

Results

We obtained a pair of TALENs (MTAL-2) that could recognize and cut the targeted MSTN site in the goat genome. Fibroblasts from pedigreed goats were co-transfected with MTAL-2, and 272 monoclonal cell strains were confirmed to have mono- or bi-allelic mutations in MSTN. Ten cell strains with different genotypes were used as donor cells for somatic cell nuclear transfer, which produced three cloned kids (K179/MSTN−/−, K52-2/MSTN+/−, and K52-1/MSTN+/+).

Conclusions

The results suggested that the MTAL-2 could disrupt MSTN efficiently in the goat genome. The mutated somatic cells could be used to produce MSTN-site mutated goats without developmental disruption. Thus, TALENs is an effective method for accurate genome editing to produce site-modified goats.
Ethnicity and children
Authors: Barley Ruth
Published: July 2016

This article explores field research that sought to find out how young children explored difference and identity in a multi-ethnic early years setting and whether this influenced their peer interactions.
Valuing practitioners
Authors: Gouldsboro Julia
Published: July 2016

It is wonderful when you witness how good quality training and continuous development impact positively on a setting, but there are still barriers to this happening regularly. How can we change this?
Our poetic landscape
Authors: Wilenski Deb
Published: July 2016

The poet, the children and the fantastical map – this is the story of words and writing from the woods, of true collaboration between young children, a poet and an illustrator, taking inspiration from nature.
How is gun play perceived by teaching professionals working in military towns?
Authors: Bridle Samantha
Published: July 2016

Whether or not to allow gun and weapon play continues to be subject to debate, but what about settings in miliary towns, or where children might have parents in the forces? Who determines policy?
Out on the road again
Authors: Chalmers Debbie
Published: July 2016

Young children are fascinated by vehicles, from family cars to fire engines, with lights and sirens. Find opportunities for them to explore this interest across all areas of development, during role-play.
No place quite like home
Authors: Brown Paula
Published: July 2016

Home visits may well be time consuming, but they can prove an invaluable way of starting the parent practitioner relationship, and to get to know the children you will be responsible for in the coming year.
The great fire of London
Authors: Hammond Paula
Published: July 2016

Physical activity is intrinsically linked to healthy development in young children and what better way to encourage them to get moving then to link exercise to familiar stories and nursery rhymes.
Global Imbalances and EU Core-Periphery Division: Institutional Framework and Theoretical Interpretations
Authors: Helen Caraveli
Published: July 2016

This article places the core-periphery division in the European Union (EU) within the framework of global imbalances and the dramatic geopolitical changes which have affected them in the past decades. These changes, which have been shaping the new world order, amount to the restructuring of developed economies with the engulfing of manufacturing by the financial sector; the shift in the geography of industrial activity resulting from the increased outsourcing and offshoring of production and increasing services; the transfer of competitiveness from West to East, to dynamic Asian economies, notably China; the emergence of chronic trade and financial imbalances in the global system, leading to the “debt-fuelled growth” of many advanced economies. The above developments, facilitated by free trade market reforms and enhanced by the financial crisis of 2008, threaten economic and political dominance of the West, particularly the US, and therefore the existing core-periphery pattern. A similar pattern of developments has been taking place within Europe (through the transfer of industrial production from the West to the East) which implies changes to the old European core-periphery pattern. The article approaches critically and qualitatively the above issues, by examining the convergence trends among EU member states and the possible factors underlying them, as well as a number of theoretical approaches that interpret spatial inequalities and core-periphery patterns.
Collective Viewings of Value(s) and the Struggle for What is Valuable: The Case of Grassroots Initiatives
Authors: Irene Sotiropoulou
Published: July 2016

The article discusses the grassroots approaches to value(s) and valuing(s) as encountered in several schemes which exist in Greece over the last few years and whose members perform transactions without the use of any official currency. The main scope of the article is to explore the theoretical issues that emerge from the grassroots practices and analyse ways by which those practices challenge or even defy the dominant economic structures, perceptions and theories about value. Given that the theoretical issues emerge from field research and findings, empirical data on ethnographic nature are used to contribute to the discussion and place the questions within their historical and practical contexts. The variety of practices itself informs the theoretical debate about the multiple ways people might think of and use ideas about value in their economic activity.
Protocol for evaluation of neurotrophic strategies in Parkinson
Authors: V. Hegarty Shane , M. Sullivan Aideen , W. O’Keeffe Gerard
Published: July 2016

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease that is characterised by motor and non-motor symptoms which result from the progressive degeneration of nigrostriatal ventral midbrain (VM) dopaminergic (DA) neurons, as well as peripheral sympathetic neurons. PD is incurable, with current therapeutic strategies providing symptomatic relief. Neurotrophic factor (NTF) therapy has the potential to protect degenerating neurons in PD. However, there has been limited success in PD clinical trials due to neurotrophic strategies that are invasive, inefficient in delivering sustained neurotrophic support, do not protect all degenerating neurons and may have a compromised mechanism of action in the PD brain. Therefore, while neurotrophic therapy remains a promising disease-modifying approach for PD, it is important to identify novel neurotrophic strategies that can protect all neurons affected by PD. To address this need, we report an integrated approach for pre-clinical evaluation of potential neurotrophic strategies, e.g., pharmacological agents (e.g., drugs/small molecules), signalling proteins (e.g., morphogens) and/or genetic (gene/mRNA) modifications, in cellular models of the neuronal populations that are affected by PD. Herein, we describe, in detail, an in vitro protocol that allows a step-wise evaluation of the efficacy, and mechanism(s) of action, of novel neurotrophic strategies in VM DA neurons and sympathetic neurons, following an initial evaluation in a human cell line model of these cells, SH-SY5Y cells. The protocol uses the induction of neurite growth as the primary measure of neurotrophic action. Indeed, the neuro-protection/-restoration of PD-affected axons is widely thought to be an appropriate target for effective therapeutic intervention in PD.
The shortest path is not always a straight line
Authors: Kalavri Vasiliki , Simas Tiago , Logothetis Dionysios
Published: July 2016

In this paper, we leverage the concept of the
metric backbone
to improve the efficiency of large-scale graph analytics. The metric backbone is the minimum subgraph that preserves the shortest paths of a weighted graph. We use the metric backbone in place of the original graph to compute various graph metrics exactly or with good approximation. By computing on a smaller graph, we improve the performance of graph analytics applications on two different systems, a batch graph processing system and a graph database.

Further, we provide an algorithm for the computation of the metric backbone on large graphs. While one can compute the metric backbone by solving the all-pairs-shortest-paths problem, this approach incurs prohibitive time and space complexity for big graphs. Instead, we propose a heuristic that makes computing the metric backbone practical even for large graphs. Additionally, we analyze several real datasets of different sizes and domains and we show that we can approximate the metric backbone by removing only first-order
semi-metric
edges; edges for which a shorter two-hop path exists.

We provide a distributed implementation of our algorithm and apply it in large scale scenarios. We evaluate our algorithm using a variety of real graphs, including a Facebook social network subgraph of ~50 billion edges. We measure the impact of using the metric backbone on runtime performance in two graph management systems. We achieve query speedups of up to 6.7x in the Neo4j commercial graph database and job speedups of up to 6x in the Giraph graph processing system.
Comparative analysis of approximate blocking techniques for entity resolution
Authors: Papadakis George , Svirsky Jonathan , Gal Avigdor , Palpanas Themis
Published: July 2016

Entity Resolution is a core task for merging data collections. Due to its quadratic complexity, it typically scales to large volumes of data through blocking: similar entities are clustered into blocks and pair-wise comparisons are executed only between co-occurring entities, at the cost of some missed matches. There are numerous blocking methods, and the aim of this work is to offer a comprehensive empirical survey, extending the dimensions of comparison beyond what is commonly available in the literature. We consider 17 state-of-the-art blocking methods and use 6 popular real datasets to examine the robustness of their internal configurations and their relative balance between effectiveness and time efficiency. We also investigate their scalability over a corpus of 7 established synthetic datasets that range from 10,000 to 2 million entities.
The Problem of Multiple Criteria Selection of the Surface Mining Haul Trucks
Authors: Bodziony Przemysław , Kasztelewicz Zbigniew , Sawicki Piotr
Published: July 2016

Vehicle transport is a dominant type of technological processes in rock mines, and its profit ability is strictly dependent on overall cost of its exploitation, especially on diesel oil consumption. Thus, a rational design of transportation system based on haul trucks should result from thorough analysis of technical and economic issues, including both cost of purchase and its further exploitation, having a crucial impact on the cost of minerals extraction. Moreover, off-highway trucks should be selected with respect to all specific exploitation conditions and even the user’s preferences and experience.

In this paper a development of universal family of evaluation criteria as well as application of evaluation method for haul truck selection process for a specific exploitation conditions in surface mining have been carried out. The methodology presented in the paper is based on the principles of multiple criteria decision aiding (MCDA) using one of the ranking method, i.e. ELECTRE III. The applied methodology has been allowed for ranking of alternative solution (variants), on the considered set of haul trucks. The result of the research is a universal methodology, and it consequently may be applied in other surface mines with similar exploitation parametres.
Organic Rankine Cycle for Residual Heat to Power Conversion in Natural Gas Compressor Station. Part II: Plant Simulation and Optimisation Study
Authors: Chaczykowski Maciej
Published: July 2016

After having described the models for the organic Rankine cycle (ORC) equipment in the first part of this paper, this second part provides an example that demonstrates the performance of different ORC systems in the energy recovery application in a gas compressor station. The application shows certain specific characteristics, i.e. relatively large scale of the system, high exhaust gas temperature, low ambient temperature operation, and incorporation of an air-cooled condenser, as an effect of the localization in a compressor station plant. Screening of 17 organic fluids, mostly alkanes, was carried out and resulted in a selection of best performing fluids for each cycle configuration, among which benzene, acetone and heptane showed highest energy recovery potential in supercritical cycles, while benzene, toluene and cyclohexane in subcritical cycles. Calculation results indicate that a maximum of 10.4 MW of shaft power can be obtained from the exhaust gases of a 25 MW compressor driver by the use of benzene as a working fluid in the supercritical cycle with heat recuperation. In relation to the particular transmission system analysed in the study, it appears that the regenerative subcritical cycle with toluene as a working fluid presents the best thermodynamic characteristics, however, require some attention insofar as operational conditions are concerned.
Methane Recovery from Gaseous Mixtures Using Carbonaceous Adsorbents
Authors: Buczek Bronisław
Published: July 2016

Methane recovery from gaseous mixtures has both economical and ecological aspect. Methane from different waste gases like mine gases, nitrogenated natural gases and biogases can be treated as local source for production electric and heat energy. Also occurs the problem of atmosphere pollution with methane that shows over 20 times more harmful environmental effect in comparison to carbon dioxide. One of the ways utilisation such gases is enrichment of methane in the PSA technique, which requires appropriate adsorbents. Active carbons and carbon molecular sieve produced by industry and obtained in laboratory scale were examined as adsorbent for methane recuperation. Porous structure of adsorbents was investigated using densimetry measurements and adsorption of argon at 77.5K. On the basis of adsorption data, the Dubinin-Radushkevich equation parameters, micropore volume (Wo) and characteristics of energy adsorption (Eo) as well as area micropores (Smi) and BET area (SBET) were determined.

The usability of adsorbents in enrichment of the methane was evaluated in the test, which simulate the basic stages of PSA process: a) adsorbent degassing, b) pressure raise in column by feed gas, c) cocurrent desorption with analysis of out flowing gas. The composition of gas phase was accepted as the criterion of the suitability of adsorbent for methane separation from gaseous mixtures. The relationship between methane recovery from gas mixture and texture parameters of adsorbents was found.
Hard Coal in the Fuel-Mix Of Poland: The Long-Term Perspective
Authors: Gawlik Lidia , Kaliski Maciej , Kamiński Jacek , Sikora Andrzej P. , Szurlej Adam
Published: July 2016

This paper reviews the coal policy of Poland. It analyzes the forecasts of production and consumption of hard coal, the size of exports and imports and its importance for the energy sector on the basis of strategic documents. The main aim of the article is to show the role of hard coal in the fuel - energy balance of Poland until 2050. The adoption of appropriate assumptions for each scenario, including the maximum supply of hard coal from domestic mines, coal price curves, CO2emission allowances and several calculations performed allowed to obtain certain results on the basis of which the future role of hard coal was determined.
Tests and Examination of Drive Sheave in Mine Skip Hoist
Authors: Rokita Tomasz
Published: July 2016

This article describes a certain stage of work aimed at strength analysis of the structure of drive sheaves in mine shaft hoists. The work was initiated in connection with the emergence of cracks in those sheaves as a result of operation, and is an attempt to develop a new improved design of the drive sheave.

The first stage involved several series of strain gauge measurements of stress in the drive sheaves of machines exposed to their rated load. Measurement technology and results are described in detail in (Rokita & Wójcik, 2013). The results of those measurements were the basis for FEM stress analysis and discussion of the changes in the structure of those sheaves.

This article focuses on a description of the developed computational models for the currently used sheaves, and presents the results of strength calculations. As a result of those actions, a new drive sheave design was developed, for which a computational model was also prepared and FEM calculations were performed.

Comparison of the results of calculations for both sheave models is, therefore, also an assessment of the impact of the proposed changes to the design of the drive sheave on its strength and durability. It was decided to adopt the results of strength analysis of the sheave assembly currently in service as the baseline for this assessment. This required not only the performance of a strength analysis on the basis of a specially developed drive sheave calculation model, but also identification and assessment of the allowable stress values for the analysed structure.
Road infrastructure in the regions of the Slovak Republic and Poland
Authors: Masárová Jana , Ivanová Eva
Published: July 2016

One of the important assumptions and factors of social and economic development of countries and their regions is road infrastructure. This is particularly true in countries where road transport is the largest component of overall transportation, such as in Slovakia and Poland. Road infrastructure as part of the transport infrastructure is here regarded as one of the main pillars for achieving economic growth, to increase competitiveness and prosperity, contributing to the development of the Trans-European transport network and the improvement of transport infrastructure in support of a single European market in order to ensure the free flow of goods, people and overall competitiveness of the EU. This article offers a comparison of road infrastructure in Slovakia and Poland, highlighting regional disparities in road infrastructure in these countries.
Multiple-land use practices in transfrontier conservation areas: the case of Greater Mapungubwe straddling parts of Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe
Authors: Sinthumule Ndidzulafhi Innocent
Published: July 2016

Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) have recently emerged as the 21st century approach to managing protected areas in southern Africa. Unlike national parks and other protected areas that place emphasis only on the protection of plant and animal species within their borders, transfrontier conservation areas promote conservation beyond the borders of protected areas. Consequently, this mega-conservation initiative encourage multiple land-use practices with the purpose of improving rural livelihoods whilst promoting biodiversity conservation. Thus, land parcels under different forms of tenure are brought together into a common nature conservation project. This study argues that the integration of various land-use practices within one area benefits conservation goals at the expense of local communities and irrigation farmers. To substantiate this argument, the study draws on fieldwork material collected in the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area spanning parts of Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The study concludes that multiple-land use practices in transfrontier conservation areas is only promoted by wildlife managers to gain access to extra land.
Method validation and determination of total iodine in seaweed bathwater
Authors: Westby Tarha , Duignan Geraldine , Smyth Thomas , Cadogan Aodhmar
Published: July 2016

Seaweeds are a well-known natural source of iodine, although the quantity present varies depending on species, geographical location and season. Traditional seaweed baths contain hot water and seaweed but to date this bathwater matrix has not been studied. The objective of this study was to validate and apply the classical spectrophotometric Sandell-Kolthoff (SK) method for the analysis of total iodine in simulated seaweed bathwater. The principle of the method is based on the catalytic activity of iodide in the reduction of ceric ammonium sulphate being directly proportional to its concentration in the sample. Linear working range was from 30 μg l-1 to 300 μg l-1 iodine. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were determined to be 9 μg l-1 and 29 μg l-1, respectively. The intra-assay repeatability indicated a mean coefficient of variation (CV) <2.5%. Inter-assay precision over 7 days indicated a CV of 6.7%. Recovery ranged from 87% to 114%. Addition of seaweed to simulated bathwater results in an increase in iodine which was found to be dependent on the length of contact time and on the temperature, with higher amounts released at longer immersion times and higher temperatures. The data confirms that traditional seaweed baths containing Fucus serratus stimulate the release of iodine into bathwater.
Case Study Regarding Financial Performance in Terms of Cash Flow Return on Investment (CFROI) for Companies Listed and Traded on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, During 2006-2013
Authors: Balteş Nicolae , Vasiu Diana Elena
Published: July 2016

The specialized literature suggests the modern analytical indicators of the listed companies’ potential, in their construction starting from the concept of value creation. One of this indicators is Cash Flow Return on Investment (CFROI-Rli), considered as the best measuring indicator of value creation. It represents an internal rate of return on investment, expressing in percentage the ratio between the gross cash flow for the period, after deducting amortization and total gross investments of the same period. This paper presents a case study regarding financial performance in terms of cash flow return on investment (CFROI), of Companies listed and traded on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, during 2006-2013.
The European Union and Minorities
Authors: Irimia Ana Irina
Published: July 2016

We are currently in the process of making a Europe where the elements of national sovereignty will be narrowed through the sharing of sovereignty and for collective security. Another trend in the field was that of regionalization of the importance and implications of this issue, explicitly or implicitly considered as belonging to Central and Eastern Europe. Such an assessment neglects the significance of a number of factors pertaining to the historical and political developments has on the matter, particularly regarding economic development of Central and Eastern Europe areas, and that the conflictual degeneration of perceiving ethnical, cultural and regional otherness is not a phenomenon which affects this space alone, but also the West. In contradiction with this point of view, some foreign experts in the field say it is a social reality that discrimination and intolerance connected to religion and ethnicity can be found in all meetings of the world and in countries with different economic development phases.
An Overview of Standards and Regulation Concerning Exposure to Radiofrequency Fields
Authors: Paljanos Annamaria , Munteanu Călin
Published: July 2016

Technological development put international organisations to effort in order to issue and continuously reassess standards concerning electromagnetic radiation protection issues. Protection standards have to be continuously reviewed as new data become available. This article provides a brief overview of updates implemented by the latest available protection standards. Currently, standards do not incorporate appropriate safety factors for protection against long-term effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields, thus protection is provided only for the established short term effects of electromagnetic fields on the human body. However, there is still a great deal of questions related to differences in limitations set by international organisations that have issued recommendations for personnel protection against electromagnetic fields.
Tactics Used by the Terrorist Organisation Boko Haram
Authors: Pricopi Marius
Published: July 2016

Boko Haram is no regular terrorist organization; although not as widely-known as the Islamic State or Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram has been declared the deadliest terror group of 2014. Fortunately, the organization seems to currently be on the run; and the successes of the Nigerian government in countering it have been founded on a timely understanding of its modus operandi.

This paper represents an inventory and an analysis of the main tactics employed by Boko Haram in Nigeria and Cameroon during the spike of its insurgence, between the years 2009-2014. Acknowledging these tactics in a timely manner did not only contribute in a significant manner to the present defeat of Boko Haram, as it may also be of use to governments from other countries in anticipating and efficiently thwarting future terrorist plots.
Mukai flops and ℙ-twists
Authors: Addington Nicolas , Donovan Will , Meachan Ciaran
Published: July 2016

Associated to a Mukai flop

X
⇢

X
′

{X\dashrightarrow X^{\prime}}

is on the one hand a sequence of equivalences

D
b

⁢

(
X
)

→

D
b

⁢

(

X
′

)

{D^{b}(X)\to D^{b}(X^{\prime})}

, due to Kawamata and Namikawa, and on the other hand a sequence of autoequivalences of

D
b

⁢

(
X
)

{D^{b}(X)}

, due to Huybrechts and Thomas. We work out a complete picture of the relationship between the two. We do the same for standard flops, relating Bondal and Orlov’s derived equivalences to spherical twists, extending a well-known story for the Atiyah flop to higher dimensions.
The research and development in the engineering field in the higher education system of the Czech Republic and its international comparison
Authors: Kučera Zdeněk , Vondrák Tomáš
Published: July 2016

The Czech Republic is at the forefront of the EU in the contribution of the manufacturing to the total gross value added. The Czech industry contributes significantly to the positive balance of trade of the country. The overall international competitiveness of the Czech Republic will depend upon the innovation performance of the manufacturing sector and its competitiveness on the foreign markets. A necessary condition for extending the share on the foreign markets is the effective harnessing of the national R&D capacity and a strong qualified local workforce. This contribution uses a bibliometric and a patent analysis for the assessment of the R&D carried out by the Czech higher education institutions (HEIs) oriented towards the engineering fields, and selected more general universities, and compares them with similar HEIs in a selected group of developed countries. The analysis indicates that the Czech publication activity in the field of engineering grows. The Czech publications in engineering are cited below the world average which indicates that their impact (and to some extent the quality of the underlying R&D) lags behind the world. The patent activity of the Czech HEIs is on the international scale rather weak. The patenting activity of the Czech HEIs strongly grows since the middle of the last decade. This may by a side effect of the new evaluation methodology which takes into account also the patents. The number of patents registered with the Czech Industrial Property Office increases but on the other hand the international patenting activities tend to stagnate. This gives rise to questions about the real value of the produced patents from the point of their importance for the export competitiveness of the Czech industry.
Are Stakeholders in Slovakia Ready for Community-Led Local Development? Case Study Findings
Authors: Bumbalová Monika , Takáč Ivan , Tvrdoňová Jela , Valach Martin
Published: July 2016

In the EU new programming period 2014-2020 the Leader approach become part of community-led local development (CLLD). Under Slovak conditions, partnerships, which intend to get the legal status of local action group (LAG), are currently in the process of preparing and formulating their CLLD Strategies. Leader approach is characterised by 7 principles, which should be horizontally presented throughout the implementation process. The multilevel governance presented in the implementation of Leader approach includes the management and implementation of rural development programme, through which the Leader is implemented, as well as, formation of LAGs, as the mediators of the approach at local level. Both levels may have supporting or constraining effects on the application of Leader principles in the Leader delivery. The paper focuses on analysing the differences between theory and practice in the conditions of the Slovak Republic when answering the evaluation question: Are stakeholders in Slovakia ready for community led local development? To answer the question, six LAGs were assessed using the focus group as the assessment tool. Representatives of the national authorities were interviewed in order to complete the picture of the evaluated topic. The study pointed out several shortcomings in basic preconditions allowing smooth application of the CLLD.
The Pygmalion Effect in Distance Learning: A Case Study at the Hellenic Open University
Authors: Niari Maria , Manousou Evaggelia , Lionarakis Antonis
Published: July 2016

The Pygmalion Effect is the positive form of self-fulfilling prophecy and shows how teacher expectations influence student performance. According to this phenomenon, higher expectations can lead to an increase in performance. In this research qualitative methodology was adopted both in data collection, and in analysis, in order to investigate the impact of the Pygmalion Effect in distance adult learning. Observation was held in two Contact Sessions of the Postgraduate Module for Open and Distance Education (EKP65) of the School of Humanities at the Hellenic Open University (HOU). Also, 22 interviews were conducted, 6 with Tutors/Advisors and 16 with students of the same Postgraduate Module. The data analysis indicates that both Tutors/Advisors and postgraduate students shape form their expectations based on the behaviour as reflected in their first contact (telephone contact, face-to-face contact, written contact through the CV). Expectations originally are positive, though this could change due to mismatched following behaviour. Tutor’s expectations are expressed in verbal and non-verbal ways both in written and face-to-face communication. However, it is the non-verbal behaviour - and mainly the encouragement and the support towards the students - that influences their positive mood and attitude towards the learning object and distance learning itself. In conclusion, not to reject the educational trend according to which the adult learner has developed selfmotivation, we accept that Tutor’s expectations reflected in encouragement and support towards the student may influence the learning process.
Anticalins directed against vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 3 (VEGFR-3) with picomolar affinities show potential for medical therapy and in vivo imaging
Authors: Richter Antonia , Skerra Arne
Published: July 2016

Members of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) family play a central role in angiogenesis as well as lymphangiogenesis and are crucial for tumor growth and metastasis. In particular, VEGFR-3 expression is induced in endothelial cells during tumor angiogenesis. We report the design of anticalins that specifically recognize the ligand-binding domains 1 and 2 of VEGFR-3. To this end, a library of the lipocalin 2 scaffold with 20 randomized positions distributed across its binding site was subjected to phage display selection and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) screening using the VEGF-C binding fragment (D1-2) or the entire extracellular region (D1-7) of VEGFR-3 as target proteins. Promising anticalin candidates were produced inEscherichia coliand biochemically characterized. Three variants with different receptor binding modes were identified, and two of them were optimized with regard to target affinity as well as folding efficiency. The resulting anticalins show dissociation constants down to the single-digit picomolar range. Specific recognition of VEGFR-3 on cells was demonstrated by immunofluorescence microscopy. Competitive binding versus VEGF-C was demonstrated for two of the anticalins withKivalues in the low nanomolar range. Based on these data, VEGFR-3 specific anticalins provide promising reagents for the diagnosis and/or therapeutic intervention of tumor-associated vessel growth.
Do we know what we are asking? Individual and group cognitive interviews1
Authors: Popper Miroslav , Petrjánošová Magda
Published: July 2016

The paper deals with cognitive interview, a method for pre-testing survey questions that is used in pilot testing to develop new measures and/or adapt ones in foreign languages. The aim is to explore the usefulness of the method by looking at two questionnaires measuring anti-Roma prejudice. The first, the Stereotype Content Model (SCM), contains questions that are dominantly used to test two dimensions of social perceptions of various groups: warmth and competence. The second, Interventions for Reducing Prejudice against Stigmatized Minorities (INTERMIN) consists of the items most frequently used in contact research to measure attitudes, social distance, anxiety, trust and behavioural intentions towards outgroups. Two rounds of cognitive interviews were held on both questionnaires to verbally evaluate participants’ understanding and/or interpretation of the draft questions. The first round was attended by university students, while the second round (with improved versions of the questionnaires) was done with high school students, as they are the target group for planned interventions based on the contact paradigm. The paper explains the problems/difficulties the participants had answering some of the questions and our attempts at improving the questionnaires. The problems can be grouped around six issues: The first two deal with the strategies participants used to answer our questions – whom exactly did they have in mind when answering the questionnaires and whose viewpoint did they represent in their answers. The next four problems are around nuances in the formulations of our questions and generally have to do with how the participants interpreted our questions – they concern assumptions that distinct items were logically interconnected, the period of time and locality referred to in our questions, translation and transferability of meanings from one language to another and double negation.
Re-negotiating an ethics of care in Kenyan childhoods1
Authors: Arndt Sonja , Tesar Marek , Pupala Branislav , Kaščák Ondrej , Mbugua Tata
Published: July 2016

Childhoods in contemporary Kenya are entangled with discourses of care in a post-colonial landscape. Such imaginaries of childhoods through discourses of ‘care’ and ‘charity’ are well established through Western lenses. Another lens that is often enacted is the lens of de-commercialised, un-spoilt, pure and innocent childhoods in the Kenyan landscape. In this study, the authors utilize Nel Nodding’s concept of an ethics of care, and a feminist lens, to explore this binary of Western views through real experiences of childhoods. This paper provides an analysis of childhoods as lived experiences in Kenya, and challenges constructions of children/childhoods as vulnerable, based upon observations and interviews conducted in Kenya in the remote area of Kwale County.