bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Consumption of Bilberries Controls Gingival Inflammation
Authors: Widén Cecilia , Coleman Michael , Critén Sladjana , Karlgren-Andersson Pernilla , Renvert Stefan , Persson G.
Published: May 2015

Bioactive molecules in berries may be helpful in reducing the risk of oral diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of bilberry consumption on the outcome of a routine dental clinical parameter of inflammation, bleeding on probing (BOP), as well as the impact on selected biomarkers of inflammation, such as cytokines, in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) in individuals with gingivitis. Study individuals who did not receive standard of care treatment were allocated to either a placebo group or to groups that consumed either 250 or 500 g bilberries daily over seven days. The placebo group consumed an inactive product (starch). A study group, receiving standard of care (debridement only) was also included to provide a reference to standard of care treatment outcome. Cytokine levels were assayed using the Luminex MagPix system. The mean reduction in BOP before and after consumption of test product over 1 week was 41% and 59% in the groups that consumed either 250 or 500 g of bilberries/day respectively, and was 31% in the placebo group, and 58% in the standard of care reference group. The analysis only showed a significant reduction in cytokine levels in the group that consumed 500 g of bilberries/day. A statistically significant reduction was observed for IL-1b (p = 0.025), IL-6 (p = 0.012) and VEGF (p = 0.017) in GCF samples in the group that consumed 500 g of bilberries daily. It appears that berry intake has an ameliorating effect on some markers of gingival inflammation reducing gingivitis to a similar extent compared to standard of care.
Identification of MicroRNA for Intermuscular Bone Development in Blunt Snout Bream (Megalobrama amblycephala)
Authors: Wan Shi-Ming , Yi Shao-Kui , Zhong Jia , Nie Chun-Hong , Guan Ning-Nan , Chen Bo-Xiang , Gao Ze-Xia
Published: May 2015

Intermuscular bone (IB), which occurs only in the myosepta of the lower teleosts, is attracting more attention of researchers due to its particular development and lack of genetic information. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as important regulators for biological processes. In the present study, miRNAs from IBs and connective tissue (CT; encircled IBs) from six-month-old Megalobrama amblycephala were characterized and compared. The results revealed the sequences and expression levels of 218 known miRNA genes (belonging to 97 families). Of these miRNAs, 44 known microRNA sequences exhibited significant expression differences between the two libraries, with 24 and 20 differentially-expressed miRNAs exhibiting higher expression in the CT and IBs libraries, respectively. The expressions of 11 miRNAs were selected to validate in nine tissues. Among the high-ranked predicted gene targets, differentiation, cell cycle, metabolism, signal transduction and transcriptional regulation were implicated. The pathway analysis of differentially-expressed miRNAs indicated that they were abundantly involved in regulating the development and differentiation of IBs and CT. This study characterized the miRNA for IBs of teleosts for the first time, which provides an opportunity for further understanding of miRNA function in the regulation of IB development.
Synthesis and Thermoelectric Properties in the 2D Ti1 – xNbxS3 Trichalcogenides
Authors: Misse Patrick , Berthebaud David , Lebedev Oleg , Maignan Antoine , Guilmeau Emmanuel
Published: May 2015

A solid solution of Ti1 − xNbxS3 composition (x = 0, 0.05, 0.07, 0.10) was synthesized by solid-liquid-vapor reaction followed by spark plasma sintering. The obtained compounds crystallize in the monoclinic ZrSe3 structure type. For the x = 0.07 sample, a mixture of both A and B variants of the MX3 structure is evidenced by transmission electron microscopy. This result contrasts with those of pristine TiS3, prepared within the same conditions, which crystallizes as a large majority of A variant. Thermoelectric properties were investigated in the temperature range 323 to 523 K. A decrease in the electrical resistivity and absolute value of the Seebeck coefficient is observed when increasing x due to electron doping. The lattice component of the thermal conductivity is effectively reduced by the Nb for Ti substitution through a mass fluctuation effect and/or a disorder effect created by the mixture of both A and B variants. Due to the low carrier concentration and the semiconductor character of the doped compounds, the too low power factor values leads to ZT values that remain smaller by a factor of 50 than those of the TiS2 layered compound.
Processing and Properties of Aluminum and Magnesium Based Composites Containing Amorphous Reinforcement: A Review
Authors: Subramanian Jayalakshmi , Seetharaman Sankaranarayanan , Gupta Manoj
Published: May 2015

This review deals with the processing and properties of novel lightweight metal matrix composites. Conventionally, hard and strong ceramic particles are used as reinforcement to fabricate metal matrix composites (MMCs). However, the poor mechanical properties associated with the interfacial de-cohesion and undesirable reactions at (ceramic) particle–(metallic) matrix interface represent major drawbacks. To overcome this limitation, metallic amorphous alloys (bulk metallic glass) have been recently identified as a promising alternative. Given the influential properties of amorphous metallic alloys, their incorporation is expected to positively influence the properties of light metal matrices when compared to conventional ceramic reinforcement. In view of this, a short account of the existing literature based on the processing and properties of Al- and Mg-matrix composites containing amorphous/bulk metallic glass (BMG) reinforcement is presented in this review.
Faults Diagnostics of Railway Axle Bearings Based on IMF’s Confidence Index Algorithm for Ensemble EMD
Authors: Yi Cai , Lin Jianhui , Zhang Weihua , Ding Jianming
Published: May 2015

As train loads and travel speeds have increased over time, railway axle bearings have become critical elements which require more efficient non-destructive inspection and fault diagnostics methods. This paper presents a novel and adaptive procedure based on ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) and Hilbert marginal spectrum for multi-fault diagnostics of axle bearings. EEMD overcomes the limitations that often hypothesize about data and computational efforts that restrict the application of signal processing techniques. The outputs of this adaptive approach are the intrinsic mode functions that are treated with the Hilbert transform in order to obtain the Hilbert instantaneous frequency spectrum and marginal spectrum. Anyhow, not all the IMFs obtained by the decomposition should be considered into Hilbert marginal spectrum. The IMFs’ confidence index arithmetic proposed in this paper is fully autonomous, overcoming the major limit of selection by user with experience, and allows the development of on-line tools. The effectiveness of the improvement is proven by the successful diagnosis of an axle bearing with a single fault or multiple composite faults, e.g., outer ring fault, cage fault and pin roller fault.
Effects of Temperature and X-rays on Plastic Scintillating Fiber and Infrared Optical Fiber
Authors: Lee Bongsoo , Shin Sang , Jang Kyoung , Yoo Wook
Published: May 2015

In this study, we have studied the effects of temperature and X-ray energy variations on the light output signals from two different fiber-optic sensors, a fiber-optic dosimeter (FOD) based on a BCF-12 as a plastic scintillating fiber (PSF) and a fiber-optic thermometer (FOT) using a silver halide optical fiber as an infrared optical fiber (IR fiber). During X-ray beam irradiation, the scintillating light and IR signals were measured simultaneously using a dosimeter probe of the FOD and a thermometer probe of the FOT. The probes were placed in a beaker with water on the center of a hotplate, under variation of the tube potential of a digital radiography system or the temperature of the water in the beaker. From the experimental results, in the case of the PSF, the scintillator light output at the given tube potential decreased as the temperature increased in the temperature range from 25 to 60 °C. We demonstrated that commonly used BCF-12 has a significant temperature dependence of −0.263 ± 0.028%/°C in the clinical temperature range. Next, in the case of the IR fiber, the intensity of the IR signal was almost uniform at each temperature regardless of the tube potential range from 50 to 150 kVp. Therefore, we also demonstrated that the X-ray beam with an energy range used in diagnostic radiology does not affect the IR signals transmitted via a silver halide optical fiber.
Best Clinical Practice in Botulinum Toxin Treatment for Children with Cerebral Palsy
Authors: Strobl Walter , Theologis Tim , Brunner Reinald , Kocer Serdar , Viehweger Elke , Pascual-Pascual Ignacio , Placzek Richard
Published: May 2015

Botulinum toxin A (BoNT-A) is considered a safe and effective therapy for children with cerebral palsy (CP), especially in the hands of experienced injectors and for the majority of children. Recently, some risks have been noted for children with Gross Motor Classification Scale (GMFCS) of IV and the risks are substantial for level V. Recommendations for treatment with BoNT-A have been published since 1993, with continuous optimisation and development of new treatment concepts. This leads to modifications in the clinical decision making process, indications, injection techniques, assessments, and evaluations. This article summarises the state of the art of BoNT-A treatment in children with CP, based mainly on the literature and expert opinions by an international paediatric orthopaedic user group. BoNT-A is an important part of multimodal management, to support motor development and improve function when the targeted management of spasticity in specific muscle groups is clinically indicated. Individualised assessment and treatment are essential, and should be part of an integrated approach chosen to support the achievement of motor milestones. To this end, goals should be set for both the long term and for each injection cycle. The correct choice of target muscles is also important; not all spastic muscles need to be injected. A more focused approach needs to be established to improve function and motor development, and to prevent adverse compensations and contractures. Furthermore, the timeline of BoNT-A treatment extends from infancy to adulthood, and treatment should take into account the change in indications with age.
Development of 18 polymorphic microsatellite markers for Vinca minor (Apocynaceae) via 454 pyrosequencing
Authors: Moeller Sina , Wöhrmann Tina , Huettel Bruno , Weising Kurt
Published: May 2015

Premise of the study:

Polymorphic microsatellite markers were developed in Vinca minor (Apocynaceae) to evaluate the level of clonality, population structure, and genetic diversity of the species within its native and introduced range.

Methods and Results:

A total of 1371 microsatellites were found in 43,565 reads from 454 pyrosequencing of genomic V. minor DNA. Additional microsatellite loci were mined from publicly available cDNA sequences. After several rounds of screening, 18 primer pairs flanking di‐, tri‐, or tetranucleotide repeats were identified that revealed high levels of genetic diversity in two native Italian populations, with two to 11 alleles per locus. Clonal growth predominated in two populations from the introduced range in Germany. Five loci successfully cross‐amplified in three additional Vinca species.

Conclusions:

The novel polymorphic microsatellite markers are promising tools for studying clonality and population genetics of V. minor and for assessing the historical origin of Central European populations.
Girard lit Isaïe, le bouquin émissaire ...
Authors: Janthial Dominique
Published: May 2015

René Girard est un fin lecteur de l’Écriture où il trouve la source première de son inspiration. Bien qu’il eût identifié le « Livre de la Consolation d’Israël, [comme] le plus grandiose peut-être de tous les livres prophétiques », Girard ne put malheureusement surmonter le scandale de la division d’Isaïe en trois entités distinctes pour découvrir dans une lecture unifiée du livre une confirmation magistrale de sa thèse.
Marc 16,1-8 — Les femmes et le jeune homme dans le tombeau
Authors: Wargnies Philippe
Published: May 2015

Les versets 16,1-8 de l’évangile selon saint Marc en constituent une première conclusion, dont la finale est surprenante. Après avoir donné une transposition littérale de la péricope, l’auteur la resitue d’abord dans le fil du deuxième évangile et plus spécialement par rapport à ses chapitres 14 et 15 (points 1 et 2). Il retraverse ensuite le récit pour nous rendre attentifs à ce qui s’y donne à voir et à entendre (3 et 4). Il s’attarde enfin davantage sur les deux derniers versets, en raison des questions qu’ils soulèvent et de la richesse d’interprétation à laquelle ils se prêtent (5 et 6). L’article se termine sur une brève réflexion plus explicitement ecclésiologique (7).
« Que vous alliez, que vous portiez du fruit et que votre fruit demeure. »
Authors: Tourpe Emmanuel
Published: May 2015

Une théologie philosophique de la donation et du consentement ne trouve son équilibre ultime que dans une métaphysique de la fécondité. Celle-ci, complétant rigoureusement l’entreprise « normative » de Blondel ou de Teilhard, se présente comme une « générative » où la vie originaire de Dieu se communique sponsalement dans l’être. Le Dieu qui n’est qu’en faisant être fonde toute différence sur l’identité de l’amour qui génère l’autre comme ressemblance.
En faveur du peuple sacerdotal, le ministère sacramentellement ordonné
Authors: Piret Pierre
Published: May 2015

Le Christ Prêtre attire l’humanité vers son Père en unissant à lui l’Église, peuple sacerdotal. Les relations se tissent, en vertu de la consécration et de la mission du Christ, entre le sacerdoce commun des baptisés et le sacerdoce ministériel. Cependant, le sacrement de l’Ordre comprend trois degrés, dont l’article met en relief l’interaction : l’épiscopat, le presbytérat et le diaconat. Les évêques et les prêtres sont ordonnés à la mission sacerdotale du Christ ; les diacres attestent que la diaconie (ou service, ou ministère) caractérise les trois degrés de l’Ordre. La double symbolique scripturaire de la Tête et du Corps, de l’Époux et de l’Épouse, éclaire aussi d’autres propos relatifs à l’économie sacramentelle et aux états de vie.
Pères défaillants, enfants humiliés dans les romans de Georges Bernanos
Authors: Daudin Claire
Published: May 2015

Les personnages d’enfants, dans les romans de Bernanos, sont les victimes d’adultes prédateurs qui les violentent, les acculent au suicide ou les assassinent. En l’absence de figure paternelle protectrice et bienveillante, seul le narrateur assume à leur égard une attitude de respect qui les rétablit dans leur dignité. La grave défaillance des pères, qui culmine dans les personnages de pédophiles, exprime sur le mode romanesque un désamour de l’humanité pour elle-même qui confine à l’autodestruction. L’humiliation des enfants est la marque ultime d’un refus du salut que le romancier, sondant les ténèbres, s’acharne à proclamer.
Comment devient-on auteur de cinéma ?
Authors: Alexandre Olivier
Published: May 2015

Reposant sur une enquête statistique, par entretiens et observations, l’article présente les différentes voies d’accès à l’activité de réalisateur dans le cinéma français. L’auteur y analyse les régularités en termes de parcours (expérience de « l’étranger », passage par l’université, intégration à un secteur artistique adjacent) et les modes d’apprentissage concrets (« court métrage »). Cet essai d’objectivation conduit à relativiser les notions de « vocation » et « d’autodidaxie », catégories angulaires des mondes de l’art.
Internationalising Social Work Education Using Massive Open Online Courses
Authors: Hawkins Linette , Martin Jennifer , McKay Elspeth , Pattanayak Supriya
Published: May 2015

Internationalising the curriculum is a priority of universities worldwide and increasingly a focus of social work education. Social workers espouse principles of global justice and community development yet social work in Australia remains locally focused. A review of international and local trends in the literature on ePedagogy and social work education within the context of internationalising the social work curriculum highlights current trends and practices in blended delivery and future opportunities provided by massive open online courses (MOOCs). Consideration of a case study of educational practices in the design and delivery of a community work course in blended delivery mode in Australia and India and via MOOC offering reveals that contemporary educational technologies can facilitate quality learning and teaching experiences. It is argued that increased flexibility in course offerings provides students with greater choice to engage in a range of quality educational experiences that are locally and globally contextualized. This chapter is well placed for the discussion on social networking and collaborative learning MOOCs – building MOOCs communities.
Learning Theories
Authors: O'Donnell Eileen , Lawless Seamus , Sharp Mary , O'Donnell Liam
Published: May 2015

This chapter reviews various learning theories about e-pedagogical strategies for the effective use of massive open online courses (MOOCs) in higher education. E-pedagogical strategies refer to the various teaching methods or approaches used by educators when encouraging students to engage with online learning. An up-to-date broad knowledge of learning theories is required by educators to inform and inspire their teaching approaches. Before developing lesson plans, educators should have a clear idea of the learning outcomes which they hope the learners will achieve by engaging with the lessons, be they delivered on or off line. By knowing the desired learning outcomes in advance of developing the lesson plans, educators have the opportunity to consider various learning theories, teaching methods, and pedagogical strategies to select the most appropriate one(s) to use when creating course content for MOOCs. The chapter continues the discussion on ‘ePedagogy and interactive MOOCs' from the perspective of addressing the topic of ‘ePedagogy and students' use of HCI (integrating interactivity into asynchronous MOOCs).
MOOCs
Authors: Ronkowitz Kenneth , Ronkowitz Lynnette Condro
Published: May 2015

This chapter introduces the evolution of the MOOC, using narratives that are documented by research generated from the educational community. It concentrates on the history and progression of distance learning and its movement toward online education. The authors' perspectives focus on their own anecdotal evolution, from traditional classroom teaching, infusing distance and online learning, to designing and teaching in a MOOC setting. In examining whether the MOOC is more of an evolution or a revolution in learning, they explore questions that have emerged about MOOCs including what distinguishes this model from other online offerings, characteristics of learners who succeed in this environment, and debates regarding best practices. Critical reaction and responses by proponents of this learning format are presented and acknowledged. The research, perspectives and debates clearly impact what the future of the MOOC appears to offer. This continues the discussion within the book section ‘RIA and education practice of MOOCs,' aligning to the discussion on the topic of ‘educational training design.'
Online Delivery of Introductory Economics Content in the United States
Authors: Scheiding Thomas
Published: May 2015

Introductory economics courses for undergraduates have increasingly been delivered online. This chapter documents not only the number of economics courses taught online and the types of institutions where they are offered, but it also highlights how the online environment changes how students learn and faculty members teach. As for how students perform in an online classroom and whether learning online is superior or inferior to learning face-to-face, the evidence is mixed. The overall finding with regard to student learning, however, is that there is no statistically significant difference in student learning in either the face-to-face or online environment. Finally, certain kinds of technology can enhance student learning in an online environment such as video lectures, blogs, and frequent homework assignments that guide students. This chapter concludes with a discussion of instructional design and how to make informed technology and assessment choices in the economics classroom that enhance student learning.
Technology Enhanced Learning and the Digital Economy
Authors: Schweighofer Patrick , Grünwald Stefan , Ebner Martin
Published: May 2015

Throughout history, the ongoing technological progress has caused the economy to change in many aspects; furthermore, at times it triggered the dawn of a new era. In the 1980s, this happened for the last time and the digital economy has emerged over the last decades. Since then, the significance of approaches to technology enhanced learning (TEL) has increased rapidly. However, the relations between the digital economy and technology enhanced learning are hardly investigated. Therefore this study points out the known relations between technology enhanced learning and the digital economy by reviewing 1089 publications. Thereby one could recognize that the relations between the regularities of the digital economy and the field of technology enhanced learning have not been thoroughly researched yet.
How Knowledge, Technology, and Project Management Processes in Brazilian Universities Help Innovation in Industry
Authors: Pellegrino de Souza Patrícia , Martins Ana Carolina Calçado Lopes , Stutzman Tina , Pires Danilo Cançado Peixoto , Lacerda Elimar Pires Vasconcellos Renato da , Rodrigues de Macedo Renato Ferreira , América Castiblanco Luz
Published: May 2015

Knowledge is the act of having a concept of something. It includes descriptions, assumptions, and theories. Knowledge Management is about making the right knowledge available to the right people. A Brazilian university made its own pathway to manage the knowledge generated inside the academia favoring the market needs, showing that an organization can learn and use its knowledge in businesses applications, creating competitive advantage, regarding innovation, for the productive sector. An understanding of the market and society's demands enabled the development of products, technologies, and services with high added-value in line with solutions to challenges faced by businesses. A Brazilian startup made the “interaction” between market and academia allowing interest increase of productive sector in performing projects in partnership with research and technology institutes. Both successful cases in this chapter ensure the importance of knowledge, project, and technology management processes conferring innovative technological and market advantages to small companies and big industries.
Enabling IT Innovation through Soft Systems Engineering
Authors: Simonette Marcel Jacques , Spina Edison
Published: May 2015

In any Software Development process, and especially in innovation processes, the team responsible for software implementation needs to acquire the necessary knowledge to implement the project and to sustain innovation. However, the implementation team does not always convert innovative ideas into the expected value. The Software Development Process has a complexity that is process-inherent. Soft System Engineering is a response to address this complexity and to support the application of user-driven methods in an open innovation environment. This approach allows the development of a systematic interaction with users to generate new offerings and to improve previous products and services in order to create value and differentiation.
Collaborative Research (CR)
Authors: Porath Amiram , Rahman Hakikur , Ramos Isabel
Published: May 2015

As a conceptual study this chapter takes open innovation as a tool that has been considered from the point of view of collaboration between the Industry and the Academy. However, if considered under the framework of the Resource Based Theory, specifically regarding Transaction Cost, it can be revealed that the two parties (Industry and Academy) are in fact compatible. Main focus of the discussion is on the Transaction Cost in the aspect of the management resources that are available for managing core activities and the cost incurred compared to other alternative management activities. It has been observed that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are faced with the ever increasing stress of intensive competition and limited by their resources (for example, managerial capabilities, financial, and others) in their abilities to deal with the transaction cost, and thus effectively turn to collaboration as a solution. The study synthesizes aspects of open innovation based on a theoretical model and a case study of the User Association of Advanced Technologies program in Israel, and emphasizes on collaboration as an open innovation activity within the Resource Based Theory. Thereafter, it concludes that collaborative research reduced the transaction cost in terms of utilizing open innovation in entrepreneurships, especially in case of SMEs, before providing a few research hints. The research piggybacks on the acquired knowledge on open innovation and thus strengthens further the concept of reduction of transaction cost through collaborative research based on the specific case study.
Open Social Innovation
Authors: Martins Teresa Cristina Monteiro , Bermejo Paulo Henrique de Souza
Published: May 2015

Social innovation and open innovation are two concepts that have gained prominence in the last decade. Small social innovations have the potential to change the global system, expanding through a collaborative process. Furthermore, the collaborative process is the main characteristic of open innovation. Social and open innovations are relevant and emerging; their relationship with each other has been neglected in the literature. Based on the study of social innovation and open innovation, this chapter proposes a framework about the “open social innovation” and demonstrates how it can be implemented through examples in Brazil and the US. Based on the literature review and these examples, it is evident that “open social innovation” is already a reality in many regions and is a combination of the two original concepts converging in collaborative process.
An Empirical Analysis of Innovation Success Factors Due to ICT Use in Japanese Firms
Authors: Idota Hiroki , Bunno Teruyuki , Tsuji Masatsugu
Published: May 2015

ICT (Information and Communication Technology) has now become one of the most important sources of innovation, and it contributes to share information on innovation within the firm as well as between firms. The former is referred to as ICT use inside the firm, while the latter as ICT use outside the firm. The objective of the chapter is to analyze how innovation is enhanced by two categories of ICT use based on a survey conducted with respect to 2,260 unlisted Japanese industrial companies in January 2010. This survey asked how ICT is used among respondents and the number of patent applications, which is used as a proxy of innovation. After defining the index of internal innovation capability, how ICT use promotes internal capability and innovation are analyzed using probit estimation. Moreover, the study focuses on open innovation, and these analyses are applied for firms practicing open innovation.
Chaos-Based Cryptography for Voice Secure Wireless Communication
Authors: Sadkhan Al Maliky Sattar B. , Saad Rana
Published: May 2015

Chaos theory was originally developed by mathematicians and physicists. The theory deals with the behaviors of nonlinear dynamic systems. Chaos theory has desirable features, such as deterministic, nonlinear, irregular, long-term prediction, and sensitivity to initial conditions. Therefore, and based on chaos theory features, the security research community adopts chaos theory in modern cryptography. However, there are challenges of using chaos theory with cryptography, and this chapter highlights some of those challenges. The voice information is very important compared with the information of image and text. This chapter reviews most of the encryption techniques that adopt chaos-based cryptography, and illustrates the uses of chaos-based voice encryption techniques in wireless communication as well. This chapter summarizes the traditional and modern techniques of voice/speech encryption and demonstrates the feasibility of adopting chaos-based cryptography in wireless communications.
ICT
Authors: Banerjee Preeta M.
Published: May 2015

This chapter highlights the use of ICT as a resource for making do with what is on hand (bricolage) in social entrepreneurship. A growing proportion of social entrepreneurs are starting in fundamentally resource-constrained yet dynamic and uncertain environments. This chapter investigates the role of ICT as a bricolagable resource that provides malleability and scalability for social entrepreneurship. However, findings suggest that implementing ICT alone is a resource model set for failure. Such a tactic ignores the need for co-evolution with complementary human capital of the entrepreneur(s). These insights are valuable not only for the building of social entrepreneurship ventures, but more broadly for resource-constrained firms in dynamic and uncertain environments that are required to leverage resources for competitive advantage.
Users' Involvement in the Innovation Process through Web 2.0
Authors: Mazini Sergio Ricardo , Gobbo Jr. José Alcides
Published: May 2015

Organizations are inserted into a competitive environment in which innovation is an essential factor in gaining temporary competitive advantages. The search for external sources of knowledge, which can contribute to the innovation process, has become a constant among the organizations. One of the actors involved in this search is users, who often play an important role in the development of new products. This chapter develops a framework for the analysis of users' involvement in the innovation process through Web 2.0. The research method used a unique case study conducted in a Brazilian automotive company that developed a project of a concept car involving users through Web 2.0. The presented study case was analyzed according to the framework. The obtained result shows that users can contribute not only with idea generation, but also with involvement in the innovation process, depending on which steps of the New Product Development (NPD) process they take part in. Moreover, increasingly users' development, participation, and collaboration are essential factors in this process.
Gender, Entrepreneurship, and Informal Markets in Africa
Authors: Kwami Janet D.
Published: May 2015

Mainstream scholarship on entrepreneurship focuses on firms in the global north as the dominant paradigm, neglecting potential lessons to be found in the informal sector, in the global south, particularly in Africa, and among women. Local entrepreneurship practices present a valuable case study for understanding the nature of entrepreneurship in emerging economies and their contribution to social and economic development. Drawing on ethnographic data, this chapter examines gender and information and communication technology use in the Ghanaian marketplace. Market women's entrepreneurship is influenced by social capital derived from social networks drawn from strong community ties. The study found that ICTs such as mobile phone, while gendered, are central to organizing and managing these micro-enterprises. This chapter contributes to studies on entrepreneurship by drawing attention to the under-researched intersections of female entrepreneurship in the Ghanaian marketplace and ICTs in emerging economies.
Factors Stimulating Entrepreneurship
Authors: Puia George M. , Affholter Joseph A. , Potts Mark D.
Published: May 2015

The World Bank, the World Economic Forum, the Heritage Foundation, and other global organizations have studied national business climates to determine optimal conditions and practices necessary to stimulate entrepreneurship and economic growth. This chapter compares select measures from the three organizations from six West African countries (Benin, Cote d'Ivorie, Ghana, Liberia, Senegal, and Sierra Leone) and benchmarks their results against the United States and an unweighted average of six European Union member states. These measures are most directly tied to the establishment, protection and sustainable growth of technology or technology-dependent entrepreneurial businesses: business freedom, investment freedom, investor protection, property rights protection, technological readiness, innovation, freedom from corruption, and access to risk capital. This chapter contributes to the literature in three ways. First, it provides a broad policy comparison. Second, it benchmarks entrepreneurial readiness climates via comparisons among emerging and developed markets. Lastly, it offers recommendations for policy makers and researchers.
Holy Trinity Medical Centre
Authors: Appiah-Kubi Seth
Published: May 2015

Entrepreneurs in Africa play a critical role in employment and wealth creation. Many African businesses started as family businesses or Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME). Their output forms a significant portion of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of those economies. The goal of this chapter is to contribute the case study of a successful African entrepreneur from Ghana. This study also presents the context of setting up a business in Africa, especially Ghana. The motivation, success factors, and challenges, such as lack of access to capital, limited government support, difficult regulatory environment, etc., are identified. Entrepreneurs in challenging environments develop adversity resilience (high adversity quotient) and rely on such phenomena such as social capital to succeed. Using behavioral theories of entrepreneurship such as rational choice theory and Myers-Brigg Type Indicator (MBTI), this chapter explains the contribution of personality traits and social and cultural environment including cultural beliefs on entrepreneurial success.
Enterprise as a Career Choice
Authors: Mostert Andre , Shaikh Abdulbasit
Published: May 2015

Youth unemployment is growing throughout the world due to a collection of conditions including but not exclusively: economic restrictions, anachronistic teaching and learning methodologies, and inadequate career guidance structures and support. These factors are the usual suspects and offer all stakeholders an easy way out in terms of the challenges associated with business start-ups and business initiations. That the contemporary educational environment is not effectively geared to support the emerging entrepreneur and is severely constrained by the limits of teacher training and curriculum flexibility is well recognised. With the growing demand for graduates to embrace an entrepreneurial ethos, the impact of support structures on the development of students is becoming more central to the required discourse in higher education, more especially, in developing countries without effective welfare structures. Central to this debate is the role of student attitudes towards the entrepreneurial route as a viable and achievable alternative to the conventional career pathways. Demands to generate a return from their education, familial expectations, and the need to develop as an individual can act as a further encumbrance to the embrace and exploration of business start-up opportunities. This study has generated a dataset of the dominant student attitudes to enterprise as a career pathway and general perspectives on enterprise and entrepreneurial activities. Through a number of partners, a cross section of students were invited to take an online survey addressing questions pertaining to entrepreneurship.
Youth Entrepreneurship in Indian Scenario
Authors: Baporikar Neeta
Published: May 2015

Governments and local communities across the world have recognized that key to building prosperity and stimulate regional growth is fostering entrepreneurship among their people especially youth. Youth entrepreneurship has become a topic of interest for research scholars and also a subject of major concern for the Government. While youth entrepreneurship is an under-explored field, the main factor for its growing attention is the increased number of unemployed young people. Furthermore entrepreneurship is seen as a channel for the talents of many highly educated young people to explore their potential and cash their business acumen. By 2015, World Bank estimates that there will be about 3 billion youths less than 25 years old and a big portion of that will be in India. Many young people cannot find employment. This has become particularly acute since the education explosion in early 2000's and onset of the financial crisis in 2008. These outcomes are both inefficient and inequitable. Evidence shows that the unemployed are unhappier, more likely to experience a range of health issues, and face difficulties in integrating back into the labour market place (Bell & Blanchflower, 2009). For young people, the effects of unemployment may be particularly scarring. Evidence suggests that a spell of youth unemployment increases the likelihood of poorer wages and unemployment in later life (Blanchflower & Oswald, 1998). Such outcomes also have pronounced social costs. It represents a loss of potential output and leads to increased costs to the taxpayer apart from causing social disruptions. One potential way of integrating young people into the global economy is to increase youth entrepreneurship1. The objective of this research paper is simple - to understand youth entrepreneurship and its role with focus on Indian scenario.
Internet Entrepreneurship Education and its Role in Online Business
Authors: Behboudi Mehdi , Jalili Nazanin , Najafi Kobra
Published: May 2015

The present paper aims to analyze the online entrepreneurship education program and its role in developing online business, specifically in Iran. Seeking cost effective strategies from governors as well as developing ICT infrastructures makes it imperative to study how Internet-based methods could help to educate entrepreneurs in Iran. Accordingly, the authors evaluated the current situation of the existing programs on the one hand and reviewed various well-known programs all around the world on the other hand. The critical successful factors and the weakness of Iranian current entrepreneurial courses have mentioned and criticized. The authors developed a theoretical framework relating to online entrepreneurship education program with the purpose of training entrepreneurs through the Internet. The paper concludes by stating managerial implications and governments obligations.
Culture-Based Creativity in the Regional Strategy of Development
Authors: Karnaukhova Oxana
Published: May 2015

In the knowledge-based society, economic growth depends on the implementation of new ideas. Creative people, creative industries, and creative economies are considered as the crucial drivers of the economic prosperity and change management. This chapter analyzes regional specificity of Russia in creation and support of creativity within social and economic development, using the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Impact Report, and the G20 Entrepreneurship Barometer. Using data from Inglehardt's World Values Survey, the analysis of cultural assignments in the decision-making in Russia will continue compared to diverse European practices. It will be a valuable basis for further exploration of collision between global economic systems, demands for creativity and innovation, internal Russian institutional and societal resources for support/rejection of innovation, and culturally indoctrinated behavioral patterns of young researchers and intellectual entrepreneurs, articulated as drivers of the new economy.
Sustainable Development in Business Education
Authors: Lourenço Fernando , Sappleton Natalie , Lei Weng Si , Cheng Ranis
Published: May 2015

This chapter highlights the challenges of teaching sustainability in business schools. The authors provide a discussion of economic liberalism and different forms of stakeholder theory to explain the varying attitudes among educators towards ethics, responsibility and sustainability. The assumption that business schools encourage a ‘profit-first-mentality' is fleshed out, and it is argued that this attitude likely affects the effectiveness of teaching and learning in respect to ethical, responsible and sustainable values. The chapter later questions whether it is better to flow with the dominant economic-driven values as prescribed by conventional business education or to challenge it in order to nurture sustainability-driven values among students. These options are explored and the suggestion that entrepreneurship has a role to play as a pedagogical tool to support the teaching of sustainable development is offered. It is argued that entrepreneurship does not confront, but supports the extant values of conventional business education and therefore is a feasible approach for business education. Finally, implications for business and management education, as well as, the role of entrepreneurship to promote sustainability-values are discussed drawing on models and two case studies (UK and China).
Entrepreneurship Approach to Higher Education Policy Aspects
Authors: Deshpande Mukund
Published: May 2015

To disseminate higher education and provide new alternatives to traditional models, an entrepreneurial approach to university education is desirable. Researchers have pleaded that learning and teaching in higher education over the last two decades has provided a variety of concepts, methods, and findings that are of both theoretical interest and practical relevance. Stimulating innovative and growth-oriented entrepreneurship is a key to economic and societal challenge to which universities and colleges have much to contribute. The intent of this chapter is to educate the institutions, students, learners, and the public in general about the path to higher education that is intended in today's globalization scenario to meet with diverse needs of profession, business, and government. In short, the chapter highlights and elaborates the grouping of policies used to achieve higher education leading to elevated standard in the society. This chapter provides material to institutions, universities, and researchers to understand better the growing importance of the MENA region in today's global economy that would facilitate acquiring knowledge for developing the relatively understudied MENA region. This province is looking for prospects in developing higher education owing to its budding significance in the world economy. In particular, the chapter explores how global higher education and technological advancements are influencing the progress and prosperity of this region.
A New Space for Biotechnology Innovation?
Authors: Tamoschus David
Published: May 2015

New technological opportunities and online communication constantly gain importance for knowledge integration and knowledge creation in any innovation-driven environment. The cooperation between firms and individual actors in biotechnology was characteristically organized in local or regional clusters, based on face-to-face communications and strategic temporary linkages to other clusters. However, this archetypal configuration can change with the emerging use of open innovation models such as online research communities. A qualitative case study including an analysis of forums within an open source biomedical research platform portrays how knowledge integration mechanisms, and hence, innovations are implemented in virtual space. In this newly created environment, a number of geographical patterns are inverted: The strong role of physical co-location is partly substituted by enabled online proximity and new opportunities of virtual “prototype-sharing”; the former global pipelines are transformed to local and virtual cross-community pipelines. Yet mechanisms of creating social coherence and stability illustrate noteworthy similarities with “localized capabilities” of regional agglomerations. Eventually, knowledge integration capabilities ensure that the network can operate as a successful knowledge provider.
The Open Innovation Paradigm
Authors: Ganzerla Luca , Colapinto Cinzia , Rocco Elena
Published: May 2015

The aim of this chapter is to shed light on an emerging educational and business paradigm, stemming from the digital revolution and the opportunities disclosed by Open Innovation. The central idea behind Open Innovation is that, in a world of widely distributed knowledge, companies cannot afford to rely entirely on their own research but should instead buy or license processes or inventions from other actors. After pointing out the potential benefits of digital storytelling and of Web 2.0 and 3.0 for promoting pedagogical and organizational innovation, the authors present an application of the Open Innovation Paradigm in education: the Value Generating Framework. The chapter offers empirical evidence of the benefits through an in-depth analysis of the alliance between the Italian Zoo “Parco Natura Viva” and the Italian foundation “Radio Magica.” This knowledge-intensive, collaborative, value network paradigm is more successful than the previous firm-centric paradigm.
Transportation Risk Analysis
Authors: Crnčević Dragan
Published: May 2015

Petroleum is transported across the water in barges and tankers, and on land, using pipelines, trucks, and trains. Natural gas is moved, mainly, by pipelines. The most common causes of tanker accidents are: fire/explosions, loading/offloading, structural damage, collision, and grounding. Pipeline accidents are due to: corrosion, third parties activities, mechanical damage, natural events, and operational error. Some of the most commonly applied preventive activities that reduce spills in waterborne transportation are: double-hulled tanker, navigation safety and radio communications equipment, tanker exclusion zone, etc. The pipeline condition can be recorded by using various nondestructive measurement techniques or by chemical analysis of fluid flows. Different types of sensors can be used to locate and determine the size of an anomaly in the pipeline geometry. Mayor methods for detecting leaks are measuring the hydrodynamic parameters or registering abnormal conditions in the fluid flow and detecting phenomena in the immediate vicinity of the pipeline.
Petroleum Industry Environmental Performance and Risk
Authors: Hrncevic Lidia
Published: May 2015

The petroleum industry holds long- and short-term environmental risks. Besides production fluids, all petroleum industry activities involve either use of fluids, which contain abundant substances, or waste generation, both associated with potential risk to the environment. The principal environmental risk associated with the petroleum industry is the risk of fluid spill/emission to the environment. Although in recent decades the risk analysis methodologies have matured, to date there is still no universally accepted methodology for environmental risk assessment in petroleum industry. In this chapter, the petroleum industry's environmental incident history and statistics are presented. The environmental impact of the petroleum industry's activities, its extent, and trends are analyzed. The overview of pollution sources with associated environmental risk is given along with the analysis of the causes and consequences of incidents in the petroleum industry.