bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Resynchronization Therapy in the Elderly
Authors: Bontempi Luca , Vassanelli Francesca , Curnis Antonio ,   Unit of Cardiology, University of Brescia, Spedali Civili Hospital, Brescia, Italy,   Unit of Cardiology, University of Brescia, Spedali Civili Hospital, Brescia, Italy,   Unit of Cardiology, University of Brescia, Spedali Civili Hospital, Brescia, Italy
Published: May 2016

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are increasingly used in patients ≥80 years old, and the proportion of devices incorporating cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) increases with patient age. In this era of patient-centered care, important questions arise about the patterns of use, clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness of CRT for older patients. Currently, few data are available that specifically address the effects of CRT in the elderly.
Young People’s More Permissive Views About Marijuana: Local Impact of State Laws or National Trend?
Authors: Schmidt Laura A. , Jacobs Laurie M. , Spetz Joanne
Published: May 2016

Objectives. To determine whether state medical marijuana laws “send the wrong message,” that is, have a local influence on the views of young people about the risks of using marijuana.

Methods. We performed multilevel, serial, cross-sectional analyses on 10 annual waves of the US National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2004–2013) nationally and for states with marijuana laws using individual- and state-level controls.

Results. Living in medical marijuana states was associated with more permissive views regarding marijuana across 5 different measures. However, these associations became non–statistically significant after we adjusted for state-level differences. By contrast, there was a consistent and significant national time trend toward more permissive attitudes, which was less pronounced among children of middle school age than it was among their older counterparts.

Conclusions. Passing medical marijuana laws does not seem to directly affect the views of young people in medical marijuana states. However, there is a national trend toward young people taking more permissive views about marijuana independent of any effects within states.
Pediatric Care Provider Density and Personal Belief Exemptions From Vaccine Requirements in California Kindergartens
Authors: Walker Edward T. , Rea Christopher M.
Published: May 2016

Objectives. To understand contextual associations between medical care providers—pediatricians, family medical practitioners, and alternative medicine practitioners—and personal belief exemptions (PBEs) from mandated school entry vaccinations.

Methods. Data on kindergarten PBEs from the California Department of Public Health were analyzed for 2010, 2011, and 2012, with each school sorted into Primary Care Service Areas (PCSAs). Provider data from federal sources and state records of alternative medicine providers, alongside controls for school factors, were used to estimate panel models.

Results. Each 10% increase in the relative proportion of pediatricians in a given PCSA was associated with a statistically significant 11% decrease in PBE prevalence. The same increase in the proportion of family medical practitioners was associated with a 3.5% relative increase. Access to alternative medicine practitioners was also associated with a significantly higher PBE prevalence.

Conclusions. Medical provider contexts are associated with PBEs, reflecting a combination of contextual effects and self-selection of families into schools and PCSAs that share their preferences. The geographic distribution of child primary care services may be a key factor in a school’s health risk associated with lack of immunization or underimmunization.
A Hadoop-enabled sensor-oriented information system for knowledge discovery about target-of-interest
Authors: Liang Yu , Wu Chao
Published: May 2016

To obtain a real-time situational awareness about the specific behavior of
targets-of-interest using large-scale sensory data-set, this paper presents a
generic sensor-oriented information system based on Hadoop Ecosystem, which
is denoted as SOIS-Hadoop for simplicity. Robotic heterogeneous sensor nodes
bound by wireless sensor network are used to track things-of-interest. Hadoop
Ecosystem enables highly scalable and fault-tolerant acquisition, fusion and
storage, retrieval, and processing of sensory data. In addition, SOIS-Hadoop
employs temporally and spatially dependent mathematical model to formulate
the expected behavior of targets-of-interest, based on which the observed
behavior of targets can be analyzed and evaluated. Using two real-world
sensor-oriented information processing and analysis problems as examples, the
mechanism of SOIS-Hadoop is also presented and validated in detail.
Bridging the SNMP gap: Simple network monitoring the internet of things
Authors: Savic Mihajlo
Published: May 2016

Things that form Internet of Things can vary in every imaginable aspect. From
simplest devices with barely any processing and memory resources, with
communication handled by networking devices like switches and routers to
powerful servers that provide needed back-end resources in cloud
environments, all are needed for real world implementations of Internet of
Things. Monitoring of the network and server parts of the infrastructure is a
well known area with numerous approaches that enable efficient monitoring.
Most prevalent technology used is SNMP that forms the part of the IP stack
and is as such universally supported. On the other hand, ?things? domain is
evolving very fast with a number of competing technologies used for
communication and monitoring. When discussing small, constrained devices, the
two most promising protocols are CoAP and MQTT. Combined, they cover wide
area of communication needs for resource constrained devices, from simple
messaging system to one that enables connecting to RESTful world. In this
paper we present a possible solution to bridge the gap in monitoring by
enabling SNMP access to monitoring data obtained from constrained devices
that cannot feasibly support SNMP or are not intended to be used in such a
manner.
Analysis of variability, heritability, and interrelationships among grain yield and related characters in barley advanced lines
Authors: Ahmadi Jafar , Vaezi Behroz , Pour-Aboughadareh Alireza
Published: May 2016

The main goal of this study was to improve pure lines for low input
agricultural areas of the semi-arid region of Iran and similar environmental
conditions. Forty barley pure lines provided from ICARDA along with three
check cultivars were evaluated under rain-fed conditions in a semi-arid
region of Iran during two years (2011-2013). The experiments were conducted
in a randomized complete block design with four replications to estimate
genetic variation and heritability for agro-morphological traits. The highest
values of phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation were observed
for the number of grains per spike followed by peduncle length, early vigor
and grain yield. The broad heritability estimates ranged from 24% for grain
yield to 96% for the number of grains per spike. The highest and lowest
expected genetic advance, observed for days to physiological maturity and the
number of grains per spike, respectively. Results of stepwise regression and
path analysis showed that hectoliter grain weight and thousand grain weight
exhibited the highest direct effects on grain yield, respectively.
Comparisons between the pure lines and check cultivars indicated that out of
40 pure lines, 27 lines had a higher grain yield. Also, the pure lines No.
29, 13, 9 and 33 were identified as the superior lines for semi-arid
environmental conditions. Our results indicate that check cultivars could be
improved by selecting for pure lines with taller peduncle and the number of
grains per spike, but with heavier grains. Therefore, these lines can be used
as genetic material to broaden the genetic basis of barley breeding programs
all over the world.
MEF2B gene SNP markers of meat productivity in Severokavkazskaya sheep breed
Authors: Trukhachev Vladimir , Belyaev Valery , Kvochko Andrey , Kulichenko Alexander , Kovalev Dmitry , Pisarenko Sergey , Volynkina Anna , Selionova Marina , Aybazov Magomet , Shumaenko Svetlana , Omarov Arslan , Mamontova Tatyana , Yatsyk Olesya , Krivoruchko Alexander , Petrovic Milan , Pantelic Vlada , Petrovic-Caro Violeta
Published: May 2016

One of the new promising candidate genes defining productive qualities of
sheep is MEF2B. Protein from the MEF2 group encoded by it affects the
production of myostatin and the expression of the genes responsible for the
growth of skeletal muscle fibers. Thus, the knowledge of the MEF2B gene
structure is important for genomic selection. We have studied the structure
of the MEF2B gene at sheep of Severokavkazskaya breed bred in Russia. To
detect alleles we use NimbleGen sequencing technology by Roche (USA). As a
result, it was revealed 14 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) at the
given breed. The discovered SNPare located in not coding areas. From them 7
polymorphisms are in the area of 5? upstream gene in loci: c.-1713, c.-1319,
c.-839, c.-321, c.-246, c.-161, c.-3; 6 polymorphisms are in introns, loci:
c.55-51, c.258+312, c.258+380, c.259-52, c.452+95, c.452+103, 1 SNP is in 3?
downstream gene, c.
Variability of Dutch potato varieties under various agroecological conditions in Serbia
Authors: Momirovic Nebojsa , Brocic Zoran , Stanisavljevic Rade , Strbanovic Ratibor , Gvozden Goran , Stanojkovic-Sebic Aleksandra , Postic Dobrivoj
Published: May 2016

The study presents results of a three-year experiment of variability of
different Dutch potato varieties in Serbia: Adora and Cleopatra (early),
Innovator and Frisia (mediumearly) and Desiree and Kondor (medium-late). The
research was conducted during 2008, 2009 and 2010, in three different soil
and climatic locations: Zemun (100 m a.s.l.), Srbobran (86 m a.s.l.) and Guca
(370 m a.s.l.). The four-repplicate field trials were set up using standard
methodology according to the random block desing. The analysis of variance
suggest that number of tubers per plant, number of market tubers per plant
and total tuber yield were significantly fluctuating depending on genotype
(G), year (Y) and the location (L). In addition to individual influences of
different factors, their interactions were also pronounced (G x Y, G x L, Y x
L, G x Y x L). In the three-year period average, the highest total yield was
recorded in Zemun (35.80 t ha??), followed by Guca (29.32 t ha??), while the
lowest average yield recorded was in Srbobran (27.38 t ha??). The highest
average yield of tubers in the three-year period was recorded in the
Cleopatra variety, followed by Adora variety, while the lowest average yield
was recorded in the variety Frisia. Obtained results show that the highest
yields over observed locations were recorded in early varieties that formed
medium number of tubers per plant (Cleopatra and Adora) and medium late
varieties (Desiree and Kondor) that expressed good resistance to high air
temperatures and stress caused by drought.
Breeding barley for quality in Turkey
Authors: Kaya Yuksel , Ayranci Ramazan
Published: May 2016

We evaluated a total of 411 genotypes, including 334 breeding lines with 77
checks from Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) Breeding Program of Turkey (BBPT),
based upon their grain yield (GY) and quality traits (namely protein
content-PC, acid detergent fiber-ADF, thousand kernel weight-TKW, kernel
size-KS and test weight-TW), during the 5 consecutive cropping seasons, from
2007-2008 to 2011-2012. Broad-sense heritability (H) values for quality
traits were moderate (0.57-0.65), while it was low (0.43) for grain yield.
Accordingly, grain physical features (namely TW, KS and TKW) were positively
significantly correlated with GY, but negatively significantly correlated
with PC. Results of our study showed that selection for GY and quality traits
was less efficient than we expected, due to undesirable multi-variate
correlations such as GY vs PC and low to moderate H values. Therefore, we
tried to put suggestions forward to the BBPT, by following discussing about
our ability to select for high GY and acceptable quality in barley.
Analysis of association between polymorphisms of MTHFR, MTHFD1 and RFC1 genes and efficacy and toxicity of methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis patients
Authors: Vejnovic Dubravka , Milic Vera , Damnjanovic Tatjana , Maksimovic Nela , Bunjevacki Vera , Lukovic Ljiljana , Novakovic Ivana , Krajinovic Maja , Damjanov Nemanja , Radunovic Goran , Pavkovic-Lucic Sofija , Jekic Biljana
Published: May 2016

A folate analogue methotrexate (MTX) is the most commonly used
disease-modifying drug in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. However, the
clinical response of RA patients treated with MTX shows interindividual
differences and 30% of patients discontinue therapy due to the side effects.
In a group of 184 RA patients treated with MTX we have investigated whether
polymorphisms in MTHFR (rs1801133, rs1801131), MTHFD1 (rs2236225) and RFC1
(rs144320551) genes may have impact on MTX efficacy and/or adverse drugs
effects (ADEs). The efficacy of the MTX therapy has been estimated using the
disease activity score in 28 joints (DAS28-ESR) based on EULAR criteria and
relative DAS28 values (rDAS28) and all adverse drug events were recorded.
Patients were genotyped for selected polymorphism by PCR-RFLP method.
According to the EULAR response criteria after 6 months of MTX therapy 146
(79.3%) patients were classified as responders, (17 patients (11.6%) were
good and 129 patients (88.4%) were moderate responders) and 38 patients
(20.7%) as non-responders. ADEs were observed in 53 (28.8%) patients. The
majority of ADEs were mild (36 (19.56%) patients) to moderate (12 (6.25%)
patients). Five patients (2.7%) had serious ADEs. Association studies have
been conducted between obtained genotypes and the efficacy and toxicity of
MTX. We have observed no association between polymorphisms and efficacy or
toxicity of MTX in RA patients.
Flail chest in a polytraumatized patient: Management and treatment - case report
Authors: Milosevic Bojan , Milisavljevic Slobodan , Doncic Nikola , Arsenijevic Milos , Mrvic Stanko , Stojkovic Dragan , Maric Nebojsa , Spasic Marko
Published: May 2016

Introduction. Management of a polytraumatized patient is a problem that requires a multidisciplinary approach, in order to optimise patient?s outcome. The purpose of this study was to show the approach in the treatment of a patient with a severe life-threatening polytrauma, including a personalized healthcare approach with the positive outcome after the inadequate initial treatment. Case report. We presented a case of a young polytraumatized patient with trauma as a result of road traffic accident. The patient had chest, abdominal and right arm injuries. He was diagnosed of hepatic rupture with conquasation and retroperitoneal hematoma and the patient underwent liver tamponade. Chest trauma due to bilateral serial rib fracture with flail chest was treated by chest drainage. After the adequate multidisciplinary interventions for the patient, the patient was discharged. Conclusion. This case report is of great importance since it shows that severe polytraumatized patients with bad initial prognosis can successfully receive a lifesaving treatment.
Chord Recognition Based on Temporal Correlation Support Vector Machine
Authors: Rao Zhongyang , Guan Xin , Teng Jianfu
Published: May 2016

In this paper, we propose a method called temporal correlation support vector machine (TCSVM) for automatic major-minor chord recognition in audio music. We first use robust principal component analysis to separate the singing voice from the music to reduce the influence of the singing voice and consider the temporal correlations of the chord features. Using robust principal component analysis, we expect the low-rank component of the spectrogram matrix to contain the musical accompaniment and the sparse component to contain the vocal signals. Then, we extract a new logarithmic pitch class profile (LPCP) feature called enhanced LPCP from the low-rank part. To exploit the temporal correlation among the LPCP features of chords, we propose an improved support vector machine algorithm called TCSVM. We perform this study using the MIREX’09 (Music Information Retrieval Evaluation eXchange) Audio Chord Estimation dataset. Furthermore, we conduct comprehensive experiments using different pitch class profile feature vectors to examine the performance of TCSVM. The results of our method are comparable to the state-of-the-art methods that entered the MIREX in 2013 and 2014 for the MIREX’09 Audio Chord Estimation task dataset.
MLK3 Signaling in Cancer Invasion
Authors: Rattanasinchai Chotirat , Gallo Kathleen
Published: May 2016

Mixed-lineage kinase 3 (MLK3) was first cloned in 1994; however, only in the past decade has MLK3 become recognized as a player in oncogenic signaling. MLK3 is a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAP3K) that mediates signals from several cell surface receptors including receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), chemokine receptors, and cytokine receptors. Once activated, MLK3 transduces signals to multiple downstream pathways, primarily to c-Jun terminal kinase (JNK) MAPK, as well as to extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK) MAPK, P38 MAPK, and NF-κB, resulting in both transcriptional and post-translational regulation of multiple effector proteins. In several types of cancer, MLK3 signaling is implicated in promoting cell proliferation, as well as driving cell migration, invasion and metastasis.
Potential for Reuse of E-Plastics through Processing by Compression Molding
Authors: Mills William , Tatara Robert
Published: May 2016

The amounts of e-waste, consisting of metal (e-metals) and plastic (e-plastics) streams from electronic goods, are increasing in the United States and elsewhere. The e-metals waste streams are being recycled to a reasonable degree due to the value of precious metals. E-plastic waste streams currently are not recycled or reused to a significant extent. As a result, most e-plastics are disposed of by landfilling or thermal treatment, or sent overseas for alleged recycling or reuse, any of which could result in unsafe worker exposure and release into the environment. Two of the major barriers to e-plastics’ reuse or recycling are the mixed plastic content and the presence in the e-plastics of flame retardants (FR), of which two classes in particular, the brominated flame retardants (BFR) and organo-phosphorus flame retardants (OPFR), have associated health concerns. The major goal of this project is to investigate the possibility of direct reuse of e-plastics in compression molding. Preliminary data generated have identified a molding procedure that yields remanufactured e-plastics having a tensile strength of 29.3 MPa. This moderate strength level is suspected to be due to inclusions of plastic bits that did not melt and internal voids from out-gassing. Handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) was utilized to characterize elemental components in the e-plastics tested for compression molding. Several high “hits” for Br were found that could not be predicted visually. The preliminary XRF data for BFR and OPFR in this work are helpful for environmental and occupational hazard assessments of compression molding activities. Additionally, methods are suggested to characterize the metals, BFR, and OPFR content of the e-plastics using several different additional laboratory analytical techniques to determine the suitability for cost-effective and easy-to-use technologies.
An Intelligent Sensor for the Ultra-High-Frequency Partial Discharge Online Monitoring of Power Transformers
Authors: Li Jian , Li Xudong , Du Lin , Cao Min , Qian Guochao
Published: May 2016

Ultra-high-frequency (UHF) partial discharge (PD) online monitoring is an effective way to inspect potential faults and insulation defects in power transformers. The construction of UHF PD online monitoring system is a challenge because of the high-frequency and wide-frequency band of the UHF PD signal. This paper presents a novel, intelligent sensor for UHF PD online monitoring based on a new method, namely a level scanning method. The intelligent sensor can directly acquire the statistical characteristic quantities and is characterized by low cost, few data to output and transmit, Ethernet functionality, and small size for easy installation. The prototype of an intelligent sensor was made. Actual UHF PD experiments with three typical artificial defect models of power transformers were carried out in a laboratory, and the waveform recording method and intelligent sensor proposed were simultaneously used for UHF PD measurement for comparison. The results show that the proposed intelligent sensor is qualified for the UHF PD online monitoring of power transformers. Additionally, three methods to improve the performance of intelligent sensors were proposed according to the principle of the level scanning method.
Optimising Ambient Setting Bayer Derived Fly Ash Geopolymers
Authors: Jamieson Evan , Kealley Catherine , Van Riessen Arie , Hart Robert
Published: May 2016

The Bayer process utilises high concentrations of caustic and elevated temperature to liberate alumina from bauxite, for the production of aluminium and other chemicals. Within Australia, this process results in 40 million tonnes of mineral residues (Red mud) each year. Over the same period, the energy production sector will produce 14 million tonnes of coal combustion products (Fly ash). Both industrial residues require impoundment storage, yet combining some of these components can produce geopolymers, an alternative to cement. Geopolymers derived from Bayer liquor and fly ash have been made successfully with a compressive strength in excess of 40 MPa after oven curing. However, any product from these industries would require large volume applications with robust operational conditions to maximise utilisation. To facilitate potential unconfined large-scale production, Bayer derived fly ash geopolymers have been optimised to achieve ambient curing. Fly ash from two different power stations have been successfully trialled showing the versatility of the Bayer liquor-ash combination for making geopolymers.
Adsorption and Gas Separation of Molecules by Carbon Nanohorns
Authors: Gatica Silvina , Nekhai Anton , Scrivener Adam
Published: May 2016

In this paper, we report the results of Monte Carlo simulations of the adsorption of neon, argon, methane and carbon dioxide in carbon nanohorns. We model the nanohorns as an array of carbon cones and obtained adsorption isotherms and isosteric heats. The main sites of adsorption are inside the cones and in the interstices between three cones. We also calculated the selectivity of carbon dioxide/methane, finding that nanohorns are a suitable substrate for gas separation. Our simulations are compared to available experimental data.
The Effect of Gestational and Lactational Age on the Human Milk Metabolome
Authors: Sundekilde Ulrik , Downey Eimear , O’Mahony James , O’Shea Carol-Anne , Ryan C. , Kelly Alan , Bertram Hanne
Published: May 2016

Human milk is the ideal nutrition source for healthy infants during the first six months of life and a detailed characterisation of the composition of milk from mothers that deliver prematurely (<37 weeks gestation), and of how human milk changes during lactation, would benefit our understanding of the nutritional requirements of premature infants. Individual milk samples from mothers delivering prematurely and at term were collected. The human milk metabolome, established by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, was influenced by gestational and lactation age. Metabolite profiling identified that levels of valine, leucine, betaine, and creatinine were increased in colostrum from term mothers compared with mature milk, while those of glutamate, caprylate, and caprate were increased in mature term milk compared with colostrum. Levels of oligosaccharides, citrate, and creatinine were increased in pre-term colostrum, while those of caprylate, caprate, valine, leucine, glutamate, and pantothenate increased with time postpartum. There were differences between pre-term and full-term milk in the levels of carnitine, caprylate, caprate, pantothenate, urea, lactose, oligosaccharides, citrate, phosphocholine, choline, and formate. These findings suggest that the metabolome of pre-term milk changes within 5–7 weeks postpartum to resemble that of term milk, independent of time of gestation at pre-mature delivery.
Targeted Therapies for the Treatment of Pediatric Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas: Present and Future
Authors: Sorge Caryn , McDaniel Jenny , Xavier Ana
Published: May 2016

Pediatric Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas (NHL) are a diverse group of malignancies and as such treatment can vary based on the different biological characteristics of each malignancy. Significant advancements are being made in the treatment and outcomes of this group of malignancies. This is in large part due to novel targeted drug therapies that are being used in combination with traditional chemotherapy. Here, we discuss several new lines of therapy that are being developed or are in current use for pediatric patients with NHL.
APPLICATION OF THE HOMOTOPY ANALYSIS METHOD FOR SOLVING THE SYSTEMS OF LINEAR AND NONLINEAR INTEGRAL EQUATIONS
Authors: Brociek Rafal , Hetmaniok Edyta , Matlak Jaros law , Slota Damian
Published: May 2016

In this paper we indicate some applications of homotopy analysis method for solving the systems of linear and nonlinear integral equations. The method is based on the concept of creating function series. If the series converges, its sum is the solution of this system of equations. The paper presents conditions to ensure the convergence of this series and estimation of the error of approximate solution obtained when the partial sum of the series is used. Application of the method will be illustrated by examples.
PULLBACK ATTRACTOR FOR A NON-AUTONOMOUS GENERALIZED CAHN-HILLIARD EQUATION WITH BIOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
Authors: Duan Ning
Published: May 2016

In this paper, we consider a non-autonomous generalized Cahn-Hilliard equation with biological applications. It is shown that a pullback attractor of the equation exists when the external force has exponential growth.
NEW INTEGRATION OF MCDM METHODS AND QFD IN THE SELECTION OF GREEN SUPPLIERS
Authors: YAZDANI Morteza , HASHEMKHANI ZOLFANI Sarfaraz , ZAVADSKAS Edmundas Kazimieras
Published: May 2016

Currently, topics of operations management and supply chain systems have been gaining more interest of researchers. Efficiency in supply chain activities and operations management firstly benefit organisations. One of the main operations in supply chain systems is the collaboration with selected suppliers. Various models have been proposed in terms of supplier evaluation and selection studies. The invention of a new integrated frame for the building of an effective supplier evaluation system is a multi-attribute task that consists of several factors as external and internal variables. This paper delivers a creative integrated model of supplier selection problem using SWARA, QFD and a new MCDM tool called WASPAS. This work considers customer attitudes in the process of supplier evaluation. To give more weight to customer requirements, a new SWARA method has been designed; additionally, QFD and the house of quality matrix have been used to transform customer requirements into the supplier evaluation index. Finally, WASPAS has been used to rate the performance of suppliers and present supplier ranking scores. Application of initiative ways to propose a systematic supplier selection problem has always been encouraged by supply chain managers. This topic has been addressed in this paper as well.
CORONAL DENSITY STRUCTURE AND ITS ROLE IN WAVE DAMPING IN LOOPS
Authors: Cargill P. J. , De Moortel I. , Kiddie G.
Published: May 2016

It has long been established that gradients in the Alfvén speed, and in particular the plasma density, are an essential part of the damping of waves in the magnetically closed solar corona by mechanisms such as resonant absorption and phase mixing. While models of wave damping often assume a fixed density gradient, in this paper the self-consistency of such calculations is assessed by examining the temporal evolution of the coronal density. It is shown conceptually that for some coronal structures, density gradients can evolve in a way that the wave-damping processes are inhibited. For the case of phase mixing we argue that (a) wave heating cannot sustain the assumed density structure and (b) inclusion of feedback of the heating on the density gradient can lead to a highly structured density, although on long timescales. In addition, transport coefficients well in excess of classical are required to maintain the observed coronal density. Hence, the heating of closed coronal structures by global oscillations may face problems arising from the assumption of a fixed density gradient, and the rapid damping of oscillations may have to be accompanied by a separate (non-wave-based) heating mechanism to sustain the required density structuring.
Les relations entre la Côte-d’Ivoire et la Cour pénale internationale analysées à l’aune de l’affaire Le Procureur c. Simone Gbagbo
Authors: Meité Mamadou
Published: May 2016

Après la Lybie et le Kenya notamment, c’était au tour de la Côte-d’Ivoire de saisir la Cour pénale internationale (ci-après, la Cour) d’une exception d’irrecevabilité en l’affaire Le Procureur c. Simone Gbagbo. Cette exception a été rejetée par la Cour au motif principal que les critères matériels d’irrecevabilité n’étaient pas respectés par la partie ivoirienne. Partant, ce rejet permet d’analyser les relations entre la Côte-d’Ivoire et la Cour. Aussi, il permet d’examiner la pratique jurisprudentielle de la Cour en matière d’exceptions d’irrecevabilité.
Going beyond GDP
Authors: Ates Seyithan Ahmet , Ates Muradiye , Yülek Murat Ali
Published: May 2016

A redirection towards well-being with a view to produce lasting social and economic vitality for the global civilization necessitates moving from conventional economic methods towards innovative solutions, which are necessary to face challenges of the future to foster sustainable growth. Social innovation and its agents can be considered as a toolbox which may facilitate a transition by positively influencing well-being, developing ways of integrating it into policy, and promoting it as an alternative measure of progress. Social innovation may increase the role of civil society in solving social problems, while sustaining and improving people's well-being beyond increasing their welfare in monetary term. By providing up-to-date solutions to challenges ranging from global warming to fair income distribution, and from social innovative entrepreneurs to grass-rooted innovation, social innovation seems to be capable of transforming the society in a way to tackle with a new kind of societal problems, and of exploring new ways to create added value for the economy.
The Effect of Microfinance on Poverty Reduction in Developing Economies
Authors: Boachie Christopher
Published: May 2016

The study explores the contributions of microfinance to poverty reduction. The study used a descriptive design to establish the relationship between sales performance and access to credit in the SME sector in Ghana. Cross sectional survey was used to gather relevant data. The target population was the micro businesses in Madina in Ghana with a sample size of 200. The study reveals that microfinance has a positive impact on micro businesses. There exist a significant relationship between microfinance and sales. It was also found out that, the dependency burdens on micro entrepreneurs coupled with the low credit access from the microfinance institution for productive activities lead them to deploy the credit to meet the demand of both the business and household.
Computational Intelligence Paradigms
Authors: El-Alfy El-Sayed M. , Awad Wasan
Published: May 2016

The evolution of communication networks and information systems, to support wireless access, cloud and grid computing, and big data, provides great business opportunities. However, it also generates a new trend of sophisticated network threats and offers several challenges in securing information and systems confidentiality, integrity and availability. The traditional techniques used by security experts are mostly static and lack the much needed characteristics of adaptation and self-organization, computational efficiency and error resilience to deal with evolving attacks. The inherent characteristics of computational intelligence (CI) paradigms provide a promising alternative that has gained popularity resulting in significant applications in information security. There is a plethora of CI paradigms commonly used in this domain including artificial neural networks, evolutionary computing, fuzzy systems, and swarm intelligence. This chapter provides an overview of the widely-recognized CI paradigms and shades the light on some of their potential applications in information security.
A Predictive E-Health Information System
Authors: Al-Khasawneh Ahmad , Hijazi Haneen
Published: May 2016

Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic disease and a major cause of several severe complications and death in both developing and developed countries. The number of diabetes cases world-wide has been climbed up drastically over last decades. Hence, it was of utmost important to manage this illness and to develop tools that help clinicians do their job professionally. Artificial neural networks play a major role herein. In this research, a clinical decision support system that helps in diagnosing diabetes has been developed. The system was implemented using a multilayer perceptron artificial neural network. Due to the fact that there is no systematic way to follow in order to determine the number of hidden layers and neurons in MLP, an algorithm was proposed and followed based on the rules-of-thumb previously defined around this issue. As a result, two different topologies were trained and verified using cross validation technique. The topology that exhibited the best averaged accuracy was that of one hidden layer. The data set was obtained from King Abdullah University Hospital in Jordan.
Opportunistic Detection Methods for Emotion-Aware Smartphone Applications
Authors: Bisio Igor , Delfino Alessandro , Lavagetto Fabio , Marchese Mario
Published: May 2016

Human-machine interaction is performed by devices such as the keyboard, the touch-screen, or speech-to-text applications. For example, a speech-to-text application is software that allows the device to translate the spoken words into text. These tools translate explicit messages but ignore implicit messages, such as the emotional status of the speaker, filtering out a portion of information available in the interaction process. This chapter focuses on emotion detection. An emotion-aware device can also interact more personally with its owner and react appropriately according to the user's mood, making the user-machine interaction less stressful. The chapter gives the guidelines for building emotion-aware smartphone applications in an opportunistic way (i.e., without the user's collaboration). In general, smartphone applications might be employed in different contexts; therefore, the to-be-detected emotions might be different.
Towards an Improved Ensemble Learning Model of Artificial Neural Networks
Authors: Anifowose Fatai , Labadin Jane , Abdulraheem Abdulazeez
Published: May 2016

Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) have been widely applied in petroleum reservoir characterization. Despite their wide use, they are very unstable in terms of performance. Ensemble machine learning is capable of improving the performance of such unstable techniques. One of the challenges of using ANN is choosing the appropriate number of hidden neurons. Previous studies have proposed ANN ensemble models with a maximum of 50 hidden neurons in the search space thereby leaving rooms for further improvement. This chapter presents extended versions of those studies with increased search spaces using a linear search and randomized assignment of the number of hidden neurons. Using standard model evaluation criteria and novel ensemble combination rules, the results of this study suggest that having a large number of “unbiased” randomized guesses of the number of hidden neurons beyond 50 performs better than very few occurrences of those that were optimally determined.
Affect Recognition for Web 2.0 Intelligent E-Tutoring Systems
Authors: Akputu Oryina Kingsley , Seng Kah Phooi , Lee Yun Li
Published: May 2016

This chapter describes how a machine vision approach could be utilized for tracking learning feedback information on emotions for enhanced teaching and learning with Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS). The chapter focuses on analyzing learners' emotions to show how affective states account for personalization or traceability for learning feedback. The chapter achieves this goal in three ways: (1) by presenting a comprehensive review of adaptive educational learning systems, particularly inspired by machine vision approaches; (2) by proposing an affective model for monitoring learners' emotions and engagement with educational learning systems; (3) by presenting a case-based technique as an experimental prototype for the proposed affective model, where students' facial expressions are tracked in the course of studying a composite video lecture. Results of the experiments indicate the superiority of such emotion-aware systems over emotion-unaware ones, achieving a significant performance increment of 71.4%.
The Role of Implicit Mechanisms in Buffering Self-Esteem from Social Threats
Authors: Leitner Jordan B. , Forbes Chad E.
Published: May 2016

Previous research has demonstrated that people have the goal of self-enhancing, or viewing themselves in an overly positive light. However, only recent research has examined the degree to which the relationship between self-enhancement goals and outcomes are a result of explicit deliberative mechanisms or implicit automatic mechanisms. The current chapter reviews evidence on unconscious goal pursuit, autobiographical memory, social neuroscience, and implicit self-esteem that suggests that implicit mechanisms play a powerful role in producing self-enhancement outcomes. Furthermore, this chapter reviews evidence that these implicit mechanisms are activated by social threats and thus contribute to successful coping. Finally, the authors discuss the implications of implicit self-enhancement mechanisms for targets of stigma, individuals who frequently encounter threats to well-being.
Is It Worth Sharing?
Authors: Roy Moumita
Published: May 2016

Social media has been found to have created a paradigm shift in the digital marketplace by giving a new technological face to marketing, highlighting on brand awareness and effectiveness. In this digital marketplace, emotions lead users to like or dislike, share or not to share messages, thus evoking, influencing and shifting public opinions on everything from political parties to corporate reputations, brands, products etc. It is important to understand how emotions and content relevance make these messages go viral. To explore this relationship, in-depth interviews with people of Generation Y were conducted, who were shown two videos that have gone viral. Findings focus on how the content of these videos and emotions generated will lead the respondents to share them online. Further this study helped design a Emo-Cog (emotion –cognition) induced decision tree model which the generation Y consumers might frequently be using to decide on whether to share the videos or not. The discussion unveils future avenues highlighting emotions in viral marketing.
Emotional Context? Or Contextual Emotions?
Authors: Arellano Diana , Varona Javier , Perales Francisco J.
Published: May 2016

The question “What is the meaning of a smile?” could be easily answered with the sentence “it means happiness”. But we can see in our daily lives that it is not always true. We also recognize that there is the context the one that makes us differentiate a happy smile from an embarrassed smile. The context is the framework that gives emotions a reason for happening because it describes what occurs around a person. Therefore, to create virtual characters, or agents that express emotions in a believable way it is necessary to simulate the context around them. The novelty of this chapter is the representation of context using ontologies, where context is seen not only as the events in the world, but also as that part of the character which allows them to react in one way or another, resulting in more believable emotional responses.
Engineers, Emotions, and Ethics
Authors: Davis Michael
Published: May 2016

This chapter tries to answer the question: What part, if any, should emotion have in making engineering decisions? The chapter is, in effect, a critical examination of the view, common even among engineers, that a good engineer is not only accurate, laconic, orderly, and practical but also free of emotion. The chapter has four parts. The first, the philosophical, provides a critical analysis of the term “emotion.” The second and third parts show how that analysis helps us understand the relation between emotion and engineering. It explicates what a reasonable emotion is. These two sections are organized around an ethical problem concerning management's rejection of engineering judgment. The fourth part, the pedagogical, delineates how we should develop a curriculum for a course in engineering ethics. It suggests teachers of engineering ethics should take time in class to help students accept the fact that engineering has an emotional side, for example, that doing good engineering is likely to delight them and doing bad engineering to depress them.
Transforming the Future of Learning
Authors: Shute Rosalyn H.
Published: May 2016

In this chapter, the author reflects on a number of themes that she identifies as threads running through multiple chapters in this book. After explaining the background that informs her perspectives, she discusses six areas: what education is for, the relational nature of education, strengths and empowerment, making the implicit explicit, diversity and pluralism, and the importance of context.
Exemplar of Pearls of Wisdom for the Academy through Dr. Pearlie Dove's Career in Education
Authors: Moffet Noran L. , Frizzell Melanie M. , Brown De'Lonn C.
Published: May 2016

The subject of this chapter represents a woman of color, courage, and consciousness who began her early childhood preparation in the segregated “colored schools” of Atlanta, Georgia in the 1920s and 1930s. Pearlie Craft (maiden name) Dove is the focus of this originally conceptualized qualitative narrative which draws its scholarly influence from ethnography, reflective biography, and historiography as well as personal narrative to posit a methodological approach described as ethno-biographical research. The selected key participant for this chapter was born in 1921. The authors constructed the methodology from selected biographical notes, conversations, interviews, and critical theory of the era in which she was educated and lived. The conceptual model describes the foundation for the use of the term Pearlie's Pearls of Wisdom as attributes that can be models for men and women who aspire to promote principles over expediency. This chapter seeks to promote the overarching professional and personal qualities exemplified by Dr. Dove from 1949-2014.
Using edTPA Data to Improve Programs
Authors: Cuthrell Kristen C. , Lys Diana B. , Fogarty Elizabeth A. , Dobson Ellen E.
Published: May 2016

This chapter will share a model for teacher preparation programs to consider when attempting program improvement through the use of edTPA data. This model, regardless of the edTPA context, mandated or voluntary, provides a frame in which teacher education programs can begin using edTPA data for program improvement and can advance their data use towards transformative, institutional improvements. This additive model takes time, commitment, and vision in order to systematically create programmatic improvements. Performance assessment data provides the structure and information needed for units and programs to make these purposeful changes. The increasingly explicit culture of assessment in teacher education, in conjunction with the promise of valid and reliable performance assessments, invites teacher education programs to engage in third spaces with renewed focus.
Offline Peer Dialogue in Asynchronous Computer-Mediated Communication Activities for L2 Teacher Development
Authors: Kitade Keiko
Published: May 2016

Recent studies in second language (L2) teacher education (L2TE) emphasize the sociohistorical and contextual dimensions of teachers' professional development. In practice, however, teaching practice opportunities, which can help pre-service teachers experience these dimensions, are limited. Innovative technological applications can help address this issue. This chapter proposes a combination of offline and online activities in which pre-service language teachers can engage L2 learners online while augmenting their own learning through offline peer dialogues. Rooted in the sociocultural approach to learning, this chapter presents a case study analyzing the Critical Learning Episodes (CLEs; Kiely & Davis, 2010) found in the peer dialogues of pre-service teachers during their online engagement with L2 learners abroad. The findings suggest that offline peer dialogue serves as an advanced type of reflection-in-practice (Schön, 1983, 1987), utilizing text mediation, a method that assists student teachers to co-construct the situated knowledge and skills that are holistic in nature (thus requiring multiple perspectives) and purportedly crucial for L2 teaching.
Living Parallel-ly in Real and Virtual
Authors: Akmam Jannatul , Huq Nafisa
Published: May 2016

With the marking of the digital age, all forms of digital technologies become a part of the existence of human life, thereby, an extension of self. The ever-increasing influence of the virtual world or Internet cultures demands to read its complex relationship with human existence in a digital world. Theory of psychoanalysis, specifically object-relation theory can be called forth to analyze this multifaceted relationship. Within the light of this theory, Internet cultures are acting as “objects” like games, memes, chat rooms, social net etc. and the virtual world can be interpreted as the “object world”. The chapter is interested in reading the deep psychoanalytic experience of people (with a special focus on the youth) in reference to their relationship with the virtual arena. The experience can be associated with religion, spirituality, perception of beauty, sexuality, Identity formation and so on. Their behavior and responses to the virtual world will be framed within the psychoanalytic paradigm in the light of “object relation theory” in a digital age.
Enhancing CAPTCHA Security Using Interactivity, Dynamism, and Mouse Movement Patterns
Authors: Roshanbin Narges , Miller James
Published: May 2016

Many existing CAPTCHAs require users to identify characters in a static image and match them with their counterparts in another image. Requiring intelligent human interaction in the matching task of these CAPTCHAs will pose a second challenge, which is straightforward for human users but difficult to emulate for Bots. In this paper, the authors develop several interactive matching tasks involving dynamic elements and demonstrate their impact on CAPTCHA security and usability in a series of tests and user studies. Their tests indicate that requiring intelligent human interaction can substantially decrease the likelihood of a CAPTCHA being broken in addition to making an attack computationally expensive. The authors' results provide both a security and a usability benchmark for the development of interactive dual-challenge CAPTCHAs. Their proposed findings from users' mouse movement data analysis can be readily incorporated in several types of existing CAPTCHA to enhance their security.