bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Financial Literacy for Financial Inclusion Using Mobile Technology in India
Authors: Pathak Smriti Ashish , Virani Shreya
Published: May 2018

According to the RBI governor, technology-enabled financial information will spread financial literacy in an efficient and secure manner. India needs inclusive growth to pull millions out of poverty and mobile phone penetration can be a good opportunity. Consumers are exposed to a plethora of financial products but the knowledge is either not there or limited to make judicious choices. The successful implementation of financial literacy services would benefit rural people but it is a challenge to all stakeholders today. One-hundred twenty-five people all over India were selected for a survey and results point that rural poor accept mobile technology for banking related information but do not want to adopt the technology. There are various challenges for financial literacy in India discussed in the chapter. Also, opportunities are many for digital literacy and can be achieved if the challenges are overcome. All the stakeholders should put in concerted efforts at all levels to achieve financial inclusion through mobile technology disruption.
Challenges Faced by Banks for Financial Inclusion
Authors: Pillai Deepa , Kumar V. V. Ravi
Published: May 2018

The banking system in India significantly differs from that of other Asian nations due to unique geographic, social, and economic spread. In India, financially excluded sections largely comprise of marginal farmers, slum dwellers, migrants, women, self-employed, and senior citizens. There have been many formidable challenges in financial inclusion for bridging the gap between the demand and supply side. The chapter deliberates the challenges faced by banks for financial inclusion in context of infrastructure and institutional credit, risk perception, illiteracy, compliances, financial awareness, products, and services. Barriers to financial services expansion and product and service delivery in rural markets will be reviewed, and the primary focus will be on challenges with respect to marketing and delivery of financial services in rural areas. Reaching out to the excluded sections through financial literacy campaigns, and in the process marketing, the banks and their schemes would be an important step towards financial inclusion.
The Evaluation of Learner Experience in Serious Games
Authors: Shoukry Laila , Konert Johannes , Göbel Stefan
Published: May 2018

In this chapter, the topic of evaluating learner experience in serious games is discussed with respect to four different dimensions: gaming, learning, using and context with a special focus on using multimodal data. After reviewing relevant research fields, the steps involved in a serious games evaluation process is investigated and relevant evaluation studies are reviewed with emphasis on the use of different modalities for recording and assessing in-game interactions. Finally, a theoretical framework (LeGUC) is proposed defining parameters related to the four dimensions discussed which can be observed during evaluation studies of serious games and how they relate to logged in-game interactions. The framework is based on relevant literature as well as a conducted observational user study.
Improving Learner Experience Within Educational Nooks in Digital Libraries
Authors: Paneva-Marinova Desislava , Pavlov Radoslav
Published: May 2018

This chapter presents solutions for personalized observation and enhanced learning experience in digital libraries (DLs) by special smart educational nooks. Main factors related to the DLs user experience and content usability issues are considered. During the user experience design, the users' needs, goals, preferences, and interests have been carefully studied and have become the starting point for the new DLs functionality development. This chapter demonstrates several educational nooks or their components, such as learning tools in a digital library for fashion objects, a smart learning corner in an iconographical art digital library, an ontology of learning analysis method, and some educational games for art and culture in which authors are co-developers.
Student Learning and Engagement in a Blended Environment
Authors: Lin Lijia
Published: May 2018

The chapter investigated students' behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement, as well as their learning in a blended environment. A convergent mixed methods research design was used in which quantitative data (face-to-face attendance, online system login, and survey) were collected from 71 undergraduate students, and qualitative data (focus group interview) were collected from six of these students. These data were further analyzed and integrated. The quantitative results showed that students' online login, the behavioral engagement indicator, had a positive impact on their learning, which was supported by qualitative findings. Further analysis revealed the mixture of students' engagement, such as confusion vs. interesting feelings to online discussions and frustration vs. not much effort using the online system.
Spiritual Intelligence and Organizational Commitment
Authors: Abdolshah Mohammad , Tarahhomi Narges , Nejad Ali Hossein , Khatibi Amirmohammad
Published: May 2018

Denoting individual life along organizational commitment (OC) is one of the strategical programs in an organization. Although there are many researches about considering the meaning of organizational commitment and its relationship with other elements, but spiritual intelligence is an effective element of individual and behavior in organizations. The goal of this chapter is the investigation of the relationship between organizational spiritual intelligence (SI) and organizational commitment (OC) in Iranians' social security organization (ISSO). Base on this factor, during reviewing theatrical literature and relevant variable of scaling, the outline of research is made. The strategy of this research is a dependent kind of surveying tool for collecting data standard questionnaire about SI. The dual aspects of spiritual intelligence, self-knowledge and theology, correlated with commitment organization. Also, the main hypothesis of this study is to examine the relationship between organizational commitment and spiritual intelligence.
A Novel Kernel-Based Fuzzy Clustering Approach to Identify Masses in Mammograms
Authors: Chattaraj Arnab , Das Arpita
Published: May 2018

Detection of breast cancer in form of masses at initial stage becomes difficult because of obscured nature of mammograms by surrounding tissues. This poor visibility of masses addresses to the necessity of accurate contrast enhancement method. This study introduces a novel kernel-based fuzzy clustering approach to enhance the contrast of masses. Novelty of the proposed technique is incorporation of two important features of mammograms that convey the properties of masses. Local entropy and intensity mean of each kernel position play the key role to enhance masses. A kernel is moved across the mammograms to collect all possible values of those features, and hence, they are exploited as the input data of fuzzy clustering technique. Performance of the proposed approach is compared with two other conventional contrast enhancement techniques. Both subjective and objective evaluations of the proposed technique show an evidence of improvement in compare to other methods. Moreover, unwanted enhancement of obscured tissues is also suppressed in the proposed approach.
Development of an Automated Decision Support System for Diagnosis of Digestive Disorders Using Electrogastrograms
Authors: Rajagopal Arivarasu , Alagumariappan Paramasivam , Krishnamurthy Kamalanand
Published: May 2018

The disorders of the digestive tract lead to various problems such as bleeding, bloating, nausea, etc. In order to diagnose various digestive abnormalities, the electrogastrograms (EGG) can serve as an efficient tool. In an EGG, several electrodes are placed onto the abdomen over the stomach and the electrical signals originating from the stomach muscles are recorded. By analyzing these electrical patterns, the abnormalities in digestive system can be analyzed. This chapter describes the developed system for measuring EGG signals along with the decision support system developed for automated classification of digestive disorders. The normal and abnormal EGG signals were acquired at Balaji Medical Hospital, Chennai. Further, the features were extracted using descriptive statistics and empirical mode decomposition (EMD) algorithm. Finally, an automated classification system was developed using k-means algorithm. This chapter explains the recording of electrogastrograms and a method for classification of normal and abnormal EGG signals.
Navigating the Social Media Space for Māori and Indigenous Communities
Authors: Lee Maryann
Published: May 2018

This chapter explores how Māori and Indigenous communities are engaging in social media in ways that reflect their cultural aspirations and Indigenous ways of being. Social media provides opportunities for Indigenous people to represent an Indigenous worldview that encompasses cultural, political, and social preferences. Highlighted also in this chapter are the risks inherent within the use of social media for Māori and Indigenous communities: in ways in which the misrepresentation, commodification, and exploitation of Indigenous culture and traditions are amplified through the use of social media that support colonial ideologies and the ongoing practice of colonization.
Using Social Media in Creating and Implementing Educational Practices
Authors: Gandell Robyn , Piven Inna P
Published: May 2018

Social media use has become ubiquitous in the everyday lives of many people around the world. Combined with smartphones, these interactive websites provide a vast array of new activities and immediate access to a world of information for both teachers and students. Research into the use of social media in educational practice is growing. In this chapter, the authors examine the use of social media from the perspective of lecturers and learning designers in a tertiary education institute in New Zealand. Data from a qualitative, interview-based research investigation highlights three key themes: 1) the use of social media as a course management tool; 2) the use of social media to enhance student centered learning; and 3) the need for institutional support for using social media in educational contexts.
Roles and Impacts of Automatic Item Generation on Assessment Research, Practice, and Policy
Authors: Choi Jaehwa
Published: May 2018

The development of science and technology will have widespread impacts throughout society, and the “assessment” will also be a sensitive area to the impact of scientific and technological developments. Especially information communication technology, or intelligent communication technology (ICT), which has developed rapidly in the twenty-first century, has had a sudden and even destructive effect on various studies and the field. The assessment, which has the most central function of collecting, processing, and analyzing data, would be one of the most rapidly changing areas under the influence of this ICT. This chapter deals with the following four topics about automation of AIG. Firstly, this chapter will introduce the meaning/implication of automation in AIG and analyze how automation of AIG affects the technology-based assessment system. In particular, this chapter will illustrate how AIG's automation will affect education, professional training, and/or public policy. Finally, this chapter concludes with a discussion of the future directions of AIG research and development.
E-Learning and Information Communications Technologies (ICT) in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Alharbi Hadeel , Sandhu Kamaljeet
Published: May 2018

This chapter argues that increasing the rate of e-learning technological adoption will provide educational affordances related to access to courses and better course delivery for Saudi citizens. Specifically, issues related to gender-related staffing issues and access to education courses. This is primarily because the e-learning technology has the capacity to adapt to dominant features in Saudi society and culture, as well as its potential to be efficiently applied in Saudi higher education settings. However, despite the widespread adoption of information communication technology (ICT) in society, Saudi Arabians have yet to fully experience the transformative effects of this medium, particularly in relation to e-learning. This is evidenced in a lack of deep understanding on how best to implement e-learning and distance learning applications.
Information and Computer Technologies for Improving International Assessment
Authors: Young Danielle , Choi Jaehwa
Published: May 2018

International assessments such as the trends in international math and science study (TIMSS), the program for international student assessment (PISA), and the international computer and information literacy study (ICILS) have traditionally relied on paper and pencil administration. These assessments are rapidly transforming into or have been developed as computer-based tests due to advances in information and communication technologies of the past decade. These computer-based assessments will eventually make traditional paper and pencil assessments obsolete. Specifically, international and other large-scale assessments can benefit from the use of automatic item generation (AIG) and/or computer adaptive testing (CAT) to enhance and strengthen test security and validity, as well as reduce costs over the course of multiple test administrations, encourage student engagement, and efficiently measure students' abilities.
Exploring the Franchisor-Franchisee Relationship
Authors: Allègre Thierry , Fulconis François , Paché Gilles
Published: May 2018

In the past 40 years, the franchising system has undergone a remarkable expansion, increasingly retaining the attention of economy and service management researchers. A recurring question relates to the sources of competitive advantage that a franchise network may have. This chapter intends to contribute to the debate based on the fundamentals of the resource/competence-based view, and applying the reflection to the case of the logistical service. The aim is to identify how and why supply chain resources and skills are deployed by franchisors to retain their franchisees thanks to a high level of service quality and therefore avoid the termination of contractual relationships. Based on a case study driven within a European franchise network, it is possible to conclude that the supply chain resources and competences of a franchisor play an important role in the duration of the franchisor-franchisee relationship when customized solutions are proposed thanks to information technologies.
A Case Study of a Three-Part Entrepreneurial Strategy in a Japanese Accounting Cloud Service
Authors: Mizuno Yutaka , Odake Nobutaka
Published: May 2018

The purpose of this chapter is to clarify a three-part entrepreneurial strategy in a Japanese accounting cloud service with two-sided markets and freemium. The service provider established its platform as one of industry platform in Fintech and made its initial public offering in five years since its entrepreneurship. The authors studied the service provider and obtained three findings. First, the service provider dares to adopt its cloud platform with single architecture. Second, it builds up its service platform with two business strategies, two marketing strategies, and two management of technology. Third, the integration of these strategies becomes a three-part entrepreneurial strategy, which realizes economies of scale and scope cyclically. Finally, it realizes agglomeration economies in the service platform. Therefore, start-up with two-sided markets and freemium not only dares to design its service platform with single architecture but also should build up the three-part entrepreneurial strategy to formulate service platform as market before building up its business ecosystem.
Semi-Automated Tool Support for Identification and Prioritization of Impacted Functions in Software Systems
Authors: Gupta Chetna , Gupta Varun
Published: May 2018

Change is an integral part of any software system. Predicting the impact of making changes through techniques of change impact analysis helps engineers identify and analyze those parts of the system that will be potentially affected by requested change(s). This chapter presents a semi-automated approach to (a) compute likelihood of impacted functions in a system through identification and analysis of functional dependencies between them and (b) assist software engineers in selective regression testing. This technique first classifies the impact set data into two categories based on their type of impact propagation. Next it performs prioritization on classified data to rank functions into higher and lower levels according to the degree of impact they will make. This prediction will help in lowering maintenance cost and effort of software engineers. Thus, a software engineer can first run those test cases which cover segments with higher impacted priority to minimize regression test selection.
A Hybrid Approach of Regression-Testing-Based Requirement Prioritization of Web Applications
Authors: Gupta Varun
Published: May 2018

The chapter gives a hybrid approach for prioritization of software requirements by considering regression testing efforts as one of the criteria. The prioritization is performed against the prioritized decision aspects. The chapter gives software engineers a technique for prioritizing both requirements and aspects. This technique considers regression testing effort as one of important parameters during requirement prioritization thereby reducing the regression testing effort. This technique is applied on live web application of “virtual classroom” and the results were promising. The technique resulted in decision aspect prioritization thereby leading to effective requirement prioritization and lower regression testing efforts.
Behavioral Challenges for Retirement Planning
Authors: Khedekar-Swaminathan Ashlesha , Kulkarni Savita
Published: May 2018

Standard economic theory based on the rationality assumption predicts optimal provisions for retirement by individuals. However, empirical data shows substantial under-saving for retired life by citizens of both developed and developing countries. This article attempts to test the role of selected heuristics as well as the influence of framing of choices in financial decision-making for retirement through a structured questionnaire. Responses were obtained from a sample of 87 employees from the Information Technology industry in Pune, Maharashtra, showed that a relatively high proportion of the sample reported failure to meet their own savings targets. The authors also observed a relatively small percent of the sample was seeking advice from financial experts Results of chi-square tests further confirmed the existence of the selected heuristics and framing effects in the context of the sample. The suggested ubiquitousness of selected behavioral tendencies widens the scope of policy formulation and intervention by regulatory authorities for optimal retirement planning.
The Edgeworth Cube
Authors: Kunze Oliver , Schlatterer Florian
Published: May 2018

Social peace is an asset to every society. Its absence endangers the well-being and the safety of the population and the stability of states. In order to better understand the interdependencies of poverty, social peace and migration pressure the authors introduce the model of the “Edgeworth-Cube” which is an extension of the classical Edgeworth Box model by one dimension. This new dimension can either be interpreted as “aggression” (which reduces “social peace” for others) or as “migration pressure” (which results from a worldwide heterogeneous distribution of wealth), and this new dimension is modelled as a non-budget-constrained unilateral immaterial good. The “Edgeworth-Cube” also differentiates vital (essential) goods from normal (non-essential) goods. By focusing on extremely imbalanced endowments and by formal mathematical modeling the authors show in their approach that applying behavioral pressure (i.e. aggression or migration pressure) has an existential economic value for the poor on the one hand. On the other hand, the authors show that transfer payments have a systemically limited potential to keep aggression and migration pressure at bay.
Impact of Building Human Capital with Support of Information Technology on Efficiency of Hospital Activities
Authors: Chluski Andrzej
Published: May 2018

The purpose of this article is to present the results of a research on the impact of focusing of managers on human capital with support of information and communication technology on an effectiveness of Polish hospital activities. A survey questionnaire addressed to the managers of Polish hospitals was used in order to collect research data. A statistical method - structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to analyze the gathered data. A research model proposed in the study was properly matched to the data and presented a positive and causal relationship between the level of information technology development and focusing managers on the building of human capital on operational efficiency of Polish hospitals activities.
Visual Gambling
Authors: Guo Teng , Liu Feng , Wang Wen
Published: May 2018

This article proposes a visual gambling scheme, in which the banker encodes several images into random-looking share images that are printed on transparencies and declares the contents of the original images at the same time. Afterwards the gambler chooses a random-looking share image and guesses the content of his chosen share. The result of this gamble can be revealed by physically stacking the gambler's share transparency and a previously public share transparency. If the gambler guesses correctly, he wins and takes all the money, otherwise the banker wins and takes all the money. After the gamble is over, the banker reveals the content of each share image to ensure that the banker is not cheating. The whole process is done with the help of several transparencies on an open table and relies on no computing device. In addition, the scheme provides a brand-new experience for gamblers when compared to the traditional dicing approach, and may gain some popularity in casinos.
Image Secret Sharing Construction for General Access Structure with Meaningful Share
Authors: Yan Xuehu , Lu Yuliang , Liu Lintao , Ma Duohe
Published: May 2018

This article describes how the (k, n) threshold image secret sharing technology can recover the secret image even n − k shares are lost, or n−k servers do not work, which is useful for cloud storage, etc. Image secret sharing for general access structure (GAS) is more general than (k, n) threshold. Image secret sharing with a meaningful share will decrease encryption suspicion so that the security can be enhanced. However, traditional studies have no image secret sharing construction approach for GAS with a meaningful share. In the article, they first exploit an image secret sharing construction approach for GAS with meaningful share. Following their construction approach, the authors develop a random grid (RG)-based visual secret sharing (VSS) algorithm for GAS with meaningful share as well as polynomial-based image secret sharing for GAS with meaningful share. The experiments with this concept exhibit the effectiveness of the algorithms and further their construction approach.
A Privacy Protection Approach Based on Android Application's Runtime Behavior Monitor and Control
Authors: Wu Fan , Sun Ran , Fan Wenhao , Liu Yuan'An , Liu Feng , Liu Feng , Lu Hui
Published: May 2018

This article proposes a system that focuses on Android application runtime behavior forensics. Using Linux processes, a dynamic injection and a Java function hook technology, the system is able to manipulate the runtime behavior of applications without modifying the Android framework and the application's source code. Based on this method, a privacy data protection policy that reflects users' intentions is proposed by extracting and recording the privacy data usage in applications. Moreover, an optimized random forest algorithm is proposed to reduce the policy training time. The result shows that the system realizes the functions of application runtime behavior monitor and control. An experiment on 134 widely used applications shows that the basic privacy policy could satisfy the majority of users' privacy intentions.
Watermarking Scheme with CS Encryption for Security and Piracy of Digital Audio Signals
Authors: Thanki Rohit , Borisagar Komal
Published: May 2018

In this article, a watermarking scheme using Curvelet Transform with a combination of compressive sensing (CS) theory is proposed for the protection of a digital audio signal. The curvelet coefficients of the host audio signal are modified according to compressive sensing (CS) measurements of the watermarked data. The CS measurements of watermark data is generated using CS theory processes and sparse coefficients (wavelet coefficients of DCT coefficients). The proposed scheme can be employed for both audio and speech watermarking. The gray scale watermark image is inserted into the host digital audio signal when the proposed scheme is used for audio watermarking. The speech signal is inserted into the host digital audio signal when the proposed scheme is employed for speech watermarking. The experimental results show that proposed scheme performs better than the existing watermarking schemes in terms of perceptual transparency.
Potentiate Social Inclusion through Detecting Illegal Parking in Places for Disabled People
Authors: Carvalho Carlos , Paiva Sara
Published: May 2018

This article describes how social responsibility and social inclusion are matters that are on the agenda world-wide. Social exclusion exists at various levels and in this article, the authors address the illegal parking at places reserved for disabled people. They developed a prototype that allows, through a backend, a camera and a smartphone, to geo-reference parking spaces for disabled people in an entity (such as a school, shopping mall or any parking lot) and be advised when someone parks in that place and did not have a parking license. This required the development of a backend and a system that allows it to notify the appropriate responder whenever an illegal parking takes place. To detect parked cars, the authors use an IP Camera that captures photos every 3 minutes and send it to a cron job to be processed with the OpenALPR API that can recognize Portuguese, Spanish, Swiss, and French license plates. From this present framework, all tests allowed the authors to conclude the best location for cameras and the adjustments that were needed to avoid false positives.
Development and Application of the STEAM Education Program Based on the Soccer Robot for Elementary Students
Authors: Yoon Ma-byong , Baek Je-eun
Published: May 2018

The purpose of this article was to develop an elementary school robot STEAM program and explore the possibility of field applications. To this end, the authors extracted the contents related to school achievement standards for 5th and 6th grade curricula around the topic of robot soccer, incorporating a relevant curriculum based on the extracted information. The program was composed of a sequence of situations, creative design, and emotional experience. Each step was prepared in the order of understanding the robot, making the soccer robot, and the robot soccer game. The program developed in this article is significant in that it provided an opportunity to enhance the relationship between content knowledge and real life, collaborative and social learning, metacognition education in new learning processes, new technological environments, and encourage interest in the fusion subject.
Design and Development of 3D Printed Teaching Aids for Architecture Education
Authors: Song Min Jeong , Ha Euna , Goo Sang-Kwon , Cho JaeKyung
Published: May 2018

This article describes how the implementation of 3D printing in classrooms has brought many opportunities to educators as it provides affordability and accessibility in creating and customizing teaching aids. The study reports on the process of fabricating teaching aids for architecture education using 3D printing technologies. The practice-based research intended to illustrate the making process from initial planning, 3D modeling to 3D printing with practical examples, and addresses the potential induced by the technologies. Based on the investigation into the current state of 3D printing technologies in education, limitations were identified before the making process. The researchers created 3D models in both digital and tangible forms and the process was documented in textual and pictorial formats. It is expected that the research findings will serve as a guideline for other educators to create 3D printed teaching aids, particularly architectural forms.
Using iREAD in Understanding Online Reading Strategies Applied by Science and Technology Students
Authors: Azmuddin Ruhil Amal , Nor Nor Fariza Mohd , Hamat Afendi
Published: May 2018

This article describes how with the growth of online learning, reading hypertext materials requires both online reading and navigational strategies. This article was conducted as part of a pilot study on qualitative data collection into reading of Science and Technology hypertexts that focuses on reading and navigational strategies of five university students enrolled in undergraduate Engineering programs. It presents the application of iREAD; Interactive Reading for Academic Disciplines that integrates various e-literacy tools to facilitate reading of academic hypertexts. Student's participation was within iREAD through the use of annotation tool and discussion forum. The two-phased data collection was conducted qualitatively through semi-structured interviews, screen records, and retrospective interviews. The results show that the participants mainly used a global reading strategy, serial, and mixed overview navigational strategies in the online reading environment. In addition, the article concluded that iREAD assists students to understand and organize hypertexts materials better with the use of e-tools.
Improving Efficiency and TFP of Lowland Paddy Rice Farmers in Kwara State of Nigeria
Authors: Sadiq M. S. , Singh I. P. , Singh N. K. , Yakubu G. M.
Published: May 2018

Purpose: The pressure on land for agricultural purposes is on the rise and sustainable agriculture remains the panacea for herdsmen attack on arable crop farmers in the study area. The present research empirically measured and identified the factors that influenced efficiency and Total Factor Productivity (TFP) of lowland paddy rice farmers in Kwara State of Nigeria.Research Methodology: The study made use of cross-sectional data collected from 200 active farmers during the 2016 cropping season via Multi-stage sampling technique. Instrument used to elicit information from the active farmers was structured questionnaire complemented with interview schedule and the collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.Findings: The results proved that majority of the farmers were not smart farmers which is responsible for negative TFP in most of the Decision making units (DMUs) as evident from poor robust increase in output index. However, the study inferred that there remained more untapped potentials in paddy rice production in the studied area.Limitations: The scope of the research is limited to lowland rice farmers in Kwara State of Nigeria.Originality/Value: Therefore, it was recommended that Government and non-governmental organisations should formulate supportive policies targeting sustainability of rice production viz. proper allocation of farm resources and also welfare improvement of the resource poor farmers for cultivating rice crops in the studied area.
The role of career concerns and workplace friendship in the job embeddedness–retention practices satisfaction link
Authors: Potgieter Ingrid L. , Coetzee Melinde , Ferreira Nadia
Published: May 2018

Orientation: The demand for retaining top talent in the highly competitive and turbulent working environment has made retention research relevant and important. A central question in retention research revolves around the psychological factors that drive employees to remain at an organisation. Research purpose: This research explores the mediating and conditional (moderating) processes underlying the link between employees’ job embeddedness and satisfaction with organisational retention practices. Motivation for the study: Several research studies are available with regard to the association between job embeddedness and retention practices. However, there seems to be a paucity of information available on the psychological process of workplace friendship underlying the job embeddedness–retention practices satisfaction link, as well as the boundary conditions of this process as set by employees’ career concerns. Research design, approach and method: The study followed a cross-sectional, quantitative research design. Data were collected from a convenience sample of (N= 200) permanently employed staff members within a South African higher education institution. Moderated-mediation analysis was performed to achieve the research objective. Main findings: The findings indicated career concerns as important boundary conditions for the psychological (mediating) process of workplace friendship in the job embeddedness–retention practices satisfaction link. Practical/managerial implications: Enhancing work conditions and practices to support the evolving career development needs and concerns of valuable employees may be key to maintaining person–environment correspondence and retaining them. Contribution or value-add: The findings extend retention theory by adding new insights into under what circumstances employees’ job embeddedness positively influences their satisfaction with organisational retention practices. The study provides new evidence of the important role of employees’ career development needs in retention theory and practice.
Impact of anthropic activities on eukaryotic cells in cytotoxic test
Authors: Kasper Natan , Barcelos Rodrigo Patera , Mattos Maicol de , Baroni Suzymeire
Published: May 2018

Numerous pollution factors generate changes in water quality and in organisms that depend on this resource, as they may contain substances with mutagenic, genotoxic and cytotoxic properties that affect the genetic integrity of organisms. The Clarimundo Stream is located in the city of Cerro Largo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, from which it passes through an agricultural area and crosses the city receiving discharges of untreated household waste. This work evaluated the genotoxic potential of these waters through a bioassay with Allium cepa, usually used in biomonitoring studies. Four water collections were conducted in each season and three points were marked for the analyses. The Allium cepa bulbs were germinated for 72 hours, in the proportion of three for each sample of collection points and three in distilled water for control parameters. Subsequently, the roots were submitted to the Feulgen procedure with modifications, for the preparation of the slides. The data were submitted to statistical analysis by the Tukey test with reliability of 5%. The results showed chromosomal alterations and Mitotic Index values suggesting that the water of Clarimundo Stream has the potential to cause damage to the genome of eukaryotic organisms.
RFLP pattern determination for the invasive bivalves Limnoperna fortunei (Dunker, 1857) and Corbicula fluminea (Muller, 1774)
Authors: Oliveira Junior Renato Brito de , Paula Rayan Silva de , Diniz Vinícius Sergio Rodrigues , Carvalho Marcela David de , Cardoso Antônio Valadão
Published: May 2018

The golden mussel (Limnoperna fortunei) and Corbicula fluminea are considered well-established invasive species in the rivers of Brazil and South America. In addition to the environmental problems resulting from this invasion process, the economic issue, especially in hydroelectric dams, is very worrisome and has mobilized several types of studies on these invasive bivalves. The detection and identification of these organisms in their adult phase in the rivers is not a problem; however, the identification of bivalve larvae by usual morphological methods is difficult due to high similarity conserved in these stages. The use of PCR-RFLP has proven to be an efficient and agile molecular method that allowed the detection of different patterns in the agarose gel for the two bivalves tested. The gel pattern showed a 100 bp band for L. fortunei not detected for C. fluminea. Thus, it is possible to detect larvae of these species from water samples, which can be a powerful tool for environmental monitoring programs on aquatic invasive species.
Approximation and characterization of quasi-static $H^1$-evolutions for a cohesive interface with different loading-unloading regimes
Authors: Negri Matteo , Vitali Enrico
Published: May 2018

We consider the quasi-static evolution of a prescribed cohesive interface: dissipative under loading and elastic under unloading. We provide existence in terms of parametrized

BV

-evolutions, employing a discrete scheme based on local minimization, with respect to the

H^1

-norm, of a regularized energy. Technically, the evolution is fully characterized by: equilibrium, energy balance and Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions for the internal variable. Catastrophic regimes (discontinuities in time) are described by gradient flows of visco-elastic type.
Minimal partitions for $p$-norms of eigenvalues
Authors: Bogosel Beniamin , Bonnaillie-Noël Virginie
Published: May 2018

In this article we are interested in studying partitions of the square, the disk and the equilateral triangle which minimize a

p

-norm of eigenvalues of the Dirichlet–Laplace operator. The extremal case of the infinity norm, where we minimize the largest fundamental eigenvalue of each cell, is one of our main interests. We propose three numerical algorithms which approximate the optimal configurations and we obtain tight upper bounds for the energy, which are better than the ones given by theoretical results. A thorough comparison of the results obtained by the three methods is given. We also investigate the behavior of the minimal partitions with respect to

p

. This allows us to see when partitions minimizing the 1-norm and the infinity-norm are different.
What difference does difference make?
Authors: Dhawan Nikita , Varela Maria do Mar Castro
Published: May 2018

This paper engages with the formative concepts of diversity and intersectionality, inquiring how far they are used as tools for achieving (gender) justice that open up spaces for marginalised constituencies, including racial and religious minorities, colonial subjects, queers, and women, and how they unwittingly reify the hegemony of an entitled majority by failing to realise their emancipatory possibilities.
Impact of grain size and rock composition on simulated rock weathering
Authors: Israeli Yoni , Emmanuel Simon
Published: May 2018

Abstract. Both chemical and mechanical processes
act together to control the weathering rate of rocks. In rocks with
micrometer size grains, enhanced dissolution at grain boundaries has been
observed to cause the mechanical detachment of particles. However, it remains
unclear how important this effect is in rocks with larger grains, and how the
overall weathering rate is influenced by the proportion of high- and
low-reactivity mineral phases. Here, we use a numerical model to assess the
effect of grain size on chemical weathering and chemo-mechanical grain
detachment. Our model shows that as grain size increases, the weathering rate
initially decreases; however, beyond a critical size no significant decrease
in the rate is observed. This transition occurs when the density of reactive
boundaries is less than ∼ 20 % of the entire domain. In addition,
we examined the weathering rates of rocks containing different proportions of
high- and low-reactivity minerals. We found that as the proportion of
low-reactivity minerals increases, the weathering rate decreases nonlinearly.
These simulations indicate that for all compositions, grain detachment
contributes more than 36 % to the overall weathering rate, with a maximum
of ∼ 50 % when high- and low-reactivity minerals are equally
abundant in the rock. This occurs because selective dissolution of the
high-reactivity minerals creates large clusters of low-reactivity minerals,
which then become detached. Our results demonstrate that the balance between
chemical and mechanical processes can create complex and nonlinear
relationships between the weathering rate and lithology.
Fuelwood territorialities: Chantier d'Aménagement Forestier and the reproduction of “political forests” in Burkina Faso
Authors: Côte Muriel , Gautier Denis
Published: May 2018

Abstract. This paper investigates the endurance of a national forest management
programme in Burkina Faso called Chantier d'Aménagement Forestier (CAF), which focuses on the participatory sustainable production
of fuelwood and is widely supported by international donors despite
evidence of its shortcomings. We analyse the surprising persistence of the
CAF model as a case of the territorialisation of state power through the
reproduction of “political forests” – drawing on the work of Peluso and
Vandergeest (2001, 2011). Analysing some the shortcomings and incoherencies
of the model, we bring to light the role of non-state actors in the
reproduction of the CAF as a “political forest”. We show that informal
regulatory arrangements have emerged between state and non-state actors,
namely merchants and customary authorities, over the production of fuelwood.
We call these arrangements “fuelwood territorialities” because they have
contributed to keeping the CAF's resource model unquestioned. With fuelwood
territorialities, we draw attention to the role of non-state actors in the
reproduction of “political forests”, that is, the process of state
territorialisation through forest governance. This analysis helps clarify
how certain areas, such as the CAFs, keep being officially represented as
“forest” even though they are dominated by a patchwork of fields, fallows, and
savannahs and do not have the ecological characteristics of one.
Bilateral comparison for determining the dynamic characteristic values of contact thermometers in fluids
Authors: Augustin Silke , Fröhlich Thomas , Schalles Marc , Krummeck Stefan
Published: May 2018

Abstract. In applicable standards and sets of rules (VDI/VDE, 2014; DIN, 2010, 2017),
recommendations are made concerning the types of experiments for determining
the dynamic parameters in fluids (flowing water and flowing air) under
well-defined conditions. In the data sheets of the thermometer manufacturers,
quite different specifications can be found, such as time percentage values or
time constants. Only a few thermometer manufacturers specify the medium and
flow conditions under which these parameters have been determined. Above all,
it is not common practice to indicate a measurement uncertainty for the
dynamic parameters found. In Augustin et al. (2017), a first model for the
indication of the measurement uncertainty of dynamic parameters in flowing
air was presented. The present paper describes the results of a bilateral comparison made for
the first time for determining dynamic parameters in the laboratories of the
JUMO GmbH & Co. KG Fulda company and at the Institute of Process
Measurement and Sensor Technology of the TU Ilmenau. In doing so, two type-N
thermocouples with different diameters were investigated in experimental
facilities with flowing water and flowing air. Subsequently, the dynamic
parameters found were compared with each other. The differences revealed
mainly resulted from plant-specific parameters.
Front Matter
Authors: Journal of Technology Law & Policy Pittsburgh
Published: May 2018

Front Matter for Volume XVIII of the Pittsburgh Journal of Technology Law & Policy
Alonso Zamora Vicente y el folklore
Authors: Rodríguez Pastor Juan
Published: May 2018

Don Alonso fue un buen folklorista, aunque apenas usó esta palabra. Para temas de folklore, su biblioteca es excelente. Además, en sus trabajos de investigación, recogió abundantes materiales de tradición oral, especialmente en El habla de Mérida. Finalmente, en su obra literaria, vertió numerosos materiales folklóricos: dichos, refranes, adivinanzas, cuentos… Aquí se da cuenta de todo ello.
Cuentos y novelas: Expresión verbal y creatividad narrativa
Authors: Romero Tobar Leonardo
Published: May 2018

Este artículo se detiene en las narraciones de Alonso Zamora Vicente e intenta delimitar la frontera entre los cuentos y las novelas, reflejo de la colectividad presente en el universo narrativo del autor.
Carta abierta a Carmen Mejía. Alonso Zamora Vicente en mi recuerdo
Authors: Sánchez Lobato Jesús
Published: May 2018

Se destaca en esta colaboración la importante labor de Alonso Zamora Vicente como maestro de vida, se señala su desencanto de la sociedad española y, por último, se describe la andadura vital del autor a través de los relatos contenidos en Cuentos con gusano dentro.
Evocación agradecida
Authors: Baralo Marta
Published: May 2018

La autora hace un repaso a la labor de Alonso Zamora Vicente como profesor, investigador, difusor, promotor y creador de la lengua castellana por el mundo.
Alonso Zamora Vicente: Embajador de la lengua española en Escandinavia
Authors: Pallares Berta
Published: May 2018

Con esta colaboración se pretende relatar la faceta de embajador de la lengua española de Alonso Zamora Vicente por las diferentes universidades de los países escandinavos.
La primera vez que, en abril de 1973, Jorge Luis Borges visitó la sede de la Real Academia Española y “compartió” con los académicos españoles, según AZV, Secretario perpetuo de la Institución
Authors: González Martel Juan Manuel
Published: May 2018

El autor da cuenta de la visita de Jorge Luis Borges a la Real Academia Española, en 1973, y de la escasa presencia de los académicos ante la llegada de tan ilustre creador argentino.
Evocación del Profesor Alonso Zamora Vicente desde la distancia
Authors: Iglesias Ovejero Ángel
Published: May 2018

Este modesto homenaje a D. Alonso Zamora Vicente es una evocación personal por parte de un antiguo alumno “retraído”, catedrático de universidad en Francia. Después de una breve introducción, se articula en cuatro secciones la figura de un gran humanista: el ambiente estudiantil en la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad de Madrid (Complutense) en los años sesenta, el profesor de Lingüística, el director de tesis y el maestro tutelar. Incluye un apéndice de cartas de Don Alonso que ilustran una relación marcada por el respeto y el afecto recíprocos.
High-Heeled Shoes and Bongo Drums: Ritual as a Dramatic Convention in Harold Pinter's The Lover
Authors: D'Ambrosi Joseph R.
Published: May 2018

How might playwrights use ritual as a dramatic convention, separate from its primitive history, to explore a character's place in society? This article analyzes Harold Pinter's employment of ritual in The Lover (1963) and argues that his characters rely on ritualized games to act upon their sexual desires in a “respectable” society—England before the sexual revolution. The Lover explores the lives of a married couple, Richard and Sarah, living in a suburb outside of London. Sarah is having an affair with her husband's alter ego, “Max.” Throughout the play, Richard and Sarah establish that their roles as spouse and lover must remain separate entities. They play a series of role-playing sex games until the rules of the ritual are violated and their arrangement is adjusted. By situating ritual as a dramatic convention within The Lover, Pinter demonstrates the lengths that people might go to survive within a restrictive environment.