bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis With Extra Intestinal Manifestations
Authors: Aljaaly Elham Abbas , Elsayed Naglaa Mostafa
Published: November 2020

Pediatric gastroenterology practitioners adopted different guidelines that focus on high-quality nutrition care for rare disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease in its two main forms: Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. This chapter presents a case report of ulcerative colitis with extra intestinal manifestations in the form of right knee arthritis and hypo-chromic microcytic anemia in a 13 years old Egyptian boy who presented to the outpatient services with complains of frequent attacks of right knee pain and swelling, nausea, decreased appetite and food intake, along with significant weight loss. Attacks of diarrhea associated with abdominal cramping and progressive fatigue was reported at the first visit. The authors of this case chapter aimed to share their experience in diagnosing, managing and systematically follow up a pediatric ulcerative colitis patient. The chapter refers to a comprehensive management of the patient's disease who was effectively managed by an integrated multidisciplinary approach.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Authors: Albajri Eram , Naseeb Manal
Published: November 2020

The proposed case will discuss irritable bowel syndrome. Individualized medical nutrition therapy is critical in the disease management. In this case, the learner will be provided with details to conceptualize the case and will be able to conduct a comprehensive nutrition assessment to evaluate the nutritional status. After identifying and prioritizing nutrition problems, the learner will determine the nutrition diagnoses and write proper statements. Based on the collected data, the learner will develop a nutrition care plan with appropriate goals, interventions, and strategies for monitoring and evaluation. Unspecified-IBS encounter challenges with food as it triggers the symptoms. Thus, the learner will evaluate the nutrient composition of dietary history and provide a substitute considering individual tolerance and severity of the symptoms. In addition, FODMAP will be applied. It also teaches patients what foods or eating patterns would be best (or best to avoid) for their day-to-day activities through self-awareness of symptoms and dietary food log.
Implementation of Load Control for Smart Metering in Smart Grids
Authors: Recioui Abdelmadjid , Dekhandji Fatma Zohra
Published: November 2020

The conventional energy meters are not suitable for long operating purposes as they spend much human and material resources. Smart meters, on the other hand, are devices that perform advanced functions including electrical energy consumption recording of residential/industrial users, billing, real-time monitoring, and load balancing. In this chapter, a smart home prototype is designed and implemented. Appliances are powered by the grid during daytime, and a photovoltaic panel stored power during the night or in case of an electricity outage. Second, consumed power from both sources is sensed and further processed for cumulative energy, cost calculations and bill establishment for different proposed scenarios using LABVIEW software. Data are communicated using a USB data acquisition card (DAQ-USB 6008). Finally, a simulation framework using LABVIEW software models four houses each equipped with various appliances. The simulator predicts different power consumption profiles to seek of peak-demand reduction through a load control process.
Smart Grids and Hybrid Energy Storage Systems
Authors: Rabbani Muhammad Asif
Published: November 2020

It is very important that the installed renewable energy system should produce the maximum power outputs with minimum costs, and that can only be achieved with the selection of the best optimization technique applied for the best control strategies along with the introduction of the hybrid energy storage systems (HESS). This chapter presents some optimization techniques applied in control strategies for hybrid energy storage systems in distributed renewable energy systems. The integration of energy production and consumption component through the smart grid concept enables increased demand response and energy efficiency. Hybrid energy storage systems and their applications in the renewable energy systems are extensively discussed besides control strategies involved. The storages systems will play an important role in future related to smart grid.
Evolution of Islanding Detection Methods for Microgrid Systems
Authors: Rawat Mahiraj Singh , Vadhera Shelly
Published: November 2020

A microgrid is a representation of controllable electrical power network, which comprises the distributed generation (DG) such as micro-hydro, wind turbines, photovoltaic arrays, bio-mass generation, battery energy storage systems (BESSs), and a group of interconnected load. A typical microgrid can be operated in either grid connected or island mode. The issue of unintentional islanding in microgrid is a major challenge for power engineers as it may harm the service personnel working during maintenance or restoration of the main grid. In literature, various passive, active, and hybrid islanding detection methods (IDMs) have been developed and implemented by researchers/engineers. In this chapter, the proposed IDMs from the recent literature have been analyzed and briefly discussed. The primary requirement of IDMs is fast and accurate detection of main grid failure and should not deteriorate the power quality of distribution networks.
Advanced Real-Time Tester for a Smart Power Grid
Authors: Ouadi Abderrahmane , Zitouni Abdelkader , Maache Ahmed
Published: November 2020

The testing approach is facing many difficulties regarding the actual implementations in the modern smart power grids. One of these challenges is the testing of hardware devices such as protective relays, PMUs, and smart meters before its final deployment to the power grid. One way to overcome this is the real-time simulation of power grid. The hardware-under-test (HuT) is plugged to a real-time simulator via signal conditioning circuit (SCC). SCC is an interface circuit involving power amplifier and measurement sub-circuit between the real-time power grid simulator and the HuT. In this chapter, some advanced developed techniques and approaches will be presented.
Differential Protection Enhancement for Power Transformer
Authors: Bentarzi Hamid , Bouderballa Rachid
Published: November 2020

A power transformer is protected against internal faults using a differential protection which is sensitive and a fast. However, during transformer magnetization (inrush current or over-excitation), the differential relay may operate unnecessarily. This phenomenon appears only when a transformer is first energized or after clearing external fault. During periodic magnetization condition due to over-excitation, the third and fifth harmonic components are largely noticed; however, during the normal apperiodic inrush conditions, the second harmonic is relatively high. In the conventional techniques, these harmonic components have been used to block differential protection to operate. However, in smart power transformer, these harmonic components are small even during the transformer magnetization; they cannot be used as block protection functions. The differential protection security has to be improved so that it can distinguish between differential current produced by magnetization and that produced by internal fault using the most advanced computer with most improved DSP algorithms.
Perception of Local People on Land Use Change
Authors: Paba Herath H. M. , Nianthi K. W. G. Rekha
Published: November 2020

The land use of the Belihuloya catchment area in Sri Lanka has been changing over a long period mainly due to the human activities. The study was aimed to find out the spatial and temporal changes of land use in the Belihuloya Mini Catchment area of 1956 to 2015, and obtain the local people's perception of the effects of land-use changes in Belihuloya. To study the people's perceptions of land use change, a questionnaire survey was conducted among randomly selected 180 households. Aerial data of 1956 and satellite data of 2015 were used to analyze the land use changes. The vegetation cover maps of 1956 and 2015, demonstrated the drastic changes of land use in Belihuloya. More than 50% of the respondents in the study area perceived that the land use has been changing due to the construction activities, forest fires, illegal loggings, pine and tea cultivation and the expansion of built-up areas. The deforestation has badly effected on water resources in the Belihuloya. The reforestation programs, including community-based reforestation programs can be introduced to minimize the impacts. It is necessary to implement existing legal frameworks with supports of different stakeholders to conserve the Belihuloya.
Youth Willingness to Accept Agricultural Entrepreneurship in Bedkot Municipality, Kanchanpur, Nepal
Authors: Devkota Niranjan , Joshi Ashok , Paudel Udaya Raj
Published: November 2020

One of the major factors that aids in economic growth, sustainability, and poverty reduction of a developing nation is agriculture. With the passage of time, contribution of agriculture in GDP seems decreasing and youths' involvement towards agricultural entrepreneurship has been increasing in Nepal. Agro-entrepreneurship is rising due to technological innovation and transformation in production process that will provide higher output aiding in income generation. This study aims to identify youths' willingness to accept agriculture entrepreneurship and provincial role for its development. This study is based on explanatory research design with 324 samples from farmers of Bedkot municipality. Both primary and secondary data are used for the study based on a structured questionnaire. Tobit model has been used to generate results, along with several variables based on descriptive and inferential analysis. The study depicts that agriculture information has positive significance with overall awareness of youths' willingness to accept agriculture entrepreneurship. Likewise, youths' acceptance of agro-entrepreneurship is significant to annual income, land size, market information centre (MIC) as well. Training and awareness of agricultural entrepreneurship need to be focused more by policy-makers. This is one of the first investigations conducted to identify the various dimensions of youths' willingness to accept agriculture entrepreneurship in the Nepalese context.
Socio-Economic Aspects of Mangrove Degradation in an Urban Setting
Authors: Weber Eberhard Heinrich
Published: November 2020

In Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS), the degradation of mangroves advances at a fast pace, especially in urban places. Rural to urban migration let urban settlements grow tremendously in the past 60 years. People built many informal settlements straight into mangrove forests. Health implications are severe, but settlements in mangrove forests provide protection against eviction. The case study provides insight into people's lives, perception and actions in a degraded mangrove forest in the eastern part of Suva, the capital of Fiji. The major question is why people are exposing themselves to serious environmental health hazards. Based on recent changes, the chapter also looks at development efforts that threaten residents of informal settlement to get evicted from the locations they right now reside. Investigations concentrate on people's actions in space, particularly, the role degraded urban mangroves play in their decision to reside in a particular place. A major explanation is that people want to reduce risk and enhance security: security from eviction.
Land Use Planning and Sustainable Development
Authors: Khan Mohd Nazish , Fatima Samreen
Published: November 2020

This chapter explores the ability of remote sensing and GIS technology for the preparation of land use land cover plan in an effective manner. It is an established fact that remote sensing products are being widely used for land use and land cover products to facilitate their stakeholders to provide them cost effective and reproducible mechanism to extract meaningful information for the development of infrastructure in particular region at any scale. Remote sensing has produced different high resolution datasets that may be convert into fruitful products by using recently developed image processing techniques. India is vast country, having natural resources as land resources which needs reallocation as per future demands. Present legislation and regulation are hardly enough for sustainable development of land resources.
An International and Socially Responsible SME Based on Tailored Innovative Products
Authors: García-Cabrera Antonia Mercedes , García-Soto María Gracia , Cuéllar-Molina Deybbi
Published: November 2020

In view of the many studies carried out on multinational firms and, to a lesser degree, the internationalization of SMEs based on developed countries, it is surprising to find that so little attention is being paid to the internationalization process of SMEs based on developing countries. There is scarce evidence and knowledge available on the circumstances underlying these processes or the decisions made to successfully address internationalization. The case of the company Empakando, founded in the developing country of El Salvador in 2000 and successfully internationalized toward countries in Central America, allows the authors to make a contribution to this field. Based on the company's experience, the authors addressed a range of important aspects to understand this phenomena: (1) the internationalization process and the entry modes chosen and (2) two key elements in gaining access to the resources and connections needed to facilitate internationalization, that is, the commitment to corporate social responsibility (internal factor) and the support of export promotion programmes (external factor).
International Effect on Family SME Financial Distress Prediction
Authors: Lisboa Ines , Costa Magali
Published: November 2020

Understanding the reasons of default risk is crucial to avoid the firm's bankruptcy. The purpose of this work is to analyze the impact of internationalization on firm's probability of distress. For it, this chapter aims to propose a model to predict default specific to family SMEs (small and medium enterprises). An unbalanced panel of 10,832 firms over the period from 2012-2018 is analyzed. Ex-ante criteria to classify firms in default or compliant is used. International SMEs have lower probability of default than domestic firms, and compliant firms export more. Results show that export ratio is an important determinant of the probability of default. Moreover, the ratios of liquidity, profitability, size, leverage, efficiency, cash flow, and age are also relevant. Moreover, these ratios explain default risk of both groups international and domestic SMEs. The proposed model has an accuracy of 92.9%, which increases to 95.6% if only export SMEs are analyzed.
Internationalization of Family Businesses
Authors: Costa Joana
Published: November 2020

Worldwide, family businesses are one of the cornerstones of the entrepreneurial fabric, being as a consequence central to growth and development. In a globalized era, these institutions require the attention of businessmen, practitioners, and policymakers. The chapter seeks to examine if the internationalization performance does vary according to firm size, and its link to the innovative performance in multiple dimensions along with conventional characteristics such as age and turnover. Theoretical research evidences the interest in understanding the patterns and determinants of the internationalisation performance, given its importance in firm growth and survival; however, this strategical option brings advantages and problems. Empirical evidence demonstrates that the determinants do change according to firm dimension; estimations provide valuable insights about the connection between globalized operation and innovation, for the different organisations.
Predictive Strategic Factors in Export Performance in the Automotive Industry
Authors: Lima Rua Orlando , Ferreira Ana
Published: November 2020

The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the linkage between intangible resources and export performance, considering the mediating effect of innovation on it. The authors have adopted a quantitative methodological approach applied to a sample of Portuguese exporting companies from the automotive industry. The application of the structural equation model is highlighted, using partial least squares (PLS). The results allow us to conclude from the existence of a positive and direct impact of intangible resources on export performance and the mediator effect of innovation in this relationship. The main contribution of this study is the mediating effect of innovation on the relationship established between intangible resources and export performance concerning companies from the automotive industry.
How Does Globalization Affect the Government's Public Finance?
Authors: Cetin Irem
Published: November 2020

This chapter investigates the long-run effect of globalization on public finance using data of developing countries from 2005 to 2017. The present research makes a contribution to the literature from various aspects. Firstly, integration and cointegration properties of the variables are considered. Then, the cointegrating relationship between globalization and public finance indicators is estimated by employing the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) estimators. The empirical results are mixed. Globalization influences both government expenditure and public debt positively and significantly in the long run, while it influences tax revenue negatively. Moreover, the effect of globalization on the increased share of indirect taxes in the long run is more than the effect on the increased share of direct taxes.
Experiments of Basic Income in Worlds of Welfare
Authors: Ferdosi Mohammad , McDowell Tom E.
Published: November 2020

Experiments of ‘basic income' in worlds of welfare suggest that different countries are prone to experience the same pressures and moreover, in ways that lead them to produce the same socio-economic outcomes, resulting in their convergence toward an alternative social policy tool outside of their own traditional welfare models to deal with such problems. The implication is that no single welfare model has proven adequate to the task of reducing or reversing negative outcomes to any significant extent thus far. This is the most probable reason why each type of welfare regime has designed and implemented a ‘basic income' pilot in the post-2008 crisis period. However, experimental designs and results have so far diverged from each other in interesting ways, likely reflecting the interactions between different versions of ‘basic income' and the different national environments in which they have been deployed.
Digital Marketing in the Globalization Process
Authors: Tehci Ali
Published: November 2020

It is seen that the global economy has changed significantly as a result of digitalization, which facilitates cross-border communication and transactions. For this reason, businesses must use technology to promote their products or services and to encourage consumers. In this respect, social media platforms provide businesses with real-time opportunities such as running campaign events, promoting products or services. In this study, the concept of digital marketing, which is extremely important for businesses, was examined and the importance of this concept was tried to be explained with examples from real-time marketing activities. Organizations or brands must take advantage of digital marketing opportunities to gain competitive advantage. Especially on social media platforms, companies are thought to be successful as a result of participating in real-time marketing activities and performing these activities appropriately.
Financial Globalization and the Development of China's Economy
Authors: Weili Zhao
Published: November 2020

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the official Brexit and the trade friction between Sino-US, anti-globalization become the focus of the world. After 40 years of reform and opening up, China's economy is facing new challenges under the new world situation. This chapter mainly focuses on how to promote China's economic growth under the background of financial globalization. Firstly, this chapter will introduce the development trend of the globalization and analyze the relation between financial globalization and economic growth. Secondly, this chapter will examine the state quo of China's financial openness and compare the change of China's de jure financial openness with the change of China's de facto financial openness. At last, this chapter will expound challenges faced by China's economy and put forward possible solutions to these challenges in terms of financial globalization.
The Impact of Global Economy and Global Liquidity on Domestic Economic Growth
Authors: Bayir Musa
Published: November 2020

Economic globalization has considerably accelerated in recent years. Therefore, they are expected that developments in the global economy have an impact on domestic economies. The chapter aims to analyse empirically the effects of global economic growth, global import demand, and global liquidity on Turkish economic growth. The method of the study is NARDL. The analyses include the 1987-2019 period. According to the empirical results, the growth in global economic output and global import demand has a positive effect on Turkish economic growth. Interestingly, the contraction in global economic output and global import demand also increases more strongly Turkish economic growth. In addition, while the increase in global liquidity has a positive effect on Turkish economic growth, the effect of the decrease in global liquidity is statistically insignificant.
The Pacific Alliance
Authors: Gil-Barragan Juan M. , Aguilera-Castillo Andrés
Published: November 2020

The Pacific Alliance is a regional trade agreement (RTA) between Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. It is generally expected that the implementation of this RTA will provides benefits to all micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the forms of greater internationalization opportunities. However, there are concerns over the extent to which MSMEs have benefited from this commercial agreement. Thus, this chapter analyzes the internationalization process of 23 MSMEs from Colombia that exported to member countries of the Pacific Alliance. The authors, using case study methodology analyzed the internationalization process of these firms and aimed to identify their unique behavior. Results shows that the process began by the creation of networks, the identification of opportunities abroad, and the definition of the internationalization path for each firm. In general, the firms used the institutional resources available in the Pacific Alliance framework to achieve their internationalization strategies.
Foreign Direct Investment in North Africa
Authors: Ertan Arhan S. , Musabeh Ahmed M.
Published: November 2020

North Africa is considered to be one of the wealthiest areas of the continent thanks to its natural resources and strategic geopolitical location. While the region is generating about one-third of Africa's total GDP, its economic indicators are not presenting a bright picture for North African countries. This chapter attempts to provide an in-depth overview of the investment environment and shed light on the main constraints on foreign direct investment (FDI) in each of the North African countries. The authors focus on contemporary trends in FDI and policies regarding human capital promotion and infrastructure development. The descriptive analysis indicates that the volume of FDI in the North Africa region is still weak compared to international flows to other developing regions. This outcome can be associated, in addition to unattractive FDI policies, with the absence of real economic and financial reforms, persistent political instability, lack of technological readiness, inadequate regulatory and institutional framework, high corruption and inefficient bureaucracy.
Do Technological Factors Impact Differently on Rural and Urban New Venture Performance?
Authors: Pato Lúcia , Teixeira Aurora Amélia Castro
Published: November 2020

Research on the relationship between entrepreneurship and context has gained considerable attention in recent years. However, this stream of literature has yet to adequately address the topic of entrepreneurship in rural areas. This chapter intends to fill this gap by investigating the extent to which technological-related factors affect the performance of new ventures located in rural and urban areas. Based on a sample of 408 newly created ventures located in Portuguese business incubators (BIs) and science parks (SPs), and employing logistic estimations, two main conclusions were derived. They are 1) support from BIs/SPs matters the most to the export and global innovation performance of new ventures located in rural areas and 2) support from universities and other higher education institutions, and the regularity of research and development (R&D) collaborations between new ventures and R&D institutions are more relevant to the turnover and innovation performance of new ventures located in urban areas than those in rural areas.
Theoretical Opportunities for Rural Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research
Authors: Lokuge Sachithra
Published: November 2020

Even though rural entrepreneurship and rural innovation have been studied for decades, the advent of social media, mobile, analytics, cloud computing, and internet of things—also referred to as digital technologies—has provided new opportunities and challenges for this vast discipline. As a result of the advent of digital technologies, we see new business models, new processes, products, and services emerging in the market. Such opportunities challenge the orthodox view of IT use and innovation, opening new avenues for researches, and challenges the existing theoretical understanding. This chapter is an attempt to understand the existing literature on rural innovation and entrepreneurship in information systems discipline and to identify opportunities for rural entrepreneurship and innovation in the digital era.
The Current State of Public Policy Studies and Field in Turkey
Authors: Babaoğlu Cenay , Kulaç Onur
Published: November 2020

Public policy analysis is essential for governments in finding out the success and the failure of the policies. Therefore, policy actors make a massive contribution to ease the analysis process. As one of the most important countries in Europe, Turkey has numerous policies that need to be discussed in detail. This chapter is an attempt to examine the recent developments, future expectations in policy analysis, and their repercussions on the public administration in Turkey. In the chapter, the studies and the activities carried out by Turkish scholars will be observed to assess the general situation in terms of public policy. To this end, a variety of institutional reports, information notes and memo will be examined. The chapter will be concluded with a discussion of the current and future challenges facing public policy analyses in Turkey to offer practical policy recommendations. This chapter reveals that although encouraging progress has been in public policy studies in Turkey over the years, the importance attributed to public policy field is still not at the desired level.
Turkey's Open Data Policy
Authors: Akman Çiğdem , Akman Elvettin , Okcu Murat
Published: November 2020

Open data, a concept that has recently came to prominence frequently, is generally the sort of data which could be accessed by any user fast and conveniently, easy-to-process, alter, utilize, share, and which does not subject to any copyright issue. Application of open data in public administration is expected to yield substantial benefits such as introduction of open, transparent, and accountable services in public administration, low-cost and efficient utility of public resources, establishing trust-worthy environment to increase participation of citizens, reduction of bureacracy and lumpishness in public administration, and creating more efficient public policies. In Turkey, studies on open data have commenced in 2011 through nurous reports and programs, and the Office of Digital Transformation was founded. From this point, the present study will first consider concepts about open data, its benefit in terms of public administration, open data practices and position of Turkish public administration in terms of open data.
Government Systems and Control of Bureaucracy
Authors: Öztürk Namık Kemal
Published: November 2020

Control of bureaucracy is essential for democratic government systems based on separation of powers. Because the bureaucracy has the potential to get out of political control and act as a power on its own. It is necessary to determine which mechanisms are effective in the control of bureaucracy among government systems. In general, the parliamentary system is said to be more advantageous than the presidential system in controlling and directing the bureaucracy. The fact that there is a strict separation of powers in the presidential systems causes two negative results in terms of regime. First, the inability of the politicians to have a full effect on the bureaucracy may result in weakening of the system and problems in control of bureaucracy. Second, the lack of coordination over senior bureaucrats, weakens the control capacity of political power.
A Model Proposal for Local Governments to Increase Citizen Involvement in the Age of Information Society and E-Government
Authors: Aldemir Ceray , Şen Eyüp
Published: November 2020

Crowdsourcing is a form of citizen participation in which an institution has a question submits to citizens via the internet in order to get citizens to think about innovative solutions to the problem. Several municipalities around the world have already used this means, but it has not yet been clear exactly how they can use it and which preconditions play a role in this. Thus, this chapter argued the concept of citizen involvement in the age of ICT by emphasizing the two related terms e-government and e-local government, then secondly the chapter underlined the importance of the necessity of citizen participation in the policymaking process. In the third section of this chapter, it has been argued the crowdsourcing concept as a tool of participation in the age of ICT. Then finally the paper outlined a model for local governments that may use the crowdsourcing approach in the decision-making process.
Determination of Energy Performance of Residential Buildings as a Tool for Public Economics
Authors: Fuka Jan , Baťa Robert
Published: November 2020

This chapter provides methodology for setting energy performance of residential buildings in European region and estimation of difference in energy performance as a tool for managers in public sector. The study deals with how to estimate energy performance for areas, where, due to its size, it is not possible to get technical parameters of particular buildings when data for setting energy performance are not or partially available and often inconsistent. Practical use of methodology is in providing essential data for subsequent determination of investment intensity of retrofit of buildings for the needs of public sector. It researches potential effects of retrofitting of all existing houses in the passive standard in region on overall improving of its energy performance. Final value represents maximum possible performance assuming all existing buildings corresponded to passive standard. This methodology can be generalized and used as tool for decision-making on energy performance at regional level in environment of insufficient data.
The Whole-of-Nation Approach
Authors: Omar Abdul Malik
Published: November 2020

Microstates face innumerable challenges in braving the 21st century. Limited resources, a small geography, and a small population are just some of the constraints faced. None is more so pressing that the case of Brunei Darussalam, where its heavy reliance on Oil and Gas may have afforded it economic prosperity and political stability since its independence in 1984, but the changes in market structure and global forces have resulted in it facing serious issues, such as its increasing unemployment rate. The Government of Brunei have taken steed in the advice of Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah to unify the body politic through the “Whole-of-Nation” approach and bring about the harmonious constellation of state actors and non-actors, from both the formal and informal sectors, to realizing the country's ambitious Wawasan 2035 and to adapt to the 4th Industrial Revolution. This work will unpack whether the Government has been successful in its efforts to do so. Policy recommendations will also be presented.
How Does Fiscal Decentralization Affect Fiscal and Governance-Related Performance?
Authors: Avcı Mehmet , Karasoy Hasan Alpay
Published: November 2020

Fiscal decentralization, which is one of the most essential objectives of government reforms in recent decades, implies transferring of the fiscal authority from central government to lower-level government. The rationale of fiscal decentralization is to improve the allocation efficiency of public resources through matching public resources accurately to public needs. On the other hand, it ensures a closer relationship between individuals and governments, and thus governments are more responsive to the individual's needs. Therefore, fiscal decentralization can provide a more transparent and accountable decision-making process in the public sector. In all, it is expected that fiscal decentralization enhances fiscal performance and governance according to theory. In this sense, this study investigates the relationship between fiscal and governance-related performance empirically for 26 OECD countries over 1996-2017 by using dynamic panel data system GMM estimation. Findings confirm the view that fiscal decentralization has a positive effect on fiscal and governance-related performance.
Smart Cities and Governance
Authors: Sezer Özcan , Avcı Mehmet
Published: November 2020

Cities are futures' crucial elements, playing an important role in economics, social and environmental. As closer to individuals, cities face some challenges in terms of problems caused through the rapid urbanization process. Hence, governments and public agencies at all levels should use smart techniques including technology for sustainable development, better quality of life for citizens, and finally, an efficient use of scarce public resources. In this sense, Turkey plans to apply a smart city concept in Turkish cities as worldwide and published 2020-2023 National Smart Cities Strategy and Action Plan document with four strategic goals, nine targets, and 40 actions. This chapter aims to reveal the institutional, fiscal, and social challenges on smart governance, which is the most important dimension of smart city, for Turkey. In this respect, there are some challenges on smart governance in Turkey in terms of legislation, institutional, transparency and accountability, participation, e-democracy, and citizens.
Bayesian Model for Evaluating Real-World Adaptation Progress of a Cyber-Physical System
Authors: Sari Arif , Sopuru Joshua Chibuike
Published: November 2020

Cyber-physical systems, also known as CPS, have come to stay. There is no doubt, CPS would one day outnumber humans in industries. How do we evaluate the adaptation progress of these systems considering changing environmental conditions? A failed implementation of a CPS can result to a loss. Since CPSs are designed to automate industrial activities, which are centred on the use of several technologies, collaboration with humans may sometimes be inevitable. CPSs are needed to automate several processes and thus help firms compete favourably within an industry. This chapter focuses on the adaptation of CPS in diverse work environment. Considering the ecosystem of the CPS, the authors present a Bayesian model evaluating the progress of adaptation of a CPS given some known conditions.
Impact of Career Experiences on Health Outcomes Among Immigrants in the Midwest
Authors: Kingori Caroline , Haider Mohammad Rifat , Asfaw Seleshi Ayalew , Ghamli Senya Afi
Published: November 2020

Immigrants in the US work in diverse professions and contribute to the economy. They play an important role in the economies in which they settle by complementing the skills lacking and create a level playing field for wages in the labor market. The U.S. Midwest has seen exceptionally high growth in immigrant populations in recent decades. While employment leads to a better quality of life when workers can afford basic necessities, immigrants encounter dire health challenges due to unemployment, underemployment, extreme working conditions, long work hours, and no paid leave. There is limited research examining the connection between career development experiences with the health of immigrant workers. This chapter examines the impact that employment circumstances have on skilled immigrants' health outcomes in the Midwest.
Foreign Education, Underemployment, and Wellness
Authors: Otundo Joseph O. , Opiri Jane A.
Published: November 2020

Although the number of African immigrants in the United States has steadily increased, there remains a gap in understanding their lived experiences in the context of employment and wellness. Using qualitative method, this study investigated underemployment and wellness among six foreign-educated African immigrants. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss three themes that emerged from this study. Study design utilized was grounded theory. Participants in this study held professional jobs before relocating to the US. Results suggest that despite excitement of migrating to the US, African immigrants experience myriad life events from the time they land until when they settle down. Yet, the adaptation mechanisms reported include social networking and social support. Thus, three themes that emerged from this study are occupational, emotional, and social wellness. From the findings, the authors developed underemployment versus wellness conceptual framework that can be used for future studies.
Reskilling Internationally Educated Nurses
Authors: Kernis Neil
Published: November 2020

In light of a projected shortage of registered nurses, nurses trained overseas may present a viable solution. However, these nurses will likely need to surmount many obstacles in order to integrate into the profession in the United States. This chapter reviews the barriers faced by internationally trained nurses to entering the nursing profession. Secondly, it argues for the importance of addressing and facilitating personal and professional transitions in helping deskilled nurses as they pursue nursing licensure. In doing so, it will reflect on the researcher's research with internationally educated nurses and their experiences in a National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) preparation program. Finally, implications for adult education practitioners who help internationally educated nurses, as well as other deprofessionalized immigrants rebuild their careers in the United States are discussed.
Exploring Different Forms of Engaging Different Publics With Environmental Sustainability
Authors: Campos Rita
Published: November 2020

Sustainability has become a key concept for several contexts – politics, economics, education, or conservation. This chapter presents a review of some concepts of sustainability, and sustainable development and then focuses on environmental sustainability to discuss emerging trends on engaging citizen: engaging students in the classroom, engaging local communities in their regions, engaging visitors in areas of potential touristic interest. In each case, a theoretical framework is complemented by case studies illustrating how sustainability can be used to promote scientific literacy, positive changes in perceptions and attitudes for biodiversity management and conservation, and to incorporate different knowledges and ways of living. From more classical formats to collaborative and participatory processes, the examples give an overview of current work being done to endorse the values subjacent to environmental sustainability, communicating the interrelatedness between human population and the natural environment and ultimately trying to promote a healthier and sustainable planet.
Sense and Sensibility in Housing Tourism
Authors: Braga José , Silva Oscar
Published: November 2020

This text aims to discuss the motivations of housing tourism (TH) guests and the strategies used by hosts to meet their specific needs. The methodology used in data collection and analysis was classic grounded theory (CGT). The data were collected through 53 interviews undertaken with owners of HT units in Portugal. This chapter argues that HT customers are divided mainly into two types: ‘sensitive' and ‘insensitive' guests. The sensitive guest has cultural concerns, favours the role of the host in valuing the accommodation, and identifies with the values conveyed by the house. Likewise, he is aware of the differentiation of this category in relation to mass accommodation when he books it. The guest who is insensitive to the hospitality exploration modality (HEM) requires the formalisation of the accommodation option, prefers autonomy over customisation, and demands facilities typical of mass tourism (as they are incompatible with the functionality of the house).
Brain State Intelligence and Cognitive Health Through EEG Date Modeling
Authors: Lin Hong , Garza Jonathan , Schreiber Gregor , Yang Minghao , Cui Yunwei
Published: November 2020

Electroencephalographic data modeling is widely used in developing applications in the areas of healthcare, as well as brain-computer interface. One particular study is to use meditation research to reach out to the high-end applications of EEG data analysis in understanding human brain states and assisting in promoting human healthcare. The analysis of these states could be the initial step in a process to first predict and later allow individuals to control these states. To this end, the authors begin to build a system for dynamic brain state analysis using EEG data. The system allows users to transit EEG data to an online database through mobile devices, interact with the web server through web interface, and get feedback from EEG data analysis programs on real-time bases. The models perform self-adjusting based on the data sets available in the database. Experimental results obtained from various machine-learning algorithms indicate great potential in recognizing user's brain state with high accuracy. This method will be useful in quick-prototyping onsite brain states feedback systems.
Human Fall Detection Using Efficient Kernel and Eccentric Approach
Authors: Shrivastava Rashmi , Pandey Manju
Published: November 2020

Unintentional human falls are a very crucial problem in elderly people. If the fall goes unnoticed or undetected, it can lead to severe injuries and can even lead to death. Detecting falls as early as possible is very important to avoid severe physical injurious and mental trauma. The objective of this paper is to design the fall detection model using data of daily living activities only. In the proposed fall detection model, an eccentric approach with SVM based one-class classification is used. For the pre-processing step, fast fourier transformation has been applied to the data and seven features have been calculated using the preprocessed ADL dataset that has been calculated from the dataset of ADL (activities of daily living) activities acquired from the smartphones. An enhancement of the chi-square kernel-based support vector machine has been proposed here for classifying ADL activities from fall activities. Using the proposed algorithm, 98.81% sensitivity and 98.65% specificity have been achieved. This fall detection model achieved 100% accuracy on the FARSEEING dataset.
An Efficient Threshold-Fuzzy-Based Algorithm for VM Consolidation in Cloud Datacenter
Authors: Baskaran Nithiya , Eswari R.
Published: November 2020

Cloud computing has grown exponentially in the recent years. Data growth is increasing day by day, which increases the demand for cloud storage, which leads to setting up cloud data centers. But they consume enormous amounts of power, use the resources inefficiently, and also violate service-level agreements. In this paper, an adaptive fuzzy-based VM selection algorithm (AFT_FS) is proposed to address these problems. The proposed algorithm uses four thresholds to detect overloaded host and fuzzy-based approach to select VM for migration. The algorithm is experimentally tested for real-world data, and the performance is compared with existing algorithms for various metrics. The simulation results testify to the proposed AFT_FS method is the utmost energy efficient and minimizes the SLA rate compared to other algorithms.
Modeling of Two-Level Checkpointing With Silent and Fail-Stop Errors in Grid Computing Systems
Authors: Ghazal Rahaf Maher , Jafar Samir , Alhamad Mohammad Mounaf
Published: November 2020

With the increase in high-performance computing platform size, it makes the system reliability more challenging, and system mean time between failures (MTBF) may be too short to supply a total fault-free run. Thereby, to achieve greater benefit from these systems, the applications must include fault tolerance mechanisms to satisfy the required reliability. This manuscript focuses on grid computing platform that exposes to two types of threats: crash and silent data corruption faults, which cause the application's failure. This manuscript also addresses the problem of modeling resource availability and aims to minimize the overhead of checkpoint/recovery-fault tolerance techniques. Modeling resources faults has commonly been addressed with exponential distribution, but that isn't fully realistic for the transient errors, which appear randomly. In the manuscript, the authors use Weibull distribution to express these random faults to create the optimal time to save checkpoints.
High Temperature Mechanical and Creep Performance of AA7075/TaC/Si3N4/Ti Hybrid Metal Matrix Composites
Authors: Smart D. S. Robinson , Kumar J. Pradeep , Smart Joses Jenish
Published: November 2020

An effort was contrived to incorporate aluminium alloy (AA) 7075 reinforced with Silicon Nitride (Si3N4), Tantalum Carbide (TaC), and Titanium (Ti) particulates using conventional stir casting technique. The tension and creep investigations of these composite materials were analysed at room and elevated temperature to regulate their strain to failure and ultimate tensile strength (UTS). The data obtained inferred that addition of these ceramic reinforcements was naturally enhanced the mechanical and creep properties. Strength due to elongation was observed as high as 111.41 N/mm2 at 120°C when compared to unalloyed aluminium alloy. The load tests analysis reveals that the increase in reinforcement wt% of TaC and Ti combinations leads to increase in resistance for deformation failure and the composite is able to with stand 500 kg load at 120°C. The results of the creep tests shows that the ability of the material to with stand an higher cycle time of more than 30,000 seconds when the strain value is 0.02 wt% of reinforcement are 0.5% of TaC, 6% of Si3N4, and 1% of Ti.