bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Les ministres de Bercy, pilotes ou otages de la structure ?
Authors: Lambert Alain
Published: February 2019

« Ministres pilotes ou otages ? » : cette question est régulièrement posée au sujet des ministres de Bercy. L’analyse pragmatique proposée observe que ces derniers disposent de tous les atouts et d’outils pour affirmer leur autorité, à condition qu’ils s’assument comme « responsables politiques » tant à l’endroit de la structure que des autorités qui leur sont supérieures. Et qu’au final le ministre le plus autonome sera celui qui n’aura pas demandé d’être nommé à ce poste.
Cycles de vie à Bercy
Authors: Siné Alexandre
Published: February 2019

La longévité des ministres du Budget et de l’Économie et des Finances a tendance à se réduire sous la V e  République, pour se porter à un niveau inférieur à deux ans. Système politique, trajectoires individuelles ou mise en œuvre des politiques publiques et des réformes en sont les causes. Si cette espérance de vie est analogue à celle des autres départements ministériels, elle est toutefois significativement inférieure à celle des ministres allemands et anglais, ce qui minore la continuité de la représentation française au niveau européen et réduit la capacité à incarner avec constance des politiques de long terme. Par ailleurs, le décalage entre le temps des politiques publiques et celui du ministre incite ce dernier au court-termisme. En revanche, Bercy est un tremplin politique qui permet d’accéder aux plus hautes fonctions de la République ou au sein d’institutions internationales.
Les personnels de Bercy
Authors: Pochard Marcel
Published: February 2019

Les personnels de Bercy sont marqués du sceau de l’excellence, professionnellement et déontologiquement. Si leur régime de rémunération et d’œuvres sociales, avantageux par rapport au reste de la fonction publique, est à la mesure, tel n’est pas le cas de leur gestion, qui pose problème, entravée qu’elle est par des pesanteurs multiples, notamment corporatistes, qui réduisent singulièrement leur efficience, en particulier s’agissant des agents des deux grandes directions à réseau ( dgf i p et Direction générale des douanes et droits indirects). Une profonde mue de cette gestion a été engagée depuis la fin des années 1990, mais faute d’un « mandat politique clair », comme le dit la Cour des comptes, cette mue est encore loin de la transformation en profondeur qui s’impose.
Le ministre des Finances selon Gaston Jèze : États-Unis, Angleterre et Argentine
Authors: Bourget Renaud
Published: February 2019

Invité à l’université de Buenos Aires en 1923 pour y prononcer une série de conférences, Gaston Jèze exposa le sens qui devait être celui des réformes à mener en Argentine, dont le système financier, pensait-il, tranchait, par les caractères obsolètes et surannés qu’il avait hérités de la période coloniale, avec le grand et riche pays qu’elle était devenue. Consacrant sa deuxième conférence aux fonctions du ministre des Finances argentin, Jèze devait décrire d’emblée la faiblesse de sa situation. C’est donc en Angleterre, pays de « l’équilibre budgétaire » et du « ministre des Finances fort », ainsi qu’aux États-Unis, dont le Congrès venait d’adopter une loi créant le Bureau of the Budget, qu’il trouva les exemples opportuns à suivre. Ce faisant, Jèze livra son « modèle » en la matière : le ministre des Finances doit avant tout être un « ministre de l’équilibre budgétaire ».
You Too Can Get It Write
Authors: Evans William H. , Gable Robert A. , Hornby Garry
Published: February 2019

This chapter provides the reader with principles for writing and research that the authors have developed over their lifetimes. They have published close to 600 refereed articles, monographs, books, and book chapters between them and have learned what works and what doesn't in professional writing and research. Further, each of the authors has been involved with implementing technology-driven doctoral programs and they share the lessons learned from these experiences. The suggestions they offer are not intended to be exhaustive but rather are designed to provide the reader with a framework for success in writing and research. They share their successes and failures and the necessity for accepting and using feedback and critical reviews in a positive and productive manner. Additionally, they address the issue of technology in research and writing and how these tools can aid those developing a research agenda. They offer hope to those beginning a research and writing agenda and believe that if they can succeed others can as well.
Developing On-Campus and Distance Learning Systems in Higher Education
Authors: Mahlangu Vimbi Petrus
Published: February 2019

The purpose of this chapter is to argue that developing on-campus and distance learning systems in higher education will depend largely on developments in mobile technology. Structuration theory will be used in understanding on-campus and distance learning systems in higher education. It can assist institutions to consider questions of why the use of technology must not be taken for granted and what might be the challenges and opportunities of technology. Developments in mobile technology are widening the space of learning in on-campus and distance learning systems in higher education by allowing flexible and instant access to rich digital resources. Mobile learning can also play a significant supplemental role within university education. Challenges facing on-campus and distance learning systems is meeting the ever increasing and diversified demands for higher education. Universities, which adopt on-campus, distance learning systems, and become dual-mode institutions, consider the mode to be one of the strategies through which they can achieve increased enrolments.
Virtual Reality Applications as an Innovative Educational Practice in Adult Education
Authors: Lignos Ioannis , Korres Maria Pavlis
Published: February 2019

Virtual reality educational applications are supporting educational systems to provide better and more realistic training. Military training systems have incorporated such applications in their training programs having positive results in terms of training outcomes, safety, and cost efficiency. The aim of the chapter is to present the benefits of using virtual reality applications in connection to the modern learning theories. More specifically, the chapter summarizes the concepts of experiential, active and constructive learning theories conjoining them with the results of a research conducted to the Hellenic Air Force training pilots concerning their virtual reality training via flight simulators. As derived from the research, virtual reality educational applications are very helpful as far as it concerns acquiring new knowledge, developing skills, with predominant flexibility in decision making and more effective task prioritization and changing trainees' attitudes at the level of self-confidence, understanding, and self-reflection.
MOOCs and the Challenges They Pose to Higher Education
Authors: Wang Victor , Ellington Linda
Published: February 2019

Technologies come and go at an alarming rate, and the length of time any one technology exists before being supplanted by a newer technology is growing even shorter. In colleges and universities, this rapid technological replacement rate can hold immense implications for both the development and delivery of education. When technology transience is considered, institutions of higher education look at how specific incarnations of technology come and go, the length of time they are in existence, and their use within a given context. And because education has historically been so closely intertwined with technology, it becomes an investigation into not only education but also lifespan development, societal adaptation, and a myriad of other factors in which technology driven international universities will exist and or cease to exist.
Academic Entrepreneurship and Its Challenges
Authors: Bhowmick Bhaskar , Sahoo Rosalin
Published: February 2019

An emerging country like India demands a high level of entrepreneurial development for its economic growth as the scope of entrepreneurship is tremendous here. There is a particular reason that developing countries are trying to put in to entrepreneurship education in the higher education institutions (HEIs). Higher education institutions (HEIs) have been playing a major part in current economic development through innovation grant program. The idea of entrepreneurial university can be seen as the universities those have proved to be the best in critical economic development condition. The prime focus of this chapter is to understand the concept of academic entrepreneurship efficiently, to analyze the entrepreneurial challenges in Indian technology universities and how it is related to regional growth. The literature on these entrepreneurial pillars are still quite sparse, and the authors have tried to focus on all the important aspects of them. These orientations of this archetype for facilitating Indian economic growth are discussed, and the challenges are identified.
Procurement Strategies for Digital Supply Chains
Authors: Gupta Varun
Published: February 2019

The purpose of this chapter is to provide the basic concepts and the best practices for procurement in the context of digital supply chains. This chapter consists of three sections. In the first two sections, a review of digital supply chain procurement literature and theories is presented, followed by a detailed discussion of the best practices in procurement strategies comprising of the six-step framework for procurement strategies digitalization. Finally, the chapter concludes with future trends in procurement strategies. The chapter consists of case studies from different industries such as manufacturing (Apple, Beta products, IBM), fast food (Chipotle), and logistics/pharmaceutical (DHL). EVA (economic value added) model is discussed in the chapter, which is useful to evaluate the value of digitalization. This chapter is intended for all practitioners and academics who are interested in learning about the current best practices and the challenges associated with procurement for digital goods.
Transformation Framework for Supply Chain Segmentation in Digital Business
Authors: Sabri Ehap
Published: February 2019

The purpose of this chapter is to explore the factors that influence digital supply chain segmentation and provide a best practice transformation approach to ensure a successful journey. The initial research is based on a review of supply chain segmentation literature and the application of relevant transformation steps to specific case studies, comprising of companies from different industries. Digital supply chain segmentation strategy presents huge opportunities that are being tapped by very few companies who achieved significant benefits and gained competitive advantage. The chapter provides a practical and proven digital supply chain segmentation framework for companies who are about to take the segmentation transformation journey.
Day in the Life of Supply Chain Analysts in a Digital World
Authors: Esturi Shiva R. , Liao Bo
Published: February 2019

This chapter discusses the role of supply chain analytics in managing digital supply chain, as well as the practical implementation approaches of supply chain analytics. The chapter first discusses a typical day in the life of supply chain analysts. It then discusses the categorization of supply chain analytics and some practical recommendations for the implementation of supply chain analytics. Finally, the chapter provides a case study illustrating some important considerations in supply chain design.
Throughput Accounting
Authors: Căpușneanu Sorinel , Topor Dan Ioan , Turkeș Mirela Cătălina , Rakoș Ileana-Sorina
Published: February 2019

This chapter illustrates some aspects of the theoretical and practical implications of TA for optimizing the profit of an entity. The main objectives of this chapter are to present a comparative analysis of the managerial implications between throughput accounting and some managerial accounting methods, hybridization attempts with other methods, as well as its advantages and limitations in the current context of implementation and profit optimization an economic entity. Based on the literature, the authors present the main approaches and the historical evolution of the throughput accounting, the principles of TA and TOC, as well as a comparative analysis between traditional accounting and TA. The chapter ends with the authors' conclusions on throughput accounting and its implications on management accounting methods, opening up new directions of future research aimed at highlighting various theoretical and methodological aspects encountered in academia or business environment.
Joint Enterprise and Financial Position Consolidated at the Date of Acquisition
Authors: Tănase Alin Eliodor , Calotă Traian Ovidiu
Published: February 2019

The continuous increase in the diversity and complexity of economic and financial transactions at both national and transnational level is leading to a continuous dynamic of business organizations and reorganizations. Thus, some of the practical forms adopted are the formation of groups, associations, and other organizational forms, which implies the production of significant mutations in the standards and regulations in the field at national and international level. The chapter aims to introduce the concept of joint business and to distinguish between the notions of acquisition of assets and acquisition of businesses. It also discloses the required information requirements for affiliate related party as well as the interests held in other entities (subsidiaries, joint ventures, joint ventures, etc.).
How to Manage Projects in Industry4.0 Environment
Authors: Camci Alper , Kotnour Timothy
Published: February 2019

With the increased complexity in technology, projects are becoming more complex, and their outcomes are hard to predict. As we are entering the Industry 4.0 revolution, the complexities associated with technology will likely to increase to unprecedented levels. The main motivation of this chapter is to understand the link between the complexities associated with the projects and the project management style in dealing with these complexities. In this study, the project management style is defined as a dominant paradigm that a manager uses as a mental model in dealing with the management problems. The chapter investigates the effects of the alignment between project management style and project complexity on the project management outcomes. The implications of this research are that with the increased complexity as in the case of Industry 4.0, the project management approaches will need to become more agile, with shortened planning horizons and more involvement and communication with the stakeholders.
Industry 4.0 Technologies Used in Project Management
Authors: Güngör Dilek Özdemir
Published: February 2019

Advancements in technology, especially ICTs, has caused a revolutionary change in every aspect of life. The reflection of these advancements on manufacturing industry is named “The Industrial Internet,” or “Industry 4.0.” New generation factories are to be equipped with cyber-physical systems. Teams integrating physical industrial components, and advanced modern sensing and networking technologies to form new smart systems. These systems will have more capabilities than the systems which are already in use. These winds of change will also affect projects and project management. Clearly, success in agile project management will become more crucial. At this point, technologies enabling Industry 4.0 will help project managers. Project organizations have the flexibility to get adapted to new situations fast. In this chapter, benefits of the technologies enabling Industry 4.0 in project management are introduced.
Project Cost Control in Industry 4.0
Authors: Tamer Gülay , Gurul Binnur
Published: February 2019

During this fourth industrial revolution, the fundamental purpose of industrial transformations is to carry competitive edge of the companies to an upper level by increasing efficiency and effectiveness of sources and decreasing the operational costs. Therefore, the companies need to invest in the right project in the right time in order to provide a competitive edge against their competitors and to gain a desired level of profit. The aim of the project cost analysis is, in the simplest terms, to calculate optimal project costs and to consider if there is any difference between the planned budget and the optimal cost; and in case of a difference, to take necessary actions. The purpose of this chapter is, as a result of principles and conceptual framework of Industry 4.0, to describe how adaptive robotics, artificial intelligence, big data, augmented reality, additive manufacturing, internet of things, cloud computing and cyber security technologies, which are building blocks of Industry 4.0, changed the project cost analysis.
Project Management and Efficiency of the Projects in the Industry 4.0 Era
Authors: Doğan Nuri Özgür , Derici Serkan
Published: February 2019

Using resources without wasting is not only important for traditional operations but also important for projects. At this point, the concept of efficiency which is directly related with the usage of resources comes to the forefront. Efficiency has been important at all times and its importance also continues today, in the Industry 4.0 era. This chapter deals with project management and efficiency of projects in the Industry 4.0 era. In the first section of the chapter the Industry 4.0 concept is explained. In Section 2 the project and project management topics are discussed. In Section 3, efficiency, efficiency measurement and the data envelopment analysis (DEA) are dealt with. In Section 4 project management and the efficiency of the projects in the era of Industry 4.0 are mentioned. Finally, in Section 5 a numerical example is presented.
The Project Management of Industry 4.0 Strategy for Software Houses
Authors: Cebeci Ufuk
Published: February 2019

Nowadays, Industry 4.0 is becoming a strategic issue for software companies. Because of fast digital conversion, they should review their visions and strategies. In this study, a project management framework is proposed for software companies considering Industry 4.0 as a future strategy. Global ERP firms try to find a good integration of ERP and Industry 4.0 applications. A global ERP firm's solution partner is used as a case study in this chapter. The study includes: the development of an internet-based portal application that integrates all their business partners (customers, suppliers); a collaborative project management software; and an industry 4.0 portal. The benefits of this study after applying in the software house are explained.
Scrutinizing the Barriers That Impede Industry 4.0 Projects
Authors: Saatçioğlu Ömür Yaşar , Özispa Nergis , Kök Gökçe T.
Published: February 2019

The concept of Industry 4.0 has recently attracted attention from academics, research institutions, and companies. In order for projects to achieve success in Industry 4.0, project specifications must be known and they must be conducted with utmost care. While Industry 4.0 projects ensure lots of advantages, they encounter many risks such as data integration, process flexibility, and security problems. Identification of barriers to Industry 4.0 is important for the success of the projects. The aim of the chapter is to determine the Industry 4.0 barriers in implementation process in Turkey's conditions investigate the interrelations among them and develop a model that can measure the interacting effects of the barriers on the other barriers in the Industry 4.0 implementation process. To reach that aim, interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and decision-making trail and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) are used. According to results, one of the most important findings is the lack of digital vision which found as the only affecting barrier and it affects all the other barriers.
Feasibility Analysis of Industry 4.0 Projects and an Application in Automotive Maintenance Systems
Authors: Sari Irem Ucal , Cafer Eliz , Ak Umut
Published: February 2019

In this chapter, general feasibility analysis steps are redefined for the Industry 4.0 projects. In addition to the traditional feasibility analysis steps, for Industry 4.0 projects, scenario analysis and decision trees are implemented to feasibility analysis that enables us to identify the outcomes of several scenarios for the risky parameters. At the end of the chapter, proposed feasibility analysis procedure is applied to an Industry 4.0 project. Utilization of internet of the things on an automotive maintenance service system is selected as the case study. In this project, the proposed system for the automotive maintenance service sector is a web-based application, which warns driver and maintenance service provider at the same time before the failure happens and by this way enables drivers to have the maintenance before the failure occurs. The versions of the proposed system are analyzed, and the best version is selected at the end of the analysis.
Synchrophasor-Based Wide Area Protection Scheme for System Stressed Conditions to Avoid Power System Blackout
Authors: Venkatanagaraju Kasimala , Biswal Monalisa
Published: February 2019

Protection of transmission system is crucial for the secured and stable operation of power system. Under stress conditions, the operating parameters of power system violate their limits. From the past anatomy reports of several blackouts, it is clear that equipment, control, and protective relay failures are the major causes behind large power system failure. From study, it is also revealed that failure of back-up protection is more prone during system stressed conditions. In transmission system, third-zone of distance relay is highly affected by system stressed events such as voltage instability and load encroachment. As third-zone protection is a delayed protection scheme, with the help of wide area measurement system better protection function can be provided to reduce future percentage of blackout. In this chapter, a detailed discussion about the existing solutions is provided to mitigate the issue of system stressed conditions and a synchrophasor technology-based approach is provided. Results for different cases are provided to show the efficacy of the proposed method.
Reliable Electricity Generation in RES-Based Microgrids
Authors: Kharchenko Valeriy , Gusarov Valentin , Bolshev Vadim
Published: February 2019

Using microgrid generation technologies is proposed in order to organize reliable power supply to rural areas. The concept of microgrid based on RES is considered as one of the realization forms of the distributed energy paradigm. In this chapter, there are the principles of generating complex formation in any given microgrid considering the specifics of the region, consumption patterns, and the potential of renewable energy sources in a given area. The algorithm for meeting the challenges of forming the structure of the microgrid generating structure is shown. The criteria for selection of power generation sources when solving the issue of their inclusion in the microgrid is proposed. The chapter also suggests the design of the micro gas turbine that is able to operate on biogas.
EMC Installation for Variable Speed Drive Systems (VSDs)
Authors: Nadweh Safwan , Barakat Zeina , Hayek Ghassan
Published: February 2019

This chapter introduces EMC installation for variable speed drive systems. As an introduction, EMC standards have been mentioned in order to define the requirements characteristics, besides the fundamentals of static, electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields. Both inductive and capacitive coupling have been discussed to deal with shielding. Finally, VSDS emission and electromagnetic interferences were studied with installation requirement in VSDS (supply cables, cable between converter and motor, control cables, earthing requirements, and grounding).
Management of Electrical Maintenance of University Buildings Using Deterioration Models
Authors: Alhassan Bassel Mohamed , Omran Jamal Younes , Jrad Fayez Ali
Published: February 2019

Buildings maintenance has received increasing international attention in various fields of scientific research. As a result, there has been a change in the maintenance of buildings from the preventive to the predictive approach. This is done through an evaluation model to support and assist the management of the facility in selecting alternatives and making appropriate decisions in maintenance according to building status and maintenance budget. This chapter investigated the reasons for the electrical maintenance of the university buildings and the degree of importance of each element of electrical maintenance through the design of a questionnaire in which the electrical components were divided into elements and then each element was linked to all maintenance items that related to it. At the end of the research, mathematical models were developed; these models help to forecasting the electrical maintenance items and distribution of the maintenance budget, and to verify the validity of these models, they have been applied to study the case of dorm buildings in Tishreen University.
Bioresorbable Composites and Implant
Authors: Zindani Divya
Published: February 2019

Different biomaterials in the form of ceramics, metal alloys, composites, glasses, polymers, etc. have gained wide-range acceptance in the realm of medical sciences. Bioimplants from such biomaterials have been constructed and used widely for different clinical applications. With the continual progress, biomaterials that may be resorbed inside the body have been developed. These have done away with the major challenge of removal of an implant after it has served its intended function. Important factors are taken into consideration in design and development of implants from such biomaterials are mechanical properties, degradation rate, surface modification, rate of corrosion, biocompatibility, and non-toxicity. Given the importance of such materials in clinical applications, the chapter presents an overview of the bioresorable composites and their implants. The related properties and the functions served have been outlined briefly. Further, the challenges associated and the remedies to overcome them have also been delineated.
Optimization Methods for Minimizing Induced Stress During Tensile Testing of Prosthetic Composite Materials
Authors: Anane-Fenin Kwame , Akinlabi Esther Titilayo , Perry Nicolas
Published: February 2019

The application of composite materials for prosthetic applications is the norm in recent times. Accurately characterizing the principal stresses during tensile testing is therefore essential. The low transverse compressive strength of most composite materials limits high clamping forces during tensile testing. Tabs are consequently critical for cushioning against grip pressure and surface damage. However, tabs tend to introduce induced stress concentrations. In this chapter, the induced stress concentrations are minimized via the optimization of tab design configurations. Stress concentration obtained via finite element analysis were used to develop a full factorial design for statistical analysis and compared with a Taguchi, Taguchi-multi response and Taguchi-genetic algorithm optimizations. It was established that to minimize the stress concentrations, low values of tab stiffness, thickness, and taper angle were required while the adhesive thickness was increased. The Taguchi and hybrid approaches were efficient and reduced the number of simulations from 32 to 8 (75% reduction).
Inventory Classification Using Multi-Level Association Rule Mining
Authors: Agarwal Reshu , Mittal Mandeep
Published: February 2019

Popular data mining methods support knowledge discovery from patterns that hold in relations. For many applications, it is difficult to find strong associations among data items at low or primitive levels of abstraction. Mining association rules at multiple levels may lead to more informative and refined knowledge from data. Multi-level association rule mining is a variation of association rule mining for finding relationships between items at each level by applying different thresholds at different levels. In this study, an inventory classification policy is provided. At each level, the loss profit of frequent items is determined. The obtained loss profit is used to rank frequent items at each level with respect to their category, content and brand. This helps inventory manager to determine the most profitable item with respect to their category, content and brand. An example is illustrated to validate the results. Further, to comprehend the impact of above approach in the real scenario, experiments are conducted on the exiting dataset.
Anti-Entropy Resolving of Uncertainty of Estimations Within Scope of Intelligent DMSS
Authors: Dmitriev Oleg Nikolaevich
Published: February 2019

Considered as conceptual, mathematical and algorithmic ways to resolve uncertainty that occurs sporadically when there is a finite set of estimations of a dynamic trajectory of a quantitative characteristic value of an arbitrary length when various DMSS types are functioning. The consideration was limited to a case of non-discrete characteristics, while assuming that the information about the values of the extent of indetermination of those estimations is a priori known. In this article is formulated and solved for a complex problem task for the resolving of a respective uncertainty, which is conceptually and instrumentally complicated by a rigorous requirement to increase the reliability of the resultant estimation. This article proves the conceptual universality of the proposed procedure for the resolving of uncertainties. A deductively generated hypothesis as to mechanical applicability of the method is used on a case of a countable set of estimations.
Digital Sharing Economy
Authors: Mkrttchian Vardan , Vertakova Yulia
Published: February 2019

The modernization of traditional manufacturing industries and service industries, organization of trading and purchasing procedures, related financial and logistics operations, changes in consumption patterns in the presence of thorough penetration of information technologies and digitalization of economic processes creates the basis for forming new markets and new conditions of their operation. One of the effects of global technological changes and digitalization of consumer experience was the development of a new form of trade and property relations – a share economy. Reorientation of consumer behavior from purchasing to sharing, exclusion of intermediaries from a “client – contractor” chain, strengthening the role of online reputation and self-regulation of the community to ensure the quality of services revolutionize a business model in many areas. Digital share economies will evolve and transform over the next few years. In this regard, it becomes important to study the essence, principles of functioning, and development of new business models.
Design for Additive Manufacturing and Advanced Development Methods Applied to an Innovative Multifunctional Fan
Authors: Frizziero Leonardo , Donnici Giampiero , Liverani Alfredo , Dhaimini Karim
Published: February 2019

In an increasingly competitive business world, the “time to market” of products has become a key factor for business success. There are different techniques that anticipate design mistakes and launch products on the market in less time. Among the most used methodologies in the design and definition of the requirements, quality function deployment (QFD) and design for Six Sigma (DFSS) can be used. In the prototyping phase, it is possible to address the emerging technology of additive manufacturing. Today, three-dimensional printing is already used as a rapid prototyping technique. However, the real challenge that industry is facing is the use of these machineries for large-scale production of parts, now possible with new HP multi-fusion. The aim of this article is to study the entire product development process taking advantage of the most modern models and technologies for the final realization of a case study that involves the design and prototyping of an innovative multifunctional fan (lamp, aroma diffuser and fan) through the Multi Jet Fusion of HP. To begin with, issues related to the DFSS, the QFD and their application to identify the fan requirements are explored. Once the requirements have been defined, the modern CAD design systems and the CAE systems for the validation of the case study will be analyzed and applied. Finally, HP's Multi Jet Fusion methodology and design rules for additive manufacturing will be analyzed in detail, trying to exploit all the positive aspects it offers.
Use of morphometric characters of a fish species to predict its location; a statistical approach
Authors: Thilan A. W. L. P. , De Silva M. P. K. S. K. , Jayasekara L. A. L. W.
Published: February 2019

Precise taxonomic identification is the preliminary requirement in a study of an organ- ism/specimen. Correct identification however gives only the identity of the specimen. The value of the correctly identified specimen as a study material becomes low when the habitat/location of its collection is unknown. Knowing the exact place of collection, enables to gather information on the distribution of the organism, possible environmental conditions that the organisms encounter and to describe the variations found in morphological and genetic features of the organism. Present study therefore, aimed on to develop a statistical rule to predict place of collection (river which is unknown) of a given Puntius dorsalis (a freshwater fish species) specimen using its morphometric characters. Fifty-two individuals were collected from four major rivers (Mahaweli, Kelani, Kalu, Nil- wala) in Sri Lanka and 23 morphometric characters were measured from each specimen. Those individuals were categorized into 4 groups according to the river from which they were collected. Measured morphometric characters were used as independent variables of the model to predict unknown group membership (river) of a given Puntius dorsalis specimen. In the case of re-substitution, 82.7% of the Puntius dorsalis specimens were successfully classified or predicted with respect to the place of collection (river) using their posterior probabilities. The process had a hit ratio of 69.2% when generalized, as a valid tool to classify fresh Puntius dorsalis specimen of unknown group membership. It was also discovered that linear classification function could be used to predict unknown place of collection of a fish. The paper concludes with some suggestions to move into nonparametric approach like Classification and Regression Trees (CART) and Neural Networks.
Human Blood and Tonsil Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells Display Similar Gene Expression Profiles but Exhibit Differential Type I IFN Responses to Influenza A Virus Infection
Authors: Vangeti Sindhu , Gertow Jens , Yu Meng , Liu Sang , Baharom Faezzah , Scholz Saskia , Friberg Danielle , Starkhammar Magnus , Ahlberg Alexander , Smed-Sörensen Anna
Published: February 2019

Influenza A virus (IAV) infection constitutes an annual health burden across the globe. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDCs) are central in antiviral defense because of their superior capacity to produce type I IFNs in response to viruses. Dendritic cells (DCs) differ depending on their anatomical location. However, only limited host-pathogen data are available from the initial site of infection in humans. In this study, we investigated how human tonsil PDCs, likely exposed to virus because of their location, responded to IAV infection compared with peripheral blood PDCs. In tonsils, unlike in blood, PDCs are the most frequent DC subset. Both tonsil and blood PDCs expressed several genes necessary for pathogen recognition and immune response, generally in a similar pattern. MxA, a protein that renders cells resistant to IAV infection, was detected in both tonsil and blood PDCs. However, despite steady-state MxA expression and contrary to previous reports, at high IAV concentrations (typically cytopathic to other immune cells), both tonsil and blood PDCs supported IAV infection. IAV exposure resulted in PDC maturation by upregulation of CD86 expression and IFN-α secretion. Interestingly, blood PDCs secreted 10-fold more IFN-α in response to IAV compared with tonsil PDCs. Tonsil PDCs also had a dampened cytokine response to purified TLR ligands compared with blood PDCs. Our findings suggest that tonsil PDCs may be less responsive to IAV than blood PDCs, highlighting the importance of studying immune cells at their proposed site of function.
FLEXamers: A Double Tag for Universal Generation of Versatile Peptide-MHC Multimers
Authors: Effenberger Manuel , Stengl Andreas , Schober Kilian , Gerget Maria , Kampick Maximilian , Müller Thomas R. , Schumacher Dominik , Helma Jonas , Leonhardt Heinrich , Busch Dirk H.
Published: February 2019

Peptide-MHC (pMHC) multimers have become a valuable tool for immunological research, clinical immune monitoring, and immunotherapeutic applications. Biotinylated tetramers, reversible Streptamers, or dye-conjugated pMHC multimers are distinct pMHC reagents tailored for T cell identification, traceless T cell isolation, or TCR characterization, respectively. The specific applicability of each pMHC-based reagent is made possible either through conjugation of probes or reversible multimerization in separate production processes, which is laborious, time-consuming, and prone to variability between the different types of pMHC reagents. This prohibits broad implementation of different types of pMHC reagents as a standard toolbox in routine clinical immune monitoring and immunotherapy. In this article, we describe a novel method for fast and standardized generation of any pMHC multimer reagent from a single precursor (“FLEXamer”). FLEXamers unite reversible multimerization and versatile probe conjugation through a novel double tag (Strep-tag for reversibility and Tub-tag for versatile probe conjugation). We demonstrate that FLEXamers can substitute conventional pMHC reagents in all state-of-the-art applications, considerably accelerating and standardizing production without sacrificing functional performance. Although FLEXamers significantly aid the applicability of pMHC-based reagents in routine workflows, the double tag also provides a universal tool for the investigation of transient molecular interactions in general.
The 1619 Dordrecht Synod’s decision on corruptio totalis: A missional challenge for the church in terms of media reporting on corruption in South Africa
Authors: Baron Eugene
Published: February 2019

The doctrinal controversy, which led to the formal Synod in Dordrecht (1618–1619), had many stakeholders. The different European countries and its governments also had much at stake in terms of how the issue would have been dealt with by the Reformed Church. Although for different reasons than now, the controversy and the ultimate decision taken at the renowned Synod still has significance for the church and society in the 21st century and even beyond. Therefore, a recent study on the reporting of four South African newspapers on corruption (as a form of sin) is telling in terms of the way such cases are presented. Their reporting displays a different way of presenting ‘sin’ mainly as an actual sin and not as a human condition which calls for the church, in response to the missio Dei, to reflect theologically on contemporary media discourse on ‘sin’ if it wants to address the root cause of corruption in South Africa. Although I realise that there is other ways for the church to respond to widespread corruption, this article focuses mainly on a theological contribution in terms of a broader discussion on ‘sin’.
FVM 1.0: a nonhydrostatic finite-volume dynamical core for the IFS
Authors: Kühnlein Christian , Deconinck Willem , Klein Rupert , Malardel Sylvie , Piotrowski Zbigniew P. , Smolarkiewicz Piotr K. , Szmelter Joanna , Wedi Nils P.
Published: February 2019

Abstract. We present a nonhydrostatic finite-volume global atmospheric model
formulation for numerical weather prediction with the Integrated Forecasting
System (IFS) at ECMWF and compare it to the established operational
spectral-transform formulation. The novel Finite-Volume Module of the IFS
(henceforth IFS-FVM) integrates the fully compressible equations using
semi-implicit time stepping and non-oscillatory forward-in-time (NFT)
Eulerian advection, whereas the spectral-transform IFS solves the hydrostatic
primitive equations (optionally the fully compressible equations) using a
semi-implicit semi-Lagrangian scheme. The IFS-FVM complements the
spectral-transform counterpart by means of the finite-volume discretization
with a local low-volume communication footprint, fully conservative and
monotone advective transport, all-scale deep-atmosphere fully compressible
equations in a generalized height-based vertical coordinate, and flexible
horizontal meshes. Nevertheless, both the finite-volume and
spectral-transform formulations can share the same quasi-uniform horizontal
grid with co-located arrangement of variables, geospherical
longitude–latitude coordinates, and physics parameterizations, thereby
facilitating their comparison, coexistence, and combination in the IFS. We highlight the advanced semi-implicit NFT finite-volume integration of the
fully compressible equations of IFS-FVM considering comprehensive
moist-precipitating dynamics with coupling to the IFS cloud parameterization
by means of a generic interface. These developments – including a new
horizontal–vertical split NFT MPDATA advective transport scheme, variable
time stepping, effective preconditioning of the elliptic Helmholtz solver in
the semi-implicit scheme, and a computationally efficient implementation of
the median-dual finite-volume approach – provide a basis for the efficacy of
IFS-FVM and its application in global numerical weather prediction. Here,
numerical experiments focus on relevant dry and moist-precipitating
baroclinic instability at various resolutions. We show that the presented
semi-implicit NFT finite-volume integration scheme on co-located meshes of
IFS-FVM can provide highly competitive solution quality and computational
performance to the proven semi-implicit semi-Lagrangian integration scheme of
the spectral-transform IFS.
The recent developments in spatio-temporally continuous snow cover product generation
Authors: Li Xinghua , Jing Yinghong , Shen Huanfeng , Zhang Liangpei
Published: February 2019

Abstract. The snow cover products of optical remote sensing systems play an important role in research into global climate change, the hydrological cycle, the energy balance, and so on. However, cloud cover results in spatial and temporal discontinuity for long-term snow monitoring. In the last few decades, a large number of cloud removal methods for snow cover products have been proposed. In this paper, our goal is to make a comprehensive summarization of the existing algorithms for generating spatio-temporally continuous snow cover products, and to expose the development trends. The methods of generating spatio-temporally continuous snow cover products are classified into spatial methods, temporal methods, spatio-temporal methods, and multi-source fusion methods. Experiments were conducted to validate the reconstruction effect of the representative methods.
INTERFERÊNCIA LINGUÍSTICA DO PORTUGUÊS NA LÍNGUA CHANGANA
Authors: PEDRO Marta
Published: February 2019

O contacto de línguas entre vários povos faz parte da história linguística e social da maioria das comunidades do mundo (GONÇALVES; CHIMBUTANE, 2015). Dos vários aspectos, as línguas influenciam-se entre si através de aparecimento de alguns traços de uma língua no discurso de falantes da outra língua. Perante esta situação de contacto linguístico é impossível não se verificarem casos de interferência linguística. Baseado na pesquisa bibliografia e técnica de entrevista não estruturada este trabalho estudou a interferência do português na língua Changana nas áreas sintáctica e semântica. Os resultados desta investigação mostram que no Xichangana, do ponto de vista semântico, os efeitos do português por intermédio da preposição para são somente de movimento com a tendência para um fim/propósito em referência à noção. Igualmente, sob o ponto de vista sintáctico, os dados indicam que a preposição para é um introdutor do complemento frásico.
DESCOLONIZAÇÃO DO VERBO: ORALIDADE E APROPRIAÇÃO DO FRANCÊS NA LITERATURA AFRICANA DE LÍNGUA FRANCESA
Authors: NKOTA Kasonga , ROCHA Enilce Albergaria
Published: February 2019

A literatura africana de língua francesa resultou do encontro entre colonizadores e colonizados, ocorrido entre a França, a Bélgica e os países africanos. Esta literatura tem certas especificidades que marcam a sua originalidade. Algumas de suas particularidades podem ser notadas na linguagem, através da introdução de palavras e expressões de origem africana, de uma sintaxe e de um ritmo novo, fruto da influência da oralidade. A interferência das línguas africanas e a mescla de registros linguísticos permeiam a produção literária do escritor africano e servem como meio de desconstrução e de reinvenção da língua francesa.
A disciplina de libras em cursos de licenciatura em educação física
Authors: Rossetto Elisabeth , Zini Rodrigo , Ribeiro Elizete Gonçalves
Published: February 2019

O objetivo deste artigo é analisar títulos, carga-horária e conteúdos programáticos da disciplina de Libras em cursos de licenciatura em Educação Física. Para tanto, optou-se por uma pesquisa de caráter descritivo, por meio de análise documental, com a utilização do plano do ensino da disciplina de Libras, ofertada por três cursos presenciais de licenciatura em Educação Física da região Oeste do Paraná. Foram constatados equívocos no título da disciplina e insuficiência em sua carga horária. Em relação aos conteúdos abordados, há três categorias temáticas: o ensino de Libras; surdez e a pessoa surda; aspectos educacionais da pessoa surda. A categoria mais expressiva é a do ensino de Libras, ressaltando a importância de os professores terem conhecimento da língua e das características linguísticas e culturais dos alunos surdos.
Variantes geográficas da libras: análise dos sinais para meses em Goiás e Mato Grosso do Sul
Authors: Moraes Fabiane Ferreira da Silva
Published: February 2019

O presente trabalho objetiva analisar as variantes geográficas da Libras (Língua Brasileira de Sinais) no que se refere aos sinais utilizados em Goiás e Mato Grosso do Sul, para designar os meses de janeiro a dezembro. A pesquisa, de caráter documental, investigou os sinais listados nos documentos publicados pelo Centro de Capacitação de Profissionais da Educação e de Atendimento às Pessoas com Surdez (CAS). A análise dos dados baseou-se teoricamente na Sociolinguística Variacionista e nos pressupostos fornecidos pelos estudos linguísticos da Libras. Os sinais coletados foram descritos com base nos parâmetros e ordem da Escrita de Línguas de Sinais (ELiS). O estudo do corpus permitiu a identificação de vinte e um sinais distintos, com variação em um, dois ou em todos os parâmetros.