bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Experimental Investigation on the Effects of Nanofluid and Peltier Element on Diesel and Biodiesel Blends in Compression Ignition Engine
Authors: Manimaran R , Murugu Mohan Kumar K
Published: July 2018

This research work discusses the experimental investigations on the combined effects of Nanofluid and Peltier elements in mahua biodiesel blends with diesel fuel.  The fuel test was carried out in a single cylinder ata constant speed (1500 rpm) direct injection diesel engine. Mahua oil used as an effective alternative to diesel fuel and mahua methyl ester derived from transesterification process. The mahua biodiesel was blended with diesel and nanofluid on volume fraction like M10, M20, M10* and M20*. Nanofluidin biodiesel blends with diesel resultsefficient combustion leads to improvement in engine performance, butit causes an increase in viscosity. Peltier element was used to reduce biodiesel blend viscosity with the principle of thermo-electricity.Finally, this research work concludes Mahua biodiesel 20% + diesel 80% + 2ml of aluminium oxide nanofluid (M20*) fuel act as an effective alternative fuel.M20*blend results in better engine combustion, performance (improved BTE and optimum BSEC) and decreased emission of  NOx, Smoke and increased HC, CO emissions as compared to diesel fuel operation at peak power outputs.
Improving the IRIS Recognition Under Different Illumination Using RETINEX Algorithms
Authors: A. Kumar Shruthi , Baskar A
Published: July 2018

Iris detection and recognition provides more accurate and secure authentication nowadays. The probability of any two people having the same iris pattern is nearly zero, even the identical twins will not have the same iris pattern. The noise and illumination changes, challenges iris recognition correctness and security in authentication process. The available recent pre-processing techniques for iris detection address different type of noise suppression and removing unwanted information in iris, but still it strives with illumination issues. In this paper, we proposed Retinex algorithm for improving iris detection rate. The proposed work comprises into three steps: First we proposed Retinex algorithm in pre-processing, it works based on reflectance value of image and skips the illumination value in image, subsequently feature extraction uses Gabor filter for iris code generation. In conclusion, distance metrics Hamming distance used for iris recognition the proposed work evaluated MMU iris database under different illumination conditions and provides better results.
A 0.18um CMOS Low Noise Amplifier for 3-5ghz UWB Receivers
Authors: Malika Begum N , Yasmeen W
Published: July 2018

This paper presents an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) 3-5 GHz Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) employing Chebyshev filter. The LNA has been designed using Cadence 0.18um CMOS technology. Proposed LNA achieves a minimum noise figure of 2.2dB, power gain of 9dB.The power consumption is 6.3mW from 1.8V power supply.
Simulation Study on Variants of ABS
Authors: Ashok Kumar Srinivaas , Thirumalini S , Mohankumar P , Ram Sundar R , Aravind C
Published: July 2018

The performance characteristics of different variants of Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) in a normal passenger car is investigated. ABS prevent lock-up of wheels and maintains steer ability of the vehicle during braking. Vehicle stopping distance, brake pressure, wheel slip and slide-slip are made using Simulink software and system study was conducted an investigation is done. The variants of ABS taken for the study are 2-channel ABS (front wheels), Cross-ABS (alternate wheels: front left and rear right) and full (four channel) ABS. The Simulink model was interfaced with IPG Carmaker and simulation was performed to include the aerodynamics, tire friction and road friction. The results of the simulation were validated to obtain conclusions on the braking performance for different variants of ABS.
Job Satisfaction of Female Faculty in Arts and Science Colleges in Coimbatore District
Authors: Sumath V , Velmurugan R
Published: July 2018

Productive contribution of teachers towards institution and student development depends on not only their educational qualification and experience but also their job satisfaction. Satisfied teachers will contribute more towards institution and student enrichment.  So, it is the duty of management of educational institutions to keep their faculty satisfied for their long-term survival. In this study an earnest attempt has been made to ascertain the factors influencing job satisfaction of women staff members working at Arts and Science Colleges in Coimbatore District. The result of the study portrays that women faculty are satisfied with regard to recognition received from their superiors followed by revision of salary (Ausekar, 1996), salary offered (Sharma, 2005), increment offered by the management for acquiring additional educational qualification etc.
An Analysis of the Bank Employees Domains of Occupational Stress with Reference to Kottayam District, Kerala
Authors: Issac Renji , Krishnaveni V
Published: July 2018

Occupational stress is a common phenomenon that is pervasive in every industry. The domains of stress, especially in the banking sector, consist of the demand of inter role performance, role stagnation, role expectation, conflict of role, role erosion, role overload, role isolation, personal inadequacy, role ambiguity, role distance and resource inadequacy. The work stress in the banking industry occurs because of the effects on one’s understanding of one’s working atmosphere, strengths, opportunities, potential, threats and limitations, while performing a designated role. A gender based study was conducted among 50 bank employees in Kottayam district, Kerala. The gender was taken as an independent variable and stress id taken a dependent variable for the study. The study analysed turbulence, heavy workload and long working hours that have become the norm in the industry. Different elements of stress led to a decline in personal health, relations with colleagues and dissatisfaction with life itself, which affected efficiency and productivity. The study revealed that both the male and female respondents were affected with overload, responsibility, lack of participation, unreasonable work pressure, poor peer relations, intrinsic impoverishment, low status, strenuous working conditions and poor results. The level of significance(p<.05) and the available scores were more that the significance value, except the values of role ambiguity and role conflict.
An Efficient Medical Content Based Image Retrieval with Lenient Relevance Feedback
Authors: I. Heaven Rose R , C. Subajini A
Published: July 2018

Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) for medical imageries is still in its early stage.  There are many challenging research issues.  Retrieve similar images only is the current problem in medical CBIR. One idea to solve this difficult is minimizing the gap among two descriptions i.e. low level extracted features of image and high level human perception of image.  There are various Relevance Feedback (WF) methods have been considered to minimize the semantic gap in medical CBIR system. But most of them were deals with hard Feedback. In Hard Feedback system user can interact with the system in one query session. We recommend to aid the usage of lenient relevance response to better capture the intention of users. The meta-knowledge mined from multiple user’s experience be able to   increase the precision of subsequent image recovery results. Here we suggest an algorithm to mine lenient association rules from the group of suggestion i.e. image weight value given by the user. To reduce the amount of strong rules we offer two rule lessening techniques related to redundancy detection and confidence quantization.  Best first search and Binary search methods are similarly applied to advance the procedure of weight interface. The effectiveness of the offered system is assessed regarding precision and average retrieval time. The experimental results on medical images display that the proposed method is able to improve the accuracy of medical CBIR system and reduces the retrieval time than other usual methods.
E-Gardening Application for Roof Tops Using Android
Authors: Dwarakanath B , Maria Lynda Missier G , Madhav S , Navin P
Published: July 2018

The gardening field has a very large amount of need to the society as now a day’s only the greenery is best for a healthy living. This venture depends on the business exchange of things in a general store. The main movement depends on adding the things to the framework alongside the rate which are available in the market and the name of the things which the store will consist of a basic offer. The admin is in charge of all the data up gradation, deletion and editing. The client need to enter his/her details to login and to view and to request for the requirement and send the request [2].
Smart Secured Real Time Agriculture Monitoring System
Authors: Srirampavan J
Published: July 2018

Embedded systems in Agriculture play a vital role in unifying the work involved and improve conservations. Designing a smart as well as a cost efficient and more user-friendly system will be idealistic challenge. The following system that has been proposed is designed with those ideal constraints in mind. It consists of a Raspberry pi3 as a gateway that links the sensor networks with the cloud. To improve security an MQTT protocol is used for cloud connectivity. The communication between the sensor networks is managed by NRF24L01. The Sensor network is a separate entity that can used like a plug and play device and is built by a micro controller with a LCD display and an interfaced GPS. Multicasting is also possible between sensor networks and the gateway. The processed data from the sensor networks is sent through NRF24L01 to the gateway. The gateway further processes and encapsulates the data and through MQTT the data gets stored on the cloud. This cloud data can be accessed through computer or mobile device
Collective Value-At-Risk (Colvar) In Life Insurance Collection
Authors: Talib Bon Abdul , Iqbal Al-Banna Ismail Muhammad , . Sukono , Ronnie Effendie Adhitya
Published: July 2018

Analysis of risk in life insurance claims is very important to do by the insurance company actuary. Risk in life insurance claims are generally measured using the standard deviation or variance. The problem is, that the standard deviation or variance which is used as a measure of the risk of a claim can not accommodate any claims of risk events. Therefore, in this study developed a model called risk measures Collective Modified Value-at-Risk. Model development is done for several models of the distribution of the number of claims and the distribution of the value of the claim. Collective results of model development Modified Value-at-Risk is expected to accommodate any claims of risk events, when given a certain level of significance
The concept of Arduino based on Wireless communications for flood warning system
Authors: Md Kamal Mahanijah , Muhammad Sabri Aqil
Published: July 2018

Wireless communication for flood monitoring is developed to observe the status of flooding which could alert people who were in the area when it happens. Flood is a very common problem that Malaysian faced every year caused by the change of climate and also due to urbanization. These floods can cause a lot of damages and can even endanger to human lives. The flooding can be caused by the overflowing of rivers or drains in the affected area. Problems in rural areas near the river bank, not all equipped with flood warning system. Flood warning system is usually found in the main streets with limited warning distance. Therefore, it is necessary to put a wireless communication system that can detect the rising water levels during flooding and also gives warn the local residents especially those who live along the river banks. This system can be used as flood monitoring tool as well as for evacuation during save and rescue operation. The purpose of this paper is to propose a wireless communication based on Arduino system that can help the local residents by detecting the water levels and give an early warning when a flood occurs. Basically, there are two part of the system which are the sensor node and the base station that can generate warning signal during flooding to the affected area.
The Application of GIS-AHP Technique in Analysing the Level of the Environmental Condition of Forested Areas
Authors: Zainora Asmawi M , Ngaimin Najihah , Zalina Mahamod Noor , Mohd Noor Norzailawati , Omar Hamdan
Published: July 2018

Forests are major resources that offer a strong artistic, cultural, biological and economical source for the social community in every nation. Degradation of the environmental condition has become a key concern, and the primary cause of this trouble is linked primarily to human disturbance towards natural resources. Therefore, this research was embarked to analyse the level of the environmental status of forested areas in Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), Selangor, Malaysia-based on chosen measures. This research depends on a series of GIS database covering five criteria, namely slope, altitude, crown perimeter, tree height and carbon stock, which were then analysed using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). A scoring system was developed from eigenvalue of priority ratings and bringing out a composite map, showing the level of the environmental condition of the forest, ranging from the healthiest, moderately healthy and less healthy condition. The results indicate that 45.5% of the forested areas in FRIM lie under the category of healthiest condition (220.8 hectares) with the carbon stock as the key contributor. This research concludes that the relevant criteria for ecosystem health are beneficial in monitoring the forest condition that contributes to the environmental quality with particular reference to the consideration of forest as an impactful carbon sink element of any geographical setting.
Utilization of Ict Tools in the Teaching-Learning Process by State Universities and Colleges in Caraga Region: Issues, Problems and Concerns
Authors: Christian A. Isip Born , . .
Published: July 2018

Conceptually, the study is anchored in the so-called “blended learning framework”, a blend of learning theory, teaching practices and new technologies combined to provide students with rich, meaningful learning experiences that extend beyond the classrooms. The study was conducted in five (5) State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) in CARAGA Region. A Simple Random Sampling was employed both for faculty and student respondents. Frequency, percentage, and average were used to determine the descriptive interpretation of data collected in this study. This paper describes and identifies the common ICT tools used in the teaching and learning process.
Transforming Mosques Into a Containment Space During Natural Disasters; Browsing Through Recent Publications
Authors: Jawad Shakir Haratyi Hayder , Yazah Mat Raschid Mohammad , Utaberta Nangkula
Published: July 2018

Mosques around the world have been serving the Muslim community for religious and social purposes since the beginning of Islam. Mosques have played an important role to educate and create a peaceful yet proper cosmos for its visitors. However, nowadays, mosques are not only used for its educational component, but on occasion have been transformed into places to serve multi-ethnic and multi-religious communities during natural disasters. This paper is an attempt to surf through the recent publications that discuss natural disasters and the containment of such incidents. Four case studies have been presented to draw a picture of a mosque’s role before, during and after natural disasters. Although many researchers have investigated this role, there still is an urgent need to understand the several examples of cases globally and the issues the researchers have dealt with in such incidents. Selected papers have been reviewed to study the conclusions found in the most recent publications in this field. The aim of this paper is to find out the missing aspects and the gap in the literature for the purpose of future studies and designs.
Interaction Behavior on Edmodo in Biology: Integrating UTAUT Model
Authors: Shakila Mohamad Ashari Zaidatul , Azmi Nurhazirah , Yaacob Yanti , Hajar Noor Alshurdin Siti , Fatt Low Kim
Published: July 2018

Integration of Edmodo, a social network educational platform allows educators-students to communicate, being in real-time discussion and collaborate in a significant approach. Edmodo yet, is still not dominant in Malaysia educational practices. The purpose of this research is to determine the students’ interaction behavior in learning by addition of Edmodo as subsidiary tool in Biology using Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) as theoretical framework. Sample of study consists of 74 undergraduate students who were registered in Biology code. Self-access learning module was given to the samples for 2 consecutive weeks during early semester followed by the questionnaire at the end of semester. Data has been collected using a 5 point Likert scale with the element of main construct in UTAUT. Pearson correlation and linear regression were performed to analyze the data. It was found that performance expectancy and effort expectancy exhibited positive significant effect on interaction behavior towards Edmodo, while social influence and facilitating conditions had no significant effect.    .
Study of Driving Torque through Dynamic Analysis of Robot
Authors: Taek OH Yeon , . .
Published: July 2018

These days, the interests on the low-cost handling robots are increasing because it is important to get down the unit cost of production to get the price competitiveness. The robot joint with simple mechanism is more suitable to implement the low-cost robot system as well known. The moving parts of robot have to be designed for simple and robust. But the dynamic characteristics analysis is induced by the robot links because they drive in high acceleration and deceleration. In this reason, the dynamic characteristics analysis of the high-speed robot is very important in the design process. In this paper, the study on robot driving torque analysis of a articulated robot has been done and the research results will be introduced
Decision Support Tools for Selecting Organisational Improvement Initiatives: a Review
Authors: Mohammad Musli , Manni Vattiyan Ligesh , Shahir Yahya Mohd
Published: July 2018

Decision support tools are used in many organisations to support organisational decision making activities. However, very limited studies have been found focussing on the decision support tools for selecting organisational improvement initiatives. Improvement initiatives are approaches, management systems, tools and/or techniques that can be used for managing and improving organisations, such as Lean, ISO9001 and Improvement Team. Four existing decision support tools were reviewed and compared. All four decision support tools consist of decision matrix, rating and ranking to assist in selecting appropriate improvement initiative. Finally, several potential future studies have been proposed.
Characteristics of Senior High School Students in the Utilization of School Library in Indonesia
Authors: Harisanti Dessy , Putri Anugrah Esti
Published: July 2018

School library provides various facilities and services adjusted to the needs of students as library users. With the availability of various facilities and services in the school library, the students can choose the facilities and library services that want to be utilized to meet their needs in the school environment. This study aims to determine the characteristics of students in the utilization of school library. This research uses quantitative approach with descriptive analysis. The location of this research is in a library of a Senior High School (SMA) in Surabaya, the second largest city in Indonesia.  The results of this study indicate that high school students in the use of school libraries have different characteristics. They more often visit the library during break time compared to other times. Students use the library for school work, and some students do other activities in the library. In the case of borrowing books, the students mostly only borrow one book, the borrowed book is in Bahasa Indonesia, and not many students borrow collections in foreign languages. From this research, it can also be seen that many collections that do not fit between the bookshelves and the catalog / OPAC. Thus, it makes the students prefer to search directly on the shelf instead of using the catalog / OPAC. On the other hand, it is also because the students are still confused in using OPAC.
Employing Qualitative Methods in Developing Functional Requirements for Electronic Records Management Research
Authors: Hussin Nurussobah , Akmar Ismail Saidatul , Farik Mat Yatin Saiful , Nazir Ahmad Mohd , Shamsul Mohd Shoid Mohd
Published: July 2018

This paper explores the justification of using a qualitative research method under the participatory paradigm. In order to develop the functional requirements of electronic court records management system in Malaysian Judiciary, the case study approach was chosen. The discussion begins by presenting the descriptions of methodology and methods employed, followed by the authors’ philosophical stance and the rationale for choosing a qualitative approach. Besides analysing the philosophical stance, the analysis of methods used in previous studies also provided insightful findings that helped ascertained the appropriate research method of the study. The development of twelve stages in developing the functional requirements specification based on the analysis of seven previous studies could be a reference material for other researchers. It is hoped that the knowledge that emerged when the functional requirements were developed could benefit readers and enhance their ability to apply as closely as possible to other studies or to make modifications for further research.
A Survey of Frequent Subgraph Mining Algorithms
Authors: Prakash Dixit Chandra , Khare Nilay
Published: July 2018

Graphs are broadly used data structure. Graphs are very useful in representing/analyzing and processing real world data. Evolving graphs are graphs which are frequently changing in nature. There is either increase or decrease in their size i.e. change in number of edges or/and vertices.  Mining is the process done for knowledge discovery in graphs. Detecting specific patterns with their number of repetition more than a predefined threshold in graph is known as frequent subgraph mining or FSM. Real Timed data representing graphs are high volumetric or of very large in size, handling such graphs require processing them with special mechanisms and algorithms. Our review paper discovers present FSM techniques and tries to give their comparative study.
Cost drivers and functions for municipal solid waste collection systems in Ghana
Authors: Sulemana Alhassan , Amponsah Donkor Emmanuel , Oduro-Kwarteng Sampson
Published: July 2018

The collection of municipal solid waste accounts for 60% to 80% of total management cost. This study determined the factors driving operating cost and developed cost functions for municipal solid waste collection systems in Ghana. Data on cost variables from seventy systems were used to estimate the parameters of log-linear cost functions. Results from the study led to the conclusion that quantity of waste collected, fuel consumed and distance travelled increase significantly and explain about 63.0% of the variation in operating cost. The amount of fuel consumed and quantity of waste collected varied significantly and explained about 67.4% of the variation in operating cost of systems from low waste generating sources. For high waste generating sources, the distance travelled, fuel consumed and quantity of waste collected significantly and better explained (85.4%) the variation in operating cost. This can be attributed to the fact that such systems are from places with better facilities. The cost function for high waste generating sources can comparatively better aid decision making in terms of operations, management, investment and policy actions. Cost-effective solid waste collection schemes should therefore consider efficient management of fuel consumed, quantity of waste generated and distance travelled.
A Study on the solar radiation incident upon the overhead water tanks in Saudi Arabia with different configurations
Authors: Khurshid Hassan , Silaipillayarputhur Karthik
Published: July 2018

Saudi Arabia is one of the warmer countries in the Middle East region. In the summer months, the ambient temperature reaches 50°C on regular basis. This high temperature has a direct effect on the elevation of water temperatures inside the domestic and commercial over-head tanks. The tanks are predominantly installed on the roof of the buildings without any shade or insulation and are exposed to the direct irradiation from the sun. The tank material is not capable of reducing the effect of solar radiation. Therefore, water gets very hot in the afternoon that it is impossible for the occupants of the residential buildings to take a shower or even wash their hands. This paper studied the effect of solar irradiation on the water temperature in the over-head storage water tanks during the summer months. The temperature rise in the water storage tank was considered for different cases, (i.e.) a free standing tank exposed to direct sun’s irradiation, a tank with shade, a tank with fiber glass insulation, and a tank having insulation along with shade. An analytical model was developed to study the effects of sun’s irradiation and the results were compared with that of experimentation. The results from the water storage tank having insulation exhibited encouraging results.
Determination of factors affecting the mental health of underground miners
Yeraltı maden ocaklarında çalışan maden işçilerin ruh sağlığını etkileyen faktörlerin belirlenmesi
Authors: Kuzu Ayşe , Ünsal Barlas Gül , Gonce Onan Nevin
Published: July 2018

Aim: This study aims to determine the impact of working conditions on mental health of underground miners.Method: It is a descriptive study. Research population consists of 1857 underground miners working at Zonguldak Kozlu Enterprise of Turkish Hard Coal Enterprises (TTK), and we tried to get in touch with all of them. However, we were able to contact 800 workers only and 684 questionnaires were taken into consideration. To collect data, Personal Information Form and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) were used. Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis and Bonferroni Correction Mann Whitney U tests were performed to assess the data.Findings: The study found that BSI mean scores of the miners who are 41[A1]  and older miner, have a low level of education and sufficient income to meet their expenses were lower compared to other groups (p<0.05); and only hostility and BSI mean scores of the miners who have been working in the mine for 20 years or more were lower compared to other groups (p>0.05) and statistically significant. The frequency of displaying psychiatric symptoms in the miners were not influenced by the variables marital status, family type, having children and living environment.Conclusions: The study found that the frequency of displaying psychiatric symptoms is lower in older miners who have a low level of education and income just meeting their expenses and have been working at the mine for 20 years or more. Extended English summary is in the end of Full Text PDF (TURKISH) file. ÖzetAmaç: Bu çalışma yeraltı maden ocaklarında çalışan işçilerin çalışma koşullarının ruh sağlığına etkisini belirlemek amacıyla yapılmıştır.Yöntem: Bu tanımlayıcı bir çalışmadır.  Araştırmanın evrenini Türkiye Taşkömürü Kurumu (TTK) Zonguldak Kozlu Müessesi’nde çalışan 1 857 yeraltı maden işçisi oluşturmuş ve evrenin tamamına ulaşılmaya çalışılmıştır. Ancak 800 işçiye ulaşılabilmiş ve 684 soru formu değerlendirmeye alınmıştır. Verilerin toplanmasında Kişisel Bilgi Formu ve Kısa Semptom Envanteri (KSE) kullanılmıştır. Verilerin değerlendirilmesinde tanımlayıcı istatistikler, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis ve Bonferroni Düzeltmeli Mann-Whitney U testi kullanılmıştır.Bulgular: 41 yaş ve üzeri, düşük eğitim düzeyine sahip ve geliri giderini karşılayan işçilerin KSE puan ortalamaları diğer gruplara göre düşük (p<0.05); 20 yıl ve daha uzun süre madende çalışan işçilerin yalnızca hostilite ve KSE toplam puan ortalamaları diğer gruplara göre düşük (p>0.05) ve istatistiksel olarak anlamlıdır. Maden işçilerinin psikiyatrik belirti gösterme sıklığı medeni durum, aile tipi, çocuk sahibi olma, yaşanılan yer değişkenlerinden etkilenmemiştir.Sonuçlar: Bu çalışmada ileri yaşta, düşük eğitim düzeyinde, geliri giderini karşılayan, 20 yıl ve üzerinde madende çalışan işçilerin psikiyatrik belirti gösterme sıklığının daha düşük olduğu belirlenmiştir.
GORSZY CZY WYCHOWUJE? CZY W ŚREDNIOWIECZU ISTNIAŁA LITERATURA DLA DZIECI? (NA PRZYKŁADZIE KSIĘGI KU POUCZENIU CÓREK GODFRYDA DE LA TOUR LANDRY)
Authors: Loba Anna
Published: July 2018

Księga ku pouczeniu córek (Livre du Chevalier de la Tour Landry pour l’enseignement de ses filles, 1371–1372) Godfryda de la Tour Landry’ego jest dziełem napisanym przez ojca, któremu leży na sercu szczęście i pomyślne małżeństwo jego córek. Trudno pogodzić dydaktyczny zamysł Księgi z jej zawartością, która wydaje się nieprzystosowana dla dziecięcego odbiorcy. Celem mojego artykułu jest zastanowienie się, czy dzieło to można potraktować jako przykład średniowiecznej literatury dla dzieci.
WŁADCA BAŚNI. WOKÓŁ POLSKIEJ RECEPCJI CUDOWNEGO I POŻYTECZNEGO BRUNA BETTELHEIMA
Authors: Bednarek Magdalena
Published: July 2018

Artykuł prezentuje polską recepcję wpływowej książki Bruna Bettelheima pt. Cudowne i pożyteczne, która ukazała się w USA w 1976 r., współtworząc tzw. renesans baśniowy, obejmujący zarówno badania akademickie, jak i twórczość artystyczną. Książka w polskim przekładzie Danuty Danek z 1985 r. odegrała (proporcjonalnie) jeszcze większą rolę na naszym rynku idei, inspirując nie tylko wielbicieli baśni, ich badaczy, literaturoznawców i humanistów w ogóle. Inspirująca lektura na przestrzeni 30 lat, które minęły od momentu ukazania się tłumaczenia, stała się jednak kanoniczna: choć przez pewien czas otwierała nowe horyzonty myślenia (nie tylko o baśniach), obecnie przyczynia się do ich zamykania. Artykuł omawia szereg kontrowersji i polemik, które na Zachodzie pojawiły się wokół pracy Bettelheima, w tekstach m.in.: Jacka Zipesa, Alana Dundesa, Pierre’a Péju, Jacqueline Rose, Marii Tatar, Ruth Bottigheimer. Być może przywołanie zastrzeżeń wobec Cudownego i pożytecznego przyczyni się do bardziej krytycznego odbioru tej książki w Polsce i sprawi, że na powrót stanie się ona zarzewiem dyskusji, a nie jej zwieńczeniem.
Cerebrospinal fluid free kappa light chains and kappa index perform equal to oligoclonal bands in the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis
Authors: Christiansen Mikael , Gjelstrup Mikkel Carstensen , Stilund Morten , Christensen Tove , Petersen Thor , Jon Møller Holger
Published: July 2018

Background

Detection of intrathecal immunoglobulin G (IgG) synthesis by gold standard oligoclonal bands (OCB) or IgG index remains an integral part of multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnostics, although both methods have weaknesses. Emerging evidence suggests that automated detection of free light chains (FLC) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has diagnostic performance equal to OCB. The objective of this study was to compare the diagnostic performance of CSF FLC with OCB and IgG index in a large cohort of Scandinavian patients referred for MS evaluation.

Methods

We prospectively included 230 patients suspected for MS. They are composed of patients with MS (n=96), clinically isolated syndrome (n=37), other neurological diseases (OND, n=31) and symptomatic controls (SC, n=66). CSF and serum samples were analyzed for kappa and lambda FLC, OCB and IgG index. Diagnostic performance was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.

Results

Both the absolute concentration of CSF-kappa and the kappa index had excellent MS diagnostic performances with ROC area under the curve of 0.93 and 0.94 (MS vs. SC+OND). At the 0.42 mg/L cutoff, CSF-kappa had sensitivity and specificity of 93.8% and 85.6%, whereas sensitivity and specificity for OCB was 82.3% and 93.8% (72.9% and 95.9% for IgG index at cutoff 0.64). CSF-lambda and lambda index performed inferior to CSF-kappa and kappa index.

Conclusions

CSF-kappa and kappa index represent automated, rapid and low-cost alternatives to OCB. Using merely the absolute concentration of CSF-kappa is a logistic advantage in the clinical laboratories.
Patient’s knowledge and awareness about the effect of the over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and dietary supplements on laboratory test results: a survey in 18 European countries
Authors: Simundic Ana-Maria , Filipi Petra , Vrtaric Alen , Miler Marijana , Nikolac Gabaj Nora , Kocsis Andrea , Avram Sanja , Gligorovic Barhanovic Najdana , Bulo Anyla , Cadamuro Janne , van Dongen-Lases Edmee , Eker Pinar , Vital-e-Silva Andre , Homsak Evgenija , Ibarz Mercedes , Labudovic Danica , Nybo Mads , Pivovarníková Hedviga , Shmidt Inna , Siodmiak Joanna , Sumarac Zorica , Vitkus Dalius
Published: July 2018

Background

Nowadays over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and dietary supplements are widely used. Their use can have a significant impact on the validity of laboratory results. The aim of this multicenter European study was to determine the frequency of consumption of various dietary products and OTC drugs among patients and explore their level of knowledge and awareness about the potential impact of various products on laboratory test results.

Methods

Eighteen European countries participated in this study. The survey was carried out anonymously on a subsequent series of outpatients (n=200) in each participating country. Included were patients who were referred to the laboratory for blood sampling and who voluntarily agreed to participate in the study. The survey included questions about the frequency of consumption of various products, awareness of the importance of informing physicians and laboratory staff about it and information about influence of preanalytical factors in general on laboratory test results.

Results

In total, 68% of patients were regularly taking at least one OTC drug or dietary supplement. The frequency of patients consuming at least one OTC drug or dietary supplement differed between countries (p=0.001). Vitamins (38%), minerals (34%), cranberry juice (20%), acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) (17%) and omega fatty acids (17%) were the most commonly used in our study.

Conclusions

The use of various OTC drugs and dietary supplements is highly prevalent in Europe and patients are often not willing to disclose this information to the laboratory staff and ordering physician. The education of both patients and healthcare staff is needed.
Coordinated tautologies in Spanish and Russian
Authors: Escandell-Vidal Victoria , Vilinbakhova Elena
Published: July 2018

This paper examines a special pattern of tautological constructions –a is a and b is b– in Spanish and Russian. The phenomenon was first described by A. Wierzbicka, who cited Rudyard Kipling’s “East is East and West and West,” referring to it as “double tautologies” with the associated meaning of “irreducible difference.” Later, J. Meibauer called this pattern “coordinated tautologies” (CT) and suggested that they carry the implicature that “the referents of the respective subject NPs should be kept distinct, should not be confused, etc.”

In the present study, we address the issue of compositionality in the construction and interpretation of CT. The data taken from Spanish and Russian corpora listed in the appendix and an Internet survey conducted with 91 native Spanish speakers prove that “irreducible difference” is not a necessary ingredient in the interpretation ofand-conjoined tautologies, nor is it its only argumentative point. We also argue that “irreducible difference” is not associated with this pattern alone (it can also appear in tautologies linked by the conjunctionbut, or without any conjunction) and that the exact number of conjuncts is not limited to two. Later, we discuss how exactly the frequent contrastive interpretation arises. Finally, we conclude that coordinated tautologies are not fixed form/function pairs; rather, the meaning they encode can be accounted for in regular compositional terms, and their different interpretations are the result of pragmatic enrichment in which the encoded meaning is combined with contextual information.
Gone in 30 days! Predictions for car import planning
Authors: Lacic Emanuel , Traub Matthias , Duricic Tomislav , Haslauer Eva , Lex Elisabeth
Published: July 2018

A challenge for importers in the automobile industry is adjusting to rapidly changing market demands. In this work, we describe a practical study of car import planning based on the monthly car registrations in Austria. We model the task as a data driven forecasting problem and we implement four different prediction approaches. One utilizes a seasonal ARIMA model, while the other is based on LSTM-RNN and both compared to a linear and seasonal baselines. In our experiments, we evaluate the 33 different brands by predicting the number of registrations for the next month and for the year to come.
Towards data-driven decision support for organizational IT security audits
Authors: Brunner Michael , Sillaber Christian , Demetz Lukas , Manhart Markus , Breu Ruth
Published: July 2018

As the IT landscape of organizations increasingly needs to comply with various laws and regulations, organizations manage a plethora of security-related data and have to verify the adequacy and effectiveness of their security controls through internal and external audits. Existing Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) approaches provide little support for auditors or are tailored to the needs of auditors and do not fully support required management activities of the auditee. To address this gap and move towards a holistic solution, a data-driven approach is proposed. Following the design science research paradigm, a data-driven approach for audit data management and analytics that addresses organizational needs as well as requirements for audit data analytics was developed. We contribute workflow support and associated data models to support auditing and security decision making processes. The evaluation shows the viability of the proposed IT artifact and its potential to reduce costs and complexity of security management processes and IT security audits. By developing a model and associated decision support workflows for the entire IT security audit lifecycle, we present a solution for both the auditee and the auditor. This is useful to developers of GRC tools, vendors, auditors and organizational decision makers.
The usage of subgenera in mammalian taxonomy
Authors: Teta Pablo
Published: July 2018

In this note, I discuss the advantages of the usage of subgenera as a practical taxonomic rank in mammalian taxonomy. Use of this category preserves traditional usage, reduces nomenclatural instability and avoids unnecessary change of names. Subgenera are useful to label diagnosable clades of closely related species, especially in morphologically and ecologically diverse monophyletic genera, without alteration of traditional binomial usage. Contrary to informal names such as “divisions” or “groups”, subgenera are governed by the rules of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), having usage constrained (and stability promoted) by typification and priority.
Synthesis, structure, and in vitro anti-lung cancer activity on an In-based nanoscale coordination polymer
Authors: Shu De-Gui , Chen Wen-Yu
Published: July 2018

Here, a new indium (In)-based coordination polymer [In(hip)](DMF)2(H2O)3 (1, DMF=N,N-dimethylformamide) was successfully prepared by a solvothermal reaction of In(NO3)3·6H2O and 5-hydroxyisophthalic acid (H3hip) in a mixed solvent of DMF and H2O with the presence of NaCl as a template. Complex 1 was characterized by elemental analysis (EA), single-crystal X-ray crystallography, and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), and the results reveal that complex 1 shows a two-dimensional (2D) grid-like network with considerable solvent accessible volume that was generated from the packing of the 2D layers via the AB pattern. Furthermore, complex 1 could be downsized into nanoscale particles with the aid of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). In addition, the anticancer activities of 1 and the nanoscale 1 were probed via the 3-(4,5)-dimethylthiahiazo (-z-y1)-3,5-di-phenytetrazoliumromide (MTT) assay.
Fluorescent nanodiamonds: past, present, and future
Authors: Alkahtani Masfer H. , Alghannam Fahad , Jiang Linkun , Almethen Abdulrahman , Rampersaud Arfaan A. , Brick Robert , Gomes Carmen L. , Scully Marlan O. , Hemmer Philip R.
Published: July 2018

Multi-color fluorescent nanodiamonds (FNDs) containing a variety of color centers are promising fluorescent markers for biomedical applications. Compared to colloidal quantum dots and organic dyes, FNDs have the advantage of lower toxicity, exceptional chemical stability, and better photostability. They can be surface functionalized by techniques similar to those used for other nanoparticles. They exhibit a variety of emission wavelengths from visible to near infrared, with narrow or broad bandwidths depending on their color centers. In addition, some color centers can detect changes in magnetic fields, electric fields, and temperature. In this article review, we will discuss the current trends in FND’s development, including comparison to the early development of quantum dots. We will also highlight some of the latest advances in fabrication, as well as demonstrations of their use in bioimaging and biosensing.
Structure and photochromism of 1,2-bis[2-methyl-5-(3-quinolyl)-3-thienyl]-3,3,4,4,5,5-hexafluorocyclopent-1-ene, C33H20F6N2S2
Authors: Lv Junfei , Li Hui , Pu Shouzhi
Published: July 2018

C33H20F6N2S2, monoclinic, P21/c (no. 14), a = 13.418(4) Å, b = 13.876(4) Å, c = 15.182(4) Å, β = 98.211(3)°, V = 2797.6(14) Å3, Z = 4, R
gt(F) = 0.0500, wR
ref(F
2) = 0.1456, T = 296(2) K.
Effect of aligned magnetic field on Casson fluid flow over a stretched surface of non-uniform thickness
Authors: Saravana R. , Sailaja M. , Hemadri Reddy R.
Published: July 2018

In the study, we inspect the impact of cross diffusion and aligned magnetic field on Casson fluid flow along a stretched surface of variable thickness. The differential equations explaining the flow situation have been transitioned with the succor of suited transfigurations. The solution of the problem is achieved by using bvp5c Matlab package. From the solution, it is perceived that the flow, temperature and concentration fields are affected by the sundry physical quantities. Results explored for the flow over a uniform and a non-uniform thickness surfaces. The influence of emerging parameters on the flow, energy and mass transport are discussed with graphical and tabular results. Results show that the thermal, flow and species boundary layers are uneven for the flow over a uniform and non-uniform thickness stretched surfaces.
Nonhomogeneous porosity and thermal diffusivity effects on stability and instability of double-diffusive convection in a porous medium layer: Brinkman Model
Authors: Harfash Akil J. , Challoob Huda A.
Published: July 2018

A model for double-diffusive convection in anisotropic and inhomogeneous porous media has been analysed. In particular, the effect of variable permeability and thermal diffusivity has been studied using the Brinkman model. Moreover, we analyse the effect of slip boundary conditions on the stability of the model. Due to numerous applications in micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) and other microfluidic devices, such a study is essential to have. Both linear instability analysis and nonlinear stability analysis are employed. We accurately analyse when stability and instability will commence and determine the critical Rayleigh number as a function of the slip coefficient.
Lexical trends in Facebook and Twitter texts of selected Nigerian Pentecostal churches: A stylistic inquiry
Authors: Chimuanya Lily , Awonuga Christopher , Chiluwa Innocent
Published: July 2018

The influx of religious activities and religious discourse on the Internet has made it pertinent to examine the fundamental roles of language in the expression, presentation, understanding, and advancement of any set of religious beliefs and practices. One main aspect of online religious activities that continues to arrest the attention of scholars is the uniqueness of language used by religious practitioners. For instance, new linguistic strategies and devices have emerged as a result of bending language to suit trends on a new medium. The emergence of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the twenty-first century has also resulted in the manifestation of computer-mediated communication, with its attendant pervasive new forms of language and practices. Nigerian Pentecostal churches have used the Internet, especially the social media such as Facebook and Twitter, in propagating their doctrines. This study identifies emerging lexical trends in the way six Nigerian Pentecostal churches use language in extending their practices on the new media and submits that such innovations are leading up to the birth of a new cyber-variety of Nigerian English.
Representing indigenous lifeways and beliefs in U.S.-Mexico border indigenous activist discourse
Authors: Leza Christina
Published: July 2018

Despite challenges for U.S.-Mexico border Indigenous activists in their efforts to counter dominant discourses about both border policy and Native rights, Indigenous activists assert their rights as they advocate for public policies and actions that affirm and protect these rights. This article explores some of the discursive strategies used by Indigenous activists to index Indigenous identities and lifeways and to counter mainstream conceptualizations of Native identity and Indigenous rights on the U.S.-Mexico border. Through such semiotic strategies, Indigenous border activists create indigenized and legitimized political spaces for the assertion of their beliefs. Indigenous border activists achieve this through metasemiotic constructs that draw from stereotypes about Native people and their use of language as well as through the active mobilization of schemas for conceptualizing both Native American experiences and the U.S.-Mexico border.
Peirce’s resonances on Deleuze’s concept of sign: Triadic relations, habit and relation as semiotic features
Authors: Rebello Cardoso Jr Helio
Published: July 2018

This article inspects Peirce’s resonances on Deleuze’s semiotic. Whereas most of the literature agrees that Deleuze adapts Peirce’s semiotic to serve his Bergsonian-based theory of sign, this article claims that the relationship of Deleuze with Peirce’s writings is more foliated than it may appear at first. The development of this hypothesis invites to trace back Deleuze’s works before his very acquaintance with Peirce in the 1980s. Therefore, one of Peirce’s classical issues – the role that relations and habits play for the triadic conception of sign – is considered with Deleuze’s early studies, in which he developed this same issue as to approach Hume (habit and relation, 1953) and Proust (triadic sign, 1964). This background echoes years later in Deleuze’s incursion to Peirce’s semiotic in the 1980s ninety-two classes and two books on cinema. In fact, Deleuze’s own triadic conception of sign and his acknowledged pragmatist inclination prove to be closer to Peirce’s pragmatism than the scholarly literature tends to think or argue. The aim of this article is not, however, to build an overwhelming philosophical identity between Deleuze and Peirce, it sets up instead a steadier basis from where to understand their differences. Deleuze’s ignored five-year long lectures on cinema shows to be exegetically revealing with respect to his debts towards Peirce.