bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
REDES DE INVESTIGACIÓN EN ECOLOGÍA
Authors: Gutiérrez-Serrano N.G.
Published: December 2022

Elestudiodelasredesdeinvestigaciónhasidolíneademiinterésdesdefinalesdelosaños90.Estetipodetrabajomellevóavincularmeydarseguimientoaredesygruposdeestudiososentemasdesostenibilidadyestudiossocio-ecológicos.LoscasosdeestudiorefierenungrupodeinvestigacióndelInstitutodeInvestigacionesenEcosistemasySustentabilidaddelaUniversidadNacionalAutónomadeMéxicoyados“RedesTemáticas”de investigación,unaenSistemasAgroalimentariosdeMéxicoyotradeProductosForestalesnoMaderableslascualestuvieron,en años recientes,reconocimientoyapoyofinancieroporpartedelConsejoNacionaldeCienciayTecnología(CONACyT)en México. Con el presente texto tengo el propósito de mostrar formas de organización, actores y prácticas de investigación en redes y grupos de ecólogos de origen, tanto como de configurar los entramados de vínculos,espacios,encuentrosycolaboracionesentreactoresdeestasredesygrupos.Inclusointentounacartografíadeproblemasyformasdepensaryaccionarlainvestigacióndeestaáreadeconocimiento.Pretendoaquíunaecología,enelsentidodeatravesarotrascenderlasdescripcioneslinealesdeprocesosyproductosdeinvestigaciónenred.Meapoyoenunaaproximaciónauto-etnográfica​con la cual poder indagar​sobremispropiosrecorridosenestetipodeinvestigaciónysobrelacomplejidadquesuponeparticiparenelproducirocoproducirconocimientoenreddetemasecológicoso socio-ambientales como los de ciencias ambientales y ecosistemas
TECNOLOGIAS, TRABALHO E FORMAÇÃO DOCENTE
Authors: Barreto Raquel Goulart
Published: December 2022

O presente artigo retoma questões relativas à incorporação educacional das tecnologias da informação e da comunicação. Está estruturado em quatro seções. É introduzido por considerações acerca do contexto histórico e situacional dos discursos das políticas que marcaram as duas últimas décadas, enfatizando a reconfiguração de trabalho e formação docente. A segunda seção focaliza a/o educação/ensino a distância, a partir dos seus marcos regulatórios. A terceira propõe a noção de substituição tecnológica, visando a ultrapassar os limites postos pela distinção de simples modalidades de ensino. Finalmente, a quarta seção pretende trabalhar as relações definidoras da trajetória política analisada e das tentativas de aproximação empreendidas.
ALUNOS COM DEFICIÊNCIA INTELECTUAL: UM OLHAR INVESTIGATIVO SOBRE O PLANO EDUCACIONAL INDIVIDUALIZADO (PEI) NA ESCOLARIZAÇÃO NO ENSINO REGULAR
Authors: Bassi Tânia Mara dos Santos
Published: December 2022

O objetivo básico deste artigo, na perspectiva inclusiva, a partir da pesquisa de Mestrado em Educação (UEMS, 2019), trazer sucintamente a análise da execução do Plano Educacional Individualizado (PEI) no processo de escolarização de educandos com Deficiência Intelectual, na primeira etapa do Ensino Fundamental, no âmbito da Rede Municipal de Ensino de Campo Grande/MS. No caminho investigativo, como método, abrangeu a pesquisa qualitativa, utilizando procedimentos como: levantamento bibliográfico, análise documental e realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas. Os resultados expressaram avanços na instituição do PEI em suas normativas legais concernentes à Educação Especial. No entanto, ainda não se pode afirmar que esse instrumento pedagógico se configura como uma prática efetiva na escolarização de alunos, público alvo da Educação Especial, mormente com Deficiência Intelectual, objeto dessa pesquisa, mas é possível dizer que sua implementação está em processo no município investigado. Os estudos conduzidos na direção apontada também evidenciaram dissonâncias entre as prerrogativas legais e a prática escolar, em destaque o professor atuante na perspectiva inclusiva, explicitando necessidade de esforços/ investimento na formação continuada com a finalidade de promover conhecimentos que possibilitem uma melhor compreensão acerca das especificidades do público alvo da Educação Especial. E finalmente, aponta como necessária maior articulação entre ensino comum e Educação Especial, conforme predispõe a legislação, na configuração do contexto escolar inclusivo.
DOMÓTICA DE BAIXO CUSTO VIA RADIOFREQUÊNCIA COM REPETIÇÃO DE SINAIS: UMA ABORDAGEM UNIDIRECIONAL
Authors: SIMOES W.
Published: December 2022

Este artigo propõe a construção de uma arquitetura composta por dispositivos de baixo custo através do uso de componentes de comunicação de radiofrequência de 433 MHz, interface web para o gerenciamento da plataforma Arduino integrada a um Shield Ethernet para a repetição de sinais a uma unidade cliente vinculada a um dispositivo elétrico. Os resultados mostraram que foi possível realizar o envio de comandos aos módulos periféricos, mesmo com barreiras como paredes, a uma distância de 3,5 metros.
POSICIONAMENTO INDOOR ATRAVÉS DE RSSI E SNR
Authors: SIMOES W.
Published: December 2022

As redes de sensores sem fio têm se apresentado como uma alternativa aos sistemas de localização e navegação em ambientes onde o GPS não se mostra eficaz. Porém, lidar com as informações obtidas dos sensores para este fim pode representar alguns desafi-os. As dificuldades descritas por diversos autores estão relacionadas as questões de os-cilação dos sinais, que se mostram suscetíveis a inúmeros agentes causadores de inter-ferências como o próprio cenário, a presença de pessoas, etc. Por isso, este artigo propõe aplicar um protocolo de experimento para demonstrar a confiabilidade do RSSI e SNR para serem utilizados na localização interna. A metodologia adotada foi a de construir uma base de dados obtidos de diversas leituras dos sensores de rede sem fio, construir uma curva de referência e confrontar os dados das leituras dos testes a esta curva e indicar através de três modelos (dados brutos média móvel e média pon-derada) a confiabilidade do RSSI e SNR na localização indoor. Os resultados mostram que a tecnologia RSSI fornece taxas de erros altas com os dados brutos, uma redução das variações com a aplicação da média móvel e uma suavização com a aplicação da média ponderada. Entretanto, mesmo com a aproximação dos dados lidos e a aplicação da média ponderada, as taxas de erros ainda comprometem a localização, sendo um recurso ineficaz como informação a ser adotada na localização indoor se aplicado de forma isolada
REMOÇÃO DO FUNDO DA CENA PARA DETECÇÃO DA SILHUETA DA MÃO HUMANA E DETECÇÃO DE MOVIMENTOS
Authors: SIMOES W.
Published: December 2022

Este artigo descreve o desenvolvimento de um algoritmo, baseado em Visão Computacional, que realiza a captura do movimento humano sem o uso de marcações especiais no corpo do ator. As etapas do processo seguidas no desenvolvimento do algoritmo são: captura dos dados de origem vindos de câmeras de vídeo; remoção do fundo da cena e detecção de objetos em movimento; e análise da silhueta dos objetos detectados para localização da mão humana. Para a realização do projeto foram utilizadas classes pertencentes ao pacote JavaCv, pacote este que mapeou as principais técnicas de visão computacional de tratamento de imagens, sons e vídeos. Os próximos passos desta pesquisa incluem a definição de um conjunto de gestos para serem comparados com a mão detectada e assim determinar ações a serem executadas na TV Digital Interativa (TVDi).
Nâsır-ı Hüsrev’in Divanı’nda Şiî-İsmâilî Unsurlar
Authors: CADUK Mahmut
Published: December 2022

Horasan’ın Belh şehrinin Kubâdiyân kasabasında 1004 yılında dünyaya gelen Ebû Muîn Nâsır b. Hüsrev b. Hâris el-Kubâdiyânî el-Mervezî, Fâtımîler Devleti’ne bağlı bir “Daî” olarak Horasan bölgesinde faaliyet yürütmüştür. Eserlerinden anlaşıldığı kadarıyla onun genç yaşta din ilimlerinin yanında, tabiî ilimler, felsefe ve matematik sahalarında da yetkin olduğu, Arap ve Fars şiirinde derin vukufiyet kesbettiği anlaşılmaktadır. İsmâilî mezhebinin mutaassıp bir taraftarı olan Nâsır-ı Hüsrev, hem mensur eserlerinde hem de yaklaşık olarak on bin beyitten oluşan divanında İsmâilîlik savunusu yapmıştır. Nâsır-ı Hüsrev, İsmâilî mezhebinin inanç esaslarının savunusu ile yetinmemiş, ayrıca divanının pek çok yerinde bu mezhebin siyasal temsilcisi konumundaki Fatımî Devleti’ni ve o zaman diliminde bu devletin halifesi olan Mustansır Billâh’a bağlılığını bildirerek onu övgüyle anmıştır. Bu çalışmada Nâsır-ı Hüsrev Divanı’nda İsmâilî mezhebinin akıl ve dine yüklediği misyon, yine İsmâilî literatür açısından önem arz eden Ehl-i Beyt, tenzil (vahiy), te’vil (hermenotik yorum), batın (ezoterik), zahir (egzoterik) gibi kavramların ele alınma biçimi incelenecektir. Ayrıca bu çalışmada divanda İsmâilî mezhebinin siyasal temsilcisi konumundaki Fatımî halifesi Mustansır Billâh’ın nasıl bir bakışla değerlendirildiği ortaya konulmaya çalışılacaktır.
Byron’s Ballroom Poetics and the Echoes of War
Authors: Sachs Jonathan , Stauffer Andrew
Published: December 2022

This article traces what we call Byron’s ‘ballroom poetics’ through
Waltz, Don Juan
, and
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage
III. Why, we ask, do balls so frequently serve as an occasion to introduce matters of war? Byron’s frequent invocation of war and wartime in connection with balls and celebration, we suggest, underscores how the distance and drift of war came home to Regency culture. But the occasion of the ball could also be brought to the warfront as in Byron’s account of the Duchess of Richmond’s ball in
Childe Harold
III, which shows how the memories of past battles, and anticipations of future ones, weigh on the minds of the living and how that weight infuses even moments of revelry. Ultimately, Byron’s connection between ballroom and battleground reveals how Regency Britons thought about the end (and ends) of the French Revolution, the omnipresence of war, and the fraught prospects of the future unfolding for the nineteenth century and beyond.
‘An Awkward Part to Play’: Byron, Gaming, and the Perils of Courtship
Authors: McDayter Ghislaine
Published: December 2022

Byron, notoriously, liked to play games. Whether actual card games, such as the Regency staple of Speculation so beloved of Jane Austen, or the more performative realm of ‘playing’ a role for the benefit of the
ton
, he frequently invokes in his writing the excitement intrinsic to risking high stakes and paying the price of a personal gamble. Such overpowering sensations, he insists, remind us that we are alive. What the following will argue is that while the poet’s keen interest in ‘play’ often becomes a metaphor for the vagaries and dangers of Regency courtship practices, Byron’s exploration of the language and habits of gamblers leads us to a deeper understanding of the poet’s views on gender roles and sexuality, harnessing the power of sexuality to the crucial experience of human risk in both gaming and love play.
Theatres of Touch: Re-Reading and Re-Mapping Byron’s Italy
Authors: Saglia Diego
Published: December 2022

This essay reappraises the question of Byron’s experiences in and representations of Italy by exploring a selection of texts that blend moments of visual and tactile intensity. It demonstrates how sight and touch, the visual/spectacular and the haptic, inform a peculiarly Byronic approach to Italy that locates the country and its various manifestations at the nexus of the written sign and the senses. In the poet’s account of his stay in Milan in late 1816, the panegyric on Italy in
Beppo
(1818) or his narratives of the death of Luigi dal Pinto in Ravenna in 1820, Italy is configured as a pulsating cluster of
locus, littera
, sensation and affect, and, in turn, as an imaginative and cultural geography that is both a mosaic of fragments and a cohesive dimension. As it intersects and competes with Byron’s constructions of Italy based on the palimpsest and the map, this Italian ‘theatre of touch’ further complicates and enriches his conception of the country, its history, culture and people as an intricate assemblage enabling him to develop the reflections on memory and presence, history and agency, immateriality and sensuality that pervade the final phase of his poetic career.
Lord Byron’s ‘To the Po’
Authors: Minta Stephen
Published: December 2022

‘To the Po’, once known as ‘Stanzas to the Po’, is one of Byron’s most popular lyrics: a ‘famous lyric’, commemorating a ‘famous affair’, in Jerome McGann’s words. The poem has frequently been read and discussed in terms of its real or imagined ‘sincerity’, and a great deal of effort has been spent trying to reconcile what McGann called ‘troublesome’ discrepancies between what we know about this period of Byron’s life and the details of the poem. In the first part of the essay, I situate ‘To the Po’ in the broad context of the critical history of sincerity and then, in the second part, I look at ideas which might offer a different approach to the poem. I argue that the overall framing of the poem is imaginatively conceived and owes much to a long-standing motif in the European love-lyric and that this then enables Byron to think through distinctly personal, topical, and altogether ‘real’ issues about love, responsibility, and the messy baggage of the past.
Measures of Variance on Windowed Gaussian Processes
Authors: Lee Daeyoung , Gammie Charles F.
Published: December 2022

The variance and fractional variance on a fixed time window (variously known as “rms percent” or “modulation index”) are commonly used to characterize the variability of astronomical sources. We summarize properties of this statistic for a Gaussian process.
Chine / États-Unis : éviter le conflit
Authors: Fernandez Justine
Published: December 2022

À peine un mois après l’invasion de l’Ukraine par la Russie, actant le retour de la guerre en Europe et le durcissement des relations internationales, l’ancien Premier ministre australien Kevin Rudd publiait un ouvrage consacré à la relation tendue entre les deux géants mondiaux que sont la Chine et les États-Unis. Intitulé The Avoidable War , « la guerre qui peut être évitée », cet ouvrage trouve un écho tout particulier dans le nouveau contexte que l’on connaît. La Russie, dirigée par un autocrate à l’ ego surdimensionné et mû par des ambitions nationalistes que l’on pensait d’un autre temps, a repris les armes pour imposer sa vision de l’ordre régional. Pourrait-elle inciter cet autre autocrate qu’est le président chinois Xi Jinping, dont le pouvoir absolu a été consacré cet automne par sa reconduction à la tête du parti communiste qui dirige le pays, à affirmer ses prétentions internationales de manière plus offensive ? Comment éviter que les tensions entre Pékin et Washington (portant sur des enjeux tant économiques que géopolitiques via Taiwan notamment) ne dégénèrent en un conflit ouvert aux conséquences désastreuses pour le monde entier ? Cette question est au cœur de ce dernier ouvrage de Kevin Rudd, dont Justine Fernandez présente ici les grandes lignes et les différents scénarios d’évolution de la relation Chine / États-Unis dessinés par l’auteur. S.D.
Les initiatives d’excellence
Authors: Harroche Audrey
Published: December 2022

Résumé Les initiatives d’excellence (Idex) constituent l’une des dernières réformes de l’enseignement supérieur et de la recherche. Il s’agit d’appels à projets qui concentrent des ressources supplémentaires sur une dizaine de sites universitaires afin de doter la France d’établissements capables de rivaliser avec les meilleures universités du monde. Dans cet article, nous étudions le renforcement progressif des équipes dirigeantes d’un site universitaire qui ont élaboré, porté et administré avec succès un projet Idex qui a été obtenu puis confirmé. Plus précisément, il s’agit d’une configuration comparable aux politiques winner-take-all dans la mesure où le site et les acteurs en question sont systématiquement sortis affermis de l’alignement entre leur programme et les réformes déployées dans le secteur de l’enseignement supérieur et la recherche depuis les années 2000.
Découpage électoral des circonscriptions législatives en France
Authors: Ehrhard Thomas , Attias Solal , Bampis Evripidis , Cohen-Addad Vincent , Escoffier Bruno , Mathieu Claire , Pascual Fanny , Pass-Lanneau Adèle , Saulpic David
Published: December 2022

Résumé Cet article propose une nouvelle perspective d’étude de la carte électorale, fondée sur la computational social science , pour analyser les critères qui encadrent la réalisation du découpage électoral en France. La délimitation des circonscriptions législatives est complexe en raison de sa dimension technique et des critères juridiques, démographiques et géographiques à respecter. À partir des données démographiques et géographiques des territoires et de la mesure de l’ensemble des découpages admissibles, nous évaluons les contraintes formées par les critères sur les potentialités empiriques de la carte électorale et, plus largement, nous montrons l’intérêt d’avoir recours aux découpages assistés par ordinateur.
Bayesian parameter estimation for phosphate dynamics during hemodialysis
Authors: Bangsgaard Katrine O. , Andersen Morten , Heaf James G. , Ottesen Johnny T.
Published: December 2022

Hyperphosphatemia in patients with renal failure is associated with increased vascular calcification and mortality. Hemodialysis is a conventional treatment for patients with hyperphosphatemia. Phosphate kinetics during hemodialysis may be described by a diffusion process and modeled by ordinary differential equations. We propose a Bayesian model approach for estimating patient-specific parameters for phosphate kinetics during hemodialysis. The Bayesian approach allows us to both analyze the full parameter space using uncertainty quantification and to compare two types of hemodialysis treatments, the conventional single-pass and the novel multiple-pass treatment. We validate and test our models on synthetic and real data. The results show limited identifiability of the model parameters when only single-pass data are available, and that the Bayesian model greatly reduces the relative standard deviation compared to existing estimates. Moreover, the analysis of the Bayesian models reveal improved estimates with reduced uncertainty when considering consecutive sessions and multiple-pass treatment compared to single-pass treatment.
A fractional mathematical model for COVID-19 outbreak transmission dynamics with the impact of isolation and social distancing
Authors: Haq Ihtisham Ul , Ali Nigar , Ahmad Shabir
Published: December 2022

The Covid illness (COVID-19), which has emerged, is a highly infectious viral disease. This disease led to thousands of infected cases worldwide. Several mathematical compartmental models have been examined recently in order to better understand the Covid disease. The majority of these models rely on integer-order derivatives, which are incapable of capturing the fading memory and crossover behaviour observed in many biological phenomena. Similarly, the Covid disease is investigated in this paper by exploring the elements of COVID-19 pathogens using the non-integer Atangana-Baleanu-Caputo derivative. Using fixed point theory, we demonstrate the existence and uniqueness of the model's solution. All basic properties for the given model are investigated in addition to Ulam-Hyers stability analysis. The numerical scheme is based on Lagrange's interpolation polynomial developed to estimate the model's approximate solution. Using real-world data, we simulate the outcomes for different fractional orders in Matlab to illustrate the transmission patterns of the present Coronavirus-19 epidemic through graphs.
Time-Frequency connectedness between developing countries in the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of East Africa
Authors: Katusiime Lorna
Published: December 2022

Models of crisis prediction continue to gain traction with the increased frequency of global crisis such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the connectedness of financial markets appears to be of central importance in determining how shocks spill through asset market linkages. The study thus applies the time-frequency connectedness measures of Diebold & Yilmaz (2012) and Baruník & Křehlík (2018) to examine return and volatility connectedness dynamics in East African Community (EAC) member states. The study found a strong interdependence among the considered EAC markets as indicated by the high values of total return and volatility spillover indices. This high degree of interdependence is reflected in both static time and frequency domain return and volatility connectedness, especially at the longer term frequency bands, an indication that return and volatility shocks are persistent. This result lends further support to existing evidence on the suitability of the EAC regional economic integration, including the possible eventual establishment of a monetary union. In addition, the dynamic spillover analysis indicates that connectedness among these EAC markets is highly time-varying and appears to be amplified during global crisis events such as the European debt crisis, Kenyan elections, commodity price shocks and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the results suggest that relative to periods of domestic turbulence, financial market connectedness in the EAC is more likely to get amplified during periods of external global shocks. The study also contributes to emergent literature on connectedness among financial markets during the COVID-19 pandemic. Importantly, the study finds that the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant effect on all the considered EAC markets although the magnitude and direction of impact varies across markets and countries. In addition, the study finds that Brent Crude oil prices are a significant source of return and volatility spillovers to EAC markets especially during crisis periods.
TiN hard coating as a candidate reference material for surface metrology in chemistry: characterization and quantification by bulk and surface analyses techniques
Authors: Juárez-García José Manuel , Morales-Hernández Jorge , Gutiérrez-Peralta Aime , Cruz-Valeriano Edgar , Ramírez-Bon Rafael , Yañez Limón José M.
Published: December 2022

This study presents the synthesis and characterization of TiN hard coatings as a candidate reference material for surface metrology in chemistry. TiN coatings were grown on a silicon wafer with (111) orientation using dc reactive magnetron sputtering. X-ray diffraction confirms that the diffraction phase of TiN coatings is polycrystalline, electron microscopy demonstrates that the TiN coatings presents pyramidal-shaped grains ranging from sub-micrometer to nano-size scale and with an average thickness of 666 nm. According to micro Raman results, the presence of LO phonon modes confirms that the TiN coatings are crystalline in nature and no impurities are detected. The mechanical properties at the nanoscale are evaluated using resonance tracking acoustic force atomic microscopy. The chemical composition of the TiN reveals a close 1:1 atomic ratio. The ANOVA is used to evaluate the homogeneity of the TiN via a homogeneity test according to the ISO Guide 35:2017, while, regarding the chemical composition of the Ti, the Fisher’s test demonstrates that the batch can be considered as homogeneous.
Internationalization, Sustainability, and Capacity-based Motives of Foreign Direct Investment: A Conceptual Framework
Authors: Sultana Nasrin , Turkina Ekaterina
Published: December 2022

Researchers have studied foreign direct investment (FDI) from various perspectives, and noted the motives of FDI depend predominantly on disadvantages in home countries or advantages in host countries. However, little is known about how investors avail themselves of such advantages. The purpose of this chapter is to offer guidelines to investors to make effective FDI decisions and maintain sustainable international expansions in the post-pandemic era. Via a conceptual review of the extant literature, the authors elaborate on the motives of FDI from the perspective of the capacities of investors and provide a nuanced understanding of how they can make better investment decisions based on both the lacks and capacities. The authors develop a framework elucidating that the motives of FDI can be determined by a firm's level of technology and absorptive capacity. The framework will help investors to find cross-border partners to collaborate with, increase resilience, and deal with post-pandemic recovery.
Tracing the Path of International Business Research
Authors: Muralidharan Etayankara , Tiwari Sejal
Published: December 2022

Past studies have attempted to identify the domains of international business over specific periods of time. Most have used data sets for short time periods, providing a snapshot of the field for the period under review. This chapter reviews the research in the area of international business for the past five decades, with the objective of understanding the path that research has taken during that period in terms of research content, relevance, and methodology. While this understanding supports a proposal for a research agenda for the future, from the perspective of both content and methods in international business research, the impact of the pandemic may require a re-look at the trends that have been presented. The chapter addresses some of the potential changes in the trends in the research agenda that could occur due to the pandemic.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Indexes
Authors: Zambujal-Oliveira J. , Pestana-Amaral José
Published: December 2022

As the foreign direct investment (FDI) attractiveness indexes constitute one of the decision tools for governments' politics, it is relevant to assess the Groh and Wich Index (GWI). The main purpose is to verify the capacity of this index to replicate the phenomena of inflow FDI. The index analysis process included reviewing literature and detecting weaknesses on theoretical frameworks and in the selection of basic indicators. Multivariate analysis, applied to a sample of economies, showed evidence that some composite indicators of the GWI have shortages of concordance between simple indicators. Apart from showing that FDI attractiveness index of Groh and Wich does not convey the progress of inflow FDI, the study demonstrates that a FDI attractiveness index built to advanced economies can hardly be employed to developing economies without significant changes to the basic indicators.
International Business Paradigm in the Post-Pandemic Era
Authors: Banerjee Subhanil , Koner Souren , Gupta Shilpi
Published: December 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the deadliest pandemics ever encountered by human civilization. However, the unconquerable human resilience and the digital duo of mobile and internet led to a victory over this dreadful pandemic. This chapter initially focuses on India to illustrate the necessity of literacy in a pandemic. Later, the chapter accepts the hypothesis that business and trade is the engine of growth and verifies that in such dire conditions whether digital business and trade acted as a buffer. Both the aforementioned aspects are quantitatively verified. This chapter uses two regression equations with robust standard errors to examine COVID-19 and literacy. Two dependent variables are population recovered to population tested and completely vaccinated to the total population, and both the population density and rate of literacy have been taken as two independent variables. Furthermore, this chapter also has analyzed the relevant data of 137 countries and has emphasized the fact how digitalization has acted as a buffer and kept business and trade going in a “no man's land.”
Multicultural Education
Authors: Vance Lindsay A.
Published: December 2022

This chapter advocates for a more diverse, inclusive approach to education- one that adequately prepares K-12 students for life in a pluralistic society. Implications of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, religion, and ability in regard to education are discussed, and information about the current landscape of education in the United States is presented in order to establish the necessity of curricular re-conceptualization. This chapter also describes the aims and purposes of multicultural education as well as the five approaches that are generally utilized in schools. It suggests ways in which academic content standards can be integrated with the Learning for Justice Anti-Bias Framework. Lastly, it highlights the benefits of utilizing a multicultural approach to education to meet the needs of diverse groups of students.
Diversity in the Classroom
Authors: Glass Wykeshia W. , Hickman Desiree G. , Byars Shanika S.
Published: December 2022

Each day in schools throughout the United States, students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds go into schools pursuing their right to a free and equitable public-school education. Due to the flourishing diversification of the United States, and the expanding immigrant refugee populations, the need for an educational system that provides all students with equal access to success in school is imperative. In urban areas, primarily those with minority and low-socioeconomic status students, continue to fall far behind their suburban white non-low socioeconomic status counterparts in terms of academic achievement. Students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds, primarily minority, within urban K12 school districts are struggling to meet the academic expectations in the United States. The authors seek to provide information that informs educators and policy makers on the history of the school system, educational policy and curriculum, and strategies and solutions that assist in closing the achievement gap for students of diverse backgrounds.
Unpacking Teachers' Growth in Culturally Responsive Teaching Differentiating for English Learners
Authors: Díaz Eva I. , Worthen Diana Gonzales , Williams Janet Penner
Published: December 2022

The mission of this chapter is two-fold. First, it reports on a mixed-methods study examining teachers' instructional growth, including challenges and perceived influences, while pursuing CRT with differentiation for English learners within their English-medium classrooms as they participated in a sustained professional development program. Second, it discusses challenges and opportunities in empowering teachers to provide equitable educational opportunities for English learners. Results indicated that teachers' instructional practices became more relational, and their instructional change was statistically significant and practically meaningful in all standards of effective pedagogy measured. Instructional changes were most noticeable in the contextualization of learning and joint-productive activity. The most challenging practice was using native languages as instructional resources. Teachers reported English-only school policies and other institutional factors as influential factors.
Perspectives on Diversity and Inclusion in Education
Authors: Yongo Cyd W. Nzyoka
Published: December 2022

Diversity and inclusion are hot button topics globally, often conjuring up all manner of mixed emotions. The chapter explores the background of D&I through an analysis of the Brown v Board of Education of Topeka case of 1954, a landmark US Supreme Court ruling against racial and ethnic segregation in public schools. This exposed the ills of a non-inclusive society and the impact it presented to those who were marginalized, hence reinforcing the need for promoting diversity and inclusion to ensure more harmony among all types of people. Discussions also aim at understanding D&I in education, while exploring the various needs of students to ensure effective learning. The author also explores the benefits of D&I as well as considerations in teaching diverse learners. The chapter highlights trends touching on D&I such as hair discrimination and the LGBTQ group. Then it concludes with recommendations that all stakeholders may utilize for the purposes of increasing proficiency in D&I education that can be attained through education advancement in relevant programs.
COVID-19 and SME Adoption of Social Media in Developing Economies in Africa
Authors: Gwala Ranson Sifiso , Mashau Pfano
Published: December 2022

This chapter explores how COVID-19 negatively impacted society and small-medium enterprises (SMEs) and how social media marketing, promoting, and influencing played a role in rescuing and resuscitating some of the SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter investigates the use of social media during the hard lockdown due to mitigation measures of COVID-19. It uses a desktop review of literature to qualitatively identify themes. The study aim was to understand how social media could be used by SMEs to improve and grow SMEs. The study identified five key themes during COVID-19, being social media adoption, employees layoffs, falling customer demand, government support, and online business adoption. The social media influencing is being adopted as part of social media marketing, and one of its positives is that it is affordable. The richness of data and literature could lead to the development of a conceptual framework for the use of social media by SMEs in Africa.
Efficacy of Social Media Usage on the Performance of SMEs in the Fashion Industry
Authors: Barkha  , Aggarwal Deepanshi
Published: December 2022

The fashion industry has become more globally competitive as a result of increased globalisation. The recent introduction of new technologies has presented opportunities as well as obstacles for the fashion industry, especially for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) whose low resources may make it difficult for them to adopt new technology. But, with the rise of social media, fashion SMEs have new opportunities that can help them become more visible and boost their sales. Accordingly, the present study attempts to analyse the efficacy of social media usage on the performance of SMEs in fashion industry. The study will use both qualitative and quantitative approach to examine the social media usage in terms of reach, richness, affiliation, and influence on SMEs performance. Data will be collected from 400 SMEs in Delhi through questionnaire and their respective social media account (Facebook). Results of the study show that most of the small and medium-sized enterprises used social media for business purpose, and their performance is improved after using social media.
Exploring Social Media Adoption and SME Performance
Authors: Wadhwa Riya , Bansal Rohit , Chakir Aziza , Katyal Reena
Published: December 2022

Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are businesses that nourish revenues, assets, or number of employees below an unquestionable threshold. SMEs are the great altruist in developing the economy by employing vast numbers of people and helping in configuration through innovation as well as leading in global development of an economy. In emerging of market economies, SMEs are the engine of economic development because of their great entrepreneurial spirit. These will help to make an enterprise successful as well as bring new innovations for everyone. These days, SME entrepreneurs are coddling themselves on social media for amplifying their achievement, so this chapter will traverse the acquisition of social media and how the performance of SMEs is going while adopting these sites. Associating with these sites are helping people in linking with the world. Roles and challenges will also be narrated in this chapter.
An Evaluation on Educational Buildings Designed With the Passive House Approach
Authors: Coşkun Ayşenur , Selçuk Semra Arslan
Published: December 2022

Since the built environments are responsible for the increasing energy consumption, environmental pollution, and global warming, developing energy-efficient design approaches in architecture is inevitable. The ‘passive house' concept is one of these approaches that are effectively and successfully applied in residences. Recently, these standards have been applied to different building types like office buildings, hospitals, and schools. Schools designed with this approach have found a place in the literature not only on energy efficiency but also with many positive effects on students/teachers. In this chapter, first, the concept of a passive house is emphasized, and the design approach providing the standards is included. Then, the design principles and standards of passive schools are discussed. In the case study part, these criteria are examined over three school projects built in Europe and USA, energy-efficient design approaches are compared, and the results are evaluated. Results show that this approach allows for energy savings of around 75% compared to average new school buildings.
The Role of Open Educational Resources (OERs) in the Future of Online Learning
Authors: Ateş-Çobanoğlu Alev
Published: December 2022

Open education ecosystem is dynamic in its nature and has an ever-growing body of educational resources with Open Educational Resources (OERs). OERs offer great opportunities for the learners freely access to digital content which accommodate their learning needs and can help to fill the inequality gap in education worldwide. This chapter starts with the brief history of OERs, the philosophy of open education, the openness movement which entails the concept of OERs; it continues with current and future role of OERs for the learners and teachers who experience learning and teaching in online learning environments. The motives for facilitating OERs and design criteria for ensuring quality are discussed. Moreover, current debate on the sustainability, discoverability and credibility issues for OERs and the future of online learning are handled considering recent studies on the factors related to development and adoption of OERs by the teachers and academics. Main objective of this chapter is to interpret the potential and challenges of OERs in shaping the future of online learning.
Medium-term oncological outcomes of intermediate-risk prostate cancer treated with HIFU or cryotherapy. A single center 10-year experience
Authors: Dias Nuno , Rodriguez-Sanchez Lara , Colandrea Gianmarco , Macek Petr , Cathelineau Xavier
Published: December 2022

Objectives: Focal therapies (FTs) are promising techniques for the treatment of localized prostate cancer. We assessed the medium-term oncological outcomes of intermediate-risk prostate cancer (PCa) treated with HIFU or cryotherapy. Materials and methods: One-hundred and fifty consecutive patients with intermediate-risk PCa, treated between 2009 and 2018 at a single center were included. Primary study outcome was failure-free survival (FFS), defined as absence of additional treatment, systemic progression or prostate cancer related death. Results: Thirty-seven (25%) patients underwent cryotherapy and 113 (75%) HIFU. Median age was 69 (IQR 62-72) years, with 36 (24%) presenting palpable disease on rectal examination, and median total PSA of 7.85 (IQR 5.75-10.62) ng/mL. Patients were followed for a median of 61 (IQR 48-82) months. FFS at 2 and 4 years was of 75.6% and 53.6%, respectively. Survival from whole gland or systematic treatment at 2 and 4 years was of 78.9% and 53.9%, respectively. Patients with FFS presented lower total PSA nadir (1.89 vs 3.25 ng/mL, p < 0.001), higher % PSA reduction at 3 months (66.1% vs 49.3%, p < 0.001), and at nadir (75.5% vs 55.8%, p < 0.001). Other characteristics such has the treatment modality, age, prostate size, initial total PSA, cT stage, International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP), tumor location and biopsy results by region did not differ between patients failing and not failing FT. Complications were uncommon (13%), with only onr (1%) patient having Clavien-Dindo grade > II. No deaths due to treatment were registered. Conclusions: At medium-term, FTs for intermediate-risk PCa presented good oncological results, with an excellent safety profile.
Is there a difference in fecal microbiota of children with and without voiding dysfunction?
Authors: Akarken Ilker , Tarhan Hüseyin , Şener Gamze , Deliktas Hasan , Cengiz Nurcan , Şahin Hayrettin
Published: December 2022

Objective: Voiding dysfunction (VD), which encompasses many urinary symptoms that are not caused by neurological or anatomical anomalies, is a frequently encountered functional urinary bladder disorder in children. It was reported that there was an association between lower urinary tract symptoms and fecal microbiota in adult patients. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the differences in fecal microbiota between children with or without VD. Methods: Two patient groups, including 30 patients, were compared. Group 1 included patients with VD, while Group 2 consisted of healthy children. All study participants were asked to fill lower urinary tract and voiding dysfunction symptom score forms with the assistance of their parents. Subsequently, uroflowmetry tests and postvoiding residual urine measurements were performed. Fresh stool samples were collected from all children and analyzed by polymerase chain reaction. General bacterial load and presence of Roseburia intestinalis, Clostridium difficile, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Bacteroides clarus were tested. Results: The two groups were significantly different regarding general bacterial load; the presence of Fusobacterium nucleatum. Clostridium difficile and Bacteroides clarus was not detected in the fresh stool samples of the patients in Group 2; the counts of Roseburia intestinalis were less in Group 1 than in Group 2, although there was no statistically significant difference. There was a negative correlation between symptom scores, general bacterial load, and the presence of Fusobacterium nucleatum. However, there was no correlation between the presence of Roseburia intestinalis and symptom scores. Conclusions: There is a potential relationship between VD and a deviation in the fecal microbiota in the pediatric population.
Do preoperative leukocyte and neutrophil levels have a predictive value on the complications of hypospadias repair in children?
Authors: Karagözlü Akgül Ahsen , Abidoğlu Sadık , Bakır Ayten Ceren , Adalı Embiye , Kıyan Gürsu , Tuğtepe Halil
Published: December 2022

Objective: Surgeons observed that the outcomes after the same repair technique in the same type of hypospadias performed by the same surgeon may be different. There may be some indeterminate factors that influence the results such as subclinical inflammation. Our study evaluated the predictor values of inflammatory hematologic parameters on the complications after hypospadias repair. Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed the data of patients who underwent hypospadias repair between January 2016 and January 2019 in our clinic. Age at surgery, hypospadias type, repair technique, complications were recorded. Patients who underwent Snodgrass repair by a single surgeon were included in the study while patients who underwent different techniques or procedures that were performed by other surgeons were excluded. The levels of white blood cell, neutrophil, lymphocyte, platelet and monocyte, the mean platelet volumes were recorded from blood test that were performed one day before surgery. Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), plateletlymphocyte ratio (PLR), and other parameters were analyzed to determine their relationship with complications after hypospadias surgery. Results: WBC and neutrophil levels were statistically higher in patients with complications (p = 0.006 and 0.017 respectively). Other hematological parameters were not different between patients with or without complications. To predict the complications, the WBC cutoff was 9500/mm3, the neutrophil cutoff was 3000/mm3. Conclusions: WBC and neutrophil values were statistically significant in predicting the complications after Snodgrass repair in patients with hypospadias. Our result determined no relation between complications and NLR, PLR.
Male infertility, what Mobile Health Applications “know”: quality analysis and adherence to European Association of Urology Guidelines
Authors: Fusco Giovanni Maria , Cirillo Luigi , Abate Marco , Morra Simone , Morgera Vincenzo , Barone Biagio , Crocetto Felice , Cacace Gianluigi , Di Bello Francesco , Spirito Lorenzo , Manfredi Celeste , Arcaniolo Davide , Palmieri Alessandro , Imbimbo Ciro , Mirone Vincenzo , Napolitano Luigi
Published: December 2022

Introduction: Male infertility (MI) is one of the most important worrying topics for the fertile age population. Nowadays, several mobile health applications (MHAs) have been developed to help and assist patients suffering from male infertility (MI), but their quality and adherence to the guidelines is not solved issue yet. Materials and methods: On 2nd July 2022, an observational cross-sectional descriptive study of all MHAs on male infertility was conducted: a search on both the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store was performed. Our group reviewed all MHAs, evaluating the quality, using Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS), and the adherence to European Association of Urology guidelines, with a special tool created for this manuscript. Results: In the final analysis we included 10 MHAs: 20% (n = 2) from the iTunes App Store and 80% (n = 8) from the Google Play Store. Across the sample, 80% (n = 8) of the apps provided general information on MI, 60% (n = 6) focused on diagnosis and 50% (n = 5) focused on treatment options, respectively. According to MARS tool, the mean score was 2.18 (0.78), 3.78 (0.36), 3.0 (0.53), 3.19 (0.45), 2.18 (0.54) for Engagement, Functionality, Aesthetic, Information and Subjective quality, respectively. According to EAU Adherence Score, the highest score was reported by “Infertilità” with 12/15 points while the lowest score was reported by “Fertility Diet Guide”, 0/15 points. Conclusions: Nowadays, MHAs present in the market are not a reliable source of information on MI. An ideal MHAs should be based on scientific evidence, user friendly, respecting privacy and security laws, making patients feel capable and confident to change personal behavior or attitudes.
Chitosan adhesives with sub-micron structures for photochemical tissue bonding
Authors: Frost Samuel J. , Houang Jessica , Hook James M. , Lauto Antonio
Published: December 2022

We describe a method for fabricating biocompatible chitosan-based adhesives with sub-micron structures to enhance tissue bonding. This procedure avoids coating and chemical modification of structures and requires a simple drop-casting step for the adhesive film formation. Chitosan thin films (27±3 μm) were fabricated with sub-micron pillars (rectangular cuboid with height ∼150 nm, square dimension ∼1 μm and pitch ∼2 μm) or holes (diameter ~500 nm or ~1 μm, depth ~100 or 400 nm, pitch of 1 or 2 μm). Polydimethylsiloxane moulds were used as negative templates for the adhesive solution that was cast and then allowed to dry to form thin films. These were applied on bisected rectangular strips of small sheep intestine and photochemically bonded by a green laser (λ= 532 nm, irradiance ∼110 J/cm2). The tissue repair was subsequently measured using a computer-interfaced tensiometer. The mould sub-micron structures were reproduced in the chitosan adhesive with high fidelity. The adhesive with pillars achieved the highest bonding strength (17.1±1.2 kPa) when compared to the adhesive with holes (13.0±1.3 kPa, p<0.0001, one-way ANOVA, n=15). The production of chitosan films with patterned pillars or holes in the sub-micron range was demonstrated, using a polydimethylsiloxane mould and a single drop-casting step. This technique is potentially scalable to produce adhesives of larger surface areas.