bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Label-Free Capacitive Biosensor for Detection of Cryptosporidium
Authors: Luka George , Samiei Ehsan , Dehghani Soroush , Johnson Thomas , Najjaran Homayoun , Hoorfar Mina
Published: January 2019

Cryptosporidium, an intestinal protozoan pathogen, is one of the leading causes of diarrhea in healthy adults and death in children. Detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts has become a high priority to prevent potential outbreaks. In this paper, a label-free interdigitated-based capacitive biosensor has been introduced for the detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts in water samples. Specific anti-Cryptosporidium monoclonal antibodies (IgG3) were covalently immobilized onto interdigitated gold electrodes as the capture probes, and bovine serum albumin was used to avoid non-specific adsorption. The immobilization of the antibodies was confirmed by measuring the change in the contact angle. The detection was achieved by measuring the relative change in the capacitive/dielectric properties due to the formation of Cryptosporidium-antibody complex. The biosensor has been tested for different concentrations of Cryptosporidium. The results show that the biosensor developed can accurately distinguish different numbers of captured cells and densities on the surface of the biosensor. The number of Cryptosporidium oocysts captured on the electrode surface was confirmed using a fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) immunofluorescence assay. The response from the developed biosensor has been mainly dependent on the concentration of Cryptosporidium under optimized conditions. The biosensor showed a linear detection range between 15 and 153 cells/mm2 and a detection limit of 40 cells/mm2. The label-free capacitive biosensor developed has a great potential for detecting Cryptosporidium in environmental water samples. Furthermore, under optimized conditions, this label-free biosensor can be extended for detection of other biomarkers for biomedical and environmental analyses.
Evaluation of Machine Learning Approaches to Predict Soil Organic Matter and pH Using vis-NIR Spectra
Authors: Yang Meihua , Xu Dongyun , Chen Songchao , Li Hongyi , Shi Zhou
Published: January 2019

Soil organic matter (SOM) and pH are essential soil fertility indictors of paddy soil in the middle-lower Yangtze Plain. Rapid, non-destructive and accurate determination of SOM and pH is vital to preventing soil degradation caused by inappropriate land management practices. Visible-near infrared (vis-NIR) spectroscopy with multivariate calibration can be used to effectively estimate soil properties. In this study, 523 soil samples were collected from paddy fields in the Yangtze Plain, China. Four machine learning approaches—partial least squares regression (PLSR), least squares-support vector machines (LS-SVM), extreme learning machines (ELM) and the Cubist regression model (Cubist)—were used to compare the prediction accuracy based on vis-NIR full bands and bands reduced using the genetic algorithm (GA). The coefficient of determination (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), and ratio of performance to inter-quartile distance (RPIQ) were used to assess the prediction accuracy. The ELM with GA reduced bands was the best model for SOM (SOM: R2 = 0.81, RMSE = 5.17, RPIQ = 2.87) and pH (R2 = 0.76, RMSE = 0.43, RPIQ = 2.15). The performance of the LS-SVM for pH prediction did not differ significantly between the model with GA (R2 = 0.75, RMSE = 0.44, RPIQ = 2.08) and without GA (R2 = 0.74, RMSE = 0.45, RPIQ = 2.07). Although a slight increase was observed when ELM were used for prediction of SOM and pH using reduced bands (SOM: R2 = 0.81, RMSE = 5.17, RPIQ = 2.87; pH: R2 = 0.76, RMSE = 0.43, RPIQ = 2.15) compared with full bands (R2 = 0.81, RMSE = 5.18, RPIQ = 2.83; pH: R2 = 0.76, RMSE = 0.45, RPIQ = 2.07), the number of wavelengths was greatly reduced (SOM: 201 to 44; pH: 201 to 32). Thus, the ELM coupled with reduced bands by GA is recommended for prediction of properties of paddy soil (SOM and pH) in the middle-lower Yangtze Plain.
The Reliability and Validity of the Loadsol® under Various Walking and Running Conditions
Authors: Renner Kristen E. , Williams DS Blaise , Queen Robin M.
Published: January 2019

The assessment of loading during walking and running has historically been limited to data collection in laboratory settings or with devices that require a computer connection. This study aims to determine if the loadsol®—a single sensor wireless insole—is a valid and reliable method of assessing force. Thirty (17 male and 13 female) recreationally active individuals were recruited for a two visit study where they walked (1.3 m/s) and ran (3.0 and 3.5 m/s) at a 0%, 10% incline, and 10% decline, with the visits approximately one week apart. Ground reaction force data was collected on an instrumented treadmill (1440 Hz) and with the loadsol® (100 Hz). Ten individuals completed the day 1 protocol with a newer 200 Hz loadsol®. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC3,k) were used to assess validity and reliability and Bland–Altman plots were generated to better understand loadsol® validity. Across conditions, the peak force ICCs ranged from 0.78 to 0.97, which increased to 0.84–0.99 with the 200 Hz insoles. Similarly, the loading rate ICCs improved from 0.61 to 0.97 to 0.80–0.96 and impulse improved from 0.61 to 0.97 to 0.90–0.97. The 200 Hz insoles may be needed for loading rate and impulse in running. For both walking and running, the loadsol® has excellent between-day reliability (>0.76).
Optimizing Movement for Maximizing Lifetime of Mobile Sensors for Covering Targets on a Line
Authors: Huang Peihuang , Zhu Wenxing , Guo Longkun
Published: January 2019

Given a set of sensors distributed on the plane and a set of Point of Interests (POIs) on a line segment, a primary task of the mobile wireless sensor network is to schedule covering the POIs by the sensors, such that each POI is monitored by at least one sensor. For balancing the energy consumption, we study the min-max line barrier target coverage (LBTC) problem which aims to minimize the maximum movement of the sensors from their original positions to their final positions at which the coverage is composed. We first proved that when the radius of the sensors are non-uniform integers, even 1-dimensional LBTC (1D-LBTC), a special case of LBTC in which the sensors are distributed on the line segment instead of the plane, is NP -hard. The hardness result is interesting, since the continuous version of LBTC to cover a given line segment instead of the POIs is known polynomial solvable. Then we present an exact algorithm for LBTC with uniform radius and sensors distributed on the plane, via solving the decision version of LBTC. We argue that our algorithm runs in time O ( n 2 log n ) and produces an optimal solution to LBTC. The time complexity compares favorably to the state-of-art runtime O ( n 3 log n ) of the continuous version which aims to cover a line barrier instead of the targets. Last but not the least, we carry out numerical experiments to evaluate the practical performance of the algorithms, which demonstrates a practical runtime gain comparing with an optimal algorithm based on integer linear programming.
Experiences and Strategies of Young, Low-Income, African-American Men and Families Who Navigate Violent Neighborhoods and Low-Performing Schools
Authors: Fitzgerald Megan E. , Miles Annette D. , Ledbetter Sislena
Published: January 2019

Violent neighborhoods and low-performing schools continue to devastate young, low-income, African-American men and their families, despite individual and family use of kin and peer network navigation strategies. To learn more, interviews were conducted with 40 young African-American men, ages 18 to 22, from Baltimore City enrolled in a general equivalency diploma (GED) and job training program, and analyzed with modified grounded theory. Young men identified unsafe neighborhoods, chaotic schools, and disengaged teaching. Young men used safety and success strategies such as avoiding trouble and selecting positive peers to navigate unsafe environments. African-American families utilized kin network strategies such as messaging and modeling success, and mobilization for safety. Limits of unrecognized and unsupported strategies were related to: mobilization, limited educational partnership, and disproportionate family loss. Results indicate the continued urgent need for: (1) targeted violence reduction in high-violence neighborhoods, (2) calm and effective learning environments, (3) higher ratios of teachers to students to reduce chaos and improve learning, and (4) genuine teacher partnerships with families to improve access to positive role models, academic supports, and positive peer network development.
Acknowledgement to Reviewers of Social Sciences in 2018
Authors: Social Sciences Editorial Office
Published: January 2019

Rigorous peer-review is the corner-stone of high-quality academic publishing [...]
Effects of Gay-Themed Advertising among Young Heterosexual Adults from U.S. and South Korea
Authors: Um Namhyun , Kim Dong Hoo
Published: January 2019

Little research has been conducted to explain the effects of gay-themed advertising in a cross-cultural context. Such research has been particularly scarce in South Korea. This study is designed to investigate the effects of cultural orientation, gender, and types of gay-themed advertising in evaluation of gay male and female lesbian print ads. The study results indicate that Korean college students (i.e., collectivists) had lower tolerance of homosexuality than did U.S. college students (i.e., individualists). The study also finds that gender-role beliefs lead males to have lower tolerance of homosexuality. However, gender did not have statistically significant impacts on advertising and brand evaluation. Lastly, the study also found that lesbian imagery print ads could lead to greater tolerance of homosexuality and more favorable evaluations of the advertising and brand than could gay male imagery print ads. The current study sheds some light on the characteristics of U.S. consumers and Korean consumers on tolerance of homosexuality and gay-themed ads. Limitations and areas for further research are discussed.
Trainee Teachers’ Perceptions on Cyberbullying in Educational Contexts
Authors: Yot-Domínguez Carmen , Guzmán Franco María Dolores , Duarte Hueros Ana
Published: January 2019

This paper analyzes the perceptions of teachers in training regarding cyberbullying in schools. The objectives of the study were: to ascertain their perceptions regarding their concern and their commitment to cyberbullying, their agreement with the measures to address it in educational contexts, as well as the assessment of their capabilities to act and the training they have received and they would like to receive; to determine if the perceptions differ according to gender, age and degree pursued and if there are relationships between the perceptions; and, to define pre-service teachers’ profiles based on perceptions. With a survey research design, 408 students from different undergraduate and graduate education-related degree programs at Spanish public universities participated. Findings highlight the coexistence of three different teacher in training profiles. All profiles exhibit a high level of concern and recognize cyberbullying as a problem. They strongly agree with all the proposed prevention and management measures. Two of the three profiles perceive themselves as highly confident and willing to respond. On the contrary, participants in the third profile do not feel confident enough to act and consider their training insufficient, coinciding with the second profile. The need to approach this issue in the initial training of future education professionals is a main conclusion.
The Multi-Pattern Approach for Systematic Analysis of Transition Pathways
Authors: De Haan Fjalar , Rogers Briony
Published: January 2019

Pathways have become a central notion in various areas of research, amongst which are the studies of transitions to sustainability. Though various typologies and concepts are available, a framework for systematic analysis of transition pathways is lacking. We present the Multi-Pattern Approach (MPA) to fill this lacuna and provide a step-by-step manual for its application. The MPA addresses a range of traditional challenges of transitions’ pathway analysis, such as temporal and functional system demarcation and the unravelling of complex, interrelated systemic storylines. The approach provides an oft-called for rigour which allows a diagrammatic and formulaic representation of transitions’ pathways. Because of these qualities, the approach allows systematic cross-case comparison and provides a bridge between narrative-based and computational transitions research. The approach is demonstrated with an in-depth empirical case study of water management in Melbourne, Australia over the last 180 years. The article first presents a high-level mapping of the system’s evolution over time and a detailed analysis of the uptake and phasing out of specific servicing technologies and practices.
The Research Topics on E-Grocery: Trends and Existing Gaps
Authors: Martín Juan Carlos , Pagliara Francesca , Román Concepción
Published: January 2019

The aim of this paper is to analyse through a systematic literature review the main topics studied on a relatively new concept: e-grocery. This study examines the existing literature through the use of some interactive Scopus applications with the goal to provide: (1) a better understanding of the main topics that have been analysed up to now; (2) the principal methodologies that have been used; and (3) the challenges that still exist as well as literature gaps. First, we provide a summary of what has been previously researched in the field, analysing the trends regarding time, sources, authors, countries and document types. Then, tokenization, and a natural language process (NLP) that applies the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) method, is used to extract the main topics in the field. We obtain that the research topics in the discipline have always been linked with technological changes, innovation and diffusion, and environmental effects have been a cornerstone since the origin of the field. In comparison with other fields in transport economics, we notice that experimental design and choice modelling are not very popular. As a step towards future research, we propose an integrative framework for e-grocery consumer behaviour that starts from the Engel–Kollat–Blackwell (EKB) model.
Does Whistleblowing Work for Air Pollution Control in China? A Study Based on Three-party Evolutionary Game Model under Incomplete Information
Authors: Yang Yunpeng , Yang Weixin
Published: January 2019

During China’s air pollution campaign, whistleblowing has become an important way for the central government to discover local environmental issues. The three parties involved in whistleblowing are: the central government environmental protection departments, the local government officials, and the whistleblowers. Based on these players, this paper has constructed an Evolutionary Game Model under incomplete information and introduced the expected return as well as replicator dynamics equations of various game agents based on analysis of the game agents, assumptions, and payoff functions of the model in order to study the strategic dynamic trend and stability of the evolutionary game model. Furthermore, this paper has conducted simulation experiments on the evolution of game agents’ behaviors by combining the constraints and replicator dynamics equations. The conclusions are: the central environmental protection departments are able to effectively improve the environmental awareness of local government officials by measures such as strengthening punishment on local governments that do not pay attention to pollution issues and lowering the cost of whistleblowing, thus nurturing a good governance and virtuous circle among the central environmental protection departments, local government officials, and whistleblowers. Based on the study above, this paper has provided policy recommendations in the conclusion.
On the Geometry of No-Boundary Instantons in Loop Quantum Cosmology
Authors: Brahma Suddhasattwa , Yeom Dong-han
Published: January 2019

We study the geometry of Euclidean instantons in loop quantum cosmology (LQC) such as those relevant for the no-boundary proposal. Confining ourselves to the simplest case of a cosmological constant in minisuperspace cosmologies, we analyze solutions of the semiclassical (Euclidean) path integral in LQC. We find that the geometry of LQC instantons have the peculiar feature of an infinite tail which distinguishes them from Einstein gravity. Moreover, due to quantum-geometry corrections, the small-a behaviour of these instantons seem to naturally favor a closing-off of the geometry in a regular fashion, as was originally proposed for the no-boundary wavefunction.
The Microtubule-Associated Innate Immune Sensor GEF-H1 Does Not Influence Mouse Norovirus Replication in Murine Macrophages
Authors: Fritzlar Svenja , White Peter A. , Mackenzie Jason M.
Published: January 2019

Norovirus is an acute infection of the gastrointestinal tract causing rapid induction of vomiting and diarrhoea. The infection is sensed and controlled by the innate immune system, particularly by the RNA helicase MDA-5 and type I and III interferons (IFNs). We have observed that intracellular replication of murine norovirus (MNV) occurs in membranous clusters proximal to the microtubule organising centre, a localisation dependent on intact microtubules. Recently, it was shown that the host protein guanine nucleotide exchange factor-H1 (GEF-H1) is a microtubule-associated innate immune sensor that activates interferon Regulatory Factor 3 to induce the production of type I IFNs. Thus, we interrogated the potential role of GEF-H1 in controlling MNV infections. We observed that GEF-H1 was recruited to the MNV replication complex; however RNAi-mediated suppression of GEF-H1 did not outwardly affect replication. We furthered our studies to investigate the impact of GEF-H1 on MNV innate detection and observed that GEF-H1 did not contribute to type I IFN induction during MNV infection or influenza virus infection but did result in a small reduction of interferon–β (IFNβ) during West Nile virus infection. Intriguingly, we discovered an interaction of GEF-H1 with the viral MNV non-structural protein 3 (NS3), an interaction that altered the location of GEF-H1 within the cell and prevented the formation of GEF-H1-induced microtubule fibres. Thus, our results indicate that GEF-H1 does not contribute significantly to the innate immune sensing of MNV, although its function may be modulated via interaction with the viral NS3 protein.
Mouse Models Reveal Role of T-Cytotoxic and T-Reg Cells in Immune Response to Influenza: Implications for Vaccine Design
Authors: Sell Stewart , McKinstry Karl Kai , Strutt Tara M.
Published: January 2019

Immunopathologic examination of the lungs of mouse models of experimental influenza virus infection provides new insights into the immune response in this disease. First, there is rapidly developing perivascular and peribronchial infiltration of the lung with T-cells. This is followed by invasion of T-cells into the bronchiolar epithelium, and separation of epithelial cells from each other and from the basement membrane leading to defoliation of the bronchial epithelium. The intraepithelial reaction may involve either CD8 or CD4 T-cytotoxic cells and is analogous to a viral exanthema of the skin, such as measles and smallpox, which occur when the immune response against these infections is activated and the infected cells are attacked by T-cytotoxic cells. Then there is formation of B-cell follicles adjacent to bronchi, i.e., induced bronchial associated lymphoid tissue (iBALT). iBALT reacts like the cortex of a lymph node and is a site for a local immune response not only to the original viral infection, but also related viral infections (heterologous immunity). Proliferation of Type II pneumocytes and/or terminal bronchial epithelial cells may extend into the adjacent lung leading to large zones filled with tumor-like epithelial cells. The effective killing of influenza virus infected epithelial cells by T-cytotoxic cells and induction of iBALT suggests that adding the induction of these components might greatly increase the efficacy of influenza vaccination.
Recovery of Differential Equations from Impulse Response Time Series Data for Model Identification and Feature Extraction
Authors: Stender Merten , Oberst Sebastian , Hoffmann Norbert
Published: January 2019

Time recordings of impulse-type oscillation responses are short and highly transient. These characteristics may complicate the usage of classical spectral signal processing techniques for (a) describing the dynamics and (b) deriving discriminative features from the data. However, common model identification and validation techniques mostly rely on steady-state recordings, characteristic spectral properties and non-transient behavior. In this work, a recent method, which allows reconstructing differential equations from time series data, is extended for higher degrees of automation. With special focus on short and strongly damped oscillations, an optimization procedure is proposed that fine-tunes the reconstructed dynamical models with respect to model simplicity and error reduction. This framework is analyzed with particular focus on the amount of information available to the reconstruction, noise contamination and nonlinearities contained in the time series input. Using the example of a mechanical oscillator, we illustrate how the optimized reconstruction method can be used to identify a suitable model and how to extract features from uni-variate and multivariate time series recordings in an engineering-compliant environment. Moreover, the determined minimal models allow for identifying the qualitative nature of the underlying dynamical systems as well as testing for the degree and strength of nonlinearity. The reconstructed differential equations would then be potentially available for classical numerical studies, such as bifurcation analysis. These results represent a physically interpretable enhancement of data-driven modeling approaches in structural dynamics.
Cancelling Flash Illusory Line Motion by Cancelling the Attentional Gradient and a Consideration of Consciousness
Authors: McGuire Katie , Pinny Amanda , Hamm Jeff P.
Published: January 2019

Illusory line motion (ILM) refers to the perception of motion in a line that is, in fact, presented in full at one time. One form of this illusion (flashILM) occurs when the line is presented between two objects following a brief luminance change in one of them and flashILM is thought to result from exogenous attention being captured by the flash. Exogenous attention fades with increasing delays, which predicts that flashILM should show a similar temporal pattern. Exogenous attention appears to follow flashILM to become more or less equally distributed along the line.The current study examines flashILM in order to test these predictions derived from the attentional explanation for flashILM and the results were consistent with them. The discussion then concludes with an exploratory analysis approach concerning states of consciousness and decision making and suggests a possible role for attention.
Comparison of Optimal Hedging Policies for Hydropower Reservoir System Operation
Authors: Tayebiyan Aida , Mohammad Thamer Ahmad , Al-Ansari Nadhir , Malakootian Mohammad
Published: January 2019

Reservoir operation rules play an important role in regions economic development. Meanwhile, hedging policies are mostly applied for municipal, industrial, and irrigation water supplies from reservoirs and it is less used for reservoir operation for hydropower generation. The concept of hedging and rationing factors can be used to maintain the water in a reservoir for the sake of increasing water storage and water head for future use. However, water storage and head are the key factors in operation of reservoir systems for hydropower generation. This study investigates the applicability of seven competing hedging policies including four customary forms of hedging (1PHP, 2PHP, 3PHP, DHP) and three new forms of hedging rules (SOPHP, BSOPHP, SHPHP) for reservoir operation for hydropower generation. The models were constructed in MATLAB R2011b based on the characteristics of the Batang Padang hydropower reservoir system, Malaysia. In order to maximize the output of power generation in operational periods (2003–2009), three optimization algorithms namely particle swarm optimization (PSO), genetic algorithm (GA), and hybrid PSO-GA were linked to one of the constructed model (1PHP as a test) to find the most effective algorithm. Since the results demonstrated the superiority of the hybrid PSO-GA algorithm compared to either PSO or GA, the hybrid PSO-GA were linked to each constructed model in order to find the optimal decision variables of each model. The proposed methodology was validated using monthly data from 2010–2012. The results showed that there are no significant difference between the output of monthly mean power generation during 2003–2009 and 2010–2012.The results declared that by applying the proposed policies, the output of power generation could increase by 13% with respect to the historical management. Moreover, the discrepancies between mean power generations from highest to lowest months were reduced from 49 MW to 26 MW, which is almost half. This means that hedging policies could efficiently distribute the water-supply and power-supply in the operational period and increase the stability of the system. Among the studied hedging policies, SHPHP is the most convenient policy for hydropower reservoir operation and gave the best result.
A Newly Developed Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Imagery Based Technology for Field Measurement of Water Level
Authors: Gao Ang , Wu Shiqiang , Wang Fangfang , Wu Xiufeng , Xu Peng , Yu Lei , Zhu Senlin
Published: January 2019

Field measurement of water level is important for water conservancy project operation and hydrological forecasting. In this study, we proposed a new measuring technique by integrating the advantages of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry and image recognition technology. Firstly, the imagery of water fluctuation process was captured by an UAV airborne camera, and water surface line in the imagery was recognized and extracted using image recognition technology. Subsequently, successive water levels at a measuring section were calculated by parameter calibration. Statistical parameters of water levels, such as maximum, average, and minimum values during the capturing period were also calculated. Additionally, we introduced a correction method to offset the error caused by UAV drift. The newly proposed method was tested in field measurement for Miaowei hydropower station, China, and the results showed that the method is reliable and adoptable.
Characteristics of Dew Formation in the Semi-Arid Loess Plateau of Central Shaanxi Province, China
Authors: Jia Zhifeng , Wang Zhi , Wang Hao
Published: January 2019

Compared to rain, dew is an important supplementary source of water for the survival of certain plants and animals in drylands. However, the hydrology of dew has not yet been fully investigated due to difficulties in measuring the amount and duration of it. In this study, a 3-year in-situ monitoring experiment was conducted from 2014 to 2016 in the semi-arid Sanyuan County, Shaanxi Province of China, using a leaf wetness sensor (LWS) and four associated meteorological instruments. Results showed that the average annual total dewfall was 32.8 mm with a daily maximum of 0.88 mm. The majority of daily dew occurred in the night from 18:00 to 8:00 with the maximum condensation rate occurring at around 4:00. The maximum dew residence time was about 18 h/day on the dew days in all seasons. However, the actual dew production period was about 14 h in spring (March–May), autumn (September–November), and winter (December–February), and only 11 h in summer (June–August). The maximum intensity and amount of dew always occurred in autumn (with an average amount of 12.2 mm or 37% of the annual total), followed closely by spring (11.4 mm, 35%), with much less in summer (6.6 mm, 20%) and winter (2.6 mm, 8%). The annual dew distribution by months showed a double crest variation, with two peaks in April–May and October–November, and two valleys in January–February and July. Comparatively, annual dewfall is only about 1/18th of the rainfall in this region, but the number of dew days (224 days, or 61% of year) is 2.6 times that of rain days (87 days, 24%), making dew a critical supplementary source of water for mitigating dry periods and supporting native plants and animals. Rain and dew are highly complementary as dew occurs in cloudless nights while the rain occurs in different and on much fewer occasions in the region. The dew amount was highly and positively correlated to the relative humidity of the air above the threshold of 81% (r = 0.78, p < 0.01), negatively correlated to the difference between air temperature Ta and dewpoint Td, when (Ta − Td) is less than 4 °C (r = −0.66, p < 0.01), and weakly correlated to wind speed (0.2 to 2 m·s−1), wind direction, surface soil moisture, and temperature. In the Sanyuan region, two general wind directions, 30°–90°and 210°–270°, were more favorable for the formation of dew.
DETERMINING MARKET CONCENTRATION
Authors: Ginevičius Romualdas
Published: January 2019

One of the major problems associated with market concentration is its quantitative evaluation. In fact, a concept of the concentration curve is used in almost every case.

The suggested measures may be classified as discrete or accumulative values. All of them are of limited accuracy because the first ones take into account only a part of the concentration curve, while the second values cannot adequately describe the situation in the market.

The accuracy of the above measures can be determined based on the total difference in the relationship between the carriers of particular attributes in the market and the value calculated for them by the market concentration formula based on the suggested measure. The above measure yields the best result in determining the total difference.
PREDICTING ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT THROUGH ORGANIZATION CULTURE: A STUDY OF AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY IN INDIA
Authors: Singh Kavita
Published: January 2019

The extent to which the employees of an organization feel committed to their organization can be easily gathered from the strength of its culture. This points out that even though the culture is holistic, it can be strengthened by commitment. Culture can be managed by managing the employees of the organization and also by leader's actions and interventions and these are also understood as the targets of management of commitment. Management of commitment is also the management of culture, as it is commitment that binds people to organization's ideas and agents. With these notions in mind, the present study makes an attempt, firstly, to integrate different conceptual constructs of commitment and culture and secondly, to identify the relationship between organizational commitment and organization culture.

The study is based on a sample of 382 executives from five automobile companies. The findings indicate that most of the dimensions of organizational culture are positively and significantly related to the dimensions of organizational commitment. Some of the dimensions of culture also made significant contribution to predict organizational commitment. The main issue that emerges from this study is that the importance of organizational culture in understanding organizational commitment can neither be underestimated nor overlooked.
THE CURRENT TAX SITUATION OF OCCUPATIONAL PENSIONS AND PAN‐EUROPEAN PENSION FUNDS
Authors: Mudrack Gerhard
Published: January 2019

The main tax obstacle to the functioning of pan‐European pension funds is the exclusion from tax relief of cross‐border contributions. Many Member States have eliminated this obstacle or have announced that they will do this soon. The few Member States which may wish to continue the discrimination against foreign funds may find it very difficult to explain to the ECJ why they cannot do what so many other Member States already have. The conclusion of this article is, therefore, that for most situations, the main tax obstacle for pan‐European pension funds will be eliminated after the implementation date of the Pension Fund Directive, that was by 23 September 2005. The Pension Fund Directive includes the assumptions for a cross‐border activity of company pension funds. Among the existing national regulations of the setting of the systems of old age pensions the member states have to allow domestic companies in line with the Pension Fund Directive to be institution of foreign pension funds, which are licensed in other member states.
OPTIMAL ORGANIZATIONAL HIERARCHIES IN FIRMS
Authors: Mishin Sergey
Published: January 2019

One of the main problems in modern economy is to construct an efficient organizational hierarchy allowing to control the firm with minimal cost. This paper describes the mathematical model of optimal hierarchies in firms. Optimal hierarchies for several classes of cost functions are obtained. Particularly, sufficient conditions for tree optimality, 2hier‐archy (any manager has two immediate subordinates) optimality and two‐tier hierarchy optimality are defined.
POST-MORTEM ANALYSIS ON THE ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF RISKS IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Authors: Schieg Martin
Published: January 2019

Risk management is used more and more in building industry projects. An essential element of the risk management process is the analysis and evaluation of risks. Therefore, project assessment with the help of the post‐mortem analysis plays an important role. The post‐mortem analysis is a tool frequently used in software projects today for the reduction of risks. The clearness of the goal of improvement measures is sharpened by the examination of the project steps in connection with the success factors of the organization. The results of a post‐mortem analysis deliver detailed information on where improvement measurements are necessary in the project future. Growth in project management know‐how is created through the discussion of the participants of all hierarchy levels. Therefore, the post‐mortem analysis is also applicable for use in the construction project. The procedure is introduced in the work at hand.
APPLICATION OF MONTE CARLO SIMULATION METHODS IN RISK MANAGEMENT
Authors: Suhobokov Alexander
Published: January 2019

The paper deals with Monte Carlo simulation method and its application in Risk Management. The author with the help of MATLAB 7.0 introduces new modification of Monte Carlo algorithm aimed at fast and effective calculation of financial organization's Value at Risk (VaR) by the example of Parex Bank's FOREX exposure.
IF APPROACH TO INNOVATIONS DIFFERS IN LOCALLY AND FOREIGN OWNED FIRMS: CASE OF LITHUANIA
Authors: Tvaronavičienė Manuela , Degutis Mantas
Published: January 2019

Presented paper aims to reveal differences, if any, in innovative behavior of business firms containing foreign and not foreign capital. Innovative behavior in that case is being characterized by scale of investment into research and development, self‐financing pattern and business strategy undertaken by various firms. Juxtaposition of business firms operating in the same economy field but having different ownership origin ‐ local and containing foreign capital ‐ has been performed. Results let us identify differences in approach to innovative activity stipulated by presence of foreign capital. Tendencies obtained in Lithuania plausibly might have been verified in other less advanced European countries in order to check if a consistent pattern could be admitted.
INTEGRATED APPROACH TO STRATEGIC PLANNING IN PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS
Authors: Bivainis Juozas , Tunčikienė Živilė
Published: January 2019

Planning of actions for implementation of institution's strategic decisions is one of the most complicated, on the other hand, the weakest in methodic provision complex objectives of strategic planning. Considering the local target of this phase of the strategic planning cycle to set the best ways to take the right directions in development of the scope of activity of an institution, a well‐reasoned composition of such a complex objective is as follows: generating action plan alternatives, defining the evaluation criteria of the alternatives and forming a combination of criteria, analysis and evaluation of the action plan alternatives, adopting a plan. The structure of an action plan for implementing institution's strategic decisions arose the necessity to identify two‐level objectives for drawing up the plan as well as the specific sequence of objective fulfilment in an analysed complex. The specifics of each level was evaluated in our proposals for improvement of the planning of the implementation of institution's strategic decisions based on the analysis of the results of progressive experience.
Authors: Bexeitova Roza , Veselova Larisa , Kassymkanova Khaini-Kamal , Jangulova Gulnar , Baidauletova Gulbanu , Zhalgasbekov Yermek , Burlibayeva Shugyla , Turekhanova Venera
Published: January 2019

The urgency of the safety of the components of the natural environment of Central Kazakhstan is due, firstly, to the long development of solid minerals and, in connection with this, the huge expenditure of energy and water resources, and secondly, to the use of obsolete mining technologies. The complex of works on the extraction of solid minerals leads to a change in the entire range of environmental conditions in the mining areas and adjacent areas, which is due to the interconnectedness of all natural components among themselves.

The article deals with the processes, associated with work in the mining industry, the beginning of which was laid in the first half of the ХХ century. A prolonged mechanical intervention in the surface, subsurface structures of the earth‘s crust led to the development of a number of dangerous geodynamic processes, that directly and indirectly degrade the ecological state of the surrounding area.
THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR USE THE PEER LAND EXCHANGE DURING LAND MANAGEMENT IN UKRAINE
Authors: Malashevskyi Mykola , Palamar Alena , Malanchuk Mariia , Bugaienko Olena , Tarnopolsky Evgen
Published: January 2019

The preconditions and general directions of inter economic land surveying in the modern conditions of Ukrainian in accordance to the perspectives of peer land exchange implementation have been analyzed. The measures, implementation of which is advisable based on peer land exchange as the key mechanism have been singled out and substantiated. According to the current legislation of Ukraine, the main types of documentation for land management, which may provide the peer land exchange are defined.

Land exchange is a common way of streamlining existing land ownership and land use in domestic and foreign practice. In particular, an equivalent exchange is often aimed at regrouping a significant amount of land use in order to optimize their structure. At the present time, the coordination of the interests of landowners in the process of optimizing the multitude of land uses of settlements is of particular relevance. For example, there is a need to locate facilities that have environmental and social significance, improvement and changing boundaries of land management objects at different levels. In the context of certain tasks, given the legally defined issue of exchange agreements concluding, the settlement of the land exchange process requires a technical justification.
A Near-infrared View of Nearby Galaxies: The Case of NGC 6300
Authors: Gaspar G. , Díaz R. J. , Mast D. , D’Ambra A. , Agüero M. P. , Günthardt G.
Published: January 2019

We present a near-infrared study of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 6300, based on subarcsecond images and long slit spectroscopy obtained with Flamingos-2 at Gemini South. We have found that the peak of the nuclear continuum emission in the K

s
band and the surrounding nuclear disk are 25 pc off-center with respect to the center of symmetry of the larger scale circumnuclear disk, suggesting that this black hole is still not fixed in the galaxy potential well. The molecular gas radial velocity curve yields a central black hole upper mass estimation of

. The Paβ emission line has a strongly asymmetric profile with a blueshifted broad component that we associate with a nuclear ionized gas outflow. We have found in the K

s
-band spectra that the slope of the continuum becomes steeper with increasing radii, which can be explained as the presence of large amounts of hot dust not only in the nucleus but also in the circumnuclear region up to r = 27 pc. In fact, the nuclear red excess obtained after subtracting the stellar contribution resembles to that of a blackbody with temperatures around 1200 K. This evidence supports the idea that absorbing material located around the nucleus, but not close enough to be the torus of the unified model, could be responsible for at least part of the nuclear obscuration in this Seyfert 2 nucleus.
The Solar Photospheric Continuum Brightness as a Function of Mean Magnetic Flux Density. I. The Role of the Magnetic Structure Size Distribution
Authors: Peck C. L. , Rast M. P. , Criscuoli S. , Rempel M.
Published: January 2019

Solar irradiance models indicate that irradiance variations are dominated by changes in the disk-coverage of magnetic structures, whose brightness is thought to be determined by their size and average magnetic flux density. Recent results suggest that the brightness of small-scale magnetic structures also depends on the mean magnetic flux of the extended region surrounding them due to reduced convective vigor. Low spatial resolution, however, may limit the ability to distinguish the role of magnetic structure size distributions from that of the mean magnetic flux. Using high-resolution 3D MHD simulations, we investigate the brightness of magnetic structures embedded in regions characterized by different mean magnetic flux. In agreement with previous results, we find reduced brightness with increasing mean magnetic flux when comparing the pixel-by-pixel continuum brightness versus magnetic field strength. Evaluating equivalently sized magnetic structures, however, we find no significant dependence of the magnetic structure brightness on the mean magnetic flux of the region in which they are embedded. Rather, we find that simulations with larger mean magnetic flux generate larger, and therefore darker, magnetic structures whose contributions result in an overall darkening of the region. The differences in magnetic structure size distributions alone can explain the reduced brightness of regions with larger mean magnetic flux. This implies that, for the range of mean magnetic flux of the simulations, convective suppression plays at most a secondary role in determining radiative output of magnetized regions. Quantifying the role of convective transport over a wider range of mean magnetic flux is the subject of the second paper in this series.
Chemical Abundances in the Ultra-faint Dwarf Galaxies Grus I and Triangulum II: Neutron-capture Elements as a Defining Feature of the Faintest Dwarfs*
Authors: Ji Alexander P. , Simon Joshua D. , Frebel Anna , Venn Kim A. , Hansen Terese T.
Published: January 2019

We present high-resolution spectroscopy of four stars in two candidate ultra-faint dwarf galaxies (UFDs), Grus I (Gru I) and Triangulum II (Tri II). Neither object currently has a clearly determined velocity dispersion, placing them in an ambiguous region of parameter space between dwarf galaxies and globular clusters (GCs). No significant metallicity difference is found for the two Gru I stars, but both stars are deficient in neutron-capture elements. We verify previous results that Tri II displays significant spreads in metallicity and [α/Fe]. Neutron-capture elements are not detected in our Tri II data, but we place upper limits at the lower envelope of Galactic halo stars, consistent with previous very low detections. Stars with similarly low neutron-capture element abundances are common in UFDs but rare in other environments. This signature of low neutron-capture element abundances traces chemical enrichment in the least massive star-forming dark matter halos and further shows that the dominant sources of neutron-capture elements in metal-poor stars are rare. In contrast, all known GCs have similar ratios of neutron-capture elements to those of halo stars, suggesting that GCs do not form at the centers of their own dark matter halos. The low neutron-capture element abundances may be the strongest evidence that Gru I and Tri II are (or once were) galaxies rather than GCs, and we expect future observations of these systems to robustly find nonzero velocity dispersions or signs of tidal disruption. However, the nucleosynthetic origin of this low neutron-capture element floor remains unknown.
Stem cell targeted therapeutic approaches for molecular subtypes of clinical breast cancer (Review)
Authors: Telang Nitin
Published: January 2019

The global profiling of differentially expressed genes in subtypes of clinical breast cancer identifies predictive and prognostic biomarkers for disease progression and rationalizes breast cancer subtype‑based treatment options. The expression status of hormone and growth factor receptors dictates the options for chemo‑endocrine and/or pathway selective small molecule inhibitor‑based treatments. Overall, these treatment options are associated with long‑term systemic toxicity and acquired tumor resistance, predominantly due to the emergence of drug‑resistant cancer stem cell population and due to therapy‑resistant disease progression. These limitations emphasize the identification of non‑toxic testable therapeutic alternatives for the efficacious targeting of breast cancer stem cells. The present review summarizes published evidence focused on i) developing cellular models for molecular subtypes of breast cancer; ii) isolating and characterizing drug‑resistant cancer stem cells from the developed models; and iii) identifying mechanistic leads for potential stem cell‑targeting lead compounds. Cellular models for Luminal A, human epidermal growth factor receptor‑2 (HER‑2) enriched and triple‑negative breast cancer subtypes represented the experimental models. Prototypic chemo‑endocrine therapeutic agents were used to select the drug‑resistant stem cell phenotype. The vitamin A derivative, all‑trans retinoic acid, and the rosemary terpenoid, carnosol, respectively representing a mechanistically distinct natural product and a potential bio‑active constituent of a nutritional herb provided stem cell‑selective lead compounds. The cellular models for Luminal A, HER‑2‑enriched and triple‑negative breast cancer subtypes exhibited growth inhibitory effects in response to treatment with prototypic chemo‑endocrine therapeutics, natural products and nutritional herbs. Drug‑resistant phenotypes exhibited an upregulated expression of stem cell‑specific cellular and molecular markers. Lead compounds induced the downregulated expression of the stem cell markers in drug‑resistant phenotypes. These data validate an experimental approach with which to identify potential non‑toxic natural products and nutritional herbs that may represent testable alternatives for the stem cell targeted therapy of breast cancer.