bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Las actitudes de los españoles hacia las políticas sociales
Authors: Jaime Castillo Antonio M.
Published: January 2019

Las actitudes hacia el Estado de Bienestar se han mantenido relativamente estables en la mayoría de los países occidentales en las últimas décadas. No obstante, se han producido importantes cambios en la concepción del papel del Estado en la sociedad y en el fundamento de los derechos sociales. En el caso español, conviven unas altas expectativas depositadas en el Estado, como ente benefactor y nivelador de las desigualdades percibidas en la sociedad, con una visión particularmente crítica de su capacidad para encarar y resolver los problemas. Con todo, el apoyo a la intervención del Estado a través de políticas sociales ha permanecido en niveles bastante altos durante la década de los noventa. Y estas actitudes se distribuyen casi por igual entre todos los segmentos de la sociedad española.
Droit global et régulation
Authors: Frydman Benoit
Published: January 2019

Le droit comme expression de la souveraineté est mis à mal par les transformations de l’économie mondiale. Exemples à l’appui, l’article montre la nécessité de repenser le droit dans un contexte global, en identifiant des modes de régulation alternatifs ou complémentaires à une réglementation territoriale par les Etats. A travers l’étude de points d’appui ou leviers de l’action du droit global, l’article montre combien leur identification peut permettre de corriger certains aspects délétères du fonctionnement de l’économie de marché.
The Distribution and Pickup of Goods
Authors: Radhoui Hamdi , Taghipour Atour , Canel-Depitre Beatrice
Published: January 2019

The literature of vehicle scheduling problems is rich with different approaches, which try to schedule the distribution of products to a network of clients. In this case, the vehicle routing problem with deliveries and pickups of goods is an extension of vehicle routing problem in which goods are transported from a depot (or multiple depots) to customers, as well from customers to the depots. There is tremendous work in the literature of this problem. Freight transport management deals with all distribution problems along the supply chain. This chapter presents a comprehensive review and survey of this literature. The literature is classified into four fundamental classes according to the way of the customers' visit and methods used for solving. Then different variants are generated according to the elements of the proposed framework. During this chapter, based on a proposed framework, the authors analyze the literature of the vehicle routing problem with deliveries and pickups, and as a result, the researchers propose a new classification where they give a short modeling of it.
Value Creation in Volatile Economies
Authors: Dias Alvaro Lopes , Dutschke Georg
Published: January 2019

This chapter presents in a simplified way that communities in volatile economies can create value through the identification, valorization, and operationalization of knowledge, traditions, and other cultural dimensions, many of them in the domain of tacit knowledge, available in the minds of people and community shared value. Through a cycle of identification of local knowledge, it is possible to begin the whole process, which necessarily passes through the cooperation between the various local actors. In a third phase, it is essential to structure the positioning, which represents the conceptual dimension concerning the way the community intends to present itself to the market. Next, it is essential to structure this offer, promoting value creation and capture. As such, the community should value their products or services by enhancing local knowledge and taking value creation initiatives in favor of local development (value capture).
Strategic Orientation and Performance of Istanbul Stock Market Businesses
Authors: Akgül Yakup , Tunca Mustafa Zihni
Published: January 2019

The primary objective of this chapter is to critically examine the effect of strategic orientations on the innovation and the performance of İstanbul stock market businesses in Turkey. The three most comprehensive constructs, namely strategic orientation of business enterprises (STROBE), strategic orientation of information systems (STROIS), and strategic orientation of knowledge-based enterprises (STROKE) instruments, were adopted to present a holistic picture of the effect of strategic orientation on innovation and firm performance. A survey was administered and a sample of 203 middle managers was analyzed using SmartPLS version 3.2.7 for inferential analysis and SPSS version 24 for descriptive insights.
Orientation for Results
Authors: Melo Leila Maria dos Passos Ribeiro , Carvalho Joao Conrado de Amorim , Sabino Emmanuel M.C.B.
Published: January 2019

This chapter is a field study of bibliographic nature and quantitative method. Data was obtained through the application of a questionnaire distributed to a sample of 200 people living in São Luís-MA-Brazil. The objective was to evaluate citizens' knowledge of laws, legal instruments, and the exercise of citizenship in relation to popular participation in the Master Plan. It has theoretical foundation in the research of Carreira et al., applied in Portugal, focusing on the democratic approach and in the definitions of knowledge and citizen involvement to achieve good results. The analysis concluded that there is low popular participation, in the order of 10.5%, especially among the younger and less educated, as well as frail knowledge about laws and legal instruments.
GUI Toolbox for Approximation of Fractional Order Parameters With Application to Control of pH Neutralization Process
Authors: Kishore Bingi , Ibrahim Rosdiazli , Karsiti Mohd Noh , Hassan Sabo Miya , Harindran Vivekananda Rajah
Published: January 2019

Fractional-order systems have been applied in many engineering applications. A key issue with the application of such systems is the approximation of fractional-order parameters. The numerical tools for the approximation of fractional-order parameters gained attention recently. However, available toolboxes in the literature do not have a direct option to approximate higher order systems and need improvements with the graphical, numerical, and stability analysis. Therefore, this chapter proposes a MATLAB-based GUI for the approximation of fractional-order operators. The toolbox is made up of four widely used approximation techniques, namely, Oustaloup, refined Oustaloup, Matsuda, and curve fitting. The toolbox also allows numerical and stability analysis for evaluating the performance of approximated transfer function. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed GUI, a simulation study is conducted on fractional-order PID control of pH neutralization process. The results show that the toolbox can be effectively used to approximate and analyze the fractional-order systems.
Technological Solutions for Helping Adaptive Responding of Children with Severe to Profound Developmental Disabilities
Authors: Perilli Viviana , Stasolla Fabrizio , Boccasini Adele
Published: January 2019

This article provides the reader with a literature overview of the newest empirical evidences available on the use of assistive technology-based programs for teaching and improving adaptive responding of children with severe to profound developmental disabilities. Four main categories of studies were selected, regarding (a) the technology for promoting independent access to positive stimulation, (b) the combination between microswitch and VOCA aimed at asking for social contact with a caregiver, (c) the cluster technology for increasing an adaptive response, and simultaneously reducing a challenging behavior, (d) the technology for requesting and choosing desired item or the access to the literacy. Overall, 26 studies were reviewed, and 75 participants were involved. The outcomes were largely positive, although few failures occurred. Psychological and Rehabilitative implications of the findings for both research and clinical practices were critically discussed
A Prime-Pull-Amplify Vaccination Strategy To Maximize Induction of Circulating and Genital-Resident Intraepithelial CD8+ Memory T Cells
Authors: Çuburu Nicolas , Kim Rina , Guittard Geoffrey C. , Thompson Cynthia D. , Day Patricia M. , Hamm David E. , Pang Yuk-Ying S. , Graham Barney S. , Lowy Douglas R. , Schiller John T.
Published: January 2019

Recent insight into the mechanisms of induction of tissue-resident memory (TRM) CD8+ T cells (CD8+ TRM) enables the development of novel vaccine strategies against sexually transmitted infections. To maximize both systemic and genital intraepithelial CD8+ T cells against vaccine Ags, we assessed combinations of i.m. and intravaginal routes in heterologous prime-boost immunization regimens with unrelated viral vectors. Only i.m. prime followed by intravaginal boost induced concomitant strong systemic and intraepithelial genital-resident CD8+ T cell responses. Intravaginal boost with vectors expressing vaccine Ags was far superior to intravaginal instillation of CXCR3 chemokine receptor ligands or TLR 3, 7, and 9 agonists to recruit and increase the pool of cervicovaginal CD8+ TRM. Transient Ag presentation increased trafficking of cognate and bystander circulating activated, but not naive, CD8+ T cells into the genital tract and induced in situ proliferation and differentiation of cognate CD8+ TRM. Secondary genital CD8+ TRM were induced in the absence of CD4+ T cell help and shared a similar TCR repertoire with systemic CD8+ T cells. This prime-pull-amplify approach elicited systemic and genital CD8+ T cell responses against high-risk human papillomavirus type 16 E7 oncoprotein and conferred CD8-mediated protection to a vaccinia virus genital challenge. These results underscore the importance of the delivery route of nonreplicating vectors in prime-boost immunization to shape the tissue distribution of CD8+ T cell responses. In this context, the importance of local Ag presentation to elicit genital CD8+ TRM provides a rationale to develop novel vaccines against sexually transmitted infections and to treat human papillomavirus neoplasia.
Immune Cell Infiltration into the Eye Is Controlled by IL-10 in Recoverin-Induced Autoimmune Retinopathy
Authors: Nikoopour Enayat , Lin Cheng-mao , Sheskey Sarah , Heckenlively John R. , Lundy Steven K.
Published: January 2019

Autoimmune retinopathy (AIR) is a treatable condition that manifests in acute and progressive vision loss in patients. It has recently been determined that AIR is associated with an imbalance of TH1 versus regulatory T cell immunity toward the retinal protein, recoverin. This study describes a new murine model to understand the immunopathology of AIR and its association with T cell responses toward recoverin. Immunization of C57BL/6 mice with recoverin resulted in ocular inflammation including infiltration of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, B cells, and CD11b+Ly6C+ inflammatory monocytes in the eyes. Production of IFN-γ and IL-17 from T cells was exacerbated in IL-10 knockout (KO) mice and kinetics of disease development was accelerated. Infiltration of T cells and inflammatory monocytes into the eyes dramatically increased in recoverin-immunized IL-10 KO mice. An immunodominant peptide of recoverin, AG-16, was capable of inducing disease in IL-10 KO mice and resulted in expansion of AG-16 tetramer-specific CD4+ T cells in lymphoid organs and eyes. Adoptive transfer of recoverin-stimulated cells into naive mice was sufficient to induce AIR, and immunization of B cell–deficient mice led to a milder form of the disease. This model supports the hypothesis that recoverin-specific T cell responses are major drivers of AIR pathogenesis and that IL-10 is an important factor in protection.
'Drink and sleep like a fish': goldfish as a behavior model to study pharmaceutical effects in freshwater ecosystems
Authors: Aliko Valbona , Mehmeti Enis , Qirjo Mihallaq , Faggio Caterina
Published: January 2019

Behavior is a mechanism through which organisms react to internal and external stimuli to best cope with challenges in an ever-changing environment. The study of animal behavior patterns in response to environmental stress/threats, is a relatively new and unexplored topic. The aim of this study is to offer a modest contribution in explaining the effects of pharmaceutical pollutants found in freshwater ecosystems, using the behavior patterns and physiology of Carassius auratus. Behavior changes were evaluated through swimming patterns, opercula and pectoral response, and rheological aggressivity. Animals were exposed for 5 weeks to water (as control), ethanol (EtOH, 0.25 and 1%, v/v), fluoxetine (FLX, 100 μg/L) and caffeine (CAF, 50 mg/L) and their short-term responses were recorded. The video has been analyzed using the open-sourced software program Track3D and EthoVision XT, which objectively quantified swimming and social behaviors. In all treatments, fish showed significantly (P<0.01) high level of stress, aggressivity and hyperactivity, compared to control. An interesting fact was that for each pollutant, fish exhibited different swimming patterns, from the normal one. These changes in the nervous system such as stressed behavior, irregular swimming patterns, hyperactivity and aggression, are consequences of pharmaceutical pollution in freshwater bodies and as such they can be used as suitable early physiological response biomarkers to environmental stress. Monitoring of altered behavior is a great early indicator of water pollution, which can easily be applied in the best aquaculture and fishery practices.
Investigation of the applicability of gravimetric and magnetometric methods of geophysical prospecting
Authors: Innes M J S
Published: January 2019

This paper is an account of an investigation made by che Dominion Observatory with a gravity meter and magnetometer over sulphide concentrations at East Sullivan, Val d 'Or, Que., in June, 1947. The topographic relief over the area does not exceed 20 feet. The
overburden varies from 0 to 50 feet. The west orebody had been outlined by extensive deilling. The average density contrast between the sulphide body and surrounding rocks is 0.5.
Two hundred and sixty gravity and one hundred and ninety magnetic stations were observed. The results are shown on contour sketches. A detailed account is given of the methods employed to reduce the gravity observations. The survey shows that both gravimetric and magnetic methods are useful in
delineating sulphide deposits under the conditions in which they occur at East Sullivan. The results indicate that the buried contact of the syenite intrusive southeast of the orebody could be traved with the gravimeter and that the magnetometer was of little value for that purpose.
Gravity anomalies due to the varying depths of overburden are negligible as compared to the magnitude of the total anomalies.
Following the footsteps: Urbanisation of Wa Municipality and its synergism in risk accumulation, uncertainties and complexities in urban Ghana
Authors: Oteng-Ababio Martin , Owusu George , Asafo Divine M.
Published: January 2019

Global demographic characteristics have witnessed a significant shift with more than half of the world’s population crossing the rural–urban threshold in 2008. In Ghana, the 2010 census report revealed 50.9% urban population. While the many benefits of organised and efficient cities are well understood, it must be recognised that rapid, often unplanned urbanisation brings risk of profound social instability, risk to critical infrastructure, potential water crises and the potential for devastating spread of disease. These risks can only be further exacerbated as this unprecedented transition from rural to urban areas continues. This also means stakes are high for public and private interventions to ensure that urbanisation reinforces rather than retards prosperity. In spite of these past experiences, urban governance policies in emerging smaller cities are frequently ambivalent and piecemeal, exhibiting similar negative tendencies, a development that has received less academic attention. This study adopted multiple research techniques and the data were generated through a structured questionnaire survey, personal interviews and discussions. Based on our conviction that the development trajectory of any city hinges on the quality of its physical foundation, we seek to fill the knowledge gap using the Wa Municipality, the least urbanised but one of the fastest urbanising cities in Ghana today, as a case study. The results reveal emerging tendencies that indicate that Wa appears to be following in the footsteps of its predecessors – experiencing an inefficient potable water supply system and chronic sanitation situation, making diarrhoea one of many challenges for residents. It is ultimately suggested that a collaborative partnership with all key stakeholders is a better option to reap the potential for urbanisation to strengthen economic growth and development.
Natural hazard mitigation strategies review: Actor–network theory and the eco-based approach understanding in Zimbabwe
Authors: Katanha Anyway , Simatele Danny
Published: January 2019

This paper presents the literature reviewed on the evolution of the natural hazard mitigation perspective and an overview of its progression to date. The article uses information taken from diverse sources such as a globally accepted scientific databases Google Scholar (http://www.scholar.google.co.in), Scopus (http://www.scopus.com), Science Direct (http://www.sciencedirect.com), SpringerLink (http://www.springer.co.in) and Wiley (http://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com); conference proceedings; theses; abstracts; and impact and non-indexed journals. It demonstrates how the actor–network theory (ANT) theoretical framework can be applicable to Muzarabani in Zimbabwe as a tool for analysing and elaborating hazard mitigation strategies. Actor–network theory is gradually becoming influential but is still a bone of contention, mainly because of its radical approach. Actor–network theory treats humans and non-humans as equal actors. In spite of its limitations, studies have shown that an ANT-grounded approach is useful in providing a framework for the comprehension of the complexities of daily life during natural hazard episodes and the dynamic role of Ziziphus mauritiana in the network in Muzarabani, Zimbabwe. The theory can demonstrate its importance in respect of how social results are produced as a result of linkages among diverse actors (human and non-human) in a network. The article argues that if ANT is used logically it is useful in examining eco-based natural hazard mitigation and resilience approaches in semi-arid regions.
Low-volatility compounds contribute significantly to isoprene SOA under high-NO conditions
Authors: Schwantes Rebecca H. , Charan Sophia M. , Bates Kelvin H. , Huang Yuanlong , Nguyen Tran B. , Mai Huajun , Kong Weimeng , Flagan Richard C. , Seinfeld John H.
Published: January 2019

Abstract. Recent advances in our knowledge of the gas-phase oxidation of isoprene, the impact of chamber walls on secondary organic aerosol (SOA) mass yields, and aerosol measurement analysis techniques warrant re-evaluating SOA yields from isoprene. In particular, SOA from isoprene oxidation under high-NO conditions forms via two major pathways: (1) low-volatility nitrates and dinitrates (LV pathway) and (2) hydroxymethyl-methyl-α-lactone (HMML) reaction on a surface or the condensed phase of particles to form 2-methyl glyceric acid and its oligomers (2MGA pathway). These SOA production pathways respond differently to reaction conditions. Past chamber experiments generated SOA with varying contributions from these two unique pathways, leading to results that are difficult to interpret. This study examines the SOA yields from these two pathways independently, which improves the interpretation of previous results and provides further understanding of the relevance of chamber SOA yields to the atmosphere and regional/global modeling. Results suggest that low-volatility nitrates and dinitrates produce significantly more aerosol than previously thought; the SOA mass yield from the LV pathway is ≃ 0.15. Sufficient seed surface area at the start of the reaction is needed to limit the effects of vapor wall losses of low-volatility compounds and accurately measure the complete SOA mass yield. Under dry conditions, substantial amounts of SOA are formed from HMML ring-opening reactions with inorganic ions and HMML organic oligomerization processes. However, the lactone organic oligomerization reactions are suppressed under more atmospherically relevant humidity levels, where hydration of the lactone is more competitive. This limits the SOA formation potential from the 2MGA pathway to HMML ring-opening reactions with water or inorganic ions under typical atmospheric conditions. Due to the high isoprene SOA mass yield from the LV pathway measured in this work, we now roughly estimate that the LV pathway produces moderately more SOA mass than the 2MGA pathway under typical atmospheric conditions (RH = 70 %, T = 298 K, NO2/NO = 6, NO = 0.05 ppb, isoprene = 5 ppb, and OH = 1.5 × 106 molec cm−3). This suggests that in the atmosphere low-volatility compounds such as organic nitrates and dinitrates may contribute to isoprene SOA under high-NO conditions significantly more than previously thought, and thus deserve continued study.
External and Internal CCN Mixtures: Controlled Laboratory Studies of Varying Mixing States
Authors: Vu Diep , Gao Shaokai , Berte Tyler , Kacarab Mary , Yao Qi , Vafai Kambiz , Asa-Awuku Akua
Published: January 2019

Abstract. Particle mixing states modify CCN activity. A method of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) data analysis for multicomponent mixtures of varying mixing states and its relationship to activation curves consisting of one or more activation points is presented. Simplified two component systems of varying solubility were generated under internal, external, and transitional mixing conditions. κ-Köhler theory predictions were calculated for different organic and inorganic mixtures and compared to experimentally derived kappa values and respective mixing states. This work employs novel experimental methods to provide information on the shifts in CCN activation data due to external to internal particle mixing from controlled laboratory sources. Results show that activation curves consisting of single and double activation points are consistent with internal and external mixtures, respectively. In addition, the height of the plateau at the activation points are reflective of the externally mixed concentration in the mixture. The presence of a plateau indicates that CCN activation curves consisting of multiple inflection points are externally mixed aerosols of varying water-uptake properties. The plateau disappears when mixing is promoted in the flow tube. At the end of the flow tube experiment, the aerosol are internally mixed and the CCN activated fraction data can be fit with a single sigmoidal curve. The technique to mimic external to internally mixed aerosol is applied to non-hygroscopic carbonaceous aerosol with organic and inorganic components. To our knowledge, this work is the first to show controlled CCN activation of mixed non-hygroscopic black carbon with hygroscopic material as the aerosol population transitions from external to internally mixed. Results confirm that CCN activation analysis methods are robust and may be used to infer the mixing state of complex aerosol compositions of unknown origin.
The longest homogeneous series of grape harvest dates, Beaune 1354–2018, and its significance for the understanding of past and present climate
Authors: Labbé Thomas , Pfister Christian , Brönnimann Stefan , Rousseau Daniel , Franke Jörg , Bois Benjamin
Published: January 2019

Abstract. Records of grape harvest dates (GHD) are the oldest and the longest continuous phenological data in Europe. However, many available series including the well-known (Dijon) Burgundy series are error prone, because scholars so far uncritically drew the data from nineteenth century publications instead of going back to the archives. The GHD from the famous vine region of Beaune (Burgundy) were entirely drawn from the archives, critically cross checked with narrative evidence and calibrated with the long Paris temperature series comprising the 360 years from 1659 to 2018. The 664-year-long Beaune series from 1354 to 2018 is also significantly correlated with tree-ring and documentary proxy evidence as well as with the Central European temperature series (from 1500). The series is clearly subdivided into two parts. From 1354 to 1987 grapes were on average picked from 28 September on, whereby during the last 31 year long period of rapid Global Warming from 1988 to 2018 harvests began 13 days earlier. In the Paris temperature measurements since 1659, April-to-July temperature reached the highest value ever in 2018. The 33 extremely warm events comprising the 5 % percentile bracket of GHD are unevenly distributed over time. 21 of them occurred between 1393 and 1719, whereby this is the case for just five years between 1720 and 2002. Since the hot summer 2003 8 out of 16 spring-summer periods were outstanding according the statistic of the last 664 years, no less than 5 among them within the last 8 years. In sum, the 664-year-long Beaune GHD series demonstrates that outstanding hot and dry years in the past were outliers, whereby they became the norm since the transition to rapid Global Warming in 1988.
Microbial community changes induced by Managed Aquifer Recharge activities: linking hydrogeological and biological processes
Authors: Barba Carme , Folch Albert , Gaju Núria , Sanchez-Vila Xavier , Carrasquilla Marc , Grau-Martínez Alba , Martínez-Alonso Maira
Published: January 2019

Abstract. Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) is a technique used worldwide to increase the
availability of water resources. We study how MAR modifies microbial
ecosystems and its implications for enhancing biodegradation processes to
eventually improve groundwater quality. We compare soil and groundwater
samples taken from a MAR facility located in NE Spain during recharge (with
the facility operating continuously for several months) and after 4 months
of no recharge. The study demonstrates a strong correlation between soil and
water microbial prints with respect to sampling location along the mapped
infiltration path. In particular, managed recharge practices disrupt
groundwater ecosystems by modifying diversity indices and the composition of
microbial communities, indicating that infiltration favors the growth of
certain populations. Analysis of the genetic profiles showed the presence of
nine different bacterial phyla in the facility, revealing high biological
diversity at the highest taxonomic range. In fact, the microbial population
patterns under recharge conditions agree with the intermediate disturbance
hypothesis (IDH). Moreover, DNA sequence analysis of excised denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) band patterns
revealed the existence of indicator species linked to MAR, most notably
Dehalogenimonas sp., Nitrospira sp. and Vogesella sp.. Our real facility multidisciplinary study (hydrological, geochemical and
microbial), involving soil and groundwater samples, indicates that MAR is a
naturally based, passive and efficient technique with broad implications for
the biodegradation of pollutants dissolved in water.
Formation of a multi-translational reactivated ancient landslide in the Three Gorges Reservoir, China
Authors: Luo Shilin , Jin Xiaoguang , Huang Da , Zhu Tantan
Published: January 2019

Abstract. The fluctuation of water levels and seasonal rainfall in a reservoir may induce various types of slope movements. Some of these movements are new, whereas others are old but reactivated. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the formation mechanism and process, deposit characteristics, and identification signs of a giant multi-translational reactivated ancient landslide in the Three Gorges Reservoir region based on field observations, on-site surveys, and Electron Spin Resonance experiments. The Outang landslide, located at the south bank of the Yangtze River, has a total volume of approximately 90 million m3 and can been divided into three independent subzones with an apparent age of 120–130 ka (ka represents a thousand years) for subzone O1, 65–68 ka for subzone O2, and 47–49 ka for subzone O3. The features of mobilized material structure and slip surface morphology in each subzone are similar and are in the form of a spoon. A conceptual model, including sliding, bending, suspending, and accumulating, is deduced to explain the formation mechanism and evolutionary process of this instability. Three types of evidences are proposed to recognize the ancient landslide. Currently, landslide stability is obscure based on the significant landslide movement and reactivated features; more attention and long-term monitoring is necessary in the future.
The Establishment of “Belt and Road” International Investment Disputes Settlement Institution
Authors: Lu Yang
Published: January 2019

In the context of the growth of regional international investment disputes (IIDs) caused by the Belt and Road (B&R) initiative, having a third-party settlement will play an important role in IIDs. Currently, the B&R countries have mostly selected ICSID as the IIDs settlement institution in their Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), which makes cases where a B&R country is respondent to be handled by nationals of countries outside the B&R area. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a B&R IIDs Settlement Institution, for the purpose of optimizing the current situation of IIDs settlement in the B&R region, dealing with the constantly-increasing regional IIDs, better protecting geographical investments, and facilitating China to participate in and further guide the reconstruction of international investment regulations. Moreover, the feasibilities in law, platform and resources for its establishment have been available. With respect to the path option, we should take the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank as a platform to draft a convention, take the ICSID Convention as a reference for structure and system innovation, and devote great efforts to driving B&R countries to conclude the convention.
Self-Driving Cars and Rural Areas: The Potential for a Symbiotic Relationship
Authors: Chmielewski Christiana
Published: January 2019

Imagine getting in the driver’s seat of your car, setting your destination, then sitting back and watching a movie, answering emails, or even taking a nap during the ride. While this is hardly a new concept for passengers, it is a new phenomenon for the person in the driver’s seat. Now, imagine driving down a winding country road in the middle of the night when a white-tailed deer darts out in front of you. Your instinct is to slam on the brakes and jerk the wheel, an instinct that can often have devastating results for you, your car, and the deer. In a self-driving car, human panic, and therefore human error, is eliminated.Part I of this note begins with a general background on self-driving vehicles and their development to date. Part II provides a description of rural areas, including the classification of rural areas and their demographics. Part III examines current state laws that address self-driving vehicles, focusing on Pennsylvania. Part IV discusses why self-driving vehicles should be introduced to rural areas for testing. Part V reviews car accident statistics in Allegheny County and its rural neighbor Butler County, then compares and discusses these statistics to demonstrate how self-driving cars could have an immediate beneficial effect on rural areas. Part VI addresses the basic logistics of choosing the rural area to test drive and proposes how to select test drivers. Finally, Part VII addresses potential counterarguments to the introduction of self-driving vehicles in rural areas.
A Case Study of ETD Metadata Remediation at the University of Houston Libraries
Authors: Thompson Santi , Liu Xiping , Duran Albert , Washington Anne
Published: January 2019

This paper provides a case study on remediating electronic theses and dissertations (ETD) metadata at the University of Houston Libraries. The authors provide an overview of the team’s efforts to revise existing ETD metadata in its institutional repository as part of their commitment to aligning ETD records with the Texas Digital Library Descriptive Metadata Guidelines for Electronic Theses and Dissertations, Version 2.0 (TDL guidelines, version 2). The paper reviews the existing literature on metadata quality and ETD metadata practices, noting how their case study adds one of the first documented cases of ETD metadata remediation. The metadata upgrade process is described, with close attention to the tools and workflows developed to complete the remediation. The authors conclude the paper with a discussion of lessons learned, the project’s limitations, future plans, and the emerging needs of metadata remediation work.
Censo escolar e Sistec: as mais importantes bases de coleta de dados para a EPT
Authors: Machado Franciele De Lima
Published: January 2019

O censo escolar e o Sistec destacam-se como ferramentas pelas quais busca-se oferecer suporte ao planejamento, execução e controle de ações voltadas à educação profissional e tecnológica. A identificação de dificuldades com esses sistemas, frente a sua relevância para a gestão pública, justifica a necessidade de estudá-los. Este trabalho foi realizado mediante entrevistas semi-estruturadas com professores de estabelecimentos das redes privada e pública do município de Santa Maria/RS. Procurou-se compreender estes sistemas, identificando suas principais dificuldades, sob a ótica de seus usuários. Constatou-se que os sistemas não funcionam como o planejado, e possuem uma série de problemas em seus mecanismos de treinamento, coleta, armazenamento, fiscalização e análise de dados.
Ideação de produtos e serviços na perspectiva da inovação: propostas para ambientes escolares
Authors: Filipetto Adriane Terezinha , Almeida Ana Paula de , Andrighetto Marcos José , Saideles Tiago , Quadros Claudemir de
Published: January 2019

Neste texto apresentam-se resultados de atividade desenvolvida na disciplina Gestão Escolar e Inovação, vinculada ao Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Profissional e Tecnológica do Colégio Técnico Industrial de Santa Maria. A partir do conteúdo das aulas foram estudadas as relações entre gestão escolar e inovação, com vistas à ideação de um produto ou serviço que possa auxiliar na melhoria do desempenho de escolas. Assim, foram apresentadas quatro propostas: Plataforma de apoio à formatação de textos acadêmicos da UFSM de acordo com o Manual de dissertações e teses; Mapas mentais: ferramenta de apoio a aprendizagem; Full-Time Trajectory: uma ferramenta auxiliar de gestão educacional para acompanhar a trajetória formativa de estudantes na contemporaneidade e Ferramenta de ensino e aprendizagem baseada no conceito de gamificação. Pela ideação foram identificados e abordados problemas, estimulado o desenvolvimento de um pensamento criativo, assim como logrou-se tornar as aulas mais engajadoras e estimulantes para os estudantes no seu processo de ensino e aprendizado.Palavras-chave: escola; gestão escolar; inovação.
O ciclo PDCA como proposta para uma gestão escolar eficiente
Authors: Silva Ronison Oliveira da , Oliveira Erinaldo Silva , Sá Filho Paulo De , Nascimento e Silva Daniel
Published: January 2019

A escola está inserida como componente da atual sociedade das organizações, sendo um dos componentes do macro sistema organizacional, o que sugere a necessidade de uma boa gestão para que se mantenha sustentável e competitiva. Assim, neste estudo, tem-se por objetivo sugerir o ciclo PDCA como proposta para uma gestão escolar eficiente. Para tanto, utilizou-se o método bibliográfico conceitual desenvolvido por Nascimento-e-Silva (2012), que consiste na formulação de questões norteadoras, coleta de dados em livros e bases de dados, organização e interpretação dos dados para a geração das respostas. Os resultados obtidos permitiram constatar que o ciclo PDCA é uma ferramenta que pode contribuir para a eficiência da gestão escolar, pois fornece uma estrutura para a aplicação de métodos de melhoria contínua alicerçados pela teoria do conhecimento gerencial, bem como pode ser utilizado nas mais diversas realidades e instituições de ensino.Palavras-chave: PCDA; gestão escolar; administração.
Zen-Brain Horizons
Authors: Austin James H.
Published: January 2019

A neurologist and Zen practitioner clarifies the benefits of meditative training, drawing on classical Buddhist literature and modern brain research.

In Zen-Brain Horizons, James Austin draws on his decades of experience as a neurologist and Zen practitioner to clarify the benefits of meditative training. Austin integrates classical Buddhist literature with modern brain research, exploring the horizons of a living, neural Zen.

When viewed in the light of today, the timeless wisdom of some Zen masters seems almost to have anticipated recent research in the neurosciences. The keen attentiveness and awareness that we cultivate during meditative practices becomes the leading edge of our subsequent mental processing. Austin explains how our covert, involuntary functions can make crucial contributions to the subtle ways we learn, intuit, and engage in creative activities. He demonstrates why living Zen means much more than sitting quietly indoors on a cushion, and provides simplified advice that helps guide readers to the most important points.
All for Nothing
Authors: Cutrofello Andrew
Published: January 2019

Hamlet as performed by philosophers, with supporting roles played by Kant, Nietzsche, and others.

A specter is haunting philosophy—the specter of Hamlet. Why is this? Wherefore? What should we do?

Entering from stage left: the philosopher's Hamlet. The philosopher's Hamlet is a conceptual character, played by philosophers rather than actors. He performs not in the theater but within the space of philosophical positions. In All for Nothing, Andrew Cutrofello critically examines the performance history of this unique role.

The philosopher's Hamlet personifies negativity. In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet's speech and action are characteristically negative; he is the melancholy Dane. Most would agree that he has nothing to be cheerful about. Philosophers have taken Hamlet to embody specific forms of negativity that first came into view in modernity. What the figure of the Sophist represented for Plato, Hamlet has represented for modern philosophers. Cutrofello analyzes five aspects of Hamlet's negativity: his melancholy, negative faith, nihilism, tarrying (which Cutrofello distinguishes from “delaying”), and nonexistence. Along the way, we meet Hamlet in the texts of Kant, Coleridge, Hegel, Marx, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Freud, Russell, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Benjamin, Arendt, Schmitt, Lacan, Deleuze, Foucault, Derrida, Badiou, Žižek, and other philosophers. Whirling across a kingdom of infinite space, the philosopher's Hamlet is nothing if not thought-provoking.
Cognitive Pluralism
Authors: Horst Steven
Published: January 2019

An argument that we understand the world through many special-purpose mental models of different content domains, and an exploration of the philosophical implications.

Philosophers have traditionally assumed that the basic units of knowledge and understanding are concepts, beliefs, and argumentative inferences. In Cognitive Pluralism, Steven Horst proposes that another sort of unit—a mental model of a content domain—is the fundamental unit of understanding. He argues that understanding comes not in word-sized concepts, sentence-sized beliefs, or argument-sized reasoning but in the form of idealized models and in domain-sized chunks. He argues further that this idea of “cognitive pluralism”—the claim that we understand the world through many such models of a variety of content domains—sheds light on a number of problems in philosophy.

Horst first presents the “standard view” of cognitive architecture assumed in mainstream epistemology, semantics, truth theory, and theory of reasoning. He then explains the notion of a mental model as an internal surrogate that mirrors features of its target domain, and puts it in the context of ideas in psychology, philosophy of science, artificial intelligence, and theoretical cognitive science. Finally, he argues that the cognitive pluralist view not only helps to explain puzzling disunities of knowledge but also raises doubts about the feasibility of attempts to “unify” the sciences; presents a model-based account of intuitive judgments; and contends that cognitive pluralism favors a reliabilist epistemology and a “molecularist” semantics. Horst suggests that cognitive pluralism allows us to view rival epistemological and semantic theories not as direct competitors but as complementary accounts, each an idealized model of different dimensions of evaluation.
Power Button
Authors: Plotnick Rachel
Published: January 2019

Push a button and turn on the television; tap a button and get a ride; click a button and “like” something. The touch of a finger can set an appliance, a car, or a system in motion, even if the user doesn't understand the underlying mechanisms or algorithms. How did buttons become so ubiquitous? Why do people love them, loathe them, and fear them? In Power Button, Rachel Plotnick traces the origins of today's push-button society by examining how buttons have been made, distributed, used, rejected, and refashioned throughout history. Focusing on the period between 1880 and 1925, when “technologies of the hand” proliferated (including typewriters, telegraphs, and fingerprinting), Plotnick describes the ways that button pushing became a means for digital command, which promised effortless, discreet, and fool-proof control. Emphasizing the doubly digital nature of button pushing—as an act of the finger and a binary activity (on/off, up/down)—Plotnick suggests that the tenets of precomputational digital command anticipate contemporary ideas of computer users.

Plotnick discusses the uses of early push buttons to call servants, and the growing tensions between those who work with their hands and those who command with their fingers; automation as “automagic,” enabling command at a distance; instant gratification, and the victory of light over darkness; and early twentieth-century imaginings of a future push-button culture. Push buttons, Plotnick tells us, have demonstrated remarkable staying power, despite efforts to cast button pushers as lazy, privileged, and even dangerous.
Critical Fabulations
Authors: Rosner Daniela K
Published: January 2019

A proposal to redefine design in a way that not only challenges the field's dominant paradigms but also changes the practice of design itself.

In Critical Fabulations, Daniela Rosner proposes redefining design as investigative and activist, personal and culturally situated, responsive and responsible. Challenging the field's dominant paradigms and reinterpreting its history, Rosner wants to change the way we historicize the practice, reworking it from the inside. Focusing on the development of computational systems, she takes on powerful narratives of innovation and technology shaped by the professional expertise that has become integral to the field's mounting status within the new industrial economy. To do so, she intervenes in legacies of design, expanding what is considered “design” to include long-silenced narratives of practice, and enhancing existing design methodologies based on these rediscovered inheritances. Drawing on discourses of feminist technoscience, she examines craftwork's contributions to computing innovation—how craftwork becomes hardware manufacturing, and how hardware manufacturing becomes craftwork. She reclaims, for example, NASA's “Little Old Ladies,” the women who built information storage for the Apollo missions by weaving wires through magnetized metal rings.

Mixing history, theory, personal experience, and case studies, Rosner reweaves fibers of technoscience by slowly reworking the methods and margins of design. She suggests critical fabulations as ways of telling stories that awaken alternative histories, and offers a set of techniques and orientations for fabulating its future. Critical Fabulations shows how design's hidden inheritances open different possibilities for practice.
Truth in Husserl, Heidegger, and the Frankfurt School
Authors: Zuidervaart Lambert
Published: January 2019

An innovative, ambitious, tradition-crossing study drawing on the work of Husserl, Heidegger, Horkheimer, Adorno, and Habermas to propose a new and transformative concept of truth.

The idea of truth is a guiding theme for German continental philosophers from Husserl through Habermas. In this book, Lambert Zuidervaart examines debates surrounding the idea of truth in twentieth-century German continental philosophy. He argues that the Heideggerian and critical theory traditions have much in common—despite the miscommunication, opposition, and even outright hostility that have prevailed between them—including significant roots in the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl. Zuidervaart sees the tensions between Heideggerian thought and critical theory as potentially generative sources for a new approach to the idea of truth. He argues further that the “critical retrieval” of insights from German continental philosophy can shed light on current debates in analytic truth theory.

Zuidervaart structures his account around three issues: the distinction between propositional truth and truth that is more than propositional (which he calls existential truth); the relationship between propositional truth and the discursive justification of propositional truth claims, framed in analytic philosophy by debates between epistemic and nonepistemic conceptions of truth; and the relationship between propositional truth and the objectivity of knowledge, often presented in analytic philosophy as a conflict between realists and antirealists over the relation between “truth bearers” and “truth makers.” In an innovative and ambitious argument, drawing on the work of Husserl, Heidegger, Horkheimer, Adorno, and Habermas, Zuidervaart proposes a new and transformative conception of truth.
Divine Games
Authors: Brams Steven J.
Published: January 2019

A game-theoretical analysis of interactions between a human being and an omnipotent and omniscient godlike being highlights the inherent unknowability of the latter's superiority.

In Divine Games, Steven Brams analyzes games that a human being might play with an omnipotent and omniscient godlike being. Drawing on game theory and his own theory of moves, Brams combines the analysis of thorny theological questions, suggested by Pascal's wager (which considers the rewards and penalties associated with belief or nonbelief in God) and Newcomb's problem (in which a godlike being has near omniscience) with the analysis of several stories from the Hebrew Bible. Almost all of these stories involve conflict between God or a surrogate and a human player; their representation as games raises fundamental questions about God's superiority.

In some games God appears vulnerable (after Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit in defiance of His command), in other games his actions seem morally dubious (when He subjects Abraham and Job to extreme tests of their faith), and in still other games He has a propensity to hold grudges (in preventing Moses from entering the Promised Land and in undermining the kingship of Saul). If the behavior of  a superior being is indistinguishable from that of an ordinary human being, his existence would appear undecidable, or inherently unknowable. Consequently, Brams argues that keeping an open mind about the existence of a superior being is an appropriate theological stance.