bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Clinical Correlates of Ambulatory BP Monitoring among Patients with CKD
Authors: Iimuro Satoshi , Imai Enyu , Watanabe Tsuyoshi , Nitta Kosaku , Akizawa Tadao , Matsuo Seiichi , Makino Hirofumi , Ohashi Yasuo , Hishida Akira
Published: February 2013

Background and objectives

Ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) allows a better risk stratification than office BP in hypertensive patients. However, the clinical relevance of ABPM has not been extensively investigated in the CKD population.

Design, setting, participants, & measurements

Within the Chronic Kidney Disease Japan Cohort study, 2977 patients enrolled (62% men, aged 60.8±11.6 years) and ABPM was conducted in a subgroup of patients from September 2007 to April 2010. Data from 1075 patients (682 men) were analyzed to determine BP control and factors associated with the ABPM parameters.

Results

The prevalence of masked hypertension was 30.9%, whereas that of white-coat hypertension was 5.6%. With advancing CKD stage, the percentage of persistent hypertension increased from 21.7% to 36.1%. Diabetes, antihypertensive medicine use, and low estimated GFR (eGFR) were significantly associated with the difference between office BP and ambulatory BP (1.7 mmHg, 2.6 mmHg, and 0.6 mmHg per 10 ml/min per 1.73 m2, respectively). There tended to be fewer nondippers and risers in stage 3 than in stages 4 and 5. In the nocturia-negative group, low eGFR, diabetes, and summer season were identified as factors associated with lower nocturnal BP change (−0.5 mmHg, −2.0 mmHg, and −2.8 mmHg, respectively). Morning BP change was greater with older age (0.2 mmHg per 10 years) and higher body mass index (0.6 mmHg per 1 kg/m2), and in winter (4.5 mmHg) versus summer.

Conclusions

Various factors including eGFR, diabetes, antihypertensive medication use, and season are associated with higher BP and abnormal BP patterns in CKD patients.
Stability of the Two-parameter Set of Nonlocal Difference Schemes
Authors: GULIN A. , MOROZOVA V.
Published: February 2013

The paper deals with difference schemes for the heat-conduction equa-
tion with nonlocal boundary conditions containing two real parameters. Such
schemes have been investigated for some special parameter values, but the general case
was not considered previously. The eigenvalue problem arises as a result of variable
division and is solved here explicitly. The so-called reality domains were selected on
the plane for which all eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are real. It was demon-
strated that the difference schemes in question are symmetrizable in reality domains,
that is their transition operators are similar to self-adjoint ones. The necessary and
sufficient stability conditions for difference schemes under consideration are obtained
with respect to the initial data in the specially constructed norm. The equivalence of
the above-mentioned norm to the grid L2-norm has been proved.
Numerical Method for Singularly Perturbed Parabolic Equations in Unbounded Domains in the Case of Solutions Growing at Infinity
Authors: Shishkin G. I.
Published: February 2013

An initial-boundary value problem is considered in an unbounded do-
main on the x-axis for a singularly perturbed parabolic reaction-diffusion equation. For small values of the
parameter ε, a parabolic boundary layer arises in a neighbourhood of the lateral part
of the boundary. In this problem, the error of a discrete solution in the maximum
norm grows without bound even for fixed values of the parameter ε. In
the present paper, the proximity of solutions of the initial-boundary value problem
and of its numerical approximations is considered. Using the method of special grids condensing
in a neighbourhood of the boundary layer, a special finite difference scheme converging
ε-uniformly in the weight maximum norm has been constructed.
What is Said and Indirect Speech Reports
Authors: Odrowąż-Sypniewska Joanna
Published: February 2013

In their Insensitive Semantics (2005) Cappelen and Lepore argue for the Controversial Aspect (CA) which is a part of their Speech Act Pluralism and which says that speakers don’t have privileged access to what they say. Gross (2006) criticizes C&L’s argument for CA and urges them to abandon that claim. I argue that on C&L’s broad understanding of the notion of what is said, CA (and whole SAP) is trivial, whereas on a more restricted understanding CA is indeed controversial and plausibly false. Moreover, the broad reading of what is said is incompatible with one of C&L’s tests for context-sensitivity.
Using Nigerian English in an International Academic Setting
Authors: Cunningham Una
Published: February 2013

This study examines the English pronunciation of a group of Nigerian students at a university in Sweden from the point of view of their intelligibility to two groups of listeners: 1) native speakers of English who are teachers at the university; 2) nonnative speakers of English who are teachers at the university. It is found that listeners who are accustomed to interacting with international students do better than those who are not, and that native speakers of English do no better or worse than non-native listeners. The conclusion is drawn that locally useful varieties of Nigerian English may not easily be used as for wider communication and that students preparing to study abroad would find it useful to gain access to a more widely intelligible variety.
Combining Different Types of Data in Studying Attitudes to English as a Lingua Franca
Authors: Stanojević Mateusz-Milan , Kabalin Borenić Višna , Josipović Smojver Višnja
Published: February 2013

This paper deals with the attitudes of Croatian speakers to ELF, in particular to its pronunciation. Four methods were combined to reach conclusions about the status of ELF in Croatia: diary study, teacher interviews, a preliminary focus group interview and a survey. Whilst the first three methods revealed that the subjects regularly disfavour ‘bad pronunciation’, the survey showed that when it actually comes to talking to either native or non-native speakers, the subjects turned out to be tolerant to a slight accent. This clearly suggests a case of what is known as linguistic schizophrenia (B.B. Kachru 1977; Seidlhofer 2001). However, there are notable differences among groups of participants depending on variables such as professional profile, gender, degree of ease and success in learning pronunciation, and national pride. In any case, the combination of these methods proved to be a very good way to deal with the topic. The diary study is a valuable method to look into everyday practices and can feed nicely into survey questions. The preliminary survey highlighted the importance of different groups of participants and the need for groups of questions focusing around different factors. The preliminary focus group interview showed that it is crucial to have a single homogenous group of participants, as well as a trained facilitator. Finally, teacher interviews pointed to the possibility of similar attitudes being held by university teachers and the students they teach, which suggests that attitudes may be perpetuated. Overall, triangulation across methods and participants in the way proposed in the present paper provided a wealth of data, allowing a bottom-up view and a top-down view on the state of ELF in Croatia.
Initial Glottalization and Final Devoicing in Polish English
Authors: Schwartz Geoffrey
Published: February 2013

This paper presents an acoustic study of the speech of Polish leaners of English. The experiment was concerned with English sequences of the type George often, in which a word-final voiced obstruent was followed by a word-initial vowel. Acoustic measurements indicated the degree to which learners transferred Polish-style glottalization on word-initial vowels into their L2 speech. Temporal parameters associated with the production of final voiced obstruents in English were also measured. The results suggest that initial glottalization may be a contributing factor to final devoicing errors. Adopting English-style ‘liaison’ in which the final obstruent is syllabified as an onset to the initial vowel is argued to be a useful goal for English pronunciation syllabi. The implications of the experiment for phonological theory are also discussed. A hierarchical view of syllabic structures proposed in the Onset Prominence environment allows for the non-arbitrary representation of word boundaries in both Polish and English.
The English Pronunciation Teaching in Europe Survey: Selected Results
Authors: Henderson Alice , Frost Dan , Tergujeff Elina , Kautzsch Alexander , Murphy Deirdre , Kirkova-Naskova Anastazija , Waniek-Klimczak Ewa , Levey David , Cunnigham Una , Curnick Lesley
Published: February 2013

This paper provides an overview of the main findings from a European-wide on-line survey of English pronunciation teaching practices. Both quantitative and qualitative data from seven countries (Finland, France, Germany, Macedonia, Poland, Spain and Switzerland) are presented, focusing on teachers' comments about:

● their own pronunciation,

● their training,

● their learners’ goals, skills, motivation and aspirations,

● their preferences for certain varieties (and their perception of their students' preferences).

The results of EPTiES reveal interesting phenomena across Europe, despite shortcomings in terms of construction and distribution. For example, most respondents are non-native speakers of English and the majority of them rate their own mastery of English pronunciation favourably. However, most feel they had little or no training in how to teach pronunciation, which begs the question of how teachers are coping with this key aspect of language teaching. In relation to target models, RP remains the variety of English which teachers claim to use, whilst recognizing that General American might be preferred by some students. Differences between countries are explored, especially via replies to open-ended questions, allowing a more nuanced picture to emerge for each country. Other survey research is also referred to, in order to contextualise the analyses and implications for teaching English and for training English teachers.
Enhancement of the pool boiling heat transfer coefficient using the gas injection into the water
Authors: Sarafraz M.M. , Peyghambarzadeh S.M. , Alavi Fazel S.A.
Published: February 2013

In this paper, a new method for enhancing the pool boiling heat transfer coefficient of pure liquid, based on the gas injection through the liquids has been introduced. Hence, the effect of gas dissolved in a stagnant liquid on pool boiling heat transfer coefficient, nucleation site density, and bubble departure diameter has experimentally been investigated for different mole fractions of SO2 and various heat fluxes up to 114 kW/ m2. The presence of SO2 in captured vapor inside the bubbles, particularly around the heat transfer surface increases the pool boiling heat transfer coefficient. The available predicted correlations are unable to obtain the reasonable values for pool boiling heat transfer coefficient in this particular case. Therefore, to predict the pool boiling heat transfer coefficient accurately, a new modified correlation based on Stephan-Körner relation has been proposed. Also, during the experiments, it is found that nucleation site density is a strictly exponential function of heat flux. Accordingly, a new correlation has been obtained to predict the nucleation site density. The major application of the nucleation site density is in the estimating of mean bubble diameters as well as local agitation due to the rate of bubble frequency.
Ecological characteristics of Varroa destructor (parasitiformes, varroidea) and its environmental capacity as a key factor for development of varroosis panzootia
Authors: Akimov I. A. , Korzh O. P.
Published: February 2013

Ecological Characteristics of Varroa destructor (Parasitiformes, Varroidae) and Its Environmental Capacity as a Key Factor for Development of Varroosis Panzootia. Akimov I. A., Korzh O. P. - By means of formalized schematic models of relationship with hosts the varroa mite uniqueness as a parasite is shown. The life cycle of this species requires the change of a host species at different stages of their development and physiological states. Thus the mite parasitizes not only a separate bee but a whole hive. The fact that the whole hive but not a single bee dies during varroosis development supports this idea. The impetus for this type of parasitism is the relative constancy of the environment in the hive supported by bees even in winter. Exactly this fact causes high pathogenicity of the varroa for the honey bee and its control complexity.
First records of Erigorgus species (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Anomaloninae) from Ukraine
Authors: Nuzhna A. D.
Published: February 2013

First Records of Erigorgus Species (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Anomaloninae) from Ukraine. Nuzhna A. D. - Five species of the genus Erigorgus Förster: E. romani (Hellén), E. borealis (Hellén), E. femorator Aubert, E. villosus (Gravenhorst), E. lacertosus Atanasov are recorded from Ukraine for the first time. Previously unknown male of E. lacertosus Atanasov is described. E. villosus (Gravenhorst) is redescribed basing on additional characters not mentioned in original description.
Failure Development in a System of Two Connected Networks
Authors: Gertsbakh Ilya B. , Shpungin Yoseph
Published: February 2013

We consider a pair of networks A and B which are subject to failures of their components. In A, edges are subject to failure, and A fails when it disintegrates into several isolated clusters each containing a single terminal. Edges of A fail in random order and their failure moments follow Poisson process. After A has failed, terminal α of A causes a failure (”attacks”) on Rα randomly chosen non terminal nodes of network B. All edges incident to an attacked node are erased. The ”attacks” take negligible time. Network B failure takes place if it loses its terminal connectivity. We study the probability that B will be in failure state at moment t as a function of t and R = ∑ Rα The main formal tools which we use are the D-spectra (signatures) of networks A and B and de Moivre’s combinatorial formula.
Warehousing in Finnish and Swedish Companies: State of Operating Environment During Period of 2006–2012
Authors: Hilmola Olli-Pekka
Published: February 2013

Despite all the efforts of Just in Time philosophy, companies are still required to run numerous warehouses to accomplish distribution management objectives, and match supply network to this activity. In this research is being reported state of the warehousing practices in the largest Finnish and Swedish companies relying on longitudinal data gained through five different surveys. Research findings show that together these two countries are still on the cost pressure with respect of transportation. Also companies in these two northern countries are still using mostly semi-trailers on their distribution transportation. However, some evidence is on place that containers are taking higher role. Interestingly, most of the warehouses of these two countries report to be located in the countries of the Baltic Sea Region, finding which is rather striking as we have given so much effort on economical integration of this region in the recent decades. Finnish companies seem to hold much larger interest on Central and Eastern European Countries warehousing. Size of warehouses is likely to increase a little bit, and units located in other continents are much smaller.
Gastrointestinal Mantle Cell Lymphoma: incidental finding on routine CT scan following pneumothorax.
Authors: Sherpa Mingma Thsering , Rondelli Damiano , Shrestha Raksha
Published: February 2013

Gastric mantle cell lymphoma is a rare form of gastrointestinal tumor and represents 2.5–7% of all non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas. A 69-year-old maleadmitted with spontaneous pneumothorax was found to have a gastric masson CT scan. Results of histopathological,immunohistochemical and genetic analysis were consistent with mantle cell lymphoma(MCL).Patient responded well to intensive chemotherapy and subsequent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant and remains in complete remission.We would like to emphasize that a gastric mass, as in this case can occur as a rare presentation of MCL involving the gastrointestinal tract without any other overt signs and symptoms. Journal of Advances in Internal Medicine 2013;02(01):24-26 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jaim.v2i1.7635
Parking at Affordable Housing
Authors: Willson Richard , O'Connor Terri , Hajjiri Samir
Published: February 2013

Parking requirements should have a logical relationship with observed levels of parking use and with goals related to transportation, land use, and housing. These requirements are important elements of transportation policy because they influence vehicle ownership rates, travel choices, and mobility options. These local ordinances also shape land use outcomes, such as density, and social outcomes, such as housing affordability. This paper reports on a study of parking requirements for income-restricted, affordable multifamily housing. This form of land use is of particular interest because of its cost sensitivity and controversial nature. The study reported here used household surveys and overnight occupancy counts to assess the use of parking across varied types of income-restricted, affordable housing in the city of San Diego, California. Overall, the use of parking was found to be slightly less than one-half the rate for all rental units in San Diego but varied across affordable housing types (e.g., for families versus for seniors), location (e.g., access to mass transit, opportunity to walk), and bedroom count. This paper concludes with a discussion of methodologies to measure parking use and suggests a sequential policy process to establish affordable housing parking requirements.
Framework and Model for Parking Decisions
Authors: Hilvert Ofir , Toledo Tomer , Bekhor Shlomo
Published: February 2013

The search for available parking is one of the most challenging consequences of global urbanization and growth in motorization. This paper presents an overall framework for parking choice and search behavior, composed of three time–space phases: (a) pretrip static decision; (b) en route, passive search; and (c) in-area search strategy adaptation. The empirical part of the paper focuses on the first phase and describes a parking choice model that is based on pooled stated and revealed preference data sources. A special, web-based survey was designed to model the choice of parking type (on-street versus off-street parking). The model estimation results showed that the choice of parking location was affected by parking cost, search time, and walk time to the destination, facility type, and decision-maker characteristics. The model was applied to a case study to illustrate its capabilities to evaluate various policy measures. Specifically, the effect of a change in the demand for on- and off-street parking was evaluated with respect to the parking pricing policy and the value of search time for various parking durations.
Agent-Based Parking Choice Model
Authors: Waraich Rashid A. , Axhausen Kay W.
Published: February 2013

Parking choice is an essential part of individual transportation; however, many travel demand and traffic simulations do not include parking. This paper reports on a proposal for a simple parking model and describes how this model was implemented into an existing, agent-based traffic simulation. The parking model provides feedback to the traffic simulation so that the overall simulation can react to spatial differences in parking demand and supply. Simulation results of a scenario in the city of Zürich, Switzerland, demonstrated that the model could capture key elements of parking, including capacity and pricing, and could assist with designing parking-focused transport policies. The paper also discusses possible work, such as microsimulation of the search for large-scale parking.
Spinal cord infarction following minor trauma in children: fibrocartilaginous embolism as a putative cause
Authors: Reisner Andrew , Gary Matthew F. , Chern Joshua J. , Grattan-Smith J. Damien
Published: February 2013

Spinal cord infarctions following seemingly innocuous trauma in children are rare, devastating events. In the majority of these cases, the pathophysiology is enigmatic. The authors present 3 cases of pediatric spinal cord infarction that followed minor trauma. An analysis of the clinical, radiographic, and laboratory features of these cases suggests that thromboembolism of the nucleus pulposus into the spinal cord microcirculation is the likely mechanism. A review of the human and veterinary literature supports this notion. To the authors' knowledge, this is the largest pediatric series of myelopathy due to thromboembolism of the nucleus pulposus reported to date, and it is the first report of this condition occurring in an infant.
Lipid Profile Status of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Hospitalized Patients
Authors: Begum K , Begum MK , Sarker ZH , Dewan MRK , Siddique MJH
Published: February 2013

The aim of this study was to evaluate the serum level of total cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), low density lipoproteins (LDL) and high density lipoproteins, (HDL) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients admitted in National Institute of Disease of Chest and Hospital, Mohakhali, Dhaka during. January 2009 to January 2010. Twenty two patients with COPD and 22 healthy controls were included in this study. Total cholesterol, HDL and TG levels were determined with ILAB 1800 Chemistry Analyzer using ILAB test Reagents. LDL concentration was calculated using the Friedewald Equation. The mean level of TG was 150.04±29.66 mg/dl and 126.14±13.28 in COPD patients and healthy control, respectively. A statistically significant difference was found between the two groups (p<0.001). The mean level of TC was 181.83±20.11 mg/dl and 176.28±15.35 mg/dl in COPD patients and healthy control respectively (p<0.001). LDL level mean value was 116.12±14.26 mg/dl and 108.95±10.39 in COPD patients and control respectively (p<0.001). The mean value of HDL showed 38.79±2.4 in COPD patients and 39.014±1.56 in control. A statistically significance was also found between the two groups (p<0.001). Our results showed that the values of TC, TG, LDL were higher than healthy control that is highly significant statistically. On the other hand, the was significantly decreased HDL level compared with controls. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjmb.v3i2.13810 Bangladesh J Med Biochem 2010; 3(2): 42-45
A Data Infrastructure for Digital Cultural Heritage: Characteristics, Requirements and Priority Services
Authors: Fresa Antonella
Published: February 2013

The European amount of digitized material is growing very rapidly, as national, regional and European programmes support the digitization processes by museums, libraries, archives, archaeological sites, and audiovisual repositories. The generation of digital cultural heritage is accelerated also by the impulse of Europeana that is fostering the European cultural institutions to produce even more digital content. Moreover digital cultural heritage content are complex and interlinked through many relations. European countries are working for the future, in order to create a data infrastructure devoted to cultural heritage research. Currently, Europe have twin projects (DC-NET and INDICATE) ongoing and a new international coordination action is under preparation to design a validated roadmap for the preservation of digital cultural content. These initiatives are contributing to smooth the way to the Open Science Infrastructure for Digital Cultural Heritage, which is foreseen in 2020.
Proteome Analysis of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Mutants Reveals Differentially Induced Proteins during Brown Planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) Infestation
Authors: Sangha Jatinder , Chen Yolanda , Kaur Jatinder , Khan Wajahatullah , Abduljaleel Zainularifeen , Alanazi Mohammed , Mills Aaron , Adalla Candida , Bennett John , Prithiviraj Balakrishnan , Jahn Gary , Leung Hei
Published: February 2013

Although rice resistance plays an important role in controlling the brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens, not all varieties have the same level of protection against BPH infestation. Understanding the molecular interactions in rice defense response is an important tool to help to reveal unexplained processes that underlie rice resistance to BPH. A proteomics approach was used to explore how wild type IR64 and near-isogenic rice mutants with gain and loss of resistance to BPH respond during infestation. A total of 65 proteins were found markedly altered in wild type IR64 during BPH infestation. Fifty-two proteins associated with 11 functional categories were identified using mass spectrometry. Protein abundance was less altered at 2 and 14 days after infestation (DAI) (T1, T2, respectively), whereas higher protein levels were observed at 28 DAI (T3). This trend diminished at 34 DAI (T4). Comparative analysis of IR64 with mutants showed 22 proteins that may be potentially associated with rice resistance to the brown planthopper (BPH). Ten proteins were altered in susceptible mutant (D1131) whereas abundance of 12 proteins including S-like RNase, Glyoxalase I, EFTu1 and Salt stress root protein “RS1” was differentially changed in resistant mutant (D518). S-like RNase was found in greater quantities in D518 after BPH infestation but remained unchanged in IR64 and decreased in D1131. Taken together, this study shows a noticeable level of protein abundance in the resistant mutant D518 compared to the susceptible mutant D1131 that may be involved in rendering enhanced level of resistance against BPH.
Laser Photocoagulation in Patients With Retinopathy of Prematurity Undergoing Chest Physiotherapy
Authors: Aziz Hassan A. , Cardone Scott , Diaz-Barbosa Magaly , Berrocal Audina M.
Published: February 2013

The authors report the correlation between chest physiotherapy and increased risk of vitreous hemorrhage after laser photocoagulation therapy in patients with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Two premature neonates, the first born at 26 weeks and the second at 31 weeks gestational age, both underwent chest physiotherapy, the first for congenital cystic fibrosis and bronchopulmonary dysplasia and the second for premature alveolar atelectasis. Both were diagnosed as having ROP that necessitated laser photocoagulation treatment at 34 and 37 weeks, respectively. The first patient developed bilateral vitreous hemorrhage and bilateral cataracts. The second patient developed vitreous hemorrhage in one eye. Chest physiotherapy in neonates with ROP significantly increases the risk of hemorrhage after laser photocoagulation in an otherwise fragile retinal vasculature.
Accelerating the Implementation of BIM by Integrating the Developments Made in Knowledge Management
Authors: Scully Rita , Underwood Jason , Khosrowshahi Farzad
Published: February 2013

In Ireland the construction sector is at the initial stages of assessing and adapting Building Information Management (BIM) on pilot projects. At an initial summary review BIM could be seen as a fad that will burn out as quickly as it appeared. Many of the concepts associated with BIM are grounded in Co-ordinated Project Information (CPI), Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) and object modelling which have been developed over the last 20-30 years. This research presents the critical success factors (CSF) associated with knowledge management (KM) and investigates the correlation of these with the development and integration of BIM within the construction industry in Ireland. These CSF will be addressed in the context of assessing maturity levels prior to integrating KM or BIM. Determining the CSF will accelerate the implementation of BIM. Developing a BIM CSF Analysis Model will assist in assessing a company’s readiness to embark on BIM projects.
Leveraging Whole Life Cycle Costs When Utilising Building Information Modelling Technologies
Authors: Kehily Dermot , McAuley Barry , Hore Alan
Published: February 2013

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is now being increasingly used as a technology tool to assist design professions in conceiving, designing, constructing, and operating the built environment in many countries. The BIM model provides design professions with the framework to perform exercises in design, programming, cost and value management, and concept energy analysis, in order to achieve the most economical and sustainable building solution. The BIM model though sophisticated is not extensively used to provide estimation software with the data requirements for Life Cycle Costing (LCC), such as, escalation of future expenditure and/or present value costs, discount rates, and study periods. Without incorporating LCC functionality within the BIM model or in an external application with a BIM interface a complete picture of the Whole Life Cycle Costs (WLCC) cannot be generated from the outputs of the model. The authors demonstrate the potential ability to customise traditional estimating packages with BIM take-off and database management interfaces, in order to find the best solution to provide complete Whole Life Cycle Costs Analysis (WLCCA). A template was produced in consultation with one of the internationally established methodologies in Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and provides the user with the financial tools to select the most economical advantageous solution, possibly without investing in new estimating software.
E-Marketing on Online Social Networks and Ethical Issues
Authors: Sharma Gajendra , Baoku Li
Published: February 2013

Online social network is any electronic tool or application that provides information, allowing collaboration, interaction, and sharing information among users. The social network can be utilized as an e-marketing tool with low-cost and effective source of medium for marketers to identify market needs, customer experiences, competitive movements, and trends. The purpose of this paper is to study the significance of online social networks based on web 2.0 technologies on e-marketing promotion and potential challenging issue as well as needs of ethical standards. The paper adopts a broad literature review relating to e-marketing on online social networks and ethics. This study examines that the ethical issues such as acts, regulations and policies that govern privacy, the collection of personal information and the protection of a user’s identity are crucial when using social network for e-marketing and business promotion. As a communication tool the online social networks play a key role to reach initial product adopters and maintain interaction and collaboration with customers for market promotion.
Measuring Scientific Research Performance of Romanian Public Research Entities
Authors: Tiţă Silviu-Mihail
Published: February 2013

In this period, the science sector plays a strategic role to increase the economic growth of countries and for this reason the measure and evaluation of research performance of its units (public research institutes) is needed. The most model for evaluate research is based on peer review, but when this method in Romania become inefficient the alternative was quantitative model One of the quantitative model is RELEV. The author used this model to evaluate more than 100 Romanian research entities: National Research Institutes, Universities, Research institutes of the Romanian Academy, Medical Units and Companies.
Brachioradial Pruritus
Authors: Gijima Desire T. , Elpern David J.
Published: February 2013

The authors present a case study around an entity named ‘brachioradial pruritus’ a neurogenic itch which typically occurs on the dorsolateral forearm but may also involve the upper arm and shoulders, and less commonly the back. The disease at this time does not have a known treatment and the authors not only discuss the isolation of these patients which is exacerbated by the ignorance or indifference of most medical personnel to this often debilitating condition but also from their shared learning experiences from a web based platform propose an algorithm that may be useful for others who need to deal with this condition.
Incisional Hernia in Pregnancy
Authors: Dasgupta Sujoy
Published: February 2013

Incisional hernias are not rare but obstetric complications due to an incisional hernia are rare. Literature suggests that the incisional hernia following a caesarian section may behave differently from an incisional hernia arising after a surgery in the non-pregnant state. The failure of hernia repair is more frequent in the former. The risk factors and the contributing factors to optimal management of these cases are discussed.
NDA SNR and CRLB Estimation Over MISO with STBC Channels
Authors: Almradi Ahmed M. , Dianat Sohail A.
Published: February 2013

This paper discusses the problem of Non Data Aided (NDA) Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) estimation of Binary Phase Shift keying (BPSK) modulated signals using the Expectation Maximization (EM) Algorithm. In addition, the Cramer-Rao Lower Bounds (CRLB) for the estimation of Data Aided (DA) and Non Data Aided (NDA) Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) estimation is derived. Multiple Input Single Output (MISO) channels with Space Time Block Codes (STBC) is used. The EM algorithm is a method that finds the Maximum Likelihood (ML) solution iteratively when there are unobserved (hidden or missing) data. Extension of the proposed approach to other types of linearly modulated signals in estimating SNR is straight forward. The performance of the estimator is assessed using the NDA CRLBs. Alamouti coding technique is used in this paper with two transmit antennas and one receive antenna. The authors’ assumption is that the received signal is corrupted by additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) with unknown variance, and scaled by fixed unknown complex channel gain. Monte Carlo simulations are used to show that the proposed estimator offers a substantial improvement over the conventional Single Input Single Output (SISO) NDA SNR estimator due to the use of the statistical dependences in space and time. Moreover, the proposed NDA SNR estimator works close to the NDA SNR estimator over Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO) channels.
Enhanced Relay Selection and Scheduling for Better Load Balancing in Multi-Hop Networks
Authors: Hamouda Soumaya , Bejaoui Tarek
Published: February 2013

Relaying technology is likely to bring real progress to the next generation cellular networks due to its capability of boosting the system capacity and coverage. However, despite recent advances in relay deployment, some challenging problems still remain such as radio resource allocation and relay selection. The authors investigate both relay selection and scheduling strategy in order to improve the system radio capacity as well as the network load balancing. They propose a new path selection scheme based on the radio channel quality and the relay station load criteria. Performance analysis showed that the authors approach outperforms the existing path selection algorithms in terms of outage probability and global throughput in the system, especially in high traffic conditions. It is revealed that most of the cell edge users which would be rejected when applying common selection scheme, can now have access to a selected relay station and achieve a high end-to-end throughput. A new scheduling strategy is proposed in the second part of this paper, on the basis of a dynamic subframe partitioning. Simulation results show that the outage probability is reduced and more balanced resource allocation is provided. Simulation results showed that some relay stations which were not able to offer any service with the fixed subframe partitioning, can achieve a high data rate with the authors proposed dynamic scheduling strategy.
Voice Traffic Service Guarantee in Wireless Mesh Networks Based on IEEE 802.11e
Authors: Gerk Livia F. , Muchaluat-Saade Débora C.
Published: February 2013

The IEEE 802.11e standard is mostly concerned with traffic differentiation in single-hop infrastructured wireless networks. Wireless mesh networks use several wireless hops in order to forward packets to their destination. A significant issue is that the standard does not map network characteristics into the access protocol parameters it provides. This paper investigates different configurations of the IEEE 802.11e access parameters in wireless mesh networks and proposes two configuration settings. Both proposals provide voice traffic service guarantee without significantly degrading the performance of other multimedia traffic classes, as demonstrated by simulation experiment results.
Applying ADD Model to Enhance Quality of SOA Applications
Authors: Mcheick Hamid
Published: February 2013

SOA enables integration of applications and resources flexibly, representing every application or resource as a service. Its purpose is to facilitate reuse and interoperability of applications, which are regarded as quality attributes of a system. It is very easy to talk about the benefits of SOA (reuse, etc.). But, there are no precise specifications to define this concept as the architectural style. SOA has another shortcoming; it is a problem of performance related to the creation of services that affect the total processing time of the system. This paper provides a basic specification of SOA and identifies architectural tactics to improve performance. The tactics adopted for the performance are then validated by a case study. A solution for the development of tactics is to use the ADD method. This is a method to meet the architectural requirements or qualities expected from a system. Three architectural models have been well integrated into SOA. Validation of the case study determined that the tactics are working and it is interesting to use in SOA architecture. However, an interesting point that arises from the test is that the decomposition model of service can be used with caution. Two contributions emerge from this paper: a basic specification and a design of SOA-based integration models (architectural) to improve performance. The main recommendation arising from this test is the addition of tactical or creating tools to automate the architecture chosen and thus improve performance.
Predictive Modeling of User Interaction Patterns for 3D Mesh Streaming
Authors: Vani V. , Kumar R. Pradeep , S. Mohan
Published: February 2013

The complexity in 3D virtual environment over the web is growing rapidly every day. This 3D virtual environment comprises of set of structured static and dynamic scenes and each scene has multiple 3D objects/meshes. Therefore, the granular level in any 3D virtual environments is the object. In 3D virtual environment, it is required to give user interactions for every 3D object and at any point of time, it is enough if the system streams and brings in only the visible portion of the object from server to the client by utilizing the limited network bandwidth and the limited client memory space. This streaming would reduce the time to present the rendered object to the requested clients. Further to reduce the time and effectively utilize the bandwidth and memory space, in proposed work, an attempt is made to exploit the user interactions on 3D object and built a predictive model. The experiment result shows that the built predictive model minimizes the rendering latency of the 3D mesh that is being streamed to the possible extent. Also, the results convey that the reduction in time is subjected to the type of 3D object that is taken for streaming and rendering.
A Multidimensional Structure for Describing the Influence of Supply Chain Strategies, Business Strategies, and Knowledge Management Strategies on Knowledge Sharing in Supply Chain
Authors: Nikabadi Mohsen Shafiei , Zamanloo Shams-O-Zoha
Published: February 2013

The main goal of this study is to present a multidimensional structure for relationship between Supply Chain Strategies, Business Strategies, and Knowledge Management Strategies with Knowledge Sharing in Supply Chain of the Automotive Industry of Iran. This is an applied research and has done as a Survey, Correlation and cause-effect research. In this research, confirmative factor analysis, correlation test, co-linearity test, and path analysis were used. Innovation aspect of the study is making a comprehensive view to relationship between supply chain strategies, business strategies, and knowledge management strategies with knowledge sharing in the supply chain. Another innovative aspect of the study is attention to supply chain strategies in context of knowledge management, because there are few researches about knowledge management in supply chain. The paper tries to describe quantitatively all the relations in multidimensional structure. Findings show that effective knowledge sharing in supply chain is influenced by the hierarchy of strategies. Therefore, supply chain strategies influence the business strategies and business strategies affects knowledge strategies and at least, knowledge strategies influence the effective and systematic knowledge sharing in the supply chain. Therefore, knowledge sharing is most of all influenced by knowledge management strategies; but is indirectly influenced by business strategies and supply chain strategies.
Analytical Modeling for the Strategic Design of Service Systems
Authors: Smith L. Douglas , Nauss Robert M. , Ehmke Jan Fabian , Mattfeld Dirk Christian
Published: February 2013

Systems for transportation, business logistics, production, and customer service must be constructed with consideration of economy, efficiency, user-equity, and flexibility. A proper blend of statistical modeling, deterministic optimization, heuristic scheduling procedures, and computer simulation enables the strategic design of such systems while anticipating the complexity of operations. Performance on multiple dimensions may be investigated for alternative physical configurations and operating procedures while accommodating time-varying mixes of traffic and demands for service. This paper illustrates the blending of analytical tools for an inland waterway transportation service system where staged queues provide the conceptual foundation for operations, and it advocates the use of similar modeling approaches for the strategic design and management of other service systems. For airline traffic at a major commercial airport, where systems of staged queues need to be integrated for optimizing flight and ground operations, the authors suggest the data and analytical models that may be deployed in this more complex environment.
Do What They Say, Not What I Teach
Authors: Kasten Joseph
Published: February 2013

There has been a great deal of research conducted to examine the alleged gap between the knowledge and skills taught to students regarding the tools used to design and implement information systems and those tools actually required in industry. However, not as much effort has been put into determining the actual use of those tools. This research examines what tools and procedures are actually being utilized in the creation of information systems in industry. Utilizing semi-structured interviews, a much different view of systems design procedures emerges than what students are led to believe are actually used. The prevalence of “home-grown” processes, or sometimes no definable processes at all, can have a serious impact on employee productivity and, ultimately, a system’s ability to fulfill its strategic objectives.
Characterization of Canadian grade standards and lean yield prediction for cows
Authors: Rodas-González A. , Juárez M. , Robertson W. M. , Larsen I. L. , Aalhus J. L.
Published: February 2013

Rodas-González, A., Juárez, M., Robertson, W. M., Larsen, I. L. and Aalhus, J. L. 2013. Characterization of Canadian grade standards and lean yield prediction for cows. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 93: 99–107. Commercial carcasses (n=120) were selected to benchmark the current Canadian grading system for cows (D1, D2, D3, D4;>50% ossification) in comparison to A/AA grades youthful carcasses [over (OTM) and under (UTM) 30 mo of age based on dentition but <50% ossification]. With the exception of the D3 and D4 grades, D1 and D2 carcass grades had similar carcass yield attributes compared with OTM and UTM carcasses; however, rib-eye area from UTM carcasses was the largest (P<0.05), followed by D1, D2 and OTM. As expected, both OTM and UTM grades had lower ossification scores (P<0.05); however, D4 grade showed the highest marbling score (P<0.05). For carcass composition, compared with all other grades, the D3 grade had the highest proportion of lean (P<0.05) due to a lower proportion of dissectible fat (P<0.05); however, it had the lightest carcass weight (P<0.05). Using simple measures of carcass characteristics (grade fat, rib-eye area, marbling and ossification) a prediction equation to estimate lean yield (R 2=0.825; Cp=4.31) could be used to more accurately assess carcass value in cows; however, validation of the equation on a separate population would be required before its application.
SOLID IMAGE EXTRACTION FROM LIDAR POINT CLOUDS
Authors: Munaretto D. , Roggero M.
Published: February 2013

Abstract. In laser scanner architectural surveying it is necessary to extract orthogonal projections from the tridimensional model, plans, elevations and cross sections. The paper presents the workflow of architectural drawings production from laser scans, focusing on the orthogonal projection of the point cloud on solid images, in order to avoid the time consuming surface modeling, when it is not strictly necessary. The proposed procedures have been implemented in fortran90 and included in the VELOCE software package, then tested and applied to the case study of the San Pietro church in Porto Venere (SP), integrating the architectural surveying with an existing bathymetric and coastal surveying.
ACCURATE MULTIVIEW STEREO RECONSTRUCTION WITH FAST VISIBILITY INTEGRATION AND TIGHT DISPARITY BOUNDING
Authors: Toldo R. , Fantini F. , Giona L. , Fantoni S. , Fusiello A.
Published: February 2013

Abstract. A novel multi-view stereo reconstruction method is presented. The algorithm is focused on accuracy and it is highly engineered with some parts taking advantage of the graphics processing unit. In addition, it is seamlessly integrated with the output of a structure and motion pipeline. In the first part of the algorithm a depth map is extracted independently for each image. The final depth map is generated from the depth hypothesis using a Markov random field optimization technique over the image grid. An octree data structure accumulates the votes coming from each depth map. A novel procedure to remove rogue points is proposed that takes into account the visibility information and the matching score of each point. Finally a texture map is built by wisely making use of both the visibility and the view angle informations. Several results show the effectiveness of the algorithm under different working scenarios.