bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Revamping Pedagogies in Indian B-Schools to Create Global Leaders
Authors: Parkar Shalaka Sudhir
Published: October 2016

Recent study depicts that only 10% MBA graduates in India are employable due to lack of employability skills and excess supply. In a mad rush of the Indian B-Schools to match up with the industry standards for placements, they have ignored to incorporate a few crucial aspects as a part of their curriculum viz: pedagogies imparting practical knowledge to the MBA students and Employability Skills like Soft Skills, Communication Skills in English, Image Management and also ways to test their troubleshooting capabilities. Instead focus is on extending regular dose of theoretical knowledge in classrooms, which is often restricted to solving case studies from the prescribed text books. Serious re-thought needs to be given by the academic leaders of the B-schools, allied universities and the regulatory bodies to the revamping of the currently prescribed curriculum and pedagogy, in order to produce graduates who are skilled global leaders.
Relevance of Teaching Values and Ethics in Management Education
Authors: Saini Damini
Published: October 2016

To understand the role of ethical education in facing the ethical challenges in organizations this chapter provides a discussion of implications of the questions of relevance, predicament and methods of ethical training. In the introduction author emphasizes on the reasons of focusing upon the ethical education, then describes the ethical connection with responsibility and explores the terms values, ethics and business ethics. Further the author describes the main focus of the chapter that is relevance of ethics in management education, what and how should ethics be taught. The chapter revolves around the responsibility of the leaders or top management in the various areas of organization which directly or indirectly affect their ethical and moral side of behavior and actions and highlights the importance of ethical education. Further the author reviews the courses running in syllabus of top B Schools of India and abroad, then finally proposes solutions and strategies to tackle the challenges.
Learner Centred Approach for Global Leadership in Management Education
Authors: Baporikar Neeta
Published: October 2016

Management education institutions world over are adopting learner centred approaches with a hope to enhance the effectiveness of teaching learning process and also ensure management education fulfils its role of creating leaders who are global players on a sustainable basis. However, the evidence supporting these is tangential. Even the proof illustrating improvement in student learning through use of these approaches is still questioned. Through exhaustive literature review and grounded theory approach this chapter investigates the learner centred approach - teaching nexus and reflects on the use of them to enhance student learning in this globalized knowledge society. The critical review of the learner centred approaches for better understanding to adopt appropriate strategies by management educators is also delved. This is hoped to enhance the value of management education which is vital in this turbulent world and pressures from knowledge driven economies.
Analysis of Different Feature Description Algorithm in object Recognition
Authors: Hore Sirshendu , Chatterjee Sankhadeep , Chakraborty Shouvik , Shaw Rahul Kumar
Published: October 2016

Object recognition can be done based on local feature description algorithm or through global feature description algorithm. Both types of these descriptors have the efficiency in recognizing an object quickly and accurately. The proposed work judges their performance in different circumstances such as rotational effect scaling effect, illumination effect and blurring effect. Authors also investigate the speed of each algorithm in different situations. The experimental result shows that each one has some advantages as well as some drawbacks. SIFT (Scale Invariant Feature Transformation) and SURF (Speeded Up Robust Features) performs relatively better under scale and rotation change. MSER (Maximally stable extremal regions) performs better under scale change, MinEigen in affine change and illumination change while FAST (Feature from Accelerated segment test) and SURF consume less time.
Multi-View RGB-D Synchronized Video Acquisition and Temporally Coherent 3D Animation Reconstruction Using Multiple Kinects
Authors: Ahmed Naveed
Published: October 2016

This chapter introduces a system for acquiring synchronized multi-view color and depth (RGB-D) video data using multiple off-the-shelf Microsoft Kinect and methods for reconstructing temporally coherent 3D animation from the multi-view RGB-D video data. The acquisition system is very cost-effective and provides a complete software-based synchronization of the camera system. It is shown that the data acquired by this framework can be registered in a global coordinate system and then can be used to reconstruct the 360-degree 3D animation of a dynamic scene. In addition, a number of algorithms to reconstruct a temporally-coherent representation of a 3D animation without using any template model or a-prior assumption about the underlying surface are also presented. It is shown that despite some limitations imposed by the hardware for the synchronous acquisition of the data, a reasonably accurate reconstruction of the animated 3D geometry can be obtained that can be used in a number of applications.
On the Use of Motion Vectors for 2D and 3D Error Concealment in H.264/AVC Video
Authors: Marins Hugo R. , Estrela Vania V.
Published: October 2016

The fundamental principles of the coding/decoding H.264/AVC standard are introduced emphasizing the role of motion estimation and motion compensation (MC) in error concealment using intra- and inter-frame motion estimates, along with other features such as the integer transform, quantization options, entropy coding possibilities, deblocking filter, among other provisions. Efficient MC is one of the certain reasons for H.264/AVC superior performance compared to its antecedents. The H.264/AVC has selective intra-prediction and optimized inter-prediction methods to reduce temporal and spatial redundancy more efficiently. Motion compensation/prediction using variable block sizes and directional intra-prediction to choose the adequate modes help decide the best coding. Unfortunately, motion treatment is a computationally-demanding component of a video codec. The H.264/AVC standard has solved problems its predecessors faced when it comes to image quality and coding efficiency, but many of its advantages require an increase in computing complexity.
Vision-Based Protective Devices
Authors: Moreno-Rabel M. Dolores , Fernández-Muñoz J. Álvaro
Published: October 2016

Machine Safety is a growing technical discipline with a strong basis in the development of electrical and electronic devices, commonly known as Safety Protective Devices (SPDs). SPDs are designed to avoid or at least mitigate those risks associated with a particular human-machinery interaction. Ranging from conceptually simple electromechanical Emergency Stop Devices (ESDs) to the more complex Active Optoelectronic Protective Devices (AOPDs), a place for Real-Time Digital Video Processing has recently been open for research in Machine Safety. This chapter is intended to explore the standardized features of the so-called Vision-Based Protective Devices (VBPDs), their current technical development and principal applications in Machine Safety, with a stress on prominent vision-related implementation issues.
New Redundant Manipulator Robot with Six Degrees of Freedom Controlled with Visual Feedback
Authors: Urrea Claudio , Araya Héctor
Published: October 2016

The design and implementation stages of a redundant robotized manipulator with six Degrees Of Freedom (DOF), controlled with visual feedback by means of computational software, is presented. The various disciplines involved in the design and implementation of the manipulator robot are highlighted in their electric as well as mechanical aspects. Then, the kinematics equations that govern the position and orientation of each link of the manipulator robot are determined. The programming of an artificial vision system and of an interface that control the manipulator robot is designed and implemented. Likewise, the type of position control applied to each joint is explained, making a distinction according to the assigned task. Finally, functional mechanical and electric tests to validate the correct operation of each of the systems of the manipulator robot and the whole robotized system are carried out.
Insilico Approach for Epitope Prediction toward Novel Vaccine Delivery System Design
Authors: Rajeswari P. Raja , Raju S. Viswanadha , Ashour Amira S. , Dey Nilanjan
Published: October 2016

Vaccines build a defense mechanism against the disease causing agents through the immune system stimulation and disease agents' imitation. Some of the vaccines contain a part of the disease causing agents that are either weakened or dead. Along with using vaccines with viral infections, it can be used against the various types of cancers for both therapy and prevention. The use of cancer's vaccines in cancer therapies is called immunotherapy. It can be done either by specific cancer vaccine or universal cancer vaccine that contains tumor antigens, which stimulate the immune system. This in turn initiates various mechanisms that terminate tumor cells and prevents recurrence of these tumors. The present work proposed an Insilico approach in epitope prediction and analysis of antigenecity and Immunogenecity of Haemophilus influenzae strains. It was interested with the design of a novel vaccine delivery system with better adjuvancity, where vaccine adjuvant is significant for the improvement of the antigens' immunogenicity that present in the vaccines. The conducted insilico approaches selected the best strain target proteins, m strain selection, epitope prediction, antigenicity and immunogenicity prediction of target proteins to find out the best targets.
Mainstreaming Development Policies for Climate Change in Fiji
Authors: Goundar Sam , Appana Subhash
Published: October 2016

Fiji is a Party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and to the Kyoto Protocol. This chapter examines the development policies implemented since ratifying these agreements to mitigate greenhouse gas and carbon emissions. This includes an analysis of Fiji's effort in mitigating climate change issues by “mainstreaming” - an operational approach for making development more sustainable. A country's use of renewable energy sources is a good indicator of its efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas and carbon emissions. Fiji's renewable energy projects and agricultural sector are examined. Identification is made of the gaps in development policies that take control of climate change issues with the process of mainstreaming. Suggestions are provided to close the gaps. ICT (information communications technology) has a critical role to mitigate the impacts of climate change by advancing renewable energy efforts and reducing emissions. Social media is now widely used to inform and educate about sustainable development efforts and to address broader development challenges.
Climate Change
Authors: Kais Shaikh Mohammad
Published: October 2016

Global aquaculture is one of the key features of present global agro-food systems. Though aquaculture is one of the fastest growing industries in the world, its growth trajectory is confronted with various challenges including climate disruptions. Since both aquaculture and climate change have regional variations, their interconnections are very complex and require systematic investigation. In various regions of the world, especially in the Global South, aquaculture countries are assessing those interconnections and devising resilience-enhancing programs for the development of the sector. Thorough investigations are required for a comprehensive understanding of the complex interconnections between climate vulnerability and resilience of global aquaculture. Drawing on primary and secondary data from the Bangladesh shrimp sector, and using conceptual lenses of global climate change and resilience, this chapter critically examines how the industrial shrimp aquaculture in Bangladesh is affected by climate disruptions and how the shrimp farming communities address these challenges.
What Is Cheating?
Authors: Velliaris Donna M.
Published: October 2016

The Eynesbury Institute of Business and Technology (EIBT) is one of a growing number of private providers partnering with universities to attract international students early in their commitment to tertiary studies. EIBT offers diploma programs that comprise the equivalent courses as the first-year of a Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Technology (IT), or Engineering at the destination Higher Education Institution (HEI). EIBT provides a period of academic acculturation for international students whose English proficiency and/or previous academic results are below direct entry requirements. In 2015, 200+ ‘new' students were required to complete a mandatory online questionnaire during orientation. First-person narrative data was derived from students' responses to the open-ended question: What is cheating and why is it wrong? The findings provide insight into their understandings, which has helped facilitate opportunities for faculty to mitigate opportunities for academic misconduct in the context of this Institute.
Why Students Cheat
Authors: Yu Hongwei , Glanzer Perry L. , Johnson Byron
Published: October 2016

The authors present an extensive summary of significant factors associated with college student cheating. They compared these findings to a synthesis of the authors' own research findings from empirical studies based on a large national sample of college students. Overall, the authors found student characteristics and pre-college experiences (e.g., gender, age, family financial background, self-control, life purpose), individual college experiences and peer environment (extracurricular involvement, favorable perception of cheating environment), organizational context (student perception of faculty's actions towards academic cheating) are all significant factors associated with academic cheating. More importantly, student academic preparation, extracurricular activities, attitude toward cheating, and perceived opportunities to cheat all served as important mediating variables between lack of self-control and academic misconduct. Implications about research and practice and directions for future research were presented at the end of the chapter.
Combating Plagiarism
Authors: Hoanca Bogdan
Published: October 2016

This chapter describes a hybrid approach to combating plagiarism, as developed over the course of a decade. This approach is based on a three-component framework. The first step is educating students about the differences between quoting, paraphrasing and plagiarizing, using examples. Second, students are introduced to plagiarism detection software in use. Students are shown how the software works, the type of reports it generates, as well as some of the most egregious examples of plagiarism encountered in this class in past years (anonymized, of course). A key part of this second step is to show students what the expectations are, in terms of what level of similarity between their paper and their sources is acceptable (attributable to a chance match) and what is blatant (clearly a deliberate act). Finally, the third component is follow-through i.e., reporting students to the university's administrative structures.
Academic Integrity and International Students
Authors: Razek Nasser
Published: October 2016

The pressure to excel, peer perceptions, and the lack of faculty enforcement are among several factors that lead students to cheat in general. When circumstances of Academic Integrity (AI) among international students were examined, findings revealed prevalence of academic misconduct behaviors due to several factors. When admitting several academic dishonesty behaviors as accepted practices, a sweeping majority of international students denounced cheating as opposed to their own cultural, ethical, and religious beliefs. Several forms of academic misconduct behaviors are more frequent among international students than others. These included unauthorized help, cheating on online tests and utilizing Internet paper mills. Suggested strategies for minimizing misconduct practices of international students included: orientation training, a focus on learning outcomes, alleviating the social pressure, raising students' awareness about academic expectations, and building on the students' ethical backgrounds.
A Multiresponse Optimization Model for Statistical Design of Processes with Discrete Variables
Authors: Hejazi Taha-Hossein , Akbari Leilanaz
Published: October 2016

In manufacturing and diverse industries, quality has a main role to increase the market share. Hence, producers focus their attention to design products or services with high quality to meet the customer's expectations. Quality characteristics of products usually expressed by variables called response variables. Today's complex systems have several performance attributes in responses and designers try to select the best combination of controllable factors that satisfies all quality characteristics simultaneously. Since there are often several conflicts in quality characteristics, such as measurement units, scale and optimality directions, there are different approaches in model building and optimization of multi response surface problems. Therefore, the study of simultaneous analysis and improvement methods of the outputs are of great importance.
Introduction to System Reliability Evaluation through Bayesian Approach
Authors: Kumar M. , Bajeel P. N.
Published: October 2016

Consider a parallel system with independent components. Assume that lifetime of i-th component follows exponential distribution with unknown parameter. We assume each , is distinct and the priori information can be modeled by quasi-density function given by , where is a predefined upper bound. A Bayesian estimator for , based on type-I censoring is used to get an estimate of system reliability. Optimal reliability test plan is designed, and an optimization problem is formulated satisfying usual probability requirements. Several numerical examples are considered to illustrate the Bayesian approach of obtaining optimal reliability test plan for a parallel system.
Reliability Analysis of Two Dissimilar-Cold Standby Redundant Systems Subject to Inspection with Preventive Maintenance Using Copula
Authors: Nailwal Beena , Singh S. B.
Published: October 2016

The objective of this chapter is to study the system reliability through redundant component and additional preventive maintenance of operative and standby units. The considered system consists of two units in cold-standby, one is main unit and other is standby. The configuration of main unit is of 1-out-of-2: G whereas standby unit is of (n-1)-out-of-n: F and (n-2)-out-of-n: D nature. Main unit of the system has two modes viz. operable and failed and standby unit of the system has three modes viz. operable, degraded and failed. Both units after failure go for inspection where the type of the failure is detected and accordingly repairing action is decided. The failure and repair times follow exponential and general time distributions respectively. The system is studied by using the supplementary variable technique, Laplace transformation and Gumbel-Hougaard family of copula to obtain reliability, availability, downtime, busy period, M.T.T.F. and cost effectiveness of the system. At last some special cases of the system have been discussed.
Combustion Instability Analysis Using Wavelets in Conventional Diesel Engine
Authors: Maurya Rakesh Kumar , Nekkanti Akhil
Published: October 2016

Combustion instability affects the drivability, power, engine performance and efficiency. Elimination of combustion instabilities leads to increase in power for the same fuel economy. Effective controller can reduce combustion instabilities by understanding patterns in the cyclic variations. In this study, cyclic variations of combustion parameters were analyzed in a diesel engine using wavelet analysis. The experiments were conducted at varying loads and compression ratios at 1500 rpm. At steady state condition, cylinder pressure data of 2000 consecutive combustion cycles was measured. Continuous Wavelet Transform was used to capture non-stationary or transient features that might not have been detected using other transforms. Wavelet Power Spectrum (WPS) and Global Wavelet Spectrum were further used to determine the relationship between fluctuations in combustion parameters. Contour Plots were plotted based on WPS for visualizing the intensity and frequency of cyclic Variations. It was found that cyclic variability decreases with increase in engine load and compression ratio.
The Masking Effect
Authors: Cannaday Jessica
Published: October 2016

Twice exceptional students, those who are both gifted and have learning or behavioral difficulties, are an often under-served population. This chapter recommends approaching twice exceptional student needs holistically using a Response to Intervention model. The chapter defines the twice exceptional learner, and discusses intelligence theory in relation to both giftedness and twice exceptionality. The chapter further recommends a combination of RtI universal screening identification practices and traditional gifted and talented education identification methods, as well as multiple differentiation techniques to support the needs of this special population.
Biodesulfurization of Dibenzothiophene by a Newly Isolated Agrobacterium tumefaciens LSU20
Authors: Gunam Ida Bagus Wayan , Iqbal Muhammad , Arnata I Wayan , Antara Nyoman Semadi , Dewi Anggreni Anak Agung Made , Setiyo Yohanes , Gunadnya Ida Bagus Putu
Published: October 2016

Organic sulfur compound of fossil fuel are too resistant to be removed by the conventional desulfurization processes. This study aimed to investigate the best growth conditions of Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LSU20 on desulfurized of dibenzothiophene (DBT) compound in the n-tetradecane as model of oil. The experiments were performed with the medium two-phase system, aqueous phase: mineral salt sulfur free (MSSF) medium and the oil phase: n-tetradecane containing 200 ppm of DBT in the ratio of oil/water (1: 5). The culture of LSU20 that has been aged 4 days (OD660 5) of 0.1 ml inoculated in a test tube containing 5 mL of MSSF medium and 1 ml model of petroleum, grown at temperature variations incubation as follows: 33°C, 37°C, 41°C, 45°C, and 49°C; variations in the initial pH of medium: pH 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5, and 8.0; and variations of carbon sources such as glucose, sucrose, glycerol and citric acid. The experiments were conducted using a water bath shaker at 150 rpm for 96 hours of incubation. The results showed that the highest rate of degradation of DBT by LSU20 occurs at a temperature of 37°C, media pH of 7 and glucose as the carbon source, ie with the growth rate reached 0.91 (OD660) and DBT compounds degraded until 76.9% (w/v).
Investigation of Z-R Relationships for Monsoon Seasons over Southern Thailand
Authors: Kirtsaeng Sukrit , Chantraket Pakdee
Published: October 2016

This research aimed to study the rainfall estimation with weather radar in southern Thailand. Both precipitation data from Sathing-Phra radar station, Songkhla, and hourly rainfall data from automatic tipping bucket rain gauges are of the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) in 2012-2013. These data were used to study the relationship between radar reflectivity (Z) and intensity of the rainfall (R) in both monsoon season. The rain-rate obtained from radar with Z-R equation was a precise rain estimate method. The calculation provided the rain-rate more accurate than original equation often used. The equation of this study was best used during the northeast monsoon which occurred in rainy season in eastern coast of the South (Thailand's Gulf). However, the result of this study should be improved to estimate rain-rate by radar for southern Thailand and, as input data, applied for applications of early warning systems.
Inclusion Complex of Plai Oil and β-Cyclodextrin
Authors: Jimtaisong Ampa , Saewan Nisakorn
Published: October 2016

Inclusion complex of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and Plai (Zingiber cassumunar) oil was prepared using a simple co-precipitation method at β-CD to Plai oil in different ratios. The inclusion complexes were characterized using Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The FT-IR absorption bands of inclusion complex at 3600-3200 cm-1 were broader and shifted toward lower frequencies compared with that of pure β-CD (3359 cm-1). DSC of the inclusion complexes showed two endothermic peaks shifted to lower temperatures (90-100°C and 295-300°C) compared to that of β-CD. The different physicochemical characteristic could be an indication of an embedded guest molecule in the β-CD cavities in the inclusion complex preparation.
Effect of Chitosan and Alginate Concentration on Size and Bactericidal Activity against Escherichia coli of Chitosan/Alginate/Silver Nanoparticle Beads
Authors: Mahasawat Pawika , Hlongkeaw Ketsarin , Charoenrit Sutthida
Published: October 2016

Silver nanoparticles have been used in combination with biological polymer for antibacterial application. This study prepared chitosan/alginate/AgNP beads with varying chitosan and alginate concentration to use as an antibacterial material. The sizes of neat beads were larger (1286 ± 172, 1344 ± 142 and 1529 ± 73 μm for C1, C2 and C3, respectively) with increasing concentration of chitosan and alginate. Moreover, smaller beads were observed for the chitosan/alginate/AgNP beads, in which their sizes were 1151 ± 201, 1261 ± 204 and 1324 ± 198 µm for S1, S2 and S3, respectively, when compared to the chitosan/alginate beads. Furthermore, the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of chitosan/alginate/AgNP beads against E. coli was 10, 10 and 3 µg/ml for S1, S2 and S3, respectively. This study suggested that the beads with the higher concentration of chitosan and alginate resulted in the greater bactericidal activity. Therefore, the chitosan/alginate/AgNP beads prepared in this study showed the bactericidal activity which can be used for antibacterial application.
CD40-Mediated NF-κB Activation in B Cells Is Increased in Multiple Sclerosis and Modulated by Therapeutics
Authors: Chen Ding , Ireland Sara J. , Remington Gina , Alvarez Enrique , Racke Michael K. , Greenberg Benjamin , Frohman Elliot M. , Monson Nancy L.
Published: October 2016

CD40 interacts with CD40L and plays an essential role in immune regulation and homeostasis. Recent research findings, however, support a pathogenic role of CD40 in a number of autoimmune diseases. We previously showed that memory B cells from relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients exhibited enhanced proliferation with CD40 stimulation compared with healthy donors. In this study, we used a multiparameter phosflow approach to analyze the phosphorylation status of NF-κB and three major MAPKs (P38, ERK, and JNK), the essential components of signaling pathways downstream of CD40 engagement in B cells from MS patients. We found that memory and naive B cells from RRMS and secondary progressive MS patients exhibited a significantly elevated level of phosphorylated NF-κB (p-P65) following CD40 stimulation compared with healthy donor controls. Combination therapy with IFN-β-1a (Avonex) and mycophenolate mofetil (Cellcept) modulated the hyperphosphorylation of P65 in B cells of RRMS patients at levels similar to healthy donor controls. Lower disease activity after the combination therapy correlated with the reduced phosphorylation of P65 following CD40 stimulation in treated patients. Additionally, glatiramer acetate treatment also significantly reduced CD40-mediated P65 phosphorylation in RRMS patients, suggesting that reducing CD40-mediated p-P65 induction may be a general mechanism by which some current therapies modulate MS disease.
Acute Virus Control Mediated by Licensed NK Cells Sets Primary CD8+ T Cell Dependence on CD27 Costimulation
Authors: Teoh Jeffrey J. , Gamache Awndre E. , Gillespie Alyssa L. , Stadnisky Michael D. , Yagita Hideo , Bullock Timothy N. J. , Brown Michael G.
Published: October 2016

NK cells represent a critical first-line of immune defense against a bevy of viral pathogens, and infection can provoke them to mediate supportive and suppressive effects on virus-specific adaptive immunity. In mice expressing MHC class I Dk (Dk), a major murine CMV (MCMV) resistance factor and self-ligand of the inhibitory Ly49G2 (G2) receptor, licensed G2+ NK cells provide essential host resistance against MCMV infection. Additionally G2+ NK cell responses to MCMV increase the rate and extent of dendritic cell (DC) recovery, as well as early priming of CD8+ T cell effectors in response to MCMV. However, relatively little is known about the NK cell effect on costimulatory ligand patterns displayed by DCs or on ensuing effector and memory T cell responses. In this study, we found that CD27-dependent CD8+ T cell priming and differentiation are shaped by the efficiency of NK responses to virus infection. Surprisingly, differences in specific NK responses to MCMV in Dk-disparate mice failed to distinguish early DC costimulatory patterns. Nonetheless, although CD27 deficiency did not impede licensed NK-mediated resistance, CD70 and CD27 were required to efficiently prime and regulate effector CD8+ T cell differentiation in response to MCMV, which eventually resulted in biased memory T cell precursor formation in Dk mice. In contrast, CD8+ T cells accrued more slowly in non-Dk mice and eventually differentiated into terminal effector cells regardless of CD27 stimulation. Disparity in this requirement for CD27 signaling indicates that specific virus control mediated by NK cells can shape DC costimulatory signals needed to prime CD8+ T cells and eventual T cell fate decisions.
Decolonisation of higher education: Dismantling epistemic violence and Eurocentrism in South Africa
Authors: Heleta Savo
Published: October 2016

Since the end of the oppressive and racist apartheid system in 1994, epistemologies and knowledge systems at most South African universities have not considerably changed; they remain rooted in colonial, apartheid and Western worldviews and epistemological traditions. The curriculum remains largely Eurocentric and continues to reinforce white and Western dominance and privilege. This article traces the roots of Eurocentrism and epistemic violence at universities. The author argues that South Africa must tackle and dismantle the epistemic violence and hegemony of Eurocentrism, completely rethink, reframe and reconstruct the curriculum and place South Africa, Southern Africa and Africa at the centre of teaching, learning and research. However, this will not be easy as opposition to change is entrenched in the university structures. The movement to radically transform and decolonise higher education must find ways to hold institutions accountable and maintain the non-violent and intellectual struggle until epistemic violence and Eurocentrism are dismantled.
IBBOMSA: An Improved Biogeography-based Approach for Multiple Sequence Alignment
Authors: Yadav Rohit Kumar , Banka Haider
Published: October 2016

In bioinformatics, multiple sequence alignment (MSA) is an NP-hard problem. Hence, nature-inspired techniques can better approximate the solution. In the current study, a novel biogeography-based optimization (NBBO) is proposed to solve an MSA problem. The biogeography-based optimization (BBO) is a new paradigm for optimization. But, there exists some deficiencies in solving complicated problems such as low population diversity and slow convergence rate. NBBO is an enhanced version of BBO, in which, a new migration operation is proposed to overcome the limitations of BBO. The new migration adopts more information from other habitats, maintains population diversity, and preserves exploitation ability. In the performance analysis, the proposed and existing techniques such as VDGA, MOMSA, and GAPAM are tested on publicly available benchmark datasets (ie, Bali base). It has been observed that the proposed method shows the superiority/competitiveness with the existing techniques.
Sexualidad, género, religión e interculturalidad en los relatos informativos civilizatorios y culturales de las televisiones españolas
Authors: Rodrigo-Alsina Miquel , García-Jimenez Leonarda , Gifreu-Pinsach Josep , Gómez-Puertas Lorena , Guerrero-Solé Frederic , López-González Hibai , Medina-Bravo Pilar , Pineda-Cachero Antonio , Roca-Cuberes Carles , Rodríguez-Polo Xosé Ramón , Terribas-Sala Mònica , Ventura-Álvarez Rafael
Published: October 2016

En esta investigación se analizan distintas noticias sobre sexualidad, género, religión e interculturalidad en televisiones españolas. Metodología. Se realiza un análisis del discurso de las distintas identidades enmarcadas en las mencionadas categorías. A continuación, en distintos grupos discusión se analizan las interpretaciones que hacen las audiencias de dichas noticias. Finalmente, a su vez, analizamos mediante el método Delphi la opinión de distintos expertos sobre estas mismas noticias. Resultados y Discusión. Gracias al análisis del discurso se desvelan las representaciones y los estereotipos mediáticos que las audiencias y expertos identifican fácilmente. Conclusiones. Hay que señalar que tanto las audiencias como los expertos fueron muy críticos con las piezas sometidas a su interpretación, y percibieron claramente las insuficiencias y los estereotipos utilizados. Sin embargo, sobre todo las audiencias de mayor edad, a la hora de abordar dichos temas en general suelen tener los mismos prejuicios que denuncian en los informativos.
Detecting Mutations in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Pyrazinamidase Gene pncA to Improve Infection Control and Decrease Drug Resistance Rates in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Coinfection
Authors: Dudley Matthew Z. , Sheen Patricia , Gilman Robert H. , Ticona Eduardo , Friedland Jon S. , Kirwan Daniela E. , Caviedes Luz , Rodriguez Richard , Cabrera Lilia Z. , Coronel Jorge , Grandjean Louis , Moore David A. J. , Evans Carlton A. , Huaroto Luz , Chávez-Pérez Víctor , Zimic Mirko
Published: October 2016

Hospital infection control measures are crucial to tuberculosis (TB) control strategies within settings caring for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)–positive patients, as these patients are at heightened risk of developing TB. Pyrazinamide (PZA) is a potent drug that effectively sterilizes persistent Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli. However, PZA resistance associated with mutations in the nicotinamidase/pyrazinamidase coding gene, pncA, is increasing. A total of 794 patient isolates obtained from four sites in Lima, Peru, underwent spoligotyping and drug resistance testing. In one of these sites, the HIV unit of Hospital Dos de Mayo (HDM), an isolation ward for HIV/TB coinfected patients opened during the study as an infection control intervention: circulating genotypes and drug resistance pre- and postintervention were compared. All other sites cared for HIV-negative outpatients: genotypes and drug resistance rates from these sites were compared with those from HDM. HDM patients showed high concordance between multidrug resistance, PZA resistance according to the Wayne method, the two most common genotypes (spoligotype international type [SIT] 42 of the Latino American-Mediterranean (LAM)-9 clade and SIT 53 of the T1 clade), and the two most common pncA mutations (G145A and A403C). These associations were absent among community isolates. The infection control intervention was associated with 58–92% reductions in TB caused by SIT 42 or SIT 53 genotypes (odds ratio [OR] = 0.420, P = 0.003); multidrug-resistant TB (OR = 0.349, P < 0.001); and PZA-resistant TB (OR = 0.076, P < 0.001). In conclusion, pncA mutation typing, with resistance testing and spoligotyping, was useful in identifying a nosocomial TB outbreak and demonstrating its resolution after implementation of infection control measures.
La riada de Valencia de 1957: reconstrucción hidrológica y sedimentológica y análisis comparativo con la situación actual
Authors: Puertes C. , Francés F.
Published: October 2016

El presente trabajo pretende mejorar el conocimiento de lo sucedido durante la riada de Valencia de 1957, es decir, comprobar si con la información disponible y la inclusión del ciclo de sedimentos a un modelo hidrológico distribuido se es capaz de explicar las ondas de crecida. Asimismo, pretende conocer las consecuencias actuales de un evento similar, teniendo en cuenta el cambio de usos del suelo, especialmente el incremento urbano en la parte baja de cuenca, y las medidas actuales frente a inundaciones de la ciudad. Para ello, se implementó el modelo hidrológico en el estado actual de la cuenca, se reconstruyó a escala horaria la precipitación del evento y se calibró el sub-modelo de sedimentos. De esta forma, se obtuvieron los hidrogramas en los puntos de simulación. Finalmente, se realizó una simulación con la precipitación de 1957 en la situación actual, lo que permitió  conocer sus consecuencias en la actualidad. 
Edificios singulares en mallas regulares. Iglesias en L’Eixample y en La Baixa
Authors: Arboix-Alió Alba
Published: October 2016

A building is considered unique when it outstands within the common fabric of the city due to its form, its nature, and its production and serialization process. If this architectural singularity is accompanied by an urban distinction, the result is much more effective because the compound becomes an urban enclave capable of arranging and hierarchically organising the city. The most illustrative example for historic cities with a Catholic tradition may probably be the church with the public space that materializes around it. For centuries, the sacred building and the atrium that precedes it have represented the city’s reference point and articulating centre of social, economic and cultural life. Nevertheless, if this is more or less evident in old towns consolidated over time; how is this solved in modern cities formed by a regular urban layout whose grid is put before the freedom of the buildings? With Barcelona and Lisbon as case studies, the paper focuses on the implementation and typology of the most paradigmatic churches in the neighbourhoods of L’Eixample Cerdà and La Baixa Pombalina.
In vitro Analysis of Cytotoxicity of Temporary Resilient Relining Materials
Authors: Caldas Isleine P , Scelza Miriam Z , Gallito Marco A , Alves Gutemberg , Silva Licínio
Published: October 2016

Aims

The aim of this study is to evaluate the in vitro response of human gingival fibroblasts in primary cultures to two materials for temporary relining of dentures: Temporary Soft (TDV, Brazil) and Trusoft (Bosworth, USA) for 24 hours, 7 and 30 days by using a multi-parametric analysis.

Materials and methods

Each material sample (TDV, TS, Polystyrene, Latex) was prepared and incubated in a culture medium for 1, 7, and 30 days at 37°C. Human gingival fibroblasts were exposed to the extracts and cell viability was evaluated by a multi-parametric assay, which allowed sequential analysis of mitochondrial activity (XTT), membrane integrity [neutral red (NR)], and cell density [crystal violet dye exclusion (CVDE)] in the same cells. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the interactions of the three sources of variation (material, test method, and time) with the proportions of viable cells for each relining material.

Results

Both evaluated materials (TDV and TS) had low cytotoxic effects during 1, 7, and 30 days after manipulation of the material, as assessed by all three methods used. A statistical difference was found when comparing the negative control group (latex fragments) with the other groups, which showed high toxicity and low percentage of cell viability in all tests used. There was no significant difference among other materials (p > 0.05).

Conclusion

Low cytotoxicity levels were detected by representatives of the major groups of temporary prosthetic relining materials, as evaluated by multiple cellular viability parameters in human fibroblasts.

Clinical significance

There are various soft materials on the market for relining prostheses; however, the effects of these materials on tissues need to be clarified to avoid problems for patients.

How to cite this article

Caldas IP, Scelza MZ, Gallito MA, Alves G, Silva L. In vitro Analysis of Cytotoxicity of Temporary Resilient Relining Materials. J Contemp Dent Pract 2016;17(6):457-462.
Predictors of Positive Subxiphoid Pericardial Window in Stable Patients with Penetrating Injuries to the Precordial Region
Authors: Sánchez Álvaro I , Puyana Juan Carlos , García Alberto F , Velsquez Mauricio
Published: October 2016

Background

Subxiphoid pericardial window (SPW) remains a valuable diagnostic tool for patients at risk of occult cardiac injuries. However, how to select patients that could benefit from this procedure remains unclear. We aimed to identify clinical predictors of positive SPW in patients with penetrating precordial injuries.

Materials and methods

Prospective data collection of 183 patients who underwent SPW for the exclusion of penetrating cardiac injuries during 2002 – 2004 at a level I trauma centre in Cali, Colombia. Patient's demographics, clinical characteristics, and injury information were obtained. Independent predictors of positive SPW were assessed using stepwise logistic regressions.

Results

There were 41 positive SPW (22.4%). Unadjusted analyses demonstrated that stab/knife wounds (OR 2.48, 95% CI 1.17–5.25, p = 0.017), single wound (OR 14.61, 95% CI 1.9–110, p = 0.009), and clinical signs of pericardiac tamponade (OR 8.52, 95% CI 3.92–18.4, p < 0.001) were associated with increased odds of positive SPW. Conversely, systolic blood pressure (0.98, 95% CI 0.96–0.99) and stable physiological index (OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.14–0.65, p = 0.002) were associated with decreased odds. In multivariable analyses, signs of pericardiac tamponade (OR 6.37, 95% CI 2.78–14.6, p < 0.001), and single injuries (OR 12.99, 95% CI 1.6–102.7, p = 0.015) remained as independent predictors of positive SPW.

Conclusion

Emphasis on early recognition of the clinical signs of pericardiac tamponade could be the most important factor for the identification of occult cardiac injuries. Patients with multiple wounds to the precordial region who reached the hospital may not benefit from a SPW. However, high level of awareness is important because the incidence of occult cardiac injuries is not negligible.

How to cite this article

Sánchez ÁI, García AF, Velásquez M, Puyana JC. Predictors of Positive Subxiphoid Pericardial Window in Stable Patients with Penetrating Injuries to the Precordial Region. Panam J Trauma Crit Care Emerg Surg 2015;4(3):43-51.
Estimates of the aerosol indirect effect over the Baltic Sea region
derived from twelve years of MODIS observations
Authors: Saponaro Giulia , Kolmonen Pekka , Sogacheva Larisa , Rodriguez Edith , Virtanen Timo , de Leeuw Gerrit
Published: October 2016

Abstract. Twelve years (2003–2014) of aerosol and cloud properties retrieved from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on-board the Aqua satellite were used to statistically quantify aerosol-cloud interaction (ACI) over the Baltic Sea region including the relatively clean Fennoscandia and the more polluted Central-Eastern Europe. These areas allowed us to study the effects of different aerosol types and concentrations on macro- and microphysical properties of clouds: cloud effective radius (CER), cloud fraction (CF), cloud optical thickness (COT), cloud liquid water path (LWP) and cloud top height (CTH). Aerosol properties used are aerosol optical depth (AOD), Ångström Exponent (AE) and aerosol index (AI). The study was limited to low level water clouds in the summer. The vertical distributions of the relationships between cloud properties and aerosols show an effect of aerosols on low-level water clouds. CF, COT, LWP and CTH tend to increase with aerosol loading, indicating changes in the cloud structure, while the effective radius of cloud droplets decreases. The ACI is larger at relatively low cloud top levels, between 900 hPa and 700 hPa. Most of the studied cloud variables were unaffected by the lower tropospheric stability (LTS) except for the cloud fraction. The spatial distribution of aerosol and cloud parameters and ACI, here defined as the change in CER as a function of aerosol concentration for a fixed liquid water path (LWP), shows positive and statistically significant ACI over the Baltic Sea and Fennoscandia, with the former having the largest values. Small negative ACI values are observed in Central-Eastern Europe, suggesting that large aerosol concentrations saturate the ACI.
Analysis of geostationary satellite derived cloud parameters associated with high ice water content environments
Authors: de Laat Adrianus , Defer Eric , Delanoë Julien , Dezitter Fabien , Gounou Amanda , Grandin Alice , Guignard Anthony , Meirink Jan Fokke , Moisselin Jean-Marc , Parol Frédéric
Published: October 2016

Abstract. We present a newly developed high ice water content mask (High IWC) based on measurements of the cloud physical properties (CPP) algorithm applied to the geostationary Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI). The mask was developed within the European High Altitude Ice Crystals (HAIC) project for detection of upper atmospheric high IWC, which can be a hazard for aviation. Evaluation of the High IWC mask with satellite measurements of active remote sensors of cloud properties (CLOUDSAT/CALIPSO combined in the DARDAR product) shows that the High IWC mask can be fine-tuned for detection of high IWC values > 1 g/m3 in the DARDAR profiles. The best CPP predictors of High IWC were the condensed water path, cloud optical thickness, cloud phase, and cloud top height. The evaluation of the High IWC mask against DARDAR provided some indications that the MSG-CPP High IWC mask is more sensitive to cloud ice or cloud water in the upper part of the cloud, which is relevant for aviation purposes. Biases in the CPP results were also identified, in particular a solar zenith angle (SZA) dependence that reduces the performance of the High IWC mask for SZAs > 60°. Verification statistics show that for the detection of High IWC a trade-off has to be made between better detection of High IWC scenes and more false detections, i.e. scenes identified by the High IWC mask that do not contain IWC > 1 g/m3. However, the large majority of these detections still contain IWC values between 0.1–1 g/m3. Comparison of the High IEC mask against results from the Rapid Developing Thunderstorm (RDT) algorithm applied to the same geostationary SEVIRI data showed that there are similarities and differences with the High IWC mask: the RDT algorithm is very capable of detection young/new convective cells and areas, whereas the High IWC mask appears to be better capable of detecting more mature and ageing convection as well as cirrus remnants. The lack of detailed understanding what causes aviation hazards related to High IWC hampers further tuning of the High IWC mask. Additional evaluation of the High IWC mask against field campaign data should provide more information on the performance of the MSG-CPP High IWC mask and contribute to a better characterization.