bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Aryloxyalkanoic Acids as Non-Covalent Modifiers of the Allosteric Properties of Hemoglobin
Authors: Omar Abdelsattar , Mahran Mona , Ghatge Mohini , Bamane Faida , Ahmed Mostafa , El-Araby Moustafa , Abdulmalik Osheiza , Safo Martin
Published: August 2016

Hemoglobin (Hb) modifiers that stereospecifically inhibit sickle hemoglobin polymer formation and/or allosterically increase Hb affinity for oxygen have been shown to prevent the primary pathophysiology of sickle cell disease (SCD), specifically, Hb polymerization and red blood cell sickling. Several such compounds are currently being clinically studied for the treatment of SCD. Based on the previously reported non-covalent Hb binding characteristics of substituted aryloxyalkanoic acids that exhibited antisickling properties, we designed, synthesized and evaluated 18 new compounds (KAUS II series) for enhanced antisickling activities. Surprisingly, select test compounds showed no antisickling effects or promoted erythrocyte sickling. Additionally, the compounds showed no significant effect on Hb oxygen affinity (or in some cases, even decreased the affinity for oxygen). The X-ray structure of deoxygenated Hb in complex with a prototype compound, KAUS-23, revealed that the effector bound in the central water cavity of the protein, providing atomic level explanations for the observed functional and biological activities. Although the structural modification did not lead to the anticipated biological effects, the findings provide important direction for designing candidate antisickling agents, as well as a framework for novel Hb allosteric effectors that conversely, decrease the protein affinity for oxygen for potential therapeutic use for hypoxic- and/or ischemic-related diseases.
Biological Activities of the Essential Oil from Erigeron floribundus
Authors: Petrelli Riccardo , Orsomando Giuseppe , Sorci Leonardo , Maggi Filippo , Ranjbarian Farahnaz , Biapa Nya Prosper , Petrelli Dezemona , Vitali Luca , Lupidi Giulio , Quassinti Luana , Bramucci Massimo , Hofer Anders , Cappellacci Loredana
Published: August 2016

Erigeron floribundus (Asteraceae) is an herbaceous plant widely used in Cameroonian traditional medicine to treat various diseases of microbial and non-microbial origin. In the present study, we evaluated the in vitro biological activities displayed by the essential oil obtained from the aerial parts of E. floribundus, namely the antioxidant, antimicrobial and antiproliferative activities. Moreover, we investigated the inhibitory effects of E. floribundus essential oil on nicotinate mononucleotide adenylyltransferase (NadD), a promising new target for developing novel antibiotics, and Trypanosoma brucei, the protozoan parasite responsible for Human African trypanosomiasis. The essential oil composition was dominated by spathulenol (12.2%), caryophyllene oxide (12.4%) and limonene (8.8%). The E. floribundus oil showed a good activity against Staphylococcus aureus (inhibition zone diameter, IZD of 14 mm, minimum inhibitory concentration, MIC of 512 µg/mL). Interestingly, it inhibited the NadD enzyme from S. aureus (IC50 of 98 µg/mL), with no effects on mammalian orthologue enzymes. In addition, T. brucei proliferation was inhibited with IC50 values of 33.5 µg/mL with the essential oil and 5.6 µg/mL with the active component limonene. The essential oil exhibited strong cytotoxicity on HCT 116 colon carcinoma cells with an IC50 value of 14.89 µg/mL, and remarkable ferric reducing antioxidant power (tocopherol-equivalent antioxidant capacity, TEAC = 411.9 μmol·TE/g).
Magnetic, Fluorescence and Transition Metal Ion Response Properties of 2,6-Diaminopyridine Modified Silica-Coated Fe3O4 Nanoparticles
Authors: Zhai Yunhui , Song Ruijuan , Zhang Changhu , He Qun , Han Quan , Qu Yingjuan
Published: August 2016

Multi-functional nanoparticles possessing magnetic, fluorescence and transition metal ion response properties were prepared and characterized. The particles have a core/shell structure that consists of silica-coated magnetic Fe3O4 and 2,6-diaminopyridine anchored on the silica surface via organic linker molecules. The resultant nanoparticles were found by transmission electron microscopy to be well-dispersed spherical particles with an average diameter of 10–12 nm. X-ray diffraction analysis suggested the existence of Fe3O4 and silica in/on the particle. Fourier transform infrared spectra revealed that 2,6-diaminopyridine molecules were successfully covalently bonded to the surface of magnetic composite nanoparticles. The prepared particles possessed an emission peak at 364 nm with an excitation wavelength of 307 nm and have a strong reversible response property for some transition metal ions such as Cu2+ and Zn2+. This new material holds considerable promise in selective magneto separation and optical determination applications.
Maternal Continuing Folic Acid Supplementation after the First Trimester of Pregnancy Increased the Risk of Large-for-Gestational-Age Birth: A Population-Based Birth Cohort Study
Authors: Wang Sufang , Ge Xing , Zhu Beibei , Xuan Yujie , Huang Kun , Rutayisire Erigene , Mao Leijing , Huang Sanhuan , Yan Shuangqin , Tao Fangbiao
Published: August 2016

Supplementation with folic acid (FA) was proven to prevent neural tube defects (NTDs) and was recommended worldwide before and during early pregnancy. However, much less is known regarding the role of FA after the 12th gestational week (GW). This study aimed to investigate the related effects of continued FA supplementation after the first trimester of pregnancy on fetal growth. The study subjects came from the Ma’anshan-Anhui Birth Cohort Study (MABC) that recruited 3474 pregnant women from the city of Ma’anshan in Anhui Province in China during the period of May 2013 to September 2014. The information on use of vitamin and mineral supplements was recorded in different periods (the first/second/third trimester of pregnancy). Small-for-gestational-age (SGA) births were live-born infants that were <10th percentile of birth weight, and large-for-gestational-age (LGA) births were live-born infants that were ≥90th percentile of birth weight according to nomograms based on gender and gestational age from the latest standards. We used multivariable logistic regression to evaluate the effects of FA supplement consumption in the second/third trimester of pregnancy on the risk of LGA and SGA. In addition, propensity score analysis was also performed to examine the effects. In this prospective birth cohort study conducted in Chinese women who had taken FA in the first trimester of pregnancy, we found that continued FA supplementation with 400 micrograms/day in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy significantly increased the risk of LGA (RR = 1.98 (1.29, 3.04)). This relation was strong or monotonic after adjusting for maternal age, newborn’s gender, maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, maternal education level, smoking, alcohol consumption and calcium supplementation. We did not observe that continuing FA supplementation after the first trimester of pregnancy remarkably decreased the risk of SGA. The propensity score analysis showed similar results. To confirm these findings, additional investigations or trials with a large sample and the tracking of folate status throughout pregnancy are recommended.
CO Gas Sensing Properties of Pure and Cu-Incorporated SnO2 Nanoparticles: A Study of Cu-Induced Modifications
Authors: Karthik Tangirala , Olvera María , Maldonado Arturo , Gómez Pozos Heberto
Published: August 2016

Pure and copper (Cu)-incorporated tin oxide (SnO2) pellet gas sensors with characteristics provoking gas sensitivity were fabricated and used for measuring carbon monoxide (CO) atmospheres. Non-spherical pure SnO2 nano-structures were prepared by using urea as the precipitation agent. The resultant SnO2 powders were ball milled and incorporated with a transition metal, Cu, via chemical synthesis method. The incorporation is confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) analysis. By utilizing Cu-incorporated SnO2 pellets an increase in the CO sensitivity by an order of three, and a decrease in the response and recovery times by an order of two, were obtained. This improvement in the sensitivity is due to two factors that arise due to Cu incorporation: necks between the microparticles and stacking faults in the grains. These two factors increased the conductivity and oxygen adsorption, respectively, at the pellets’ surface of SnO2 which, in turn, raised the CO sensitivity.
RGB-D SLAM Based on Extended Bundle Adjustment with 2D and 3D Information
Authors: Di Kaichang , Zhao Qiang , Wan Wenhui , Wang Yexin , Gao Yunjun
Published: August 2016

In the study of SLAM problem using an RGB-D camera, depth information and visual information as two types of primary measurement data are rarely tightly coupled during refinement of camera pose estimation. In this paper, a new method of RGB-D camera SLAM is proposed based on extended bundle adjustment with integrated 2D and 3D information on the basis of a new projection model. First, the geometric relationship between the image plane coordinates and the depth values is constructed through RGB-D camera calibration. Then, 2D and 3D feature points are automatically extracted and matched between consecutive frames to build a continuous image network. Finally, extended bundle adjustment based on the new projection model, which takes both image and depth measurements into consideration, is applied to the image network for high-precision pose estimation. Field experiments show that the proposed method has a notably better performance than the traditional method, and the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in improving localization accuracy.
Hyperspectral Imaging Using Flexible Endoscopy for Laryngeal Cancer Detection
Authors: Regeling Bianca , Thies Boris , Gerstner Andreas , Westermann Stephan , Müller Nina , Bendix Jörg , Laffers Wiebke
Published: August 2016

Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) is increasingly gaining acceptance in the medical field. Up until now, HSI has been used in conjunction with rigid endoscopy to detect cancer in vivo. The logical next step is to pair HSI with flexible endoscopy, since it improves access to hard-to-reach areas. While the flexible endoscope’s fiber optic cables provide the advantage of flexibility, they also introduce an interfering honeycomb-like pattern onto images. Due to the substantial impact this pattern has on locating cancerous tissue, it must be removed before the HS data can be further processed. Thereby, the loss of information is to minimize avoiding the suppression of small-area variations of pixel values. We have developed a system that uses flexible endoscopy to record HS cubes of the larynx and designed a special filtering technique to remove the honeycomb-like pattern with minimal loss of information. We have confirmed its feasibility by comparing it to conventional filtering techniques using an objective metric and by applying unsupervised and supervised classifications to raw and pre-processed HS cubes. Compared to conventional techniques, our method successfully removes the honeycomb-like pattern and considerably improves classification performance, while preserving image details.
High Sensitivity Refractometer Based on TiO2-Coated Adiabatic Tapered Optical Fiber via ALD Technology
Authors: Zhu Shan , Pang Fufei , Huang Sujuan , Zou Fang , Guo Qiang , Wen Jianxiang , Wang Tingyun
Published: August 2016

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) technology is introduced to fabricate a high sensitivity refractometer based on an adiabatic tapered optical fiber. Different thicknesses of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanofilm were coated around the tapered fiber precisely and uniformly under different deposition cycles. Attributed to the higher refractive index of the TiO2 nanofilm compared to that of silica, an asymmetric Fabry–Perot (F-P) resonator could be constructed along the fiber taper. The central wavelength of the F-P resonator could be controlled by adjusting the thickness of the TiO2 nanofilm. Such a F-P resonator is sensitive to changes in the surrounding refractive index (SRI), which is utilized to realize a high sensitivity refractometer. The refractometer developed by depositing 50.9-nm-thickness TiO2 on the tapered fiber shows SRI sensitivity as high as 7096 nm/RIU in the SRI range of 1.3373–1.3500. Due to TiO2’s advantages of high refractive index, lack of toxicity, and good biocompatibility, this refractometer is expected to have wide applications in the biochemical sensing field.
Latinos Need to Stay in Their Place: Differential Segregation in a Multi-Ethnic Suburb
Authors: Lacayo Celia
Published: August 2016

While Latinos face high levels of segregation, there is scant research specifically addressing whites’ attitudes towards Latinos regarding their preferences. This study draws from 40 in-depth interviews with whites in Orange County California, an area with a large Latino and Asian population. I demonstrate that white respondents choose to segregate themselves from Latinos. Most studies have used Blumer’s group position theory to explain white attitudes and neighborhood preference towards Blacks. My findings supports Blumer’s group position theory by revealing why white respondents feel threatened by an increase in the Latino population. Yet, the Asian population has also grown, but white respondents convey positive sentiments towards Asians, and express they feel comfortable living and interacting with them. I argue that white respondents’ preferences with regards to integration are not solely based on the size of a group, but rather whether they characterize the group as inferior. Integration has been touted as an American principle. Yet, as the country becomes more diverse, this case study illustrates that white respondents prefer to share space with those they feel similar to, and consequently contribute to Latino segregation.
Energy Saving of Conservation Voltage Reduction Based on Load-Voltage Dependency
Authors: Onen Ahmet
Published: August 2016

Reducing voltage to reduce energy consumption, referred to as conservation voltage reduction (CVR), can lead to energy savings. Calculating the effects of reducing voltage requires accurate load models. This paper investigates a load-voltage dependency factor that can be measured via field experiments using common existing instrumentation. A relationship between the load-voltage dependency factor and the percentage of the load that is constant impedance and the percentage that is constant power is presented. A new coordinated control algorithm using the load-voltage dependency factor measured by the field experiments is proposed. Parametric studies are presented which compare CVR with coordinated control versus traditional control. Across the two model comparisons of minimizing energy consumption, the coordinated control for conservation voltage reduction showed significant energy reduction over local control.
The role of rhythm in intonational melody: A case study from Fataluku
Authors: Heston Tyler
Published: August 2016

This paper takes a fresh look at the theoretical relationship between linguistic rhythm and linguistic melody, arguing for a closer connection between metrical structure and intonational organization than is typically assumed. The focus of this paper is the theoretical treatment of word-medial intonational targets in languages without stress, since at first glance, such word-medial targets challenge the core assumption of the autosegmental-metrical theory of intonation that all intonational targets are aligned either with a stressed syllable or with the edge of a prosodic domain. I propose that this theoretical dilemma may be resolved by taking into account foot edges as possible alignment sites for edge tones. The claim that intonational tones may be aligned with foot edges is supported with new data from the Papuan language Fataluku. The implications of such an analysis for other stressless languages are also discussed.
Verb phrase movement as a window into head movement
Authors: LaCara Nicholas Joseph
Published: August 2016

Since Chomsky 2001 suggested that head movement might be a PF operation, there has been debate about the proper place of head movement in the grammar. The interaction of verb movement with verb phrase fronting can shed light on how and when head movement occurs. This paper looks at cases where verb phrase fronting generates two copies of the verb (as in Portuguese or Hebrew), one in the fronted vP and one in an inflectional position, showing how a PF approach to head movement can explain this pattern while addressing some potential problems in other languages.
On the relationship between argument structure change and semantic change
Authors: Christiansen Bethany J. , Joseph Brian D.
Published: August 2016

Argument structure (AS) and meaning are closely related, but the nature of the relationship is disputed. It is not entirely deterministic, as not all aspects of AS and meaning necessarily match up. Most discussion has focused on theory-internal issues and/or synchronic analysis of argument alternations. We, however, take a diachronic perspective, addressing how change in a verb’s AS correlates with meaning and vice-versa, and specifically asking if AS changes first, giving new semantics, or if meaning change triggers a different AS. We study these issues empirically via corpus work on the verb babysit, since it shows interesting changes involving AS and semantics in the relatively shallow diachrony of modern English.
Additive particles with a built-in Gricean pragmatics
Authors: Zhang Linmin , Ling Jia
Published: August 2016

NOCH-type additive particles (e.g., German noch, Chinese hái, Hungarian még) have a widespread distribution that roughly covers the uses of English still, also, and even. We propose that with a built-in Gricean Maxim of Quantity Be Informative in its lexical semantics, a NOCH-type particle explicitly requires that the discourse be incremental, and the NOCH-marked sentence add new information and further narrow down the context set, making the whole discourse even more informative. We also show that the cross-linguistic widespread distribution of NOCH-type particles is not arbitrary: there are three ways to build an incremental discourse structure, and these three implementations give rise to the three major uses of NOCH-type particles.
COLLISIONLESS ELECTRON–ION SHOCKS IN RELATIVISTIC UNMAGNETIZED JET–AMBIENT INTERACTIONS: NON-THERMAL ELECTRON INJECTION BY DOUBLE LAYER
Authors: Ardaneh Kazem , Cai Dongsheng , Nishikawa Ken-Ichi
Published: August 2016

The course of non-thermal electron ejection in relativistic unmagnetized electron–ion shocks is investigated by performing self-consistent particle-in-cell simulations. The shocks are excited through the injection of a relativistic jet into ambient plasma, leading to two distinct shocks (referred to as the trailing shock and leading shock) and a contact discontinuity. The Weibel-like instabilities heat the electrons up to approximately half of the ion kinetic energy. The double layers formed in the trailing and leading edges then accelerate the electrons up to the ion kinetic energy. The electron distribution function in the leading edge shows a clear, non-thermal power-law tail which contains ∼1% of electrons and ∼8% of the electron energy. Its power-law index is −2.6. The acceleration efficiency is ∼23% by number and ∼50% by energy, and the power-law index is −1.8 for the electron distribution function in the trailing edge. The effect of the dimensionality is examined by comparing the results of three-dimensional simulations with those of two-dimensional simulations. The comparison demonstrates that electron acceleration is more efficient in two dimensions.
Cyberbullying
Authors: Wright Michelle F.
Published: August 2016

Children and adolescents grow up in a constantly connected digital world. They maintain active involvement in the digital world through the creation of blogs, communication via social networking sites, and watching videos. Despite the opportunities seeming almost limitless in a digitally connected world, there is a darker side to electronic technology usage. Cyberbullying is a darker side to children's and adolescents' immersion in a digital world. Incorporating research from around the world and across multiple disciplines, the aim of this chapter is to describe the nature, extent, causes, and consequences associated with children's and adolescents' cyberbullying involvement. The chapter concludes with solutions and recommendations in order to further cyberbullying intervention and prevention. Such an approach is important as cyberbullying is a phenomenon occurring throughout the world. Future research directions are also given, with the aim of furthering research on cyberbullying in an effort to improve the world's understanding of these behaviors.
Employee Wellness Programs
Authors: Bandy Jennifer
Published: August 2016

The chapter purpose is to examine Employee Wellness Programs (EWP) internationally. The review of previous literature and discovery of outcomes and recommendations for future research are explored. Additionally, developing culturally competent international EWPs and training the development team are presented. The importance of intercultural communication, interpersonal and intrapersonal competence, and indigenous and cross-cultural psychology applications offer the foundation for the development of effective EWPs internationally. Issues, controversies, and problems, along with solutions and recommendations for the development of culturally competent EWPs are reviewed.
Seduction, Rationality, and Willpower
Authors: Barton Adrien
Published: August 2016

This chapter starts by providing a definition and a basic taxonomy of actions of seduction, and clarifies some links between seduction and manipulation. It then considers Eric Cave's (2009, 2014) thesis that actions of seduction are problematic if they alter motives by hampering rational capacities, in particular when they lack transparency. The chapter challenges this view by arguing that there are no intrinsically rational cognitive capacities, and that the non-transparency of some triggers of attraction may actually be valuable. Therefore, the ethical focus should not be on supposedly rational capacities, but rather on willpower capacities: a seduction process that would deplete such capacities would be seriously problematic. Such a depletion should however be distinguished from other seduction strategies that aim at increasing or decreasing various desires without impairing willpower capacities. The chapter concludes by proposing a general framework for evaluating the morality of an action of seduction.
Social Psychology
Authors: Wilson John G.
Published: August 2016

In this chapter, we investigate the recent situation concerning the seduction of consumers by advertising and the media. A new plethora of media-organised conglomerates is attempting to monopolise our attention and steer our emotions, opinions and choices towards increased consumption through imposed wants in the interest of gross profits for a semi-invisiblised few. Herein we consider: the colonisation of public places (advertising), the work/spend cycle, increased work at the cost of leisure; impression management, status-conscious and conspicuous consumption, reflective versus pre-reflective thinking in consumer choices, the early recruitment of children, how human emotions can become the fuel of overconsumption, class-based emotions and fashion consumption, obsessions with body image, the evasion and silencing of criticism by the corporate media. The approach is one founded in critical theory - a perspective that describes the individual as reciprocally constituted by the society in which she lives, rather than as a passive entity existing prior to socialisation. It seeks to reveal the seduction of our subjectivities (running marketing strategies ‘from within') as contrasted with the value-free, ‘objective' approach of much contemporary social psychology. Contemporary theoreticians in sociology and consumer studies, including Pierre Bourdieu and Juliet Schor, are cited along with deeper philosophical perspectives from the earlier philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre, complete with references from contemporary books and journals.
Rhetoric of Seduction
Authors: Barroso Paulo M.
Published: August 2016

Contemporary Western and industrialized societies have a profusion of messages with seductive and appealing meanings. Signs and images are used in advertising. They surround us to our consumption, satisfaction, pleasure, comfort, happiness, or social success. Their meanings comprise epidictic and apodictic messages of seduction. This chapter is about techniques of persuasion and effective communication through signs and images of advertising. Following a reflexive methodology, based on a theoretical research, the main objective is to understand how these techniques are more and more improved and able to develop new visual and popular forms of life, demonstrating that seduction is all about signs and images, i.e. it is a semiosis process of being able to send messages and read them accordingly.
Scepticism and Seduction
Authors: Kiraly Cesar
Published: August 2016

This is the course we intend to follow: to put together the specific features of sceptical seduction and see the means it employs as well as, when possible, pointing out the changes in direction made by the sceptical tradition. At the same time, we believe that this kind of seduction can have possible political implications when it is compared with the immorality caused by dogmatic seduction. By this is meant that we seek to show that the kind of seduction exercised by sceptics appears to us to be better than that practised by dogmatists, especially with regard to its effects on political life. Setting out from the factors outlined here, we seek to show that the kind of seduction practised by dogmatists tends to lack any sense of responsibility towards the seduced through the protection granted to the seducer who is regarded as better or even superior in the way that the cruelty of the seduction is concealed. It seems to us that the seduction practised by the sceptic maintains an explicit form of cruelty and thus does not bring about the effects of immorality on people's lives.
Defining Place Image
Authors: Clouse Candi , Dixit Ashutosh
Published: August 2016

The image of a place is important as it has implications for investments made in cities, workforce locations, and tourism. Place image incorporates concepts including brand, visual image, reputation, the sense of place, and the identity of the place - all of which create an overall image of a place and can lead to investment or abandonment. Place image has ramifications for decisions made about the place, including where businesses locate, where workers live, and where tourists visit (Smith, 2006). Place image has serious ramifications for decisions made about the place as people choose to stay, work, visit, and invest. This research outlines the inconsistencies in the literature, clarifies the terminology, and begins to set research standards for how place image is described through a conceptual model.
Exploring City Branding as a Tool to Conserve Urban Green Infrastructure in Developing Countries
Authors: Padigala Bhaskar
Published: August 2016

Cities are aggressively pushing themselves to become global destinations for economic activities resulting in various environmental stresses. The situation in developing countries such as India is not too different either. Cities are reinventing themselves to emerge as a global destination to attract talent, investment and tourism. City Branding is one such marketing strategy wherein key aspect(s) of a city (cultural, environmental, infrastructure, etc.) is used to project it as a brand, thus garnering competitive advantages and co benefits. This article, however, examines the city branding tool in a different perspective. By reviewing branding theories, concepts and case studies, this article explores the possible use of city branding strategy in conserving and promoting green infrastructure. Theoretical assessments undertaken in this article indicate that city branding has a potential to contribute positively towards cities' developmental aspirations and improving the quality of life of its citizens, leading to an environmentally sustainable urban development in India.
Promoting City Branding by Defining the Tourism Potential Area Based on GIS Mapping
Authors: Hsueh Ya-Hui , Chang Chia-Chih
Published: August 2016

This chapter aims to use GIS tool to determine how to promote city by tourism development on the suburban hilly area of Taichung city, Taiwan. For creating the city branding and increasing the satisfaction to the residents or visitors of Taichung city, this chapter proposed tourism potential can be combined into city marketing as a promoting tool. The site criteria in this research for the tourism potential are based on calculating raster cells that are most suitable, and according to regression analysis the required data of site criteria include the layers of elevation variation, slope diversity, proximity to water, accessibility and service facilities for the area. In order to conduct GIS site selection analysis, all the layers were reclassified with ranks from 1~5, and each layer was assigned to relative importance based on site criteria factors. The higher cell value of the area is, the more degree of tourism potential is defined. Branding campaigns by marketing cultural attractions to demonstrate tourism potential is a tool of enhancing tourism competitiveness.
The Role of Movies/TV Series in Building Country/City/Destination Brands
Authors: Şahbaz Ramazan Pars , Bayram Ali Turan
Published: August 2016

TV series and movies which have become one of the most effective media tools, has a fairly determinative power on perceptions, opinions, reactions, and behaviours. The effect of movies and TV series on destination advertising can be appeared as informing, offering a perspective for the spectator, creating an image and directing the image. The places where the film is located in or the places that are told in the film take place relatedly in the spectators' minds. Accordingly, a destination can obtain an image and become a brand by presenting in a film or locating in a film. In that sense, this part is important in terms of analysing the role of TV series and movies on promotion of country and building a destination image, stressing that the power should be used to create an image about the region where is located or told in the film or to change the current image in individuals' minds by destinations efficiently. This part mainly inclines on these points and the subject will be analysed profoundly.
Health Tourism-Based Destination Marketing
Authors: Gürcü Maşide , Tengilimoğlu Dilaver
Published: August 2016

Visits of people for their health caused health tourism to be created. Health tourism has a great market share in the world with a volume of 100 billion dollars. A big battle has started between companies and countries that want to get share from this market. It became necessary to be act professionally because of the competition in health tourism sector. It is very important to know the market, to determine customer requests and needs, to know the advantageous and disadvantageous of competitors and to positions itself at the correct place. It is necessary to focus on international market at health tourism process. Politicians and the government has a big role in being a destination in health tourism sector. All the factors in service process are important parts of both service quality and of branding process.
Cultural Perspectives and Cultural Dynamics
Authors: Kasemsap Kijpokin
Published: August 2016

The purpose of this article is to summarize the insights from the literature review focusing on the advanced issues and approaches of cultural perspectives and cultural dynamics. The literature review includes various issues of organizational culture, cultural intelligence (CQ), cultural awareness, cultural competence, cultural value, cultural orientation, cultural dimensions, and cultural dynamics. Belonging to a culture can provide individuals with an easy way to connect with others who share the same mindset and values. Culture offers a chance to connect and share the individual's history and beliefs toward business growth and economic development. It is important that individuals should understand the importance of organizational culture, CQ, cultural awareness, cultural competence, cultural value, cultural orientation, cultural dimensions, and cultural dynamics toward gaining improved organizational performance and reaching strategic goals in the digital age.
Hypothesis Testing with Confidence Intervals and P Values in PLS-SEM
Authors: Kock Ned
Published: August 2016

E-collaboration researchers usually employ P values for hypothesis testing, a common practice in a variety of other fields. This is also customary in many methodological contexts, such as analyses of path models with or without latent variables, as well as simpler tests that can be seen as special cases of these (e.g., comparisons of means). The author discusses here how a researcher can use another major approach for hypothesis testing, the one building on confidence intervals, in analyses of path models with latent variables employing partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The author contrasts this approach with the one employing P values through the analysis of a simulated dataset, created based on a model grounded on past theory and empirical research. The model refers to social networking site use at work and its impact on job performance. The results of the analyses suggest that tests employing confidence intervals and P values are likely to lead to very similar outcomes in terms of acceptance or rejection of hypotheses.
The Potential of Workshops vs Blogs for User Involvement in Service Innovation
Authors: Nicolajsen Hanne Westh , Sørensen Flemming , Scupola Ada
Published: August 2016

This article discusses different ways in which users may be involved in the ideation phase of service innovation and the results and limitations of such involvement. The study compares the use of a blog and two differently setup future workshops (one with users only and the other with a mix of users and employees) in a library. The authors' study shows that the blog is efficient in giving the users voice whereas the mixed workshop method (involving users and employees) is particularly efficient at qualifying and further developing ideas. The findings suggest that methods for involving users in ideation should be carefully selected and combined to achieve optimum benefits and avoid potential disadvantages.
Upgrading Society with Smart Government
Authors: Al-Jenaibi Badreya
Published: August 2016

This paper aims to explore the goals and motives of electronic government utilization among the citizens, the motives of their preference as well as the extent of use of these smart applications in the UAE. Also, it investigates the basic element of Smart Government uses within the federal authorities, response times, and recommendations for improving smart government. This study answers the following questions: What is the purpose of creating smart government? What are the users' aims in using smart government and what level of satisfaction do they experience? To augment this research, 450 questionnaires were distributed among federal authorities' users in all 7 emirates in the UAE. In addition, 18 interviews were conducted with managers in the federal government. The users reported high levels of satisfaction using smart government technologies, indicating a high level of usage and trust. The results also show that higher service speed contributes to higher levels of satisfaction. Managers are very optimistic about Smart Government, but some challenges remain, such as the existence of a lack of information or guidelines for using smart government. There is currently no central government department for applying smart government, and no clear vision or philosophies regarding smart government.
Supportive Government Policy as a Mechanism for Business Incubation Performance in Nigeria
Authors: Obaji Nkem Okpa , Senin Aslan Amat , Olugu Mercy Uche
Published: August 2016

Business incubation programme has been adopted by numerous countries globally. Its adoption has been related to its performance and actual contribution to entrepreneurship development. Studies have acknowledged the role of incubation programme to different spheres of national economy. In spite of the positive side of incubator model, there is still a contradiction concerning incubation performance in the developing countries, especially, Nigeria. This study aims to examine the contribution of government policy on the relationship between the critical success factors (CSFs) and incubator performance in Nigeria. Questionnaires were distributed to a sample size of 153 respondents from a population of 253 incubatees. The Partial Least Squares (PLS) software was used to analyze the data. Government policy as a moderator did not show a significant moderation relationship between the CSFs and incubator performance. The study recommends that future studies should integrate this quantitative approach of data collection with the qualitative method. Also, as the value of the coefficient of determination is 46%, future research should look at other factors which may likely increase the variation in performance explained by (or accounted for by) the variation in the CSFs.
Project Manager Profile Characterization in Energy Sector
Authors: González Germán Eduardo Giraldo , Coronado César Augusto Leal , Casas Gabriel Humberto Pulido
Published: August 2016

This article describes and analyzes the fundamental characteristics of the project-manager profile in energy sector. This article includes a literature review, qualitative analysis based on expert's interviews, quantitative analysis based on surveys of project managers and finally, analysis and benchmarking of internationally recognized modern project management standards. This exercise contributes to the culture of project development and project management, specifically the recognition of the project manager's role and contribution to the successful project delivery. The identified profile shows satisfactory levels of education, training and experience, with some weaknesses in managing project complexities (environmental, risks, methodologies, communication and social responsibility).
An Approach to Distinguish Between the Severity of Bullying in Messages in Social Media
Authors: Sarna Geetika , Bhatia M.P.S.
Published: August 2016

Users on the social media can share positive as well as negative information intentionally and unintentionally in the form of multimedia content without knowing its impact on other user, which threatens the security and privacy of social media. Cyberbullying is one of the risks associated with social media. Cyberbullying is an aggressive act carried out intentionally against the victim by posting harmful material on social media to harm his/her reputation. Aggressive act creates depression, anxiety in users which may lead to diversion of attention and sometimes suicidal actions. In this paper the authors have included a survey on recent algorithms which work on detection of cyberbullying. State-of-the-art studies only focus on the detection of cyberbullying but not on the preventive measures against cyberbullying. In order to tackle this problem, the authors showed how the severity of the bullying in messages helps to find the real culprit.
Discovering Patterns using Process Mining
Authors: Meddah Ishak , Khaled Belkadi
Published: August 2016

Process mining provides an important bridge between data mining and business process analysis, his techniques allow for extracting information from event logs. In general, there are two steps in process mining, correlation definition or discovery and then process inference or composition. Firstly, the authors' work consists to mine small patterns from a log traces of two applications; SKYPE, and VIBER, those patterns are the representation of the execution traces of a business process. In this step, the authors use existing techniques; The patterns are represented by finite state automaton or their regular expression; The final model is the combination of only two types of small patterns whom are represented by the regular expressions (ab)* and (ab*c)*. Secondly, the authors compute these patterns in parallel, and then combine those small patterns using the composition rules, they have two parties the first is the mine, they discover patterns from execution traces and the second is the combination of these small patterns. The patterns mining and the composition is illustrated by the automaton existing techniques. The Execution traces are the different actions effected by users in the SKYPE and VIBER. The results are general and precise. It minimizes the execution time and the loss of information.
Friction Force of the Sliding Surface with Pores Having a Semicircular Cross Section Form
Authors: Burstein Leonid
Published: August 2016

A theoretical solution of the mathematical model is represented for obtaining the hydrodynamic pressure and friction force of the non-contacting sliding surfaces with pores having a semicircular cross section form. The expressions for the hydrodynamic pressure, shear stress, and friction force were obtained for a control cell that includes the inside and outside of the pore areas. The pore radii have been studied in the range from 0.5µm to about 18 µm. The parametric study of the pore performance is obtained with the specially written MATLAB program used the theoretically defined expressions. It is found that better performance in terms of positive hydrodynamic pressure and optimal friction forces can be achieved with proper selection of pore and outside of pore sizes. Better hydrodynamic pressures were observed at the gap-pore radii and cell-pore radii ratios range between 0.5 … 1 and 2.5 … 5, respectively. The maximal friction forces are achieved at pore radii values about 0.64 of the cell dimensions, which correspond to a r1 range of about 5 … 13 µm.
An Empirical Study to Evaluation of Customer Acquisition Processes on Customer Satisfaction
Authors: Alhawari Samer , Alryalat Haroun , Hunaiti Hana
Published: August 2016

In today's highly competitive environment, the organizations have been paying considerable attention to improve their customer satisfaction. For this reason, the purpose of this paper is to suggest a model defines how the combination between customer acquisition processes and knowledge about customer would improve the customer satisfaction. This paper adapts the quantitative research approach by using the survey strategy which is conducted by a questionnaire collected from 193 people working in the management position of Jordanian telecommunication organizations. The researcher uses the PLS as an analysis technique to test all hypotheses. The findings suggest that there is a positive effect of adapting the customer acquisition processes in improving the customer satisfaction mediating by the knowledge about customer. The proposed model makes a contribution on the part of the customer acquisition processes and the knowledge about customer and can be used as a structure of reference for the incorporation between them in order to attain the customer satisfaction.
Analysis of Grievances in the Banking Sector through Big Data
Authors: Jain Arushi , Bhatnagar Vishal
Published: August 2016

Banking sector is one of the sectors which face the problem because of the huge amounts of data coming in at a rapid pace. In this paper the authors analyzed grievances in the banking sector through big data. The customers may have a wide variety of complaints and suggestions regarding the working style and other procedural methods which are followed by the banks for effective customer dealing and satisfaction. Quick rectification of complaints and working on customer suggestions can help banks gain a good name in the market, win customers' loyalties and attract new customers. To accomplish this gargantuan task, banks must maintain a complaints database which stores the information on customer complaints across the above mentioned categories along with the response to the complaints by the relevant employees which is collected over a period of time can reveal crucial and critical information for effective CRM in the organizations. In this paper, authors had analyzed the grievances to uncover the valuable suggestions of the customer to provide them a higher level of satisfaction
Travel for Treatment
Authors: Sharma Bhawna , Sharma J K , Padroo Sudir
Published: August 2016

Medical tourism is growing and diversifying at a high rate. The medical tourism in India is poised to be next success story after software industry. This term is used to refer to travel activity that involves a medical procedure or activities that promote the wellbeing of the patient. The term medical tourism is the act of travelling to other countries to obtain medical, dental and surgical care. (Connell 2006) All the beneficiaries of this industry are putting their best foot forward by providing quality services at affordable cost in order to lure medical tourists. It goes without saying that only those health care organizations will survive and succeed in gaining competitive advantage over others that incorporates quality improvement process on a continuous basis. The results show that there is significant growth of medical tourism in India, which is growing at the rate 30% in 2015 (Saravana 2015) The standards of medical treatment and hospital facilities provided to patients have significantly improved in India with 21 hospitals in India already accredited by JCI. In this study hospital chosen for the present study is the hospital one amongst the list of JCI accredited hospitals in India. The objective of this study is to identify the medical tourist's satisfaction level & also to identify the grey areas for better services. The results show that they were quite satisfied with the services availed & are recommending it to others due to the significant treatment services.
Establishing relationship between measured and predicted soil water characteristics using SOILWAT model in three agro-ecological zones of Nigeria
Authors: Aliku OrevaOghene , Oshunsanya Suarau O.
Published: August 2016

Abstract. Soil available water (SAW) affects soil nutrients availability and consequently affects crop performance. However, field determination of SAW for effective irrigated farming is laborious, time consuming and expensive. Therefore, experiments were initiated at three agro-ecological zones of Nigeria to compare the measured laboratory and predicted soil available water using SOILWAT model for sustainable irrigated farming. One hundred and eighty soil samples were collected from the three agro-ecological zones (Savannah, Derived savannah and rainforest) of Nigeria and analysed for physical and chemical properties. Soil texture and salinity were imputed into SOILWAT model (version 6.1.52) to predict soil physical properties for the three agro-ecological zones of Nigeria. Measured and predicted values of field capacity, permanent wilting point and soil available water were compared using T-test. Predicted soil textural classes by SOILWAT model were similar to the measured laboratory textural classes for savannah, derived savannah and rainforest zones. However, bulk density, maximum water holding capacity, permanent wilting point and soil available water were poorly predicted as significant (p < 0.05) differences existed between measured and predicted values. Therefore, SOILWAT model could be adopted for predicting soil texture for savannah, derived savannah and rainforest zones of Nigeria. However, the model needs to be upgraded in order to accurately predict soil water characteristics of the aforementioned locations for sustainable irrigation planning.