bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Separation of Alkyne Enantiomers by Chiral Column HPLC Analysis of Their Cobalt-Complexes
Authors: Liu Qiaoyun , Wang Jing , Li Junfei , Wang Xiaolei , Lu Shichao , Li Xuan , Gong Yaling , Xu Shu
Published: March 2017

Separation of the enantiomers of new chiral alkynes in strategic syntheses and bioorthogonal studies is always problematic. The chiral column high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method in general could not be directly used to resolve such substrates, since the differentiation of the alkyne segment with the other alkane/alkene segment is not significant in the stationary phase, and the alkyne group is not a good UV chromophore. Usually, a pre-column derivatization reaction with a tedious workup procedure is needed. Making use of easily-prepared stable alkyne-cobalt-complexes, we developed a simple and general method by analyzing the in situ generated cobalt-complex of chiral alkynes using chiral column HPLC. This new method is especially suitable for the alkynes without chromophores and other derivable groups.
Identification of RNA Polymerase III-Transcribed SINEs at Single-Locus Resolution from RNA Sequencing Data
Authors: Carnevali Davide , Dieci Giorgio
Published: March 2017

Short Interspersed Element (SINE) retrotransposons are one of the most abundant DNA repeat elements in the human genome. They have been found to impact the expression of protein-coding genes, but the possible roles in cell physiology of their noncoding RNAs, generated by RNA polymerase (Pol) III, are just starting to be elucidated. For this reason, Short Interspersed Element (SINE) expression profiling is becoming mandatory to obtain a comprehensive picture of their regulatory roles. However, their repeated nature and frequent location within Pol II-transcribed genes represent a serious obstacle to the identification and quantification of genuine, Pol III-derived SINE transcripts at single-locus resolution on a genomic scale. Among the recent Next Generation Sequencing technologies, only RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) holds the potential to solve these issues, even though both technical and biological matters need to be taken into account. A bioinformatic pipeline has been recently set up that, by exploiting RNA-seq features and knowledge of SINE transcription mechanisms, allows for easy identification and profiling of transcriptionally active genomic loci which are a source of genuine Pol III SINE transcripts.
Byproduct Cross Feeding and Community Stability in an In Silico Biofilm Model of the Gut Microbiome
Authors: Henson Michael , Phalak Poonam
Published: March 2017

The gut microbiome is a highly complex microbial community that strongly impacts human health and disease. The two dominant phyla in healthy humans are Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes, with minor phyla such as Proteobacteria having elevated abundances in various disease states. While the gut microbiome has been widely studied, relatively little is known about the role of interspecies interactions in promoting microbiome stability and function. We developed a biofilm metabolic model of a very simple gut microbiome community consisting of a representative bacteroidete (Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron), firmicute (Faecalibacterium prausnitzii) and proteobacterium (Escherichia coli) to investigate the putative role of metabolic byproduct cross feeding between species on community stability, robustness and flexibility. The model predicted coexistence of the three species only if four essential cross-feeding relationships were present. We found that cross feeding allowed coexistence to be robustly maintained for large variations in biofilm thickness and nutrient levels. However, the model predicted that community composition and short chain fatty acid levels could be strongly affected only over small ranges of byproduct uptake rates, indicating a possible lack of flexibility in our cross-feeding mechanism. Our model predictions provide new insights into the impact of byproduct cross feeding and yield experimentally testable hypotheses about gut microbiome community stability.
Optimal Power Allocation of Relay Sensor Node Capable of Energy Harvesting in Cooperative Cognitive Radio Network
Authors: Son Pham , Har Dongsoo , Cho Nam , Kong Hyung
Published: March 2017

A cooperative cognitive radio scheme exploiting primary signals for energy harvesting is proposed. The relay sensor node denoted as the secondary transmitter (ST) harvests energy from the primary signal transmitted from the primary transmitter, and then uses it to transmit power superposed codes of the secrecy signal of the secondary network (SN) and of the primary signal of the primary network (PN). The harvested energy is split into two parts according to a power splitting ratio, one for decoding the primary signal and the other for charging the battery. In power superposition coding, the amount of fractional power allocated to the primary signal is determined by another power allocation parameter (e.g., the power sharing coefficient). Our main concern is to investigate the impact of the two power parameters on the performances of the PN and the SN. Analytical or mathematical expressions of the outage probabilities of the PN and the SN are derived in terms of the power parameters, location of the ST, channel gain, and other system related parameters. A jointly optimal power splitting ratio and power sharing coefficient for achieving target outage probabilities of the PN and the SN, are found using these expressions and validated by simulations.
Coastal Forests and Groundwater: Using Case Studies to Understand the Effects of Drivers and Stressors for Resource Management
Authors: Callahan Timothy , Amatya Devendra , Stone Peter
Published: March 2017

Forests are receiving more attention for the ecosystem goods and services they provide and the potential change agents that may affect forest health and productivity. Highlighting case examples from coastal forests in South Carolina, USA, we describe groundwater processes with respect to stressors and potential responses of a wetland-rich forested landscape, the roles that this area has served, and the need for water resource data to inform forest management decisions. Forested lands in the southeastern U.S. coastal plain provide a rich set of goods and services for the region, and in one case, the Francis Marion National Forest acts as a buffer to urbanization from the surrounding Charleston metropolitan area. Information from two decades of studies in the forested watersheds there may inform scientists and managers in other coastal forested systems. The common hydrological theme in this region, which has a higher average annual rainfall (1370 mm) than the annual potential evapotranspiration (PET = 1135 mm), is a shallow (<3 m) water table condition that supports a large range of natural wetlands and also creates management challenges across the region. Modest changes in the position of the water table can lead to either groundwater flooding and concomitant management challenges for forest services, or ecosystem stresses related to dry conditions in wetlands during times of below-normal precipitation or due to groundwater withdrawal. Development pressures have also stressed forest resources through the extraction of materials such as timber and sand mining, and the conversion to housing construction materials. These areas are also targeted for land development, to meet housing demands. In this paper, we discuss the role of groundwater in coastal forests and highlight opportunities for collaborative studies to better inform forest resource management.
Schrödinger’s Cheshire Cat: Are Haploid Emiliania huxleyi Cells Resistant to Viral Infection or Not?
Authors: Mordecai Gideon , Verret Frederic , Highfield Andrea , Schroeder Declan
Published: March 2017

Emiliania huxleyi is the main calcite producer on Earth and is routinely infected by a virus (EhV); a double stranded DNA (dsDNA) virus belonging to the family Phycodnaviridae. E. huxleyi exhibits a haplodiploid life cycle; the calcified diploid stage is non-motile and forms extensive blooms. The haploid phase is a non-calcified biflagellated cell bearing organic scales. Haploid cells are thought to resist infection, through a process deemed the “Cheshire Cat” escape strategy; however, a recent study detected the presence of viral lipids in the same haploid strain. Here we report on the application of an E. huxleyi CCMP1516 EhV-86 combined tiling array (TA) that further confirms an EhV infection in the RCC1217 haploid strain, which grew without any signs of cell lysis. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and PCR verified the presence of viral RNA in the haploid cells, yet indicated an absence of viral DNA, respectively. These infected cells are an alternative stage of the virus life cycle deemed the haplococcolithovirocell. In this instance, the host is both resistant to and infected by EhV, i.e., the viral transcriptome is present in haploid cells whilst there is no evidence of viral lysis. This superimposed state is reminiscent of Schrödinger’s cat; of being simultaneously both dead and alive.
Plasma Brightenings in a Failed Solar Filament Eruption
Authors: Li Y. , Ding M. D.
Published: March 2017

Failed filament eruptions are solar eruptions that are not associated with coronal mass ejections. In a failed filament eruption, the filament materials usually show some ascending and falling motions as well as generating bright EUV emissions. Here we report a failed filament eruption (SOL2016-07-22) that occurred in a quiet-Sun region observed by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. In this event, the filament spreads out but gets confined by the surrounding magnetic field. When interacting with the ambient magnetic field, the filament material brightens up and flows along the magnetic field lines through the corona to the chromosphere. We find that some materials slide down along the lifting magnetic structure containing the filament and impact the chromosphere, and  through kinetic energy dissipation, cause two ribbon-like brightenings in a wide temperature range. There is evidence suggesting that magnetic reconnection occurs between the filament magnetic structure and the surrounding magnetic fields where filament plasma is heated to coronal temperatures. In addition, thread-like brightenings show up on top of the erupting magnetic fields at low temperatures, which might be produced by an energy imbalance from a fast drop of radiative cooling due to plasma rarefaction. Thus, this single event of a failed filament eruption shows the existence of a variety of plasma brightenings that may be caused by completely different heating mechanisms.
Yémen ? Vous avez dit crise humanitaire ?
Authors: Aparac Jelena
Published: March 2017

Le conflit armé au Yémen a été déclenché en mars 2015 par une intervention militaire de la Coalition de plusieurs pays du Golf et de la Ligue Arabe à la demande du président Hadi en exil à Riyad. La Coalition, qui agit sur commandement militaire de l’Arabie Saoudite, combat le groupe armé Houthi qui contrôle militairement et administrativement une partie du territoire ensemble avec sa branche politique Ansar Allah. Les Houthis sont soutenus par l’ancien président Saleh. Le conflit soulève des questions juridiques importantes telles que la qualification du conflit armé au Yémen ainsi que son éventuel internationalisation et le droit applicable. En outre, le conflit s’inscrit dans un contexte économique et politique désastreux et aggrave la situation humanitaire du pays. En effet, sur 26 millions d’habitants, 18 sont en grande situation de besoin humanitaire et parmi ceux-ci, 10.3 million sont dans un besoin urgent d’aide humanitaire, sans laquelle ils risquent leurs vies. Ce drame interroge aussi sur l’absence de couverture médiatique alors que les personnes et des biens civils sont les premiers à être touchés par des attaques militaires ciblées, en violation du droit international humanitaire. Malgré cela, il n’y aura aucune enquête internationale indépendante et impartiale pour documenter les violences. Le Yémen est en train de devenir un « failed state ».
Fostering Social Innovation through E-Collaboration
Authors: Esen Ayla
Published: March 2017

Increasing awareness in social problems and the high complexity of social challenges has boosted social innovation efforts in recent years. Social innovation refers to new and innovative solutions to social problems that create social value, involve public good, and affect the society, mostly developed by participation of stakeholders who have interests in the problem. Social innovation leads to social value created through a series of collaborative efforts of public, private, and non-governmental organizations. This chapter highlights the importance of collaboration in social innovation and examines the role of e-collaboration as a group coordination and communication mechanism in the social innovation processes. The first part of the chapter presents evidence on what social innovation is and describes how social innovation intertwines with collaboration. The second part of the chapter defines the key conceptual elements of e-collaboration and explores how e-collaboration can foster social innovation concerning each conceptual element.
Mapping the Workspace of a Globally Distributed “Agile” Team
Authors: Lauren Benjamin S.
Published: March 2017

Collaborative activities have become an important consideration of contemporary workspace design, and this is especially in software development companies as teams work to innovate products and customer experiences. Meanwhile, globally distributed virtual teams have also grown more common, but collaborating across time zones presents a new set of challenge to navigate. To address some of these challenges, many organizations are also implementing more agile information design strategies. Architecting user-friendly work environments that support collaboration for globally distributed virtual teams practicing agile methodologies is not a simple task, however. This article reports results from a workplace study of a distributed team of information experience designers at a multinational software company as the team worked through reorganization of their internal processes and workflow. The case study illustrates which environmental design features caused disruptions and contradictions for the team as they participated in project work.
Telework
Authors: Heisey Allyson
Published: March 2017

Anywhere working has been a subject of interest to researchers for decades. With the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), policymakers, practitioners, and researchers have a renewed interest in this phenomenon. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the relationship between disability, work/family balance, and flexibility by examining the impact anywhere working has on disabled online instructors. This research identified “flexibility” as the main theme that was important to the disabled teleworker and was identified as the most positive outcome of anywhere working. By taking advantage of flexibility and benefits of telework, all participants indicated that they were better able to balance work and family obligations. This chapter concludes with a discussion on possible research opportunities to further study how anywhere working affects people with disabilities.
Collaborative Cross-Border Security Infrastructure and Systems
Authors: Luna-Reyes Luis Felipe , Derrick Douglas C. , Langhals Brent , Nunamaker Jr. Jay F.
Published: March 2017

A long-standing problem in the US-Mexico bilateral agenda is migration. Although both countries have important agreements to promote economic exchange and trade, the events of 9/11 and other acts of terrorism have increased concerns about border security. Since the US-Mexico border is one of the most important borders in the world in terms of activity, securing it without interfering with the legitimate flow of people and goods, poses an important challenge. The purpose of this paper is to propose conceptual frameworks and models to facilitate collaboration across national borders, by discussing and considering key factors for collaborative US-Mexico Border Security Infrastructure and Systems. Border security technical solutions pose an interesting domain because there are a myriad of concerns (e.g., political, economic, social and cultural) outside the technical implementation that must be deliberated and examined. In this conceptual study, unique aspects of trust, governance, information sharing, culture, and technical infrastructure are identified as the key ingredients in a cross-border collaboration effort. A bi-national organizational network appears to be an effective institutional design to develop a better understanding of the problem, as well as required policies and technologies. This approach is consistent with experiments, research, and conclusions found in the European Union.
Virtual Team Process and Pathologies
Authors: Mitchell Alanah , Zigurs Ilze
Published: March 2017

The dynamic nature of group process is a long-standing challenge for research and practice, and particularly so in virtual teams, which are increasingly a regular part of organizational life today. Virtual teams act in fluid environments, as they strive to make sense of how best to incorporate appropriate technology choices during on-going interaction. Interventions in group process have potential to help teams make those choices. However, one set of critical factors that has received very little attention is the timing of interventions and their presentation style and content. These factors are particularly important in virtual teams, whose members rely on information and communication technologies and where technology interplay with group processes needs particular attention. Based on empirical findings, the authors present a new perspective on the longstanding topic of team process and the use of interventions, specifically in a virtual environment. The authors use the analyses of seven teams of students from three universities working together in a virtual workspace to complete a global offshore development project as case studies for building a process theory of adaptive intervention for virtual teams. The theory integrates team process with technology, to show how interventions can be used to proactively trigger and reactively respond to transitions. Ultimately, the theory shows how adaptive interventions can be used in a dynamic way to enhance virtual team process and thereby address key challenges that virtual teams face in their on-going work.
Inter-Group Collaboration
Authors: Shu Wesley , Lin Hota Chia-Sheng , Wang George
Published: March 2017

The purpose of this paper is to extend the theory of task/technology fit by exploring the impact of different technology characteristics on performance of preference and intellective tasks in an inter-group context. The authors tested 80 participants on group performance using a 2x2 factorial design with task type and mode of collaboration as the independent variables. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the research model and t-tests to evaluate their hypotheses. The authors confirmed their hypothesis that the use of wiki, a technology with many elaborate technology characteristics, created a better task/technology fit than use of the more conventional email/word processor. The wiki group also demonstrated better productivity, decision quality, and satisfaction than the email/word processor group. Differences in task type, intellective vs. preference, had no effect on group performance. The authors extended the task/technology fit model by examining how different combinations of task type and technology characteristics affect team performance in the context of inter-group collaboration.
Hindi Optical Character Recognition and Its Applications
Authors: Gupta Rashmi , Gupta Dipti , Dua Megha , Khari Manju
Published: March 2017

Recognition is an important part in the computer vision. Optical character recognition is nowadays gaining its importance in terms of the digital and handwritten documents recognition. Devanagari is widely spoken script with more than 300 million people relying on it for their day-to-day activities, so recognition of Devanagari characters is gaining its importance in the recent times. Tasksin handwritten recognition handle the differences along with alteration of Hindi characters written in offline mode. Furthermore, Hindi character are written in different sizes shapes and orientation in contrast to hand writing usually written along a particular baseline in a horizontal direction. Handwritten and machine printed documents are needed to be recognized for the applications like bank Cheque processing, library automation, publication house, manuscripts, Granths and other forms and documents. In this paper an attempt has been made to shortlist the methods and processing techniques studied so far in the field of Devanagari character recognition. The performance analysis and the results for the various techniques are given in the chapter.
The “Development” Dilemma in the Literary Production of the 19th, 20th, and 21st Centuries
Authors: Di Martino Maria Luisa
Published: March 2017

This chapter aims to explore the debate on “development theory” especially embodied in the dichotomy between “civilization” and “barbarism” in the literary production of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, by reading the ideological and political messages hidden in the most relevant works by classical authors in Latin American and postcolonial Anglophone literature. The chapter is structured into three main sections. Firstly, the author will draw an itinerary across the historical debate on “development”, showing approaches and conceptualizations. Secondly, the author will explore the relationship between the political messages and ideological positions of significant authors and their works in the literary production of the selected period. To conclude, the author will set out the most relevant elements that reveal the link between the ideological debate on “development” and the literary production, suggesting new ways of interpretation for future researches.
The Public Veil
Authors: Slough Hannah , Anderson David
Published: March 2017

As women take on increasingly prominent roles in politics, it is critical to understand the gendered nature of public voice within the ideological messaging process as well as its historical roots. This chapter contends that, in order to gain a legitimate voice in politics, a field that continues to be dominated by men, females must project a public yet carefully “veiled” image that is both “strong” and “feminine” in their writing and speaking. They must appear to be “strong women”. To create this image, they must balance male expectations of authoritative appearance with male expectations of appropriate femininity. Based on a comparative analysis of ancient Greek and Roman writers alongside modern female political voices, this chapter illustrates how women achieve this balance using four strategies in their written and spoken texts: conveying a constrained sexuality; using masculine metaphors; addressing feminine themes; and employing gender inversion. These strategies can be characterized as “gender bilinguality” and this bilinguality has been present since classical antiquity.
A Scenario for the Future Athens Planning
Authors: Marmaras Emmanuel V.
Published: March 2017

The chapter supports the aspect that a planning procedure is developed in Athens (Greece) the last years, aiming to undertake the role of a semi-regional node in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. This node is needed for the integration of the globalization western system. ?he organization of the Olympic Games of 2004 was the initiative for the construction of the needed infrastructures and main urban works in the city. Legal measures regarding the administrative and labour issues were undertaken during the previous four years in conjunction with the acquisition of the needed urban land in the coastal area of the Athens plain, where a new CBD is under implementation. These developments are the main arguments for supporting the aspect that Athens is now re-organized and upgraded with new urban equipment, which will facilitate the settling of the headquarters of various multinational organizations and other private enterprises in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
Social Stigmatization Among Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Male and Female Patients
Authors: Papanis Efstratios , Roumeliotu Myrsine
Published: March 2017

There are about 100 types of human papilloma virus which can affect humans. They can be transmitted by sexual contact, no sexual contact, or vertically through transmission from the mother to the infant during delivery and postnatally. Although HPV Inflicts both men and women, the latter seem to be more susceptible to social stigmatization in their community. According to Goffman (1963), “stigma” is a powerful discrediting and tainting social label that changes the way individuals view themselves and are viewed by others. However, although medicine and medical care has made great progress in the field, there is still a lot to be done on the social level, especially regarding socially vulnerable groups (i.e. immigrants, etc.).
From Grey to Green
Authors: Prasad Kiran
Published: March 2017

Environmental sustainability is regarded as the key to the achievement of all other developmental goals. Environmental issues and the effects of environmental degradation have drawn the attention of policy makers and the wider community in developing countries like India to impending environmental hazards and encouraged efforts at the local level by creating awareness and action on green initiatives. These initiatives have been supported by civil society organizations and international agencies. Local communities have also assumed custodianship of their environment and natural resources which previously was the sole responsibility of the government. This chapter focuses on some of India's efforts to communicate the green path to sustainable development and the experiences of India-EU partnerships to build mutual understanding on global environmental issues including climate change. This chapter also analyzes the growth of development paradigms shaped by community needs and environmental activism for sustainable development in India.
Micro-Enterprise and Micro-Innovation in a Turbulent Era
Authors: Xirouchakis Fragkiskos
Published: March 2017

Sustainability, local development and regional development are crucial issues in our days. A success factor for the above is the micro innovation of the micro enterprise. In the present chapter, we are going to focus on the southern European Union area and more specifically in the case of Greece. The development of innovative small and medium enterprises in the Greek regions (with emphasis on the region of Crete) is going to be the key element of sustainability, local development and regional development.
Housing Submarkets and Future Demographic Developments
Authors: Kyriakidis Dimitris
Published: March 2017

Europe is undergoing a profound demographic change. This change will affect significantly all aspects of modern economies including the demand and the prices of the housing stock. The relationship between prices of the housing market and associated demographic variables has been long established. However, in the current literature, the housing market is considered to be unitary and coherent, that is one price reflects the housing stock without taking into account the housing characteristics which in real economy are considered essential for price calculation. To this respect it must be noted that housing submarkets existence has been long established based on the current literature. However and in relation to housing submarkets, the actual goal of the studies currently exist was the definition process, the models and the techniques that should be employed in order to acquire best results. Housing submarkets are considered important in the understanding of different social phenomena. In this chapter an attempt is made to review the relationship of housing prices to demographic variables and then a review on the definition process of housing submarkets.
Participation and in the Aegean Polynesia
Authors: Tsobanoglou George O. , Vlachopoulou Eirini Ioanna
Published: March 2017

The EU recognises that islands suffer from disadvantaging external natural and economic circumstances. As the need for public participation in decision-making increases, in order to address economic and social cohesion issues, both national and supranational authorities should take action to reinforce community involvement in policy. This research, using information from case studies from Greek islands, investigates the obstacles in promoting public participation in insular areas from a European perspective. The study was based on qualitative research methods and an extensive literature review. In areas with low cohesion, attempts for participation failed. In other areas, where social cohesion was maintained, there was mistrust towards local authorities but the members of the community were eager to collaborate with the researcher to promote participation. It was evident that there is urgency for adoption of national and European policies focused on the needs of the insular communities, with respect to their unique circumstances.
Spatial Planning and Regional Growth
Authors: Korres George M. , Pavlogeorgatos Gerasimos , Kokkinou Aikaterini
Published: March 2017

Spatial Planning focuses on planning and management of space, as a core axis towards sustainable development, as well as balanced sustainable development, closely related with economic determining factors, such as productivity, economic environment, investments and competitiveness. This paper attempts to analyze spatial planning framework and its contribution towards sustainable regional development. More precisely, this paper analyses the case studies of the region of the North Aegean and South Aegean, especially the islands of Lesvos, Rhodes, and Crete.
Social-Ecological Systems in Local Fisheries Communities
Authors: Tsobanoglou George O. , Vlachopoulou Eirini Ioanna
Published: March 2017

Even though the study of the commons has been expanding rapidly in the past years, and there have been multiple cases of successful local conservation initiatives, still, significant gaps in knowledge remain. The Social-Ecological Systems framework attempts to analyse the linkages between the “human system” (society) and the “natural system” (ecosystems). In every conservation attempt, the interactions and feedback between the two systems become evident. By examining thoroughly this relationship through the SES lens, we can develop a deep and holistic understanding of the processes that should be taken into consideration before the implementation of conservation actions. This study, through the exploration of the fisheries management procedures in Japan, attempts to develop an understanding of how the adoption of the Social-Ecological Systems approach could promote local development in the insular periphery of the developed world, in countries like Greece, where public participation in the decision-making processes is limited.
Revisiting the Problem of Regional Allocation of Investment
Authors: Alexiadis Stilianos
Published: March 2017

This note attempts to rekindle interest on the problem of regional allocation of investment and detect cases of compatibility between two often competitive aims, namely aggregate efficiency and interregional equity.
Heterogeneity in Supply Chain Management
Authors: Kokkinou Aikaterini , Artavani Maria-Athina
Published: March 2017

Today's organizations struggle for efficiency and effectiveness. Strategies involving collaboration between actors and integration of activity chains are reliant of factors that firms do not have direct ownership and control over. This has implications for strategizing, setting the goals and measuring performance. Efficiency and effectiveness are often used to describe performance. From a resource dependence perspective efficiency is defined as an internal standard of performance and effectiveness as an external standard of fit to various demands. This chapter attempts through a literature survey to search the main pillars and the determinant factors for efficiency in supply chain management and to present the effects in the competitiveness and the efficient level for an economy.
Hospitality Marketing
Authors: Chandiok Suniti , Sharma Piyush
Published: March 2017

The main task of the hospitality marketing is to influence demand marketing for the organization's products and services. To understand consumers and customers and it increase the volume of transactions bed nights, covers served, number of passengers. It increase the value of transactions improving the average achieved room rates, the average spend per head, the average price for holiday and increase both the volume and the value of transactions (but normally there is a trade-off between increasing the volume sales and increasing the achieved spend).
Strategic Healthcare Service Management
Authors: Sangamnere Bhagyashri Subhash , C Kalyani Srinivas
Published: March 2017

Healthcare is a service industry and it consists of health organizations (hospitals, clinics etc.), people (patients, doctors and nurses) and health technologies. Healthcare organizations are complex in nature and need to improve quality while maintaining optimum cost. Patient is final consumer of health services and he is the customer hence healthcare service quality is nothing but perceived satisfaction by patient. Prevalent trends in healthcare industry such as emerging healthcare technology, increasing demand, changing disease patterns and growing government support are contributing to a need to achieve efficiency and set benchmarks by overcoming challenges in healthcare service sector being underserved and under-consumed. There is a scope to improve quality and efficiency using various strategies like adopting advanced technologies and positioning in order to achieve delight in delivery of healthcare services. Major healthcare players are adopting unique strategies irrespective of their diverse geographical presence and range of services from single specialty, super-specialty or multispecialty to deliver healthcare services efficiently.
Glocalization in Fast Food Chains Glocalization in Fast Food Chains
Authors: Mathur Surbhi
Published: March 2017

This chapter aims to cover the emergence of glocalization in global perspective and to relate various glocal practices of multinational fast food chains with marketing mix of McDonald's. In the wake of investigating the marketing mix of McDonald's, cleared that the company can be said to be “glocal”, i.e. combining elements of globalization and internationalization. McDonald's have accomplished this through applying the maxim, “think global, act local”, to all the components of the marketing mix.
Big Data Analytics
Authors: Wang Yingxu , Peng Jun
Published: March 2017

Big data are pervasively generated by human cognitive processes, formal inferences, and system quantifications. This paper presents the cognitive foundations of big data systems towards big data science. The key perceptual model of big data systems is the recursively typed hyperstructure (RTHS). The RTHS model reveals the inherited complexities and unprecedented difficulty in big data engineering. This finding leads to a set of mathematical and computational models for efficiently processing big data systems. The cognitive relationship between data, information, knowledge, and intelligence is formally described.
Open Source Software Evolution
Authors: Chahal Kuljit Kaur , Saini Munish
Published: March 2017

Due to the dominance of Open Source Software (OSS) in IT and the IT enabled services industry, various stakeholders are keen to understand the OSS evolution process. Several studies have been conducted in the past in this regard. There are various techniques used in the past for understanding OSS evolution process from different perspectives. This paper reports a systematic literature review on the topic in order to understand its current state and to identify opportunities for future. This research identified 190 studies, selected against a set of questions, for discussion. It categorizes the research studies into nine categories. We report the review results in a set of two papers. This paper discusses the research results of the techniques used for OSS evolution analysis only i.e. one out of the nine categories. A subsequent paper carries discussion on the remaining categories. Based on the results obtained from the systematic review, there is evidence of shift in the metrics and methods for OSS evolution analysis over the period of time. OSS systems were found to grow at a super linear rate in the initial studies. But later studies revealed that branches of an OSS system grow at different rates. However, more number of studies should be carried out using a repeatable methodology in order to obtain well-formed and generalizable results.
Research Extent Equilibrium of the Melt Steel before Crystallization
Authors: Tsepelev Vladimir , Mushnikov Valeri , Tsepeleva Nadezhda
Published: March 2017

Studies of the properties steels and alloys in the liquid and solidity conditions bear witness that the technical peculiarities of the receipt liquid metal in particular overheating have influence on the its properties and structure. The time-temperature treatment of the liquid metal influence on the structure of the liquid metal. The structure of the liquid metal influence on the character hardening and properties of the solidity samples in the one's turn. It should be noted the fact that place the just regularity take place: than extent of the melt equilibrium before crystallization is higher the solid metal distinguish oneself the better figures of the quality.
Two cases of monoclonal nodular pulmonary amyloidosis and review of the literature
Authors: Endicott Kendal M. , Hynes Conor F. , Hsieh Cindy M. , Paal Edina , Trachiotis Gregory
Published: March 2017

Nodular pulmonary amyloidosis (NPA) is an uncommon pathology of insoluble protein depositing in pulmonary parenchyma. This localized pulmonary form of amyloidosis is most often found to contain combinations of kappa and lambda immunoglobulin light chain and immunoglobulin heavy chain proteins with a polyclonal lymphoplasmacystic infiltrate. Herein we present two cases of NPA of the rarely reported monoclonal (light-chain restricted) form with review of the literature and discussion of the clinical, radiographic, and histologic features of NPA.
Unusual diagnosis of urinothorax: a case report
Authors: Saseedharan Sanjith , Pathrose Edwin J. , Kubal Vaibhav , Pandhare Anand
Published: March 2017

Urinothorax is a rare cause of pleural effusion characterized by the collection of urine in the pleural space. The index of suspicion should be higher when a pleural effusion is associated with cases of urinary tract obstruction or obstructive uropathy (renal calculi) and trauma. The characteristic feature in the diagnosis of urinothorax lies in the biochemistry, where the ratio of pleural fluid to serum creatinine is higher than 1. The present case is a unique instance of urinothorax with left urinoma and hydronephrosis where the ratio of pleural fluid to serum creatinine is below one.
The illusion of certainty
Authors: Iaboli Luca , Caselli Luana
Published: March 2017

Not available.
Musical hallucinations in elderly patients with visuospatial impairment: two case reports
Authors: Luppi Chiara , Santagata Francesca , Marchetti Margherita , Bottignole Giuliana , Sapone Pasqualina , Massaia Massimiliano , Isaia Giancarlo
Published: March 2017

Musical hallucinations are an uncommon type of auditory hallucinations, they widely occur in elderly. Our group analyzed medical history, pharmacological therapy, neuropsychological pattern, audiometric testing, electroencephalogram, cerebral magnetic resonance and cerebral fludeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) of two patients. FDGPET showed in both patients hypometabolism pronounced in posterior regions. In particular the medial-inferior temporal cortex and the occipital associative areas were affected. Moreover, neuropsychological pattern suggested a visuospatial-executive deficit, conformed to the occipital involvement. Our reported cases might suggest that musical hallucinations have been arisen from a combination of peripheral and central dysfunction. A further explanation might be that musical hallucinations result from multiple white matter lacunar lesions due to small vascular events. A question is whether musical hallucinations might be primarily associated with occipital areas hypometabolism and visuospatial alterations typically associated with Levy body dementia (LBD).
Community acquired pneumonia in the elderly: the Pneumonia in Italian Acute Care for Elderly units (PIACE) study protocol by the Italian Society of Hospital and Community Geriatrics (SIGOT)
Authors: Fimognari Filippo Luca , Corsonello Andrea , Pilotto Alberto , Rizzo Massimo , Bambara Valentina , Cristiano Giovanna , Ferrari Alberto , Group Investigators On behalf of The PIACE-SIGOT Study
Published: March 2017

Pneumonia is a frequent cause of hospital admission in elderly patients. Diagnosis of pneumonia in elderly persons with comorbidity may be challenging, due to atypical presentation and complex clinical scenarios. Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) arises out-of-hospital in subjects without previous contact with the healthcare system. Healthcare associated pneumonia (HCAP) occurs in patients who have frequent contacts with the healthcare system and should be treated with empiric broad spectrum antibiotic therapy also covering multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogens. Recent findings, however, have questioned this approach, because the worse prognosis of HCAP compared to CAP may better reflect increased level of comorbidity and frailty (poor functional status, older age) of HCAP patients, as well as poorer quality of hospital care provided to such patients, rather than pneumonia etiology by MDR pathogens. The Pneumonia in Italian Acute Care for Elderly units (PIACE) Study, promoted by the Società Italiana di Geriatria Ospedale e Territorio (SIGOT), is an observational prospective cohort study of patients consecutively admitted because of pneumonia to hospital acute care units of Geriatrics throughout Italy. Detailed information regarding clinical presentation, diagnosis, etiology, comprehensive geriatric assessment, antibiotic therapy, possible complications and comorbidities was recorded to identify factors potentially predicting in-hospital mortality (primary endpoint), 3-month mortality, length of hospital stay, postdischarge rate of institutionalization and other secondary endpoints. This paper describes the rationale and method of PIACE Study and reviews the main evidence on pneumonia in the elderly.
Healthcare sector efficiency in Gujarat (India): an exploratory study using data envelopment analysis
Authors: Purohit Brijesh C.
Published: March 2017

The importance of efficiency in resource utilization in healthcare sector has been recognized globally. In this paper we focus on efficiency of healthcare system at sub-state level (i.e., district level) in India using Gujarat state and its district level data for 2012-13. In spite of being an economically advanced state, in terms of infant mortality rate (IMR) the state is not the lowest. We explore the reasons for relative performance of different districts with data envelopment analysis (DEA). We used IMR as output variables. Using principal component analysis we tried a sub-set of variables, which had low correlations. Thus, four factor scores relating to medical officer, lady medical officer, Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy doctor, pharmacist, were used for DEA. We have focused on Charnes, Cooper, and Rhodes scores (or constant returns to scale technical efficiency score), and discussed efficiency rankings based on these. Thus, our results pertaining to district level health system efficiency in Gujarat State indicate that some of the districts have low efficiency in utilization of inputs like doctors, beds and workload per health institutions. There are also other districts, which need more of these inputs, which may enhance their output and efficiency. Thus, it is suggested that the efficiency in Valsad needs an improvement much more than other districts, whereas districts like Ahmadabad and Surat need more of both medical manpower and facilities. Even in case of Vadodara and Rajkot, the ranking in terms of most of medical manpower and facilities is low and thus these districts may also be benefitted by additional inputs. Hence, there is a mix of both inefficiency and inadequacy of inputs, which is reflected in our results.
Hymenopterous parasitoids attacking Acanthiophilus helianthi Rossi (Diptera: Tephritidae) pupae in Kohgiluyeh Safflower farms of Iran
Authors: Saeidi K. , Mirfakhraie S. , Mehrkhou F.
Published: March 2017

The Safflower capsule fly (SCF), Acanthiophilus helianthi Rossi (Diptera: Tephritidae) is the most destructive insect pest attacking the Safflower Carthamus tinctorius L. plant which are cultivated as an oil crop. It is mainly controlled through application of broad-spectrum insecticides, which can adversely affect safflower farms ecosystem and consequently human health. Since a first step in setting up an integrated pest management program is to assess the biological control agents within the ecosystem. Therefore, in this research work the pupal parasitoids of Safflower capsule fly a main insect pest attacking Safflower plants were identified. The impact of these parasitoids against this pest was evaluated on the varying pest generations and within different locations in Kohgiluyeh province during 2008-2009 seasons. Pupal parasitoid adults of SCF were recorded from fieldreared pupae, which had been collected from heavily infested small flower heads of the first generation as well from large flower heads of the second and third generations. Rate of parasitism on A. helianthi pupae was estimated as the number of parasitoids over the total count of parasitoids and flies. Ten hymenopterous species belonging to different families parasitizing insect pupae were screened as follows: Bracon hebetor (Spinola, 1808) and Bracon luteator (Spinola, 1808) (Braconidae); Isocolus tinctorious (Melika and Gharaei, 2006) (Cynipidae); Pronotalia carlinarum (Szelenyi and Erdos, 1951) (Eulophidae); Eurytoma acroptilae (Zerova, 1986) (Eurytomidae); Ormyrus orientalis (Walker, 1871) (Ormyridae); Colotrechnus viridis (Masi, 1921) and Pteromalus sp. (Walker, 1976) (Pteromalidae); and Antistrophoplex conthurnatus (Zerova, 2000) and Microdontomenus annulatus (Masi, 1899) (Torymidae). The average parasitization rate was 23±1 as revealed through the present study. The highest parasitization rate occurred during the first generation in all localities tested, as well as in years. Statistical analysis revealed that there were significant differences between parasitization rates by pupal parasitoids within various host generations and localities.
First record of entomopathogenic Beauveria bassiana (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) on pleasing fungus beetle Episcapha quadrimacula (Coleoptera: Erotylidae) in Malaysia
Authors: Goh Y.K. , Teo T.M. , Marzuki N.F. , Tan S.S. , Subramanian R. , Hasim I. , Goh Y.K. , Goh K.J.
Published: March 2017

The presence of entomopathogenic Beauveria bassiana on Pleasing Fungus Beetle Episcapha quadrimacula has been reported on fruiting bodies of Ganoderma boninense for the first time in Malaysia.