bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
In Silico Identification and In Vitro Evaluation of Natural Inhibitors of Leishmania major Pteridine Reductase I
Authors: Herrmann Fabian , Sivakumar Nirina , Jose Joachim , Costi Maria , Pozzi Cecilia , Schmidt Thomas
Published: December 2017

In a continuation of our computational efforts to find new natural inhibitors of a variety of target enzymes from parasites causing neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), we now report on 15 natural products (NPs) that we have identified as inhibitors of Leishmania major pteridine reductase I (LmPTR1) through a combination of in silico and in vitro investigations. Pteridine reductase (PTR1) is an enzyme of the trypanosomatid parasites’ peculiar folate metabolism, and has previously been validated as a drug target. Initially, pharmacophore queries were created based on four 3D structures of LmPTR1 using co-crystallized known inhibitors as templates. Each of the pharmacophore queries was used to virtually screen a database of 1100 commercially available natural products. The resulting hits were submitted to molecular docking analyses in the substrate binding site of the respective protein structures used for the pharmacophore design. This approach led to the in silico identification of a total of 18 NPs with predicted binding affinity to LmPTR1. These compounds were subsequently tested in vitro for inhibitory activity towards recombinant LmPTR1 in a spectrophotometric inhibition assay. Fifteen out of the 18 tested compounds (hit rate = 83%) showed significant inhibitory activity against LmPTR1 when tested at a concentration of 50 µM. The IC50 values were determined for the six NPs that inhibited the target enzyme by more than 50% at 50 µM, with sophoraflavanone G being the most active compound tested (IC50 = 19.2 µM). The NPs identified and evaluated in the present study may represent promising lead structures for the further rational drug design of more potent inhibitors against LmPTR1.
Barriers and Facilitators for Information Exchange during Over-The-Counter Consultations in Community Pharmacy: A Focus Group Study
Authors: Seubert Liza , Whitelaw Kerry , Boeni Fabienne , Hattingh Laetitia , Watson Margaret , Clifford Rhonda
Published: December 2017

Consumers are confident managing minor ailments through self-care, often self-medicating from a range of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines available from community pharmacies. To minimise risks, pharmacy personnel endeavour to engage in a consultation when consumers present with OTC enquiries however they find consumers resistant. The aim was to determine stakeholder perspectives regarding barriers and facilitators for information exchange during OTC consultations in community pharmacies and to understand the elicited themes in behavioural terms. Focus groups were undertaken with community pharmacist, pharmacy assistant and consumer participants. Independent duplicate analysis of transcription data was conducted using inductive and framework methods. Eight focus groups involving 60 participants were conducted. Themes that emerged indicated consumers did not understand pharmacists’ professional role, they were less likely to exchange information if asking for a specific product than if asking about symptom treatment, and they wanted privacy. Consumers were confident to self-diagnose and did not understand OTC medicine risks. Pharmacy personnel felt a duty of care to ensure consumer safety, and that with experience communication skills developed to better engage consumers in consultations. They also identified the need for privacy. Consumers need education about community pharmacists’ role and responsibilities to motivate them to engage in OTC consultations. They also require privacy when doing so.
Determinant Formulae of Matrices with Certain Symmetry and Its Applications
Authors: Bae Yongju , Lee In
Published: December 2017

In this paper, we introduce formulae for the determinants of matrices with certain symmetry. As applications, we will study the Alexander polynomial and the determinant of a periodic link which is presented as the closure of an oriented 4-tangle.
The Potential Pathogenic Contributions of Endothelial Barrier and Arterial Contractile Dysfunction to Shock Due to B. anthracis Lethal and Edema Toxins
Authors: Suffredini Dante , Cui Xizhong , Xu Wanying , Li Yan , Eichacker Peter
Published: December 2017

Shock with B. anthracis infection is particularly resistant to conventional cardiovascular support and its mortality rate appears higher than with more common bacterial pathogens. As opposed to many bacteria that lack exotoxins directly depressing hemodynamic function, lethal and edema toxin (LT and ET respectively) both cause shock and likely contribute to the high lethality rate with B. anthracis. Selective inhibition of the toxins is protective in infection models, and administration of either toxin alone in animals produces hypotension with accompanying organ injury and lethality. Shock during infection is typically due to one of two mechanisms: (i) intravascular volume depletion related to disruption of endothelial barrier function; and (ii) extravasation of fluid and/or maladaptive dilation of peripheral resistance arteries. Although some data suggests that LT can produce myocardial dysfunction, growing evidence demonstrates that it may also interfere with endothelial integrity thereby contributing to the extravasation of fluid that helps characterize severe B. anthracis infection. Edema toxin, on the other hand, while known to produce localized tissue edema when injected subcutaneously, has potent vascular relaxant effects that could lead to pathologic arterial dilation. This review will examine recent data supporting a role for these two pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying the shock LT and ET produce. Further research and a better understanding of these mechanisms may lead to improved management of B. anthracis in patients.
Stormwater Biofilters as Barriers against Campylobacter jejuni, Cryptosporidium Oocysts and Adenoviruses; Results from a Laboratory Trial
Authors: Chandrasena Gayani , Deletic Ana , Lintern Anna , Henry Rebekah , McCarthy David
Published: December 2017

Biofilters are a widely used stormwater treatment technology. However; other than some evidence regarding non-pathogenic indicator microorganisms; there are significant knowledge gaps in the capacity of stormwater biofilters to remove actual pathogens and how this removal is impacted by biofilter design elements and operational conditions. In this study; we explored the capacity of stormwater biofilters to remove three reference pathogens (Campylobacter spp.; adenovirus and Cryptosporidium oocysts) and compared these to commonly used indicator microorganisms (E. coli; FRNA coliphages and Clostridium perfringens). Two different biofilter designs; each having a submerged zone (SZ); were tested under extended dry weather periods (up to 4 weeks) and different event volumes (the equivalent of 1–2 pore volumes) in a laboratory trial. These systems were able to consistently reduce the concentrations of all tested reference pathogens (average log reduction in Campylobacter spp. = 0.7; adenovirus = 1.0 and Cryptosporidium oocysts = 1.7) and two of the indicators (average log reduction in E. coli = 1.2 and C. perfringens = 2.1). However; none of the tested indicators consistently mimicked the removal performance of their corresponding reference pathogens after extended dry weather periods and during larger simulated storm events. This indicates that the behaviour of these pathogens in stormwater biofilters are not adequately represented by their corresponding indicator microorganisms and that to optimise biofilter designs for pathogen removal it is critical to further study pathogen removal processes in these systems.
Passifloraceae seeds from the late Eocene of Colombia
Authors: Martínez Camila
Published: December 2017

PREMISE OF THE STUDY:

The plant fossil record for the neotropics is still sparse and temporally discontinuous. The location and description of new fossil material are fundamental for understanding evolutionary and biogeographic patterns of lineages. A new fossil record of Passifloraceae from the late Eocene of Colombia is described in this study.

METHODS:

Plant fossils were collected from a new locality from the Eocene Esmeraldas Formation. Eighteen fossil seeds were selected, described, and compared with fossil and extant angiosperm seeds based on the literature and herbarium collections. Taxonomic affinities of the fossil seeds within Passifloraceae s.l. were evaluated by comparing morphological characters of the seeds in a phylogenetic context. Stratigraphic information associated with the fossil locality was used to interpret the environment and taphonomic processes associated with fossil deposition.

KEY RESULTS:

A new seed fossil genus and species, Passifloroidesperma sogamosense gen. and sp. nov., is described and associated with the subfamily Passifloroideae based on the presence of a foveolate seed surface, ruminate endosperm, and a seed coat with prismatic palisade cells. The depositional environment of the locality is described as a floodplain associated with river channels.

CONCLUSIONS:

A detailed review of the Passifloraceae fossil record indicates that P. sogamosense is the oldest confirmed record of Passifloraceae. Its late Eocene age provides a minimum age that can be used as a calibration point for the crown Passifloroideae node in future dating analyses that together with its neotropical geographic location can shed light on the origin and diversification of the subfamily.
Synthesis of [{AgO2CCH2OMe(PPh3)}n] and theoretical study of its use in focused electron beam induced deposition
Authors: Tamuliene Jelena , Noll Julian , Frenzel Peter , Rüffer Tobias , Jakob Alexander , Walfort Bernhard , Lang Heinrich
Published: December 2017

The synthesis, chemical and physical properties of [{AgO2CCH2OMe}n] (1) and [{AgO2CCH2OMe(PPh3)}n] (2) are reported. Consecutive reaction of AgNO3 with HO2CCH2OMe gave 1, which upon treatment with PPh3 produced 2. Coordination compound 2 forms a 1D coordination polymer in the solid state as evidenced by single crystal X-ray structure analysis. The coordination geometry at Ag+ is of the [3 + 1] type, whereby the carboxylate anions act as bridging ligands. The formation of PPh3–Ag(I) coordinative bonds results in distorted T-shaped AgPO2 units, which are stabilized further by an additional O–Ag dative bond. TG and TG–MS measurements show that 1 and 2 decompose at 190–250 °C (1) and 260–300 °C (2) via decarboxylation, involving Ag–P (2), C–C and C–O bond cleavages to give elemental silver as confirmed by PXRD studies. In order to verify if polymeric 2 is suitable as a FEBID precursor for silver deposition, its vapor pressure was determined (p170 °C = 5.318 mbar, ∆Hvap = 126.1 kJ mol−1), evincing little volatility. Also EI and ESI mass spectrometric studies were carried out. The dissociation of the silver(I) compound 2 under typical electron-driven FEBID conditions was studied by DFT (B3LYP) calculations on monomeric [AgO2CCH2OMe(PPh3)]. At an energy of the secondary electrons up to 0.8 eV elimination of PPh3 occurs, giving Ag+ and O2CCH2OMe−. Likewise, by release of PPh3 from [AgO2CCH2OMe(PPh3)] the fragment [AgO2CCH2OMe]− is formed from which Ag+ and O2CCH2OMe− is generated, further following the first fragmentation route. However, at 1.3 eV the initial step is decarboxylation giving [AgCH2OMe(PPh3)], followed by Ag–P and Ag–C bond cleavages.
A semisynthesis of 3'-O-ethyl-5,6-dihydrospinosyn J based on the spinosyn A aglycone
Authors: Zhang Kai , Liu Shenglan , Liu Anjun , Chai Hongxin , Li Jiarong , A Lamusi
Published: December 2017

Spinetoram, a mixture of 3'-O-ethyl-5,6-dihydrospinosyn J (XDE-175-J, major component) and 3'-O-ethylspinosyn L (XDE-175-L, minor component), is a novel kind of green and efficient insecticide with a broad range of action against various insects. Nowadays, spinetoram is widely used in agriculture and food storage. This work reports a 7-step semisynthesis of 3'-O-ethyl-5,6-dihydrospinosyn J from spinosyn A aglycone. The C9–OH and C17–OH of the aglycone are successively connected to 3-O-ethyl-2,4-di-O-methylrhamnose and D-forosamine after selective protection and deprotection steps. Then, with 10% Pd/C as catalyst, the 5,6-double bond of the macrolide was selectively reduced to afford 3'-O-ethyl-5,6-dihydrospinosyn J. In addition, the 3-O-ethyl-2,4-di-O-methylrhamnose is synthesized from rhamnose which is available commercially, while the D-forosamine and aglycone are obtained via the hydrolysis of spinosyn A. High yields were obtained in each step, and all intermediates in the synthesis were characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and MS techniques. This study can be helpful for developing an efficient chemical synthesis of spinetoram, and it also offers opportunities to synthesize spinosyn analogues and rhamnose derivatives.
VVV Survey Microlensing Events in the Galactic Center Region
Authors: Navarro María Gabriela , Minniti Dante , Ramos Rodrigo Contreras
Published: December 2017

We search for microlensing events in the highly reddened areas surrounding the Galactic center using the near-IR observations with the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea Survey (VVV). We report the discovery of 182 new microlensing events, based on observations acquired between 2010 and 2015. We present the color-magnitude diagrams of the microlensing sources for the VVV tiles b332, b333, and b334, which were independently analyzed, and show good qualitative agreement among themselves. We detect an excess of microlensing events in the central tile b333 in comparison with the other two tiles, suggesting that the microlensing optical depth keeps rising all the way to the Galactic center. We derive the Einstein radius crossing time for all of the observed events. The observed event timescales range from t
E = 5 to 200 days. The resulting timescale distribution shows a mean timescale of

days for the complete sample (N = 182 events), and

days if restricted only for the red clump (RC) giant sources (N = 96 RC events). There are 20 long timescale events (

days) that suggest the presence of massive lenses (black holes) or disk–disk event. This work demonstrates that the VVV Survey is a powerful tool to detect intermediate/long timescale microlensing events in highly reddened areas, and it enables a number of future applications, from analyzing individual events to computing the statistics for the inner Galactic mass and kinematic distributions, in aid of future ground- and space-based experiments.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder as a Nontraditional Mental Health Defense
Authors: Cooke Brian K.
Published: December 2017

Traumatic experiences may induce psychiatric symptoms and impairment. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one such diagnosis that may be established and has been used in a variety of legal settings. This article reviews the diagnostic criteria for PTSD and traces its historical development in
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
. PTSD has been used in criminal cases as the underlying mental illness in cases involving the insanity defense, Battered Woman's syndrome, automatism or unconsciousness, self-defense, diminished capacity, and to negate specific and criminal intent. The limitations to the successful use of PTSD as a criminal defense are presented in this article. Finally, recommendations are made for the forensic expert who uses PTSD as a mental health defense in criminal proceedings.

[
Psychiatr Ann
. 2017;47(12):580–583.]
Epilepsy in the Courtroom
Authors: Gulrajani Chinmoy
Published: December 2017

Epilepsy is a diverse family of disorders with wide variations in clinical presentations depending on seizure type and etiology. When individuals diagnosed with epilepsy commit a violent act, it is commonly unrelated to a seizure (inter-ictal violence). Violence occurring in relation to the seizure episode (peri-ictal violence) is a rare but recognized phenomenon that can lead to criminal charges. In some cases, peri-ictal violence can mimic a planned goal-directed act. In these cases, courts often rely on psychiatric expertise to answer questions about the defendant's competence to proceed, criminal responsibility, or risk of future violence. This article reviews the relevant literature related to violence in epilepsy and provides recommendations to clinicians who provide expert opinion in cases of epileptic seizure related violence.

[
Psychiatr Ann
. 2017;47(12):598–603.]
Fureurs et mélancolie
Authors: Ansaldi Saverio
Published: December 2017

Que signifie s’interroger sur des modes de vie qui dépassent l’ordinaire ? Quelles sont les formes d’affirmation d’une puissance humaine excessive et démesurée ? La fureur et la mélancolie peuvent-elles représenter le modèle anthropologique de cette puissance ? Cet ouvrage se penche sur ces questions en étudiant les auteurs majeurs de la Renaissance qui ont mis la fureur et la mélancolie au centre de leur philosophie, à commencer par Marsile Ficin, Pic de la Mirandole, Léon l’Hébreu et Giordano Bruno. Il apparaît ainsi que tout en étant liées par une relation constitutive, la fureur et la mélancolie n’en suivent pas moins des lignes de développement propres, faisant état d’une relative autonomie l’une à l’égard de l’autre. Sans l’excès ou la démesure exprimés par une puissance furieuse, il n’existe pas d’actes ou des paroles proprement « créatrices », puisque tout acte de création implique une transformation profonde des règles habituelles – soient-elles éthiques, politiques ou esthétiques.
Study of Factors Influencing the Life Predictions of Solid Rocket Motor
Authors: Binda Ricardo Viera , Rocha Roberta Jachura , Almeida Luiz Eduardo Nunes
Published: December 2017

Storage of rocket motors loaded with composite solid propellant for long periods may change the propellant properties, thus causing failure and affecting the safety during launch. In this study, an accelerated aging assay was carried out, in order to predict the useful lifetime and to evaluate variations on the propellant properties with time by means of thermal analysis (TG/DSC). The aging temperatures used were 65°C, and samples were withdrawn after 3 months. Aging was also carried out at room temperature. There was significant variation in the activation energy of the solid propellant samples thermal decomposition in the two kinetic methods used – Ozawa or model-free isoconversional method and Kissinger method – during the aging period. There was significant decrease of enthalpy of aged propellant enthalpy causing changes in ballistics parameters of the solid propellant grain affecting the rocket's performance.
Accelerated Aging Tests of HTPB-Based Propellants
Authors: Rocha Roberta Jachura
Published: December 2017

In the late twentieth century, liquid and solid propulsion technologies have been integrated into hybrid engines currently apllied in propulsion launch vehicles and missiles. The reaction of polyol (HTPB) and diisocyanate (IPDI) provides the most versatile of the binders in the production of solid propellants due to its ability to withstand high loads combined with low cost and ease of processing. A propellant based on HTPB obtained in this study was submitted to natural and accelerated aging tests, seeking to evaluate the modifications of mechanical properties as tensile strength, elongation and hardness up to 360 days. The mechanism considered in the aging process is the increase of crosslink density by breaking the double bond contained in the HTPB molecule, which causes the instability of the propellant, increasing its handling risk. Samples of these propellants subjected to aging presented variations in their properties that match the values available in the literature.
Scalability for Cloud
Authors: Mohan Murthy M. K.  , Sanjay H. A.
Published: December 2017

Scalability is one of the reasons behind the popularity of the Cloud. In the real IT world, resource requirement of an application varies over the time. Elastic and scalable nature of the Cloud makes it more suitable for such situation. By scaling the resources as per the resource demand, efficient resource utilization can be achieved. Vertical scaling and horizontal scaling are two different types of scaling. In vertical scaling, the virtual machine resources are scaled, and in horizontal scaling, infrastructure is scaled by adding or removing new virtual machines to it. This chapter focuses on scaling in Cloud environment, especially resource scaling for applications. The chapter starts with a brief introduction to Cloud and scaling in the cloud. After the introduction, related literature is visited. The chapter explains the necessity of scaling with real life examples. The chapter covers virtualization and some important hypervisors from the scaling perspective. The chapter also explains vertical scaling and horizontal scaling in detail.
Computer Centres Resource Cloud Elasticity-Scalability (CRECES)
Authors: Mbale Jameson
Published: December 2017

The Copperbelt University Computer Centre runs five physical servers 24/7 throughout the academic year calendar. These machines consumed a lot of resources such as electricity used to run and cool them. In addition, the Computer Centre employed a lot of technicians to run, maintain and service the named servers. All the discussed costs were incurred throughout the year including the idle workload period when there was very little work to be processed. It was against that background the Computer Centres Resource Cloud Elasticity-Scalability (CRECES) was envisaged to only use one physical server during idle workload period. It was at such periods when the Computer Centre carried a rapid elasticity to scale down on the huge server resource utilisation. Similarly, at peak workload time the centre carried a rapid elasticity to scale up by producing many virtual hardware and software resources just from a single server to five virtualised ones. Hence, the capacity of the Centre to scale up and down resources acted as a cost serving measures in utilising the hardware and software resources.
Identification of Various Privacy and Trust Issues in Cloud Computing Environment
Authors: Jaswal Shivani , Malhotra Manisha
Published: December 2017

Cloud computing is a rising paradigm in today's world. In this, users can send his or her request to any CSP, i.e., cloud service provider, of their choice. In return, the CSP reverts him back with that particular service. Now, while communicating from various two locations, the data transferred is not passed through that much amount of security and privacy as expected. So, there are lots of parameters in the environment that are taken care of while sending, receiving or just passing data over the network. This chapter presents various security issues that are underlying in cloud computing. This chapter has illustrated various issues such as Trust, Encryption, Authenticity, Confidentiality and Multi Tenancy. Also, some of the proposed solutions have also been discussed later in the chapter.
DOS Attacks on Cloud Platform
Authors: Kumar Rohit
Published: December 2017

IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS models collectively form the Cloud Computing Infrastructure. The complexity of interrelationship of service models is very high and so security issue becomes essentials and must be developed with utmost care. Distributed DOS attacks are a major concern for different organization engaged in using cloud based services. The denial of service attack and distributed denial of service attacks in particular in cloud paradigms are big threat on a cloud network or platform. These attacks operate by rendering the server and network useless by sending unnecessary service and resource requests. The victims host or network isn't aware of such attacks and keeps providing recourses until they get exhausted. Due to resource exhaustions, the resources requests of genuine users doesn't get fulfilled. Severity of these attacks can lead to huge financial losses if, they are able to bring down servers executing financial services. This chapter presents DOS threats and methods to mitigate them in varied dimensions.
The Rise of Big Data, Cloud, and Internet of Things
Authors: Abdulraziq Reema , Yassein Muneer Bani , Aljawarneh Shadi
Published: December 2017

Big data refers to the huge amount of data that is being used in commercial, industrial and economic environments. There are three types of big data; structured, unstructured and semi-structured data. When it comes to discussions on big data, three major aspects that can be considered as its main dimensions are the volume, velocity, and variety of the data. This data is collected, analysed and checked for use by the end users. Cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) are used to enable this huge amount of collected data to be stored and connected to the Internet. The time and the cost are reduced by means of these technologies, and in addition, they are able to accommodate this large amount of data regardless of its size. This chapter focuses on how big data, with the emergence of cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IOT), can be used via several applications and technologies.
Current Drift in Energy Efficiency Cloud Computing
Authors: Bajaj Shivani
Published: December 2017

Energy Efficiency can be defined as reduction of energy used by a given service or level of activity. In spite of scale and complexity of data centre equipment it can be highly difficult to define the proper activity that could be examined for the efficiency of energy. So there can be four scenarios which may define within the system where the energy is not utilised in an efficient manner. The main goal of Cloud service providers is creation of usage of Cloud computing resources proficiently for efficient cloud computing. Cloud computing has many serious issues such as load manager, security and fault tolerance. This chapter discusses the energy efficient approaches in cloud computing environment. The energy efficiency has become the major concern for the service providers. In this chapter, the major concern is the high lightly of resource allocation challenges and there are some which will be given in the data center energy consumption. The focus is done on the power management task and even the virtualization of saving the energy.
Fixed Charged Solid Transportation Problem With Budget Constraints in Type-2 Fuzzy Variables
Authors: Dutta Dhiman , Sen Mausumi
Published: December 2017

A multi-objective fixed charged solid transportation model with criterion e.g. transportation penalty, amounts, demands, carriages and budget constraints as type-2 triangular fuzzy variables with condition on few components and carriages is proposed here. With the critical value based reductions of corresponding type-2 fuzzy variables, a nearest interval approximation model and a chance constrained programming model applying generalized credibility measure for the constraints is proposed for this particular problem. The credibility measure is also applied to the objective functions of the chance constrained programming model. The model is then transformed into the corresponding crisp deterministic form by these two methods. A numerical example is provided to explain the model with hypothetical data and is then worked out by applying a gradient based optimization - Generalized Reduced Gradient technique (applying LINGO 16). The corresponding objective function values are compared numerically by two approaches after transforming it to crisp form by these two methods.
Selection of Appropriate Turbulance Model in Fuel Bundle of Nuclear Energy
Authors: Verma Shashi Kant , Sinha S. L. , Chandraker D. K.
Published: December 2017

This chapter presents an overview of various types of turbulence model and their effect on thermal-hydraulic characteristics of nuclear fuel bundle, both past and present using Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) approach. It includes the mathematical definition related to fuel bundle in nuclear energy. The various types of geometrical arrangement like Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR), Boiling Water Reactor (BWR), etc., are stressed. The solution procedures that are applicable to the various reactor types are introduced here and presented in detail for different types of turbulence models. Study of these characteristics enables the student to appreciate the effect of the different types of turbulence models on turbulent mixing and related phenomena. Finally, recommendations of turbulence model for rod bundle are finalized. The inclusion of related references provides a starting point for the interested reader / researchers /industrialists.
From Ground to Cloud
Authors: Koutsopoulos Kostis
Published: December 2017

As technology has become an agent of immense change, it has forced upon the education system Cloud Computing, which in the form of School on the Cloud will have significant future ripple effects. In moving from ground (present conditions) to Cloud (future conditions), there is a need to examine the educational enhancements and the future ramifications of this technology. The description of these effects represents the goal of this chapter, by reviewing the major aspects of the future of Cloud Based Education and by presenting the approach and the results of a foresight exercise, which have led to the development of a series of future scenarios related to the future roles of the major education stakeholders.
Teaching Using the Cloud
Authors: Armstrong Niamh
Published: December 2017

Cloud computing has transformed the educational landscape and teachers need to be confident in using cloud resources to guide their students to navigate this ecosystem. The author will explore different digital literacies frameworks and give a personal reflection and practical examples on cloud technologies in education. The author will give an overview of some of the discussion points that developed from the working group innovative teacher, iTeacher, and the School on the Cloud (SoC) network and present some of the deliverables developed.
Teacher Professional Development for Twenty-First Century Literacies
Authors: Vrasidas Charalambos , Theodoridou Katerina
Published: December 2017

Preparing teachers to effectively integrate ICT in their literacies teaching, requires well-designed professional development based on sound learning design. This chapter presents the component of teacher professional development based on a blended mode of training through the integration of online tools, as it was designed and implemented in three European-funded projects that dealt with the promotion of literacies. The authors present the projects, their synergies, discuss lessons learnt and provide recommendations on how teacher professional development can be enhanced, so that teachers can be better prepared to address the evolving trends of ICT in teaching and learning.
Fiction and Non-Fiction Adventures on Tablets
Authors: Kortsari Olympia , Papachrysanthaki Andriana , Bonanou Helen
Published: December 2017

The goal of this chapter is the development and implementation of a few lesson plans for Primary Education students using multicultural books and a game-based activity to unravel information about a city. It traces the philosophy and rationale related to the rapidly changing field of Information and Communication Technology in Primary Education. The authors reflect on how the use of an iPad by primary teachers motivates students to learn, read and create positive attitudes towards issues of identity, diversity and inclusion. They also share the challenges that they have faced in implementing the process.
Story Mapping in Primary Education
Authors: Apostolopoulou Aikaterini
Published: December 2017

According to the twenty-first century skills framework and the outcomes of the School on the Cloud European Network, education engages new dynamic learning environments with the use of Web2.0 tools and Cloud Computing. This chapter presents the implementation of a story mapping project in geography classes during the last year of Primary School. Sixth grade pupils worked in groups and created an online map with ArcGIS Online of the major straits and seas of the world. They selected a web mapping application and created a map journal embedding presentations with narrative texts and images. The purpose of the project was the development of map reading abilities and spatial thinking and the creation of content selecting appropriate web tools. The strong engagement of pupils in the project and the produced maps indicate that online story mapping is a useful tool in geography education that combines and promotes spatial and digital literacy.
Cloud Computing for Rural and Isolated Schools
Authors: Malmierca María José Rodríguez
Published: December 2017

A pilot experience of cloud computing use in a small rural school network in Spain by Galicia Supercomputing Center, financed by HP Labs in 2010, gave way to a promising exploration of the use of this technology to benefit European isolated and rural schools learning and networking possibilities. This case study will describe its origin, organizations involved, settings, methodologies and technological components used, impact on students, teachers and families, as well as challenges faced and proposed solutions.
Staying Employable Certifications of Competences in the Era of Real-Time Career Management
Authors: Kiritsis Constantine Vasilios
Published: December 2017

This chapter attempts to focus on the topic of career management and its growing importance for students and professionals globally mainly due to the fast pace of change requiring agility and the ability to adapt to changing pressures from the market. It attempts to first provide the current status quo at Universities and Businesses and the challenges they are facing in preparing students for work (Universities) and during work (Businesses). It also attempts to provide possible solutions that relate to making career management a real-time, continuous task to stay employable rather than a ‘one off” or ad-hoc issue. The chapter stresses the importance of certifications and professional titles as a ‘must' in a number of industries and the important role of the career counselor in staying employable and why “employability” is a never-ending process in the twenty-first century.
Leadership, Public Values, and Trust in Emergency Management
Authors: Eneanya Augustine Nduka
Published: December 2017

In today's environment, emergency managers get things done through team leadership. Good leaders know how to follow others when the situation calls for it. Being the right kind of leader is critical to getting committed and engage followers. The chapter argues that managers build trust into decision making during emergencies; when managers set up the right conditions for the team to thrive, it results a better outcome. The chapter further argues that when managers share information both up and down the chain of command and make their intention clear about what winning looks like, team members are able to use their own discretion and make decisions that support the mission. The chapter concludes that an effective expression of the manager's intent must be clear and concise of what the team must do to succeed and achieve the desired end state. The manager must build trust in decision making among the team to achieve better results.
Environmental Security Threats and Policy Response in the Niger Delta, Nigeria 1990-2016
Authors: Amadi Luke A. , Alapiki Henry
Published: December 2017

In recent years, environmental security in the coastal Niger Delta has had a growing scholarly interest from divergent perspectives seeking for broader elucidation and understanding of State policy response. These security threats notably oil spill, water and land pollution, gas flaring, acid rain, mangrove deforestation, etc are linked to the Multinational Oil Corporations (MNOCs)and oil resource exploitation. These have been perverse, resulting in ecological breakdown, vulnerability, emergency and environmental insecurity challenges since at least the 1970s when oil in the region became the main stay of Nigeria's economy. This conceptual paper builds on the political ecology framework which discusses the impact of global power asymmetry on natural resource extraction and extensive body of work in the broad field of environmental security to explore salient indicators which demonstrate the evidence of environmental insecurity threats and poor State policy response and made some recommendations.
Impact of Sea Level Rise on Coastal Regions and Strategic Responses
Authors: Gomes Pedro Miguel , Gutierres Francisco Sacramento
Published: December 2017

This chapter includes an assessment of physical vulnerability of the coast, including a coastal vulnerability index composed of 9 physical variables—elevation, distance to shore, tide amplitude, significant wave weight, erosion/accretion rates, geology, geomorphology, ground cover vegetation, and anthropogenic actions—followed by a quantification of coastal recession and the data of special report on emissions scenarios (SRES) developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the rise in average sea level. It includes an estimate of the economic value of an area of recreation based on the travel cost method. Finally, a bibliographic review is made to assess strategies and responses to the impacts of sea level rise in order to make comparisons and to develop a road map of interventions for shoreline protection. The proposed methodology was applied to a case study on the Portuguese coast corresponding to the beaches of Costa de Caparica, Almada.
The Politics of Environmental Pollution in Nigeria
Authors: Okeke Godwin Solomon Mmaduabuchi
Published: December 2017

Pioneer efforts and early scientific and popular writings on the environment support genuine ecological concerns on the need for a clean and healthy environment. A clean environment supports good health, and good health is very important for vibrant workforce, which is necessary for a productive economy. This logical connection, in the final analysis, seems to encourage a healthy and vibrant political atmosphere. In Nigeria, the oil boom in the early 1970s led to a major boost in industrialization and the subsequent environmental pollution and the attendant undercurrent political implications. In the light of the above, the chapter investigates the environmental problems in Nigeria and the inherent political dynamics that propel and shape the calls for a cleaner environment. The authors rely on archival materials and other secondary sources of data including the library documentations and internet to query and theoretically explain the extant issues. The relevant recommendations are made on the urgent need to ameliorate the unpalatable condition and for cleaner environment.
Integrating Ecosystem Management and Environmental Media for Public Policy on Public Health and Safety
Authors: Eneanya Augustine Nduka
Published: December 2017

Over the past three decades, the relationship between ecology and public policy has changed because of the increasing role of scientific uncertainty in environmental policy making. While earlier policy questions might have been solved simply by looking at the scientific technicalities of the issues, the increased role of scientific uncertainty in environmental policy making requires that we re-examine the methods used in decision-making. Previously, policymakers use scientific data to support their decision-making disciplinary boundaries are less useful because uncertain environmental policy problems span the natural sciences, engineering, economics, politics, and ethics. The chapter serves as a bridge integrating environmental ecosystem, media, and justice into policy for public health and safety. The chapter attempts to demonstrate the linkage between the environmental policy from a holistic perspective with the interaction of air, water, land, and human on public health and safety.
Halal Branding
Authors: Shahnazari Ali
Published: December 2017

Muslim and Islamic marketing is very important on the global level. This chapter investigates Muslim's food market. In the first section, the foundations of Halal food are explained, and the roots of the concept of Halal and the challenges facing it are described. The second section includes Islamic branding and the foundations of Islamic branding. The Islamic foundation of Halal is a subject that comes together with the description of Halal food in the Holy Quran and is the subject of the third section. In the fourth section, Halal branding is explored, and in the fifth section, the legal and practical issues of Halal branding are analyzed. The final section includes models of Halal food and brand in which six models are put forward. The most recent of these models includes all the essential concepts of the previous models.
Investigating the Mechanics of Affiliate Marketing Through Digital Content Marketing
Authors: Shukla Parag , Vyas Parimal Hariom , Shastri Hiral
Published: December 2017

The domain of online marketing and internet advertising is going through radical changes. In context to Indian online market, according to Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), the digital commerce market has seen a growth by 33% reaching to a figure of 62,967 Crore in the year 2015 which is predicted to touch $50 to $70 Billion by the year 2020 owing to the increasing popularity of online shopping and increase in internet penetration. Affiliate marketing is referred as performance marketing and associate marketing (IAMAI Research Report, 2014). Affiliate marketing is a type of online marketing technique where an affiliate/promotes a business through an advertisement on their web site and in return that business rewards the affiliate with commission each time a visitor, customer generates sales. The objective is to analyze by conceptualizing the mechanics of affiliate marketing through judicious and optimum use of digital content marketing by e-tailers so as to engage customers and create boundless business opportunities for growth, expansion and profitability.
Consuming “Innovation” in Tourism
Authors: Hassan Azizul , Rahimi Roya
Published: December 2017

Upon understanding definition, features, application analysis of innovation and relevant theory of the Diffusion of Innovations, this study suggests Augmented Reality (AR) as a technological innovation. AR is an advanced stage of virtual reality that merges reality with computer simulated imageries in the real environment. This chapter synthesizes AR as an emerging and potential technology of digital tourism marketing and management. The aim of this analytical approach based chapter is to understand innovation from tourism product or services consumption perspective. Relevant evidences are also included on lenses of marketing, digitalization and innovation consumption. Results outline that, technology consumption is gradually reshaping and getting supported by the availability and accessibility of electronic formats as AR as a technological innovation. This symbolizes that the consumption of technological innovation as AR offers freedom to select, purchase and recommend in relation to the theory of Diffusion of Innovations by Rogers (1962).
Destination Brand-Building of Cultural Heritage Tourism
Authors: Huibin Xing , Marzuki Azizan , Kostopoulou Stella
Published: December 2017

Hebei province is a one of the most typically representative cultural destinations in China with abundant high-quality cultural heritage resources rooting from its more than 4000-year history. However, Hebei has still not evolved into a distinctive cultural brand in the tourism market even though lots of funds have been allocated and invested in tourism. The question thus is how to gradually build a successful cultural tourism brand vital to Hebei province. This paper first extracts the successful components from previous studies, and using France as the most celebrated cultural destination with the largest international tourism arrivals, comparisons are then made with Hebei from the perspective of destination branding of cultural tourism. Finally, given the practical conditions of Hebei and actual tourism needs of segment market, the paper proposes a conceptual brand-building model of Hebei cultural tourism.
The Role of Value Co-Creation on Brand Image
Authors: Jayapal Pravina , Omar Azizah
Published: December 2017

The proliferation of SMEs in Malaysia shows that a better understanding on this SMEs are needed. Even though the SME market is booming, these SMEs face difficulties in sustaining in the constantly evolving marketplace. In order to continuously flourish in this industry, the firms should understand the role of value co-creation in improving their market performance. The lack of value co-creation implementation has been found to act as a barrier for these SMEs. Moreover, SMEs are identified to have issues in establishing a strong brand image through value co-creation. Therefore, the book chapter develops a conceptual framework to improve the understanding on the contribution of value co-creation in the development of stronger brand image and greater market performance.
Financial Implications of Relationship Marketing in Airline Business
Authors: Dinçer Hasan , Hacıoğlu Ümit , Özdemir Aydın
Published: December 2017

Relationship marketing promises a change from vendor, product and price centered marketing concept to a new people, long-term relationships and value centered marketing concept for airline companies in search of a messiah who will rescue them from bleeding to death because of monopolized supply market, duplicated services, financial crises, heavy pressure of competition and low profit margins. In this chapter, definitions and short background of relationship marketing are revised by focusing on components of the concept and relations with customer loyalty, customer value and basic notions. A glance at the airline industry takes place with a focus on relationship marketing and airline business on the basis of implication aspects such as frequent flyer programs, global distribution systems and internet. Specifically, domains of relationship marketing concept on the airline business are analyzed in detail specific to cost and profitability balance.
Digital Marketing Analytics
Authors: Alavi Shirin , Ahuja Vandana
Published: December 2017

Technological advances and the speed with which new technologies are being embraced by organizations, along with the rising power of the consumers and their ability to get what they want, when they want it, from whomever they want, have opened up new challenges for customer relationship management and marketing. Thus the need for understanding the digital world and its application becomes one of the greatest competitive aspects for a business's survival. The exhortation of globalization holds no meaning without the concept of what is being termed as ‘Digitization'. Blackberry has started a long and hard climb to regain its lost glory. Supporting its product improvement and repositioning strategies are a set of well-defined digital marketing strategies. This manuscript explores the dynamics of Inside Blackberry-an online endeavour of Blackberry to trace the E-Marketing objectives of the Blog and its ability to leverage the behavioral internet theory for online branding, building usability and reciprocity, strengthening credibility and consumer persuasion.
Digital Marketing Optimization
Authors: Jain Neha , Ahuja Vandana , Medury Yajulu
Published: December 2017

Digital marketing is a proliferating field that has opened new challenges for marketers. These challenges address concepts of website navigation, searchability, and garnering online traffic –issues that are critical to any organization's online presence. This chapter identifies website characteristics, studies the role they perform in the context of an organization's virtual presence, and proposes the creation of a framework that aids organizations in optimizing their digital marketing strategies for better return on investment.