bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lightweight Secure Architectural Framework for Internet of Things
Authors: Muthuramalingam S.  , Nisha Angeline C. V.  , Lavanya Raja
Published: January 2019

In this IoT era, we have billions of devices connected to the internet. These devices generate tons of data that has to be stored, processed, and used for making intelligent decisions. This calls for the need for a smart heterogeneous network which could handle this data and make the real-time systems work intelligently. IoT applications leads to increasing demands in high traffic volume, M2M communications, low latency, and MIMO operations. Mobile communication has evolved from 2G voice services into a complex, interconnected environment with multiple services built on a system that supports innumerable applications and provides high-speed access. Hence the sustainability of the IoT applications do rely on next generation networks. Due to the significant increase in the network components, computational complexity, and heterogeneity of resources, there arise the need for a secure architectural framework for internet of things. For this, the authors propose a secure architectural framework for IoT that provides a solution to the lightweight devices with low computational complexity.
Techniques for Analysis of Mobile Malware
Authors: Palaniappan Gopinath , Rajendran Balaji , Sangeetha S. , NeelaNarayanan V
Published: January 2019

The rapid rise in the number of mobile devices has resulted in an alarming increase in mobile software and applications. The mobile application markets/stores too have created a fundamental shift in the way mobile applications are delivered to users, with apps being added and updated in thousands every day. Even though research progresses have been achieved towards detection and mitigation of mobile security, open challenges still remain and also keep evolving in this area. Several studies reveal that mobile application markets/stores do harbor applications that are either vulnerable or malicious in nature, leading to compromises of millions of devices. This chapter (1) captures the attack surface of mobile devices, (2) lists the various mobile malware analysis techniques, and (3) lays the ground for research on mobile malware by providing mobile malware dataset resources, tools for malware analysis, patent landscaping for mobile malware detection, and a few open challenges in malware analysis.
Digital Healthcare Security Issues
Authors: Punithavathi P.  , Subbiah Geetha
Published: January 2019

Digital healthcare system, which is undergoing transformation phase to provide safe, swift, and improved quality care, is experiencing diverse problems. The serious threats to the digital healthcare system include misidentification of patients and healthcare-related frauds. Biometrics is a cutting-edge scientific field which overcomes the weaknesses of password-based authentication methods while ensuring a friction-free user experience. It enables unprecedented authentication capabilities based on human characteristics that cannot be replicated by fraudsters. The growing demand for biometrics solutions in digital healthcare system is mainly driven by the need to combat fraud, along with an initiative to preserve privacy of the patient besides with healthcare safety. This chapter examines how biometric technology can be applied to the digital healthcare services.
The Importance of Making Teaching Practices Public, Shareable, and Usable
Authors: Lopes J. Bernardino , Viegas Maria Clara , Pinto José Alexandre
Published: January 2019

It is acknowledged that to improve the value of the learning process and outcomes in areas such as science, technology, engineering and math, the teaching quality needs to be enhanced. Therefore, it is crucial to have access to real teaching practices. The multimodal narrative (MN) tool allows teaching practices to become public, sharable, and usable (open science perspective), preserving their holistic, complex, and ecological nature. This tool has characteristics and a structure that enable an in-depth study of teaching practices, in different contexts, with several purposes (e.g., teacher education, professional development, and research). This chapter presents MNs and the necessary steps involved in collecting multimodal data, structuring the narrative, and validating the document. MNs can be used by teachers and researchers, or other professionals, with multiple specific objectives, globally contributing to improving professional practices.
Dealing With Unexpected Situations in the Classroom
Authors: Cunha Ana Edite , Marques Cristina
Published: January 2019

This chapter examines teachers' practices in dealing with unexpected situations (USs) in the classroom and students' reactions to these practices. This study analyzes the multimodal narratives (MNs) of the classes of five teachers: three from basic education and two from higher education. The results show that the teachers identified USs and most of the time acted in a way to solve the problem by interacting with their students. This interaction took a variety of forms. The students reacted to these teachers' practices in different ways: clarifying their ideas and concepts, establishing links between ideas and/or concepts, answering or taking the initiative autonomously, correctly performing a task or solving a problem, and/or becoming more involved/active in their learning. In cases in which teachers did not act on the US, the students did not understand the task or took a passive attitude toward learning.
Using Multimodal Narratives to Study Relationships Between Concepts
Authors: Barbot António
Published: January 2019

In conceptual teaching and learning, relationships between concepts play a key role. This chapter describes a case where two conceptual fields, water and energy, were treated in order to promote understanding of relationships between them. It deals with the importance of “potential relationships” and describes how multimodal narratives contributed to those elucidations and to these practices in the classroom and their interpretation, as well as to the professional development of teachers. The chapter elucidates concept use, relating concepts, ways of discerning relationships between concepts, loss of relationship opportunities that were created by students, and ways of verifying that certain relationships were achieved.
Using Multimodal Narratives in Teacher Education
Authors: Pinto José Alexandre
Published: January 2019

Teacher training processes must incorporate a reflective dimension as a strategy for professional development. The pursuit of a professional identity and the need to give personal meaning to theoretical principles grounds the emergence of young teachers' reflection. In this chapter, multimodal narrative (MN) is presented as a tool to support reflexive approaches in the development of teachers' professional knowledge. The data collected about the perspectives of student teachers and supervisors who experienced the use of MN show the interest of these actors about the tool and about the processes of its use. This chapter presents and discusses constraints identified throughout the pilot study of using a MN in teacher training that the authors developed. It also presents a proposal for the use of MN in the context of initiation of the professional practice that includes an adapted version of the MN tool and a phased process of its use.
Assessing Teaching Practices Development With Multimodal Narratives
Authors: Cunha Ana Edite
Published: January 2019

This chapter focuses on teachers' professional development, on the task design and on experimental work, as well as on the role of the teachers' mediation in the quality of student learning. The research problem was how the teacher can promote self-directed professional development, namely, improving the quality of teaching practices to influence the quality of students' learning, in their engagement in experimental tasks and epistemic practices. A longitudinal research methodology was followed during 10 years, based on a qualitative case study, from a curricular approach in secondary education. The analysis of data collection on teaching practices and students' learning over time and the teachers' professional pathways allow to formulate the following conclusions: (1) new traits of teaching practices were identified that promote students' productive engagement; (2) changes to the task design were enough to trigger differences in teachers' mediation, with consequences for students' epistemic practices and their productive engagement.
Researching Epistemic Practices Development With Multimodal Narratives
Authors: Saraiva Elisa
Published: January 2019

This chapter describes an empirical study using multimodal narratives for research into students' development of epistemic practices in the classroom. Multimodal narratives can give access to classroom events, preserving their complex and holistic nature. Through content analysis, they allow a good comprehension of the multimodal nature of teaching and learning practices. The results of this work highlight the importance of multimodal narratives as a research instrument. Their importance is based on the richness of elements they contain that allow the identification, categorization, and characterization of teacher mediation actions that promote, scaffold, and enlarge students' epistemic practice development. This chapter seeks to describe both their multiple potentialities as an instrument and their limitations when researching the development of students' epistemic practices in the physical sciences classroom.
Researching One's Own Practice
Authors: Gonçalves Ricardo , Costa Cecília
Published: January 2019

This chapter aims to link the known research results on the teaching and learning of linear algebra to research on teaching practices. The same person, as a teacher and as a researcher, plans and implements a teaching sequence, constructs multimodal narratives (MNs) for some classes, and reflects on his own practice, based on the emerging categories from content analysis of the MNs. Regarding the methodology and focusing on the role of MNs in this research, it is worth highlighting the value attributed to MNs because they function as an instrument that embodies the practices of the teacher and aid him in reflecting on his own practice.
Foreign Direct Investment in India Opportunities and Challenges
Authors: Bhattacheryay Suranjan
Published: January 2019

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is the dispersal and optimisation of resource packages like human, financial, knowledge, physical and reputational resources. The motivational factors such as natural resources, market resources, strategic resources, efficiency resources, locational advantages, etc., influenced Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) to perform various activities in the host countries. MNEs internationalise business mainly to acquire intangible assets and for balancing resources which they do not possess. India is in receipt of continuous capital flow due to favourable policy management and a strong business environment. Globally, Indian corporations continually display significantly better equity earnings over other countries both developed and emerging. The Government of India is very keen in simplifying FDI rules with an ultimate aim to attract more investors with zero hazards.
Effect of Online Second-Hand Shopping Experience on Repurchase Intention
Authors: Swapana Murali , Padmavathy Chandrasekaran
Published: January 2019

Research on online shopping experience has been studied intensively over the past years. However, there are only few studies related to online second-hand shopping experience. The present study aims to investigate the effect of online second-hand shopping experience on trust, attitude, and repurchase intention. The results indicate that online second-hand shopping experience has a significant and positive effect on attitude, trust, and repurchase intention. Attitude and trust also have a positive influence on repurchase intention. This study provides implications to second-hand e-retailers to develop marketing strategies to retain the existing customers.
A Comparative Analysis of HPL-PD and MIPS Architectures by Using Integrated Approach for IS and RA for Exploiting ILP
Authors: Kumar Rajendra
Published: January 2019

In this article, the authors have proposed an integrated algorithm for instruction scheduling and register allocation, and implemented it for compiler optimization in a machine description in a trimaran infrastructure for exploitation of instruction-level parallelism. For this experimental work, the authors added machine descriptions (MDES) targeted to HL-PD architecture. As a result, only a few spills were needed and the quality of the code generated was improved. The application of abstract base graph has been applied for experimental purposes. For these experiments, this article used 20 benchmarks available with trimaran infrastructure for HPL-PD architecture. This article compares some of these results with results obtained performed on LLVM compiler on an MIPS architecture. The implemented algorithm is based on subgraph isomorphism. The input program is represented in the form of directed acyclic graph (DAG). The vertices of the DAG represent the instructions, input, and output operands of the program, while the edges represent dependencies among the instructions.
Opinions of the Software and Supply Chain Assurance Forum on Education, Training, and Certifications
Authors: Boyens Beatrix
Published: January 2019

This article provides an overview of discussions held at the Software and Supply Chain Assurance (SSCA) forum held May 1-2, 2018, in McLean, Virginia. The two-day event focused on education and training for software assurance (SwA) and Cyber-Supply Chain Risk Management (C-SCRM). Attendees discussed questions such as “What are some challenges facing industry, academia, and government organizations in this area?” “Who needs education or training?” “What needs to be taught?” and “What strategies do or do not work?” Discussions related to the current environment, hiring and retaining qualified employees, defining roles and responsibilities, and the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that are most in-demand.
Enhancing a SCRM Curriculum With Cybersecurity
Authors: Conklin Art , Bronk Chris
Published: January 2019

Supply chain-related curricula exist across many universities, with many including risk management as an important or focal element. With the rise of software-driven technology across the supply chain, how can firms manage the inherent risks associated with software as part of a procurement process? This article examines how to provide context appropriate cybersecurity exemplars in a model supply chain education program, bringing to light the issue of embedded risk in software acquisition. Through a series of specifically placed educational elements that provide targeted cybersecurity knowledge to students, the objective is to provide additional skill sets for future supply chain professionals to assist firms in including software related cybersecurity risk as a component in SCRM.
What Do We Know About Buffer Overflow Detection?
Authors: Chaim Marcos Lordello , Santos Daniel Soares , Cruzes Daniela Soares
Published: January 2019

Buffer overflow (BO) is a well-known and widely exploited security vulnerability. Despite the extensive body of research, BO is still a threat menacing security-critical applications. The authors present a comprehensive systematic review on techniques intended to detecting BO vulnerabilities before releasing a software to production. They found that most of the studies addresses several vulnerabilities or memory errors, being not specific to BO detection. The authors organized them in seven categories: program analysis, testing, computational intelligence, symbolic execution, models, and code inspection. Program analysis, testing and code inspection techniques are available for use by the practitioner. However, program analysis adoption is hindered by the high number of false alarms; testing is broadly used but in ad hoc manner; and code inspection can be used in practice provided it is added as a task of the software development process. New techniques combining object code analysis with techniques from different categories seem a promising research avenue towards practical BO detection.
Facebook Use, Personality Characteristics and Academic Performance
Authors: Sapsani Georgia , Tselios Nikolaos
Published: January 2019

The present article examines the relationship between student personality, use of social media and their academic performance and engagement. Specifically, this article examines the relationship of students' Facebook (FB) use and personality characteristics using the Big Five Personality Test. This is focused on (a) student engagement; (b) time spent preparing for class; (c) time spent in co-curricular activities; and (d) academic performance. 204 higher education students participated in the study. Results illustrate that FB time was significantly positively correlated to student engagement and time spent preparing for class. Sharing links activity was positively correlated with student engagement and playing FB games with time spent preparing for class. However, sending private messages and status updates were significantly negatively correlated with student engagement and time spent preparing for class. Also, viewing videos was negatively correlated with time spent in co-curricular activities. Chatting on FB and viewing photos found to be the most popular activities. Moreover, students' extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience were positively correlated to student engagement. In addition, extraversion had a positive relationship with time spent in co-curricular activities, although agreeableness had a negative relationship. Implications of the study for the instructors and the students are also discussed.
Experience Gained From Applying a Team-Based Approach for MOOC Development
Authors: Spyropoulou Natalia , Pierrakeas Christos J. , Kameas Achilles
Published: January 2019

Massive open online courses (MOOC) constitute an emerging technology for distance and open education while interest in incorporating them in higher education is constantly growing. Due to the free and open access learning opportunities that they offer, they attract an immense number of learners from all over the world. Additionally, because of their openness, they present major challenges, including network co-creation within communities and new forms of communication and collaboration for both students and educators. In this article, the authors present a methodology for a team-based development of MOOCs with the use of a recognized design model that they applied in Hellenic Open University. The main objective is to illustrate the lessons learnt during this MOOC development.
Trainee Characteristics and Organizational Environment for Enhancing Individual Performance in e-Learning Involvement
Authors: Belkhamza Zakariya , Abdullah Muhammad Madi Bin
Published: January 2019

Despite the emerging development of information technology which has significantly contributed to the learning organization enhancement, many organizations still find a great challenge to fully optimize the use of e-learning by their employees in order to enhance their individual performance. The objective of this article is to investigate what factors actually determine an effective training performance which leads to high individual performance from online training and e-learning. Drawing from the self-determination and institutional learning theories, trainee characteristics and organizational environment constructs were determined to investigate whether they have an impact on the individual performance of the employees. 203 employees in private sector in the Sabah state of Malaysia were used to test the research hypotheses. The research provides a significant insight and better understanding on how organizations better utilize the e-learning environment to enhance the learning process of their employees.
Dual TCR T Cells: Identity Crisis or Multitaskers?
Authors: Schuldt Nathaniel J. , Binstadt Bryce A.
Published: January 2019

Dual TCR T cells are a common and natural product of TCR gene rearrangement and thymocyte development. As much as one third of the T cell population may have the capability to express two different TCR specificities on the cell surface. This discovery provoked a reconsideration of the classic model of thymic selection. Many potential roles for dual TCR T cells have since been hypothesized, including posing an autoimmune hazard, dominating alloreactive T cell responses, inducing allergy, and expanding the TCR repertoire to improve protective immunity. Yet, since the initial wave of publications following the discovery of dual TCR T cells, research in the area has slowed. In this study, we aim to provide a brief but comprehensive history of dual TCR T cell research, re-evaluate past observations in the context of current knowledge of the immune system, and identify key issues for future study.
Antigen retrieval pre-treatment causes a different expression pattern of Cav3.2 in rat and mouse spinal dorsal horn
Authors: Cheng Xiao E , Ma Long Xian , Feng Xiao Jin , Zhu Meng Ye , Zhang Da Ying , Xu Lin Lin , Liu Tao
Published: January 2019

Cav3 channels consist of three isoforms, Cav3.1 (α1G), Cav3.2 (α1H), and Cav3.3 (α1I), which produce low-threshold spikes that trigger burst firings in nociceptive neurons of the spinal dorsal horn (SDH) and dorsal root ganglion (DRG). Although Cav3.2 plays a crucial role in pathological pain, its distribution in SDH still remains controversial. One study showed that Cav3.2 is ubiquitously expressed in neurons, but another study implied that Cav3.2 is expressed restricted to astrocytes. To unravel these discrepancies, we used methods of immunohistochemistry either with or without antigen retrieval (AR) pre-treatment to detect Cav3 in SDH and DRG from both rats and mice. Moreover, Cav3.2 mRNA was detected in mice SDH using in situ hybridization. We found that the expression pattern of Cav3.2 but not Cav3.1 and Cav3.3 in SDH were largely different with or without AR pre-treatment, which showed a neuron-like and an astrocyte-like appearance, respectively. Double staining further demonstrated that Cav3.2 was mainly co-stained with the neuronal marker NeuN in the presence of AR but was with glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP, marker for astrocytes) in the absence of AR pre-treatment. Importantly, Cav3.2 mRNA was mainly co-localized with Cav3.2 but not GFAP. Together, our findings indicate that AR pre-treatment or not impacts the expression pattern of Cav3.2, which may make a significant contribution to the future study of Cav3.2 in SDH.
Deep sedation versus minimal sedation during endobronchial ultrasound transbronchial needle aspiration
Authors: Conte Sergio C. , Spagnol Giulia , Confalonieri Marco , Brizi Beatrice
Published: January 2019

The sedation plays an important role in the endobronchial ultrasound transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) procedure. The sedation can be Minimal (anxiolysis), Moderate (conscious sedation) or Deep. The ACCP guidelines suggest that moderate or deep sedation (DS) is an acceptable approach. In fact, several studies compare moderate versus deep sedation, but no study has been carried out to compare deep sedation versus minimal. We carried out a retrospective study to compare the Deep versus Minimal sedation (MiS) in patients undergoing EBUS-TBNA.  The primary end point was the diagnostic accuracy. The secondary end points were adequacy and sensitivity. We evaluated the LN size sampling, procedural time, complications and patient tolerance. Thirty-six patients underwent EBUS-TBNA, 16 under DS and 20 under MiS. The overall diagnostic accuracy for correct diagnosis was 92.9% in DS group and 94.1% in MiS group (p=0.554). Sample adequacy, defined as the percentage of patients with a specific diagnosis by EBUS-TBNA, was 87.5% (14 of 16) and 85% (17 of 20) for the DS group and MiS group, respectively, (p=0.788); the sensitivity was 92.9% in the DS group (95% CI, 73-100%) and 92.9% in the MiS group (95% CI, 77-100%) (p=0.463). There were no major complications in either group. Minor complications were 4 in MiS and 1 in DS (p=0.355).  The patients in the MiS group recalled the procedure more often compared to the other group (p=0.041). The majority of the patients would agree to undergo the same procedure again in the future in both groups (p=0.766).  In our experience EBUS-TBNA performed under MiS has comparable accuracy, adequacy, sensitivity, complications and patient satisfaction to DS, even if the sample was small.  Future prospective multicenter studies are needed to confirm our results.
A malignant wheeze!
Authors: Goyal Kashyap , Kumar Subodh , Mishra Mayank , Bhatt Ritisha , Babu Adabala Vijay , Tripathi Mukesh
Published: January 2019

Asthma is a common disorder presenting with nonspecific features, which may mimic other conditions such as tracheal tumors. Tracheal tumors are often misdiagnosed as asthma. We report a case of a 38-year female who was being worked up for persistent wheeze that was initially attributed to acute asthma, only to be later discovered as tracheal tumor. A high index of suspicion for alternative diagnoses must be kept in mind while evaluating a patient who presents with clinical features suggestive of asthma, but fails to respond to standard therapy. The present case report emphasizes the fact that not all wheezes are asthma.
A case of pulmonary edema: The critical role of lung-heart integrated ultrasound examination
Authors: Sforza Alfonso , Carlino Maria Viviana , Guarino Mario , Russo Salvatore , Albano Giovanni , Paladino Fiorella , Mancusi Costantino
Published: January 2019

Cardiogenic pulmonary edema is a common presentation of acute heart failure normally treated with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), diuretics and nitrates. This therapy is contraindicated in case of cardiac tamponade. We describe a case of pulmonary edema due to cardiac tamponade in which integrated lung-heart ultrasound examination allowed prompt diagnosis and pericardiocentesis before administration of CPAP thus avoiding circulatory collapse.
Effects of chronic exposure to benzophenone and diclofenac on DNA methylation levels and reproductive success in a marine copepod
Authors: Guyon Anais , Smith Kirsty F. , Charry Maria P. , Champeau Olivier , Tremblay Louis A.
Published: January 2019

The UV-filter benzophenone and the anti-inflammatory diclofenac are commonly detected in the environment. The aim of this study was to assess the multigenerational effects of chronic exposure to low concentrations of these chemicals on toxicity and DNA methylation levels in the copepod Gladioferens pectinatus. Acute toxicity tests were conducted to determine the sensitivity of G. pectinatus to the chemicals. All chemicals impacted breeding, hatching and egg viability. Diclofenac (1 mg.L-1) reduced the number of eggs per gravid female. Benzophenone (0.5 mg.L-1) decreased egg hatching success. Exposure to the reference toxicant copper (0.02 mg.L-1) led to unsuccessful hatching. Effects on DNA methylation was estimated by the percentage of 5- methylcytosine. The treatments resulted in strong differences in DNA methylation with increased methylation in the exposed animals. The two chemicals impacted both egg viability and the induction of differential DNA methylation, suggesting potential intra- and trans-generational evolutionary effects.
Effects of copper on the early development of Xenopus laevis: the case of CuSO4 and Bordeaux mixture solutions
Authors: Titran P. , Slaby S. , Marchand G. , Lescuyer A. , Lemiere S. , Marin M.
Published: January 2019

Not available.
Pasteurellose de la Poule et du Lapin. Essais de vaccination et de contamination
Authors: Paille R.
Published: January 2019

Sur la Poule et sur le Lapin, nous avons recherché s’il était possible d’obtenir pratiquement, avec la culture tuée d’une souche choléra, une résistance assez nette pour que le produit puisse être conseillé. Le matériel vaccinal contient 30 milliards de corps bactériens par centimètre cube. A cette dose, en péritoine, il tue le Cobaye en seize heures de moyenne, par intoxication aiguë.

Les Poules qui reçoivent ce matériel dans diverses conditions succombent, comme les témoins, à l’épreuve sévère par inoculation. A l’épreuve de contamination par séjour prolongé en milieu naturellement ou 'artificiellement infecté, elles ne témoignent non plus d’aucune résistance vaccinale acquise.

L’expérience de contamination, poursuivie pendant deux mois, prouve que le choléra est beaucoup moins contagieux, pour la Poule qu’on l’admet habituellement. Ainsi s’explique le succès apparent de certains vaccins commerciaux.

Le Lapin se comporte tout autrement que la Poule ; il s’immunise beaucoup plus facilement et beaucoup mieux.

L’expérience de contamination, conduite comme chez la Poule, confirme que la pasteurellose est très contagieuse pour le Lapin : tous les animaux neufs contractèrent la maladie sous la forme aiguë, septicémique. Chez les vaccinés aussi la contagion s’effectua, mais avec des conséquences tout autres que pour les animaux neufs. L’un d’eux, il est vrai, succomba, mais à la forme subaiguë — malgré que l’infection eût été déterminée par la Pastourelle hypervirulente — preuve de la résistance qu’il avait acquise sous l’influence de la vaccination. Les deux autres résistèrent parfaitement ; eux non plus n’avaient cependant pas échappé à la contagion, mais elle n’avait fait que renforcer la résistance vaccinale, ainsi que le prouva leur comportement devant une épreuve très sévère par inoculation.

Travail de l’Institut Mérieux (Lyon).
Anticorps et protéines, leurs liaisons dans le sérum antisymptomatique
Authors: Paille R.
Published: January 2019

Partant d’un sérum antitoxique surtout : le sérum antisymptomatique, obtenu d'un Cheval en puissance d’hyperimmunité maximale, nous avons recherché lés liaisons qu’entretiennent, avec les anticorps spécifiques, les protéines sériques séparées par M. Piettre avec sa méthode à l’acétone aux basses températures.

La recherche de l’anticorps immunisant nécessita une centaine de Cobayes mâles (600 g.). — Il en résulte que l’immunisine est liée aux deux principales protéines, mais dans des proportions très différentes. Par rapport au sérum entier, l’albumine supporte au moins 80 p. 100 du pouvoir préventif ; ta globuline, 10 p. 100 environ.

L ’anticorps floculant fut recherché sur des cultures jeunes (13 heures). Il en résulte concernant l’antigène H ou flagellaire, que l’agglutinine est supportée, presque tout entière, par la globuline.
Joint inversion of proxy system models to reconstruct paleoenvironmental time series from heterogeneous data
Authors: Bowen Gabriel J. , Fisher-Femal Brenden , Reichart Gert-Jan , Sluijs Appy , Lear Caroline H.
Published: January 2019

Abstract. Paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental reconstructions are fundamentally uncertain because no proxy is a direct record of a single environmental variable of interest; all proxies are indirect and sensitive to multiple forcing factors. One productive approach to reducing proxy uncertainty is the integration of information from multiple proxy systems with complimentary, overlapping sensitivity. Most such analyses are conducted in an ad-hoc fashion, either through qualitative comparison to assess the similarity of single-proxy reconstructions or through step-wise quantitative interpretations where one proxy is used to constrain a variable relevant to the interpretation of a second proxy. Here we propose the integration of multiple proxies via the joint inversion of proxy system and paleoenvironmental time series models in a Bayesian hierarchical framework. The "Joint Proxy Inversion" (JPI) method provides a statistically robust approach to producing self-consistent interpretations of multi-proxy datasets, allowing full and simultaneous assessment of all proxy and model uncertainties to obtain quantitative estimates of past environmental conditions. Other benefits of the method include the ability to use independent information on climate and environmental systems to inform the interpretation of proxy data, to fully leverage information from unevenly- and differently-sampled proxy records, and to obtain refined estimates of proxy model parameters that are conditioned on paleo-archive data. Application of JPI to the marine Mg / Ca and δ18O proxy systems at two distinct timescales demonstrates many of the key properties, benefits, and sensitivities of the method, and produces new, statistically-grounded reconstructions of Neogene ocean temperature and chemistry from previously published data. We suggest that JPI is a universally applicable method that can be implemented using proxy models of wide-ranging complexity to generate more robust, quantitative understanding of past climatic and environmental change.
Beneath the arctic greening: Will soils lose or gain carbon or perhaps
a little of both?
Authors: Harden Jennifer W. , O'Donnell Jonathan A. , Heckman Katherine A. , Sulman Benjamin N. , Koven Charles D. , Ping Chien-Lu , Michaelson Gary J.
Published: January 2019

Abstract. Ecosystem shifts related to climate change are anticipated for the next decades to centuries based on a number of conceptual and experimentally derived models of plant structure and function. Belowground, the potential responses of soil systems are less well known. We used geochemical steady state models, soil density fractionation, and soil radiocarbon data to constrain changes in soil carbon based on measurements from detrital (free light), aggregate-bound (occluded) and complexed or chemically bound (mineral associated) carbon pools and for bulk soil. We explored a space-for-time sequence of soils along a cold-to-warm climatic gradient from Alaskan Black Spruce forest soil with permafrost (Gelisols; 50 cm Mean Annual Temperature −1.5 ºC), Alaskan White Spruce forest soil lacking permafrost (Inceptisols; 50 cm MAT +3 ºC ), and Iowa Grassland soil lacking permafrost (Mollisols; 50 cm MAT +9 ºC) developed on similar geologic substrates (wind-blown loess deposits). These temperature ranges were also representative of temperatures at 50 cm soil depth from model output by the Community Land Model for the years 2014, 2100, and 2300 for Interior Alaska. Fitting an exponential equation to depth trends in soil C down to 2 m depths, we found that depth distributions of organic C were related mainly to depths of rooting and changes in bulk density. Using output from the geochemical steady state model, the direction and magnitude of the C loss or gain upon ecosystem shift was dictated by the C stocks of initial and final ecosystems. Radiocarbon measurements specific to each soil fraction (free light, occluded, and mineral associated) allowed us to constrain the timing of the potential loss or gain of C in each fraction driven by climatic shifts. Thawing from the Gelisol to Inceptisol in loess parent materials from present day to year 2100 resulted in small net gains to soil C, reflecting the net balance between loss of detrital and gain into occluded and mineral associated C. Greater warming and shifts from Inceptisol to Mollisol analogous to predicted warming from circa 2100 to 2300 resulted in net C losses from both occluded and mineral associated C, although small gains to the free light C fraction occurred throughout the depth profile. Gains to occluded and mineral associated C post- thaw likely reflect aggregate formation and physical protection of C as well as formation of organo-mineral compounds that accompany microbial processing. Greater warming and shifts from Inceptisol to Mollisol, which are analogous to predicted warming circa 2100 to 2300, resulted in net C losses from both occluded and mineral associated C resulting from enhanced decomposition, small gains to the free light C fraction occurred throughout the transition to Mollisol reflecting deeper rooting of the tallgrass prairie system.
REINFORCED MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF FUNCTIONALIZED SILICA AND EGGSHELL FILLED GUAYULE NATURAL RUBBER COMPOSITES
Authors: Ren Xianjie , Geng Yang , Soboyejo Alfred B. O. , Cornish Katrina
Published: January 2019

Replacing synthetic fillers, which are commonly used to reinforce rubber, with bio-fillers has potential to improve the sustainability of rubber products. Eggshell (ES) (a powder with a maximum particle diameter of 9.4 μm and a median of 1.1 μm) was added to guayule natural rubber (GNR) composites to partially or fully replace bifunctionally silanized, high surface area, precipitated silica (BSS). The mixing energy consumption, mechanical properties, cross-link density, filler dispersion and final particle size, fracture surface morphology, and dyeability of GNR composites were characterized. ES filler effectively reinforced vulcanized GNR compared with unfilled vulcanized GNR. Energy consumption, modulus at 300% strain (M300), and hardness generally decreased with increasing ES fraction (decreasing BSS), but tensile strength, gel fraction, and elongation at break increased even where cross-link density and M300 were similar. Thus, composite cross-link density was not solely influenced by silane content as the ratio and loading of ES and BSS changed. The production of the composites reduced particle size to submicron size. Even a small amount of ES improved the dispersion of BSS filler particles in the composites and hence the mechanical properties. The contributions of the two fillers to the composite properties are explained. Linear mixed models were built to predict the mechanical properties of a broader range of GNR–ES–BSS composites, and r2 (the quality of the model predictability) was above 0.9 for all models. ES filled GNR, with or without BSS, can be dyed different colors for specific applications. The lower-cost, renewability, dyeability, and excellent performance of ES–GNR composites addresses the need for sustainable rubber products with low carbon footprint.
Does the Market Know? Going Concern Opinion Release and Firm Fundamentals
Authors: Huang Jian , Yu Han
Published: January 2019

Using a significant auditing event-the going concern audit opinion-we investigate the market’s forecasting ability and the importance of firm fundamentals in predicting the going concern event. First, we find that the equity market signals the upcoming going concern announcement as early as 30 days in advance. Specifically, during the window of [-30, -1] leading up to the announcement, the excess returns to going concern firms are 9.98% worse than the matched distressed firms. Moreover, short sellers, a group of sophisticated investors, significantly increase their shorting activities during days before the release of the going concern opinions. Furthermore, we find that firm fundamentals, which are observable to the market, are significantly predictive to the issuances of going concern. These variables include a firm’s operating performance (return on assets and operating cash flows), equity market liquidity, stock momentum, and filing delay. Overall, our evidence supports the perception that the market can forecast the going concern opinion release and points out its possible channel as well.
Effect of Corporate Governance on Islamic Banking: Evidence from Listed Firms of Pakistani Stock Exchange
Authors: Javeed Laila
Published: January 2019

The Purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of corporate governance on firm performance (Islamic Banks) in Pakistan. The study presents a longitudinal assessment of the compliance and implications of the revised code on firm performance. This study uses data from listed firms of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE) for the years 2007-2016 to investigate the effect of corporate governance, indices the performance of Islamic Banks. The study uses panel data analysis and random effect model. We used board size, CEO duality, board independence, director ownership, and frequency of meeting as corporate governance indices, ROE, and ROA as performance of Islamic banks proxies. The results have intimation for regulatory authorities, shareholders and directors to take steps to improve the board competencies for better performance.
Employment Discrimination Based on Age: Part II: Applying the ADEA in Employment Scenarios: Discrimination, Idle Chatter, or Something Else?
Authors: Jr. Richard J. Hunter, , Shannon John H. , Amoroso Henry J.
Published: January 2019

This article is Part II of a study on the effects of age discrimination in the workplace. In Part I, we considered the origins of the debate on age discrimination and looked at the demographic information that led to the passage of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) in 1967. In Part II, we raise an important question: Is age discrimination still a real problem? The article analyzes the Act through an application to two employment scenarios by looking at the scope of protection, amendments to the original law, the costs of age discrimination to employers, important exceptions to the ADEA, defenses to ADEA charges, procedures for filing an ADEA claim, and waiver provisions. In addition, the article looks carefully at procedural requirements for filing an ADEA claim, remedies available to an aggrieved party, and to questions relating to retaliation by an employer. Finally, the authors consider the question of employer liability for actions undertaken by employers and other parties which are found to be in violation of the law. In doing so, the authors provide answers to the questions raised in the scenarios described at the outset of the article.
A Q-based approach to clausal ellipsis: Deriving the preposition stranding and island sensitivity generalisations without movement
Authors: Griffiths James
Published: January 2019

This paper argues that the meaning of a clausal ellipsis site can only be recovered from a syntactically derived question, regardless of whether this question is explicitly uttered or is merely pragmatically inferred. This entails that the meaning of a clausal ellipsis site cannot be recovered from an inferred question q in a language L if q is syntactically ill-formed in L. I demonstrate that this restriction on recoverability can account for Merchant’s (2001; 2004) Preposition-Stranding Generalisation and for the observation that fragments appear to be sensitive to syntactic islands (Merchant 2004; Abels 2011; Barros et al. 2014; 2015) without any mention of whether remnants of clausal ellipsis themselves undergo movement. Because there is no need to stipulate that remnants themselves undergo (often exceptional) movement under this approach, a theory of clausal ellipsis modelled on Cable’s (2010) Q-based analysis of wh-questions is developed that permits non-pronunciation “around” designated phrases. This approach is shown to be preferred on many occasions to the predominant movement-based analysis (Merchant 2004), which is too restrictive and must frequently resort to the notion of ellipsis repair.
Reflective journaling to decrease anxiety among undergraduate nursing students in the clinical setting
Authors: Goodman Joely Tara , Henry Melissa
Published: January 2019

Objective: Many nursing students experience anxiety in the clinical setting. Increased anxiety impairs students’ ability to learn and can negatively affect patient safety. To promote student learning and patient safety, it is imperative that nurse educators identify and implement strategies to decrease nursing students’ anxiety. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine how undergraduate nursing students perceive the impact of writing reflective journals on their anxiety level associated with their first clinical rotation experience early in their program of study.Methods: Participants were randomly assigned by their clinical group to either write guided reflective journals, non-guided reflective journals, or no reflective journals during their first clinical rotation where they provided patient care. Five individuals from each intervention group were randomly selected to participate in an interview. Themes related to the participants’ perceptions of the impact of writing reflective journals on their anxiety were determined through qualitative analysis.Results and implications: Participants who wrote guided or non-guided reflective journals experienced decreased anxiety associated with their first clinical rotation. Participants in the non-journaling group expressed that they would have benefitted from having a journal assignment. Four themes were identified related to experiences with writing journals: allowed time, identified feelings, assisted with processing, and increased confidence. The findings of this study support the use of reflective journals as a pedagogical intervention to decrease nursing students’ anxiety associated with the first clinical experience. Additional benefits of the reflective journaling included taking time to identify and process feelings and increased confidence in future clinical experiences.
Regularisation Technique for a Distributed Parameter Identification Problem
Authors: Acquah Joseph , Benyah Francis , Kuma Jerry S. Y.
Published: January 2019

This paper examined the problem of ill-posedness of solution in identifying parameters from a given groundwater flow model. The solution approach to the problem was attempted by the method of Parameter Transformation coupled with Tikhonov Regularisation with and without Truncation which has not been explored. Convergence of the method was assessed by the L-Curve criterion. Numerical examples were presented to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed Regularisation Technique. Tikhonov Regularisation with Truncation turns to give a more realistic solution estimates when examined numerically, compared to that of Regularisation without Truncation.
The Role of the University of Jordan in Promoting the Principles of Good Citizenship for its Students and How to Implement them
Authors: Dawairi Maisoun AL
Published: January 2019

The citizenship is the fact that a person , for a family or a group, to be officially recognized as a citizen, that is to say a member of a city with the status of city , or more generally of a State .There is no citizenship in general, even though many personalities have claimed to be world citizens or cosmopolitan . This study aims to investigate the role of the University of Jordan in promoting the principles of good citizenship for its students and how to implement them. A well-designed online questionnaire developed and used to collect primary data and the statistical analysis has been applied to get the results. The results revealed that the sample students’ agree that the University of Jordan has high percent in promoting the principles of good citizenship for its students for all of political, social and economical values.
Strafrecht door de ogen van een witteboordencrimineel
Authors: Huisman Wim , Lesmeister Dennis
Published: January 2019

Criminal justice through the eyes of a white-collar offender

Internationally, research on the experiences of white-collar offenders with the criminal justice system and the consequences of prosecution and conviction is scarce. Such research becomes more relevant, as the response to white-collar crime has become more punitive and more offenders are convicted. This paper presents the experiences of the co-author as a convicted white-collar offender as an autobiographical case-study. In this cases study, the consequences and experiences during four phases (investigation, prosecution, sentence-execution and post-sentencing) are analysed on four live-domains: health, private life, social life and professional life. Such an approach could be a blueprint for further and more systematic study of the experiences with and consequences of criminal justice for white-collar offenders. Such study can shed light on the effects and actual achievement of goals of punishment for white-collar crime.