bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the Maximum Mass of Accreting Primordial Supermassive Stars
Authors: Woods T. E. , Heger Alexander , Whalen Daniel J. , Haemmerlé Lionel , Klessen Ralf S.
Published: June 2017

Supermassive primordial stars are suspected to be the progenitors of the most massive quasars at z ∼ 6. Previous studies of such stars were either unable to resolve hydrodynamical timescales or considered stars in isolation, not in the extreme accretion flows in which they actually form. Therefore, they could not self-consistently predict their final masses at collapse, or those of the resulting supermassive black hole seeds, but rather invoked comparison to simple polytropic models. Here, we systematically examine the birth, evolution, and collapse of accreting, non-rotating supermassive stars under accretion rates of 0.01–10 M
⊙ yr−1 using the stellar evolution code Kepler. Our approach includes post-Newtonian corrections to the stellar structure and an adaptive nuclear network and can transition to following the hydrodynamic evolution of supermassive stars after they encounter the general relativistic instability. We find that this instability triggers the collapse of the star at masses of 150,000–330,000 M
⊙ for accretion rates of 0.1–10 M
⊙ yr−1, and that the final mass of the star scales roughly logarithmically with the rate. The structure of the star, and thus its stability against collapse, is sensitive to the treatment of convection and the heat content of the outer accreted envelope. Comparison with other codes suggests differences here may lead to small deviations in the evolutionary state of the star as a function of time, that worsen with accretion rate. Since the general relativistic instability leads to the immediate death of these stars, our models place an upper limit on the masses of the first quasars at birth.
A qualidade da educação em engenharia e seus impactos no desenvolvimento econômico brasileiro
Authors: Da Costa Bruno Barzellay Ferreira
Published: June 2017

A crise econômica atualmente vivenciada pelo Brasil afeta profundamente o setor de engenharia, dependente direto de investimentos em infraestrutura, usualmente escassos em épocas de adversidade. Logo, este trabalho visa analisar como a qualidade do ensino de engenharia pode influenciar no desenvolvimento do país. Para tanto, optou-se por uma pesquisa exploratória, com consultas a relatórios publicados por organismos internacionais e a bancos de dados de instituições de pesquisa e estatística. Os resultados indicam que a engenharia brasileira não deve seguir na dependência de projetos de infraestrutura, mas dedicar-se também à inovação, buscando a introdução na chamada economia do conhecimento. Conclui-se que isto só será possível mediante a modernização dos currículos de engenharia, de forma a preparar os estudantes para o desafio de assumir a vanguarda deste movimento. O artigo procura contribuir para a conscientização de gestores e docentes quanto à premência desta reformulação, que já está em curso nas melhores instituições de ensino do mundo.
Uso de simulação de eventos discretos para a análise de atendimento de pequeno varejo
Authors: Longhini Tatielle Menolli , Freitas Kenyth Alves de , Silva Rafaela Campos da , Cavalcanti Joyce Mariella Medeiros
Published: June 2017

A melhoria do nível de serviços ao cliente é um desafio para o varejo. Entre os principais problemas enfrentados, destacam-se as longas filas de espera. Sobre isso, a simulação pode oferecer importantes informações aos gestores para definir o melhor sistema de atendimento para diminuir as filas. Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo usar a simulação para apoiar a tomada de decisão na configuração do atendimento de um pequeno varejo para reduzir as filas em uma empresa do setor de varejo de alimentos. Para isso, foram coletados os tempos de chegada e atendimento, tornando possível simular um sistema com precisão e conformidade com a realidade. Os resultados indicaram que, com a introdução de mais um operador de atendimento, seria possível reduzir significativamente o número médio de pedidos em fila no processamento do produto, melhorando, assim, o atendimento aos clientes. Portanto, o uso da modelagem computacional se revelou como uma ferramenta relevante para a tomada de decisão no pequeno varejo no que tange à simulação para diminuir as filas.
Conjonctions géographiques et arrangements sociaux dans l’organisation de l’espace rural
Authors: Poinsot Yves
Published: June 2017

La multifonctionnalité rurbaine est interprétée par le prisme des spatialités, distinguant celle des agriculteurs, anciens et modernes, des rurbains et de la faune sauvage. Leurs interférences en un même lieu engendrent des situations de blocage fonctionnel que des arrangements sociaux innovants réussissent parfois à lever. Des études de cas illustrent les conditions d’émergence de ces phénomènes qui relèvent des combinaisons de spatialités agricoles et de la faune sauvage, mais aussi de l’insertion de périmètres environnementaux associés au semis résidentiel. On discute l’origine géopolitique et sociétale de cette méconnaissance des effets spatiaux de la modernisation rurbaine.
Right to the Artistic City: Performing Engagements Beyond Austerity in Post-Collapse Chicago
Authors: Mahmoud Jasmine
Published: June 2017

En 2011, Tricia van Eck avait organisé le « Happiness Project », une série de spectacles et d’installations à Chicago par lesquels les artistes imaginaient comment les résidents et les décideurs pouvaient positionner les arts pour améliorer la qualité de vie. Cette année-là, les artistes avaient été laissés à l’écart des discussions concernant la mise en place d’un Plan Culturel de la ville de Chicago, première plate-forme d’arts nouveaux pour Rahm Emanuel, maire de Chicago nouvellement élu. Cet article examine l’articulation entre les projets artistiques et la politique à Chicago et souligne l’austérité de la politique culturelle de la ville, surtout après 2010. L’auteure décrit l’austérité à Chicago : la fermeture du Département des affaires culturelles de Chicago en 2010 et la création du Plan culturel de Chicago en 2012, envisageant les arts en lien avec la croissance économique et le tourisme plutôt que comme des moyens d’améliorer la qualité de vie. Elle conclut sur une note d’espoir en révélant que même si des projets artistiques comme le « Happiness Project » sont nés de l’austérité, ils réclamaient également un droit à la ville artistique, et ce en privilégiant le droit de s’engager autrement, au-delà des économies capitalistes et plutôt vers le dialogue et l’imagination.
Use of 2-Octyl Cyanoacrylate Adhesive and Polyester Mesh for Wound Closure in Primary Knee Arthroplasty
Authors: Holte Andrew J. , Tofte Josef N. , Dahlberg Greta J. , Noiseux Nicolas
Published: June 2017

Wound closure in primary knee arthroplasty is important both for surgical success, by minimizing the risk of wound complications and infection, and for patient satisfaction with wound care and cosmesis. This article reports the use of a topical self-adhering, pressure-sensitive polyester mesh combined with 2-octyl cyanoacrylate adhesive for final skin closure of primary knee arthroplasty without external staples or sutures. During a 2.5-year period, 360 consecutive primary knee arthroplasty procedures (321 total knee arthroplasty procedures and 39 partial knee arthroplasty procedures) performed by 1 surgeon at 1 institution were reviewed. For all primary arthroplasty procedures, closure was performed with a standardized method. Final skin closure was performed with 2-octyl cyanoacrylate adhesive and polyester mesh. Patients returned at 6 weeks and 1 year postoperatively. The study found a 0.8% rate of superficial wound complications, no cases of dehiscence, no wound complications requiring operative irrigation and debridement, and no prosthetic joint infections. One patient had a reaction consistent with previously reported localized contact dermatitis that was believed to be related to the 2-octyl cyanoacrylate adhesive. In 2 cases, treatment with cephalexin was required, in 1 case for 2 small suture abscesses and in the other case for periincisional cellulitis. All wound complications resolved by 6 weeks. The results showed that 2-octyl cyanoacrylate adhesive and polyester mesh can be used successfully in the setting of primary knee arthroplasty for closure of high-tension knee arthroplasty wounds. This series found a 0.8% rate of superficial wound complications, no cases of dehiscence, and no infections. [
Orthopedics.
2017; 40(5):e784–e787.]
Decreased Radiation Exposure Among Orthopedic Residents Is Maintained When Using the Mini C-Arm After Undergoing Radiation Safety Training
Authors: Gendelberg David , Hennrikus William L. , Sawyer Carissa , Armstrong Douglas , King Steven
Published: June 2017

The resident curriculum of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery emphasizes radiation safety. Gendelberg showed that, immediately after a program on fluoroscopic safety, residents used less radiation when using the mini C-arm to reduce pediatric fractures. The current study evaluated whether this effect lasted. Residents underwent a new annual 3-hour session on mini C-arm use and radiation. Group A included 53 reductions performed before training. Group B included 45 reductions performed immediately after training. Group C included 46 reductions performed 11 months later. For distal radius fractures, exposure time and amount were 38.1 seconds and 83.1 mR, respectively, for group A; 26.7 seconds and 32.6 mR, respectively, for group B; and 24.1 seconds and 40.0 mR, respectively, for group C. When radiation time and amount were compared between group B and group C,
P
values were .525 and .293, respectively. When group C and group A were compared,
P
values were <.05 and <.01, respectively. For both bone forearm fractures, exposure time and amount were 41.2 seconds and 90.9 mR, respectively, for group A; 28.9 seconds and 30.4 mR, respectively, for group B; and 31.2 seconds and 43.6 mR, respectively, for group C. When radiation time and amount were compared between group B and group C,
P
values were .704 and .117, respectively. When group C and group A were compared,
P
values were .183 and .004, respectively. No significant difference in radiation exposure was noted immediately after training vs 11 months later. A sustained decrease in radiation exposure occurred after an educational program on safe mini C-arm use. [
Orthopedics.
2017; 40(5):e788–e792.]
Adult Degenerative Lumbar Scoliosis
Authors: Wong Eugene , Altaf Farhaan , Oh Lawrence J. , Gray Randolph J.
Published: June 2017

Adult degenerative lumbar scoliosis is a 3-dimensional deformity defined as a coronal deviation of greater than 10°. It causes significant pain and disability in the elderly. With the aging of the population, the incidence of adult degenerative lumbar scoliosis will continue to increase. During the past decade, advancements in surgical techniques and instrumentation have changed the management of adult spinal deformity and led to improved long-term outcomes. In this article, the authors provide a comprehensive review of the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of adult degenerative lumbar scoliosis. [
Orthopedics.
2017; 40(6):e930–e939.]
Pediatric Nephrolithiasis: A Review
Authors: Miah Tayaba , Kamat Deepak
Published: June 2017

The incidence of pediatric nephrolithiasis is on the rise. The composition of kidney stones in children is different than in adults, as most stones in children have a composition of calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate mixed with a small amount of uric acid. The symptoms of pediatric nephrolithiasis are nonspecific. Computed tomography (CT) is the gold standard for diagnosis; however, because of radiation exposure associated with a CT scan, ultrasonography is also an accepted modality for the diagnosis. Extensive metabolic evaluation is important to rule out an underlying metabolic disorder. Urinary decompression, medical expulsion therapy, and surgical interventions such as ureteroscopy and extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy are some of the options available for treating pediatric nephrolithiasis.

[
Pediatr Ann
. 2017;46(6):e242–e244.]
Transition Consultation Models in Two Academic Medical Centers
Authors: Gold Jessica I. , Boudos Rebecca , Shah Parag , Rossi-Foulkes Rita
Published: June 2017

Health care transition (HCT), the organized progression from pediatric- to adult-focused models of care, is crucial for patients with chronic childhood conditions. More adolescents with chronic conditions now survive into adulthood and have increased risk of adverse events during HCT. Got Transition—an agreement between the Maternal and Child Health Bureau and the National Alliance to Advance Adolescent Health—developed the Six Core Elements of Health Care Transition 2.0, defining the components of HCT. Most HCT programs incorporate these elements, but delivery varies. Additional studies are needed to determine the most efficacious interventions to improve HCT outcomes. Here, we introduce two approaches to improve HCT. The first is a clinic dedicated to HCT coupled with a life skills program. The other is a HCT consult service using existing resources to provide resident education and address HCT. Together, these programs provide examples that can be adapted to other settings.

[
Pediatr Ann
. 2017;46(6):e235–e241.]
Transition of Adolescents and Young Adults with Congenital Heart Disease: Challenges, Progress, and Future Improvements
Authors: Nicolarsen Jeremy
Published: June 2017

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common and perhaps most widely variable birth defect. Decades of improved CHD care has resulted in a steady growth in the number and complexity of adults with CHD, and many of these patients require lifelong, specialized follow-up care. This begins with successful transition from pediatric-based to adult-based care. Despite the remarkable advances in this field, many adults with CHD still experience lapses in care that have significant health consequences. This review outlines some of the challenges, progress, and areas for improvement in CHD transition medicine.

[
Pediatr Ann
. 2017;46(6):e224–e228.]
Miguel del Prado, pintor de retablos en Valencia. Su fallecimiento en las Germanías (1521)
Authors: Gómez-Ferrer Mercedes
Published: June 2017

Miguel del Prado, pintor que realizó una compañía con Miguel Esteve para pintar la desaparecida capilla de la casa de la ciudad de Valencia en 1519 es un autor del que se tienen muy pocas noticias. Su personalidad, identificada durante un tiempo con el Maestro del Grifo, ha sido recientemente cuestionada. En el presente texto damos a conocer un contrato para el retablo de la capilla del Rosario del convento de Santo Domingo de Valencia que no pudo concluir por su temprano fallecimiento. Certificamos que éste se produjo en la revuelta de las Germanías en la Batalla de Almenara de 1521, rebajando en más de 16 años su cronología ya que se creía fallecido en 1537.
El Ecce homo que Ceán Bermúdez compró para Jovellanos y atribuyó a Francisco Frutet
Authors: Crespo Delgado Daniel , García López David
Published: June 2017

El hallazgo de una pintura hasta la fecha dada por perdida y descrita por Juan Agustín Ceán Bermúdez en uno de sus escritos más tempranos, nos permite abordar el análisis de los decisivos años que pasó en Sevilla durante su juventud (1768-1778), así como la invención del artista a quien atribuyó esta pintura, el polémico Francisco Frutet.
Nuevas aproximaciones en torno a la Maiestas de la Biblia de 1162 de San Isidoro de León en el Museo Arqueológico Nacional (Madrid)
Authors: Hernández Ana
Published: June 2017

En el MAN se conserva un folio suelto con una Maiestas a toda página que ha sido atribuido a la Biblia de 1162 de San Isidoro de León por Joaquín Yarza. El análisis comparativo de ambas piezas y la consulta de documentación permiten confirmar esta identificación y profundizar en el conocimiento de las obras.
Pietro Filippo Bernini, hijo de Gianlorenzo, y la mediación de las cortes de Madrid y París en la concesión de su prebenda en Santa María la Mayor de Roma
Authors: Alfonso Caffarena Margarita de
Published: June 2017

Gracias a la intervención de la reina María Teresa de Austria en la corte madrileña se promovió la entrega de una prebenda a Pietro Filippo Bernini, hijo primogénito de Gianlorenzo y canónigo de Santa María la Mayor de Roma.
Edificio F.O.C.S.A., en La Habana
Authors: Domínguez Esteban M.
Published: June 2017

El edificio F.O.C.S.A. es, quizá, la obra más espectacular de Cuba. En su proyecto y realización han intervenido, además de M. Domínguez, el Arquitecto E. Gómez Sampera y los Ingenieros Bartolomé Bestard y Sáenz-Cancio-Martín.
Edificio SIMMS
Authors: Moore J. , Flatow M. , Bridgers - Paxton - M. V. Mclntyre Arquitectos
Published: June 2017

En este caso se trata de un bloque destinado a oficinas o locales para alquilar, distribuidos en las doce plantas del elemento vertical, la primera de las cuales está remetida respecto de las demás, dándonos a entender la idea formal rectora del proyecto: una base amplia y segura —los comercios—, un cuerpo de enlace —la primera planta— y el resto de la construcción en altura; es decir, inspiración columnar.
Edificio Capitol Records
Authors: Welton Becket Asociados
Published: June 2017

La característica más notable de este edificio es, sin duda, la de haber adoptado la forma cilíndrica, que, según parece, es la primera en el mundo con destino a oficinas.
Edificio Creole
Authors: Duglass Lathrop
Published: June 2017

En la Caracas actual, una de las ciudades más modernas del mundo, donde se levantan soberbios edificios de avanzadas líneas, se ha construido éste, siguiendo las directrices simplistas y de funcionalismo, características y propias de nuestra época.
Edificio Le Cèdre
Authors: Tschumi J.
Published: June 2017

Este importante edificio administrativo está situado en Lausana, formando parte de un magnifico paisaje, en las orillas del lago Leman, en cuyo terreno se elevan las soberbias masas de unos cedros centenarios que había que conservar a toda costa, procurando armonizar el edificio y la naturaleza. En el centro del parque se conserva también otro cedro majestuoso que cobija un antiguo pabellón octogonal, único vestigio del pasado.
Una fórmula para determinar la tensión de fisuración
Authors: Páez A.
Published: June 2017

En este trabajo se desarrolla una tesis, mitad teórica y mitad experimental, que permite llegar a unos resultados concretos. No se pretende, en modo alguno, establecer una teoría. El autor estima que, dado el gran número de variables que intervienen en el fenómeno de la fisuración, tampoco las fórmulas generales son de verdadera aplicación práctica. Sólo las fórmulas finales, correspondientes a casos concretos, pueden ser realmente de cómodo manejo. No obstante, pueden ser útiles en determinados casos. Habiéndose determinado los coeficientes de tal modo que representan los resultados experimentales, los valores que se deducen de la aplicación de estas fórmulas son los que se han obtenido en los ensayos, al menos en las condiciones en que éstos se han desarrollado. Estas condiciones son las normales en la práctica de la construcción, y así parece que, para las cuantías, calidad de hormigones y tipos de acero más corrientes, las fórmulas deben proporcionar anos resultados acordes con la realidad.
Presa de San Esteban
Authors: Editorial Equipo
Published: June 2017

En el número 73 de esta revista se publicó un artículo, que trataba sobre los aprovechamientos hidroeléctricos de la cuenca del río Sil. En este trabajo se hace referencia, únicamente, a la importante presa de San Esteban, obra que, por so altura de salto, caudales disponibles y embalse, es la de mayor producción de las de la referida cuenca. Su proyección en planta e« circular, tipo gravedad, de 115 m de altura, y su embalse, de 213 millones de metros cúbicos.
El laboratorio en la investigación cerámica. Análisis dilatométrico
Authors: Arredondo Fernando
Published: June 2017

Se estudian las variaciones dimensionales que experimenta una arcilla durante su cocción, así como los métodos actuales para determinarlas. Se describe el dilatómetro, usado en el laboratorio de cerámica del I. T. C. G. para realizar el análisis dilatométrico.
Visual Representation of Whiteness in Beginning Level German Textbooks
Authors: Weber Silja
Published: June 2017

Textbooks are inherently ideological, and language textbooks in particular are designed to create a particular representation of the target culture for learners. This paper draws on a foundation of Whiteness studies, textbook bias studies, and critical discourse analysis. It investigates in depth the visual and cultural representation of Whiteness in one beginning level textbook for German as a foreign language and draws on three further textbooks for comparison. Differences between North American and German concepts of race and Whiteness are taken into account. Results identify a Whiteness bias in all books, but differing strategies for diversity representation; the most recently published textbook shows patterns similar to college brochures in the USA, which may over-represent diversity overall but underrepresent its more controversial aspects. The results form the basis for a discussion of institutional constraints on beginning-level instructors and practical pedagogical strategies to problematize homogeneous cultural perceptions and the textbook itself.
Multilingualism, Identities and Language Hegemony
Authors: Li Jing , Moore Danièle
Published: June 2017

This paper presents the findings from a case study of how five post-secondary ethnic multilingual students (three Bai and two Zhuang) at a local university in Southwestern China experience multilingualism and ethnic identities (de)construction and invest themselves in an active negotiation for legitimate membership in mainstream educational Discourses (Gee, 1990, 2012). The authors seek to understand how the perceived hegemony of Mandarin has impacted their social positioning and delegitimized their multilingual assets and ethnic identities in mainstream educational Discourses, and how they managed to negotiate their identities as ethnic multilinguals in different social Discourses. The authors argue that through the legitimate dominance of Mandarin, these students are not merely being positioned as members of a negatively stereotyped ethnic group but also concurrently participating in reconstructing the Mandarin language hegemony in those very Discourses, which runs the risk of further expanding the existing educational inequalities between Han and ethnic minority students..
The Importance of Storytelling in Business Intelligence
Authors: Herschel Richard T. , Clements Nicolle
Published: June 2017

This paper examines the relevance and importance of storytelling to business intelligence. Business intelligence provides analytics to inform a decision-making process. However, there are often times issues with understanding the analytics presented and contextualizing the analytics to the overall decision-making process. This paper examines these issues and then assesses the value of storytelling in conveying BI findings. The SOAP protocol used for physician/patient clinical encounters is presented to illustrate the benefit of providing structure to a decision-making process. The importance of structure to storytelling is then further examined and shown to help facilitate the communication of data insights. Media richness is also examined to reveal the impact that it has on BI storytelling, helping to explain why visualizations have become so important to BI. An example of BI storytelling with a high level of media richness is then presented. The paper concludes that storytelling is inextricably linked to BI success.
Technology Acceptance Theories
Authors: Momani Alaa M. , Jamous Mamoun M. , Hilles Shadi M S
Published: June 2017

Studying the acceptance and usage of technologies has become one of the most significant fields in software engineering domain. In order to explain the individuals' usage behavior towards technologies, many theories and models have been proposed over the years. This research paper focuses on reviewing a group of ten technology acceptance theories and models by studying their structure, evolution stages, and their strengths and weaknesses points. These theories were analyzed and classified into two main types depending on their development method and scientific field which they were developed in. This study reveals that these theories are almost similar in their structure, but different in explaining the behavioral intentions of technology. It considers that the best theory should be comprehensive and less complexity according to the number of the constructs and moderators which represent their structure. This will make the theory more understandable and applicable especially for studying the acceptance behavior for any new technology.
Academic Procrastination and the Effect on Students' Results for ICT Students
Authors: Tani Kawtar
Published: June 2017

Procrastination has been reported as a prevalent phenomenon in the general population, affecting a number of adults. Procrastination in academia may have particularly serious effects for students in tertiary education, whose academic lives are characterised by frequent deadlines. Indeed, it has been shown that university students who rated high on procrastination received low grades (Tice & Baumeister, 1997). In the present study, the relationship between procrastination and academic performance of tertiary education students enrolled on an ICT program was investigated. Participants were 186 students enrolled full-time on degree or diploma level qualifications within the ICT program at a New Zealand tertiary institution. There was evidence that the submission times of assessments were positively associated with the marks achieved. Also, ICT students who submitted their assessments early appeared to achieve higher marks than those who submitted their assessments closer to or after the deadlines.
A Novel Method for Test Path Prioritization using Centrality Measures
Authors: Jain Amita , Tayal Devendra Kumar , Khari Manju , Vij Sonakshi
Published: June 2017

Software testing is an essential stage of the software development life cycle which helps in producing bug free software. This paper introduces a strategy to create test data consequently from the beginning of test information which is tested against the Program under test (PUT) for ampleness criteria. Initially this process produces test information set arbitrarily where a unique approach for the test path prioritization process is presented that uses the concept of centrality measures. The proposed algorithm computes the importance of each node in the test paths by using various centrality measures and thus identifies the significance of each path. Furthermore, the proposed methodology shows the maximum number of potential nodes that are covered using a less number of prioritized paths. This paper tests the created test information against the product to check its sufficiency.
Multi-Perspective Modeling of Healthcare Systems
Authors: Djitog Ignace , Aliyu Hamzat Olanrewaju , Traoré Mamadou Kaba
Published: June 2017

This paper presents a multi-perspective approach to Modeling and Simulation (M&S) of Healthcare Systems (HS) such that different perspectives are defined and integrated together. The interactions between the isolated perspectives are done through dynamic update of models output-to-parameter integration during concurrent simulations. Most often, simulation-based studies of HS in the literature focus on specific problem like allocation of resources, disease propagation, and population dynamics that are studied with constant parameters from their respective experimental frames throughout the simulation. The proposed idea provides a closer representation of the real situation and helps to capture the interactions between seemingly independent concerns - and the effects of such interactions - in simulation results. The article provides a DEVS (Discrete Event System Specification)-based formalization of the loose integration of the different perspectives, an Object-Oriented framework for its realization and a case study as illustration and proof of concept.
Supporting Health and Community Care with Multi-Agent Systems
Authors: Bergenti Federico , Mordonini Monica , Poggi Agostino , Tomaiuolo Michele
Published: June 2017

Mainly as a consequence of societal changes, the traditional approach to provide cares and social services in hospitals and institutional centres is being paralleled with a growing tendency to provide cares in the community, directly. Information and communication technologies play an important role in enabling and supporting this tendency. However, the most relevant requirements for this application area require a choice of adequate technologies. In particular, multi-agent systems are being proposed as a suitable technology for this application area, since they are based on loosely coupled and heterogeneous components, allow the dynamic and distributed management of data, and support the remote collaboration among users. In fact, multi-agent systems are being effectively used in a number of International projects related to health and community care, which demonstrate the advantages, together with the open challenges characterizing this approach.
The Balanced Scorecard
Authors: Gomes Jorge , Romão Mário
Published: June 2017

Organizations are challenged to develop new organizational skills such as flexibility or expertise in order to quickly respond to changes in technology, competition and customer preferences. Companies cannot be competitive or successful if their business and information systems and technology (IS/IT) strategies are not strategic aligned. Nowadays, the importance of intangible assets is higher than traditional physical assets and performance measurement tools need to capture this new reality. Measuring organizational performance is a continuous challenge for both managers and researchers. Balanced scorecard (BSC) is a powerful tool that gives to managers a fast, but comprehensive view of the business including operational measures on customer satisfaction, organization's innovation, activities improvement, as well as financial measurements. In this paper the authors address the BSC and promote the discussion about the strengths and the limitations and pointing out new developments to overcome the today´s business trends.
Evaluating Engineering Students' Perceptions
Authors: Chandrasekaran Sivachandran , Silva Binali , Patil Arun , Oo Aman Maung Than , Campbell Malcolm
Published: June 2017

The focus of this research study is to evaluate engineering graduates' performance on team-based learning practices in engineering education course. Team based learning (TBL) is an effective approach, which emphasizes active learning in a collaborative task. In an engineering curriculum, students are encouraged to develop skills around TBL that helps to enhance graduate employability opportunities. This paper presents an exploratory analysis of evaluating engineering graduates' performance in practising TBL at a postgraduate study level. The cohort of students that participated in this study were primarily postgraduate engineering students at Deakin University.
Three Phase Induction Motor's Stator Turns Fault Analysis Based on Artificial Intelligence
Authors: Hussein H. A. Taha , Ammar M. E. , Hassan M. A. Moustafa
Published: June 2017

This article presents a method for fault detection and diagnosis of stator inter-turn short circuit in three phase induction machines. The technique is based on modelling the motor in the dq frame for both health and fault cases to facilitate recognition of motor current. Using an Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) to provide an efficient fault diagnosis tool. An artificial intelligence network determines the fault severity values using the stator current history. The performance of the developed fault analysis method is investigated using Matlab/Simulink® software. Stator turns faults are detected through current monitoring of a 2 Hp three phase induction motor under various loading conditions. Fault history is calculated under various loading conditions, and a wide range of fault severity.
Policy Planning in Higher Technical Education
Authors: Soni Sanjay , Chorasia B.K.
Published: June 2017

In the present Research work an attempt has been made to compute quality of higher technical Institute by incorporating various important parameters such as faculty strength, Placement of students, faculty satisfaction, student's satisfaction etc. The impact of these factors on quality of higher technical education is studied by constructing a system dynamic model for policy planning for optimum quality in higher technical education system.
Entrepreneurship Development in Northeast Region of Romania
Authors: Cîrstea Alexandru Costin
Published: June 2017

The actual trend of a growing entrepreneurial phenomenon at international level, makes a priority also for Romania to improve its local entrepreneurship level, by developing and implementing strategic measures for sustaining the entrepreneurial activities in rural and urban areas all over the country. The first step for achieving this it is to make an analysis for obtaining an accurate current stage of development of Romanian entrepreneurship at local and regional level. Using statistical data analysis and questionnaire survey, this study represents a clear mapping of entrepreneurship development status and SMEs evolution in the Northeast region of Romania. The results can be used to propose further measures for supporting local and regional entrepreneurship and the research methodology was also applied in a similar study conducted by author in the Southeast region of Romania
The Degree of Home Bias in the Holding of Share Portfolio
Authors: Chniguir Mounira , Sghaier Asma , Soufeljil Mohamed , Mighri Zouhayer
Published: June 2017

The objective of this paper is to measure the degree of Home Bias within the holdings of portfolio and to identify their determining factors. By following an intuitive reasoning, the authors have chosen a number of susceptible factors that have an impact on Home Bias. In fact, they have developed an international CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model). This model is estimated for 20 countries, with the use of cross-section econometrics. The authors' results show that all countries have recorded a high level of Home bias in their holdings of portfolio. In order to study whether the Home Bias of the newly emerging markets and that of the developed markets react differently to the determining factors or not the authors have evaluated the model so much jointly for all markets as separately for the developed and the newly emerging ones. In the case of classification of the sample, the results have permitted us to draw an important conclusion and to have cognizance that the volatility of the exchange rate is statistically significant concerning the newly emerging economies at a threshold of 1%, while it is hardly remarkable for the developed countries. This means that this variable prevents the American investors from investing in the former countries. Samely, for both variables of joint- variance and size.
Mountain Tourism in Romania
Authors: Ungureanu Adrian Nicolae
Published: June 2017

Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world, and in mountain regions it can give rise to high expectations for development. It has the capacity to create jobs and extend services and products that support both tourists and local people alike in marginal areas. Tourism thus has the potential to reduce poverty and provide alternatives to existing economic activities and traditional livelihoods that may be precarious or otherwise threatened by global competition. The present work proposes to analyze the importance of tourism in the development of Predeal resort. In the first part of the paper I presented some aspects regarding the mountain tourism in Romania. In the present mountain tourism and traveling industry offers many opportunities. The second part includes the general characteristics of the tourist aspects which make from Predeal resort a possible holiday destination of interest international.
Identification of Criteria Affecting the Usability of Academic Institutes Websites
Authors: Mehrotra Deepti , Nagpal Renuka , Bhatia Pradeep Kumar
Published: June 2017

Web designer needs to consider multiple factors while creating a website. Choice of factors depend upon type of website, its objective and user using these websites. In this paper, the main focus is to study the factors that enhance the usability of the academic institute websites. The analysis is done using two different approaches. Firstly, looking for type of website and its objective for which systematic literature review was done. Secondly, for understanding user need, questionnaire based instrument was designed to collect user feedback for analysis. To further determine the criteria's that play the significant role in designing effective website Principal Component Analysis technique (PCA) is employed.
Market Forecasts and Personal Adoption of Smart Textiles in Fitness Sector
Authors: Sugathan Manju , Hendry Martin Douglas
Published: June 2017

The basic concept of smart textiles consists of textile structures that can sense and react to different stimuli from their environment. While forecasts indicate how this sector has the potential to grow in the future, a gap remains for smart textiles to become commercially viable. Growth in consumerism and consumption of services and experiences has led to innovative products that satisfy higher order needs including ideas, sensory and emotional fulfilment, cultural experiences and entertainment. The aim of the paper is to understand smart textiles in this context and to identify factors that influence personal ownership in fitness sector. These will help manufacturers and technologists gain insight into consumer experience and contribute to better design, innovation, marketing and services. The research findings identify important features consumers value in their decision making to purchase a smart top in fitness sector. The results contribute to the field of user adoption in smart textiles and conclude with proposals for the direction of future design and technical development.
A Proactive Service Model Facilitating Stream Data Fusion and Correlation
Authors: Han Yanbo , Liu Chen , Su Shen , Zhu Meiling , Zhang Zhongmei , Zhang Shouli
Published: June 2017

Stream data from devices and sensors is considered a typical kind of big data. Though being promising, they have a good prospect only when we can reasonably correlate and effectively use them. Herein, services come back to the spotlight. The paper reports some of the authors' efforts in promoting service-based fusion and correlation of such stream data in a real setting – monitoring and optimized coordination of individual devices in a power plant. This paper advocates a decentralized and service-based approach to dynamically correlating the sensor data and proactively generating higher-level events between sensors and applications. A novel service model for transforming and correlating massive stream data is proposed. This service model shows potential in realizing various middle-way programmable nodes to form larger-granularity and software-defined ‘sensors' in an IoT context.
A Constrained Learning Approach to the Prediction of Reliability Ranking for WSN Services
Authors: Xiong Wei , Wu Zhao , Li Bing , Gu Qiong
Published: June 2017

Wireless Sensor Network Service Applications (WSAs) are playing an important role in Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), which bridge the gap between WSN and existing widely deployed Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) technologies. Function properties of WSN services are important, which assure correct functionality of WSA. Meanwhile, nonfunctional properties such as reliability might significantly influence the client-perceived quality of WSA. Thus, building high-reliability WSA is a critical research problem. Reliability rankings provide valuable information for making optimal WSN service selection from functionally equivalent service candidates. There existed several methods that can conduct reliability ranking prediction of WSN services. However, it is difficult to evaluate which one is better than another, because those acquire different rankings with different preference functions. This paper proposes a constrained learning prediction of reliability ranking approach for WSN services on past service usage experiences of other WSAs, which can achieve higher accuracy and improve the performance by pruning candidate services. To validate the authors' approach, large-scale experiments are conducted based on a real-world WSN service dataset. The results show that their proposed approach achieves higher prediction accuracy than other approaches.
Combined Use of Conceptual Models in Practice
Authors: Sabegh Mohammad Ali Jabbari , Recker Jan
Published: June 2017

Conceptual models are fundamental to system analysis and design. However, the actual usage of conceptual models remains poorly understood, in particular, how and why practitioners would use multiple models in combination when doing their work. In this paper, the authors explore the reported use of multiple conceptual models for system analysis and design to determine the circumstances that lead professionals to use multiple models. They uncover both semantic and pragmatic reasons that influence the choice and selection of different models for system analysis and design tasks. Contrasting these findings to existing ontological theories, the authors find that the extent and type of multiple model use is determined by not only ontological factors but also contextual factors that can override ontological qualities and in so doing bring forth desired qualities for users. The authors offer several novel propositions about the implications of ontological theory that will be worth exploring in future research.
Estudio del nivel de satisfacción de estudiantes de centros de música de la Comunitat Valenciana
Authors: Cabanes-Macián Adrián , Cuadrado García Manuel , Moliner Velázquez Beatriz , Montoro Pons Juan D.
Published: June 2017

La satisfacción es un constructo clave no exento de complejidad en su medición. En el contexto cultural y desde la disciplina de marketing, esta se plantea a partir de la valoración de una serie de experiencias sin considerar las expectativas de los consumidores. Partiendo de este enfoque, este trabajo aborda una investigación empírica con el objetivo de analizar la satisfacción de los estudiantes de centros de música autorizados y conservatorios municipales. La misma, de naturaleza cualitativa y cuantitativa, ha permitido conocer la valoración de los usuarios con diferentes variables: estudios, profesorado, nuevas tecnologías, infraestructuras y administración. Todo ello a partir de una encuesta auto-administrada con cuestionario estructurado y mediante análisis univariante y multivariante utilizando el programa estadístico SPSS. Los resultados demuestran que la satisfacción, tanto a nivel general como en relación a los aspectos concretos valorados, es elevada y difiere según determinadas variables de clasificación.
La profesión de gestor cultural. Apuntes sobre la situación actual
Authors: Cabañés Martinez Francesc
Published: June 2017

La profesión de gestor cultural se desarrolló en España a finales de los años 80 y durante la década de los años 90 del siglo pasado como consecuencia de proliferación de servicios y equipamientos culturales de las administraciones públicas, principalmente locales. Durante estas décadas los gestores culturales han configurado, a través de asociaciones, un marco de referencia profesional que les permite desarrollar su trabajo con criterios comunes. Este artículo analiza hasta qué punto está consolidado este marco profesional en la actualidad y la situación profesional de los gestores que contribuyeron a configurarlos, en comparación con las generaciones de gestores incorporados en décadas posteriores. Por último se presenta de forma breve algunos apuntes para desarrollar la profesión en los próximos años.
Desarrollo cultural local y desarrollo cultural comunitario. Deslinde conceptual para una gestión participativa
Authors: Palacios González Daniel
Published: June 2017

El presente artículo sugiere un deslinde teórico de las nociones desarrollo local y desarrollo comunitario aplicadas al campo cultural. El objetivo es generar una reflexión en torno a la dimensión comunitaria del desarrollo cultural y las implicaciones que para ello tiene la participación en la gestión de los procesos culturales. Desde ese marco teórico se toman casos de estudio ilustrativos en España, Venezuela y Cuba. De esta manera se trata de plantear como solo a través de prácticas de gestión participativa de la cultura donde la comunidad sea tomada como componente esencial se da cumplimiento a la noción de democracia cultural.
Simultaneous measurements of particle number size distributions at ground level and 260 m on a meteorological tower in urban Beijing, China
Authors: Du Wei , Zhao Jian , Wang Yuying , Zhang Yingjie , Wang Qingqing , Xu Weiqi , Chen Chen , Han Tingting , Zhang Fang , Li Zhanqing , Fu Pingqing , Li Jie , Wang Zifa , Sun Yele
Published: June 2017

Abstract. Despite extensive studies into the characterization of particle number size distributions at ground level, real-time measurements above the urban canopy in the megacity of Beijing have never been performed to date. Here we conducted the first simultaneous measurements of size-resolved particle number concentrations at ground level and 260 m in urban Beijing from 22 August to 30 September. Our results showed overall similar temporal variations in number size distributions between ground level and 260 m, yet periods with significant differences were also observed. Particularly, accumulation-mode particles were highly correlated (r2 = 0. 85) at the two heights, while Aitken-mode particles presented more differences. Detailed analysis suggests that the vertical differences in number concentrations strongly depended on particle size, and particles with a mobility diameter between 100 and 200 nm generally showed higher concentrations at higher altitudes. Particle growth rates and condensation sinks were also calculated, which were 3.2 and 3.6 nm h−1, and 2.8  ×  10−2 and 2.9  ×  10−2 s−1, at ground level and 260 m, respectively. By linking particle growth with aerosol composition, we found that organics appeared to play an important role in the early stage of the growth (09:00–12:00 LT) while sulfate was also important during the later period. Positive matrix factorization of size-resolved number concentrations identified three common sources at ground level and 260 m, including a factor associated with new particle formation and growth events (NPEs), and two secondary factors that represent photochemical processing and regional transport. Cooking emission was found to have a large contribution to small particles and showed much higher concentration at ground level than 260 m in the evening. These results imply that investigation of NPEs at ground level in megacities needs to consider the influences of local cooking emissions. The impacts of regional emission controls on particle number concentrations were also illustrated. Our results showed that regional emission controls have a dominant impact on accumulation-mode particles by decreasing gas precursors and particulate matter loadings, and hence suppressing particle growth. In contrast, the influences on Aitken particles were much smaller due to the enhanced new particle formation (NPF) events.