bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Understanding Attitude towards Green IT among Professionals in IT Service SMEs in Bangladesh
Authors: Gan P. L. , Mahmud Imran , Ramayah T. , Zuhora Fatema Tuz
Published: February 2017

Bangladesh is a least developed country which ranks 131 out of 132 in the environment pollution index. Currently, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) provide 70–80 percent of job opportunities in Bangladesh. Information technology (IT) is one of the industries providing highest employment in the country. The IT professionals' expertise plays an important role in influencing the firms' decisions regarding sustainability. The objective of this chapter is to develop a theoretical model to measure attitude towards green IT usage among IT professionals in Bangladesh. The model will be grounded on self-determination theory.
The Impediments to Entrepreneurial Ventures among the Bottom of Pyramid Community in Northern Malaysia
Authors: Halim Hasliza Abdul , Ahmad Noor Hazlina , Hanifah Haniruzila , Ramayah T.
Published: February 2017

There is a continuing debate among scholars concerning the existence of a fortune at the bottom of pyramid (BOP). While some scholars argue that there is a profitable market at the pyramid base, others argue that targeting poor people as customers could lead to unethical business practices. With the aid of preliminary study, this paper explains that there is a fortune to be made at the BOP if the community is treated as the entrepreneurs than as mere consumers. Nevertheless, for them to develop their own venture in order to reduce poverty is not an easy task due to various hindrances. Therefore, this paper provides insights into the under-researched area of comprehending the impediments that triggered the BOP community readiness to venture into business development. Converting the BOP into active entrepreneurs has become the agenda of the Malaysian government to eradicate the poverty by the year 2020 and thus this paper is expected to provide preliminary findings of the barriers that prohibit them to become entrepreneurs. A series of interview was conducted with a sample of ten BOP communities from Northern Region in Malaysia. In-depth, one-to-one interviews were conducted among them to probe into their outlook on this matter. The findings highlighted on the key factors that hamper the BOP community to create new ventures, new insights and experiences towards entrepreneurship. In sum, this study generates agenda for researchers to reach more conclusive evidence about the concept of entrepreneurship among the BOP community in Malaysia.
Non-State SMEs in Vietnam
Authors: Uyen Nguyen Thi , Zainal Siti Rohaida Mohamed
Published: February 2017

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which are dominated by non-state SMEs play an important role in economic growth, job creation and poverty reduction in Vietnam. However, most of non-state SMEs in Vietnam are young and contain several limitations in performance. Therefore, finding solutions and strategic orientations to enhance SMEs performance becomes the major concern of the policy makers and business practitioners. To generate the implications pertinent to firms for sustaining high organizational performance in long run, understanding the strategic situation of the firms is a vital step. Thus, based on strategic theory of SWOT and strategy formulation, this chapter aims to: (1) Explore the characteristics of dynamic macro environment for development of non-state SMEs in Vietnam; (2) identify the key firm's features; (3) examine firm performance to identify achievements and constraints; (4) suggest strategic implications for enhancement of SMEs performance toward long-run development of non-state SMEs in Vietnam.
Corporate Social Responsibility in SMEs
Authors: Ganesan Yuvaraj , Haron Hasnah , Amran Azlan , Ooi Say Keat
Published: February 2017

Given the increasing importance of the role played by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the developing economy, this paper intends to provide further insight into corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices among SMEs. Within this context, the purpose is to propose the role of non-audit services (NAS), which contribute to the possible explanation of the SME adoption of CSR practices. A conceptual approach is taken whereby this paper is based on an extensive literature review of NAS and CSR practices in the SME context. Then, based on the knowledge-based view (KBV), this paper set to explain and highlight the role of NAS play to enhance CSR practices among SMEs. This paper provides a theoretical discussion on the importance of CSR in ensuring the survival of the SMEs. Although the proposition of NAS is relatively new, it provides an interesting and remarkable avenue for further research especially in the developing country. Overall, this paper draws attention to the importance of NAS in enhancing the survival and performance of the SMEs.
Social Media Strategies for Small and Medium Scale Enterprise in the Klang Valley Region of Malaysia
Authors: Chan Donovan , Kumar Sameer
Published: February 2017

Despite the current widespread adoption and use of social media as a marketing tool, very little empirical research focusing on local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is available. This study examines the usage of social media by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. The study assesses the impacts of age, educational attainment, and industry characteristics to the utilization, perceived benefits and barriers of SMEs. Results of the study indicate that social media is used by most SMEs for customer acquisition and its benefits are developing new business opportunities, reduced cost of advertising, 24 hours accessibility and decreased travelling time. The results however indicate that there is a lack of allocation of resources mainly in staffing and training when adopting the social media. Results also indicate that manager's age and educational attainment had significant impacts on social media strategies. The results did not reveal any evidence of different industry sectors relevance towards social media strategies. Implications for research are discussed.
Dilemmas on OFDI Measuring and Interpreting
Authors: Kłysik-Uryszek Agnieszka , Kuna-Marszałek Anetta
Published: February 2017

Foreign direct investments (FDI) seem to have been thoroughly studied in specialised literature. However the scope of available statistical data often significantly hampers or even prevents any in-depth analysis of the phenomenon. The dynamic economic processes lead to the formation of new linkages, new organisational solutions in international enterprises that co-exist with well described and recognised forms of FDI but escape proper monitoring of statistical institutions. The chapter discusses the different concepts of measuring and interpreting FDI to provide researchers helpful guidelines how to deal with the problems of different methodological dilemmas. A main conclusion is that data provided by official statistics are insufficient and incoherent, and analysis of the scale of OFDI engagement of enterprises (especially from emerging countries) carries some risk and its results should be approached with caution. The case study of Poland's statistics has been used to portray the most significant discrepancies and problems.
Home Country-Specific Determinants of Outward Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Economies
Authors: Karakuş Rıfat
Published: February 2017

The outward foreign direct investments of developing economies have showed significant increase in recent years. Rising outward foreign direct investment stock of developing economies makes its determinants and consequences crucial. The aim of this study is to determine the home country specific determinants of outward FDI. For this purpose, a panel data analysis is performed with the data of BRICS and Next Eleven countries for the period from 1994 to 2014. The analysis results reveal that inward foreign direct investment, interest rates and technological capability of home country have positive influence and total labor force of home country has negative effect on outward FDI of developing economies.
Political Economy of Foreign Direct Investment
Authors: LaGro Esra
Published: February 2017

The global political economy evolves around shifting theoretical and conceptual paradigms that simultaneously reflect the ongoing globalization process involving several actors and processes. Thus the complexity of linking the theory and practice of global political economy increases, and this, in return, accelerates further the in-depth inquiries in this interdisciplinary field of research such as discussions around global governance, international economic system, international trade, global value chains, and international development among several others. More specifically, in parallel with these developments, underlying trends in the global economy point to vast developments in both theory and practice of foreign direct investment (hereinafter FDI) across regions, countries and sectors as well, which form the main focus point of this chapter which will attempt to address the complexity of linking theory with actual practice through also involving global value chains with reference to FDI between EU member states and Turkey.
The Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment Outflows from Turkey
Authors: Cergibozan Raif , Demir Caner
Published: February 2017

The aim of this study is to specify the determinants of the outward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows from Turkey. For this purpose, the ARDL Bounds Test is used in order to observe the possible relation between these flows and define potential factors that might have an effect on them. The evidences of the empirical analysis reveal that the destination countries' market size, the home country's development level, trade openness and wage rate are positively related to outward FDI while the home country's interest rate shows a negative relationship. Turkey's outward FDI is significantly determined by the opportunities of the foreign markets as well as the outstanding home country factors.
Foreign Direct Investment in Indian Market
Authors: Kumar Manoj
Published: February 2017

A number of recent studies examine technology transfer from foreign direct investment (FDI) to India's domestic industrial enterprises. This study goes further by investigating the implications of institutions for the nature of technology spillovers during 2004 - 2013. We examine three institutional features that comprise aspects of India's “special characteristics”: (1) the different sources of FDI, where FDI is nearly evenly divided between mostly Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and Mauritius; (2) India's heterogeneous ownership structure, involving state- (SOEs) and non-state owned (non-SOEs) enterprises; and (3) industrial promotion via tariffs or through tax holidays to foreign direct investment. We find robust positive and significant spillovers (as measured by total factor productivity) to domestic firms via backward linkages (the contacts between foreign buyers and local suppliers). Our results suggest varied success with industrial promotion policies. Final goods tariffs as well as input tariffs are negatively associated with firm-level productivity. However, we find statistically significant evidence of stronger productivity spillovers associated with firms that received tax breaks, suggesting that tax holidays were more successful than tariffs as an instrument to promote productivity growth in India.
Incentives to Attract Foreign Direct Investment in Emerging Economies
Authors: Ghoshal Ishita , Ghosh Ishita
Published: February 2017

The study delves into a diagnostic check for macroeconomic factors that may cause and explain outward FDI flows to India as a representative of the emerging economies. The seventeen top investing economies to India across the period from 2008-14 reveal that overall FDI outflows, inflation, exchange rate and growth of the economy affect FDI outflows to India in the long run where only exchange rate has a causal effect. Also, the above-mentioned variables except growth along with the size of the economy has significant effect on the extent of FDI flows to India from the economies considered for the study.
Factors Driving Firms from Emerging Countries into the Global Market
Authors: Quan Rose , Lin Zhibin
Published: February 2017

The purpose of this chapter is to identify the key factors that explain the decision of Chinese small and medium sized enterprises' (CSMEs) investment into the North East of England. The authors conducted 23 semi-structured interviews with key decision makers of Chinese SMEs that have business operations in the North East of England. It has been found that there are four major categories of factors that drive Chinese SMEs' investment into the North East of England: 1) resource-based factors; 2) home and host institutional factors; 3) network factors; and 4) international entrepreneurial factors. The findings have policy implications for both the governments of the UK and China, as well as managerial implications for future Chinese investors. This chapter provides fresh explanation of Chinese SMEs' investment into a developed economy.
Default Options to Foster Policy Ratings and their Attractiveness on People's Preferences
Authors: Hoque Mohammed Ziaul
Published: February 2017

The present study explains how default choices are easy when compared with the alternate and free choices based on three survey design. In doing so, the study examines the effects of the default option on people's preferences towards various issues concerning governmental and marketing policy. Three-hundred respondents were randomly selected and interviewed with the structured questionnaire. To test the hypotheses of the study, the study has used the tools of descriptive statistics, combined means, and correlation of the data. The results of the study show that status-quo-labelled (current) policies are preferred over a change of setting, but negatively phrased policies do not show this status quo (SQ) effect. The results also demonstrate that the default setting, or SQ, has enhanced a policy's rating and attractiveness over the free and active choice. If people have to choose a policy when there is no default available, they experience difficulty in choosing and it takes them more time. In the case of the free choice option, people report more pros and cons of the policy issue than in the SQ and NSQ setting.
Alternative Models for Forecasting Macroeconomic Indicators in Kazakhstan
Authors: Pirmakhanov Saken
Published: February 2017

This paper indicates special aspects of using vector auto-regression models to forecast rates of basic macroeconomic indicators in short term. In particular, traditional vector auto-regression model, Bayesian vector auto-regression model and factor augmented vector auto-regression model are shown. For parameter estimation of these models the author uses time series of Kazakhstani macroeconomic indicators between 1996 and 2015 quarterly. In virtue of mean-root-square error prediction the conclusion of optimal model is going to be chosen.
Overcoming the Scheduling Barriers in Software Project
Authors: Yu Liguo
Published: February 2017

Scheduling is an important management activity in software projects. The relationship between nominal development time and development effort has been characterized as a power-law function where development time is dependent on development effort. Studies performed in 1980s determined that there is a scheduling barrier for any software project given the amount of effort to complete the project. Specifically, the studies found out that it is extremely difficult to reduce the development time lowering than a threshold calculated based on the nominal development time. Scheduling barriers are largely due to the complexity of interactions and communications among developers. Thirty years later, this paper examines six software projects in order to understand the relationship between development time and development effort in the 21st century. The author's study suggests that in modern software development, scheduling barriers could be broken through improving the efficiencies of communications, collaborations, and project management.
Organizational Change Management
Authors: Ololube Nwachukwu Prince , Ololube Dennis Ogutum
Published: February 2017

Change management is a continuous method used in transitioning individual employee, groups, and organizations to an anticipated future change. It focuses on the change management processes that addresses individual employee, groups and organizational factors that acts as catalyst for possible changes in organization. The purpose of change management is ultimately to make use of initiatives and ensure that every employee in an organization is willing and ready to switchover to an anticipated new role in the proposed business environment. This current study evaluated the relationship between leadership perception, attitudes and application towards organizational change. Using a structured questionnaire, principal officers, their deputies and faculty perceptions were analyzed and the results revealed that though change matrix are often painful and chaotic, however, significant relationship was found between employee perception, attitude, application and organizational change. The study recommends that Nigerian universities should be proactive in the implementation of changes to improve their employees' perception, attitude and application towards organizational change.
Approximating Shadowed Rician Model to Other Simpler Models
Authors: Aljuneidi Wassim Yassin , Jaamour Yasser M , Khorzom Khaldoun
Published: February 2017

Shadowed Rician model is considered to be the most appropriate that is used to characterize the impairments seen in wireless channels, which suffer Line-Of-Sight (LOS) shadowing and small-scale fading. In this model, the Probability Density Function (PDF) of the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) per symbol needs numerical solutions to be evaluated. More than that, for some values of the fading parameters, the numerical solution converging too slowly, and so needs too much time to be evaluated. This is considered as a problem in real time applications where delay is a critical issue. In this paper, the authors present and prove approximations for Shadowed Rician model according to the values of the fading parameters, which are the Rice factor and the Shadowing standard deviation. With the proposed approximation, the required PDF could be written in intervals which make it easier to calculate at parameters values that causes slow converging.
A Checking Service Composition Approach based on Model Transformation
Authors: Nouara Redouane , Chaoui Allaoua
Published: February 2017

The service oriented architecture (SOA) approach constitutes an ideal solution for distributed application development. However, its success is conditioned by a solution to the problem of dynamic service composition. The formal-based tools are ones of the promising solutions to this problem, because of their mathematical-basis who can provide possibility of doing computation on services behavior in order to confirm the existence or not of some particular behaviours. In this paper, the authors present an approach based on model transformation (MT) for checking behavioural compatibility between services. Elementary services behaviours, modelled as OWFNet, an extenstion of Petri Nets, are automatically translated to a LOTOS specification. The translation is done by a two-fold transformation, model to model (M2M) and model to text (M2T). The resulting Lotos text specification is submitted to a LOTOS toolkit to check service composability.
Estimating and Managing Enterprise Project Risk Using Certainty
Authors: Denas Scheljert
Published: February 2017

The literature reports that 73% of enterprise projects fail due to insufficient risk estimation and management. This study focuses on developing a model to estimate the risk in enterprise software development projects. The traditional practice of measuring the risk in enterprise projects uses risk exposure which is unable to quantify the risk beyond the expected value of the socio-economic cost. To address this, the current study examines how enterprise project managers may quantify the uncertainty underlying risk by calculating certain probability and then using a probability distribution to determine the unknown probability values. Thus, this paper is unique in that it presents a model to measure the risk based on certain probability rather than unknown probability. A case-study of 19 enterprise software projects is used to apply and validate the model.
Distribution Systems Reconfiguration for Voltage Stability Maximization by using Artificial Immune Systems
Authors: Ferreira Ewerton L. , de Oliveira Leonardo W.
Published: February 2017

This paper proposes a methodology for reconfiguration of Electrical Distribution Systems (EDS) to maximize the system voltage stability. The proposed approach is based on the metaheuristic and bioinspired optimization technique called Artificial Immune System (AIS) and stability indexes. The optimization problem presents operational and network constraints, as well as the radial and connected operation and the nodal voltage limits. Comparisons between two indexes are made for evaluate their impact on the reconfiguration problem. Three case studies are presented to assess the proposed approach and the stability indexes.
Reconstruction of Electrical Impedance Tomography Using Fish School Search, Non-Blind Search, and Genetic Algorithm
Authors: Barbosa Valter A. F. , Ribeiro Reiga R. , Feitosa Allan R. S. , Silva Victor L. B. A. , Rocha Arthur D. D. , Freitas Rafaela C. , Souza Ricardo E. , Santos Wellington P.
Published: February 2017

Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is a noninvasive imaging technique that does not use ionizing radiation, with application both in environmental sciences and in health. Image reconstruction is performed by solving an inverse problem and ill-posed. Evolutionary Computation and Swarm Intelligence have become a source of methods for solving inverse problems. Fish School Search (FSS) is a promising search and optimization method, based on the dynamics of schools of fish. In this article the authors present a method for reconstruction of EIT images based on FSS and Non-Blind Search (NBS). The method was evaluated using numerical phantoms consisting of electrical conductivity images with subjects in the center, between the center and the edge and on the edge of a circular section, with meshes of 415 finite elements. The authors performed 20 simulations for each configuration. Results showed that both FSS and FSS-NBS were able to converge faster than genetic algorithms.
Tracking Patterns with Particle Swarm Optimization and Genetic Algorithms
Authors: Tavares Yuri Marchetti , Nedjah Nadia , Mourelle Luiza de Macedo
Published: February 2017

The template matching is an important technique used in pattern recognition. The goal is to find a given pattern, of a prescribed model, in a frame sequence. In order to evaluate the similarity of two images, the Pearson's Correlation Coefficient (PCC) is used. This coefficient is calculated for each of the image pixels, which entails an operation that is computationally very expensive. In order to improve the processing time, this paper proposes two implementations for template matching: one using Genetic Algorithms (GA) and the other using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) considering two different topologies. The results obtained by the proposed methodologies are compared to those obtained by the exhaustive search in each pixel. The comparison indicates that PSO is up to 236x faster than the brute force exhausted search while GA is only 44x faster, for the same image. Also, PSO based methodology is 5x faster than the one based on GA.
Artificial Bee Colony Optimization for Feature Selection of Traffic Sign Recognition
Authors: da Silva Diogo L. , Seijas Leticia M. , Bastos-Filho Carmelo J. A.
Published: February 2017

This paper proposes the application of a swarm intelligence algorithm called Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) for the feature selection to feed a Random Forest (RF) classifier aiming to recognise Traffic Signs. In this paper, the authors define and assess several fitness functions for the feature selection stage. The idea is to minimise the correlation and maximise the entropy of a set of masks to be used for feature extraction results in a higher information gain and allows to reach recognition accuracies comparable with other state-of-art algorithms. The RF comprises as a committee based on decision trees, which allows handling large datasets and features with high performance, enabling a Traffic Sign Recognition (TSR) system oriented for real-time implementations. The German Traffic Sign Recognition Benchmark (GTSRB) was used for experiments, serving as a real basis for comparison of performance for the authors' proposal.
Regulatory Requirements Compliance in Requirements Engineering
Authors: Hasan M. Mahmudul
Published: February 2017

Regulations and policies contain a rich source of requirements and failure to address these authoritative requirements in software system development can impose costly penalties for regulatory noncompliance. Despite the advancement of information system research, regulatory requirements compliance remains one of the primary challenges still to be efficiently dealt in system development because of the scarce information, complexity, and understanding of available approaches in requirements engineering process of a system development. This paper reports a systematic literature review of the documented approaches of regulatory requirements compliance, classifies these approaches according to different criteria and provides a qualitative analysis of their operational characteristics. The results of this analysis can serve system developers as the means of deriving appropriate methods and tools for regulatory requirements compliance in the software system development.
A Framework for Collaborative and Convenient Learning on Cloud Computing Platforms
Authors: Sharma Deepika , Kumar Vikas
Published: February 2017

The depth of learning resides in collaborative work with more engagement and fun. Technology can enhance collaboration with a higher level of convenience and cloud computing can facilitate this in a cost effective and scalable manner. However, to deploy a successful online learning environment, elementary components of learning pedagogy must be embedded in the technology framework. A cloud computing technology based learning platform built on the proven learning pedagogies will be most successful attempt to facilitate collaborative and convenient learning. Such platform will support the learners to connect and coordinate the online resources in a more efficient, effective and practical way. This paper proposes a new theoretical framework for collaborative and convenient learning on cloud computing technology by reviewing various learning theories and integrating them with the technology framework. Architectural details of the framework have been presented with suitable examples for a better understanding. The work has a lot of significance for deploying cloud computing based collaborative learning solutions in the educational institutions.
E-Learning System of Asia Through Open Courseware (OCW) and Educational Resources (OER) for Universal Access to Knowledge and Information
Authors: Kayal Soumen , Das Baisakhi
Published: February 2017

One of the most impressive uses of information and communication technology is the advent of e-learning. The current E-learning system mainly plays a role of learning assistance such as providing learning content or learning information, and sometime it provides channels or platform in the learning environment for discussion and interaction. In recent years E-learning has changed sophisticatedly in teaching method in higher education of Asian countries. The success of E-learning depends on the some circumstance like learning effectiveness, cost effectiveness, institutional commitment, access, faculty satisfaction, and student's satisfaction. Accessing has become more widely permitted through the open courseware. Open Courseware is one of the effective new types of E-learning system raised in recent years. This paper discusses the importance of e-learning system in higher education, and universal access to knowledge and information in the network and digital environment through Open Courseware. Some of the major initiatives and the targets segments covered by the online education have also been studied in this article.
Critical Success Factors to Establish 5G Network in Smart Cities
Authors: Chatterjee Sheshadri , Kar Arpan Kumar , Gupta MP
Published: February 2017

In order to increase and develop overall performance of Modern Network Grids in Smart Cities of India with acceptable levels of security and privacy, the internal and external factors which substantially affect the performance of network grids in Smart Cities without jeopardizing privacy and security issues are needed to be identified. Besides, the interdependencies of these critical success factors are needed to be realized clearly. This paper seeks to identify these critical factors and also takes a sincere attempt to ascertain the main driving forces among these critical success factors and to ascertain inter-relationship among the CSFs. These factors here have been identified by the help of three reliable instruments which are questionnaire based survey, brainstorming and finally consolidation by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). A total of 16 critical success factors eventually have been detected by the help of PCA and finally a pragmatic structure of inter-relationship among the CSFs been developed by the application of Interpretive Structural Model (ISM).
Review of Discussions on Internet of Things (IoT)
Authors: Joseph Nimish , Kar Arpan Kumar , Ilavarasan P. Vigneswara , Ganesh Shankar
Published: February 2017

User generated content in the social media platforms are being considered as an important source for information about consumers and other emerging trends by the businesses. Using Twitter analytics, the paper presents insights on trends and discussions about the Internet of Things (IoT). Using relevant hashtags, 40,387 tweets were collected in early 2016. The analysis had followed three major approaches: descriptive analysis, content analysis and network analysis. The tools R and NodeXL were used for the analysis. The findings showed major themes like business concerns, scope of applications, security, emerging smart technologies and manufacturing. The sentiments of emotions and polarity differed across these themes. The top individual and industrial influencers were identified. The analysis also detected the highly-associated words and hashtags, and different user communities and how they are connected. Business implications of the findings and limitations are also elaborated.
Ácido indol-3-butírico (AIB) no enraizamento de estacas de fedegoso gigante
Authors: Lafetá Bruno Oliveira , De Matos Milena Pimenta , Lage Patrícia , Ferraro Ana Carolina , Penido Tamires Mousslech Andrade
Published: February 2017

O ácido indol-3-butírico (AIB) é um regulador vegetal amplamente empregado para induzir o enraizamento de estacas. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar o efeito de diferentes concentrações de AIB e de dois tipos de estacas na propagação vegetativa de Senna alata (Linnaeus) Roxburgh. O experimento foi estabelecido em delineamento inteiramente casualizado com quatro repetições, em esquema fatorial 4 x 2, sendo estudado o efeito de quatro concentrações de AIB:T1 – 0 mg L-1 (controle); T2 – 250 mg L-1; T3 – 500 mg L-1 e T4 – 1.000 mg L-1 e de dois tipos de estacas (E1 – herbácea e E2 – semilenhosa). Cada unidade experimental foi constituída por 12 estacas. As concentrações estudadas desse regulador vegetal não influenciaram no desenvolvimento do sistema radicular e aéreo das mudas e, por conseguinte, em sua sobrevivência em casa de sombra. Na casa de vegetação, as estacas herbáceas foram aquelas que perderam menos folhas remanescentes após redução da área foliar (27,88%) e, consequentemente, apresentaram maior sobrevivência (99,44%) quando foram mantidas em casa de sombra. Estacas herbáceas podem ser recomendadas para a propagação vegetativa de S. alata.
Possible climatic implications of high altitude emissions of black carbon
Authors: Govardhan Gaurav , Satheesh Sreedharan Krishnakumari , Nanjundiah Ravi , Moorthy Krishnaswamy Krishna , Babu Surendran Suresh
Published: February 2017

Abstract. On account of its strong absorption of solar and terrestrial radiations, Black Carbon (BC) aerosol is known to impact large scale systems such as the Asian monsoon, Himalayan glaciers etc, besides affecting the thermal structure of lower atmosphere. While most studies focus on the near-surface abundance and impacts of BC, our study, using online regional chemistry transport model (WRF-Chem) simulations, examines the implications of sharp and confined layers of high BC concentration (called elevated BC layers) at altitudes of about 4.5 km and 8 km over the Indian region, as revealed in the recent in-situ measurements using high-altitude balloons. Our study demonstrates, that emissions from high-flying aircrafts are the most likely cause of these elevated BC layers. Furthermore, we show that such aircraft-emitted BC can get transported to even upper tropospheric/lower stratospheric heights (~ 17 km) aided by the strong monsoonal convection occurring over the region, which are known to overshoot the tropical tropopause leading to injection of tropospheric air mass (along with its constituent aerosols) into the stratosphere. We show observational evidence for such an intrusion of tropospheric BC into the stratosphere over Indian region, using extinction coefficient and particle depolarization ratio data from CALIOP Lidar on-board the CALIPSO satellite. We hypothesise that such intrusions of BC to lower stratosphere and its consequent longer residence time in the stratosphere would have significant implications for stratospheric ozone, considering the already reported ozone depleting potential of BC.
NAO and extreme ocean states in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean
Authors: Gleeson Emily , Gallagher Sarah , Clancy Colm , Dias Frédéric
Published: February 2017

Abstract. Large scale atmospheric oscillations are known to have an influence on waves in the North Atlantic. In quantifying how the wave and wind climate of this region may change towards the end of the century due to climate change, it is useful to investigate the influence of large scale oscillations using indices such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO: fluctuations in the difference between the Icelandic low pressure system and the Azore high pressure system). In this study a statistical analysis of the station-based NAO index was carried out using an ensemble of EC-Earth global climate simulations, where EC-Earth is a European-developed atmosphere ocean sea-ice coupled climate model. The NAO index was compared to observations and to projected changes in the index by the end of the century under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 forcing scenarios. In addition, an ensemble of EC-Earth driven WAVEWATCH III wave model projections over the North Atlantic was analysed to determine the correlations between the NAO and significant wave height (Hs) and the NAO and extreme ocean states. For the most part, no statistically significant differences were found between the distributions of observed and modelled station-based NAO or in projected distributions of the NAO. Means and extremes of Hs are projected to decrease on average by the end of this century. The 95th percentile of Hs is strongly positively correlated to the NAO. Projections of Hs extremes are location dependent and in fact, under the influence of positive NAO the 20-year return levels of Hs were found to be amplified in some regions. However, it is important to note that the projected decreases in the 95th percentile of Hs off the west coast of Ireland are not statistically significant in one of the RCP4.5 and one of the RCP8.5 simulations (me41, me83) which indicates that there is still uncertainty in the projections of higher percentiles.
Regional-scale lateral carbon transport and CO2 evasion in temperate stream catchments
Authors: Magin Katrin , Somlai-Haase Celia , Schäfer Ralf B. , Lorke Andreas
Published: February 2017

Abstract. Inland waters play an important role in regional to global scale carbon cycling by transporting, processing and emitting substantial amounts of carbon, which originate mainly from their catchments. In this study, we analyzed the relationship between terrestrial net primary production (NPP) and the rate at which carbon is exported from the catchments in a temperate stream network. The analysis included more than 200 catchment areas in southwest Germany, ranging in size from 0.8 to 889 km2 for which CO2 evasion from stream surfaces and downstream transport with stream discharge were estimated from water quality monitoring data, while NPP in the catchments was obtained from a global data set based on remote sensing. We found that on average 2.7 % of terrestrial NPP (13.9 g C m2 yr−1) are exported from the catchments by streams and rivers, in which both CO2 evasion and downstream transport contributed about equally to this flux. The average carbon fluxes in the catchments of the study area resembled global and large-scale zonal mean values in many respects, including NPP, stream evasion as well as the catchment-specific total export rate of carbon in the fluvial network. A review of existing studies on aquatic-terrestrial coupling in the carbon cycle suggests that the catchment-specific carbon export varies in a relatively narrow range, despite a broad range of different spatial scales and hydrological characteristics of the study regions.
An intercomparison of approaches for improving predictability in operational seasonal streamflow forecasting
Authors: Mendoza Pablo A. , Wood Andrew W. , Clark Elizabeth , Rothwell Eric , Clark Martyn P. , Nijssen Bart , Brekke Levi D. , Arnold Jeffrey R.
Published: February 2017

Abstract. For much of the last century, forecasting centers around the world have offered seasonal streamflow predictions to support water management. Recent work suggests that the two major avenues to advance seasonal predictability are improvements in the estimation of initial hydrologic conditions (IHCs) and the incorporation of climate information. This study investigates the marginal benefits of a variety of methods using IHC and/or climate information, focusing on seasonal water supply forecasts (WSFs) in five case study watersheds located in the U.S. Pacific Northwest region. We specify two benchmark methods that mimic standard operational approaches – statistical regression against IHCs, and model-based ensemble streamflow prediction (ESP) – and then systematically inter-compare WSFs across a range of lead times. Additional methods include: (i) statistical techniques using climate information either from standard indices or from climate reanalysis variables; and (ii) several hybrid/hierarchical approaches harnessing both land surface and climate predictability. In basins where atmospheric teleconnection signals are strong, and when watershed predictability is low, climate information alone provides considerable improvements. For those basins showing weak teleconnections, custom predictors from reanalysis fields were more effective in forecast skill than standard climate indices. ESP predictions tended to have high correlation skill but greater bias compared to other methods, and climate predictors failed to substantially improve these deficiencies within a trace weighting framework. Lower complexity techniques were competitive with more complex methods, and the hierarchical expert regression approach introduced here (HESP) provided a robust alternative for skillful and reliable water supply forecasts at all initialization times. Three key findings from this effort are: (1) objective approaches supporting methodologically consistent hindcasts open the door to a broad range of beneficial forecasting strategies; (2) the use of climate predictors can add to the seasonal forecast skill available from IHCs; and (3) sample size limitations must be handled rigorously to avoid over-trained forecast solutions. Overall, the results suggest that despite a rich, long heritage of operational use, there remain a number of compelling opportunities to improve the skill and value of seasonal streamflow predictions.
Effectiveness of using the iPad in Learning to Acquire the Mental and Performance Skills in Teaching Social Studies Curriculum
Authors: Alajmi Maadi Mahdi , Al-Hadiah Hanan Abdullah
Published: February 2017

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of using the iPad in learning to acquire the mental and performanceskills in teaching the social studies. Using experimental design method, the study compared two groups: (a)experimental, taught using the iPad, and (b) control group, taught using the traditional learning without iPad. A totalof 48 (24experimental group and 24 control group) eighth grade students in state of Kuwait participated in this study.The study started on the second semester on 2015-2016 on the average of 6 weeks. After the test on the study sampleand the statistical processing, the results revolved that: (1) there are no significant differences between theexperimental and the control group in mental performance in pre-test score. (2) There are no significant differencesbetween the experimental and the control group in skills performance in pre-test score. (3) There are significantdifferences between the experimental and the control group in mental performance in post-test score in favor ofexperimental group. (4) There are significant differences between the experimental and the control group in skillsperformance in post-test score in favor of experimental group. Based on the results, the study concluded withrelevant recommendations regarding the implementation of using iPad technology in education, and suggested somefurther studies in this topic.
Fostering safe vascular access for adolescents during hemodialysis using cushion cannulation versus common cannulation techniques
Authors: Ibrahim Orban Ragab Bayoumi , El-Gawad Sahar Mahmoud El-Khedr Abd
Published: February 2017

Background and objective: Chronic hemodialysis is technically feasible in children of all ages. Vascular access is a hemodialysis patient’s lifeline, and successful cannulation is critical to the viability of the vascular access. Common and cushion cannulation techniques can be used by the nurses during cannulation of the patients. However, it is not known which approach is most effective. This study aimed to foster safe vascular access for adolescents during hemodialysis using cushion cannulation versus common cannulation techniques.Methods: Study design: A quasi-experimental study was used. Setting: The study was conducted at Hemodialysis Units affiliated to King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud International Foundation Dialysis Care Center at Jeddah. Subjects: A purposive sample composed of 60 adolescents undergoing hemodialysis and 60 nurses “whom providing care for those adolescents were involved in this study”. Tools: Four tools were used namely; Structured Questionnaire Sheets, Observation Sheet, Adolescents and nurses’ opinion about cushion and common cannulation techniques, and Pain Assessment Scale.Results: The majority of adolescents felt that using the cushion cannulation technique was more comfortable position. Also, most nurses mentioned that using the cushion technique improves body mechanics and promotes easy access to fistula.Conclusions: The current study concluded that, using cushion technique was associated with safe vascular access for adolescents during hemodialysis, it also stabilizes the arm and tissues and fully extension of the arm. Negative correlation was observed between cushion technique safety and numeric pain scale. Meanwhile, there was insignificant positive correlation using common cannulation technique and numeric pain scale. Recommendations: Application of the cushion technique in HD centers as part of a routine care for all patients undergoing hemodialysis therapy, and implement in-service training programs related to the cushion technique for all nurses working in Hemodialysis Units.
Attitudes towards Communication Skills among Engineering Students
Authors: Kovac Mirjana M. , Sirkovic N.
Published: February 2017

Good communication skills are of utmost importance in the education of engineering students to promote not only their education, but also to prepare them for the demanding and competitive job market. The purpose of this study was to compare the attitudes towards communication skills after formal instruction between the students of engineering studies in the first and sixth semesters. Data were collected using the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) which consisted of 14 items. The target population included 31 students of engineering studies who attended the communication skills course in the first semester, and 31 students of engineering studies who attended the same course just before completion of the undergraduate study programme. The results are in accordance with previous studies suggesting that senior and more mature students have higher positive attitudes compared to students at the beginning of their undergraduate studies. Although both groups had noticeable positive attitudes towards learning communication skills, negative attitudes should also be taken into consideration and attempt should be made to decrease or eliminate them.
Study of Characteristics of Surface Subsidence in Longwall Coal Mine under Poor Ground Conditions in Indonesia
Authors: Pongpanya Phanthoudeth , Sasaoka Takashi , Shimada Hideki , Wahyudi Sugeng
Published: February 2017

This paper aims to study the characteristics of surface subsidence induced by longwall mining under poor ground conditions in Indonesia by means of numerical simulation techniques using finite difference code “FLAC3D”. The effect of mining depth in cases of single panel and multi-panel longwall mining, the influence of panel and pillar widths, and the impact of backfilling material, were incorporated into the FLAC3D software. The simulated results indicated that the angle of draw and maximum surface subsidence were significantly associated with the depth of mining, the number of extracted panels, the width of panel and pillar, and the type of backfill. In single panel mining, the largest maximum surface subsidence is observed in case of the shallowest mining depth, and it gradually decreases as the depth increases. In contrast, the angle of draw increases with increasing the mining depth. In multi-panel mining, the angle of draw and maximum surface subsidence increase as the mining depth increases. Moreover, the angle of draw and maximum surface subsidence decrease when the narrow panel and large pillar widths are adopted, and the backfilling materials are applied.