bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Phase retrieval from Fourier measurements with masks
Authors: Li Huiping , Li Song
Published: June 2021

This paper concerns the problem of phase retrieval from Fourier measurements with random masks. Here we focus on researching two kinds of random masks. Firstly, we utilize the Fourier measurements with real masks to estimate a general signal \begin{document}$ \mathit{\boldsymbol{x}}_0\in \mathbb{R}^d $\end{document} in noiseless case when \begin{document}$ d $\end{document} is even. It is demonstrated that \begin{document}$ O(\log^2d) $\end{document} real random masks are able to ensure accurate recovery of \begin{document}$ \mathit{\boldsymbol{x}}_0 $\end{document}. Then we find that such real masks are not adaptable to reconstruct complex signals of even dimension. Subsequently, we prove that \begin{document}$ O(\log^4d) $\end{document} complex masks are enough to stably estimate a general signal \begin{document}$ \mathit{\boldsymbol{x}}_0\in \mathbb{C}^d $\end{document} under bounded noise interference, which extends E. Candès et al.'s work. Meanwhile, we establish tighter error estimations for real signals of even dimensions or complex signals of odd dimensions by using \begin{document}$ O(\log^2d) $\end{document} real masks. Finally, we intend to tackle with the noisy phase problem about an \begin{document}$ s $\end{document}-sparse signal by a robust and efficient approach, namely, two-stage algorithm. Based on the stable guarantees for general signals, we show that the \begin{document}$ s $\end{document}-sparse signal \begin{document}$ \mathit{\boldsymbol{x}}_0 $\end{document} can be stably recovered from composite measurements under near-optimal sample complexity up to a \begin{document}$ \log $\end{document} factor, namely, \begin{document}$ O(s\log(\frac{ed}{s})\log^4(s\log(\frac{ed}{s}))) $\end{document}
Velocity modeling based on Rayleigh wave dispersion curve and sparse optimization inversion
Authors: Cui Yan , Wang Yanfei
Published: June 2021

This paper studies the S wave velocity modeling based on the Rayleigh wave dispersion curve inversion. We first discuss the forward simulation, and present a fast root-finding method with cubic-order of convergence speed to obtain the Rayleigh wave dispersion curve. With the Rayleigh wave dispersion curve as the observation data, and considering the prior geological anomalies structural information, we establish a sparse constraint regularization model, and propose an iterative solution method to solve for the S wave velocity. Experimental tests are performed both on the theoretical models and on the field data. It indicates from the experimental results that our new inversion scheme possesses the characteristics of easy calculation, high computational efficiency and high precision for model characterization.
Financing and ordering decisions in a capital-constrained and risk-averse supply chain for the monopolist and non-monopolist supplier
Authors: Zhen Zhiyuan , Yang Honglin , Zhuo Wenyan
Published: June 2021

The paper focuses on a supply chain consisting of one supplier and one capital-constrained retailer. The retailer can solve the limited working capital problem through a bank, an investor, or its supplier. When facing business risks brought by uncertain demand, the retailer and the supplier are risk-averse behavior. To better explore the financing decision, we consider the supplier has two different cases: monopolist firm and non-monopolist firm. We first use the CVaR criterion to incorporate the members' risk-averse behavior into the objectives function. Then the equilibrium results of the supply chain are derived under three financing schemes, respectively. Our analysis finds when the supplier is a relatively low risk-averse monopolist firm, trade credit financing is the unique financing equilibrium. When the supplier is a relatively high risk-averse monopolist firm and non-monopolist firm, schemes, if the valuation level is relatively low, all members prefer bank credit financing. Otherwise, the members prefer equity financing. By tuning the valuation level, we obtain the conditions in which the supply chain realizes Pareto improvement relative to the other two financing schemes. Finally, we use numerical analysis to verify the above theoretical results.
Long-step path-following algorithm for quantum information theory: Some numerical aspects and applications
Authors: Faybusovich Leonid , Zhou Cunlu
Published: June 2021

We consider some important computational aspects of the long-step path-following algorithm developed in our previous work and show that a broad class of complicated optimization problems arising in quantum information theory can be solved using this approach. In particular, we consider one difficult optimization problem involving the quantum relative entropy in quantum key distribution and show that our method can solve problems of this type much faster in comparison with (very few) available options.
Morphological features and formation conditions of The Almopia Speleopark caves (Loutra Almopias, N. Greece)
Authors: Lazaridis Georgios Theodoros , Melfos Vasilios
Published: June 2021

The Almopia Speleopark caves are located at the Almopia basin in northern Greece, at the foothill of Voras Mountain, and are formed in the Maestrichtian limestones of the Pelagonian zone. They are studied on the basis of their meso- and micro-scale morphology as well as their horizontal pattern, in order to investigate the character of the forming aquifer. Emphasis is given on the morphological description of the Loutra Almopias Cave. Cave morphology is dominated by the presence of cupolas, rock bridges, ridges and “windows”, abrupt terminations of fracture guided passages, pendants, rising channels, pseudonotches, false-floors and spongework. Speleogens indicate a speleogenesis due to slowly natural convecting hot water bodies. Phreatic calcite from the Varathron Cave is analyzed on the basis of the fluid inclusions in order to investigate the physicochemical conditions of the convecting water bodies. This has shown that the calcite was formed at temperatures ranging between 120 and 189 ºC, with a peak around 150 ºC. The fluids were dominated by NaCl of very low salinities (0.2-1.0 wt% NaCl equiv.), showing probably the incorporation of meteoric waters.
Radon concentration in caves as a proxy for tectonic activity in The Cantabrian Mountains (Spain)
Authors: Ballesteros Daniel , Llana-Fúnez Sergio , Meléndez-Asensio Mónica , Fuente Merino Ismael , Sainz Carlos , Quindós Luis
Published: June 2021

Radon (Rn) constitutes a good geochemical tracer for neotectonic activity in faults since associated fracturing near the surface favours fluid escape to the atmosphere. In this contribution, we measured the Rn concentration in the air inside karst caves to constraints the recent fault activity in the Cantabrian Mountains (N Spain). Rock formations exhumed during the uplifting of the Cantabrian Mountains record a long history of fracturing, which has the potential to connect deeper sources of Rn with the surface. In this regional study, we correlate Rn measurements with cave survey data and geological structures using a Geographic Information Systems. Thirty-four Rn average concentration was recorded by CR-39 detectors during 8 integrated months. The method is applied to the central part of the Cantabrian Mountains that is built on sedimentary and low-grade metamorphic rocks relatively poor in U. Dominant tectonic structures and Rn concentration are examined in 28 cavities. The concentration of Rn values is higher than 0.5 kBq·m-3 in caves developed preferably following fractures with the direction N30oW, being the concentration greater than 0.8 kBq·m-3 in cavities located less than 200±50 m from subvertical faults with such orientation. Rn anomalies point to relative high connectivity along subvertical fault zones NW-trending, preserving fracture connectivity in the most recent structures in the Cantabrian Mountains. Finally, in the study area there is a low but significant radioactive hazard which is associated to fault zones in a fractured rock massif. It contrasts with other active tectonic settings where the radioactive hazard may come from fault movements.
Review of the most significant caves in Montenegro
Authors: Djurovic Mirela , Djurovic Predrag
Published: June 2021

The most significant caves in Montenegro were distinguished in response to their physical-geographic, biological, archeological and morphometric characteristics (length and depth). Caves distribute in four distinctive regions: coastal karst, karst plateau (relict valley system), fluvial karst (recent hydrologic systems) and the high mountainous karst area. The most outstanding within the last, due to abundances of the major caves with depths from a few hundred meters to 1,162 m, are four mountain regions: Mt. Durmitor, Mt. Lovćen-Orjen, Mt. Maganik and Mt. Bjelič.
Effect of process parameters on emulsion stability and droplet size of pomegranate oil-in-water
Authors: Kori A.H. , Mahesar S.A. , Sherazi S.T.H. , Khatri U.A. , Laghari Z.H. , Panhwar T.
Published: June 2021

The development of efficient emulsion is essential and requires a good understanding of the parameters that govern the formation and stability of the emulsion. The droplet size significantly affects the stability of the emulsion. In this study, the stability of pomegranate oil-in-water emulsions (0.5 to 7.0% v/v) was investigated using various emulsifiers in terms of droplet size and instability index during 16 days of storage. The Mastersizer and Lumisizer were used to measure the droplet size and instability index. It was observed that the minimum droplet size was achieved by using 0.3% carboxy methyl cellulose (5.37 μm) and maximum with 1.0/2.5% whey protein/maltodextrin (24.26 μm). The Lumisizer results during storage revealed the higher emulsion stability of carboxy methyl cellulose due to smaller droplet size and high thickness as compared to other emulsions studied. The findings of the present study would be useful for food applications to obtain fine and stable microcapsules.
Lipid composition of different parts of Cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana L.) fruit and valorization of seed and peel waste
Authors: Popova V. , Petkova Z. , Ivanova T. , Stoyanova M. , Mazova N. , Stoyanova A.
Published: June 2021

The consumption of Cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana L.) fruit (CG), fresh or processed, is gaining popularity worldwide, due to its nutritional and medicinal benefits. This study was based on the analysis of the lipid fraction of different parts of CG fruit and on further valorization of the resulting CG waste. The content of glyceride oil in CG seeds, peels and seed/peel waste, as well as the individual fatty acid, sterol and tocopherol composition of the oils was determined. CG seeds and seed/peel waste were a rich source of oil (up to 22.93%), which is suitable for nutritional application, due to its high proportions of unsaturated fatty acids (up to 83.77%), sterols (campesterol, Δ5-аvenasterol, β-sitosterol) and tocopherols (β-, δ- and γ-tocopherols). Seed/peel waste and the extracted seed cakes contained macro- and microminerals (K, Mg, Na, Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu) which are important for human and animal nutrition. Seed cakes had relatively high protein (24.32%) and cellulose (42.94%) contents, and an interesting amino acid profile. The results from the study contribute to a deeper understanding of the composition of CG fruit, and might be of practical relevance in the development of functional foods and feeds.
The impact of different levels of nisin as a biopreservative agent on the chemical, sensory and microbiological quality of vacuum-packed sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) fillets stored at 4 ± 2 °C
Authors: Ucar Y. , Ozogul Y. , Ozogul F. , Durmus M. , Kösker A.R. , Küley Boga E.
Published: June 2021

Nisin is produced by Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis and is also known as an antimicrobial agent especially effective against gram-positive bacteria. It has long been used as a preservative in foods and beverages and is generally regarded as safe (GRAS). In the present work, the effects of different concentrations of nisin (0.2, 0.4 and 0.8%) on the sensory, chemical and microbiological quality and shelf-life of vacuum-packed sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) fillets were investigated during chilled (4 ± 2 °C) storage. The sensory points for raw and cooked fillets increased with time during the storage period (p < 0.05). The control group, with scores of 9.08, was rejected by panelists on day 12; whereas nisin-treated groups were rejected on day 14 with scores ranging from 9.00-9.17 score. As a result of chemical analyses, lower values (p < 0.05) were obtained from the nisin groups with low oxidative rancidity. Moreover, nisin inhibited microbial growth, which shows antimicrobial activity. Consequently, it was concluded that the application of nisin (especially 0.8%) preserved the organoleptic quality and extended the shelf-life of sea bass fillets.
Un essai de caractérisation du didactique
Authors: Vadcard Lucile
Published: June 2021

Ce texte propose de revenir sur quelques-uns des travaux initiaux de la didactique des mathématiques et de montrer que les concepts et méthodes développés dans ce domaine constituent des pistes intéressantes mais finalement encore peu exploitées, pour des travaux traitant de formations professionnelles. Ainsi l’objectif de ce texte est-il de contribuer au projet de la didactique professionnelle de développer une approche « pleinement didactique » de la formation professionnelle.
Le discours mémoriel ottoman au musée naval d’Istanbul
Authors: Dumas Juliette
Published: June 2021

Depuis plus d’une décennie, les usages mémoriels du passé ottoman en Turquie connaissent une surenchère, qui dissimule une pluralité de discours encore mal étudiés. Cet article entend y contribuer, en prenant pour cadre d’étude le Musée naval d’Istanbul. La démarche retenue est celle de l’analyse du discours muséologique des espaces dédiés au temps ottoman, à travers l’étude des expôts et des panneaux explicatifs. Deux thèmes principaux émergent : la constitution d’une synthèse turco-ottomano-stambouliote et l’élaboration d’un discours de puissance des forces navales ottomano-turques. Le traitement de l’histoire s’y révèle très traditionnel : histoire par le haut, des grandes figures et de la dynastie ; histoire-bataille faite de grandes dates et teintée d’un puissant sentiment de fierté nationaliste. Musée militaire, la vaillance des forces navales ottomanes est affirmée, comme annonciatrice de la propre puissance navale turque : la rupture entre les deux époques est abolie ; la « décadence » militaire, entièrement rejetée. Corsaires et martyrs sont exaltés, mais l’histoire sociale de la marine ottomane reste inexistante.
Ressignificar para renovar : Novos usos, representações e resistências na Praça Sete, Belo Horizonte
Authors: Salles Renata de Leorne
Published: June 2021

A partir das últimas décadas do século XX, quando a preservação do patrimônio cultural ganhava relevância no Brasil, novas políticas urbanas emergiram para recuperar centros históricos considerados degradados, atribuindo-lhes funções atreladas à cultura. Logo, surgiram novos equipamentos culturais em localidades com potencial para atrair pessoas mais abastadas, conforme o poder público. Diante disso, pesquisou-se a revitalização do Cine Brasil, um antigo cinema de rua localizado na área central de Belo Horizonte, na Praça Sete, cuja consequente reabertura como espaço cultural, em 2013, foi uma experiência de renovação através da ressignificação do patrimônio. Levando em conta as representações capturadas em campo, obtidas através dos dados qualitativos provenientes de entrevistas semiestruturadas, foi possível averiguar os desdobramentos do novo equipamento, possibilitando elencar mudanças e permanências nas dinâmicas locais do espaço público renovado. Os resultados apontaram que a presença circunstancial de novos usuários consumidores de cultura não está sendo capaz de alterar os usos populares já consolidados na região.
The Use of Digital Technologies for Enhancing Female-Owned Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises in Southern Nigeria
Authors: Etim Ernest
Published: June 2021

The empowerment of women through quality education and wage employment has added to income generation for them and their families. Some women become entrepreneurs in the absence of meaningful wage employment, or where formal employments are seasonal, erratic, and not able to support the family. In Sub-Saharan Africa, women who are self-employed are growing exponentially. Globally, women-owned enterprises contribute nominally to total business revenues in most economies, suggesting that on average they are smaller in size and have lower market capitalization. Recently, businesses are migrating online, with entrepreneurs leveraging on digital platforms. This chapter investigates how social media can enhance business operations for women-owned firms, thus mitigating a number of these constraints. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 73 respondents; data were analyzed with SPSS (vs. 25). The results showed that some constraints experienced by female entrepreneurs were impacted positively with the use of digital technologies.
Gender Disparities in Primary and Secondary School Enrollment and Attainment in Nigeria
Authors: Etim James
Published: June 2021

The education of girls and women is necessary to national development. This chapter, divided into four parts, set out to study if there had been progress in the area of girl's education. Section 1 provides analyses of data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the Universal Basic Education Commission, and other Federal Government of Nigeria agencies on gender differences in education from 2010-2016. In Section 2, data is compared for selected years from 1990-2016 to determine if there are improving trends for girls in the areas of enrollment and completion rates. Section 3 explored some of the causes for the disparities. Section 4 discussed federal government input in the area of improving girls education in Nigeria and how education of women is a social justice issue and necessary for national development. The study showed that while there were improving trends, problems still remained. Recommendations were made on how to improve the situation. For without gender equality, women will continue to be left out of the national development process.
Gender Disparities in Educational Enrollment and Attainment in Sierra Leone
Authors: Kposowa Augustine J. , Johnson Karin A. C.
Published: June 2021

Sierra Leone endured social, economic, and political changes that impacted its educational system. Stymied development contributed to a persistent gender gap in schooling. Given changes over the decades, the chapter explores gender differences in educational enrollment and attainment at all levels—primary, secondary, and tertiary—using a 2017 Sierra Leone census cluster sample. The authors found that although educational disparities exist between girls and boys across the districts, there was no statistical difference in schooling between the groups in this sample. This suggests that Sierra Leone closed the educational parity gender gap. With political advancements, the authors situate findings within the context of a modernizing country that aims to reach primary and secondary education for all.
Transformative eLearning and Portfolio Careers in Higher Education
Authors: Le Rossignol Karen , Kelly Meghan
Published: June 2021

Distance learning has become a mainstream reality with the disruptive impact of the global pandemic COVID-19, pivoting to online delivery of learning across all sectors of teaching and learning. Within work-integrated learning (WIL) contexts, the digital storytelling program outlined in this chapter provides transformative and immersive digital workplace contexts and narratives to position student projects as professional work-oriented learning. The value of using a digital storytelling strategy is its capacity to give learners agency in skills acquisition and personal growth, preparing graduates for curating their stories across lifelong change and uncertainty. This chapter has positioned the digital narratives of work-oriented learning as contexts for learners to develop portfolio career mindsets best suited to a future world of work. This mindset will lead graduates to the concept of a portfolio career which is adaptable to disruptive change and flexible in transferring skills and knowledge across a range of positions and tasks.
Resilience by Academic Institutions During COVID-19
Authors: Aggarwal Rashmi , Verma Tanvi , Chhabra Rishu
Published: June 2021

COVID-19 has affected our educational sector adversely, which resulted in the closure of all academic institutions. This global health crisis demands social distancing as the way to keep the virus away and forced the academic institutions to adapt to this physical distancing from the students as well as colleagues. The faculty needs to be motivated in order to be innovative, interactive, and accessible. The pandemic has not only led to the disappearance of old teaching methods but also the adoption of the modular concept of e-learning. Through a review-based study, the authors discuss the diverse response by the academic institutions and assesses their resilience towards education and transition to online learning during challenging times. Through this study, the authors opined that significant opportunities are there which will help in learning from pedagogical developments of other academic institutions. This will help in strengthening the collective response to COVID 19.
Online Advertising Strategies in Indian and Australian E-Commerce Companies
Authors: Singh Varinder , Taneja Sanjay , Singh Varinderjeet , Singh Azad , Paul Harmesh Lal
Published: June 2021

Online advertising and marketing promote the different types of products through various kinds of advertising modes to customers. Online advertising is promotional messages that show up on the monitors of online laptops, desktops, tablets, televisions, and smart phones. The main objective of the study is to analyze the online advertising and impact comparison of online advertising strategy which is adopted by Indian and Australian e-commerce companies. To achieve the objectives of this study, the authors take the sample of 5 Indian and 5 Australian e-commerce companies. This study also found that the Indian and Australian e-commerce companies are inter-connected. Online advertising in India has been flowering and also increasing because of 4G connections, which are good for the future of online marketing. This chapter explains comparisons of Indian and Australian e-commerce companies and also focuses on the top 10 platforms to increase sales and customer attraction through advertising. The future of online advertising is brilliant and unlimited.
Developing a Framework to Study the Impact of Contingent Factors on Business Performance Using Strategic Cost Management
Authors: Verma Tanvi , Aggarwal Rashmi
Published: June 2021

In the present scenario, cost and management accounting techniques have proved their effectiveness in decision making as they provide value creation. Therefore, the need for transforming traditional cost and management accounting to strategic cost management has been recognized. Manufacturing or service industries continuously seek to achieve business performance with the help of strategic cost management using contingency theory. This chapter provides a semi-systematic review of the articles and research papers examining major themes found in the literature focusing on the impact of various factors that are contingent in nature on the business performance through usage of strategic cost management. Systematic analysis of literature identified numerous relevant articles and research papers in eminent journals. The results indicated that there exists an interrelationship among variables, and the finding supports the central proposition of contingency theory where business performance increases with the usage of strategic cost management and contingent factors.
COVID-19 Lessons for Mitigation and Future SME Prospects
Authors: Gervase Iwu Chux
Published: June 2021

Setting up and running a business can be quite risky without the necessary support. This support can emerge from an ecosystem that allows private, public, and social actors to work together in supporting the development of entrepreneurship because entrepreneurs' efforts result in SMEs. African countries struggle with maintaining a sustainable entrepreneurship ecosystem owing to several factors including poor governance systems, dilapidated infrastructure, poor funding systems, and absence of enterprise education. These factors compromise the acclaimed benefits of SMEs, which often experience a short life span. As such, SME performance is considered less than satisfactory. The emergence of COVID-19 has had a further negative impact on this trend. As one can imagine, many businesses today have yet to experience anything close to the upset brought about by the pandemic. There is therefore justification for a concerted interest in how SMEs will bounce back post-COVID-19 in Africa. This chapter focuses on how South African SMEs have fared and their sustainability post COVID-19.
Current and Post-COVID-19 Impact on SME Business Growth and Sustainability Trajectory
Authors: Rajagopal Kannan , Mahajan Vaisahli
Published: June 2021

This chapter attempts to study the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on business success and failure with an emphasis on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The other prime objective of the chapter is to discuss the various strategies that have been instigated by the government and other agencies to manage the adverse economic consequences caused by the pandemic situation. The theoretical investigation is done using secondary sources, which reveals that the SME sector has infused a strategic measure to bring back the situation to normalcy. However, there are still some more expectations from the SME sectors specifically from the government and other stakeholders to help them come out of this unforeseen situation.
Plausibility of Precision Agriculture as a COVID-19-Compliant Digital Technology for Food Security and Agricultural Productivity in Nigeria
Authors: Raimi Lukman , Sule Ramotu
Published: June 2021

The chapter discusses the plausibility of precision agriculture (PA) as a COVID-19-compliant digital technology to tackle the challenges of food insecurity and low agricultural productivity in Nigeria. In all the countries where PA has been adopted, it includes a wide array of disruptive technologies such as global positioning system (GPS), satellite imagery, monitoring control systems (MCS) using an intelligent sensor, artificial plant growing technique (APGT), soilless cultivation system (SCS), drones/unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), robotics, variable rate technology, GPS-based soil sampling, and telematics. Adopting the PA in commercial agriculture will improve food production, increase food exports, gross domestic products (GDPs), and strengthen the actualization of sustainable food security. Ultimately, this chapter concludes with policy suggestions for mitigating the rising trends in food insecurity, food inflation, and low agricultural productivity.
Positive Approaches and Practices for Sustainable SME Development in the COVID-19 Context
Authors: Burdenko Elena Viktorovna , Bykasova Elena Vyacheslavovna
Published: June 2021

The chapter is dedicated to the research and analysis of positive practices implemented by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Russia amid the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2016 to 2019, small and medium-sized business has most developed in such spheres as services, trade, construction, industrial production, and agriculture. The introduction of strict quarantine measures had a negative impact on the financial condition of all economic sectors; therefore, the most affected industries of the Russian economy have been identified. The chapter considers the positive practices used by SMEs operating in the affected industries such as tourism and hotel business, food service industry, and fitness industry. When the borders were closed and after the lifting of severe restrictions, domestic tourism saw the fastest development. The research that was carried out showed that amid strict isolation, only food service establishments that managed to adopt a new mode of services—connection to aggregators, organization of meals delivery to clients, take-away orders—were able to continue operating.
Post-Pandemic Sustainability Strategies for Zimbabwean SMEs
Authors: Dzingirai Mufaro , Tshuma Noah , Sikomwe Shingirai
Published: June 2021

In the past decade, the issue of sustainability in the context of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has attracted much attention from scholars and policymakers. Admittedly, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has generated much curiosity of scholars with regard to the sustainability of SMEs. Accordingly, this study seeks to explore sustainability strategies that can be employed by SMEs in Zimbabwe in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era. Notably, seven sustainable strategies emerged from the thematic analysis, namely, online marketplaces, leveraging technology, cost-cutting measures, customer relationship, innovation and creativity, sustainable culture, and collaboration and partnerships. The results of this study help the policymakers and practitioners in making sound decisions related to SME sustainability based on empirical evidence.
Strategies to Mitigate the COVID-19 Challenges of Universities in Bangladesh
Authors: Huque Sheikh Mohammed Rafiul , Aziza Tasnima , Farzana Tahira , Islam Mohammad Nazmul
Published: June 2021

The education sector in Bangladesh has been affected severely by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis like many other countries around the globe. Both the public and private universities faced different types of challenges to continue the teaching-learning process during this time. The chapter has explored these challenges and mitigation strategies based on quantitative and qualitative studies with undergraduate and graduate students of public and private universities. The study has covered both public and privately owned general and engineering universities to explore more specific issues and directives. Moreover, in-depth interviews were conducted with teachers to learn the problems they faced and subsequent strategies to cope with the challenges to minimize these challenges and educational loss. The study identified the infrastructural, technical, psychological, health, educational policy, and financial-related challenges faced by key stakeholders. The study incorporated directives to overcome these challenges and provide guidelines for policymakers at home and abroad.
The Application of Green Accounting According to Activity-Based Costing for an Orientation Towards a Green Economy
Authors: Demdoum Zakaria , Meraghni Oualid , Bekkouche Latifa
Published: June 2021

The present study aims to identify the opportunities and possibilities for applying green accounting according to the Activity Based Costing in light of the trend towards a green economy. To achieve this aim, the researchers designed and administered a questionnaire. A random sample of 180 individuals (participants) from managers and accountants of economic institutions in the southeastern area in Algeria are selected, and the statistical program SPSS 22 is used to analyze the obtained data. The study found that the sample institutions have a low level of interest in the environmental dimension, as well as a low level of interest in measuring environmental costs, which requires increased pressures on these organizations, whether from the government side or from the consumers.
The Impacts of Cooperative Learning on Demoting Communication Anxiety: With Special Reference to Engineering Undergraduates
Authors: Gardihewa P.N.
Published: June 2021

The English language is considered the lingua franca among speakers of different languages and it is predominantly a major subject in the world education system. Communication anxiety manipulates a dominant role in restricting communication among second language learners of English (ESL). ESL learners decline to converse in English since many scholars experience language anxiety in diverse forms. The main objective of the study was to investigate whether working in groups is effective to demote communication anxiety experienced by ESL learners and the sub-objective was to examine students' perceptions of group work in mitigating speaking anxiety. Nervousness and uneasiness are considered a complex and multi-faceted mental marvel by past analysts and they have proposed the utilization of diverse points of view and approaches to examine this phenomenon. Data were collected through quantitative data collection methods. 50 questionnaires were distributed at the pre-stage and the post-stage. Cooperative learning was adopted as a teaching strategy at the post-stage. The discoveries proposed that cooperative learning made a difference in easing and decreasing the communication anxiety felt by ESL learners and empowered them to utilize the second language. At the post-stage students portrayed incredible enhancements in their readiness to speak and take part in several errands and exercises in an English-speaking classroom. Through the discoveries, the analyst was able to suggest techniques to instructors that would offer assistance lighten communication anxiety felt by ESL learners by generating a difference to be less self-conscious and reinforce certainty.
Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernia Repair in Children
Authors: Rathod Kirtikumar J. , Sikchi Rupesh , Vig Ayushi , Jadhav Avinash , Saxena Rahul , Pathak Manish , Bhatia Pradeep , Sinha Arvind
Published: June 2021

Context:

Laparoscopic repair of pediatric inguinal hernia is gaining popularity, however there is no consensus about the technique of operation.

Aims:

The aim of the study was to compare the results and complications of two techniques of laparoscopic pediatric hernia repair.

Settings and Design:

This retrospective study was conducted at the Department of Pediatric Surgery in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jodhpur.

Subjects and Methods:

All children who underwent laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair at AIIMS, Jodhpur, during the period of September 2016–March 2019 were retrospectively studied. Parameters studied included age, gender, side of hernia, technique used, operating time, complications, and hospital stay. Patients were divided into two groups depending on whether the hernial sac was divided or not divided before taking a purse-string suture.

Statistical Analysis Used:

Student's t-test and Fischer exact test were used to analyze data.

Results:

A total of 114 patients were included in the study. The median age was 36.4 months. Hernial sac was divided before suturing in 53 patients, while sac was left intact in 61 patients. The mean follow-up was 11.4 months (range: 4–16). Age, gender, side of hernia, complications, and hospital stay were comparable in both groups. There was a significant difference between the mean operating duration in patients who underwent division of hernia sac compared to patients in whom the sac was not divided before putting purse-string suture (92.5 min [45–150] vs. 65.7 [30–90], respectively, P = 0.0101). Hernia recurrence (3.8% in Group A vs. 1.6% in Group B) was comparable in the two groups.

Conclusions:

Laparoscopic pediatric hernia repair done with or without dividing the peritoneal sac gives comparable results, however operative duration is less if sac is not divided.
Robotic infrahepatic vena cava clamping and Pringle manoeuvre for major hepatectomy
Authors: Marchegiani Francesco , Pesce Antonio , Damoli Isacco , Huscher Cristiano
Published: June 2021

Mini-invasive approaches in hepatic surgery are associated with a significant decrease in the incidence of post-operative morbidity and liver failure. Intraoperative blood loss represents the major intraoperative accident during hepatectomy. Infrahepatic inferior vena cava clamping is an emerging technical trick which guarantees a lower intraoperative blood loss and transfusion rates during liver surgery. Herein, we present the first report of infrahepatic caval clamping during robotic hepatectomy at our centre, highlighting some technical tips and tricks.
Turnpike in infinite dimension
Authors: Leonetti Paolo , Caprio Michele
Published: June 2021

Let
$\Phi $
be a correspondence from a normed vector space X into itself, let
$u: X\to \mathbf {R}$
be a function, and let
$\mathcal {I}$
be an ideal on
$\mathbf {N}$
. In addition, assume that the restriction of u on the fixed points of
$\Phi $
has a unique maximizer
$\eta ^\star $
. Then, we consider feasible paths
$(x_0,x_1,\ldots )$
with values in X such that
$x_{n+1} \in \Phi (x_n)$
, for all
$n\ge 0$
. Under certain additional conditions, we prove the following turnpike result: every feasible path
$(x_0,x_1,\ldots )$
which maximizes the smallest
$\mathcal {I}$
-cluster point of the sequence
$(u(x_0),u(x_1),\ldots )$
is necessarily
$\mathcal {I}$
-convergent to
$\eta ^\star $
.

We provide examples that, on the one hand, justify the hypotheses of our result and, on the other hand, prove that we are including new cases which were previously not considered in the related literature.
Exponentials of de Branges–Rovnyak kernels
Authors: Kuwahara Shuhei , Seto Michio
Published: June 2021

In this note, we give a new property of de Branges–Rovnyak kernels. As the main theorem, it is shown that the exponential of de Branges–Rovnyak kernel is strictly positive definite if the corresponding Schur class function is nontrivial.
Drug Shop Intervention to Enhance Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Patent Medicine Vendors for the Control of COVID-19 In Southeastern Nigeria
Authors: Chukwuocha Uchechukwu Madukaku , Iwuoha Gregory Ndubeze , Ashinze Onyeka Francis , Njoku Princewill Ugochukwu , Obasi Chidera Chisom , Adey Evelyn Ifezue , Dozie Ikechukwu Nosike Simplicius
Published: June 2021

Drug shops are the first point of care for most community members in low-resource countries. Because of symptomatic similarities with common illnesses such as malaria, probable coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases may seek care at drug shops, where the knowledge and skills required to handle it may be lacking, thereby fostering community spread of the disease. This single-arm study provided an intervention to improve COVID-19-related knowledge, attitude, and practices of patent medicine vendors (PMVs) in 97 participating drug shops selected through cluster sampling in Owerri, southeastern Nigeria. The intervention involved a drug shop sensitization using information, education, and communication material, as well as training on the use of a risk assessment checklist to identify probable COVID-19 cases and to take appropriate action. Data were collected to determine the effect of this intervention using a pre-tested questionnaire and practice observation checklist, first at baseline and then 3 months post-intervention. Data analysis involved exploratory analysis and the t-test to determine pre- and post-intervention mean score differences at the 5% α level. There was post-intervention knowledge improvement on the COVID-19 causative pathogen (98.1% post-intervention versus 61.9% pre-intervention) and disease transmissibility from person to person (95.9% post-intervention versus 81.4% pre-intervention) among other knowledge domains. There was significant post-intervention improvement for positive attitude, with a mean gain score of 2.8 ± 1.7 (t = 4.4, P = 0.005), and preventive practices, with a mean gain score of 6.0 ± 4.7 (t = 4.1, P = 0.007). Engaging patent medicine vendors in the pandemic response plans through targeted interventions such as drug shop intervention could prove vital in the fight against COVID-19.
Sexual dysfunction during primiparous and multiparous women following vaginal delivery
Authors: Makki Mehri , Abdoli Yazdi Noushin
Published: June 2021

Normal sexual functioning comprises of sexual activity together with transition through the phases from arousal to relaxation with no problem. Delivery has different effects on body organs, especially, on genitalia the disorder of which can cause sexual dysfunctions. In this study, an attempt is made to compare postpartum sexual dysfunction among primiparous and multiparous women. This descriptive cross sectional study was done on 564 primiparous (331) and multiparous (233) women chosen from among those who were present at health and clinical centres in Yazd, Iran. Data were gathered through a questionnaire consisting of demographics and questions related to sexual problems before and after 3-6 months of delivery. Both open-ended and closed items were included in the questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed in consultation with two health educators, a midwife, two gynaecologists and an expert in questionnaire validation. All registered data were analyzed by SPSS-15 software. Dyspareunia was shown to decrease after pregnancy in both primigravidae and multigravidae women (P<0.05). Libido decreased during multigravidae (P<0.05) while the difference was not significant during primigravidaes (P>0.05). Also, vaginal loosening was significantly increased in multigravid women (P<0.05) while it did not significantly change in primigravidae (P>0.05). The difference was not significant in primigravidae nor in multigravidae according to post coital bleeding, post coital itching, an-orgasmia, oral sex and anal sex. In conclusion, based on the results of this study, delivery has limited effects on sexual function of primiparous and multiparous women. Contradictory results of similar studies show the need for a précise critical appraisal and finding pitfalls of previous studies. Designing more valid surveys with larger sample size to determine the effects of delivery and parity on sexual function is recommended.
Stage at diagnosis, clinicopathological and treatment patterns of breast cancer at Bugando Medical Centre in north-western Tanzania
Authors: Mabula Joseph B. , Mchembe Mabula D. , Chalya Phillipo L. , Giiti Geofrey , Chandika Alphonce B. , Rambau Peter F. , Masalu Nestory , Gilyoma Japhet M.
Published: June 2021

Breast cancer, although reported to be the commonest female malignancy worldwide has not been extensively studied in north-western Tanzania. The aim of this retrospective review was to describe in our setting, the stage at diagnosis, clinicopathological and treatment patterns among patients with breast cancer. Data were analyzed using SPSS software system. A total of 384 patients were studied. The median age was 45 years (range 21 to 78 years). The male to female ratio was 1: 46.8. Most of the patients were premenopausal (63.8%) and presented late with advanced breast cancer disease. Majority of patients (63.0%) presented with stage III disease. Lymph node and distant metastasis at the time of diagnosis was reported in 70.8% and 21.4% of patients, respectively. Invasive ductal carcinoma (91.7%) was the most frequent histopathological type and most patients (63.8%) had poorly differentiated tumour. Patients with tumour size greater than 6cm had significantly high rate of lymph node metastasis (P=0.001) and presence of necrosis within the tumour (P=0.012) compared to patients with tumour size less than 6cm in diameter. Patients younger than 45 years had significantly high rate of lymph node metastasis compared to the patients above this age (P=0.011). Mastectomy was the main modality of treatment that was used in 99.5% of the patients. Adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy was reported in 44.8% and 11.7% of patients, respectively. Hormonal therapy (tamoxifen) was given postoperatively to all patients. The overall five-year survival rate was 21.8%. The age of patient at diagnosis, stage of disease, extent of lymph node involvement and histological grade were found to be independent predictors of overall survival rate (P<0.001). Local recurrence was 17.7% and it was significantly related to the stage of disease (P=0.003) and non-adherent to adjuvant therapy (P=0.021). Breast cancer patients in this region are relatively young premenopausal women and mostly present late with advanced stage and high rate of lymph node metastasis. There is need to improve public enlightenment of breast cancer and set up screening centres to encourage early presentations.
Antibiotics prescription practices for provisional malaria cases in three hospitals in Moshi, northern Tanzania
Authors: Chilongola Jaffu , Msoka Elizabeth , Juma Adinan , Kituma Elimsaada , Kwigizile Edith , Nyombi Balthazar
Published: June 2021

Background: Irrational antibiotic use is an important factor for development and spread of resistance to currently used antibiotics. This study was carried out to assess antibiotic prescribing practices among cases diagnosed as malaria at three hospitals in Moshi Municipality in northern Tanzania.Methods: This was a cross sectional, retrospective study that included patients files from Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC), Mawenzi Regional Hospital and St Joseph Hospital. Patient files whose primary provisional diagnosis was malaria were analysed using a convenient sampling method. Variables of interest were the types of medications prescribed, whether or not a laboratory test was requested and treatment was initiated before laboratory reports.Results: A total of 250 patients’ files were included in the analysis (KCMC=62.8%; Mawenzi=23.2%; St. Joseph=14.0%). In 232 (92.8%) prescriptions made in the three hospitals, laboratory tests were requested to confirm diagnoses. Among laboratory tests requested, 89.2% were blood slides for microscopic detection of malaria parasites, 3.01% malaria rapid diagnostic tests and 3.01% other tests. The majority of prescriptions across all three hospitals (KCMC=86.4%; Mawenzi=91.4%; St. Joseph= 72.4%; X2=7.787). Clinicians at Mawenzi were more likely to start treatment before laboratory findings than their counterparts at KCMC and St Joseph hospitals (X2=7.787, p≤0.05). A significantly higher number of prescriptions made before laboratory findings were observed at KCMC than Mawenzi and St. Joseph hospitals (X2=7.787, p<0.05). Prescriptions from KCMC were more likely to include at least one type of antibiotic than in the other two facilities. Over one third (KCMC=34.0%; St. Joseph=42.1%; Mawenzi=38.1%) of the prescriptions made contained at least one type of an antibiotic. There was a strong association between health facilities and antibiotics prescription in which KCMC prescribed antibiotics at the highest rate while Mawenzi Regional Hospital prescribed antibiotics at the lowest rates (X2=29.234, p<0.001).Conclusion: Antibiotics are prescribed at a high rate among provisionally diagnosed malaria cases before availability of laboratory results. Efforts should be made to improve laboratory services in terms of trained personnel and equipment to reduce irrational use of antibiotics in provisionally diagnosed malaria cases.