bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
TaxaGloss - A Glossary and Translation Tool for Biodiversity Studies
Authors: Collin Rachel , Fredericq Suzanne , Freshwater D. Wilson , Gilbert Edward , Madrid Maycol , Maslakova Svetlana , Miglietta Maria Pia , Rocha Rosana , Rodríguez Estefanía , Thacker Robert
Published: December 2016

Correctly identifying organisms is key to most biological research, and is especially critical in areas of biodiversity and conservation. Yet it remains one of the greatest challenges when studying all but the few well-established model systems. The challenge is in part due to the fact that most species have yet to be described, vanishing taxonomic expertise and the relative inaccessibility of taxonomic information. Furthermore, identification keys and other taxonomic resources are based on complex, taxon-specific vocabularies used to describe important morphological characters. Using these resources is made difficult by the fact that taxonomic documentation of the world's biodiversity is an international endeavour, and keys and field guides are not always available in the practitioner's native language.

To address this challenge, we have developed a publicly available on-line illustrated multilingual glossary and translation tool for technical taxonomic terms using the Symbiota Software Project biodiversity platform. Illustrations, photographs and translations have been sourced from the global community of taxonomists working with marine invertebrates and seaweeds. These can be used as single-language illustrated glossaries or to make customized translation tables. The glossary has been launched with terms and illustrations of seaweeds, tunicates, sponges, hydrozoans, sea anemones, and nemerteans, and already includes translations into seven languages for some groups. Additional translations and development of terms for more taxa are underway, but the ultimate utility of this tool depends on active participation of the international taxonomic community.
Pour une histoire des femmes à la Banque impériale ottomane : de l'empire pluriethnique à l'État-nation
Authors: Tanatar Baruh Lorans
Published: December 2016

Les archives de la direction du personnel de la Banque ottomane constituent une source unique composée de quelque 6 000 dossiers personnels d'employé(e)s. Ces dossiers individuels, complétés souvent par de la correspondance jettent une lumière précise sur la politique de recrutement et sur l'évolution de l'organisation interne de la Banque de la fin du xix e siècle au début des années 1930, quand la Banque a cessé d'assurer les fonctions d'une banque centrale. Comme toute banque d'émission impériale, la Banque ottomane se caractérise par une organisation multinationale et multi-ethnique. Elle se définit aussi par le rôle de ses dirigeants d'origine étrangère et par une culture d'entreprise de nature paternaliste. Ces traits sont ici mis au jour à travers une analyse des employées féminines de la Banque des années 1910 aux années 1930.
Mots, nostalgies, textures
Authors: Malamoud Charles
Published: December 2016

Introduire dans les contenus et les modes d'expression de sa propre pensée, quand on n'est pas Indien, des notions venues de l'Inde : ces transferts peuvent avoir la forme de simples emprunts de vocabulaire, ils peuvent porter aussi sur des doctrines ou des corpus narratifs. On examine ici quelques exemples très disparates de ce recours à l'Inde, choisis dans les littératures française et allemande du xx e  siècle.
Cartographier l'humanité depuis Calcutta : à propos de la théorie ethnolinguistique de Sir William Jones (1746-1794)
Authors: Raj Kapil
Published: December 2016

Au cours des dernières décennies, des historiens des sciences ont de plus en plus remis en question la croyance largement répandue que le savoir n'a rien à voir avec le lieu de son élaboration. Le domaine a ainsi pris un tournant spatial. Grâce à un examen des écrits de Sir William Jones (1746-1794) pendant son séjour indien, en particulier sa généalogie de l'humanité suivant le Déluge, cette étude vise à mettre en lumière le rôle crucial de l'interaction culturelle entre élites britanniques et autochtones en Inde dans la construction de la linguistique et de l'ethnologie au xix e siècle.
Une République mondiale de l’administration ? Circulations internationales, sciences de gouvernement et réforme administrative (1910-1945)
Authors: Payre Renaud
Published: December 2016

Dans l’entre-deux-guerres, une communauté d’acteurs – à la croisée entre haute administration et université – s’est constituée au niveau international autour de la nécessité de former les administrateurs et de fonder une science de l’administration envisagée comme un levier de la réforme administrative. Cette « République de l’Administration » visait plus largement à renforcer l’administration dans un État libéral. L’article revient sur les intentions politiques de ces réformateurs cherchant à favoriser une plus grande efficacité de l’action publique et une place plus centrale des experts administratifs. Mais les propos s’attardent également sur l’absence de réelle circulation internationale au sein de cette communauté. Le projet de cette République de l’Administration restera en grande partie inachevé tant les prétentions scientifiques, les objectifs politiques et les visées géopolitiques n’étaient pas les mêmes des deux côtés de l’Atlantique. La rencontre internationale entre les protagonistes des différents pays n’a pas eu lieu.
Problems in using the approach of Rayleigh distillation to interpret the 13C and 18O isotope compositions in stalagmite calcite
Authors: Dreybrodt Wolfgang
Published: December 2016

When calcite is precipitated from a water film on top of a stalagmite to its surface, the carbonate in the solution and consequently also the carbonate in the calcite deposited becomes enriched in the heavy isotopes 18O and 13C (Hansen et al. 2016; Dreybrodt & Scholz 2011; Romanov et al. 2008). This isotope signal is added to the isotope imprint resulting from climate variability. Therefore a physical model of the evolution of the isotope composition of carbonate in a water film, either flowing down the surface of the stalagmite at high drip rates or stagnant, when the drip rate is low, is necessary to discriminate the climate signal from the signal resulting from physical processes in the cave.Currently two models are proposed. In the first one (Scholz et al. 2009) one assumes that the isotope evolution can be described by a Rayleigh distillation process (Mook 2000) where during the entire process of precipitation the fractionation factor for carbon or oxygen, respectively remains constant. In another model one assumes that precipitation is a uni-directional non-equilibrium process, where the constants in the rate equations are slightly different for the light and the heavy isotope (Dreybrodt 2008; Dreybrodt & Scholz 2011). Results from these models have been compared for various scenarios by Scholz et al. (2009), Dreybrodt and Scholz (2011), Dreybrodt and Deininger (2014) and Dreybrodt and Romanov (2016). Differences of opinion clearly exist in the research community regarding which of these models best represents reality. In this letter I discuss the meaning of the Rayleigh equation for precipitation of calcite under equilibrium conditions and for precipitation of calcite governed by uni-directional rate equations.
The Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility Proposition
Authors: Camilleri Mark Anthony
Published: December 2016

This chapter deliberates on the business case for CSR. It contends that corporations are capable of implementing responsible behaviors as they pursue their profit-making activities. A thorough literature review suggests that there is a link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) or corporate social performance (CSP) and financial performance. In addition, there are relevant theoretical underpinnings and empirical studies that have used other constructs, including corporate citizenship, stakeholder engagement and business ethics. In this light, this contribution reports on how CSR is continuously evolving to reflect today's societal realities. Therefore, it raises awareness of key notions representing strategic CSR, creating shared value and corporate sustainability and responsibility (CSR2.0). This latter perspective suggests that responsible behavioral practices may be strategically re-conceived to confer competitive advantage over rival firms. Therefore, this chapter makes reference to laudable investments that could unleash shared value. It implies that CSR2.0 demands business to build adaptive approaches with stakeholders for the benefit of the firm and for societal advancement.
CSR, Public Spending, and the State
Authors: Sarter E. K.
Published: December 2016

Starting with a brief introduction to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and political attempts that aim at promoting social responsibility of enterprises, this chapter focuses on regulatory instruments to use states' consumer power as a lever to promote CSR in a world that is increasingly shaped by supra-national trade agreements. By taking into account socially responsible behavior of potential business partners when making procurement decisions, states' agencies can aim to promote CSR a business case for companies. Yet, in the light of increasing supranational regulation aiming to promote free trade, tensions arise between market-building and free trade on the one hand and political attempts to use public procurement as a means to foster CSR on the other. This chapter provides an outline of the current state of supranational regulative policies on public procurement, with special emphasis to the European Union, and explores their implications for strategic public procurement.
Social Value Co-Creation
Authors: Devereux Michael T. , Gallarza Martina G. Gonzales
Published: December 2016

Societal demands and consumer patterns have changed: there is a need of elaborating on new concepts and mindsets in understanding stakeholder engagement in relation to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in a way that can challenge the traditional ways of thinking and provide a basis for benefits to all stakeholders. Theoretically, this chapter provides a unique and fresh perspective to the concept of CSR, as it aims at applying, within the Service-Dominant (S-D) logic mindset, the value co-creation happening within a social setting. It adds backing through an empirical study taken mixed qualitative approach in effort to establish a concrete foundation for the interpretation of insights through three different stakeholders (customers, employees, and managers) in a practical, real world environment. Insights allow the formulation and provision of Social Value Co-Creation (SVcC) as a revisited understanding of corporate citizenship that can contribute to a contemporary approach to CSR.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Reporting and Seeking Legitimacy of Māori Communities
Authors: Holland Paul George , Alakavuklar Ozan Nadir
Published: December 2016

The purpose of this study is to understand whether the seeking of legitimacy from Maori communities by Aotearoa New Zealand energy companies is a historical consistent practice or a result of a proposal of privatization. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports of four different State Owned Enterprises are analyzed longitudinally beginning from 2008 to 2013 with a mixed methods approach. It is found that the NZ energy sector doesn't have a common approach in how it communicates with Maori stakeholders but rather that each organization tailors its interaction with Maori communities based on the circumstances each individual organization is in. The study contributes to research concerning the use of content related to Maori and Maori indigenous values in CSR communication as well as to that research investigating how organizations respond to potential threats to their legitimacy through the use of CSR communication in Aotearoa New Zealand context.
Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility and Disaster Risk Reduction
Authors: Radovic Vesela Milorad
Published: December 2016

Numerous risks in global community represent significant risk for the future sustainable development. Serbia is exposed to various risks and international help is sometimes needed. This paper presents limitations of Serbian emergency services, business community, as well as insurance and reinsurance market, in the process of reducing environmental risks in disaster. Serbian environment is vulnerable because of irresponsible behavior of some parts of industry sector. They do not apply the concept of corporate social responsibility in a greater scope. Analysis of the data presented in the paper show that there is a lot of room for improvement despite some positive changes in business community and recent efforts in the process of disaster risk reduction. In Serbia there is obvious need for adaptation of the widest contemporary concept of Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility perspective: CSR 2.0. This concept will contribute to increasing of organizational competitiveness and more adequate response of stakeholders to disaster.
Comparative Perspectives on CSR 2.0 in the Contexts of Galicia and North of Portugal
Authors: Sánchez-Fernández María Dolores , Cardona José Ramón , Martínez-Fernández Valentín-Alejandro
Published: December 2016

The social responsible behavior of three, four- and five star hotels located in two different regions belonging to two adjacent countries, Galicia (Spain) and Northern Portugal (Portugal) are compared in this investigation. A factor analysis technique along with the Structural Equations Models (SEM) methodology was applied in order to carry out this research. It is a quantitative study which measures the relationship between CSR (Gallardo, Sanchez, & Corchuelo, 2013) and the institutional context (Kostova & Roth, 2002; Llamas-Sanchez, García-Morales, & Martin-Tapia, 2013; Vargas-Sánchez & Riquel-Ligero, 2015) which relate on the basis of a model proposed for this research. The main conclusions show that the hotels under study have different social responsible behavior depending on their location and the institutional context. The regions under study are delimited by the unequal influence of institutional pressures.
Serving the Purpose?
Authors: Zebregs Anya , Moratis Lars
Published: December 2016

Firms tend to approach corporate social responsibility (CSR) from a business case perspective. This study examines whether communicating CSR through self-serving direct motives (increasing profit) or self-serving indirect motives (enhancing corporate image), can lead to more credibility and whether corporate reputation, firms' prior CSR beliefs, and perceived honesty of the message influence this relationship. The research focuses on the financial industry, using an existing mainstream bank (ING) as example. Data was collected using a survey. From the results, a rather nuanced picture emerges about the relationship between perceived CSR motive and the credibility of corporate CSR claims. Partly in contrast to extent literature, communicating self-serving motives may increase perceived credibility. Moreover, this effect is stronger for the indirect self-serving motive than for the direct self-serving motive and results vary based on whether or not respondents are customer of the bank. For customers, image and mixed motives appear to be relevant, whereas non-customers also consider economic benefits when attributing a CSR motive. Further, prior CSR beliefs only function as moderator when participants had to form an opinion of a bank that was not their own. Lastly, corporate reputation is not found as a moderator but appears to mediate the relationship between self-serving motives and perceived credibility. An implication of this study is that marketers should be aware of the motives for engaging in CSR as perceived by the public (both customers and non-customers) and realize that the business case for non-customers is a broader concept than for customers.
Barriers to Responsible Tourist Behaviour
Authors: Del Chiappa Giacomo , Pinna Mariella , Atzeni Marcello
Published: December 2016

Responsible tourism is an increasingly observed phenomenon. This study offers new insights into the factors that prevent tourists from travelling responsibly. In particular, a sample of 837 Italian travelers was profiled based on the main impediments toward responsible tourism. Findings of the study suggested that impediments toward responsible tourism are related to five main categories: ‘lack of accessibility', ‘unwillingness', ‘lack of trustworthiness', ‘stress', and ‘price'. Cluster analysis revealed the existence of four tourist segments: the ‘existential pessimists', the ‘distrustful and accessibility seekers', the ‘mindless', and the ‘accessibility and time-saving seekers'. Furthermore, a series of distribution tests (?2) showed that significant differences exist between the segments only based on the level of education, whereas no differences were found related to gender, age, marital status, employment status, monthly household income, or association membership. Finally, managerial implications of the study are discussed, along with recommendations for future research.
Political Messaging in Digital Spaces
Authors: Sandoval-Almazan Rodrigo
Published: December 2016

Political messaging is adapting to new digital spaces. However, the power of citizens through the use of this digital spaces is still unknown. Many citizens criticize political candidates using Facebook or Twitter, others build networks in Snapchat and some others try to collaborate with candidates using Periscope or WhatsApp. This research is focused in understanding this adaptation of political message on this platforms, analyzing the case of the presidential candidate Enrique Peña Nieto (PRI) in Mexico who won the presidency with a large participation but without the support of Twitter users. After two online protests against this presidential candidate - #IamnotProletariat and #Iam132 – political image could have been undermined and voters could have thought differently. But this was not the case and despite of this, the candidate won. The challenge to understand this online protest and its link to the political message is addressed in this paper.
Towards a Political Theory of eLearning
Authors: Romm-Livermore Celia , Rippa Pierluigi , Raisinghani Mahesh S.
Published: December 2016

This study focuses on the political strategies that are utilized in the context of eLearning. The starting point for this paper is the eLearning Political Strategies (ELPoS) model. The model is based on two dimensions: 1) the direction of the political strategy (upward or downward), and 2) the scope of the political strategy (individual or group based). The interaction between the above dimensions defines four types of eLearning political strategies, which result in different political outcomes. The presentation of the model is followed by four mini case studies that demonstrate the political strategies that the model outlines. The discussion and conclusion sections integrate the findings from the case studies and elaborate on the rules that govern the application of political strategies in different eLearning contexts.
Ubiquitous Food Imaging
Authors: Ibrahim Yasmin
Published: December 2016

In our digital world, our notions of intimacy, communion and sharing are increasingly enacted through new media technologies and social practices which emerge around them. These technologies with the ability to upload, download and disseminate content to select audiences or to a wider public provide opportunities for the creation of new forms of rituals which authenticate and diarise everyday experiences. Our consumption cultures in many ways celebrate the notion of the exhibit and the spectacle, inviting gaze, through everyday objects and rituals. Food as a vital part of culture, identity, belonging, and meaning making celebrates both the everyday and the invitation to renew connections through food as a universal subject of appeal.
When Citizens in Authoritarian States Use Facebook for Social Ties but Not Political Participation
Authors: Wakabi Wairagala
Published: December 2016

Numerous researchers have found a correlation between citizens' use of social networking sites (SNS) like Facebook and their likelihood for eParticipation. However, SNS use does not have the same effect on all citizens' political engagement. In authoritarian countries, Facebook offers a platform for citizens to challenge the power of the state, provide alternative narratives and mobilise for political change. This chapter examines how using Facebook affects the participative behaviours of Ugandans and concludes that in low internet use, authoritarian contexts, the Civic Voluntarism Model's postulation of the factors that explain political participation, and the benefits Facebook brings to participation in Western democracies, are upended. Overwhelming detachment from politics, low belief in citizens' online actions influencing change and fear of reprisals for criticising an authoritarian president in power for 30 years, severely dulled the appetite for eParticipation. Hence, Facebook was growing citizens' civic skills but hardly increasing online participation.
Women Can't Win
Authors: Bruner Michael S. , Valine Karissa , Ceja Berenice
Published: December 2016

This chapter employs irony as a tool to make clearer the workings of one form of the e-politics of food, namely, the structural food oppression linked to the weight and shape of the female body. The authors argue that the e-politics of the weight and shape of the female body is one of the most important incarnations of the e-politics of food and one of the most vigorously contested. This chapter examines many forms of public discourse and e-politics, from Bing to Tumblr, from Huffington Post to the Mirror (UK), from TV news in Lacrosse, Wisconsin to The Times of India, from the documentary film Killing Us Softly to the book You Are What You Eat, and from WebMD to Twitter, in the end, with a central focus on Rachel Frederickson on the TV show, The Biggest Loser. The critical rhetorical analysis finds some support for the Women Can't Win thesis. Women are in a Catch-22 situation, trapped between fat-shaming and skinny-shaming.
Critical Issues on Gender Equality and ICTs in Latin America
Authors: Montiel Aimée Vega
Published: December 2016

In the context of the new media environment, several social, political and economic divides are being produced. As the effects of those changes are not neutral, because of gender inequality, the status of women's human rights in the digital age are precarious. To what extent does the new media environment promote women's human and communication rights or contribute to sustaining the oppression of women in society? Based on the feminist political economy perspective, the aim of this paper is to analyze some of the critical issues on gender equality and ICTs in Latin America.1
Multi-Agent-Based Information Retrieval System Using Information Scent in Query Log Mining for Effective Web Search
Authors: Chawla Suruchi
Published: December 2016

This chapter explains the multi-agent system for effective information retrieval using information scent in query log mining. The precision of search results is low due to difficult to infer the information need of the small size search query and therefore information need of the user is not satisfied effectively. Information Scent is used for modeling the information need of user web search session and clustering is performed to identify the similar information need sessions. Hyper Link-Induced Topic Search (HITS) is executed on clusters to generate the Hubs and authorities for web page recommendations to users who search with similar intents. This multi-agent system based on clustered query sessions uses query operations like expansion and recommendation to infer the information need of user search queries and recommends Hubs and authorities for effective web search.
Knowledge Representation Technologies Using Semantic Web
Authors: Kumar Vudattu Kiran
Published: December 2016

The World Wide Web (WWW) is global information medium, where users can read and write using computers over internet. Web is one of the services available on internet. The Web was created in 1989 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Since then a great refinement has done in the web usage and development of its applications. Semantic Web Technologies enable machines to interpret data published in a machine-interpretable form on the web. Semantic web is not a separate web it is an extension to the current web with additional semantics. Semantic technologies play a crucial role to provide data understandable to machines. To achieve machine understandable, we should add semantics to existing websites. With additional semantics, we can achieve next level web where knowledge repositories are available for better understanding of web data. This facilitates better search, accurate filtering and intelligent retrieval of data. This paper discusses about the Semantic Web and languages involved in describing documents in machine understandable format.
Discovering Knowledge Hidden in Big Data from Machine-Learning Techniques
Authors: Rao Adiraju Prashantha
Published: December 2016

As the speed of information growth exceeds in this new century, excessive data is making great troubles to human beings. However, there are so much potential and highly useful values hidden in the huge volume of data. Big Data has drawn huge attention from researchers in information sciences, policy and decision makers in governments and enterprises. Data analytic is the science of examining raw data with the purpose of drawing conclusions about that information. Data analytics is about discovering knowledge from large volumes data and applying it to the business. Machine learning is ideal for exploiting the opportunities hidden in big data. This chapter able to discover and display the patterns buried in the data using machine learning.
Mining on Social Media
Authors: Prasad Ambati Venkata Krishna , Mandhala Venkata Naresh
Published: December 2016

Social media mining is the process of representing, analyzing, and extracting actionable patterns and trends from raw social media data. Social media is favored by many users since it is available to individuals without any limitations to share their opinions, educational learning experiences and concerns via their status. Twitter API, twitter4j, is processed for searching the tweets based on the geo location. Student's posts on social network offers us a stronger concern to take decisions concerning the particular education system's learning method of the system. Evaluating knowledge in social media is sort of a difficult method. Bayes classifier are enforced on deep-mined knowledge for analysis purpose to urge the deeper understanding of the information. It uses multi label classification technique as every label falls into completely different classes. Label based measures are mostly taken to research the results and comparing them with the prevailing sentiment analysis technique.
A Multifactorial Analysis of the Acceptance of Recommender System for Saudi Universities the Literature Revisited
Authors: Alharbi Hadeel , Sandhu Kamaljeet
Published: December 2016

Technology for learning is increasingly about enhancing users' interactions with the technology to improve learning outcomes. Of particular importance however to improving educational outcomes is the need to complement the technological advancements with advances in the educational practices of teachers to broaden the uptake of new technologies for learning. Recommender Systems are personalised services that aim to predict a learner's interest in some services or items such as courses, grades, references, links, etc. available in e-learning applications and to provide appropriate recommendations. Such systems can potentially enhance student learning by providing students with a more hands on, interactive and tailored learning experience.
A Proposed Framework Factors of the Acceptance of Recommender Systems in E Learning for Saudi Universities
Authors: Alharbi Hadeel , Sandhu Kamaljeet
Published: December 2016

There is still a gap of knowledge on the usage of recommender systems in Saudi universities and the wider issue of technological change in the universities of developing countries. Relatively, this lack of knowledge is an issue to universities seeking to meet students/instructors' expectations and requirements by offering consistently high perceived service standards of e-learning services in a rapidly changing technological environment. To address this issue, this paper seeks to explore the impact of the acceptance and adoption of recommender systems in e-leaning for Saudi universities and this will help to investigate the students/instructors experience according to the e-learning service quality. Thus, a proposed e-framework has been presented. Such framework describes the factors of acceptance (such as service quality, student/instructor experience, and Human Computer Interaction guidelines) should be considered in the e-learning system because it is viewed as a determinant of student/instructor/university satisfaction.
Web Caching System
Authors: Sathiyamoorthi V.
Published: December 2016

It is generally observed throughout the world that in the last two decades, while the average speed of computers has almost doubled in a span of around eighteen months, the average speed of the network has doubled merely in a span of just eight months! In order to improve the performance, more and more researchers are focusing their research in the field of computers and its related technologies. World Wide Web (WWW) is one of the services provided by the Internet medium for sharing of information. As a result, millions of applications run on the Internet and cause increased network traffic and put a great demand on the available network infrastructure. With the increase in the number of Internet users, it is necessary to enhance the speed. This paper addresses the above issues and proposes a novel integrated approach by reviewing the works related to Web caching and Web pre-fetching.
The State of Art in Website Usability Evaluation Methods
Authors: Nagpal Renuka , Mehrotra Deepti , Bhatia Pradeep Kumar
Published: December 2016

Measuring the usability of the website is a key metrics which all designers always tries to maximize. Compared to other software it is very difficult to estimate the website usability as each website has many objective and wide range of visitor with different learnability. The objective of this study is summarizing different approaches used to measure the usability of website. The current study includes the different approaches proposed in literature in last two decades. Approaches are classified in six broad categories and a comparison between them is done. Trends in web usability of evaluation approaches are understood in light of changing needs of website.
Towards Visually Impaired Autonomy in Smart Cities
Authors: Ramirez Alejandro Rafael Garcia , Gonzalez-Carrasco Israel , Jasper Gustavo Henrique , Lopez Amarilys Lima , Livramento da Silva Renato Fonseca , Crespo Angel Garcia
Published: December 2016

Urban growth adversely affects accesses to public spaces and to their physical and functional structures. Simple tasks become a challenge for visually impaired individuals either because of the difficulty getting reliable non-visual information from the surrounding space or the lack of information. In Smart Cities scenarios, important investments will be directed to urban accessibility, but nowadays people with sensory disabilities still have to face mobility problems in those spaces. Therefore, designing suitable solutions to provide more information about urban spaces is extremely important and requires user participation. This context motivated the development of the Electronic Long Cane project. The project enhances the features of traditional long canes to detect obstacles located above the waist. Nowadays, the electronic cane was redesigned including new functions based on the Internet of Things. As a result, evidences of User-Centric Design have emerged, increasing the probability of success of this technology in Smart Cities context.
Rethinking the Fact-Value Split
Authors: Smith R. Scott
Published: December 2016

Multicultural, western societies are quite secular, and the secular-sacred divide has been shaped by the fact-value split. But, the fact-value split also influences many other cultures, including in Latin and South America and East Asia. On it, science yields knowledge, but religion and ethics yield opinions and values. Closely related is the public-private split: governments should act on public reasons (ones based on science), and not private ones (ones based on religious and ethical views). Such science is methodologically naturalistic, bracketing anything supernatural or non-physical. This science usually presupposes ontological naturalism: what exists is natural, or physical. But, the author will contend the fact-value split is mistaken; on naturalism, humans cannot have knowledge. At best, people only have interpretations, even in science. However, the author also will argue that people can have moral and religious knowledge. If so, there will be many practical implications for public policy and religious practice.
Making the Unbearable Bearable through Existential Spirituality
Authors: Webster R. Scott
Published: December 2016

In this chapter the case is made that spirituality can indeed have a significant impact upon practical life. Existential spirituality refers to the way one gives meaning and purpose to one's life. The value of spirituality is best appreciated when one's life undergoes an existential crisis, particularly when a worldview, which was assumed to give sense to one's life, no longer has the legitimacy it once had. When a religious, traditional or customary doctrine or worldview loses its authority through an existential crisis, the individual often experiences nihilism. This can often make an experience of hardship quite unbearable because one's suffering is unable to reference any grand narrative or framework of meaning to give sense to one's situation. Using Kierkegaard's three stages of existence, it is argued that making one's spirituality more authentic by taking personal responsibility on an individual level, might be able to make unbearable experiences more bearable.
Religion and the Social Economy
Authors: Brown Malcolm David
Published: December 2016

This chapter presents “elective affinities” between, on the one hand, strands in contemporary religiosity that seek to rediscover or reinterpret older religiosities in a contemporary context and idiom (e.g. liberation theology, multi-faith activity, the SBNR - spiritual but not religious - phenomenon, and the new monasticism), and, on the other hand, the contemporary phenomenon of the social economy (social business, social enterprise, and the sharing economy). As the social economy occupies a space between the values of capitalism and the strategies of socialism, rooted in a civil society that strives to maintain a freedom from both the economy and the state, so these religious phenomena occupy a space between secularisation and sacralisation, between a separation of church and state and a subsumption of state under church. They are all concerned with social justice now (rather than after the revolution), and bear witness to a potential for religious and societal transformation.
Multiculturalism, Morality, and Secondary Secularisation
Authors: Chollier Marie , Tassinari Mariateresa
Published: December 2016

Starting from secularisation and its social counterpart, namely the institutional roles and functions of religious bodies being replaced by scientific disciplines or rationales, this chapter aims at providing an analytical approach of restorative justice, focusing on chaplaincy interventions in prison and probation settings. A case study of the Circle of Support and Accountability (CoSA) following a structural and moral analysis is provided. CoSA origin and expansion are developed to understand how a religious initiative became within less than two decades a standardised intervention. This process is described as secondary secularisation to illustrate how secular and religious morals find a common ground by building common good through practices.
Social Networking and Social Media Comparisons
Authors: Brown Sr. Michael A.
Published: December 2016

Organizations, researchers and academicians now have a new source for social networking methodology through Social Networking and Individual Performance (SNIP). This book will provide a scored survey instrument that, combined with research findings, relevant discovery and discussion will bring social networking into focus. The body of work focuses on the end state of social networking activities rather than the social media platform. This is an important distinction. This book addresses how to set an end state and devise a strategic approach to emphasize expectation, value, and return (EVR) in social networking. This approach is important because there are not enough references that have a similar approach to help those engaged in social networking and social media activities. In fact, there are none that focus on the current approach. SNIP addresses that limitation.
SNIP
Authors: Brown Sr. Michael A.
Published: December 2016

This chapter focuses on the development of a new assessment tool: Social Networking and Individual Performance (SNIP). This tool can provide valuable data for organizations and even individuals. The data provided through use of the tool can determine whether employees are exhibiting behaviors that are supportive of the organization's goals, thus allowing everyone to benefit based on a return on the investment in time or attention that could lead to improved skills. Employees might then reap benefits like availability of new challenges or increased standing in the organization. The data can also provide insight on improving personal social media activities.
Using Social Media Tools in Marketing
Authors: Erragcha Nozha
Published: December 2016

Within the new economic and social environment, development of new technologies combined with Internet progress has had a profound impact on consumer lifestyles and, by extension, marketing concepts and practices. Understanding changes in marketing brought by a fast-acting development of digital social networks and Web 2.0 technology has become essential. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the impact of Web 2.0 on marketing and how marketers can use evolving technologies. Our contribution aligns changes in marketing techniques with Internet development and the changes introduced by the transition from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. The chapter ends with a proposal of about potential implications for managers.
Social Networking Engagement and Crisis Communication Considerations
Authors: Marovitz Mitchell
Published: December 2016

This chapter covers crisis communication, focusing on the crucial activities before, during, and after a crisis occurs. An environmental scan identifies risks an organization may encounter. Prioritizing these risks informs the creation of crisis communications plans for each risk. These plans include a strategy to guide all organizational communications efforts. Timeline, budget, products, digital resources, and formative measurement all must be considered. Practice is essential. These actions can prepare an organization and its people to manage high-pressure, high-speed activities in real time. Once the crisis is controlled, it is time to evaluate the plan and institute adjustments as required.
Invest, Engage, and Win
Authors: Yarchi Moran , Wolfsfeld Gadi , Samuel-Azran Tal , Segev Elad
Published: December 2016

Though the use of social media for political campaigning has been widely studied, its correlation with electoral success has not received much attention. The current study uses the 2013 Israeli elections to examine the impact of social media on campaigns as a process. Findings indicate that parties and candidates that invest in social media are more likely to achieve social media success, which in turn increases their chances of achieving electoral success. Some may dispute the level of influence of social media; however, study findings suggest that being active in the digital arena has become a significant element in achieving ballot box success.
Knowledge Management and Records Management and Competitive Advantage in Business
Authors: Juma Alphonse , Mzera Nelly
Published: December 2016

This chapter does not seek to start or close a debate about Knowledge management (KM) versus Records Management (RM) differences to organisations. Our humble purpose is to review literature and show how KM and RM help organisations to have competitive advantage both from the public and private sectors. The chapter first examines the knowledge and records concept by presenting the definitions to circumscribe their differences. Secondly, an understanding of knowledge management is done by presenting and defining the key concepts. Thirdly, a discussion on the nexus between knowledge management and records management is given by presenting reviews from literature related to the areas. Fourthly, records management and knowledge management in enhancing competitive advantage are discussed. Last but not list, the chapter discusses knowledge management enablers in organisations; and technologies and applications for knowledge management.
Social Media
Authors: Kamatula Gwakisa Andindilile
Published: December 2016

Information sharing via social media has become stylish, fashionable and unavoidable in all walks of life to date. Through Social media tools people can share information quickly and widely within a very short period of time. From desktop research and documentary review, the chapter establishes how effective use of social media can enhance knowledge sharing within government organizations in a bid to generate new possibilities and opportunities for their efficiency in business operations. The chapter concludes by proposing issues to be considered by modern governments as they embrace the proliferation of social media technologies for effective knowledge sharing which is of vital importance for their success. It has however been emphasized on the necessity of developing and implementing social media policies and procedures.
Knowledge Sharing in Business Organizations
Authors: Arun Korhan
Published: December 2016

This chapter aims to explain leadship in knowledge sharing in the business environment. Knowledge sharing is not primarily an information technology issue, because knowledge exists not only in the minds of members but also in the business processes and structures of organizations. That is why Knowledge Sharing Culture (KSC) and leadership play a significant role on knowledge sharing. This chapter presents the findings of a study which was carried-out to investigate the effects of different leadership styles on knowledge sharing in business organizations. As leadership dimensions; transformational, transactional, autocratic, self-leadership and laissez-faire leadership styles were analyzed. A quantitative empirical research using the survey method was adopted to see the leadership effects on KSC in the 130 enterprises from the Aegean Free Zone/Turkey. The findings of the study revealed that trust, sharing data freely, friendship and teamwork were important in knowledge sharing.
The Nexus Between Knowledge Management and Electronic Resources for Public Sector Reform in Botswana
Authors: Moahi Kgomotso Hildegard , Rathapo Shadrack , Sebina Peter M.
Published: December 2016

Public sector reforms have become the norm in many jurisdictions, especially in the African continent. In Botswana there have been a number of significant reform activities over the years, aimed at enhancing the public sectors capacity to deliver effective and efficient service to its population. The authors contend that the implementation of reforms result in significant documentation, knowledge and lessons learnt that need to be harvested and harnessed to improve future implementation of such programs. This can be done for as long as the relationship between electronic records and Knowledge Management in this era is recognized, and both are embedded in the public-sector reforms design and implementation. This paper shows that there is a nexus between the management of knowledge and electronic records in achieving the objectives of public sector reforms. It also explicates reasons the relationship is important. It assesses the implementation of KM in the public sector and the link with electronic records management, and concludes that there is room for both.
Development and Modification of Natural Rubber for Advanced Application
Authors: Boonkerd Kanoktip
Published: December 2016

Although natural rubber is a challenging elastomeric material for both dynamic and static engineering applications, there are some inherent drawbacks such as the poor oxygen, ozone, oil and heat resistance and also the low compatibility with the polar materials. To loosen these inferior properties and also to transform natural rubber into new polymeric materials, natural rubber needs to be either chemically or physically modified. Moreover, to make natural rubber become a promising elastomeric material for the advanced application, the development of natural rubber with the superior mechanical strength, the low gas permeability or the high conductivity is recently focused. And these can be done by reinforcing natural rubber with nanofillers. This chapter presents a broad review on the recent research and development of natural rubber including the modification of natural rubber and the preparation of various natural rubber nanocomposites for advanced application.
Natural Rubber and Rubber Blend Nanocomposites
Authors: Boonmahitthisud Anyaporn
Published: December 2016

Natural rubber (NR) is representative biomass polymer and the effective uses are strongly contributed to sustainable society. This chapter presents the innovative and advanced rubber nanocomposites with polystyrene-encapsulated silica nanohybrids (PS-nSiO2) subsequently used as a nanofiller for NR and NR/styrene butadiene rubber (NR/SBR). The PS-nSiO2 were prepared via ‘in situ' differential microemulsion polymerization. The core-shell nanohybrids of PS-nSiO2 were achieved with an average diameter of 40 nm using a smaller amount of surfactant, compared to microemulsion polymerization method. Moreover, the effects of the NR and NR/SBR filled with PS-nSiO2 nanohybrids on the mechanical properties, thermal stability, flammability and morphology are also discussed. The results indicated that the encapsulation of nSiO2 with PS can provide not only the well-dispersion of nanoparticles in the rubber matrix but also the synergistic properties of two components from the polymer and the inorganic nanoparticles by improving mechanical properties, thermal stability and flammability of rubber nanocomposites.
Inorganic-Organic Composite Materials from Liquid Natural Rubber and Epoxidised Natural Rubber Derivatives
Authors: Mahmood Wan Ahmad Kamil , Azarian Mohammad Hossein
Published: December 2016

Organic-Inorganic composite materials (OICs) are used to describe the group of materials synthesized from polymers and inorganic metal alkkoxides. The interests in these materials arised from the need to ‘combine' the physical properties of inorganic glass materials and polymers such that the resultant OICs have the strength of the inorganic glass and flexibiliy of polymeric materials. Sol-gel technique have been the technique of choice due to much of its advantages, in particular the low temperature reaction. This is very important when natural rubber and its derivatives are used as the polymer component of the OICs. Work in our laboratory has demonstrated that OICs form liquid natural rubber (LNR) and 50% epoxidised natural rubber (ENR-50) can be prepared from various metal alkoxides, such silicon, zirconium and titanium. The OICs can be prepared as flexible transparent films, nanofibers and nanobeads. This Chapter will describe the preparation techniques and the properties of these OICs from various compositions of one and more metal alkoxides in both LNR and ENR-50. The applications of these materials in PANI will be briefly described.