bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CHRISTIAN AND PAGAN BURIAL CONSTRUCTIONS / PAGONIŠKŲJŲ IR KRIKŠČIONIŠKŲJŲ LAIDOJIMO KONSTRUKCIJŲ LYGINAMOJI STUDIJA
Authors: Bazaraitė Eglė , Heitor Teresa
Published: July 2018

This paper draws a chronological timeline comparing burial customs and construction traditions in the cradle of Christian religion, and pagan traditions on the Eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, precisely Lithuania, since the early ages of Christianity (1c. A.D.) until nowadays. This paper searches for reasons that could have effected cultural transformations, a shifting relation between inhumation and incineration in European culture. In the Ancient Roman culture, people used to cremate their dead before Christianity set in. Baltic pagans at the time were burying their dead in stone circles, and started incineration only during the Middle Ages. Then Christianity was a powerful institution indoctrinating European daily culture. Meanwhile, in the territory of Lithuania pagan culture was erased only in the 15th century, i.e. about 600 years ago, leaving evident vestiges on traditions and customs of nowadays. These revelations of pagan culture are usually mistaken as Christian or Catholic. The paper focuses on architectural and urban aspects of burial architecture, taking into account social and historical conditions.

Santrauka

Straipsnyje sugretinami pagoniškieji ir krikščioniškieji laidojimo ritualai ir architektūrinės konstrukcijos. Remiantis istoriniais duomenimis, akivaizdu, kad krikščionybės išplitimas padarė įtaką pagoniškųjų kraštų laidojimo ritualams ir architektūrinei išraiškai. Akivaizdu ir tai, kad pagonybė taip pat paliko pėdsakus krikščioniškoje kultūroje. Organiškas šių skirtingų kultūrų elementų santykis yra ilgo kultūrų gretinimo pavyzdys. Lietuvos teritorijoje pagoniškosios kultūros liekanų itin gausu. Straipsnyje chronologiškai apžvelgiama, kaip kito laidojimo ritualai Lietuvos teritorijoje ir koks jų santykis su laidojimo tradicijomis krikščioniškosios kultūros lopšyje, apimančiame seniausius krikščioniškuosius kraštus. Ieškoma priežasčių, kodėl vienos ar kitos laidojimo konstrukcijos kito, koks jų ryšys su miesto teritorija ir kontekstu apskritai.
Checklist of gypsophilous vascular flora in Italy
Authors: Musarella Carmelo Maria , Mendoza-Fernández Antonio Jesús , Mota Juan Francisco , Alessandrini Alessandro , Bacchetta Gianluigi , Brullo Salvatore , Caldarella Orazio , Ciaschetti Giampiero , Conti Fabio , Di Martino Luciano , Falci Amedeo , Gianguzzi Lorenzo , Guarino Riccardo , Manzi Aurelio , Minissale Pietro , Montanari Sergio , Pasta Salvatore , Peruzzi Lorenzo , Podda Lina , Sciandrello Saverio , Scuderi Leonardo , Troia Angelo , Spampinato Giovanni
Published: July 2018

Our understanding of the richness and uniqueness of the flora growing on gypsum substrates in Italy has grown significantly since the 19th century and, even today, new plant species are still being discovered. However, the plants and plant communities, growing on gypsum substrates in Italy, are still a relatively unknown subject.

The main aim of this paper was to elaborate a checklist of the Italian gypsophilous flora, to increase knowledge about this peculiar flora and for which conservation efforts need to be addressed.

Through a structured group communication process of experts (application of the Delphi technique), a remarkable number of experienced Italian botanists have joined together to select focal plant species linked to gypsum substrates. From the results obtained, 31 plant species behave as absolute or preferent taxa (gypsophytes and gypsoclines) and form the ‘core’ Italian gypsophilous flora. The most abundant life forms were chamaephytes and hemicryptophytes, belonging to Poaceae and Brassicaceae; as for chorotypes, the most represented are Mediterranean and narrow endemics. By improving on previously available information about the flora with a clear preference for gypsum in Italy, this undertaking represents an important contribution to the knowledge of a habitat which is today considered a priority for conservation.
La dégénérescence de l’État-nation
Authors: Pierré-Caps Stéphane
Published: July 2018

Depuis plus de deux siècles, l’État-nation s’est construit historiquement et juridiquement par l’association de deux formes de sociabilité humaine : une communauté de destin historique, d’une part, une société politique de citoyens, d’autre part. Ces deux formes agissaient l’une sur l’autre en une relation dialectique afin de former une société inclusive, ouverte sur le monde par sa capacité d’intégration. Il en résultait que la nation ne saurait être un donné , mais qu’elle était au contraire un construit , expression d’une volonté politique seule capable d’inscrire cette communauté singulière dans l’universalité des principes de l’État de droit. Or, nous assistons aujourd’hui au délitement de cette association entre la réalité nationale et son cadre d’action civique, en raison de la dénaturation de ses éléments constitutifs : le peuple politique se trouve instrumentalisé au profit de la domination sans partage d’une majorité politique, autrement dit d’une identification de cette dernière au peuple tout entier, identification à laquelle aspirent les mouvements populistes. La nation, sous les effets conjugués de la mondialisation, des mouvements migratoires et de l’affaiblissement de l’État social, se ferme sur sa source et son refus de l’Autre .
Derechos y (crisis del) Estado social. Reflexión acerca de los derechos europeos (y de su futuro)
Authors: Gambino Silvio
Published: July 2018

En s’inspirant d’une conception normative de la Constitution qui tient compte du critère d’effectivité, on aborde le sujet de l’évolution de l’État (social) et des ordonnances européennes, avec une attention spéciale aux droits (en particulier, sociaux) et les effets que la crise économique a produits dans ceux-ci. Après une analyse des origines (lointaines) et de l’évolution (plus récente) des droits fondamentaux dans le droit originaire de l’Union Européenne (article 6 du TUE et de la Charte des Droits fondamentaux de l’UE), l’article aborde la problématique projetée par la protection dispensée aux droits sociaux européens depuis la nouvelle optique du constitutionnalisme multiniveau (article 151 du TFUE et article 53 de la Charte des Droits), en mettant en évidence les limites de la primauté répandue
Les mutations de la sécurité intérieure : l’État transformé ?
Authors: Renaudie Olivier
Published: July 2018

La présente contribution a pour objet d’analyser les mutations contemporaines de la sécurité intérieure. Plus précisément, il s’agit de se demander dans quelle mesure celles-ci ont contribué à dessiner les contours d’un nouvel État. La thèse soutenue est que ces mutations, loin d’être anodines, témoignent d’une transformation profonde de l’État. D’une part, en dépit d’une stabilité apparente, les acteurs publics de la sécurité intérieure ont connu un important renouvellement, notamment avec l’apparition de nouvelles autorités et de nouvelles forces. D’autre part, les outils utilisés pour lutter contre l’insécurité se sont largement diversifiés, les pouvoirs publics n’hésitant plus à recourir à des régimes dérogatoires au droit commun, voire à des techniques jusqu’alors considérées comme impropres au maintien de l’ordre public.
Société civile vs citoyenneté européenne : réflexions sur les structures de légitimation de l’UE
Authors: Marti Gaëlle
Published: July 2018

La situation de pluri-crise actuelle que connaît l’Union européenne (crise économique, financière, budgétaire, crise des réfugiés, crise de l’Etat de droit et Brexit) nourrit un sentiment de désaffection des peuples à l’égard de l’Union européenne qui invite à s’interroger aux moyens permettant de légitimer l’Union européenne en dépit de l’absence, à ce niveau, de demos . Dans le sillage de ces réflexions, la présente communication vise à mettre en balance les mérites des structures de légitimation existantes, notamment la société civile et la citoyenneté européenne, afin de déterminer leur contribution possible à la démocratisation de l’Union européenne. Alors que la société civile semble être promue par de nombreux acteurs institutionnels comme étant la panacée, l’auteur entend montrer les incertitudes qui entourent cette notion et qui la privent, de ce fait, de son potentiel légitimant. Si, à l’inverse, la citoyenneté européenne pourrait constituer un support permettant l’émergence d’une démocratie transnationale, il conviendrait de remédier aux lacunes qui empêchent, pour l’instant, le développement d’une identité collective européenne.
L’évolution du rôle de l’État dans les États du groupe de Višegrad : de l’ère moderne à l’ère postmoderne
Authors: Delaneuville Frédéric
Published: July 2018

Les trajectoires étatiques des États du groupe de Višegrad présentent un certain nombre de similitudes. Leur inclusion historique dans les grands Empires d’Europe centrale, leur convergence vers le modèle de l’État-nation puis les aménagements contemporains de son rôle à l’ère de la mondialisation permettent d’expliquer le rapport particulier qu’ils entretiennent avec la notion de souveraineté. Une analyse socio-historique de l’évolution du rôle de l’État dans le groupe de Višegrad permet d’expliquer leur attachement à une souveraineté nationale récemment retrouvée et la relation particulière qu’ils entretiennent avec la construction européenne.
Findings in Persistent Retinopathy of Prematurity
Authors: Warren Clinton C. , Young Jonathon B. , Goldberg Mara R. , Connor Thomas B. , Kassem Iris S. , Costakos Deborah M.
Published: July 2018

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:

To determine whether retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) that persists beyond a postmenstrual age (PMA) of 45 weeks has abnormalities that can be documented by fundus photography or fluorescein angiography (FA).

PATIENTS AND METHODS:

Fundus photographs and FAs were reviewed for all premature infants who underwent FA for persistent ROP after 45 weeks PMA.

RESULTS:

Of the 487 infants who were screened for ROP, 16 (3.3%) demonstrated ROP beyond 45 weeks. Seven (43.8%) infants received prior treatment with intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) for Type 1 ROP. FAs were obtained in eight cases; four subjects were previously treated with IVB. Leakage at the vascular-avascular border was demonstrated in seven subjects (87.5%). Shunt vessels, posterior retinal nonperfusion, and absence of the foveal avascular zone was limited to the IVB group.

CONCLUSIONS:

There are persistent vascular abnormalities among infants with ROP beyond 45 weeks. Findings that may be missed by RetCam fundus photographs were highlighted with FA.

[
Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina
. 2018;49:497–503.]
Treatment of Acute Zonal Occult Outer Retinopathy With Intravitreal Steroids
Authors: Barnes Alexander C , Lowder Careen Y. , Bessette Angela P. , Baynes Kimberly , Srivastava Sunil K.
Published: July 2018

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:

To report on the use of intravitreal steroids in the management of acute zonal occult outer retinopathy (AZOOR), a rare disorder affecting the outer retina.

PATIENTS AND METHODS:

Retrospective case series of nine eyes of five patients with AZOOR who received intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA), dexamethasone intravitreal implant, and/or fluocinolone acetonide implant. Treatment response was determined by reported symptoms and multimodal imaging findings. Patients were observed for at least 1 year following intravitreal steroid treatment (range: 14 months to 63 months).

RESULTS:

Seven eyes received IVTA, six eyes received the dexamethasone intravitreal implant, and one eye received the fluocinolone acetonide implant. All patients experienced disease stability or improvement based on symptomatic response and multimodal imaging findings after intravitreal steroids. One eye developed central serous retinopathy, and another eye a choroidal neovascular membrane. Five of nine eyes experienced ocular hypertension. All phakic eyes developed cataracts.

CONCLUSION:

Intravitreal steroids effectively achieved disease stability in patients with AZOOR.

[
Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina
. 2018;49:504–509.]
Construcciones altomedievales en materiales perecederos en el yacimiento de Revenga (Burgos): algunas reflexiones para su interpretación arqueológica
Authors: Álvaro Rueda Karen , Travé Allepuz Esther , López Pérez M.ª Dolores
Published: July 2018

Las recientes intervenciones en el yacimiento de Revenga (Comunero de Revenga, Burgos) han dado a conocer una secuencia de habitación marcada por la ocupación continuada del espacio y una intensa reutilización de estructuras, a la par que el poblado experimenta distintas transformaciones en su ordenación interna entre los siglos V-IX. La interpretación arqueológica de un hábitat del que quedan en realidad muy pocos restos, dado el carácter perecedero de sus construcciones, es especialmente compleja. En este trabajo se analizan algunos ejemplos de estructuras excavadas en el yacimiento de Revenga que presentan procesos de reconstrucción o reocupación del espacio con el fin de plantear algunas reflexiones acerca de los problemas interpretativos que de ellas se derivan y contribuir al estudio del poblamiento altomedieval mediante la construcción de un registro arqueológico de calidad.
Le respect de la vie familiale et la protection subsidiaire : l’Allemagne plafonne les droits fondamentaux
Authors: Tometten Christoph
Published: July 2018

Sous prétexte de garantir le fonctionnement de ses systèmes d’accueil et d’intégration, l’Allemagne a, en mars 2016, suspendu le regroupement familial pour les bénéficiaires de la protection subsidiaire pour une durée de deux ans. Cette période a été reconduite jusqu’au 31 juillet 2018 par une loi votée début 2018. À partir du 1er août 2018, le regroupement familial pour les bénéficiaires de la protection subsidiaire sera subordonné à des conditions spécifiques et plafonné à 1000 personnes par mois. La suspension et le plafonnement du regroupement familial ne sont toutefois pas conformes avec les droits fondamentaux garantis par le droit constitutionnel allemand et le droit de l’Union européenne. La justice allemande est appelée à assurer la primauté du droit de l’Union européenne afin d’écarter la menace que représente le plafonnement du regroupement familial pour le régime des droits fondamentaux.
How Does Microfinance Empower Women in Nigeria?
Authors: Ukwueze Ezebuilo R. , Asogwa Henry T. , David-Wayas Onyinye M. , Emecheta Chisom , Nchege Johnson E.
Published: July 2018

That microfinance institutions empower women has become a heated debate at both theoretical and empirical economics. A large proportion of women in developing countries are characterized by segregation, relegation, poverty, vulnerability; majority of them engaged in agriculture and related economic activities, while a few others have menial jobs. The objective of this chapter is to determine how microfinance has empowered women in Nigeria. It employed propensity score matching and logit model to estimate the effect of microfinance on women empowerment and welfare. The results show that age of women, education, belonging to saving association, and operating an account are the determinants of women empowerment and welfare as they access finance from the microfinance banks. It was also observed that there is disparity among women who have access to liquidity. It is recommended that more microfinance banks be cited in the rural sector where the majority of the poor reside, policies like low interest rates, national awareness, and incentives for more women to access micro-credits.
Microfinancial Collaborative Economies Business Models and Strategies for Quality of Life Improvement
Authors: Vargas-Hernández José G.
Published: July 2018

The present chapter analyzes two cases of a joint venture stage to determine the successes and failures undertaken by the PROMUSAG and Uber as a model and strategies of collaborative economies to improve the quality of life. First, it is analyzed PROMUSAG as a program to finance women entrepreneurship aimed to improve the quality of life and the second case aims to analyze the different strategies taken by Uber to join the global market successfully, positioning itself in different countries. The analysis concludes that the empirical knowledge of entrepreneurs, in this case were not sufficient to direct the business to success, and that the lack of structured knowledge and adequate scientific support for this project strongly directed towards the non-permanence on the market. Taking terms as work global, it is considered Uber as a technology-based company and sees it from an overall, same strategy refers to a strategy that follows the company having a worldwide standardized product, another issue that would revise the importance of the theory of institutions.
An Empirical Study on Economic Empowerment of Women Through Self-Help Group of Indian Sunderban Delta of North 24 Parganas of West Bengal, India
Authors: Majumder Amit
Published: July 2018

Empowerment of women is a comprehensive issue and it is a dynamic, multi-dimensional process which enables women to realize their full distinctiveness and power in all spheres of life. In order to achieve it, mobilization and organization of women into self-reliant groups is indispensable for gaining solidarity and strength and inducing collective actions in right time. Against this backdrop, the chapter is conducted through a questionnaire-based survey on the members from a representative sample of the women-run SHGs under the aegis of Sandeshkhali Large-Sized Multipurpose Co-Operative Societies (LAMPS), West Bengal Tribal Development Co-operative Corporation Ltd. (WBTDCC) under Backward Classes Welfare Department, Government of West Bengal in the backward class-dominated, economically backward, and naturally disadvantageous 13 Mouzas in two Blocks of Sandeshkhali of the Sunderbans area. It is revealed from the survey that, since joining the SHG movement, the economic condition, decision-making power relating to expenditure, status within the family and the society has increased favorably for the women members.
Reflections on Microfinance
Authors: Mukherjee Sovik , Das Ramesh Chandra
Published: July 2018

Microfinance has become the latest buzzword in the credit markets where it shoulders the responsibility of alleviating poverty coupled with socio-economic development. Dealing with microfinance coupled with the issue of poverty reduction, the first concern is to handle the twin objectives of poverty alleviation and achievement of financial self-sufficiency, which are often at loggerheads. To begin with, the present chapter constructs a five-dimensional human poverty index (HPI) in terms of the rate of unemployment, state wise illiteracy rate, state-wise infant mortality rate, state-wise percentage of population below the poverty line, and the percentage of population not having an access to electricity for the states across India. Thus, this will serve as an index for the extent of poverty. Consequently, a fall in the value of the index actually implies poverty alleviation. This empirical model does not justify the hypothesis that “microfinance reduces poverty” at the macro level using cross-state panel data for India.
An Analysis of Poverty and Inequality Among the Members of SHGs in West Bengal, India
Authors: Bisai Santanu , Mazumdar Debashis
Published: July 2018

Economic development in the truest sense remains far from the development targets and millennium development goals in many less developed and developing countries of the world particularly because of the perennial problems of poverty and inequality in the distribution of income and wealth. The trajectory of planned economic development of India has also experienced the said problem. One of the escape routes for the poverty trap particularly in the rural areas of India has been the formation of self-help groups (SHGs) and the provision of microfinance to the SHGs. The present study tries to analyze the intensity of poverty and inequality among the rural households of some of the backward regions of West Bengal. This study indicates that the incidence of poverty remains less among the SHG members in comparison with the non-SHG households in both drought prone and non-drought prone areas of rural West Bengal. Further, the inequalities in the distribution of income and expenditure among the SHG members are also found to be more prominent in non-drought prone areas compared to drought prone areas.
Using the QFD Matrix as a Major Continuous Improvement Tool to Improve Organizational Quality
Authors: Mohsin Ahmed Mansour , Padró Fernando F. , Trimmer Karen
Published: July 2018

This is a case study of an Australian higher education institution (HEI) using quality function deployment (QFD) to identify areas of improvement in serving and meeting the needs of international students enrolled at this university. The composite institution reflects what is currently happening at the time of this writing as part of a process of determining international student needs and ensuring that these are met while meeting academic and institutional requirements (IR). The use of QFD fills a major gap since most methodologies practiced do not focus on either capturing the international students' voice or align these with IRs to enhance the opportunities for successful completion of a degree and meeting student personal and professional expectations. Results are incomplete at this time and thus cannot be reported, but a discussion of the approach is provided, and initial observations are presented to adequately describe the use of QFD and processes and tools used to complete different parts are the central piece of the process, the house of quality (HoQ).
The Redefinition of Fairness in Sports Since the Arrival of Comparative Fault Tort Reform
Authors: Blackman Rodney J.
Published: July 2018

Tort reform advocates take varying dispositions regarding whether or not comparative fault tort reform has sufficiently compromised the ethical practices of sports industry practitioners. It follows that two of the best place to look for evidence supporting or refuting such claims is in the laws that govern sports and the sports cases that have been brought before the courts regarding the rights of individuals within the communities in which those individuals exist. Consequently, the aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of the role of comparative fault tort reform in sports cases. Examination appears regarding how that role has factored into meeting societal demand calling for a re-definition of fairness, as well as changes in the ethical codes of sports practitioner acumen.
Military Facility Location Problems
Authors: Karatas Mumtaz , Yakıcı Ertan , Razi Nasuh
Published: July 2018

In the past decades, facility location problems have attracted much attention among researchers and practitioners from different disciplines. Among those problems, location models observed in military organizations have significant impact to the performance of the military organization since they require large amounts of money, resource, and people. Moreover, an efficient planning of military resources often leads to a good direction to victories. In this chapter, considering a number of selected papers, the authors give a brief survey of facility location models and solution techniques employed for military organizations. After providing the features of core location models, they analyze the military facility location models with respect to the context they are handled. After categorizing the articles with respect to the formulations and solution approaches employed, the authors highlight potential issues for further research.
An Overview on Set Covering Problems With a Focus on Military Applications
Authors: Argun Irem Duzdar
Published: July 2018

This chapter deals with the set covering problem, a specific type of a discrete location and representative combinatorial optimization problem, which occupies a huge space in military operations research with its various applications. After presenting a brief literature survey of set covering problems, the author provides a formal description and the mathematical model of the problem. Finally, the key position of those problem types in the military domain and with real-world applications is discussed.
Attrition Models and Applications
Authors: Karacan Ilknur , Karacan Ismet , Bulkan Serol
Published: July 2018

Frederick W. Lanchester proposed simple ordinary differential equations that plainly model the attrition of fighting forces in a battlefield. With this insight, researchers studied extensions of these equations to model various battles for years. Novel studies include the application of these equations to miscellaneous field apart from battles that comprise reciprocal contention of opponents. If well-defined, these models can assist decision makers in revealing the shortcomings of a war strategy and discovering the bottlenecks that should be optimized. The recent studies prove that the insights gained from these models can also be utilized in other fields such as economy, biology, engineering, etc. This chapter includes the classic Lanchester equations, significant extensions of classical models, and a number of important application examples.
Clutter Removal Techniques in Ground Penetrating Radar for Landmine Detection
Authors: Kumlu Deniz , Erer Isin
Published: July 2018

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a popular technique for landmine detection and widely used by military organizations for landmine clearance purposes. It is well known that GPR is greatly affected by clutter during the landmine detection process. The clutter can be reasoned by soil properties, depth of the buried landmine, different surface types, and ingredient of landmine materials. Thus, the detection of landmine becomes challenging, and clutter removal algorithm must be applied prior to any landmine detection scheme in GPR. In order to remove clutter, various algorithms are proposed, and they can be mainly separated into two groups such subspace-based methods and multiresolution-based methods. This chapter focuses on the performance analysis of these clutter removal algorithms on the simulated dataset that is created by using the gprMax simulation software where it contains four different challenging scenarios.
Determinants of Agricultural Production in Romania
Authors: Zaharia Alina , Pătărlăgeanu Simona Roxana
Published: July 2018

Agriculture plays an important part in the worldwide challenges, such as sustainable development, climate change, high level of greenhouse gas emissions, food security and safety, overpopulation, social welfare, and natural resource depletion. This chapter examines a panel data approach to determine the contribution of several factors on the agricultural output in terms of value and of yield. Different regression models were established for the analysis at territorial level in Romania. Some findings suggest a negative influence of the excessive drought years on the cereals yield while a statistical relevance could not be found for the influence of the excessively rainy years. Still, further studies should be conducted on analyzing the influence of the environmental and social factors on the agricultural economic output.
The Competitiveness Constraints of Romanian Wine Sector and the EU-28 Agricultural Model
Authors: Georgiana-Raluca Ladaru , Dan Boboc
Published: July 2018

Romanian agrifood sector has experienced a profound paradigm change during the last period, especially after the accession to the European Union (EU). Starting from the need to be convergent to the EU agricultural model requirements and valuing the domestic agricultural potential, numerous developments and constraints have occurred. The objective of the study is to further examine the competitiveness constraints of Romanian wine sector. The study reveals that the wine production has suffered a dramatic improvement both on quantity and quality. The paradigm change imposed by replacement of the hybrid vines with noble vines has triggered both a quality and competitiveness increase. The domestic wine producers have adapted their production to the new market demands. Now they must fulfill both the national and European competitiveness constraints and they should stay as a new quality wine promoter.
Sustainable Rural Livelihood
Authors: Nayak Sushma , Nehul Shashikant , Narayan Aishwarya
Published: July 2018

In the present day, when human beings have excessively exploited the natural resources, sustainable development has become a catchword for countries around the world. With respect to the rural scenario, diversion of watercourses and settled agriculture are deemed as tactical imperatives for sustainable livelihood. The present study focuses on a village, Hiware Bazar, situated in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, India. The village is known for its livelihood status, which can be distinctly categorized into two phases, the period before 1991 and the period after 1991. In the first phase (before 1991), the village was marked by severe livelihood crisis owing to acute water scarcity. The second phase (after 1991) is known for livelihood improvement realized through community engagement and planned investment initiatives for watershed development and organic farming.
Romanian Agriculture Funding
Authors: Marin Ancuta
Published: July 2018

Romania's EU integration has determined major economic changes, including the transition to a functional market economy which meant the existence of a competitive environment, free commercial exchanges, and free movement of people, capital, and services. To solve the existent delays, Romania has benefit from the European Community's funds for investment in agriculture and rural areas through the financial mechanism which assures non-reimbursable funds for farmers, private societies, and local authorities. Without claiming that we are exhausting the issue of financing in Romanian agriculture, the topic addressed brings some issues regarding the financing under the National Rural Development Program (NRDP) and the possible explanations of the low absorption rate of these funds. NRDP is a program which allow people to access non-reimbursable funds from EU and Romanian Government for economic and social development of the rural area.
Moving Object Classification Under Illumination Changes Using Binary Descriptors
Authors: Vasavi S. , Shaik Ayesha Farha , Sunkara Phani chaitanya Krishna
Published: July 2018

Object recognition and classification has become important in a surveillance video situated at prominent areas such as airports, banks, military installations, etc. Outdoor environments are more challenging for moving object classification because of incomplete appearance details of moving objects due to illumination changes and large distance between the camera and moving objects. As such, there is a need to monitor and classify the moving objects by considering the challenges of video in the real time. Training the classifiers using feature-based approaches is easier and faster than pixel-based approaches in object classification. Extraction of a set of features from the object of interest is most important for classification. Viewpoint and sources of light illumination plays major role in the appearance of an object. Abrupt transitions are identified using Chi-square and corners are detected using Harris corner detection. Silhouettes are captured using background subtraction and feature extraction is done using ORB. k-NN classifier is used for classification.
Machine Vision Application on Science and Industry
Authors: Zohdy Bassem S. M. , Mahmood Mahmood A. , Darwish Nagy Ramadan , Hefny Hesham A.
Published: July 2018

Machine vision studies opens a great opportunity for different domains as manufacturing, agriculture, aquaculture, medical research, also research studies and applications for better understanding of processes and operations. As scientists' efforts had been directed towards deep understanding of the particular material systems or particular classes of types of specific fruits, or diagnosis of patients through medical images classification and analysis, also real time detection and inspection of malfunction piece, or process, as various domains witnessed advancement through using machine vision techniques and methods.
Mobile Robot Path Planning Using Continuous Laser Scanning
Authors: Ivanov Mykhailo , Lindner Lars , Sergiyenko Oleg , Rodríguez-Quiñonez Julio Cesar , Flores-Fuentes Wendy , Rivas-Lopez Moises
Published: July 2018

The main object of this book chapter is an introduction and presentation of mobile robot path planning using continuous laser scanning, which has significant advantages compared with discrete laser scanning. A general introduction to laser scanning systems is given, whereby a novel technical vision system (TVS) using the dynamic triangulation measurement method for 3D coordinate determination is found suitable for accomplishing this task of mobile robot path planning. Furthermore, methods and algorithms for mobile robot road maps and path planning are presented and compared.
Selection of Renewable Energy Sources for Sustainable Development and an Economic Model Proposal for Countries
Authors: Ulutaş Alptekin , Karaca Coşkun
Published: July 2018

Meeting the energy requirements with imported fuels leads to economic and political problems in the countries. Therefore, renewable energy investments continue to grow globally as a sustainable and increasingly economically viable alternative to conventional sources of energy. This study aims to reduce the share of imported fuels in Turkey's electricity generation and to estimate the employment gain to be provided by renewable energy investments to be established instead. Approximately 900,000 jobs are created during the production, construction, operational, and maintenance phases of additional 49,448 MW capacity renewable power plants to be installed. While analyzing, the decision on how much to invest in which renewable resource is determined with respect to multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) model.
How Unemployment May Impact Happiness
Authors: Barros André , Dieguez Teresa , Nunes Pedro
Published: July 2018

The wealth of an economy is traditionally measured by its level of productivity. However, countries with the highest level of productivity do not always report equal levels of happiness and general wellbeing. In fact, there is no direct relationship between both variables and sometimes less wealthy productive countries report higher levels of happiness. Recent studies and theories are trying to demonstrate that the term happiness has made its way into economics literature as the result of economist dissatisfaction who believe happiness should become a matter of study in the field. Unemployment is one of the most recently researched variables in economics and has a direct relationship with happiness. Potentially some other variables such as autonomy, reliability, and added value of happiness would help researchers to better complete economic analysis via a multidisciplinary perspective.
The Modelling of the Economy by Means of C-V-M Matrices
Authors: Pushnoi Grigorii S.
Published: July 2018

The classical three-sector model of the economy: 1) “the means of production”, 2) “the goods for employees”, and 3) “the goods consumed by other economic agents” (“luxury goods”) is considered in matrix formulation. Each sector contains many industries producing the goods of these three kinds. The “transformation problem” in Marxian economics is considered in a three-sector model of the economy with simple production. The solution of this problem is based on the action of the statistical “laws of large numbers” (LLN) in the economy. The stylized facts about the economy of the United States indicate onto the existence of the following probability distributions: 1) the inverse power distribution for the elements of matrix of direct requirements and 2) the Gaussian distribution for the direct labor per the unit of goods. The action of the statistic “law of large numbers” guarantees the C-V-M matrix of the economy must be almost symmetric. The “labor value” and the “price of production” of the total product produced within each sector in this case are almost equal.
Original Teaching Materials and School Activities for Students With an Intellectual Disability
Authors: Ishitobi Ryoichi , Nemoto Fumio , Sugita Youko , Nakamura Susumu , Iijima Toru , Takatsu Azusa , Taniuchi Mimiko , Harada Kaoru , Kanno Yoshie , Tagami Kota , Tanaka Shodai , Yamashita Masayuki , Ikuta Shigeru
Published: July 2018

Most of the present authors, the teachers at the School for the Mentally Challenged at Otsuka, University of Tsukuba, have been creating original teaching aids and materials using low-tech and high-tech methods. Original teaching aids created with woodworking and metalworking are usually used for students with an intellectual disability. The original teaching materials with Grid Onput dot code, which could link multimedia, such as audio, movies, web pages, html files, and PowerPoint files were created in collaboration with one of the present authors, Professor Shigeru Ikuta, who organized a large research project, and Gridmark Inc. that developed Grid Onput dot code. The present authors have recently developed a new software program, SmileNote, to help students create presentation slides in expressing their feelings, will, and desires to classmates, teachers, and parents. Basic information on these materials and their use in schools is presented in this chapter.
Effects of Tangible Teaching Materials According to Evaluation of Cognitive Development
Authors: Tatematsu Eiko
Published: July 2018

Students who have difficulty communicating with others verbally may be referred to as “individuals in the learning process of concept formation” rather than individuals with severe intellectual disability (SID) and/or autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Insufficient understanding of these individuals makes it more difficult to deal with comorbid behavior disorders. This chapter introduces an original evaluation battery using “Ohta Staging” and “Task of Birds” as tools to measure cognitive development. Four cases of individuals who grew up with strong behavior disorders will be described by employing the battery. Cognitive features of each case are detailed through original handmade tangible teaching materials (OHTTMs). The chapter will discuss the effects of object-based communication using OHTTMs, as it relates to the cognitive development measured by the battery, in terms of reducing behavior disorders. OHTTMs will be evaluated as communication and informal assessment tools rather than teaching aids.
Analysing the Effects of Symbolic Capital on Ethnic Entrepreneurship
Authors: Ojo Sanya
Published: July 2018

This article advances a structure for understanding the factors, e.g. capital, strategies, culture, and opportunity structure, affecting the embeddedness of ethnic entrepreneurship growth and development in the country of residence. Through the employment of the concept of symbolic capital the article interrogates the roles of the country of origin on the outcome of ethnic enterprises growth trajectories and susceptibility to failure crises. The article, thus, developed an integrated model; theorizing that exogenous factors are critical drivers of ethnic entrepreneurs' economic growth and socio-political inclusiveness/embeddedness.
Social Communities of Design and Makers and their Impact on Learning
Authors: Gwangwava Norman , Ude Albert U , Ogunmuyiwa Enoch N , Addo-Tenkorang Richard
Published: July 2018

The past two decades have seen a rapid growth in the Maker communities and Communities of Enquiry. Unlike social media, these communities have a unique goal of sharing special skills as well as enquiring about special knowledge areas. Advancements in web technologies and models of delivery, in particular, cloud computing (CC), enables the communities to thrive virtually. The authors focus on the technocratic communities interested in designing and making things. These are also known as hobbyists or hackers, in their respective scientific or engineering disciplines. Various online platforms continue to surface, modelled around the Maker concept. The article scrutinizes the value and impact of these communities in learning. A new model for inspiring innovation in knowledge-based economies and building communities of industry and end-user ready product maker is presented and discussed.
Swarm-Inspired Routing Algorithms for Unstructured P2P Networks
Authors: Šešum-Čavić Vesna , Kuehn Eva , Zischka Stefan
Published: July 2018

Due to extreme complexity in nowadays networks, routing becomes a challenging task. This problem is especially delicate in unstructured P2P networks, as there is neither a global view on the network nor a global address mapping. Although different conventional solutions are commercially available, swarm-intelligent approaches are promising in case of frequently changing conditions in P2P networks. In this article, an approach inspired by Dictyostelium discoideum slime molds and bees with distributive and autonomous properties is proposed. Both bio-mechanisms are “tailored” for routing in unstructured P2P systems, resulting in swarm-inspired routing algorithms, SMNet and BeeNet. They are compared with three swarm-based routing algorithms and two conventional approaches. The benchmarks include parameter sensitivity-, comparative-, statistical- and scalability-analysis. SMNet outperforms the other algorithms in the comparative analysis regarding the average data packet delay, especially for bigger network sizes and data packet traffic levels. Both algorithms show good scalability.
Educação sexual com adolescentes escolares: relato de experiência/ Sexual education with school adolescents: an experience report
Authors: Dourado João Victor Lira , Ponte Herminia Maria Sousa da , Aguiar Francisca Alanny Rocha , Aragão Antonia Eliana De Araújo , Ferreira Júnior Antônio Rodrigues
Published: July 2018

As Infecções Sexualmente Transmissíveis são as principais causas de consulta médica e de implicações nos sistemas reprodutores. Este artigo objetiva relatar experiência de educação sexual com adolescentes escolares. Trata-se de um produto da extensão do Grupo Pastoral da Aids de centro universitário no interior cearense. A atividade foi realizada em três encontros, em agosto de 2016, com 24 adolescentes com idade de 16 e 19 anos, em uma escola pública no estado do Ceará. No primeiro encontro, buscou-se estabelecer o compromisso e participação dos escolares. No segundo encontro, solicitou-se a construção de painéis sobre sexualidade, obtendo as principais ideias atreladas ao corpo. Posteriormente, instigou-se os adolescentes a exporem conhecimentos sobre as infecções, entretanto, verificou-se incipiência nas informações relatadas pelos participantes. No terceiro momento, o foco foi a discussão acerca do Vírus da Imunodeficiência Humana (HIV) e Aids. A educação em saúde propiciou informações aos adolescentes com esclarecimento de dúvidas. Estar no ambiente escolar, oportunizou o protagonismo juvenil e viabilizou reflexões sobre as vulnerabilidades em saúde e adoção de práticas seguras.
Notificação de extravasamento de agentes quimioterápicos em um hospital universitário - Notification of extravasation of chemotherapeutic agents in a university hospital
Authors: Gozzo Thais Oliveira , Almeida Thaise Domingues de , Cruz Lóris Aparecida Prado da
Published: July 2018

Este estudo teve o objetivo de identificar a ocorrência de extravasamento de agentes quimioterápicos notificados em um hospital universitário no interior do Estado de São Paulo. Estudo transversal, retrospectivo (2013 a 2015) e de abordagem quantitativa. A coleta de dados ocorreu por meio da análise de notificações no sistema eletrônico geradas por três setores hospitalares que administram quimioterápicos. Foram incluídas notificações de pacientes em quimioterapia com idade acima de 18 anos, no período de 1º de janeiro de 2013 a 31 de dezembro de 2015. Identificou-se 33 notificações de extravasamento por quimioterápicos. As drogas extravasadas mais incidentes foram o Fluouroracil (33,3%) e Paclitaxel (18,2%) e as reações mais apresentadas foram: edema (48,5%), dor (12,1%) e hipersensibilidade (9,1%). O primeiro manejo foi a interrupção imediata da infusão (81,8%), seguida da aspiração da medicação residual e utilização de compressa fria (54,5%). Apenas 21,2% dos pacientes receberam seguimento. Observou-se que as notificações apresentaram dados incompletos, além de possíveis subnotificações, evidenciando a importância da capacitação dos profissionais de enfermagem para melhorar a qualidade do ser.
Cuidados paliativos: percepção de familiares cuidadores de pessoas com câncer/ Palliative care: the perception of family caregivers of cancer patients
Authors: De Andrade Ramalho Marclineide Nóbrega , Da Silva Laís Bezerra , Mangueira Suzana De Oliveira , Silva Tássia Campos de Lima e , De Lucena Conceição Hander , Pinto Maria Benegelania
Published: July 2018

A família tem papel fundamental junto ao paciente no enfrentamento do câncer, sendo uma estrutura para as perdas e limitações que a doença determina. Objetivou-se compreender a percepção de familiares cuidadores de pessoas com câncer em fase terminal sobre cuidados paliativos. Trata-se de um estudo com abordagem qualitativa que foi realizado em uma clínica de cuidados paliativos de um hospital referência para o tratamento do câncer com oito familiares de pacientes que estavam internados. Foi utilizado um roteiro de entrevista semiestruturado. As entrevistas foram gravadas e posteriormente transcritas na íntegra. Os dados foram analisados com base na técnica de Análise de Conteúdo, modalidade temática segundo Bardin. O Projeto foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa. Os resultados obtidos a partir da análise do conteúdo apontaram para as categorias: Conceito de cuidados paliativos; Significações dos cuidados paliativos; Desafios diante da terminalidade. A percepção dos familiares cuidadores entrevistados possibilitou a compreensão sobre o binômio família-paciente e a influência que o familiar cuidador exerce no processo de adoecimento e acompanhamento da pessoa em tratamento paliativo.
Pre-Existing Maternal Antibodies Cause Rapid Prenatal Rejection of Allotransplants in the Mouse Model of In Utero Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
Authors: Riley John S. , McClain Lauren E. , Stratigis John D. , Coons Barbara E. , Li Haiying , Hartman Heather A. , Peranteau William H.
Published: July 2018

In utero hematopoietic cell transplantation (IUHCT) is a nonmyeloablative nonimmunosuppressive alternative to postnatal hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for the treatment of congenital hemoglobinopathies. Anti-HLA donor-specific Abs (DSA) are associated with a high incidence of graft rejection following postnatal hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. We determine if DSA present in the mother can similarly cause graft rejection in the fetus following IUHCT. Ten million C57BL/6 (B6, H2kb) bone marrow cells were transplanted in utero into gestational day 14 BALB/c (H2kd) fetuses. The pregnant BALB/c dams carrying these fetuses either had been previously sensitized to B6 Ag or were injected on gestational days 13–15 with serum from B6-sensitized BALB/c females. Maternal–fetal Ab transmission, Ab opsonization of donor cells, chimerism, and frequency of macrochimeric engraftment (chimerism >1%) were assessed by flow cytometry. Maternal IgG was transmitted to the fetus and rapidly opsonized donor cells following IUHCT. Donor cell rejection was observed as early as 4 h after IUHCT in B6-sensitized dams and 24 h after IUHCT in dams injected with B6-sensitized serum. Efficient opsonization was strongly correlated with decreased chimerism. No IUHCT recipients born to B6-sensitized dams or dams injected with B6-sensitized serum demonstrated macrochimeric engraftment at birth compared with 100% of IUHCT recipients born to naive dams or dams injected with naive serum (p < 0.001). In summary, maternal donor–specific IgG causes rapid, complete graft rejection in the fetus following IUHCT. When a third-party donor must be used for clinical IUHCT, the maternal serum should be screened for DSA to optimize the chance for successful engraftment.