bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Una nueva Armeria del Sistema Central (España): A. rivasmartinezii (Plumbaginaceae)
Authors: Sardinero Santiago
Published: June 2014

Se describe e ilustra un nuevo taxon del centro-occidente del Sistema Central español. Armeria rivasmartinezii. Se discuten sus afinidades morfológicas y variabilidad en concordancia con su hipotético origen híbrido.
Fenología de la flora urbana en el Sureste Ibérico: Almería (España)
Authors: Dana Elías , Cabello Javier , Mota Juan F. , Cueto Miguel , Peñas Julio
Published: June 2014

Se describe el ciclo biológico de las 31 especies vegetales más representativas de la flora de la ciudad de Almería y. mediante análisis de regresión, se establecen sus relaciones con la temperatura y precipitación media de cada mes. De los datos del presente estudio se desprende que las máximas intensidades de emergencias de plántulas, de crecimiento vegetativo, floración y fructificación se produjeron entre Diciembre y Febrero. Febrero y Marzo, en Marzo, y Abril y Mayo respectivamente. Los resultados indican la mayor importancia de la temperatura en todas las fases, debido probablemente al papel regulador que ejerce sobre las tasas fotosintéticas y respiratorias así como sobre la rapidez de las reacciones enzimáticas en la germinación. Su papel es también decisivo en floración, ya que muchas especies requieren niveles concretos para que se produzca.
Orobanche olbiensis (Coss.) Nyman, taxon minusvalorado del Mediterráneo
Authors: Pujadas Salvà Antonio J. , Crespo Villalba Manuel B. , Crespo Villalba Manuel B.
Published: June 2014

Se indica, por primera vez para la flora ibérica. la presencia de Orobanche olbiensis, a partir de poblaciones localizadas en ecosistemas dunares costeros de la provincia de Alicante. Se trata de un taxon que ha pasado desapercibido casi desde su descripción, probablemente por su afinidad con O. mutelii, planta con la que ha sido confundida. Se aporta una descripción e iconografía detalladas del material alicantino, así como datos sobre su ecología. fitosociología y distribución. Se destacan las diferencias más significativas con O.mutelii en una clave de identificación.
Kritische Bemerkungen zu den Argonautica des Valerius Flaccus
Authors: Gärtner Thomas
Published: June 2014

En este artículo se examina una serie de problemas relativos a la crítica textual de las Argonáuticas de Valerio Flaco a partir de ediciones y comentarios modernos. Se comentan los siguientes pasajes: I 779- 784; II 82-86; II 98-102; II 138-140; III 14-18; III 74-80; III 535-542; IV 150-153; IV 214 s.; IV 438-441; IV 757 s.; V 39 s.; V 182 s.; VI 317-323; VI 683-685; VI 752-760; VII 4-8; VII 121-123; VII 162-165; VII 276-283; VII 635-640; VIII 158 s..

[de] Auf der Grundlage der modernen Ausgaben und Kommentare wird eine Reihe textkritischer Einzelprobleme aus den Argonautica des Valerius Flaccus besprochen. Es handelt sich um folgende Stellen: I 779-784; II 82-86; II 98-102; II 138-140; III 14-18; III 74-80; III 535-542; IV 150-153; IV 214 f.; IV 438-441; IV 757 f.; V 39 f.; V 182 f.; VI 317-323; VI 683-685; VI 752-760; VII 4-8; VII 121-123; VII 162-165; VII 276-283; VII 635-640; VIII 158 f..
Quid facundia posset / Re patuit (Ou., Met. XIII 382-383): las estrategias oratorias de Ulises en el armorum iudicium ovidiano
Authors: Tola Eleonora
Published: June 2014

El episodio del juicio por las armas de Aquiles enfrenta a Áyax y a Ulises en el libro XIII de las Metamorfosis de Ovidio. Los discursos que ambos personajes pronuncian ante la asamblea de griegos despliegan un proceso judicial romano según las normas pautadas por la retórica. A partir de su tradicional facundia Ulises logra persuadir a su público y obtener así la victoria tras una confrontación que remite a una suerte de combate verbal. A partir del análisis del parlamento de Ulises mostraremos cómo se construye en el texto su superioridad discursiva. Nos centraremos fundamentalmente en el exordium (128-139) y en la peroratio (339-381), lugares que condensan las modalidades persuasivas de una causa. Identificaremos allí diversas estrategias sintácticas, métricas y estilísticas que instauran a Ulises como un orador que cautiva a sus interlocutores en todos los planos de su discurso. Desde una perspectiva metapoética el relato ovidiano establece resonancias entre la Fama del héroe mítico y sus propios mecanismos textuales.
El obispo Nicolás Videla y el General Belgrano. 1812-1819
Authors: Sánchez Pérez Emiliano
Published: June 2014

Con escasas excepciones, y estas no bien definidas y manifiestas, se ha ido transmitiendo por escrito y en la opinión pública, y entre historiadores, que Mons. Nicolás Videla del Pino cometió delito de lesa patria o de alta traición, por ser de sentimientos realistas y colaborar activamente con esta causa política. Este artículo documenta que fue, ante todo, un celoso pastor sin discriminar a quienes estaban en cada uno de los dos bandos.
Referencias histórico-culturales en los escritos de los Jesuitas en el Japón del siglo XVI
Authors: Míguez Santa Cruz Antonio
Published: June 2014

Las relaciones de los jesuitas nos han proporcionado una valiosísima información sobre los pueblos que se proponían evangelizar. Este artículo pretende destacar el valor histórico, social y cultural que se puede extraer de estos escritos. De esta forma, se procurará ofrecer una leve visión sobre diversos aspectos del Japón de segunda mitad del siglo XVI: un mundo diametralmente opuesto al occidental y con el que los padres hubieron de convivir hasta su definitivo asentamiento.
“El asesinato del Chantre Don Ventura Ferrer. Clérigos y bandos en la Seo valentina seiscentista”
Authors: Callado Estela Emilio
Published: June 2014

El clero de la Seo no fue ajeno a las bandositats que aglutinaron a buena parte de la sociedad valenciana durante el siglo XVII. Lo demuestra el caso del chantre don Ventura Ferrer, líder de una de las facciones catedralicias que, con el apoyo externo del bando de los Vallterra, luchaba por el control de la primera iglesia del reino. Frente a él, el grupo de canónigos patrocinado por el Almirante de Aragón, a la cabeza de la parcialidad contraria y responsable último del asesinato del chantre en 1661, suceso este que pondría al descubierto la imbricación entre el mundo eclesiástico y el fenómeno del bandolerismo.
Modification of strut effectiveness factor for reinforced concrete deep beams strengthened with CFRP laminates
Authors: Panjehpour M. , Ali A. A. A. , Voo Y. L. , Aznieta F. N.
Published: June 2014

This paper proposes a method to modify the strut effectiveness factor in the strut-and-tie model for CFRP-strengthened reinforced concrete deep beams. Two groups of deep beams comprising six ordinary reinforced concrete deep beams and six CFRP-strengthened reinforced concrete deep beams were experimentally tested under the four-point bending configuration. The shear span-to-effective depth ratio of the beams in each group was 0.75, 1.00, 1.25, 1.50, 1.75, and 2.00. The theoretical principal tensile strain in CFRP-strengthened struts was modified based on a proposed empirical relationship, based on two ratios: the experimental to the theoretical value of principal tensile strain and the shear span-to-effective depth of deep beams.
Comparación de la demanda de revistas españolas y extranjeras a través del servicio de suministro de documentos
Authors: Vázquez M. , Alvarez R. , Mares J.
Published: June 2014

Estudio de la demanda que reciben las revistas de la biblioteca de Ciencia y Tecnología del CINDOC, proveniente de los usuarios del Servicio de Suministro de Documentos. Los aspectos analizados incluyen la distribución de la demanda por materias, por países de edición de las revistas, y por la antigüedad de éstas, examinando las diferencias que se dan entre las revistas españolas y las extranjeras. Se estudian los usuarios de que procede la demanda, distribuidos en grandes grupos, en función de su filiación.Los resultados ponen de manifiesto que son las materias de Química, Biología e Industria y Tecnologías Químicas las que concentran mayor volumen de demanda. Los países de edición de las revistas que generan más peticiones son Estados Unidos, Reino Unido, Alemania y España. La mitad de las peticiones corresponde a publicaciones de la presente década, aunque sigue habiendo una demanda importante de artículos publicados hace más de 25 años. En cuanto a los usuarios, el porcentaje más alto pertenece a la Universidad, seguido de los del propio CSIC y de las empresas con cantidades del mismo orden.
Clasificación y caracterización de las entidades: Una propuesta para su tratamiento
Authors: Ruiz Pérez R.
Published: June 2014

Las entidades conforman un capítulo normativo necesitado de un proceso de investigación que clarifique su uso en la actual práctica catalográfica. Se plantean algunos problemas que éstas presentan y se propone como metodología de actuación una clasificación y caracterización de las entidades basada en los aspectos que conforman sus perfiles más conflictivos: su ámbito de actuación, esto es, espacio o lugar donde la entidad se asienta o ejerce su influencia; su carácter, naturaleza o condición; y su situación orgánica dentro de una estructura jerárquica. El resultado es una clasificación caracterizada de las entidades, acompañada de propuestas que pueden contribuir a clarificar los principios normativos vigentes y a mejorar su uso como puntos de acceso normalizados para la recuperación de información.
Evaluación del rendimiento de tesauros españoles en sistemas de recuperación de información
Authors: Gil Urdiciain B.
Published: June 2014

El artículo describe un estudio experimental desarrollado en bases de datos españolas en el que se establece la comparación del rendimiento entre diferentes tesauros y el lenguaje natural, en el proceso de recuperación de la información. El test se llevó a cabo mediante la combinación de los métodos analítico y de muestreo y validación de datos. Las consultas se realizaron de modo interactivo, evaluándose los registros y modificándose las estrategias a la vista de los resultados. Las referencias recuperadas en cada modalidad se valoraron en base a las tasas de precisión y exhaustividad. Los resultados muestran que en lenguaje libre se consiguió una precisión del 63,4 % y una exhaustividad del 59,5 %; con la ayuda del tesauro ambos índices mejoraron: en precisión se alcanzó un 86,8 % y en exhaustividad un 61,6 %. Se concluye que el lenguaje controlado consigue más bajos niveles de ruido que el libre al tiempo que puede llegar a aportar tan altos índices de exhaustividad como aquél; igualmente, a la vista de los resultados de la comparación se puede concluir que el lenguaje controlado neutraliza las deficiencias del libre y viceversa y, por tanto, ambos son complementarios.
Evaluación de la consistencia en la indización del repertorio Documentación Médica Española
Authors: Abad García M. F. , Abad Pérez I. , Aleixandre Benavent R.
Published: June 2014

Entre los aspectos más delicados del funcionamiento de un SRI están la selección de los trabajos que determinan su cobertura temática y su indización. La adecuación de estos procesos es difícil de medir ya que no hay sólo una forma correcta de llevarlos a cabo debido a la existencia de variaciones individuales. Un método para evaluar la magnitud de estas variaciones es medir la consistencia en la realización de estas tareas cuan do las hacen distintas personas (consistencia inter-indizador) o la misma en tiempos distintos (consistencia intra-indizador). Se trata de evaluar la con -sistencia inter-indizador en la selección de los trabajos del tercer volumen del repertorio Documentación Médica Española (1996) y en la asignación de categoría principal y de analizar las causas de las discrepancias. La re-selección y reindización han sido llevadas a cabo de forma independiente por un indizador externo experto en la materia. El material reseleccionado han sido los 370 artículos preseleccionados para su inclusión en el repertorio. Se han reindizado los artículos en los que ambos indizadores coincidían que eran relevantes. El indicador utilizado como medida de la consistencia ha sido la proporción de acuerdo simple entre los dos indizadores. El acuerdo en la selección de trabajos ha sido del 86 % y en la asignación de clase y categoría principal del 78,6 % para el conjunto de categorías. El análisis de discrepancias en el proceso de selección ha revelado un alto grado de acuerdo para los trabajos centrales de la disciplina. En el proceso de clasificación, salvo un conjunto de trabajos de contenido similar para los que los indizadores utilizan criterios distintos, el origen de las dicrepancias se debe a errores de ambos indizadores.
Innovation through Diversity
Authors: Szczur Samantha
Published: May 2014

Organizations operating on a global scale encounter much pressure to be innovative in order to survive. For many, embracing diversity is a means of enhancing creativity, and thus, success. A common organizational strategy to harness diversity is through structures and cultures that organizational scholars would identify as post-modern alternatives to traditional, tall bureaucracies. While such organizations claim that these structures and cultures cater to diversity, particularly gendered diversity, they can often operate to mitigate gendered equality. This occurs because organizations, despite their best intentions and efforts, reinscribe masculine norms of working and organizing. This chapter examines two highly recognizable technology organizations, Google and Facebook, and closely attends to the ways in which their structures and cultures privilege masculinity.
Realizing Race
Authors: Ritter Zachary , Roth Kenneth
Published: May 2014

Media representations are for most of us a window on the world. We hear, see, or otherwise experience forms of culture through mass distributed imagery, music, news, fashion, and film, among other media. The U.S. is the global leader in the distribution of media, accounting for one-third of more than $30 billion annually in worldwide film distribution alone. Media representations from the U.S. are distinctive and carry signs of the country's long struggle with race and equality. International college students with little exposure to the U.S. outside of its depiction in exported media come here with racial perceptions that can be detrimental to their own and the college experiences of others, namely African American men. Girded by two qualitative studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, this chapter examines how media representations can flavor cross-cultural interactions, and what implications these interactions may have for campus climate, as well as cross-cultural learning opportunities for both international and underrepresented domestic student groups.
Reading Smart Stuff Together and Whistling Vivaldi
Authors: Festle Mary Jo
Published: May 2014

Elon University sponsored successful reading and discussion groups about psychologist Claude Steele's book, Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do. The book describes the many ways that “stereotype threat” negatively impacts people who are anxious about confirming stereotypes with an identity group to which they belong. It also provides research-based strategies for reducing the impact of stereotype threat. This chapter describes why the reading groups worked, how they were run, and the evidence for their impact on the institution. The discussion group model could be replicated by other organizations.
Supporting Model-Driven Development
Authors: Maciel Rita Suzana Pitangueira , Mascarenhas Ana Patrícia F. Magalhães , Gomes Ramon Araújo , de Queiroz João Pedro D. B.
Published: June 2014

The adoption of Model-Driven Development (MDD) is increasing and it is widely recognized as an important approach for building software systems. In addition to traditional development process models, an MDD process requires the selection of metamodels and mapping rules for the generation of the transformation chain which produces models and application code. However, existing support tools and transformation engines for MDD do not address different kinds of software process activities, such as application modeling and testing, to guide the developers. Furthermore, they do not enable process modeling nor the (semi) automated execution of activities during process enactment. MoDErNE (Model Driven Process-Centered Software Engineering Environment) uses process-centered software engineering environment concepts to improve MDD process specification and enactment by using a metamodeling foundation. This chapter presents model driven development concept issues and the MoDErNE approach and environment. MoDErNE aims to facilitate MDD process specification and enactment.
An Improved Model-Based Technique for Generating Test Scenarios from UML Class Diagrams
Authors: Oluwagbemi Oluwatolani , Asmuni Hishammuddin
Published: June 2014

The foundation of any software testing process is test scenario generation. This is because it forecasts the expected output of a system under development by extracting the artifacts expressed in any of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagrams, which are eventually used as the basis for software testing. Class diagrams are UML structural diagrams that describe a system by displaying its classes, attributes, and the relationships between them. Existing class diagram-based test scenario generation techniques only extract data variables and functions, which leads to incomprehensible or vague test scenarios. Consequently, this chapter aims to develop an improved technique that automatically generates test scenarios by reading, extracting, and interpreting the sets of objects that share attributes, operations, relationships, and semantics in a class diagram. From the performance evaluation, the proposed model-based technique is efficiently able to read, interpret, and generate scenarios from all the descriptive links of a class diagram.
Software Evolution Visualization
Authors: Novais Renato Lima , Neto Manoel Gomes de Mendonça
Published: June 2014

Software Visualization is the field of Software Engineering that aims to help people to understand software through the use of visual resources. It can be effectively used to analyze and understand the large amount of data produced during software evolution. Several Software Evolution Visualization (SEV) approaches have been proposed. The goals of the proposed approaches are varied, and they try to help programmers and managers to deal with software evolution in their daily software activities. Despite their goals, their applicability in real development scenarios is questionable. In this chapter, the authors discuss the current state of the art and challenges in software evolution visualization, presenting issues and problems related to the area, and they propose some solutions and recommendations to circumvent them. Finally, the authors discuss some research directions for the SEV domain.
Evaluating an Evolutionary Particle Swarm Optimization for Fast Fuzzy C-Means Clustering on Liver CT Images
Authors: Ali Abder-Rahman , Couceiro Micael S. , Anter Ahmed M. , Hassanian Aboul Ella
Published: May 2014

An Evolutionary Particle Swarm Optimization based on the Fractional Order Darwinian method for optimizing a Fast Fuzzy C-Means algorithm is proposed. This chapter aims at enhancing the performance of Fast Fuzzy C-Means, both in terms of the overall solution and speed. To that end, the concept of fractional calculus is used to control the convergence rate of particles, wherein each one of them represents a set of cluster centers. The proposed solution, denoted as FODPSO-FFCM, is applied on liver CT images, and compared with Fast Fuzzy C-Means and PSOFFCM, using Jaccard Index and Dice Coefficient. The computational efficiency is achieved by using the histogram of the image intensities during the clustering process instead of the raw image data. The experimental results based on the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) technique and multiple pair-wise comparison show that the proposed algorithm is fast, accurate, and less time consuming.
Use of Bi-Camera and Fusion of Pairwise Real Time Citrus Fruit Image for Classification Application
Authors: Li Peilin , Lee Sang-Heon , Hsu Hung-Yao
Published: May 2014

In this chapter, the use of two images, the near infrared image and the color image, from a bi-camera machine vision system is investigated to improve the detection of the citrus fruits in the image. The application has covered the design of the bi-camera vision system to align two CCD cameras, the online acquisition of the citrus fruit tree image, and the fusion of two aligned images. In the system, two cameras have been registered with alignment to ensure the fusion of two images. A fusion method has been developed based on the Multiscale Decomposition Analysis (MSD) with a Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) application for the two dimensional signal. In the fusion process, two image quality issues have been addressed. One is the detail noise from the background, which is bounded with the envelope spectra and with similar spectra to orange citrus fruit and spatial variance property. The second is the enhancement of the fundamental envelope spectra using two source images. With level of MSD estimated, the noise is reduced by zeroing the high pass coefficients in DWT while the fundamental envelope spectra from the color image are enhanced by an arithmetic pixel level fusion rule. To evaluate the significant improvement of the image quality, some major classification methods are applied to compare the classified results from the fused image with the results from the types of color image. The misclassification error is measured by the empirical type errors using the manual segmentation reference image.
Automatic Fruit Disease Classification Using Images
Authors: Dubey Shiv Ram , Jalal Anand Singh
Published: May 2014

Diseases in fruit cause devastating problems in economic losses and production in the agricultural industry worldwide. In this chapter, a method to detect and classify fruit diseases automatically is proposed and experimentally validated. The image processing-based proposed approach is composed of the following main steps: in the first step K-Means clustering technique is used for the defect segmentation, in the second step some color and texture features are extracted from the segmented defected part, and finally diseases are classified into one of the classes by using a multi-class Support Vector Machine. The authors have considered diseases of apple as a test case and evaluated the approach for three types of apple diseases, namely apple scab, apple blotch, and apple rot, along with normal apples. The experimental results express that the proposed solution can significantly support accurate detection and automatic classification of fruit diseases. The classification accuracy for the proposed approach is achieved up to 93% using textural information and multi-class support vector machine.
Online User Interaction Traits in Web-Based Social Biometrics
Authors: Sultana Madeena , Paul Padma Polash , Gavrilova Marina L.
Published: May 2014

During the Internet era, millions of users are using Web-based Social Networking Sites (SNSs) such as MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter for communication needs. Social networking platforms are now considered a source of big data because of real-time activities of a large number of users. In addition to idiosyncratic personal characteristics, web-based social data may include person-to-person communication, profiles, patterns, and spatio-temporal information. However, analysis of social interaction-based data has not been studied from the perspective of person identification. In this chapter, the authors introduce for the first time the concept of using interaction-based features from online social networking platforms as a novel biometric. They introduce the concept of social behavioral biometric from SNSs to aid the identification process. Analysis of these novel biometric features and their potential use in various security and authentication applications are also presented. Such applications would pave the way for new directions in biometric research.
Fingers' Angle Calculation Using Level-Set Method
Authors: Chaudhary Ankit , Raheja Jagdish Lal , Das Karen , Raheja Shekhar
Published: May 2014

In the current age, use of natural communication in human-computer interaction is a known and well-installed thought. Hand gesture recognition and gesture-based applications have gained a significant amount of popularity amongst people all over the world. They have a number of applications ranging from security to entertainment. These applications generally are real time applications and need fast, accurate communication with machines. On the other end, gesture-based communications have few limitations, but bent finger information is not provided in vision-based techniques. In this chapter, a novel method for fingertip detection and for angle calculation of both hands' bent fingers is discussed. Angle calculation has been done before with sensor-based gloves/devices. This study has been conducted in the context of natural computing for calculating angles without using any wired equipment, colors, marker, or any device. The pre-processing and segmentation of the region of interest is performed in a HSV color space and a binary format, respectively. Fingertips are detected using level-set method and angles are calculated using geometrical analysis. This technique requires no training for the system to perform the task.
Outline Capture of Planar Objects by Detecting Corner Features
Authors: Irshad Misbah , Sarfraz Muhammad , Hussain Malik Zawwar
Published: May 2014

This chapter proposes a scheme that helps digitizing hand printed and electronic planar objects or vectorizing the generic shapes. An evolutionary optimization technique, namely Genetic Algorithm (GA), is used to solve the problem of curve fitting with cubic and rational cubic spline functions. The underlying scheme is comprised of various phases including data of the image outlines, detection of corner points, using GA for optimal values of shape parameters in the description of spline functions, and fitting curve using spline functions to the detected corner points.
Implementation Strategies for High-Performance Multiuser MIMO Precoders
Authors: Barrenechea Maitane , Mendicute Mikel , Burg Andreas , Thompson John S.
Published: May 2014

The multiuser MIMO environment enables the communication between a base-station and multiple users with several antennas. In such a scenario, the use of precoding techniques is required in order to detect the signal at the users' terminals without any cooperation between them. This contribution presents various designs and hardware implementations of a high-capacity precoder based on vector perturbation. To this aim, three tree-search techniques and their associated user-ordering schemes are investigated in this chapter: the well-known K-Best precoder, the fixed-complexity Fixed Sphere Encoder (FSE), and the variable complexity Single Best-Node Expansion (SBE). All of the aforementioned techniques aim at finding the most suitable perturbation vector within an infinite lattice without the high computational complexity of an exhaustive search.
Analysis of Real-Time Hybrid-Cooperative GNSS-Terrestrial Positioning Algorithms
Authors: Sottile Francesco , Xiong Zhoubing , Pastrone Claudio
Published: May 2014

This chapter analyzes some hybrid and cooperative GNSS-terrestrial positioning algorithms that combine both pseudorange measurements from satellites and terrestrial range measurements based on radio frequency communication to improve both positioning accuracy and availability. A Simulation Tool (ST) is also presented as a viable tool able to test and evaluate the performance of these hybrid positioning algorithms in different scenarios. In particular, the ST simulates devices belonging to a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) wireless network where peers, equipped with a wireless interface and a GNSS receiver, cooperate among them by exchanging positioning aiding data in order to enhance the overall performance. Different hybrid and cooperative algorithms, based on Bayesian and least squares approaches proposed in the literature, have been implemented in the ST and simulated in different simulation scenarios including the vehicular urban one. Moreover, all these algorithms are compared in terms of computational complexity to better understand their feasibility to achieve a real-time implementation. Finally, the sensitivity of the hybrid and cooperative algorithms when pseudorange measurements are affected by large noise and in presence of malicious peers in the P2P network is also assessed by means of the ST.
Wearout and Variation Tolerant Source Synchronous Communication for GALS Network-on-Chip Design
Authors: Strano Alessandro , Hernández Carles , Silla Federico , Bertozzi Davide
Published: May 2014

In the context of multi-IP chips making use of internal communication paths other than the traditional buses, source synchronous links for use in multi-synchronous Networks-on-Chip (NoCs) are becoming the most vulnerable points for correct network operation and therefore need to be safeguarded against intra-link delay variations and signal misalignments. The intricacy of matching link net attributes during placement and routing and the growing role of process parameter variations in nanoscale silicon technologies, as well as the deterioration due to the ageing of the chip, are the root causes for this. This chapter addresses the challenge of designing a timing variation and layout mismatch tolerant link for synchronizer-based GALS NoCs by implementing a self-calibration mechanism. A timing variation detector senses the misalignment, due to process variation and wearout, between data lines with themselves and with the transmitter clock routed with data in source synchronous links. Then, a suitable delayed replica of the transmitter clock is selected for safe sampling of misaligned data. This chapter proves the robustness of the link in isolation with respect to a detector-less link, also addressing integration issues with the downstream synchronizer and switch architecture, proving the benefits in a realistic experimental setting for cost-effective NoCs.
Net Neutrality
Authors: Schafer Valérie , Musiani Francesca , Le Crosnier Hervé
Published: May 2014

Beyond the likes of a purely technical issue, situated at the heart of the transport layer of the TCP/IP protocol, net neutrality takes the form of a complex political debate. This chapter's endeavour is to study the set of dimensions that make it possible for net neutrality to be read as a global political issue. The chapter follows the constantly evolving notion of net neutrality as it interrogates the Internet as a laboratory of governance, the actors and dynamics involved in the establishment of a “technical democracy” and the dialectic between the Internet's universal, egalitarian ideal and the techno-political measures shaping the “network of networks.”
Who Cares for Identity Information in Government 2.0?
Authors: Koops Bert-Jaap , van den Berg Bibi
Published: May 2014

This chapter presents the results of an empirical study on the effects of identity information on government-citizen interaction in government 2.0 applications. It triangulates findings from a survey among government 2.0 users and quantitative and qualitative analyses of Dutch government 2.0 Websites. This reveals the identity information Web 2.0 users want to have of other participants and are willing to provide about themselves, the importance of role information of civil servants, and the relationship of identity information with the interaction level on government 2.0 applications. The results show that, contrary to what the literature suggests, there is no significant correlation between identity information and interaction levels on government 2.0 discussion forums. The findings suggest that government 2.0 initiatives should be designed with a flexible and liberal approach to identity information.
Are Greek High School Students Environmental Citizens?
Authors: Sdrali Despina , Galanis Nikolaos , Goussia-Rizou Maria , Abeliotis Konstadinos
Published: May 2014

Environmental citizenship is specifically concerned with understanding the nature of global issues and taking an active role in addressing them. The aim of the present paper is the identification of the characteristics that constitute the environmental citizen among high school students in Greece. Literature review revealed the characteristics that an environmental citizen should possess. Thus, a research was conducted via a closed-type questionnaire in order to identify those characteristics in the students' responses. The results suggest that the knowledge of the students on certain environmental issues is sufficient. Also, the major motive for participation in environmental activities is the high level of awareness of the students about the global environment. Finally, a classification of high school students in five clusters, describing the relevance of their responses to the environmental citizenship characteristics, is presented.
Evolution of the Search Engine in Developed and Emerging Markets
Authors: Hiraoka Leslie S.
Published: May 2014

The search engine has evolved into a dynamic, information and marketing channel in both developed and emerging countries because of its ability to provide relevant and useful information to the searcher. However, due to language, cultural, and government-imposed barriers, major U.S. search engines, compared to their counterparts in multinational manufacturing, encountered considerable difficulty in competing for Asian markets against indigenous firms that provided censored links to websites approved by the government. This has become critical for these high-tech firms that need to expand abroad because their markets are maturing at home. The dispute on Internet censorship between the United States and China has reached the highest diplomatic offices in both countries and this could lead to bilateral negotiations whereby U.S. search engines are permitted to establish unfettered commercial operations in China.
Predicting Users' Continuance Intention Toward E-payment System
Authors: Tella Adeyinka , Olasina Gbola
Published: May 2014

This paper synthesized the technology acceptance model (TAM), to explain and predict the users' intentions to continue using e-payment system. The hypothesized model was validated empirically using a sample data collected from a modified e-payment questionnaire. A simple random sample technique was used to select 250 academic and non academic staff at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. The results reveal correlation among perceived usefulness and attitude to use, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and attitude; perceived enjoyment and continuance intention to use, speed and actual use. Furthermore, attitude, satisfaction and actual use were all associated with continuance intention. Moreover, all the nine e-payment predictive factors together made 65% of e-payment continuance intention, and similarly; perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, enjoyment, speed; perceived benefits, user satisfaction, actual use and attitude are good predictors of e-payment continuance intention.
Designing a Critical Care Nurse–Led Rapid Response Team Using Only Available Resources: 6 Years Later
Authors: Mitchell Anne , Schatz Marilyn , Francis Heather
Published: June 2014

Rapid response teams have been introduced to intervene in the care of patients whose condition deteriorates unexpectedly by bringing clinical experts quickly to the patient’s bedside. Evidence supporting the need to overcome failure to deliver optimal care in hospitals is robust; whether rapid response teams demonstrate benefit by improving patient safety and reducing the occurrence of adverse events remains controversial. Despite inconsistent evidence regarding the effectiveness of rapid response teams, concerns regarding care and costly consequences of unaddressed deterioration in patients’ condition have prompted many hospitals to implement rapid response teams as a patient safety strategy. A cost-neutral structure for a rapid response team led by a nurse from the intensive care unit was implemented with the goal of reducing cardiopulmonary arrests occurring outside the intensive care unit. The results of 6 years’ experience indicate that a sustainable and effective rapid response team response can be put into practice without increasing costs or adding positions and can decrease the percentage of cardiopulmonary arrests occurring outside the intensive care unit. (Critical Care Nurse. 2014; 34[3]:41–56)
GIS Analysis Of Pockmarks From 3D Seismic Exploration Surveys
Authors: Geldof Jean-Baptiste , Gafeira Joana , Contet Julien , Marquet Simon
Published: June 2014

Today Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are present at all stages of Exploration and Production process. Its strength is the ability to combine datasets from each specialty of Geosciences: geology, geophysical, geochemistry, geotechnic, metocean. GIS are widely known for being a powerful tool to gather and archive all geographical data but one of the major strength of a GIS is its capacity to be used for analyzing the data. The proposed GIS approach is a real added value for seabed geohazards assessment for subsea layout validation. The semi-automatic method of seabed pockmarks characterization using GIS and multibeam datasets established by the British Geological Survey in 2012 (Gafeira et al. 2012) has been re-used and improved on exploration 3D seismic data. 1688 seabed pockmarks are mapped over a particular area of interest offshore West Africa. Geomorphologic characteristics are extracted and cross-correlated with 3D seismic amplitude for each pockmark. Correlation coefficients are calculated to highlight the link between pockmark shape and amplitude (indirectly pockmark activity).

A second horizon extracted from 3D seismic data has been used to map buried pockmarks, allowing a comparison with seabed pockmarks. The migration path of each pockmark is automatically generated. Orientation of the migration line is found to be consistent with seabed currents, confirming the influence of seabed currents on pockmark migration. Density maps set up for the seabed and buried pockmarks show particular areas with a strong increase of pockmark density, other areas more stable and some areas with a decline of activity.
Incidental right Bochdalek hernia with interruption of the inferior vena cava and hepatic venous collateral continuation: A case report
Authors: Ismail Farzanah I. , Human Rule , Chacko Anith , Naran Parmanand , Ahmad Samia , Ellemdin Siraj
Published: May 2014

A 36-year-old asymptomatic female had a routine chest radiograph to exclude pulmonary tuberculosis, as part of an employee wellness programme. There was opacification of the right lower thorax. Computed tomography and venography demonstrated an incidental right Bochdalek hernia with interruption of the inferior vena cava (IVC) and hepatic venous collateral continuation. The association of a Bochdalek hernia with an anomaly of the IVC is rare, with only one case described in the literature.
Padrões de expectativas dos alunos sobre o serviço na educação superior: um estudo nos contextos público e privado
Authors: Campos Domingos Fernandes , Pinheiro Catarina de Sena Matos
Published: June 2014

Este trabalho apresenta os resultados de uma pesquisa com os alunos de duas universidades. São investigadas as correlações existentes entre os padrões de expectativas dos alunos em contextos público e privado, de cursos iguais em universidades diferentes e de cursos diferentes numa mesma universidade. O estudo, com uma amostra de 1174 universitários, envolveu 29 atributos relacionados ao serviço educacional em três cursos da área tecnológica. Os padrões foram analisados estatisticamente com base no emparelhamento das médias de respostas e no conjunto de prioridades dos grupos de respondentes. Os resultados não confirmam similaridade entre os padrões de expectativas nos diferentes contextos. Os alunos de uma IES privada e de uma IES pública não têm padrões de expectativas similares sobre um mesmo conjunto de atributos do serviço educacional. Os alunos de cursos diferentes de uma mesma IES não têm padrões de expectativas similares sobre um mesmo conjunto de atributos do serviço educacional. Os alunos de cursos similares, de IES diferentes, não têm padrões de expectativas similares sobre um mesmo conjunto de atributos do serviço educacional.
Aprendizagem a distância: um estudo à luz da abordagem construtivista
Authors: Vieira Naldeir dos Santos , Cançado Airton Cardoso , Alvarenga Marcelo Cambraia de , Martins Juliana Borges
Published: June 2014

Este estudo de caso qualitativo objetivou identificar e analisar aspectos relacionados ao processo de aprendizagem de alunos do curso de bacharelado a distância em Administração Pública da Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri – UFVJM. O campo empírico é formado por alunos do Polo de Águas Formosas – MG e os dados foram obtidos por meio de depoimentos em fóruns propostos na plataforma Moodle. Destaca-se que, na visão dos alunos, a leitura é a principal estratégia para a aprendizagem e a internet o principal meio para o acesso às informações. Ademais, as interações com colegas de curso e com os presentes nos demais espaços sociais dos graduandos, com destaque para o ambiente de trabalho, foram citadas como fundamentais para o desencadeamento de reflexões sobre a dualidade teoria-prática suscitando em ressignificações da realidade. Na busca por melhoria do processo de aprendizagem nos cursos a distância, é proposto: (1) melhorar o planejamento e organização do material para a leitura; (2) conhecer o perfil dos alunos; (3) valorizar os grupos formados em torno do curso; (4) reforçar o aproveitamento dos grupos espontâneos; (5) investir em estrutura e tecnologia adequadas; (6) tornar o professor um orientador, centrando no aprendiz o protagonismo da aprendizagem.
Civil Service Recruitment: Problems Connected With Federal Character Policy in Nigeria
Authors: Akinwale Emmanuel Jude Abiodun
Published: May 2014

The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent of relevance of the federal character as a national policy in recruitment into the Nigerian federal civil service and probe whether or not the level of application of merit supersedes the application of ecological considerations in recruitment into the service. It utilizes quantitative and qualitative data collection to espouse its theme. The paper finds that there are personnel problems connected with poor application of federal character policy in recruitment into the civil service and this affects the quality of entrants. It recommends strict application of merit standard to attract best workers while implementing federal character policy through proven certification of state of applicants. The paper notes that the Nigerian federal character policy is one that places premium on state representation in governance and bureaucracy and a strategy for national integration. However, there must be predominant application of merit in recruitment.
Play of Sniffication:
Authors: Seegert Natasha
Published: June 2014

Indigenous to North and Central America, the coyote has been revered in the stories of native tribes, trapped by ranchers, and detonated in Saturday morning cartoons. Recently, the coyote has assumed the role of “patroller” in downtown Chicago. This article considers how the coyotes in Chicago decenter and disrupt the logics of rhetoric, in which leads to an encounter with animal rhetorics that are not solely produced by the human animal. The coyotes' play of “sniffication,” not only ruptures the logics of a center but also the anthropocentric system the center was a part of, an anthropocentric structure that attempts to keep rhetoric confined within the sphere of human animals. The texts surrounding the coyotes reveal the unfixed notion of a marginalized being who challenges structural and rhetorical norms.
Effluent particle removal by microirrigation system filters
Authors: Puig-Bargués J. , Arbat G. , Barragán J. , Ramírez de Cartagena F.
Published: June 2014

The aim of this work was to determine whether the filters used in microirrigation systems can remove potentially emitter-clogging particles. The particle size and volume distributions of different effluents and their filtrates were established, and the efficiency of the removal of these particles and total suspended solids by screen, disc and sand filters determined. In most of the effluents and filtrates, the number of particles with a diameter > 20 micro m was minimal. By analysing the particle volume distribution it was found that particles larger than the disc and screen filter pores appeared in the filtrates. However, the sand filter was able to retain particles larger than the pore size. The filtration efficiency depended more on the type of effluent than on the filter. It was also found that the particle size distribution followed a potential law. Analysis of the beta exponents showed that the filters did not significantly modify the particle size distribution of the effluents.
Short communication. Effects of type and level of supplementation with dietary n-3 fatty acids on yolk fat composition and n-3 fatty acid retention in hen eggs
Authors: Cachaldora P. , De Blas J.C. , De Blas J.C. , García-Rebollar P. , Álvarez C. , Méndez J.
Published: June 2014

A marine algal oil (MAO) with a high docosahexaenoic acid content (46.7%) was evaluated for the production of n-3 fatty acid (FA) enriched eggs. To determine its effects, laying hens were fed one of two diets containing different amounts of MAO, or a control diet containing marine fish oil (MFO). The efficiency of retention of total n-3 FA in the yolk fat depended both on the type and level of dietary n-3 substrate. Per unit weight of dietary oil added, MAO was better than MFO in terms of total n-3 FA retention by the yolk fat. However, the efficiency of retention of total n-3 FA, expressed as g FA retained per g of FA intake, was higher for MFO than for MAO.
A Multiplex High-Throughput Gene Expression Assay to Simultaneously Detect Disease and Functional Markers in Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium
Authors: Ferrer Marc , Corneo Barbara , Davis Janine , Wan Qin , Miyagishima Kiyoharu Joshua , King Rebecca , Maminishkis Arvydas , Marugan Juan , Sharma Ruchi , Shure Michael , Temple Sally , Miller Sheldon , Bharti Kapil
Published: May 2014

There is continuing interest in the development of lineage-specific cells from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells for use in cell therapies and drug discovery. Although in most cases differentiated cells show features of the desired lineage, they retain fetal gene expression and do not fully mature into “adult-like” cells. Such cells may not serve as an effective therapy because, once implanted, immature cells pose the risk of uncontrolled growth. Therefore, there is a need to optimize lineage-specific stem cell differentiation protocols to produce cells that no longer express fetal genes and have attained “adult-like” phenotypes. Toward that goal, it is critical to develop assays that simultaneously measure cell function and disease markers in high-throughput format. Here, we use a multiplex high-throughput gene expression assay that simultaneously detects endogenous expression of multiple developmental, functional, and disease markers in iPS cell-derived retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). We optimized protocols to differentiate iPS cell-derived RPE that was then grown in 96- and 384-well plates. As a proof of principle, we demonstrate differential expression of eight genes in iPS cells, iPS cell-derived RPE at two different differentiation stages, and primary human RPE using this multiplex assay. The data obtained from the multiplex gene expression assay are significantly correlated with standard quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction-based measurements, confirming the ability of this high-throughput assay to measure relevant gene expression changes. This assay provides the basis to screen for compounds that improve RPE function and maturation and target disease pathways, thus providing the basis for effective treatments of several retinal degenerative diseases.