bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Characterizing Cropland Phenology in Major Grain Production Areas of Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan by the Synergistic Use of Passive Microwave and Visible to Near Infrared Data
Authors: Alemu Woubet , Henebry Geoffrey
Published: December 2016

We demonstrate the synergistic use of surface air temperature retrieved from AMSR-E (Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer on Earth observing satellite) and two vegetation indices (VIs) from the shorter wavelengths of MODIS (MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) to characterize cropland phenology in the major grain production areas of Northern Eurasia from 2003–2010. We selected 49 AMSR-E pixels across Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan, based on MODIS land cover percentage data. AMSR-E air temperature growing degree-days (GDD) captures the weekly, monthly, and seasonal oscillations, and well correlated with station GDD. A convex quadratic (CxQ) model that linked thermal time measured as growing degree-days to accumulated growing degree-days (AGDD) was fitted to each pixel’s time series yielding high coefficients of determination (0.88 ≤ r2 ≤ 0.98). Deviations of observed GDD from the CxQ model predicted GDD by site corresponded to peak VI for negative residuals (period of higher latent heat flux) and low VI at beginning and end of growing season for positive residuals (periods of higher sensible heat flux). Modeled thermal time to peak, i.e., AGDD at peak GDD, showed a strong inverse linear trend with respect to latitude with r2 of 0.92 for Russia and Kazakhstan and 0.81 for Ukraine. MODIS VIs tracked similar seasonal responses in time and space and were highly correlated across the growing season with r2 > 0.95. Sites at lower latitude (≤49°N) that grow winter and spring grains showed either a bimodal growing season or a shorter unimodal winter growing season with substantial inter-annual variability, whereas sites at higher latitude (≥56°N) where spring grains are cultivated exhibited shorter, unimodal growing seasons. Sites between these extremes exhibited longer unimodal growing seasons. At some sites there were shifts between unimodal and bimodal patterns over the study period. Regional heat waves that devastated grain production in 2007 in Ukraine and in 2010 in Russia and Kazakhstan appear clearly anomalous. Microwave based surface air temperature data holds great promise to extend to parts of the planet where the land surface is frequently obscured by clouds, smoke, or aerosols, and where routine meteorological observations are sparse or absent.
A High-Efficiency Uneven Cluster Deployment Algorithm Based on Network Layered for Event Coverage in UWSNs
Authors: Yu Shanen , Liu Shuai , Jiang Peng
Published: December 2016

Most existing deployment algorithms for event coverage in underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) usually do not consider that network communication has non-uniform characteristics on three-dimensional underwater environments. Such deployment algorithms ignore that the nodes are distributed at different depths and have different probabilities for data acquisition, thereby leading to imbalances in the overall network energy consumption, decreasing the network performance, and resulting in poor and unreliable late network operation. Therefore, in this study, we proposed an uneven cluster deployment algorithm based network layered for event coverage. First, according to the energy consumption requirement of the communication load at different depths of the underwater network, we obtained the expected value of deployment nodes and the distribution density of each layer network after theoretical analysis and deduction. Afterward, the network is divided into multilayers based on uneven clusters, and the heterogeneous communication radius of nodes can improve the network connectivity rate. The recovery strategy is used to balance the energy consumption of nodes in the cluster and can efficiently reconstruct the network topology, which ensures that the network has a high network coverage and connectivity rate in a long period of data acquisition. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm improves network reliability and prolongs network lifetime by significantly reducing the blind movement of overall network nodes while maintaining a high network coverage and connectivity rate.
Conceptual Design of a Nano-Networking Device
Authors: Canovas-Carrasco Sebastian , Garcia-Sanchez Antonio-Javier , Garcia-Sanchez Felipe , Garcia-Haro Joan
Published: December 2016

Nanotechnology is an emerging scientific area whose advances, among many others, have a positive direct impact on the miniaturization of electronics. This unique technology enables the possibility to design and build electronic components as well as complete devices (called nanomachines or nanodevices) at the nano scale. A nanodevice is expected to be an essential element able to operate in a nanonetwork, where a huge number of them would coordinate to acquire data, process the information gathered, and wirelessly transmit those data to end-points providing innovative services in many key scenarios, such as the human body or the environment. This paper is aimed at studying the feasibility of this type of device by carefully examining their main component parts, namely the nanoprocessor, nanomemory, nanoantenna, and nanogenerator. To this end, a thorough state-of-the-art review is conveyed to discuss, substantiate, and select the most suitable current technology (commercial or pre-commercial) for each component. Then, we further contribute by developing a complete conceptual nanodevice layout taking into consideration its ultra-small size (similar to a blood cell) and its very restricted capabilities (e.g., processing, memory storage, telecommunication, and energy management). The required resources as well as the power consumption are realistically estimated.
Performance Evaluation of State of the Art Systems for Physical Activity Classification of Older Subjects Using Inertial Sensors in a Real Life Scenario: A Benchmark Study
Authors: Awais Muhammad , Palmerini Luca , Bourke Alan , Ihlen Espen , Helbostad Jorunn , Chiari Lorenzo
Published: December 2016

The popularity of using wearable inertial sensors for physical activity classification has dramatically increased in the last decade due to their versatility, low form factor, and low power requirements. Consequently, various systems have been developed to automatically classify daily life activities. However, the scope and implementation of such systems is limited to laboratory-based investigations. Furthermore, these systems are not directly comparable, due to the large diversity in their design (e.g., number of sensors, placement of sensors, data collection environments, data processing techniques, features set, classifiers, cross-validation methods). Hence, the aim of this study is to propose a fair and unbiased benchmark for the field-based validation of three existing systems, highlighting the gap between laboratory and real-life conditions. For this purpose, three representative state-of-the-art systems are chosen and implemented to classify the physical activities of twenty older subjects (76.4 ± 5.6 years). The performance in classifying four basic activities of daily life (sitting, standing, walking, and lying) is analyzed in controlled and free living conditions. To observe the performance of laboratory-based systems in field-based conditions, we trained the activity classification systems using data recorded in a laboratory environment and tested them in real-life conditions in the field. The findings show that the performance of all systems trained with data in the laboratory setting highly deteriorates when tested in real-life conditions, thus highlighting the need to train and test the classification systems in the real-life setting. Moreover, we tested the sensitivity of chosen systems to window size (from 1 s to 10 s) suggesting that overall accuracy decreases with increasing window size. Finally, to evaluate the impact of the number of sensors on the performance, chosen systems are modified considering only the sensing unit worn at the lower back. The results, similarly to the multi-sensor setup, indicate substantial degradation of the performance when laboratory-trained systems are tested in the real-life setting. This degradation is higher than in the multi-sensor setup. Still, the performance provided by the single-sensor approach, when trained and tested with real data, can be acceptable (with an accuracy above 80%).
Integrated Fault Diagnosis Algorithm for Motor Sensors of In-Wheel Independent Drive Electric Vehicles
Authors: Jeon Namju , Lee Hyeongcheol
Published: December 2016

An integrated fault-diagnosis algorithm for a motor sensor of in-wheel independent drive electric vehicles is presented. This paper proposes a method that integrates the high- and low-level fault diagnoses to improve the robustness and performance of the system. For the high-level fault diagnosis of vehicle dynamics, a planar two-track non-linear model is first selected, and the longitudinal and lateral forces are calculated. To ensure redundancy of the system, correlation between the sensor and residual in the vehicle dynamics is analyzed to detect and separate the fault of the drive motor system of each wheel. To diagnose the motor system for low-level faults, the state equation of an interior permanent magnet synchronous motor is developed, and a parity equation is used to diagnose the fault of the electric current and position sensors. The validity of the high-level fault-diagnosis algorithm is verified using Carsim and Matlab/Simulink co-simulation. The low-level fault diagnosis is verified through Matlab/Simulink simulation and experiments. Finally, according to the residuals of the high- and low-level fault diagnoses, fault-detection flags are defined. On the basis of this information, an integrated fault-diagnosis strategy is proposed.
Acoustical Direction Finding with Time-Modulated Arrays
Authors: Clark Ben , Flint James
Published: December 2016

Time-Modulated Linear Arrays (TMLAs) offer useful efficiency savings over conventional phased arrays when applied in parameter estimation applications. The present paper considers the application of TMLAs to acoustic systems and proposes an algorithm for efficiently deriving the arrival angle of a signal. The proposed technique is applied in the frequency domain, where the signal and harmonic content is captured. Using a weighted average method on harmonic amplitudes and their respective main beam angles, it is possible to determine an estimate for the signal’s direction of arrival. The method is demonstrated and evaluated using results from both numerical and practical implementations and performance data is provided. The use of Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) sensors allows time-modulation techniques to be applied at ultrasonic frequencies. Theoretical predictions for an array of five isotropic elements with half-wavelength spacing and 1000 data samples suggest an accuracy of ± 1 ∘ within an angular range of approximately ± 50 ∘ . In experiments of a 40 kHz five-element microphone array, a Direction of Arrival (DoA) estimation within ± 2 . 5 ∘ of the target signal is readily achieved inside a ± 45 ∘ range using a single switched input stage and a simple hardware setup.
Development and Characterization a Single-Active-Chamber Piezoelectric Membrane Pump with Multiple Passive Check Valves
Authors: Zhang Ronghui , You Feng , Lv Zhihan , He Zhaocheng , Wang Haiwei , Huang Ling
Published: December 2016

In order to prevent the backward flow of piezoelectric pumps, this paper presents a single-active-chamber piezoelectric membrane pump with multiple passive check valves. Under the condition of a fixed total number of passive check valves, by means of changing the inlet valves and outlet valves’ configuration, the pumping characteristics in terms of flow rate and backpressure are experimentally investigated. Like the maximum flow rate and backpressure, the testing results show that the optimal frequencies are significantly affected by changes in the number inlet valves and outlet valves. The variation ratios of the maximum flow rate and the maximum backpressure are up to 66% and less than 20%, respectively. Furthermore, the piezoelectric pump generally demonstrates very similar flow rate and backpressure characteristics when the number of inlet valves in one kind of configuration is the same as that of outlet valves in another configuration. The comparison indicates that the backflow from the pumping chamber to inlet is basically the same as the backflow from the outlet to the pumping chamber. No matter whether the number of inlet valves or the number of outlet valves is increased, the backflow can be effectively reduced. In addition, the backpressure fluctuation can be significantly suppressed with an increase of either inlet valves or outlet valves. It also means that the pump can prevent the backflow more effectively at the cost of power consumption. The pump is very suitable for conditions where more accurate flow rates are needed and wear and fatigue of check valves often occur.
Application of Template Matching for Improving Classification of Urban Railroad Point Clouds
Authors: Arastounia Mostafa , Oude Elberink Sander
Published: December 2016

This study develops an integrated data-driven and model-driven approach (template matching) that clusters the urban railroad point clouds into three classes of rail track, contact cable, and catenary cable. The employed dataset covers 630 m of the Dutch urban railroad corridors in which there are four rail tracks, two contact cables, and two catenary cables. The dataset includes only geometrical information (three dimensional (3D) coordinates of the points) with no intensity data and no RGB data. The obtained results indicate that all objects of interest are successfully classified at the object level with no false positives and no false negatives. The results also show that an average 97.3% precision and an average 97.7% accuracy at the point cloud level are achieved. The high precision and high accuracy of the rail track classification (both greater than 96%) at the point cloud level stems from the great impact of the employed template matching method on excluding the false positives. The cables also achieve quite high average precision (96.8%) and accuracy (98.4%) due to their high sampling and isolated position in the railroad corridor.
Wave Energy Assessment and Performance Estimation of State of the Art Wave Energy Converters in Italian Hotspots
Authors: Vannucchi Valentina , Cappietti Lorenzo
Published: December 2016

This paper presents an assessment of offshore wave energy potential at the scale of the whole Mediterranean Sea. The offshore wave data were propagated, by means of numerical modeling, toward four Italian coastal areas, namely stretches of coast of Tuscany, Liguria, Sardinia and Sicily. For each area, the wave power and the monthly, seasonal and annual variability at water depths of 50 m and 15 m were analyzed and hotspots were located. The results show strong variability of the wave energy potential from point to point of the same area thus highlighting the need for spatially detailed analysis. The higher values of wave energy potential are located in the hotspots of Sardinia and Sicily, at 11.4 kW/m and 9.1 kW/m, respectively. The Tuscany and the Liguria hotspots are characterized, respectively, by 4.7 kW/m and 2.0 kW/m. In order to point out which state of the art WEC is best suited for the Italian areas, the performances of six different state of the art Wave Energy Converters (WECs) were evaluated. Finally, a comparison of the performances of each WEC in the selected Italian sites and in some European (EU) oceanic sites was conducted. The energy potential in the most energetic EU oceanic site, among those here investigated, is up to 38-times greater than the potentials in the studied Italian areas but the power output, of the best WEC technology, is no more than nine times greater.
Hydrogeochemistry of Groundwater and Arsenic Adsorption Characteristics of Subsurface Sediments in an Alluvial Plain, SW Taiwan
Authors: Liao Libing , Jean Jiin-Shuh , Chakraborty Sukalyan , Lee Ming-Kuo , Kar Sandeep , Yang Huai-Jen , Li Zhaohui
Published: December 2016

Many studies were conducted to investigate arsenic mobilization in different alluvial plains worldwide. However, due to the unique endemic disease associated with arsenic (As) contamination in Taiwan, a recent research was re-initiated to understand the transport behavior of arsenic in a localized alluvial plain. A comprehensive approach towards arsenic mobility, binding, and chemical speciation was applied to correlate groundwater hydrogeochemistry with parameters of the sediments that affected the As fate and transport. The groundwater belongs to a Na-Ca-HCO3 type with moderate reducing to oxidizing conditions (redox potential = −192 to 8 mV). Groundwater As concentration in the region ranged from 8.89 to 1131 μg/L with a mean of 343 ± 297 μg/L, while the As content in the core sediments varied from 0.80 to 22.8 mg/kg with a mean of 9.9 ± 6.2 mg/kg. A significant correlation was found between As and Fe, Mn, or organic matter, as well as other elements such as Ni, Cu, Zn, and Co in the core sediments. Sequential extraction analysis indicated that the organic matter and Fe/Mn oxyhydroxides were the major binding pools of As. Batch adsorption experiments showed that the sediments had slightly higher affinity for As(III) than for As(V) under near neutral pH conditions and the As adsorption capacity increased as the contents of Fe oxyhydroxides as well as the organic matter increased.
Characterization of an Immunodominant Epitope in the Endodomain of the Coronavirus Membrane Protein
Authors: Dong Hui , Zhang Xin , Shi Hongyan , Chen Jianfei , Shi Da , Zhu Yunnuan , Feng Li
Published: December 2016

The coronavirus membrane (M) protein acts as a dominant immunogen and is a major player in virus assembly. In this study, we prepared two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs; 1C3 and 4C7) directed against the transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) M protein. The 1C3 and 4C7 mAbs both reacted with the native TGEV M protein in western blotting and immunofluorescence (IFA) assays. Two linear epitopes, 243YSTEART249 (1C3) and 243YSTEARTDNLSEQEKLLHMV262 (4C7), were identified in the endodomain of the TGEV M protein. The 1C3 mAb can be used for the detection of the TGEV M protein in different assays. An IFA method for the detection of TGEV M protein was optimized using mAb 1C3. Furthermore, the ability of the epitope identified in this study to stimulate antibody production was also evaluated. An immunodominant epitope in the TGEV membrane protein endodomain was identified. The results of this study have implications for further research on TGEV replication.
RNA Interference in Insect Vectors for Plant Viruses
Authors: Kanakala Surapathrudu , Ghanim Murad
Published: December 2016

Insects and other arthropods are the most important vectors of plant pathogens. The majority of plant pathogens are disseminated by arthropod vectors such as aphids, beetles, leafhoppers, planthoppers, thrips and whiteflies. Transmission of plant pathogens and the challenges in managing insect vectors due to insecticide resistance are factors that contribute to major food losses in agriculture. RNA interference (RNAi) was recently suggested as a promising strategy for controlling insect pests, including those that serve as important vectors for plant pathogens. The last decade has witnessed a dramatic increase in the functional analysis of insect genes, especially those whose silencing results in mortality or interference with pathogen transmission. The identification of such candidates poses a major challenge for increasing the role of RNAi in pest control. Another challenge is to understand the RNAi machinery in insect cells and whether components that were identified in other organisms are also present in insect. This review will focus on summarizing success cases in which RNAi was used for silencing genes in insect vector for plant pathogens, and will be particularly helpful for vector biologists.
PROPAGATION OF RELATIVISTIC, HYDRODYNAMIC, INTERMITTENT JETS IN A ROTATING, COLLAPSING GRB PROGENITOR STAR
Authors: Geng Jin-Jun , Zhang Bing , Kuiper Rolf
Published: December 2016

The prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is characterized by rapid variabilities, which may be a direct reflection of the unsteady central engine. We perform a series of axisymmetric 2.5-dimensional simulations to study the propagation of relativistic, hydrodynamic, intermittent jets through the envelope of a GRB progenitor star. A realistic rapidly rotating star is incorporated as the background of jet propagation, and the star is allowed to collapse due to the gravity of the central black hole. By modeling the intermittent jets with constant-luminosity pulses with equal on and off durations, we investigate how the half period, T, affects the jet dynamics. For relatively small T values (e.g., 0.2 s), the jet breakout time t
bo depends on the opening angle of the jet, with narrower jets more penetrating and reaching the surface at shorter times. For T ≤ 1 s, the reverse shock (RS) crosses each pulse before the jet penetrates through the stellar envelope. As a result, after the breakout of the first group of pulses at t
bo, several subsequent pulses vanish before penetrating the star, causing a quiescent gap. For larger half periods (T = 2.0 and 4.0 s), all the pulses can successfully penetrate through the envelope, since each pulse can propagate through the star before the RS crosses the shell. Our results may interpret the existence of a weak precursor in some long GRBs, given that the GRB central engine injects intermittent pulses with a half period T ≤ 1 s. The observational data seem to be consistent with such a possibility.
SEARCH FOR BLAZAR FLUX-CORRELATED TEV NEUTRINOS IN ICECUBE 40-STRING DATA
Authors: Turley C. F. , Fox D. B. , Murase K. , Falcone A. , Barnaba M. , Coutu S. , Cowen D. F. , Filippatos G. , Hanna C. , Keivani A. , Messick C. , Mészáros P. , Mostafá M. , Oikonomou F. , Shoemaker I. , Toomey M. , Tešić G. ,   (For The Astrophysical Multimessenger Observatory Network)
Published: December 2016

We present a targeted search for blazar flux-correlated high-energy (

≳ 1 TeV) neutrinos from six bright northern blazars, using the public database of northern hemisphere neutrinos detected during “IC40” 40-string operations of the IceCube neutrino observatory (2008 April to 2009 May). Our six targeted blazars are subjects of long-term monitoring campaigns by the VERITAS TeV γ-ray observatory. We use the publicly available VERITAS light curves to identify periods of excess and flaring emission. These predefined intervals serve as our “active temporal windows” in a search for an excess of neutrinos, relative to Poisson fluctuations of the near-isotropic atmospheric neutrino background, which dominates at these energies. After defining the parameters of an optimized search, we confirm the expected Poisson behavior with Monte Carlo simulations prior to testing for excess neutrinos in the actual data. We make two searches: one for excess neutrinos associated with the bright flares of Mrk 421 that occurred during the IC40 run, and one for excess neutrinos associated with the brightest emission periods of five other blazars (Mrk 501, 1ES 0806+524, 1ES 1218+304, 3C 66A, and W Comae), all significantly fainter than the Mrk 421 flares. We find no significant excess of neutrinos from the preselected blazar directions during the selected temporal windows. We derive 90% confidence upper limits on the number of expected flux-associated neutrinos from each search. These limits are consistent with previous point-source searches and Fermi GeV flux-correlated searches. Our upper limits are sufficiently close to the physically interesting regime that we anticipate that future analyses using already-collected data will either constrain models or yield discovery of the first blazar-associated high-energy neutrinos.
DETECTING RELATIVISTIC X-RAY JETS IN HIGH-REDSHIFT QUASARS
Authors: McKeough Kathryn , Siemiginowska Aneta , Cheung C. C. , Stawarz Łukasz , Kashyap Vinay L. , Stein Nathan , Stampoulis Vasileios , Dyk David A. van , Wardle J. F. C. , Lee N. P. , Harris D. E. , Schwartz D. A. , Donato Davide , Maraschi Laura , Tavecchio Fabrizio
Published: December 2016

We analyze Chandra X-ray images of a sample of 11 quasars that are known to contain kiloparsec scale radio jets. The sample consists of five high-redshift (z ≥ 3.6) flat-spectrum radio quasars, and six intermediate redshift (2.1 < z < 2.9) quasars. The data set includes four sources with integrated steep radio spectra and seven with flat radio spectra. A total of 25 radio jet features are present in this sample. We apply a Bayesian multi-scale image reconstruction method to detect and measure the X-ray emission from the jets. We compute deviations from a baseline model that does not include the jet, and compare observed X-ray images with those computed with simulated images where no jet features exist. This allows us to compute p-value upper bounds on the significance that an X-ray jet is detected in a pre-determined region of interest. We detected 12 of the features unambiguously, and an additional six marginally. We also find residual emission in the cores of three quasars and in the background of one quasar that suggest the existence of unresolved X-ray jets. The dependence of the X-ray to radio luminosity ratio on redshift is a potential diagnostic of the emission mechanism, since the inverse Compton scattering of cosmic microwave background photons (IC/CMB) is thought to be redshift dependent, whereas in synchrotron models no clear redshift dependence is expected. We find that the high-redshift jets have X-ray to radio flux ratios that are marginally inconsistent with those from lower redshifts, suggesting that either the X-ray emissions are due to the IC/CMB rather than the synchrotron process, or that high-redshift jets are qualitatively different.
THE LAST MINUTES OF OXYGEN SHELL BURNING IN A MASSIVE STAR
Authors: Müller Bernhard , Viallet Maxime , Heger Alexander , Janka Hans-Thomas
Published: December 2016

We present the first  4π–three-dimensional (3D) simulation of the last minutes of oxygen shell burning in an 18 M
⊙ supernova progenitor up to the onset of core collapse. A moving inner boundary is used to accurately model the contraction of the silicon and iron core according to a one-dimensional stellar evolution model with a self-consistent treatment of core deleptonization and nuclear quasi-equilibrium. The simulation covers the full solid angle to allow the emergence of large-scale convective modes. Due to core contraction and the concomitant acceleration of nuclear burning, the convective Mach number increases to ∼0.1 at collapse, and an ℓ = 2 mode emerges shortly before the end of the simulation. Aside from a growth of the oxygen shell from 0.51 M
⊙ to 0.56 M
⊙ due to entrainment from the carbon shell, the convective flow is reasonably well described by mixing-length theory, and the dominant scales are compatible with estimates from linear stability analysis. We deduce that artificial changes in the physics, such as accelerated core contraction, can have precarious consequences for the state of convection at collapse. We argue that scaling laws for the convective velocities and eddy sizes furnish good estimates for the state of shell convection at collapse and develop a simple analytic theory for the impact of convective seed perturbations on shock revival in the ensuing supernova. We predict a reduction of the critical luminosity for explosion by 12%–24% due to seed asphericities for our 3D progenitor model relative to the case without large seed perturbations.
Opportunities for probiotics and polyunsaturated fatty acids to improve metabolic health of overweight pregnant women
Authors: Mokkala K. , Röytiö H. , Ekblad U. , Laitinen K.
Published: December 2016

Overweight during pregnancy predisposes both the mother and foetus to health complications. Maternal complications include gestational diabetes, obstetric problems and type 2 diabetes later in life. Complications for the offspring are not only restricted to the foetal period or birth, such as prematurity and foetal macrosomia, but may also have long-term metabolic health implications through the mechanism of early nutrition programming. One of the key metabolic components characterising overweight in the non-pregnant state is low-grade inflammation manifested by elevated levels of circulatory pro-inflammatory cytokines. In pregnancy, in addition to adipose tissue and placenta, inflammatory response may originate from the gut. The extent to which overweight induces metabolic maladaptation during pregnancy and further compromises maternal and child health is currently poorly understood. In this review, we evaluate recent scientific literature and describe the suggested links between overweight, gut and low-grade inflammation associated metabolic disorders. We focus on overweight pregnant women and gestational diabetes, and discuss how specific dietary factors, probiotics and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (fish oil), might confer health benefits in combatting against metabolic risk factors.
Sampling dried figs for aflatoxin – Part 1: variability associated with sampling, sample preparation, and analysis
Authors: Ozer H. , Basegmez H.I. Oktay , Whitaker T.B. , Slate A.B. , Giesbrecht F.G.
Published: December 2016

The variability associated with the aflatoxin test procedure used to estimate aflatoxins in bulk shipments of dried figs was investigated. Sixteen 10 kg laboratory samples were taken from each of twenty commercial bulk lots of dried figs suspected of aflatoxin contamination. Two 55 g test portions were taken from each comminuted laboratory sample using water-slurry comminution methods. Finally, two aliquots from the test portion/solvent blend were analysed for both aflatoxin B1 and total aflatoxins. The total variance associated with testing dried figs for aflatoxins was measured and partitioned into sampling, sample preparation and analytical variance components (total variance is equal to the sum of the sampling variance, sample preparation variance, and analytical variance). Each variance component increased as aflatoxin concentration increased. Using regression analysis, mathematical expressions were developed to model the relationship between aflatoxin concentration and the total, sampling, sample preparation and analytical variances when testing dried figs for aflatoxins. The regression equations were modified to estimate the variances for any sample size, test portion size, and number of analyses for a specific lot aflatoxin concentration. When using the above aflatoxin test procedure to sample a fig lot at 10 μg/kg total aflatoxins, the sampling, sample preparation, analytical, and total variances were 47.20, 0.29, 0.13, and 47.62, respectively. The sampling, sample preparation, and analytical steps accounted for 99.1, 0.6, and 0.3% of the total variance, respectively. For the aflatoxin test procedure used in this study, the sampling step is the largest source of variability.
Balancing the Leadership Equation
Authors: Boice Gillian S.
Published: December 2016

This research examines a modern case study and provides analysis of how a current, real-life, start-up company is offering a cognitive performance assessment tool to help individuals and organizations improve their learning and performance. Theoretical constructs of metacognition and servant leadership converge to assist in framing the analysis, and the case study builds on the implications for further research development in these theories. The author uses retrospective literature review to highlight the relevant emerging practice in the corporate and educational world. This qualitative study, with descriptive reporting, was accomplished by literature review and direct observations of this modern company. A pseudonym of KnowCom is used to protect the identity and proprietary of the actual company researched.
Building Capacity through Student Leadership Development and Practices
Authors: Witte Maria Martinez , Teel Jane B. , Cordie Leslie A. , Witte James E.
Published: December 2016

Student leadership programs are prominent within educational institutions and continue to be altered in order to incorporate emerging leadership concepts. This chapter provides an introduction to changing leadership variables that are affecting students. Also included is an overview of leadership development programs and research and relevant student leadership programs and research studies. Best practices for developing capacity and creating student leadership development experiences are provided as well as future trends in the field.
Collaborative Approach to Successful Virtual Team Leadership
Authors: Ellis Maureen , Kisling Eric
Published: December 2016

Due to the changing nature of organizations to meet decreased travel budgets, a globalized economic recession, and increased travel costs, multicultural virtual teams are rapidly growing (Hardin, Looney, Fuller, & Schechtman, 2013). Virtual teams are dynamic typically constructed for a specific project or task-focused group. Based on collaborative principles using state-of-the-art communication technology to support collaboration, virtual teams are often faced with several challenges: distance, time, technology, culture, trust, leadership, and social loafing, which can occur when group performance is less than the sum of the individual's efforts (Robbins, 1995). Einstein and Scott (2001) consider social loafing a result of team members putting forth less effort than they would on an individual assignment/task, leading to discourse and loss of synergy. This chapter describes best practices utilizing experiential learning activities for students on virtual teams can enable students to learn, practice, and hone their virtual team skills to be effective workers in the 21st century workplace.
Conflict Resolution and Leadership Mindfulness into Action (MIA) for Cultural Humility and Awareness (MIA-CHA)
Authors: Esquivel Mariana I. Vergara , Wallace Barbara , Mewani Apeksha , Reyes Adriana , Marsick Victoria , Yorks Lyle , Gordon Edmund W. , Du Xiaoxue , Ong Fung Ling , Parks Clare , Hidayana Irma , Tirhi Susan , Ruiz Karla , Mac Quarrie Adam , Tjernstad Carl D. Brustad , Dong Jingyi , Hagen Ingunn , Hoveid Marit Honerød , Guerrero Jimmy Cuaran , Rocha Pedro , Calderon Fausto , Steinlechner Katharina , Caicedo Fernando , Tamariz Mariana I. , Green John-Martin
Published: December 2016

Mindfulness into Action (MIA) for Cultural Humility and Awareness (MIA-CHA) has the two main aims: 1) training students in how to be transformational leaders who are capable of addressing and resolving tension around diversity issues within organizations/ communities/ societies, as they emerge skilled in ending microaggressions (Pierce, 1995; Sue et al, 2007) and fostering cross-cultural harmony; and, 2) training students to emerge as competent researchers who may contribute data regarding the utility of MIA-CHA for ending microaggressions and promoting cultural humility and awareness to meet contemporary diversity challenges. The anticipated result is a new generation of researchers and new era of grant-funded research that pioneers MIA-CHA for ending microaggressions and fostering harmony. Through participation in a leadership skills development methodology (chapter 31) that incorporates indigenous knowledge and organizational learning techniques, students gradually become more aware of their own unconscious behaviors, more in tune with the people surrounding them, and increasingly skillful in engaging in conscious and intentional action. They become what Boyatzis and Mckee (2005) call “resonant leaders.” This means that they are capable of achieving a new awareness that is vital in cross-cultural interactions: i.e. the ability to connect with their thoughts, emotions, and hearts in ways that enable them to counteract the destructive effects of stress, dissonance, and self-limiting mindsets often associated with contemporary diversity challenges; and, instead, they learn to nurture the development of sustainable, harmonious, and high functioning relationships shared among the diverse membership of organizations and communities. Further, they enter into a process that is consistent with learning cultural humility, as a valued construct in the discourse on achieving cultural competence (Tervaln & Murray-Garcia, 1998; Waters & Asbill, 2013; Hook et al, 2013). This is virtually the process described by Wallace (2008), as shifting from hierarchical authority (A/B) in interpersonal and organizational relationships to non-hierarchical equality (A=B). In similar way, Participatory Action Research (PAR) is doing research with people rather than on them (Fals Borda, 1979; Heron, 1996; Heron & Reason 1997; Reason 1996, 1988; Reason & Bradbury, 2010).
Creating Sustainable Communities
Authors: Van Wingerden Christina , Goto Stan , Burstein Misha
Published: December 2016

Generating investment in community is experience leaders seek to stimulate in academic, business, and organizational environments. Through the lens of adult learning theory, the authors propose a means for greater group commitment and sustainability which can help the field of strategic leadership and management. A case study of a graduate class who became a community of practice is presented as an example of adult learning theories and how they can enhance shared power and leadership for sustainable communities.
Do Chinese Students in Public and Private Higher Education Institutes Perform at Different Level in One of the Leadership Skills: Critical Thinking?
Authors: Wang Chengbo , Schofield Mark , Li Xiaomei , Ou Xuan
Published: December 2016

There is an increasing demand on higher education institutes (HEIs) to cultivate more professionals with strategic leadership. Among those skills possessed by a strategic leader, critical thinking (CT) is a crucial one, which must be equipped by the graduates, not only for making appropriate decision in their future work, but also for learning efficacy within their higher education process and their later continuous career progression. Correspondingly, HEIs worldwide are endeavouring to cultivate their students of CT skills. Currently, more and more Chinese students are coming to western HEIs for overseas study. To enhance Chinese students' CT competence before and after their boarding on the overseas study, and also to facilitate their host and home institutes in developing effective strategies of further assistance to improve their CT competence, it is important to thoroughly understand the Chinese students' current CT capability and development approaches. This chapter presents an exploration on the competence level and the cultivation methods of CT capability of the current students in business/management programmes in two Chinese case universities: a top public and a top private institute. Based on the findings from the dimensions of undergraduate students and their instructors, the research reveals that in general students from private and public institutes have differences in CT competence, however with a mixed picture on the patterns of differences as perceived by themselves and instructors. These findings inform the home and host institutes on strategies to facilitate and help the Chinese students and those with similar situations on CT competence development and improvement, and consequentially contribute to the cultivation of a strong leadership.
Emergence of Spiritual Leadership
Authors: Neimann Theresa D. , Stelson Uta M.
Published: December 2016

The emergence of spiritual leadership is drawing attention with leadership experts as an answer to worker performance sustainability. It is an open systems leadership strategy that sustains complex organizational work culture by focusing on shared worker-centered management. It values the eminence of human existence and the authenticity of the individual. The hypothesis of spiritual leadership purports when people work inauthentically by adapting their natural thinking and working styles to fit work expectations of employers, tension and stress result, leading ultimately to poor work performance. The servant posturing–base of spiritual leadership sustains worker performance by empowering natural inclinations in others, as well as cooperation, cooperative consensus-based democratic decision making and facilitating cooperative dialogue.
Feedback and Feedforward Dynamics
Authors: Martins Ana , Martins Isabel , Pereira Orlando Petiz
Published: December 2016

This study reflects on the relationship between organizational learning and the constructs of exploration and exploitation inherent in ambidextrous learning. Extant theories reveal a dynamics in levels and flows of learning, feedforward and feedback, including two learning loops, ‘exploitation' and ‘exploration'. Universities are appropriate environments to foster knowledge creation and sharing. Collaborative learning environments stimulate knowledge creation and sharing by implementing distributed leadership behaviors that energize individuals to innovate and explore new ideas. Further analysis demonstrates that the social cognitive approach to learning is part and parcel of organizational learning. The fundamental premise in dissimilar leadership behaviors supports aspects of organizational learning. Leadership self-efficacy and its link with learning promote high levels of employee engagement and satisfaction as well as organizational performance. A culture of innovation is fundamental for organizations with transactional and transformational leadership behaviors. Primary data was gathered from a sample of university students from under and postgraduate Business and Economics degree programs. This study further ascertains whether University graduates gain awareness of a range of values that promote knowledge creation and nurture leadership self-efficacy.
Feminist Creative Leadership Approaches
Authors: Brown Susannah L. , Hartman Ashley
Published: December 2016

Feminist creative leaders often advocate and support personal reflection, self-expression, passion, caring, and unique viewpoints (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; Sternberg, 1999). Feminist leadership is discussed first through theory and secondly by an interview, both of which are described through the lens of creativity (O'Connor, 2010; Young & Skrla, 2012). The development of creative leaders is considered to engage the reader in many different possibilities and perspectives. Creative leadership is guided by inspiration and new achievements which significantly change the way the something is done (de la Harpe & Mason, 2014). The creative potential of each individual is valued in this leadership model. Conclusions in this chapter serve to prepare the next generation of creative leaders to be self-confident, enthusiastic, original thinkers.
Impact of Technology Ambiguity on Leadership in Global Higher Education
Authors: Hackett P. Thomas , Lemoine Pamela A. , Richardson Michael D.
Published: December 2016

The environment of higher education is becoming a complex landscape that presents multiple challenges for leaders to develop strategies for institutions seeking to thrive in an era of change. There is a tremendous expansion of market providers where quality can be questionable, where governance is lacking, and where the differences in local, cultures, regulations, and specific needs draw attention to the need for quality assurance. Though the global marketplace is changing, there exists an increasing demand for the services of higher education associated with the global economy. Technology has made entering this global market much easier for higher education due to the increase in the ability to provide knowledge through powerful communication tools. The combined forces of technology, new generations of students, uncertainty in the job market and economy, globalization, and all that these forces imply for higher education have created a demand for leaders who develop effective strategic approaches that anticipate multiple variables associated with the present climate. These forces interact on a global scale engaging all the complex factors wrought by international involvement. There is a need for leaders who have the cognitive complexity to lead strategic design and implementation initiatives in this complex global environment.
Innoveadership
Authors: Yüksel Ahmet Hakan
Published: December 2016

Scholars in the field of management studies are not reticent about how lively is the correlation between leadership and innovation. Given the pervasiveness of mechanistic view of organizations in the last century, this correlation was supposed to be entertained by the leaders who possessed certain personal traits and displayed behavioral patterns relevant for their followers. However, in an age of interconnectedness, leadership calls for more than leaders are capable to afford. Leadership should be acknowledged as an inter-relational social component, which is inherently embedded in each and every social interaction in the organization. Innovation, therefore, is embodied in the sum of all the interaction. This conceptual chapter intends to merge leadership and innovation and coins the term innoveadership to demonstrate their intertwined nature. Innoveadership could be described as a conflation of constructs postulated by leading scholars in the field of leadership and management studies within the contextual climate of complexity thinking.
Raising Strategic Leaders
Authors: Boice William L.
Published: December 2016

Leaders in the 21st Century face a complexity of issues greater than ever before. With ever increasing globalization and change, leaders must navigate the complexity of todays' issues and have the ability to strategically provide purpose and direction for the future. As organizations struggle to meet these challenges in the future, they must have processes in place that develop the leaders needed for their organization. This chapter will look at leader development as a lifelong learning process using the United States Army as the organization model. The objective of this chapter is to provide an overview of the leader development process used by the U. S. Army, how they raise strategic leaders, and relate those practices to organizations external to a military organization. It is a call to action for organizations to look inward to ‘build their bench strength', and begin the process of leader development by creating a leader development strategy, understanding leader requirements specific for their organization and developing a leader development program that will prepare leaders for the challenges of the future.
Women in Leadership
Authors: Leblanc Nadine L.
Published: December 2016

Women are generally viewed favorably as a group, except when they assume roles that were previously dominated by men. We see examples in industries that demonstrate that the complex issue of a woman's qualifications is judged more harshly than those of their similarly situated male counterparts. Women face barriers to leadership positions because of the limitations placed upon gender roles in as society. This chapter discusses the barriers that have historically limited the social mobility of women, while examining the current trend where women in academia are currently obtaining advanced degrees than men which positions them to potentially challenge the glass ceiling. Historical literature will be reviewed to highlight the persistent issues resulting in a very low number of women in leadership positions in the United States. Additionally, contemporary literature will be analyzed the impact of a greater number of women in the workforce with the skills and abilities and yet lacking opportunities to crash the proverbial ‘glass ceiling.'