bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The politics of damage limitation
Authors: Daguerre Anne
Published: January 2018

This chapter is a case study of symbolic politics and Republican obstruction in Congress. Congressional Republicans accused the Obama administration of wanting to undermine work requirements for TANF recipients. The tendency to blame the victim, the perception that poor people either do not know how to spend their money or, worse, that they would deliberately misuse public funds, that there was a need to cut "entitlements" and social spending were popular narratives that played a crucial role in the agenda-setting process when Congress started to examine proposals for reforms either for food stamps or TANF. Although Democrats opposed the most radical retrenchment Republican proposals, they were essentially engaged in a damage limitation exercise. Welfare litigation has also played an important role in the evolution of social policy. But welfare court cases do not strike the public imagination, thus allowing a hostile anti welfare view to dominate much of the political conversation.
Conclusion: The American welfare state in comparative perspective
Authors: Daguerre Anne
Published: January 2018

To conclude, the fundamental American social contract remains ‘mean and lean’ in comparative terms, despite the real efforts assigned to antipoverty policy under Obama.
The conclusion also identifies areas of divergence and convergence between Europe and the United States in terms of legal and political support for socio-economic rights. European and American policymakers have placed a renewed emphasis on equality of opportunities as opposed to equality of outcomes. There’s been a blending of some elements of Anglo-American liberalism and the social-democrat tradition. By and large, convergence between European and U.S. social policies occurs mostly along "regressive" lines.
Reconciliation
Authors: O'Sullivan Dominic
Published: January 2018

Although in very different ways, reconciliation is a political/theological nexus of foundational significance to indigenous politics in all three of Australia, Fiji and New Zealand. In each case, Christian churches have contributed to developing reconciliation from a solely religious precept to one of secular priority, deeply intertwined with the politics of indigeneity. In New Zealand, religious principles of reconciliation acquire secular expression through Treaty of Waitangi settlements and, in Australia, through the recognition of land rights and apologies to the stolen generations, for example. In contrast, contemporary Fijian politics is distinguished by an overtly religious nationalism that reconciliation has been co-opted to support. In all three jurisdictions, is preliminary to a liberal theory of indigeneity grounded in an inclusive differentiated citizenship.
The politics of indigeneity
Authors: O'Sullivan Dominic
Published: January 2018

Indigeneity is a theory of justice and political strategy that indigenous peoples use to develop their own terms of belonging to the nation-state. In particular it is distinct from theories of minority rights because its claims are grounded in extant rights of prior occupancy. Indigeneity’s overarching claim is to create political space for substantive and sustainable reconciliation through self-determination and through particular indigenous shares in the sovereign authority of the state itself. Australia, Fiji and New Zealand are compared to show indigeneity’s limits as well is its possibilities, whether the post-colonial context is one of significant vulnerability or one where a coherent and considered account of political power is required for the translation of political advantage into meaningful self-determination
Liberal democratic inclusion
Authors: O'Sullivan Dominic
Published: January 2018

Recognising difference does not undermine liberalism’s protection of individual rights. Indigenous identity must come from somewhere. It is heavily shaped by culture and derives meaning from communal relationships. However, the degree to which difference and diversity ought to co-exist is contested. Public attitudes to differentiation and diversity influence the opportunities and practices of indigenous civil society. The tension as an intellectual contest between liberal democracy’s capacity for inclusion and its practical tendency to exclude.
The chapter assesses examples of democratic inclusion and exclusion in Australia and New Zealand for the political values they reflect, before proposing the concept as one that might contribute stability and coherence to Fijian politics as foundational conditions for the greater self-determination that indigenous Fijians seek.
Indigeneity and contemporary globalisation
Authors: O'Sullivan Dominic
Published: January 2018

Globalisation rationalised the colonisation of indigenous territories. Its pursuit of capital expansion is sometimes allowed to override indigenous cultural imperatives. However, it is also true that in its contemporary phase, globalisation provides indigenous peoples with recourse to international law and economic opportunities to strengthen their positions vis-a-vis the state in their quest for specific and proportionate shares in national sovereignty. Indigenous/state political relationships are distinguished by state reliance on domestic laws and political influence to counter indigenous claims to shared sovereignty. International legal instruments, such as the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples have become sites of tension between domestic authority and international norms of justice in both Australia and New Zealand. At the same time, the Declaration’s uncertain applicability to Fiji deprives that country of a potential framework for mediating ideas about power and authority and their limits so that a relative, relational and shared sovereignty can be developed.
Economic development as differentiated citizenship: Fiji
Authors: O'Sullivan Dominic
Published: January 2018

Relatively speaking, indigenous Fijians do not enjoy high levels of self-determination. Economic underdevelopment is a significant contributing variable. Underdevelopment occurs at the intersection of political instability, incoherent understandings of the nature of political relationships and the underutilisation of natural resources. Of this book’s three nations of interest, it is Fiji that most lacks a coherent philosophy of indigenous self-determination, which is the point that most significantly sets that country’s indigenous politics apart from Australia’s or New Zealand’s. This chapter argues that indigenous Fijian economic agency is most likely to be enhanced through policies and practices of differentiated citizenship that recognise political authority’s true character and relative and relational nature. There are also lessons to be drawn from jurisdictions like Australia and New Zealand on the nature and possibilities of indigenous political influence and its relationship to economic agency.
She writes like she dances: Response and radical impermanence in writing as dancing
Authors: Pollitt Jo
Published: January 2018

Through investigating writing as dancing, this work seeks to access, reveal and amplify the voice of danceras-writer in the production of new texts as embodied fictions. Harnessing processes of the response project and an emergent theory of radical impermanence, the dancer-as-writer is agent in inhabiting energetic states and scores practiced in dance improvisation to write like she dances. The provocation in this early catalogue of research is that the liveness of dance can potentially continue through, and be revealed in, the decision-making of writing; to make visible the dancer in a performance you can hold in your hands. The work in she writes like she dances is both an assertion of deep commitment to the liveness of improvisation, and a suspected betrayal.
After the Future: Choreography as a practice of editing
Authors: Hildebrandt Antje
Published: January 2018

In this article, I will discuss a piece of practice entitled After the Future: A Homage to Bifo, which was performed in June 2012 and April 2013, and now exists as a video work (https://vimeo.com/74394747). Through discussing the work, I will explore the possibilities of choreography as the practice of editing words and movements. As the project is preoccupied with the relationship between humans and technology it asks where meaning resides – in the body, in between bodies, in the voice, in gestures, in words, in spoken or written language, in movement language, in languages of the body. I will expand on ideas on the shifting role of the choreographer from author to editor, the dancer as copyist, performance as a ‘catching-up’ in time and place and the implications of a continued understanding of choreography as a theoretical and a practical field of study.
Animation Project: Activating life at the periphery
Authors: Nicely Megan V.
Published: January 2018

How do new materialist perspectives for decentring the human, and instead attending to the forces of ‘things’, productively address misalignments between ‘dance’ and ‘choreography’ within Western concert dance? Could the non-human kinetics of ‘thinking-feeling’ be foregrounded in performance and what new tools would be required for dancers and audiences to perceive it? How might dance artists propose frames in which these ‘animating circumstances’ might unfold and be shared as the movement of thought? From 2011 to 2015, artist/scholars Megan Nicely and Kate Elswit explored these questions in a studio practice, stage performance, installation and series of workshops titled Animation Project. The process that this article chronicles brought together various strands of philosophical, embodied thought from the work of João Fiadeiro, Deborah Hay, Brian Massumi, Erin Manning and Jane Bennett.
Artistic urban interventions, informality and public sphere: Research insights from three ephemeral urban appropriations on a cultural district
Authors: Costa Pedro , Lopes Ricardo
Published: January 2018

Artistic intervention in cultural districts can be an outstanding viewpoint to understand the multiple layers of uses and segregations that bring everyday life vitality to the complex organisms that cities are. Urban informality contexts can be fundamental for the expression of this diversity and to liminality strategies, particularly interesting in the case of artistic intervention, as artistic creativity is often about transgression, differentiation and, therefore, conflict. Small initiatives that develop in an informal and ephemeral way by artists who choose the city as stage for their work, exploring the ambiguous and flexible boundaries between public and private spaces, are particularly interesting, evidencing the conflicts usually verified on creative milieus but being also important to keep these places as vernacular as possible and to avoid gentrification processes. In this perspective, this article aims to discuss this relation between urban interventions, informality and public sphere appropriation, analysing the way informal artistic dynamics can contribute to urban revitalization, territorial resilience and to the enhancement of ‘real’ creative milieus. Drawing on a research-action-based methodology the authors explore the results and impacts of three experiences of urban intervention that they developed in three consecutive years in informal urban contexts in Bairro Alto, Lisbon, Portugal. These ephemeral artistic interventions introduced new spaces of public use in the city, performing different public and private spaces, and bringing them to the public sphere. They created ‘new’ zones that re-gain a use in the city, contributing to the vitality and symbolic centrality of this area.
Reviews
Authors: Mushtaq Sabah , Carvalho David Luna de
Published: January 2018

Five Rising Democracies and the Fate of the International Liberal Order, Ted Piccone (2016) Washington DC: Brookings Institution, 250 pp., ISBN: 9780815727415, h/bk, £23.47; ISBN: 9780815725794, p/bk, £21.50

A Primeira República: Na Fronteira do Liberalismo e da Democracia, Miriam Halpern Pereira (2016) Lisbon: Grâdiva, 224 pp., ISBN: 9789896167295, p/bk, 19.60
Bamboleho: The aesthetics and significance of the moment
Authors: Bonaddio Federico
Published: January 2018

Bamboleho is less concerned with plot resolution than with visual aesthetics and the communication of significant moments. More than an exercise in style, Bamboleho encourages the spectator’s active engagement – aesthetic, poetic, philosophical – with the moment itself, independent of causality and in tension with potentially exclusive social realist readings.
Camerawork in Bamboleho
Authors: Kramer Gary M.
Published: January 2018

The energized camerawork in Bamboleho generates emotion and meaning through its presentation of faces and bodies in motion. The film’s nonlinear structure highlights recurring images (sex, chase scenes), shot and edited from different angles, creating visual texture and pleasure. The stylized direction reveals the fantasies and realities of the characters.
The mystery of Achilles’ death
Authors: Abrantes Miguel Carvalho
Published: January 2018

This paper will seek to explore the problem of Achilles’ death as foreshadowed in the Iliad. Through the works of authors ranging from Homer to John Tzetzes, associated with iconographic evidence, it will establish three potential versions of the episode and evaluate the extant evidence for a canonical “Achilles’ heel” in ancient literature, in order to reveal what our extant sources do tell us about the hero’s final moments in life.
The political economy of pension systems with low‑skilled labor mobility: a crossss‑country analysis
Authors: Gouveia Ana Fontoura
Published: January 2018

This paper analyzes the impact of international low‑skilled labor mobility on the majority support for a pension system in individual countries and on the welfare of the different agents. The two countries considered differ in the amount of redistribution from the high to the low‑skilled population embedded in their pay‑as‑you‑go social security systems, whose size (tax rate) is decided by majority voting, anticipating the impact on mobility. We show that labor mobility can create the conditions for a majority to favor pensions in a Bismarckian country, due to the ageing of the population caused by the departure of the young mobile. In a Beveridgean country, mobility does not necessarily undermine the support for the system, but may make the conditions for its existence more stringent, even if no individual migrates in equilibrium. Finally, we show that while labor mobility is always politically sustainable in the non‑redistributive country, its political feasibility is at stake in the country performing income redistribution through the pension system whenever the interest rate is not sufficiently large.
Panel analysis of the FDI impact on international trade revisited
Authors: Magalhães Manuela , Africano Ana Paula
Published: January 2018

This paper examines the relationship between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and international trade. Specifically, the relationship between the stock of outward FDI, and inward FDI and Imports and Exports in the Portuguese economy. This paper also studies some technical problems associated with panel data that have frequently been ignored in previous studies. And the problems of serial and contemporaneous correlation in particular can have a sizeable impact on estimates and statistical inferences. Our results show that there exist country‑specific and time effects on the corrected panel data of heteroscedasticity and correlation and a substitutability relationship between imports and outward stock of FDI over the period 2000‑2013.
Saluting the “Skutnik”: Special Guests, the First Lady’s Box, and the Generic Evolution of the State of the Union Address
Authors: Prasch Allison M. , O’Grady Julia Scatliff
Published: January 2018

This essay traces how Ronald Reagan’s invocation of Lenny Skutnik in his 1982 State of the Union address inaugurated a new generic norm for the president’s annual message to Congress. We argue that the invocation of a “Skutnik” enables presidents to display—both rhetorically and physically—the civic ideals they wish to laud, the national issues they deem important, and policy proposals they want to advance. When U.S. presidents honor individual citizens and seat them in the House Gallery before the nation and the world, these “Skutniks” fuse the judicial, epideictic, and deliberative characteristics of the State of the Union address. Abstract values and complicated policy agendas are simplified—and vivified—before the eyes. The body of the “Skutnik,” we argue, is particularly persuasive because it offers a physical representation of the overall body politic, a living, breathing metaphor testifying that the state of the union is, in fact, strong.
On a Caputo-type fractional derivative
Authors: Oliveira Daniela S. , Capelas de Oliveira Edmundo
Published: January 2018

In this paper, we present a new differential operator of arbitrary order defined
by means of a Caputo-type modification of the generalized fractional derivative
recently proposed by Katugampola. The generalized fractional derivative, when
convenient limits are considered, recovers the Riemann–Liouville and the Hadamard
derivatives of arbitrary order. Our differential operator recovers as limiting
cases the arbitrary order derivatives proposed by Caputo and by Caputo–Hadamard.
Some properties are presented as well as the relation between this differential
operator of arbitrary order and the Katugampola generalized fractional operator.
As an application we prove the fundamental theorem of fractional calculus associated
with our operator.
Urban Communication: The Uses of Public Space in Riga Historical City Centre
Authors: Bratuškins Uģis , Treija Sandra
Published: January 2018

Expansion of cities and their impact areas extend also the semantic boundaries of urban ecentres, while public open space in the city centres maintain attractivity, especially within the medieval cores. The diverse functional processes that satisfy the needs of all users of urban space in general, on the one hand carry the function of circulation or communication, and on the other – relaxation or recreation. Elements of spatial organization and environment planning essential for the realization of each function differ, and depending on which of the functional processes prevails in the particular place, open space acquires either priority of communication or of recreation.

The paper focuses on the interests and needs of main groups of users of the historical city centre – Riga Old Town, states availability of adequate space, as well as sets the criteria of high-quality public open space.
Properties and Structure of Cellulosic Membranes Obtained from Solutions in Ionic Liquids Coagulated in Primary Alcohols
Authors: Fryczkowska Beata , Kowalska Małgorzata , Biniaś Dorota , Ślusarczyk Czesław , Janicki Jarosław , Sarna Ewa , Wyszomirski Mirosław
Published: January 2018

This paper presents the results of studies on the preparation of cellulosic membranes, from a solution in 1-ethyl-3- methylimidazolium acetate (EMIMAc), using the phase inversion method. Initially, the membranes were obtained by coagulation of the polymer film in water and primary alcohols (methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, 1-butanol, 1-pentanol), 1-hexanol, 1-octanol) resulting in membranes with significantly differing morphologies. Subsequently, composite membranes were produced, with the support layer being a membrane with the largest pores, and the skin layer a membrane with smaller pores. The resulting membranes were tested for physicochemical and transport properties. The morphology of the membrane surfaces and their cross-sections were investigated by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The structure of the membranes, on the other hand, was investigated by FTIR spectroscopy and WAXS structural analysis.
A Possible Answer of the European Union to Hybrid Threats
Authors: Cîrdei Ionuţ Alin , Ispas Lucian
Published: January 2018

The international security environment is marked by a certain state of anomy, which in reality does not conceal a state of chaos, but an attempt to restore and redesign spheres of influence, creating a new world order involving both state actors: the US, Russia, China India, supra-states actors: EU, NATO, etc or non-state actors. The European Union is confronted with a series of internal and external challenges that affect the state of security. Challenges are very diverse, difficult to anticipate and counteract, and can be attributed, on the one hand, to the cyclical evolution of society and, on the other hand, to intentional interventions using unconventional methods and means of hybrid type, which are aimed at destabilizing one of the most powerful supra-state structures, enjoying significant economic and political strength, which has a large population and can influence the evolution of events globally. Lately, EU countries have begun to tackle the most diverse issues, such as migration, terrorist threat, radicalization of a part of the population, supporting direct or indirect jihadist organizations, organizing attacks within the union, developing nationalism, separatism, ethnic or religious intolerance, etc.
Crushing Susceptibility of Vetch Seeds Under Impact Loading
Authors: Shahbazi F.
Published: January 2018

Mechanical damage of seeds due to harvest, handling and other process is an important factor that affects the quality and quaintly of seeds. The objective of this research was to determine the effects of moisture content and the impact energy on the breakage susceptibility of vetch seeds. The experiments were conducted at moisture contents of 7.57 to 25% (wet basis) and at the impact energies of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 J, using an impact damage assessment device. The results showed that impact energy, moisture content, and the interaction effects of these two variables significantly influenced the percentage breakage in vetch seeds (p<0.01). Increasing the impact energy from 0.1 to 0.3 J caused a significant increase in the mean values of seeds breakage from 41.69 to 78.67%. It was found that the relation between vetch seeds moisture content and seeds breakage was non-linear, and the extent of damaged seeds decreased significantlyas a polynomial (from 92.47 to 33.56%) with increasing moisture (from 7.57 to 17.5%) and reached a minimum at moisture level of about 17.5%. Further increase in seed moisture, however, caused an increase in the amount of seeds breakage. Mathematical relationships composed of seed moisture content and impact energy, were developed for accurately description the percentage breakage of vetch seeds under impact loading. It was found that the models have provided satisfactory results over the whole set of values for the dependent variable.
Comparative Phytotoxicity of Aqueous Extracts of Centaurea maculosa and Melilotus officinalis on Germinability and Growth of Wheat
Authors: Siyar S. , Chaudhry Z. , Majeed A.
Published: January 2018

Weed incursion in cultivated fields is a serious biological problem, which causes considerable yield losses of economically important field crops through allelopathy and competitive interactions. Spotted knapweed (Centaurea maculosa) and yellow melilot (Melilotus officinalis) are among the most prevalent weeds in cultivated fields of Pakistan, particularly in wheat fields. Like many other weeds, they may pose allelopathic and competitive challenges to field crops. The objective of this study was to evaluate allelopathic potentials of the two weeds on germination and seedling growth of wheat under laboratory conditions. Amounts of 15, 20, 25 and 30% concentrated leaf aqueous extracts of C. maculosa and M. officinalis were prepared and tested for their effects on germination percentage, radicle and coleoptile lengths of wheat. Germination, radicle and coleoptile lengths of test crop declined significantly at higher concentration (25-30%) of the extracts of two weeds. However, concentration of M. officinalis up to 20% had either no effect or stimulatory effects on the studied growth characteristics of wheat. Highest germination inhibition and decreased seedling growth were caused by leaf extracts of C. maculosa at 30% extract concentration. Growth inhibition was generally dependent on the extract concentration. The study indicated that both plant exhibited allelopathic activity and growth inhibitory effects on wheat at higher concentration; however, extracts of C. maculosa were more phytoinhibitory than M. officinalis. The weeds could serve as potent allelopathic plants for management of other weeds.
Exogenous Application of Gibberellic Acid Improves the Maize Crop Productivity Under Scarce and Sufficient Soil Moisture Condition
Authors: Sarwar N. ,   Atique-Ur-Rehman, Farooq O. , Mubeen K. , Wasaya A. , Nouman W. , Zafar Ali M. , Shehzad M.
Published: January 2018

Drought stress creates imbalance or deficiency of some growth regulators in plants, which leads toward reduced crop yield. Gibberellic acid is one of the most important growth regulators in plants, which improve drought tolerance in plants under optimum concentration. A field experiment was conducted under exogenous application of gibberellic acid under normal or drought condition and with or without gibberellic acid application. Crop growth and yield parameters were assesses during the experimentation. Study revealed that crop reduced growth in term of leaf area index (LAI), leaf area duration (LAD), crop growth rate (CGR), net assimilation rate (NAR) and total dry matter (TDM) under drought condition, while these parameters were improved with gibberellic acid application. Similary, improved growth rate resulted in better performance of yield attributes (cob length, cob diameter, grains per cob, grain weight and yield). Gibberellic acid application improved the crop performance at optimum irrigation, as well as under reduced irrigation. Although highest crop yield was recorded with gibberellic acid application under optimum irrigation level, while its application under drought stress improved crop tolerance and resulted in better crop yield, similar to optimum irrigation level. Exogenous application of gibberellic acid not only improved the drought tolerance in maize, but also increased the crop yield under normal condition.
Elastic, plastic, fracture analysis of masonry arches: A multi-span bridge case study
Authors: Lacidogna Giuseppe , Accornero Federico
Published: January 2018

In this work a comparison is presented between elastic, plastic, and fracture analysis of the monumental arch bridge of Porta Napoli, Taranto (Italy). By means of a FEM model and applying the Mery’s Method, the behavior of the curved structure under service loads is verified, while considering the Safe Theorem approach byHeyman, the ultimate carrying capacity of the structure is investigated. Moreover, by using Fracture Mechanics concepts, the damage process which takes place when the conditions assessed through linear elastic analysis are no longer valid, and before the set-in of the conditions established by means of the plastic limit analysis, is numerically analyzed. The study of these transitions returns an accurate and effective whole service life assessment of the Porta Napoli masonry arch bridge.
Performance Analysis of Crystalline Silicon and CIGS Photovoltaic Modules in Outdoor Measurement
Authors: Luboń Wojciech , Pełka Grzegorz , Marszałek Konstanty , Małek Anna
Published: January 2018

The outdoor measurements (during two months experiment) of photovoltaic silicon and CIGS modules as well as simulation of energy production during the period experiment are presented in this paper. This paper offer comparison of construction and electrical characteristics of multicrystalline silicon based modules and CIGS based modules. The measuring system for PV modules efficiency research is shown. The nominal power of installed modules is 250 W for m-Si and 280 W for CIGS modules. The energy production in outdoor conditions at direct current side and alternating current side of each photovoltaic panel was measured. Each PV panel was also equipped with temperature sensor for screening panel temperature. The photovoltaic panels were connected to the electrical network with micro inverters. To determine the influence of irradiance at sunshine on power conversion efficiency of PV panels, the pyranometer was installed in the plane of the modules. Measurement of the instantaneous power and irradiance gave the information about the efficiency of a particular photovoltaic panels. In the paper all data from research installation were analysed to present the influence of solar cell technology on the power conversion efficiency. The results of energy production show that m-Si module produced more energy from square meter (30.9 kWh/m2) than CIGS module (28.0 kWh/m2). Thin film module shows the higher production per kWp than multicrystalline module: 217.3 kWh/kWp for CIGS and 201.9 kWh/kWp for m-Si. The energy production simulation (made by PV SOL software and outdoor measurements test are in the good agreement. Temperature power coefficient for the CIGS module is twice lower than for the multicrystalline silicon module: 0.56%/°C and 0.35%/°C for m-Si and CIGS modules, respectively. The obtained results revealed strong influence of irradiance and temperature on energy production by PV panels. Performed studies have a large field of potential application and could improve designing process of PV installation.
Small business life cycle: statics and dynamics (S&D) model
Authors: Matejun Marek , Mikoláš Zdeněk
Published: January 2018

The aim of the paper is the presentation of theoretical foundations and the structure of original, 8-stage statics and dynamics model in the small business life cycle. Based on theoretical considerations, two hypotheses concerning the impact of dynamic and static nature of the life-cycle stages on selected determinants and effects of SMEs’ development were formulated. The hypotheses were verified based on the results of the survey conducted on a sample of 1,741 SMEs from 22 countries of the European Union. The results indicate that companies in the dynamic life-cycle stages are run by more enterprising owners, operate in more promising markets with a higher potential and make greater use of market niches thus limiting the level of competition. At the same time, such companies are characterised by higher levels of flexibility and involvement in innovative activities, which translates into obtaining a significantly higher level of business performance, in the area of quantitative as well as qualitative results.
Enhancing the tourist attraction visiting process with gamification: key concepts
Authors: Swacha Jakub , Ittermann Robert
Published: January 2018

The main purpose of this paper is to describe key gamification techniques that can be applied to enhance the tourist attraction visiting process. The paper is based on the methodology of design patterns; particularly it adopts the definition and classification schemes originally proposed and developed in the context of gamification of work to specify gamification techniques related to various aspects of the tourist attraction visiting process. The main result is the selection of twelve gamification techniques for enhancing the tourist attraction visiting process, four for each of the three phases of the visiting process (before, during and after the visit). The paper shows that gamification techniques can be applied to enhance the tourist attraction visiting process. Implementation of the proposed gamification techniques is supposed to both improve visitor experience and give the tourist attraction managers a tool for boosting interest in less popular exhibitions and events.
Open Badges: A Systematic Review of Peer-Reviewed Published Literature (2011-2015)
Authors: Liyanagunawardena Tharindu R. , Scalzavara Sandra , Williams Shirley A.
Published: January 2018

Open badges are a digital representation of skills or accomplishments recorded in a visual symbol that is embedded with verifiable data and evidence. They are created following a defined open standard, so that they can be shared online. Open badges have gained popularity around the world in recent years and have become a standard feature of many learning management systems. This paper presents a systematic literature review of the published open badges literature from 2011 to 2015. Through database searches, searching the internet and chaining from known sources, 135 relevant peer-reviewed papers were identified from a corpus of 247 publications for this review. The authors believe this to be the first effort to systematically review literature relating to open badges. The review categorised publications while also providing quantitative analysis of publications according to publication type, year of publication and contributors. After assessing the literature suggestions for future research directions are presented, based on underrepresented areas.
Relations between BV*(q;α) and Λ*BV
p
classes of functions
Authors: Fathi Javad , Ahmadi Ledari Alireza
Published: January 2018

The aim of this paper is to establish the relation between the two classes of functions

BV
*

⁢

(
q
;
α
)

{\mathrm{BV}_{*}(q;\alpha)}

and

Λ
*

⁢

BV
p

{\Lambda_{*}\mathrm{BV}^{p}}

. It uses a new shorter proof and extends the results of Gogatishvili, Goginava and Tephnadze.
Energy efficiency analysis of the manipulation process by the industrial objects with the use of Bernoulli gripping devices
Authors: Savkiv Volodymyr , Mykhailyshyn Roman , Duchon Frantisek , Mikhalishin Mykhailo
Published: January 2018

The article deals with the topical issue of reducing energy consumption for transportation of industrial objects. The energy efficiency of the process of objects manipulation with the use of the orientation optimization method while gripping with the help of different methods has been studied. The analysis of the influence of the constituent parts of inertial forces, that affect the object of manipulation, on the necessary force characteristics and energy consumption of Bernoulli gripping device has been proposed. The economic efficiency of the use of the optimal orientation of Bernoulli gripping device while transporting the object of manipulation in comparison to the transportation without re-orientation has been proved.
Description of Safety Management Systems in Transportation
Authors: Kertis Tomáš , Procházková Dana
Published: January 2018

The work deals with analysis of different transportation domains in horizontal and vertical meaning. It looks for conformity in approaches and terms. It loans to concept of integral safety, i.e. a tool for ensuring the human security; it covers next engineering areas, for instance dependability management, functional safety, security of cyber-physical systems, technical and physical security, surveillance, occupational safety, safe place, human safety etc. Recent professional approaches of safety management and risk engineering are compared with current trends in transportation. It is clear that advanced professional procedures are needed for planned Smart Cities and Industry 4.0 in transportation domain practice; this work contribute to building the unified experts´ language from various transportation domains.
Manuel de Pedrolo: Literature as Intellectual Engagement
Authors: Trill Xavier Ferré
Published: January 2018

The article lays out the conceptual bases that Manuel Pedrolo developed –in the form of philosophical literature – in a section of his narrative. I describe the directionality of the author’s intellectual program with regard to the ‘double liberation' in detail. The interest of the work lies in exposing the inherent limitations of ‘literature for literature’ – with disregard of human nature – that can also be applied to any international literature, not only written in the fifties and sixties, but in the (ideologically) present time.
Determination of optimal doses of glyphosate for controlling weeds at several stages in southwestern Buenos Aires province (Argentina)
Authors: Bentivegna Diego Javier , Moyano Gisela Lorena , Daddario Juan Facundo Fabián , Tucat Guillermo
Published: January 2018

Efficient weed management is essential for avoiding competition for water, light, and nutrient resources in semiarid zones. Chemical weed control with glyphosate was evaluated on perennial wall-rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia), artichoke thistle (Cynara cardunculus), slender wild oat (Avena barbata), and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne). Plants at early, middle and advanced vegetative stages were used in this study. Glyphosate potassium salt was applied at rates of 0.0675 (1/16x), 0.135 (1/8x), 0.27 (1/4x), 0.54 (1/2x), 1.08 (x) and 2.16 (2x) kg acid equivalent (ae) · ha−1. Glyphosate combined with 2,4-D amine salt was evaluated at rates of 1.08 kg ae · ha−1and 0.53 kg active ingredient (ai) · ha−1, respectively. The volume of the spray was 100 l · ha−1with 86 droplets · cm−2and a Volume Median Diameter (VMD) of 421.19 μm. In general, all the tested weeds were controlled with a quarter of the label rate. Three sizes of tested plants were controlled in a similar way at the same glyphosate dose rate. Moreover, the addition of 2,4-D to glyphosate did not produce an increase in the control of broadleaf weeds. The results showed that glyphosate was effective in controlling the tested weed species, including low application rates for all the growth stages in the southwestern Buenos Aires province.
Teachers’ Perceptions of Sustainability of the Social Emotional Learning Program in Latvia: A Focus Group Study
Authors: Martinsone Baiba , Vilcina Sabine
Published: January 2018

The aim of this study was to provide an initial evaluation of the sustainability of the first Social Emotional Learning (hereafter SEL) program in Latvia, which to date is still the only SEL program in our country. Initiated during the 2012/13 academic year, this program has already been implemented in 41 Latvian schools. In order to address the teachersí perceptions of program effectiveness and sustainability seven focus groups were organized. Thematic analysis of the focus group discussions pointed to various benefits of the program, including a general dissemination of SEL principles, and teachersí reflections on the importance of their own active role in the process of social and emotional learning. The value of the support of the school administration for program sustainability was also noted. The views expressed by the teachers were aligned with previous studies, indicating the importance of external support, the teachersí own understanding of SEL principles, and the willingness to be actively engaged in facilitating quality maintenance of the program.
The origin of upper Precambrian diamictites, northern Norway: a case study applicable to diamictites in general
Authors: Molén Mats O.
Published: January 2018

Upper Precambrian diamictites in Varangerfjorden (northern Norway) have been examined for evidence of origin, whether glaciogenic, gravity flow or polygenetic. Studies of geomorphology, sedimentology and surface microtextures on quartz sand grains are integrated to provide multiple pieces of evidence for the geological agents responsible for the origin of the diamictites. The documented sedimentary and erosional structures, formerly interpreted in a glaciogenic context (e.g., diamict structure, pavements and striations) have been reanalysed. Field and laboratory data demonstrate that, contrary to conclusions reached in many earlier studies, the diamictites and adjacent deposits did not originate from glaciogenic processes. Evidence from macrostructures may occasionally be equivocal or can be interpreted as representing reworked, glacially derived material. Evidence from surface microtextures, from outcrops which are believed to exhibit the most unequivocal signs for glaciation, display no imprint at all of glaciogenic processes, and a multicyclical origin of the deposits can be demonstrated. The geological context implies (and no geological data contradict this) an origin by gravity flows, possibly in a submarine fan environment. This reinterpretation of the diamictites in northern Norway may imply that the palaeoclimatological hypothesis of a deep frozen earth during parts of the Neoproterozoic has to be revised.
Assessing the influence of project management on quality during the early phases of construction projects
Authors: Ljevo Žanesa , Vukomanović Mladen , Džebo Suada
Published: January 2018

Although the quality of a process affects the quality of the end product, there is currently an insignificant amount of knowledge about the quality of project management (PM) processes that directly affect the quality of the delivered product (constructed building). This study presents a proposal for modeling the impact of the quality of the PM process on the quality of the constructed building. The quality of the PM process is represented by the main quality factors and product quality indicators. It presents the results of the interviews that were conducted and study cases that were analyzed in Bosnia and Herzegovina with a variety of project participants (with different managerial perspectives) in terms of the indicators of quality of the delivered product. All participants, regardless of managerial perspective, believe that the most important indicator of the quality of products for each phase of the project is “customer satisfaction in the end phase”, the measurement of which is different for each project phase that is presented. The results of the factor analysis of the definition and the planning phases show that 11 variables, namely, the quality factors of the PM process, can be grouped into three new factors, which is described as 66.61% (77.046%) of the basic set of variables.
Virtual reality as a new trend in mechanical and electrical engineering education
Authors: Kamińska Dorota , Sapiński Tomasz , Aitken Nicola , Rocca Andreas Della , Barańska Maja , Wietsma Remco
Published: January 2018

In their daily practice, academics frequently face lack of access to modern equipment and devices, which are currently in use on the market. Moreover, many students have problems with understanding issues connected to mechanical and electrical engineering due to the complexity, necessity of abstract thinking and the fact that those concepts are not fully tangible. Many studies indicate that virtual reality can be successfully used as a training tool in various domains, such as development, health-care, the military or school education. In this paper, an interactive training strategy for mechanical and electrical engineering education shall be proposed. The prototype of the software consists of a simple interface, meaning it is easy for comprehension and use. Additionally, the main part of the prototype allows the user to virtually manipulate a 3D object that should be analyzed and studied. Initial studies indicate that the use of virtual reality can contribute to improving the quality and efficiency of higher education, as well as qualifications, competencies and the skills of graduates, and increase their competitiveness in the labour market.
An accurate reactive power control study in virtual flux droop control
Authors: Wang Aimeng , Zhang Jia
Published: January 2018

This paper investigates the problem of reactive power sharing based on virtual flux droop method. Firstly, flux droop control method is derived, where complicated multiple feedback loops and parameter regulation are avoided. Then, the reasons for inaccurate reactive power sharing are theoretically analyzed. Further, a novel reactive power control scheme is proposed which consists of three parts: compensation control, voltage recovery control and flux droop control. Finally, the proposed reactive power control strategy is verified in a simplified microgrid model with two parallel DGs. The simulation results show that the proposed control scheme can achieve accurate reactive power sharing and zero deviation of voltage. Meanwhile, it has some advantages of simple control and excellent dynamic and static performance.
Research of influence of open-winding faults on properties of brushless permanent magnets motor
Authors: Bogusz Piotr , Korkosz Mariusz , Powrózek Adam , Prokop Jan , Wygonik Piotr
Published: January 2018

The paper presents an analysis of influence of selected fault states on properties of brushless DC motor with permanent magnets. The subject of study was a BLDC motor designed by the authors for unmanned aerial vehicle hybrid drive. Four parallel branches per each phase were provided in the discussed 3-phase motor. After open-winding fault in single or few parallel branches, a further operation of the motor can be continued. Waveforms of currents, voltages and electromagnetic torque were determined in discussed fault states based on the developed mathematical and simulation models. Laboratory test results concerning an influence of open-windings faults in parallel branches on properties of BLDC motor were presented.
Effect of Changes in Cycle Ergometer Settings on Bioelectrical Activity in Selected Muscles of the Lower Limbs
Authors: Staszkiewicz Robert , Kawulak Michał , Nosiadek Leszek , Omorczyk Jarosław , Nosiadek Andrzej
Published: January 2018

Introduction
. The aim of this study was to measure the duration of biopotentials in selected muscles of the lower limbs, evaluate the time of elevated bioelectrical activity in these muscles, and identify similarities and differences in electrical phenomena that occur in the muscles for various external settings of a cycle ergometer.

Material and methods
. The study examined 10 healthy people (5 women and 5 men) aged from 20 to 30 years. A cycle ergometer and EMG apparatus were used in the experiment. The bioelectrical activity of six muscles of the lower limbs (rectus femoris, vastus medialis, tibialis anterior, biceps femoris, gastrocnemius caput mediale, and gastrocnemius caput laterale) was recorded for four different settings of the cycle ergometer (variable saddle height and method of foot attachment to pedals). The EMG records were presented with reference to the bicycle crankset rotation cycle.

Conclusions
. The study found that changing the height of the saddle of the cycle ergometer and the use of toe clips in the pedals caused changes in bioelectrical activity in the muscles. The adjustment of saddle height affected the duration of potentials more noticeably than the use of toe clips. Furthermore, only one period of elevated electrical activity in the muscles of the lower limbs was found in the pedalling cycle. The longest time of the presence of action potentials was recorded for the m. gastrocnemius caput laterale, whereas the shortest time was observed in the m. vastus medialis.