bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Enseigner les structures de marché et stratégies de concurrence avec les jeux pédagogiques
Authors: Gabuthy Yannick , Lambert Eve-Angéline
Published: March 2018

Partant du constat d’un enseignement de l’économie à l’université fondé sur des méthodes principalement passives, cet article plaide en faveur d’une pédagogie active fondée sur les jeux pédagogiques expérimentaux avec une application à la thématique des structures de marché. Il fournit les clés pour l’utilisation de tels jeux en exposant les bases de l’économie expérimentale et les éléments pratiques de la mise en œuvre d’un jeu pédagogique. L’enseignement des trois principales structures de marché (concurrence pure et parfaite, monopole et oligopole) est proposé à travers la présentation d’un jeu détaillé par structure, complété par une revue de la littérature liée aux expériences pédagogiques existant sur chacune d’entre elles.
The Business Transformation and Enterprise Architecture Framework
Authors: Trad Antoine , Kalpić Damir
Published: March 2018

A business transformation project or an innovative enterprise architecture project is needed for the enterprise's business and financial strategic planning process and to prepare this business enterprise to integrate into the globally interconnected economy in a whole and robust manner. The integration of financial engineering and information technologies is fundamental, where the latter is the gluing element that makes this fine-grained environment run efficiently. Today, these finance-related technology standards and fields are ready and can be applied as automated block-chains to enable the traditional business environments as a part of the networked global economy. An important factor in frequent business transformation projects' changes and financial reengineering iterations are the roles of the business transformation manager, project managers, finance analysts, the business environment's technological maturity, and enterprise architect(s) who should be supported by the optimal business transformation framework.
Embedding GVT in Coursework Assessment
Authors: Goh See-Kwong , Tee Kelly Pei Leng
Published: March 2018

The chapter provides a general overview of an international collaboration project conducted in an international business module at Taylor's Business School. The international collaboration project is designed to provide students with an experience in working on a cross-cultural virtual team. This study employs a case study that consisted of 34 Malaysian students and the main instrument used in this study is the students' reflective reports. Based on the reflective reports, the chapter discusses the challenges and the synergistic experiences faced by the students. In general, students find it interesting to work in this project; on the other hand, students also found it difficult to communicate with others as well as getting the project ready on time. The chapter also highlights the benefits of working in this project and some recommendations to academics who wish to embark on such activity in class.
Improving Online Collaboration in Contemporary IT Development Teams
Authors: Pries-Heje Jan , Pries-Heje Lene
Published: March 2018

An interview study focusing on online collaboration in geographically distributed IT development teams in Danske Bank revealed seven problem areas. To cope with the problems the authors applied a design science research approach to construct a conceptual framework for improving online collaboration. The conceptual framework combines a six-phase teambuilding model with six elements of social capital. Thus, in each phase of teambuilding, the online collaborators aim at building up all six elements of social capital. The complete six-by-six framework was successfully tried and diffused throughout Danske Bank. This chapter gives an account of the framework content and the results from the evaluation.
Stochastic Processes for the Risk Management
Authors: Özel Gamze
Published: March 2018

The financial markets use stochastic models to represent the seemingly random behavior of assets such as stocks, commodities, relative currency prices such as the price of one currency compared to that of another, such as the price of US Dollar compared to that of the Euro, and interest rates. These models are then used by quantitative analysts to value options on stock prices, bond prices, and on interest rates. This chapter gives an overview of the stochastic models and methods used in financial risk management. Given the random nature of future events on financial markets, the field of stochastic processes obviously plays an important role in quantitative risk management. Random walk, Brownian motion and geometric Brownian motion processes in risk management are explained. Simulations of these processes are provided with some software codes.
Risk Management in Agriculture
Authors: Hamada Youssef Mohamed
Published: March 2018

Risk has always been part of the business of agriculture. It's an industry built on the unpredictable forces of nature. What looks like a promising crop or herd can suddenly fall victim to the weather, insects or disease. Farmers are continually developing new ways to manage risk, from the use of hardier and higher yielding crop varieties and animal breeds to the application of new technologies on the farm to innovative marketing strategies. Smart agricultural policy has also evolved toward risk management programming that helps farmers deal with short-term income fluctuations as a result of risks largely outside their control. But the risks in agriculture today are greater and more complicated than ever before. International competition is fierce. Technological improvements are increasing world production and driving down real commodity prices. Public demand for higher food safety standards and better environmental practices requires new investments in the food system. Advances in science and technology are raising moral and ethical questions about the way food can and should be produced. At the same time, Smart agriculture itself has never been more diverse, ranging from specialty crops planted in small plots to grain farms covering thousands of hectares. In between being livestock operations of all sizes, greenhouses, organic farms and a growing number of agricultural businesses catering to unique consumer demands? It's an environment that is demanding new approaches to how business is conducted on the farm and consequently, how governments conduct agricultural policy.
Alignment of Business Strategy and Information Technology Considering Information Technology Governance, Project Portfolio Control, and Risk Management
Authors: Parry Vincent Kobina Ahene , Lind Mary L
Published: March 2018

Information technology (IT) governance is an important component in developing an overall business and IT strategy. Factors to consider in the IT governance and strategy relationship are project portfolio control, risk management. Using a quantitative survey of 201 IT executives a significant relationship was shown between effective IT governance and project portfolio control and risk management. However, the results of the study did not support a significant relationship between effective IT governance and business/IT alignment. Ultimately, this study helped to shed light on the relationship between effective IT governance and project portfolio control as well as provided support to the existing literature on the relationship between effective IT governance and risk.
Islamic Finance in India
Authors: Mohammed Wasiullah Shaik , H Abdur Raqeeb , Waheed Khalid
Published: March 2018

In order to provide financial services effectively to almost 1.21 billion people, India has adopted a comprehensive financial system governed under a number of financial regulations. These regulations, through regular amendments, are kept updated and inclusive of modern financial concepts that emerge in national and international markets. Islamic finance is one of such modern concepts emerged at global level. Growing with an annual growth rate of 15-20 percent the Islamic finance industry is holding total assets, value estimated to be more than USD 1.6 trillion. Hence, the authors, in this paper tried to study the feasibility of providing Islamic financial services in India, especially in the areas of Retail banking, Microfinance, Venture Capital financing. The objective of this paper is to identify the major regulatory challenges facing Islamic finance and to propose the possible solutions so as to make this emerging industry an internal part of the Indian financial system.
Strategic Information System Planning in Healthcare Organizations
Authors: Lee Theresa , Ghapanchi Amir Hossein , Talaei-Khoei Amir , Ray Pradeep
Published: March 2018

The healthcare industry is a critical and growing part of economies worldwide. To provide better quality of care, and value for money, billions of dollars are being spent on bettering information systems in healthcare organizations. Strategic Information System Planning (SISP) is instrumental in making informed decisions to achieve the health organizations' goals and objectives. This paper undertakes a systematic review to gain insight into existing studies on SISP in healthcare organizations. Our systematic review of papers on SISP from 1985 to 2011 examines the background and trend of research into SISP in the healthcare industry, classification of topics in SISP, as well as sets of tools and guidelines to aid practitioners and the research community alike.
Swimming Upstream in Turbulent Waters
Authors: Krishnamachariar Priyadarsini Kannan , Gupta Manish
Published: March 2018

Agile approach is a pragmatic fashion of software development, wherein the requirements are flexible to the changing needs of the customers, fast paced markets and the iterations of software are implemented and delivered based on business priorities. A risky or experimental project where the project requirements are not clear/not defined well in advance, are the most suitable candidates for adopting agile approach, as agile enables us to work with calculated risks during development, aiming to reduce the risks. The value of any implementation is realized only if it delivers benefits to organization and users, which could be assured by effective auditing of the implementation by understanding the implications of agile approach and figuring out right audit techniques and processes. Many organizations already have well established audit functions and matured IT Audit procedures for auditing traditional SDLC waterfall processes. Yet the methods for auditing software development based on agile approach requires a different attitude and audit techniques that goes well with the proactive nature of agile approach. This paper aims to present risk based audit approach on the agile implementation of software development, how risk identification and assessment can be merged along with the phases of software development and the ways by which agile techniques can be effectively utilized as tools for audit.
E-Banking in India
Authors: Das Rituparna
Published: March 2018

This chapter deals with the evolving process of electronic banking in India, focusing on the risks facing different payment and settlement systems. It covers how the banks are managing risks in payments and settlement systems within the ambit of Internet banking activities as per regulatory guidelines in India. In the process, it refers to a number of national and international institutions and countries.
Signal-Adaptive Analog-to-Digital Converters for ULP Wearable and Implantable Medical Devices
Authors: Artan Nabi Sertac
Published: March 2018

The mission of this chapter is to introduce the reader the recent developments in the design of ultra-Low Power ADCs for Wearable and Implantable Medical Devices (WIMDs). The focus of this chapter will be on Signal-Adaptive Successive Approximation Register (SAR) ADC architectures and their derivatives, since the majority of the ULP medical devices rely on these architectures. The proposed chapter first provides an overview of the WIMDs, and electrophysiological signals. Then, basic SAR ADCs are introduced followed by the study of adaptive SAR ADCs. The chapter concludes with a brief summary of the other prevalent ADC architecture for WIMDs, namely the Level-Crossing ADCs.
Motion and Location-Based Online Human Daily Activity Recognition
Authors: Zhu Chun , Sheng Weihua
Published: March 2018

In this chapter, the authors propose an approach to indoor human daily activity recognition that combines motion data and location information. One inertial sensor is worn on the thigh of a human subject to provide motion data while a motion capture system is used to record the human location information. Such a combination has the advantage of significantly reducing the obtrusiveness to the human subject at a moderate cost of vision processing, while maintaining a high accuracy of recognition. The approach has two phases. First, a two-step algorithm is proposed to recognize the activity based on motion data only. In the coarse-grained classification, two neural networks are used to classify the basic activities. In the fine-grained classification, the sequence of activities is modeled by a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) to consider the sequential constraints. The modified short-time Viterbi algorithm is used for real-time daily activity recognition. Second, to fuse the motion data with the location information, Bayes' theorem is used to refine the activities recognized from the motion data. The authors conduct experiments in a mock apartment, and the obtained results prove the effectiveness and accuracy of the algorithms.
Flexible Antennas for Wearable Technologies
Authors: Afyf Amal , Larbi Bellarbi , Riouch Fatima , Sennouni Mohamed Adel , Nourdin Yaakoubi
Published: March 2018

Having the merits of being light-weight, energy efficient, in addition to low manufacturing cost, reduced fabrication complexity, and the availability of inexpensive flexible substrates, flexible and wearable technology is being established as an appealing alternative to the conventional electronics technologies which are based on rigid substrates. Furthermore, wearable antennas have been a topic of interest for more than the past decade, and hundreds of scientific papers can be found on the subject. This large number of publications asks for some classification in order to get an overview of the trends and challenges. To this aim, an overview of antennas for wearable technologies is proposed. This chapter is organized into three major sections. In the first part, a detailed review of wearable antennas is presented. The second part of this project deals with the flexible antennas parameters and families. Materials and fabrication methods are discussed in the third part. Wearables advantages, disadvantage and challenges are summarized in the last section.
Metamaterial-Based Wearable Microstrip Patch Antennas
Authors: Joshi J. G. , Pattnaik Shyam S.
Published: March 2018

This chapter presents metamaterial-based wearable, that is, textile-based, antennas for Wi-Fi, WLAN, ISM, BAN and public safety band applications, which have been designed, fabricated, and tested. Textile substrates like polyester and polypropylene are used to design and fabricate these antennas. The metamaterial inclusions are directly used to load the different microstrip patch antennas on the same substrate, which significantly enhances the gain and bandwidth with considerable size reduction. The microstrip patch antenna generates sub-wavelength resonances under loading condition due to the modifications of its resonant modes. The DNG and SNG metamaterials are used to load the microstrip patch antennas for size reduction by generating the sub-wavelength resonances. The simulated and measured results are found to be in good agreement for all the presented wearable antennas. The bending effect on antenna performance due to human body movements is also presented in this chapter.
Towards a Mobile Augmented Reality System for Emergency Management
Authors: Croatti Angelo , Ricci Alessandro , Viroli Mirko
Published: March 2018

The impressive development of wearable computing and augmented/mixed reality technologies that has been occurring in recent years allows for devising ICT systems that can bring a disruptive innovation in how emergency medical operations take place. In this paper the authors describe first explorations in that direction, represented by a distributed collaborative system called SAFE (Smart Augmented Field for Emergency) for teams of rescuers and operators involved in a rescue mission. SAFE is based on the integration of wearable computing and augmented reality technologies with intelligent agents and multi-agent systems.
Using an Extended Theory of Planned Behavior to Study Nurses' Adoption of Healthcare Information Systems in Nova Scotia
Authors: Ifinedo Princely
Published: March 2018

This study used the theory of planned behavior (TPB), which was extended to include relevant constructs such as computer self-efficacy, anxiety and habit, to investigate registered nurses' (RNs') adoption of healthcare information systems (HIS) in Nova Scotia, Canada. An analysis of data collected from 197 RNs in a cross-sectional survey showed that their attitudes towards HIS were positively impacted by computer self-efficacy and computer anxiety (lack thereof). RNs' attitudes toward HIS and facilitating organizational conditions significantly influenced intentions to use HIS at work. Contrary to prediction, subjective norm did not influence RNs' intentions to use HIS in the research setting. Computer habit mattered for RNs' acceptance of HIS. Information from the study benefits the management of RNs' HIS use in Nova Scotia, in particular, and comparable parts of Canada and the world.
Semantically Secure Classifiers for Privacy Preserving Data Mining
Authors: Sumana M.  , Hareesha K. S.  , Kumar Sampath
Published: March 2018

Essential predictions are to be made by the parties distributed at multiple locations. However, in the process of building a model, perceptive data is not to be revealed. Maintaining the privacy of such data is a foremost concern. Earlier approaches developed for classification and prediction are proven not to be secure enough and the performance is affected. This chapter focuses on the secure construction of commonly used classifiers. The computations performed during model building are proved to be semantically secure. The homomorphism and probabilistic property of Paillier is used to perform secure product, mean, and variance calculations. The secure computations are performed without any intermediate data or the sensitive data at multiple sites being revealed. It is observed that the accuracy of the classifiers modeled is almost equivalent to the non-privacy preserving classifiers. Secure protocols require reduced computation time and communication cost. It is also proved that proposed privacy preserving classifiers perform significantly better than the base classifiers.
Error Estimations for Flow Characterization With Numerical and Analytical Solutions
Authors: Sanal Irem
Published: March 2018

Use of radial basis functions(RBFs) in the numerical solution of partial differential equations has gained popularity as it is meshless and can readily be extended to multi-dimensional problems. RBFs have been used in different context and emerged as a potential alternative for numerical solution of PDEs. In this article, a Flow Between Parallel Plates problem was solved using a Multiquadric Radial Basis Function Collocation Method (MQ-RBFCM), then, the results were compared with the analytic ones and the root mean square of the errors between the model and analytic results were calculated. Numerical results are presented for 5 different cases, where the number of inputs or definitions are increased to see whether changing the number of points makes the results better or not. Also, the absolute errors between the results were calculated to have a 3D model of the error rates and this has proven for which cases the MQ-RBFCM are better. As a result, RBF is shown to produce accurate results while requiring a much-reduced effort in problem preparation in comparison to traditional numerical methods.
Um diálogo entre Mikhail Bakhtin e a teoria crítica: um caminho da dialogia e da polifonia à dialética de Dostoiévski
Authors: Vassoler Flávio Ricardo
Published: March 2018

Na análise bakhtiniana da poética de Dostoiévski, as vozes dialógicas assumem um papel fundamental. No entanto, Bakhtin (2008) não pôde demonstrar como a dialogia transformaria a obra de Dostoiévski em uma totalidade polifônica integral. Assim, em diálogo com a teoria crítica – em especial, com a Teoria Estética de Adorno (2012) –, tentaremos estabelecer um caminho da dialogia e da polifonia para a noção contraditória de totalidade dialética em Dostoiévski.
A formação do sistema literário pós-colonial: apontamentos sobre a consciência geracional em Angola e Moçambique
Authors: Pinheiro Vanessa Neves Riambau
Published: March 2018

O propósito deste artigo é investigar a formação do sistema literário nos países de Angola e Moçambique. Para o adequado desenvolvimento da pesquisa, dividiremos o estudo em três subáreas: 1. sistema literário: nesta primeira, refletiremos acerca da influência das relações intertextuais, a partir da teoria especializada; 2. gênese literária em Angola e Moçambique: na segunda, teceremos considerações acerca do desenvolvimento do sistema, de sua fase inicial até os dias atuais; 3. países dessemelhantes: neste momento, problematizaremos acerca das diferenças entre o desenvolvimento literário nos dois países africanos. Para tanto, utilizaremos como referencial teórico Candido (2014), Bakhtin (1987), Appiah (1997), Chabal (1984), Leite, Khan, Falconi e Krakowska (2012), entre outros.
Consideraciones al aplicar los principios de la Excelencia Operacional al innovar en el Diseño de Productos
Authors: Duran-Novoa Roberto A. , Tijerina-Aguilera Jacobo
Published: March 2018

Nuestro artículo estudia como las metodologías orientadas hacia la calidad y mejora continua (e.g. Lean, Six Sigma, Operational excellence) pueden apoyar el desarrollo de la innovación sistemática, basándonos en la hipótesis que las herramientas y buenas prácticas de la calidad han alcanzado su madurez luego de desarrollarse desde los años 40, situación que no sucede aún con la innovación y sus principios. Para obtener tendencias generales, estudiamos primero la evolución de las publicaciones asociadas a los términos "calidad” e “innovación” desde 1990 a 2016, para luego enfocar el estudio hacia la compatibilidad entre los principios de excelencia operacional (ExOp) e innovación en el diseño de productos (IDP). Inicialmente pudimos observar que los estudios acerca de calidad se desarrollan a un ritmo que disminuye su tasa de crecimiento en los últimos años, apoyando la suposición de maduración. Esto no ocurre con los estudios acerca de innovación, los cuales mantienen una tasa de crecimiento sostenida, lo que hace razonable suponer que la investigación relacionada a innovación alcanzará y eventualmente sobrepasará en cantidad a la investigación relacionada a calidad. Si bien pudimos observar que la ExOp e IDP tienen objetivos generales compatibles, descubrimos que no es recomendable aplicar directamente los principios de la ExOp a la IDP, tanto por motivos empíricos como conceptuales. Dentro de los motivos conceptuales, destacan los conflictos generados por la orientación hacia la eficacia de la ExOp y la orientación hacia la disrupción de la IDP. Esto hace que la IDP promueva la toma de riesgos en búsqueda de anticiparse a los mercados, en circunstancias que la ExOp promueve practicar y propagar lo validado a través de la experiencia, buscando mejoras incrementales en los procesos. Para poder lidiar con las incompatibilidades entre ExOp e IDP, se comparan  principios fundamentales de ambos enfoques y se clasifican en 3 categorías: alta probabilidad de compatibilidad, alta probabilidad de incompatibilidad, y principios que requieren mayor investigación para ser aplicados. Basados en lo anterior, proponemos una lista de principios de ExOp recomendables para quienes se enfoquen en la IDP, de manera que puedan ser un apoyo para desarrollar un proceso robusto, evitando a la vez futuras incompatibilidades. Finalmente, posibles direcciones de investigación –tanto académicas como industriales- son sugeridas, buscando fortalecer la sincronización entre la  ExOp y la IDP. Palabras clave: Calidad, excelencia operacional, innovación, diseño.
Turismo rural e patrimônio: perspectivas para o design sistêmico
Authors: Cestari Glauba Alves do Vale , Ferreira Alais Souza , Berlato Larissa Fontoura , Figueiredo Luiz Fernando Gonçalves de
Published: March 2018

O turismo rural surge no Brasil na década de 1990 como interesse do setor nas dinâmicas dos espaços rurais que representam novas experiências a serem oferecidas ao viajante, sendo a principal motivação o contato com comunidades rurais. A potencialidade do turismo rural está no caráter histórico e cultural inerentes as formas de viver e produzir evidenciando a diversidade de grupos sociais e trazendo a tona a imaterialidade do patrimônio. A valorização do patrimônio cultural de um território pode contribuir para o desenvolvimento econômico e social e ainda favorecer o incremento da indústria do turismo. Nesse sentido, entende-se o turismo como uma atividade “complexa” que envolve relações entre o contexto social humano, a influência do setor de produtos e serviços da economia e as dinâmicas socioculturais. Diante do exposto, analisar o fenômeno do turismo é considerar o ambiente como parte integrada a outras áreas em uma abordagem sistêmica, pois o turismo cresce, acompanha as necessidades do mercado, formata o objeto de venda em produto turístico que é intangível e demanda um olhar mais abrangente transcendendo a lógica do produtor e consumidor. Nesse sentido importa reflexões sobre as inter-relações ocorridas em comunidades questionando como se estabelece a relação do turismo com comunidades rurais e o patrimônio cultural local? E onde o Design se insere tendo em vista esse cenário? Este artigo de abordagem teórica qualitativa pretende contextualizar o turismo rural relacionando-o ao patrimônio cultural como norte às perspectivas do Design sistêmico voltado ao desenvolvimento de  comunidades rurais com respeito às especificidades socioculturais. Como procedimentos metodológicos foi feita revisão de literatura mediante levantamento bibliográfico e documental de artigos e livros impressos ou na forma de bases de dados eletrônicas com vistas a compor o referencial teórico. Acredita-se que este estudo traz contribuições ao apontar lacunas para ações do Design voltadas às concepções dos espaços rurais na atualidade, sem perder de vista a história que os constituiu, explorando suas atividades não-agrícolas, a forma de participação dos atores sociais desses espaços, em especial, a família agricultora e sua relação na venda de produtos e serviços representativos do território e patrimônio cultural local.Palavras-chave: turismo rural; patrimônio cultural; design sistêmico.
Importance of seasonally resolved oceanic emissions for bromoform delivery from the tropical Indian Ocean and west Pacific to the stratosphere
Authors: Fiehn Alina , Quack Birgit , Stemmler Irene , Ziska Franziska , Krüger Kirstin
Published: March 2018

Abstract. Oceanic very short-lived substances (VSLS), such as bromoform (CHBr3), contribute to stratospheric halogen loading and, thus, to ozone depletion. However, the amount, timing, and region of bromine delivery to the stratosphere through one of the main entrance gates, the Asian monsoon circulation, are still uncertain. In this study, we created two bromoform emission inventories with monthly resolution for the tropical Indian Ocean and west Pacific based on new in situ bromoform measurements and novel ocean biogeochemistry modeling. The mass transport and atmospheric mixing ratios of bromoform were modeled for the year 2014 with the particle dispersion model FLEXPART driven by ERA-Interim reanalysis. We compare results between two emission scenarios: (1) monthly and (2) annually averaged emissions. Both simulations reproduce the atmospheric distribution of bromoform from ship- and aircraft-based observations in the boundary layer and upper troposphere above the Indian Ocean well. Using monthly resolved emissions, main oceanic source regions for the stratosphere include the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal in boreal summer and the tropical west Pacific Ocean in boreal winter. The main stratospheric entrainment in boreal summer occurs over the southern tip of India associated with the high local oceanic sources and strong convection of the summer monsoon. In boreal winter more bromoform is entrained over the west Pacific than over the Indian Ocean. The annually averaged stratospheric entrainment of bromoform is in the same range whether using monthly or annually averaged emissions in our Lagrangian calculations. However, monthly averaged emissions result in highest mixing ratios within the Asian monsoon anticyclone in boreal summer and above the central Indian Ocean in boreal winter, while annually averaged emissions display a maximum above the west Indian Ocean in boreal spring. In the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone bromoform atmospheric mixing ratios vary up to 50 % between using monthly and annually averaged oceanic emissions. Our results underline that the seasonal and regional stratospheric bromine entrainment from the tropical Indian Ocean and west Pacific critically depends on the seasonality and spatial distribution of the VSLS emissions.
On the relevance of source effects in geomagnetic pulsations for induction soundings
Authors: Neska Anne , Reda Jan Tadeusz , Neska Mariusz Leszek , Sumaruk Yuri Petrovich
Published: March 2018

Abstract. This study is an attempt to close a gap between recent research on geomagnetic pulsations and their usage as source signals in electromagnetic induction soundings (i.e., magnetotellurics, geomagnetic depth sounding, and magnetovariational sounding). The plane-wave assumption as a precondition for the proper performance of these methods is partly violated by the local nature of field line resonances which cause a considerable portion of pulsations at mid latitudes. It is demonstrated that and explained why in spite of this, the application of remote reference stations in quasi-global distances for the suppression of local correlated-noise effects in induction arrows is possible in the geomagnetic pulsation range. The important role of upstream waves and of the magnetic equatorial region for such applications is emphasized. Furthermore, the principal difference between application of reference stations for local transfer functions (which result in sounding curves and induction arrows) and for inter-station transfer functions is considered. The preconditions for the latter are much stricter than for the former. Hence a failure to estimate an inter-station transfer function to be interpreted in terms of electromagnetic induction, e.g., because of field line resonances, does not necessarily prohibit use of the station pair for a remote reference estimation of the impedance tensor.
Aspectos relevantes en la aplicación de la carga de la prueba en materia civil con ocasión del Código General del proceso de Colombia
Authors: Navarrete Palomares Claudia Patricia
Published: March 2018

En esta investigación, luego de abordarse la noción de prueba, que se traduce en la necesidad imperiosa de acreditar en todos los campos, se emprende el estudio de los aspectos relevantes de ella al interior del proceso judicial, cuyo objetivo primordial es llevar al juez a que tenga plena certeza. Para ello se hace un análisis de la carga de la prueba en el sistema tradicional que ha venido a ser complementado con la carga dinámica. Posteriormente se confrontan, de un lado los poderes de instrucción del juez y del otro el de imparcialidad, para concluir que su iniciativa probatoria debe circunscribirse a complementar la actividad de las partes, pero de modo alguno remplazarla.
Chapter 2: Constructivism, Inclusion, Democracy, and Education - A Deweyan Reflection on the Concept of the Cologne International Teacher Education Laboratory
Authors: Kricke Meike , Neubert Stefan
Published: March 2018

Our essay draws on pragmatist and constructivist approaches in education and connects them with a case study in teacher education, namely the International Teacher Education Laboratory (ITEL) that has been developed and undertaken in the years 2013-2015 at the University of Cologne. We proceed in the wake of the Deweyan tradition of democracy and education and aim to reconstruct this frame for our time by connecting it with components of Zygmunt Bauman’s sociological diagnoses and descriptions of liquid modernity as the condition of social life today. Our discussion contains four elements. First, constructivism will help us to address the relations and perspectives of observers, participants, and agents in culture under conditions of liquid modernity. Second, we will use inclusion as a theoretical perspective to understand claims and challenges of emancipation, democratic beliefs and attitudes, as well as educational growth for all in twenty-first century education and society. Third, democracy in the Deweyan sense will be used as a lense of reflecting necessary conditions of inclusion, namely diversity, participation, and transparency. Fourth, education will be the perspective to embrace the different arguments of our essay and sum up what the other three parts have yielded.
MLSTar: automatic multilocus and core genome sequence typing in R
Authors: Ferrés Ignacio , Iraola Gregorio
Published: March 2018

Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) is a standard tool in population genetics and bacterial epidemiology that assesses the genetic variation present in a reduced number of housekeeping genes (typically seven) along the genome. This methodology assigns arbitrary integer identifiers to genetic variations at these loci allowing to efficiently compare bacterial isolates using allele-based methods. Now, the increasing availability of whole-genome sequences for hundreds to thousands of strains from the same bacterial species has motivated to upgrade the resolution of traditional MLST schemes using larger gene sets or even the core genome (cgMLST). The PubMLST database is the most comprehensive resource of described MLST and cgMLST schemes available for a wide variety of species. Here we present MLSTar as the first R package that allows to i) connect with the PubMLST database to select a target scheme, ii) screen a desired set of genomes to assign alleles and sequence types and iii) interact with other widely used R packages to analyze and produce graphical representations of the data. We applied MLSTar to analyze a set of 400 Campylobacter coli genomes, showing great accuracy and comparable performance with previously published command-line tools. MLSTar can be freely downloaded from http://github.org/iferres/MLSTar.
Drosophila Fezf coordinates laminar-specific connectivity through cell-intrinsic and cell-extrinsic mechanisms
Authors: Peng Jing , Santiago Ivan J , Ahn Curie , Gur Burak , Tsui C Kimberly , Su Zhixiao , Xu Chundi , Karakhanyan Aziz , Silies Marion , Pecot Matthew Y
Published: March 2018

Laminar arrangement of neural connections is a fundamental feature of neural circuit organization. Identifying mechanisms that coordinate neural connections within correct layers is thus vital for understanding how neural circuits are assembled. In the medulla of the Drosophila visual system neurons form connections within ten parallel layers. The M3 layer receives input from two neuron types that sequentially innervate M3 during development. Here we show that M3-specific innervation by both neurons is coordinated by Drosophila Fezf (dFezf), a conserved transcription factor that is selectively expressed by the earlier targeting input neuron. In this cell, dFezf instructs layer specificity and activates the expression of a secreted molecule (Netrin) that regulates the layer specificity of the other input neuron. We propose that employment of transcriptional modules that cell-intrinsically target neurons to specific layers, and cell-extrinsically recruit other neurons is a general mechanism for building layered networks of neural connections.
Cd and Zn interactions and toxicity in ectomycorrhizal basidiomycetes in axenic culture
Authors: De Oliveira Vinicius H. , Tibbett Mark
Published: March 2018

Background

Metal contamination in soils affects both above- and belowground communities, including soil microorganisms. Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi are an important component in belowground community and tolerant strains have great potential in enhancing plant-based remediation techniques. We assessed cadmium and zinc toxicity in five ECM species in liquid media (Hebeloma subsaponaceum;H. cylindrosporum;H. crustuliniforme;Sclerodermasp.;Austroboletus occidentalis) and investigated the potential of Zn to alleviate Cd toxicity. Due to highly divergent results reported in the literature, liquid and solid media were compared experimentally for the first time in terms of differential toxicity thresholds in Cd and Zn interactions.

Methods

A wide range of Cd and Zn concentrations were applied to ectomycorrhizal fungi in axenic cultures (in mg L−1): 0; 1; 3; 9; 27; 81; 243 for the Cd treatments, and 0; 1; 30; 90; 270; 810; 2,430 for Zn. Combined Zn and Cd treatments were also applied toH. subsaponaceumandSclerodermasp. Dry weight was recorded after 30 days, and in case of solid medium treatments, radial growth was also measured.

Results and Discussion

All species were adversely affected by high levels of Cd and Zn, andA. occidentaliswas the most sensitive, with considerable biomass decrease at 1 mg L−1Cd, whileSclerodermasp. andH. subsaponaceumwere the most tolerant, which are species commonly found in highly contaminated sites. Cd was generally 10 times more toxic than Zn, which may explain why Zn had little impact in alleviating Cd effects. In some cases, Cd and Zn interactions led to a synergistic toxicity, depending on the concentrations applied and type of media used. Increased tolerance patterns were detected in fungi grown in solid medium and may be the cause of divergent toxicity thresholds found in the literature. Furthermore, solid medium allows measuring radial growth/mycelial density as endpoints which are informative and in this case appeared be related to the high tolerance indices found inH. subsaponaceum.
Structural and genetic analysis of START superfamily protein MSMEG_0129 from Mycobacterium smegmatis
Authors: Zheng Shuping , Zhou Ying , Fleming Joy , Zhou Yafeng , Zhang Mengting , Li Shiliang , Li Honglin , Sun Bingqi , Liu Wei , Bi Lijun
Published: March 2018

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a notorious pathogen that continues to threaten human health. Rv0164, an antigen of both T‐ and B cells conserved across mycobacteria, and MSMEG_0129, its close homolog in Mycobacterium smegmatis, are predicted members of the START domain superfamily, but their molecular function is unknown. Here, gene knockout studies demonstrate MSMEG_0129 is essential for bacterial growth, suggesting Rv0164 may be a potential drug target. The MSMEG_0129 crystal structure determined at 1.95 Å reveals a fold similar to that in polyketide aromatase/cyclases ZhuI and TcmN from Streptomyces sp. Structural comparisons and docking simulations, however, infer that MSMEG_0129 and Rv0164 are unlikely to catalyze polyketide aromatization/cyclization, but probably play an irreplaceable role during mycobacterial growth, for example, in lipid transfer during cell envelope synthesis.
Proteoglycans in brain development and pathogenesis
Authors: Schwartz Nancy B. , Domowicz Miriam S.
Published: March 2018

Proteoglycans are diverse, complex extracellular/cell surface macromolecules composed of a central core protein with covalently linked glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chains; both of these components contribute to the growing list of important bio‐active functions attributed to proteoglycans. Increasingly, attention has been paid to the roles of proteoglycans in nervous tissue development due to their highly regulated spatio/temporal expression patterns, whereby they promote/inhibit neurite outgrowth, participate in specification and maturation of various precursor cell types, and regulate cell behaviors like migration, axonal pathfinding, synaptogenesis and plasticity. These functions emanate from both the environments proteoglycans create around cells by retaining ions and water or serving as scaffolds for cell shaping or motility, and from dynamic interactions that modulate signaling fields for cytokines, growth factors and morphogens, which may bind to either the protein or GAG portions. Also, genetic abnormalities impacting proteoglycan synthesis during critical steps of brain development and response to environmental insults and injuries, as well as changes in microenvironment interactions leading to tumors in the central nervous system, all suggest roles for proteoglycans in behavioral and intellectual disorders and malignancies.
Intrusion Pattern of the Offshore Kuroshio Branch Current and Its Effects on Nutrient Contributions in the East China Sea
Authors: Wang Wentao , Yu Zhiming , Song Xiuxian , Yuan Yongquan , Wu Zaixing , Zhou Peng , Cao Xihua
Published: March 2018

During the autumn season of 2014 (October–November), nutrient samples and nitrogen and oxygen isotope samples from the East China Sea (ECS) were collected and analyzed, and auxiliary physical parameters were determined. Distinctive high‐salinity water column conditions with significant haloclines and pycnoclines similar to those observed during the spring were detected at the bottom of the ECS during the autumn. These water column conditions were attributed to the intrusion of the Kuroshio Subsurface Water (KSSW), which then separated into two currents, including the Offshore Kuroshio Branch Current (OKBC). Compared with spring, this intrusion transported higher phosphorus (P) concentrations onto the ECS continental shelf in autumn. However, according to multiple analyses, biogeochemical nitrogen processes are unable to explain the variations in the P concentrations (increase) while assuming that each distinctive water column is consistent. Identifying the water columns by their salinities and P concentrations revealed that the northern ECS water column was similar to the deep KSSW while the southern ECS water column was similar to the shallow KSSW. Therefore, we speculate that the distinctions among the seasonal variations of P‐enriched water masses were attributable to the different intrusion positions of the Kuroshio. The shift of the KSSW intrusion location moved toward the northeast during the autumn relative to the spring. This shift, which was proved by the oceanic vortex data, caused the deeper KSSW water upwelled to the ECS and formed the OKBC, thereby supplying additional P during the autumn.
A Mechanism for the Southward Propagation of Mesoscale Convective Systems Over the Bay of Bengal
Authors: Jain Deepeshkumar , Chakraborty Arindam , Nanjundaiah Ravi S.
Published: March 2018

Equatorward propagating precipitation episodes over the Bay of Bengal have been documented in many previous observational studies. Proposed propagation mechanisms include mean surface to midtropospheric wind shear driving the convection orthogonal to the lower tropospheric winds and the gravity currents generated by outflow from convection initiated by the diurnally varying land‐ocean circulations dispersing south. In this study, we perform high‐resolution simulations using the Weather Research and Forecast model capable of resolving mesoscale convective systems during the South Asian summer monsoon season. This mesoscale system is shown to have squall line‐like structure with leading line/trailing stratiform. The rear inflow due to saturated downdraft and jump updraft indicates a gravity current‐like structure. The rear inflow jet produces horizontal momentum tendencies in the direction of propagation. The center of convection is shown to move faster than the midtropospheric winds and at the same speed as that of the rear inflow jet near the surface. These systems are also shown to be tightly coupled to the diurnal land surface heating cycle. We perform additional model simulations with varying horizontal resolution and with the inclusion of cumulus parameterization. A model with cumulus parameterization is unable to simulate the updraft‐downdraft pair and the gravity current structure of this southward propagating mesoscale system. We find that high model resolution is needed to resolve the updraft‐downdraft pair and cumulus parameterization assumptions break down at such high resolutions. Using cloud microphysics exclusively becomes essential in simulating these mesoscale systems.
Unrealized Global Temperature Increase: Implications of Current Uncertainties
Authors: Schwartz Stephen E.
Published: March 2018

Unrealized increase in global mean surface air temperature (GMST) may result from the climate system not being in steady state with forcings and/or from cessation of negative aerosol forcing that would result from decreases in emissions. An observation‐constrained method is applied to infer the dependence of Earth's climate sensitivity on forcing by anthropogenic aerosols within the uncertainty on that forcing given by the Fifth (2013) Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Within these uncertainty ranges the increase in GMST due to temperature lag for future forcings held constant is slight (0.09–0.19 K over 20 years; 0.12–0.26 K over 100 years). However, the incremental increase in GMST that would result from a hypothetical abrupt cessation of sources of aerosols could be quite large but is highly uncertain, 0.1–1.3 K over 20 years. Decrease in CO2 abundance and forcing following abrupt cessation of emissions would offset these increases in GMST over 100 years by as little as 0.09 K to as much as 0.8 K. The uncertainties quantified here greatly limit confidence in projections of change in GMST that would result from any strategy for future reduction of emissions.
Relations Between Semidiurnal Tidal Variants Through Diagnosing the Zonal Wavenumber Using a Phase Differencing Technique Based on Two Ground‐Based Detectors
Authors: He Maosheng , Chau Jorge L. , Stober Gunter , Li Guozhu , Ning Baiqi , Hoffmann Peter
Published: March 2018

The winter upper atmosphere is associated with semidiurnal tidal variants, referring collectively to enhancements of near‐12 h periodicities, including the lunar tide‐like (M2) periodicity, solar semidiurnal (S2) spectral sidebands, and the quasi‐semidiurnal westward propagating modes with zonal wavenumbers m = 1 and 3 (qSW1 and qSW3). Here we formulate a multipoint technique and implement the technique for a configuration of two midlatitude meteor radars, from Germany and China, to investigate the tidal variants. Statistical results illustrate that the 12 h periodicity is dominated consistently by the expected migrating mode (m = 2) between 2012 and 2016, consistent with the tidal climatology and in turn validating the technique. Our case study of 2013 sudden stratospheric warming reveals that the 11.6 h periodicity is characterized by m = 3, whereas the 12.4 h periodicity is dominated by m = 2 mode with a maximum amplitude 7.5 m/s and also comprises an additional mode m = 1 with a maximum amplitude 3.3 m/s. These observational evidences demonstrate, explicitly and for the first time, that (1) two independently reported categories of the variants, namely, the sidebands and the qSW1/qSW3 enhancements, are two different perspectives of identical phenomena, namely, the secondary waves of nonlinear interactions between SW2 and planetary waves, and (2) while M2 and the qSW1‐associated secondary wave are entangled in the 12.4 h periodicity, M2 is superior to the sideband.