bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Universities as Drivers and Models of Corporate Social Responsibility
Authors: Abdel-Hameid Shahira Osama , Badri Alia Babiker
Published: February 2016

This study advocates that universities are prominent driving force behind corporate social responsibility. It highlights the commitment of universities in social responsibility (SR) and civic engagement with special reference to the experience of Ahfad University for Women (AUW) as a model for CSR. The main objective of this study is to develop a better understanding of the roles of universities in social responsibility (SR) and civic engagement (CE) to reveal best practices that can be useful for other universities. The unique evolution of AUW exemplified in its philosophy has created a solid foundation for SR. The study found that university social responsibility (USR) was embedded at the student, faculty and community members level supported by the values and commitment of top management.
Do Board Educational Background, Occupational Background and Ownership Structure Matter for Directors' Remuneration Disclosure?
Authors: Esa Elinda , Zahari Abdul Rahman
Published: February 2016

Following the Asian economic tumult 1997, most of the researchers in Malaysian have been focusing on the issues of disclosure, transparency and boardroom failures. The crisis had led to statements about corporate governance in times of financial crisis and the lessons that can be learnt. A lot of prior literature examined the factors influencing the aspects of disclosure without giving reference to the educational and occupational background of the board of directors and the ownership structure, which influence the decision-making regarding director remuneration disclosure. Thus, the objective of this study is to investigate how the educational and occupational background of the board of directors and ownership structure affect director remuneration disclosure in Malaysian public listed companies. Very limited research has been explored in the issue of directors' remuneration disclosure. The director remuneration checklist is used to measure the director remuneration disclosure among Malaysian public listed companies. The findings of this study revealed that ownership structure is significantly associated with the extent of directors' remuneration disclosure, while the board's educational and occupational background are found to not be associated with the extent of directors' remuneration disclosure.
Business Ethics, Decision and Cost Relations
Authors: Shahriari Mohammad , Diken Ahmet
Published: February 2016

Today, all companies, local, national and international, should have a positive image as the main prerequisite of gaining a strong position at their general social image. Creating such an image depends on adopting the work ethics principles as behavior norms. The companies whose organizational structure is based on work ethics norms have an increase in their reliability, their institutionalization comes true in short time, potential of their products being chosen increases, a large and steady customer base is created and, as a result, these companies achieve a high level competitive power. The aim of this chapter is to define ethics, business ethics and cost related to unethical decision making. At the end a case study will be analyzed based on Ethical Criteria.
Semantic Interoperability-Enabled Architecture for Connected Health Services
Authors: Taweel Adel
Published: February 2016

With the increasing availability of connected health organisations, key medical information is expected to be accessible at the point of care. However, the high sensitivity of the clinical data and the large heterogeneity in health information systems pose a great interoperability challenge, including solutions that rely solely on the use of data exchange standards. Due to low adoption of these standards, such solutions will not sufficiently scale to achieve this objective. This chapter presents a service-based approach that utilises domain models combined with extensible problem models, enriched with domain terminology and knowledge services to enable autonomous data governance and semantic interoperability. The chapter addresses the resulting requirements, describes the proposed a solution and reports the results from the prototype of the approach.
Social Media, Participation, and Attitudes
Authors: Holmes Justin W. , McNeal Ramona Sue
Published: February 2016

A wide body of evidence shows that the American electorate has become more politically polarized in recent years. There are a wide variety of explanations for this trend, including selective exposure to ideological news sources. This trend corresponds with the increased use of social media for political discussion. There are competing theories regarding whether the spread social media exacerbates or attenuates polarization in the evaluation of political and social groups. The purpose of this chapter is to evaluate these competing claims. This topic is explored using multivariate regression analysis and individual level data from the 2012 American National Election Time Series Study. The findings suggest that social media use actually attenuates rather than drives polarization.
European Elections and Facebook
Authors: Vesnic-Alujevic Lucia
Published: February 2016

This chapter deals with the political advertising strategies used on Facebook during the elections campaigns for the European Parliament in 2009 and 2014. It explores and examines the posts of 11 political parties and comments they received during the last two weeks before the elections. The focus of the chapter is on possible interactions among citizens and politicians or citizens themselves that would support the idea that online deliberation could function as an improvement over other types of campaigning dialogues and the ways in which individuals used Facebook. The chapter explores possible similarities and differences in campaigning of political parties with the same national and ideological background, if any. It also makes a comparison between the campaigns in 2009 and 2014.
Monitoring Time Consumption in Complementary Diagnostic and Therapeutic Procedure Requests
Authors: Alpuim Ana , Esteves Marisa , Pereira Sónia , Santos Manuel Filipe
Published: February 2016

Over the years, information technologies and computer applications have been widespread amongst all fields, including healthcare. The main goal of these organizations is focused on providing quality health services to their patients, ensuring the provision of quality services. Therefore, decisions have to be made quickly and effectively. Thus, the increased use of information technologies in healthcare has been helping the decision-making process, improving the quality of their services. For an example, the insertion of Business Intelligence (BI) tools in healthcare environments has been recently used to improve healthcare delivery. It is based on the analysis of data in order to provide useful information. BI tools assist managers and health professionals through decision-making, since they allow the manipulation and analysis of data in order to extract knowledge. This work aims to study and analyze the time that physicians take to prescribe medical exams in Centro Hospitalar do Porto (CHP), though BI tools. The main concern is to identify the physicians who take more time than average to prescribe complementary means of diagnosis and treatment, making it possible to identify and understand the reason why it occurs. To discover these outliners, a BI platform was developed using the Pentaho Community. This platform presents means to represent information through tables and graphs that facilitate the analysis of information and the knowledge extraction. This information will be useful to represent knowledge concerning not only the prescription system (auditing it) but also its users. The platform evaluates the time prescription, by specialty and physician, which can afterwards be applied in the decision-making process. This platform enables the identification of measures to unravel the time differences that some physicians exhibit, in order to, subsequently, improve the whole process of electronic medical prescription.
Clinical Business Intelligence to Prevent Stroke Accidents
Authors: Gonçalves Nuno , Quintas Cesar , Machado José
Published: February 2016

Stroke is considered the third main cause of death among all population, without distinguishing genders, led by heart diseases in first place. In other hand, despite representing a significant number of mortality, these diseases are the causes for a long-term disability in all countries with a vast recovery time going parallel with its costs. However, leaving aside this facts, stokes and heath diseases can also be easily prevented considering the outcome. This paper presents a new methodology to prevent these events to happen by using segmentation methods, which allows distinguishing and aggregating clusters of historical records, classification methods, such as Artificial Neural Networks, capable of classifying a new record according to its distribution among the clusters. A Multi-Agent Case Based Reasoning system is also proposed to evaluate solutions based in a similar case.
Applying Soft Computing to Clinical Decision Support
Authors: Machado José , Oliveira Lucas , Barreiro Luís , Pinto Serafim , Coimbra Ana
Published: February 2016

This article aims to explain the construction process of the learing systems based on Artificial Neural Networks and Genetic Algorithms. These systems were implemented using R and Python programming languages, in order to compare results and achieve the best solution and it was used Diabetes and Parkinson datasets with the purpose of identifying the carriers of these diseases.
Customer Service
Authors: Gupta Amit
Published: February 2016

Customer Experience Management is a strategy that focuses the operations and processes of a business around the needs of the customers. Retailing is a huge industry (45% of the U.S. economy and the largest employer) that has consistently been an incubator for new business concepts. The retailing business, in today's world is focussed on the customer's buying experience. Focus on customer experience and understanding their needs can solve many retailers' chronic problems such as stock outs and markdowns. This chapter focusses on following major themes: assortment and inventory planning, markdown and store execution of retailer and their strategies for next couple of years. In today's Omni-channel world it's important for retailer to enhance customer experience, be it in brick and motor store or online.
A Customer Loyalty Model for Online Retail in India
Authors: Mishra Debasish
Published: February 2016

Sustaining long term growth requires businesses to manage customer loyalty very judiciously. Empirical studies have been conducted in many countries to investigate the relation between e-loyalty and its antecedents in the online retail business. However empirical research on these lines is virtually non-existent in India. This chapter describes a theoretical model for investigating the influence of the antecedents: e-satisfaction, e-trust, e-service quality, and fulfilment on e-loyalty in the online retail context in India. The theoretical model is used as a basis to formulate hypotheses. The hypotheses are tested with data collected from a survey of online customers. The output from these tests show that e-satisfaction is the variable which affects e-loyalty to the maximum followed by e-service quality variables. E-trust directly affects e-loyalty and also indirectly through e-satisfaction. It is also established that e-service quality variables indirectly affect e-loyalty through e-satisfaction and e-trust. Fulfilment indirectly affects e-loyalty through e-satisfaction.
Supply Chain Management and Strategy Implementation for Perishable Goods
Authors: Bharti Anju
Published: February 2016

Supply chain management is the active management of supply chain activities to maximize customer value and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage for a longer time. The supply chain firms put an extra effort to develop and run in the most effective & efficient ways possible. There are issues of concern that need attention, like huge losses in perishables (food) because of infrastructural deficiencies. The demand for food remains highly unfulfilled in most of the country and outside in spite of high production of food. This is because of highly ineffective, inadequate and very weak supply chains for food that require temperature controlled conditions to retain quality and safety of food and curb the decay process. An effective food retail supply chain thus becomes vital (Bourkakis and Weightman, 2004).Supply chains for perishable and time-sensitive products, pose specific and unique challenges. The temperature controlled supply chains or cold chains are a significant proportion of the retail food market which is still in the nascent stage.
Dynamics of Supply Chains for Perishable and Non-Perishable Items
Authors: Kamath Narasimha
Published: February 2016

This chapter analyzes the dynamics of supply chains for perishable and non-perishable items and compares them. It starts with a single echelon supply chain with widely used inventory management and ordering policies; and then generalizes it to multi-echelon supply chain. Simulation experiments are conducted to match the results with literature and real-world scenario. It shows how spoilage information can be incorporated in the ordering decision to create highly responsive supply chain, which may not always be desirable. Amplification is lesser and stabilization is faster for supply chains of perishable items. ANOVA shows significant difference for the identified performance metrics under varying demand patterns and to a certain extent varies with the item type.
Trimming Safety Stock
Authors: Sood Tanuj
Published: February 2016

Today's retail environment has become extremely competitive with retailers offering low prices almost on daily basis through various promotional techniques. Majority of their products placed on their shelves are promoted to boost sales, compete efficiently and gain market share. Retailers have a natural tendency to keep a very close watch on various costs in whichever way they can be curtailed or controlled. Costs like Labor, Transportation, Vendor Deals and Inventory reduction are some of the key areas that are tracked and renegotiated very frequently by retailers worldwide. Safety Stock holding is one critical area where a lot of work can be done “empirically” by retailers and distributors to create stock efficiencies across their established supply chain networks. Application of appropriate statistical techniques on the right set of products can help us getting a trimmed down safety stock numbers which are still capable in addressing the demand and supply variability while holding much lesser stock and still achieve greater customer service levels.
A Study of Virtual Trial Room
Authors: Albadri Safa
Published: February 2016

In todays' Ecommerce websites, the user just picks up apparels and accessories that look good in the images. Once the goods are delivered, they might not be satisfied with the color, size and looks. This results in the return of the apparel. This chapter talks about Virtual trial room as a facility for the online users. This will help the customer to virtually try the apparels for the size. The customers' can also share their trailed clothes on the social media, so that they can get suggestions on it from family, friends, designers, and fashion experts. As the technology advances, the customer can also print out a small piece of the cloth to have a look and feel of the material.
Data and Dialogue
Authors: Lys Diana B. , L'Esperance Mark , Bullock Ann , Dobson Ellen , Patriarca Linda A. , Maynard Elbert E.
Published: February 2016

To present a reflective case study of the change process in a teacher preparation program engaged in an edTPA implementation. This chapter will highlight how one institution is using teacher performance data and faculty dialogue to develop new directions for program improvement and transformative change. Additionally, this chapter will also present critical self-reflections from key stakeholders related to transformative change.
Evaluation Results of Initial Training Teachers Programs in Mexico Based on the Performance of Their Students
Authors: Cardoso Edgar Oliver , Bricaire Jorge Mejía , Hurtado Fernando Briseño , Mendoza Joel García
Published: February 2016

The study aimed to evaluate the proficiency levels of students of programmes of initial teacher training in the areas of planning, evaluation, use of ICT, didactics, and research competences in institutions of higher education in Mexico. The research approach used was non-experimental because there was not a deliberate manipulation of the variables. This papers was worked with a cross-sectional design. Initial teacher training programs evaluated based on the results of their students (521 subjects in total). For the collection of data was used a questionnaire to assess competencies and get information that would make the diagnosis of initial teacher training programmes. The instrument responded in a single application and it was composed of two sections: Respondents' general data and professional skills: structured under teaching domains of planning, assessment, management, ICT usage and research. Questions were evaluated using a scale of frequency of five degrees the scale used corresponds to a Likert-type.
Process vs. Product
Authors: McIntyre Christina Janise , Cartwright Angela M. , Miller Stacia C.
Published: February 2016

The purpose of this case study was to determine if the common practice of Impact on Student Learning (ISL) projects, such as those found in the edTPA and TK20 systems, is adequately preparing preservice teachers to engage in the kinds of action research that are necessary for continuously improving classroom practice. In these projects, teacher candidates administer pre- and post-tests, then determine the efficacy of the lessons between by comparing the scores. While ISL projects provide exposure to assessment for planning, it leaves preservice teachers underprepared for the types of action research that are required for continuously improving classroom practice. Preservice teachers would benefit from additional experiences with research during their undergraduate education programs in order to increase their efficacy, and interest, in classroom research practices.
Time-Dependent Reliability Prediction of Bridge Member Based on MGPF and SHM Data
Authors: Fan Xue Ping , Liu Yue Fei
Published: February 2016

In the long-term monitoring period, the structural health monitoring (SHM) system produces a huge amount of monitoring data. It becomes a very important thing that how to real-timely predict structural reliability indices from such huge number of monitored data. In this paper, To real-timely predict reliability of bridge members with real-time monitoring information, with the long-term mass monitored data of health monitoring system, the data-based dynamic model including observation equation and state equation is built, and then the mixed Gaussian particle filter (MGPF) is introduced. With particle filter method, Bayesian method and dynamic model, the posteriori distribution parameters of state variable and one-step forward prediction distribution parameters of monitored data are predicted. Through resampling technique, with MGPF, the prediction precision of dynamic model can generally increase. Based on the dynamic monitored data, the weights of resampled particles can be constantly updated. Therefore the problem of particle degradation is solved. Finally based on the real-time predicted distribution parameters, with the first order second moment (FOSM) method, the dynamic reliability of bridge member is predicted, and an actual example is provided to illustrate the application and feasibility of the proposed models and methods.
Properties of Electroslag Steel 5ХНМ (5HNM) and 34 ХН1М (34HN1M) Melted with "Solid" Start Using Exothermic Fluxes
Authors: Vlasov Anatoliy F. , Makarenko Natalja A. , Kushchiy Anna M. , Volkov Dmitry A. , Holub Denys M.
Published: February 2016

The slag bath accelerated formation technological processes in the "solid" start of mono-and bifilar process schemes are worked out. The melted electroslag steel 5ХНМ (5HNM) and 34ХН1М (34HN1M) properties satisfy to the requirements that apply to the open wrought metal smelting mechanical properties. It is found that an effective way to enhance productivity is the electroslag processes exothermic flux (slag, ferroalloys, and aluminum powder in amounts sufficient to exothermic reactions) use. It is experimentally proved that an electrically conductive layer exothermic flux presence allows electroslag process, both in mono and bifilar schemes in "solid" start. The 34ХН1М (34HN1M) steel in non-heat treated condition tend to hairline cracks formation. The heat treatment provides the required mechanical properties and the hairline cracks absence in electroslag molten metal.
Numerical Modelling and Simulation of the Hot Rolling Mill Process
Authors: Cianetti Filippo , Braccesi Claudio , Valigi Maria Cristina
Published: February 2016

In the design of the rolling mill plants, it is fundamental to study the behaviour of the deformation process to assess the main process variables (such as torque and rolling force) in all operating conditions.In this paper, a finite element model is developed and the numerical simulations of the plastic deformation process, in the hot rolling mill of AISI 304 stainless steel, are shown. In the proposed model a Multilinear Isotropic Hardening behaviour of material has been assumed and true stress-true strain curves have been found, taking into account temperature and strain rate. Numerical results are compared with experimental measures regarding an existing hot rolling mill plant.
Influence of Solutionizing Parameters on the Structure and Corrosion Resistance of the ZnAl40Cu3 Alloy
Authors: Tomaszewska Agnieszka , Michalik Rafał , Jabłońska Magdalena
Published: February 2016

The purpose of carried out examination was to determine the effect of solution heat treatment on the structure and corrosion resistance of the ZnAl40Cu3 alloy in the "acid rain" environment. The scope of the test included Brinell hardness tests, structural tests and galvanostatic and potentiodynamic tests. The examination showed that the maximum hardness of the sample after solution heat treatment obtain after 10 h of solutionizing. It has been shown that the solutionizing increases the corrosion resistance. The corrosion resistance was greater, when the longer was the time of solutionizing.
The Composite Materials for High Erosion Resistance Coatings Applied in Power Industry
Authors: Szczucka-Lasota Bożena , Szymański Krzysztof , Piwnik Jan
Published: February 2016

The article presents the issues related to composite materials and the fabrication process of protective coatings by thermal spraying methods used for the protection of power plant boiler elements . The basic composite materials for thermal spraying process were characterized. The presented materials allow produced the erosion-corrosion resistant coatings. The chemical composition, phase structure and properties of the selected materials are presented. The basic group of coatings with the high corrosion and erosion resistance are produced by thermal spraying method, like HVOF (High velocity oxy fuel). In this article the selected properties of composite materials sprayed by innovative technology are characterized.
Analysis of Surface Coarseness for Friction Node of Alloy AlSi17Cu5 and Cast-Iron EN-GJL-350
Authors: Wieszała Robert , Piątkowski Jaroslaw
Published: February 2016

The article presents the surface coarseness analysis for alloy AlSi17Cu5Mg coupled with cast-iron EN-GJL-350. Material after friction was tested in pin-on-disk system with the use of tribological tester T-01. Such coupling is in accordance with parameters applied in combustion engines. Analysis of coarseness allows to determine the influence of technological history on the parameters of material wear. It is important due to the fact of the proper choice of technology for manufacturing the materials applied in pistons of combustion engines. Tests were conducted in accordance with norm PN-ISO 4288:1988.
Influence of Modification with CuP Master Alloy and Rapid Crystallization on the Tribological Properties of AlSi17Cu5Mg Alloy
Authors: Piątkowski Jaroslaw , Wieszała Robert
Published: February 2016

The paper presents tests determining the influence of modification with phosphorus and fast cooling on the microstructure and friction coefficient of AlSi17Cu5Mg alloy. Changes mainly concern the size of primary silicon crystals and stereological parameters in reference to initial material. Modification with fast cooling was aimed at achievement of fine-crystalline structure with shapes of silicon crystals close to the spherical shape. The consequences of such activities are visible, significant changes in the tribological properties of tested alloy. Friction coefficient μ for material subject to fast cooling was on the level of 0.26 and for initial material it equalled 0.29.
Microstructure and Properties of Beta 21S Alloy with 0.2 wt. % of Carbon
Authors: Szkliniarz Agnieszka
Published: February 2016

Taking into account the high requirements of new structural materials the development of high-strength and high-temperature alloys based on titanium is a subject of great scientific interest. Carbon has usually been regarded as an impurity of titanium alloys. Increasingly however, it begins to play an important role as alloy addition and, taking into account its price, it is consistent with the global cost-cutting trend for production and processing of new alloys with improved properties. The addition of carbon creates new application opportunities for titanium alloys. The relationship between mechanical properties and microstructure of Beta 21S alloy with carbon addition were considered in this study. The alloy was produced traditionally by vacuum induction melting in cold crucible furnace and hot-deformed with further heat treatment. The effect of heat treatment on the conventional strength and creep resistance of researched alloy was also determined.
Numerical Modeling as the Method to Determine the Parameters of Tube Bending with Local Induction Heating
Authors: Cieśla Marek , Mutwil Kazimierz , Tomczak Janusz , Kawała Tomasz
Published: February 2016

The numerical analysis results of bending with local induction heating of 10CrMo9-10 steel tubes have been presented in the paper. The goal of conducted simulations was to determine the process parameters that allow to obtain tube bends with geometric features which meet requirements of relevant standards. The risks of wrinkling, excessive tube bend ovalization and cracking (according to Cockroft-Latham criterion) have been analysed. The obtained results prove that numerical modeling can be used to minimize the costs of tube bending technology implementation without the need of further process parameters corrections.
Structure and Properties of Steel Welding after Micro-Jet Cooling Process
Authors: Bednarczyk Iwona , Szczucka-Lasota Bożena , Węgrzyn Tomasz , Piwnik Jan
Published: February 2016

Welding with micro-jet cooling is an innovate technology. It is possible to get structure of weld metal deposit (WMD) with a very high amount of acicular ferrite (on the level of 70 %) that is not valuable for other processes. It corresponds with good impact toughness of weld. In the paper parameters of micro-jet cooling and mechanical structure of weld will be present and compared with welding without micro-jet cooling. Results of investigation are very optimistic. That technology should be treated for welding of other materials.
The Influence of Thermodynamic Conditions for Steel Filtration Efficiency
Authors: Janiszewski Krystian , Gajdzik Bożena
Published: February 2016

The work presents theoretical grounds for the process of refining molten steel from liquid non-metallic inclusions, using the method of filtration with ceramic filters - the thermodynamic precondition to the absorption of liquid non-metallic inclusions on the surface of a ceramic filter.
Selection of Carbon Reducers for the Ferrosilicon Smelting Process
Authors: Kopeć Grzegorz , Machulec Bolesław
Published: February 2016

Selection of reducing agents for the ferrosilicon smelting process requires consideration of several difficult to reconcile criteria. The carbon reducers are not only a source of carbon as a substrate of the silica reduction reaction, but also play an important role by acting as a gas filter at the upper zones in working space of the ferrosilicon furnace. Reactivity of carbon reducers to SiO and degree of conversion on the SiC carbide are directly affecting the silicon recovery as well as the efficiency of the ferrosilicon process. The simultaneous fulfillment all requirements are difficult to satisfy by using only one type the reducer in the charge for the ferrosilicon process. This requires the use of a mixture reducers, and the adoption of a compromise that all requirements are met in the best possible extent. To choose the composition of carbon reducers mixture has been used simple physico-chemical model of the ferrosilicon process with two reaction zones between which there is a mass transfer. It has been shown that in the charge for the ferrosilicon furnace about 30% mass of Cfix carbon resulting from the reaction stoichiometry of silica reduction process should be in the form of the reducer with increased to SiO reactivity.
The Analysis of Qualification Processes of Metallurgy Sector Suppliers
Authors: Kuczyńska-Chałada Marzena
Published: February 2016

Companies that function in market economy must unconditionally focus on a client and his/her needs in order to build its competitive advantage. In the logistic dedicated bibliography it is defined that the client orientation starts from identification of his/her needs and on this basis the activities to fulfil them are pursuit, and finishes on after-purchase-satisfaction judgment.The article presents the problem of the analysis of qualification processes of metallurgy sector suppliers.
Sustainable Restructuring Process in Polish Steelworks
Authors: Gajdzik Bożena
Published: February 2016

The article is a form of conclusion about restructuring process in metallurgical sector in Poland. On the base of principles of sustainable development the key areas of changes in Polish metallurgy were characterized. Results of restructuring process in Polish steel sector were characterized. There are two parts in the article. Fist part is about sustainability in restructuring process. Second part is about realized changes in metallurgical enterprises in Poland in last twenty five years.
Precipitation Processes in HR6W Alloy after Long-Term Ageing
Authors: Jamrozik Przemysław , Sozańska Maria
Published: February 2016

Heat resistance and microstructure stability at elevated temperature in HR6W alloy is the result of strong appreciation of the solution by adding tungsten and strengthening precipitation. Structural studies were made after the annealing process at a temperature of 750°C. The heat treatment was carried out for up to 5000 hours. Microstructure stability of HR6W alloy was evaluated by the action of elevated temperature. Identification of precipitates produced using the method of selective electron diffraction (SAED) and chemical composition analysis using a transmission electron microscope by technique STEM.
The Effect of Compression Aided by Additional Shear Stress on Microstructure of Composites Reinforced with Ceramic Particles
Authors: Tkocz Marek , Myalski Jerzy , Hekner Bartosz , Grosman Franciszek
Published: February 2016

The paper presents a new method for processing of cast composites reinforced with ceramic particles in order to improve the microstructure homogeneity and material properties. The presented forming method consists in compression aided by additional shear stress that is caused by transverse motion of a punch. As a result, severe plastic deformation can be obtained in a workpiece. A series of experiments was conducted for previously cast Al-Mg-Cu matrix composites containing 15% reinforcement in a form of the mixture of SiC and glassy carbon particles. It was found that the applied method allows to refine the particles and to obtain a good-quality bonding on the particle-matrix interface.
The Influence of the Chemical Composition of a Zinc Bath upon Corrosion Resistance of Coatings Obtained on Sebisty Steel
Authors: Kania Henryk , Komorowski Leszek
Published: February 2016

In the paper the results of tests defining the influence of the chemical composition of a zinc bath on the corrosion resistance of coatings obtained on Sebisty steel are presented. The coatings for the tests were produced on Sebisty steel with the content of silicon of 0.18 wt. % in Zn-AlNi, Zn-AlNiPb and Zn-AlNiBiSn baths. Corrosion resistance of coatings obtained in alloy baths was compared with the corrosion resistance of a coating obtained in a bath of pure Zn. The structure of coatings has been developed, the chemical composition of structural components of the coating and the coating thickness have be established. Corrosion resistance of the coatings was defined by comparative methods in a standard corrosion test in neutral salt spray. The tests were carried out in accordance with the EN ISO 9227 standard. It has been established that alloy additions to a zinc bath have impact upon corrosion resistance of obtained coatings. The addition of Pb results in a decrease in corrosion resistance of a coating obtained on Sebisty steel.
Writing a Simulation Scenario: A Step-By-Step Guide
Authors: Bambini Deborah
Published: February 2016

Simulation is becoming a widely used method of helping nurses learn and maintain competency in the clinical area for both staff educators in clinical settings and nursing faculty in academic settings. Designing an effective simulation experience requires thoughtful planning, knowledge of educational principles, and knowledge of best practices in both simulation and clinical practice. An evidence-based strategy for writing a simulation scenario for nurses and other health care providers in any setting is described. A step-by-step process is outlined that incorporates best practices. Examples and suggestions are provided to help readers create quality simulation experiences.
Implementation of an Integrated Neuroscience Unit
Authors: Breslin Rory P. , Franker Lauren , Sterchi Suzanne , Sani Sepehr
Published: February 2016

Many challenges exist in today’s health care delivery system, and much focus and research are invested into ways to improve care with cost-effective measures. Specialty-specific dedicated care units are one solution for inpatient hospital care because they improve outcomes and decrease mortality. The neuroscience population encompasses a wide variety of diagnoses of spinal to cranial issues with a wide spectrum of needs varying from one patient to the next. Neuroscience care must be patient-specific during the course of frequent acuity changes, and one way to achieve this is through a neuroscience-focused unit. Few resources are available on how to implement this type of unit. Advanced practice nurses are committed to providing high-quality, safe, and cost-effective care and are instrumental in the success of instituting a unit dedicated to the care of neuroscience patients.
Presence of illicit drugs and pharmaceutical residues in the wastewaters of an eastern Canadian city
Authors: Palardy A. , Gagné J.-P. , Tremblay L.
Published: February 2016

Not available
Cellular effects of lanthanides on Mytilus edulis
Authors: Pharand P. , Brousseau-Fournier C. , Côté C. , Gagné F. , Fournier M. , Brousseau P.
Published: February 2016

Not available
Visualization of Genome Diversity in German Shepherd Dogs
Authors: Mortlock Sally-Anne , Booth Rachel , Mazrier Hamutal , Khatkar Mehar S. , Williamson Peter
Published: February 2016

A loss of genetic diversity may lead to increased disease risks in subpopulations of dogs. The canine breed structure has contributed to relatively small effective population size in many breeds and can limit the options for selective breeding strategies to maintain diversity. With the completion of the canine genome sequencing project, and the subsequent reduction in the cost of genotyping on a genomic scale, evaluating diversity in dogs has become much more accurate and accessible. This provides a potential tool for advising dog breeders and developing breeding programs within a breed. A challenge in doing this is to present complex relationship data in a form that can be readily utilized. Here, we demonstrate the use of a pipeline, known as NetView, to visualize the network of relationships in a subpopulation of German Shepherd Dogs.
Glial Tau Pathology in Tauopathies: Functional Consequences
Authors: Kahlson Martha A. , Colodner Kenneth J.
Published: February 2016

Tauopathies are a class of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the presence of hyperphosphorylated and aggregated tau pathology in neuronal and glial cells. Though the ratio of neuronal and glial tau aggregates varies across diseases, glial tau aggregates can populate the same degenerating brain regions as neuronal tau aggregates. While much is known about the deleterious consequences of tau pathology in neurons, the relative contribution of glial tau pathology to these diseases is less clear. Recent studies using a number of model systems implicate glial tau pathology in contributing to tauopathy pathogenesis. This review aims to highlight the functional consequences of tau overexpression in glial cells and explore the potential contribution of glial tau pathology in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative tauopathies.
Решения типа "волн-убийц" уравнений иерархии Абловица-Каупа-Ньюэлла-Сигура: единый подход
Authors: Matveev Vladimir Borisovich , Smirnov Aleksandr Olegovich
Published: February 2016

Описывается единая структура решений для всех уравнений иерархии Абловица-Каупа-Ньюэлла-Сигура и их комбинаций. Приведены примеры решений, которые при разных значениях параметров удовлетворяют разным уравнениям. В частности, рассмотрено квазирациональное решение ранга 2, которое может быть использовано при исследовании многих интегрируемых моделей нелинейной оптики. Преимуществом нашего подхода является возможность исследования изменения поведения решения вследствие изменения используемой модели.
Критические индексы и псевдо-$\epsilon$-разложение
Authors: Nikitina Margarita Aleksandrovna , Sokolov Aleksandr Ivanovich
Published: February 2016

Представлены псевдо-$\epsilon$-разложения ($\tau$-ряды) для критических индексов трехмерной $O(n)$-симметричной модели типа $\lambda\phi^4$, найденные на основе шестипетлевых ренормгрупповых разложений. Численные результаты приведены для физически интересных случаев $n = 1$, $n = 2$, $n = 3$ и $n = 0$, а также для $4 \le n \le 32$ с тем, чтобы выявить общие свойства полученных рядов. Псевдо-$\epsilon$-разложения индексов $\gamma$ и $\alpha$ имеют малые и быстро убывающие по модулю коэффициенты, так что вполне приемлемые численные оценки дает прямое суммирование $\tau$-рядов, а обращение к аппроксимантам Паде позволяет получить высокоточные результаты. Напротив, коэффициенты псевдо-$\epsilon$-разложения индекса поправки к скейлингу $\omega$ не имеют выраженной тенденции к убыванию при физических значениях $n$. Однако соответствующие ряды знакопеременны, и для получения надежных численных оценок здесь также оказывается достаточным использование простых аппроксимант Паде. Таким образом, технику псевдо-$\epsilon$-разложения можно рассматривать как своеобразный метод пересуммирования, превращающий расходящиеся ренормгрупповые ряды в разложения, удобные c вычислительной точки зрения.
Sexual selection and the evolution of altruism: males are more altruistic and cooperative towards attractive females
Authors: Bhogal Manpal Singh , Galbraith Niall , Manktelow Ken
Published: February 2016

Explaining altruism through an evolutionary lens has been a challenge for evolutionary theorists. Where altruism towards kin is well understood through kin selection, altruism towards non-kin is an evolutionary puzzle. Contemporary research has found that, through a game-theoretic framework, sexual selection could be an explanation for the evolution of altruism. Research suggests that males are more altruistic towards females they are interested in engaging with, sexually or romantically when distributing stakes in economic games. This study, adopting a between-groups design, tested the sexual selection explanation for altruism by asking participants to self-report altruistic and cooperative intention when reading moral scenarios accompanied by attractive or unattractive images. We find that participants, particularly males, report being more altruistic and cooperative when viewing an attractive image of a female. This study replicates the sexual selection hypothesis in explaining altruism through an alternative experimental framework to game theory.
A two-dimensional volatility basis set – Part 3: Prognostic modeling and NOx dependence
Authors: Chuang W. K. , Donahue N. M.
Published: February 2016

Abstract. When NOx is introduced to organic emissions, aerosol production is sometimes, but not always, reduced. Under certain conditions, these interactions will instead increase aerosol concentrations. We expanded the two-dimensional volatility basis set (2D-VBS) to include the effects of NOx on aerosol formation. This includes the formation of organonitrates, where the addition of a nitrate group contributes to a decrease of 2.5 orders of magnitude in volatility. With this refinement, we model outputs from experimental results, such as the atomic N : C ratio, organonitrate mass, and nitrate fragments in Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) measurements. We also discuss the mathematical methods underlying the implementation of the 2D-VBS and provide the complete code in the Supplement. A developer version is available on Bitbucket, an online community repository.
Stratospheric sulfate geoengineering could enhance the terrestrial photosynthesis rate
Authors: Xia L. , Robock A. , Tilmes S. , Neely III R. R.
Published: February 2016

Abstract. Stratospheric sulfate geoengineering could impact the terrestrial carbon cycle by enhancing the carbon sink. With an 8 Tg yr−1 injection of SO2 to produce a stratospheric aerosol cloud to balance anthropogenic radiative forcing from the Representative Concentration Pathway 6.0 (RCP6.0) scenario, we conducted climate model simulations with the Community Earth System Model – the Community Atmospheric Model 4 fully coupled to tropospheric and stratospheric chemistry (CAM4–chem). During the geoengineering period, as compared to RCP6.0, land-averaged downward visible (300–700 nm) diffuse radiation increased 3.2 W m−2 (11 %). The enhanced diffuse radiation combined with the cooling increased plant photosynthesis by 0.07 ± 0.02 µmol C m−2 s−1, which could contribute to an additional 3.8 ± 1.1 Gt C yr−1 global gross primary productivity without explicit nutrient limitation. This increase could potentially increase the land carbon sink. Suppressed plant and soil respiration due to the cooling would reduce natural land carbon emission and therefore further enhance the terrestrial carbon sink during the geoengineering period. This potentially beneficial impact of stratospheric sulfate geoengineering would need to be balanced by a large number of potential risks in any future decisions about the implementation of geoengineering.
Effects of mineral dust on global atmospheric nitrate concentrations
Authors: Karydis V. A. , Tsimpidi A. P. , Pozzer A. , Astitha M. , Lelieveld J.
Published: February 2016

Abstract. This study assesses the chemical composition and global aerosol load of the major inorganic aerosol components, focusing on mineral dust and aerosol nitrate. The mineral dust aerosol components (i.e., Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Na+) and their emissions are included in the ECHAM5/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry model (EMAC). Gas/aerosol partitioning is simulated using the ISORROPIA-II thermodynamic equilibrium model that considers K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, NH4+, Na+, SO42−, NO3−, Cl−, and H2O aerosol components. Emissions of mineral dust are calculated online by taking into account the soil particle size distribution and chemical composition of different deserts worldwide. Presence of metallic ions can substantially affect the nitrate partitioning into the aerosol phase due to thermodynamic interactions. The model simulates highest fine aerosol nitrate concentration over urban and industrialized areas (1–3 µg m−3), while coarse aerosol nitrate is highest close to deserts (1–4 µg m−3). The influence of mineral dust on nitrate formation extends across southern Europe, western USA, and northeastern China. The tropospheric burden of aerosol nitrate increases by 44 % when considering interactions of nitrate with mineral dust. The calculated global average nitrate aerosol concentration near the surface increases by 36 %, while the coarse- and fine-mode concentrations of nitrate increase by 53 and 21 %, respectively. Other inorganic aerosol components are affected by reactive dust components as well (e.g., the tropospheric burden of chloride increases by 9 %, ammonium decreases by 41 %, and sulfate increases by 7 %). Sensitivity tests show that nitrate aerosol is most sensitive to the chemical composition of the emitted mineral dust, followed by the soil size distribution of dust particles, the magnitude of the mineral dust emissions, and the aerosol state assumption.
Influence of the sudden stratosphere warming on quasi-2 day waves
Authors: Gu Sheng-Yang , Liu Han-Li , Dou Xiankang , Li Tao
Published: February 2016

Abstract. The influence of the sudden stratosphere warming (SSW) on quasi-2 day wave (QTDW) with westward zonal wavenumber 3 (W3) is investigated using the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIME-GCM). The summer easterly jet below 90 km is strengthened during an SSW, which results in a larger refractive index and thus more favorable condition for the propagation of W3. In the winter hemisphere, the Eliassen Palm (EP) flux diagnostics indicate that the strong instabilities at middle and high latitudes in the mesopause region are important for the amplification of W3, which are weakened during SSW periods due to the deceleration or even reversal of the winter westerly winds. Nonlinear interactions between the W3 and the wavenumber 1 stationary planetary wave produce QTDW with westward zonal wavenumber 2 (W2). The meridional wind perturbations of the W2 peak in the equatorial region, while the zonal wind and temperature components maximize at middle latitudes. The EP flux diagnostics indicate that the W2 is capable of propagating upward in both winter and summer hemispheres, whereas the propagation of W3 is mostly confined to the summer hemisphere. This characteristic is likely due to the fact that the phase speed of W2 is larger, and therefore its waveguide has a broader latitudinal extension. The larger phase speed also makes W2 less vulnerable to dissipation and critical layer filtering by the background wind when propagating upward.