bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
STUDI PERAMALAN BEBAN RATA – RATA JANGKA PENDEK MENGGUNAKAN METODA AUTOREGRESSIVE INTEGRATED MOVING AVERAGE (ARIMA
Authors: Jurnal Redaksi Tim
Published: February 2019

Forecasting. Plans, power plants ,. Electricity needs are increasingly changing daily, so the State Electricity Company (PLN) as a provider of energy must be able to predict daily electricity needs. Short-term forecasting is the prediction of electricity demand for a certain period of time ranging from a few minutes to a week ahead. in shortterm electrical forecasting much of the literature describes the techniques and methods applied in forecasting, Autoregresive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA), linear regression, and artificial intelligence such as Artificial Neural Networks and fuzzy logic. Short-term forecasting will be done by the authors using time series data that is the data of the use of electric power daily (electrical load) and ARIMA as a method of forecasting. ARIMA method or often called Box-Jenkins technique to find this method is suitable to predict variable costs quickly, simply, and cheaply because it only requires data variables to be predicted. ARIMA can only be used for short-term forecasting. ARIMA is a special linear test, in the form of forecasting this model is completely independent variable variables because this model uses the current model and past values of the dependent variable to produce an accurate short-term forecast.
Efficacy and Safety of Ablative Therapy in the Treatment of Patients with Metastatic Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma
Authors: Kohlenberg Jacob , Welch Brian , Hamidi Oksana , Callstrom Matthew , Morris Jonathan , Sprung Juraj , Bancos Irina , Young William
Published: February 2019

Metastatic pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PPGL) are incurable neuroendocrine tumors. The goals of treatment include palliating symptoms and reducing tumor burden. Little is known about the use of radiofrequency ablation (RFA), cryoablation (CRYO), and percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) to treat metastatic PPGL. We performed a retrospective study of patients age 17 years and older with metastatic PPGL who were treated with ablative therapy at Mayo Clinic, USA, between June 14, 1999 and November 14, 2017. Our outcomes measures were radiographic response, procedure-related complications, and symptomatic improvement. Thirty-one patients with metastatic PPGL had 123 lesions treated during 42 RFA, 23 CRYO, and 4 PEI procedures. The median duration of follow-up was 60 months (range, 0–163 months) for non-deceased patients. Radiographic local control was achieved in 69/80 (86%) lesions. Improvement in metastasis-related pain or symptoms of catecholamine excess was achieved in 12/13 (92%) procedures. Thirty-three (67%) procedures had no known complications. Clavien-Dindo Grade I, II, IV, and V complications occurred after 7 (14%), 7 (14%), 1 (2%), and 1 (2%) of the procedures, respectively. In patients with metastatic PPGL, ablative therapy can effectively achieve local control and palliate symptoms.
Entropy Analysis and Neural Network-Based Adaptive Control of a Non-Equilibrium Four-Dimensional Chaotic System with Hidden Attractors
Authors: Jahanshahi Hadi , Shahriari-Kahkeshi Maryam , Alcaraz Raúl , Wang Xiong , Singh Vijay , Pham Viet-Thanh
Published: February 2019

Today, four-dimensional chaotic systems are attracting considerable attention because of their special characteristics. This paper presents a non-equilibrium four-dimensional chaotic system with hidden attractors and investigates its dynamical behavior using a bifurcation diagram, as well as three well-known entropy measures, such as approximate entropy, sample entropy, and Fuzzy entropy. In order to stabilize the proposed chaotic system, an adaptive radial-basis function neural network (RBF-NN)–based control method is proposed to represent the model of the uncertain nonlinear dynamics of the system. The Lyapunov direct method-based stability analysis of the proposed approach guarantees that all of the closed-loop signals are semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded. Also, adaptive learning laws are proposed to tune the weight coefficients of the RBF-NN. The proposed adaptive control approach requires neither the prior information about the uncertain dynamics nor the parameters value of the considered system. Results of simulation validate the performance of the proposed control method.
A New Modular Multilevel Inverter Based on Step-Up Switched-Capacitor Modules
Authors: Khodaparast Aryorad , Azimi Erfan , Azimi Ali , Adabi M. Ebrahim , Adabi Jafar , Pouresmaeil Edris
Published: February 2019

A new structure of switched capacitor multilevel inverter (SCMLI) capable of voltage boosting and with self-balancing ability is introduced in this article. This advantage is the result of a step by step rise of capacitor voltages in each module, supplied by just one DC voltage source. The proposed topology generates a sinusoidal output waveform with a magnitude several times greater than the input one. Higher output staircase AC voltage is obtained by applying a nearest level control (NLC) modulation technique. The most significant features of this configuration can be mentioned as: fewer semiconductor devices, remarkably low total harmonic distortion (THD), desirable operating under high/low frequency, high efficiency, inherent bipolar voltage production, easy circuit expansion, ease of control and size reduction of the circuit thanks to utilizing neither bulky transformer nor inductor. Moreover, the proposed SCMLI is comprehensively surveyed through theoretical investigation and a comparison of its effectiveness to recent topologies. Eventually, the operating principle of a 25-level prototype of the suggested SCMLI is validated by simulation in the MATLAB SIMULINK environment and experimental results.
Comparative Assessment of Climate Change Mitigation Policies in Fuel Combustion Sector of Lithuania and Bulgaria
Authors: Mikalauskiene Asta , Štreimikis Justas , Mikalauskas Ignas , Stankūnienė Gintarė , Dapkus Rimantas
Published: February 2019

The paper performed comparative assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission trends and climate change mitigation policies in the fuel combustion sector of selected EU member states with similar economic development levels and historical pasts, and implementing main EU energy and climate change mitigation policies, having achieved different success in GHG emission reduction. The impact of climate change mitigation policies on GHG emission reduction was assessed based on analysis of countries’ reports to UNFCCC by identifying the key areas of GHG emission reduction, their GHG emission reduction potential, and the driving forces behind them. The study revealed that climate change mitigation policies that have been implemented so far in Bulgaria are less efficient than in Lithuania, as Bulgaria places priorities not on energy efficiency improvement and penetration of renewable energy sources, but on switching from coal to natural gas. The policy implications for strengthening GHG emissions reduction efforts are provided based on analysis conducted.
Reliability Enhancement in Power Networks under Uncertainty from Distributed Energy Resources
Authors: Ndawula Mike Brian , Djokic Sasa Z. , Hernando-Gil Ignacio
Published: February 2019

This paper presents an integrated approach for assessing the impact that distributed energy resources (DERs), including intermittent photovoltaic (PV) generation, might have on the reliability performance of power networks. A test distribution system, based on a typical urban MV and LV networks in the UK, is modelled and used to investigate potential benefits of the local renewable generation, demand-manageable loads and coordinated energy storage. The conventional Monte Carlo method is modified to include time-variation of electricity demand profiles and failure rates of network components. Additionally, a theoretical interruption model is employed to assess more accurately the moment in time when interruptions to electricity customers are likely to occur. Accordingly, the impact of the spatio-temporal variation of DERs on reliability performance is quantified in terms of the effect of network outages. The potential benefits from smart grid functionalities are assessed through both system- and customer-oriented reliability indices, with special attention to energy not supplied to customers, as well as frequency and duration of supply interruptions. The paper also discusses deployment of an intelligent energy management system to control local energy generation-storage-demand resources that can resolve uncertainties in renewable-based generation and ensure highly reliable and continuous supply to all connected customers.
Stochastic Optimization for Integration of Renewable Energy Technologies in District Energy Systems for Cost-Effective Use
Authors: Tran Thomas T. D. , Smith Amanda D.
Published: February 2019

Stochastic optimization of a district energy system (DES) is investigated with renewable energy systems integration and uncertainty analysis to meet all three major types of energy consumption: electricity, heating, and cooling. A district of buildings on the campus of the University of Utah is used as a case study for the analysis. The proposed DES incorporates solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind turbines for power generation along with using the existing electrical grid. A combined heat and power (CHP) system provides the DES with power generation and thermal energy for heating. Natural gas boilers supply the remaining heating demand and electricity is used to run all of the cooling equipment. A Monte Carlo study is used to analyze the stochastic power generation from the renewable energy resources in the DES. The optimization of the DES is performed with the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm based on a day-ahead model. The objective of the optimization is to minimize the operating cost of the DES. The results of the study suggest that the proposed DES can achieve operating cost reductions (approximately 10% reduction with respect to the current system). The uncertainty of energy loads and power generation from renewable energy resources heavily affects the operating cost. The statistical approach shows the potential to identify probable operating costs at different time periods, which can be useful for facility managers to evaluate the operating costs of their DES.
Shallow Genetic Structure among the European Populations of the Six-Toothed Bark Beetle Ips sexdentatus (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae)
Authors: Avtzis Dimitrios N. , Lakatos Ferenc , Gallego Diego , Pernek Milan , Faccoli Massimo , Wegensteiner Rudolf , Stauffer Christian
Published: February 2019

The six-toothed bark beetle, Ips sexdentatus, is one of the most abundant scolytid species of the central and southern European countries. It mostly feeds on Pinus sp., whereas during population outbreaks it can also attack Picea sp. In spite of its broad distribution, its phylogeography has never been studied before. To do that, we employed an mtDNA marker on 489 individuals that covered most of its native range in Europe. Geographic distribution of the 86 haplotypes showed that at least three glacial refugia have played a significant role in shaping the currently observed pattern of genetic divergence in Europe, without excluding the contribution of minor refugial areas that acted in a similar manner. The revealed shallow structure can be considered an artifact of factors that reduced intraspecific diversity, at the same time favoring gene flow. As such, biological traits of the species itself (flying ability and host preference) and even human-mediated transport of wood seem to be the most prevailing and probable reasons that gave rise to the observed pattern.
Emergy and Economic Evaluation of Seven Typical Agroforestry Planting Patterns in the Karst Region of Southwest China
Authors: Zou Zhigang , Zeng Fuping , Wang Kelin , Zeng Zhaoxia , Zhao Leilei , Du Hu , Zhang Fang , Zhang Hao
Published: February 2019

As a vast degraded land ecosystem, the karst region of southwest China is currently experiencing serious conflicts between restoration of degraded vegetation communities and agricultural activities. Furthermore, it is not clear what land use pattern suits local farmers best. To evaluate the sustainability of the degraded agricultural ecosystems in the region, methods for emergy analysis were used to compare the ecological and economic benefits from seven typical agroforestry planting patterns in the Yunnan province. The eco-efficiencies of the apple pattern (AP), pear pattern (PP), pomegranate pattern (PRP) were all lower than that of the traditional corn pattern (CP), although the economic benefit was higher than that of CP. Ecological benefits of the apple-soybean pattern (ASP) and the pear-pumpkin pattern (PPP) were not significantly improved, while ecological and economic benefits of the pomegranate-grass-sheep pattern (PGSP) was improved significantly. Intercropping pumpkin in PP increased the economic efficiency by 28.3%, which was superior to that of the intercropping of soybeans (4.6%) in AP. These data implied that interplanting crops in AP and PP might result in higher economic benefit than the existing interplanting pattern. The multistory agroforestry planting pattern and raising in PGSP could optimize the relationship among tree-grass-sheep and improve ecological and economic benefits. Additionally, scenario analysis showed that local farmers might enjoy better ecological and economic benefits at a large scale by optimizing current agricultural production patterns. Our results suggest that together, both the local government and farmers can adjust the structure of agroforestry ecosystems to foster the sustainable development of the ecological industry in the karst region of China.
Bicycle Facilities Safest from Crime and Crashes: Perceptions of Residents Familiar with Higher Crime/Lower Income Neighborhoods in Boston
Authors: Lusk Anne C. , Willett Walter C. , Morris Vivien , Byner Christopher , Li Yanping
Published: February 2019

While studies of bicyclist’s perceptions of crime and crash safety exist, it is also important to ask lower-income predominantly-minority residents what bicycle-route surface or context they perceive as safest from crime and crashes. With their insights, their chosen bike environments could be in engineering guidelines and built in their neighborhoods to improve residents’ health and lessen their risk of exposure to crime or crashing. This study involved two populations in Boston: (a) community-sense participants (eight groups-church/YMCA n = 116); and (b) street-sense participants (five groups-halfway house/homeless shelter/gang members n = 96). Participants ranked and described what they saw in 32 photographs of six types of bicycle environments. Quantitative data (Likert Scale 0–6 with 0 being low risk of crime/crash) involved regression analysis to test differences. Qualitative comments were categorized into 55 themes for surface or context and if high or low in association with crime or crashes. For crime, two-way cycle tracks had a significantly lower score (safest) than all others (2.35; p < 0.01) and share-use paths had a significantly higher score (least safe) (3.39; p < 0.01). For crashes, participants rated shared-use paths as safest (1.17) followed by two-way cycle tracks (1.68), one-way cycle tracks (2.95), bike lanes (4.06), sharrows (4.17), and roads (4.58), with a significant difference for any two groups (p < 0.01) except between bike lane and sharrow (p = 0.9). Street-sense participants ranked all, except shared-use paths, higher for crime and crash. For surface, wide two-way cycle tracks with freshly painted lines, stencils, and arrows were low risk for crime and a cycle track’s median, red color, stencils, and arrows low risk for crash. For context, clean signs, balconies, cafes, street lights, no cuts between buildings, and flowers were low risk for crime and witnesses, little traffic, and bike signals low risk for crash. As bicycle design guidelines and general Crime Perception Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles do not include these details, perhaps new guidelines could be written.
PROud—A Gamification Framework Based on Programming Exercises Usage Data
Authors: Queirós Ricardo
Published: February 2019

Solving programming exercises is the best way to promote practice in computer programming courses and, hence, to learn a programming language. Meanwhile, programming courses continue to have an high rate of failures and dropouts. The main reasons are related with the inherent domain complexity, the teaching methodologies, and the absence of automatic systems with features such as intelligent authoring, profile-based exercise sequencing, content adaptation, and automatic evaluation on the student’s resolution. At the same time, gamification is being used as an approach to engage learners’ motivations. Despite its success, its implementation is still complex and based on ad-hoc and proprietary solutions. This paper presents PROud as a framework to inject gamification features in computer programming learning environments based on the usage data from programming exercises. This data can be divided into two categories: generic data produced by the learning environment—such as, the number of attempts and the duration that the students took to solve a specific exercise—or code-specific data produced by the assessment tool—such as, code size, use memory, or keyword detection. The data is gathered in cloud storage and can be consumed by the learning environment through the use of a client library that communicates with the server through an established Application Programming Interface (API). With the fetched data, the learning environment can generate new gamification assets (e.g., leaderboards, quests, levels) or enrich content adaptations and recommendations in the inner components such as the sequencing tools. The framework is evaluated on its usefulness in the creation of a gamification asset to present dynamic statistics on specific exercises.
Effects of an Electric Field on the Conformational Transition of the Protein: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study
Authors: Jiang Zhouting , You Le , Dou Wenhui , Sun Tingting , Xu Peng
Published: February 2019

The effect of the electric field on the conformational properties of the protein 1BBL was investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. Our simulation results clearly capture the structural transitions of the protein sample from helix to turn or random coil conformation induced by the increasing strength of the electric field. During our analysis, we found that the conformational stability is weakened, and the protein sample is stretched as an unfolded structure when it was exposed in a sufficiently high electric field. The characteristic time when the jump occurs in the time evolution curves of root mean square deviation (RMSD) and radius of gyration Rg decreases with increasing electric strength, which demonstrates the rapidly conformational transition that occurs. The number of intra-protein hydrogen bonds, which is the key factor for stabilizing the protein structure, is related to the overall size of the protein. The value of the dipole moment and characteristic time are both influenced by the strength, but are independent of the direction of the external field. The protein sample becomes rotated with the electric field direction. These conclusions provide a theoretical realization of understanding the protein conformational transition in an electric field and the guidance for anticipative applications.
Spectral Reflectance Modeling by Wavelength Selection: Studying the Scope for Blueberry Physiological Breeding under Contrasting Water Supply and Heat Conditions
Authors: Lobos Gustavo A. , Escobar-Opazo Alejandro , Estrada Félix , Romero-Bravo Sebastián , Garriga Miguel , del Pozo Alejandro , Poblete-Echeverría Carlos , Gonzalez-Talice Jaime , González-Martinez Luis , Caligari Peter
Published: February 2019

To overcome the environmental changes occurring now and predicted for the future, it is essential that fruit breeders develop cultivars with better physiological performance. During the last few decades, high-throughput plant phenotyping and phenomics have been developed primarily in cereal breeding programs. In this study, plant reflectance, at the level of the leaf, was used to assess several physiological traits in five Vaccinium spp. cultivars growing under four controlled conditions (no-stress, water deficit, heat stress, and combined stress). Two modeling methodologies [Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) and Partial Least Squares (PLS)] with or without (W/O) prior wavelength selection (multicollinearity, genetic algorithms, or in combination) were considered. PLS generated better estimates than MLR, although prior wavelength selection improved MLR predictions. When data from the environments were combined, PLS W/O gave the best assessment for most of the traits, while in individual environments, the results varied according to the trait and methodology considered. The highest validation predictions were obtained for chlorophyll a/b (R2Val ≤ 0.87), maximum electron transport rate (R2Val ≤ 0.60), and the irradiance at which the electron transport rate is saturated (R2Val ≤ 0.59). The results of this study, the first to model modulated chlorophyll fluorescence by reflectance, confirming the potential for implementing this tool in blueberry breeding programs, at least for the estimation of a number of important physiological traits. Additionally, the differential effects of the environment on the spectral signature of each cultivar shows this tool could be directly used to assess their tolerance to specific environments.
Management Platforms and Protocols for Internet of Things: A Survey
Authors: Silva Jonathan de C. , Rodrigues Joel J. P. C. , Al-Muhtadi Jalal , Rabêlo Ricardo A. L. , Furtado Vasco
Published: February 2019

Internet of Things (IoT) management systems require scalability, standardized communication, and context-awareness to achieve the management of connected devices with security and accuracy in real environments. Interoperability and heterogeneity between hardware and application layers are also critical issues. To attend to the network requirements and different functionalities, a dynamic and context-sensitive configuration management system is required. Thus, reference architectures (RAs) represent a basic architecture and the definition of key characteristics for the construction of IoT environments. Therefore, choosing the best technologies of the IoT management platforms and protocols through comparison and evaluation is a hard task, since they are difficult to compare due to their lack of standardization. However, in the literature, there are no management platforms focused on addressing all IoT issues. For this purpose, this paper surveys the available policies and solutions for IoT Network Management and devices. Among the available technologies, an evaluation was performed using features such as heterogeneity, scalability, supported technologies, and security. Based on this evaluation, the most promising technologies were chosen for a detailed performance evaluation study (through simulation and deployment in real environments). In terms of contributions, these protocols and platforms were studied in detail, the main features of each approach are highlighted and discussed, open research issues are identified as well as the lessons learned on the topic.
Toward a Robust Multi-Objective Metaheuristic for Solving the Relay Node Placement Problem in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Lanza-Gutiérrez José M. , Caballé Nuria , Gómez-Pulido Juan A. , Crawford Broderick , Soto Ricardo
Published: February 2019

During the last decade, Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have attracted interest due to the excellent monitoring capabilities offered. However, WSNs present shortcomings, such as energy cost and reliability, which hinder real-world applications. As a solution, Relay Node (RN) deployment strategies could help to improve WSNs. This fact is known as the Relay Node Placement Problem (RNPP), which is an NP-hard optimization problem. This paper proposes to address two Multi-Objective (MO) formulations of the RNPP. The first one optimizes average energy cost and average sensitivity area. The second one optimizes the two previous objectives and network reliability. The authors propose to solve the two problems through a wide range of MO metaheuristics from the three main groups in the field: evolutionary algorithms, swarm intelligence algorithms, and trajectory algorithms. These algorithms are the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II), Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm 2 (SPEA2), Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm based on Decomposition (MOEA/D), Multi-Objective Artificial Bee Colony (MO-ABC), Multi-Objective Firefly Algorithm (MO-FA), Multi-Objective Gravitational Search Algorithm (MO-GSA), and Multi-Objective Variable Neighbourhood Search Algorithm (MO-VNS). The results obtained are statistically analysed to determine if there is a robust metaheuristic to be recommended for solving the RNPP independently of the number of objectives.
Evaluating Food Safety Knowledge and Practices among Foodservice Staff in Al Madinah Hospitals, Saudi Arabia
Authors: Alqurashi Nada Ahmad , Priyadarshini Anushree , Jaiswal Amit K.
Published: February 2019

This study examines food safety knowledge and practices of food service staff in Al Madinah hospitals, Saudi Arabia. A total of 163 food service staff participated voluntarily from 10 hospitals across the city of Al Madinah. The participants completed a questionnaire composed of three parts: General characteristics, food safety knowledge, and food safety practices. Results showed that respondents generally had good food safety knowledge with the highest pass rate of 77.9% for knowledge of cross contamination followed by 52.8% for knowledge of food poisoning, and 49.7% of knowledge of food storage. Food safety practices were also strongly observed in the hospitals with a pass rate of 92.6%. Food safety knowledge among the hospital food service staff varied with the level of education, age, and having received food hygiene/safety practices, training while food safety practices had a significant association with the level of education and food hygiene/safety practices training of the staff. Spearman rho coefficient results showed that there was a significant linear relationship between food safety practice and food safety knowledge, and that food safety knowledge significantly predicts food safety practices. This research revealed the importance of education and consistent training of food service staff in improving knowledge and thereby better and safe food handling practices, which could contribute to apply food safety in the hospitals.
Sustainability Indicators for Industrial Organizations: Systematic Review of Literature
Authors: Feil Alexandre André , Schreiber Dusan , Haetinger Claus , Strasburg Virgílio José , Barkert Claudia Luisa
Published: February 2019

In this study a systematic literature review was carried out to analyze the characteristics, indicators, limitations, benefits, and conclusions of scientific productions on industrial sustainability to propose a set of generic sustainability indicators for industrial organizations. The identification of the scientific productions occurred through the use of key words, in addition, the snowballing technique was also used, which resulted in a final set of 24 papers from 1998 to 2018. The technique used to select the indicators was the text mining with the help of NVivo Software. Finally, the multiple advisor method was applied. The main results show that the studies on sets of indicators with a Triple Bottom Line approach began in 1998. In addition, the papers show studies that analyze the industries generally being published by journals with a high impact factor, with authors from universities in Europe, from America and Asia, which use an average set of 30 indicators, with the lowest percentage of studies using mixed and mixed-scale approaches. The limitations revealed by the papers are the lack of initiative and actions of organizations for the adoption of sustainability. The benefits are linked to the informational assistance they provide to managers in decision-making, and the conclusions reveal a lack of research on the use of the praxis of the set of sustainability indicators in industrial organizations. In this sense, we conclude that the set of indicators suggested in this study is in line with the theoretical findings of the reviewed literature, with a balance between the Triple Bottom Line aspects and the synthetic number of indicators that provide the ease of its application and analysis.
Development of an Approach to Assess the Life Cycle Environmental Impacts and Costs of General Hospitals through the Analysis of a Belgian Case
Authors: Stevanovic Milena , Allacker Karen , Vermeulen Stéphane
Published: February 2019

With the aim of moving towards a more sustainable society, hospital buildings are challenged to decrease their environmental impact while continuing to offer affordable and qualitative medical care. The aim of this paper was to gain insight into the main drivers of the environmental impacts and costs of healthcare facilities, and to identify methodological obstacles for a quantitative assessment. More specifically, the objective was to assess the environmental and financial impacts of the general hospital Sint Maarten in Mechelen (Belgium) by using a life cycle approach. The hospital building was analyzed based on a combination of a simplified life cycle assessment and life cycle costing. The “MMG+_KULeuven” assessment tool was used for the calculation of environmental impacts and financial costs. The study revealed that the environmental impact was mainly caused by electricity use for appliances and lighting, cleaning processes, material production, and spatial heating, while building construction and electricity use caused the highest financial costs. The most relevant impact categories identified were global warming, eutrophication, acidification, human toxicity (cancer and non-cancer effects), and particulate matter. Various methodological challenges were identified, such as the adaptation of existing methods to ensure applicability to hospital buildings and the extraction of data from a Revit model.
Empirical Study Regarding Non-Financial Disclosure for Social Conscious Consumption in the Spanish E-Credit Market
Authors: Herrador-Alcaide Teresa , Hernández-Solís Montserrat
Published: February 2019

Non-financial disclosure is an objective in The European Union to improve a sustainable economy where consumers can make conscious decisions, especially regarding the role of financial technology. Complete information is considered one that offers financial and non-financial information. Government and supranational authorities are starting to promulgate rules to construct a reasonable framework for non-financial disclosure. One consumer might make a social conscious decision if the information disclosed meets to the Directive 2014/95/UE guidelines. In order to analyse this condition in the e-credit market in Spain, this research measures the rank of compliance of European standards in non-financial disclosure. The main finding of this research is that non-financial information disclosure in the Spanish e-credit market is not sufficient to make informed decisions. Due to the fact that most of the non-financial information is focused on social issues related to a company´s commitment to sustainability, non-financial information plays a relevant role in the building of an economically sustainable society. Our findings show that the level of non-financial disclosure in the Spanish e-Credit market is low, what supposes there is not an adequate informative base to decision making according to European standards on non-financial information. By considering the effect of usual disclosure drivers in this research field, the e-credit market sector was the only positive factor to disclose more non-financial information. Nevertheless, company size, company seniority and company location were not significant factors for non-financial disclosure.
Impact of Climate on Food Security in Mainland China: A New Perspective Based on Characteristics of Major Agricultural Natural Disasters and Grain Loss
Authors: Guo Jingpeng , Mao Kebiao , Zhao Yinghui , Lu Zhong , Lu Xiaoping
Published: February 2019

Under the background of global warming, China has experienced frequent natural disasters that have seriously affected grain production in recent decades. Based on historical documents from 1978–2014, we explored the spatio-temporal variation of five major kinds of natural disasters and grain losses in China using statistical techniques: the Mann-Kendall (MK) test, social network analysis (SNA), and geographic information system (GIS) tools. The disaster intensity index (Q) clearly showed the variation of natural disasters; all of China experienced a significant increasing trend at an annual scale, reaching its peak (27.77%) in 2000. The step change points in floods, droughts, hail, and low-temperature events began to occur in 1983, 1988, 1988, 1992, respectively, while no obvious trend was detected for typhoon activity from 2001 to 2014. Drought and flood were the most serious types of disaster over the last four decades, accounting for more than 50% of total grain losses. Eight major provinces were identified with severe grain losses: Heilongjiang, Shandong, Henan, Hebei, Anhui, Sichuan, Jiangsu, Hunan, and Hubei. Five studied natural disaster types were identified throughout the seven physical geographical regions. Spatial distribution for the different disaster types showed significant geographical distribution characteristics. Natural disasters gradually became more diverse from north to south. Droughts, hail, and low-temperature disasters were randomly distributed throughout China; flood and typhoon disasters exhibited significant spatial auto-correlation and clustering patterns. Finally, in accordance with the intensity of natural disaster, the annual grain losses at the provincial scale initially increased (ranging from 0.14 million to 3.26 million tonnes in 1978–2000), and then decreased after 2000 (ranging from 3.26 million to 1.58 million tonnes in 2000–2014). The center of gravity of grain losses gradually moved northward. These results emphasize that developing different strategies for disaster prevention and mitigation programs in the major grain producing areas (e.g., Heilongjiang, Shandong, and Henan) are critical and important to China’s food security.
Potential of Shrubs, Shore Vegetation and Macrophytes of a Lake to Function as a Phytogeochemical Barrier against Biogenic Substances of Various Origin
Authors: Serafin Artur , Sender Joanna , Bronowicka-Mielniczuk Urszula
Published: February 2019

The objective of this study was to perform a comprehensive botanical analysis of shore and littoral vegetation of a model mesotrophic lake and investigate their effectiveness as a phytogeochemical barrier against biogens of various origin. A lake catchment was characterised by natural (forests) as well as anthropogenic land use (extensive agriculture and stationary and unorganised recreation), generating a determined variability in the load of biogenic substances to lake waters. High potential effectiveness of the phytogeochemical barriers of the analysed phytocoenoses in the assimilation of biogenic substances was found to be particularly related to: species richness, diversity of life forms, presence of specific groups and species of plants and width of the buffer zone. This situation results from the natural properties of the habitat and the modifying effect of anthropogenic transformations in the catchment, affecting the biocoenotic composition of the shore and littoral vegetation of the lake, and therefore shaping the structure of its buffer zones. The morphometric parameters and hydrological conditions of the catchment, combined with variable human pressure and modified by the effectiveness of ecotone biogeochemical barriers, contribute to the mesotrophic limnological status of the lake.
La pleine conscience au travail : une revue systématique de la littérature
Authors: Czuly Christophe , Poujol Fanny
Published: February 2019

L’objectif de ce papier est de présenter les principales avancées sur la pleine conscience en milieu professionnel ces dix dernières années et ses effets en entreprise. Alors que nous assistons à l’émergence d’une littérature dédiée à la pleine conscience, ce thème souffre encore d’un manque de consensus quant à sa conceptualisation. Après avoir clarifié le concept et à partir d’une revue systématique de littérature et d’une analyse de celle-ci, cet article vise à comprendre les effets de la pleine conscience en entreprise. Le traitement des données automatisé a été effectué avec TROPES et l’extension graphique GEPHI. Il en résulte un cadre intégratif synthétisant les connaissances sur le sujet qui pose les fondations théoriques pour les recherches futures. Les résultats et leur analyse montrent l’importance de la pleine conscience en entreprise de par ses effets sur les réactions et comportements organisationnels contribuant à la performance des employés. Nous proposons également des pistes d’investigation afin de nourrir la dynamique de ce domaine de recherche.
Dynamiques institutionnelle, industrielle et sanitaire dans le secteur pharmaceutique thaïlandais
Authors: Guennif Samira
Published: February 2019

La littérature sur le changement institutionnel souligne le besoin d’études de cas pour en saisir les causes, processus et résultats. Cet article propose une étude de cas du changement institutionnel appliqué au secteur pharmaceutique en Thaïlande. Pour ce faire, un cadre analytique est défini pour retracer en premier lieu la dynamique institutionnelle dans le secteur et en second lieu décrire les dynamiques industrielle et sanitaire dommageables générées. A partir des années 80, des changements institutionnels successifs ont affecté la protection de la propriété intellectuelle et plus largement la production et la commercialisation des médicaments. Ils ont eu pour effet de limiter le développement de capacités scientifiques, technologiques et industrielles domestiques dans le secteur, de réduire l’autosuffisance du pays dans la pharmacie et de miner l’accessibilité des médicaments essentiels ; somme toute de porter atteinte au développement de la Thaïlande.
Marques de distributeurs et publicités comparatives directes des prix : des effets à différencier selon les types de MDD et les catégories de produits
Authors: Lacœuilhe Jérôme , Lombart Cindy , Louis Didier , Labbé-Pinlon Blandine
Published: February 2019

L’objectif de cette recherche est d’apprécier les apports potentiels pour les distributeurs des publicités comparatives directes des prix des produits de leurs Marques De Distributeurs vs ceux de leurs concurrents de Marques Nationales. L’expérimentation réalisée en magasin laboratoire montre que ces publicités ne sont pas pertinentes pour les MDD économiques. Par contre, pour les MDD classiques, elles ont un impact positif sur la fidélité des consommateurs au magasin. Pour les MDD thématiques (produits bio), ces publicités améliorent la confiance dans l’enseigne de ces consommateurs.
Quelle langue pour la clinique ?
Authors: Koné Djakaridja
Published: February 2019

Quelle langue utiliser dans la consultation psychologique ? Le français de la République, la langue du demandeur, quand, en plus, l’aspect, le nom, l’épiderme du psychologue peuvent laisser penser qu’il parle et comprend la langue d’origine d’un usager ? L’auteur explore diverses situations langagières rencontrées en situations cliniques en Afrique, en Ile-de-France, en Bretagne, pour affirmer l’intérêt social et clinique de l’utilisation préférentielle du français et la prudence à avoir quant aux assignations rapides à la sphère de la psychologie interculturelle.
Éloge de la langue des quartiers
Authors: Blondeaux Alain , Meraane Habib , Muniz Domingos , Pelloquin Olivier , Chobeaux François
Published: February 2019

Des éducateurs en prévention spécialisée défendent l’existence de la « langue des cités », en constatant qu’elle permet aujourd’hui des constructions identitaires et qu’en même temps elle influe sur la langue française standard.
Interpréter les langues des demandeurs d’asile
Authors: Gomez Jean-François
Published: February 2019

Un entretien avec une bénévole de la Cimade qui accompagne des demandeurs d’asile pour constituer leurs dossiers administratifs permet d’aborder notamment le statut des traducteurs quand ceux-ci sont des proches, la complexité de la verbalisation de l’expérience migratoire, celle de la traduction de faits culturels qui échappent à la logique européenne.
En deçà des mots. L’ineffable dans la profession d’interprète
Authors: Petrouchine Roman , Maury de Feraudy Julia
Published: February 2019

À partir de situations pratiques rapportées par des interprètes intervenant dans le champ social et psychiatrique, les auteurs interrogent la position de tiers de ces professionnels et montrent la façon dont leur subjectivité est engagée en permanence, parfois au risque de leur propre équilibre psychique. Ils proposent que ces intervenants puissent profiter systématiquement d’espaces d’analyse de la pratique.
L’éducatif à l’épreuve du fait religieux
Authors: Le Goaziou Véronique
Published: February 2019

Prégnante dans le débat public après les attentats de janvier 2015, la problématique de la radicalisation et du fait religieux a traversé avec force le champ socio-éducatif. Cet article, issu d’une étude réalisée auprès d’équipes de prévention spécialisée, expose quelques-uns des enjeux et des questionnements qui animent les professionnels en prise sur leurs territoires avec ces problématiques plutôt étrangères aux éléments d’identité de leurs métiers.
Anakin
Authors: Petit-Loizeau Éva
Published: February 2019

Anakin est un jeune adulte autiste. En tant que psychologue, je vais le rencontrer de façon hebdomadaire, pendant plusieurs années, dans le cadre d’un accompagnement en sessad . En prenant appui sur ses centres d’intérêt, un lien transférentiel va pouvoir se créer avec, petit à petit, une ouverture de son monde, clos jusqu’ici, à ce qui l’entoure. Le développement et la complexification de ses centres d’intérêt, absolument vitaux pour lui, vont lui permettre de commencer à se constituer comme sujet acteur de sa vie.
Psychiatrie de secteur, clinique et citoyenneté
Authors: Baillon Guy
Published: February 2019

À partir des questions actuelles portant sur la sectorisation psychiatrique (pénurie des psychiatres, baisse de la motivation, résistance de la politique de secteur), l’auteur, psychiatre (co-acteur de cette politique), développe l’hypothèse que le contrat de départ, associant dans une même démarche clinique le soin et la citoyenneté, met en place un couple de forces différentes générant une tension constante aux effets féconds. Il propose une approche explicitement politique, au sens citoyen, de cette discipline médicale particulière et de continuer à la considérer et à l’administrer de façon non pas technique mais citoyenne.
Visual Function and Change in Quality of Life After Bilateral Refractive Lens Exchange With the ReSTOR Multifocal Intraocular Lens
Authors: Blaylock John F. , Si Zhaomin , Aitchison Sandi , Prescott Cheryl
Published: February 2019

Purpose:

To evaluate vision and quality of life and explore the correlation between vision and change of quality of life after bilateral refractive lens exchange of the Acrysof SA60D3 ReSTOR multifocal intraocular lens (IOL) for correction of ametropia in presbyopic populations.

Methods:

Pre- and postoperatively, the National Eye Institute Refractive Error Quality of Life Instrument (NEIRQL) was self-administered by 30 consecutive refractive lens exchange patients, including 19 myopes and 11 hyperopes. The change of NEI-RQL scores was determined for each subscale covering a specific aspect of quality of life. Refraction, visual acuity, and contrast sensitivity function were evaluated 3 and 6 months postoperatively.

Results:

Postoperatively, all patients achieved binocular uncorrected distance and near visual acuity of 20/30 or better. Photopic contrast sensitivity function decreased significantly at high spatial frequencies (
P
<.05). Overall scores of expectations, activity limitations, dependence on correction, appearance, and satisfaction were significantly higher postoperatively (
P
<.05). Greater improvement in near vision and dependence on correction was achieved in hyperopes. However, glare scores were significantly lower postoperatively (
P
<.001). Lower preoperative uncorrected near visual acuity was associated with higher scores for dependence on correction in myopes (r = 0.51,
P
=.027), and overall patient satisfaction correlated significantly with postoperative uncorrected distance visual acuity (r = −0.44,
P
=.015).

Conclusions:

Refractive lens exchange with the ReSTOR IOL in presbyopic patients provided good visual function and better patient satisfaction compared with preoperative corrections. Improvement in vision-related quality of life was most evident in hyperopes. A slight reduction in contrast sensitivity function appears to have no influence on quality of life. [
J Refract Surg
. 2008;24:265–273.]
Problems in the Measurement of Wavefront Aberration for Eyes Implanted With Diffractive Bifocal and Multifocal Intraocular Lenses
Authors: Charman W. Neil , Montés-Micó Robert , Radhakrishnan Hema
Published: February 2019

Purpose:

To determine the origin of the wavefront aberration as measured in eyes fitted with diffractive intraocular lenses (IOLs).

Methods:

Wavefront aberration was measured by Shack-Hartmann aberrometry in 2 eyes fitted with diffractive bifocal contact lenses and 10 eyes implanted with Acrysof ReSTOR multifocal IOLs.

Results:

Problems were encountered as a result of the multiple wavefronts generated by the diffractive lenses and their dependence on wavelength. These led to ambiguities in the positions of the Shack-Hartmann spot images and in the form of the derived wavefronts.

Conclusions:

Aberrometry may not provide reliable information on the wavefront aberration associated with either the distance or near power of diffractive IOLs. [
J Refract Surg
. 2008;24:280–286.]
Postoperative Changes in Refraction and Anterior Chamber Depth in Different Multifocal Intraocular Lenses
Authors: Schmickler Stefanie
Published: February 2019

Purpose:

To investigate the axial shift of multifocal intraocular lenses (IOLs) during the first months after implantation and to determine its potential effect on uncorrected distance visual acuity.

Methods:

This study comprised 8 patients (16 eyes) who received the Tecnis multifocal IOL and 8 patients (16 eyes) who received the ReSTOR multifocal IOL. Anterior chamber depth was measured with a Scheimpflug camera, and visual acuity and subjective manifest refraction were determined at 1 day, 1 week, and 1 and 3 months after surgery.

Results:

The spherical equivalent refraction in the ReSTOR and Tecnis eyes, respectively, was +0.125±0.412 diopters (D) and +0.306±0.481 D at day 1, −0.375±0.280 D and −0.188±0.438 D at 1 week, −0.475±0.337 D and −0.018±0.512 D at 1 month, and −0.297±0.267 D and −0.036±0.393 D at 3 months. Anterior chamber depth in the ReSTOR and Tecnis eyes, respectively, was 3.18±0.1 mm and 3.16±0.17 mm at day 1, 3.18±0.10 mm and 3.17±0.20 mm at 1 week, 3.29±0.22 mm and 3.18±0.25 mm at 1 month, and 3.14±0.19 mm and 3.20±0.14 mm at 3 months. The change in axial position did not correlate with the change in refraction.

Conclusions:

Multifocal IOLs change their axial position slightly during the first postoperative months. The ReSTOR IOL showed a myopic change of approximately −0.50 D during this time period, which did not correlate with the change in axial position. [
J Refract Surg
. 2008;24:306–308.]