bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Keystroke Dynamics
Authors: Senthil Kumar A. V.  , Rathi M.
Published: January 2019

Online learning has entirely transformed the way of learning by the students. Online tests and quizzes play an important role in online learning, which provides accurate results to the instructor. But, the learners use different methods to cheat during online exams such as opening a browser to search for the answer or a document in the local drive, etc. They are not authenticated once they login and progress to attend the online exams. Different techniques are used in authenticating the students taking up the online exams such as audio or video surveillance systems, fingerprint, or iris recognition, etc. Keystroke dynamics-based authentication (KDA) method, a behavioral biometric-based authentication model has gained focus in authenticating the users. This chapter proposes the usage of KDA as a solution to user authentication in online exams and presents a detailed review on the processes of KDA, the factors that affect the performance of KDA, their applications in different domains, and a few keystroke dynamics-based datasets to authenticate the users during online exams.
Cultural Issues in Employee Engagement
Authors: Yadav Radha , Gangwar Riya , Arora Sunaina , Andres Frederic
Published: January 2019

The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the cultural issues in employee engagement. This chapter covers the importance of employee engagement and diverse workforce. The author focuses on the role of culture in employee engagement, and it shows a positive relation between the organization performance and employee engagement. In this chapter, the author also depicts cultural issues in the organization. In the end, the author emphasizes the techniques to improve the cultural issues to enhance employee engagement.
Developing and Sustaining Employee Engagement
Authors: Rana Surekha , Chopra Priyanka
Published: January 2019

Employee engagement is gaining a vast and critical importance in today's highly competitive and dynamic business environment. An engaged workforce is a vital asset for the organization that contributes their efforts for the benefit of the organization. The chapter identifies the differences in engagement level of employees with respect to job and organizational characteristics (gender, age, tenure, and position) of employees in selected telecom companies in India. This co-relational study undertakes internet-based survey questionnaire based on Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9). Hypotheses have been tested through ANOVA, post hoc analysis, and correlational analysis procedures to estimate the relationships among variables. The results of the study found significant differences in the work engagement level of employees with respect to age, years of work experience, and employee position except gender. The strategies to drive employee engagement in the organization are also proposed.
Unlocking Drivers for Employee Engagement Through Human Resource Analytics
Authors: Bakhru Kanupriya Misra , Sharma Alka
Published: January 2019

The authors have discussed in detail the meaning of employee engagement and its relevance for the organizations in the present scenario. The authors also highlighted the various factors that predict the employee engagement of the employees in the varied organizations. The authors have emphasized on the role that HR analytics can play to identify the reasons for low level of engagement among employees and suggesting ways to improve the same using predictive analytics. The authors have also advocated the benefits that organizations can reap by making use of HR analytics in measuring the engagement levels of the employees and improving the engagement levels of diverse workforce in the existing organizations. The authors have also proposed the future perspectives of the proposed study that help the organizations and officials from the top management to tap the benefits of analytics in the function of human resource management and to address the upcoming issues related to employee behavior.
Security and Privacy in FinTech
Authors: Hussain Muzammil , Nadeem Muhammad Waqas , Iqbal S. , Mehrban Sobia , Fatima Syeda Nisar , Hakeem Owais , Mustafa Ghulam
Published: January 2019

Financial technology (FinTech) has dramatically changed the way of banking and financial services. Computer programs and other technology which used to provide and enable financial services is named as FinTech. However, these services face several security and privacy issues while providing financial services to the users. These services and applications must be secured to enhance the acceptance and usability of these services among the users. The main aim of this research is to provide a policy framework to ensure the security and privacy of user information in financial technology, since FinTech applications and services carry quite sensitive data of its users. This policy framework provides a comprehensive set of policies to secure FinTech services. These policies must be implemented in each organization providing FinTech services.
Algorithmic Machine Learning for Prediction of Stock Prices
Authors: Beg Mirza O. , Awan Mubashar Nazar , Ali Syed Shahzaib
Published: January 2019

Stock markets and relevant entities generate enormous amounts of data on a daily basis and are accessible from various channels such as stock exchange, economic reviews, and employer monetary reports. In recent times, machine learning techniques have proven to be very helpful in making better trading decisions. Machine learning algorithms use complex logic to observe and learn the behavior of stocks using historical data which can be used to predict future movements of the stock. Technical indicators such as rolling mean, momentum, and exponential moving average are calculated to convert the data into meaningful information. Furthermore, this information can be used to build machine learning prediction models that learn different patterns in the data and make future predictions for accurate financial forecasting. Additional factors that are being used for stock prediction include social media influences and daily news on trading stocks. Considering these qualitative and quantitative features at the same time result in improved prediction models.
FinTech and Stock Market Behaviors
Authors: Sekmen Taner , Hatipoglu Mercan
Published: January 2019

This chapter examines the effects of high-frequency trading (HFT) and algorithmic trading (AT) activities, which represent important technological developments in financial markets in the past two decades, on Borsa Istanbul in terms of volatility. To clarify stock market behaviors in terms of volatility, asymmetry, and risk return after the BISTECH transition, the GJR-GARCH-in-Mean and I-GARCH models were used. The dataset consists of the daily stock return series of the main and sub-sector indexes of Borsa Istanbul, covering the period from October 24, 2012 to June 1, 2018. Although there are mixed results for the sub-indexes, it is observed that in the post-BISTECH period, volatility increases significantly in the BIST 100 and BIST 30 indexes, where AT and HFT activities are used more frequently. In particular, the duration of volatility returns to average after shock increases about seven times for BIST 100 and about eight times for the BIST 30 in the post-BISTECH period. Overall, the results indicate that AC and HFT activities may have disruptive effects on financial markets.
A Framework for Risk Management in AI System Development Projects
Authors: Photikitti Kitti , Dowpiset Kitikorn , Daengdej Jirapun
Published: January 2019

It has been well-known that the chance of successfully delivering a software project within an allocated time and budget is very low. Most of the researches in this area have concluded that “user's requirements” of the systems is one of the most difficult risks to deal with in this case. Interestingly, until today, regardless of amount of effort put into this area, the possibility of project failure is still very high. The issue with requirement can be significantly increased when developing an artificial intelligence (AI) system, where one would like the systems to autonomously behave. This is because we are not only dealing with user's requirements, but we must also be able to deal with “system's behavior” that, in many cases, do not even exist during software development. This chapter discusses a preliminary work on a framework for risk management for AI systems development projects. The goal of this framework is to help project management in minimizing risk that can lead AI software projects to fail due to the inability to finish the projects on time and within budget.
Scientific Intelligence, Decision Making, and Cyber-Security
Authors: dall'Acqua Luisa
Published: January 2019

Because of the huge amount of data and information in the decision-making and strategic choices processes, basing decisions on information directly collected from the sources is not conceivable. A decision-making analyst becomes a fundamental pillar in both the corporate field and the institutional world. This role is becoming increasingly complex and specialized, critical within the cycle of the intelligence analysis, for the relationships that bind it to the other stakeholders, and for the methodological and technological tools that support it. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the milestones of the intelligence analysis deriving from a close collaboration between social sciences, cognitive science, computer engineering, and ICT in order to respond to the different needs in the field of risk management, safety, investigations, and applied intelligence.
Ecology, Sustainability, and Scientific Education
Authors: Nardi Maria Luisa
Published: January 2019

Environmental education is a new discipline, which has been gaining increasing importance in recent decades. It is a fundamental tool to sensitize citizens and communities to greater responsibility and attention to environmental issues and good governance of the territory. The educational component allows us to transform scientific languages into simple languages that can be appropriated and understood by the different social groups, and the environmental component that tries to reconstruct. These relationships are created by man with nature, but through cultural parameters. The growing concern for environmental devastation has its roots in the decade of the 1970s. Countless efforts have been made to draw the attention of populations to this topic. Among these attempts come out different approaches such as sustainable development that uses environmental education and local sustainability as tools to prevent damages. This chapter describes the key theoretical and government references that support environmental education, focusing on their relationship and the rising of a new sector of work.
A Conceptual Overview of Consumer Behavior in the Contemporary Developing Nations
Authors: Gbadamosi Ayantunji
Published: January 2019

Consumption is a global phenomenon that permeates virtually every walk of life in developed and developing nations. Consequently, extant literature is awash with postulations on consumer behavior in these contexts in varying forms. Most of the perspectives relating to developing nations explicate various issues that revolve around how the lower economic development in these nations affects their consumption when compared to what is in place in developed countries. Nonetheless, this chapter which classifies the key influences on consumer behavior into three factors, namely personal factors, socio-cultural factors, and marketing stimuli, argues that the consumption pattern of consumers in the contemporary developing nations tend to mirror that of developed nations in many ramifications. Thus, the chapter suggests that the consumption pattern of consumers in these nations is changing significantly by the day from what it used to be in response to the pace of changes in the global marketing environment such as the interconnectedness of people through technological advancement.
Country-of-Origin Effect and Consumer Ethnocentrism
Authors: Bujac Andreea I. , Lawson Lartey G.
Published: January 2019

This chapter examines the impact of consumer ethnocentrism and country of origin of a low involvement product on consumer brand perception and purchase behavior in a transitional market setting of Central and Eastern Europe. Data were collected from 317 respondents from an urban population in three large cities in Romania. The results show that country of origin has a significant impact on the consumers' perception of the Danish beer brand Tuborg. The results show statistically significant associations between consumer ethnocentrism taxation and buying Romanian products as well as between demographic characteristics and brand perception.
The Effect of Celebrity Endorsements on Consumers' Buying Behavior in South West Nigeria
Authors: Aririguzoh Stella Amara , Mogaji Emmanuel , Odiboh Odion Oscar
Published: January 2019

Advertisers engage celebrities to endorse their products. This chapter hinges on the meaning transfer theory of McCracken that says that celebrity image can be transferred to items that users buy. Using the survey method, this work examined if celebrity endorsements affect buying. Copies of the questionnaire were administered on 1,516 residents drawn from urban, suburban, and rural areas of Lagos and Ogun States, Nigeria. The Pearson correlation found positive relationships between celebrity endorsements and buyers' decisions. The tests show that celebrity endorsements influence the purchase decisions of the residents, and these buyers' avoidance of a product is more clearly influenced by celebrity endorsements. People buy products because of the celebrities that endorsed them. However, some respondents, especially those in the rural areas, were not as influenced into buying these products as are those from the urban and sub-urban areas. It is advised that advertisers pursue other avenues to draw patronage from this area.
Facilitating Consumers' Adoption of E-Government in South Africa
Authors: Shambare Richard
Published: January 2019

This chapter examines the diffusion and adoption of electronic governance systems (e-government) in South Africa. The purpose of the chapter is to determine how the supply side in South Africa has facilitated consumers' adoption of e-government. To achieve this objective, an extensive review of the literature encapsulating e-government, South African public services, information communication technologies (ICTs), and commerce was conducted. Findings revealed interesting results. First among many was that e-government is viewed by the government as a panacea to a plethora of socio-economic problems facing the country. It was further revealed that e-government initiatives at the municipality level are quite instrumental in driving the e-government agenda in South Africa. Of note, municipalities have rolled out various e-government programs. As a result, the country's overall e-government rankings were observed to have significantly improved in the recent past. The chapter concludes by highlighting several opportunities through which e-government could be further strengthened.
The Impact of Human Values and Knowledge on Green Products Purchase Intention
Authors: Chekima Brahim , Chekima Khalifa
Published: January 2019

Marketing managers keenly seek to understand the green market. However, insufficient information on how to foster consumers' green behavior is slowing the growth of green markets and becoming a barrier for firms when communicating strategies for effectively promoting green products. Therefore, this chapter attempts to examine the impact of environmental knowledge and cultural values on consumers' green purchase intentions. A survey was administered and a total of 200 valid questionnaires were obtained. Structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was used to assess the model. The finding shows that cultural values significantly related to green product purchase intention. The results also indicate environmental knowledge is not a significant factor influencing buying intention of green products. The discussions and implications of these findings are further elaborated.
Expanding Research Agenda for Sustainable Consumption and Social Institutions
Authors: Purushottam Neha
Published: January 2019

Sustainable development is part of the developmental agenda for developed and developing countries both. For developing countries, growth is critical but resource consuming. Therefore, it is important to ensure equitable growth in these countries without degradation of natural and social environment and resources. Sustainable consumption and production both are part of Sustainable Development Goal 12. Mostly countries focus on the production rather than on the consumption, which needs to be changed. South Africa faces challenges of under-consumption in lower income classes and over-consumption in affluent and aspiring middle classes. Examination of institutional actors highlights the gap, which can be filled by social institutions. Social institutions are active and growing in South Africa and were identified suitable to promote sustainable consumption through cooperation, collaboration, and partnerships. This chapter attempts to expand the research agenda to examine the role and potential of social institutions in facilitating sustainable consumption in a developing country like South Africa.
Marketing Solar Energy in Ghana
Authors: Kuada John , Mensah Esther , Bujac Andreea I. , Bentzen Jeanne S.
Published: January 2019

This chapter reports the results of an exploratory qualitative investigation into buying behaviors and growth challenges within the solar energy industry in Ghana. It is premised on the understanding that African firms may experience “liabilities of localness” when marketing renewable energy products developed in the West. That is, customers doubt their capabilities to produce and install these products. Thus, market-driven growth of the solar energy sector in Ghana requires firm-level capability development through institutional support that promotes effective cross-border inter-firm collaborations as well as trust-building relationships with local customers. The results of the study confirm these observations. They show that Ghanaian consumers tend to evaluate the capabilities of foreign solar energy providers as superior to those of local firms. However, collaborations between local and foreign firms have enhanced their credibility. Firms rely mainly on word-of-mouth recommendations to attract new customers and see customer price consciousness as a major growth constraint.
A Computational, Cognitive, and Narratological Approach to Narrative Generation
Authors: Ogata Takashi
Published: January 2019

This chapter surveys and discusses interdisciplinary approaches to primarily artificial intelligence (AI)-based computational narrative or story generation systems by way of introducing cognitive science, and narratology and related literary theories. The first part of this chapter provides a general description (from the perspective of the research framework of the author) and the second part presents processes, theories, designs, and implementations of narrative generation by the author. In particular, the first part includes an overview of narratology and the relevant literary theories, computational and cognitive theories and techniques related to narratology and narrative generation, and narrative generation systems. The second part presents, in relative detail, components that constitute a systematic study for narrative generation by the author and an integrated narrative generation system of all of the previous attempts.
Consideration of Fundamental Methods and Principles for Human-Computer Co-Creation of Narratives
Authors: Akimoto Taisuke , Ogata Takashi
Published: January 2019

The authors propose the conceptual design of a co-creative narrative generation system that co-creates a collection of diverse narratives from a narrative generation program and people. The long-term goal of this study is to vitalize humans' narrative creation by developing generative narrative technology. The key idea is to connect and unify individual narrative productions by many agents, including one or more computer programs and humans, via a collection of narratives produced and accumulated by these agents. Simultaneously, a co-creative narrative generation system is the practice of a computational approach to narratology as a model for the social system of narrative production. This chapter describes the basic concepts of the co-creative narrative generation system.
Taking Perspectives in Digital Storytelling on Business Planning
Authors: Takeda Yoko
Published: January 2019

Digital storytelling for business planning has the narrative mode and the logical scientific mode. This chapter explores how the structure of the digital storytelling work affects its effectiveness and how the storyteller's reflection influences the improvement of the work. It is critical to consider the structure, consistency, and balance between the narrative and the analytical part, especially the link from a contrast between the initial situation and obstruction to key success factors. In addition, three types of perspective taking make digital storytelling effective: 1) an audience perceives a storyteller's perspective, 2) a storyteller refines his/her perspective, and 3) a storyteller perceives an audience's perspective. When the storyteller deepens his/her own perspective and is aware of others' different perspectives, the audience could find some essential commonality between the episodes of the story and the audience's experience.
Producing a Mental Representation of a Cup of Sake
Authors: Fukushima Hiroki
Published: January 2019

In this chapter, methodologies for producing a mental representation of a cup of sake are introduced. Mental representations of taste are often vague and fuzzy in comparison to audio or visual images. On the other hand, some individuals, such as sommeliers or tasters of sake, are able to readily formulate a representation of the taste they experience. How can the average person produce words or other types of mental representations in such a situation? In this chapter, the author presents three methodologies for eliciting mental representations of taste: a new supporting tool for verbalizing an image of taste, an experimental method for testing a verbal and visual image for taste, and an experimental methodology for producing a free drawing representation of a cup of sake.
The Role of School Counselors in the RTI Process at the Secondary Level
Authors: King-White Dakota , Kurt Layla
Published: January 2019

Many students come to school with social, emotional, and mental health needs that affect them academically. Secondary students face unique emotional challenges within the academic setting, including relationship concerns, bullying, gender identity, social media, and other traumatic experiences, that could adversely impact them. In addition to addressing academic and behavior needs, the response to intervention (RTI) service delivery model encourages interventions to address the social and emotional needs of students at the secondary level. Although many individuals (e.g., teachers, coaches, principals) provide guidance to students academically, socially, and emotionally, school counselors possess the integral skills and training to support students in all these areas and to collaborate with others to address their needs. This chapter focuses on the secondary school counselor's role in supporting the RTI process by providing a tiered system of mental health support through collaboration and implementing other effective interventions.
Literacy and RTI on the Secondary Level
Authors: Smith Kandy
Published: January 2019

The application of response to intervention (RTI) for reading in secondary schools is difficult yet achievable. As adolescents read texts that will prepare them for college and careers, they require support from highly qualified professionals. Educators meet that need with effective instruction and guidance. The framework of RTI, especially the Tier 1 level that occurs in all general education classrooms, can be developed around literacy components that combine to result in skilled reading. This chapter will encourage secondary educators to consider the RTI framework as not only a means to identify the possible literacy needs of their students but also as an opportunity to examine and optimize the realistic responses that they might provide in an effort to meet those needs.
Systems of Support to Prepare Students for College and Career Readiness
Authors: Remsen Mary Ann
Published: January 2019

Successful implementation of response to intervention (RTI) models at the secondary level is dependent on schoolwide execution. However, because academic content is the primary focus of secondary educators, little attention has been focused on how to integrate RTI within career and technical education courses to strengthen college and career readiness. This chapter examines RTI practices at the secondary level with a focus on schoolwide implementation to incorporate systems of support in career and technical education courses. Current practices to support college and career readiness within schoolwide reform movements to incorporate RTI components and protocols are described. A revised model that incorporates a systems framework is discussed within career and technical education. Attention to career pathways, curriculum design, and intervention strategies are included as they specifically relate to college and career readiness. The information presented herein will be useful for educators seeking to improve RTI outcomes through schoolwide integration of intervention strategies to support student success after high school.
Response to Intervention in the State of Florida
Authors: Hightower Regina Winnette
Published: January 2019

The 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act led to an era of educational reform that called for scientifically based curriculum and data-driven decision-making when devising instructional strategies. Response to intervention was subsequently endorsed. Because students with disabilities were being included within the general education setting during this time, many states like Florida, made use of the multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS). This process was used to plan and problem-solve effective teaching strategies to improve student performance in reading and in mathematics. This chapter explores how Florida has used MTSS to narrow achievement gaps and create educational opportunities for all students.
MEPES
Authors: Calderón Pedro Alexis Torres , Paredes Emigdio Antonio Alfaro
Published: January 2019

The purpose of the article was to develop a methodology for evaluating performance of e-mail servers and to compare the performance of e-mail servers based on free software (freeware and open source software) with the performance of payment licensed e-mail servers, with an integrated focus. For obtaining this purpose, a descriptive and experimental study was developed, which population included 33 e-mail servers. Two e-mail servers with free license (Sendmail and Postfix) and two e-mail servers with payment license (Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino) were compared. For evaluating the performance (antispam capacity, antivirus filtering, and server resource consumption), special applications for that purpose were used. Finally, it was determined that the two products of e-mail servers implemented with free software (Sendmail and Postfix) had higher performance than the two licensed e-mail servers (Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino) which were implemented, under the conditions given in this research.
The Assessment for Career Counseling Skill for Teacher at High School
Authors: Thi Duyen Nguyen
Published: January 2019

In Vietnam, career counseling for students after graduating high school has limitations and advancing the career counseling skills of the high school teachers has not been highly assessed. An effort for the factor theory and measure proposal is the base for dealing with the problem. The author carried out a survey of 115 teachers belonging 40 high schools in Vietnam. As a result, the reality of career counseling skills of teachers at high schools is at the average level. This research is the base for enacting policies for the training of career counseling skills at high schools in Vietnam in the future. The result is described in the content of this article.
Is Gender a More Important Axis of Representation Than Race, Ethnicity or Class in Politics?
Authors: Sowad Abu Saleh Mohammad
Published: January 2019

This article argues that having representatives from all parts of the society in politics will help the policies to be more people-centric. Including more and more women in the political field will not diminish the significance of representing any minority group in legislative issues, rather it will focus on proliferating the dynamic interest of those underestimated people who are incessantly being doubly enslaved, not just for their socio/religious/class/ethnic identities, but additionally for their gender identities. This argument is based on the claim that women's increased participation in the political field is required not only on the grounds that there are some particular women's issues that could be more effectively taken care of by women. Additionally, no sort of development in society can be accomplished by keeping women in a marginalized position. Hence, this article suggests that we can begin with by having gender as the most important axis in politics and ultimately reach to a fairer and libertarian culture by progressively comprising other axes.
Lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio is a valuable marker to predict prostate cancer in patients with prostate specific antigen between 4 and 10 ng/dl
Authors: Caglayan Volkan , Onen Efe , Avci Sinan , Sambel Murat , Kilic Metin , Oner Sedat , Aydos Mustafa Murat , Yıldız Halil Emre
Published: January 2019

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic value of serum inflammation markers derived from complete blood count in diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 621 patients who underwent prostate biopsy between March 2013 and April 2018. Age, prostate specific antigen (PSA), free PSA, platelet count, neutrophil count, lymphocyte count, monocyte count, prostate volume (PV) and pathology result of the patients were recorded. Patients were grouped as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), prostatitis and PCa. Patients were also grouped according to PSA values, as PSA < 4 , PSA 4-10 and PSA > 10 ng/dl. Results: The mean lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) value of the patients with PCa was significantly lower in the entire cohort (p = 0.047). In the PSA 4-10 ng/dl range, LMR value wassignificantly lower in patients with PCa than those with BPH or prostatitis (p = 0.012). In this PSA range, free/total PSA ratio and LMR were significant factors to predict PCa. The cut-off values of LMR, free/total PSA were 3.05 and 0.15 respectively. The sensitivities, spesificities, positive predictive values (PPV) and negative predictive values using LMR cut-off, free/total PSA cut-off and their combination were assessed. Specificity and PPV of the combination group were higher (97.2%, 83.3% respectively) compared to free/total PSA cut-off group (91.6%, 76.6%) and LMR cut-off group (67.8%, 43.7%).Conclusions: LMR is a useful tool at detecting PCa especially in patients with PSA value between 4 and 10 ng/dl. The combination of free/total PSA ratio and LMR improves the diagnostic accuracy more than the use of free/total PSA ratio alone.
Low-intensity shock wave therapy for erectile dysfunction and the influence of disease duration
Authors: De Oliveira Pedro Simoes , De Oliveira Tiago Ribeiro , Nunes Álvaro , Martins Francisco , Lopes Tomé
Published: January 2019

Objective: Low-intensity shock-wave treatment (LiSWT) is a therapy for erectile dysfunction (ED) with good results reported in the literature. The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of LiSWT on patients treated for ED and the influence of ED duration in treatment outcomes. Material and methods: We performed an open-label single-arm prospective study of patients treated with LiSWT for ED. Patients were assessed with the IIEF-5 at baseline and at six weeks and three months after LiSWT, and with penile dynamic Doppler ultrasound before treatment and six weeks after. Patients were divided into two groups accordingly to ED evolution time: ≤ 24 months and > 24 months. Results: Twenty-five patients were enrolled, 13 had ED ≤ 24 months and 12 > 24 months. Median baseline IIEF-5 was 14, at 6 weeks post LiSWT was 16 (p < 0.001) and at 3 months post LiSWT was 18 (p < 0.001). Mean baseline peak systolic velocity (PSV) was 29.3 ± 13.0 cm/s, after LiSWT was 35.9 ± 15.2 cm/s (p 0.001). Mean baseline end-diastolic velocity (EDV) was 2.6 ± 4.8 cm/s and after LiSWT was 1.3 ± 4.3 cm/s (p 0.015). No statistical significative difference was identified between the two groups. Conclusions: LiSWT is a safe, harmless and repeatable treatment tool for ED with good outcomes reported. Our results suggest that length of disease duration doesn´t negatively influences treatment results.
Penile fracture with urethral injury: Our experience in a tertiary care hospital
Authors: Kasaraneni Priyatham , Mylarappa Prasad , Gowda Ramesh Desi , Puvvada Sandeep , Kasaraneni Dheeraj
Published: January 2019

Penile fracture is a rare urological emergency that always requires immediate attention. It may be associated with urethral trauma in 9% to 20% of cases. We present our experience in treating 12 such cases. This is a prospective observational study extending from January 2000 to December 2016. Each patient with penile fracture underwent a thorough clinical evaluation and received proper treatment. Seventy-five patients with penile fracture, aged 25 to 36 years (mean, 31.5 years) were evaluated in this study. Sexual intercourse was the common mechanism of injury in most of the patients. 12 of the patients had associated urethral injury. All the patients were diagnosed on taking proper history and after clinical examination. All patients were subjected emergency surgical exploration. All the patients underwent minimum of 1 year of follow-up, and were evaluated with local examination, uroflowmetry and Colour Doppler ultrasonography. Penile fracture is associated with urethral injury especially in the presence of suggestive history and physical examination like acute urinary retention, bleeding per urethra. Immediate primary surgical management of both the penile fracture and urethral injury is a safe and effective option with minimal complications.
Compassion-focused imagery reduces shame and is moderated by shame, self-reassurance and multisensory imagery vividness
Authors: Naismith Iona , Duran Ferro Camilo , Ingram Gordon , Jimenez Leal William
Published: January 2019

Compassion-focused imagery (CFI) is an emotion-regulation technique involving visualization of a person, animal or object offering one compassion, to generate feelings of safeness. It is proven to increase self-compassion and reduce negative affect. This study explores two hypotheses not previously investigated: i) which sensory modalities can stimulate compassionate affect; and ii) whether presentation of pictorial stimuli can enhance CFI. Additionally, we examine iii) whether CFI can reduce shame and iv) whether self-criticism inhibits CFI, since previous studies have involved small samples or methodological limitations. After completing measures of self-criticism, selfreassurance and imagery abilities in five sensory modalities, participants (n=160) were randomly assigned to look at compassionate images during CFI (visual input), compassionate images before CFI (priming), or abstract images (control). Participants trialled CFI then rated compassionate affect and completed open-response questions. Before and after CFI, participants recalled a shame-based memory and rated state shame. Correlational analyses explored whether self-criticism, self-reassurance, and multisensory imagery abilities moderated outcomes. CFI significantly reduced shame regarding a recalled memory, particularly for those high in shame. Compassionate affect was predicted by imagery vividness in visual and bodily-sensation modalities. Self-criticism predicted poorer CFI In multiple regressions, self-reassurance predicted poorer CFI outcomes but self-criticism did not. Between-group effects did not emerge. Qualitative data suggested that pictures helped some participants but hindered others. CFI is a promising technique for shame-prone clients, but may be challenging for those with low imagery abilities or unfamiliar with self-reassurance. Multiple senses should be engaged.
Countertransference in Swedish psychotherapists: testing the factor structure of the Therapist Response Questionnaire
Authors: Berg Johan , Lundh Lars-Gunnar , Falkenström Fredrik
Published: January 2019

Questionnaires need testing of reliability and factor structure before clinical use or research in new languages or cultures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the Therapist Response Questionnaire (TRQ) in Sweden compared to corresponding factor analyses in USA and Italy. A national sample of psychotherapists (N=242) registered their countertransference with a single client using TRQ. The data were analyzed with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test factor structures from previous studies, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The CFA did not verify the factor structure from the previous studies. The EFA extracted seven factors as the best solution: Helpless/Inadequate, Overwhelmed/Disorganized, Hostile/Angry, Parental/Protective, Disengaged, Special/Overinvolved, Sexualized. Analysis of convergent validity indicated that five of these could be considered equivalent to factors in the previous studies, and the remaining two were conceptually related to corresponding factors. Even though the factor structure was not confirmed by the CFA, the concordance was large, indicating a reliable self-report instrument with promising validity for measurement of complex aspects of countertransference. Common countertransference themes can inform psychotherapy supervision and education, give feedback to the therapist, and lay ground for a taxonomy for therapist reactions and feelings.
The role of behavioural economics in competition litigation
Authors: Rose Dame Vivien
Published: January 2019

In recent years, there have been major changes in economic theory from the development of behavioural economics, notably from Nobel prize for Economics winner Professor Richard Thaler. This article considers the role that behavioural economics could play in building a litigant's case in competition litigation in the High Court and of the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
Extraterritorial reach of competition remedies
Authors: Harris Maxwell , Duarte Maria , Raftery Colin , Thompson Alistair , Jewell Michael
Published: January 2019

This article (which is based on a Competition and Markets Authority submission to an OECD Roundtable on the Extraterritorial Reach of Competition Remedies) considers the role of extraterritorial remedies in UK merger control. The UK Courts have confirmed that the CMA is able to extend its jurisdiction in relation to remedies over conduct outside the UK in certain defined circumstances. This supports the CMA's ability to protect UK consumers in a globalized economy. Notwithstanding these powers, the CMA may take the additional risks that can arise around the implementation of extraterritorial remedies into account, where relevant, when designing remedies. In the CMA's experience, the challenges involved in designing and implementing extraterritorial remedies can best be addressed by close co-operation between different jurisdictions’ competition authorities.
Mexican mezcales: The importance of their protection as social heritage
Authors: Hernández López José de Jesús
Published: January 2019

O artigo analisa algumas mudanças recentes na denominação de origem mezcal, entre elas a extensão da área sob a proteção e a modificação da Norma Oficial Mexicana, com a intenção de dar maior segurança aos participantes do setor. Argumenta-se que isso criou condições para a erosão dos modos de vida dos pequenos produtores. Propõe-se que essa denominação tenha como principal preocupação a proteção do patrimônio social dos mezcaleros genuínos.
Revisitando a obra de René Ribeiro (1914-1990)
Authors: Oliveira Amurabi
Published: January 2019

HUTZLER, Celina (Orgs.). René Ribeiro e a Antropologia dos Cultos Afro-Brasileiros. Recife: Editora Universitária UFPE, 2014, 222p.
Separating radiative forcing by aerosol–cloud interactions and fast cloud adjustments in the ECHAM-HAMMOZ aerosol–climate model using the method of partial radiative perturbations
Authors: Mülmenstädt Johannes , Gryspeerdt Edward , Salzmann Marc , Ma Po-Lun , Dipu Sudhakar , Quaas Johannes
Published: January 2019

Abstract. Using the method of offline radiative transfer modelling within the partial radiative perturbations (PRP) approach, the effective radiative forcing (ERF) by aerosol–cloud interactions (ACI) in the ECHAM-HAMMOZ aerosol climate model is decomposed into a radiative forcing by anthropogenic cloud droplet number change and adjustments of the liquid water path and cloud fraction. The simulated radiative forcing and liquid water path adjustment are of approximately equal magnitude at −0.52 W m−2 and −0.53 W m−2, respectively, while the cloud fraction adjustment is somewhat weaker at −0.31 W m−2 (constituting 38 %, 39 %, and 23 % of the total ERFaci, respectively); geographically, all three ERF components in the simulation peak over China, the subtropical eastern ocean boundaries, the northern Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, Europe, and eastern North America (in order of prominence). Spatial correlations indicate that the temporal-mean liquid water path adjustment is proportional to the temporal-mean radiative forcing, while the relationship between cloud fraction adjustment and radiative forcing is less direct. While the estimate of warm-cloud ACI is relatively insensitive to the treatment of ice and mixed-phase cloud overlying warm cloud, there are indications that more restrictive treatments of ice in the column result in a low bias in the estimated magnitude of the liquid water path adjustment and a high bias in the estimated magnitude of the droplet number forcing. Since the present work is the first PRP decomposition of the aerosol ERF into RFaci and fast cloud adjustments, idealized experiments are conducted to provide evidence that the PRP results are accurate. The experiments show that using low-frequency (daily or monthly) time-averaged model output of the cloud property fields underestimates the ERF, but 3-hourly mean output is sufficiently frequent.
Learning and teaching about seasonal climate forecasts: a Mediterranean educational experience toward operational climate services
Authors: Tarchiani Vieri , Pasqui Massimiliano , Parrish Patrick , Rapisardi Elena , Di Giuseppe Edmondo , Baldi Marina
Published: January 2019

Abstract. During the World Climate Conference-3, Capacity Development has been
acknowledged as a transversal component underpinning all the other Pillars
of the Global Framework for Climate Services. Within the Mediterranean
basin, the interest of climate services based on seasonal climate forecasts
is rising because they provide an opportunity for developing a proactive
approach towards water management. In 2014, the Regional Training Center (RTC) in Italy, in agreement with
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and member countries of Region I
and VI, identified seasonal climate forecasts as a strategic subject of capacity
development for the Mediterranean Region. Following design-based research methods, this paper presents the evolution
of the training approaches adopted, from classroom lessons to a blend of
practical and theoretical classroom and distance learning. This evolution,
as well as the rising satisfaction of trainees' expectations encouraged WMO
and the RTC to widen the spectrum of beneficiaries and to make the resulting
course materials available for other regions and RTCs as a course package.
The course package provides essential guidelines to facilitate adoption and
adaptation of the course by different institutions and instructors,
including those in other WMO Regions, based on regional or institutional
learning needs and standards, while also serving the needs of individual learners.
Simulating future salinity dynamics in a coastal marshland under different climate scenarios
Authors: Eberhard Julius , van Schaik N. Loes M. B. , Schibalski Anett , Gräff Thomas
Published: January 2019

Abstract. Salinization is a well-known problem in agricultural areas worldwide. For the last 20–30 years, rising salinity in the upper, unconfined aquifer has been observed in the Freepsumer Meer, a deep grassland area near the German North Sea coast. In order to investigate long-term development of soil salinity and water balance, the one-dimensional SWAP model was set up and calibrated for a soil column in the area, simulating water and salt balance at discrete depths for 1961–2099. The model setup involved a deep aquifer as the only source of salt through upward seepage since other sources were negligible. In the vertical salt transport equation, only dispersion and advection were included. Six different regional outputs of statistical downscaling methods (WETTREG, XDS), based on simulations of different GCMs (ECHAM5, ECHAM6, IPSL-CM5) driven by greenhouse gas emission scenarios (SRES-A2, SRES-B1) and concentration pathways (RCP45, RCP85), were used as scenarios. These comprised different rates of increasing surface temperature and essentially different trends in seasonal rainfall. The results of the model runs exhibit opposing salinity trends for topsoil and deeper layers: While the projections of some scenarios entail decreasing salinities near the soil surface, most of them project a rise in subsoil salinity with strongest trends of up to +0.9 mg cm−3 (100 a)−1 at −65 cm. The results suggest that topsoil salinity trends are affected by the magnitude of winter rainfall trends while high subsoil salinity trends correspond to low winter rainfall and high summer temperature. Absolute salinity is high in scenarios of high-temperature and low-rainfall summers. How these projected trends affect the vegetation and thereby future land use will depend on the future management of groundwater levels in the area.