bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Putting social capital in (a family) perspective: Determinants of labour market outcomes among Senegalese women in Europe
Authors: Toma Sorana
Published: June 2016

This article examines the ways in which the family context of migration and migrant networks shape the economic integration of immigrant women. It focuses on Senegalese women’s labour market outcomes in Europe, using recently collected quantitative data from the ‘Migration between Africa and Europe’ project. The family context of migration is one of the most important drivers of employment: women migrating independently are more likely to work than those who reunite with their partner at destination; marriage migrants are the least likely to be employed. In contrast, the role of migrant networks is less influential and depends largely on the family context. Sharing childcare is the most important function of social networks for women migrating with young children. For those migrating independently of a partner, female ties are the most influential social resource in securing employment. However, confirming previous qualitative findings, these networks lead to low-quality jobs upon arrival.
Dreams of Canadian Students
Authors: Dale Allyson , Lortie-Lussier Monique , Wong Christina , De Koninck Joseph
Published: June 2016

A total of 600 dream reports were collected from 300 Canadian university students, 150 female and 150 male, and their content analyzed with the Hall and Van de Castle (1966) system of categories. The main dream content categories were characters, aggressive and friendly interactions, positive and negative emotions, and dream outcomes. The main purpose of the analysis was to provide normative data for a large sample of young Canadians to determine (a) whether negative elements prevail over positive ones, as assumed by the threat simulation theory and (b) whether dream gender differences are consistent with differences in waking life, in accordance with the continuity hypothesis. Overall, findings support both theories. The final objective was to compare the Canadian data, relative to gender differences, with normative data established in 1966 with the original American sample. Findings for males and females and gender differences remain consistent with the American normative data for most categories despite a 50 years interval. Similarities in Canadian and American dream content reflect similarities between the respective cultures. They also attest to fundamental structural dimensions of dream content that transcend cultures. Other types of content analysis relative to themes, for instance, might be appropriate to highlight cultural differences.
Exploring Repressive Suffering Construal as a Function of Collectivism and Social Morality
Authors: Sullivan Daniel , Stewart Sheridan A. , Landau Mark J. , Liu Shi , Yang Qian , Diefendorf Joseph
Published: June 2016

Prior research demonstrated that an experimentally primed collectivist orientation increased repressive suffering construal (RSC): interpretation of suffering as being caused by deviance and having the purpose of maintaining social order. Furthermore, the effect of collectivism on RSC was mediated by social morality: the belief that society dictates morality. The current research provides the first cross-cultural empirical evidence for the links between RSC, collectivism, and social morality. In an investigation of religious subcultures, collectivist Mennonites endorsed RSC to a greater degree than individualist Unitarian Universalists and undergraduates, and this difference was mediated by collectivism. Examining the RSC construct in greater detail, two additional studies compared participants from China and the United States. Chinese participants scored higher on RSC’s teleological component—the belief that suffering upholds society—but not its causal component—the belief that suffering is caused by deviance. This difference was mediated by social morality endorsement.
Candidates Use a New Teacher Development Process, Transformative Reflection, to Identify and Address Teaching and Learning Problems in Their Work With Children
Authors: Naidoo Kara , Kirch Susan A.
Published: June 2016

This article has two aims: (a) to offer a new model for a teacher preparation course that features reflection and teaching as integral, inseparable actions and (b) to provide empirical evidence from an exploratory ethnography to demonstrate teacher development possibilities with this model. The model, termed Transformative Reflection, was founded on principles from cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) and empirical work on reflection. This study examines two CHAT-based mediation practices that became a focus of 12 childhood education masters students inquiry during reflection sessions: (a) posture as a tool for working with students and (b) open questions as a tool to re/orient learners. Based on analysis of observations, interviews, journals, and video, we found candidates took action individually and collectively to interrogate and, in many cases, change how they planned learning activities, how they re/oriented learners to the learning object, and how they viewed students as agents.
Perceptions of Threats to Physical Safety, Sexual Autonomy, Values, and of Discrimination Drive LGB Prejudices Toward Heterosexuals
Authors: Pirlott Angela G. , Rusten Marta L. , Butterfuss Reese M.
Published: June 2016

Many studies have investigated heterosexuals’ prejudices toward nonheterosexuals, yet LGB’s prejudices toward heterosexuals remain largely unexplored. Therefore, we sought to determine the threats and opportunities (i.e., affordances) LGB perceive heterosexuals to pose and whether those affordances explain their sexual prejudices toward heterosexuals. Study 1 analyzed LGB’s reasons for liking and disliking heterosexuals, which determined whether the threats predicted to be salient for LGB mirrored the affordances they generated. Study 2 measured these perceived affordances and examined the extent to which they drove LGB’s prejudices toward heterosexuals. Generally, perceptions of discrimination and unreciprocated sexual interest threats drove anger, physical safety and sexual autonomy threats drove fear, and values threats drove moral disgust toward heterosexuals, although results varied slightly by perceiver and target groups. Goals to alleviate the tensions between heterosexuals and LGB require an understanding of the dynamics between these groups. This research provides preliminary insights into understanding those dynamics.
Age-Related Physical Changes Interfere With Judgments of Male Sexual Orientation From Faces
Authors: Tskhay Konstantin O. , Krendl Anne C. , Rule Nicholas O.
Published: June 2016

Although studies have shown that sexual orientation can be judged from faces, this research has not considered how age-related differences in perceivers or targets affect such judgments. In the current work, we evaluated whether accuracy differed among young adults (YA) and older adults (OA) for young and old men’s faces by recruiting a sample of YA and OA in the lab, a community sample of sexual minority men, and a sample of online participants. We found that OA and YA judged sexual orientation with similar accuracy. Perceptions of gender atypicality mediated the difference in judging older and younger targets’ sexual orientation. Although participants used positive affect to correctly discern sexual orientation regardless of target age, perceptions of masculinity were valid only for judgments of YA.
Informed Refusal
Authors: Benjamin Ruha
Published: June 2016

“Informed consent” implicitly links the transmission of information to the granting of permission on the part of patients, tissue donors, and research subjects. But what of the corollary, informed refusal? Drawing together insights from three moments of refusal, this article explores the rights and obligations of biological citizenship from the vantage point of biodefectors—those who attempt to resist technoscientific conscription. Taken together, the cases expose the limits of individual autonomy as one of the bedrocks of bioethics and suggest the need for a justice-oriented approach to science, medicine, and technology that reclaims the epistemological and political value of refusal.
Intellectual practices: an interview with Philip Schlesinger
Authors: Slaatta Tore
Published: June 2016

What are the relations between an academic trajectory and the research field, and how do they change over time? This interview with the cultural and media sociologist, Philip Schlesinger, is part of my ongoing reflections on media research history. The role of British media research and cultural sociology is particularly interesting and important, and Philip Schlesinger is one among several of his generation who, since the 1970s, has played a significant role in the formation of the field, internationally. The interview covers part of his academic trajectory to date: his ethnographic work on the BBC and recurrent focus on media, state and national identities are discussed along with his writing on Latin American cultural theory and on the European public sphere. The interview closes with a discussion of Schlesinger’s most recent research on cultural intermediaries as well as his public engagement and longstanding academic institution building.
Our blood in the British economy: an interview with Sadar Ali Malik
Authors: Fekete Liz
Published: June 2016

Sadar Ali Malik, originally from Kashmir, was an early settler in Canning Town, East London. He was interviewed in 1990 about his experiences of work and community organising over the previous thirty years, recalling the harsh working conditions and describing the climate of everyday racism. Apart from becoming an active shop steward at Ford’s, Mr Malik also formed the Canning Town Muslim Welfare Association and played a part in national community groups such as the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and, locally, the Newham Monitoring Project.
Determination of heavy metals in the ambient atmosphere
Authors: Suvarapu Lakshmi Narayana , Baek Sung-Ok
Published: June 2016

Heavy metal determination in ambient air is an important task for environmental researchers because of their toxicity to human beings. Some heavy metals (hexavalent chromium (Cr), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd) and nickel (Ni)) have been listed as carcinogens. Furthermore, heavy metals in the atmosphere can accumulate in various plants and animals and enter humans through the food chain. This article reviews the determination of heavy metals in the atmosphere in different areas of the world since 2006. The results showed that most researchers concentrated on toxic metals, such as Cr, Cd, Ni, As and lead. A few studies used plant materials as bio-monitors for the atmospheric levels of heavy metals. Some researchers found higher concentrations of heavy metals surrounding industrial areas compared with residential and/or commercial areas. Most studies reported the major sources of the particulate matter and heavy metals in the atmosphere to be industrial emissions, vehicular emissions and secondary aerosols.
Associations Between Fine Motor Performance in Activities of Daily Living and Cognitive Ability in a Nondemented Sample of Older Adults: Implications for Geriatric Physical Rehabilitation
Authors: Fauth Elizabeth B. , Schaefer Sydney Y. , Zarit Steven H. , Ernsth-Bravell Marie , Johansson Boo
Published: June 2016

Objective: Fine motor ability (FMA) is essential in certain activities of daily living (ADL) and is considered mostly as a component of physical function. We hypothesize that cognitive ability explains significant variance in ADL-related FMA, above and beyond what is explained by physical ability (grip strength). Method: Origins of Variance in the Old Old Study (OCTO)-Twin participants ( n = 218), aged 80+ (dementia, stroke, Parkinson’s disease excluded) were assessed on depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression Scale [CES-D]), a cognitive battery, grip strength, and FMA. Results: In a series of ordinary least squares regression models, FMA was not associated with gender or depressive symptoms, but was associated with age (marginally; β = −.164, p = .051), grip strength (β = −.381, p < .01), and one cognitive measure, perceptual speed (β = −.249, p < .01). Discussion: In nondemented older adults, cognitive speed predicts ADL-related FMA after controlling for age and physical ability. Physical rehabilitation of FMA in ADL tasks should consider the importance of cognitive ability, even in nondemented older adults.
From human science to biology
Authors: Esposito Maurizio
Published: June 2016

Scholars have paid great attention to the neo-Darwinism of Ronald Fisher. He was one of the founding fathers of the modern synthesis and, not surprisingly, his writings and life have been widely scrutinized. However, less attention has been paid to his interests in the human sciences. In assessing Fisher’s uses of the human sciences in his seminal book the Genetical Theory of Natural Selection and elsewhere, the article shows how Fisher’s evolutionary thought was essentially eclectic when applied to the human context. In order to understand how evolution works among humans, Fisher made himself also a sociologist and historian. More than a eugenically minded Darwinist, Fisher was also a sophisticated scholar combining many disciplines without the ambition to reduce, simplistically, the human sciences to biology.
Roughness effect for tunable wetting surfaces on metallic substrate
Authors: Hao Xiuqing , Li Jian , Song Xiaolu , Wang Li , Li Liang
Published: June 2016

A facile process for controllable fabrication of wetting surfaces with variable hierarchical structures on metallic substrates is proposed in this study. This process, which combines the through-mask electrochemical micromachining with hydrothermal growth method, could be applied on all kinds of type and size of conductive metal. First, the anodic dissolution process is predicted using numerical simulation and experiments. The formulation of electrolyte and the etching conditions in through-mask electrochemical micromachining are optimized. Ordered microstructures and smooth etched surface in large scale are obtained using the optimized parameters. Moreover, a technology has been explored to obtain various styles of multi-level structures through an alignment system or combining with a hydrothermal method of growing ZnO nanorods. The wetting effects of the rough three-dimensional surfaces are evaluated using a contact angle system. Furthermore, the wetting and the preliminary friction reduction effects of the rough three-dimensional surfaces are evaluated using contact angle system.
Elite Cues, News Coverage, and Partisan Support for Compromise
Authors: McLaughlin Bryan , McLeod Douglas M. , Davis Catasha , Perryman Mallory , Mun Kwansik
Published: June 2016

In accordance with self-categorization theory, this study predicts that because elite cues affect partisans’ perceptions of group norms, news coverage of political gridlock should influence partisans’ willingness to endorse compromise. Results of two experimental studies, where Republican and Democratic samples read a news story in which group leaders were either willing or unwilling to compromise, largely support our expectations. However, we also find evidence that willingness to compromise can depend on the specific issue context, as well as pre-existing attitudes. These results further our understanding of how media coverage affects the functioning of democracy in the United States.
Supporting self-efficacy through interactive discussion in online communities of weight loss
Authors: Wang Ye , Willis Erin
Published: June 2016

By conducting a content analysis of online communities connected by the Weight Watchers’ online message boards, this study examined the relationship between conversational interactivity and consumer-generated content about consumer health information, self-efficacious content, and experiences with dieting and physical activities. The results showed that discussion about successful experiences with weight loss tended to be more interactive. Discussion about consumer health information tended to be non-interactive. The findings suggest that online communities generate social support through interactive discussion about successful experiences, and the interactive discussion, in return, sustains active participation in the community.
A qualitative comparison of needles and insulin pump use in children with type 1 diabetes
Authors: Ferrari Madeleine , McIlwain Doris JF , Ambler Geoffrey
Published: June 2016

Managing type 1 diabetes mellitus is an ongoing and challenging process; we investigated children’s experience of different treatment regimens. Interviews with 17 children (7–15 years) at two time points were analysed using the grounded theory approach. Illness phase and treatment regimen shaped how bodily cues were interpreted. Insulin pump therapy allowed children to listen to and trust their bodily cues rather than override. Shame was a barrier to support engagement. Different internalised and externalised views of type 1 diabetes mellitus emerged. Overall, children were insightful experts of their own experiences. Recommendations for psychological interventions would benefit from empirical testing.
Stakeholders’ expectations of Healthy Life Centers: A focus group study
Authors: Abildsnes Eirik , Meland Eivind , Samdal Gro Beate , Stea Tonje H. , Mildestvedt Thomas
Published: June 2016

Aims: The aims of this study were to explore stakeholders’ expectations of municipal Healthy Life Centers (HLCs) in Norway, and to evaluate whether these expectations were compatible with current guidelines and recommendations. Methods: A multidisciplinary team of researchers arranged focus group sessions with Healthy Life Centre staff, municipality administration, county administration, general practitioners and representatives of three patient organizations. We audiotaped and transcribed the sessions verbatim. In analyses we used Systematic Text Condensation and an editing analysis style. Results: Expectations spanned from primary prevention among children to rehabilitation of adults with established disease, depending on the stakeholders’ assumptions of the role of HLCs. Healthcare providers emphasized person-centered advice based on the participant’s willingness to change, and their impressions of the participant’s presenting condition and life circumstances. Many participants represented underprivileged groups, not reached by population-based information strategies. Consistent with self-determination theory, participants who contacted the HLCs themselves more often expressed a will for lifestyle change than those referred from general practitioners, and less often dropped out. Participants with complex challenges and insufficient coping strategies often strived with follow-up. Among these, many suffered from mental health problems. Conclusions: The Norwegian HLC is still a concept in development and is trying to define its position in the public healthcare system. In accordance with national recommendations to reduce social health inequalities, the stakeholders emphasized providing effective, evidence-based HLC programs including underprivileged groups. They also expressed concern about prioritizing between an individual and population approach, and between different target groups and tasks.
Between reason and will: On Christopher Meckstroth’s The Struggle for Democracy
Authors: Invernizzi Accetti Carlo
Published: June 2016

Christopher Meckstroth’s book The Struggle for Democracy poses and attempts to solve a central problem of democratic theory: what he calls the ‘paradox of authorization’, whereby the very activity of spelling out the political content of democracy is said to potentially contradict its object, since the democratic theorist may end up substituting himself or herself for ‘the people’ in deciding what this form government amounts to in practice. In order to avoid this problem, Meckstroth suggests that the political content of democracy ought to be extrapolated out of concrete political struggles, by submitting competing claims to represent the people’s will to a rational scrutiny that tests them for internal coherence. While pointing out the intrinsic interest and originality of this approach, the review also advances some reservations concerning the posited criterion’s capacity to perform all the work Meckstroth assigns it. In the end, the proposed solution to the ‘paradox of authorization’ may fall prey to it too, since on its own terms the criterion of internal coherence is insufficient to specify any determinate outcomes. This leaves it up to the theorist applying it to (arbitrarily) decide which concrete proposals best satisfy the test.
Writing Urban Space: Street Art, Democracy, and Photographic Cartography
Authors: Ulmer Jasmine B.
Published: June 2016

In this article, the street is both a place of travel and a space for critical discourse. As tensions between public and private spaces play out in the streets, street artists claim visible space through multiple forms of art. Through a critical performance geography and a qualitative inquiry of the street, I photograph the movement of art across walls, doorways, windows, sidewalks, lampposts, alleyways, gutters, and dumpsters over a 7-month period in the Eastern Market neighborhood of Detroit ( N = 806). After describing street art as a fluid genre that has developed into a diverse spectrum of post-graffiti, I explore how street art contributes to a changing visual terrain through discussions of racism, decolonization, gentrification, and the role of art in spatial justice. Photographic cartography is introduced as (a) a visual method of performance geography that illustrates material-discursive “fault lines” and (b) a critical means of analyzing conversations in contested public space. Significantly, street artists simultaneously work within and against urban renewal policies in “creative cities” such as Detroit. Given that the arts are at the center of sophisticated visual discourse regarding neoliberalism, democracy, and the battle over public space, researchers might continue to examine how street artists inscribe social justice in, on, and around the streets.
Characterization of Pancreatic Cancer Cell Thermal Response to Heat Ablation or Cryoablation
Authors: Baumann Kenneth W. , Baust John M. , Snyder Kristi K. , Baust John G. , Van Buskirk Robert G.
Published: June 2016

One of the most lethal carcinomas is pancreatic cancer. As standard treatment using chemotherapy and radiation has shown limited success, thermal regimens (cryotherapy or heat ablation) are emerging as viable alternatives. Although promising, our understanding of pancreatic cancer response to thermal ablation remains limited. In this study, we investigated the thermal responses of 2 pancreatic cancer cell lines in an effort to identify the minimum lethal temperature needed for complete cell death to provide guidance for in vivo applications. PANC-1 and BxPC-3 were frozen (−10°C to −25°C) or heated (45°C-50°C) in single and repeated exposure regimes. Posttreatment survival and recovery were analyzed using alamarBlue assay over a 7-day interval. Modes of cell death were assessed using fluorescence microscopy (calcein acetoxymethyl ester/propidium iodide) and flow cytometry (YO-PRO-1/propidium iodide). Freezing to −10°C resulted in minimal cell death. Exposure to −15°C had a mild impact on PANC-1 survival (93%), whereas BxPC-3 was more severely damaged (33%). Exposure to −20°C caused a significant reduction in viability (PANC-1 = 23%; BxPC-3 = 2%) whereas −25°C yielded complete death. Double freezing exposure was more effective than single exposure. Repeat exposure to −15°C resulted in complete death of BxPC-3, whereas −20°C severely impacted PANC-1 (7%). Heating to 45°C resulted in minimum cell death. Exposure to 48°C yielded a slight increase in cell loss (PANC-1 = 85%; BxPC-3 = 98%). Exposure to 50°C caused a significant decline (PANC-1 = 70%; BxPC-3 = 9%) with continued deterioration to 0%. Double heating to 45°C resulted in similar effects observed in single exposures, whereas repeated 48°C resulted in significant increases in cell death (PANC-1 = 68%; BxPC-3 = 29%). In conclusion, we observed that pancreatic cancer cells were completely destroyed at temperatures <−25°C or >50°C using single thermal exposures. Repeated exposures resulted in increased cell death at less extreme temperatures. Our data suggest that thermal ablation strategies (heat or cryoablation) may represent a viable technique for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
The Growth Inhibitory Potential and Antimetastatic Effect of Camel Urine on Breast Cancer Cells In Vitro and In Vivo
Authors: Romli Firdaus , Abu Nadiah , Khorshid Faten A. , Syed Najmuddin Syed Umar Faruq , Keong Yeap Swee , Mohamad Nurul Elyani , Hamid Muhajir , Alitheen Noorjahan Banu , Nik Abd Rahman Nik Mohd Afizan
Published: June 2016

Although it may sound unpleasant, camel urine has been consumed extensively for years in the Middle East as it is believed to be able to treat a wide range of diseases such as fever, cold, or even cancer. People usually take it by mixing small drops with camel milk or take it directly. The project aims to study the effects of camel urine in inhibiting the growth potential and metastatic ability of 4T1 cancer cell line in vitro and in vivo. Based on the MTT result, the cytotoxicity of camel urine against 4T1 cell was established, and it was dose-dependent. Additionally, the antimetastatic potential of camel urine was tested by running several assays such as scratch assay, migration and invasion assay, and mouse aortic ring assay with promising results in the ability of camel urine to inhibit metastatic process of the 4T1 cells. In order to fully establish camel urine’s potential, an in vivo study was carried out by treating mice inoculated with 4T1 cells with 2 different doses of camel urine. By the end of the treatment period, the tumor in both treated groups had reduced in size as compared to the control group. Additional assays such as the TUNEL assay, immunophenotyping, cytokine level detection assay, clonogenic assay, and proteome profiler demonstrated the capability of camel urine to reduce and inhibit the metastatic potential of 4T1 cells in vivo. To sum up, further study of anticancer properties of camel urine is justified, as evidenced through the in vitro and in vivo studies carried out. Better results were obtained at higher concentration of camel urine used in vivo. Apart from that, this project has laid out the mechanisms employed by the substance to inhibit the growth and the metastatic process of the 4T1 cell.
A Hand Up for Low-Income Families
Authors: Halpern-Meekin Sarah , Tach Laura , Sykes Jennifer , Edin Kathryn
Published: June 2016

How the EITC supports working families without imposing stigma.
Mexican Men’s View of Vasectomy
Authors: Marván Maria Luisa , Ehrenzweig Yamilet , Hernández-Aguilera Dianeth
Published: June 2016

The present study explored the views of Mexican men concerning vasectomy. One hundred and five men who had not had a vasectomy were asked to complete the following phrase “If you no longer wanted to have more children and a vasectomy was suggested, you would react with . . . or you would think . . . ” with at least five different answers. Participants then had to rank each of their answers according to how well they describe the participant’s feelings in the hypothetical situation. The results were analyzed using the Natural Semantic Networks Technique. The most common words used by participants with a limited educational background were reject, followed by fear and anger, and they did not use any words that implied acceptance of vasectomy. In contrast, the most common words used by participants with higher education were curiosity, followed by acceptance and interest; however, they also used the words fear and insecurity. The most frequent attitudes reported by men with limited education were negative, whereas participants with a higher education reported more ambivalent attitudes. These findings are discussed in light of sociocultural features and could be helpful in designing reproductive health programs with more effective counseling to diminish negative views about vasectomy.
Usefulness of T2*-weighted MRI in the detection of adnexal torsion
Authors: Kawai Nobuyuki , Kato Hiroki , Kanematsu Masayuki , Kawaguchi Shimpei , Kojima Toshihisa , Furui Tatsuro , Morishige Ken-ichirou , Matsuo Masayuki
Published: June 2016

Background

The usefulness of T2*-weighted (T2*W) imaging for the detection of adnexal torsion has yet to be determined.

Purpose

To assess the usefulness of T2*W imaging for detecting and differentiating adnexal torsion.

Material and Methods

Eight patients with eight ovaries with torsion and 44 patients with 72 ovaries without torsion were included in this study. All patients underwent 1.5-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including T2*W images. The frequency and distribution of hypointensity on T2*W images were compared between ovaries with torsion and ovaries without torsion.

Results

Hypointensity on T2*W images was significantly more frequent in ovaries with torsion than in ovaries without torsion (75% vs. 36%; P < 0.05). Among patients with hypointensity on T2*W images, the frequency of diffuse hypointensity was significantly higher in ovaries with torsion than in ovaries without torsion (83% vs. 0%; P < 0.01); whereas the frequency of focal hypointensity was significantly lower in ovaries with torsion than in ovaries without torsion (17% vs. 100%; P < 0.01).

Conclusion

The presence and distribution of hypointensity on T2*W images may play a supplementary role in the detection of adnexal torsion.
Quality Indicators of Activities of Legal Clinics: Ukrainian Experience
Authors: Halai Andrii
Published: June 2016

This article describes the activities of legal clinics in Ukraine and also tries to analyze the indicators of the quality of their work. Theoretical categories that characterize the quality of their work have been investigated. Based on the results of the research, the models of evaluation of the activities of a particular legal clinic have been compared with those of other legal clinics of the region, state and other states. Assessment tools used for evaluating the activities of the legal clinics have been described here in this article.
Can an Internet Adoption Framework be Developed for SMEs in South Africa
Authors: Mavimbela Regomoditswe , Dube Erick
Published: June 2016

Over two billion people across the globe are now connected to the Internet and the numbers are growing at approximately 200 million people per annum, attracting focus by businesses and governments especially pertaining to contributing to economic growth. Small and medium enterprises (SME) as engines of growth for South Africa, given that they have proved to provide over 50 per cent of employment in many economies, cannot be left out of the technology race. An adoption of Internet would leapfrog these SMEs to levels beyond survival but lead to sustainable businesses.

This study 1 1 In association with UNISA Graduate School of Business Leadership (UNISA SBL). investigated the viability of the development of an Internet adoption framework that is appropriate to the needs of SMEs in South Africa. SMEs in South Africa have been slow to adopt Internet technologies owing to the development and implementation of an Internet framework could best serve the SME sector needs.

In-depth interviews were conducted with SMEs to investigate the levels of adoption by SMEs and an analysis of the current Internet supply ecosystem was conducted. The research results reveal that SME are using what is available but not to full capacity to enable their business to thrive, given the benefits provided by Internet technologies. Their slow adoption is due to; lack of infrastructure and skills, lack of cyber laws, which will provide trust, slow Internet speed and high costs of connection.

The results also provided a positive outlook towards ascertaining if an Internet framework can be developed to serve the needs of SMEs in South Africa, if government is to take the lead facilitator role.
High-quality permanent draft genome sequence of Ensifer sp. PC2, isolated from a nitrogen-fixing root nodule of the legume tree (Khejri) native to the Thar Desert of India
Authors: Gehlot Hukam Singh , Ardley Julie , Tak Nisha , Tian Rui , Poonar Neetu , Meghwal Raju R. , Rathi Sonam , Tiwari Ravi , Adnawani Wan , Seshadri Rekha , Reddy T. B. K. , Pati Amrita , Woyke Tanja , Pillay Manoj , Markowitz Victor , Baeshen Mohammed N. , Al-Hejin Ahmed M. , Ivanova Natalia , Kyrpides Nikos , Reeve Wayne
Published: June 2016

Ensifer sp. PC2 is an aerobic, motile, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming rod that was isolated from a nitrogen-fixing nodule of the tree legume P. cineraria (L.) Druce (Khejri), which is a keystone species that grows in arid and semi-arid regions of the Indian Thar desert. Strain PC2 exists as a dominant saprophyte in alkaline soils of Western Rajasthan. It is fast growing, well-adapted to arid conditions and is able to form an effective symbiosis with several annual crop legumes as well as species of mimosoid trees and shrubs. Here we describe the features of Ensifer sp. PC2, together with genome sequence information and its annotation. The 8,458,965 bp high-quality permanent draft genome is arranged into 171 scaffolds of 171 contigs containing 8,344 protein-coding genes and 139 RNA-only encoding genes, and is one of the rhizobial genomes sequenced as part of the DOE Joint Genome Institute 2010 Genomic Encyclopedia for Bacteria and Archaea-Root Nodule Bacteria (GEBA-RNB) project proposal.
Noise suppression of time-migrated gathers using prestack structure-oriented filtering
Authors: Zhang Bo , Lin Tengfei , Guo Shiguang , Davogustto Oswaldo E. , Marfurt Kurt J.
Published: June 2016

Prestack seismic analysis provides information on rock properties, lithology, fluid content, and the orientation and intensity of anisotropy. However, such analysis demands high-quality seismic data. Unfortunately, noise is always present in seismic data even after careful processing. Noise in the prestack gathers may not only contaminate the seismic image, thereby lowering the quality of seismic interpretation, but it may also bias the seismic prestack inversion for rock properties, such as acoustic- and shear-impedance estimation. Common postmigration data conditioning includes running window median and Radon filters that are applied to the flattened common reflection point gathers. We have combined filters across the offset and azimuth with edge-preserving filters along the structure to construct a true “5D” filter that preserves amplitude, thereby preconditioning the data for subsequent quantitative analysis. We have evaluated our workflow by applying it to a prestack seismic volume acquired over the Fort Worth Basin, TX. The inverted results from the noise-suppressed prestack gathers are more laterally continuous and have higher correlation with well logs when compared with those inverted from conventional time-migrated gathers.
The Ways and Means of National Health Care Reform, 1974 and Beyond
Authors: Wainess Flint J.
Published: June 2016

Little attention has been paid in the health policy and welfare state literature to the politics of health care reform in the 1970s. Drawing on newspaper accounts and archival material collected from the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and the National Archives, I outline the political history of health care reform in the 93rd Congress. In doing so, I highlight critical institutional, environmental, and strategic lessons that today's reformers can learn from the experience of 1974.
The Missing Millions: Organized Labor, Business, and the Defeat of Clinton's Health Security Act
Authors: Gottschalk Marie
Published: June 2016

During the battle over comprehensive health care reform in the early 1990s, organized labor was not only unable to put together a winning coalition but also found itself divided and on the defensive as it struggled to prevent any further erosion of the private-sector safety net of the U.S. welfare state. Labor's relative ineffectiveness has deep institutional and political roots and was not merely a consequence of its dwindling membership base. Several key institutions of the private welfare state, notably the Taft-Hartley health and welfare funds and the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) preemption, brought the interests of organized labor more closely in line with those of large employers and commercial insurers and aggravated divisions within organized labor and between unions and public interest groups. In addition, several political factors conspired to reinforce labor's tendency to stick to a policy path on health care issues that was predicated on an employer-mandate solution and that had been charted primarily by business and leading Democrats. As a result, organized labor did not emerge from the 1993–1994 struggle with its political base fortified nor with a viable long-term political strategy to achieve universal health care and to shift the political debate over health policy in a more desirable direction.
The Implementation and Enforcement of Tobacco Control Laws: Policy Implications for Activists and the Industry
Authors: Jacobson Peter D. , Wasserman Jeffrey
Published: June 2016

We examine the process by which antitobacco laws and ordinances were implemented and enforced in seven states and nineteen localities. Our findings indicate that state- and local-level clean indoor air laws were rarely enforced by governmental agencies. Instead, these laws were largely self-enforcing in that changed social norms regarding appropriate smoking behavior led to generally high compliance rates. In contrast, teen access laws were not self-enforcing, but were often enforced through periodic vendor compliance checks. We also found that antitobacco forces did not devote a significant amount of attention to implementation and enforcement issues. Their focus was primarily on enacting new legislation and fighting tobacco industry attempts to weaken existing laws.

Our results do not augur well for public health measures that require state-level enforcement and that are opposed by powerful and politically well-connected interests. For tobacco control laws to be effective, public health advocates need to consider the locus of enforcement responsibility and the sanctions available to the enforcement agency, such as license removal by local authorities. These results suggest that failure to specify such mechanisms in the legislation will lead to delays in implementing and enforcing the laws as well as to a number of compliance problems. Antitobacco coalitions will also need to become more actively involved in the implementation and enforcement process.
Near Infrared Spectra and Soft Independent Modelling of Class Analogy for Discrimination of Chernozems, Luvisols and Vertisols
Authors: Todorova Mima H. , Atanassova Stefka L.
Published: June 2016

The objective of the present study was to use near infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and chemometrics to distinguish three major soil types in Bulgaria – Chernozems, Luvisols and Vertisols. The diffuse reflectance spectra of 78 air-dried and sieved soil samples collected from grasslands and arable agricultural lands and classified as Chernozems, Luvisols and Vertisols were obtained in the spectral range 700–2500 nm. Second-derivative transformation of soil and clay spectra was performed in order to find soil spectral differences based on the clay minerals content. Soft independent modelling of class analogy (SIMCA) was performed to classify samples according to their classes. Results show that the samples can be distinguished according to their classes as the SIMCA models correctly classified 100% of the samples in both calibration and validation sets. According to the discrimination power parameter of the SIMCA procedure, the most important wavelengths in the classification models of Chernozem, Luvisol and Vertisol soils were related to the content of clay minerals such as kaolinite and montmorillonite, smectite minerals, organic matter and carbonates.
Determination of Bilirubin Using near Infrared Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy with Selective Concentration on β-Cyclodextrin
Authors: Wang Cuicui , Cai Wensheng , Shao Xueguang
Published: June 2016

Near infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (NIR-DRS) is a convenient and fast quantitative method for direct analysis of complex samples. The low sensitivity of NIR-DRS, however, is a problem for micro-analysis. A method for improving the sensitivity of NIR-DRS is proposed using selective adsorption. The method makes use of an adsorbent containing β-cyclodextrin to achieve the specific adsorption of bilirubin (BR). Preconcentration of BR from an aqueous solution with complex matrix was achieved through hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bonding. Then NIR-DRS of the adsorbate was conducted and a partial least squares model was built for quantitative prediction. Both the preconcentration and the specific adsorption improve the analysis. The former enhances the spectral response by enrichment, and the latter makes the NIR response less affected by interferences such as metal ions, glucose etc. The results for the validation samples were a coefficient of determination ( r2) between the predicted and reference concentration of 0.98 with recoveries in the range 94.5′-107.5% in a concentration range of 3.30′-8.60 μg mL−1. The concentration that can be quantitatively detected was as low as 2.60 μg mL−1. Considering that the normal concentration range of BR in serum is 3.5′-10.0 μg mL−1, the method may provide a feasible tool for determination of BR in serum or other solution samples.
Risk Regulation in Brazil: A General Equilibrium Model
Authors: Araújo Aloísio Pessoa , Vicente José Valentim M.
Published: June 2016

In the last few years, regulating agencies of many countries, following recommendations of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, have compelled financial institutions to maintain minimum capital requirements to cover market and credit risks. The capital charge to cover market risk is a function of a metric known as Value-at-Risk (VaR). This paper investigates the consequences of such practices on prices, volatilities and bankruptcy probability by considering two features of the Brazilian framework: variable risk constraint multiplier and heterogeneous beliefs between financial institutions and regulating agencies.
Πρωτοσέλιδα
Authors: ΧΡΙΣΤΙΑΝΙΚΗ ΑΡΧΑΙΟΛΟΓΙΚΗ ΕΤΑΙΡΕΙΑ (ΧΑΕ)
Published: June 2016

no abstract
Do Targeted Discount Offers Serve as Advertising? Evidence from 70 Field Experiments
Authors: Sahni Navdeep S. , Zou Dan , Chintagunta Pradeep K.
Published: June 2016

The prevalence and widespread usage of email has given businesses a direct and cost-effective way of providing consumers with targeted discount offers. While these discounts are expected to increase the demand for the promoted products, are they effective in increasing revenues? Do they have effects beyond acting as price reductions? We study these questions using individual-level data from 70 randomized experiments run by a large online ticket resale platform. We estimate the redemption rates of the offers and also measure the broader impact of emailed promotions by comparing purchases by individuals who received the experimental promotions with purchases by those who did not receive the offers because of the experimental randomization. We find that the offers cause the average expenditure to increase significantly, by $3.03 (a 37.2% increase) during the promotion window. However, the redemption rate of these offers is low. Importantly, 90% of these gains are not through redemption of the offers. The individuals who spent more on the platform in the past are more responsive to the offers, and the effect of the offers is significantly higher among individuals who did not transact on the platform in the year before the offer was given. Interestingly, the offer causes carryover to the week after the promotion expires; we find that spending increases by $1.55 in the week after the offer expires. Additionally, we find evidence for cross category spillovers to nonpromoted products: offers not applicable to a ticket genre cause an increase in spending in that genre. We conclude that emailed offers can serve as a form of “advertising” for the firm’s products, in addition to being tools for price discrimination.

This paper was accepted by Eric Anderson, marketing.
Accented Algerian documentary: Jean-Pierre Lledo’s ‘Trilogy of Exile’
Authors: Bélot Sophie
Published: June 2016

The history of North African countries is defined by waves of emigration to their former colonies and other countries. After its independence in 1962, Algeria experienced one of its most important exoduses, mostly towards its former coloniser, France. Rarely documented, this migration concerned pied-noirs2, Europeans, harkis3 and Algerian Jews who moved to France for safety reasons and work opportunities. Expelled from Algeria and unwelcome in France, these groups became invisible and silenced. The invisibility and silence of certain groups of people in Algeria continued well after independence. During the Algerian crisis of the 1990s and early 2000s, minority groups (Berbers) as well as dissidents to the national identity (Arabo-Muslim) became the target of Islamist rebels. As an Algerian film-maker with Berber Jewish and Spanish origins, Jean-Pierre Lledo’s work is concerned with the memory of Algeria’s multi-ethnic groups who experienced the war of independence and its aftermath. Not easily fitting the official history, his films were often subject to censorship, which meant that in the turbulent years of the 1990s, Lledo was forced to leave Algeria because of Islamist pressure. Whilst in Algeria creativity was stifled, in France Lledo could resume his work to make his ‘Trilogy in Exile’, three documentaries dealing with Algeria’s past and present which focus on its dispossessed and displaced groups of individuals (like himself). Lledo’s personal and exilic stance is a distinctive feature of his (Algerian) documentaries. Travelling through France as well as returning to Algeria to travel through it, Lledo meets with what he calls, ‘his phantoms’. Looking at his ‘Trilogy in Exile’ documentaries, which include An Algerian Dream (2003), Algerias: My Phantoms (2004) and Algeria: Unspoken Stories (2007), this article will show how his exilic position informs his documentaries’ aesthetics as well as political stance to facilitate a multi-ethnic exchange and dialogue.
Chromosome Numbers in Hieracium (Asteraceae) from Central and Southeastern Europe II
Authors: Musiał Krystyna , Janas Agnieszka , Szeląg Zbigniew
Published: June 2016

Chromosome numbers for 12 Hieracium s.str. species from Bulgaria, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania and Serbia are given and their metaphase plates are illustrated. Chromosome numbers are published for the first time for H. albinum Fries 2n=4x=36, H. bukovicae Rohlena & Zahn; 2n=3x=27, H. retyezatense subsp. subatratiforme Neičeff & Zahn 2n=4x=36, H. velenovskyi Freyn 2n=3x=27, as well as two undescribed species belonging to the H. bohatschianum agg. 2n=4x=36 and H. nigrescens agg. 2n=4x=36 and a hybrid between H. naegelianum Pančić and H. bifidum s.lat. 2n=4x=36.