bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Applications of Nanomaterials for Water Treatment
Authors: Kaur Anupreet
Published: January 2017

Development of new technologies, progressive urbanization, increasing consumerism and industrial boom in developing countries has led to elevated pollution of the environment. The spectrum of pollutants produced and released to the environment has increased in the last few decades including the agricultural, industrial, pharmaceutical and plastic industries. In the developed and underdeveloped countries where environmental pollution goes on increasing day by day, the concern of mankind to the threat of humanity increases which comes from anthropogenic degradation of the environment. An analytical chemist is always in search of cheaper, quicker, more sensitive, more reliable, precise methods of analysis. To achieve such a goal many properties of the materials are studied. Nanotechnology meets many of the conditions mentioned above and is very economic. So, analytical nanotechnology is an important tool for preconcentration and separation of pollutants at low levels.
Portfolio Management as a Step into the Future
Authors: Romano Luca
Published: January 2017

Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is an “old-new” emerging discipline. More and more organizations are discovering PPM as an “alternative” to Strategic Planning. In reality the two disciplines should walk along, obtaining from this coexistence mutual benefits. Strategic Planning is often too far from reality and fails due to this distance. Project Management is too much down-to-earth, being focused on delivering, sometimes without knowing the real rational behind what is produced. PPM is a smart and wise connection between these too distant worlds (it has to be highlighted that also the people involved in the two disciplines are very dissimilar). PPM is a step into the future keeping a tight connection with the near past and with the ongoing activities performed by the organization. PPM supports organizations' need to shape their future. It is a complex process, taking time and resources, but the returns are worth the effort.
Linking Organization's Strategy and Strategic Planning with Portfolio Management
Authors: Bucero Alfonso
Published: January 2017

The strategy of any organisation and strategic planning are related to Portfolio Management. This chapter is focused on the relationship between the Organization's strategy and portfolio management. The purpose of this chapter is to explain the importance of strategic planning and its relationship with portfolio management. The focus of this chapter is to explain first the main elements of the organization's strategy based on the research from different authors and researchers plus the author's experience, then to explain the relationship between strategic planning and the portfolio management process, following with the explanation of the portfolio management context elements, defining the concepts of the mission, vision and objectives. The use of a case study tries to add value and achieve a better understanding of all the concepts explained in this chapter.
Optimizing Portfolio Value through Comprehensive Project Metrics
Authors: Olson Brandon
Published: January 2017

Project portfolios produce value through the coordinated execution of the projects and programs within the portfolio. The performance of the portfolio is evaluated by the generated business value and potential future opportunities it creates. This same performance measure is not applied to the projects within the portfolio. Projects are evaluated based on an operational measure of project efficiency that considers performance of project scope, budget, and schedule. Inconsistencies between portfolio and project performance decrease the value offered by each project and the overall value of the portfolio. In this study, a framework and solution are presented that expand the measures of project success to include criteria that better align with the goals of the project portfolio. The enhanced project success measures include project efficiency, customer impact, team impact, organizational success, and future preparation. The solution is applied to the project management process to demonstrate potential integration into project management practices.
Project Portfolio Management and Organization
Authors: Aiello Lucia , Gatti Mauro
Published: January 2017

The chapter is an overview on organizational models for project management, identifying the characteristics of a possible reference model that joins to the necessity of portfolio management. The approach to portfolio management requires attention to the integrated management of projects; this is why the organizational structure matrix “differentiated” could be a useful reference point. This chapter proposes, therefore, a reworking of the organizational structure design criteria considering both the Value Chain of Porter is the matrix structure “differentiated”. Ultimately, the contribution configures the characteristics of the organizational model for portfolio in relation to the type of project - internal/process, external/product mix - in order to improve the performance of internal projects whose objectives are not always explicit. The basic idea of this work is to apply the concept of Porter's value chain not only functions but also the portfolio of projects that the company has.
Medical Errors
Authors: Poduval Jayita
Published: January 2017

The impact of medical errors on the delivery of health care is massive, and it significantly reduces health care quality. They could be largely attributed to system failures and not human weakness. Therefore improving health care quality and ensuring quality control in health care would mean making systems function in a better manner. In order to achieve this all sections of society as well as industry must be involved. Reporting of medical error needs to be encouraged and this may be ensured if health care professionals as well as administrators and health consumers come forward without fear of being blamed. To get to the root of the problem- literally and metaphorically- a root cause analysis and audit must be carried out whenever feasible. Persons outside the medical care establishment also need to work with medical service providers to set standards of performance, competence and excellence.
Patient Safety and Medical Errors
Authors: Kapaki Vasiliki , Souliotis Kyriakos
Published: January 2017

Patient Safety is considered to be the most important parameter of quality that every contemporary healthcare system should be aiming at. The terms “Patient Safety” and “Medical Errors” are directly linked to the “Safety Culture and Climate” in every organization. It is widely accepted that medical errors constitute an index of insufficient safety and are defined as any unintentional event that diminishes or could diminish the level of patient safety. This chapter indicates that a beneficial safety culture is essential to enhance and assure patient safety. Furthermore, health care staff with a positive safety culture is more probable to learn openly and successfully from errors and injuries.
The Role of Forensic Medicine in Medical Errors
Authors: Leon Grigorios
Published: January 2017

This chapter presents the importance of Legal and Forensic Medicine in medical malpractice and explains how autopsies have a crucial role for the evaluation and the prevention of medical errors. Health systems vary from country to country; however, experts are indispensable in each system. In fact, experts' opinions are asked for resolution of specific court cases. Standard of care is often assessed by expert medical witnesses who testify for one of the litigants. The physician who acts as an expert witness is one of the most important figures in malpractice litigation. Therefore, a doctor who is an expert witness has to have certain training and qualifications and to act under common recommendations. The ideal medical expert seems to be the forensic doctor. In the future, a harmonization of practices could be applied in medical liability cases and the guidelines provided by the medico-legal community could constitute a stable base for their evaluation.
Using Event B to Specify Context Awareness for Service Discovery in Pervasive Environments
Authors: Belgharbi Karima , Boufaida Mahmoud
Published: January 2017

The environments of pervasive computing are open and dynamic. In order to ensure the dynamic discovery of services evolving in a heterogeneous and dynamic environment, specific extensions to WSDL, known as A-WSDL are suggested. These extensions permit to a service provider to define the context of service use and the behavior associated to each change of context. To verify and prove the expected behavior of the suggested discovery protocol in the design phase, the Event-B formalism is adopted. One of the advantages of the Event B formalism is the application of the refining techniques which permit to express complex features by means of mathematical proofs and moves from an abstract specification to a concrete specification by using the Rodin tool which offers a support for the refining and the proofs.
Lightweight Key Management for Adaptive Addressing in Next Generation Internet
Authors: Kimbahune Vinod Vijaykumar , Deshpande Arvind V. , Mahalle Parikshit Narendra
Published: January 2017

The continuous evolution of Next Generation Internet (NGI) amplifies the demand for efficient and secure communication capable of responding effectively to the challenges posed by the emerging applications. For secure communication between two sensor nodes, a secret key is needed. Cryptographic key management is a challenging task in sensor networks as the hostile environment of sensor networks makes it more prone to attacks. Apart from resource constraints of the devices, unknown topology of the network, the higher risk of node capture and lack of a fixed infrastructure makes the key management more challenging in Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). Paper surveys different key Management schemes for WSN. The paper presents the efficiency versus security requirements tradeoffs in key management for WSN. Paper also proposes a novel key management protocol which provides strong resistance against replay attacks. The results obtained from the mathematical model based on conditional probability of the scheme suggest that the proposed key management in NGI is efficient and attack resistant.
Trust based Dynamic Multicast Group Routing Ensuring Reliability for Ubiquitous Environment in MANETs
Authors: Tyagi Shobha , Som Subhranil , Rana Qamar Parvez
Published: January 2017

The mobile environment in MANETs (Mobile Ad hoc Networks) itself is a major constraint to deal with, and assuring reliability on the top of that strengthens the problem more. This paper which is entirely an extension of the authors' previous work based on trust based group formation using Fuzzy Logic. They herein propose a model which is highly inspired by natural and social behavior of human beings that man is a social animal and is always associated with different types of dynamic groups. Before ensuring the reliable route take into account the trust (T) and the speed (S) of the intermediate nodes which may take part in routing. Trust is actually a matter of feeling with which one feels connected with some person/s in the form of multicast groups. Thus, the proposed Multicast Route Reliability (MRR) is a purely a probabilistic function of Cartesian product of past relationships and present moving patterns.
Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Ranjan Alok , Sahu H. B. , Misra Prasant
Published: January 2017

With continuous advancements in sensor technology, wireless communications, modern network architectures and electronics; it is now feasible to fulfill the requirements of underground mines using wireless sensor network (WSN). At present, coal mining industries have the option of choosing a communication and tracking systems based on their requirement and budget. WSN has the advantage of support for wireless architecture which may fit for mining industries. There is limited literature available, which discuss the different features and associated challenges to WSNs in underground mines. However, in this paper, WSN has been targeted as a feasible solution for the underground mining industries, and emphasis has been given on integration of comprehensive concepts. The objective of this survey paper is to present a platform such that it is not only beneficial for beginners who want to pursue research in this area, but also target current researchers developing solutions for such confined and hostile environments. Furthermore, the application of WSN for underground mines has been categorized followed by real, and simulation-based studies and the significant implications for wireless communications and monitoring systems in the underground mines have been discussed in details.
Review on Feature Selection and Classification using Neuro-Fuzzy Approaches
Authors: Biswas Saroj , Bordoloi Monali , Purkayastha Biswajit
Published: January 2017

This research article attempts to provide a recent survey on neuro-fuzzy approaches for feature selection and classification. Feature selection acts as a catalyst in reducing computation time and dimensionality, enhancing prediction performance or accuracy and curtailing irrelevant or redundant data. The neuro-fuzzy approach is used for feature selection and for providing some insight to the user about the symbolic knowledge embedded within the network. The neuro–fuzzy approach combines the merits of neural network and fuzzy logic to solve many complex machine learning problems. The objective of this article is to provide a generic introduction and a recent survey to neuro-fuzzy approaches for feature selection and classification in a wide area of machine learning problems. Some of the existing neuro-fuzzy models are also applied on standard datasets to demonstrate the applicability of neuro-fuzzy approaches.
Research and Implementation of Mine Risk Area Semantic Retrieval System based on Ontology
Authors: Yang Xuexue , Gao Tao , Li Tianze , Liu Ye , Wang Yuhan
Published: January 2017

In this paper, the authors first analyze the research and development of semantic retrieval technology based on ontology, and introduce the key theoretical knowledge of ontology and semantic web, including the definition, description language, classification and semantic web. Secondly, this thesis makes a deep research on the ontology based semantic retrieval including semantic annotation, Chinese word segmentation, ontology storage, semantic association algorithm and so on. At the same time, it analyzes and introduces the construction principle, methods and tools involved in ontology. Finally, this paper designs and implements a complete ontology based semantic retrieval system based on the ontology of coal mine risk domain ontology, and verifies the feasibility of the system and the theory, and provides the basis for the development and popularization of the ontology based semantic retrieval technology.
Monitoring and Optimization of Pilot Pollution in High-Rise
Authors: Li Tianze , Gao Tao , Liu Ye , Wang Yuhan , Chen JiaHui
Published: January 2017

With the development and construction of the city, more and more high-rise buildings, more and more intensive, urban high-rise building pilot pollution problems become more and more prominent, urgent technical researchers continue to optimize the current communication network solutions. CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) system has great operating prospects, in the third generation of mobile communication development process, the network competitiveness, network operation quality put forward higher requirements. This paper first introduces the self-interference characteristic of CDMA network, first introduces the concept of pilot pollution for CDMA network. Secondly, from the causes of high-level pilot pollution problems, the solution of high-level pilot pollution concentration is put forward for different situations. Finally, the problem of high-level pilot pollution is further analyzed with practical examples.
Mission Performance Aid for Aerial Combat
Authors: Smith Kevin M.
Published: January 2017

This paper addresses the concepts, methods, apparatus, and tools used to establish the operational requirements and system architecture for an advanced mission performance aid (the smart cockpit) that targets aerial combat operations. As the complexity of our modern avionic systems increase, it is important to define operational requirements and crew station display features early in the design cycle. Many observers insist higher quality front-end work be performed to reduce the growing number of back-end mistakes and cost overruns. This paper provides a top-down orientation that treats platform, avionics, weapons, and flight crew as an integrated system. This facilitates the analysis of system-wide functional attributes that represent key design drivers. Topics include mission decomposition, critical task analysis, information requirements, function allocation, and crew station display features. This material is intended for managers, engineers, human factor professionals, and test and evaluation flight crews improving mission performance in an increasingly complex environment.
Assessing the Correlation Between Environmental Awareness and Variability of Employees' Positions in Aviation and Aerospace Industries
Authors: Maleviti Eva , Stamoulis Evangelos
Published: January 2017

The purpose of this study is to assess the awareness and attitudes of employees in Aviation and aerospace industries. This paper belongs to a wider research project, on environmental management in aviation and aerospace industries. The main scope of this research is to evaluate the level of environmental awareness and the adoption of environmental management practices. The present descriptive study was carried-out at Greece, collecting a sample in a global level. The opinion of people employed in aviation industry is considered, based on the versatility of their working positions. Up to this stage, 330 respondents have participated globally in the current research. This study uses a questionnaire survey to gain an understanding of the views and attitudes of aerospace staff toward environmental management. The results demonstrate that the level of environmental awareness is immediately linked with the employees' positions.
Airline Hangars Balanced Manpower Utilization
Authors: Massoud Bazargan , Chen Xiaoxu
Published: January 2017

Airlines on average spend 10%-15% of their total operating cost on aircraft maintenance. Most of the airlines conduct their light maintenance checks in-house. These light checks have a major impact on flight schedules, delay rates and cost. A chronic challenge with airlines is assigning light maintenance checks to the hangars while achieving a balanced utilization of the manpower. This study considers airline's daily flight schedule, manpower needed for each check, the availability of manpower and expertise at each hangar, capitalizes on flexibility of performing aircraft light maintenance checks among potential hangars aiming at balancing manpower utilization. The results are very encouraging compared with existing practices. The model not only identifies which maintenance checks to be performed at different hangars but provides recommendations in terms of increasing/decreasing manpower needs. An airline application reveals that the model can help airlines with their strategic manpower planning strategies to achieve a high and balanced utilization of their maintenance manpower.
Transforming Birmingham City with Smart Applications
Authors: Hernandez-Munoz Luis , Feldman Gerald , Javidroozi Vahid , King Annette C , Mack Raj
Published: January 2017

Since the amount of people living in cities is expected to increase to 70% by 2050, cities will face many social and urbanisation challenges, and they will need to operate with reduced budgets and limited number of staff. The productivity of computers offers means to address city challenges and do more with less. In this paper, two Smart City projects carried out in Birmingham UK are presented. Firstly, in the Innovation Engine project, conceptual graphs were used to translate innovation experts' ideas into the specification of an open innovation model that may address the needs of large organisations with the capabilities of SMEs and citizens. Secondly, we present results of the pilot evaluation of the Digital Log Book, a smart web portal that enables citizens to access a whole range of public and private services including social housing, universal job match and jobseeker's allowance benefits. We can conclude that smart applications can be very useful to produce better public services and to support cities in the co-creation of new tools that empower citizens and organisations.
Using an Online Data Portal and Prototype Analysis Tools in an Investigation of Spatial Livability Planning
Authors: Bishop Ian D. , Eagleson Serryn , Pettit Christopher J. , Rajabifard Abbas , Badland Hannah , Day Jennifer Eve , Furler John , Kalantari Mohsen , Sturup Sophie , White Marcus
Published: January 2017

This paper introduces an online spatial data portal with advanced data access, analytical and visualisation capabilities which can be used for evidence based city planning and supporting data driven research. Through a case study approach, focused in the city of Melbourne, the authors show how the Australian Urban Infrastructure Network (AURIN) portal can be used to investigate a multi-facetted approach to understanding the various spatial dimension of livability. While the tools explore separate facets of livability (employment, housing, health service and walkability), their outputs flow through to the other tools showing the benefits of integrated systems.
Organizational Citizenship Behaviors as a Mediator between Culture and Turnover Intentions
Authors: Dwivedi Sulakshna
Published: January 2017

An attempt has been made to investigate the mediating role of OCBs in culture and turnover intentions. Data was collected from 15 BPO units located in Chandigarh. Findings revealed that OCBs of employees in the BPO sector are mainly sensitive to four dimensions of organizational culture viz. proaction, confrontation, experimentation and openness. Finally, a partial mediation of OCBs had been found between organizational culture and turnover intentions. Taking into consideration the practical implications of the study, findings suggest that BPO Managers should pay special attention and recognition to employees' OCBs, as these could help in reducing their attrition. Further implications of the results and direction for future research have been elaborated.
Moderating Role of Gender between Job Characteristics and Job Satisfaction
Authors: Traymbak Shruti , Kumar Pranab , Jha A.N.
Published: January 2017

This study examines the moderating role of gender between job characteristics and job satisfaction among Indian software employees which has received less attention in the Indian context. Additionally, it also examines difference in the job characteristics that affect male and female employee's job satisfaction. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and chi-square difference in multi group moderation analysis, used to test the hypothesized relationships. Chi-square difference test showed invariant moderation effect of gender on the relationship between job characteristics and job satisfaction. It has been also found that five job characteristics (skill variety, task significance, task identity, autonomy and feedback) have a significant positive impact on job satisfaction among male employees, whereas in case of female, only two job characteristics task significance and task identity were significant predictors of job satisfaction. Interestingly, task significance and task identity were common significant positive predictors of job satisfaction for both male and female software employees.
An Investigation into Customers' Requirements for Electronic Banking
Authors: Kalui Dorothy M. , Moturi Christopher A. , Muketha Geoffrey Muchiri , Tarus John K.
Published: January 2017

There is a general consensus that governments, businesses and all individuals need to harness the power of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and ICT enabled services for wider access and improved welfare standards. The requirements of MFI clients in regard to electronic banking (e- banking) have received limited attention in the reviewed literature. In Kenya, little is known and understood about the customers' requirements with emergence of e-banking. In this paper, the authors investigate the MFIs clients' e-banking requirements to align with the MFIs preparedness for sustainable success. Besides, it narrows the digital divide in provision of financial services to Kenyans. Findings from this study indicate that in Kenya, MFI clients are ready for e-banking. The paper finally recommends some possible solutions that MFIs could embrace towards successful implementation of e-banking.
Measuring Service Utilities in Service Value Networks
Authors: Ren Jinluan , Zhao Liping , Li Bo , Liu Lihua , Xing Ruben
Published: January 2017

In spite of the importance of service value networks (SVNs) in today's service sectors, academic studies of SVNs, in terms of their formalisms, models and value creation processes, are still lacking, with only sporadic publications available. This paper intends to make a contribution to the formal studies of SVNs with a threefold aim: (1) to provide an overview of existing work on value creation processes in SVNs and SVN models, (2) through this exposition, to propose a formalism for measuring service utility for SVNs, and (3) to illustrate this formalism through a real world SVN scenario based on China's mobile services market. The proposed formalism consists of a formal definition of service utilities for both primitive and complex services and a systematic approach with repeatable processes for measuring these utilities. Among several potential practical uses, this formalism can be embedded into a software system as a decision tool for service selection, composition and pricing. In addition, it can also serve as a business services analysis tool during the early stages of developing software intensive service systems, where business service abstractions can be represented as SVNs.
Framework for a Hospitality Big Data Warehouse
Authors: Ramos Célia M.Q. , Martins Daniel Jorge , Serra Francisco , Lam Roberto , Cardoso Pedro J.S. , Correia Marisol B. , Rodrigues João M.F.
Published: January 2017

In order to increase the hotel's competitiveness, to maximize its revenue, to meliorate its online reputation and improve customer relationship, the information about the hotel's business has to be managed by adequate information systems (IS). Those IS should be capable of returning knowledge from a necessarily large quantity of information, anticipating and influencing the consumer's behaviour. One way to manage the information is to develop a Big Data Warehouse (BDW), which includes information from internal sources (e.g., Data Warehouse) and external sources (e.g., competitive set and customers' opinions). This paper presents a framework for a Hospitality Big Data Warehouse (HBDW). The framework includes a (1) Web crawler that periodically accesses targeted websites to automatically extract information from them, and a (2) data model to organize and consolidate the collected data into a HBDW. Additionally, the usefulness of this HBDW to the development of the business analytical tools is discussed, keeping in mind the implementation of the business intelligence (BI) concepts.
Customer Knowledge Management (CKM) Practices in the Telecommunication Industry in Bangladesh
Authors: Panni Mohammad Fateh Ali Khan , Hoque Naimul
Published: January 2017

Customer Knowledge Management (CKM) has become buzzword in modern knowledge driven society. As an innovative concept the study has attempted to find out the level of orientation of CKM practices in telecommunication sector in a developing country like Bangladesh through data and methodology triangulation approach. In the first phase of the study, quantitative technique has been used where data has been collected from 42 employees from major telecommunication companies such as Grameen Phone (GP), Banglalink, Robi, Airtel and Teletalk. In order to find out the details explanation of the quantitative results, an extensive open-ended survey has been conducted on experienced mid-level employees. In the last phase of the study, a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted on selected knowledgeable educated customers to cross check the results derived from the corporate people in order to ensure the reliability of the study.
Augmenting Landmarks During the Head-Up Provision of In-Vehicle Navigation Advice
Authors: Large David R. , Burnett Gary , Bolton Adam
Published: January 2017

The use of landmarks during the provision of directions can greatly improve drivers' route-following performance. However, the successful integration of landmarks within in-vehicle navigation systems is predicated on the acquisition and deployment of good quality landmarks, as defined by their visibility, uniqueness, permanence, location etc., and their accurate and succinct depiction on in-vehicle displays and during accompanying verbal messages. Notwithstanding the inherent variability in the quality and propensity of landmarks within the driving environment, attending to in-vehicle displays and verbal messages while driving can distract drivers and heighten their visual and cognitive workload. Furthermore, vocal utterances are transient and can be littered with paralinguistic cues that can influence a driver's interpretation of what is said. In this paper, a driving simulator study is described aiming to investigate the augmentation of landmarks during the head up provision of route guidance advice – a potential solution to some of these problems. Twenty participants undertook four drives utilising a navigation system presented on a head up display (HUD) in which navigational instructions were presented as either: conventional distance-to-turn information; on-road arrows; or augmented landmarks (either an arrow pointing to the landmark or a box enclosing the landmark adjacent to the required turning). Participants demonstrated significant performance improvements while using the augmented landmark 'box' compared to the conventional distance-to-turn information, with response times and success rates enhanced by 43.1% and 26.2%, respectively. Moreover, there were significant reductions in eyes off-the-road time when using this approach, and it also attracted the lowest subjective ratings of workload. The authors conclude that there are significant benefits to augmenting landmarks during the head-up provision of in-car navigation advice.
Developing and Validating a High School Version of the Robotics Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire
Authors: Ten Huang Yuan , Liu Eric Zhi-Feng , Lin Chun Hung , Liou Pey-Yan
Published: January 2017

Robotics has become a crucial domain in technology education, helping students to improve their abilities in assembly and programming. Despite the considerable research that has gone into the learning performance associated with robotics, little work has been done on the cognitive processes involved in learning this subject. The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument (based on the theoretical framework of MSLQ), with which to evaluate the motivation of high school students to learn robotics and the strategies they employ. Fifty participants in the open category competition of the World Robot Olympiad 2010 completed the self-reported questionnaire (RMSLQ-HS). Thirteen factors and fifty one items were extracted using exploratory factor analysis. Implications for the educational application of robotics and research suggestions related to RMSLQ are also discussed.
Paradigm and Architecture of Computing Augmented Learning Management System for Computer Science Education
Authors: Anohah Ebenezer
Published: January 2017

Literature suggests that existing learning management systems should be extended to integrate learning activities that aim at enhancing comprehension of students in Computer Science education. Therefore, literature has proposed Computing Augmented Learning Management System (CALMS) that meets the needs of online Computer Science education. However, it's unclear the current state of architecture for the CALMS to assist researchers interrogate and extend its modules for online Computer Science education. Pedagogically to ascertain the thinking direction of current Computer Science educators it's also relevant to understand philosophical stance of learning events from the new idea of CALMS for online computer science education. The review reveals that learning events of the CALMS suggest an adaption of moderate constructivism stance for online Computer Science education. The CALMS incorporate annotations, algorithm or animation visualization and automatic assessment for the purposes of computer science education.
Ways to Promoting Rural, Cultural and Gastronomical Tourism in Mărginimea Sibiului
Authors: Virgil Nicula.  , Spânu Simona
Published: January 2017

In 2009, the touristic potential of Marginimea Sibiului is recognised both nationally and internationally for its unique ethnographic, cultural, architectural and historical heritage and it has also won the Golden Apple Award of World Federation of Travel Journalists and Writers. In 2015, this area with rich traditions won a price for promoting local gastronomy. Cheeses of Marginimea Sibiului are an important part of this region's culinary and cultural tradition, and its diversity comes from specific production techniques. The Sheep Cheese Route provides an excellent opportunity for discovering the pastoral world of Marginimea Sibiului, with its picturesque settlements and calm lifestyle. Due to continuous shepherding and transhumance, the 18 villages connected to the route have succeeded in keeping their strong local identity. Marginimea Sibiului has always been known in Romania as the land of sheep, cheeses and meat delicacies. Its traditional products reflect the richness of the land but also the region's cultural diversity.
Parallel Online Exact Summation of Floating-point Numbers by Applying MapReduce of Java8
Authors: Sakamoto Naoshi
Published: January 2017

Java8 introduced the notion of streams that is a new data structure and supports multi-core processors. When the sum method is called for a stream of floating-point numbers, the summation is calculated at high-speed by applying MapReduce, which distributes computations to cores. However, since floating-point calculation causes an error, simple adaptation of this method cannot determine the result uniquely. Then, in this study, the authors develop a summation program that can be applied to a stream with MapReduce. Their method can calculate at high-speed with keeping correctly rounded.
Recovering Polyp Shape from an Endoscope Image Using Two Light Sources
Authors: Usami Hiroyasu , Iwahori Yuji , Hanai Yuki , Kijsirikul Boonserm , Kasugai Kunio
Published: January 2017

This paper proposes a new approach to recover the polyp shape from an endoscope image using a photometric constraint equation considering two light sources. The procedures are as follows. First, obtain the initial depth distributions by optimizing photometric equation obtained from two light sources. Next, obtain the surface normal vector from depth using numerical difference at each point. Then the mapping between the obtained normal vector and true normal vector is learned using Radial Basis Function Neural Network for a Lambertian sphere, and learning is generalized to another actual polyp image. Finally, optimize the depth using the obtained surface normal to recover the final 3D shape. The validity is confirmed of this method in comparison with the previous methods via computer simulation and experiments using actual endoscope images.
Online Shopping Behavior
Authors: Katta Rama Mohana Rao , Patro Chandra Sekhar
Published: January 2017

Online shopping is a recent phenomenon in the field of E-Business with promising results indicating revolutionary change in shopping in the world. Accessibility and convenience are the key drivers for a major shift to online shopping. Due to ever increasing work pressure, multiple roles in life style, paucity of time, consumers are on the lookout of such facility that can suit to their changing needs. Online shopping provides the right solution to get the desired goods and services with a touch on the computer/ mobile screen. Consumers are more connected than ever before and have more information and choices at their fingertips today due to expanding connectivity of internet all over the world. If e-marketers know and understand the factors affecting consumer satisfaction, they can further sharpen their marketing strategies to attract and retain customers. The study focuses on identifying the factors influencing online shopping behavior and the reasons for preferring online shopping compared to shopping in conventional stores.
A Novel Query-Driven Clustering-Based Technique for Vertical Fragmentation and Allocation in Distributed Database Systems
Authors: Sewisy Adel A. , Amer Ali A. , Abdalla Hassan I.
Published: January 2017

In this paper, heuristic query-driven clustering-based vertical fragmentation technique is efficiently developed. The intrinsic idea is to meet the idealistic case of DDBS design which comes to happen as each query attune “closely match” its relevant fragment. The proposed technique is mainly sought to breed clusters of queries in the first place. Consequently, these clusters would be tacitly used to generate intended disjoint fragments. Moreover, the allocation process has been considered so that replicated and non-replicated scenarios of data are applied. This technique basically meant to be efficaciously applicable at the initial stage of DDBS design without the need for data statistics or empirical results, in either dynamic or static DDBS environment. Many existing design-related techniques are being incorporated to make a promising work, particularly as communication costs being the foremost design objective. Throughout this work, the experimental results and internal evaluation are extensively illustrated to demonstrate the effectiveness and validity of proposed technique.
BCWB
Authors: Gannouni Sofien , Alangari Nourah , Mathkour Hassan , Aboalsamh Hatim , Belwafi Kais
Published: January 2017

Web access and web resources open many horizons, their usage increases in all life aspects including government, education, commerce and entertainment, where the key to such resources lies in Web browsers. Acknowledging the importance of universal accessibility to web resources, the W3C has developed a series of guidelines into a Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), with the goal of providing access to web resources for people with disabilities. In order to bridge the gap in the digital divide between the disabled and the non-disabled people, the authors believe that the development of novel assistive technologies using new human-computer interfaces will go a long way towards achieving this lofty goal. In this paper, they present a P300 Electroencephalography Brain-controlled Web browser to enhance the accessibility of people with severe motor disabilities to Web resources. It enhances their interaction with the Web taking their needs into account. The proposed Web browser satisfies the Mankoff's requirements of a system that would “allow true web access.”
Matching and Ranking Trustworthy Context-Dependent Universities
Authors: Alhalabi Wadee S. , Bawazir Afnan , Mohammad Mubarak , Sarirete Akila
Published: January 2017

The King Abdullah Scholarship Program was created in 2005 by sending Saudi students to study abroad. The program has a series of specific rules and it was found that due to the multitude of services the students can choose from, there is a great difficulty in finding the most suitable universities/programs/courses. Traditional manual selection requires students to visit every university website looking for their preferred courses. Some students prefer to talk to advisers and recruiters to get help. Students are not aware that those advisers and recruiters might have a financial interest to direct students to certain universities. Therefore, the risk of applying to the wrong institution is increased. Manually selecting what is best for each criterion is a tedious task, and, consequently, in this work the authors use an automated system to reach a plausible solution.
Molecular surveillance of spotted fever group rickettsioses in wildlife and detection of Rickettsia sibirica in a Topi (Damaliscus lunatus ssp. jimela) in Kenya
Authors: Ndeereh David , Thaiyah Andrew , Muchemi Gerald , Miyunga Antoinette A.
Published: January 2017

Spotted fever group rickettsioses are a group of tick-borne zoonotic diseases caused by intracellular bacteria of the genus Rickettsia. The diseases are widely reported amongst international travellers returning from most sub-Saharan Africa with fever, yet their importance in local populations largely remains unknown. Although this has started to change and recently there have been increasing reports of the diseases in livestock, ticks and humans in Kenya, they have not been investigated in wildlife. We examined the presence, prevalence and species of Rickettsia present in wildlife in two regions of Kenya with a unique human–wildlife–livestock interface. For this purpose, 79 wild animals in Laikipia County and 73 in Maasai Mara National Reserve were sampled. DNA extracted from blood was tested using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify the intergenic spacer rpmE-tRNAfMet and the citrate synthase-encoding gene gltA. Rickettsial DNA was detected in 2 of the 79 (2.5%) animals in Laikipia and 4 of the 73 (5.5%) in Maasai Mara. The PCR-positive amplicons of the gltA gene were sequenced to determine the detected Rickettsia species. This revealed Rickettsia sibirica in a Topi (Damaliscus lunatus ssp. jimela). This is the first report of spotted fever group rickettsioses in wildlife and the first to report R. sibirica in Kenya. The finding demonstrates the potential role of wild animals in the circulation of the diseases.
Total rewards that retain: A study of demographic preferences
Authors: Pregnolato Monica , Bussin Mark H.R. , Schlechter Anton F.
Published: January 2017

Orientation: Changing workplace demographics and a dearth of employees with scarce skills have forced employers to better understand the various factors that retain talented employees.Research purpose: In this empirical study, the reward preferences and ideal combination of total reward elements (based on an estimation of their relative importance) that retain employees from various demographic groups, including employees of different race, gender and age groups, were investigated.Motivation for study: Organisations are competing for talented employees and to benefit from the value these individuals add, it is required of them to stay at the respective businesses. Previous studies have indicated that employees who are offered a reward package that is aligned to their personal preferences are prone to stay longer at the organisation and to be more engaged at work. However, new and novel ways need to be found to identify the reward preferences of employees.Research design, approach and method: A quantitative approach and descriptive research design was employed to estimate the individual reward preferences and identify an ideal mix of total reward elements that retain different cohorts of employees. Three questionnaires were distributed, including a Remuneration Managers Questionnaire (n = 7), a Remuneration Preference Questionnaire (n = 368) and a Choice-based Conjoint Task Questionnaire (n = 368). The latter two questionnaires were distributed as an online questionnaire to South African businesses and consisted of eight choice-based conjoint tasks, as well as a field survey.Main findings: The results of the choice-based conjoint analysis revealed that all respondents considered financial rewards (Benefits, Performance and Recognition, Remuneration, Career, in that order) as relatively speaking, the most important components in their total rewards package that would lead to their retention. For most demographic groups, the remaining three places (i.e. ranked) were Career Advancement, Learning and Work–life balance. Work–life balance was found to be relatively more important for Generation Y than career advancement. For those employees with only a matric qualification and those in non-managerial positions, access to learning opportunities were the least important in their retention.Practical/managerial implications: Human Resource managers and line managers should note that reward elements should be chosen and offered as total reward packages in such a way as to best be able to attract, engage and retain talented employees.Contribution/value-add: The findings of the present study adds value in a sense that it assists organisations in creating customised reward packages that best suit the needs of both employees and them as employers. Providing a more ideal or preferential combination of reward elements can, by increasing retention and engagement, provide a competitive advantage for organisations.
Role of articular disc in cartilaginous growth of the mandible in rats
Authors: Xiao Fang , Hayashi Hidetaka , Fujita Tadashi , Shirakura Maya , Tsuka Yuji , Fujii Eri , Tanne Kazuo , Tanimoto Kotaro
Published: January 2017

Displacement of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disc causes a lateral shift of the mandible and less-developed and/or distally located mandible unilaterally and bilaterally, respectively, if occurred in growing individuals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate mandibular condylar growth in growing rats after TMJ discectomy and to explore a certain significant role of articular disc in the TMJ in mandibular or cartilaginous growth. Eighteen 4-week-old Wistar strain male rats were divided into two groups with nine in each group, i.e., rats with TMJ discectomy (discectomy group) and only sham operation (control group). Four weeks after initiating the experiment, morphometric analyses of the mandible were performed using a rat and mouse cephalometer and micro-computed tomography. Then, the mandibular condyles were subjected to histomorphometric analyses. Condylar and mandibular growth was reduced significantly in the discectomy group than in the control group. In the discectomy group, the condyle also became flatter and smaller. In addition, the 4-layer structure of condylar cartilage was unclear with thicker fibrous and thinner lower hypertrophic layers in the discectomy group when compared to the controls. It is shown that resection of the articular disc substantially affects condylar and mandibular growth in terms of the cartilaginous growth, suggesting that TMJ disc is indispensable for maintaining normal growth of the condyle and mandible, leading to optimal development of the TMJ and the entire mandible.
Ad-nilpotent Elements of Semiprime Rings with Involution
Authors: Lee Tsiu-Kwen
Published: January 2017

Let R be an n!-torsion free semiprime ring with involution * and with extended centroid C, where n > 1 is a positive integer. We characterize a ∊ K, the Lie algebra of skew elements in R, satisfying (ada)n = 0 on K. This generalizes both Martindale and Miers’ theorem and the theorem of Brox et al. In order to prove it we first prove that if a, b ∊ R satisfy (ada)n = adb on R, where either n is even or b = 0, then (a − λ)[(n+1)/2] = 0 for some λ ∊ C.