bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
HÁBITOS SONOROS E QUEIXAS AUDITIVAS DE JOVENS ESCOLARES
Authors: Serafini Raquel Vettorello , Topanotti Jenane , Cassol Karlla , Tomiasi Aline Aparecida
Published: July 2019

Introdução: A exposição a hábitos auditivos incorretos ocorrem em várias faixas etárias, principalmente em jovens, devido ao uso mais comum da tecnologia portátil que trazem inovações nos aparelhos, além da qualidade dos amplificadores dos sons e seus acessórios de utilização individual. Devido a isso, problemas auditivos estão mais evidentes em jovens que, por sua vez, refletem na aprendizagem, além de acarretar em dificuldades cognitivas e sensoriais. Objetivo: Investigar os hábitos sonoros de jovens escolares, e se esses são relevantes para o desenvolvimento de problemas auditivos, bem como verificar possíveis queixas auditivas. Metodologia: A amostra foi constituída de 101 jovens, de ambos os gêneros, com idades de 15 a 22 anos, sendo 51 do gênero masculino e 50 do feminino, matriculados no ensino médio (primeiro ao terceiro) da rede estadual. Um questionário, dividido em duas partes, foi elaborado.  A parte 1, composta por perguntas referentes aos hábitos sonoros e consequência do ruído intenso à saúde, e a parte 2, sobre as queixas auditivas. Este, por sua vez, com perguntas fechadas, de múltipla escolha, porém com possibilidade de assinalar uma ou mais alternativa para cada questão. O mesmo foi aplicado em uma sala silenciosa, com tempo de no máximo 10 minutos e, no decurso da disponibilidade dos alunos, para não prejudicar os trabalhos em sala de aula. Resultados: Todos os jovens escolares apresentam hábitos sonoros relevantes para o desenvolvimento de problemas auditivos, principalmente em ambientes como bares, restaurantes e cinemas, além de sua maioria fazer uso do aparelho celular associado ao fone de ouvido do tipo intra-aural e em intensidades elevadas. Dos 101 participantes, 90% referiram ter o conhecimento de que intensidades sonoras elevadas causam problemas auditivos. As queixas auditivas mais relevantes foram à dificuldade de compreensão e o zumbido. Conclusão: Os jovens escolares participantes possuem hábitos sonoros relevantes para o desenvolvimento de problemas auditivos, além de já apresentarem sintomas auditivos importantes com relação a possíveis prejuízos na audição. Nesse sentido, tornam-se imprescindíveis estratégias para promoção e prevenção da saúde auditiva nesta população.
ELABORAÇÃO DE PRODUTO CÁRNEO EMPANADO DE CARNE SUÍNA COM ADIÇÃO DE FIBRA: CARACTERIZAÇÃO MICROBIOLÓGICA, FÍSICO-QUÍMICA, E ANÁLISE SENSORIAL
Authors: Mallmann Ronan Michael , Likes Iomara Gafuri , Assoni Polyana Bruna , Klauck Caroline Maliska , Bernardi Daniela Miotto
Published: July 2019

A elaboração de produtos cárneos processados com melhores características sensoriais é uma tendência atual do mercado, neste contexto, o objetivo do presente estudo trabalho foi desenvolver e avaliar um produto cárneo empanado suíno, com adição de fibras e com redução de gordura. Materiais e métodos: Elaborou-se 5 formulações de produto cárneo empanado suínos: Formulação Controle (FC) com 0% de adição de quinua e 17,96% de toucinho; Formulação 1 (F1) com 8,98% de adição de quinua e 8,98% de toucinho; Formulação 2 (F2) com 13,47% de adição de quinua  e 4,49% de toucinho;  Formulação 3 (F3) com 17,96% de adição de quinua e 4,49% de toucinho e a Formulação 4 (F4) com 4,49% de adição de quinua e 13,47% de toucinho. Para todas as formulações foram realizadas análises microbiológicas (Mesófilos à 37ºC, Salmonella spp e Staphylococcus aureus), físico-química (umidade, gorduras totais, proteína bruta, cinzas e fibra alimentar) e análise sensorial.  Resultados: As análises microbiológicas ficaram dentro do exigido pela legislação e os resultados das análises físico-química demonstraram-se positivo, sendo que o teor de fibra alimentar encontrado foi de 0,98% (FC); 2,05% (F1); 2,19% (F2); 3,01% (F3) e 1,42% (F4) e o teor de lipídio foi de 10,87 (FC); 9,19 (F1); 6,46 (F2); 9,89 (F3) e 14,86 (F4). A análise sensorial obteve todas as médias de Índice de Aceitação (IA) acima de 70%. Conclusão: Foi possível produzir um produto cárneo empanado mais saudável e de boa aceitabilidade por meio da substituição de gordura por quinua.
AVALIAÇÃO DOS EFEITOS DA Curcuma longa L. SOBRE O PERFL LIPÍDICO E GORDURA EPIDIDIMAL EM RATOS WISTAR ALIMENTADOS COM DIETA DE CAFETERIA
Authors: Bacelar Pâmela Morais , Oliveira João Pedro Alves De , Oliveira Mariane Aline Gomes , Moreno Gustavo Frederico , Pinto Sara Coletti , Bernardi Daniela Miotto , Silva Sóstenez Alexandre Vessaro
Published: July 2019

A Curcuma longa L., também conhecida como cúrcuma, gengibre dourado ou açafrão da Índia, uma espécie originária do sudeste asiático, pertencente à família das Zingiberaceae, é considerada um alimento funcional, pois possui um composto chamado curcumina, conhecido por seu efeito antiinflamatório e hipocolesterolêmico. Neste estudo o objetivo foi avaliar o efeito da cúrcuma sobre a os níveis séricos de colesterol e triglicerídeos, depósito de gordura epididimal e crescimento de ratos wistar. Foram utilizados dezesseis ratos machos divididos em quatro grupos com quatro animais: Grupo 1 (RC) grupo controle, com dieta comercial; Grupo 2 (DC)  com dieta de cafeteria; Grupo 3 (DC2C) com dieta de cafeteria + 2% de cúrcuma; Grupo 4 (DC5C) com dieta de cafeteria + 5% de cúrcuma. Foi avaliado o consumo de ração diário (CRD), ganho de peso diário (GPD), conversão alimentar (CA), gordura epididimal e níveis séricos de colesterol e triglicerídeos. Os resultados foram significativos (p<0,05) nos parâmetros CRD, GPD e CA. O grupo RC teve melhor resultado no CRD e GPD, enquanto o grupo CF teve melhor desempenho na CA. A massa de gordura epididimal foi maior no grupo CF, porém não foi estatisticamente significativo (p=0,05). Os níveis de colesterol mais elevados foram dos animais do grupo CF5C e o grupo CF apresentou maiores níveis de triglicerídeos séricos, no entanto não houve significância estatística em ambos. A eficácia da cúrcuma sobre estes parâmetros é dependente da dose administrada.
Identifying Galactic Halo Substructure in 6D Phase Space Using ∼13,000 LAMOST K Giants
Authors: Yang Chengqun , Xue Xiang-Xiang , Li Jing , Zhang Lan , Liu Chao , Zhao Gang , Chang Jiang , Tian Hao , Li Chengdong
Published: July 2019

We construct a large halo K-giant sample by combining the positions, distances, radial velocities, and metallicities of over 13,000 LAMOST DR5 halo K giants with the Gaia DR2 proper motions, which covers a Galactocentric distance range of 5–120 kpc. Using a position–velocity clustering estimator (the 6Distance), we statistically quantify the presence of position–velocity substructure at high significance: K giants have more close pairs in position–velocity space than a smooth stellar halo. We find that the amount of substructure in the halo increases with increasing distance and metallicity. With a percolation algorithm named friends-of-friends to identify groups, we identify members belonging to Sagittarius (Sgr) Streams, Monoceros Ring, Virgo Overdensity, Hercules–Aquila Cloud, Orphan Streams, and other unknown substructures and find that the Sgr streams account for a large part of grouped stars beyond 20 kpc and enhance the increase of substructure with distance and metallicity. For the first time, we identify spectroscopic members of Monoceros Ring in the southern and northern Galactic hemispheres, which presents a rotation of about 185 km s−1 and a mean metallicity of −0.66 dex.
Pulse Phase Variation of the Cyclotron Line in HMXB 4U 1907+09 with AstroSat LAXPC
Authors: Varun  , Pradhan Pragati , Maitra Chandreyee , Raichur Harsha , Paul Biswajit
Published: July 2019

We present timing and spectral analysis of data from an observation of the high mass X-ray binary pulsar 4U 1907+09 with the Large Area X-ray Proportional Counter instrument onboard AstroSat. The light curve consisted of a flare at the beginning of the observation, followed by persistent emission. The pulsar continues to spin down, and the pulse profile is found to be double-peaked up to 16 keV with the peaks separated by a phase of ∼0.45. Significant energy dependence of the pulse profile is seen with diminishing amplitude of the secondary peak above 16 keV, and increasing amplitude of the main peak up to 40 keV with a sharp decline after that. We confirm earlier detections of the cyclotron resonance scattering feature (CRSF) in 4U 1907+09 at ∼18.5 ± 0.2 keV in the phase-averaged spectrum with a high detection significance. An intensity resolved spectral analysis of the initial flare in the light curve shows that the CRSF parameters do not change with a change in luminosity by a factor of 2.6. We also performed pulse phase-resolved spectral analysis with 10 independent phase bins. The energy and the strength of the cyclotron line show pulse phase dependence that is in agreement with previous measurements. Two features from the current observation (different energy dependence of the two pulse peaks and a strong CRSF only around the secondary peak) both indicate a deviation from a dipole geometry of the magnetic field of the neutron star, or complex beaming pattern from the two poles.
A new coastal species of Pseuderanthemum (Acanthaceae) from Loyalty Islands (New Caledonia) and Vanuatu with notes on P. carruthersii
Authors: Gâteblé Gildas , Ramon Laurence , Butaud Jean-François
Published: July 2019

When dealing with the taxonomy of Pacific coastal species within the region of New Caledonia and Vanuatu, one should examine all names published in Australasia and other Pacific islands. When the putative new species is also closely related to a highly praised ornamental species with many cultigens and with many old horticultural names, the task becomes more arduous. This is the case for the new species we describe as Pseuderanthemummelanesicum Gâteblé, Ramon & Butaud, which is closely related to the now pantropical cultivated species P.carruthersii (Seem.) Guillaumin s.l. Compared to P.carruthersii, P.melanesicum has carnose and shiny leaves, pedicels and sepals covered with glandular hairs, a short and enlarged corolla tube and can produce fertile capsules. The new species is a coastal taxon occurring naturally in the Melanesian archipelagos of New Caledonia and Vanuatu. This species seems uncommon in the Loyalty Islands but more common in the archipelago of Vanuatu and we propose it as Critically Endangered in New Caledonia, Vulnerable in Vanuatu and Least Concern when the IUCN evaluation is done globally.
Recognising and defining a new crown clade within Stromboidea Rafinesque, 1815 (Mollusca, Gastropoda)
Authors: Maxwell Stephen J. , Dekkers Aart M. , Rymer Tasmin L. , Congdon Bradley C.
Published: July 2019

This paper defines a new crown clade Neostromboidea to separate the Strombidae, Rostellariidae, and Seraphsidae from their sister families Struthiolariidae and Aporrhaidae. There is significant value to understanding evolutionary processes within Stromboidea to recognise the universal similarity in the position of the eye on the end of peduncles and a diminished cephalic tentacle that arises from the middle to the end on that peduncle. This is in contrast to other members of the Stromboidea where the eye is located at the base of the cephalic tentacle. These physiological differences represent two set of organisms with divergent and independent evolutionary life histories and therefore these differences need to be identifiable within the nomenclature to bring meaning to the way we name things.
Feeling Poor: D.W. Winnicott and Daniel Blake
Authors: Lebeau Vicky
Published: July 2019

This article draws on Donald Winnicott's understanding of human dependence and Ken Loach's film I, Daniel Blake (2015) to open up a new space between 'psychoanalysis' and 'politics'. Its starting-point is what Stuart Hall has described as the 'ferocious onslaught' on the post-war
social-democratic settlement and its initial commitments to the idea of the 'full life' and 'social security for all'. Putting dependence at the heart of human experience, Winnicott's psychoanalysis is especially attuned to the individual and collective harms imposed by this new 'age of austerity'.
'Feeling Poor' explores the structures of material and psychic dispossession at work in contemporary regimes of austerity – in particular, the neoliberal denial of human dependence and vulnerability. What does the neoliberal world, its reformations of the social state, make of the primal
situation of dependence – its terrors and dreads as well as its impulses towards culture and community? How might we reconceive vulnerability in solidarity rather than stigma? What might a psychoanalysis attuned to 'dependence as a living fact' contribute to the cultures of protest mobilized
through the aesthetics of British social realism? Part of a wider exploration of the question of psychoanalysis and class, this article attempts to think about the symbolic functions of care embedded in the post-war welfare state and engages the potential of Winnicott's psychoanalysis as a
means to social critique.
La politique fiscale : de nouvelles orientations
Authors: Valenduc Christian
Published: July 2019

La politique fiscale a joué un rôle significatif dans la législature qui s’achève. Au niveau fédéral, les deux réformes fiscales majeures furent le tax shift et la réforme de l’impôt des sociétés. La première était partie intégrante de l’accord de gouvernement tandis que la seconde ne l’était pas. Sa mise à l’agenda provient des évolutions en fiscalité internationale, avec l’accord Beps conclu en 2015 au niveau de l’OCDE et G20 et les Directives européennes qui suivirent. Le tax shift vise à déplacer la taxation du travail vers la consommation et vers le capital, avec un ciblage sur la partie inférieure de la distribution des salaires. Le glissement n’est que partiel, ce qui rend les conséquences macroéconomiques favorables. L’effet redistributif n’est pas clair. Réduire l’IPP et financer par des taxes indirectes a un effet anti-redistributif mais le glissement vers la taxation du capital et les effets d’offre de travail devraient avoir l’effet inverse. La réforme de l’impôt des sociétés est typiquement une réforme « taux bas – base large », qui introduit un changement clair dans l’orientation de politique fiscale de la Belgique. Au niveau régional, les dépenses fiscales ont été réduites dans les trois Régions et, en région bruxelloise, une réforme fiscale plus large a organisé un glissement supplémentaire de la taxation des revenus de l’activité professionnelle vers la taxation de l’immobilier. D’importants chantiers restent ouverts au niveau fédéral, notamment l’élargissement des bases imposables, une fiscalité de l’épargne plus uniforme et une utilisation accrue de la fiscalité environnementale.
Financement des pensions : rétrospectives et perspectives
Authors: Hindriks Jean , Baurin Arno
Published: July 2019

Nous commençons par une analyse rétrospective du financement des pensions et de la sécurité sociale sur base de séries longues issues des comptes nationaux pour la période 1995-2017. Cette première partie révèle trois faits saillants : le glissement progressif vers le financement alternatif, la répartition stable entre les cotisations employeurs, employés et indépendants, et l’évolution plus rapide des dépenses de pension par rapport aux cotisations depuis 2003. Concernant la dynamique entre 2007 et 2017, on constate une augmentation des dépenses de pension de 14,6 milliards dont plus des trois quarts sont liées à la hausse de la pension moyenne et un quart à l’accroissement du nombre de pensionnés. Dans la seconde partie, nous étudions les perspectives de financement sur base des projections démographiques et d’emploi du Bureau fédéral du Plan. Nous simulons différents mécanismes d’ajustement (au delà de l’allongement des carrières), notamment la hausse des cotisations ou la baisse du taux de remplacement. Nous montrons qu’il est possible en combinant ces deux mesures de réduire de 1/3 l’ajustement des cotisations et de 2/3 l’ajustement des pensions. Nous montrons enfin qu’en l’absence d’un ajustement des cotisations ou du taux de remplacement, le financement alternatif augmentera à l’horizon 2040 de 33 % dans la perspective d’une croissance du taux d’emploi et de 50 % dans la perspective d’un taux d’emploi constant. Codes JEL : H55, J11, J14, J26
Les dirigeant·e·s de médias
Authors: Sedel Julie
Published: July 2019

L’objectif de cet article consiste à saisir l’évolution du journalisme français à travers une sociologie des dirigeant·e·s de médias. Les transformations sociologiques mais aussi capitalistiques ou technologiques accentuent les contraintes hétéronomes sur les journalistes. Plus largement, l’analyse des principes de hiérarchisation de l’espace de la production de l’information et des carrières des patrons de médias contribuent à dévoiler certaines logiques de fonctionnement du champ médiatique. Ces dirigeant·e·s se distinguent en fonction de leurs capitaux administratif et journalistique, de leur ancienneté dans le secteur et de leur degré de consécration. Les modalités de sélection de ces dirigeant·e·s de médias représentent une manière originale d’analyser les transactions entre secteur médiatique, économique, politique et intellectuel. L’hétérogénéité des filières d’accès aux fonctions de direction montre que la direction de médias constitue un « espace carrefour » à l’intersection des grands groupes privés, du journalisme, de l’édition, de la haute fonction publique, des cabinets ministériels, du monde intellectuel, universitaire et de la culture, du champ politique et des instances de régulation.
HIP, RIP, and the robustness of empirical earnings processes
Authors: Hoffmann Florian
Published: July 2019

The dispersion of individual returns to experience, often referred to as heterogeneity of income profiles (HIP), is a key parameter in empirical human capital models, in studies of life‐cycle income inequality, and in heterogeneous agent models of life‐cycle labor market dynamics. It is commonly estimated from age variation in the covariance structure of earnings. In this study, I show that this approach is invalid and tends to deliver estimates of HIP that are biased upward. The reason is that any age variation in covariance structures can be rationalized by age‐dependent heteroscedasticity in the distribution of earnings shocks. Once one models such age effects flexibly the remaining identifying variation for HIP is the shape of the tails of lag profiles. Credible estimation of HIP thus imposes strong demands on the data since one requires many earnings observations per individual and a low rate of sample attrition. To investigate empirically whether the bias in estimates of HIP from omitting age effects is quantitatively important, I thus rely on administrative data from Germany on quarterly earnings that follow workers from labor market entry until 27 years into their career. To strengthen external validity, I focus my analysis on an education group that displays a covariance structure with qualitatively similar properties like its North American counterpart. I find that a HIP model with age effects in transitory, persistent and permanent shocks fits the covariance structure almost perfectly and delivers small and insignificant estimates for the HIP component. In sharp contrast, once I estimate a standard HIP model without age‐effects the estimated slope heterogeneity increases by a factor of thirteen and becomes highly significant, with a dramatic deterioration of model fit. I reach the same conclusions from estimating the two models on a different covariance structure and from conducting a Monte Carlo analysis, suggesting that my quantitative results are not an artifact of one particular sample.
Estimation and inference with a (nearly) singular Jacobian
Authors: Han Sukjin , McCloskey Adam
Published: July 2019

This paper develops extremum estimation and inference results for nonlinear models with very general forms of potential identification failure when the source of this identification failure is known. We examine models that may have a general deficient rank Jacobian in certain parts of the parameter space. When identification fails in one of these models, it becomes underidentified and the identification status of individual parameters is not generally straightforward to characterize. We provide a systematic reparameterization procedure that leads to a reparametrized model with straightforward identification status. Using this reparameterization, we determine the asymptotic behavior of standard extremum estimators and Wald statistics under a comprehensive class of parameter sequences characterizing the strength of identification of the model parameters, ranging from nonidentification to strong identification. Using the asymptotic results, we propose hypothesis testing methods that make use of a standard Wald statistic and data‐dependent critical values, leading to tests with correct asymptotic size regardless of identification strength and good power properties. Importantly, this allows one to directly conduct uniform inference on low‐dimensional functions of the model parameters, including one‐dimensional subvectors. The paper illustrates these results in three examples: a sample selection model, a triangular threshold crossing model, and a collective model for household expenditures.
Analysis of the thermal and physicochemical properties of unsaturated fatty acid concentrates from cobia (Rachycentron canadum) and Argentine croaker (Umbrina canosai) waste
Authors: Nobre L. R. , Monte M. L. , Silva P. P. , Engelmann J. I. , Pohndorf R. S. , Pinto L. A.A.
Published: July 2019

Several studies have been carried out to obtain unsaturated fatty acid (UFA) concentrates, due to their nutritional importance in food applications. The aim of this work was to obtain UFA concentrates from bleached cobia (Rachycentron canadum) and Argentine croaker (Umbine canosai) oil by complexation with urea, and to evaluate their physicochemical and thermal properties during processing. The fatty acids found in high amounts in the crude and bleached oils of cobia and Argentine crocker were palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids. Higher percentages of UFA were present in the oils extracted from the visceras, around 69 and 63% for cobia and Argentine croaker, respectively, and after complexation with urea, the percentages of UFA present in both concentrates were around 88%. Through the thermograms it was possible to observe that the UFA concentrates showed a 50% decrease in their maximum degradation temperature.
Growth and Mortality of Invasive Flathead Catfish in the Tidal James River, Virginia
Authors: Hilling Corbin D. , Bunch Aaron J. , Emmel Jason A. , Schmitt Joseph D. , Orth Donald J.
Published: July 2019

Invasive species are a major threat to biodiversity of native fishes in North America. In Atlantic coastal rivers of the United States, large catfishes introduced from the Gulf of Mexico drainages have become established and contributed to native species declines. Flathead Catfish Pylodictis olivaris were introduced to the Chesapeake Bay drainage in the 1960s and 1970s in the James and Potomac river systems in the eastern United States. Diet studies have found James River Flathead Catfish function as apex predators and are known to consume at-risk Alosa spp. To limit further range expansion and impacts to native species, resource management agencies need information on population characteristics to support population assessments and management plan development. Thus, we examined temporal trends in growth rates and estimated total instantaneous mortality for tidal James River Flathead Catfish collected by Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries from 1997 to 2015. Parameters of the von Bertalanffy growth model with length-at-age observations pooled across sampling years were estimated as L∞ = 1,059 mm, k = 0.231/y, and t0 = 0.55 y. Flathead Catfish growth differed among sampling years, especially for the years 2007 and 2014, which had the largest sample sizes. However, there were no obvious temporal trends in growth trajectories. James River Flathead Catfish tend to grow much faster than most populations used in development of the relative growth index, but the species is known to grow faster in its nonnative range. Consequently, scientists and managers should use caution when applying growth indices if native and nonnative populations are not expressly considered in development of the index. We estimated total instantaneous mortality as Z = 0.50 and mean natural mortality from six estimators as M = 0.30. A lack of older individuals in the population means that mortality rates may be overestimated as a result of gear selectivity or ongoing maturation of the population. These data provide information to support future work examining the species in the James River and development of population models to evaluate management strategies and management plans.
The Impact of Employee Engagement on Job Insecurity by Moderating Role of Psychological Empowerment to Enhance Corporate Performance
Authors: Ramey Mubshara Hassan , Jawad Muhammad , Naz Munazza , Yılmaz Ayşe Küçük , Yazgan Ebru
Published: July 2019

Human resources have had a strategic role in both sustainable and competitive business since it is inimitable element of business. The purpose of this research is to investigation the impact of employee engagement (independent variable) on job insecurity (dependent variable) and then moderating role of psychological empowerment of employees in oil and gas sector. These variables have the key significance for their employees and betterment of the organizations. It is a qualitative research, field study through survey methodology, 100 employees of 11 multinational oil and gas companies participated in the study from Pakistan. Cronbach alpha, Pearson correlation coefficient and hierarchal regression were used for various analyzes of this study. The findings of the research revealed that employee engagement is significant for reducing feelings of insecurity in a job, meanwhile if they are empowered psychologically, their commitment and loyalty is increased many times. Findings of this study will provide the insight to the benefits, challenges and issues related with it.
Winemaking Sector in Greece
Authors: Papathanasiou Spyros , Koutsokostas Drosos , Balios Dimitris , Eriotis Nikolaos
Published: July 2019

The wine making sector is directly intertwined with viniculture, which has been known since ancient times. Nowadays, Greece offers outstanding value for its wines and there are many new varieties that will certainly expand the customer's palate. In order to explore the sector's potential, financial statements and ratio analysis is implemented. In this study, 14 financial ratios are estimated in order to examine the domestic wine sector. This sample consists of 51 domestic wine producing companies. The uniqueness of this analysis is based on the fact that the individual financial reports are edited and properly adjusted in order for a consolidated balance sheet and profit and loss account, representative of the sector, to be constructed. The wine sector's perspective seems conducive to better control regarding primarily operating expenses. The findings could aid producers in the Greek wine industry in providing them valuable considerations and guidelines. The wine market is considered as an enjoyable, collectible, tangible asset that has an exciting future.
Exporting Activity at Turning Point
Authors: Lemonakis Christos , Batzanakaki Eleni , Steiakakis Stylianos , Garefalakis Alexandros
Published: July 2019

The purpose of this article is to study key factors affecting export activity in the Greek manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Under this condition the authors focus on four consecutive sectors of Greek economic activity, i.e.: food and beverage (F&B), clothing, machinery, and wood and furniture sectors. The important characteristics are analyzed by using the sample firms' size, age, and financial indicators such as leverage and liquidity to underscore the importance of exporting activity in providing increased efficiency in the Greek manufacturing firms. The study uses an OLS econometric model to determine the importance of these factors and to present an overall perception of explanatory characteristics increasing business continuity and firms' viability.
The Role of Self-Efficacy and Perceived Enjoyment in Predicting Computer Engineering Students' Continuous Use Intention of Scratch
Authors: Arpaci Ibrahim , Durdu Pınar Onay , Mutlu Alev
Published: July 2019

Scratch has been implemented as a preliminary programming environment to improve students' programming experience, motivation, and success in the Computer Science (CS) or Engineering departments. Acceptance and use of this visual programming environment by CS or Engineering students is a significant research area. Accordingly, this study investigated acceptance and use of Scratch programming environment by developing a theoretical model based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Structural equation modelling approach was used to validate the research model based on data collected from a sample of 186 Computer Engineering students. Results indicated that perceived enjoyment was significantly associated with the perceived usefulness and attitudes. Further, the results suggested that self-efficacy was significantly associated with the ease of use perceptions.
Examining e-Adoption of Agricultural Systems by Farmers in Central Nigeria
Authors: Strang Kenneth David , Vajjhala Narasimha Rao , Bitrus Nankyer Sarah
Published: July 2019

In this study the authors examined what factors impacted the agricultural information system (AIS) electronic software adoption by rural farmers in central Nigeria. They collected a moderately large sample of responses from rural farmers and examined the generally accepted factors that were found in the literature. The authors applied nonparametric Spearman as well as canonical correlation along with discriminant analysis and developed a statistically significant classification model which used only three independent factors to predict AIS e-adoption. The results should generalize to other rural farm decision makers in Nigeria and the paper should be of interest to other researchers in this field.
The Differential Effects of Interpersonal Justice and Injustice on Computer Abuse
Authors: Xu Feng , Wang Xiaorong , Xue Botong
Published: July 2019

Insider employees have become one of the top security threats to organizations. In order to mitigate their detrimental security behaviors, it is important to understand the thought processes of these insider offenders. Recent security research has examined the role of perceptions of injustice in explaining employee security behaviors. However, there is a paucity of research investigating the differential effects of justice and injustice. Based on regulatory focus theory, this article examines the emotional and behavioral reactions to perceptions of interpersonal justice and injustice. The results show that perceptions of interpersonal injustice are more relevant to employee experiences of hostility than perceptions of interpersonal justice. In addition, the results show that promotion focus and prevention focus have asymmetric effects on the role of emotions in computer abuse. The results have important theoretical contributions to justice and security behavior research and provide critical guidance to organizational security management.
Experimental Study of Cutting Performance for Inconel 718 Milling by Various Assisted Machining Techniques
Authors: Lin Shen Yung , Yang Bing Hsueh
Published: July 2019

The five stage experiments including without assistance, single and hybrid assisted machining systems on Inconel 718 milling were conducted in this study. First of all, the milling experiment without assistance was performed to investigate the variations of cutting performance and the results were used for a suitable process parameter planning in the subsequent stage experiments. Next, a laser assisted system was introduced in the second stage where the spacing distance between the laser spot and cutting-tool along the cutting direction was modified to test whether laser preheating may effectively reduce the cutting force. A biaxial ultrasonically assisted system with only one-axis oscillation (x or y direction) and with two-axis simultaneous oscillations (x and y directions) were subsequently introduced at the third to fourth stage experiments, respectively. While a biaxial ultrasonically and the laser assisted systems were integrated together to construct a hybrid assisted cutting system at the last stage experiment. Under these assistances, milling experiments of Inconel 718 by cutting-tool of tungsten carbide with nanoSi® coating were conducted. And the full-factorial experiments of process parameter combinations such as spindle speed, radial cutting depth and feed rate were planned. The results indicated that the laser-preheating assisted system could effectively reduce the cutting force as well as enhance the cutting performance. The effect of the biaxial ultrasonic oscillation on tool service life could greatly be promoted. Furthermore, the cutting performance exhibited in the integrated hybrid assisted milling prevails over that in milling without assistance as well as with each single assisted system. Under this hybrid assisted milling, the better surface roughness of 0.216μm was obtained under a combination of spindle speed of 6000 rpm, radial cutting depth of 0.01 mm, and feed rate of 300mm/min, accompanied by a maximum cutting-tool wear of 13.849μm.
Microwave Roasting and Acid Leaching of Vanadium and Chromium from High Chromium Vanadium Slag with CaCO3
Authors: Gao Hui Yang , Jiang Tao , Xu Ying Zhe
Published: July 2019

In this study, microwave irradiation technology was used for the calcification roasting followed by sulfuric acid leaching process. The effect of roasting temperature, m (CaO)/m (V2O5), and roasting time on the leaching ratio of vanadium were investigated and the roasted samples were characterized by TG-DSC, XRD, and SEM. The leaching ratio of vanadium can be significantly enhanced with the increasing in roasting temperature, m (CaO)/m (V2O5), and roasting time. The leaching ratio of chromium decreased with roasting temperature and increased with m (CaO)/m (V2O5), and roasting time. The optimal roasting parameters were roasting temperature of 850 °C, the m (CaO)/m (V2O5) of 0.85, and roasting time of 90 min. Under the optimal roasting parameters, the leaching ratio of vanadium reached 88.81%. While the leaching ratio of chromium is 3.98%. During roasting process, vanadium is oxidized to acid-soluble CaV2O5, Ca2V2O7, and CaMgV2O7. After leaching, chromium mainly exists in form of chromohercynite (FeCr2O4) and chrome-manganese spinel (Mn1.5Cr1.5O4) in leaching residues.
Microstructural and Hardness Evolution of New Developed OPH Steels
Authors: Khalaj Omid , Jirková Hana , Opatová Kateřina , Svoboda Jiří
Published: July 2019

Nowadays, by increase in using structural materials, the high temperature properties of these materials are became an important issue within different aspects of engineering. The new Oxide Precipitation Hardened (OPH) steel generated by the authors based on Fe-Al-O matrix which prepared by mechanical alloying and hot consolidation. These new OPH steels showed a better oxidation resistant and creep, compare to similar ones. In order to investigate the thermomechanical and microstructure of these materials, a series of different tests were performed on three different OPH steels variant which developed and manufactured by the authors. The results show that the heating temperature has a significant influence on these properties while almost total recrystallization of grains and subgrains were observed during the investigation.
Epigenetic modification in the expression of p73 p73 - epigenetic target for anticancer therapy
Authors: Naseer Faiza , Saleem Mohammad
Published: July 2019

A p73 is a new member of p53 family of transcription factor, having two types. First is TAp73, transcriptionally active and expressed via upstream promoter as a tumor suppressor and vital apoptotic inductor, it also has a key role in cell cycle arrest/differentiation and Second is ΔNp73 that is transcriptionally inactive and expressed via downstream regulator as oncogenes. Both types are expressed in various isoforms, which originate from alternative splicing events at the C-terminus. Upon DNA damage, posttranslational modifications cause conformational changes in various amino acid residues via induction or inhibition of various proteins, which are present in the structural domains of p73. These modifications may cause up- or down-regulation of p73 expression levels, as well as alters the transcriptional activity and/or stability of the protein. In this review, we have made an effort to assemble all existing data regarding the role of p73, its modification and after effects in cancer.
Alternative energy: Modelling resource conflict within an energy environment
Authors: Baur Peter
Published: July 2019

With growing infrastructural pressure induced by urban densification combined with rural development and the increasing demands of industrialisation, South Africa is facing two related challenges. The first is a lack of sufficient energy to satisfactorily fulfil the needs of the expanding economy. The second is that South Africa has limited access to water. Electricity generation using the traditional coal-burning power stations requires vast amounts of water, for amongst other things, steam generation to drive the turbines and water is also used in the cooling process. Thus, as the demand for electricity grows, so too does the pressure on the country's strained water supplies. The growing demand for electricity favours the building of new traditional coal-burning power stations, which emit vast amounts of pollutants into the atmosphere, negatively affecting the environment. This leads to a degree of conflict between stakeholders, namely the energy producers, government bodies, and environmentalists. This paper uses Hirshleifer’s Conflict Success Function to highlight the ‘urgency’ of replacing traditional fuel-based power stations with alternative renewable energy generators, using South Africa as a case study.
Corporate governance effectiveness and value added at South African higher education institutions: A registrar’s view
Authors: Barac Karin , Marx Ben
Published: July 2019

Higher education institutions are faced with many challenges in fulfilling their core mandate of teaching, research and community engagement. To achieve this, strong, sound and visionary institutional leadership is required, which should be embedded in sound corporate governance practices. The study aims to ascertain what registrars’ views on the effectiveness and value added by current corporate governance practices of higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa are. This was done through a literature review and supported by empirical evidence obtained from questionnaires addressed to registrars of public HEIs in South Africa, as well as follow up interviews held with participants. The study found strong support for sound corporate governance practices at HEIs in South Africa, and also indicates that these institutions are complying with and adhering to this, although room for improvement exists in certain areas. The value added to and contributions to corporate governance effectiveness by student representative council members and institutional forums were also investigated, and it was found that the evolving corporate governance role of the registrar, over and above the traditional academic and student affairs responsibilities, enjoyed much support. Additional reporting responsibilities, in accordance with current corporate governance developments, were identified as areas not meeting expectations.
Valuing preferences for the removal of a disamenity from the Port Elizabeth harbour
Authors: Du Preez Mario , Lee Deborah , Cloete Leann
Published: July 2019

This paper examines the Nelson Mandela Bay public’s willingness to pay (WTP) for the removal of a local undesirable land use, the manganese ore dumps and the oil tank farm situated within the boundaries of the Port Elizabeth harbour, Eastern Cape, South Africa, by means of the contingent valuation method. Both a non-parametric and parametric estimate of the WTP is derived. Estimated WTP for the removal of this disamenity ranges from R47.09 to R93.21 per household. The aggregate WTP ranges from R13 489 683 to R26 701 496. Due to the sensitivity of the parametric estimate of WTP to functional form specification and the distribution of the random part of preferences, the less restricted non-parametric WTP estimate (R47.09) is more appropriate. The results of this study show that policy-makers should take heed of the importance communities attach to the location of pollution-creating activities in urban areas.
The influence of dividend yield and dividend stability on share returns: Implications for dividend policy formulation
Authors: Erasmus Pierre
Published: July 2019

The relevance of the dividend decision has been a contentious issue in corporate finance research, partly due to contradictory views reported in existing literature. When faced with the dividend decision, management should understand its impact on shareholder value maximisation. This paper investigates the influence of the dividend decision on share returns for a sample of firms listed on the JSE from 1990 to 2010. Firms are allocated to portfolios based on dividend yield and dividend stability, and risk-adjusted abnormal returns for these portfolios are estimated. Results indicate that share returns were influenced not only by dividend payments levels, but also by the stability of these payments over time. The nature of a firm’s dividend decision could therefore have an effect on its share return. Although these results contribute to understanding the dividend characteristics that are relevant to investors, future research should investigate different types of dividend policies in order to assess specific investor preferences.
Foreign aid and economic growth in South Africa: An empirical analysis using bounds testing
Authors: Leshoro Temitope
Published: July 2019

South Africa is classified as one of the wealthiest countries in Africa, yet half of its population lives below the poverty line and over a quarter of its labour force is unemployed. Foreign aid was one of the major sources of capital for the country. It poured in from many developed countries and it was very successful in promoting a stable society, especially during the first few years after apartheid ended in 1994. Thus, South Africa is a good case study for determining the relationship between and the effect of foreign aid on growth. The data on aid flow as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) in South Africa was only available from 1980, thus limiting the data from 1980 to 2009. Given the limitations in the data, a co-integration analysis of the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) was adopted, using the method of the conditional unrestricted error correction model (UECM), which accommodates small samples. The result shows that the relationship between aid and growth is negative both in the short and the long run.
Trading strategies with copulas
Authors: Stander Yolanda , Marais Daniël , Botha Ilse
Published: July 2019

A new approach is proposed to identify trading opportunities in the equity market by using the information contained in the bivariate dependence structure of two equities. The relationships between the equity pairs are modelled with bivariate copulas and the fitted copula structures are utilised to identify the trading opportunities. Two trading strategies are considered that take advantage of the relative mispricing between a pair of correlated stocks and involve taking a position on the stocks when they diverge from their historical relationship. The position is then reversed when the two stocks revert to their historical relationship. Only stock-pairs with relatively high correlations are considered. The dependence structures of the chosen stock-pairs very often exhibited both upper- and lower-tail dependence, which implies that copulas with the correct characteristics should be more effective than the more traditional approaches typically applied. To identify trading opportunities, the conditional copula functions are used to derive confidence intervals for the two stocks. It is shown that the number of trading opportunities is highly dependent on the confidence level and it is argued that the chosen confidence level should take the strength of the dependence between the two stocks into account. The backtest results of the pairs-trading strategy are disappointing in that even though the strategy leads to profits in most cases, the profits are largely consumed by the trading costs. The second trading strategy entails using single stock futures and it is shown to have more potential as a statistical arbitrage approach to construct a portfolio.
Wood chip exports and the challenges faced by private pulpwood farmers in Southern KwaZulu-Natal
Authors: Naidoo Lenny , Chasomeris Mihalis
Published: July 2019

The South African forestry industry contributes to the economic growth of the country by the planting of trees and the processing of these trees for the export market. The purpose of this study is to examine the trends in wood chip exports from the Port of Durban and to examine the stability and growth of private pulpwood production in Southern KwaZulu-Natal. The methodology used in this study includes questionnaires distributed to timber farmers and semi-structured interviews with respondents in forestry. The findings show that wood chip exports from Durban have increased between 2006 and 2011. Dominant challenges faced by the farmers were land reform, transportation costs and municipal rates. Land claims, road infrastructure, cash flow and variation in the demand for timber were the most challenging factors affecting private timber production.
Economic impact of the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival: Investigating the application of different models
Authors: Van Wyk Lukas , Saayman Melville , Rossouw Riaan
Published: July 2019

This article focuses on an economic assessment of the target obtained in South Africa regarding the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (KKNK) applying both SAM and CGE models. Since both models have advantages and disadvantages, tourism economists are confronted with the predicament of determining which model is most suitable for application to any specific event. The findings reveal that when different models are applied to the same dataset from an event, the reported economic impact results differ significantly. Results indicate that considerations such as the data collection or compilation, expected output, research objectives and costs involved will determine the choice of a specific modelling framework. Data from a visitor survey conducted at the KKNK during 2010 were used in the analyses. This finding serves as a warning to assessors that economic impact results can be misleading and, therefore, the application thereof should be handled with the utmost care as the results can readily be misinterpreted by stakeholders.