bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mobile Usability
Authors: Gallant Linda M. , Boone Gloria M. , LaRoche Christopher S.
Published: April 2016

Context and the pervasive environment play a much greater role in mobile technology usage than stationary technology for which usability standards and methods were traditionally developed. The examination of mobile usability shows complex issues due to the ubiquitous and portable nature of mobile devices. This chapter presents the current state of mobile usability testing. More specially, topics covered are various usability testing methods, contextual complexity, audio interfaces, eye and hands-free interactions, augmented reality, and recommendation systems.
SEDRIS Transmittal Storing and Retrieval System Using Relational Databases
Authors: Kim Yongkwon , Yang Heejung , Chung Chin-Wan
Published: April 2016

Modeling and simulation (M&S) are widely used for design, analysis, and optimization of complex systems and natural phenomena in various areas such as the defense industry and the weather system. In many cases, the environment is a key part of complex systems and natural phenomena. It includes physical aspects of the real world which provide the context for a specific simulation. Recently, several simulation systems are integrated to work together when they have needs for exchanging information. Interoperability of heterogeneous simulations depends heavily on sharing complex environmental data in a consistent and complete manner. SEDRIS (Synthetic Environmental Data Representation and Interchange Specification) is an ISO standard for representation and interchange of environmental data and widely adopted in M&S area. As the size of the simulation increases, the size of the environmental data which should be exchanged between simulations increases. Therefore, an efficient management of the environmental data is very important. In this paper, the authors propose storing and retrieval methods of SEDRIS transmittals using a relational database system in order to be able to retrieve data efficiently in the environmental data server cooperating with many heterogeneous distributed simulations. By analyzing the structure and the content of SEDRIS transmittals, relational database schemas are designed. To reduce query processing time of SEDRIS transmittals, direct storing and retrieval methods which do not require the type conversion of SEDRIS transmittals are proposed. Experimental analyses are conducted to show the efficiency of the proposed approach. The results confirm that the proposed approach greatly reduces the storing time and retrieval time compared to comparison approaches.
Creating an Interactive Web Map
Authors: Rawlings Lesli M.
Published: April 2016

Service-learning is a form of experiential learning that integrates curriculum objectives to address needs in the community. It also provides students with an opportunity to apply geospatial technology concepts in a real-world setting. This paper describes a service-learning project requiring students to create an interactive Google Map depicting historic buildings and artwork for the City of Wayne, Nebraska. Students create maps by using handheld GPS receivers and editing HTML and JavaScript. The objectives of this project align with several building blocks and critical work functions in the Geospatial Technology Competency Model (GTCM). This model, developed in 2010 by the U.S. Department of Labor, attempts to identify the knowledge and abilities needed in the geospatial industry workforce. In addition the methods, assessment, and challenges for developing and executing this project are described.
A Gamification Mechanism for Advertising in Mobile Cloud
Authors: Luo Zongwei , Zhuang Qixing , Jiang Tao , Liu Yang , Yi Feng
Published: April 2016

In this chapter, we introduce a gamification mechanism for advertising in mobile cloud. Gamification for advertising uses game thinking and mechanism in non-game contexts to engage users in developing and deliver advertising content suitable for mobile devices. To support this gamification advertising mechanism, we develop a cloud based service platform for media integration and distribution, supporting flexible interactions and collaboration among media content providers, advertisers, and developers. Contribution of this chapter is it introduces game theory and mechanism design into gamification for advertising which is demonstrated as feasible and just in time. And the gamifiation for advertising is the first in the literature ever discussed as we know in the context of mechanism design. A layering solution with introduction of an advertising layer for developing gamified applications for mobile devices is also the first ever in the literature as we know.
Geospatial Technology-Based E-Government Design for Environmental Protection and Emergency Response
Authors: Cai Tianxing
Published: April 2016

Fast development of geospatial technologies has made it possible to integrate existing user operational information and value-added services in a single harmonized infrastructure. This has made it possible to utilize geospatial technologies in the e-Government context. The emerging technologies have made it possible for natural disaster monitoring and mitigation for early warning in order for effective actions under emergency situation, such as natural disaster and chemical accident, to be taken. Natural disasters may include fires, explosions, leakages, or releases of toxic or hazardous materials that can cause people illness, injury, disability, or death. With emerging geospatial technology capabilities and applications such as Google Earth, GIS, and GPS, computer modeling and simulation can provide the inverse identification of emission profile and location. The modeling result can further present the forward prediction of the likely impact of any disaster event. Therefore, the community can acquire the situation in time to form spontaneous emergency response planning, which will also help the other stakeholders such as government and responsible community team. This modeling tool can form a virtual e-Government solution requisite for effective monitoring and mitigation. This chapter highlights the current research trends and future prospects with regards to integrating technologies for managing spatio-temporal information with e-Government conceptualization.
Utilizing Amerindian Hunters' Descriptions to Guide the Production of a Vegetation Map
Authors: Cummings Anthony R. , Read Jane M. , Fragoso Jose M. V.
Published: April 2016

Describing vegetation types is critical for managing natural resources and assessing ecosystem risk. Vegetation maps are historically produced by “Western experts,” often ignoring local-level groups critical to resource management. Indigenous hunters, as resource managers, have strong connections to their landscapes and their descriptions of vegetation within their homelands can be useful in the map-making process. This project examined the usefulness of vegetation descriptions from Rupununi, Southern Guyana Indigenous hunters in the map-making process and how their descriptions were influenced by biophysical environmental attributes. A Landsat TM and ASTER DEM merged imagery of the Rupununi was classified using Indigenous hunters' vegetation descriptions to train the classification and assess accuracy. Based on the hunters' vegetation descriptions an eleven-class map was produced that covered the main vegetation types they described. Whereas “expert” maps rely on organized forest inventory data, Indigenous hunters' vegetation classifications were influenced by their interactions with the biophysical environment. The final map shows that Indigenous hunters may be important partners in the map-making process and play key roles in tropical forest management decision-making processes.
Consumer Behavior in the Mobile Environment
Authors: Pelet Jean-Eric , Papadopoulou Panagiota
Published: April 2016

Consumer behavior in the omnipresent mobile environment constitutes a challenge for m-commerce vendors, as they seek to understand factors that affect it, positively and negatively, and to integrate social media in their mobile strategy. This paper presents an exploratory qualitative study about the use of smartphones and social media, in the context of m-commerce. The authors' objective is to facilitate the understanding of consumers' perceptions and behavior in m-commerce and social media and explore the potential of social media for m-commerce purposes. The results of their qualitative analysis show that reputation, design aspects, such as ease of use, as well as privacy and security are important factors for m-commerce and social media adoption and use. Their qualitative results also reveal factors having a negative effect to m-commerce. Business opportunities enabled by social media for m-commerce and how these can be leveraged in this promising mobile context are also discussed.
Interactive Visualizations as “Decision Support Tools” in Developing Nations
Authors: Ola Oluwakemi , Buchel Olga , Sedig Kamran
Published: April 2016

The impact of vector-borne diseases on developing nations is significant. Currently, the uncertainty of disease dynamics, volatility of human-environment interactions, and competing objectives coupled with the nature of applicable data present obstacles to stakeholders charged with developing preventive, control, and treatment measures. As a result, notwithstanding numerous measures, vector-borne diseases persist and impede the growth of developing nations. Therefore, computational tools that can address these obstacles and serve as decision support tools to stakeholders are much needed. This chapter is meant to draw attention to interactive visualization tools that allow stakeholders to control the flow of information, manipulate visual representations, and perform analytical tasks. Through a discussion of the vector-borne disease situation and interactive visualization tools, the case for integrating these tools into public health practice in developing nations is made.
Geographic Information System Effects on Policing Efficacy
Authors: Zhang Yan , Hoover Larry , Zhao Jihong (Solomon)
Published: April 2016

GIS technology is credited with substantially improving police crime analysis and related resource allocation. Although GIS has been said to be an efficient and effective technology in policing, limited empirical assessment has been conducted. An examination of functions and a review of the literature suggests four major applications of GIS in policing: computerized crime mapping/crime analysis; “hot spots” identification; improving command-level decision making; and geographical investigative analysis (primarily offender profiling). The primary objective of this qualitative review is to identify the extent of empirical evaluations of the effectiveness of a GIS. Although there is some research reference offender profiling, results are mixed. Only two empirical evaluations have been published that examine crime mapping, and both are limited to effects on perceptions. No empirical work links GIS to police deployment effectiveness.
A Clinical Decision Support System
Authors: Akaichi Jalel , Mhadhbi Linda
Published: April 2016

Inadequate response and bad decisions taken by mobile physicians may lead to bad consequences threatening rescued people lives. Moreover, there are growing information that overload physicians when facing urgent cases. In order to facilitate the on road decision making for the mobile physicians, we propose a clinical decision support system based on an ontology driven approach for effective emergency management that allows finding out as quickly as possible the needed medical resources and reserves the most suitable health care institutions according to the patient state. Specifically, this work permits to localize rapidly the closets health care institution to the emergency scene, to find out the needed medical resources to deal with the patient first diagnosis, to match the localized health care institutions that contain the necessary medical resources to fulfil the patient determined needs, and to rank medical institutions, according to urgent case requirements, in order to allow the mobile physician to perform the adequate choice of one of them.
Can Management Have Multi-Fiduciary Stakeholder Obligations?
Authors: Zakhem Abe
Published: April 2016

Evan and Freeman (1988) once argued that managers have fiduciary obligations to act in the vital interests of all organizational stakeholders. For some, this “multi-fiduciary” approach is paradoxical, as one cannot simultaneously put the interests of each respective stakeholder ahead of the interests of all other stakeholders; hence, the “stakeholder paradox.” This chapter argues for a version of multi-fiduciary stakeholder theory. The argument is based on the following claims. Fiduciary obligations ought to be imposed to control the opportunistic exploitation of the especially vulnerable and dependent. The conditions of special vulnerability and dependence that generate fiduciary obligations are present in various manager-stakeholder relationships. Finally, when properly understood, multi-fiduciary stakeholder theory is logically consistent and morally advantageous.
A GIS Based Methodology in Renewable Energy Sources Sustainability
Authors: Caiaffa Emanuela , Pollino Maurizio , Marucci Alessandro
Published: April 2016

The exploitation of renewable energy sources has assumed a significant role, especially in an integrated vision of problems concerning energy policies, The 2009/28/EC Directive of the European Parliament and Council has indicated ambitious energy and climate change objectives for 2020 (according to the so-called “EU2020 Strategy”): greenhouse gas emissions reduction for 20%, renewable energy increase for 20%, improvement in energy efficiency for 20%. The aim of this paper is to present a GIS based methodology able to support decision-making in energy supply from Renewable Energy Sources (RES), focusing on two specific case-studies: Photovoltaic (PV) and Wind energy. To decide what type of renewable energy font is the best choice for a specific territory, it's important to know the local energetic situation, exploring the potential renewable energy sources available in that specific area, deciding what is the territory more compatible/sustainable among them, and if it's exploitable by suitable environmental and economic point of view. The methodology is largely directed towards the development of a tool to support siting decision.
Functional Polymeric Coatings
Authors: Zarras Peter , Goodman Paul A , Stenger-Smith John D
Published: April 2016

Functional polymeric coatings comprise a diverse array of organic/inorganic functional groups, properties, and applications. This chapter attempts to provide a comprehensive review on the science and engineering of functional polymer coatings for both the novice and experienced chemist/chemical engineer. Functional polymer coatings are coatings that are designed through careful selection of organic/inorganic functional groups and controlled synthesis on the substrate's surface. The design leads to changes in the surface properties (e.g., adhesion, wettability, corrosion resistance, wear resistance, anti-fouling, non-stick, and anti-scratch) of a particular substrate (metal, glass, wood, or plastic). Functional polymeric coatings represent the “next generation” of coatings. These coatings dynamically respond to their environment, as opposed to a static coating that is used as a simple barrier, or for decorative purposes. This review is divided into three sections: (1) functionalization of polymers, (2) polymer properties and surface analytical techniques, and (3) applications.
Advances in Functional Nanocoatings Applied in the Aerospace Industry
Authors: Vargas-Bernal Rafael
Published: April 2016

Surfaces of aerospace components are subjected to heat, water, ice, electromagnetic waves, corrosion, abrasion, wear, thermal shock and/or fire during their lifetime. Materials science and engineering have introduced the use of coatings to protect the surface of the materials under these operating conditions. Materials such as ceramics, polymers, and metals and their combinations either as composites or hybrid materials, as well as functionalized versions of them, have been proposed as different design alternatives. Six different types of coatings can be identified: anti-corrosion, abrasion and wear-resistant, thermal barrier and flame-retardant, conductive, anti-icing, and superhydrophobic. This chapter will review the most important advances in functional nanocoatings, which are being researched and those already used in aerospace applications, as well as the profits that these materials can provide to the surfaces of the components where them are used.
An Empirical Study on the Quality of Services Offered by the Private Life Insurers in Burdwan
Authors: Choudhuri Partha Sarathi
Published: April 2016

Service quality has become as one of the most important ensuing factors in the service sector. Considering various needs and requirements of the customers, like any other service provider life insurers also always trying to provide better quality of services to their customers in order to satisfy them. In this chapter, the researcher conducted a study on the quality of services offered by the private life insurers operating in the district of Burdwan, West Bengal, through proper investigation of the service quality structure in the present perspective. Here, accepted 661 usable responses with respect to the customers and 582 usable responses with respect to the insurers were considered as the sample size of the study and statistical package SPSS 16 as well as Bexley's Customer Retention Indicator Grid ware used to perform the analyses.
Comparative Analysis of Marketing Communication Tools Adopted by Telecommunication Service Firms
Authors: Dixit Kavaldeep , Jain Neha
Published: April 2016

The increase in number of players in cellular telephony has raised the expectation level of customers compelling firms to devise strategies to gain competitive edge. Thus, the main objective of this research is to comparatively study employees and customer's awareness regarding marketing communication tools adopted by Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular in eastern Rajasthan. In the present study communication tools pertaining to advertising, sales-promotion, personal selling, direct marketing, events and public relations have been considered and analyzed. The present research will also attempt to explore the sources of information referred to by customers while opting for telecommunication services. The study will involve a sample of 250 existent customers and 25 employees for Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular respectively and the methodology employed will be structured questionnaire for customers and employees separately with reference to eastern Rajasthan. By identifying the strategic issues that affect customer decisions the present research will contribute to the understanding of the influence of communication tools on customers. It would also enable marketing managers to identify impact of these dimensions and to concentrate firm's efforts on those factors which enhance customer awareness. It is an exploratory study.
Effect of Mediating Factors on Customer Defection with Special Reference to Banking Industry in India
Authors: Dwivedi Sunita , Wadhwa Bharti
Published: April 2016

People who were practicing Marketing exercise's and Academicians thinks that “4 Ps” marketing framework – product, price, place and promotion adds less value to their interest or business where ongoing relationship is critical. In a process of finding a way to overcome these marketers has evolved a concept of Relationship Marketing which talks about understanding customer segments, delivering ongoing quality service, and achieving high customer satisfaction. Relationship marketing was about “putting the customer in the middle of the business circle,” in the words of Dick Lee, principal of St. Paul-based Hi-Yield Marketing. Customer Relationship management is the strongest and the most efficient method of maintaining and creating customers. The challenges for marketers doesn't stops here, as market matured from national to international to global, customer retention and acquisition become more crucial and challenging for them. Multiple options broaden the path for consumer to get access over many products and services, creating a high probability of defection. Now they have new challenge to face that is “Defection”. They are trying hard to understand what they are supposed to do so as to increase customer retention and decrease customer defection. This paper tries to understand the mediating effect of sources on customer defection (Objective knowledge versus Subjective Knowledge) and its important act on consumers repurchase behavior.
Film Marketing
Authors: Öcal Figen , Nasır Süphan
Published: April 2016

Since promotional activities are highly important for attracting moviegoers to a new movie, producer companies engage in marketing promotional activities to increase box office revenue. The main goal of this study is to identify and analyze impact of marketing promotion activities on creating preference for moviegoers to watch the film as well as the opening weekend box office revenue of that film. This paper starts with reviewing the literature about the film marketing and continues with outlining the facts about movie industry in Turkey. Finally, it ends up with analyzing the impact of publicity activities on attracting moviegoers' to watch a film and the opening weekend box office performance of the film in the context of Turkey. 41Turkish movies that were released in 2010 – 2014 are analyzed with the purpose of revealing the relationship between the publicity activities and box office performance. As a result of regression analysis, media coverage (the number of publicity news) exhibited strong predicting power of tickets sold at the opening weekend (the number of audience).
Innovative Financing and its Implications on MSME Sector in India
Authors: Kumar Raj , Biswas Abhijeet
Published: April 2016

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises' (MSMEs) contribution in the development of world economy has been significant, both in terms of contribution to GDP and creation of employment opportunities. The present paper attempts to identify the role of innovative schemes offered by the banking sector in the upliftment of MSMEs in India. The researchers try to analyze the growth in Bank credit for the MSME sector over the last decade. This paper is based on extensive review of literatures on Banking sector and their contribution in encouraging MSMEs. The review showed that the Bank credit has increased significantly for the MSME sector since the priority sector lending norms were implemented but still there is a significant gap that needs to be fulfilled when it comes to the fulfilment of the credit needs of the MSME sector.
How Business Strategy and Technology Impact the Role and the Tasks of CIOs
Authors: Dahlberg Tomi , Hokkanen Päivi , Newman Mike
Published: April 2016

The authors investigate the determinants of CIOs' organizational role and tasks. They first review previous studies, which they classify as either evolutionary or CIO role studies. They consider them to be characteristic to the usage of certain technologies or certain periods of times. The authors modify Leavitt's well-known organization diagnostic model to describe factors that shape the role and the tasks of CIOs over time, industries and technologies. They validate the model from interviews with 36 CIOs within six industries covering the time period from 1960s to present times. The authors also show that the model can be used to categorize prior research findings. They then use the model to describe how technology influences business strategy and how business strategy and technology impacts CIOs' role and tasks and vice versa. The authors discovered that the modified Leavitt model is a useful description of factors that both define CIOs' role and tasks at any particular time in any specific organization, and show how those tasks change.
The Architect's Role in Business-IT Alignment
Authors: Mosthaf Jens , Wagner Heinz-Theo
Published: April 2016

The importance of alignment between business and information technology (IT) for generating IT business value has been emphasized in many research papers. Current literature broadly supports that capable and sustainable enterprise architecture is essential to support business processes as well as future agility. In that respect, individuals performing the role of an enterprise architect are at the core of the interface between business and IT and their relationship with the business side is crucial to generate IT business value. Employing a qualitative study, the authors show that competencies such as profound work experience and business-related topics serves to bridge the IT-business gap and may foster alignment. This result contributes to alignment and governance literature as it emphasizes an individual level antecedent of business-IT alignment.
Adoption and Impact of IT Governance and Management Practices
Authors: De Haes Steven , Huygh Tim , Joshi Anant , Van Grembergen Wim
Published: April 2016

This paper empirically investigates how adoption of IT governance and management processes, as identified in the IT governance framework COBIT 5, relates to the level of IT-related goals achievement, which in turn associates to the level of enterprise goals achievement. Simultaneously, this research project provides an international benchmark on how organizations are currently adopting the governance and management processes as identified in COBIT 5. The findings suggest that organizations are best in adopting the “IT factory” related management processes and that implementation scores drop in management and governance processes when more business and board involvement is required. Additionally, there are significant differences in perceived implementation maturity of COBIT 5 processes between SMEs and larger organizations. Also, the data offers empirical evidence that the COBIT 5 processes have a positive association with enterprise value creation.
Information Technology as a Way To Support Collaborative Learning
Authors: García-Valcárcel Ana , Mena Juanjo
Published: April 2016

It is often assumed that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) encourage collaborative work by providing a set of widely accessed tools and a mutual framework for shared activities. The present study aims at determining what in-service teachers think (teachers' opinion), know (technical knowledge) and do (tactual use) about ICT to promote collaborative learning. The authors used a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview to collect data. A mixed method approach was conducted and reliability scores calculated. Main results indicate that teachers think that ICT generally facilitate collaborative work but their ICT knowledge is moderate and their actual use limited. This leads the authors to think that this progression should be remarked in the teacher training programs to accurately depict the drawbacks of teachers' collaborative learning mediated by ICT.
Factors for the Management of Scarce Human Resources and Highly Skilled Employees in IT-Departments
Authors: Radant Olaf , Colomo-Palacios Ricardo , Stantchev Vladimir
Published: April 2016

Due to an unsatisfying demographic development in most European states, companies have to solve a trade-off between a needed increasement of productivity on the other hand and fewer highly skilled employees on the other hand. In this paper, authors propose factors for different layers of a framework to manage scarce resources in IT-departments. These layers aim for different relevant dimensions of employee satisfaction like wages, psychological development of employees and work life balance. Authors present a structured literature review to screen relevant publications on the topic. This paper offers white range of different factors regarding the management of labour shortage and highly skilled employees in companies which can be used to build a holistic model or framework to solve the challenges of the upcoming demographic change in Europe. Although the topic is quite popular in scientific literature, there is not a study devoted to identify these factors in organizational contexts. This paper is aimed to bridge this gap.
Novel Frequent Pattern Mining Algorithm Based on Parallelization Scheme
Authors: Gatuha George , Jiang Tao
Published: April 2016

Frequent pattern mining (FPM) is a very important technique in data mining and has attracted a wide range of practical applications. Equivalent Class Clustering (Eclat) has been identified as one of the most efficient FPM algorithm. We present P-Eclat, a novel parallel FPM algorithm which is an improvement of the Eclat algorithm, where a partial breadth-first search is employed to achieve maximum parallelism. Our approach uses a TIDset representation of the vertical transaction lists across multiple threads on a CPU. Current parallelization techniques for mining frequent patterns don’t fully utilize benefits accrued from multi core shared memory machines. Our parallel mining approach reduces the synchronization requirements, maximizing independence of data and enhances scalability. We also introduce several optimization techniques to improve the algorithm’s performance. Experimental results show that P-Eclat algorithm outperforms both Eclat and dEclat algorithms.
Corporate Social Responsibility Behavior: Impact on Firm’s Financial Performance in an Information Technology Driven Society
Authors: Chen Li Zhen , Marfo Emmanuel Opoku , Hu Xu Hua
Published: April 2016

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its impacts on financial performance has been studied exhaustively, however proponents reports differing findings. A number of studies have shown that there exist a significantly positive correlation between research and development (R&D) and profitability. Between the period 2009 and 2013, we analyzed 500 Ghanaian cases in which companies’ integrate R&D investments as one of their business sustainable development strategies for feasible advancement; they additionally recognize their altruistic “give-away” as commitments to CSR. In view of hypothetical affirmations and observational confirmation in this study, we recognized a positive relationship between CSR and financial performance.
A Case of Patch Stage of Kaposi's Sarcoma and Discussion of the Differential Diagnosis
Authors: Kak Ipshita , Salama Samih , Gohla Gabriella , Naqvi Asghar , Alowami Salem
Published: April 2016

A 55 year old HIV positive male had a skin lesion biopsy which showed atypical vascular proliferation within the superficial and deep dermis with mild atypia of lining endothelial cells. A sparse lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate surrounding the irregular vascular channels was noted. Immunohistochemistry highlighted the atypical blood vessels with the vascular markers CD31, CD34 and Factor VIII. The differential diagnosis included unusual vascular or lymphatic proliferations, stasis dermatitis, kaposiform hemangioendothelioma, progressive lymphangioma and angiosarcoma with focal Kaposi's sarcoma features. Characteristic human herpes virus-8 positive staining helped support the diagnosis of patch stage of Kaposi's sarcoma. Herein, we discuss the case findings, differential diagnosis and characteristic histological findings associated with the patch stage of Kaposi's sarcoma which can be an elusive diagnosis.
CURRENT STRATEGIES FOR THE DETECTION OF MINIMAL RESIDUAL DISEASE IN CHILDHOOD ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA
Authors: Rocha Juliana Maria Camargos , Xavier Sandra Guerra , Souza Marcelo Eduardo Lima , Assumpção Juliana Godoy , Murao Mitiko , Oliveira Benigna Maria
Published: April 2016

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common cancer in children. Current treatment strategies for childhood ALL result in long term remission for approximately 90% of patients. However, therapeutic response is worse among those who relapse. Several risk stratification approaches based on clinical and biological aspects have been proposed in order to intensify treatment in patients with high risk of relapse and reduce toxicity on those with greater probability of cure.The detection of residual leukemic cells (minimal residual disease, MRD) is the most important prognostic factor to identify high risk patients, allowing redefinition of chemotherapy. In the last decades, several standardized research protocols evaluated MRD using immunophenotyping by flow cytometry and/or real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction at different time points during treatment. Both methods are highly sensitive (10-3 a 10-5), but expensive, complex, and, because of that, require qualified staff and frequently are restricted to reference centers.The aim of this article was to review technical aspects of immunophenotyping by flow cytometry and real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction to evaluate MRD in ALL.
Endoscopic clipping of a big periampullary perforation during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography
Authors: Jerath Amitabh Mohan , Singh Gurbilas P. , Singh Ravinder
Published: April 2016

Perforation is an uncommon but serious complication during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). The incidence of perforation though small but is the one that requires immediate management. Delay in identifying this complication can lead to severe morbidity and even mortality in selected cases. If one can identify a perforation during the procedure (ERCP), then the minimally invasive technique such as clipping of the perforation in expert hands can save a lot of additional operative procedures and additional hospital stay costs. We present one such case of large perforation during precut sphincterotomy in a case of difficult cannulation. The perforation was identified and successfully treated by clipping the perforation during the procedure which leads to quick recovery and short hospital stay.
Pancreatic tuberculosis mimicking cystic tumor of pancreas
Authors: Rana Surinder Singh , Gupta Rajesh , Ranjan Rajeev , Srinivasan Radhika , Bhasin Deepak Kumar
Published: April 2016

Isolated pancreatic tuberculosis is very rare, and it presents as a mass lesion and closely mimics pancreatic adenocarcinoma both clinically as well as on imaging. Further, pancreatic tuberculosis can also rarely mimic cystic tumor of the pancreas. We present an unusual case of pancreatic tuberculosis in a 42-year-old lady who presented with pain abdomen and had a cystic lesion with an enhancing mural nodule on computed tomography resembling a cystic tumor of the pancreas.
Esophageal lichen planus: A rare and under-recognized disorder
Authors: Parvez Md Nadeem , Rai Vijay , Khan Enam Mursheed , Goenka Mahesh Kumar
Published: April 2016

Lichen planus (LP) is a chronic idiopathic disorder involving the skin and mucosal surfaces. Although oral mucosal involvement is common, esophageal LP (ELP) is uncommon and also under-reported. Here, we present a case of ELP who was symptomatic with dysphagia for a year, but was untreated. Increasing awareness of this condition can help identify more cases and increase our understanding of this uncommon but interesting condition.
On topological groups with remainder of character k
Authors: Bonanzinga Maddalena , Cuzzupè Maria Vittoria
Published: April 2016

In [A.V. Arhangel'skii and J. van Mill, On topological groups with a first-countable remainder, Top. Proc. 42 (2013), 157-163] it is proved that the character of a non-locally compact topological group with a first countable remainder doesn't exceed $\omega_1$ and a non-locally compact topological group of character $\omega_1$ having a compactification whose reminder is first countable is given. We generalize these results in the general case of an arbitrary infinite cardinal k.

 
Two classes of metric spaces
Authors: Garrido Isabel , Meroño Ana S.
Published: April 2016

The class of metric spaces (X,d) known as small-determined spaces, introduced by Garrido and Jaramillo, are properly defined by means of some type of real-valued Lipschitz functions on X. On the other hand, B-simple metric spaces introduced by Hejcman are defined in terms of some kind of bornologies of bounded subsets of X. In this note we present a common framework where both classes of metric spaces can be studied which allows us to see not only the relationships between them but also to obtain new internal characterizations of these metric properties.
El Alcázar de los Velasco, en Medina de Pomar (Burgos) Un espacio aúlico andalusí en el Norte de la vieja Castilla
Authors: Sobrino González Miguel
Published: April 2016

Este artículo revela las conclusiones de la investigación sobre un edificio que, no obstante su ubicación geográfica, posee vínculos importantes con la cultura arquitectónica andalusí. A raíz de estos descubrimientos, su autor critica duramente la reciente intervención en este alcázar por su supuesta displicencia de la historia y del carácter del edificio. La redacción de Loggia se puso en contacto con el autor de la intervención para solicitarle un artículo que explicara su proyecto, texto que no se ha recibido todavía y que esperamos sin embargo poder publicar en el próximo número de la revista.
Templos de Angkor. Más de cinco siglos de historia
Authors: Muñoz Cosme Gaspar , Vidal Lorenzo Cristina
Published: April 2016

El análisis de los problemas de asentamiento de las torres de Angkor esbozado por el ingeniero Giorgio Croci en el artículo anterior se completa con este ensayo de introducción a la arquitectura khmer que ilustra su historia y su evolución a la vez que expone su relación con el agua y el entorno natural, sus peculiaridades urbanísticas, las soluciones constructivas y las características materiales de sus templos.
The global impact of the transport sectors on atmospheric aerosol in 2030 – Part 2: Aviation
Authors: Righi Mattia , Hendricks Johannes , Sausen Robert
Published: April 2016

Abstract. We use the EMAC (ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry) global climate–chemistry model coupled to the aerosol module MADE (Modal Aerosol Dynamics model for Europe, adapted for global applications) to simulate the impact of aviation emissions on global atmospheric aerosol and climate in 2030. Emissions of short-lived gas and aerosol species follow the four Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) designed in support of the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. We compare our findings with the results of a previous study with the same model configuration focusing on year 2000 emissions. We also characterize the aviation results in the context of the other transport sectors presented in a companion paper. In spite of a relevant increase in aviation traffic volume and resulting emissions of aerosol (black carbon) and aerosol precursor species (nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide), the aviation effect on particle mass concentration in 2030 remains quite negligible (on the order of a few ng m−3), about 1 order of magnitude less than the increase in concentration due to other emission sources. Due to the relatively small size of the aviation-induced aerosol, however, the increase in particle number concentration is significant in all scenarios (about 1000 cm−3), mostly affecting the northern mid-latitudes at typical flight altitudes (7–12 km). This largely contributes to the overall change in particle number concentration between 2000 and 2030, which also results in significant climate effects due to aerosol–cloud interactions. Aviation is the only transport sector for which a larger impact on the Earth's radiation budget is simulated in the future: the aviation-induced radiative forcing in 2030 is more than doubled with respect to the year 2000 value of −15 mW m−2 in all scenarios, with a maximum value of −63 mW m−2 simulated for RCP2.6.
Boundary layer evolution over the central Himalayas from Radio Wind Profiler and Model Simulations
Authors: Singh Narendra , Solanki Raman , Ojha Narendra , Janssen Ruud H. H. , Pozzer Andrea , Dhaka Surendra K.
Published: April 2016

Abstract. We investigate the time-evolution of the Local Boundary Layer (LBL) for the first time over a mountain ridge at Nainital (79.5° E, 29.4° N, 1958 m amsl) in the central Himalayan region, using a Radar Wind Profiler (RWP) during November 2011 to March 2012, as a part of the Ganges Valley Aerosol Experiment (GVAX). We restrict our analysis to clear-sunny days, resulting in a total of 78 days of observations. The standard criterion of the peak in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) profile was found to be inadequate in the characterization of Mixed Layer (ML) top at this site. Therefore, we implemented a criterion of SNR > 6 dB for the characterization of the ML and the resulting estimations are shown to be in agreement with radiosonde measurements over this site. The daytime average observed boundary layer height ranges from 440±197 m in November (late autumn) to 766±317 m in March (early spring). The observations revealed a pronounced impact of mountain-topography on the LBL dynamics during March, when strong winds (> 5.6 m s−1) lead to LBL heights of 650 m during nighttime. The measurements are further utilized to evaluate simulations from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. WRF simulations captured the day-to-day variations up to an extent (r2 = 0.5), as well as the mean diurnal variations (within 1-sigma variability). The mean biases in the daytime average LBL height vary from −7 % (January) to +30 % (February) between model and observations, except during March (+76 %). Sensitivity simulations using a Mixed Layer model (MXL/MESSy) indicated that the springtime overestimation of LBL would lead to a minor uncertainty in simulated surface ozone concentrations. However, it would lead to a significant overestimation of the dilution of black carbon aerosols at this site. Our work fills a gap in observations of local boundary layer over this complex terrain in the Himalayas, and highlights the need for yearlong simultaneous measurements of boundary layer dynamics and air quality to better understand the role of lower tropospheric dynamics in pollution transport.
The effect of particle acidity on secondary organic aerosol formation from α-pinene photooxidation under atmospherically relevant conditions
Authors: Han Yuemei , Stroud Craig A. , Liggo John , Li Shao-Meng
Published: April 2016

Abstract. Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from OH-initiated photooxidation of α-pinene has been investigated in a photochemical reaction chamber under varied particle acidity levels. The effect of particle acidity on SOA yield and chemical composition was examined under high- and low-NOx conditions. The SOA yield (4.0 %–7.3 %) increased nearly linearly with the increase in particle acidity under high-NOx conditions. In contrast, the SOA yield (27.9 %–35.6 %) was substantially higher under low-NOx conditions, but its dependency on particle acidity was insignificant. A relatively strong increase in SOA yield (up to 220 %) was observed in the first hour of α-pinene photooxidation under high-NOx conditions, suggesting that SOA formation was more effective for early α-pinene oxidation products in the presence of fresh acidic particles. The SOA yield decreased gradually with the increase in organic mass under high-NOx conditions, which is likely due to the inaccessibility of the acidity over time with the coating of α-pinene SOA. The formation of later-generation SOA was enhanced by particle acidity even under low-NOx conditions when introducing acidic seed particles after α-pinene photooxidation. The fraction of oxygen-containing organic fragments (CxHyO1+ 33–35 % and CxHyO2+ 16–17 %) in the total organics and the O/C ratio (0.49–0.54) of α-pinene SOA were lower under high-NOx conditions than those under low-NOx conditions (39–40 %, 17–19 %, and 0.60–0.62), suggesting that α-pinene SOA was less oxygenated in the studied high-NOx conditions. The fraction of nitrogen-containing organic fragments (CxHyNz+ and CxHyOzNp+) in the total organics was enhanced with the increases in particle acidity under high-NOx conditions, indicating that organic nitrates may be formed heterogeneously through a mechanism catalyzed by particle acidity. The results of this study suggest that inorganic acidity have a significant role to play in determining various organic aerosol chemical properties such as oxidation state, mass yields and organic nitrate content. It is also an important parameter in the modeling of SOA, which is further dependent on the time scale of SOA formation. Additional research is required to understand the complex physical and chemical interactions facilitated by aerosol acidity.
Retrieval of absolute SO2 column amounts from scattered-light spectra – Implications for the evaluation of data from automated DOAS Networks
Authors: Lübcke Peter , Lampel Johannes , Arellano Santiago , Bobrowski Nicole , Dinger Florian , Galle Bo , Garzón Gustavo , Hidalgo Silvana , Chacón Ortiz Zoraida , Vogel Leif , Warnach Simon , Platt Ulrich
Published: April 2016

Abstract. Scanning Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) networks using scattered solar radiation have become an increasingly important tool for monitoring volcanic sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions. In order to get absolute column densities (CDs), the DOAS evaluation requires a Fraunhofer Reference Spectrum (FRS) that is free of absorption structures of the trace gas of interest. At volcanoes, this requirement can be formulated in a weaker form, if there is a plume free viewing direction within the spectra of a scan through the complete sky. In this case, it is possible to use a specific viewing direction (e.g. zenith) as FRS and correcting for possible plume contamination in the FRS by calculating and subtracting an SO2 offset (e.g. the lowest SO2 CD) from all viewing directions of the respective scan. This procedure is followed in the standard evaluations of data from the Network for Observation of Volcanic and Atmospheric Change (NOVAC). While this procedure is very efficient in removing Fraunhofer structures and instrumental effects it has the disadvantage that one can never be sure that there is no SO2 from the plume in the FRS. Therefore, using a modelled FRS (based on a high-resolution Solar atlas) is of great advantage. We followed this approach and investigated an SO2 retrieval algorithm using a modelled FRS. In this manuscript, we present results from two volcanoes that are monitored by NOVAC stations and which also often show a large volcanic plume. Results from a DOAS SO2 evaluation using a modelled FRS are presented for data from Nevado del Ruiz (Colombia) recorded between January 2010 and June 2012 and from Tungurahua (Ecuador) recorded between January 2009 and December 2011. Instrumental effects were identified with help of a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the residual structures of the DOAS evaluation. The SO2 retrieval performed extraordinarily well with an SO2 DOAS retrieval error of 1−2 × 1016 [molecules/cm2]. Compared to a regular evaluation (using a FRS recorded directly before the scan), we found systematic differences of the differential Slant Column Density (dSCD) of only up to 15 % when looking at the variation of the SO2 within one scan. The major advantage of our new retrieval is that it yields absolute SO2 CDs and that it does not require complicated instrumental calibration in the field, since the method exploits the information available in the measurements.