bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Establishing and Verifying a Risk Ontology for Surfacing ERP Post-Implementation Risks
Authors: Peng Guo Chao Alex , Nunes Miguel Baptista
Published: May 2013

This chapter aims to establish and verify a risk ontology for the post-implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. The risk ontology was initially constructed through the process of a critical literature review. It consists of 40 ERP exploitation risks related to diverse operational, analytical, organization-wide, and technical aspects. This theoretical risk ontology can be used as the basis for identifying and assessing ERP post-implementation risks within different organizational and national contexts. In order to illustrate the discussion, a previous ERP study in China is presented as an example. The study adopted a mixed-methods design, which involved a questionnaire survey and a follow-up case study. The questionnaire examined the suitability of the established risk ontology in the context of Chinese State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). The follow-up case study then further explored and validated the questionnaire findings. By integrating the quantitative and qualitative findings, the original ontology was verified, revised, and extended.
Project Management for a University-Sponsored Online High School
Authors: Walker Bryce L. , Hartlep Nicholas D.
Published: May 2013

The purpose of this book chapter is to illustrate the effective use of online learning design in project management for a fully accredited online high school. This online high school was developed through a partnership of a national-accredited online K-12 educational institution and a prominent university located in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Within the high school, a course was created to measure the value of this online high school experience through the focal lens of its main stakeholders, the online high school students. The authors discuss the implementation and management that was used for the design of that online course. Drawing on a description of an online preparatory course and survey data from 3 participants, the objectives of this chapter are to highlight mission and goals of the online high school and the advantages/disadvantages of attending a synchronous online high school (Quillen, 2010). Findings illustrate the labor intensive commencement of an online high school through its first year.
eTTCampus
Authors: Gray David E. , Ryan Malcolm
Published: May 2013

This chapter critically examines innovative approaches to the evaluation of a European funded project involving nine countries in the development of a virtual campus to provide training opportunities in ICT for teachers and trainers across Europe. It explores project management processes and decision-making and the impact on outcomes as well as relationships between project team members. It concludes with recommendations for the more effective use of a range of these approaches, asserting that a critical analysis of the processes of engagement is as important as the outcomes.
Developing Professional Competence in Project Management Using E-Simulation on Campus
Authors: Searle Ian , Zadeh Hossein
Published: May 2013

Professional Competency is an important aspect of tertiary education. The term implies not just theoretical knowledge but practical know-how and ability to perform in the workplace. This chapter describes an approach to building professional competency in the field of project management developed in a postgraduate Project Management course at RMIT University, Australia. The course involves an extended twelve-week project simulation in which all phases of the Project Management Life-Cycle are exercised. The aim of the simulation is to build professional competency in the management of projects with particular emphasis on the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) project management framework. The simulation uses various techniques to provide a realistic experience for students. Some the techniques involve electronic simulation tools, including electronic communication media and animations. Student evaluation of the use of the simulation tools is presented and discussed.
Adaptive Learning Cycle to Improve the Competence-Building for Enterprise Systems in Higher Education
Authors: Peters Dirk , Haak Liane , Gómez Jorge Marx
Published: May 2013

Higher education institutes like universities cannot ignore the need to teach well known information systems, like ERP systems. Case studies are the most chosen way to introduce the handling of these systems to fulfill the needs of the international employment market and to provide a practical focus within the education. Effective teaching concepts have to improve this situation by considering the pedagogical aspects, which support the individual learning process of each student. This chapter discusses the changes and challenges of enterprise systems in higher education and provides an overview about the learning theory and the actual learning supporting technology as a basis for our concept. The approach considers actual needs of higher education, e.g. present learning in a lab as well as e-Learning courses supported by new methods in technology-enhanced learning by recording students’ behavior to guide them through the system. Therefore the authors introduce an Adaptive Learning Cycle which considers tracking and analyzing results deduced with mining methods to improve the learning progress. The aim is to achieve positive influences on the progress of the learning process to build up professional competence.
ERP Promises in the United Arab Emirates Educational Sector
Authors: Shishakly Rima
Published: May 2013

Implementing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is one of the major IT innovations in this decade. ERP solutions seek to integrate and modernize business processes and their associated information and work flows. Nonetheless, ERP usage in educational management is still new. Educational institutions for various appropriate factors have begun to implement this technology. The school ERP enterprise solution system offers complete school management software, which covers all the functions related to the smooth functioning of school activities. This chapter provides a complete analysis of ERP solutions in the educational sectors and focuses on ERP usage and utilization in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) public (government) schools.
E-Government Management Practice
Authors: Thomson John Douglas
Published: May 2013

E-government agencies in developed and developing countries are anticipating efficiency and effectiveness gains from the evolution of new e-business models. Such agencies are attempting to adopt and adapt the new technologies to public e-business in order to achieve the benefits being realised by entities in the private sector. The adoption of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is one of these e-business models. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the adoption of ERP by the Australian Department of Defence through longitudinal action research. This development may be of interest to other public sectors wishing to avoid unnecessary expense and achieve an efficient and effective outcome in minimum time.
Security Management Issues for Open Source ERP in the NGN Environment
Authors: Stojanović Mirjana D. , Acimovic-Raspopovic Vladanka S. , Rakas Slavica Bostjancic
Published: May 2013

This chapter aims to provide a critical evaluation of security issues and potential solutions related to the use of free and open enterprise resource planning (FOS ERP) systems in highly dynamic and heterogeneous next generation networks (NGN). The authors first present a brief state of the art with respect to technologies, features and applicability of the existing security solutions for ERP systems. Second, they address security issues in FOS ERP systems. Further, they consider research directions concerning NGN infrastructure security, with a particular focus to the importance of building advanced security management systems. Properly defined service level agreement between the customer and the provider represents a starting point for provisioning of secure services with the required quality. The authors also propose policy-based security management architecture, in a wider context of quality of service management system.
Consequences of Disruptive Technology
Authors: Romo Güera Massyn
Published: May 2013

There is an industry tendency to create new roles to compensate for the unavailability of adequately skilled staff. This contributes to establishing new business management practices in allocating and managing operational responsibility. An example of a permanent parallel organisation structure, namely Revenue Assurance (RA) in the Communications Services Provider (CSP) industry is described in context of the CSP industry challenges to ensure complete and accurate billing of communication services. This discussion is positioned with reference to organisational learning (OL) theory and objectives. This chapter argues that parallel structures be utilised as learning structures rather than operational compensating structures as is the case with the RA implementation in practice today. Future research must focus on competency destruction as a conscious organisational process in association with a renewed focus on targeted recruitment, adequate personnel performance management, and a continued reliance on existing business management practices such as project management and risk management.
The Engineering Project as Story and Narrative
Authors: Henriksen Lars Bo
Published: May 2013

Engineers most often organise their work in projects and consequently project management becomes an essential part of an engineer’s work and working life in general. Even if most engineers are trained in project management, it seems that this is a challenge to most engineers. It also seems that the traditional project management tools are not always sufficient when it comes to managing engineering projects. In this chapter, an engineering project is examined, and it turns out that the language, the stories, and the narratives connected to the project is of greater importance to the engineers than the formal project management tools that were offered to the engineers. It also turns out that the term “project” could itself be a problem when it comes to fulfilling the project goals. Therefore, it is concluded that when working on engineering projects, language, stories, and narratives are just as important to the engineers as any other element in the project.
Preparing People to Manage, Support and Use Enterprise Systems in an Arabian Gulf Context
Authors: Al-Hinai Hamed , Edwards Helen M.
Published: May 2013

Preparing organizations and assessing their readiness to implement enterprise systems is a growing agenda in information systems research. This chapter examines the challenges that face the preparation of organizations’ stakeholders in managing and supporting the implementation and using enterprise systems in an Arabian Gulf context. The chapter points out the major issues that have been identified by enterprise systems’ professionals such as: lack of business and IT strategies, continuous top management support, insufficient training, inefficient communication procedures, inefficient change management and cultural barriers. To overcome these challenges, the chapter suggests that the preparation should not be limited to end users since the preparation of other stakeholders, such as top managers, project manager and project teams, is essential to successfully implement and use the enterprise system. Based on insights gained by empirical research with enterprise systems professionals, the chapter recommends a number of factors that need to be considered. These have been grouped into the categories of: organizational, managerial, technical, external, and human/social factors.
Mapping a Typology for Identifying the Culturally-Related Challenges of Global Virtual Teams
Authors: Zakaria Norhayati , Amelinckx Andrea , Wilemon David
Published: May 2013

This chapter presents and synthesizes the culturally oriented challenges of managing distributed projects by Global Virtual Teams (GVTs) and examines the distinctive issues intrinsic to GVT work structures from a research perspective. In the first section, the authors define the concept of the global virtual team and explore the differences between global virtual teams and traditional co-located team structures. In the second section, they draw upon the cross-cultural theories (Hall, 1976; Hofstede, 1984) as a framework to explore the unique aspects of managing GVTs and then further develop a cultural typology illustrating the challenges of GVTs. Next, the authors discuss the research approaches to examine the cultural impacts on the success of GVTs, as well as highlight the practical implication in the light of the wide-ranging training programs needed by multinational corporations. In the final section, they assert that in order to be effective, GVTs need to develop new patterns of communication, team structure, knowledge exchange, and project management capabilities, and thus, the authors conclude with the future research directions.
From Silos to Sharing
Authors: Dalton Dana L.
Published: May 2013

This case study describes the events from 2003 to the present surrounding the implementation of a relational student information Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. The introduction and implementation of an ERP to a campus that previously engaged separate stand-alone administrative computer components is indeed a cultural and philosophical shift. Campus leaders must not discount the importance and to some degree, acceptance, of these shifts. Multiple factors have to come together to make the ERP a successful venture. We found that continuous communication and a sense of ownership aided the cultural shift. At the beginning of any institution-wide project, all the stakeholders should have a seat at the table and a role in the decision-making processes. As in any undertaking, best practices and the lessons learned served as both formative and summative types of evaluation in this experience. This case is not meant to serve as a “how to” guide, but a narrative of prominent issues that other institutions may find helpful if a conversion is in their future.
Evaluating the Success of ERP Systems’ Implementation
Authors: Almeida Ricardo , Teixeira Miguel Nuno de Oliveira
Published: May 2013

Information management has assumed an increasing importance at business organizations, over the last decades. Such trends lead companies to promote enormous efforts on organizing and optimizing their business processes, acquiring expensive enterprise information systems, aiming to promote an accurate answer to market uncertainty. Unfortunately, traditional software implementations have revealed low levels of satisfaction by Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems’ customers. This study aims to evaluate the reasons for success and failure of ERP systems implemented in Portugal and the methodologies taken by consulting teams. To achieve such a goal, it has been submitted a web survey to Portuguese companies and consulting teams, in order to confirm major errors, ERP systems’ coverage and quality’s response for business processes, and assessment of engineering requirements as a major concern. This study is concluded with the presentation of the web survey results and some conclusions about ERP systems’ implementation at Portugal.
The Role of Management Consultants in Long-Term ERP Customization Trajectories
Authors: Campagnolo Gian Marco
Published: May 2013

This chapter proposes an understanding of the role of management consultants in the implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems in the Public Sector. The analysis is grounded on the case of an Italian Local Government in the course of 10 years. Each period corresponds to a different key client-consultant relationship and Public Sector situation. By using situational maps, the authors have highlighted the deeply contextual reflexivity between consultants and client organizations in configuring consultants’ advice over time. The purpose of the chapter is to replace “guru-istic” accounts with a more relational perspective that describes consultants as existing only in relation with their clients and the evolving Public Sector situation.
Green IT Project Management
Authors: Bachour Nathalie
Published: May 2013

With the constant evolution of technology and the world critical environmental status, all private and public Information Technology (IT) businesses are moving towards sustainability. Faced with influences from government regulations, market competition and constraints, as well as watchdogs, IT decision makers within organizations are forced to ride the green technology wave with a challenging and uncertain approach. This chapter defines methods to optimize Green IT projects for sustainable value creation within organizations. It only focuses on economic viability and environmental impact, but could be stretched out in the future to social aspects. The contributions of this chapter allow the project management community and decision makers to follow a framework for Green IT project success evaluation and performance follow-up throughout the project life cycle and the three levels of the organization: operational, tactical, and strategic. A macro-model is also developed to aid them in successfully selecting, prioritizing, managing, and aligning their Green IT projects with the corporate and environmental strategies.
A Multi-Agent Knowledge Management System for Reactive and Proactive Knowledge Supply
Authors: Toledo Carlos M. , Chiotti Omar , Galli María R.
Published: May 2013

This chapter presents an agent-based architecture for integrating organizational knowledge repositories and business processes orchestrated by a workflow management system. This architecture proactively provides relevant knowledge to workflow tasks considering their context, and stores the information generated by its execution for future requirements. It describes components of the architecture, models a multi-agent system that enables the integration, presents a strategy to annotate and retrieval knowledge of non-structured information sources, and defines a new workflow pattern to be used in knowledge intensive tasks in order to make possible the knowledge provision. This architecture allows workers to count, in a proactive way, with all necessary information for the task executions without suspending their activities to retrieve information scattered in the organization. It reduces the wasted time in manual knowledge searches included in mostly knowledge management approaches.
Training of Avatar Moderator in Sliding Mode Control Environment for Virtual Project Management
Authors: Mkrttchian Vardan , Stephanova Galina
Published: May 2013

This chapter describes a development of algorithms, software, and hardware for avatar management and avatar moderator training systems, using the principle of practical tendency in sliding mode control environment and illustrating its applicability in virtual communications project management. The avatar is a computer-synthesized animated three-dimensional model, acting as a virtual representation of a real person, or as a visualization of the communication system of artificial intelligence. It is required to develop and evaluate realistic avatar interfaces as portals to intelligent software capable of relaying knowledge and skills in various subject areas. The chapter focuses on integrating speaker-independent continuous speech recognition, context technology of intelligent dialogue system in real-time, graphics rendering based on motion capture (motion capture is used by avatar to accompany the verbal information with gestures), and the development of applied information systems with avatar technology for different subject areas. Thus, created algorithms, software, and hardware are now use in collaboration works at the Astrakhan State University (Russian Federation) and at HHH University (Australian Federation and the Republic of Armenia) for the development of avatars for project management in design of real virtual control systems.
Innovative Approaches in Project Management Blended Education
Authors: Bodea Constanta Nicoleta , Bodea Corneliu Alexandru , Purnus Augustin , Badea Ruxandra-Ileana
Published: May 2013

In recent years, many business education programs have focused on the development of competences, instead of knowledge transfer. For this reason, various innovative training approaches were adopted, including educational simulations. The increasing availability of the simulation resources also contributes to the proliferation of simulation in business education curricula. The chapter presents how the simulations were introduced in a Master degree program on Project Management, in project planning and controlling module. The Master program has a blended-learning approach, which nicely fits to the simulation requirements. The simulations are based on an agent-based model of the project resource leveling process, part of the project planning and scheduling topic. The authors made several evaluations of the students’ results before and after the simulations. The main conclusion of the experiment is that the educational simulations improve the competence development process, only if they are properly designed and performed.
Free and Open Source ERP
Authors: Tambo Torben , Koch Christian
Published: May 2013

With the proliferation of commercial Packaged ERP (P-ERP) systems in today’s enterprises, many reasons exist to look for alternatives in the quest for innovation, business development, cost, agility and dependency. P-ERP provides a solid and proven business support, an ecosystem of consultancies and integrators, senior management having gained confidence over the last 20 years, and commercially based support and development. This leaves companies with still more expensive P-ERP costs, still less flexibility, a still harder push to lose possibilities for differentiation, still more homogenised business processes, and absence of flexibility to change suppliers and systems. FOS-ERP offers an answer to most of these questions, but is facing issues in market penetration. In this chapter, barriers of FOS-ERP are reviewed; proposals are made on how to manage barriers. An approach managing co-existence of P-ERP and FOS-ERP is suggested. Concluding, FOS-ERP is seen as a strong option for enterprises in the future, but a clear understanding and distinction must be the offset, barriers needs to be managed, and optimal co-existence will in most cases be the realistic scenario.
Institutional Knowledge Repositories
Authors: Doctor Gayatri
Published: May 2013

An Institutional Knowledge Repository (IKR) is “a digital archive of intellectual product created by the faculty, research staff, and students of an institution and accessible to end users both within and outside of the institution, with few if any barriers to access.” This chapter discusses the growing trend in Open Access Repositories, Institutional Repositories worldwide. It throws light on the concepts of enterprise resource planning and enterprise content management and then explores academic institutions in India who have already initiated the use of Institutional Knowledge Repositories, as an enterprise content management system for knowledge sharing & management with regard to content, access, and other factors.
Sentiment Analysis in Business Intelligence
Authors: Plaza Laura , Carrillo de Albornoz Jorge
Published: May 2013

Sentiment Analysis is a novel and broad area of Natural Language Processing (NLP) aiming to understand people’s sentiments and opinions about a given topic. In particular, this chapter focuses on the application of Sentiment Analysis to automatically evaluate online products and services reviews. Undoubtedly, the information in customer reviews is of great interest to both companies and consumers. Companies and organizations spend a huge amount of money to find customers’ opinions and sentiments, since this information is useful to exploit their marketing-mix in order to affect consumer satisfaction. Individuals are interested in others’ experiences when purchasing a product or hiring a service. Moreover, online opinions clearly influence the companies’ reputation. For this reason, Sentiment Analysis is expected to become a key component of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions. However, the task of mining opinions in text, as any other NLP task, is a very challenging one. The objective of this chapter is to present the reader the main ideas of Sentiment Analysis and its practical applications in business intelligence. It also discussed the approaches and techniques used so far, and the corpora and resources most widely used in the development of sentiment-driven systems.
A Framework for Enabling Dynamic E-Business Strategies via new Enterprise Paradigms and ERP Solutions
Authors: Wan Yi , Clegg Ben , Dey Prasanta Kumar
Published: May 2013

In the global Internet economy, e-business as a driving force to redefine business models and operational processes is posing new challenges for traditional organizational structures and information system (IS) architectures. These are showing promises of a renewed period of innovative thinking in e-business strategies with new enterprise paradigms and different Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. In this chapter, the authors consider and investigate how dynamic e-business strategies, as the next evolutionary generation of e-business, can be realized through newly diverse enterprise structures supported by ERP, ERPII and so-called “ERPIII” solutions relying on the virtual value chain concept. Exploratory inductive multi-case studies in manufacturing and printing industries have been conducted. Additionally, it proposes a conceptual framework to discuss the adoption and governance of ERP systems within the context of three enterprise forms for enabling dynamic and collaborative e-business strategies, and particularly demonstrate how an enterprise can dynamically migrate from its current position to the patterns it desires to occupy in the future – a migration that must and will include dynamic e-business as a core competency, but that also relies heavily on ERP-based backbone and other robust technological platform and applications.
Field expansion of DNA polymerase chain reaction for early infant diagnosis of HIV-1: The Ethiopian experience
Authors: Fonjungo Peter , Girma Mulu , Melaku Zenebe , Mekonen Teferi , Tanuri Amilcar , Hailegiorgis Bereket , Tegbaru Belete , Mengistu Yohannes , Ashenafi Aytenew , Mamo Wubshet , Abreha Tesfay , Tibesso Gudetta , Ramos Artur , Ayana Gonfa , Freeman Richard , Nkengasong John N. , Zewdu Solomon , Kebede Yenew , Abebe Almaz , Kenyon Thomas A. , Messele Tsehaynesh
Published: May 2013

Background: Early diagnosis of infants infected with HIV (EID) and early initiation of treatment significantly reduces the rate of disease progression and mortality. One of the challengesto identification of HIV-1-infected infants is availability and/or access to quality molecular laboratory facilities which perform molecular virologic assays suitable for accurate identificationof the HIV status of infants.Method: We conducted a joint site assessment and designed laboratories for the expansion of DNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing based on dried blood spot (DBS) for EID insix regions of Ethiopia. Training of appropriate laboratory technologists and development of required documentation including standard operating procedures (SOPs) was carried out. The impact of the expansion of EID laboratories was assessed by the number of tests performed as well as the turn-around time.Results: DNA PCR for EID was introduced in 2008 in six regions. From April 2006 to April 2008, a total of 2848 infants had been tested centrally at the Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute (EHNRI) in Addis Ababa, and which was then the only laboratory with the capability to perform EID; 546 (19.2%) of the samples were positive. By November 2010, EHNRI and the six laboratories had tested an additional 16 985 HIV-exposed infants, of which 1915 (11.3%) were positive. The median turn-around time for test results was 14 days (range 14−21 days).Conclusion: Expansion of HIV DNA PCR testing facilities that can provide quality and reliable results is feasible in resource-limited settings. Regular supervision and monitoring for quality assurance of these laboratories is essential to maintain accuracy of testing.
Dental fluorosis knowledge and perception among students of the health sciences
Authors: Shunu D
Published: May 2013

Introduction: The effect of excessive intake of fluoride is obviously seen among people in endemic areas of fluorosis in Tanzania but people have not openly expressed what they feel about of dental fluorosis.Objective: To assess dental fluorosis perception among students of the health sciences at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS).Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study among students of the health sciences at MUHAS was conducted in April 2012. A total of 40 students aged 19-28 years from different courses were involved to assess their views using a self-administered questionnaire and tables were prepared using Microsoft excel.Results: thirty students, which is 75% of all students interviewed were bothered by brown mottled teeth, while the remaining 10(25%) responded that having brown mottled teeth was normal to them. A total of 31(77.5%) didn’t know how to prevent dental fluorosis while 9(22.5%) had knowledge on the effect of excess fluoride so they also knew how to prevent fluorosis.Conclusion: Majority of the students perceived dental fluorosis as a problem while few had knowledge on how to prevent it. This shows a need to educate them about fluorosis to put them in a better position to combat this problem.
Imaging of Parapharyngeal Space and Infratemporal Fossa
Authors: Varma Ravi , Kumar Aman , Dhongade Harshal
Published: May 2013

Cross-sectional imaging is an indispensable tool in the investigation of parapharyngeal space and infratemporal fossa pathologies. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging exquisitely display the complex anatomy of this region and provides accurate spatial localization of pathology, differential diagnosis and vital information for treatment planning.

How to cite this article

Jain S, Kumar A, Dhongade H, Varma R. Imaging of Parapharyngeal Space and Infratemporal Fossa. Int J Otorhinolaryngol Clin 2012;4(3):113-121.
Cervical Lymphangioma in Adult
Authors: Kandakure Vinod Tukaram , Thakur Girish Vitthalrao , Thote Amit Ramesh , Kausar Ayesha Junaid
Published: May 2013

Lymphangiomas are uncommon congenital lesions of the lymphatic system which are usually present in childhood. We report a case of adult lymphangioma, localized in the neck, and discuss the presentation, diagnosis and management of this tumor.

How to cite this article

Kandakure VT, Thakur GV, Thote AR, Kausar AJ. Cervical Lymphangioma in Adult. Int J Otorhinolaryngol Clin 2012;4(3):147-150.
Chronic Hyperplastic Polypoid Tonsillitis
Authors: Patil Venkatesh Manikrao , Kustagi Anirud Vasant , Patil Rashmi Mallangouda
Published: May 2013

Chronic tonsillitis is commonly seen in children. Tonsillitis presenting as unilateral pedunculated mass in oral cavity and leading to obstruction of airway is very rare. We report a patient who presented with mass in oropharynx measuring 5 × 2 × 1 cm and review of literature, management and implication of this benign lesion.

How to cite this article

Patil VM, Kustagi AV, Patil RM. Chronic Hyperplastic Polypoid Tonsillitis. Int J Otorhinolaryngol Clin 2012;4(3):160-161.
CROWDSOURCED MAPPING – LETTING AMATEURS INTO THE TEMPLE?
Authors: McCullagh M. , Jackson M.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. The rise of crowdsourced mapping data is well documented and attempts to integrate such information within existing or potential NSDIs [National Spatial Data Infrastructures] are increasingly being examined. The results of these experiments, however, have been mixed and have left many researchers uncertain and unclear of the benefits of integration and of solutions to problems of use for such combined and potentially synergistic mapping tools. This paper reviews the development of the crowdsource mapping movement and discusses the applications that have been developed and some of the successes achieved thus far. It also describes the problems of integration and ways of estimating success, based partly on a number of on-going studies at the University of Nottingham that look at different aspects of the integration problem: iterative improvement of crowdsource data quality, comparison between crowdsourced data and prior knowledge and models, development of trust in such data, and the alignment of variant ontologies. Questions of quality arise, particularly when crowdsource data are combined with pre-existing NSDI data. The latter is usually stable, meets international standards and often provides national coverage for use at a variety of scales. The former is often partial, without defined quality standards, patchy in coverage, but frequently addresses themes very important to some grass roots group and often to society as a whole. This group might be of regional, national, or international importance that needs a mapping facility to express its views, and therefore should combine with local NSDI initiatives to provide valid mapping. Will both groups use ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) and OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) standards? Or might some extension or relaxation be required to accommodate the mostly less rigorous crowdsourced data? So, can crowdsourced data ever be safely and successfully merged into an NSDI? Should it be simply a separate mapping layer? Is full integration possible providing quality standards are fully met, and methods of defining levels of quality agreed? Frequently crowdsourced data sets are anarchic in composition, and based on new and sometimes unproved technologies. Can an NSDI exhibit the necessary flexibility and speed to deal with such rapid technological and societal change?
Periosteal Adventitia is a Valuable Bone Graft Alternative
Authors: Gemalmaz Halil Can , Bolukbasi Selcuk , Esen Erdinc , Erdogan Deniz , Giray Seren Gulsen , Bardakci Yesim
Published: May 2013

Background

Periosteal adventitia is believed to consist of fibrous tissue without any regenerative potential. This theory results in the assumption that surgically stripped periosteum which is also adventitial has no bone regeneration potential. We decided to test whether the periosteal adventitia is osteoinductive and whether it is suitable for a commonly faced clinical situation in an animal model.

Methods

This study used 24 femurs from 12 rabbits, which were separated into 3 groups. Lateral femoral condylar cavitary defects were created with a 5 mm drill bit. In group I, the defects were left empty as the control. In group II, the defects were only filled with ceramic graft particles. In group III, the defects were filled with a mixture of ceramic graft particles and autogenous, adventitial, periosteal particles. All animals were sacrificed at the end of the 6th week and were evaluated histologically.

Results

The microscopy of 3 different histologists suggested that group III had far superior healing when compared to the control group and group II. The statistical evaluation of the histomorphometrically gathered quantitative results revealed a meaningful increase in woven bone and a decrease in fibrous tissue in group III, confirming the histological analysis.

Conclusions

In this study we observed that the composite graft obtained by mixing ceramics and free adventitial periosteal grafts offers healing potential surpassing both the ceramic-only group as well as the control group. We conclude that adventitial periosteal graft greatly facilitates new bone formation.
Decrease Rate of the Renal Diameter in Chronic Hemodialysis Patients
Authors: Aoyagi Teiichiro , Tachibana Masaaki , Naganuma Shinji
Published: May 2013

We here present the results of ultrasonographic (US) evaluations on the alteration of renal diameter of chronic HD patients. Of 109 outpatient HD patients who had neither severe acquired cystic disease of the kidney nor hereditary polycystic kidney disease, we performed US two or three times to measure their maximum renal diameter (mean of both kidneys), and the yearly alteration rate was calculated. The average interval of the two measurements was 35.9 months, and the average HD duration from the HD induction to the first measurement was 29.5 months. The average decrease rate of renal diameter was (SE) mm/year. No statistical difference was seen on the decrease rate in relation to gender, age and original disease (among three groups, glomerulonephritis and IgA nephropathy, diabetes, and others including hypertension). However, the decrease rate was large when the first measurement was close to the induction of hemodialysis, suggesting that the alteration rate reduced according to the hemodialysis vintage ( mm/year, first measurement not more than 10 months after induction of HD and  mm/year, first measurement more than 80 months after induction of HD). Renal diameter decreased approximately 4.3 mm each year, and the decrease rate slowed as the length of time on dialysis increased.
Failure of a pharmacist-initiated antimicrobial step-down protocol to impact physician prescribing behavior or patient outcomes: A quasi-experimental, cross-over study
Authors: Hermsen Elizabeth D. , Shull Sara S. , Richter Lisa M. , Qiu Fang , Rupp Mark E.
Published: May 2013

Background: Intravenous (IV) to oral (PO) conversion may expedite hospital discharge and decrease costs. Most IV-to-PO programs include antimicrobials with highly-bioavailable PO formulations, allowing sequential interchanges. Our aim was to evaluate clinical and economic outcomes of a pharmacist-initiated antimicrobial step-down protocol whereby intravenous (IV) antimicrobials were switched to different oral (PO) antimicrobials. Methods: A 12-month quasi-experimental, cross-over study was conducted on a 45-bed adult general medicine ward in two populations (A & B) receiving an IV antimicrobial for ≥ 48 hours in three phases: baseline (Phase 1); step-down protocol in Group A only (Phase 2); and step-down protocol in Group B, withdrawn from Group A (Phase 3). A step-down conversion form was used by pharmacists to screen patients for eligibility. If eligible, the form was placed in the medical record to be completed by the physician. Outcomes reported after step-down eligibility included percent receiving step-down conversion; length of stay; therapy duration; IV complications; clinical cure; and antimicrobial and hospitalization costs. Results: 2,635 patients were screened. Of 595 included patients, 33.6% (n=98) and 32% (n=97) were eligible for step-down in Groups A and B, respectively. During Phase 2, 42.1% of the eligible Group A and 28.6% of the eligible Group B patients were switched to step-down therapy (p=0.12). No significant difference existed between the groups for length of stay; duration of therapy; IV complications; clinical cure; and costs.  Similar results were observed in Phase 3. Post hoc analyses showed those receiving step-down conversion had shorter stays (p=0.02) and decreased hospitalization costs (p=0.006). Conclusions: Approximately 60%-75% of eligible patients did not receive step-down conversion. The step-down protocol was labor-intensive and poorly accepted. Successful step-down programs must anticipate these challenges.  Step-down was associated with shorter stays and decreased costs.
Crianças trabalhadoras e as condições de sua inserção no mercado de trabalho no Paraná
Authors: Rinaldi Navarro Mariusha , Souza Solange de Cássia Inforzato de , Evarini Adriana
Published: May 2013

Este artigo tem como objetivo analisar o perfil das crianças trabalhadoras e as condições de sua inserção no mercado de trabalho no Paraná nos anos 2002 e 2009, a partir dos microdados da Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios (PNAD). Os resultados mostraram que as crianças ocupadas são do sexo masculino, brancas, alfabetizadas e moradoras da área urbana. A prática dos afazeres domésticos é comum, a escolaridade da mãe é baixa e sua ausência nos domicílios cresceu. Elas começam a trabalhar ao redor dos 10 anos de idade e o rendimento mensal do trabalho e a renda domiciliar per capita são baixos.
Application of Mean of Absolute Deviation Method for the Selection of Best Nonlinear Component Based on Video Encryption
Authors: Anees Amir , Khan Waqar Ahmad , Gondal Muhammad Asif , Hussain Iqtadar
Published: May 2013

The aim of this work is to make use of the mean of absolute deviation (MAD) method for the evaluation process of substitution boxes used in the advanced encryption standard. In this paper, we use the MAD technique to analyze some popular and prevailing substitution boxes used in encryption processes. In particular, MAD is applied to advanced encryption standard (AES), affine power affine (APA), Gray, Lui J., Residue Prime, S8 AES, SKIPJACK, and Xyi substitution boxes.
Shape-Invariant Approach to Study Relativistic Symmetries of the Dirac Equation with a New Hyperbolical Potential Combination
Authors: Ikot Akpan N. , Maghsoodi Elham , Zarrinkamar Saber , Hassanabadi Hassan
Published: May 2013

Spin and pseudospin symmetries of the Dirac equation are investigated for a novel interaction term, i. e. the combination of Tietz plus a hyperbolical (Schiöerg) potential besides a Coulomb tensor interaction. This choice of interaction yields many of our significant terms in its special cases. After applying a proper hyperbolical term, we find the corresponding superpotential and thereby construct the partner Hamiltonians which satisfy the shape-invariant condition via a translational mapping. We report the spectrum of the system and comment on the impact of various terms engaged
Approximate Solution of the Spin-0 Particle Subject to the Trigonometric Pöschl–Teller Potential with Centrifugal Barrier
Authors: Hamzavi Majid , Rajabi Ali Akbar , Amirfakhrian Majid
Published: May 2013

The trigonometric Pöschl-Teller (PT) potential describes the diatomic molecular vibration. In this paper, we study the approximate solutions of the radial Klein-Gordon (KG) equation for the rotating trigonometric PT potential using the Nikiforov-Uvarov (NU) method. The energy eigenvalues and their corresponding eigenfunctions are calculated for arbitrary l-states in closed form. We obtain the non-relativistic limit and present some numerical results for both relativistic and non-relativistic cases.
As Experiências de Consumo de Eletrônicos de Consumidores de Baixa Renda no Brasil
Authors: Pinto Marcelo De Rezende
Published: May 2013

A partir da constatao de que ainda so incipientes os estudos que buscam relacionar as experincias de consumo em uma perspectiva social, atrelada percepo de que pouco se pesquisou sobre os consumidores pobres urbanos, este trabalho tem por objetivo geral investigar como as experincias de consumo de eletrnicos pelos consumidores de baixa renda interagem com o sistema cultural e simblico envolvido no fluxo da vida social cotidiana. Por meio de uma abordagem interpretativista e construtivista, conduziu-se uma pesquisa de inspirao etnogrfica a fim de se vivenciar o dia a dia dos consumidores no seu ambiente natural por meio de entrevistas em profundidade, observaes e notas de campo. Os dados da investigao emprica foram examinados com base na Anlise de Contedo. Com a inteno de ir alm das descries, o trabalho tambm visou construo de uma teoria substantiva por meio da grounded theory construtivista tal como proposta por Strauss e Corbin (2008) e Charmaz (2006). A teoria substantiva gerada salientou que nas experincias de consumo de aparelhos eletrnicos de consumidores pobres possvel perceber uma intensa relao com o sistema cultural e simblico construda entre os sujeitos pesquisados.DOI:10.5585/remark.v12i1.2316
Estilos de Vida Líquidos: Casais Dinc (Duplo Ingresso, Nenhuma Criança)
Authors: Da Silva Iara Silva , Rohde Liliane Antunes
Published: May 2013

Na contemporaneidade surgem novas configuraes familiares, casais com dupla renda, nenhuma criana (DINC), objeto deste estudo. Investiga-se o seu estilo de vida, atravs da triangulao de mtodos e tcnicas de pesquisa de vertentes qualitativa e quantitativa. Como evidncias destacam-se: estilo de vida plural tpico da ps-modernidade que valoriza a liberdade para seguir por caminhos diferentes dos convencionais. Mesmo se tratando de uma subcultura especfica, os casais heterossexuais sem filhos tm estilos de vida diversos: os encasulados priorizam a casa, o lar; os conformados tm afinidade mediana com a casa, no cuidam da sade e gostam de tecnologia; os conjugados que, entre os grupos de pertena, priorizam o cnjuge.DOI:10.5585/remark.v12i1.2385
Evolução da Experiência no Varejo de Serviços: Um Exemplo do Setor de Telecomunicações Brasileiro
Authors: Oliveira Bruno Antunes , Toledo Ana Carolina , Lopes Evandro Luiz
Published: May 2013

o propsito desta pesquisa , por meio de um estudo de caso gerado partir da netnografia, exemplificar a evoluo do varejo de servios. Como j se sabe, o setor de servios est em franco crescimento tanto no contexto mundial quanto no Brasil. Diante da competio instalada, os varejistas de servios esto adotando vrias inovaes para tornar o ambiente de deciso de compra cada dia mais atrativo. Neste estudo, os autores confrontam as estratgias comerciais varejistas adotadas pela Vivo S/A, empresa multinacional de telecomunicaes, com as principais caractersticas distintas do setor de servios. Os principais achados indicam que o Marketing experiencial ainda est em processo de maturao no contexto brasileiro.DOI:10.5585/remark.v12i1.2471
Lineage-Specific Purification of Neural Stem/Progenitor Cells From Differentiated Mouse Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Authors: Maruyama Masato , Yamashita Yuji , Kase Masahiko , Trifonov Stefan , Sugimoto Tetsuo
Published: May 2013

Since induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have differentiation potential into all three germ layer-derived tissues, efficient purification of target cells is required in many fields of iPS research. One useful strategy is isolation of desired cells from differentiated iPS cells by lineage-specific expression of a drug-resistance gene, followed by drug selection. With this strategy, we purified neural stem/progenitor cells (NSCs), a good candidate source for regenerative therapy, from differentiated mouse iPS cells. We constructed a bicistronic expression vector simultaneously expressing blasticidin S resistance gene and DsRed under the control of tandem enhancer of a 257-base pair region of nestin second intron, an NSC-specific enhancer. This construct was efficiently inserted into the iPS genome by piggyBac transposon-mediated gene transfer, and the established subclone was differentiated into NSCs in the presence or absence of blasticidin S. Consequently, incubation with blasticidin S led to purification of NSCs from differentiated iPS cells. Our results suggest that a lineage-specific drug selection strategy is useful for purification of NSCs from differentiated iPS cells and that this strategy can be applied for the purification of other cell types.