bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Automating a Massive Online Course With Cluster Computing
Authors: Haas Timothy C.
Published: January 2019

Before massive numbers of students can take online courses for college credit, the challenges of providing tutoring support, answers to student-posed questions, and the control of cheating will need to be addressed. These challenges are taken up here by developing an online course delivery system that runs in a cluster computing environment and is designed to support the delivery of a course having 10K or more students. This delivery system enhances synchronous and asynchronous lectures, provides an online intelligent tutoring system, and detects plagiarism. The free software system is shown to provide fast response times when run on a mid-range cluster computer. The system's automatic plagiarism detection system is shown to be able to detect multiple authors of course assignments when used to analyze the work of actual online students. Use of this system on a large scale would allow most colleges to reduce their faculty size by 20 to 40%.
Agents Oriented Genetic-K-Means (AOGK) System for Plagiarism Detection
Authors: Bouarara Hadj Ahmed , Bouarara Yasmin
Published: January 2019

In the last decade, the plagiarism phenomenon has widely spread and become a topical problem in the modern scientific world, caused by the wide availability of electronic documents online and offline. This work will be devoted to describe a new plagiarism detection system named AOGK « Agents Oriented Genetic-K-means » based on a multi-agents architecture composed of three modules: text parsing to transform documents into vectors; Learning module using genetic algorithms to build a prediction model; Test module using k-means for the final classification of suspicious document; To evaluate their system the authors have used a range of reference metrics (precision, recall, f-measure and entropy) and the benchmark PAN 09. They have compared the results obtained with the performance of other systems found in literature; the authors' aim is the preservation of copyright.
Machine-Learning-Based External Plagiarism Detecting Methodology From Monolingual Documents
Authors: Bose Saugata , Korpal Ritambhra
Published: January 2019

In this chapter, an initiative is proposed where natural language processing (NLP) techniques and supervised machine learning algorithms have been combined to detect external plagiarism. The major emphasis is on to construct a framework to detect plagiarism from monolingual texts by implementing n-gram frequency comparison approach. The framework is based on 120 characteristics which have been extracted during pre-processing steps using simple NLP approach. Afterward, filter metrics has been applied to select most relevant features and supervised classification learning algorithm has been used later to classify the documents in four levels of plagiarism. Then, confusion matrix was built to estimate the false positives and false negatives. Finally, the authors have shown C4.5 decision tree-based classifier's suitability on calculating accuracy over naive Bayes. The framework achieved 89% accuracy with low false positive and false negative rate and it shows higher precision and recall value comparing to passage similarities method, sentence similarity method, and search space reduction method.
Hybrid Segmentation Prototype for Arabic Text-Based Documents
Authors: Alouane-Ksouri Sonia , Hidri Minyar Sassi
Published: January 2019

The contribution of this work relates to the field of Arabic text-based document analysis for the detection of plagiarism. This analysis will be carried out according to the triadic computation model of document similarity. The authors propose a hybrid segmentation prototype for Arabic text-based documents that links different processing steps in order to generate the similarity rate between the documents of an Arabic corpus. It involves two segmentation systems and a morphological analysis in order to obtain a matrix representation adapted to the triadic similarity computation according to three abstraction levels: documents, sentences and words.
Patents and Scientific Research
Authors: Wong Sulan
Published: January 2019

It is argued that patents encourage scientific development, benefiting society by creating useful products and services that improve the quality of life. However, by granting exclusive rights of exploitation, patents create situations in which they interfere with the exercise of the freedom of scientific research. This work examines five scenarios where this problem can be seen and the utilitarian function of patents is questioned. Firstly, the effects of research funding in the definition of the lines and research objectives are observed. Secondly, the anticommons is studied, as it is a situation where excessive fragmentation of ownership in scientific knowledge may prevent its use. Thirdly, broad patents and their implications are examined. Fourthly, the deterrent power of patent litigation, which creates an unexpected business model, is analyzed. Fifthly, secrecy is looked upon, as it is encouraged by the logic in which the patent system works.
Ethical Issues of Qualitative Research
Authors: Rajib Md. Salah Uddin , Mou Nusrat Zahan
Published: January 2019

This chapter is aimed to discuss the ethical issues of qualitative research. Because of nature and forms of qualitative research, ethical issues, validity and reliability of qualitative research has been discussed in many research investigations. By nature ethical issues in qualitative research are vague and inherent. These ethical issues of qualitative research have been discussed by researchers and experts from different areas. This chapter discusses the focal points of ethical issues. The interactions and the interest of concerned parties of qualitative research form the ethical issues. Moreover, different views (Positivistic and relativistic) of ethical issues of qualitative research raise some complexity. This chapter discusses the various issue of qualitative research from various perspectives. Researchers' opinions on the ethical issues of qualitative research have been discussed, and after that the chapter has been arranged with the basic ethical issues of qualitative research as the area is vary vast.
A Shared Leadership Approach to Transformational Leadership Theory
Authors: Galli Brian J.
Published: January 2019

The main objective of this paper is to identify the research philosophy as well as research methodologies that are most appropriate for the research fields identified above; this paper will highlight the research methodologies that are most applicable to this research effort by reviewing the research methodologies utilized in research performed by other researchers, in similar fields of research to those identified above. This paper acts as a guide in order to outline the research philosophies, research canons, ethical considerations, research methodologies/designs, data collection and analysis methods, sample size requirements, and “what to measure” requirements. Based on the decision to utilize the quantitative research philosophy, the paper discusses other significant research topics in terms of the quantitative research philosophy. The topics will be discussed from the quantitative perspective in order to provide the reader with the full understanding of how the quantitative research philosophy needs to be accounted for in every aspect of the research design/approach. Finally, the paper discusses a general summary of the various section of the paper and the final section also details the future intentions and responsibilities of the researcher.
Becoming Comfortable With Supercomplexity
Authors: Selkrig Mark , Keamy (Ron) Kim
Published: January 2019

In this chapter the authors map various lines of flight they have taken that have informed their growing awareness of supercomplexity as a paradigm appropriate for the current epoch. Rather than concentrating on being researchers, the authors focus on how they are always becoming researchers, in between, like a rhizome. Illustrative accounts of the authors' research biographies are provided. They utilize a semi-fictional narrative, with images as a way to overlay fact-oriented research with fiction, in order to “play” with different ways of representing research. In the final section of the chapter, a number of emergent concerns, challenges and possibilities are considered in relation to working with supercomplexity. These musings offer the authors, as rhizome researchers with many conceptual tools and practices, a way to be open to new types of inquiry—a process that could be described as simultaneously knowing but not knowing.
Assistive Intelligent Humanoid Robot in Human Environment
Authors: Mohamed Zulkifli , Capi Genci
Published: January 2019

The number of robots operating in human environments is increasing every day. In order to operate in such environments, the robot must be able to navigate, interact with human, pick and place different objects. This chapter presents a mobile humanoid robot that is able to localize itself, navigate to the target location, and generates the arm motion based on the specific task. The robot utilizes the Laser Range Finder, camera and compass sensor for localization and navigation. In addition, the robot generates the arm motion satisfying multiple motion criteria, simultaneously. This chapter evolves neural controllers that generate the humanoid robot arm motion in dynamic environment optimizing three different objective functions: minimum time, distance and acceleration. In a single ran of Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm, multiple neural controllers are generate and the same neural controller can be employed to generate the robot motion for a wide range of initial and goal positions.
Learner-Centered Approach With Educational Robotics
Authors: Eguchi Amy
Published: January 2019

The chapter introduces educational robotics as a learning tool to foster learner-centered approach in classroom. It provides tips for successful implementation of learner-centered learning using educational robotics learning tool. The chapter explains how teachers can use educational technology with a learner-centered approach, using examples from 4th grade robotics unit as part of the science curriculum. Pre-school teachers commonly use learner-centered approach that build upon students' interests, curiosities and inquiries. Somehow, the practice shifts gradually into teacher-centered pedagogy once students start to transition into upper grades. Providing a learner-centered learning environment promotes students' ability to build independent, active learner skills throughout their school experience, benefiting and enhancing their educational experience in post-secondary education and beyond. Educational robotics is a powerful learning tool that enables teachers to create learner-centered learning environments for students and promote learner-centered pedagogy in schools.
Spiking Reflective Processing Model for Stress-Inspired Adaptive Robot Partner Applications
Authors: Tang Tiong Yew , Egerton Simon , Botzheim János
Published: January 2019

In a real-world environment, a social robot is constantly required to make many critical decisions in an ambiguous and demanding (stressful) environment. Hence, a biological stress response system model is a good gauge indicator to judge when the robot should react to such environment and adapt itself towards the environment changes. This work is to implement the Smerek's reflective processing model into human-robot communication application where reflective processing is triggered during such situations where the best action is not known. The authors want to investigate how to address better the human-robot communication problems with the focus on reflective processing model in the perspectives of working memory, Spiking Neural Network (SNN) and stress response system. The authors had applied their proposed Spiking Reflective Processing model for the human-robot communication application in a university population. The initial experimental results showed the positive attitude changes before and after the human-robot interaction experiment.
Intelligent Agents and Autonomous Robots
Authors: Bhargava Deepshikha
Published: January 2019

Over decades new technologies, algorithms and methods are evolved and proposed. We can witness a paradigm shift from typewriters to computers, mechanics to mechnotronics, physics to aerodynamics, chemistry to computational chemistry and so on. Such advancements are the result of continuing research; which is still a driving force of researchers. In the same way, the research in the field of artificial intelligence (Russell, Stuart & Norvig, 2003) is major thrust area of researchers. Research in AI have coined different concepts like natural language processing, expert systems, software agents, learning, knowledge management, robotics to name a few. The objective of this chapter is to highlight the research path from software agents to robotics. This chapter begins with the introduction of software agents. The chapter further progresses with the discussion on intelligent agent, autonomous agents, autonomous robots, intelligent robots in different sections. The chapter finally concluded with the fine line between intelligent agents and autonomous robots.
Influencers for Adoption of Robots in Indian Construction Industry
Authors: Jain Sachin , Phadtare Milind T.
Published: January 2019

Robots are developed for various construction processes and used in countries such as the USA, Japan and China. However, their adoption in India is very limited due to weaknesses in the construction sector. The Indian construction industry is poised to grow at a faster rate due to planned investment. Robots will benefit construction industry by way of better productivity, quality, timely completion, etc. resulting in the growth of construction industry. This paper identifies the structure of influencers of adoption of robots in the Indian infrastructure construction sector using exploratory factor analsis. This structure was validated using confirmatory factor analysis. A total of 20 influencers are identified and grouped in eight factors. Based on these influencers, strategies are recommended to enhance adoption of robots in Indian infrastructure construction industry. Finally the authors identify the influencers that are common to India and other countries in Asia, America, Europe and Australia.
Critical Thinking and Digital Technologies
Authors: Gökçearslan Şahin , Solmaz Ebru , Coşkun Burcu Karabulut
Published: January 2019

The aim of this study is to identify the new trends on technology use in developing critical thinking skills. By this purpose, the researches published between 2008-2014 in Science Direct database were examined by using content analysis. Also study was completed in three main parts. The first part consists of the conceptual framework about, technology use in education, critical thinking, the effect of technology on critical thinking and new technologies used to develop critical thinking skills. In the second part the content analysis method was used to examine the researches published in Science Direct database. In the final part, the conclusion and recommendations were given about the research and future studies.
User Experience in Social Human-Robot Interaction
Authors: Alenljung Beatrice , Lindblom Jessica , Andreasson Rebecca , Ziemke Tom
Published: January 2019

Socially interactive robots are expected to have an increasing importance in human society. For social robots to provide long-term added value to people's lives, it is of major importance to stress the need for positive user experience (UX) of such robots. The human-centered view emphasizes various aspects that emerge in the interaction between humans and robots. However, a positive UX does not appear by itself but has to be designed for and evaluated systematically. In this paper, the focus is on the role and relevance of UX in human-robot interaction (HRI) and four trends concerning the role and relevance of UX related to socially interactive robots are identified, and three challenges related to its evaluation are also presented. It is argued that current research efforts and directions are not sufficient in HRI research, and that future research needs to further address interdisciplinary research in order to achieve long-term success of socially interactive robots.
Towards Odor-Sensitive Mobile Robots
Authors: Monroy Javier , Gonzalez-Jimenez Javier
Published: January 2019

Out of all the components of a mobile robot, its sensorial system is undoubtedly among the most critical ones when operating in real environments. Until now, these sensorial systems mostly relied on range sensors (laser scanner, sonar, active triangulation) and cameras. While electronic noses have barely been employed, they can provide a complementary sensory information, vital for some applications, as with humans. This chapter analyzes the motivation of providing a robot with gas-sensing capabilities and also reviews some of the hurdles that are preventing smell from achieving the importance of other sensing modalities in robotics. The achievements made so far are reviewed to illustrate the current status on the three main fields within robotics olfaction: the classification of volatile substances, the spatial estimation of the gas dispersion from sparse measurements, and the localization of the gas source within a known environment.
Trade in Agricultural Products and Food Security Concerns on Emerging Markets
Authors: Erokhin Vasilii
Published: January 2019

Although free trade is a key factor in promoting economic growth, there are markets, which require specific approaches. The food market is one of them due to its vital importance for securing nutritional requirements of the population. Providing the population with food in sufficient quantity and variety is a challenge, which includes a range of issues of food production and dependence on import of the food market. Food security is increasingly influenced by foreign trade policies implemented by national governments. Many of them are re-examining their strategies for dealing with food security concerns and seeking to protect domestic food producers by restricting presence of foreign competitors on the domestic food market. The chapter addresses recent food security trends in emerging countries, including BRICS, Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), and Russia, assesses the effects of food trade distortions in order to balance protection and liberalization policies for achieving effective levels of food security.
Food Consumption Patterns in Times of Economic Recession
Authors: Theodoridou Glykeria , Tsakiridou Efthimia , Kalogeras Nikos , Mattas Konstantinos
Published: January 2019

The aim of this study is to identify the factors influencing consumers' purchasing behaviour for food, in times of crisis. Intercept survey was conducted in a random selected sample consisted of 553 consumers between January and May 2016 in the Prefecture of Thessaloniki. Multivariate data analysis was performed to explore the factors influencing consumers' purchasing behaviour, identify consumers with similar behaviour based on their socio-demographic characteristics and their attitudes towards food consumption in times of crisis. Results demonstrate that the factors affecting consumers' purchasing behaviour are (a) Product's Feature and Natural contents, (b) Economic issues, (c) Identity & Sensory Appeal, (d) Mood, (e) Weight Control & Health and (f) Convenience. Furthermore, cluster analysis was employed to classify consumers with similar buying behaviour towards food, five groups of consumers were identified: (a) neutrals, (b) influenced by psychological issues, (c) influenced by economic issues, (d) low diet/healthy eaters and (e) influenced by availability and easy access.
Consumer Co-Operatives and Perceptions of Food Safety
Authors: Burns Catherine , Katayama Kumiko , Roberts Robin E
Published: January 2019

This paper examines consumer co-operatives and members' perceptions of food safety. Japan is an ideal place to study given it is undoubtedly the ‘best example of a successful consumer co-operative sector in the postwar period' (Birchall, 2002, p. 79). While some co-operatives have evolved into a considerable political force, not all consumer co-operatives are as large or as politically active. This study qualitatively explores the views of the members of two small, less politically active co-operatives in Tokushima. Of particular relevance are the types of produce being consumed by members, and why (and how) purchasing behaviour has been shaped by food safety concerns, post-Fukushima.
Politeness, Intercultural Communication, E-Mails
Authors: Pavan Elisabetta
Published: January 2019

In this chapter, the focus shifts from oral communication to written communication, considering the sometimes controversial issue of politeness in written intercultural communication. Firstly, a definition of politeness is discussed; secondly, some key issues related to the topic of intercultural communication are considered; and finally, intercultural e-mail communication is introduced. The aim is to understand how intercultural communication, mediated by the internet, can create compelling and sometime challenging conditions for additional language learning. For example, university students use e-mails a lot. Nonetheless, some issues, amongst which the level of formality when they address university staff, may vary, depending on their own national culture and on the training they receive on the use of this medium. As a result, intercultural clashes may occur. To facilitate foreign language teaching and communication, an instrument to assess politeness in intercultural e-mail communication in an intercultural context will be presented.
A Core Skill for Higher Education
Authors: Brighton Christopher , Wang Lingbin , Chen Yingting , Gong Xu
Published: January 2019

This chapter will argue that intercultural communication is a core skill for students of higher education. Yet, high school graduates are not adequately prepared for the global environments that are today's higher education institutions. The focus is on the learning and teaching of intercultural communication at high school and the skills carried by the learner into higher education. The authors examine why, despite the guidelines from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, and the High Schools English Curriculum standards express instructions for teaching intercultural skills in the classroom, students lack the core skills on completion of language studies at high school. The material for this chapter is drawn from the experience of the authors in learning, teaching, and assessing language competence in South-Eastern China, Central Europe, and the Eastern Seaboard of the USA.
Networking-Based Strategies of Intercultural Communicative Competence Development Among Kazakhstani University Students
Authors: Akbarov Azamat
Published: January 2019

This chapter presents an empirical study of the intercultural communicative competence of students of Kazakhstani universities. The study results indicate that students should develop their cultural knowledge, intercultural receptivity, communication strategies, intercultural awareness etc. A number of issues related to the formation of intercultural competence in the process of teaching foreign-language communication, taking into account the cultural and mental differences of the native speakers, which is a necessary condition for a successful dialogue of cultures are also discussed. The concept of communicative competence in teaching foreign languages stipulates development of students' knowledge, skills and abilities that enable them to join the ethno-cultural values of the country of the studied language and use the foreign language in situations of intercultural understanding and cognition in practice. Conjunction of such knowledge, skills and abilities constitutes communicative competence. Based on the results of the research, proposals are made for the curriculum and teaching of intercultural communication and methods of developing intercultural communicative competence of students of Kazakhstan universities in a networked environment.
Pre-Service Teachers' Intercultural Sensitivity, Multicultural Efficacy, and Attitudes Toward Multilingualism
Authors: Karras Ioannis , Spinthourakis Julia A. , Kourtis-Kazoullis Vasilia
Published: January 2019

Preparing teachers to assist linguistically and culturally diverse students to integrate is difficult as the paradigm is not limited to students but radiates outwards. Preparation of teachers in Greece has involved the incorporation of foreign languages and courses in multiculturalism in their program of study in an effort to promote multilingualism (ML), multicultural efficacy (ME), and intercultural sensitivity (IS). In this research brief, the authors attempt to look at how we prepare teachers to meet increased challenges migration of very different populations brings to their teaching as well as how their attitude toward multilingualism, ME, and IS may be interrelated. The study's main objectives are to measure this group's level of IS, ME, and multilingual language attitudes and examine their relationship. The goal is to determine how well equipped these pre-service teachers are to deal with the linguistically and culturally diverse student populations they will be called upon to teach and what facilitates them achieving this end.
Flipping a Programing Class to Improve Student Performance and Student Satisfaction
Authors: Chen David , Faichney Jolon
Published: January 2019

Flipped classrooms are an instructional strategy that is becoming popular in educational contexts, particularly higher education. The principle of Flipped Classroom is that events that have traditionally taken place inside the classroom now take place outside the classroom and vice versa. Various studies have reported increased student performance and satisfaction after switching to a flipped classroom. However, most of these studies are based on students' perceptions of their own learning, not based on teachers' assessment of students' achievements. This article presents the results of flipping a computer programming course. It first describes how this course was flipped, then it presents the results of comparing the average marks awarded to students between those that took the course offering in flipped mode and those that took the course in the traditional mode. The comparison showed an increase in student performance in a flipped mode. Furthermore, the increase in student performance was sustained for 3 years, which is the full duration of this study. The comparison of student satisfaction showed an increase in student satisfaction in one campus, while the student satisfaction remained steady in another campus.
Perceived Usefulness of Emoticons, Emojis, and Stickers in Text Messaging
Authors: Kato Shogo , Kato Yuuki , Ozawa Yasuyuki
Published: January 2019

In text-based communication, which lacks nonverbal cues, various techniques for expressing communicative intent are now available. Most prominently used are emoticons, emojis, and stickers. Although previous studies have separately examined emoticons and emojis, few have compared their features, and also included comparison with stickers. The authors conducted a survey targeting 300 Japanese young adults to investigate the features of emoticons, emojis, and stickers from the viewpoint of their perceived usefulness. The authors also examined the effects of gender and text-messaging dependency on ratings of the perceived usefulness of these graphical symbols. This study revealed a detailed feature list for each type of symbol. The existence of characteristic roles for each type of symbol is discussed. This study also confirmed the effects of gender and text-messaging dependency on symbol usefulness ratings.
Emerging Academic and Social Spaces
Authors: Courtney Matthew Gordon Ray
Published: January 2019

The number of international university students in Australasia is set to increase over the next five to ten years, making the integration of this group important to the region. Whilst university lecturers continue to play an important role in this process, much of university students' communicative behaviour with peers continues to shift more and more to social network sites (SNS), namely Facebook (FB). Using a large response-driven sample (N = 491) and structural equation modelling (SEM), this study presents a dual-path model of international student integration that illustrates two parallel processes to improved institutional commitment: (1) the staff-academic system, where staff's genuine concern for student development improves students' perceived academic progress, and commitment; and, (2) the student social-network-site system, where strategic integration of FB contributes to the on- and offline maintenance of close friends, and improves institutional commitment. The implications for policy and practice are discussed.
Using Eco-Sensors to Support Children's Participation in Environmental Health
Authors: Silva Maria João , Ferreira Eduarda , Souza Alexandra , Alves Ana Rita , Batista Susana
Published: January 2019

School has a major role in preparing young people to participate meaningfully in a context where digital technologies are increasingly mediating the way people interact with the surrounding environment. The goal of the research reported in this paper is to study how children can participate in school environmental health, using eco-sensors and digital technologies in scientific inquiries. Eco-sensors are used by children to acquire, analyze, interpret, and communicate data, as a support to the identification of problems and to their own environmental health decisions. This paper presents two case studies, one centered on noise and one on indoor air quality, in Portuguese elementary schools. It is a qualitative research that highlights that children can participate in authentic and meaningful environmental health problem solving in schools. Problem solving is developed through scientific inquiries that include children epistemic practices, scaffolded by teacher mediation and epistemic mediators, such as eco-sensors and other digital technologies.
A New Ranking Approach for Interval Valued Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets and its Application in Decision Making
Authors: Talukdar Pranjal , Dutta Palash
Published: January 2019

Ranking of interval valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IVIFSs) plays an important role because of its attraction and applicability to model uncertainty in real life problems. In this article, an attempt has been made to devise a new method for ranking of IVIFSs based on exponential function. The significance of the method is illustrated with the help of some numerical examples and the results are compared with other existing methods. Furthermore, a multi criteria decision making method is presented here to evaluate the final ranking of the alternatives using the proposed ranking method and discussed the consistency of so obtained results.
The Effect of eHealth Information Systems on Health Information Management in Hospitals in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Authors: Khumalo Njabulo Bruce , Mnjama Nathan
Published: January 2019

EHealth information systems have brought about a lot of positives which include timeous reporting, efficient data analysis, better decision making, coordination and better work processes. Zimbabwe has also adopted the eHealth information systems and this study sought to establish the effects of eHealth information systems on the management of health information in hospitals in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The study applies a qualitative research methodology in which a case study research design and a purposive sampling technique were used. Document analysis and face to face interviews were held with a total of eleven research participants.
Early Prediction of Driver's Action Using Deep Neural Networks
Authors: Gite Shilpa , Agrawal Himanshu
Published: January 2019

Intelligent transportation systems (ITSs) are one of the most widely-discussed and researched topic across the world. The researchers have focused on the early prediction of a driver's movements before drivers actually perform actions, which might suggest a driver to take a corrective action while driving and thus, avoid the risk of an accident. This article presents an improved deep-learning technique to predict a driver's action before he performs that action, a few seconds in advance. This is considering both the inside context (of the driver) and the outside context (of the road), and fuses them together to anticipate the actions. To predict the driver's action accurately, the proposed work is inspired by recent developments in recurrent neural networks (RNN) with long short term memory (LSTM) algorithms. The performance merit of the proposed algorithm is compared with four other algorithms and the results suggest that the proposed algorithm outperforms the other algorithms using a range of performance metrics.
Communication During Bushfires, Towards a Serious Game for a Serious Matter
Authors: Adam Carole , Bailly Charles , Dugdale Julie
Published: January 2019

Australia is frequently hit by bushfires. In 2009, the ''Black Saturday'' fires killed 173 people and burnt hectares of bush. As a result, a research commission was created to investigate, and concluded that several aspects could be improved, in particular better understanding of the population actual behaviour, and better communication with them. The authors argue that agent-based modelling and simulation is a great approach to provide tools to improve mutual understanding: let managers test communication strategies, and let residents understand the managers' perspective. Concretely, they extended an existing simulator with a theoretically-grounded communication model based in social sciences; they added user interactivity with the model and investigated gamification to turn it into a serious game to involve the general public. The authors present the results of first experiments with different communication strategies, providing valuable insight for better communication with the population during such events. Finally, they discuss future extensions and generalisation of this simulator.
Role of Perceived Value in Acceptance of “Bring Your Own Device” Policy
Authors: Zhang Lixuan Zhang , Mouritsen Matthew , Miller Jeffrey R.
Published: January 2019

IT consumerization refers to the phenomenon of using personal devices and applications for work-related tasks. Considered as a major wave of employee-driven innovation, many organizations have adopted IT consumerization to reap its benefits. Bring-your-own-device (BYOD) is a major form of IT consumerization. This study examines the perceptions of BYOD among business students and professionals. Utilizing a perceived value approach, a survey was designed to examine how the benefits and sacrifices of BYOD influence its perceived value. Through survey data collected from 217 business students and 200 full time working professionals, the study finds that job flexibility control, technology empowerment, and enjoyment are positively related to the perceived value of BYOD.
Cutting Edge: IL-27 Attenuates Autoimmune Neuroinflammation via Regulatory T Cell/Lag3–Dependent but IL-10–Independent Mechanisms In Vivo
Authors: Kim Dongkyun , Le Hongnga T. , Nguyen Quang Tam , Kim Sohee , Lee Juyeun , Min Booki
Published: January 2019

IL-27 regulates immune responses in inflammation. The underlying mechanism of IL-27 functions has long been attributed to its ability to induce IL-10 production in activated CD4 T cells. In this study, we report that Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) are the main target cells of IL-27, mediating its immunoregulatory functions in vivo. Systemically delivered IL-27 efficiently prevents the development of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an autoimmune inflammation in the CNS. However, it failed to do so upon Treg depletion. IL-27 signaling in Tregs was necessary, as transferring Tregs deficient in IL-27Rα or Lag3, a downstream molecule induced by IL-27, was unable to protect mice from experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. IL-27 efficiently induced IL-10 expression in CD4 T cells in vitro; however, we found no evidence supporting IL-27–induced IL-10 induction in CD4 T cells in vivo. Taken together, our results uncover an irreplaceable contribution of Tregs during IL-27–mediated control of inflammation.
Poor Antigen Processing of Poxvirus Particles Limits CD4+ T Cell Recognition and Impacts Immunogenicity of the Inactivated Vaccine
Authors: Forsyth Katherine S. , DeHaven Brian , Mendonca Mark , Paul Sinu , Sette Alessandro , Eisenlohr Laurence C.
Published: January 2019

CD4+ T cells play critical roles in defending against poxviruses, both by potentiating cellular and humoral responses and by directly killing infected cells. Despite this central role, the basis for pox-specific CD4+ T cell activation, specifically the origin of the poxvirus-derived peptides (epitopes) that activate CD4+ T cells, remains poorly understood. In addition, because the current licensed poxvirus vaccines can cause serious adverse events and even death, elucidating the requirements for MHC class II (MHC-II) processing and presentation of poxviral Ags could be of great use. To address these questions, we explored the CD4+ T cell immunogenicity of ectromelia, the causative agent of mousepox. Having identified a large panel of novel epitopes via a screen of algorithm-selected synthetic peptides, we observed that immunization of mice with inactivated poxvirus primes a virtually undetectable CD4+ T cell response, even when adjuvanted, and is unable to provide protection against disease after a secondary challenge. We postulated that an important contributor to this outcome is the poor processability of whole virions for MHC-II–restricted presentation. In line with this hypothesis, we observed that whole poxvirions are very inefficiently converted into MHC-II–binding peptides by the APC as compared with subviral material. Thus, stability of the virion structure is a critical consideration in the rational design of a safe alternative to the existing live smallpox vaccine.
Isolated Hemopericardium after Initiation of Rivaroxaban: Implications and Potential Mechanisms
Authors: Mehta Adwait , Burkland David , Mathuria Nilesh
Published: January 2019

Direct oral anticoagulants have become increasingly used for atrial fibrillation and venothromboembolic disease. Thus far, there have been a few published cases of pericardial effusion associated with rivaroxban. However, there has been little published regarding the effects of concurrent medications and their effect on the cytochrome enzyme systems involved in rivaroxaban metabolism. We present a case of a 76-year-old female who develops a spontaneous haemopericardium after initiating rivaroxaban. After thorough medical reconciliation, we offer pharmacokinetic mechanisms that may have contributed to the haemopericardium. This case demonstrates the importance of reviewing patients medication lists and utilizing basic pharmacokinetics to prevent adverse events.
Intraoperative electrocorticography
Authors: Alcaraz Gabriela , Manninen Pirjo
Published: January 2019

Intraoperative electrocorticography (ECoG) is the recording of electrophysiological activity from electrodes placed directly on the exposed surface of brain, during surgery for epilepsy and tumor resection. The ECoG is helpful in defining the seizure onset and spread within the cortical surface and delineation of the interface between epileptogenic zones and functional cortex substance of the brain. Intraoperative ECoG is an invasive procedure, it is performed during surgery mostly commonly during awake craniotomy but at times during general anaesthesia. As most anesthetic agents will affect ECoG, they should be minimized or stopped prior to any recording. Activation of intraoperative epileptiform activity may also be required if there are no spontaneous discharges. The appropriate management of the anesthetic during the time of ECoG is critical for its success. There are limitations and some controversies to all the uses of intraoperative ECoG, thus each center will set their own indications, criteria, and protocols.
Use of desflurane in neurosurgery: Cons
Authors: Srivastava Shashi
Published: January 2019

Desflurane is being projected nowadays as inhalational agent of choice in the repertoire of the modern day anaesthesiologists. Refinement of its pharmacologic properties from its predecessors has attracted the attention of clinicians towards this novel agent. However, within the realms of neurosurgical anaesthesiology, the widespread use of desflurane today should be, at best viewed with a bit of caution. Although a sizeable number of advantages of using desflurane exist, anaesthesiologists dealing with neurosurgical patients should be cognizant of its drawbacks.
The influence of anaesthesia on intraoperative neuromonitoring changes in high-risk spinal surgery
Authors: Royan Nathan , Lu Nancy , Manninen Pirjo , Venkatraghavan Lakshmikumar
Published: January 2019

Background: The use of intraoperative neuromonitoring is a well-established method of detecting neurologic injuries during spine surgery. Anaesthesia, especially inhalational agents, influence motor evoked potential (MEP) monitoring. The aim of our study was to compare the effect of balanced anaesthesia (BA) (intravenous plus inhalational anaesthesia) and total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA) on the incidence of intraoperative neuromonitoring changes, interventions performed and neurological outcomes of patients following high-risk spinal surgery. Methods: After Research and Ethics Board approval, a retrospective review of 155 patients who underwent spinal surgery with MEP was performed. Data were collected on changes in MEP and/or somatosensory evoked potential, interventions performed and neurological outcomes. Patients were divided into BA and TIVA groups and data were analysed. Results: A total of 152 patients were eligible for the study (mean age 54 ± 17, male: female 45:55). A BA technique was used in 62% and TIVA in 38%. Desflurane (<0.5 minimum alveolar concentration [MAC]) was used in 85% BA cases. Intraoperative neuromonitoring changes occurred in 11.8% (18/152) of cases. There was no statistical difference in the incidence of monitoring changes between BA (78%) and TIVA (22%) groups (P = 0.197). Anaesthetic or surgical interventions were performed in 12 patients, with a resolution of changes in 50% (P = 0.455). All 5 patients with persistent MEP changes had worsening of existing neurological deficits postoperatively; 8 had transient MEP changes, and 2 experienced worsening of existing neurological deficits. Conclusions: We found that intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring can be performed with both BA (MAC <0.5) and TIVA in high-risk spinal surgery with no statistical difference in the incidence of intraoperative monitoring changes.
Iatrogenic neck mobility restriction due to stereotactic fixed-frame application: Implications of a ‘non-laryngoscopic’ airway management approach
Authors: Bhutani Rachna , Dutta Amitabh , Ganguly Neelam , Sood Jayashree
Published: January 2019

Stereotactic biopsy is a common minimal access neurosurgical procedure. It requires a stereotactic frame to be secured on the head, and thereafter, based on computerised tomography scan markings on the frame, precise biopsy is retrieved. For anaesthesiologists, the application of frame poses difficulty in accessing the upper airway with the conventional laryngoscopy-intubation methodology. The various airway-access limitations imposed by an ‘in-place’ frame can be problematic and should be addressed. This report elucidates the problems caused by the presence of stereotactic frame in the management of upper airway. The approach to upper airway can be variable on a case-to-case basis, depending on attending anaesthesiologists’ decision-making and availability of equipments/devices. Here, the, recommendations on the problematic points and the suggested way thereof are presented.
Post-operative complications in patients undergoing anterior cervical discectomy and fusion: A retrospective review
Authors: Yadav Rahul , Chavali Siddharth , Chaturvedi Arvind , Rath Girija
Published: January 2019

Background: Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is a surgical procedure used to manage various cervical spine disorders including spondylosis, prolapsed intervertebral disc, trauma and degenerative disc disease. However, this procedure may be associated with significant post-operative complications. In this study, we aimed to analyse the prevalence of post-operative complications following ACDF. Methods: Perioperative data of 128 patients who underwent ACDF surgery at our institute over a 3-year period was analysed. Patients who underwent previous neck surgeries were excluded. Results: Single level ACDF without cervical plating was observed to be the most commonly performed surgical procedure (53%). Dysphagia was the most common (16.4%) post-operative complaint, followed by neurological deterioration (7.9%). One patient suffered pharyngeal perforation and presented postoperatively with subcutaneous emphysema and haemoptysis. Conclusions: Post-operative dyphagia and worsening of pre-existing myelopathy were the most common complications following ACDF, and multilevel surgery was identified as the most significant risk factor. The early detection and prompt management may help reduce mortality and morbidity in such patients.
A comparative study between intraoperativelow-dose ketamine and dexmedetomidine, as an anaesthetic adjuvant in lumbar spine instrumentation surgery for the post-operative analgesic requirement
Authors: Mitra Ranadhir , Prabhakar Hemanshu , Rath Girija , Bithal Parmod , Khandelwal Ankur
Published: January 2019

Background: Spinal instrumentation and fusion surgery presents the anaesthesiologist with multiple issues like intraoperative blood loss, hemodynamic changes, prolonged surgery etc, but the most probing aspect is analgesia. While both ketamine and dexmedetomidine as adjuvants have shown to decrease intraoperative anaesthetics and post operative analgesic consumption but there are no comparative studies. The primary aim of this study was comparison of post-operative analgesic requirements for 1st 24 hours after surgery when either of the drugs was used as adjuvants. Methods: Adult patients aged 18-60 years, of either sex, and ASA status I or II scheduled for elective lumbar spine instrumentation (of 2 or more spinal levels) surgery were enrolled for the study. Patients were randomised into one of the 3 treatment regimens ketamine/group K (0.5mg/kg bolus followed by 250 mcg/kg/h infusion), dexmedetomidine/ group D (0.5mcg/kg bolus followed by 0.5 mcg/kg/h infusion) or the placebo/ group S (saline/placebo). The study drugs were started after turning the patient prone. Data were recorded for intraoperative hemodynamics, anesthetic consumption (inhalational agent and opioids), emergence through RAS scale (Riker sedation agitation scale), PCA (patient controlled analgesia)-fentanyl use and VAS (visual analog scale) score in the 1st 24 hours after surgery. Appropriate statistical analysis was done. Results: A total of 42 patients (14 in each group) were enrolled. The total PCA fentanyl consumed in first 24 hours of surgery was maximum with the group-S (1366.6±382.6 mcg) in compared with group- D (1035.4±391.8 mcg) and group- K (1164.9±503.6 mcg) (P=0.13). The post extubation RAS score was lower in group-K (3.7±0.6) when compared with group-D (4±0.4) and group-S (4.5±0.9) (P=.009). Total intraoperative sevoflurane and fentanyl consumption showed no difference (P=0.19 and P=0.28). VAS score at rest was higher at baseline with group-S (P=0.009). The ICU stay was comparable (group-D: 1.4±0.5 d, group-K: 1.5±0.5 d, group-S: 1.9±0.5 d) among the groups. Hospital stay was also comparable (P=0.09). Conclusion: In patients undergoing lumbar instrumentation surgery, opioid consumption, VAS scores, PCA pump bad demands, inhalational agent consumption, hospital stay were comparable when either ketamine or dexmedetomidine was used as intraoperative anesthetic adjuvants.