bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Another Politics Is Possible: Neogeographies, Visual Spatial Tactics, and Political Formation
Authors: Elwood Sarah , Mitchell Katharyne
Published: December 2013

Neogeography – the use of interactive online mapping technologies, often by laypersons or grassroots groups – continues its rapid growth, as do debates about its implications for spatial data and map quality, public spatial literacy, and the digital divide. Ongoing efforts to understand whether and how neogeography might enable the participation, influence, and agency of less powerful social actors require greater attention to theorizing neogeography politics. Existing work, tacitly or explicitly, tends to theorize these politics in ways that align with Michel de Certeau's notion of “strategy” or its conceptual partner, “tactics.” We argue that a neogeography politics conceived as “strategy” has inherent limits and that the political significance of neogeography “tactics” is even more foundational than has been understood thus far. Recent work has shown neogeography to be a powerful site of political action or engagement, but our evidence suggests further that visual spatial tactics in neogeography are also key sites of political formation. Neogeography tactics are significant not just as a site of resistance or political action by less powerful actors but also as practices that contribute to the formation of political subjects, mobilized social groups, and shared knowledge. Recognizing neogeography as a site of political formation paves the way toward realizing its broader potential in the development and practice of a critical spatial citizenship. We develop these arguments from a three-year neogeography project conducted with young teens.
Versorgung des Holzheizkraftwerkes Aubrugg durch die Zürich Holz AG – ein Erfahrungsbericht
Authors: Hofer Peter , Angleitner Jürgen
Published: December 2013

Wood supply for the Aubrugg wood-fired combined heating-and-power-plant by Zürich Holz AG – experience so far

The article addresses wood supply for a large heating plant in Switzerland, delivered by Zürich Holz AG. It describes the role of the supplier, in this case a wood marketing company, owned by the forest owners, in preparing and delivering the contracted volumes. Important factors in the success (so far) of the supply system are the reliable supply of the contracted volumes by the suppliers as well as careful organisation and monitoring of deliveries. The commercial success is based on systematic reference to the energy content of the wood. The article also addresses the measures put in place to guard against possible future reductions in wood availability.
Entwicklungstrends der Holzenergie und ihre Rolle in der Energiestrategie 2050
Authors: Nussbaumer Thomas
Published: December 2013

Perspectives of biomass combustion and its role in the energy strategy 2050

Wood energy contributes 4% to the total energy demand in Switzerland and is expected to reach 6% by 2020. As a directly storable fuel, energy wood is highly valuable to complement temporarily available solar and wind energy. Since the potential of wood is limited, highly effective applications to substitute fossil fuels need to be prioritised. For this, the energy yield factor is introduced, which reveals that heat and power from wood achieve a high substitution efficiency enabling a reduction of fossil CO2 of up to 90%. Consequently, the unused potential of energy wood should be mobilised for heating, disctrict heat, and combined heat and power (CHP). For these applications, the following developments need to be carried on: small-scale devices with low pollutant emissions by two-stage combustion, stringent execution of air pollution control to avoid inappropriate operation, improvements of grate boilers by aerodynamic optimisation, sectoral fuel conversion, and reduction of fuel NOX emissions by advanced staged combustion. With respect to power from wood, technologies with reduced cost for applications smaller than 1 MWe must be developed, while for low-quality wood fuels, a limited number of highly efficient plants based on Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) is most promising. The findings reveal that the assumptions for the Swiss energy strategy 2050 with a decline of energy wood for heat by 60% and a shift to biofuels are not justified, since wood for heat, power, and CHP achieves higher energy yields with technologies which are available or ready to implementation (IGCC) and economically viable.
Intensivere Holzenergienutzung in Europa: Politik- und Forschungsaspekte
Authors: Madlener Reinhard , Sorda Giovanni
Published: December 2013

Increased use of wood energy in Europe: policy and research issues

The contrasting and often conflicting objectives associated with the increased use of bioenergy resources pose significant political and regulatory challenges across Europe. In the EU, wood energy use is not regulated in a dedicated directive, but is part of a variety of directives with different foci, and the individual EU member states implement these directives in very different ways. The challenges lie, on the one hand, in the harmonization of policies, standards and regulation and, on the other hand, in measures for efficiency improvements and minimization of adverse side effects of wood energy use. In this paper, the current EU bioenergy and wood energy legislative framework and specific policies are presented and current research themes in the context of the European wood energy policy highlighted, with a special emphasis on cascadic use of wood resources. It can be concluded that sustainable material and energy use of wood is subject to many restrictions, and that although cascadic use contributes to resource efficiency and CO2 mitigation, it may also affect the prevailing market structures significantly.
Glucose status in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in different meningitic children in a hospital in Chittagong, Bangladesh
Authors: Mitra Sharmistha , Bhuiyan Robiul Hasan , Arifuzzaman Md , Islam Mohammad Sayedul , Chowdhury Mahmood A , Alauddin Mohammad
Published: December 2013

Meningitis is referred to as an inflammatory process of the leptomeninges and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within the sub-arachnoid space of the brain. We have investigated glucose status in CSF in different types of meningitis together with detailed medical history in children. In addition, we have also carried out the detailed cytological and microbiological examinations. A total of 40 subjects were investigated. We observed that the glucose level was significantly decreased (<20 mg/dl) in 65%, moderately decreased (20-40 mg/dl) in 20% and mildly decreased (40-50mg/dl) in 15% of the patients in our study. Patients with Pyogenic meningitis had tremendously reduced glucose level (9.0 mg/dl) in their CSF whereas in viral meningitis the CSF glucose level is highly variable (10 to 65 mg/dl). Furthermore, 5 (12.5%) patients showed high lymphocyte counts and 34 (85%) patients showed high neutrophil counts. Interestingly, in Pyogenic meningitis, the neutrophil count was very high compared to that in viral meningitis. The present study clearly demonstrates that biochemical parameters such as glucose level in CSF might be a potential tool for detecting meningitis and as well as differentiation of the different types of meningitis. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/cujbs.v6i1-2.17080 The Chittagong Univ. J. B. Sci.,Vol. 6(1&2):41-49, 2011
Quality of urban environment: a case of citizens perception in Satkhira Municipality, Bangladesh.
Authors: Ali Kazi Md Barkat , Sarwar Md Iqbal , Molla Morshed Hossan
Published: December 2013

In this study, an attempt has been made to identify the major problems of urban environment in Satkhira Municipality. The perceptual data were collected through field survey based on structural questionnaire. It designed 100 selected respondents and framed 32 environmental variables including 3 points satisfaction index. It was observed from the study that drainage congestion is the major urban environmental problem of Satkhira Municipality and it creates a variety of physical environmental problems such as water logging, increasd soil and water salinity level, water and soil pollution etc. of the area. Because of the absence of certain urban facilities such as employment opportunity, recreational level, shortage of electricity supply (illegal connection, improper meter reading, system loss and load shedding etc.) inadequate local security, city dwellers are found to be dissatisfied. These lead to the generation of various social disorders including hijacking, vandalism and phonongraph, etc. However, there are ample scopes to develop a sustainable (eco-friendly) city keeping these considerations in mind. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/cujbs.v6i1-2.17082 The Chittagong Univ. J. B. Sci.,Vol. 6(1&2):65-76, 2011
Mental health status of primary school children of Chittagong town
Authors: Bairagi Arunavo , Rahman Md Shahinoor , Tushar Tanzir Ahmmad
Published: December 2013

A total of 197 respondents (129 parents of boys and 68 parents of girls) constituted the sample of the study. To measure mental health status, Bengali version of (Mullick, 2001) Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used for the collection of data which was originally developed by Michael Rutter and Robert Goodman. Purposive sampling procedure was used for this purpose. The results showed that about 20.3% students had pro-social problem and 19.3% students were in borderline level in pro-social behavior. Only 0.5% students had Peer problems and 15.7% students were found at borderline level of this problem. About 6.6% students had hyperactivity problem and about 5.6% students were found at borderline level of this problem. About 1.5% students had Emotional symptom problem and 0.5% students were found at borderline level. About 19.3% students had conduct problem and 23.9% students were in borderline level of this problem. About 27.4% students were facing total difficulties problems and 38.1% students were in borderline level. In terms of above all mental health status, boys were found to have more problems than girls. But no significant differences were found between boys and girls at any dimension score or even total difficulties score. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/cujbs.v6i1-2.17238 The Chittagong Univ. J. B. Sci.,Vol. 6(1&2):119-133, 2011
Two dads / two moms
Authors: Sobočan Ana
Published: December 2013

‘Family’ remains a site of ideological struggles. What constitutes a family and who can become/have/define a family is a matter of ongoing political and other debates and discourses. These become evident in the programmes of political parties, for example, as well as in the agendas in family legislation and social welfare policies, even in the changes in sociological textbooks, and so forth. Families where two male or female partners are parenting together are simultaneously gaining visibility in the public space (and legislation in certain countries) and their children are becoming central in different discursive practices, where their presumed interests are used in argumentations of (mostly) the opponents and advocates of equal rights for all family constellations. A vast research body of studies about lesbian and gay families (begun in the 1970s) contributes to the visibility and understanding of a variety of forms in which families are created. As Malmquist and Zetterqvist Nelson write, it is “important to understand ‘family’ as something that is continuously performed – ‘doing family’ – rather than a specific structure – “the family”.” Weeks, Heaphy, and Donovan claim that it is exactly non-heterosexuals who are at the forefront of wider changes to family life, and Haimes and Weiner, for example, write how non-heteronormative family models present an important challenge to the heteronormative model.
The Case for Hand Stencils and Prints as Proprio-Performative
Authors: Dobrez Patricia
Published: December 2013

Hand stencils and prints are found globally in rock art, reflecting the sine qua non role of the hand in human evolution. The body itself is the tool, and it affords the registering, in the form of a trace, of what perceptual psychology terms an “ecological self”. More than a “signature”, a hand mark is uniquely “proprio-performative”, combining inscription of individuality with direct address. The first part of this paper looks at what might get in the way of a universally readable primary meaning by methodically addressing issues of technique and cultural specificity. Having cleared the ground, it proceeds to make its argument for hand stencils and prints as constituting a special category of rock art imagery. It does this by having recourse to ideas currently under discussion in cognitive psychology: awareness of self-agency and body-ownership, as well as the notion of perceived looming in pictures. Finally, an appeal is made to the claim for a key mirror neuron role in communication. Because they are traces of actions eliciting mirror-neuronal responses, hand marks are seen as affording a readily accessible external term in an exchange of meaning on which a system of graphic communication might be built.
How Enhancing Atmospheric Monitoring and Modelling can be Effective for the Stockholm Convention on POPs
Authors: Guardans Ramon , Castro-Jiménez Javier
Published: December 2013

The presence of toxic substances such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the environment, and in organisms including humans, is a serious public health and environmental problem, even at low levels and poses a challenging scientific problem. The Stockholm Convention on POPs (SC) entered into force in 2004 and is a large international effort under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to facilitate cooperation in monitoring, modeling and the design of effective and fair ways to deal with POPs globally. This paper is a contribution to the ongoing effectiveness evaluation (EE) work aimed at the assessment and enhancement of the effectiveness of the actions undertaken under the SC. First we consider some aspects related to the monitoring of POPs in the environment and then briefly review modeling frameworks that have been used to simulate long range transport (LRT) of POPs. In the final sections we describe the institutional arrangements providing the conditions for this work to unfold now and some suggestions for it in the future. A more effective use of existing monitoring data could be made if scientists who deposited them in publicly available and supervised sites were rewarded in academic and professional terms. We also suggest the development of multi-media, nested, Lagrangian models to improve the understanding of changes over time in the environment and individual organisms.
Evaluation of the Effects of Nationwide Conservation Voltage Reduction on Peak-Load Shaving Using SOMAS Data
Authors: Nam Soon-Ryul , Kang Sang-Hee , Lee Joo-Ho , Ahn Seon-Ju , Choi Joon-Ho
Published: December 2013

In this paper we propose a new method to evaluate the effects of nationwide conservation voltage reduction (CVR) on peak-load shaving, using substation operating results management system (SOMAS) data. Its evaluation is based on a national CVR factor, which is defined as the weighted average of CVR factors associated with all transformer banks and weighting coefficients are determined by the reconstructed loads corresponding to each transformer bank. To make use of the data resulting from nationwide CVR without installing additional measuring devices, we adopt a linearized static-load model with a linearizing parameter. SOMAS data are used to evaluate the effects of nationwide CVR on peak-load shaving in the Korean power system. Evaluation results show that the national CVR factor of the Korean power system has small values in the summer season and large values in the winter season. This means that the effect of nationwide CVR on peak-load shaving in the Korean power system presents stronger benefits during winter months.
A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Health Behaviors between Saudi and British Adolescents Living in Urban Areas: Gender by Country Analyses
Authors: Al-Hazzaa Hazzaa , Al-Nakeeb Yahya , Duncan Michael , Al-Sobayel Hana , Abahussain Nada , Musaiger Abdulrahman , Lyons Mark , Collins Peter , Nevill Alan
Published: December 2013

This study investigated the cross-cultural differences and similarity in health behaviors between Saudi and British adolescents. A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted at four cities in Saudi Arabia (Riyadh and Al-Khobar; N = 1,648) and Britain (Birmingham and Coventry; N = 1,158). The participants (14–18 year-olds) were randomly selected using a multistage stratified cluster sampling technique. Measurements included anthropometric, screen time, validated physical activity (PA) questionnaire and dietary habits. The overweight/obesity prevalence among Saudi adolescents (38.3%) was significantly (p < 0.001) higher than that found among British adolescents (24.1%). The British adolescents demonstrated higher total PA energy expenditure than Saudi adolescents (means ± SE = 3,804.8 ± 81.5 vs. 2,219.9 ± 65.5 METs-min/week). Inactivity prevalence was significantly (p < 0.001) higher among Saudi adolescents (64%) compared with that of British adolescents (25.5%). The proportions of adolescents exceeding 2 h of daily screen time were high (88.0% and 90.8% among Saudis and British, respectively). The majority of Saudi and British adolescents did not have daily intakes of breakfast, fruit, vegetables and milk. MANCOVA showed significant (p < 0.05) gender by country interactions in several lifestyle factors. There was a significant (p < 0.001) gender differences in the ratio of physical activity to sedentary behaviors. In conclusion, Saudi and British adolescents demonstrated some similarities and differences in their PA levels, sedentary behaviors and dietary habits. Unhealthy lifestyle behaviors among adolescents appear to be a cross-cultural phenomenon.
Low Power 24 GHz ad hoc Networking System Based on TDOA for Indoor Localization
Authors: Jung Melanie , Fischer Georg , Weigel Robert , Ussmueller Thomas
Published: December 2013

This paper introduces the key elements of a novel low-power, high precision localization system based on Time-Difference-of-Arrival (TDOA) distance measurements. The combination of multiple localizable sensor nodes, leads to an ad hoc network. Besides the localization functionality this ad hoc network has the additional advantage of a communication interface. Due to this a flexible positioning of the master station for information collection and the detection of static and mobile nodes is possible. These sensor nodes work in the 24 GHz ISM (Industrial Scientific and Medical) frequency range and address several use cases and are able to improve various processes for production scheduling, logistics, quality management, medical applications and collection of geo information. The whole system design is explained briefly. Its core component is the frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) synthesizer suitable for high performance indoor localization. This research work focuses on power and size reduction of this crucial system component. The comparison of the first and second generation of the system shows a significant size and power reduction as well as an increased precision.
Synthesis, Structures and Properties of Two Metal-Organic Coordination Polymers Derived from Manganese(ΙΙ), Thiabendazole and Polydentate Carboxylic Acids
Authors: Liang Peng , Xia Wen-Xiu , Tian Wei-Man , Yin Xian-Hong
Published: December 2013

Two novel binuclear Mn(II) metal-organic coordination complexes [Mn2(TBZ)2(CDC)(C2O4)]n (1), {[Mn2(TBZ)2(BDC)0.5(BTC)(H2O)2]·ET}n (2), (where TBZ = thiabendazole, H2CDC = trans-1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid, H2C2O4 = oxalic acid, H3BTC = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid, ET = ethanol, H2BDC = 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate) have been hydrothermally synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, electrochemical analysis and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The X-ray structure analysis reveals that 1 is s two-dimensional layer and 2 is s one-dimensional chain. In complex 1, it reveals 2-D layers composed of multi-(bidentate) bridging ligands (CDC and C2O4), and in 2, the coordinated BTC ligands adopt a monodentate mode and with BDC ligands adopt alternately chelating Mn1 and Mn2 bridges into 1-D chains. The 3-D structures of the two complexes are stabilized by π-π stacking interactions and hydrogen bonds.
Synthesis and Binding Ability of Molecular Probes Based on a Phenanthroline Derivative: Theory and Experiment
Authors: Shang Xuefang , Wang Yingling , Wei Xiaofang , Fu Zhiyuan , Zhang Jinlian , Xu Xiufang
Published: December 2013

A fluorescent and colorimetric molecular probe containing phenol groups has been designed and synthesized. The anion binding ability was evaluated for biolgically important anions (F−, Cl−, Br−, I−, AcO− and H2PO4−) by theoretical investigation, UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy and 1H-NMR titration experiments. Results indicated the probe showed strong binding ability for H2PO4− without the interference of other anions tested and the interaction process was accompanied by color changes. Theoretical investigation analysis revealed that intramolecular hydrogen bonds existed in the structure of the probe and the roles of molecular frontier orbitals in molecular interplay were determined.
Exploring the Process of Conveying Information about Side Effects: A Qualitative Study among Pharmacists
Authors: Kairuz Therése , Krehula Damir , Huynh Thanh , Bellamy Kim
Published: December 2013

This study explored how a sample of Australian pharmacists would convey information about the side effects of a medicine, if they were to counsel a patient. A qualitative method was selected and written responses to a case-based scenario were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. The grounded theory approach elicited a fluid and dynamic model for side effect counselling. The study identified strategies for counselling, such as encouraging adherence through emphasising the benefits of the medication, referral to the prescriber, and providing empathy and reassurance to ease anxiety and address concerns. Pharmacists acknowledged the potential for risk, although only a minority used numerical descriptors. The final themes or outcomes were that pharmacists aim to allay fears, minimise harm and promote medication use when counselling about side effects. Professional empathy, the acknowledgment of patient concerns, and the importance of providing tailored information to promote medication adherence, emerged as features of the quality use of medicines. This study contributes to existing literature by identifying the role of allaying patients’ fears when conveying side effect information. It also describes a process to convey tailored information. Implications for practice include the importance of effective use of communication strategies to encourage adherence, as the appropriate use of medication can lead to positive health outcomes.
Seasonal Composite Landsat TM/ETM+ Images Using the Medoid (a Multi-Dimensional Median)
Authors: Flood Neil
Published: December 2013

Multi-temporal satellite imagery can be composited over a season (or other time period) to produce imagery which is representative of that period, using techniques which will reduce contamination by cloud and other problems. For the purposes of vegetation monitoring, a commonly used technique is the Maximum NDVI Composite, used in conjunction with variety of other constraints. The current paper proposes an alternative based on the medoid (in reflectance space) over the time period (the medoid is a multi-dimensional analogue of the median), which is robust against extreme values, and appears to be better at producing imagery which is representative of the time period. For each pixel, the medoid is always selected from the available dates, so the result is always a single observation for that pixel, thus preserving relationships between bands. The method is applied to Landsat TM/ETM+ imagery to create seasonal reflectance images (four per year), with the aim being a regular time series of reflectance values which captures the variability at seasonal time scales. Analysis of the seasonal reflectance values suggests that resulting temporal image composites are more representative of the time series than the maximum NDVI seasonal composite.
Indoor Localization Algorithms for an Ambulatory Human Operated 3D Mobile Mapping System
Authors: Corso Nicholas , Zakhor Avideh
Published: December 2013

Indoor localization and mapping is an important problem with many applications such as emergency response, architectural modeling, and historical preservation. In this paper, we develop an automatic, off-line pipeline for metrically accurate, GPS-denied, indoor 3D mobile mapping using a human-mounted backpack system consisting of a variety of sensors. There are three novel contributions in our proposed mapping approach. First, we present an algorithm which automatically detects loop closure constraints from an occupancy grid map. In doing so, we ensure that constraints are detected only in locations that are well conditioned for scan matching. Secondly, we address the problem of scan matching with poor initial condition by presenting an outlier-resistant, genetic scan matching algorithm that accurately matches scans despite a poor initial condition. Third, we present two metrics based on the amount and complexity of overlapping geometry in order to vet the estimated loop closure constraints. By doing so, we automatically prevent erroneous loop closures from degrading the accuracy of the reconstructed trajectory. The proposed algorithms are experimentally verified using both controlled and real-world data. The end-to-end system performance is evaluated using 100 surveyed control points in an office environment and obtains a mean accuracy of 10 cm. Experimental results are also shown on three additional datasets from real world environments including a 1500 meter trajectory in a warehouse sized retail shopping center.
A Near-Optimal Distributed QoS Constrained Routing Algorithm for Multichannel Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Lin Frank , Hsiao Chiu-Han , Yen Hong-Hsu , Hsieh Yu-Jen
Published: December 2013

One of the important applications in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is video surveillance that includes the tasks of video data processing and transmission. Processing and transmission of image and video data in WSNs has attracted a lot of attention in recent years. This is known as Wireless Visual Sensor Networks (WVSNs). WVSNs are distributed intelligent systems for collecting image or video data with unique performance, complexity, and quality of service challenges. WVSNs consist of a large number of battery-powered and resource constrained camera nodes. End-to-end delay is a very important Quality of Service (QoS) metric for video surveillance application in WVSNs. How to meet the stringent delay QoS in resource constrained WVSNs is a challenging issue that requires novel distributed and collaborative routing strategies. This paper proposes a Near-Optimal Distributed QoS Constrained (NODQC) routing algorithm to achieve an end-to-end route with lower delay and higher throughput. A Lagrangian Relaxation (LR)-based routing metric that considers the “system perspective” and “user perspective” is proposed to determine the near-optimal routing paths that satisfy end-to-end delay constraints with high system throughput. The empirical results show that the NODQC routing algorithm outperforms others in terms of higher system throughput with lower average end-to-end delay and delay jitter. In this paper, for the first time, the algorithm shows how to meet the delay QoS and at the same time how to achieve higher system throughput in stringently resource constrained WVSNs.
Learning for the Future? Effects of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) on Teacher Education Students
Authors: Andersson Klas , Jagers Sverker , Lindskog Annika , Martinsson Johan
Published: December 2013

Currently, politicians, university representatives, scholars and leading NGOs share a strong belief in the ability of educational systems to generate positive attitudes to sustainable development (SD) among citizens, with the idea of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as perhaps the most apparent expression of this conviction. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether ESD might have the intended effects on teacher education students. More specifically, we account for the results from a panel study on the effects of a course on SD held in autumn 2010 at the University of Gothenburg (n = 323) on teacher education students. The surveys consisted of questions about the students’ concerns about various issues, including issues related to SD, and their attitudes towards SD and views of moral obligations to contributing to SD. The study included a control group (n = 97) consisting of students from the teacher-training programme at University West, which had not and did not include ESD. We find positive effects of ESD on almost all attitudes and perceptions, including e.g., personal responsibility in relation to SD and willingness to contribute to SD, while there is no noticeable effect in the control group. We conclude the paper by discussing the implications of our results for the idea of ESD in teacher training programmes at Swedish higher education institutions.
West Nile Virus Drug Discovery
Authors: Lim Siew , Shi Pei-Yong
Published: December 2013

The outbreak of West Nile virus (WNV) in 1999 in the USA, and its continued spread throughout the Americas, parts of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, underscored the need for WNV antiviral development. Here, we review the current status of WNV drug discovery. A number of approaches have been used to search for inhibitors of WNV, including viral infection-based screening, enzyme-based screening, structure-based virtual screening, structure-based rationale design, and antibody-based therapy. These efforts have yielded inhibitors of viral or cellular factors that are critical for viral replication. For small molecule inhibitors, no promising preclinical candidate has been developed; most of the inhibitors could not even be advanced to the stage of hit-to-lead optimization due to their poor drug-like properties. However, several inhibitors developed for related members of the family Flaviviridae, such as dengue virus and hepatitis C virus, exhibited cross-inhibition of WNV, suggesting the possibility to re-purpose these antivirals for WNV treatment. Most promisingly, therapeutic antibodies have shown excellent efficacy in mouse model; one of such antibodies has been advanced into clinical trial. The knowledge accumulated during the past fifteen years has provided better rationale for the ongoing WNV and other flavivirus antiviral development.
Can we engage learners through Web 2.0 and mobile devices?
Authors: Verjans Steven
Published: December 2013

This issue brings together five rather diverse papers focusing on the use of mobile and Web 2.0 technologies in an effort to engage learners. Two of the papers deal with messaging or response systems used by students in higher education, two papers deal with the use of (mobile) social media for professional development of teachers, and the final paper builds a theoretical model for Web 2.0-based workplace learning.(Published: 3 December 2013)Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2013, 21: 23309 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v21i0.23309Read the complete issue 21-3 (2013) here!
Oligomeric epoxide–amine adducts based on 2-amino-N-isopropylacetamide and α-amino-ε-caprolactam: Solubility in presence of cyclodextrin and curing properties
Authors: Fischer Julian , Ritter Helmut
Published: December 2013

2-Amino-N-isopropylacetamide and α-amino-ε-caprolactam were reacted with glycerol diglycidyl ether to give novel oligomeric thermoresponsive epoxide–amine adducts. These oligomers exhibit a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior in water. The solubility properties were influenced with randomly methylated β-cyclodextrin (RAMEB-CD) and the curing properties of the amine–epoxide mixtures were analyzed by oscillatory rheology and differential scanning calorimetry, whereby significant differences in setting time, viscosity, and stiffness were observed.
Multi-stakeholder responses to the European Union health claims requirements
Authors: Bremmers H.J. , van der Meulen B.M.J. , Purnhagen K.
Published: December 2013

Stakeholder groups have different interests in health claims which may be complementary but also conflicting. It is not clear on beforehand, how managers should deal with legal requirements on claims. Nor is it clear how legal authorities can adjust the present claims regime to address market, consumer, company and normative requirements. This article aims to assess the strategic responses to health claims legislation and implementation by multiple stakeholders with seemingly complementary wishes, but also controversial expectations: especially consumers, companies and public authorities. A multidisciplinary approach is carried out, using insights from food technological and medical, economic, legal and managerial sciences. The EU-claims regime and the responses of multiple stakeholder groups are investigated using available research supplemented with case studies of probiotics and botanicals. The system is evaluated within the context of the structure of food law and the legitimate rights and obligations of stakeholders in food supply chains and networks. The main finding is that the costs and uncertainties attached to health claims are important factors impacting the innovation efforts of companies, the willingness-to-pay of consumers and the effectiveness of public policy. A dialogue between stakeholders and adjustment of the present legal system from a regime-based to a product-based approach is suggested to reduce the perceived uncertainties and to be able to provide food information in an effective and less risky way.
Accreditation of Engineering Education through Curriculum Development in Australia
Authors: Edalatifard Homa , Prieto Elena
Published: December 2013

Due to emerging technological developments, the practice of engineering is changing remarkably. One of the main concerns of engineering education is to keep up with these revolutionary changes and incorporate them into the engineering curriculum. Social and professional needs have always been involved in the process of curriculum development and competencies set by professional organisations form a reference point for educational institutions. In this paper we argue that academics and administrators in universities are at the heart of change in their role as curriculum developers and implementers. We also propose that matching academic skills with the competencies / standards set by professional organisations can help pave the way in fast evolving technical fields.
A New Approach to Programming Language Education for Beginners with Top-Down Learning
Authors: Saito Daisuke , Yamaura Tsuneo
Published: December 2013

There are two basic approaches in learning new programming language: a bottom-up approach and a top-down approach. It has been said that if a learner has already acquired one language, the top-down approach is more efficient to learn another while, for a person who has absolutely no knowledge of any programming languages; the bottom-up approach is preferable. The major problem of the bottom-up approach is that it requires longer period to acquire the language. For quicker learning, this paper applies a top-down approach for a beginners who has not yet acquired any programming languages.
Teaching Software Engineering Subjects Using a Practical Oriented Approach at the University of Mumbai
Authors: Gondhalekar Mayur S , Bojewar Sachin M.
Published: December 2013

The University of Mumbai is one of the oldest and renowned universities in India, catering to nearly 20,000 students in the Computer Engineering and Information Technology Engineering disciplines. This translates to approximately 12,000 qraduates entering the software industry. The structure of the coursework related to Software Engineering subjects - Software Engineering, Software Testing and Quality Assurance, Sofware Project Management and Software Architectures - relies heavily on theoretical classroom teaching. In this paper, we suggest changes to the structure of the coursework by shifting the focus to a project-oriented system, that will give the students a real-world-like experience of the Software Engineering subjects. Graduates with a higher level of practical experience of Software Engineering subjects is a win-win situation for everyone concerned, the software industry, the research institutes, and the students themselves.
Neuroethics and Implanted Brain Machine Interfaces
Authors: McGee Ellen M.
Published: December 2013

Transformations of humans through advances in bioelectronics, nanotechnologies, and computer science are leading to hybrids of humans and machines. Future brain-machine interfaces will enable humans not only to be constantly linked to the Internet, and to cyber think, but will also enable technology to take information directly from the brain. Brain-computer interfaces, where a chip is implanted in the brain, will facilitate a tremendous augmentation of human capacities, including the radical enhancement of the human ability to remember and to reason, and to achieve immortality through cloning and brain downloading, or existence in virtual reality. The ethical and legal issues raised by these possibilities represent global challenges. The most pressing concerns are those raised by privacy and autonomy. The potential exists for control of persons, through global tracking, by actually “seeing” and “hearing” what the individual is experiencing, and by controlling and directing an individual’s thoughts, emotions, moods, and motivations. Public dialogue must be initiated. New principles, agencies, and regulations need to be formulated and scientific organizations, states, countries, and the United Nations must all be involved.
Information Quality Assessment for Asset Management Systems
Authors: Lee Sang Hyun , Haider Abrar
Published: December 2013

Information quality is critical for any business. It is particularly important for mission critical information systems that manage the lifecycle of an engineering asset. Quality of information or lack thereof in these systems can be traced to technical, organisation, as well as human sources. It is, therefore, extremely important to ascertain the causes that contribute to lack of information quality in asset lifecycle management systems. Depending upon the business area, organisations take proactive or reactive approach to establishing, maintaining, and enhancing their information quality. Among proactive approaches, the ability of the organisation to measure information quality dimensions forms the foundation of a solid information quality management initiative. Such a measurement, however, is an intricate task because these dimensions are subjective, can be context dependent as well as independent, and are interdependent, since each dimension impacts other dimensions. This research employs productive perspective to information and applies Six-Sigma methodology to assess its quality in information systems utilised to manage engineering asset lifecycle. It utilises analytical hierarchy process and quality function deployment to convert subjective information quality dimension into objective metrics, assesses the relationship between various information quality dimensions, and ascertains critical to quality factors. The results thus obtained form the basis for monitoring of information quality aimed at its continuous improvement. This study contributes to literature and practice by providing a method for assessing correlation of information quality dimensions, applying six sigma to information, and controlling quality of information.
Building Learning Spaces
Authors: Starr-Glass David
Published: December 2013

The learning space that online distance learners enter is critically important. The space provides access to learning activities, but it also establishes an environment in which knowledge can be effectively co-created and shared. Designing the learning space involves making decisions about intent, pedagogical priorities, and technological affordances. Online learning spaces communicate educational and social intent and must be designed around the interests, concerns, and cultures of their users. However, the learning space must also embody the vales and perspectives of the instructor/facilitator and the institution that offers the educational experience. This case study presents two situations in which learning spaces were created for specific online courses offered for distinctive learner populations: international students in a Cross-Cultural Management course and U.S. military members enrolled in a Management and Organizational Design course. To explain how these learning spaces were constructed, the case study presents a brief evolutionary history of distance learning and virtual learning spaces. It analyzes two design contexts using an organizational-educational-pedagogical approach. The analysis incorporates differing learner anticipations, concerns, and cultural perspectives and invites the reader to consider appropriate learning space design. This case study also encourages readers to consider their own solutions to these specific learning space challenges. Recommendations and suggestions are made about the ways in which these specific cases might be generalized to different contexts.
Redesigning Student’s Thinking Processes through Advanced Discussion Forums
Authors: Martins-Shannon Janine , Ghibesi Jason
Published: December 2013

This chapter addresses how a typical discussion board can transform the learning process into a collaborative environment that creates extended thinking processes promoting successful student outcomes. To illustrate a collaborative learning environment, teaching methodologies should focus on assisting a student to become diversified independent thinkers. Creating a diversified independent thinker infuses independent and cooperative critical analysis through varied topical issues.
Evidencing Quality
Authors: Shelton Kaye , Pedersen Karen L. , Holstrom Lisa A.
Published: December 2013

In an era of tightening institutional budgets, ever increasing online enrollments and greater calls for accountability from multiple directions, the need for online program administrators to continually assess the quality of their overall operations has never been greater. But even vigilant administrators have had difficulty defining “quality” and were unable to benchmark to other programs, as standards for quality varied. To address this daunting task, a research-based standard assessment tool known as the Quality Scorecard for the Administration of Online Education Programs was developed. The primary goals of this case are to Provide a brief overview of the scorecard highlighting the key areas of the quality indicators and the scoring protocol and present practical applications for this research-based assessment tool as evidenced through the administration of the scorecard by three online administrators at four institutions. By focusing on the ways in which different administrators at diverse institutions (public and private, large and small) used the Quality Scorecard to benchmark their online operations against a standard, we are able to illustrate how continuous improvement opportunities, impacting on both learning effectiveness and program improvement, can be implemented at the program or institutional level.
Conducting Online Posting Activity on a Social Networking Site (SNS) to Replace Traditional Learner Diaries
Authors: Saad Noor Saazai Mat , Yunus Melor Md , Embi Mohamed Amin , Yasin Mohamad Subakir Mohd
Published: December 2013

This case examines online posting activity by international students in Malaysia. The aim of the case is twofold, where it provides a platform for the students to practice their writing skills and a way to gather data for a bigger project, which is a research project into their English language learning experiences. The issues revolved around a string of decisions made before embarking on the case and challenges faced in running and maintaining the case. They are dissected and presented in two stages and two phases. Decisions were made and challenges were solved in line with the two aims of the case by considering extant literature and good research practice.
My Click is My Bond
Authors: Bishop Jonathan
Published: December 2013

The growth in Internet use is not only placing pressure on service providers to maintain adequate bandwidth but also the people who run the Websites that operate through them. Called systems operators, or sysops, these people face a number of different obligations arising out of the use of their computer-mediated communication platforms. Most notable are contracts, which nearly all Websites have, and in the case of e-commerce sites in the European Union, there are contractual terms they must have. This chapter sets out to investigate how the role contract law can both help and hinder sysops and their users. Sysop powers are limited by sysop prerogative, which is everything they can do which has not been taken away by statute or given away by contract. The chapter finds that there are a number of special considerations for sysops in how they use contracts in order that they are not open to obligations through disabled or vulnerable users being abused by others.
Should We Publish That?
Authors: Falkenberg Loren , Osiyevskyy Oleksiy
Published: December 2013

As the responsibilities of modern business expand to multiple stakeholders, there is an increased need to understand how to manage conflicting normative expectations of different stakeholders. Corporate responsibilities to stakeholders are based on the need to minimize or correct harm from operations (respect negative injunctions) while contributing to the social welfare of communities the firm operates in (engage in positive duties). By comparing multiple decision scenarios in the traditional and online publishing industry, the chapter explores the tensions that arise between these imperatives. Based on these tensions, the chapter outlines a framework and a practical industry-independent heuristic decision making process, embracing normative expectations, the consequences to a company and to stakeholders, and potential mitigating actions. The proposed heuristic approach allows balancing the tensions among stakeholder expectations to ensure selection of the appropriate alternative. The discussion is finished by pointing out the usefulness and applicability of the proposed heuristics in other industries and settings of the contemporary business environment.
Background Music in Educational Games
Authors: Linek Stephanie B. , Marte Birgit , Albert Dietrich
Published: December 2013

Most game-designers likely stick to the assumption that background music is a design feature for fostering fun and game play. From a psychological point of view, these (intuitive) aspects act upon the intrinsic motivation and the flow experience of players. However, from a pure cognitive perspective on instructional design, background music could also be considered to be redundant information, which distracts from learning. The presented study investigated the influence of background music (present vs. not present) within an educational adventure game on motivational (intrinsic motivation, experienced flow) and cognitive variables (cognitive load, learning success). The results suggest a high motivational potential of background music. However, neither positive nor negative effects on learning were detected. Thus, background music can be considered as a motivating design element of educational games without negative side-effects on learning.