bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An Analysis of Critical Thinking Skills amongst Business Students in Kuwait
Authors: Goodpasture James , Speece Mark , Cripps Jeremy 
Published: July 2020

Abstract

Research Purpose. This article examined critical thinking skills amongst senior-level undergraduate students in a Middle East setting, Kuwait. In addition, the study investigated the gender differences.

Methodology. The subjects involved in this study comprised a convenience sample of 90 graduating seniors. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of two motivational factors on the development of critical thinking skills. The analysis used the specific subsection about critical thinking skills, which is part of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). One factor relates the sense of entitlement that can arise in a welfare state, which heavily subsidises a wide range of things for citizens, including education. We examined differences between citizens and non-citizens, who do not have access to welfare benefits.

Findings. The results supported the hypotheses that student groups have different levels of critical thinking skills. We found that expatriate students had more highly developed critical thinking skills than students who were Kuwaiti citizens. We also found that women had more highly developed critical thinking skills than men had.

Practical Implications. The welfare state measures undertaken by the government of Kuwait may be counterproductive. The guaranteed employment of its citizens and generous monetary support whilst in school may discourage the development of critical thinking skills. Future research could focus on ways to motivate particular groups (e.g. Kuwaiti men) to enhance their critical thinking skills.
Export Competitiveness Analysis of Creative Industries in the European Union
Authors: Krisiukėnienė Deimantė , Pilinkienė Vaida 
Published: July 2020

Abstract

Research purpose. The research purpose is to assess and compare the competitiveness of the EU creative industries’ export.

Design/Methodology/Approach. The article is organised as follows: Section 1 presents a short theoretical conception of creative industries; Section 2 presents the theoretical background of trade competitiveness indices; Section 3 introduces the research data set, method and variables; Section 4 discusses the results of the revealed comparative advantage index analysis; and the final section presents the conclusions of the research. It should be noted that the research does not cover all possible factors underlying the differences in the external sector performance and thus may need to be complemented with country-specific analysis as warranted. Methods of the research include theoretical review and analysis, evaluation of comparative advantage indices and clustering.

Findings. The analysis revealed that the EU countries may gain competitiveness because of the globalisation effects and the development of creative industries. The increase in the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) index during the period 2004–2017 shows rising EU international trade specialisation in creative industries. According to dynamic RCA index results, France, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain has competitive advantage in creative industries sectors and could be specified as ‘rising stars’ according to dynamic of their export.

Originality/Value/Practical implications. A creative industries analysis is becoming increasingly relevant in scientific research. Fast globalisation growth affects the processes in which closed economies together with their specific sectors are no longer competitive in the market because productivity of countries as well as particular economic sectors depends on international trade liberalisation, technology and innovation. Scientific literature, nevertheless, contains a gap in the area of international trade competitiveness research in creative industries sector.
Decision Factors behind Choosing Higher Education Institutions in Europe
Authors: Skvarciany Viktorija , Shina Inga , Sajjad Fawad bin 
Published: July 2020

Abstract

Research purpose. This article aims at distinguishing and weighting the educational factors that could have an impact on young people’s choice to study in European higher education institutions (HEIs).

Design/Methodology/Approach. To achieve the aim, previous research and scientific literature were studied and experts from student society and the higher education sector, who deal with international students, were interviewed. The developed questionnaire was based on pairwise comparison procedure, and the obtained data were processed using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method.

Findings. The findings revealed that the following factors are the most critical for students who want to study at European HEIs: provision of programmes that are taught in English, the existence of scholarship opportunities, provision of different facilities in the campus, and accreditation of the study programme and university.

Originality/Value/Practical implications. The current study focuses on a topic that has been studied fragmentally, that is, on which factors are crucial for an international student to choose HEI in Europe. The current research contributes to the existing scientific literature by identifying and systemising educational factors influencing young people’s choice to study in Europe. The obtained results could be useful for professionals who are responsible for strategic partnerships at European universities.
Chuvash ‘Paganism’ at the Turn of the 21st Century: Traditional Rituals in the Religious Practice of Volga–Urals Chuvash Groups
Authors: Iagafova Ekaterina , Bondareva Valeriia 
Published: July 2020

Abstract
Traditional rituals formed the basis of ethnic Chuvash culture, and are still relevant in today’s festive and ritual culture, primarily among Chuvash ‘pagan’ ethno-religious groups. Today among the unbaptised Chuvash there is, with varying degrees of preservation, a set of ideas about the spirits of nature and the patron deity of different fields of life, practice of ritual prayer and sacrifice, and festive culture. The focus of ritual practice is the cult of the Supreme God Tura (Tură) and the ancestors, who during the calendar year appear in a single complex and in strict sequence. Traditional rituals play an essential role in the funeral and memorial rites and customs of the Chuvash. Thus, ‘pagan’ elements are characteristic not only of the unbaptised Chuvash, but also of some local groups of Christians and Muslims, for example ritual mourning of the dead, weekly commemoration on Thursday evenings until the ritual of ‘seeing off the soul’, ritual singing, sacrificing and ‘feeding’ souls of the dead on remembrance days, and other rituals and their elements. These ‘pagan’ elements in the culture of the Orthodox Chuvash and Chuvash Muslims living in ethnically mixed villages with Russians, Mordovians and Tatars both constitute the basis of their ethnic and cultural identity as Chuvash and contribute to the preservation of their ethnicity. Chuvash ‘paganism’, despite centuries of influence from Russian Orthodox and Muslim Tatar traditions, has a moderating influence over contemporary modernisation and is an element in religious practices of Chuvash confessional communities that is an important resource for the formation and development of ethnic and cultural identity.
Effects of Pirfenidone on Echocardiographic Parameters of Left Ventricular Structure and Function in Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
Authors: Al-Ansari Shehab , Borowski Allen , Fuad Ali , Alawadhi Omar , Riaz Haris , Sharma Vikram , Khan Nauman , Southern Brian D. , Tang W.H. Wilson 
Published: July 2020

Abstract

Aim: Pirfenidone is a novel anti-fibrotic agent utilized in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). It has been implicated in mitigating myocardial fibrosis and left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic dysfunction in animal models. However, its impact on LV mechanics in humans remains unknown. The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the effects of pirfenidone on echocardiographic parameters of LV function and structure in patients with IPF.

Methods: A total of 124 patients with IPF were included in this study: 64 patients treated with pirfenidone (treatment group) and 60 patients not taking pirfenidone (control group), who had serial pretreatment/baseline and posttreatment/follow-up echocardiograms done within a time frame of four years. Changes in the means of parameters of LV function (systolic, diastolic, and global longitudinal strain) and LV structure (mass and volume indices) were compared between the treatment and control groups. This was followed by a subgroup analysis that included only 88 patients (47 treated, 41 controls) with echocardiographic evidence of myocardial dysfunction at baseline (defined as an ejection fraction of ≤45, or diastolic dysfunction stage 1 or more) in addition to a known clinical diagnosis of congestive heart failure. To account for potential confounders, a secondary adjusted analysis by way of 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) was carried out. This yielded a sample consisting of 62 patients with 56 patients in the subgroup cohort.

Results: Patients in the treatment group were significantly younger (69.4 vs. 77 years, p<0.001) and had relatively lower forced vital capacity (69.9% vs. 80.6%, p = 0.005) in comparison to the control group. However, after PSM, the age demographics were comparable between both groups (72.18 vs. 72.15, p = 0.9). In the primary unadjusted analysis, there was no statistically significant change in any of the mean parameters of LV function and structure after pirfenidone administration when compared to the control group. Furthermore, no significant differences were noted in the subgroup cohort. Such findings were re-demonstrated after a secondary analysis with PSM.

Conclusion: From an echocardiographic perspective, pirfenidone had no significant effects on LV structure and function in patients with IPF, even in patients with more overt cardiac dysfunction.
Malaria and HIV Infection among Febrile Patients in a Large Area of Southwestern Nigeria
Authors: Oyeyemi Oyetunde T. , Etim Edet J. 
Published: July 2020

Abstract

Background: Malaria and HIV/AIDS are two major diseases that represent serious public health threats in Nigeria. They have been ascribed diseases of poverty, and therefore their distribution is expected to be overlapping.

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of malaria parasites and HIV among febrile patients in the Ikeja area of Lagos State, Nigeria.

Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 300 patients attending medical consultation and referred to blood screening for malaria parasites at Reddington Hospital, Lagos State. Malaria parasites were identified microscopically, and HIV screening was carried out using rapid diagnostic tests (RDT).

Results: The prevalence of malaria and HIV was 98.7% and 3.7%, respectively. All HIV-positive individuals were also infected by malaria parasites. Mean parasitemia was significantly higher in HIV-positive individuals (16,507.9 ± 2,280.7 P/μL) than in HIV-negative subjects (3,252.505 ± 236.3 P/μL) (p <0.05).

Conclusions: Our results suggest that HIV-infected individuals are more susceptible to infection with malaria parasites. Prompt HIV management is necessary in malaria-endemic areas to reduce disease severity in case of coinfection with HIV.
A Semantic Analysis of the Notion of Consultative Democracy: Xieshang Minzhu (协商民主) in the Chinese Official Political Discourses
Authors: Li Rongxin , Zhou Xiaofang 
Published: July 2020

Abstract
Chinese politics are characterized by the complex issues of a large population and centralized political powers, which offers a distinct political model from the Western models. However, the last two decades have witnessed a sharp collision between Chinese and Western political thinking. In response, domestic authors have increasingly focused on the indigenization (bentuhua 本土化) of Chinese political theories and, therefore, defend the concept of politics with Chinese characteristics. In this article, the authors focus on the discourse of “deliberative democracy” within the Chinese language, namely, Xieshang minzhu 协商 民主. In the current literature, almost no scholarly discussions have explored the semantics of the notion of Xieshang minzhu within Chinese politics. This article engages with this issue, both as a subject and a methodology, to better understand the political language that has been used in the official discourses in China
Official propaganda mainly includes five of China’s most authoritative official media (newspapers): People’s Daily (Renmin ribao 人民 日报), Guangming Daily (Guangming ribao 光明 日报), Xinhua Daily(Xinhua ribao 新华 日报), China Comment (Banyutan 半月谈), Qiushi (Qiushi 求是, formerly known as Red Flag (Hongqi 红旗)), Xi Jinping’s series of important speech databases and official documents on the subject of Xieshang or Xieshang minzhu in the Party-Building Database.
by 1) establishing a textual corpus by collecting relevant data into the Chinese and English groups through keywords; 2) conducting a statistical analysis based on the Word Cloud and Diagram analyses; and 3) using Word2Vec to calculate the relationship among other sub-keywords. The purpose of this contribution is to differentiate Xieshang minzhu as adopted by Chinese official discourses embedded in the logic of political reforms from the Western discourses. The semantic analysis presented here also serves as a methodology that systematically develops a conceptual model of xieshang, which further clarifies the misconceptions and errors in the existing literature. The authors also provide an outline of the polysemic notion of deliberative democracy, which not only exists within an authoritarian regime but is also present in other forms and other languages (such as Chinese). This serves to further maintain the legitimacy of the “socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics.”
Electrode positioning to investigate the changes of the thoracic bioimpedance caused by aortic dissection – a simulation study
Authors: Badeli V. , Melito G. M. , Reinbacher-Köstinger A. , Bíró O. , Ellermann K. 
Published: July 2020

Abstract
Impedance cardiography (ICG) is a non-invasive method to evaluate several cardiodynamic parameters by measuring the cardiac-synchronous changes in the dynamic transthoracic electrical impedance. ICG allows us to identify and quantify conductivity changes inside the thorax by measuring the impedance on the thorax during a cardiac cycle. Pathologic changes in the aorta, like aortic dissection, will alter the aortic shape as well as the blood flow and consequently, the impedance cardiogram. This fact distorts the evaluated cardiodynamic parameters, but it could lead to the possibility to identify aortic pathology. A 3D numerical simulation model is used to compute the impedance changes on the thorax surface in case of the type B aortic dissection. A sensitivity analysis is applied using this simulation model to investigate the suitability of different electrode configurations considering several patient-specific cases. Results show that the remarkable pathological changes in the aorta caused by aortic dissection alters the impedance cardiogram significantly.
New decision systems in the VUCA world
Authors: Minciu Mihaela , Berar Florin-Aurel , Dobrea Razvan Catalin 
Published: July 2020

Abstract
In a turbulent economic environment, marked by multiple challenges and changes at every step, organizations must adapt their management system, in order to maintain or even increase their productivity, as well as their competitive advantage. All the activities carried out within an organization are based on a series of managerial decisions, dependent on each other, by which the objectives and the modalities of action are determined, ensuring the economic-financial balance. Frequently, the activities carried out within an organization are changing, as the circumstances and characteristics of the business environment increasingly suffers transformations, thus it is necessary that the decision-making processes be updated. Therefore, the employees of the companies must be prepared to organize their activity in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world - the VUCA world. Above the decision environment, are manifested a series of indirect and direct influences (interdependent variables, constraints and limit situations) that affect the result of the decisions adopted within the different levels of management in organizations. Thus, the present paper aims to determine and investigate the factors that influence the characteristics of the decision situations, regardless of the type of decisions adopted within an organization. The present study consists in analyzing the results obtained after applying an online questionnaire to researchers from Doctoral Schools and students of Project Management, from the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, who work in different areas of activity. After the statistical processing of the results obtained regarding the decision systems in the VUCA world, this paper aims to highlight the most important changes that occur in decision-making processes representing a key element for organizations in which managers have to make decisions on a daily basis, in order to ensure the economic performance, despite all the disruptions that occur.
CSR and Financial Performance – Linked by Innovative Activities
Authors: Bastič Majda , Mulej Matjaž , Zore Mira 
Published: July 2020

Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationships between different dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR), as well as the mediating role of innovation between CSR dimensions and financial performance. Data was collected with questionnaires from 321 managers of Slovene companies to test a conceptual model with structural equation modeling (SEM). The field-research results were that CSR is the most relevant dimension for employees. It positively influences CSR to the natural environment, to customers, and to the local community. The mediating role of innovation between CSR and financial performance was confirmed. The results also showed that CSR to the natural environment and CSR to customers positively affect innovation, while CSR to the local community had a negative impact. In addition, the positive impact of innovation initiated by CSR on financial performance was confirmed. The principal limitation of this study was its focus on Slovenian firms and the fact that data was obtained from only one manager in each firm. Slovene companies should consider the global initiatives supportive of CSR as the way to create opportunities for innovation and differentiation from other companies and increase their financial performance. The conceptual model developed and tested on the data obtained by Slovene managers gives new perspective on the impacts of social responsibility, innovation and financial performance. It highlights the areas in which the theory of social responsibility needs more research.
Establishment versus Newcomers, Critical versus Administrative?: Sketching the structure of the Swedish field of media and communication studies
Authors: Lindell Johan 
Published: July 2020

Abstract
The status of the field of media and communication studies has been debated globally and domestically. This study covers virtually all agents (N=254) in the Swedish field of media and communication studies and draws on Pierre Bourdieu's sociology of science to uncover the main hierarchies in the field. The study focuses on two main divisions. Like in most fields, the most prevalent division is found between the field's incumbents and the challengers/newcomers. A parallel, albeit less prevalent, division is an onto-epistemological one – a variant of the old cleavage between “critical” and “administrative” research. The field's power elite is almost exclusively male, and connected to the field's pioneering institutions.
Radon and thoron exhalation rate measurements from building materials used in Serbia
Authors: Čeliković Igor T. , Pantelić Gordana K. , Živanović Miloš Z. , Vukanac Ivana S. , Krneta Nikolić Jelena D. , Kandić Aleksandar B. , Lončar Boris B. 
Published: July 2020

Abstract
The second most important source of indoor radon, after soil beneath dwelling, is building material. With the increase in environmental awareness and new energy-saving policies, residents tend to replace the existing windows with tighter windows, which leads to a decrease in air exchange rate and consequently an increase in indoor radon concentration. In case of low exchange rates, dose caused by inhalation of radon and its progeny can exceed external dose originating from the radium content in the surrounding building material. In this paper, surface exhalation rates of radon (222Rn) and thoron (220Rn) from typical building materials used for construction and interior decoration of houses in Serbia were investigated. Surface exhalation rate measurements were performed using the closed-chamber method, while concentrations of radon and thoron in the chamber were continuously measured using an active device, RTM1688-2, produced by SARAD® GmbH. Finally, the impact of the replacement of windows on the indoor radon concentration was estimated.
Radon soil-gas measurement campaign in Hessen: an approach to identifying areas with enhanced geogenic radon
Authors: Kuske Till , Kerker Steffen , Breckow Joachim , Lehné Rouwen , Laupenmühlen Tatjana , Jedmowski Lena 
Published: July 2020

Abstract
The new radiation protection law in Germany, which came into effect 2018, puts greater emphasis on the protection against naturally occurring radiation, especially radon as a known health hazard. The law requires the delineation of radon priority areas, where prevention and remediation of high indoor radon concentrations should be taken with priority. In Germany, radiation protection is the administrative responsibility of the federal states. The state of Hesse has early on decided to fully survey the state for radon priority areas. To identify radon priority areas, the geogenic radon potential has to be determined. To achieve that radon, soil-gas measurements combined with soil permeability are a necessity. The University of Applied Sciences (THM) in Giessen is responsible for the radon soil-gas measurement campaign in Hessen. To achieve a statistically sound survey of the state of Hessen with an achievable amount of different measurement locations, and in the given time-frame, a geology-based concept has been designed. Taking into account the known geological information about geological structures in combination with the administrative counties, a survey strategy has been established. Prior known information regarding soil thickness, moisture, digability, and other technical limitations are used to determine the exact measuring locations. At every location, the radon activity in soil gas is measured. The soil permeability is determined for every measurement as well. Three measurements are performed at each location. Having completed the first set of measurements, the design criteria of the campaign and the practical experiences will be presented.