bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Unravelling managerial competencies and the profitability of small technology-oriented businesses: A case of public access venues in an emerging economy
Authors: Rambe Patient 
Published: October 2018

Orientation: The tweak speed of technological changes, volatility of domestic markets, shifts in consumer behaviour and homogeneity of Internet-based services are pressurising entrepreneurs operating small technology-oriented businesses such as public access venues (PAVs) (e.g. Internet cafés) to develop a compendium of managerial competencies to deal with these challenges effectively and expeditiously. Yet rigorous research on managerial competencies of Internet café business owners or managers in emerging economies such as South Africa is conspicuously missing, raising critical questions about the perceived significance of such competencies in management and entrepreneurship literature.Research purpose: This research, therefore, examined the managerial competencies discernible among PAV or Internet café owner or managers and their implications for the profitability of their businesses.Motivation for the study: To establish the managerial competencies of PAV or Internet café business owners or managers and their effect on the profitability of their businesses.Research approach/design and method: Drawing on a quantitative approach and a survey design, a structured questionnaire was administered to 152 Internet café owners or managers to establish the influence of their managerial competencies on the profitability of their businesses.Main findings: Three assortments of managerial competencies were evident among Internet café owners or managers, namely, resource management, innovation management and market management capabilities. The results of the Pearson’s correlations revealed that managerial competencies are significantly correlated to business profitability, resource management capabilities have the highest correlation with profitability (Correlation = 0.743, p = 0.000), followed by innovation management capabilities (Correlation = 0.732, p = 0.000) and lastly marketing management capabilities (Correlation = 0.695, p = 0.000).Practical/ managerial implications: Because many businesses were very small establishments, employing less than six employees and with owners or managers who had less than 6 years of experience, it would be critical to establish if the provision of management training to owners or managers from the inception of the business would increase the growth orientation of such businesses. Because resource management capabilities have the highest correlation with firm profitability, the managerial training of small business owners or managers should concentrate more on this dimension compared to other managerial capabilities to improve their competitiveness.Contribution/value-add: Strategic interventions to improve the profitability of these small technology-oriented businesses border on scrupulously addressing and aligning their resource management, innovation management and market management capabilities.
On the First Zassenhaus Conjecture and Direct Products
Authors: Bächle Andreas , Kimmerle Wolfgang , Serrano Mariano 
Published: October 2018

AbstractIn this paper we study the behavior of the first Zassenhaus conjecture (ZC1) under direct products, as well as the General Bovdi Problem (Gen-BP), which turns out to be a slightly weaker variant of (ZC1). Among other things, we prove that (Gen-BP) holds for Sylow tower groups, and so in particular for the class of supersolvable groups.(ZC1) is established for a direct product of Sylow-by-abelian groups provided the normal Sylow subgroups form together a Hall subgroup. We also show (ZC1) for certain direct products with one of the factors a Frobenius group.We extend the classical HeLP method to group rings with coefficients from any ring of algebraic integers. This is used to study (ZC1) for the direct product$G\times A$, where$A$is a finite abelian group and$G$has order at most 95. For most of these groups we show that (ZC1) is valid and for all of them that (Gen-BP) holds. Moreover, we also prove that (Gen-BP) holds for the direct product of a Frobenius group with any finite abelian group.
Salinity control on Na incorporation into calcite tests of the planktonic foraminifera Trilobatus sacculifer – evidence from culture experiments and surface sediments
Authors: Bertlich Jacqueline , Nürnberg Dirk , Hathorne Ed C. , de Nooijer Lennart J. , Mezger Eveline M. , Kienast Markus , Nordhausen Steffanie , Reichart Gert-Jan , Schönfeld Joachim , Bijma Jelle 
Published: October 2018

Abstract. The quantitative reconstruction of past seawater salinity has yet to be
achieved, and the search for a direct and independent salinity proxy is
ongoing. Recent culture and field studies show a significant positive
correlation of Na∕Ca with salinity in benthic and planktonic
foraminiferal calcite. For accurate paleoceanographic reconstructions,
consistent and reliable calibrations are necessary, which are still missing.
In order to assess the reliability of foraminiferal Na∕Ca as a direct
proxy for seawater salinity, this study presents electron microprobe
Na∕Ca data measured on cultured specimens of Trilobatus sacculifer. The culture experiments were conducted over a wide salinity
range of 26 to 45, while temperature was kept constant. To further understand
potential controlling factors of Na incorporation, measurements were also
performed on foraminifera cultured at various temperatures in the range of
19.5 to 29.5 ∘C under constant salinity conditions. Foraminiferal
Na∕Ca values positively correlate with seawater salinity
(Na/CaT. sacculifer=0.97+0.115⋅salinity, R=0.97, p<0.005). Temperature, on the other hand,
exhibits no statistically significant relationship with Na∕Ca values,
indicating salinity to be one of the dominant factors controlling Na
incorporation. The culturing results are corroborated by measurements on
T. sacculifer from Caribbean and Gulf of Guinea surface sediments,
indicating no dissolution effect on Na∕Ca in foraminiferal calcite
with increasing water depth up to >4 km. In conclusion, planktonic
foraminiferal Na∕Ca can be applied as a potential proxy for
reconstructing sea surface salinities, although species-specific calibrations
might be necessary.
Cormac McCarthy's Allegories of Fragmentation
Authors: O'Sullivan James Stephen 
Published: October 2018

Abstract
For Walter Benjamin, in the Origin of German Tragic Drama, the baroque tragedies of counter-reformation Germany represented a new kind of allegory: the traditional scripture-inflected tropes of catastrophe and melancholy were now used as a way of allegorizing the trauma of a country riven by religious wars and violent dynastic conflict. The use of the classical trope of the ruined church or castle, for example, finds a correlate in the pervasive feeling of uncertainty and impermanence brought about by the Thirty Years War. In this constant state of emergency, to use Benjamin's term for seemingly irremediable political crisis, a materially felt melancholy begins to permeate everything. It is this concern in Benjamin—in which allegorical tragedy, shorn of its providential dimension, encounters history—that I link with certain themes in Cormac McCarthy's novels of the Southwest, particularly, the recursive use of ruined buildings, desiccated landscapes, broken bodies, and broken minds that scar All the Pretty Horses (1992) and The Crossing (1994), the first two novels of the Border Trilogy. The primary assertion is that Benjamin's reading of the mourning drama finds a correlate in McCarthy's allegories of fragmentation.
Geography, Genre, and Gender: Billy Parham's Crossings and the Search for American Masculinity
Authors: Brummer Jamie 
Published: October 2018

Abstract
Cormac McCarthy's novels complicate the struggle of American men in search of themselves, seeking to shed the trappings of increasingly anachronistic masculine signifiers, reckon with the degree to which their conception of manhood has empowered and imprisoned them while often brutalizing others, and discover, perhaps, a way forward to a construction of masculinity that no longer threatens to make them men without a country. Like so many before him, Cormac McCarthy turned to the West and to the Western. This westward turn, after four novels that seemed to cement his status as a writer of the American South, represents an intentional generic shift and enables profound engagement with issues at the very center of American cultural life, particularly issues related to American manhood—many of which have gained cultural currency alongside McCarthy's writing career, which began in 1965. The revisionist, interrogative, and celebratory treatment of masculinity reaches a crescendo in The Crossing, a novel that demonstrates the surprising plasticity of a genre which McCarthy exploits to examine issues at the heart of contemporary American culture, specifically issues related to a perceived crisis (or series of crises) in American masculinity and the concomitant emergence of masculinity studies.
Comparison and Evaluation of Alveolar Bone Around Lower Central Incisors in Class III and Class I Patients
Authors: Atik Ezgi , Gorucu-coskuner Hande , Taner Tülin 
Published: October 2018

Objectives: The aim was to compare the alveolar bone
support of mandibular central incisors in subjects with Class III and Class I
skeletal patterns using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT).

Materials and Methods: Group 1 included 20 patients (mean
age=19.78±2.80) with Class III malocclusion (mean ANB°=-2.77±3.69),
mesofacial growth pattern (FMA°=27.03 ±5.11) and lingual-inclined mandibular
incisors (IMPA°&lt;85). Group 2 included 20 patients (mean age=20.85±3.97) with Class I malocclusion (mean ANB°=2.94 ±1.46), mesofacial growth pattern (FMA°=25.67±6.83) and normal inclined mandibular incisors
(85&lt;IMPA°&lt;95).
Vertical alveolar bone level and alveolar bone thickness (ABT) of total 80
mandibular central incisors (40 from each group) were evaluated. Buccal,
lingual and total ABT were measured at the crestal, midroot, and apical levels.
Buccal (BACH) and lingual (LACH) alveolar crestal heights were also evaluated. Mann-Whitney U, independent samples-t-tests,
and Spearman’s rank correlation analysis were applied for statistical analysis.

Results: The lingual ABT at the crestal and
midroot level, buccal ABT at the apical level, and total ABT at all levels were
significantly lower in Group 1 than Group 2 (p&lt;0.05). There was a negative
correlation between the buccal (r=-0.324; p=0.042) ABT at the apical level and
mandibular plane angle. The change in mandibular incisor inclination was positively
correlated with buccal ABT at the apical level (r=0.463; p=0.003) and lingual
ABT at the crestal level (r=0.550;p&lt;0.001). BACH was significantly higher in
Group 1 (2.21±1.48 mm) compared to Group 2
(1.42±0.17 mm) (p &lt; 0.05).

Conclusions: In subjects with Class III deformities,
mandibular central incisors have less bone support especially at the buccal
side of the alveolar bone at the apical level and lingual side of the alveolar
bone at the crestal and midroot levels. Rate of change in mandibular incisor
inclination and mandibular plane angle can be thought as significant factors
that may influence alveolar bone thickness.
Mismatch between the quality of dwelling units and residents’ health condition in elderly housing with supportive services
Authors: Sannomiya Motohiro , Hwang Byung Joon , Suzuki Yoshihiro 
Published: October 2018

AbstractThis work aims to clarify mismatches between the health condition of residents of the Elderly Housing with Supportive Services (EHSS) and quality of dwelling unit to understand how to improve the quality of the living environment. This work reviews development trends in EHSS and population growth to understand the difficulties faced in improving EHSS in the community. Data were collected from the information disclosure system on the WEB site and through a questionnaire survey of EHSS management bodies. Although residents in regions with large populations have more variety, the plan‐service types available in smaller regions had disproportionately high amounts of room types with moderate to high care, despite that distribution of residents’ necessary care levels were constant across region size. Development of EHSS for self‐supporting residents or those needing mild care is a necessity. Mismatches also emerged between health condition, household size, and degree of care. Many couples were living in R‐housing, displaying a difficulty in EHSS to meet the needs of couples who wish to continue living together. Many residents able to live independently are living in R‐housing, restricting their daily living activities, and presenting a risk of losing the motivation to live.
Herbicides
Authors: Duke Stephen O , Dayan Franck E 
Published: October 2018

AbstractHerbicides represent about 60% of the pesticides used worldwide. Bioherbicides are a growing portion of the herbicides used, but the several hundred commercial synthetic herbicides represent most of the herbicide market. Since their introduction about 70 years ago, weed management has been dominated by synthetic herbicides because of their efficiency and economic benefits to farmers. These herbicides have only about 20 modes of action, and resistance has evolved to most of them. New modes of action are needed for resistance management, but only a single new herbicide mode of action has been introduced in the last 30 years. Crops made resistant to the nonselective herbicide glyphosate through transgene technology have helped to make glyphosate the most used herbicide worldwide, but evolution of glyphosate‐resistant weeds is reducing reliance on glyphosate. New technologies, such as precision agriculture, will reduce herbicide use in the future.Key ConceptsHerbicides are the principal means of weed management worldwide.Most herbicides act by inhibiting the function of a single protein target (the mode of action).Weeds have evolved resistance to most herbicide classes.Crops made resistant to the herbicide glyphosate have played a dominant role in transgenic crops and in weed management.Herbicides with new modes of action are badly needed for herbicide resistance management.
Factors Associated With Hand and Upper Arm Functional Disability in People With Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Systematic Review
Authors: Arab Alkabeya Hisham , Hughes Ann‐Marie , Adams Jo 
Published: October 2018

ObjectiveThis original systematic review aimed to summarize evidence within observational studies on the factors associated with hand functional disability in adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).MethodsA rigorous extensive systematic literature search was conducted in 6 medical databases for peer‐reviewed English language observational studies that explore the factors associated with hand function for people with RA. Factors were critically classified under the domains of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework and health‐related factors. The methodologic quality was determined using the appraisal tool for cross‐sectional studies. Factors related to hand function that were investigated in ≥2 studies were explored using a best‐evidence synthesis.ResultsTwenty articles from 1,271 citations met the inclusion criteria. All presented cross‐sectional data (5 high‐quality and 15 low‐quality articles), resulting in limited evidence in the best‐evidence synthesis. For the factors classified under the ICF domains, the best‐evidence synthesis indicated that a diverse range of positive and negative factors were associated with hand function. However, key factors were hand strength, disease activity, and pain intensity. It is evident that few sociodemographic factors have been explored for the association with hand function.ConclusionAlthough the level of evidence was limited, modifiable factors such as grip strength, disease activity, and pain were identified as the most influential factors on hand function in people with RA. The findings of the present review indicate that important sociodemographic factors that impact hand function in individuals with RA have not yet been considered or reported in clinical research.
Correlation of the Multi‐Biomarker Disease Activity Score With Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity Measures: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis
Authors: Johnson Tate M. , Register Kyle A. , Schmidt Cynthia M. , O'Dell James R. , Mikuls Ted R. , Michaud Kaleb , England Bryant R. 
Published: October 2018

ObjectiveThere are conflicting reports on the validity of the multi‐biomarker disease activity (MBDA) score for assessing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease activity. Our aim was to perform a systematic review of the MBDA and a meta‐analysis of the correlation between the MBDA and other RA disease activity measures.MethodsA systematic review was performed by searching Medline, Embase, Scopus, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane Library from inception to March 7, 2017. Study details, MBDA performance, and study quality were assessed by independent reviewers. Correlations of the MBDA with composite RA disease activity measures were pooled using random‐effects meta‐analyses.ResultsA total of 22 studies were identified in the systematic review, of which 8 (n = 3,242 assays) reported correlations of the MBDA with RA disease activity measures. Pooling results from these 8 studies in the meta‐analysis, the MBDA demonstrated modest correlations with the Disease Activity Score in 28 joints using the C‐reactive protein level (DAS28‐CRP; r = 0.41, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.36–0.46) and the Disease Activity Score using the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28‐ESR; r = 0.48, 95% CI 0.38–0.58), with weaker correlations observed with the Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI; r = 0.35, 95% CI 0.26–0.43), Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI; r = 0.26, 95% CI 0.19–0.33), and Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 (RAPID3; r = 0.23, 95% CI 0.19–0.27). Correlations between change in MBDA and change in disease activity measures ranged from r = 0.53 for the DAS28‐ESR to r = 0.26 for the CDAI.ConclusionThe MBDA demonstrates moderate convergent validity with the DAS28‐CRP and the DAS28‐ESR but weaker correlations with the SDAI, CDAI, and RAPID3. While it appears to complement existing RA disease activity measures, further assessment of the performance characteristics of the MBDA is warranted.
Actuator failure‐tolerant control of an all‐thruster satellite in coupled translational and rotational motion using neural networks
Authors: Tavakoli M.M. , Assadian N. 
Published: October 2018

SummaryThe nonlinear model predictive control (MPC) approach is used to control the coupled translational‐rotational motion of an all‐thruster spacecraft when one of the actuators fails. In order to model the dynamical response of the spacecraft in MPC, instead of direct integration, a neural network (NN) model is utilized. This model is built of a static NN, followed by a dynamic NN. The static NN is used to find the changes of the mapping of “the demanded forces to the thrusters” and “the real torques/forces produced by the remaining thrusters” after the failure occurrence through online training. In this manner, the effect of failed thruster on the dynamics can be found and the need for conventional and separate “fault detection and isolation” in previous works is eliminated. The dynamic NN is used to replicate the dynamical equations of the spacecraft excluding the effects of the mapping of thrusters demand to the real generated force and torque. Using updated model of the spacecraft through the learning capability of the NNs, the nonlinear MPC is able to compensate the failure of the thruster with the help of the remaining active thrusters. Through numerical simulations, it is shown that in the presence of thruster failure(s) this approach can effectively control the spacecraft with the remaining actuators.
Palladium‐Catalyzed Synthesis of Indolines from Aroyloxycarbamates through a Tandem Decarboxylative Amination/Heck/Annulation Reaction
Authors: Wang Zheng , Li Peihe , Fu Hui , Dai Qipu , Hu Changwen 
Published: October 2018

AbstractA novel synthesis of functionalized indolines via a Pd‐catalyzed tandem decarboxylative amination/Heck/annulation reaction has been developed. This process features operational simplicity, mild conditions, and the use of a readily available and environmentally friendly starting material, namely carboxylic acid. Furthermore, the reaction shows good functional group tolerance and chemical selectivity.magnified image
Conductive Cellulose Nanofiber Enabled Thick Electrode for Compact and Flexible Energy Storage Devices
Authors: Kuang Yudi , Chen Chaoji , Pastel Glenn , Li Yiju , Song Jianwei , Mi Ruiyu , Kong Weiqing , Liu Boyang , Jiang Yingqi , Yang Ken , Hu Liangbing 
Published: October 2018

AbstractThick electrodes are appealing for high energy density devices but succumb to sluggish charge transfer kinetics and poor mechanical stability. Nanomaterials with large aspect ratio, such as carbon nanotubes, can help improve the charge transfer and strength of thick electrodes but represent a costly solution which hinders their utility outside of “lab scale production.” Here, a conductive nanofiber network with decoupled electron and ion transfer pathways by the conformal electrostatic assembly of neutral carbon black particles on negatively charged cellulose nanofibers is reported. After integrating with lithium iron phosphate (LFP), the conductive nanofiber network enables a compact and high‐loaded (up to 60 mg cm−2) electrode with robust electrical networks and shortened ion transport paths. The interconnected nanopores inherited from the conductive network function as nanosized electrolyte reservoirs surrounding the electroactive materials and acting as ion‐conducting highways across the electrode. Based on the compact electrode structure and fast charge transfer kinetics, flexible Li‐LFP batteries with outstanding areal capacity and volumetric energy density (8.8 mAh cm−2 and 538 Wh L−1) are developed, substantially exceeding conventional LFP‐based batteries. Given the low cost raw materials together with the scale up processability, the conductive nanofiber design provides a promising strategy toward high‐performance energy storage devices.
Significantly Enhanced Uranium Extraction from Seawater with Mass Produced Fully Amidoximated Nanofiber Adsorbent
Authors: Wang Dong , Song Jianan , Wen Jun , Yuan Yihui , Liu Zhenglian , Lin Sen , Wang Haiyang , Wang Haolun , Zhao Shilei , Zhao Xuemei , Fang Minghao , Lei Ming , Li Bo , Wang Ning , Wang Xiaolin , Wu Hui 
Published: October 2018

AbstractThe oceans contain hundreds of times more uranium than terrestrial ores. Fiber‐based adsorption is considered to be the most promising method to realize the industrialization of uranium extraction from seawater. In this work, a pre‐amidoximation with a blow spinning strategy is developed for mass production of poly(imide dioxime) nanofiber (PIDO NF) adsorbents with many chelating sites, excellent hydrophilicity, 3D porous architecture, and good mechanical properties. The structural evidences from 13C NMR spectra confirm that the main functional group responsible for the uranyl binding is not “amidoxime” but cyclic “imidedioxime.” The uranium adsorption capacity of the PIDO NF adsorbent reaches 951 mg‐U per g‐Ads in uranium (8 ppm) spiked natural seawater. An average adsorption capacity of 8.7 mg‐U per g‐Ads is obtained after 56 d of exposure in natural seawater via a flow‐through column system. Moreover, up to 98.5% of the adsorbed uranium can be rapidly eluted out and the adsorbent can be regenerated and reused for over eight cycles of adsorption–desorption. This new blow spun PIDO nanofabric shows great potential as a new generation adsorbent for uranium extraction from seawater.