bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Using spatial metrics to assess the efficacy of biodiversity conservation within the Romanian Carpathian Convention area
Authors: Petrişor Alexandru-Ionuţ , Petrişor Liliana Elza 
Published: June 2017

AbstractThe alpine region is of crucial importance for the European Union; as a result, the Carpathian Convention aims at its sustainable development. Since sustainability implies also conservation through natural protected areas, aimed at including regions representative for the national biogeographical space, this article aims at assessing the efficiency of conservation. The methodology consisted of using spatial metrics applied to Romanian and European data on the natural protected areas, land cover and use and their transitional dynamics. The findings show a very good coverage of the Alpine biogeographical region (98% included in the Convention area, and 43% of it protected within the Convention area) and of the ecological region of Carpathian montane coniferous forests (88% included in the Convention area, and 42% of it protected within the Convention area). The dominant land cover is represented by forests (63% within the Convention area, and 70% of the total protected area). The main transitional dynamics are deforestation (covering 50% of all changes area within the Convention area and 46% from the changed area within its protected area) and forestations – including afforestation, reforestation and colonization of abandoned agricultural areas by forest vegetation (covering 44% of all changes area within the Convention area and 51% from the changed area within its protected area) during 1990-2000 and deforestation (covering 97% of all changes area within the Convention area and 99% from the changed area within its protected area) during 1990-2000. The results suggest that the coverage of biogeographical and ecological zones is good, especially for the most relevant ones, but deforestations are a serious issue, regardless of occurring before or after achieving the protection status.
Impact of corporate social responsibility on sustainable enterprise development
Authors: Danubianu Mirela , Teodorescu Cristian 
Published: June 2017

Abstract
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a recent entry in the economy of modern enterprise both at global level and for Romanian companies. CSR adds a new dimension to the enterprise’s performance in the social fields, contributing to the sustainable development of economic entities. CSR components are included in an international standard – ISO 26000. The paper presents authors’ experience in implementing this standard. Possible steps of a roadmap for CSR implementation:

Top management endorsement and nomination of a complex CSR team
Developing formal company CSR policy documents
Selecting and engaging the company’s stakeholders as early as possible.
Building a Project Advisory Board – useful in every modern managerial tool application should guide the progress toward CSR.
An external facilitator would help solve internal conflicts.
An audit of what CSR represents for the Company, what are the CSR options, e.g., promoting a “green company” profile, what would be the best impact of philanthropy and community volunteering, etc.
Generate a CSR portfolio of actions, setting deadlines, responsibilities and allocating resources, establishing communication, reporting, monitoring and corrective procedures
upgrading the sustainable enterprise strategy.
The authors experience led to the following conclusions:

Critical relevance of top management involvement
Stakeholders contacted as soon as possible in the process
The Project Advisory Board legitimates the actions taken under the mainframe of CSR
Aligning CSR polices to every other policy in the Company and make a system of coherent documents from ISO 9001, 14001, 18001, and 26000 that should work in a holistic manner. Focal company operates in municipal services having constant contact with all stakeholders.
The paper substantiates a previous work that analysed modern managerial tools.
The pressure of natural and anthropogenic factors on the status of soil from central development region
Authors: Valentin Crîsmaru , Petru Bacal , Iurie Bejan 
Published: June 2017

Abstract
The most ordinary form of impact on soils is erosion. A very rapid increase of the surfaces affected by erosion is conditioned, in particular, by the non-compliance of environmental requirements concerning exploitation of agricultural land and by the actual inefficient management of land resources. Lately due to the intensive exploitation of land and natural resources, the ecological situation worsened considerably, which has a negative impact over soils from the Central Development Region. Due to of the impact of agricultural activities and pressures of various factors on soil quality to grown the surface of soils eroded. Some factors led to growth the eroded surfaces which are considered high percentage of technical and hoeing crops.
Preliminary analysis of the afforestation role in the maximum runoff in Valea Rece Catchment
Authors: Mihalcea Andreea 
Published: June 2017

Abstract
The aim of this article is to demonstrate the afforestation role in maximum surface runoff. In this way, it was made a comparison of simulated flows in the current conditions of afforestation and the simulated flows in conditions of applying both afforestation and deforestation scenarios in Valea Rece catchment. Through HEC-HMS 4.1 hydrologic modeling software, using the method of unit hydrograph SCS Curve Number, were simulated flow of the river Valea Rece closing section of the basin, where precipitation amounts of 30,50,80,120 mm fallen in intervals of 1.3 to 6 hours on a soil with varying degrees of moisture: dry soil, average soil moisture and high humidity. This was done for the current degree of afforestation basin, for the results from a possible afforestation that would increase the afforestation degree to 80%, and for a possible deforestation that would lead to a degree of afforestation 15 %.
Health concerns of women after mastectomy
Authors: Groszek Patrycja , Samoliński Bolesław , Krzych-Fałta Edyta 
Published: June 2017

Abstract

Introduction. Cancer and its treatment can cause serious mental and physical disorders that greatly limit the autonomy and independence of patients and reduce their quality of life. Mastectomy violates woman‘s image both in their self-assessment and in their public reception. Among the consequences after mastectomy, there are problems in the physical sphere, which reduce everyday activities, there also appear problems with the mental state associated with the reduction of the sense of feminity.

Aim. The aim of the study was to identify health concerns of women after mastectomy.

Material and methods. The study included 40 randomly selected women after mastectomy aged over 20. The research tool used in the study was the original survey, consisting of 28 questions. The questions were designed in order to gather information about the health concerns of women after mastectomy. The analysis was performed using Statistica software.

Results. The disease changed for worse lives in 55% of women after mastectomy; 35% reported no impact and 10% of respondents admitted that the disease changed their lives for the better. The number of 22.5% of interviewees complained of frequently occurring low mood, depression and sadness, while 52.5% have experienced these emotions sometimes. Approximately 90% of respondents have been using a breast prosthesis after mastectomy. As many as 72.5% of women reported decrease in physical fitness after surgery, while 27.5% did not experience any change.

Conclusions. The mastectomy procedure has a negative impact on physical and emotional state of women.
A standard diagnostic and education procedure for nurses in recognizing the symptoms of aging man
Authors: Korol Agnieszka , Krajewska-Kułak Elżbieta 
Published: June 2017

Abstract

Introduction. In the aging process a weakening of the multiple organ systems and endocrine system occur, which in turn, leads to male hormones deficiency – androgens release, including testosterone. It is believed that the year-to-year, women awareness of the menopausal problems increases, however, their knowledge of the consequences of menopause is still insufficient. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of the population is aware that the same problem can also affect men. Male menopause symptoms are still largely an area of social taboo subject, which is not discussed at all or very little. As a consequence, men are not informed, enlightened, and therefore also ready for the changes that are to take place in themselves and their lives.

Aim. To develop a standard nurses preparation for diagnostic and education procedure concerning the aging man.

Methods. The standard was created with recommendations of The European Quality Assurance Network.

Results. The development of diagnostic and education procedure for nurses in the realm of identifying symptoms of male aging.
The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE): The Innovative and Economically Viable Model of American Geriatric Care
Authors: Polska Urszula 
Published: June 2017

Abstract
The aim of this paper is to present a modern model of non-institutional geriatric care which operates in the US, called the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). The economic consequences of an aging population with multiple chronic diseases are creating new solutions in the delivery of medical care. The author of the following article, based on review of PACE literature and her own experience, will focus on the history of the program, its nature, the social and economic advantages, and its efficacy in practice. In addition, the difficulties and limitations of PACE are analyzed, taking into account solutions for increased availability and popularization of the program on an international scale.
Author currently works as an ANP at Mercy LIFE (Living Independently For Elders) of Alabama, a PACE organization, delivering primary care. She has identified a need for a model similar to PACE in the context of her own home country of Poland, where cultural and societal norms value caring for a loved one in his or her own household rather than institutional care.
The author concludes that the PACE model would be indispensable as a geriatric healthcare model for countries outside the US experiencing a rapid growth in elderly patients resulting from demographic shifts common in the 21st century. Fast response is needed in creation of a similar program to PACE to prevent future economical consequences affecting medical care for the elderly.
Novel lignocellulosic wastes for comparative adsorption of Cr(VI): equilibrium kinetics and thermodynamic studies
Authors: Haroon Hajira , Gardazi Syed Mubashar Hussain , Butt Tayyab Ashfaq , Pervez Arshid , Mahmood Qaisar , Bilal Muhammad 
Published: June 2017

Abstract
Cr(VI) adsorption was studied for abundantly available low-cost lignocellulosic adsorbents in Pakistan namely, tobacco stalks (TS), white cedar stem (WCS) and eucalyptus bark (EB). Several process variables like contact time, adsorbent dose, pH, metal concentration, particle size and temperature were optimized in batch mode. EB showed high Cr(VI) adsorption of 63.66% followed by WCS 62% and TS 57% at pH 2, which is higher than most of the reported literature. Langmuir isotherm (R2 = 0.999) was well fitted into the equilibrium Cr(VI) data of EB, suggesting homogeneous active sites and monolayer coverage of Cr(VI) onto the EB surface. Freundlich (R2 = 0.9982) isotherm was better fitted to the equilibrium data of TS and WCS, revealing the adsorption sites with heterogeneous energy distribution and multilayer Cr(VI) adsorption. Moreover, the Cr(VI) adsorption of studied adsorbents followed the pseudo-second order kinetic model. Thermodynamic properties were investigated in two temperature ranges, i.e., T1 (303–313 K) and T2 (313–323 K). TS and EB showed the exothermic at T1 and endothermic reactions at T2 with entropy controlled adsorption at the solid-liquid interface, and WCS exhibited an opposite thermal trend with decreasing disorderness at solid-liquid interface as temperature rises. Gibbs free energy (ΔG>0) confirmed the non-spontaneous adsorption process for all studied adsorbents.
Forms of Providing and Financing Long-Term Care in OECD Countries
Authors: Halásková Renáta , Bednář Pavel , Halásková Martina 
Published: June 2017

Abstract
Long-term care is being prioritised due to population ageing, and hand in hand with the development of professional provision of long-term care, public expendi-tures will be increasing. Mainly countries with a sharp increase in the number of people aged 80+ will have to address the sustainability of long-term care systems and the pro-curement of relevant services. This paper aims to evaluate the forms of provision and financing of long-term care in selected OECD countries. Provision and funding of long-term care in terms of a formal system are assessed based on selected criteria using analytical methods (principal component analysis and TwoStep cluster analysis). Results of the evaluation carried out in 2008 and 2013 by means of the selected indicators of long-term care, using TwoStep cluster analysis, confirmed both similar as well as different approaches to the provision and financing of long-term care in the analysed countries. The most marked differences in the provision of care based on indicators LTC recipients aged 65+ and LTC recipients in institutions as a percentage of total LTC recipients were found between the first cluster (Australia and Korea with the highest share of LTC recipients) and the second cluster (Czech Republic, Estonia, with the lowest share of LTC recipients). In financing of long-term care (LTC expenditures on institutions as a percentage of total LTC expenditures), the most significant differences were observed between the first (Australia, Korea, with the largest share of LTC expenditures on institutions) and third cluster (mainly Nordic countries, with the lowest share of LTC expenditures on institutions of total LTC expenditures).
Raised TSH is associated with endothelial dysfunction in Metabolic Syndrome: A case control study
Authors: Ahirwar Ashok Kumar , Singh Archana , Jain Anju , Patra Surajeet Kumar , Goswami Binita , Bhatnagar M.K. , Bhattacharjee Jayashree 
Published: June 2017

Abstract

Introduction. Endothelial dysfunction has been considered as one of the important factors in pathogenesis of Metabolic Syndrome (Met S). Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) has also been reported to be associated with Met S. The aim of our study is to evaluate the association of raised TSH with mediators of endothelial dysfunction in Met S with Subclinical hypothyroidism as compared to healthy controls.

Methods. Study population consisted of 100 subjects, out of which 50 were cases of Met S and 50 were healthy controls. Met S group were further divided into two, based on the presence & absence of SCH. Serum insulin, T3, T4, TSH were measured by chemiluminescence based immunoassay (CLIA). Serum nitric oxide (NO) levels were measured by Modified Griess’s method and serum endothelin-1 (ET-1) levels were measured by ELISA.

Results. Out of 50 cases of Met S, SCH was diagnosed in 22. The mean serum TSH levels were significantly higher in Met S cases as compared to healthy controls (5.7 ± 1.2 μIU/mL vs. 2.3 ± 1.6 μIU/mL, P <0.0001). Mean serum NO levels were significantly lower in Met S cases as compared to healthy control (15.4 ± 10 μM vs. 21 ± 10 μM, p = 0.009). Mean serum ET-1 levels were significantly higher in Met S cases as compared to healthy controls (2.68 ± 1.7 fmol/mL vs. 2.1 ± 0.84 fmol/mL, p = 0.011). On Pearson’s correlation analysis, TSH showed positive correlation with ET-1 (r = 0.341, p = 0.001) and negative correlation with NO (r = −0.331, p = 0.001). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that TSH, NO and ET-1 has significant odd’s ratio for predicting Met S.

Conclusion. Met S cases were screened for thyroid abnormalities and found to have 44% of SCH along with co-existing endothelial dysfunction. Raised TSH in SCH could cause endothelial dysfunction which may lead to Met S and associated co-morbidities. Present study gives new insight in linking endothelial dysfunction and raised TSH in Met S. Therefore, Met S cases should be screened for SCH and treated appropriately to attenuate endothelial dysfunction and associated comorbidities in Met S.
Asymptotic approximations for the stationary radiative-conductive heat transfer problem in the two-dimensional system of plates
Authors: Amosov Andrey A. 
Published: June 2017

Abstract
Special asymptotic approximations, namely, the first and second homogenized problems are proposed for the boundary value problem describing a stationary radiative-conductive heat transfer in a two-dimensional system of heat-conducting plates of thickness ɛ separated by vacuum layers. The unique solvability of homogenized problems is proved, the comparison theorem is established, and estimates of solutions are obtained. The first homogenized problem has the error estimate of order

O
(

ε

)

$ O(\sqrt{\varepsilon}) $

.
Variational assimilation of mean daily observation data for the problem of sea hydrothermodynamics
Authors: Parmuzin Eugene I. , Agoshkov Valery I. , Zakharova Natalia B. , Shutyaev Victor P. 
Published: June 2017

Abstract
The mathematical model of hydrothermodynamics of the Baltic Sea is considered with the pole moved to a neighbourhood of St. Petersburg in order to improve the horizontal resolution in the Gulf of Finland. The problem of variational assimilation of mean daily data for sea surface temperature (SST) is formulated and studied for the given type of calculation grid of this model. A new algorithm of solution of the inverse problem for reconstruction of the heat flux on the interface of two media is proposed on the base of variational assimilation of satellite observation data. Results of numerical experiments are presented for reconstruction of heat fluxes in the problem of variational assimilation of mean daily observations of SST data.
Understanding the Ecological Adoption of Solar Water Heaters Among Customers of Island Economies
Authors: Pudaruth Sharmila , Juwaheer Thanika Devi , Koodruth Umme Yusra 
Published: June 2017

AbstractThis paper explores the major factors impacting upon the ecological adoption of solar water heaters in Mauritius. The paper applies data reduction technique by using exploratory factor analysis on a sample of 228 respondents and condenses a set of 32 attributes into a list of 8 comprehensible factors impacting upon the sustained adoption of solar water heater in Mauritius. Multiple regression analysis was also conducted to investigate upon the most predictive factor influencing the adoption of solar water heaters in Mauritius. The empirical estimates of the regression analysis have also depicted that the most determining factor pertaining to the ‘government incentives for solar water heaters’ impacts upon the adoption of solar water heaters. These results can be related to sustainable adoption of green energy whereby targeted incentive mechanisms can be formulated with the aim to accelerate and cascade solar energy adoption in emerging economies. A novel conceptual model was also proposed in this paper, whereby, ecological stakeholders in the sustainable arena could use the model as a reference to pave the way to encourage adoption of solar water heating energy. This research represents a different way of understanding ecological customers by developing an expanding on an original scale development for the survey on the ecological adoption of solar water heaters.
Chemical composition and biological activities of leaf and fruit essential oils from Eucalyptus camaldulensis
Authors: Dogan Gulden , Kara Nazan , Bagci Eyup , Gur Seher 
Published: June 2017

Abstract
The chemical composition of the essential oils from the leaves and fruit of Eucalyptus camaldulensis grown in Mersin, Turkey was analyzed using gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques. The biological activities (antibacterial and antifungal) were examined using the agar well diffusion method. The main leaf oil constituents were p-cymene (42.1%), eucalyptol (1,8-cineole) (14.1%), α-pinene (12.7%) and α-terpinol (10.7%). The main constituents of the fruit oil were eucalyptol (1,8-cineole) (34.5%), p-cymene (30.0%), α-terpinol (15.1%) and α-pinene (9.0%). Our results showed that both types of oils are rich in terms of monoterpene hydrocarbons and oxygenated monoterpenes. The leaf and fruit essential oils of E. camaldulensis significantly inhibited the growth of Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli and Streptococcus sp.) bacteria (p<0.05). The oils also showed fungicidal activity against Candida tropicalis and C. globrata. Leaf essential oils showed more activity than fruit essential oils, probably due to the higher p-cymene concentration in leaves.
Endothelial cell metabolism in health and disease: impact of hypoxia
Authors: Wong Brian W , Marsch Elke , Treps Lucas , Baes Myriam , Carmeliet Peter 
Published: June 2017

AbstractIn contrast to the general belief, endothelial cell (EC) metabolism has recently been identified as a driver rather than a bystander effect of angiogenesis in health and disease. Indeed, different EC subtypes present with distinct metabolic properties, which determine their function in angiogenesis upon growth factor stimulation. One of the main stimulators of angiogenesis is hypoxia, frequently observed in disease settings such as cancer and atherosclerosis. It has long been established that hypoxic signalling and metabolism changes are highly interlinked. In this review, we will provide an overview of the literature and recent findings on hypoxia‐driven EC function and metabolism in health and disease. We summarize evidence on metabolic crosstalk between different hypoxic cell types with ECs and suggest new metabolic targets.
Genome-Wide Association Analyses Based on Broadly Different Specifications for Prior Distributions, Genomic Windows, and Estimation Methods
Authors: Chen Chunyu , Steibel Juan P , Tempelman Robert J 
Published: June 2017

AbstractA currently popular strategy (EMMAX) for genome-wide association (GWA) analysis infers association for the specific marker of interest by treating its effect as fixed while treating all other marker effects as classical Gaussian random effects. It may be more statistically coherent to specify all markers as sharing the same prior distribution, whether that distribution is Gaussian, heavy-tailed (BayesA), or has variable selection specifications based on a mixture of, say, two Gaussian distributions [stochastic search and variable selection (SSVS)]. Furthermore, all such GWA inference should be formally based on posterior probabilities or test statistics as we present here, rather than merely being based on point estimates. We compared these three broad categories of priors within a simulation study to investigate the effects of different degrees of skewness for quantitative trait loci (QTL) effects and numbers of QTL using 43,266 SNP marker genotypes from 922 Duroc–Pietrain F2-cross pigs. Genomic regions were based either on single SNP associations, on nonoverlapping windows of various fixed sizes (0.5–3 Mb), or on adaptively determined windows that cluster the genome into blocks based on linkage disequilibrium. We found that SSVS and BayesA lead to the best receiver operating curve properties in almost all cases. We also evaluated approximate maximum a posteriori (MAP) approaches to BayesA and SSVS as potential computationally feasible alternatives; however, MAP inferences were not promising, particularly due to their sensitivity to starting values. We determined that it is advantageous to use variable selection specifications based on adaptively constructed genomic window lengths for GWA studies.