Search results for: Paul L. Hewitt

Authors: Heather M. Roxborough, Paul L. Hewitt, Gordon L. Flett, Jasmin Abizadeh

Abstract:

This work represents the first review paper to explore the relationship between perfectionistic personality and borderline personality organization. The developmental origins, identity diffusion, interpersonal difficulties, and defense mechanisms that are common to both borderline personality and the interpersonal components of perfectionism are explored, and existing research on perfectionism and borderline personality is reviewed. The importance of the link between perfectionism and borderline features is discussed in terms of its contribution to the conceptual understanding of personality pathology as well as to applied clinical practices.

Keywords: Borderline personality organization, defenses, identity, interpersonal problems, perfectionism.

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Authors: S.N.Paul, G.Pakira, B.Paul, B.Ghosh

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Nonlinear propagation of ion-acoustic waves in a selfgravitating dusty plasma consisting of warm positive ions, isothermal two-temperature electrons and negatively charged dust particles having charge fluctuations is studied using the reductive perturbation method. It is shown that the nonlinear propagation of ion-acoustic waves in such plasma can be described by an uncoupled third order partial differential equation which is a modified form of the usual Korteweg-deVries (KdV) equation. From this nonlinear equation, a new type of solution for the ion-acoustic wave is obtained. The effects of two-temperature electrons, gravity and dust charge fluctuations on the ion-acoustic solitary waves are discussed with possible applications.

Keywords: Charge fluctuations, gravitating dusty plasma, Ionacoustic solitary wave, Two-temperature electrons

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Authors: Damola O. Lawal, David W. Gresty, Diane E. Gan, Louise Hewitt

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This paper investigates the feasibility of using a programmable USB such as the O.MG Cable to perform a file tampering attack. Here, the O.MG Cable, an apparently harmless mobile device charger is used in an unauthorised way, to alter the content of a file (an accounts record-January_Contributions.xlsx). The aim is to determine if a forensics analyst can reliably determine who has altered the target file; the O.MG Cable or the user of the machine. This work highlights some of the traces of the O.MG Cable left behind on the target computer itself such as the Product ID (PID) and Vendor ID (ID). Also discussed is the O.MG Cable’s behaviour during the experiments. We determine if a forensics analyst could identify if any evidence has been left behind by the programmable device on the target file once it has been removed from the computer to establish if the analyst would be able to link the traces left by the O.MG Cable to the file tampering. It was discovered that the forensic analyst might mistake the actions of the O.MG Cable for the computer users. Experiments carried out in this work could further the discussion as to whether an innocent user could be punished for the unauthorised changes made by a programmable device.

Keywords: O.MG Cable, programmable USB, file tampering attack, digital evidence credibility, miscarriage of justice, cyber fraud.

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Authors: Anu Paul, Varghese Paul

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The focal aspire of e-Government (eGovt) is to offer citizen-centered service delivery. Accordingly, the citizenry consumes services from multiple government agencies through national portal. Thus, eGovt is an enterprise with the primary business motive of transparent, efficient and effective public services to its citizenry and its logical structure is the eGovernment Enterprise Architecture (eGEA). Since eGovt is IT oriented multifaceted service-centric system, EA doesn’t do much on an automated enterprise other than the business artifacts. Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) manifestation led some governments to pertain this in their eGovts, but it limits the source of business artifacts. The concurrent use of EA and SOA in eGovt executes interoperability and integration and leads to Service-Oriented e-Government Enterprise (SOeGE). Consequently, agile eGovt system becomes a reality. As an IT perspective eGovt comprises of centralized public service artifacts with the existing application logics belong to various departments at central, state and local level. The eGovt is renovating to SOeGE by apply the Service-Orientation (SO) principles in the entire system. This paper explores IT perspective of SOeGE in India which encompasses the public service models and illustrated with a case study the Passport service of India.

Keywords: Enterprise Architecture, Service-Oriented e-Government Enterprise, Service Interface Layer, Service Model.

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Authors: E. D. Paul, H. Otanwa, O. F. Paul, A. J. Salifu, J. E. Toryila, C. E. Gimba

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The concentration levels of six heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Fe, Ni, Pb and Zn) and two mineral elements (Ca and Mg) were determined in soil samples collected from the vicinity of two auto mechanic workshops in Sabon-Gari, Kaduna state, Nigeria, using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS), in order to compare the gradation of their concentrations with distance and depth of soil from the workshop sites. At site 1, concentrations of Lead, Chromium, Iron and Zinc were generally found to be above the World Health Organization limits, while those of Nickel and Cadmium fell within the limits. Iron had the highest concentration with a range of 176.274 ppm to 489.127 ppm at depths of 5 cm to 15 cm and a distance range of 5 m to 15 m, while the concentration of cadmium was least with a range of 0.001 ppm to 0.008 ppm at similar depth and distance ranges. In addition, there was more of calcium (11.521 ppm to 121.709 ppm), in all the samples, than magnesium (11.293 ppm to 21.635 ppm). Similar results were obtained for site II. The concentrations of all the metals analyzed showed a downward gradient with increase in depth and distance from both workshop sites except for iron and zinc at site 2. The immediate and remote implications of these findings on the biota are discussed.

Keywords: AAS, Heavy Metals, Mechanic Workshops, Soils.

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Authors: Kazuhisa Koda, Tsutomu Kobayashi, Rebecca Lorennji, Alington Robert, Halston DeBrum, Julious Lucky, Paul Paul

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Atolls are low-lying small islands with highly permeable ground that does not allow rivers and lakes to develop. As the water resources on these atolls basically rely on precipitation, groundwater becomes a very important water resource during droughts. Freshwater lenses develop as groundwater on relatively large atoll islands and play a key role in the stable water supply. Atoll islands in the Pacific Ocean sometimes suffer from drought due to El Nino. The global warming effects are noticeable, particularly on atoll islands. The Republic of the Marshall Islands in Oceania is burdened with the problems common to atoll islands. About half of its population lives in the capital, Majuro, and securing water resources for these people is a crucial issue. There is a freshwater lens on the largest, Laura Island, which serves as a water source for the downtown area. A serious drought that occurred in 1998 resulted in excessive water intake from the freshwater lens on Laura Island causing up-coning. Up-coning mixes saltwater into groundwater pumped from water-intake wells. Because up-coning makes the freshwater lens unusable, there was a need to investigate the freshwater lens on Laura Island. In this study, we observed the electrical conductivities of the groundwater at different depths in existing monitoring wells to determine the total storage volume of the freshwater lens on Laura Island from 2010 to 2013. Our results indicated that most of the groundwater that seeped into the freshwater lens had flowed out into the sea.

Keywords: Atoll islands, drought, El-Nino, freshwater lens, groundwater observation.

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Authors: Makoto Sakamoto, Yasuo Uchida, Makoto Nagatomo, Takao Ito, Tsunehiro Yoshinaga, Satoshi Ikeda, Masahiro Yokomichi, Hiroshi Furutani

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In theoretical computer science, the Turing machine has played a number of important roles in understanding and exploiting basic concepts and mechanisms in computing and information processing [20]. It is a simple mathematical model of computers [9]. After that, M.Blum and C.Hewitt first proposed two-dimensional automata as a computational model of two-dimensional pattern processing, and investigated their pattern recognition abilities in 1967 [7]. Since then, a lot of researchers in this field have been investigating many properties about automata on a two- or three-dimensional tape. On the other hand, the question of whether processing fourdimensional digital patterns is much more difficult than two- or threedimensional ones is of great interest from the theoretical and practical standpoints. Thus, the study of four-dimensional automata as a computasional model of four-dimensional pattern processing has been meaningful [8]-[19],[21]. This paper introduces a cooperating system of four-dimensional finite automata as one model of four-dimensional automata. A cooperating system of four-dimensional finite automata consists of a finite number of four-dimensional finite automata and a four-dimensional input tape where these finite automata work independently (in parallel). Those finite automata whose input heads scan the same cell of the input tape can communicate with each other, that is, every finite automaton is allowed to know the internal states of other finite automata on the same cell it is scanning at the moment. In this paper, we mainly investigate some accepting powers of a cooperating system of eight- or seven-way four-dimensional finite automata. The seven-way four-dimensional finite automaton is an eight-way four-dimensional finite automaton whose input head can move east, west, south, north, up, down, or in the fu-ture, but not in the past on a four-dimensional input tape.

Keywords: computational complexity, cooperating system, finite automaton, four-dimension, hierarchy, multihead.

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Authors: Houssam Hijazi, Laurent Cantrel, Jean-François Paul

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Periodic DFT calculations were performed to study the chemistry of CsI particles and the possible release of volatile iodine from CsI surfaces for nuclear safety interest. The results show that water adsorbs at low temperature associatively on the (011) surface of CsI, while water desorbs at higher temperatures. On the other hand, removing iodine species from the surface requires oxidizing the surface one time for each removed iodide atom. The activation energy of removing I₂ from the surface in the presence of two OH is 1,2 eV.

Keywords: Aerosols, CsI, reactivity, DFT, water adsorption.

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Authors: Swarniv Chandra, Basudev Ghosh, S. N. Paul

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Using one dimensional Quantum hydrodynamic (QHD) model Korteweg de Vries (KdV) solitary excitations of electron-acoustic waves (EAWs) have been examined in twoelectron- populated relativistically degenerate super dense plasma. It is found that relativistic degeneracy parameter influences the conditions of formation and properties of solitary structures.

Keywords: Relativistic Degeneracy, Electron-Acoustic Waves, Quantum Plasma, KdV Equation.

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Authors: Abdellah Chehri, Hussein Mouftah, Paul Fortier, Hasnaa Aniss

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Wireless sensor network has recently emerged as enablers of several areas. Real applications of WSN are being explored and some of them are yet to come. While the potential of sensor networks has been only beginning to be realized, several challenges still remain. One of them is the experimental evaluation of WSN. Therefore, deploying and operating a testbed to study the real behavior of WSN become more and more important. The main contribution of this work is to analysis the RF link budget behavior of wireless sensor networks in underground mine gallery.

Keywords: Sensor networks, RF Link, path loss.

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Authors: Paul W. Murray

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This research explorers the relationship between leadership style and continuous improvement (CI) teams. CI teams have several features that are not always found in other types of teams, including multi-functional members, short time period for performance, positive and actionable results, and exposure to senior leadership. There is no one best style of leadership for these teams. Instead, it is important to select the best leadership style for the situation. The leader must have the flexibility to change styles and the skill to use the chosen style effectively in order to ensure the team’s success.

Keywords: Leadership style, Lean Manufacturing, Teams, Cross-functional.

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Authors: Christos Meletis, Paul Bougas, George Economakos , Paraskevas Kalivas, Kiamal Pekmestzi

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In this paper, we propose a new architecture for the implementation of the N-point Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), based on the Radix-2 Decimation in Frequency algorithm. This architecture is based on a pipeline circuit that can process a stream of samples and produce two FFT transform samples every clock cycle. Compared to existing implementations the architecture proposed achieves double processing speed using the same circuit complexity.

Keywords: Digital signal processing, systolic circuits, FFTalgorithm.

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Authors: Priscilla Omonedo, Paul Bocij

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Since the emergence of e-Commerce, the world of business has witnessed a radical shift in the way business activities are conducted. However, the emergence of m-Commerce has further pushed the boundaries of virtual commerce revolution. As a result, there seems to be a growing blur in the distinction between e- Commerce and m-Commerce. In addition, existing definitions for both forms of commerce highlight characteristics (e.g. type of device and activity conducted) that may be applicable to both concepts. The aim of this paper is to identify the characteristics that help define and delineate between e- and m- Commerce. The paper concludes that characteristics of mobility, ubiquity and immediacy provide a clearer and simpler template to distinguish between e-Commerce and m- Commerce.

Keywords: e-Commerce, m-Commerce, mobility, ubiquity.

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Authors: Paul Prior, Frank Keenan

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The importance of good requirements engineering is well documented. Agile practices, promoting collaboration and communications, facilitate the elicitation and management of volatile requirements. However, current Agile practices work in a well-defined environment. It is necessary to have a co-located customer. With distributed development it is not always possible to realize this co-location. In this environment a suitable process, possibly supported by tools, is required to support changing requirements. This paper introduces the issues of concern when managing requirements in a distributed environment and describes work done at the Software Technology Research Centre as part of the NOMAD project.

Keywords: Agile, Distributed, Requirements Management, XP.

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Authors: Basudev Ghosh, Sailendranath Paul, Sreyasi Banerjee

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Using quantum hydrodynamical (QHD) model the linear dispersion relation for the electron plasma waves propagating in a cylindrical waveguide filled with a dense plasma containing streaming electron, hole and stationary charged dust particles has been derived. It is shown that the effect of finite boundary and stream velocity of electrons and holes make some of the possible modes of propagation linearly unstable. The growth rate of this instability is shown to depend significantly on different plasma parameters.

Keywords: Electron Plasma wave, Quantum plasma, Quantum Hydrodynamical model.

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Authors: Paul Y. Oh, William E. Green

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This paper describes a prototype aircraft that can fly slowly, safely and transmit wireless video for tasks like reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition. The aircraft is designed to fly in closed quarters like forests, buildings, caves and tunnels which are often spacious but GPS reception is poor. Envisioned is that a small, safe and slow flying vehicle can assist in performing dull, dangerous and dirty tasks like disaster mitigation, search-and-rescue and structural damage assessment.

Keywords: Unmanned aerial vehicles, autonomous collisionavoidance, optic flow, near-Earth environments

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Authors: Edward Paul Guillen, Diego Alejandro Chacon

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The VoIP networks as alternative method to traditional PSTN system has been implemented in a wide variety of structures with multiple protocols, codecs, software and hardware–based distributions. The use of cryptographic techniques let the users to have a secure communication, but the calculate throughput as well as the QoS parameters are affected according to the used algorithm. This paper analyzes the VoIP throughput and the QoS parameters with different commercial encryption methods. The measurement–based approach uses lab scenarios to simulate LAN and WAN environments. Security mechanisms such as TLS, SIAX2, SRTP, IPSEC and ZRTP are analyzed with μ-LAW and GSM codecs.

Keywords: VoIP, Secure VoIP, Throughput Analysis, VoIP QoS evaluation

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Authors: Israel Núñez-Hernández, Peter C. Breedveld, Paul B. T. Weustink, Gilberto Gonzalez-A

Abstract:

This paper proposes a phasor representation of electrical networks by using bond graph methodology. A so-called phasor bond graph is built up by means of two-dimensional bonds, which represent the complex plane. Impedances or admittances are used instead of the standard bond graph elements. A procedure to obtain the steady-state values from a phasor bond graph model is presented. Besides the presentation of a phasor bond graph library in SIDOPS code, also an application example is discussed.

Keywords: Bond graphs, phasor theory, steady-state, complex power, electrical networks.

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Authors: Mohammad Zavid Parvez, Manoranjan Paul

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A seizure prediction method is proposed by extracting global features using phase correlation between adjacent epochs for detecting relative changes and local features using fluctuation/ deviation within an epoch for determining fine changes of different EEG signals. A classifier and a regularization technique are applied for the reduction of false alarms and improvement of the overall prediction accuracy. The experiments show that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods and provides high prediction accuracy (i.e., 97.70%) with low false alarm using EEG signals in different brain locations from a benchmark data set.

Keywords: Epilepsy, Seizure, Phase Correlation, Fluctuation, Deviation.

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Authors: A. Ursoiu, C. Paul, C. Marcu, M. Ungurean, F. Péter

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Sol-gel immobilization of enzymes, which can improve considerably their properties, is now one of the most used techniques. By deposition of the entrapped lipase on a solid support, a new and improved biocatalyst was obtained, which can be used with excellent results in acylation reactions. In this paper, lipase B from Candida antarctica was double immobilized on different adsorbents. These biocatalysts were employed in the kinetic resolution of several aliphatic secondary alcohols in organic medium. High total recovery yields of enzymatic activity, up to 560%, were obtained. For all the studied alcohols the enantiomeric ratios E were over 200. The influence of the reaction medium was studied for the kinetic resolution of 2-pentanol.

Keywords: Double immobilization, enantioselectivity, kineticresolution, lipase, racemates, sol-gel entrapment.

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Authors: Babu Sena Paul, Ratnajit Bhattacharjee

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Relay based communication has gained considerable importance in the recent years. In this paper we find the end-toend statistics of a two hop non-regenerative relay branch, each hop being Nakagami-m faded. Closed form expressions for the probability density functions of the signal envelope at the output of a selection combiner and a maximal ratio combiner at the destination node are also derived and analytical formulations are verified through computer simulation. These density functions are useful in evaluating the system performance in terms of bit error rate and outage probability.

Keywords: co-operative diversity, diversity combining, maximal ratio combining, selection combining.

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Authors: Sujit K. Basak, Marguerite Wotto, Paul Bélanger

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This paper presents a conceptual framework on the critical success factors of e-learning implementation in higher education, derived from an in-depth survey of literature review. The aim of this study was achieved by identifying critical success factors that affect for the successful implementation of e-learning. The findings help to articulate issues that are related to e-learning implementation in both formal and non-formal higher education and in this way contribute to the development of programs designed to address the relevant issues.

Keywords: Critical success factors, e-learning, higher education, life-long learning.

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Authors: Paul David Henry

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This paper describes the results and implications of a correlational study of learning styles and learner satisfaction. The relationship of these empirical concepts was examined in the context of traditional versus e-blended modes of course delivery in an introductory graduate research course. Significant results indicated that the visual side of the visual-verbal dimension of students- learning style(s) was positively correlated to satisfaction with themselves as learners in an e-blended course delivery mode and negatively correlated to satisfaction with the classroom environment in the context of a traditional classroom course delivery mode.

Keywords: Course delivery mode, e-blended, hybrid, learner satisfaction, learning style.

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Authors: Paul Akagwu, Aaron Aboshio

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In this study, typical c-ɸ soils subjected to loadings were assessed with a view to understand the general stress distribution and settlement behaviour of the soils under drained conditions. Numerical estimations of the non-dimensional bearing capacity factors, N_q and N_γ for varied angles of friction in the soil mass were obtained using PLAXIS. Ultimate bearing capacity values over a Ф range of 0-30 degrees were also computed and compared with analytical results obtained from the traditional simplified uncoupled approach of Terzaghi and Meyerhof. Results from the numerical study agree well with theoretical findings.

Keywords: Bearing capacity factors, finite element method, safe bearing pressure, structure-soil interaction.

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Authors: Paul Y. Oh, Rares I. Stanciu

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Cameras are often mounted on platforms that canmove like rovers, booms, gantries and aircraft. People operate suchplatforms to capture desired views of scene or target. To avoidcollisions with the environment and occlusions, such platforms oftenpossess redundant degrees-of-freedom. As a result, manipulatingsuch platforms demands much skill. Visual-servoing some degrees-of-freedom may reduce operator burden and improve tracking per-formance. This concept, which we call human-in-the-loop visual-servoing, is demonstrated in this paper and applies a Α-β-γ filter and feedforward controller to a broadcast camera boom.

Keywords: Computer vision, visual-servoing, man-machine sys-tems, human-in-the-loop control

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Authors: Tudor Petreuş, Andrei Neamţu, Cristina Dascălu, Paul Dan Sîrbu, Carmen E. Cotrutz

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Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) are a class of structural and functional related enzymes involved in altering the natural elements of the extracellular matrix. Most of the MMP structures are cristalographycally determined and published in WorldWide ProteinDataBank, isolated, in full structure or bound to natural or synthetic inhibitors. This study proposes an algorithm to replace missing crystallographic structures in PDB database. We have compared the results of a chosen docking algorithm with a known crystallographic structure in order to validate enzyme sites reconstruction there where crystallographic data are missing.

Keywords: matrix metalloproteinases, molecular docking, structure superposition, surface complementarity.

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Authors: Priyanka Gupta, Paul Verma, Kerry Hourigan, Jayesh Bellare, Sameer Jadhav

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Understanding the consumption and production of various metabolites of fibroblast conditioned media is needed for its proper and optimized use in expansion of pluripotent stem cells. For this purpose, we have used the HPLC method to analyse the consumption of glucose and the production of lactate over time by mouse embryonic fibroblasts. The experimental data have also been compared with mathematical model fits. 0.025 moles of lactate was produced after 72 hrs while the glucose concentration decreased from 0.017 moles to 0.011 moles. The mathematical model was able to predict the trends of glucose consumption and lactate production.

Keywords: Conditioned media, HPLC, metabolite analysis, mouse embryonic fibroblast.

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Authors: M. Ungurean, F. Fitigau, C. Paul, A. Ursoiu, F. Peter

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Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass materials from poplar, acacia, oak, and fir with different ionic liquids (ILs) containing 1-alkyl-3-methyl-imidazolium cations and various anions has been carried out. The dissolved cellulose from biomass was precipitated by adding anti-solvents into the solution and vigorous stirring. Commercial cellulases Celluclast 1.5L and Accelerase 1000 have been used for hydrolysis of untreated and pretreated lignocellulosic biomass. Among the tested ILs, [Emim]COOCH3 showed the best efficiency, resulting in highest amount of liberated reducing sugars. Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass using glycerol-ionic liquids combined pretreatment and dilute acid-ionic liquids combined pretreatment were evaluated and compared with glycerol pretreatment, ionic liquids pretreatment and dilute acid pretreatment.

Keywords: Cellulase, enzymatic hydrolysis, lignocellulosicbiomass, pretreatment.

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Authors: Jill Stephenson, Marie Vaganay, Robert Cameron, Caoimhe McGurk, Neil Hewitt

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Purpose: The key aim of the research was to identify the secondary stressors experienced by businesses affected by single or repeated flooding and to determine to what extent businesses were affected by these stressors, along with any resulting impact on health. Additionally the research aimed to establish the likelihood of businesses being re-exposed to the secondary stressors through assessing awareness of flood risk, implementation of property protection measures and level of community resilience. Design/methodology/approach: The chosen research method involved the distribution of a questionnaire survey to businesses affected by either single or repeated flood events. The questionnaire included the Impact of Event Scale (a 15-item self-report measure which assesses subjective distress caused by traumatic events). Findings: 55 completed questionnaires were returned by flood impacted businesses. 89% of the businesses had sustained internal flooding, while 11% had experienced external flooding. The results established that the key secondary stressors experienced by businesses, in order of priority, were: flood damage, fear of reoccurring flooding, prevention of access to the premise/closure, loss of income, repair works, length of closure and insurance issues. There was a lack of preparedness for potential future floods and consequent vulnerability to the emergence of secondary stressors among flood affected businesses, as flood resistance or flood resilience measures had only been implemented by 11% and 13% respectively. In relation to the psychological repercussions, the Impact of Event scores suggested that potential prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was noted among 8 out of 55 respondents (l5%). Originality/value: The results improve understanding of the enduring repercussions of flood events on businesses, indicating that not only residents may be susceptible to the detrimental health impacts of flood events and single flood events may be just as likely as reoccurring flooding to contribute to ongoing stress. Lack of financial resources is a possible explanation for the lack of implementation of property protection measures among businesses, despite 49% experiencing flooding on multiple occasions. Therefore it is recommended that policymakers should consider potential sources of financial support or grants towards flood defences for flood impacted businesses. Any form of assistance should be made available to businesses at the earliest opportunity as there was no significant association between the time of the last flood event and the likelihood of experiencing PTSD symptoms.

Keywords: Flood event, flood resilience, flood resistance, PTSD, secondary stressors.

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Authors: Ana Bobirca, Paul-Gabriel Miclaus

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The purpose of the article is to illustrate the main characteristics of the corporate governance challenge facing the countries of South-Eastern Europe (SEE) and to subsequently determine and assess the extensiveness and effectiveness of corporate governance regulations in these countries. Therefore, we start with an overview on the subject of the key problems of corporate governance in transition. We then address the issue of corporate governance measurement for SEE countries. To this end, we include a review of the methodological framework for determining both the extensiveness and the effectiveness of corporate governance legislation. We then focus on the actual analysis of the quality of corporate governance codes, as well as of legal institutions effectiveness and provide a measure of corporate governance in Romania and other SEE emerging markets. The paper concludes by emphasizing the corporate governance enforcement gap and by identifying research issues that require further study.

Keywords: corporate governance, effectiveness, extensiveness, South-Eastern Europe

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