Impact Of Different Kinds Research Articles

Violence and political outcomes in Ukraine—Evidence from Sloviansk and Kramatorsk

In this paper, we study the effects of violence on political outcomes using a survey of respondents in Sloviansk and Kramatorsk – two cities that were affected heavily by the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. We show that experiencing physical damage goes together with lower turnout, a higher probability of considering elections irrelevant and a lower probability of knowing one's local representatives. We also find that property damage is associated with greater support for pro-Western parties, lower support for keeping Donbas in Ukraine and lower support for compromise as a way to stop the conflict. Our paper thus shows the importance of investigating the impact of different kinds of victimization, as different degrees of victimization can have different, sometimes even conflicting outcomes. Our paper also suggests that one of the more optimistic conclusions of previous studies, that victimization can increase political participation, does not necessarily carry over to Ukraine, which illustrates the importance of country and context-specific studies.

VISUALIZATION APPROACH TO STRUCTURE-FUNCTION RELATIONSHIP IN BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES

Introduction: Most of recent research in the field of education strongly recommends the use of visualization in the daily teacher’s practice, especially when it comes to teaching science. Objectives: We investigated the impact of different kinds of visualization on student’s accomplishments, and the relationship between 2D and 3D visualization on the learning outcomes in biochemistry teaching, as well as gender-related differences in 2D vs 3D perception abilities. Materials and Methods: The research study was conducted on a sample of 149 senior secondary school students, devided into three groups: control group (usual teaching approach), and two experimental groups taught using different kinds of visualization: E1 (2D and 3D static visualization tools), and E2 (3D dynamic visualization tools, in addition). Discussion and results: We measured the students’ learning outcomes in biochemistry, as well as the level of satisfaction with different teaching methods. The data were interpreted by performing statistical measures and analyses. In order to validate our hypothesis, we used one-tail and two-tail ANOVA analyses (along with the t-test).Conclusions: There was no statistical significance regarding 2D vs 3D visualization tools in biochemistry teaching. Although there existed some gender-related differences in students’ achievements (in favor of females), it was not established that they were related to the type of visualization (2D or 3D) tools applied. However students from the E2 group (additional computer animations) were more interested and involved in this kind of teaching. Although the results do not show a statistical significance in favor of 3D visualization, we must conclude that in teaching biochemistry it is certainly a more efficient approach than traditional teacher-oriented lessons. By using this kind of visualization tools in everyday teaching practice, chemistry teachers are given the opportunity to enlighten students with somewhat complex and abstract biochemical concepts.

The Strength of Many Kinds of Ties: Unpacking the Role of Social Contacts Across Stages of the Job Search Process

The topic of job mobility has received increasing attention in recent years. Yet, surprising in light of the wealth of research on social networks and job attainment, we do not have a unified model of the impact of different kinds of social contacts on job search success. In this paper I show that contacts are differently beneficial for job seekers depending on the stage of the job search process that job seekers are engaged in. Specifically, three stages of the job search process can be distinguished in which social contacts fulfill different roles for the job seekers: deciding the types of jobs for which to apply, submitting job applications, and preparing for interviews. I propose that contacts who are spread across different occupations are conducive to applying to more types of jobs, yet it is contacts who are more focused across occupations that are beneficial for being invited to more interviews—relative to the number of job types applied for—and for converting the interviews into offers. In addition, contacts with lower relationship depth with the job seeker are more helpful for getting invited to interviews, whereas contacts who have more frequent interactions with the job seeker are more helpful for converting interviews into offers. Analyses using a unique longitudinal data set on the job searches of 226 participants in an MBA program offer robust evidence in support of the hypotheses. The results suggest that external mobility is best enabled when job seekers engage with—and learn from—different kinds of contacts across stages of the job search process.

Impact of public lighting on pedestrians’ perception of safety and well-being

A survey was conducted of 275 pedestrians in a nocturnal urban environment in the city of Granada (Spain). The objective was to evaluate user perceptions of the impact of different kinds of public lighting on perceived safety from criminal actions and on general well-being (avoidance of stress, glare, headaches, etc.). As part of the study, average illuminance was also measured in each street to detect potential correlations between survey data, illumination levels, and color of light. The results of this study indicate that well illuminated streets (that is, where lighting is uniform) with higher illuminance levels, tend to make people feel safer and better. This marked preference for more light is now less of a drawback because modern LED lighting permits higher levels of illuminance with low electricity consumption. It was also found that, besides the lower economic and environmental impact of High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lighting, stemming from the significant reduction in light pollution, the results generally indicated a better performance of this kind of lighting. However, despite the fact that white light could lead to higher levels of light pollution, it seemed to make people feel safer. These facts should be seriously considered by lighting engineers, urban planners, and city administrators when making difficult decisions about the design of lighting installations.

Impact of interleavers on performance of block Markov superposition transmission

The impact of different kinds of interleavers on the performance of block Markov superposition transmission (BMST) systems is investigated. Simulation results show that the performance of a BMST system is insensitive to the types of interleavers, provided that multiple interleavers (if required) differ from each other. As a byproduct, a new interleaver called the binary linear interleaver is proposed, which can be easily implemented in hardware.

The Impact of Different Kinds of Auditor's Report Conditional Clauses on the Stock Liquidity

The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of different kinds of auditor's report conditional clauses on the stock liquidity of corporates listed in Tehran Stock Exchange. The population of this research was the corporates listed in Tehran Stock Exchange from 2008 to 2013. The sample size, due to screening method and after dropping irrelevant observations, was 163 corporates. In the present study, the different types of auditor's report conditional clauses are considered as independent variables to examine their impact on the stock liquidity of corporates. The study used panel data with fixed effects. The results of data analysis, using multivariate regression at 95% significance level, show that there is no significant relationship between the conditional clauses derived from significant deviation from accounting standards and conditional clauses derived from significant deviation in audit scope and the stock liquidity. In addition, the results show that there is a significant relationship between repetitions of conditional clauses derived from significant deviation from accounting standards and repetitions of conditional clauses derived from significant deviation in audit scope and the stock liquidity. Keywords: Auditor's Report Conditional Clauses, Stock Liquidity, Significant Deviation from Accounting Standards, Significant Deviation in Audit Scope

La atención educativa al alumnado de educación especial en Europa = Educational attention for students with intelectual disability in Europe

People with intellectual disabilities represent one of the most disadvantaged social groups in European countries. This study gathers and describes the main lines of support for students with intellectual disability in Europe. This study presents descriptions of three representative countries, highlighting descriptions in three representative countries (Finland, France and Germany). Also, it provides an overview of educative attention for students with intellectual disability, briefly highlighting arrangements in different countries. In order to make comparisons across the states, several key elements were identified: diagnostic assessment, choice of school, specific support measures, teachers, pupil assessment and certification. Finally this is followed by a short conclusion on the impact of different kinds of support around Europe, addressing specific policies relating to educative attention for students with intellectual disability.

International migration by 2030: impact of immigration policies scenarios on growth and employment

Purpose–The aim of this paper is to estimate the dynamic of international migration between the different regions of the world for 2030 and to measure the impact of different kind of migration policies on the economic and social evolution.Design/methodology/approach–The change and migration forecasting are estimated for regions of the world using macroeconomic Cambridge Alphametrics Model.Findings–The crisis and its aggravation thus clearly favour scenarios of immigration policy along the “zero migration” or “constant migration”. These choices of migration policies reinforce the deflationary process resulting in reduced opportunities for renewed growth in industrial areas and are not offset by the dynamism of growth in emerging countries. Paradoxically, the developed countries which are most durably affected by the crisis are also those that have ageing population and are in high need of skilled and unskilled labor.Practical implications–Three options are possible: one going along the depressive process by espousing restrictive immigration policies that remain expensive. The second involves a highly selective immigration policy. Under these conditions the demographic revival already appearing would be reinforced by a rejuvenation of the population brought about by a more open immigration policy. Political and institutional factors play a fundamental role in the emergence of this optimistic assumption and the rise of isolationism in Europe and the ghettoization of suburban areas can hinder the application of such a policy of openness to migration. The third scenario, the mass migration scenario, allows letting go of the growth related constraints and getting out of the deflationist spiral. This pro-active approach could cause public opinions to change in line with public interest. This scenario of mass migration has more of a chance to see the light under a growth hypothesis. However, restrictive policies weaken the prospects of sustainable recovery causing a vicious cycle that can only be broken by pro-active policies or by irresistible shocks.Originality/value–From specific estimations, four immigration regimes have been built that cut across the major regions of the model: the “core skill replacement migration regime” based on selective policies using migration to fill high-skilled labor needs (United Kingdom, West and Northern Europe, Canada, Australia, and USA), “mass immigration and replacement” applies to South Europe, East Asia High Income, and part of West Asia (Gulf countries), “big fast-growing emerging regions of future mass immigration,” notably China, India and “South-South migration” based on forced migration much of it by climate change, which may likely occur in South Asia, part of West Asia, and, most of Africa (without South Africa). Migrations in transit countries (Central America to USA, and East Europe to UK and West Europe) are based on low skilled migrants in labor-intensive sectors.

Impacts of agriculture on nutrition: nature of the evidence and research gaps.

In the past decade, numerous exercises have been undertaken to document knowledge of the effects of agricultural development projects on human nutrition. The present paper reviews 10 papers published since 2000 to synthesize current evidence of agriculture-to-nutrition linkages. Although there are differences in focus, methods used, and standards of evidence across the set of papers considered, three common findings emerge. First, the empirical evidence for plausible and significant impacts of agricultural interventions on defined nutrition outcomes remains disappointingly scarce. Second, absence of evidence should not be equated with evidence of no impact. Weaknesses in study design and survey methods are all too common, leading to weak results and limited generalizability. Third, the broad domains of "agriculture' on the one hand, and "nutritional status' on the other, must be unpackaged in future analyses if statistically significant findings and relevant policy or program conclusions are to be drawn. Expectations of the potential for nutrition impact of different kinds of investment in agriculture must be set rationally, based on well-defined mechanisms and pathways. Planned and ongoing initiatives aimed at generating such evidence must hold themselves to high standards of both research and communication of findings to appropriate policy audiences globally.

Jamming Impact on the Performance of MIMO Space Time Block Coding Systems over Multi-path Fading Channel

The combined effect of broad/partial band jamming on the analysis performance of multi-input/multi-output (MIMO) space time block coding (STBC) systems over Rayleigh fading channel is often neglected in the literature. To this end, this paper investigates the impact of different kinds of jamming on the performance of MIMO STBC systems. Closed form expressions for the bit error probability (BEP) of the performance of binary phase shift keying (BPSK) STBC communication system over Rayleigh fading channel under the impact of both partial band and broad-band jamming for different number of transmitting and receiving antennas are presented. Computer simulations are provided to validate the theoretical developments. It has been found that the performance of such systems is severely deteriorated in the presence of strong jamming power (with a signal to jamming power ratio less than − 10dB) and the worst scenario occurs in the presence of broad-band jamming.

The Impact of Different Kind of Training on Accuracy Responses in a Novel Mathematical System

When performing numerical calculation people are influenced by the particular perceptual form of the representations of abstract entities. Based on Landy and Goldstone (2007), we were interested to see whether there was a difference on accuracy between three groups of participants that were given different kinds of training stimuli while learning a novel mathematical system. Given a specific modality of spacing the operands—consistent, inconsistent or neutral regarding the classic order of precedence, we asked whether participants would have different performance during testing. We found no significant difference. In the end, the results of the experiment are discussed.

Surface Modification of Titanium by Plasma Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition (PACVD) Methods

One way of obtaining new materials with different properties is to modify existing ones to improve their insufficient properties. Due to the fact that many of the useful properties of materials, including wear and corrosion resistance, friction coefficient and biocompatibility, depend on the state of the surface, modern surface engineering methods are especially helpful. They involve the deposition of the layers with tailored chemical composition and structure. In terms of medical applications, amorphous or nanocrystalline layers containing carbon, nitrogen, silicon and hydrogen appear to be the most suitable. They combine the beneficial properties of silicon carbide SiC and silicon nitride Si3N4, and thus exhibit a strong resistance to oxidation at high temperatures, high modulus of elasticity, low friction coefficient and wear resistance. However, silicon carbonitride compound is not stable thermodynamically in normal conditions and therefore it must be obtained by non-conventional synthesis. One of such method is Plasma Assisted Chemical Vapour Deposition (PACVD). The authors of this paper anticipate that the modification of titanium surface by SiCxNy(H) layers make them proper for use as materials for long-term contact with human body. It contains results of research on titanium Ti Grade 2 surface modification by deposition amorphous carbon layers doped with nitrogen (a-C:N:H) and silicon carbonitride layers SiCxNy(H). What is more, for IR analysis, in the same plasmochemical methods process obtain layers on monocrystaline silicon (001)Si. The layers were synthesis by PACVD with plasma generated by radio waves (RFCVD, 400 W, 13.56 MHz) for a-C:N:H layers and microwaves (MWCVD, 2 kW, 2.45 GHz) for layers containing silicon, carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen. During deposition process metallic surface were ion-etching by argon plasma. The layers were obtained from reactive gas mixture containing CH4, N2or NH3for a-C:N:H layers and CH4, SiH4, N2or NH3for silicon carbonitride compound. In this process argon was used as an inert gaseous. Process conditions allowing obtaining good adhesive layer to the metallic substrate were specified. Obtained systems were subject for further research. Chemical composition of the materials were studied by SEM / EDS techniques with application ETD and BSED detectors. Compared images registered for titanium before surface modification and surfaces covered by a-C:N:H or SiCxNy(H) layers. More information about layers structure provided FTIR spectroscopy. Spectra FTIR was register transmition for (001)Si-layer and reflective for titanium-layer systems. Assessed the impact of different kind of substrate on the layers deposited structure. Operational properties of synergic layer-titanium systems were evaluated in the measurements of tribological parameters. This tests shown that silicon carbonitride layers have the lowest friction coefficient and the highest resistance to wear. Furthermore, it was possible, on the basis of the obtained result, to indicate directions the surface modifications ensuring optimization on their usable properties as medicine and another industries. In previous authors paper the layers were investigated in the aspect of possible application in medicine.

Lignocellulosic Materials Into Biohydrogen and Biomethane: Impact of Structural Features and Pretreatment

Production of energy from lignocellulosic biomass or residues is receiving ever-increasing interest. Among the different processes, dark fermentation for producing biohydrogen and anaerobic digestion for producing biomethane present considerable advantages. However, they are limited by the accessibility of holocelluloses that are embedded in the lignin network. The authors propose a review of works on the conversion of biomass into biohydrogen and biomethane with the comprehensive description of (a) biomass composition and features that may impact on its anaerobic conversion and (b) the impact of different kinds of pretreatment on these features and on the performance of biohydrogen and methane production.

Robust track fitting in the Belle II inner tracking detector

Track fitting in the new inner tracker of the Belle II experiment uses the GENFIT package. In the latter both a standard Kalman filter and a robust extension, the deterministic annealing filter (DAF), are implemented. This contribution presents the results of a simulation experiment which examines the performance of the DAF in the inner tracker, in terms of outlier detection ability and of the impact of different kinds of background on the quality of the fitted tracks.

Finding a Voice: Writing Narrative in the Early Stages of a Doctoral Thesis

This study applies Ivanic’s (2004) extension of Lea and Street’s (1998) model of approaches to the teaching of writing, to a body of student texts produced over a six-month period. Its purpose is to assess the impact of different kinds of feedback on iterative samples of academic writing. However, rather than analysing the texts of a number of different student writers, it examines different texts produced by the same writer. Using extracts from one early-career research student’s writing, supervisor notes and email messages, it argues that actual writers may continue to need and demand engagement in a variety of pedagogic practices on their way to developing their own voice. The possibility of inconsistent development with occasional lapses is accepted, with progress through Ivanic’s model being seen not in a developmental Piagetian way, but through a Vygotskian process of socialisation. In this sense, the position adopted is social constructionist. In particular, writers’ production of narrative around their research topic in the form of creative writing – one of Ivanic’s additions to the discourses in the Lea and Street model – may provide useful stimulus material (e.g. Clandinin and Connelly 2000: 41); and the application of Hatton and Smith’s (1995) framework of levels of reflection to the outcome may provide an indication of the timeliness of Ivanic’s other teaching approaches.

Asynchronies and sleep disruption in neuromuscular patients under home noninvasive ventilation

Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) may improve quality of sleep but patient-ventilator asynchronies (PVA) may affect sleep structure. Possible changes in ventilation quality after hospital discharge are poorly known. To analyse the impact of different kinds of PVA on sleep disruption in chronically ventilated neuromuscular patients after in-hospital optimization of ventilator setting with nocturnal polygraphy, and to compare home and hospital PVA occurrence. Eighteen patients were included in the study. PVA during hospital polygraphic monitoring and during successive home polysomnography were analysed. The relationships between PVA and air leaks, sleep stages, and arousals or awakenings recorded during polysomnography were investigated. Overall, PVA had a low rate of occurrence (4.32events/h, IQR 1.75-6.25), but their number was higher during home polysomnographies than in hospital (p=0.0039): their increase was correlated to an increase in air leaks with respect to hospital monitorings (p=0.020). Autotriggerings were the most common asynchronies, followed by ineffective efforts (IE) and prolonged insufflations (PI). All asynchronies occurred more often in NREM than in REM sleep. Autotriggerings and IE were more often associated with arousals than PI (p<0.05). PVA rate was correlated with arousals and awakenings rate (r=0.49, p=0.03), but, due to the low PVA rate, only 12.69% of arousals and awakenings were associated with PVA. Most kinds of PVA are often associated with arousals. Polygraphic monitoring may help to improve ventilator setting. However, air leaks and autotriggerings may increase in unassisted environments. Therefore, it may be useful to extend control of NIV effects at home.

Vestibular Stimulation on a Motion-Simulator Impacts on Mood States

We are familiar with both pleasant and unpleasant psychotropic effects of movements associated with vestibular stimulation. However, there has been no attempt to scientifically explore the impact of different kinds of vestibular stimulation on mood states and biomarkers. A sample of 23 healthy volunteers were subjected to a random sequence of three different passive rotational (yaw, pitch, roll) and translational (heave, sway, surge) vestibular stimulation paradigms using a motion-simulator (hexapod). Mood states were measured by means of questionnaires and visual analog scales. In addition, saliva cortisol and α-amylase samples were taken. Compared to a subliminal control paradigm all rotational and two translational stimulations produced significant changes in mood states: Yaw rotation was associated with feeling more comfortable, pitch rotation with feeling more alert and energetic, and roll rotation with feeling less comfortable. Heave translation was associated with feeling more alert, less relaxed, and less comfortable and surge translation with feeling more alert. Biomarkers were not affected. In conclusion, we provide first experimental evidence that passive rotational and translational movements may influence mood states on a short-term basis and that the quality of these psychotropic effects may depend on the plane and axis of the respective movements.

Simplified models for pebble-bed HTR core burn-up calculations with Monteburns2.0 ©

This paper aims at comparing some simplified models to simulate irradiation cycles of Pu fuelled pebble-bed reactors with Monteburns2.0 © code. As a reference core, the PBMR-400 (proposed in the framework of the EU PUMA project, where this kind of core fuelled by a Pu and Pu–Np fuel has been studied) was taken into account. Pebble-bed High Temperature Reactor (HTR) cores consist of hundreds of thousands pebbles arranged stochastically in a cylindrical or annular space and each pebble is a single fuel element, and it is able to reach ultra-high burn-ups, i.e. up to 750 GWd/tHM (for Pu-based fuels). Additionally, pebble-bed cores are characterised by a continuous recirculation of pebbles from the top to the bottom of the core. Modelling accurately with current computer codes such an arrangement, in order to predict the behaviour of the core itself, is a very difficult task and any depletion code specifically devoted to pebble-bed burn-up calculation is not available at the moment. Because of limitations of the most common current MCNP-based depletion codes as well as huge calculation times, simplified models have to be implemented. After an analysis of the literature available on pebble-bed models for criticality and burn-up calculations, a preliminary assessment of the impact of different kind of simplified models for a Pu-Np fuelled Pebble-Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR), proposed in the framework of the EU PUMA project, is shown, particularly as far as burn-up prediction with Monteburns2.0 © code is concerned.

Impact of Nonorthogonal Training on Performance of Downlink Base Station Cooperative Transmission

Base station (BS) cooperative transmission is a promising technique to improve the spectral efficiency of cellular systems, and by using it, the channels become asymmetric in average gain. In this paper, we study the impact of the asymmetric channel gains on the performance of coherent cooperative transmission systems, when minimum mean square error (MMSE) and least square (LS) channel estimators are applied to jointly estimate the channel state information (CSI) under nonorthogonal training. We first derive an upper bound of rate loss caused by both channel estimation errors and CSI delay. We then analyze the mean square errors of the MMSE and LS estimators under both orthogonal and nonorthogonal training, which finally reveals the impact of different kinds of training on the precoding performance. It is shown that nonorthogonal training for the users in different cells leads to minor performance degradation for the MMSE channel-estimator-assisted downlink precoding. The performance degradation induced by channel estimation errors is almost independent of the user's location. By contrast, the performance loss caused by the CSI delay is more severe for users located at the cell center than that for users located at the cell edge. Our analysis is verified via simulation results.

Drug‐Coated Angioplasty Balloon Catheters: Coating Compositions and Methods

AbstractFlow‐limiting stenosis or total occlusion of coronary, cerebral, or peripheral arteries is very common. Minimally invasive treatment with balloon catheters optionally combined with stent implantation immediately relieves symptoms. However, renarrowing of dilated vessel segments due to excessive scar formation frequently reverses the initial success observed soon after treatment. Coating of balloons with antiproliferative drugs is a promising approach to overcome this problem. The coating of angioplasty balloon membranes is a challenging task. It must ensure homogeneous distribution of the antiproliferative agent and adherence to the balloon membrane during handling and on the way to the treatment site in a distant artery, where the agent should be immediately released and transferred to the vessel wall when the balloon is inflated. In vitro and in vivo testing methods are described. The impact of different kinds of balloons, drugs, additives, and coating methods has been investigated, and the results of representative examples including clinically tested products are presented and discussed.