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The goal of this study was to investigate the co-citation of information security patents in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database.

This research is a scientometrics study that has been conducted using the co-citation analysis. The statistical population of the present study includes all patents of information security filed in the USPTO database from 1971 to 2015. As a result of this search, 30,736 patents were retrieved. In this investigation, UCINET software and its complementary package (NetDraw) were employed to plot scientific maps.

The findings of this study indicated an upward trend of patents in the field of information security between 1971 and 2015. The “California State” has the top world rank in information security inventions, followed by “Japan” and the “Washington State.” “VAN WIE, DAVID M” is the most cited inventor in the field of information security. The analysis of inventors' co-citation data indicated that “ADAMS, NEIL- LITTLE” and “HERBERT ANTHONY” had the highest co-citation rates with each other and were ranked first. The survey of high-citation inventors based on centrality indices indicated that “LEACH, PAUL J” graded first in degree centrality, “BENALOH, JOSH D” in betweenness centrality and “BENALOH, JOSH D” in closeness centrality.

The co-citation analysis of patents can show the most important patents and the relationships between them. Such analyses can be useful for large-scale policymaking or identification of existing gaps and attempting to address them.

In previous efforts I have indicated that Social Catholicism, qua Roman‐Catholic Social Economycs or Économie politique chrétienne, is now at the one and a half century mark, given its formal introduction with the publication of Charles de Coux's Essais d' économie politique at Paris/Lyon in 1832. This was soon to be followed by Alban de Villeneuve‐Bargemont's Christian Political Economy, or Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of Poverty in France and Europe, etc, (1837), the subsequent founding of the Société d'Economie Sociale in 1856 and publication — inter alia — of La réforme sociale (1864) and Exposition of Social Economics (1867) by P. G. Frédéric Le Play; and, contemporarily, by the separate but related efforts of a host of other “thinkers and doers” to both the left or more radical (“Catholic/Christian‐Socialist”) and the right or “individualist” (cum Christianised individuals!) of Le Play's more centrist‐traditional (and, hence, “reactionary”) position. All this was well prior to the promulgation of the first great social encyclical, Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum (RN), in 1891.

Despite several efforts during the last years, the web model and semantic web technologies have not yet been successfully applied to empower Ubiquitous Computing architectures in order to create knowledge‐rich environments populated by interconnected smart devices. In this paper we point out some problems of these previous initiatives and introduce SoaM (Smart Objects Awareness and Adaptation Model), an architecture for designing and seamlessly deploying web‐powered context‐aware semantic gadgets. Implementation and evaluation details of SoaM are also provided in order to identify future research challenges.

I set out to find the people we have neglected and instead found what I think may be the beginnings of a long quiet revolution. A year ago I did not know how many developments and experiments were taking place in information fields that until recently have not been explored. The title of my paper was often a source of embarrassment as I talked to enthusiastic pioneers who did not consider their clients to be deprived. Nevertheless they were pioneers.

L'activité économique des stations thermales a pris aujourd'hui un tournant important. Après des décennies de conflit entre le thermalisme et la médecine clinique et pharmacologique, les stations thermales ont reçus aujourd'hui une nouvelle mission toute aussi précise qu'importante pour l'humanité.

The purpose of this paper is to develop, test, and validate a model in a specialty retail environment to assess the influence of a salesperson’s sales- or customer-orientation and customer characteristics related to buy/no-buy decisions.

Backward stepwise discriminant analysis was used to identify variables that most differentiated buyers from non-buyers. The discriminant model was estimated with survey data provided by a judgment sample of consumers asked to recall details about a recent in-store purchase experience (n=240). One significant discriminant function emerged. The model correctly classified 87.5 percent of buy/no-buy decisions by consumers in a separate validation sample (n=40).

Customers who believe a salesperson is sales oriented (i.e. only interested in closing) are more likely to make a no-buy decision even when retailer-related attributes – such as positive prior experience with the retailer, susceptibility to normative interpersonal influence, and positive attitude toward retailing – suggest otherwise. Surprisingly, neither customer orientation nor susceptibility to interpersonal informational influence relates significantly to making a buy/no-buy decision.

Specialty retailers should avoid a sales-outcome-based orientation. To add value in a competitive marketplace where buyers can avoid salespeople, the focus of a sales interaction should be on identifying customer needs and characteristics.

Adaptations of sales people’s personas and selling efforts – fostered by new managerial training practices – and the need for specialty retailers to adopt behavior-based control systems are suggested. In addition, sales or customer orientation typically is reported by the salesperson. Here, customers’ belief – which is more germane to modeling buy/no-buy decisions – designates the salesperson’s orientation.

Most developing countries simply dump ferrochrome slag as waste which occupies huge areas of useful land. The purpose of this study is to underscore the significance of reusing ferrochrome slag as a sustainable and eco-friendly road aggregate material, with the added benefits of preventing possible environmental pollution and promoting sustainable mining of non-renewable construction materials.

Physical-mechanical characteristics were investigated using various South African National Standards test procedures. Chemical and mineralogical characteristics were evaluated using the X-ray fluorescence and the X-ray diffraction techniques, respectively. The toxicity characteristic leaching procedure test was used to evaluate the slag’s environmental suitability. Using two cement types, cement proportions of 1%, 2% and 3% of the slag aggregate weight mixed with optimum moisture content of the non-treated compacted slag were used to make lightly cemented ferrochrome slag aggregate (LCFSA) composites, subsequently tested for compressive strength.

Ferrochrome slag aggregates have excellent physical-mechanical characteristics that conform to international specifications for use in road base construction. The slag can be classified as non-hazardous solid waste. However, in acidic environments, some toxic elements may leach from the slag and pollute the environment. Optimum cement contents of 2.3% (CEM II) and 2.6% (CEM VB) can be mixed with the slag to produce LCFSA for road bases.

No research was found in literature on the use of LCFSA in road bases. This research, therefore, presents new data on mix design and strength properties of LCFSA as well as some physical-chemical characteristics of coarse ferrochrome slag aggregate.

Considers the reasons for the invalidity of party wall awards. Examines decided cases under earlier party wall legislation in the context of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. Explains invalidity on the basis of an excess of the surveyors’ statutory authority. Defines this authority in terms of jurisdiction and power. Demonstrates the limits of the surveyors’ authority and emphasises the importance of strict compliance with statutory procedures. Concludes that surveyors should adopt an inquisitive and analytical approach to the scope of their authority to avoid the possibility of invalid awards. Echoes John Anstey’s earlier warning that surveyors should avoid a broad‐brush approach to their duties which will only leave them “covered in soot”.

The present research aims to investigate parental attitudes towards using either cloth or disposable nappies, to better understand whether and how pro‐cloth initiatives might impact parental decisions.

Focus groups were conducted with both cloth and disposable nappy users to gain a better understanding of the factors that underlie their choice. Interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis.

The paper finds that parents using disposable nappies believed they were marketed as offering a popular, efficient, healthy, good value system. They acknowledged the environmental impact but rationalised this by referring to the equivocal nature of these consequences, and the ability to off‐set this by engaging in other pro‐environment behaviours. Parents choosing cloth nappies did so initially because they were more environment‐friendly and cost‐effective and disposables were disliked. Once using cloth, parents noted additional benefits: performance, fashion, formation of bonds with other users, and getting a buzz out of using them. This reinforced their reasons for continued use.

Cloth nappies are unlikely to gain mass appeal, but findings suggest a bigger take up if parents are better informed, and subsidies are provided to reduce set‐up and laundering costs to tackle the “ease of use” barrier. The positive aspects of cloth nappies should be better promoted.

Marketing initiatives need to buy into the current “designer parents” trend and play to the aspirational, fashionable aspects of cloth nappies.

This paper, the first to report on parental attitudes and decisions regarding both nappy types, could inform public policy and marketing decisions.