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Innovative Business Development-A Global Perspective: 25th International Economic Conference of Sibiu (IECS 2018) Ramona or Tean
Innovative Business Development-A Global Perspective: 25th International Economic Conference of Sibiu (IECS 2018) Ramona or Tean
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Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics
Ramona Orăștean
Claudia Ogrean
Silvia Cristina Mărginean Editors
Innovative
Business
Development—A
Global Perspective
25th International Economic Conference
of Sibiu (IECS 2018)
Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11960
Ramona Orăștean Claudia Ogrean
•
Innovative Business
Development—A Global
Perspective
25th International Economic Conference
of Sibiu (IECS 2018)
123
Editors
Ramona Orăștean Silvia Cristina Mărginean
Faculty of Economic Sciences Faculty of Economic Sciences
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu
Sibiu, Romania Sibiu, Romania
Claudia Ogrean
Faculty of Economic Sciences
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu
Sibiu, Romania
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Contents
v
vi Contents
Lia-Alexandra Baltador
Abstract Globalization is a phenomena that has been around for the last 6–7
decades. Others would argue that there’s been millenniums since it first appeared,
starting with the Roman Empire, or even before. Still, no one is debating its existence
or the fact that it influences the way we conduct our activities, or, in a broader sense,
our life. Economic development is today unthinkable outside this framework, as it
is simultaneously cause and effect thereof. As a consequences, our world, increas-
ingly “flat”, “hot” and “overcrowded” is facing major challenges, such as climate
change, social exclusion, poverty, to name but a few. Still, not many have raised the
question if this phenomena is reversible. Some did consider that the phenomena of
globalization itself is being altered and modified, but what outcome might this bring
for the future. This paper aims to indicate possible scenarios, by systemizing recent
contributions on the “New globalization” and by analyzing one of the most used
index for measuring this phenomena.
1 Introduction
Other prominent critics like Joseph Stiglitz consider that the problem is that
globalization has not been pushed carefully, or fairly.” Liberalization policies have
been implemented too fast, in the wrong order, and often using inadequate—or
plainly wrong—economic analysis (Edwards 2003), much to the disadvantage of the
“South”. As we will see further, one of the country most inclined to anti-globalization
measures arouses surprise, as it doesn’t come from the South, but it’s the leader of
the North.
Such a large-scale phenomenon that has been around for many years is bound to be
subject to change. Richard Baldwin considers that, during the history of mankind,
there have been three main constraints that have imposed the separation between
production and consumption: “The cost of moving goods, the cost of moving ideas
and the cost of moving people” (Baldwin 2016). The first unbundling has started
“when the dictatorship of distance was overthrown”, at the time of the steam revo-
lution, which “eventually launched modern Globalization…and opened the door to
New Globalization or… quite the Opposite 3
3 Measuring Globalization
The intricate ways in which most economies, companies and people are currently
linked is very difficult to assess. On the one hand it’s the multiple domains in which
relations may occur, so it is multifaceted, on the other, it may vary according to
different circumstances.
4 L-A. Baltador
that U.S. citizens have, on average, been better off with NAFTA than with the trade
rules that preceded it” (Grabow 2018).
5 Conclusions
Globalization is a complex phenomenon that has been around for some time. It has
shaped the way the world looks today, and, it will continue to do so in the future.
Some argue that globalization is like sunrise, like it or not, it will still happen every
day. It influences not only what goods and services we use, but also what we consider
to be good, true and beautiful. It is like two-faced Janus, and we can see either the
positive, or the negative effects that globalization brings about.
Besides the unequal share of welfare between the North and South there are
also other challenges that globalization made more obvious, being also part of the
problem. Stiglitz considers that globalization today continues to be mismanaged,
and now the harms have come home to roost in the United States and the rest of
the developed world as well, reflected in growing political unrest (Stiglitz 2017).
Climate Change due to intensive transport, environmental accidents due to different
and ambiguous safety regulation, resource depletion due to over usage, to name some
other few. As most of this problems are global, so were the answer. Furthermore,
as evidence suggests that globalization “has spurred economic growth, promoted
gender equality and improved human rights” (Potrafke 2015).
Nevertheless it is necessary to find a perspective which brings together good and
bad, so that, as some would argue an “alter-globalization” could be established.
New Globalization should operate with a “finer degree of resolution on national
economies” (Baldwin 2016) and taking into consideration all of the implications
that the process brings with it. And the background for this change is prepared by
the innovations in technology and telecommunications, which might contribute to
reduce and overcoming the last barrier, namely that of moving people.
References
Baldwin, R.: The Great Convergence. Information Technology and the New Globalization. The
Belknap Press of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (2016)
Cairncross, F.: The Death of Distance, Harvard Business School Press (1997)
Cato Institute Website, https://www.cato.org/research/globalization. Accessed 21 Apr 2018
Delanty, G., Rumford, C.: Political Globalization. Blackwell Publishing Ltd (2007)
Dreher, A.: Does globalization affect growth? Evidence from a new index of globalization. Appl.
Econ. 38, 1091–1110 (2006)
Edwards, S.: Review of Joseph E. Stiglitz’s globalization and its discontents. J. Dev. Econ. 70(1),
252–257 (2003)
Fabry, E.: Tump Trade: more bark than bite?, in Policy Paper 193, pp. 8–12 (2017). http://www.
institutdelors.eu/media/trumptradeandeurope-elvirefabry-april17.pdf?pdf=ok. Accessed 29 May
2018
New Globalization or… quite the Opposite 7
Fox, J.: Chomsky and globalisation. Icon Books, Postmodern Encounters (2001)
Grabow, C.: Didn’t republicans use to believe in free trade? In: The weekly standard on January 9.
https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/didnt-republicans-use-believe-free-trade (2018)
Gygli, S., Haelg, F., Sturm, J.E.: The KOF Globalisation Index—Revisited. In: KOF Working
Papers, No. 439, February (2018). https://www.ethz.ch/content/dam/ethz/special-interest/dual/
kof-dam/documents/Globalization/2018/KOF_Globalisation%20Index_Revisited.pdf. Accessed
5 Mar 2018
Held, D., McGrew, A., Goldblatt, D., Perraton, J.: Contents and introduction. In: Global transfor-
mations: politics, economics and culture, pp. 1–31. Standford University Press, Standford (1999)
Helleiner, G.K.: Can the global economy be civilized? In: Sinclair, T.J. (ed.) Global governance,
critical concepts in political science, vol. IV, pp. 243–263. Routledge, New York (2006)
Neumann, P.: Is trade decline a start of a new globalization trend? 16th International Scientific
Conference on Proceeding of Globalization and its Socio-Economic Consequences, Pts I-V (2016)
Potrafke, N.: The evidence on globalisation. World Econ. 38(3), 509–552 (2015)
Statista Website.: https://www.statista.com/statistics/268168/globalization-index-by-country/.
Accessed 5 May 2018
Stiglitz, J.E.: Globalization and its discontents revisited: anti-globalization in the era of trump. W.W.
Norton, New York, London (2017)
The Economist.: https://www.economist.com/leaders/2018/03/08/the-rules-based-system-is-in-
grave-danger, 8 march. Accessed 12 Apr 2018
United Nations: Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services, Eurostat, IMF, OECD, UN,
UNCTAD, WTO, (2002) https://unstats.un.org/unsd/publication/Seriesm/Seriesm_86e.pdf
Future Research Directions
on Web-Based Educational Systems
Abstract Over the last decade, following the rapid progress of Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) and directly linked to the requirements of the
Information Society, Web-based education has turned into an essential branch of
educational technology. Although the traditional educational systems continue to
improve, the gradual transition to Semantic Web, that is currently taking place, facil-
itates the emergence of new opportunities for improving the quality of educational
processes. The distributed instruction, the explosive expansion of social networks
and the significant increase in the number of mobile users represent phenomena that
have led to new trends in the evolution of educational technology. Currently, the
emphasis on content and collaboration increased, the aim being to provide the learn-
ers with the possibility to generate content and share it with each other. The aim of
the present paper is to present an overview on the directions of educational systems
development, guided by Semantic Web potential, standards and facilities.
1 Introduction
Nowadays, we are witnessing a period in which almost all the spheres of our lives
are becoming fully digitalized. Accessibility, connectivity and high quality of inter-
action with applications by anyone, anywhere and at any time, represents underlying
requirements of the emerging Information Society. Aiming to fit the requirements
of this technology-guided world, the educational environment has been subject to
major changes, the traditional learning and teaching processes being transformed by
implementing models and paradigms supported by modern means and devices.
I. A. Bogoslov (B)
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Calea Dumbravii 17, Sibiu, Romania
e-mail: andreea.bogoslov@ulbsibiu.ro
Over time (though with different approaches, methods and tools), the main objec-
tives of integrating information technologies in the educational processes were as
follows:
• To facilitate the development of new skills and competences of students/learners,
enabling them to integrate into a society deeply influenced by information tech-
nologies;
• To support and enhance the use of modern methods, content and tools in order to
transform and improve the teaching and learning processes of traditional programs.
However, it is important to note that, since the 1990s, Web-based instruction has
turned into an essential branch of educational technology. The concept of Web-based
education is nothing more than an excellent approach to the learning process, where
ICT allows the use of a more flexible learning environment, access to information
and evaluation, compared to the classical model. In regard to the steps that have taken
place over time, online education has initially replaced the classical distance learning
methodology, written materials being transcribed on electronic tools. Subsequently,
Internet connectivity has opened up opportunities for collaborative environments to
effectively replace classrooms, creating virtual classrooms. This is where Web-based
education really takes place and starts to exert its potential benefits.
With reference to the contribution made to the educational environment, both the
World Wide Web and its main service, the Internet, have favored the improvement
of communication performance through intense collaboration, while also promot-
ing active learning. For learners, this allows access to knowledge and information
resources that are virtually limitless, offering a range of personalized learning oppor-
tunities, tele-learning, collaboration and distance learning, clear benefits given by
platform independence (Brusilovsky 1999).
The existing Web-based educational systems are the result of the evolution of
technologies that support these facilities, namely the progress of the World Wide
Web in almost 28 years of existence. Nevertheless, with regard to technologies usage
in educational systems, the current trend is to gradually incorporate semantic Web
technologies that provide a personalized, adaptable and intelligent learning environ-
ment. However, the main issue is whether the educational environment, including
its processes, paradigms and models, is ready to fully benefit from the Web 3.0
capabilities, considering that it still struggling with the implementation of foregoing
generations.
Not all of today’s Web-based education solutions manage to achieve the optimal
mix of the facilities provided by Web or are not prepared enough to follow the tran-
sition from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0. Therefore, a clear understanding of the possibilities
offered by the semantic Web is needed in order to be able to develop and implement
educational solutions that can suit the information society needs.
The aim of this paper is to summarize the main findings regarding the evolution
of the Web, from 1.0 to 2.0 standards and how 3.0 standards appeared, strengthening
modern technologies capabilities. Also, a particular interest will be given to describe
and analyze the parallel evolution of e-Learning systems. Subsequently, a deeper
approach will be taken on how semantic Web and e-Learning 3.0 works, presenting
Future Research Directions on Web-Based Educational Systems 11
the main characteristics of each one. Ultimately, it is proposed that this paper will
provide an overview insight into how e-Learning systems could benefit from 3.0
standards in the near future.
The progress of the World Wide Web has made it possible to distinguish between the
three major generations of Web, differentiated by the way information is conceived
and used. On the whole, it is believed that Web 1.0 means just providing the infor-
mation, Web 2.0 is about overload of information, while the 3rd generation of Web
is focused on controlling the information (Rego et al. 2010).
In fact, Web 1.0, proposed by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989 at the European Organi-
zation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland, was considered to be a
collection of interconnected documents, being generally referred to as the read-only
Web. Broadly speaking, Web 1.0 was focused on providing the content online for
viewing. Authors were able to write and publish content online. On the other hand,
the readers could visit the web sites where the content was published and could
contact the publisher if contact information were available. As a matter of fact, Web
1.0 did not allow a direct link or communication between the two parties involved
(author and reader), being considered a static Web. Clear examples of static web
pages and web sites are those created using only HTML (Rubens et al. 2014).
The second Web generation, known as Web 2.0, was developed in 2000 and used
until 2010, being considered the dynamic Web. Through this new context, the users
have more opportunities, as reading, writing and collaborating to a certain extent.
As part of the evolution, Web 2.0 increased the usage of new technologies, where
we can mention PHP, Python, XML (Extensible markup language), Adobe Flash,
Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript), Flash and others, making possible the emergence
of new online environments, like APIs, blogs and social networks.
Currently, there is progressive transition from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0, often referred
to as the semantic Web, which brings significant improvements to the previous gener-
ation. By adding additional information (metadata) to the existing World Wide Web,
Web 3.0 facilitates the automatic processing and interpretation of data by special-
ized software agents with at least five fundamental features: distributed computers,
advanced smart mobile technology, collaborative tools, 3D viewing and interaction.
Reshaping the technology by using Web 3.0 standards and tools will certainly trans-
form the Internet, from a platform which provide global connectivity and multiple
opportunities for sharing the information, to an intelligent and powerful tool able to
manage the information.
Even if Web 3.0 is usually considered related to the arrival of semantics, cur-
rent trends associate it with the emergence of Web intelligence. This means that,
12 I. A. Bogoslov
OWL
XML
RSS
PRODUCER
Personal Web
Along with the evolution of World Wide Web, electronic learning, better known as
e-Learning and, actually referring to all forms of web-based learning, has benefited
from these new approaches. In simple terms, e-Learning can be defined as represent-
ing the interactive learning way in which educational materials are available online
and through which feedback regarding learner’s educational activities can be auto-
matically obtained. In fact, it is similar to Computer-Aided Instruction (CAT), but
it also involves an Internet connection. However, analyzing broadly than the basic
definition, we can distinguish between three different e-Learning generations, incor-
porating one another, but providing distinct characteristics in accordance to Web
development.
Future Research Directions on Web-Based Educational Systems 13
As result of emergence of the Web 1.0, considered the Read-Only Web, and
recognized by its general characteristics like minimal interaction users and static
information, e-Learning 1.0 evolved. The first generation of e-Learning was focused
on content creation and distribution, with minor consideration for the learning pro-
cess. As a consequence, there was little interest for interaction, communication and
collaboration. In fact, e-Learning 1.0 provided various Learning management sys-
tems (LMS) with different aims, such as replicating the multiple aspects of tradi-
tional learning with databases, task solutions and tools that enhance communication
(Dominic et al. 2014).
Web 2.0 has given birth to the second generation of electronic learning, incor-
porating a new series of practices and services, which can be collectively named as
e-Learning 2.0. With the advent of e-Learning 2.0, the focus was moved on find-
ing collaborative ways of learning where knowledge could be socially constructed,
through multi-directional communication. Therefore, the traditional class room was
transformed in terms of how it is not only socially but collaboratively constructed
by using podcasts, blogs, wikis, and other social Web tools. The main requirement
for such tools was the dynamic content generation which may involve conversation
and reflections, subsequently requiring a high degree of interaction and collabora-
tion Richardson (2006). Thereby, within the e-Learning 2.0 era, social software has
clearly revolutionized Web-based learning.
The differences related to concepts and used technologies, existing between the
first two generations of e-Learning are summarized in Table 1.
As the evolution of e-Learning systems accompanied the progress of the Web
itself, Web 3.0 tools will also reshape these. The inception of cloud computing and
the undeniable growth in terms of availability of new technologies and tools such as
reliable data storage capacity, collaborative intelligent filtering, 3D user interface and
multi gesture devices, determined the appearance of the next generation of online
learning, e-Learning 3.0, tools that educational institutions are currently striving to
adopt.
The term Web 3.0 was mentioned for the first time by John Markoff of the New York
Times in 2006 and was further used significantly in a Blog article named “Critical
of Web 2.0 and associated technologies such as Ajax”, written by Jeffrey Zeldman
Rajiv and Lal (2011). Over time, numerous researchers in the field and IT experts
supported various approaches to the future Web. Many authors considered that the
term Web 3.0 is synonymous with semantic Web. Other researchers point out that
the semantic Web does not represent a stage of the Web’s evolution, rather dealing
with a succession of IT languages and applications that have improved the overall
intelligence of the Web (Berners-Lee et al. 2001; Fumero et al. 2007; Hendlera and
Berners-Lee 2010).
As a general definition, Web 3.0 or semantic Web, represents an array of mixed
applications, the core software technology of this Web generation is Artificial Intelli-
gence (AI), endowed with the ability to learn and understand semantics. Accordingly,
the implementation and use of Web 3.0 technology enables the Internet to be more
personalized, accurate and intelligent Rajiv and Lal (2011) (Table 2).
The semantic Web is not based on documents, which are distinctive for previous
generations, but on databases. Within this new medium, data is no longer associated
to individual users, but it is shared among them. As a result, the concepts of minimal
webpages or websites, will become outdated Naik and Shivalingaiah (2008). Cer-
tainly, this implies the adoption and use of new forms of programming and scripting,
that evolution being possible with the increasing development of Resource Descrip-
tion Framework (RDF), the main language standard that will power the Web.
Moreover, collaborative intelligent filtering and interpretation requires machines
to have the capacity to read, describe and organize information and content. Due
to the fact that they are not endowed with human capacity for language, they will
require metadata Nevile and Kelly (2008) and the markup of Web services in order
to transform them into machine-readable and agent-ready objects McIlraith et al.
(2001).
Future Research Directions on Web-Based Educational Systems 15
Table 2 Web 3.0 particularities—personal sketching adapted from Rajiv and Lal (2011) and
Miranda et al. (2014a)
Web 3.0 Description
particularities
Personalization Many activities carried out over the Internet, including search, information
processing, creation of web portals, are based on individual or personal
preferences, process within which semantic Web may be the main technology
Intelligence The content created and distributed on the Web is described in a way that is
computer/machines understandable and readable. In this way, machines are
able to organize and filter the content in an intelligently manner, being also
able to efficiently understand user’s queries and searches
Organized Along with the progress of Web 2.0, we have witnesses to an increase of
Information interactivity, mainly due to the proliferation of social software. However, this
led to an excess of information, followed by chaotic clusters of data. Using
Web 3.0 standards, the information will be organized, determining the
creation of more efficient tools
Interoperability Web 3.0’s aim is to offer an interactive environment, supporting information
and knowledge creation and exchange. In simple terms, this means that when
an individual or a software program creates content on the Web and this
content is used by another, then a new form of knowledge or information will
be created. In this context, the focus is on interoperability, collaboration and
reusability, concepts which are basically interconnected and dependent on
each other. Interoperability involve reuse, which is actually a form of
collaboration
Openness Web 3.0 provides an enhanced openness between users, personal data and
personal information. On the other hand, this characteristic can also refer to
greater openness concerning protocols, formats and Application
Programming Interfaces (APIs)
Virtualization Web 3.0 is considered to offer High-end 3D Graphics and high speed Internet
bandwidths, these characteristics being extremely useful for the process of
virtualization
Thus, semantic Web tools require appropriate languages that can help computers
to understand which the user’s needs and intentions are, by a clear comprehension
of a search query. In this respect, ontologies are considered proper tools that can
provide information in a computer-understandable way. An ontology could be defined
as being a specification of a representational vocabulary for a shared domain of
discourse, which includes definitions of classes, functions, relations and other specific
objects (Gruber 1993).
The first step towards a successful implementation of Web 3.0 principles in the
context of e-Learning is constituted by an examination of the main aspects that can
affect this process. In this regard, researchers have already explored the possibilities,
16 I. A. Bogoslov
ACTORS
TECHNOLOGIES
CONTENT
Computer-understable
informaƟon
Linked materials
SemanƟc annotaƟon
Organized and filtred
informaƟon
Customized search
In accordance with the new possibilities offered by the Web and e-Learning 3.0 oper-
ating mode, it can be argued that the existing Web-based systems will be transposed
in a much more revolutionary way. Diverse researchers have already been exploring
the opportunities that could emerge for improving electronic learning, suggesting that
the process will take place especially under the influence of powerful concepts such
as collaborative intelligent filtering, distributed computing, Artificial Intelligence,
Augmented Reality and extended smart mobile technology.
Since the beginning of the third generation of e-Learning, with a long-term vision,
researchers in the field have stated that, with the use of mobile devices, the access to
learning resources will be unlimited, users being able to virtually access anything,
anytime and anywhere (Baird et al. 2007; Wheeler 2009) The constant evolution of
smart mobile technology in the last decade cannot be denied and nowadays, without
any doubt, our society is addicted to smart devices, such as smartphones, tablets and
others. This tendency has also influenced the way in which modern technologies and
platforms can be accessed. Thus, the release of more advanced mobile technology
facilitates e-Learning 3.0’s omni-presence and can be considered one of its main
drivers.
Furthermore, it was considered that the principle of anytime, anybody and any-
where will be sustained by the anyhow concept which will be implemented through
virtual 3D environments such as the use of personal avatars and Second Life. (Rego
et al. 2010) Users will have the ability to interact with virtual spaces, being implied
in a participative, engaging and stimulating educational environment. In this regard,
progress has already been made and, in present, there is more and more discussion
about gamification or game-based learning (integrating game elements into common
learning contexts). Without any doubt, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR)
also provides considerable possibilities in this respect, being primarily focused in
the gaming industry, at least at the moment. The ability to connect reality and digital
content will open more options not just for electronic learning, but for the learn-
ing process itself. Among the existing learning applications that use AR that enable
users to visualize 3D models in the real environment, in real time and at scale, we
can mention Augment, developed by Jean-Francois Chianetta, Mickaël Jordan and
Cyril Champier.
Augmented reality can also be effectively used to make lessons more informative.
A lot of historical websites and museums have already added AR features to their
content in order to attract visitors that are dependent on technology for information.
In that way, students and other visitors can now obtain additional information and
customize their informing experiences.
Going further, it is important to note that, with well-established Web 2.0 principles,
tools and technologies, and shifting to Web 3.0, the personal learning environments
(PLEs) receive increased attention. In this respect, according to Ebner, personaliza-
tion is considered as being the key approach to handle the plethora of information
18 I. A. Bogoslov
in the knowledge-based society (Ebner et al. 2011). e-Learning 3.0 technologies and
tools are expected to better suit the specific needs of individual users, ontologies
allowing the customization of their searches and queries for educational resources.
In this way, learners will be surely helped to learn.
On the other hand, recent research suggests that the creation of e-Learning 3.0
systems, based on using Artificial Intelligence and data mining, technologies which
are able to analyze and sort big data, in turn offer to the learner a better and deeper
understanding of the learning process (Rubens et al. 2014). Those two identified
elements, i.e. AI and data mining, could be considered significant tools that not only
improve electronic learning, but significantly contribute to the development of PLEs.
Considering all the aspects approached before, we can complete Table 1, by adding
the main identified aspects regarding e-Learning 3.0 (Table 3).
All the mentioned tools and technologies represent examples of the potentials
of Web 3.0 related to the improvement of electronic learning. However, with the
tremendous and fast advance of Web, we can expect that new trends and perspectives
regarding e-Learning to emerge.
5 Conclusion
If Web 1.0 was considered the Read-Only Web and Web 2.0 the Read/Write Web,
Web 3.0 works on the principle Read/Write/Collaborate. As discussed in the present
paper, semantic Web not only promotes collaborative learning, but it provides smart
solutions to search on the Web, information management, and content organization,
which facilitates the implementation of an effective learning process.
e-Learning has accompanied the changes occurred in Web evolution, every
upcoming e-Learning generation providing all earlier generations capabilities
improved with the Web technologies. Currently, along with the increasing popularity
of semantic Web in almost every domain, there is a significant focus on upgrading
electronic learning with systems that follow Web 3.0 standards, principles and tech-
nologies.
Multiple research on Web 3.0 and education have already suggest some of the
features and capabilities expected to be integrated in the following generation of le-
Learning. As resulted from the analysis conducted through this paper, such features
Future Research Directions on Web-Based Educational Systems 19
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Accessed 20 May 2018
Evaluation of Banking Digitization Policy
of Romanian Commercial Banks
1 Introduction
Contemporary society is changing fast, and one of the most important driver here
is technological development. Thus, if we remind just to how it was running our or
parents life 20–30 years ago we can mention some of the main changes, like: from
usage of black and white TV set with 2 or 3 programs la using, in some cases, digital
TV set with dozens programs and maybe with some computer functions included as
well; from usage of simple text message phone at high level of smartphones with
multiple functions and apps; from paper old books from the library to eReaders with
Many observers have found that the progress of the case to recovery
was quite rapid if the limb were put at rest in an elevated position,
were kept warm by cotton batting or similar bandaging, and were
kept clean with antiseptic lotions when the stage of gangrene set in.
Massage is to be used in all cases, the limbs or affected parts being
gently rubbed with the dry hand or with aromatic liniments or oils. All
local injury, however, and especially counter-irritation, are to be
carefully avoided. General tonic treatment, especially iron and cod-
liver oil, is to be used in all cases.
Trophic Neuroses.
When a gland is cut off from its nervous connection with the cord or
cerebral axis by section of its nerves, its function is impaired and its
nutrition suffers, so that after a time it loses weight and undergoes a
progressive total atrophy. This has been proven experimentally in
animals in the submaxillary gland. It has been observed in the
testicle in man after division of the spermatic nerve (Nélaton) and
after destruction of the spinal cord by traumatic and idiopathic
myelitis (Klebs, Föster).79 The sweat-glands are known to be under
the control of a central nervous mechanism, as cases of
hyperidrosis, anidrosis, and chromiodrosis prove;80 and an atrophy of
them and of the sebaceous glands has been observed81 after
nervous lesions.
79 Cited by Samuel, Realcyclop., loc. cit. See also Obolensky, Centralblatt für med.
Wissen., 1867, 5, 497.
84 Arch. f. Psych., v. S. 445, 1875; also Ziemssen's Cyclo., vol. xiii. p. 117 (Amer.
trans.); also Deut. Arch. f. klin. Med., v. S. 54.
FIG. 58.
If d is destroyed, the fibres from b and c perish with it, and the result is
paralysis and atrophy of the muscle and degeneration in the motor nerve
—e.g. poliomyelitis anterior. If b is destroyed, the muscle atrophies, and
paralysis is a secondary result—e.g. progressive muscular atrophy. If c is
destroyed, the nerve degenerates, and paralysis and atrophy of the
muscle are secondary results—e.g. neuritis with reaction of
degeneration. If a is destroyed, voluntary power is lost, but reflex power
remains, and no atrophic changes occur—e.g. lateral sclerosis. If the
motor nerve is cut between d and m, the result is the same beyond the
division as when the motor cell is destroyed.