Search results for: change point detection

Authors: Md. Royhanur Islam, Thomas Cansse, Md. Sahidul Islam, Atiqur Rahman Sunny

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The geographical location of Bangladesh makes it one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. Climate-induced phenomena mainly affect the south-central region of Bangladesh (Laxmipur district) where they have begun to occur more frequently. The aim of the study was to identify the hydro-climatic factors that lead to weather-related disasters in the coastal areas and analyse the consequences of these factors on coastal livelihoods, with possible adaptation options using participatory rural appraisal (PRA) tools. The present study showed several disasters such as land erosion, depressions and cyclones, coastal flooding, storm surge, and precipitation. The frequency of these disasters is of a noticeable rate. Surveys have also discovered that land erosion is ongoing. Tidal water is being introduced directly into the mainland, and as a result of the salt intrusion, production capacity is declining. The coastal belt is an important area for fishing activities, but due to changed fishing times and a lack of Alternative Income Generating Activities (AIGAs), people have been forced to search for alternative livelihood options by taking both short-term and long-term adaptation options. Therefore, in order to increase awareness and minimize the losses, vulnerable communities must be fully incorporated into disaster response strategies. The government as well as national and international donor organizations should come forward and resolve the present situation of these vulnerable groups since otherwise, they will have to endure endless and miserable suffering due to the effects of climate change ahead in their lives.

Keywords: adaptation, community, fishery development, livelihood

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Authors: Felix Aberu

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The high rate of greenhouse gas (CO₂) emission and increased concentration of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere are not unconnected to both human and natural activities. This has caused climate change and global warming in the world. The adverse effect of these climatic changes has no doubt threatened human existence. Hence, this study examined the effects of environmental and climate influence on mortality and morbidity rates, with particular reference to the world’s leading CO₂ emission countries, using both the pre-estimation, estimation, and post-estimation techniques for more dependable outcomes. Hence, the System Generalized Method of Moments (SGMM) was adopted as the main estimation technique for the data analysis from 1996 to 2023. The coefficient of carbon emissions confirmed a positive and significant relationship among CO₂ emission, mortality, and morbidity rates in the world’s leading CO₂ emissions countries, which implies that carbon emission has contributed to mortality and morbidity rates in the world. Therefore, significant action should be taken to facilitate the expansion of environmental protection and sustainability initiatives in any CO₂ emissions nations of the world.

Keywords: environmental, mortality, morbidity, health outcomes, carbon emissions

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Authors: Dale Dzemydiene, Aurelija Burinskiene, Arunas Miliauskas, Kristina Ciziuniene

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Data flow and the purpose of reporting the data are different and dependent on business needs. Different parameters are reported and transferred regularly during freight delivery. This business practices form the dataset constructed for each time point and contain all required information for freight moving decisions. As a significant amount of these data is used for various purposes, an integrating methodological approach must be developed to respond to the indicated problem. The proposed methodology contains several steps: (1) collecting context data sets and data validation; (2) multi-objective analysis for optimizing freight transfer services. For data validation, the study involves Grubbs outliers analysis, particularly for data cleaning and the identification of statistical significance of data reporting event cases. The Grubbs test is often used as it measures one external value at a time exceeding the boundaries of standard normal distribution. In the study area, the test was not widely applied by authors, except when the Grubbs test for outlier detection was used to identify outsiders in fuel consumption data. In the study, the authors applied the method with a confidence level of 99%. For the multi-objective analysis, the authors would like to select the forms of construction of the genetic algorithms, which have more possibilities to extract the best solution. For freight delivery management, the schemas of genetic algorithms' structure are used as a more effective technique. Due to that, the adaptable genetic algorithm is applied for the description of choosing process of the effective transportation corridor. In this study, the multi-objective genetic algorithm methods are used to optimize the data evaluation and select the appropriate transport corridor. The authors suggest a methodology for the multi-objective analysis, which evaluates collected context data sets and uses this evaluation to determine a delivery corridor for freight transfer service in the multi-modal transportation network. In the multi-objective analysis, authors include safety components, the number of accidents a year, and freight delivery time in the multi-modal transportation network. The proposed methodology has practical value in the management of multi-modal transportation processes.

Keywords: multi-objective, analysis, data flow, freight delivery, methodology

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Authors: Tzu-I Chiang

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A central question for finite-nonfinite distinction in Mandarin Chinese is how does Mandarin encode temporal information without the grammatical contrast between past and present tense. Moreover, how do L2 learners of Mandarin whose native language is English and whose L1 system has tense morphology, acquire the temporal encoding system in L2 Mandarin? The current study reports preliminary findings on the relationship between topic prominence and the temporal encoding in L1 and L2 Chinese. Oral narratives data from 30 natives and learners of Mandarin Chinese were collected via a film-retell task. In terms of coding, predicates collected from the narratives were transcribed and then coded based on four major verb types: n-degree Statives (quality-STA), point-scale Statives (status-STA), n-atom EVENT (ACT), and point EVENT (resultative-ACT). How native speakers and non-native speakers started retelling the story was calculated. Results of the study show that native speakers of Chinese tend to express Topic Time (TT) syntactically at the topic position; whereas L2 learners of Chinese across levels rely mainly on the default time encoded in the event types. Moreover, as the proficiency level of the learner increases, learners’ appropriate use of the event predicates increased, which supports the argument that L2 development of temporal encoding is affected by lexical aspect.

Keywords: topic prominence, temporal encoding, lexical aspect, L2 acquisition

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Authors: Md Monir Hossain, Anne Staples, Kuya Takami, Tomonari Furukawa

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Tire noise has a significant impact on ride quality and vehicle interior comfort, even at low frequency. Reduction of tire noise is especially important due to strict state and federal environmental regulations. The primary sources of tire noise are the low frequency structure-borne noise and the noise that originates from the release of trapped air between the tire tread and road surface during each revolution of the tire. The frequency response of the tire changes at low and high frequency. At low frequency, the tension and bending moment become dominant, while the internal structure and local deformation become dominant at higher frequencies. Here, we analyze tire response in terms of deformation and rolling velocity at low revolution frequency. An Abaqus FEA finite element model is used to calculate the static and dynamic response of a rolling tire under different rolling conditions. The natural frequencies and mode shapes of a deformed tire are calculated with the FEA package where the subspace-based steady state dynamic analysis calculates dynamic response of tire subjected to harmonic excitation. The analysis was conducted on the dynamic response at the road (contact point of tire and road surface) and side nodes of a static and rolling tire when the tire was excited with 200 N vertical load for a frequency ranging from 20 to 200 Hz. The results show that frequency has little effect on tire deformation up to 80 Hz. But between 80 and 200 Hz, the radial and lateral components of displacement of the road and side nodes exhibited significant oscillation. For the static analysis, the fluctuation was sharp and frequent and decreased with frequency. In contrast, the fluctuation was periodic in nature for the dynamic response of the rolling tire. In addition to the dynamic analysis, a steady state rolling analysis was also performed on the tire traveling at ground velocity with a constant angular motion. The purpose of the computation was to demonstrate the effect of rotating motion on deformation and rolling velocity with respect to a fixed Newtonian reference point. The analysis showed a significant variation in deformation and rolling velocity due to centrifugal and Coriolis acceleration with respect to a fixed Newtonian point on ground.

Keywords: natural frequency, rotational motion, steady state rolling, subspace-based steady state dynamic analysis

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Authors: Moez Elsaadani, Noel Durand, Brice Sorli, Didier Montet

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Governments and international instances are trying to improve the food safety system to prevent, reduce or avoid the increase of food borne diseases. This food risk is one of the major concerns for the humanity. The contamination by mycotoxins is a threat to the health and life of humans and animals. One of the most common mycotoxin contaminating feed and foodstuffs is Ochratoxin A (OTA), which is a secondary metabolite, produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium strains. OTA has a chronic toxic effect and proved to be mutagenic, nephrotoxic, teratogenic, immunosuppressive, and carcinogenic. On the other side, because of their high stability, specificity, affinity, and their easy chemical synthesis, aptamer based methods are applied to OTA biosensing as alternative to traditional analytical technique. In this work, five aptamers have been tested to confirm qualitatively and quantitatively their binding with OTA. In the same time, three different analytical methods were tested and compared based on their ability to detect and quantify the OTA. The best protocol that was established to quantify free OTA from linked OTA involved an ultrafiltration method in green coffee solution with. OTA was quantified by HPLC-FLD to calculate the binding percentage of all five aptamers. One aptamer (The most effective with 87% binding with OTA) has been selected to be our biorecognition element to study its electrical response (variation of electrical properties) in the presence of OTA in order to be able to make a pairing with a radio frequency identification (RFID). This device, which is characterized by its low cost, speed, and a simple wireless information transmission, will implement the knowledge on the mycotoxins molecular sensors (aptamers), an electronic device that will link the information, the quantification and make it available to operators.

Keywords: aptamer, aptasensor, detection, Ochratoxin A

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Authors: Nasim Hashemi, Abbas Sheikhtaheri

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Telemedicine is the use of telecommunication and information technologies to provide health care services that would often not be consistently available in distant rural communities to people at these remote areas. Teleophthalmology is a branch of telemedicine that delivers eye care through digital medical equipment and telecommunications technology. Thus, teleophthalmology can overcome geographical barriers and improve quality, access, and affordability of eye health care services. Since teleophthalmology has been widespread applied in recent years, the aim of this study was to determine the different applications of teleophthalmology in the world. To this end, three bibliographic databases (Medline, ScienceDirect, Scopus) were comprehensively searched with these keywords: eye care, eye health care, primary eye care, diagnosis, detection, and screening of different eye diseases in conjunction with telemedicine, telehealth, teleophthalmology, e-services, and information technology. All types of papers were included in the study with no time restriction. We conducted the search strategies until 2015. Finally 70 articles were surveyed. We classified the results based on the’type of eye problems covered’ and ‘the type of telemedicine services’. Based on the review, from the ‘perspective of health care levels’, there are three level for eye health care as primary, secondary and tertiary eye care. From the ‘perspective of eye care services’, the main application of teleophthalmology in primary eye care was related to the diagnosis of different eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, macular edema, strabismus and aged related macular degeneration. The main application of teleophthalmology in secondary and tertiary eye care was related to the screening of eye problems i.e. diabetic retinopathy, astigmatism, glaucoma screening. Teleconsultation between health care providers and ophthalmologists and also education and training sessions for patients were other types of teleophthalmology in world. Real time, store–forward and hybrid methods were the main forms of the communication from the perspective of ‘teleophthalmology mode’ which is used based on IT infrastructure between sending and receiving centers. In aspect of specialists, early detection of serious aged-related ophthalmic disease in population, screening of eye disease processes, consultation in an emergency cases and comprehensive eye examination were the most important benefits of teleophthalmology. Cost-effectiveness of teleophthalmology projects resulted from reducing transportation and accommodation cost, access to affordable eye care services and receiving specialist opinions were also the main advantages of teleophthalmology for patients. Teleophthalmology brings valuable secondary and tertiary care to remote areas. So, applying teleophthalmology for detection, treatment and screening purposes and expanding its use in new applications such as eye surgery will be a key tool to promote public health and integrating eye care to primary health care.

Keywords: applications, telehealth, telemedicine, teleophthalmology

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Authors: Hailu Dessalegn, T. Srinivas

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We propose new multiple-channel piezoelectric (PZT) actuated tunable optical filter based on racetrack multi-ring resonators for wavelength de-multiplexing network applications. We design tunable eight-channel wavelength de-multiplexer consisting of eight cascaded PZT actuated tunable multi-ring resonator filter with a channel spacing of 1.6 nm. The filter for each channel is basically structured on a suspended beam, sandwiched with piezoelectric material and built in integrated ring resonators which are placed on the middle of the beam to gain uniform stress and linearly varying longitudinal strain. A reference single mode serially coupled multi stage racetrack ring resonator with the same radii and coupling length is designed with a line width of 0.8974 nm with a flat top pass band at 1dB of 0.5205 nm and free spectral range of about 14.9 nm. In each channel, a small change in the perimeter of the rings is introduced to establish the shift in resonance wavelength as per the defined channel spacing. As a result, when a DC voltage is applied, the beams will elongate, which involves mechanical deformation of the ring resonators that induces a stress and a strain, which brings a change in refractive index and perimeter of the rings leading to change in the output spectrum shift providing the tunability of central wavelength in each channel. Simultaneous wave length shift as high as 45.54 pm/V has been achieved with negligible tunability variation in the eight channel tunable optical filter proportional to the DC voltage applied in the structure, and it is capable of tuning up to 3.45 nm in each channel with a maximum loss difference of 0.22 dB in the tuning range and out of band rejection ratio of 35 dB, with a low channel crosstalk ≤ 30 dB.

Keywords: optical MEMS, piezoelectric (PZT) actuation, tunable optical filter, wavelength de-multiplexer

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Authors: Nana Gorgiladze, Tamar Gaprindashvili, Mikheil Shavdia, Zurab Pagava

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Introduction/Purpose Chemotherapy is a common treatment for breast cancer, but it can also cause damage to the heart and blood vessels. This damage, known as cancer therapy-related cardiovascular toxicity (CTR-CVT), can increase the risk of heart failure and death in breast cancer patients. The left ventricle is often affected by CTR-CVT, but the right ventricle (RV) may also be vulnerable to CTR-CVT and may show signs of dysfunction before the left ventricle. The study aims to investigate how the RV function changes during chemotherapy for breast cancer by using conventional echocardiographic and global longitudinal strain (GLS) techniques. By measuring the GLS strain of the RV, researchers tend to detect early signs of CTR-CVT and improve the management of breast cancer patients. Methods The study was conducted on 28 women with low cardiovascular risk who received anthracycline chemotherapy for breast cancer. Conventional 2D echocardiography (LVEF, RVS’, TAPSE) and speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) measurements of the left and right ventricles (LVGLS, RVGLS) were used to assess cardiac function before and after chemotherapy. All patients had normal LVEF at the beginning of the study. Cardiotoxicity was defined as a new LVEF reduction of 10 percentage points to an LVEF of 40-49% and/or a new decline in GLS of 15% from baseline, as proposed by the most recent cardio-oncology guideline. ResultsThe research found that the LVGLS decreased from -21.2%2.1% to -18.6%2.6% (t-test = -4.116; df = 54, p=0.001). The change in value LV-GLS was 2.6%3.0%. The mean percentage change of the LVGLS was 11,6%13,3%; p=0.001. Similarly, the right ventricular global longitudinal strain (RVGLS) decreased from -25.2%2.9% to -21.4%4.4% (t-test = -3.82; df = 54, p=0.001). The RV-GLS value of change was 3.8%3.6%. Likewise, the percentage decrease of the RVGLS was 15,0%14,3%, p=0.001.However, the measurements of the right ventricular systolic function (RVS) and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) were insignificant, and the left ventricular ejection fraction ( LVEF) remained unchanged.

Keywords: cardiotoxicity, chemotherapy, GLS, right ventricle

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Authors: Jeonghwan Jeon

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As the science and technology (S&T) has been rapidly advanced, the national government attempts to reflect changes in the S&T for promoting public R&D activities and economic development. Amongst others, due to the rapid advances and changes of S&T, it becomes important to analyze the trends of S&T policies for formulating the new policy and investigating promising S&T fields. Thus, this paper aims to trace the national S&T policies during this decade for analyzing the change of major S&T fields in the case of South Korea. As one of the organization for S&T policy in South Korea, the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) has been established to coordinate inter-ministerial policies and programs and to determine all of the national and public S&T policy of South Korea. In this regard, the items on national S&T policy determined by the NSTC are useful for understanding the needs for major S&T fields and adapting to the rapid change of S&T. To this end, we first gathered the data on 512 items on the S&T agenda from 1999 to 2013. Based on these items, the trend of S&T policies is monitored and the major S&T fields are derived. Differences of policy purposes between S&T fields are identified to provide guideline for policy making such as budget allocation or investment promotion as well.

Keywords: national science and technology, policy, trends, S&T field

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Authors: Leone Sherman

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While the democratic rights of a citizen may be very clearly outlined in a country’s constitution, it’s not uncommon for political elite to undermine those rights and gain more power and control over a country than it is allowed by this constitution. Moreover, while such a change in some smaller states may not have a substantial impact on the international community, the same change in countries with vast resources and political influence, such as Russia, is always a considerable factor for the world policy. This article aims to research the weaknesses of the Russian democratic system and their effect on the international policy through the three key aspects: The Russian people’s ability to produce the required political will to control their government’s decisions, the current development of the Russian political environment, and the affection of this environment on the world community as a whole during the recent years. The used methodology is a narrative analysis of recent political events, official statistics, international investigations and media statements. As a result, the ever-widening gap between the people and the government becomes evidently seen, as well as the challenges it imposes on the political world arena, both current and those that still lie ahead of us.

Keywords: Russia, political analysis, democratic weaknesses, international society

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Authors: Mariana Anaya Villafana

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The sudden change of a significant percentage of the Latino community in the United States elections towards a Republican political orientation was reflected during the 2016 presidential election. This moment represented a radical change that is happening inside the Latino community in the United States, the support they have given to Trump's campaign only demonstrates their support for new anti-immigration regulations and conservative values, which are causing a division of ideologies inside the Latino community. One of the main goals of the following research is to understand the whole phenomenon 'Why would people join their own oppressor?' Align themselves with the politics that prevent many of their relatives to come to the United States and made the assimilation process difficult for their parents. It is important to prove that a change in the identity has happened, through the use of power relations and the attachment to the desired object. A group of Hispanics/Latinos have decided to vote for Trump in order to belong to a society that hasn’t been able to fully include them within it, an action that can result on the non-intentional harm of the values and aims of the rest of the Latino/Hispanic community. In order to understand their new political beliefs, it is necessary to use the method of discourse analysis to comprehend those comments and interviews that are published on web sites such as: 'Latinos for Trump' and 'GOP Hispanic Division'. Among the results that the research has shown, the notion of the 'American Dream' can be considered as a determinant object for the construction of a new identity that is rooted in hard work and legality. One that is proud of the Latino heritage but still wants to maintain the boundaries between legality and illegality in relation to the immigrants. This discourse results on a contradiction to most of the cases because they mention that their families came to the U.S. as immigrants; the only difference is that they work hard to obtain legal citizenship.

Keywords: populism, identity, Latino Community, migration

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Authors: Kamal Kumar Tanti, Nayan Moni Saikia, Markynti Swer

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This study aims to investigate and analyse the trends and variability of rainfall in Shillong and its nearby areas, located in Meghalaya hills of North-East India; which is geographically a neighbouring area to the wettest places of the Earth, i.e., Cherrapunji and Mawsynram. The analysis of variability and trends to annual, seasonal, monthly and daily rainfall was carried out, using the data collected from the IMD station at Shillong; thereby attempting to highlight whether rainfall in Shillong area has been increasing or decreasing over the years. Rainfall variability coefficient is utilized to compare the current rainfall trend of the area with its past rainfall trends. The present study also aims to analyse the frequency of occurrence of extreme rainfall events over the region. These studies will help us to establish a correlation between the current rainfall trend and climate change scenario of the study area.

Keywords: trends and variability of rainfall, annual, seasonal, monthly and daily rainfall, rainfall variability coefficient, extreme rainfall events, climate change, Shillong, Cherrapunji, Mawsynram

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Authors: Cornelia-Eugenia Munteanu

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The goal of this paper is to present the diagnostic contribution that the screening instrument, Mini-Mental State Examination-2: Expanded Version (MMSE-2:EV), brings in detecting the cognitive impairment or in monitoring the progress of degenerative disorders. The diagnostic signification is underlined by the interpretation of the MMSE-2:EV scores, resulted from the test application to patients with mild and major neurocognitive disorders. The original MMSE is one of the most widely used screening tools for detecting the cognitive impairment, in clinical settings, but also in the field of neurocognitive research. Now, the practitioners and researchers are turning their attention to the MMSE-2. To enhance its clinical utility, the new instrument was enriched and reorganized in three versions (MMSE-2:BV, MMSE-2:SV and MMSE-2:EV), each with two forms: blue and red. The MMSE-2 was adapted and used successfully in Romania since 2013. The cases were selected from current practice, in order to cover vast and significant neurocognitive pathology: mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, mixed dementia, Parkinson’s disease, conversion of the mild cognitive impairment into Alzheimer’s disease. The MMSE-2:EV version was used: it was applied one month after the initial assessment, three months after the first reevaluation and then every six months, alternating the blue and red forms. Correlated with age and educational level, the raw scores were converted in T scores and then, with the mean and the standard deviation, the z scores were calculated. The differences of raw scores between the evaluations were analyzed from the point of view of statistic signification, in order to establish the progression in time of the disease. The results indicated that the psycho-diagnostic approach for the evaluation of the cognitive impairment with MMSE-2:EV is safe and the application interval is optimal. The alternation of the forms prevents the learning phenomenon. The diagnostic accuracy and efficient therapeutic conduct derive from the usage of the national test norms. In clinical settings with a large flux of patients, the application of the MMSE-2:EV is a safe and fast psycho-diagnostic solution. The clinicians can draw objective decisions and for the patients: it doesn’t take too much time and energy, it doesn’t bother them and it doesn’t force them to travel frequently.

Keywords: MMSE-2, dementia, cognitive impairment, neuropsychology

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Authors: Glauco M. M. M. Lustosa, João Paulo C. Costa, Sonia M. Zanetti, Mario Cilense, Leinig Antônio Perazolli, Maria Aparecida Zaghete

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The contamination of the environment has been one of the biggest problems of our time, mostly due to developments of many industries. SnO2 is an n-type semiconductor with band gap about 3.5 eV and has its electrical conductivity dependent of type and amount of modifiers agents added into matrix ceramic during synthesis process, allowing applications as sensing of gaseous pollutants on ambient. The chemical synthesis by polymeric precursor method consists in a complexation reaction between tin ion and citric acid at 90 °C/2 hours and subsequently addition of ethyleneglycol for polymerization at 130 °C/2 hours. It also prepared polymeric resin of zinc, cobalt and niobium ions. Stoichiometric amounts of the solutions were mixed to obtain the systems (Zn, Nb)-SnO2 and (Co, Nb) SnO2 . The metal immobilization reduces its segregation during the calcination resulting in a crystalline oxide with high chemical homogeneity. The resin was pre-calcined at 300 °C/1 hour, milled in Atritor Mill at 500 rpm/1 hour, and then calcined at 600 °C/2 hours. X-Ray Diffraction (XDR) indicated formation of SnO2 -rutile phase (JCPDS card nº 41-1445). The characterization by Scanning Electron Microscope of High Resolution showed spherical ceramic powder nanostructured with 10-20 nm of diameter. 20 mg of SnO2 -based powder was kept in 20 ml of isopropyl alcohol and then taken to an electrophoretic deposition (EPD) system. The EPD method allows control the thickness films through the voltage or current applied in the electrophoretic cell and by the time used for deposition of ceramics particles. This procedure obtains films in a short time with low costs, bringing prospects for a new generation of smaller size devices with easy integration technology. In this research, films were obtained in an alumina substrate with interdigital electrodes after applying 2 kV during 5 and 10 minutes in cells containing alcoholic suspension of (Zn, Nb)-SnO2 and (Co, Nb) SnO2 of powders, forming a sensing layer. The substrate has designed integrated micro hotplates that provide an instantaneous and precise temperature control capability when a voltage is applied. The films were sintered at 900 and 1000 °C in a microwave oven of 770 W, adapted by the research group itself with a temperature controller. This sintering is a fast process with homogeneous heating rate which promotes controlled growth of grain size and also the diffusion of modifiers agents, inducing the creation of intrinsic defects which will change the electrical characteristics of SnO2 -based powders. This study has successfully demonstrated a microfabricated system with an integrated micro-hotplate for detection of CO and NO2 gas at different concentrations and temperature, with self-heating SnO2 - based nanoparticles films, being suitable for both industrial process monitoring and detection of low concentrations in buildings/residences in order to safeguard human health. The results indicate the possibility for development of gas sensors devices with low power consumption for integration in portable electronic equipment with fast analysis. Acknowledgments The authors thanks to the LMA-IQ for providing the FEG-SEM images, and the financial support of this project by the Brazilian research funding agencies CNPq, FAPESP 2014/11314-9 and CEPID/CDMF- FAPESP 2013/07296-2.

Keywords: chemical synthesis, electrophoretic deposition, self-heating, gas sensor

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Authors: Monique Somma

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As special education service delivery models are shifting in order to better meet the academic and social rights of students with exceptionalities, teaching practices must also align with these goals. This phenomenological case study explored the change experiences of special education teachers who have transitioned from teaching in a self-contained special education class to an inclusive class setting. Ten special educators who had recently changed their teaching roles to inclusive classrooms, completed surveys and participated in a focus group. Of the original ten educators, five chose to participate further in individual interviews. Data collected from the three methods was examined and compared for common themes. Emergent themes included, support and training, attitudes and perceptions, inclusive practice, growth and change, and teaching practice. The overall findings indicated that despite their special education training, these educators were challenged by their own beliefs and expectations, the attitudes of others and systematic barriers in the education system. They were equally surprised by the overall social and academic performance of students with exceptionalities in inclusive classes, as well as, the social and academic growth and development of the other students in the class. Over the course of their careers, they all identified an overall personal pedagogical shift, to some degree or another, which they contributed to the successful experiences of inclusion they had. They also recognized that collaborating with others was essential for inclusion to be successful. The findings from this study suggest several implications for professional development and training needs specific to special education teachers moving into inclusive settings. Maximizing the skills of teachers with special education experience in a Professional Learning Community (PLC) and mentorship opportunities would be beneficial to all staffs working toward creating inclusive classrooms and schools.

Keywords: attitudes and perceptions, inclusion of students with exceptionalities, special education teachers, teacher change

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Authors: Gamze Atay, Altay Colak

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It is a fact that today's technology shapes the change and development of architectural forms by creating different perspectives. The research is an experimental study that explores the integration of architectural forms in this process of change/development into design education through traditional design tools. An examination of the practices in the studio environment shows that the students who just started architectural education have difficulty accessing the form. The main objective of this study has been to enable students to use and interpret different disciplines in the design process to improve their perception of form. In this sense, the origami, which is defined as "the art of paper folding", and isomorphous (equally formed) approaches have been used with design studio students at the beginning stage as methods in the process of 3-dimensional thinking and creating the form. These two methods were examined with students in three stages: analysis, creation, and outcome. As a result of the study, it was seen that the use of different disciplines as a method during form creation gave the designs of the student originality, freedom, and dynamism.

Keywords: architectural form, design education, isomorphic approach, origamic approach

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Authors: Arka Roy, Chandra Prakash Dubey

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Inverse problem generally used for recovering hidden information from outside available data. Vertical component of gravity field we will be going to use for underneath density structure calculation. Ill-posing nature is main obstacle for any inverse problem. Linear regularization using Tikhonov formulation are used for appropriate choice of SVD and GSVD components. For real time data handle, signal to noise ratios should have to be less for reliable solution. In our study, 2D and 3D synthetic model with rectangular grid are used for gravity field calculation and its corresponding inversion for density reconstruction. Fine grid also we have considered to hold any irregular structure. Keeping in mind of algebraic ambiguity factor number of observation point should be more than that of number of data point. Picard plot is represented here for choosing appropriate or main controlling Eigenvalues for a regularized solution. Another important study is depth resolution plot (DRP). DRP are generally used for studying how the inversion is influenced by regularizing or discretizing. Our further study involves real time gravity data inversion of Vredeforte Dome South Africa. We apply our method to this data. The results include density structure is in good agreement with known formation in that region, which puts an additional support of our method.

Keywords: depth resolution plot, gravity inversion, Picard plot, SVD, Tikhonov formulation

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Authors: Mahesh Kumar Jat, Manisha Choudhary

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Rapid population and economic growth resulted in changes in large-scale land use land cover (LULC) changes. Changes in the biophysical properties of the Earth's surface and its impact on climate are of primary concern nowadays. Different approaches, ranging from location-based relationships or modelling earth surface - atmospheric interaction through modelling techniques like surface energy balance (SEB) have been used in the recent past to examine the relationship between changes in Earth surface land cover and climatic characteristics like temperature and precipitation. A remote sensing-based model i.e., Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL), has been used to estimate the surface heat fluxes over Mahi Bajaj Sagar catchment (India) from 2001 to 2020. Landsat ETM and OLI satellite data are used to model the SEB of the area. Changes in observed precipitation and temperature, obtained from India Meteorological Department (IMD) have been correlated with changes in surface heat fluxes to understand the relative contributions of LULC change in changing these climatic variables. Results indicate a noticeable impact of LULC changes on climatic variables, which are aligned with respective changes in SEB components. Results suggest that precipitation increases at a rate of 20 mm/year. The maximum and minimum temperature decreases and increases at 0.007 ℃ /year and 0.02 ℃ /year, respectively. The average temperature increases at 0.009 ℃ /year. Changes in latent heat flux and sensible heat flux positively correlate with precipitation and temperature, respectively. Variation in surface heat fluxes influences the climate parameters and is an adequate reason for climate change. So, SEB modelling is helpful to understand the LULC change and its impact on climate.

Keywords: remote sensing, GIS, object based, classification

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Authors: Donna L. Roberts

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Beyond the fundamental question of what is (and what isn’t) art, one then moves to the question of what about art, or a specific artwork, matters. If there is an agreement that something is art, the next step is to answer the obvious, ‘So what? What does it mean?’ In answering these questions, one must decide how to focus the proverbial microscope –i.e., what level of perspective is relevant as a point of view for this analysis- the artwork itself, the artist’s intention, the viewer’s interpretation, the artwork’s reflection of the larger artistic movement, the social, political, and historical context of art? One must determine what product and what contexts are meaningful when experiencing and interpreting art. Is beauty really in the eye of the beholder? Or is it more important what the creator was trying to say than what the critic or observer heard? The fact that so many artists –from Rembrandt to Van Gogh to Picasso- include among their works at least one self-portrait seems to scream their point –I matter. But, Is a piece more impactful because of the persona behind it? Or does that persona impose limits and close one’s mind to the possibilities of interpretation? In the popular art text visual culture, Richard Howells argues against a biographical focus on the artist in the analysis of art. Similarly, abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, along with several of his contemporaries of the genre, often did not title his paintings for the express purpose of not imposing a specific meaning or interpretation on the piece. And yet, he once said, ‘The people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when I painted them,’ thus alluding to a desire for a shared connection and revelation. This research analyzes the arguments for differing levels of interpretation and points of view when considering a work of art and/or the artist who created it.

Keywords: art analysis, art interpretation, art theory, artistic perspective

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Authors: Jeonghwan Jeon

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As the science and technology(S&T) has been rapidly advanced, the national government attempts to reflect changes in the S&T for promoting public R&D activities and economic development. Amongst others, due to the rapid advances and changes of S&T, it becomes important to monitor the trends of S&T policies for formulating the new policy and investigating promising S&T fields. Thus, this paper aims to trace the national S&T policies during this decade for monitoring the change of major S&T fields in the case of South Korea. As one of the organization for S&T policy in South Korea, the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) has been established to coordinate inter-ministerial policies and programs and to determine all of the national and public S&T policy of South Korea. In this regard, the items on national S&T policy determined by the NSTC are useful for understanding the needs for major S&T fields and adapting to the rapid change of S&T. To this end, we first gathered the data on 512 items on the S&T agenda from 1999 to 2013. Based on these items, the trend of S&T policies is monitored and the major S&T fields are derived. Differences of policy purposes between S&T fields are identified to provide guideline for policy making such as budget allocation or investment promotion as well.

Keywords: science and technology policy, trends, S&T field, monitoring

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Authors: Ilme Faridatul, Bo Wu

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Bangladesh is often called as a motherland of rivers. It contains about 700 rivers among all these the Padma River is one of the largest rivers of Bangladesh. The change of river bank and erosion has become a common environmental natural hazard in Bangladesh. The river banks are under intense pressure from natural processes such as erosion and accretion as well as anthropogenic processes such as urban growth and pollution. The Padma River is flowing along ten districts of Bangladesh among all these Faridpur district is most vulnerable to river bank erosion. The severity of the river erosion is so high that each year a thousand of populations become homeless and lose their agricultural lands. Though the Faridpur district is most vulnerable to river bank erosion no specific research has been conducted to identify the changing pattern of river bank along this district. The outcome of the research may serve as guidance to prepare river bank monitoring program and management. This research has utilized integrated techniques of remote sensing and geographic information system to monitor the changes from 1995 to 2015 at Faridpur district. To discriminate the land water interface Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) algorithm is applied and on screen digitization approach is used over MNDWI images of 1995, 2002 and 2015 for river bank line extraction. The extent of changes in the river bank along Faridpur district is estimated through overlaying the digitized maps of all three years. The river bank lines are highlighted to infer the erosion and accretion and the changes are calculated. The result shows that the middle of the river is gaining land through sedimentation and the both side river bank is shifting causing severe erosion that consequently resulting the loss of farmland and homestead. Over the study period from 1995 to 2015 it witnessed huge erosion and accretion that played an active role in the changes of the river bank.

Keywords: river bank, erosion and accretion, change monitoring, remote sensing

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Authors: Samah Jawad Jabari

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Water is the most important and valuable resource not only for human life but also for all living things on the planet. The water supply utilities should fulfill the water requirement quantitatively and qualitatively. Drinking water systems are exposed to both natural (hurricanes and flood) and manmade hazards (risks) that are common in Palestine. Non-Revenue Water (NRW) is a manmade risk which remains a major concern in Palestine, as the NRW levels are estimated to be at a high level. In this research, Hebron city water distribution network was taken as a case study to estimate and audit the NRW levels. The research also investigated the state of the existing water distribution system in the study area by investigating the water losses and obtained more information on NRW prevention and management practices. Data and information have been collected from the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) and Hebron Municipality (HM) archive. In addition to that, a questionnaire has been designed and administered by the researcher in order to collect the necessary data for water auditing. The questionnaire also assessed the views of stakeholder in PWA and HM (staff) on the current status of the NRW in the Hebron water distribution system. The important result obtained by this research shows that NRW in Hebron city was high and in excess of 30%. The main factors that contribute to NRW were the inaccuracies in billing volumes, unauthorized consumption, and the method of estimating consumptions through faulty meters. Policy for NRW reduction is available in Palestine; however, it is clear that the number of qualified staff available to carry out the activities related to leak detection is low, and that there is a lack of appropriate technologies to reduce water losses and undertake sufficient system maintenance, which needs to be improved to enhance the performance of the network and decrease the level of NRW losses.

Keywords: non-revenue water, water auditing, leak detection, water meters

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Authors: Rudi Kurniawan Arief

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Manufacturing cost and setup time are the hot topics to improve in Metal Stamping industry because material and components price are always rising up while costumer requires to cut down the component price year by year. The Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) is one of many methods to reduce waste in stamping industry. The Japanese Quick Die Change (QDC) dies system is one of SMED systems that could reduce both of setup time and manufacturing cost. However, this system is rarely used in stamping industries. This paper will analyze how deep the QDC dies system could reduce setup time and the manufacturing cost. The research is conducted by direct observation, simulating and comparing of QDC dies system with conventional dies system. In this research, we found that the QDC dies system could save up to 35% of manufacturing cost and reduce 70% of setup times. This simulation proved that the QDC die system is effective for cost reduction but must be applied in several parallel production processes.

Keywords: press die, metal stamping, QDC system, single minute exchange die, manufacturing cost saving, SMED

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Authors: Milena França Marques

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Due to the climate crisis, several countries such as Brazil began to look for energy alternatives, finding green hydrogen as a possible solution. In addition to not emitting polluting gasses, it also has a large energy capacity, being an excellent alternative for the transport sector, the third sector that emits the most Greenhouse Gases (GHG) in Brazil. Therefore, this work aims to suggest a route for using green hydrogen, through the analysis of plans implemented in other countries, the Brazilian situation, and its difficulties in the development of hydrogen and electromobility, aiming to understand how its value chain works, as well as how to make the Brazilian fleet more efficient and decarbonize. As a result, 68 structuring measures were suggested for the first 5 axes of the National Hydrogen Program (PNH2) using the Three-Year Plan as a basis. Categorizations of measures were also made, definitions of those responsible for their development and implementation, as well as deadlines for them to be met. It is concluded that the study has the potential to promote national energy-environmental mobility transition planning realistically, capable of developing hydrogen and electromobility in Brazil, in addition to contributing to achieving the goals established by its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

Keywords: climate change, electromobility, hydrogen, roadmap

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Authors: Xiuxia Sun, Yan Jin, Zilong Liu, Shiming Wei

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As a critical mineral component of shale, illite is essential in oil exploration and development due to its surface hydration characteristics and action mechanism. This paper, starting from the perspective of the molecular structure of organic matter, uses molecular dynamics simulation technology to deeply explore the interaction mechanism between organic molecules and the illite surface. In the study, we thoroughly considered the forces such as van der Waals force, electrostatic force, and steric hindrance and constructed an illite crystal model covering C8-C18 modifiers. Subsequently, we systematically analyzed surfactants' adsorption behavior and hydration characteristics with different alkyl chain numbers, lengths, and concentrations on the illite surface. The simulation results show that surfactant molecules with shorter alkyl chains present a lateral monolayer or inclined double-layer arrangement on the illite surface, and these two arrangements may coexist under different concentration conditions. In addition, with the increase in the number of alkyl chains, the interlayer spacing of illite increases significantly. In contrast, the change in alkyl chain length has a limited effect on surface properties. It is worth noting that the change in functional group structure has a particularly significant effect on the wettability of the illite surface, and its influence even exceeds the change in the alkyl chain structure. This discovery gives us a new perspective on understanding and regulating the wetting properties. The results obtained are consistent with the XRD analysis and wettability experimental data in this paper, further confirming the reliability of the research conclusions. This study deepened our understanding of illite's hydration characteristics and mechanism. We provided new ideas and directions for the molecular design and application development of oilfield chemicals.

Keywords: illite, surfactant, hydration, wettability, adsorption

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Authors: Rajashree Bothale, Venkateswara Rao

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Indian Himalayas also known as third pole with 0.9 Million SQ km area, contain the largest reserve of ice and snow outside poles and affect global climate and water availability in the perennial rivers. The variations in the extent of snow are indicative of climate change. The snow melt is sensitive to climate change (warming) and also an influencing factor to the climate change. A study of the spatio-temporal dynamics of snow cover and melt/freeze conditions is carried out using space based observations in visible and microwave bands. An analysis period of 2003 to 2015 is selected to identify and map the changes and trend in snow cover using Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS) data. For mapping of wet snow, microwave data is used, which is sensitive to the presence of liquid water in the snow. The present study uses Ku-band scatterometer data from QuikSCAT and Oceansat satellites. The enhanced resolution images at 2.25 km from the 13.6GHz sensor are used to analyze the backscatter response to dry and wet snow for the period of 2000-2013 using threshold method. The study area is divided into three major river basins namely Brahmaputra, Ganges and Indus which also represent the diversification in Himalayas as the Eastern Himalayas, Central Himalayas and Western Himalayas. Topographic variations across different zones show that a majority of the study area lies in 4000–5500 m elevation range and the maximum percent of high elevated areas (>5500 m) lies in Western Himalayas. The effect of climate change could be seen in the extent of snow cover and also on the melt/freeze status in different parts of Himalayas. Melt onset day increases from east (March11+11) to west (May12+15) with large variation in number of melt days. Western Himalayas has shorter melt duration (120+15) in comparison to Eastern Himalayas (150+16) providing lesser time for melt. Eastern Himalaya glaciers are prone for enhanced melt due to large melt duration. The extent of snow cover coupled with the status of melt/freeze indicating solar radiation can be used as precursor for monsoon prediction.

Keywords: Indian Himalaya, Scatterometer, Snow Melt/Freeze, AWiFS, Cryosphere

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Authors: Mária Hudáková, Mária Lusková

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This report is focused on widening the theoretical knowledge as well as controlling practical application from the risk management point of view, regarding to dynamic business changes that have occurred in Slovakia which recently has been considered to be an environment full of risk and uncertainty. The idea of the report is the proposal of the controlling operation model in the course of risk management process in an enterprise operating in Slovakia, by which the controller is able to identify early risk factors in suggested major areas of the business management upon appropriate business information integration, consecutive control and prognoses and to prepare in time full-value documents in order to suggest measures for reduction thereof. Dealing with risk factors, that can quickly limit the growth potential of the enterprise, is an essential part of managerial activities on each level. This is the reason why mutual unofficial, ergo collegial cooperation of individual departments is necessary for controlling application from the business risk management point of view. An important part of the report is elaborated survey of the most important risk factors existing in major management areas of enterprises operating in Slovakia. The outcome of the performed survey is a catalogue of the most important enterprise risk factors. The catalogue serves for better understanding risk factors affecting the Slovak enterprises, their importance and evaluation.

Keywords: controlling, information, risks, risk factor, crisis

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Authors: Fatima Babar, Majid I. Khan, Malik Najmus Saqib, Muhammad Tahir

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This article provides range based improvements over a well-known single-hop range free localization scheme, Approximate Point in Triangulation (APIT) by proposing an energy efficient Barycentric coordinate based Point-In-Triangulation (PIT) test along with PIT based trilateration. These improvements result in energy efficiency, reduced localization error and improved localization coverage compared to APIT and its variants. Moreover, we propose to embed Received signal strength indication (RSSI) based distance estimation in DV-Hop which is a multi-hop localization scheme. The proposed localization algorithm achieves energy efficiency and reduced localization error compared to DV-Hop and its available improvements. Furthermore, a hybrid multi-hop localization scheme is also proposed that utilize Barycentric coordinate based PIT test and both range based (Received signal strength indicator) and range free (hop count) techniques for distance estimation. Our experimental results provide evidence that proposed hybrid multi-hop localization scheme results in two to five times reduction in the localization error compare to DV-Hop and its variants, at reduced energy requirements.

Keywords: Localization, Trilateration, Triangulation, Wireless Sensor Networks

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Authors: Béla Kovács, Éva Bódi, Farzaneh Garousi, Szilvia Várallyay, Áron Soós, Xénia Vágó, Dávid Andrási

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In agriculture for analysis of elements in different food and food raw materials, moreover environmental samples generally flame atomic absorption spectrometers (FAAS), graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometers (GF-AAS), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometers (ICP-OES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometers (ICP-MS) are routinely applied. An inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) is capable for analysis of 70-80 elements in multielemental mode, from 1-5 cm3 volume of a sample, moreover the detection limits of elements are in µg/kg-ng/kg (ppb-ppt) concentration range. All the analytical instruments have different physical and chemical interfering effects analysing the above types of samples. The smaller the concentration of an analyte and the larger the concentration of the matrix the larger the interfering effects. Nowadays there is very important to analyse growingly smaller concentrations of elements. From the above analytical instruments generally the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer is capable of analysing the smallest concentration of elements. The applied ICP-MS instrument has Collision Cell Technology (CCT) also. Using CCT mode certain elements have better (smaller) detection limits with 1-3 magnitudes comparing to a normal ICP-MS analytical method. The CCT mode has better detection limits mainly for analysis of selenium, arsenic, germanium, vanadium and chromium. To elaborate an analytical method for trace elements with an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer the most important interfering effects (problems) were evaluated: 1) Physical interferences; 2) Spectral interferences (elemental and molecular isobaric); 3) Effect of easily ionisable elements; 4) Memory interferences. Analysing food and food raw materials, moreover environmental samples an other (new) interfering effect emerged in ICP-MS, namely the effect of various matrixes having different evaporation and nebulization effectiveness, moreover having different quantity of carbon content of food and food raw materials, moreover environmental samples. In our research work the effect of different water-soluble compounds furthermore the effect of various quantity of carbon content (as sample matrix) were examined on changes of intensity of the applied elements. So finally we could find “opportunities” to decrease or eliminate the error of the analyses of applied elements (Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ge, As, Se, Mo, Cd, Sn, Sb, Te, Hg, Pb, Bi). To analyse these elements in the above samples, the most appropriate inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer is a quadrupole instrument applying a collision cell technique (CCT). The extent of interfering effect of carbon content depends on the type of compounds. The carbon content significantly affects the measured concentration (intensities) of the above elements, which can be corrected using different internal standards.

Keywords: elements, environmental and food samples, ICP-MS, interference effects

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