Search results for: David Read

Authors: Neil Erick Q. Madariaga, Noel B. Linsangan

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Body Mass Index (BMI) is one of the different ways to monitor the health of a person. It is based on the height and weight of the person. This study aims to compute for the BMI using an Android tablet by obtaining the height of the person by using a camera and measuring the weight of the person by using a weighing scale or load cell. The height of the person was estimated by applying background subtraction to the image captured and applying different processes such as getting the vanishing point and applying Artificial Neural Network. The weight was measured by using Wheatstone bridge load cell configuration and sending the value to the computer by using Gizduino microcontroller and Bluetooth technology after the amplification using AD620 instrumentation amplifier. The application will process the images and read the measured values and show the BMI of the person. The study met all the objectives needed and further studies will be needed to improve the design project.

Keywords: body mass index, artificial neural network, vanishing point, bluetooth, wheatstone bridge load cell

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Authors: Min-Ha Hong, Kee-Won Kim, Seung-Hoon Kim

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The character in the story-based content, such as novels and movies, is one of the core elements to understand the story. In particular, the character’s tendency is an important factor to analyze the story-based content, because it has a significant influence on the storyline. If readers have the knowledge of the tendency of characters before reading a novel, it will be helpful to understand the structure of conflict, episode and relationship between characters in the novel. It may therefore help readers to select novel that the reader wants to read. In this paper, we propose a method of extracting the tendency of the characters from a novel written in Korean. In advance, we build the dictionary with pairs of the emotional words in Korean and English since the emotion words in the novel’s sentences express character’s feelings. We rate the degree of polarity (positive or negative) of words in our emotional words dictionary based on SenticNet. Then we extract characters and emotion words from sentences in a novel. Since the polarity of a word grows strong or weak due to sentence features such as quotations and modifiers, our proposed method consider them to calculate the polarity of characters. The information of the extracted character’s polarity can be used in the book search service or book recommendation service.

Keywords: character tendency, data mining, emotion word, Korean novel

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Authors: Arsenio Jose Mindu

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The concern to carry out a study related to Energy Efficiency arose based on the various debates in international television networks and not only, but also in several forums of national debates. The concept of Energy Efficiency is not yet widely disseminated and /or taken into account in terms of energy consumption, not only at the domestic level but also at the industrial level in Mozambique. In the context of the energy audit, the time during which each of the appliances is connected to the voltage source, the time during which they are in standby mode was recorded on a spreadsheet basis. Based on these data, daily and monthly consumption was calculated. In order to have more accurate information on the daily levels of daily consumption, the electricity consumption was read every hour of the day (from 5:00 am to 11:00 pm), since after 23:00 the energy consumption remains constant. For ten days. Based on the daily energy consumption and the maximum consumption power, the design of the photovoltaic system for the residence was made. With the implementation of the photovoltaic system in order to guarantee energy efficiency, there was a significant reduction in the use of electricity from the public grid, increasing from approximately 17 kwh per day to around 11 kwh, thus achieving an energy efficiency of 67.4 %. That is to say, there was a reduction not only in terms of the amount of energy consumed but also of the monthly expenses with electricity, having increased from around 2,500,00Mt (2,500 meticais) to around 800Mt per month.

Keywords: energy efficiency, photovoltaic system, residential sector, Mozambique

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Authors: Lilah Inzelberg, David Rand, Stanislav Steinberg, Moshe David Pur, Yael Hanein

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Human facial expressions carry important psychological and neurological information. Facial expressions involve the co-activation of diverse muscles. They depend strongly on personal affective interpretation and on social context and vary between spontaneous and voluntary activations. Smiling, as a special case, is among the most complex facial emotional expressions, involving no fewer than 7 different unilateral muscles. Despite their ubiquitous nature, smiles remain an elusive and debated topic. Smiles are associated with happiness and greeting on one hand and anger or disgust-masking on the other. Accordingly, while high-resolution recording of muscle activation patterns, in a non-interfering setting, offers exciting opportunities, it remains an unmet challenge, as contemporary surface facial electromyography (EMG) methodologies are cumbersome, restricted to the laboratory settings, and are limited in time and resolution. Here we present a wearable and non-invasive method for objective mapping of facial muscle activation and demonstrate its application in a natural setting. The technology is based on a recently developed dry and soft electrode array, specially designed for surface facial EMG technique. Eighteen healthy volunteers (31.58 ± 3.41 years, 13 females), participated in the study. Surface EMG arrays were adhered to participant left and right cheeks. Participants were instructed to imitate three facial expressions: closing the eyes, wrinkling the nose and smiling voluntary and to watch a funny video while their EMG signal is recorded. We focused on muscles associated with 'enjoyment', 'social' and 'masked' smiles; three categories with distinct social meanings. We developed a customized independent component analysis algorithm to construct the desired facial musculature mapping. First, identification of the Orbicularis oculi and the Levator labii superioris muscles was demonstrated from voluntary expressions. Second, recordings of voluntary and spontaneous smiles were used to locate the Zygomaticus major muscle activated in Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles. Finally, recording with a wireless device in an unmodified natural work setting revealed expressions of neutral, positive and negative emotions in face-to-face interaction. The algorithm outlined here identifies the activation sources in a subject-specific manner, insensitive to electrode placement and anatomical diversity. Our high-resolution and cross-talk free mapping performances, along with excellent user convenience, open new opportunities for affective processing and objective evaluation of facial expressivity, objective psychological and neurological assessment as well as gaming, virtual reality, bio-feedback and brain-machine interface applications.

Keywords: affective expressions, affective processing, facial EMG, high-resolution electromyography, independent component analysis, wireless electrodes

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Authors: M. Dabirinezhad, M. Bayat Pour, A. Dabirinejad

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Recognition of the color spectrum of the teeth plays a significant role in the dental laboratories to produce dentures. Since there are various types and colours of teeth for each patient, there is a need to specify the exact and the most suitable colour to produce a denture. Usually, dentists utilize pallets to identify the color that suits a patient based on the color of the adjacent teeth. Consistent with this, there can be human errors by dentists to recognize the optimum colour for the patient, and it can be annoying for the patient. According to the statistics, there are some claims from the patients that they are not satisfied by the colour of their dentures after the installation of the denture in their mouths. This problem emanates from the lack of sufficient accuracy during the colour recognition process of denture production. The colour recognition pen (CRP) is a technology to distinguish the colour spectrum of the intended teeth with the highest accuracy. CRP is equipped with a sensor that is capable to read and analyse a wide range of spectrums. It is also connected to a database that contains all the spectrum ranges, which exist in the market. The database is editable and updatable based on market requirements. Another advantage of this invention can be mentioned as saving time for the patients since there is no need to redo the denture production in case of failure on the first try.

Keywords: colour recognition pen, colour spectrum, dental laboratory, denture

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Authors: Theophilus Adjirackor, Frederic Sam, Irene Opoku-Ntim, David Okoh Kpeglo, Prince K. Gyekye, Frank K. Quashie, Kofi Ofori

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Indoor radon concentrations were collected monthly over a period of one year in 10 different levels in an underground goldmine, and the data was analyzed using a four-moving average time series to determine the relationship between the depths of the underground mine and the indoor radon concentration. The detectors were installed in batches within four quarters. The measurements were carried out using LR115 solid-state nuclear track detectors. Statistical models are applied in the prediction and analysis of the radon concentration at various depths. The time series model predicted a positive relationship between the depth of the underground mine and the indoor radon concentration. Thus, elevated radon concentrations are expected at deeper levels of the underground mine, but the relationship was insignificant at the 5% level of significance with a negative adjusted R2 (R2 = – 0.021) due to an appropriate engineering and adequate ventilation rate in the underground mine.

Keywords: LR115, radon concentration, rime series, underground goldmine

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Authors: M. Fernanda Salgado, Alfonso Tierra, David S. Sandoval, Wilbert G. Aguilar

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Public transportation buses usually vary the speed depending on the places with the number of passengers. They require having efficient travel planning, a plan that will help them choose the fast route. Initially, an estimation tool is necessary to determine the travel time of each route, clearly establishing the possibilities. In this work, we give a practical solution that makes use of a concept that defines as areas of commercial incidence. These areas are based on the hypothesis that in the commercial places there is a greater flow of people and therefore the buses remain more time in the stops. The areas have one or more segments of routes, which have an incidence factor that allows to estimate the times. In addition, initial results are presented that verify the hypotheses and that promise adequately the travel times. In a future work, we take this approach to make an efficient travel planning system.

Keywords: commercial incidence, planning, public transport, speed travel, travel time

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Authors: David Parrish

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A critical challenge for a new school is creating an inclusive, meaningful culture. While a new school offers a “shiny’ exterior, its culture has yet to be created. In 2016, Charles J. Colgan, Sr. High School in Prince William County, opened its door. In its inaugural year, the FIN Friends club was created to start the process of building connections between general education and special education students. In eight years, the club has become a relentless contributor to the most inclusive, welcoming school culture possible. Through a commitment to consistent, year-round activities, the FINS accepts students from all schools and all grades. All schools strive for inclusion and a positive culture. Our model takes explicit action toward these elements. What we have created works; it is replicable and supports any school to build a more inclusive culture. Connections and belonging are directly related to every educational goal, including academic progress, equity, social-emotional health, etc. We want to share our story and collaborate with schools to create their own inclusion movement.

Keywords: inclusion, culture, connections, belonging

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Authors: Rodrigo D. S. Oliveira, Sarah David-Muzel, Maristela Gava, Victor A. De Araujo, Glaucia A. Prates, Juliana Cortez-Barbosa

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Improper disposal of treated wood waste is a problem of the timber sector, since this residue is toxic, due to the harmful characteristics of the preservative substances. An environmentally friendly alternative is the use of this waste for the production of cement-wood composites. The aim of this work was to study the possibility of using wood treated with CCA (Chromated Cooper Arsenate) in cement-wood. Specimens of Pinus sp. and Eucalyptus sp. were produced with wood raw in natura and treated with CCA. A test was performed to determine the parallel shear stress of samples after 14 days of drying, according to the Brazilian Standard NBR-7215/97. Based on the analyzed results it is concluded that the use of wood treated with CCA is not feasible in cement-wood production, because the composite samples of treated wood showed lower mechanical strength in shear stress than those with wood in natura.

Keywords: waste recovery, wood composites, cement-wood, wood preservation, chromated copper arsenate

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Authors: Ahmad Al-Issa

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Our world is now operating under the auspices of globalization with its attendant language of ‘global English.' In many parts of the world, the need for English is often accepted without much thought given to native languages. Indeed, this is the current situation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with English encroaching into all areas of society, and especially forcefully into the education sector, where English as a medium of instruction (EMI) is on the rise. At the same time, Arabic literacy (i.e., the ability to read and write in Arabic) is declining among the UAE youth. Using a mixed-methods design, a study was conducted to gain insights into the use of Arabic by Emirati University students. The study examines how often Emiratis, males and females, use their native language (Arabic) in their daily lives, how they view their reading and writing skills in Arabic vis-à-vis their English literacy skills, and the extent to which they can demonstrate their literacy skills in Arabic. Clear evidence emerged showing that while Arabic as a dialect continues to be spoken on a daily basis, Arabic literacy is unquestionably losing ground. This was found to be motivated by educational, political, societal, and personal forces. These findings and their implications to language policy and existing bilingualism programs will be discussed. Suggestions for further research will also be made.

Keywords: Arabic, globalization, global English, literacy attrition, United Arab Emirates

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Authors: David Aveiga, Carlos Gonzalez

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Thermoforming of pre-impregnated composites (prepreg) is the most employed process to build high-performance composite structures due to their visible advantage over alternative manufacturing techniques. This method allows easy shape moulding with a simple manufacturing system and a more refined outcome. The achievement of complex geometries can be exposed to undesired defects such as wrinkles. It is known that interply and ply-mould sliding behavior governs this defect generation. This work analyses interply and ply-mould friction coefficients for UD AS4/8552 Carbon/Epoxy prepreg. Friction coefficients are determined by a pull-out test method considering actual velocity, pressure and temperature conditions employed in a thermoforming process of an aeronautical composite component. A Stribeck curve is then constructed to find a mathematical expression that relates all the friction coefficients with the test variables through the Hersey number parameter. Two expressions are proposed to model ply-ply and ply-tool friction behaviors.

Keywords: friction, prepreg composite, stribeck curve, thermoforming.

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Authors: Eduardo Garcia Agustin

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This paper focuses on how Mickey – the 10-year-old main character and narrator in Paul McVeigh’s novel The Good Son (2015) – becomes aware of his own queerness and its implications in a conflicting place and time such as Belfast during ‘The Troubles’ in the 1980s. Queer theory allows a comparative reading of identity issues such as national and gender discourses. As opposed to some other excluding social constructs that classify identities in an Us-Others binomial, queer has become a sort of umbrella term where there is room for more identities other than LGTBQ. Therefore, it offers some relevant tools to read this highly awarded novel by focusing on the intersectional construction of Mickey’s identity in progress within the social and familiar realms. The aim of this paper is to offer a queer reading of the The Good Son, which was awarded with the Polari First Book Prize in 2016, by showing the key role of Mickey’s conflictive realization of his own queerness in the polarized society of Northern Ireland in the 1980s, where there is no shade of grey. Within such a polarized context, Mickey’s perception of his own internal and external identity conflicts he is exposed to will show how necessary a certain touch of pink is as a potential escape to those conflicts.

Keywords: conflict, national identity, Northern Ireland, queer identity

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Authors: David Nantes, George Gilbert

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There are a lot of risks that might crop up as a tunneling project develops, and it's crucial to be aware of them. Due to the unexpected nature of tunneling projects and the interconnectedness of risk occurrences, the risk assessment approach presents a significant challenge. The purpose of this study is to provide a hybrid FDEMATEL-ANP model to help prioritize risks during tunnel construction projects. The ambiguity in expert judgments and the relative severity of interdependencies across risk occurrences are both taken into consideration by this model, thanks to the Fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (FDEMATEL). The Analytic Network Process (ANP) method is used to rank priorities and assess project risks. The authors provide a case study of a subway tunneling construction project to back up the validity of their methodology. The results showed that the proposed method successfully isolated key risk factors and elucidated their interplay in the case study. The proposed method has the potential to become a helpful resource for evaluating dangers associated with tunnel construction projects.

Keywords: risk, prioritization, FDEMATEL, ANP, tunneling construction projects

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Authors: Mohd Nazri Latiff Azmi, Mairas Abd Rahman

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Traditionally, literacy has been commonly defined as the ability to read and write at an adequate level of proficiency that is necessary for communication. However, as time goes by, literacy has started to refer to reading and writing at a level adequate for communication, or at a level that lets one understand and communicate ideas in a literate society, so as to take part in that society. Meanwhile, visual literacy is a set of abilities that enables an individual to effectively find, interpret, evaluate, use, and create images and visual media. This study aims to investigate the collaboration between visual literacy and literature, eventually to determine how visual literacy can enhance learner’s ability to comprehend literary texts such as poems and short stories and develop his intellectuality, especially critical and creative thinking skills, and also to find out the different impacts of literature in visual literacy at four levels of education: pre-school, primary and secondary schools and university. This study is based on Malaysian environment and involves a qualitative method consisting of observation and interviews. The initial findings show that people with different levels of education grasp visual literacy differently but all levels show outstanding impacts of using literature.

Keywords: visual literacy, literature, language studies, higher education

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Authors: Manuel Iretzberger

Abstract:

This paper aims to uncover the ideological aspects in the political thought of Carl Schmitt, who is enjoying an ever-increasing popularity in various academic fields, following in the wake of rising interest in questions of sovereignty and legitimacy. Given Schmitt’s biography, i.e. his role as the ‘Crown Jurist of the Third Reich’ (Gurian), an extraordinarily thorough examination is necessary; however, instead of merely ‘deconstructing’ his works, certain ontological truths he might have attained, shall be taken seriously. To this end, his notions of politics and the state of exception are scrutinized, which are indeed considered intriguing, yet prove to be enigmatic and impalpable at the core when read closely. In order to explain this conjuncture, both Schmitt’s philosophy of history and his ‘secret discussion’ (Agamben) with Walter Benjamin are depicted. As it turns out – it is argued – his concept of the Political has to be conceived of as embedded in a much broader context: In a post-transcendental, immanent age, he regards traditional modes of representation as no longer feasible and clings to authoritarianism as a surrogate – his Catholicism plays a decisive role here, forcing him to inject normatively biased assumptions into his political writings. Seeing Schmitt perform ‘rearguard action’ not only serves to disarm his work of most of its menacing aura, it also allows drawing conclusions about ways of legitimatizing democratic rule in modern times, as the paper tries to outline in its last section.

Keywords: Benjamin, history, immanence, Schmitt, sovereignty

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Authors: Philip Rose, Markus Linke, David Busquets

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The distinction between interlaminar and intralaminar fracture toughness has already been investigated by several authors. For loading mode I, the double cantilever beam specimens were often used for the interlaminar fracture toughness and the compact tension specimen for the intralaminar fracture toughness. In order to minimize the influence of the different specimen geometries, a method was developed which allows the determination of both the interlaminar and the intralaminar fracture toughness on an almost identical specimen geometry. However, as this method is not applicable to prepreg semi-finished products, a further modification was developed, which is also suitable for prepreg laminates. After the successful application for the investigation of mode I with this method, the application of the method for loading mode II is presented in this paper. In addition to manufacturing differences, due to an additional fiber ply in which the controlled crack growth takes place, the adapted test procedure is also explained. By comparing the test results of standardized end-notched flexure (ENF) specimens with those of the modified ENF specimen, the difference between the interlaminar and intralaminar fracture toughness of the material Hexply 8552/IM7 is shown.

Keywords: ENF, fracture toughness, interlaminar, mode II

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Authors: David S. Rosenstein

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The author believes that modern spoken languages should be equally difficult (or easy) to learn, since all normal children learning their native languages do so at approximately the same rate and with the same competence, progressing from easy to more complex grammar and syntax in the same way. Why then, do some languages seem more difficult than others? Perhaps people are referring to the written language, where it may be true that mastering Chinese requires more time than French, which in turn requires more time than Spanish. But this may be marginal, since Chinese and French children quickly catch up to their Spanish peers in reading comprehension. Rather, the real differences in difficulty derive from two sources: hardened L1 language habits trying to cope with contrasting L2 habits; and unfamiliarity with unique L2 characteristics causing faulty expectations. It would seem that effective L2 teaching and learning must take these two sources of difficulty into consideration. The author feels that the latter (faulty expectations) causes the greatest difficulty, making effective teaching and learning somewhat different for each given foreign language. Examples from Chinese and other languages are presented.

Keywords: learning different languages, language learning difficulties, faulty language expectations

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Authors: Ayşe Çoban, Orhan Çoban, Murat Birekul

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In this study, the effects of radio frequency identification system on the retailing sector were theoretically analysed. The technology of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a method enabling to identify the objects individually and automatically, using radio frequency. RFID generally consists of a tag and reader. RFID tags can be programmed to receive, store, and send the information of object such as Electronic Product Code (EPC). Having read the tags placed on product by the reader, the information associated with the management of supply chain can be automatically recorded and replaced. Recently, RFID technology used in many areas has particularly important effects on the businesses that are active in the retailing sector. The most important disadvantage of this technology is that the cost of installation and operation is higher compared to its alternatives. However, it provides important advantages to the business enterprises in the application process. At present, it is especially adopted by the large sized enterprises and with chain stores in the international areas. The application results point out that RFID technology provides business enterprises with the important competitive advantage.

Keywords: RFID, retailing sector, RFID technologies, electronic product code

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Authors: Jeyaseelan Maria Michael

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This study investigated the prevalence of cyberbullying among college female students and its effects on their psychological well-being. The respondents were from the age group of 17 and 18, doing the first-year college in Tamilnadu, India. In this study, 110 participants were selected through simple random sampling. The standardized questionnaire of David Alvare-Garcia’s Cybervictimization Questionnaire for Adolescents (CYVIC) and Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being (PWB) were administered for data collection. CYVIC has four subdomains namely, impersonation, visual-sexual cybervictimization, written-verbal cybervictimization, online exclusion. Ryff’s PWB has six domains namely, autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self- acceptance. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS v.23. The results indicate that cyberbullying prevails among college female students (M=1.24, SD= .21). Among the participants, 17 are scored one standard deviation above the mean (1.45). Among the subdomains of the CYVIC, the respondents have the highest score (M=1.40, SD= .38) in written-verbal cybervictimization. Cyber victimization has a significant correlation at the 0.01 level with psychological well-being.

Keywords: college students, cyberbullying, cyber victimization, psychological well-being

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Authors: Seo-Hee Kim, Kee-Won Kim, Seung-Hoon Kim

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The most important elements of a novel are the characters, events and background. The background represents the time, place and situation that character appears, and conveys event and atmosphere more realistically. If readers have the proper knowledge about background of novels, it may be helpful for understanding the atmosphere of a novel and choosing a novel that readers want to read. In this paper, we are targeting Korean historical novels because spatio-temporal background especially performs an important role in historical novels among the genre of Korean novels. To the best of our knowledge, we could not find previous study that was aimed at Korean novels. In this paper, we build a Korean historical national dictionary. Our dictionary has historical places and temple names of kings over many generations as well as currently existing spatial words or temporal words in Korean history. We also present a method for recognizing spatio-temporal background based on patterns of phrasal words in Korean sentences. Our rules utilize postposition for spatial background recognition and temple names for temporal background recognition. The knowledge of the recognized background can help readers to understand the flow of events and atmosphere, and can use to visualize the elements of novels.

Keywords: data mining, Korean historical novels, Korean linguistic feature, spatio-temporal background

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Authors: Catherine Cheetam, Alan Harper, Melody Elliott, Mika Ito

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This paper describes a pilot study conducted with English as a foreign language (EFL) students at a private university in Japan who used graded readers and the MReader website in class or independently to enhance their English reading skills. Each semester students who read 100,000 words with MReader quizzes passed enter into the ‘MReader Challenge,’ a reading contest that recognizes students for their achievement. The study focused specifically on the attitudes of thirty-six EFL students who successfully completed the Challenge in the 2015 spring semester using graded readers and MReader, and their motivation to continue using English in the future. The attitudes of these students were measured using their responses to statements on a Likert scaled survey. Follow-up semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven students to gain additional insight into their opinions. The results from this study suggest that reading graded readers in general promoted intrinsic motivation among a majority of the participants. This study is preliminary and needs to be expanded and continued to assess the lasting impact of the extensive reading program. Limitations and future directions of the study are also summarized and discussed.

Keywords: attitudes, extensive, intrinsic, methodolgies, motivation, reading

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Authors: M. R. Aziz, W. Kuntjoro, N. V. David

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This paper presents the ballistic terminal study of the non-filled and water-filled aluminum tank. The objective was to determine the failure stages for both cases. The tank was impacted by fragment simulating projectile (FSP) with 260 m/s for non-filled and 972 m/s for water-filled. The aluminum tank was 3 mm thick, 150 mm wide and 750 mm long. The ends of the tank were closed with two polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) windows. The test was conducted at the Science and Technology Research Institute for Defense (STRIDE) Batu Arang, Selangor, Malaysia. The results showed four main stages for non-filled tank, which were first contact between FSP and the tank, partially perforated, fully perforated with FSP and plug still intact and lastly fully perforated with FSP and plug separated. Meanwhile, for the water-filled tank, there were seven main stages, which were first contact between FSP and the tank, partial perforation, full perforation, drag phase, cavity phase, bounce wave event and the collapse of the cavity.

Keywords: fragment simulating projectile, high speed camera, tensile test, terminal ballistic

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Authors: Victor Chomel, Maziyar Panahi, David Chavalarias

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Misinformation has taken an increasingly worrying place in social media. Propagation patterns are closely linked to the structure of communities. This study proposes a method of community analysis based on a combination of centrality indicators for the network and its main communities. The objective is to establish a link between the stability of the communities over time, the social ascension of its members internally, and the propagation of information in the community. To this end, data from the debates about global warming and political communities on Twitter have been collected, and several tens of millions of tweets and retweets have helped us better understand the structure of these communities. The quantification of this stability allows for the study of the propagation of information of any kind, including disinformation. Our results indicate that the most stable communities over time are the ones that enable the establishment of nodes capturing a large part of the information and broadcasting its opinions. Conversely, communities with a high turnover and social ascendancy only stabilize themselves strongly in the face of adversity and external events but seem to offer a greater diversity of opinions most of the time.

Keywords: community analysis, disinformation, misinformation, Twitter

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Authors: David J. Thomson, Joshua C. J. Chew

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Background: Syndrome of Irreversible Lithium-Effectuated Neurotoxicity (SILENT) is a rare complication of lithium toxicity that typically causes irreversible cerebellar dysfunction. These patients may require hemodialysis and extensive supports in the intensive care. Methods: A review was performed on the available literature of SILENT with a focus on current pathophysiological hypotheses and advances in treatment. Articles were restricted to the English language. Results: Although the exact mechanism is unclear, CNS demyelination, especially in the cerebellum, was seen on the brain biopsies of a proportion of patients. There is no definitive management of SILENT but instead current management is focused on primary and tertiary prevention – detection of those at risk, and rehabilitation post onset of neurological deficits. Conclusions: This review draws conclusions from a limited amount of available literature, most of which are isolated case reports. Greater awareness of SILENT and further investigation into the risk factors and pathogenesis are required so this serious and irreversible syndrome may be avoided.

Keywords: lithium toxicity, pathogenesis, SILENT, syndrome of irreversible lithium-effectuated neurotoxicity

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Authors: David Oyewumi Oyekunle, David Preston, Florence Ibeh

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The paper provides an overview of the impacts of the human dimension in project management and team management on projects, which is increasingly affecting the performance of organizations. Recognizing its crucial significance, the research focuses on analyzing the psychological and interpersonal dynamics within project teams. This research is highly significant in the dynamic field of project management, as it addresses important gaps and offers vital insights that align with the constantly changing demands of the profession. A case study was conducted at the University of Salford to examine how human activity affects project management and performance. The study employed a mixed methodology to gain a deeper understanding of the real-world experiences of the subjects and project teams. Data analysis procedures to address the research objectives included the deductive approach, which involves testing a clear hypothesis or theory, as well as descriptive analysis and visualization. The survey comprised a sample size of 40 participants out of 110 project management professionals, including staff and final students in the Salford Business School, using a purposeful sampling method. To mitigate bias, the study ensured diversity in the sample by including both staff and final students. A smaller sample size allowed for more in-depth analysis and a focused exploration of the research objective. Conflicts, for example, are intricate occurrences shaped by a multitude of psychological stimuli and social interactions and may have either a deterrent perspective or a positive perspective on project performance and project management productivity. The study identified conflict elements, including culture, environment, personality, attitude, individual project knowledge, team relationships, leadership, and team dynamics among team members, as crucial human activities to minimize conflict. The findings are highly significant in the dynamic field of project management, as they address important gaps and offer vital insights that align with the constantly changing demands of the profession. It provided project professionals with valuable insights that can help them create a collaborative and high-performing project environment. Uncovering human influence on project performance, effective communication, optimal team synergy, and a keen understanding of project scope are necessary for the management of projects to attain exceptional performance and efficiency. For the research to achieve the aims of this study, it was acknowledged that the productive dynamics of teams and strong group cohesiveness are crucial for effectively managing conflicts in a beneficial and forward-thinking manner. Addressing the identified human influence will contribute to a more sustainable project management approach and offer opportunities for exploration and potential contributions to both academia and practical project management.

Keywords: human dimension, project management, team dynamics, conflict resolution

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Authors: Murni Sianturi, Andreas Au Hurit

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The low level of Indigenous Papuan students’ literacy and numeracy in Merauke Regency-Indonesia needs to be considered. The development of a learnable storybook with pictures related to their lives might raise their curiosity to read. This study aimed to design a storybook as a complementary resource for the third graders using Indigenous Malind cultural approaches by employing research and development methods. The product developed was a thematic-integrative picture storybook using funds of knowledge from Indigenous students. All the book contents depicted Indigenous students’ lives and were in line with the national curriculum syllabus, specifically representing one sub-theme−multiplication topic. Multiplication material of grade 3 was modified in the form of a story, and at the end of the reading, students were given several multiplication exercises. Based on the results of the evaluation from the expert team, it was found that the average score was in the excellent category. The students’ and teacher’s responses to the storybook were very positive. Students were thrilled when reading this book and also effortlessly understood the concept of multiplication. Therefore, this book might be used as a companion book to the main book and serve as introductory reading material for students prior to discussing multiplication material.

Keywords: a picture storybook, funds of knowledge, Indigenous elementary students, literacy, numeracy

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Authors: Julio Kauss, Miguel Cadillo, David Mauricio

Abstract:

E-commerce is a business model that allows companies to optimize the processes of buying, selling, transferring goods and exchanging services through computer networks or the Internet. In Peru, the electronic commerce is used infrequently. This situation is due, in part to the fact that there is no model that allows companies to implement an e-commerce solution, which means that most SMEs do not have adequate knowledge to adapt to electronic commerce. In this work, a reference model is proposed for the implementation of an e-commerce solution in Peruvian SMEs in the retail sector. It consists of five phases: Business Analysis, Business Modeling, Implementation, Post Implementation and Results. The present model was validated in a SME of the Peruvian retail sector through the implementation of an electronic commerce platform, through which the company increased its sales through the delivery channel by 10% in the first month of deployment. This result showed that the model is easy to implement, is economical and agile. In addition, it allowed the company to increase its business offer, adapt to e-commerce and improve customer loyalty.

Keywords: e-commerce, retail, SMEs, reference model

Procedia PDF Downloads 290

Authors: Hua Tan, David Salamon

Abstract:

In this study, γ-Al2O3 powders doped with various amounts of iron were sintered via SPS process. Two heating modes – auto and manual mode were applied to observe the role of electrical induction on heating. Temperature, electric current, and pulse pattern were experimented with grade iron γ-Al2O3 powders. Phase transformation of γ to α -Al2O3 serves as a direct indicator of internal temperature, independently on measured outside temperature. That pulsing in SPS is also able to induce internal heating due to its strong electromagnetic field when dopants are conductive metals (e.g., iron) is proofed during SPS. Density and microstructure were investigated to explain the mechanism of induction heating. In addition, the role of electric pulsing and strong electromagnetic field on internal heating (induction heating) were compared and discussed. Internal heating by iron doping within electrically nonconductive samples is able to decrease sintering temperature and save energy, furthermore it is one explanation for unique features of this material fabrication technology.

Keywords: spark plasma sintering, induction heating, alumina, microstructure

Procedia PDF Downloads 313

Authors: Valerio D’Andrea

Abstract:

The GERmanium Detector Array (GERDA) experiment, located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) of INFN, searches for 0νββ of 76Ge. Germanium diodes enriched to ∼ 86 % in the double beta emitter 76Ge(enrGe) are exposed being both source and detectors of 0νββ decay. Neutrinoless double beta decay is considered a powerful probe to address still open issues in the neutrino sector of the (beyond) Standard Model of particle Physics. Since 2013, just after the completion of the first part of its experimental program (Phase I), the GERDA setup has been upgraded to perform its next step in the 0νββ searches (Phase II). Phase II aims to reach a sensitivity to the 0νββ decay half-life larger than 1026 yr in about 3 years of physics data taking. This exposing a detector mass of about 35 kg of enrGe and with a background index of about 10^−3 cts/(keV·kg·yr). One of the main new implementations is the liquid argon scintillation light read-out, to veto those events that only partially deposit their energy both in Ge and in the surrounding LAr. In this paper, the GERDA Phase II expected goals, the upgrade work and few selected features from the 2015 commissioning and 2016 calibration runs will be presented. The main Phase I achievements will be also reviewed.

Keywords: gerda, double beta decay, LNGS, germanium

Procedia PDF Downloads 350

Authors: Chia-Ching Tsai

Abstract:

In service delivery, interpersonal interaction is the key to customer satisfaction, and apparently, the factor of human is critical in service delivery. Besides, customers quite care about the consequences of co-recovery. Thus, this research focuses on service failure caused by other customers and uses a 2x2 factorial design to investigate the impact of consequence and level of service co-recovery on post-recovery satisfaction and repurchase intent. 150 undergraduates were recruited as participants, and assigned to one of the four cells randomly. Every participant was requested to read the scenario and then rated the post-recovery satisfaction and repurchase intent. The results show that under the condition of failed co-recovery, level of co-recovery has no effect on post-recovery satisfaction, while under the condition of successful co-recovery, high-level co-recovery causes significantly higher post-recovery satisfaction than low-level co-recovery. Moreover, post-recovery satisfaction has significantly positive impact on repurchase intent. In the system of service delivery, customers interact with other customers frequently. Therefore, comparing with the literature, this research focuses on the service failure caused by other customers. This research also supplies a better understanding of customers’ view on consequences of different levels of co-recovery, which is helpful for the practitioners to make use of co-recovery.

Keywords: service failure, service co-recovery, consequence of co-recovery, level of co-recovery, post-recovery satisfaction, repurchase intent

Procedia PDF Downloads 399