Search results for: democracy’s philosophical basis

Authors: Kassa Endalamaw Rewnu

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The variability properties of a quasar sample, spectroscopically complete to magnitude J = 22.0, are investigated on a time baseline of 2 years using three different photometric bands (U, J and F). The original sample was obtained using a combination of different selection criteria: colors, slitless spectroscopy and variability, based on a time baseline of 1 yr. The main goals of this work are two-fold: first, to derive the percentage of variable quasars on a relatively short time baseline; secondly, to search for new quasar candidates missed by the other selection criteria; and, thus, to estimate the completeness of the spectroscopic sample. In order to achieve these goals, we have extracted all the candidate variable objects from a sample of about 1800 stellar or quasi-stellar objects with limiting magnitude J = 22.50 over an area of about 0.50 deg2. We find that > 65% of all the objects selected as possible variables are either confirmed quasars or quasar candidates on the basis of their colors. This percentage increases even further if we exclude from our lists of variable candidates a number of objects equal to that expected on the basis of `contamination' induced by our photometric errors. The percentage of variable quasars in the spectroscopic sample is also high, reaching about 50%. On the basis of these results, we can estimate that the incompleteness of the original spectroscopic sample is < 12%. We conclude that variability analysis of data with small photometric errors can be successfully used as an efficient and independent (or at least auxiliary) selection method in quasar surveys, even when the time baseline is relatively short. Finally, when corrected for the different intrinsic time lags corresponding to a fixed observed time baseline, our data do not show a statistically significant correlation between variability and either absolute luminosity or redshift.

Keywords: nuclear activity, galaxies, active quasars, variability

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Authors: Jafar Ahmadi

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This research has been done as a discourse analysis of the concept of citizenship in textbooks in Iran. The purpose of this study is to identify the dominant citizenship discourse in textbooks in the content of textbooks. The research method in this research is qualitative and qualitative content analysis. The statistical sample was selected in a purposeful manner and according to the research topic of books related to Persian literature, religious education and social education. The selected theoretical framework of this research is the three theories of citizenship (pre-modern, modern and postmodern). For each of these discourses, components and indicators have been extracted that are the basis of data analysis. The research findings show that the dominant citizenship discourse on the content of Iranian textbooks is pre-modern discourse and is the basis of this type of religious citizenship discourse. Finally, the findings show that the government uses the institution of education to reproduce its power.

Keywords: citizenship, textbooks, discourse analysis, religious citizenship, representation

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Authors: To Quyen Le, Oswald Devisch, Tu Anh Trinh, Els Hannes

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Urban centres worldwide are affected differently by flooding. In Vietnam this impact is increasingly negative caused by a process of rapid urbanisation. Traditional spatial planning and flood mitigation planning are not able to deal with this growing threat. This article therefore proposes to focus on increasing the participation of local communities in flood control and management. It explores, on the basis of a design studio exercise, how lay knowledge on flooding can be integrated within planning processes. The article presents a theoretical basis for the structured criterion for site selection for a flood resilient urban park from the perspective of science, then discloses the tacit and explicit knowledge of the flood-prone area and finally integrates this knowledge into the design strategies for flood resilient urban park design.

Keywords: analytic hierarchy process, AHP, design resilience, flood resilient urban park, knowledge integration

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Authors: Tamriko Pavliashvili

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Marriage is such an important institution of family law, which is an indicator of the development of society. Although a family can be created by the birth of a child between an unmarried couple, marriage is still the main basis for the creation of a family, during which the rights and duties imposed require legal regulation. At present, in the conditions of globalization, there are different types of marriage, although, in the main countries, it is still a union of a woman and a man, which involves voluntary cohabitation and assuming and fulfilling the norms and responsibilities established on the basis of the law. Modern society is at the stage where there is a need to create a family, and therefore marriage provides the best opportunity for relationships and existence between people. The mentioned paper about the state institution - of marriage gives us the opportunity to get more information about the existing habits and legal norms from ancient times to the modern period in Georgia, and also through comparison, we will see what the differences and commonalities were and are in the marriage law of the countries of the world and Georgia.

Keywords: marriage, family law, the union of man and woman, church law, concubinage, registered marriage, impeding circumstances, positive and negative conditions of marriage

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Authors: Rajesh Chakraborty, Dibyendu Das, Rabindra Nath Barman, Uttam Kumar Mandal

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In the present study, the objective is to find out the most effective zone causing soil erosion in the Gumati river basin located in the state of Tripura, a north eastern state of India using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and multi-objective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis (MOORA).The watershed is segmented into 20 zones based on Area. The watershed is considered by pointing the maximum elevation from sea lever from Google earth. The soil erosion is determined using the universal soil loss equation. The different independent variables of soil loss equation bear different weightage for different soil zones. And therefore, to find the weightage factor for all the variables of soil loss equation like rainfall runoff erosivity index, soil erodibility factor etc, analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is used. And thereafter, multi-objective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis (MOORA) approach is used to select the most effective zone causing soil erosion. The MCDM technique concludes that the maximum soil erosion is occurring in the zone 14.

Keywords: soil erosion, analytic hierarchy process (AHP), multi criteria decision making (MCDM), universal soil loss equation (USLE), multi-objective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis (MOORA)

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Authors: Francielle A. Vargas, Thiago A. S. Pardo

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According to the standard philosophical definition, lying is saying something that you believe to be false with the intent to deceive. For deception detection, the FBI trains its agents in a technique named statement analysis, which attempts to detect deception based on parts of speech (i.e., linguistics style). This method is employed in interrogations, where the suspects are first asked to make a written statement. In this poster, we model false statements using linguistics style. In order to achieve this, we methodically analyze linguistic features in a corpus of fake news in the Portuguese language. The results show that they present substantial lexical, syntactic and semantic variations, as well as punctuation and emotion distinctions.

Keywords: deception detection, linguistics style, computational linguistics, natural language processing

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Authors: Jameela Ali, Hamid A. Jalab, Loay E. George, Abdul Rahim Ahmad, Azizah Suliman, Karim Al-Jashamy

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Red blood cells (RBC) are the most common types of blood cells and are the most intensively studied in cell biology. The lack of RBCs is a condition in which the amount of hemoglobin level is lower than normal and is referred to as “anemia”. Abnormalities in RBCs will affect the exchange of oxygen. This paper presents a comparative study for various techniques for classifyig the red blood cells as normal, or abnormal (anemic) using WEKA. WEKA is an open source consists of different machine learning algorithms for data mining applications. The algorithm tested are Radial Basis Function neural network, Support vector machine, and K-Nearest Neighbors algorithm. Two sets of combined features were utilized for classification of blood cells images. The first set, exclusively consist of geometrical features, was used to identify whether the tested blood cell has a spherical shape or non-spherical cells. While the second set, consist mainly of textural features was used to recognize the types of the spherical cells. We have provided an evaluation based on applying these classification methods to our RBCs image dataset which were obtained from Serdang Hospital-Malaysia, and measuring the accuracy of test results. The best achieved classification rates are 97%, 98%, and 79% for Support vector machines, Radial Basis Function neural network, and K-Nearest Neighbors algorithm respectively

Keywords: red blood cells, classification, radial basis function neural networks, suport vector machine, k-nearest neighbors algorithm

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Authors: Anu Malhotra

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An Ad-hoc network is one that is an autonomous, self configuring network made up of mobile nodes connected via wireless links. Ad-hoc networks often consist of nodes, mobile hosts (MH) or mobile stations (MS, also serving as routers) connected by wireless links. Different routing protocols are used for data transmission in between the nodes in an adhoc network. In this paper two protocols (OLSR and AODV) are analyzed on the basis of two parameters i.e. time delay and throughput with different data rates. On the basis of these analysis, we observed that with same data rate, AODV protocol is having more time delay than the OLSR protocol whereas throughput for the OLSR protocol is less compared to the AODV protocol.

Keywords: routing adhoc, mobile hosts, mobile stations, OLSR protocol, AODV protocol

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Authors: Dali Nikolaishvili, Nino Khareba, Mariam Tsitsagi

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Tbilisi has been a capital of Georgia since the 5ᵗʰ century. City area was covered by forest in historical past. Nowadays the situation has been changing dramatically. Dozens of problems are caused by damages/destruction of green cover and solution, at one glance, seems to be uncomplicated (planting trees and creating green quarters), but on the other hand, according to the increasing tendency, the built up of areas still remains unsolved. Finding out the ways to overcome such obstacles is important even for protecting the health of society. Making of Retrospective cartography of the forest area of Tbilisi with use of GIS technology and remote sensing was the main aim of the research. Research about the dynamic of forest-cover in Tbilisi and its surroundings included the following steps: assessment of the dynamic of forest in Tbilisi and its surroundings. The survey was mainly based on the retrospective mapping method. Using of GIS technology, studying, comparing and identifying the narrative sources was the next step. And the last one was analyzed of the changes from the 80s to the present days on the basis of decryption of remotely sensed images. After creating a unified cartographic basis, the mapping and plans of different periods have been linked to this geodatabase. Data about green parks, individual old plants existing in the private yards and respondents' Information (according to a questionnaire created in advance) was added to the basic database, the general plan of Tbilisi and Scientific works as well. On the basis of analysis of historic, including cartographic sources, forest-cover maps for different periods of time were made. In addition, was made the catalog of individual green parks (location, area, typical composition, name and so on), which was the basis of creating several thematic maps. Areas with a high rate of green area degradation were identified. Several maps depicting the dynamics of forest cover of Tbilisi were created and analyzed. The methods of linking the data of the old cartographic sources to the modern basis were developed too, the result of which may be used in Urban Planning of Tbilisi. Understanding, perceiving and analyzing the real condition of green cover in Tbilisi and its problems, in turn, will help to take appropriate measures for the maintenance of ancient plants, to develop forests and to plan properly parks, squares, and recreational sites. Because the healthy environment is the main condition of human health and implies to the rational development of the city.

Keywords: catalogue of green area, GIS, historical cartography, cartography, remote sensing, Tbilisi

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Authors: Martin Bloomfield

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This paper examines frictions that lie at the heart of any pragmatist conception of religion and moral progress. I take moral progress to require the ability to correctly analyse social problems, provide workable solutions to these problems, and then rationally justify the analyses and solutions used. I take religion here to involve, as a minimal requirement, belief in the existence of God, a god, or gods, such that they are recognisable to most informed observers within the Western tradition. I take pragmatism to belong to, and borrow from, the philosophical traditions of non-absolutism, anti-realism, historicism, and voluntarism. For clarity, the relevant brands of each of these traditions will be examined during the paper. The friction identified in the title may be summed up as follows: those who, like Cornel West (and, when he was alive, Hilary Putnam), are theistic pragmatists with an interest in realising moral progress, have all been aware of a problem inherent in their positions. Assuming it can be argued that religion and moral progress are compatible, a non-absolutist, anti-realist, historicist position nevertheless raises problems that, as Leon Wieseltier pointed out, the pragmatist still believes in a God who isn’t real, and that the truth of any religious statement (including “God exists”) is relative not to any objective reality but to communities of engaged interlocutors; and that, where there are no absolute standards of right and wrong, any analysis of (and solution to) social problems can only be rationally justified relative to one or another community or moral and epistemic framework. Attempts made to universalise these frameworks, notably by Dewey, Gadamer, and Bernstein, through democracy and hermeneutics, fall into either a vicious and infinite regress, or (taking inspiration from Habermas) the problem of moral truths being decided through structures of power. The paper removes this friction by highlighting the work of Christian pragmatist Cornel West through the lens of the philosopher of religion Eleanore Stump. While West recognises that for the pragmatist, the correctness of any propositions about God or moral progress is impossible to rationally justify to any outside the religious, moral or epistemic framework of the speakers themselves without, as he calls it, a ‘locus of truth’ (which is itself free from the difficulties Dewey, Gadamer and Bernstein fall victim to), Stump identifies routes to knowledge which provide such a locus while avoiding the problems of relativism, power dynamics, and regress. She describes “Dominican” and “Franciscan” knowledge (roughly characterised as “propositional” and “non-propositional”), and uses this distinction to identify something Bernstein saw as missing from Gadamer: culture-independent norms, upon which universal agreement can be built. The “Franciscan knowledge” Stump identifies as key is second-personal knowledge of Christ. For West, this allows the knower to access vital culture-independent norms. If correct, instead of the classical view (religion is incompatible with pragmatism), Christianity becomes key to pragmatist knowledge and moral-knowledge claims. Rather than being undermined by pragmatism, Christianity enables pragmatists to make moral and epistemic claims, free from troubling power dynamics and cultural relativism.

Keywords: Cornel West, Cultural Relativism, Gadamer, Philosophy of Religion, Pragmatism

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Authors: B. Schmid, C. Kexel, E. Djafarova

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Understanding consumers is elementary for practitioners in marketing. Consumers of sports events, the sports spectators, are a particularly complex consumer crowd. In order to identify and define their profiles different segmentation approaches can be found in literature, one of them being multidimensional segmentation. Multidimensional segmentation models correspond to the broad range of attitudes, behaviours, motivations and beliefs of sports spectators, other than earlier models. Moreover, in sports there are some well-researched disciplines (e.g. football or North American sports) where consumer profiles and marketing strategies are elaborate and others where no research at all can be found. For example, there is almost no research on athletics spectators. This paper explores the current state of research on sports spectators segmentation. An in-depth literature review provides the framework for a spectators segmentation in athletics. On this basis, additional potential consumer groups and implications for social media marketing will be explored. The findings are the basis for further research.

Keywords: multidimensional segmentation, social media, sports marketing, sports spectators segmentation

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Authors: Olurankinse Felix, Fatukasi Bayo

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Over the years, the medium through which government financial statements are prepared has been on cash basis of accounting. This basis was characterised with some shortcomings ranging from non- disclosure of quality and detail information relating to government financial transactions, ill informed assessment of government resource allocation, weak internal control system that inhibits accountability and transparency and non- standardisation of reporting ethics for the purpose of comparability. The emergence of international public sector accounting standards (IPSAS) is therefore seen as leverage as it aims at improving the quality of general purpose financial reporting by public sector entities thereby increasing transparency and accountability. IPSAS is a new concept that all institutions must fully adopts. The crux of this paper is to find out to what extent is the awareness and adoption of IPSAS to both students and lecturers interms of teaching, learning and inclusion in the curriculum of accounting education. The methodology involved the use of well designed questionnaires to obtain information from some selected institutions and the analysis was done with the use of maximum likelihood ordered probit regression. The result of the analysis shows that despite a high level of sensitisation/awareness of IPSAS, the degree of adoption is still low due to low level of desirability by students and lecturers. The paper recommend the need for the government to enact an enabling law to back up the adoption and more importantly to institute appropriate sanctions to ensure full compliance.

Keywords: assessment, awareness, adoption, IPSAS, cash basis

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Authors: K. G. Sorokozherdyev, E. A. Efimov

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The socio-economic development of regions and countries is an important research issue. Today, in the face of many negative events in the global and regional economies, it is especially important to identify those areas that can serve as sources of economic growth and the basis for the well-being of the population. This study aims to identify the most important sectors of the economy of the Arkhangelsk region that can contribute to the socio-economic development of the region as a whole. For research, the Arkhangelsk region was taken as one of the typical Russian regions that do not have significant reserves of hydrocarbons nor there are located any large industrial complexes. In this regard, the question of possible origins of economic growth seems especially relevant. The basis of this study constitutes the distributed lag regression model (ADL model) developed by the authors, which is based on quarterly data on the socio-economic development of the Arkhangelsk region for the period 2004-2016. As a result, we obtained three equations reflecting the dynamics of three indicators of the socio-economic development of the region -the average wage, the regional GRP, and the birth rate. The influencing factors are the shares in GRP of such sectors as agriculture, mining, manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants, as well as the financial sector. The study showed that the greatest influence on the socio-economic development of the region is exerted by such industries as wholesale and retail trade, construction, and industrial sectors. The study can be the basis for forecasting and modeling the socio-economic development of the Arkhangelsk region in the short and medium term. It also can be helpful while analyzing the effectiveness of measures aimed at stimulating those or other industries of the region. The model can be used in developing a regional development strategy.

Keywords: regional economic development, regional sectoral structure, ADL model, Arkhangelsk region

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Authors: Sultan Noman Qasem

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This paper presents an evolutionary algorithm for solving multi-objective optimization problems-based artificial neural network (ANN). The multi-objective evolutionary algorithm used in this study is genetic algorithm while ANN used is radial basis function network (RBFN). The proposed algorithm named memetic elitist Pareto non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-based RBFNN (MEPGAN). The proposed algorithm is implemented on medical diseases problems. The experimental results indicate that the proposed algorithm is viable, and provides an effective means to design multi-objective RBFNs with good generalization capability and compact network structure. This study shows that MEPGAN generates RBFNs coming with an appropriate balance between accuracy and simplicity, comparing to the other algorithms found in literature.

Keywords: radial basis function network, hybrid learning, multi-objective optimization, genetic algorithm

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Authors: Shabnam Dadparvar, Laijin Shen, Farzad Ravanbod

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Regarding the issues that are currently happening in the world, more than any other time the differences between West and Islam is under discussion. The cultural relations between Islam and the West took a drastically new turn when Europe arose as the dominant and unchallenged force of the modern era. The author, by using descriptive- analytical method, tries to analyse one of the most controversial questions facing analysts of relations between the Islamic world and the West: What are the roots of the conflict? This paper addresses the history of the intellectual tradition of the West and the attitude of Muslim world regarding the rise of western modernity. Also, the differences between two groups on philosophical foundations such as religion, power, science and humanism will be explained. The author believes that the real difference between the West and Islam is epistemological.

Keywords: civilization, culture, Islam, West

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Authors: Guelfo Carbone

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The paper focuses on Heidegger’s 1919-1920 early research in order to point out his hermeneutical phenomenology of the life-world, arguing that the concept of world (Welt) is the main philosophical trigger for the phenomenology of factical life. Accordingly, the argument of the paper is twofold: First, the phenomenological hermeneutics of facticity is preceded both chronologically and philosophically by an original phenomenological investigation of the life-world, in which the world is construed as the context of the givenness of life. Second, the phenomenology of life-world anticipates the question of being (Seinsfrage), but it also follows it, once this latter is shattered, the question of world as event remaining at the very core of Heidegger’s last meditations on the dominion of technology and the post-metaphysical abode of human beings on earth.

Keywords: Heidegger, hermeneutics, life-world, phenomenology

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Authors: Giorgio Visentin, Alexei A. Buchachenko

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Recent proposals to use Yb dimer as an optical clock and as a sensor for non-Newtonian gravity imply the knowledge of its interaction potential. Here, the ground-state Born-Oppenheimer Yb₂ potential energy curve is represented by a semi-analytical function, consisting of short- and long-range contributions. For the former, the systematic ab initio all-electron exact 2-component scalar-relativistic CCSD(T) calculations are carried out. Special care is taken to saturate diffuse basis set component with the atom- and bond-centered primitives and reach the complete basis set limit through n = D, T, Q sequence of the correlation-consistent polarized n-zeta basis sets. Similar approaches are used to the long-range dipole and quadrupole dispersion terms by implementing the CCSD(3) polarization propagator method for dynamic polarizabilities. Dispersion coefficients are then computed through Casimir-Polder integration. The semiclassical constraint on the number of the bound vibrational levels known for the ¹⁷⁴Yb isotope is used to scale the potential function. The scaling, based on the most accurate ab initio results, bounds the interaction energy of two Yb atoms within the narrow 734 ± 4 cm⁻¹ range, in reasonable agreement with the previous ab initio-based estimations. The resulting potentials can be used as the reference for more sophisticated models that go beyond the Born-Oppenheimer approximation and provide the means of their uncertainty estimations. The work is supported by Russian Science Foundation grant # 17-13-01466.

Keywords: ab initio coupled cluster methods, interaction potential, semi-analytical function, ytterbium dimer

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Authors: Hilmi Yazici

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Just after Ottoman period, new more homogenic republic was struggling to form a national identity and dealing with the cultural and historical background of the nation. This new republic had an aim of modernization and westernization which started in the late ottoman period. In this process, the culture was an important basis to form a new nation and it clearly put forward that the new citizens of the new national republic are to have a modern and national culture. The result of this aimed change was to find the Turkish culture suppressed among the common people of the Anatolia and to take the western modernization and breed this with national culture. So in this context, we can say that this approach separated the people from ottoman culture and its roots to empower the national identity. Repeatedly, it may be said that Turkish folkloric music was an important basis for the new revolution, on the other hand classical Turkish music was alienated with the idea that it didn’t belong to Turkish culture. So the aim of this study is to determine how these efforts to nationalize a new identity and culture was successful and conscious intervention to folkloric Turkish music became efficient.

Keywords: opera, nationalism in music, Turkish music

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Authors: Paulo Castro, J. R. Croca, M. Gatta, R. Moreira

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Owing to the development of quantum mechanics, we will contextualize the foundations of the theory on the Fourier analysis framework, thus stating the unavoidable philosophical conclusions drawn by Niels Bohr. We will then introduce an alternative way of describing the undulatory aspects of quantum entities by using gaussian Morlet wavelets. The description has its roots in de Broglie's realistic program for quantum physics. It so happens that using wavelets it is possible to formulate a more general set of uncertainty relations. A set from which it is possible to theoretically describe both ends of the behavioral spectrum in reality: the indeterministic quantum trajectorial foam and the perfectly drawn Newtonian trajectories.

Keywords: philosophy of quantum mechanics, quantum realism, morlet wavelets, uncertainty relations, determinism

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Authors: Jiwan Kumar, Pooja, Sandeep Negi, Anjum Rouf, Amit Kumar, Naveen Lakra

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In modern times where, health issues are increasing day by day, breast cancer is also one of them, which is very crucial and really important to find in the early stages. Doctors can use this model in order to tell their patients whether a cancer is not harmful (benign) or harmful (malignant). We have used the knowledge of machine learning in order to produce the model. we have used algorithms like Logistic Regression, Random forest, support Vector Classifier, Bayesian Network and Radial Basis Function. We tried to use the data of crucial parts and show them the results in pictures in order to make it easier for doctors. By doing this, we're making ML better at finding breast cancer, which can lead to saving more lives and better health care.

Keywords: Bayesian network, radial basis function, ensemble learning, understandable, data making better, random forest, logistic regression, breast cancer

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Authors: Kurmet Kivipõld, Maaja Vadi

Abstract:

Current paper develops the conceptual framework for organizational leadership capability. Organizational leadership here is understood as collective multi-level phenomenon which has been embedded into organizational processes as a capability at the level of the entire organization. The paper analyses and systematises the theo¬retical approaches to multi-level leadership in existing literature. This analysis marks the foundation of collective leadership at the organizational level, which forms the basis for the development of the conceptual framework of organi¬zational leadership capability. The developed conceptual framework of organiza¬tional leadership capability is formed from the synthesis of the three groups of base theories – traditional leadership theories, the resource-based view from strategic management and complexity theory from system theories. These conceptual sources present the main characteristics that determine the nature of organizational leadership capability and are the basis for its mea¬surement.

Keywords: leadership, organizational capability, organizational leadership, resource-based view, system theory

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Authors: Alh Rauf Bello Bella

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The main purpose of citizenship education if properly executed is to create awareness and enlightenment in the society to bring tolerance and political unity among the people. For the citizenry to have a meaningful participation for the achievement of this objective in a modern society where democracy thrives, all citizens should also have access to information on all matters affecting their lives and well-being. The paper therefore examines the scope of citizenship education and the complementary role of information providers in the quest for political socialization and national unity. It emphasizes some issues of national unity which should be addressed through proper enlightenment of the citizenry and access to relevant and timely information at the grassroots.

Keywords: citizenship education, national unity, political socialization, Nigeria

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Authors: Rohita Gupta, G. S. Brah, R. Verma, C. S. Mukhopadhayay

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Although chicken strains show differences in susceptibility to a number of diseases, the underlying immunological basis is yet to be elucidated. In the present study, heterophils were subjected to LPS stimulation and total RNA extraction, further differential gene expression was studied in broiler, layer and indigenous Aseel strain by Real Time RT-PCR at different time periods before and after induction. The expression of the 14 AvBDs and chTLR 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 15 and 21 was detectable in heterophils. The expression level of most of the AvBDs significantly increased (P<0.05) 3 hours post in vitro lipopolysaccharide challenge. Higher expression level and stronger activation of most AvBDs, NFkB-1 and IRF-3 in heterophils was observed with the stimulation of LPS in layer compared to broiler, and in Aseel compared to both layer and broiler. This investigation will allow more refined interpretation of immuno-genetic basis of the variable disease resistance/susceptibility in divergent stock of chicken including indigenous breed. Moreover, this study will be helpful in formulation of strategy for isolation of antimicrobial peptides from heterophils.

Keywords: differential expression, heterophils, cytokines, defensin, TLR

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Authors: Chapman Eze Nnadozie

Abstract:

Cloud computing, a technology that is made possible through virtualization within networks represents a shift from the traditional ownership of infrastructure and other resources by distinct organization to a more scalable pattern in which computer resources are rented online to organizations on either as a pay-as-you-use basis or by subscription. In other words, cloud computing entails the renting of computing resources (such as storage space, memory, servers, applications, networks, etc.) by a third party to its clients on a pay-as-go basis. It is a new innovative technology that is globally embraced because of its renowned benefits, profound of which is its cost effectiveness on the part of organizations engaged with its services. In Nigeria, the services are provided either directly to companies mostly by the key IT players such as Microsoft, IBM, and Google; or in partnership with some other players such as Infoware, Descasio, and Sunnet. This action enables organizations to rent IT resources on a pay-as-you-go basis thereby salvaging them from wastages accruable on acquisition and maintenance of IT resources such as ownership of a separate data centre. This paper intends to appraise the challenges of cloud computing adoption in Nigeria, bearing in mind the country’s peculiarities’ in terms of infrastructural development. The methodologies used in this paper include the use of research questionnaires, formulated hypothesis, and the testing of the formulated hypothesis. The major findings of this paper include the fact that there are some addressable challenges to the adoption of cloud computing in Nigeria. Furthermore, the country will gain significantly if the challenges especially in the area of infrastructural development are well addressed. This is because the research established the fact that there are significant gains derivable by the adoption of cloud computing by organizations in Nigeria. However, these challenges can be overturned by concerted efforts in the part of government and other stakeholders.

Keywords: cloud computing, data centre, infrastructure, it resources, virtualization

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Authors: Lisdey Espinoza Pedraza

Abstract:

Organised crime in Mexico evolves faster that our capacity to understand and explain it. Organised gangs have become successful entrepreneurs in many ways ad they have somehow mimicked the working ways of the authorities and in many cases, they have successfully infiltrated the governmental spheres. This business model is only possible under a clear scheme of rampant impunity. Impunity, however, is not exclusive to the PRI. Nor the PRI, PAN, or PRD can claim the monopoly of corruption, but what is worse is that none can claim full honesty in their acts either. The current security crisis in Mexico shows a crisis in the Mexican political party system. Corruption today is not only a problem of dishonesty and the correct use of public resources. It is the principal threat to Mexican democracy, governance, and national security.

Keywords: security, war on drugs, drug trafficking, Mexico, Latin America, United States

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Authors: Minjeoung Kim

Abstract:

Since women obtained the right to vote in 1893 for the first time in New Zealand, they have tried to participate actively into politics but still the world has a few women in political leadership. The article asks which factors might influence the appearance of women leadership in politics. The article investigates two factors such as political context, personal factors. Countries where economic development is stable and political democracy is consolidated have a tendency of appearance of women political leadership but in less developed and politically unstable countries, women politicians can be in power with their own reasons. For the personal factor, their feminist propensity is studied but there is no relationship between the appearance of women leaders and their feminist propensity.

Keywords: women political leadership, political context, slow track, transitory countries, feminist propensity

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Authors: Ewa Rak

Abstract:

This paper is part of a broader research project on employee development in small enterprises, financed by Polish National Science Centre. The project results will serve as basis for a doctoral dissertation. The paper utilises literature studies and qualitative research conducted in small enterprises operating in the Lower Silesia region of Poland. This paper aims to identify some of the factors that stimulate employee development in small companies operating in Poland. The great variety of business pursuits and applications represented by this sector makes it hard to determine a universal configuration of factors to offer best possible conditions for employee development. Research results suggest that each of the examined companies had one or two of such factors in focus, and serving as the basis for the entire pro-development system. These include: employment security (both for employee and entrepreneur) and extensive knowledge and experience of entrepreneurs, but only if it is combined with a willingness and ability to share it.

Keywords: employee development, factors that stimulate employee development, human resources development, Poland, small enterprises, training

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Authors: Yosra Baaziz, Moez Labidi

Abstract:

Given limited research on monetary policy rules in revolutionary countries, this paper challenges the suitability of the Taylor rule in characterizing the monetary policy behavior of the Tunisian Central Bank (BCT), especially in turbulent times. More specifically, we investigate the possibility that the Taylor rule should be formulated as a threshold process and examine the validity of such nonlinear Taylor rule as a robust rule for conducting monetary policy in Tunisia. Using quarterly data from 1998:Q4 to 2013:Q4 to analyze the movement of nominal short-term interest rate of the BCT, we find that the nonlinear Taylor rule improves its performance with the advent of special events providing thus a better description of the Tunisian interest rate setting. In particular, our results show that the adoption of an appropriate nonlinear approach leads to a reduction in the errors of 150 basis points in 1999 and 2009, and 60 basis points in 2011, relative to the linear approach.

Keywords: policy rule, central bank, exchange rate, taylor rule, nonlinearity

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Authors: V. Tabrizi, A. Vali, R. GHasemi, V. Behnamgol

Abstract:

In this article, a nonlinear model of an under actuated six degrees of freedom (6 DOF) quadrotor UAV is derived on the basis of the Newton-Euler formula. The derivation comprises determining equations of the motion of the quadrotor in three dimensions and approximating the actuation forces through the modeling of aerodynamic coefficients and electric motor dynamics. The robust nonlinear control strategy includes a smooth second order non-singular terminal sliding mode control which is applied to stabilizing this model. The control method is on the basis of super twisting algorithm for removing the chattering and producing smooth control signal. Also, nonsingular terminal sliding mode idea is used for introducing a nonlinear sliding variable that guarantees the finite time convergence in sliding phase. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is robust against uncertainty or disturbance and guarantees a fast and precise control signal.

Keywords: quadrotor UAV, nonsingular terminal sliding mode, second order sliding mode t, electronics, control, signal processing

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Authors: Aldona Anna Osajda

Abstract:

Suicide is a phenomenon that worries both the public and scientists in various fields. In society, suicide is a taboo subject, and in addition, there are many myths and stereotypes that are detrimental to the proper understanding and appropriate response of a person at risk of suicide. It is necessary to educate society and the suicide prevention system for various age groups. The research covers the level of knowledge and views of Polish society, including teachers and youth, regarding suicides. The main research problem is to establish the level of awareness of Polish society about the phenomenon of suicides. The study will be based on the diagnostic survey method, using the survey technique. Information about the research will be disseminated electronically on the Internet via social messaging. The collected data will be analyzed using appropriate statistics. On the basis of the obtained results, answers will be given to research questions, which will become the basis for designing an appropriate educational strategy for the society in the field of suicide and developing recommendations and recommendations for teachers to conduct classes in the field of suicide prevention for children and adolescents.

Keywords: phenomenon of suicides, suicide, suicide prevention, suicidology

Procedia PDF Downloads 173