Search results for: analytical tools

Authors: Ana Hol

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Study and work operations are being transformed with the uses of technologies and are consequently becoming global. This paper outlines lessons learned based on the international study tour that Australian Bachelor of Information Systems students undertook. This research identifies that for the study tour to be successful, students need to gain skills that global citizens require. For example, students will need to gain an understanding of local cultures, local customs and habits. Furthermore, students would also need to gain an understanding of how a field of their future career expertise operates in the host country, how study and business are conducted internationally, which tools and technologies are currently being utilized on a global scale, what trends drive future developments world-wide and how business negotiations and collaborations are being undertaken across borders. Furthermore, this research provides a guide to educators who are planning, guiding and running study tours as it outlines the requirements of having a pre-tour preparatory session, carefully planned and executed tour itineraries and post-tour sessions during which students can reflect on their experiences and lessons learned so that they can apply them to future international business visits and ventures.

Keywords: global education, international experiences, international study tours, students as global citizens, student centered education,

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Authors: Samanwita Paul

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Borrowing from Kabeer’s framework of empowerment, participation of women at Panchayat level politics (grassroots level of politics in India) has been conceptualized as a resource in the study and the impact of the same in influencing the policies at the grassroots as an agency. The study attempts to examine such intricacies in the dynamics of participation and policy formulation at the Panchayat level and to assess its overall impact in altering the recognition and redistribution of women. A conscious attempt has been made to go beyond formal politics and consider participants of the informal political processes as subjects of the study. Primary surveys were conducted for data collection in 4 Panchayat villages (from Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal) of which 2 wards from each were selected based on the nature of reservation of the panchayat seats. In-depth interviews with the Panchayat members and an approximate of 80 voters from each of the villages were conducted. This has been further analyzed with the aid of appropriate statistical tools and narratives. Preliminary findings show that women from vulnerable sections tend to participate more in the political process since it offers them a means of negotiating with their vulnerabilities however in case of its impact on policy formulation, the effect of women’s participation does to appear to be as profound.

Keywords: recognition, redistribution, political participation, women

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Authors: Fahad Al-Mufadi, F. Djavanroodi

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Ultrafine grained (UFG) and nanostructured (NS) materials have experienced a rapid development during the last decade and made profound impact on every field of materials science and engineering. The present work has been undertaken to develop ultra-fine grained pure copper by severe plastic deformation method and to examine the impact property by different characterizing tools. For this aim, equal channel angular pressing die with the channel angle, outer corner angle and channel diameter of 90°, 17° and 20 mm had been designed and manufactured. Commercial pure copper billets were ECAPed up to four passes by route BC at the ambient temperature. The results indicated that there is a great improvement at the hardness measurement, yield strength and ultimate tensile strength after ECAP process. It is found that the magnitudes of HV reach 136HV from 52HV after the final pass. Also, about 285% and 125% enhancement at the YS and UTS values have been obtained after the fourth pass as compared to the as-received conditions, respectively. On the other hand, the elongation to failure and impact energy have been reduced by imposing ECAP process and pass numbers. It is needed to say that about 56% reduction in the impact energy have been attained for the samples as contrasted to annealed specimens.

Keywords: SPD, ECAP, pure cu, impact property

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Authors: Victor Pesco Kassa

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This research deals with the assessment of the contribution of GIS Technology in NRW. This research was conducted at Dar, Kawe Mzimuni Street. The data collection was obtained from existing source which is DAWASA HQ. The interpretation of the data was processed by using ArcGIS software. The data collected from the existing source reveals a good coverage of DAWASA’s water network at Mzimuni Street. Most of residents are connected to the DAWASA’s customer service. Also the collected data revealed that by using GIS DAWASA’s customer Geodatabase has been improved. Through GIS we can prepare customer location map purposely for site surveying also this map will be able to show different type of customer that are connected to DAWASA’s water service. This is a perfect contribution of the GIS Technology to address and manage the problem of NRW in DAWASA. Finally, the study recommends that the same study should be conducted in other DAWASA’s zones such as Temeke, Boko and Bagamoyo not only at Kawe Mzimuni Street. Through this study it is observed that ArcGIS software can offer powerful tools for managing and processing information geographically and in water and sanitation authorities such as DAWASA.

Keywords: DAWASA, NRW, Esri, EURA, ArcGIS

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Authors: Seba Quqandi

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This study investigates the bond that people form using their assistive devices and the tactics applied during the product design process to help improve the user experience leading to a long-term product relationship. The aim is to develop a conceptual framework with which to describe and analyze the bond people form with their assistive devices and to integrate human emotions as a factor during the development of the product design process. The focus will be on the assistive technology market, namely, the Aid-For-Daily-Living market for situational impairments, to increase the quality of wellbeing. Findings will help us better understand the real issues of the product experience concerning people’s interaction throughout the product performance, establish awareness of the emotional effects in the daily interaction that fosters the product attachment, and help product developers and future designers create a connection between users and their assistive devices. The research concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for professionals and academics in the form of experiments in order to identify new areas that can stimulate new /or developed design directions.

Keywords: experience design, interaction design, emotion, design psychology, assistive tools, customization, userentred design

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Authors: A. Sharma, S. S. Sandhu, A.Shahi, A. Kumar

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In this study, the effects of geometric configurations of butt joints i.e. double V groove, double U groove and UV groove of AISI 304L of thickness 12 mm by using Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) are investigated. The magnitude of transverse shrinkage stress and distortion generated during welding under the unrestrained conditions of butt joints is the main objective of the study. The effect of groove design on impact strength and metallurgical properties are also studied. The Finite element analysis for the groove design is done and compared the actual experimentation. The experimental results and the FEM results were compared and reveal a very good correlation for distortion and weld groove design for multipass joint with a standard analogy of 80%. In the case of VV groove design it was found that the transverse stress and cumulative deflection have the lowest value. It was found that the UV groove design had the maximum ultimate and yield tensile strength, VV groove had the highest impact strength. Vicker’s hardness value of all the groove design was measured. Micro structural studies were carried out using conventional microscopic tools which revealed a lot of useful information for correlating the microstructure with mechanical properties.

Keywords: weld groove design, distortion, AISI 304 L, butt joint, FEM, GTAW

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Authors: Lucia Silveira Alda

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This research aims to analyze critically a set of studies published in the Proceedings of the International Conference on Mobile Learning of IADIS, from 2008 until 2012, which addresses the issue of foreign language learning mediated by mobile phones. The theoretical review of this study is based on the Vygotskian assumptions about tools and mediated learning and the concepts of mobile learning, CALL and MALL. In addition, the diffusion rates of the mobile phone and especially its potential are considered. Through systematic review and meta-analysis, this research intended to identify similarities and differences between the identified characteristics in the studies on the subject of language learning and mobile phone. From the analysis of the results, this study verifies that the mobile phone stands out for its mobility and portability. Furthermore, this device presented positive aspects towards student motivation in language learning. The studies were favorable to mobile phone use for learning. It was also found that the challenges in using this tool are not technical, but didactic and methodological, including the need to reflect on practical proposals. The findings of this study may direct further research in the area of language learning mediated by mobile phones.

Keywords: language learning, mobile learning, mobile phones, technology

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Authors: Zahra Ahmadi, Fazlollah Adibnia

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Scheduling of tasks and the optimal allocation of resources in the cloud are based on the dynamic nature of tasks and the heterogeneity of resources. Applications that are based on the scientific workflow are among the most widely used applications in this field, which are characterized by high processing power and storage capacity. In order to increase their efficiency, it is necessary to plan the tasks properly and select the best virtual machine in the cloud. The goals of the system are effective factors in scheduling tasks and resource selection, which depend on various criteria such as time, cost, current workload and processing power. Multi-criteria decision-making methods are a good choice in this field. In this research, a new method of work planning and resource allocation in a heterogeneous environment based on the modified AHP algorithm is proposed. In this method, the scheduling of input tasks is based on two criteria of execution time and size. Resource allocation is also a combination of the AHP algorithm and the first-input method of the first client. Resource prioritization is done with the criteria of main memory size, processor speed and bandwidth. What is considered in this system to modify the AHP algorithm Linear Max-Min and Linear Max normalization methods are the best choice for the mentioned algorithm, which have a great impact on the ranking. The simulation results show a decrease in the average response time, return time and execution time of input tasks in the proposed method compared to similar methods (basic methods).

Keywords: hierarchical analytical process, work prioritization, normalization, heterogeneous resource allocation, scientific workflow

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Authors: Ahmed Mozamel, Kemal Yildizli

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Due to mechanical energy losses and a competitive of minimizing these losses and increases the machine efficiency, the need for contactless gearing system has raised. In this work, one stage of mechanical planetary gear transmission system integrated with one stage of magnetic planetary gear system is designed as a two-stage hybrid gearbox system. The permanent magnets internal energy in the form of the magnetic field is used to create meshing between contactless magnetic rotors in order to provide self-system protection against overloading and decrease the mechanical loss of the transmission system by eliminating the friction losses. Classical methods, such as analytical, tabular method and the theory of elasticity are used to calculate the planetary gear design parameters. The finite element method (ANSYS Maxwell) is used to predict the behaviors of a magnetic gearing system. The concentric magnetic gearing system has been modeled and analyzed by using 2D finite element method (ANSYS Maxwell). In addition to that, design and manufacturing processes of prototype components (a planetary gear, concentric magnetic gear, shafts and the bearings selection) of a gearbox system are investigated. The output force, the output moment, the output power and efficiency of the hybrid gearbox system are experimentally evaluated. The viability of applying a magnetic force to transmit mechanical power through a non-contact gearing system is presented. The experimental test results show that the system is capable to operate continuously within the range of speed from 400 rpm to 3000 rpm with the reduction ratio of 2:1 and maximum efficiency of 91%.

Keywords: hybrid gearbox, mechanical gearboxes, magnetic gears, magnetic torque

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Authors: Prashant Dhiman, Viranshu Kumar, Pradeep Joshi

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Lot of research is going on to study the effect of cryogenic treatment on materials. Cryogenic treatment is a heat treatment process which is used widely to enhance the mechanical and metallurgical properties of various materials whether the material is ferrous or non ferrous. In almost all ferrous metals, it is found that retained austenite is converted into martensite. Generally deep cryogenic treatment is done using liquid nitrogen having temperature of -195 ℃. The austenite is unstable at this stage and converts into martensite. In non ferrous materials there presents a microcavity and under the action of stress it becomes crack. When this crack propagates, fracture takes place. As the metal contract under low temperature, by doing cryogenic treatment these microcavities will be filled hence increases the soundness of the material. Properties which are enhanced by cryogenic treatment of both ferrous and non ferrous materials are hardness, tensile strength, wear rate, electrical and thermal conductivity, and others. Also there is decrease in residual stress. A large number of manufacturing process (EDM, CNC etc.) are using cryogenic treatment on different tools or workpiece to reduce their wear. In this Review paper the use of cryogenic heat treatment in different manufacturing has been shown along with their advantages.

Keywords: cyrogenic treatment, EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining), CNC (Computer Numeric Control), Mechanical and Metallurgical Properties

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Authors: Jalal Karam

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The methods of Fourier, Laplace, and Wavelet Transforms provide transfer functions and relationships between the input and the output signals in linear time invariant systems. This paper shows the equivalence among these three methods and in each case presenting an application of the appropriate (Fourier, Laplace or Wavelet) to the convolution theorem. In addition, it is shown that the same holds for a direct integration method. The Biorthogonal wavelets Bior3.5 and Bior3.9 are examined and the zeros distribution of their polynomials associated filters are located. This paper also presents the significance of utilizing wavelets as effective tools in processing speech signals for common multimedia applications in general, and for recognition and compression in particular. Theoretically and practically, wavelets have proved to be effective and competitive. The practical use of the Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) in processing and analysis of speech is then presented along with explanations of how the human ear can be thought of as a natural wavelet transformer of speech. This generates a variety of approaches for applying the (CWT) to many paradigms analysing speech, sound and music. For perception, the flexibility of implementation of this transform allows the construction of numerous scales and we include two of them. Results for speech recognition and speech compression are then included.

Keywords: continuous wavelet transform, biorthogonal wavelets, speech perception, recognition and compression

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Authors: Seyed Mohammadbagher Jafari, Izmeera Shiham, Masoud Arianfar

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The increased usage of Social media for different uses in turn makes it important to develop an understanding of users and their attitudes toward these sites, and moreover, the uses of such sites in a broader perspective such as broadcasting. This quantitative study addressed the problem of factors influencing the adoption of social media as a medium of public service broadcasting in the Republic of Maldives. These powerful and increasingly usable tools, accompanied by large public social media datasets, are bringing in a golden age of social science by empowering researchers to measure social behavior on a scale never before possible. This was conducted by exploring social responses on the use of social media. Research model was developed based on the previous models such as TAM, DOI and Trust combined model. It evaluates the influence of perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, trust, complexity, compatibility and relative advantage influence on the adoption of social Media. The model was tested on a sample of 365 Maldivian people using survey method via questionnaire. The result showed that perceived usefulness, trust, relative advantage and complexity would highly influence the adoption of social media.

Keywords: adoption, broadcasting, maldives, social media

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Authors: Laxmi Prasad Bhattarai

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Climate change is regarded as one of the most fundamental threats to sustainable livelihood and global development. There is a growing global concern in linking community-managed forests as potential climate change mitigation projects. This study was conducted to explore local people’s perception on climate change and the role of community forestry (CF) to combat climate change impacts. Two active community forest user groups (CFUGs) from Kaski and Syangja Districts in Nepal were selected as study sites, and various participatory tools were applied to collect primary data. Although most of the respondents were unaware about the words “Climate Change” in study sites, they were quite familiar with the irregularities in rainfall season and other weather extremities. 60% of the respondents had the idea that, due to increase in precipitation, there is a frequent occurrence of erosion, floods, and landslide. Around 85% of the people agreed that community forests help in stabilizing soil, reducing the natural hazards like erosion, landslide. Biogas as an alternative source of cooking energy, and changes in crops and their varieties are the common adaptation measures that local people start practicing in both CFUGs in Nepal.

Keywords: community forestry, climate change, global warming, adaptation, Nepal

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Authors: Fakhr Eddin Alnaal, Angela Dahdal, Duaa Aladib, Sabeen Ibrahim, Ibrahim Ghoraibi, Bissan Ahmed

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Dementia is one of the diseases which had several stages and Alzheimer’s term was selected in respect for the first doctor Alzheimer who defined the first symptoms of this diseases in a woman whom was well treated by him. The fact that this is a type of a silent disease on which you have a long-term process of neurological degradation and suddenly gives symptoms which are most often irreversible, on clinical level likely we can consider it as a malignancy, one in terms of that it is sudden shocking irreversible and on the level of behavior and some mortality beside the lack of early detection tools for diagnosis. Therefore, the goal of our project is to test the concept of the ability of Statin in prevention of such disease and we investigated that both on experimental level and most importantly on clinical one, the clinical part was performed in a recognized house of aged people who had accidently a high cholesterol and were for years given Statin to treat that elevation, however after the symptoms of Alzheimer’s appeared and when diagnosed, they were well treated and rapidly recovered compared to Alzheimer’s patients in the same house who did not receive Statin had a mild improvement in their symptoms after the therapy, on the other hand we confirmed such observation by a well-organized experimental work.

Keywords: Alzheimer's, dementia, silent disease, statin

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Authors: Rana Alkattan

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Aim: This study aims to identify and analyze the factors predicting the professional clinical competency among newly recruited registered nurses. In addition, it aims to explore factors significantly correlated with high and low professional clinical competency score. Method: A descriptive analytical is applied in this study, cross-sectional which conducted between June 2012 and June 2013 at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, as one of the largest governmental university tertiary Hospital in Saudi Arabia. A survey questionnaire was designed to collect data. And then, data were analyzed using the SPSS. Results: A total of the 86 nurses provided valid responses. 69 were female and 17 were male. The majority of the participants in this study were married, from the Philippines, between 20-29 years old. The majority had certified university bachelor’s degree in nursing, as well as had prior experience in nursing between 1 to 5 years. There are two categories emerged from the data, which significantly correlated with nurses' professional competence and development. The first was the newly employed registered nurses demographic characteristic (correlation coefficients 0.154 to 0.470, P < 0.05), while the second was the list of studied environmental factors except 'job rotation factor' (correlation coefficients 0.122 to 0.540, P < 0.01). However, nurses' attitude including motivation and confidence were not associated with nurse's professional competency. Conclusion: that nurses' professional competence development is a process affected by certain personal demographic and environmental factors which will enable newly graduates nurses to provide safe effective patients' care and maintain their career responsibilities.

Keywords: clinical, competence, development nurses professional, registered

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Authors: Farhad Ghorbandordinejad, Shamsoddin Aref

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Wikis and blogs, defined as educational tools in line with the objectives of collaborative writing, are regarded as innovative ways of writing addressing the problems of conventional types of writing. Although writing in wikis and blogs step in different contexts, they are both aiming at betterment of collaborative writing procedures. It is believed that due to certain reasons bringing in wikis and blogs to learners' life can lead to better performance of writing. This study aimed at dipping into pedagogical aspects of wikis and blogs in the hope of eliminating prior traditional mistakes and bringing students together in a more constructive L2 context. To this end, three groups of intermediate students were experimented in three settings of wiki-group, blog-group and conventional (control) group. Despite conventional group learners, participants in both experimental groups experienced L2 writing in a new telecollaborative context. An achievement test was administered after the treatment to check learners’ degree of improvement in EFL writing. The results of this study provide a deep insight towards the effectiveness of writing in the contexts of wikis and blogs compared with conventional writing procedures. The overall conclusion drawn from the distinction of conventional writing, on one hand, and wikis and blogs, on the other hand, indicates that the latter channels of writing are more constructive for learners’ writing improvements.

Keywords: collaborative writing, wikis, blogs, writing achievement

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Authors: Altaf Ahmed

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Unhindered progress and advancement of life are directly associated with peace and development. Unfortunately, many modern states are prone to the perilous of social challenges; Violent Extremism is the most ubiquitous adversary among all. Islam in its origin fully supports peace and security; the charter of Madina, the treaty of Hudabia and conquer of Mecca are the biggest examples in this reference. The holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ always gave priority to peace in these cases. Today, the majority of the Muslim World faces VE and terrorism due to multiple reasons ranging from religious interpretations to political, social and economic conditions. This research will try to explore challenges for Muslim Ummah in maintaining peace and what steps have been taken by it to resolve conflicts among states. In this context, Sustainable development goals (SDGs) will be particularly analysed. SDGs were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015. It is an undeniable fact that these are the best peace-building tools. Although there are 17 SDGs, the paper will mainly focus on quality education, zero hunger, end of poverty (social protection), women empowerment, reduced inequalities and economic growth as the best peace-building approaches for eradication of violent extremism.

Keywords: violent extremism, Muslim Ummah, peace, modern world, education

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Authors: Juliane Noack Napoles, Vivian Martins Nogueira Napoles

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This paper operates at the stylistic level of biographical records about the artist Tarsila do Amaral (1886-1973) and the various biographical modes of representation of her subjectivity. Tarsila do Amaral was a Brazilian nationalistic painter, who took part in the first half of the last century in the Antoprofágico Moviment and in the Surrealistic Movement - artistic movements that emerged in the 1920’s. The paper will be developed in the field of Cultural and Media Science and based on an understanding of biography as a subgenre of historical records that will be discussed. Doing that, the theoretical principles about the history genre will also be discussed. In this context, the analytical focus of the present project is the stylistic forms of representation of subjectivity in the postmodern period as expressed in written and audiovisual biographical representation of Tarsila do Amaral. Some exemplary audiovisual biographical records about Tarsila do Amaral will be first analyzed on their own. Then, they will be related to some written biographical records about the painter. At the end, both written and audiovisual records and their stylistic forms of representation of Tarsila do Amaral’s subjectivity are going be analyzed. Tarsila do Amaral will be considered as a Subject Form, following actual concepts about this term in Cultural Studies. For these purposes, it will also be discussed about cultural identity – gender and national identity – and developed a heuristic model so that different understandings and conceptual proposals correlate, including those pertaining to the terms biography, gender, identity, mediality, style, subject and subjectivity. This model will finally be used for the analysis of the selected biographical records.

Keywords: biography, gender, identity, modernism, postmodernism, style, subject, subjectivity, surrealism, Tarsila do Amaral

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Authors: Gulnaz Erkomaishvili

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The paper discusses mineral water consumer market and development policy in Georgia, the tools and measures, which will contribute to the production of mineral waters and increase its export. The paper studies and analyses current situation in mineral water production sector as well as the factors affecting increase and reduction of its export. It’s noted that in order to gain and maintain competitive advantage, it’s necessary to provide continuous supply of high-quality goods with modern design, open new distribution channels to enter new markets, carry out broad promotional activities, organize e-commerce. Economic policy plays an important role in protecting markets from counterfeit goods. The state also plays an important role in attracting foreign direct investments. Stable business environment and export-oriented strategy is the basis for the country’s economic growth. Based on the research, the paper suggests the strategy for improving the competitiveness of Georgian mineral waters, relevant conclusions and recommendations are provided.

Keywords: mineral waters, consumer market for mineral waters, export of mineral waters, mineral water development policy in Georgia

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Authors: Mohammed Al-Khadher

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Currently, we are witnessing rapid advancements in the field of information and communications technology, forcing us, as psychologists, to combat the psychological and social effects of such developments. It also drives us to continually look for the development and preparation of measurement tools compatible with the changes brought about by the digital revolution. In this context, the current study aimed to identify the factor analysis of the Smartphone Addiction Inventory (SPAI) in the Republic of Yemen. The sample consisted of (1920) university students (1136 males and 784 females) who answered the inventory, and the data was analyzed using the statistical software (AMOS V25). The factor analysis results showed a goodness-of-fit of the data five-factor model with excellent indicators, as RMSEA-(.052), CFI-(.910), GFI-(.931), AGFI-(.915), TLI-(.897), NFI-(.895), RFI-(.880), and RMR-(.032). All within the ideal range to prove the model's fit of the scale’s factor analysis. The confirmatory factor analysis results showed factor loading in (4) items on (Time Spent), (4) items on (Compulsivity), (8) items on (Daily Life Interference), (5) items on (Craving), and (3) items on (Sleep interference); and all standard values of factor loading were statistically significant at the significance level (>.001).

Keywords: smartphone addiction inventory (SPAI), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), yemeni students, people at risk of smartphone addiction

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Authors: Jaqueline Maria Ribeiro Vieira

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Different strategies and tools are available at the oil and gas industry for detecting and analyzing tension and possible fractures in borehole walls. Most of these techniques are based on manual observation of the captured borehole images. While this strategy may be possible and convenient with small images and few data, it may become difficult and suitable to errors when big databases of images must be treated. While the patterns may differ among the image area, depending on many characteristics (drilling strategy, rock components, rock strength, etc.). Previously we developed and proposed a novel strategy capable of detecting patterns at borehole images that may point to regions that have tension and breakout characteristics, based on segmented images. In this work we propose the inclusion of data-mining classification strategies in order to create a knowledge database of the segmented curves. These classifiers allow that, after some time using and manually pointing parts of borehole images that correspond to tension regions and breakout areas, the system will indicate and suggest automatically new candidate regions, with higher accuracy. We suggest the use of different classifiers methods, in order to achieve different knowledge data set configurations.

Keywords: image segmentation, oil well visualization, classifiers, data-mining, visual computer

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Authors: Yves Mann Elate Lea Mbassi, Marie Solange Evehe Bebandoue, Wilfred Fon Mbacham

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Improving the catalytic performance of enzymes has been a long-standing theme of analytical biochemistry research. Induction of peroxidase activity by metals is a common reaction in higher plants. We thought that this increase in peroxidase activity may be due, on the one hand, to the stimulation of the gene expression of these enzymes but also to a modification of their chemical reactivity following the binding of some metal ions on their active site. We tested the effect of some metal salts (MgCl₂, MnCl₂, ZnCl₂, CaCl₂ and CuSO₄) on the activity and thermostability of peroxidase A6, a thermostable peroxidase that we discovered and purified in a previous study. The chromogenic substrate used was 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine. Of all the metals tested for their effect on A6, only magnesium and copper had a significant effect on the activity of the enzyme at room temperature. The Mann-Whitney test shows a slight inhibitory effect of activity by the magnesium salt (P = 0.043), while the activity of the enzyme is 5 times higher in the presence of the copper salt (P = 0.002). Moreover, the thermostability of peroxidase A6 is increased when calcium and copper salts are present. The activity in the presence of CaCl₂ is 8 times higher than the residual activity of the enzyme alone after incubation at 80°C for 10 min and 35 times higher in the presence of CuSO4 under the same conditions. In addition, manganese and zinc salts slightly reduce the thermostability of the enzyme. The activity and structural stability of peroxidase A6 can clearly be activated by Cu₂+, which therefore enhance the oxidation of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine, which was used in this study as a chromogenic substrate. Ca₂+ likely has a more stabilizing function for the catalytic site.

Keywords: peroxidase activity, copper ions, calcium ions, thermostability

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Authors: I. Hilia, C. Hange, F. Hakala, M. Matheus, C. Jansen, J. Hidinwa, O. Awofolu

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The article reports on the occurrences, level, and mobility of selected trace metals in environmental samples. The conceptual basis was to examine the possible influence of anthropogenic activities and the impact on human and environmental health. Environmental samples (soil, plant and lower animal) were randomly collected from stratified study/sampling areas, preserved and pre-treated before analysis. Mineral acid digestion procedure was employed for the isolation of metallic contents in samples, and elemental qualitative and quantitative analysis was by ICP-OES. Analytical protocol was validated through the quality assurance process and was found acceptable with quantitative metallic recoveries in the range of 85-90%; hence considered applicable for the analyses of environmental samples. The mean concentration of analysed metals in soil samples ranged from 53.2- 2532.8 mg/kg (Cu); 59.5- 2020.1 mg/kg (Zn); 1.80 – 21.26 mg/kg (Cd) and 19.6- 140.9 mg/kg (Pb). The mean level in grass samples ranged from 9.33 – 38.63 mg/kg (Cu); 64.20-105.18 mg/kg (Zn); 0.28–0.73 mg/kg (Cd) and 0.53 -16.26 mg/kg (Pb) while the mean level in lower animal sample (beetle) varied from 9.6 - 105.3 mg/kg (Cu); 134.1-297.2 mg/kg (Zn); 0.63 – 3.78 (Cd) and 8.0 – 29.1 mg/kg (Pb) across sample collection points (SCPs) 1-4 respectively. Metallic transfer factors (TFs) were in the order Zn >Cd > Cu > Pb with metal Pollution Indices (MPIs) in the order SCP1 > SCP2 > SCP3 > SCP4. About 60-70 % of analysed metals were above the maximum allowable limits (MALs) in soil and plant samples. Results obtained revealed the general prevalence of analysed metals at all sampled sites with indication of metallic mobility across the food chain which portrayed dire consequences for environmental and human health. Systematic environmental remediation and pollution abatement strategies are recommended.

Keywords: trace metals, pollution, human health, Incidences, ICP-OES

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Authors: Mohit Gupta, Chialing Wei, Thomas Czerniawski

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In this paper, we have built a neural network that can detect walls on 2D sheets and subsequently create a 3D model in Revit using Dynamo. The training set includes 3500 labeled images, and the detection algorithm used is YOLO. Typically, engineers/designers make concentrated efforts to convert 2D cad drawings to 3D models. This costs a considerable amount of time and human effort. This paper makes a contribution in automating the task of 3D walls modeling. 1. Detecting Walls in 2D cad and generating 3D pop-ups in Revit. 2. Saving designer his/her modeling time in drafting elements like walls from 2D cad to 3D representation. An object detection algorithm YOLO is used for wall detection and localization. The neural network is trained over 3500 labeled images of size 256x256x3. Then, Dynamo is interfaced with the output of the neural network to pop-up 3D walls in Revit. The research uses modern technological tools like deep learning and artificial intelligence to automate the process of generating 3D walls without needing humans to manually model them. Thus, contributes to saving time, human effort, and money.

Keywords: neural networks, Yolo, 2D to 3D transformation, CAD object detection

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Authors: Seyed Ziya Tabatabaei, Azimi Bin Hj Hamzah, Fatemeh Ebrahimi

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The increase in proportion of older people in Malaysia has led to a significant growth of health care demands. The aim of this study is to explore how perceived health care needs influence on quality of life among elderly Malay residents who reside in a Malaysian residential home. This study employed a method known as ethnographic research from May 2011 to January 2012. Four data collection strategies were selected as the main data-collecting tools including participant observation, field notes, in-depth interviews, and review of related documents. The nine knowledgeable participants for the present study were selected using the purposive sampling method. Two themes were identified: (1) Medical concerns: Feeling secure, lack of information, inadequate medical staff; and (2) Health promotion: Body condition, health education, physiotherapy and rehabilitation. These results could evoke the attention of policy-makers and care providers to better meet elderly residents’ health care needs.

Keywords: ethnographic study, health care needs, Malay elderly people, Malaysia, Quality of life, Residential home

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Authors: Giwrgos S. Gkarmpounis, Aikaterini G. Rokkou, Marios N. Moschakis

Abstract:

Increased energy consumption in the academic buildings, creates the need to implement energy saving measures and to take advantage of the renewable energy sources to cover the electrical needs of those buildings. An Academic Library will be used as a case study. With the aid of RETScreen software that takes into account the energy consumptions and characteristics of the Library Building, it is proved that measures such as the replacement of fluorescent lights with led lights, the installation of outdoor shading, the replacement of the openings and Building Management System installation, provide a high level of energy savings. Moreover, given the available space of the building and the climatic data, the installation of a photovoltaic system of 100 kW can also cover a serious amount of the building energy consumption, unlike a wind system that seems uncompromising. Lastly, HOMER software is used to compare the use of a photovoltaic system against a wind system in order to verify the results that came up from the RETScreen software concerning the renewable energy sources.

Keywords: building sector, energy saving measures, energy upgrading, homer software, renewable energy sources, RETScreen software

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Authors: Ovanes Chakoyan

Abstract:

MOH (mineral oil hydrocarbons), which consist of mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons(MOSH) and mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons(MOAH), are present in various products such as vegetable oils, animal feed, foods, and infant formula. Contamination of foods with mineral oil hydrocarbons, particularly mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons(MOAH), exhibiting carcinogenic, mutagenic, and hormone-disruptive effects. Identifying toxic substances among the many thousands comprising mineral oils in food samples is a difficult analytical challenge. A method based on an offline-solid phase extraction approach coupled with gas chromatography-triple quadrupole(GC-MS/MS) was developed for the determination of MOSH/MOAH in various products such as vegetable oils, animal feed, foods, and infant formula. A glass solid phase extraction cartridge loaded with 7 g of activated silica gel impregnated with 10 % silver nitrate for removal of olefins and lipids. The MOSH/MOAH fractions were eluated with hexane and hexane: dichloromethane : toluene, respectively. Each eluate was concentrated to 50 µl in toluene and injected on splitless mode into GC-MS/MS. Accuracy of the method was estimated as measurement of recovery of spiked oil samples at 2.0, 15.0, and 30.0 mg kg -1, and recoveries varied from 85 to 105 %. The method was applied to the different types of samples (sunflower meal, chocolate ships, santa milk chocolate, biscuits, infant milk, cornflakes, refined sunflower oil, crude sunflower oil), detecting MOSH up to 56 mg/kg and MOAH up to 5 mg/kg. The limit of quantification(LOQ) of the proposed method was estimated at 0.5 mg/kg and 0.3 mg/kg for MOSH and MOAH, respectively.

Keywords: MOSH, MOAH, GC-MS/MS, foods, solid phase extraction

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Authors: Anchana Sooksomchitra

Abstract:

This study aims to explore and compare the current condition of community radio stations in Phutthamonthon district, Nakhon Pathom province, Thailand, as well as the challenges they are facing. Qualitative research tools including in-depth interviews, documentary analysis, focus group interviews, and observation are used to examine the content, programming, and management structure of three community radio stations currently in operation within the district. Research findings indicate that the management and operational approaches adopted by the two non-profit stations included in the study, Salaya Pattana and Voice of Dhamma, are more structured and effective than that of the for-profit Tune Radio. Salaya Pattana, backed by the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University, and the charity-funded Voice of Dhamma are comparatively free from political and commercial influence, and able to provide more relevant and consistent community-oriented content to meet the real demand of the audience. Tune Radio, on the other hand, has to rely solely on financial support from political factions and business groups, which heavily influence its content.

Keywords: radio broadcasting, programming, management, community radio, Thailand

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Authors: Arash Khosravi, Mohamad Nazir Ahmad

Abstract:

Today’s economy is a knowledge-based economy in which knowledge is a crucial facilitator to individuals, as well as being an instigator of success. Due to the impact of globalization, universities face new challenges and opportunities. Accordingly, they ought to be more innovative and have their own competitive advantages. One of the most important goals of universities is the promotion of students as professional knowledge workers. Therefore, knowledge sharing and transferring at tertiary level between students and supervisors is vital in universities, as it decreases the budget and provides an affordable way of doing research. Knowledge-sharing impact factors can be categorized into three groups, namely: organizational, individual and technical factors. There are some individual barriers to knowledge sharing, namely: lack of time and trust, lack of communication skills and social networks. IT systems such as e-learning, blogs and portals can increase knowledge sharing capability. However, it must be stated that IT systems are only tools and not solutions. Individuals are still responsible for sharing information and knowledge. This paper proposes new research model to examine the effect of individual factors and organisational factors, namely: learning strategy, trust culture, supervisory support, as well as technological factor on knowledge sharing in a research supervision process at the University of Technology Malaysia.

Keywords: knowledge management, knowledge sharing, research supervision, knowledge transferring

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Authors: Sirine Sayed, Mahrez Ait Mohammed, Mourad Nachtane, Abdelwahed Barkaoui, Khalid Bouziane, Mostapha Tarfaoui

Abstract:

This study addresses a critical challenge in transitioning to a hydrogen-based economy by introducing and validating a one-dimensional (1D) tool for modelling hydrogen permeability through hybrid materials, focusing on tank applications. The model developed integrates rigorous experimental validation, published data, and advanced computational modelling using the PanDiffusion framework, significantly enhancing its validity and applicability. By elucidating complex interactions between material properties, storage system configurations, and operational parameters, the tool demonstrates its capability to optimize design and operational parameters in real-world scenarios, as illustrated through a case study of hydrogen leakage. This comprehensive approach to assessing hydrogen permeability contributes significantly to overcoming key barriers in hydrogen infrastructure development, potentially accelerating the widespread adoption of hydrogen technology across various industrial sectors and marking a crucial step towards a more sustainable energy future.

Keywords: hydrogen storage, composite tank, permeability modelling, PanDiffusion, energy carrier, transportation technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 18