Search results for: percentage change

Authors: Bola M. Tunde-Awe

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The study investigated the influence of teacher’s non-verbal communication on secondary school students’ learning outcomes in English language. The study was a survey research. Participants were three hundred Senior Secondary School II students randomly selected from ten schools in Akoko South West Local Government Area of Ondo State, Nigeria. The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire containing twenty items on a four-point Likert scale which measured teacher’s use of three types of non-verbal communication modes: body movement, eye contact and spatial distance. The data collected was analysed using simple percentage. Findings revealed that teacher’s use of these non-verbal communication modes enhanced learners’ learning outcomes in English language: a total of 271 (90.33%) participants affirmed that teacher’s body language influenced their learning of English; 224 (74.66%) maintained the same stand for eye contact; while 202 (67.33%) affirmed that teacher’s spatial distance had positive influence. Consequent upon these findings, it was recommended that teachers of English language should constantly utilize non-verbal communication in their instructional delivery. Also, non-verbal communication modes should be included in teacher education programme to equip prospective pre-service teachers with the art of non-verbal communication.

Keywords: non-verbal communication, body language, eye contact, spatial distance, learning outcomes

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Authors: Laila Algalal, Chen Xi

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The US dollar has long served as the world's primary reserve currency. However, this dominance faces growing challenges from internal US economic pressures and the rise of alternative currencies. Internally, issues like high debt, inflation, reduced competitiveness, and economic instability due to inequality in economic policies threaten the dollar's position. Externally, more countries are establishing alternative currencies, payment systems, and regional financial institutions to reduce dollar dependence. These drivers have contributed to a decline in the dollar's share of global foreign exchange reserves from 71% in 2001 to an estimated 58% in 2022. While this 13-percentage point drop took two decades, recent initiatives suggest de-dollarization could accelerate in the coming few decades. Efforts to establish non-dollar trade deals and alternative financial systems show more substantial progress compared to initiatives in the early 2000s. As the nature of the world system is anarchic, states make either individual or group efforts to guarantee their economic security and achieve their interests. Based on neoclassical realism, this paper analyzes both internal and external US economic factors driving current and future de-dollarization and the implications on the international monetary system, in addition to examining the motivation for such moves.

Keywords: de-dollarization, US dollar, monetary system, economic security, economic policies.

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Authors: Yasaman Esfandiari

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Mechanical engineering has always dealt with amplification of the input power in power trains. One of the ways to achieve this goal is to use gears to change the amplitude and direction of the torque and the speed. However, the gears should be optimally designed to best achieve these objectives. In this study, helical gear systems are optimized to achieve maximum power. Material selection, space restriction, available facilities for manufacturing, the probability of tooth breakage, and tooth wear are taken into account and governing equations are derived. Finally, a Matlab code was generated to solve the optimization problem and the results are verified.

Keywords: design, gears, Matlab, optimization

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Authors: Uzma Ayaz, Sanam Bashir, Shahid Iqbal Awan, Muhammad Ilyas, Muhammad Fareed Khan

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Drought stress directly affects growth along with the productivity of plants by altering plant water status. Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), an oilseed crop, is adversely affected by abiotic stresses. The present study was carried out to characterize the genetic variability for seedling and morpho-physiological parameters in different sunflower genotypes under water-stressed conditions. A total of twenty-seven genotypes, including two hybrids, eight advanced lines and seventeen accessions of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) were tested against drought stress at Seedling stages by Polyethylene glycol (PEG). Significant means were calculated among traits using analysis of variance (ANOVA) whereas, correlation and principal component analysis also confirmed that germination percentage, root length, shoot length, chlorophyll content, stomatal frequency are positively linked with each other hence, these traits were responsible for most of the variation among genotypes. The cluster analysis results showed that genotypes Ausun, line-3, line-2, and 17578, line-1, line-7, line-6 and 17562 as more diverse among all the genotypes. These most divergent genotypes could be utilized in the development of drought-tolerant inbreed lines which could be subsequently used in future heterosis breeding programs.

Keywords: sunflower, drought, stress, polyethylene- glycol, screening

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Authors: Desiree David

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South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world, with a sizable percentage of the population living with HIV. A substantial number of new infections occur as a result of sexual activity. South African courts have awarded civil claims for damages as a result of the transmission of HIV as a result of non-disclosure by the HIV-positive sexual partner, and more recently, the criminal courts have also convicted and sentenced individuals accused of infecting others as a result of sexual activity. This paper will analyse some case law from South African court cases that have dealt with criminal convictions for the transmission of HIV, and the potential for more widespread prosecutions of these cases. It will also address the desirability of this trend in light of the social public health system, as well as human rights concerns surrounding this highly contentious issue. This will be done by considering some applicable provisions of the Bill of Rights such as the right to privacy and equality, as espoused in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The paper further addresses the experience of other jurisdictions such as Canada, Singapore, Lesotho and Uganda, by analyzing case law, and consider the pitfalls of criminalizing a wide spectrum of sexual conduct that could result in the transmission of HIV. The paper concludes with a proposal that the issue of criminalizing the transmission of HIV cannot be addressed by the criminal justice system alone, as to do so could result in harsh consequences for those living with HIV. As such individuals may be burdened with additional responsibilities that could potentially impact on the rights of the individual. This may ultimately result in injustice for those living with HIV.

Keywords: criminalization, HIV, human rights, South Africa

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Authors: Juntima Pokkrong

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The objectives of the study were to develop packaging made from rice straws left after the harvest in order to create additional value for organic rice products of Uttaradit Province and to demonstrate the technology of producing straw packaging to the community. The population was promoters of organic rice distributors, governmental organizations, consumers, and three groups of organic rice producers which are the Agriculturist Group of Khorrum Sub-district, Pichai District, Uttaradit Province; the Agriculturist Group of Wangdin Sub-district, Muang District, Uttaradit Province; and the Agriculturist Group of Wangkapi Sub-district, Muang District, Uttaradit Province. The data were collected via group discussions, and two types of questionnaires. The data acquired were then analyzed using descriptive statistic for percentage, mean, standard deviation, and content analysis. It has been found that primary packaging for one kilogram of rice requires vacuumed plastic bags made from thermoplastic or resin because they are able to preserve the quality of rice for a long time, and they are also very cheap. For secondary packaging, the making of straw paper was studied and applied. Straw paper can be used for various purposes, and in this study, it was used to create the secondary packaging models in compliance with packaging preferences acquired from the questionnaires. The models were surveyed among the population for their opinion using satisfaction questionnaires, and the result was overall highly satisfactory.

Keywords: environmentally friendly, organic rice, packaging, straw paper

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Authors: Arpit Panwar, Arvind Deshpande

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The study of external vehicle aerodynamics using Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model with adjoint method was conducted. The accessibility and ease of working with the Fluent module of ANSYS and OpenFOAM were considered. The objective of the study was to understand and analyze the possibility of bringing high-level aerodynamic simulation to the average consumer vehicle. A form-factor of BMW M6 vehicle was designed in Solidworks, which was analyzed in OpenFOAM and Fluent. The turbulence model being a single equation provides much faster convergence rate when clubbed with the adjoint method. Fluent being commercial software still does not allow us to solve Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model using the adjoint method. Hence, the turbulence model was solved using the SIMPLE method in Fluent. OpenFOAM being an open source provide flexibility in simulation but is not user-friendly. It supports solving the defined turbulence model with the adjoint method. The result generated from the simulation gives us acceptable values of drag, when validated with the result of percentage error in drag values for a notch-back vehicle model on an extensive simulation produced at 6th ANSA and μETA conference, Greece. The success of this approach will allow us to bring more aerodynamic vehicle body design to all segments of the automobile and not limiting it to just the high-end sports cars.

Keywords: Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model, OpenFOAM, adjoint method, SIMPLE method, vehicle aerodynamic design

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Authors: Vojko Kilar, Boris Azinović, David Koren

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Recently, an increasing trend of passive and low-energy buildings transferring form non earthquake-prone to earthquake-prone regions has thrown out the question about the seismic safety of such buildings. The paper describes the most commonly used thermal insulating materials and the special details, which could be critical from the point of view of earthquake resistance. The most critical appeared to be the cases of buildings founded on the RC foundation slab lying on a thermal insulation (TI) layer made of extruded polystyrene (XPS). It was pointed out that in such cases the seismic response of such buildings might differ to response of their fixed based counterparts. The main parameters that need special designers’ attention are: the building’s lateral top displacement, the ductility demand of the superstructure, the foundation friction coefficient demand, the maximum compressive stress in the TI layer and the percentage of the uplifted foundation. The analyses have shown that the potentially negative influences of inserting the TI under the foundation slab could be expected only for slender high-rise buildings subjected to severe earthquakes. Oppositely it was demonstrated for the foundation friction coefficient demand which could exceed the capacity value yet in the case of low-rise buildings subjected to moderate earthquakes. Some suggestions to prevent the horizontal shifts are also given.

Keywords: earthquake response, extruded polystyrene (XPS), low-energy buildings, foundations on thermal insulation layer

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Authors: Riham Hazzaa , Mohamed Hussien Abd El Megid

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Dyes are toxic and cause severe problems to aquatic environment. The use of agricultural solid wastes is considered as low-cost and eco-friendly adsorbents for removing dyes from waste water. Date palm fibre, an abundant agricultural by-product in Egypt was used to prepare activated carbon by physical activation method. This study investigates the use of date palm fiber (DPF) and activated carbon (DPFAC) for the removal of a basic dye, methylene blue (MB) from simulated waste water. The effects of temperature, pH of solution, initial dye (concentration, adsorbent dosage and contact time were studied. The experimental equilibrium adsorption data were analyzed by Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, Dubinin, Radushkevich and Harkins–Jura isotherms. Adsorption kinetics data were modeled using the pseudo-first and pseudo-second order and Elvoich equations. The mechanism of the adsorption process was determined from the intraparticle diffusion model. The results revealed that as the initial dye concentration , amount of adsorbent and temperature increased, the percentage of dye removal increased. The optimum pH required for maximum removal was found to be 6. The adsorption of methylene blue dye was better described by the pseudo-second-order equation. Results indicated that DPFAC and DPF could be an alternative for more costly adsorbents used for dye removal.

Keywords: adsorption, basic dye, palm fiber, activated carbon

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Authors: C. Suphioglu , V. Simbag, J. Markham, C. Coady, S. Belward, G. Di Trapani, P. Chunduri, J. Chuck, Y. Hodgson, L. Lluka, L. Poladian, D. Watters

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Advances in science have made quantitative skills (QS) an essential graduate outcome for undergraduate science programs in Australia and other parts of the world. However, many students entering into degrees in Australian universities either lack these skills or have little confidence in their ability to apply them in their biological science units. It has been previously reported that integration of quantitative skills into life science programs appears to have a positive effect on student attitudes towards the importance of mathematics and statistics in biological sciences. It has also been noted that there is deficiency in QS resources available and applicable to undergraduate science students in Australia. MathBench (http://mathbench.umd.edu) is a series of online modules involving quantitative biology scenarios developed by the University of Maryland. Through collaboration with Australian universities, a project was funded by the Australian government through its Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) to develop customized MathBench biology modules to promote the quantitative skills of undergraduate biology students in Australia. This presentation will focus on the assessment of changes in performance, perception and attitude of students in a third year Cellular Physiology unit after use of interactive online cellular diffusion modules modified for the Australian context. The modules have been designed to integrate QS into the biological science curriculum using familiar scenarios and informal language and providing students with the opportunity to review solutions to diffusion QS-related problems with interactive graphics. This paper will discuss results of pre and post MathBench quizzes composed of general and module specific questions that assessed change in student QS after MathBench; and pre and post surveys, administered before and after using MathBench modules to evaluate the students’ change in perception towards the influence of the modules, their attitude towards QS and on the development of their confidence in completing the inquiry-based activity as well as changes to their appreciation of the relevance of mathematics to cellular processes. Results will be compared to changes reported by Thompson et al., (2010) at the University of Maryland and implications for further integration of interactive online activities in the curriculum will be explored and discussed.

Keywords: quantitative skills, MathBench, maths in biology

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Authors: Palingba Aimé Marie Doilkom, Mahamadou Koïta, Jean-michel Vouillamoz, Angelbert Biaou

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Most African populations rely on groundwater in rural areas for their consumption. Indeed, in the face of climate change and strong demographic growth, groundwater, particularly in the basement, is increasingly in demand. The question of the sustainability of water resources in this type of environment is therefore becoming a major issue. Groundwater recharge can be natural or artificial. Unlike natural recharge, which often results from the natural infiltration of surface water (e.g. a share of rainfall), artificial recharge consists of causing water infiltration through appropriate developments to artificially replenish the water stock of an aquifer. Artificial recharge is, therefore, one of the measures that can be implemented to secure water supply, combat the effects of climate change, and, more generally, contribute to improving the quantitative status of groundwater bodies. It is in this context that the present research is conducted with the aim of developing artificial recharge in order to contribute to the sustainability of basement aquifers in a context of climatic variability and constantly increasing water needs of populations. In order to achieve the expected results, it is therefore important to determine the characteristics of the infiltration basins and to identify the areas suitable for their implementation. The geometry of the aquifer was reproduced, and the hydraulic properties of the aquifer were collected and characterized, including boundary conditions, hydraulic conductivity, effective porosity, recharge, Van Genuchten parameters, and saturation indices. The aquifer of the Sanon experimental site is made up of three layers, namely the saprolite, the fissured horizon, and the healthy basement. Indeed, the saprolite and the fissured medium were considered for the simulations. The first results with FEFLOW model show that the water table reacts continuously for the first 100 days before stabilizing. The hydraulic charge increases by an average of 1 m. The further away from the basin, the less the water table reacts. However, if a variable hydraulic head is imposed on the basins, it can be seen that the response of the water table is not uniform over time. The lower the basin hydraulic head, the less it affects the water table. These simulations must be continued by improving the characteristics of the basins in order to obtain the appropriate characteristics for a good recharge.

Keywords: basement area, FEFLOW, infiltration basin, MAR

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Authors: Diptoshi Roy, G. Sreevidya Varma, S. Asokan, Chandasree Das

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Germanium Telluride based quaternary thin film switching devices with composition Ge₁₅In₅Te₅₆Ag_24, have been deposited in sandwich geometry on glass substrate with aluminum as top and bottom electrodes. The bulk glassy form of the said composition is prepared by melt quenching technique. In this technique, appropriate quantity of elements with high purity are taken in a quartz ampoule and sealed under a vacuum of 10^-5 mbar. Then, it is allowed to rotate in a horizontal rotary furnace for 36 hours to ensure homogeneity of the melt. After that, the ampoule is quenched into a mixture of ice - water and NaOH to get the bulk ingot of the sample. The sample is then coated on a glass substrate using flash evaporation technique at a vacuum level of 10^-6 mbar. The XRD report reveals the amorphous nature of the thin film sample and Energy - Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDAX) confirms that the film retains the same chemical composition as that of the base sample. Electrical switching behavior of the device is studied with the help of Keithley (2410^c) source-measure unit interfaced with Lab VIEW 7 (National Instruments). Switching studies, mainly SET (changing the state of the material from amorphous to crystalline) operation is conducted on the thin film form of the sample. This device is found to manifest memory switching as the device remains 'ON' even after the removal of the electric field. Also it is found that amorphous Ge₁₅In₅Te₅₆Ag₂₄ thin film unveils clean memory type of electrical switching behavior which can be justified by the absence of fluctuation in the I-V characteristics. The I-V characteristic also reveals that the switching is faster in this sample as no data points could be seen in the negative resistance region during the transition to on state and this leads to the conclusion of fast phase change during SET process. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) studies are performed on the chosen sample to study the structural changes at the time of switching. SEM studies on the switched Ge₁₅In₅Te₅₆Ag₂₄ sample has shown some morphological changes at the place of switching wherein it can be explained that a conducting crystalline channel is formed in the device when the device switches from high resistance to low resistance state. From these studies it can be concluded that the material may find its application in fast switching Non-Volatile Phase Change Memory (PCM) Devices.

Keywords: Chalcogenides, Vapor deposition, Electrical switching, PCM.

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Authors: Gezahegn Bekele Welldgiyorgise

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It is obvious that the economics, politics and social conditions of a country are determined by the quality and standard of its education. Indeed, education plays a vital role in changing the consciousness and awareness of society and transforming it on a large scale. Moreover, education contributes a lot to the advancement of science and technology, information and communication, and above all, it speeds up its progress in no time if it focuses mainly on the qualitative approach to education. Education brings about universal change and transformation and lightens mankind in all dimensions. It creates an educated, enlightened and brightened generation in society. The generation will be sharped, sharpened and well-oriented if it gets modern, sophisticated and standardized education in its field of study. The main goal of education is to produce well-qualified, well-trained and disciplined young offers in a given community. If the youth is well trained and well-mannered, he will certainly be enlightened, problem solvers and solution seekers, researchers, and innovators. In this respect, we have to provide the youth with modern education, a teaching-learning process led by active learning and a participatory approach with a new curriculum preparation for the age of children supported by modern facilities (ICT).In addition to that, the curriculum should have to give attention to mathematics and science lessons that include international experience in a comfortable school and classrooms. Therefore, the generation that will be created through such kinds of the guided education system will make the students active participants, self-confident, researchers and problem solvers, besides that result in changed life standards and a developed country. Similarly, our country, Ethiopia, has aimed to get such change in youth (generation) through modern education, designing a new educational policy and curriculum which was implemented for many years, although the goal of education has not reached the required level. To get the main idea of the article, I should have answered the question of why our country's educational goal had not reached the desired level because it is necessary to lay the foundation for research in finding out problems seen through students learning performance, the first task is selecting primary-school as a sample. Therefore, we selected “Dilla primary school (5-8)” which is a workplace for a teacher and gives me a chance to recognize students’ learning performance to recognize their learning grades (internal and external) and measure performance (achievement) of students easily’.

Keywords: curriculum, performance, innovation, learning

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Authors: Michelle J. Miller

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Millions of girls are forcibly married during the transitional period between puberty and adulthood. At a stage of vulnerability; cultural practices, religious rights, and social standards place girls in a position where they are catapult into womanhood. An advocate against forced child marriage could argue that child rights, cultural rights, religious rights, right to marry, right to life, right to health, right to education, right to be free from slavery, right to be free from torture, right to consent to marriage are all violated by the practice of child marriage. This paper will present how some of these rights are violated and how they establish the need for change.

Keywords: child marriage, forced child marriage, children's rights, religious rights, cultural rights

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Authors: Olgha Giorgishvili

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The work is mainly concerned with the determination of modulus of deformation by laboratory method. It is known that a modulus of deformation is defining by laboratory and field methods. By laboratory method the modulus of deformation is defined in the compressive devices. Our goal is to conduct experiments by both methods and finally make to interpret the obtained results. In this article is considered the definition by new offered laboratory method of deformation modulus that is closer to the real deformation modulus. Finally, the obtained results gives the possibility to us to raise the issue of change the state norms for determining ground by laboratory method.

Keywords: building, soil mechanic, deformation moulus, compression methods

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Authors: Muna A. Eissawi, Safaa Abed Elfataah, Haytham Hago, Fatima E Abukunna, Ibtisam Amin Goreish, Nahid Gornas

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The study examined and analyzed the genetic diversity of DRB1locus of exon 2 of major histocompatibility complex of Sudanese desert sheep using PCR-RFLP and DNA sequencing. Five hundred samples belonging to five ecotypes of Desert Sudanese sheep (Abrag (Ab), Ashgar (Ash), Hamari (H), Kabashi (K) and Watish (W) were included. Amplification of exon 2 of the DRB1 gene yielded (300bp) amplified product in different ecotypes. Nine different digestion patterns corresponding to Five distinct alleles were observed with Rsa1 digestion. Genotype (ag) was the most common among all ecotypes, with a percentage comprised (40.4 %). The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) test showed that the studied ecotypes have significantly deviated from the theoretical proportions of Rsa1 patterns; probability values of the Chi-square test for HWE for MHC-DRB1 gene in SDS were 0.00 in all ecotypes. The constructed phylogenetic tree revealed the relation of 22 Sudanese isolates with each other and showed the shared sequences with 47 published foreign sequences randomly selected from different geographic regions. The results of this study highlight the effect of heterozygosity of MHC genes of the Desert sheep of Sudan which may clarify some of genetic back ground of their disease resistance and adaptation to environment.

Keywords: desert sheep, MHC, Ovar-DRB1, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP)

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Authors: Lubabatu Sada Sodangi

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The rapid growth in exchange and accessibility of information via the internet makes many organisations acquire data on their own operation. The aim of data mining is to analyse the different behaviour of a dataset using observation. Although, the subset of the dataset being analysed may not display all the behaviours and relationships of the entire data and, therefore, may not represent other parts that exist in the dataset. There is a range of techniques used in data mining to determine the hidden or unknown information in datasets. In this paper, the performance of two algorithms Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID) and multilayer perceptron (MLP) would be matched using an Adult dataset to find out the percentage of an/the adults that earn > 50k and those that earn <= 50k per year. The two algorithms were studied and compared using IBM SPSS statistics software. The result for CHAID shows that the most important predictors are relationship and education. The algorithm shows that those are married (husband) and have qualification: Bachelor, Masters, Doctorate or Prof-school whose their age is > 41<57 earn > 50k. Also, multilayer perceptron displays marital status and capital gain as the most important predictors of the income. It also shows that individuals that their capital gain is less than 6,849 and are single, separated or widow, earn <= 50K, whereas individuals with their capital gain is > 6,849, work > 35 hrs/wk, and > 27yrs their income will be > 50k. By comparing the two algorithms, it is observed that both algorithms are reliable but there is strong reliability in CHAID which clearly shows that relation and education contribute to the prediction as displayed in the data visualisation.

Keywords: data mining, CHAID, multi-layer perceptron, SPSS, Adult dataset

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Authors: M. Amparo Núñez-Andrés, Felipe Buill, Albert Prades

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More and more frequently, geomatics techniques such as terrestrial laser scanning or digital photogrammetry, either terrestrial or from drones, are being used to obtain digital terrain models (DTM) used for the monitoring of geological phenomena that cause natural disasters, such as landslides, rockfalls, debris-flow. One of the main multitemporal analyses developed from these models is the quantification of volume changes in the slopes and hillsides, either caused by erosion, fall, or land movement in the source area or sedimentation in the deposition zone. To carry out this task, it is necessary to filter the point clouds of all those elements that do not belong to the slopes. Among these elements, vegetation stands out as it is the one we find with the greatest presence and its constant change, both seasonal and daily, as it is affected by factors such as wind. One of the best-known indexes to detect vegetation on the image is the NVDI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), which is obtained from the combination of the infrared and red channels. Therefore it is necessary to have a multispectral camera. These cameras are generally of lower resolution than conventional RGB cameras, while their cost is much higher. Therefore we have to look for alternative indices based on RGB. In this communication, we present the results obtained in Georisk project (PID2019‐103974RB‐I00/MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) by using the GLI (Green Leaf Index) and ExG (Excessive Greenness), as well as the change to the Hue-Saturation-Value (HSV) color space being the H coordinate the one that gives us the most information for vegetation filtering. These filters are applied both to the images, creating binary masks to be used when applying the SfM algorithms, and to the point cloud obtained directly by the photogrammetric process without any previous filter or the one obtained by TLS (Terrestrial Laser Scanning). In this last case, we have also tried to work with a Riegl VZ400i sensor that allows the reception, as in the aerial LiDAR, of several returns of the signal. Information to be used for the classification on the point cloud. After applying all the techniques in different locations, the results show that the color-based filters allow correct filtering in those areas where the presence of shadows is not excessive and there is a contrast between the color of the slope lithology and the vegetation. As we have advanced in the case of using the HSV color space, it is the H coordinate that responds best for this filtering. Finally, the use of the various returns of the TLS signal allows filtering with some limitations.

Keywords: RGB index, TLS, photogrammetry, multispectral camera, point cloud

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Authors: Okunola Solomon Olufemi

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The study focused on the contribution of urban agriculture to the livelihood of 107 respondents in Kwara State of Nigeria. The study employed structured questionnaire to collect relevant data for the study while descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution and percentage were employed to analyses the objectives. Most respondents (82.9%), were one time or the other in a married state and they had formal education (80.4%) while many of the lot (58.9%) had superior education ranging from OND to Ph.D level. These farmers were either retired government workers or those trying to argument their family income or trying to be food sufficient. Most of the respondents (77.4%) had a farm size of less than or equal to 3 hectares showing that most the urban farmers were smallholders which might be as a result of stiff completion for land resource. Most of the respondents had a relatively large family size of 6 and above members. Most respondents used family labor (59.8%). Respondents in the study area also made use of the cooperatives and daily contributions for loanable funds, while few respondents utilized the formal sector. .Urban agriculture accounted for 84.4% of the Livelihood outcomes of the respondents. While non-farming activities contributed 17.6%.Most of the respondents (31.8%) participated in non-farming activities to generate extra income while their major constraints were shortage of land both in term of access and tenure (34.1%), limited access to resource and agricultural inputs (29.3%), and prohibitive urban policies and regulation (23.2%).

Keywords: poverty throes, urban agriculture, rigors of farming, non-farming, married state

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Authors: K. A. Razhiyah

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Disruptive behavior is a problem that is usually associated with those with autism. There is a need to overcome this behavioral problem because the negative impact of this problem does not only effect the social relation of the students but also can cause uneasiness to those around them. This condition will be worse if the techniques used failed to motivate students to change the behaviour. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the circus games technique on the disruptive behavior amongst students with autism. The positive results of the intervention that was carried out for three months show the reduction in disruptive behaviour, and also improvement in the turn-taking and focusing ability aspect. Positive changes shown by the students had an encouraging effect and in a way are helping them in the teaching and learning process.

Keywords: autism, desruptive behaviour, circus, effect

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Authors: Tanvir A. Uddin, Blake Goud

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Emerging trends in FinTech-enabled alternative finance, which includes channels and instruments emerging outside the traditional financial system, heralds unprecedented opportunities to improve financial intermediation and increase access to finance. With widespread criticism of the mainstream Islamic banking and finance sector as either mimicking the conventional system, failing to achieve inclusive growth or both, industry stakeholders are turning to technology to show that finance can be done differently. This paper will outline the critical elements for successful deployment of technology to maximize benefit and minimize potential for harm from introduction of Islamic FinTech and propose recommendations for Islamic financial institutions, FinTech companies, regulators and other stakeholders who are integrating or who are considering introducing FinTech solutions. The paper will present an overview of literature, present relevant case studies and summarize the lessons from interviews conducted with Islamic FinTech founders from around the world. With growing central bank concerns about leveraged loans and ballooning private credit markets globally (estimated at $1.4 trillion), current and future Islamic FinTech operators are at risk of contributing to the problems they aim to solve by operating in a 'shadow banking' system. The paper will show that by systematising a robust theory of change linked to positive outcomes, utilising objective impact frameworks (e.g., the Impact Measurement Project) and instilling a risk management culture that is proactive about potential social harm (e.g., irresponsible lending), FinTech can enable the Islamic finance industry to support positive social impact and minimize harm in support of the maqasid. The adoption of FinTech within the Islamic finance context is still at a nascent stage and the recommendations we provide based on the limited experience to date will help address some of the major cross-cutting issues related to FinTech. Further research will be needed to elucidate in more detail issues relating to individual sectors and countries within the broader global Islamic finance industry.

Keywords: alternative finance, FinTech, Islamic finance, maqasid, theory of change

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Authors: Adel H. Hejaaji

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The need for organisations to be flexible to meet the rapidly changing requirements of their customers is now well appreciated and can be witnessed within companies with their use of techniques such as single-minute exchange of die (SMED) for machine change-over or Kanban as the visual production and inventory control for Just-in-time manufacture and delivery. What is not so well appreciated by companies is the need for agility. Put simply it is the need to be alert for a new and unexpected opportunity and quick to respond with the changes necessary in order to profit from it. This paper aims to study the literature of agility in manufacturing to understand the concept of agility and how it is important and critical for the small and medium size manufacturing organisations (SMEs), and to defined the specific benefits of moving towards agility, and thus what benefit it can bring to an organisation.

Keywords: SMEs, agile manufacturing, manufacturing, industrial engineering

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Authors: Devanandan Govender

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Curriculum design and development in higher education is a complex and challenging process. Amongst others, the extent to which higher education curriculum responds to a country's imperatives, industry requirements, and societal demands are some important considerations. Added to this is the whole notion of sustainable development, climate change and in the South African context the issue of ‘Africanising the curriculum’ is also significant. In this paper, the author describes and analyses the various challenges related to curriculum transformation, design and development within an ODL context and how we at Unisa engage and address curriculum transformation in mainstream curriculum design and development both at course design level and programme/ qualification level.

Keywords: curriculum transformation, curriculum creep, curriculum drift, curriculum mapping

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Authors: K. Fyad, A. Cheriti, Y. Bourmita, N. Belboukhari

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Many industries are involved by using essential oils such as food, flavour, and beverage, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and fragrance. Apiaceae species are usually herbs, rarely schrubs characterized particularly by its inflorescence typical umbel. Many species of this family have been widely used in folk medicine throughout the world. The most characteristic natural compounds in this family are the essential oils secreted in schizogenous canals in all organs with remarkable variability chemical composition. As a part of our investigation into medicinal plants growing in Algerian Sahara. In this study, we investigate the chemical composition of the essential oils extracted from two Apiaceae species: Foeniculum vulgare Miller and Carum carvi L cultivated in the Sahara. The plants were selected on the basis of their use by local people to treat infectious diseases as determined in our previous ethnopharmacological study. Wild samples of Foeniculum vulgare Miller and Carum carvi L cultivated in an experimental field at the university. The harvest was made during the year 2011 according to the growth cycle stage of the plants. The essential oils of different fresh aerial parts, obtained by hydrodistillation were analysed by GC. The results showed that the essential oils yields are not uniform among the different cycle stage. The percentage of components is significantly affected by the harvesting period of the plant material.

Keywords: essential oils, Apiaceae, growth cycle, Sahara, GC

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Authors: Kanamon Suwantada

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The purpose of this research is to understand customer’s expectations towards homestays and to establish the precise strategies to increase numbers of tourists for homestay business in Amphawa district, Samutsongkram, Thailand. The researcher aims to ensure that each host provides experiences to travelers who are looking for and determining new targets for homestay business in Amphawa as well as creating sustainable homestay using marketing strategies to increase customers. The methods allow interview and questionnaire to gain both overview data from the tourists and qualitative data from the homestay owner’s perspective to create a GAP analysis. The data was collected from 200 tourists, during 15th May - 30th July, 2011 from homestay in Amphawa Community. The questionnaires were divided into three sections: the demographic profile, customer information and influencing on purchasing position, and customer expectation towards homestay. The analysis, in fact, will be divided into two methods which are percentage and correlation analyses. The result of this research revealed that homestay had already provided customers with reasonable prices in good locations. Antithetically, activities that they offered still could not have met the customer’s requirements. Homestay providers should prepare additional activities such as village tour, local attraction tour, village daily life experiences, local ceremony participation, and interactive conversation with local people. Moreover, the results indicated that a price was the most important factor for choosing homestay.

Keywords: ecotourism, homestay, marketing, sufficiency economic philosophy

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Authors: Stella O. Olubodun, George E. Eriyamremu

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The study examined the effect of Bonny Light whole crude oil (WC) and its water soluble fraction (WSF) on the activities of antioxidant enzymes (catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD)) and crude mitochondria ATPases in the radicle of germinating bean (Vigna unguiculata). The percentage germination, level of lipid peroxidation, antioxidant enzyme, and mitochondria Ca2+ and Mg2+ ATPase activities were measured in the radicle of bean after 7, 14, and 21 days post germination. Viable bean seeds were planted in soils contaminated with 10ml, 25ml, and 50ml of whole crude oil (WC) and its water soluble fraction (WSF) to obtain 2, 5, and 10% v/w crude oil contamination. There was dose dependent reduction of the number of bean seeds that germinated in the contaminated soils compared with control (p<0.001). The activities of the antioxidant enzymes, as well as, adenosine triphosphatase enzymes, were also significantly (p<0.001) altered in the radicle of the plants grown in contaminated soil compared with the control. Generally, the level of lipid peroxidation was highest after 21 days post germination when compared with control. Stress to germinating bean caused by Bonny Light crude oil or its water soluble fraction resulted in adaptive changes in crude mitochondria ATPases in the radicle.

Keywords: antioxidant enzymes, bonny light crude oil, radicle, mitochondria ATPases

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Authors: Sutida Maneeanakekul, Dusit Wechakit, Somsak Piriyayota

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Coastal erosion is a major problem in Thailand, in both the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea coasts. According to the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, land erosion occurred along the 200 km coastline with an average rate of 5 meters/year. Coastal erosion affects public and government properties, as well as the socio-economy of the country, including emigration in coastal communities, loss of habitats, and decline in fishery production. To combat the problem of coastal erosion, projects utilizing bamboo sticks for coastal defense against erosion were carried out in 5 areas beginning in November, 2010, including: Pak Klong Munharn- Samut Songkhram Province; Ban Khun Samutmaneerat, Pak Klong Pramong and Chao Matchu Shrine-Samut Sakhon Province,and Pak Klong Hongthong – Chachoengsao Province by Marine and Coastal Resources Department. In 2012, an evaluation of the effectiveness of solving the problem of coastal erosion by using bamboo stick was carried out, with a focus on three aspects. Firstly, the change in physical and biological features after using the bamboo stick technique was assessed. Secondly, participation of people in the community in the way of managing the problem of coastal erosion were these aspects evaluated as part of the study. The last aspect that was evaluated is the satisfaction of the community toward this technique. The results of evaluation showed that the amounts of sediment have dramatically changed behind the bamboo sticks lines. The increase of sediment was found to be about 23.50-56.20 centimeters (during 2012-2013). In terms of biological aspect, there has been an increase in mangrove forest areas, especially at Bang Ya Prak, Samut Sakhon Province. Average tree density was found to be about 4,167 trees per square meter. Additionally, an increase in production of fisheries was observed. Presently, the change in the evaluated physical features tends to increase in every aspect, including the satisfaction of people in community toward the process of solving the erosion problem. People in the community are involved in the preparatory, operation, monitoring and evaluation process to resolve the problem in the medium levels.

Keywords: bamboo sticks, coastal erosion, rehabilitate, Thailand sustainable development approach

Procedia PDF Downloads 238

Authors: Uliana Morozovskaia

Abstract:

Immigrants in any country undergo an acculturation process which, in other words, means adaptation to other cultures. It can be divided into four strategies: integration (when an immigrant support home and host culture and language), assimilation (supporting only host culture and language), separation (supporting only home culture and language), and marginalization (an immigrant has no interest in supporting none of the cultures or languages). Canada has experienced a rise in the number of Russian speakers who are immigrating to Canada in the last couple of years. Although there are some studies on Russian-speaking immigrants, a small percentage of them have been focusing on their immigration experience in Canada. This is why the present study aimed to analyze the acculturation experience that Russian-speaking immigrants have when they move to Canada. One hundred participants have been surveyed on SurveyMonkey. They have been asked to share their life experience and opinion about their adaptation process, self-identity in terms of language use and cultural feelings, language preferences, and others. The results showed that Russian-speaking immigrants can successfully adapt to Canadian culture and society, and many of them feel at home being in their host country. Interestingly, such feelings have appeared after they spent some years in Canada. The study also found out that after the immigration, participants were more likely to focus on Canada’s official languages (English and/or French). However, when they became comfortable with the lifestyle and the language, they switched their attention to Russian language maintenance and home culture preservation.

Keywords: acculturation, Russian-speaking immigrants, adaptation, Canada, immigration, mother tongue preservation

Procedia PDF Downloads 86

Authors: Akwu N. A., Naidoo Y., Salau V. F., Olofinsan K. A.

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Grewia lasiocarpa E. Mey. ex Harv. (Malvaceae) is a Southern African medicinal plant indigenously used with other plants for birthing problems. The anti-diabetic properties of the hexane, chloroform, and methanol extracts of Grewia lasiocarpa stem bark were assessed using in vitro α-glucosidase enzyme inhibition assay. The predictive in silico drug-likeness and toxicity properties of the phytocompounds were conducted using the pKCSM, ADMElab, and SwissADME computer-aided online tools. The highest α-glucosidase percentage inhibition was observed in the hexane extract (86.76%, IC50= 0.24 mg/mL), followed by chloroform (63.08%, IC50= 4.87 mg/mL) and methanol (53.22%, IC50= 9.41 mg/mL); while acarbose, the standard anti-diabetic drug was (84.54%, IC50= 1.96 mg/mL). The α-glucosidase assay revealed that the hexane extract exhibited the strongest carbohydrate inhibiting capacity and is a better inhibitor than the standard reference drug-acarbose. The computational studies also affirm the results observed in the in vitroα-glucosidaseassay. Thus, the extracts of G. lasiocarpa may be considered a potential plant-sourced compound for treating type 2 diabetes mellitus. This is the first study on the anti-diabetic properties of Grewia lasiocarpa hexane, chloroform, and methanol extracts using in vitro and in silico models.

Keywords: grewia lasiocarpa, α-glucosidase inhibition, anti-diabetes, ADMET

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Authors: Ahmed Al-Mansour, Qiang Zeng

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Recycling waste plastics in the form of concrete components, i.e. fine aggregates, has been an attractive topic among the society of civil engineers. Not only does the recycling of plastics reduce the overall cost of concrete production, but it also takes part in solving environmental issues. Nevertheless, the incorporation of recycled plastics into concrete results in an increasing reduction in the mechanical properties of concrete as the percentage of replacement of natural aggregates increases. In order to overcome this reduction, Ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) was used as an additive in concrete with recycled plastic aggregates. The aim of this additive is to: 1) increase the interfacial interaction at the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between plastic pellets and cement matrix, and 2) mitigate the loss in mechanical properties. Three different groups of samples (i.e. cubes and prisms) were tested according to the plastics substituting fine aggregates. 5, 10, and 15% of fine aggregates were substituted for recycled plastic pellets, and 2 – 4% of the cement was substituted for EVA that produces a flexible agent when mixed properly with water. Compressive and tensile strength tests were conducted for the mechanical properties, while SEM and X-CT scan were implemented for further investigation of calcium-silicate-hydrate (C–S–H) formation and ITZ analysis. The optimal amount of plastic particles with EVA is suggested to get the most compact and dense matrix structure according to the results of this study.

Keywords: the durability of concrete, ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), interfacial transition zone (ITZ), recycled plastics

Procedia PDF Downloads 182