Search results for: effective connectivity

Authors: Zeba Mahmood

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The modern business organizations are adopting technological advancement to achieve competitive edge and satisfy their consumer. The development in the field of Information technology systems has changed the way of conducting business today. Business operations today rely more on the data they obtained and this data is continuously increasing in volume. The data stored in different locations is difficult to find and use without the effective implementation of Data mining and Knowledge management techniques. Organizations who smartly identify, obtain and then convert data in useful formats for their decision making and operational improvements create additional value for their customers and enhance their operational capabilities. Marketers and Customer relationship departments of firm use Data mining techniques to make relevant decisions, this paper emphasizes on the identification of different data mining and Knowledge management techniques that are applied to different business industries. The challenges and issues of execution of these techniques are also discussed and critically analyzed in this paper.

Keywords: knowledge, knowledge management, knowledge discovery in databases, business, operational, information, data mining

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Authors: Alaa H. J. Al-Rkaby, A. Chegenizadeh, H. R. Nikraz

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The technique of reinforcing soil is an efficient, reliable and cost-effective alternative way for improving the performance of soil in civil engineering applications. Despite the anisotropic states of stresses induced within soil elements by many geotechnical structures such as footings, highways and offshore, most of the previous studies have been carried out under isotropic conditions. The anisotropic stress state in term of the inclined principal stress and the inequality of the intermediate and minor principal stresses cannot be investigated using conventional devices. Therefore, the advanced hollow cylinder apparatus, used in this work, provides a great opportunity to simulate such anisotropic stress states. To date, very little consideration has been given to how the direction of principal stress α and intermediate principal stress ratio b can affect the performance of the reinforced sand. This study presented that the anisotropic conditions of α and b resulted in significant variations in the deviator stress and volumetric strain of sand reinforced with geosynthetics. Anisotropic effect has been decreased by adding clay content.

Keywords: anisotropy, reinforced sand, direction of principal stress, intermediate principal stress ratio

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Authors: Isa Ahmadi, Ramin Khamedi

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In this paper, the elasto-plastic and cyclic torsion of a shaft is studied using a finite element method. The Prager kinematic hardening theory of plasticity with the Ramberg and Osgood stress-strain equation is used to evaluate the cyclic loading behavior of the shaft under the torsional loading. The material of shaft is assumed to follow the non-linear strain hardening property based on the Prager model. The finite element method with C1 continuity is developed and used for solution of the governing equations of the problem. The successive substitution iterative method is used to calculate the distribution of stresses and plastic strains in the shaft due to cyclic loads. The shear stress, effective stress, residual stress and elastic and plastic shear strain distribution are presented in the numerical results.

Keywords: cyclic loading, finite element analysis, Prager kinematic hardening model, torsion of shaft

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Authors: Rolandas Strazdas, Jurate Cerneviciute

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Creative industries are defined as those industries which produce tangible or intangible artistic and creative output and have a potential for income generation by exploitingcultural assets and producing knowledge-based goods and services (both traditional and contemporary). With the emergence of an entire sector of creative industriestriggered by the development of creative products managingcreativity-based business processes becomes a critical issue. Diverse managerial practices and models on effective management of creativity have beenexamined in scholarly literature. Even thoughthese studies suggest how creativity in organisations can be nourished, they do not sufficiently relate the proposed practices to the underlying business processes. The article analyses a range of business process improvement methods such as PDCA, DMAIC, DMADV and TOC. The strengths and weaknesses of these methods aimed to improvethe innovation development process are identified. Based on the analysis of the existing improvement methods, a continuous improvement model was developed and presented in the article.

Keywords: continuous improvement, creative industries, improvement model, process mapping

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Authors: Marcela Dvorakova, Lenka Langhansova, Premysl Landa

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A series of quinazoline derivatives bearing aromatic rings in 2- and 4-positions were prepared and tested for their biological activity. Firstly, the compounds were evaluated for their potential to inhibit various kinases, such as autophagy activating kinase ULK1, 3-Phosphoinositide-dependent kinase 1, and TANK-binding kinase 1. None of the compounds displayed any activity on these kinases. Secondly, the compounds were tested for their anti-inflammatory activity expressed as cyclooxygenase (COX) isoforms and 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) inhibition. Three of the compounds showed significant selectivity towards COX-1 isoform (COX-2/COX-1 SI = 20-30). They inhibited COX-1 in a single-digit µM range. There was also one compound that exhibited inhibitory activity towards all three tested enzymes in µM range (IC50COX-1 = 1.9 µM; IC50COX-2 and 5-LOX = 10.1µM. COX-1 inhibition was until recently considered undesirable due to COX-1 constitutive expression in most cell types and tissues. Thus, there are not many compounds known with selective COX-1 activity. However, it is now believed that COX-1 plays an important role in the pathophysiology of several acute and chronic disorders, including cancer or neurodegenerative diseases. Thus, the discovery of effective COX-1 selective inhibitors is desirable and important.

Keywords: cyclooxygenases, kinases, lipoxygenases, quinazolines

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Authors: Pinisetti Swami Sairam, Meera C. S.

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Marker pens are widely used all over the world, mainly in educational institutions due to their neat, accurate and easily erasable nature. But refilling the ink in these pens is a tedious and time consuming job. Besides, it requires careful handling of the pens and ink bottle. A fully automated marker filling system is a solution developed to overcome this problem. The system comprises of pneumatics and electronics modules as well as PLC control. The system design is done in such a way that the empty markers are dumped in a marker container which then sent through different modules of the system in order to refill it automatically. The filled markers are then collected in a marker container. Refilling of ink takes place in different stages inside the system. An ink detecting system detects the colour of the marker which is to be filled and then refilling is done. The processes like capping and uncapping of the cap as well as screwing and unscrewing of the tip are done with the help of robotic arm and gripper. We make use of pneumatics in this system in order to get the precision while performing the capping, screwing, and refilling operations. Thus with the help of this system we can achieve cleanliness, accuracy, effective and time saving in the process of filling a marker.

Keywords: automated system, market filling, information technology, control and automation

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Authors: Domingos Vita, Patrick Brady

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Background: There is a tuberculosis (TB) epidemic in Angola that has been getting worse for more than a decade despite the active implementation of the DOTS strategy. The aim of this study was to directly interrogate healthcare workers involved in TB control on what they consider to be the drivers of the TB epidemic in Angola. Methods: Twenty four in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with medical staff working in this field in the provinces of Luanda and Benguela. Results: The healthcare professionals see the migrant working poor as a particular problem for the control of TB. These migrants are constructed as ‘Rural People’ and are seen as non-compliant and late-presenting. This is a stigmatized and marginal group contending with the additional stigma associated with TB infection. The healthcare professionals interviewed also see the interruption of treatment and self medication generally as a better explanation for the TB epidemic than urbanization or lack of medication. Conclusions: The local narrative is in contrast to previous explanations used elsewhere in the developing world. To be effective policy must recognize the local issues of the migrant workforce, interruption of treatment and the stigma associated with TB in Angola.

Keywords: Africa, Angola, migrants, qualitative, research, tuberculosis

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Authors: Mourad Makhlouf, Meriem Boutamine, Hachemi Hichem, Zoubir Benmaamar, Didier Villemin

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This study explores the use of intelligent textiles for electromagnetic shielding through the continuous dyeing of graphene and polyaniline onto cotton fabric. Graphene was obtained by recycling graphite from spent batteries, and polyaniline was obtained in situ using H2O2. Graphene and polyaniline were bottom-modified on the fiber surface to improve adhesion and achieve a uniform distribution. This study evaluated the effect of the specific gravity percentage on sheet performance and active shielding against electromagnetic interference (EMI). Results showed that the dyed fabrics of graphene, polyaniline, and graphene/polyaniline demonstrated higher conductivity and EMI SE values of 9 to 16 dB in the 8 to 9 GHz range of the X-band, with potential applications in electromagnetic shielding. The use of intelligent textiles offers a sustainable and effective approach to achieving EMI shielding, with the added benefits of recycling waste materials and improving the properties of cotton fabrics.

Keywords: 'ntelligent textiles, graphene, polyaniline, electromagnetic shielding, conductivity, recycling.

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Authors: Lilia Righi

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Recently, the fashion industry has demonstrated a keen interest in sustainability and the environment. Sustainable fashion has huge potential and appeals to environmentally conscious Generation Z shoppers. Meanwhile, Generation Z customers have attracted researchers' interest due to their overconsumption of clothing. However, most studies in this area focus on designing or producing sustainable clothing, with little exploration of consumers. To fill this gap, the present study aims to determine the important factors influencing Generation Z consumers' decisions to purchase sustainable fashion by mobilizing the theory of planned behavior (TPB). It uses deductive qualitative research based on 18 semi-structured interviews with Generation Z consumers in France. Qualitative data will be analyzed using reflective thematic analysis. On a theoretical level, this research contributes to enriching the literature by mobilizing, for the first time, the theory of planned behavior in the context of sustainable fashion. On a practical level, the results can help practitioners determine effective marketing strategies to persuade Generation Z to consume sustainable clothing.

Keywords: generation Z, qualitative methodology, sustainable fashion, theory of planned behavior (TPB).

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Authors: Reza Bahboodian

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One of the most important factors in the use of construction machinery is the fuel consumption cost of this equipment. The use of diesel engines in off-road vehicles is an important source of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. Emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter 10 in off-road vehicles (construction and mining) may be high. Due to the high cost of fuel, it is necessary to minimize fuel consumption. Factors affecting the fuel consumption of these cars are very diverse. Climate changes such as changes in pressure, temperature, humidity, fuel type selection, type of gearbox used in the car are effective in fuel consumption and pollution, and engine efficiency. In this paper, methods for reducing fuel consumption and pollutants by considering valid European and European standards are examined based on new methods such as hybridization, optimal gear change, adding hydrogen to diesel fuel, determining optimal working fluids, and using oxidation catalysts.

Keywords: improve fuel consumption, construction machinery, pollutant reduction, determining the optimal working cycle

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Authors: Ghada S. Moussa

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With the increase in population along with economic prosperity, an enormous increase in the number and types of vehicles on the roads occurred. This fact brings a growing need for efficiently yet effectively classifying vehicles into their corresponding categories, which play a crucial role in many areas of infrastructure planning and traffic management. This paper presents two vehicle-type classification approaches; 1) geometric-based and 2) appearance-based. The two classification approaches are used for two tasks: multi-class and intra-class vehicle classifications. For the evaluation purpose of the proposed classification approaches’ performance and the identification of the most effective yet efficient one, 10-fold cross-validation technique is used with a large dataset. The proposed approaches are distinguishable from previous research on vehicle classification in which: i) they consider both geometric and appearance attributes of vehicles, and ii) they perform remarkably well in both multi-class and intra-class vehicle classification. Experimental results exhibit promising potentials implementations of the proposed vehicle classification approaches into real-world applications.

Keywords: appearance attributes, geometric attributes, support vector machine, vehicle classification

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Authors: Brian Bacia, Esther Githaiga, Teresia Kabucho, Paul Moses Ndegwa, Lucy Gichohi

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Purpose: The aim of the study is to ensure an appropriate mix of evidence-based prevention strategies geared towards the reduction of new HIV infections and the incidence of Sexually transmitted Illnesses Background: In Nakuru County, more than 90% of all HIV-infected patients are adults and on a single-dose medication-one pill that contains a combination of several different HIV drugs. Nakuru town has been identified as the hardest hit by HIV/Aids in the County according to the latest statistics from the County Aids and STI group, with a prevalence rate of 5.7 percent attributed to the high population and an active urban center. Method: 2 key studies were carried out to provide evidence for the effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy (ART) when used optimally on preventing sexual transmission of HIV. Discussions based on an examination, assessments of successes in planning, program implementation, and ultimate impact of prevention and treatment were undertaken involving health managers, health workers, community health workers, and people living with HIV/AIDS between February -August 2021. Questionnaires were carried out by a trained duo on ethical procedures at 15 HIV treatment clinics targeting patients on ARVs and caregivers on ARV prevention and treatment of pediatric HIV infection. Findings: Levels of AIDS awareness are extremely high. Advances in HIV treatment have led to an enhanced understanding of the virus, improved care of patients, and control of the spread of drug-resistant HIV. There has been a tremendous increase in the number of people living with HIV having access to life-long antiretroviral drugs (ARV), mostly on generic medicines. Healthcare facilities providing treatment are stressed challenging the administration of the drugs, which require a clinical setting. Women find it difficult to take a daily pill which reduces the effectiveness of the medicine. ART adherence can be strengthened largely through the use of innovative digital technology. The case management approach is useful in resource-limited settings. The county has made tremendous progress in mother-to-child transmission reduction through enhanced early antenatal care (ANC) attendance and mapping of pregnant women Recommendations: Treatment reduces the risk of transmission to the child during pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Promote research of medicines through patients and community engagement. Reduce the risk of transmission through breastfeeding. Enhance testing strategies and strengthen health systems for sustainable HIV service delivery. Need exists for improved antenatal care and delivery by skilled birth attendants. Develop a comprehensive maternal reproductive health policy covering equitability, efficient and effective delivery of services. Put in place referral systems.

Keywords: evidence-based prevention strategies, service delivery, human management, integrated approach

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Authors: P. S. Surya Meghana, K. Lingeshwaran, C. Kannan, V. Raghavendran, C. Priya

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One of the most basic and powerful tools in all of science and medicine is the light microscope, the fundamental device for laboratory as well as research purposes. With the improving technology, the need for portable, economic and user-friendly instruments is in high demand. The conventional microscope fails to live up to the emerging trend. Also, adequate access to healthcare is not widely available, especially in developing countries. The most basic step towards the curing of a malady is the diagnosis of the disease itself. The main aim of this paper is to diagnose Malaria with the most common device, cell phones, which prove to be the immediate solution for most of the modern day needs with the development of wireless infrastructure allowing to compute and communicate on the move. This opened up the opportunity to develop novel imaging, sensing, and diagnostics platforms using mobile phones as an underlying platform to address the global demand for accurate, sensitive, cost-effective, and field-portable measurement devices for use in remote and resource-limited settings around the world.

Keywords: cellular, hand-held, health care, image processing, malarial parasites, microscope

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Authors: Tareq L. Mukattash, Karem H. Alzoubi, Ejlal Abu El-Rub, Anan S. Jarab, Sayyer I. Al-Azzam, Maher Khdour, Mohammed Shara, Yazid N. Alhamarneh

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Background: It has been estimated that up to 50% of any patient population is at least partially non-adherent to their prescribed treatment. Identifying barriers to adherence is required to develop effective interventions for psychiatric patients. Objective: To explore the prevalence and factors of non-adherence among psychiatric patients present at four psychiatric clinics. Method: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study. A sample of psychiatric patients attending outpatient psychiatric clinics was enrolled between March and April 2011. Results: A total of 243 psychiatric patients took part in this study with the majority of patients (92.5%) being prescribed more than one psychiatric disorder. The majority (64.2%) of the patients was classified as non-adherent according to the Morisky adherence questionnaire and forgetfulness was the most prevalent reason for that. Conclusions: Non-adherence is a common and important issue among psychiatric patients. Polypharmacy, safety concerns and lack of insight towards the prescribed treatment were reported as the main reasons of non-adherence.

Keywords: medication adherence, psychiatric disorders, clinical pharmacy, polypharmacy

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Authors: Faris Algahtani

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Background: In Saudi Arabia, it is essential to know what practices are employed and considered effective by special education teachers working with preschool children with intellectual disabilities, as a prerequisite for identifying areas for improvement. Preschool provision for these children is expanding through a network of Intellectual Disability Centres while, in primary schools, a policy of inclusion is pursued and, in mainstream preschools, pilots have been aimed at enhancing learning in readiness for primary schooling. This potentially widens the attainment gap between preschool children with and without intellectual disabilities, and influences the scope for improvement. Goal: The aim of the study was to explore special education teachers’ practices and perceived perceptions of those practices for preschool children with intellectual disabilities in Saudi Arabia Method: A qualitative interpretive approach was adopted in order to gain a detailed understanding of how special education teachers in an IDC operate in the classroom. Fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with experienced and qualified teachers. Data were analysed using thematic analysis, based on themes identified from the literature review together with new themes emerging from the data. Findings: American methods strongly influenced teaching practices, in particular TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communication related handicapped Children), which emphasises structure, schedules and specific methods of teaching tasks and skills; and ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis), which aims to improve behaviours and skills by concentrating on detailed breakdown and teaching of task components and rewarding desired behaviours with positive reinforcement. The Islamic concept of education strongly influenced which teaching techniques were used and considered effective, and how they were applied. Tensions were identified between the Islamic approach to disability, which accepts differences between human beings as created by Allah in order for people to learn to help and love each other, and the continuing stigmatisation of disability in many Arabic cultures, which means that parents who bring their children to an IDC often hope and expect that their children will be ‘cured’. Teaching methods were geared to reducing behavioural problems and social deficits rather than to developing the potential of the individual child, with some teachers recognizing the child’s need for greater freedom. Relationships with parents could in many instances be improved. Teachers considered both initial teacher education and professional development to be inadequate for their needs and the needs of the children they teach. This can be partly attributed to the separation of training and development of special education teachers from that of general teachers. Conclusion: Based on the findings, teachers’ practices could be improved by the inclusion of general teaching strategies, parent-teacher relationships and practical teaching experience in both initial teacher education and professional development. Coaching and mentoring support from carefully chosen special education teachers could assist the process, as could the presence of a second teacher or teaching assistant in the classroom.

Keywords: special education, intellectual disabilities, early intervention , early childhood

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Authors: Gebremeskel Hagos Gebremedhin, Feng Chong, Heyan Huang

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Software system is the combination of architecture and organized components to accomplish a specific function or set of functions. A good software architecture facilitates application system development, promotes achievement of functional requirements, and supports system reconfiguration. We describe three studies demonstrating the utility of our architecture in the subdomain of mobile office robots and identify software engineering principles embodied in the architecture. The main aim of this paper is to analyze prove architecture design and automatic re-architecting using machine learning. Intelligence software architecture and automatic re-architecting process is reorganizing in to more suitable one of the software organizational structure system using the user access dataset for creating relationship among the components of the system. The 3-step approach of data mining was used to analyze effective recovery, transformation and implantation with the use of clustering algorithm. Therefore, automatic re-architecting without changing the source code is possible to solve the software complexity problem and system software reuse.

Keywords: intelligence, software architecture, re-architecting, software reuse, High level design

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Authors: Marina Karaseva

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The beginning of our century became a new digital epoch in the educational situation. Last decade the newest stage of this process had been initialized by the touch-screen mobile devices with program applications for them. The touch possibilities for learning fundamentals of music are of especially importance for music majors. The phenomenon of touching, firstly, makes it realistic to play on the screen as on music instrument, secondly, helps students to learn music theory while listening in its sound elements by music ear. Nowadays we can detect several levels of such mobile applications: from the basic ones devoting to the elementary music training such as intervals and chords recognition, to the more advanced applications which deal with music perception of non-major and minor modes, ethnic timbres, and complicated rhythms. The main purpose of the proposed paper is to disclose the main tendencies in this process and to demonstrate the most innovative features of music theory applications on the base of iOS and Android systems as the most common used. Methodological recommendations how to use these digital material musicologically will be done for the professional music education of different levels. These recommendations are based on more than ten year ‘iTheory’ teaching experience of the author. In this paper, we try to logically classify all types of ‘iTheory’mobile applications into several groups, according to their methodological goals. General concepts given below will be demonstrated in concrete examples. The most numerous group of programs is formed with simulators for studying notes with audio-visual links. There are link-pair types as follows: sound — musical notation which may be used as flashcards for studying words and letters, sound — key, sound — string (basically, guitar’s). The second large group of programs is programs-tests containing a game component. As a rule, their basis is made with exercises on ear identification and reconstruction by voice: sounds and intervals on their sounding — harmonical and melodical, music modes, rhythmic patterns, chords, selected instrumental timbres. Some programs are aimed at an establishment of acoustical communications between concepts of the musical theory and their musical embodiments. There are also programs focused on progress of operative musical memory (with repeating of sounding phrases and their transposing in a new pitch), as well as on perfect pitch training In addition a number of programs improvisation skills have been developed. An absolute pitch-system of solmisation is a common base for mobile programs. However, it is possible to find also the programs focused on the relative pitch system of solfegе. In App Store and Google Play Market online store there are also many free programs-simulators of musical instruments — piano, guitars, celesta, violin, organ. These programs may be effective for individual and group exercises in ear training or composition classes. Great variety and good sound quality of these programs give now a unique opportunity to musicians to master their music abilities in a shorter time. That is why such teaching material may be a way to effective study of music theory.

Keywords: ear training, innovation in music education, music theory, mobile devices

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Authors: Omer Ozer, Murat Yikilmaz, Ahmet Altinok, Ferhat Bayolu

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There is an increasing number of online counseling services, studies exploring clients’ and counselors’ attitudes toward online counseling services are needed to provide effective and efficient mental health counseling services. The purpose of this study is to investigate counselors’ attitudes toward online counseling in relation to counselors’ genders, their daily usage of computer, their total usage of computer, and their self-efficacy in computer usage. In this study, Personal Information Form, specific items from the Online Counseling Attitudes Scale, and the Face-to-Face Counseling Attitudes Scale were given to 193 counselors to measure attitudes toward online counseling. Data were analyzed by using independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA. There were no statistically significant differences counselors’ attitudes toward online counseling and counselors’ gender, their daily usage of computer, their total usage of computer, and their self-efficacy in computer usage. The implications of these findings have been discussed in the literature review to provide some suggestions to researchers in the counseling profession.

Keywords: online counseling, counselor, attitude, counseling service

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Authors: Bayan Alqasem, Israa Othman, Mohammad Abu Haija, Fawzi Banat

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The large-scale production of wastewater containing highly toxic pollutants made it necessary to find efficient water treatment technologies. Phenolic compounds, which are known to be persistent and hazardous, are highly presented in wastewater. In this study, different ferrite catalysts CrFe₂O₄, CuFe₂O₄, MgFe₂O₄, MnFe₂O₄, NiFe₂O₄, and ZnFe₂O₄ were employed to study the catalytic degradation of phenol aqueous solutions. The catalysts were prepared via sol-gel and co-precipitation methods. All of the prepared catalysts were characterized using infrared spectroscopy (IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The ferrites catalytic activities were tested towards phenol degradation using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The photocatalytic properties of the ferrites were also investigated. The experimental results suggested that CuFe₂O₄ is an effective catalyst for the removal of phenol from wastewater. Additionally, different CuFe₂O₄composites were also prepared either by varying the metal ratios or incorporating chemically reduced graphene oxide in the ferrite cluster.

Keywords: phenol degradation, ferrite catalysts, ferrite composites, photocatalysis

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Authors: Ruth Catacolí, Hector Garcia

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Colombia Urban Areas shows a decreasing of their air quality, no matter the actions developed by the Government facing the mitigation of pressure factors related with air pollution. Examples of these actions were the fossil fuel quality improvement policies (FFQI). This study evaluated the impact of three FFQI in the air quality of Bogotá during the period 1990 - 2006: The phase-out of lead in the gasoline; the sulfur reduction in diesel oil consumed in Bogotá and the oxygenation of gasoline through the addition of ethanol. The results indicate that only the policy of phase-out of lead in gasoline has been effective, showing dropping of lead oxides concentration in the air. Some stakeholders believe that the FFQI evaluated in the study are environmental policies, but no one of these policies has been supported by an environmental impact assessment that shows specific benefits in air quality. The research includes some fuel policy elements to achieve positive impact on the air quality in the urban centers of Colombia.

Keywords: policy assessment, fuel quality, urban air quality, air quality management

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Authors: D. Malouch, M. Berchel, C. Dreanno, S. Stachowski-Haberkorn, P-A. Jaffres

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Biofouling is a complex natural phenomenon that involves biological, physical and chemical properties related to the environment, the submerged surface and the living organisms involved. Bio-colonization of artificial structures can cause various economic and environmental impacts. The increase in costs associated with the over-consumption of fuel from biocolonized vessels has been widely studied. Measurement drifts from submerged sensors, as well as obstructions in heat exchangers, and deterioration of offshore structures are major difficulties that industries are dealing with. Therefore, surfaces that inhibit biocolonization are required in different areas (water treatment, marine paints, etc.) and many efforts have been devoted to produce efficient and eco-compatible antifouling agents. The different steps of surface fouling are widely described in literature. Studying the biofilm and its stages provides a better understanding of how to elaborate more efficient antifouling strategies. Several approaches are currently applied, such as the use of biocide anti-fouling paint (mainly with copper derivatives) and super-hydrophobic coatings. While these two processes are proving to be the most effective, they are not entirely satisfactory, especially in a context of a changing legislation. Nowadays, the challenge is to prevent biofouling with non-biocide compounds, offering a cost effective solution, but with no toxic effects on marine organisms. Since the micro-fouling phase plays an important role in the regulation of the following steps of biofilm formation, it is desired to reduce or delate biofouling of a given surface by inhibiting the micro-fouling at its early stages. In our recent works, we reported that some amphiphilic compounds exhibited bacteriostatic or bactericidal properties at a concentration that did not affect mammalian eukaryotic cells. These remarkable properties invited us to assess this type of bio-inspired phospholipids to prevent the colonization of surfaces by marine bacteria. Of note, other studies reported that amphiphilic compounds interacted with bacteria leading to a reduction of their development. An amphiphilic compound is a molecule consisting of a hydrophobic domain and a polar head (ionic or non-ionic). These compounds appear to have interesting antifouling properties: some ionic compounds have shown antimicrobial activity, and zwitterions can reduce nonspecific adsorption of proteins. Herein, we investigate the potential of amphiphilic compounds as inhibitors of bacterial growth and marine biofilm formation. The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of four synthetic phospholipids that features a cationic charge or a zwitterionic polar-head group to prevent microfouling with marine bacteria. Toxicity of these compounds was also studied in order to identify the most promising compounds that inhibit biofilm development and show low cytotoxicity on two links representative of coastal marine food webs: phytoplankton and oyster larvae.

Keywords: amphiphilic phospholipids, biofilm, marine fouling, non-toxique assays

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Authors: Narges Farokhshad, Milad Molazadeh, Saman Jamalabbasi, Hamed Babaei Giglou, Saeed Bibak

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The Persian language is an inflectional subject-object-verb language. This fact makes Persian a more uncertain language. However, using techniques such as Zero-Width Non-Joiner (ZWNJ) recognition, punctuation restoration, and Persian Ezafe construction will lead us to a more understandable and precise language. In most of the works in Persian, these techniques are addressed individually. Despite that, we believe that for text refinement in Persian, all of these tasks are necessary. In this work, we proposed a ViraPart framework that uses embedded ParsBERT in its core for text clarifications. First, used the BERT variant for Persian followed by a classifier layer for classification procedures. Next, we combined models outputs to output cleartext. In the end, the proposed model for ZWNJ recognition, punctuation restoration, and Persian Ezafe construction performs the averaged F1 macro scores of 96.90%, 92.13%, and 98.50%, respectively. Experimental results show that our proposed approach is very effective in text refinement for the Persian language.

Keywords: Persian Ezafe, punctuation, ZWNJ, NLP, ParsBERT, transformers

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Authors: Lei Zhang, Tingting Xu, Jun He, Zhenyu Yan

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Email marketing is one of the most important segments of online marketing. It has been proved to be the most effective way to acquire and retain customers. The email content is vital to customers. Different customers may have different familiarity with a product, so a successful marketing strategy must personalize email content based on individual customers’ product affinity. In this study, we build our personalized email marketing strategy with three types of emails: nurture, promotion, and conversion. Each type of email has a different influence on customers. We investigate this difference by analyzing customers’ open rates, click rates and opt-out rates. Feature importance from response models is also analyzed. The goal of the marketing strategy is to improve the click rate on conversion-type emails. To build the personalized strategy, we formulate the problem as a reinforcement learning problem and adopt a Q-learning algorithm with variations. The simulation results show that our model-based strategy outperforms the current marketer’s strategy.

Keywords: email marketing, email content, reinforcement learning, machine learning, Q-learning

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Authors: Yuhong Zhang, Dan Lu, Chenyang Bu, Peipei Li, Kui Yu, Xindong Wu

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The Cross-Lingual Entity Alignment (CLEA) task aims to find the aligned entities that refer to the same identity from two knowledge graphs (KGs) in different languages. It is an effective way to enhance the performance of data mining for KGs with scarce resources. In real-world applications, the neighborhood structures of the same entities in different KGs tend to be non-isomorphic, which makes the representation of entities contain diverse semantic information and then poses a great challenge for CLEA. In this paper, we try to address this challenge from two perspectives. On the one hand, the cross-KG relation completion rules are designed with the alignment constraint of entities and relations to improve the topology isomorphism of two KGs. On the other hand, a representation method combining isomorphic weights is designed to include more isomorphic semantics for counterpart entities, which will benefit the CLEA. Experiments show that our model can improve the isomorphism of two KGs and the alignment performance, especially for two non-isomorphic KGs.

Keywords: knowledge graphs, cross-lingual entity alignment, non-isomorphic, relation completion

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Authors: Nelson Rotimi Osungbemiro, Sanni Rafiu Olugbenga, Abayomi Olufemi Olajuyigbe

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Ninety Fingerlings of Clarias gariepinus were exposed to the pathogenic Flavobacterium columnare a Gram Negative bacteria responsible for high mortality in fish pond raised young fish (fries and fingerlings) of Clarias sp. in Southwestern Nigeria. After feeding with 40% crude protein pelletized fish feed for 5 days, the fishes were divided into two groups, one group was treated with extracts from Calendula officinalis flowers, while the second group was not treated (control). The results indicated that, at day 5, colony formation had been manifesting and at day 7, skin lesion occurred and at the 8th day, first mortality of fish occurred, and this continued steadily on the 9th-12th day when all the fishes were dead. Whereas, in the group that was treated with Calendula sp., no single mortality was recorded. This research shows that plant extract from Calendula flowers is an effective antimicrobial agent against the virulent pathogenic Flavobacterium columnare disease.

Keywords: antimicrobial, Flavobacterium columnare, Clarias gariepinus, fish

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Authors: Emad Askar, Eldesoky Elsoaly, Mohamed Kamel, Hisham Kamel

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The objective of this article is to improve the passive vibration damping of solar array (SA) used in space structures, by the effective application of numerical optimization. A case study of a SA is used for demonstration. A finite element (FE) model was created and verified by experimental testing. Optimization was then conducted by implementing the FE model with the genetic algorithm, to find the optimal placement of aluminum circular patches, to suppress the first two bending mode shapes. The results were verified using experimental testing. Finally, a parametric study was conducted using the FE model where patch locations, material type, and shape were varied one at a time, and the results were compared with the optimal ones. The results clearly show that through the proper application of FE modeling and numerical optimization, passive vibration damping of space structures has been successfully achieved.

Keywords: damping optimization, genetic algorithm optimization, passive vibration damping, solar array vibration damping

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Authors: Wanvipa Thongborisute, Punyaphat Sirithanabadeekul, Pichit Suvanprakorn, Anan Jiraviroon

Abstract:

Background: Acne vulgaris is one of the most common dermatologic problems, and can have a significant psychological and physical effect on patients. Propionibacterium acnes' roles in acne vulgaris involve the activation of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), and toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) pathways. By activating these pathways, inflammatory events of acne lesions, comedogenesis and sebaceous lipogenesis can occur. Currently, there are several topical agents commonly use in treating acne vulgaris that are known to have an effect on TLRs, such as retinoic acid and adapalene, but these drugs still have some irritating effects. At present, there is an alarming increase in rate of bacterial resistance due to irrational used of antibiotics both orally and topically. For this reason, acne treatments should contain bioactive molecules targeting at the site of action for the most effective therapeutic effect with the least side effects. Sparganium stoloniferumis a Chinese aquatic herb containing a compound called Sparstolonin B (SsnB), which has been reported to selectively blocks Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-mediated inflammatory signals. Therefore, this topical TLR2 and TLR4 antagonist, in a form of Sparganium stoloniferum-derived compound containing SsnB, should give a benefit in reducing inflammation of acne vulgaris lesions and providing an alternative treatments for patients with this condition. Materials and Methods: The objectives of this randomized double blinded split faced placebo controlled trial is to study the safety and efficacy of the Sparganium stoloniferum-derived compound. 32 volunteered patients with mild to moderate degree of acne vulgaris according to global acne grading system were included in the study. After being informed and consented the subjects were given 2 topical treatments for acne vulgaris, one being topical 2.40% Sparganium stoloniferum extraction (containing Sparstolonin B) and the other, placebo. The subjects were asked to apply each treatment to either half of the face daily morning and night by randomization for 8 weeks, and come in for a weekly follow up. For each visit, the patients went through a procedure of lesion counting, including comedones, papules, nodules, pustules, and cystic lesions. Results: During 8 weeks of experimentation, the result shows a reduction in total lesions number between the placebo and the treatment side show statistical significance starting at week 4, where the 95% confidence interval begin to no longer overlap, and shows a trend of continuing to be further apart. The decrease in the amount of total lesions between week 0 and week 8 of the placebo side shows no statistical significant at P value >0.05. While the decrease in the amount of total lesions of acne vulgaris of the treatment side comparing between week 0 and week 8 shows statistical significant at P value <0.001. Conclusion: The data demonstrates that 2.40% Sparganium stoloniferum extraction (containing Sparstolonin B) is more effective in treating acne vulgaris comparing to topical placebo in treating acne vulgaris, by showing significant reduction in the total numbers of acne lesions. Therefore, this topical Sparganium stoloniferum extraction could become a potential alternative treatment for acne vulgaris.

Keywords: acne vulgaris, sparganium stoloniferum, sparstolonin B, toll-like receptor 2, toll-like receptor 4

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Authors: Changyeop Lee, Sewon Kim

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Reburning is a useful technology in reducing nitric oxide through injection of a secondary hydrocarbon fuel. In this paper, an experimental study has been conducted to evaluate the effect of fuel lean reburning on NOx/CO reduction in LNG flame. Experiments were performed in flames stabilized by a co-flow swirl burner, which was mounted at the bottom of the furnace. Tests were conducted using LNG gas as the reburn fuel as well as the main fuel. The effects of reburn fuel fraction and injection manner of the reburn fuel were studied when the fuel lean reburning system was applied. The paper reports data on flue gas emissions and temperature distribution in the furnace for a wide range of experimental conditions. At steady state, temperature distribution and emission formation in the furnace have been measured and compared. This paper makes clear that in order to decrease both NOx and CO concentrations in the exhaust when the pulsated fuel lean reburning system was adapted, it is important that the control of some factors such as frequency and duty ratio. Also it shows the fuel lean reburning is also effective method to reduce NOx as much as reburning.

Keywords: fuel lean reburn, NOx, CO, LNG flame

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Authors: Lu Si, Jie Yu, Shasha Li, Jun Ma, Lei Luo, Qingbo Wu, Yongqi Ma, Zhengji Liu

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Instance selection (IS) technique is used to reduce the data size to improve the performance of data mining methods. Recently, to process very large data set, several proposed methods divide the training set into some disjoint subsets and apply IS algorithms independently to each subset. In this paper, we analyze the limitation of these methods and give our viewpoint about how to divide and conquer in IS procedure. Then, based on fast condensed nearest neighbor (FCNN) rule, we propose a large data sets instance selection method with MapReduce framework. Besides ensuring the prediction accuracy and reduction rate, it has two desirable properties: First, it reduces the work load in the aggregation node; Second and most important, it produces the same result with the sequential version, which other parallel methods cannot achieve. We evaluate the performance of FCNN-MR on one small data set and two large data sets. The experimental results show that it is effective and practical.

Keywords: instance selection, data reduction, MapReduce, kNN

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Authors: Awais Ahmad, Mudssar Ali

Abstract:

Berseem is the major fodder crop grown in Pakistan and is highly preferred by cattle farmers due to its multicut nature and nutritious value. The quality seed production in berseem is largely dependent upon the activities of insect pollinators, particularly bees. In order to determine the effectiveness of native bee species in quality seed production of berseem, an experiment was conducted in the research field of MNS-University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan. The pollinator community of berseem was composed of four bees, three syrphid fly, and two butterfly species. Pesudapis sp. was the most abundant insect visitor, followed by Apis mellifera and A. dorsata. The visitation rate of A. mellifera was found highest, followed by Pesudapis sp. and A. dorsata. Moreover, single-visit efficacy in terms of seed per head and 1000 seed weight proved A. mellifera and Pesudapis sp as the most effective pollinators. Conserving these bee species may lead to sustainable berseem seed production in Pakistan.

Keywords: honey bees, syrphid fly, visitation rate, single visit

Procedia PDF Downloads 128