Search results for: lagged variables

Authors: Iva Buchberger, Vesna Kovač

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Global education policy trends and recommendations underline the importance of (distributive) school leadership as a school effectiveness key factor. In this context, the broader aim of this research (supported by the Croatian Science Foundation) is to identify school leadership characteristics in Croatian schools and to examine the correlation between school leadership and school effectiveness. The aim of the proposed conference paper is to focus on the school leadership characteristics which are additionally explained with school leadership facilitators that contribute to (distributive) school leadership development. The aforementioned school leadership characteristics include the following dimensions: (a) participation in the process of making different types of decisions, (b) influence in the decision making process, (c) social interactions between different stakeholders in the decision making process in schools. Further, the school leadership facilitators are categorized as follows: (a) principal’s activities (such as providing support to different stakeholders and developing mutual trust among them), (b) stakeholders’ characteristics (such as developed stakeholders’ interest and competence to participate in decision-making process), (c) organizational and material resources (such as school material conditions, the necessary information and time as resources for making decisions). The data were collected by a constructed and validated questionnaire for examining the school leadership characteristics and facilitators from teachers’ perspective. The main population in this study consists of all primary schools in Croatia while the sample is comprised of 100 primary schools, selected by random sampling. Furthermore, the sample of teachers was selected by an additional procedure taking into consideration the independent variables of sex, work experience, etc. Data processing was performed by standard statistical methods of descriptive and inferential statistics. Statistical program IBM SPSS 20.0 was used for data processing. The results of this study show that there is a (positive) correlation between school leadership characteristics and school leadership facilitators. Specifically, it is noteworthy to mention that all the dimensions of school leadership characteristics are in positive correlation with the categories of school leadership facilitators. These results are indicative for the education policy creators who should ensure positive and supportive environment for the school leadership development including the development of school leadership characteristics and school leadership facilitators.

Keywords: distributive school leadership, school effectiveness , school leadership characteristics, school leadership facilitators

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Authors: Myriam Roy

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The perspectives of the Togolese public towards mental illness were assessed, looking at religious affiliation, personal knowledge of someone with a mental illness, and education level as influencers. The goal was to observe which factors influenced most strongly the general public’s attitudes towards mental illness. The Togolese population was surveyed within the context of mental health awareness workshops and involved college and university students, rural community members, and company employees. Taylor and Dear’s Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill (CAMI) questionnaire was used to assess these influencers and includes four dimensions of community attitudes towards mental illness: authoritarianism, benevolence, social restrictiveness, and community mental health ideology (CMHI). Demographic questions were also included, tailored to the various realities of the Togolese population. These questions looked, among others, at religious, ethnical (region of origin within Togo), and educational background. It was found that religious affiliation and personal knowledge did not correlate significantly with changes in the four dimensions of the CAMI scale. It suggests that public perspectives towards mental illness might not be as associated with these variables as was previously thought. The dimensions, however, did correlate with themselves as was expected. Authoritarianism was associated positively with social restrictiveness, benevolence was associated negatively with social restrictiveness and positively with CMHI, and CMHI was associated negatively with social restrictiveness, indicating the CAMI did not suffer from reliability and validity issues when used with this population. Interestingly, level of education significantly impacted authoritarianism level, with higher education associated with a decrease in authoritarianism. This finding would support the notion that education is likely to provide access to a wide array of information as well as interaction with people from various backgrounds and situations. Providing increased awareness regarding mental health and illness in schools could be beneficial to favor the impact that education appears to have on public perspectives towards mental illness in Togo. Future studies could assess which mental health interventions in schools would be the most useful in Togo.

Keywords: CAMI questionnaire, cross-cultural psychology, stigma towards mental illness, West African psychology

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Authors: Pranjal Srivastava, Piyali Sengupta

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The performance of marine drilling risers is crucial in the offshore oil and gas industry to ensure safe drilling operation with minimum downtime. Experimental investigations on marine drilling risers are limited in the literature owing to the expensive and exhaustive test setup required to replicate the realistic riser model and ocean environment in the laboratory. Therefore, this study presents an analytical model of marine drilling riser for determining its fragility under ocean environmental loading. In this study, the marine drilling riser is idealized as a continuous beam having a concentric circular cross-section. Hydrodynamic loading acting on the marine drilling riser is determined by Morison’s equations. By considering the equilibrium of forces on the marine drilling riser for the connected and normal drilling conditions, the governing partial differential equations in terms of independent variables z (depth) and t (time) are derived. Subsequently, the Runge Kutta method and Finite Difference Method are employed for solving the partial differential equations arising from the analytical model. The proposed analytical approach is successfully validated with respect to the experimental results from the literature. From the dynamic analysis results of the proposed analytical approach, the critical design parameters peak displacements, upper and lower flex joint rotations and von Mises stresses of marine drilling risers are determined. An extensive parametric study is conducted to explore the effects of top tension, drilling depth, ocean current speed and platform drift on the critical design parameters of the marine drilling riser. Thereafter, incremental dynamic analysis is performed to derive the fragility functions of shallow water and deep-water marine drilling risers under ocean environmental loading. The proposed methodology can also be adopted for downtime estimation of marine drilling risers incorporating the ranges of uncertainties associated with the ocean environment, especially at deep and ultra-deepwater.

Keywords: drilling riser, marine, analytical model, fragility

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Authors: Georgios Koronis, Arlindo Silva

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This study seeks to understand the mechanical behavior of a natural fiber reinforced composite (epoxy/flax) in more depth, utilizing both experimental and numerical methods. It is attempted to identify relationships between the design parameters and the product performance, understand the effect of noise factors and reduce process variations. Optimization of the mechanical performance of manufactured goods has recently been implemented by numerous studies for green composites. However, these studies are limited and have explored in principal mass production processes. It is expected here to discover knowledge about composite’s manufacturing that can be used to design artifacts that are of low batch and tailored to niche markets. The goal is to reach greater consistency in the performance and further understand which factors play significant roles in obtaining the best mechanical performance. A prediction of response function (in various operating conditions) of the process is modeled by the DoE. Normally, a full factorial designed experiment is required and consists of all possible combinations of levels for all factors. An analytical assessment is possible though with just a fraction of the full factorial experiment. The outline of the research approach will comprise of evaluating the influence that these variables have and how they affect the composite mechanical behavior. The coupons will be fabricated by the vacuum infusion process defined by three process parameters: flow rate, injection point position and fiber treatment. Each process parameter is studied at 2-levels along with their interactions. Moreover, the tensile and flexural properties will be obtained through mechanical testing to discover the key process parameters. In this setting, an experimental phase will be followed in which a number of fabricated coupons will be tested to allow for a validation of the design of the experiment’s setup. Finally, the results are validated by performing the optimum set of in a final set of experiments as indicated by the DoE. It is expected that after a good agreement between the predicted and the verification experimental values, the optimal processing parameter of the biocomposite lamina will be effectively determined.

Keywords: design of experiments, flax fabrics, mechanical performance, natural fiber reinforced composites

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Authors: Majda Ibrahim Aljaroudi, Jwaher Alburake

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The study aimed to identify the active role of the teacher in the management of the effective classroom environment for high school students from the viewpoint of the teachers, and to identify whether there were statistically significant differences between the averages of the respondents regarding the active role of the high school teachers in managing effective classroom environment in Riyadh, and also the total score depending on the variables of the study (qualifications, years of experience, training and development programs). This study used the descriptive survey approach where a questionnaire has been built and consisted of (35) items about five areas as a tool to measure the teacher's role in the management of effective classroom environment for high school students. The study population consisted of (1313) high school teachers in the government schools in south of Riyadh. It consisted of (70) teachers who were selected randomly. It used the appropriate statistical methods to analyze data by using statistical packages (SPSS). The study found the following results: • Most of the study sample members agreed on their role in the effective classroom environment management for high school students in government schools in Riyadh with an average (3.91 out of 5), which falls in the fifth category of Quintet scale (from 3.41 to 4.20) that refers to the option "often". • There are statistically significant differences between the mean responses of the study sample about the active role of the teacher in the effective classroom environment management for high school students regarding the concept of order in the classroom depending on the variable of years of experience for the benefit of teachers who have over 10 years of experience. There are statistically significant differences between the mean responses of the study sample about the teacher's active role in the effective classroom environment management for high school students regarding the educational process for maintaining the order in the classroom depending on the variable of training and development programs for the benefit of the teachers who have more than (5) courses. Due to the results of the study the researcher recommended a number of recommendations to improve the teacher's role in the effective classroom environment management for high school students.

Keywords: effective management, active learning, educational sciences, pedagogical sciences

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Authors: Aschenaki Zerihun Kea, Bernt Lindtjorn, Achamyelesh Gebretsadik, Sven Gudmund Hinderaker

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Introduction: Maternal mortality studies conducted at the national level do not provide the information needed for planning and monitoring health programs at lower administrative levels. The aim of this study was to measure maternal mortality, identify risk factors and district-level variations in Sidama National Regional State, southern Ethiopia. Methods: A cross sectional population-based survey was carried out in households where women reported pregnancy and birth outcomes in the past five years. The study was conducted in the Sidama National Regional State, southern Ethiopia, from July 2019 to May 2020. Multi-stage cluster sampling technique was employed. The outcome variable of the study was maternal mortality. Complex sample logistic regression analysis was applied to assess variables independently associated with maternal mortality. Results: We registered 10602 live births (LB) and 48 maternal deaths, yielding an overall maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 419; 95% CI: 260-577 per 100,000 LB. Aroresa district had the highest MMR with 1142 (95% CI: 693-1591) per 100,000 LB. Leading causes of death were haemorrhage 21 (41%) and eclampsia 10 (27%). Thirty (59%) mothers died during labour, or within 24 hours after delivery, 25 (47%) died at home and 17 (38%) at a health facility. Mothers who did not have formal education had a higher risk of maternal death (AOR: 4.4; 95% CI: 1.7 – 11.0). The risk of maternal death was higher in districts with a low midwife-to-population ratio (AOR: 2.9; 95% CI: 1.0-8.9). Conclusion: The high maternal mortality with district-level variations in Sidama Region highlights the importance of improving obstetric care and employing targeted interventions in areas with high mortality rates. Due attention should be given to improving access to female education. Additional midwives have to be trained and deployed to improve maternal health services and consequently save the lives of mothers.

Keywords: maternal mortality variation, maternal death, Sidama, Ethiopia

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Authors: A. Giannakopoulos, S. B. Buckley

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Problem solving in any field is recognised as a prerequisite for any advancement in knowledge. For example in South Africa it is one of the seven critical outcomes of education together with critical thinking. As a systematic way to problem solving was initiated in mathematics by the great mathematician George Polya (the father of problem solving), more detailed and comprehensive ways in problem solving have been developed. This paper is based on the findings by the author and subsequent recommendations for further research in problem solving and critical thinking. Although the study was done in mathematics, there is no doubt by now in almost anyone’s mind that mathematics is involved to a greater or a lesser extent in all fields, from symbols, to variables, to equations, to logic, to critical thinking. Therefore it stands to reason that mathematical principles and learning cannot be divorced from any field. In management of knowledge situations, the types of problems are similar to mathematics problems varying from simple to analogical to complex; from well-structured to ill-structured problems. While simple problems could be solved by employees by adhering to prescribed sequential steps (the process), analogical and complex problems cannot be proceduralised and that diminishes the capacity of the organisation of knowledge creation and innovation. The low efficiency in some organisations and the low pass rates in mathematics prompted the author to view problem solving as a product. The authors argue that using mathematical approaches to knowledge management problem solving and treating problem solving as a product will empower the employee through further training to tackle analogical and complex problems. The question the authors asked was: If it is true that problem solving and critical thinking are indeed basic skills necessary for advancement of knowledge why is there so little literature of knowledge management (KM) about them and how they are connected and advance KM?This paper concludes with a conceptual model which is based on general accepted principles of knowledge acquisition (developing a learning organisation), knowledge creation, sharing, disseminating and storing thereof, the five pillars of knowledge management (KM). This model, also expands on Gray’s framework on KM practices and problem solving and opens the doors to a new approach to training employees in general and domain specific areas problems which can be adapted in any type of organisation.

Keywords: critical thinking, knowledge management, mathematics, problem solving

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Authors: Shlomit Hon-Snir, Shosh Shahrabai, Sharon Teitler Regev, Anabel Friedlander-Lifszyc

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Today, online travel sites account for a large share of the orders for tourism services, leading to the expectation that many traditional travel agencies will become redundant in the future. Technological changes are offering customers a wider variety and better prices, and the improved competition in the industry has increased customer well-being significantly. Therefore, the question is whether all customers can enjoy this change, specifically whether different groups in the Israeli population enjoy the changes similarly. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that affect the collection of data and the purchase of tourism products online and in particular to identify the barriers and limitations of technology usage among the population. The results of the current research are of great importance both economically and socially. The theory of Reasoned Action assumes that actual behavior is based on intention. Volitional behavior is predicted by individuals' attitudes to that behavior and by the way they think other people will look at them. Two cognitive variables regarding the use of technology are: perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use. Moreover, early adopters of innovations have different characteristics than people that adopt an innovation at a later stage. In the study, we analyze four groups of factors: Customer characteristics, internet usage, technology acceptance and product characteristics. Some of the parameters are gender, age, income level, frequency and type of internet use, proficiency in English, traveler type, number of trips abroad, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived risk, perceived trust and product type. We investigate online purchasing and online information search separately. Data will be collected using an online questionnaire distributed among a representative sample of 600 citizens in Israel. Some of the research questions will be based on previous research studies (that underwent reliability and validity testing). Those questions will be translated into Hebrew and adjusted for the tested population.

Keywords: customer characteristics, online travel sites, technology acceptance, tourism

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Authors: Ilse Kreme

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To the best of this author’s knowledge, no studies have been identified on the connection between a refusal to engage in health-protective behaviors and a basic understanding of viral biology among community college students, faculty, and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lack of scientific knowledge could prevent understanding of why these behaviors are important to prevent the community spread of COVID-19, even when they are not shown to offer much individual protection. In this study, a possible correlation was examined between a basic knowledge level of viral disease that comes from having taken a college biology course and disease perceptions of COVID-19. In particular, disease risk perception, disease severity percept and mask-wearing behaviors were examined as they correlated with having taken an undergraduate biology course. The effect of covariates of age, gender, and education level were investigated along with the main dependent variables. A representative sample of the population included students, faculty, and staff at Paradise Valley Community College (PVCC) in Phoenix, Arizona. Participants were recruited by an email sent to all students, faculty, and staff at PVCC using an all-college email distribution. Disease risk and severity perception were assessed with the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire 5 (BIP-Q5), which was modified to include questions measuring participant age, education level, and whether they took or ever took a college biology course. Two additional questions measured compliance of willingness to wear a face mask. The results showed an effect of gender on mask-wearing behavior and a correlation between having taken a biology course and disease severity perception. No differences were seen in mask-wearing behavior and disease risk perception as a result of having taken a biology course. These findings suggest that taking an undergraduate biology course leads to a greater awareness of COVID-19 disease severity through an understanding of the basic biological principles of viral disease transmission. The results can be used to modify existing health education strategies. Further research is needed on how to best reach target audiences in all education brackets.

Keywords: COVID-19, education, gender, mask wearing, disease risk perception, disease severity perception

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Authors: Shadia Al-Bahlani, Ruqaya Al-Rashdi, Shadia Al-Sinawi, Maya Al-Bahri

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Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive type of breast cancer, which is defined by the absence of Estrogen (ER), Progesterone (PR) and Human epidermal growth factor (Her-2) receptors. The calpain system plays an important role in many cellular processes including apoptosis, necrosis, cell signaling and proliferation. The role of clapins in pathogenesis and tumor progression has been studied in certain cancer types; however, its definite role is not yet established in breast cancer especially in the TNBC subtype. Objectives: This study aims to measure calpain-1 expression and correlate this measurement with the proliferating/apoptotic index as well with the prognostic factors in TNBC patients’ tissue. Materials and Methods: Thirty nine paraffin blocks from patients diagnosed with TNBC were used to measure the expression of calpain-1 and Ki-67 (proliferating marker) proteins using immunohistochemistry. Apoptosis was assessed morphological and biochemically using conventional Haematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining method and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediate dUTP nick and labeling (TUNEL) assay respectively. Data was statistically analyzed using Pearson X2 test of association. Results: Calpain-1 content was visualized in the nucleus of the TNBC cells and its expression varied from low to high among the patients tissue. Calpain expression showed no significant correlation with the proliferating/apoptotic index as well with the clinicopathological variables. Apoptotic counts quantified by H&E staining showed significant association with the apoptotic TUNEL assay, validating both approaches. Conclusion: Although calpain-1 expression showed no significant association with the clinical outcome, its variable level of expression might indicate a hidden role in breast cancer tissue. Larger number of samples and different mode of assessments are needed to fully investigate such role. Exploring the involvement of calpain-1 in cancer progression might help in considering it as a biomarker of breast cancer.

Keywords: breast cancer, calpain, apoptosis, prognosis

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Authors: Mahdi Taheri Asl

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Using a variety of strategies to read text plays an important role to make students strategic independent, strategic, and metacognitive readers. Given the importance of comprehension instruction (CI), it is essential to support the fostering comprehension skills at elementary age students, particularly those who struggle with or dislike reading. One of the main components of CI is activating metacognitive skills, which double function of elementary students. Thus, it’s important to evaluate the implemented comprehension interventions to inform reading specialist and teachers. There has been limited review research in the area of CI, so the conduction review research is required. The purpose of this review is to examine the effectiveness of metacognitive reading strategies in a regular classroom environment with elementary aged students. We develop five inclusion criteria to identify researches relevant to our research. First, the article had to be published in a peer-reviewed journal from 2000 to 2023. second, the study had to include participants in elementary school it could include of special education students. Third, the intervention needed to be involved with metacognitive strategies. Fourth, the articles had to use experimental or quasi experimental design. The last one needed to include measurement of reading performance in pre and post intervention. We used computer data-based site like Eric, PsychoINFO, and google scholar to search for articles that met these criteria. we used the following search terms: comprehension instruction, meta cognitive strategies, and elementary school. The next step was to do an ancestral search that get in reviewing the relevant studies cited in the articles that were found in the database search. We identified 30studies in the initial searches. After coding agreement, we synthesized 13 with respect to the participant, setting, research design, dependent variables, measures, the intervention used by instructors, and general outcomes. The finding show metacognitive strategies were effective to empower student’s comprehension skills. It also showed that linguistic instruction will be effective if got mixed with metacognitive strategies. The research provides a useful view into reading intervention. Despite the positive effect of metacognitive instruction on students’ comprehension skills, it is not widely used in classroom.

Keywords: comprehension instruction, metacogntion, metacognitive skills, reading intervention

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Authors: Shanorfizah Mohd Safar, Shaizatulaqma Kamalul Ariffin

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Internationalization of halal small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is necessary for SMEs to become more involved in regional trade and business cooperation. By internationalization, SMEs' profit can increase, and market expansion of SMEs is basic for rising economies of countries to contend all around in the halal industry globally. There are several modes of internationalization; exporting is one of the first steps for internationalization with less capital needed. The study examines the influential factors of export performance amongst halal SMEs in Malaysia. Specifically, this study examines the positive and significant relationships amongst human capital, managerial capability, Halal Assurance Management System (HAMS), digital transformation, government support, and networking capability on halal SMEs' export performance toward SMEs' competitive advantage. In addition, this study will examine innovation capabilities as a moderator in the relationship between independence variables and competitive advantage. Competitive advantage is the most compelling perspective that drives the export performance of halal SMEs in Malaysia. A quantitative method will be used: an online questionnaire survey distributed through emails and face-to-face toward selected halal-certificated SMEs registered in JAKIM, MATRADE website and SME Corp Malaysia website. Nevertheless, whether the halal SMEs practice global business, they will still be the potential respondents. The data were examined and obtained using the statistical software Smart PLS. The analysis used is reliability, correlation, and regression analysis to meet the research objectives. This study contributes significantly to the theory by integrating Resource Based View (RBV) theory, Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework and Networking theory. In addition, this research extends the RBV by extending a variable, the Halal Assurance Management System. This study also examines a moderating role of innovation capabilities in the framework and competitive advantage as a mediator. This research aims to analyze the factors that will impact the internationalization of halal SMEs.

Keywords: internationalization, halal SMEs, competitive advantage, export performance

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Authors: Naveed Mazhar

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Our cities are known to have significant modifying effects on the local climate. The nature of the modifications depends on a range of physical variables, usually assessed at a wide range of spatial scales. Physical spatial dimensions, such as measured parameters of microclimates and their significant influence on human sensations, are known to have far-reaching effects on human thermal comfort and by corollary a force that influences human perception. Less scholarship has thrown light on the subjective dimension and insufficiently demonstrates a relational approach between human behavior and how it is affected by the phenomenon of urban microclimates. Other than identifying gaps in the most recent scholarship and providing future research opportunities, the scope of this study will help improve urban design guidelines and raise framework standards of socially responsive urban design. This study will help equip future professionals to ameliorate the effects of urban microclimates on participant’s perceptions enabling more frequent usage of the outdoor urban spaces. However, it is informed that the physical parameters of an outdoor open space determine psychological human adaptations and is a measure of the degree to which people are willing to adapt to their surroundings. A large amount of research is available related to urban microclimates. However, very few studies are focused on the elucidation of the critical factors influencing human perceptions of the microclimates in urban spatial configurations. Based on the most recent scholarship, this study has evaluated the role urban microclimatic conditions have in the formation of human perceptions and, by extension, behavioral patterns formulating in outdoor open spaces. Furthermore, this study also defines, in the backdrop of the current scholarly literature, the socio-spatial interdependence of behavioral patterns with relationship to the built urban fabric and its resultant correlation with human perception. A comprehensive review and analysis of the recent research conducted within the scope of the study will help frame gaps, issues, current research methods and future research opportunities.

Keywords: urban design, urban microcliamate, human perception, human behavioral patterns

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Authors: Taju Abdela Mohammed

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Introduction: There has been a rise in awareness of violence against young women and girls, particularly when it occurs in educational environments. Gender-based violence in schools is a significant barrier. Therefore, it would be a threat to the achievement of the sustainable development goals, strive for gender equality in all our programs, right from the planning stages, to make sure we are as equitable as possible. Research on the causes, attitudes, and perceptions of gender-based violence was scant. Furthermore, there aren't many studies done on female students attending private colleges. Thus, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the frequency of gender-based violence and related variables among female students attending private colleges in Harar City, Ethiopia. Methodology: A facility-based mixed method concurrent triangulation study design was conducted among 500 randomly selected Private college female students in Harar City. Self-administered questionnaire and an in-depth interview were used to collect the data. The collected data were cleaned and analyzed using a statistical package for social science. Descriptive statistics were conducted and the results were reported using frequency, and percentile. Bivariate logistic regression was performed to identify associated factors. Adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals and p values < 0.05 were used to explain statistically significant associations. Thematic analysis was used to manually translate, transcribe, and analyze qualitative data. Result: The study showed the prevalence of gender-based violence was 338 (67.6%) (CI 0.432–0.721) Private college female students in Harar city Administration. Age less than 20 years and 20–24 years, [AOR = 0.21, 95% CI (0.03–0.81)] and [AOR = 0.12, 95% CI (0.03–0.51)], tight family control, [AOR = 5.12, 95% CI (1.43–6.9)], Witnessed father abuse mother at childhood; [AOR = 4.04, 95% CI (1.36–12.1)], had drunkenness female or boyfriend; [AOR = 2.12, 95% CI (1.60–14.05)] had significant association with gender-based violence. Conclusion: Our study shows the prevalence of gender-based violence among Private college female students is significant. This is due to the fact that gender-based violence, such as school dropout, unintended pregnancy, abortion, STDs, and psychological disorders, is abandoning young girls' lives and lowering their productivity.

Keywords: female students, gender-violence, harar, Ethiopia

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Authors: J. Tirano, H. Zea, C. Luhrs

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Photocatalysis has established as viable option in the development of processes for the treatment of pollutants and clean energy production. This option is based on the ability of semiconductors to generate an electron flow by means of the interaction with solar radiation. Owing to its electronic structure, TiO₂ is the most frequently used semiconductors in photocatalysis, although it has a high recombination of photogenerated charges and low solar energy absorption. An alternative to reduce these limitations is the use of nanostructured morphologies which can be produced during the synthesis of TiO₂ nanotubes (TNTs). Therefore, if possible to produce vertically oriented nanostructures it will be possible to generate a greater contact area with electrolyte and better charge transfer. At present, however, the development of these innovative structures still presents an important challenge for the development of competitive photoelectrochemical devices. This research focuses on established correlations between synthesis variables and 1D nanostructure morphology which has a direct effect on the photocatalytic performance. TNTs with controlled morphology were synthesized by two-step potentiostatic anodization of titanium foil. The anodization was carried out at room temperature in an electrolyte composed of ammonium fluoride, deionized water and ethylene glycol. Consequent thermal annealing of as-prepared TNTs was conducted in the air between 450 °C-550 °C. Morphology and crystalline phase of the TNTs were carried out by SEM, EDS and XRD analysis. As results, the synthesis conditions were established to produce nanostructures with specific morphological characteristics. Anatase was the predominant phase of TNTs after thermal treatment. Nanotubes with 10 μm in length, 40 nm in pore diameter and a surface-volume ratio of 50 are important in photoelectrochemical applications based on TiO₂ due to their 1D characteristics, high surface-volume ratio, reduced radial dimensions and high oxide/electrolyte interface. Finally, this knowledge can be used to improve the photocatalytic activity of TNTs by making additional surface modifications with dopants that improve their efficiency.

Keywords: electrochemical anodization, morphology, self-organized nanotubes, TiO₂ nanotubes

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Authors: C. O. Igberi, M. U. Amadi

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This research paper on the impact of import restriction on rice production in Nigeria is aimed at finding/proffering valid solutions to the age long problem of rice self-sufficiency, through a better understanding of policy measures used in the past, in this case, the effectiveness of rice import restriction of the early 90’s. It tries to answer the questions of; import restriction boosting domestic rice production and the macroeconomic determining factors of Gross Domestic Rice Product (GDRP). The research probe is investigated through literature and analytical frameworks, such that time series data on the GDRP, Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF), average foreign rice producers’ prices(PPF), domestic producers’ prices (PPN) and the labour force (LABF) are collated for analysis (with an import restriction dummy variable, POL1). The research objectives/hypothesis are analysed using; Cointegration, Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), Impulse Response Function (IRF) and Granger Causality Test(GCT) methodologies. Results show that in the short-run error correction specification for GDRP, a percentage (1%) deviation away from the long-run equilibrium in a current quarter is only corrected by 0.14% in the subsequent quarter. Also, the rice import restriction policy had no significant effect on the GDRP at this time. Other findings show that the policy period has, in fact, had effects on the PPN and LABF. The choice variables used are valid macroeconomic factors that explain the GDRP of Nigeria, as adduced from the IRF and GCT, and in the long-run. Policy recommendations suggest that the import restriction is not disqualified as a veritable tool for improving domestic rice production, rather better enforcement procedures and strict adherence to the policy dictates is needed. Furthermore, accompanying policies which drive public and private capital investment and accumulation must be introduced. Also, employment rate and labour substitution in the agricultural sector should not be drastically changed, rather its welfare and efficiency be improved.

Keywords: import restriction, gross domestic rice production, cointegration, VECM, Granger causality, impulse response function

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Authors: Chaudhary Itisha, Shankar Manu

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Patient satisfaction represents a crucial aspect in the evaluation of health care services. Preoperative teaching provides the patient with pertinent information concerning the surgical process and the intended surgical procedure as well as anticipated patient behavior (anxiety, fear), expected sensation, and the probable outcomes. Although patient education is part of Accreditation protocols, it is not uniform at most places. The aim of this study was to try to assess the benefit of preoperative patient education on selected post-operative outcome parameters; mainly, post-operative pain scores, requirement of additional analgesia, return to activity of daily living and overall patient satisfaction, and try to standardize few education protocols. Dependent variables were measured before and after the treatment on a study population of 302 volunteers. Educational intervention was provided by the Investigator in the preoperative period to the study group through personal counseling. An information booklet contained detailed information was also provided. Statistical Analysis was done using Chi square test, Mann Whitney u test and Fischer Exact Test on a total of 302 subjects. P value <0.05 was considered as level of statistical significance and p<0.01 was considered as highly significant. This study suggested that patients who are given a structured, individualized and elaborate preoperative education and counseling have a better ability to cope up with postoperative pain in the immediate post-operative period. However, there was not much difference when the patients have had almost complete recovery. There was no difference in the requirement of additional analgesia among the two groups. There is a positive effect of preoperative counseling on expected return to the activities of daily living and normal work schedule. However, no effect was observed on the activities in the immediate post-operative period. There is no difference in the overall satisfaction score among the two groups of patients. Thus this study concludes that there is a positive benefit as suggested by the results for pre-operative patient education. Although the difference in various parameters studied might not be significant over a long term basis, they definitely point towards the benefits of preoperative patient education. 

Keywords: patient education, post-operative pain, postoperative outcomes, patient satisfaction

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Authors: Roshanim Koris, Norashidah Mohamed Nor, Sharifah Azizah Haron, Normaz Wana Ismail, Syed Mohamed Aljunid Syed Junid, Amrizal Muhammad Nur, Asrul Akmal Shafie, Suraya Yusuff, Namaitijiang Maimaiti

Abstract:

An ageing population has huge implications for virtually every aspect of Malaysian societies. The elderly consume a greater volume of healthcare facilities not because they are older, but because of they are sick. The chronic comorbidities and deterioration of cognitive ability would lead the elderly’s health to become worst. This study aims to provide a comprehensive estimate of the direct and indirect costs of health care used in a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling elderly with dementia and as well as the determinants of healthcare cost. A survey using multi-stage random sampling techniques recruited a final sample of 2274 elderly people (60 years and above) in the state of Johor, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan. Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score was used to measure the cognitive capability among the elderly. Only the elderly with a score less than 19 marks were selected for further analysis and were classified as dementia. By using a two-part model findings also indicate household income and education level are variables that strongly significantly influence the healthcare cost among elderly with dementia. A number of visits and admission are also significantly affect healthcare expenditure. The comorbidity that highly influences healthcare cost is cancer and seeking the treatment in private facilities is also significantly affected the healthcare cost among the demented elderly. The level of dementia severity is not significant in determining the cost. This study is expected to attract the government's attention and act as a wake-up call for them to be more concerned about the elderly who are at high risk of having chronic comorbidities and cognitive problems by providing more appropriate health and social care facilities. The comorbidities are one of the factor that could cause dementia among elderly. It is hoped that this study will promote the issues of dementia as a priority in public health and social care in Malaysia.

Keywords: ageing population, dementia, elderly, healthcare cost, healthcare utiliztion

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Authors: Rana Tabassum, Ravi Kant, Banshi D. Gupta

Abstract:

Malic acid is an extensively distributed organic acid in numerous horticultural products in minute amounts which significantly contributes towards taste determination by balancing sugar and acid fractions. An enhanced concentration of malic acid is utilized as an indicator of fruit maturity. In addition, malic acid is also a crucial constituent of several cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. An efficient detection and quantification protocol for malic acid is thus highly demanded. In this study, we report a novel detection scheme for malic acid by synergistically collaborating fiber optic surface plasmon resonance (FOSPR) and distinctive features of nanomaterials favorable for sensing applications. The design blueprint involves the deposition of an assembly of malate dehydrogenase enzyme entrapped in ZnO nanowires forming the sensing route over silver coated central unclad core region of an optical fiber. The formation and subsequent decomposition of the enzyme-analyte complex on exposure of the sensing layer to malic acid solutions of diverse concentration results in modification of the dielectric function of the sensing layer which is manifested in terms of shift in resonance wavelength. Optimization of experimental variables such as enzyme concentration entrapped in ZnO nanowires, dip time of probe for deposition of sensing layer and working pH range of the sensing probe have been accomplished through SPR measurements. The optimized sensing probe displays high sensitivity, broad working range and a minimum limit of detection value and has been successfully tested for malic acid determination in real samples of fruit juices. The current work presents a novel perspective towards malic acid determination as the unique and cooperative combination of FOSPR and nanomaterials provides myriad advantages such as enhanced sensitivity, specificity, compactness together with the possibility of online monitoring and remote sensing.

Keywords: surface plasmon resonance, optical fiber, sensor, malic acid

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Authors: Balasooriya B. M. C. M., Sujeeva N., Thowfeek Z., Siddiqa Omo, Liyanagunawardana J. E., Jayawardana Saiu, Manathunga S. S., Katulanda G. W.

Abstract:

Introduction and objectives: Adrenal venous sampling (AVS) is the gold standard to discriminate unilateral primary aldosteronism (UPA) from bilateral disease (BPA). AVS is technically demanding and only performed in a limited number of centers worldwide. To the best of our knowledge, Except for one study conducted in India, no other research studies on this area have been conducted in South Asia. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of AVS in the management of primary aldosteronism. Methods: A total of 32 patients who underwent AVS at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka from April 2021 to April 2023 were enrolled. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data were obtained retrospectively. A procedure was considered successful when adequate cannulation of both adrenal veins was demonstrated. Cortisol gradient across the adrenal vein (AV) and the peripheral vein was used to establish the success of venous cannulation. Lateralization was determined by the aldosterone gradient between the two sides. Continuous and categorical variables were summarized with mean, SD, and proportions, respectively. The mean and standard deviation of the contralateral suppression index (CSI) were estimated with an intercept-only Bayesian inference model. Results: Of the 32 patients, the average age was 52.47 +26.14 and 19 (59.4%) were males. Both AVs were successfully cannulated in 12 (37.5%). Among them, lateralization was demonstrated in 11(91.7%), and one was diagnosed as a bilateral disease. There were no total failures. Right AV cannulation was unsuccessful in 18 (56.25%), of which lateralization was demonstrated in 9 (50%), and others were inconclusive. Left AV cannulation was unsuccessful only in 2 (6.25%); one was lateralized, and the other remained inconclusive. The estimated mean of the CSI was 0.33 (89% credible interval 0.11-0.86). Seven patients underwent unilateral adrenalectomy and demonstrated significant improvement in blood pressure during follow-up. Two patients await surgery. Others were treated medically. Conclusions: Despite failure due to procedural difficulties, AVS remained useful in the management of patients with PA. Moreover, the success of the procedure needs experienced hands and advanced equipment to achieve optimal outcomes in PA.

Keywords: adrenal venous sampling, lateralization, contralateral suppression index, primary aldosteronism

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Authors: Torben Hansen

Abstract:

While trust has long been regarded as one of the most critical variables for developing and maintaining well-functioning financial customer-seller relationships it can be suggested that trust not only relates to customer trust in individual companies (narrow-scope trust). Trust also relates to the broader business context in which consumers may carry out their financial behaviour (broad-scope trust). However, despite the well-recognized significance of trust in marketing research, only few studies have investigated the role of broad-scope trust in consumer financial behaviour. Moreover, as one of its many serious outcomes, the global financial crisis has elevated the need for an improved understanding of the role of broad-scope trust in consumer financial services markets. Only a minority of US and European consumers are currently confident in financial companies and ‘financial stability’ and ‘trust’ are now among the top reasons for choosing a bank. This research seeks to address this shortcoming in the marketing literature by investigating direct and moderating effects of broad-scope trust on consumer financial behaviour. Specifically, we take an ability-effort approach to consumer financial behaviour. The ability-effort approach holds the basic premise that the quality of consumer actions is influenced by ability factors, for example consumer knowledge and cognitive effort. Our study is based on two surveys. Survey 1 comprises 1,155 bank consumers, whereas survey 2 comprises 764 pension consumers. The results indicate that broad-scope trust negatively moderates relationships between knowledge and financial healthiness and between cognitive effort and financial healthiness. In addition, it is demonstrated that broad-scope trust negatively influences cognitive effort. Specifically, the results suggest that broad-scope trust contributes to the financial well-being of consumers with limited financial knowledge and processing capabilities. Since financial companies are dependent on customers to pay their loans and bills they have a greater interest in developing relations with consumers with a healthy financial behaviour than with the opposite. Hence, financial managers should be engaged with monitoring and influencing broad-scope trust. To conclude, by taking into account the contextual effect of broad-scope trust, the present study adds to our understanding of knowledge-effort-behaviour relationship in consumer financial markets.

Keywords: cognitive effort, customer-seller relationships, financial healthiness, knowledge, trust

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Authors: Jalal Haghighat Monfared, Zahra Akbari

Abstract:

Today, business executives need to have useful information to make better decisions. Banks have also been using information tools so that they can direct the decision-making process in order to achieve their desired goals by rapidly extracting information from sources with the help of business intelligence. The research seeks to investigate whether there is a relationship between the quality of decision making and the business intelligence capabilities of Mellat Bank. Each of the factors studied is divided into several components, and these and their relationships are measured by a questionnaire. The statistical population of this study consists of all managers and experts of Mellat Bank's General Departments (including 190 people) who use commercial intelligence reports. The sample size of this study was 123 randomly determined by statistical method. In this research, relevant statistical inference has been used for data analysis and hypothesis testing. In the first stage, using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, the normalization of the data was investigated and in the next stage, the construct validity of both variables and their resulting indexes were verified using confirmatory factor analysis. Finally, using the structural equation modeling and Pearson's correlation coefficient, the research hypotheses were tested. The results confirmed the existence of a positive relationship between decision quality and business intelligence capabilities in Mellat Bank. Among the various capabilities, including data quality, correlation with other systems, user access, flexibility and risk management support, the flexibility of the business intelligence system was the most correlated with the dependent variable of the present research. This shows that it is necessary for Mellat Bank to pay more attention to choose the required business intelligence systems with high flexibility in terms of the ability to submit custom formatted reports. Subsequently, the quality of data on business intelligence systems showed the strongest relationship with quality of decision making. Therefore, improving the quality of data, including the source of data internally or externally, the type of data in quantitative or qualitative terms, the credibility of the data and perceptions of who uses the business intelligence system, improves the quality of decision making in Mellat Bank.

Keywords: business intelligence, business intelligence capability, decision making, decision quality

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Authors: Ferdinando Montemari, Antonio Vitale, Nicola Genito, Giovanni Cuciniello

Abstract:

The introduction of tilt-rotor aircraft into the existing civilian air transportation system will provide beneficial effects due to tilt-rotor capability to combine the characteristics of a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft into one vehicle. The disposability of reliable tilt-rotor simulation models supports the development of such vehicle. Indeed, simulation models are required to design automatic control systems that increase safety, reduce pilot's workload and stress, and ensure the optimal aircraft configuration with respect to flight envelope limits, especially during the most critical flight phases such as conversion from helicopter to aircraft mode and vice versa. This article presents a process to build a simplified tilt-rotor simulation model, derived from the analysis of flight data. The model aims to reproduce the complex dynamics of tilt-rotor during the in-flight conversion phase. It uses a set of scheduled linear transfer functions to relate the autopilot reference inputs to the most relevant rigid body state variables. The model also computes information about the rotor flapping dynamics, which are useful to evaluate the aircraft control margin in terms of rotor collective and cyclic commands. The rotor flapping model is derived through a mixed theoretical-empirical approach, which includes physical analytical equations (applicable to helicopter configuration) and parametric corrective functions. The latter are introduced to best fit the actual rotor behavior and balance the differences existing between helicopter and tilt-rotor during flight. Time-domain system identification from flight data is exploited to optimize the model structure and to estimate the model parameters. The presented model-building process was applied to simulated flight data of the ERICA Tilt-Rotor, generated by using a high fidelity simulation model implemented in FlightLab environment. The validation of the obtained model was very satisfying, confirming the validity of the proposed approach.

Keywords: flapping dynamics, flight dynamics, system identification, tilt-rotor modeling and simulation

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Authors: Yu Fang Chen, Jeng Fung Hung

Abstract:

This study aimed to develop a circular economy scale to assess the level of recognition among high-level executives in businesses regarding the circular economy. The circular economy is crucial for global ESG sustainable development and poses a challenge for corporate social responsibility. The aim of promoting the circular economy is to reduce resource consumption, move towards sustainable development, reduce environmental impact, maintain ecological balance, increase economic value, and promote employment. This study developed a 23-item Circular Economy Scale, which includes three subscales: "Understanding of Circular Economy by Enterprises" (8 items), "Attitudes" (9 items), and "Behaviors" (6 items). The Likert 5-point scale was used to measure responses, with higher scores indicating higher levels of agreement among senior executives with regard to the circular economy. The study tested 105 senior executives and used a structural equation model (SEM) as a measurement indicator to determine the extent to which potential variables were measured. The standard factor loading of the measurement indicator needs to be higher than 0.7, and the average variance explained (AVE) represents the index of convergent validity, which should be greater than 0.5 or at least 0.45 to be acceptable. Out of the 23 items, 12 did not meet the standard, so they were removed, leaving 5 items, 3 items, and 3 items for each of the three subscales, respectively, all with a factor loading greater than 0.7. The AVE for all three subscales was greater than 0.45, indicating good construct validity. The Cronbach's α reliability values for the three subscales were 0.887, 0.787, and 0.734, respectively, and the total scale was 0.860, all of which were higher than 0.7, indicating good reliability. The Circular Economy Scale developed in this study measures three conceptual components that align with the theoretical framework of the literature review and demonstrate good reliability and validity. It can serve as a measurement tool for evaluating the degree of acceptance of the circular economy among senior executives in enterprises. In the future, this scale can be used by senior executives in enterprises as an evaluation tool to further explore its impact on sustainable development and to promote circular economy and sustainable development based on the reference provided.

Keywords: circular economy, corporate social responsibility, scale development, structural equation model

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Authors: Nur Aimi Syairah Mohd Abdul Alim, Azilah Ajit, A. Z. Sulaiman

Abstract:

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) on the extraction of Vitexin and Iso-Vitexin from Ficus deltoidea plants. In recent years, ultrasound technology has been found to be a potential herbal extraction technique. The passage of ultrasound energy in a liquid medium generates mechanical agitation and other physical effects due to acoustic cavitation. The main goal is to optimised ultrasonic-assisted extraction condition providing the highest extraction yield with the most desirable antioxidant activity and stability. Thus, a series of experiments has been developed to investigate the effect of ultrasound energy on the vegetal material and the implemented parameters by using HPLC-photodiode array detection. The influences of several experimental parameters on the ultrasonic extraction of Ficus deltoidea leaves were investigated: extraction time (1-8 h), solvent-to-water ratio (1:10 to 1:50), temperature (50–100 °C), duty cycle (10–continuous sonication) and intensity. The extracts at the optimized condition were compared with those obtained by conventional boiling extraction, in terms of bioactive constituents yield and chemical composition. The compounds of interest identified in the extracts were Vitexin and Isovitexin, which possess anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant and anti-cancer properties. Results showed that the main variables affecting the extraction process were temperature and time. Though in less extent, solvent-to-water ratio, duty cycle and intensity are also demonstrated to be important parameters. The experimental values under optimal conditions were in good consistent with the predicted values, which suggested that ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) is more efficient process as compared to conventional boiling extraction. It recommended that ultrasound extraction of Ficus deltoidea plants are feasible to replace the traditional time-consuming and low efficiency preparation procedure in the future modernized and commercialized manufacture of this highly valuable herbal medicine.

Keywords: Ficus, ultrasounds, vitexin, isovitexin

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Authors: Garreth Kestell, Lukah Dykes, Danielle Zerk, Kyla Trewartha, Rhianon Marshall, Elena Rudnik

Abstract:

Adolescent mental health is an international priority and the impact of innovative service models must be evaluated. Secondary school-based mental health services (SBMHS) involving private general practitioners and psychologists are a model of care being trialed in South Australia. Measures of depression, anxiety, and stress are routinely collected throughout psychotherapy sessions. This research set out to quantify the impact of psychotherapy for rural adolescents in a school setting and explore the importance of session frequency. Methods: Demographics, session date and DASS21 scores from students (n=65) seen in 2016 by three psychologists working at the SBMHS were recorded. Students were aged 13-18 years (M=15.43, SD= 1.24), mostly female (F=51, M=14), attended between 1 and 23 sessions with a median of 6 sessions (MAD 5.93) in one-year. The treating psychologist collected self-administered DASS21 scores. A mixed model analysis was used with age, sex, treating psychologist, months from first session, and session number as fixed effects, with response variables of DASS depression, anxiety, and stress scores. Results: 71.5% were classified as having extreme or severe anxiety and half had extreme or severe depression and/or stress scores. On average males had a greater increase in DASS scores over time but males attending more sessions benefited most from therapy. Discussion: Psychologists are treating rural adolescents in schools for severe anxiety, depression, and stress. This pilot study indicates that a predictive model combining demographics, session frequency, and DASS scores may help identify who is most likely to benefit from individual psychotherapy. Variations in DAS scores of individuals over time indicate the need for the collection of information such as living situation and exposure to alcohol. A larger sample size and additional data are currently being collected to allow for a more robust analysis.

Keywords: adolescent health, psychotherapy, school based mental health services, DAS21

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Authors: Gerrit Ter Haar, Thorsten Becker, Deborah Blaine

Abstract:

The Additive Manufacturing (AM) process of Selective Laser Melting (SLM) has seen an exponential growth in sales and development in the past fifteen years. Whereas the capability of SLM was initially limited to rapid prototyping, progress in research and development (R&D) has allowed SLM to be capable of fully functional parts. This technology is still at a primitive stage and technical knowledge of the vast number of variables influencing final part quality is limited. Ongoing research and development of the sensitive printing process and post processes is of utmost importance in order to qualify SLM parts to meet international standards. Quality concerns in Ti-6Al-4V manufactured through SLM has been identified, which include: high residual stresses, part porosity, low ductility and anisotropic mechanical properties. Whereas significant quality improvements have been made through optimising printing parameters, research indicates as-produced part ductility to be a major limiting factor when compared to its wrought counterpart. This study aims at achieving an in-depth understanding of the underlining links between SLM produced Ti-6Al-4V microstructure and its mechanical properties. Knowledge of microstructural transformation kinetics of Ti-6Al-4V allows for the optimisation of post-process heat treatments thereby achieving the required process route to manufacture high quality SLM produced Ti-6Al-4V parts. Experimental methods used to evaluate the kinematics of microstructural transformation of SLM Ti-6Al-4V are: optical microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction. Results show that a low-temperature heat treatment is capable of transforming the as-produced, martensitic microstructure into a duel-phase microstructure exhibiting both a high strength and improved ductility. Furthermore, isotropy of mechanical properties can be achieved through certain annealing routes. Mechanical properties identical to that of wrought Ti-6Al-4V can, therefore, be achieved through an optimised process route.

Keywords: EBSD analysis, heat treatments, microstructural characterisation, selective laser melting, tensile behaviour, Ti-6Al-4V

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Authors: Xiaoquan Huang, Congcong Li, Tingting Wei, Changcun Bai, Na Liu, Meng Tang

Abstract:

Silver is often doped on nano-titanium dioxide photocatalysts (Ag-TiO₂) by photodeposition method to improve their utilization of visible-light while increasing the toxicity of TiO₂。 However, it is not known what factors influence this toxicity and how to reduce toxicity while maintaining the maximum catalytic activity. In this study, Ag-TiO₂ photocatalysts were synthesized by the photodeposition method with different silver content (AgC) and photodeposition time (PDT). Characterization and catalytic experiments demonstrated that silver was well assembled on TiO₂ with excellent visible-light catalytic activity, and the size of silver increased with PDT. In vitro, the cell viability of lung epithelial cells A549 and BEAS-2B showed that the higher content and smaller size of silver doping caused higher toxicity. In vivo, Ag-TiO₂ catalysts with lower AgC or larger silver particle size obviously caused less pulmonary pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrosis responses. However, the visible light catalytic activity decreased with the increase in silver size. Therefore, in order to optimize the Ag-TiO₂ photocatalyst with the lowest pulmonary toxicity and highest catalytic performance, response surface methodology (RSM) was further performed to optimize the two independent variables of AgC and PDT. Visible-light catalytic activity was evaluated by the degradation rate of Rhodamine B, the antibacterial property was evaluated by killing log value for Escherichia coli, and cytotoxicity was evaluated by IC50 to BEAS-2B cells. As a result, the RSM model showed that AgC and PDT exhibited an interaction effect on catalytic activity in the quadratic model. AgC was positively correlated with antibacterial activity. Cytotoxicity was proportional to AgC while inversely proportional to PDT. Finally, the optimization values were AgC 3.08 w/w% and PDT 28 min. Under this optimal condition, the relatively high silver proportion ensured the visible-light catalytic and antibacterial activity, while the longer PDT effectively reduced the cytotoxicity. This study is of significance for the safe and efficient application of silver-doped TiO₂ photocatalysts.

Keywords: Ag-doped TiO₂, cytotoxicity, inflammtion, fibrosis, response surface methodology

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Authors: Xiping Wang，Shuran Yao, Liqin Dai

Abstract:

Many studies report the winter is getting warmer and the minimum air temperature is obviously rising as the important climate warming evidences. The exacerbated air temperature fluctuation tending to bring more severe weather variation is another important consequence of recent climate change which induced more disasters to crop growth in quite a certain regions. Hebei Province is an important winter wheat growing province in North of China that recently endures more winter freezing injury influencing the local winter wheat crop management. A winter wheat freezing injury assessment Bayesian Network framework was established for the objectives of estimating, assessing and predicting winter wheat freezing disasters in Hebei Province. In this framework, the freezing disasters was classified as three severity degrees (SI) among all the three types of freezing, i.e., freezing caused by severe cold in anytime in the winter, long extremely cold duration in the winter and freeze-after-thaw in early season after winter. The factors influencing winter wheat freezing SI include time of freezing occurrence, growth status of seedlings, soil moisture, winter wheat variety, the longitude of target region and, the most variable climate factors. The climate factors included in this framework are daily mean and range of air temperature, extreme minimum temperature and number of days during a severe cold weather process, the number of days with the temperature lower than the critical temperature values, accumulated negative temperature in a potential freezing event. The Bayesian Network model was evaluated using actual weather data and crop records at selected sites in Hebei Province using real data. With the multi-stage influences from the various factors, the forecast and assessment of the event-based target variables, freezing injury occurrence and its damage to winter wheat production, were shown better scoped by Bayesian Network model.

Keywords: bayesian networks, climatic change, freezing Injury, winter wheat

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Authors: Ayedh Alqahtani

Abstract:

Many construction firms in Saudi Arabia dedicated to building projects agree that the most important factor in the real estate market is the value that they can give to their customer. These firms understand the value of their client in different ways. Value can be defined as the size of the building project in relationship to the cost or the design quality of the materials utilized in finish work or any other features of building rooms such as the bathroom. Value can also be understood as something suitable for the money the client is investing for the new property. A quality tool is required to support companies to achieve a solution for the building project and to understand and manage the customer’s needs. Quality Function Development (QFD) method will be able to play this role since the main difference between QFD and other conventional quality management tools is QFD a valuable and very flexible tool for design and taking into the account the VOC. Currently, organizations and agencies are seeking suitable models able to deal better with uncertainty, and that is flexible and easy to use. The primary aim of this research project is to incorporate customer’s requirements in the conceptual design of construction projects. Towards this goal, QFD is selected due to its capability to integrate the design requirements to meet the customer’s needs. To develop QFD, this research focused upon the contribution of the different (significantly weighted) input factors that represent the main variables influencing QFD and subsequent analysis of the techniques used to measure them. First of all, this research will review the literature to determine the current practice of QFD in construction projects. Then, the researcher will review the literature to define the current customers of residential projects and gather information on customers’ requirements for the design of the residential building. After that, qualitative survey research will be conducted to rank customer’s needs and provide the views of stakeholder practitioners about how these needs can affect their satisfy. Moreover, a qualitative focus group with the members of the design team will be conducted to determine the improvements level and technical details for the design of residential buildings. Finally, the QFD will be developed to establish the degree of significance of the design’s solution.

Keywords: quality function development, construction projects, Saudi Arabia, quality tools

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