Search results for: life insurance pay package

Authors: Markus Heck, Hans Vettiger

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Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are the backbone of central Europe’s economies and have a significant contribution to the gross domestic product. Production planning and scheduling (PPS) is still a crucial element in manufacturing industries of the 21st century even though this area of research is more than a century old. The topic of PPS is well researched especially in the context of large enterprises in the manufacturing industry. However, the implementation of PPS methodologies within SME is mostly unobserved. This work analyzes how PPS is implemented in SME with the geographical focus on Switzerland and its vicinity. Based on restricted resources compared to large enterprises, SME have to face different challenges. The real problem areas of selected enterprises in regards of PPS are identified and evaluated. For the identified real-life problem areas of SME clear and detailed recommendations are created, covering concepts and best practices and the efficient usage of PPS. Furthermore, the economic and entrepreneurial value for companies is lined out and why the implementation of the introduced recommendations is advised.

Keywords: central Europe, PPS, production planning, SME

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Authors: Quinn Au, Amedeo Carmine, Tauheed Khan Mohd

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The Internet of Things (IoT) is emerging as a new development in information technology in recent years, with the potential to improve convenience and efficiency in life. Following the rise of IoT, the Social Internet of Things (SIoT) is another new development in which the benefits of connectivity and user-friendliness from social network services (SNS) are its main features. With the introduction of IoT, the world will be much more modernized, convenient, and industrialized. This paper will discuss the applications of IoT in different sectors such as healthcare services, education, and lifestyle. The privacy challenges that IoT still poses to user data will also be discussed. Finally, an empirical study to evaluate the number of active installed IoT connections in recent years demonstrates the increase in usage of IoT regardless of the privacy challenges. The study also examines some types of IoT devices that are being preferred in the market and predictions from researchers about IoT in the upcoming years.

Keywords: IoT, health care, robotics, social Internet of Things

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Authors: Y. T. Boon, M. N. Naim, R. Zakaria, N. F. Abu Bakar, N. Ahmad, I. W. Lenggoro

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In this study, encapsulation of agarwood oil with non-ionic surfactant, Tween 80 was prepared at critical micelle concentration of 0.0167 % v/v to produce the most stable nano-emulsion in aqueous. The encapsulation has minimized the bioactive compounds degradation in various pH conditions thus prolong their shelf life and maintained its initial oil grade. The oil grading of the prepared samples were conducted using the gel electrophoresis instead of using common analytical industrial grading such as gas chromatography- mass spectrometry (GC- MS). The grading method was chosen due to their unique zeta potential value after the encapsulation process. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of applying the electrophoresis principles to separate the encapsulated agarwood oil or grading of the emulsified agarwood oil. The results indicated that the grading process are potential to be further investigate based on their droplet size and zeta potential value at various pH condition when the droplet were migrate through polyacrylamide gel.

Keywords: electrophoretic mobility, essential oil, nanoemulsion, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, tween 80, zeta potential

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Authors: Joanna Drzeżdżon, Marzena Białek

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Polyolefins are a group of materials used today in all areas of life. They are used in the food, domestic and other industries. In particular, polyethylene and polypropylene have found application in the production of packaging materials, pipes, containers, car parts as well as elements of medical equipment, e.g. syringes. Optimization of the polymerization and oligomerization processes of selected olefins is a very important stage before the technological implementation of polyolefin production. The purpose of the studies is to determine the conditions for ethylene polymerization as well as 3-buten-2-ol and 2-chloro-2-propen-1-ol oligomerization with the use of oxovanadium(IV) dipicolinate complexes with N-heterocyclic ligands. Additionally, the studies aims to determine the catalytic activities of the dipicolinate oxovanadium(IV) complexes with N-heterocyclic ligands in the studied polymerization and oligomerization processes.

Keywords: buten-2-ol, dipicolinate, ethylene, polymerization, oligomerization, vanadium

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Authors: Giovana Vesentini, Fernanda Piculo, Gabriela Marini, Debora Damasceno, Angelica Barbosa, Selma Martheus, Marilza Rudge

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Problem statement: Skeletal muscle is highly adaptable, muscle fiber composition and size can respond to a variety of stimuli, such physiologic, as pregnancy, and metabolic abnormalities, as Diabetes mellitus. This study aimed to analyze the effects of pregnancy-associated diabetes on the rectus abdominis muscle (RA), and to compare this changes in rats and women. Methods: Female Wistar rats were maintained under controlled conditions and distributed in Pregnant (P) and Long-term mild pregnant diabetic (LTMd) (n=3 r/group). Diabetes in rats was induced by streptozotocin (100mg/Kg, sc) on the first day of life, for a hyperglycemic state between 120-300 mg/dL in adult life. Female rats were mated overnight, at day 21 of pregnancy were anesthetized, and killed for the harvesting of maternal RA. Pregnant women who attended the Diabetes Prenatal Care Clinic of Botucatu Medical School were distributed in Pregnant non-diabetic (Pnd) and Gestational Diabetic (GDM) (n=3 w/group). The diagnosis of GDM was established according to ADA’s criteria (2016). The harvesting of RA was during the cesarean section. Transversal cross-sections of the RA of both women and rats were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy. All procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee on Animal Experiments of the Botucatu Medical School (Protocol Number 1003/2013) and by the Botucatu Medical School Ethical Committee for Human Research in Medical Sciences (CAAE: 41570815.0.0000.5411). Results: The photomicrographs of the RA of rats revealed disorganized Z lines, thinning sarcomeres, and a usual quantity of intermyofibrillar mitochondria in the P group. The LTMd group showed swollen sarcoplasmic reticulum, dilated T tubes and areas with sarcomere disruption. The ultrastructural analysis of Pnd non-diabetic women in the RA showed well-organized myofibrils forming intact sarcomeres, organized Z lines and a normal distribution of intermyofibrillar mitochondria. The GDM group revealed increase in intermyofibrillar mitochondria, areas with sarcomere disruption and increased lipid droplets. Conclusion: Pregnancy and diabetes induce adaptations in the ultrastructure of the rectus abdominis muscle for both women and rats, changing the architectural design of these tissues. However, in rats these changes are more severe maybe because, besides the high blood glucose levels, the quadrupedal animal may suffer an excessive mechanical tension during pregnancy by gravity. Probably, these findings may suggest that these alterations are a risk factor that contributes to the development of muscle dysfunction in women with GDM and may motivate treatment strategies in these patients.

Keywords: gestational diabetes, muscle dysfunction, pregnancy, rectus abdominis

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Authors: Dalia Hanna, Alexander Ferworn

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This research provides detailed proposed training modules for the public safety teams and, specifically, SAR teams responsible for search and rescue operations related to finding lost persons with dementia. Finding a lost person alive is the goal of this training. Time matters if a lost person is to be found alive. Finding lost people living with dementia is quite challenging, as they are unaware they are lost and will not seek help. Even a small contribution to SAR operations could contribute to saving a life. SAR operations will always require expert professional and human volunteers. However, we can reduce their time, save lives, and reduce costs by providing practical training that is based on real-life scenarios. The content for the proposed training is based on the research work done by the researcher in this area. This research has demonstrated that, based on utilizing drones, the algorithmic approach could support a successful search outcome. Understanding the behavior of the lost person, learning where they may be found, predicting their survivability, and automating the search are all contributions of this work, founded in theory and demonstrated in practice. In crisis management, human behavior constitutes a vital aspect in responding to the crisis; the speed and efficiency of the response often get affected by the difficulty of the context of the operation. Therefore, training in this area plays a significant role in preparing the crisis manager to manage the emotional aspects that lead to decision-making in these critical situations. Since it is crucial to gain high-level strategic choices and the ability to apply crisis management procedures, simulation exercises become central in training crisis managers to gain the needed skills to respond critically to these events. The training will enhance the responders’ ability to make decisions and anticipate possible consequences of their actions through flexible and revolutionary reasoning in responding to the crisis efficiently and quickly. As adult learners, search and rescue teams will be approaching training and learning by taking responsibility of the learning process, appreciate flexible learning and as contributors to the teaching and learning happening during that training. These are all characteristics of adult learning theories. The learner self-reflects, gathers information, collaborates with others and is self-directed. One of the learning strategies associated with adult learning is effective elaboration. It helps learners to remember information in the long term and use it in situations where it might be appropriate. It is also a strategy that can be taught easily and used with learners of different ages. Designers must design reflective activities to improve the student’s intrapersonal awareness.

Keywords: training, OER, dementia, drones, search and rescue, adult learning, UDL, instructional design

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Authors: Che Z. Zulkifli, Nursyahida M. Noor, Siti N. Semunab, Shafawati A. Malek

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Wireless sensors, also known as wireless sensor nodes, have been making a significant impact on human daily life. The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) are two complementary technologies; hence, an integrated implementation of these technologies expands the overall functionality in obtaining long-range and real-time information on the location and properties of objects and people. An approach for integrating ZigBee and RFID networks is proposed in this paper, to create an energy-efficient network improved by the benefits of combining ZigBee and RFID architecture. Furthermore, the compatibility and requirements of the ZigBee device and communication links in the typical RFID system which is presented with the real world experiment on the capabilities of the proposed RFID system.

Keywords: mesh network, RFID, wireless sensor network, zigbee

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Authors: V. Moser-Siegmeth, M. C. Gambal, M. Jelovcak, B. Prytek, I. Swietalsky, D. Würzl, C. Fida, V. Mühlegger

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Adaptability is the capacity to adjust without great difficulty to changing circumstances. Within our project, we aimed to detect whether older people living within a long-term care hospital lose the ability to adapt. Theoretical concepts are contradictory in their statements. There is also lack of evidence in the literature how the adaptability of older people changes over the time. Following research questions were generated: Are older residents of a long-term care facility able to adapt to changes within their daily routine? How long does it take for older people to adapt? The study was designed as a convergent parallel mixed method intervention study, carried out within a four-month period and took place within seven wards of a long-term care hospital. As a planned intervention, a change of meal-times was established. The inhabitants were surveyed with qualitative interviews and quantitative questionnaires and diaries before, during and after the intervention. In addition, a survey of the nursing staff was carried out in order to detect changes of the people they care for and how long it took them to adapt. Quantitative data was analysed with SPSS, qualitative data with a summarizing content analysis. The average age of the involved residents was 82 years, the average length of stay 45 months. The adaptation to new situations does not cause problems for older residents. 47% of the residents state that their everyday life has not changed by changing the meal times. 24% indicate ‘neither nor’ and only 18% respond that their daily life has changed considerably due to the changeover. The diaries of the residents, which were conducted over the entire period of investigation showed no changes with regard to increased or reduced activity. With regard to sleep quality, assessed with the Pittsburgh sleep quality index, there is little change in sleep behaviour compared to the two survey periods (pre-phase to follow-up phase) in the cross-table. The subjective sleep quality of the residents is not affected. The nursing staff points out that, with good information in advance, changes are not a problem. The ability to adapt to changes does not deteriorate with age or by moving into a long-term care facility. It only takes a few days to get used to new situations. This can be confirmed by the nursing staff. Although there are different determinants like the health status that might make an adjustment to new situations more difficult. In connection with the limitations, the small sample size of the quantitative data collection must be emphasized. Furthermore, the extent to which the quantitative and qualitative sample represents the total population, since only residents without cognitive impairments of selected units participated. The majority of the residents has cognitive impairments. It is important to discuss whether and how well the diary method is suitable for older people to examine their daily structure.

Keywords: adaptability, intervention study, mixed methods, nursing home residents

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Authors: Lombuso P. Shabalala

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This research paper investigates the importance of community involvement in tourism development activities from the initial stage. Community is defined as a group of people living in the same area and practicing common ownership and practices or with a commonality such as norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Globalisation has restructured economic, political, and social relationships at the local level, which impacts community involvement in activities taking place in their own space. Although social relationships and interests are no longer limited to local communities, the power of place remains. Whereas, tourism is considered as an activity essential to the life of nations because of its direct effects on the social, cultural, educational, and economic sectors of national societies and their international relations. The existing literature has indicated that the four types of motivation in community involvement are best differentiated by identifying the unique ultimate goal for each motivation. In a nutshell, the ultimate goal for egoism is to increase one's own welfare; altruism is to increase the welfare of another individual or individuals; collectivism is aimed at increasing the welfare of a group, and the principlism is to uphold one or more moral principles. As a base of community involvement, each of these four forms of motivation exhibits its own strengths and weaknesses to be acknowledged. Purposive sampling was suitable to select the fourteen descendant group representatives. The representatives included chief/s, headman, senior descendants’ member, and members of the traditional council who descends from MWCHS. The qualitative research design was adopted for the study in the form of semi-structured interviews. Community development is a social process involving residents in activities designed to improve their quality of life. The key finding of the research is the importance of involving communities, in particular, the immediate community members from the initial stage of any proposed tourism development activity. Without a doubt, the immediate communities are well informed about the dynamics of the area (economically, politically, and socially). Therefore, the finding suggests that communities are in a better position to advise project managers on possible potential tourism developments activities that can address the real needs and benefit the community, instead of investing resources in a development that will not benefit or add any value in the lives of the targeted communities. It must be noted that the power of the place where the development will be implemented remains with the community. Furthermore, community support and buy-in are crucial to the success of prospective tourism development. In conclusion, it cannot be denied that community involvement comes with its own challenges, contrary to greater sustainable benefits that can be realized prior to articulation. The study suggests for project managers to ensure a fair and transparent community involvement process. Fair distribution of meaningful roles could secure trust and result in these communities to view the proposed development as their own.

Keywords: communities, development, involvement, tourism

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Authors: Naeemeh Silvari

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The phenomenon of the spread and epidemic of the corona virus caused many aspects of the social life of the people of the world to face various challenges. In this regard, and in order to improve the living conditions of the people, the World Health Organization has tried to publish the necessary instructions for its contacts in the world in the form of its media capacities. Considering the importance of cultural differences in the discussion of health communication and the distinct needs of people in different societies, some production contents were produced and published exclusively. This research has studied six videos published on the official page of the World Health Organization in Iran as a case study. The published content has the least semantic affinity with Iranian culture, and it has been tried to show a uniform image of the Middle East with the predominance of the image of the culture of the developing Arab countries.

Keywords: corona, representation, semiotics, instagram, health communication

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Authors: Amna Abdalla Mohammed Khalid, Pietro Parisse, Silvia Onesti, Loredana Casalis

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Basic cellular processes as DNA replication are crucial to cell life. Understanding at the molecular level the mechanisms that govern DNA replication in proliferating cells is fundamental to understand disease connected to genomic instabilities, as a genetic disease and cancer. A key step for DNA replication to take place, is unwinding the DNA double helix and this carried out by proteins called helicases. The archaeal MCM (minichromosome maintenance) complex from Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus have being studied using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), imaging in air and liquid (Physiological environment). The accurate analysis of AFM topographic images allowed to understand the static conformations as well the interaction dynamic of MCM and DNA double helix in the present of ATP.

Keywords: DNA, protein-DNA interaction, MCM (mini chromosome manteinance) complex, atomic force microscopy (AFM)

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Authors: Nidhi Prabha

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Transportation as a sector is one of the most significant infrastructural elements of the ‘urban.' The distinctness of an urban life in a city is marked by the dynamic movements that it enables within the city-space. Therefore it is important to study the public-transport systems that enable and foster mobility which characterizes the urban. It is also crucial to underscore the way one is examining the urban transport systems - either as an infrastructural unit in a strict physical-structural sense or as a structural unit which acts as a prism refracting multiple experiences depending on the location of the ‘commuter.' In the proposed paper, the attempt is to uncover and investigate the assumption of the neuter-commuter by looking at urban transportation in the secondary sense i.e. as a structural unit which is experienced differently by different kinds of commuters, thus making transportation deeply distributed with various social structures and locations like class or gender which map onto the transport systems. To this end, the public-transit systems operating in Urban Delhi i.e. the Delhi Metros and the Delhi Transport Corporation run public-buses are looked at as case studies. The study is premised on the knowledge and data gained from both primary and secondary sources. Primary sources include data and knowledge collected from fieldwork, the methodology for which has ranged from adopting ‘mixed-methods’ which is ‘Qualitative-then-Quantitative’ as well as borrowing ethnographic techniques. Apart from fieldwork, other primary sources looked at including Annual Reports and policy documents of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), Union and Delhi budgets, Economic Survey of Delhi, press releases, etc. Secondary sources include the vast array of literature available on the critical nodes that inform the research like gender, transport geographies, urban-space, etc. The study indicates a deeply-distributed urban transport system wherein the various social-structural locations or different kinds of commuters map onto the way these different commuters experience mobility or movement within the city space. Mobility or movement, therefore, becomes gendered or has class-based ramifications. The neuter-commuter assumption is thus challenged. Such an understanding enables us to challenge the anonymity which the ‘urban’ otherwise claims it provides over the rural. The rural is opposed to the urban wherein urban ushers a modern way of life, breaking ties of traditional social identities. A careful study of the transport systems through the traveling patterns and choices of the commuters, however, indicate that this does not hold true as even the same ‘public-space’ of the transport systems allocates different places to different kinds of commuters. The central argument made though the research done is therefore that infrastructure like urban-transport-systems has to be studied and examined as seen beyond just a physical structure. The various experiences of daily mobility of different kinds of commuters have to be taken into account in order to design and plan more inclusive transport systems.

Keywords: gender, infrastructure, mobility, urban-transport-systems

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Authors: Himanshu Dehra

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This paper presents a paradigm for characterization and checking of human noise behavior. The definitions of ‘Noise’ and ‘Noise Behavior’ are devised. The concept of characterization and examining of Noise Behavior is obtained from the proposed paradigm of Psychoacoustics. The measurement of human noise behavior is discussed through definitions of noise sources and noise measurements. The noise sources, noise measurement equations and noise filters are further illustrated through examples. The theory and significance of solar energy acoustics is presented for life and its activities. Human comfort and health are correlated with human brain through physiological responses and noise protection. Examples of heat stress, intense heat, sweating and evaporation are also enumerated.

Keywords: human brain, noise behavior, noise characterization, noise filters, physiological responses, psychoacoustics

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Authors: Marie-Elise Beydon, Daniel Sacristan, Isabel Ruppen

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MB02 (Alymsys®) is a candidate biosimilar to bevacizumab, which was developed against the reference product (RP) Avastin® sourced from both the European Union (EU) and United States (US). MB02 has been extensively characterized comparatively to Avastin® at a physicochemical and biological level using sensitive orthogonal state-of-the-art analytical methods. MB02 has been demonstrated similar to the RP with regard to its primary and higher-order structure, post- and co-translational profiles such as glycosylation, charge, and size variants. Specific focus has been put on the characterization of Fab-related activities, such as binding to VEGF A 165, which directly reflect the bevacizumab mechanism of action. Fc-related functionality was also investigated, including binding to FcRn, which is indicative of antibodies' half-life. The data generated during the analytical similarity assessment demonstrate the high analytical similarity of MB02 to its RP.

Keywords: analytical similarity, bevacizumab, biosimilar, MB02

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Authors: Aswathy Sampath

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The study examined the levels of self esteem and attachment among adolescents of divorced and non-divorced parents. Adolescent is a period which is most prodigious yet stressful period of development in a human’s life hence it is important to study the effects on them. The study was conducted on total 60 adolescents, 30 in each group, from the area of Trivandrum, Kerala as it is the top rated in the number of divorce cases in India. The data was collected using Rosenberg’s self esteem scale and IPPA (father, mother and peer) The results of this study were analyzed using t test and found that there is no significance difference in the level of self esteem and attachment (father, mother and peer). This is due to the cultural elements that give support to the individual and also the type of family as it is much different from the west. Although, there was no significant result, there were higher mean scores in the attachment towards peer for children who are from separated family background or in other words adolescents whose parents were divorced. This tells us the essence of social support.

Keywords: adolescent, attachment, self esteem, separation

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Authors: Theopoula Karanikolaou

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During recent decades an increasing number of studies indicate the negative impact of gender stereotypes in various aspects of society as well as in everyday life. At the same time, children’s literature is considered an important factor of gender-role socialization as it provides young readers with socially accepted gender behavioral models. Using a content analysis approach, this research examines the female representations in Greek children’s literature published from 2009 to 2019. Results indicate that female characters are depicted as sensitive and tender both in texts and illustrations, traits that are almost absent in the male characters of the sample. Highlighting the emotional aspect of female characters in contrast with the restrained male attitude reproduces gender biases. Stereotypical gender representation in children’s literature cultivates further discrimination among men and women.

Keywords: children's literature, female representation, gender socialization, gender studies

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Authors: Deniz Dincel, Sena Ardicli, Hale Samli, Mustafa Ogan, Faruk Balci

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The aim of the study was to determine the effects of some environmental and genetic factors on growth, fertility traits, milk yield and composition in Saanen goats. For this purpose, the total of 173 Saanen goats and kids were investigated for growth, fertility and milk traits in Marmara Region of Turkey. Fertility parameters (n=70) were evaluated during two years. Milk samples were collected during the lactation and the milk yield/components (n=59) of each goat were calculated. In terms of CSN3 and AGPAT6 gene; the genotypes were defined by PCR-RFLP. Saanen kids (n=86-112) were measured from birth to 6 months of life. The birth, weaning, 60ᵗʰ, 90ᵗʰ, 120ᵗʰ and 180tᵗʰ days of average live weights were calculated. The effects of maternal age on pregnancy rate (p < 0.05), birth rate (p < 0.05), infertility rate (p < 0.05), single born kidding (p < 0.001), twinning rate (p < 0.05), triplet rate (p < 0.05), survival rate of kids until weaning (p < 0.05), number of kids per parturition (p < 0.01) and number of kids per mating (p < 0.01) were found significant. The impacts of year on birth rate (p < 0.05), abortion rate (p < 0.001), single born kidding (p < 0.01), survival rate of kids until weaning (p < 0.01), number of kids per mating (p < 0.01) were found significant for fertility traits. The impacts of lactation length on all milk yield parameters (lactation milk, protein, fat, totally solid, solid not fat, casein and lactose yield) (p < 0.001) were found significant. The effects of age on all milk yield parameters (lactation milk, protein, fat, total solid, solid not fat, casein and lactose yield) (p < 0.001), protein rate (p < 0.05), fat rate (p < 0.05), total solid rate (p < 0.01), solid not fat rate (p < 0.05), casein rate (p < 0.05) and lactation length (p < 0.01), were found significant too. However, the effect of AGPAT6 gene on milk yield and composition was not found significant in Saanen goats. The herd was found monomorphic (FF) for CSN3 gene. The effects of sex on live weights until 90ᵗʰ days of life (birth, weaning and 60ᵗʰ day of average weight) were found significant statistically (p < 0.001). The maternal age affected only birth weight (p < 0,001). The effects month at birth on all of the investigated day [the birth, 120ᵗʰ, 180ᵗʰ days (p < 0.05); the weaning, 60ᵗʰ, 90ᵗʰ days (p < 0,001)] were found significant. The birth type was found significant on the birth (p < 0,001), weaning (p < 0,01), 60ᵗʰ (p < 0,01) and 90ᵗʰ (p < 0,01) days of average live weights. As a result, screening the other regions of CSN3, AGPAT6 gene and also investigation the phenotypic association of them should be useful to clarify the efficiency of target genes. Environmental factors such as maternal age, year, sex and birth type were found significant on some growth, fertility and milk traits in Saanen goats. So consideration of these factors could be used as selection criteria in dairy goat breeding.

Keywords: fertility, growth, milk yield, Saanen goats

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Authors: Layla Mujahed

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Amman, the capital of Jordan, is the main political, economic, social and cultural center of Jordan and beyond. The city faces multitude demographic challenges related to the unstable political situation in the surrounded countries. It has regional and local migrants who left their homes to find better life in the capital. This resulted with random and unequaled population distribution. Some districts have high population and pressure on the infrastructure and services more than other districts.Government works to resolve this challenge in compliance with 100 Cities Resilience Framework (CRF). Amman participated in this framework as a member in December 2014 to work in achieving the four goals: health and welfare, infrastructure and utilities, economy and education as well as administration and government.  Previous research studies lack in studying Amman resilient work in neighborhood scale and the population growth as resilient challenge. For that, this study focuses on Al-Thahabiah neighborhood in Shafa Badran district in Amman. This paper studies the reasons and drivers behind this population growth during the selected period in this area then provide strategies to improve the resilient work in neighborhood scale. The methodology comprises of primary and secondary data. The primary data consist of interviews with chief officer in the executive part in Great Amman Municipality and resilient officer. The secondary data consist of papers, journals, newspaper, articles and book’s reading. The other part of data consists of maps and statistical data which describe the infrastructural and social situation in the neighborhood and district level during the studying period. Based upon those data, more detailed information will be found, e.g., the centralizing position of population and the provided infrastructure for them. This will help to provide these services and infrastructure to other neighborhoods and enhance population distribution. This study develops an analytical framework to assess urban demographical time series in accordance with the criteria of CRF to make accurate detailed projections on the requirements for the future development in the neighborhood scale and organize the human requirements for affordable quality housing, employment, transportation, health and education in this neighborhood to improve the social relations between its inhabitants and the community. This study highlights on the localization of resilient work in neighborhood scale and spread the resilient knowledge related to the shortage of its research in Jordan. Studying the resilient work from population growth challenge perspective helps improve the facilities provide to the inhabitants and improve their quality of life.

Keywords: city resilience framework, demography, population growth, stakeholders, urban resilience

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Authors: Abdullah Eqal Al Mazrooei

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Kalman filter is a famous algorithm that utilizes to estimate the state in the linear systems. It has numerous applications in technology and science. Since of the most of applications in real life can be described by nonlinear systems. So, Kalman filter does not work with the nonlinear systems because it is suitable to linear systems only. In this work, a nonlinear filtering algorithm is presented which is suitable to use with the special kinds of nonlinear systems. This filter generalizes the Kalman filter. This means that this filter also can be used for the linear systems. Our algorithm depends on a special linearization of the second degree. We introduced the nonlinear algorithm with a bilinear state-space model. A simulation example is presented to illustrate the efficiency of the algorithm.

Keywords: Kalman filter, filtering algorithm, nonlinear systems, state-space model

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Authors: Margarita Zavala, Gabriel Chavira, José González, Jorge Orozco, Julio Rolón, Roberto Pichardo

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Adolescence is a neuralgic stage in the formation of every human being, generally this stage is when the middle school level is studied. In 2006, Mexico incorporated 'mentoring' space to assist students in their integration and participation in life. In public middle schools, it is sometimes difficult to be aware of situations that affect students because of the number of them and traditional records management. With this, they lose the opportunity to provide timely support as a preventive way. In order to provide this support, it is required to know the students by detecting the relevant information that has greater impact on their learning process. This research is looking to check if it is possible to identify student’s relevant information to detect when it is at risk, and then to propose a model to manage in a proper way such information.

Keywords: adolescence, mentoring, middle school students, mentoring system support

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Authors: S. Alotaibi, D. Roussinov

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Mobile government services implementation faces several challenges in developing countries. This paper studies some of those challenges in the context of Saudi Arabia. The study aims to investigate factors affecting m-government acceptance in Saudi Arabia, including ease of use, usefulness, service quality, trust, intention to use and users’ satisfaction. Our investigation will help in integrating the m-government services in citizens’ everyday life. We collected and analyzed our data from focus groups. These focus groups are from King Saud University and Imam Muhammed Bin Saud University, so the samples size are five and seven participants, respectively. We found that there are some factors to identifying citizen requirements to Saudi mobile government services. These services should be easy to use and not require too much effort. Also, these services must be fully trusted.

Keywords: e-government, m-government, focus group, Saudi mobile government services

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Authors: Maria Cristina B. Cabanag, Elijinese Marie S. Culangen

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Pregnancy is a period in a woman's life wherein the body may undergo different physiological changes. These changes can be attributed to the interplay of hormones in the body but can mask a more sinister type of disease such as malignancy on rare occasions. Colorectal cancer (CRC) in pregnancy is an epidemiologically rare disease worldwide. To our knowledge, no available studies were reported in the Philippines at the time of this writing, posing a dilemma for its appropriate diagnosis and management. Signs and symptoms of colorectal malignancy may camouflage a normal pregnancy and, when overlooked, impedes an appropriate approach. This case of a 38-year-old elderly primigravid who presented with hematochezia on her 25th week of gestation. She was diagnosed with rectal adenocarcinoma later in pregnancy which warranted a predicament regarding her appropriate care and management. This paper explores the repertoire of the different diagnostic and treatment approaches to colorectal cancer in the second trimester of pregnancy, with the least possible maternal and fetal hazards.

Keywords: cancer in pregnancy, chemotherapy in pregnancy, colorectal cancer, hematochezia in pregnancy

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Authors: R. Devicharan

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In a short span 3D Printing is expected to play a vital role in our life. The possibility of creativity and speed in manufacturing through various 3D printing processes is infinite. This study is performed on the FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling) method of 3D printing, which is one of the pre-dominant methods of 3D printing technologies. This study focuses on physical properties of the objects produced by 3D printing which determine the applications of the 3D printed objects. This paper specifically aims at the study of the tensile strength and the folding endurance of the 3D printed objects through the FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling) method using the ABS (Acronitirile Butadiene Styrene) and PLA (Poly Lactic Acid) plastic materials. The study is performed on a controlled environment and the specific machine settings. Appropriate tables, graphs are plotted and research analysis techniques will be utilized to analyse, verify and validate the experiment results.

Keywords: FDM process, 3D printing, ABS for 3D printing, PLA for 3D printing, rapid prototyping

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Authors: T. Kobayashi, K. Shiba, T. Kaburagi, Y. Kurihara

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For the elderly living alone, falls can be a serious problem encountered in daily life. Some elderly people are unable to stand up without the assistance of a caregiver. They may become unconscious after a fall, which can lead to serious aftereffects such as hypothermia, dehydration, and sometimes even death. We treat the subject as an inverted pendulum and model its angle from the equilibrium position and its angular velocity. As the model is non-linear, we implement the filtering method with a particle filter which can estimate true states of the non-linear model. In order to evaluate the accuracy of the particle filter estimation results, we calculate the root mean square error (RMSE) between the estimated angle/angular velocity and the true values generated by the simulation. The experimental results give the highest accuracy RMSE of 0.0141 rad and 0.1311 rad/s for the angle and angular velocity, respectively.

Keywords: fall, microwave Doppler sensor, non-linear dynamics model, particle filter

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Authors: Jatziri Y. Moreno-Martínez, Arturo Galván, Israel Enrique Herrera Díaz, José Ramón Gasca Tirado

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In recent years, for the elevated viaducts in Mexico City, a construction system based on precast/pre-stressed concrete elements has been used, in which the bridge girders are divided in two parts by imposing a hinged support in sections where the bending moments that are originated by the gravity loads in a continuous beam are minimal. Precast concrete girders with dapped ends are a representative sample of a behavior that has complex configurations of stresses that make them more vulnerable to cracking due to flexure–shear interaction. The design procedures for ends of the dapped girders are well established and are based primarily on experimental tests performed for different configurations of reinforcement. The critical failure modes that can govern the design have been identified, and for each of them, the methods for computing the reinforcing steel that is needed to achieve adequate safety against failure have been proposed. Nevertheless, the design recommendations do not include procedures for controlling diagonal cracking at the entrant corner under service loading. These cracks could cause water penetration and degradation because of the corrosion of the steel reinforcement. The lack of visual access to the area makes it difficult to detect this damage and take timely corrective actions. Three-dimensional non-linear numerical models based on Finite Element Method to study the cracking at the entrant corner of dapped-end beams were performed using the software package ANSYS v. 11.0. The cracking was numerically simulated by using the smeared crack approach. The concrete structure was modeled using three-dimensional solid elements SOLID65 capable of cracking in tension and crushing in compression. Drucker-Prager yield surface was used to include the plastic deformations. The longitudinal post-tension was modeled using LINK8 elements with multilinear isotropic hardening behavior using von Misses plasticity. The reinforcement was introduced with smeared approach. The numerical models were calibrated using experimental tests carried out in “Instituto de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México”. In these numerical models the characteristics of the specimens were considered: typical solution based on vertical stirrups (hangers) and on vertical and horizontal hoops with a post-tensioned steel which contributed to a 74% of the flexural resistance. The post-tension is given by four steel wires with a 5/8’’ (16 mm) diameter. Each wire was tensioned to 147 kN and induced an average compressive stress of 4.90 MPa on the concrete section of the dapped end. The loading protocol consisted on applying symmetrical loading to reach the service load (180 kN). Due to the good correlation between experimental and numerical models some additional numerical models were proposed by considering different percentages of post-tension in order to find out how much it influences in the appearance of the cracking in the reentrant corner of the dapped-end beams. It was concluded that the increasing of percentage of post-tension decreases the displacements and the cracking in the reentrant corner takes longer to appear. The authors acknowledge at “Universidad de Guanajuato, Campus Celaya-Salvatierra” and the financial support of PRODEP-SEP (UGTO-PTC-460) of the Mexican government. The first author acknowledges at “Instituto de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México”.

Keywords: concrete dapped-end beams, cracking control, finite element analysis, postension

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Authors: Tuisem Shimrah

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One general agreement on climate change is that its causes may be local but the effects are global. Indigenous people are subscribed to “low-carbon” traditional ways of life and as such they have contributed little to causes of climate change. On the contrary they are the most adversely affected by climate change due to their dependence on surrounding rich biological wealth as a source of their livelihood, health care, entertainment and cultural activities This paper deals with the results of the investigation of various adaptation strategies adopted to combat climate change by traditional community. The result shows effective ways of application of traditional knowledge and wisdom applied by Tangkhul traditional community at local and community level in remote areas in Northeast India. Four adaptation measures are being presented in this paper.

Keywords: adaptation, climate change, Northeast India, Tangkhul, traditional community

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Authors: Olha Oleshchuk

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Such companies as Apple, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Samsung are well-known, but most people do not know about their economic and political influence on society at national and international levels. This ignorance is beneficial for transnational corporations because it reduces the risk of possible resistance of the society and creates favourable conditions for the formation of a new governmental political form. The aim of the research to analyse the opportunity of creating of a new governmental political form. The aim of the research is realized by implementation of such objectives: 1) to consider the possibility of the formation of new political forms of government; 2) to determine the influence of TNCs on the state, which is necessary for a mature, aware citizen; 3) to learn the roles of TNCs, which provide the awareness in the spheres of the world politics, economics, and everyday life. The relevance of the research is confirmed by the fact that new political forms of government are poorly studied.

Keywords: objective factors of losing leading position by state, transnational corporations, TNCs' economic influence, TNCs' political influence

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Authors: Minami Ito, Akihiro Iijima

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On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred off the coast of Sanriku, Japan. It is important to build a sustainable society through the reconstruction process rather than simply restoring the infrastructure. To compare the goals of reconstruction plans of quake-stricken municipalities, Japanese language morphological analysis was performed by using text mining techniques. Frequently-used nouns were sorted into four main categories of “life”, “disaster prevention”, “economy”, and “harmony with environment”. Because Soma City is affected by nuclear accident, sentences tagged to “harmony with environment” tended to be frequent compared to the other municipalities. Results from cluster analysis and principle component analysis clearly indicated that the local government reinforces the efforts to reduce risks from radiation exposure as a top priority.

Keywords: eco-friendly reconstruction, harmony with environment, decontamination, nuclear disaster

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Authors: Rafael Dias Silva

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The school is a social institution that should promote learning situations that remain throughout life. Based on this, the teaching activities promoted in museum spaces can represent an educational strategy that contributes to the learning process in a more meaningful way. This article systematizes a series of elements that guide the use of these spaces for the scientific literacy of deaf students and as experiences of this nature are favorable for the school development through the concept of the circularity. The methodology for the didactic use of these spaces of non-formal education is one of the reflections developed in this study and how such environments can contribute to the learning in the classroom. To develop in the student the idea of ​​association making him create connections with the curricular proposal and notice how the proposed activity is articulated. It is in our interest that the experience lived in the museum be shared collaborating for the construction of a scientific literacy and cultural identity through the research.

Keywords: accessibility in museums, Brazilian sign language, deaf students, teacher training

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Authors: Pius W. Molo Chin

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Real life problems such as the Huxley equation are always modeled as nonlinear differential equations. These problems need accurate and reliable methods for their solutions. In this paper, we propose a nonstandard finite difference method in time and the Galerkin combined with the compactness method in the space variables. This coupled method, is used to analyze a two dimensional Huxley equation for the existence and uniqueness of the continuous solution of the problem in appropriate spaces to be defined. We proceed to design a numerical scheme consisting of the aforementioned method and show that the scheme is stable. We further show that the stable scheme converges with the rate which is optimal in both the L2 as well as the H1-norms. Furthermore, we show that the scheme replicates the decaying qualities of the exact solution. Numerical experiments are presented with the help of an example to justify the validity of the designed scheme.

Keywords: Huxley equations, non-standard finite difference method, Galerkin method, optimal rate of convergence

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