Search results for: structured query language (SQL)

Authors: Jandot Aurélia

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As the nuclear power is a sensitive field leading to controversy, the quality of the communication about it is important. Between 1965 and 1981, in France, this one had gradually changed. This change is studied here in the main French news magazine L’Express, in connection with several parameters. As this represents a huge number of copies and occurrences, thus a considerable amount of information; this paper is focused on the main articles as well as the main “mental images”. These ones are important, as their aim is to direct the thought of the readers, and as they have led the public awareness to evolve. Over this 17 years, two trends are in confrontation: The first one is promoting the perception of the nuclear power, while the second one is discrediting it. These trends are organized in two axes: the evolution of engineering, and the risks. In both cases, the changes in the language allow discerning the deepest intentions of the magazine editing, over a period when the nuclear technology, to there a laboratory object accompanied with mystery and secret, has become a social issue seemingly open to all.

Keywords: French news magazine, mental images, nuclear power, public awareness

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Authors: Marwa Abdussalam

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Breastfeeding is a unique emotional bond between a mother and their offspring. Though breastfeeding may be natural, it is not something mothers are born with; some still struggle to breastfeed their babies. Various factors can influence the breastfeeding experience, such as the mode of delivery, the mother’s health condition, proper latching, etc. In addition, psychological factors have been known to influence breastfeeding ability, duration, and milk supply. Some mothers struggle to breastfeed their babies because they perceive they have a low milk supply and or don’t have the ability to breastfeed their babies. Most of these perceptions result either from their own past experience or from the ‘comments’ of their caregivers. So, it is of utmost essential to understand such psychological factors affecting breastfeeding so that necessary steps can be taken to educate breastfeeding mothers. The study explored the role of psychological factors that affect breastfeeding. Data were collected from fifteen breastfeeding mothers using a semi-structured interview schedule. A total of 10 questions were included in the interview schedule. Questions were sequenced in a funnel pattern, beginning with open-ended questions and then moving on to close-ended questions. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s Thematic Analysis technique. This technique involves identifying the codes, generating themes, naming them, and finally reviewing them. Results indicated that breastfeeding self-efficacy perceived insufficient milk supply, and lack of knowledge were the psychological factors affecting breastfeeding. The results of this study can be used to help mothers who are struggling with breastfeeding by developing interventions aimed at improving breastfeeding self-efficacy.

Keywords: breastfeeding, breastfeeding self-efficacy, perceived insufficient milk supply, Thematic Analysis

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Authors: Alexandra Doga, Andreas Lioumpas, Sotiris Petropoulos

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This paper assesses China-Greece relations since 2006, examining them as part of China’s Grand Strategy and Greece’s perception of them. Τhe first aim of the paper is to provide an overview of China-Greece relations in connection with its long- and short-term goals. In essence, it focuses on understanding whether a Chinese grand strategy towards Greece exists. Secondly, it aims to examine the perception of Greeks over China’s foreign policy towards Greece. The intended contribution of the paper is to illustrate the response of national discourses over China’s increased presence in both the global sphere and specific countries in particular. This paper is based on qualitative analysis of secondary data as well as a thorough primary research scheme based on semi-structured interviews. The study made use of official Chinese government documents as well as academic journal articles and books. Local news outlets like newspapers provide data, and news surrounding Greece’s perception of China-Greece relations were also included. Moreover, a number of interviews of Greek officials, academics, journalists, and businessmen were conducted. This paper concluded that the period that began with the 2006 Joint Communiqué between China and Greece on the Establishment of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership has been one of the rapid strengthening of bilateral economic and political relations and frequent high-level visits. There are diverging/opposing views on whether China’s strategic choices towards Greece form part of a broader strategic approach and on whether this strategy is closely connected to the BRI initiative and its priorities.

Keywords: China, Greece, Grand Strategy, BRI, COSCO, Piraeus Port, Mediterranean

Procedia PDF Downloads 108

Authors: Rishi Prajapati

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3G is the abbreviation of third generation of wireless mobile telecommunication technologies. 3G is a mode that finds application in wireless voice telephony, mobile internet access, fixed wireless internet access, video calls and mobile TV. It also provides mobile broadband access to smartphones and mobile modems in laptops and computers. The first 3G networks were introduced in 1998, followed by 4G networks in 2008. 4G is the abbreviation of fourth generation of wireless mobile telecommunication technologies. 4G is termed to be the advanced form of 3G. 4G was firstly introduced in South Korea in 2007. Many abstracts have floated researches that depicted the diversity and similarity between the third and the fourth generation of wireless mobile telecommunications technology, whereas this abstract reflects the study that focuses on analyzing the preference between 3G versus 4G given by the elite group of the Indian society who are known as adolescents or the Millennial Generation aging from 18 years to 25 years. The Millennial Generation was chosen for this study as they have the easiest access to the latest technology. A sample size of 200 adolescents was selected and a structured survey was carried out which had several closed ended as well as open ended questions, to aggregate the result of this study. It was made sure that the effect of environmental factors on the subjects was as minimal as possible. The data analysis comprised of primary data collection reflecting it as quantitative research. The rationale behind this research is to give brief idea of how 3G and 4G are accepted by the Millennial Generation in India. The findings of this research would materialize a framework which depicts whether Millennial Generation would prefer 4G over 3G or vice versa.

Keywords: fourth generation, wireless telecommunication technology, Indian society, millennial generation, market research, third generation

Procedia PDF Downloads 270

Authors: Beata Anna Bronowicka

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to improve effectiveness of mediation in family matters regarding child protection in Australia and Poland. Design/methodology/approach the methodological approach is phenomenology. Two phenomenological methods of data collection were used in this research 1/ a doctrinal research 2/an interview. The doctrinal research forms the basis for obtaining information on mediation, the date of introduction of this alternative dispute resolution method to the Australian and Polish legal systems. No less important were the analysis of the legislation and legal doctrine in the field of mediation in family matters, especially child protection. In the second method, the data was collected by semi-structured interview. The collected data was translated from Polish to English and analysed using software program. Findings- The rights of children in the context of mediation in Australia and Poland differ from the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which require that children be included in all matters that concern them. It is the room for improvement in the mediation process by increasing child rights in mediation between parents in matters related to children. Children should have the right to express their opinion similarly to the case in the court process. The challenge with mediation is also better understanding the role of professionals in mediation as lawyers, mediators. Originality/value-The research is anticipated to be of particular benefit to parents, society as whole, and professionals working in mediation. These results may also be helpful during further legislative initiatives in this area.

Keywords: mediation, family law, children's rights, australian and polish family law

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: Yun-Husan Huang

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Many English for Specific Purposes (ESP) textbooks are distributed globally as the content development is often obliged to compromises between commercial and pedagogical demands. Therefore, the issue of regional application and usefulness of globally published ESP textbooks has received much debate. For ESP instructors, textbook selection is definitely a priority consideration for curriculum design. An appropriate ESP textbook can facilitate teaching and learning, while an inappropriate one may cause a disaster for both teachers and students. This study aims to investigate the regional application and usefulness of an ESP textbook for information technology (IT). Participants were 51 sophomores majoring in Applied Informatics and Multimedia at a university in Taiwan. As they were non-English majors, their English proficiency was mostly at elementary and elementary-to-intermediate levels. This course was offered for two semesters. The textbook selected was Oxford English for Information Technology. At class end, the students were required to complete a survey comprising five choices of Very Easy, Easy, Neutral, Difficult, and Very Difficult for each item. Based on the content design of the textbook, the survey investigated how the students viewed the difficulty of grammar, listening, speaking, reading, and writing materials of the textbook. In terms of difficulty, results reveal that only 22% of them found the grammar section difficult and very difficult. For listening, 71% responded difficult and very difficult. For general reading, 55% responded difficult and very difficult. For speaking, 56% responded difficult and very difficult. For writing, 78% responded difficult and very difficult. For advanced reading, 90% reported difficult and very difficult. These results indicate that, except the grammar section, more than half of the students found the textbook contents difficult in terms of listening, speaking, reading, and writing materials. Such contradictory results between the easy grammar section and the difficult four language skills sections imply that the textbook designers do not well understand the English learning background of regional ESP learners. For the participants, the learning contents of the grammar section were the general grammar level of junior high school, while the learning contents of the four language skills sections were more of the levels of college English majors. Implications from the findings are obtained for instructors and textbook designers. First of all, existing ESP textbooks for IT are few and thus textbook selections for instructors are insufficient. Second, existing globally published textbooks for IT cannot be applied to learners of all English proficiency levels, especially the low level. With limited textbook selections, third, instructors should modify the selected textbook contents or supplement extra ESP materials to meet the proficiency level of target learners. Fourth, local ESP publishers should collaborate with local ESP instructors who understand best the learning background of their students in order to develop appropriate ESP textbooks for local learners. Even though the instructor reduced learning contents and simplified tests in curriculum design, in conclusion, the students still found difficult. This implies that in addition to the instructor’s professional experience, there is a need to understand the usefulness of the textbook from learner perspectives.

Keywords: ESP textbooks, ESP materials, ESP textbook design, learner perspectives on ESP textbooks

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Authors: Irina A. Martynenko, Viktoriia V. Pikalova

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At the moment, there are more than a thousand law schools in Russia. The program of preparation in each of them without exception includes English language course. It is believed that lawyers in Russia are best trained at the MGIMO University, the All-Russian State University of Justice, Kutafin Moscow State Law University, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Lomonosov Moscow State University, St. Petersburg State University, Diplomatic Academy of Russian Foreign Ministry and some others. Currently, the overwhelming majority of universities operate using the two-level system of education: bachelor's plus master's degree. Foreign languages are taught at both levels. The main example of consideration used throughout this paper is Kutafin Moscow State Law University being one of the best law schools in the country. The article examines traditions of teaching legal English in Russia and highlights problem arising in this process. The authors suggest ways of solving them in the scope of modern views and practice of teaching English for specific purposes.

Keywords: Kutafin Moscow State Law University, legal English, Russia, teaching

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Authors: Fazlul Hoque, Tahmina Akter Joya, Asma Akter, Supawat Rungsuriyawiboon

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Rice is the staple food in Bangladesh, and therefore, self-sufficiency in rice production remains a major concern. However, Bangladesh is experiencing insufficiency in rice production due to high production cost and low national average productivity of 2.848 ton/ha in comparison to other rice-growing countries in the world. This study aims to find out the profit efficiency and determinants of profit efficiency in Boro rice cultivation in Manikganj and Dhaka districts of Bangladesh. It also focuses on technology adoption and effect of technology adoption on profit efficiency of Boro rice cultivation in Bangladesh. The data were collected from 300 households growing Boro rice through face to face interviews by one set structured questionnaire; Frontier Version 4.1 and STATA 15 software were employed to analyze the data according to the purpose of the study. Maximum likelihood estimates of the specified profit model showed that profit efficiency of the farmer varied between 23% and 97% with a mean of 76% which implied as 24% of the profit is lost due to a combination of technical and allocative inefficiencies in Boro rice cultivation in the study area. The inefficiency model revealed that the education level of the farmer, farm size, variety of seed, and training and extension service influence the profit inefficiency significantly. The study also explained that the level of technology adoption index affects profit efficiency. The technology adoption in Boro rice cultivation is influenced by the education level of the farmer, farm size and farm capital.

Keywords: farmer, maximum likelihood estimation, profit efficiency, rice

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Juan Antonio Mondragon Sanchez, Ruben Santamaria

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The DNA G-quadruplex is a four-stranded DNA structure conformed by stacked planes of four base paired guanines (G-quartet). The guanine rich DNA sequences are present in many sites of genomic DNA and can potentially lead to the formation of G-quadruplexes, especially at the 3'-terminus of the human telomeric DNA with many TTAGGG repeats. The formation and stabilization of a G-quadruplex by small ligands at the telomeric region can inhibit the telomerase activity. In turn, the ligands can be used to regulate oncogene expression making the G-quadruplex an attractive target for anticancer therapy. Clearly, the G-quadruplex structured in the telomeric DNA is of fundamental importance for rational drug design. In this context, we investigate two G-quadruplex structures, the first follows from the sequence TTAGGG(TTAGGG)3TT (HUT1), and the second from AAAGGG(TTAGGG)3AA (HUT2), both in a K+ solution. We determine the free energy surfaces of the HUT1 and HUT2 structures and investigate their conformations using replica-exchange metadynamics simulations. The carbonyl-carbonyl distances belonging to different guanines residues are selected as the main collective variables to determine the free energy surfaces. The surfaces exhibit two main local minima, compatible with experiments on the conformational transformations of HUT1 and HUT2 under substitution of the K+ ions by the Na+ ions. The conformational transitions are not observed in short MD simulations without the use of the metadynamics approach. The results of this work should be of help to understand the formation and stability of human telomeric G-quadruplex in environments including the presence of K+ and Na+ ions.

Keywords: g-quadruplex, metadynamics, molecular dynamics, replica-exchange

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Authors: Rabia Bashir, Sajjad Akbar

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There is an inevitable demand of web mining due to rapid increase of huge information on the Internet, but the striking variety of web structures has made required content retrieval a difficult task. To counter this issue, Web Content Mining (WCM) emerges as a potential candidate which extracts and integrates suitable resources of data to users. In past few years, research has been done on several extraction techniques for WCM i.e. agent-based, template-based, assumption-based, statistic-based, wrapper-based and machine learning. However, it is still unclear that either these approaches are efficiently tackling the significant challenges of WCM or not. To answer this question, this paper identifies these challenges such as language independency, structure flexibility, performance, automation, dynamicity, redundancy handling, intelligence, relevant content retrieval, and privacy. Further, mapping of these challenges is done with existing extraction mechanisms which helps to adopt the most suitable WCM approach, given some conditions and characteristics at hand.

Keywords: content mining challenges, web content mining, web content extraction approaches, web information retrieval

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Authors: Yuanhong Zhao, Qingping Yang, Andrew Fox, Tao Zhang

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Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) is a systematic approach to assess the actual building performance after the building has been occupied for some time. In this paper, a structured POE assessment was conducted using the building use survey (BUS) methodology in two higher educational buildings in the United Kingdom. This study aims to help close the building performance gap, provide optimized building operation suggestions, and to improve occupants’ satisfaction level. In this research, the questionnaire survey investigated the influences of environmental factors on user satisfaction from the main aspects of building overall design, thermal comfort, perceived control, indoor environment quality for noise, lighting, ventilation, and other non-environmental factors, such as the background information about age, sex, time in buildings, workgroup size, and so on. The results indicate that the occupant satisfaction level with the main aspects of building overall design, indoor environment quality, and thermal comfort in summer and winter on both two buildings, which is lower than the benchmark data. The feedback of this POE assessment has been reported to the building management team to allow managers to develop high-performance building operation plans. Finally, this research provided improvement suggestions to the building operation system to narrow down the performance gap and improve the user work experience satisfaction and productivity level.

Keywords: building performance assessment systems, higher educational buildings, post-occupancy evaluation, user satisfaction

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Authors: Wen Huei Chou, Yi-Ting Chen

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Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often struggle with social interactions and communication. It is challenging for them to understand social cues such as facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice in social settings, leading to social conflicts and misunderstandings. Over time, feelings of frustration and anxiety can make them reluctant to engage in social situations and worsen their communication barriers. This study focused on children with autism who also experience social anxiety. Through focus group interviews with parents of children with autism and occupational therapists, it explores the reasons and scenarios behind the development of social anxiety in these children. Social scenario stories and interactive applications tailored for children with autism were designed and developed. In addition, working with the educational robots, coping strategies for various emotional situations were elaborated on, and children were helped to understand their emotions.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, social anxiety, robot, social scenario story, interactive applications

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Authors: Aisha M. Memon, Arabella Bhutto, Zahid A. Memon, Adnan Pitafi

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This study aims to identify the existing and non-existing elements in the entrepreneurial ecosystem which include finance, institutions, laws and regulations, human capital, culture, and markets, to measure the level of effectiveness of existing elements and to develop recommendations for improving the ecosystem to facilitate the women entrepreneurs in Jamshoro, Pakistan. The nature of this study is qualitative. Data were drawn from 25 in-depth, semi-structured interviews and a focus group discussion with women entrepreneurs in rural Jamshoro, Pakistan. The findings show the lack of awareness and knowledge among women entrepreneurs about available financial resources, lack of knowledge about laws, an absence of familial and societal support for women in accessing the entrepreneurial ecosystem, the absence of business and innovation enablers in rural areas, communication gaps, and unskilled human capital. The study found that institutions like non-for-profit organizations are playing an active role in the growth of women entrepreneurs. The existing entrepreneurial ecosystem in Jamshoro can be improved through culturally sensitive coordinated approach, interventions aimed at increasing awareness about the resources, promoting an understanding about the laws and regulations, making business enablers more effective, establishing public-private partnerships, and providing the women entrepreneurs easy access to market and financial resources.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship ecosystem, Pakistan, women entrepreneurs

Procedia PDF Downloads 193

Authors: Udayakumar Vee, Franck Quero

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Zwitterionic polymers generally have been viewed as a new class of antimicrobial and non-fouling materials. They offer a broad versatility for chemical modification and hence great freedom for accurate molecular design, which bear an equimolar number of homogenously distributed anionic and cationic groups along their polymer chains. This study explores the effectiveness of the auxetic zwitterion carboxylate/sulfonate hydrogel in the diabetic-induced mouse model. A series of silver metal-doped auxetic zwitterion carboxylate/sulfonate/vinylaniline copolymer hydrogels is designed via a 3D printer. Zwitterion monomers have been characterized by FT-IR and NMR techniques. The effect of changing the monomers and different loading ratios of Ag over zwitterion on the final hydrogel materials' antimicrobial properties and biocompatibility will be investigated in detail. The synthesized auxetic hydrogel has been characterized using a wide range of techniques to help establish the relationship between molecular level and macroscopic properties of these materials, including mechanical and antibacterial and biocompatibility and wound healing ability. This work's comparative studies and results provide new insights and guide us in choosing a better auxetic structured material for a broad spectrum of wound healing applications in the animal model. We expect this approach to provide a versatile and robust platform for biomaterial design that could lead to promising treatments for wound healing applications.

Keywords: auxetic, zwitterion, carboxylate, sulfonate, polymer, wound healing

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Authors: Chaima Babi, Said Gadri

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The rapid increase in fake news continues to grow at a very fast rate; this requires implementing efficient techniques that allow testing the re-liability of online content. For that, the current research strives to illuminate the fake news problem using deep learning DL and machine learning ML ap-proaches. We have developed the traditional LSTM (Long short-term memory), and the bidirectional BiLSTM model. A such process is to perform a training task on almost of samples of the dataset, validate the model on a subset called the test set to provide an unbiased evaluation of the final model fit on the training dataset, then compute the accuracy of detecting classifica-tion and comparing the results. For the programming stage, we used Tensor-Flow and Keras libraries on Python to support Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) that are being used for developing deep learning applications.

Keywords: machine learning, deep learning, natural language, fake news, Bi-LSTM, LSTM, multiclass classification

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Authors: Udayakumar Veerabagu, Franck Quero

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Zwitterion carboxylate and sulfonate polymers generally have been viewed as a new class of antimicrobial and non-fouling materials. They offer a broad versatility for chemical modification and hence great freedom for accurate molecular design, which bear an equimolar number of homogenously distributed anionic and cationic groups along their polymer chains. This study explores the effectiveness of the auxetic zwitterion carboxylate/sulfonate hydrogel in the diabetic-induced mouse model. A series of silver metal-doped auxetic zwitterion carboxylate/sulfonate/vinylaniline copolymer hydrogels is designed via a 3D printer. Zwitterion monomers have been characterized by FT-IR and NMR techniques. The effect of changing the monomers and different loading ratios of Ag over zwitterion on the final hydrogel materials' antimicrobial properties and biocompatibility will be investigated in detail. The synthesized auxetic hydrogel has been characterized using a wide range of techniques to help establish the relationship between molecular level and macroscopic properties of these materials, including mechanical and antibacterial and biocompatibility and wound healing ability. This work's comparative studies and results provide new insights and guide us in choosing a better auxetic structured material for a broad spectrum of wound healing applications in the animal model. We expect this approach to provide a versatile and robust platform for biomaterial design that could lead to promising treatments for wound healing applications.

Keywords: auxetic, zwitterion, carboxylate, sulfonate, polymer, wound healing

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Godaye Gobena Gomiole

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The purpose of this study was to investigate school context-related factors that affect principals' instructional leadership competence in primary schools in Tarcha Town, Ethiopia. A qualitative case study research design was used. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Twelve senior principals were included in the study through purposive sampling. Interviews were used to collect in-depth data. The data was analyzed thematically. The findings of the study indicated that primary school principals face both internal and external challenges. Internally, they face limited knowledge and skills, a lack of courage and commitment, and administrative work overload. Their external challenges included negative attitudes from parents and teachers, a lack of instructional materials, and little support from local education authorities. Consequently, they can't serve effectively as instructional leaders or resource people. Based on the findings, it is recommended that the Ministry of Education, South West Regional Education Bureau, Dawuro Zone Education Department, and Tarcha Town Administration Education Officers and Cluster Supervisors regularly monitor and support school leaders and prepare and provide pertinent teaching materials and training so that the principals can lead in the capacity that is appropriate for the position.

Keywords: instructional leadership, primary school, principals, school context related factors

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Authors: Arenkala Kichu

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This paper consolidates and tries to bring out the findings that investigated in Kohima and Mokokchung districts in Nagaland, which is in the northeastern part of India. The aim of this paper is to test the speaking and writing skills of the undergraduate learners who opt functional English as one of their papers. functional English is taught in just two colleges; Fazl Ali College and Kohima Colleges, out of 15 government and 36 private colleges in the state. This research (based on several observations made by Naga researchers) hypothesizes that functional English enhances competencies at the undergraduate level, which would open doors to work, learn more and better prospects. It is expected that learners in Functional English class, which follows the communicative language teaching method, might be the answers to those problems, as to why proficiency level still leaves much to be desired, in spite of the advent of the education over a hundred years ago. This type of teaching follows only in functional English class in these two colleges.

Keywords: enhancing competencies, speaking skills, undergraduate level, writing skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 327

Authors: Aysheh Maslamani, Ella Daniel, Anna Dӧring, Iyas Nasser, Ariel Knafo-Noam

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Over 250 million people globally speak Arabic, one of the most widespread languages in the world, as their first language. Yet only a minuscule fraction of developmental research studies Middle East children. As values are a core component of culture, understanding how values develop is key to understanding development across cultures. Indeed, with the advent of research on value development, significantly since the introduction of the Picture-Based Value Survey for Children, interest in cross-cultural differences in children's values is increasing. As no measure exists for Arab children, PBVS-C in Arabic developed. The online application version of the PBVS-C that can be administered on a computer, tablet, or even a smartphone to measure the 10 values whose presence has been repeatedly demonstrated across the world. The application has been developed simultaneously in Hebrew and Arabic and can easily be adapted to include additional languages. In this research, the development of the multilingual PBVS-C application version adapted for five-year-olds. The translation process discussed (including important decisions such as which dialect of Arabic, a diglossic language, is most suitable), adaptations to subgroups (e.g., Muslim, Druze and Christian Arab children), and using recorded instructions and value item captions, as well as touchscreens to enhance applicability with young children. Four hundred Palestinian and Israeli 5-12 year old children reported their values using the app (50% in Arabic, 50% in Hebrew). Confirmatory Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) analyses revealed structural patterns that closely correspond to Schwartz's theoretical structure in both languages (e.g., universalism values correlated positively with benevolence and negatively with power, whereas tradition correlated negatively with hedonism and positively with conformity). Replicating past findings, power values showed lower importance than benevolence values in both cultural groups, and there were gender differences in which girls were higher in self-transcendence values and lower in self-enhancement values than boys. Cultural value importance differences were explored and revealed that Palestinian children are significantly higher in tradition and achievement values compared to Israeli children, whereas Israeli children are significantly higher in benevolence, hedonism, self-direction, and stimulation values. Age differences in value coherence across the two groups were also studied. Exploring the cultural differences opens a window to understanding the basic motivations driving populations that were hardly studied before. This study will contribute to the developmental value research since it considers the role of critical variables such as culture and religion and tests value coherence across middle childhood. Findings will be discussed, and the potential and limitations of the computerized PBVS-C concerning future values research.

Keywords: Arab-children, culture, multilingual-application, value-development

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Faten Hatem

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This paper promotes the importance of focusing on spatial aspects and affective factors that impact smart urbanism. This helps to better inform city governance, spatial planning, and policymaking to focus on what Smart does and what it can achieve for cities in terms of performance rather than on using the notion for prestige in a worldwide trend towards becoming a smart city. By illustrating how this style of practice compromises the social aspects and related elements of space making through an interdisciplinary comparative approach, the paper clarifies the impact of this compromise on the overall smart city performance. In response, this paper recognizes the importance of establishing a new meaning for urban progress by moving beyond improving basic services of the city to enhance the actual human experience which is essential for the development of authentic smart cities. The topic is presented under five overlooked areas that discuss the relation between smart cities’ potential and efficiency paradox, the social aspect, connectedness with nature, the human factor, and untapped resources. However, these themes are not meant to be discussed in silos, instead, they are presented to collectively examine smart cities in performance, arguing there is more to the practical life of smart cities than software and hardware inventions. The study is based on a case study approach, presenting Milton Keynes as a living example to learn from while engaging with various methods for data collection including multi-disciplinary semi-structured interviews, field observations, and data mining.

Keywords: smart design, the human in the city, human needs and urban planning, sustainability, smart cities, smart

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Authors: Alaa A. Al-Harthi, Abdulrahman S. Bageis, Bingunath Ingirige

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Poor levels of performance and low productivity were highlighted by many previous studies as a major cause of failure in the Saudi construction industry. This paper provides recommendations to address key external indicators that led to poor levels of performance and low productivity in Engineering and Technical Departments (ETDs) within the Saudi governmental agencies. The ETDs are client’s representative on behalf of the Saudi Ministries. This paper represents a part of an investigation which contained external and internal challenges that led to occurrence of the research problem. The paper is focusing on the external challenges which contain 14 indicators. These 14 external indicators had been examined carefully through comprehensive review of the literature then have been tested through quantitative and qualitative methods. 400 questionnaires were distributed to dozens of different bodies. The actual response rate was 47% completed responses. Four semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior practitioners from the Public Construction Sector. The finding showed that the 14 external indicators directly and/or indirectly influence the Public Construction Sector. It was noticed significantly that these indicators have prevented the ETDs from performing properly. It was also found that the 14 external indicators were constant with all kinds of Government Construction Projects in the Saudi context. Addressing the 14 external indicators requires to be planned over the long run which is responsible by relevant Saudi governmental authorities under the umbrella of the Saudi Council of Ministers. The study recommends that Project Management Office (PMO) should be considered in order to improve the performance of the ETDs.

Keywords: construction projects' performance, low engineering productivity, public construction sector

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Authors: Tiron-Tudor Adriana, Farcas Teodora Viorica, Ciolomic Ioana Andreea

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The issue of human capital mobility inside Europe is still an open one. Even though there were created some tools in order to better move from one country to another to work and study the number of the people doing this is very low because of various factors presented in this paper. The "rethinking educational" agenda of the European Commission has open the floor for new projects which can create steps towards a European language for skills and competences, qualifications. One of these projects is the Partnership for Exchange of experience in Student on-the-job Training. As part of this project, we are interested to see the situation of the human capital inside EU and the elements that were created until now to support this mobility. Also, the main objective of the project is to make a comparison between the four countries involved in PEST project (Romania, Hungary, Finland, and Estonia), at the education and internship level. The results are helpful for the follow of the project, for identifying where changes can be done and need to be done.

Keywords: ECVET, human capital mobility, partnership exchange, students on the job mobility, vocational education and training

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Authors: Omid Shahmirzadi, Adam Lugowski, Kenneth Younge

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Automatic measurement of semantic text similarity is an important task in natural language processing. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of different vector space models to perform this task. We address the real-world problem of modeling patent-to-patent similarity and compare TFIDF (and related extensions), topic models (e.g., latent semantic indexing), and neural models (e.g., paragraph vectors). Contrary to expectations, the added computational cost of text embedding methods is justified only when: 1) the target text is condensed; and 2) the similarity comparison is trivial. Otherwise, TFIDF performs surprisingly well in other cases: in particular for longer and more technical texts or for making finer-grained distinctions between nearest neighbors. Unexpectedly, extensions to the TFIDF method, such as adding noun phrases or calculating term weights incrementally, were not helpful in our context.

Keywords: big data, patent, text embedding, text similarity, vector space model

Procedia PDF Downloads 175

Authors: Amir Ikram, Faisal Ijaz, Qin Su

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The empirical study was undertaken to explore the determinants of non-performing loans (NPLs) of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector held by the commercial banks. Primary data was collected through well-structured survey questionnaire from credit analysts/bankers of 42 branches of 9 commercial banks, operating in the district of Lahore (Pakistan), for 2014-2015. Selective descriptive analysis and Pearson chi-square technique were used to illustrate and evaluate the significance of different variables affecting NPLs. Branch age, duration of the loan, and credit policy were found to be significant determinants of NPLs. The study proposes that bank-specific and SME-specific microeconomic variables directly influence NPLs, while macroeconomic factors act as intermediary variables. Framework exhibiting causal nexus of NPLs was also drawn on the basis of empirical findings. The results elaborate various origins of NPLs and suggest that they are primarily instigated by the loan sanctioning procedure of the financial institution. The paper also underlines the risk management practices adopted by the bank at branch level to averse the risk of loan default. Empirical investigation of bank-specific microeconomic factors of NPLs with respect to Pakistan’s economy is the novelty of the study. Broader strategic policy implications are provided for credit analysts and entrepreneurs.

Keywords: commercial banks, microeconomic factors, non-performing loans, small and medium enterprises

Procedia PDF Downloads 259

Authors: Khaled A. Abdel-Sater

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There are four areas of the temporal lobe. Primary auditory area (areas 41 and 42); it is for the perception of auditory impulse, auditory association area (area 22, 21, and 20): Areas 21 and 20 are for understanding and interpretation of auditory sensation, recognition of language, and long-term memories. Area 22, also called Wernicke’s area, and a sensory speech centre. It is for interpretation of auditory and visual information, formation of thoughts in the mind, and choice of words to be used. Ideas and thoughts originate in it. The limbic system is a part of cortical and subcortical structure forming a ring around the brainstem. Cortical structures are the orbitofrontal area, subcallosal gyrus, cingulate gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, and uncus. Subcortical structures are the hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, septum, paraolfactory area, anterior nucleus of the thalamus portions of the basal ganglia. There are several physiological functions of the limbic system, including regulation of behavior, motivation, and emotion.

Keywords: limbic system, motivation, emotions, temporal lobe

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Authors: Chris Schoborg, Morgan C. Wang

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In the realm of the National Football League (NFL), substantial dedication of time and effort is invested by both players and coaches in meticulously analyzing the game footage of their opponents. The primary aim is to anticipate the actions of the opposing team. Defensive players and coaches are especially focused on deciphering their adversaries' intentions to effectively counter their strategies. Acquiring insights into the specific play type and its intended direction on the field would confer a significant competitive advantage. This study establishes pre-snap information as the cornerstone for predicting both the play type (e.g., deep pass, short pass, or run) and its spatial trajectory (right, left, or center). The dataset for this research spans the regular NFL season data for all 32 teams from 2013 to 2022. This dataset is acquired using the nflreadr package, which conveniently extracts play-by-play data from NFL games and imports it into the R environment as structured datasets. In this study, we employ a recently developed machine learning algorithm, XGBoost. The final predictive model achieves an impressive lift of 2.61. This signifies that the presented model is 2.61 times more effective than random guessing—a significant improvement. Such a model has the potential to markedly enhance defensive coaches' ability to formulate game plans and adequately prepare their players, thus mitigating the opposing offense's yardage and point gains.

Keywords: lift, NFL, sports analytics, XGBoost

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Authors: Jennifer Zelmer

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The debate regarding the morality, and therefore legality, of abortion has many social, political, and medical ramifications worldwide. In a developing country like Bolivia, carrying a pregnancy to delivery is incredibly risky. Given the very high maternal mortality rate in Bolivia, greater consideration has been given to the (de)criminalization of abortion – a contributing cause of maternal death. In the spring of 2017, the Bolivian government proposed to loosen restrictions on women’s access to receiving a safe abortion, which was met with harsh criticism from 'pro-vida' (pro-life) factions. Although the current Bolivian government Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement Toward Socialism) portrays an agenda of decolonization, or to seek a 'traditionally-modern' society, nevertheless, Bolivia still has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the Americas, because of centuries of colonial and patriarchal order. Applying a feminist critique and using the abortion debate as the central point, this paper argues that the 'traditionally-modern' society Bolivia strives towards is a paradox, and in fact only contributes to the reciprocal process of the death of 'mother tongues' and the unnecessary death of women. This claim is supported by a critical analysis of historical texts about Spanish Colonialism in Bolivia; the linguistic reality of reproductive educational strategies, and the philosophical framework which the Bolivian government and its citizens implement. This analysis is demonstrated in the current state of women’s access to reproductive healthcare in Cochabamba, Bolivia based on recent fieldwork which included audits of clinics and hospitals, interviews, and participant observation. This paper has two major findings: 1) the language used by opponents of abortion in Bolivia is not consistent with the claim of being 'pro-life' but more accurately with being 'pro-potential'; 2) when the topic of reproductive health appears in Cochabamba, Bolivia, it is often found written in the Spanish language, and does not cater to the many indigenous communities that inhabit or visit this city. Finally, this paper considers the crucial role of public health documentation to better inform the abortion debate, as well as the necessity of expanding reproductive health information to more than text-based materials in Cochabamba. This may include more culturally appropriate messages and mediums that cater to the oral tradition of the indigenous communities, who historically and currently have some of the highest fertility rates. If the objective of one who opposes abortion is to save human lives, then preventing the death of women should equally be of paramount importance. But rather, the 'pro-life' movement in Bolivia is willing to risk the lives of to-be mothers, by judicial punishment or death, for the chance of a potential baby. Until abortion is fully legal, safe, and accessible, there will always be the vestiges of colonial and patriarchal order in Bolivia which only perpetuates the needless death of women.

Keywords: abortion, feminist theory, Quechua, reproductive health education

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Authors: Getachew Adugna

Abstract:

Background: Chronic energy malnutrition and human immune deficiency virus among pregnant women are highly prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa, and they are interrelated in a vicious cycle. However, the prevalence of chronic energy malnutrition and its determinant factors among human immune deficiency virus-positive pregnant women is not well studied in Ethiopia and Addis Ababa in particular. Objective: To determine the prevalence & associated factors of chronic energy malnutrition among human immune deficiency virus-positive pregnant women in health centres of Addis Ababa Ethiopia. Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted and a systematic random sampling technique was used to select study subjects. A total of 253 study subjects were enrolled in the study—a structured and pre-tested questionnaire collected sociodemographic, maternal health-related, and nutritional-related variables. MUAC measurements were taken and medical charts were reviewed. Bi-variable and multi-variable logistic regression analyses were used to assess the effect of different factors on chronic energy malnutrition. Result: The overall prevalence of chronic energy malnutrition was 32.0%. It was significantly associated with dietary counselling (AOR: 0.062; 95%CI: 0.007, 0.549), CD4 level (AOR: 0.219; 95%CI: 0.025, 1.908), and clinical stage (AOR: 0.127; 95%CI: 0.053, 0.305). Conclusions: The prevalence of chronic energy malnutrition among Human Immune deficiency virus-infected pregnant women in Addis Ababa was high and Nutritional Intervention should be an integral part of the HIV care program.

Keywords: chronic energy malnutrition, HIV, MUAC, Addis Ababa

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Authors: Devendra Kr Tayal, Vrinda Gupta, Aastha Bansal, Khushi Singh, Sristi Sharma, Hunny Gaur

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In today's world, suicide is a serious problem. In order to save lives, early suicide attempt detection and prevention should be addressed. A good number of at-risk people utilize social media platforms to talk about their issues or find knowledge on related chores. Twitter and Reddit are two of the most common platforms that are used for expressing oneself. Extensive research has already been done in this field. Through supervised classification techniques like Nave Bayes, Bernoulli Nave Bayes, and Multiple Layer Perceptron on a Reddit dataset, we demonstrate the early recognition of suicidal ideation. We also performed comparative analysis on these approaches and used accuracy, recall score, F1 score, and precision score for analysis.

Keywords: machine learning, suicide ideation detection, supervised classification, natural language processing

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Authors: M. G. Shilina

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The prospects for political and economic development of the Eurasian space are currently discussed at both governmental and expert levels. New concepts actively proposed by the Eurasian governments require the analysis and search for effective implementation options. In the paper, an attempt to identify effective solutions to the problems surrounding the current economic integration of the Eurasian states is given on the basis of an interdisciplinary, comprehensive, structured analysis. The phenomenon is considered through the prism of the international law, world economy and politics, combined with the study of existing intergovernmental practice. The modeling method was taken as the basis for the research and is supplemented by legal and empirical methods. The detailed multi-level model of practical construction the 'Great Eurasia' (the GE) concept is proposed, the option for building a phased interaction in Eurasia is given through the prism of construction by the Eurasian Economic Union (the EAEU) as the main tool. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (the SCO) is seen as the most promising element of the model. The SCO is capable of streamlining the formation of the GE and determine the transformation of Eurasia into a common economic space. Effective development of the economic integration between Eurasian states on the framework of the SCO is optimal. The SCO+ could be used as a platform for integration-integration processes formation. The creation of stable financial ties could become the basis for the possible formation of an expanded transregional integration platform. The paper concludes that the implementation of the proposed model could entail a gradual economic rapprochement of Eurasia and beyond.

Keywords: economic integration, The Eurasian Economic Union, The European Union, The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the silk road economic belt

Procedia PDF Downloads 121