Search results for: socio-economic groups

Authors: Hong-Yi Kuo

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Leadership is a key factor of improving workplace safety, and there have been abundant of studies which support the positive effects of appropriate leadership on employee safety performance in the western academic. However, little safety research focus on the Chinese leadership style like paternalistic leadership. To fill this gap, the resent study aims to examine the relationship between authoritarian leadership (one of the ternary mode in paternalistic leadership) and safety outcomes. This study makes hypothesis on different levels. First, on the group level, as an authoritarian leader regards safety value as the most important tasks, there would be positive effect on group safety outcomes through strengthening safety group norms by the emphasis on etiquette. Second, on the cross level, when a leader with authoritarian style has high priority on safety, employees may more obey the safety rules because of fear due to emphasis on absolute authority over the leader. Therefore, employees may show more safety performance and then increase individual safety outcomes. Survey data would be collected from 50 manufacturing groups (each group with more than 5 members and a leader) and a hierarchical linear modeling analysis would be conducted to analyze the hypothesis. Above the predictive result, the study expects to be a cornerstone of safety leadership research in the Chinese academic and practice.

Keywords: safety leadership, authoritarian leadership, group norms, safety behavior, supervisor safety priority

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Authors: Raghad Dwaik

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It is well known in language acquisition literature that a mere understanding of a reading text is not enough to help students build proficiency in comprehension. Students should rather follow understanding by attempting to express what has been understood by pushing their competence to the limit. Learners' attempt to push their competence was given the term "comprehensible output" by Swain (1985). Teachers in large classes, however, find it sometimes difficult to give all students a chance to communicate their views or to share their ideas during the short class time. In most cases, students who are outgoing dominate class discussion and get more opportunities for practice which leads to ignoring the shy students totally while helping the good ones become better. This paper presents the idea of using Google Classroom features of posting and commenting to allow students who hesitate to participate in class discussions about a reading text to write their views on the wall of a Google Classroom and share them later after they have received feedback and comments from classmates. Such attempts lead to developing their proficiency through additional practice in comprehensible output and to enhancing their confidence in themselves and their views. It was found that virtual classroom interaction would help students maintain vocabulary, use more complex structures and focus on meaning besides form.

Keywords: learning groups, reading TESOL, Google Classroom, comprehensible output

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Authors: Emma Whewell, Lee Waters, Mark Wall

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This paper is a mixed methods investigation into the perceived barriers to attainment and progression. Initially entry level data was analysed to identify some of the key characteristics of the student cohort- for example entry route, age and ethnic background. Secondly, a phenomenological case study of the lived experiences of 15 level 5 sport and exercise students was conducted. It aimed to understand the complexities of success in higher education, far beyond entry qualifications, indices of deprivation and POLAR characteristics, to offer a first-hand account of student perceptions and interpretations of the barriers they face in progression, retention and completion on their programme. Using focus groups and interviews with students from a range of indices we offer a set of rich case studies exploring the interpretations of our students’ lived experiences and challenges. Findings demonstrate a complex set of circumstances that centre on managing workload, use of support services and aspirations of students that conflict with university priorities. Conclusions centre on the role of academic and pastoral support, assumptions about priorities of students and practical interventions to support achievement.

Keywords: access and participation, higher education, progression and retention, barriers

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Authors: Muhammad Naveed Ali

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A study was conducted to determine the effects on the severity of pneumonia due to Mannheimia haemolytica and its relation with the fertility of bucks. A total of 12 crossbred Boer bucks of 3 treatment groups of equal number (4 goats per group, aged 12-14 months) were selected in this study. Group A was intranasally inoculated live M. haemolytica 1 × 105 (cfu). Group B was first immunized subcutaneously M. haemolytica killed vaccine (2 ml) two week before intranasal inoculation of M. haemolytica 1 × 105 (cfu). Group C was treated with normal saline (PBS) as control. Electro-ejaculator was used for semen collection once per week whilst scrotal circumference was measured before and after challenge. The semen volume, sperm concentration, sperm motility, live/dead percentage and morphology were evaluated. From the semen evaluation, goats in Group A exhibited significant decrease in the semen volume, sperm concentration, motility and live/dead sperm compared with vaccinated group B. The scrotal circumference was significantly decreased in group A compared to B. There were non-significant differences in scrotal circumferences of group B and C. The results suggested that M. haemolytica infection has negative effects on the fertility of Boer bucks.

Keywords: Boer bucks, Mannheimia haemolytica, semen evaluation, vaccination

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Authors: Sheikh, R. Author, Bhardwaj S. Author, Jr.

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The emphasis of this paper is to investigate the identity shifts experienced within the Indian community and among Muslim refugee women in Sydney. Using Goffman’s paradigm of everyday interactions, attention is paid to how migrants navigate and perform their multiple identities in their daily life. By focusing on narratives of the migrant- migration is understood as processual instead of a one time decision of re-location. The paper aims to highlight how individuals choose and re-adapt their cultural and social practices within the context of Australia. Migrant narratives are rooted in specific socio-cultural settings of one’s own community as well as the nature of migration to a specific country. Differences and similarities will be observed within the Indian community, and among Muslim refugee women in terms of how identity is negotiated, social networks are re-established in Australia. Some attention will also be paid to difficulties that are being faced by migrants-especially in terms of Muslim identity for Refugee women, particularly in terms of assimilation, building on Ghassan Hage’s use of appraisal theory and how a diversity of language and religion is accommodated within the Indian community. By using two diverse groups, it would be able to identify and contrast migrant experiences.

Keywords: identity, migrant, refugee, women, assimilation, narratives

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Authors: Manuela Nayantara Jeyaraj

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PostgreSQL is an Object-Relational Database Management System (ORDBMS) with an architecture that ensures optimal quality data management. But due to the shading growth of similar ORDBMS, PostgreSQL has not been renowned among the database user community. Despite having its features and in-built functionalities shadowed, PostgreSQL renders a vast range of utilities for data manipulation and hence calling for it to be upheld more among users. But introducing PostgreSQL in order to stimulate its advantageous features among users, mandates endorsing learn-ability as an add-on as the target groups considered consist of both amateur as well as professional PostgreSQL users. The scope of this paper deliberates providing easy contemplation of query formulations and flows through a visual editor designed according to user interface principles that standby to support every aspect of making PostgreSQL learn-able by self-operation and creation of queries within the visual editor. This paper tends to scrutinize the importance of choosing PostgreSQL as the working database environment, the visual perspectives that influence human behaviour and ultimately learning, the modes in which learn-ability can be provided via visualization and the advantages reaped by the implementation of the proposed system features.

Keywords: database, learn-ability, PostgreSQL, query, visual-editor

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Authors: Thi Phuong Chi Nguyen

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Although consumer ethnocentrism has been widely studied in academic research since 1987, somehow it is still considered as a new and unknown concept in marketing theory and practice. By analyzing the content, three mainstreams of consumer ethnocentrism were found including economic, management and marketing approaches. The present study indicated that the link between consumer ethnocentrism and consumer behaviours varies across countries. Consumers in developing countries might be both patriotic about their home countries and curious about foreign cultures at the same time. The most important finding is identifying three main periods in the chronological development of consumer ethnocentrism research. The first period, spanning from 1987 to 1995, was characterized by the introduction of the consumer ethnocentrism concepts and scales, the unidimensionality and the adaptation of the standard CETSCALE version. The second period 1996-2005 witnessed the replication of CETSCALE in various fields, as well as an increase in the volume of researches in developing and emerging countries; the exploration of determinants and the begin of multidimensionality. In the third period from 2006 to present, all variables related to CET were syntherized within the theory of planne behavior. Consumer ethnocentrism analyses were conducted even in less-developed countries and in groups of countries within longitudinal studies. The results from this study showed many inadequacies relating to consumer ethnocentrism in the context of globalisation for further researches to examine.

Keywords: CETSCALE, consumer behavior, consumer ethnocentrism, business, marketing

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Authors: Hassan Wajid

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We will commend accommodating an environmentally friendly architectural proposal that is extremely common/usual but whose features will make it a sustainable space. In this experiment, the natural and artificial built space is being proposed in such a way that deals with Environmental, Ecological, and Economic Criteria under different climatic conditions. Moreover, the criteria against ecology-environment-economics reflect in the different modules which are being experimented with and analyzed by multiple research groups. The ecological, environmental, and economic services are provided used as units of production side by side, resulting in local job creation and saving resources, for instance, conservation of rainwater, soil formation or protection, less energy consumption to achieve Net Zero, and a stable climate as a whole. The synthesized results from the collected data suggest several aspects to consider when designing buildings for beginning the design process under the supervision of instructors/directors who are responsible for developing curricula and sustainable goals. Hence, the results of the research and the suggestions will benefit the sustainable design through multiple results, heat analysis of different small modules, and comparisons. As a result, it is depleted as the resources are either consumed or the pollution contaminates the resources.

Keywords: optimization, ecology, environment, sustainable solution

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Authors: Sophie Huck, Knut Linke

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This study will examine how IT practitioners can be motivated for IT studies and which kind of support they need during their occupational studies. Within this research project, the challenge of supporting students being engaged in business for several years arose. Here, it is especially important to successfully guide them through their studies. The problem of this group is that they finished their school education years ago. In order to gather first experiences, preliminary e-learning courses were introduced and tested with a group of users studying General Management. They had to work with these courses and have been questioned later on about their approach to the different methods. Moreover, a second group of potential students was interviewed with the help of online questionnaires to give information about their expectations regarding extra occupational studies. We also want to present best practices and cases in e-education in the subarea of mathematics and distance learning. Within these cases and practices, we use state of the art systems and technologies in e-education to find a way to increase teaching quality and the success of students. Our research indicated that the first group of enrolled students appreciated the new preliminary e-learning courses. The second group of potential students was convinced of this way of learning as a significant component of extra occupational studies. It can be concluded that this part of the project clarified the acceptance of the e-learning strategy by both groups and led to satisfactory results with the enrolled students.

Keywords: e-learning evaluation, self-learning, virtual classroom, virtual learning environments

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Authors: Anna D. Kotrova, Alexandr N. Shishkin, Elena I. Ermolenko

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The aim. To study the quantitative and qualitative colon bacteria ratio from patients with metabolic syndrome. Materials and methods. Fecal samples from patients of 2 groups were identified and analyzed: the first group was formed by patients with metabolic syndrome, the second one - by healthy individuals. The metagenomics method was used with the analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences. The libraries of the variable sites (V3 and V4) gene 16S RNA were analyzed using the MiSeq device (Illumina). To prepare the libraries was used the standard recommended by Illumina, a method based on two rounds of PCR. Results. At the phylum level in the microbiota of patients with metabolic syndrome compared to healthy individuals, the proportion of Tenericutes was reduced, the proportion of Actinobacteria was increased. At the genus level, in the group with metabolic syndrome, relative to the second group was increased the proportion of Lachnospira. Conclusion. Changes in the colon bacteria ratio in the gut microbiota of patients with metabolic syndrome were found both at the type and the genus level. In the metabolic syndrome group, there is a decrease in the proportion of bacteria that do not have a cell wall. To confirm the revealed microbiota features in patients with metabolic syndrome, further study with a larger number of samples is required.

Keywords: gut microbiota, metabolic syndrome, metagenomics, tenericutes

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Authors: Halit Arslan, Ismail Sahin, Ahmet Oguz Akturk, Ismail Celik

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Today, the means of following the developments in the area of science and technology is to keep up with the pace of the advancements in this area. As is in every profession, apart from their personal efforts, the training of teachers in the period after they start their careers is only possible through in-service training. The aim of the present study is to determine the views of Information Technologies (IT) teachers regarding the in-service training courses organized by the Ministry of National Education. In this study, in which quantitative research methods and techniques were employed, the views of 196 IT teachers were collected by using the “Views on In-service Training” questionnaire developed by the authors of the paper. Independent groups t-test was used to determine whether the views of IT teachers regarding in-service training differed depending on gender, age and professional seniority. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to investigate whether the views of IT teachers regarding in-service training differed depending on the number of in-service training courses they joined and the type of in-service training course they wanted to take. According to the findings obtained in the study, the views of IT teachers on in-service training did not show a significant difference depending on gender and age, whereas those views differed depending on professional seniority, the number of in-service training courses they joined and the type of in-service training course they wanted to take.

Keywords: in-service training, IT teachers, professional development, personal development

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Authors: B. Harman, E. Gringart, C. Harms

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There is evidence that increasing numbers of adults of child-bearing age in Australia do not have children. While there has been research into the life experiences of non-parents, one of the issues is that the differences between people who choose not to have children – the childfree – and people who cannot have children – the childless – are not clearly defined. The qualitative research reported here adopted an interpretative phenomenological approach to examine the life experiences of non-parents. Potential participants from Australia were invited to complete an online survey describing their experiences of life without children. An examination of the data from 229 participants (188 female, 41 male) revealed that they defined their non-parent status as either childfree or childless. There are, however, five sub-categories of child freedom identified by the participants, whereas previous research has not recognized such distinctions. The variance in the definition of child freedom is important because it may be related to the life journey as a non-parent. The current paper will firstly discuss the different groups of childfree and childless people. Secondly, it will examine the life experiences and journeys of non-parents in light of how the participants defined themselves. From a social psychological perspective, the current research is important as it highlights the socially held stereotypes and the stigma experienced by non-parents in Australia.

Keywords: Australia, childfree, childless, non-parents, qualitative, social psychology

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Authors: Toby Gibbs, Suwaree Yordchim

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This research analyzes factors affecting the success of Litecoin Value within Thailand and develops a guideline for self-reliance for effective business implementation. Samples in this study included 119 people through surveys. The results revealed four main factors affecting the success as follows: 1) Future Career training should be pursued in applied Litecoin development. 2) Didn't grasp the concept of a digital currency or see the benefit of a digital currency. 3) There is a great need to educate the next generation of learners on the benefits of Litecoin within the community. 4) A great majority didn't know what Litecoin was. The guideline for self-reliance planning consisted of 4 aspects: 1) Development planning: by arranging meet up groups to conduct further education on Litecoin and share solutions on adoption into every day usage. Local communities need to develop awareness of the usefulness of Litecoin and share the value of Litecoin among friends and family. 2) Computer Science and Business Management staff should develop skills to expand on the benefits of Litecoin within their departments. 3) Further research should be pursued on how Litecoin Value can improve business and tourism within Thailand. 4) Local communities should focus on developing Litecoin awareness by encouraging street vendors to accept Litecoin as another form of payment for services rendered.

Keywords: litecoin, mining, confirmations, payment method

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Authors: Anton Bahtiar, Lukas Tjandra Leksana, Fransiscus D. Suyatna

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Hypercholesterolemia is one of the major risk factors that can trigger the development of cardiovascular disease, especially coronary heart disease. One of the traditional drugs used for hypercholesterolemia is a combination of herbs celery (Apium graveolens) and garlic (Allium sativum). This study aimed to investigate the effects of the extract on lipid profile in hypercholesterolemic subjects. Subjects consisted of patients with traditional medicine clinic in Jakarta. Each subject received treatment capsules containing herbal extract and placebo capsules. On the 44 subjects, the lipid profile was examined blood levels of total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and triglycerides. Paired two-tailed t-test was used for the difference between lipid profile of the therapy group and the placebo group. The changes in the lipid profile between the treatment groups and the placebo group for total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and triglycerides was 14,82 ± 6,946;1.45 ± 2,945;6,98 ± 8,105;2,48 ± 6,504 mg/dL. The herbal extract decrease blood cholesterol and LDL levels significantly (P <0.05).

Keywords: Allium sativum, Apium graveolens, hypercholesterolemia, cholesterol, HDL, LDL

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Authors: Farzaneh Fakheri Raof, Abdolkhalegh vadian

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One of the most important environmental issues in developing countries is municipal solid waste management. In this context, knowledge of the quantity and composition of solid waste provides the basic information for the optimal management of solid waste. Many studies have been conducted to investigate the impact of economic, social and cultural factors on generation trend of solid waste, however, few of these have addressed the role of religion in the matter. The present study is a field investigation on generation trend of solid waste in Mashhad, a metropolitan city in northeastern Iran. Accordingly, the religious rituals, quantity and composition of municipal solid waste were considered as independent and dependent variables, respectively. For this purpose, the quantity of the solid waste was initially determined. Afterwards, they were classified into 12 groups using the relevant standard methods. The results showed that the production rate of the municipal solid waste was 1,507 tons per day. Composing 65.2% of the whole; the organic materials constitute the largest share of the total municipal solid waste in Mashhad. The obtained results also revealed that there is a positive relationship between waste generation and the months of religious ceremonies so that the greatest amount of waste generated in the city was reported from Ramadan (as a religious month) in a way that it was significantly different from other months.

Keywords: Mashhad, municipal solid waste, religious months, waste composition, organic waste

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Authors: Lauren B. Birney

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The project utilizes the Billion Oyster Project (BOP-CCERS) place-based “restoration through education” model to promote computational thinking in NYC high school teachers and their students. Key learning standards such as Next Generation Science Standards and the NYC CS4All Equity and Excellence initiative are used to develop a computer science curriculum that connects students to their Harbor through hands-on activities based on BOP field science and educational programming. Project curriculum development is grounded in BOP-CCERS restoration science activities and data collection, which are enacted by students and educators at two Restoration Science STEM Hubs or conveyed through virtual materials. New York City Public School teachers with relevant experience are recruited as consultants to provide curriculum assessment and design feedback. The completed curriculum units are then conveyed to NYC high school teachers through professional learning events held at the Pace University campus and led by BOP educators. In addition, Pace University educators execute the Summer STEM Institute, an intensive two-week computational thinking camp centered on applying data analysis tools and methods to BOP-CCERS data. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed throughout the five-year study. STEM+C – Community Based Restoration STEM Hubs. STEM Hubs are active scientific restoration sites capable of hosting school and community groups of all grade levels and professional scientists and researchers conducting long-term restoration ecology research. The STEM Hubs program has grown to include 14 STEM Hubs across all five boroughs of New York City and focuses on bringing in-field monitoring experience as well as coastal classroom experience to students. Restoration Science STEM Hubs activities resulted in: the recruitment of 11 public schools, 6 community groups, 12 teachers, and over 120 students receiving exposure to BOP activities. Field science protocols were designed exclusively around the use of the Oyster Restoration Station (ORS), a small-scale in situ experimental platforms which are suspended from a dock or pier. The ORS is intended to be used and “owned” by an individual school, teacher, class, or group of students, whereas the STEM Hub is explicitly designed as a collaborative space for large-scale community-driven restoration work and in-situ experiments. The ORS is also an essential tool in gathering Harbor data from disparate locations and instilling ownership of the research process amongst students. As such, it will continue to be used in that way. New and previously participating students will continue to deploy and monitor their own ORS, uploading data to the digital platform and conducting analysis of their own harbor-wide datasets. Programming the STEM Hub will necessitate establishing working relationships between schools and local research institutions. NYHF will provide introductions and the facilitation of initial workshops in school classrooms. However, once a particular STEM Hub has been established as a space for collaboration, each partner group, school, university, or CBO will schedule its own events at the site using the digital platform’s scheduling and registration tool. Monitoring of research collaborations will be accomplished through the platform’s research publication tool and has thus far provided valuable information on the projects’ trajectory, strategic plan, and pathway.

Keywords: environmental science, citizen science, STEM, technology

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Authors: Surendra Bodakhe

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In this investigation, anticataract activity was determined using cataract formation in developing chick embryo by hydrocortisone. Lenses were evaluated firstly for the extent of opacity and secondly, for lens glutathione (GSH) levels. Betulinic acid was isolated from the chloroform fraction of the crude ethanolic extract of Bauhinia variegata bark (SBE). Fourteen days old Australorp fertilized eggs were divided into different groups of six eggs each. After 24 hrs incubation in a humidified incubator (37οC), at 15 days of age; hydrocortisone (0.25µM/0.2ml/egg) was administered to the chorioallantoic membrane of chick embryos through a small hole in the egg shell on the air sack. Ascorbic acid (standard) or Betulinic acid (test) were administered at 3, 10 and 20 hr after hydrocortisone administration at a specified dose. The puncture was sealed with a cellophane tape and eggs were incubated for 48 hrs in a humidified incubator at 37οC. After 48 hrs, the lenses were isolated for the determination of the extent of opacity and Glutathione level. The betulinic acid prevented the opacification of the chick embryo lenses induced by hydrocortisone. The betulinic acid also prevented the decline of GSH content caused by hydrocortisone. The results indicate that betulinic acid protect the cataract formation in chick embryo lenses induced by hydrocortisone.

Keywords: betulinic acid, cataract, cloudiness, ovine

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Authors: Vanessa L. Haro

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Beginning with a historical foundation of Mexico, this marks the start of a close examination of this major Latin American country by providing the context needed to understand the reasons for Mexico’s strengths and struggles today, specific to their response to the issue of gender violence. Responding to the challenge of combating gender violence and inequality, Mexico has created social programs and initiatives in hopes of addressing these issues and modernizing their gender norms, which currently disempower and dehumanize women, while simultaneously denying women the necessary tools needed to fight back or bring balance to the gender scales. Nevertheless, women in Mexico have made their voices heard with the most salient image of that of the mothers protesting while holding the photos of their young daughters who lost their lives. This case study on gender issues in Mexico works to acknowledge the diverse forces that contribute to the issue of gender violence, and to make a statement that this is a crisis that requires a more dynamic response within Mexico’s social welfare policies, and should not be allowed to continue to progress as a normative phenomenon. As the advocacy groups and protesters cry out, “Ni una menos! (Not one less), meaning we will not lose one more woman and making the statement that all women’s lives matter.

Keywords: gender issues, Mexico, poverty, social welfare

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Authors: Kaitlyn Deierlein, Janet Lydecker

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Stereotypes surrounding anorexia nervosa are that the illness is commonly perceived as a self-inflicted disorder influenced by controlling parents, vanity, and cultural pressures. According to the authors' best knowledge minimal research has examined interactions with other factors, including gender and racial stereotypes involving this disorder. A common stereotype of this disease is that it mainly only affects Caucasian women and is very rarely seen in any other ethnicity. Previous literature has failed to investigate how visual body image and ethnic stereotypes affect the mental health of different ethnic groups, how various cultures impact the type of anorexia nervosa in the patient, and the different stereotypes associated with their eating disorder. Participants completed a pre-test questionnaire with vignettes, an image exposure portion, and a post-test questionnaire, which will all be evaluated and analyzed by ANOVA t-test and SPSS. Results showed that participants picked Caucasian females as more likely to have anorexia nervosa than those of Asian, Latin American, or African American descent subjects in both picture identification and vignettes. Future research should be conducted to further the results of this study by examining differences between gender stereotypes with anorexia nervosa as well as how sexuality has a role in perception.

Keywords: anorexia nervosa, ethnicity, stereotypes, eating disorders, perception

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Authors: Amarjyoti Das Mahapatra, Umesh Kumar, Bhaskar Datta

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A pseudo peptide can mimic the biological or structural properties of natural peptides. They have become an increasing attention in medicinal chemistry because of their interesting advantages like more bioavailability and less biodegradation than compare to the physiologically active native peptides which increase their therapeutic applications. Many biologically active compounds contain urea as functional groups, and they have improved pharmacokinetic properties because of their bioavailability and metabolic stability. Recently we have reported a single-step synthesis of sulfonyl urea and sulfonyltriuret from sulfonyl chloride and sodium cyanate. But the yield of sulfonyltriuret was less around 40-60% because of the formation of other products like sulfonamide and sulfonylureas. In the present work, we mainly focused on the selective synthesis of sulfonyltriuret using tetrabutylammonium cyanate and sulfonyl chloride. More precisely, we are interested in the controlled synthesis of oligomeric urea mainly sulfonyltriuret as a new class of pseudo peptide and their application as protease modulators. The distinctive architecture of these molecules in the form of their pseudo-peptide backbone offers promise as a potential pharmacophore. The synthesized molecules have been screened on trypsin enzyme, and we observed that these molecules are the efficient modulator of trypsin enzyme.

Keywords: pseudo peptide, pharmacophore, sulfonyltriuret, trypsin

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Authors: Sally Salah El Menshawy, Ghada M. Ahmed GabAllah, Doaa Khedr M. Khedr

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Background: Our study aims to detect the diagnostic role of DTI in the differentiation of salivary glands benign and malignant lesions. Results: Our study included 50 patients (25males and 25 females) divided into 4 groups (benign lesions n=20, malignant tumors n=13, post-operative changes n=10 and normal n=7). 28 patients were with parotid gland lesions, 4 patients were with submandibular gland lesions and only 1 case with sublingual gland affection. The mean fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of malignant salivary gland tumors (n = 13) (0.380±0.082 and 0.877±0.234× 10⁻³ mm² s⁻¹) were significantly different (P<0.001) than that of benign tumors (n = 20) (0.147±0.03 and 1.47±0.605 × 10⁻³ mm² s⁻¹), respectively. The mean FA and ADC of post-operative changes (n = 10) were (0.211±0.069 and 1.63±0.20× 10⁻³ mm² s⁻¹) while that of normal glands (n =7) was (0.251±0.034and 1.54±0.29× 10⁻³ mm² s⁻¹), respectively. Using ADC to differentiate malignant lesions from benign lesions has an (AUC) of 0.810, with an accuracy of 69.7%. ADC used to differentiate malignant lesions from post-operative changes has (AUC) of 1.0, and an accuracy of 95.7%. FA used to discriminate malignant from benign lesions has (AUC) of 1.0, and an accuracy of 93.9%. FA used to differentiate malignant from post-operative changes has (AUC) of 0.923, and an accuracy of 95.7%. Combined FA and ADC used to differentiate malignant from benign lesions has (AUC) of 1.0, and an accuracy of 100%. Combined FA and ADC used to differentiate malignant from post-operative changes has (AUC) of 1.0, and an accuracy of 100%. Conclusion: Combined FA and ADC can differentiate malignant tumors from benign salivary gland lesions.

Keywords: diffusion tensor imaging, MRI, salivary gland, tumors

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Authors: Lalla Nezha Lakmiti, Abdelkahar Zahid

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Due to the setbacks on the international scene and the wave of cacophonic financial scandals affecting large international groups, the new Islamic finance industry is not immune despite its initial resistance. The purpose of this paper is to understand and analyze the meaning of the Corporate Governance (CG) concept in Moroccan Islamic banking systems with specific reference to their institutions. The research objective is to identify also the path taken and adopted by these banks recently set up in Morocco. The foundation is rooted in shari'a, in particular, no stakeholder (the shareholding approach) must be harmed, and the ethical value is reflected into these parties’ behavior. We chose a qualitative method, semi-structured interviews where six managers provided answers about their banking systems. Since these respondents held a senior position (directors) within their organizations, it is felt that they are well placed and have the necessary knowledge to provide us with information to answer the questions asked. The results identified the orientation of participating banks and assessing how governance works, while determining which party is fovoured: shareholders, stakeholders or both. This study discusses the favorable condition to the harmonization of the regulations and therefore a better integration between Islamic finance and conventional ones in the economic context of Morocco.

Keywords: corporate governance, Islamic Banks, stakeholders, shareholders

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Authors: Okorowo Cyril Agochi

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The Niger Delta Region of Nigeria is home to about 20 million people and 40 different ethnic groups. The region has an area of seventy thousand square kilometers (70,000 KM2) of wetlands, formed primarily by sediments deposition and makes up 7.5 percent of Nigeria's total landmass. The notable ecological zones in this region includes: coastal barrier islands; mangrove swamp forests; fresh water swamps; and lowland rainforests. This incredibly naturally-endowed ecosystem region, which contains one of the highest concentrations of biodiversity on the planet, in addition to supporting abundant flora and fauna, is threatened by the inhuman act known as gas flaring. Gas flaring is the combustion of natural gas that is associated with crude oil when it is pumped up from the ground. In petroleum-producing areas such as the Niger Delta region of Nigeria where insufficient investment was made in infrastructure to utilize natural gas, flaring is employed to dispose of this associated gas. This practice has impoverished the communities where it is practiced, with attendant environmental, economic and health challenges. This paper discusses the adverse environmental and health implication associated with the practice, the role of Government, Policy makers, Oil companies and the Local communities aimed at bring this inhuman practice to a prompt end.

Keywords: natural combustion, emission, environment, flaring, gas, health, Niger Delta

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Authors: Ungwanen John Ahile, Sylvester Obaike Adejo, Simon Terver Ubwa, Raymond Lubem Tyohemba, Pius Utange, Mnena G. Ikyagh

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The adsorption of tetracycline from aqueous solution was carried out using melon husk as a low-cost adsorbent. The adsorption was characterized using standard methods and values obtained were; pH = 7.80, bulk density = 0.43 g/mL, ash content = 2.2 %, moisture content = 8.27 %, attrition = 1%, and iodine number = 552 mg/g. Adsorption capacity was found to vary with initial concentration, adsorbent dosage, pH, contact time and temperature, the maximum adsorption capacity in each case was found to be at; 30 mg/L for concentration, 0.8 g for adsorbent dose, 5 for pH, 60 minutes for time and 30 °C for temperature. FTIR analysis was done to analyses the surface functional groups which shows the presence of O-H stretch, at 3743.92 corresponding to alcohol, phenols, C-H stretch at 2923.27 indicative of alkanes, H-C=O: C-H stretch at 2725.76 corresponding to aldehyde, C-C stretch at 1462.72 corresponding to aromatic, SEM analysis carried out revealed a rough and smooth morphology of the uncontacted and contacted adsorbent respectively. The experimental data judging from the R2 values fitted best into the Temkin isotherm. The fitting of tetracycline adsorption into the pseudo second order kinetic model (R2 of 0.9992) is suggestive of chemisorption for the adsorbent.

Keywords: adsorption, adsorbent isotherm, antibiotics, tertracycline

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Authors: Hari Shankar, Kshitij Raj, Priya Keshari, Pragya Singh

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Headache is one of the most ubiquitous and frequent neurological disorders interfering with everyday life in all countries. India appears to be no exception. Objectives are to assess the prevalence of headache among adult population in urban area of Varanasi and to find out factors influencing the occurrence of headache. A community based cross sectional study was conducted among adult population in urban area of Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh, India. Total 151 eligible respondents were interviewed by simple random sampling technique. Proportion percentage and Chisquare test were applied for data analysis. Out of 151 respondents, majority (58.3%) were females. In this study, 92.8% respondents belonged to age group 18-60 years while 7.2% was either 60 year of age or above. The overall prevalence of headache was found to be 51.1%. Highest and lowest prevalence of headache was recorded in age groups 18-29 year & 40-49 year respectively. Headache was 62.1% in illiterate and was 40.0% among graduate & above. Unskilled workers had more headache 73.1% than other type of occupation. Headache was more prevalent among unemployed (35.9%) than employed (6.4%). Females had higher family history of headache (48.9%) as compared to males (41.3%). Study subjects having peaceful relation with family members, relatives and neighbors had more headache than those having no peaceful relation.  

Keywords: family relationship, headache, neighbors, ration cards

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Authors: Kaiying Lai, Suiping Wang, Luodi Yu, Yang Zhang, Pengmin Qin

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Abnormalities in auditory processing are one of the most commonly reported sensory processing impairments in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Tonal language speaker with autism has enhanced neural sensitivity to pitch changes in pure tone. However, not all children with ASD exhibit the same performance in pitch processing due to different auditory sensitivity. The current study aimed to examine auditory change detection in ASD with different auditory sensitivity. K-means clustering method was adopted to classify ASD participants into two groups according to the auditory processing scores of the Sensory Profile, 11 autism with hypersensitivity (mean age = 11.36 ; SD = 1.46) and 18 with hypo-sensitivity (mean age = 10.64; SD = 1.89) participated in a passive auditory oddball paradigm designed for eliciting mismatch negativity (MMN) under the pure tone condition. Results revealed that compared to hypersensitive autism, the children with hypo-sensitivity showed smaller MMN responses to pure tone stimuli. These results suggest that ASD with auditory hypersensitivity and hypo-sensitivity performed differently in processing pure tone, so neural responses to pure tone hold promise for predicting the auditory sensitivity of ASD and targeted treatment in children with ASD.

Keywords: ASD, sensory profile, pitch processing, mismatch negativity, MMN

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Authors: Rosario Rivera Rubite, Ching-I Peng, Che-Wei Lin, Mark Hughes, Yoshiko Kono, Kuo-Fang Chung

Abstract:

The flora of Panay Island is under-collected compared with the other islands of the Philippines. In a joint expedition to the island, botanists from Taiwan and the Philippines found three unknown Begonia and compared them with potentially allied species. The three species are clearly assignable to Begonia section Baryandra which is largely endemic to the Philippines. Studies of literature, herbarium specimens, and living plants support the recognition of the three new species: Begonia culasiensis, Begonia merrilliana, and Begonia sykakiengii. Somatic chromosomes at metaphase were determined to be 2n=30 for B. culasiensis and 2n=28 for both B. merrilliana and B. sykakiengii, which are congruent with those of most species in sect. Baryandra. Molecular phylogenetic evidence is consistent with B. culasiensis being a relict from the late Miocene, and with B. merrilliana and B. sykakiengii being younger species of Pleistocene origin. The continuing discovery of endemic Philippine species means the remaining fragments of both primary and secondary native vegetation in the archipelago are of increasing value in terms of natural capital. A secure future for the species could be realized through ex-situ conservation collections and raising awareness with community groups.

Keywords: conservation, endemic , herbarium , limestone, phylogenetics, taxonomy

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Authors: Kazuhiro Tateda, Elisa Gonzalez, Shuhei Ito, Kirstin Heinrich, Kevin Sweetland, Pingping Zhang, Catia Ferreira, Michael Pride, Jennifer Moisi, Sharon Gray, Bennett Lee, Fred Angulo

Abstract:

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is the most common cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea and infectious diarrhea in healthcare settings. Japan has an aging population; the elderly are at increased risk of hospitalization, antibiotic use, and C. difficile infection (CDI). Little is known about the population-based incidence and disease burden of CDI in Japan although limited hospital-based studies have reported a lower incidence than the United States. To understand CDI disease burden in Japan, CLOUD (Clostridium difficile Infection Burden of Disease in Adults in Japan) was developed. CLOUD will derive population-based incidence estimates of the number of CDI cases per 100,000 population per year in Ota-ku (population 723,341), one of the districts in Tokyo, Japan. CLOUD will include approximately 14 of the 28 Ota-ku hospitals including Toho University Hospital, which is a 1,000 bed tertiary care teaching hospital. During the 12-month patient enrollment period, which is scheduled to begin in November 2018, Ota-ku residents > 50 years of age who are hospitalized at a participating hospital with diarrhea ( > 3 unformed stools (Bristol Stool Chart 5-7) in 24 hours) will be actively ascertained, consented, and enrolled by study surveillance staff. A stool specimen will be collected from enrolled patients and tested at a local reference laboratory (LSI Medience, Tokyo) using QUIK CHEK COMPLETE® (Abbott Laboratories). which simultaneously tests specimens for the presence of glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) and C. difficile toxins A and B. A frozen stool specimen will also be sent to the Pfizer Laboratory (Pearl River, United States) for analysis using a two-step diagnostic testing algorithm that is based on detection of C. difficile strains/spores harboring toxin B gene by PCR followed by detection of free toxins (A and B) using a proprietary cell cytotoxicity neutralization assay (CCNA) developed by Pfizer. Positive specimens will be anaerobically cultured, and C. difficile isolates will be characterized by ribotyping and whole genomic sequencing. CDI patients enrolled in CLOUD will be contacted weekly for 90 days following diarrhea onset to describe clinical outcomes including recurrence, reinfection, and mortality, and patient reported economic, clinical and humanistic outcomes (e.g., health-related quality of life, worsening of comorbidities, and patient and caregiver work absenteeism). Studies will also be undertaken to fully characterize the catchment area to enable population-based estimates. The 12-month active ascertainment of CDI cases among hospitalized Ota-ku residents with diarrhea in CLOUD, and the characterization of the Ota-ku catchment area, including estimation of the proportion of all hospitalizations of Ota-ku residents that occur in the CLOUD-participating hospitals, will yield CDI population-based incidence estimates, which can be stratified by age groups, risk groups, and source (hospital-acquired or community-acquired). These incidence estimates will be extrapolated, following age standardization using national census data, to yield CDI disease burden estimates for Japan. CLOUD also serves as a model for studies in other countries that can use the CLOUD protocol to estimate CDI disease burden.

Keywords: Clostridium difficile, disease burden, epidemiology, study protocol

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Authors: Ayesha Selwyn, Annapoorni Chandrashekar, Kumar Ashwarya, Nishant Baghel

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Project-based learning (PBL) activities are typically implemented in technology-enabled schools by highly trained teachers. In rural India, students have limited access to technology and quality education. Implementing typical PBL activities is challenging. This study details how Pratham Education Foundation’s Hybrid Learning model was used to implement two PBL activities related to music in 900 remote Indian villages with 46,000 students aged 10-14. The activities were completed by 69% of groups that submitted a total of 15,000 videos (completed projects). Pratham’s H-Learning model reaches 100,000 students aged 3-14 in 900 Indian villages. The community-driven model engages students in 20,000 self-organized groups outside of school. The students are guided by 6,000 youth volunteers and 100 facilitators. The students partake in learning activities across subjects with the support of community stakeholders and offline digital content on shared Android tablets. A training and implementation toolkit for PBL activities is designed by subject experts. This toolkit is essential in ensuring efficient implementation of activities as facilitators aren’t highly skilled and have limited access to training resources. The toolkit details the activity at three levels of student engagement - enrollment, participation, and completion. The subject experts train project leaders and facilitators who train youth volunteers. Volunteers need to be trained on how to execute the activity and guide students. The training is focused on building the volunteers’ capacity to enable students to solve problems, rather than developing the volunteers’ subject-related knowledge. This structure ensures that continuous intervention of subject matter experts isn’t required, and the onus of judging creativity skills is put on community members. 46,000 students in the H-Learning program were engaged in two PBL activities related to Music from April-June 2019. For one activity, students had to conduct a “musical survey” in their village by designing a survey and shooting and editing a video. This activity aimed to develop students’ information retrieval, data gathering, teamwork, communication, project management, and creativity skills. It also aimed to identify talent and document local folk music. The second activity, “Pratham Idol”, was a singing competition. Students participated in performing, producing, and editing videos. This activity aimed to develop students’ teamwork and creative skills and give students a creative outlet. Students showcased their completed projects at village fairs wherein a panel of community members evaluated the videos. The shortlisted videos from all villages were further evaluated by experts who identified students and adults to participate in advanced music workshops. The H-Learning framework enables students in low resource settings to engage in PBL and develop relevant skills by leveraging community support and using video creation as a tool. In rural India, students do not have access to high-quality education or infrastructure. Therefore designing activities that can be implemented by community members after limited training is essential. The subject experts have minimal intervention once the activity is initiated, which significantly reduces the cost of implementation and allows the activity to be implemented at a massive scale.

Keywords: community supported learning, project-based learning, self-organized learning, education technology

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Authors: Joseph Wolff, Jeffrey Eilbott

Abstract:

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a spectrum of social disorders characterized by deficits in social communication, verbal ability, and interaction that can vary in severity. In recent years, researchers have used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to help detect how neural patterns in individuals with ASD differ from those of neurotypical (NT) controls for classification purposes. This study analyzed the classification of ASD within males and females using functional MRI data. Functional connectivity (FC) correlations among brain regions were used as feature inputs for machine learning algorithms. Analysis was performed on 558 cases from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) I dataset. When trained specifically on females, the algorithm underperformed in classifying the ASD subset of our testing population. Although the subject size was relatively smaller in the female group, the manual matching of both male and female training groups helps explain the algorithm’s bias, indicating the altered sex abnormalities in functional brain networks compared to typically developing peers. These results highlight the importance of taking sex into account when considering how generalizations of findings on males with ASD apply to females.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, machine learning, neuroimaging, sex differences

Procedia PDF Downloads 191