Search results for: preparatory experimental schools

Authors: Rowland Brucken

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This paper argues that nation-building theories that prioritize democratic governance best explain the successful post-independence development of Botswana. Three main competing schools of thought exist regarding the sequencing of policies that should occur to re-build weakened or failed states. The first posits that economic development should receive foremost attention, while democratization and a binding sense of nationalism can wait. A second group of experts identified constructing a sense of nationalism among a populace is necessary first, so that the state receives popular legitimacy and obedience that are prerequisites for development. Botswana, though, transitioned into a multi-party democracy and prosperous open economy due to the utilization of traditional democratic structures, enlightened and accountable leadership, and an educated technocratic civil service. With these political foundations already in place when the discovery of diamonds occurred, the resulting revenues were spent wisely on projects that grew the economy, improved basic living standards, and attracted foreign investment. Thus democratization preceded, and therefore provided an accountable basis for, economic development that might otherwise have been squandered by greedy and isolated elites to the detriment of the greater population. Botswana was one of the poorest nations in the world at the time of its independence in 1966, with little infrastructure, a dependence on apartheid South Africa for trade, and a largely subsistence economy. Over the next thirty years, though, its economy grew the fastest of any nation in the world. The transparent and judicious use of diamond returns is only a partial explanation, as the government also pursued economic diversification, mass education, and rural development in response to public needs. As nation-building has become a project undertaken by nations and multilateral agencies such as the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Botswana may provide best practices that others should follow in attempting to reconstruct economically and politically unstable states.

Keywords: Botswana, democratization, economic development, nation-building

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Authors: Ekaterina Artiukhina, Panagiotis Grammelis

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Torrefaction of biomass pellets is considered as a useful pretreatment technology in order to convert them into a high quality solid biofuel that is more suitable for pyrolysis, gasification, combustion and co-firing applications. In the course of torrefaction the temperature varies across the pellet, and therefore chemical reactions proceed unevenly within the pellet. However, the uniformity of the thermal distribution along the pellet is generally assumed. The torrefaction process of a single cylindrical pellet is modeled here, accounting for heat transfer coupled with chemical kinetics. The drying sub-model was also introduced. The non-stationary process of wood pellet decomposition is described by the system of non-linear partial differential equations over the temperature and mass. The model captures well the main features of the experimental data.

Keywords: torrefaction, biomass pellets, model, heat, mass transfer

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Authors: Tianle Yang

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As a common mental disorder, depression is a leading cause of various diseases worldwide. Early detection and treatment of depression can dramatically promote remission and prevent relapse. However, conventional ways of depression diagnosis require considerable human effort and cause economic burden, while still being prone to misdiagnosis. On the other hand, recent studies report that physical characteristics are major contributors to the diagnosis of depression, which inspires us to mine the internal relationship by neural networks instead of relying on clinical experiences. In this paper, neural networks are constructed to predict depression from physical characteristics. Two initialization methods are examined - Xaiver and Kaiming initialization. Experimental results show that a 3-layers neural network with Kaiming initialization achieves 83% accuracy.

Keywords: depression, neural network, Xavier initialization, Kaiming initialization

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Authors: Hooriya Sadr Dadras, Shiva Seyed Erfani

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Speaking skills merit meticulous attention both on the side of the learners and the teachers. In particular, accuracy is a critical component to guarantee the messages to be conveyed through conversation because a wrongful change may adversely alter the content and purpose of the talk. Different types of tasks have served teachers to meet numerous educational objectives. Besides, negotiation of meaning and the use of different strategies have been areas of concern in socio-cultural theories of SLA. Negotiation of meaning is among the conversational processes which have a crucial role in facilitating the understanding and expression of meaning in a given second language. Conversational strategies are used during interaction when there is a breakdown in communication that leads to the interlocutor attempting to remedy the gap through talk. Therefore, this study was an attempt to investigate if there was any significant difference between the effect of reasoning gap tasks and information gap tasks on the frequency of conversational strategies used in negotiation of meaning in classrooms on one hand, and on the accuracy in speaking of Iranian intermediate EFL learners on the other. After a pilot study to check the practicality of the treatments, at the outset of the main study, the Preliminary English Test was administered to ensure the homogeneity of 87 out of 107 participants who attended the intact classes of a 15 session term in one control and two experimental groups. Also, speaking sections of PET were used as pretest and posttest to examine their speaking accuracy. The tests were recorded and transcribed to estimate the percentage of the number of the clauses with no grammatical errors in the total produced clauses to measure the speaking accuracy. In all groups, the grammatical points of accuracy were instructed and the use of conversational strategies was practiced. Then, different kinds of reasoning gap tasks (matchmaking, deciding on the course of action, and working out a time table) and information gap tasks (restoring an incomplete chart, spot the differences, arranging sentences into stories, and guessing game) were manipulated in experimental groups during treatment sessions, and the students were required to practice conversational strategies when doing speaking tasks. The conversations throughout the terms were recorded and transcribed to count the frequency of the conversational strategies used in all groups. The results of statistical analysis demonstrated that applying both the reasoning gap tasks and information gap tasks significantly affected the frequency of conversational strategies through negotiation. In the face of the improvements, the reasoning gap tasks had a more significant impact on encouraging the negotiation of meaning and increasing the number of conversational frequencies every session. The findings also indicated both task types could help learners significantly improve their speaking accuracy. Here, applying the reasoning gap tasks was more effective than the information gap tasks in improving the level of learners’ speaking accuracy.

Keywords: accuracy in speaking, conversational strategies, information gap tasks, reasoning gap tasks

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Authors: Liang Zhao, Jili Zhang, Kai Li

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A microcontroller-based fan coil unit (FCU) fuzzy controller is designed and implemented in this paper. The controller employs the concept of duty ratio on the electric valve control, which could make full use of the cooling and dehumidifying capacity of the FCU when the valve is off. The traditional control method and its limitations are analyzed. The hardware and software design processes are introduced in detail. The experimental results show that the proposed method is more energy efficient compared to the traditional controlling strategy. Furthermore, a more comfortable room condition could be achieved by the proposed method. The proposed low-cost FCU fuzzy controller deserves to be widely used in engineering applications.

Keywords: fan coil unit, duty ratio, fuzzy controller, experiment

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Authors: Elsayeda M. Elgaml, Dina M. Ibrahim, Elsayed A. Sallam

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Association rule mining is one of the most important fields of data mining and knowledge discovery. In this paper, we propose an efficient multiple support frequent pattern growth algorithm which we called “MSFP-growth” that enhancing the FP-growth algorithm by making infrequent child node pruning step with multiple minimum support using maximum constrains. The algorithm is implemented, and it is compared with other common algorithms: Apriori-multiple minimum supports using maximum constraints and FP-growth. The experimental results show that the rule mining from the proposed algorithm are interesting and our algorithm achieved better performance than other algorithms without scarifying the accuracy.

Keywords: association rules, FP-growth, multiple minimum supports, Weka tool

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Authors: Pei-Chen Wu

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Both preexisting cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of personality-depression relationship have suffered from one main limitation: they ignored the stability of the construct of interest (e.g., personality and depression) can be expected to influence the estimate of the association between personality and depression. To address this limitation, the Trait-State-Occasion (TSO) modeling was adopted to analyze the sources of variance of the focused constructs. A TSO modeling was operated by partitioning a state variance into time-invariant (trait) and time-variant (occasion) components. Within a TSO framework, it is possible to predict change on the part of construct that really changes (i.e., time-variant variance), when controlling the trait variances. 750 high school students were followed for 4 waves over six-month intervals. The baseline data (T1) were collected from the senior high schools (aged 14 to 15 years). Participants were given Beck Depression Inventory and Big Five Inventory at each assessment. TSO modeling revealed that 70~78% of the variance in personality (five constructs) was stable over follow-up period; however, 57~61% of the variance in depression was stable. For personality construct, there were 7.6% to 8.4% of the total variance from the autoregressive occasion factors; for depression construct there were 15.2% to 18.1% of the total variance from the autoregressive occasion factors. Additionally, results showed that when controlling initial symptom severity, the time-invariant components of all five dimensions of personality were predictive of change in depression (Extraversion: B= .32, Openness: B = -.21, Agreeableness: B = -.27, Conscientious: B = -.36, Neuroticism: B = .39). Because five dimensions of personality shared some variance, the models in which all five dimensions of personality were simultaneous to predict change in depression were investigated. The time-invariant components of five dimensions were still significant predictors for change in depression (Extraversion: B = .30, Openness: B = -.24, Agreeableness: B = -.28, Conscientious: B = -.35, Neuroticism: B = .42). In sum, the majority of the variability of personality was stable over 2 years. Individuals with the greater tendency of Extraversion and Neuroticism have higher degrees of depression; individuals with the greater tendency of Openness, Agreeableness and Conscientious have lower degrees of depression.

Keywords: assessment, depression, personality, trait-state-occasion model

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Authors: Jamileh Ahmed, Helena Hernandez, Gabriel De Erausquin

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H1N1 virus susceptibility of iPSC-derived DA neurons from schizophrenia patients and controls will compared. C57/BL-6 fibroblasts were reprogrammed into iPSCs using a lenti-viral vector containing SOKM genes. Pluripotency verification with the AP assay and immunocytochemistry ensured iPSC presence. The experimental outcome of ISPCs from DA neuron differentiation will be discussed in the Results section. Fibroblasts from patients and controls will be reprogrammed into iPSCs using a sendai-virus vector containing SOKM. IPSCs will be characterized using the AP assay, immunocytochemistry and RT-PCR. IPSCs will then be differentiated into DA neurons. Gene methylation will be compared for both groups with custom-designed microarrays.

Keywords: schizophrenia, iPSCs, stem cells, neuroscience

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Authors: Gitanjali Pagare, Hansa Devi, S. P. Sanyal

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Full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FLAPW) method has been employed within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and local spin density approximation (LSDA) as the exchange correlation potential to investigate elastic properties of LaX (X = Cd and Hg) in their B2-type (CsCl) crystal structure. The calculated ground state properties such as lattice constant (a0), bulk modulus (B) and pressure derivative of bulk modulus (B') agree well with the available experimental results. The second order elastic constants (C11, C12 and C44) have been calculated. The ductility or brittleness of these intermetallic compounds is predicted by using Pugh’s rule B/GH and Cauchy’s pressure (C12-C44). The calculated results indicate that LaHg is the ductile whereas LaCd is brittle in nature.

Keywords: ductility/brittleness, elastic constants, equation of states, FP-LAPW method, intermetallics

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Authors: Khaled Salah

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In this paper, we present MCERTL (mutation-based correction engine for RTL designs) as an automatic error correction technique based on mutation analysis. A mutation-based correction methodology is proposed to automatically fix the erroneous RTL designs. The proposed strategy combines the processes of mutation and assertion-based localization. The erroneous statements are mutated to produce possible fixes for the failed RTL code. A concurrent mutation engine is proposed to mitigate the computational cost of running sequential mutants operators. The proposed methodology is evaluated against some benchmarks. The experimental results demonstrate that our proposed method enables us to automatically locate and correct multiple bugs at reasonable time.

Keywords: bug localization, error correction, mutation, mutants

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Authors: Emrah Ayhan, Puspa Saananta Irfani, Ömer Doğukan Şahin

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Public services, which are important for the order and continuity of social life, have begun to transform into electronic services (E-service) with the development of information and communication technologies in recent years. In particular, as a result of the widespread use of the internet and the increase in citizen demands, it has become necessary to provide public services electronically. In addition to facilitating traditional public services, new types of e-services strengthen the interaction, cooperation, accessibility, transparency, citizen participation (e-governance) and accountability between citizens and the state. In this context, the factors in the literature that are considered to influence the citizens’ satisfaction towards e-services will be examined through the example of student satisfaction with the e-services (Anasis, Mergen, E-mail, library, cafeteria and other transactions) offered by Anadolu University (Eskişehir, Türkiye) through university website and mobile application. The data for the analysis will be obtained from the survey research that will be used to measure user satisfaction with university e-services of 1,000 students studying at 9 different faculties and graduate schools of Anadolu University. These data will be analyzed with a unique methodology that uses the E-GovQual model and Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) methods together. The e-GovQual model serves as a framework for evaluating the quality of e-services, allowing a detailed understanding of students' perceptions. On the other hand, the IPA method will be used to determine the performance level of Anadolu University in the provision of e-services and to understand the areas that require improvement and student expectations. Strategic goals and suggestions will be made to decision-makers, students, and researchers in line with the findings obtained in the research. Thus, it is planned to contribute to e-governance and user satisfaction in educational institutions and to reveal practical implications for optimizing online platforms to better serve student needs.

Keywords: e-service, Anadolu university, student satisfaction, e-governance, e-govqual, importance performance analysis

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Authors: Saima Q. Memon, Mazhar I. Khaskheli

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The aim of present study was to investigate the efficiency of mulberry leaves for the removal of both arsenic (III) and arsenic (V) from aqueous medium. Batch equilibrium studies were carried out to optimize various parameters such as pH of metal ion solution, volume of sorbate, sorbent doze, and agitation speed and agitation time. Maximum sorption efficiency of mulberry leaves for As (III) and As (V) at optimum conditions were 2818 μg.g-1 and 4930 μg.g-1, respectively. The experimental data was a good fit to Freundlich and D-R adsorption isotherm. Energy of adsorption was found to be in the range of 3-6 KJ/mole suggesting the physical nature of process. Kinetic data followed the first order rate, Morris-Weber equations. Developed method was applied to remove arsenic from real water samples.

Keywords: arsenic removal, mulberry, adsorption isotherms, kinetics of adsorption

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Authors: Trevor N. Haas, Alexander Koen

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Columns have traditionally been constructed of reinforced concrete or structural steel. Much attention was allocated to estimate the axial capacity of the traditional column sections to the detriment of other forms of construction. Other forms of column construction such as Concrete Filled Double Skin Tubes received little research attention, and almost no attention when subjected to eccentric loading. This paper investigates the axial capacity of columns when subjected to eccentric loading. The experimental axial capacities are compared to other established theoretical formulae on concentric loading to determine a possible relationship. The study found a good correlation between the reduction in axial capacity for different column lengths and hollow section ratios.

Keywords: CSDST, CFST, axial capacity, hollow section ratios

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Authors: Claude Tadonki

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We address the issues related to the computation of the covariance matrix. This matrix is likely to be ill conditioned following its canonical expression, thus consequently raises serious numerical issues. The underlying linear system, which therefore should be solved by means of iterative approaches, becomes computationally challenging. A huge number of iterations is expected in order to reach an acceptable level of convergence, necessary to meet the required accuracy of the computation. In addition, this linear system needs to be solved at each iteration following the general form of the covariance matrix. Putting all together, its comes that we need to compute as fast as possible the associated matrix-vector product. This is our purpose in the work, where we consider and discuss skillful formulations of the problem, then propose a parallel implementation of the matrix-vector product involved. Numerical and performance oriented discussions are provided based on experimental evaluations.

Keywords: covariance-matrix, multicore, numerical computing, parallel computing

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Authors: Deepak Raj Bhat, Ryuichi Yatabe

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In this study, a residual-state creep failure model was developed based on the residual-state creep test results of clayey soils. To develop the proposed model, the regression analyses were done by using the R. The model results of the failure time (tf) and critical displacement (δc) were compared with experimental results and found in close agreements to each others. It is expected that the proposed regression model for residual-state creep failure will be more useful for the prediction of displacement of different clayey soils in the future.

Keywords: regression model, residual-state creep failure, displacement prediction, clayey soils

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Authors: Gyula Fülöp, Bettina Hernádi

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This paper deals with the current strategic challenges related to the reshaping of the basic conditions of corporate operations. With the help of the experimental analysis of some domestic corporations, it presents the form and extent the Hungarian corporations are prepared for the current strategic challenges. The study examines how strategic directions and answer opportunities changed in the following interrelated areas in the past five years: economic globalization, corporate sustainability, IT applications, labour force diversity and ethical competences. The conclusions of the empirical survey give a reliable basis for economic organizations and enterprises to formulate their strategy.

Keywords: economic globalization, corporate sustainability, IT applications, labour force diversity, ethical competences

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Authors: Nicholas B. Beck, Thomas E. Albrecht-Schönzart

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High-pressure results in decreases in the bond lengths of metal-ligand bonds, which has proven to be incredibly informative in uncovering differences in bonding between lanthanide and actinide complexes. The degree of f-electron contribution to the metal ligand bonds has been observed to increase under pressure by a far greater degree in the actinides than the lanthanides, as revealed by spectroscopic studies. However, the actual changes in bond lengths have yet to be quantified, although computationally predicted. By using high-pressure crystallographic techniques, crystal structures of lanthanide complexes have been obtained at pressures up to 5 GPa for both hard and soft-donor ligands. These studies have revealed some unpredicted changes in the coordination environment as well as provided experimental support to computational results

Keywords: crystallography, high-pressure, lanthanide, materials

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Authors: M. Bouhadef, K. Bouzelha-Hammoum, T. Guendouzen-Dabouz, A. Younsi, T. Zitoun

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The aim of this paper is to report the different experimental studies, conducted in the laboratory, dealing with the flow in the presence of an obstacle lying in a rectangular hydraulic channel. Both subcritical and supercritical regimes are considered. Generally, when considering the theoretical problem of the free-surface flow, in a fluid domain of finite depth, due to the presence of an obstacle, we suppose that the water is an inviscid fluid, which means that there is no sheared velocity profile, but constant upstream. In a hydraulic channel, it is impossible to satisfy this condition. Indeed, water is a viscous fluid and its velocity is null at the bottom. The two configurations are presented, i.e. a flow over an obstacle and a towed obstacle in a resting fluid.

Keywords: experiments, free-surface flow, hydraulic channel, subcritical regime, supercritical flow

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Authors: Chang Su Woo, Hyun Sung Park

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Air spring system is widely accepted for railway vehicle secondary suspension to reduce and absorb the vibration and noise. The low natural frequency ensures a comfortable ride and an invariably good stiffness. In this paper, the characteristic and durability test was conducted in laboratory by using servo-hydraulic fatigue testing system to reliability evaluation of air spring for electric railway vehicle. The experimental results show that the characteristics and durability of domestically developed products are excellent. Moreover, to guarantee the adaption of air spring, the ride comfort and air pressure variation were measured in train test on subway line. Air spring developed by this study for railway vehicles can guarantee the reliability of average usage of 1 million times at 90% confidence level.

Keywords: air spring, reliability, railway, service lifetime

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Authors: Soner Guler, Demet Yavuz, Fuat Korkut

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Synthetic fibers are commonly used in many civil engineering applications because of its some superior characteristics such as non-corrosive and cheapness. This study presents the results of experimental study on compressive strength of synthetic fiber reinforced concretes. Two types of polyamide (PA) synthetic fiber with the length of 12 and 54 mm are used for this study. The fiber volume ratio is kept as 0.25%, 0.75%, and 0.75% in all mixes. The plain concrete compressive strength is 36.2 MPa. The test results clearly show that the increase in compressive strength for synthetic fiber reinforced concretes is significant. The greatest increase in compressive strength is 23% for PA synthetic fiber reinforced concretes with 0.75% fiber volume.

Keywords: synthetic fibers, polyamide fibers, fiber volume, compressive strength

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Authors: Da Yoon Yu, Jeong A. Kim, In Sung Kim, Yeon Hee Hong, Jae Young Kim, Sang Suk Lee, Sung Chan Kim, So Hui Choe, In Soon Choi, Kwang Keun Cho

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The present study was conducted to identify the effects of synbiotics composed of lactic acid (LA) bacteria (LAB) and sea tangle on rat’s intestinal microorganisms and anti-obesity effects. The experiment was conducted for six weeks using an 8-week old male rat as experiment animals and the experimental design was to use six treatments groups of 4 repetitions using three mice per repetition. The treatment groups were organized into a normal fat diet control (NFC), a high fat (HF) diet control (HFC), a prebiotic 0% treatment (HF+LA+sea tangle 0%, ST0), a prebiotic 5% treatment (HF+LA+sea tangle 5%, ST5), a prebiotic 10% treatment (HF+LA+sea tangle 10%, ST10), and a prebiotic 15% treatment group (HF+LA+sea tangle 15%, ST15) to conduct experiments with various levels of prebiotics. According to the results of the experiment, the NFC group showed the highest daily weight gain (22.34g) and the ST0 group showed the lowest daily weight gain (19.41g). However, weight gains during the entire experimental period were the highest in the HFC group (475.73g) and the lowest in the ST0 group (454.23g). Feed efficiency was the highest in the HFC group (0.20). Treatment with synbiotics composed of LAB and sea tangle suppressed weight increases due to HF diet and reduced feed efficiency. Intestinal microorganisms were identified through pyrosequncing and according to the results, Firmicutes phylum (approximately 60%) and Bacteroidetes phylum (approximately 30%) accounted for approximately 90% or more of intestinal microorganisms in all of the treatment groups indicating these bacteria are dominating in the intestines. Firmicutes that is related to weight increases accounted for 64.96% of microorganisms in the NFC group, 75.32% in the HFC group, 59.51% in the ST0 group, 61.29% in the ST5 group, 49.91% in the ST10 group, and 39.65% in the ST15 group. Therefore, Firmicutes showed the highest share the HFC group that showed high weight gains and the lowest share in the group treated with mixed synbiotics composed of LAB and sea tangle. Bacteroidetes that is related to weight gain inhibition accounted for 32.12% of microorganisms in the NFC group, and HFC group 21.57%, ST0 group 37.66%, ST5 group 34.92%, ST10 group 44.46%, and ST15 group 53.22%. Therefore, the share of Bacteroidetes was the lowest in the HFC group with no addition of synbiotics and increased along with the level of treatment with synbiotics. Changes in blood components were not significantly different among the groups and SCFA yields were shown to be higher in groups treated with synbiotics than in groups not added with synbiotics. Through the present study, it was shown that the supply of synbiotics composed of LAB and sea tangle increased feed intake but led to weight losses and that the intake of synbiotics composed of LAB and sea tangle had anti-obesity effects due to decreases in Firmicutes which are microorganisms related to weight gains and increases in Bacteroidetes which are microorganisms related to weight losses. Therefore, synbiotics composed of LAB and sea tangle are considered to have the effect to prevent metabolic disorders in the rat.

Keywords: bacteroidetes, firmicutes, intestinal microbiota, lactic acid, sea tangle, synbiotics

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Authors: Nopparet Thammasaranyakun

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This research objects are: 1: To study the biodiversity of medicinal plants used for food and medicinal tourism economies along the Phu Sing district Sisaket province. 2: To study the use of medicinal plants used for food and medicinal tourism economies along the Phu Sing district Sisaket province. 3: To provide a database of information on biodiversity for food and medicinal plants and medicinal tourism economies along the Phu Sing district Sisaket province. 4: Learn to create a biodiversity of medicinal plants used as food and treatment by Journeys economic Phu Sing district Sisaket province Boundaries used in this study was the Phu Sing district. Population and Agricultural Development Center, rayong Mun due to the initiative for youth Local, Government Health officials, community leaders, teachers, students, schools, the local people and tourists. Sage wisdom to know the herbs and women's groups, OTOP Phu Sing district in SiisaKet province. By selecting the specific data that way. The process of participatory action research (PAR) is a community-based research. The method of collecting qualitative data. (Qualitative) tool is used from context, Community areas, interview and Taped recordings. Observation and focus group data was statistically analyzed using descriptive statistics (Descriptive Statistics). The results findings: 1- A study of the biodiversity of plants used for food and medicinal tourism economies along the Phu Sing district Sisaket province. Were used in the dry season and the rainy season find the medicinal plants of 251 species 41 types of drugs. 2- The study utilized medicinal plants used as food and the treatment of indigenous Phu Sing Sisaket province. Found 251 species have medicinal properties that are used for food and medicinal purposes 41 types of drugs. 3- Of the database technology of biodiversity for food and medicinal plants used by local treatment Phu Sing district Sisaket province. A data base of 251 medicinal species 41 types of drugs is used for food and medicinal properties Sisaket province. 4- learning the biodiversity of medicinal plants used for food and medicinal tourism economies along the Phu Sing district Sisaket province.

Keywords: utilization of biodiversity, peaces herbals, used as Food, Sing district, sisaket

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Authors: Lely A. Luengas, Pedro R. Vizcaya, Giovanni Sánchez

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In this paper, a methodology is presented to obtain the Static Alignment Model for any transtibial amputee person. The proposed methodology starts from experimental data collected on the Hospital Militar Central, Bogotá, Colombia. The effects of transtibial prosthesis malalignment on amputees were measured in terms of joint angles, center of pressure (COP) and weight distribution. Some statistical tools are used to obtain the model parameters. Mathematical predictive models of prosthetic alignment were created. The proposed models are validated in amputees and finding promising results for the prosthesis Static Alignment. Static alignment process is unique to each subject; nevertheless the proposed methodology can be used in each transtibial amputee.

Keywords: information theory, prediction model, prosthetic alignment, transtibial prosthesis

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Authors: Crystal Hoole

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Employee well-being has become an area of concern for top executives and organizations worldwide. In developing countries such as South Africa, and especially in the educational sector, employees have to deal with anxiety, stress, fear, student protests, political and economic turmoil and excessive work demands on a daily basis. Research has shown that workplaces with higher resilience and better well-being strategies also report higher productivity, increased innovation, better employee retention and better employee engagement. Many organisations offer standard employee assistance programs and once-off short interventions. However, most of these well-being initiatives are perceived as ineffective. Some of the criticism centers around a lack of holistic well-being approaches, no proof of the success of well-being initiatives, not being part of the organization’s strategies and a lack of genuine leadership support. This study attempts to illustrate how a holistic well-being intervention, over a period of 100 days, is far more effective in impacting organizational outcomes. A quasi-experimental design, with a pre-test and pro-test design with a randomization strategy, will be used. Measurements of organizational outcomes are taken at three-time points throughout the study, before, middle and after. The constructs that will be measured are employee engagement, psychological well-being, organizational culture and trust, and perceived stress. The well-being is imitative follows a salutogenesis approach and is aimed at building resilience through focusing on six focal areas, namely sleep, mindful eating, exercise, love, gratitude and appreciation, breath work and mindfulness, and finally, purpose. Certain organizational constructs, including employee engagement, psychological well-being, organizational culture and trust and perceived stress, will be measured at three-time points during the study, namely before, middle and after. A quasi-experimental, pre-test and post-test design will be applied, also using a randomization strategy to limit potential bias. Repeated measure ANCOVA will be used to determine whether any change occurred over the period of 100 days. The study will take place in a Higher Education institution in South Africa. The sample will consist of academic and administrative staff. Participants will be assigned to a test and control group. All participants will complete a survey measuring employee engagement, psychological well-being, organizational culture and trust, and perceived stress. Only the test group will undergo the well-being intervention. The study envisages contributing on several levels: Firstly, the study hopes to find a positive increase in the various well-being indicators of the participants who participated in the study and secondly to illustrate that a longer more holistic approach is successful in improving organisational success (as measured in the various organizational outcomes).

Keywords: wellbeing, resilience, organizational success, intervention

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Authors: Mishadi Herath, Amin Talei, Andreas Hermawan, Clarina Chua

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Green walls are vegetated structures on building’s wall that are considered as part of sustainable urban design. They are proved to have many micro-climate benefits such as reduction in indoor temperature, noise attenuation, and improvement in air quality. On the other hand, several studies have also been conducted on potential reuse of greywater in urban water management. Greywater is relatively clean when compared to blackwater; therefore, this study was aimed to assess the potential reuse of it for irrigating a green wall system. In this study, the campus of Monash University Malaysia located in Selangor state was considered as the study site where total 48 samples of greywater were collected from 7 toilets hand-wash and 5 pantries during 3 months period. The samples were tested to characterize the quality of greywater in the study site and compare it with local standard for irrigation water. PH and concentration of heavy metals, nutrients, Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), total Coliform and E.coli were measured. Results showed that greywater could be directly used for irrigation with minimal treatment. Since the effluent of the system was supposed to be drained to stormwater drainage system, the effluent needed to meet certain quality requirement. Therefore, a biofiltration system was proposed to host the green wall plants and also treat the greywater (which is used as irrigation water) to the required level. To assess the performance of the proposed system, an experimental setup consisting of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) soil columns with sand-based filter media were prepared. Two different local creeper plants were chosen considering several factors including fast growth, low maintenance requirement, and aesthetic aspects. Three replicates of each plants were used to ensure the validity of the findings. The growth of creeping plants and their survivability was monitored for 6 months while monthly sampling and testing of effluent was conducted to evaluate effluent quality. An analysis was also conducted to estimate the potential cost and benefit of such system considering water and energy saving in the system. Results showed that the proposed system can work efficiently throughout a long period of time with minimal maintenance requirement. Moreover, the biofiltration-green wall system was found to be successful in reusing greywater as irrigating water while the effluent was meeting all the requirements for being drained to stormwater drainage system.

Keywords: biofiltration, green wall, greywater, sustainability

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Authors: Mr. Liju Elias, A. Chitharanjan Hegde

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Ni-W alloy coatings have been developed galvanostatically on copper substrate from tri-sodium citrate bath, using glycerol as the additive. The deposition conditions for production of Ni-W coatings have been optimized for peak performance of their electrocatalytic activity, namely hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The corrosion behavior of the coatings were tested under working conditions of electrocatalysis (1M KOH). Electrocatalytic behaviours were tested by cyclic voltammetry and chrono-potentiometry techniques. Experimental results demonstrated that Ni-W coatings at low and high current densities (c. d.) showing superior performance for OER and HER respectively. The increased electrocatalytic activity for HER with increase of deposition c. d. was attributed to the phase structure, surface morphology and chemical composition of the coatings, confirmed by XRD, SEM and EDX analysis, respectively. The dependency of hardness and thickness of the coatings on HER and OER were examined, and results were discussed.

Keywords: electrocatalytic behavior, HER, Ni-W alloy, OER

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Authors: Alena Sicakova

Abstract:

Air-cooled Blast furnace slag aggregate (BFSA) is usually referred to as a material providing for unique properties of concrete. On the other hand, negative influences are also presented in many aspects. The freeze-thaw resistance of concrete is dependent on many factors, including regional specifics and when a concrete mix is specified it is still difficult to tell its exact freeze-thaw resistance due to the different components affecting it. An important consideration in working with BFSA is the granularity and whether slag is sorted or not. The experimental part of the article represents a comparative testing of concrete using both the sorted and unsorted BFSA through the freeze-thaw resistance as an indicator of durability. Unsorted BFSA is able to be successfully used for concretes as they are specified for exposure class XF4 with providing that the type of cement is precisely selected.

Keywords: blast furnace slag aggregate, concrete, freeze-thaw resistance

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Authors: Panupat Chaiworn, Soraya lama

Abstract:

We study the motion of particles in cylinders which are subjected to a sinusoidal vertical vibration. We measure the rising time of a large intruder from the bottom of the container to free surface of the bed particles and find that the rising time as a function of intruder density increases to a maximum and then decreases monotonically. The result is qualitatively accord to the previous findings in experiments using relative humidity of the bed particles and found speed convection of the bed particles containers it moving slowly, and the rising time of the intruder where a minimal instead of maximal rising time in the small density region was found. Our experimental results suggest that the topology of the container plays an important role in the Brazil nut effect.

Keywords: granular particles, Brazil nut effect, cylinder container, vertical vibration, convection

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Authors: Atom Mkhitaryan, Astghik Avetisyan

Abstract:

We analyze the developments of doctoral education in Armenia since 1990 and the management process. Education and training of highly qualified personnel are increasingly seen as a fundamental platform that ensures the development of the state. Reforming the national institute for doctoral studies (aspirantura) is aimed at improving the quality of human resources in science, optimizing research topics in accordance with the priority areas of development of science and technology, increasing publication and innovative activities, bringing national science and research closer to the world level and achieving international recognition. We present a number of defended dissertations in Armenia during the last 30 years, the dynamics and the main trends of the development of the academic degree awarding system. We discuss the possible impact of reforming the system of training and certification of highly qualified personnel on the organization of third–level doctoral education (doctoral schools) and specialized / dissertation councils in Armenia. The results of the SWOT analysis of doctoral education and academic degree awarding processes in Armenia are shown. The article presents the main activities and projects aimed at using the advantages and strong points of the National Academy network in order to improve the quality of doctoral education and training. The paper explores the mechanisms of organizational, methodological and infrastructural support for research and innovation activities of doctoral students and young scientists. There are also suggested approaches to the organization of strong networking between research institutes and foreign universities for training and certification of highly qualified personnel. The authors define the role of ISEC in the management of doctoral studies and the establishment of a competitive third-level education for the sphere of research and development in Armenia.

Keywords: doctoral studies, academic degree, PhD, certification, highly qualified personnel, dissertation, research and development, innovation, networking, management of doctoral school

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Authors: Eiko Takaoka, Yoshiyuki Fukushima, Koichiro Hirose, Tadashi Hasegawa

Abstract:

Although all high school students in Japan are required to learn informatics, many of them do not learn this topic sufficiently. In response to this situation, we propose a support package for high school informatics classes. To examine what students learned and if they sufficiently understood the context of the lessons, a questionnaire survey was distributed to 186 students. We analyzed the results of the questionnaire and determined the weakest units, which were “basic computer configuration” and “memory and secondary storage”. We then developed a package for teaching these units. We propose that our package be applied in high school classrooms.

Keywords: computer science unplugged, computer science outreach, high school curriculum, experimental evaluation

Procedia PDF Downloads 375