Search results for: knowledge construction

Authors: Badr A. Al-Jehani

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Nowadays, contractor selection is a critical activity of the project owner. Selecting the right contractor is essential to the project manager for the success of the project, and this cab happens by using the proper selecting method. Traditionally, the contractor is being selected based on his offered bid price. This approach focuses only on the price factor and forgetting other essential factors for the success of the project. In this research paper, the Analytic Network Process (ANP) method is used as a decision tool model to select the most appropriate contractor. This decision-making method can help the clients who work in the construction industry to identify contractors who are capable of delivering satisfactory outcomes. Moreover, this research paper provides a case study of selecting the proper contractor among three contractors by using ANP method. The case study identifies and computes the relative weight of the eight criteria and eleven sub-criteria using a questionnaire.

Keywords: contractor selection, project management, decision-making, bidding

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Authors: Annette Louise Dupont

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Background and Introduction: Broadly defined, hybridity is a condition of racial and cultural ‘cross-pollination’ which arises as a result of contact between colonized and colonizer. It remains a highly contested concept in postcolonial studies as it is implicitly underpinned by colonial notions of ‘racial purity.’ While some postcolonial scholars argue that individuals exercise significant agency in the construction of their hybrid subjectivities, others underscore associated experiences of exclusion, marginalization, and alienation. Kuwait and the Philippines are among the most disparate of contemporary postcolonial states. While oil resources transformed the former British Mandate of Kuwait into one of the world’s richest countries, enduring poverty in the former US colony of the Philippines drives a global diaspora which produces multiple Filipino hybridities. Although more Filipinos work in the Arabian Gulf than in any other region of the world, scholarly and literary accounts of their experiences of hybridization in this region are relatively scarce when compared to those set in North America, Australia, Asia, and Europe. Study Aims and Significance: This paper aims to address this existing lacuna by investigating hybridity and other postcolonial themes in a novel by a Kuwaiti author which vividly portrays the lives of immigrants and citizens in Kuwait and which gives a rare voice and insight into the struggles of an Arab-Filipino and European-Filipina. Specifically, this paper explores the relationships between colonial discourses of ‘black’ and ‘white’ and postcolonial discourses pertaining to ‘brown’ Filipinos and ‘brown’ Arabs, in order to assess their impacts on the protagonists’ hybrid subjectivities. Methodology: Foucault’s notions of discourse not only provide a conceptual basis for analyzing the colonial ideology of Orientalism, but his theories related to the social exclusion of the ‘mad’ also elucidate the mechanisms by which power can operate to marginalize, alienate and subjectify the Other, therefore a Foucauldian lens is applied to the analysis of postcolonial themes and hybrid subjectivities portrayed in the novel. Findings: The study finds that Kuwaiti and Filipino discursive practices mirror those of former white colonialists and colonized black laborers and that these discursive practices combine with a former British colonial system of foreign labor sponsorship to create a form of governmentality in Kuwait which is based on exclusion and control. The novel’s rich social description and the reflections of the key protagonist and narrator suggest that such fiction has a significant role to play in highlighting the historical and cultural specificities of experiences of postcolonial hybridity in under-researched geographic, economic, social, and political settings. Whereas hybridity can appear abstract in scholarly accounts, the significance of literary accounts in which the lived experiences of hybrid protagonists are anchored to specific historical periods, places and discourses, is that contextual particularities are neither obscured nor dehistoricized. Conclusions: The application of Foucauldian theorizations of discourse, disciplinary, and biopower to the analysis of this Kuwaiti literary text serves to extend an understanding of the effects of contextually-specific discourses on hybrid Filipino subjectivities, as well as a knowledge of prevailing social dynamics in a little-researched postcolonial Arabian Gulf state.

Keywords: Filipino, Foucault, hybridity, Kuwait

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Authors: Joy Chadwick

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There is no doubt that classrooms of today are more complex and diverse than ever before. Preparing teacher candidates to meet these challenges is essential to ensure the retention of teachers within the profession and to ensure that graduates begin their teaching careers with the knowledge and understanding of how to effectively meet the diversity of students they will encounter. Creating inclusive classrooms requires teachers to have a repertoire of effective instructional skills and strategies. Teachers must also have the mindset to embrace diversity and value the uniqueness of individual students in their care. This qualitative study analyzed teacher candidates' experiences as they completed a fourteen-week teaching practicum while simultaneously completing a university course focused on inclusive pedagogy. The research investigated the challenges and successes teacher candidates had in navigating the translation of theory related to inclusive pedagogy into their teaching practice. Applying threshold concept theory as a framework, the research explored the troublesome concepts, liminal spaces, and transformative experiences as connected to inclusive practices. Threshold concept theory suggests that within all disciplinary fields, there exists particular threshold concepts that serve as gateways or portals into previously inaccessible ways of thinking and practicing. It is in these liminal spaces that conceptual shifts in thinking and understanding and deep learning can occur. The threshold concept framework provided a lens to examine teacher candidate struggles and successes with the inclusive education course content and the application of this content to their practicum experiences. A qualitative research approach was used, which included analyzing twenty-nine course reflective journals and six follow up one-to-one semi structured interviews. The journals and interview transcripts were coded and themed using NVivo software. Threshold concept theory was then applied to the data to uncover the liminal or stuck spaces of learning and the ways in which the teacher candidates navigated those challenging places of teaching. The research also sought to uncover potential transformative shifts in teacher candidate understanding as connected to teaching in an inclusive classroom. The findings suggested that teacher candidates experienced difficulties when they did not feel they had the knowledge, skill, or time to meet the needs of the students in the way they envisioned they should. To navigate the frustration of this thwarted vision, they relied on present and previous course content and experiences, collaborative work with other teacher candidates and their mentor teachers, and a proactive approach to planning for students. Transformational shifts were most evident in their ability to reframe their perceptions of children from a deficit or disability lens to a strength-based belief in the potential of students. It was evident that through their course work and practicum experiences, their beliefs regarding struggling students shifted as they saw the value of embracing neurodiversity, the importance of relationships, and planning for and teaching through a strength-based approach. Research findings have implications for teacher education programs and for understanding threshold concepts theory as connected to practice-based learning experiences.

Keywords: inclusion, inclusive education, liminal space, teacher education, threshold concepts, troublesome knowledge

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Authors: Mohammed Abed, Rita Nemes

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In this study different amounts of waste cellular concrete powder (WCCP) as replacement of cement have been investigated as an attempt to produce green binder, which is useful for sustainable construction applications. From zero to up to 60% of WCCP by mass replacement amounts of cement has been conducted. Consistency, compressive strength, bending strength and the activity index of WCCP through seven to ninety days old specimens have been examined, where the optimum WCCP replacement was up to 30%, depending on which the activity index still increased to the end of test period (90 days) and this could be an evidence for its continuity to increase for longer age. Also up to 30% of WCCP increased the bending strength to be higher than the control one. The main point in the present study that there is a possibility of replacing cement by 30% of WCCP, however, it is preferable to be less than this amount.

Keywords: cellular concrete powder, waste cellular concrete powder (WCCP), supplementary cementatious material, SCM, activity index, mechanical properties

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Authors: Eyob Hundessa Gose

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Nowadays, it is obviously known that the construction of different infrastructures is one measurement of the development of a country; infrastructures like buildings, bridges, roads, and railways are among them. In the capital city of Ethiopia, the so-called Addis Ababa, the Light Rail Train (LRT), was built Four years ago to satisfy the demand for transportation among the people in the city. The lane of the Train and vehicle separation Media was built with a curb and rail guard installation system to show the right-of-way and for protection of vehicles entering the Train Lane, but this Rail guard fails easily when impacted by vehicles and found that the impact load response of the Rail guard is weak and the Rail guard cannot withstand impact load. This study investigates the effect of variation of parameters such as vehicle speed and different mass effects and assesses the failure mode FRP and Steel reinforcement bar rail guards of deflection and damage state.

Keywords: impact load, fiber reinforced polymer, rail guard, LS-DYNA

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Authors: Ghazaleh Monazami Tehrani, Zhamak Monazami Tehrani, Raziyeh Hadavand

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Optimal site selection for temporary housing is one of the most important issues in crisis management. In this research, district six of Tehran city with high frequency and geographical distribution of earthquakes has been selected as a case study for positioning temporary housing after a probable earthquake. For achieving this goal this study tries to identify and evaluate distribution of location according to some standards such as compatible and incompatible urban land uses with utility of GIS and AHP. The results of this study show the most susceptible parts of this region in the center. According to the maps, north eastern part of Kordestan, Shaheed Gomnam intersection possesses the highest pixels value in terms of areal extent, therefore these places are recommended as an optimum site location for construction of emergency evacuation base.

Keywords: optimal site selection, temporary housing , crisis management, AHP, GIS

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Authors: Henda J Thomas, Cornelia PJ Harmse, Cecile Schultz

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Wearables are one of the technologies that will flourish within the fourth industrial revolution and digital transformation arenas, allowing employers to integrate collected data into organisational information systems. The study aimed to investigate whether wearable technology readiness can predict employees’ acceptance to wear wearables in the workplace. The factors of technology readiness predisposition that predict acceptance and positive attitudes towards wearable use in the workplace were examined. A quantitative research approach was used. The population consisted of 8 081 South African Department of Employment and Labour employees (DEL). Census sampling was used, and questionnaires to collect data were sent electronically to all 8 081 employees, 351 questionnaires were received back. The measuring instrument called the Technology Readiness and Acceptance Model (TRAM) was used in this study. Four hypotheses were formulated to investigate the relationship between readiness and acceptance of wearables in the workplace. The results found consistent predictions of technology acceptance (TA) by eagerness, optimism, and discomfort in the technology readiness (TR) scales. The TR scales of optimism and eagerness were consistent positive predictors of the TA scales, while discomfort proved to be a negative predictor for two of the three TA scales. Insecurity was found not to be a predictor of TA. It was recommended that the digital transformation policy of the DEL should be revised. Wearables in the workplace should be embraced from the viewpoint of convenience, automation, and seamless integration with the DEL information systems. The empirical contribution of this study can be seen in the fact that positive attitude emerged as a factor that extends the TRAM. In this study, positive attitude is identified as a new dimension to the TRAM not found in the original TA model and subsequent studies of the TRAM. Furthermore, this study found that Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Behavioural Intention to Use and (BIU) could not be separated but formed one factor. The methodological contribution of this study can lead to the development of a Wearable Readiness and Acceptance Model (WRAM). To the best of our knowledge, no author has yet introduced the WRAM into the body of knowledge.

Keywords: technology acceptance model, technology readiness index, technology readiness and acceptance model, wearable devices, wearable technology, fourth industrial revolution

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Authors: Ming-Hsiang Shih, Wen-Pei Sung, Shih-Heng Tung

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The purposes of hydraulic gate are to maintain the functions of storing and draining water. It bears long-term hydraulic pressure and earthquake force and is very important for reservoir and waterpower plant. The high tensile strength of steel plate is used as constructional material of hydraulic gate. The cracks and rusts, induced by the defects of material, bad construction and seismic excitation and under water respectively, thus, the mechanics phenomena of gate with crack are probing into the cause of stress concentration, induced high crack increase rate, affect the safety and usage of hydroelectric power plant. Stress distribution analysis is a very important and essential surveying technique to analyze bi-material and singular point problems. The finite difference infinitely small element method has been demonstrated, suitable for analyzing the buckling phenomena of welding seam and steel plate with crack. Especially, this method can easily analyze the singularity of kink crack. Nevertheless, the construction form and deformation shape of some gates are three-dimensional system. Therefore, the three-dimensional Digital Image Correlation (DIC) has been developed and applied to analyze the strain variation of steel plate with crack at weld joint. The proposed Digital image correlation (DIC) technique is an only non-contact method for measuring the variation of test object. According to rapid development of digital camera, the cost of this digital image correlation technique has been reduced. Otherwise, this DIC method provides with the advantages of widely practical application of indoor test and field test without the restriction on the size of test object. Thus, the research purpose of this research is to develop and apply this technique to monitor mechanics crack variations of weld steel hydraulic gate and its conformation under action of loading. The imagines can be picked from real time monitoring process to analyze the strain change of each loading stage. The proposed 3-Dimensional digital image correlation method, developed in the study, is applied to analyze the post-buckling phenomenon and buckling tendency of welded steel plate with crack. Then, the stress intensity of 3-dimensional analysis of different materials and enhanced materials in steel plate has been analyzed in this paper. The test results show that this proposed three-dimensional DIC method can precisely detect the crack variation of welded steel plate under different loading stages. Especially, this proposed DIC method can detect and identify the crack position and the other flaws of the welded steel plate that the traditional test methods hardly detect these kind phenomena. Therefore, this proposed three-dimensional DIC method can apply to observe the mechanics phenomena of composite materials subjected to loading and operating.

Keywords: welded steel plate, crack variation, three-dimensional digital image correlation (DIC), crack stel plate

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Authors: F. Noto, F. De Persio, V. Bellini, G. Costa. F. Mammoliti, F. Meddi, C. Sutera, G. M. Urcioli

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One plane X and one plane Y of silicon microstrip detectors will constitute the front part of the Super Bigbite Spectrometer that is under construction and that will be installed in the experimental Hall A of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Laboratory), located in Newport News, Virgina, USA. Each plane will be made up by two nearly identical, 300 μm thick, 10 cm x 10.3 cm wide silicon microstrip detectors with 50 um pitch, whose electronic signals will be transferred to the front-end electronic based on APV25 chips through C-shaped FR4 Printed Circuit Boards (PCB). A total of about 10000 strips are read-out. This paper treats the optimization of the detector support structure, the materials used through a finite element simulation. A very important aspect of the study will also cover the optimization of the bonding parameters between detector and electronics.

Keywords: FEM analysis, bonding, SBS tracker, mechanical structure

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Authors: Sikiru Ademola Adewale, Joe Thomas, Bolanle Hafiz Matti, Tosin Ige

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This project demonstrates the implementation and use of an encoder-decoder model to perform a many-to-many mapping of video data to text captions. The many-to-many mapping occurs via an input temporal sequence of video frames to an output sequence of words to form a caption sentence. Data preprocessing, model construction, and model training are discussed. Caption correctness is evaluated using 2-gram BLEU scores across the different splits of the dataset. Specific examples of output captions were shown to demonstrate model generality over the video temporal dimension. Predicted captions were shown to generalize over video action, even in instances where the video scene changed dramatically. Model architecture changes are discussed to improve sentence grammar and correctness.

Keywords: decoder, encoder, many-to-many mapping, video captioning, 2-gram BLEU

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Authors: Wenli Tsou, Jessica Wu

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Courses of English for specific academic purposes (ESAP) have become popular for higher education in Taiwan; however, no standardized tests have been developed for evaluating learners’ English proficiency in individual designated fields. Assuming a learner’s proficiency in a specific academic area is built up with one’s general proficiency in English with specific knowledge and vocabulary in the content areas, an adequate ESAP proficiency test may be constructed by some selected test items related to the designated academic areas. In this study, through collaboration between a language testing institution and a university in Taiwan, three sets of ESAP tests, covering three disciplinary areas of business and the workplace, science and engineering, and health and medicine majors, were developed and administered to sophomore students (N=1704) who were enrolled in ESAP courses at a university in southern Taiwan. For this study, the courses were grouped into the above-mentioned three disciplines, and students took the specialized proficiency test based on the ESAP course they were taking. Because students were free to select which ESAP course to take, each course had both major and non-major students. Toward the end of the one-semester course, ending in January, 2015, each student took two tests, one of general English (General English Proficiency Test, or GEPT) and the other ESAP. Following each test, students filled out a survey, reporting their test taking experiences. After comparing students’ two test scores, it was found that business majors and health and medical students performed better in ESAP than the non-majors in the class, whereas science and engineering majors did about the same as their non-major counterparts. In addition, test takers with CERF B2 (upper intermediate) level or above performed well in both tests, while students who are below B2 did slightly better in ESAP. The findings suggest that students’ test performance have been enhanced by their specialist content and vocabulary knowledge. Furthermore, results of the survey show that the difficulty levels reported by students are consistent with their test performances. Based on the item analysis, the findings can be used to develop proficiency tests for specific disciplines and to identify ability indicators for college students in their designated fields.

Keywords: english for specific academic purposes (ESAP), general english proficiency test (GEPT), higher education, proficiency test

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Authors: Hassan Malami Alkanchi

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Acquiring the knowledge of Islamic business ethics nowadays for the conduct of business activities and other business transactions has become one of the best strategies for promoting lawful business as well as a successful business for economic development. The idea of infusing the significance of Islamic business ethics into the minds of Muslim individuals has spurred much enthusiasm in the last few decades. Putting this idea into practice posed significant impacts on the life of Muslim individuals for the development of business. The main objective of this paper is to explore the significant role of Muslim families' awareness in promoting Islamic business ethics for successful business economic development. The methodology adopted for the conduct of this study is qualitative research. The study employed a purposive sampling technique and considered it the most suitable method for data collection. The data collection techniques employed for this study were interviews and focus group discussions. The study used semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions for the data collection. The standard used for selecting the participants was strictly based on professionalism, relevance, expertise and the willingness of the participants to participate in the study. The participants interviewed include Muslim family experts, Islamic scholars, and media workers, comprising five (5) participants for each research subject. Twelve (15) participants were sampled for the study. The method of data analysis used is thematic and theoretical explanations. This paper analytically discusses the new and emerging ethical issues in relation to business activities as well as new strategies for the development of successful businesses for economic prosperity, growth, and development. The study findings revealed that the awareness of Muslim families in promoting Islamic business ethics has significantly contributed to changing the negative attitudes of some Muslim individuals' in relation to their business. Furthermore, findings of unveiled Muslim individuals immensely benefited towards understanding and having knowledge in relation to ethical business guidelines enshrined by the sharia in the conduct of pure business as well as strengthening Islamic business ethics through the teachings of the noble Quran and Sunnah.

Keywords: Muslim family, awareness, business ethics, economic development

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Authors: Daniel Y. Fiaveh, Michael P.K. Okyerefo, Clara K. Fayorsey

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Although sexual pleasure is an important aspect of human sexuality, there is little knowledge on how women and men negotiate pleasure in Ghana. The paper explores women and men’s agency in negotiating sexual pleasure in an urban community in Ghana based on the narratives of 20 women and 16 men. Specifically, we explore meanings of sexual pleasure, the erotic factors that stimulate sexual pleasure, and how women and men negotiate for these factors. Women are active negotiators of stimulants of sexual pleasure based on symbolic meanings.

Keywords: eroticism, sexual pleasure, sexual negotiation, Ghana

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Authors: Wang Ye, Wei Wei

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Residential block construction of big cities in China began in the 1950s, and four models had far-reaching influence on modern residential block in its development process, including unit compound and residential district in 1950s to 1980s, and gated community and open community in 1990s to now. Based on analysis of the four models’ fabric, the article takes residential blocks in Hangzhou west area as an example and carries on the studies from urban structure level and block special level, mainly including urban road network, land use, community function, road organization, public space and building fabric. At last, the article puts forward semi-open sub-community strategy to improve the current fabric.

Keywords: Hangzhou west area, residential block model, residential block fabric, semi-open sub-community strategy

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Authors: Duangduen L. Bhanthumnavin, Duchduen E. Bhanthumnavin

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Widening gap between new academic knowledge in all areas and habit of exploring and exploiting this precious information by students causes an alarm and need for urgent prevention. At present, all advanced nations are committed to WHO’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which require some objective achievements by the year 2030 and further. The responsibility has been enforced on university lecturers, in addition to the higher education learning outcomes (HELO). The two groups of goals (SDGs and HELO) can be realized if most university instructors are capable of inculcating some important psychological characteristics and behavioral change in the new generations. Thus, this study aimed at pinpointing the significant factors for additional teaching skills of instructors regardless of the area of study. University lecturers from various parts of Thailand, with the total of 540 persons, participated in this cross-sectional study. Based on interactionism model of behavior antecedents, it covers psychological situational factors, as well as their interaction. Most measuring instruments were summated rating with 10 or more items, each accompanied by a six-point rating scale. All these measures were constructed with acceptable standards. Most of the respondents were volunteers who gave their written responses in a meeting room or conference hall. By applying Multiple Regression Analysis in the total sample as well as in the subsamples of these university instructors, about 70 to 73 predictive percentages with 4 to 6 significant predictors were found. The major dependent variable was instructor’s teaching behavior for inculcating the psycho-moral strength for academic exploration and knowledge application. By performing ANOVA, the less-active instructors were identified as the ones with lower education (Master’s level or lower), the minimal research producers, and the ones with less in-service trainings. The preventive factors for these three groups of instructors were intention to increase the students’ psychological development as well as moral development in their regular teaching classes. In addition, social support from their supervisors and coworkers was also necessary. Recommendations for further research and training are offered and welcomed.

Keywords: psychological inculcation, at-risk instructors, preventive measures, undergraduate teaching

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Authors: Rahbel Rahman, Rogério Meireles Pinto, Margareth Santos Zanchetta

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Background: Existing shortcomings of current health-service delivery include poor teamwork, competencies that do not address consumer needs, and episodic rather than continuous care. Brazil’s Sistema Único de Saúde (Unified Health System, UHS) is acknowledged worldwide as a model for delivering community-based care through Estratégia Saúde da Família (FHS; Family Health Strategy) interdisciplinary teams, comprised of Community Health Agents (in Portuguese, Agentes Comunitário de Saude, ACS), nurses, and physicians. FHS teams are mandated to collectively offer clinical care, disease prevention services, vector control, health surveillance and social services. Our study compares medical providers (nurses and physicians) and community-based providers (ACS) on their perceptions of work environment, professional skills, cognitive capacities and job context. Global health administrators and policy makers can leverage on similarities and differences across care providers to develop interprofessional training for community-based primary care. Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected from 168 ACS, 62 nurses and 32 physicians in Brazil. We compared providers’ demographic characteristics (age, race, and gender) and job context variables (caseload, work experience, work proximity to community, the length of commute, and familiarity with the community). Providers perceptions were compared to their work environment (work conditions and work resources), professional skills (consumer-input, interdisciplinary collaboration, efficacy of FHS teams, work-methods and decision-making autonomy), and cognitive capacities (knowledge and skills, skill variety, confidence and perseverance). Descriptive and bi-variate analysis, such as Pearson Chi-square and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) F-tests, were performed to draw comparisons across providers. Results: Majority of participants were ACS (64%); 24% nurses; and 12% physicians. Majority of nurses and ACS identified as mixed races (ACS, n=85; nurses, n=27); most physicians identified as males (n=16; 52%), and white (n=18; 58%). Physicians were less likely to incorporate consumer-input and demonstrated greater decision-making autonomy than nurses and ACS. ACS reported the highest levels of knowledge and skills but the least confidence compared to nurses and physicians. ACS, nurses, and physicians were efficacious that FHS teams improved the quality of health in their catchment areas, though nurses tend to disagree that interdisciplinary collaboration facilitated their work. Conclusion: To our knowledge, there has been no study comparing key demographic and cognitive variables across ACS, nurses and physicians in the context of their work environment and professional training. We suggest that global health systems can leverage upon the diverse perspectives of providers to implement a community-based primary care model grounded in interprofessional training. Our study underscores the need for in-service trainings to instill reflective skills of providers, improve communication skills of medical providers and curative skills of ACS. Greater autonomy needs to be extended to community based providers to offer care integral to addressing consumer and community needs.

Keywords: global health systems, interdisciplinary health teams, community health agents, community-based care

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Authors: Rachel deCatanzaro, Madeline Austen, Ken Tuininga, Kathy St. Laurent, Christina Rohe

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In Canada, the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) provides protection for wildlife species at risk and a national legislative framework for the conservation or recovery of species that are listed as endangered, threatened, or special concern under Schedule 1 of SARA. Key aspects of the federal species at risk program include the development of recovery documents (recovery strategies, action plans, and management plans) outlining threats, objectives, and broad strategies or measures for conservation or recovery of the species; the identification and protection of critical habitat for threatened and endangered species; and working with groups and organizations to implement on-the-ground recovery actions. Environment Canada’s progress on the development of recovery documents and on the identification and protection of critical habitat in Ontario will be presented, along with successes and challenges associated with on-the ground implementation of recovery actions. In Ontario, Environment Canada is currently involved in several recovery and monitoring programs for at-risk bird species such as the Loggerhead Shrike, Piping Plover, Golden-winged Warbler and Cerulean Warbler and has provided funding for a wide variety of recovery actions targeting priority species at risk and geographic areas each year through stewardship programs including the Habitat Stewardship Program, Aboriginal Fund for Species at Risk, and the Interdepartmental Recovery Fund. Key research needs relevant to the recovery of species at risk have been identified, and include: surveys and monitoring of population sizes and threats, population viability analyses, and addressing knowledge gaps identified for individual species (e.g., species biology and habitat needs). The engagement of all levels of government, the local and international conservation communities, and the scientific research community plays an important role in the conservation and recovery of species at risk in Ontario– through surveying and monitoring, filling knowledge gaps, conducting public outreach, and restoring, protecting, or managing habitat – and will be critical to the continued success of the federal species at risk program.

Keywords: conservation biology, habitat protection, species at risk, wildlife recovery

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Authors: Ouardi Okkacha, Kaarour Abedlkrim, Meskine Mohamed

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The effective Hamiltonians are widely used in molecular spectroscopy for the interpretation of the vibration-rotation spectra. Their construction is an ambiguous procedure due to the existence of unitary transformations that change the effective Hamiltonian but do not change its eigenvalues. As a consequence of this ambiguity, it may happen that some parameters of effective Hamiltonians cannot be recovered from experimental data in a unique way. The type of admissible transformations which keeps the operator form of the effective Hamiltonian unaltered and the number of empirically determinable parameters strongly depend on the symmetry type of a molecule (asymmetric top, spherical top, and so on) and on the degeneracy of the vibrational state. In this work, we report the study of the ambiguity of effective Hamiltonian for the fundamental degenerate states v3 of the Molecule 12CD4.

Keywords: 12CD4, high-resolution infrared spectra, tetrahedral tensorial formalism, vibrational states, rovibrational line position analysis, XTDS, SPVIEW

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Authors: Aneia Rajiel Busmente, Renato Gunio Jr., Jazin Mautante, Denise Joy Mendoza, Raymond Benedict Tagorio, Gabriel Uy, Natalie Quinn Valenzuela, Ma. Elayza Villa, Francine Yezha Vizcarra, Sofia Madelle Yapan, Eugene Kurt Yboa

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COVID-19’s rapid spread caused a dramatic change in the nation, especially the educational system. The Department of Education was forced to adopt a practical learning platform without neglecting health, a printed modular distance learning. The Philippines' K–12 curriculum includes Statistics and Probability as one of the key courses as it offers students the knowledge to evaluate and comprehend data. Due to student’s difficulty and lack of understanding of the concepts of Statistics and Probability in Normal Distribution. The Self-Learning Module in Statistics and Probability about the Normal Distribution created by the Department of Education has several problems, including many activities, unclear illustrations, and insufficient examples of concepts which enables learners to have a difficulty accomplishing the module. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of self-learning module on the academic performance of students in the subject Statistics and Probability, it will also explore students’ perception towards the quality of created Self-Learning Module in Statistics and Probability. Despite the availability of Self-Learning Modules in Statistics and Probability in the Philippines, there are still few literatures that discuss its effectiveness in improving the performance of Senior High School students in Statistics and Probability. In this study, a Self-Learning Module on Normal Distribution is evaluated using a quasi-experimental design. STEM students in Grade 11 from National University's Nazareth School will be the study's participants, chosen by purposive sampling. Google Forms will be utilized to find at least 100 STEM students in Grade 11. The research instrument consists of 20-item pre- and post-test to assess participants' knowledge and performance regarding Normal Distribution, and a Likert scale survey to evaluate how the students perceived the self-learning module. Pre-test, post-test, and Likert scale surveys will be utilized to gather data, with Jeffreys' Amazing Statistics Program (JASP) software being used for analysis.

Keywords: self-learning module, academic performance, statistics and probability, normal distribution

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Authors: Z. Mahmood, F. U. Babar, S. Naz, H. U. Rehman

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Cadmium Sulphide (CdS) was deposited on a Tec 15 glass substrate with the help of CBD (chemical bath deposition process) and then cadmium telluride CdTe was deposited on CdS with the help of CSS (closed spaced sublimation technique) for the construction of a solar cell. The thicknesses of all the deposited materials were measured with the help of Ellipsometry. The IV graphs were drawn in order to observe the current voltage output. The efficiency of the cell was graphed with the fill factor as well (graphs not given here). The efficiency came out to be approximately 16.5 % and the CIGS (copper-indium–gallium-selenide) maximum efficiency is 20 %. The efficiency of a solar cell can further be enhanced by adapting quality materials, good experimental devices and proper procedures. The grain size was analyzed with the help of scanning electron microscope using RBS (Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy).

Keywords: Chemical Bath Deposition Technique (CBD), cadmium sulphide (CdS), CdTe, CSS (Closed Space Sublimation)

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Authors: Samiksha Raviraja, Junaid Arif

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One of the most important abilities in species is the ability to communicate. This paper proposes steps to take when and if aliens came in contact with humans, and how humans would communicate with them. The situation would be a time-sensitive scenario, meaning that communication is at the utmost importance if such an event were to happen. First, humans would need to establish mutual peace by conveying that there is no threat to the alien race. Second, the aliens would need to acknowledge this understanding and reciprocate. This would be extremely difficult to do regardless of their intelligence level unless they are very human-like and have similarities to our way of communicating. The first step towards understanding their mind is to analyze their level of intelligence - Level 1-Low intelligence, Level 2-Human-like intelligence or Level 3-Advanced or High Intelligence. These three levels go hand in hand with the Kardashev scale. Further, the Barrow scale will also be used to categorize alien species in hopes of developing a common universal language to communicate in. This paper will delve into how the level of intelligence can be used toward achieving communication with aliens by predicting various possible scenarios and outcomes by proposing an intensive categorization system. This can be achieved by studying their Emotional and Intelligence Quotient (along with technological and scientific knowledge/intelligence). The limitations and capabilities of their intelligence must also be studied. By observing how they respond and react (expressions and senses) to different kinds of scenarios, items and people, the data will help enable good categorisation. It can be hypothesised that the more human-like aliens are or can relate to humans, the more likely it is that communication is possible. Depending on the situation, either human can teach aliens a human language, or humans can learn an alien language, or both races work together to develop a mutual understanding or mode of communication. There are three possible ways of contact. Aliens visit Earth, or humans discover aliens while on space exploration or through technology in the form of signals. A much rarer case would be humans and aliens running into each other during a space expedition of their own. The first two possibilities allow a more in-depth analysis of the alien life and enhanced results compared. The importance of finding a method of talking with aliens is important in order to not only protect Earth and humans but rather for the advancement of Science through the shared knowledge between the two species.

Keywords: intelligence, Kardashev scale, Barrow scale, alien civilizations, emotional and intelligence quotient

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Authors: K. Subbaiah

Abstract:

Friction stir welding is a solid state welding process. Friction stir welding process eliminates the defects found in fusion welding processes. It is environmentally friend process. 5000 and 6000 series aluminum alloys are widely used in the transportation industries. The Al-Mg-Mn (5000) and Al-Mg-Si (6000) alloys are preferably offer best combination of use in Marine construction. The medium strength and high corrosion resistant 5000 series alloys are the aluminum alloys, which are found maximum utility in the world. In this review, the tool pin profile, process parameters such as hardness, yield strength and tensile strength, and microstructural evolution of friction stir welding of Al-Mg alloys 5000 Series and 6000 series have been discussed.

Keywords: 5000 series and 6000 series Al alloys, friction stir welding, tool pin profile, microstructure and properties

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Authors: Adriana Estokova, Lenka Palascakova, Martina Kovalcikova

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Cement is a basic material used for building construction. Chromium as an indelible non-volatile trace element of raw materials occurs in cement clinker in the trivalent or hexavalent form. Hexavalent form of chromium is harmful and allergenic having very high water solubility and thus can easily come into contact with the human skin. The paper is aimed at analyzing the content of total chromium in Portland cements and leaching rate of hexavalent chromium in various leachants: Deionized water, Britton-Robinson buffer, used to simulate the natural environment, and hydrochloric acid (HCl). The concentration of total chromium in Portland cement samples was in a range from 173.2 to 218.5 mg/kg. The content of dissolved hexavalent chromium ranged 0.23-3.19, 2.0-5.78 and 8.88-16.25 mg/kg in deionized water, Britton-Robinson solution and hydrochloric acid, respectively. The calculated leachable fraction of Cr(VI) from cement samples was observed in the range 0.1--7.58 %.

Keywords: environment, cement, chromium, leaching

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Authors: F. Loffredo, M. Quarto, M. Pugliese, A. Mazzella, F. De Cicco, V. Roca

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The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of radon remedial action in a school on the Ischia island, South Italy, affected by indoor radon concentration higher than the value of 500 Bq/m³. This value is the limit imposed by the Italian legislation, to above which corrective actions in schools are necessary. Before the application of remedial action, indoor radon concentrations were measured in 9 rooms of the school. The measurements were performed with LR-115 passive alpha detectors (SSNTDs) and E-Perm. The remedial action was conducted in one of the office affected by high radon concentration using a Radonstop paint applied after the construction of a concrete slab under the floor. The effect of remedial action was the reduction of the concentration of radon of 41% and moreover it has demonstrated to be durable over time. The chosen method is cheap and easy to apply and it could be designed for various types of building. This method can be applied to new and existing buildings that show high dose values.

Keywords: E-Perm, LR 115 detectors, radon remediation, school

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Authors: Maha A. Al-Hsayni

Abstract:

Title of the Study: The Effect of Using Augmented Reality Technique in a Computer Course Unit on the Academic Achievement and Attitudes of High School Female Students. This study aimed at identifying the effect of using the Augmented Reality technique on the academic achievement of computer course at the cognitive domains (Knowledge, comprehension and analysis) with third high school female students in Holy Makkah. The researcher used: The quasi-experimental approach. The sample of the study was comprised of (55) female students in the third high school level in Holy Makkah in the second semester of the academic year 1434/1435 H. These students were assigned to two groups: The experimental group of (28) students who were taught by using the Augmented Reality technology, and the control group of (27) students, who were taught by using the traditional method. The researcher prepared a set of tools and materials, which are represented in achievement test consisted of (30) clauses, direction instrument consisted of (25) clauses and the design of augmented reality for computer study unit. The study used the following statistical methods for data analysis: Cronbach's alpha coefficient, Pearson correlation coefficient, means, standard deviations, t-test and analysis of covariance test ANCOVA. The study reached the following results: 1- There are statistically significance difference at ( 0.05) among the adjusted means of the experimental and control groups in the posttest at the domains of (Knowledge, comprehension and analysis) of third high school graders after adjusting the pretest 2- There are statistically significance difference at ( 0.05) among the means of pre and post-test for female students of the experimental group in the scale of attitude towards using Augmented Reality Technique. In the light of the study results, the researcher recommends the followings: The necessity of using Augmented Reality Technique in teaching computer courses for high school students. Furthermore, emphasizing the need to provide schools with educational halls equipped with instruments and screens that enable teachers to use the Augmented Reality in teaching the other courses. Also, the researcher suggested conducting more studies in order to improve the process of teaching and learning.

Keywords: augmented reality technique, computer course unit, academic achievement, attitudes, high school female students

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Authors: Fabio Marson, Revital Naor-Ziv, Patrizio Paoletti, Joseph Glicksohn, Filippo Carducci, Tal Dotan Ben-Soussan

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According to embodied cognition theories, higher-order cognitive functions and complex behaviors seems to be affected by bodily states. For example, the polyvagal theory suggests that the human autonomic nervous system evolved to support social interactions. Accordingly, integration and perception of information related to the physiological state arising from the peripherical nervous system (i.e., interoception) play a role in the regulation of social interaction by modulating emotional responses and prosocial behaviors. Moreover, recent studies showed that interoception is involved in the representations of conceptual knowledge, suggesting that the bodily information carried by the interoceptive system provides a perceptual basis for the embodiment of abstract concepts, especially those related to social and emotional domains. However, to the best of our knowledge, no studies explored the relationship between interoception, prosocial behaviors, and conceptual representations. Considering the privileged position of interoception in mediating higher-order cognition and social interaction, we designed a cross-cultural study to explore the relationship between interoception, the sensitivity of bodily functions, and empathy. We recruited Italian, English, and Hebrew participants, and we asked them to fill in a questionnaire about empathy (Empathy Quotient), a questionnaire about bodily perception (Body Perception Questionnaire), and to rate different concrete and abstract concepts for the extent such concepts can be experienced through vision, hearing, taste, smell, touch, and interoception. We observed that in all languages, interoception ratings for abstract concepts were greater than for concrete concepts. Importantly, interoception ratings for abstract concepts were positively correlated with empathy and sensitivity of bodily functions. Our results suggest that participants with higher empathy and sensitivity of bodily functions show also a greater embodiment of abstract concepts in interoception, providing further evidence for the importance of the interoceptive system in regulating prosocial behaviors and integrating conceptual representations.

Keywords: conceptual representations, embodiment, empathy, empathy quotient, interoception, prosocial behaviors

Procedia PDF Downloads 172

Authors: Chinfen Chen

Abstract:

This paper aims to focus on the challenges and doubts encountered in the implementation of ‘bilingual teaching in some fields of courses’, and propose implementation principles and strategies from the four areas of curriculum design, teaching strategies, teaching language application, and bilingual teaching implementation and operation, as a school The administrative team considers when planning bilingual teaching and also clarifies teachers' doubts about the implementation of bilingual teaching to enhance their willingness and confidence to participate in bilingual teaching.

Keywords: bilingual education policy, language immersion, partial bilingual education, content knowledge and target language acquisition, inquiry-based teaching.

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Authors: Douglas A. Menezes, Isabel D. Nunes, Ulrich Schiel

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Most Virtual Learning Environments do not provide support mechanisms for the integrated planning, construction and follow-up of Instructional Design supported by Learning Analytic results. The present work aims to present an authoring tool that will be responsible for constructing the structure of an Instructional Design (ID), without the data being altered during the execution of the course. The visual interface aims to present the critical situations present in this ID, serving as a support tool for the course follow-up and possible improvements, which can be made during its execution or in the planning of a new edition of this course. The model for the ID is based on High-Level Petri Nets and the visualization forms are determined by the specific kind of the data generated by an e-course, a population of students generating sequentially dependent data.

Keywords: educational data visualization, high-level petri nets, instructional design, learning analytics

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Authors: Kumiko Inagaki

Abstract:

Japanese society is experiencing an aging population and declining birth rate along with the popularization of higher education, spread of economic globalization, rapid progress in technical innovation, changes in employment conditions, and emergence of a knowledge-based society. Against this background, interest in career education at Japanese universities has increased in recent years. This paper describes how the government has implemented career education policies in Japan, and introduces the cases of two universities that have successfully linked career education to university education in Japan.

Keywords: career education, employability, higher education, japanese university, university education

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Authors: Bo Sun, Ni Zhong

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Bilateral investment treaties have played a role in the construction of the Belt and Road, providing institutional protection for Chinese companies' overseas investments. However, such treaties between China and countries along the Belt and Road were signed in the 1980s and 1990s, and their provisions are outdated and insufficiently detailed to provide adequate legal protection for Chinese investors when they initiate investment arbitration against host countries. By studying cases involving China in international investment arbitration, this paper suggests that China should pay attention to further clarifying the identity of "investors", the scope of disputes that can be submitted to arbitration, and the concept of "indirect expropriation" when updating bilateral investment treaties in the future, in order to reduce the risk of losing cases for Chinese investors.

Keywords: belt and road, bilateral investment agreement, investment arbitration, indirect expropriation

Procedia PDF Downloads 266