Search results for: effectiveness dissemination

Authors: Getachew Tilahun, Oluwole Makinde, David Malonza

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We propose and analyze a non-linear mathematical model for the transmission dynamics of pneumonia disease in a population of varying size. The deterministic compartmental model is studied using stability theory of differential equations. The effective reproduction number is obtained and also the local and global asymptotically stability conditions for the disease free and as well as for the endemic equilibria are established. The model exhibit a backward bifurcation and the sensitivity indices of the basic reproduction number to the key parameters are determined. Using Pontryagin’s maximum principle, the optimal control problem is formulated with three control strategies; namely disease prevention through education, treatment and screening. The cost effectiveness analysis of the adopted control strategies revealed that the combination of prevention and treatment is the most cost effective intervention strategies to combat the pneumonia pandemic. Numerical simulation is performed and pertinent results are displayed graphically.

Keywords: cost effectiveness analysis, optimal control, pneumonia dynamics, stability analysis, numerical simulation

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Authors: Saeed Dehnavi, Zahra Hadadi, Marzieh Rezabeigi, Nader Monirpoor

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This study has been performed with the goal of investigating the effectiveness of psychodrama in the reduction of social anxiety among the male adolescents in Kermanshah. 210 adolescents (13-14 year-olds) from four junior high schools in Kermanshah filled Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents (LSAS-CA) (Masia-Warner, Klien & Liebowitz, 2003). 30 of the adolescents who obtained the highest scores in LSAS-CA scale were chosen as the sample and were randomly assigned as experimental group (15 people) and control group (15 people). The experimental group participated in two-hour sessions of psychodrama twice a week for 6 weeks. The control group received no intervention. The findings of this study showed a significant reduction in the symptoms of social anxiety among the adolescents in experimental group in comparison to that of the control group. Also a three-month follow-up confirmed the stability of the results. Adolescents’ interactions in the psychodrama group, talking about their problems to the group, and achieving appropriate solutions by themselves are the useful factors of this intervention.

Keywords: psychodrama, social anxiety disorder, adolescents, male adolescents

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Authors: Jamal Ahmed Hama Kareem, Noraini Abu Talib

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The purpose of this paper is to explore the literature on 5S and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and the benefits that are to be derived from their implementation. It also seeks to highlight the main phases for implementing both the 5S and the TPM successfully, along with highlighting aspects that are needed for successful implementation of these two techniques simultaneously in the contemporary manufacturing scenario. The literature on classification of 5S and TPM has so far been very limited. The paper reviews a large number of papers in this field and presents the overview of several of implementation practices of 5S and TPM, and the benefits that can be achieved by the implementation of 5S and TPM as a one system by industrial organizations globally. The paper systematically categorizes the published literature and reveals important issues that influence the successful implementation of 5S and TPM in organizations to improve production effectiveness for competitiveness. Further, the paper also highlights various phases suggested by researchers and practitioners, which ensure smooth and effective implementation of the 5S and TPM in industrial organizations. In the end, study puts forth propositions based on the model of the study after extensive review of literature. The paper will be useful to researchers, maintenance professionals and other concerned officials with improving the performance of production processes effectiveness in industrial organizations.

Keywords: 5S, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), phases of implementation of 5S and TPM, industrial organizations

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Authors: Kumiko Inagaki

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In recent, years, Japanese universities have begun to face a dilemma: more than half of all high school graduates go on to attend an institution of higher learning, overwhelming Japanese universities accustomed to small student bodies. These universities have been forced to embrace qualitative changes to accommodate the increased number and diversity of students who enter their establishments, students who differ in their motivations for learning, their levels of eagerness to learn, and their perspectives on the future. One of these changes is an increase in awareness among Japanese educators of the importance of active learning, which deepens students’ understanding of course material through a range of activities, including writing, speaking, thinking, and presenting, in addition to conventional “passive learning” methods such as listening to a one-way lecture. 　The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of the teaching method adapted to improve active learning. A teaching method designed to promote active learning was implemented in a social science course at one of the most popular universities in Japan. A questionnaire using a five-point response format was given to students in 2,305 courses throughout the university to evaluate the effectiveness of the method based on the following measures: ① the ratio of students who were motivated to attend the classes, ② the rate at which students learned new information, and ③ the teaching method adopted in the classes. The results of this study show that the percentage of students who attended the active learning course eagerly, and the rate of new knowledge acquired through the course, both exceeded the average for the university, the department, and the subject area of social science. In addition, there are strong correlations between teaching method and student motivation and between teaching method and knowledge acquisition rate. These results indicate that the active learning teaching method was effectively implemented and that it may improve student eagerness to attend class and motivation to learn.

Keywords: active learning, Japanese university, teaching method, university education

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Authors: Qasim Zafar, Matthew Anderson, Esteban Garcia, Steven Drager

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Software failures can present an enormous detriment to people's lives and cost millions of dollars to repair when they are unexpectedly encountered in the wild. Despite a significant portion of the software development lifecycle and resources are dedicated to testing, software failures are a relatively frequent occurrence. Nevertheless, the evaluation of testing effectiveness remains at the forefront of ensuring high-quality software and software metrics play a critical role in providing valuable insights into quantifiable objectives to assess the level of assurance and confidence in the system. As the selection of appropriate metrics can be an arduous process, the goal of this paper is to shed light on the significance of software metrics by examining a range of testing techniques and metrics as well as identifying key areas for improvement. Additionally, through this investigation, readers will gain a deeper understanding of how metrics can help to drive informed decision-making on delivering high-quality software and facilitate continuous improvement in testing practices.

Keywords: software testing, software metrics, testing effectiveness, black box testing, random testing, adaptive random testing, combinatorial testing, fuzz testing, equivalence partition, boundary value analysis, white box testing

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Authors: Ana L. Martins, Luis Orfão

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Healthcare systems have been subject to various research efforts aiming at process improvement under a lean approach. Another perspective, agility, has also been used, though in a lower scale, in order to analyse the ability of different hospital services to adapt to demand uncertainties. Both perspectives have a common denominator, the improvement of effectiveness and efficiency of the services in a healthcare setting context. Mixing the two approached allows, on one hand, to streamline the processes, and on the other hand the required flexibility to deal with demand uncertainty in terms of both volume and variety. The present research aims to analyse the impacts of the combination of both perspectives in the effectiveness and efficiency of an hospital service. The adopted methodology is based on a case study approach applied to the process of the ambulatory surgery service of Hospital de Lamego. Data was collected from direct observations, formal interviews and informal conversations. The analyzed process was selected according to three criteria: relevance of the process to the hospital, presence of human resources, and presence of waste. The customer of the process was identified as well as his perception of value. The process was mapped using flow chart, on a process modeling perspective, as well as through the use of Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and Process Activity Mapping. The Spaghetti Diagram was also used to assess flow intensity. The use of the lean tools enabled the identification of three main types of waste: movement, resource inefficiencies and process inefficiencies. From the use of the lean tools improvement suggestions were produced. The results point out that leagility cannot be applied to the process, but the application of lean and agility in specific areas of the process would bring benefits in both efficiency and effectiveness, and contribute to value creation if improvements are introduced in hospital’s human resources and facilities management.

Keywords: case study, healthcare systems, leagility, lean management

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Authors: Sevilay Çankaya

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The detection of deception in children’s interviews is essential for statement veracity. The widely used method for deception detection is building cognitive load, which is the logic of the cognitive interview (CI), and its effectiveness for adults is approved. This meta-analysis delves into the effectiveness of inducing cognitive load as a means of enhancing veracity detection during interviews with children. Additionally, the effectiveness of cognitive load on children's total number of events recalled is assessed as a second part of the analysis. The current meta-analysis includes ten effect sizes from search using databases. For the effect size calculation, Hedge’s g was used with a random effect model by using CMA version 2. Heterogeneity analysis was conducted to detect potential moderators. The overall result indicated that cognitive load had no significant effect on veracity outcomes (g =0.052, 95% CI [-.006,1.25]). However, a high level of heterogeneity was found (I² = 92%). Age, participants’ characteristics, interview setting, and characteristics of the interviewer were coded as possible moderators to explain variance. Age was significant moderator (β = .021; p = .03, R2 = 75%) but the analysis did not reveal statistically significant effects for other potential moderators: participants’ characteristics (Q = 0.106, df = 1, p = .744), interview setting (Q = 2.04, df = 1, p = .154), and characteristics of interviewer (Q = 2.96, df = 1, p = .086). For the second outcome, the total number of events recalled, the overall effect was significant (g =4.121, 95% CI [2.256,5.985]). The cognitive load was effective in total recalled events when interviewing with children. All in all, while age plays a crucial role in determining the impact of cognitive load on veracity, the surrounding context, interviewer attributes, and inherent participant traits may not significantly alter the relationship. These findings throw light on the need for more focused, age-specific methods when using cognitive load measures. It may be possible to improve the precision and dependability of deceit detection in children's interviews with the help of more studies in this field.

Keywords: deceit detection, cognitive load, memory recall, children interviews, meta-analysis

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Authors: Khalid Achaat

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It is difficult to speak about freedom of the press in Algeria without first talking to fifty-seven journalists killed in the country between 1993 and 1997 and the five missing journalists. No serious investigation was conducted to find the culprits. When a State is not able to guarantee law, there is no justice and violations of the law become "systematic". How to claim the freedom of press in Algeria, when death becomes "banal"? In these circumstances, can we talk of rights of the Algerian press? It is impossible to understand the problems of the press in Algeria, focusing solely legal issues. Take into account technical, financial and political. Their respective roles varies depending on whether one focuses on the collection of information, the regime of the newspaper company or publication and dissemination. Can we say that the Algerian press is "the freest in the Arab world", while the latter reflects only partially the real problems facing the country? While any newspaper company is subject, de facto, to an authorization scheme, permanently subjected to the constant threat of withdrawal of the authorization, suspension, prohibition or closure without it has the right to a remedy? Can it be free when the majority of "media owners", head of the largest daily newspapers are derived from the single party in power since independence? Some of this release does not it serves the interests of the Algerian power?

Keywords: freedom, press, power, closure, suspension

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Authors: Walid Mousa, Mohamed Nayel, Ahmed Zaghawa, Akram Salama, Ahmed El-Sify, Hesham Rashad, Dina El-Shafey

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Mycoplasmosis in small ruminants constitutes a serious contagious problem in smallholders causing severe economic losses worldwide. This study was conducted to determine the clinical, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and molecular characterization of Mycoplasma species associated in sheep breeding herds in Menoufiya governorate, Egypt. Out of the examination of 400 sheep, 104 (26%) showed respiratory manifestations, nasal discharges, cough and conjunctivitis with systemic body reaction. Meanwhile, out of these examined sheep, only 56 (14%) were positive for mycoplasma isolation onto PPLO(Pleuropneumonia-like organisms) specific medium. The MIC for evaluating the efficacy of sensitivity of Mycoplasma isolates against different antibiotics groups revealed that both the Linospectin and Tylosin with 2ug, 0.25ug/ml concentration were the most effective antibiotics for Mycoplasma isolates. The application of PCR was the rapid, specific and sensitive molecular approach for detection of M. ovipneumoniae, and M. arginine at 390 and 326 bp, respectively, in all tested isolates. In conclusion, the diagnosis of Mycoplsamosis in sheep is important to achieve effective control measures and minimizing the disease dissemination among sheep herds.

Keywords: MIC, mycoplasmosis, PCR, sheep

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Authors: Rose Mini Agoes Salim, Shahnaz Safitri

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The aim of this study is to test the effectiveness of teaching kindness in preschool children by using several techniques. Kindness is a physical act or emotional support aimed to build or maintain relationships with others. Kindness is known to be essential in the development of moral reasoning to distinguish between the good and bad things. In this study, kindness is operationalized as several acts including helping friends, comforting sad friends, inviting friends to play, protecting others, sharing, saying hello, saying thank you, encouraging others, and apologizing. It is mentioned that kindness is crucial to be developed in preschool children because this is the time the children begin to interact with their social environment through play. Furthermore, preschool children's cognitive development makes them begin to represent the world with words, which then allows them to interact with others. On the other hand, preschool children egocentric thinking makes them still need to learn to consider another person's perspective. In relation to social interaction, preschool children need to be stimulated and assisted by adult to be able to pay attention to other and act with kindness toward them. On teaching kindness to children, the quality of interaction between children and their significant others is the key factor. It is known that preschool children learn about kindness by imitating adults on their two way interaction. Specifically, this study examines two types of teaching techniques that can be done by parents as a way to teach kindness, namely the picture-storybook reading and hand-puppet storytelling. These techniques were examined because both activities are easy to do and both also provide a model of behavior for the child based on the character in the story. To specifically examine those techniques effectiveness in teaching kindness, two studies were conducted. Study I involves 31 children aged 5-6 years old with picture-storybook reading technique, where the intervention is done by reading 8 picture books for 8 days. In study II, hand-puppet storytelling technique is examined to 32 children aged 3-5 years old. The treatments effectiveness are measured using an instrument in the form of nine colored cards that describe the behavior of kindness. Data analysis using Wilcoxon Signed-rank test shows a significant difference on the average score of kindness (p < 0.05) before and after the intervention has been held. For daily observation, a ‘kindness tree’ and observation sheets are used which are filled out by the teacher. Two weeks after interventions, an improvement on all kindness behaviors measured is intact. The same result is also gained from both ‘kindness tree’ and observational sheets.

Keywords: kindness, moral teaching, storytelling, hand puppet

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Authors: Niamh Herlihy, Helen Fischer, Rainer Sauerborn, Anneliese Depoux, Avner Bar-Hen, Antoine Flauhault, Stefanie Schütte

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In the recent decades, there has been an increase in the number of publications both in the scientific and grey literature on the potential health risks associated with climate change. Though interest in climate change and health is growing, there are still many gaps to adequately assess our future health needs in a warmer world. Generating a greater understanding of the health impacts of climate change could be a key step in inciting the changes necessary to decelerate global warming and to target new strategies to mitigate the consequences on health systems. A long term and broad overview of existing scientific literature in the field of climate change and health is currently missing in order to ensure that all priority areas are being adequately addressed. We conducted a scoping review of published peer-reviewed literature on climate change and health from two large databases, PubMed and Web of Science, between 1990 and 2015. A scoping review allowed for a broad analysis of this complex topic on a meta-level as opposed to a thematically refined literature review. A detailed search strategy including specific climate and health terminology was used to search the two databases. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied in order to capture the most relevant literature on the human health impact of climate change within the chosen timeframe. Two reviewers screened the papers independently and any differences arising were resolved by a third party. Data was extracted, categorized and coded both manually and using R software. Analytics and infographics were developed from results. There were 7269 articles identified between the two databases following the removal of duplicates. After screening of the articles by both reviewers 3751 were included. As expected, preliminary results indicate that the number of publications on the topic has increased over time. Geographically, the majority of publications address the impact of climate change and health in Europe and North America, This is particularly alarming given that countries in the Global South will bear the greatest health burden. Concerning health outcomes, infectious diseases, particularly dengue fever and other mosquito transmitted infections are the most frequently cited. We highlight research gaps in certain areas e.g climate migration and mental health issues. We are developing a database of the identified climate change and health publications and are compiling a report for publication and dissemination of the findings. As health is a major co-beneficiary to climate change mitigation strategies, our results may serve as a useful source of information for research funders and investors when considering future research needs as well as the cost-effectiveness of climate change strategies. This study is part of an interdisciplinary project called 4CHealth that confronts results of the research done on scientific, political and press literature to better understand how the knowledge on climate change and health circulates within those different fields and whether and how it is translated to real world change.

Keywords: climate change, health, review, mapping

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Authors: Esra Topcuoglu, Seyhmus Baloglu

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This research investigates the effects of online hotel sales promotion fit (SP fit) on traveler purchase intention (PI) and word-of-mouth (WOM). It examines these relationships based on the need for cognition (NFC), intention to travel (TI), promotional attractiveness (PA), and demographics within resource matching theory (RMT). One factor (SP: Fit presence for monetary and nonmonetary vs. Fit absence for monetary and nonmonetary) design was employed to test the effects of SP fit on traveler behaviors. Data collection was conducted from 300 subjects through Qualtrics. One-way MANOVA was performed to test the main effects of SP fit, and PROCESS simple moderation test for the interaction effects. Results revealed promotional fit increased the effectiveness of monetary and nonmonetary sales promotions. “F&B discount card at the hotel” was the most preferred deal. Fit absence for monetary sales promotion (MSP) and fit presence for nonmonetary sales promotion (NMSP) yielded significant results. The participants were involved in their intention to travel and perceptions of promotional attractiveness to value the promotions.

Keywords: need for cognition, promotional attractiveness, sales promotion fit, travel intention

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Authors: Md. Mazharul Anwar, Md. Samim Hossain Molla, Md. Akkas Ali, Mian Sayeed Hassan

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After 68 years, the agreement between Bangladesh and India was ratified on 6 June 2015 and Bangladesh received 111 Indian enclaves. Millions of farm household lived in these previous enclaves, being detached from the mainland of the country, they were socially, economically and educationally deprived people in the world. This study was undertaken to compare of the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) and the constant returns to scale (CRS) and variable returns to scale (VRS) output-oriented DEA models, based on a sample of 300 farms from the three largest enclaves of Bangladesh in 2017. However, the aim of the study was not only to compare estimates of technical efficiency obtained from the two approaches, but also to examine the determinants of inefficiency. The results from both the approaches indicated that there is a potential for increasing farm production through efficiency improvement and that farmers' age, educational level, new technology dissemination and training on crop production technology have a significant effect on efficiency. The detection and measurement of technical inefficiency and its determinants can be used as a basis of policy recommendations.

Keywords: DEA approach, previous enclaves, SFA approach, technical inefficiency

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Authors: Haonan Hu, Shuge Lei, Dasheng Sun, Huabin Zhang, Kehong Yuan, Jian Dai, Jijun Tang

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This paper focuses on the classification task of breast ultrasound images and conducts research on the reliability measurement of classification results. A dual-channel evaluation framework was developed based on the proposed inference reliability and predictive reliability scores. For the inference reliability evaluation, human-aligned and doctor-agreed inference rationals based on the improved feature attribution algorithm SP-RISA are gracefully applied. Uncertainty quantification is used to evaluate the predictive reliability via the test time enhancement. The effectiveness of this reliability evaluation framework has been verified on the breast ultrasound clinical dataset YBUS, and its robustness is verified on the public dataset BUSI. The expected calibration errors on both datasets are significantly lower than traditional evaluation methods, which proves the effectiveness of the proposed reliability measurement.

Keywords: medical imaging, ultrasound imaging, XAI, uncertainty measurement, trustworthy AI

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Authors: O. Mauroner, L. Le, S. Best

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Digital technologies offer many opportunities in the design and implementation of brand communication and advertising. Augmented reality (AR) is an innovative technology in marketing communication that focuses on the fact that virtual interaction with a product ad offers additional value to consumers. AR enables consumers to obtain (almost) real product experiences by the way of virtual information even before the purchase of a certain product. Aim of AR applications in relation with advertising is in-depth examination of product characteristics to enhance product knowledge as well as brand knowledge. Interactive design of advertising provides observers with an intense examination of a specific advertising message and therefore leads to better brand knowledge. The elaboration likelihood model and the central route to persuasion strongly support this argumentation. Nevertheless, AR in brand communication is still in an initial stage and therefore scientific findings about the impact of AR on information processing and brand attitude are rare. The aim of this paper is to empirically investigate the potential of AR applications in combination with traditional print advertising. To that effect an experimental design with different levels of interactivity is built to measure the impact of interactivity of an ad on different variables o advertising effectiveness.

Keywords: advertising effectiveness, augmented reality, brand communication, brand recall

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Authors: Mohamed Amine Ferhat, Mohamed Nadjib Bouhatem, Farid Chemat

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One of the principal aims of sustainable and green processing development remains the dissemination and teaching of green chemistry to both developed and developing nations. This paper describes one attempt to show that “north-south” collaborations yield innovative sustainable and green technologies which give major benefits for both nations. In this paper we present early results from a solvent free microwave extraction (SFME) of essential oils using fresh orange peel, a byproduct in the production of orange juice. SFME is performed at atmospheric pressure without added any solvent or water. SFME increases essential oil yield and eliminate wastewater treatment. The procedure is appropriate for the teaching laboratory, and allows the students to learn extraction, chromatographic and spectroscopic analysis skills, and are expose to dramatic visual example of rapid, sustainable and green extraction of essential oil, and are introduced to commercially successful sustainable and green chemical processing with microwave energy.

Keywords: essential oil, extraction, green processing, microwave

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Authors: Prataksitorn Chonlakan, Tiparat Wongsilarat

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The traditional clinical practice guideline used at the emergency room at Songkhla Hospital in caring for patients who come in contact with jellyfish venom took a long time for the pain to reduce to the level that patients can cope with. To investigate the effectiveness of clinical practice guidelines by comparing the effectiveness of a newly developed clinical practice guideline with the traditional clinical practice guideline in the following aspects: 1) pain reduction, 2) length of pain, 3) the rate of patient’s re-visit, 4) the rate of severe complications such as anaphylactic shock, and cardiac arrest, and death, and 5) patient satisfaction. This study employed a quasi-experimental research design. Thirty subjects were selected with purposive sampling from jellyfish-sting patients who came for treatment at the Emergency Room of Songkhla Hospital. The subjects were divided using random assignment into two groups of 15 each: an experimental group, and the control group. The control group was treated using the traditional clinical practice guideline consisting of rinsing the affected area with 0.9% normal saline, using a cloth soaked with vinegar to press against the affected area, and controlling pain using tramadol or diclofenac intramuscular injection. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired t-test at the significance level p < 0.05. The results of the study revealed the following. The pain level in the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group (the average pain score of the experimental group was 3.46 while that of the control group was 6.33) (p < 0.05).The length of pain in the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group (the average length of pain in the experimental group was 48.67 minutes while that of the control group was 105.35 minutes) (p < 0.05). The rate of re-visit within 12 hours in the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group (the rate of re-visit within 12 hours of the experimental group was 0.07 while that of the control group was 0.00) (p < 0.05).No severe complications such as anaphylactic shock, and cardiac arrest were found in the two groups of subjects.The rate of satisfaction among the subjects in the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group (the rate of satisfaction among the subjects of the experimental group was 90.00 percent while that among the control group was 66.33 percent) (p < 0.05). The newly develop clinical practice guideline could reduce pain and increase satisfaction among jellyfish-sting patients better than the traditional clinical practice guideline.

Keywords: effectiveness, clinical practice guideline, jellyfish-sting patients, cardiac arrest

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Authors: Ishtiaq A. Chaudhry, Z. R. Tahir, F. A. Siddiqui, Z. Anwar, F. Valenzuelacalva

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A series of experiments involving the particle image velocimetry technique are carried out to analyse the quantitative effectiveness of the synthesized vortical structures towards actual flow separation control. The streamwise vortices are synthesized from the synthetic jet actuator and introduced into the attached and separating boundary layer developed on the flat plate surface. Two types of actuators with different geometrical set up are used to analyse the evolution of vortical structures in the near wall region and their impact towards achieving separation delay on the actual aircraft wing. Firstly a single circular jet is synthesized at varying actuator operating parameters and issued into the boundary layer to evaluate the dynamics of the interaction between the vortical structures and the near wall low momentum fluid in the separated region. Secondly, an array of jets has been issued into the artificially separated region to assess the effectiveness of various vortical structures towards achieving the reattachment of the separated flow in the streamwise direction.

Keywords: boundary layer, flow separation, streamwise vortices, synthetic jet actuator

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Authors: Sai On Cheung, Qiuwen Ma, Fong Chung Lee

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Due to increased project complexity and technological advancement in the last decade, the designers and contractors are expected to put more efforts to achieve project goals. To render extra efforts from the agents, incentivization has become one of the primary strategies for the client. Despite increased academia interest in the design of incentive strategies, there is still a need for discussion about the underlying motivations and favourable conditions to make incentives effective. Therefore, this study focuses on the effects of motivations and favourable conditions for the use of incentives in public projects. Questionnaire survey is used as the data collection tool. The questionnaire survey was piloted through interviews with professionals from Hong Kong public sector. A total of 100 responses were collected for this survey. Accountability and organizational effectiveness were found to be the prime objectives of incentives installed by public clients. Furthermore, a list of favourable conditions for incentivization and its consequent effects on cost, schedule, risk and public opinions were identified. To conclude, this study analyses the means and ends of the use of incentives in public projects in Hong Kong.

Keywords: incentives, public accountability, project effectiveness, public opinions

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Authors: Mehdi Assefi, Keihan Hataminezhad

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One of the efficient architectures for exploring the resources in wireless ad-hoc networks is contact-based architecture. In this architecture, each node assigns a unique zone for itself and each node keeps all information from inside the zone, as well as some from outside the zone, which is called contact. Reducing the overlap between different zones of a node and its contacts increases its performance, therefore Edge Method (EM) is designed for this purpose. Contacts selected by EM do not have any overlap with their sources, but for choosing the contact a vast amount of information must be transmitted. In this article, we will offer a new protocol for contact selection, which is called PEM. The objective would be reducing the volume of transmitted information, using Non-Uniform Dissemination Probabilistic Protocols. Consumed energy for contact selection is a function of the size of transmitted information between nodes. Therefore, by reducing the content of contact selection message using the PEM will decrease the consumed energy. For evaluation of the PEM we applied the simulation method. Results indicated that PEM consumes less energy compared to EM, and by increasing the number of nodes (level of nodes), performance of PEM will improve in comparison with EM.

Keywords: wireless ad-hoc networks, contact selection, method for CARD, energy-efficient

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Authors: Ibrahim Alhumaidan

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As King Saud University believes in the critical role played by technology and its effectiveness in achieving quality, speed of achievement, facilitating follow-up and enhancing responsibility undertaking; the university is keen on activating its e-services for the purpose of attaining the primary requirements of achievement and perfection. The web portal of the student's academic system comes as one of the most important practices in technological and e-transaction aspects. It enables students to carry out their processes–registration, addition, evaluation, viewing their results, and scholastic accomplishments, etc.– through the relevant web portal. The aim of this study is to recognize Education College students' attitude -as one of King's University Colleges- regarding the usage of the academic system web portal, its effectiveness in saving time and effort, and, efficiency in enhancing student's planning skills. The study society is all students of college of education in King Saud University and the sample has been chosen randomly from them. The study tool is a questionnaire designed to learn about students' views about using the web portal; as the researcher used the surveying methodology to achieve the aim of the study.

Keywords: web portal, academic system, education faculty, students, planning skills

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Authors: Sancho-Esper Franco, Rodríguez Sánchez Carla, Sánchez Carolina, Orús-Sanclemente Carlos

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Water scarcity is a reality that affects many regions of the world and is aggravated by climate change and population growth. Saving water has become an urgent need to ensure the sustainability of the planet and the survival of many communities, where youth and social networks play a key role in promoting responsible practices and adopting habits that contribute to environmental preservation. This study analyzes the persuasion capacity of messages designed to promote pro-environmental behaviors among youth. Specifically, it studies how the efficacy (effectiveness) of the response (personal response efficacy/effectiveness) and the perception of distance from the source of the message influence the water-saving behavior of the audience. To do so, two communication frameworks are combined. First, the Construal Level Theory, which is based on the concept of "psychological distance", that is, people, objects or events can be perceived as psychologically near or far, and this subjective distance (i.e., social, temporal, or spatial) determines their attitudes, emotions, and actions. This perceived distance can be social, temporal, or spatial. This research focuses on studying the spatial distance and social distance generated by cultural differences between influencers and their audience to understand how cultural distance can influence the persuasiveness of a message. Research on the effects of psychological distance between influencers-followers in the pro-environmental field is very limited, being relevant because people could learn specific behaviors suggested by opinion leaders such as influencers in social networks. Second, different approaches to behavioral change suggest that the perceived efficacy of a behavior can explain individual pro-environmental actions. People will be more likely to adopt a new behavior if they perceive that they are capable of performing it (efficacy belief) and that their behavior will effectively contribute to solving that problem (personal response efficacy). It is also important to study the different actors (social and individual) that are perceived as responsible for addressing environmental problems. Specifically, we analyze to what extent the belief individual’s water-saving actions are effective in solving the problem can influence water-saving behavior since this individual effectiveness increases people's sense of obligation and responsibility with the problem. However, in this regard, empirical evidence presents mixed results. Our study addresses the call for experimental studies manipulating different subtypes of response effectiveness to generate robust causal evidence. Based on all the above, this research analyzes whether cultural distance (local vs. international influencer) and the perception of effectiveness of behavior (personal response efficacy) (personal/individual vs. collective) affect the actual behavior and the intention to conserve water of social network users. An experiment of 2 (local influencer vs. international influencer) x 2 (effectiveness of individual vs. collective response) is designed and estimated. The results show that a message from a local influencer appealing to individual responsibility exerts greater influence on intention and actual water-saving behavior, given the cultural closeness between influencer-follower, and the appeal to individual responsibility increases the feeling of obligation to participate in pro-environmental actions. These results offer important implications for social marketing campaigns that seek to promote water conservation.

Keywords: social marketing, influencer, message framing, experiment, personal response efficacy, water saving

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Authors: Sahar Al-Qahtani, Rabeeh Ayaz Abbasi, Naif Radi Aljohani

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Many universities use social media platforms as new communication channels to disseminate information and promptly communicate with their audience. As Twitter is one of the widely used social media platforms, this research aims to explore the adaption and utilization of Twitter by universities. We propose a framework called 'Social Network Analysis for Universities on Twitter' (SNAUT) to analyze the usage of Twitter by universities and to measure their interaction with public. The study includes a sample of around 110,000 tweets from 36 Saudi universities, including both public and private universities. Using SNAUT, we can (1) investigate the purpose of using Twitter by universities, (2) determine the broad topics discussed by them, and (3) identify the groups closely associated with the universities. The results show that most of the Saudi universities (whether public or private) actively use Twitter. Results also reveal that public universities respond to public queries more frequently, but private universities stand out more in terms of information dissemination using retweets and diverse hashtags. Finally, we develop a ranking mechanism in SNAUT for ranking universities based on their social interaction with the public on Twitter.

Keywords: social media, twitter, social network analysis, universities, higher education, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Bendjelloul Meriem, Elandaloussi El Hadj

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In this work, we studied the effectiveness of a lignocellulosic waste (wood sawdust) for the removal of cadmium Cd (II) in aqueous solution. The adsorbent material SBO-CH2-CO2Na has been prepared by alkaline pretreatment of wood sawdust followed by a chemical modification with sodium salt of chloroacetic acid. The characterization of the as-prepared material by FTIR has proven that the grafting of acetate spacer took actually place in the lignocellulosic backbone by the appearance of characteristic band of carboxylic groups in the IR spectrum. The removal study of Cd2+ by SBO-CH2-CO2Na material at the solid-liquid interface was carried out by kinetics, sorption isotherms, effect of temperature and thermodynamic parameters were evaluated. The last part of this work was dedicated to assess the regenerability of the adsorbent material after three reuse cycles. The results indicate that SBO-CH2-CO2Na matrix possesses a high effectiveness in removing Cd (II) with an adsorption capacity of 222.22 mg/g, yet a better value that those of many low-cost adsorbents so far reported in the literature. The results found in the course of this study suggest that ionic exchange is the most appropriate mechanism involved in the removal of cadmium ions.

Keywords: adsorption, cadmium, isotherms, lignocellulosic, regenerability

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Authors: Manirath Wongsim

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Information Quality (IQ) has become a critical, strategic issue in Accounting Information Systems (AIS) adoption. In order to implement AIS adoption successfully, it is important to consider the quality of information use throughout the adoption process, which seriously impacts the effectiveness of AIS adoption practice and the optimization of AIS adoption decisions. There is a growing need for research to provide insights into issues and solutions related to IQ in AIS adoption. The need for an integrated approach to improve IQ in AIS adoption, as well as the unique characteristics of accounting data, demands an AIS adoption specific IQ framework. This research aims to explore ways of managing information quality and AIS adoption to investigate the relationship between the IQ issues and AIS adoption process. This study has led to the development of a framework for understanding IQ management in AIS adoption. This research was done on 44 respondents as ten organisations from manufacturing firms in Thailand. The findings of the research’s empirical evidence suggest that IQ dimensions in AIS adoption to provide assistance in all process of decision making. This research provides empirical evidence that information quality of AIS adoption affect decision making and suggests that these variables should be considered in adopting AIS in order to improve the effectiveness of AIS.

Keywords: information quality, information quality dimensions, accounting information systems, accounting information system adoption

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Authors: Azza Mohsin Al-Hashami, Reginald Victor

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Treatment of wastewater involves physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove the pollutants from wastewater. This study evaluates of the effectiveness of sewage treatment plants (STP) in Samail, Oman. Samail STP has tertiary treatment using conventional activated sludge with surface aeration. The collection of wastewater is through a network with a total length of about 60 km and also by tankers for the areas outside the network. Treated wastewater from this STP is used for the irrigation of vegetation in the STP premises and as a backwash for sand filters. Some treated water is supplied to the Samail municipality, which uses it for the landscaping, road construction, and 'the Million Date Palms' project. In this study, homogenous samples were taken from eight different treatment stages along the treatment continuum for one year, at a frequency of once a month, to evaluate the physical, chemical, and biological parameters. All samples were analyzed using the standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. The spatial variations in water quality along the continuum are discussed. Despite these variations, the treated wastewater from Samail STP was of good quality, and most of the parameters are within class A category in Oman Standards for wastewater reuse and discharge.

Keywords: wastewater, STP, treatment, processes

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Authors: Benjamin Anabaraonye, Okafor Joachim Chukwuma, Olamire James

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The impacts of climate change are greatly felt on Nigeria’s agricultural sector which in turn affects the economy of the nation. There is an urgent need to educate farmers and fishermen in rural areas in Nigeria on climate change adaptation and mitigation for sustainable development. Through our literature and participant observation, it has been discovered that many farmers and fishermen in rural areas in Nigeria have little or no knowledge about climate change adaptation and mitigation. This paper seeks to draw the attention of policy makers in government, private sectors, non-governmental organizations and interested individuals to the need to seek for innovative ways of educating farmers and fishermen in rural areas about climate change adaptation and mitigation for global sustainability. This study also explores the effective methods of bridging the communication gaps through efficient information dissemination, intensive awareness outreach, use of climate change poems and blogs, innovative loan scheme to farmers and fishermen, etc. to help ensure that farmers and fishermen in rural areas in Nigeria are adequately educated about climate change adaptation and mitigation for global sustainability.

Keywords: agriculture, climate change, farmers, fishermen

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Authors: Khachen Kongpakwattana, Nathorn Chaiyakunapruk

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Background: Decision-analytic models for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have been advanced to discrete-event simulation (DES), in which individual-level modelling of disease progression across continuous severity spectra and incorporation of key parameters such as treatment persistence into the model become feasible. This study aimed to apply the DES to perform a cost-effectiveness analysis of treatment for AD in Thailand. Methods: A dataset of Thai patients with AD, representing unique demographic and clinical characteristics, was bootstrapped to generate a baseline cohort of patients. Each patient was cloned and assigned to donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine, memantine or no treatment. Throughout the simulation period, the model randomly assigned each patient to discrete events including hospital visits, treatment discontinuation and death. Correlated changes in cognitive and behavioral status over time were developed using patient-level data. Treatment effects were obtained from the most recent network meta-analysis. Treatment persistence, mortality and predictive equations for functional status, costs (Thai baht (THB) in 2017) and quality-adjusted life year (QALY) were derived from country-specific real-world data. The time horizon was 10 years, with a discount rate of 3% per annum. Cost-effectiveness was evaluated based on the willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold of 160,000 THB/QALY gained (4,994 US$/QALY gained) in Thailand. Results: Under a societal perspective, only was the prescription of donepezil to AD patients with all disease-severity levels found to be cost-effective. Compared to untreated patients, although the patients receiving donepezil incurred a discounted additional costs of 2,161 THB, they experienced a discounted gain in QALY of 0.021, resulting in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of 138,524 THB/QALY (4,062 US$/QALY). Besides, providing early treatment with donepezil to mild AD patients further reduced the ICER to 61,652 THB/QALY (1,808 US$/QALY). However, the dominance of donepezil appeared to wane when delayed treatment was given to a subgroup of moderate and severe AD patients [ICER: 284,388 THB/QALY (8,340 US$/QALY)]. Introduction of a treatment stopping rule when the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) score goes below 10 to a mild AD cohort did not deteriorate the cost-effectiveness of donepezil at the current treatment persistence level. On the other hand, none of the AD medications was cost-effective when being considered under a healthcare perspective. Conclusions: The DES greatly enhances real-world representativeness of decision-analytic models for AD. Under a societal perspective, treatment with donepezil improves patient’s quality of life and is considered cost-effective when used to treat AD patients with all disease-severity levels in Thailand. The optimal treatment benefits are observed when donepezil is prescribed since the early course of AD. With healthcare budget constraints in Thailand, the implementation of donepezil coverage may be most likely possible when being considered starting with mild AD patients, along with the stopping rule introduced.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, cost-effectiveness analysis, discrete event simulation, health technology assessment

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Authors: Nurwina Anuar, Aswad Anuar

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Imagery is a popular mental technique used by athletes and coaches to improve learning and performance. It has been widely investigated and beneficial in the sports context. However, the imagery application in equestrian sport has been understudied. Thus, the effectiveness of imagery should encompass the application in the equestrian sport to ensure its application covert all sports. Unlike most sports (e.g., football, badminton, tennis, ski) which are both mental and physical are dependent solely upon human decision and response, equestrian sports involves the interaction of human-horse collaboration to success in the equestrian tasks. This study aims to investigate the effect of PETTLEP imagery on equestrian jumping tasks, motivation and imagery ability. It was hypothesized that the use of PETTLEP imagery intervention will significantly increase in the skill equestrian jumping tasks. It was also hypothesized that riders’ imagery ability and motivation will increase across phases. The participants were skilled riders with less to no imagery experience. A single-subject ABA design was employed. The study was occurred over five week’s period at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Equestrian Park. Imagery ability was measured using the Sport Imagery Assessment Questionnaires (SIAQ), the motivational measured based on the Motivational imagery ability measure for Sport (MIAMS). The effectiveness of the PETTLEP imagery intervention on show jumping tasks were evaluated by the professional equine rider on the observational scale. Results demonstrated the improvement on all equestrian jumping tasks for the most participants from baseline to intervention. Result shows the improvement on imagery ability and participants’ motivations after the PETTLEP imagery intervention. Implication of the present study include underlining the impact of PETTLEP imagery on equestrian jumping tasks. The result extends the previous research on the effectiveness of PETTLEP imagery in the sports context that involves interaction and collaboration between human and horse.

Keywords: PETTLEP imagery, imagery ability, equestrian, equestrian jumping tasks

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Authors: Andrew Kirabira

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This study is an investigation into the effectiveness of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies in improving productivity through managing biotic and abiotic stresses in the coffee agroecological zones of Uganda. The motive is to enhance farmer livelihoods. The study was initiated as a result of the decreasing productivity of the crop in Uganda caused by the increasing prevalence of pests, diseases and abiotic stresses. Despite 9 years of farmers’ application of CSA, productivity has stagnated between 700kg -800kg/ha/yr which is only 26% of the 3-5tn/ha/yr that CSA is capable of delivering if properly applied. This has negatively affected the incomes of the 10.6 million people along the crop value chain which has in essence affected the country’s national income. In 2019/20 FY for example, Uganda suffered a deficit of $40m out of singularly the increasing incidence of one pest; BCTB. The amalgamation of such trends cripples the realization of SDG #1 and #13 which are the eradication of poverty and mitigation of climate change, respectively. In probing CSA’s effectiveness in curbing such a trend, this study is guided by the objectives of; determining the existing farmers’ knowledge and perceptions of CSA amongst the coffee farmers in the diverse coffee agro-ecological zones of Uganda; examining the relationship between the use of CSA and prevalence of selected coffee pests, diseases and abiotic stresses; ascertaining the difference in the market organization and pricing between conventionally and CSA produced coffee; and analyzing the prevailing policy environment concerning the use of CSA in coffee production. The data collection research design is descriptive in nature; collecting data from farmers and agricultural extension workers in the districts of Ntungamo, Iganga and Luweero; each of these districts representing a distinct coffee agroecological zone. Policy custodian officers at district, cooperatives and at the crop’s overseeing national authority were also interviewed.

Keywords: climate change, food security, field stresses, Productivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 46