Search results for: serious games common aspects

Authors: Mahdi Fakoor, Nabi Mehri Khansari, Ahmadreza Farokhi

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Evaluation of mode II fracture toughness (KIIC) in composite materials is very hard problem to be solved, since it can be affected by many mechanisms of dissipation. Furthermore, non-linearity in its behavior can offer an extra difficulty to obtain accuracy in the results. Different reported values for KIIC in various references can prove the mentioned assertion. In this research, some solutions proposed based on the form of necessary corrections that should be executed on the common test fixtures. Due to the fact that the common test fixtures are not able to active toughening mechanisms in pure Mode II correctly, we have employed some structural modifications on common fixtures. Particularly, the Iosipescu test is used as start point. The tests are applied on graphite/epoxy; PMMA and Western White Pine Wood. Also, mixed mode I/II fracture limit curves are used to indicate the scattering in test results are really relevant to the creation of Fracture Process Zone (FPZ). In the present paper, shear load consideration applied at the predicted shear zone by considering some significant structural amendments that can active mode II toughening mechanisms. Indeed, the employed empirical method causes significant developing in repeatability and reproducibility as well. Moreover, a 3D Finite Element (FE) is performed for verification of the obtained results. Eventually, it is figured out that, a remarkable precision can be obtained in common test fixture in comparison with the previous one.

Keywords: FPZ, shear test fixture, mode II fracture toughness, composite material, FEM

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Authors: Federica Laface, Cristina Pedà, Francesco Longo, Francesca de Domenico, Riccardo Minichino, Pierpaolo Consoli, Pietro Battaglia, Silvestro Greco, Teresa Romeo

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Plastics pollution represents one of the most important threats to marine biodiversity. In the last decades, different species are investigated to evaluate the extent of the plastic ingestion phenomenon. Even if the cephalopods play an important role in the food chain, they are still poorly studied. The aim of this research was to investigate the plastic ingestion in two commercial cephalopod species from the southern Tyrrhenian Sea: the common octopus, Octopus vulgaris (n=6; mean mantle length ML 10.7 ± 1.8) and the common cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis (n=13; mean ML 13.2 ± 1.7). Plastics were extracted from the filters obtained by the chemical digestion of cephalopods gastrointestinal tracts (GITs), using 10% potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution in a 1:5 (w/v) ratio. Once isolated, particles were photographed, measured, and their size class, shape and color were recorded. A total of 81 items was isolated from 16 of the 19 examined GITs, representing a total occurrence (%O) of 84.2% with a mean value of 4.3 ± 8.6 particles per individual. In particular, 62 plastics were found in 6 specimens of O. vulgaris (%O=100) and 19 particles in 10 S. officinalis (%O=94.7). In both species, the microplastics size class was the most abundant (93.8%). Plastic items found in O. vulgaris were mainly fibers (61%) while fragments were the most frequent in S. officinalis (53%). Transparent was the most common color in both species. The analysis will be completed by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy technique in order to identify polymers nature. This study reports preliminary data on plastic ingestion events in two cephalopods species and represents the first record of plastic ingestion by the common octopus. Microplastic items detected in both common octopus and common cuttlefish could derive from secondary and/or accidental ingestion events, probably due to their behavior, feeding habits and anatomical features. Further studies will be required to assess the effect of marine litter pollution in these ecologically and commercially important species.

Keywords: cephalopods, GIT analysis, marine pollution, Mediterranean sea, microplastics

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Authors: Abigail Bentley, Audrey Prost, Nayreen Daruwalla, Apoorwa Gupta, David Osrin

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BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) can impact a woman’s physical, reproductive and mental health, including common mental disorders such as anxiety and depression. However, people other than an intimate partner may also perpetrate violence against women in the family, particularly in India. This study aims to investigate the relationship between experiences of violence perpetrated by the husband and other members of the wider household and symptoms of common mental disorders in women residing in informal settlement (slum) areas of Mumbai. METHODS: Experiences of violence were assessed through a detailed cross-sectional survey of 598 women, including questions about specific acts of emotional, economic, physical and sexual violence across different time points in the woman’s life and the main perpetrator of each act. Symptoms of common mental disorders were assessed using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). The GHQ-12 scores were divided into four groups and the relationship between experiences of each type of violence in the last 12 months and GHQ-12 score group was analyzed using ordinal logistic regression, adjusted for the woman’s age and clustering. RESULTS: 482 (81%) women consented to interview. On average, they were 28.5 years old, had completed 7 years of education and had been married 9 years. 88% were Muslim and 47% lived in joint and 53% in nuclear families. 44% of women had experienced at least one act of violence in their lifetime (33% emotional, 22% economic, 23% physical, 12% sexual). 7% had a high GHQ-12 score (6 or above). For violence experiences in the last 12 months, the odds of being in the highest GHQ-12 score group versus the lower groups combined were 13.1 for emotional violence, 6.5 for economic, 5.7 for physical and 6.3 for sexual (p<0.001 for all outcomes). DISCUSSION: The high level of violence reported across the lifetime could be due to the detailed assessment of violent acts at multiple time points and the inclusion of perpetrators within the family other than the husband. Each type of violence was associated with greater odds of a higher GHQ-12 score and therefore more symptoms of common mental disorders. Emotional violence was far more strongly associated with symptoms of common mental disorders than physical or sexual violence. However, it is not possible to attribute causal directionality to the association. Further work to investigate the relationship between differing severity of violence experiences and women’s mental health and the components of emotional violence that make it so strongly associated with symptoms of common mental disorders would be beneficial.

Keywords: common mental disorders, family violence, India, informal settlements, mental health, violence against women

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Authors: Huseyin Canci

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Chlorophylls are green photosynthetic pigment in plants. Therefore, photosynthesis in plants occurs in the leaves. Roles of chlorophylls help plants to get energy from light. The aim of the present study is to compare of chlorophyll contents in some bean species including common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and runner bean (P. coccineous L.) and genotypes. This research was carried out in fields of Faculty of Agriculture, Akdeniz University in Antalya. Species and genotypes were grown in 2 m single row and 50 cm row spacing. A randomized blocks design was used with two replications. Totally, 124 beans species and genotypes which 122 common beans and 2 runner beans were sown on February, 17th 2014 by hand. Chlorophyll a + b (SPAD values) were determined seedling stage, days to flowering 50% and pod setting stage on bean genotypes. Results showed that there were significant differences for genotypes, stages and interaction of genotypes X stages. There was statistically significant relationships between yield and chlorophyll content of bean species and genotypes.

Keywords: bean, chlorophyll, Phaseolus, SPAD values

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Authors: N. Choobkar, M. Rezaeimanesh, A. M. Emami Rad, M. Ghaeni, H. Norouzi, S. Pahlavani, M. S. Tamasoki, E. Nezafatian

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Antibiotics are used to increase the immune and wound healing in many animals . But due to the residual effects of a drug , researchers sought to replace them with natural materials such as Plant extracts. Falcaria vulgaris is the most attractive sources of the new drugs. Falcaria vulgaris (locally named Ghazzyaghi/Poghazeh) is a member of Umbelliferae family which grows near farmlands and is consumed as a vegetable in some regions of Iran. In the West of the country, in the wound healing and irregularities in the digestive system is also used. There were no scientific reports available in literature in support of the traditional claims of F. vulgaris in fish. The present study is therefore an attempt to assess the efficacy of this indigenous herb for its healing effect in common carp (Cyprinus carpio). Falcaria vulgaris at concentrations of 0, 2 and 10 % with Lophag foods used on wound healing of common carp and immune response, and weight grow and survival during periods of 21 days with feeding 2 times per day on the basis of body weight. The results showed that, compared with the control group, using of concentration 10 % F. vulgaris have significant effect on wound healing and stimulates the immune system by increasing white blood cells (WBC) and weight grow and survival of carp. The herb can used in wound healing, increased resistance to disease and weight grow in fish and the beneficial effects of this combination goes back to man.

Keywords: common carp, falcaria vulgaris, immune response, wound healing

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Authors: Alexandre Barbosa de Almeida, Telma Woerle de Lima Soares

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Protein structure prediction is a challenging task in the bioinformatics field. The biological function of all proteins majorly relies on the shape of their three-dimensional conformational structure, but less than 1% of all known proteins in the world have their structure solved. This work proposes a deep learning model to address this problem, attempting to predict some aspects of the protein conformations. Throughout a process of multiobjective dominance, a recurrent neural network was trained to abstract the particular bias of each individual multiobjective algorithm, generating a heuristic that could be useful to predict some of the relevant aspects of the three-dimensional conformation process formation, known as protein folding.

Keywords: Ab initio heuristic modeling, multiobjective optimization, protein structure prediction, recurrent neural network

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Authors: Farangiz Davranbekova

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Subject: The study explores the impact of Over-the-Top services in the sports rights market, focusing on football games. This impact is analysed in the big five European football markets. The research entails how the pay-TV market is combating the disruptors' entry, how the fans are adjusting to these changes and how leagues and football clubs are orienting in the transitional period of more choice. Aims and methods: The research aims to offer a general overview of the impact of OTT players in the football rights market. A theoretical framework of Jenkins’ five layers of convergence is implemented to analyse the transition the sports rights market is witnessing from various angles. The empirical analysis consists of secondary research data as and seven expert interviews from three different clusters. The findings are bound by the combination of the two methods offering general statements. Findings: The combined secondary data as well as expert interviews, conducted on five layers of convergence found: 1. Technological convergence presents that football content is accessible through various devices with innovative digital features, unlike the traditional TV set box. 2. Social convergence demonstrates that football fans multitask using various devices on social media when watching the games. These activities are complementary to traditional TV viewing. 3. Cultural convergence points that football fans have a new layer of fan engagement with leagues, clubs and other fans using social media. Additionally, production and consumption lines are blurred. 4. Economic convergence finds that content distribution is diversifying and/or eroding. Consumers now have more choices, albeit this can be harmful to them. Entry barriers are decreased, and bigger clubs feel more powerful. 5. Global convergence shows that football fans are engaging with not only local fans but with fans around the world that social media sites enable. Recommendation: A study on smaller markets such as Belgium or the Netherlands would benefit the study on the impact of OTT. Additionally, examination of other sports will shed light on this matter. Lastly, once the direct-to-consumer model is fully taken off in Europe, it will be of importance to examine the impact of such transformation in the market.

Keywords: sports rights, OTT, pay TV, football

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Authors: Ozge Yilmaz Kusbeci, Ipek Inci

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Aim: Musculoskeletal problems are very common in Parkinson’s disease (PD). They affect quality of life and cause disabilities. However they are under-evaluated, and under-treated. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence and clinical features of musculoskeletal problems in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) compared to controls. Methods: 50 PD patients and 50 age and sex matched controls were interviewed by physicians about their musculoskeletal problems. Results: The prevalence of musculoskeletal problems was significantly higher in the PD group than in the control group (p < 0.05). Commonly involved body sites were the shoulder, low back, and knee. The shoulder and low back was more frequently involved in the PD group than in the control group. However, the knee was similarly involved in both groups. Among the past diagnoses associated with musculoskeletal problems, frozen shoulder, low back pain and osteoporosis more common in the PD group than in the control group (p < 0.05). Furthermore, musculoskeletal problems in the PD group tended to receive less treatment than that of the control group. Conclusion: Musculoskeletal problems were more common in the PD group than in the controls. Therefore assessment and treatment of musculoskeletal problems could improve quality of life in PD patients.

Keywords: parkinson disease, musculoskeletal problems, quality of life, PD disease

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Authors: Tarek Soliman Mostafa Soliman Al-Nana'i

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There are non-steady voiced augments in the Semitic languages, and in the morphological and structural augmentation, two sounds were augments in all Semitic languages at the level of the spoken language and two letters at the level of the written language, which are the hamza and the ta’. This research studies only the second of them; Therefore, we defined it as “The Voiceless Dental- alveolar common augment” (VDACA) to distinguish it from the glottal sound “Hamza”, first, middle, or last, in a noun or in a verb, in Arabic and its equivalent in the Semitic languages. What is meant by “VDACA” is the ta’ that is in addition to the root of the word at the morphological level: the word “voiceless” takes out the voiced sounds that we studied before, and the “dental- alveolar common augment” takes out the laryngeal sound of them, which is the “Hamza”: and the word “common” brings out the uncommon voiceless sounds, which are sīn, shīn, and hā’. The study is limited to the ta' alone among the Arabic sounds, and this title faced a problem in identifying it with the ta'. Because the designation of the ta is not the same in most Semitic languages. Hebrew, for example, has “tav” and is pronounced with the voiced fa (v), which is not in Arabic. It is called different names in other Semitic languages, such as “taw” or “tAu” in old Syriac. And so on. This goes hand in hand with the insistence on distance from the written level and the reference to the phonetic aspect in this study that is closely and closely linked to the morphological level. Therefore, the study is “morphophonemic”. What is meant by Semitic languages in this study are the following: Akkadian, Ugaritic, Hebrew, Syriac, Mandaean, Ge'ez, and Amharic. The problem of the study is the agreement or difference between these languages in the position of that augment, first, middle, or last. And in determining the distinguishing characteristics of each language from the other. As for the study methodology, it is determined by the comparative approach in Semitic languages, which is based on the descriptive approach for each language. The study is divided into an introduction, four sections, and a conclusion: Introduction: It included the subject of the study, its importance, motives, problem, methodology, and division. The first section: VDACA as a non-common phoneme. The second: VDACA as a common phoneme. The third: VDACA as a functional morpheme. The fourth section: Commentary and conclusion with the most important results. The positions of VDACA in Arabic and other Semitic languages, and in nouns and verbs, were limited to first, middle, and last. The research identified the individual addition, which is common with other augments, and the research proved that this augmentation is constant in all Semitic languages, but there are characteristics that distinguish each language from the other.

Keywords: voiceless -, dental- alveolar, augment, Arabic - semitic languages

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Authors: Aydemir Akyürek, Osman Nuri Ağdağ

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Construction industry is in a rapid development for many years around the world and especially in Turkey. In the last three years sector has 10% growth and provides significant support on Turkey’s national economy. Many construction projects are on-going at urban and rural areas of Turkey which have substantial environmental impacts. Environmental impacts during construction phase are quite diversified and widespread. Environmental impacts of construction industry cannot be inspected properly in all cases and negative impacts may occur frequently in many projects in Turkey. In this study, implementation of ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS) in construction plants is evaluated. In the beginning stage quality management systems generally reviewed and ISO 14001 EMS is selected for implementation. Standard requirements are examined first and implementation of every standard requirement is elaborated for the selected construction plant in the following stage. Key issues and common problems, gained benefits by execution of this type of international EMS standard are examined. As can be seen in sample projects, construction projects are being completed very fast and contractors are working in a highly competitive environment with low profit ratios in our country and mostly qualified work force cannot be accessible. Addition to this there are deficits on waste handling and environmental infrastructure. Besides construction companies which have substantial investments on EMSs can be faced with difficulties on competitiveness in domestic market, however professional Turkish contractors which implementing managements systems in larger scale at international projects are gaining successful results. Also the concept of ‘construction project management’ which is being implemented in successful projects worldwide cannot be implemented except larger projects in Turkey. In case of nonexistence of main management system (quality) implementation of EMSs cannot be managed. Despite all constraints, EMSs that will be implemented in this industry with commitment of top managements and demand of customers will be an enabling, facilitating tool to determine environmental aspects and impacts of construction sites, will provide higher compliance levels for environmental legislation, to establish best available methods for operational control on waste management, chemicals management etc. and to plan monitoring and measurement, to prioritize environmental aspects for investment schedules and waste management.

Keywords: environmental management system, construction projects, ISO 14001, quality

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Authors: Habibollah Mashhady, Behruz Lotfi, Mohammad Doosti, Moslem Fatollahi

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An exploration of the related literature reveals that all instruction methods aim at training autonomous learners. After the turn of second language pedagogy toward learner-oriented strategies, learners’ needs were more focused. Yet; the historical, social and political aspects of learning were still neglected. The present study investigates the notion of autonomous learning and explains its various facets from a pedagogical point of view. Furthermore; different elements, fields and scopes of autonomous learning will be explored. After exploring different aspects of autonomy, it is postulated that liberatory autonomy is highlighted since it not only covers social autonomy but also reveals learners’ capabilities and human potentials. It is also recommended that learners consider different elements of autonomy such as motivation, knowledge, confidence, and skills.

Keywords: critical pedagogy, social autonomy, academic learning, cultural notions

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Authors: Axel Prettl

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This paper provides an overview of the different CFC rule settings in the OECD and 22 additional countries for the years 2004 to 2014 and compares them. In order to do so, it gives a summary of law amendments for every country, provides a comparison and afterwards all CFC rules are rated in their ”power of anti-avoidance” over time. For that rating of CFC rules, the largest common denominator of rule characteristics is used to keep it as abstract as necessary and possible. The paper points out that the CFC rules in the considered countries are very different in their specifications and they reach from very strict to very low binding. All in all these rules get more and more common and important; more countries implement a CFC legislation and the strictness of most of them rises over time.

Keywords: CFC rules, international taxation, corporate taxation, country comparison

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Authors: Mark K. Johnson

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Arvo Pärt has composed over 80 text-based compositions based on nine different languages. But prior to 2015, it was not publicly known what texts the composer used in composing a number of his non-vocal works, nor the language of those texts. Because of this lack of information, few if any musical scholars have illustrated in any detail how textual structure applies to any of Pärt’s instrumental compositions. However, in early 2015, the Arvo Pärt Centre in Estonia published In Principio, a compendium of the texts Pärt has used to derive many of the parameters of his text-based compositions. This paper provides the first detailed analysis of the relationship between structural aspects of the Church Slavonic Eastern Orthodox text of Psalm 112 and the musical parameters that Pärt used when composing the string orchestral work Psalom. It demonstrates that Pärt’s text-based compositions are carefully crafted works, and that evidence of the presence of the ‘invisible’ hand of the composer can be found within every aspect of the underpinning structures, at the more elaborate middle ground level, and even within surface aspects of these works. Based on the analysis of Psalom, it is evident that the text Pärt selected for Psalom informed many of his decisions regarding the musical structures, parameters and processes that he deployed in composing this non-vocal text-based work. Many of these composerly decisions in relation to these various aspects cannot be fathomed without access to, and an understanding of, the text associated with the work.

Keywords: Arvo Pärt, minimalism, psalom, text-based process music

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Authors: Parthiban Srinivasan

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PubMed provides online access to the National Library of Medicine database (MEDLINE) and other publications, which contain close to 25 million scientific citations from 1865 to the present. There are close to 80 million author name instances in those close to 25 million citations. For any work of literature, a fundamental issue is to identify the individual(s) who wrote it, and conversely, to identify all of the works that belong to a given individual. Due to the lack of universal standards for name information, there are two aspects of name ambiguity: name synonymy (a single author with multiple name representations), and name homonymy (multiple authors sharing the same name representation). In this talk, we present some results from our extensive work in author name disambiguation for PubMed citations. Information will be presented on the effectiveness and shortcomings of different aspects of successful name disambiguation such as parsing, validation, standardization and normalization.

Keywords: disambiguation, normalization, parsing, PubMed

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Authors: Mahesh Chandra Paliwal, Ajay Kumar Jain

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Supervisors working in the industries must have the knowledge and skills for performing their job for environmental protection and sustainable development. A survey of thirty industries was conducted to know the roles of supervisors related to environmental protection and sustainable development. A questionnaire was prepared based on the discussion with the environmental experts. The findings of the study show that supervisors must be aware of practices followed for good housekeeping, water management, waste management, maintenance of effluent treatment plants, monitoring pollution control level to perform their job to save the environment. These aspects must be incorporated in diploma curriculum so that the diploma pass outs may use this knowledge and skills in the industries.

Keywords: environmental protection, sustainable development, water management, waste management, curriculum

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Authors: Victor E. Lopez, L. Dale Thomas

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As engineered systems become more complex, the difficulty associated with predicting, developing, and operating engineered systems also increases, resulting in increased costs, failure rates, and unexpected consequences. Successfully managing the complexity of the system should reduce these negative consequences. The study of complexity in the context of engineering development has suffered due to the ambiguity of the nature of complexity, what makes a system complex and how complexity translates to real world engineering attributes and consequences. This paper argues that the use of an ontology of engineering design complexity would i) improve the clarity of the research being performed by allowing researchers to use a common conceptualization of complexity, with more precise terminology, and ii) elucidate the connections between certain types of complexity and their consequences for system development. The ontology comprises concepts of complexity found in the literature and the different relations that exists between them. The ontology maps different complexity concepts such as structural complexity, creation complexity, and information entropy, and then relates the to system aspects such as interfaces, development effort, and modularity. The ontology is represented using the Web Ontology Language (OWL). This paper presents the current status of the ontology of engineering design complexity, the main challenges encountered, and the future plans for the ontology.

Keywords: design complexity, ontology, design effort, complexity ontology

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Authors: Sonakshi Saxena, Moosath Harishankar Vasudevan

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The current study seeks to investigate the differences in the psychological impact of movies in their original and translated versions. International cinema is exemplar of the success of globalization. The multitude of languages in the global village does not seem to impede the common cinematic goal of filmmakers across linguistic boundaries. To understand, hence, whether the psychological impact of movies, intentional or otherwise, is preserved when the original is translated into a different language, an experimental design was adopted. Multilingual participants in the age group 18-25 years were recruited for the same. A control group and an experimental group were randomly assigned and the psychological impacts of movies were studied under two conditions- a) watching the movie in its original language, and b) watching the movie in its original language as well as translated version. For the second condition, the experimental group was further divided into two groups randomly to balance order effects. The major aspects of psychological impact assessed were emotional impact and attitude towards the movie. The scores were compared for the two groups. It is further discussed whether the experience is salient across language or do languages inherently possess the ability to alter experiences of the audience.

Keywords: experimental design, movies, psychological impact, translation

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Authors: Mikkel Snorre Wilms Boysen

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From a theoretical perspective, expertise is generally considered a precondition for creativity. The assumption is that an individual needs to master the common and accepted rules and techniques within a certain knowledge-domain in order to create something new and valuable. However, real life cases, and a limited amount of empirical studies, demonstrate that this assumption may be overly simple. In this article, this question is explored through a number of semi-experimental case studies conducted within the fields of music, technology, and youth culture. The studies indicate that, in various ways, expertise plays an important part in creative processes. However, the case studies also indicate that expertise sometimes leads to an entrenched perspective, in the sense that knowledge and experience may work as a path into the well-known rather than into the unknown. In this article, these issues are explored with reference to different theoretical approaches to creativity and learning, including actor-network theory, the theory of blind variation and selective retention, and Csikszentmihalyi’s system model. Finally, some educational aspects and implications of this are discussed.

Keywords: creativity, expertise , education, technology

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Authors: Haifeng Shi, Kun Song, Yili Zhao

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In China, with the extensive promotion of the ‘aging in place’ pension policy as the background, most of the elders will choose to remain in their current homes and communities, finding out of preference or necessity that they will need to remodel their homes to fit their changing needs. This generation elder born in the 1960s to 1970s almost live in the same form of housing-condominium built from 1982 to 2012. Based on the survey of existing multi-family housing, especially in Tianjin, it is found that the current ‘double two-thirds principles’ is becoming the threshold for modification to existing house, particularly in the project of elevators addition to existing condominium (built from 1982 to 2016 without elevators below 6 floors according to the previous building code). Firstly, this article concludes the local policies of elevator addition nationwide, most of which has determined the importance and necessity of the community-based self-organization principle in the operation of the elevator addition. Secondly, by comparing the three existing community management systems (owners' congress, property management system and community committee) in instances, find that the community-based ‘two-thirds’ principle is not conducive to implement for multi-owned property renovation in the community or common accessibility modification in the building. However, analysis the property and other community management related laws, pointing out the shortcomings of the existing community-based ‘two-thirds’ decision-making norms. The analyzation showed that the unit-based and ‘100% principle’ method is more capable of common accessibility in the condominium in China. Differing from existing laws, the unit-based principle will be effective for the process of decision-making and ‘100% principle’ will protect closely profit-related householders for condominium modification in the multi-owned area. These three aspects of the analysis suggest that the establishment of the unit-based self-organization mechanism is a preferred and inevitable method to solve the problem of elevators addition to the existing condominium in China.

Keywords: aging in place, condominium, modification, multi own

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Authors: Md. Abdul Aziz

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Sulfide ion is water soluble, highly corrosive, toxic and harmful to the human beings. As a result, knowing the exact concentration of sulfide in water is very important. However, the existing detection and quantification methods have several shortcomings, such as high cost, low sensitivity, and massive instrumentation. Consequently, the development of novel sulfide sensor is relevant. Nevertheless, electrochemical methods gained enormous popularity due to a vast improvement in the technique and instrumentation, portability, low cost, rapid analysis and simplicity of design. Successful field application of electrochemical devices still requires vast improvement, which depends on the physical, chemical and electrochemical aspects of the working electrode. The working electrode made of bulk gold (Au) and platinum (Pt) are quite common, being very robust and endowed with good electrocatalytic properties. High cost, and electrode poisoning, however, have so far hindered their practical application in many industries. To overcome these obstacles, we developed a sulfide sensor based on an indium tin oxide nanoparticle (ITONP)-modified ITO electrode. To prepare ITONP-modified ITO, various methods were tested. Drop-drying of ITONPs (aq.) on aminopropyltrimethoxysilane-functionalized ITO (APTMS/ITO) was found to be the best method on the basis of voltammetric analysis of the sulfide ion. ITONP-modified APTMS/ITO (ITONP/APTMS/ITO) yielded much better electrocatalytic properties toward sulfide electro-οxidation than did bare or APTMS/ITO electrodes. The ITONPs and ITONP-modified ITO were also characterized using transmission electron microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy, respectively. Optimization of the type of inert electrolyte and pH yielded an ITONP/APTMS/ITO detector whose amperometrically and chronocoulοmetrically determined limits of detection for sulfide in aqueous solution were 3.0 µM and 0.90 µM, respectively. ITONP/APTMS/ITO electrodes which displayed reproducible performances were highly stable and were not susceptible to interference by common contaminants. Thus, the developed electrode can be considered as a promising tool for sensing sulfide.

Keywords: amperometry, chronocoulometry, electrocatalytic properties, ITO-nanoparticle-modified ITO, sulfide sensor

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Authors: Mohammad Rajabalinejad

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Safety is often seen as a requirement or a performance indicator through the design process, and this does not always result in optimally safe products or systems. This paper suggests integrating the best safety practices with the design process to enrich the exploration experience for designers and add extra values for customers. For this purpose, the commonly practiced safety standards and design methods have been reviewed and their common blocks have been merged forming Safety Cube. Safety Cube combines common blocks for design, hazard identification, risk assessment and risk reduction through an integral approach. An example application presents the use of Safety Cube for design of machinery.

Keywords: safety, safety cube, product, system, machinery, design

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Authors: Pinn Tsin Isabel Yee

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Students are increasingly turning towards online learning materials to supplement their education. One such approach would be the gamified student engagement platforms (GSEPs) to instill a new learning culture. Data was collected from closed-ended questions via content analysis techniques. About 81.8% of college students from the Monash University Foundation Year agreed that GSEPs (Quizizz) was an effective tool for learning. Approximately 85.5% of students disagreed that games were a waste of time. GSEPs were highly effective among students to facilitate the learning process.

Keywords: engagement, gamified, Quizizz, technology

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Authors: Marie Louis

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Even though many stakeholders are doing their very best to promote public transportation around the world, many areas are still public transportation non-accessible. With travelers purchasing and driving their private vehicles can be considered as a threat to all three aspects of the sustainability (e.g., economical, social, environmental). However, most studies that considered simultaneously all three aspects of the sustainability concept when planning and designing public transportation for a corridor have found tradeoffs among the said three aspects.One of the tradeoffs was identified by looking at tipping points of the travel demands to question whether transit agencies/and or transportation policymakers should either operate smaller buses or provide incentives to purchase Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-Qualified low-emission vehicles or greener vehicles (e.g., hybrid). However, how and when do the department of environmental protection (DEP) and the department of revenue (DOR) figure out how much incentives to give to each traveler who lives in a zoning that is considered as public transportation inaccessible or accessible? To answer this policy question, this study aims to compare the greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions when hybrid and conventional cars are used to access public transportation stops/stations. Additionally, this study also intends to review previous states that have already adopted low-emissions vehicle (LEVs) or Zero-Emissions Vehicles (ZEVs) to diminish the daily GHGs pollutants.

Keywords: LEED-qualified vehicles, public transit accessibility, hybrid vehicles incentives, sustainability trade-offs

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Authors: M. Goerke, J. Gehrmann

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Caused by shorter product life cycles and higher product variety the importance of production ramp ups is increasing. Even though companies are aware of that fact, up to 40% of the ramp up projects still miss technical and economical requirements. The success of a ramp up depends on the planning of human factors, organizational aspects and technological solutions. Since only partly considered in scientific literature, this paper lays its focus on the human factor during production ramp up. There are only incoherent methods which address the problems in this area. A systematic and holistic method to improve the capabilities of the employees during ramp up is missing. The Harada Method is a relatively young approach for developing highly-skilled workers. It consists of different worksheets which help employees to set guidelines and reach overall objectives. This approach is going to be transferred into a tool for ramp up management.

Keywords: employee development, Harada, production ramp up, organizational aspects

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Authors: Xin Jie Li

Abstract:

Due to population agglomeration, huge scale, and complex activities, megacities have become risk centers. To resist the risks brought by development uncertainty, the construction of resilient cities has become a common strategic choice for megacities. As a key link in promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, optimizing the layout of national land space that focuses on ecology, production, and life and improving the rationality of spatial resource allocation are conducive to fundamentally promoting the resilience construction of megacities. Therefore, based on the perspective of territorial space governance, this article explores the potential risks faced by the territorial space of megacities and proposes possible paths for the resilience construction of megacities from four aspects: promoting the construction of a resilience system throughout the entire life cycle, constructing a disaster prevention and control system with ecological resilience, creating an industrial spatial pattern with production resilience, and enhancing community resilience to anchor the front line of risk response in megacities.

Keywords: mega cities, potential risks, resilient city construction, territorial and spatial governance

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Authors: Alessandra Tosi, Teia M. Rogers

Abstract:

The Common European Asylum System (CEAS) is the framework that standardises the treatment of applicants for international protection and harmonises asylum systems throughout the European Union. This paper interrogates the rules applied within the CEAS, specifically Directive 2013/33/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013, which puts forth the standards for the reception of vulnerable people applying for asylum. Absent from the definition of ‘vulnerable people’ are sexual minorities who routinely experience discrimination in reception centres and emergency accommodations. This paper undertakes an analysis of policies and legalisation of reception centres within the European Union. In confronting the flaws inherent to the system of processing asylum applications, this paper argues for the reform of the CEAS with emphasis on the inclusion of LBGTQ+ asylum seekers as vulnerable people following standards set by international human rights law.

Keywords: accommodation, asylum seekers, CEAS, Common European Asylum System, European Union, LGBTQ+, reception conditions, vulnerable people

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Authors: Ammar Alrefaei

Abstract:

Sporting directors in football clubs plays a prominent and important role in managing and controlling many issues related to the affairs of professional players. In view of this great importance of the role of the sporting directors, the Saudi regulation of the professional players and their transfers took over the organization and control of many aspects related to the conditions that must be met by the sporting director and the obligations that fall on his responsibility with the sport club or the Saudi Football Association. However, this regulation does not avoid ambiguity at times and shortcomings at other times in many places, as some of the texts contained in regulation raise many questions, some of which point out to the need to find more comprehensive and accurate treatment than those in the current regulations, accordingly this study comes to shed light on the aspects related to the sporting directors in sport clubs and the development of provisions.

Keywords: professional contract, sporting directors, professional player, labor law

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Authors: D. S. Palimkar

Abstract:

Random fixed point theory has received much attention in recent years, and it is needed for the study of various classes of random equations. The study of random fixed point theorems was initiated by the Prague school of probabilistic in the 1950s. The existence and uniqueness of fixed points for the self-maps of a metric space by altering distances between the points with the use of a control function is an interesting aspect in the classical fixed point theory. In a new category of fixed point problems for a single self-map with the help of a control function that alters the distance between two points in a metric space which they called an altering distance function. In this paper, we prove the results of existence of random common fixed point and its uniqueness for a pair of random mappings under weakly contractive condition for generalizing alter distance function in polish spaces using Random Common Fixed Point Theorem for Generalized Weakly Contractions.

Keywords: Polish space, random common fixed point theorem, weakly contractive mapping, altering function

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Authors: George Nyori Makari

Abstract:

Data on 92 industrial organizations point to the existence of relationships between advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) adoption and some aspects of organizational structure, including the number of specialized sub-units, the number of levels of authority, span of control, degree of role programming specification, degree of communication programming specification and the degree of output programming. Primary finding is that as the investments and integration of AMTs increases, the more likely the foregoing aspects of structure increase. The findings hold with size and a number of other organizational variables controlled. The results indicate that a company’s capacity to assimilate technology depends on its organizational capabilities. The study encapsulates the need for companies to increase their organizational capabilities during investment and integration of AMTs.

Keywords: advanced manufacturing technology, adoption, organizational structure, Kenya

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Authors: Avrokomi Zavitsanou, Spiros Papadopoulos, Theofanis Alexandridis

Abstract:

This paper presents the research project ‘Colour & Travel’, which is co-funded by the European Union and national resources through the Operational Programme “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation” 2014-2020, under the Single RTDI State Aid Action "RESEARCH - CREATE - INNOVATE". The research project proposes the design of an innovative, playful framework for exploring a variety of travel destinations and creating personalised travel narratives, aiming to entertain, educate, and promote culture and tourism. Gamification of the cultural and touristic environment can enhance its experiential, multi-sensory aspects and broaden the perception of the traveler. The latter's involvement in creating and shaping his personal travel narrations and the possibility of sharing it with others can offer him an alternative, more binding way of getting acquainted with a place. In particular, the paper presents the design of an infrastructure: (a) for the development of interactive travel guides for mobile devices, where sites with specific points of interest will be recommended, with which the user can interact in playful ways and then create his personal travel narratives, (b) for the development of innovative games within virtual reality environment, where the interaction will be offered while the user is moving within the virtual environment; and (c) for an online application where the content will be offered through the browser and the modern 3D imaging technologies (WebGL). The technological products that will be developed within the proposed project can strengthen important sectors of economic and social life, such as trade, tourism, exploitation and promotion of the cultural environment, creative industries, etc. The final applications delivered at the end of the project will guarantee an improved level of service for visitors and will be a useful tool for content creators with increased adaptability, expansibility, and applicability in many regions of Greece and abroad. This paper aims to present the research project by referencing the state of the art and the methodological scheme, ending with a brief reflection on the expected outcome in terms of results.

Keywords: gamification, culture, tourism, AR, VR, applications

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