Search results for: drone types

Authors: Yusuf Ziya Ayık, Ferhat Kahveci

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Currently, database management systems have various tools such as backup and maintenance, and also provide statistical information such as resource usage and security. In terms of query performance, this paper covers query optimization, views, indexed tables, pre-computation materialized view, query performance analysis in which query plan alternatives can be created and the least costly one selected to optimize a query. Indexes and views can be created for related table columns. The literature review of this study showed that, in the course of time, despite the growing capabilities of the database management system, only database administrators are aware of the need for dealing with archival and transactional data types differently. These data may be constantly changing data used in everyday life, and also may be from the completed questionnaire whose data input was completed. For both types of data, the database uses its capabilities; but as shown in the findings section, instead of repeating similar heavy calculations which are carrying out same results with the same query over a survey results, using materialized view results can be in a more simple way. In this study, this performance difference was observed quantitatively considering the cost of the query.

Keywords: cost of query, database management systems, materialized view, query performance

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Authors: Jehnyne Lalaine Bautista, Marquise Baldemor, Ciara Mendoza

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This study is an attempt to investigate the extent to which pre-teens engage in social media, the effects of social media use on the different facets of their identity development such as physical, social, cognitive, aspirations, and personality, as well as the effects of parental regulation on their identity formation. Twelve Filipino children, ages from 9-12 years old and are either regulated, semi-regulated, or unregulated on social media use, participated in this study along with their parent or guardian. The data were gathered through in-depth interviews with the participants and were analyzed through the use of thematic analysis. Results show that despite accessing similar social media applications, the effects of these on children from different types of parental regulation vary since they have different levels of exposure to social media content. Those who have parents with high parental regulation on the use of social media tend to perform better in school, to find time for extracurricular activities, and to develop positive identity formation. The results of this study suggest that parental regulation on social media use has the positive influence on the identity development of children while there are dangers to unregulated use of social media.

Keywords: identity formation, parental regulation, pre-teens, social media

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Authors: Khaled Albriki, Feiyu Wang

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The failed rifted epicratonic Sirt basin is located in the northern margin of the African Plate with an area of approximately 600,000 km2. The organofacies' classification, characterization, and its distribution vertically and horizontally are carried out in 7 main troughs with 32 typical selected wells. 7 geological and geochemical cross sections including Rock-Eval data and % TOC data are considered in order to analyze and to characterize the main organofacies with respect to their geochemical and geological controls and also to remove the ambiguity behind the complexity of the orgnofacies types and distributions in the basin troughs from where the oil and gas are generated and migrated. This study confirmes that there are four different classical types of organofacies distributed in Sirt basin F, D/E, C, and B. these four clasical types of organofacies controls the type and amount of the hydrocarbon discovered in Sirt basin. Oil bulk property data from more than 20 oil and gas fields indicate that D/E organoface are significant oil and gas contributors similar to B organoface. In the western Sirt basin in Zallah-Dur Al Abd, Hagfa, Kotla, and Dur Atallha troughs, F organoface is identified for Etel formation, Kalash formation and Hagfa formation having % TOC < 0.6, whereas the good quality D/E and B organofacies present in Rachmat formation and Sirte shale formation both have % TOC > 1.1. Results from the deepest trough (Ajdabiya), Etel (Gas pron in Whadyat trough), Kalash, and Hagfa constitute F organofacies, mainly. The Rachmat and Sirt shale both have D/E to B organofacies with % TOC > 1.2, thus indicating the best organofacies quality in Ajdabiya trough. In Maragh trough, results show that Etel F organofacies and D/E, C to B organofacies related to Middle Nubian, Rachmat, and Sirte shale have %TOC > 0.66. Towards the eastern Sirt basin, in troughs (Hameimat, Faregh, and Sarir), results show that the Middle Nubian, Etel, Rachmat, and Sirte shales are strongly dominated by D/E, C to B (% TOC > 0.75) organofacies.

Keywords: Etel, Mid-Nubian, organic facies, Rachmat, Sirt basin, Sirte shale

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Authors: S. Sadegzadeh, A. Mousavi

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Temperature-dependent tunable photonic crystals have attracted widespread interest in recent years. In this research, transmission characteristics of a one-dimensional photonic crystal structure with a single defect have been studied. Here, we assume two different defect layers: InSb as a semiconducting layer and HgBa₂Ca₂Cu₃O₁₀ as a high-temperature superconducting layer. Both the defect layers have temperature-dependent refractive indexes. Two different types of dielectric materials (Si as a high-refractive index dielectric and MgF₂ as a low-refractive index dielectric) are used to construct the asymmetric structures (Si/MgF₂)^NInSb(Si/MgF₂)^N named S.I, and (Si/MgF₂)^NHgBa₂Ca₂Cu₃O₁₀(Si/MgF₂)^N named S.II. It is found that in response to the temperature changes, transmission peaks within the photonic band gap of the S.II structure, in contrast to S.I, show a small wavelength shift. Furthermore, the results show that under the same conditions, S.I structure generates an extra defect mode in the transmission spectra. Besides high efficiency transmission property of S.II structure, it can be concluded that the semiconductor-dielectric photonic crystals are more sensitive to temperature variation than superconductor types.

Keywords: defect modes, photonic crystals, semiconductor, superconductor, transmission

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Authors: Belkadi Adel, Beboucha Wahib, Cherara lalia

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Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of Kumi-kata in elite judokas and characterize the kinematic and temporal parameters of different types of handgrip (HG). Method: fourteen participated in this study male athlete (23.5±2.61 years; 1.81±0.37 0 m; 87.25±22.75 kg), members of the Georgian Judo team. To characterize the dominance and types of kumi-kata used, videos of international competitions from each athlete were analyzed, and to characterize kinematic and temporal parameters and handgrip, and the volunteers pressed a digital dynamometer with each hand for 30 seconds(s) after a visual signal. Results: The values of 0.26±0.69s and 0.31±0.03s for reaction time were obtained, respectively, in the full grip and pinch grip; 19.62±18.83N/cm/s and 6.17±3.48N/cm/s for the rate of force development; 475,21 ± 101,322N and 494,65±112,73 for the FDR; 1,37 ± 0,521s and 1,45 ± 0,824s for the time between the force onset to the TFP; and 41,27±4,54N/cm/s and 45,16 ± 5,64N/cm/s for the fall index, in the dominant hand. There was no significant difference between hands for any variable, except for the dominance of Kumi-kata (p<0.05) used in combat. Conclusion: The dominance of application of the Kumi-kata is a technical option, as it does not depend on the kinetic-temporal parameters of the handgrip.

Keywords: hand grip, judo, athletes, Kumi-Kata

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Authors: Mohamed Haffar, Muhammad Abdul Aziz, Ahmad Ghoneim

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The importance of having a good organizational culture that supports employee job satisfaction has fascinated both the business and academic world because of a tantalizing promise: culture can be fundamental to the enhancement of financial performance. This promise has led to growing interest for both researchers and practitioners in attempting to understand the influence of organizational culture on employees’ satisfaction and organizational performance. Even though the relationship between organizational culture and employee job satisfaction have gained attention in the literature, the majority of studies have been conducted within manufacturing organizations and tend to oversee the impact of culture on employee job satisfaction in a service-based environment. Thus, the main driving force of this study was to explore the role of organizational culture types in facilitating employee job satisfaction at Emerald Publishing Group. Interviews qualitative data analysis indicated that Emerald’s culture dominated by adhocracy and clan culture values. In addition, the findings provided evidence, which demonstrated that group and adhocracy organizational culture types play key roles in facilitating employee job satisfaction in a service-based environment.

Keywords: employee satisfaction, organizational culture, performance, service based environment

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Authors: Sanjeev Kumar Sharma, Arnab Mondal, Ranjit Kumar Upadhyay

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Excitable cells often produce different oscillatory activities that help us to understand the transmitting and processing of signals in the neural system. We consider a FitzHugh-Rinzel (FH-R) model and studied the different dynamics of the model by considering the parameter c as the predominant parameter. The model exhibits different types of neuronal responses such as regular spiking, mixed-mode bursting oscillations (MMBOs), elliptic bursting, etc. Based on the bifurcation diagram, we consider the three regimes (MMBOs, elliptic bursting, and quiescent state). An analytical treatment for the occurrence of the supercritical Hopf bifurcation is studied. Further, we extend our study to a network of a hundred neurons by considering the bi-directional synaptic coupling between them. In this article, we investigate the alternation of spiking propagation and bursting phenomena of an uncoupled and coupled FH-R neurons. We explore that the complete graph of heterogenous desynchronized neurons can exhibit different types of bursting oscillations for certain coupling strength. For higher coupling strength, all the neurons in the network show complete synchronization.

Keywords: excitable neuron model, spiking-bursting, stability and bifurcation, synchronization networks

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Authors: Courret Gilles, Pidoux Damien

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Considering that sunshine is the ultimate reference in lighting, we have examined the spectral correlation between a series of electric light sources and sunlight. As the latter is marked by fluctuations, we have taken two spectra of reference: on the one hand, the CIE daylight standard illuminant, and on the other hand, the global illumination by the clear sky with the sun at 30° above the horizon. We determined the coefficients of correlation between the spectra filtered by the sensitivity of the CIE standard observer for photopic vision. We also calculated the luminous efficiency of the radiation in order to compare the ideal energy performances as well as the CIE color indexes Ra, Ra14, and Rf, since the choice of a light source requires a trade-off between color rendering and luminous efficiency. The benchmarking includes the most commonly used bulbs, various white LED (Lighting Emitting Diode) of warm white or cold white types, incandescent halogen as well as two HID lamps (High-Intensity Discharge) and two plasma lamps of different types, a solar simulator and a new version of the sulfur lamp. The latter obtains the best correlation, whether in comparison with the solar spectrum or that of the standard illuminant.

Keywords: electric light sources, plasma lamp, daylighting, sunlight, spectral correlation

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Authors: Atanu K Samanta, Asim Ali Khan

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Due to the acquisition of huge amounts of brain tumor magnetic resonance images (MRI) in clinics, it is very difficult for radiologists to manually interpret and segment these images within a reasonable span of time. Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems can enhance the diagnostic capabilities of radiologists and reduce the time required for accurate diagnosis. An intelligent computer-aided technique for automatic detection of a brain tumor through MRI is presented in this paper. The technique uses the following computational methods; the Level Set for segmentation of a brain tumor from other brain parts, extraction of features from this segmented tumor portion using gray level co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM), and the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to classify brain tumor images according to their respective types. The entire work is carried out on 50 images having five types of brain tumor. The overall classification accuracy using this method is found to be 98% which is significantly good.

Keywords: brain tumor, computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) system, gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), tumor segmentation, level set method

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Authors: Firas A. Al Laban, Mohamed Chabi, Sammani Danwawu Abdullahi

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There are a real needs to integrate types of Open Educational Resources (OER) with an intelligent system to extract information and knowledge in the semantic searching level. Those needs raised because most of current learning standard adopted web based learning and the e-learning systems does not always serve all educational goals. Semantic Web systems provide educators, students, and researchers with intelligent queries based on a semantic knowledge management learning system. An ontology-based learning system is an advanced system, where ontology plays the core of the semantic web in a smart learning environment. The objective of this paper is to discuss the potentials of ontologies and mapping different kinds of ontologies; heterogeneous or homogenous to manage and control different types of Open Educational Resources. The important contribution of this research is to approach a methodology uses logical rules and conceptual relations to map between ontologies of different educational resources. We expect from this methodology to establish for an intelligent educational system supporting student tutoring, self and lifelong learning system.

Keywords: knowledge management systems, ontologies, semantic web, open educational resources

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Authors: David Ahiamadia, Ramilan Thiagarajah, Peter Tozer

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In Sub Saharan Africa, farm typologies have been used as a practical way to address heterogeneity among farming systems which is mostly done by grouping farms into subsets with similar characteristics. Due to the complexity in farming systems among farm households, it is not possible to formulate policy recommendations for individual farmers. As a result, this study employs a multivariate statistical approach using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) coupled with cluster analysis to reduce heterogeneity in a 615-household data set from the Africa Rising Baseline Evaluation Survey for 25 farming communities in Northern Ghana. Variables selected for the study were mostly socio-economic, production potential, production intensity, production orientation, crop diversity, food security, resource endowments, and climate risk variables. To avoid making some individuals in the subpopulation worse off when aclimate risk intervention is broadly implemented, the findings of the study also account for diversity in climate risk perception among the different farm types identified and their response strategies towards climate risk. The climate risk variables used in this study involve the most severeclimate shock types perceived by the household, household response to climate shock type, and reason for crop failure (i.e., maize, rice, and groundnut). Eventually, four farm types, each with an adequate level of homogeneity in climate risk perception and response strategies, were identified. Farm type 1 and 3 were wealthy with a lower degree of climate risk perception compared to farm type 2 and 4. Also, relatively wealthy farmers used asset liquidation as a climate risk management strategy, whereas poor farmers resorted to engaging in spiritual activities such as prayers, sacrifices, and divine consultations.

Keywords: smallholder, households, climate risk, variables, typologies

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Authors: Cristina Hotoleanu

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Introduction: The recent Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the development of e-health, including telemedicine, smartphone applications, and medical wearable devices. Providing remote teleconsultations supposes challenges which may require further face-to-face medical interactions. The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between the types of teleconsultations and the need of onsite medical services (investigations and medical visits) for the diagnosis and treatment. Methods: a retrospective study including all the teleconsultations using the platform offered by a telehealth provider in Romania (Telios Care SA) between May 1, 2021- April 30, 2022, was performed. Binary data were analysed using the chi-square test with a significance level of p < 0.05. Results: out of 7163 consultations, 3961 were phone calls, 1981 were online messages, and 1221 were video calls. Onsite medical services were indicated in 3327 (46.44%) cases; the onsite investigations or the onsite visits were recommended for 2908 patients as follows: 2326 in case of phone calls, 582 in case of online messages, none in case of video calls. Both onsite investigations and visits were indicated for 419 patients. The need for onsite additional medical services was significantly higher in the case of phone calls than in the other 2 types of teleconsultations (Chi square= 1207.06, p= 0.00001). The indication for onsite services was done mainly after teleconsultations covering medical specialties (87.34%), significantly higher than the other specialties (Chi square=914.59, p=0.00001). Teleconsultations in surgical specialties and other fields (pharmacy, dentistry, psychology, wellbeing- nutrition, fitness) resulted in 12.13%, respective less than 1%, indication for onsite investigations or visits, explained by using of video calls in most of the cases. Conclusion: a further onsite medical service was necessary in less than a half of the teleconsultations. This indication was done mainly after phone calls and teleconsultations in medical specialties. Video calls were used mostly in psychology, nutrition, and fitness teleconsultations and did not require a further onsite medical service. Other studies are necessary to assess better the types of teleconsultations and the specialties bringing the biggest benefit for the patients.

Keywords: onsite medical services, phone calls, teleconsultations, telemedicine

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Authors: Azar Baghtaghi

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Financial risk management is critically important as it enables companies to maintain stability and profitability amidst market fluctuations and unexpected events. It involves the precise identification of risks that could impact investments, assets, and potential revenues. By implementing effective risk management strategies, companies can insure themselves against adverse market changes and prevent potential losses. In today's era, where markets are highly complex and influenced by various factors such as macroeconomic policies, exchange rate fluctuations, and natural disasters, the need for meticulous planning to cope with these uncertainties is more pronounced. Ultimately, financial risk management means being prepared for the future and the ability to sustain business in changing environments. A company capable of managing its risks not only achieves sustainable profitability but also gains the confidence of shareholders, investors, and business partners, enhancing its competitive position in the market. In this article, the types of financial risk and risk management strategies for improving financial performance were investigated. By identifying the risks stated in this article and their evaluation techniques, it is possible to improve the organization's financial performance.

Keywords: strategy, risk, risk management, financial performance

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Authors: Vitaly Haslavsky, Helena Vitoshkin

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The total energy saving effect of different types of greenhouse thermal/shade screens was determined by measuring and calculating the overall heat transfer coefficients (U-values) for single and several layers of screens. The measurements were carried out using the hot box method, and the calculations were performed according to the ISO Standard 15099. The goal was to examine different types of materials with a wide range of thermal radiation properties used for thermal screens in combination with a dehumidification system in order to improve greenhouse insulation. The experimental results were in good agreement with the calculated heat transfer coefficients. It was shown that a high amount of infra-red (IR) radiation can be blocked by the greenhouse covering material in combination with moveable thermal screens. The aluminum foil screen could be replaced by transparent screens, depending on shading requirements. The results indicated that using a single layer, the U-value was reduced by approximately 70% compared to covering material alone, while the contributions of additional screen layers containing aluminum foil strips could reduce the U-value by approximately 90%. It was shown that three screen layers are sufficient for effective insulation.

Keywords: greenhouse insulation, heat loss, thermal screens, U-value

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Authors: Masanori Kimura

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Due to the decline of the 18-year-old population, Japanese universities have a tendency to convert their form of employment from tenured positions to fixed-term positions for newly hired teachers. The advantage of this is that universities can be more flexible in their employment plans in case they fail to fill the enrollment of quotas of prospective students or they need to supplement teachers who can engage in other academic fields or research areas where new demand is expected. The most serious disadvantage of this, however, is that if secure positions cannot be provided to faculty members, there is the possibility that coherence of education and continuity of research supported by the university cannot be achieved. Therefore, the question of this presentation is as follows: Are universities aiming to give first priority to management, or are they trying to prioritize educational and research rather than management? To answer this question, the author examined the number of job offerings for college foreign language teachers posted on the JREC-IN (Japan Research Career Information Network, which is run by Japan Science and Technology Agency) website from April 2012 to October 2015. The results show that there were 1,002 and 1,056 job offerings for tenured positions and fixed-term contracts respectively, suggesting that, overall, today’s Japanese universities show a tendency to give first priority to management. More detailed examinations of the data, however, show that the tendency slightly varies depending on the types of universities. National universities which are supported by the central government and state universities which are supported by local governments posted more job offerings for tenured positions than for fixed-term contracts: national universities posted 285 and 257 job offerings for tenured positions and fixed-term contracts respectively, and state universities posted 106 and 86 job offerings for tenured positions and fixed-term contracts respectively. Yet the difference in number between the two types of employment status at national and state universities is marginal. As for private universities, they posted 713 job offerings for fixed-term contracts and 616 offerings for tenured positions. Moreover, 73% of the fixed-term contracts were offered for low rank positions including associate professors, lectures, and so forth. Generally speaking, those positions are offered to younger teachers. Therefore, this result indicates that private universities attempt to cut their budgets yet expect the same educational effect by hiring younger teachers. Although the results have shown that there are some differences in personal strategies among the three types of universities, the author argues that all three types of universities may lose important human resources that will take a pivotal role at their universities in the future unless they urgently review their employment strategies.

Keywords: higher education, management, employment status, foreign language education

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Authors: H. Masaeli, R. Ziaei, F. Khoshnoudian

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Shock response analysis of the soil–structure systems induced by near–fault pulses is investigated. Vibration transmissibility of the soil–structure systems is evaluated by Shock Response Spectra (SRS). Medium–to–high rise buildings with different aspect ratios located on different soil types as well as different foundations with respect to vertical load bearing safety factors are studied. Two types of mathematical near–fault pulses, i.e. forward directivity and fling step, with different pulse periods as well as pulse amplitudes are selected as incident ground shock. Linear versus nonlinear Soil–Structure Interaction (SSI) condition are considered alternatively and the corresponding results are compared. The results show that nonlinear SSI is likely to amplify the acceleration responses when subjected to long–period incident pulses with normalized period exceeding a threshold. It is also shown that this threshold correlates with soil type, so that increased shear–wave velocity of the underlying soil makes the threshold period decrease.

Keywords: nonlinear soil–structure interaction, shock response spectrum, near–fault ground shock, rocking isolation

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Authors: G. Bharath, K. S. Reddy, Vivek Tandon, M. Amaranatha Reddy

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This paper presents the details of a study conducted to evaluate the interaction between recycled binder and fresh binder in Recycled Asphalt Pavement (RAP) mixes. When RAP is mixed with virgin aggregates in the presence of fresh binder there will be partial blending in a hot mix asphalt mixture. A recent approach used by some researchers for studying the degree of blending of RAP binder with virgin binder has been adopted in this study. Dense Bituminous Macadam mix of Ministry of Road Transport of India with a nominal maximum aggregate size of 19 mm was studied. Two proportions of RAP-20% and 35% and two types of virgin binders – viscosity grade VG10 and VG30 were considered. Design binder contents were determined for all the four types of mixes (two RAP contents and two virgin binders) as per Marshall mix design procedure. The degree of blending of RAP and virgin binders was evaluated in terms of the complex modulus of the binder. Laboratory test results showed that with an increase in RAP content, the degree of blending decreases. Better blending was observed for softer grade binder (VG10).

Keywords: blending, complex modulus, recycled asphalt pavement, virgin binder

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Authors: Xinyu Wang

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Given the rapid development of Internet technology and the mainstream trend of online social media, people are spending increasingly more time online. This digital communication method has altered human social behavior. Concurrently, social learning phenomena occurring frequently on various online platforms have attracted significant attention. Past research has categorized social learning into affective, social learning and cognitive, social learning based on the content of learning. Recent studies have observed both types of social learning occurring in online contexts. However, few studies have simultaneously addressed both types of social learning or explored their underlying mechanisms and differences. This study aims to investigate through three behavioral experiments. Experiment 1 manipulates the content of experimental materials and two forms of feedback, emotional valence, sociability, and repetition, to verify whether individuals can achieve online emotional social learning through reinforcement using two social learning strategies. Results reveal that both social learning strategies can assist individuals in affective and social learning through reinforcement, with feedback-based learning strategies outperforming frequency-dependent strategies. Experiment 2 similarly manipulates the content of experimental materials and two forms of feedback to verify whether individuals can achieve online knowledge and social learning through reinforcement using two social learning strategies. Results show that similar to online affective and social learning, individuals adopt both social learning strategies to achieve cognitive and social learning through reinforcement, with feedback-based learning strategies outperforming frequency-dependent strategies. Experiment 3 simultaneously observes online affective and cognitive social learning by manipulating the content of experimental materials and feedback at different levels of social pressure. Results indicate that online affective and social learning exhibits different learning effects under different levels of social pressure, whereas online cognitive social learning remains unaffected by social pressure, demonstrating more stable learning effects. Additionally, to explore the sustained effects of online social learning and differences in duration among different types of online social learning, all three experiments incorporate two test time points. Results reveal significant differences in pre-post-test scores for online social learning in Experiments 2 and 3, whereas differences are less apparent in Experiment 1. To accurately measure the sustained effects of online social learning, the researchers conducted a mini-meta-analysis of all effect sizes of online social learning duration. Results indicate that although the overall effect size is small, the effect of online social learning weakens over time.

Keywords: online social learning, affective social learning, cognitive social learning, social learning strategies, social reinforcement, social pressure, duration

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Authors: Yuliya Markava

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The laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) is widely common surgical procedure, which has become an alternative for patients who are not satisfied with the performance of other correction methods. A high level of patient satisfaction functional outcomes after refractive surgery confirms the high reliability and safety of LASIK and provides a significant improvement in the quality of life and social adaptation. Purpose: To perform clinical analysis of the results of correction made to the excimer laser system SCHWIND AMARIS 500E in patients with different types of refractive anomalies. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of 1581 operations (812 patients): 413 males (50.86%) and 399 females (49.14%) at the age from 18 to 47 years with different types of ametropia. All operations were performed on excimer laser SCHWIND AMARIS 500E in the LASIK procedure. Formation of the corneal flap was made by mechanical microkeratome SCHWIND. Results: Analyzing the structure of refractive anomalies: The largest number of interventions accounted for myopia: 1505 eyes (95.2%), of which about a low myopia: 706 eyes (44.7%), moderate myopia: 562 eyes (35.5 %), high myopia: eyes 217 (13.7%) and supermyopia: 20 eyes (1.3%). Hyperopia was 0.7% (11 eyes), mixed astigmatism: 4.1% (65 eyes). The efficiency was 80% (in patients with supermyopia) to 91.6% and 95.4% (in groups with myopia low and moderate, respectively). Uncorrected visual acuity average values before and after laser operation was in groups: a low myopia 0.18 (up 0.05 to 0.31) and 0.80 (up 0.60 to 1.0); moderate myopia 0.08 (up 0.03 to 0.13) and 0.87 ( up 0.74 to 1.0); high myopia 0.05 (up 0.02 to 0.08) and 0.83 (up 0.66 to 1.0); supermyopia 0.03 (up 0.02 to 0.04) and 0.59 ( up 0.34 to 0.84); hyperopia 0.27 (up 0.16 to 0.38) and 0.57 (up 0.27 to 0.87); mixed astigmatism of 0.35 (up 0.19 to 0.51) and 0.69 (up 0.44 to 0.94). In all cases, after LASIK indicators uncorrected visual acuity significantly increased. Reoperation was 4.43%. Significance: Clinical results of refractive surgery at the excimer laser system SCHWIND AMARIS 500E in different ametropia correction is characterized by high efficiency.

Keywords: effectiveness of laser correction, LASIK, refractive anomalies, surgical treatment

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Authors: Mohamed Haffar, Lois Farquharson, Gbola Gbadamosi, Wafi Al-Karaghouli, Ramadane Djbarni

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A few recent research studies and mostly conceptual in nature have paid attention to the relationship between organizational culture (OC), individual readiness for change (IRFC) and individual affective commitment to change (IACC). Surprisingly enough, there is a lack of empirical studies investigating the influence of all four OC types on IRFC and IACC. Moreover, there is a very limited research investigating the mediating role of individual readiness for change between OC types and individual affective commitment to change. Therefore, this study is proposed to fill this gap by providing empirical evidence leading to advancement in the understanding of direct and indirect influences of OC on individual affective commitment to change. To achieve this, a questionnaire based survey was developed and self-administered to 226 middle managers in Algerian manufacturing organizations (AMOs). The results of this study indicated that group culture and adhocracy culture positively affect the IACC. Furthermore, the findings of this study show support for the mediating roles of self-efficacy and personally valence in the relationship between OC and IACC.

Keywords: individual readiness for change, individual commitment to change, organisational culture, manufacturing organisations

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Authors: Masoomeh Estaji, Ahdie Tahamtani

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Considering the necessity of conducting research and publishing academic papers during Master’s and Ph.D. programs, graduate students are in dire need of improving their writing skills through either writing courses or self-study planning. One key feature that could aid academic papers to look more sophisticated is the application of grammatical metaphors (GMs). These types of metaphors represent the ‘non-congruent’ and ‘implicit’ ways of decoding meaning through which one grammatical category is replaced by another, more implied counterpart, which can alter the readers’ understanding of the text as well. Although a number of studies have been conducted on the application of GMs across various disciplines, almost none has been devoted to the field of environmental management, and the scope of the previous studies has been relatively limited compared to the present work. In the current study, attempts were made to analyze different types of GMs used in academic papers published in top-tiered journals in the field of environmental management, and make a list of the most frequently used GMs based on their functions in this particular discipline to make the teaching of academic writing courses more explicit and the composition of academic texts more well-structured. To fulfill these purposes, a corpus-based analysis based on the two theoretical models of Martin et al. (1997) and Liardet (2014) was run. Through two stages of manual analysis and concordancers, ten recent academic articles entailing 132490 words published in two prestigious journals were precisely scrutinized. The results yielded that through the whole IMRaD sections of the articles, among all types of ideational GMs, material processes were the most frequent types. The second and the third ranks would apply to the relational and mental categories, respectively. Regarding the use of interpersonal GMs, objective expanding metaphors were the highest in number. In contrast, subjective interpersonal metaphors, either expanding or contracting, were the least significant. This would suggest that scholars in the field of Environmental Management tended to shift the focus on the main procedures and explain technical phenomenon in detail, rather than to compare and contrast other statements and subjective beliefs. Moreover, since no instances of verbal ideational metaphors were detected, it could be deduced that the act of ‘saying or articulating’ something might be against the standards of the academic genre. One other assumption would be that the application of ideational GMs is context-embedded and that the more technical they are, the least frequent they become. For further studies, it is suggested that the employment of GMs to be studied in a wider scope and other disciplines, and the third type of GMs known as ‘textual’ metaphors to be included as well.

Keywords: English for specific purposes, grammatical metaphor, academic texts, corpus-based analysis

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Authors: Parsa Keyvani, Alistair Phillips, David Warwick

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Background: The current process for gaining patient consent for hand and wrist surgery at University Hospital Southampton (UHS) is paper-based and makes use of generic forms provided by the NHS and no patient information leaflet is available relating to hand and wrist surgery. Aims: To evaluate the process of obtaining clinical consent and suggest ways in which the service can be improved. Methods: A log-book review of four orthopaedic surgeons at UHS was carried out over a three-month period in order to identify the 10 most common types of elective hand and wrist surgeries performed. A literature review was carried out to identify the complications of these surgeries. The surgeries were then divided into 6 types: nerve, bone, ligament, joint, tendon and dupuytren’s surgery. A digitised consent form was created covering the complications of all 6 surgery types. Finally, the surgeons at the orthopaedic department of UHS were asked whether they prefer the old paper-based or the digitised consent form. Results: All of the surgeons felt that the procedure type-based form was easier to read, use and understand. Conclusion: This research highlights a number of problems related to the use of current NHS consent forms. The proposed solution is to use a set of digitised, procedure type-based consent forms. Digital consent forms can be filled in in advance and sent to the patient electronically along with any relevant information leaflets, thus giving them time to absorb the information and come up with any questions before they have their pre-procedure discussion with their doctor. This would allow the doctor to focus the consultation on the patient rather than writing out the consent form and would ultimately be a step forward in making the NHS a global digital leader and fully embrace the opportunity offered by technology.

Keywords: digitised consent form, elective surgery, hand surgery complications, informed consent, procedure type-based consent form

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Authors: Nancy Daly

Abstract:

Migrant youth who have experienced traumatic events in their home countries or in their passage to the United States may require interventions or formal services to support varying levels and types of needs. The manner in which such youth are engaged and evaluated, as well as the framework of evaluation, can impact their educational services and placement. Evidenced-based trauma-informed practices that engage and support migrant youth serve as an important bridge to stabilization; however, ensuring long-term growth may require a range of integrated services, including special education and mental health services. Special education evaluations which consider the eligibility of Emotional Disturbance for migrant youth must carefully weigh issues of mental health needs against the exclusionary criteria of lack of access to education, limited language skills, as well as other environmental factors. Case studies of recently arrived migrant youth reveal both commonalities and differences in types and levels of need which underscores the importance of adept evaluation and case management to ensure the provision of services that support growth and resiliency.

Keywords: migrant youth, trauma-informed care, mental health services, special education

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Authors: Toral Khalpada, Kanhai Joshi

Abstract:

Generally, constructions of structures built in India are indeterminate structures. The purpose of this study is to investigate the application of a structure that is proved to be non-economical. The testing practice involves the application of different types of loads on both, determinate and indeterminate structure by computing it on a software system named Staad and also inspecting them practically on the construction site, analyzing the most efficient structure and diagnosing the utilization of the structure which is not so beneficial as compared to other. Redundant structures (indeterminate structure) are found to be more reasonable. All types of loads were applied on the beams of both determinate and indeterminate structures parallelly on the software and the same was done on the site practically which proved that maximum stresses in statically indeterminate structures are generally lower than those in comparable determinate structures. These structures are found to have higher stiffness resulting in lesser deformations so indeterminate structures are economical and are better than determinate structures to use for construction. On the other hand, statically determinate structures have the benefit of not producing stresses because of temperature changes. Therefore, our study tells that indeterminate structure is more beneficial but determinate structure also has used as it can be used in many areas; it can be used for the construction of two hinged arch bridges where two supports are sufficient and where there is no need for expensive indeterminate structure. Further investigation is needed to contrive more implementation of the determinate structure.

Keywords: construction, determinate structure, indeterminate structure, stress

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Authors: Fauzi Jarushi, Sinan Mohsin AlKaabi

Abstract:

The Standard Penetration Test (SPT) is the most common insitu test for soil investigations. On the other hand, the Cone Penetration Test (CPT) is considered one of the best investigation tools. Due to the fast and accurate results that can be obtained it complaints the SPT in many applications like field explorations, design parameters, and quality control assessments. Many soil index and engineering properties have been correlated to both of SPT and CPT. Various foundation design methods were developed based on the outcome of these tests. Therefore it is vital to correlate these tests to each other so that either one of the tests can be used in the absence of the other, especially for preliminary evaluation and design purposes. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between the SPT and CPT for different types of soil in Florida. Data for this research were collected from number of projects sponsored by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), six sites served as the subject of SPT-CPT correlations. The correlations were established between the cone resistance (qc) and the SPT blows (i.e., N) for various soils. A positive linear relationship was found between fs and N for various soils. In general, qc versus N showed higher correlation coefficients than fs versus N. qc/N ratios were developed for different soil types and compared to literature values, the results of this research revealed higher ratios than literature values.

Keywords: in situ tests, correlation, SPT, CPT

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Authors: Sawsan M. H. Domi

Abstract:

Approximately 50% of the energy used in buildings, including houses, provide environmental comfortable levels of thermal living. In Khartoum - the city under study- cooling uses the largest portion of energy and the basic idea of Low energy houses is to minimize energy consumption. Therefore, houses are designed to use natural climate strategies to provide thermal comfort. Strategies such as semi-open spaces, shading devices, small high windows and thick walls. The study aims to review these strategies and then, apply them. It aims to change house microclimate by using vegetation, green areas, and other components. A low energy house is being designed s. It will be the first low energy house in Khartoum designed to create a low-cost energy efficient building without any mechanical systems. Three different types of houses in Khartoum are examined and evaluated according to their energy loads which provides the basis for the designed house. The designed house uses passive design strategies to reduce the need for cooling. These results show that the house reduced energy cooling loads by more than 60% compared to the average of the three given types. The design house is economically viable when taking into consideration the energy prices in Sudan.

Keywords: building envelope, climate, energy loads, ventilation

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Authors: Garzon V., Bustos R., Salvador J. P., Marco M. P., Pinacho D. G.

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Bacterial resistance to antimicrobial treatment has increased significantly in recent years, making it a public health problem. Large numbers of bacteria are resistant to all or nearly all known antimicrobials, creating the need for the development of new types of antimicrobials or the use of “last line” antimicrobial drug therapies for the treatment of multi-resistant bacteria. Some of the chemical groups of antimicrobials most used for the treatment of infections caused by multiresistant bacteria in the clinic are Glycopeptide (Vancomycin), Polymyxin (Colistin), Lipopeptide (Daptomycin) and Carbapenem (Meropenem). Molecules that require therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM). Due to the above, a methodology based on nanobiotechnology based on an optical and electrochemical biosensor is being developed, which allows the evaluation of the plasmatic levels of some antimicrobials such as glycopeptide, polymyxin, lipopeptide and carbapenem quickly, at a low cost, with a high specificity and sensitivity and that can be implemented in the future in public and private health hospitals. For this, the project was divided into five steps i) Design of specific anti-drug antibodies, produced in rabbits for each of the types of antimicrobials, evaluating the results by means of an immunoassay analysis (ELISA); ii) quantification by means of an electrochemical biosensor that allows quantification with high sensitivity and selectivity of the reference antimicrobials; iii) Comparison of antimicrobial quantification with an optical type biosensor; iv) Validation of the methodologies used with biosensor by means of an immunoassay. Finding as a result that it is possible to quantify antibiotics by means of the optical and electrochemical biosensor at concentrations on average of 1,000ng/mL, the antibodies being sensitive and specific for each of the antibiotic molecules, results that were compared with immunoassays and HPLC chromatography. Thus, contributing to the safe use of these drugs commonly used in clinical practice and new antimicrobial drugs.

Keywords: antibiotics, electrochemical biosensor, optical biosensor, therapeutic drug monitoring

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Authors: S. Cherif, A. Medjahed, M. Bouafia, A. Manallah

Abstract:

A light wave is characterized by 4 characteristics: its amplitude, its frequency, its phase and the direction of polarization of its luminous vector (the electric field). It is in this last characteristic that we will be interested. The polarization of the light was introduced in order to describe the vectorial behavior of the light; it describes the way in which the electric field evolves in a point of space. Our work consists in studying diffusing mediums. Different types of biological fluids were selected to study the evolution of each with increasing scattering power of the medium, and in the same time to make a comparison between them. When crossing these mediums, the light undergoes modifications and/or deterioration of its initial state of polarization. This phenomenon is related to the properties of the medium, the idea is to compare the characteristics of the entering and outgoing light from the studied medium by a white light. The advantage of this model is that it is experimentally accessible workable intensity measurements with CCD sensors and allows operation in 2D. The latter information is used to discriminate some physical properties of the studied areas. We chose four types of milk to study the evolution of each with increasing scattering power of the medium.

Keywords: light polarization, Mueller matrix, Mueller images, diffusing medium, milk

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Authors: Ksenia Siadkowska, Tytus Tulwin, Rafał Sochaczewski

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Selecting appropriate materials is presently a complex task as material databases cover tens of thousands of different types of materials. Product designing proceeds in numerous stages and in most of them there are open questions with not only one correct solution but better and worse ones. This paper overviews the Diesel engine body construction materials mentioned in the literature and discusses a certain practical method to select materials for a cylinder head and a Diesel engine block as a prototype. The engine body, depending on its purpose, is most frequently iron or aluminum. If it is important to optimize parts to achieve low weight, aluminum alloys are usually applied, especially in the automotive and aviation industries. In the latter case, weight is even more important so new types of magnesium alloys which are even lighter than aluminum ones are developed and used. However, magnesium alloys are, for example, more flammable and not enough strong so, for safety reasons, this type of material is not used solely in engine bodies. Acknowledgement: This work has been realized in the cooperation with The Construction Office of WSK "PZL-KALISZ" S.A." and is part of Grant Agreement No. POIR.01.02.00-00-0002/15 financed by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development.

Keywords: aluminum alloy, cylinder head, Diesel engine, materials selection

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Authors: G. Fatima, R. Bashir, M. Saeed Akhtar, M. Malik, M. Safder, D. Nayab

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The main purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate challenges and difficulties being encountered by physically challenged students in inclusive settings at higher education level. A self-developed and validated questionnaire (Cronbach alpha: 0.879) was employed for data collected from a sample of fifty six (56) graduate and continuing students with physical disabilities (males:46, females:10) selected through snow ball sampling technique from colleges and universities of Pakistan. The participants were required to respond on three point criteria (no, to some extent, yes). Data were analyzed by using SPSS. Independent sample t-test and One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was run to compare mean scores of responses of physically challenged students on the basis of their gender, education, types of physical disability, types of institutions, provinces, and status. Frequencies were run to have an overall picture of challenges faced by physically challenged students. Major findings reflected that physically challenged students were encountering problems in transportation, accessibility, and financial support, etc. Conclusions were drawn and recommendations were made.

Keywords: physically challenged students, inclusive setting, higher education, accessibility

Procedia PDF Downloads 370