Search results for: hand written equation solver

Authors: Beatriz Delgado

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Although social anxiety is one of the most prevalent disorders in adolescents and causes considerable difficulties and social distress in those with the disorder, to date very few studies have explored the impact of social anxiety on academic adjustment in student populations. The aim of this study was analyze the effect of social anxiety on school functioning in Secondary Education. Specifically, we examined the relationship between social anxiety and self-concept, academic goals, causal attributions, intellectual aptitudes, and learning strategies, personality traits, and academic performance, with the purpose of creating a causal-explanatory model of academic performance. The sample consisted of 2,022 students in the seven to ten grades of Compulsory Secondary Education in Spain (M = 13.18; SD = 1.35; 51.1% boys). We found that: (a) social anxiety has a direct positive effect on internal attributional style, and a direct negative effect on self-concept. Social anxiety also has an indirect negative effect on internal causal attributions; (b) prior performance (first academic trimester) exerts a direct positive effect on intelligence, achievement goals, academic self-concept, and final academic performance (third academic trimester), and a direct negative effect on internal causal attributions. It also has an indirect positive effect on causal attributions (internal and external), learning goals, achievement goals, and study strategies; (c) intelligence has a direct positive effect on learning goals and academic performance (third academic trimester); (d) academic self-concept has a direct positive effect on internal and external attributional style. Also, has an indirect effect on learning goals, achievement goals, and learning strategies; (e) internal attributional style has a direct positive effect on learning strategies and learning goals. Has a positive but indirect effect on achievement goals and learning strategies; (f) external attributional style has a direct negative effect on learning strategies and learning goals and a direct positive effect on internal causal attributions; (g) learning goals have direct positive effect on learning strategies and achievement goals. The structural equation model fit the data well (CFI = .91; RMSEA = .04), explaining 93.8% of the variance in academic performance. Finally, we emphasize that the new causal-explanatory model proposed in the present study represents a significant contribution in that it includes social anxiety as an explanatory variable of cognitive-motivational constructs.

Keywords: academic performance, adolescence, cognitive-motivational variables, social anxiety

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Authors: M. Ashok Williams, T. V. Lakshmi Kumar

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The life cycle of Black carbon aerosols depends on their physical removal processes from the atmosphere during the precipitation events. Black Carbon (BC) mass concentration has been analysed during rainy and non-rainy days of Northeast (NE) Monsoon months of the years 2015 and 2017 over a semi-urban environment near Chennai (12.81 N, 80.03 E), located on the east coast of India. BC, measured using an Aethalometer (AE-31) has been related to the atmospheric boundary layer height (BLH) obtained from the ERA Interim Reanalysis data during rainy and non-rainy days on monthly mean basis to understand the wet removal of BC over the study location. The study reveals that boundary layer height has a profound effect on the BC concentration on rainy days and non rainy days. It is found that the BC concentration in the night time is lower on rainy days compared to non rainy days owing to wash out on rainy days and the boundary layer height remaining nearly the same on rainy and non rainy days. On the other hand, in the daytime, it is found that the BC concentration remains nearly the same on rainy and non rainy days whereas the boundary layer height is lower on rainy days compared to non rainy days. This reveals that in daytime, lower boundary layer heights compensate for the wet removal effect on BC concentration on rainy days. A quantitative relation is found between the product of BC and BLH during rainy and non-rainy days which indicates the extent of redistribution of BC during non-rainy days when compared to the rainy days. Further work on the wet removal processes of the BC is in progress considering the individual rain events and other related parameters like wind speed.

Keywords: black carbon aerosols, atmospheric boundary layer, scavenging processes, tropical coastal location

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Authors: Ekin Nurbaş

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One of the essential challenges in array signal processing, which has drawn enormous research interest over the past several decades, is estimating the direction of arrival (DOA) of plane waves impinging on an array of sensors. In recent years, the Compressive Sensing based DoA estimation methods have been proposed by researchers, and it has been discovered that the Compressive Sensing (CS)-based algorithms achieved significant performances for DoA estimation even in scenarios where there are multiple coherent sources. On the other hand, the Genetic Algorithm, which is a method that provides a solution strategy inspired by natural selection, has been used in sparse representation problems in recent years and provides significant improvements in performance. With all of those in consideration, in this paper, a method that combines the Genetic Algorithm (GA) and the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approaches for Direction of Arrival (DoA) estimation in the Compressive Sensing (CS) framework is proposed. In this method, we generate a multi-objective optimization problem by splitting the norm minimization and reconstruction loss minimization parts of the Compressive Sensing algorithm. With the help of the Genetic Algorithm, multiple non-dominated solutions are achieved for the defined multi-objective optimization problem. Among the pareto-frontier solutions, the final solution is obtained with the multiple MCDM methods. Moreover, the performance of the proposed method is compared with the CS-based methods in the literature.

Keywords: genetic algorithm, direction of arrival esitmation, multi criteria decision making, compressive sensing

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Authors: Zoubida Mahi

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A successful satellite mission in space requires a reliable attitude and orbit control system to command, control and position the satellite in appropriate orbits. Several sensors are used for attitude control, such as magnetic sensors, earth sensors, horizon sensors, gyroscopes, and solar sensors. The star tracker is the most accurate sensor compared to other sensors, and it is able to offer high-accuracy attitude control without the need for prior attitude information. There are mainly three approaches in star sensor research: digital simulation, hardware in the loop simulation, and field test of star observation. In the digital simulation approach, all of the processes are done in software, including star image simulation. Hence, it is necessary to develop star image simulation software that could simulate real space environments and various star sensor configurations. In this paper, we present a new stellar image simulation tool that is used to test and validate the stellar sensor algorithms; the developed tool allows to simulate of stellar images with several types of noise, such as background noise, gaussian noise, Poisson noise, multiplicative noise, and several scenarios that exist in space such as the presence of the moon, the presence of optical system problem, illumination and false objects. On the other hand, we present in this paper a new star extraction algorithm based on a new centroid calculation method. We compared our algorithm with other star extraction algorithms from the literature, and the results obtained show the star extraction capability of the proposed algorithm.

Keywords: star tracker, star simulation, star detection, centroid, noise, scenario

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Authors: Bo Zhang, Ellen S. Wilschut, Dehlia M. C. Willemsen, Marieke H. Martens

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With the rapid development of intelligent transportation systems, automated platooning of trucks is drawing increasing interest for its beneficial effects on safety, energy consumption and traffic flow efficiency. Nevertheless, one major challenge lies in the safe transition of control from the automated system back to the human drivers, especially when they have been inattentive after a long period of highly automated driving. In this study, we investigated driver take-over time after a system initiated request to leave the platooning system Virtual Tow Bar in a non-critical scenario. 22 professional truck drivers participated in the truck driving simulator experiment, and each was instructed to drive under three experimental conditions before the presentation of the take-over request (TOR): driver ready (drivers were instructed to monitor the road constantly), driver not-ready (drivers were provided with a tablet) and eye-shut. The results showed significantly longer take-over time in both driver not-ready and eye-shut conditions compared with the driver ready condition. Further analysis revealed hand movement time as the main factor causing long response time in the driver not-ready condition, while in the eye-shut condition, gaze reaction time also influenced the total take-over time largely. In addition to comparing the means, large individual differences can be found especially in two driver, not attentive conditions. The importance of a personalized driver readiness predictor for a safe transition is concluded.

Keywords: driving simulation, highly automated driving, take-over time, transition of control, truck platooning

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Authors: Ahmad Ghanem, Mohamad Yasin, Mona Abdel Rehim, Fabrice Gouanve, Eliane Espuche

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Biodegradable polymers are of great interest, especially for biomedical and packaging applications. Current research efforts are focused on the development of biopolymers with the purpose of reducing the plastic pollution induced by the widely used in biodegradable polyolefins. The main challenge is focused on the elaboration of biopolymers having properties competitive to those of polyolefins. On the other hand, graphene oxide (GO), a graphene derivative, is characterized by the presence of several functional groups on the surface such as carboxylic, hydroxyl and epoxide. This feature enables modification of GO surface with different modifiers to obtain versatile surface properties and overcome the problem of graphene sheets aggregations during inclusion in a polymer matrix. In this context, poly (butylene succinate) (PBS) as promising biopolyester is modified through blending with different ratios of functionalized (GO) to improve its barrier properties. Modification of GO has been carried out using different hyperbranched polymeric structures in order to increase miscibility of the nanosheets in the hosting polymeric matrix. Films have been prepared from the modified PBS and their mechanical, thermal and gas barrier properties were investigated. The results reveal enhancement in the thermal and mechanical properties beside observed improvement of the barrier properties for the films prepared from the modified PBS. This improvement is related to the strong dependence on tortuosity effects of dispersion, exfoliation levels of fillers into the polymer matrix and interactions between the fillers and the polymer matrix.

Keywords: gas barrier properties, graphene oxide, food packaging, transport properties

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Authors: Mahya Naghipoor

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Purpose: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common lung cancer type. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation is the main reason which causes NSCLC. Computed tomography (CT) is used for diagnosis and prognosis of lung cancers because of low price and little invasion. Semantic analyses of qualitative CT features are based on visual evaluation by radiologist. However, the naked eye ability may not assess all image features. On the other hand, radiomics provides the opportunity of quantitative analyses for CT images features. The aim of this review study was comparing accuracy of semantic and radiomics features in prognosis of EGFR mutation in NSCLC. Methods: For this purpose, the keywords including: non-small cell lung cancer, epidermal growth factor receptor mutation, semantic, radiomics, feature, receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) and area under curve (AUC) were searched in PubMed and Google Scholar. Totally 29 papers were reviewed and the AUC of ROC analyses for semantic and radiomics features were compared. Results: The results showed that the reported AUC amounts for semantic features (ground glass opacity, shape, margins, lesion density and presence or absence of air bronchogram, emphysema and pleural effusion) were %41-%79. For radiomics features (kurtosis, skewness, entropy, texture, standard deviation (SD) and wavelet) the AUC values were found %50-%86. Conclusions: In conclusion, the accuracy of radiomics analysis is a little higher than semantic in prognosis of EGFR mutation in NSCLC.

Keywords: lung cancer, radiomics, computer tomography, mutation

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Authors: Hacer Unver, Rukuye Aylaz

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Aim: This study was conducted in order to determine the effects of exercising on quality of life in pregnancy. Material and Method: The population of the study was formed by 580 pregnants who were registered to 10 Family Health Center located in the city center of Malatya. The sample of the study, on the other hand, was formed by 230 pregnants who had minimal sample size according to known population sample size calculation. The data of this descriptive study was collected between October 2013 and September 2014 from the Family Health Centers located in the city center of Malatya. The data were collected using pregnant introductory form, exercise benefit and barrier scale, quality of life scale. Percentage distributions, t-test, Variance Analysis (ANOVA), Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney U and Pearson Correlation tests were used in the analysis of the data. Result: It was determined that 69.1% of the pregnants participating to the study did not know the benefits of exercising and 89.6% did not exercise. Quality of life mental health scores of those who exercised were determined to be higher and statistically significant (p<0.05). A positive correlation was determined between the exercise benefit scala and physical quality of life scores of the pregnants in this study (0.268, p=0.001). It was also detected that the more exercise performed led to higher total quality of life scores. Conclusion: In consequence, exercising was determined to positively affect the quality of life in pregnants. Therefore, it is recommended that nurses should give education regarding the importance and benefits of exercise during pregnancy in order to increase the quality of life.

Keywords: exercise, midwife, pregnant woman, quality of life

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Authors: Delaram Ghodsi, Nasrin Omidvar, Hassan Eini-Zinab, Arash Rashidian, Hossein Raghfar

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Food supplementary programs are policy approaches that aim to reduce financial barriers to healthy diets and tackle food insecurity. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the supportive section of Multidisciplinary Supplementary Program for Improvement of Nutritional Status of Children (MuPINSC) on households’ food security status and nutritional status of mothers. MuPINSC is a national integrative program in Iran that distributes supplementary food basket to malnourished or growth retarded children living in low-income families in addition to providing health services, including sanitation, growth monitoring, and empowerment of families. This longitudinal study is part of a comprehensive evaluation of the program. The study participants included 359 mothers of children aged 6 to 72 month under coverage of the supportive section of the program in two provinces of Iran (Semnan and Qazvin). Demographic and economic characteristics of families were assessed by a questionnaire. Data on food security of family was collected by locally adapted Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) at the baseline of the study and six month thereafter. Weight and height of mothers were measured at the baseline and end of the study and mother’s BMI was calculated. Data were analysed, using paired t-test, GEE (Generalized Estimating Equation), and Chi-square tests. Based on the findings, at the baseline, only 4.7% of families were food-secure, while 13.1%, 38.7% and, 43.5% were categorized as mild, moderate and severe food insecure. After six months follow up, the distribution of different levels of food security changed significantly (P<0.001) to 7.9%, 11.6%, 42.6%, and 38%, respectively. At the end of the study, the chance of food insecurity was significantly 20% lower than the beginning (OR=0.796; 0.653-0.971). No significant difference was observed in maternal BMI based on food security (P>0.05). The findings show that the food supplementary program for children improved household food security status in the studied households. Further research is needed to assess other factors that affect the effectiveness of this large scale program on nutritional status and household’s food security.

Keywords: food security, food supplementary program, household, malnourished children

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Authors: Nuralam Sam, Irawan Yusuf, Irfan Idris, Endi Adnan

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The most case in the shoulder in the the adult is the frozen shoulder. It make an uncomfortable sensation which disturbance daily activity. The studies of frozen shoulder are still limited. This study used a true experimental pre and post test design with a group design. The participant underwent dextrose prolotherapy injection in the rotator cuff, intraarticular glenohumeral joint, long head tendon biceps, and acromioclavicular joint injections with 15% dextrose, respectively, at week 2, week 4, and week 6. Participants were followed for 12 weeks. The specific biomarker MMP and TIMP, ROM, DASH score were measured at baseline, at week 6, and week 12. The data were analyzed by multivariate analysis (repeated measurement ANOVA, Paired T-Test, and Wilcoxon) to determine the effect of the intervention. The result showed a significant decrease in The Disability of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) score in prolo injection patients in each measurement week (p < 0.05). While the measurement of Range of Motion (ROM), each direction of shoulder motion showed a significant difference in average each week, from week 0 to week 6 (p <0.05).Dextrose prolotherapy injection results give a significant improvement in functional outcome of the shoulder joint, and ROMand did not show significant results in assessing the specific biomarker, MMP-1, and TIMP-1 in tissue repair. This study suggestion an alternative to the use of injection prolotherapy in Frozen shoulder patients, which has fewer side effects and better effectiveness than the use of corticosteroid injections.

Keywords: frozen shoulder, ROM, DASH score, prolotherapy, MMP-1, TIMP-1

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Authors: Salah E. El-Metwally, Marwan Abdo, Basem Abdel Wahed

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Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bars have been proposed as an alternative to conventional steel bars; hence, the use of these non-corrosive and nonmetallic reinforcing bars has increased in various concrete projects. This concrete material is lightweight, has a long lifespan, and needs minor maintenance; however, its non-ductile nature and weak bond with the surrounding concrete create a significant challenge. The behavior of concrete elements reinforced with FRP bars has been the subject of several experimental investigations, even with their high cost. This study aims to numerically assess the viability of using FRP bars, as longitudinal reinforcement, in comparison with traditional steel bars, and also as prestressing tendons instead of the traditional prestressing steel. The nonlinear finite element analysis has been utilized to carry out the current study. Numerical models have been developed to examine the behavior of concrete beams reinforced with FRP bars or tendons against similar models reinforced with either conventional steel or prestressing steel. These numerical models were verified by experimental test results available in the literature. The obtained results revealed that concrete beams reinforced with FRP bars, as passive reinforcement, exhibited less ductility and less stiffness than similar beams reinforced with steel bars. On the other hand, when FRP tendons are employed in prestressing concrete beams, the results show that the performance of these beams is similar to those beams prestressed by conventional active reinforcement but with a difference caused by the two tendon materials’ moduli of elasticity.

Keywords: reinforced concrete, prestressed concrete, nonlinear finite element analysis, fiber-reinforced polymer, ductility

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Authors: Zhaojun Wang, Zongdi Sun, Qinqin Cui, Xingwan Ren

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Based on multivariate statistical analysis theory, this paper uses the principal component analysis method, Mahalanobis distance analysis method and fitting method to establish the photovoltaic health model to evaluate the health of photovoltaic panels. First of all, according to weather conditions, the photovoltaic panel variable data are classified into five categories: sunny, cloudy, rainy, foggy, overcast. The health of photovoltaic panels in these five types of weather is studied. Secondly, a scatterplot of the relationship between the amount of electricity produced by each kind of weather and other variables was plotted. It was found that the amount of electricity generated by photovoltaic panels has a significant nonlinear relationship with time. The fitting method was used to fit the relationship between the amount of weather generated and the time, and the nonlinear equation was obtained. Then, using the principal component analysis method to analyze the independent variables under five kinds of weather conditions, according to the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test, it was found that three types of weather such as overcast, foggy, and sunny meet the conditions for factor analysis, while cloudy and rainy weather do not satisfy the conditions for factor analysis. Therefore, through the principal component analysis method, the main components of overcast weather are temperature, AQI, and pm2.5. The main component of foggy weather is temperature, and the main components of sunny weather are temperature, AQI, and pm2.5. Cloudy and rainy weather require analysis of all of their variables, namely temperature, AQI, pm2.5, solar radiation intensity and time. Finally, taking the variable values in sunny weather as observed values, taking the main components of cloudy, foggy, overcast and rainy weather as sample data, the Mahalanobis distances between observed value and these sample values are obtained. A comparative analysis was carried out to compare the degree of deviation of the Mahalanobis distance to determine the health of the photovoltaic panels under different weather conditions. It was found that the weather conditions in which the Mahalanobis distance fluctuations ranged from small to large were: foggy, cloudy, overcast and rainy.

Keywords: fitting, principal component analysis, Mahalanobis distance, SPSS, MATLAB

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Authors: Humphrey Agevi, Harrison Tsingalia, Richard Onwonga, Shem Kuyah

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Most of the world ecosystems have been affected by the effects of climate change. Efforts have been made to mitigate against climate change effects. While most studies have been done in forest ecosystems and pure plant plantations, trees on farms including agroforestry have only received attention recently. Agroforestry systems and tree cover on agricultural lands make an important contribution to climate change mitigation but are not systematically accounted for in the global carbon budgets. This study sought to: (i) determine tree diversity in different agroforestry practices; (ii) determine tree biomass in different agroforestry practices. Study area was determined according to the Land degradation surveillance framework (LSDF). Two study sites were established. At each of the site, a 5km x 10km block was established on a map using Google maps and satellite images. Way points were then uploaded in a GPS helped locate the blocks on the ground. In each of the blocks, Nine (8) sentinel clusters measuring 1km x 1km were randomized. Randomization was done in a common spreadsheet program and later be downloaded to a Global Positioning System (GPS) so that during surveys the researchers were able to navigate to the sampling points. In each of the sentinel cluster, two farm boundaries were randomly identified for convenience and to avoid bias. This led to 16 farms in Kakamega South and 16 farms in Kakamega North totalling to 32 farms in Kakamega Site. Species diversity was determined using Shannon wiener index. Tree biomass was determined using allometric equation. Two agroforestry practices were found; homegarden and hedgerow. Species diversity ranged from 0.25-2.7 with a mean of 1.8 ± 0.10. Species diversity in homegarden ranged from 1-2.7 with a mean of 1.98± 0.14. Hedgerow species diversity ranged from 0.25-2.52 with a mean of 1.74± 0.11. Total Aboveground Biomass (AGB) determined was 13.96±0.37 Mgha-1. Homegarden with the highest abundance of trees had higher above ground biomass (AGB) compared to hedgerow agroforestry. This study is timely as carbon budgets in the agroforestry can be incorporated in the global carbon budgets and improve the accuracy of national reporting of greenhouse gases.

Keywords: agroforestry, allometric equations, biomass, climate change

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Authors: Delana Theiventhiran, Wally J. Bartfay

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Background and Significance: As the Internet is becoming the epitome of modern communications, there are many pragmatic reasons why the digital divide matters in terms of accessing and using E-health based technologies. With the rise of technology usage globally, those in the older adult generation may not be as familiar and comfortable with technology usage and are thus put at a disadvantage compared to other generations such as millennials when examining and using E-health based platforms and technology. Currently, little is known about how older adults and millennials access and use e-health based technologies. Methods: A systemic review of the literature was undertaken employing the following three databases: (i) PubMed, (ii) ERIC, and (iii) CINAHL; employing the search term 'digital divide and generations' to identify potential articles. To extract required data from the studies, a data abstraction tool was created to obtain the following information: (a) author, (b) year of publication, (c) sample size, (d) country of origin, (e) design/methods, (f) major findings/outcomes obtained. Inclusion criteria included publication dates between the years of Jan 2009 to Aug 2018, written in the English language, target populations of older adults aged 65 and above and millennials, and peer reviewed quantitative studies only. Major Findings: PubMed provided 505 potential articles, where 23 of those articles met the inclusion criteria. Specifically, ERIC provided 53 potential articles, where no articles met criteria following data extraction. CINAHL provided 14 potential articles, where eight articles met criteria following data extraction. Conclusion: Practically speaking, identifying how newer E-health based technologies can be integrated into society and identifying why there is a gap with digital technology will help reduce the impact on generations and individuals who are not as familiar with technology and Internet usage. The largest concern of all is how to prepare older adults for new and emerging E-health technologies. Currently, there is a dearth of literature in this area because it is a newer area of research and little is known about it. The benefits and consequences of technology being integrated into daily living are being investigated as a newer area of research. Several of the articles (N=11) indicated that age is one of the larger factors contributing to the digital divide. Similarly, many of the examined articles (N=5) identify that privacy concerns were one of the main deterrents of technology usage for elderly individuals aged 65 and above. The older adult generation feels that privacy is one of the major concerns, especially in regards to how data is collected, used and possibly sold to third party groups by various websites. Additionally, access to technology, the Internet, and infrastructure also plays a large part in the way that individuals are able to receive and use information. Lastly, a change in the way that healthcare is currently used, received and distributed would also help attribute to the change to ensure that no generation is left behind in a technologically advanced society.

Keywords: digital divide, e-health, millennials, older adults

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Authors: Joseph J. Okoh, Samuel T. Mbap, Tahir Ibrahim, Yusuf P. Mancha

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The influence of plumage colour on measurable attributes of 6176 adult indigenous chickens of mixed-sex from four states of the North Central Zone of Nigeria namely; Nasarawa, Niger, Benue, Kogi and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja were assessed. The overall average body weight of the chickens was 1.95 ± 0.03kg. The body weights of black, white, black/white, brown, black/brown, grey and mottled chicken however were 1.87 ± 0.04, 1.94 ± 0.04, 1.95 ± 0.03, 1.93 ± 0.03, 2.01 ± 0.04, 1.96 ± 0.04 and 1.94±0.14kg respectively. Only body length did not vary by plumage colour. The others; body weight and width, shank, comb and breast length, breast height (p < 0.001), beak and wing lengths (p < 0.001) varied significantly. Generally, no colour was outrightly superior to others in all body measurements. However, body weight and breast height were both highest in black/brown chickens which also had the second highest breast length. Body width, shank, beak, comb and wing lengths were highest in grey chickens but lowest in those with white colour and combinations. Egg quality was on the other hand mostly lowest in grey chickens. In selection for genetic improvement in body measurements, black/brown and grey chickens should be favoured. However, in view of the known negative relationship between body weight and egg attributes, selection in favour of grey plumage may result in chickens of poor egg attributes. Therefore, grey chickens should be selected against egg quality.

Keywords: body weight, indigenous chicken, measurements, plumage colour

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Authors: Asuman Tezcan Mirer

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This proposed paper discusses nationalist socialist and communist propaganda struggles in the Turkish press during World War II. The paper aspires to analyze how government agencies directed and organized the Turkish press to prevent the "5th column" from influencing public opinion. During the Second World War, one of the most emphasized issues was propaganda and how Turkish citizens would be protected from the effects of disinformation. Istanbul became a significant headquarters for belligerent countries' intelligence services, and these services were involved in gathering intelligence and disseminating propaganda. The main motive of national socialist propaganda was "anti-communism" in Turkey. Subsidizing certain magazines, controlling German companies' advertisements and paper trade, spreading rumors, printing propaganda brochures, and showing German propaganda films are some tactics that the nationalist socialists applied before and during the Second World War. On the other hand, the communists targeted Turkish racist/ultra-nationalist groups and their publications, which were influenced by the Nazi regime. They were also involved in distributing Marxist publications, printing brochures, and broadcasting radio programs. This study composes of three parts. The first part describes the nationalist socialist and communist propaganda activities in Turkey during the Second World War. The second part addresses the debates over propaganda among selected newspapers representing different ideologies. Finally, the last part analyzes the Turkish government's press policy. It explains why the government allowed ideological debates in the press despite its authoritarian press policy and "active neutrality" stance in the international arena.

Keywords: propaganda, press, 5th column, World War II, Turkey

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Authors: William Castillo, Hugo Viza, Arturo Vargas

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The Pacific Alliance is a trade bloc that is composed of four emerging economies: Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Mexico. These economies have gained macroeconomic stability in the past decade and as a consequence present future economic progress. Under this positive scenario, international business firms have flourished. However, the literature in this region has been widely unexamined. Therefore, it is critical to fill this theoretical gap, especially considering that Latin America is starting to become a global player and it possesses a different institutional context than developed markets. This paper analyzes the effect of international entrepreneurial orientation and institutionalism on international performance, for the Pacific Alliance small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). The literature considers international entrepreneurial orientation to be a powerful managerial capability – along the resource based view- that firms can leverage to obtain a satisfactory international performance. Thereby, obtaining a competitive advantage through the correct allocation of key resources to exploit the capabilities here involved. Entrepreneurial Orientation is defined around five factors: innovation, proactiveness, risk-taking, competitive aggressiveness, and autonomy. Nevertheless, the institutional environment – both local and foreign, adversely affects International Performance; this is especially the case for emerging markets with uncertain scenarios. In this way, the study analyzes an Entrepreneurial Orientation, key endogenous variable of international performance, and Institutionalism, an exogenous variable. The survey data consists of Pacific Alliance SMEs that have foreign operations in at least another country in the trade bloc. Findings are still in an ongoing research process. Later, the study will undertake a structural equation modeling (SEM) using the variance-based partial least square estimation procedure. The software that is going to be used is the SmartPLS. This research contributes to the theoretical discussion of a largely postponed topic: SMEs in Latin America, that has had limited academic research. Also, it has practical implication for decision-makers and policy-makers, providing insights into what is behind international performance.

Keywords: institutional theory, international entrepreneurial orientation, international performance, SMEs, Pacific Alliance

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Authors: Ghaleb Bin Huraib

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Atopic dermatitis (AD), also known as atopic eczema, is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by severe itching and recurrent, relapsing eczema-like skin lesions, affecting up to 20% of children and 10% of adults in industrialized countries. AD is a complex multifactorial disease, and its exact etiology and pathogenesis have not been fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of gene polymorphisms of T helper cell subtype Th1 and Th2 cytokines, interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1on AD susceptibility in a Saudi cohort. One hundred four unrelated patients with AD and 195 healthy controls were genotyped for IFN-γ (874A/T), IL-6 (174G/C) and TGF-β1 (509C/T) polymorphisms using ARMS-PCR and PCR-RFLP technique. The frequency of genotypes AA and AT of IFN-γ (874A/T) differed significantly among patients and controls (P 0.001). The genotype AT was increased while genotype AA was decreased in AD patients as compared to controls. AD patients also had a higher frequency of T-containing genotypes (AT+TT) than controls (P = 0.001). The frequencies of alleles T and A were statistically different in patients and controls (P = 0.04). The frequencies of genotype GG and allele G of IL-6 (174G/C) were significantly higher, while genotype GC and allele C were lower in AD patients than in controls. There was no significant difference in the frequencies of alleles and genotypes of TGF-β1 (509C/T) polymorphism between the patient and control groups. These results showed that susceptibility to AD is influenced by the presence or absence of genotypes of IFN-γ (874A/T) and IL-6 (174G/C) polymorphisms. It is concluded T-allele and T-containing genotypes (AT+TT) of IFN-γ (874A/T) and G-allele and GG genotype ofIL-6 (174G/C) polymorphisms are susceptible to AD in Saudis. On the other hand, the TGF-β1 (509C/T) polymorphism may not be associated with AD risk in our population; however, further studies with large sample sizes are required to confirm these results.

Keywords: atopic dermatitis, Polymorphism, Interferon, IL-6

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Authors: Sohini Manna, Jong Woo Kim, Oleg Shpyrko, Eric E. Fullerton

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CVD techniques have emerged as a promising approach in the formation of a broad range of nanostructured materials. The realization of many practical applications will require efficient and economical synthesis techniques that preferably avoid the need for templates or costly single-crystal substrates and also afford process adaptability. Towards this end, we have developed a single-step route for the reduction-type synthesis of nanostructured Ni materials using a thermal CVD method. By tuning the CVD growth parameters, we can synthesize morphologically dissimilar nanostructures including single-crystal cubes and Au nanostructures which form atop untreated amorphous SiO2||Si substrates. An understanding of the new properties that emerge in these nanostructures materials and their relationship to function will lead to for a broad range of magnetostrictive devices as well as other catalysis, fuel cell, sensor, and battery applications based on high-surface-area transition-metal nanostructures. We use coherent X-ray diffraction imaging technique to obtain 3-D image and strain maps of individual nanocrystals. Coherent x-ray diffractive imaging (CXDI) is a technique that provides the overall shape of a nanostructure and the lattice distortion based on the combination of highly brilliant coherent x-ray sources and phase retrieval algorithm. We observe a fine interplay of reduction of surface energy vs internal stress, which plays an important role in the morphology of nano-crystals. The strain distribution is influenced by the metal-substrate interface and metal-air interface, which arise due to differences in their thermal expansion. We find the lattice strain at the surface of the octahedral gold nanocrystal agrees well with the predictions of the Young-Laplace equation quantitatively, but exhibits a discrepancy near the nanocrystal-substrate interface resulting from the interface. The strain in the bottom side of the Ni nanocube, which is contacted on the substrate surface is compressive. This is caused by dissimilar thermal expansion coefficients between Ni nanocube and Si substrate. Research at UCSD support by NSF DMR Award # 1411335.

Keywords: CVD, nanostructures, strain, CXRD

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Authors: Alireza Rasekh, Peter Sergeant, Jan Vierendeels

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This paper copes with the numerical simulation for convective heat transfer in the stator disk of an axial flux permanent magnet (AFPM) electrical machine. Overheating is one of the main issues in the design of AFMPs, which mainly occurs in the stator disk, so that it needs to be prevented. A rotor-stator configuration with 16 magnets at the periphery of the rotor is considered. Air is allowed to flow through openings in the rotor disk and channels being formed between the magnets and in the gap region between the magnets and the stator surface. The rotating channels between the magnets act as a driving force for the air flow. The significant non-dimensional parameters are the rotational Reynolds number, the gap size ratio, the magnet thickness ratio, and the magnet angle ratio. The goal is to find correlations for the Nusselt number on the stator disk according to these non-dimensional numbers. Therefore, CFD simulations have been performed with the multiple reference frame (MRF) technique to model the rotary motion of the rotor and the flow around and inside the machine. A minimization method is introduced by a pattern-search algorithm to find the appropriate values of the reference temperature. It is found that the correlations are fast, robust and is capable of predicting the stator heat transfer with a good accuracy. The results reveal that the magnet angle ratio diminishes the stator heat transfer, whereas the rotational Reynolds number and the magnet thickness ratio improve the convective heat transfer. On the other hand, there a certain gap size ratio at which the stator heat transfer reaches a maximum.

Keywords: AFPM, CFD, magnet parameters, stator heat transfer

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Authors: Nicole Brown

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This study considers the illness experience of fibromyalgia patients by using identity boxes. The results improve health care professionals' understanding of patient experiences. Additionally, the concept of the identity boxes may offer a practical solution for helping patients accept the diagnosis of fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia research traditionally refers to pain experiences and relies on questionnaires, surveys, interviews and some narrative analysis. However, due to the variability in symptoms, symptom levels, and locations, these methods may not be best suited to provide an insight into the patient experience. On the other hand, lengthy interview processes are not easily accessible for sufferers of fibromyalgia. In addition to timelines and diary extracts, this study uses identity boxes as its main data collection method. Participants are asked to find items in response to specific questions and to arrange them in their box. The objects represent the patients' experiences holistically. Participants provide photographs of their identity box at each stage of the process and explain their chosen items. The photographs of the identity boxes and the patients' explanations of their objects and their boxes are subjected to interpretative phenomenological analysis. Despite the unique forms of the completed boxes, common experiences are described: the need for comfort, the role of spirituality and the impact of fibromyalgia on everyday life, that it plays a significant role but those patients are determined not to let it rule their lives. The work with the identity boxes has shown beneficial impact due to the reflective nature involved in the tasks. Further investigations will be needed to identify the long-term impact of identity work using such boxes.

Keywords: biographical disruption, fibromyalgia, illness experience, illness narrative

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Authors: Jose Marie E. Ocdenaria, Riceli C. Mendoza

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Culturally, languages meet, merge, share, exchange, appropriate, donate, and divide in and to and from each other. Further, this type of recurrence manifests in East Asian cultures, where language influence diffuses across geographical proximities. Historically, China has notable impacts on Japan’s culture. For instance, Japanese borrowed words from China and their way of reading and writing. This qualitative and descriptive employing contrastive analysis study addressed the true and false cognates of Japanese-Philippine languages and Chinese-Philippine languages. It involved a rich collection of data from various sources like textual pieces of evidence or corpora to gain a deeper understanding of true and false cognates between L1 and L2. Cognates of Japanese-Philippine languages and Chinese-Philippine languages were analyzed contrastively according to orthography, phonology, and semantics. The words presented were the roots; however, derivatives, reduplications, and variants of stress were included when they shed emphases on the comparison. The basis of grouping the cognates was its phonetic-semantic resemblance. Based on the analysis, it revealed that there are words which may have several types of lexical relationship. Further, the study revealed that the Japanese language has more false cognates in the Philippine languages, particularly in Tagalog and Cebuano. On the other hand, there are more true cognates of Chinese in Tagalog. It is the hope of this study to provide a significant contribution to a diverse audience. These include the teachers and learners of foreign languages such as Japanese and Chinese, future researchers and investigators, applied linguists, curricular theorists, community, and publishers.

Keywords: Contrastive Analysis, Japanese, Chinese and Philippine languages, Qualitative and descriptive study, True and False Cognates

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Authors: Dina Tamazin, Nicoleta Tipi, Sahar Validi

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The oil refining industry plays vital role in the world economy. Oil refining companies operate in a more complex and dynamic environment than ever before. In addition, oil refining companies and the public are becoming more conscious of crude oil scarcity and climate changes. Hence, sustainability in the oil refining industry is becoming increasingly critical to the industry's long-term viability and to the environmental sustainability. Mainly, it is relevant to the measurement and evaluation of the company's sustainable performance to support the company in understanding their performance and its implication more objectively and establishing sustainability development plans. Consequently, the oil refining companies attempt to re-engineer their supply chain to meet the sustainable goals and standards. On the other hand, this research realized that previous research in oil refining sustainable supply chain performance measurements reveals that there is a lack of studies that consider the integration of sustainability in the supply chain performance measurement practices in the oil refining industry. Therefore, there is a need for research that provides performance guidance, which can be used to measure sustainability and assist in setting sustainable goals for oil refining supply chains. Accordingly, this paper aims to present a comprehensive oil refining sustainable supply chain performance measurement theoretical framework. In development of this theoretical framework, the main characteristics of oil refining industry have been identified. For this purpose, a thorough review of relevant literature on performance measurement models and sustainable supply chain performance measurement models has been conducted. The comprehensive oil refining sustainable supply chain performance measurement theoretical framework introduced in this paper aims to assist oil refining companies in measuring and evaluating their performance from a sustainability aspect to achieve sustainable operational excellence.

Keywords: oil refining industry, oil refining sustainable supply chain, performance measurement, sustainability

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Authors: S. Benessam, T. H. Debieche, A. Drouiche, F. Zahi, S. Mahdid

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The intensive use of the chemical fertilizers and the pesticides in agriculture often produces a contamination of the groundwater by organic pollutants. The irrigation and/or rainwater transport the pollutants towards groundwater or water surface. Among these pollutants, one finds the nitrogen, often observed in the agricultural zones in the nitrate form. In order to understand the form and chemical mobility of nitrogen in groundwater, this study was conducted. A two-monthly monitoring of the parameters physicochemical and chemistry of water of the alluvial plain of Nil river (North-eastern Algerian) were carried out during the period from November 2013 to January 2015 as well as an in-situ investigation of the various chemical products used by the farmers. The results show a raise concentration of nitrates in the wells (depth < 20 m) of the plain, which the concentrations arrive at 50 mg/L (standard of potable water). On the other hand in drillings (depth > 20 m), one observes two behaviors. The first in the upstream part, where the aquifer is unconfined and the medium is oxidizing, one observes the weak nitrate concentrations, indicating its absorption by the ground during the infiltration of water towards the groundwater. The second in the central and downstream parts, where the groundwater is locally confined and the reducing medium, one observes an absence of nitrates and the appearance of nitrites and ammonium, indicating the reduction of nitrates. The projection of the analyses on diagrams Eh-pH of nitrogen has enabled to us to determine the intervals of variation of the nitrogen forms. This study also highlighted the effect of the rains, the pumping and the nature of the geological formations in the form and the mobility of nitrogen in the plain.

Keywords: groundwater, nitrogen, mobility, speciation

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Authors: Wanessa G. Oliveira, Fernando C. Capovilla

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Capovilla and Raphael’s Libras Dictionary documents a corpus of 4,200 Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) signs. Duduchi and Capovilla’s software SignTracking permits users to retrieve signs even when ignoring the gloss corresponding to it and to discover the meaning of all 4,200 signs sign simply by clicking on graphic menus of the sign characteristics (phonemes). Duduchi and Capovilla have discovered that the ease with which any given sign can be retrieved is an inverse function of the average popularity of its component phonemes. Thus, signs composed of rare (distinct) phonemes are easier to retrieve than are those composed of common phonemes. SignTracking offers a means of computing the average popularity of the phonemes that make up each one of 4,200 signs. It provides a precise measure of the degree of ease with which signs can be retrieved, and sign meanings can be discovered. Duduchi and Capovilla’s logarithmic model proved valid: The degree with which any given sign can be retrieved is an inverse function of the arithmetic mean of the logarithm of the popularity of each component phoneme. Capovilla, Raphael and Mauricio’s New Libras Dictionary documents a corpus of 10,400 Libras signs. The present analysis revealed Libras DNA structure by mapping the incidence of 501 sign phonemes resulting from the layered distribution of five parameters: 163 handshape phonemes (CherEmes-ManusIculi); 34 finger shape phonemes (DactilEmes-DigitumIculi); 55 hand placement phonemes (ArtrotoToposEmes-ArticulatiLocusIculi); 173 movement dimension phonemes (CinesEmes-MotusIculi) pertaining to direction, frequency, and type; and 76 Facial Expression phonemes (MascarEmes-PersonalIculi).

Keywords: Brazilian sign language, lexical retrieval, libras sign, sign phonology

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Authors: Agidew Abay, Nobuhiro Hosoe

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Ethiopia signed the AfCFTA in 2018 and is in ongoing negotiations to join the WTO. To assess the potential impacts of joining these trade agreements on Ethiopia's trade, output, and welfare, we conducted a comprehensive analysis using a world trade computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. The results of our policy experiment, which include scenarios involving the reduction of tariff and non-tariff measures, indicate that AfCFTA and WTO accession would positively affect Ethiopia's welfare, with WTO membership expected to bring more significant benefits. On the one hand, AfCFTA membership would significantly increase Ethiopian imports from AfCFTA regions while decreasing imports from non-AfCFTA regions. Conversely, it would boost Ethiopian exports to Southern Africa while showing minimal change to other AfCFTA and non-AfCFTA regions. By contrast, WTO membership would significantly increase Ethiopia’s imports from Asia and North Africa and decrease those from Europe, the rest of the world, and East Africa. It would increase exports to all regions, especially Europe, Asia, and the rest of the world. In terms of industrial output, while these two trade deals would largely favor agriculture and the meat and livestock sector and harm many manufacturing sectors (especially the light manufacturing sector), the impact of WTO accession on the Ethiopian economy would be overwhelmingly more significant than that of AfCFTA.

Keywords: trade liberalization, AfCFTA, WTO, computable general equilibrium model, tariff, non-tariff measures

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Authors: Sebastian Kölbl, Thomas Reitmaier, Mathias Hartmann

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Trial and error approaches to adapt wearable support structures to human physiology are time consuming and elaborate. However, during preliminary design, the focus lies on understanding the interaction between exoskeleton and the human body in terms of forces and moments, namely body mechanics. For the study at hand, a multi-body simulation approach has been enhanced to evaluate actual forces and moments in a human dummy model with and without a digital mock-up of an active exoskeleton. Therefore, different motion data have been gathered and processed to perform a musculosceletal analysis. The motion data are ground reaction forces, electromyography data (EMG) and human motion data recorded with a marker-based motion capture system. Based on the experimental data, the response of the human dummy model has been calibrated. Subsequently, the scalable human dummy model, in conjunction with the motion data, is connected with the exoskeleton structure. The results of the human-machine interaction (HMI) simulation platform are in particular resulting contact forces and human joint forces to compare with admissible values with regard to the human physiology. Furthermore, it provides feedback for the sizing of the exoskeleton structure in terms of resulting interface forces (stress justification) and the effect of its compliance. A stepwise approach for the setup and validation of the modeling strategy is presented and the potential for a more time and cost-effective development of wearable support structures is outlined.

Keywords: assistive devices, ergonomic design, inverse dynamics, inverse kinematics, multibody simulation

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Authors: Yuanyuan Wang, Chun Hui

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Drawing on social capital theory, this article discusses how individuals may utilize network ties to come up with creativity. Social capital theory elaborates how network ties enhances individual creativity from three dimensions: structural access, and relational and cognitive mechanisms. We categorize network ties into strong and weak in terms of tie strength. With less structural constraints, weak ties allow diverse and heterogeneous knowledge to prosper, further facilitating individuals to build up connections among diverse even distant ideas. On the other hand, strong ties with the relational mechanism of cooperation and trust may benefit the accumulation of psychological capital, ultimately to motivate and sustain creativity. We suggest that differential ties play different roles for individual creativity: Weak ties deliver informational benefit directly rifling individual creativity from informational resource aspect; strong ties offer solidarity benefits to reinforce psychological capital, which further inspires individual creativity engagement from a psychological viewpoint. Social capital embedded in network ties influence individuals’ informational acquisition, motivation, as well as cognitive ability to be creative. Besides, we also consider the moderating effects constraining the relatedness between network ties and creativity, such as knowledge articulability. We hypothesize that when the extent of knowledge articulability is low, that is, with low knowledge codifiability, and high dependency and ambiguity, weak ties previous serving as knowledge reservoir will not become ineffective on individual creativity. Two-wave survey will be employed in Mainland China to empirically test mentioned propositions.

Keywords: network ties, social capital, psychological capital, knowledge articulability, individual creativity

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Authors: Shreyas Srinivas Rangan, Jurgis Porins

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The internet traffic has increased exponentially due to the high demand for data rates by the users, and the constantly increasing metro networks and access networks are focused on improving the maximum transmit distance of the long-reach optical networks. One of the common methods to improve the maximum transmit distance of the long-reach optical networks at the component level is to use broadband optical amplifiers. The Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA) provides high amplification with low noise figure but due to the characteristics of EDFA, its operation is limited to C-band and L-band. In contrast, the Raman amplifier exhibits a wide amplification spectrum, and negative noise figure values can be achieved. To obtain such results, high powered pumping sources are required. Operating Raman amplifiers with such high-powered optical sources may cause fire hazards and it may damage the optical system. In this paper, we implement a hybrid optical amplifier configuration. EDFA and Raman amplifiers are used in this hybrid setup to combine the advantages of both EDFA and Raman amplifiers to improve the reach of the system. Using this setup, we analyze the maximum transmit distance of the network by obtaining a correlation diagram between the length of the single-mode fiber (SMF) and the Bit Error Rate (BER). This hybrid amplifier configuration is implemented in a Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) system with a BER of 10⁻⁹ by using NRZ modulation format, and the gain uniformity noise ratio (signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)), the efficiency of the pumping source, and the optical signal gain efficiency of the amplifier are studied experimentally in a mathematical modelling environment. Numerical simulations were implemented in RSoft OptSim simulation software based on the nonlinear Schrödinger equation using the Split-Step method, the Fourier transform, and the Monte Carlo method for estimating BER.

Keywords: Raman amplifier, erbium doped fibre amplifier, bit error rate, hybrid optical amplifiers

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Authors: Shayma Munqith Al-Baker, Fadhl Ahmed Saeed Al-Gasha’a, Samira Hamid Hanash, Ahmed Ali Al-Hazmi

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A total of 200 samples (180 fecal materials and 20 organ samples) were collected from (5 different poultry farms, 10 local poultry shops, 5 houses poultry, 5 Eggs stores shops and 5 hand slaughters centers) in Ibb city, Yemen, 2014. According to morphological, cultural, as well as biochemical characterization and serological tests, 59 29.5% isolates were identified as Salmonella spp. and all Salmonella isolates were categorized by serotype, which comprised of, 37 62.71% Salmonella Typhimurium serovar, 21 35.59%. Salmonella Enteritidis serovar and 11.69% Salmonella Heidelberg serovar. Antibiotic sensitivity test was done for bacterial isolates and the results showed there were clear differences in antibiotic resistant. Antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates varies as follows: Ofloxacin 79.66%, Ciprofloxacin 67.80%, Colistin 59.32% and Gentamycin 52.54%. All of isolates were resistant to Erythromycin, Penicillin and Lincomycin. Antibacterial activity was done for both aqueous and ethanol extracts of Dodonaea viscosa plant by using well and disc diffusion assay. The results indicated that well diffusion assay had best results than disc diffusion assay, the highest inhibition zone was 22 mm for well diffusion and 15 mm for disc diffusion assay, the results observed that ethanol extract had best antibacterial effect than aqueous extract which the percentage of bacterial isolates affected with ethanol extract was 71.19% comparing with aqueous extract 28.81% by using disc diffusion assay, while the percentage of bacterial isolates affected with ethanol extract was 88.13% comparing with aqueous extract 52.54% by using will diffusion assay.

Keywords: Salmonella spp, Dodonaea viscosa, antimicrobial and salmonellosis

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