Search results for: northern areas

Authors: Sedat Simsek, Tugay Arat

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Today's communication concept, which has a great revolution with the printing press which has been found by Gutenberg, has no boundary thanks to advanced communication devices and the internet. It is possible to take advantage in many areas, such as from medicine to social sciences or from mathematics to education, from the computers that was first produced for the purpose of military services. The use of these developing technologies in the field of education has created a great vision changes in both training and having education. Materials, which can be considered as basic communication resources and used in traditional education has begun to lose its significance, and some technologies have begun to replace them such as internet, computers, smart boards, projection devices and mobile phone. On the other hand, the programs and applications used in these technologies have also been developed. University students use virtual books instead of the traditional printed book, use cell phones instead of note books, use the internet and virtual databases instead of the library to research. They even submit their homework with interactive methods rather than printed materials. The traditional education system, these technologies, which increase productivity, have brought a new dimension to education. The aim of this study is to determine the influence of technologies in the learning process of students and to find whether is there any similarities and differences that arise from the their faculty that they have been educated and and their learning process. In addition to this, it is aimed to determine the level of ICT usage of students studying at the university level. In this context, the advantages and conveniences of the technology used by students are also scrutinized. In this study, we used surveys to collect data. The data were analyzed by using SPSS 16 statistical program with the appropriate testing.

Keywords: education, communication technologies, role of technology, teaching

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Authors: Riya Thomas, Denis Music, Tautgirdas Ruzgas

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The detection of tyrosinase holds considerable interest in the domains of food nutrition and human health due to its significant role in causing a detrimental effect on the colour, flavour, and nutritional value of food as well as in the synthesis of melanin causing skin melanoma. Compared to other conventional analytical techniques, electrochemical (EC) sensors are highly promising owing to their quick response, great sensitivity, ease of use, and low cost. Particularly, titania nanoparticle-based electrochemical sensors have drawn special attention in identifying several biomolecules including enzymes, antibodies, and receptors, owing to their enhanced electrocatalytic activity and electron-accepting properties. In this study, Ti-O film-modified electrode is fabricated using reactive magnetron sputtering, and its affinity towards tyrosinase is examined via electrochemical methods. To comprehend the physiochemical and surface properties-governed electrocatalytic activity of modified electrodes, Ti-O films are grown under various compositional ranges and deposition temperature, and their corresponding electrochemical activity towards tyrosinase is studied. Further, to understand the underlying atomistic mechanisms and electronic-scale electrochemical characteristics, density functional theory (DFT) is employed. The main goal of the current work is to determine the correlation between macroscopic measurements and the underlying atomic properties to improve the tyrosinase activity on Ti-O surfaces. Moreover, this work offers an intriguing new perspective on the use of Ti-O-modified electrodes to detect tyrosinase in the areas of clinical diagnosis, skincare, and food science.

Keywords: density functional theory, electrochemical sensor, Ti-O film, tyrosinase

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Authors: Alina Svechkina, Boris A. Portnov

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In line with a rapid increase in pollution sources and enforcement of stricter air pollution regulation, which lowers pollution levels, it becomes more difficult to identify actual risk sources behind the observed morbidity patterns, and new approaches are required to identify potential risks and take preventive actions. In the present study, we discuss a probabilistic approach to the spatial identification of a priori unidentified environmental health hazards. The underlying assumption behind the tested approach is that the observed adverse health patterns (morbidity, mortality) can become a source of information on the geographic location of environmental risk factors that stand behind them. Using this approach, we analyzed sources of environmental exposure using data on mortality rates available for the year 2015 for NUTS 3 (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) subdivisions of the European Union. We identified several areas in the southwestern part of Europe as primary risk sources for the observed mortality patterns. Multivariate regressions, controlled by geographical location, climate conditions, GDP (gross domestic product) per capita, dependency ratios, population density, and the level of road freight revealed that mortality rates decline as a function of distance from the identified hazard location. We recommend the proposed approach an exploratory analysis tool for initial investigation of regional patterns of population morbidity patterns and factors behind it.

Keywords: mortality, environmental hazards, air pollution, distance decay gradient, multi regression analysis, Europe, NUTS3

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Authors: N. J. M. Yusof, T. Sabir, J. McLoughlin

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Garment manufacturing industry involves sequential processes that are subjected to uncontrollable variations. The industry depends on the skill of labour in handling the varieties of fabrics and accessories, machines, and also a complicated sewing operation. Due to these reasons, garment manufacturers created systems to monitor and control the product’s quality regularly by conducting quality approaches to minimize variation. The aims of this research were to ascertain the quality approaches deployed by Malaysian garment manufacturers in three key areas-quality systems and tools; quality control and types of inspection; sampling procedures chosen for garment inspection. The focus of this research also aimed to distinguish quality approaches used by companies that supplied the finished garments to both domestic and international markets. The feedback from each of company’s representatives was obtained using the online survey, which comprised of five sections and 44 questions on the organizational profile and quality approaches used in the garment industry. The results revealed that almost all companies had established their own mechanism of process control by conducting a series of quality inspection for daily production either it was formally been set up or vice versa. Quality inspection was the predominant quality control activity in the garment manufacturing and the level of complexity of these activities was substantially dictated by the customers. AQL-based sampling was utilized by companies dealing with the export market, whilst almost all the companies that only concentrated on the domestic market were comfortable using their own sampling procedures for garment inspection. This research provides an insight into the implementation of quality approaches that were perceived as important and useful in the garment manufacturing sector, which is truly labour-intensive.

Keywords: garment manufacturing, quality approaches, quality control, inspection, Acceptance Quality Limit (AQL), sampling

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Authors: Huda S. Al-Azmi

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There is a growing consensus that adoption of teachers’ self-efficacy measurement tools help to assess teachers’ abilities in specific areas in order to improve their skills. As a result, different instruments to assess teachers’ ability were developed by academics and practitioners. However, many of these instruments focused either on general teaching skills, or on the other hand, were very specific to one subject. As such, these instruments do not offer a tool to measure the ability of teachers in teaching 21^st century skills such as innovation skills. Teaching innovation skills helps to prepare students for lives and careers in the 21^st century. The purpose of this study is to develop an instrument measuring teachers’ self-efficacy of teaching innovation skills related to the classroom context and evaluating the teachers’ beliefs regarding their ability in teaching innovation skills. To reach this goal, the 16-item instrument measures four dimensions of innovation skills: creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. 211 secondary-school teachers filled out the survey to quantitatively analyze the quality of the instrument. The instrument’s reliability and item analysis were measured by using jMetrik. The results concluded that the mean of self-efficacy ranged from 3 to 3.6 without extreme high or low self-efficacy scores. The discrimination analysis revealed that one item recorded a negative correlation with the total, and three items recorded low correlation with the total. The reliabilities of items ranged from 0.64 to 0.69 and the instrument needed a couple of revisions before practical use. The study concluded the need to discard one item and revise five items to increase the quality of the instrument for future work.

Keywords: critical thinking, collaboration, innovation skills, self-efficacy

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Authors: Fariza Yunus, Jasmee Jaafar, Zamalia Mahmud, Nurul Nisa’ Khairul Azmi, Nursalleh K. Chang, Nursalleh K. Chang

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Variation of air temperature from one place to another is cause by air temperature controls. In general, the most important control of air temperature is elevation. Another significant independent variable in estimating air temperature is the location of meteorological stations. Distances to coastline and land use type are also contributed to significant variations in the air temperature. On the other hand, in homogeneous terrain direct interpolation of discrete points of air temperature work well to estimate air temperature values in un-sampled area. In this process the estimation is solely based on discrete points of air temperature. However, this study presents that air temperature controls also play significant roles in estimating air temperature over homogenous terrain of Peninsular Malaysia. An Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) interpolation technique was adopted to generate continuous data of air temperature. This study compared two different datasets, observed mean monthly data of T, and estimation error of T–T’, where T’ estimated value from a multiple regression model. The multiple regression model considered eight independent variables of elevation, latitude, longitude, coastline, and four land use types of water bodies, forest, agriculture and build up areas, to represent the role of air temperature controls. Cross validation analysis was conducted to review accuracy of the estimation values. Final results show, estimation values of T–T’ produced lower errors for mean monthly mean air temperature over homogeneous terrain in Peninsular Malaysia.

Keywords: air temperature control, interpolation analysis, peninsular Malaysia, regression model, air temperature

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Authors: Salizar Mohamed Ludin, Mohd Khairul Hasyimi Firdaus, Paul Arbon

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Purpose: This paper aims to develop Malaysian Government and community-level critical thinking, planning and action for improving community disaster resilience by reporting Phase 1, Part 1 of a larger community disaster resilience measurement study about adapting the Torrens Resilience Institute Australian Community Disaster Resilience Scorecard to the Malaysian context. Methodology: Pparticipatory action research encouraged key people involved in managing the six most affected areas in the 2014 flooding of Kelantan in Malaysia’s north-east to participate in discussions about adapting and self-testing the Australian Community Disaster Resilience Scorecard to measure and improve their communities’ disaster resilience. Findings: Communities need to strengthen their disaster resilience through better communication, cross-community cooperation, maximizing opportunities to compare their plans, actions and reactions with those reported in research publications, and aligning their community disaster management with reported best practice internationally while acknowledging the need to adapt such practice to local contexts. Research implications: There is a need for a Malaysia-wide, simple-to-use, standardized disaster resilience scorecard to improve the quality, quantity and capability of healthcare and emergency services’ preparedness, and to facilitate urgent reallocation of aid. Value: This study is the first of its kind in Malaysia. The resulting community disaster resilience guideline based on participants’ feedback about the Kelantan floods and scorecard self-testing has the potential for further adaptation to suit contexts across Malaysia, as well as demonstrating how the scorecard can be adapted for international use.

Keywords: community disaster resilience, CDR Scorecard, participatory action research, flooding, Malaysia

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Authors: Hira, Nisar Bhatti, Ezza

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Contemporary studies support the strong co-relation between psychology and design. This study elaborates how different psychological personality test can help a fashion designer to judge the needs of their clients with respect to the customized clothing. This study will also help the designer to improve the lacking in the personality and will enable him to put his effort in required areas for grooming the customer. The use of psychology test to support the choice of certain design strategies that how the right clothing can make client a better intellectual with enhanced self-esteem and confidence. Different projective personality test are being used to suggest to evaluate personality traits. The Rorschach Inkblot Test is projective mental comprising of 10 ink-blots synonymous with the clinical brain research. Lüsher Color Diagnostics measures a person’s psycho physical state, his or her ability to withstand stress to perform and communicate. HTP is a projective responsibility test measuring self-perception, attitudes. The TAT test intend to evaluate a person’s patterns of thoughts, attitudes, observation, capacity and emotional response to this ambiguous test materials. No doubt designers are already crucially redesigning the individuals by their attires, but to expose the behavioral mechanism of the customer, designers should be able to recognize the hidden complexity behind his client by using the above mentioned methods. The study positively finds the design and psychology need to become substantially contacted in order to create a new regime of norms to groom a personality under the concentration and services of a fashion designer in terms of clothing.

Keywords: projective personality tests, customized clothing, Rorschach Inkblot Test, TAT, HTP, Lüsher Color Diagnostics

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Authors: Francis Wargirai

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Since gaining independence in 1975, Papua New Guinea`s core challenge has been the consolidation of democracy against a backdrop of enormous social, political and territorial diversity. Consequently, the government has implemented several political reforms including decentralization. Constitutional planners believed that national unity, would be better achieved by sharing state power over centralization. They anticipated that this would institutionalize a democratic civic culture by providing opportunities to groups and individuals to make political decisions within their jurisdiction. This would then eventually lead to confidence and participation in the larger entity of the state. In retrospect, civil society and community based groups are largely underrated and have had minimal influence on decisions at the local level, consequently contributing to nepotism, patronism and cynicism. By applying an elitist approach to analyze how national political leaders exert their influence and power within the local government system and local communities, this paper argues that decentralization has fragmented local communities. With an absence of political party roots and deeply divided ethnic groups, national political leaders have used divide and rule tactics resulting in mistrust among citizens. Through their influence and power within local governments to dictate projects and services to certain areas, this has resulted in skepticism and divisions among civil society along different cultural cleavages. This has been a contributing factor to anomalies in democratic consolidation and democratic political culture in Papua New Guinea.

Keywords: civic culture, cultural cleavages, decentralization, democratic consolidation

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Authors: Naseer M. A.

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Buildings are major consumers of energy in both their construction and operation. They account for 40% of World’s energy use. It is estimated that 40-60% of this goes for conditioning the indoor environment. In India, like many other countries, the residential buildings have a major share (more than 50%) in the building sector. Of these, single-family units take a mammoth share. The single-family dwelling units in the urban and fringe areas are built in two stories to minimize the building foot print on small land parcels. And quite often, the bedrooms are located in the first floors. The modern buildings are provided with reinforced concrete (RC) roofs that absorb heat throughout the day and radiate the heat into the interiors during the night. The rooms that are occupied in the night, like bedrooms, are having their indoors uncomfortable. This has resulted in the use of active systems like air-conditioners and air coolers, thereby increasing the energy use. An investigation conducted by monitoring the thermal comfort condition in the residential building with RC roofs have proved that the indoors are really uncomfortable in the night hours. A sustainable solution to improve the thermal performance of the RC roofs was developed by an experimental study by continuously monitoring the thermal comfort parameters during summer (the period that is most uncomfortable in temperate climate). The study conducted in the southern peninsular India, prove that retrofitting of existing residential building can give a sustainable solution in abating the ever increasing energy demand especially when it is a fact that these residential buildings that are built for a normal life span of 40 years would continue to consume the energy for the rest of its useful life.

Keywords: energy efficiency, thermal comfort, retrofitting, residential buildings

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Authors: Raheel Shakoor Siddiqui, Sanjay Narayana Murthy, Manikandar Srinivas Cheruvu, Kash Akhtar

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Major trauma is a dynamic public health epidemic that is continuously evolving. Major trauma care services rely on multi-disciplinary team input involving highly trained pre and in-hospital critical care teams. Pre-hospital critical care teams (PHCCTs), major trauma centres (MTCs), trauma units, and rehabilitation facilities all form an efficient and organised trauma system. England comprises 27 MTCs funded by the National Health Service (NHS). Major trauma care entails enhanced resuscitation protocols coupled with the expertise of dedicated trauma teams and rapid radiological imaging to improve trauma outcomes. Literature reports a change in the demographic of major trauma as elderly patients (silver trauma) with injuries sustained from a fall of 2 metres or less commonly present to services. Evidence of an increasing population age with multiple comorbidities necessitates treatment within the first hour of injury (golden hour) to improve trauma survival outcomes. Staffing and funding pressures within the NHS have subsequently led to a shortfall of available physician-led PHCCTs. Thus, there is a strong emphasis on targeted research and funding to appropriately deploy resources to deprived areas. This review article will discuss the current English trauma system whilst critically appraising present challenges, identifying insufficiencies, and recommending aims for an improved future trauma system in England.

Keywords: trauma, orthopaedics, major trauma, trauma system, trauma network

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Authors: Meenal Surawar, Rajashree Kotharkar

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Urban Heat Island (UHI) is found more pronounced as a prominent urban environmental concern in developing cities. To study the UHI effect in the Indian context, the Nagpur urban area has been explored in this paper using Landsat 7 ETM+ satellite images through Remote Sensing and GIS techniques. This paper intends to study the effect of LU/LC pattern on daytime Land Surface Temperature (LST) variation, contributing UHI formation within the Nagpur Urban area. Supervised LU/LC area classification was carried to study urban Change detection using ENVI 5. Change detection has been studied by carrying Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to understand the proportion of vegetative cover with respect to built-up ratio. Detection of spectral radiance from the thermal band of satellite images was processed to calibrate LST. Specific representative areas on the basis of urban built-up and vegetation classification were selected for observation of point LST. The entire Nagpur urban area shows that, as building density increases with decrease in vegetation cover, LST increases, thereby causing the UHI effect. UHI intensity has gradually increased by 0.7°C from 2000 to 2006; however, a drastic increase has been observed with difference of 1.8°C during the period 2006 to 2013. Within the Nagpur urban area, the UHI effect was formed due to increase in building density and decrease in vegetative cover.

Keywords: land use/land cover, land surface temperature, remote sensing, urban heat island

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Authors: K. Bala Subramanian, A. Siva, S. Swaminathan, Arul. M. G. Ajin

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Concrete is an essential building material which is widely used in construction industry all over the world due to its compressible strength. Curing of concrete plays a vital role in durability and other performance necessities. Improper curing can affect the concrete performance and durability easily. When areas like scarcity of water, structures is not accessible by humans external curing cannot be performed, so we opt for internal curing. Internal curing (or) self-curing plays a major role in developing the concrete pore structure and microstructure. The concept of internal curing is to enhance the hydration process to maintain the temperature uniformly. The evaporation of water in the concrete is reduced by self-curing agent (Super Absorbing Polymer – SAP) thereby increasing the water retention capacity of the concrete. The research work was carried out to reduce water, which is prime material used for concrete in the construction industry. Concrete curing plays a major role in developing hydration process. Concept of self-curing will reduce the evaporation of water from concrete. Self-curing will increase water retention capacity as compared to the conventional concrete. Proper self-curing (or) internal curing increases the strength, durability and performance of concrete. Super absorbing Polymer (SAP) used as internal curing agent. In this study 0.2% to 0.4% of SAP was varied in different grade of high strength concrete. In the experiment replacement of cement by silica fumes with 5%, 10% and 15% are studied. It is found that replacement of silica fumes by 10 % gives more strength and durability when compared to others

Keywords: compressive strength, high strength concrete rapid chloride permeability, super absorbing polymer

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Authors: Anjum Afrooze

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The curriculum at General Sciences department in Prince Sultan University includes ‘Physical science’ for Computer Science, Information Technology and Business courses. Students are apathetic towards Physical Science and question, as to, ‘How this course is related to their majors?’ English is not a native language for the students and also for many instructors. More than sixty percent of the students come from institutions where English is not the medium of instruction, which makes student learning and academic achievement challenging. After observing the less enthusiastic student cohort for two consecutive semesters, the instructor was keen to find effective strategies to enhance learning and further encourage deep learning by engaging students in different tasks to empower them with necessary skills and motivate them. This study is participatory action research, in which instructor designs effective tasks to engage students in their learning. The study is conducted through two semesters with a total of 200 students. The effectiveness of this approach is studied using questionnaire at the end of each semester and teacher observation. Major outcomes of this study were overall improvement in students attitude towards science learning, enhancement of multiple skills like note taking, problem solving, language proficiency and also fortifying confidence. This process transformed instructor into engaging and reflecting practitioner. Also, these strategies were implemented by other instructors teaching the course and proved effective in opening a path to changes in related areas of the course curriculum. However, refinement in the strategies could be done based on student evaluation and instructors observation.

Keywords: group activity, language proficiency, reasoning skills, science learning

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Authors: Zhan Fengmei Yao, Hui Li, Jiahua Zhang

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The Northeast China (NEC) was the most important agriculture areas and known as the Golden-Maize-Belt. Based on observed crop data and crop model, we design four simulating experiments and separate relative impacts and contribution under climate change, planting date shift, and varieties change as well change of varieties and planting date. Without planting date and varieties change, maize yields had no significant change trend at Hailun station located in the north of NEC, and presented significant decrease by 0.2-0.4 t/10a at two stations, which located in the middle and the south of NEC. With planting date change, yields showed a significant increase by 0.09 - 0.47 t/10a. With varieties change, maize yields had significant increase by 1.8~ 1.9 t/10a at Hailun and Huadian stations, but a non-significant and low increase by 0.2t /10a at Benxi located in the south of NEC. With change of varieties and planting date, yields presented a significant increasing by 0.53-2.0 t/10a. Their contribution to yields was -25% ~ -55% for climate change, 15% ~ 35% for planting date change, and 20% ~110% for varieties change as well 30% ~135% for varieties with planting date shift. It found that change in varieties and planting date were highest yields and were responsible for significant increases in maize yields, varieties was secondly, and planting date was thirdly. It found that adaptation in varieties and planting date greatly improved maize yields, and increased yields annual variability. The increase of contribution with planting date and varieties change in 2000s was lower than in 1990s. Yields with the varieties change and yields with planting date and varieties change all showed a decreasing trend at Huadian and Benxi since 2002 or so. It indicated that maize yields increasing trend stagnated in the middle and south of NEC, and continued in the north of NEC.

Keywords: climate change, maize yields, varieties, planting date, impacts

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Authors: Bercem Kiran-Yildirim, Volker Gaukel

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Ice recrystallization (IR) which occurs especially during frozen storage is an undesired process due to the possible influence on the quality of products. As a result of recrystallization, the total volume of ice remains constant, but the size, number, and shape of ice crystals change. For instance, as indicated in the literature, the size of ice crystals in ice cream increases due to recrystallization. This results in texture deterioration. Therefore, the inhibition of ice recrystallization is of great importance, not only for food industry but also for several other areas where sensitive products are stored frozen, like pharmaceutical products or organs and blood in medicine. Ice-binding proteins (IBPs) have the unique ability to inhibit ice growth and in consequence inhibit recrystallization. This effect is based on their ice binding affinity. In the presence of IBP in a solution, ice crystal growth is inhibited during temperature decrease until a certain temperature is reached. The melting during temperature increase is not influenced. The gap between melting and freezing points is known as thermal hysteresis (TH). In literature, the TH activity is usually investigated under laboratory conditions in IBP buffer solutions. In product applications (e.g., food) there are many other solutes present which may influence the TH activity. In this study, a subset of IBPs, so-called antifreeze proteins (AFPs), is used for the investigation of the influence of sucrose solution concentration on the TH activity. For the investigation, a polarization microscope (Nikon Eclipse LV100ND) equipped with a digital camera (Nikon DS-Ri1) and a cold stage (Linkam LTS420) was used. In a first step, the equipment was established and validated concerning the accuracy of TH measurements based on literature data.

Keywords: ice binding proteins, ice crystals, sucrose solution, thermal hysteresis

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Authors: Jake Tempo, Taylor Smithurst, Jen Leah, Skye Waddingham, Amanda Catlin, Richard Cetti

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Introduction: Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is the gold-standard procedure for removing large or complex renal stones. Many operating positions can be used, and the debate over the ideal position continues. PCNL can be a long procedure during which patients can sustain pressure injuries. These injuries are often underreported in the literature. Interface pressure mapping records the pressure loading between a surface and the patient. High pressures with prolonged loading result in ischaemia, muscle deformation, and reperfusion which can cause skin breakdown and muscular injury. We compared the peak pressure indexes of common PCNL positions to identify positions which may be at high risk of pressure injuries. We hope the data can be used to adapt high-risk positions so that the PPI can be lessened by either adapting the positions or by using adjuncts to lower PPI. Materials and Methods: We placed a 23-year-old male subject in fourteen different PCNL positions while performing interface pressure mapping. The subject was 179 cm with a weight of 63.3 kg, BMI 19.8kg/m². Results: Supine positions had a higher mean PPI (119mmHg (41-137)) compared to prone positions (64mmHg (32-89)) (p=0.046 two tailed t-test). The supine flexed position with a bolster under the flank produced the highest PPI (194mmHg), and this was at the sacrum. Peak pressure indexes >100mmHg were recorded in eight PCNL positions. Conclusion: Supine PCNL positions produce higher PPI than prone PCNL positions. Our study shows where ‘at risk’ bony prominences are for each PCNL position. Surgeons must ensure these areas are protected during prolonged operations.

Keywords: PCNL, pressure ulcer, interface pressure mapping, surgery

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Authors: Lisdey Espinoza Pedraza

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In places from Latin America to Africa, a big number of authoritarian regimes have given way to democratic forces and increasingly responsive and open societies. Many countries have embarked upon a process of democratisation for the first time while many others have moved to restore their democratic roots. Mexico is one of these countries, and although the Mexican state is not democratic neither dictatorial in the strict sense the Anglo-Saxon and European tradition has defined these concepts, it is possible to find elements that combine both concepts. History helps us understand and study the past, interpret the present and predict the future. In the case of the Mexican political system, history has had a very specific effect in each of the areas that comprise the making of what it is now the contemporary Mexican system. Each of the different historical periods has left a legacy that has marked the way the political system has evolved. The historical periods that Mexico has undergone since its emergence as an independent state, have permeated until modern days and some of these legacies are the ones which will help us understand and interpret many of the structures of the current Mexican political system. The most notorious characteristic of contemporary Latin America is its dependency, underdevelopment and economic disparity once this region if compared with Europe and North America. There is a widespread persistence of economic dependence and social problems despite the creation of independent countries. The role of the state is to supervise the development of relations among actors. The political phenomenon is full of a constant process of transitions and the particular case of the formation of the Mexican state evidences this.

Keywords: Mexico, democratisation process, PRI, authoritarian regimes, political transitions, Latin America

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Authors: Aisha Liaquat Ali, Ghulam Sarwar Gachal, Muhammad Yusuf Sheikh

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The parrot (Rose Ringed) commonly known as tota, belongs to the order ‘psiitaciformes’ and family ‘Psittacidea’, Four species of parakeet inhabits tropical and subtropical regions of Pakistan mostly adopted parks in cities deciduous woodlands, light secondary jungles, semidesert, and scrubland and in orchards and cultivated farmlands. They are mostly feed on citrus fruits, guava, mango, green unripen seed and almond nuts as well as bud and flowers etc. the core aim of the present study was to investigate the Feeding Habitat of Parrot (Ringed Necked Parakeet) in District Mirpurkhas Sindh Pakistan. Sampling was obtained from various adjoining areas of District Mirpurkhas by Non-Random Method, which was conducted from June to Nov 2017. During the present study, a total no: of 84 specimens were collected from different localities of City Mirpurkhas (42.8%) were male ♂ and (57.1%) were female ♀. Maximum population density of Psittaculla Krameri Borealis (50.0%) was collected from Guava (Psidium Guajava) Orchards, Mango (Mangifera Indica) orchard (41.6%), chekoo (Manilkara Zapota) orchard (5.9%) and the Minimum No: of Psittaculla krameri Borealis (2.3%) collected Date (Phoenix Dactylifera) orchard. It was observed that Psittaculla krameri Borealis were highly consumed Guava (Psidium Guajava) and the minimum consume food was Date (Phoenix Dactylifera).

Keywords: district Mirpur Khas Sindh Pakistan, feeding, habitat, parrot (ringed necked parakeet)

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Authors: Hamidreza Namazi

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Fractal analysis is assessing fractal characteristics of data. It consists of several methods to assign fractal characteristics to a dataset which may be a theoretical dataset or a pattern or signal extracted from phenomena including natural geometric objects, sound, market fluctuations, heart rates, digital images, molecular motion, networks, etc. Fractal analysis is now widely used in all areas of science. An important limitation of fractal analysis is that arriving at an empirically determined fractal dimension does not necessarily prove that a pattern is fractal; rather, other essential characteristics have to be considered. For this purpose a Visual C++ based software called FRATSAN (FRActal Time Series ANalyser) was developed which extract information from signals through three measures. These measures are Fractal Dimensions, Jeffrey’s Measure and Hurst Exponent. After computing these measures, the software plots the graphs for each measure. Besides computing three measures the software can classify whether the signal is fractal or no. In fact, the software uses a dynamic method of analysis for all the measures. A sliding window is selected with a value equal to 10% of the total number of data entries. This sliding window is moved one data entry at a time to obtain all the measures. This makes the computation very sensitive to slight changes in data, thereby giving the user an acute analysis of the data. In order to test the performance of this software a set of EEG signals was given as input and the results were computed and plotted. This software is useful not only for fundamental fractal analysis of signals but can be used for other purposes. For instance by analyzing the Hurst exponent plot of a given EEG signal in patients with epilepsy the onset of seizure can be predicted by noticing the sudden changes in the plot.

Keywords: EEG signals, fractal analysis, fractal dimension, hurst exponent, Jeffrey’s measure

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Authors: Adiyasa Muda Zannatan

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Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is a plant originating from Brazil. Cassava plants categorized as sixth major food in the world after wheat, rice, corn and potatoes. It has been cultivated on hilly land for 97 years since 1918 at Cireundeu village, West Java Province, Indonesia. Cireundeu traditional village located in the mountain valleys and has a hilly slope up to 38%. Cassava is used as the primary food in that area. Uniquely, Cassava productivity is stable and continues until now. The assessment of soil quality is taking soil samples in the area and analysis the soil in laboratory. The result of analysis that soil in the area is not degraded because it has optimum nutrient, organic matter, and high value of cation exchange capacity in soil even though it has been cultivated in scarp with high slope. Commonly, soil on scarp with high slope has a high rate erosion and poor nutrient. It proved that cassava is able to be an alternative technique of soil conservation in the areas that have a high slope. Beside that, cassava can be utilized as a plant food, feed, fertilizer, and energy. With the utilization of Cassava, the target of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) will be achieved with consideration three important components include economy, social, and environment. In economy, Cassava can to be the commercial product like processed food, feed, and alternative energy. In social, it will increase social welfare and will be hereditary. And for environment, Cassava prevents soil from erosion and keeps soil quality.

Keywords: Cassava, local wisdom, conservation, soil quality, sustainable

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Authors: Yarhands Dissou Arthur, Samuel Asiedu Addo, Jonathan Annan

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Interest in subject specific is very essential in the quest to ensure effective teaching and learning. In building interest in subject specific areas requires certain factors and strategies well-spelled out.The factors such as the gender of the student, the type of basic school attended, the parent interest as well as the scare of the basic school mathematics teacher is very important to consider. The relational effect and the contribution these above mentioned variables on student have not been fully investigated and this paper address the effect of these factors on the student interest. In the attainment of this goal, the current paper addresses the effect of parent interest, the type of basic school attended, the scare by basic school mathematics teacher and its effect on student’s interest in mathematics. A cross sectional data collected from two hundred and sixty post-secondary school student were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods by aid of SPSS version 16. The study found that parent interest and value for mathematics significantly influenced students interest and joy in solving mathematical problems. Moreover, we also observed that the fear imposed by basic school mathematics teachers was found to significantly influence students’ interest. The study further found that the type of basic school attended and gender are factors that do not influence students’ interest in mathematics. In addition to concluding that a student’s interest is influenced by both parent interest and the fear of basic school mathematics teacher, the study also showed that the type of basic school attended and gender does not affect the students’ interest in mathematics.

Keywords: gender, mathematics interest, teacher interest, teacher interest, student interest

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Authors: Salisu Abdullahi Dalhat, Ibrahim Aliyu Adamu, Abubakar Magaji, Ridwan Adebola Adedigba

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The paper examined the municipal solid waste disposal methods and the environmental issues associated with the management of solid waste in Bauchi Metropolis, Nigeria. Data were obtained through the administration of structured questionnaires, oral interviews, and field observations, as well as the desk review method. The research identifies how the city was composed of both biodegradable and non-biodegradable materials, which are mostly paper waste, polythene, and plastic materials. Most of the solid wastes are left unattended for a long period. Poor design of dump sites, ineffective management of urban development plans, and poor enforcement of environmental laws were observed to be the major causes of poor waste management, and in a few areas where large waste containers are provided, they are hardly used by the community. The major environmental issues resulting from improper disposal and poor management of solid waste in the Bauchi metropolis are a nuisance of the waste to the environment, emitting of methane gas which contributes to climate change, blockage of drainages during rainstorms causing flooding within the metropolis as well as the decomposition of such waste leading to contamination of groundwater thereby leading to the cholera outbreak. Relevant stakeholders should, without compromise, design enforceable short, workable bye-laws; local supervisors should be stationed at the designated dump sites across the city as well as public enlightenment/sensitization campaigns could be the way out.

Keywords: biodegradable, contamination, cholera outbreak, solid waste, solid waste management, urban development

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: Maurice Mbah

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Entomological survey of mosquitoes responsible for the transmission of lymphatic filariasis in Biase Local Government area of Cross River State, Nigeria within March and June 2017. Lymphatic filariasis is a mosquito-borne parasitic disease that is caused by three species of tissue dwelling filaroids (Wuchereria bancrofti; Brugia malayi; Brugia timori): Wuchereria bancrofti is responsible for 90% of cases and is found throughout the tropics and in some sub-tropical areas worldwide. The mosquitoes were caught using human landing catches, and pyrethrum spray catches method. The entomological analysis of mosquitoes which include speciating into genus and dissecting them to unveil any microfilaria in the thoracic region, abdomen, and mouth parts of the mosquitoes. Entomological analysis shows that, from the 1296 mosquitoes caught 795 (61.3%) were Culex species, 342 (26.4%) Anopheles species, 102 (7.9%) Aedes species, and 57 (4.4%) of other Genera. There was a statistically significant difference in the number of mosquitoes caught in the dry and rainy season (X²=0.62, P < 0.05). Out of 1213 mosquitoes dissected, 24(0.02%) contained developed stages (L₁ – L₃) of W. bancrofti larvae. 13 (0.01%) of the infected mosquitoes were of Culex species, and Anopheles species accounted for the other 11 (0.009%). There was a statistically significant difference in the infection rate between the two seasons (X²=0.87, P < 0.05). The correlation analysis showed a positive correlation between the infection rate among mosquitoes in the dry and rainy season (r=0.85, P < 0.05). The entomological studies showed that Anopheles species and the Culex species are the vectors of lymphatic filariasis in the study area.

Keywords: entomological survey, mosquitoes, lymphatic filariasis, biase

Procedia PDF Downloads 192

Authors: Tamar Trop, Ido Izhaki

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Small natural freshwater bodies (SNFWBs), which are vital for many waterbird species, are considered endangered habitats due to their progressive loss and extensive degradation. While SNFWBs are becoming extinct, studies have indicated that many waterbird species may greatly benefit from various types of small artificial waterbodies (SAWBs), such as floodwater and treated water reservoirs. If designed and managed with care, SAWBs hold significant potential to serve as alternative or complementary habitats for birds, and thus mitigate the adverse effects of SNFWBs loss. Currently, most reservoirs are built as infrastructural facilities and designed according to engineering best practices and site-specific considerations, which do not include catering for waterbirds' needs. Furthermore, as things stand, there is still a lack of clear and comprehensive knowledge regarding the additional factors that should be considered in tackling the challenge of attracting waterbirds' to reservoirs, without compromising on the reservoirs' original functions. This study attempts to narrow this knowledge gap by performing a systematic review of the various factors (e.g., bird attributes; physical, structural, spatial, climatic, chemical, and biological characteristics of the waterbody; and anthropogenic activities) affecting the occurrence, abundance, richness, and diversity of waterbirds in SNFWBs. The methodical review provides a concise and relatively unbiased synthesis of the knowledge in the field, which can inform decision-making and practice regarding the planning, design, and management of reservoirs with birds in mind. Such knowledge is especially beneficial for arid and semiarid areas, where natural water sources are deteriorating and becoming extinct even faster due to climate change.

Keywords: artificial waterbodies, reservoirs, small waterbodies, waterbirds

Procedia PDF Downloads 74

Authors: Nubwimana Rachel, Mugabowindekwe Maurice

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Trees play a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity and providing various ecological services. Traditional methods of counting trees are time-consuming, and there is a need for more efficient techniques. However, deep learning makes it feasible to identify the multi-scale elements hidden in aerial imagery. This research focuses on the application of deep learning techniques for tree detection and counting in both forest and non-forest areas through the exploration of the deep learning application for automated tree detection and counting using satellite imagery. The objective is to identify the most effective model for automated tree counting. We used different deep learning models such as YOLOV7, SSD, and UNET, along with Generative Adversarial Networks to generate synthetic samples for training and other augmentation techniques, including Random Resized Crop, AutoAugment, and Linear Contrast Enhancement. These models were trained and fine-tuned using satellite imagery to identify and count trees. The performance of the models was assessed through multiple trials; after training and fine-tuning the models, UNET demonstrated the best performance with a validation loss of 0.1211, validation accuracy of 0.9509, and validation precision of 0.9799. This research showcases the success of deep learning in accurate tree counting through remote sensing, particularly with the UNET model. It represents a significant contribution to the field by offering an efficient and precise alternative to conventional tree-counting methods.

Keywords: remote sensing, deep learning, tree counting, image segmentation, object detection, visualization

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: Cyrillus Prabandana

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Supply chain optimisation requires multiple factors as consideration or constraints. These factors are including but not limited to demand forecasting, raw material fulfilment, production capacity, inventory level, facilities locations, transportation means, and manpower availability. By knowing all manageable factors involved and assuming the uncertainty with pre-defined percentage factors, an integrated supply chain model could be developed to manage various business scenarios. This paper analyse the utilisation of geographical point of view to develop an integrated supply chain network model to optimise the distribution of finished product appropriately according to forecasted demand and available supply. The supply chain optimisation model shows that small change in one supply chain constraint is possible to largely impact other constraints, and the new information from the model should be able to support the decision making process. The model was focused on three areas, i.e. raw material fulfilment, production capacity and finished products transportation. To validate the model suitability, it was implemented in a project aimed to optimise the concrete supply chain in a mining location. The high level of operations complexity and involvement of multiple stakeholders in the concrete supply chain is believed to be sufficient to give the illustration of the larger scope. The implementation of this geographical supply chain network modeling resulted an optimised concrete supply chain from raw material fulfilment until finished products distribution to each customer, which indicated by lower percentage of missed concrete order fulfilment to customer.

Keywords: decision making, geographical supply chain modeling, supply chain optimisation, supply chain

Procedia PDF Downloads 347

Authors: Sukhvinder Singh

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Punjabi language is related to the languages of New Indo-Aryan group that, in turn, is related to the branch of Indo-European language family. Punjabi language covers the areas of Western part (that is in Pakistan) and Eastern part (the Punjab state, Haryana, Delhi Himachal and J&K) and abroad (particularly Canada, USA, U.K. and Arab Emirates), where it is spoken widely. Besides India and Pakistan, Punjabi is the third language spoken in Canada after English, French having more than one hundred millions speakers worldwide. It is the fourth language spoken in Canada after English, French, and Chinese. It is also being taught as second language in most of the community school of British Columbia. The total number of Punjabi speakers is more than one hundred millions including India, Pakistan and abroad. Punjabi has a long tradition of linguistic tradition. A large number of scholars have studied Punjabi at different linguistic levels. Various studies are devoted to its special phonological characteristics, especially the tone, which has now started disappearing in favour of aspiration, a rare example of a language change in progress in its reversal direction. This process of language change in progress in reversal is dealt with in this paper a change towards a loss of linguistic indigeneity. The tone being a distinctive linguistic feature of Punjabi language is getting lost due to the increasing influence of Hindi and English particularly in the speech Urban Punjabi and Punjabi settled abroad. In this paper, an attempt has been made to discuss the sociolinguistics and sociology of Punjabi language and Punjab to trace the initiation and progression of this change towards a loss of Linguistic Indigeneity.

Keywords: language change in reversal, reaspiration, detonalization, new Indo-Aryan group

Procedia PDF Downloads 173

Authors: Pedro A. Medina-Rios, Marly Yolie Quintana-Daza

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Having the opportunity to communicate in a social, academic and work context is very relevant for any individual and more for a deaf person when oral language is not their natural language, and written language is their second language. Currently, in Colombia, there is not a specialized dictionary for our best knowledge in sign language archiving. Archival is one of the areas that the deaf community has a greater chance of performing. Nourishing new signs in dictionaries for deaf people extends the possibility that they have the appropriate signs to communicate and improve their performance. The aim of this work was to illustrate the importance of designing pedagogical and technological strategies of knowledge management, for the academic inclusion of deaf people through proposals of lexicon in Colombian sign language (LSC) in the area of archival. As a method, the analytical study was used to identify relevant words in the technical area of the archival and its counterpart with the LSC, 30 deaf people, apprentices - students of the Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje (SENA) in Documentary or Archival Management programs, were evaluated through direct interviews in LSC. For the analysis tools were maintained to evaluate correlation patterns and linguistic methods of visual, gestural analysis and corpus; besides, methods of linear regression were used. Among the results, significant data were found among the variables socioeconomic stratum, academic level, labor location. The need to generate new signals on the subject of the file to improve communication between the deaf person, listener and the sign language interpreter. It is concluded that the generation of new signs to nourish the LSC dictionary in archival subjects is necessary to improve the labor inclusion of deaf people in Colombia.

Keywords: archival, inclusion, deaf, thesaurus

Procedia PDF Downloads 279

Authors: Md. Kamrul Hassan, Ari Pappinen

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Wood energy is the single most important form of renewable energy in many parts of the world especially in the least developing countries in South Asia like Bangladesh. The last portion of the national population of this country depends on wood energy for their daily primary energy need. This paper deals with the estimation of wood fuel at the current level and identifies the challenges and strategies related to the development of this resource. Desk research, interactive research and field survey were conducted for gathering and analyzing of data for this study. The study revealed that wood fuel plays a significant role in total primary energy supply in Bangladesh, and the contribution of wood fuel in final energy consumption in 2013 was about 24%. Trees on homestead areas, secondary plantation on off forest lands, and forests are the main sources of supplying wood fuel in the country. Insufficient supply of wood fuel against high upward demand is the main cause of concern for sustainable consumption, which eventually leads deterioration and depletion of the resources. Inadequate afforestation programme, lack of initiatives towards the utilization of set-aside lands for wood energy plantations, and inefficient management of the existing resources have been identified as the major impediments to the development of wood energy in Bangladesh. The study argued that enhancement of public-private-partnership afforestation programmes, intensifying the waste and marginal lands with short-rotation tree species, and formulation of biomass-based rural energy strategies at the regional level are relevant to the promotion of sustainable wood energy in the country.

Keywords: Bangladesh, challenge, supply, wood energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 190