Search results for: positive and negative affect

Authors: Malinda Sabrina, F. Andree Yohanes, Khoerul Anwar

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There are many sources that cause noise in a car, one of them is noise from radiator cooling fan. This part is used to control engine temperature by ensuring adequate airflow through radiator. Radiator cooling fan noise is a very important matter especially for vehicle manufacturers. This can affect brand image of the car and their customer satisfaction. Therefore, some experiments to measure noise level of the fan are required. Sound pressure level measurements for two axial fans with different diameter have been investigated in a hemi-anechoic chamber based on standard JIS-B8346, focusing on aerodynamic noise. Both fans have the same profile and shape with diameter respectively 43 cm and 49 cm. The measurement was performed in hemi-anechoic chamber in order to obtain a background noise at measuring point as low as possible. Noise characterizations of these radiator cooling fans were measured in five different rotating speed and the results were compared. The measurement result shows that the sound pressure level increases with increasing rotational speed of the fan. In comparison with a smaller diameter, it is shown that fan with larger diameter produces higher noise level at the same rotational speed.

Keywords: aerodynamics noise, hemi-anechoic chamber, radiator cooling fan, sound pressure level

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Authors: Ika Wulansari, Yati Afiyanti, Indang Trihandini

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Sleeping disorder experienced by patients with breast cancer can affect the physical, mental, health, and well-being. This study examines the effect of progressive muscle relaxation training and sleep hygiene education to change sleep quality scores of the patient with breast cancer. The study design using quasi-experiment with pre-post test within the control group, involving 62 breast cancer patients using consecutive sampling method in Jakarta. Statistical test results with independent t-test showed a significant difference in score of sleep quality between in intervention group and the control group (6,66±3,815; 9,30±3,334, p-value = 0,005). Progressive muscle relaxation exercise and sleep hygiene education proven to be affective to change the patients sleeping quality, so that it can be an alternative therapeutic option to overcome sleeping disorders.

Keywords: sleeping disorders, breast cancer, progressive muscle relaxation, sleep hygiene education

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Authors: Rui Yin, Haojie Wang, Xun Li

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Recently, mainstream dense retrieval methods have obtained state-of-the-art results on some datasets and tasks. However, they require large amounts of training data, which is not available in most domains. The severe performance degradation of dense retrievers on new data domains has limited the use of dense retrieval methods to only a few domains with large training datasets. In this paper, we propose an unsupervised domain-adaptive approach based on query generation. First, a generative model is used to generate relevant queries for each passage in the target corpus, and then the generated queries are used for mining negative passages. Finally, the query-passage pairs are labeled with a cross-encoder and used to train a domain-adapted dense retriever. Experiments show that our approach is more robust than previous methods in target domains that require less unlabeled data.

Keywords: dense retrieval, query generation, unsupervised training, text retrieval

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Authors: Alfalah Tasneem, Abdallah Bataineh, Falah Jannat, Alfalah Salsabeel

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The term emotional intelligence has been unnoticed by a number of scholars in the early 1990s, which was then a major factor that many business managers became interested in understanding its meaning, functions and how it could be integrated in their business life, emotional intelligence is very important for the top managers, to operate in emotionally intelligence way to meet the needs of their employees. Speaking of emotional intelligence success is influenced by personal qualities such as self-awareness, motivation, empathy and relationship skills. The aim of this research is to critically evaluate the potential contribution of emotional intelligence for the Jordanian universities on the level of job satisfaction and the performance of faculty as well as its positive impact on the educational standards.

Keywords: emotional intelligence, higher education, job performance, job satisfaction

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Authors: Goh Mingyuan Asher, Nurul Fadiah Johari, Neo Yu Wei, Kim Aryung, Ho Kong Chong, Irene Y. H. N. G.

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The COVID-19 pandemic represents an externally induced force as they face a combination of reduced work, dismissal, and job change for young precarious workers. The paper drew insights from two interview waves of the in-work poverty study in Singapore which were conducted a year apart. By analysing respondents’ job histories before and at the start of the pandemic as well as their job experiences over the two waves of interviews, the study found the presence of what scholars describe as trap and stepping stone trajectories. Trap trajectories refer to how the nature of precarious employment leads respondents to be in dead-end jobs with no room for progression while stepping stone trajectories refer to how poor work provides opportunities for the accumulation of work experiences. We also look at how structure, agency and biographical factors affect job trajectories and discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on work experiences and the implications of the bifurcation of trajectory outcomes on poverty and inequality among the young working poor in Singapore.

Keywords: working poor, precarity, young workers, COVID-19, work trajectories

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Authors: Amelia Tero-Vescan, Camil-Eugen Vari, Laura Ciulea, Cristina Filip, Silvia Imre

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A HPLC –UV method for the identification of ephedrine (EPH), sibutramine (SB), yohimbine (Y) and caffeine (CF) was developed. Separation was performed on a Kromasil 100-RP8, 150 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 mm column equipped with a precolumn Kromasil RP 8. Mobile phase was a gradient of 80-35 % sodium dihydrogen phosphate pH=5 with NH4OH and acetonitrile over 15 minutes time of analysis. Based on the responses of 113 athletes about dietary supplements (DS) consumed for "fat burning" and weight loss which have a legal status in Romania, 28 supplements have been selected and investigated for their content in CF, Y, legal substances, and SB, EPH (prohibited substances in DS). The method allows quantitative determination of the four substances in a short analysis time and with minimum cost. The presence of SB and EPH in the analyzed DS was not detected while the content in CF and Y considering the dosage recommended by the manufacturer does not affect the health of the consumers. DS labeling (plant extracts with CF and Y content) allows manufacturers to avoid declaring correct and exact amounts per pharmaceutical form (pure CF or equivalent and Y, respectively).

Keywords: dietary supplements, sibutramine, ephedrine, yohimbine, caffeine, HPLC

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Authors: Valerii Dudin

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With the continuous increase in quantity and importance of the information surrounding our daily lives, it has become crucial to understand what makes information stand out and affect our point of view, regardless of the accuracy of the facts involved. Alaa Al-Aswany’s numerous works have been an inspiration for millions of his readers in Egypt and all across the Arab World. While highly factual, the author’s political essays are both lexically and stylistically rich; they also implement descriptive allusions and proverbs to support the presented opinions. We have undertaken an effort to explore the impact on the individual perception through these political works of the author. In this study, we have overviewed previously made research on similar subjects and through contextual, intertextual, linguistic and corpus analyses we have come to realize the presence of suggestive themes in these works, capable of shaping the reader’s perception regarding a certain topic, specifically targeting the reader’s emotional bias. The findings presented in the study will reveal an overview of such examples of suggestive elements used in the author’s works, as well as various new insights on what can be considered suggestive in the context of modern Arabic printed press.

Keywords: Alaa al-Aswany, cognitive linguistics, political essays, suggestion

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Authors: Houda Najeh, Stéphane Ploix, Mahendra Pratap Singh, Karim Chabir, Mohamed Naceur Abdelkrim

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Building systems are highly vulnerable to different kinds of faults and failures. In fact, various faults, failures and human behaviors could affect the building performance. This paper tackles the detection of unreliable sensors in buildings. Different literature surveys on diagnosis techniques for sensor grids in buildings have been published but all of them treat only bias and outliers. Occurences of data gaps have also not been given an adequate span of attention in the academia. The proposed methodology comprises the automatic thresholding for data gap detection for a set of heterogeneous sensors in instrumented buildings. Sensor measurements are considered to be regular time series. However, in reality, sensor values are not uniformly sampled. So, the issue to solve is from which delay each sensor become faulty? The use of time series is required for detection of abnormalities on the delays. The efficiency of the method is evaluated on measurements obtained from a real power plant: an office at Grenoble Institute of technology equipped by 30 sensors.

Keywords: building system, time series, diagnosis, outliers, delay, data gap

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Authors: Bruno Diniz Fecchio

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Operations have been demanding increasingly challenging operational targets for the dewatering process, requiring lower humidity for concentrates. Chemical dewatering agents are able to improve solid/liquid separation processes, allowing operations to deal with increased complexity caused by either mineralogical changes or seasonal events that present operations with challenging moisture requirements for transportation and downstream steps. These chemicals reduce water retention by reducing the capillary pressure of the mineral and contributing to improved water drainage. This current study addresses the reagent effects on pile dewatering for Bauxite. Such chemicals were able to decrease the moisture of granulated Bauxite (particle size of 5 – 50 mm). The results of the laboratory scale tests and industrial trials presented the obtention of up to 11% relative moisture reduction, which reinforced the strong interaction between dewatering agents and the particle surface of granulated Bauxite. The evaluated dewatering agents, however, did not present any negative impact on these operations.

Keywords: bauxite, dewatering agents, pile dewatering, moisture reduction

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Authors: Jacob Wood, David Wilson, Stephen Hughes

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The Ausmelt Top Submerged Lance (TSL) Process has been widely applied for the processing of both primary and secondary copper, nickel, lead, tin, and zinc-bearing feed materials. Continual development and evolution of the technology over more than 30 years has resulted in a more intense smelting process with higher energy efficiency, improved metal recoveries, lower operating costs, and reduced fossil fuel consumption. This paper covers a number of recent advances to the technology, highlighting their positive impacts on smelter operating costs, environmental performance, and contribution towards increased circularity in metals production.

Keywords: ausmelt TSL, smelting, circular economy, energy efficiency

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Authors: Ashkan Golgoon, Souhayl Sadik, Arash Yavari

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Eigenstrains in nonlinear solids are created due to anelastic effects such as non-uniform temperature distributions, growth, remodeling, and defects. Eigenstrains understanding is indispensable, as they can generate residual stresses and strongly affect the overall response of solids. Here, we study the residual stress and deformation fields of an incompressible isotropic infinite wedge with a circumferentially-symmetric distribution of finite eigenstrains. We construct a material manifold, whose Riemannian metric explicitly depends on the eigenstrain distribution, thereby we turn the problem into a classical nonlinear elasticity problem, where we find an embedding of the Riemannian material manifold into the ambient Euclidean space. In particular, we find exact solutions for the residual stress and deformation fields of a neo-Hookean wedge having a symmetric inclusion with finite radial and circumferential eigenstrains. Moreover, we numerically solve a similar problem when a symmetric Mooney-Rivlin inhomogeneity with finite eigenstrains is placed in a neo-Hookean wedge. Generalization of the eigenstrain problem to other geometries are also discussed.

Keywords: finite eigenstrains, geometric mechanics, inclusion, inhomogeneity, nonlinear elasticity

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Authors: Nimesh D. Chaudhari

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The purpose of this study was to find out the interrelationship of BMI with strength, i.e. endurance strength of abdominal muscles and explosive strength of leg muscles, speed and flexibility which are respectively assessed by sit up, standing broad jump, 50 yard dash and sit and reach tests. 48 boys, aged 7 to 13 years as group A and 40 boys, aged 17 to 28 years asgroup B were selected as the subjects for the study. Product moment correlation coefficient test (r at 0.05 level of significance) was applied to test hypothesis. The findings of the study shows that there is significant relationship of BMI with endurance strength of abdominal muscles, explosive strength of leg muscles, and flexibility whereas a negative significant relationship was found between BMI and speed in group A, i.e. aged from 7 to 13 years. However, there was no significant relationship of BMI with endurance strength of abdominal muscles, explosive strength of leg muscles, speed and flexibility in higher age group.

Keywords: body mass index, strength of abdominal muscles, explosive strength of leg muscles, flexibility of lower back and hamstring muscles

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Authors: D. F. Carigma, E. Cruzado, M. J. Hagos, K. Perater, D. Ramos, R. Navarro, R. Galingan

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Korean culture disseminates rapidly across the globe. The young generation is highly engaged in Korean trends, such as Korean pop music, dramas or movies, fashion, food, and beauty standards. With the use of media, the effects of Korean trends may have resulted in the effects of media on people and society, such as addiction, perceptual influence, psychological effect, time consumption, and impulsive spending. The study aimed to determine whether there is a relationship between variable factors affecting the student's academic performance. The proponents used a quantitative approach in the 388 participants at the Technological Institute of the Philippines. This study shows that the Korean trends and the effect of media on people and society correlated to its variable factors. Moreover, this study may help future research in colleges and universities in the Philippines about how the students in higher education who engage in Korean trends affect their behavior and academic performance.

Keywords: academic performance, addiction, effect of media on people and society, Korean trend, perceptual influence, psychological effect

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Authors: A. Bedük, k. Eryeşil, o. Eşmen, m. Onacak

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The mobbing is a process that is consisting of negative behaviors such as, systematically and continuously insulting, offending against personal dignity, preventing access to necessary information and disseminating rumors against employee by one or more than one individuals in a work environment through which disturbing the employee physically, psychologically and socially to cause to quit his/her job. This research is aiming to explore the results of mobbing (psychological violence) on employees’ organizational commitment in workplaces. Mobbing takes many forms and is often used to force an employee to leave the work environment. Two different types of scales have been reviewed and revised for use in the research. The Heinz Leymann scale is the first measure, which was developed to define causes and effects, in addition to characteristic behaviors of mobbing. The second scale was developed by Allen and Mayer and indicates levels of organizational commitment. In this research, a questionnaire were applied to 50 employees in a special glass factory in Konya to search mobbing itself and indicate the effects of mobbing to organizational commitments. One of the important findings of this research is that there was no relation between mobbing and general organizational commitment.

Keywords: mobbing, organizational commitment, affective commitment, normative commitment, continuance commitment

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Authors: Corina E. Niculaescu, Ivan Sangiorgi, Adrian R. Bell

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The COVID-19 pandemic has been life-changing in many aspects of people’s daily and social lives, but has it also changed attitudes towards investments? This paper explores the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on retail investors’ levels of investments in the U.S. during the first COVID-19 wave in summer 2020. This is an unprecedented health crisis, which could lead to changes in investment behavior, including irrational behavior in retail investors. As such, this study aims to inform policymakers of what happened to investment decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic so that they can protect retail investors during extreme events like a global health crisis. The study aims to answer two research questions. First, was the level of investments affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and if so, why? Second, how were investments affected by retail investors’ personal experience with COVID-19? The research analysis is based on primary survey data collected on the Amazon Mechanical Turk platform from a representative sample of U.S. respondents. Responses were collected between the 15th of July and 28th of August 2020 from 1,148 U.S. retail investors who hold mutual fund investments and a savings account. The research explores whether being affected by COVID-19, change in the level of savings, and risk capacity can explain the change in the level of investments by using regression analysis. The dependent variable is changed in investments measured as decrease, no change, and increase. For this reason, the methodology used is ordered probit regression models. The results show that retail investors in the U.S. increased their investments during the first wave of COVID-19, which is unexpected as investors are usually more cautious in crisis times. Moreover, the study finds that those who were affected personally by COVID-19 (e.g., tested positive) were more likely to increase their investments, which is irrational behavior and contradicts expectations. An increase in the level of savings and risk capacity was also associated with increased investments. Overall, the findings show that having personal experience with a health crisis can have an impact on one’s investment decisions as well. Those findings are important for both retail investors and policymakers, especially now that online trading platforms have made trading easily accessible to everyone. There are risks and potential irrational behaviors associated with investment decisions during times of crisis, and it is important that retail investors are aware of them before making financial decisions.

Keywords: COVID-19, financial decision-making, health crisis retail investors, survey

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Authors: Salim Ahmed

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Electrocoagulation has proven its effectiveness in industrial effluent treatment by eliminating pollutants, particularly metallic ones. The electrochemical processes that occur at aluminium electrodes give excellent performance. In this work, electrocoagulation tests were carried out on an industrial effluent from an electroplating bath located in Casablanca (Morocco). The aim was to remove chromium and reuse the purified water for other purposes within the company. To this end, we have optimised the operating parameters that affect the efficiency of electrocoagulation, such as electrical voltage, electrode material, stirring speed and distance between electrodes. We also evaluated these parameters. The effect on pH, conductivity, turbidity and chromium concentration. The tests were carried out in a perfectly stirred reactor on an industrial solution rich in chromium. The effluent concentration was 1000 mg/L of Cr6+. Chromium removal efficiency was determined for the following operating conditions: aluminium electrodes, regulated voltage of 6 volts and 12 volts, optimum stirring speed of 600 rpm and distance between electrodes of 2 cm. The sludge produced by electrocoagulation was characterised by X-ray diffractometry, infrared spectroscopy (IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Keywords: wastewater, chromium, electrocoagulation, aluminium, aluminium hydroxide

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Authors: Arianne Van Der Wal, Femke Van Horen, Amir Grinstein

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Consumers in today’s world are confronted with the alarming consequences of unsustainable behavior such as pollution and resource degradation. In addition, they are facing an increase in uncertainty due to, for instance, economic instability and terror attacks. Although these two problems are central to consumers’ lives, occur on a global scale, and have significant impact on the world’s political, economic, environmental, and social landscapes, they have not been systematically studied in tandem before. Contributing to research on persuasion and pro-social behavior, this paper shows in five studies (three experimental studies and one field study) that the two problems are intertwined. We demonstrate that uncertainty leads to lower sustainable behavior in comparison to certainty (Studies 1 and 2) and that this is due to consumers displaying higher levels of temporal discounting (i.e., adopting a more immediate orientation; Study 2). Finally, providing valuable implications for policy makers and responsible marketers, we show that emphasizing the immediate benefits of sustainable behavior during uncertainty buffers the negative effect (Studies 3 and 4).

Keywords: sustainable behavior, uncertainty, temporal discounting, framing

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Authors: Craig Nsakabwebwe Kabange

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The current study investigated the synergetic effect of two activators, mainly sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS) and ammonium sulfate (NH₄)₂SO₄, as sulphidizersin the flotation of oxide minerals. A series of flotation tests were conducted on copper-cobalt samples originating from the Kamoyaopen pitin the DRCat an adjusted pH value of 9.5. The results revealed that in the presence of NaHS (5000g/t), an increase in the recovery values of both metals to a maximum of 87% copper and 78.1% cobalt could be achieved. However, the addition of (NH4)₂SO4 to theNaHS-containing pulp had a negative effect on the recoveries, shifting it from 87 to 49.1% for copper and from78.1 to 49.2% forcobalt. The recovery trend for the two metals waskept below 50% with an increase in the concentration of(NH₄)₂SO4. A satisfactory result was obtained at a NaHS - (NH₄)₂SO₄ concentration ratio of 1/1, which delivered 89.5 % Cu recovery and 79.2% Co recovery.

Keywords: ammonium sulphate, sodium hydrosulphide, sulphidizer, activator

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Authors: Mona Baniahmadi, Saied Haghanifar

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Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is regarded as a promising technology for the optimization of supply chain processes since it improves manufacturing and retail operations from forecasting demand for planning, managing inventory, and distribution. This study precisely aims at learning to know the RFID technology and at explaining how it can concretely be used for supply chain management and how it can help improving it in the case of Hejrat Company which is located in Iran and works on the distribution of medical drugs and cosmetics. This study uses some statistical analysis to calculate the expected benefits of an integrated RFID system on supply chain obtained through competitive advantages increases with decreasing cost factor. The study investigates how the cost of storage process, labor cost, the cost of missing goods, inventory management optimization, on-time delivery, order cost, lost sales and supply process optimization affect the performance of the integrated RFID supply chain regarding cost factors and provides a competitive advantage.

Keywords: cost, competitive advantage, radio frequency identification, supply chain

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Authors: Sunanta Klibthong

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Inclusive education services for students with Autism remains in its early developmental stages in Thailand. Despite many more children with autism are attending schools since the Thai government introduced the Education Provision for People with Disabilities Act in 2008, the services students with autism and their families receive are generally lacking. This quantitative study used Attitude and Preparedness to Teach Students with Autism Scale (APTSAS) to investigate 110 primary school teachers’ attitude and preparedness to teach students with autism in the general education classroom. Descriptive statistical analysis of the data found that student behaviour was the most significant factor in building teachers’ negative attitudes students with autism. The majority of teachers also indicated that their pre-service education did not prepare them to meet the learning needs of children with autism in particular, those who are non-verbal. The study is significant and provides direction for enhancing teacher education for inclusivity in Thailand.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, Thailand

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Authors: A. Abdikian

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Propagation of nonlinear acoustic wave in dense electron-positron (e-p) plasmas in the presence of an external magnetic field and stationary ions (to neutralize the plasma background) is studied. By means of the quantum hydrodynamics model and applying the reductive perturbation method, the Zakharov-Kuznetsov equation is derived. Using the bifurcation theory of planar dynamical systems, the compressive structure of electrostatic solitary wave and periodic travelling waves is found. The numerical results show how the ion density ratio, the ion cyclotron frequency, and the direction cosines of the wave vector affect the nonlinear electrostatic travelling waves. The obtained results may be useful to better understand the obliquely nonlinear electrostatic travelling wave of small amplitude localized structures in dense magnetized quantum e-p plasmas and may be applicable to study the particle and energy transport mechanism in compact stars such as the interior of massive white dwarfs etc.

Keywords: bifurcation theory, phase portrait, magnetized electron-positron plasma, the Zakharov-Kuznetsov equation

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Authors: Kingfahd Adewale Adedapo, Adekunle Ajisebiyawo

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The focus of this paper is to explore the different theoretical perspectives that underline academic attempts at understanding and explaining the nature of conflicts in Africa. The African environment is riddled with the past history of conflicts among groups either for an economic outlet or imperial space, and most often, such past negative interactions have made it difficult even now for some of these groups to live harmoniously together within the present state system and to trust each other. The paper observed that no one theory or explanatory schema could offer a holistic explanation of conflict in Africa. At best, each of the possible theories can only offer a partial explanation of the causes and nature of conflict in a particular African society or state. This paper, therefore, attempted to synthesize the many sources of theories of conflicts and provided the intellectual background from which these different theories emanated. Therefore, if this paper has done anything at all, it is to offer the basis for assessing different theoretical strands aimed at offering cogent and reliable explanations for most of the conflicts in Africa and especially in the West African sub-region.

Keywords: conflict, functionalism, humanitarianism, structuralism, theory

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Authors: Ranya Elkhayat

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This paper aims at offering a futures study for higher education in the Middle East. Paying special attention to the negative impacts of neoliberalism, the paper will demonstrate how higher education is now commodified, corporatized and how arts and humanities are eschewed in favor of science and technology. This conceptual paper argues against the neoliberal agenda and aims at providing an alternative exemplified in the Capabilities Approach with special reference to Martha Nussbaum’s theory. The paper is divided into four main parts: the current state of higher education under neoliberal values, a prediction of the conditions of higher education in the near future, the future of higher education using the theoretical framework of the Capabilities Approach, and finally, some areas of concern regarding the approach. The implications of the study demonstrate that Nussbaum’s Capabilities Approach will ensure that the values of education are preserved while avoiding the pitfalls of neoliberalism.

Keywords: capabilities approach, education future, higher education, MENA

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Authors: Ping Xu, Gregory T. Golm, Guanghan (Frank) Liu

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In the presence of competing events, traditional survival analysis may not be appropriate and can result in biased estimates, as it assumes independence between competing events and the event of interest. Instead, competing risk analysis should be considered to correctly estimate the survival probability of the event of interest and the hazard ratio between treatment groups. The COVID-19 pandemic has provided a potential source of competing risks in clinical trials, as participants in trials may experienceCOVID-related competing events before the occurrence of the event of interest, for instance, death due to COVID-19, which can affect the incidence rate of the event of interest. We have performed simulation studies to compare multiple competing risk analysis models, including the cumulative incidence function, the sub-distribution hazard function, and the cause-specific hazard function, to the traditional survival analysis model under various scenarios. We also provide a general recommendation on conducting competing risk analysis in randomized clinical trials during the era of the COVID-19 pandemic based on the extensive simulation results.

Keywords: competing risk, survival analysis, simulations, randomized clinical trial, COVID-19 pandemic

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Authors: Onur Yuksel

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In today’s complex foreign relations between countries, the nuclear enrichment and nuclear weapon have become a threat for all states in the world. There are couple isolated states which have capacity to produce nuclear weapons such as Iran and North Korea. In this article, Iran nuclear negotiation was analyzed in terms of its relations especially with The United States in order to find the important factors that affect the course of the ongoing nuclear negotiation. In this sense, the Force Field Analysis was used by determining and setting forth Driving and Restraining Forces of the nuclear negotiations in order to see the big picture and to develop strategies that may improve the long-term ongoing Iran nuclear negotiations. It is found that Iran nuclear negotiation heavily depends on breaking down the idea of Iran’s supporting terrorist organizations and being more transparent about nuclear and uranium enrichment. Also, it was found that Iran has to rebuild its relations with Western countries, especially with the United States. In addition, the counties— who contribute to Iran nuclear negotiations— will need to work on the dynamics and drivers of the Israel and Iran relations in order to peacefully transform the conflict between the two states.

Keywords: driving force, Iran nuclear negotiation, restraining force, the force field analysis

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Authors: Petros M. Chronopoulos, Evangelos Z. Astreinidis

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A major issue of the structural assessment and rehabilitation of existing RC structures is the inadequate lap-splicing of the longitudinal reinforcement. Although prohibited by modern Design Codes, the practice of arranging lap-splices inside the critical regions of RC elements was commonly applied in the past. Today this practice is still the rule, at least for conventional new buildings. Therefore, a lot of relevant research is ongoing in many earthquake prone countries. The rehabilitation of deficient lap-splices of RC elements by means of external confinement is widely accepted as the most efficient technique. If correctly applied, this versatile technique offers a limited increase of flexural capacity and a considerable increase of local ductility and of axial and shear capacities. Moreover, this intervention does not affect the stiffness of the elements and does not affect the dynamic characteristics of the structure. This technique has been extensively discussed and researched contributing to vast accumulation of technical and scientific knowledge that has been reported in relevant books, reports and papers, and included in recent Design Codes and Guides. These references are mostly dealing with modeling and redesign, covering both the enhanced (axial and) shear capacity (due to the additional external closed hoops or jackets) and the increased ductility (due to the confining action, preventing the unzipping of lap-splices and the buckling of continuous reinforcement). An analytical and experimental program devoted to RC members with lap-splices is completed in the Lab. of RC/NTU of Athens/GR. This program aims at the proposal of a rational and safe theoretical model and the calibration of the relevant Design Codes’ provisions. Tests, on forty two (42) full scale specimens, covering mostly beams and columns (not walls), strengthened or not, with adequate or inadequate lap-splices, have been already performed and evaluated. In this paper, the results of twelve (12) specimens under fully reversed cyclic actions are presented and discussed. In eight (8) specimens the lap-splices were inadequate (splicing length of 20 or 30 bar diameters) and they were retrofitted before testing by means of additional external confinement. The two (2) most commonly applied confining materials were used in this study, namely steel and FRPs. More specifically, jackets made of CFRP wraps or light cages made of mild steel were applied. The main parameters of these tests were (i) the degree of confinement (internal and external), and (ii) the length of lap-splices, equal to 20, 30 or 45 bar diameters. These tests were thoroughly instrumented and monitored, by means of conventional (LVDTs, strain gages, etc.) and innovative (optic fibre-Bragg-grating) sensors. This allowed for a thorough investigation of the most influencing design parameter, namely the hoop-stress developed in the confining material. Based on these test results and on comparisons with the provisions of modern Design Codes, it could be argued that shorter (than the normative) lap-splices, commonly found in old structures, could still be effective and safe (at least for lengths more than an absolute minimum), depending on the required ductility, if a properly arranged and adequately detailed external confinement is applied.

Keywords: concrete, fibre-Bragg-grating sensors, lap-splices, retrofitting / rehabilitation

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Authors: Olusegun Paul Adesanya, Oluwatomilade Olominu, Olusegun Idowu

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This study investigates new dangers that West African migrants travelling through the Sahara Desert to Europe contend with. COVID-19 has left an unprecedented impact on all aspects of global politics, migration inclusive. In turn, limitations to migration have drastically increased, especially the stricter visa application measures set by European countries. This intensified attempts at crisscrossing the desert to Europe. In turn, several migrants used the Sahara as the highway to Europe. While some persons successfully travelled through the desert-scape, several others were unsuccessful. Notwithstanding the negative experiences of previous migrants, several other nationals across the region have plans to travel through the desert to Europe. As such, this study employs a mixed method of research reliant on qualitative and quantitative methods of data gathering and analysis. The study holds that there are new dangers to the aspirations of West Africans travelling to Europe through the Sahara and the Mediterranean Sea.

Keywords: migrants, Sahara Desert, West Africa, crisscrossing, dangers, irregular migration

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Authors: P. Maheshwari, M. Brindavan

Abstract:

The present research aimed to study the level of socio-emotional skills and perceived self-efficacy of children with learning disability. The study further investigated the relationship between the levels of socio-emotional skills, perceived self-efficacy and academic achievement of children with learning disability. The sample comprised of 40 children with learning disability as their primary condition, belonging to middle or upper middle class, living with both the parents, residing in Mumbai. Purposive or Judgmental and snowball sampling technique was used to select the sample for the study. Proformas in the form of questionnaires were used to obtain the background information of the children with learning disability. A self-constructed Child’s Perceived Self-Efficacy Assessment Scale and Child’s Social and Emotional Skills Assessment Scale was used to measure the level of child’s perceived self-efficacy and their level of social and emotional skill respectively. Academic scores of the child were collected from the child’s parents or teachers and were converted into a percentage. The data was analyzed quantitatively using SPSS. Spearman rho or Pearson Product Moment correlation was used to ascertain the multiple relationships between child’s perceived self-efficacy, child’s social and emotional skills and child’s academic achievement. The findings revealed majority (27) of the children with learning disability perceived themselves having above average level of social and emotional skills while 13 out of 40 perceived their level of social and emotional skills at an average level. Domain wise analyses revealed that, in the domain of self- management (26) and relationship skills (22) more number of the children perceived themselves as having average or below average level of social and emotional skills indicating that they perceived themselves as having average or below average skills in regulating their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations, establishing and maintaining healthy and rewarding relationships with diverse groups and individuals. With regard to perceived self-efficacy, the majority of the children with learning disability perceived themselves as having above average level of self-efficacy. Looking at the data domain wise it was found that, in the domains of self-regulated learning and emotional self-efficacy, 50% of the children perceived themselves at average or below average level, indicating that they perceived themselves as average on competencies like organizing academic activities, structuring environment to make it conducive for learning, expressing emotions in a socially acceptable manner. Further, the correlations were computed, and significant positive correlations were found between children’s social and emotional skills and academic achievement (r=.378, p < .01), and between children’s social and emotional skills and child’s perceived self-efficacy (r = .724, p < .01) and a positive significant correlation was also found between children’s perceived self-efficacy and academic achievement (r=.332, p < .05). Results of the study emphasize on planning intervention for children with learning disability focusing on improving self-management and relationship skills, self-regulated learning and emotional self-efficacy.

Keywords: learning disability, social and emotional skills, perceived self-efficacy, academic achievement

Procedia PDF Downloads 238

Authors: Seyed Ali Mohammadiborna, Mehdi Ravanshadnia

Abstract:

Project delays usually detrimentally affect perceptions of project success and can in some instances, result in increased costs and other time-related damages to project stakeholders. One of the realities in the national infrastructure projects is that since the primary stakeholders are state-affiliated, the delay factors of the projects have not been seriously taken into account despite the importance of on-time completion of projects. Project postponement has different economic and social consequences and leads to the technical and economic infeasibility of the infrastructure projects in the form of reduced productivity and exploitation capacity. The present study aimed at investigating delay factors of Iranian national infrastructure projects according to regulatory reports of the Plan and Budget Organization (BPO) of Iran. The present study scrutinized the influence of each of the factors that caused delays in national Iranian infrastructure projects according to the supervision reports of the planning and budget organization in 8 years. For this purpose, the study analyzed the information regarding the impact of 12 key delay factors causing delays in average 4867 projects per year in all provinces. The said factors were classified into the three groups of executive, credit, and financial and environmental-procurement factors.

Keywords: delays, infrastructure, projects, regulatory

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Vilma Deltuvaitė

Abstract:

Comparisons of financial development across countries are central to answering many of the questions on factors leading to economic development. For this reason this study analyzes the implications of financial system’s development on country’s economic development. The aim of the article: to analyze the impact of financial system’s development on economic development. The following research methods were used: systemic, logical and comparative analysis of scientific literature, analysis of statistical data, time series model (Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Model). The empirical results suggest about positive short and long term effect of stock market development on GDP per capita.

Keywords: banking sector, economic development, financial system’s development, stock market, private bond market

Procedia PDF Downloads 377