Search results for: website evaluations
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 796

Search results for: website evaluations

286 Promoting Academic and Social-Emotional Growth of Students with Learning Differences Through Differentiated Instruction

Authors: Jolanta Jonak

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Traditional classrooms are challenging for many students, but especially for students that learn differently due to cognitive makeup, learning preferences, or disability. These students often require different teaching approaches and learning opportunities to benefit from learning. Teachers frequently divert to using one teaching approach, the one that matches their own learning style. For instance, teachers that are auditory learners, likely default to providing auditory learning opportunities. However, if a student is a visual learner, he/she may not fully benefit from that teaching style. Based on research, students and their parents’ feedback, large numbers of students are not provided the type of education and types of supports they need in order to be successful in an academic environment. This eventually leads to not learning at an appropriate rate and ultimately leading to skill deficiencies and deficits. Providing varied learning approaches promote high academic and social-emotional growth of all students and it will prevent inaccurate Special Education referrals. Varied learning opportunities can be delivered for all students by providing Differentiated Instruction (DI). This type of instruction allows each student to learn in the most optimal way regardless of learning preferences and cognitive learning profiles. Using Differentiated Instruction will lead to a high level of student engagement and learning. In addition, experiencing success in the classroom, will contribute to increased social emotional wellbeing. Being cognizant of how teaching approaches impact student's learning, school staff can avoid inaccurate perceptions about the students’ learning abilities, unnecessary referrals for special education evaluations, and inaccurate decisions about the presence of a disability. This presentation will illustrate learning differences due to various factors, how to recognize them, and how to address them through Differentiated Instruction.

Keywords: special education, disability, differences, differentiated instruction, social emotional wellbeing

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285 Identification and Evaluation of Environmental Concepts in Paulo Coelho's "The Alchemist"

Authors: Tooba Sabir, Asima Jaffar, Namra Sabir, Mohammad Amjad Sabir

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Ecocriticism is the study of relationship between human and environment which has been represented in literature since the very beginning in pastoral tradition. However, the analysis of such representation is new as compared to the other critical evaluations like Psychoanalysis, Marxism, Post-colonialism, Modernism and many others. Ecocritics seek to find information like anthropocentrism, ecocentrism, ecofeminism, eco-Marxism, representation of environment and environmental concept and several other topics. In the current study the representation of environmental concepts, were ecocritically analyzed in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, one of the most read novels throughout the world, having been translated into many languages. Analysis of the text revealed, the representations of environmental ideas like landscapes and tourism, biodiversity, land-sea displacement, environmental disasters and warfare, desert winds and sand dunes. 'This desert was once a sea' throws light on different theories of land-sea displacement, one being the plate-tectonic theory which proposes Earth’s lithosphere to be divided into different large and small plates, continuously moving toward, away from or parallel to each other, resulting in land-sea displacement. Another theory is the continental drift theory which holds onto the belief that one large landmass—Pangea, broke down into smaller pieces of land that moved relative to each other and formed continents of the present time. The cause of desertification may, however, be natural i.e. climate change or artificial i.e. by human activities. Imagery of the environmental concepts, at some instances in the novel, is detailed and at other instances, is not as striking, but still is capable of arousing readers’ imagination. The study suggests that ecocritical justifications of environmental concepts in the text will increase the interactions between literature and environment which should be encouraged in order to induce environmental awareness among the readers.

Keywords: biodiversity, ecocritical analysis, ecocriticism, environmental disasters, landscapes

Procedia PDF Downloads 238
284 Utilizing Fiber-Based Modeling to Explore the Presence of a Soft Storey in Masonry-Infilled Reinforced Concrete Structures

Authors: Akram Khelaifia, Salah Guettala, Nesreddine Djafar Henni, Rachid Chebili

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Recent seismic events have underscored the significant influence of masonry infill walls on the resilience of structures. The irregular positioning of these walls exacerbates their adverse effects, resulting in substantial material and human losses. Research and post-earthquake evaluations emphasize the necessity of considering infill walls in both the design and assessment phases. This study delves into the presence of soft stories in reinforced concrete structures with infill walls. Employing an approximate method relying on pushover analysis results, fiber-section-based macro-modeling is utilized to simulate the behavior of infill walls. The findings shed light on the presence of soft first stories, revealing a notable 240% enhancement in resistance for weak column—strong beam-designed frames due to infill walls. Conversely, the effect is more moderate at 38% for strong column—weak beam-designed frames. Interestingly, the uniform distribution of infill walls throughout the structure's height does not influence soft-story emergence in the same seismic zone, irrespective of column-beam strength. In regions with low seismic intensity, infill walls dissipate energy, resulting in consistent seismic behavior regardless of column configuration. Despite column strength, structures with open-ground stories remain vulnerable to soft first-story emergence, underscoring the crucial role of infill walls in reinforced concrete structural design.

Keywords: masonry infill walls, soft Storey, pushover analysis, fiber section, macro-modeling

Procedia PDF Downloads 34
283 A Cross-Sectional Study on Board Certified Pharmacists in Arab Countries 2018 Update

Authors: Mohamed Anwar Hammad, Khaled Mohamed Al Akhali, Yasmin Elsobky

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Board certification is a voluntary process that confirms a pharmacist's capability, competency, education, skills, and proficiency beyond what is essential for licensure. This analysis was intended to investigate the prevalence of board-certified pharmacists in the Arab countries and compare the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Canada. A cross-sectional study was conducted. The data were mined from the BPS website. Data were managed by IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0 and presented as descriptive statistics. Of 36918 Board certified pharmacists (BCPs) until February 2018, only 4038 (10.9%) were from the outside United States of America. From 4038 BCPs, about 1782 (44.1%) were from Arab nations. Egypt has the top prevalence of the BPS among the Arab countries 937 (52.6%) BCPs. However, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia comes in the second position 442 (24.8%). Pharmacotherapy (BCPS), nutrition support pharmacy (BCNSP), critical care pharmacy (BCCCP) and oncology pharmacy (BCOP) are the highest specialties by 1474 (82.7%), 114 (6.4%), 61 (3.42%) and 60 (3.37%) respectively, while, infectious diseases pharmacy (AQID), cardiology pharmacy (AQCD) and nuclear pharmacy (BCNP) are the lowest prevalence of specialties by 7 (0.4%), 6 (0.3%) and 1 (0.06%) respectively. Added qualifications were canceled and became a new specialty in BPS as the rest of the specialties. Both infectious diseases and cardiology specialties exams are not conducted yet all over the world from the beginning of 2018. Egypt has the second prevalence 937 (2.54%), before Canada 920 (2.49%) and after United States of America 32880 (89.06%) in the worldwide in terms of BCPs. In conclusion the BCPS is the uppermost specialty; however, there is still a need for all the other specialties. In a short period, BCCCP jumped to the third position. Cardiology and infectious disease will be new specialties. Egyptian pharmacists are in the top of Arab countries, and 2nd in worldwide BCPs.

Keywords: AQCD, AQID, Arab countries, BCACP, BCCCP, BCGP, BCNP, BCNSP, BCOP, BCPPS, BCPS, BCPP, Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS), Canada, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, USA

Procedia PDF Downloads 184
282 Formation of the Investment Portfolio of Intangible Assets with a Wide Pairwise Comparison Matrix Application

Authors: Gulnara Galeeva

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The Analytic Hierarchy Process is widely used in the economic and financial studies, including the formation of investment portfolios. In this study, a generalized method of obtaining a vector of priorities for the case with separate pairwise comparisons of the expert opinion being presented as a set of several equal evaluations on a ratio scale is examined. The author claims that this method allows solving an important and up-to-date problem of excluding vagueness and ambiguity of the expert opinion in the decision making theory. The study describes the authentic wide pairwise comparison matrix. Its application in the formation of the efficient investment portfolio of intangible assets of a small business enterprise with limited funding is considered. The proposed method has been successfully approbated on the practical example of a functioning dental clinic. The result of the study confirms that the wide pairwise comparison matrix can be used as a simple and reliable method for forming the enterprise investment policy. Moreover, a comparison between the method based on the wide pairwise comparison matrix and the classical analytic hierarchy process was conducted. The results of the comparative analysis confirm the correctness of the method based on the wide matrix. The application of a wide pairwise comparison matrix also allows to widely use the statistical methods of experimental data processing for obtaining the vector of priorities. A new method is available for simple users. Its application gives about the same accuracy result as that of the classical hierarchy process. Financial directors of small and medium business enterprises get an opportunity to solve the problem of companies’ investments without resorting to services of analytical agencies specializing in such studies.

Keywords: analytic hierarchy process, decision processes, investment portfolio, intangible assets

Procedia PDF Downloads 240
281 Comparison of Medical Students Evaluation by Serious Games and Clinical Case-Multiple Choice Questions

Authors: Chamtouri I., Kechida M.

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Background: Evaluation has a prominent role in medical education and graduation. This evaluation has usually done in face-to-face, by written or oral questions. Simulation is increasingly taking a part as a method of evaluation. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which disrupted face-to-face evaluation, simulation using serious games (SG) is emerging in the field of training and assessment of medical students. The aim of our study is to compare the results of the evaluation of medical students by virtual simulation by online serious games versus clinical case-multiple choice questions (MCQ) and to assess the degree of satisfaction from these two evaluation methods. Methods: Medical students from the same study level were voluntarily participated in this study. Groupe 1 had an evaluation by SG dealing with “diagnosis and management of ST-segment elevationmyocardialinfarction (STEMI)alreadyprepared on the website www.Mediactiv.com. Groupe 2 were evaluated by clinical case-MCQ having thes same topic as SG. Results of the two groups were compared. Satisfaction questionnaire was filled by the two groups. Satisfaction degree was compared between the two groups. Results. In this study, 64 medical students (G1:31 and G2: 33) were enrolled. Obtaining complete notes in the "questioning" and "clinical examination" parts is significantly more important in-group 1 compared to group 2. No significant difference detected between the two groups in terms of “ECG interpretation” and “diagnosis of STEMI” parts. A greater number of students of group 1 obtained the full note compared to group 2 in “the initial treatment part” (54.8% vs. 39.4%; p = 0.04). Thirty learners (96.8%) in-group 1 obtained a total score ≥ 50% versus 69.7% in-group 2 (p = 0.004). The full score of 100% was obtained in three learners in-group1, while no student scored 100% in-group2 (p = 0.027). Medical evaluation using SG was reported as more innovative, fun, and realistic compared to evaluation by clinical case-MCQ. No significant difference detected between the two methods in terms of stress. Conclusion: Simulation by SG can be considered as an innovative and effective method in evaluating medical students with a higher degree of satisfaction.

Keywords: evaluation, serious games, medical students, satisfaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 120
280 Effects of Non-Diagnostic Haptic Information on Consumers' Product Judgments and Decisions

Authors: Eun Young Park, Jongwon Park

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A physical touch of a product can provide ample diagnostic information about the product attributes and quality. However, consumers’ product judgments and purchases can be erroneously influenced by non-diagnostic haptic information. For example, consumers’ evaluations of the coffee they drink could be affected by the heaviness of a cup that is used for just serving the coffee. This important issue has received little attention in prior research. The present research contributes to the literature by identifying when and how non-diagnostic haptic information can have an influence and why such influence occurs. Specifically, five studies experimentally varied the content of non-diagnostic haptic information, such as the weight of a cup (heavy vs. light) and the texture of a cup holder (smooth vs. rough), and then assessed the impact of the manipulation on product judgments and decisions. Results show that non-diagnostic haptic information has a biasing impact on consumer judgments. For example, the heavy (vs. light) cup increases consumers’ perception of the richness of coffee in it, and the rough (vs. smooth) texture of a cup holder increases the perception of the healthfulness of fruit juice in it, which in turn increases consumers’ purchase intentions of the product. When consumers are cognitively distracted during the touch experience, the impact of the content of haptic information is no longer evident, but the valence (positive vs. negative) of the haptic experience influences product judgments. However, consumers are able to avoid the impact of non-diagnostic haptic information, if and only if they are both knowledgeable about the product category and undistracted from processing the touch experience. In sum, the nature of the influence by non-diagnostic haptic information (i.e., assimilation effect vs. contrast effect vs. null effect) is determined by the content and valence of haptic information, the relative impact of which depends on whether consumers can identify the content and source of the haptic information. Theoretically, to our best knowledge, this research is the first to document the empirical evidence of the interplay between cognitive and affective processes that determines the impact of non-diagnostic haptic information. Managerial implications are discussed.

Keywords: consumer behavior, haptic information, product judgments, touch effect

Procedia PDF Downloads 139
279 A Multimodal Measurement Approach Using Narratives and Eye Tracking to Investigate Visual Behaviour in Perceiving Naturalistic and Urban Environments

Authors: Khizar Z. Choudhrya, Richard Coles, Salman Qureshi, Robert Ashford, Salim Khan, Rabia R. Mir

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Abstract: The majority of existing landscape research has been derived by conducting heuristic evaluations, without having empirical insight of real participant visual response. In this research, a modern multimodal measurement approach (using narratives and eye tracking) was applied to investigate visual behaviour in perceiving naturalistic and urban environments. This research is unique in exploring gaze behaviour on environmental images possessing different levels of saliency. Eye behaviour is predominantly attracted by salient locations. The concept of methodology of this research on naturalistic and urban environments is drawn from the approaches in market research. Borrowing methodologies from market research that examine visual responses and qualities provided a critical and hitherto unexplored approach. This research has been conducted by using mixed methodological quantitative and qualitative approaches. On the whole, the results of this research corroborated existing landscape research findings, but they also identified potential refinements. The research contributes both methodologically and empirically to human-environment interaction (HEI). This study focused on initial impressions of environmental images with the help of eye tracking. Taking under consideration the importance of the image, this study explored the factors that influence initial fixations in relation to expectations and preferences. In terms of key findings of this research it is noticed that each participant has his own unique navigation style while surfing through different elements of landscape images. This individual navigation style is given the name of ‘visual signature’. This study adds the necessary clarity that would complete the picture and bring an insight for future landscape researchers.

Keywords: human-environment interaction (HEI), multimodal measurement, narratives, eye tracking

Procedia PDF Downloads 318
278 The Impact of Model Specification Decisions on the Teacher ValuE-added Effectiveness: Choosing the Correct Predictors

Authors: Ismail Aslantas

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Value-Added Models (VAMs), the statistical methods for evaluating the effectiveness of teachers and schools based on student achievement growth, has attracted decision-makers’ and researchers’ attention over the last decades. As a result of this attention, many studies have conducted in recent years to discuss these statistical models from different aspects. This research focused on the importance of conceptual variables in VAM estimations; therefor, this research was undertaken to examine the extent to which value-added effectiveness estimates for teachers can be affected by using context predictions. Using longitudinal data over three years from the international school context, value-added teacher effectiveness was estimated by ordinary least-square value-added models, and the effectiveness of the teachers was examined. The longitudinal dataset in this study consisted of three major sources: students’ attainment scores up to three years and their characteristics, teacher background information, and school characteristics. A total of 1,027 teachers and their 35,355 students who were in eighth grade were examined for understanding the impact of model specifications on the value-added teacher effectiveness evaluation. Models were created using selection methods that adding a predictor on each step, then removing it and adding another one on a subsequent step and evaluating changes in model fit was checked by reviewing changes in R² values. Cohen’s effect size statistics were also employed in order to find out the degree of the relationship between teacher characteristics and their effectiveness. Overall, the results indicated that prior attainment score is the most powerful predictor of the current attainment score. 47.1 percent of the variation in grade 8 math score can be explained by the prior attainment score in grade 7. The research findings raise issues to be considered in VAM implementations for teacher evaluations and make suggestions to researchers and practitioners.

Keywords: model specification, teacher effectiveness, teacher performance evaluation, value-added model

Procedia PDF Downloads 107
277 Multi-National Corporations and International Communication. An Analysis of Arçelik globals’ Online Presences

Authors: Aisha Iddrsiu

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Public Relations (PR) has rapidly evolved around the world, just as companies have expanded to reach other parts of the world. With most multinational corporations conducting businesses in more than one country, only a few of these Multinational Corporations (MNC’s) are actual public relations firms, many have public relations departments or divisions that conduct public relations practices internationally. Hence international public relations is seen as a fast-growing specialty in the field of Public Relations. Multinational companies have devised strategies to effectively communicate and execute their roles within and between foreign publics and other cultures in which they operate through various means including the internet which is among the major inventions that have enabled corporations to establish their presents while targeting anonymous and diverse publics from varied cultures. International public relations practitioners rely on strategies coupled with internet use to communicate among and with foreign publics. Corporate websites and various social media handles have served as an important channel for public relations activities targeting both internal and international publics. In an incessant expansion of corporations and interactions with the publics from different cultures, it has become eminent to understand the public relation strategies used by MNCs in their international communication. This study therefore seeks to establish the international public relation strategies or models employed by Multinational Corporations specifically Arcelik Global in the management of its subsidiaries and communicating with international public. This study analyses both Arçelik global’s (one of the largest multinational companies in Turkey) website and social media accounts to understand the management strategy used with it subsidiary as well as strategies used to communicate with its global and local publics. Other underlying objective of this study are, 1. To examine the dominant international public relations models used by Multinational Corporations (Arcelik global). 2. To understand how Multinational Corporations manage (Arcelik global) its subsidiaries. 3. To understand how Multinational Corporations (Arcelik global) communicate with international or global publics. Research Questions 1. The main global PR strategies employed by multinational corporations (Arcelik global) 2. How subsidiaries of multinational corporations like Arcelik Global are managed. 3. How multinational corporations, like Arcelik worldwide, interact with international publics.

Keywords: multinational corporation, ethnocentric model, polycentric model, international public relations

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276 Evaluation of the Shelf Life of Horsetail Stems Stored in Ecological Packaging

Authors: Rosana Goncalves Das Dores, Maira Fonseca, Fernando Finger, Vicente Casali

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Equisetum hyemale L. (horsetail, Equisetaceae) is a medicinal plant used and commercialized in simple paper bags or non-ecological packaging in Brazil. The aim of this work was to evaluate the relation between the bioactive compounds of horsetail stems stored in ecological packages (multi-ply paper sacks) at room temperature. Stems in primary and secondary stage were harvested from an organic estate, on December 2016, selected, measured (length from the soil to the apex (cm), stem diameter at ground level (DGL mm) and breast height (DBH mm) and cut into 10 cm. For the post-harvest evaluations, stems were stored in multi-ply paper sacks and evaluated daily to the respiratory rate, fresh weight loss, pH, presence of fungi / mold, phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity. The analyses were done with four replicates, over time (regression) and compared at 1% significance (Tukey test). The measured heights were 103.7 cm and 143.5 cm, DGL was 2.5mm and 8.4 mm and DBH of 2.59 and 6.15 mm, respectively for primary and secondary stems stage. At both stages of development, in storage in multi-ply paper sacks, the greatest mass loss occurred at 48 h, decaying up to 120 hours, stabilizing at 192 hours. The peak respiratory rate increase occurred in 24 hours, coinciding with a change in pH (temperature and mean humidity was 23.5°C and 55%). No fungi or mold were detected, however, there was loss of color of the stems. The average yields of ethanolic extracts were equivalent (approximately 30%). Phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity were higher in secondary stems stage in up to 120 hours (AATt0 = 20%, AATt30 = 45%), decreasing at the end of the experiment (240 hours). The packaging used allows the commercialization of fresh stems of Equisetum for up to five days.

Keywords: paper sacks, phenolic content, antioxidant activity, medicinal plants, post-harvest, ecological packages, Equisetum

Procedia PDF Downloads 143
275 Bias Minimization in Construction Project Dispute Resolution

Authors: Keyao Li, Sai On Cheung

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Incorporation of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanism has been the main feature of current trend of construction project dispute resolution (CPDR). ADR approaches have been identified as efficient mechanisms and are suitable alternatives to litigation and arbitration. Moreover, the use of ADR in this multi-tiered dispute resolution process often leads to repeated evaluations of a same dispute. Multi-tiered CPDR may become a breeding ground for cognitive biases. When completed knowledge is not available at the early tier of construction dispute resolution, disputing parties may form preconception of the dispute matter or the counterpart. This preconception would influence their information processing in the subsequent tier. Disputing parties tend to search and interpret further information in a self-defensive way to confirm their early positions. Their imbalanced information collection would boost their confidence in the held assessments. Their attitudes would be hardened and difficult to compromise. The occurrence of cognitive bias, therefore, impedes efficient dispute settlement. This study aims to explore ways to minimize bias in CPDR. Based on a comprehensive literature review, three types of bias minimizing approaches were collected: strategy-based, attitude-based and process-based. These approaches were further operationalized into bias minimizing measures. To verify the usefulness and practicability of these bias minimizing measures, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten CPDR third party neutral professionals. All of the interviewees have at least twenty years of experience in facilitating settlement of construction dispute. The usefulness, as well as the implications of the bias minimizing measures, were validated and suggested by these experts. There are few studies on cognitive bias in construction management in general and in CPDR in particular. This study would be the first of its type to enhance the efficiency of construction dispute resolution by highlighting strategies to minimize the biases therein.

Keywords: bias, construction project dispute resolution, minimization, multi-tiered, semi-structured interview

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274 Self-Determination and Mental Disorders: Phenomenological Approach

Authors: Neringa Bagdonaite

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Background: The main focus of this paper is to explore how self-determination interplays in suicidal and addictive context leading one to autonomously choose self-destructive addictive behaviour or suicidal intentions. Methods: Phenomenological descriptions of the experiential structure of self-determination in addiction and suicidal mental life are used. The phenomenological method describes structures of mental life from the first-person-perspective, with a focus on how an experienced object is given in a subject’s conscious experience. Results: A sense of self-determination in the context of suicidal and addictive behaviour is possibly impaired. In the context of suicide, it's proposed that suicide is always experienced at least minimally self-determined, as it's the last freely discovered self-efficient behaviour, in terms of radically changing one's desperate mental state. Suicide can never be experienced as fully self-determined because no future retrospective re-evaluation of behaviour is possible. Understanding self-determination in addiction is challenging because addicts perceive themselves and experience situations differently depending on: (I) their level of intoxication; (II) whether the situation is in the moment or in retrospect; and (III) the goals set out in that situation. Furthermore, within phenomenology addiction is described as an embodied custom, which‘s acquired and established while performing 'psychotropic technique'. The main goal of performing such a technique is to continue 'floating in an indifference state' or being 'comfortably numb'. Conclusions: Based on rich phenomenological descriptions of the studied phenomenon, this paper draws on the premise that to experience self-determination in both suicide and addiction, underlying desperate or negative emotional states are needed. Such underlying desperate or negative mental life experiences are required for one to pre-reflectively evaluate suicide or addictive behaviours as positive, relieving or effective in terms of changing one's emotional states. Such pre-reflective positive evaluations serve as the base for the continuation of behaviour and later are identified reflectively.

Keywords: addiction, phenomenology, self-determination, self-effectivity, suicide

Procedia PDF Downloads 140
273 Utilizing Bario Rice, a Natural Red-Pigmented Rice from Sarawak, Malaysia, in the Development of Gluten-Free Bread

Authors: Macdalyna Esther Ronie, Hasmadi Mamat, Ahmad Hazim Abdul Aziz, Mohamad Khairi Zainol

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Current trends in gluten-free food development are increasingly leaning towards the utilization of pigmented rice flour, with a particular focus on Bario Merah Sederhana (BMS), a red-pigmented rice native to Sarawak, Malaysia. This study delves into the evaluation of the nutritional, textural, and sensory attributes of gluten-free rice bread produced from a blend of BMS rice flour and potato starch. The resulting samples are denoted as F1 (100% BMS rice flour), F2 (90% BMS rice flour and 10% potato starch), F3 (80% BMS rice flour and 20% potato starch), and F4 (70% BMS rice flour and 30% potato starch). Comparatively, these gluten-free rice bread formulations exhibit higher levels of ash and crude fiber, along with lower carbohydrate content when juxtaposed with conventional wheat bread. Notably, the crude protein content of the rice bread diminishes significantly (p<0.05) as the proportion of rice flour decreases, primarily due to the higher protein content found in wheat flour. The crumb of the rice bread appears darker owing to the red pigment in the rice flour, while the crust is lighter than that of the control sample, possibly attributable to a reduced Maillard reaction. Among the various rice bread formulations, F4 stands out with the least dough and bread hardness, accompanied by the highest levels of stickiness and springiness in both dough and bread, respectively. In sensory evaluations, wheat bread garners the highest rating (p<0.05). However, within the realm of rice breads, F4 emerges as a viable and acceptable formulation, as indicated by its commendable scores in color (7.03), flavor (5.73), texture (6.03), and overall acceptability (6.18). These findings underscore the potential of BMS in the creation of gluten-free rice breads, with the formulation consisting of 70% rice flour and 30% potato starch emerging as a well-received and suitable option.

Keywords: gluten-free bread, bario rice, proximate composition, sensory evaluation

Procedia PDF Downloads 207
272 Investigate the Current Performance of Burger King Ho Chi Minh City in Terms of the Controllable Variables of the Overall Retail Strategy

Authors: Nhi Ngoc Thien

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Franchising is a popular trend in Vietnam retail industry, especially in fast food industry. Several famous foreign fast food brands such as KFC, Lotteria, Jollibee or Pizza Hut invested on this potential market since the 1990s. Following this trend, in 2011, Burger King - the second largest fast food hamburger chain all over the world - entered Vietnam with its first store located in Tan Son Nhat International Airport, with the expectation to become the leading brand in the country. However, the business performance of Burger King was not going well in the first few years making it questioned about its strategy. The given assumption was that its business performance was affected negatively by its store location selection strategy. This research aims to investigate the current performance of Burger King Vietnam in terms of the controllable variables like store location as well as to explore the key factors influencing customer decision to choose Burger King. Therefore, a case study research method was conducted to approach deeply on the opinions and evaluations of 10 Burger King’s customers, Burger King's staffs and other fast food experts on Burger King’s performance through in-depth interview, direct observation and documentary analysis. Findings show that there are 8 determinants affecting the decision-making of Burger King’s customers, which are store location, quality of food, service quality, store atmosphere, price, promotion, menu and brand reputation. Moreover, findings present that Burger King’s staffs and fast food experts also mentioned the main problems of Burger King, which are about store location and food quality. As a result, there are some recommendations for Burger King Vietnam to improve its performance in the market and attract more Vietnamese target customers by giving suitable promotional activities among its customers and being differentiated itself from other fast food brands.

Keywords: overall retail strategy, controllable variables, store location, quality of food

Procedia PDF Downloads 324
271 Evaluation of Four Different DNA Targets in Polymerase Chain Reaction for Detection and Genotyping of Helicobacter pylori

Authors: Abu Salim Mustafa

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Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays targeting genomic DNA segments have been established for the detection of Helicobacter pylori in clinical specimens. However, the data on comparative evaluations of various targets in detection of H. pylori are limited. Furthermore, the frequencies of vacA (s1 and s2) and cagA genotypes, which are suggested to be involved in the pathogenesis of H. pylori in other parts of the world, are not well studied in Kuwait. The aim of this study was to evaluate PCR assays for the detection and genotyping of H. pylori by targeting the amplification of DNA targets from four genomic segments. The genomic DNA were isolated from 72 clinical isolates of H. pylori and tested in PCR with four pairs of oligonucleotides primers, i.e. ECH-U/ECH-L, ET-5U/ET-5L, CagAF/CagAR and Vac1F/Vac1XR, which were expected to amplify targets of various sizes (471 bp, 230 bp, 183 bp and 176/203 bp, respectively) from the genomic DNA of H. pylori. The PCR-amplified DNA were analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis. PCR products of expected size were obtained with all primer pairs by using genomic DNA isolated from H. pylori. DNA dilution experiments showed that the most sensitive PCR target was 471 bp DNA amplified by the primers ECH-U/ECH-L, followed by the targets of Vac1F/Vac1XR (176 bp/203 DNA), CagAF/CagAR (183 bp DNA) and ET-5U/ET-5L (230 bp DNA). However, when tested with undiluted genomic DNA isolated from single colonies of all isolates, the Vac1F/Vac1XR target provided the maximum positive results (71/72 (99% positives)), followed by ECH-U/ECH-L (69/72 (93% positives)), ET-5U/ET-5L (51/72 (71% positives)) and CagAF/CagAR (26/72 (46% positives)). The results of genotyping experiments showed that vacA s1 (46% positive) and vacA s2 (54% positive) genotypes were almost equally associated with VaCA+/CagA- isolates (P > 0.05), but with VacA+/CagA+ isolates, S1 genotype (92% positive) was more frequently detected than S2 genotype (8% positive) (P< 0.0001). In conclusion, among the primer pairs tested, Vac1F/Vac1XR provided the best results for detection of H. pylori. The genotyping experiments showed that vacA s1 and vacA s2 genotypes were almost equally associated with vaCA+/cagA- isolates, but vacA s1 genotype had a significantly increased association with vacA+/cagA+ isolates.

Keywords: H. pylori, PCR, detection, genotyping

Procedia PDF Downloads 113
270 Dislocation Density-Based Modeling of the Grain Refinement in Surface Mechanical Attrition Treatment

Authors: Reza Miresmaeili, Asghar Heydari Astaraee, Fereshteh Dolati

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In the present study, an analytical model based on dislocation density model was developed to simulate grain refinement in surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT). The correlation between SMAT time and development in plastic strain on one hand, and dislocation density evolution, on the other hand, was established to simulate the grain refinement in SMAT. A dislocation density-based constitutive material law was implemented using VUHARD subroutine. A random sequence of shots is taken into consideration for multiple impacts model using Python programming language by utilizing a random function. The simulation technique was to model each impact in a separate run and then transferring the results of each run as initial conditions for the next run (impact). The developed Finite Element (FE) model of multiple impacts describes the coverage evolution in SMAT. Simulations were run to coverage levels as high as 4500%. It is shown that the coverage implemented in the FE model is equal to the experimental coverage. It is depicted that numerical SMAT coverage parameter is adequately conforming to the well-known Avrami model. Comparison between numerical results and experimental measurements for residual stresses and depth of deformation layers confirms the performance of the established FE model for surface engineering evaluations in SMA treatment. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies of grain refinement, including resultant grain size and dislocation density, were conducted to validate the established model. The full width at half-maximum in XRD profiles can be used to measure the grain size. Numerical results and experimental measurements of grain refinement illustrate good agreement and show the capability of established FE model to predict the gradient microstructure in SMA treatment.

Keywords: dislocation density, grain refinement, severe plastic deformation, simulation, surface mechanical attrition treatment

Procedia PDF Downloads 115
269 From Text to Data: Sentiment Analysis of Presidential Election Political Forums

Authors: Sergio V Davalos, Alison L. Watkins

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User generated content (UGC) such as website post has data associated with it: time of the post, gender, location, type of device, and number of words. The text entered in user generated content (UGC) can provide a valuable dimension for analysis. In this research, each user post is treated as a collection of terms (words). In addition to the number of words per post, the frequency of each term is determined by post and by the sum of occurrences in all posts. This research focuses on one specific aspect of UGC: sentiment. Sentiment analysis (SA) was applied to the content (user posts) of two sets of political forums related to the US presidential elections for 2012 and 2016. Sentiment analysis results in deriving data from the text. This enables the subsequent application of data analytic methods. The SASA (SAIL/SAI Sentiment Analyzer) model was used for sentiment analysis. The application of SASA resulted with a sentiment score for each post. Based on the sentiment scores for the posts there are significant differences between the content and sentiment of the two sets for the 2012 and 2016 presidential election forums. In the 2012 forums, 38% of the forums started with positive sentiment and 16% with negative sentiment. In the 2016 forums, 29% started with positive sentiment and 15% with negative sentiment. There also were changes in sentiment over time. For both elections as the election got closer, the cumulative sentiment score became negative. The candidate who won each election was in the more posts than the losing candidates. In the case of Trump, there were more negative posts than Clinton’s highest number of posts which were positive. KNIME topic modeling was used to derive topics from the posts. There were also changes in topics and keyword emphasis over time. Initially, the political parties were the most referenced and as the election got closer the emphasis changed to the candidates. The performance of the SASA method proved to predict sentiment better than four other methods in Sentibench. The research resulted in deriving sentiment data from text. In combination with other data, the sentiment data provided insight and discovery about user sentiment in the US presidential elections for 2012 and 2016.

Keywords: sentiment analysis, text mining, user generated content, US presidential elections

Procedia PDF Downloads 162
268 Selecting Graduates for the Interns’ Award by Using Multisource Feedback Process: Does It Work?

Authors: Kathryn Strachan, Sameer Otoom, Amal AL-Gallaf, Ahmed Al Ansari

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Introduction: Introducing a reliable method to select graduates for an award in higher education can be challenging but is not impossible. Multisource feedback (MSF) is a popular assessment tool that relies on evaluations of different groups of people, including physicians and non-physicians. It is useful for assessing several domains, including professionalism, communication and collaboration and may be useful for selecting the best interns to receive a University award. Methods: 16 graduates responded to an invitation to participate in the student award, which was conducted by the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland-Bahrain Medical University of Bahrain (RCSI Bahrain) using the MSF process. Five individuals from the following categories rated each participant: physicians, nurses, and fellow students. RCSI Bahrain graduates were assessed in the following domains; professionalism, communication, and collaboration. Mean and standard deviation were calculated and the award was given to the graduate who scored the highest among his/her colleagues. Cronbach’s coefficient was used to determine the questionnaire’s internal consistency and reliability. Factor analysis was conducted to examine for the construct validity. Results: 16 graduates participated in the RCSI-Bahrain interns’ award based on the MSF process, giving us a 16.5% response rate. The instrument was found to be suitable for factor analysis and showed 3 factor solutions representing 79.3% of the total variance. Reliability analysis using Cronbach’s α reliability of internal consistency indicated that the full scale of the instrument had high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α 0.98). Conclusion: This study found the MSF process to be reliable and valid for selecting the best graduates for the interns’ awards. However, the low response rates may suggest that the process is not feasible for allowing the majority of the students to participate in the selection process. Further research studies may be required to support the feasibility of the MSF process in selecting graduates for the university award.

Keywords: MSF, RCSI, validity, Bahrain

Procedia PDF Downloads 317
267 A Modified Open Posterior Approach for the Fixation of Posterior Cruciate Ligament Tibial Avulsion Fractures

Authors: Babak Mirzashahi, Arvin Najafi, Pejman Mansouri, Mahmoud Farzan

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Background: The most effective treatment of posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) tears and the consequence of untreated PCL injuries remain controversial. Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess outcomes of fixation of tibial posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) avulsion fractures via a modified technique. Patients and Methods: From January, 2009 to March, 2012, there were 45 cases of PCL tibial avulsion fractures that were referred to our hospital and were managed through a modified open posterior approach. Fixation of Tibial PCL avulsion fractures were fixed by means of a lag screw and washer placed through our modified open posterior approach. Range of motion was begun on the first postoperative day. Clinical stability, range of motion, gastrocnemius muscle strength, radiographic investigation, and patient’s overall quality of life was analyzed at final follow up visit. Results: The average of overall musculoskeletal functional evaluation scores was 15 (range 3–35). All patients achieved union of their fracture and had clinically stable knees at the latest follow-up. The mean preoperative Lysholm score for 15 knees was 62 ± 8 (range, 50-75); the mean postoperative Lysholm score was 92± 7 (range, 75-101). A significant difference in Lysholm scores between preoperative and final follow-up evaluations was found (P < .05). At first-year follow-up, 42 (93%) patients revealed a difference of less than 10 mm in thigh circumference between their injured and healthy knees. Conclusions: The management of displaced large PCL avulsion fractures with placement of a cancellous lag screw with washer by means of the modified open posterior approach leads to satisfactory clinical, radiographic, and functional results and reduces the operation time and less blood loss. Level of evidence: IV.

Keywords: posterior cruciate ligament, tibial fracture, lysholm knee score, patient outcome assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 280
266 Resistances among Sexual Offenders on Specific Stage of Change

Authors: Chang Li Yu

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Resistances commonly happened during sexual offenders treatment program (SOTP), and removing resistances was one of the treatment goals on it. Studies concerning treatment effectiveness relied on pre- and post-treatment evaluations, however, no significant difference on resistance revealed after treatment, and the above consequences generally contributed to the low motivation for change instead. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the resistance across each stage of change among sexual offenders (SO). The present study recruited prisoned SO in Taiwan, excluding those with literacy difficulties; finally, 272 participants were included. Of all participants completed revised version of URICA (University of Rhode Island Change Assessment) and resistance scale specifically for SO. The former included four stages of change: pre-contemplation (PC), contemplation (C), action (A), and maintain (M); the later composed eight types of resistance: system blaming, victims blaming, problems with treatment alliance, social justification, hopelessness, isolation, psychological reactance, and passive reactance. Both of the instruments were with well reliability and validity. Descriptive statistics and ANOVA were performed. All of 272 participants, age under 25 were 18(6.6%), 25-39 were 133(48.9%), 40-54 were 102(37.5%), and age over 55 were 19(7.0%); college level and above were 53(19.5%), high school level were 110(40.4%), and under high school level were 109(40.1%); first offended were 117(43.0%), and recidivist were 23(8.5%). Further deleting data with missing values and invalid questionnaires, SO with stage of change on PC were 43(18.9%), C were 109(47.8%), A were 70(30.7%), and on M were 6(2.6%). One-way ANOVA showed significant differences on every kind of resistances, excepting isolation and passive reactance. Post-hoc analysis showed that SO with different stages had their main resistance. There are two contributions to the present study. First, this study provided a clinical and theoretical measurement of evaluation that was never used in the past. Second, this study used an evidence-based methodology to prove a clinical perspective differed from the past, suggesting that resistances to treatment on SO appear the whole therapeutic process, when SO progress into the next stage of change, clinicians have to deal with their main resistance for working through the therapy.

Keywords: resistance, sexual offenders treatment program (SOTP), motivation for change, prisoned sexual offender

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265 Cluster Analysis of Students’ Learning Satisfaction

Authors: Purevdolgor Luvsantseren, Ajnai Luvsan-Ish, Oyuntsetseg Sandag, Javzmaa Tsend, Akhit Tileubai, Baasandorj Chilhaasuren, Jargalbat Puntsagdash, Galbadrakh Chuluunbaatar

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One of the indicators of the quality of university services is student satisfaction. Aim: We aimed to study the level of satisfaction of students in the first year of premedical courses in the course of Medical Physics using the cluster method. Materials and Methods: In the framework of this goal, a questionnaire was collected from a total of 324 students who studied the medical physics course of the 1st course of the premedical course at the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences. When determining the level of satisfaction, the answers were obtained on five levels of satisfaction: "excellent", "good", "medium", "bad" and "very bad". A total of 39 questionnaires were collected from students: 8 for course evaluation, 19 for teacher evaluation, and 12 for student evaluation. From the research, a database with 39 fields and 324 records was created. Results: In this database, cluster analysis was performed in MATLAB and R programs using the k-means method of data mining. Calculated the Hopkins statistic in the created database, the values are 0.88, 0.87, and 0.97. This shows that cluster analysis methods can be used. The course evaluation sub-fund is divided into three clusters. Among them, cluster I has 150 objects with a "good" rating of 46.2%, cluster II has 119 objects with a "medium" rating of 36.7%, and Cluster III has 54 objects with a "good" rating of 16.6%. The teacher evaluation sub-base into three clusters, there are 179 objects with a "good" rating of 55.2% in cluster II, 108 objects with an "average" rating of 33.3% in cluster III, and 36 objects with an "excellent" rating in cluster I of 11.1%. The sub-base of student evaluations is divided into two clusters: cluster II has 215 objects with an "excellent" rating of 66.3%, and cluster I has 108 objects with an "excellent" rating of 33.3%. Evaluating the resulting clusters with the Silhouette coefficient, 0.32 for the course evaluation cluster, 0.31 for the teacher evaluation cluster, and 0.30 for student evaluation show statistical significance. Conclusion: Finally, to conclude, cluster analysis in the model of the medical physics lesson “good” - 46.2%, “middle” - 36.7%, “bad” - 16.6%; 55.2% - “good”, 33.3% - “middle”, 11.1% - “bad” in the teacher evaluation model; 66.3% - “good” and 33.3% of “bad” in the student evaluation model.

Keywords: questionnaire, data mining, k-means method, silhouette coefficient

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264 Tiger Team Strategy as a Health District Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Sydney, Australia during the Period between March 2020 to January 2022

Authors: Rehana Khan

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Background: The study investigates the experiences of Tiger Teams within the Sydney Local Health District during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aim: The aims were to understand the experiences of the Tiger Team members, to evaluate the effectiveness of Tiger Teams, and to elicit any learnings for future implementation of Tiger Teams in a similar context. Methods: Tiger Team members who worked from March 2020 to January 2022 were approached, with 23 members agreeing to participate in the study. Individual interviews were undertaken by a researcher on a virtual platform. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Saturation was deemed to have been reached when no new themes or subthemes arose within the final three interviews. Results: Four themes emerged: diversity worked well in Tiger Teams; fear of the unknown and challenging conversations were the main challenges of Tiger Teams; improved use of resources and more structure around the strategy of the Tiger Team model would help in future implementations; and Sydney Local Health District’s response to the pandemic was uniformly considered effective in keeping the community safe. In relation to Sydney Local Health District’s response in future pandemics, participants suggested having a pool of staff in readiness to undertake Tiger Team duties when required; prioritise staff welfare at all levels of involvement during a pandemic; maintaining transparent communication and relationship building between Executive level, Tiger Team members and clinical floor level in relation to decision making; and improve documentation, including evaluations of the COVID-19 pandemic response. Implications: The study provides constructive insights into the experiences of Tiger Team members, and these findings will help inform future planning for surge and secondment of staff in public health emergencies.

Keywords: Tiger Team, pandemic response, future planning, COVID-19

Procedia PDF Downloads 58
263 Hybrid Method for Smart Suggestions in Conversations for Online Marketplaces

Authors: Yasamin Rahimi, Ali Kamandi, Abbas Hoseini, Hesam Haddad

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Online/offline chat is a convenient approach in the electronic markets of second-hand products in which potential customers would like to have more information about the products to fill the information gap between buyers and sellers. Online peer in peer market is trying to create artificial intelligence-based systems that help customers ask more informative questions in an easier way. In this article, we introduce a method for the question/answer system that we have developed for the top-ranked electronic market in Iran called Divar. When it comes to secondhand products, incomplete product information in a purchase will result in loss to the buyer. One way to balance buyer and seller information of a product is to help the buyer ask more informative questions when purchasing. Also, the short time to start and achieve the desired result of the conversation was one of our main goals, which was achieved according to A/B tests results. In this paper, we propose and evaluate a method for suggesting questions and answers in the messaging platform of the e-commerce website Divar. Creating such systems is to help users gather knowledge about the product easier and faster, All from the Divar database. We collected a dataset of around 2 million messages in Persian colloquial language, and for each category of product, we gathered 500K messages, of which only 2K were Tagged, and semi-supervised methods were used. In order to publish the proposed model to production, it is required to be fast enough to process 10 million messages daily on CPU processors. In order to reach that speed, in many subtasks, faster and simplistic models are preferred over deep neural models. The proposed method, which requires only a small amount of labeled data, is currently used in Divar production on CPU processors, and 15% of buyers and seller’s messages in conversations is directly chosen from our model output, and more than 27% of buyers have used this model suggestions in at least one daily conversation.

Keywords: smart reply, spell checker, information retrieval, intent detection, question answering

Procedia PDF Downloads 163
262 Neural Networks Models for Measuring Hotel Users Satisfaction

Authors: Asma Ameur, Dhafer Malouche

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Nowadays, user comments on the Internet have an important impact on hotel bookings. This confirms that the e-reputation issue can influence the likelihood of customer loyalty to a hotel. In this way, e-reputation has become a real differentiator between hotels. For this reason, we have a unique opportunity in the opinion mining field to analyze the comments. In fact, this field provides the possibility of extracting information related to the polarity of user reviews. This sentimental study (Opinion Mining) represents a new line of research for analyzing the unstructured textual data. Knowing the score of e-reputation helps the hotelier to better manage his marketing strategy. The score we then obtain is translated into the image of hotels to differentiate between them. Therefore, this present research highlights the importance of hotel satisfaction ‘scoring. To calculate the satisfaction score, the sentimental analysis can be manipulated by several techniques of machine learning. In fact, this study treats the extracted textual data by using the Artificial Neural Networks Approach (ANNs). In this context, we adopt the aforementioned technique to extract information from the comments available in the ‘Trip Advisor’ website. This actual paper details the description and the modeling of the ANNs approach for the scoring of online hotel reviews. In summary, the validation of this used method provides a significant model for hotel sentiment analysis. So, it provides the possibility to determine precisely the polarity of the hotel users reviews. The empirical results show that the ANNs are an accurate approach for sentiment analysis. The obtained results show also that this proposed approach serves to the dimensionality reduction for textual data’ clustering. Thus, this study provides researchers with a useful exploration of this technique. Finally, we outline guidelines for future research in the hotel e-reputation field as comparing the ANNs with other technique.

Keywords: clustering, consumer behavior, data mining, e-reputation, machine learning, neural network, online hotel ‘reviews, opinion mining, scoring

Procedia PDF Downloads 111
261 Modelling Volatility of Cryptocurrencies: Evidence from GARCH Family of Models with Skewed Error Innovation Distributions

Authors: Timothy Kayode Samson, Adedoyin Isola Lawal

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The past five years have shown a sharp increase in public interest in the crypto market, with its market capitalization growing from $100 billion in June 2017 to $2158.42 billion on April 5, 2022. Despite the outrageous nature of the volatility of cryptocurrencies, the use of skewed error innovation distributions in modelling the volatility behaviour of these digital currencies has not been given much research attention. Hence, this study models the volatility of 5 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, Binance coin, and USD Coin) using four variants of GARCH models (GJR-GARCH, sGARCH, EGARCH, and APARCH) estimated using three skewed error innovation distributions (skewed normal, skewed student- t and skewed generalized error innovation distributions). Daily closing prices of these currencies were obtained from Yahoo Finance website. Finding reveals that the Binance coin reported higher mean returns compared to other digital currencies, while the skewness indicates that the Binance coin, Tether, and USD coin increased more than they decreased in values within the period of study. For both Bitcoin and Ethereum, negative skewness was obtained, meaning that within the period of study, the returns of these currencies decreased more than they increased in value. Returns from these cryptocurrencies were found to be stationary but not normality distributed with evidence of the ARCH effect. The skewness parameters in all best forecasting models were all significant (p<.05), justifying of use of skewed error innovation distributions with a fatter tail than normal, Student-t, and generalized error innovation distributions. For Binance coin, EGARCH-sstd outperformed other volatility models, while for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, and USD coin, the best forecasting models were EGARCH-sstd, APARCH-sstd, EGARCH-sged, and GJR-GARCH-sstd, respectively. This suggests the superiority of skewed Student t- distribution and skewed generalized error distribution over the skewed normal distribution.

Keywords: skewed generalized error distribution, skewed normal distribution, skewed student t- distribution, APARCH, EGARCH, sGARCH, GJR-GARCH

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260 An Assessment of Impact of Financial Statement Fraud on Profit Performance of Manufacturing Firms in Nigeria: A Study of Food and Beverage Firms in Nigeria

Authors: Wale Agbaje

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The aim of this research study is to assess the impact of financial statement fraud on profitability of some selected Nigerian manufacturing firms covering (2002-2016). The specific objectives focused on to ascertain the effect of incorrect asset valuation on return on assets (ROA) and to ascertain the relationship between improper expense recognition and return on assets (ROA). To achieve these objectives, descriptive research design was used for the study while secondary data were collected from the financial reports of the selected firms and website of security and exchange commission. The analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used and STATA II econometric method was used in the analysis of the data. Altman model and operating expenses ratio was adopted in the analysis of the financial reports to create a dummy variable for the selected firms from 2002-2016 and validation of the parameters were ascertained using various statistical techniques such as t-test, co-efficient of determination (R2), F-statistics and Wald chi-square. Two hypotheses were formulated and tested using the t-statistics at 5% level of significance. The findings of the analysis revealed that there is a significant relationship between financial statement fraud and profitability in Nigerian manufacturing industry. It was revealed that incorrect assets valuation has a significant positive relationship and so also is the improper expense recognition on return on assets (ROA) which serves as a proxy for profitability. The implication of this is that distortion of asset valuation and expense recognition leads to decreasing profit in the long run in the manufacturing industry. The study therefore recommended that pragmatic policy options need to be taken in the manufacturing industry to effectively manage incorrect asset valuation and improper expense recognition in order to enhance manufacturing industry performance in the country and also stemming of financial statement fraud should be adequately inculcated into the internal control system of manufacturing firms for the effective running of the manufacturing industry in Nigeria.

Keywords: Althman's Model, improper expense recognition, incorrect asset valuation, return on assets

Procedia PDF Downloads 133
259 Control of Oil Content of Fried Zucchini Slices by Partial Predrying and Process Optimization

Authors: E. Karacabey, Ş. G. Özçelik, M. S. Turan, C. Baltacıoğlu, E. Küçüköner

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Main concern about deep-fat-fried food materials is their high final oil contents absorbed during frying process and/or after cooling period, since diet including high content of oil is accepted unhealthy by consumers. Different methods have been evaluated to decrease oil content of fried food stuffs. One promising method is partially drying of food material before frying. In the present study it was aimed to control and decrease the final oil content of zucchini slices by means of partial drying and to optimize process conditions. Conventional oven drying was used to decrease moisture content of zucchini slices at a certain extent. Process performance in terms of oil uptake was evaluated by comparing oil content of predried and then fried zucchini slices with those determined for directly fried ones. For predrying and frying processes, oven temperature and weight loss and frying oil temperature and time pairs were controlled variables, respectively. Zucchini slices were also directly fried for sensory evaluations revealing preferred properties of final product in terms of surface color, moisture content, texture and taste. These properties of directly fried zucchini slices taking the highest score at the end of sensory evaluation were determined and used as targets in optimization procedure. Response surface methodology was used for process optimization. The properties, determined after sensory evaluation, were selected as targets; meanwhile oil content was aimed to be minimized. Results indicated that final oil content of zucchini slices could be reduced from 58% to 46% by controlling conditions of predrying and frying processes. As a result, it was suggested that predrying could be one choose to reduce oil content of fried zucchini slices for health diet. This project (113R015) has been supported by TUBITAK.

Keywords: health process, optimization, response surface methodology, oil uptake, conventional oven

Procedia PDF Downloads 353
258 A Web Service Based Sensor Data Management System

Authors: Rose A. Yemson, Ping Jiang, Oyedeji L. Inumoh

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The deployment of wireless sensor network has rapidly increased, however with the increased capacity and diversity of sensors, and applications ranging from biological, environmental, military etc. generates tremendous volume of data’s where more attention is placed on the distributed sensing and little on how to manage, analyze, retrieve and understand the data generated. This makes it more quite difficult to process live sensor data, run concurrent control and update because sensor data are either heavyweight, complex, and slow. This work will focus on developing a web service platform for automatic detection of sensors, acquisition of sensor data, storage of sensor data into a database, processing of sensor data using reconfigurable software components. This work will also create a web service based sensor data management system to monitor physical movement of an individual wearing wireless network sensor technology (SunSPOT). The sensor will detect movement of that individual by sensing the acceleration in the direction of X, Y and Z axes accordingly and then send the sensed reading to a database that will be interfaced with an internet platform. The collected sensed data will determine the posture of the person such as standing, sitting and lying down. The system is designed using the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and implemented using Java, JavaScript, html and MySQL. This system allows real time monitoring an individual closely and obtain their physical activity details without been physically presence for in-situ measurement which enables you to work remotely instead of the time consuming check of an individual. These details can help in evaluating an individual’s physical activity and generate feedback on medication. It can also help in keeping track of any mandatory physical activities required to be done by the individuals. These evaluations and feedback can help in maintaining a better health status of the individual and providing improved health care.

Keywords: HTML, java, javascript, MySQL, sunspot, UML, web-based, wireless network sensor

Procedia PDF Downloads 193
257 Basin Professor, Petroleum Geology Assessor in Indonesia Basin

Authors: Arditya Nugraha, Herry Gunawan, Agung P. Widodo

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The various possible strategies to find hydrocarbon are explored within a wide ranging of efforts. It started to identify petroleum concept in the basin. The main objectives of this paper are to integrate and develop information, knowledge, and evaluation from Indonesia’s sedimentary basins system in terms of their suitability for exploration activity and estimate the hydrocarbon potential available. The system which compiled data information and knowledge and comprised exploration and production data of all basins in Indonesia called as Basin Professor which stands for Basin Professional and Processor. Basin Professor is a website application using Geography Information System which consists of all information about basin montage, basin summary, petroleum system, stratigraphy, development play, risk factor, exploration history, working area, regional cross section, well correlation, prospect & lead inventory and infrastructure spatial. From 82 identified sedimentary basins, North Sumatra, Central Sumatra, South Sumatera, East Java, Kutai, and Tarakan basins are respectively positioned of the Indonesia’ s mature basin and the most productive basin. The Eastern of Indonesia also have many hydrocarbon potential and discovered several fields in Papua and East Abadi. Basin Professor compiled the well data in all of the basin in Indonesia from mature basin to frontier basin. Well known geological data, subsurface mapping, prospect and lead, resources and established infrastructures are the main factors make these basins have higher suitability beside another potential basin. The hydrocarbon potential resulted from this paper based on the degree of geological data, petroleum, and economic evaluation. Basin Professor has provided by a calculator tool in lead and prospect for estimate the hydrocarbon reserves, recoverable in place and geological risk. Furthermore, the calculator also defines the preliminary economic evaluation such as investment, POT IRR and infrastructures in each basin. From this Basin Professor, petroleum companies are able to estimate that Indonesia has a huge potential of hydrocarbon oil and gas reservoirs and still interesting for hydrocarbon exploration and production activity.

Keywords: basin summary, petroleum system, resources, economic evaluation

Procedia PDF Downloads 264