Search results for: media theory

Authors: Christine Ivy A. Nogot

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Under the colony of Spain for more than three centuries, the Philippines has a deep-rooted structure of Western ideologies and colonialism. The late 19th century, the period of Enlightenment, created a significant impact on our history when a group of middle-class Filipino men were sent to Europe to study. They were called Ilustrados, a Spanish word for erudite. They were the enlightened; the well-educated, intellectual scholars. Their writings provide intellectual grounds for the awakening of national consciousness that eventually prompted national movements and revolutions. They helped to establish a postcolonial society. In the modern era, Miguel Syjuco, a Filipino expatriate, wrote a novel and titled it Ilustrado. It is a representation of the liberal mind of the diasporic author in contemporary discourse. It provides a critical examination of the ilustrado in transition through the character of Miguel, who is also an expatriate writer. Using Syjuco’s award-winning novel as the primary text and anchored on Said’s concept of Orientalism, this paper examines how the depiction of features of the Eastern world is presented in the literary discourse. This paper looks into Said’s concept of orientalism as a hegemonic discursive structure and shows how Western superiority influences the Eastern culture in literary discourse. It explores Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony to explore Said’s argument that Western powers conquer the orient through culture and ideology. This paper presents how dominant ideologies and the social context redefine the ilustrado in the contemporary era.

Keywords: cultural hegemony, ilustrado, orientalism, postcolonial

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Authors: Ahmed Usman

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This paper attempts to examine the relevance of an Electoral Commission in the democratic process of governance in Nigeria. However, democratic system and governance present a clear indication of responsive and responsible governments. The idea of a government being responsive and responsible is based on the premise of conventional principles of democracy such as freedom of political, economic and social rights of and individual. More so, upholding of the Rule of Law based on the ground of constitutionalism is a clear manifestation of the democratic governance. The burdens of ascertaining theses democratic ethos rely solely on the constituted election management body known as Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the case of Nigeria. This body is however, saddled with the responsibility of organizing and conducting periodic regular credible election known as free and fair election. The body also, is expected to be neutral, and independent to ensure fair treatment to all. It is on the basis of this fair treatment that credible leaders emerged. To this end, the paper examines the powers, functions and features of Independent National Electoral Commission. More so, the concepts of election and democracy have been operationalized. It is obvious that electoral process in Nigeria is marred with series of problems of which the paper identified and solutions were proffered towards credible, free and fair elections for sustainable democratic governance. In order to succinctly discuss and analyze the issues at stake, Structural Functional Analysis theory is adopted as a theoretical frame work for the paper.

Keywords: election, electoral commission, democracy, governance

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Authors: Karen B. Ghazaryan

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Recently, the propagation of coupled electromagnetic and elastic waves in magneto-electro-elastic (MEE) structures attracted much attention due to the wide range of application of these materials in smart structures. MEE materials are a class of new artificial composites that consist of simultaneous piezoelectric and piezomagnetic phases. Magneto-electro-elastic composites are built up by combining piezoelectric and piezomagnetic phases to obtain a smart composite that presents not only the electromechanical and magneto-mechanical coupling but also a strong magnetoelectric coupling, which makes such materials highly valuable in technological usage. In the framework of quasi-static approach shear surface and localized waves are considered in magneto-electro-elastic piezo-active structure consisting of functionally graded 6mm hexagonal symmetry group crystals. Assuming that in a functionally graded material the elastic and electromagnetic properties vary in the same proportion in direction perpendicular to the MEE polling direction, special classes of inhomogeneity functions were found, admitting exact solutions for coupled electromagnetic and elastic wave fields. Based on these exact solutions, defining the coupled shear wave field in magneto-electro-elastic composites several modal problems are considered: shear surface waves propagation along surface of a MEE half-space, interfacial wave propagation in a MEE oppositely polarized bi-layer, Love type waves in a functionally graded MEE layer overlying a homogeneous elastic half-space. For the problems under consideration corresponding dispersion equations are deduced analytically in an explicit form and for the BaTiO₃–CoFe₂O₄ crystal numerical results estimating effects of inhomogeneity and piezo effect are carried out.

Keywords: surface shear waves, magneto-electro-elastic composites, piezoactive crystals, functionally graded elastic materials

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Authors: Srinaath Anbu Durai, Wang Zhaoxia

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Twitter sentiment has been used as a predictor to predict price values or trends in both the stock market and housing market. The pioneering works in this stream of research drew upon works in behavioural economics to show that sentiment or emotions impact economic decisions. Latest works in this stream focus on the algorithm used as opposed to the data used. A literature review of works in this stream through the lens of data used shows that there is a paucity of work that considers the impact of sentiments caused due to an external factor on either the stock or the housing market. This is despite an abundance of works in behavioural economics that show that sentiment or emotions caused due to an external factor impact economic decisions. To address this gap, this research studies the impact of Twitter sentiment pertaining to the Covid-19 pandemic on resale Housing Development Board (HDB) apartment prices in Singapore. It leverages SNSCRAPE to collect tweets pertaining to Covid-19 for sentiment analysis, lexicon based tools VADER and TextBlob are used for sentiment analysis, Granger Causality is used to examine the relationship between Covid-19 cases and the sentiment score, and neural networks are leveraged as prediction models. Twitter sentiment pertaining to Covid-19 as a predictor of HDB price in Singapore is studied in comparison with the traditional predictors of housing prices i.e., the structural and neighbourhood characteristics. The results indicate that using Twitter sentiment pertaining to Covid19 leads to better prediction than using only the traditional predictors and performs better as a predictor compared to two of the traditional predictors. Hence, Twitter sentiment pertaining to an external factor should be considered as important as traditional predictors. This paper demonstrates the real world economic applications of sentiment analysis of Twitter data.

Keywords: sentiment analysis, Covid-19, housing price prediction, tweets, social media, Singapore HDB, behavioral economics, neural networks

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Authors: Claudio Díaz, Mabel Ortiz

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An EFL teacher education programme in Chile takes five years to train a future teacher of English. Preservice teachers are prepared to learn an advanced level of English and teach the language from 5th to 12th grade in the Chilean educational system. In the context of their first EFL Methodology course in year four, preservice teachers have to create a five-minute digital story that starts from a critical incident they have experienced as teachers-to-be during their observations or interventions in the schools. A critical incident can be defined as a happening, a specific incident or event either observed by them or involving them. The happening sparks their thinking and may make them subsequently think differently about the particular event. When they create their digital stories, preservice teachers put technology, teaching practice and theory together to narrate a story that is complemented by still images, moving images, text, sound effects and music. The story should be told as a personal narrative, which explains the critical incident. This presentation will focus on the creation process of 50 Chilean preservice teachers’ digital stories highlighting the critical incidents they started their stories. It will also unpack preservice teachers’ beliefs and reflections when approaching their teaching practices in schools. These beliefs will be coded and categorized through content analysis to evidence preservice teachers’ most rooted conceptions about English teaching and learning in Chilean schools. The findings seem to indicate that preservice teachers’ beliefs are strongly mediated by contextual and affective factors.

Keywords: beliefs, digital stories, preservice teachers, practicum

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Authors: Amessalu Atenafu Gelaw, Nele Rath

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Currently, laser hardening process is becoming among the most efficient and effective hardening technique due to its significant advantages. The source where heat is generated, the absence of cooling media, self-quenching property, less distortion nature due to localized heat input, environmental friendly behavior and less time to finish the operation are among the main benefits to adopt this technology. This day, a variety of injection machines are used in plastic, textile, electrical and mechanical industries. Due to the fast growing of composite technology, fiber reinforced polymer matrix becoming optional solution to use in these industries. Due, to the abrasion nature of fiber reinforced polymer matrix composite on the injection components, many parts are outdated before the design period. Niko, a company specialized in injection molded products, suffers from the short lifetime of the injection nozzles of the molds, due to the use of fiber reinforced and, therefore, more abrasive polymer matrix. To prolong the lifetime of these molds, hardening the susceptible component like the injecting nozzles was a must. In this paper, the laser hardening process is investigated on Unimax, a type of stainless steel. The investigation to get optimal results for the nozzle-case was performed in three steps. First, the optimal parameters for maximum possible hardenability for the investigated nozzle material is investigated on a flat sample, using experimental testing as well as thermal simulation. Next, the effect of an inclination on the maximum temperature is analyzed both by experimental testing and validation through simulation. Finally, the data combined and applied for the nozzle. This paper describes possible strategies and methods for laser hardening of the nozzle to reach hardness of at least 720 HV for the material investigated. It has been proven, that the nozzle can be laser hardened to over 900 HV with the option of even higher results when more precise positioning of the laser can be assured.

Keywords: absorptivity, fiber reinforced matrix, laser hardening, Nd:YAG laser

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Authors: Zahid Shafait, Jiayu Huang

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Purpose: This study is based on a trait-based theory of emotional intelligence. This study intends to explore the enabling effect of organizational climate, i.e., affiliation, innovation, and fairness, on the emotional intelligence of teachers in Chinese higher education institutes. This study, additionally, intends to investigate the direct impact of teachers’ emotional intelligence on their learning outcomes, i.e., cognitive, social, self-growth outcomes and satisfaction with the university experience. Design/methodology/approach: This study utilized quantitative research techniques to scrutinize the data. Moreover, partial least squares structural equation modeling, i.e., PLS-SEM, was used to assess the hypothetical relationships to conclude their statistical significance. Findings: Results confirmed the supposed associations, i.e., the organizational climate has an enabling effect on emotional intelligence. Likewise, emotional intelligence was concluded to have a direct and positive association with learning outcomes in higher education. Practical implications: This study has investigated abandoned research that is enabling the effects of organizational climate on teachers’ emotional intelligence in Chinese higher education. Organizational climate enables emotionally intelligent teachers to learn efficiently and, at the same time, augments their satisfaction and productivity within an institution. Originality/value: This study investigated the enabling effects of organizational climate on teachers’ emotional intelligence in Chinese higher education that is original in investigated country and sector.

Keywords: organizational climate, emotional intelligence, learning outcomes, higher education

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Authors: Manal Alosaimi

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Many rehabilitation strategies exist to aid persons with neurological disorders relearn motor skills through intensive training. Evidence supporting the theory that cortical areas involved in motor execution can be triggered by observing actions performed by others is attributed to the function of the mirror neuron system (MNS) indicates that activation of the MNS is associated with improvements in physical action and motor learning. Therefore, it is important to investigate the relationship between motor training (in this case, playing the drums) and the activation of the MNS. To achieve this, 15 healthy right-handed participants received drum-kit training for 21 weeks, during which time blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals were monitored in the brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants were required to perform action–observation and action–execution fMRI tasks. The main results are that BOLD signals in classical regions of the MNS such as supramarginal gyri, inferior parietal lobule, and supplementary motor area increase significantly over the training period. Activation of these areas indicates that passive-observation of others performing these same skills may facilitate recovery of persons suffering from neurological disorders, and complement conventional rehabilitation programs that focus on action execution or intense training.

Keywords: fMRI, mirror neuron system, magnetic resonance imaging, neuroplasticity, drumming, learning, music, action observation, action execution

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Authors: Khandoker Akib Mohammad

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While analyzing time-to-event data, it is possible that a certain fraction of subjects will never experience the event of interest, and they are said to be cured. When this feature of survival models is taken into account, the models are commonly referred to as cure models. In the presence of covariates, the conditional survival function of the population can be modelled by using the cure model, which depends on the probability of being uncured (incidence) and the conditional survival function of the uncured subjects (latency), and a combination of logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards (PH) regression is used to model the incidence and latency respectively. In this paper, we have shown the asymptotic normality of the profile likelihood estimator via asymptotic expansion of the profile likelihood and obtain the explicit form of the variance estimator with an implicit function in the profile likelihood. We have also shown the efficient score function based on projection theory and the profile likelihood score function are equal. Our contribution in this paper is that we have expressed the efficient information matrix as the variance of the profile likelihood score function. A simulation study suggests that the estimated standard errors from bootstrap samples (SMCURE package) and the profile likelihood score function (our approach) are providing similar and comparable results. The numerical result of our proposed method is also shown by using the melanoma data from SMCURE R-package, and we compare the results with the output obtained from the SMCURE package.

Keywords: Cox PH model, cure model, efficient score function, EM algorithm, implicit function, profile likelihood

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Authors: Chia-Chen Chen, Mu-Yen Chen

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In recent years, with the vigorous growth of hardware and software technologies of smart mobile devices coupling with the rapid increase of social network influence, mobile commerce also presents the commercial operation mode of the future mainstream. For the time being, SoLoMo has become one of the very popular commercial models, its full name and meaning mainly refer to that users can obtain three key service types through smart mobile devices (Mobile) and omnipresent network services, and then link to the social (Social) web site platform to obtain the information exchange, again collocating with position and situational awareness technology to get the service suitable for the location (Local), through anytime, anywhere and any personal use of different mobile devices to provide the service concept of seamless integration style, and more deriving infinite opportunities of the future. The study tries to explore the use intention of users with SoLoMo mobile application formula, proposing research model to integrate TAM, ISSM, IDT and network externality, and with questionnaires to collect data and analyze results to verify the hypothesis, results show that perceived ease-of-use (PEOU), perceived usefulness (PU), and network externality have significant impact on the use intention with SoLoMo mobile application formula, and the information quality, relative advantages and observability have impacts on the perceived usefulness, and further affecting the use intention.

Keywords: SoLoMo (social, local, and mobile), technology acceptance model, innovation diffusion theory, network externality

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Authors: Ali Ayatic, Emad Mozaffari, Bahareh Tanhaei, Maryam Khajenoori, Saeedeh Movaghar Khoshkho, Ali Ayati

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The abuse of antibiotics, such as tetracycline (TC), is a great global threat to people and the use of topical antibiotics is a promising tact that can help to solve this problem. Antibiotic therapy is often appropriate and necessary for acute wound infections, while topical tetracycline can be highly efficient in improving the wound healing process in diabetics. Due to the advantages of drug-loaded hydrogels as wound dressing, such as ease of handling, high moisture resistance, excellent biocompatibility, and the ability to activate immune cells to speed wound healing, it was found as an ideal wound treatment. In this work, the tetracycline-loaded hydrogels combining agar (AG) and κ-carrageenan (k-CAR) as polymer materials were prepared, in which span60 surfactant was introduced inside as a drug carrier. The Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopes (FESEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques were employed to provide detailed information on the morphology, composition, and structure of fabricated drug-loaded hydrogels and their mechanical properties, and hydrogel permeability to water vapor was investigated as well. Two types of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria were used to explore the antibacterial properties of prepared tetracycline-contained hydrogels. Their swelling and drug release behavior was studied using the changing factors such as the ratio of polysaccharides (MAG/MCAR), the span60 surfactant concentration, potassium chloride (KCl) concentration and different release media (deionized water (DW), phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and simulated wound fluid (SWF)) at different times. Finally, the kinetic behavior of hydrogel swelling was studied. Also, the experimental data of TC release to DW, PBS, and SWF using various mathematical models such as Higuchi, Korsmeyer-Peppas, zero-order, and first-order in the linear and nonlinear modes were evaluated.

Keywords: drug release, hydrogel, tetracycline, wound healing

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Authors: Hannes Groeneweg

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Myanmar is considered one of the largest fishing nations in the world. The country’s rapid economic and political reform process since 2011 entails both challenges and opportunities for its marine fishing sector. The development pathway of the sector remains unclear. Which future will eventually materialize is shaped and determined by the various visions and actions of the stakeholders engaging in political debates and decision-making. These visions can be conceptualized through the Science and Technology Studies (STS) concept of sociotechnical imaginaries. The research of this article is guided by the question of which imaginaries are currently relevant, who is propagating these imaginaries, and how are these imaginaries produced and contested. Using qualitative documentary analysis of policy documents, reports, and media articles as well as in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, three archetypical national sociotechnical imaginaries of Myanmar’s future marine fisheries were identified: The industrial scale extractivism imaginary views marine fishing sector as a driver for national economic growth and focuses on the industrial and technological development of the production chain, increasing yield and exports. Sustainable fishing management encompasses the vulnerability of marine ecosystems and views increasing efficient sustainability governance, planning, and management into existing fishing practices. In the traditional sufficiency fishing imaginary, small-scale fishing practices are viewed as an important livelihood practice for millions of coastal dwellers. The need to conserve them through strengthening the self-reliance, autonomy, and resilience of these communities is stressed. In national debates, the first two imaginaries are currently dominant. The imaginaries, as well as their contestations, are also linked to other critical political issues. The paper suggests that participatory decision-making processes are needed to create an inclusive imaginary of the future marine fishing sector.

Keywords: science and technology studies, sociotechnical imaginaries, marine fishing, knowledge coproduction, Myanmar

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Authors: Guillaume Lemahieu, Matthias Sentis, Giovanni Brambilla, Gérard Meunier

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Static Multiple Light Scattering (SMLS) has been shown to be a straightforward technique for the characterization of colloidal dispersions without dilution, as multiply scattered light in backscattered and transmitted mode is directly related to the concentration and size of scatterers present in the sample. In this view, the use of SMLS for stability measurement of various dispersion types has already been widely described in the literature. Indeed, starting from a homogeneous dispersion, the variation of backscattered or transmitted light can be attributed to destabilization phenomena, such as migration (sedimentation, creaming) or particle size variation (flocculation, aggregation). In a view to investigating more on the dispersibility of colloidal suspensions, an experimental set-up for “at the line” SMLS experiment has been developed to understand the impact of the formulation parameters on particle size and dispersibility. The SMLS experiment is performed with a high acquisition rate (up to 10 measurements per second), without dilution, and under direct agitation. Using such experimental device, SMLS detection can be combined with the Hansen approach to optimize the dispersing and stabilizing properties of TiO₂ particles. It appears that the dispersibility and the stability spheres generated are clearly separated, arguing that lower stability is not necessarily a consequence of poor dispersibility. Beyond this clarification, this combined SMLS-Hansen approach is a major step toward the optimization of dispersibility and stability of colloidal formulations by finding solvents having the best compromise between dispersing and stabilizing properties. Such study can be intended to find better dispersion media, greener and cheaper solvents to optimize particles suspensions, reduce the content of costly stabilizing additives or satisfy product regulatory requirements evolution in various industrial fields using suspensions (paints & inks, coatings, cosmetics, energy).

Keywords: dispersibility, stability, Hansen parameters, particles, solvents

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Authors: Olga Colbert

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The present work examines the representation of dreaming in Charles Dickens’ novels, particularly Oliver Twist. Dickens showed great interest in the science of dreaming and had ample knowledge of the latest dream theories in the Victorian era, as can be seen in his personal correspondence, most notably in his famous letter to Dr. Thomas Stone on 2/2/1851. This essay places Dickens’ personal writings side by side with his novels to elucidate whether the scientific paradigm about dreaming included in the novel is consistent with the current (in Dickens’ time) scientific knowledge, or whether it is anachronistic or visionary (ahead of his time). Oliver Twist is particularly useful because it contains entire passages pondering on the nature of dreaming, enumerating types of common dreams, and taking a stand on the interference of sensory perception during the dreaming state. The author is particularly intrigued by Dickens’ assumption of the commonality and universality of lucid dreaming as revealed in these passages. This essay places popular Victorian dream theories, such as those contained in Robert Macnish’s The Philosophy of Sleep, side by side with recent dream theory, particularly psychophysiologist Stephen LaBerge’s numerous articles and books on the topic of lucid dreaming to see if Dickens deviated in any way from the reigning paradigm of the Victorian era in his representation of dreaming in his novels. While Dickens puts to great narrative use many of the characteristics of dreaming described by leading Victorian theorists, the author of this study argues, however, that Dickens’ most visionary statements derive from his acute observations of his own dreaming experiences.

Keywords: consciousness, Dickens, dreaming, lucid dreaming, Victorian

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Authors: Jonathan D. Moore, Mark G. Reith, David S. Long

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Serious games (SGs) have been shown to be an effective teaching tool in many contexts. Because of the success of SGs, several design frameworks have been created to expedite the process of making original serious games to teach specific learning objectives (LOs). Even with these frameworks, the time required to create a custom SG from conception to implementation can range from months to years. Furthermore, it is even more difficult to design a game framework that allows an instructor to create customized game variants supporting multiple LOs within the same field. This paper proposes a refactoring methodology to apply the theoretical principles from well-established design frameworks to a pre-existing serious game. The expected result is a generalized game that can be quickly customized to teach LOs not originally targeted by the game. This methodology begins by describing the general components in a game, then uses a combination of two SG design frameworks to extract the teaching elements present in the game. The identified teaching elements are then used as the theoretical basis to determine the range of LOs that can be taught by the game. This paper evaluates the proposed methodology by presenting a case study of refactoring the serious game Battlespace Next (BSN) to teach joint military capabilities. The range of LOs that can be taught by the generalized BSN are identified, and examples of creating custom LOs are given. Survey results from users of the generalized game are also provided. Lastly, the expected impact of this work is discussed and a road map for future work and evaluation is presented.

Keywords: serious games, learning objectives, game design, learning theory, game framework

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Authors: Rika Uchida

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In teaching sophomore level aural skills, I have dealt with students with absolute pitch do poorly in my courses, particularly in harmonic dictation. They can identify triads; however, identifying quality of seventh chords or chromatic chords poses serious challenges. Most often, they need to spell all the pitches before identifying the chord qualities and Roman Numerals. Growing up in a country where acquiring absolute pitch is considered essential, I started my early music training with fixed do system at age three and learned all my music with solfege. When I was assigned as a TA in aural skills courses at graduate school in US, I had to learn relative pitch quickly. My survival method was listening to music with absolute pitch first, then quickly "translate" to relative pitch. In teaching my courses, I have been using chord progressions (5-8 chords total), in which students are asked to sing chord arpeggiation with movable do solfege. I use same progressions for harmonic dictation; I hoped that students learn to incorporate singing and listening skills by overlapping same materials. This method has proven to be successful for most students; in particular, it has helped students with absolute pitch to hear chord quality and function. Although original progressions are written in C as a tonic, they can identify chords in harmonic dictation in other keys as well. In short, I believe singing chord progression with movable do arpeggiation helps students with absolute pitch to improve hearing function and quality of chords in harmonic dictation.

Keywords: aural skills pedagogy, music theory, absolute pitch, harmonic dictation

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Authors: Marthadale Acibo Semacio

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Speaking skill is a crucial part of English language teaching and learning. This actually shows the great importance of this skill in English language classes. Through speaking, ideas and thoughts are shared with other people, and a smooth interaction between people takes place. The study examined the levels of speaking proficiency of the control and experimental groups on pronunciation, grammatical accuracy, and fluency. As a quasi-experimental study, it also determined the presence or absence of significant changes in their speaking proficiency levels in terms of pronouncing the words correctly, the accuracy of grammar and fluency of a language given the two methods to the groups of students in the English language, using the traditional and audio-lingual methods. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed according to the stated specific problems. The study employed a video presentation with prior information about it. In the video, the teacher acts as model one, giving instructions on what is going to be done, and then the students will perform the activity. The students were paired purposively based on their learning capabilities. Observing proper ethics, their performance was audio recorded to help the researcher assess the learner using the modified speaking rubric. The study revealed that those under the traditional method were more fluent than those in the audio-lingual method. With respect to the way in which each method deals with the feelings of the student, the audio-lingual one fails to provide a principle that would relate to this area and follows the assumption that the intrinsic motivation of the students to learn the target language will spring from their interest in the structure of the language. However, the speaking proficiency levels of the students were remarkably reinforced in reading different words through the aid of aural media with their teachers. The study concluded that using an audio-lingual method of teaching is not a stand-alone method but only an aid of the teacher in helping the students improve their speaking proficiency in the English Language. Hence, audio-lingual approach is encouraged to be used in teaching English language, on top of the chalk-talk or traditional method, to improve the speaking proficiency of students.

Keywords: audio-lingual, speaking, grammar, pronunciation, accuracy, fluency, proficiency

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Authors: Chao Ma

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In this paper, the evaluation criteria of authenticity evaluation system model are taken as the foundation so as to discuss the establishment problems about decentralization supervision system and mechanism of historical cultural town and village. The filtration of fitting towns and village's authenticity is conducted from the level, characteristic index and authentic assessment of evaluation model, thereby, supervising subject -interest related- coordinate organization can be taken as the venation in the management level, thus supervision mechanism of town and village's cultural inheritance can be combed, and the cultural inheritance management system and mechanism which is suitable to historical and cultural Chinese town and village will be provided. As the settlement with strong self-organizing characteristic, town and village don't recognize the management system as deeply as city. Therefore, it is necessary to establish town and village cultural evaluation system based on authenticity evaluation criteria. In this paper, authenticity evaluation system is established by taking this village's value evaluation criteria and protection as the cores, and the classification of participating options is beneficial to distribute local limited resources, protect hierarchically and accord with the local characters of town and village, build the evaluation system to run through the whole process of cultural inheritance, moreover, provide abundant information resources and make sure the value judgment criteria, thus supervision and management can be strengthened to effectively guard risk. By the above judgement and filtration of participating options, the management object with clear functions and supervision and coordination organization are established, thereby, the managerial logic of interest-related persons' decentralization can be clarified, evaluation system can be established, and the more targeted decentralization supervision system and mechanism of historical and cultural village will be built ultimately. Taking this method as a fundamental in cultural protection of town and village, not only can it be carried forward in the mass media, but also can cultivate the identity sense of indigenous people to come back historical and cultural villages, and resist the replacement of city culture.

Keywords: authenticity, rural culture, inheritance, supervision

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Authors: Alvarez Magañini, María Victoria-Rubbi, Lautaro Nahuel

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At present, we are facing an unstable international context, conditioned by a relative decline of the US power, primarily in the economic sphere and, to a lesser extent, in the military sphere. This scenario of multipolarity creates tension and uncertainty in the peripheral countries when the issue of their foreign policy arises. This paper presents an analysis of the bilateral relations that were maintained by the Argentine Republic, a peripheral country, along with the United States and China during the period of 2005-2015 in matters of defense in order to identify the empirical consequences resulted from the Argentine actions. Based on the conceptual framework of Peripheral Realism, we analyze indicators related to the weapon trade, defense loans, joint exercises, and personnel training, among others. There will also be a comparative analysis of the conventional military forces of the two powers in question, United States and China. As a conclusion, the cost of having closer relations with China instead of the United States in the defense agenda has been clearly higher than the benefits obtained. The conclusions drawn are empirically aligned with the theoretical paradigm of peripheral realism. Although there are certain conceptual and methodological digressions, these conclusions they could be useful to update and adapt the theory to the current complex international scenario.

Keywords: China, United States, Argentine, peripheral country, peripheral realism

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Authors: Nadine Sammy, Mark Wilson, Samuel Vine

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The Theory of Challenge and Threat States in Athletes (TCTSA) states that self-efficacy is an antecedent of challenge and threat. These states result from conscious and unconscious evaluations of situational demands and personal resources and are represented by both cognitive and physiological markers. Challenge is considered a more adaptive stress response as it is associated with a more efficient cardiovascular profile, as well as better performance and attention effects compared with threat. Self-efficacy is proposed to influence challenge/threat because an individual’s belief that they have the skills necessary to execute the courses of action required to succeed contributes to a perception that they can cope with the demands of the situation. This study experimentally examined the effects of self-efficacy on cardiovascular responses (challenge and threat), demand and resource evaluations, performance and attention under pressurised conditions. Forty-five university students were randomly assigned to either a control (n=15), low self-efficacy (n=15) or high self-efficacy (n=15) group and completed baseline and pressurised golf putting tasks. Self-efficacy was manipulated using false feedback adapted from previous studies. Measures of self-efficacy, cardiovascular reactivity, demand and resource evaluations, task performance and attention were recorded. The high self-efficacy group displayed more favourable cardiovascular reactivity, indicative of a challenge state, compared with the low self-efficacy group. The former group also reported high resource evaluations, but no task performance or attention effects were detected. These findings demonstrate that levels of self-efficacy influence cardiovascular reactivity and perceptions of resources under pressurised conditions.

Keywords: cardiovascular, challenge, performance, threat

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Authors: E. Tandis, E. Assareh

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Designing the optimal shape of MW wind turbine blades is provided in a number of cases through evolutionary algorithms associated with mathematical modeling (Blade Element Momentum Theory). Evolutionary algorithms, among the optimization methods, enjoy many advantages, particularly in stability. However, they usually need a large number of function evaluations. Since there are a large number of local extremes, the optimization method has to find the global extreme accurately. The present paper introduces a new population-based hybrid algorithm called Genetic-Based Bees Algorithm (GBBA). This algorithm is meant to design the optimal shape for MW wind turbine blades. The current method employs crossover and neighborhood searching operators taken from the respective Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Bees Algorithm (BA) to provide a method with good performance in accuracy and speed convergence. Different blade designs, twenty-one to be exact, were considered based on the chord length, twist angle and tip speed ratio using GA results. They were compared with BA and GBBA optimum design results targeting the power coefficient and solidity. The results suggest that the final shape, obtained by the proposed hybrid algorithm, performs better compared to either BA or GA. Furthermore, the accuracy and speed convergence increases when the GBBA is employed

Keywords: Blade Design, Optimization, Genetic Algorithm, Bees Algorithm, Genetic-Based Bees Algorithm, Large Wind Turbine

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Authors: Shady S. Hassan, Brijesh K. Tiwari, Gwilym A. Williams, Amit K. Jaiswal

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Waste materials from a wide range of agro-industrial processes may be used as substrates for microbial growth, and subsequently the production of a range of high value products and bioenergy. In addition, utilization of these agro-residues in bioprocesses has the dual advantage of providing alternative substrates, as well as solving their disposal problems. Spent coffee grounds (SCG) are a by-product (45%) of coffee processing. SCG is a lignocellulosic material, which is composed mainly of cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin. Thus, a pretreatment process is required to facilitate an efficient enzymatic hydrolysis of such carbohydrates. In this context, microwave pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass without the addition of harsh chemicals represents a green technology. Moreover, microwave treatment has a high heating efficiency and is easy to implement. Thus, microwave pretreatment of SCG without adding of harsh chemicals investigated as a green technology to enhance enzyme hydrolysis. In the present work, microwave pretreatment experiments were conducted on SCG at varying power levels (100, 250, 440, 600, and 1000 W) for 60 s. By increasing microwave power to a certain level (which vary by varying biomass), reducing sugar increases, then reducing sugar from biomass start to decrease with microwave power increase beyond this level. Microwave pretreatment of SCG at 60s followed by enzymatic hydrolysis resulted in total reducing sugars of 91.6 ± 7.0 mg/g of biomass (at microwave power of 100 w). Fourier transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was employed to investigate changes in functional groups of biomass after pretreatment, while high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was employed for determination of glucose. Pretreatment of lignocellulose using microwave was found to be an effective and energy efficient technology to improve saccharification and glucose yield. Energy performance will be evaluated for the microwave pretreatment, and the enzyme hydrolysate will be used as media component substitute for the production of ethanol and other high value products.

Keywords: lignocellulose, microwave, pretreatment, spent coffee grounds

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Authors: Marta Skwarecka, Patrycja Bloch, Rafal Walkusz, Oliwia Urbanowicz, Grzegorz Zielinski, Sabina Zoledowska, Dawid Nidzworski

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Upper respiratory tract infections are one of the most common reasons for visiting a general doctor. Streptococci are the most common bacterial etiological factors in these infections. There are many different types of Streptococci and infections vary in severity from mild throat infections to pneumonia. For example, S. pyogenes mainly contributes to acute pharyngitis, palatine tonsils and scarlet fever, whereas S. Streptococcus pneumoniae is responsible for several invasive diseases like sepsis, meningitis or pneumonia with high mortality and dangerous complications. There are only a few diagnostic tests designed for detection Streptococci from the infected throat of patients. However, they are mostly based on lateral flow techniques, and they are not used as a standard due to their low sensitivity. The diagnostic standard is to culture patients throat swab on semi selective media in order to multiply pure etiological agent of infection and subsequently to perform antibiogram, which takes several days from the patients visit in the clinic. Therefore, the aim of our studies is to develop and implement to the market a Point of Care device for the rapid identification of Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus pneumoniae with simultaneous identification of antibiotic resistance genes. In the course of our research, we successfully selected genes for to-species identification of Streptococci and genes encoding antibiotic resistance proteins. We have developed a reaction to amplify these genes, which allows detecting the presence of S. pyogenes or S. pneumoniae followed by testing their resistance to erythromycin, chloramphenicol and tetracycline. What is more, the detection of β-lactamase-encoding genes that could protect Streptococci against antibiotics from the ampicillin group, which are widely used in the treatment of this type of infection is also developed. The test is carried out directly from the patients' swab, and the results are available after 20 to 30 minutes after sample subjection, which could be performed during the medical visit.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance, Streptococci, respiratory infections, diagnostic test

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Authors: Parisa Afshin, Terje Grønning

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Norway, similar to many other countries, has set the focus of its policies in creating new strong and highly innovative sectors in recent years, as the oil and gas sector profitability is declining. Biotechnology sector in Norway has a great potential, especially in marine-biotech and cancer medicine. However, Norway being a periphery faces especial challenges in the path of creating internationally well-known biotech sector and an international knowledge hub. The aim of this article is to analyze the progress of the Norwegian biotechnology industry, its pathway to build up an innovation network and conduct collaborative innovation based on its initial conditions and its own advantage and disadvantages. The findings have important implications not only for politicians and academic in understanding the infrastructure of biotechnology sector in the country, but it has important lessons for other periphery countries or regions aiming in creating strong biotechnology sector and catching up with the strong internationally-recognized regions. Data and methodology: To achieve the main goal of this study, information has been collected via secondary resources such as web pages and annual reports published by the officials and mass media along with interviews were used. The data were collected with the goal to shed light on a brief history and current status of Norway biotechnology sector, as well as geographic distribution of biotech industry, followed by the role of academic and industry collaboration and public policies in Norway biotech. As knowledge is the key input in innovation, knowledge perspective of the system such as knowledge flow in the sector regarding the national and regional innovation system has been studied. Primary results: The internationalization has been an important element in development of periphery regions' innovativeness enabling them to overcome their weakness while putting more weight on the importance of regional policies. Following such findings, suggestions on policy decision and international collaboration, regarding national and regional system of innovation, has been offered as means of promoting strong innovative sector.

Keywords: biotechnology sector, knowledge-based industry, national innovation system, regional innovation system

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Authors: Feng-Tsung Cheng, Shu-Li Wang, Mei-Fang Wu, , Hui-Yu Chuang

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Due to the rapid development of modern technology, the widespread usage of the Internet makes business environment changing quickly. In order to be a leader in the global competitive market and to pursuit survive, “changing” becomes an unspoken rules need to follow for the company survival. The purpose of this paper is to build change model by using SWOT, strategy map, and balance scorecard, KPI and change management theory. The research findings indicate that organizational change plan formulated by the case company should require the employee to resist change factors and performance management system issues into consideration and must be set organizational change related programs, such as performance appraisal reward system, consulting and counseling mechanisms programs to improve motivation and reduce staff negative emotions. Then according to the model revised strategy maps and performance indicators proposed in this paper, such as strategy maps add and modify corporate culture, improve internal processes management, increase the growth rate of net income and other strategies. The performance indicators are based on strategy maps new and modified by adding net income growth rate, to achieve target production rate, manpower training achievement rates and other indicators, through amendments to achieve the company’s goal, be a leading brand of precision machinery industry.

Keywords: organizational change, SWOT analysis, strategy maps, performance indicators

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Authors: Yuliya Lipshits-Braziler

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For many young adults, career decision making is a difficult and complex process that may lead to indecision. Indecision is frequently associated with great psychological distress and low levels of well-being. One important resource for dealing with indecision is career decision self-efficacy (CDSE), which refers to people’s beliefs about their ability to successfully accomplish certain tasks involved in career choice. Drawing from Social Cognitive Theory, it has been hypothesized that CDSE correlates with (a) people’s likelihood to engage in or avoid career decision making tasks, (b) the amount of effort put into the decision making process, (c) the people’s persistence in decision making efforts when faced with difficulties, and (d) the eventual success in arriving at career decisions. Based on these assumptions, the present study examines the associations between the CDSE and 14 strategies for coping with career indecision among young adults. Using the structural equation modeling (SEM), the results showed that CDSE is positively associated with the use of productive coping strategies, such as information-seeking, problem-solving, positive thinking, and self-regulation. In addition, CDSE was negatively associated with nonproductive coping strategies, such as avoidance, isolation, ruminative thinking, and blaming others. Contrary to our expectations, CDSE was not significantly correlated with instrumental help-seeking, while it was negatively correlated with emotional help-seeking. The results of this study can be used to facilitate the development of interventions aiming to reinforce young adults’ career decision making self-efficacy, which may provide them with a basis for overcoming career indecision more effectively.

Keywords: career decision self-efficacy, career indecision, coping strategies, career counseling

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Authors: Majid Farsadrooh, Mehran Feizi-Dehnayebi

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Serum albumin is the most abundant protein that is present in the circulatory system of a wide variety of organisms. Although it is a significant macromolecule, it can contribute to osmotic blood pressure and also, plays a superior role in drug disposition and efficiency. Molecular docking simulation can improve in silico drug design and discovery procedures to propound a lead compound and develop it from the discovery step to the clinic. In this study, the molecular docking simulation was applied to select a lead molecule through an investigation of the interaction of the two anticancer drugs (Alitretinoin and Abemaciclib) with Human Serum Albumin (HSA). Then, a series of new compounds (a-e) were suggested using lead molecule modification. Density functional theory (DFT) including MEP map and HOMO-LUMO analysis were used for the newly proposed compounds to predict the reactivity zones on the molecules, stability, and chemical reactivity. DFT calculation illustrated that these new compounds were stable. The estimated binding free energy (ΔG) values for a-e compounds were obtained as -5.78, -5.81, -5.95, -5,98, and -6.11 kcal/mol, respectively. Finally, the pharmaceutical properties and toxicity of these new compounds were estimated through OSIRIS DataWarrior software. The results indicated no risk of tumorigenic, irritant, or reproductive effects and mutagenicity for compounds d and e. As a result, compounds d and e, could be selected for further study as potential therapeutic candidates. Moreover, employing molecular docking simulation with the prediction of pharmaceutical properties helps to discover new potential drug compounds.

Keywords: drug design, anticancer, computational studies, DFT analysis

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Authors: Emmanuel Ukpe, S. M. F. D. Syed Mustapha

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Trust in an organization has been perceived as one of the key factors behind knowledge sharing, mainly in an unstructured work environment. In an informal working environment, to instill trust among individuals is a challenge and even more in the virtual environment. The study has contributed in developing the framework for building trust in an unstructured organization in performing knowledge sharing in a virtual environment. The artifact called KAPE (Knowledge Acquisition, Processing, and Exchange) was developed for knowledge sharing for the informal organization where the framework was incorporated. It applies to Cassava farmers to facilitate knowledge sharing using web-based platform. A survey was conducted; data were collected from 382 farmers from 21 farm communities. Multiple regression technique, Cronbach’s Alpha reliability test; Tukey’s Honestly significant difference (HSD) analysis; one way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and all trust acceptable measures (TAM) were used to test the hypothesis and to determine noteworthy relationships. The results show a significant difference when there is a trust in knowledge sharing between farmers, the ones who have high in trust acceptable factors found in the model (M = 3.66 SD = .93) and the ones who have low on trust acceptable factors (M = 2.08 SD = .28), (t (48) = 5.69, p = .00). Furthermore, when applying Cognitive Expectancy Theory, the farmers with cognitive-consonance show higher level of trust and satisfaction with knowledge and information from KAPE, as compared with a low level of cognitive-dissonance. These results imply that the adopted trust model KAPE positively improved knowledge sharing activities in an informal environment amongst rural farmers.

Keywords: trust, knowledge, sharing, knowledge acquisition, processing and exchange, KAPE

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Authors: Aurora Gitto, Philipp Proksch

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The presence of various microorganisms (bacteria, fungi) in surface water and groundwater represents an important issue for human health worldwide. The matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) has emerged as a promising and reliable tool for bacteria identification in clinical diagnostic microbiology and environmental strains thanks to an ionization technique that uses a laser energy absorbing matrix to create ions from large molecules with minimal fragmentation. The study aims first to conceptualise and set up library information and create a comprehensive database of MALDI-TOF-MS spectra from environmental water samples. The samples were analysed over a year (2021-2022) using membrane filtration methodology (0.45 μm and 0.22 μm) and then isolated on R2A agar for a period of 5 days and Yeast extract agar growing at 22 °C up to 4 days and 37 °C for 48 hours. The undetected organisms by MALDI-TOF-MS were analysed by PCR and then sequenced. The information obtained by the sequencing was further implemented in the MALDI-TOF-MS library. Among the culturable bacteria, the results show how the incubator temperature affects the growth of some genera instead of others, as demonstrated by Pseudomonas sp., which grows at 22 °C, compared to Bacillus sp., which is abundant at 37 °C. The bacteria community shows a variation in composition also between the media used, as demonstrated with R2A agar which has been defined by a higher presence of organisms not detected compared to YEA. Interesting is the variability of the Genus over one year of sampling and how the seasonality impacts the bacteria community; in fact, in some sampling locations, we observed how the composition changed, moving from winter to spring and summer. In conclusion, the bacteria community in groundwater and river bank filtration represents important information that needs to be added to the library to simplify future water quality analysis but mainly to prevent potential risks to human health.

Keywords: water quality, MALDI-TOF-MS, sequencing, library

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Authors: S. Lakel, F. Elhamra, M. Ibrir, K. Almi

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There is a growing interest in Zn1-xBexO (ZBO)/ZnO hetero structures and quantum wells since the band gap energy of Zn1-xBexO solid solutions can be turned over a very large range (3.37–10.6 eV) as a function of the Be composition. ZBO/ZnO has been utilized in ultraviolet light emission diodes and lasers, and may find applications as active elements of various other electronic and optoelectronic devices. Band gap engineering by Be substitution enables the facile preparation of barrier layers and quantum wells in device structures. In addition, ZnO and its ternary alloys, as piezoelectric semiconductors, have been used for high-frequency surface acoustic wave devices in wireless communication systems due to their high acoustic velocities and large electromechanical coupling. However, many important parameters such as elastic constants, bulk modulus, Young’s modulus and band-gap bowing. First-principles calculations of the structural, electrical and elastic properties of Zn1-xBexO as a function of the Be concentration x have been performed within density functional theory using norm-conserving pseudopotentials and local density approximation (LDA) for the exchange and correlation energy. The alloys’ lattice constants may deviate from the Vegard law. As Be concentration increases, the elastic constants, the bulk modulus and Young’s modulus of the alloys increase, the band gap increases with increasing Be concentration and Zn1-xBexO alloys have direct band. Our calculated results are in good agreement with experimental data and other theoretical calculations.

Keywords: DFT calculation, norm-conserving pseudopotentials, ZnBeO alloys, ZnO

Procedia PDF Downloads 502