Search results for: virtual banks

Authors: Soma Banerjee, Aamen Talukdar, Argha Mandal, Dipankar Chaudhuri

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Japanese Encephalitis is a major infectious disease with nearly half the world’s population living in areas where it is prevalent. Currently, treatment for it involves only supportive care and symptom management through vaccination. Due to the lack of antiviral drugs against Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV), the quest for such agents remains a priority. For these reasons, simulation studies of drug targets against JEV are important. Towards this purpose, docking experiments of the kinase inhibitors were done against the chosen target NS3 helicase as it is a nucleoside binding protein. Previous efforts regarding computational drug design against JEV revealed some lead molecules by virtual screening using public domain software. To be more specific and accurate regarding finding leads, in this study a proprietary software Schrödinger-GLIDE has been used. Druggability of the pockets in the NS3 helicase crystal structure was first calculated by SITEMAP. Then the sites were screened according to compatibility with ATP. The site which is most compatible with ATP was selected as target. Virtual screening was performed by acquiring ligands from databases: KinaseSARfari, KinaseKnowledgebase and Published inhibitor Set using GLIDE. The 25 ligands with best docking scores from each database were re-docked in XP mode. Protein structure alignment of NS3 was performed using VAST against MMDB, and similar human proteins were docked to all the best scoring ligands. The low scoring ligands were chosen for further studies and the high scoring ligands were screened. Seventy-three ligands were listed as the best scoring ones after performing HTVS. Protein structure alignment of NS3 revealed 3 human proteins with RMSD values lesser than 2Å. Docking results with these three proteins revealed the inhibitors that can interfere and inhibit human proteins. Those inhibitors were screened. Among the ones left, those with docking scores worse than a threshold value were also removed to get the final hits. Analysis of the docked complexes through 2D interaction diagrams revealed the amino acid residues that are essential for ligand binding within the active site. Interaction analysis will help to find a strongly interacting scaffold among the hits. This experiment yielded 21 hits with the best docking scores which could be investigated further for their drug like properties. Aside from getting suitable leads, specific NS3 helicase-inhibitor interactions were identified. Selection of Target modification strategies complementing docking methodologies which can result in choosing better lead compounds are in progress. Those enhanced leads can lead to better in vitro testing.

Keywords: antivirals, docking, glide, high-throughput virtual screening, Japanese encephalitis, ns3 helicase

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Authors: Siddeeq Y. Ameen, Mohammed K. Yousif

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Cooperative communication systems are considered to be a promising technology to improve the system capacity, reliability and performances over fading wireless channels. Cooperative relaying system with a single antenna will be able to reach the advantages of multiple antenna communication systems. It is ideally suitable for the distributed communication systems; the relays can cooperate and form virtual MIMO systems. Thus the paper will aim to investigate the possible enhancement of cooperated system using decode and forward protocol. On decode and forward an attempt to cancel or at least reduce the interference instead of increasing the SNR values is achieved. The latter can be achieved via the use group of relays depending on the channel status from source to relay and relay to destination respectively. In the proposed system, the transmission time has been divided into two phases to be used by decode and forward protocol. The first phase has been allocated for the source to transmit its data whereas the relays and destination nodes are in receiving mode. On the other hand, the second phase is allocated for the first and second groups of relay nodes to relay the data to the destination node. Simulations results have shown an improvement in performance is achieved compared to the conventional decode and forward in terms of BER and transmission rate.

Keywords: cooperative systems, decode and forward, interference cancellation, virtual MIMO

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Authors: Fayzan Ahmed, Saad Bin Saeed, Abdul Qadir Jangda

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Gafchromic™ sheet are extensively used for the QA of intensity modulated radiation therapy and other in-vivo dosimetry. Intra-sheet Non-uniformity of scanner as well as film causes undesirable fluctuations which are reflected in dosimetry The aim of this study is to define a systematic and robust method to investigate the intra-sheet uniformity of the unexposed Gafchromic Sheets and the region of interest (ROI) of the scanner. Sheets of lot No#: A05151201 were scanned before and after the expiry period with the EPSON™ XL10000 scanner in the transmission mode, landscape orientation, and 72 dpi resolution. ROI of (8’x 10’ inches) equal to the sheet dimension in the center of the scanner is used to acquire images with full transmission, block transmission and with sheets in place. 500 virtual grids, created in MATALB® are imported as a macros in ImageJ (1.49m Wayne Rasband) to analyze the images. In order to remove the edge effects, the outer 86 grids are excluded from the analysis. The standard deviation of the block transmission and full transmission are 0.38% and 0.66% confirming a higher uniformity of the scanner. Expired and non-expired sheets have standard deviations of 2.18% and 1.29%, show that uniformity decreases after expiry. The results are promising and indicate a good potential of this method to be used as a uniformity check for scanner and unexposed Gafchromic sheets.

Keywords: IMRT, film dosimetry, virtual grids, uniformity

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Authors: Pradeep Kulshrestha, Maulana Ayoub Ali

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The level of penetration of Islamic banking products and services has recorded a reasonable growth at an exponential rate in many parts of the world. There are many factors which have contributed to this growth including, but not limited to the rapid growth of number of Muslims who are uncomfortable with the conventional ways of banking, interest and higher interest rates scheduled by conventional banks and financial institutions as well as the financial inclusion campaign conducted in many countries. The system is facing legal challenges which open the research fdoor for practitioners and academicians for the sake of finding out solutions to those challenges. This paper tries to investigate the development of the Islamic banking system in the United Kingdom (UK), Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Iran, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda in order to understand the modalities which have been employed to run an Islamic banking system in the aforementioned countries. The methodology which has been employed in doing this research paper is Doctrinal, of which legislations, policies and other legal tools have been carefully studied and analysed. Again, papers from academic journals, books and financial reports have been deeply analysed for the purpose of enriching the paper and come up with a tangible results. The paper found that in Asia, Malaysia has created the smoothest legal platform for Islamic banking system to work properly in the country. The United Kingdom has tried harder to smooth the banking system without affecting the conventional banking methods and without favouring the operations of Islamic banks. It also tries harder to make UK as an Islamic banking and finance hub in Europe. The entire banking system in Iran is Islamic, while Nigeria has undergone several legal reforms to suit Islamic banking system in the country. Kenya and Uganda are at a different pace in making Islamic Banking system work alongside the conventional banking system.  

Keywords: shariah, Islamic banking, law, alternative banking

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Authors: Pradeep Kulshrestha, Maulana Ayoub Ali

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The concept of financial inclusion has been tabled in the whole world where practitioners, academicians, policy makers and economists are working hard to look for the best possible opportunities in order to enable the whole society to be in the banking cycle. The Islamic banking system is considered to be one of the said opportunities. Countries like the United Kingdom, United States of America, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the whole of the United Arab Emirates and many African countries have accommodated the aspect of Islamic banking in the conventional banking system as one of the financial inclusion strategies. This paper tries to analyse the current state of affairs of the Islamic Banking system in Tanzania in order to understand the improvement of the provision of Islamic banking products and services in the said country. The paper discusses the historical background of the banking system in Tanzania, the level of penetration of banking products and services and the coming of the Islamic banking system in the country. Furthermore, the paper discusses banking regulatory bodies, legal instruments governing banking operations as well as number of legal challenges facing Islamic banking operations in the country. Following a critical literature review, the paper discovered that there is no legal instrument which talks about the introduction and provision of Islamic banking system in Tanzania. Furthermore, the Islamic banking system was considered as a banking product which is absolutely incorrect because Islamic banking is considered to be as a banking system of its own. In addition to that, it has been discovered that lack of a proper regulatory system and legal instruments to harmonize the conventional and Islamic banking systems has resulted in the closure of one Islamic window in the country, which in the end affects the credibility of the newly introduced banking system. In its conclusive remarks, the paper suggests that Tanzania should work on all legal challenges affecting the smooth operations of the Islamic banking system. This can be in a way of adopting various Islamic banking legal models which are used in countries like Malaysia and others, or a borrowing legal harmonization process which has been adopted by the UK, Uganda, Nigeria and Kenya.

Keywords: Islamic banking, Islamic windows, regulations, banks

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Authors: Arvind Aggarwal

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We have developed a comprehensive global healthcare delivery System based on information technology. It has medical consultation system where a virtual consultant can give medical consultation to the patients and Doctors at the digital medical centre after reviewing the patient’s EMR file consisting of patient’s history, investigations in the voice, images and data format. The system has the surgical operation system too, where a remote robotic consultant can conduct surgery at the robotic surgical centre. The instant speech and text translation is incorporated in the software where the patient’s speech and text (language) can be translated into the consultant’s language and vice versa. A consultant of any specialty (surgeon or Physician) based in any country can provide instant health care consultation, to any patient in any country without loss of time. Robotic surgeons based in any country in a tertiary care hospital can perform remote robotic surgery, through patient friendly telemedicine and tele-surgical centres. The patient EMR, financial data and data of all the consultants and robotic surgeons shall be stored in cloud. It is a complete comprehensive business model with healthcare medical and surgical delivery system. The whole system is self-financing and can be implemented in any country. The entire system uses paperless, filmless techniques. This eliminates the use of all consumables thereby reduces substantial cost which is incurred by consumables. The consultants receive virtual patients, in the form of EMR, thus the consultant saves time and expense to travel to the hospital to see the patients. The consultant gets electronic file ready for reporting & diagnosis. Hence time spent on the physical examination of the patient is saved, the consultant can, therefore, spend quality time in studying the EMR/virtual patient and give his instant advice. The time consumed per patient is reduced and therefore can see more number of patients, the cost of the consultation per patients is therefore reduced. The additional productivity of the consultants can be channelized to serve rural patients devoid of doctors.

Keywords: e-health, telemedicine, telecare, IT-based healthcare

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Authors: Sorin Oancea

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More than half a century after Ivan Sutherland’s seminal essay, ‘The Ultimate Display’ (1965), 3D Virtual Reality is still an emergent and exploratory medium in terms of its narrative potential, production methodology, and market penetration. Traditionally positioned in front of the screen/canvas as a ‘window-on-the-world’, the storyboarder and animation director transcend the medium and its narrative reality entirely while designing a linear cinematic sequence. This paper proposes a gradual transition from the traditional linear sequence design process based on a transcendent position of the storyboarder and animation director to an increasingly immersed one characterized by a sense of unmediated presence and immanence. Employing a quaitative analysis of the current exploratory storyboarding processes for 3D VR, this research uses a practice-based methodology based on producing a short-form 3D VR narrative experience to derive its findings. The original contribution to knowledge is charting an empirically derived conceptual framework for VR storyboarding and animation directing, with the documented reflective and reflexive process as a map for directorial transitioning between converging mediums by articulating the new VR lexical categories and expounding links to allied performative arts, such as film and theatre.

Keywords: storyboarding, immersive, virtual reality, transitioning

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Authors: Constant Akama, Frank Kulor, Frederick Agyemang

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All over the world, due to increasing population, electric power distribution companies are looking for more efficient ways of reading electricity meters. In Ghana, the prepaid metering system was introduced in 2007 to replace the manual system of reading which was fraught with inefficiencies. However, the prepaid system in Ghana is not capable of integration with online systems such as e-commerce platforms and remote monitoring systems. In this paper, we present a design framework for an automatic metering system that can be integrated with e-commerce platforms and remote monitoring systems. The meter was designed using ADE 7755 which reads the energy consumption and the reading is processed by a microcontroller connected to Sim900 General Packet Radio Service module containing a GSM chip provisioned with an Access Point Name. The system also has a billing server and a management server located at the premises of the utility company which communicate with the meter over a Virtual Private Network and GPRS. With this system, customers can buy credit online and the credit will be transferred securely to the meter. Also, when a fault is reported, the utility company can log into the meter remotely through the management server to troubleshoot the problem.

Keywords: access point name, general packet radio service, GSM, virtual private network

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Authors: Mohamed Mediouni

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Evaluating the performance of a simulator in the CAVE has to be confirmed by encouraging people to live the experience of virtual reality. In this paper, a detailed procedure of recording video is presented. Limitations of the experimental device are firstly exposed. Then, solutions for improving this idea are finally described.

Keywords: CAVE, stereoscopics, camera, recording

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Authors: Yosef Ferede Bogale

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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the degree of customer satisfaction and the variables influencing it in the instance of the Bank of Abyssinia branches in the districts of Arada and Bole in Addis Ababa. The study was carried out utilizing a mixed research approach and a descriptive and explanatory research design in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. Both primary and secondary data were employed in this investigation. The study's target population consisted of 1000 of the bank's most prestigious clients. With a 93% response rate, 265 respondents from both genders in the active age group had higher levels of education and work experience and were in the active age group. Customers of the case bank under consideration comprised the study's target audience. The respondents, who belonged to both gender groups, were in the active age bracket with superior levels of education and work experience. As a result, this investigation discovered that the degree of client satisfaction was assigned a medium rating. Additionally given a middling rating were the company's image practices, employee competency, technology, and service quality. Further, the results also demonstrate that corporate image, employees’ competency, technology, and service quality all positively and significantly affect customer happiness. This study found that, to varying degrees, company image, technology, competence, and high-quality financial services will all improve consumer happiness. According to this report, banks should monitor customer satisfaction and service quality at least twice a year. This is because there is a growing movement among bank service providers for accountability, and measuring these factors is crucial. This study also recommends that banks make every effort to satisfy consumers' expectations to the highest level.

Keywords: customer satisfaction, corporate image, quality services risk, bank

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Authors: Son Nguyen, Thanh Van, Ly Le

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Ca2+ - dependent calmodulin kinase IIa (CaMKIIa) has recently been found to associate with protein tau missorting and polymerization in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). However, there has yet inhibitors targeting CaMKIIa to investigate the correlation between CaMKIIa activity and protein tau polymer formation. Combining virtual screening and our statistics in binding contribution scoring function (BCSF), we rationally identified potential compounds that bind to specific CaMKIIa active site and specificity-affinity distribution of the ligand within the active site. Using molecular dynamics simulation, we identified structural stability of CaMKIIa and potent inhibitors, and site-directed bonding, separating non-specific and specific molecular interaction features. Despite of variation in confirmation of simulation time, interactions of the potent inhibitors were found to be strongly associated with the unique chemical features extracted from molecular binding poses. In addition, competitive inhibitors within CaMKIIa showed an important molecular recognition pattern toward specific ligand features. Our approach combining virtual screening with BCSF may provide an universally applicable method for precise identification in the discovery of compounds.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, Ca 2+ -dependent calmodulin kinase IIa, protein tau, molecular docking

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Authors: Noor Ashikin Omar

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The rapid growth and advancement in information and communication technology (ICT) at a global scene has greatly influenced and revolutionised interaction amongst society. The use of ICT has become second nature in managing everyday lives, particularly in the education environment. Traditional learning methods of using blackboards and chalks have been largely improved by the use of ICT devices such as interactive whiteboards and computers in school. This paper aims to explore the impacts of virtual learning environments (VLE) on teacher’s pedagogy and student’s learning in primary school settings. The research was conducted in two phases. Phase one of this study comprised a short interview with the school’s senior assistants to examine issues and challenges faced during planning and implementation of FrogVLE in their respective schools. Phase two involved a survey of a number of questionnaires directed to three major stakeholders; the teachers, students and parents. The survey intended to explore teacher’s and student’s perspective and attitude towards the use of VLE as a teaching and learning medium and as a learning experience as a whole. In addition, the survey from parents provided insights on how they feel towards the use of VLE for their child’s learning. Collectively, the two phases enable improved understanding and provided observations on factors that had affected the implementation of the VLE into primary schools. This study offers the voices of the students which were frequently omitted when addressing innovations as well as teachers who may not always be heard. It is also significant in addressing the importance of teacher’s pedagogy on students’ learning and its effects to enable more effective ICT integration with a student-centred approach. Finally, parental perceptions in the implementation of VLE in supporting their children’s learning have been implicated as having a bearing on educational achievement. The results indicate that the all three stakeholders were positive and highly supportive towards the use of VLE in schools. They were able to understand the benefits of moving towards the modern method of teaching using ICT and accept the change in the education system. However, factors such as condition of ICT facilities at schools and homes as well as inadequate professional development for the teachers in both ICT skills and management skills hindered exploitation of the VLE system in order to fully utilise its benefits. Social influences within different communities and cultures and costs of using the technology also has a significant impact. The findings of this study are important to the Malaysian Ministry of Education because it informs policy makers on the impact of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) on teacher’s pedagogy and learning of Malaysian primary school children. The information provided to policy makers allows them to make a sound judgement and enables an informed decision making.

Keywords: attitudes towards virtual learning environment (VLE), parental perception, student's learning, teacher's pedagogy

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Authors: Kamlesh Shashikant Dave

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The global financial crisis is rooted in the sub-prime crisis in U.S.A. During the boom years, mortgage brokers attracted by the big commission, encouraged buyers with poor credit to accept housing mortgages with little or no down payment and without credit check. A combination of low interest rates and large inflow of foreign funds during the booming years helped the banks to create easy credit conditions for many years. Banks lent money on the assumptions that housing price would continue to rise. Also the real estate bubble encouraged the demand for houses as financial assets .Banks and financial institutions later repackaged these debts with other high risk debts and sold them to worldwide investors creating financial instruments called collateral debt obligations (CDOs). With the rise in interest rate, mortgage payments rose and defaults among the subprime category of borrowers increased accordingly. Through the securitization of mortgage payments, a recession developed in the housing sector and consequently it was transmitted to the entire US economy and rest of the world. The financial credit crisis has moved the US and the global economy into recession. Indian economy has also affected by the spill over effects of the global financial crisis. Great saving habit among people, strong fundamentals, strong conservative and regulatory regime have saved Indian economy from going out of gear, though significant parts of the economy have slowed down. Industrial activity, particularly in the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors decelerated. The service sector too, slow in construction, transport, trade, communication, hotels and restaurants sub sectors. The financial crisis has some adverse impact on the IT sector. Exports had declined in absolute terms in October. Higher inputs costs and dampened demand have dented corporate margins while the uncertainty surrounding the crisis has affected business confidence. To summarize, reckless subprime lending, loose monetary policy of US, expansion of financial derivatives beyond acceptable norms and greed of Wall Street has led to this exceptional global financial and economic crisis. Thus, the global credit crisis of 2008 highlights the need to redesign both the global and domestic financial regulatory systems not only to properly address systematic risk but also to support its proper functioning (i.e financial stability).Such design requires: 1) Well managed financial institutions with effective corporate governance and risk management system 2) Disclosure requirements sufficient to support market discipline. 3)Proper mechanisms for resolving problem institution and 4) Mechanisms to protect financial services consumers in the event of financial institutions failure.

Keywords: FIIs, BSE, sensex, global impact

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Authors: Kyra Kannen, Sonja D. Roelen, Sebastian Schnieder, Jarek Krajewski, Steffen Holsteg, André Karger, Johanna Askeridis, Celina Slawik, Philip Mildner, Jens Piesk, Ruslan David, Holger Kürten, Benjamin Oster, Robert Malzan, Mike Ludemann

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Virtual Reality (VR) is increasingly recognized for its potential in transforming mental disorder treatment, offering advantages such as cost-effectiveness, time efficiency, accessibility, reduced stigma, and scalability. While the application of VR in the context of anxiety disorders has been extensively evaluated and demonstrated to be effective, the utilization of VR as a therapeutic treatment for depression remains under-investigated. Our goal is to pioneer immersive VR therapy modules for treating major depression, alongside a web-based system for home use. We develop a modular digital therapy platform grounded in psychodynamic therapy interventions which addresses stress reduction, exploration of social situations and relationship support, social skill training, avoidance behavior analysis, and psychoeducation. In addition, an automated depression monitoring system, based on acoustic voice analysis, is implemented in the form of a speech-based diary to track the affective state of the user and depression severity. The use of immersive VR facilitates patient immersion into complex and realistic interpersonal interactions with high emotional engagement, which may contribute to positive treatment acceptance and satisfaction. In a proof-of-concept study, 45 depressed patients were assigned to VR or web-platform modules, evaluating user experience, usability and additional metrics including depression severity, mindfulness, interpersonal problems, and treatment satisfaction. The findings provide valuable insights into the effectiveness and user-friendliness of VR and web modules for depression therapy and contribute to the refinement of more tailored digital interventions to improve mental health.

Keywords: virtual reality therapy, digital health, depression, psychotherapy

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Authors: Sofiane Bououden, Ilyes Boulkaibet

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In this paper, a robust fault-tolerant predictive control (FTPC) strategy is proposed for systems with linear parameter varying (LPV) models and input constraints subject to sensor faults. Generally, virtual observers are used for improving the observation precision and reduce the impacts of sensor faults and uncertainties in the system. However, this type of observer lacks certain system measurements which substantially reduce its accuracy. To deal with this issue, a real observer is then designed based on the virtual observer, and consequently a real observer-based robust predictive control is designed for polytopic LPV systems. Moreover, the proposed observer can entirely assure that all system states and sensor faults are estimated. As a result, and based on both observers, a robust fault-tolerant predictive control is then established via the Lyapunov method where sufficient conditions are proposed, for stability analysis and control purposes, in linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) form. Finally, simulation results are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Keywords: linear parameter varying systems, fault-tolerant predictive control, observer-based control, sensor faults, input constraints, linear matrix inequalities

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Authors: Pritika Ramharack, Mahmoud E. S. Soliman

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The re-emerging Zika virus is an arthropod-borne virus that has been described to have explosive potential as a worldwide pandemic. The initial transmission of the virus was through a mosquito vector, however, evolving modes of transmission has allowed the spread of the disease over continents. The virus already been linked to irreversible chronic central nervous system (CNS) conditions. The concerns of the scientific and clinical community are the consequences of Zika viral mutations, thus suggesting the urgent need for viral inhibitors. There have been large strides in vaccine development against the virus but there are still no FDA-approved drugs available. Rapid rational drug design and discovery research is fundamental in the production of potent inhibitors against the virus that will not just mask the virus, but destroy it completely. In silico drug design allows for this prompt screening of potential leads, thus decreasing the consumption of precious time and resources. This study demonstrates an optimized and proven screening technique in the discovery of two potential small molecule inhibitors of Zika virus Methyltransferase and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. This in silico “per-residue energy decomposition pharmacophore” virtual screening approach will be critical in aiding scientists in the discovery of not only effective inhibitors of Zika viral targets, but also a wide range of anti-viral agents.

Keywords: NS5 protein inhibitors, per-residue decomposition, pharmacophore model, virtual screening, Zika virus

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Authors: B. Schofield, F. Gul, S. McClean, R. Hoskins, R. Terry, U. Rolfe, A. Gibson, S. Voss, J. Benger

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Aim: The aim of this study is to determine whether and how health promotion activities are undertaken by paramedics and emergency department nurses and investigate ways of overcoming potential barriers. Background: Paramedics and emergency department nurses are uniquely placed to reach millions of people and could use these contacts as positive opportunities to help people improve their health by identifying people with risk factors and provide information, brief interventions, and signposting to locally provided services. These interventions can be carried out when the opportunity arises, typically take no more than a few minutes, have a low financial cost and can be a highly efficient method of health promotion. Methodology: Three NHS Emergency Departments and four Ambulance Trusts in England were recruited to the study. A link to an online survey was distributed to paramedics and emergency department nurses at participating sites. Staff were invited to participate in virtual semi-structured interviews. Patients seen, treated, and discharged at the participating sites were invited to virtual semistructured interviews. Findings: A total of 331 survey responses were received, 21 virtual semi-structured staff interviews and 11 patient interviews were completed. Staff reported lack of time to prioritise, lack of knowledge, resources, and confidence as barriers. Receptiveness of patients guided their decision to undertake health promotion activities. They reported a desire to learn how to undertake health promotion conversations. Emergency department nurses felt more supported than paramedics by their organisations to undertake health promotion activities. Patients were not aware of health promotion activities and reported fear and lack of privacy as barriers. Conclusions: These results will guide the development of an intervention to support the provision of health promotion by staff in urgent and emergency care settings. The components of the intervention will be mapped to a framework which will consider the needs of staff working within these settings, patients they treat, and organisational issues and practices related to the implementation of such an intervention.

Keywords: emergency service, hospital, nursing, allied health personnel, emergency medical services, health promotion

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Authors: Hadjer Chellia

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In the light of the recent global pandemic, different issues in educational research seem to invite careful considerations. Following this perspective, this study sets out to question the concept of classroom management in an EFL higher education context during Covid-19. In order to gain an in-depth understanding of their experiences, 6 EFL teachers from different Algerian universities took part in semi-structured interviews. The main emerging themes revealed that EFL teachers have different pedagogical practices in relation to classroom management during the global crisis than those of normal times. In relation to flexible education theory, the teachers’ experiences suggest flexible classroom management during Covid-19; flexibility in the teaching methods, approach and design, flexibility in time, flexibility in space and pace (speed), flexibility in assessment modes and flexibility in coping with students’ well-being. The flexibility awareness helps them to develop readiness towards the future, mainly in terms of maintaining an appropriate pedagogy to face the future crisis. In terms of theoretical concepts, working on classroom management under unusual circumstances in relation to flexible education helped come out with the concept of flexible classroom management (FCM) and virtual classroom management (VCM). It is then important for educators and researchers to rethink different pedagogical concepts and mind a careful application in the case of unusual times.

Keywords: Covid-19, EFL educators, flexible classroom management, flexible education, virtual classroom management

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Authors: Claire Tranter, Coral Dando

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Gathering information from others is a fundamental goal for those concerned with investigating crime, and protecting national and international security. Persuading an individual to move from an opposing to converging viewpoint, and an understanding on the cognitive style behind this change can serve to increase understanding of traditional face-to-face interactions, as well as synthetic environments (SEs) often used for communication across varying geographical locations. SEs are growing in usage, and with this increase comes an increase in crime being undertaken online. Communication technologies can allow people to mask their real identities, supporting anonymous communication which can raise significant challenges for investigators when monitoring and managing these conversations inside SEs. To date, the psychological literature concerning how to maximise information-gain in SEs for real-world interviewing purposes is sparse, and as such this aspect of social cognition is not well understood. Here, we introduce an overview of a novel programme of PhD research which seeks to enhance understanding of cross-cultural and cross-gender communication in SEs for maximising information gain. Utilising a dyadic jury paradigm, participants interacted with a confederate who attempted to persuade them to the opposing verdict across three distinct environments: face-to-face, instant messaging, and a novel virtual reality environment utilising avatars. Participants discussed a criminal scenario, acting as a two-person (male; female) jury. Persuasion was manipulated by the confederate claiming an opposing viewpoint (guilty v. not guilty) to the naïve participants from the outset. Pre and post discussion data, and observational digital recordings (voice and video) of participant’ discussion performance was collected. Information regarding cognitive style was also collected to ascertain participants need for cognitive closure and biases towards jumping to conclusions. Findings revealed that individuals communicating via an avatar in a virtual reality environment reacted in a similar way, and thus equally persuasive, when compared to individuals communicating face-to-face. Anonymous instant messaging however created a resistance to persuasion in participants, with males showing a significant decline in persuasive outcomes compared to face to face. The findings reveal new insights particularly regarding the interplay of persuasion on gender and modality, with anonymous instant messaging enhancing resistance to persuasion attempts. This study illuminates how varying SE can support new theoretical and applied understandings of how judgments are formed and modified in response to advocacy.

Keywords: applied cognition, persuasion, social media, virtual reality

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Authors: Aisha Zubair, Anila Kamal

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Leadership styles and practices greatly influence the organizational effectiveness and productivity. It also plays an important role in employees’ experiences of positive emotions at workplace and creative work behaviors. Authentic leadership as a newly emerging concept has been found as a significant predictor of various desirable work related outcomes. However, leadership practices and its work related outcomes, to a great extent, are determined by the very nature of the organizational structures (tall and flat). Tall organizations are characterized by multiple hierarchical layers with predominant vertical communication patterns, and narrow span of control; while flat organizations are featured by few layers of management employing both horizontal and vertical communication styles, and wide span of control. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to determine the work related outcomes of perceived authentic leadership; that is work related flow and creative work behavior among employees of flat and tall organizations. Moreover, it was also intended to determine the moderating role of organizational structure (flat and tall) in the relationship between perceived authentic leadership with work related flow and creative work behavior. In this regard, two types of companies have been considered; that is, banks as a form of tall organizational structure with multiple hierarchical structures while software companies have been considered as flat organizations with minimal layers of management. Respondents (N = 1180) were full time regular employees of marketing departments of banks (600) and software companies (580) including both men and women with age range of 22-52 years (M = 33.24; SD = 7.81). Confirmatory Factor Analysis yielded factor structures of measures of work related flow and creative work behavior in accordance to the theoretical models. However, model of authentic leadership exhibited variation in terms of two items which were not included in the final measure of the perceived authentic leadership. Results showed that perceived authentic leadership was positively associated with work related flow and creative work behavior. Likewise, work related flow was positively aligned with creative work behavior. Furthermore, type of organizational structure significantly moderated the relationship of perceived authentic leadership with work related flow and creative work behavior. Results of independent sample t-test showed that employees working in flat organization reflected better perceptions of authentic leadership; higher work related flow and elevated levels of creative work behavior as compared to those working in tall organizations. It was also found that employees with extended job experience and more job duration in the same organization displayed better perceptions of authentic leadership, reported more work related flow and augmented levels of creative work behavior. Findings of the present study distinctively highlighted the similarities as well as differences in the interactions of major constructs which function differentially in the context of tall (banks) and flat (software companies) organizations. Implications of the present study for employees and management as well as future recommendations were also discussed.

Keywords: creative work behavior, organizational structure, perceived authentic leadership, work related flow

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Authors: Mathias B. Michael, Esther T. Akinlabi, Tien-Chien Jen

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Thermal energy consumption in palm oil production plant comprises mainly of steam, hot water and hot air. In most efficient plants, hot water and air are generated from the steam supply system. Research has shown that thermal energy utilize in palm oil production plants is about 70 percent of the total energy consumption of the plant. In order to manage the plants’ energy efficiently, the energy systems are modelled and optimized. This paper aimed to present the model of steam supply systems of a typical palm oil production plant in Ghana. The models include exergy and energy models of steam boiler, steam turbine and the palm oil mill. The paper further simulates the virtual plant model to obtain the thermal energy performance of the plant under study. The simulation results show that, under normal operating condition, the boiler energy performance is considerably below the expected level as a result of several factors including intermittent biomass fuel supply, significant moisture content of the biomass fuel and significant heat losses. The total thermal energy performance of the virtual plant is set as a baseline. The study finally recommends number of energy efficiency measures to improve the plant’s energy performance.

Keywords: palm biomass, steam supply, exergy and energy models, energy performance benchmark

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Authors: Ayça Utkan Karasu, Elif Balevi Batur, Gülçin Kaymak Karataş

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The aim of this study was to examine the efficiency of virtual reality exercises with Nintendo Wii system on balance and independence in motor functions. This randomized controlled assessor-blinded study included 23 stroke inpatients with hemiparesis all within 12 months poststroke. Patients were randomly assigned to control group (n=11) or experimental group (n=12) via block randomization method. Control group participated in a conventional balance rehabilitation programme. Study group received a four-week balance training programme five times per week with a session duration of 20 minutes in addition to the conventional balance rehabilitation programme. Balance was assessed by the Berg’s balance scale, the functional reach test, the timed up and go test, the postural assessment scale for stroke, the static balance index. Also, displacement of centre of pressure sway and centre of pressure displacement during weight shifting was calculated by Emed-SX system. Independence in motor functions was assessed by The Functional Independence Measure (FIM) ambulation and FIM transfer subscales. The outcome measures were evaluated at baseline, 4th week (posttreatment), 8th week (follow-up). Repeated measures analysis of variance was performed for each of the outcome measure. Significant group time interaction was detected in the scores of the Berg’s balance scale, the functional reach test, eyes open anteroposterior and mediolateral center of pressure sway distance, eyes closed anteroposterior center of pressure sway distance, center of pressure displacement during weight shifting to effected side, unaffected side and total centre of pressure displacement during weight shifting (p < 0.05). Time effect was statistically significant in the scores of the Berg’s balance scale, the functional reach test, the timed up and go test, the postural assessment scale for stroke, the static balance index, eyes open anteroposterior and mediolateral center of pressure sway distance, eyes closed mediolateral center of pressure sway distance, the center of pressure displacement during weight shifting to effected side, the functional independence measure ambulation and transfer scores (p < 0.05). Virtual reality exercises with Nintendo Wii system combined with a conventional balance rehabilitation programme enhances balance performance and independence in motor functions in stroke patients.

Keywords: balance, hemiplegia, stroke rehabilitation, virtual reality

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Authors: Ayodeji Motunrayo Omoare

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Economically fish provides an important source of food and income for both men and women especially many households in the developing world and fishing has an important social and cultural position in river-rine communities. However, fish is highly susceptible to deterioration. Consequently, this study was carried out to correlate income generation of small-scale women fish processors in Abeokuta metropolis, Ogun State, Nigeria. Eighty small-scale women fish processors were randomly selected from five communities as the sample size for this study. Collected data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showed that the mean age of the respondents was 31.75 years with average household size of 4 people while 47.5% of the respondents had primary education. Most (86.3%) of the respondents were married and had spent more than 11 years in fish processing. The respondents were predominantly Yoruba tribe (91.2%). Majority (71.3%) of the respondents used traditional kiln for processing their fish while 23.7% of the respondents used hot vegetable oil to fry their fish. Also, the result revealed that respondents sourced capital from Personal Savings (48.8%), Cooperatives (27.5%), Friends and Family (17.5%) and Microfinance Banks (6.2%) for fish processing activities. The respondents generated an average income of ₦7,000.00 from roasted fish, ₦3,500.00 from dried fish, and ₦5,200.00 from fried fish daily. However, inadequate processing equipment (95.0%), non-availability of credit facility from microfinance banks (85.0%), poor electricity supply (77.5%), inadequate extension service support (70.0%), and fuel scarcity (68.7%) were major constraints to fish processing in the study area. Results of chi-square analysis showed that there was a significant relationship between personal characteristics (χ2 = 36.83, df = 9), processing methods (χ2 = 15.88, df = 3) and income generated at p < 0.05 level of significance. It can be concluded that significant relationship existed between processing methods and income generated. The study, therefore, recommends that modern processing equipment should be made available to the respondents at a subsidized price by the agro-allied companies.

Keywords: correlates, income, fish processors, women, small-scale

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Authors: Mark Archei O. Javier

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The Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIR) is a major industrial era characterized by the fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres. Since this era teaches us how to thrive in the fast-paced developing world, it is important to be able to adapt. With this, there is a need to make learning and teaching in the bioscience laboratory more challenging and engaging. The goal of the research is to find out if using in silico and in vitro laboratory activities compared to the conventional conduct laboratory activities would have positive impacts on the academic performance of the learners. The potential contribution of the research is that it would improve the teachers’ methods in delivering the content to the students when it comes to topics that need laboratory activities. This study will develop a method by which teachers can provide learning materials to the students. A one-tailed t-Test for independent samples was used to determine the significant difference in the pre- and post-test scores of students. The tests of hypotheses were done at a 0.05 level of significance. Based on the results of the study, the gain scores of the experimental group are greater than the gain scores of the control group. This implies that using in silico and in vitro labs for the experimental group is more effective than the conventional method of doing laboratory activities.

Keywords: academic performance, general biology, in silico laboratory, in vivo laboratory, virtual laboratory

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Authors: Shalini Tripathi, Pardeep Kumar

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The method of translating observed symptoms into disease names is known as disease diagnosis. The ability to solve clinical problems in a complex manner is critical to a doctor's effectiveness in providing health care. The accuracy of his or her expertise is crucial to the survival and well-being of his or her patients. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has a huge economic influence depending on how well it is applied. In the medical sector, human brain-simulated intellect can help not only with classification accuracy, but also with reducing diagnostic time, cost and pain associated with pathologies tests. In light of AI's present and prospective applications in the biomedical, we will identify them in the paper based on potential benefits and risks, social and ethical consequences and issues that might be contentious but have not been thoroughly discussed in publications and literature. Current apps, personal tracking tools, genetic tests and editing programmes, customizable models, web environments, virtual reality (VR) technologies and surgical robotics will all be investigated in this study. While AI holds a lot of potential in medical diagnostics, it is still a very new method, and many clinicians are uncertain about its reliability, specificity and how it can be integrated into clinical practice without jeopardising clinical expertise. To validate their effectiveness, more systemic refinement of these implementations, as well as training of physicians and healthcare facilities on how to effectively incorporate these strategies into clinical practice, will be needed.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, medical diagnosis, virtual reality, healthcare ethical implications 

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Authors: Kai-Cheng Hsu, Tzu-Ying Sung, Jinn-Moon Yang

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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the main causes of cancer death in the world. Although several drugs have been developed to treat colorectal cancer, such as Regorafenib and 5-FU, their efficacy is often limited by the development of drug resistance. Therefore, development of new drugs with new scaffolds is necessary to treat CRC. Here, we used site-moiety maps to identify inhibitors against PIM1, LIMK1, SRC, and mTOR, which are often overexpressed in CRC. A site-moiety map represents physicochemical properties and moiety preferences of a binding site through anchors. An anchor contains three elements: (1) conserved interacting residues of a binding pocket; (2) moiety preference of the binding pocket; and (3) the type (e.g., hydrogen-bonding or van der Waals interactions) of interaction between the moieties and the binding pocket. Then, we performed a structure-based virtual screening of ~260,000 compounds and selected compound candidates with high site-moiety map scores for bioassays. Among these candidates, compound 1 and compound 2 inhibited the growth of CRC cells with IC50 values of <10 μM. The experimental result of enzyme-based assays indicated that compound 1 is a dual inhibitor against PIM1 (IC50 6 μM) and LIMK1(IC50 11 μM). Compound 2 was predicted as a SRC inhibitor and will be further validated. The compounds inhibited different protein targets compared to the current drugs. We believe that the compounds provide a starting point to design new drugs for CRC treatment.

Keywords: colorectal cancer, drug discovery, site-moiety map, virtual screening, PIM1, LIMK1

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Authors: Karl Eddie T. Malabanan

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Due to the quick transmission and public health risk of coronavirus disease, schools and universities have shifted to distant learning. Teachers everywhere were forced to shift gears instantly in order to react to the needs of students and families using synchronous and asynchronous virtual teaching. This study aims to explore the lived experiences of physical education teachers who are currently experiencing remote learning in teaching during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the challenges that the physical education teachers encounter during remote learning and teaching. The participants include 12 physical education teachers who have taught in higher education institutions for at least five years. The researcher utilized qualitative research; specifically, the researcher used Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR). The results of this study showed that there are five categories for the Lived Experiences of Physical Education Teachers with thirty-one subcategories. This study revealed that physical education teachers experienced very challenging situations during the time of the pandemic. It also found that students had challenges in the abrupt transition from traditional to virtual learning classes, but it also showed that students are tenacious and willing to face any adversity. The researcher also finds that teachers are mentally drained during this time. Furthermore, one of the main focuses for the teachers should be on improving their well-being. And lastly, to cope with the challenges, teachers employ socializing to relieve tension and anxiety.

Keywords: lived experiences, consensual qualitative research, pandemic, education

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Authors: Pieter De Vries, Renate Klaassen, Maria Ioannides

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This paper is about an explorative research into the use of emerging technologies for teaching and learning in higher engineering education. The assumption is that these technologies and applications, which are not yet widely adopted, will help to improve education and as such actively work on the ability to better deal with the mismatch of skills bothering our industries. Technologies such as 3D printing, the Internet of Things, Virtual Reality, and others, are in a dynamic state of development which makes it difficult to grasp the value for education. Also, the instruments in current educational research seem not appropriate to assess the value of such technologies. This explorative research aims to foster an approach to better deal with this new complexity. The need to find out is urgent, because these technologies will be dominantly present in the near future in all aspects of life, including education. The methodology used in this research comprised an inventory of emerging technologies and tools that potentially give way to innovation and are used or about to be used in technical universities. The inventory was based on both a literature review and a review of reports and web resources like blogs and others and included a series of interviews with stakeholders in engineering education and at representative industries. In addition, a number of small experiments were executed with the aim to analyze the requirements for the use of in this case Virtual Reality and the Internet of Things to better understanding the opportunities and limitations in the day-today learning environment. The major findings indicate that it is rather difficult to decide about the value of these technologies for education due to the dynamic state of change and therefor unpredictability and the lack of a coherent policy at the institutions. Most decisions are being made by teachers on an individual basis, who in their micro-environment are not equipped to select, test and ultimately decide about the use of these technologies. Most experiences are being made in the industry knowing that the skills to handle these technologies are in high demand. The industry though is worried about the inclination and the capability of education to help bridge the skills gap related to the emergence of new technologies. Due to the complexity, the diversity, the speed of development and the decay, education is challenged to develop an approach that can make these technologies work in an integrated fashion. For education to fully profit from the opportunities, these technologies offer it is eminent to develop a pro-active strategy and a sustainable approach to frame the emerging technologies development.

Keywords: emerging technologies, internet of things, pro-active strategy, virtual reality

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Authors: Prashant Das, Tushar Singh, Virendra Byadwal

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The present study attempted to understand the role of cognitive flexibility and employee engagement in predicting employees’ turnover intentions. Employee turnover is a significant problem that many organizations are facing these days. Employee turnover is not only extremely expensive for the employer but also results in poor production levels. In developing countries like India, organizations once believed to have most stable employees, are facing major turnover problems. One such organization is banking organizations. Due to globalization, banks are now changing their work scenarios under which the employees have many different roles to perform. Cognitive flexibility which refers to an individual’s ability to shift cognitive sets and to adapt to one’s changing environment, thus seems to be an important factor that are responsible for the employee turnover in organizations. It is hypothesized that those with higher cognitive flexibility would be more able to adapt to the changing work demands of the organizations and thus would show less turnover intentions. Another factor that seems to be important in predicting turnover is employee engagement. Kahn referred to engagement in terms of the harnessing of organization members’ selves to their work roles [by which they] employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performances. Studies have shown a strong relationship between employee engagement and turnover intentions. Those with higher engagement with their jobs have found to show low turnover intentions. This study thus hypothesizes that employees with higher engagement will show lower levels of turnover intentions. A total of 150 bank employees (75 from private and 75 from public) participated in this study. They were administered Cognitive Flexibility Scale, Gallup Questionnaire and Intention to Stay Questionnaire along with another questionnaire asking for their demographic details. Results of the study revealed that employees with higher levels of cognitive flexibility and employee engagement show lover levels of turnover intentions. However, the effect is more prominent in case of employees of private banks. Demographic characteristics such as level of the employee and years of engagement in the current job have also been found to be influencing the relationship between cognitive flexibility, employee engagement and turnover intentions. Results of the study are interpreted in accordance to the prevalent literature and theoretical positions.

Keywords: cognitive flexibility, employee engagement, organization, turnover intentions

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Authors: Badriah Alayidi, Emad Alyahya

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Background: Most people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) report worsening balance as the condition progresses. Poor balance control is also well known to be a significant risk factor for both falling and fear of falling. The increased risk of falls with disease progression thus makes balance control an essential target of gait rehabilitation amongst people with MS. Intervention programs have developed various methods to improve balance control, and accumulating evidence suggests that exercise programs may help people with MS improve their balance. Among these methods, virtual reality (VR) is growing in popularity as a balance-training technique owing to its potential benefits, including better compliance and greater user happiness. However, it is not clear if a VR environment will induce different balance control mechanisms in MS as compared to healthy individuals or traditional environments. Therefore, this study aims to examine how individuals with MS control their balance in a VR setting. Methodology: The proposed study takes an empirical approach to estimate and determine the role of balance response in persons with MS using a VR environment. It will use primary data collected through patient observations, physiological and biomechanical evaluation of balance, and data analysis. Results: The preliminary systematic review and meta-analysis indicated that there was variability in terms of the outcome assessing balance response in people with MS. The preliminary results of these assessments have the potential to provide essential indicators of the progression of MS and contribute to the individualization of treatment and evaluation of the interventions’ effectiveness. The literature describes patients who have had the opportunity to experiment in VR settings and then used what they have learned in the real world, suggesting that this VR setting could be more appealing than conditional settings. The findings of the proposed study will be beneficial in estimating and determining the effect of VR on balance control in persons with MS. In previous studies, VR was shown to be an interesting approach to neurological rehabilitation, but more data are needed to support this approach in MS. Conclusions: The proposed study enables an assessment of balance and evaluations of a variety of physiological implications related to neural activity as well as biomechanical implications related to movement analysis.

Keywords: multiple sclerosis, virtual reality, postural control, balance

Procedia PDF Downloads 74