Search results for: quality assessment

Authors: Joel S. Mtebe, Aron Kondoro, Mussa M. Kissaka, Elia Kibga

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Sub-Saharan Africa is described as the second fastest growing mobile phone penetration in the world more than in the United States or the European Union. Mobile phones have been used to provide a lot of opportunities to improve people’s lives in the region such as in banking, marketing, entertainment, and paying various bills such as water, TV, and electricity. However, the potential of using mobile phones to enhance teaching and learning has not been explored. This study presents an experience of developing and delivering SMS quizzes questions that were used to assess mastery of the subject content knowledge of science and mathematics secondary school teachers in Tanzania. The SMS quizzes were used as a follow up support mechanism to 500 teachers who participated in a project to upgrade subject content knowledge of science and mathematics subjects. Quizzes of 10-15 questions were sent to teachers each week for 8 weeks and the results were analyzed using SPSS. The results showed that chemistry and biology had better performance compared to mathematics and physics. Teachers reported some challenges that led to poor performance, invalid answers, and non-responses and they are presented. This research has several practical implications for those who are implementing or planning to use mobile phones for teaching and learning especially in rural secondary schools in sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords: mobile learning, elearning, educational technolgies, SMS, secondary education, assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: O. Rozita, N. M. Nik Aziz

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High-density planting is usually recommended for a small area of planting in order to increase production. The normal planting distance for cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) in Malaysia is 3 m x 3 m. The study was conducted at Cocoa Research and Development Centre, Malaysia Cocoa Board, Jengka, Pahang with the objectives to evaluate the suitability of seven cocoa clones under four different planting densities and to study the interaction between cocoa clones and planting densities. The study was arranged in the split plot with randomized complete block design and replicated three times. The cocoa clone was assigned as the main plot and planting density was assigned as a subplot. The clones used in this study were PBC 123, PBC 112, MCBC4, MCBC 5, QH 1003, QH 22, and BAL 244. The planting distance were 3 m x 3 m (1000 stands/ha), 3 m x 1.5 m (2000 stands/ha), 3 m x 1 m (3000 stands/ha) and (1.5 m x 1.5 m) x 3 m (3333 stands/ha). Evaluation on yield performance was carried out for seven years. Clones of PBC 123, QH 1003, and QH 22 obtained the higher yield, meanwhile MCBC 4, MCBC 5, and BAL 244 obtained the lowest yield. In general, high-density planting can increase cocoa production with good management practices. Among the cocoa management practices, the selection of suitable clones with small branching habits and moderately vigorous and proper pruning activity were the most important factor in high-density planting.

Keywords: clones, management, planting density, Theobroma cacao, yield

Procedia PDF Downloads 377

Authors: A.N. Zhilkaidarov, G.K. Iskakova, V.Y. Chernyh

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High-qualified and not-expensive products of daily usage have a big demand on food products’ market. Moreover, it is about independent and irreplaceable product as pasta. Pasta is a product, which represents itself the conserved dough from wheat flour made through special milling process. A wide assortment of the product and its pleasant taste properties allow to use pasta products in very different combinations with other food products. Pasta industry of Kazakhstan has large perspectives of development. There are many premises for it, which includes first an importance of pasta as a social product. Due to for its nutritional and energetically value pasta is the part of must have food. Besides that, the pasta production in Kazakhstan has traditional bases, and nowadays the market of this product develops rapidly as in quantity as well as in quality aspects. Moreover, one of the advantages of this branch is an economical aspect – pasta is the product of secondary processing, and therefore price for sailing is much higher as its own costs.

Keywords: pasta, new wheat sorts, domesic sorts of wheat, macaronic flour

Procedia PDF Downloads 530

Authors: Mohammed Khalid Mahmood, Delphine Tardivo, Romain Lan

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Dental caries is one of the most common diseases in the world, affecting billions of people and significantly lowering the quality of life. Malnutrition, on the other hand, is defined as inadequate, imbalanced, or excessive consumption of macronutrients, micronutrients, or both, which is characterized as an abnormal physiological condition. Oral health is impacted by malnutrition, and malnutrition can result from poor oral health. The objective of this paper was to study the association of serum Vitamin D level and body mass index as representatives of malnutrition at micro and macro levels, respectively, on dental caries. Results showed that: 1. The majority of the population studied (70%) are Vitamin D deficient. 2. Having a normal and even a sufficient level of serum Vitamin D and having a normal body mass index increase the chances of children being caries-free and having a lower caries index.

Keywords: children, dental Caries, malnutrition, vitamin D

Procedia PDF Downloads 85

Authors: Nematollah Gheibi, Nader Divan Khosroshahi, Mahdi Mohammadi Ghanbarlou

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Introduction: Nowadays, the phenomenon of bacterial resistance is one of the most important challenge of the health community in the world. Propolis is most important production of bee colonies that collected from of various plants. So far, a lot of investigations carried out about its antibacterial effects. Material and methods: Thirty gram of propolis prepared as ethanolic extract and after different process of purification, 7.5 gr of its pure form were obtained. Propolis compounds identification was performed by TLC and VLC methods. The HPLC spectrum obtaining from propolis ethanolic extract was compared with some purified standard phenolic and flavonoid substances. Antibacterial effects of ethanol extract of purified propolis were evaluated on two strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and their MIC was determined by the microdillution assay. Results: Ethanolic propolis extraction analyzed by TLC were resulted to confirm several phenolic and flavonoid compounds in this extract and some of the confirmed by HPLC technique. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for standard Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC25923) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC27853) strains were obtained 2.5 mg/ml and 50 mg/ml respectively. Conclusion: Bee Propolis is a mix organic compound that has a lot of beneficial effects such as anti-bacterial that emphasized in this investigation. It is proposed as a rich source of natural phenolic and flavonoids compounds in designing of new biological resources for hygienic and medical applications.

Keywords: propolis, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, antibacterial

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Authors: L. Tizzi

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The aim of this contribution is to present the experience of the U.S. secondary school Social Justice High School (SoJo), part of the larger Campus of Little Village Lawndale High School (LVLHS) located in Chicago, Illinois (USA). This experience can be considered a concrete application of the principles of the educational perspective known, in the United States, as Social Justice Education, aimed at ensuring quality education and educational success for students from disadvantaged groups, particularly those characterized by “biculturalism”, i.e. students with a dual cultural and linguistic background. The contribution will retrace the historical and social events that led to the birth of the SoJo, explaining the principles and methods used by the school to achieve its objectives and giving also some statistical data.

Keywords: biculturalism, educational success, social justice education, social justice high school

Procedia PDF Downloads 210

Authors: Vathna Suy, Ki-Il Song

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In order to store highly pressurized gas such as an isothermal compressed air energy storage, Lined Rock Caverns (LRC) are constructed underground and supported by layers of concrete, steel and rock masses. This study aims to numerically investigate the performance of rock masses which serve as a support of Lined Rock Cavern subjected to high cyclic pressure loadings. FLAC3D finite different software is used for the simulation since the software can effectively model the behavior of concrete lining and steel plate with its built-in structural elements. Cyclic pressure loadings are applied onto the inner surface of the cavern which then transmitted to concrete, steel and eventually to the surrounding rock masses. Changes of stress and strain are constantly monitored throughout all the process of loading operations. The results at various monitoring locations are then extracted and analyzed to assess the response of the rock masses, specifically on its ability to absorb energy during loadings induced by the changes of cyclic pressure loadings inside the cavern. By analyzing the obtained data of stress-strain relation and taking into account the behavior of materials under the effect of strain-dependency, conclusions on the performance of rock masses subjected to high cyclic loading conditions are drawn.

Keywords: cyclic loading, FLAC3D, lined rock cavern (LRC), strain-dependency

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: Kholil Kholil, Aniwidayati

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MDS (Multi-Dimensional Scaling) is one method that has been widely used to evaluate the use of natural resources. By using Raffish software tool, we will able to analyze sustainability level of the natural resources use. This paper will discuss the level of sustainability of the reservoir using MDS (Multi-Dimensional Scaling) based on five dimensions: (1) Ecology & Layout, (2) Economics, (3) Social & Culture, (4) Regulations & Institutional, and (5) Infrastructure and Technology. MDS analysis results show that the dimension of ecological and layout, institutional and the regulation are lack of sustainability due to the low index score of 45.76 and 42.24. While for the economic, social and culture, and infrastructure and technology dimension reach each score of 63.12, 64.42, and 68.64 (only the sufficient sustainability category). It means that the sustainability performance of Cirata Reservoir seriously threatened.

Keywords: MDS, cirata reservoir, carrying capacity, water quality, sustainable development, sedimentation, sustainability index

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Authors: R. Vidhya, M. Navamuniyammal M. Sivakumar, S. Reeta

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The unplanned urbanization affects the environment due to pollution, conditions of the atmosphere, decreased vegetation and the pervious and impervious soil surface. Considered to be a cumulative effect of all these impacts is the Urban Heat Island. In this paper, the urban heat island effect is studied for the Chennai city, TamilNadu, South India using satellite remote sensing data. LANDSAT 8 OLI and TIRS DATA acquired on 9th September 2014 were used to Land Surface Temperature (LST) map, vegetation fraction map, Impervious surface fraction, Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Normalized Difference Building Index (NDBI) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) map. The relationship among LST, Vegetation fraction, NDBI, NDWI, and NDVI was calculated. The Chennai city’s Urban Heat Island effect is significant, and the results indicate LST has strong negative correlation with the vegetation present and positive correlation with NDBI. The vegetation is the main factor to control urban heat island effect issues in urban area like Chennai City. This study will help in developing measures to land use planning to reduce the heat effects in urban area based on remote sensing derivatives.

Keywords: land surface temperature, brightness temperature, emissivity, vegetation index

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Authors: Argaw Amare, Abbuna Fuffa, Stringer Andy

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Improving public knowledge and changing their attitudes towards antibiotic use will be a crucial early strategy to contain Antibiotic resistance. The current study was undertaken from November 2015 to June 2016. A cross-sectional survey using a pretested questionnaire was conducted on 392 residents (330 male and 62 female) aged 18 and above. Participants were selected randomly. Data was analyzed using simple descriptive statistics; the Chi-square test was used to determine any significant difference. The majority of participants (81%) were farmers in their occupation. Most of the respondents (76%) were not able to define the difference between antimicrobials and antibiotics. Furthermore, (61%) of participants were not able to define what antibiotics and for what purpose they are used. Thirty-four percent of participants do not know the names of antibiotics they have used for their animals and for themselves. Nearly 68% have no knowledge about the disease they have been treated for. The majority of participants (73.5%) agree to complete their course of treatment even if they feel better. About 72.5% of participants disagree that antibiotics are safe and can be used to treat different diseases, without prescription. Most of the participants (95%) treat their animals after diagnosis; more than 80% of them agree to not purchase veterinary drugs from local traders. This study showed that the participants have poor knowledge and good attitude, with an average score of 41.3±16.1% and 79.6±16, respectively. Knowledge and attitude are significantly correlated (p<0.01). The participants in this study had a good attitude toward the rational use of antibiotics. Whereas they lack knowledge with regard to the kinds of antibiotics and the diseases they are prescribed for. Therefore, further educational interventions are necessary to improve their understanding of the antibiotics currently available and the major bacterial diseases they are prescribed.

Keywords: AMR, knoweledge, attitude, perception

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Authors: Raphael Odoh, Obida J. Oko, Mary S. Dauda

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The determination of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe,Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn contents in edible oils (palm oil, ground-nut oil and soybean oil) bought from various markets of Benue and Taraba state were carried out with flame atomic absorption spectrophotometric technique. The method 3031 developed acid digestion of oils for metal analysis by atomic absorption or ICP spectrometry was used in the preparation of the edible oil samples for the determination of total metal content in this study. The overall results (µg/g) in palm oil sample ranged from 0.028-0.076, 0.035-0.092, 1.011-1.955, 2.101-4.892, 0.666-0.922, 0.054-0.095, 0.031-0.068 and 1.987-2.971 for Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn respectively, while in ground-nut oil the overall results ranged from 0.011-0.042, 0.011-0.052, 0.133-0.788, 1.789-2.511, 0.078-0.765, 0.045-0.092, 0.011-0.028 and 1.098-1.997 for Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn respectively. Of the heavy metals considered Cd and Ni showed the highest contamination in the soybean oil sample. The overall results in soybean oil samples ranged from 0.011-0.015, 0.017-0.032, 0.453-0.987, 1.789-2.511, 0.089-0.321, 0.011-0.016, 0.012-0.065 and 1.011-1.997 for Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn respectively. The concentration of Pb was the highest. The degree of contamination by each metal was estimated by the transfer factor. The transfer factors obtained for Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn in edible oils (palm oil, ground-nut oil and soybean oil) were 10.800, 16.500, 16.000, 18.813, 15.115, 14.230, 23.000 and 9.418 for Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn in palm oil, and 7.000, 12.500, 8.880, 11.333, 7.708, 10.833, 15.00 and 6.608 for Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn in ground-nut oil while for soybean oil the transfer factors were 13.000, 11.000, 7.642, 11.578, 4.486, 13.00, 12.333 and 4.412 for Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn respectively. The inter-element correlation was found among metals in edible oil samples using Pearson’s correlation co-efficient. There were positive and negative correlations among the metals determined. All Metals determined showed degree of contamination but concentrations lower than the USP specification.

Keywords: Benue State, contamination, edible oils, heavy metals, markets, Taraba State

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Authors: James Li, Darko Joksimovic

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Urban development changes the natural hydrologic cycle, resulting in storm water impacts such as flooding, water quality degradation, receiving water erosion, and ecosystem deterioration. An integrated storm water managementapproach utilizing source and conveyance (termed green infrastructure) and end-of-pipe control measures is an effective way to manage urban storm water impacts. This paper focuses onplanning green infrastructure (GI) at the source and along the drainage system on a city level. It consists of (1)geospatial analysis of feasible GI using physical suitability; (2) modelling of cumulative GI's stormwater performance; and (3) cost-effectiveness analysis to prioritize the implementation of GI. A case study of the City of Barrie in Ontario, Canada, was used to demonstrate the GI's planning.

Keywords: cost-effectiveness of storm water controls, green infrastructure, urban storm water, city-level master planning

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Authors: Zina Saheb, Ezz El-Masry, Jean-François Bousquet

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This paper presents an enhanced efficiency simultaneous dual band energy harvesting system for wireless body area network. A bulk biasing is used to enhance the efficiency of the adapted rectifier design to reduce V_th of MOSFET. The presented circuit harvests the radio frequency (RF) energy from two frequency bands: 1 GHz and 2.4 GHz. It is designed with TSMC 65-nm CMOS technology and high quality factor dual matching network to boost the input voltage. Full circuit analysis and modeling is demonstrated. The simulation results demonstrate a harvester with an efficiency of 23% at 1 GHz and 46% at 2.4 GHz at an input power as low as -30 dBm.

Keywords: energy harvester, simultaneous, dual band, CMOS, differential rectifier, voltage boosting, TSMC 65nm

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Authors: Faouzi Ameur, Atef Belhaj Ali

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Located in the South-west of Saudi Arabia, Jeddah is more than a harbor. It is a big city of the Red Sea and the second town of Saudi Arabia, after Riyadh the capital. Jeddah profits from several economic assets due especially to its transit position towards the high sacred places of Islam like Mecca and Medina. During summer, this metropolis is transformed into a political capital and a tourist resort for foreigners and Saudis alike. The city of Jeddah was affected by serious sudden floods; two great ones took place in 2009, and in 2011. The human and material tools were considerable, since these events caused the death to hundreds of people, damaged thousands of buildings built on basins slopes, which, however had the authorizations necessary. To cope with these natural disasters, several urban hydraulic measures were undertaken like building dams and canals to collect surface waters. These urban measures aimed at the protection of inhabitants and belongings against the risks of floods as well as the interception and the drainage of streams. Although these protection measures are important, expensive, and effective, they are no longer enough or effective to cope with the evolution of the natural disasters that the city of Jeddah is constantly exposed to. These protective hydraulic measures did not make it possible to reach risk zero situations. They transferred the damages towards other zones. This paper purports to study the protection network systems in Jeddah and to understand their various impacts during floods on the city and on its inhabitants.

Keywords: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, urbanization, hydraulic protection

Procedia PDF Downloads 252

Authors: Yik Ling Chew, Adlina Maisarah Mahadi, Joo Kheng Goh

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Bauhinia kockiana originates from Peninsular Malaysia, and it is grown as a garden ornamental plant. However, it is used as medicinal plant by Malaysia ‘Kelabit’ ethic group in treating various diseases and illnesses. This study focused on the assessment of the antibacterial activity of B. kockiana towards MRSA, to purify and identify the antibacterial compounds, and to determine the mechanism of antibacterial activity. Antibacterial activity of B. kockiana flower is evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively using disc diffusion assay and microbroth dilution method to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of extracts. Phytochemical analysis is performed to determine the classes of phytochemicals in the extracts. Bioactivity-guided isolation is performed to purify the antibacterial agents and identified the chemical structures via various spectroscopy methods. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique is adopted to evaluate the antibacterial mechanism of extract and compounds isolated. B. kockiana flower is found to exhibit fairly strong antibacterial activity towards both strains of MRSA bacteria. Gallic acid and its ester derivatives are purified from ethyl acetate extract and the antibacterial activity is evaluated. SEM has revealed the mechanism of the extracts and compounds isolated.

Keywords: alkyl gallates, Bauhinia kockiana, MRSA, scanning electron microscopy

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Authors: Marina Yurievna Aleksandrova

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Research of the Holocaust retains value not only for history but also for sociology and psychology. One of the most important fields of study is how people were coping during and after this traumatic event. The aim of this paper is to identify the main contexts of the topic of love and to determine which contexts are more characteristic for different groups of victims of the Holocaust (gender, nationality, age). In this research, transcripts of interviews with Holocaust victims that were collected during 1946 for the "Voices of the Holocaust" project were used as data. Main contexts were analyzed with methods of network analysis and latent semantic analysis and classified by gender, age, and nationality with random forest. The results show that love is articulated and described significantly differently for male and female informants, nationality is shown results with lower values of quality metrics, as well as the age.

Keywords: Holocaust, latent semantic analysis, network analysis, text-mining, random forest

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Authors: Hyun-Jee Yang, Bit-Na Kwon, Yong-Jun Kim, Hyoung-Kyu Song

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In the cooperative transmission scheme, both the cellular system and broadcasting system are composed. Two cellular base stations (CBSs) communicating with a user in the cell edge use cooperative transmission scheme in the conventional scheme. In the case that the distance between two CBSs and the user is distant, the conventional scheme does not guarantee the quality of the communication because the channel condition is bad. Therefore, if the distance between CBSs and a user is distant, the performance of the conventional scheme is decreased. Also, the bad channel condition has bad effects on the performance. The proposed scheme uses two relays to communicate well with CBSs when the channel condition between CBSs and the user is poor. Using the relay in the high attenuation environment can obtain both advantages of the high bit error rate (BER) and throughput performance.

Keywords: cooperative communications, diversity gain, OFDM, interworking system

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Authors: Muhammad Imran Hussain, Ramisha Ibtisam, Tayyaba Fatima, Huba Khalid, Ayesha Aziz, Khansa, Adan Sitara, Anam Shahzad, Aymen Jabeen

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Vitamin D supports the immune system fight TB by inhibiting Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and lowering host inflammation. The purpose of the research was to see if giving the vitamin D supplements to TB patients affected their prognosis. A randomized placebo control study of 200 TB patients was performed among which 106 received 400,000 IU of injectable vitamin D3 and 94 received placebo for 2 doses. Assessment was carried out at the end of every month for 3 months. IFN-γ responses to whole blood stimulation generated by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis sonicate (MTBs) antigen and early secreted and T cell activated 6 kDa (ESAT6) were assessed at 0 and 12 weeks. The statistical analysis used descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation), Friedman's test and Fisher's test. The vitamin D group gained significantly more weight (+3.90 pounds) and had less persistent lung disease on imaging (1.33 zones vs. 1.84 zones). They also had a 50% decrease in cavity size. Additionally, patients with low baseline serum concentrations of 25-(OH)D had a significant increase in MTB-induced IFN-γ production after taking vitamin D supplements. Vitamin D administration in large amounts can hasten the recovery of TB patients. The findings point is a therapeutically useful activity of Vitamin D's in the management for tuberculosis.

Keywords: tuberculosis, vitamin D, interferon gamma, protein, infection

Procedia PDF Downloads 58

Authors: Dongliu Li

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Objective: This study systematically evaluates the incidence and influencing factors of economic toxicity in patients with gynecological malignant tumors. Methods: Literature on economic toxicity of gynecological malignancies were comprehensively searched in Pubmed, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, CINAHL, CNKI, Wanfang Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature database and VIP database. The search period is up to February 2024. Stata 17 software was used to conduct a single-group meta-analysis of the incidence of economic toxicity in gynecological malignant tumors, and descriptive analysis was used to analyze the influencing factors. Results: A total of 11 pieces of literature were included, including 6475 patients with gynecological malignant tumors. The results of the meta-analysis showed that the incidence of economic toxicity in gynecological malignant tumors was 40% (95%CI 31%—48%). The influencing factors of economic toxicity in patients with gynecological malignant tumors include social demographic factors, medical insurance-related factors and disease-related factors. Conclusion: The incidence of economic toxicity in patients with gynecological malignant tumors is high, and medical staff should conduct early screening of patients according to relevant influencing factors, personalized assessment of patients' economic status, early prevention work and personalized intervention measures.

Keywords: gynecological malignancy, economic toxicity, the incidence rate, influencing factors, systematic review

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Authors: Joanna Szymanska, Paulina Wawulska-Marek, Jaroslaw Mizera

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Nowadays, the rapid growth of global energy consumption and uncontrolled depletion of natural resources become a serious problem. Shale rocks are the largest and potential global basins containing hydrocarbons, trapped in closed pores of the shale matrix. Regardless of the shales origin, mining conditions are extremely unfavourable due to high reservoir pressure, great depths, increased clay minerals content and limited permeability (nanoDarcy) of the rocks. Taking into consideration such geomechanical barriers, effective extraction of natural gas from shales with plastic zones demands effective operations. Actually, hydraulic fracturing is the most developed technique based on the injection of pressurized fluid into a wellbore, to initiate fractures propagation. However, a rapid drop of pressure after fluid suction to the ground induces a fracture closure and conductivity reduction. In order to minimize this risk, proppants should be applied. They are solid granules transported with hydraulic fluids to locate inside the rock. Proppants act as a prop for the closing fracture, thus gas migration to a borehole is effective. Quartz sands are commonly applied proppants only at shallow deposits (USA). Whereas, ceramic proppants are designed to meet rigorous downhole conditions to intensify output. Ceramic granules predominate with higher mechanical strength, stability in strong acidic environment, spherical shape and homogeneity as well. Quality of ceramic proppants is conditioned by raw materials selection. Aim of this study was to obtain the proppants from aluminosilicates (the kaolinite subgroup) and mix of minerals with a high alumina content. These loamy minerals contain a tubular and platy morphology that improves mechanical properties and reduces their specific weight. Moreover, they are distinguished by well-developed surface area, high porosity, fine particle size, superb dispersion and nontoxic properties - very crucial for particles consolidation into spherical and crush-resistant granules in mechanical granulation process. The aluminosilicates were mixed with water and natural organic binder to improve liquid-bridges and pores formation between particles. Afterward, the green proppants were subjected to sintering at high temperatures. Evaluation of the minerals utility was based on their particle size distribution (laser diffraction study) and thermal stability (thermogravimetry). Scanning Electron Microscopy was useful for morphology and shape identification combined with specific surface area measurement (BET). Chemical composition was verified by Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy and X-ray Fluorescence. Moreover, bulk density and specific weight were measured. Such comprehensive characterization of loamy materials confirmed their favourable impact on the proppants granulation. The sintered granules were analyzed by SEM to verify the surface topography and phase transitions after sintering. Pores distribution was identified by X-Ray Tomography. This method enabled also the simulation of proppants settlement in a fracture, while measurement of bulk density was essential to predict their amount to fill a well. Roundness coefficient was also evaluated, whereas impact on mining environment was identified by turbidity and solubility in acid - to indicate risk of the material decay in a well. The obtained outcomes confirmed a positive influence of the loamy minerals on ceramic proppants properties with respect to the strict norms. This research is perspective for higher quality proppants production with costs reduction.

Keywords: aluminosilicates, ceramic proppants, mechanical granulation, shale gas

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Authors: Xu Wang

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This research builds linear regressions of U.S. macroeconomic condition and volatility measures in the investment grade and high yield Credit Default Swap index spreads using monthly data from March 2009 to July 2016, to study the relationship between different dimensions of macroeconomy and overall credit risk quality. The most significant contribution of this research is systematically examining individual and joint effects of macroeconomic condition and volatility on CDX spreads by including macroeconomic time series that captures different dimensions of the U.S. economy. The industrial production index growth, non-farm payroll growth, consumer price index growth, 3-month treasury rate and consumer sentiment are introduced to capture the condition of real economic activity, employment, inflation, monetary policy and risk aversion respectively. The conditional variance of the macroeconomic series is constructed using ARMA-GARCH model and is used to measure macroeconomic volatility. The linear regression model is conducted to capture relationships between monthly average CDX spreads and macroeconomic variables. The Newey–West estimator is used to control for autocorrelation and heteroskedasticity in error terms. Furthermore, the sensitivity factor analysis and standardized coefficients analysis are conducted to compare the sensitivity of CDX spreads to different macroeconomic variables and to compare relative effects of macroeconomic condition versus macroeconomic uncertainty respectively. This research shows that macroeconomic condition can have a negative effect on CDX spread while macroeconomic volatility has a positive effect on determining CDX spread. Macroeconomic condition and volatility variables can jointly explain more than 70% of the whole variation of the CDX spread. In addition, sensitivity factor analysis shows that the CDX spread is the most sensitive to Consumer Sentiment index. Finally, the standardized coefficients analysis shows that both macroeconomic condition and volatility variables are important in determining CDX spread but macroeconomic condition category of variables have more relative importance in determining CDX spread than macroeconomic volatility category of variables. This research shows that the CDX spread can reflect the individual and joint effects of macroeconomic condition and volatility, which suggests that individual investors or government should carefully regard CDX spread as a measure of overall credit risk because the CDX spread is influenced by macroeconomy. In addition, the significance of macroeconomic condition and volatility variables, such as Non-farm Payroll growth rate and Industrial Production Index growth volatility suggests that the government, should pay more attention to the overall credit quality in the market when macroecnomy is low or volatile.

Keywords: autoregressive moving average model, credit spread puzzle, credit default swap spread, generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity model, macroeconomic conditions, macroeconomic uncertainty

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Authors: Beste Kaysı, Yasemin Topaloğlu

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Usability is one of the most important quality attributes for web-based information systems. Specifically, for e-commerce applications, usability becomes more prominent. In this study, we aimed to explore the features that experienced users seek in e-commerce applications. We used eye tracking method in evaluations. Eye movement data are obtained from the eye-tracking method and analyzed based on task completion time, number of fixations, as well as heat map and gaze plot measures. The results of the analysis show that the eye movements of participants' are too static in certain areas and their areas of interest are scattered in many different places. It has been determined that this causes users to fail to complete their transactions. According to the findings, we outlined the issues to improve the usability of e-commerce websites. Then we propose solutions to identify the issues. In this way, it is expected that e-commerce sites will be developed which will make experienced users more satisfied.

Keywords: e-commerce websites, eye tracking method, usability, website evaluations

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Authors: Aida Abd El-Razek, Alyaa Salman Madian, Gamila Gaber Ayoub

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Background: Electronic fetal monitoring is an obstetric technology that helps to record any changes in fetal heart rate and uterine activity. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of educational programs on the performance of internship nursing students regarding electronic fetal monitoring in obstetrics and gynecology departments. Design: A quasi-experimental research design (pre- and post-test) was used. Sample: A convenient sample of all internship nursing students (180 internship nursing students) from the Faculty of Nursing at Menoufia University during the academic year 2022-2023). The instruments of this study were a structured, self-administered interview questionnaire consisting of two parts: the socio-demographic characteristics of the study participants and an assessment of internship nursing students’ knowledge regarding electronic fetal monitoring (pre- and post-test). Observational checklist to assess internship nursing students’ performance regarding EFM. Results: There were highly statistically significant differences between the internship nurses' students’ knowledge and performance on the pretest and posttest. Conclusion: An educational program on electronic fetal monitoring carries a vital value for enhancing internship nursing students’ knowledge and performance, which ultimately leads to improved maternal and fetal outcomes. Recommendation: Regular educational programs and workshops about electronic fetal monitoring should be encouraged for all maternity nurses and internship nursing students.

Keywords: educational program, internship nursing students, performance, efficacy

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Authors: Tímea Gerzsenyi, Ágnes M. Ilosvai, László Vanyorek, Emma Szőri-Dorogházi

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DNA isolation is a crucial step in many molecular biological applications for diagnostic and research purposes. However, traditional extraction requires toxic reagents, and commercially available kits are expensive, this leading to the recently wide-spread method, the magnetic nanoparticle (MNP)-based DNA isolation. Different ferrite containing MNPs were examined and compared in their plasmid DNA isolation efficiency. Among the tested MNPs, one has never been used for the extraction of plasmid molecules, marking a distinct application. pDNA isolation process was optimized for each type of nanoparticle and the best protocol was selected based on different criteria: DNA quantity, quality and integrity. With the best-performing magnetic nanoparticle, which excelled in all aspects, further tests were performed to recover genomic DNA from bacterial cells and a protocol was developed.

Keywords: DNA isolation, nanobiotechnology, magnetic nanoparticles, protocol optimization, pDNA, gDNA

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Authors: Baratali Monfarediraz

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Humans’ identity is not only under the influence of a certain society or social structure but also it is influenced by an international identity. This article is a research on role of education in the manifestation of universally accepted values such as, advancement of science, improvement in the quality of education, preservation of the natural environment, preservation, and spread of peace, exchange of knowledge and technology, equal educational opportunities, benefiting from a universal morality and etc. Therefore, the relation between universal beliefs and values and educational approaches and programs is the first thing to pay attention to. Studies indicate that the first step in achieving the above mentioned goals is offering learning strategies. Therefore the importance of educational approaches and programs as a tool for the transference of ideas, experiences and thoughts becomes quite clear. Proper education gives everyone the opportunity of acquiring knowledge while creating tendency toward social activities paves the way for achieving the universal values.

Keywords: globalization, universal values, education, universal goal, values, society

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Authors: Wei Deng

Abstract:

Based on sorting and analyzing related literature on CNKI for nearly three decades between 1987—2015, this paper, adopting the method of bibliometrics, summarized and reviewed the domestic research on sight translation from three aspects. The analysis concluded the following findings: 1) The majority research had focused on the noumenon of sight translation. The rest of the three main research perspectives are in descending order: sight translation teaching, sight translation skills and other associated skills, and cognitive research of sight translation. 2) The domestic research increased significantly in recent five years, but there is much room for the quality. 3) The non-empirical study has had higher proportion, while the empirical study is unitary with the lack of triangle validation. This paper suggested that sight translation being in sore need of unified definition, multilingual, even interdisciplinary cooperation.

Keywords: bibliometric analysis, perspectives, sight translation, tendency

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Authors: Radwa R. El-Saadany , Medhat Abu Zeid, Tarek Omar, Marwa S. Maqsoud

Abstract:

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by attention deficit, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Neurofeedback (NF) is one of the neurotherapy treatments that cause brain wave changes. Method: The current pseudo-experimental study with a pre–post-test design was conducted on a population of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).The sample size comprised of (30) children selected by random sampling method and assigned to two therapeutic groups: First therapeutic group received a neurofeedback program. Based on QEEG, it reached (10) children. The second therapeutic group received an organization skills training program, it reached (10) and the control group that did not receive programs, it reached (10) children. Results: There are significant differences between pre- and post-assessments among therapeutic groups in reducing the three core symptoms of ADHD in favor of post measurement. There are no significant differences between post-assessment and follow up measurement of the therapeutic groups.

Keywords: QEEG-based neurofeedback therapy program, organizational skills training program, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

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Authors: Saeedeh Bakhtiari, Johannes Depessemier, Stijn Hertelé, Wim De Waele

Abstract:

High cycle fatigue comprising up to 10⁷ load cycles has been the subject of many studies, and the behavior of many materials was recorded adequately in this regime. However, many applications involve larger numbers of load cycles during the lifetime of machine components. In this ultra-high cycle regime, other failure mechanisms play, and the concept of a fatigue endurance limit (assumed for materials such as steel) is often an oversimplification of reality. When machine component design demands a high geometrical complexity, cast iron grades become interesting candidate materials. Grey cast iron is known for its low cost, high compressive strength, and good damping properties. However, the ultra-high cycle fatigue behavior of cast iron is poorly documented. The current work focuses on the ultra-high cycle fatigue behavior of EN-GJL-250 (GG25) grey cast iron by developing an ultrasonic (20 kHz) fatigue testing system. Moreover, the testing machine is instrumented to measure the temperature and the displacement of  the specimen, and to control the temperature. The high resonance frequency allowed to assess the  behavior of the cast iron of interest within a matter of days for ultra-high numbers of cycles, and repeat the tests to quantify the natural scatter in fatigue resistance.

Keywords: GG25, cast iron, ultra-high cycle fatigue, ultrasonic test

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Authors: Fahem Belkacemi, Lyes Ouali

Abstract:

Maintenance strategies and assessments continue to be a major concern for companies today. The socio-economic bets of their competitiveness are closely linked to the activities and quality of maintenance. This work deals with a study of a preventive maintenance plan to improve the availability of the production line within SAMSUNG HOME APPLIANCE “SAMHA”, Setif, Algeria. First, we applied the method of analysis of failure modes, their impact, and criticality to reduce downtime and identification of the most critical elements. Finally, to improve the availability of the production line, we carried out a study of the current preventive maintenance plan in the production line workshop at the company level and according to the history sheet of machine failures. We proposed a preventive maintenance plan to improve the availability of the production line.

Keywords: preventive maintenance, DRUM line, AMDEC, availability

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Authors: Debdatta Mukherjee, Abhiman Das, Amit Garg

Abstract:

In recent years, there is a growing interest about corporate social responsibility of firms in both academic literature and business world. Since business forms a part of society incorporating socio-environment concerns into its value chain, activities are vital for ensuring mutual sustainability and prosperity. But, until now most of the works have been either descriptive or normative rather than positivist in tone. Even the few ones with a positivist approach have mostly studied the link between corporate financial performance and corporate social performance. However, these studies have been severely criticized by many eminent authors on grounds that they lack a theoretical basis for their findings. They have also argued that apart from corporate financial performance, there must be certain other crucial influences that are likely to determine corporate social performance of firms. In fact, several studies have indicated that firms operating in distinct national institutions show significant variations in the corporate social responsibility practices that they undertake. This clearly suggests that the institutional context of a country in which the firms operate is a key determinant of corporate social performance of firms. Therefore, this paper uses an institutional framework to understand why corporate social performance of firms vary across countries. It examines the impact of country level institutions on corporate social performance using a sample of 3240 global publicly-held firms across 33 countries covering the period 2010-2015. The country level institutions include public institutions, private institutions, markets and capacity to innovate. Econometric Analysis has been mainly used to assess this impact. A three way panel data analysis using fixed effects has been used to test and validate appropriate hypotheses. Most of the empirical findings confirm our hypotheses and the economic significance indicates the specific impact of each variable and their importance relative to others. The results suggest that institutional determinants like ethical behavior of private institutions, goods market, labor market and innovation capacity of a country are significantly related to the corporate social performance of firms. Based on our findings, few implications for policy makers from across the world have also been suggested. The institutions in a country should promote competition. The government should use policy levers for upgrading home demands, like setting challenging yet flexible safety, quality and environment standards, and framing policies governing buyer information, providing innovative recourses to low quality goods and services and promoting early adoption of new and technologically advanced products. Moreover, the institution building in a country should be such that they facilitate and improve the capacity of firms to innovate. Therefore, the proposed study argues that country level institutions impact corporate social performance of firms, empirically validates the same, suggest policy implications and attempts to contribute to an extended understanding of corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance in a multinational context.

Keywords: corporate social performance, corporate social responsibility, institutions, markets

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