Search results for: permeability bulk density) data

Authors: Evuarherhe Veronica Abolo

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The study investigated the programs in Nigerian higher institutions and how they influence unemployment of graduates in the country. The study employed the survey design. The population of the study includes two universities, two polytechnics and two colleges of education in Lagos State. A total of 350 participants, which include graduates and students were sampled for the study. A structured interview schedule and direct observation were used to collect data on the three research questions drawn for the study. The data were analyzed using rating of the structured interview in tables and percentages. The results of the study revealed that Nigerian graduates are not only unemployed but can hardly meet the requirements of available job vacancies due to the stereotype nature in scope, content and methods of the programs in the institutions. Recommendations such as collaboration of companies (end- users) and institutions in the training of students, restructuring of the content and methodology of programs and providing soft loans and other facilities to the young graduates were proffered to reduce the rate of graduates’ unemployment in Nigeria.

Keywords: higher institution, graduate unemployment, soft loan, unemployment

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Authors: Tamer Mohamed Atef

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The tourism and hospitality education is a branch of the overall tourism and hospitality industry that is dedicated to providing the industry with well-educated, well-trained, skilled, enthusiastic and committed workforce. The Tourism Department at the College of Arts and Social Sciences (Sultan Qaboos University), Oman, has been providing the Omani society with undergraduate tourism and hospitality educational services since Fall 2001. Despite the fact that Tourism Department graduates are not facing any employment concerns, fluctuation in the number of enrollees and graduates, however, has been a significant characteristic since the inception of the program. To address this concern, several tactical and strategic decisions have been made, notably that the program has received accreditation from two prestigious international accreditation institutions, which mark two major milestones in the educational journey of the Tourism Department. The current study, thus, aims to provide a tourism and hospitality education efficiency management model. To achieve this aim, the following objectives were identified: to analyze students in - graduates out matrix, and to assess graduates’ employment trends. A survey was conducted to assess the current employment status of the department graduates. Secondary data were collected from Deanship of Admission and Registration statistical reports on the Tourism Department. Data were tabulated and analyzed in such a way that set forth the major findings from the survey and the secondary data. This study sheds light on the educational system created and followed by the Tourism Department, in an effort to provide a tourism and hospitality education efficiency management model, that would help educators and administrators better manage their programs.

Keywords: tourism, hospitality, education, students, graduates, employability, indicators

Procedia PDF Downloads 342

Authors: Marcelino Caetano Noronha, Vosco Pereira, Jose Soares Pinto, Ferdinando Da C. Saores

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One particularly popular social media platform is Youtube. It’s a video-sharing platform where users can submit videos, and other users can like, dislike or comment on the videos. In this study, we conduct a binary classification task on YouTube’s video comments and review from the users regarding the accession process of Timor Leste to become the eleventh member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). We scrape the data directly from the public YouTube video and apply several pre-processing and weighting techniques. Before conducting the classification, we categorized the data into two classes, namely positive and negative. In the classification part, we apply Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm. By comparing with Naïve Bayes Algorithm, the experiment showed SVM achieved 84.1% of Accuracy, 94.5% of Precision, and Recall 73.8% simultaneously.

Keywords: classification, YouTube, sentiment analysis, support sector machine

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Authors: Ratih Fitria Putri, Josaphat Tetuko Sri Sumantyo, Hiroaki Kuze

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Jakarta Metropolitan City is located on the northwest coast of West Java province with geographical location between 106º33’ 00”-107º00’00”E longitude and 5º48’30”-6º24’00”S latitude. Jakarta urban area has been suffered from land subsidence in several land use type as trading, industry and settlement area. Land subsidence hazard is one of the consequences of urban development in Jakarta. This hazard is caused by intensive human activities in groundwater extraction and land use mismanagement. Geologically, the Jakarta urban area is mostly dominated by alluvium fan sediment. The objectives of this research are to make an analysis of Jakarta urban land use type on land subsidence zone areas. The process of producing safer land use and settlements of the land subsidence areas are very important. Spatial distributions of land subsidence detection are necessary tool for land use management planning. For this purpose, Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (DInSAR) method is used. The DInSAR is complementary to ground-based methods such as leveling and global positioning system (GPS) measurements, yielding information in a wide coverage area even when the area is inaccessible. The data were fine tuned by using X-Band image satellite data from 2010 to 2013 and land use mapping data. Our analysis of land use type that land subsidence movement occurred on the northern part Jakarta Metropolitan City varying from 7.5 to 17.5 cm/year as industry and settlement land use type areas.

Keywords: land use analysis, land subsidence mapping, urban area, X-band satellite image

Procedia PDF Downloads 269

Authors: Daniel Pinheiro Da Silva Junior, Aline Paes, Daniel De Oliveira, Christiano Lacerda Ghuerren, Marcio Duran

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The Courts of Accounts are institutions responsible for overseeing and point out irregularities of Public Administration expenses. They have a high demand for processes to be analyzed, whose decisions must be grounded on severity laws. Despite the existing large amount of processes, there are several cases reporting similar subjects. Thus, previous decisions on already analyzed processes can be a precedent for current processes that refer to similar topics. Identifying similar topics is an open, yet essential task for identifying similarities between several processes. Since the actual amount of topics is considerably large, it is tedious and error-prone to identify topics using a pure manual approach. This paper presents a tool based on Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing to assists in building a labeled dataset. The tool relies on Topic Modelling with Latent Dirichlet Allocation to find the topics underlying a document followed by Jensen Shannon distance metric to generate a probability of similarity between documents pairs. Furthermore, in a case study with a corpus of decisions of the Rio de Janeiro State Court of Accounts, it was noted that data pre-processing plays an essential role in modeling relevant topics. Also, the combination of topic modeling and a calculated distance metric over document represented among generated topics has been proved useful in helping to construct a labeled base of similar and non-similar document pairs.

Keywords: courts of accounts, data labelling, document similarity, topic modeling

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Authors: Vaibhav Pandey, K. Chattopadhyay, N. C. Santhi Srinivas, Vakil Singh

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Aluminium alloy 7075 consist of different intermetallic precipitate particles MgZn2, CuAl2, which result in heterogeneity of micro structure and influence the corrosion properties of the alloy. Artificial ageing was found to enhance the strength properties, but highly susceptible to stress-corrosion cracking. Various conventional surface modification techniques are developed for improving corrosion properties of aluminum alloys. This led to development of novel surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT) technique the so called ultrasonic shot peening which gives nano-grain structure at surface. In the present investigation the influence of surface mechanical attrition treatment on corrosion behavior of aluminum alloy 7075 was studied in 3.5wt% NaCl solution. Two different size of 1 mm and 3 mm steel balls are used as peening media and SMAT was carried out for different time intervals 5, 15 and 30 minutes. Surface nano-grains/nano-crystallization was observed after SMAT. The formation of nano-grain structure was observed for larger size balls with time of treatment and consequent increase in micro strain. As-SMATed sample with 1 mm balls exhibits better corrosion resistance as compared to that of un-SMATed sample. The enhancement in corrosion resistance may be due to formation of surface nano-grain structure which reduced the electron release rate. In contrast the samples treated with 3 mm balls showed very poor corrosion resistance. A decrease in corrosion resistance was observed with increase in the time of peening. The decrease in corrosion resistance in the shotpeened samples with larger diameter balls may due to increase in microstrain and defect density.

Keywords: aluminum alloy 7075, corrosion, SMAT, ultrasonic shot peening, surface nano-grains

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Authors: Rana Alkattan

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Aim: This study aims to identify and analyze the factors predicting the professional clinical competency among newly recruited registered nurses. In addition, it aims to explore factors significantly correlated with high and low professional clinical competency score. Method: A descriptive analytical is applied in this study, cross-sectional which conducted between June 2012 and June 2013 at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, as one of the largest governmental university tertiary Hospital in Saudi Arabia. A survey questionnaire was designed to collect data. And then, data were analyzed using the SPSS. Results: A total of the 86 nurses provided valid responses. 69 were female and 17 were male. The majority of the participants in this study were married, from the Philippines, between 20-29 years old. The majority had certified university bachelor’s degree in nursing, as well as had prior experience in nursing between 1 to 5 years. There are two categories emerged from the data, which significantly correlated with nurses' professional competence and development. The first was the newly employed registered nurses demographic characteristic (correlation coefficients 0.154 to 0.470, P < 0.05), while the second was the list of studied environmental factors except 'job rotation factor' (correlation coefficients 0.122 to 0.540, P < 0.01). However, nurses' attitude including motivation and confidence were not associated with nurse's professional competency. Conclusion: that nurses' professional competence development is a process affected by certain personal demographic and environmental factors which will enable newly graduates nurses to provide safe effective patients' care and maintain their career responsibilities.

Keywords: clinical, competence, development nurses professional, registered

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Authors: A. Al-Wandi, A. Al-Ali, R. Dali, Y. Al-Karaghouli

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Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have become an alarming health problem across the globe. The risk of developing those diseases begins in childhood and develops gradually under the influence of risk factors including obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, cigarette smoking and decreased physical activity. Therefore, this study aims to determine the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the risk factors of lifestyle induced chronic diseases (non-communicable diseases) among secondary school students in Sharjah city. Methods: Five hundred and ninety-one school children, from grades 10 to 12, formed the study sample, using the multistage stratified cluster sampling method. Four governmental schools were chosen, for each gender. Data was collected through a pretested, close-ended questionnaire consisting of five sections; demographics, physical activity, diet, smoking and sleeping patterns. Frequencies and descriptive statistics were used to analyze data through SPSS 23. Results: The data showed 64.6% of students had low knowledge of risk factors of non-communicable diseases. Concerning physical activity, 58.2 % were physically inactive and females being less active than males. More than 2/3 of students didn’t fulfill the recommended daily intake of fruits and vegetables (75.9%). 8% reported to be smokers with cigarettes being the most encountered tobacco product. Conclusion: Our study has demonstrated a low level of knowledge and practices yet, positive attitudes towards risk factors of chronic diseases. We recommend implementation of thorough awareness campaigns through public health education about the risk factors of non-communicable diseases.

Keywords: non-communicable diseases, physical activity, diet, knowledge, attitudes, practices, smoking

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Authors: András Fülöp, Lejla Heilmann, Zsolt Szabó, Ákos Koós

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Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) present a sustainable biotechnological solution to future energy demands. The aim of this study was to construct soil based, single cell, membrane-less MFC systems, operated without treatment to continuously power on-site monitoring and control systems during the soil bioremediation processes. Our Pseudomonas aeruginosa 541 isolate is an ideal choice for MFCs, because it is able to produce pyocyanin which behaves as electron-shuttle molecule, furthermore, it also has a significant antimicrobial effect. We tested several materials and structural configurations to obtain long term high power output. Comparing different configurations, a proton exchange membrane-less, 0.6 m long with 0.05 m diameter MFC tubes offered the best long-term performances. The long-term electricity production were tested from starch, yeast extract (YE), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) with humic acid (HA) as a mediator. In all cases, 3 kΩ external load have been used. The two best-operated systems were the Pseudomonas aeruginosa 541 containing MFCs with 1 % carboxymethyl cellulose and the MFCs with 1% yeast extract in the anode area and 35% hydrogel in the cathode chamber. The first had 3.3 ± 0.033 mW/m2 and the second had 4.1 ± 0.065 mW/m2 power density values. These systems have operated for 230 days without any treatment. The addition of 0.2 % HA and 1 % YE referred to the volume of the anode area resulted in 1.4 ± 0.035 mW/m2 power densities. The mixture of 1% starch with 0.2 % HA gave 1.82 ± 0.031 mW/m2. Using CMC as retard carbon source takes effect in the long-term bacterial survivor, thus enable the expression of the long term power output. The application of hydrogels in the cathode chamber significantly increased the performance of the MFC units due to their good water retention capacity.

Keywords: microbial fuel cell, bioremediation, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, biotechnological solution

Procedia PDF Downloads 286

Authors: Oluwasegun A. Oke, Mayowa A. Abolaji, Oluwaseun A. Adefila

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Environmental problems have become a priority on the world political agenda for the last two decades and this is inevitably linked with the general degradation of our environment which calls for ultimate attention. Therefore, this study searched for better and more involving methods of imparting environmental knowledge to average learner with the view of creating awareness, increasing knowledge as well as changing their attitude positively towards conservation of the environment. The study also investigated the effectiveness of conservation club in creating awareness (among students) about environmental conservation. About 240 Students were randomly selected for data collection using validated instruments (questionnaires). T-test statistics, chi-square and simple percentage were the major statistical tools employed in data analysis. This study revealed that environmental conservation club plays a vital role in creating awareness as well as promoting students understanding of environmental issues to promote positive attitude towards natural environment.

Keywords: environmental conservation, biodiversity, awareness program, environmental disasters

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Authors: Jamal Wiwoho, Pujiyono, Triyanto

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Terrorism is a real enemy for all countries, including Indonesia. Bomb attacks in some parts of Indonesia are proof that Indonesia has serious problems with terrorism. Perpetrators of terror are arrested and imprisoned, and some of them were executed. However, this method did not succeed in stopping the terrorist attacks. Former terrorists continue to carry out bomb attacks. Therefore, this paper proposes a program towards deradicalization efforts of former terrorists through entrepreneurship. This is necessary because it is impossible to change their radical ideology. The program is also motivated by understanding that terrorists generally come from poor families. This program aims to occupy their time with business activities so there is no time to plan and carry out bomb attacks. This research is an empirical law study. Data were collected by literature study, observation, and in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed with the Miles and Huberman interactive model. The results show that the entrepreneurship program is effective to prevent terrorist attack. Former terrorists are busy with their business. Therefore, they have no time to carry out bomb attacks.

Keywords: deradicalization, terrorism, terrorists, entrepreneurship

Procedia PDF Downloads 263

Authors: Tetsya Sok, Seong Jae Hong, Young Kyu Kim, Seung Woo Lee

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The temperature distribution for asphalt concrete (AC)-Concrete composite pavement is one of main influencing factor that affects to performance life of pavement. The temperature gradient in concrete slab underneath the AC layer results the critical curling stress and lead to causes de-bonding of AC-Concrete interface. These stresses, when enhanced by repetitive axial loadings, also contribute to the fatigue damage and eventual crack development within the slab. Moreover, the temperature change within concrete slab extremely causes the slab contracts and expands that significantly induces reflective cracking in AC layer. In this paper, the numerical prediction of pavement temperature was investigated using one-dimensional finite different method (FDM) in fully explicit scheme. The numerical predicted model provides a fundamental and clear understanding of heat energy balance including incoming and outgoing thermal energies in addition to dissipated heat in the system. By using the reliable meteorological data for daily air temperature, solar radiation, wind speech and variable pavement surface properties, the predicted pavement temperature profile was validated with the field measured data. Additionally, the effects of AC thickness and daily air temperature on the temperature profile in underlying concrete were also investigated. Based on obtained results, the numerical predicted temperature of AC-Concrete composite pavement using FDM provided a good accuracy compared to field measured data and thicker AC layer significantly insulates the temperature distribution in underlying concrete slab.

Keywords: asphalt concrete, finite different method (FDM), curling effect, heat transfer, solar radiation

Procedia PDF Downloads 263

Authors: Tianyue Wan

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Building a child-friendly city (CFC) contributes to improving the quality of urbanization. It also forms a local system committed to fulfilling children's rights and development. Yet, the work related to CFC is still at the initial stage in China. Therefore, taking Wuhan, the most populous city in central China, as the pilot city would offer some reference for other cities. Based on the analysis of theories and practice examples, this study puts forward the challenges of building a child-friendly city under the particularity of China's national conditions. To handle these challenges, this study uses four methods to collect status data: literature research, site observation, research inquiry, and semantic differential (SD). And it adopts three data analysis methods: case analysis, geographic information system (GIS) analysis, and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. Through data analysis, this study identifies the evaluation system and appraises the current situation of Wuhan. According to the status of Wuhan's child-friendly city, this study proposes three strategies: 1) construct the evaluation system; 2) establish a child-friendly space system integrating 'point-line-surface'; 3) build a digitalized service platform. At the same time, this study suggests building a long-term mechanism for children's participation and multi-subject supervision from laws, medical treatment, education, safety protection, social welfare, and other aspects. Finally, some conclusions of strategies about CFC are tried to be drawn to promote the highest quality of life for all citizens in Wuhan.

Keywords: action plan, child friendly city, construction strategy, urban space

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Authors: Md. Mahadi Hasan Sany, Mumenunnessa Keya, Sharun Khushbu, Sheikh Abujar

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Since the beginning of China's economic reform, trade between the U.S. and China has grown rapidly, and has increased since China's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. The US imports more than it exports from China, reducing the trade war between China and the U.S. for the 2019 trade deficit, but in 2020, the opposite happens. In international and U.S. trade, Washington launched a full-scale trade war against China in March 2016, which occurred a catastrophic epidemic. The main goal of our study is to measure and predict trade relations between China and the U.S., before and after the arrival of the COVID epidemic. The ML model uses different data as input but has no time dimension that is present in the time series models and is only able to predict the future from previously observed data. The LSTM (a well-known Recurrent Neural Network) model is applied as the best time series model for trading forecasting. We have been able to create a sustainable forecasting system in trade between China and the US by closely monitoring a dataset published by the State Website NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa from January 1, 2015, to April 30, 2021. Throughout the survey, we provided a 180-day forecast that outlined what would happen to trade between China and the US during COVID-19. In addition, we have illustrated that the LSTM model provides outstanding outcome in time series data analysis rather than RFR and SVR (e.g., both ML models). The study looks at how the current Covid outbreak affects China-US trade. As a comparative study, RMSE transmission rate is calculated for LSTM, RFR and SVR. From our time series analysis, it can be said that the LSTM model has given very favorable thoughts in terms of China-US trade on the future export situation.

Keywords: RFR, China-U.S. trade war, SVR, LSTM, deep learning, Covid-19, export value, forecasting, time series analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: Olabisi Adedigba

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It is a fundamental truth that Information Communication Technology (ICT) lies at the very heart of our today’s society and determines its development. The use of ICT has given a boost to the educational and mental development of an average pupil of this age far above their counterparts who lived centuries ago. Nevertheless, the present age children stand the risk of the scourge of this technology if proactive measures are not taken urgently to arrest the damages of its negative use on them. One of the measures that can be taken is supervision of children’s use of ICT. This research therefore investigated parents’ views and supervision of their children’s use of Information Communication Technology. Descriptive design was adopted for this study. 300 parents were randomly selected. “Parents’ Views and Supervision of Children’s Use of ICT” was used to collect data for the study. Data collected were analyzed using percentage, mean, standard deviation and t-test. The result revealed that parents’ view of their children’s use of ICT is negative while supervision of their children’s use of ICT is low. Recommendations were thus offered that schools and other stakeholders should educate parents on children’s proper utilization of ICT and parents are urged to maintain adequate supervision on their children use of ICT.

Keywords: appraisal of parents’ views and supervision, children’s use, information communication technology, t-test

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Authors: Yebeen Ji, Jimin Yun, Kwonhoo Kim

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Magnesium alloys were limited for industrial applications due to having a limited slip system and high plastic anisotropy. It has been known that specific textures were formed during processing (rolling, etc.), and These textures cause poor formability. To solve these problems, many researchers have studied controlling texture by adding rare-earth elements. However, the high cost limits their use; therefore, alternatives are needed to replace them. Although Pb addition doesn’t directly improve magnesium properties, it has been known to suppress the diffusion of other alloying elements and reduce grain boundary energy. These characteristics are similar to the additions of rare-earth elements, and a similar texture behavior is expected as well. However, there is insufficient research on this. Therefore, this study investigates the behavior of texture and microstructure development after adding Pb to magnesium. This study compared and analyzed AZ61 alloy and Mg-15wt%Pb alloy to determine the effect of adding solute elements. The alloy was hot rolled and annealed to form a single phase and initial texture. Afterward, the specimen was set to contraction and elongate parallel to the rolling surface and the rolling direction and then subjected to high-temperature plane strain compression under the conditions of 723K and 0.05/s. Microstructural analysis and texture measurements were performed by SEM-EBSD. The peak stress in the true strain-stress curve after compression was higher in AZ61, but the shape of the flow curve was similar for both alloys. For both alloys, continuous dynamic recrystallization was confirmed to occur during the compression process. The basal texture developed parallel to the compressed surface, and the pole density was lower in the Mg-15wt%Pb alloy. It is confirmed that this change in behavior is because the orientation distribution of recrystallized grains has a more random orientation compared to the parent grains when Pb is added.

Keywords: Mg, texture, Pb, DRX

Procedia PDF Downloads 47

Authors: L. R. Ferreira, R. Biscaro, C. C. Danziger, C. M. Galhardi, L. C. Biscaro, R. C. Biscaro, I. S. Vasconcelos, L. C. R. Ferreira, R. Reis, L. H. Oliveira

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Introduction: There is a worldwide trend for the employer to be aware of investing in health promotion that goes beyond occupational hygiene approaches with the implementation of a comprehensive program with integration between occupational health and safety, and social/psychosocial responsibility in the workplace. Work accommodation is a necessity in most companies as it allows the worker to return to its function respecting its physical limitations. This study had the objective to verify if the integration of health and safety in the companies, with the inclusion of the concept of TWH promoted by an occupational health service has impacted in the management of absenteeism of workers in work accommodation. Method: A retrospective and paired cohort study was used, in which the impact of the implementation of the Program for the Health/Safety Integration and Total Worker Health Concept (PHSITWHC) was evaluated using the indices of absenteeism, health attestations, days and hours of sick leave of workers that underwent job accommodation/rehabilitation. This was a cohort study and the data were collected from January to September of 2017, prior to the initiation of the integration program, and compared with the data obtained from January to September of 2018, after the implementation of the program. For the statistical analysis, the student's t-test was used, with statistically significant differences being made at p < 0.05. Results: The results showed a 35% reduction in the number of absenteeism rate in 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. There was also a significant reduction in the total numbers of days of attestations/absences (mean of 2,8) as well as days of attestations, absence and sick leaves (mean of 5,2) in 2018 data after the implementation of PHSITWHC compared to 2017 data, means of 4,3 and 25,1, respectively, prior to the program. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the inclusion of the PHSITWHC was associated with a reduction in the rate of absenteeism of workers that underwent job accommodation. It was observed that, once health and safety were approached and integrated with the inclusion of the TWH concept, it was possible to reduce absenteeism, and improve worker’s quality of life and wellness, and work accommodation management.

Keywords: absenteeism, health/safety integration, work accommodation management, total worker health

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Authors: Patik Joslin Kenfack, Polyakov Vladimir Mikhailovich

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Machine Learning (ML) systems are trained using human generated data that could be biased by implicitly containing racist, sexist, or discriminating data. ML models learn those biases or even amplify them. Recent research in work on has begun to consider issues of fairness. The concept of fairness is extended to recommendation. A recommender system will be considered fair if it doesn’t under rank items of protected group (gender, race, demographic...). Several metrics for evaluating fairness concerns in recommendation systems have been proposed, which take pairs of items as ‘instances’ in fairness evaluation. It doesn’t take in account the fact that the fairness should be evaluated across a list of items. The paper explores a probabilistic approach that generalize pairwise metric by using a list k (listwise) of items as ‘instances’ in fairness evaluation, parametrized by k. We also explore new regularization method based on this metric to improve fairness ranking during model training.

Keywords: Fairness, Recommender System, Ranking, Listwise Approach

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Authors: Emily Simango, T. Chitura

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Background: Bovine brucellosis is among the most neglected zoonotic diseases in developing countries, where it is endemic and a growing challenge to public health. The development of cost-effective control measures for the disease can only be affirmed by the knowledge of the disease epidemiology and the ability to define its risk profiles. The aim of the study was to document the trend of bovine brucellosis and the control measures adopted following reported cases during the period 2014 to 2019 in South Africa. Methods: Data on confirmed cases of bovine brucellosis was retrieved from the website of the World Organisation of Animal Health (WOAH). Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS, 2022) version 29.0. Descriptive analysis (frequencies and percentages) and the Analysis of variance (ANOVA) were utilized for statistical significance (p<0.05). Results: The data retrieved in our study revealed an overall average bovine brucellosis prevalence of 8.48. There were statistically significant differences in bovine brucellosis prevalence across the provinces for the years 2016 and 2019 (p≥0.05), with the Eastern Cape Province having the highest prevalence in both instances. Documented control measures for the disease were limited to killing and disposal of disease cases as well as vaccination of susceptible animals. Conclusion: Bovine brucellosis is real in South Africa, with the risk profiles differing across the provinces. Information on brucellosis control measures in South Africa, as reported to the WOAH, is not comprehensive.

Keywords: zoonotic, endemic, Eastern Cape province, vaccination

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Authors: Golson Mohamed, Yasmine Gamasy, Khaled EL-Khatib, Anas Al-Natour, Shady Fadel, Haytham Rashwan, Haytham Badawy, Nadia Farghaly

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Introduction: Wilm's tumor is the most common malignant renal tumor in children. Much progress has been made in the management of patients with this malignancy over the last 3 decades. Today treatments are based on several trials and studies conducted by the International Society of Pediatric Oncology (SIOP) in Europe and National Wilm's Tumor Study Group (NWTS) in the USA. It is necessary for us to understand why do we follow either of the protocols, NWTS which follows the upfront surgery principle or the SIOP which follows the upfront chemotherapy principle in all stages of the disease. Objective: The aim of is to assess outcome in patients treated with preoperative chemotherapy and patients treated with upfront surgery to compare their effect on overall survival. Study design: to decide which protocol to follow, study was carried out on records for patients aged 1 day to 18 years old suffering from Wilm's tumor who were admitted to Alexandria University Hospital, pediatric oncology, pediatric urology and pediatric surgery departments, with a retrospective survey records from 2010 to 2015, Design and editing of the transfer sheet with a (PRISMA flow study) Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Data were fed to the computer and analyzed using IBM SPSS software package version 20.0. (11) Qualitative data were described using number and percent. Quantitative data were described using Range (minimum and maximum), mean, standard deviation and median. Comparison between different groups regarding categorical variables was tested using Chi-square test. When more than 20% of the cells have expected count less than 5, correction for chi-square was conducted using Fisher’s Exact test or Monte Carlo correction. The distributions of quantitative variables were tested for normality using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Shapiro-Wilk test, and D'Agstino test, if it reveals normal data distribution, parametric tests were applied. If the data were abnormally distributed, non-parametric tests were used. For normally distributed data, a comparison between two independent populations was done using independent t-test. For abnormally distributed data, comparison between two independent populations was done using Mann-Whitney test. Significance of the obtained results was judged at the 5% level. Results: A significantly statistical difference was observed for survival between the two studied groups favoring the upfront chemotherapy(86.4%)as compared to the upfront surgery group (59.3%) where P=0.009. As regard complication, 20 cases (74.1%) out of 27 were complicated in the group of patients treated with upfront surgery. Meanwhile, 30 cases (68.2%) out of 44 had complications in patients treated with upfront chemotherapy. Also, the incidence of intraoperative complication (rupture) was less in upfront chemotherapy group as compared to upfront surgery group. Conclusion: Upfront chemotherapy has superiority over upfront surgery.As the patient who started with upfront chemotherapy shown, higher survival rate, less percent in complication, less percent needed for radiotherapy, and less rate in recurrence.

Keywords: Wilm's tumor, renal tumor, chemotherapy, surgery

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Authors: Ali Kharazi, Hassanali Aghajani, Hesami Azizi

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Tourism entrepreneurship is a growing field that has the potential to create new opportunities for sustainable development. The purpose of this study is to identify and classify the entrepreneurial opportunities in the blind tourism industry in Khuzestan Province of Iran that can be created through the operation of blinds’ tours. This study used a mixed methods approach. The qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 tourist guides and tourism activists, while the quantitative data was collected through a questionnaire survey of 40 blind people who had participated in blinds’ tours. The findings of this study suggest that there are a number of entrepreneurial opportunities in the blind tourism industry in Khuzestan Province, including (1) developing and providing accessible tourism services, such as tours, accommodations, restaurants, and transportation, (2) creating and marketing blind-friendly tourism products and experiences (3) training and educating tourism professionals on how to provide accessible and inclusive tourism services. This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of tourism entrepreneurship by providing insights into the entrepreneurial opportunities in the blind tourism industry. The findings of this study can be used to develop policies and programs that support the development of the blind tourism industry. The qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. This study examines the entrepreneurial opportunities within the blind tourism industry in Khuzestan Province, Iran. In addition, Khuzestan province has made relatively good development in the field of blinds’ tourism. Blind tourists have become loyal customers of blinds’ tours, which has increased their self-confidence and social participation. Tourist guides and centers of tourism services are interested in participating in blinds’ tours more than before, and even other parts outside the tourism field have encouraged sponsorship. Education had a great impact on the quality of tourism services, especially for the blind. It has played a significant role in improving the quality of tourism services for the blind. However, the quality and quantity of infrastructure should be increased in different sectors of tourism services to foster future growth. These opportunities can be used to create new businesses and jobs and to promote sustainable development in the region.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, tourism, blind, sustainable development, Khuzestan

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Authors: Didem Kepir Savoly, Selen Demirtas Zorbaz

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This research focuses on the unique developmental stage of university students, known as emerging adulthood, which can be filled with stressors relating to academics, career aspirations, and relationships. The impact of these factors on the wellbeing and mental health of students is not well understood and requires further investigation. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of career optimism and relationship status on the wellbeing/life satisfaction of university students. The specific hypotheses being tested are: 1) University students with higher career optimism will exhibit a higher level of life satisfaction, and 2) University students in relationships will report a higher level of life satisfaction. This research adopts a quantitative approach, utilizing scales and questionnaires to collect data from university students in Turkey. The data was collected from university students in Turkey through the administration of the Career Optimism Scale, The Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the Perceived Romantic Relationship Quality Scale. The data is then analyzed using scale implementation, correlational analysis, and group comparison. One-way ANOVA, regression, and t-test analysis techniques are employed. The research findings provide insights into the relationship between career optimism and university students’ life satisfaction, as well as the influence of relationship status on their life satisfaction. The results suggest that life satisfaction was predicted by career optimism but not by relationship status. Moreover, significant relationships between life satisfaction and relationship quality were found among the university students who were in a relationship. These results can be utilized by practitioners, particularly those in counseling centers and career services at universities, to develop tailored psychoeducational and intervention programs aimed at promoting the mental health of university students.

Keywords: career optimism, relationship status, university students, wellbeing

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Authors: Eman AbuKhousa, Marwan Z. Bataineh

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The 21^st century higher education and globalization challenge new faculty members to build effective professional networks and partnership with industry in order to accelerate their growth and success. This creates the need for community of practice (CoP)-oriented development approaches that focus on cognitive apprenticeship while considering individual predisposition and future career needs. This work adopts data mining, clustering analysis, and social networking technologies to present the CoP-Network as a virtual space that connects together similar career-aspiration individuals who are socially influenced to join and engage in a process for domain-related knowledge and practice acquisitions. The CoP-Network model can be integrated into higher education to extend traditional graduate and professional development programs.

Keywords: clustering analysis, community of practice, data mining, higher education, new faculty challenges, social network, social influence, professional development

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Authors: Georgi Vendramin, Aurea Lúcia, Yamamoto, Carlos Itsuo, Souza Melegari, N. Samuel

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This article describes the development of a model that uses a method where openings are represented by single glass and double glass. The model is based on a healthy balance equations purely theoretical and empirical data. Simplified equations are derived through a synthesis of the measured data obtained from meteorological stations. The implementation of the model in a design tool integrated buildings is discussed in this article, to better punctuate the requirements of comfort and energy efficiency in architecture and engineering. Sustainability, energy efficiency, and the integration of alternative energy systems and concepts are beginning to be incorporated into designs for new buildings and renovations to existing buildings. Few means have existed to effectively validate the potential performance benefits of the design concepts. It was used a method of degree-days for an assessment of the energy performance of a building showed that the design of the architectural design should always be considered the materials used and the size of the openings. The energy performance was obtained through the model, considering the location of the building Central Park Shopping Mall, in the city of Cascavel - PR. Obtained climatic data of these locations and in a second step, it was obtained the coefficient of total heat loss in the building pre-established so evaluating the thermal comfort and energy performance. This means that the more openings in buildings in Cascavel – PR, installed to the east side, they may be higher because the glass added to the geometry of architectural spaces will cause the environment conserve energy.

Keywords: sustainable design, energy modeling, design validation, degree-days methods

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Authors: Mutwakel Abdalla Ali Garalzain

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The aim of this study is to develop university EFL students’ communicative competence. The descriptive, analytical method was used in this study. To collect the data, the researcher designed two questionnaires, one for university EFL students and the other for English language teachers. The respondents of the study were eighty-eight; 76 university EFL students, and 12 English language teachers. The data obtained were analyzed by using statistical package for social science (SPSS). The findings of the study have revealed that most of the university EFL students are unable to express their ideas properly, although they have an abundance of vocabulary. The findings of the study have also shown that most of the university EFL students have positive attitudes towards communicative competence. The results of the study also identified the best strategies that can be used to enhance university EFL students’ communicative competence in English language teaching. The study recommends that English language textbooks should be compatible with the requirements of the student-centered approach. It also recommends that English language teachers should adopt the communicative approach’s strategies in the EFL classroom.

Keywords: applied linguistics, communicative competence , English language teaching, university EFL students

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Authors: Karin Schoenpflug, Christine M. Klapeer

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In a large study for the Vienna City Council’s Antidiscrimination unit (WASt) an interdisciplinary team (in the fields of economics, sociology and political science) working with urban economics, critical citizenship studies, the sociology of work & inequality and urban political/human geography conducted an online survey asking LGBTIs (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and intersex people) in Vienna detailed questions on their quality-of-life, happiness and well-being. 3.161 persons responded and provided us with a rich data set concerning: 1) Labor market structures, discrimination, working conditions and employment practices (economic citizenship); 2) access to health care, welfare, education and safety in public spaces (social citizenship); 3) political participation as well as access to legal institutions (political citizenship). All those fields are important dimensions in regards to “full” citizenship and the well-being of the LGBTI population, but are also constitutive for the inclusion of sexual and gender minorities into the city population(s) of Vienna. Our data also allows us to map the sexual geography of Vienna as LGBTI communities are more likely to live in certain districts; some places are considered safe(r) and “friendlier”. In this way our work helps to fill a research gap connecting (urban) spaces and sexuality, and it produces new data and insights on the quality-of-life of this subpopulation. Our findings allow for urban (policy) planning and limiting violence and discrimination and improving the collective wellbeing and social cohesion.

Keywords: urban sexual geographies, LGBTI, socio-economic status, Vienna, sitizenship status

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Authors: Andrew Read, Alice Parry, Kate Woods

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Since the advent of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the search for medications that can reduce mortality and morbidity has been a global research priority. Several multi-center trials have recently demonstrated improved mortality associated with the use of Tocilizumab, an interleukin-6 receptor antagonist, in patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. Initial data supported the administration in patients requiring respiratory support (non-invasive or invasive ventilation), but more recent data has shown benefit in all hypoxic patients. At the height of the second wave of COVID-19 infections in London, our hospital introduced the use of Tocilizumab for patients with severe COVID-19. Tocilizumab is licensed for use in chronic inflammatory conditions and has been associated with an increased risk of severe bacterial and fungal infections, as well as reactivation of chronic viral infections (e.g., hepatitis B). It is a specialist drug that suppresses the formation of C-reactive protein (CRP) for 6 – 12 weeks. It is not widely used by the general medical community. We aimed to assess Tocilizumab use in our hospital and to implement changes to the protocol as required to ensure administration was safe and appropriate. A retrospective study design was used to assess prescriptions over an initial 3-week period in both intensive care and on the medical wards. This amounted to a total of 13 patients. The initial data collection identified four key areas of concern: adherence to national and local inclusion & exclusion criteria; a collection of appropriate screening blood prior to administration; documentation of informed consent or best interest decision and documentation of Tocilizumab administration on patient discharge information, to alert future healthcare providers that typical measures of inflammation and infection, such as CRP, are unreliable for up to 3-months. Data were collected from electronic notes, blood results and observation charts, and cross referenced with pharmacy data. Initial results showed that all four key areas were completed in approximately 50% of cases. Of particular concern was adherence to exclusion criteria, such as current evidence of bacterial infection, and ensuring the correct screening blood was sent to exclude infections such as hepatitis. To remedy this and improve patient safety, the initial data was presented to relevant healthcare professionals. Subsequently, three interventions were introduced and education on each provided to hospital staff. An electronic ‘order set’ collating the appropriate screening blood was created simplifying the screening process. Pre-formed electronic documentation which can be inserted into the notes was created to provide a framework for consent discussions and reduce the time needed for junior doctors to complete this task. Additionally, a ‘Tocilizumab’ administration card was created and administered via pharmacy. This was distributed to each patient on discharge to ensure future healthcare professionals were aware of the potential effects of Tocilizumab administration, including suppression of CRP. Following these changes, repeat data collection over two months illustrated that each of the 4 safety aspects was met with a 100% success rate in every patient. Although this demonstrates good progress and effective interventions the challenge will be to maintain this progress. The audit data collection is ongoing

Keywords: education, patient safety , SARS-CoV-2, Tocilizumab

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Authors: Avinash Vellore Sunder, Shikha Shah, Pramod P. Wangikar

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The enzymatic conversion of nitriles to carboxylic acids by nitrilases has gained significance in the green synthesis of several pharmaceutical precursors and fine chemicals. While nitrilases have been characterized from different sources, the industrial application requires the identification of nitrilases that possess higher substrate tolerance, wider specificity and better thermostability, along with the development of an efficient bioprocess for producing large amounts of nitrilase. To produce large amounts of nitrilase, we developed a fed-batch fermentation process on defined media for the high cell density cultivation of E. coli cells expressing the well-studied nitrilase from Alcaligenes fecalis. A DO-stat feeding approach was employed combined with an optimized post-induction strategy to achieve nitrilase titer of 2.5*105 U/l and 78 g/l dry cell weight. We also identified 16 novel nitrilase sequences from genome mining and analysis of substrate binding residues. The nitrilases were expressed in E. coli and their biocatalytic potential was evaluated on a panel of 22 industrially relevant nitrile substrates using high-throughput screening and HPLC analysis. Nine nitrilases were identified to exhibit high activity on structurally diverse nitriles including aliphatic and aromatic dinitriles, heterocyclic, -hydroxy and -keto nitriles. With fed-batch biotransformation, whole-cell Zobelia galactanivorans nitrilase achieved yields of 2.4 M nicotinic acid and 1.8 M isonicotinic acid from 3-cyanopyridine and 4-cyanopyridine respectively within 5 h, while Cupravidus necator nitrilase enantioselectively converted 740 mM mandelonitrile to (R)–mandelic acid. The nitrilase from Achromobacter insolitus could hydrolyze 542 mM iminodiacetonitrile in 1 h. The availability of highly active nitrilases along with bioprocesses for enzyme production expands the toolbox for industrial biocatalysis.

Keywords: biocatalysis, isonicotinic acid, iminodiacetic acid, mandelic acid, nitrilase

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Authors: Mahshid Arabi

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With the rapid expansion of digital technologies and the internet, information security has become a critical priority for organizations and individuals. The widespread use of digital tools such as smartphones and internet networks facilitates the storage of vast amounts of data, but simultaneously, vulnerabilities and security threats have significantly increased. The aim of this study is to examine and analyze modern methods of information security management and to develop a comprehensive model to counteract threats and information misuse. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, including both qualitative and quantitative analyses. Initially, a systematic review of previous articles and research in the field of information security was conducted. Then, using the Delphi method, interviews with 30 information security experts were conducted to gather their insights on security challenges and solutions. Based on the results of these interviews, a comprehensive model for information security management was developed. The proposed model includes advanced encryption techniques, machine learning-based intrusion detection systems, and network security protocols. AES and RSA encryption algorithms were used for data protection, and machine learning models such as Random Forest and Neural Networks were utilized for intrusion detection. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed model, T-Test and ANOVA statistical tests were employed, and results were measured using accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity indicators of the models. Additionally, multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the impact of various variables on information security. The findings of this study indicate that the comprehensive proposed model reduced cyber-attacks by an average of 85%. Statistical analysis showed that the combined use of encryption techniques and intrusion detection systems significantly improves information security. Based on the obtained results, it is recommended that organizations continuously update their information security systems and use a combination of multiple security methods to protect their data. Additionally, educating employees and raising public awareness about information security can serve as an effective tool in reducing security risks. This research demonstrates that effective and up-to-date information security management requires a comprehensive and coordinated approach, including the development and implementation of advanced techniques and continuous training of human resources.

Keywords: data protection, digital technologies, information security, modern management

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Authors: Anuar Mohd Salleh, Mohd Effendi Daud

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This study presents a kinematic positioning approach which is use the GPS buoy for precise ocean surface monitoring. A GPS buoy data from two experiments have been processed using a precise, medium-range differential kinematic technique. In each case the data were collected for more than 24 hours at nearby coastal site at a high rate (1 Hz), along with measurements from neighboring tidal stations, to verify the estimated sea surface heights. Kinematic coordinates of GPS buoy were estimated using the epoch-wise pre-elimination and the backward substitution algorithm. Test results show the centimeter level accuracy in sea surface height determination can be successfully achieved using proposed technique. The centimeter level agreement between two methods also suggests the possibility of using this inexpensive and more flexible GPS buoy equipment to enhance (or even replace) the current use of tidal gauge stations.

Keywords: global positioning system, kinematic GPS, sea surface height, GPS buoy, tide gauge

Procedia PDF Downloads 536