Search results for: language network

Authors: Suci Lestari Yuana, Shofi Fatihatun Sholihah, Derarika Ensta Jesse

Abstract:

Textile is one of buyer-driven industry which rely on label trust from the consumers. Most of textile manufacturers produce textile and textile products based on consumer demands. The company’s policy is highly depend on the dynamic evolution of consumers behavior. Recently, ecofriendly has become one of the most important factor of western consumers to purchase the textile and textile product (TPT) from the company. In that sense, companies from developing countries are encouraged to follow western consumers values. Some examples of ecolabel certificate are ISO (International Standard Organisation), Lembaga Ekolabel Indonesia (Indonesian Ecolabel Instution) and Global Ecolabel Network (GEN). The submission of national company to international standard raised a critical question whether this is a reflection towards the legitimation of global norms into national policy or it is actually a practical strategy of the company to gain global consumer. By observing one of the prominent textile company in Indonesia, this research is aimed to discuss what kind of impetus factors that cause a company to use ecolabel and what is the meaning behind it. Whether it comes from normative power or the strategy of the company. This is a qualitative research that choose a company in Sukoharjo, Central Java, Indonesia as a case study in explaining the pratice of ecolabelling by textitle company. Some deep interview is conducted with the company in order to get to know the ecolabelling process. In addition, this research also collected some document which related to company’s ecolabelling process and its impact to company’s value. The finding of the project reflected issues that concerned several issues: (1) role of media as consumer information (2) role of government and non-government actors as normative agency (3) role of company in social responsibility (4) the ecofriendly consciousness as a value of the company. As we know that environmental norms that has been admitted internationally has changed the global industrial process. This environmental norms also pushed the companies around the world, especially the company in Sukoharjo, Central Java, Indonesia to follow the norm. The neglection toward the global norms will remained the company in isolated and unsustained market that will harm the continuity of the company. So, in buyer-driven industry, the characteristic of company-consumer relations has brought a fast dynamic evolution of norms and values. The creation of global norms and values is circulated by passing national territories or identities.

Keywords: ecolabeling, waste management, CSR, normative power

Procedia PDF Downloads 300

Authors: Azimollah Aleshzadeh, Enver Vural Yavuz

Abstract:

The main goal of this study is to produce landslide susceptibility maps using different data-driven bivariate statistical approaches; namely, entropy weight method (EWM), evidence belief function (EBF), and information content model (ICM), at Uzundere county, Erzurum province, in the north-eastern part of Turkey. Past landslide occurrences were identified and mapped from an interpretation of high-resolution satellite images, and earlier reports as well as by carrying out field surveys. In total, 42 landslide incidence polygons were mapped using ArcGIS 10.4.1 software and randomly split into a construction dataset 70 % (30 landslide incidences) for building the EWM, EBF, and ICM models and the remaining 30 % (12 landslides incidences) were used for verification purposes. Twelve layers of landslide-predisposing parameters were prepared, including total surface radiation, maximum relief, soil groups, standard curvature, distance to stream/river sites, distance to the road network, surface roughness, land use pattern, engineering geological rock group, topographical elevation, the orientation of slope, and terrain slope gradient. The relationships between the landslide-predisposing parameters and the landslide inventory map were determined using different statistical models (EWM, EBF, and ICM). The model results were validated with landslide incidences, which were not used during the model construction. In addition, receiver operating characteristic curves were applied, and the area under the curve (AUC) was determined for the different susceptibility maps using the success (construction data) and prediction (verification data) rate curves. The results revealed that the AUC for success rates are 0.7055, 0.7221, and 0.7368, while the prediction rates are 0.6811, 0.6997, and 0.7105 for EWM, EBF, and ICM models, respectively. Consequently, landslide susceptibility maps were classified into five susceptibility classes, including very low, low, moderate, high, and very high. Additionally, the portion of construction and verification landslides incidences in high and very high landslide susceptibility classes in each map was determined. The results showed that the EWM, EBF, and ICM models produced satisfactory accuracy. The obtained landslide susceptibility maps may be useful for future natural hazard mitigation studies and planning purposes for environmental protection.

Keywords: entropy weight method, evidence belief function, information content model, landslide susceptibility mapping

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: Binay Pattanayak

Abstract:

More than 9 out of every 10 children in Jharkhand struggle to understand the texts and teachers in public schools. The medium of learning in the schools is Hindi, which is very different in structure and vocabulary than those in children’s home languages. Hence around 3 out of 10 children enrolled in early grades drop out in these schools. The state realized the cause of children’s high dropout in 2013-14 when the M-TALL, the language research shared the findings of a state-wide socio-linguistic study. The study findings suggested that there was a great need for initiating a mother-tongue based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) programme for the state in early grades starting from pre-school level. Accordingly, M-TALL in partnership with department of education designed two learning packages: Bhasha Puliya pre-school education programme for 3-6-year-old children for their school readiness with bilingual picture dictionaries in 9 tribal and regional languages. This was followed by a plan for MTB-MLE programme for early primary grades. For this textbooks in five tribal and two regional languages were developed under the guidance of the author. These books were printed and circulated in the 1000 schools of the state for each child. Teachers and community members were trained for facilitating culturally sensitive mother-tongue based learning activities in and around the schools. The mother-tongue based approach of learning has worked very effectively in enabling them to acquire the basic literacy and numeracy skills in own mother-tongues. Using this basic early grade reading skills, these children are able to learn Hindi and English systematically. Community resource groups were constituted in each school for promoting storytelling, singing, painting, dancing, acting, riddles, humor, sanitation, health, nutrition, protection, etc. and were trained. School academic calendar was designed in each school to enable the community resource persons to visit the school as per the learning plan to assist children and teacher in facilitating rich cultural activities in mother-tongue. This enables children to take part in plethora of learning activities and acquire desired knowledge, skills and interest in mother-tongues. Also in this process, it is attempted to promote 21st Century learning skills by enabling children to apply their new knowledge and skills to look at their local issues and address those in a collective manner through team work, innovations and leadership.

Keywords: community resource groups, learning, MTB-MLE, multilingual, socio-linguistic survey

Procedia PDF Downloads 224

Authors: John Acire, Wilfred Lajul, Ogwang Tom

Abstract:

Using a qualitative research technique, this study investigates the influence of Early Childhood Education (ECE) on learning outcomes in lower primary schools in Gulu City, Uganda. The study, which is based on Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of human learning, fills gaps in the current literature on the influence of ECE on learning outcomes. The aims of the study include analyzing the state of learning outcomes, investigating ECE practices, and determining the influence of these practices on learning outcomes in lower primary schools. The findings highlight the critical significance of ECE in promoting children's overall development. Nursery education helps children improve their handwriting, reading abilities, and general cognitive development. Children who have received nursery education have improved their abilities to handle pencils, form letters, and engage in social interactions, highlighting the significance of fine motor skills and socializing. Despite the good elements, difficulties in implementing ECE practices were found, such as differences in teaching styles, financial limits, and potential weariness due to prolonged school hours. The study suggests focused interventions to improve the effectiveness of ECE practices, ensure their connection with educational goals and maximize their influence on children's development. The study's findings show that respondents agree on the importance of nursery education in supporting holistic development, socialization, language competency, and conceptual comprehension. Challenges in nursery education, such as differences in teaching techniques and insufficient resources, highlight the need for comprehensive measures to address these challenges. Furthermore, parental engagement in home learning activities was revealed as an important factor affecting early education outcomes. Children who were engaged at home performed better in lower primary, emphasizing the value of a supportive family environment. Finally, the report suggests measures to enhance parental participation, changes in teaching methods through retraining, and age-appropriate enrolment. Future studies might concentrate on the involvement of parents, ECE policy practice, and the influence of ECE teachers on lower primary school learning results. These ideas are intended to help create a more favorable learning environment by encouraging holistic development and preparing children for success in succeeding academic levels.

Keywords: early childhood education, learning outcomes in lower primary schools, early childhood education practices, how ECE practices influence learning outcomes in lower primary schools

Procedia PDF Downloads 27

Authors: Isabella Maria Beil

Abstract:

The International Geosciences and Geoparks Programme (IGGP) were officially created in 2015 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to enhance the protection of the geological heritage and fill the gaps on the World Heritage Convention. According to UNESCO, a Global Geopark is an unified area where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed based on a concept of sustainable development. Tourism is seen as a main activity to develop new sources of revenue. Currently (November 2022), UNESCO recognized 177 Global Geoparks, of which more than 50% are in Europe, 40% in Asia, 6% in Latin America, and the remaining 4% are distributed between Africa and Anglo-Saxon America. This picture shows the existence of a much uneven geographical distribution of these areas across the planet. Currently, there are three Geoparks in Brazil; however, the first of them was accepted by the Global Geoparks Network in 2006 and, just fifteen years later, two other Brazilian Geoparks also obtained the UNESCO title. Therefore, this paper aims to provide an overview of the current geopark situation in Brazil and to identify the main challenges faced by the implementation of these areas in the country. To this end, the Brazilian history and its main characteristics regarding the development of geoparks over the years will be briefly presented. Then, the results obtained from interviews with those responsible for each of the current 29 aspiring geoparks in Brazil will be presented. Finally, the main challenges related to the implementation of Geoparks in the country will be listed. Among these challenges, the answers obtained through the interviews revealed conflicts and problems that pose hindrances both to the start of the development of a Geopark project and to its continuity and implementation. It is clear that the task of getting multiple social actors, or stakeholders, to engage with the Geopark, one of UNESCO’s guidelines, is one of its most complex aspects. Therefore, among the main challenges, stand out the difficulty of establishing solid partnerships, what directly reflects divergences between the different social actors and their goals. This difficulty in establishing partnerships happens for a number of reasons. One of them is that the investment in a Geopark project can be high and investors often expect a short-term financial return. In addition, political support from the public sector is often costly as well, since the possible results and positive influences of a Geopark in a given area will only be experienced during future mandates. These results demonstrate that the research on Geoparks goes far beyond the geological perspective linked to its origins, and is deeply embedded in political and economic issues.

Keywords: Brazil, geoparks, tourism, UNESCO

Procedia PDF Downloads 80

Authors: Natalie Rinfret, Francine Tougas, Ann Beaton

Abstract:

Conventions No. 100 and 111 of the International Labor Organization, passed in 1951 and 1958 respectively, established the principles of equal pay for men and women for work of equal value and freedom from discrimination in employment. Governments of different countries followed suit. For example, in 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed in the United States and in 1972, Canada ratified Convention 100. Thus, laws were enacted and programs were implemented to combat discrimination in the workplace and, over time, more than 90% of the member countries of the International Labour Organization have ratified these conventions by implementing programs such as employment equity in Canada aimed at groups recognized as being discriminated against in the labor market, including women. Although legislation has been in place for several decades, employment discrimination has not gone away. In this study, we pay particular attention to the hidden side of the effects of employment discrimination. This is the emergence of subtle forms of discrimination that often fly under the radar but nevertheless, have adverse effects on the attitudes and behaviors of members of targeted groups. Researchers have identified two forms of racial and gender bias. On the one hand, there are traditional prejudices referring to beliefs about the inferiority and innate differences of women and racial minorities compared to White men. They have the effect of confining these two groups to job categories suited to their perceived limited abilities and can result in degrading, if not violent and hateful, language and actions. On the other hand, more subtle prejudices are more suited to current social norms. However, this subtlety harbors a conflict between values of equality and remnants of negative beliefs and feelings toward women and racial minorities. Our literature review also takes into account an overlooked part of the groups targeted by the programs in place, senior workers, and highlights the quantifiable and observable effects of prejudice and discriminatory behaviors in employment. The study proposes a hybrid model of interventions, taking into account the organizational system (employment equity practices), discriminatory attitudes and behaviors, and the type of leadership to be advocated. This hybrid model includes, in the first instance, the implementation of initiatives aimed at both promoting employment equity and combating discrimination and, in the second instance, the establishment of practices that foster inclusion, the full and complete participation of all, including seniors, in the mission of their organization.

Keywords: employment discrimination, gender bias, the hybrid model of interventions, senior workers

Procedia PDF Downloads 211

Authors: Kamal Kithsiri Karunadasa Hewawasam Revulge

Abstract:

This paper is an interpretative historical analysis of Australian migration laws that examines asylum and refugee policies and attitudes in Australia. It looks at major turning points in Australian migration history, and in doing so, the researcher reviewed relevant literature on the aspects crucial to highlighting the current trend of Australian migration policies. The data was collected using secondary data from official government sources, including annual reports, media releases on immigration, inquiry reports, statistical information, and other available literature to identify critical historical events that significantly affected the systematic developments of asylum seekers and refugee policies in Australia and to look at the historical trends of official thinking. A reliance on using these official sources is justified as those are the most convincing sources to analyse the historical events in Australia. Additional literature provides us with critical analyses of the behaviour and culture of the Australian immigration administration. The analytical framework reviewed key Australian Government immigration policies since British colonization and the settlement era of 1787–the 1850s and to the present. The fundamental basis for doing so is that past events and incidents offer us clues and lessons relevant to the present day. Therefore, providing a perspective on migration history in Australia helps analyse how current policymakers' strategies developed and changed over time. Attention is also explicitly focused on Australian asylum and refugee policy internationally, as it helped to broaden the analysis. The finding proved a link between past events and adverse current Australian government policies towards asylum seekers and refugees. It highlighted that Australia's current migration policies are part of a carefully and deliberately planned pattern that arose from the occupation of Australia by early British settlers. In this context, the remarkable point is that the historical events of taking away children from their Australian indigenous parents, widely known as the 'stolen generation' reflected a model of assimilation, or a desire to absorb other cultures into Australian society by fully adopting the settlers' language, their culture, and losing indigenous people's traditions. Current Australian policies towards migrants reflect the same attitude. Hence, it could be argued that policies and attitudes towards asylum seekers and refugees, particularly so-called 'boat people' to some extent, still reflect Australia's earlier colonial and 'white Australia' history.

Keywords: migration law, refugee law, international law, administrative law

Procedia PDF Downloads 70

Authors: Rui Wang, Luodi Yu, Dan Huang, Hsuan-Chih Chen, Yang Zhang, Suiping Wang

Abstract:

Enhanced discrimination of pure tones but diminished discrimination of speech pitch (i.e., lexical tone) were found in children with autism who speak a tonal language (Mandarin), suggesting a speech-specific impairment of pitch perception in these children. However, in tonal languages, both lexical tone and vowel are phonemic cues and integrally dependent on each other. Therefore, it is unclear whether the presence of phonemic vowel dimension contributes to the observed lexical tone deficits in Mandarin-speaking children with autism. The current study employed a multi-feature oddball paradigm to examine how vowel and tone dimensions contribute to the neural responses for syllable change detection and involuntary attentional orienting in school-age Mandarin-speaking children with autism. In the oddball sequence, syllable /da1/ served as the standard stimulus. There were three deviant stimulus conditions, representing tone-only change (TO, /da4/), vowel-only change (VO, /du1/), and change of tone and vowel simultaneously (TV, /du4/). EEG data were collected from 25 children with autism and 20 age-matched normal controls during passive listening to the stimulation. For each deviant condition, difference waveform measuring mismatch negativity (MMN) was derived from subtracting the ERP waveform to the standard sound from that to the deviant sound for each participant. Additionally, the linear summation of TO and VO difference waveforms was compared to the TV difference waveform, to examine whether neural sensitivity for TV change detection reflects simple summation or nonlinear integration of the two individual dimensions. The MMN results showed that the autism group had smaller amplitude compared with the control group in the TO and VO conditions, suggesting impaired discriminative sensitivity for both dimensions. In the control group, amplitude of the TV difference waveform approximated the linear summation of the TO and VO waveforms only in the early time window but not in the late window, suggesting a time course from dimensional summation to nonlinear integration. In the autism group, however, the nonlinear TV integration was already present in the early window. These findings suggest that speech perception atypicality in children with autism rests not only in the processing of single phonemic dimensions, but also in the dimensional integration process.

Keywords: autism, event-related potentials , mismatch negativity, speech perception

Procedia PDF Downloads 198

Authors: Dawn Tsang

Abstract:

This paper aims at synthesizing the difficulties in cognitive processes faced by translation majors in mainland China. The purpose is to develop possible solutions and innovation in terms of translation pedagogy, curriculum reform, and syllabus design. This research will base its analysis on students’ instant feedback and interview after training in translation and interpreting courses, and translation faculty’s teaching experiences. This research will take our translation majors as the starting point, who will be one of the focus groups. At present, our Applied Translation Studies Programme is offering translation courses in the following areas: practical translation and interpreting, translation theories, culture and translation, and internship. It is a four-year translation programme, and our students would start their introductory courses since Semester 1 of Year 1. The medium of instruction of our College is solely in English. In general, our students’ competency in English is strong. Yet in translation and especially interpreting classes, no matter it is students’ first attempt or students who have taken university English courses, students find class practices very challenging, if not mission impossible. Their biggest learning problem seems to be weakening cognitive processes in terms of lack of intercultural competence, incomprehension of English language and foreign cultures, inadequate aptitude and slow reaction, and inapt to utilize one’s vocabulary bank etc. This being so, the research questions include: (1) What specific and common cognitive difficulties are students facing while learning translation and interpreting? (2) How to deal with such difficulties, and what implications can be drawn on curriculum reform and syllabus design in translation? (3) How significant should cognitive study be placed on translation curriculum, i.e., the proportion of cognitive study in translation/interpreting courses and in translation major curriculum? and (4) What can we as translation educators do to maximize teaching and learning effectiveness by incorporating the latest development of cognitive study?. We have collected translation students’ instant feedback and conduct interviews with both students and teaching staff, in order to draw parallels as well as distinguishing from our own current teaching practices at United International College (UIC). We have collected 500 questionnaires for now. The main learning difficulties include: poor vocabulary bank, lack of listening and reading comprehension skills in terms of not fully understanding the subtext, aptitude in translation and interpreting etc. This being so, we propose to reform and revitalize translation curriculum and syllabi to address to these difficulties. The aim is to maximize teaching effectiveness in translation by addressing the above-mentioned questions with a special focus on cognitive difficulties faced by translation majors.

Keywords: cognitive difficulties, teaching and learning effectiveness, translation curriculum reform, translation pedagogy

Procedia PDF Downloads 311

Authors: Raveendranath Veeramani, Sunil Jonathan Holla, Parkash Chand, Sunil Chumber

Abstract:

Gray’s Anatomy for Students has been a well-appreciated book among undergraduate students of anatomy in Asia. However, the current curricular requirements of anatomy require a more focused and organized approach. The editors of the first South Asia edition of Gray’s Anatomy for Students hereby highlight the modifications and importance of this edition. There is an emphasis on active learning by making the clinical relevance of anatomy explicit. Learning anatomy in context has been fostered by the association between anatomists and clinicians in keeping with the emerging integrated curriculum of the 21st century. The language has been simplified to aid students who have studied in the vernacular. The original illustrations have been retained, and few illustrations have been added. There are more figure numbers mentioned in the text to encourage students to refer to the illustrations while learning. The text has been made more student-friendly by adding generalizations, classifications and summaries. There are useful review materials at the beginning of the chapters which include digital resources for self-study. There are updates on imaging techniques to encourage students to appreciate the importance of essential knowledge of the relevant anatomy to interpret images, due emphasis has been laid on dissection. Additional importance has been given to the cranial nerves, by describing their relevant details with several additional illustrations and flowcharts. This new edition includes innovative features such as set inductions, outlines for subchapters and flowcharts to facilitate learning. Set inductions are mostly clinical scenarios to create interest in the need to study anatomy for healthcare professions. The outlines are a modern multimodal facilitating approach towards various topics to empower students to explore content and direct their learning and include learning objectives and material for review. The components of the outline encourage the student to be aware of the need to create solutions to clinical problems. The outlines help students direct their learning to recall facts, demonstrate and analyze relationships, use reason to explain concepts, appreciate the significance of structures and their relationships and apply anatomical knowledge. The 'structures to be identified in a dissection' are given as Level I, II and III which represent the 'must know, desirable to know and nice to know' content respectively. The flowcharts have been added to get an overview of the course of a structure, recapitulate important details about structures, and as an aid to recall. There has been a great effort to balance the need to have content that would enable students to understand concepts as well as get the basic material for the current condensed curriculum.

Keywords: Grays anatomy, South Asia, human anatomy, students anatomy

Procedia PDF Downloads 187

Authors: Stefano Fantin

Abstract:

The present analysis outcomes from the research undertaken in the course of the European-funded project EUNITY, which targets the gaps in research and development on cybersecurity and privacy between Europe and Japan. Under these auspices, the research presents a study on the policy approach of Japan, the EU and a number of Member States of the Union with regard to the handling and discovery of software vulnerabilities, with the aim of identifying methodological differences and similarities. This research builds upon a functional comparative analysis of both public policies and legal instruments from the identified jurisdictions. The result of this analysis is based on semi-structured interviews with EUNITY partners, as well as by the participation of the researcher to a recent report from the Center for EU Policy Study on software vulnerability. The European Union presents a rather fragmented legal framework on software vulnerabilities. The presence of a number of different legislations at the EU level (including Network and Information Security Directive, Critical Infrastructure Directive, Directive on the Attacks at Information Systems and the Proposal for a Cybersecurity Act) with no clear focus on such a subject makes it difficult for both national governments and end-users (software owners, researchers and private citizens) to gain a clear understanding of the Union’s approach. Additionally, the current data protection reform package (general data protection regulation), seems to create legal uncertainty around security research. To date, at the member states level, a few efforts towards transparent practices have been made, namely by the Netherlands, France, and Latvia. This research will explain what policy approach such countries have taken. Japan has started implementing a coordinated vulnerability disclosure policy in 2004. To date, two amendments can be registered on the framework (2014 and 2017). The framework is furthermore complemented by a series of instruments allowing researchers to disclose responsibly any new discovery. However, the policy has started to lose its efficiency due to a significant increase in reports made to the authority in charge. To conclude, the research conducted reveals two asymmetric policy approaches, time-wise and content-wise. The analysis therein will, therefore, conclude with a series of policy recommendations based on the lessons learned from both regions, towards a common approach to the security of European and Japanese markets, industries and citizens.

Keywords: cybersecurity, vulnerability, European Union, Japan

Procedia PDF Downloads 144

Authors: Sandra Toledo

Abstract:

There is an increasing tendency in governments for a more evidence-based policy-making and a stricter auditing of public spheres. Especially when budgets are tight, and taxpayers demand a bigger scrutiny over the use of the available resources, statistics and numbers appeared as an effective tool to produce data that supports investments done, as well as evaluating public policy performance. This pressure has not exempted the cultural and art fields. Finland like the rest of Nordic countries has kept its principles from the welfare state, whilst UK seems to be going towards the opposite direction, relaying more and more in private sectors and foundations, as the state folds back. The boom of the creative industries along with a managerial trend introduced by Tatcher in the UK brought, as a result, a commodification of arts within a market logic, where sponsorship and commercial viability were the keynotes. Finland on its part, in spite of following a more protectionist approach of arts, seems to be heading in a similar direction. Additionally, there is an international growing interest in the application of cultural participation studies and the comparability between countries in their results. Nonetheless, the standardization in the application of cultural surveys has not happened yet. Not only there are differences in the application of these type of surveys in terms of time and frequency, but also regarding those conducting them. Therefore, one hypothesis considered in this research is that behind the differences between countries in the application of cultural surveys, production and utilization of cultural statistics is the cultural policy model adopted by the government. In other words, the main goal of this research is to answer the following: What are the differences and similarities between Finland and the UK regarding the role cultural surveys have in cultural policy making? Along with other secondary questions such as: How does the cultural policy model followed by each country influence the role of cultural surveys in cultural policy making? and what are the differences at the local level? In order to answer these questions, strategic cultural policy documents and interviews with key informants will be used and analyzed as source data, using content analysis methods. Cultural statistics per se will not be compared, but instead their use as instruments of governing, and its relation to the cultural policy model. Aspects such as execution of cultural surveys, funding, periodicity, and use of statistics in formal reports and publications, will be studied in the written documents while in the interviews other elements such as perceptions from those involved in collecting cultural statistics or policy making, distribution of tasks and hierarchies among cultural and statistical institutions, and a general view will be the target. A limitation identified beforehand and that it is expected to encounter throughout the process is the language barrier in the case of Finland when it comes to official documents, which will be tackled by interviewing the authors of such papers and choosing key extract of them for translation.

Keywords: Finland, cultural statistics, cultural surveys, United Kingdom

Procedia PDF Downloads 223

Authors: Bader Eddin Al Asali, N. Srinivasa Reddy

Abstract:

Cities are dynamic in nature and are characterized by concentration of people, infrastructure, services and markets, which offer opportunities for production and consumption. Often growth and development in urban areas is not systematic, and is directed by number of factors like natural growth, land prices, housing availability, job locations-the central business district (CBD’s), transportation routes, distribution of resources, geographical boundaries, administrative policies, etc. One sided spatial and geographical development in cities leads to the unequal spatial distribution of population and jobs, resulting in high transportation activity. City development can be measured by the parameters such as urban size, urban form, urban shape, and urban structure. Urban Size is the city size and defined by the population of the city, and urban form is the location and size of the economic activity (CBD) over the geographical space. Urban shape is the geometrical shape of the city over which the distribution of population and economic activity occupied. And Urban Structure is the transport network within which the population and activity centers are connected by hierarchy of roads. Among the urban land-use systems transportation plays significant role and is one of the largest energy consuming sector. Transportation interaction among the land uses is measured in Passenger-Km and mean trip length, and is often used as a proxy for measurement of energy consumption in transportation sector. Among the trips generated in cities, work trips constitute more than 70 percent. Work trips are originated from the place of residence and destination to the place of employment. To understand the role of urban parameters on transportation interaction, theoretical cities of different size and urban specifications are generated through building block exercise using a specially developed interactive C++ programme and land use transportation modeling is carried. The land-use transportation modeling exercise helps in understanding the role of urban parameters and also to classify the cities for their urban form, structure, and shape. Muscat the capital city of Oman underwent rapid urbanization over the last four decades is taken as a case study for its classification. Also, a pilot survey is carried to capture urban travel characteristics. Analysis of land-use transportation modeling with field data classified Muscat as a linear city with polycentric CBD. Conclusions are drawn suggestion are given for policy making for the sustainability of Muscat City.

Keywords: land-use transportation, transportation modeling urban form, urban structure, urban rule parameters

Procedia PDF Downloads 264

Authors: Yuanyuan Zhang, Yujuan Zheng, Giuseppina Barutello, Sumako Kameishi, Kungchun Chiu, Katharina Hennig, Martial Balland, Federica Cavallo, Lars Holmgren

Abstract:

Angiogenesis describes that new blood vessels migrate from pre-existing ones to form 3D lumenized structure and remodeling. During directional migration toward the gradient of pro-angiogenic factors, the endothelial cells, especially the tip cells need filopodia to sense the environment and exert the pulling force. Of particular interest are the integrin proteins, which play an essential role in focal adhesion in the connection between migrating cells and extracellular matrix (ECM). Understanding how these biomechanical complexes orchestrate intrinsic and extrinsic forces is important for our understanding of the underlying mechanisms driving angiogenesis. We have previously identified Angiomotin (Amot), a member of Amot scaffold protein family, as a promoter for endothelial cell migration in vitro and zebrafish models. Hence, we established inducible endothelial-specific Amot knock-out mice to study normal retinal angiogenesis as well as tumor angiogenesis. We found that the migration ratio of the blood vessel network to the edge was significantly decreased in Amotec- retinas at postnatal day 6 (P6). While almost all the Amot defect tip cells lost migration advantages at P7. In consistence with the dramatic morphology defect of tip cells, there was a non-autonomous defect in astrocytes, as well as the disorganized fibronectin expression pattern correspondingly in migration front. Furthermore, the growth of transplanted LLC tumor was inhibited in Amot knockout mice due to fewer vasculature involved. By using MMTV-PyMT transgenic mouse model, there was a significantly longer period before tumors arised when Amot was specifically knocked out in blood vessels. In vitro evidence showed that Amot binded to beta-actin, Integrin beta 1 (ITGB1), Fibronectin, FAK, Vinculin, major focal adhesion molecules, and ITGB1 and stress fibers were distinctly induced by Amot transfection. Via traction force microscopy, the total energy (force indicater) was found significantly decreased in Amot knockdown cells. Taken together, we propose that Amot is a novel partner of the ITGB1/Fibronectin protein complex at focal adhesion and required for exerting force transition between endothelial cell and extracellular matrix.

Keywords: angiogenesis, angiomotin, endothelial cell migration, focal adhesion, integrin beta 1

Procedia PDF Downloads 224

Authors: Wei Wang, Yuan Hu

Abstract:

Epoxy resins (EP), one of the most important thermosetting polymers, is widely applied in various fields due to its desirable properties, such as excellent electrical insulation, low shrinkage, outstanding mechanical stiffness, satisfactory adhesion and solvent resistance. However, like most of the polymeric materials, EP has the fatal drawbacks including inherent flammability and high yield of toxic smoke, which restricts its application in the fields requiring fire safety. So, it is still a challenge and an interesting subject to develop new flame retardants which can not only remarkably improve the flame retardancy, but also render modified resins low toxic gases generation. In recent work, polymer nanocomposites based on nanohybrids that contain two or more kinds of nanofillers have drawn intensive interest, which can realize performance enhancements. The realization of previous hybrids of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and molybdenum disulfide provides us a novel route to decorate layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanosheets on the surface of β-FeOOH nanorods; the deposited LDH nanosheets can fill the network and promote the work efficiency of β-FeOOH nanorods. Moreover, the synergistic effects between LDH and β-FeOOH can be anticipated to have potential applications in reducing fire hazards of EP composites for the combination of condense-phase and gas-phase mechanism. As reported, β-FeOOH nanorods can act as a core to prepare hybrid nanostructures combining with other nanoparticles through electrostatic attraction through layer-by-layer assembly technique. In this work, LDH nanosheets wrapped β-FeOOH nanorods (LDH-β-FeOOH) hybrids was synthesized by a facile method, with the purpose of combining the characteristics of one dimension (1D) and two dimension (2D), to improve the fire resistance of epoxy resin. The hybrids showed a well dispersion in EP matrix and had no obvious aggregation. Thermogravimetric analysis and cone calorimeter tests confirmed that LDH-β-FeOOH hybrids into EP matrix with a loading of 3% could obviously improve the fire safety of EP composites. The plausible flame retardancy mechanism was explored by thermogravimetric infrared (TG-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The reasons were concluded: condense-phase and gas-phase. Nanofillers were transferred to the surface of matrix during combustion, which could not only shield EP matrix from external radiation and heat feedback from the fire zone, but also efficiently retard transport of oxygen and flammable pyrolysis.

Keywords: fire hazards, toxic gases, self-assembly, epoxy

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: Evrim Genc Kumtepe, Elif Toprak, Aylin Ozturk, Gamze Tuna, Hakan Kilinc, Irem Aydin Menderis

Abstract:

Support services are very significant elements for all educational institutions in general; however, for distance learners, these services are more essential than traditional (face-to-face) counterparts. One of the most important reasons for this is that learners and instructors do not share the same physical environment and that distance learning settings generally require intrapersonal interactions rather than interpersonal ones. Some learners in distance learning programs feel isolated. Furthermore, some fail to feel a sense of belonging to the institution because of lack of self-management skills, lack of motivation levels, and the need of being socialized, so that they are more likely to fail or drop out of an online class. In order to overcome all these problems, support services have emerged as a critical element for an effective and sustainable distance education system. Within the context of distance education support services, it is natural to include technology-based and web-based services and also the related materials. Moreover, institutions in education sector are expected to use information and communication technologies effectively in order to be successful in educational activities and programs. In terms of the sustainability of the system, an institution should provide distance education services through ICT enabled processes to support all stakeholders in the system, particularly distance learners. In this study, it is envisaged to develop a model based on the current support services literature in the field of open and distance learning and the applications of the distance higher education institutions. Specifically, content analysis technique is used to evaluate the existing literature in the distance education support services, the information published on websites, and applications of distance higher education institutions across the world. A total of 60 institutions met the inclusion criteria which are language option (English) and availability of materials in the websites. The six field experts contributed to brainstorming process to develop and extract codes for the coding scheme. During the coding process, these preset and emergent codes are used to conduct analyses. Two coders independently reviewed and coded each assigned website to ensure that all coders are interpreting the data the same way and to establish inter-coder reliability. Once each web page is included in descriptive and relational analysis, a model of support services is developed by examining the generated codes and themes. It is believed that such a model would serve as a quality guide for future institutions, as well as the current ones.

Keywords: support services, open education, distance learning, support model

Procedia PDF Downloads 188

Authors: Cledinaldo A. Dias, Isabela C. Santos, Marcus V. S. Siqueira

Abstract:

In the contemporary globalization, the competitiveness generated in the search of new markets aiming at the growth of productivity and, consequently, of profits, implies the redefinition of productive processes and new forms of work organization. As a result of this structuring, unemployment, labor force turnover and the increase in outsourcing and informal work occur. Considering the different relationships and working conditions of outsourced employees, this study aims to identify the most present stressors among outsourced service providers from a Federal Institution of Higher Education in Brazil. To reach this objective, a descriptive exploratory study with a quantitative approach was carried out. The qualitative approach was chosen to provide an in-depth analysis of the occupational conditions of outsourced workers since this method seeks to focus on the social as a world of investigated meanings and the language or speech of each subject as the object of this approach. The survey was conducted in the city of Montes Claros - Minas Gerais (Brazil) and involved eighty workers from companies hired by the institution, including armed security guards, porters, cleaners, drivers, gardeners, and administrative assistants. The choice of professionals obeyed non-probabilistic criteria for convenience or accessibility. Data collection was performed by means of a structured questionnaire composed of sixty questions, in a Likert-type frequency interval scale format, in order to identify potential organizational stressors. The results obtained evidence that the stress factors pointed out by the workers are, in most cases, a determining factor due to the low productive performance at work. Amongst the factors associated with stress, the ones that stood out most were those related to organizational communication failures, the incentive to competition, lack of expectations of professional growth, insecurity and job instability. Based on the results, the need for greater concern and organizational responsibility with the well-being and mental health of the outsourced worker and the recognition of their physical and psychological limitations, and care that goes beyond the functional capacity for the work. Specifically for the preservation of mental health, physical and quality of life, it is concluded that it is necessary for the professional to be inserted in the external world that favors it internally since this set is complemented so that the individual remains in balance and obtain satisfaction in your work.

Keywords: occupational health, outsourced, organizational studies, stressors

Procedia PDF Downloads 94

Authors: Jae-Hyeon Kim, Michael Lee

Abstract:

Intrinsic and acquired resistance limits the therapeutic benefits of oncogenic BRAF inhibitors in melanoma. MicroRNAs (miRNA) regulate the expression of target mRNAs by repressing their translation. Thus, we investigated miRNA expression patterns in melanoma cell lines to identify candidate biomarkers for acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitor. Here, we used Affymetrix miRNA V3.0 microarray profiling platform to compare miRNA expression levels in three cell lines containing BRAF inhibitor-sensitive A375P BRAF V600E cells, their BRAF inhibitor-resistant counterparts (A375P/Mdr), and SK-MEL-2 BRAF-WT cells with intrinsic resistance to BRAF inhibitor. The miRNAs with at least a two-fold change in expression between BRAF inhibitor-sensitive and –resistant cell lines, were identified as differentially expressed. Averaged intensity measurements identified 138 and 217 miRNAs that were differentially expressed by 2 fold or more between: 1) A375P and A375P/Mdr; 2) A375P and SK-MEL-2, respectively. The hierarchical clustering revealed differences in miRNA expression profiles between BRAF inhibitor-sensitive and –resistant cell lines for miRNAs involved in intrinsic and acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitor. In particular, 43 miRNAs were identified whose expression was consistently altered in two BRAF inhibitor-resistant cell lines, regardless of intrinsic and acquired resistance. Twenty five miRNAs were consistently upregulated and 18 downregulated more than 2-fold. Although some discrepancies were detected when miRNA microarray data were compared with qPCR-measured expression levels, qRT-PCR for five miRNAs (miR-3617, miR-92a1, miR-1246, miR-1936-3p, and miR-17-3p) results showed excellent agreement with microarray experiments. To further investigate cellular functions of miRNAs, we examined effects on cell proliferation. Synthetic oligonucleotide miRNA mimics were transfected into three cell lines, and proliferation was quantified using a colorimetric assay. Of the 5 miRNAs tested, only miR-1246 altered cell proliferation of A375P/Mdr cells. The transfection of miR-1246 mimic strongly conferred PLX-4720 resistance to A375P/Mdr cells, implying that miR-1246 upregulation confers acquired resistance to BRAF inhibition. We also found that PLX-4720 caused much greater G2/M arrest in A375P/Mdr cells transfected with miR-1246mimic than that seen in scrambled RNA-transfected cells. Additionally, miR-1246 mimic partially caused a resistance to autophagy induction by PLX-4720. These results indicate that autophagy does play an essential death-promoting role inPLX-4720-induced cell death. Taken together, these results suggest that miRNA expression profiling in melanoma cells can provide valuable information for a network of BRAF inhibitor resistance-associated miRNAs.

Keywords: microRNA, BRAF inhibitor, drug resistance, autophagy

Procedia PDF Downloads 312

Authors: Justin Fu, Thomas Mazzuchi, Shahram Sarkani

Abstract:

A key factor in technological immaturity in defense weapons acquisition is lack of understanding critical integrations at the subsystem and component level. To address this shortfall, recent research in integration readiness level (IRL) combines with technology readiness level (TRL) to form a system readiness level (SRL). SRL can be enriched with more robust quantitative methods to provide the program manager a useful tool prior to committing to major weapons acquisition programs. This research harnesses previous mathematical models based on graph theory, Petri nets, and tropical algebra and proposes a modification of the desirable SRL mathematical properties such that a tightly integrated (multitude of interfaces) subsystem can display a lower SRL than an inherently less coupled subsystem. The synthesis of these methods informs an improved decision tool for the program manager to commit to expensive technology development. This research ties the separately developed manufacturing readiness level (MRL) into the network representation of the system and addresses shortfalls in previous frameworks, including the lack of integration weighting and the over-importance of a single extremely immature component. Tropical algebra (based on the minimum of a set of TRLs or IRLs) allows one low IRL or TRL value to diminish the SRL of the entire system, which may not be reflective of actuality if that component is not critical or tightly coupled. Integration connections can be weighted according to importance and readiness levels are modified to be a cardinal scale (based on an analytic hierarchy process). Integration arcs’ importance are dependent on the connected nodes and the additional integrations arcs connected to those nodes. Lack of integration is not represented by zero, but by a perfect integration maturity value. Naturally, the importance (or weight) of such an arc would be zero. To further explore the impact of grouping subsystems, a multi-objective genetic algorithm is then used to find various clusters or communities that can be optimized for the most representative subsystem SRL. This novel calculation is then benchmarked through simulation and using past defense acquisition program data, focusing on the newly introduced Middle Tier of Acquisition (rapidly field prototypes). The model remains a relatively simple, accessible tool, but at higher fidelity and validated with past data for the program manager to decide major defense acquisition program milestones.

Keywords: readiness, maturity, system, integration

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Shailendra Kumar Singh

Abstract:

With the rise of New Linguistic World Order in the 21st century, the Aged Pragmatics is palpitating on the edge of theoretical irrelevance. What appears to be a new sociolinguistic reality is that the enlightening combination of alternative west, inclusive globalization and techno-revolution is adding novel recipes to communicative actions, style and gain among new linguistic breed which is being neither dominated nor powered by the western supremacy. The paper has the following main, interrelated, aims: it is intended to introduce the concept of alternative pragmatics that can offer what exactly is needed for our emerging societal realities; it asserts as to how the basic pillar of linguistic success in the new linguistic world order rests upon linguistic temptation and calibration of all; and it also reviews an inevitability of emerging economies in shaping the communication trends at a time when the western world is struggling to maintain the same control on the others exercised in the past. In particular, the paper seeks answers for the following questions: (a) Do we need an alternative pragmatics, one with alternativist leaning in an era of inclusive globalization and alternative west? (b) What are the pulses of shift which are encapsulating emergence of new communicative behavior among the new linguistic breed by breaking yesterday’s linguistic rigidity? (c) Or, what are those shifts which are making linguistic shift more perceptible? (d) Is New Linguistic World Order succeeding in reversing linguistic priorities of `who speaks, what language, where, how, why, to whom and in which condition’ with no parallel in the history? (e) What is explicit about the contemporary world of 21st century which makes linguistic world all exciting and widely celebrative phenomenon and that is also forced into our vision? (f) What factors will hold key to the future of yesterday’s `influential languages’ and today’s `emerging languages’ as world is in the paradigm transition? (g) Is the collapse of Aged Pragmatics good for the 21st century for understanding the difference between pragmatism of old linguistic world and new linguistic world order? New Linguistic world Order today, unlike in the past, is about a branding of new world with liberal world view for a particular form of ideal to be imagined in the 21st century. At this time without question it is hope that a new set of ideals with popular vocabulary will become the implicit pragmatic model as one of benign majoritarianism in all aspects of sociolinguistic reality. It appears to be a reality that we live in an extraordinary linguistic world with no parallel in the past. In particular, the paper also highlights the paradigm shifts: Demographic, Social-psychological, technological and power. These shifts are impacting linguistic shift which is unique in itself. The paper will highlight linguistic shift in details in which alternative west plays a major role without challenging the west because it is an era of inclusive globalization in which almost everyone takes equal responsibility.

Keywords: inclusive globalization, new linguistic world order, linguistic shift, world order

Procedia PDF Downloads 336

Authors: Hayat Omar

Abstract:

Languages provide speakers with a wide range of linguistic units to organize and deliver information. There are several ways to verbally express the mental representations of events. According to the linguistic tools they have acquired, speakers select the one that brings out the most communicative effect to convey their message. Our study focuses on two markers, -mm and dämmo, in Amharic (Ethiopian Semitic language). Our aim is to examine, from a developmental perspective, how they are used by speakers. We seek to distinguish the communicative and pragmatic functions indicated by means of these markers. To do so, we created a corpus of sixty narrative productions of children from 5-6, 7-8 to 10-12 years old and adult Amharic speakers. The experimental material we used to collect our data is a series of pictures without text 'Frog, Where are you?'. Although -mm and dämmo are each used in specific contexts, they are sometimes analyzed as being interchangeable. The suffix -mm is complex and multifunctional. It marks the end of the negative verbal structure, it is found in the relative structure of the imperfect, it creates new words such as adverbials or pronouns, it also serves to coordinate words, sentences and to mark the link between macro-propositions within a larger textual unit. -mm was analyzed as marker of insistence, topic shift marker, element of concatenation, contrastive focus marker, 'bisyndetic' coordinator. On the other hand, dämmo has limited function and did not attract the attention of many authors. The only approach we could find analyzes it in terms of 'monosyndetic' coordinator. The paralleling of these two elements made it possible to understand their distinctive functions and refine their description. When it comes to marking a referent, the choice of -mm or dämmo is not neutral, depending on whether the tagged argument is newly introduced, maintained, promoted or reintroduced. The presence of these morphemes explains the inter-phrastic link. The information is seized by anaphora or presupposition: -mm goes upstream while dämmo arrows downstream, the latter requires new information. The speaker uses -mm or dämmo according to what he assumes to be known to his interlocutors. The results show that -mm and dämmo, although all the speakers use them both, do not always have the same scope according to the speaker and vary according to the age. dämmo is mainly used to mark a contrastive topic to signal the concomitance of events. It is more commonly used in young children’s narratives (F(3,56) = 3,82, p < .01). Some values of -mm (additive) are acquired very early while others are rather late and increase with age (F(3,56) = 3,2, p < .03). The difficulty is due not only because of its synthetic structure but primarily because it is multi-purpose and requires a memory work. It highlights the constituent on which it operates to clarify how the message should be interpreted.

Keywords: acquisition, cohesion, connection, contrastive topic, contrastive focus, discourse marker, pragmatics

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Tingwei Shu, Dong Zhou, Chengjun Guo

Abstract:

Semantic communication is an emerging form of communication that realize intelligent communication by extracting semantic information of data at the source and transmitting it, and recovering the data at the receiving end. It can effectively solve the problem of data transmission under the situation of large data volume, low SNR and restricted bandwidth. With the development of Deep Learning, semantic communication further matures and is gradually applied in the fields of the Internet of Things, Uumanned Air Vehicle cluster communication, remote sensing scenarios, etc. We propose an improved semantic communication system for the situation where the data volume is huge and the spectrum resources are limited during the transmission of remote sensing images. At the transmitting, we need to extract the semantic information of remote sensing images, but there are some problems. The traditional semantic communication system based on Convolutional Neural Network cannot take into account the global semantic information and local semantic information of the image, which results in less-than-ideal image recovery at the receiving end. Therefore, we adopt the improved vision-Transformer-based structure as the semantic encoder instead of the mainstream one using CNN to extract the image semantic features. In this paper, we first perform pre-processing operations on remote sensing images to improve the resolution of the images in order to obtain images with more semantic information. We use wavelet transform to decompose the image into high-frequency and low-frequency components, perform bilinear interpolation on the high-frequency components and bicubic interpolation on the low-frequency components, and finally perform wavelet inverse transform to obtain the preprocessed image. We adopt the improved Vision-Transformer structure as the semantic coder to extract and transmit the semantic information of remote sensing images. The Vision-Transformer structure can better train the huge data volume and extract better image semantic features, and adopt the multi-layer self-attention mechanism to better capture the correlation between semantic features and reduce redundant features. Secondly, to improve the coding efficiency, we reduce the quadratic complexity of the self-attentive mechanism itself to linear so as to improve the image data processing speed of the model. We conducted experimental simulations on the RSOD dataset and compared the designed system with a semantic communication system based on CNN and image coding methods such as BGP and JPEG to verify that the method can effectively alleviate the problem of excessive data volume and improve the performance of image data communication.

Keywords: semantic communication, transformer, wavelet transform, data processing

Procedia PDF Downloads 69

Authors: Jelena Vucicevic

Abstract:

Reliability analysis represents a very important task in different areas of work. In any industry, this is crucial for maintenance, efficiency, safety and monetary costs. There are ways to calculate reliability, unreliability, failure density and failure rate. This paper will try to introduce another way of calculating reliability by using R statistical software. R is a free software environment for statistical computing and graphics. It compiles and runs on a wide variety of UNIX platforms, Windows and MacOS. The R programming environment is a widely used open source system for statistical analysis and statistical programming. It includes thousands of functions for the implementation of both standard and new statistical methods. R does not limit user only to operation related only to these functions. This program has many benefits over other similar programs: it is free and, as an open source, constantly updated; it has built-in help system; the R language is easy to extend with user-written functions. The significance of the work is calculation of time to failure or reliability in a new way, using statistic. Another advantage of this calculation is that there is no need for technical details and it can be implemented in any part for which we need to know time to fail in order to have appropriate maintenance, but also to maximize usage and minimize costs. In this case, calculations have been made on diesel generator fans but the same principle can be applied to any other part. The data for this paper came from a field engineering study of the time to failure of diesel generator fans. The ultimate goal was to decide whether or not to replace the working fans with a higher quality fan to prevent future failures. Seventy generators were studied. For each one, the number of hours of running time from its first being put into service until fan failure or until the end of the study (whichever came first) was recorded. Dataset consists of two variables: hours and status. Hours show the time of each fan working and status shows the event: 1- failed, 0- censored data. Censored data represent cases when we cannot track the specific case, so it could fail or success. Gaining the result by using R was easy and quick. The program will take into consideration censored data and include this into the results. This is not so easy in hand calculation. For the purpose of the paper results from R program have been compared to hand calculations in two different cases: censored data taken as a failure and censored data taken as a success. In all three cases, results are significantly different. If user decides to use the R for further calculations, it will give more precise results with work on censored data than the hand calculation.

Keywords: censored data, R statistical software, reliability analysis, time to failure

Procedia PDF Downloads 394

Authors: Danny Hjeij, Karine Bilodeau, Caroline Arbour

Abstract:

Background: Chemotherapy infusions often lead to a cluster of co-occurring and difficult-to-treat symptoms (nausea, tingling, etc.), which may negatively impact the treatment experience at the outpatient clinic. Although several complementary approaches have shown beneficial effects for chemotherapy-induced symptom management, they are not easily implementable during chemotherapy infusion. In response to this limitation, comfort talk (CT), a simple, fast conversational method inspired by the language principles of clinical hypnosis, is known to optimize the management of symptoms related to antineoplastic treatments. However, the perception of nurses who have had to integrate this practice into their care has never been documented. Study design: A qualitative descriptive study with iterative content analysis was conducted among oncology nurses working in a chemotherapy outpatient clinic who had previous experience with CT. Semi-structured interviews were conducted by phone, using a pre-tested interview guide and a sociodemographic survey to document their perception of CT. The conceptual framework. Results: A total of six nurses (4 women, 2 men) took part in the interviews (N=6). The average age of participants was 49 years (36-61 years). Participants had an average of 24 years of experience (10-38 years) as a nurse, including 14.5 years in oncology (5-32 years). Data saturation (i.e., redundancy of words) was observed around the fifth interview. A sixth interview was conducted as confirmation. Six themes emerged: two addressing contextual and organizational obstacles at the chemotherapy outpatient clinic, and three addressing the added value of CT for oncology nursing care. Specific themes included: 1) the outpatient oncology clinic, a saturated care setting, 2) the keystones that support the integration of CT into care, 3) added value for patients, 4) a positive and rewarding experience for nurses, 5) collateral benefits, and 6) CT an approach to consider during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: For the first time, this study describes nurses' perception of the integration of CT into the care surrounding the administration of chemotherapy at the outpatient oncology clinic. In summary, contextual and organizational difficulties, as well as the lack of training, are among the main obstacles that could hinder the integration of CT in oncology. Still, the experience was reported mostly as positive. Indeed, nurses saw HC as an added value to patient care and meeting their need for holistic care. HC also appears to be beneficial for patients on several levels (for pain management in particular). Results will be used to inform future knowledge transfer activities related to CT in oncology nursing.

Keywords: cancer, chemotherapy, comfort talk, oncology nursing role

Procedia PDF Downloads 74

Authors: Efleda Preclaro Tolentino

Abstract:

Research indicates that an educator’s belief system is reflected in the way they structure the learning environment. Their values and belief system have the potential to positively impact school readiness through an understanding of children’s development and the creation of a stable, motivating environment. Based on the premise that the social environment influences the development of social skills, knowledge construct, and shared values of young children, this study examined verbal and nonverbal exchanges between early childhood teachers and their preschool students within the context of remote learning. Using the qualitative method of data collection, the study determined the nature of interactions between preschoolers and their teachers within a remote learning environment at a preschool in Southeast Asia that utilized the Mother Tongue-based Multilingual Education (MTBMLE) Approach. From the lens of sociocultural theory, the study investigated preschoolers’ use of literacies to convey meaning and to interact within a remote learning environment. Using a Strengths Perspective, the study revealed the creativity and resourcefulness of preschoolers in expressing themselves through trans-literacies that were made possible by the use of online mode of learning within cultural and subcultural norms. The study likewise examined how social skills acquired by young children were transmitted (verbally or nonverbally) in their interactions with peers during Zoom meetings. By examining the dynamics of social exchanges between teachers and children, the findings of the study underscore the importance of providing support for preschool students as they apply acquired values and shared practices within a remote learning environment. The potential of distance learning in the early years will be explored, specifically in supporting young children’s language and literacy development. At the same time, the study examines the role of teachers as cultivators of trans-literacies. The teachers’ skillful use of technology in facilitating young children’s learning, as well as in supporting interactions with families, will be examined. The findings of this study will explore the potential of distance learning in early childhood education to establish continuity in learning, supporting young children’s social and emotional transitions, and nurturing trans-literacies that transcend prevailing definitions of learning contexts. The implications of teachers and parents working collaboratively to support student learning will be examined. The importance of preparing teachers to be resourceful, adaptable, and innovative to ensure that learning takes place across a variety of modes and settings will be discussed.

Keywords: transliteracy, preschoolers, remote learning, strengths perspective

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Alireza Karimi

Abstract:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping various industries, and accounting is no exception. With the ability to process vast amounts of data quickly and accurately, AI is revolutionizing how financial professionals manage, analyze, and report financial information. In this article, we will explore the diverse applications of AI in accounting and its profound impact on the field. Automation of Repetitive Tasks: One of the most significant contributions of AI in accounting is automating repetitive tasks. AI-powered software can handle data entry, invoice processing, and reconciliation with minimal human intervention. This not only saves time but also reduces the risk of errors, leading to more accurate financial records. Pattern Recognition and Anomaly Detection: AI algorithms excel at pattern recognition. In accounting, this capability is leveraged to identify unusual patterns in financial data that might indicate fraud or errors. AI can swiftly detect discrepancies, enabling auditors and accountants to focus on resolving issues rather than hunting for them. Real-Time Financial Insights: AI-driven tools, using natural language processing and computer vision, can process documents faster than ever. This enables organizations to have real-time insights into their financial status, empowering decision-makers with up-to-date information for strategic planning. Fraud Detection and Prevention: AI is a powerful tool in the fight against financial fraud. It can analyze vast transaction datasets, flagging suspicious activities and reducing the likelihood of financial misconduct going unnoticed. This proactive approach safeguards a company's financial integrity. Enhanced Data Analysis and Forecasting: Machine learning, a subset of AI, is used for data analysis and forecasting. By examining historical financial data, AI models can provide forecasts and insights, aiding businesses in making informed financial decisions and optimizing their financial strategies. Artificial Intelligence is fundamentally transforming the accounting profession. From automating mundane tasks to enhancing data analysis and fraud detection, AI is making financial processes more efficient, accurate, and insightful. As AI continues to evolve, its role in accounting will only become more significant, offering accountants and finance professionals powerful tools to navigate the complexities of modern finance. Embracing AI in accounting is not just a trend; it's a necessity for staying competitive in the evolving financial landscape.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, accounting automation, financial analysis, fraud detection, machine learning in finance

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: Eugene Y. J. Aw, J. W. Koh, S. H. Chew, K. E. Chua, P. L. Goh, Grace H. B. Foo, M. L. Leong

Abstract:

This paper presents the evaluation of various soil testing methods such as the four-probe soil electrical resistivity method and cone penetration test (CPT) that can complement a newly developed novel rapid soil classification scheme using computer vision, to improve the accuracy and productivity of on-site classification of excavated soil. In Singapore, excavated soils from the local construction industry are transported to Staging Grounds (SGs) to be reused as fill material for land reclamation. Excavated soils are mainly categorized into two groups (“Good Earth” and “Soft Clay”) based on particle size distribution (PSD) and water content (w) from soil investigation reports and on-site visual survey, such that proper treatment and usage can be exercised. However, this process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Thus, a rapid classification method is needed at the SGs. Four-probe soil electrical resistivity and CPT were evaluated for their feasibility as suitable additions to the computer vision system to further develop this innovative non-destructive and instantaneous classification method. The computer vision technique comprises soil image acquisition using an industrial-grade camera; image processing and analysis via calculation of Grey Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) textural parameters; and decision-making using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). It was found from the previous study that the ANN model coupled with ρ can classify soils into “Good Earth” and “Soft Clay” in less than a minute, with an accuracy of 85% based on selected representative soil images. To further improve the technique, the following three items were targeted to be added onto the computer vision scheme: the apparent electrical resistivity of soil (ρ) measured using a set of four probes arranged in Wenner’s array, the soil strength measured using a modified mini cone penetrometer, and w measured using a set of time-domain reflectometry (TDR) probes. Laboratory proof-of-concept was conducted through a series of seven tests with three types of soils – “Good Earth”, “Soft Clay,” and a mix of the two. Validation was performed against the PSD and w of each soil type obtained from conventional laboratory tests. The results show that ρ, w and CPT measurements can be collectively analyzed to classify soils into “Good Earth” or “Soft Clay” and are feasible as complementing methods to the computer vision system.

Keywords: computer vision technique, cone penetration test, electrical resistivity, rapid and non-destructive, soil classification

Procedia PDF Downloads 224

Authors: Nupur A. D., Miah M. S., Moniruzzaman S. K.

Abstract:

Autism is a neurobiological disorder that affects physical, social, and language skills of a person. A child with autism feels difficulty for processing, integrating, and responding to sensory stimuli. Current estimates have shown that 45% to 96 % of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder demonstrate sensory difficulties. As autism is a worldwide burning issue, it has become a highly prioritized and important service provision in Bangladesh. The sensory deficit does not only hamper the normal development of a child, it also hampers the learning process and functional independency. The purpose of this study was to find out the prevalence of sensory dysfunction among children with autism and recognize common patterns of sensory dysfunction. A cross-sectional study design was chosen to carry out this research work. This study enrolled eighty children with autism and their parents by using the systematic sampling method. In this study, data were collected through the Short Sensory Profile (SSP) assessment tool, which consists of 38 items in the questionnaire, and qualified graduate Occupational Therapists were directly involved in interviewing parents as well as observing child responses to sensory related activities of the children with autism from four selected autism centers in Dhaka, Bangladesh. All item analyses were conducted to identify items yielding or resulting in the highest reported sensory processing dysfunction among those children through using SSP and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0 for data analysis. This study revealed that almost 78.25% of children with autism had significant sensory processing dysfunction based on their sensory response to relevant activities. Under-responsive sensory seeking and auditory filtering were the least common problems among them. On the other hand, most of them (95%) represented that they had definite to probable differences in sensory processing, including under-response or sensory seeking, auditory filtering, and tactile sensitivity. Besides, the result also shows that the definite difference in sensory processing among 64 children was within 100%; it means those children with autism suffered from sensory difficulties, and thus it drew a great impact on the children’s Daily Living Activities (ADLs) as well as social interaction with others. Almost 95% of children with autism require intervention to overcome or normalize the problem. The result gives insight regarding types of sensory processing dysfunction to consider during diagnosis and ascertaining the treatment. So, early sensory problem identification is very important and thus will help to provide appropriate sensory input to minimize the maladaptive behavior and enhance to reach the normal range of adaptive behavior.

Keywords: autism, sensory processing difficulties, sensory profile, occupational therapy

Procedia PDF Downloads 54

Authors: M. Beheshti, S. Saegrov, T. M. Muthanna

Abstract:

Separated sewer systems are designed to transfer the wastewater from houses and industrial sections to wastewater treatment plants. Unwanted water in the sewer systems is a well-known problem, i.e. storm-water inflow is around 50% of the foul sewer, and groundwater infiltration to the sewer system can exceed 50% of total wastewater volume in deteriorated networks. Infiltration and inflow of non-sewer water (I/I) into sewer systems is unfavorable in separated sewer systems and can trigger overloading the system and reducing the efficiency of wastewater treatment plants. Moreover, I/I has negative economic, environmental, and social impacts on urban areas. Therefore, for having sustainable management of urban sewer systems, I/I of unwanted water into the urban sewer systems should be considered carefully and maintenance and rehabilitation plan should be implemented on these water infrastructural assets. This study presents a methodology to identify and quantify the level of I/I into the sewer system. Amount of I/I is evaluated by accurate flow measurement in separated sewer systems for specified isolated catchments in Trondheim city (Norway). Advanced information about the characteristics of I/I is gained by CCTV inspection of sewer pipelines with high I/I contribution. Achieving enhanced knowledge about the detection and localization of non-sewer water in foul sewer system during the wet and dry weather conditions will enable the possibility for finding the problem of sewer system and prioritizing them and taking decisions for rehabilitation and renewal planning in the long-term. Furthermore, preventive measures and optimization of sewer systems functionality and efficiency can be executed by maintenance of sewer system. In this way, the exploitation of sewer system can be improved by maintenance and rehabilitation of existing pipelines in a sustainable way by more practical cost-effective and environmental friendly way. This study is conducted on specified catchments with different properties in Trondheim city. Risvollan catchment is one of these catchments with a measuring station to investigate hydrological parameters through the year, which also has a good database. For assessing the infiltration in a separated sewer system, applying the flow rate measurement method can be utilized in obtaining a general view of the network condition from infiltration point of view. This study discusses commonly used and advanced methods of localizing and quantifying I/I in sewer systems. A combination of these methods give sewer operators the possibility to compare different techniques and obtain reliable and accurate I/I data which is vital for long-term rehabilitation plans.

Keywords: flow rate measurement, infiltration and inflow (I/I), non-sewer water, separated sewer systems, sustainable management

Procedia PDF Downloads 317

Authors: Ghazala Anjum, Farooq Hussain Bhat, Ravi Kumar

Abstract:

Multiferroic materials are vital for new application and memory devices, not only because of the presence of multiple types of domains but also as a result of cross correlation between coexisting forms of magnetic and electrical orders. In spite of wide studies done on multiferroic bulk ceramic materials their realization in thin film form is yet limited due to some crucial problems. During the last few years, special attention has been devoted to synthesis of thin films like of BiFeO₃. As they allow direct integration of the material into the device technology. Therefore owing to the process of exploration of new multiferroic thin films, preparation, and characterization of La₀.₈Bi₀.₂Fe₀.₇Mn₀.₃O₃ (LBFMO3) thin film on LaAlO₃ (LAO) substrate with LaNiO₃ (LNO) being the buffer layer has been done. The fact that all the electrical and magnetic properties are closely related to the electronic structure makes it inevitable to study the electronic structure of system under study. Without the knowledge of this, one may never be sure about the mechanism responsible for different properties exhibited by the thin film. Literature review reveals that studies on change in atomic and the hybridization state in multiferroic samples are still insufficient except few. The technique of x-ray absorption (XAS) has made great strides towards the goal of providing such information. It turns out to be a unique signature to a given material. In this milieu, it is time honoured to have the electronic structure study of the elements present in the LBFMO₃ multiferroic thin film on LAO substrate with buffer layer of LNO synthesized by RF sputtering technique. We report the electronic structure studies of well characterized LBFMO3 multiferroic thin film on LAO substrate with LNO as buffer layer using near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS). Present exploration has been performed to find out the valence state and crystal field symmetry of ions present in the system. NEXAFS data of O K- edge spectra reveals a slight shift in peak position along with growth in intensities of low energy feature. Studies of Mn L₃,₂- edge spectra indicates the presence of Mn³⁺/Mn⁴⁺ network apart from very small contribution from Mn²⁺ ions in the system that substantiates the magnetic properties exhibited by the thin film. Fe L₃,₂- edge spectra along with spectra of reference compound reveals that Fe ions are present in +3 state. Electronic structure and valence state are found to be in accordance with the magnetic properties exhibited by LBFMO/LNO/LAO thin film.

Keywords: magnetic, multiferroic, NEXAFS, x-ray absorption fine structure, XMCD, x-ray magnetic circular dichroism

Procedia PDF Downloads 146