Search results for: open educational resources

Authors: Virag Vass, Ilona Bereczki, Erzsebet Szabo, Nora Debreczeni, Aniko Borbas, Pal Herczegh, Arpad Tosaki

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Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is a toxic gas, but it is produced by certain tissues in a small quantity. According to earlier studies, ibuprofen and H₂S has a protective effect against damaging heart tissue caused by ischemia-reperfusion. Recently, we have been investigating the effect of a new water-soluble H₂S releasing ibuprofen molecule administered after artificially generated ischemia-reperfusion on isolated rat hearts. The H₂S releasing property of the new ibuprofen derivative was investigated in vitro in medium derived from heart endothelial cell isolation at two concentrations. The ex vivo examinations were carried out on rat hearts. Rats were anesthetized with an intraperitoneal injection of ketamine, xylazine, and heparin. After thoracotomy, hearts were excised and placed into ice-cold perfusion buffer. Perfusion of hearts was conducted in Langendorff mode via the cannulated aorta. In our experiments, we studied the dose-effect of the H₂S releasing molecule in Langendorff-perfused hearts with the application of gradually increasing concentration of the compound (0- 20 µM). The H₂S releasing ibuprofen derivative was applied before the ischemia for 10 minutes. H₂S concentration was measured with an H₂S detecting electrochemical sensor from the coronary effluent solution. The 10 µM concentration was chosen for further experiments when the treatment with this solution was occurred after the ischemia. The release of H₂S is occurred by the hydrolyzing enzymes that are present in the heart endothelial cells. The protective effect of the new H₂S releasing ibuprofen molecule can be confirmed by the infarct sizes of hearts using the Triphenyl-tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining method. Furthermore, we aimed to define the effect of the H₂S releasing ibuprofen derivative on autophagic and apoptotic processes in damaged hearts after investigating the molecular markers of these events by western blotting and immunohistochemistry techniques. Our further studies will include the examination of LC3I/II, p62, Beclin1, caspase-3, and other apoptotic molecules. We hope that confirming the protective effect of new H₂S releasing ibuprofen molecule will open a new possibility for the development of more effective cardioprotective agents with exerting fewer side effects. Acknowledgment: This study was supported by the grants of NKFIH- K-124719 and the European Union and the State of Hungary co- financed by the European Social Fund in the framework of GINOP- 2.3.2-15-2016-00043.

Keywords: autophagy, hydrogen sulfide, ibuprofen, ischemia, reperfusion

Procedia PDF Downloads 129

Authors: Haykal. Kay-Anne

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The health and well-being of students is a priority for the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. The demands of medical studies are extreme, and many studies confirm that the prevalence of psychological distress is very high among medical students and that it is higher than that of the general population of the same age. The main goal is to identify risk factors for mental health among medical students at the University of Ottawa. The secondary objectives are to determine the variation of these risk factors according to demographic variables, as well as to determine if there is a change in the mental health of students during the 1st and 3rd years of their study. Medical students have a mandatory first and third-year wellness check meeting. This assessment includes a questionnaire on demographic information, mental health, and risk factors such as physical health, sleep, social support, financial stress, education and career, stress and drug use and/or alcohol. Student responses were converted to numerical values and analyzed statistically. The results show that 61% of the variation in the mean of the mental health score is explained by the following risk factors (R2 = 0.61, F (9.396) = 67.197, p < 0.01): lack of sleep and fatigue (β = 0.281, p < 0.001), lack of social support (β = 0.217, p <0.001), poor study or career development (β = 0.195, p < 0.001) and an increase stress and drug and alcohol use (β = -0.239, p < 0.001). No demographic variable has a significant effect on the presence of risk factors. In addition, fixed-effects regression demonstrated significantly lower mental health (p < 0.1) among first-year students (M = 0.587, SD = 0.072) than among third-year students (M = 0.719, SD = 0.071). This preliminary study indicates the need to continue data collection and analysis to increase the significance of the study results. As risk factors are present at the beginning of medical studies, it is important to offer resources to students very early in their medical studies and to have close monitoring and supervision.

Keywords: assessment of mental health, medical students, risk factors for mental health, wellness assessment

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Authors: Tamer ElSerafi

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In recent approaches to heritage conservation, the whole context of historic areas becomes as important as the single historic building. This makes the provision of infrastructure and network of mobility an effective element in the urban conservation. Sustainable urban conservation projects consider the high density of activities, the need for a good quality access system to the transit system, and the importance of the configuration of the mobility network by identifying the best way to connect the different districts of the urban area through a complex unique system that helps the synergic development to achieve a sustainable mobility system. A sustainable urban mobility is a key factor in maintaining the integrity between socio-cultural aspects and functional aspects. This paper illustrates the mobility aspects, mobility problems in historic districts, and the needs of the mobility systems in the first part. The second part is a practical analysis for different mobility plans. It is challenging to find innovative and creative conservation solutions fitting modern uses and needs without risking the loss of inherited built resources. Urban mobility management is becoming an essential and challenging issue in the urban conservation projects. Depending on literature review and practical analysis, this paper tries to define and clarify the guidelines for mobility management in historic districts as a key element in sustainability of urban conservation and development projects. Such rules and principles could control the conflict between the socio–cultural and economic activities, and the different needs for mobility in these districts in a sustainable way. The practical analysis includes a comparison between mobility plans which have been implemented in four different cities; Freiburg in Germany, Zurich in Switzerland and Bray Town in Ireland. This paper concludes with a matrix of guidelines that considers both principles of sustainability and livability factors in urban historic districts.

Keywords: sustainable mobility, urban mobility, mobility management, historic districts

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Authors: A. K. Srivastava, Sandeep K. Singh, A. K. Kulshetra

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Agriculture is the backbone of developing countries of Asian sub-continent like India. Uttar Pradesh is the most populous and fifth largest State of India. Total population of the state is 19.95 crore, which is 16.49% of the country that is more than that of many other countries of the world. Uttar Pradesh occupies only 7.36% of the total area of India. It is a well-established fact that agriculture has virtually been the lifeline of the State’s economy in the past for long and its predominance is likely to continue for a fairly long time in future. The total geographical area of the state is 242.01 lakh hectares, out of which 120.44 lakh hectares is facing various land degradation problems. This needs to be put under various conservation and reclamation measures at much faster pace in order to enhance agriculture productivity in the State. Keeping in view the above scenario Department of Agriculture, Government of Uttar Pradesh has formulated a multi-purpose project namely Bhoomi Sena for the entire state. The main objective of the project is to improve the land degradation using low cost technology available at village level. The total outlay of the project is Rs. 39643.75 Lakhs for an area of about 226000 ha included in the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-13 to 2016-17). It is expected that the total man days would be 310.60 lakh. An attempt has been made to use the space technology like remote sensing, geographical information system, at cadastral level for the overall management of agriculture engineering work which is required for the treatment of degradation of the land. After integration of thematic maps a proposed action plan map has been prepared for the future work.

Keywords: GPS, GIS, remote sensing, topographic survey, cadestral mapping

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Authors: Iman Shabanzadeh

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The purpose of this research is to understand the lived experience of private sector entrepreneurs in facing the sources of freedom and unfreedom and benefiting from opportunities and basic capabilities in the process of realizing entrepreneurial ability in order to get closer to the macro situation of the narrative of human development in Iranian society. Therefore, the main question of the present research is to figure out what sources of freedom and social opportunities and unfreedom entrepreneurs in Iran's society benefit from the process of transforming their potential entrepreneurial abilities into entrepreneurial and business enterprises. In terms of methodology, the current research method will be thematic analysis in the form of semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs active in small and medium-sized enterprises in Tehran, whose process of establishing and expanding their entrepreneurial activity has been in the last two decades. By examining the possibilities and refusals of advancing these people in the three stages of 'Idea creation and desire for entrepreneurship’, ‘Starting and creating a business’, and finally, ‘Continuing and expanding the business’, the findings of the research show the impact of five main resources for people to realize their potential talents, from the stage of creating an idea to expanding their business. These sources include' family institution,’ ‘education institution,’ ‘social norms and beliefs,’ ‘government and market,’ and ‘personality components of the entrepreneur.’ Finally, the findings are reported in three levels of basic themes (fifteen items), organizing themes (five items), and comprehensive themes (one item) and in the form of a theme network.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, human development, capability, sources of freedom

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Authors: Anisa Gumel

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This study examines the present condition of solid waste management in Nigeria. The author explores the challenges and opportunities affecting municipal solid waste management in "Nigeria" and determines the most profound challenges by analysing the interdependence and interrelationship among identified variables. In this study, multiple stakeholders, including 15 waste management professionals interviewed online, were utilised to identify the difficulties and opportunities affecting municipal solid waste in Nigeria. The interviews were transcribed and coded using NVivo to produce pertinent variables. An online survey of Nigerian internet and social media users was done to validate statements made by experts on the identified variable. In addition, a panel of five experts participated in a focus group discussion to discover the most influential factors that influence municipal solid waste management in Nigeria by analysing the interrelationships as well as the driving and reliant power of variables. The results show significant factors affecting municipal solid waste in Nigeria, including inadequate funding, lack of knowledge, and absence of legislation, as well as behavioural, financial, technological, and legal concerns grouped into five categories. Some claims stated by experts in the interview are supported by the survey data, while others are not. In addition, the focus group reveals patterns, correlations, and driving forces between variables that have been analysed. This study will provide decision-makers with a roadmap for resolving important waste management concerns in Nigeria and managing scarce resources effectively. It will also help non-governmental organisations combat malaria in Nigeria and other underdeveloped nations. In addition, the work contributes to the literature for future scholars to consult.

Keywords: municipal solid waste, stakeholders, public, experts

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Authors: Damayanti Sen

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The Fair and Equitable Treatment standard has emerged as a core tenet of a formulated legal structure aimed at encouraging investment through the granting of a secure and stable environment for the investor in the Host State. As an absolute, non-contingent standard, it constitutes an independent and reliable system for the protection of the investor and is frequently invoked and applied in investor-state dispute settlement under bilateral and multilateral investment treaties. Thus far, the standard has been examined principally as a measure for determining the responsibility of host countries towards investors and investments. The conduct of investor in applying the Fair and Equitable Treatment Standard is relatively unexplored. Such an assessment may be necessary in light of the development of new defenses to demands of host governments to confine the application of the standard in order to ensure a proper balance between the protection of investors and the inherent right of a State to regulate economic conduct within its borders. This paper explores the implications of including considerations of investor conduct in the determination of whether an act of the host country’s administrative and/or judicial authorities has breached the fair and equitable treatment principle. The need for such defenses are of special concern for governments of developing countries, whose limited resources can affect their ability to provide an effective evaluation of the nature of the proposed investment, and, subsequently, to ensure that the expected benefits are realized. On the basis of conceptual analysis, and emerging international judicial and arbitral case law, this paper suggests that investor duties such as, the avoidance of unconscionable conduct, the reasonable assessment of investment risk in the host country, and a duty to operate an investment reasonably are leading to a new limit upon the fair and equitable treatment standard- one that can be succinctly captured in the phrase “Caveat Investor”.

Keywords: BITs, FET Standard, investor behavior, arbitral case law

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Authors: Juvanie C. Lapesigue

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Worldwide school closures result from a significant public health crisis that has affected the nation and the entire world. It has affected students, educators, educational organizations globally, and many other aspects of society. Academic institutions worldwide teach students using diverse approaches of various learning delivery modes. This paper investigates the competence and performance of physical education teachers using various learning delivery modes, including Distance learning, Blended Learning, and Homeschooling during online distance education. To identify the Gap between their age generation using various learning delivery that affects teachers' preparation for distance learning and evaluates how these modalities impact teachers’ competence and performance in the case of a pandemic. The respondents were the Senior High School teachers of the Department of Education who taught in Davao City before and during the pandemic. Purposive sampling was utilized on 61 Senior High School Teachers in Davao City Philippines. The result indicated that teaching performance based on pedagogy and assessment has significantly affected teaching performance in teaching physical education, particularly those Non-PE teachers teaching physical education subjects. It should be supplied with enhancement training workshops to help them be more successful in preparation in terms of teaching pedagogy and assessment in the following norm. Hence, a proposed unique training design for non-P.E. Teachers has been created to improve the teachers’ performance in terms of pedagogy and assessment in teaching P.E subjects in various learning delivery modes in the next normal.

Keywords: distance learning, learning delivery modes, P.E teachers, senior high school, teaching competence, teaching performance

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Authors: Alain Gholam

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Visual thinking routines are principles based on several theories, approaches, and strategies. Such routines promote thinking skills, call for collaboration and sharing of ideas, and above all, make thinking and learning visible. Visual thinking routines were implemented in the teaching methodology graduate course at the American University in Dubai. The study used mixed methods. It was guided by the following two research questions: 1). To what extent do visual thinking inspire learning in the classroom, and make time for students’ questions, contributions, and thinking? 2). How do visual thinking routines inspire learning in the classroom and make time for students’ questions, contributions, and thinking? Eight student teachers enrolled in the teaching methodology course at the American University in Dubai (Spring 2017) participated in the following study. First, they completed a survey that measured to what degree they believed visual thinking routines inspired learning in the classroom and made time for students’ questions, contributions, and thinking. In order to build on the results from the quantitative phase, the student teachers were next involved in a qualitative data collection phase, where they had to answer the question: How do visual thinking routines inspire learning in the classroom and make time for students’ questions, contributions, and thinking? Results revealed that the implementation of visual thinking routines in the classroom strongly inspire learning in the classroom and make time for students’ questions, contributions, and thinking. In addition, student teachers explained how visual thinking routines allow for organization, variety, thinking, and documentation. As with all original, new, and unique resources, visual thinking routines are not free of challenges. To make the most of this useful and valued resource, educators, need to comprehend, model and spread an awareness of the effective ways of using such routines in the classroom. It is crucial that such routines become part of the curriculum to allow for and document students’ questions, contributions, and thinking.

Keywords: classroom display, student engagement, thinking classroom, visual thinking routines

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Authors: Ranjeet Sable, Mahotsavi Patil, Aadesh Nimbalkar, Prajakta Palaskar, Ritu Sagar

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The exact amount of water used by various crops in different climatic conditions is necessary to step for design, planning, and management of irrigation schemes, water resources, scheduling of irrigation systems. Evaporation and transpiration are combinable called as evapotranspiration. Water loss from trees during photosynthesis is called as transpiration and when water gets converted into gaseous state is called evaporation. For calculation of correct evapotranspiration, we have to choose the method in such way that is should be suitable and require minimum climatic data also it should be applicable for wide range of climatic conditions. In hydrology, there are multiple correlations and regression is generally used to develop relationships between three or more hydrological variables by knowing the dependence between them. This research work includes the study of various methods for calculation of evapotranspiration and selects reasonable and suitable one Pune region (Maharashtra state). As field methods are very costly, time-consuming and not give appropriate results if the suitable climate is not maintained. Observation recorded at Pune metrological stations are used to calculate evapotranspiration with the help of Radiation Method (RAD), Modified Penman Method (MPM), Thornthwaite Method (THW), Blaney-Criddle (BCL), Christiansen Equation (CNM), Hargreaves Method (HGM), from which Hargreaves and Thornthwaite are temperature based methods. Performance of all these methods are compared with Modified Penman method and method which showing less variation with standard Modified Penman method (MPM) is selected as the suitable one. Evapotranspiration values are estimated on a monthly basis. Comparative analysis in this research used for selection for raw data-dependent methods in case of missing data.

Keywords: Blaney-Criddle, Christiansen equation evapotranspiration, Hargreaves method, precipitations, Penman method, water use efficiency

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Authors: J. Magerman, P. Martin

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Nursing students' clinical abilities is highly dependent on the quality of the clinical experience obtained while placed in the clinical environment. The clinical environment has amongst other, key role players which include the clinical supervisor. The primary role of the clinical supervisor is to guide nursing students to become the best practice nursing professionals. However, globally literature alludes to the failure of educating institutions to deliver competent nursing professionals to meet the needs of patients and deliver quality patient care. At the participating university, this may be due to various factors such as large student numbers and social and environmental challenges experienced by clinical supervisors. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the lived experiences of clinical supervisors who supervise nursing students at a higher education institution. The study employed a qualitative research approach utilizing a descriptive phenomenological design. Purposive sampling was used to select participants, who supervised first and second year nursing studnets at the higher education institution under study. TH esample comprised of eight clinical supervisors who supervise first and secon year nursing studnets at teh institution under study. Data was collected by means of in-depht interviews. Data was analysed using Collaizzi's seven steps method of qualitative analysis. Five major themes identified , focussed on the experiences regarding time a sa constraint to job productivity, the impact of teh organisational culture on the fluidity of support, interpersonal relationships a sa dynamic communication process, impact on the self, and limited resources. Trustworthiness of the data was ensured by means of applying Guba's model of truth value, applicability, consistency and neutrality. Reflexivity was also used by the researcher to further enhance trustworthiness.

Keywords: clinical supervision, clinical supervisors, nursing students, clinical placements

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Authors: Cathal Merz, Gareth O’Donnell

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Coil reinforced thin-walled (CRTW) tubes are used in medicine to treat problems affecting blood vessels within the body through minimally invasive procedures. The CRTW tube considered in this research makes up part of such a device and is inserted into the patient via their femoral or brachial arteries and manually navigated to the site in need of treatment. This procedure replaces the requirement to perform open surgery but is limited by reduction of blood vessel lumen diameter and increase in tortuosity of blood vessels deep in the brain. In order to maximize the capability of these procedures, CRTW tube devices are being manufactured with decreasing wall thicknesses in order to deliver treatment deeper into the body and to allow passage of other devices through its inner diameter. This introduces significant stresses to the device materials which have resulted in an observed increase in the breaking of the proximal segment of the device into two separate pieces after it has failed by buckling. As there is currently no international standard for measuring the mechanical properties of these CRTW tube devices, it is difficult to accurately analyze this problem. The aim of the current work is to address this discrepancy in the biomedical device industry by developing a measurement system that can be used to quantify the effect of process and design changes on CRTW tube performance, aiding in the development of better performing, next generation devices. Using materials testing frames, micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) imaging, experiment planning, analysis of variance (ANOVA), T-tests and regression analysis, test methods have been developed for assessing the impact of process and design changes on the device. The major findings of this study have been an insight into the suitability of buckle and three-point bend tests for the measurement of the effect of varying processing factors on the device’s performance, and guidelines for interpreting the output data from the test methods. The findings of this study are of significant interest with respect to verifying and validating key process and design changes associated with the device structure and material condition. Test method integrity evaluation is explored throughout.

Keywords: neurovascular catheter, coil reinforced tube, buckling, three-point bend, tensile

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Authors: Rit M., Girard R., Villot J., Thorel M.

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In a scenario of extensive residential housing renovation, stakeholders need models that support decision-making through a deep understanding of the existing building stock and accurate energy demand simulations. To address this need, we have modified an optimization model using open data that enables the study of renovation strategies at both territorial and national scales. This approach provides (1) a definition of a strategy to simplify decision trees from theoretical combinations, (2) input to decision makers on real-world renovation constraints, (3) more reliable identification of energy-saving measures (changes in technology or behaviour), and (4) discrepancies between currently planned and actually achieved strategies. The main contribution of the studies described in this document is the geographic scale: all residential buildings in the areas of interest were modeled and simulated using national data (geometries and attributes). These buildings were then renovated, when necessary, in accordance with the environmental objectives, taking into account the constraints applicable to each territory (number of renovations per year) or at the national level (renovation of thermal deficiencies (Energy Performance Certificates F&G)). This differs from traditional approaches that focus only on a few buildings or archetypes. This model can also be used to analyze the evolution of a building stock as a whole, as it can take into account both the construction of new buildings and their demolition or sale. Using specific case studies of French territories, this paper highlights a significant discrepancy between the strategies currently advocated by decision-makers and those proposed by our optimization model. This discrepancy is particularly evident in critical metrics such as the relationship between the number of renovations per year and achievable climate targets or the financial support currently available to households and the remaining costs. In addition, users are free to seek optimizations for their building stock across a range of different metrics (e.g., financial, energy, environmental, or life cycle analysis). These results are a clear call to re-evaluate existing renovation strategies and take a more nuanced and customized approach. As the climate crisis moves inexorably forward, harnessing the potential of advanced technologies and data-driven methodologies is imperative.

Keywords: residential housing renovation, MILP, energy demand simulations, data-driven methodology

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Authors: Hany Elsaid Fawaz Abdallah

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This study presents a new artificial neural network(ANN) model to predict the Nusselt Number and pressure drop for the turbulent flow in a triangular corrugated plate heat exchanger for forced air and turbulent water flow. An experimental investigation was performed to create a new dataset for the Nusselt Number and pressure drop values in the following range of dimensionless parameters: The plate corrugation angles (from 0° to 60°), the Reynolds number (from 10000 to 40000), pitch to height ratio (from 1 to 4), and Prandtl number (from 0.7 to 200). Based on the ANN performance graph, the three-layer structure with {12-8-6} hidden neurons has been chosen. The training procedure includes back-propagation with the biases and weight adjustment, the evaluation of the loss function for the training and validation dataset and feed-forward propagation of the input parameters. The linear function was used at the output layer as the activation function, while for the hidden layers, the rectified linear unit activation function was utilized. In order to accelerate the ANN training, the loss function minimization may be achieved by the adaptive moment estimation algorithm (ADAM). The ‘‘MinMax’’ normalization approach was utilized to avoid the increase in the training time due to drastic differences in the loss function gradients with respect to the values of weights. Since the test dataset is not being used for the ANN training, a cross-validation technique is applied to the ANN network using the new data. Such procedure was repeated until loss function convergence was achieved or for 4000 epochs with a batch size of 200 points. The program code was written in Python 3.0 using open-source ANN libraries such as Scikit learn, TensorFlow and Keras libraries. The mean average percent error values of 9.4% for the Nusselt number and 8.2% for pressure drop for the ANN model have been achieved. Therefore, higher accuracy compared to the generalized correlations was achieved. The performance validation of the obtained model was based on a comparison of predicted data with the experimental results yielding excellent accuracy.

Keywords: artificial neural networks, corrugated channel, heat transfer enhancement, Nusselt number, pressure drop, generalized correlations

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Authors: Marcus Maia

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The present study reports and discusses the use of eye tracking qualitative data in reading workshops in Brazilian middle and high schools and in Generative Syntax and Sentence Processing courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, respectively. Both endeavors take the sentential level as the proper object to be metacognitively explored in language education (cf. Chomsky, Gallego & Ott, 2019) to develop innate science forming capacity and knowledge of language. In both projects, non-discrepant qualitative eye tracking data collected and quantitatively analyzed in experimental syntax and psycholinguistic studies carried out in Lapex (Experimental Psycholinguistics Laboratory of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) were displayed to students as a point of departure, triggering discussions. Classes would generally start with the display of videos showing eye tracking data, such as gaze plots and heatmaps from several studies in Psycholinguistics and Experimental Syntax that we had already developed in our laboratory. The videos usually triggered discussions with students about linguistic and psycholinguistic issues, such as the reading of sentences for gist, garden-path sentences, syntactic and semantic anomalies, the filled-gap effect, island effects, direct and indirect cause, and recursive constructions, among other topics. Active, problem-solving based methodologies were employed with the objective of stimulating student participation. The communication also discusses the importance of developing full literacy, epistemic vigilance and intellectual self-defense in an infodemic world in the lines of Maia (2022).

Keywords: reading, educational psycholinguistics, eye-tracking, active methodology

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Authors: Jutta Ransmayr

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The German language is known to be one of the most varied and diverse languages in Europe. This variance in the standard language can be conceptualized using the pluricentric concept, which has been useful for describing the German language for more than three decades. Up to now, there have hardly been any well-founded studies of how Austrian teachers and pupils conceptualize the German language and how they view the varieties of German and especially Austrian German. The language attitudes and norms of German teachers are of particular interest in the normative, educational language-oriented school context. The teachers’ attitudes are, in turn, formative for the attitudes of the students, especially since Austrian German is an important element in the construction of Austrian national identity. The project 'Austrian German as a Language of Instruction and Education' dealt, among other things, with the attitude of language laypeople (pupils, n = 1253) and language experts (teachers, n = 164) towards the Austrian standard variety. It also aimed to find out to what extent external factors such as regional origin, age, education, or media use to influence these attitudes. It was examined whether language change phenomena can be determined and to what extent language change is in conflict with loyalty to variants. The study also focused on what norms prevail among German teachers, how they deal with standard language variation from a normative point of view, and to what extent they correct exonorm-oriented, as claimed in the literature. Methodologically, both quantitative (questionnaire survey) and qualitative methods were used (interviews with 21 teachers, 2 group discussions, and participatory observation of lessons in 7 school classes). The data were evaluated in terms of inference statistics and discourse analysis. This paper reports on the results of this project.

Keywords: Austrian German, language attitudes and linguistic identity, linguistic loyalty, teachers and students

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Authors: Marco Sewald

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WWSE School Development (Wahrnehmungs- und wertorientierte Schulentwicklung) contains surveys on pupils, teachers and parents and enables schools to align the development to the requirements mentioned by these three stakeholders. WWSE includes a derivative set of questions for Christian schools, meeting their specific needs. The conducted research on WWSE is reflecting contemporary questions on school development, questioning the quality of the implementation of the results of past surveys, delivered by WWSE School Development in Christian schools in Germany. The research focused on questions connected to organizational development, including leadership and change management. This is done contoured to the two other areas of WWSE: human resources development and development of school teaching methods. The chosen research methods are: (1) A quantitative triangulation on three sets of data. Data from a past evaluation taken in 2011, data from a second evaluation covering the same school conducted in 2014 and a structured survey among the teachers, headmasters and members of the school board taken within the research. (2) Interviews with teachers and headmasters have been conducted during the research as a second stage to fortify the result of the quantitative first stage. Results: WWSE is supporting modern school development. While organizational development, leadership, and change management are proofed to be important for modern school development, these areas are widespread underestimated by teachers and headmasters. Especially in comparison to the field of human resource development and to an even bigger extent in comparison to the area of development of school teaching methods. The research concluded, that additional efforts in the area of organizational development are necessary to meet modern demands and the research also shows which areas are the most important ones.

Keywords: school as a social organization, school development, school leadership, WWSE, Wahrnehmungs- und wertorientierte Schulentwicklung

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Authors: Leah Gwatimba, Nanga Raymond Raselekoane

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The incidences of youth who engage in unlawful or criminal activities are of great concern for the criminal justice system and government in South Africa. In terms of the juvenile justice system in South Africa, under-age youth who have been found guilty and sentenced to serve a jail term cannot be sent to the same detention facility as adults. The juvenile justice system is meant to protect young offenders from physical, emotional and mental exploitation by adult prisoners. Under-age young offenders should be assisted and exposed to educational, entrepreneurial and behavioral programmes that can equip them with the much needed skills that will turn them into law-abiding and economically productive citizens. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the justice system in South Africa in the rehabilitation young offenders. A qualitative method was used. The study used the non-probability purposive sampling to select the respondents. In-depth interviews, focus groups, observation and thematic coding were used to collect and analyse the data respectively. The study population consisted of social workers and offending youth. The sample comprised of 16 respondents (i.e. 4 social workers and twelve offending youth (6 males and 6 females). The study indicated that there is worrying recurrence of the anti-social behavior by some of the young offenders. According to this study, the effectiveness of the juvenile justice system in the rehabilitation of the offending youth can be achieved by paying serious attention to follow-up services, participation of families of the offending youth in the diversion programmes and by improving the socio-economic conditions in the homes and communities of the offending youth.

Keywords: juvenile delinquent, juvenile justice system, diversion programmes, rehabilitation, restorative justice

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Authors: Benoît Leclercq, Ilse Depraetere

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The goal of this presentation is to shed new light on the semantics and pragmatics of be able to. It presents the results of a corpus analysis based on data from the BNC (British National Corpus), and discusses these results in light of a specific stance on the semantics-pragmatics interface taking into account recent developments. Be able to is often discussed in relation to can and could, all of which can be used to express ability. Such an onomasiological approach often results in the identification of usage constraints for each expression. In the case of be able to, it is the formal properties of the modal expression (unlike can and could, be able to has non-finite forms) that are in the foreground, and the modal expression is described as the verb that conveys future ability. Be able to is also argued to expressed actualised ability in the past (I was able/could to open the door). This presentation aims to provide a more accurate pragmatic-semantic profile of be able to, based on extensive data analysis and one that is embedded in a very explicit view on the semantics-pragmatics interface. A random sample of 3000 examples (1000 for each modal verb) extracted from the BNC was analysed to account for the following issues. First, the challenge is to identify the exact semantic range of be able to. The results show that, contrary to general assumption, be able to does not only express ability but it shares most of the root meanings usually associated with the possibility modals can and could. The data reveal that what is called opportunity is, in fact, the most frequent meaning of be able to. Second, attention will be given to the notion of actualisation. It is commonly argued that be able to is the preferred form when the residue actualises: (1) The only reason he was able to do that was because of the restriction (BNC, spoken) (2) It is only through my imaginative shuffling of the aces that we are able to stay ahead of the pack. (BNC, written) Although this notion has been studied in detail within formal semantic approaches, empirical data is crucially lacking and it is unclear whether actualisation constitutes a conventional (and distinguishing) property of be able to. The empirical analysis provides solid evidence that actualisation is indeed a conventional feature of the modal. Furthermore, the dataset reveals that be able to expresses actualised 'opportunities' and not actualised 'abilities'. In the final part of this paper, attention will be given to the theoretical implications of the empirical findings, and in particular to the following paradox: how can the same expression encode both modal meaning (non-factual) and actualisation (factual)? It will be argued that this largely depends on one's conception of the semantics-pragmatics interface, and that this need not be an issue when actualisation (unlike modality) is analysed as a generalised conversational implicature and thus is considered part of the conventional pragmatic layer of be able to.

Keywords: Actualisation, Modality, Pragmatics, Semantics

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Authors: Boris Ershov

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Depression is the most common mood disorder experienced by patients who have sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and is associated with poorer cognitive functional outcomes. However, in some cases, similar cognitive impairments can also be observed in depression. There is not enough information about the features of the cognitive deficit in patients with TBI in relation to patients with depression. TBI patients without depressive symptoms (TBInD, n25), TBI patients with depressive symptoms (TBID, n31), and 28 patients with bipolar II disorder (BP) were included in the study. There were no significant differences in participants in respect to age, handedness and educational level. The patients clinical status was determined by using Montgomery–Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). All participants completed a cognitive battery (The Brief Assessment of Cognition in Affective Disorders (BAC-A)). Additionally, the Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) was used to assess visuospatial construction abilities and visual memory, as well as planning and organizational skills. Compared to BP, TBInD and TBID showed a significant impairments in visuomotor abilities, verbal and visual memory. There were no significant differences between BP and TBID groups in working memory, speed of information processing, problem solving. Interference effect (cognitive inhibition) was significantly greater in TBInD and TBID compared to BP. Memory bias towards mood-related information in BP and TBID was greater in comparison with TBInD. These results suggest that depressive symptoms are associated with impairments some executive functions in combination at decrease of speed of information processing.

Keywords: bipolar II disorder, depression, neurocognitive deficits, traumatic brain injury

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Authors: Alfiah Hasanah, Silvia Mendolia, Oleg Yerokhin

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This paper explores the impacts of adult child migration on the health of elderly parents left behind. The maternal and children health are a priority of health-related policy in most low and middle-income country, and so there is lack of evidence on the health of older population particularly in Indonesia. With increasing life expectancy and limited access to social security and social services for the elderly in this country, the consequences of increasing number of out-migration of adult children to parent health are important to investigate. This study use Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS), the only large-scale continuing longitudinal socioeconomic and health survey that based on a sample of households representing about 83 percent of the Indonesian population in its first wave. Using four waves of IFLS including the recent wave of 2014, several indicators of the self-rated health status, interviewer-rated health status and days of illness are used to estimate the impact of labour out-migration of adult children on parent health status. Incorporate both individual fixed effects to control for unobservable factors in migrant and non-migrant households and the ordered response of self-rated health, this study apply the ordered logit of “Blow-up and Cluster” (BUC ) estimator. The result shows that labour out-migration of adult children significantly improves the self-rated health status of the elderly parent left behind. Findings of this study are consistent with the view that migration increases family resources and contribute to better health care and nutrition of the family left behind.

Keywords: aging, migration, panel data, self-rated health

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Authors: Anne Marie Morrin

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This paper will focus on the design, delivery and assessment of a transdisciplinary STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education initiative in a college of education in Ireland. The project explores a transdisciplinary approach to supporting STEAM education where the concepts, methodologies and assessments employed derive from visual art sessions within initial teacher education. The research will demonstrate that the STEAM Education approach is effective when visual art concepts and methods are placed at the core of the teaching and learning experience. Within this study, emphasis is placed on authentic collaboration and transdisciplinary pedagogical approaches with the STEAM subjects. The partners included a combination of teaching expertise in STEM and Visual Arts education, artists, in-service and pre-service teachers and children. The inclusion of all stakeholders mentioned moves towards a more authentic approach where transdisciplinary practice is at the core of the teaching and learning. Qualitative data was collected using a combination of questionnaires (focused and open-ended questions) and focus groups. In addition, the data was collected through video diaries where students reflected on their visual journals and transdisciplinary practice, which gave rich insight into participants' experiences and opinions on their learning. It was found that an effective program of STEAM education integration was informed by co-teaching (continuous professional development), which involved a commitment to adaptable and flexible approaches to teaching, learning, and assessment, as well as the importance of continuous reflection-in-action by all participants. The delivery of a transdisciplinary model of STEAM education was devised to reconceptualizatise how individual subject areas can develop essential skills and tackle critical issues (such as self-care and climate change) through data visualisation and technology. The success of the project can be attributed to the collaboration, which was inclusive, flexible and a willingness between various stakeholders to be involved in the design and implementation of the project from conception to completion. The case study approach taken is particularistic (focusing on the STEAM-ED project), descriptive (providing in-depth descriptions from varied and multiple perspectives), and heuristic (interpreting the participants’ experiences and what meaning they attributed to their experiences).

Keywords: collaboration, transdisciplinary, STEAM, visual arts education

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Authors: Januar Parlaungan Siregar, Davindra Brabu Mathivanan, Dandi Bachtiar, Mohd Ruzaimi Mat Rejab, Tezara Cionita

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Natural fibres play a significant role in mass industries such as automotive, construction and sports. Many researchers have found that the natural fibres are the best replacement for the synthetic fibres in terms of cost, safety, and degradability due to the shortage of landfill and ingestion of non biodegradable plastic by animals. This study mainly revolved around pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) which is available abundantly in tropical countries and with excellent mechanical properties. The composite formed in this study is highly biodegradable as both fibre and matrix are both derived from natural based products. The matrix which is polylactic acid (PLA) is made from corn starch which gives the upper hand as both material are renewable resources are easier to degrade by bacteria or enzyme. The PALF is treated with different alkaline solution to remove excessive moisture in the fibre to provide better interfacial bonding with PLA. Thereafter the PALF is washed with distilled water several times before placing in vacuum oven at 80°C for 48 hours. The dried PALF later were mixed with PLA using extrusion method using fibre in percentage of 30 by weight. The temperature for all zone were maintained at 160°C with the screw speed of 50 rpm for better bonding and afterwards the products of the mixture were pelletized using pelletizer. The pellets were placed in the specimen-sized mould for hot compression under the temperature of 170°C at 5 MPa for 5 min and subsequently were cold pressed under room temperature at 5 MPa for 5 min. The specimen were tested for tensile and flexure strength according to American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D638 and D790 respectively. The effect of surface modification on PALF with different alkali solution will be investigated and compared.

Keywords: natural fibre, PALF, PLA, composite

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Authors: Fairuz A. Ulinnuha, Bimo K. Fuadi

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The world’s population continues to grow resulting in steady migration from rural to urban areas. Increased numbers of people and cities hand in hand with greater exploitation of world’s resource. Every year, more cities are feeling the devastating of this impact of this situation. During the 1970’s, some of eco-concept were applied to urban settings, one of them is Ecological Cities. A non-profit organization, Urban Ecology, was founded in California in 1975 to 'rebuild cities in balance with nature'. Efforts to synthesize ecological and urban planning approaches were slowed somewhat in the 1980s, but useful refinements were made. Consideration of social impact acknowledges that the ecological design is not just about ecology itself. It is also about questioning and redefining our understanding of the ecology. When ecologist did recognize the existence of cities, they were usually concerned with resource flows. One popular approach was to study the flow and transformation of energy through urban ecosystem. This research method is descriptive method, following LEED Certification which is the international standard of the sustainable building, is more widely applied. But there remains problem that the moral imperative of sustainability and by implication of sustainable design, tends to supplant the disciplinary contribution. Sustainable design is not always seen as design excellence or design innovation. This can provoke the skepticism and cause the tension those who promote disciplinary knowledge and those who push for sustainability. The challenges of rapid urbanization and limited of global resources has become more pressing. So, there is a need to find an alternative design approaches. The urban, as the site of complex relation (economy, political, social, cultural), need a complex problem solving that can solve current and future condition. The aim of this study is to discussed about conjoining of ecology such as public park and sustainable design.

Keywords: ecology, cities, urban, sustainability

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Authors: Prima Fithri, Lusi Susanti, Karin Bestarina

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Indonesia's electrification ratio is still around 80.1%, which means that approximately 19.9% of households in Indonesia have not been getting the flow of electrical energy. Household electricity consumptions in Indonesia are generally still dominated by the public urban. In the city of Padang, West Sumatera, Indonesia, about 94.10% are power users of government services (PLN). The most important thing of the issue is human resources efficient energy. Consumer behavior in utilizing electricity becomes significant. Intensive questioner survey, in-depth interview and statistical analysis are carried out to collect scientific evidences of the behavioral based changes instruments to reduce electricity consumption in household sector. The questioner was developed to include five factors assuming affect the electricity consumption pattern in household sector. They are: attitude, energy price, household income, knowledge and other determinants. The survey was carried out in Padang, West Sumatra Province Indonesia. About 210 questioner papers were proportionally distributed to households in 11 districts in Padang. Stratified sampling was used as a method to select respondents. The results show that the household size, income, payment methods and size of house are factors affecting electricity saving behavior in residential sector. Household expenses on electricity are strongly influenced by gender, type of job, level of education, size of house, income, payment method and level of installed power. These results provide a scientific evidence for stakeholders on the potential of controlling electricity consumption and designing energy policy by government in residential sector.

Keywords: electricity, energy saving, household, behavior, policy

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Authors: Samira Eskandari

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The image of Tehran has been impacted in recent years due to poor urban management and fragmented governance. There is no cohesive urban beautification framework in Tehran to enforce builders take aesthetic factors seriously when design and construct new buildings. The existing guidelines merely provide people with recommendations, not regulations. Obviously, Tehran needs a more comprehensive and strict urban beautification framework to restore its image. The damaged image has impacted the city’s social, economic and environmental growth. This research aims to find and examine a solution by which the employment of urban beautification regulation would be guaranteed, and city image would be organized. The methodology is based on a qualitative approach associated with analytical methods, in-depth surveys and interviews with Tehran citizens, authorities and experts, and use of academic resources as well as simulation. As a result, one practical solution is to incorporate aesthetic guidelines into a survival-related framework like a seismic guideline. Tehran is a seismic site, and all the buildings in Tehran have to be retrofitted against earthquake during construction. Hence, by integrating seismic regulations and aesthetic disciplines, urban beautification will be somehow guaranteed. Besides, the seismic image can turn into Tehran’s brand and enhances city identity. This research is trying to increase the social, environmental, and economic interconnectedness between urban planning and seismic planning by the usage of landscape architecture methods. As a case study, the potential outcomes are simulated in Tajrish, a suburb located in the north of Tehran. The result is that, by the redefinition of the morphology of seismic retrofitting systems, used in the significant city image elements, and re-function them in accordance with the Iranian culture and traditions, the city image would become more harmonized and legible.

Keywords: earthquake, retrofitting systems, Tehran image, urban beautification

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Authors: Yakubu Abdulai, Kenichi Matsui

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The agricultural industry has faced a variety of challenges in meeting the expanding income demand of the rural population. As a result, rural households must diversify their income sources to meet their income demand. Although income diversification strategies help rural households, it contributes to total household income, and the socio-demographic determinants are not known in the Upper East Region of Ghana. For these reasons, the purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of income diversification strategies to household income and the socio-demographic factors influencing it. We conducted a questionnaire survey among 360 rural households in the Upper East Region of Ghana. We asked about their socio-demographic information, their choice of income diversification strategies, and their remittances through rural-city migration. The questionnaire survey findings demonstrate that the main livelihood income source contributes 22%, and on-farm income diversification contributes the most to household total income (47%), followed by non-farm diversification income (16%) and off-farm diversification income (15%). Calculations from the income diversity index showed that the average income diversification strategy was 0.5 out of 1. The calculation of the income dependence index also showed that the average dependent on a particular source of income was 0.2 out of 1. All the respondents said household members temporarily migrate to contribute to household income through remittances. The results further reveal that their choice of income diversification is influenced by their age, educational background, experience, and farm size. The paper recommends the promotion of rural development policies that increase income-generating activities and educate rural households on how to increase returns from their investment.

Keywords: income diversification, poverty alleviation, rural households, upper east region

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Authors: Sharon Diaz Ruiz

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This qualitative study addresses college English instructors’ perceptions of classroom diversity and culturally diverse teaching strategies within the adult English language learning classroom environment. Every year, English college instructors face numerous challenges as the adult Latinx population keeps rising. To better understand the Latinx adult learners and the language classroom dynamics, research should focus on the experiences, pedagogical methods, and teaching insights of full-time and adjunct minority professors at degree-granting postsecondary institutions. Culturally responsive teaching is used as the framework to understand and explore the perceptions of English instructors on the realities and needs of Latinx adult emergent bilinguals enrolled in developmental English courses. Snowball sampling allows the researcher to locate members who meet these specific criteria: adjunct and part-time English instructors of adult Latinx language learners. Participants answered a demographic questionnaire and then contributed to 45-minute in-depth interviews to explore their perceptions of culturally responsive practices in the Latinx adult emergent bilinguals’ basic and intermediate developmental English courses. The interviews shed light on topics such as teaching biases, educators’ cultural experiences, and resources and strategies faculty recommend for effective culturally responsive teaching strategies. The result of this investigation will shed light on the gap in the literature documenting the application of culturally responsive pedagogy to Latino adult language learners.

Keywords: Latinx, English language learners, English faculty, adult learners, critical theory, culturally responsive theory

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Authors: Jui-Chen Huang

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The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of telecare on preventing and delaying the quality of disability care in elderly people with portable comfort Bluetooth brainwave devices with remote healthcare functions. Through the teaching videos and remotely teaching the elderly, which had ever learned the care courses of the prevent and delay disability, these elderly did muscle strength training. Then this paper explores the effect of training with the data by SPSS 18.0 statistical software. The data is collected with pre-test, post-test and analyze data from the measure of the Bluetooth brain wave equipment including the pressure index, relaxation index, attention and fatigue index of the elderly. In this study, 30 elderly people who had taken preventive and delayed disability care courses were studied to explore the effect of their care quality improvement. The results showed that the pressure index, relaxation index, attention, and fatigue index of the elderly had statistically significant differences in two months. It can be seen that elderly people who have been treated to prevent and delay disability care courses can significantly improve their care quality if they continue to receive intensive training to prevent and delay disability through remote mode. This telecare is applied to the elderly program that has been used to prevent and delay disability care courses. It is worth continuing to promote, and it is recommended that follow-up studies be conducted in a longer-term manner to explore long-term benefits. It can solve the current insufficiency of long-term care resources, but the demand is urgent.

Keywords: telecare, bluetooth brainwave equipment, prevention and delay of disability, the elderly, care quality

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Authors: Soha A. Bahanshal, Vaibhav Verdhan, Bayong Kim

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Graduation rates at six-year colleges are becoming a more essential indicator for incoming fresh students and for university rankings. Predicting student graduation is extremely beneficial to schools and has a huge potential for targeted intervention. It is important for educational institutions since it enables the development of strategic plans that will assist or improve students' performance in achieving their degrees on time (GOT). A first step and a helping hand in extracting useful information from these data and gaining insights into the prediction of students' progress and performance is offered by machine learning techniques. Data analysis and visualization techniques are applied to understand and interpret the data. The data used for the analysis contains students who have graduated in 6 years in the academic year 2017-2018 for science majors. This analysis can be used to predict the graduation of students in the next academic year. Different Predictive modelings such as logistic regression, decision trees, support vector machines, Random Forest, Naïve Bayes, and KNeighborsClassifier are applied to predict whether a student will graduate. These classifiers were evaluated with k folds of 5. The performance of these classifiers was compared based on accuracy measurement. The results indicated that Ensemble Classifier achieves better accuracy, about 91.12%. This GOT prediction model would hopefully be useful to university administration and academics in developing measures for assisting and boosting students' academic performance and ensuring they graduate on time.

Keywords: prediction, decision trees, machine learning, support vector machine, ensemble model, student graduation, GOT graduate on time

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