Search results for: special school students

Authors: G. H. B. Dilhari, A. A. D. T. Saparamadu

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The coir is one of the by-products of the coconut and the coir industry can be identified as one of the traditional industries in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is one of the prominent countries for the coir production. Due to the labour insensitiveness, the labourers are the significant factor in the coir production process. The study has analyzed the determinants and its impact on income of the household level coir yarn labourers. The study was conducted in the Kumarakanda Grama Niladhari division, Galle, Sri Lanka. Simple random sampling was used to generate the sample of 100 household level coir yarn labourers and structured questionnaire, personal interviews and discussion were performed to gather the required data. The obtained data were statistically analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis test were carried out. The findings revealed that the household level coir yarn industry is dominated by the female workers and fewer amounts of workers have engaged this industry as the main occupation. In addition to that, elderly participation of the industry is greater than younger participation and most of them engaged as an extra income source. Level of education, the methods of engagement, satisfaction, labour’s children employment in the coir industry, support from the government, method of government support, working hours per day, employed as a main job, no of completed units per day, suffering any job related diseases and type of the diseases were related with income level of household level coir yarn labourers. The recommendations were formulated in respect to these problems including technological transformation for coir yarn production, strengthening of the raw material base and regulating the raw material supply, introduction of new technologies, markets and training programs, the establishment of the labourers association, the initiation of micro credit schemes, better consideration about the job oriented diseases.

Keywords: coir, coir yarn labourers, income, Galle

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Authors: Nasser Hosseini

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Energy cycle is one of the essential points in agricultural ecosystems all over the world. Corn is one of the important products in Khoy city. Knowing input energy level and evaluating output energy from farms to reduce energy and increase efficiency in farms is very important if one can reduce input energy level into farms through the indices like poisons, fertilization, tractor energy and labour force. In addition to the net income of the farmers, this issue would play a significant role in preserving farm ecosystem from pollution and wrecker factors. For this reason, energy balance sheet in corn farms as well as input and output energy in 2012-2013 were researched by distributing a questionnaire among farmers in various villages in Khoy city. Then, the input energy amount into farms via energy-consuming factors, mentioned above, with regard to special coefficients was computed. Energy was computed on the basis of seed corn function, chemical compound and its content as well. In this investigation, we evaluated the level of stored energy 10792831 kcal per hectare. We found out that the greatest part of energy depended on irrigation which has 5136141.8 kcal and nitrate fertilizer energy with 2509760 kcal and the lowest part of energy depended on phosphor fertilizer, the rate of posited energy equaled 36362500 kcal and energy efficiency on the basis of seed corn function were estimated as 3.36. We found some ways to reduce consumptive energy in farm and nitrate fertilizer and, on the other hand, to increase balance sheet. They are, to name a few, using alternative farming and potherbs for biological stabilizing of nitrogen and changing kind of fertilizers such as urea fertilizer with sulphur cover, and using new generation of irrigation, the compound of water super absorbent like colored hydrogels and using natural fertilizer to preserve.

Keywords: corn (KSC704), output and input, energy efficiency, Khoy city

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Authors: Shahla Bukhtair

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A paradigm presents a consensus view of a particular or collective community, accepted into by the members of that community, either consciously pronounced or, more likely, simply assumed and not intentionally acknowledged but is articulated. Paradigm shift is based on the behavioral attitude of the community. Change is inexorable. The world is suffering with the innovative creation of globalization. Media boosted this paradigm shift all over the world. Globalization is a vigorous process which impacts differentially on various cultures around the world. The outcome of the globalization is permeates cultural boundaries and in the process results in the spread of Western ideologies and values across the world. The term flourished in 20th century. Globalization is regarded as having substantial impact on such crises through its encouragement of conflicts rather than conciliation; through opportunities of expression, various groups get benefit with it. Identity crisis refers to inflexible mechanism i.e. cultural and political conflicts among polarized groups, which struggle with each other over the definition of a national identity. Violence is not only a kind of physical but it also psychological as well. Due to identity crisis, a person is having an issue of fear, anxiety, and lack of security. Everything has negative and positive aspects. Newspaper columns, magazine articles, films, made-for-TV movies, television special reports, and talk shows are all public arenas where images of political agenda of their own interest are constructed, debated, and reproduced. From these resources, individuals construct their own conceptions of what is normal and acceptable. This bias affects images in the media, and in turn has a negative effect on public development in a society. This paper investigates the relationship between globalization and cultural war, identity crisis and the role of violence. Objectives: - To determine which type of media plays an important role in shaping perceptions and attitudes of public negatively; - To analyze the impact of globalization on identity crisis, violence and global culture (positive and negative).

Keywords: paradigm shift, globalization, identity crisis, cultural war

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Authors: Dorna Kargar, Mehrasa Masih

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Due to its special geological and geographical conditions, Iran has always been exposed to various natural hazards. Earthquake is one of the natural hazards with random nature that can cause significant financial damages and casualties. This is a serious threat, especially in areas with active faults. Therefore, considering the population density in some parts of the country, locating and zoning high-risk areas are necessary and significant. In the present study, seismic hazard assessment via probabilistic and deterministic method for Tehran, the capital of Iran, which is located in Alborz-Azerbaijan province, has been done. The seismicity study covers a range of 200 km from the north of Tehran (X=35.74° and Y= 51.37° in LAT-LONG coordinate system) to identify the seismic sources and seismicity parameters of the study region. In order to identify the seismic sources, geological maps at the scale of 1: 250,000 are used. In this study, we used Kijko-Sellevoll's method (1992) to estimate seismicity parameters. The maximum likelihood estimation of earthquake hazard parameters (maximum regional magnitude Mmax, activity rate λ, and the Gutenberg-Richter parameter b) from incomplete data files is extended to the case of uncertain magnitude values. By the combination of seismicity and seismotectonic studies of the site, the acceleration with antiseptic probability may happen during the useful life of the structure is calculated with probabilistic and deterministic methods. Applying the results of performed seismicity and seismotectonic studies in the project and applying proper weights in used attenuation relationship, maximum horizontal and vertical acceleration for return periods of 50, 475, 950 and 2475 years are calculated. Horizontal peak ground acceleration on the seismic bedrock for 50, 475, 950 and 2475 return periods are 0.12g, 0.30g, 0.37g and 0.50, and Vertical peak ground acceleration on the seismic bedrock for 50, 475, 950 and 2475 return periods are 0.08g, 0.21g, 0.27g and 0.36g.

Keywords: peak ground acceleration, probabilistic and deterministic, seismic hazard assessment, seismicity parameters

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Authors: Firas A. Al Laban, Mohamed Chabi, Sammani Danwawu Abdullahi

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There are a real needs to integrate types of Open Educational Resources (OER) with an intelligent system to extract information and knowledge in the semantic searching level. Those needs raised because most of current learning standard adopted web based learning and the e-learning systems does not always serve all educational goals. Semantic Web systems provide educators, students, and researchers with intelligent queries based on a semantic knowledge management learning system. An ontology-based learning system is an advanced system, where ontology plays the core of the semantic web in a smart learning environment. The objective of this paper is to discuss the potentials of ontologies and mapping different kinds of ontologies; heterogeneous or homogenous to manage and control different types of Open Educational Resources. The important contribution of this research is to approach a methodology uses logical rules and conceptual relations to map between ontologies of different educational resources. We expect from this methodology to establish for an intelligent educational system supporting student tutoring, self and lifelong learning system.

Keywords: knowledge management systems, ontologies, semantic web, open educational resources

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Authors: Deepak Choudhary

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COEP-Microgrid, a project by the students of College of Engineering Pune aims at establishing a micro grid in the college campus serving as a living laboratory for research and development of novel grid technologies. Proposed micro grid has an AC-bus and DC-bus, interconnected together with a tie line DC-AC converter. In grid-connected mode AC bus of microgrid is synchronized with utility grid. Synchronization with utility grid requires grid and AC bus to have synchronism in frequency, phase sequence and voltage. Power flow requires phase difference between grid and AC bus. Control System is required to effectively regulate power flow between the grid and AC bus. The grid synchronizing control system is composed of frequency and phase control for regulated power flow and voltage control system for reduction of reactive power flow. The control system involves automatic active power flow control. It takes the feedback of DC link Capacitor and changes the power angle accordingly. Control system incorporating voltage, phase and power control was developed for grid-tie inverter. This paper discusses the design, simulation and practical implementation of control system described in various micro grid scenarios.

Keywords: microgrid, Grid-tie inverter, voltage control, automatic power control

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Authors: Ghada M. R. Koura, Ahmed M. F. El Shiwi

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Background: structural scoliosis is a twisting deformity in the curve of vertebral column to the lateral side with simultaneous rotation of the vertebrae, which occurs during the growing years from 10 years to the puberty. Purpose: Studies investigating balance problems specific to scoliotic patients showed that those patients reveal variable balance abnormalities. In this study we evaluated the difference in postural stability responses between female patients (students, office worker and shish weapon players) with structural scoliosis and normal subjects. Methods: sixty subjects participated in this study. Thirty female patients with structural scoliosis with a mean age of (19.5 ± 3.26) years, with Cobb's angle ranged from 20º to 40° in the major curves, and thirty healthy female subjects with a mean age of (19.36 ± 2.41) years. Postural stability of both groups were evaluated by the Biodex Stability System. Results: There was no significant difference between both groups in dynamic balance test. Interpretation/Conclusion: As there was no significant difference between both groups in balance response, it is not recommended to add balance training as an extra physical therapy program for AIS female patients.

Keywords: structural scoliosis, postural stability, female patients, evaluation

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Authors: Mehravar Javid, James Sexton, Farzaneh Amani, Kainaz Patravala

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Self-expansion is a procedure through which people expand the dimensions of their self-concept by incorporating novel content into their sense and experience of identity. Greater self-expansion predicts positive consequences for individuals and romantic relationships. The self-expansion questionnaire (SEQ) originally developed by Lewandowski & Aron (2002) assumes that self-expansion is constituted of key components from the self-expansion model. This study aimed to confirm the factor structure of SEQ and adapt the questions of the scale to the Iranian culture. The sample included 190 participants who responded to 14 items and were selected by simple random sampling. Using Amos-21 and SPSS-21, descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were calculated. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for total SEQ items was 0.92. Results of CFA supported the factor structure SEQ [RMSEA=0.08, GFI=0.88 and CFI=0.92] that showed the model has a good fit and also all the items of SEQ, have a high correlation and have a direct and significant relationship. So, the SEQ demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties in Tehran University students. Looking forward, it would be interesting and exciting to see the implications of the scale as applied to romantic relationships.

Keywords: validity, reliability, confirmatory factor analysis, self-expansion questionnaire

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Authors: Alexandra-Monica Toma

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Internet memes are an element of computer mediated communication and an important part of online culture that combines text and image in order to generate meaning. This term coined by Richard Dawkings refers to more than a mere way to briefly communicate ideas or emotions, thus naming a complex and an intensely perpetuated phenomenon in the virtual environment. This paper approaches memes as a cultural artefact and a virtual trope that mirrors societal concerns and issues, and analyses the pragmatics of their use. Memes have to be analysed in series, usually relating to some image macros, which is proof of the interplay between imitation and creativity in the memes’ writing process. We believe that their potential to become viral relates to three key elements: adaptation to context, reference to a successful meme series, and humour (jokes, irony, sarcasm), with various pragmatic functions. The study also uses the concept of multimodality and stresses how the memes’ text interacts with the image, discussing three types of relations: symmetry, amplification, and contradiction. Moreover, the paper proves that memes could be employed as speech acts with illocutionary force, when the interaction between text and image is enriched through the connection to a specific situation. The features mentioned above are analysed in a corpus that consists of memes related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This corpus shows them to be highly adaptable to context, which helps build the feeling of connection and belonging in an otherwise tremendously fragmented world. Some of them are created based on well-known image macros, and their humour results from an intricate dialogue between texts and contexts. Memes created in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic can be considered speech acts and are often used as such, as proven in the paper. Consequently, this paper tackles the key features of memes, makes a thorough analysis of the memes sociocultural, linguistic, and situational context, and emphasizes their intertextuality, with special accent on their illocutionary potential.

Keywords: context, memes, multimodality, speech acts

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Authors: Thelma Mort

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This empirical, qualitative research uses interviews of four intermediate phase English language student teachers at one university in South Africa and is an exploration of student teacher learning on their teaching practicum in their penultimate year of the initial teacher education course. The country’s post-apartheid language in education policy provides a context to this study in that children move from mother tongue language of instruction in foundation phase to English as a language of instruction in Intermediate phase. There is another layer of context informing this study which is the school context; the student teachers’ reflections are from their teaching practicum in resource constrained schools, which make up more than 75% of schools in South Africa. The findings were that in these schools, deep biases existed to local languages, that language was being used as a proxy for social class, and that conditions necessary for language acquisition were absent. The student teachers’ attitudes were in contrast to those found in the schools, namely that they had various pragmatic approaches to overcoming obstacles and that they saw language as enabling interdisciplinary work. This study describes language issues, tensions created by policy in South African schools and also supplies a regional account of learning to teach in resource constrained schools in Cape Town, where such language tensions are more inflated. The central findings in this research illuminate attitudes to language and language education in these teaching practicum schools and the complexity of learning to be a language teacher in these contexts. This study is one of the few local empirical studies regarding language teaching in the classroom and language teacher education; as such it offers some background to the country’s poor performance in both international and national literacy assessments.

Keywords: language teaching, narrative, post apartheid, South Africa, student teacher

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Authors: Bruno Gontijo Batista

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This paper analyzes how the Socially Aware Design (SAwD) and the Value-oriented and Culturally Informed Approach (VCIA) design model can be used to develop an edutainment game for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The SAwD approach seeks a design that considers new dimensions in human-computer interaction, such as culture, aesthetics, emotional and social aspects of the user's everyday experience. From this perspective, the game development was VCIA model-based, including the users in the design process through participatory methodologies, considering their behavioral patterns, culture, and values. This is because values, beliefs, and behavioral patterns influence how technology is understood and used and the way it impacts people's lives. This model can be applied at different stages of design, which goes from explaining the problem and organizing the requirements to the evaluation of the prototype and the final solution. Thus, this paper aims to understand how this model can be used in the development of an edutainment game for children with ADHD. In the area of education and learning, children with ADHD have difficulties both in behavior and in school performance, as they are easily distracted, which is reflected both in classes and on tests. Therefore, they must perform tasks that are exciting or interesting for them, once the pleasure center in the brain is activated, it reinforces the center of attention, leaving the child more relaxed and focused. In this context, serious games have been used as part of the treatment of ADHD in children aiming to improve focus and attention, stimulate concentration, as well as be a tool for improving learning in areas such as math and reading, combining education and entertainment (edutainment). Thereby, as a result of the research, it was developed, in a participatory way, applying the VCIA model, an edutainment game prototype, for a mobile platform, for children between 8 and 12 years old.

Keywords: ADHD, edutainment, SAwD, VCIA

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Authors: Caroline Picton, Lorna Moxham, Christopher Patterson, Dana Perlman, Ellie Taylor, Renee Brighton

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The purpose of this study was to extrapolate the meaning for people living with a mental illness of their participation in a therapeutic recreation experience. The study’s participants engaged in a five-day adventure camp, known as Recovery Camp, alongside undergraduate health care students. An interpretive phenomenological approach was used as an exploratory method to interview 25 participants (n=25). Van Kaam’s structured analytical framework guided the analysis of the transcribed narratives. The findings provide insight into using therapeutic recreation to enhance personal mental health recovery. Recovery Camp was viewed by participants as having a transformational effect on forming positive social connectedness and improving their self-identity. Participants perceived the Recovery Camp experience as one that gave them a sense of purpose and increased their motivation to undertake further activities. The insights gained of the benefits of therapeutic recreation for people living with a mental illness can be used to promote purposeful community engagement.

Keywords: interpretive phenomenology, lived experience, mental illness, personal mental health recovery

Procedia PDF Downloads 487

Authors: Antonio Marco Miotti, Antonella Ruffatto, Giampaola Basso, Antonio Madia, Giulia Zavatta, Emanuela Salvatico, Emanuela Zilli

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A National Action Plan to fight antimicrobial resistance was launched in Italy in 2017. In order to reduce inappropriate exposure to antibiotics and infections from multi-drug resistant bacteria, it is essential to set up a structured system of surveillance and monitoring of the implementation of National Action Plan standards, including antimicrobial consumption, with a special focus on quinolones, third generation cephalosporins and carbapenems. A quantitative estimate of antibiotic consumption (defined daily dose - DDD - consumption per 100 days of hospitalization) has been provided by the Pharmaceutical Service to the Hospital of Cittadella, ULSS 6 Euganea – Health Trust (District of Padua) for the years 2019 (before the pandemic), 2020 and 2021 for all classes of antibiotics. Multidisciplinary meetings have been organized monthly by the local Antimicrobial Stewardship Group. Between 2019 and 2021, an increase in the consumption of carbapenems in the Intensive Care Unit (from 12.2 to 18.2 DDD, + 49.2%) and a decrease in Medical wards (from 5.3 to 2.6 DDD, - 50.9%) was reported; a decrease in the consumption of quinolones in Intensive Care Unit (from 17.2 to 10.8 DDD, - 37.2%), Medical wards (from 10.5 to 6.6 DDD, - 37.1%) and Surgical wards (from 10.2 to 9.3 DDD, - 8.8%) was highlighted; an increase in the consumption of third generation cephalosporins in Medical wards (from 18.1 to 22.6 DDD, + 24,1%) was reported. Finally, after an increase in the consumption of macrolides between 2020 and 2019, in 2021, a decrease was reported in the Intensive Care Unit (DDD: 8.0 in 2019, 18.0 in 2020, 6.4 in 2021) and Medical wards (DDD: 9.0 in 2019, 13.7 in 2020, 10.9 in 2021). Constant monitoring of antimicrobial consumption and timely identifying of warning situations that may need a specific intervention are the cornerstone of Antimicrobial Stewardship programs, together with analysing data on bacterial resistance rates and infections from multi-drug resistant bacteria.

Keywords: carbapenems, quinolones, antimicrobial, stewardship

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Authors: N. P. Bhandary, R. C. Tiwari, R. Yatabe

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The research employs finite element method to evaluate the stability of roadside settlements slopes from Barpak to Yamagaon through Laprak village of Gorkha, Nepal after the 7.8Mw 2015 Barpak, Gorkha, Nepal earthquake. It includes three major villages of Gorkha, i.e., Barpak, Laprak and Yamagaun that were devastated by 2015 Gorkhas’ earthquake. The road head distance from the Barpak to Laprak and Laprak to Yamagaun are about 14 and 29km respectively. The epicentral distance of main shock of magnitude 7.8 and aftershock of magnitude 6.6 were respectively 7 and 11 kilometers (South-East) far from the Barpak village nearer to Laprak and Yamagaon. It is also believed that the epicenter of the main shock as said until now was not in the Barpak village, it was somewhere near to the Yamagaun village. The chaos that they had experienced during the earthquake in the Yamagaun was much more higher than the Barpak. In this context, we have carried out a detailed study to investigate the stability of Yamagaun settlements slope as a case study, where ground fissures, ground settlement, multiple cracks and toe failures are the most severe. In this regard, the stability issues of existing settlements and proposed road alignment, on the Yamagaon village slope are addressed, which is surrounded by many newly activated landslides. Looking at the importance of this issue, field survey is carried out to understand the behavior of ground fissures and multiple failure characteristics of the slopes. The results suggest that the Yamgaun slope in Profile 2-2, 3-3 and 4-4 are not safe enough for infrastructure development even in the normal soil slope conditions as per 2, 3 and 4 material models; however, the slope seems quite safe for at Profile 1-1 for all 4 material models. The result also indicates that the first three profiles are marginally safe for 2, 3 and 4 material models respectively. The Profile 4-4 is not safe enough for all 4 material models. Thus, Profile 4-4 needs a special care to make the slope stable.

Keywords: earthquake, finite element method, landslide, stability

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Authors: Elena Antonova Unlu, Cigdem Sagin Simsek

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The research presents two studies examining the impact of formal interpreting training (FIT) on Working Memory Capacity (WMC) of student-interpreters. In Study 1, the storage and processing capacities of the working memory (WM) of last-year student-interpreters were compared with those of last-year Foreign Language Education (FLE) students. In Study 2, the impact of FIT on the WMC of student-interpreters was examined via comparing their results on WM tasks at the beginning and the end of their FIT. In both studies, Digit Span Task (DST) and Reading Span Task (RST) were utilized for testing storage and processing capacities of WM. The results of Study 1 revealed that the last-year student-interpreters outperformed the control groups on the RST but not on the DST. The findings of Study 2 were consistent with Study 1 showing that after FIT, the student-interpreters performed better on the RST but not on the DST. Our findings can be considered as evidence supporting the view that FIT has a beneficial effect not only on the interpreting skills of student-interpreters but also on the central executive and processing capacity of their WM.

Keywords: working memory capacity, formal interpreting training, student-interpreters, cross-sectional and longitudinal data

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Authors: Alejandra Sierra, Maria de los Angeles Covarrubias, Guillermo Julian Gonzalez, Noe Alfaro

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The objective of this study was to identify the cultural dimensions of the terms unplanned pregnancy and unwanted pregnancy built by adolescent women, through the focus of the social representations. Two associative methods were used: free listings and the paired comparison. 72 female students between the ages of 15 and 19 were interviewed, from the downtown area of Leon Guanajuato, Mexico. Words related to inducer terms were classified into five thematic categories: facilitators, consequences, reactions, expectations, and lexicon. The results showed that the social representations of unplanned pregnancy highlighted elements related to economic difficulties and negative emotional aspects, while unwanted pregnancy was associated with negative emotional aspects such as anger, anxiety, and sadness. The meanings each person attributes to terms related to pregnancy are culturally constructed and differ between populations; therefore, more attention should be paid to understanding the cultural meanings and attitudes of people in fertility decision-making, including also the views of adolescent men and other types of population, stratified by age groups and social conditions.

Keywords: adolescent, qualitative research, unplanned pregnancy, unwanted pregnancy

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Authors: Timothy T. Hsieh

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Current patent venue transfer laws under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) e.g., the Gilbert factors from Gulf Oil Corp. v. Gilbert, 330 U.S. 501 (1947) are too malleable in that they often lead to frequent mandamus orders from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”) overturning district court rulings on venue transfer motions. Thus, this paper proposes a more robust two-step burden-shifting framework that replaces the eight Gilbert factors. Moreover, a brief history of venue transfer patterns in the seven most active federal patent district courts is covered, with special focus devoted to the venue transfer orders from Judge Alan D Albright of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. A comprehensive data summary of 45 case sets where the Federal Circuit ruled on writs of mandamus involving Judge Albright’s transfer orders is subsequently provided, with coverage summaries of certain cases including four precedential ones from the Federal Circuit. This proposed two-step burden shifting framework is then applied to these venue transfer cases, as well as Federal Circuit mandamus orders ruling on those decisions. Finally, alternative approaches to remedying the frequent reversals for venue transfer will be discussed, including potential legislative solutions, adjustments to common law framework approaches to venue transfer, deference to the inherent powers of Article III U.S. District Judge, and a unified federal patent district court. Overall, this paper seeks to offer a more robust and consistent three-step burden-shifting framework for venue transfer and for the Federal Circuit to follow in administering mandamus orders, which might change somewhat in light of Western District of Texas Chief Judge Orlando Garcia’s order on redistributing Judge Albright’s patent cases.

Keywords: Patent law, venue, judge Alan Albright, minimum contacts, western district of Texas

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Authors: Umme Habiba Jasmine, Mzikazi Nduna

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Due to the dearth of exploratory research in Bangladesh on parenting practices and transmission thereof, there is a lack of information on culture-sensitive methodology in studying this topic. This paper aims to share some methodological reflections from the research field, which will address this knowledge gap. Eleven dyads of biological mothers and maternal grandmothers of school-going children constituted the sample, and a female fieldworker conducted one-to-one, semi-structured, in-depth interviews with them. The participants were recruited through purposive sampling through a representative of a cooperative society in Mirpur area in Bangladesh. Four dyads of the sample outside that eleven dyads were discarded because of the unavailability of the other participant of the dyads or unsuitability for an in-depth interview. The sample recruitment strategy of approaching mothers without their known reference body had to be discarded because of existing social insecurity in Dhaka city. To meet the cultural demand of the research field the researcher had to change in the research plan and comply with the cultural tradition of mutual entertainment with food while conducting interviews which helped in engaging in positive interaction. Also, the researcher had to compromise the strict confidentiality to a collectivistic sense of confidentiality of the in-depth interview sessions. This study suggests future researchers to investigate Bangladeshi traditional practices and accommodate the applicable ones in their research plan for qualitative studies, especially the Bengali tradition of hospitality and shared confidentiality for building rapport and for proper access to the targeted information and research participants. Sample recruitment should always accompany a well-accepted reference person in the targeted research field.

Keywords: confidentiality, culture-sensitive, ethics, parenting practices, sampling

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Authors: Timea Harmath-Tánczos

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Drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) is defined as the persistence of seizures despite at least two syndrome-adapted antiseizure drugs (ASD) used at efficacious daily doses. About a third of patients with epilepsy suffer from drug resistance. Cognitive assessment has a crucial role in the diagnosis and clinical management of epilepsy. Previous studies have addressed the clinical targets and indications for measuring neuropsychological functions; best to our knowledge, no studies have examined it in a Hungarian therapy-resistant population. To fill this gap, we investigated the Hungarian diagnostic protocol between 18 and 65 years of age. This study aimed to describe and analyze neuropsychological functions in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy and identify factors associated with neuropsychology deficits. We perform a prospective case-control study comparing neuropsychological performances in 50 adult patients and 50 healthy individuals between March 2023 and July 2023. Neuropsychological functions were examined in both patients and controls using a full set of specific tests (general performance level, motor functions, attention, executive facts., verbal and visual memory, language, and visual-spatial functions). Potential risk factors for neuropsychological deficit were assessed in the patient group using a multivariate analysis. The two groups did not differ in age, sex, dominant hand and level of education. Compared with the control group, patients with drug-resistant epilepsy showed worse performance on motor functions and visuospatial memory, sustained attention, inhibition and verbal memory. Neuropsychological deficits could therefore be systematically detected in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy in order to provide neuropsychological therapy and improve quality of life. The analysis of the classical and complex indices of the special neuropsychological tasks presented in the presentation can help in the investigation of normal and disrupted memory and executive functions in the DRE.

Keywords: drug-resistant epilepsy, Hungarian diagnostic protocol, memory, executive functions, cognitive neuropsychology

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Authors: Ola Jon Mork, Irina Emily Hansen

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The European Growth Strategy Program calls for more efficient methods for knowledge creation and innovation. This study contributes with new insights into the Singapore Innovation System; more precisely how knowledge processes are facilitated. The research material is collected by visiting the different innovation locations in Singapore and depth interview with key persons. The different innovation actors web sites and brochures have been studied. Governmental reports and figures have also been studied. The findings show that facilitation of Knowledge Processes in the Singapore Innovation System has a basic structure with three processes, which is 1) Idea capturing – 2)Technology and Business Execution – 3)Idea Realization. Dedicated innovation parks work with the most promising entrepreneurs; more precisely: finding the persons with the motivation to 'change the world'. The innovation park will facilitate these entrepreneurs for 100 days, where they also will be connected to a global network of venture capital. And, the entrepreneurs will have access to mentors from these venture companies. Research institutes parks work with the development of world leading technology. To facilitate knowledge development they connect with industrial companies which are the most promising applicators of their technology. Knowledge facilitation is the main purpose, but this cooperation/testing is also serving as a platform for funding. Probably this is cooperation is also attractive for world leading companies. Dedicated innovation parks work with facilitation of innovators of new applications and perfection of products for the end- user. These parks can be specialized in special areas, like health products and life science products. Another example of this is automotive companies giving research call for these parks to develop and innovate new products and services upon their technology. Common characteristics for the knowledge facilitation in the Singapore Innovation System are a short trial period for promising actors, normally 100 days. It is also a strong focus on training of the entrepreneurs. Presentations and diffusion of knowledge is an important part of the facilitation. Funding will be available for the most successful entrepreneurs and innovators.

Keywords: knowledge processes, facilitation, innovation, Singapore innovation web

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Authors: Laila Khawaja

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In recent years, an increasing emphasis has been placed on measuring program implementation, in part because of the great variability in how complex interventions are delivered in real-life settings. There is an increased awareness that while conducting process evaluations, one should aim to identify and understand the complexities of intervention if they are to be used for future intervention development or the strategies needed to implement the same intervention in a different setting. Complex interventions are public health interventions that are not drugs or surgical procedures but have many potential active aspects of intervention. In this paper, process evaluations are aligned with MRC guidelines to identify contextual factors related to outcomes to assess the quality of implementation. This paper briefly discusses the perceptions of research team on the implementation of the intervention of ‘Engaging Adolescents in Changing Behaviour’ (EACH-B), a school-based complex intervention study aiming to improve diet and physical activity among adolescents aged 12-13 years. Through qualitative interviews and focus groups with 10 staff members, we aimed to understand their experiences and reflections on implementing the EACH-B trial delivered in 49 Schools around Hampshire, England. Data were uploaded into NVivo, and analysis was conducted using thematic analysis. The investigation revealed two overarching themes: (a) how the communication patterns with teachers were impacted during the delivery of implementation and (b) what were the team’s strategies to keep logistics aligned with the research process that impacted the overall implementation of the trial. The paper informs adaptation strategies used by the research team to establish and maintain effective communication with the teachers as well as the thoughtfulness of the team’s logistic strategy for the successful delivery of the trial.

Keywords: complex interventions, process evaluation, adaptation strategies, randomised controlled trial

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Authors: Alper Cumhur, Hasan Baylavlı, Eren Gödek

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Use of superplasticity chemical admixtures in concrete production is widespread all over the world and has become almost inevitable. Super-plasticizers (SPA), extend the setting time of concrete by adsorbing onto cement particles and provide concrete to preserve its fresh state workability properties. Hyper-plasticizers (HPA), as a special type of superplasticizer, provide the production of qualified concretes by increasing the workability properties of concrete, effectively. However, compatibility of cement with super and hyper-plasticizers is quite important for achieving efficient workability in order to produce qualified concretes. In 2011, the EN 197-1 standard is edited and cement classifications were updated. In this study, the compatibility of hyper-plasticizer and CEM I SR0 type sulphate resisting cement (SRC) that firstly classified in EN 197-1 is investigated. Within the scope of the experimental studies, a reference cement mortar was designed with a water/cement ratio of 0.50 confirming to EN 196-1. Fresh unit density of mortar was measured and spread diameters (at 0, 60, 120 min after mix preparation) and setting time of reference mortar were determined with flow table and Vicat tests, respectively. Three mortars are being re-prepared with using both super and hyper-plasticizer confirming to ASTM C494 by 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00% of cement weight. Fresh unit densities, spread diameters and setting times of super and hyper plasticizer added mortars (SPM, HPM) will be determined. Theoretical air-entrainment values of both SPMs and HPMs will be calculated by taking the differences between the densities of plasticizer added mortars and reference mortar. The flow table and Vicat tests are going to be repeated to these mortars and results will be compared. In conclusion, compatibility of SRC with SPA and HPA will be investigated. It is expected that optimum dosages of SPA and HPA will be determined for providing the required workability and setting conditions of SRC mortars, and the advantages/disadvantages of both SPA and HPA will be discussed.

Keywords: CEM I SR0, hyper-plasticizer, setting time, sulphate resisting cement, super-plasticizer, workability

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Authors: Nsenga Bakinahe

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Background: Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) globally and, particularly in Rwanda, face significant challenges related to HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Rwanda has a young population, with 65.3% below 30 years of age, demonstrating a need for SRH promotion and HIV prevention for this population. We aimed to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of integrated HIV prevention and SRH services among AGYW in Rwanda. Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 384 AGYW aged 15-24 years who had ever been pregnant and currently reside in Nyagatare district, Eastern Rwanda from January to April 2023. A questionnaire was developed to collect data, participants were randomly selected and data were collected by one-on-one interviews and were analyzed using SPSS V21. The statistical relationship between variables was significant at P-Value of 0.05 and 95% confidence interval. Results: The majority (97.9%) of respondents demonstrated a good level of knowledge, (52.2%) of the respondents had positive attitudes towards integrated HIV prevention and SRH services. Looking at the practice of integrated HIV prevention and SRH services use, 51.4% of respondents have a low level of practice. The practice of integrated HIV prevention and SRH services was significantly associated with school drop-out and family status (P>0.05). Conclusion: The findings from these studies collectively emphasize the need for comprehensive education, targeted interventions, and community-based support to achieve better health outcomes regarding HIV prevention and overall sexual and reproductive health among adolescent girls and young women. Empowering adolescent girls and young women with accurate information and comprehensive support will enable them to make informed decisions, protect their health effectively, and contribute to reducing the burden of HIV and improving sexual and reproductive health outcomes.

Keywords: integrated HIV prevention, sexual and reproductive health services, among adolescentes girls, and young women

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Authors: Livia Herle

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A large part of the Principality of Liechtenstein is covered by forest. Three-quarters of this forest is defined as protective due to the alpine landscape of the country, which is deteriorating the quality of the wood. Nevertheless, the forest is one of the most important sources of raw material. However, out of the wood harvested annually in Liechtenstein, about two-thirds are used directly as an energy source, drastically shortening up the carbon storage cycle of wood. Furthermore, due to climate change, forest structures are changing. Predictions for the forest in Liechtenstein have stated that the spruce will mostly vanish in low altitudes, only being able to survive in the higher regions. In contrast, hardwood species will experience a rise, resulting in a more mixed forest. Thus, the main research focus will be put upon the potential of hardwood as well as prolonging the lifespan of a timber log before ending up as an energy source. An analysis of the local occurrence of hardwood species and their quality will serve as a tool to implement this knowledge upon constructional solutions. As a system that works with short spam timber and thus qualifies for the regional conditions of hardwood, reciprocal frame systems will be further investigated. These can be defined as load-bearing structures with only two beams connecting at a time, avoiding complex joining situations. Furthermore, every beam is mutually supporting. This allows the usage of short pieces of preferably massive wood. As a result, the system permits for an easy assembly but also disassembly. To promote a more circular application of wood, possible cascading scenarios of the structural solutions will be added. In a workshop at the School of Architecture of the University of Liechtenstein in the Sommer Semester 2024, prototypes in 1:1 of reciprocal frame systems using only local hardwood will help as a tool to further test the theoretical analyses.

Keywords: hardwood, cascading wood, reciprocal frames, crooked wood, forest structures, climate change

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Authors: Torsten Schwan, Rene Unger

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Simulation of thermal and electrical building performance more and more becomes part of an integrative planning process. Increasing requirements on energy efficiency, the integration of volatile renewable energy, smart control and storage management often cause tremendous challenges for building engineers and architects. This mainly affects commercial or non-residential buildings. Their energy consumption characteristics significantly distinguish from residential ones. This work focuses on the many-objective optimization problem indoor air quality and comfort, especially in non-residential buildings. Based on a brief description of intermediate dependencies between different requirements on indoor air treatment it extends existing Modelica-based building physics models with additional system states to adequately represent indoor air conditions. Interfaces to corresponding HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system and control models enable closed-loop analyzes of occupants' requirements and energy efficiency as well as profitableness aspects. A complex application scenario of a nearly-zero-energy school building shows advantages of presented evaluation process for engineers and architects. This way, clear identification of air quality requirements in individual rooms together with realistic model-based description of occupants' behavior helps to optimize HVAC system already in early design stages. Building planning processes can be highly improved and accelerated by increasing integration of advanced simulation methods. Those methods mainly provide suitable answers on engineers' and architects' questions regarding more exuberant and complex variety of suitable energy supply solutions.

Keywords: indoor air quality, dynamic simulation, energy efficient control, non-residential buildings

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Authors: Marlies Achenbach

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System competencies play a key role to ensure an effective and efficient improvement of production systems. Thus, there can be observed an increasing demand for developing system competencies in industry as well as in engineering education. System competencies consist of the following two main abilities: Evaluating the current state of a production system and developing a target state. The innovative course ‘multi-perspective learning in a real production plant (multi real)’ is developed to create a learning setting that supports the development of these system competencies. Therefore, the setting combines two innovative aspects: First, the Learning takes place in heterogeneous groups formed by students as well as professionals and managers from industry. Second, the learning takes place in a real production plant. This paper presents the innovative didactic concept of ‘multi real’ in detail, which will initially be implemented in October/November 2016 in the industrial engineering, logistics and mechanical master’s program at TU Dortmund University.

Keywords: experiential learning, heterogeneous groups, improving production systems, system competencies

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Authors: Mukhtar Sarkin-Kebbi

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Insurgency, religious extremism and other related religious crises become hydra-headed in Nigeria, which caused destruction of human lives and properties worth of billions naira. As result, millions people were displaced and million children were out of school most of whom from Muslims community. The wrong teaching and misinterpretation of Islam by some Muslim community fuel the spread of extremist ideology hatred among Muslim sects, non-Muslims and emergency of extremist groups, like Boko Haram. A multi-religious country like Nigeria to realise its development in all human aspects, there must be unity and religious tolerance. Many agreed that changing the ideologies of insurgents and religious extremism will require intellectual role with vigorous campaign. Muslim scholars can play a vital role in promoting social reform and peaceful coexistence. This paper discusses the importance of unity among Muslim community and religious tolerance in light of the Qur’an and the Hadith. The paper also reviews the relationship between Muslims and non Muslims during the life time the Prophet (S.A.W.) in order to serve as exemplary model. Contemporary issues such as religious extremism, sectarians, intolerance and their consequences were examined. To minify religious intolerance and extremism,the paper identifies the roles to be played by Muslim scholars with references from Qur’an and Sunnah. The paper concludes that to realise overall human development and eternal salvation, Muslim should shun away from any religious crises and embrace unity and religious tolerance. Finally the paper recommends among others that only pious and learned scholars should be allowed to preach in any religious gathering, Muslim should exercise patience, tolerance in dealing with Muslims and non Muslims. Muslims should leave by example from the teaching of Qur’an and Sunnah of the Prophet (S.A.W.).

Keywords: Muslim scholars, peace building, religious extremism, religious tolerance

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Authors: Ibrahim Abubakar Mikugi

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Nigerian graduates could only be self-employed and marketable if they acquire relevant skills and knowledge for successful establishment in various occupation and gainful employment. Research has shown that entrepreneurship education will be successful through developing individual entrepreneurial attitudes, raising awareness of career options by integrating and inculcating a positive attitude in the mind of students through skill acquisition. This paper examined the student- led entrepreneurship education through skill acquisition with specific emphasis on analysis of David Kolb experiential learning cycle. This Model allows individual to review their experience through reflection and converting ideas into action by doing. The methodology used was theoretical approach through journal, internet and Textbooks. Challenges to entrepreneurship education through skill acquisition were outlined. The paper concludes that entrepreneurship education is recognised by both policy makers and academics; entrepreneurship is more than mere encouraging business start-ups. Recommendations were given which include the need for authorities to have a clear vision towards entrepreneurship education and skill acquisition. Authorities should also emphasise a periodic and appropriate evaluation of entrepreneurship and to also integrate into schools academic curriculum to encourage practical learning by doing.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship education, active learning, Cefe methodology

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Authors: Tomas Kos

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An increasing body of research has explored patterns of interaction and peer support among young learners. Although some studies suggest that young learners can collaborate and support each other, other studies indicate that young learners may lack the ability to work together and support one another when interacting on classroom tasks. Moreover, despite the claims that peer collaboration is conducive to learning, studies have not paid enough attention to the “how” to enhance peer collaboration on classroom tasks. To fill this gap, this “how-to” article proposes that teaching young learners how to work together is a powerful pedagogical tool that can greatly improve collaborative behavior and a sense of mutuality among young learners. This article will pay particular attention to primary schools and the context of English as a foreign language. It will first review literature related to patterns of interaction and peer support conducted in the cognitive and sociocultural framework. It will then address what it actually means to collaborate. At the heart of the article, it will discuss some practical pedagogical ideas for language teachers, which entail teaching collaborative principles and strategies that will help their students to support each other and engage in communication with each other.

Keywords: young learners, peer collaboration, peer interaction, peer support, patterns of interaction

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Authors: Yung Yau

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'Little people' are those who have extremely short stature as they suffer from rare bone diseases. They are commonly known as 'dwarves' or 'people with dwarfism'. Dwarfism is generally regarded as a type of rare disease for its extremely small odds (~1 in 15,000). On account of its rarity, dwarfism, unlike other types of disability, has attracted relatively little attention from the general public and in various academic fields (e.g. architecture, psychology and sociology) except medical science. In view of the extant research gaps, this study aims to investigate the physical barriers facing the little people in the built environment in Hong Kong. Between November 2017 and July 2018, ten little people or their family members participated in in-depth interviews. Responses of the interviewees were transcribed (i.e., speech being converted to text word for word). Interview data were then analyzed using the interpretative phenomenological analysis methodology developed by J. Smith and others in 2009. The findings of the project reveal that although Hong Kong's built environment has been designed barrier-free pursuant to the prevailing building standards, those standards do not cater to the special anthropometric characteristics of little people. As a result, little people face a lot of challenges when using built facilities. For example, most water closets, urinals, and wash hand basins are not fit for little people's use. As indicated by the project findings, we are still far away from providing a discrimination-free and barrier-free living environment for the little people in Hong Kong. To make Hong Kong society more inclusive to the little people, there is a need for further tailored building design. A set of building design principles for better inclusion of the little people in our society are highlighted. These principles include 'the building design should accommodate individuals with different heights' and 'the building design should allow individuals to use comfortably and efficiently with a minimum of fatigue'. At the end of the paper, the author also calls for an agenda for further studies. For instance, we need an anthropometric study on little people for developing practical building design guidelines.

Keywords: dwarfism, little people, inclusive buildings, people with disabilities, social sustainability

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