Search results for: technology in education

Authors: Felice Elefant, Akanksha Bhatnaghar, Keegan Krick, Elizabeth Heller

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Context: The severity of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) progression involves an interplay of genetics, age, and environmental factors orchestrated by histone acetyltransferase (HAT) mediated neuroepigenetic mechanisms. While disruption of Tip60 HAT action in neural gene control is implicated in AD, alternative mechanisms underlying Tip60 function remain unexplored. Altered RNA splicing has recently been highlighted as a widespread hallmark in the AD transcriptome that is implicated in the disease. Research Aim: The aim of this study was to identify a novel RNA binding/splicing function for Tip60 in human hippocampus and impaired in brains from AD fly models and AD patients. Methodology/Analysis: The authors used RNA immunoprecipitation using RNA isolated from 200 pooled wild type Drosophila brains for each of the 3 biological replicates. To identify Tip60’s RNA targets, they performed genome sequencing (DNB-SequencingTM technology, BGI genomics) on 3 replicates for Input RNA and RNA IPs by Tip60. Findings: The authors' transcriptomic analysis of RNA bound to Tip60 by Tip60-RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) revealed Tip60 RNA targets enriched for critical neuronal processes implicated in AD. Remarkably, 79% of Tip60’s RNA targets overlap with its chromatin gene targets, supporting a model by which Tip60 orchestrates bi-level transcriptional regulation at both the chromatin and RNA level, a function unprecedented for any HAT to date. Since RNA splicing occurs co-transcriptionally and splicing defects are implicated in AD, the authors investigated whether Tip60-RNA targeting modulates splicing decisions and if this function is altered in AD. Replicate multivariate analysis of transcript splicing (rMATS) analysis of RNA-Seq data sets from wild-type and AD fly brains revealed a multitude of mammalian-like AS defects. Strikingly, over half of these altered RNAs were bonafide Tip60-RNA targets enriched for in the AD-gene curated database, with some AS alterations prevented against by increasing Tip60 in fly brain. Importantly, human orthologs of several Tip60-modulated spliced genes in Drosophila are well characterized aberrantly spliced genes in human AD brains, implicating disruption of Tip60’s splicing function in AD pathogenesis. Theoretical Importance: The authors' findings support a novel RNA interaction and splicing regulatory function for Tip60 that may underlie AS impairments that hallmark AD etiology. Data Collection: The authors collected data from RNA immunoprecipitation experiments using RNA isolated from 200 pooled wild type Drosophila brains for each of the 3 biological replicates. They also performed genome sequencing (DNBSequencingTM technology, BGI genomics) on 3 replicates for Input RNA and RNA IPs by Tip60. Questions: The question addressed by this study was whether Tip60 has a novel RNA binding/splicing function in human hippocampus and whether this function is impaired in brains from AD fly models and AD patients. Conclusions: The authors' findings support a novel RNA interaction and splicing regulatory function for Tip60 that may underlie AS impairments that hallmark AD etiology.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, cognition, aging, neuroepigenetics

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Authors: Lien-Fa Lin, Yung-Ming Li, Fu-Shun Hsieh

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With the advancement of information technology and development of group commerce, people have obviously changed in their lifestyle. However, group commerce faces some challenging problems. The products or services provided by vendors do not satisfactorily reflect customers’ opinions, so that the sale and revenue of group commerce gradually become lower. On the other hand, the process for a formed customer group to reach group-purchasing consensus is time-consuming and the final decision is not the best choice for each group members. In this paper, we design a social decision support mechanism, by using group discussion message to recommend suitable options for group members and we consider social influence and personal preference to generate option ranking list. The proposed mechanism can enhance the group purchasing decision making efficiently and effectively and venders can provide group products or services according to the group option ranking list.

Keywords: social network, group decision, text mining, group commerce

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Authors: Ma'amun Muhammed

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The ability of smartphones in enhancing communication, providing access to business and serving as a pool for information retrieval has a far reaching and potentially beneficial impacts on enhancing teaching in higher institutions in the developing countries like Nigeria. Nigeria as one of the fast growing economies in Africa, whose citizens patronize smartphones can utilize this opportunity by inculcating the culture of using smartphones not only for communication, business transaction, banking etc. but also for enhancing teaching in the higher institutions. Smartphones have become part and parcel of our lives, particularly among young people. The primary objective of this paper is to ascertain the use of smartphones in enhancing teaching in Nigeria’s higher institutions, to achieve this, content analysis was used thoroughly. This paper examines the opportunities offered by smartphones to the students of higher institutions of learning, the challenges being faced by lecturers of these institutions in classrooms. Lastly, it offers solution on how some of these critical challenges will be overcame, so as to utilize the technology of these devices.

Keywords: communication, information retrieval, mobile phone, smartphones teaching

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Authors: Mohamed Noureldin, Jinkoo Kim

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In this study, a genetic algorithm was used to find out the optimum locations of the slit dampers satisfying a target displacement. A seismic retrofit scheme for a building structure was presented using steel plate slit dampers. A cyclic loading test was used to verify the energy dissipation capacity of the slit damper. The seismic retrofit of the model structure using the slit dampers was compared with the retrofit with enlarging shear walls. The capacity spectrum method was used to propose a simple damper distribution scheme proportional to the inter-story drifts. The validity of the simple story-wise damper distribution procedure was verified by comparing the results of the genetic algorithm. It was observed that the proposed simple damper distribution pattern was in a good agreement with the optimum distribution obtained from the genetic algorithm. Acknowledgment: This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2017R1D1A1B03032809).

Keywords: slit dampers, seismic retrofit, genetic algorithm, optimum design

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Authors: A. Orlov, V. Rachkov

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The future of Nuclear Energetics is seen in fast reactors with inherent safety working in the closed nuclear fuel cycle. The concept of inherent safety, which lies in deterministic elimination of the most severe accidents due to inherent properties of the reactor rather than through building up engineered barriers, is a cornerstone of success in ensuring safety and economic efficiency of future Nuclear Energetics. The focus of this paper is one of the key elements of inherent safety - the lead coolant of a nuclear reactor. Advantages of lead coolant for reactor application, influence on safety are reviewed. BREST-OD-300 fast reactor, currently being developed in Russia withing the “Proryv” Project utilizes lead coolant and a special set of measures and devices, called technology of lead coolant that ensures safe operation in a wide range of temperatures. Here these technological elements are reviewed, and current progress in their development is discussed.

Keywords: BREST-OD-300. , fast reactor, inherent safety, lead coolant

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Authors: Vijaya Chandra Tenneti

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The juvenile justice delivery system in India suffers from many lacunae at the operational level and ignores many dimensions of human rights guaranteed to the juvenile delinquents. The present study begins with the hypothesis that the existing justice delivery system seemingly ignores the basic tenets of the fair trial and systemic support to the delinquent juveniles in integrating them into the mainstream of society. As per the designed methodology, data has been collected from the unit of the present study, and other stakeholders, namely, Juvenile Justice Board, Observation Homes etc., of Warangal district of Telangana state, India. The study shows that there is the overemphasis on procedural laws. The juvenile integration programs are not effective. The administrators lack training. Juveniles lack formal education. The study indicates the incidents of juvenile crimes is on the rise and that the majority of the juvenile delinquents hold a low socio-economic profile. Another significant observation of the study is that the juvenile justice system lacks a holistic and human rights-centric approach.

Keywords: delinquency, human rights, juvenile justice, rehabilitation

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Authors: Yosika Dian Komala, Uke Kurniawan Usman, Yuyun Siti Rohmah

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The enable technology fills up needs of high-speed data service is Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS). UMTS has a data rate up to 2Mbps.UMTS terrestrial system has a coverage area about 1-2km. High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) can be built by a macro cell that is able to serve the wider area. Design method of UMTS using HAPS is planning base on coverage and capacity. The planning method is simulated with 2.8.1 Atoll’s software. Determination of radius of the cell based on the coverage uses free space loss propagation model. While the capacity planning to determine the average cell through put is available with the Offered Bit Quantity (OBQ).

Keywords: UMTS, HAPS, coverage planning, capacity planning, signal level, Ec/Io, overlapping zone, throughput

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Authors: Yuting Wu, Faraz Choudhury, Daniel Benjamin, James Whalin, Joshua Blatz, Leon Shohet, Michael Sussman, Mark Richards

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Plasma-Induced Modification of Biomolecules (PLIMB) has been developed as a technology, which, together with mass spectrometry, measures three-dimensional structural characteristics of proteins. This technique uses hydroxyl radicals generated by atmospheric-pressure plasma discharge to react with the solvent-accessible side chains of protein in an aqueous solution. In this work, we investigate the three-dimensional structure of hemoglobin and myoglobin using PLIMB. Additional modifications to these proteins, such as oxidation, fragmentations, and conformational changes caused by PLIMB are also explored. These results show that PLIMB, coupled with mass spectrometry, is an effective way to determine solvent access to hemoproteins. Furthermore, we show that many factors, including pH and the electrical parameters used to generate the plasma, have a significant influence on solvent accessibility.

Keywords: plasma, hemoglobin, myoglobin, solvent access

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Authors: Vajihe Fasihi

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With the advancement of technology and the expansion of the Internet, a significant change in lifestyle and consumption can be seen in societies. The increasing number of mobile applications (such as SnappFood) has expanded the scope of using apps for wider access to services to citizens and meets the needs of a large number of citizens in the shortest time and with reasonable quality. First, this article seeks to understand the concept and function of the Internet distribution network on the Iranian society, which was investigated in a smaller sample (students of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Tehran university ) and uses the semi-structured interview method, and then explores the concept of consumerism. The main issue of this research is the effect of mobile apps, especially SnappFood, on increasing consumption and the difference between real needs and false needs among consumers. The findings of this research show that the use of the mentioned program has been effective in increasing the false needs of the sample community and has led to the phenomenon of consumerism.

Keywords: consumerism economics, false needs, mobile applications, reel needs

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Authors: Yike Lamu, Jieyu Tang, Jialin Wu, Jianyun Huang

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With the development of economy and science and technology, the urban heat island effect becomes more and more serious. Taking Beijing city as an example, this paper divides the value of each influence index of heat island intensity and establishes a mathematical model – neural network system based on the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation index of heat island effect. After data preprocessing, the algorithm of weight of each factor affecting heat island effect is generated, and the data of sex indexes affecting heat island intensity of Shenyang City and Shanghai City, Beijing, and Hangzhou City are input, and the result is automatically output by the neural network system. It is of practical significance to show the intensity of heat island effect by visual method, which is simple, intuitive and can be dynamically monitored.

Keywords: heat island effect, neural network, comprehensive evaluation, visualization

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Authors: Jason T. Hilton

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The ‘post-truth era’ is marked by a shift toward a period in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief. Applying narrative analysis techniques to current public discourses in education that run counter to scientific findings, it becomes possible to identify weakness in modern pedagogy and suggest ways to counter false narratives in the classroom. Results of this study indicate that a failure to engage with popular narratives lessens teachers’ ability to be convincing in the classroom, even when presenting information supported by scientific evidence. This study seeks to empower teachers by illustrating the influence of story within the post-truth era and the ways in which narrative and rhetorical elements take hold in social media contexts. Equipped with this knowledge, teachers can create a shift in pedagogy, away from transmission of knowledge toward the crafting of powerful narratives, built upon evidence, and connected to the lives of modern learners.

Keywords: 21st century learner, critical pedagogy, culture, narrative, post-truth era, social media

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Authors: Gaylord K. Booto, Marinelli Giuseppe, Helge Brattebø, Rolf A. Bohne

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Emissions reduction has emerged among the principal targets in the process of planning and designing road alignments today. Intelligent road design methods that can result in optimized alignment constitute concrete and innovative responses towards better alternatives and more sustainable road infrastructures. As the largest amount of emissions of road infrastructures occur in the operation stage, it becomes very important to consider traffic weight and distribution in alignment design process. This study analyzes the effects of four traffic factors (i.e. operating speed, vehicle category, technology and fuel type) on adjusting the vertical alignment of a given road, using optimization techniques. Further, factors’ effects are assessed qualitatively and quantitatively, and the emission profiles of resulting alignment alternatives are compared.

Keywords: alignment adjustment, emissions reduction, optimization, traffic-oriented

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Authors: Farouk A.N. Bouhadiba

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Based on Fishman’s Theoretical Paradigm (1991), we shall first discuss his three value positions for the case of the so called minority native languages in Algeria and how they may be included into a global language teaching program in Algeria. We shall then move on to his scale on language loss, language maintenance and language renewal with illustrating examples taken from the Algerian context. The second part of our talk relates to pedagogical issues on how to proceed for a smooth transition from mother tongue to school tongue, what methods or approaches suit best the teaching of mother tongue and school tongue (Immersion Programs, The Natural Approach, Applied Literacy Programs, The Berlitz Method, etc.). We shall end up our talk on how one may reshuffle the current issues on the “Arabic-only” movement and the abrupt transition from mother tongue to school tongue in use today by opting for teaching programs that involve pre-school language acquisition and in-school language acquisition grammars, and thus pave the way to effective language teaching programs and living curricula and pedagogies such as language nests, intergenerational continuity, communication and identity teaching programs, which result in better language teaching models that make language policies become a reality.

Keywords: native languages, language maintenance, mother tongue, school tongue, education, Algeria

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Authors: Pamphile Ndagijimana, Xuejiao Liu, Zhiwei Li, Yin Wang

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Enhancing the properties of activated carbon is very imperative for various applications. Indeed, the activated carbon has promising physicochemical properties desired for a considerable number of applications. In this regard, we are proposing an enhanced and green technology for increasing the efficiency and performance of the activated carbon to various applications. The technique poses on the use of natural extracts from tuberous and cereals based-solutions. These solutions showed high potentiality to be used in the synthesis of activated carbon-graphene composite with only 3 mL. The extracted liquid from tuberous sourcing was enough to induce precipitation within a fraction of a minute in contrast to that from cereal sourced. Using these extracts, a synthesis of activated carbon-graphene composite was successful. Different characterization techniques such as XRD, SEM, FTIR, BET, and Raman spectroscopy were performed to investigate the composite materials. The results confirmed a conjugation between activated carbon and graphene material.

Keywords: activated carbon, cereals, extract solution, graphene, tuberous

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Authors: Yan Li

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Purpose: There is a lack of suitable recommendation systems to assist engineering teaching. The existing traditional engineering pedagogies lack learning interests for postgraduate students. The knowledge graph-based recommender system aims to enhance postgraduate students’ programming skills, with a focus on programming courses. Design/methodology/approach: The case study will be used as a major research method, and the two case studies will be taken in both two teaching styles of the universities (Zhejiang University and the University of Nottingham Ningbo China), followed by the interviews. Quantitative and qualitative research methods will be combined in this study. Research limitations/implications: The case studies were only focused on two teaching styles universities, which is not comprehensive enough. The subject was limited to postgraduate students. Originality/value: The study collected and analyzed the data from two teaching styles of universities’ perspectives. It explored the challenges of Engineering education and tried to seek potential enhancement.

Keywords: knowledge graph and recommender system, engineering pedagogy, programming skills, postgraduate students

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Authors: Raymond Oriebe Anyasi, Harrison Atagana

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The use of a plant in the detoxification of several toxin is been known to be enhanced by various microbial endophytes which have been reported to be contained in plants growing in any contaminated soil. Plants in their natural state are mostly colonized by endophytes which in the process forms symbiotic associations with the host plants. These benefits that the endophytes offer to the plants include amongst others to: Enhance plants growth through the production of various phytohormones; increase in the resistance of environmental stresses; produce important bioactive metabolites; help in the fixing of nitrogen in the plants organelles; help in the metal translocation and accumulation in plants; assist in the production of enzymes involves the degradation of organic contaminants. Therefore recognizing these natural processes of the microbes will enable the understanding of the effective mechanism for enhanced phytoremediation. The aim of this study was to survey the progressiveness in the study involving endophyte-assisted phytoremediation of contaminants; highlighting various pollutants, the plants used, the endophytes studied as well as the type of interaction between the plants and the microbes so as to proffer a better future prospect for the technology.

Keywords: phytoremediation, endophytes, microbes, pollution, environmental management, plants

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Authors: Md Abdullah Al Mashud, M. Tariquzzaman, M. Jahangir Alam, Tapan Kumar Godder, M. Mahbubur Rahman

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This paper presents a Monte Carlo (MC) method-based dose distributions on lung tumor for 6 MV photon beam to improve the dosimetric accuracy for cancer treatment. The polystyrene which is tissue equivalent material to the lung tumor density is used in this research. In the empirical calculations, TRS-398 formalism of IAEA has been used, and the setup was made according to the ICRU recommendations. The research outcomes were compared with the state-of-the-art experimental results. From the experimental results, it is observed that the proposed based approach provides more accurate results and improves the accuracy than the existing approaches. The average %variation between measured and TPS simulated values was obtained 1.337±0.531, which shows a substantial improvement comparing with the state-of-the-art technology.

Keywords: lung tumour, Monte Carlo, polystyrene, Elekta synergy, Monaco planning system

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Authors: H. Zedira, M. T. Hannachi, H. Djebaili, B. Daheche

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The rapid pace of technology development and strong competition in the market, prompted us to consider the field of manufacturing of steel pipes by a process complies fully with the requirements of industrial induction welding is high frequency (HF), this technique is better known today in Algeria, more precisely for the manufacture of tubes diameters Single Annabib TG Tebessa. The aim of our study is based on the characterization of processes controlling the mechanical behavior of steel pipes (type E24-2), welded by high frequency induction, considering the different tests and among the most destructive known test internal pressure. The internal pressure test is performed according to the application area of welded pipes, or as leak test, either as a test of strength (bursting). All tubes are subjected to a hydraulic test pressure of 50 bar kept at room temperature for a period of 6 seconds. This study provides information that helps optimize the design and implementation to predict the behavior of the tubes during operation.

Keywords: castem, pressure, stress, tubes, thickness

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Authors: Chiung-Chin Huang, Jui-Yen Lin, Yao-Hui Huang

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Among current techniques of boron removal from wastewater with high boron concentration, chemical oxo-precipitation (COP) is one of the promising methods due to its milder condition. COP uses H2O2 to transform boric acid to perborates which can easily precipitate with barium ions at room temperature. However, the generation of the waste sludge that requires sludge/water separation and sludge dewatering is troublesome. This work presents an innovative technology which integrates chemical oxo-precipitation (COP) with fluidized-bed homogeneous granulation (FBHG) to reclaim boron as homogeneous perborate particles. By conducting COP in a fluidized-bed reactor, the barium perborate can be granulated to form homogeneous particles (>1.0 mm) with low water content (< 10%). Under the suitable condition, more than 70% of boron can be recovered from 600 ppm of boron solution and the residual boron is lower than 100 ppm.

Keywords: barium, perborate, chemical oxo-precipitation, boron removal, fluidized-bed, granulation

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Authors: Mojtaba Molaahmadi, Morteza Raei Dehaghi, Abdolrahim Arghavan

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The present study aims to explore the effect of computerization on marketing performance in Snowa Company. In other words, this study intends to respond to this question that whether or not there is a relationship between utilization of computerization in marketing activities and marketing performance. The statistical population included 60 marketing managers of Snowa Company. In order to test the research hypotheses, Pearson correlation coefficient was employed. The reliability was equal to 96.8%. In this study, computerization was the independent variable and marketing performance was the dependent variable with characteristics of market share, improving the competitive position, and sales volume. The results of testing the hypotheses revealed that there is a significant relationship between utilization of computerization and market share, sales volume and improving the competitive position

Keywords: computerization, e-marketing information, information technology, marketing performance

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Authors: Alimohammad

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Man's entry into space is one of the most important results of developments and advances made in information technology. But this human step, like many of his other actions, is not free of danger, as space pollution today has become a major problem for the global community. Paying attention to the issue of preserving the space environment is in the interest of all governments and mankind, and ignoring it can increase the possibility of conflict between countries. What many space powers still do not pay attention to is the freedom to explore and exploit space should be limited by banning pollution of the space environment. Therefore, freedom and prohibition are complementary and should not be considered conflicting concepts. The legal system created by the current space treaties for the effective preservation of the space environment has failed. Customary international law also does not have an effective provision and guarantee of sufficient executions in order to prevent damage to the environment. Considering the responsibility of each generation in the healthy transfer of the environment to the next generation and considering the sustainable development concept, the space environment must also be passed on to future generations in a healthy and undamaged manner. As a result, many environmental policies related to Earth should also be applied to the space environment..

Keywords: law, space, environment, responsibility

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Authors: Yuan Liu, Hongyun Liu

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Teacher-student relationship plays an important role on facilitating students’ learning behavior, school engagement, and academic outcomes. It is believed that good relationship will enhance the human agency—the intrinsic motivation—mainly through the strengthening of autonomic support, feeling of relatedness, and the individual’s competence to increase the academic outcomes. This is in line with self-determination theory (SDT), which generally views that the intrinsic motivation imbedded with human basic needs is one of the most important factors that would lead to better school engagement, academic outcomes, and well-being. Based on SDT, the present study explored the relation of among teacher-student relationship (teacher’s encouragement, respect), students’ motivation (extrinsic and intrinsic), and achievement outcomes. The study was based on a large scale academic assessment and questionnaire survey conducted by the Center for Assessment and Improvement of Basic Education Quality in Mainland China (2013) on Grade 8 students. The results indicated that intrinsic motivation mediated the relation between teacher-student relationship and academic achievement outcomes.

Keywords: teacher-student relationship, intrinsic motivation, academic achievement, mediation

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Authors: Sahar Al-Qahtani, Rabeeh Ayaz Abbasi, Naif Radi Aljohani

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Many universities use social media platforms as new communication channels to disseminate information and promptly communicate with their audience. As Twitter is one of the widely used social media platforms, this research aims to explore the adaption and utilization of Twitter by universities. We propose a framework called 'Social Network Analysis for Universities on Twitter' (SNAUT) to analyze the usage of Twitter by universities and to measure their interaction with public. The study includes a sample of around 110,000 tweets from 36 Saudi universities, including both public and private universities. Using SNAUT, we can (1) investigate the purpose of using Twitter by universities, (2) determine the broad topics discussed by them, and (3) identify the groups closely associated with the universities. The results show that most of the Saudi universities (whether public or private) actively use Twitter. Results also reveal that public universities respond to public queries more frequently, but private universities stand out more in terms of information dissemination using retweets and diverse hashtags. Finally, we develop a ranking mechanism in SNAUT for ranking universities based on their social interaction with the public on Twitter.

Keywords: social media, twitter, social network analysis, universities, higher education, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Rula Al Azawi, Abobaker Shafi

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The purpose of this paper is to use gamification technology in the mobile computing course to increase students motivation and engagement. The game applied to be designed by students focusing also to design educational game for children with age six years. This game will teach the students how to learn in a fun way. Our case study is implemented at Gulf College which is affiliated with Staffordshire University-UK. Our game design was applied to teach students Android Studio software by designing an educational game. Our goal with gamification is to improve student attendance, increase student engagement, problem solving and user stratification. Finally, we describe the findings and results of our case study. The data analysis and evaluation are based on students feedback, staff feedback and the final marking grades for the students.

Keywords: gamification, educational game, android studio software, students motivation and engagement

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Authors: Kazuko Sakamoto

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Anthropomorphic agents have been successful in areas where there are many human interactions, such as education and medical care. The persuasive effect is also expected in e-shopping sites on the web. This indicates that customer service is not necessarily human but can play that role. However, the 'humanity' in anthropomorphism sometimes has a risk of working negatively. In general, as the appearance of anthropomorphic agents approaches humans, it is thought that their affinity with humans increases. However, when the degree of similarity reaches a certain level, it gives the user a weird feeling. This is the 'eerie valley' phenomenon. This is a concept used in the world of robotics, but it seems to be applicable to anthropomorphic agents such as characters. Then what kind of design can you accept as an anthropomorphic agent that gives you a feeling of friendliness or good feeling without causing discomfort or fear to people? This study focused on this point and examined what design and characteristics would be effective for marketing communication. As a result of the investigation, it was found that there is no need for gaze and blinking, the size of the eyes is normal or large, and the impression evaluation is higher when the structure is as simple as possible. Conversely, agents with high eye-gaze and white-eye ratios had low evaluations, and the negative impact on eye-gaze was particularly large.

Keywords: anthropomorphicgents, design evaluation, marketing communication, customer service

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Authors: Abdalla Ahmad Obeidat

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Developing efficient hydrogen storage materials is critical to advancing clean energy technologies, particularly for applications in fuel cells and renewable energy systems. This study explores materials for hydrogen storage through Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations, addressing one of the most significant challenges in sustainable energy: the safe and efficient storage and release of hydrogen. Our research provides an in-depth analysis of various candidate compounds' structural and electronic properties, aiming to identify materials with enhanced hydrogen storage capacities. By investigating adsorption mechanisms and optimizing key material properties, we aim to contribute to developing high-performance hydrogen storage solutions. The findings from this work have the potential to impact the field of hydrogen fuel technology significantly, offering insights and advancements that support the transition to sustainable energy systems.

Keywords: hydrogen storage, density functional theory, electronic, thermal stability

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Authors: Mauro Callejas-Cuervo, Andrea C. Alarcon-Aldana, Andres F. Ruiz-Olaya, Juan C. Alvarez

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Motion capture (MC) is the construction of a precise and accurate digital representation of a real motion. Systems have been used in the last years in a wide range of applications, from films special effects and animation, interactive entertainment, medicine, to high competitive sport where a maximum performance and low injury risk during training and competition is seeking. This paper presents an inertial and magnetic sensor based technological platform, intended for particular amplitude monitoring and telerehabilitation processes considering an efficient cost/technical considerations compromise. Our platform particularities offer high social impact possibilities by making telerehabilitation accessible to large population sectors in marginal socio-economic sector, especially in underdeveloped countries that in opposition to developed countries specialist are scarce, and high technology is not available or inexistent. This platform integrates high-resolution low-cost inertial and magnetic sensors with adequate user interfaces and communication protocols to perform a web or other communication networks available diagnosis service. The amplitude information is generated by sensors then transferred to a computing device with adequate interfaces to make it accessible to inexperienced personnel, providing a high social value. Amplitude measurements of the platform virtual system presented a good fit to its respective reference system. Analyzing the robotic arm results (estimation error RMSE 1=2.12° and estimation error RMSE 2=2.28°), it can be observed that during arm motion in any sense, the estimation error is negligible; in fact, error appears only during sense inversion what can easily be explained by the nature of inertial sensors and its relation to acceleration. Inertial sensors present a time constant delay which acts as a first order filter attenuating signals at large acceleration values as is the case for a change of sense in motion. It can be seen a damped response of platform virtual in other images where error analysis show that at maximum amplitude an underestimation of amplitude is present whereas at minimum amplitude estimations an overestimation of amplitude is observed. This work presents and describes the platform virtual as a motion capture system suitable for telerehabilitation with the cost - quality and precision - accessibility relations optimized. These particular characteristics achieved by efficiently using the state of the art of accessible generic technology in sensors and hardware, and adequate software for capture, transmission analysis and visualization, provides the capacity to offer good telerehabilitation services, reaching large more or less marginal populations where technologies and specialists are not available but accessible with basic communication networks.

Keywords: inertial sensors, joint amplitude measurement, MEMS, telerehabilitation

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Authors: Qian Wang

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In this study, Chinese highly educated women referred to those women who are currently doing their Ph.D. studies, and those who have already had Ph.D. degrees. In ancient Chinese society, women were subordinated to men. The only gender role of women was to be a wife and a mother. With the rapid development of China, women are encouraged to pursue higher education. As a result of this, the number of highly educated women is growing very quickly. However, people, especially men, believe that highly educated women are challenging the traditional image of Chinese women. It is thus believed that highly educated women are very different with the traditional women. They are demonstrating an image of independent and confident women with promising careers. Plus, with the reinforcement of mass media, highly educated women are regarded as non-traditional women. People stigmatize them as the 'third gender' on the basis of male and female. Now, the 'third gender' has become a gender stereotype of highly educated women. In this study, 20 participants were interviewed to explore their perceptions of self and how these highly educated women respond to the stereotype. The study finds that Chinese highly educated women are facing a variety of problems and difficulties in their daily life, and they believe that one of the leading causes is the contradiction between patriarchal values and the views of gender equality in contemporary China. This study gives rich qualitative data in the research of Chinese women and will help to extend the current Chinese gender studies.

Keywords: Chinese highly educated women, gender stereotype, self, the ‘third gender’

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Authors: Brooke A. Moore

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Developing teachers’ cultural awareness ensures schools are culturally responsive and socially just for diverse and exceptional students. An ideology of ‘normal’ exists in schools, creating boundaries where some students belong and others are marginalized based on difference. It is important that teacher preparation work to create democratic classrooms where teachers foster tolerance of difference and promote critical thinking and social justice. This paper outlines a framework for developing educator cultural awareness through the use of critically reflective professional learning communities (PLCs) drawing from the research on teacher critical reflection, collaborative PLCs, and Engeström’s theory of expansive learning. A case study using the framework was conducted with ten practicing teachers. Participants read and reflected on critical literature to make visible unexamined beliefs, engaged in conversations that pushed them to reflect more deeply and project forward new ideas, and set goals for acting as agents of change in their schools.

Keywords: cultural and linguistic diversity, diversity, special education, teacher beliefs

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Authors: Johnson Opoku-Asante, Emmanuel Bobobee, Joseph Akowuah, Eric Amoah Asante

Abstract:

In recent years, the issue of postharvest losses has become a serious concern in Sub-Saharan Africa. Postharvest technology development and adaptation need urgent attention, particularly for small and medium-scale rice farmers in Africa. However, to better develop any postharvest technology, knowledge of the mechanical properties of different varieties of paddy rice is vital. There is also the issue of the development of new rice cultivars. The objectives of this research are to (1) determine the mechanical properties of the selected paddy rice varieties at varying moisture content. (2) conduct a comparative analysis of the mechanical properties of selected rice paddy for different variety-moisture content interactions. (3) determine the significant statistical differences between the mean values of the various variety-moisture content interactions The mechanical properties of AGRA rice, CRI-Amankwatia, CRI-Enapa and CRI-Dartey, four local varieties developed by Crop Research Institute of Ghana are compared at 11.5%, 13.0% and 16.5% dry basis moisture content. The mechanical properties measured are Sphericity, Aspect ratio, Grain mass, 1000 Grain mass, Bulk Density, True Density, Porosity and Angle of Repose. Samples were collected from the Kwadaso Agric College of the CRI in Kumasi. The samples were threshed manually and winnowed before conducting the experiment. The moisture content was determined on a dry basis using the Moistex Screw-Type Digital Grain Moisture Meter. Other equipment used for data collection were venire calipers and Citizen electronic scale. A 4×3 factorial arrangement was used in a completely randomized design in three replications. Tukey's HSD comparisons test was conducted during data analysis to compare all possible pairwise combinations of the various varieties’ moisture content interaction. From the results, it was concluded that Sphericity recorded 0.391 mm³ to 0.377 mm³ for CRI-Dartey at 16.5% and CRI-Enapa at 13.5%, respectively, whereas Aspect Ratio recorded 0.298 mm³ to 0.269 mm³ for CRI-Dartey at 16.5% and CRI-Enapa at 13.5% respectively. For grain mass, AGRA rice at 13.0% also recorded 0.0312 g as the highest score and CRI-Enapa at 13.0% obtained 0.0237 as the lowest score. For the GM1000, it was observed that it ranges from 29.33 g for CRI-Amankwatia at 16.5% moisture content to 22.54 g for CRI-Enapa at 16.5% interactions. Bulk Density ranged from 654.0 kg/m³ to 422.9 kg/m³ for CRI-Amankwatia at 16.5% and CRI-Enapa at 11.5% as the highest and lowest recordings, respectively. It was also observed that the true Density ranges from 1685.8 kg/m3 for AGRA rice at 13.0% moisture content to 1352.5 kg/m³ for CRI-Enapa at 16.5% interactions. In the case of porosity, CRI-Enapa at 11.5% received the highest score of 70.83% and CRI-Amankwatia at 16.5 received the lowest score of 55.88%. Finally, in the case of Angle of Repose, CRI-Amankwatia at 16.5% recorded the highest score of 47.3o and CRI-Enapa at 11.5% recorded the least score of 34.27o. In all cases, the difference in mean value was less than the LSD. This indicates that there were no significant statistical differences between their mean values, indicating that technologies developed and adapted for one variety can equally be used for all the other varieties.

Keywords: angle of repose, aspect ratio, bulk density, porosity, sphericity, mechanical properties

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