Search results for: natural language grammar models

Authors: L. Giraudet, O. Simonetti, G. de Tournadre, N. Dumelié, B. Clarenc, F. Reisdorffer

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In this paper we intend to give a comprehensive view of the saturation misbehavior of thin film transistors (TFTs) based on disordered semiconductors, such as most organic TFTs, and its link to the field activation of the mobility. Experimental evidence of the field activation of the mobility is given for disordered semiconductor based TFTs, when reducing the gate length. Saturation misbehavior is observed simultaneously. Advanced transport models have been implemented in a quasi-2D numerical TFT simulation software. From the numerical simulations it is clearly established that field activation of the mobility alone cannot explain the saturation misbehavior. Evidence is given that high longitudinal field gradient at the drain end of the channel is responsible for an excess charge accumulation, preventing saturation. The two combined effects allow reproducing the experimental output characteristics of short channel TFTs, with S-shaped characteristics and saturation failure.

Keywords: mobility field activation, numerical simulation, OTFT, saturation failure

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Authors: Ahmed Khalil

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The discoveries in material sciences create an impulse in renewable energy transmission. Application techniques become more accessible by applied sciences. Variety of materials, application methods, and performance analyzing techniques can convert daily life functions to energy sources. These functions not only include natural sources like sun, wind, or water but also comprise the motion of tools used by human beings. In line with this, vehicles' motion, speed and weights come to the scene as energy sources together with piezoelectric nano-generators beneath the roads. Numerous application examples are put forward with repeated average performance, versus the differentiating challenges depending on geography and project conditions. Such holistic approach provides way for feed backs on research and improvement process of nano-generators beneath asphalt roads. This paper introduces the specific application methods of piezoelectric nano-generator beneath asphalt roads of Ahmadi Township in Kuwait.

Keywords: nano-generator pavements, piezoelectric, renewable energy, transducer

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Authors: Asma Aid, Samira Amokrane, Djamel Nibou, Hadj Mekatel

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The marine Enteromorpha Compressa (L.) (ECL) biomass was used as a low-cost biological adsorbent for the removal of Cr⁶⁺, Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺ ions from artificially contaminated aqueous solutions. The operating variables pH, the initial concentration C₀, the solid/liquid ratio R and the temperature T were studied. A full factorial experimental design technique enabled us to obtain a mathematical model describing the adsorption of Cr⁶⁺, Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺ ions and to study the main effects and interactions among operational parameters. The equilibrium isotherm has been analyzed by Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin-Radushkevich models; it has been found that the adsorption process follows the Langmuir model for the used ions. Kinetic studies showed that the pseudo-second-order model correlates our experimental data. Thermodynamic parameters showed the endothermic heat of adsorption and the spontaneity of the adsorption process for Cr⁶⁺ ions and exothermic heat of adsorption for Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺ ions.

Keywords: enteromorpha Compressa, adsorption process, Cr⁶⁺, Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺, equilibrium isotherm

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Authors: Marisé García Batlle, Juan Manuel Navarrete Tejero

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In aquatic ecosystems, the main indicators of pollution are contaminated sediments, which are the primary repository of radionuclides and chemicals elements in the marine environment. Radioactive Contamination Factor (RCF) has been proposed as a suitable unit to measure the magnitude of radioactive contamination at global scale, caused mainly by more than 2,000 nuclear explosions tests performed during the 1945-65 period. It is obtained as percentage of contaminant radioactivity (¹³⁷Cs) compared to natural radioactivity (⁴⁰K), both expressed in Bq/g of marine sediments conditioned in Marinelli containers and detected in both NaI(Tl) and HPGe detectors. So, in this paper samples of marine sediments were taken up along the occidental Cuban coasts and analyzed by gamma spectrometry for the determination of gamma-emitting radioisotopes with energies between 60 and 2000 keV. The results proved that the proposed method is simple and suitable to evaluated radioactive contamination. Also, the RCF values provide an appropriate indicator to predict which pollution levels in the future will be and if the rate will go down as disintegrates the ¹³⁷Cs present when only 2,4 half-lives have passed away.

Keywords: Cuba, gamma spectrometry, marine sediments, radioactive pollution

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Authors: Eunice Tan

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The purpose of this presentation is to look at an alternative to the approach and methodologies of working with a child with special needs. The strength-based approach to education embodies a paradigm shift. It is a strategy to move away from a deficit-based methodology which inadvertently may lead to an extensive list of things that the child cannot do or is unable to do. Today, many parents of individuals with special needs are focused on the individual’s deficits rather than on his or her strengths. Even when parents recognise and identify their child’s savant strengths to be valuable and wish to develop their abilities, they face the challenge that there are insufficient programs committed to supporting the development and improvement of such abilities. What is a strength-based approach in education? A strength-based approach in education focuses on students' positive qualities and contributions to class instead of the skills and abilities they may not have. Many schools are focused on the child’s special educational needs rather than the whole child. Parents interviewed have said that they have to engage external tutors to help hone in on their child’s interests and strengths. The strength-based approach to writing statements encourages educators to find out: • What a child can do • What a child can do when he or she is given educational support • Learning more about children with special needs and their strengths and talents will broaden our understanding of how we can help them with language acquisition, social skills, as well as self-help and independence skills.

Keywords: special needs, strengths, and talents, alternative educational approach, strength based approach

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Authors: Hanee Ryu

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The former president Lee Myung-bak's administration of Korea presented “green growth” as a catchphrase from 2008. He declared “low-carbon, green growth” the nation's vision for the next decade according to United Nation Framework on Climate Change. The government designed omnidirectional policy for low-carbon and green growth with concentrating all effort of departments. The structural change was expected because this slogan is the identity of the government, which is strongly driven with the whole department. After his administration ends, the purpose of this paper is to quantify the policy effect and to compare with the value of the other OECD countries. The major target values under direct policy objectives were suggested, but it could not capture the entire landscape on which the policy makes changes. This paper figures out the policy impacts through comparing the value of ex-ante between the one of ex-post. Furthermore, each index level of Korea’s low-carbon and green growth comparing with the value of the other OECD countries. To measure the policy effect, indicators international organizations have developed are considered. Environmental Sustainable Index (ESI) and Environmental Performance Index (EPI) have been developed by Yale University’s Center for Environmental Law and Policy and Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and Joint Research Center of European Commission. It has been widely used to assess the level of natural resource endowments, pollution level, environmental management efforts and society’s capacity to improve its environmental performance over time. Recently OCED publish the Green Growth Indicator for monitoring progress towards green growth based on internationally comparable data. They build up the conceptual framework and select indicators according to well specified criteria: economic activities, natural asset base, environmental dimension of quality of life and economic opportunities and policy response. It considers the socio-economic context and reflects the characteristic of growth. Some selected indicators are used for measuring the level of changes the green growth policies have induced in this paper. As results, the CO2 productivity and energy productivity show trends of declination. It means that policy intended industry structure shift for achieving carbon emission target affects weakly in the short-term. Increasing green technologies patents might result from the investment of previous period. The increasing of official development aids which can be immediately embarked by political decision with no time lag present only in 2008-2009. It means international collaboration and investment to developing countries via ODA has not succeeded since the initial stage of his administration. The green growth framework makes the public expect structural change, but it shows sporadic effect. It needs organization to manage it in terms of the long-range perspectives. Energy, climate change and green growth are not the issue to be handled in the one period of the administration. The policy mechanism to transfer cost problem to value creation should be developed consistently.

Keywords: comparing ex-ante between ex-post indicator, green growth indicator, implication for green growth policy, measuring policy effect

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Authors: Francis Okodede, Edafe Lucky Okotie

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Conventional energy sources based on oil, coal, and natural gas has posed a trait to environment and to human health. Green energy stands as an alternative because it has proved to be eco-friendly. The prospective of renewable energy sources are quite vast as they can, in principle, meet many times the world’s energy demand. Renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, can provide sustainable energy services based on the use of routinely available indigenous resources. New renewable energy sources (solar energy, wind energy, and modern bio-energy) are currently contributing immensely to global energy demand. A number of studies have shown the potential and contribution of renewable energy to global energy supplies, indicating that in the second half of the 21st century, it is going to be a major source and driver in the telecommunication sector. Green energy contribution might reach as much as 50 percent of global energy demands if the right policies are in place. This work suggests viable non-conventional means of energy supply to power a cellular base station.

Keywords: base station, energy storage, green energy, rotor efficiency, solar energy, wind energy

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Authors: Valeria Cotza

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School drop-out is a multifactorial phenomenon that in Italy concerns all those underage students who, at different school stages (up to 16 years old) or training (up to 18 years old), manifest educational difficulties from dropping out of compulsory education without obtaining a qualification to repetition rates and absenteeism. From the 1980s to the 2000s, there was a progressive attenuation of the economic and social model towards a multifactorial reading of the phenomenon, and the European Commission noted the importance of learning about the phenomenon through approaches able to integrate large-scale quantitative surveys with qualitative analyses. It is not a matter of identifying the contextual factors affecting the phenomenon but problematising them by means of systemic and comprehensive in-depth analysis. So, a privileged point of observation and field of intervention are those schools that propose alternative models of teaching and learning to the traditional ones, such as popular and second-chance schools. Alternative schools and interventions grew in these years in Europe as well as in the US and Latin America, working in the direction of greater equity to create the conditions (often absent in conventional schools) for everyone to achieve educational goals. Against extensive Anglo-Saxon and US literature on this topic, there is yet no unambiguous definition of alternative education, especially in Europe, where second-chance education has been most studied. There is little literature on a second chance in Italy and almost none on alternative education (with the exception of method schools, to which in Italy the concept of “alternative” is linked). This research aims to fill the gap by systematically surveying the alternative interventions in the area and beginning to explore some models of popular and second-chance schools and experiences through a mixed methods approach. So, the main research objectives concern the spread of alternative education in the Lombardy region, the main characteristics of these schools and interventions, and their effectiveness in terms of students’ well-being and school results. This paper seeks to answer the first point by presenting the preliminary results of the first phase of the project dedicated to mapping. Through the Google Forms platform, a questionnaire is being distributed to all schools in Lombardy and some schools in the rest of Italy to map the presence of alternative schools and interventions and their main characteristics. The distribution is also taking place thanks to the support of the Milan Territorial and Lombardy Regional School Offices. Moreover, other social realities outside the school system (such as cooperatives and cultural associations) can be questioned. The schools and other realities to be questioned outside Lombardy will also be identified with the support of INDIRE (Istituto Nazionale per Documentazione, Innovazione e Ricerca Educativa, “National Institute for Documentation, Innovation and Educational Research”) and based on existing literature and the indicators of “Futura” Plan of the PNRR (Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza, “National Recovery and Resilience Plan”). Mapping will be crucial and functional for the subsequent qualitative and quantitative phase, which will make use of statistical analysis and constructivist grounded theory.

Keywords: school drop-out, alternative education, popular and second-chance schools, map

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Authors: Yeshona Sewsynker

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This study presents three microwave-assisted alkalic salt pretreatments to enhance delignification and enzymatic saccharification of corn cobs. The effects of process parameters of salt concentration (0-15%), microwave power intensity (0-800 W) and pretreatment time (2-8 min) on reducing sugar yield from corn cobs were investigated. Pretreatment models were developed with the high coefficient of determination values (R2>0.85). Optimization gave a maximum reducing sugar yield of 0.76 g/g. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared analysis (FTIR) showed major changes in the lignocellulosic structure after pretreatment. A 7-fold increase in the sugar yield was observed compared to previous reports on the same substrate. The developed pretreatment strategy was effective for enhancing enzymatic saccharification from lignocellulosic wastes for microbial biofuel production processes and value-added products.

Keywords: pretreatment, lignocellulosic biomass, enzymatic hydrolysis, delignification

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Authors: Mafel Obhuo, Dodeye I. Igbong, Duabari S. Aziaka, Pericles Pilidis

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An important feature of the exploitation of associated gas as fuel for gas turbine engines is a declining supply. So when exploiting this resource, the divestment of prime movers is very important as the fuel supply diminishes with time. This paper explores the influence of engine degradation on the timing of divestments. Hypothetical but realistic gas turbine engines were modelled with Turbomatch, the Cranfield University gas turbine performance simulation tool. The results were deployed in three degradation scenarios within the TERA (Techno-economic and environmental risk analysis) framework to develop economic models. An optimisation with Genetic Algorithms was carried out to maximize the economic benefit. The results show that degradation will have a significant impact. It will delay the divestment of power plants, while they are running less efficiently. Over a 20 year investment, a decrease of $0.11bn, $0.26bn and $0.45bn (billion US dollars) were observed for the three degradation scenarios as against the clean case.

Keywords: economic return, flared associated gas, net present value, optimization

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Authors: Wafa Nouari

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The paper investigates the advantages and drawbacks of online creative writing courses for Algerian university students, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper employs a mixed-methods approach, using both quantitative and qualitative data from surveys, interviews, and online course evaluations. The paper examines three online creative writing courses offered by Oxford University, Stanford University, and Coursera. The paper shows that online creative writing courses can improve the student's writing abilities, enthusiasm, and self-confidence, as well as introduce them to various literary forms and cultures. However, the paper also highlights some challenges and obstacles that the students encounter, such as technical problems, language difficulties, cultural gaps, and lack of feedback and interaction. The paper argues that online creative writing courses can be a useful alternative or addition to conventional classroom instruction, especially during the pandemic. The paper also offers some suggestions for enhancing the quality and effectiveness of online creative writing courses, such as giving more direction, support, and feedback to the students, as well as creating a sense of community and cooperation among them.

Keywords: online creative writing courses, Algerian university students, mixed methods approach, benefits and chanllenges

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Authors: Ana Vieira, Fernando Lau, João Pedro Mortágua, Luís Cruz, Rui Santos

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The air transport impact on environment is more than ever a limitative obstacle to the aeronautical industry continuous growth. Over the last decades, considerable effort has been carried out in order to obtain quieter aircraft solutions, whether by changing the original design or investigating more silent maneuvers. The noise propagated by rotating surfaces is one of the most important sources of annoyance, being present in most aerial vehicles. Bearing this is mind, CEIIA developed a new computational chain for noise prediction with in-house software tools to obtain solutions in relatively short time without using excessive computer resources. This work is based on the new acoustic tool, which aims to predict the rotor noise generated during steady and maneuvering flight, making use of the flexibility of the C language and the advantages of GPU programming in terms of velocity. The acoustic tool is based in the Formulation 1A of Farassat, capable of predicting two important types of noise: the loading and thickness noise. The present work describes the most important features of the acoustic tool, presenting its most relevant results and framework analyses for helicopters and UAV quadrotors.

Keywords: rotor noise, acoustic tool, GPU Programming, UAV noise

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Authors: Mingxi Xiao

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This case study focused on a bilingual child named Emma and her play. Emma was a four-year-old girl born in Australia while her parents were both Chinese. Emma could speak fluent English, while her Mandarin was not as good as her spoken English. With the research question to figure out whether creative play had an impact on children’s bilingualism, this case study mainly used the anecdotes method to observe Emma’s play and this report presented five observations of Emma, describing detailed information about her play and recording her language use. Based on Emma’s interests and daily activities, this case study chose her creative play for observation, which incorporates a whole range of activities from dancing to drawing, as well as playing instruments. From the five observations, it could be seen that Emma often mixed languages to help her express her meaning. It could be seen that Emma made an effort to use her bilingualism in her creative play. In other words, play encouraged Emma to use the two languages. In conclusion, the observations with Emma showed that although her Mandarin was not good enough, she displayed confidence in speaking both languages and had gradually shifted from mixing languages to code-switching. Recommendations were provided to support Emma’s bilingual abilities for further development in the end.

Keywords: bilingual, case study, code-switching, creative play, early childhood

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Authors: Amirreza Razzaghipour Sorkhab

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The exploration of the connection between cognition and Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) holds significant value. Individuals with APD experience challenges in processing auditory information through the central auditory nervous system's varied pathways. Understanding the importance of auditory attention in individuals with APD, as well as the primary diagnostic tools such as language and auditory attention tests, highlights the critical need for assessing their auditory attention abilities. While not all children with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) show deficits in auditory attention, there are often deficiencies in cognitive and attentional performance. The link between various types of attention deficits and APD suggests impairments in sustained and divided auditory attention. Research into the origins of APD should also encompass higher-level processes, such as auditory attention. It is evident that investigating the interaction between APD and auditory and cognitive functions holds significant value. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that APD tests may be influenced by cognitive factors, but despite signs of auditory attention interaction with auditory processing skills and the influence of cognitive factors on tests for this disorder, auditory attention measures are not typically included in APD diagnostic protocols. Therefore, incorporating attention assessment tests into the battery of tests for individuals with auditory processing disorder will be beneficial for obtaining useful insights into their attentional abilities.

Keywords: auditory processing disorder, auditory attention, central auditory processing disorder, top-down pathway

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Authors: Osei Yaw Atakora

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A brief study involving the use of natural plant product in trapping of Bactrocera dorsalis was conducted in selected mango orchards in two agro ecological zone of Ghana for the major mango season. The main objective of the study was to compare the attractiveness of different concentrations of aqueous leaf extract of Pimenta racemosa with a commercial methyl eugenol (Stop Mating Block). A total number of 174,388 organisms were captured with 171,412 identified as B. dorsalis and 2,976 identified as non-target (other insects and spiders). Significant differences (P < 0.05) were observed in the performance of the different treatments across the selected experimental farms. Stop Mating Block performed better than the different concentrations with a significant margin. The result suggests that Stop Mating Block performed better than the extract but it is economically preferable since most farmers in Ghana are small-holder farmers.

Keywords: bactrocera dorsalis, methyl eugenol, Pimenta racemosa, stop mating block

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Authors: Abirami Baleswaran, Christel Couderc, Loubnah Belahcen, Jean Dayde, Hélène Tormo, Gwénaëlle Jard

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Cheeses are often reported to be spoiled by Pseudomonas spp., responsible for defects in appearance, texture, taste, and smell, leading to their non-marketing and even their destruction. Despite preventive actions, problems linked to Pseudomonas spp. are difficult to control by the lack of knowledge and control of these contaminants during the cheese manufacturing. Lactic goat cheese producers are not spared by this problem and are looking for solutions to decrease the number of spoiled cheeses. To explore different hypotheses, experiments are needed. However, cheese-making experiments at the pilot scale are expensive and time consuming. Thus, there is a real need to develop a miniature cheeses model system under controlled conditions. In a previous study, several miniature cheese models corresponding to different type of commercial cheeses have been developed for different purposes. The models were, for example, used to study the influence of milk, starters cultures, pathogen inhibiting additives, enzymatic reactions, microflora, freezing process on cheese. Nevertheless, no miniature model was described on the lactic goat cheese. The aim of this work was to develop a miniature cheese model system under controlled laboratory conditions which resembles commercial lactic goat cheese to study Pseudomonas spp. spoilage during the manufacturing and ripening process. First, a protocol for the preparation of miniature cheeses (3.5 times smaller than a commercial one) was designed based on the cheese factorymanufacturing process. The process was adapted from “Rocamadour” technology and involves maturation of pasteurized milk, coagulation, removal of whey by centrifugation, moulding, and ripening in a little scale cellar. Microbiological (total bacterial count, yeast, molds) and physicochemical (pH, saltinmoisture, moisture in fat-free)analyses were performed on four key stages of the process (before salting, after salting, 1st day of ripening, and end of ripening). Factory and miniature cheeses volatilomewere also obtained after full scan Sift-MS cheese analysis. Then, Pseudomonas spp. strains isolated from contaminated cheeses were selected on their origin, their ability to produce pigments, and their enzymatic activities (proteolytic, lecithinasic, and lipolytic). Factory and miniature curds were inoculated by spotting selected strains on the cheese surface. The expression of cheese spoilage was evaluated by counting the level of Pseudomonas spp. during the ripening and by visual observation and under UVlamp. The physicochemical and microbiological compositions of miniature cheeses permitted to assess that miniature process resembles factory process. As expected, differences involatilomes were observed, probably due to the fact that miniature cheeses are made usingpasteurized milk to better control the microbiological conditions and also because the little format of cheese induced probably a difference during the ripening even if the humidity and temperature in the cellar were quite similar. The spoilage expression of Pseudomonas spp. was observed in miniature and factory cheeses. It confirms that the proposed model is suitable for the preparation of miniature cheese specimens in the spoilage study of Pseudomonas spp. in lactic cheeses. This kind of model could be deployed for other applications and other type of cheese.

Keywords: cheese, miniature, model, pseudomonas spp, spoilage

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Authors: R. Ziaie Moayed, H. Keshavarz Hedayati

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Over recent years, due to increased population and increased waste production, groundwater protection has become more important, therefore, designing engineered barrier systems such as landfill liners to prevent the entry of leachate into groundwater should be done with greater accuracy. These measures generally involve the application of low permeability soils such as clays. Bentonite is a natural clay with low permeability which makes it a suitable soil for using in liners. Also zeolite with high cation exchange capacity can help to reduce of hazardous materials risk. Bentonite expands when wet, absorbing as much as several times its dry mass in water. This property may effect on some structural properties of soil such as shear strength. In present study, shear strength parameters are determined by both leachates polluted and not polluted bentonite-amended zeolite soil with mixing rates (B/Z) of 5%-10% and 20% with unconfined compression test to obtain the differences. It is shown that leachate presence causes reduction in resistance in general.

Keywords: bentonite, leachate, shear strength parameters, unconfined compression test

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Authors: Bright Msukwa

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Background: Malawi suffered economic instability, bad weather and massive flooding in the year 2015. A massive flood in the country, mainly in the southern region lead to damage of agriculture products. As a result, one of the heavily affected was Zingwangwa, Blantyre. Methods: We interviewed a selected number of houses residing in donor constructed temporal shelters and those still residing close to the floods prone areas in Zingwangwa, Blantyre. Results: About 67% of the population insisted that they resided on the land, which was prone to the floods as it belonged to their ancestors and their staying was part of preserving ancestral values. The remaining 23% of the population demonstrated economic challenges due to floods that contributed to the damage of their food crops, property and houses. Conclusion: Beliefs can negatively affect economic life improvement if mindsets are not changed among people in the rural area. Recommendation: Improving natural resource management, climate and disaster resilience.

Keywords: economic, belief, walfare, poverty

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Authors: Monireh Movahedi

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Considering undesirable effects of chemical insecticides on environment and human health, most studies focused on insecticidal effects of plant materials. Here, the insecticidal effects of methanol, ethylacetat and n-Hexan extracts of Rosmarinus officinalis L. on larval stage of the cotton bollworm were studied. From each extract, six concentrations, including 5, 10, 20, 40 and 60 mg/ml were prepared and added on larval artificial diet. Moreover, solution of distilled water and tween 2% considered as check treatment. All experiments were done in laboratory temperature of 25±3 ºC, RH =50±10% and natural photoperiod during growing season. Each treatment had four replications and each replication carried out on 10 first instar larva with <24h age. Larval mortality was recorded 3 and 7 days after treat. Based on results, LC50 of methanol, ethylacetat and n-Hexan extracts of R. officinalis were 2.78, 15.87 and 15.70 ml/mg, respectively. On the other hand, antifeedant effect of methanol, ethylacetat and n-Hexan for R. officinalis estimated as 43.13%, 55.11% and 9.19%, respectively. All the obtained results revealed that methanol and ethylacetat extracts of R. officinalis are effective extracts for controlling the cotton bollworm population.

Keywords: Helocoverpa armigera, Rosemarinus officinalis, extract, methanol, ethylacetat, n-Hexan

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Authors: Pranee Liamputtong, Hala Kurban

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Based on the therapeutic landscape theory, this paper examines how young Middle-Eastern refugee individuals perceive their health and well-being and address the barriers they face in their new homeland and the means that helped them to form social connections in their new social environment. Qualitative methods (in-depth interviews and mapping activities) were conducted with ten young people from refugee backgrounds. Thematic analysis method was used to analyse the data. Findings suggested that the young refugees face various structural and cultural inequalities that significantly influenced their health and well-being. Mental health well-being was their greatest health concern. All reported the significant influence the English language had on their ability to adapt and form connections with their social environment. The presence of positive social support in their new social environment had a great impact on the health and well-being of the participants. The findings of this study have implications for social justice among refugees. They also contributed to the role of therapeutic landscapes and social support in helping young refugees to feel that they belonged to the society, and hence assisted them to adapt to their new living situation.

Keywords: young refugees, Middle-Eastern, social support, social justice

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Authors: Hasan Al Bashar Abul Ulayee, AKM Saifun Nabi, MD Mesbah-Ul-Awal

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Alert system for disaster management is common now a day and can play a vital role reducing devastation and saves lives and costs. An alert in right time can save thousands of human life, help to take shelter, manage other assets including live stocks and above all, a right time alert will help to take preparation to face and early recovery of the situation. In a country like Bangladesh where populations is more than 170 million and always facing different types of natural calamities and disasters, an early right time alert is very effective and implementation of alert system is challenging. The challenge comes from the time constraint of alerting the huge number of population. The other method of existing disaster management pre alert is traditional, sequential and non-selective so efficiency is not good enough. This paper describes a way by which alert can be provided to maximum number of people within the short time bound using parallel processing as well as random selection of selective target audience.

Keywords: alert system, Bangladesh, disaster management, parallel processing, SMS

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Authors: M. Elanchezhian, C. Gunasekaran, A. Agnes Deepa, M. Salahudeen

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In recent years climate change is one of the most emerging threats facing by biodiversity both the animals and plants species. Elevated carbon dioxide and ozone concentrations, extreme temperature, changes in rainfall patterns, insects-plant interaction are the main criteria that affect biodiversity. In the present study, which emphasis the climate change and its effects on terrestrial insect diversity in Mukuruthi National Park a protected areas of Western Ghats in India. Sampling was done seasonally at the three areas using pitfall traps, over the period of January to December 2013. The statistical findings were done by Shannon wiener diversity index (H). A significant seasonal variation pattern was detected for total insect’s diversity at the different study areas. Totally nine orders of insects were recorded. Diversity and abundance of terrestrial insects shows much difference between the Natural, Shoal forest and the Grasslands.

Keywords: biodiversity, climate change, mukuruthi national park, terrestrial invertebrates

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Authors: Nurtazin Sabir, Begon Michael, Yeszhanov Aidyn, Alexander Belyaev, Hughes Nelika, Bethany Levick, Salmurzauly Ruslan

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This paper describes the features of the distribution of the most abundant species of fleas that are carriers of the most dangerous infections in the Balkhash-Alakol depression of Kazakhstan. We show that of 153 species of fleas described in the territory of the great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus Licht.), 35 species are parasitic. 21 of them are specific to gerbils species, and four species of fleas from the Xenopsylla genus are dominant in number and value of epizootic. We also describe the modern features of habitats of these species and their relationship with the great gerbil populations found in the South Balkhash region. It indicates the need for research on the population structure of the most abundant fleas species and their relationship with the structure of the populations of main carrier of transmission infections in the region-great gerbil.

Keywords: Balkhash-Alakol depression, natural foci of plague, species diversity and distribution of fleas, flea and great gerbil population structure, epizootic activity, mass species of fleas

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Authors: Lip Vui Tshin

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Sabah, one of the thirteen Malaysian states, is located in the northern part of Malaysian Borneo. It is a melting pot of many different cultures and traditions, being home to about 2.9 million people with more than 30 ethic groups. It is also known as one of the twelve mega-diversity sites in the world with its rich living heritage; ethnic makes it ideal for the ecotourism industry. Sabah enjoys a steady flow of eco tourists from domestic and international markets with a gradual increase in the number of visitor arrival each year. Sabah’s ecotourism is categorized by its natural attraction, wildlife and wilderness habitats. This paper sets out to interpret and develop the indicators for success ecotourism sites in Sabah and measures its development stage. The long-term viability of tourism can be assured only when the limitations and favorable opportunities of the overall environment for tourism development are understood and ways to measure changes induced by tourism are identified and applied. This is a literature review of ecotourism site success indicators, and the outcome of this review is the identification of existing clusters and categorization of indicators and charting the way forward to develop a better understanding in ecotourism site success.

Keywords: ecotourism, ecotourism indicators, ecotourism success, Sabah

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Authors: Weijie Gu, Sergio Martinez, Hoai Nguyen, Hongtao Xu, Piet Herdewijn, Steven De Jonghe, Kalyan Das

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Nucleotide analogs are used for treating viral infections such as HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, influenza, and SARS-CoV-2. To become polymerase substrates, a nucleotide analog must be phosphorylated by cellular kinases, which are rate-limiting. The goal of this study is to develop dNTP/NTP analogs directly from nucleotides. Tenofovir (TFV) analogs were synthesized by conjugating with natural or unnatural amino acids. It demonstrates that some conjugates act as dNTP analogs, and HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) catalytically incorporates the TFV part as the chain terminator. X-ray structures in complex with HIV-1 RT/dsDNA showed binding of the conjugates at the polymerase active site, however, in different modes in the presence of Mg²⁺ vs. Mn²⁺ ions. The adaptability of the compounds is seemingly essential for catalytic incorporation of TFV by RT. 4d with a carboxyl sidechain demonstrated the highest incorporation. 4e showed weak incorporation and rather behaved as a dNTP-competitive inhibitor. This result advocates the feasibility of designing NTP/dNTP analogs by chemical substitutions to nucleotide analogs.

Keywords: dNTP analogs, nucleotide analogs, polymerase, tenofovir, X-ray structure

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Authors: Medjadj Tarek, Ghribi Hayet

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This study aims to develop a flood sensitivity assessment tool using machine learning (ML) techniques and geographic information system (GIS). The importance of this study is integrating the geographic information systems (GIS) and machine learning (ML) techniques for mapping flood risks, which help decision-makers to identify the most vulnerable areas and take the necessary precautions to face this type of natural disaster. To reach this goal, we will study the case of the city of M'sila, which is among the areas most vulnerable to floods. This study drew a map of flood-prone areas based on the methodology where we have made a comparison between 3 machine learning algorithms: the xGboost model, the Random Forest algorithm and the K Nearest Neighbour algorithm. Each of them gave an accuracy respectively of 97.92 - 95 - 93.75. In the process of mapping flood-prone areas, the first model was relied upon, which gave the greatest accuracy (xGboost).

Keywords: Geographic information systems (GIS), machine learning (ML), emergency mapping, flood disaster management

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Authors: Ashok Kumar, Parveen Parveen

Abstract:

India is bestowed with an extremely high population of plant species with medicinal value and even has two biodiversity hotspots. Indian systems of medicine including Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani have historically been serving humankind across the world since time immemorial. About 1500 plant species have well been documented in Ayurvedic Nighantus as official medicinal plants. Additionally, several hundred species of plants are being routinely used as medicines by local people especially tribes living in and around forests. The natural resources for medicinal plants have unscientifically been over-exploited forcing rapid depletion in their genetic diversity. Moreover, renewed global interest in herbal medicines may even lead to additional depletion of medicinal plant wealth of the country, as about 95% collection of medicinal plants for pharmaceutical preparation is being carried out from natural forests. On the other hand, huge export market of medicinal and aromatic plants needs to be seriously tapped for enhancing inflow of foreign currency. Asparagus racemosus Willd., a member of family Liliaceae, is one of thirty-two plant species that have been identified as priority species for cultivation and conservation by the National Medicinal Plant Board (NMPB), Government of India. Though attention is being focused on standardization of agro-techniques and extraction methods, little has been designed on genetic improvement and selection of desired types with higher root production and saponin content, a basic ingredient of medicinal value. The saponin not only improves defense mechanisms and controls diabetes but the roots of this species promote secretion of breast milk, improved lost body weight and considered as an aphrodisiac. There is ample scope for genetic improvement of this species for enhancing productivity substantially, qualitatively and quantitatively. It is emphasized to select desired genotypes with sufficient genetic diversity for important economic traits. Hybridization between two genetically divergent genotypes could result in the synthesis of new F1 hybrids consisting of useful traits of both the parents. The evaluation of twenty seed sources of Asparagus racemosus assembled different geographical locations of India revelled high degree of variability for traits of economic importance. The maximum genotypic and phenotypic variance was observed for shoot height among shoot related traits and for root length among root related traits. The shoot height, genotypic variance, phenotypic variance, genotypic coefficient of variance, the phenotypic coefficient of variance was recorded to be 231.80, 3924.80, 61.26 and 1037.32, respectively, where those of the root length were 9.55, 16.80, 23.46 and 41.27, respectively. The maximum genetic advance and genetic gain were obtained for shoot height among shoot-related traits and root length among root-related traits. Index values were developed for all seed sources based on the four most important traits, and Panthnagar (Uttrakhand), Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Dehradun (Uttarakhand), Chandigarh (Punjab), Jammu (Jammu & Kashmir) and Solan (Himachal Pradesh) were found to be promising seed sources.

Keywords: asparagus, genetic, genotypes, variance

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Authors: Mahdi Alshamasin, Riad Al-Kasasbeh, Nikolay Korenevskiy

Abstract:

We apply mathematical models for the interaction of the internal and biologically active points of meridian structures. Amongst the diseases for which reflex diagnostics are effective are those of the stomach disease. It is shown that use of fuzzy logic decision-making yields good results for the prediction and early diagnosis of gastrointestinal tract diseases, depending on the reaction energy of biologically active points (acupuncture points). It is shown that good results for the prediction and early diagnosis of diseases from the reaction energy of biologically active points (acupuncture points) are obtained by using fuzzy logic decision-making.

Keywords: acupuncture points, fuzzy logic, diagnostically important points (DIP), confidence factors, membership functions, stomach diseases

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Authors: Tien Nguyen

Abstract:

The relationship between mentors and mentees in teaching practicum has received the attention of researchers and been widely investigated. Mentors’ authority and power have captured a large and growing body of the literature in the field of teaching practicum. This article revisits mentor-mentee relationship and shifts the focus to mentees’ agency in planning and delivering lessons, an area which has been under-researched. Drawing on Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development and Harré’s Positioning Theory, this qualitative study examines how mentees responded to mentors’ instructions in practicum. Interviews and classroom observations were conducted with 20 participants including both mentors and mentees across two English language teacher education programs in two different geographical locations in Vietnam. The result indicates that regardless of the similarities and/or differences of the programs, mentees’ agency varied in accordance with their identities in specific contexts. Specifically, mentees follow or resist to mentors’ feedback and instruction in revising their lesson plans and delivery these lessons, depending on their professional identities and institutional conditions. This study contributes to the importance of supporting the agency of mentees in teacher education.

Keywords: mentors, mentees, relationship, agency, professional identity, teacher education

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Patik Joslin Kenfack, Polyakov Vladimir Mikhailovich

Abstract:

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

Keywords: Fairness, Recommender System, Ranking, Listwise Approach

Procedia PDF Downloads 144