Search results for: impact sound transmission

Authors: Shital Jhunjhunwala, Shweta Saraf

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Research Question: The study, based on a survey, empirically tests the impact of the board’s engagement in the decision-making process on firm outcomes. It also examines the moderating effect of board leadership and board independence on the relationship. Research Findings: Boards’ engagement in the decision-making process is found to be vital for firm performance, wherein effective monitoring by the board outperforms their strategic guidance role in achieving desired outcomes. The separation of CEO and Chairman positively moderates the board’s engagement in protecting stakeholders’ interests, but lack of independence and passive behaviour of independent directors raises concern on the efficacy of independent directors. Theoretical Implications: The study provides the framework for process-oriented corporate governance research, where investigation of boards’ behaviour inside the boardroom develops a deeper understanding of board processes. Practitioner Implications: The study highlights the necessity of developing boards’ focus in a company on monitoring managerial actions. It suggests the need to separate the position of CEO and Chairman for addressing the interest of all stakeholders. It recommends policymakers review the existing mandate on board independence and create alternate monitoring mechanisms for addressing agency conflict.

Keywords: board, decision-making process, engagement, independence, leadership, innovation, stakeholders, firm performance, qualitative, India

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Authors: Safa'a M. Rasheed, Saba A. Gheni, Wadood T. Mohamed

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Phenolic compounds are the most carcinogenic pollutants in waste water in effluents of refineries and pulp industry. Catalytic wet air oxidation is an efficient industrial treatment process to oxidize phenolic compounds into unharmful organic compounds. Mode of flow of the fluid to be treated is a dominant factor in determining effectiveness of the catalytic process. The present study aims to obtain a mathematical model describing the conversion of phenolic compounds as a function of the process variables; mode of flow (trickling and pulsing), temperature, pressure, along with a high concentration of phenols and a platinum supported alumina catalyst. The model was validated with the results of experiments obtained in a fixed bed reactor. High pressure and temperature were employed at 8 bar and 140 °C. It has been found that conversion of phenols is highly influenced by mode of flow and the change is caused by changes occurred in hydrodynamic regime at the time of pulsing flow mode, thereby a temporal variation in wetting efficiency of platinum prevails; which in turn increases and/or decreases contact time with phenols in wastewater. The model obtained was validated with experimental results, and it is found that the model is a good agreement with the experimental results.

Keywords: wastewater, phenol, pulsing flow, wet oxidation, high pressure

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Authors: Fawad Hussain, Mohammad Basir Bin Saud, Mohd Azwardi Md Isa

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The aim of this study is to empirically investigate the mediating impact of export performance (EP) between technological advancement capabilities (TAC) and business performance (BP) of Malaysian manufacturing MSME’s. Firm’s technological advancement resources are hypothesized as a platform to enhance both exports and business performance of manufacturing MSMEs in Malaysia. This study is twofold, primary it has investigated that technological advancement capabilities helps to appreciates main performance measures noted in terms of export performance and Secondly it investigates that how efficiently and effectively technological advancement capabilities can contributes in overall Malaysian MSME’s business performance. Smart PLS-3 statistical software is used to know the association between technological advancement capabilities, MSME’s export performance and business performance. In this study the data was composed from Malaysian manufacturing MSME’s in east coast industrial zones known as manufacturing hub of MSMEs. Seven Hundred and Fifty (750) questionnaires were distributed but only 148 usable questionnaires are returned. The finding of this study indicated that technological advancement capabilities helps to strengthen the export in term of time and cost efficient and it plays a significant role in appreciating their business performance. This study is helpful for small and medium enterprises owners who intent to expand their business overseas and though smart technological advancement resources they can achieve their business competitiveness and excellence both at local and international markets.

Keywords: technological advancement capabilities, export performance, business performance, small and medium manufacturing enterprises, malaysia

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Authors: Charles P. Mukumba, Kahilu K. Shakantu

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Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] is a key to achieving transformational results that support Zambia’s development. Public procurement is an integral to the government’s mission to deliver goods and services, in a timely and economic manner beyond the value of money spent. This study explores the link between sustainable public procurement and the SDG targets in Zambia. And to validate the established links with the public sector procurement in Zambia. The study employed qualitative research using semi-structured interviews with 18 public procurement officials. The collected data was analysed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that public procurement plays a fundamental role in achieving the sustainable development goals [SDGs] by helping to deliver core public services that support SDGs and also by systematising and co-delivering added value along the way. The study further established the importance of sustainable public procurement within the context of development. The interviews were limited to mainstream public sector procurement entities in Lusaka, Zambia. Sustainable public procurement actions have the potential to impact SDG goals. Promoting sustainable public procurement will enhance sustainable development and significantly improve supply chain that would benefit the economy, society and environment. Findings will inform policy-makers how to strategically design sustainable public procurement policy by attuning it to procuring entities objectives and priorities in order to contribute to the attainment of SDGs.

Keywords: sustainable public procurement, sustainable development goals, target, Zambia

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Authors: Liu De-jun, Fu Jing, Zhang Rong, Luo Tian, Ma Ning

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Cs-137, the radioactive fission products of uranium, can be easily dissolved in water during the accident of nuclear power plant, such as Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, Fukushima accidents. The concentration of Cs in the groundwater around the nuclear power plant exceeded the standard value almost 10,000 times after the Fukushima accident. The adsorption capacity of Titanate nano-materials for radioactive cation (Cs+) is very strong. Moreover, the radioactive ion can be tightly contained in the nanotubes or nanofibers without reversible adsorption, and it can safely be fixed. In addition, the nano-material has good chemical stability, thermal stability and mechanical stability to minimize the environmental impact of nuclear waste and waste volume. The preparation of titanate nanotubes or nanofibers was studied by hydrothermal methods, and chemical kinetics of removal of Cs by nano-materials was obtained. The adsorption time with maximum adsorption capacity and the effects of pH, coexisting ion concentration and the optimum adsorption conditions on the removal of Cs by titanate nano-materials were also obtained. The adsorption boundary curves, adsorption isotherm and the maximum adsorption capacity of Cs-137 as tracer on the nano-materials were studied in the research. The experimental results showed that the removal rate of Cs-137 in 0.01 tons of waste water with only 1 gram nano-materials could reach above 98%, according to the optimum adsorption conditions.

Keywords: preparation, titanate, cs-137, removal, nuclear

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Authors: Cristina Costa-Lobo, Carla B. Vestena, Filomena E. Ponte

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Creativity and intelligence are concepts that have aroused very expressive interest in the field of educational sciences and the field of psychological science since the middle of the last century since they have a great impact on the potential and well-being of individuals. However, due to progress in cognitive and positive psychology, there has been a growing interest in the psychoeducational domain of intelligence and creativity in the last decade. In this theoretical work, are analyzed comparatively the theoretical models that relate the intelligence and the creativity, are analyzed several psychoeducational intervention programs that have been implemented with a view to the promotion of creativity and signal possibilities, realities and ironies around the psychological evaluation of intelligence and creativity. In order to reach a broad perspective on creativity, the evidence is presented that points the need to evaluate different psychological domains. The psychoeducational intervention programs addressed have, with a common characteristic, the full stimulation of the creative potential of the participants, assumed as a highly valued capacity at the present time. The results point to the systematize that all interventions in the ambit of creativity have two guiding principles: all individuals can be creative, and creativity is a capacity that can be stimulated. This work refers to the importance of stimulus creativity in educational contexts, to the usefulness and pertinence of the creation, the implementation, and monitoring of flexible curricula, adapted to the educational needs of students, promoting a collaborative work among teachers, parents, students, psychologists, managers and educational administrators.

Keywords: creativity, intelligence, psychoeducational intervention programs, psychological evaluation, educational contexts

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Authors: Mefleh Hamideen

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In this investigation, the activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K, of some ceramic tile materials used in the local market of Jordan for interior decoration were determined by making use of High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector. Twenty samples of the different countries of origin and sizes used in Jordan were analyzed. The concentration values of the last-mentioned radionuclides ranged from 30 Bq.kg⁻¹ (Sample from Jordan) to 98 Bq.kg⁻¹ (Sample from China) for ²²⁶Ra, 31 Bq.kg⁻¹ (Sample from Italy) to 98 Bq.kg⁻¹ (Sample from China) for ²³²Th, and 129 Bq.kg⁻¹ (Sample from Spain) to 679 Bq.kg⁻¹ (Sample from Italy) for ⁴⁰K. Based on the calculated activity concentrations, some radiological parameters have been calculated to test the radiation hazards in the ceramic tiles. In this work, the following parameters: Total absorbed dose rate (DR), Annual effective dose rate (HR), Radium equivalent activity (Raeq), Radon emanation coefficient F (%) and Radon mass exhalation rate (Em) were calculated for all ceramic tiles and listed in the body of the work. Fortunately, the average calculated values of all parameters are less than the recommended values for each parameter. Consequently, almost all the examined ceramic materials appear to have low radon emanation coefficients. As a result of that investigation, no problems on people can appear by using those ceramic tiles in Jordan.

Keywords: radon emanation coefficient, radon mass exhalation rate, total annual effective dose, radon level

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Authors: Youn Young Shim, Martin J. T. Reaney

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Flaxseed meal is rich in water-soluble gums and, as such, can improve texture in gluten-free products. Flaxseed bioactive-antioxidant peptides, linusorbs (LOs, a.k.a. cyclolinopeptides), are a class of molecules that may contribute health-promoting effects. The effects of dough preparation, baking, and storage on flaxseed-derived LOs stability in doughs and baked products are un-known. Gluten-free (GF) bread dough and bread were prepared with flaxseed meal and the LO content was determined in the flaxseed meal, bread flour containing the flaxseed meal, bread dough, and bread. The LO contents during storage (0, 1, 2, and 4 weeks) at different temperatures (−18 °C, 4 °C, and 22−23 °C) were determined by high-performance liquid chromatog-raphy-diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). The content of oxidized LOs like [1–9-NαC],[1(Rs, Ss)-MetO]-linusorb B2 (LO14) were substantially constant in flaxseed meal and flour produced from flaxseed meal under all conditions for up to 4 weeks. However, during GF-bread production LOs decreased. Due to microbial contamination dough could not be stored at either 4 or 21°C, and bread could only be stored for one week at 21°C. Up to 4 weeks storage was possible for bread and dough at −18 °C and bread at 4 °C without the loss of LOs. The LOs change mostly from processing and less so from storage. The concentration of reduced LOs in flour and meal were much higher than measured in dough and bread. There was not a corre-sponding increase in oxidized LOs. The LOs in flaxseed meal-fortified bread were stable for products stored at low temperatures. This study is the first of the impact of baking conditions on LO content and quality.

Keywords: flaxseed, stability, gluten-free, antioxidant

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Authors: Made Ayu Aristyana Dewi

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Due to the importance of knowledge in today’s competitive world, an understanding of how to enhance employee knowledge sharing has become critical. This study discerning employees’ knowledge sharing intentions according to the type of knowledge to be shared, whether tacit or explicit. This study provides a critical and systematic review of the current literature on knowledge sharing, with a particular focus on the most critical factors influencing employees’ tacit and explicit knowledge sharing intentions. The extant literature was identified through four electronic databases, from 2006 to 2016. The findings of this review reveal that most of the previous studies only focus on individual and social factors as the antecedents of knowledge sharing intention. Therefore, those previous studies did not consider some other potential factors, like organizational and technological factors that may hinder the progress of knowledge sharing processes. Based on the findings of the critical review, a conceptual framework is proposed, which presents the antecedents of employees’ tacit and explicit knowledge sharing intentions and its impact on innovation and sustainable competitive advantage.

Keywords: antecedents, explicit knowledge, individual factors, innovation, intentions, knowledge sharing, organizational factors, social factors, sustainable competitive advantage, tacit knowledge, technological factors

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Authors: Bishnu Prasad Devkota

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Peoples` perception is reflected in their attitudes and presumably their behavior towards wildlife conservation. The success of wildlife conservation initiatives in the mountains of Nepal is heavily dependent on local people. Therefore, Nepal has emphasized the involvement of local people in wildlife conservation, especially in the mountainous region. Local peoples` perception towards snow leopard conservation in six mountainous protected area of Nepal was carried out conducting 300 household surveys and 90 face to face key informant interviews. The average livestock holding was 27.74 animals per household with depredation rate of 10.6 % per household per annum. Livestock was the source of 32.74% of the total mean annual income of each household. In average, the economic loss per household per annum due to livestock depredation was US $ 490. There was significant difference in people´s perception towards snow leopard conservation in protected areas of mountainous region of Nepal. These differences were due to economic, educational and cultural factors. 54.4% local people showed preference for snow leopard conservation. The perception of local people toward snow leopard was significantly difference by the economic status of local people. Involvement of local people in conservation activities had positive impact towards wildlife conservation in the mountain region of Nepal. Timely introducing incentive programs can be a supportive way for sustaining the conservation of snow leopards in the Nepalese Himalayas.

Keywords: economic loss, livestock depredation, local people, perception, snow leopard

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Authors: Yulia Irnidayanti , J. J. Josua, A. Sugianto

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Jakarta Bay with 13 rivers that flow into, the environment has deteriorated and is the most polluted bays in Asia. The entry of waste into the waters of the Bay of Jakarta has caused pollution. Heavy metal contamination has led to pollution levels and may cause toxicity to organisms that live in the sea, down to the cellular level and may affect the ecological balance. Various ways have been conducted to measure the impact of environmental degradation, such as by measuring the levels of contaminants in the environment, including measuring the accumulation of toxic compounds in the tissues of organisms. Biological responses or biomarkers known as a sensitive indicator but need relevant predictions. In heavy metal pollution monitoring, analysis of aquatic biota is very important from the analysis of the water itself. The content of metals in aquatic biota will usually always be increased from time to time due to the nature of metal bioaccumulation, so the aquatic biota is best used as an indicator of metal pollution in aquatic environments. The results of the content analysis results of sea water in coastal estuaries Angke, Kaliadem and Panimbang detected heavy metals cadmium, mercury, lead, but did not find zinc metal. Based on the results of protein electrophoresis methallotionein found heavy metals in the tissues hepatopancreas, gills and muscles, and also the mRNA expression of has detected.

Keywords: gills, heavy metal, hepatopancreas, metallothionein, muscle

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Authors: Abdulsalami M. Deji

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Prolonged military incursion in Nigeria politics which favored the oligarchy brought agitation for democratic rule it exacerbated ethnicity integration of minority for fear of domination. The advent of democracy ushered in new breath of life to Nigerians from the shackle of military oppression to democratic governance. Democratic rule became a mirage as a result of prevalent insecurity in Nigeria; effort to bring lasting peace to all sections of the country had not yielded positive result till date. In the process of struggling for democracy among ethnic groups in Nigeria, they had instituted various militia groups defending the interest of their identity due to unequal distribution of wealth by military junta. When democracy came on board, these various militia groups became demons hunting democratic institutions. Quest by the successful government to find lasting solution has proved abortive. The security of politics which guaranteed stability is not visible in Nigeria, what we have now is politics of security. The unrest in Nigeria today has cripple socio-political and economy of the nation; the growth of economy favored elites without meaningful impact on the common man. This paper focus on the effects of democracy on Nigerians and, how security under democratic rule has hindered dividends of democracy since 1999-till date and way forward. The source is strictly base on secondary source from textbook, newspapers, internet, and journals.

Keywords: democracy, interest, militia, security

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Authors: Anamika Devi

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Based on Vygotsky’s cultural, historical theory and Hedegaard’s concept of transition, this study aims to investigate to propose strategies to maintain digital wellbeing of children and parents during and post COVID pandemic. Due COVID 19 pandemic, children and families have been facing new challenges and sudden changes in their everyday life. While children are juggling to adjust themselves in new circumstance of onsite and online learning settings, parents are juggling with their work-life balance. A number of papers have identified that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the lives of many families around the world in many ways, for example, the stress level of many parents increased, families faced financial difficulties, uncertainty impacted on long term effects on their emotional and social wellbeing. After searching and doing an intensive literature review from 2020 and 2021, this study has found some scholarly articles provided solution or strategies of reducing stress levels of parents and children in this unprecedented time. However, most of them are not underpinned by proper theoretical lens to ensure they validity and success. Therefore, this study has proposed strategies that are underpinned by theoretical lens to ensure their impact on children’s and parents' emotional wellbeing during and post COVID-19 era. The strategies will highlight on activities for positive coping strategies to the best use of family values and digital technologies.

Keywords: onsite and online learning, strategies, emotional wellbeing, tips, and strategies, COVID19

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Authors: Reza Keihani, Ali Bahadori-Jahromi, Timothy James Clacy

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Plastic as an environmental burden is a well-rehearsed topic in the research area. This is due to its global demand and destructive impacts on the environment, which has been a significant concern to the governments. Typically, the use of plastic in the construction industry is seen across low-density, non-structural applications due to its diverse range of benefits including high strength-to-weight ratios, manipulability and durability. It can be said that with the level of plastic consumption experienced in the construction industry, an ongoing responsibility is shown for this sector to continually innovate alternatives for application of recycled plastic waste such as using plastic made replacement from polyethylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl and polypropylene in the concrete mix design. In this study, the impact of partially replaced fine aggregate with polypropylene in the concrete mix design was investigated to evaluate the concrete’s compressive strength by conducting an experimental work which comprises of six concrete mix batches with polypropylene replacements ranging from 0.5 to 3.0%. The results demonstrated a typical decline in the compressive strength with the addition of plastic aggregate, despite this reduction generally mitigated as the level of plastic in the concrete mix increased. Furthermore, two of the six plastic-containing concrete mixes tested in the current study exceeded the ST5 standardised prescribed concrete mix compressive strength requirement at 28-days containing 1.50% and 2.50% plastic aggregates, which demonstrated the potential for use of recycled polypropylene in structural applications, as a partial by mass, fine aggregate replacement in the concrete mix.

Keywords: compressive strength, concrete, polypropylene, sustainability

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Authors: Prakash Singh

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The focus of this paper is on the impact of internal organizational factors on the inappropriate job performance and behaviour of employees. The Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) in South Africa has been experiencing inappropriate job behaviour and performance of some of its workers. They include misappropriation of resources, maladministration, mismanagement, lack of service delivery, fraud, and corruption. Since many workers in this organization have various levels of formal education, such practices are not expected, because the structural-functionalist assumption is that formal education is a solution to societal challenges. Since inappropriate job behaviour and performance continue to be reported in spite of the formal education of BCMM workers, this study seeks to investigate how the two phenomena co-exist. It thus seeks to put into perspective the paradoxical co-existence of formal education with inappropriate job behaviour and performance, by focusing on the BCMM as a case-study. For data collection, this study used the mixed method approach; that is, a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings revealed structural, systemic and human impediments to labour productivity in the organization. By and large, the unquestioning acceptance of the assumption that the skills shortage is responsible for inappropriate workers’ job performance and behaviour is discredited by the evidence of skilled personnel who exercise their responsibilities in a manner that undermines their occupational requirements. Therefore, this exploratory study affirms that the narrow conception of skills, that privileges job-specific capabilities, is not enough for cultivating a workforce with appropriate job behaviour and performance practices.

Keywords: inappropriate job behaviour, labour productivity, mismanagement, skills shortage

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Authors: Norashikin Ismail, Nadia Anridho

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Sustainable investing is a responsible investment that focuses on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) elements. ESG integration is essential in the investment process as it provides a positive contribution to the corporate performance for stakeholders, specifically investors. Sustainable investing is in line with the objectives of Shariah (Maqasid of Shariah), such as social inclusion as well as environmental preservation. This study attempts to evaluate the impact of ESG elements to the corporate financial performance among Shariah compliant stocks listed in two countries, namely Malaysia and Indonesia. The motivation of this study is to provide a further understanding in corporate sustainability for two different Islamic capital markets. The existence of the FTSE4Good Asean Index has played a vital role for ESG practices and eventually encouraged specific index for ESG and Shariah Compliant stocks. Our sample consists of 60 companies over the period 2010-2020 from two Southeast countries. We employ System Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) to reduce bias and more specific parameter estimation. Shariah Compliant companies tend to have higher ESG scores and are positively correlated to corporate financial performance. ESG integration with Shariah based investing would provide higher returns and lower risks for Muslim investors. Essentially, integrating ESG and Shariah, compliant companies lead to better financial performance.

Keywords: shariah compliant, southeast asia, corporate performance, sustainable investing

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Authors: Lamia Bensissaid

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Goals: Endometriosis affects 6 to 10% of women of childbearing age. 17 to 44% of them have ovarian endometriomas. Medical and surgical treatments represent the two therapeutic axes with which PMA can be associated. Laparoscopic intraperitoneal ovarian cystectomy is described as the reference technique in the management of endometriomas by learned societies (CNGOF, ESHRE, NICE). However, it leads to a significant short-term reduction in the AMH level and the number of antral follicles, especially in cases of bilateral cystectomy, large cyst size or cystectomy after recurrence. Often, the disease is at an advanced stage with several surgical patients. Most have adhesions, which increase the risk of surgical complications and suboptimal resection and, therefore recurrence of the cyst. These results led to a change of opinion towards a conservative approach. Sclerotherapy is an old technique which acts by fibrinoid necrosis. It consists of injecting a sclerosing agent into the cyst cavity. Results : Recurrence was less than 15% for a 12-month follow-up; these rates are comparable to those of surgery. It does not seem to have a negative impact on ovarian reserve, but this is not sufficiently evaluated. It has an advantage in IVF pregnancy rates compared to cystectomy, particularly in cases of recurrent endometriomas. It has the advantages: · To be done on an outpatient basis. · To be inexpensive. · To avoid sometimes difficult and iterative surgery: · To allow an increase in pregnancy rates and the preservation of the ovarian reserve compared to iterative surgery. · of great interest in cases of bilateral endometriomas (kissing ovaries) or recurrent endometriomas. Conclusions: Ethanol sclerotherapy could be a good alternative to surgery.

Keywords: Endometrioma, Sclerotherapy, infertility, Ethanol

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Authors: Richard White, Anne Drabble, Maureen O’Neill

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The University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) offers secondary school students in the final two years of school (Years 11 and 12, 16 – 18 years of age) an opportunity to participate in a program which provides an accelerated pathway to tertiary studies. Whilst still at secondary school, the students undertake two first year university subjects that are required subjects in USC undergraduate degree programs. The program is called Integrated Learning Pathway (ILP) and offers a range of disciplines, including business, design, drama, education, and engineering. Between 2010 and 2014, 38% of secondary students who participated in an ILP program commenced undergraduate studies at USC following completion of secondary school studies. The research reported here considers “before and after” literacy and numeracy competencies of students to determine what impact participation in the ILP program has had on their academic skills. Qualitative and quantitative data has been gathered via numeracy and literacy testing of the students, and a survey asking the students to self-evaluate their numeracy and literacy skills, and reflect on their views of these academic skills. The research will enable improved targeting of teaching strategies so that students will acquire not only course-specific learning outcomes but also collateral academic skills. This enhancement of academic skills will improve undergraduate experience and improve student retention.

Keywords: academic skills enhancement, accelerated pathways, improved teaching, student retention

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Authors: Jason D. Lin, Christine Sim

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This paper examines the nature of transnational media flows in East Asia, specifically expounding on the popularity of Korean dramas in China and Taiwan. Situated in interdisciplinary academic work from cultural studies, media studies, and linguistics, this project locates the significance of certain genres and regions in determining why some are subject to flow while others remain within domestic borders. Moreover, transnational flows can take one of two routes –official translations and adaptations by media corporations and subtitles written by fans in online communities. The work of 'fan-subbing' has allowed for a more democratized showcase of what bilingual fans consume and are invested in sharing, rather than what major media companies deem relevant and monetizable. This reflects a culture of relatability driven by audiences rather than by corporate direction. Of course, a variety of technological, political, and economic factors play imperative roles in how both professional and fan-made subtitles flowed across borders and between nations. While fan-subbed media may be subject to criticism because of a lack of formal regulation, these limitations can, in some cases, be overcome by the agency afforded to audiences in the digital landscape. Finally, this paper offers a critical lens for deliberating the lasting impact of fan involvement on both professional practices and the flows of mainstream media throughout East Asia.

Keywords: audience studies, bilingual, cultural proximity, fan-subbing, online communities, subtitles

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Authors: O. B. Enemuo, A. A. Onubuogu

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This work evaluated the influence of interior of decoration on customer perception of hotels in Uyo Akwa Ibom State. Specifically the study identified the various interior decoration used in hotels in the study area, determined the interior decoration used in hotels that appeal to the customer more, ascertained the influence of interior decoration on the level of patronage in the hotel in the study area and suggested ways of improving the interior decoration of hotels in the study area for sustainability. The study was guided by four research questions and two hypotheses. It adopted survey research design; structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The samples for the study were four hundred (400) staff and managers from the various hotels in the study area. Data generated were analyzed using mean and standard deviation analyses of variance (ANOVA) derived from regression analyses to test the hypotheses. The result of the finding showed that satisfactory interior decoration has a positive influence on the sustainability of the hospitality establishments in Uyo. The hypothesis showed that there was a significant relationship between the gender perception on the influence of interior decoration in the hotel and significant relationship between the gender perceptions on the influence of interior decoration in the hotels. From the finding, it was recommended that the hotels should design interior decorative service delivery system which has an impact on customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry and practiced healthy decorative environment and increased customer satisfaction.

Keywords: influence, interior decoration, customer’s perception, hotels

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Authors: Bilal Murtaza, Xiaoyu Li, Liming Dong, Muhammad Kashif Saleemi, Gen Li, Bowen Jin, Lili Wang, Yongping Xu

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Fusarium spp. produce numerous mycotoxins, such as zearalenone (ZEN), deoxynivalenol (DON), and its acetylated compounds, 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (3-ADON) and 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (15-ADON) (15-ADON). In a co-culture system, the soil-derived Escherichia marmotae strain degrades ZEN and DON into 3-keto-DON and DOM-1 via enzymatic deep-oxidation. When pure mycotoxins were subjected to Escherichia marmotae in culture flasks, degradation, and detoxification were also attained. DON and ZEN concentrations, ambient pH, incubation temperatures, bacterium concentrations, and the impact of acid treatment on degradation were all evaluated. The results of the ELISA and high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-high resolution mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-HRMS) tests demonstrated that the concentration of mycotoxins exposed to Escherichia marmotae was significantly lower than the control. ZEN levels were reduced by 43.9%, while zearalenone sulfate ([M/z 397.1052 C18H21O8S1) was discovered as a derivative of ZEN converted by microbes to a less toxic molecule. Furthermore, Escherichia marmotae appeared to metabolize DON 35.10% into less toxic derivatives (DOM-1 at m/z 281 of [DON - O]+ and 3-keto-DON at m/z 295 of [DON - 2H]+). These results show that Escherichia marmotae can reduce Fusarium mycotoxins production, degrade pure mycotoxins, and convert them to less harmful compounds, opening up new possibilities for study and innovation in mycotoxin detoxification.

Keywords: mycotoxins, zearalenone, deoxynivalenol, bacterial degradation

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Authors: Mohammaad Afzal Khan, Ghazi Abdulmalik Ashoor , Fatimah Alanazi, Talal Shamma, Abdullah Altuhami, Hala Abdalrahman Ahmed, Abdullah Mohammed Assiri, Dieter Clemens Broering

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Microvascular injuries during inflammation are key causes of transplant malfunctioning and permanent failure, which play a major role in the development of chronic rejection of the transplanted organ. Inflammation-induced microvascular loss is a promising area to investigate the decisive roles of regulatory and effector responses. The present study was designed to investigate the impact of IL-10 on immunotolerance, in particular, the microenvironment of the allograft during rejection. Here, we investigated the effects of IL-10 blockade/ reconstitution and serially monitored regulatory T cells (Tregs), graft microvasculature, and airway epithelium in rejecting airway transplants. We demonstrated that the blocking/reconstitution of IL-10 significantly modulates CD4+FOXP3+ Tregs, microvasculature, and airway epithelium during rejection. Our findings further highlighted that blockade of IL-10 upregulated proinflammatory cytokines, IL-2, IL-1β, IFN-γ, IL-15, and IL-23, but suppressed IL-5 secretion during rejection; however, reconstitution of IL-10 significantly upregulated CD4+FOXP3+ Tregs, tissue oxygenation/blood flow and airway repair. Collectively, these findings demonstrate a potential reparative modulation of IL-10 during microvascular and epithelial repair, which could provide a vital therapeutic window to rejecting transplants in clinical practice.

Keywords: interleukin -10, regulatory T cells, allograft rejection, immunotolerance

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Authors: C. Bel, J. Nevado, F. Ciceri, M. Ropacki, T. Hoffmann, P. Lapunzina, C. Buesa

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Background: The Phelan-McDermid syndrome (PMS) is a genetic disorder caused by the deletion of the terminal region of chromosome 22 or mutation of the SHANK3 gene. Shank3 disruption in mice leads to dysfunction of synaptic transmission, which can be restored by epigenetic regulation with both Lysine Specific Demethylase 1 (LSD1) inhibitors. PMS subjects result in a variable degree of intellectual disability, delay or absence of speech, autistic spectrum disorders symptoms, low muscle tone, motor delays and epilepsy. Vafidemstat is an LSD1 inhibitor in Phase II clinical development with a well-established and favorable safety profile, and data supporting the restoration of memory and cognition defects as well as reduction of agitation and aggression in several animal models and clinical studies. Therefore, vafidemstat has the potential to become a first-in-class precision medicine approach to treat PMS patients. Aims: The goal of this research is to perform an observational trial to psychometrically characterize individuals carrying deletions in SHANK3 and build a foundation for subsequent precision psychiatry clinical trials with vafidemstat. Methodology: This study is characterizing the clinical profile of 20 to 40 subjects, > 16-year-old, with genotypically confirmed PMS diagnosis. Subjects will complete a battery of neuropsychological scales, including the Repetitive Behavior Questionnaire (RBQ), Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Escala de Observación para el Diagnostico del Autismo (Autism Diagnostic Observational Scale) (ADOS)-2, the Battelle Developmental Inventory and the Behavior Problems Inventory (BPI). Results: By March 2021, 19 patients have been enrolled. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering of the results obtained so far identifies 3 groups of patients, characterized by different profiles of cognitive and behavioral scores. The first cluster is characterized by low Battelle age, high ADOS and low Vineland, RBQ and BPI scores. Low Vineland, RBQ and BPI scores are also detected in the second cluster, which in contrast has high Battelle age and low ADOS scores. The third cluster is somewhat in the middle for the Battelle, Vineland and ADOS scores while displaying the highest levels of aggression (high BPI) and repeated behaviors (high RBQ). In line with the observation that female patients are generally affected by milder forms of autistic symptoms, no male patients are present in the second cluster. Dividing the results by gender highlights that male patients in the third cluster are characterized by a higher frequency of aggression, whereas female patients from the same cluster display a tendency toward higher repetitive behavior. Finally, statistically significant differences in deletion sizes are detected comparing the three clusters (also after correcting for gender), and deletion size appears to be positively correlated with ADOS and negatively correlated with Vineland A and C scores. No correlation is detected between deletion size and the BPI and RBQ scores. Conclusions: Precision medicine may open a new way to understand and treat Central Nervous System disorders. Epigenetic dysregulation has been proposed to be an important mechanism in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and autism. Vafidemstat holds exciting therapeutic potential in PMS, and this study will provide data regarding the optimal endpoints for a future clinical study to explore vafidemstat ability to treat shank3-associated psychiatric disorders.

Keywords: autism, epigenetics, LSD1, personalized medicine

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Authors: M. Firoz Kalam, Wilfried Schuetz, Jan Hendrik Bredehoeft

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In this research, diesel oil properties, such as aniline point, density, diesel index, cetane index and cetane number before and after treatment were studied. The investigation was considered for diesel oil samples after batch adsorption process using powdered activated carbon. Batch distillation process was applied to all treated diesel oil samples for separation of the solid-liquid mixture. The diesel oil properties were studied to observe the impact of adsorptive desulfurization process on fuel quality. Results showed that the best cetane number for desulfurized diesel oil was found at the best-operating conditions 60℃, 10g activated carbon and 180 minute contact time. The best-desulfurized diesel oil cetane number was obtained around 51 while the cetane number of untreated diesel oil was 34. Results also showed that the calculated cetane number increases as the operating temperature and amounts of adsorbent increases. This behavior was same for other diesel oil properties such as aniline point, diesel index, cetane index and density. The best value for all the fuel properties was found at same operating conditions mentioned above. Thus, it can be concluded that adsorptive desulfurization using powdered activated carbon as adsorbent had significantly improved the fuel quality of diesel oil by reducing aromatic contents of diesel oil.

Keywords: activated carbon, adsorption, desulfurization, diesel oil, fuel quality

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Authors: Seoyoun Kim, Chunghee Park

Abstract:

Microplastics have recently become an issue due to their potentially harmful effects on the marine environment and the human body. The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlation of fiber emissions during the home laundering with the fabric parameters such as yarn density, warp/weft density, and weave structure. Also, the effect of finishing treatments such as reactive dyeing, water-repellent finish, peach skin finish on fiber emissions was evaluated. Furthermore, we studied the biodegradability of fibers in the marine environment compared to those in soil burial and the impact of finishing treatment on the biodegradability. Biodegradability was evaluated by measuring BOD values and tensile strength reduction. The results showed that more fibers were released in the thicker yarn, lower weave density. Also, a weave structure which has less compactness, released more fibers. Peach skin finish with microfibers exposed on the surface caused more fiber release, whereas water-repellent finish reduced the fiber emission. In addition, the biodegradability of the fabrics submerged in the marine environment were lower compared with those buried in the soil. Also, the water-repellent fabric was less biodegradable than the untreated one. Further research is suggested considering the fabrics with various chemical components or geometry and their fouling behavior in the marine environment.

Keywords: biodegradation, fibers, microplastic, pollution

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Authors: Nagham Ismail, Djamel Ouahrani

Abstract:

Thermal resilience in the built environment reflects the building's capacity to adapt to extreme climate changes. In hot climates, power outages in office buildings pose risks to the health and productivity of workers. Therefore, it is of interest to quantify the thermal resilience of office buildings by developing a user-friendly simplified model. This simplified model begins with creating an assessment metric of thermal resilience that measures the duration between the power outage and the point at which the thermal habitability condition is compromised, considering different power interruption times (morning, noon, and afternoon). In this context, energy simulations of an office building are conducted for Qatar's summer weather by changing different parameters that are related to the (i) wall characteristics, (ii) glazing characteristics, (iii) load, (iv) orientation and (v) air leakage. The simulation results are processed using SPSS to derive linear regression equations, aiding stakeholders in evaluating the performance of commercial buildings during different power interruption times. The findings reveal the significant influence of glazing characteristics on thermal resilience, with the morning power outage scenario posing the most detrimental impact in terms of the shortest duration before compromising thermal resilience.

Keywords: thermal resilience, thermal envelope, energy modeling, building simulation, thermal comfort, power disruption, extreme weather

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Authors: Qisheng Hu, Jianglei Han, Yue Yang, My Hoa Ha

Abstract:

When a company is considering purchasing software for commercial use, contract risk assessment is critical to identify risks to mitigate the potential adverse business impact, e.g., security, financial and regulatory risks. Contract risk assessment requires reviewers with specialized knowledge and time to evaluate the legal documents manually. Specifically, validating contracts for a software vendor requires the following steps: manual screening, interpreting legal documents, and extracting risk-prone segments. To automate the process, we proposed a framework to assist legal contract document risk identification, leveraging pre-trained deep learning models and natural language processing techniques. Given a set of pre-defined risk evaluation problems, our framework utilizes the pre-trained transformer-based models for question-answering to identify risk-prone sections in a contract. Furthermore, the question-answering model encodes the concatenated question-contract text and predicts the start and end position for clause extraction. Due to the limited labelled dataset for training, we leveraged transfer learning by fine-tuning the models with the CUAD dataset to enhance the model. On a dataset comprising 287 contract documents and 2000 labelled samples, our best model achieved an F1 score of 0.687.

Keywords: contract risk assessment, NLP, transfer learning, question answering

Procedia PDF Downloads 114

Authors: Myoungsoon You, Heejung Son

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During a pandemic, hospital workers should protect not only their vulnerable patients but also themselves from the consequences of rapidly spreading infection. However, the evidence on the psychological impact of an outbreak on hospital workers is limited. In this study, we aim to assess hospital workers’ psychological well-being and function at the workplace after an outbreak, by focusing on ‘psychological resilience’. Specifically, the effects of risk appraisal, emotional experience, and coping ability on resilience indicated by the likelihood of post-traumatic syndrome disorder and willingness to work were investigated. Such role and position of each factor were analyzed using a path model, and the result was compared between the healthcare worker and non-healthcare worker groups. In the investigation, 280 hospital workers who experienced the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak in South Korea have participated. The result presented, in both groups, the role of the appraisal of risk and coping ability appeared consistent with a previous research, that was, the former interrupted resilience while the latter facilitated it. In addition, the role of emotional experience was highlighted as, in both groups, emotional disruption not only directly associated with low resilience but mediated the effect of perceived risk on resilience. The differences between the groups were also identified, which were, the role of emotional experience and coping ability was more prominent in the non-HCW group in explaining resilience. From the results, implications on how to support hospital personnel during an outbreak in a way to facilitate their resilience after the outbreak were drawn.

Keywords: hospital workers, emotions, infectious disease outbreak, psychological resilience

Procedia PDF Downloads 232

Authors: Afrin Jaman Bonny, Mehrin Jahan, Zannatul Ferdhoush, Mumenunnessa Keya, Md. Shihab Mahmud, Sharun Akter Khushbu, Sheak Rashed Haider Noori, Sheikh Abujar

Abstract:

In 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic had led all the educational institutions to move to online learning platforms to ensure safety as well as the continuation of learning without any disruption to students’ academic life. But after the reopening of those educational institutions suddenly in Bangladesh, it became a vital demand to observe students take on this decision and how much they are comfortable with the new habits. When all educational institutions were ordered to re-open after more than a year, data was collected from students of all educational levels. A Google Form was used to conduct this online survey, and a total of 565 students participated without being pressured. The survey reveals the students' preferences for online and offline education systems, as well as their mental health at the time including their behavior to get back to offline classes depending on getting vaccinated or not. After evaluating the findings, it is clear that respondents' choices vary depending on gender and educational level, with female and male participants experiencing various mental health difficulties and attitudes toward returning to offline classes. As a result of this study, the student’s overall perspective on the sudden reopening of their educational institutions has been analyzed.

Keywords: covid-19 epidemic, educational proceeding, university students, school/college students, physical activity, online platforms, mental health, psychological distress

Procedia PDF Downloads 182

Authors: Matthew Buns

Abstract:

Training specificity is imperative for successful performance of the elite athlete. Virtual reality (VR) has been successfully applied to a broad range of training domains. However, to date there is little research investigating the use of VR for sport training. The purpose of this study was to address the question of whether virtual reality (VR) training can improve real world hockey shooting performance. Twenty four volunteers were recruited and randomly selected to complete the virtual training intervention or enter a control group with no training. Four primary types of data were collected: 1) participant’s experience with video games and hockey, 2) participant’s motivation toward video game use, 3) participants technical performance on real-world hockey, and 4) participant’s technical performance in virtual hockey. One-way multivariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that that the intervention group demonstrated significantly more real-world hockey accuracy [F(1,24) =15.43, p <.01, E.S. = 0.56] while shooting on goal than their control group counterparts [intervention M accuracy = 54.17%, SD=12.38, control M accuracy = 46.76%, SD=13.45]. One-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) repeated measures indicated significantly higher outcome scores on real-world accuracy (35.42% versus 54.17%; ES = 1.52) and velocity (51.10 mph versus 65.50 mph; ES=0.86) of hockey shooting on goal. This research supports the idea that virtual training is an effective tool for increasing real-world hockey skill.

Keywords: virtual training, hockey skills, video game, esports

Procedia PDF Downloads 138