Search results for: computer education tools

Authors: Maggie Hui

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Risk management is not a new concept; however, it is an uncharted area as applied to the translation process and translator training. Risk managers are responsible for managing risk, i.e. adopting strategies with the intention to minimize loss and maximize gains in spite of uncertainty. Which risk strategy to use often depends on the frequency of an event (i.e. probability) and the severity of its outcomes (i.e. impact). This is basically the way translation/localization project managers handle risk management. Although risk management could involve both positive and negative impacts, impact seems to be always negative in professional translators’ management models, e.g. how many days of project time are lost or how many clients are lost. However, for analysis of translation performance, the impact should be possibly positive (e.g. increased readability of the translation) or negative (e.g. loss of source-text information). In other words, the straight business model of risk management is not directly applicable to the study of risk management in the rendition process. This research aims to explore trainee translators’ risk managing while translating in a simulated setting that involves translator-client relations. A two-cycle experiment involving two roles, the translator and the simulated client, was carried out with a class of translation students to test the effects of the main variable of peer-group interaction. The researcher made use of a user-friendly screen-voice recording freeware to record subjects’ screen activities, including every word the translator typed and every change they made to the rendition, the websites they browsed and the reference tools they used, in addition to the verbalization of their thoughts throughout the process. The research observes the translation procedures subjects considered and finally adopted, and looks into the justifications for their procedures, in order to interpret their risk management. The qualitative and quantitative results of this study have some implications for translator training: (a) the experience of being a client seems to reinforce the translator’s risk aversion; (b) there is a wide gap between the translator’s internal risk management and their external presentation of risk; and (c) the use of role-playing simulation can empower students’ learning by enhancing their attitudinal or psycho-physiological competence, interpersonal competence and strategic competence.

Keywords: risk management, role-playing simulation, translation pedagogy, translator-client relations

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Authors: Ibrahim Mohammed, Suleiman Taofiq, Muhammad Naziru Yahya

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Geoelectrical measurements using Schlumberger Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) method were carried out in Waziri Umaru Federal Polytechnic, Birnin Kebbi, Nigeria, with the aim of determining the groundwater potential in the area. Twelve (12) Vertical Electric Sounding (VES) data were collected using Terrameter (ABEM SAS 300c) and analyzed using computer software (IPI2win), which gives an automatic interpretation of the apparent resistivity. The results of the interpretation of VES data were used in the characterization of three to five geo-electric layers from which the aquifer units were delineated. Data analysis indicated that water bearing formation exists in the third and fourth layers having resistivity range of 312 to 767 Ωm and 9.51 to 681 Ωm, respectively. The thickness of the formation ranges from 14.7 to 41.8 m, while the depth is from 8.22 to 53.7 m. Based on the result obtained from the interpretation of the data, five (5) VES stations were recommended as the most viable locations for groundwater exploration in the study area. The VES stations include VES A4, A5, A6, B1, and B2. The VES results of the entire area indicated that the water bearing formation occurs at maximum depth of 53.7 m at the time of this survey.

Keywords: aquifer, depth, groundwater, resistivity, Schlumberger

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Authors: Dinh Ngoc Bich Khuyen, Chang Zhu

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Due to the radical changes and complexities within academic institutions, leadership development addressed to academic leaders in the digital age has become more important. Unfortunately, studies on outcome assessment of leadership development and its related factors have not been evaluated rigorously. The current study investigated the contribution of peer interaction and two subscales of motivation to the effectiveness of the leadership development programs perceived by learners in a diverse context. Of 73 participants, the majority of workshop attendees were junior and middle-level leaders from both European universities and Chinese universities who participated in the leadership development programs organized under an EU project. PLS-SEM was employed to validate the instrument and answer the research questions, respectively. The finding reveals that self-growth and peer interaction significantly contribute to perceived effectiveness, whereas networking motivator shows non-significant impact. Besides, the new contribution of these findings is to show that peer interaction fully mediates the relationship between self-growth and perceived effectiveness. To this end, the findings highlight the importance of dispositional factors regarding the quality of the leadership development program in HE contexts and the potential of such program to enhance the knowledge and capacities of academic leaders regarding university governance and leadership.

Keywords: higher education, leadership development, effectiveness, middle-level leaders, junior-level leaders

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Authors: Liu Junzhu

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In contemporary China,city is expanding with an amazing speed. And because of the unexpected events’ interference, spatial structure could change itself in a short time, That will lead to the new urban district livingness and unfortunately, this phenomenon is very common.On the one hand,it fail to achieve the goal of city planning, On the other hand,it is unfavourable to the sustainable development of city. Bill Hillier’stheory Space Syntax shows organzation pattern of each space,it explains the characteristics of urban spatial patterns and its transformation regulation from the point of self-organization in system and also, it gives confirmatory and predictive ways to the building and city. This paper used axial model to summarize Hangzhou City’s special structure and enhanced comprehensive understanding of macroscopic space and environment, space structure,developing trend, ect, by computer analysis of Space Syntax. From that, it helps us to know the operation law in the urban system and to understand Hangzhou City’s spatial pattern and indirect social effect it has mad more clearly, Thus, it could comply with the tendency of cities development in process and planning of policy and plan our cities’ future sustainably.

Keywords: sustainable urban design, space syntax, spatial network, segment angular analysis, social inclusion

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Authors: Naor Cohen

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In recent years, business schools made teaching ethical leadership a higher priority. Greater attention to moral and ethical concepts and reasoning processes may prove beneficial to future business leaders. But with a shift in focus, there is a need for a shift in pedagogy. This paper explores an imaginative literature-based pedagogy in the teaching of ethical leadership. An imaginative literature-based pedagogy uses works of fiction to help students build moral analysis and moral judgment capabilities through a rigorous assessment of the moral soundness of actions, motivations, rationales, and consequences portrayed in works of fiction. Business students enrolled in 4 leadership senior-level courses were assigned the White Tiger: A Novel by Aravind Adiga as their main course reading. Students' engagement was measured as a three-factor construct exploring cognitive engagement, behavioural engagement and emotional engagement. In addition, students' final papers were analyzed using thematic content analysis. This paper will present the results of this analysis and argue that incorporating fiction into the leadership curriculum allows students to explore the dire consequences of avoiding countervailing interests, engaging in dishonesty and engaging in moral puffery-based leadership.

Keywords: ethical leadership, empathetic imagination, business education, pedagogy, fiction

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Authors: K. Tunde Olagunju, C. Scott Allen, Freek Van Der Meer

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Identification of hydrocarbon oil in remote sensing images is often the first step in monitoring oil during spill events. Most remote sensing methods adopt techniques for hydrocarbon identification to achieve detection in order to model an appropriate cleanup program. Identification on optical sensors does not only allow for detection but also for characterization and quantification. Until recently, in optical remote sensing, quantification and characterization are only potentially possible using high-resolution laboratory and airborne imaging spectrometers (hyperspectral data). Unlike multispectral, hyperspectral data are not freely available, as this data category is mainly obtained via airborne survey at present. In this research, two (2) operational high-resolution multispectral satellites (WorldView-3 and Sentinel-2) are theoretically assessed for their suitability for hydrocarbon characterization, using the hydrocarbon spectral slope model (HYSS). This method utilized the two most persistent hydrocarbon diagnostic/absorption features at 1.73 µm and 2.30 µm for hydrocarbon mapping on multispectral data. In this research, spectra measurement of seven (7) different hydrocarbon oils (crude and refined oil) taken on ten (10) different substrates with the use of laboratory ASD Fieldspec were convolved to Sentinel-2 and WorldView-3 resolution, using their full width half maximum (FWHM) parameter. The resulting hydrocarbon slope values obtained from the studied samples enable clear qualitative discrimination of most hydrocarbons, despite the presence of different background substrates, particularly on WorldView-3. Due to close conformity of central wavelengths and narrow bandwidths to key hydrocarbon bands used in HYSS, the statistical significance for qualitative analysis on WorldView-3 sensors for all studied hydrocarbon oil returned with 95% confidence level (P-value ˂ 0.01), except for Diesel. Using multifactor analysis of variance (MANOVA), the discriminating power of HYSS is statistically significant for most hydrocarbon-substrate combinations on Sentinel-2 and WorldView-3 FWHM, revealing the potential of these two operational multispectral sensors as rapid response tools for hydrocarbon mapping. One notable exception is highly transmissive hydrocarbons on Sentinel-2 data due to the non-conformity of spectral bands with key hydrocarbon absorptions and the relatively coarse bandwidth (> 100 nm).

Keywords: hydrocarbon, oil spill, remote sensing, hyperspectral, multispectral, hydrocarbon-substrate combination, Sentinel-2, WorldView-3

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Authors: B. Raghu, Shashi Vemuri, Ch. Sreenivasa Rao

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The survey on pesticide use pattern was carried out by interviewing farmers growing chill in open fields and poly houses based on the questionnaire prepared to assess their knowledge and practices on crop cultivation, general awareness on pesticide recommendations and use. Education levels of poly house farmers are high compared to open field farmers, where 57.14% poly house farmers are high school educated, whereas 35% open field farmers are illiterates. Majority farmers use nursery of 35 days and grow in <0.5 acre poly house in summer and rabi and < 1 acre in open field during kharif. Awareness on pesticide related issues is varying among poly house and open field farmers with some commonality, where 28.57% poly house farmers know about recommended pesticides while only 10% open field farmers are aware of this issue. However, in general, all farmers contact pesticide dealer for recommendations, poly house farmers prefer to contact scientists (35.71%) and open field farmers prefer to contact agricultural officers (33.33). Most farmers are unaware about pesticide classification and toxicity symbols on packing. Farmers are aware about endosulfan ban, but only 21.42% poly house and 11.66% open field farmers know about ban of monocrotofos on vegetables. Very few farmers know about pesticide residues and related issues, but know washing helps to reduce contamination.

Keywords: open field, pesticide usage, polyhouses, residues survey

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Authors: Mary L. G. S. Senna, Afonso R. Aquino, Veruska C. Dutra, Carlos H. C. Tolentino

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The quality of life index, despite elucidating many discussions, the conceptual subjectivity of the term does not show precision, and consequently, many researchers seek to develop methods aiming to measure this concept, bringing it to a more concrete approach. In this study, the quality of life index method was used to analyze the population of Mateiros, Tocantins, Brazil for quality of life. After data collection, it was compared the quality of life index between the population and the group of beneficiaries of the Brazilian government assistance program Bolsa Família (Family Allowance). Some of the people interviewed receive financial aid from the federal government program Bolsa Família (22%). Comparisons were made among the final score of the quality of life index of the Mateiros population and the following factors: Gender, age, education, those working or not with tourism and those who receive or do not receive the Bolsa Família. It was observed that only the factor, Bolsa Família (p-score 0.0138), shows an association with quality of life improvement, noticing that those who have financial aid had a higher quality of life improvement than the rest of the population. It was concluded that, government assistance has shown a decisive element on the enhancement of Mateiros population quality of life, indicating that similar actions should be maintained.

Keywords: quality of life index, government aid to families, sustainable tourism, Bolsa Familia

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Authors: Jadisha Cornejo, Helio Pedrini

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Recognition of emotions based on facial expressions has received increasing attention from the scientific community over the last years. Several fields of applications can benefit from facial emotion recognition, such as behavior prediction, interpersonal relations, human-computer interactions, recommendation systems. In this work, we develop and analyze an emotion recognition framework based on facial expressions robust to occlusions through the Weber Local Descriptor (WLD). Initially, the occluded facial expressions are reconstructed following an extension approach of Robust Principal Component Analysis (RPCA). Then, WLD features are extracted from the facial expression representation, as well as Local Binary Patterns (LBP) and Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG). The feature vector space is reduced using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). Finally, K-Nearest Neighbor (K-NN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifiers are used to recognize the expressions. Experimental results on three public datasets demonstrated that the WLD representation achieved competitive accuracy rates for occluded and non-occluded facial expressions compared to other approaches available in the literature.

Keywords: emotion recognition, facial expression, occlusion, fiducial landmarks

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Authors: Jorge Martinez-Garcia, Ingrid Stelzner, Joerg Stelzner, Damian Gwerder, Philipp Schuetz

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Tree-ring analysis is an important part of the quality assessment and the dating of (archaeological) wood samples. It provides quantitative data about the whole anatomical ring structure, which can be used, for example, to measure the impact of the fluctuating environment on the tree growth, for the dendrochronological analysis of archaeological wooden artefacts and to estimate the wood mechanical properties. Despite advances in computer vision and edge recognition algorithms, detection and counting of annual rings are still limited to 2D datasets and performed in most cases manually, which is a time consuming, tedious task and depends strongly on the operator’s experience. This work presents an image processing approach to detect the whole 3D tree-ring structure directly from X-ray computed tomography imaging data. The approach relies on a modified Canny edge detection algorithm, which captures fully connected tree-ring edges throughout the measured image stack and is validated on X-ray computed tomography data taken from six wood species.

Keywords: ring recognition, edge detection, X-ray computed tomography, dendrochronology

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Authors: Maryam Idris Bakori

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The level of poverty in our region (West Africa) is a severe problem. The statistics about it are scary and alarming. For example, Report on Economic and Social Conditions in West Africa by United Nations Economic Commission for Africa gives the following gloomy picture of social conditions in the region: In West Africa, approximately one person in three in the towns, and one in two in the rural areas, cannot afford the expenditure needed to cover their basic needs. The situation has reached emergency proportions and calls for urgent social action (Recent Economic and Social Developments in West Africa and Prospects for 2010). Many different policies and programs to combat the poverty in the region have been embarked upon by the government of various countries in West Africa, but yet the ugly face of poverty persists. However, to explore opportunities and avenues for making positive contributions to national and regional development, this paper sets out to examine the role of two Islamic institutions; Zakah and Waqf, in poverty alleviation and how Islam uses these two institutions among others to eradicate poverty. The paper suggests that the governments of various countries of West Africa should endeavor to integrate Zakah and Waqf into their poverty alleviation programs by borrowing a leaf from some countries in Africa and Asia that have integrated these Islamic institutions into their poverty reduction programs, and they have started to reap the positive result from the policy.

Keywords: waqf, poverty, zakah, Islamic economy, education

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Authors: Hussain Darraj

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Background: Healthcare workers, especially nurses, are subjected to a great risk of psychological stress, mostly moral distress. Therefore, it is crucial to address moral distress in nurses. Objectives: The aim of this study is to study the extent of moral distress among hospital nurses in Jazan. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional study design, which included 419 nurses from Jazan hospitals. A questionnaire was used to measure moral distress and its related factors. Results: The average total score for moral distress among the study participants is 134.14, with a standard deviation of 53.94. Moreover, the current study findings indicate that those over the age of 35 years who work as nurse managers, working in critical departments, have the intention to leave a position, have received ethical training or workshops, have provided care for COVID-19 cases, or work in a department with staff shortages are associated with the experience of higher-level moral stress. Conclusion: Nurses are recommended to be provided with ongoing education and resources in order to reduce moral distress and create a positive work atmosphere for nurses. Moreover, the current study sheds light on the importance of organizational support to provide enough resources and staffing in order to reduce moral distress among nurses. Further research is needed to focus on other health professionals and moral distress. Moreover, future studies are also required to explore the strategies to reduce moral distress levels among nurses.

Keywords: moral distress, Jazan, nurses, hospital

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Authors: Gabriel Legorreta Paulin, Marcus I. Bursik, Lilia Arana Salinas, Fernando Aceves Quesada

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In volcanic environments, landslides and debris flows occur continually along stream systems of large stratovolcanoes. This is the case on Pico de Orizaba volcano, the highest mountain in Mexico. The volcano has a great potential to impact and damage human settlements and economic activities by landslides. People living along the lower valleys of Pico de Orizaba volcano are in continuous hazard by the coalescence of upstream landslide sediments that increased the destructive power of debris flows. These debris flows not only produce floods, but also cause the loss of lives and property. Although the importance of assessing such process, there is few landslide inventory maps and landslide susceptibility assessment. As a result in México, no landslide susceptibility models assessment has been conducted to evaluate advantage and disadvantage of models. In this study, a comprehensive study of landslide susceptibility models assessment using GIS technology is carried out on the SE flank of Pico de Orizaba volcano. A detailed multi-temporal landslide inventory map in the watershed is used as framework for the quantitative comparison of two landslide susceptibility maps. The maps are created based on 1) the Stability Index MAPping (SINMAP) model by using default geotechnical parameters and 2) by using findings of volcanic soils geotechnical proprieties obtained in the field. SINMAP combines the factor of safety derived from the infinite slope stability model with the theory of a hydrologic model to produce the susceptibility map. It has been claimed that SINMAP analysis is reasonably successful in defining areas that intuitively appear to be susceptible to landsliding in regions with sparse information. The validations of the resulting susceptibility maps are performed by comparing them with the inventory map under LOGISNET system which provides tools to compare by using a histogram and a contingency table. Results of the experiment allow for establishing how the individual models predict the landslide location, advantages, and limitations. The results also show that although the model tends to improve with the use of calibrated field data, the landslide susceptibility map does not perfectly represent existing landslides.

Keywords: GIS, landslide, modeling, LOGISNET, SINMAP

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Authors: Souzan Al Sayegh, Izzeldin Ibrahim, Mercia Van Der Walt, Mohamed Al-Kuwari

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Background: Walking is the most common form of physical activity which can promote a healthy well-being among people of different age groups. In this regard, pedometers are becoming more popular within research and are considered useful tools in monitoring physical activity levels based on individuals’ daily steps. A value of ˂5,000 steps/day is identified as a sedentary lifestyle index where individuals are physically inactive. Those achieving 5,000-7,499 steps/day have a low active lifestyle as they do not meet the moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) recommendations. Moreover, individuals achieving ≥7,500 steps/day are classified as physically active. The objective of this study is to assess the physical activity levels of adult population in Qatar through a pedometer-based program over a one-year period. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis, as part of a longitudinal study, was carried out over one year to assess the daily step count. 'Step into Health' is a community-based program launched by Aspire as an approach for the purpose of improving physical activity across the population of Qatar. The program involves the distribution of pedometers to registered members which is supported by a self-monitoring online account and linked to a web database. Daily habitual physical activity (daily total step count) was assessed through Omron HJ-324U pedometer. Analyses were done on data extracted from the web database. Results: A total of 1,988 members were included in this study (males: n=1,143, 57%; females: n=845, 43%). Average age was 37.8±10.9 years distributed as 60% of age between age 25-54 (n=1,186), 27% of age 45-64 (n=546), and 13% of age 18-24 years (n=256). Majority were non-Qataris, 81% (n=1,609) compared with 19% of the Qatari nationality (n=379). Average body mass index (BMI) was 27.8±6.1 (kg/m2) where most of them (41%, n=809) were found to be overweight, between 25-30 kg/m2. Total average step count was 5,469±3,884. Majority were found to be sedentary (n=1110, 55.8%). Middle aged individuals were more active than the other two age groups. Males were seen as more active than females. Those who were less active had a higher BMI. Older individuals were more active. There was a variation in the physical activity level throughout the year period. Conclusion: It is essential to further develop the available intervention programs and increase their physical activity behavior. Planning such physical activity interventions for female population should involve aspects such as time, environmental variables and aerobic steps.

Keywords: adults, pedometer, physical activity, step-count

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Authors: Andreas Aceranti, Simonetta Vernocchi, Marco Colorato, Guido Bighiani, Lorenzo Moretti

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Internalized homo/biphobia refers to a set of negative feelings (feelings of guilt, contempt, anger, a sense of inferiority) that nonheterosexuals may feel towards themselves. We studied 22 young males struggling with their bisexuality or homosexuality. All have come to psychoanalysis/counselling because something was “not going right in their lives.” Even though they were all involved in heterosexual relations, they felt that the relationship was not satisfactory, and even tried having affairs with other women, they felt unsatisfied. All revealed that even though they felt sexually attracted to women, they fell in love with other men. When we investigated the main resistances, the answers were almost the same fearing rejection: four from their mates; six from their parents; eight both from mates and parents; the other four were unable to accept the “deviation for religious reasons.” During the sessions, we educated them about sexual orientation and affection, and we spent much time educating them about the normality of sexual orientation. We found out that the majority (20 subjects) were totally ignorant about sexual orientation and had evaluated themselves only on prejudice or religious approaches. After many sessions, 18 subjects stopped coming to sessions as they felt at peace with themselves. Interestingly the four patients who still come to therapy and are still struggling with themselves are the four subjects with religious issues. Based on our experience, the most destructive aspect of sexual orientation acceptance is the lack of education. Prejudice and religion, unfortunately, still play a big role in self-acceptance.

Keywords: prejudice, homophobia, sexual orientation, biphobia, acceptance, ignorance

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Authors: Farid Noor Romadlon

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Welcoming the ASEAN Economic Community and globalization, people need to have a good communication skill. Being able to speak English is one of important qualification in this skill and as global citizen. This study focused on fostering fresh graduate students’ confidence in speaking English. So, students have good performance in speaking. There were thirty (30) students from first semester of English Education Department who joined Intensive Course class as the subject. They had poor motivation to speak English since English is a foreign language which is not exposed in their environment. This study used Three Communicative Activities technique in twelve successive meetings totally. It was done in two cycles (six meetings for each) since there were some activities should be improved in the first session (cycle). Oral test was administered to find the quantitative result and observation conducted to strengthen the finding. The result indicated that Three Communicative Activities improved students’ confidence in speaking English. They had significant progress in their performance in the class. The technique which allowed students to have more spaces to explore and express their ideas to their friends increased their confidence in their performance. The group or cooperative activities stimulated students to think critically in the discussion and promoted their confidence to talk more.

Keywords: students’ confidence, three communicative activities, speaking, Muria Kudus University

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Authors: Nicolas Koslover, Tamara Levene

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Aims: Tonsilitis is one of the most common presentations to the A+E department. We aimed to assess whether patients presenting with tonsilitis are being managed in-line with current guidance. We then set out to educate A+E staff about tonsilitis management and then assessed for improvement in management. Methods: All patients presenting to A+E in one fortnight with a documented diagnosis of tonsilitis were included. We reviewed the notes to assess the choice of treatment in each case and whether a clinical score (CENTOR or FEVERPain score) was used to guide choice of treatment (in accordance with NICE guideline [NG84]). We designed and delivered an educational intervention for A+E staff covering tonsilitis guidelines. The audit was repeated two weeks later. Results: Over the study period, 49 patients were included; only 35% (n=17) had either a clinical score documented or had all components of a score recorded. In total, 39% (n=19) were treated with antibiotics. Of these, 63% (n=12) should not have been prescribed an antibiotic and 37% (n=7) were prescribed an inappropriate antibiotic. At re-audit, (n=50 cases), 58% (n=29) had a clinical score documented and 28% (n=14) were treated with antibiotics. Of these, 29% (n=4) should not have been prescribed antibiotics and 21% (n=3) were prescribed an inappropriate antibiotic. Thus, after this teaching session, there was a significant improvement in antibiotic prescribing practices (63% vs. 29%, p=0.026). Conclusions: A+E assessment and management of tonsilitis frequently deviated from guidelines, but a single teaching session vastly improved clinical scoring and antibiotic prescribing practices.

Keywords: tonsilitis, education, emergency medicine, ENT

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Authors: Hadj Brahim Mounia, Belhamel Farid, Souici Messoud

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In big cities, construction on sloping land (landslide) is becoming increasingly prevalent due to the unavailability of flat lands. This has created a major challenge for structural engineers with regard to structure design, due to the difficulties encountered during the implementation of projects, both for the structure and the soil. This paper analyses the effect of the number of floors of a building, founded on isolated footing on the stability of the slope using the computer code finite element PLAXIS 2D v. 8.2. The isolated footings of a building in this case were anchored in soil so that the levels of successive isolated footing realize a maximum slope of base of three for two heights, which connects the edges of the nearest footings, according to the Algerian building code DTR-BC 2.331: Shallow foundations. The results show that the embedment of the foundation into the soil reduces the value of the safety factor due to the change of the stress state of the soil by these foundations. The number of floors a building has also influences the safety factor. It has been noticed from this case of study that there is no risk of collapse of slopes for an inclination between 5° and 8°. In the case of slope inclination greater than 10° it has been noticed that the urbanization is prohibited.

Keywords: isolated footings, multi-storeys building, PLAXIS 2D, slope

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Authors: Pailin Klinkesorn

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The research aimed to study the use of learning strategies for Japanese language among college students with different learning achievements who study Japanese as a foreign language in the Higher Education’s level. The survey was conducted by using a questionnaire adapted from Strategy Inventory for language Learning or SILL (Oxford, 1990), consisting of two parts: questions about personal data and questions about the use of learning strategies for Japanese language. The samples of college students in the Japanese language program were purposively selected from Suansunandha Rajabhat University. The data from the questionnaire was statistically analyzed by using mean scores and one-way ANOVA. The results showed that Social Strategies was used by the greatest number of college students, whereas Memory Strategies was used by the least number of students. The students in different levels used various strategies, including Memory Strategies, Cognitive Strategies, Metacognitive Strategies and Social Strategies, at the significance level of 0.05. In addition, the students with different learning achievements also used different strategies at the significance level of 0.05. Further studies can explore learning strategies of other groups of Japanese learners, such as university students or company employees. Moreover, learning strategies for language skills, including listening, speaking, reading and writing, can be analyzed for better understanding of learners’ characteristics and for teaching applications.

Keywords: language learning strategies, achievement, Japanese, college students

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Authors: Liaquat Ali, Khurshid Natasha

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Low resource countries are not usually equipped with the organizational tools to implement health care for chronic diseases, and thus, providing effective diabetes care in such countries is a challenging task. Diabetic Association of Bangladesh (BADAS in Bengali acronym) has created a stimulating example to meet this challenge. Starting its journey in 1956 with 39 patients in a small tin shed clinic BADAS, and its affiliated associations now operate 90 hospitals and health centres all over the country. Together, these facilities provide integrated health care to about 1.5 million registered diabetic patients which constitute about 20% of the estimated diabetic population in the country. BADAS has also become a pioneer in health manpower generation in Bangladesh. Along with its affiliates, it now runs 3 Medical Colleges (to generate graduate physicians), 2 Nursing Institutes, and 2 Postgraduate Institutes which conduct 25 postgraduate courses (under the University of Dhaka) in various basic, clinical and public health disciplines. BADAS gives great emphasis on research, which encompasses basic, clinical as well as public health areas. BADAS is an ideal example of public-private partnership in health as most of its infrastructure has been created through government support but it is almost self-reliant in managing its revenue budget which approached approximately 40 million US dollar during 2010. BADAS raises resources by providing high-quality services to the people, both diabetic and non-diabetic. At the same time, BADAS has developed a cross financing model, to support diabetic patients in general and poor diabetic patients (identified through a social welfare network) in particular, through redistribution of the resources. Along with financial sustainability BADAS ensure organizational sustainability through a process of decentralization, community ownership, and democratic management. Presently a large scale pilot project (named as a Health Care Development Project or HCDP) is under implementation under BADAS umbrella with an objective to transform the diabetes care model to a health care model in general. It is expected to create further evidence on providing sustainable (with social safety net) health care delivery for diabetes, and other chronic illnesses as an integral part of general health care delivery in a resource constrained setting.

Keywords: Bangladesh, self sustain, health care, constrain

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Authors: Ayesha Waqar Khan, Mariam Altaf, Jamil Ahmad, Shaheen Shahzad

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Kidney fibrosis is an anticipated outcome of possibly all types of progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD). Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) signaling pathway is responsible for production of matrix-producing fibroblasts and myofibroblasts in diseased kidney. In this study, a discrete model of TGF-beta (transforming growth factor) and CTGF (connective tissue growth factor) was constructed using Rene Thomas formalism to investigate renal fibrosis turn over. The kinetic logic proposed by Rene Thomas is a renowned approach for modeling of Biological Regulatory Networks (BRNs). This modeling approach uses a set of constraints which represents the dynamics of the BRN thus analyzing the pathway and predicting critical trajectories that lead to a normal or diseased state. The molecular connection between TGF-beta, Smad 2/3 (transcription factor) phosphorylation and CTGF is modeled using GenoTech. The order of BRN is CTGF, TGF-B, and SMAD3 respectively. The predicted cycle depicts activation of TGF-B (TGF-β) via cleavage of its own pro-domain (0,1,0) and presentation to TGFR-II receptor phosphorylating SMAD3 (Smad2/3) in the state (0,1,1). Later TGF-B is turned off (0,0,1) thereby activating SMAD3 that further stimulates the expression of CTGF in the state (1,0,1) and itself turns off in (1,0,0). Elevated CTGF expression reactivates TGF-B (1,1,0) and the cycle continues. The predicted model has generated one cycle and two steady states. Cyclic behavior in this study represents the diseased state in which all three proteins contribute to renal fibrosis. The proposed model is in accordance with the experimental findings of the existing diseased state. Extended cycle results in enhanced CTGF expression through Smad2/3 and Smad4 translocation in the nucleus. The results suggest that the system converges towards organ fibrogenesis if CTGF remains constructively active along with Smad2/3 and Smad 4 that plays an important role in kidney fibrosis. Therefore, modeling regulatory pathways of kidney fibrosis will escort to the progress of therapeutic tools and real-world useful applications such as predictive and preventive medicine.

Keywords: CTGF, renal fibrosis signaling pathway, system biology, qualitative modeling

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Authors: Chi-Feng Lai, Wen-Chun Liao Liao

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Many people are bothered by sleep difficulties in Taiwan’s society. However, majority of patients get medical treatments without a comprehensive sleep assessment. It is still a big challenge to formulate a comprehensive assessment of sleep difficulties in clinical settings, even though many assessment tools have existed in literature. This study tries to implement reliable and effective ‘comprehensive sleep assessment scales’ in a medical center and to explore differences in sleep-related factors between clinic clients with or without sleep difficulty complaints. The comprehensive sleep assessment (CSA) scales were composed of 5 dimensions: ‘personal factors’, ‘physiological factors’, ‘psychological factors’, ‘social factors’ and ‘environmental factors, and were first evaluated by expert validity and 20 participants with test-retest reliability. The Content Validity Index (CVI) of the CSA was 0.94 and the alpha of the consistency reliability ranged 0.996-1.000. Clients who visited sleep clinic due to sleep difficulties (n=32, 16 males and 16 females, ages 43.66 ±14.214) and gender-and age- matched healthy subjects without sleep difficulties (n=96, 47 males and 49 females, ages 41.99 ±13.69) were randomly recruited at a ratio of 1:3 (with sleep difficulties vs. without sleep difficulties) to compare their sleep and the CSA factors. Results show that all clinic clients with sleep difficulties did have poor sleep quality (PSQI>5) and mild to moderate daytime sleepiness (ESS >11). Personal factors of long working hours (χ2= 10.315, p=0.001), shift workers (χ2= 8.964, p=0.003), night shift (χ2=9.395, p=0.004) and perceived stress (χ2=9.503, p=0.002) were disruptors of sleep difficulties. Physiological factors from physical examination including breathing by mouth, low soft palate, high narrow palate, Edward Angle, tongue hypertrophy, and occlusion of the worn surface were observed in clinic clients. Psychological factors including higher perceived stress (χ2=32.542, p=0.000), anxiety and depression (χ2=32.868, p=0.000); social factors including lack of leisure activities (χ2=39.857, p=0.000), more drinking habits (χ2=1.798, p=0.018), irregular amount and frequency in meals (χ2=5.086, p=0.024), excessive dinner (χ2=21.511, p=0.000), being incapable of getting up on time due to previous poor night sleep (χ2=4.444, p=0.035); and environmental factors including lights (χ2=7.683, p=0.006), noise (χ2=5.086, p=0.024), low or high bedroom temperature (χ2=4.595, p=0.032) were existed in clients. In conclusion, the CSA scales can work as valid and reliable instruments for evaluating sleep-related factors. Findings of this study provide important reference for assessing clinic clients with sleep difficulties.

Keywords: comprehensive sleep assessment, sleep-related factors, sleep difficulties

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Authors: Chahrazed Salhi, Ayoub Zeroual, Yasmina Hamitouche

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Soil water erosion poses a significant threat to the watersheds in Algeria today. The degradation of storage capacity in large dams over the past two decades, primarily due to erosion, necessitates a comprehensive understanding of the factors that contribute to soil erosion. The Isser watershed, located in the Northwestern region of Algeria, faces additional challenges such as recurrent droughts and the presence of delicate marl and clay outcrops, which amplify its susceptibility to water erosion. This study aims to employ advanced techniques such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS), in conjunction with the Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) method and Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model, to predict specific erosion patterns and analyze the key factors influencing erosion in the Isser basin. To accomplish this, an array of data sources including rainfall, climatic, hydrometric, land use, soil, digital elevation, and satellite data were utilized. The application of the SWAT model to the Isser basin yielded an average annual soil loss of approximately 16 t/ha/year. Particularly high erosion rates, exceeding 12 T/ha/year, were observed in the central and southern parts of the basin, encompassing 41% of the total basin area. Through Canonical Correlation Analysis, it was determined that vegetation cover and topography exerted the most substantial influence on erosion. Consequently, the study identified significant and spatially heterogeneous erosion throughout the study area. The impact of land topography on soil loss was found to be directly proportional, while vegetation cover exhibited an inverse proportional relationship. Modeling specific erosion for the Ladrat dam sub-basin estimated a rate of around 39 T/ha/year, thus accounting for the recorded capacity loss of 17.80% compared to the bathymetric survey conducted in 2019. The findings of this research provide valuable decision-support tools for soil conservation managers, empowering them to make informed decisions regarding soil conservation measures.

Keywords: Isser watershed, RS, CCA, SWAT, vegetation cover, topography

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Authors: Ekaterina Donii

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Understanding interpersonal competence, social interaction and peer relationships of gifted children is a concern for specialists in the field of gifted education. To gain more in-depth knowledge concerning the social functioning of gifted children among peers, we decided to study the social abilities of gifted children in a heterogeneous academic environment. Eight gifted children (5 of age 7, 1 of age 8.5, 1 of age 9.5 and 1 of age 10), their classmates (10 of age 7-8, 12 of age 8.5-9, 16 of age 9.5-10) and teachers participated in the study. The sociometric questionnaire analysis was based on the method of Rodríguez and Morera to check the social status of the gifted children among classmates. The Instrument Observational Protocol for Interactions within the Classroom (OPINTEC-v.5) was used to assess the social interactions between the gifted students, their classmates, and the teacher within the educational context. While doing a task together, the gifted children interacted more with popular and neither popular nor gifted classmates than with rejected classmates. While spending time together, the gifted children interacted more with neither popular nor rejected classmates than with popular or rejected classmates. All gifted children chose other gifted and non-gifted classmates for interaction, established close relations and demonstrated good social abilities interacting with their classmates. The aim of this study was to examine the social interactions, social status, and social network of the gifted students in a regular classroom. The majority of the gifted children were popular among their classmates and had good social skills. We should be alert, though, for those gifted children who do have social problems, in order to help them functioning in a regular classroom.

Keywords: gifted, heterogeneous environment, sociometric status, social interactions

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Authors: Ibrahim Ercan, Mustafa Arikan

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In recent years, alternative dispute resolution methods have attracted the attention of many country’s legislators. Instead of solving the disputes by litigation, putting the end to a dispute by parties themselves is more important for the preservation of social peace. Therefore, alternative dispute resolution methods (ADR) have been discussed more intensively in Turkey as well as the whole world. After these discussions, Mediation Act was adopted on 07.06.2012 and entered into force on 21.06.2013. According to the Mediation Act, it is only possible to mediate issues arising from the private law. Also, it is not compulsory to go to mediation in Turkish law, it is optional. Therefore, the parties are completely free to choose mediation method in dispute resolution. Mediators need to be a lawyer with experience in five years. Therefore, it is not possible to be a mediator who is not lawyers. Beyond five years of experience, getting education and success in exams about especially body language and psychology is also very important to be a mediator. If the parties compromise as a result of mediation, a document is issued. This document will also have the ability to exercising availability under certain circumstances. Thus, the parties will not need to apply to the court again. On the contrary, they will find the opportunity to execute this document, so they can regain their debts. However, the Mediation Act has entered into force in a period of nearly two years of history; it is possible to say that the interest in mediation is not at the expected level. Therefore, making mediation mandatory for some disputes has been discussed recently. At this point, once the mediation becomes mandatory and good results follows it, this institution will be able to find a serious interest in Turkey. Otherwise, if the results will not be satisfying, the mediation method will be removed.

Keywords: alternative dispute resolution methods, mediation act, mediation, mediator, mediation in Turkey

Procedia PDF Downloads 365

Authors: Mehrnaz Mostafavi, Mahtab Shabani, Alireza Azani, Fatemeh Ghafari

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Artificial intelligence (AI) can transform breast cancer diagnosis and therapy by providing sophisticated solutions for screening, imaging interpretation, histopathological analysis, and treatment planning. This literature review digs into the many uses of AI in breast cancer treatment, highlighting the need for collaboration between AI scientists and healthcare practitioners. It emphasizes advances in AI-driven breast imaging interpretation, such as computer-aided detection and diagnosis (CADe/CADx) systems and deep learning algorithms. These have shown significant potential for improving diagnostic accuracy and lowering radiologists' workloads. Furthermore, AI approaches such as deep learning have been used in histopathological research to accurately predict hormone receptor status and categorize tumor-associated stroma from regular H&E stains. These AI-powered approaches simplify diagnostic procedures while providing insights into tumor biology and prognosis. As AI becomes more embedded in breast cancer care, it is crucial to ensure its ethical, efficient, and patient-focused implementation to improve outcomes for breast cancer patients ultimately.

Keywords: breast cancer, artificial intelligence, cancer diagnosis, clinical practice

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Authors: Moti Zwilling, Srečko Natek

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This paper aims to present an innovative predictive analytics analysis in order to find the best combination between two consumers who strive to find their partner or in internet sites. The methodology shown in this paper is based on analysis of consumer preferences and involves data mining and machine learning search techniques. The study is composed of two parts: The first part examines by means of descriptive statistics the correlations between a set of parameters that are taken between man and women where they intent to meet each other through the social media, usually the internet. In this part several hypotheses were examined and statistical analysis were taken place. Results show that there is a strong correlation between the affiliated attributes of man and woman as long as concerned to how they present themselves in a social media such as "Facebook". One interesting issue is the strong desire to develop a serious relationship between most of the respondents. In the second part, the authors used common data mining algorithms to search and classify the most important and effective attributes that affect the response rate of the other side. Results exhibit that personal presentation and education background are found as most affective to achieve a positive attitude to one's profile from the other mate.

Keywords: dating sites, social networks, machine learning, decision trees, data mining

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Authors: Fazilet Alachaher (Benzerdjeb)

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From the chalkboard to the abacus and beyond, technology has always played an important role in education. Educational technology refers to any teaching tool that helps supports learning, and given the rapid advancements in Information Technology and multimedia applications, the potential to support the teaching of foreign languages in our universities is ever greater. In language teaching and learning, we have a lot of to choose from the world of technology: TV, CDs, DVDs, Computers, the Internet, Email, and Blogs. The use of modern technologies can enrich the experience of learning a foreign language because they provide features that are not present in traditional technology. They can offer a wide range of multimedia resources, opportunities for intensive one-to-one learning in language labs and resources for authentic materials, which can be motivating to both students and teachers. The advent of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and online interaction can also open up new range of self-access and distance learning opportunities The two last decades have witnessed a revolution due to the onset of technology, and has changed the dynamics of various industries, and has also influenced the way people live and work in society. That is why using the multimedia to create a certain context to teach English has its unique advantages. This paper tries then to analyse the necessity of multimedia technology to language teaching and brings out the problems faced by using these technologies. It also aims at making English teachers aware of the strategies to use it in an effective manner.

Keywords: strategies English teaching, multimedia technology, advantages, disadvantages, English learning

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Authors: Lexi Li, Vanessa H. K. Pang

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This study aims to demonstrate how native and learner corpora can be used to enhance modal verb treatment in EFL textbooks in mainland China. It contributes to a corpus-informed and learner-centered design of grammar presentation in EFL textbooks that enhances the authenticity and appropriateness of textbook language for target learners. The linguistic focus is will, would, can, could, may, might, shall, should, must. The native corpus is the spoken component of BNC2014 (hereafter BNCS2014). The spoken part is chosen because pedagogical purpose of the textbooks is communication-oriented. Using the standard query option of CQPweb, 5% of each of the nine modals was sampled from BNCS2014. The learner corpus is the POS-tagged Ten-thousand English Compositions of Chinese Learners (TECCL). All the essays under the 'secondary school' section were selected. A series of five secondary coursebooks comprise the textbook corpus. All the data in both the learner and the textbook corpora are retrieved through the concordance functions of WordSmith Tools (version, 5.0). Data analysis was divided into two parts. The first part compared the patterns of modal verbs in the textbook corpus and BNC2014 with respect to distributional features, semantic functions, and co-occurring constructions to examine whether the textbooks reflect the authentic use of English. Secondly, the learner corpus was analyzed in terms of the use (distributional features, semantic functions, and co-occurring constructions) and the misuse (syntactic errors, e.g., she can sings*.) of the nine modal verbs to uncover potential difficulties that confront learners. The analysis of distribution indicates several discrepancies between the textbook corpus and BNCS2014. The first four most frequent modal verbs in BNCS2014 are can, would, will, could, while can, will, should, could are the top four in the textbooks. Most strikingly, there is an unusually high proportion of can (41.1%) in the textbooks. The results on different meanings shows that will, would and must are the most problematic. For example, for will, the textbooks contain 20% more occurrences of 'volition' and 20% less of 'prediction' than those in BNCS2014. Regarding co-occurring structures, the textbooks over-represented the structure 'modal +do' across the nine modal verbs. Another major finding is that the structure of 'modal +have done' that frequently co-occur with could, would, should, and must is underused in textbooks. Besides, these four modal verbs are the most difficult for learners, as the error analysis shows. This study demonstrates how the synergy of native and learner corpora can be harnessed to improve EFL textbook presentation of modal verbs in a way that textbooks can provide not only authentic language used in natural discourse but also appropriate design tailed for the needs of target learners.

Keywords: English as Foreign Language, EFL textbooks, learner corpus, modal verbs, native corpus

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Authors: Sobhy Fathy A. Hashesh

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This study aimed at investigating the effect of Andalus Knowledge Phases and Times (ANPT) model of learning and the effect of 'Intel Education Contribution in ANPT' on the development of students’ academic performance and emotional quotient. The society of the study composed of Andalus Private Schools, elementary school students (N=700), while the sample of the study composed of four randomly assigned groups (N=80) with one experimental group and one control group to study "ANPT" effect and the "Intel Contribution in ANPT" effect respectively. The study followed the quantitative and qualitative approaches in collecting and analyzing data to answer the study questions. Results of the study revealed that there were significant statistical differences between students’ academic performances and emotional quotients for the favor of the experimental groups. The study recommended applying this model on different educational variables and on other age groups to generate more data leading to more educational results for the favor of students’ learning outcomes.

Keywords: Al Andalus, emotional quotient, students, academic performance development

Procedia PDF Downloads 238