Search results for: world café method

Authors: Ali Akbar

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The importance of advancing women’s rights is closely intertwined with the development of civil society and the institutionalization of democracy in Middle Eastern countries. There is indeed an intimate relationship between the process of democratization and promoting gender equality, since democracy necessitates equality between men and women. In order to advance the issue of gender equality, what is required is a solid theoretical framework which has its roots in the reexamination of pre-modern interpretation of certain Qurʾānic passages that seem to have given men more rights than it gives women. This paper suggests that those Muslim scholars who adopt a contextualist approach to the Qurʾānic text and its interpretation provide a solid theoretical background for improving women’s rights. Indeed, the aim of the paper is to discuss how the contextualist approach to the Qurʾānic text and its interpretation given by a number of prominent scholars is capable of promoting the issue of gender equality. The paper concludes that since (1) much of the gender inequality found in the primary sources of Islam as well as pre-modern Muslim writings is rooted in the natural cultural norms and standards of early Islamic societies and (2) since the context of today’s world is so different from that of the pre-modern era, the proposed models provide a solid theoretical framework for promoting women’s rights and gender equality.

Keywords: contextualism, gender equality, Islam, the rights of women

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Authors: Pratikno Hidayat, Khamdan Cahyari

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Hydrogen is the ultimate choice of energy carriers in future. It contents high energy density (42 kJ/g), emits only water vapor during combustion and has high energy conversion up to 50% in fuel cell application. One of the promising methods to produce hydrogen is from organic waste through dark fermentation method. It utilizes sugar-rich organic waste as substrate and hydrogen-producing microorganisms to generate the hydrogen. Solid waste of sago processing industries in Indonesia is one of the promising raw materials for both producing biofuel hydrogen and mitigating the environmental impact due to the waste disposal. This research was meant to investigate the effect of chemical and biological pretreatment i.e. acid treatment and mushroom cultivation toward lignocellulosic waste of these sago industries. Chemical pretreatment was conducted through exposing the waste into acid condition using sulfuric acid (H2SO4) (various molar i.e. 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 M and various duration of exposure i.e. 30, 60 and 90 minutes). Meanwhile, biological treatment was conducted through utilization of the solid waste as growth media of mushroom (Oyster and Ling-zhi) for 3 months. Dark fermentation was conducted at pH 5.0, temperature 27℃ and atmospheric pressure. It was noticed that chemical and biological pretreatment could improve hydrogen yield with the highest yield at 3.8 ml/g VS (31%v H2). The hydrogen production was successfully performed to generate high percentage of hydrogen, although the yield was still low. This result indicated that the explosion of acid chemical and biological method might need to be extended to improve degradability of the solid waste. However, high percentage of hydrogen was resulted from proper pretreatment of residual sludge of biogas plant to generate hydrogen-producing inoculum.

Keywords: hydrogen, sago waste, chemical, biological, dark fermentation, Indonesia

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Authors: Norah Alshayhan

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Dealing with public problems is one of the struggles that may face the leaders in the public sector. Collaborative leadership is one of the most important approaches in dealing with difficult situations that affect both public, private, and nonprofit organizations. Current literature does not show exactly the extent of utilizing collaborative leadership during the post-COVID-19 world in Saudi Arabia. This study is worth exploring in order to examine collaborative leadership in similar environments. This research will utilize both integrative public leadership and transformational leadership theories to guide the researcher in answering the research question. The researcher utilizes content analysis and reviews government documents, plans, and reports to gain more information about collaborative leadership in Saudi Arabia. The researcher analyzes the data in themes and sub-themes to categorize the data in answering the research question. Leader’s behavior and performance in the public sector will be the focus of this study. Findings from this research will benefit leaders in both public, private, and nonprofit sectors in their leadership during a post-disaster time. Findings from this study support collaborative leadership practices and performance in leading future post-crises/disasters.

Keywords: collaborative leadership, post-COVID-19, Saudi Arabia, performance, skills

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Authors: Jeyaseelan Gnanaseelan, Subajana Jeyaseelan

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The paper avails, in a systemic form, some of the results of the investigation into nature, functions, problems, and implications in the use of English as the medium of Instruction (EMI) in the Business Management courses at Vavuniya Campus of the University of Jaffna, located in the conflict-affected northern part of Sri Lanka. It is a case study of the responses of the students and the teachers from Tamil and Sinhala language communities of the Faculty of Business Studies. This paper analyzes the perceptions on the use of the medium, the EMI background, resources available and accessible, language abilities of the teachers and learners, learning style and pedagogy, the EMI methodology, the socio-economic and socio-political contexts typical of a non-native English learning context. The analysis is quantitative and qualitative. It finds out the functional perspective of the EMI in Sri Lanka and suggests practical strategies of contextualization and acculturation in the EMI organization and positions. The paper assesses the learner and teacher capacity in the use of English. The ethnic conflict and linguistic politics in Sri Lanka have contributed multiple factors to the current use of English as the medium. It has conflicted with its domestic realities and the globalization trends of the world at large which determines efficiency and effectiveness.

Keywords: medium of instruction, English, business management, teaching and learning

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Authors: Ahmed M. Debela, Mayreli Ortiz , Ciara K. O´Sullivan

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The completion of the human genome Project (HGP) has paved the way for mapping the diversity in the overall genome sequence which helps to understand the genetic causes of inherited diseases and susceptibility to drugs or environmental toxins. Arrayed primer extension (APEX) is a microarray based minisequencing strategy for screening disease causing mutations. It is derived from Sanger DNA sequencing and uses fluorescently dideoxynucleotides (ddNTPs) for termination of a growing DNA strand from a primer with its 3´- end designed immediately upstream of a site where single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) occurs. The use of DNA polymerase offers a very high accuracy and specificity to APEX which in turn happens to be a method of choice for multiplex SNP detection. Coupling the high specificity of this method with the high sensitivity, low cost and compatibility for miniaturization of electrochemical techniques would offer an excellent platform for detection of mutation as well as sequencing of DNA templates. We are developing an electrochemical APEX for the analysis of SNPs found in the MYH7 gene for group of cardiomyopathy patients. ddNTPs were labeled with four different redox active compounds with four distinct potentials. Thiolated oligonucleotide probes were immobilised on gold and glassy carbon substrates which are followed by hybridisation with complementary target DNA just adjacent to the base to be extended by polymerase. Electrochemical interrogation was performed after the incorporation of the redox labelled dedioxynucleotide. The work involved the synthesis and characterisation of the redox labelled ddNTPs, optimisation and characterisation of surface functionalisation strategies and the nucleotide incorporation assays.

Keywords: array based primer extension, labelled ddNTPs, electrochemical, mutations

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Authors: Adaku Thelma Olatise

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Mental health disparities among women from diverse ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds remain a pressing concern, particularly as current psychotherapeutic models often fail to address the unique challenges these groups face. This is of particular concern since epidemiological studies across various countries and cultures consistently demonstrate higher prevalence rates of common mental disorders amongst these groups of women because of a lack of access to culturally oriented psychotherapeutic services. This literature review aims to examine how CCAs in psychotherapy can address the specific ethnic, cultural, and religious challenges women encounter in accessing mental health care. A search of relevant articles was conducted through PsycARTICLES and PubMed databases, using terms such as ‘mental health’, ‘women’, ‘culture’, and ‘ethnic minorities’. Supplementary searches on Google Scholar were also performed to capture literature not covered by traditional databases. While the importance of cross-cultural approaches in psychotherapy has become more apparent because people from diverse ethnic backgrounds inevitably perceive the world through different lenses, influencing their interpretations of human behavior and norms, there is a notable gap in the literature in understanding the influences of using of CCAs in psychotherapy amongst women of an ethnic minority. This gap not only reflects a poor understanding of the complex stressors faced by these women—such as familial, communal, and societal expectations—but also highlights the lack of support and culturally adapted interventions available to them. Even though scholars have posited that aligning treatment approaches with patients' cultural backgrounds is important to enhance therapeutic effectiveness, and the acknowledgment of culture is crucial in psychotherapy theory and practice. As well as the increasing global focus on psychotherapy applications that integrate non-Western practices, such as spiritual healing and community-based interventions, the adaptation of these approaches in mainstream mental health care has remained limited. This review found that the expectations and experiences of ethnic minority women were heavily influenced by family and community pressures. However, there were limited evidence-based, culturally oriented psychotherapeutic interventions tailored to ethnic minority women. This gap extends to inadequate representation of minority groups in clinical research, as well as a lack of culturally validated mental health outcome measures. Furthermore, studies have shown that psychotherapeutic models have largely been Western-oriented and Euro-centric because of socially constructed hierarchies. The origin of psychology from the Western world has predominantly reflected Western cultural traditions, shaped by historical, linguistic, and sociopolitical influences. These factors have led to a lack of recognition of therapeutic approaches from minority ethnic groups and the biases that emanate from hegemonic cultural beliefs and power dynamics influence the decisions about which psychotherapeutic modalities to integrate and practice. Therefore, this plethora of factors adds to the challenges women from ethnically and culturally diverse backgrounds face in accessing mental health services at the individual, familial, community, and societal levels. In conclusion, a cross-cultural approach is urgently needed within psychotherapy to address these challenges, ensuring that treatment frameworks are both culturally sensitive and gender responsive. Only by considering the lived experiences of minority women, particularly in relation to their cultural and religious contexts, can mental health services provide the appropriate care necessary to support their well-being.

Keywords: mental health, women, culture, ethnicity

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Authors: Zhongmin Wang, Wudong Fan, Hengshan Zhang, Yimin Zhou

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In data-driven prognostic methods, the prediction accuracy of the estimation for remaining useful life of bearings mainly depends on the performance of health indicators, which are usually fused some statistical features extracted from vibrating signals. However, the existing health indicators have the following two drawbacks: (1) The differnet ranges of the statistical features have the different contributions to construct the health indicators, the expert knowledge is required to extract the features. (2) When convolutional neural networks are utilized to tackle time-frequency features of signals, the time-series of signals are not considered. To overcome these drawbacks, in this study, the method combining convolutional neural network with gated recurrent unit is proposed to extract the time-frequency image features. The extracted features are utilized to construct health indicator and predict remaining useful life of bearings. First, original signals are converted into time-frequency images by using continuous wavelet transform so as to form the original feature sets. Second, with convolutional and pooling layers of convolutional neural networks, the most sensitive features of time-frequency images are selected from the original feature sets. Finally, these selected features are fed into the gated recurrent unit to construct the health indicator. The results state that the proposed method shows the enhance performance than the related studies which have used the same bearing dataset provided by PRONOSTIA.

Keywords: continuous wavelet transform, convolution neural net-work, gated recurrent unit, health indicators, remaining useful life

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Authors: Shigdaf Mekuriaw, Firew Tegegne, A. Tsunekawa, Dereje Tewabe

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The purpose of this paper is to make a comprehensive review on the use of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) as a potential livestock feed and argue its utilization as complementary strategy to other control methods. Water Hyacinth is one of the most noxious plant invaders of rivers and lakes. Such weeds cause environmental disaster and interfere with economic and recreational activities such as water transportation and fishing. Economic impacts of the weed in seven African countries have been estimated at between 20-50 million US$ every year. It would, therefore, be prudent to suggest utilization as a complementary control method. The majority of people in developing countries are dependent on traditional and inefficient crop-livestock production system that constrains their ability to enhance economic productivity and quality of life. Livestock in developing countries faces shortage of feed, especially during the long dry seasons. Existing literature shows the use of water hyacinth as livestock and fish feed. The chemical composition of water hyacinth varies considerably. Due to its relatively high crude protein (CP) content (5.8-20.0%), water hyacinth can be considered as a potential protein supplement for livestock which commonly feed cereal crop residues whose contribution as source of feed is increasing in Africa. Though the effects of anti-nutritional factors (ANFs) present in water hyacinth is not investigated, their concentrations are not above threshold hinder its utilization as livestock feed. In conclusion, water hyacinth could provide large quantities of nutritious feed for animals. Like other feeds, water hyacinth may not be offered as a sole feed and based on existing literature its optimum inclusion level reaches 50%.

Keywords: Africa, livestock feed, water bodies, water hyacinth and weed control method

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Authors: Nazura Abdul Manap, Siti Nur Farah Atiqah Salleh

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For decades, the misuse of personal data has been a critical issue. Malaysia has accepted responsibility by implementing the Malaysian Personal Data Protection Act 2010 to secure personal data (PDPA 2010). After more than a decade, this legislation is set to be revised by the current PDPA 2023 Amendment Bill to align with the world's key personal data protection regulations, such as the European Union General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). Among the other suggested adjustments is the Data User's appointment of a Data Protection Officer (DPO) to ensure the commercial entity's compliance with the PDPA 2010 criteria. The change is expected to be enacted in parliament fairly soon; nevertheless, based on the experience of the Personal Data Protection Department (PDPD) in implementing the Act, it is projected that there will be a slew of additional concerns associated with the DPO mandate. Consequently, the goal of this article is to highlight the issues that the DPO will encounter and how the Personal Data Protection Department should respond to this subject. The study result was produced using a qualitative technique based on an examination of the current literature. This research reveals that there are probable obstacles experienced by the DPO, and thus, there should be a definite, clear guideline in place to aid DPO in executing their tasks. It is argued that appointing a DPO is a wise measure in ensuring that the legal data security requirements are met.

Keywords: guideline, law, data protection officer, personal data

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Authors: Luiz G. Véras, Felipe L. Medeiros, Lamartine F. Guimarães

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This work approaches the automatic planning of paths for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) through the application of the Rapidly Exploring Random Tree Star-Smart (RRT*-Smart) algorithm. RRT*-Smart is a sampling process of positions of a navigation environment through a tree-type graph. The algorithm consists of randomly expanding a tree from an initial position (root node) until one of its branches reaches the final position of the path to be planned. The algorithm ensures the planning of the shortest path, considering the number of iterations tending to infinity. When a new node is inserted into the tree, each neighbor node of the new node is connected to it, if and only if the extension of the path between the root node and that neighbor node, with this new connection, is less than the current extension of the path between those two nodes. RRT*-smart uses an intelligent sampling strategy to plan less extensive routes by spending a smaller number of iterations. This strategy is based on the creation of samples/nodes near to the convex vertices of the navigation environment obstacles. The planned paths are smoothed through the application of the method called quintic pythagorean hodograph curves. The smoothing process converts a route into a dynamically-viable one based on the kinematic constraints of the vehicle. This smoothing method models the hodograph components of a curve with polynomials that obey the Pythagorean Theorem. Its advantage is that the obtained structure allows computation of the curve length in an exact way, without the need for quadratural techniques for the resolution of integrals.

Keywords: path planning, path smoothing, Pythagorean hodograph curve, RRT*-Smart

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Authors: Recep Kesli, Merih Simsek, Cengiz Demir, Onur Turkyilmaz

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Objective: Goal of this study was to determine the antibiotic resistance of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains isolated at Medical Microbiology Laboratory of ANS Application and Research Hospital, Afyon Kocatepe University, Turkey. Methods: S. aureus strains isolated between October 2012 and September 2016, from various clinical specimens were evaluated retrospectively. S. aureus strains were identified by both the conventional methods and automated identification system -VITEK 2 (bio-Mérieux, Marcy l’etoile, France), and Meticillin resistance was verified using oxacillin disk with disk-diffusion method. Antibiotic resistance testing was performed by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method according to CLSI criteria, and intermediate susceptible strains were considered as resistant. Results: Seven hundred S.aureus strains which were isolated from various clinical specimens were included in this study. These strains were mostly isolated from blood culture, tissue, wounds and bronchial aspiration. All of 306 (43,7%) were oxacillin resistant. While all the S.aureus strains were found to be susceptible to vancomycin, teicoplanin, daptomycin and linezolid, 38 (9.6 %), 77 (19.5 %), 116 (29.4 %), 152 (38.6 %) and 28 (7.1 %) were found to be resistant aganist to clindamycin, erythromycin, gentamicin, tetracycline and sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, retrospectively. Conclusions: Comparing to the Methicillin sensitive staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) strains, increased resistance rates of, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, clindamycin, erythromycin, gentamicin, and tetracycline were observed among the MRSA strains. In this study, the most effective antibiotic on the total of strains was found to be trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, the least effective antibiotic on the total of strains was found to be tetracycline.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance, MRSA, Staphylococcus aureus, VITEK 2

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Authors: B. Gültekin, T. Gültekin

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Peace diplomacy is the most important international tool to maintain peace all over the World. This study consists of three parts. In the first part, the leadership of Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, will be introduced as a tool of peace communication and peace management. Also, in this part, peace communication will be explained by the peace leadership traits of Devlet Bahçeli, who is one of the efficient political leaders representing the concepts of compromise and agreement on different sides of politics. In the second part of study, it is aimed to analyze Devlet Bahçeli’s leadership within the frame of peace communication and the final part of this study is about creating an original public communication model for public diplomacy based on Devlet Bahçeli as an example. As a result, the main purpose of this study is to develop an original peace communication model including peace modules, peace management projects, original dialogue procedures and protocols exhibited in the policies of Devlet Bahçeli. The political leadership represented by Devlet Bahçeli inspires political leaders to provide peace communication. In this study, principles and policies of peace leadership of Devlet Bahçeli will be explained as an original model on a peace communication platform.

Keywords: public diplomacy, dialogue management, peace leadership, peace diplomacy

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Authors: Chenhong Peng

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Beijing, the capital city of China, is running out of water. The water resource per capita in Beijing is only 106 cubic meter, accounts for 5% of the country’s average level and less than 2% of the world average level. The tension between water supply and demand is extremely serious. For one hand, the surface and ground water have been over-exploited during the last decades; for the other hand, water demand keep increasing as the result of population and economic growth. There is a massive gap between water supply and demand. This paper will focus on addressing the water shortage in Beijing city by increasing water use efficiency in domestic sector. First, we will emphasize on the changing structure of water supply and demand in Beijing under the economic development and restructure during the last decade. Second, by analyzing the water use efficiency in agriculture, industry and domestic sectors in Beijing, we identify that the key determinant for addressing the water crisis is to increase the water use efficiency in domestic sector. Third, this article will explore the two primary causes for the water use inefficiency in Beijing: The ineffective water pricing policy and the poor water education and communication policy. Finally, policy recommendation will offered to improve the water use efficiency in domestic sector by making and implementing an effective water pricing policy and people-engaged water education and communication policy.

Keywords: Beijing, water use efficiency, domestic sector, water pricing policy, water education policy

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Authors: S. Mohamadi, T. Boudina, A. Rouabeh, A. Seridi

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Equivalent linear and non-linear ground response analyses are conducted at many representative sites at the mosque of Algeria, to compare the free field acceleration spectra with local code of practice. Spectral Analysis of Surface Waves (SASW) technique was adopted to measure the in-situ shear wave velocity profile at the representative sites. The seismic movement imposed on the rock is the NS component of Keddara station recorded during the earthquake in Boumerdes 21 May 2003. The site-specific elastic design spectra for each site are determined to further obtain site specific non-linear acceleration spectra. As a case study, the results of site-specific evaluations are presented for two building sites (site of minaret and site of the prayer hall) to demonstrate the influence of local geological conditions on ground response at Algerian sites. A comparison of computed response with the standard code of practice being used currently in Algeria for the seismic zone of Algiers indicated that the design spectra is not able to capture site amplification due to local geological conditions.

Keywords: equivalent linear, non-linear, ground response analysis, design response spectrum

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Authors: Hossein Keshavarz, Alejandro Ramirez-Serrano

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Energy efficiency and locomotion speed are two key parameters for legged robots; thus, finding ways to improve them are important. This paper proposes a locomotion framework to analyze the energy usage and speed of quadruped robots via a Genetic Algorithm (GA) optimization process. For this, a quadruped robot platform with joint redundancy in its hind legs that we believe will help multi-legged robots improve their speed and energy consumption is used. ContinuO, the quadruped robot of interest, has 14 active degrees of freedom (DoFs), including three DoFs for each front leg, and unlike previously developed quadruped robots, four DoFs for each hind leg. ContinuO aims to realize a cost-effective quadruped robot for real-world scenarios with high speeds and the ability to overcome large obstructions. The proposed framework is used to locomote the robot and analyze its energy consumed at diverse stride lengths and locomotion speeds. The analysis is performed by comparing the obtained results in two modes, with and without the joint redundancy on the robot’s hind legs.

Keywords: genetic algorithm optimization, locomotion path planning, quadruped robots, redundant legs

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Authors: Anna Ouskova Leonteva, Michel Risser, Anne Jeannin-Girardon, Pierre Parrend, Pierre Collet

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This paper proposes an efficient optimization tool for an active magnetic regenerator (AMR) model, operating in two modes: magnetic refrigeration system (MRS) and thermo-magnetic generator (TMG). The aim of this optimizer is to improve the design of the AMR by applying a multi-physics multi-scales numerical model as a core of evaluation functions to achieve industrial requirements for refrigeration and energy conservation systems. Based on the multi-objective non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm 3 (NSGA3), it maximizes four different objectives: efficiency and power density for MRS and TMG. The main contribution of this work is in the simultaneously application of a CPU-parallel NSGA3 version to the AMR model in both modes for studying impact of control and design parameters on the performance. The parametric study of the optimization results are presented. The main conclusion is that the common (for TMG and MRS modes) optimal parameters can be found by the proposed tool.

Keywords: ecological refrigeration systems, active magnetic regenerator, thermo-magnetic generator, multi-objective evolutionary optimization, industrial optimization problem, real-world application

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Authors: Ni Luh Putu Harta Wedari

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Background: Clostridium difficile has two main virulence factors, namely TcdA and TcdB. TcdA encoded by the tcdA gene acts as an enterotoxin, pro-inflammatory and fluid accumulation, while TcdB encoded by the tcdB gene is cytotoxic, causes disruption of the actin cytoskeleton, and causes disruption of tight junctions in colon cells. This study aims to explore the relationship between the tcdA and tcdB genes and the duration of diarrhea in elderly patients. Method: This research was an observational analytic with a prospective cross-sectional with samples of elderly diarrhea patients who met the inclusion criteria in Denpasar City health service facilities from 1 December 2022 until 30 June 2023, and then their feces were analyzed using the real-time PCR method. Results: In this study, 40 elderly diarrhea patients met the inclusion criteria and in accordance with the minimum sample size, 28 (70%) men and 12 (30%) women. 5 patients (12.5%) had a history of azithromycin, 4 (10%) levofloxacin, 17 (42.5%) ciprofloxacin, 8 (20%) metronidazole, 1 (2.5%) cefoperazone, 5 (12, 5%) doxycycline. Comorbids, namely 13 (32.5%) type II diabetes mellitus, 4 (10%) chronic kidney disease, 10 (25%) malignancies, 7 (17.5%) urinary tract infections, 3 (7.5%) %) immunocompromised, 2 (5%) cardiac heart failure, and 1 (2.5%) acute on chronic kidney disease. The overall diarrhea duration average was 5 days. 8 samples (20%) were positive for 16s rRNA, and there was no significant difference in diarrhea duration with negative samples (p=0.166). The relationship between the tcdA gene and the duration of diarrhea could not be performed because all samples were negative. Likewise, relationship analysis between the coexistence of tcdA and tcdB could not be performed. There was no significant difference between tcdB positive 3 (7.5%) and negative with diarrhea duration (p=0.739). Conclusion: There is no significant relationship between the presence of the 16s rRNA and tcdB C. difficile genes with the duration of diarrhea in elderly patients.

Keywords: clostridium, difficile, diarrhea, elderly, tcdA, tcdB

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Authors: Smail Hadj Mahammed

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Translation is not merely a process of conveying the meaning from one particular language into another to overcome language barriers and ensure a good understanding; it is also a work of civilization and progress. Without the translation of Greek, Indian and Persian works, Arabic and Islamic Civilization would not have taken off, and without the translations of Arabic works into Latin, and then into European languages, the scientific and technological revolution of the modern world would not have taken place. In this context, the present paper seeks to investigate how the translation movement contributed to the Arabic and Islamic Civilizations during the Golden Age. The research paper consists of three major parts: the first part provides a brief historical overview of the translation movement during the golden age, which witnessed two important eras: the Umayyad and Abbasid eras. The second part shows the main reasons why translation was a prominent cultural activity during the Golden Age and why it gained great interest from the Arabs. The last part highlights the constructive contribution of translation to the Arabic and Islamic Civilization during the period (661–1258). The results demonstrate that Arabic translation movement was unprecedented in the transmission of knowledge in the whole history of humankind and that translation during the Golden Age had significantly assisted in enriching the Arabic and Islamic civilizations, which had absorbed major and important scientific works of old Greek, Indian and Persian civilizations.

Keywords: Arabic and Islamic civilization, contribution, golden age, translation

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Authors: Bekan Bogale, Tsegaye Girma Asere, Tilahun Yai, Fekadu Melak

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Aims: To study photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye on cuprous oxide/graphene nanocomposite. Background: Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) nanoparticles are among the metal oxides that demonstrated photocatalytic activity. However, the stability of Cu2O nanoparticles due to the fast recombination rate of electron/hole pairs remains a significant challenge in their photocatalytic applications. This, in turn, leads to mismatching of the effective bandgap separation, tending to reduce the photocatalytic activity of the desired organic waste (MB). To overcome these limitations, graphene has been combined with cuprous oxides, resulting in cuprous oxide/graphene nanocomposite as a promising photocatalyst. Objective: In this study, Cu2O/graphene nanocomposite was synthesized and evaluated for its photocatalytic performance of methylene blue (MB) dye degradation. Method: Cu2O/graphene nanocomposites were synthesized from graphite powder and copper nitrate using the facile sol-gel method. Batch experiments have been conducted to assess the applications of the nanocomposites for MB degradation. Parameters such as contact time, catalyst dosage, and pH of the solution were optimized for maximum MB degradation. The prepared nanocomposites were characterized by using UV-Vis, FTIR, XRD, and SEM. The photocatalytic performance of Cu2O/graphene nanocomposites was compared against Cu2O nanoparticles for cationic MB dye degradation. Results: Cu2O/graphene nanocomposite exhibits higher photocatalytic activity for MB degradation (with a degradation efficiency of 94%) than pure Cu2O nanoparticles (67%). This has been accomplished after 180 min of irradiation under visible light. The kinetics of MB degradation by Cu2O/graphene composites can be demonstrated by the second-order kinetic model. The synthesized nanocomposite can be used for more than three cycles of photocatalytic MB degradation. Conclusion: This work indicated new insights into Cu2O/graphene nanocomposite as high-performance in photocatalysis to degrade MB, playing a great role in environmental protection in relation to MB dye.

Keywords: methylene blue, photocatalysis, cuprous oxide, graphene nanocomposite

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Authors: René Vieroth, Christian Dils, M. V. Krshiwoblozki, Christine Kallmayer, Martin Schneider-Ramelow, Klaus-Dieter Lang

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Green urban mobility in commercial and private contexts is one of the great challenges for the continuously growing cities all over the world. Bicycle based solutions are already and since a long time the key to success. Modern developments like e-bikes and high-end cargo-bikes complement the portfolio. Weight, aerodynamic drag, and security for the transported goods are the key factors for working solutions. Recent achievements in the field of smart-textiles allowed the creation of a totally new generation of intelligent textile cargo containers, which fulfill those demands. The fusion of technical textiles, design and electrical engineering made it possible to create an ecological solution which is very near to become a product. This paper shows all the details of this solution that includes an especially developed sensor textile for cut detection, a protective textile layer for intrusion prevention, an universal-charging-unit for energy harvesting from diverse sources and a low-energy alarm system with GSM/GPRS connection, GPS location and RFID interface.

Keywords: cargo-bike, cut-detection, e-bike, energy-harvesting, green urban mobility, logistics, smart-textiles, textile-integrity sensor

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Authors: Ye Wei, Sitalakshmi Venkatraman, Fahri Benli, Fiona Wahr

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The present digital world poses many challenges to various stakeholders in the education sector. In particular, lecturers of higher education (HE) are faced with the problem of ensuring that students are able to achieve the required learning outcomes despite rapid changes taking place worldwide. Different strategies are adopted to retain student engagement and commitment in classrooms to address the differences in learning habits, preferences, and styles of the digital generation of students recently. Further, the onset of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in online teaching being mandatory. These changes have compounded the problems in the learning engagement and short attention span of HE students. New agile methodologies that have been successfully employed to manage projects in different fields are gaining prominence in the education domain. In this paper, we present the application of Scrum as an agile methodology to enhance student learning and engagement in an online smart classroom environment. We demonstrate the use of our proposed approach using a case study to teach key topics in information technology that require students to gain technical and business-related data analytics skills.

Keywords: agile methodology, Scrum, online learning, smart classroom environment, student engagement, active learning

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Authors: E. Akpinar, A. Erol, M.F. Cakir

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Precast reinforced concrete (RC) structures are excellent alternatives for construction world all over the globe, thanks to their rapid erection phase, ease mounting process, better quality and reasonable prices. Such structures are rather popular for industrial buildings. For the sake of economic importance of such industrial buildings as well as significance of safety, like every other type of structures, performance assessment and structural risk analysis are important. Fragility curves are powerful tools for damage projection and assessment for any sort of building as well as precast structures. In this study, a comparative review of current knowledge on fragility analysis of industrial precast RC structures were presented and findings in previous studies were compiled. Effects of different structural variables, parameters and building geometries as well as soil conditions on fragility analysis of precast structures are reviewed. It was aimed to briefly present the information in the literature about the procedure of damage probability prediction including fragility curves for such industrial facilities. It is found that determination of the aforementioned structural parameters as well as selecting analysis procedure are critically important for damage prediction of industrial precast RC structures using fragility curves.

Keywords: damage prediction, fragility curve, industrial buildings, precast reinforced concrete structures

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Authors: A. E. Elkorany, Eman Elsrgawy

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Eighty six isolates of Phytophthora infestans dating back to 2006 were recovered from potato tubers that were on sale in Alexandria markets, Egypt. The isolates were characterized for mating type and colony morphology. Both A1 and A2 mating types were detected in the isolate collection, however, the A2 constituted 5.8% of the total isolates made while the A1 mating type isolates constituted 91.9%. The self-fertile phenotype was also detected but at a lower percentage of 2.3% of the total isolates. This indicated that Mexico, the probable origin of the disease, is no longer the only place where A2 mating type ever exists. The lumpy phenotype was the only trait observed linked to the A2 mating type isolates on rye A agar medium. The self-fertile isolates, however, exhibited colonies of a waxy appearance with little aerial hyphae and the culture were backed full with oospores. The A1 mating colonies were of smooth white abundant aerial hyphae. The metalaxyl resistant isolates were also detected among the analyzed isolates and constituted 4.6% of the total (86) isolates investigated. The appearance of the A2 mating type outside Mexico and the variation revealed in the population of Phytophthora infestans investigated supported the hypothesis of a second worldwide migration of the fungus from its origin which could constitute a threat to potato cultivation around the world.

Keywords: Phytophthora infestans, potato, Egypt, fungus

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Authors: Beata Lachtara, Renata Szewczyk, Katarzyna Bielinska, Kinga Wieczorek, Jacek Osek

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Listeria monocytogenes is an important human and animal pathogen that causes foodborne outbreaks. The bacteria may be present in different types of food: cheese, raw vegetables, sliced meat products and vacuum-packed sausages, poultry, meat, fish. The most common method, which has been used for the investigation of genetic diversity of L. monocytogenes, is PFGE. This technique is reliable and reproducible and established as gold standard for typing of L. monocytogenes. The aim of the study was characterization by molecular serotyping and PFGE analysis of L. monocytogenes strains isolated from fresh fish and fish products in Poland. A total of 301 samples, including fresh fish (n = 129) and fish products (n = 172) were, collected between January 2014 and March 2016. The bacteria were detected using the ISO 11290-1 standard method. Molecular serotyping was performed with PCR. The isolates were tested with the PFGE method according to the protocol developed by the European Union Reference Laboratory for L. monocytogenes with some modifications. Based on the PFGE profiles, two dendrograms were generated for strains digested separately with two restriction enzymes: AscI and ApaI. Analysis of the fingerprint profiles was performed using Bionumerics software version 6.6 (Applied Maths, Belgium). The 95% of similarity was applied to differentiate the PFGE pulsotypes. The study revealed that 57 of 301 (18.9%) samples were positive for L. monocytogenes. The bacteria were identified in 29 (50.9%) ready-to-eat fish products and in 28 (49.1%) fresh fish. It was found that 40 (70.2%) strains were of serotype 1/2a, 14 (24.6%) 1/2b, two (4.3%) 4b and one (1.8%) 1/2c. Serotypes 1/2a, 1/2b, and 4b were presented with the same frequency in both categories of food, whereas serotype 1/2c was detected only in fresh fish. The PFGE analysis with AscI demonstrated 43 different pulsotypes; among them 33 (76.7%) were represented by only one strain. The remaining 10 profiles contained more than one isolate. Among them 8 pulsotypes comprised of two L. monocytogenes isolates, one profile of three isolates and one restriction type of 5 strains. In case of ApaI typing, the PFGE analysis showed 27 different pulsotypes including 17 (63.0%) types represented by only one strain. Ten (37.0%) clusters contained more than one strain among which four profiles covered two strains; three had three isolates, one with five strains, one with eight strains and one with ten isolates. It was observed that the isolates assigned to the same PFGE type were usually of the same serotype (1/2a or 1/2b). The majority of the clusters had strains of both sources (fresh fish and fish products) isolated at different time. Most of the strains grouped in one cluster of the AscI restriction was assigned to the same groups in ApaI investigation. In conclusion, PFGE used in the study showed a high genetic diversity among L. monocytogenes. The strains were grouped into varied clonal clusters, which may suggest different sources of contamination. The results demonstrated that 1/2a serotype was the most common among isolates from fresh fish and fish products in Poland.

Keywords: Listeria monocytogenes, molecular characteristic, PFGE, serotyping

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Authors: Vahid Nourani, Atefeh Ashrafi

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Prediction of treated wastewater quality is a matter of growing importance in water treatment procedure. In this way artificial neural network (ANN), as a robust data-driven approach, has been widely used for forecasting the effluent quality of wastewater treatment. However, developing ANN model based on appropriate input variables is a major concern due to the numerous parameters which are collected from treatment process and the number of them are increasing in the light of electronic sensors development. Various studies have been conducted, using different clustering methods, in order to classify most related and effective input variables. This issue has been overlooked in the selecting dominant input variables among wastewater treatment parameters which could effectively lead to more accurate prediction of water quality. In the presented study two ANN models were developed with the aim of forecasting effluent quality of Tabriz city’s wastewater treatment plant. Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) was utilized to determine water quality as a target parameter. Model A used Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for input selection as a linear variance-based clustering method. Model B used those variables identified by the mutual information (MI) measure. Therefore, the optimal ANN structure when the result of model B compared with model A showed up to 15% percent increment in Determination Coefficient (DC). Thus, this study highlights the advantage of PCA method in selecting dominant input variables for ANN modeling of wastewater plant efficiency performance.

Keywords: Artificial Neural Networks, biochemical oxygen demand, principal component analysis, mutual information, Tabriz wastewater treatment plant, wastewater treatment plant

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Authors: Daliyah S. Aljutaili, Redna A. Almutlaq, Suha A. Alharbi, Dina M. Ibrahim

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All currencies around the world look very different from each other. For instance, the size, color, and pattern of the paper are different. With the development of modern banking services, automatic methods for paper currency recognition become important in many applications like vending machines. One of the currency recognition architecture’s phases is Feature detection and description. There are many algorithms that are used for this phase, but they still have some disadvantages. This paper proposes a feature detection algorithm, which merges the advantages given in the current SIFT and SURF algorithms, which we call, Speeded up Robust Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SR-SIFT) algorithm. Our proposed SR-SIFT algorithm overcomes the problems of both the SIFT and SURF algorithms. The proposed algorithm aims to speed up the SIFT feature detection algorithm and keep it robust. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed SR-SIFT algorithm decreases the average response time, especially in small and minimum number of best key points, increases the distribution of the number of best key points on the surface of the currency. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm increases the accuracy of the true best point distribution inside the currency edge than the other two algorithms.

Keywords: currency recognition, feature detection and description, SIFT algorithm, SURF algorithm, speeded up and robust features

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Authors: Clare Victoria Martin

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With reports of increased mental health problems and a lack of proactive, consistent well-being initiatives, well-being is a topical issue in the workplace, as well as a wider public health concern. Additionally, workplace well-being is closely linked to performance, both from a business perspective and in psychological research. Businesses are therefore becoming increasingly motivated to promote well-being, yet there are still barriers, including a lack of evidence-based workplace interventions, issues with measuring effectiveness and problems creating lasting cultural change. This review aimed to collate workplace well-being research to propose a comprehensive new model for delivering evidence-based workplace well-being training with a real potential for lasting impact. Method: A narrative review was conducted to meta-synthesise relevant research. Thematic analysis was then adopted as a systematic method of identifying key themes from the review to lead to practical recommendations. Interventions focusing on strengths, psychological capital, mindfulness and positivity (SPMP) dominated the research in this area, suggesting benefits of incorporating all four into training. However, to avoid a ‘quick fix’ mentality, the concept of training ‘well-being ambassadors’ as a preventative counterpart to mental health ‘first aiders’ was proposed alongside a new ‘REST and RISE’ model: well-being interventions should be ‘relatable’, ‘enjoyable’, ‘sociable’ and ‘trackable’ (REST) in order to increase ‘resilience’, ‘innovation’, ‘strengths’ and ‘engagement’ (RISE). If the REST principles are applied to interventions focusing on SPMP, research suggests individuals will RISE. Future research should empirically test this new well-being ambassador programme and REST/RISE model in an applied setting.

Keywords: performance, positive psychology, thriving, workplace well-being

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Authors: Mohamed Zellagui, Heba Ahmed Hassan

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This paper proposes a new approach for the calculation of short-circuit parameters in the presence of Pulse Width Modulated based Series Compensator (PWMSC). PWMSC is a newly Flexible Alternating Current Transmission System (FACTS) device that can modulate the impedance of a transmission line through applying a variation to the duty cycle (D) of a train of pulses with fixed frequency. This results in an improvement of the system performance as it provides virtual compensation of distribution line impedance by injecting controllable apparent reactance in series with the distribution line. This controllable reactance can operate in both capacitive and inductive modes and this makes PWMSC highly effective in controlling the power flow and increasing system stability in the system. The purpose of this work is to study the impact of fault resistance (RF) which varies between 0 to 30 Ω on the fault current calculations in case of a ground fault and a fixed fault location. The case study is for a medium voltage (MV) Algerian distribution line which is compensated by PWMSC in the 30 kV Algerian distribution power network. The analysis is based on symmetrical components method which involves the calculations of symmetrical components of currents and voltages, without and with PWMSC in both cases of maximum and minimum duty cycle value for capacitive and inductive modes. The paper presents simulation results which are verified by the theoretical analysis.

Keywords: pulse width modulated series compensator (pwmsc), duty cycle, distribution line, short-circuit calculations, ground fault, symmetrical components method

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Authors: Dwi Endarti, Susi a Kristina, Rizki Noorizzati, Akbar E Nugraha, Fera Maharani, Kika a Putri, Asninda H Azizah, Sausanzahra Angganisaputri, Yunisa Yustikarini

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Cost utility analysis is the most recommended pharmacoeconomic method since it allows widely comparison of cost-effectiveness results from different interventions. The method uses outcome of quality-adjusted life year (QALY) or disability-adjusted life year (DALY). Measurement of QALY requires the data of utility dan life years gained. Utility is measured with the instrument for quality of life measurement such as EQ-5D. Recently, the EQ-5D is available in two versions which are EQ-5D-3L and EQ-5D-5L. This study aimed to compare the EQ-5D-3L and EQ-5D-5L to examine the most suitable version for Indonesian population. This study was an observational study employing cross sectional approach. Data of quality of life measured with EQ-5D-3L and EQ-5D-5L were collected from several groups of population which were respondent with chronic diseases, respondent with acute diseases, and respondent from general population (without illness) in Yogyakarta Municipality, Indonesia. Convenience samples of hypertension patients (83), diabetes mellitus patients (80), and osteoarthritis patients (47), acute respiratory tract infection (81), cephalgia (43), dyspepsia (42), and respondent from general population (293) were recruited in this study. Responses on the 3L and 5L versions of EQ-5D were compared by examining the psychometric properties including agreement, internal consistency, ceiling effect, and convergent validity. Based on psychometric properties tests of EQ-5D-3L dan EQ-5D-5L, EQ-5D-5L tended to have better psychometric properties compared to EQ-5D-3L. Future studies for health related quality of life (HRQOL) measurements for pharmacoeconomic studies in Indonesia should apply EQ-5D-5L.

Keywords: EQ-5D, Health Related Quality of Life, Indonesian Population, Psychometric Properties

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Authors: Peter J. H. Carnell, Panayiotis Theophanous

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Natural gas due to its cleaner combustion characteristics is expected to be the most widely used fuel in the move towards less polluting and renewable energy sources. Thus, the developed world is supplied by a complex network of gas pipelines and natural gas is becoming a major source of fuel. Natural gas delivered directly from the well will differ in composition from gas derived from LNG or produced by anaerobic digestion processes. Each will also have specific contaminants and properties although gas from all sources is likely to enter the distribution system and be blended to provide the desired characteristics such as Higher Heating Value and Wobbe No. The absence of a standard gas composition poses problems when the gas is used as a chemical feedstock, in specialised furnaces or on gas turbines. The chemical industry has suffered in the past as a result of variable gas composition. Transition metal catalysts used in ammonia, methanol and hydrogen plants were easily poisoned by sulphur, chlorides and mercury reducing both activity and catalyst expected lives from years to months. These plants now concentrate on purification and conditioning of the natural gas feed using fixed bed technologies, allowing them to run for several years and having transformed their operations. Similar technologies can be applied to the power industry reducing maintenance requirements and extending the operating life of gas turbines.

Keywords: gas composition, gas conditioning, gas turbines, power generation, purification

Procedia PDF Downloads 281