Search results for: embedded platform

Authors: Rodrigo C. Belleza, Jr., Roselyn A. Maaño, Karl Patrick E. Camota, Darwin Kim Q. Bulawan

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Eyes are an essential and conspicuous organ of the human body. Human eyes are outward and inward portals of the body that allows to see the outside world and provides glimpses into ones inner thoughts and feelings. Inevitable blindness and visual impairments may result from eye-related disease, trauma, or congenital or degenerative conditions that cannot be corrected by conventional means. The study emphasizes innovative tools that will serve as an aid to the blind and visually impaired (VI) individuals. The researchers fabricated a prototype that utilizes the Microsoft Kinect for Windows and Arduino microcontroller board. The prototype facilitates advanced gesture recognition, voice recognition, obstacle detection and indoor environment navigation. Open Computer Vision (OpenCV) performs image analysis, and gesture tracking to transform Kinect data to the desired output. A computer vision technology device provides greater accessibility for those with vision impairments.

Keywords: algorithms, blind, computer vision, embedded systems, image analysis

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Authors: Er-Yuan Chuang

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Bio-mimetic matters have biological functionalities. This might be valuable in the development of versatile biomaterials. At biological fields, protein-based materials might be components to form a 3D network of extracellular biomolecules, containing growth factors. Also, the protein-based biomaterial provides biochemical and structural assistance of adjacent cells. In this study, we try to prepare protein based biomaterial, which was harvested from living animal. We analyzed it’s chemical, physical and biological property in vitro. Besides, in vivo bio-interaction of the prepared biomimetic matrix was tested in an animal model. The protein-based biomaterial has degradability and biocompatibility. This development could be used for tissue regenerations and be served as platform technologies.

Keywords: protein based, in vitro study, in vivo study, biomaterials

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Authors: Sang-Myung Jung, Gwang Heum Yoon, Hoo Chul Lee, Hwa Sung Shin

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Ceramide, a component of stratum corneum at epidermis, helps to construct a rigid and dense skin barrier to prevent pathogens that cause atopic dermatitis. However, ceramide was too hydrophobic to be directly absorbed into stratum corneum and has risks of side effects by excessive treatment. To overcome the obstacles, ceramide was embedded into PLGA nanoparticles coated with chitosan. PLGA and chitosan have been known as biocompatible materials. PLGA was squeezed when faced with water and pumped ceramide out of PLGA nanoparticle. In addition, the chitosan coating layer helped initial adherence of nanoparticles to skin and regulate ceramide release until removed. This coating was degraded at weakly acid state like skin surface, finally ceramide release could be controlled. Finally, the nanoparticle was demonstrated to be non-cytotoxic and regenerate stratum corneum of atopic dermatitis model. Overall the nanoparticle is suggested as a novel and effective nanodrug to apply atopic dermatitis.

Keywords: nanoparticle, controlled release, atopic dermatitis, chitosan coating, ceramide

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Authors: Yiyang Su, Jörg Neumann, Jan Wetzlich, Florian Thiel

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Smart grid is a term used to describe the next generation power grid. New challenges such as integration of renewable and decentralized energy sources, the requirement for continuous grid estimation and optimization, as well as the use of two-way flows of energy have been brought to the power gird. In order to achieve efficient, reliable, sustainable, as well as secure delivery of electric power more and more information and communication technologies are used for the monitoring and the control of power grids. Consequently, the need for cybersecurity is dramatically increased and has converged into several standards which will be presented here. These standards for the smart grid must be designed to satisfy both performance and reliability requirements. An in depth investigation of the effect of retrospectively embedded security in existing grids on it’s dynamic behavior is required. Therefore, a retrofitting plan for existing meters is offered, and it’s performance in a test low voltage microgrid is investigated. As a result of this, integration of security measures into measurement architectures of smart grids at the design phase is strongly recommended.

Keywords: cyber security, performance, protocols, security standards, smart grid

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Authors: Matteo Calabrese, Martin Cimmino, Dimos Kapetis, Martina Manfrin, Donato Concilio, Giuseppe Toscano, Giovanni Ciandrini, Giancarlo Paccapeli, Gianluca Giarratana, Marco Siciliano, Andrea Forlani, Alberto Carrotta

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In this paper we describe a machine learning methodology for Predictive Maintenance (PdM) applied on woodworking industrial machines. PdM is a prominent strategy consisting of all the operational techniques and actions required to ensure machine availability and to prevent a machine-down failure. One of the challenges with PdM approach is to design and develop of an embedded smart system to enable the health status of the machine. The proposed approach allows screening simultaneously multiple connected machines, thus providing real-time monitoring that can be adopted with maintenance management. This is achieved by applying temporal feature engineering techniques and training an ensemble of classification algorithms to predict Remaining Useful Lifetime of woodworking machines. The effectiveness of the methodology is demonstrated by testing an independent sample of additional woodworking machines without presenting machine down event.

Keywords: predictive maintenance, machine learning, connected machines, artificial intelligence

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Authors: Alan Bhekisisa Buthelezi

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The aim of this paper is to explore African management and leadership philosophies at secondary schools in post-apartheid South Africa. The research was conducted in the King Cetshwayo district of KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. Apart from the literature on participative management, the paper reports on a research in which an empirical investigation based on a quantitative research paradigm was used to collect data from secondary school principals. The literature findings revealed that secondary school principals need to rethink their management and leadership philosophies in the twenty-first century. The findings of this research further reveal that ubuntu (humanness) and lekgotla (Sesotho term for “an African participatory approach to decision-making”) should be embedded in the art of school management and leadership in the South African context. The paper concludes with the submission that ongoing capacity-building workshops should be fast-tracked on matters pertaining to management and leadership.

Keywords: distributed leadership, team leadership, decentralization of power, transformational leadership

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Authors: Alan Bhekisisa Buthelezi

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The aim of this paper is to explore African management and leadership philosophies at secondary schools in post-apartheid South Africa. The research was conducted in the King Cetshwayo district of KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. Apart from the literature on participative management, the paper reports on research in which an empirical investigation based on a quantitative research paradigm was used to collect data from secondary school principals. The literature findings revealed that secondary school principals need to rethink their management and leadership philosophies in the twenty-first century. The findings of this research further reveal that ubuntu (humanness) and lekgotla (Sesotho term for ‘an African participatory approach to decision-making’) should be embedded in the art of school management and leadership in the South African context. The paper concludes with the submission that ongoing capacity-building workshops should be fast-tracked on matters pertaining to management and leadership.

Keywords: transformational leadership, distributed leadership, team leadership, decentralisation of power

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Authors: H. Mousavi, M. Sharifi, H. Pourvaziri

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Redundancy Allocation Problem (RAP) is a well-known mathematical problem for modeling series-parallel systems. It is a combinatorial optimization problem which focuses on determining an optimal assignment of components in a system design. In this paper, to be more practical, we have considered the problem of redundancy allocation of series system with interval valued reliability of components. Therefore, during the search process, the reliabilities of the components are considered as a stochastic variable with a lower and upper bounds. In order to optimize the problem, we proposed a simulated annealing based on cloud theory (CBSAA). Also, the Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) is embedded to the CBSAA to handle the random variable components’ reliability. This novel approach has been investigated by numerical examples and the experimental results have shown that the CBSAA combining MCS is an efficient tool to solve the RAP of systems with interval-valued component reliabilities.

Keywords: redundancy allocation problem, simulated annealing, cloud theory, monte carlo simulation

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Authors: Riki Panchal, Debasis Sarkar

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This paper describes the work done for the GIS-based project management for different infrastructure projects. It is a review paper which gives the idea of the trends in the construction project management and various models adopted for the betterment of the project planning and execution. Traditional scheduling and progress control techniques such as bar charts and the critical path method fail to provide information pertaining to the spatial aspects of a construction project. An integrated system was developed to represent construction progress not only in terms of a CPM schedule but also in terms of a graphical representation of the construction that is synchronized with the work schedule. Hence, it is suggested to work on the common platform from where all the data can be shared and analyzed.

Keywords: GIS, project management, integrated model, infrastructure project

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Authors: Lesley Northrop, Justin DeGrazia, Jessica Greenwood

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ASPIRA Labs now offers an en-suit and ready-to-implement technology transfer solution to enable labs and hospitals that lack the resources to build it themselves to offer in-house genetic testing. This unique platform employs a patented Molecular Inversion Probe (MIP) technology that combines the specificity of a hybrid capture protocol with the ease of an amplicon-based protocol and utilizes an advanced bioinformatics analysis pipeline based on machine learning. To demonstrate its efficacy, two independent genetic tests were validated on this technology transfer platform: expanded carrier screening (ECS) and hereditary cancer testing (HC). The analytical performance of ECS and HC was validated separately in a blinded manner for calling three different types of variants: SNVs, short indels (typically, <50 bp), and large indels/CNVs defined as multi-exonic del/dup events. The reference set was constructed using samples from Coriell Institute, an external clinical genetic testing laboratory, Maine Molecular Quality Controls Inc. (MMQCI), SeraCare and GIAB Consortium. Overall, the analytical performance showed a sensitivity and specificity of >99.4% for both ECS and HC in detecting SNVs. For indels, both tests reported specificity of 100%, and ECS demonstrated a sensitivity of 100%, whereas HC exhibited a sensitivity of 96.5%. The bioinformatics pipeline also correctly called all reference CNV events resulting in a sensitivity of 100% for both tests. No additional calls were made in the HC panel, leading to a perfect performance (specificity and F-measure of 100%). In the carrier panel, however, three additional positive calls were made outside the reference set. Two of these calls were confirmed using an orthogonal method and were re-classified as true positives leaving only one false positive. The pipeline also correctly identified all challenging carrier statuses, such as positive cases for spinal muscular atrophy and alpha-thalassemia, resulting in 100% sensitivity. After confirmation of additional positive calls via long-range PCR and MLPA, specificity for such cases was estimated at 99%. These performance metrics demonstrate that this tech-transfer solution can be confidently internalized by clinical labs and hospitals to offer mainstream ECS and HC as part of their test catalog, substantially increasing access to quality germline genetic testing for labs of all sizes and resources levels.

Keywords: clinical genetics, genetic testing, molecular genetics, technology transfer

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Authors: Reim A. Almotiri, Manal M. Alkhamisi

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Ternary nanocomposites based on hydroxyapatite (HAP) and alumina (Al2O3) were embedded through graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets to be investigated for medical applications. The composition of the preparations has been confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, and Fourier-Transform infrared spectroscopy. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy have shown the typical morphologies of the components of the nanocomposites with hydroxyapatite nanorods reaching an average diameter of 22.26±2 nm and an average length of 69.56±19.25 nm in the ternary nanocomposites. The ternary nanocomposite has a microhardness of 5.8±0.1 GPa and a higher average roughness of 6.5 nm compared to pure HAP preparation with an average roughness of 2.7 nm. All preparations have shown an acceptable cytotoxicity profile with a percent osteoblasts cell viability of 98.6±1.3% after culturing with the ternary nanocomposite. The TNC has also shown the highest antibacterial activity compared to preparations of each of its constituents and their nanocomposites, with a zone of inhibition’s diameter of 14.1±0.8 mm and 13.6±0.6 mm against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, respectively, compared to no zone of inhibition for the pure hydroxyapatite preparation.

Keywords: hydroxypatite, cytotoxicity, nanocomposites, X-ray analysis

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Authors: Gaurav Bansod, Swapnil Sutar, Abhijit Patil, Jagdish Patil

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This paper proposes an ultra-lightweight cipher NUX. NUX is a generalized Feistel network. It supports 128/80 bit key length and block length of 64 bit. For 128 bit key length, NUX needs only 1022 GEs which is less as compared to all existing cipher design. NUX design results into less footprint area and minimal memory size. This paper presents security analysis of NUX cipher design which shows cipher’s resistance against basic attacks like Linear and Differential Cryptanalysis. Advanced attacks like Biclique attack is also mounted on NUX cipher design. Two different F function in NUX cipher design results in high diffusion mechanism which generates large number of active S-boxes in minimum number of rounds. NUX cipher has total 31 rounds. NUX design will be best-suited design for critical application like smart grid, IoT, wireless sensor network, where memory size, footprint area and the power dissipation are the major constraints.

Keywords: lightweight cryptography, Feistel cipher, block cipher, IoT, encryption, embedded security, ubiquitous computing

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Authors: M. Celeska, K. Najdenkoski, V. Dimchev, V. Stoilkov

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Accurate determination of wind turbine performance is necessary for economic operation of a wind farm. At present, the procedure to carry out the power performance verification of wind turbines is based on a standard of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). In this paper, nonparametric statistical inference is applied to designing a simple, inexpensive method of verifying the power performance of a wind turbine. A statistical test is explained, examined, and the adequacy is tested over real data. The methods use the information that is collected by the SCADA system (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) from the sensors embedded in the wind turbines in order to carry out the power performance verification of a wind farm. The study has used data on the monthly output of wind farm in the Republic of Macedonia, and the time measuring interval was from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2016. At the end, it is concluded whether the power performance of a wind turbine differed significantly from what would be expected. The results of the implementation of the proposed methods showed that the power performance of the specific wind farm under assessment was acceptable.

Keywords: canonical correlation analysis, power curve, power performance, wind energy

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Authors: Nurzahidah Haji Jaapar, Anis Husna Abdul Halim, Mohd Faiz Mohamed Yusof, Mohd Dani Muhamad, Sharifah Fadylawaty Syed Abdullah

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The growing size of Muslim is recognised with significant increasing of purchasing power in the market. The realm of trade and business has embedded religious values as the new market segments are emerging in offering food products to meet needs and demands of Muslim consumer. The emergence of new market in food industry, advertising is charged with all sort of negative effects includes promoting controversial unsafety and harmful products, wasteful spending and exploiting women and kids. Therefore, this research attempts to examine between previous examinations of advertising standardisation in ancient era and current practices in the market. This paper is based on content analysis of the literature. The results show that there are a bridge gap between the implementation of practices as the advent in industrial 4.0 in using digital advertising by food industry. Thus, this paper is able to recognize the differences between two era and significant in determining the best practices in advertising by following Islamic principles.

Keywords: Islamic advertising, unethical advertising, ethical advertising, Islamic principles

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Authors: Tamanna Jethava, Rahul Joshi

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Frequent Item sets play an essential role in many data Mining tasks that try to find interesting patterns from the database. Typically it refers to a set of items that frequently appear together in transaction dataset. There are several mining algorithm being used for frequent item set mining, yet most do not scale to the type of data we presented with today, so called “BIG DATA”. Big Data is a collection of large data sets. Our approach is to work on the frequent item set mining over the large dataset with scalable and speedy way. Big Data basically works with Map Reduce along with HDFS is used to find out frequent item sets from Big Data on large cluster. This paper focuses on using pre-processing & mining algorithm as hybrid approach for big data over Hadoop platform.

Keywords: frequent item set mining, big data, Hadoop, MapReduce

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Authors: Francis E. Idachaba, Sarah Uyimeh Tommy

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This paper describes the design of an RFID laptop monitoring and management system. Laptops embedded with RFID chips are monitored and tracked to provide a monitoring system for the purpose of tracking as well as monitoring movement of the laptops in and out of a building. The proposed system is implemented with both hardware and software components. The hardware architecture consists of RFID passive tag, RFID module (reader), and a server hosting the application and database. The RFID readers are distributed at major exits of a building or premises. The tags are programmed with owner laptop details are concealed in the laptops. The software architecture consists of application software that has the APIs (Applications Programming Interface) necessary to interface the RFID system with the PC, to achieve automated laptop monitoring system. A friendly graphic user interface (GUI) and a database that saves all readings and owners details. The system is capable of reducing laptop theft especially in students’ hostels as laptops can be monitored as they are taken either in or out of the building.

Keywords: asset tracking, GUI, laptop monitoring, radio frequency identification, passive tags

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Authors: R. Sanchez-Salcedo, N. H. Voelcker

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Currently, low breast milk production in women is one of the leading health complications in infants. Recently, It has been demonstrated that exclusive breastfeeding, especially up to a minimum of 6 months, significantly reduces respiratory and gastrointestinal infections, which are the main causes of death in infants. However, the current data shows that a high percentage of women stop breastfeeding their children because they perceive an inadequate supply of milk, and only 45% of children are breastfeeding under 6 months. It is, therefore, clear the necessity to design and develop a biosensor that is sensitive and selective enough to identify and validate a panel of milk biomarkers that allow the early diagnosis of this condition. In this context, electrochemical biosensors could be a powerful tool for assessing all the requirements in terms of reliability, selectivity, sensitivity, cost efficiency and potential for multiplex detection. Moreover, they are suitable for the development of POC devices and wearable sensors. In this work, we report the development of two types of sensing platforms towards several biomarkers, including miRNAs and hormones present in breast milk and dysregulated in this pathological condition. The first type of sensing platform consists of an enzymatic sensor for the detection of lactose, one of the main components in milk. In this design, we used gold surface as an electrochemical transducer due to the several advantages, such as the variety of strategies available for its rapid and efficient functionalization with bioreceptors or capture molecules. For the second type of sensing platform, nanoporous silicon film (pSi) was chosen as the electrode material for the design of DNA sensors and aptasensors targeting miRNAs and hormones, respectively. pSi matrix offers a large superficial area with an abundance of active sites for the immobilization of bioreceptors and tunable characteristics, which increase the selectivity and specificity, making it an ideal alternative material. The analytical performance of the designed biosensors was not only characterized in buffer but also validated in minimally treated breastmilk samples. We have demonstrated the potential of an electrochemical transducer on pSi and gold surface for monitoring clinically relevant biomarkers associated with the heightened risk of low milk production in women. This approach, in which the nanofabrication techniques and the functionalization methods were optimized to increase the efficacy of the biosensor highly provided a foundation for further research and development of targeted diagnosis strategies.

Keywords: biosensors, electrochemistry, early diagnosis, clinical markers, miRNAs

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Authors: Srinivas Bathini, Duraichelvan Raju, Simona Badilescu, Muthukumaran Packirisamy

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A bio-sensing method, based on the plasmonic property of gold nano-islands, has been developed for detection of exosomes in a clinical setting. The position of the gold plasmon band in the UV-Visible spectrum depends on the size and shape of gold nanoparticles as well as on the surrounding environment. By adsorbing various chemical entities, or binding them, the gold plasmon band will shift toward longer wavelengths and the shift is proportional to the concentration. Exosomes transport cargoes of molecules and genetic materials to proximal and distal cells. Presently, the standard method for their isolation and quantification from body fluids is by ultracentrifugation, not a practical method to be implemented in a clinical setting. Thus, a versatile and cutting-edge platform is required to selectively detect and isolate exosomes for further analysis at clinical level. The new sensing protocol, instead of antibodies, makes use of a specially synthesized polypeptide (Vn96), to capture and quantify the exosomes from different media, by binding the heat shock proteins from exosomes. The protocol has been established and optimized by using a glass substrate, in order to facilitate the next stage, namely the transfer of the protocol to a microfluidic environment. After each step of the protocol, the UV-Vis spectrum was recorded and the position of gold Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) band was measured. The sensing process was modelled, taking into account the characteristics of the nano-island structure, prepared by thermal convection and annealing. The optimal molar ratios of the most important chemical entities, involved in the detection of exosomes were calculated as well. Indeed, it was found that the results of the sensing process depend on the two major steps: the molar ratios of streptavidin to biotin-PEG-Vn96 and, the final step, the capture of exosomes by the biotin-PEG-Vn96 complex. The microfluidic device designed for sensing of exosomes consists of a glass substrate, sealed by a PDMS layer that contains the channel and a collecting chamber. In the device, the solutions of linker, cross-linker, etc., are pumped over the gold nano-islands and an Ocean Optics spectrometer is used to measure the position of the Au plasmon band at each step of the sensing. The experiments have shown that the shift of the Au LSPR band is proportional to the concentration of exosomes and, thereby, exosomes can be accurately quantified. An important advantage of the method is the ability to discriminate between exosomes having different origins.

Keywords: exosomes, gold nano-islands, microfluidics, plasmonic biosensing

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Authors: Said Boularouk, Didier Josselin, Eitan Altman

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In this paper, we present a vocal ontology of OpenStreetMap data for the apprehension of space by visually impaired people. Indeed, the platform based on produsage gives a freedom to data producers to choose the descriptors of geocoded locations. Unfortunately, this freedom, called also folksonomy leads to complicate subsequent searches of data. We try to solve this issue in a simple but usable method to extract data from OSM databases in order to send them to visually impaired people using Text To Speech technology. We focus on how to help people suffering from visual disability to plan their itinerary, to comprehend a map by querying computer and getting information about surrounding environment in a mono-modal human-computer dialogue.

Keywords: TTS, ontology, open street map, visually impaired

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Authors: Michael Koblischka, Anjela Koblischka-Veneva, XianLin Zeng, Essia Hannachi, Yassine Slimani

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Superconducting foams of YBa2Cu3O7 (abbreviated Y-123) were produced using the infiltration growth (IG) technique from Y2BaCuO5 (Y-211) foams. The samples were investigated by SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and electrical resistivity measurements. SEM observations indicated the specific microstructure of the foam struts with numerous tiny Y-211 particles (50-100 nm diameter) embedded in channel-like structures between the Y-123 grains. The investigation of the excess conductivity of different prepared composites was analyzed using Aslamazov-Larkin (AL) model. The investigated samples comprised of five distinct fluctuation regimes, namely short-wave (SWF), one-dimensional (1D), two-dimensional (2D), three-dimensional (3D), and critical (CR) fluctuations regimes. The coherence length along the c-axis at zero-temperature (ξc(0)), lower and upper critical magnetic fields (Bc1 and Bc2), critical current density (Jc) and numerous other superconducting parameters were estimated from the data. The analysis reveals that the presence of the tiny Y-211 particles alters the excess conductivity and the fluctuation behavior observed in standard YBCO samples.

Keywords: Excess conductivity, Foam, Microstructure, Superconductor YBa2Cu3Oy

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Authors: Khalid A. Al-Afandy, El-Sayyed El-Rabaie, Osama Salah, Ahmed El-Mhalaway

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This paper presents a high secure data hiding technique using image cropping and Least Significant Bit (LSB) steganography. The predefined certain secret coordinate crops will be extracted from the cover image. The secret text message will be divided into sections. These sections quantity is equal the image crops quantity. Each section from the secret text message will embed into an image crop with a secret sequence using LSB technique. The embedding is done using the cover image color channels. Stego image is given by reassembling the image and the stego crops. The results of the technique will be compared to the other state of art techniques. Evaluation is based on visualization to detect any degradation of stego image, the difficulty of extracting the embedded data by any unauthorized viewer, Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio of stego image (PSNR), and the embedding algorithm CPU time. Experimental results ensure that the proposed technique is more secure compared with the other traditional techniques.

Keywords: steganography, stego, LSB, crop

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Authors: Klathea Sevilla, Marjorie Remolador, Bryan Baltazar, Imee Saladaga, Loureal Camille Inocencio, Ma. Rosario Concepcion Ang

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The underutilization of biomass resources in the Philippines, combined with its growing population and the rise in fossil fuel prices confirms demand for alternative energy sources. The goal of this paper is to provide a comparison of MODIS-based and Landsat-based agricultural land cover maps when used in the estimation of rice hull’s available energy potential. Biomass resource assessment was done using mathematical models and remote sensing techniques employed in a GIS platform.

Keywords: biomass, geographic information system (GIS), remote sensing, renewable energy

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Authors: Rajaa Filali, Mohamed Bouhdadi

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This paper presents an incremental development of the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) in Event-B. DHCP is widely used communication protocol, which provides a standard mechanism to obtain configuration parameters. The specification is performed in a stepwise manner and verified through a series of refinements. The Event-B formal method uses the Rodin platform to modeling and verifying some properties of the protocol such as safety, liveness and deadlock freedom. To model and verify the protocol, we use the formal technique Event-B which provides an accessible and rigorous development method. This interaction between modelling and proving reduces the complexity and helps to eliminate misunderstandings, inconsistencies, and specification gaps.

Keywords: DHCP protocol, Event-B, refinement, proof obligation, Rodin

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Authors: Zehra Sultan

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The study is based on the task-based language teaching approach which is found to be very effective in the EFL/ESL classroom. This approach engages learners to acquire the usage of authentic language skills by interacting with the real world through sequence of pedagogical tasks. The use of technology enhances the effectiveness of this approach. This study throws light on the historical background of TBLT and its efficacy in the EFL/ESL classroom. In addition, this study precisely talks about the implementation of this approach in the General Foundation Programme of Muscat College, Oman. It furnishes the list of the pedagogical tasks embedded in the language curriculum of General Foundation Programme (GFP) which are skillfully allied to the College Graduate Attributes. Moreover, the study also discusses the challenges pertaining to this approach from the point of view of teachers, students, and its classroom application. Additionally, the operational success of this methodology is gauged through formative assessments of the GFP, which is apparent in the students’ progress.

Keywords: task-based language teaching, authentic language, communicative approach, real world activities, ESL/EFL activities

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Authors: Boualem Mekimah, Abderraouf Messai, Abdelkrim Belhedri

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Dielectric substrates have an important attention in the fabrication of microstrip patch antennas. The effects of the uniaxial anisotropy and the loss tangent on resonant frequencies of microstrip patches consist of two perfectly conducting rectangular patches in stacked and offset configuration, embedded in a bilayer medium containing isotropic or uniaxial anisotropic materials. The Green’s functions are discussed in detail and numerical results are validated by comparing the computed results with previously published data. The numerical results show, that the uniaxial anisotropy has more effects on resonant frequencies according to the optical axis. However, the loss tangent of dielectric substrates has almost no effect on resonant frequencies, but it strongly affects the imaginary parts of the resonant frequencies of the antenna. The dielectric constant has no effect on the separation in terms of frequencies.

Keywords: resonant frequencies, loss tangent, microstrip patches, stacked, anisotropic materials, optical axis

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Authors: Hashini E. Mohottala

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We report the combine use of Wikispaces (WikiS) and Group Problem Solving (GPS) sessions conducted in the introductory level physics classes. As a part of this new teaching tool, some essay type problems were posted on the WikiS in weekly basis and students were encouraged to participate in problem solving without providing numerical final answers but the steps. Wikispace is used as a platform for students to meet online and create discussions. Each week students were further evaluated on problem solving skills opening up more opportunity for peer interaction through GPS. Each group was given a different problem to solve and the answers were graded. Students developed a set of skills in decision-making, problem solving, communication, negotiation, critical and independent thinking and teamwork through the combination of WikiS and GPS.

Keywords: group problem solving (GPS), wikispace (WikiS), physics education, learning

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Authors: Ahmed H. Abdullah, Pavel Kroupa

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Globular clusters (GC) are important objects for tracing the early evolution of a galaxy. We study the correlation between the cluster population and the global properties of the host galaxy. We found that the correlation between cluster population (NGC) and the baryonic mass (Mb) of the host galaxy are best described as 10 −5.6038Mb. In order to understand the origin of the U -shape relation between the GC specific frequency (SN) and Mb (caused by the high value of SN for dwarfs galaxies and giant ellipticals and a minimum SN for intermediate mass galaxies≈ 1010M), we derive a theoretical model for the specific frequency (SNth). The theoretical model for SNth is based on the slope of the power-law embedded cluster mass function (β) and different time scale (Δt) of the forming galaxy. Our results show a good agreement between the observation and the model at a certain β and Δt. The model seems able to reproduce higher value of SNth of β = 1.5 at the midst formation time scale.

Keywords: galaxies: dwarf, globular cluster: specific frequency, number of globular clusters, formation time scale

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Authors: Olusegun F. Adebowale

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Research has confirmed that the emergence of information technology is significantly reflected in the field of psychology and its related disciplines due to its widespread use at reasonable price and its user-friendliness. It is consequently affecting ordinary life in many areas like shopping, advertising, corresponding and educating. Specifically the innovations of computer technology led to several new forms of communication, all with implications and applicability for counselling and psychotherapy practices. This is premise on which online counselling is based. Most institutions of higher learning in Nigeria have established their presence on the Internet and have deployed a variety of applications through ICT. Some are currently attempting to include counselling services in such applications with the belief that many counselling needs of students are likely to be met. This study therefore explored different challenges and preferences students present in online counselling interaction in a given Nigerian university with the view to guide new universities that may want to invest into these areas as to necessary preparations and referral requirements. The study is a mixed method research incorporating qualitative and quantitative methodologies to sample the preferences and concerns students express in online interaction. The sample comprised all the 876 students who visited the university online counselling platform either voluntarily, by invitation or by referral. The instrument for data collection was the online counselling platform of the university 'OAU Online counsellors'. The period of data collection spanned between January 2011 and October 2012. Data were analysed quantitatively (using percentages and Mann-Whitney U test) and qualitatively (using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)). The results showed that the students seem to prefer real-time chatting as their online medium of communicating with the online counsellor. The majority of students resorted to e-mail when their effort to use real-time chatting were becoming thwarted. Also, students preferred to enter into online counselling relationships voluntarily to other modes of entry. The results further showed that the prevalent counselling needs presented by students during online counselling sessions were mainly in the areas of social interaction and academic/educational concerns. Academic concerns were found to be prevalent, in form of course offerings, studentship matters and academic finance matters. The personal/social concerns were in form of students’ welfare, career related concerns and relationship matters. The study concludes students’ preferences include voluntary entry into online counselling, communication by real-time chatting and a specific focus on their academic concerns. It also recommends that all efforts should be made to encourage students’ voluntary entry into online counselling through reliable and stable internet infrastructure that will be able to support real-time chatting.

Keywords: online, counselling, needs, preferences

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Authors: Bonnie Clough, Tamara Ownsworth, Vladimir Estivill-Castro, Matt Stainer, Rene Hexel, Andrew Bulmer, Wendy Moyle, Allison Waters, David Neumann, Jayke Bennett

Abstract:

The success of global vaccination programs is reliant on the uptake of vaccines to achieve herd immunity. Yet, many individuals do not obtain vaccines or venipuncture procedures when needed. Whilst health education may be effective for those individuals who are hesitant due to safety or efficacy concerns, for many of these individuals, the primary concern relates to blood or injection fear or phobia (BII). BII is highly prevalent and associated with a range of negative health impacts, both at individual and population levels. Exposure therapy is an efficacious treatment for specific phobias, including BII, but has high patient dropout and low implementation by therapists. Whilst virtual reality approaches exposure therapy may be more acceptable, they have similarly low rates of implementation by therapists and are often difficult to tailor to an individual client’s needs. It was proposed that a piloted robot may be able to adequately facilitate fear induction and be an acceptable approach to exposure therapy. The current study examined fear induction responses, acceptability, and feasibility of a piloted robot for BII exposure. A Nao humanoid robot was programmed to connect with a virtual reality head-mounted display, enabling live streaming and exploration of real environments from a distance. Thirty adult participants with BII fear were randomly assigned to robot-pilot or virtual reality exposure conditions in a laboratory-based fear exposure task. All participants also completed a computer-based two-dimensional exposure task, with an order of conditions counterbalanced across participants. Measures included fear (heart rate variability, galvanic skin response, stress indices, and subjective units of distress), engagement with a feared stimulus (eye gaze: time to first fixation and a total number of fixations), acceptability, and perceived treatment credibility. Preliminary results indicate that fear responses can be adequately induced via a robot-piloted platform. Further results will be discussed, as will implications for the treatment of BII phobia and other fears. It is anticipated that piloted robots may provide a useful platform for facilitating exposure therapy, being more acceptable than in-vivo exposure and more flexible than virtual reality exposure.

Keywords: anxiety, digital mental health, exposure therapy, phobia, robot, virtual reality

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: Reem Abou Refaie, Christoph Meinel

Abstract:

The paper explores the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the internal as well as external digitalized work practices of public service providers as part of a Public-Private Partnership Model. It focuses on the effect of uncertainty on generating Open Innovation practices. Our inquiry relies on semi-structured interviews (n=14) from a case study of Rwanda’s Public Service Delivery System in the context of research cooperation with IremboGov, the country’s One-Stop-Shop Platform for public services. It presents four propositions on harnessing opportunities for OI in the context of the public sector beyond the pandemic response. Practitioners can find characterizations of OI opportunities and gain insights on fostering OI in Public Sector Organizations.

Keywords: open innovation, digital transformation, public sector, Rwanda

Procedia PDF Downloads 130