Search results for: Azerbaijan decadent literature

Authors: Timothy Mossman

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The number of adolescent children accompanying their immigrant parents to Canada has steadily increased since the 1990s. Much of the applied linguistics literature on these so-called ‘Generation 1.5’ youth has focused on their deficiencies as academic writers in US Rhetoric and Composition and ESL contexts in higher education and the stigma of ESL in US K-12 contexts. However, the literature on Generation 1.5 students and identity in Canadian higher education is limited. This qualitative study investigates the processes of identity construction of three Generation 1.5 students studying at a university in Metro Vancouver to find out what types of identities and representations of self and other they make relevant, the meanings they attribute to their identities, and what motivates them to construct these identities. The study analyzes the accounts and experiences of the participants in interviews, focus groups, and texts and as ‘culture-in-action,’ positing that they constructed identities as social categories associated with the languages and social practices of their countries of birth, in liminal spaces among a continuum between Canada and their countries of birth, and a spectrum of related cultural representations. Ideas and beliefs associated with broader ‘macro’ social structures in Canadian society related to language, culture, legitimacy, immigration, power, distinction, and racism were shown to be transcended in and through their representations of themselves and others. Data suggest that moving to Canada caused participants to experience discontinuities between their cultures, languages, and social practices, and in some cases a conflicting sense of self. The study brings implications for finding ways to understand the complexity of immigrant students, avoid reifying and generalizing about them, and not see them as stuck-in-between or lacking.

Keywords: culture-in-action, generation 1.5, identity, membership categorization analysis

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Authors: Abdallah Abu Madi, Dongmei Cao, Alexeis Garcia-Perez, Qile He

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The failure of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation in higher education institutions (HEIs) worldwide is much higher in comparison to other sectors, such as banking or manufacturing, to our knowledge limited research has been conducted on this issue. To date, prior literature has identified some key success factors (KSFs) mostly either in the domain of information and system (IS) or in the industrial context. However, evidence of ERP implementation in the higher education sector has had little attention in the extant literature. Hence, this paper identifies and categories KSFs of ERP implementation in HEIs. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with technicians and managers from three Jordanian HEIs. From these case studies, three new sector- and context-specific KSFs were identified and categorized according to two dimensions: organizational and technical. The first new KSF is the selection of the ERP system, which is an influential factor in the organizational dimension. Results show that an ERP solution that is suitable to one context may be disastrous in another. The second new KSF, which falls under the technical dimension, is the relationship between vendors and HEIs. This must be fair and impartial to enable successful decision-making and thus the achievement of pre-defined goals. Also within the technical dimension is the third factor: in-house maintenance. Once an appropriate system is selected and a strong relationship is established, the ERP system requires continuous maintenance for effective operation. HEIs should ensure that qualified IT support is in place and in-house to avoid excessive running expenses.

Keywords: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)implementation, key success factors, higher education institutions, Jordanian higher education

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Authors: Pedro M. Velasco, Cecilia C. Alday, Oscar C. Avello, Ximena T. Faundez, Luis M. Velasco

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Anaerobic digestion (AD) plants of food waste (FW) produced by agro-industry, have been widely developed from last decade to nowadays, because of the advantages over aerobic active sludge systems. Despite several bioreactor configurations and operation modes have been successfully improved and implemented at industrial scale in a wide range of applications, effluent behavior, after AD, does not commonly meet requirements for direct disposal into the environment without further treatments. In addition, literature has rarely shown AD of food waste at psychrophilic range. This temperature range may be of interest for making AD plant operation easier and increasing the stability of digestion. In spite of literature shows several methods for post-treatment, such as the use of microalgae, these have not been cultivated on effluents from AD at psychrophilic range. Hence, with the aim of showing the potential use of AD of FW at the psychrophilic range (25ºC) and the viability of microalgae post-treatment, single batch reactors have been used for methane potential tests at laboratory scale. Afterwards, digestates, derived from this AD of FW sludge, were diluted with fresh water at different ratios (1:0, 1:1; 1:4) and used as culture media for photoautotrophic microalgae. Several parameters, such as pH, biogas production, and chemical oxygen demand, were measured periodically over several months. Results show that methane potential is 150 ml g-1 per volatile solid with up to 57.7 % of methane content. Moreover, microalgae has been successfully cultivated on all tested effluents and in case of 1:1 and 1:4 rates, the resulting effluents meet the quality levels required for irrigation water.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, biogas, food waste, microalgae, psychrophilic range

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Authors: Enido Fabiano de Ramos, Ieda Kanashiro Makiya, Francisco I. Giocondo Cesar

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This study investigates the application of Digital Twins (DT) in Smart Hospital Environments (SHE), through a bibliometric study and literature review, including comparison with the principles of Industry 4.0. It aims to analyze the current state of the implementation of digital twins in clinical and non-clinical operations in healthcare settings, identifying trends and challenges, comparing these practices with Industry 4.0 concepts and technologies, in order to present a basic framework including stages and maturity levels. The bibliometric methodology will allow mapping the existing scientific production on the theme, while the literature review will synthesize and critically analyze the relevant studies, highlighting pertinent methodologies and results, additionally the comparison with Industry 4.0 will provide insights on how the principles of automation, interconnectivity and digitalization can be applied in healthcare environments/operations, aiming at improvements in operational efficiency and quality of care. The results of this study will contribute to a deeper understanding of the potential of Digital Twins in Smart Hospitals, in addition to the future potential from the effective integration of Industry 4.0 concepts in this specific environment, presented through the practical framework, after all, the urgent need for changes addressed in this article is undeniable, as well as all their value contribution to human sustainability, designed in SDG3 – Health and well-being: ensuring that all citizens have a healthy life and well-being, at all ages and in all situations. We know that the validity of these relationships will be constantly discussed, and technology can always change the rules of the game.

Keywords: digital twin, smart hospital, healthcare operations, industry 4.0, SDG3, technology

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Authors: Claude Nsobya, Alice Moncaster, Karen Potter, Jed Ramsay

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The shift in Flood Risk Governance (FRG) has moved away from traditional approaches that solely relied on centralized decision-making and structural flood defenses. Instead, there is now the adoption of integrated flood risk management measures that involve various actors and stakeholders. This new approach emphasizes people-centered approaches, including adaptation and learning. This shift to a diversity of FRG approaches has been identified as a significant factor in enhancing resilience. Resilience here refers to a community's ability to withstand, absorb, recover, adapt, and potentially transform in the face of flood events. It is argued that if the FRG merely focused on the conventional 'fighting the water' - flood defense - communities would not be resilient. The move to these people-centered approaches also implies that communities will be more involved in FRG. It is suggested that effective flood risk governance influences resilience through meaningful community involvement, and effective community engagement is vital in shaping community resilience to floods. Successful community participation not only uses context-specific indigenous knowledge but also develops a sense of ownership and responsibility. Through capacity development initiatives, it can also raise awareness and all these help in building resilience. Recent Flood Risk Management (FRM) projects have thus had increasing community involvement, with varied conceptualizations of such community engagement in the academic literature on FRM. In the context of overland floods, there has been a substantial body of literature on Flood Risk Governance and Management. Yet, groundwater flooding has gotten little attention despite its unique qualities, such as its persistence for weeks or months, slow onset, and near-invisibility. There has been a little study in this area on how successful community involvement in Flood Risk Governance may improve community resilience to groundwater flooding in particular. This paper focuses on a case study of a flood risk management project in the United Kingdom. Buckinghamshire Council is leading Project Groundwater, which is one of 25 significant initiatives sponsored by England's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme. DEFRA awarded Buckinghamshire Council and other councils 150 million to collaborate with communities and implement innovative methods to increase resilience to groundwater flooding. Based on a literature review, this paper proposes a new paradigm for effective community engagement in Flood Risk Governance (FRG). This study contends that effective community participation can have an impact on various resilience capacities identified in the literature, including social capital, institutional capital, physical capital, natural capital, human capital, and economic capital. In the case of social capital, for example, successful community engagement can influence social capital through the process of social learning as well as through developing social networks and trust values, which are vital in influencing communities' capacity to resist, absorb, recover, and adapt. The study examines community engagement in Project Groundwater using surveys with local communities and documentary analysis to test this notion. The outcomes of the study will inform community involvement activities in Project Groundwater and may shape DEFRA policies and guidelines for community engagement in FRM.

Keywords: flood risk governance, community, resilience, groundwater flooding

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Authors: Maria Anjelica P. Ancheta, Roberto S. Soriano, Erickson L. Llaguno

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The main purpose of this study is to examine whether there is a significant relationship between socio-economic class and household water supply demand, through determining or verifying the factors governing water use consumption patterns of households from a sampling from different socio-economic classes in Metro Manila, the national capital region of the Philippines. This study is also an opportunity to augment the lack of local academic literature due to the very few publications on urban household water demand after 1999. In over 600 Metro Manila households, a rapid survey was conducted on their average monthly water consumption and habits on household water usage. The questions in the rapid survey were based on an extensive review of literature on urban household water demand. Sample households were divided into socio-economic classes A-B and C-D. Cluster analysis, dummy coding and outlier tests were done to prepare the data for regression analysis. Subsequently, backward stepwise regression analysis was used in order to determine different statistical models to describe the determinants of water consumption. The key finding of this study is that the socio-economic class of a household in Metro Manila is a significant factor in water consumption. A-B households consume more water in contrast to C-D families based on the mean average water consumption for A-B and C-D households are 36.75 m3 and 18.92 m3, respectively. The most significant proxy factors of socio-economic class that were related to household water consumption were examined in order to suggest improvements in policy formulation and household water demand management.

Keywords: household water uses, socio-economic classes, urban planning, urban water demand management

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Authors: Hamid Hanifi, Adel Azar, Alireza Booshehri

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In order to know about the capability level of R & D units in automotive industry, it is essential that organizations always compare themselves with standard level and higher than themselves so that to be improved continuously. In this research, with respect to the importance of this issue, we have tried to present an assessment model for R & D capabilities having reviewed on new products development in automotive industry of Iran. Iran Khodro Company was selected for the case study. To this purpose, first, having a review on the literature, about 200 indicators effective in R & D capabilities and new products development were extracted. Then, of these numbers, 29 indicators which were more important were selected by industry and academia experts and the questionnaire was distributed among statistical population. Statistical population was consisted of 410 individuals in Iran Khodro Company. We used the 410 questionnaires for exploratory factor analysis and then used the data of 308 questionnaires from the same population randomly for confirmatory factor analysis. The results of exploratory factor analysis led to categorization of dimensions in 9 secondary dimensions. Naming the dimensions was done according to a literature review and the professors’ opinion. Using structural equation modeling and AMOS software, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted and ultimate model with 9 secondary dimensions was confirmed. Meanwhile, 9 secondary dimensions of this research are as follows: 1) Research and design capability, 2) Customer and market capability, 3) Technology capability, 4) Financial resources capability, 5) Organizational chart, 6) Intellectual capital capability, 7) NPD process capability, 8) Managerial capability and 9) Strategy capability.

Keywords: research and development, new products development, structural equations, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis

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Authors: Moujib Bahri, Ouafa Sakka, Kallel Rahim

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This study builds on the literature about the effects of corruption on economic growth at the firm level, which analyzes how the payment of bribes affect organizational performance. Traditionally, the literature distinguishes two points of view regarding the impact of corruption: grease view and sand view. The grease view is based on the idea that corruption can compensate for the negative effect of red tape on firms’ activities such as innovation and exports. Therefore, some firms will be motivated to pay some additional money to officials in order to reduce the delay related to bureaucratic procedures. On the contrary, the second point of view considers that corruption sands the wheels of the economy and distorts resource allocation because it increases agency and transaction costs and reduces the returns on the investment. We have tested the effect of corruption on innovation and export activities on a sample of 537 Tunisian manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) using structural equation modeling and path analysis. Tunisia has undergone a revolution in 2010 and since then, the country is experiencing a political instability and economic hardships. Our results do not support the greasing hypothesis suggesting that corruption can reduce the negative effect of bureaucratic delays and the hard access of companies to public services related to exports. Instead, our results support the sanding hypothesis according to which corruption hinders SMEs’ exports through its negative influence on innovation. Furthermore, our results show that the interaction between excessive bureaucratic red tape and corruption has a negative effect on exports. However, the interaction between political instability and corruption increases exports.

Keywords: corruption, exports, SMEs, economic conditions

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Authors: Kawalpreet Kaur, Panagiotis Mitropoulos

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The division of the project scope into work packages is the most important step in the preconstruction phase of construction projects. The work division determines the scope and complexity of each bid package, resulting in dependencies between project participants performing these work packages. The coordination between project participants is necessary because of these dependencies. Excessive dependencies between the bid packages create coordination difficulties, leading to delays, added costs, and contractual friction among project participants. However, the literature on construction provides limited knowledge regarding work structuring approaches, issues, and challenges. Manufacturing industry literature provides a systematic approach to defining the project scope into work packages, and the implementation of social network analysis (SNA) in manufacturing is an effective approach to defining and analyzing the divided scope of work at the dependencies level. This paper presents a case study of implementing a similar approach using SNA in construction bid packages. The study uses SNA to analyze the scope of bid packages and determine the dependency between scope elements. The method successfully identifies the bid package with the maximum interaction with other trade contractors and the scope elements that are crucial for project performance. The analysis provided graphical and quantitative information on bid package dependencies. The study can be helpful in performing an analysis to determine the dependencies between bid packages and their scope elements and how these scope elements are critical for project performance. The study illustrates the potential use of SNA as a systematic approach to analyzing bid package dependencies in construction projects, which can guide the division of crucial scope elements to minimize negative impacts on project performance.

Keywords: work structuring, bid packages, work breakdown, project participants

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Authors: Mayowa A. Sofowora, Seraphin D. Eyono Obono

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The use of information and communication technologies such as computers, mobile phones and the internet is becoming prevalent in today’s world; and it is facilitating access to a vast amount of data, services, and applications for the improvement of people’s lives. However, this prevalence of ICTs is hampered by the problem of low income levels in developing countries to the point where people cannot timeously replace or repair their ICT devices when damaged or lost; and this problem serves as a motivation for this study whose aim is to examine the perceptions of teachers on the reliability of cellphones when used for teaching and learning purposes. The research objectives unfolding this aim are of two types: objectives on the selection and design of theories and models, and objectives on the empirical testing of these theories and models. The first type of objectives is achieved using content analysis in an extensive literature survey, and the second type of objectives is achieved through a survey of high school teachers from the ILembe and Umgungudlovu districts in the KwaZuluNatal province of South Africa. Data collected from this questionnaire based survey is analysed in SPSS using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations after checking the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. The main hypothesis driving this study is that there is a relationship between the demographics and the attribution identity of teachers on one hand, and their perceptions on the reliability of cellphones on the other hand, as suggested by existing literature; except that attribution identities are considered in this study under three angles: intention, knowledge and ability, and action. The results of this study confirm that the perceptions of teachers on the reliability of cellphones for teaching and learning are affected by the school location of these teachers, and by their perceptions on learners’ cellphones usage intentions and actual use.

Keywords: attribution, cellphones, e-learning, reliability

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Authors: Christopher Dick

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While the translation of 'literal language' poses numerous challenges for the translator, the translation of 'figurative language' creates even more complicated issues. It has been only in the last several decades that scholars have attempted to propose theories of figurative language translation, including metaphor translation. Even less work has applied these theories to metaphoric translation in literary texts. And almost no work has linked an analysis of metaphors in translation with the recent scholarship on conceptual metaphors. A study of literature in translation must not only examine the inevitable shifts that occur as specific metaphors move from source language to target language but also analyze the ways in which these shifts impact conceptual metaphors and, ultimately, the text as a whole. Doing so contributes to on-going efforts to bridge the sometimes wide gulf between considerations of content and form in literary studies. This paper attempts to add to the body of scholarly literature on metaphor translation and the function of metaphor in a literary text. Specifically, the study examines the metaphoric expressions in Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. First, the issue of Hemingway and metaphor is addressed. Next, the study examines the specific metaphors in the original novel in English and the German translations, first in Annemarie Horschitz’s 1928 German version and then in the recent Werner Schmitz 2013 translation. Hemingway’s metaphors, far from being random occurrences of figurative language, are linguistic manifestations of deeper conceptual metaphors that are central to an interpretation of the text. By examining the modifications that are made to these original metaphoric expressions as they are translated into German, one can begin to appreciate the shifts involved with metaphor translation. The translation of Hemingway’s metaphors into German represents significant metaphoric loss and shifting that subsequently shakes the important conceptual metaphors in the novel.

Keywords: Hemingway, Conceptual Metaphor, Translation, Stylistics

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Authors: Faith Samkange, Juliet Chipumuro, Henry Wanyama

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Business development and entrepreneurship constitute a major part of economic and human development for many countries within the Southern Africa Development Communities (SADC). While a marked increase in entrepreneurship activity has been registered, more than 70% of these business enterprises are still failing particularly in their conceptual years. One of the major reasons for this failure is that project process trends have tended to be fragmented and linear in approach while focusing primarily on isolated articulation of development aspects such as marketing, operations, accounting and human resources management with limited integration. Given the complexity of environmental, economic and human development issues in the SADC region, a multi-disciplinary, transformative, systematic and coordinated approach towards entrepreneurship development may be a more useful approach. This paper develops a proposed conceptual framework for an innovative and sustainable food production and food consumption Agritech entrepreneurship project in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa based on a systematic review of existing literature. A thematic analysis of the literature reviewed is applied to develop this theoretical contribution to knowledge. The conceptual framework will be tested in a research driven intervention project designed to improve the quality of life for marginalized indigenous African communities by addressing poverty alleviation, unemployment and gender inequality as stipulated in the global sustainable development goals by the United Nations in 2018.

Keywords: innovative entrepreneurship, sustainability, food production and consumption, marginalised communities, poverty alleviation

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Authors: Hung Lin-Zin, Lai Mei-Yen

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Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed male cancer in the U.S. The prevalence is around 1 in 8. The etiology of prostate cancer is still unknown, but some predisposing factors, such as age, black race, family history, and obesity, may increase the risk of the disease. In 2020, a total of 7,178 Taiwanese people were nearly diagnosed with prostate cancer, accounting for 5.88% of all cancer cases, and the incidence rate ranked fifth among men. In that year, the total number of deaths from prostate cancer was 1,730, accounting for 3.45% of all cancer deaths, and the death rate ranked 6th among men, accounting for 94.34% of the cases of male reproductive organs. Looking for domestic and foreign literature on the use of OMOP (Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership, hereinafter referred to as OMOP) database analysis, there are currently nearly a hundred literature published related to nursing-related health problems and nursing measures built in the OMOP general data model database of medical institutions are extremely rare. The OMOP common data model construction analysis platform is a system developed by the FDA in 2007, using a common data model (common data model, CDM) to analyze and monitor healthcare data. It is important to build up relevant nursing information from the OMOP- CDM database to assist our daily practice. Therefore, we choose prostate cancer patients who are our popular care objects and use the OMOP- CDM database to explore the common associated health problems. With the assistance of OMOP-CDM database analysis, we can expect early diagnosis and prevention of prostate cancer patients' comorbidities to improve patient care.

Keywords: OMOP, nursing diagnosis, health problem, prostate cancer

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Authors: Risna Wijayanti, Sumiati, Hanif Iswari

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This study aims to analyze the role of financial risk attitude as a mediation between financial knowledge and business growth. The ability of human resources in managing capital (financial literacy) can be a major milestone for a company's business to grow and build its competitive advantage. This study analyzed the important role of financial risk attitude in bringing about financial knowledge on corporate growth. There have been many discussions arguing that financial knowledge is one of the main abilities of corporate managers in determining the success of managing a company. However, a contrary argument of other scholars also enlightened that financial knowledge did not have a significant influence on corporate growth. This study used literatures' review to analyze whether there is another variable that can mediate the effect of financial knowledge toward corporate growth. Research mapping was conducted to analyze the concept of risk tolerance. This concept was related to people's risk aversion effects when making a decision under risk and the role of financial knowledge on changes in financial income. Understanding and managing risks and investments are complicated, in particular for corporate managers, who are always demanded to maintain their corporate growth. Substantial financial knowledge is extremely needed to identify and take accurate information for corporate financial decision-making. By reviewing several literature, this study hypothesized that financial knowledge of corporate managers would be meaningless without manager's courage to bear risks for taking favorable business opportunities. Therefore, the level of risk aversion from corporate managers will determine corporate action, which is a reflection of corporate-level investment behavior leading to attain corporate success or failure for achieving the company's expected growth rate.

Keywords: financial knowledge, financial risk attitude, corporate growth, risk tolerance

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Authors: Ammar Alobaidy, Lamees Alsawafi, Malak Almawali, Balqees Alabri, Hajer Alhamrashdi

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Background: There is scarce data in the literature concerning the use of Arabic version neuron psychological cognitive tests in the geriatric age group of the Omani population. Objectives: Our aim is to obtain norms for normal elderly Omanis assessed by The Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's disease (CERAD) neuro psychological battery and to compare these norms with other studies in the literature. Methods: 84 attendants and visitors of in-patients at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, elder than 55 years, were interviewed. All participants were assessed by Dementia Rating Scale & Geriatric Depression Scale to ensure the integrity of their activities of daily living and the absence of depression, respectively. The performance of all participants in the CERAD battery was rated by a single rater to optimize the inter-rater reliability. Results: The cut-point for average performance in CERAD battery is dependent on the age, sex, and level of education and cannot be set as a single cut-point for all elderly Omanis. Conclusion: This study has shown the effect of age, sex, and level of education on the cognitive performance of normal elderly Omanis. The normative data obtained from this study can be utilized to differentiate between the cognitive decline of normal aging and the cognitive impairment due to various neuro cognitive disorders in the elderly Omanis, and probably culturally similar Arabic speaking communities.

Keywords: CERAD, neuropsychological battery, normal aging, elderly Omanis

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Authors: Hari Krishna Ayyappa, Reenu Singh

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Rising population and restricted land for development has led towards the growth of vertical buildings and small complexes. It provides many possibilities to change the shape and size of internal space in addition to the social impacts on the commercial spaces. With the increased volatility of necessities of people, the need for mental and physical comfort has continuously increased. . Living in a small space musts minimalist and space- saving cabinetwork results to sustain mortal good. This paper attempts to explore the Influence of Using Minimalist Furniture on the Efficiency of the commercial Space interiors by means of the variable resulting from preceding studies based on literature. A literature review was conducted on research articles to understand the contributing variables in a well designed small commercial spaces. A questionnaire survey was conducted to understand the layout of small commercial spaces with respect to Environmental impact, material, Design elements, Modern approach, Layered lightings, and colours. The problem of small spaces can be resolved by some ways; it's still needed for cabinetwork to develop to be more innovative to accommodate small living spaces. Since cabinetwork is a necessity and not luxury, everybody is in need of it. The spatial factors affecting overall satisfaction at a detailed position were bandied. The variable helped in proposing design ideation and mock ups to explore improved interiors. This paper concludes that most of the principles of the minimalist approach have been overlooked at, which had an impact on the space efficiency in commercial spaces like storage rooms, office area, retail stores, restaurants, and other spaces where business is conducted.

Keywords: materials, modern approach, space efficiency, tall commercial buildings

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Authors: Sarah Mueller-Saegebrecht, André Brendler

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Business model innovation (BMI) as an intentional change of an existing business model (BM) or the design of a new BM is essential to a firm's development in dynamic markets. The relevance of BMI is also evident in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in which start-ups, in particular, are affected by limited access to resources. However, first studies also show that they react faster to the pandemic than established firms. A strategy to successfully handle such threatening dynamic changes represents BMI. Entrepreneurship literature shows how and when firms should utilize BMI in times of crisis and which barriers one can expect during the BMI process. Nevertheless, research merging BMI barriers and crises is still underexplored. Specifically, further knowledge about antecedents and the effect of moderators on the BMI process is necessary for advancing BMI research. The addressed research gap of this study is two-folded: First, foundations to the subject on how different crises impact BM change intention exist, yet their analysis lacks the inclusion of barriers. Especially, entrepreneurship literature lacks knowledge about the individual perception of BMI barriers, which is essential to predict managerial reactions. Moreover, internal BMI barriers have been the focal point of current research, while external BMI barriers remain virtually understudied. Second, to date, BMI research is based on qualitative methodologies. Thus, a lack of quantitative work can specify and confirm these qualitative findings. By focusing on the crisis context, this study contributes to BMI literature by offering a first quantitative attempt to embed BMI barriers into a structural equation model. It measures managers' perception of BMI development and implementation barriers in the BMI process, asking the following research question: How does a manager's perception of BMI barriers influence BMI development and implementation in times of crisis? Two distinct research streams in economic literature explain how individuals react when perceiving a threat. "Prospect Theory" claims that managers demonstrate risk-seeking tendencies when facing a potential loss, and opposing "Threat-Rigidity Theory" suggests that managers demonstrate risk-averse behavior when facing a potential loss. This study quantitively tests which theory can best predict managers' BM reaction to a perceived crisis. Out of three in-depth interviews in the German chemical industry, 60 past BMIs were identified. The participating start-up managers gave insights into their start-up's strategic and operational functioning. After, each interviewee described crises that had already affected their BM. The participants explained how they conducted BMI to overcome these crises, which development and implementation barriers they faced, and how severe they perceived them, assessed on a 5-point Likert scale. In contrast to current research, results reveal that a higher perceived threat level of a crisis harms BM experimentation. Managers seem to conduct less BMI in times of crisis, whereby BMI development barriers dampen this relation. The structural equation model unveils a mediating role of BMI implementation barriers on the link between the intention to change a BM and the concrete BMI implementation. In conclusion, this study confirms the threat-rigidity theory.

Keywords: barrier perception, business model innovation, business model innovation barriers, crises, prospect theory, start-ups, structural equation model, threat-rigidity theory

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Authors: F. Agbele

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Elections are core democratic institutions. Consequently, voter participation during elections is paramount to democratic governance as it serves as a medium to legitimize authority and make the privileges of electoral democracy meaningful to citizens. To this effect, the topic of voter mobilization and subsequent turnout level have been largely studied in advanced democracies. In young and consolidating democracies, the debate has, however, revolves around the huge reliance on ethnic and regional appeals. According to the Author’s knowledge, studies on electoral mobilization especially within the African context have argued the use of ethnic linkages by political parties to mobilize voters during elections. Literature has however not differentiated between the level of democratic dispensation among African countries and the use of ethnic linkages. The question, however, is whether the state of the country’s democracy determines the strategies employed by political parties to induce voter participation. In other words, do parties simply play ethno-regional cards as strongly suggested by literature or will consider an arrayed of strategies to mobilize voters? Additionally, studies have not differentiated the impact of mobilization strategy within a country, i.e. between high to low turnout areas. They have also not distinguished between strategies employed by an incumbent or an opposition party. This paper, therefore, is a comparative analysis of voter mobilization in Ghana. It uses original survey and interview data from three constituencies in Ghana: Nanton, Assin North, and Ellembelle, which are typical cases of high, average and low turnout areas, respectively. The data were concurrently collected during fieldworks conducted in November 2016 to February 2017, and again from July to August 2017. The study found that political parties within a consolidating democracy employ a blend of strategies to ensure turnout by both parties’ faithful and swing voters. The dominant strategies used depends on whether the party is an incumbent or in opposition. While an incumbent may depend more on personalistic and clientelistic strategies, parties in opposition will largely use programmatic strategies, which entails making many campaign promises. Additionally, opposition parties do use clientelistic tactics, but not on the same level as the incumbent. Similarly, within the context of this study, the use of ethnic linkage by political parties to mobilize voters has not been found to be as strong as suggested in the literature. Further, location was key in determining the strategy to use. In all, the consolidation process of a democratic country like Ghana means the change of mobilization strategies used by political parties, which entail a gradual shift from ethnic linkages to programmatic and other forms of non-programmatic strategies.

Keywords: comparative analysis, elections, mobilization strategies, voter turnout

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Authors: Francimar Alves, Marcos Castro, Marllus Lustosa

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In the context of the teaching of computer programming, the choice of tool to use is very important in the initiation and continuity of learning a programming language. The literature tools do not always provide usability and pedagogical dynamism clearly and accurately for effective learning. This hypothesis implies fall in productivity and difficulty of learning a particular programming language by students. The integrated development environments (IDEs) Dev-C ++ and Code :: Blocks are widely used in introductory courses for undergraduate courses in Computer Science for learning C and C ++ languages. However, after several years of discontinuity maintaining the source code of Dev-C ++ tool, the continued use of the same in the teaching and learning process of the students of these institutions has led to difficulties, mainly due to the lack of update by the official developers, which resulted in a sequence of problems in using it on educational settings. Much of the users, dissatisfied with the IDE Dev-C ++, migrated to Code :: Blocks platform targeting the more dynamic range in the learning process of the C and C ++ languages. Nevertheless, there is still the need to create a tool that can provide the resources of most IDE's software development literature, however, more interactive, simple, accurate and efficient. This motivation led to the creation of Falcon C ++ tool, IDE that brings with features that turn it into an educational platform, which focuses primarily on increasing student learning index in the early disciplines of programming and algorithms that use the languages ​​C and C ++ . As a working methodology, a field research to prove the truth of the proposed tool was used. The test results and interviews with entry-level students and intermediate in a postsecondary institution gave basis for the composition of this work, demonstrating a positive impact on the use of the tool in teaching programming, showing that the use of Falcon C ++ software is beneficial in the teaching process of the C and C ++ programming languages.

Keywords: ide, education, learning, development, language

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Authors: Eyup Dogan

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One criticism of the energy-growth-environment literature, to the best of our knowledge, is that only a few studies analyze the influence of tourism on CO₂ emissions even though tourism sector is closely related to the environment. The other criticism is the selection of methodology. Panel estimation techniques that fail to consider both heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence across countries can cause forecasting errors. To fulfill the mentioned gaps in the literature, this study analyzes the impacts of real GDP, renewable energy and tourism on the levels of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions for the top 10 most-visited countries around the world. This study focuses on the top 10 touristic (most-visited) countries because they receive about the half of the worldwide tourist arrivals in late years and are among the top ones in 'Renewables Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI)'. By looking at Pesaran’s CD test and average growth rates of variables for each country, we detect the presence of cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity. Hence, this study uses second generation econometric techniques (cross-sectionally augmented Dickey-Fuller (CADF), and cross-sectionally augmented IPS (CIPS) unit root test, the LM bootstrap cointegration test, and the DOLS and the FMOLS estimators) which are robust to the mentioned issues. Therefore, the reported results become accurate and reliable. It is found that renewable energy mitigates the pollution whereas real GDP and tourism contribute to carbon emissions. Thus, regulatory policies are necessary to increase the awareness of sustainable tourism. In addition, the use of renewable energy and the adoption of clean technologies in tourism sector as well as in producing goods and services play significant roles in reducing the levels of emissions.

Keywords: air pollution, tourism, renewable energy, income, panel data

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Authors: Rishana Bilimoria

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Darwin’s insightful anthropological theory on the evolution drove mankind’s understanding of our existence in the natural world. Scientists consider analysis of dental and craniofacial remains to be pivotal in uncovering facts about our evolutionary journey. The resilient mineral content of enamel and dentine allow cranial and dental remains to be preserved for millions of years, making it an excellent resource not only in anthropology but other fields of research including forensic dentistry. This literature review aims to chronologically approach each ancestral species, reviewing Australopithecus, Paranthropus, Homo Habilis, Homo Rudolfensis, Homo Erectus, Homo Neanderthalis, and finally Homo Sapiens. Studies included in the review assess the features of cranio-dental remains that are of evolutionary importance, such as microstructure, microwear, morphology, and jaw biomechanics. The article discusses the plethora of analysis techniques employed to study dental remains including carbon dating, dental topography, confocal imaging, DPI scanning and light microscopy, in addition to microwear study and analysis of features such as coronal and root morphology, mandibular corpus shape, craniofacial anatomy and microstructure. Furthermore, results from these studies provide insight into the diet, lifestyle and consequently, ecological surroundings of each species. We can correlate dental fossil evidence with wider theories on pivotal global events, to help us contextualize each species in space and time. Examples include dietary adaptation during the period of global cooling converting the landscape of Africa from forest to grassland. Global migration ‘out of Africa’ can be demonstrated by enamel thickness variation, cranial vault variation over time demonstrates accommodation to larger brain sizes, and dental wear patterns can place the commencement of lithic technology in history. Conclusions from this literature review show that dental evidence plays a major role in painting a phenotypic and all rounded picture of species of the Homo genus, in particular, analysis of coronal morphology through carbon dating and dental wear analysis. With regards to analysis technique, whilst studies require larger sample sizes, this could be unrealistic since there are limitations in ability to retrieve fossil data. We cannot deny the reliability of carbon dating; however, there is certainly scope for the use of more recent techniques, and further evidence of their success is required.

Keywords: cranio-facial, dental remains, evolution, hominids

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Authors: Karen Cilliers, Benedict J. Page

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Limited research focuses on the anatomy of the posterior cerebral artery (PCA) and its cortical branches, even though there can be variation in the presence, size, and origin. The PCA branching pattern has not been adequately reported, and the true division point remains unclear. Anomalies of the PCA have been described in the previous literature; however, few examples have been reported. Furthermore, possible differences between right and left, sex, population and age groups may exist. Therefore, the aim of this study was to report on these aspects from a South African population. One hundred and twenty-six hemispheres were obtained consisting of 86 males and 38 females, between the ages of 22 and 84 (average 45 years of age). This comprised of three population groups, namely coloured (n=74), black (n=38), white (n=10) and two unknown cases. The PCA was injected with an isotonic saline and a colored silicone. The external diameter was measured with a digital micrometer, and length was measured with a string and a ruler. Presence and origins of the cortical branches were similar to the literature; however, duplications, triplications, and unusual origins were observed. The diameter and lengths indicated significant differences between the right and left sides, sex, population and age groups. Branching patterns were identified and compared to the prevalence from previous studies. Two fenestrations were observed in the P2A segment. The presence, size, origin, branching pattern and anomalies of the PCA were investigated in this study. The diameter and length can be significantly different, especially between the right and left-hand side. Changes in the diameter and length can be indicative of certain neuropathological conditions and can play a role in aneurysms formation. Adequate knowledge of the normal and abnormal PCA anatomy is crucial for surgery in the vicinity of the PCA. Therefore, future studies should focus on these aspects.

Keywords: branching, cortical branches, fenestration, posterior cerebral artery

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Authors: Buğra Sinmez

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In some countries, such as China, Turkey, andseveralEuropeanUnionnations, the therailwaypavementstructuralsystem has recently undergonerapid growth as a vital element of the transportation infrastructure, particularlyfortheuse of high-speed trains. It is vitaltoconsiderthe High-SpeedInfrastructureDemandwhendevelopingandconstructingtherailwaypavementstructure. HSRL can create more substantial ldifficultiestotheballastorbaselayer of regularlyusedballastedrailwaypavementsthanstandardrailwaytrains. The deterioration of the theballastorbaselayermayleadtosubstructuredegradation, which might lead to safety concerns and catastrophicincidents. As a result, the efficiency of railways will be impactedbylargecargoesorhigh-speed trains. A railwaypavement construction can be strengthened using geosyntheticmaterials in theballastorfoundationlayer as a countermeasure. However, there is still a need in the literature to quantifytheinfluence of geosynthetic materials, particularlygeogrid, on the mechanical responses of railwaypavementstructuresto HSRL loads which is essential knowledge in supporting the selection of appropriate material and geogridinstallationposition. As a result, the purpose of this research is to see how a geogridreinforcementlayermayaffectthekeyfeatures of a ballastedrailwaypavementstructure, with a particular focus on the materialtypeandgeogridplacementpositionthatmayassistreducethe rate of degradation of the therailwaypavementstructuresystem. Thisstudyusesnumericalmodeling in a genuinerailwaycontexttovalidatethebenefit of geogrid reinforcement. The usage of geogrids in the railway system has been thoroughly researched in the technical literature. Three distinct types of geogrid installed at two distinct positions (i.e.,withintheballastlayer, betweentheballastandthesub-ballast layer) within a railwaypavementconstructionwereevaluatedunder a variety of verticalwheelloadsusing a three-dimensional (3D) finite element model. As a result, fouralternativegeogridreinforcementsystemsweremodeledtoreflectdifferentconditions in the ballastedrailwaysystems (G0: no reinforcement; G1: reinforcedwithgeogridhavingthelowestdensityandYoung'smodulus; G2: reinforcedwithgeogridhavingtheintermediateYoung'smodulusanddensity; G3: reinforcedwithgeogridhavingthegreatestdensityandYoung'smodulus). Themechanicalreactions of the railway, such as verticalsurfacedeflection, maximumprimarystressandstrain, andmaximumshearstress, werestudiedandcomparedbetweenthefourgeogridreinforcementscenariosandfourverticalwheelloadlevels (i.e., 75, 100, 150, and 200 kN). Differences in the mechanical reactions of railwaypavementconstructionsowingtotheuse of differentgeogridmaterialsdemonstratethebenefits of suchgeosynthetics in ballast. In comparison to a non-reinforcedrailwaypavementconstruction, thereinforcedconstructionsfeaturedecreasedverticalsurfacedeflection, maximum shear stress at the sleeper-ballast contact, and maximum main stress at the bottom of the ballast layer. As a result, addinggeogridtotheballastlayerandbetweentheballastandsub-ballast layer in a ballastedrailwaypavementconstruction has beenfoundtolowercriticalshearand main stresses as well as verticalsurfacedeflection.

Keywords: geosynthetics, geogrid, railway, transportation

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Authors: Sakkaphat T. Ngamake, Arunya Tuicomepee, Panrapee Suttiwan, Rewadee Watakakosol, Sompoch Iamsupasit

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Generally, 'positive' emotion regulation strategies such as cognitive reappraisal have linked to desirable outcomes while 'negative' strategies such as behavioral suppression have linked to undesirable outcomes. These trends have been found in both the elderly and professional practitioners. Hence, this study sought to investigate these trends further by examining the relationship between two dominant emotion regulation strategies in the literature (i.e., cognitive reappraisal and behavioral suppression) and well-being outcomes among the elderly (i.e., successful aging) and their caregivers (i.e., satisfaction with life), using the actor-partner interdependence model. A total of 150 elderly-caregiver dyads participated in the study. The elderly responded to two measures assessing the two emotion regulation strategies and successful aging while their caregivers responded to the same emotion regulation measure and a measure of satisfaction with life. Two criterion variables (i.e., successful aging and satisfaction with life) were specified as latent variables whereas four predictors (i.e., two strategies for the elderly and two strategies for their caregivers) were specified as observed variables in the model. Results have shown that, for the actor effect, the cognitive reappraisal strategy yielded positive relationships with the well-being outcomes for both the elderly and their caregivers. For the partner effect, a positive relationship between caregivers’ cognitive reappraisal strategy and the elderly’s successful aging was observed. The behavioral suppression strategy has not related to any well-being outcomes, within and across individual agents. This study has contributed to the literature by empirically showing that the mental activity of the elderly’s immediate environment such as their family members or close friends could affect their quality of life.

Keywords: emotion regulation, caregiver, older adult, well-being

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Authors: Heba Salama, Barry Gibson, Jennifer Burr

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Introduction: It is often argued that better oral health leads to better wellbeing, and the goal of dental care is to improve wellbeing. Notwithstanding, to our best knowledge, there is a lack of evidence to support the relationship between oral health and wellbeing. Aim: The scoping review aims to examine current definitions of health and wellbeing as well as map the evidence to examine the relationship between oral health and wellbeing. Methods: The scoping review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews Extension for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR). A two-phase search strategy was followed because of the unmanageable number of hits returned. The first phase was to identify how well-being was conceptualised in oral health literacy, and the second phase was to search for extracted keywords. The extracted keywords were searched in four databases: PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Web of Science. To limit the number of studies to a manageable amount, the search was limited to the open-access studies that have been published in the last five years (from 2018 to 2022). Results: Only eight studies (0.1%) of the 5455 results met the review inclusion criteria. Most of the included studies defined wellbeing based on the hedonic theory. And the Satisfaction with Life Scale is the most used. Although the research results are inconsistent, it has generally been shown that there is a weak or no association between oral health and wellbeing. Interpretation: The review revealed a very important point about how oral health literature uses loose definitions that have significant implications for empirical research. That results in misleading evidence-based conclusions. According to the review results, improving oral health is not a key factor in improving wellbeing. It appears that investing in oral health care to improve wellbeing is not a top priority to tell policymakers about. This does not imply that there should be no investment in oral health care to improve oral health. That could have an indirect link to wellbeing by eliminating the potential oral health-related barriers to quality of life that could represent the foundation of wellbeing. Limitation: Only the most recent five years (2018–2022), peer-reviewed English-language literature, and four electronic databases were included in the search. These restrictions were put in place to keep the volume of literature at a manageable level. This suggests that some significant studies might have been omitted. Furthermore, the study used a definition of wellbeing that is currently being evolved and might not everyone agrees with it. Conclusion: Whilst it is a ubiquitous argument that oral health is related to wellbeing, and this seems logical, there is little empirical evidence to support this claim. This question, therefore, requires much more detailed consideration. Funding: This project was funded by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Libya and Tripoli University.

Keywords: oral health, wellbeing, satisfaction, emotion, quality of life, oral health related quality of life

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Authors: Richard G. Carranza, Juan Ospina

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The fin efficiency for a helical fin with a fixed fin tip (or arbitrary) temperature boundary condition is presented. Firstly, the temperature profile throughout the fin is determined via an energy balance around the fin itself. Secondly, the fin efficiency is formulated by integrating across the entire surface of the helical fin. An analytical expression for the fin efficiency is presented and compared with the literature for accuracy.

Keywords: efficiency, fin, heat, helical, transfer

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Authors: Nur Bella Octoria Bella, Ayomi Dita Rarasati

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DKI Jakarta is Indonesia's capital city with the 10th highest congestion rate in the world based on the 2019 traffic index. Other than that based on World Air Quality Report in 2019 showed DKI Jakarta's air pollutant concentrate 49.4 µg and the 5th highest air pollutant in the world. In the urban city nowadays, the mobility rate is high enough and the efficiency for sustainability assessment in transport infrastructure development is needed. This efficiency is the important key for sustainable infrastructure development. DKI Jakarta is nowadays in the process of constructing the railway infrastructure to support the transportation system. The problems appearing are the railway infrastructure networks and the service in DKI Jakarta already planned based on sustainability factors or not. Therefore, the aim of this research is to make the evaluation of railways infrastructure networks performance and services in DKI Jakarta regards on the railway sustainability key factors. Further, this evaluation will be used to make the railway sustainability assessment framework and to offer some of the alternative solutions to improve railway transportation sustainability in DKI Jakarta. Firstly a very detailed literature review of papers that have focused on railway sustainability factors and their improvements of railway sustainability, published in the scientific journal in the period 2011 until 2021. Regarding the sustainability factors from the literature review, further, it is used to assess the current condition of railway infrastructure in DKI Jakarta. The evaluation will be using a Likert rate questionnaire and directed to the transportation railway expert and the passenger. Furthermore, the mapping and evaluation rate based on the sustainability factors will be compared to the effect factors using the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP). This research offers the network's performance and service rate impact on the sustainability aspect and the passenger willingness for using the rail public transportation in DKI Jakarta.

Keywords: transportation sustainability, railway transportation, sustainability, DKI Jakarta

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Authors: Ana Lucia Molina

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Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive neuromodulation technique for the investigation and modulation of cortical excitability in humans. The modulation of the processing of different cortical areas can result in several areas for rehabilitation, showing great potential in the treatment of motor disorders. In the human brain, the supplementary motor area (SMA) is involved in the control of the pelvic floor muscles (MAP), where dysfunctions of these muscles can lead to urinary incontinence. Peripheral magnetic stimulation, specifically sacral magnetic stimulation, has been used as a safe and effective treatment option for patients with lower urinary tract dysfunction. A systematic literature review was carried out (Pubmed, Medline and Google academic database) without a time limit using the keywords: "transcranial magnetic stimulation", "sacral neuromodulation", and "urinary incontinence", where 11 articles attended to the inclusion criteria. Results: Thirteen articles were selected. Magnetic stimulation is a non-invasive neuromodulation technique widely used in the evaluation of cortical areas and their respective peripheral areas, as well as in the treatment of lesions of brain origin. With regard to pelvic-perineal disorders, repetitive transcranial stimulation showed significant effects in controlling urinary incontinence, as well as sacral peripheral magnetic stimulation, in addition to exerting the potential to restore bladder sphincter function. Conclusion: Data from the literature suggest that both transcranial stimulation and peripheral stimulation are non-invasive references that can be promising and effective means of treatment in pelvic and perineal disorders. More prospective and randomized studies on a larger scale are needed, adapting the most appropriate and resolving parameters.

Keywords: urinary incontinence, non-invasive neuromodulation, sacral neuromodulation, transcranial magnetic stimulation.

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Authors: Deyadeen Ali Alshibani

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In the literature, the multi-armed bandit problem as a statistical decision model of an agent trying to optimize his decisions while improving his information at the same time. There are several different algorithms models and their applications on this problem. In this paper, we evaluate the Regret-regression through comparing with Q-learning method. A simulation on determination of optimal treatment regime is presented in detail.

Keywords: optimal, bandit problem, optimization, dynamic programming

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Authors: Gülnar Bayramoğlu Barman

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Since the industrial revolution, technological developments and increased population have caused environmental damages. To protect the nature and architectural environment, firstly, green architecture, ecological architecture and then sustainability occurred. This term has been proposed not to be a new term but a response to environmental disturbances caused by human activities and it is re-conceptualization of architecture. Sustainable architecture or sustainability is lot more extensive than ecological and green architecture. It contains the imbalance between environmental problems that is natural environment and consumption that occurred all around the world. An important part of sustainability debate focused on urban planning and design for more sustainable forms and patterns. In particular, it is discussed that planning and design of urban areas have a major effect on transport and therefore can help reduce car usage, emissions, global warming and climate change. There are many planning and design approaches and movement that introduce certain criteria and strategies to prevent car dependency and encourage people to use public transportation and walking. However, when review the literature, it is seen that planning movements, such as New Urbanism and Transit Oriented Development originated and were implemented mostly in West European and North American Cities. The purpose of this study is to find out whether all those criteria, principles and strategies are also relevant planning approaches for more non-western cities like Baku, which has a very different planning background and therefore possibly different urban form and transport issues. In order to answer the above mentioned question, planning and design approaches in the literature and these recent planning movements were studied and a check list was formed which indicate planning and design approaches that can help attain a more sustainable transport outcome. The checklist was then applied to the case of Baku.

Keywords: sustainability, sustainable development, sustainable transportation, transport, urban design

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