Search results for: communication studies

Authors: M. Rojo, M. Blanco, T. Lacruz, S. Solano, L. Beltran, M. Graell, A. R. Sepulveda.

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There is an association between an early accumulation of Stressful Life Events (SLE) during childhood and various physical and psychological health complications. However, there are only a few studies on this topic in children and adolescents with overweight or obesity. The general aim of the study was to evaluate the accumulation and type of SLE in 200 children from 8 to 12 years old and analyze the relationship with their emotional well-being and weight status (obesity, overweight and normal weight). The children and their families completed an interview. The evaluated variables that are included in this study are sociodemographic measures, medical/psychological history, anthropometric measures (BMI, z-BMI), and psychological variables (children's clinical interview K-SADS-PL(Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children Present and Lifetime Version) and battery of questionnaires). Results: Children with overweight and obesity accumulate more stressful events from an early age and have a significantly higher percentage of psychiatric diagnoses, compared to their peers with normal weight. Presenting a child psychiatric disorder is related to greater z-BMI and the total number of SLE (p < 0.001). A higher z-BMI is also related to a greater number of stressful events during childhood. There is also a positive and significant relationship between the total number of SLE and worse emotional well-being (higher levels of anxious and depressive symptoms and low self-esteem of children) (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Children with overweight and obesity grow up in a family, school, and social context where more stressors are accumulated. This is also directly associated with worse emotional well-being. It is necessary to implement multidisciplinary prevention and intervention strategies in different changes (school, family, and health). This study is included in a project funded by the Ministry of Innovation and Science (PSI2011-23127).

Keywords: childhood obesity, emotional well-being, psychopathology, stressful life events

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Authors: Ertuğrul Ferhat Yilmaz, Ali Riza Perçin

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In the business enterprises implemented modern business enterprise principles, the most important issues are increasing the performance of workers and getting maximum income. Through the twentieth century, rapid development of the sectors of data processing and communication and because of the free trade politics arising of multilateral business enterprises have canceled the economical borders and changed the local rivalry into the spherical rivalry. In this rivalry conditions, the business enterprises have to work active and productive in order to continue their existences. The employees worked at business enterprises have formed the most important factor of product. Therefore, the business enterprises inferring the importance of the human factors in order to increase the profit have used “the performance evolution system” to increase the success and development of the employees. The evolution of the performance is aimed to increase the manpower productive by using the employees in an active way. Furthermore, this system assists the wage politics implemented in business enterprise, determining the strategically plans in business enterprises through the short and long terms, being promoted and determining the educational needs of employees, making decisions as dismissing and work rotation. It requires a great deal of effort to catch the pace of change in the working realm and to keep up ourselves up-to-date. To get the quality in people,to have an effect in workplace depends largely on the knowledge and competence of managers and prospective managers. Therefore,managers need to use the performance evaluation systems in order to base their managerial decisions on sound data. This study aims at finding whether the organizations effectively use performance evaluation systms,how much importance is put on this issue and how much the results of the evaulations have an effect on employees. Whether the organizations have the advantage of competition and can keep on their activities depend to a large extent on how they effectively and efficiently use their employees.Therefore,it is of vital importance to evaluate employees' performance and to make them better according to the results of that evaluation. The performance evaluation system which evaluates the employees according to the criteria related to that organization has become one of the most important topics for management. By means of those important ends mentioned above,performance evaluation system seems to be a tool that can be used to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of organization. Because of its contribution to organizational success, thinking performance evaluation on the axis of efficiency shows the importance of this study on a different angle. In this study, we have explained performance evaluation system ,efficiency and the relation between those two concepts. We have also analyzed the results of questionnaires conducted on the textile workers in Edirne city.We have got positive answers from the questions about the effects of performance evaluation on efficiency.After factor analysis ,the efficiency and motivation which are determined as factors of performance evaluation system have the biggest variance (%19.703) in our sample. Thus, this study shows that objective performance evaluation increases the efficiency and motivation of employees.

Keywords: performance, performance evolution system, productivity, Edirne region

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Authors: Mumtaz Khan, Adeel Shahid, Waqas Khan

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Heavy metals presence in water streams is a big danger for aquatic life and ultimately effects human health. Removal of copper (Cu) by ispaghula husk, maize fibre, and maize oil cake from synthetic solution in batch conditions was studied. Different experimental parameters such as contact time, initial solution pH, agitation rate, initial Cu concentration, biosorbent concentration, and biosorbent particle size has been studied to quantify the Cu biosorption. The rate of adsorption of metal ions was very fast at the beginning and became slow after reaching the saturation point, followed by a slower active metabolic uptake of metal ions into the cells. Up to a certain point, (pH=4, concentration of Cu = ~ 640 mg/l, agitation rate = ~ 400 rpm, biosorbent concentration = ~ 0.5g, 3g, 3g for ispaghula husk, maize fiber and maize oil cake, respectively) increasing the pH, concentration of Cu, agitation rate, and biosorbent concentration, increased the biosorption rate; however the sorption capacity increased by decreasing the particle size. At optimized experimental parameters, the maximum Cu biosorption by ispaghula husk, maize fibre and maize oil cake were 86.7%, 59.6% and 71.3%, respectively. Moreover, the results of the kinetics studies demonstrated that the biosorption of copper on ispaghula husk, maize fibre, and maize oil cake followed pseudo-second order kinetics. The results of adsorption were fitted to both the Langmuir and Freundlich models. The Langmuir model represented the sorption process better than Freundlich, and R² value ~ 0.978. Optimizations of physical and environmental parameters revealed, ispaghula husk as more potent copper biosorbent than maize fibre, and maize oil cake. The sorbent is cheap and available easily, so this study can be applied to remove Cu impurities on pilot and industrial scale after certain modifications.

Keywords: biosorption, copper, ispaghula husk, maize fibre, maize oil cake, purification

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Authors: Tiera Tanksley, Amanda M. McLeroy

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The advent of technology and social media has ushered in a new era of communication, providing platforms for news dissemination and cause advocacy. However, this digital landscape has also exposed a distressing phenomenon termed "Black death," or trauma porn. This paper delves into the profound effects of repeated exposure to traumatic content on Black youth via social media, exploring the psychological impacts and potential reinforcing of stereotypes. Employing Critical Race Technology Theory (CRTT), the study sheds light on algorithmic anti-blackness and its influence on Black youth's lives and educational experiences. Through ethnographic content analysis, the research investigates common manifestations of Black death encountered online by Black adolescents. Findings unveil distressing viral videos, traumatic images, racial slurs, and hate speech, perpetuating stereotypes. However, amidst the distress, the study identifies narratives of activism and social justice on social media platforms, empowering Black youth to engage in positive change. Coping mechanisms and community support emerge as significant factors in navigating the digital landscape. The study underscores the need for comprehensive interventions and policies informed by evidence-based research. By addressing algorithmic anti-blackness and promoting digital resilience, the paper advocates for a more empathetic and inclusive online environment. Understanding coping mechanisms and community support becomes imperative for fostering mental well-being among Black adolescents navigating social media. In education, the implications are substantial. Acknowledging the impact of Black death content, educators play a pivotal role in promoting media literacy and digital resilience. Creating inclusive and safe online spaces, educators can mitigate negative effects and encourage open discussions about traumatic content. The application of CRTT in educational technology emphasizes dismantling systemic biases and promoting equity. In conclusion, this study calls for educators to be cognizant of the impact of Black death content on social media. By prioritizing media literacy, fostering digital resilience, and advocating for unbiased technologies, educators contribute to an inclusive and just educational environment for all students, irrespective of their race or background. Addressing challenges related to Black death content proactively ensures the well-being and mental health of Black adolescents, fostering an empathetic and inclusive digital space.

Keywords: algorithmic anti-Blackness, digital resilience, media literacy, traumatic content

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Authors: Harold P. Pareja

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This paper answers the question whether the minimum age of criminal responsibility under the Republic Act No. 9344 (Juvenile Justice Act) as amended by Republic Act No. 10630 should be lowered to 15 years of age or not in the light of international standards and domestic concerns both of which will definitely elicit strong views. It also explores the specific provision on the minimum age of criminal responsibility under the Republic Act No. 9344 (Juvenile Justice Act) and traces the bases of such law by discussing its presented evidences and justifications as reflected in the records of proceedings in the law-making phase. On one hand, the paper discusses the impact of lowering the minimum age to the state of juvenile delinquencies and to the rate of rehabilitation for those CICL who have undergone the DSWD-supervised recovery programs. On the other hand, it presents its impact to the international community specifically to the Committee of the Rights of the Child and the UNICEF considering that the even the current minimum age set in RA 9344 is lower than the international standards. Document review and content analysis are the major research tools. Primary and secondary sources were used as references such as Philippine laws on juvenile justice and from the different states international think-tanks. The absence of reliable evidences on criminal capacity made the arguments in increasing the MACR in the harder position. Studies on criminal capacity vary from different countries and from practitioners in in the fields of psychology, psychiatry and forensics. Juvenile delinquency is mainly contributed by poverty and dysfunctional families. On the other hand, the science of the criminal mind specifically among children has not been established yet. Philippines have the legal obligations to be faithful to the CRC and other related international instruments for the juvenile justice and welfare system. Decreasing MACR does not only send wrong message to the international community but the Philippines is violating its own laws.

Keywords: juvenile justice, minimum age of responsibility (MAR), juvenile justice act of the Philippines, children in conflict with the law, international standards on juvenile justice

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Authors: Avoseh Funmilola, Osman Khalid, Wayne Nelson, Paramespri Naidoo, Deresh Ramjugernath

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The increasing global atmospheric temperature is of great concern and this has led to the development of technologies to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Flue gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion are major sources of greenhouse gases. One of the ways to reduce the emission of CO₂ from flue gases is by post combustion capture process and this can be done by absorbing the gas into suitable chemical solvents before emitting the gas into the atmosphere. Alkanolamines are promising solvents for this capture process. Vapour liquid equilibrium of CO₂-alkanolamine systems is often represented by CO₂ loading and partial pressure of CO₂ without considering the liquid phase. The liquid phase of this system is a complex one comprising of 9 species. Online analysis of the process is important to monitor the concentrations of the liquid phase reacting and product species. Liquid phase analysis of CO₂-diethanolamine (DEA) solution was performed by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. A robust Calibration was performed for the CO₂-aqueous DEA system prior to an online monitoring experiment. The partial least square regression method was used for the analysis of the calibration spectra obtained. The models obtained were used for prediction of DEA and CO₂ concentrations in the online monitoring experiment. The experiment was performed with a newly built recirculating experimental set up in the laboratory. The set up consist of a 750 ml equilibrium cell and ATR-FTIR liquid flow cell. Measurements were performed at 400°C. The results obtained indicated that the FTIR spectroscopy combined with Partial least square method is an effective tool for online monitoring of speciation.

Keywords: ATR-FTIR, CO₂ capture, online analysis, PLS regression

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Authors: Somayeh Negahdari, Mohsen Ghanbarzadeh, Masoud Nikbakht, Heshmatolah Tavakol

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Asthma, obesity and overweight are the main factors causing change within the heart and respiratory airways. Asthma symptoms are normally observed during exercising. Epidemiological studies have indicated asthma symptoms occurring due to certain lifestyle habits; for example, a sedentary lifestyle. In this study, eight weeks of aerobic exercises resulted in a positive effect overall in overweight women experiencing mild chronic asthma. The quasi-experimental applied research has been done based on experimental and control groups. The experimental group (seven patients) and control group (n = 7) were graded before and after the test. According to the Borg dyspnea and fatigue Perception Index, the training intensity has determined. Participants in the study performed a sub-maximal aerobic activity schedule (45% to 80% of maximum heart rate) for two months, while the control group (n = 7) stayed away from aerobic exercise. Data evaluation and analysis of covariance compared both the pre-test and post-test with paired t-test at significance level of P≤ 0.05. After eight weeks of exercise, the results of the experimental group show a significant decrease in resting heart rate, systolic blood pressure, minute ventilation, while a significant increase in maximal oxygen uptake and tolerance activity (P ≤ 0.05). In the control group, there was no significant difference in these parameters ((P ≤ 0.05). The results indicate the aerobic activity can strengthen the respiratory muscles, while other physiological factors could result in breathing and heart recovery. Aerobic activity also resulted in favorable changes in cardiovascular parameters, and exercise tolerance of overweight women with chronic asthma.

Keywords: asthma, respiratory cardiac index, exercise tolerance, aerobic, overweight

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Authors: Nguyen Tien Thanh, Günter Meon

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Precipitation plays a key role in water cycle, defining the local climatic conditions and in ecosystem. It is also an important input parameter for water resources management and hydrologic models. With spatial continuous data, a certainty of discharge predictions or other environmental factors is unquestionably better than without. This is, however, not always willingly available to acquire for a small basin, especially for coastal region in Vietnam due to a low network of meteorological stations (30 stations) on long coast of 3260 km2. Furthermore, available gridded precipitation datasets are not fine enough when applying to hydrologic models. Under conditions of global warming, an application of spatial interpolation methods is a crucial for the climate change impact studies to obtain the spatial continuous data. In recent research projects, although some methods can perform better than others do, no methods draw the best results for all cases. The objective of this paper therefore, is to investigate different spatial interpolation methods for daily precipitation over a small basin (approximately 400 km2) located in coastal region, Southern Vietnam and find out the most efficient interpolation method on this catchment. The five different interpolation methods consisting of cressman, ordinary kriging, regression kriging, dual kriging and inverse distance weighting have been applied to identify the best method for the area of study on the spatio-temporal scale (daily, 10 km x 10 km). A 30-year precipitation database was created and merged into available gridded datasets. Finally, observed changes in constructed precipitation were performed. The results demonstrate that the method of ordinary kriging interpolation is an effective approach to analyze the daily precipitation. The mixed trends of increasing and decreasing monthly, seasonal and annual precipitation have documented at significant levels.

Keywords: interpolation, precipitation, trend, vietnam

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Authors: Matthew McArthur, Margaret Friend

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The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the stability of the home environment for families across the world. Potential disruptions include parent work modality (in-person vs. remote), levels of health anxiety, family routines, and caregiving. These disruptions may have interfered with the processes of early vocabulary acquisition, carrying lasting effects over the life course. Our justification for this research is as follows: First, early, stable, caregiver-child reciprocal interactions, which may have been disrupted during the pandemic, contribute to the development of the brain architecture that supports language, cognitive, and social-emotional development. Second, early vocabulary predicts several cognitive outcomes, such as numeracy, literacy, and executive function. Further, disruption in the home is associated with adverse cognitive, academic, socio-emotional, behavioral, and communication outcomes in young children. We are interested in how disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic are associated with vocabulary acquisition in children born during the first two waves of the pandemic. We are conducting a moderated online experiment to assess this question. Participants are 16 children (10F) ranging in age from 19 to 39 months (M=25.27) and their caregivers. All child participants were screened for language background, health history, and history of language disorders, and were typically developing. Parents completed a modified version of the COVID-19 Family Stressor Scale (CoFaSS), a published measure of COVID-19-related family stressors. Thirteen items from the original scale were replaced to better capture change in family organization and stability specifically related to disruptions in income, anxiety, family relations, and childcare. Following completion of the modified CoFaSS, children completed a Web-Based version of the Computerized Comprehension Task and the Receptive One Word Picture Vocabulary if 24 months or older or the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory if younger than 24 months. We report our preliminary data as a partial correlation analysis controlling for age. Raw vocabulary scores on the CCT, ROWPVT-4, and MCDI were all negatively associated with pandemic-related disruptions related to anxiety (r12=-.321; r1=-.332; r9=-.509), family relations (r12=-.590*; r1=-.155; r9=-.468), and childcare (r12=-.294; r1=-.468; r9=-.177). Although the small sample size for these preliminary data limits our power to detect significance, this trend is in the predicted direction, suggesting that increased pandemic-related disruption across multiple domains is associated with lower vocabulary scores. We anticipate presenting data on a full sample of 50 monolingual English participants. A sample of 50 participants would provide sufficient statistical power to detect a moderate effect size, adhering to a nominal alpha of 0.05 and ensuring a power level of 0.80.

Keywords: COVID-19, early vocabulary, home environment, language acquisition, multiple measures

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Authors: Adu Micheal Kwaku, Lamptey Shirley

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Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walpis) is a major food grain legume in Ghana and plays a significant role in consumer diets. Drought in rain-fed crop production is known to cause substantial crop yield reduction due to their negative impacts on plant growth, physiology, and reproduction. There are various ways of reducing the effect of drought or addressing the problem of drought stress, including irrigation, breeding, and mulching. Among these three ways of reducing the effect of drought stress, the cheapest and quickest method is mulching. The broad objective of this project is to determine the influence of mulching on the performance of cowpea. The experiment was conducted at Planting for future garden located at Nyankpala Campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS), comprising five treatments (black plastic, rice hull, groundnut hull, dry grass mulch, and control). The treatments were evaluated in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The result shows that black plastic mulch increased soil moisture by 1, 8, 15, and 24% compared to rice hull, groundnut hull, dry grass, and control, respectively. Increased soil moisture translated into black plastic mulch increasing grain yield by 8, 25, 39, and 46% compared to groundnut hull, rice hull, dry grass and control, respectively. However, black plastic mulch increased the cost of production, resulting in decreased net returns compared to the other treatment. This study recommends the use of rice and groundnut hull as mulching material to improve soil moisture, grain yield, and profit of smallholder cowpea farmers and also because they are almost free and available.

Keywords: mulch, plastic mulch, cowpea, growth response

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Authors: Amine Ben Slama, Aymen Mouelhi, Sondes Manoubi, Chiraz Mbarek, Hedi Trabelsi, Mounir Sayadi, Farhat Fnaiech

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Vertigo is a sensation of feeling off balance; the cause of this symptom is very difficult to interpret and needs a complementary exam. Generally, vertigo is caused by an ear problem. Some of the most common causes include: benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), Meniere's disease and vestibular neuritis (VN). In clinical practice, different tests of videonystagmographic (VNG) technique are used to detect the presence of vestibular neuritis (VN). The topographical diagnosis of this disease presents a large diversity in its characteristics that confirm a mixture of problems for usual etiological analysis methods. In this study, a vestibular neuritis analysis method is proposed with videonystagmography (VNG) applications using an estimation of pupil movements in the case of an uncontrolled motion to obtain an efficient and reliable diagnosis results. First, an estimation of the pupil displacement vectors using with Hough Transform (HT) is performed to approximate the location of pupil region. Then, temporal and frequency features are computed from the rotation angle variation of the pupil motion. Finally, optimized features are selected using Fisher criterion evaluation for discrimination and classification of the VN disease.Experimental results are analyzed using two categories: normal and pathologic. By classifying the reduced features using the Support Vector Machine (SVM), 94% is achieved as classification accuracy. Compared to recent studies, the proposed expert system is extremely helpful and highly effective to resolve the problem of VNG analysis and provide an accurate diagnostic for medical devices.

Keywords: nystagmus, vestibular neuritis, videonystagmographic system, VNG, Fisher criterion, support vector machine, SVM

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Authors: Ahmet Battal, Demet Tatar, Bahattin Düzgün

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Various transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) are mostly used much applications due to many properties such as cheap, high transmittance/electrical conductivity etc. One of the clearest among TCOs, indium tin oxide (ITO), is the most widely used in many areas. However, as ITO is expensive and very low regarding reserve, other materials with suitable properties (especially SnO2 thin films) are be using instead of it. In this report, tin oxide thin films doubly doped with antimony and fluorine (AFTO) were deposited by spray at different substrate temperatures on glass substrate. It was investigated their structural, optical, electrical and luminescence properties. The substrate temperature was varied from 320 to 480 ˚C at the interval of 40 (±5) ºC. X-ray results were shown that the films are polycrystalline with tetragonal structure and oriented preferentially along (101), (200) and (210) directions. It was observed that the preferential orientations of crystal growth are not dependent on substrate temperature, but the intensity of preferential orientation was increased with increasing substrate temperature until 400 ºC. After this substrate temperature, they decreased. So, substrate temperature impact structure of these thin films. It was known from SEM analysis, the thin films have rough and homogenous and the surface of the films was affected by the substrate temperature i.e. grain size are increasing with increasing substrate temperature until 400 ºC. Also, SEM and AFM studies revealed the surface of AFTO thin films to be made of nanocrystalline particles. The average transmittance of the films in the visible range is 70-85%. Eg values of the films were investigated using the absorption spectra and found to be in the range 3,20-3,93 eV. The electrical resistivity decreases with increasing substrate temperature, then the electrical resistivity increases. PL spectra were found as a function of substrate temperature. With increasing substrate temperature, emission spectra shift a little bit to a UV region. Finally, tin oxide thin films were successfully prepared by this method and a spectroscopic characterization of the obtained films was performed. It was found that the films have very good physical properties. It was concluded that substrate temperature impacts thin film structure.

Keywords: thin films, spray pyrolysis, SnO2, doubly doped

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Authors: Hassan Y. Kikhia, Jin P. Zhang, Khaldoon G. Albiatr

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The Enron and Arthur Andersen scandal has raised concerns internationally about auditor independence and audit quality. Furthermore, the debate continues about the relationship between audit fees, auditor tenure and audit quality in spite of extensive empirical evidence examining audit failures and earnings management. Therefore, the purpose of current research is to determine the effect of audit fee and audit tenure both partially and simultaneously on the audit quality. Using a sample of Chinese firms, an environment where we believe it provides us with an opportunity to test whether the development of market and legal institutions affects the impact of audit fees and auditor tenure on audit quality. We employ the standard deviation of residuals from regressions relating current accruals to cash flows as proxy for audit quality. The paper documents statistically significant negative association between audit fees and audit quality. These findings are consistent with economic bonding being a determinant of auditor behavior rather than auditor reputational concerns. Further, the current paper shows a positive association between auditor tenure and audit quality in the earlier years of audit tenure. These results support the proposition that when the Learning Effect dominates the Bonding Effect in the earlier years of tenure, then audit quality is likely to be higher. Taken audit fees and audit tenure together, the results suggest that there is positive association between audit fees and audit quality in the earlier years of auditor tenure. Interestingly, the findings of our study have important implications for auditors, policymakers, multinational firms, and users of financial reports. As the rapid growth of China's economy gains global recognition, the Chinese stock market is capturing the attention of international investors. To a lesser extent, our paper also differs from the prior studies in methodology and findings in the investigation of audit quality.

Keywords: audit quality, accruals quality, audit fees, auditor tenure

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Authors: Alexander Mikkelsen, Khobaib Khobaib, Zbigniew Rozynek

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Drops covered by particles have found important uses in various fields, ranging from stabilization of emulsions to production of new advanced materials. Particles at drop interfaces can be interlocked to form solid capsules with properties tailored for a myriad of applications. Despite the huge potential of particle-laden drops and capsules, the knowledge of their deformation and stability are limited. In this regard, we contribute with experimental studies on the deformation and manipulation of silicone oil drops covered with micrometer-sized particles subjected to electric fields. A mixture of silicone oil and particles were immersed in castor oil using a mechanical pipette, forming millimeter sized drops. The particles moved and adsorbed at the drop interfaces by sedimentation, and were structured at the interface by electric field-induced electrohydrodynamic flows. When applying a direct current electric field, free charges accumulated at the drop interfaces, yielding electric stress that deformed the drops. In our experiments, we investigated how particle properties affected drop deformation, break-up, and particle structuring. We found that by increasing the size of weakly-conductive clay particles, the drop shape can go from compressed to stretched out in the direction of the electric field. Increasing the particle size and electrical properties were also found to weaken electrohydrodynamic flows, induce break-up of drops at weaker electric field strengths and structure particles in chains. These particle parameters determine the dipolar force between the interfacial particles, which can yield particle chaining. We conclude that the balance between particle chaining and electrohydrodynamic flows governs the observed drop mechanics.

Keywords: drop deformation, electric field induced stress, electrohydrodynamic flows, particle structuring at drop interfaces

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Authors: Abdalrahman D. Alsulaili, Sheikha Y. Aljeraiwi, Athba N. Almanaie, Raghad Y. Alhajeri, Mariam Z. Almijren

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The water accompanying oil in the oil production process is increasing and due to its increasing rates a problem with handling it occurred. Current solutions like discharging into the environment, dumping water in evaporation pits, usage in the industry and reinjection in oil reservoirs to enhance oil production are used worldwide. The water injection method has been introduced to the oil industry with a process that either immediately injects water to the reservoir or goes to the filtration process before injection all depending on the porosity of the soil. Reinjection of unfiltered effluent water with high Total Suspended Solid (TSS) and Oil in Water (O/W) into soils with low porosity cause a blockage of pores, whereas soils with high porosity do not need high water quality. Our study mainly talks about the filtration and adsorption of the water using organic media as the adsorbent. An adsorbent is a substance that has the ability to physically hold another substance in its surface. Studies were done on nutshell and date pits with different surface areas and flow rates by using a 10inch filter connected with three tanks to perform as one system for the filtration process. Our approach in the filtration process using different types of medias went as follow: starting first with crushed nutshell, second with ground nutshell, and third using carbonized date pits with medium flow rate then high flow rate to compare different results. The result came out nearly as expected from our study where both O/W and TSS were reduced from our oily water sample by using this organic material. The effect of specific area was noticed when using nutshell as the filter media, where the crushed nutshell gave us better results than ground nutshell. The effect of flow rate was noticed when using carbonized date pits as the filter media whereas the treated water became more acceptable when the flow rate was on the medium level.

Keywords: date pits, nutshell, oil water, TSS

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Authors: Nasrin Badrkhani

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Teaching is an interaction between the teacher, student, and the concept being taught, especially within the classroom setting. As society increasingly values thoughtful and creative individuals, there is a growing need to adopt modern, active teaching methods. These methods should engage students in activities that foster problem-solving, creativity, cooperation, and scientific thinking skills. Modern teaching methods emphasize student involvement, gradual and continuous learning (process-centered approaches), and holistic evaluation of students' abilities and talents. A shift from teacher-centered to student-centered teaching is crucial. Among these modern methods are group work, role-playing, group discussions, and activities that engage students in evaluating societal values. This research employs a survey and a 38-question Likert scale questionnaire to explore teachers' perspectives on the impact of modern teaching methods on the quality of education. The study also examines the relationship between these perspectives and variables such as gender, major, and teaching experience. The statistical population consists of high school teachers in Shiraz, Iran, with sampling done using the Morgan table. Discriminant analysis was used for the initial analysis of the questions, and Cronbach's Alpha test was employed for the final examination. SPSS Software was used for statistical analysis, including T-tests and one-way ANOVA. The results indicate that teachers in this city generally have positive attitudes towards the use of modern teaching methods, except when it comes to engaging in judgments concerning societal values. There is no significant difference in viewpoints based on gender or educational background. The findings are consistent with similar studies conducted both within Iran and internationally.

Keywords: learning, modern methods, student, teacher, teaching

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Authors: Adeola Ibukunoluwa Samuel, Afsoon Kazerouni

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Industrial mineral kaolin has many favourable properties such as colour, shape, softness, non-abrasiveness, natural whiteness, as well as chemical stability. It occurs extensively in North of Bedford road Grahamstown, South Africa. The relationship between both the physical and chemical properties as lead to its application in the production of certain industrial products which are used by the public; this includes the prospect of production of paper, ceramics, rubber, paint, and plastics. Despite its interesting economic potentials, kaolinite clay mineral remains undermined, and this is threatening its sustainability in the mineral industry. This research study focuses on a detailed evaluation of the kaolinite mineral and possible ways to increase its lifespan in the industry. The methods employed for this study includes petrographic microscopy analysis, X-ray powder diffraction analysis (XRD), and proper field reconnaissance survey. Results emanating from this research include updated geological information on Grahamstown. Also, mineral transformation phases such as quartz, kaolinite, calcite and muscovite were identified in the clay samples. Petrographic analysis of the samples showed that the study area has been subjected to intense tectonic deformation and cement replacement. Also, different dissolution patterns were identified on the Grahamstown kaolinitic clay deposits. Hence incorporating analytical studies and data interpretations, possible ways such as the establishment of processing refinery near mining plants, which will, in turn, provide employment for the locals and land reclamation is suggested. In addition, possible future sustainable industrial applications of the clay minerals seem to be possible if additives, cellulosic wastes are used to alter the clay mineral.

Keywords: kaolinite, industrial use, sustainability, Grahamstown, clay minerals

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Authors: Arya Farjand

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The Nihewan Basin is a critical region in order to understand the Plio-Pleistocene paleoenvironment and its fauna in Northern China. The rich fossiliferous, fluvial-lacustrine sediments around the Nihewan Village hosted the specimens known as the Classic Nihewan Fauna. The primary excavations in the early 1920-30s produced more than 2000 specimens housed in Tianjin and Paris Museum. Nevertheless, the exact locality of excavations, fossil beds, and the reliable ages remained ambiguous until recent paleomagnetic studies and extensive work in conjunction sites. In this study, for the first time, we successfully relocated some of the original excavation sites. We reexamined more than 1500 specimens held in Tianjin Museum and cited their locality numbers and properties. During the field-season of 2017-2019, we visited the Xiashagou Valley. By reading the descriptions of the original site, utilization of satellite pictures, and comparing them with the current geomorphology of the area, we ensured the exact location of 26 of these sites and 17 fossil layers. Furthermore, by applying the latest technologies, such as GPS, Compass, digital barometers, laser measurer, and Abney level, we ensured the accuracy of the measurement. We surveyed 133-meter thickness of the deposits. Ultimately by applying the available Paleomagnetic data for this section, we estimated the ages of different horizons. The combination of our new data and previously published researches present a unique age control for the Classic Nihewan Fauna. These findings prove the hypothesis in which the Classic Nihewan Fauna belongs to different horizons, ranging from before Reunion up to after Olduvai earth geomagnetic field excursion (2.2-1.7 Mya).

Keywords: classic Nihewan basin fauna, Olduvai excursion, Pleistocene, stratigraphy

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Authors: Yamunah Devi Apalasamy, Sanjay Rampal, Tin Tin Su, Foong Ming Moy, Hazreen Abdul Majid, Awang Bulgiba, Zahurin Mohamed

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Obesity is a growing global health issue. Obesity results from a combination of environmental and genetics factors. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a gene encodes the BDNF protein and the BDNF gene have been linked to regulation of body weight and appetite. Genome-wide association studies have identified the BDNF variants to be related to obesity among Caucasians, East Asians, and Filipinos. However, the role of BDNF in other ethnic groups remains inconclusive. This case control study aims to investigate the associations of BDNF gene polymorphisms with obesity and metabolic parameters in Malaysian Malays. BDNF rs4074134, BDNF rs10501087 and BDNF rs6265 were genotyped using Sequenom MassARRAY. Anthropometric, body fat, fasting lipids and glucose levels were measured. A total of 663 subjects (194 obese and 469 non-obese) were included in this study. There were no significant associations association between BDNF SNPs and obesity. The allelic and genotype frequencies of the BDNF SNPs were similar in the obese and non-obese groups. After adjustment for age and sex, the BDNF variants were not associated with obesity, body fat, fasting lipids and glucose levels. Haplotypes at the BDNF gene region, were not significantly associated with obesity. The BDNF rs4074134 was in strong LD with BDNF rs10501087 (D'=0.98) and BDNF rs6265 (D'=0.87). The BDNF rs10501087 was also in strong LD with BDNF rs6265 (D'=0.91). Our findings suggest that the BDNF variants and the haplotypes of BDNF gene were not associated with obesity and metabolic traits in this study population. Further research is needed to explore other BDNF variants with a larger sample size with gene-environment interactions in multi ethnic Malaysian population.

Keywords: genomics of obesity, SNP, BMI, haplotypes

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Authors: Nico Rosamilia

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The study evaluates the importance of non-financial disclosure practices for regulators, investors, businesses, and markets. It aims to create a sector-specific set of indicators for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performances alternative to the ratings of the agencies. The existing literature extensively studies the implementation of ESG rating systems. Conversely, this study has a twofold outcome. Firstly, it should generalize incentive systems and governance policies for ESG and sustainable principles. Therefore, it should contribute to the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation. Secondly, it concerns the market and the investors by highlighting successful sustainable investing. Indeed, the study contemplates the effect of ESG adoption practices on corporate value. The research explores the asset pricing angle in order to shed light on the fragmented argument on the finance of ESG. Investors may be misguided about the positive or negative effects of ESG on performances. The paper proposes a different method to evaluate ESG performances. By comparing the results of a traditional econometric approach (Lasso) with a machine learning algorithm (Random Forest), the study establishes a set of indicators for ESG performance. Therefore, the research also empirically contributes to the theoretical strands of literature regarding model selection and variable importance in a finance framework. The algorithms will spit out sector-specific indicators. This set of indicators defines an alternative to the compounded scores of ESG rating agencies and avoids the possible offsetting effect of scores. With this approach, the paper defines a sector-specific set of indicators to standardize ESG disclosure. Additionally, it tries to shed light on the absence of a clear understanding of the direction of the ESG effect on corporate value (the problem of endogeneity).

Keywords: ESG ratings, non-financial information, value of firms, sustainable finance

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Authors: Marianna Iaroslavska

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ChatGPT is becoming commonplace. However, only a few people think about the legal risks of using Large Language Model in their daily work. The main dilemmas concern the following areas: who owns the copyright to what somebody creates through ChatGPT; what can OpenAI do with the prompt you enter; can you accidentally infringe on another creator's rights through ChatGPT; what about the protection of the data somebody enters into the chat. This paper will present these and other legal risks of using large language models at work using dogmatic methods and case studies. The paper will present a legal analysis of AI risks against the background of European Union law and Polish law. This analysis will answer questions about how to protect data, how to make sure you do not violate copyright, and what is at stake with the AI Act, which recently came into force in the EU. If your work is related to the EU area, and you use AI in your work, this paper will be a real goldmine for you. The copyright law in force in Poland does not protect your rights to a work that is created with the help of AI. So if you start selling such a work, you may face two main problems. First, someone may steal your work, and you will not be entitled to any protection because work created with AI does not have any legal protection. Second, the AI may have created the work by infringing on another person's copyright, so they will be able to claim damages from you. In addition, the EU's current AI Act imposes a number of additional obligations related to the use of large language models. The AI Act divides artificial intelligence into four risk levels and imposes different requirements depending on the level of risk. The EU regulation is aimed primarily at those developing and marketing artificial intelligence systems in the EU market. In addition to the above obstacles, personal data protection comes into play, which is very strictly regulated in the EU. If you violate personal data by entering information into ChatGPT, you will be liable for violations. When using AI within the EU or in cooperation with entities located in the EU, you have to take into account a lot of risks. This paper will highlight such risks and explain how they can be avoided.

Keywords: EU, AI act, copyright, polish law, LLM

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Authors: Omolara Lade, David Oloke

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The approach to water management worldwide is currently in transition, with a shift from centralised infrastructures to greater consideration of decentralised technologies, such as rainwater harvesting (RWH). However, in Nigeria, implementation of sustainable water management, such as RWH systems, is inefficient and social, environmental and technical barriers, concerns and knowledge gaps exist, which currently restrict its widespread utilisation. This inefficiency contributes to water scarcity, water-borne diseases, and loss of lives and property due to flooding. Meanwhile, several RWH technologies have been developed to improve SWM through both demand and storm-water management. Such technologies involve the use of reinforced concrete cement (RCC) storage tanks, surface water reservoirs and ground-water recharge pits as storage systems. A framework was developed to assess the significance and extent of water management problems, match the problems with existing RWH-based solutions and develop a robust ready-to-use decision support tool that can quantify the costs and benefits of implementing several RWH-based storage systems. The methodology adopted was the mixed method approach, involving a detailed literature review, followed by a questionnaire survey of household respondents, Nigerian Architects and Civil Engineers and focus group discussion with stakeholders. 18 selection attributes have been defined and three alternatives have been identified in this research. The questionnaires were analysed using SPSS, excel and selected statistical methods to derive weightings of the attributes for the tool. Following this, three case studies were modelled using RainCycle software. From the results, the MDA model chose RCC tank as the most appropriate storage system for RWH.

Keywords: rainwater harvesting, modelling, hydraulic assessment, whole life cost, decision support system

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Authors: Amina Ottozbeer, Nazanin Derakhshan

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Emotion regulation, a transdiagnostic process, is often impaired in individuals with high trait anxiety due to compromised executive functioning and attentional control. Recent research underscores the importance of studying individual differences and contextual factors in understanding the adaptability of emotion regulation processes, particularly in those with high trait anxiety. Prior studies have emphasized the role of self-efficacy in promoting positive cognitive flexibility outcomes and mitigating executive function impairments in highly anxious individuals. Accordingly, the objective of this study was to examine the moderating influence of attentional control, cognitive flexibility, and self-efficacy on the relationship between trait anxiety and emotion regulation. Using a correlational design, an online study was conducted with a sample of 82 participants (mean age: 22 years). Self-report questionnaires measured individual difference variables. The Classic Stroop Task assessed attentional control as an objective measure of cognitive flexibility . The findings revealed three significant interactions. Firstly, high cognitive flexibility and self-efficacy were linked to reduced expressive suppression in individuals with low trait anxiety. Secondly, elevations in cognitive flexibility and self-efficacy were associated with increased suppression in those with high trait anxiety. Thirdly, high trait anxiety was associated with reduced attentional control. The results suggest that typically adaptive processes can yield different outcomes in highly anxious populations, highlighting the need to explore additional variables that could alter the impact of cognitive flexibility and self-efficacy on emotion regulation in individuals with high anxiety. These findings have significant clinical implications, emphasizing the need to consider individual differences in emotion regulation and trait anxiety to inform more effective psychological treatments.

Keywords: attentional control, trait anxiety, emotional dysregulation, transdiagnostic, individual differences

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Authors: C. O’Brien, Chloe Reiss

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While South Africa has been the chosen host country for over 1,2 million asylum seekers/refugees it has at the same time, been struggling to address the needs of its own people who are still trapped in poverty with little prospects of employment. This limited exploratory, qualitative study was undertaken in Cape Town with a purposive sample of 21 key personnel from various NPOs providing a service to asylum seekers/refugees. Individual in-depth face to face interviews were carried out and the main findings were: Some of the officials at the Department of Home Affairs, health personnel, landlords, school principals, employers, bank officials and police officers were prejudicial in their practices towards asylum seekers/ refugees. The major constraints experienced by NPOs in this study were linked to a lack of funding and minimal government support, strained relationship with the Department of Home Affairs and difficulties in accessing refugees. And finally, the strategies adopted by these NPOs included networking with other service providers, engaging in advocacy, raising community awareness and liaising with government. Thus, more focused intervention strategies are needed to build social cohesion, address prejudices which fuels xenophobic attacks and raise awareness/educate various sectors about refugee rights. Given this burgeoning global problem, social work education and training should include curriculum content on migrant issues. Furthermore, larger studies using mixed methodology approaches would yield more nuanced data and provide for more strategic interventions.

Keywords: refugees and asylum seekers, constraints of service delivery, non-profit organisations, refugee challenges

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Authors: M. E. Joret, F. Germeys, P. Van de Craen

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Background: Previous studies have shown that ‘full’ bilingualism seems to enhance the executive functions in children, young adults and elderly people. Executive functions refer to a complex cognitive system responsible for self-controlled and planned behavior and seem to predict academic achievement. The present study aimed at investigating whether similar effects could be found in children learning their second language at school in immersion education programs. Methods: In this study, 44 children involved in immersion education for 4 to 5 years were compared to 48 children in traditional schools. All children were between 9 and 11 years old. To assess executive functions, the Simon task was used, a neuropsychological measure assessing executive functions with reaction times and accuracy on congruent and incongruent trials. To control for background measures, all children underwent the Raven’s coloured progressive matrices, to measure non-verbal intelligence and the Echelle de Vocabulaire en Images Peabody (EVIP), assessing verbal intelligence. In addition, a questionnaire was given to the parents to control for other confounding variables, such as socio-economic status (SES), home language, developmental disorders, etc. Results: There were no differences between groups concerning non-verbal intelligence and verbal intelligence. Furthermore, the immersion learners showed overall faster reaction times on both congruent and incongruent trials compared to the traditional learners, but only after 5 years of training, not before. Conclusion: These results show that the cognitive benefits found in ‘full’ bilinguals also appear in children involved in immersion education, but only after a sufficient exposure to the second language. Our results suggest that the amount of second language training needs to be sufficient before these cognitive effects may emerge.

Keywords: bilingualism, executive functions, immersion education, Simon task

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Authors: Ayanda P. Deliwe, Storm B. Watson

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The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the established practices of higher education institutions (HEIs). Most higher education institutions worldwide had to shift from traditional face-to-face to online learning. The online environment and new online tools are disrupting the way in which higher education is presented. Furthermore, the structures of higher education institutions have been impacted by rapid advancements in information and communication technologies. Emerging technologies should not be viewed in a negative light because, as opposed to the traditional curriculum that worked to create productive and efficient researchers, emerging technologies encourage creativity and innovation. Therefore, using technology together with traditional means will enhance teaching and learning. Emerging technologies in higher education not only change the experience of students, lecturers, and the content, but it is also influencing the attraction and retention of students. Higher education institutions are under immense pressure because not only are they competing locally and nationally, but emerging technologies also expand the competition internationally. Emerging technologies have eliminated border barriers, allowing students to study in the country of their choice regardless of where they are in the world. Higher education institutions are becoming indifferent as technology is finding its way into the lecture room day by day. Academics need to utilise technology at their disposal if they want to get through to their students. Academics are now competing for students' attention with social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and others. This is posing a significant challenge to higher education institutions. It is, therefore, critical to pay attention to emerging technologies in order to see how they can be incorporated into the classroom in order to improve educational quality while remaining relevant in the work industry. This study aims to understand how emerging technologies have been utilised at Nelson Mandela University in presenting teaching and learning activities since April 2020. The primary objective of this study is to analyse how academics are incorporating emerging technologies in their teaching and learning activities. This primary objective was achieved by conducting a literature review on clarifying and conceptualising the emerging technologies being utilised by higher education institutions, reviewing and analysing the use of emerging technologies, and will further be investigated through an empirical analysis of the use of emerging technologies at Nelson Mandela University. Findings from the literature review revealed that emerging technology is impacting several key areas in higher education institutions, such as the attraction and retention of students, enhancement of teaching and learning, increase in global competition, elimination of border barriers, and highlighting the digital divide. The literature review further identified that learning management systems, open educational resources, learning analytics, and artificial intelligence are the most prevalent emerging technologies being used in higher education institutions. The identified emerging technologies will be further analysed through an empirical analysis to identify how they are being utilised at Nelson Mandela University.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, learning analytics, learner management systems, open educational resources

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Authors: F. A. Saracoglu Varol, H. Agaccıoglu

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Experimental studies to investigate the depth of the scour conducted at a side-weir intersection located at the 1800 curved flume which located Hydraulic Laboratory of Yıldız Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey. Side weirs were located at the middle of the straight part of the main channel. Three different lengths (25, 40 and 50 cm) and three different weir crest height (7, 10 and 12 cm) of the side weir placed on the side weir station. There is no scour when the material is only kaolin. Therefore, the cohesive bed was prepared by properly mixing clay material (kaolin) with 31% sand in all experiments. Following 24h consolidation time, in order to observe the effect of flow intensity on the scour depth, experiments were carried out for five different upstream Froude numbers in the range of 0.33-0.81. As a result of this study the relation between scour depth and upstream flow intensity as a function of time have been established. The longitudinal velocities decreased along the side weir; towards the downstream due to overflow over the side-weirs. At the beginning, the scour depth increases rapidly with time and then asymptotically approached constant values in all experiments for all side weir dimensions as in non-cohesive sediment. Thus, the scour depth reached equilibrium conditions. Time to equilibrium depends on the approach flow intensity and the dimensions of side weirs. For different heights of the weir crest, dimensionless scour depths increased with increasing upstream Froude number. Equilibrium scour depths which formed 7 cm side-weir crest height were obtained higher than that of the 12 cm side-weir crest height. This means when side-weir crest height increased equilibrium scour depths decreased. Although the upstream side of the scour hole is almost vertical, the downstream side of the hole is inclined.

Keywords: clay-sand mixed sediments, scour, side weir, hydraulic structures

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Authors: Yoganathan Karthik, Guhanathan Poravi

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Colorizing near-infrared (NIR) images poses unique challenges due to the absence of color information and the nuances in light absorption. In this paper, we present an approach to NIR image colorization utilizing a synthetic dataset generated from visible light images. Our method addresses two major challenges encountered in NIR image colorization: accurately colorizing objects with color variations and avoiding over/under saturation in dimly lit scenes. To tackle these challenges, we propose a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN)-based framework that learns to map NIR images to their corresponding colorized versions. The synthetic dataset ensures diverse color representations, enabling the model to effectively handle objects with varying hues and shades. Furthermore, the GAN architecture facilitates the generation of realistic colorizations while preserving the integrity of dimly lit scenes, thus mitigating issues related to over/under saturation. Experimental results on benchmark NIR image datasets demonstrate the efficacy of our approach in producing high-quality colorizations with improved color accuracy and naturalness. Quantitative evaluations and comparative studies validate the superiority of our method over existing techniques, showcasing its robustness and generalization capability across diverse NIR image scenarios. Our research not only contributes to advancing NIR image colorization but also underscores the importance of synthetic datasets and GANs in addressing domain-specific challenges in image processing tasks. The proposed framework holds promise for various applications in remote sensing, medical imaging, and surveillance where accurate color representation of NIR imagery is crucial for analysis and interpretation.

Keywords: computer vision, near-infrared images, automatic image colorization, generative adversarial networks, synthetic data

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Authors: Carmela Perta

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Among the studies flourished in the field of historical sociolinguistics, mainly in the strand devoted to English history, during its Medieval and early modern phases, multilingual texts had been analysed using theories and models coming from contact linguistics, thus applying synchronic models and approaches to the past. This is true also in the case of contact phenomena which would transcend the writing level involving the language systems implicated in contact processes to the point of perceiving a new variety. This is the case for medieval administrative-commercial texts in which, according to some Scholars, the degree of fusion of Anglo-Norman, Latin and middle English is so high a mixed code emerges, and there are recurrent patterns of mixed forms. Interesting is a collection of multilingual business writings by John Balmayn, an Englishman overseeing a large shipment in Tuscany, namely the Cantelowe accounts. These documents display various analogies with multilingual texts written in England in the same period; in fact, the writer seems to make use of the above-mentioned patterns, with Middle English, Latin, Anglo-Norman, and the newly added Italian. Applying an atomistic yet dynamic approach to the study of contact phenomena, we will investigate these documents, trying to explore the nature of the switching forms they contain from an intra-writer variation perspective. After analysing the accounts and the type of multilingualism in them, we will take stock of the assumed mixed code nature, comparing the characteristics found in this genre with modern assumptions. The aim is to evaluate the possibility to consider the switching forms as core elements of a mixed code, used as professional variety among merchant communities, or whether such texts should be analysed from a switching perspective.

Keywords: historical sociolinguistics, historical code switching, letters, medieval england

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Authors: Amir Reza Heydari, Yaser Jenab

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Coronary artery disease, a common cardiovascular disease, is attributed to the accumulation of cholesterol-based plaques in the coronary arteries, leading to atherosclerosis. This disease is associated with risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, diabetes, and elevated cholesterol levels, contributing to severe clinical consequences, including acute coronary syndromes and myocardial infarction. Treatment approaches such as from lifestyle interventions to surgical procedures like percutaneous coronary intervention and coronary artery bypass surgery. These interventions often employ stents, including bare-metal stents (BMS), drug-eluting stents (DES), and bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS), each with its advantages and limitations. Computational tools have emerged as critical in optimizing stent designs and assessing their performance. The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the computational methods of studies based on the finite element (FE) method in the field of coronary stenting and discuss the potential for development and clinical application of stent devices. Additionally, the importance of assessing the ability of computational models is emphasized to represent real-world phenomena, supported by recent guidelines from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Validation processes proposed include comparing model performance with in vivo, ex-vivo, or in vitro data, alongside uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis. These methods can enhance the credibility and reliability of in silico simulations, ultimately aiding in the assessment of coronary stent designs in various clinical contexts.

Keywords: atherosclerosis, materials, restenosis, review, validation

Procedia PDF Downloads 90