Search results for: positive perception of change

Authors: Veysel Çelik, Aynur Aker, Ebru Güç

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Developments in information and communication technologies have increased both the speed of producing information and the speed of accessing new information. Accordingly, the daily lives of individuals have started to change. New concepts such as e-mail, e-government, e-school, e-signature have emerged. For this reason, prospective teachers who will be future teachers or school administrators are expected to have a high awareness of digital data security. The aim of this study is to reveal the effect of the digital storytelling technique on the data security awareness of pre-service teachers of computer and instructional technology education departments. For this purpose, participants were selected based on the principle of volunteering among third-grade students studying at the Computer and Instructional Technologies Department of the Faculty of Education at Siirt University. In the research, the pretest/posttest half experimental research model, one of the experimental research models, was used. In this framework, a 6-week lesson plan on digital data security awareness was prepared in accordance with the digital narration technique. Students in the experimental group formed groups of 3-6 people among themselves. The groups were asked to prepare short videos or animations for digital data security awareness. The completed videos were watched and evaluated together with prospective teachers during the evaluation process, which lasted approximately 2 hours. In the research, both quantitative and qualitative data collection tools were used by using the digital data security awareness scale and the semi-structured interview form consisting of open-ended questions developed by the researchers. According to the data obtained, it was seen that the digital storytelling technique was effective in creating data security awareness and creating permanent behavior changes for computer and instructional technology students.

Keywords: digital storytelling, self-regulation, digital data security, teacher candidates, self-efficacy

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Authors: Louise Elizabeth Bolton

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Statement of the problem: There are an estimated 328 million cases of COPD worldwide. It is likely to become the third biggest cause of death by 2030. The impact of living with palliative care needs arising from COPD disrupts an individual’s existential situation. Understandings of individuals' existential situations within COPD are limited within the research literature and are rarely addressed within clinical practice, yet existential suffering has been linked to poor health-related quality of life for those living with other chronic conditions. The purpose of this integrative review is to provide a synthesis of existing evidence on existential suffering for those living with palliative care needs arising from COPD. Methods: This is an integrative review undertaken in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Nine electronic databases were searched from April 2019 to January 2021. Thirty-five empirical research papers of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, alongside systematic literature reviews, were included. Data analysis was undertaken using an integrative thematic analysis approach. Findings: Identified themes of existential suffering when living with palliative care needs arising from COPD are as follows: Liminality, Lamented Life, Loss of Personal Liberty, Life Meaning and Existential isolation. The absence of life meaning and purpose was of most importance to patients. Conclusion and Significance: This integrative review provides a synthesis of international evidence upon the presence of existential suffering. It is present and of significant impact within the daily lives of those living with palliative care needs arising from COPD. The absence of life meaning has the most significant impact, requiring further exploration of both its physical and psychological impact. Rediscovery of life meaning diminishes feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness in daily life and facilitates feelings of inner peace. For those with COPD living with such a relentless symptom burden, a positive existential situation is desirable.

Keywords: palliative care, COPD, existential suffering, end of life care

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Authors: Jin Young Kim, Kwon Kyoo Kang

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The SGR1 (STAYGREEN1) protein is a critical regulator of plant leaves in chlorophyll degradation and senescence. The functions and mechanisms of tomato SGR1 action are poorly understood and worthy of further investigation. To investigate the function of the SGR1 gene, we generated a SGR1-knockout (KO) null line via clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9-mediated gene editing and conducted RNA sequencing and gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) analysis to identify the differentially expressed genes. The SlSGR1 (Solanum lycopersicum SGR1) knockout null line clearly showed a turbid brown color with significantly higher chlorophyll and carotenoid content compared to wild-type (WT) fruit. Differential gene expression analysis revealed 728 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between WT and sgr1 #1-6 line, including 263 and 465 downregulated and upregulated genes, respectively, for which fold change was >2, and the adjusted p-value was <0.05. Most of the DEGs were related to photosynthesis and chloroplast function. In addition, the pigment, carotenoid changes in sgr1 #1-6 line was accumulated of key primary metabolites such as sucrose and its derivatives (fructose, galactinol, raffinose), glycolytic intermediates (glucose, G6P, Fru6P) and tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) intermediates (malate and fumarate). Taken together, the transcriptome and metabolite profiles of SGR1-KO lines presented here provide evidence for the mechanisms underlying the effects of SGR1 and molecular pathways involved in chlorophyll degradation and carotenoid biosynthesis.

Keywords: tomato, CRISPR/Cas9, null line, RNA-sequencing, metabolite profiling

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Authors: Wijayanada Rupasinghe, A. H. Dinithi Jayasekara

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In a modern democracy, new media can be used by governments to involve citizens in decision-making, and by civil society to engage people in specific issues. However new media can also be used to broaden political participation by helping citizens to communicate with their representatives and with each other. Arguably this political communication is most important during election campaigns when political parties and candidates seek to mobilize citizens and persuade them to vote for a given party or candidate. The new media must be used by Parliaments, Parliamentarians, governments and political parties as they are highly effective tools to involve and inform citizens in public policymaking and in the formation of governments. But all these groups must develop strategies to deal with a wide array of both positive and negative effects of these rapidly growing media.New media has begun to take precedent over other communication outlets in part because of its heightened accessibility and usability. Using personal website can empower the public in a way that is far faster, cheaper and more pervasive than other forms of communication. They encourage pluralism, reach young people more than other media and encourage greater participation, accountability and transparency. This research discusses the impact politicians’ personal websites has over their overall electability and likability and explores the integration of website is an essential campaign tactic on both the local and national level. This research examined the impact of having personal website have over the way constituents view politicians. This research examined how politicians can use their website in the most effective fashion and incorporate these new media outlets as essential campaign tools and tactics. A mixed-method approach using content analysis. Content analysis selected thirty websites in sri Lankan politicians. Research revealed that politician’s new media usage significantly influenced and enriched the experience an individual has with the public figure.

Keywords: election campaign ministers, new media, parliament, politicians websites

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Authors: Nantale Prossy Nabatte, Josephat Nyagero, Elizabeth Kemigisha

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Background: Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is a prevalent sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the world. It is important to screen for HPV so that women found positive receive early treatment to prevent the development of cervical cancer. The broad aim of the research was to explore the types, occurrence, and associated correlates of HPV infection by genotyping Human papillomavirus among a cohort of WLHIV attending an antiretroviral therapy clinic in Mukono, Uganda. Methods: A cross-sectional study was used to collect data for socio-demographic, sexual practices, and medical history factors associated with HPV genotypes using a pretested interview guide subjected to 342 WLHIV. The respondents’ results for HPV genotypes were obtained retrospectively from respective laboratory records. Data was entered in Epidata v4.6 and analysed using STATA V14. The prevalence of hr-HPV was estimated as a proportion of the entire sample size. Analysis for the correlates of hr-HPV infection was done using a modified Poisson regression model. Results: Slightly more than a half of respondents were aged below 35 years (56.7%), married (52.6%), and with a primary level of education (51.2%). The prevalence of hr-HPV was 39.8% at a 95% confidence interval (CI: 34.40- 44.78). The hr-HPV was higher among those between 30-34 years of age (n= 41, 30.2%) than those between the age of 45-49 years (n=16, 11.8%). In terms of associated correlates, age 45-49 years (aPR: 1.95, 95% CI: 1.41- 2.69), being married (aPR: 1.30, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.69), use of condoms (aPR: 1.31, 95% CI: 1.00 -1.71) and age of sexual debut (aPR: 1.42, 95% CI: 1.08-1.87) were significantly associated with Human papillomavirus genotypes. Conclusion and Recommendation: The prevalence of hr-HPV infection was high, indicative of a risk to the health of WLHIV in Mukono, Uganda, and worldwide at large. The correlates are age 45-49 years, being married, use of condoms, and age of sexual debut. Based on the results, it is recommended that the implementing teams in such projects put more emphasis on the diagnosis of hr-HPV infection and monitoring the treatment. More research is required to determine the effect of ART therapy on hr-HPV persistence.

Keywords: human papillomavirus genotypes, and their correlates, among women living with HIV, attending antiretroviral clinic

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Authors: Sreto Boljevic

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In the absence of considerable investment in electricity generation, transmission and distribution network (DN) capacity, the demand for electrical energy will quickly strain the capacity of the existing electrical power network. With anticipated growth and proliferation of Electric vehicles (EVs) and Heat pump (HPs) identified the likelihood that the additional load from EV changing and the HPs operation will require capital investment in the DN. While an area-wide implementation of EVs and HPs will contribute to the decarbonization of the energy system, they represent new challenges for the existing low-voltage (LV) network. Distributed energy resources (DER), operating both as part of the DN and in the off-network mode, have been offered as a means to meet growing electricity demand while maintaining and ever-improving DN reliability, resiliency and power quality. DN planning has traditionally been done by forecasting future growth in demand and estimating peak load that the network should meet. However, new problems are arising. These problems are associated with a high degree of proliferation of EVs and HPs as load imposes on DN. In addition to that, the promotion of electricity generation from renewable energy sources (RES). High distributed generation (DG) penetration and a large increase in load proliferation at low-voltage DNs may have numerous impacts on DNs that create issues that include energy losses, voltage control, fault levels, reliability, resiliency and power quality. To mitigate negative impacts and at a same time enhance positive impacts regarding the new operational state of DN, CHP system integration can be seen as best action to postpone/reduce capital investment needed to facilitate promotion and maximize benefits of EVs, HPs and RES integration in low-voltage DN. The aim of this paper is to generate an algorithm by using an analytical approach. Algorithm implementation will provide a way for optimal placement of the CHP system in the DN in order to maximize the integration of RES and increase in proliferation of EVs and HPs.

Keywords: combined heat & power (CHP), distribution networks, EVs, HPs, RES

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Authors: Soumya Pugal

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The traditional lake system of an ancient town is a network of water holding blue spaces, erected further than 2000 years ago by the rulers of ancient cities and maintained for centuries by the original communities. These blue spaces form a micro-watershed wherein an individual tank has its own catchment, tank bed area, and command area. These lakes are connected by a common sluice from the upstream tank, thereby feeding the downstream tank. The lakes used to be of socio-economic significance in those times, but the rapid growth of the city, as well as the change in systems of ownership of the lakes, have turned them into the backyard of urban development. Madurai is one such historic city to be facing the issues of finding a balance to the social, ecological, and profitable requirements of the people with respect to the traditional lake system. To find a solution to problems caused by the neglect of vital ecological systems of a city, the theory of transformative placemaking through water sensitive urban design has been explored. This approach re-invents the relationship between the people and the urban lakes to suit the modern aspirations while respecting the environment. The thesis aims to develop strategies to guide the development along the major urban lake of Vandiyur to equip the lake to meet the growing requirements of the megacity in terms of its recreational requirements and give a renewed connection between people and water. The intent of the design is to understand the ecological and social structures of the lake and find ways to use the lake to produce social cohesion within the community and balance the city's profitable and ecological requirements by using transformative placemaking through water sensitive urban design..

Keywords: urban lakes, urban blue spaces, placemaking, revitalisation of lakes, urban cohesion

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Authors: Dagim Dessalegn Haile

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This study investigated the interaction between the drivers' socio-demographic background information (age, gender, and driving experience) and the risky events score in the i-DREAMS platform. Further, the relationship between the participants' background driving behavior and the i-DREAMS platform behavioral output scores of risky events was also investigated. The i-DREAMS acronym stands for Smart Driver and Road Environment Assessment and Monitoring System. It is a European Union Horizon 2020 funded project consisting of 13 partners, researchers, and industry partners from 8 countries. A total of 25 Belgian car drivers (16 male and nine female) were considered for analysis. Drivers' ages were categorized into ages 18-25, 26-45, 46-65, and 65 and older. Drivers' driving experience was also categorized into four groups: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, and 46-60 years. Drivers are classified into two clusters based on the recorded score for risky events during phase 1 (baseline) using risky events; acceleration, deceleration, speeding, tailgating, overtaking, and lane discipline. Agglomerative hierarchical clustering using SPSS shows Cluster 1 drivers are safer drivers, and Cluster 2 drivers are identified as risky drivers. The analysis result indicated no significant relationship between age groups, gender, and experience groups except for risky events like acceleration, tailgating, and overtaking in a few phases. This is mainly because the fewer participants create less variability of socio-demographic background groups. Repeated measure ANOVA shows that cluster 2 drivers improved more than cluster 1 drivers for tailgating, lane discipline, and speeding events. A positive relationship between background drivers' behavior and i-DREAMS platform behavioral output scores is observed. It implies that car drivers who in the questionnaire data indicate committing more risky driving behavior demonstrate more risky driver behavior in the i-DREAMS observed driving data.

Keywords: i-dreams, car drivers, socio-demographic background, risky events

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Authors: Jean Berger, Mohamed Barkaoui

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Discrete search path planning in time-constrained uncertain environment relying upon imperfect sensors is known to be hard, and current problem-solving techniques proposed so far to compute near real-time efficient path plans are mainly bounded to provide a few move solutions. A new information-theoretic –based open-loop decision model explicitly incorporating false alarm sensor readings, to solve a single agent military logistics search-and-delivery path planning problem with anticipated feedback is presented. The decision model consists in minimizing expected entropy considering anticipated possible observation outcomes over a given time horizon. The model captures uncertainty associated with observation events for all possible scenarios. Entropy represents a measure of uncertainty about the searched target location. Feedback information resulting from possible sensor observations outcomes along the projected path plan is exploited to update anticipated unit target occupancy beliefs. For the first time, a compact belief update formulation is generalized to explicitly include false positive observation events that may occur during plan execution. A novel genetic algorithm is then proposed to efficiently solve search path planning, providing near-optimal solutions for practical realistic problem instances. Given the run-time performance of the algorithm, natural extension to a closed-loop environment to progressively integrate real visit outcomes on a rolling time horizon can be easily envisioned. Computational results show the value of the approach in comparison to alternate heuristics.

Keywords: search path planning, false alarm, search-and-delivery, entropy, genetic algorithm

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Authors: Sharon Cayzer-Haller, Shir Ginosar-Yaari, Ariel Knafo-Noam

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The 21st century emerged as the digital century, and it is marked by a wide range of technological developments and changes, followed by potential changes in human communication skills. This technological revolution has changed human means of communication in many different ways: children and adolescents are spending much of their time in front of screens, participating in all sorts of online activities (even more so since the outbreak of COVID-19). The current study focuses on the role of values in adolescents' online bystanders' behavior. Values are cognitive, abstract representations of desirable goals that motivate behavior, and we hypothesized finding significant associations between specific values and differential online bystanders' feelings and behavior. Data was collected through online questionnaires that measured the participants' values, using Schwartz's short version of the Portrait Values Questionnaire (Schwartz, 2012). Participants’ online behavior was assessed in a questionnaire addressing reactions to situations of cyber shaming and cyberbullying, and specifically positive feelings and pro-social behavior (e.g., more supportive reactions) toward the victims, as opposed to different offensive behavioral reactions (such as laughing at the victim or ignoring the situation). Participants were recruited with a commercial research panel company, and 308 Israeli adolescents' values and online behavior were examined (mean age 15.2). As hypothesized, results show significant associations between self-transcendence values (universalism and benevolence) and conservation values (conformity, tradition, and security). These two groups of values were positively correlated with pro-social bystanders' feelings and behavior. On the opposite side of the values scale, the value of power was negatively associated with the participants' pro-social behavior, and positively associated with offensive behavioral reactions. Further research is needed, but we conclude that values serve as crucial guiding factors in directing adolescents' online feelings and behavior.

Keywords: adolescents, values, cyberbullying, online behavior, power

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Authors: Enny Suswati, Supangat Supangat

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Background. Ready-to-eat food products are becoming increasingly popular because consumers are increasingly busy, competitive, and changing lifestyles. Examples of ready-to-eat foods include crispy fried chicken. Escherichia coli is one of the most important causes of food-borne diseases and the most frequent antibiotic-resistant pathogen globally. This study assessed the prevalence and antibiotic resistance profile of E. coli from ready-to-eat crispy fried chicken in Jember city, Indonesia. Methodology. This cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2020 to April 2021 by collecting 81crispy fried chicken samples from 27 food stalls in campus area using a simple random sampling method. Isolation and determination of E. coli use were performed by conventional culture method. An antibiotic susceptibility test was conducted using Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method on the Mueller–Hinton agar. Result. Out of 81crispy fried chicken samples, 77 (95.06%) were positive for E. coli. High E. coli drug resistance was observed on ampicillin, amoxicillin (100%) followed by cefixime (98.72%), erythromycin (97.59%), sulfamethoxazole (93.59%), azithromicin (83.33%), cefotaxime (78.28%), choramphenicol (75.64%), and cefixime (74.36%). On the other hand, there was the highest susceptibility for ciprofloxacin (64.10%). The multiple antibiotic resistance indexes of E. coli isolates varied from 0.4 to 1. The predominant antimicrobial resistance profiles of E. coli were CfmCroAmlAmpAzmCtxSxtCE (n=17), CfmCroAmlCipAmpAzmCtxSxtCE (n=16), and CfmAmlAmpAzmCtxSxtCE (n=5), respectively. Multidrug resistance was also found in the isolates' 76/77 (98.70%). Conclusion. The resistance pattern CfmCroAmlAmpAzmCtxSxtCE was the most common among the E. coli isolates, with 17 showing it. The multiple antibiotic index (MAR index) ranged from 0.4 to 1. Hygienic measures should be rigorously implemented and monitoring resistance of E. coli is required to reduce the risks related to the emergence of multi-resistant bacteria

Keywords: antibacterial drug, ready to eat, crispy fried chicken, escherichia coli

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Authors: Benedict O. Muyale, Emmanuel S. Murunga

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Cities have always been the loci for nationals as well as growth of cultural fusion and innovation. Over 50%of global population dwells in cities and urban centers. This means that cities are prolific users of natural resources and generators of waste; hence they produce most of the greenhouse gases which are causing global climate change. The root cause of increase in the transport sector carbon curve is mainly the greater numbers of individually owned cars. Development in these cities is geared towards economic progress while environmental sustainability is ignored. Infrastructure projects focus on road expansion, electrification, and more parking spaces. These lead to more carbon emissions, traffic congestion, and air pollution. Recent development plans for Nairobi city are now on road expansion with little priority for electric train solutions. The Vision 2030, Kenya’s development guide, has shed some light on the city with numerous road expansion projects. This chapter seeks to realize the following objectives; (1) to assess the current transport situation of Nairobi; (2) to review green transport solutions being undertaken in the city; (3) to give an overview of alternative green transportation solutions, and (4) to provide a green transportation framework matrix. This preliminary study will utilize primary and secondary data through mainly desktop research and analysis, literature, books, magazines and on-line information. This forms the basis for formulation of approaches for incorporation into the green transportation framework matrix of the main study report.The main goal is the achievement of a practical green transportation system for implementation by the City County of Nairobi to reduce carbon emissions and congestion and promote environmental sustainability.

Keywords: cities, transport, Nairobi, green technologies

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Authors: Ibrahim M. Mehedi, Uzair Ansari, Ubaid M. Al-Saggaf, Abdulrahman H. Bajodah

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This paper presents a methodology for balancing a rotary inverted pendulum system using Robust Generalized Dynamic Inversion (RGDI) under influence of parametric variations and external disturbances. In GDI control, dynamic constraints are formulated in the form of asymptotically stable differential equation which encapsulates the control objectives. The constraint differential equations are based on the deviation function of the angular position and its rates from their reference values. The constraint dynamics are inverted using Moore-Penrose Generalized Inverse (MPGI) to realize the control expression. The GDI singularity problem is addressed by augmenting a dynamic scale factor in the interpretation of MPGI which guarantee asymptotically stable position tracking. An additional term based on Sliding Mode Control is appended within GDI control to make it robust against parametric variations, disturbances and tracking performance deterioration due to generalized inversion scaling. The stability of the closed loop system is ensured by using positive definite Lyapunov energy function that guarantees semi-global practically stable position tracking. Numerical simulations are conducted on the dynamic model of rotary inverted pendulum system to analyze the efficiency of proposed RGDI control law. The comparative study is also presented, in which the performance of RGDI control is compared with Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) and is verified through experiments. Numerical simulations and real-time experiments demonstrate better tracking performance abilities and robustness features of RGDI control in the presence of parametric uncertainties and disturbances.

Keywords: generalized dynamic inversion, lyapunov stability, rotary inverted pendulum system, sliding mode control

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Authors: Kayode Fatokun, Nozipho N. Motsa

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Field experiments were carried out during the summer/autumn (first trial) and winter/spring (second trial) seasons of 2019 and 2021 inDlangubo, Ngwelezane, and Mtubatubaareas of KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa to study the drought amelioration effects and impact of 2 locally available organic wastes [filter cake (FC) and macadamia husk compost (MHC)] on the productivity, and physiological responses of 4 orange-fleshed sweet potato cultivars (Buregard cv., Impilo, W-119 and 199062.1). The effects of FC and MHC were compared with that of inorganic fertilizer (IF) [2:3:2 (30)], FC+IF, MHC+IF, and control. The soil amendments were applied in the first trials only. Climatic data such as humidity, temperature, and rainfall were taken via remote sensing. The results of the first trial indicated that filter cake and IF significantly performed better than MHC. While the strength of filter cake may be attributable to its rich array of mineral nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese, iron, and phosphorus. The little performance from MHC may be attributable to its water holding capacity. Also, a positive correction occurred between the yield of the test OFSP cultivars and climatic factors such as rainfall, NDVI, and NDWI values. Whereas the inorganic fertilizer did not have any significant effect on the growth and productivity of any of the tested sweet potato cultivars in the second trial; FC, and MHC largely maintained their significant performances. In conclusion, the use of FC is highly recommended in the production of the test orange-fleshed sweet potato cultivars. Also, the study indicated that both FC and MHC may not only supply the needed plant nutrients but has the capacity to reduce the impact of drought on the growth of the test cultivars. These findings are of great value to farmers, especially the resource-poorones.

Keywords: amendments, drought, filter cake, macadamia husk compost, sweet potato

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Authors: Fangyuan Shao, Wei Liu, Deli Gao

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Polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits have occupied a large market of unconventional oil and gas drilling. The application of PDC bits benefits from the efficient rock breaking of PDC cutters. In response to increasingly complex formations, many shaped cutters have been invited, but many of them have not been solved by the mechanism of rock breaking. In this paper, two kinds of PDC cutters: a new axe-shaped (NAS) cutter and cylindrical cutter (benchmark) were studied by laboratory experiments. NAS cutter is obtained by optimizing two sides of axe-shaped cutter with curved surfaces. All the cutters were put on a vertical turret lathe (VTL) in the laboratory for cutting tests. According to the cutting distance, the VTL tests can be divided into two modes: single-turn rotary cutting and continuous cutting. The cutting depth of cutting (DOC) was set at 1.0 mm and 2.0 mm in the former mode. The later mode includes a dry VTL test for thermal stability and a wet VTL test for wear resistance. Load cell and 3D optical profiler were used to obtain the value of cutting forces and wear area, respectively. Based on the findings of the single-turn rotary cutting VTL tests, the performance of A NAS cutter was better than the benchmark cutter on elastoplastic material cutting. The cutting forces (normal forces, tangential force, and radial force) and special mechanical energy (MSE) of a NAS cutter were lower than that of the benchmark cutter under the same condition. It meant that a NAS cutter was more efficient on elastoplastic material breaking. However, the wear resistance of a new axe-shaped cutter was higher than that of a benchmark cutter. The results of the dry VTL test showed that the thermal stability of a NAS cutter was higher than that of a benchmark cutter. The cutting efficiency can be improved by optimizing the geometric structure of the PDC cutter. The change of thermal stability may be caused by the decrease of the contact area between cutter and rock at given DOC. The conclusions of this paper can be used as an important reference for PDC cutters designers.

Keywords: axe-shaped cutter, PDC cutter, rotary cutting test, vertical turret lathe

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Authors: M. Johnson, R. Faggian, V. Sposito

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A participatory and engaged approach is key in connecting agricultural managers to sustainable agricultural systems to support and optimize production in Victoria’s food bowl. A sustainable intensification (SI) approach is well documented globally, but participation rates amongst Victorian farmers is fragmentary, and key outcomes and implementation strategies are poorly understood. Improvement in decision-support management tools and a greater understanding of the productivity gains available upon implementation of SI is necessary. This paper reviews the current understanding and uptake of SI practices amongst farmers in one of Victoria’s premier food producing regions, the Goulburn Broken; and it spatially analyses the potential for this region to adapt to climate change and optimize food production. A Geographical Information Systems (GIS) approach is taken to develop an interactive decision-support tool that can be accessible to on-ground agricultural managers. The tool encompasses multiple criteria analysis (MCA) that identifies factors during the construction phase of the tool, using expert witnesses and regional knowledge, framed within an Analytical Hierarchy Process. Given the complexities of the interrelations between each of the key outcomes, this participatory approach, in which local realities and factors inform the key outcomes and help to strategies for a particular region, results in a robust strategy for sustainably intensifying production in key food producing regions. The creation of an interactive, locally embedded, decision-support management and education tool can help to close the gap between farmer knowledge and production, increase on-farm adoption of sustainable farming strategies and techniques, and optimize farm productivity.

Keywords: agriculture, decision-support management tool, Geographic Information System, GIS, sustainable intensification

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Authors: Abdullah Bal

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This paper presents a one-class classification (OCC) technique based on Fukunaga-Koontz Transform (FKT) for binary classification problems. The FKT is originally a powerful tool to feature selection and ordering for two-class problems. To utilize the standard FKT for data domain description problem (i.e., one-class classification), in this paper, a set of non-class samples which exist outside of positive class (target class) describing boundary formed with limited training data has been constructed synthetically. The tunnel-like decision boundary around upper and lower border of target class samples has been designed using statistical properties of feature vectors belonging to the training data. To capture higher order of statistics of data and increase discrimination ability, the proposed method, termed one-class FKT (OC-FKT), has been extended to its nonlinear version via kernel machines and referred as OC-KFKT for short. Multiple kernel learning (MKL) is a favorable family of machine learning such that tries to find an optimal combination of a set of sub-kernels to achieve a better result. However, the discriminative ability of some of the base kernels may be low and the OC-KFKT designed by this type of kernels leads to unsatisfactory classification performance. To address this problem, the quality of sub-kernels should be evaluated, and the weak kernels must be discarded before the final decision making process. MKL/OC-FKT and selective MKL/OC-FKT frameworks have been designed stimulated by ensemble learning (EL) to weight and then select the sub-classifiers using the discriminability and diversities measured by eigenvalue ratios. The eigenvalue ratios have been assessed based on their regions on the FKT subspaces. The comparative experiments, performed on various low and high dimensional data, against state-of-the-art algorithms confirm the effectiveness of our techniques, especially in case of small sample size (SSS) conditions.

Keywords: ensemble methods, fukunaga-koontz transform, kernel-based methods, multiple kernel learning, one-class classification

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Authors: I. Wardana Ketut, I. Suparwa Nyoman

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This study investigated the form and characteristic of speech sound produced by three Balinese subjects who have recovered from aphasia as well as intervened their language impairment on side of linguistic and neuronal aspects of views. The failure of judging the speech sound was caused by impairment of motor cortex that indicated there were lesions in left hemispheric language zone. Sound articulation phenomena were in the forms of phonemes deletion, replacement or assimilation in individual words and meaning building for anomic aphasia. Therefore, the Balinese sound patterns were stimulated by showing pictures to the subjects and recorded to recognize what individual consonants or vowels they unclearly produced and to find out how the sound disorder occurred. The physiology of sound production by subject’s speech organs could not only show the accuracy of articulation but also any level of severity the lesion they suffered from. The subjects’ speech sounds were investigated, classified and analyzed to know how poor the lingual units were and observed to clarify weaknesses of sound characters occurred either for place or manner of articulation. Many fricative and stopped consonants were replaced by glottal or palatal sounds because the cranial nerve, such as facial, trigeminal, and hypoglossal underwent impairment after the stroke. The phonological intervention was applied through a technique called phonemic articulation drill and the examination was conducted to know any change has been obtained. The finding informed that some weak articulation turned into clearer sound and simple meaning of language has been conveyed. The hierarchy of functional parts of brain played important role of language formulation and processing. From this finding, it can be clearly emphasized that this study supports the role of right hemisphere in recovery from aphasia is associated with functional brain reorganization.

Keywords: aphasia, intervention, phonology, stroke

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Authors: Dike Ibegbulem

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This paper interrogates the chances of Nigeria achieving its target of making the list of the first 70 countries in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) rankings by the year 2023. That is, in light of existing conflicts in policies relating to the door-to-door carriage of goods and multimodal transport operations (MTOs) in the country. Drawing on the famed Legal Origins theory plus data from World Bank; and using Singapore as a touchstone, the paper unveils how amongst the top-ranked Commonwealth jurisdictions, positive correlations have been recorded over the past years between certainty in their policies on MTOs on the one hand; and their Enforcing Contracts (EC) and Doing Business (DB) indices on the other. The paper postulates that to increase Nigeria’s chances of achieving her DB2023 objective, legislative and curial policies on MTOs and door-to-door carriage of goods have to be realigned in line with prevailing policies in highly-ranked Commonwealth jurisdictions of the Global North. Her appellate courts, in particular, will need some unshackling from English pedigrees which still delimit admiralty jurisdiction to port-to-port shipping, to the exclusion of door-to-door carriage of goods beyond navigable waters. The paper identifies continental and domestic instruments, plus judicial precedents, which provide bases for expanding admiralty jurisdiction to adjudication of claims derived from door-to-door or multimodal transport contracts and other allied maritime-plus contracts. It prescribes synergy between legislative and curial policies on MTOs and door-to-door carriage of goods as species of admiralty – an emerging trend in top-ranked Commonwealth jurisdictions of the Global North.

Keywords: admiralty jurisdiction, legal origins, world bank, ease of doing business, enforcing contracts, multimodal transport operation, door-to-door, carriage of goods by sea, combined transport shipping

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Authors: Jiraporn Lao-Un, Dararat Khampusaen

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Lack of exposure to English language in the authentic English setting naturally leads to a lack of fluency in the language. As a result, Thai EFL learners are struggling in meeting with the communication 'can do' descriptors of the Common European Framework of References (CEFR) required by the Ministry of Education. This initial phase of the ongoing study, employing the e-portfolio to promote the English speaking ability, probed into the effects of the use of e-portfolio on Thai EFL nursing students' speaking ability. Also, their opinions towards the use of e-portfolio to enhance their speaking ability were investigated. The participants were 44 undergraduate nursing students at a Thai College of Nursing. The participants undertook four lessons to promote their communication skills according to the CEFR criteria. Throughout the semester, the participants videotaped themselves while completing the four speaking tasks. The videos were then uploaded onto the e-portfolio website where the researcher provided them with the feedbacks. The video records were analyzed by the speaking rubric designed according to the CEFR 'can do' descriptors. Also, students were required to record self-reflections in video format and upload onto the same URL Students' oral self-reflections were coded to find out the perceptions towards the use of the e-portfolio in promoting their speaking ability. The results from the two research instruments suggested the effectiveness of the tool on improving speaking ability, learner autonomy and media literacy skills. In addition, the oral reflection videos revealed positive opinion towards the tool. The discussion offers the current status of English speaking ability among Thai EFL students. This reveals the gaps between the EFL speaking ability and the CEFR ‘can do’ descriptors. In addition, the author raises the light on integration of the 21st century IT tool to enhance these students’ speaking ability. Lastly, the theoretical implications and recommendation for further study in integrating electronic tools to promote language skills in the EFL context are offered for further research.

Keywords: EFL communication, EFL speaking, English communication, E-learning, E-portfolio, speaking ability, Thai EFL learners

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Authors: Pawthawala Nancy Manish, Syed Alay Hashim

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A hybrid rocket is a rocket engine which uses propellants in two different states of matter- one is in solid and the other either gas or liquid. A hybrid rocket exhibit advantages over both liquid rockets and solid rockets especially in terms of simplicity, stop-start-restart capabilities, safety and cost. This paper deals the design and development of a hybrid rocket having paraffin wax as solid fuel and liquid oxygen as oxidizer. Due to variation of pressure in combustion chamber there is significantly change in mass flow rate, burning rate and uneven regression along the length of the grain. This project describes the working model of a hybrid propellant rocket motor. We have designed a hybrid rocket thrust chamber based on the predetermined combustion chamber pressure and the properties of hybrid propellant. This project is all ready in working condition with normal oxygen injector. Now we have planned to modify the injector design to improve the combustion property. We will use spray type injector for injecting the oxidizer. This idea will increase the performance followed by the regression rate of the solid fuel. By employing mass conservation law, oxygen mass flux, oxidizer/fuel ratio and regression rate the thrust coefficient can be obtained for our current design. CATIA V5 R20 is our design software for the complete setup. This project is fully based on experimental evaluation and the collection of combustion and flow parameters. The thrust chamber is made of stainless steel and the duration of test is around 15-20 seconds (Maximum). These experiments indicates that paraffin based fuel provides the opportunity to satisfy a broad range of mission requirements for the next generation of the hybrid rocket system.

Keywords: burning rate, liquid oxygen, mass flow rate, paraffin wax and sugar

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Authors: Lindie Grebe

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This paper reports on a study that explored the strategizing practices of professional accountants in the mining industry, based on Jarratt and Stiles’ dominant strategizing practice models framework. Drawing on a strategy-as-practice perspective, the paper recognises qualified professional accountants in strategic management such as Chief Executive Officers, as strategy practitioners that perform their strategizing practices and praxis within a specific context. The main findings of this paper were produced through semi-structured individual interviews with accountants that perform strategy on a business level in the South African mining industry. Qualitative data were analysed through conversation analysis over two coding-cycles. Findings describe accountant strategists as practitioners who challenge the dominant business model when a disconnect seems to exist between international corporate level strategy and business level strategy in the South African mining industry. Accountant strategy practitioners described their dominant strategizing practice model as incremental change during strategic planning and as a lived experience during strategy implementation. Findings portrayed these strategists as taking initiative as strategy leaders in a dynamic and volatile environment to combine their accounting background with strategic management and challenge the dominant business model. Understanding how accountant strategists perform strategizing offers insight into the social practice of strategic management. This understanding contributes to the body of knowledge on strategizing in the South African mining industry. In addition, knowledge on the transformation of accountants as strategists could provide valuable practice relevant insights for accounting educators and the accounting profession alike.

Keywords: accountant strategists, dominant strategizing practice models framework, mining industry, strategy-as-practice

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Authors: Elin Cahyaningsih, Dana Indra Sensuse, Wahyu Catur Wibowo, Sofiyanti Indriasari

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Bureaucracy reform program drives Indonesian government to change their management and supporting unit in order to enhance their organization performance. Information technology as one of supporting unit became one of strategic plan that organization tried to improve, because IT can automate and speed up process, reduce business process life cycle become more effective and efficient. Knowledge management system is a technology application for supporting knowledge management implementation in government which is requirement based on problem and potential functionality of each knowledge management process. Define knowledge management that suitable for each organization it is difficult, that why we should make the knowledge management system strategy as an alignment of knowledge management process in the organization. Knowledge management system is one of information system development in people perspective, because this system has high dependency in human interaction and participation. Strategic plan for developing knowledge management system can be determine using some of information system strategic methods. This research conducted to define type of strategic method of information system, stage of activity each method, the strategic method strength and weakness. The author use literature review methods for identify and classify strategic methods of information system for differentiate method type, categorize common activities, strength and weakness. Result of this research are determine and compare six strategic information system methods, there are Balanced Scorecard, Five Force Porter, SWOT analysis, Value Chain Analysis, Risk Analysis and Gap Analysis. Balanced Scorecard and Risk Analysis believe as common strategic method that usually used and have the highest excellence strength.

Keywords: knowledge management system, balanced scorecard, five force, risk analysis, gap analysis, value chain analysis, SWOT analysis

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Authors: Arezou Rezazadeh, Nasrin Omidvar, Hassan Eini-Zinab, Mahmoud Ghazi-Tabatabaie, Reza Majdzadeh, Saeid Ghavamzadeh, Sakineh Nouri-Saeidlou

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Dietary pattern analysis method can reflect more information about the nutritional etiology of chronic diseases such as obesity. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between major dietary patterns and anthropometric measures in men and women living in the city of Urmia. In this cross-sectional study, 723 participants (427 women and 296 men), aged 20–64 in Urmia city were selected from all four zones of Urmia city, in the north-west of Iran. Anthropometrics (weight, height, waist and hip circumference) were measured with standard methods. Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated by dividing weight (in kilograms) by the square of height (in meter). Dietary intake information was collected by a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire in the last year. Dietary patterns were determined using principal component analysis. The relationship between dietary patterns and obesity was analyzed by logistic regression. Three major dietary patterns (DPs) were identified that were named ‘Traditional Higher SES (THS)’, ‘Traditional Low SES (TLS)’ and ‘Transitional’. THS DP was positively and Transitional DP was negatively associated with BMI and waist circumference (W.C), however, after adjusting for confounding variables (age, gender, ethnicity, energy intake, physical activity and SES), the associations were not significant. The TLS was not significantly associated with BMI, but after adjusting for confounders, a significant positive association was detected with W.C and Waist to hip ratio (WHR). Findings showed that both traditional patterns were positively and the western type transitional pattern was reversely associated with anthropometric indices. But this relationship was highly affected by demographic, socioeconomic and energy input and output determinants. The results indicate the inevitable effect of environmental factors on the relationship between dietary patterns and anthropometric indices.

Keywords: anthropometric indices, dietary pattern, Iran, North-west

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Authors: Maryam Jaberi, Siavosh Shayan, Mojtaba Yamani

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Habble-Rud River basin (HR), up to 100 km length, one of the largest watersheds which drain into deserts to the north of Central Iran (Dasht-e Kavir). This stream is oblique with the NE-SW trending, flow in the southern range of central Alborz Mountains and the northern border of Central Iran. The end of the ~17 km suddenly change direction and with the southern trending to have a morphology which meanders passes through the Alborz Mountain ridge and flows into the Garmsar plain where it forms one of the largest alluvial fans in Iran, i.e. the vast Garmsar alluvial fan with an area of 476 km2. This study was carried out through morphometric analyses, longitudinal river profiles, and study of geomorpholic evidence such as fluvial terraces, gypsum-salt domes, seismic data, and satellite images. This study aimed to investigate the changes in the pattern of rivers in the southern part of the HR river basin. The southern part of HR river basin located at the southern foothills of the Central Alborz is characterized the thrust faults (Sorkheh-Kalut and Garmsar faults), folds,diapirs and arid climate. The activity of more than 10 salt domes that belong to the Oligocene-Miocene period has considerably influenced the pattern of streams in this region. Dissolution of these domes has not only reduced the quality of water and soil resources, but also has led to the formation of badlands and gullies.Our results indicated that the pattern of rivers in the southern part of HR river basin was influenced by discharge of the HR river in Quaternary, geological structure, subsidence of Central Iran and vertical uplift of Alborz mountain. These agents caused the formation meanders in the southern part of the HR River and evaluation of the seasonal rivers like Shoor-Darre and Garmabsar.

Keywords: geomorphologic evaluation, rivers pattern, Habble-Rud River basin, seasonal rivers

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Authors: Nadir Atayev, Mehman Hasanov

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Future spacecraft will require a structural change in the way data is transmitted due to the increase in the volume of data required for space communication. Current radio frequency communication systems are already facing a bottleneck in the volume of data sent to the ground segment due to their technological and regulatory characteristics. To overcome these issues, free space optics communication plays an important role in the integrated terrestrial space network due to its advantages such as significantly improved data rate compared to traditional RF technology, low cost, improved security, and inter-satellite free space communication, as well as uses a laser beam, which is an optical signal carrier to establish satellite-ground & ground-to-satellite links. In this approach, there is a need for high-speed and energy-efficient systems as a base platform for sending high-volume video & audio data. Nano Satellite and its branch CubeSat platforms have more technical functionality than large satellites, wheres cover an important part of the space sector, with their Low-Earth-Orbit application area with low-cost design and technical functionality for building networks using different communication topologies. Along the research theme developed in this regard, the output parameter indicators for the FSO of the optical communication transceiver subsystem on the existing CubeSat platforms, and in the direction of improving the mentioned parameters of this communication methodology, 3D optical switch and laser beam controlled optical transponder with 2U CubeSat structural subsystems and application in the Low Earth Orbit satellite network topology, as well as its functional performance and structural parameters, has been studied accordingly.

Keywords: cubesat, free space optics, nano satellite, optical laser communication.

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Authors: Do Su Park, Sang Jun Park, Cheon Soon Jeong

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This study was performed in order to investigate the optimum ripening conditions for the marketing of Squash. Research sample 'Bochang' was grown at Hongcheonin in Gangwon province in August 2014. Ripening the samples were stored under the conditions of 25℃, 30℃, and 35℃ with the humidity RH70 ± 5%. They were checked every 3 days for 21 days. The respiration rate, water loss, hardness, coloration, the contents of soluble solids, starch, total sugar were evaluated after storage. Respiration rate was reduced in all treatments with longer storage period. Water loss was increased in the higher temperature. The 13% water loss was found at 35℃ on 21st storage day. The store initially 25℃ and 30℃ Hardness 47N and the ripening 21 days decreased slightly. On the other hand, in the case of 35℃ showed a large reduction than 25℃ and 30℃. Soluble solid contents were increased with longer ripening period. 30℃ and 35℃ was highest ripening 15 days. In the case of 25℃, it was highest on 21th day. The higher the temperature, the higher the soluble solids content are. 25℃ and 30℃ Coloration was increased rapidly until the ripening 12 days. In case of 35℃, continued increase up to 21 days. 25℃ and 30℃ showed no differences. Meanwhile, in case of 35℃, appearance quality was reduced in Occurrence of yellowing phenomenon of pericarp occurs from after ripening for 9 days. The coloration of fruit flesh is increase until after ripening for 9 days and decrease from after ripening for 9 days. There was no significant difference depending on the conditions of temperature. The higher the temperature, the lower the content of the starch. In case of 30℃ and 35℃, was reduced with longer storage period. 25℃ was minimal content change. Total sugar was increased in all treatments with longer storage period. The higher the temperature, the higher the amount of total sugar content is. Therefore, at 25℃ for 18-21 days and at 30℃ for 12-15 days is suitable for ripening.

Keywords: marketing, ripening, temperature, winter squash

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Authors: Laura M. Espinoza, Karen A. Hernández, Diana B. Ledezma

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Currently, in Chile, migratory movements are generated, where the country receives constantly people from Latin America such as Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Haiti, among others. This phenomenon has reached the schools of Chile, where immigrant children and adolescents are educated in a context of cultural diversity. However, education professionals face this recent phenomenon without prior preparation to carry out their pedagogical practices in the classroom. On the other hand, research on how to understand and guide the processes of cultural diversity especially within the school is even scarce and recent in Latin America and specifically in Chile. The general purpose of the study is to analyze the relationships between teaching efforts towards multiculturalism and inclusive pedagogical practices in the schools of the city of La Serena and Coquimbo, in Chile. The study refers to a quantitative approach, with a correlational design. The selection of the participants was not intentional probabilistic. It comprises 88 teachers of preschool, primary, secondary and special education, who work in two schools with similar characteristics. For the collection of information on the independent variable, the attitude scale towards Immigration and the attitude scale towards Multiculturalism in the school are applied. To obtain information on the independent variable, the guide for the evaluation of inclusive practices in the classroom is applied. Both instruments have statistical validation. A Spearman correlation analysis was made to achieve the objective of the study. Among the main findings, we will find the relationships between the positive perceptions of multiculturalism at school and inclusive practices such as the physical conditions of the classroom, planning, methodology, use of time and evaluation. These findings are relevant to the teaching and learning processes of students in Chilean classrooms and contribute to literature for the understanding of educational processes in contexts of cultural diversity.

Keywords: cultural diversity, immigration, inclusive pedagogical practices, multiculturalism

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Oshienemen Albert

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Human’s activities could be pointed as the root cause of almost all environmental damages/ disasters as we contribute to the activities that are currently damaging the ozone layers (global warming), unusual environmental changes and extreme weather conditions (climate change) in recent times. Nigeria just as every other disaster-prone nation is faced with different types of disasters and environmental calamities, starting from terrorist displacement disasters, flood, drought and oil spill hazards. Oil spillage as an environmental disaster has great consequences not just on the environment but on human health, economy and the entire populace that might be involved, which deem necessary to look into the root causes of the incidents and how it can be curtailed. The different incidents of oil spillages and other oil production consequent on the environment is alarming in the Nigerian context and cannot be overemphasized without a critical investigation and synthesis. This paper investigates the root causes of environmental pollution induced by oil spill hazards from petroleum activities within Niger Delta communities of effects and detailed the potential solutions to reduce the causal factors and reoccurrence of the incidents. This study adopts a desk-based approach, interviews with key members of communities which consist of chiefs, youth leaders, and key women within the high environmental damaged communities. Also, Interviews were conducted with environmental expertise representatives from the oil and gas sectors and representatives from oil spill-related agency. Data were analyzed using thematic techniques. The study shows different influencing factors of sabotage and vandalism of oil facilities as such; marginalization, deprivation of resources utility and resource derivation principles were identified as major contributors to vandalism and sabotage act. The study proposed potential strategies to curtail the root causes of sabotage and vandalism as the major causes of environmental devastations in Nigeria.

Keywords: environment, oil spill hazards, Niger delta, Nigeria

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Authors: Ogunlana Olarewaju Fatai, Kelani Fatai Adeshina

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The interplay of corruption and institutional quality determines how effective and efficient an economy progresses. An efficient institutional quality is a key requirement for economic stability. Institutional quality in most cases has been used interchangeably with Governance and these have given room for proxies that legitimized Governance as measures for institutional quality. A poorly-tailored institutional quality has a penalizing effect on corruption and economic growth, while defective institutional quality breeds corruption. Corruption is a hydra-headed phenomenon as it manifests in different forms. The most celebrated definition of corruption is given as “the use or abuse of public office for private benefits or gains”. It also denotes an arrangement between two mutual parties in the determination and allocation of state resources for pecuniary benefits to circumvent state efficiency. This study employed Barro (1990) type augmented model to analyze the nexus among corruption, institutional quality and economic growth in Nigeria using annual time series data, which spanned the period 1996-2019. Within the analytical framework of Johansen Cointegration technique, Error Correction Mechanism (ECM) and Granger Causality tests, findings revealed a long-run relationship between economic growth, corruption and selected measures of institutional quality. The long run results suggested that all the measures of institutional quality except voice & accountability and regulatory quality are positively disposed to economic growth. Moreover, the short-run estimation indicated a reconciliation of the divergent views on corruption which pointed at “sand the wheel” and “grease the wheel” of growth. In addition, regulatory quality and the rule of law indicated a negative influence on economic growth in Nigeria. Government effectiveness and voice & accountability, however, indicated a positive influence on economic growth. The Granger causality test results suggested a one-way causality between GDP and Corruption and also between corruption and institutional quality. Policy implications from this study pointed at checking corruption and streamlining institutional quality framework for better and sustained economic development.

Keywords: institutional quality, corruption, economic growth, public policy

Procedia PDF Downloads 177