Search results for: direct current control

Authors: Aicha Chaouay, Lahsen Bazzi, Mustapha Hilali

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Seawater has chemical and biological characteristics making it particularly aggressive in relation to the corrosion of many materials including copper and steels low or moderate allies. Note that these materials are widely used in the manufacture of port infrastructure in the marine environment. These structures are exposed to two types of corrosion including: general corrosion and localized corrosion caused by the presence of sulfite-reducing micro-organisms. This work contributes to the study of the problematic related to bacterial contamination of the marine environment of large Agadir and evaluating the impact of this pollution on the corrosion resistance of copper. For the realization of this work, we conducted monthly periodic draws between (October 2012 February 2013) of seawater from the Anza area of the Bay of Agadir. Thus, after each sampling, a study of the electro chemical corrosion behavior of copper was carried out. Electro chemical corrosion parameters such as the corrosion potential, the corrosion current density, the charge transfer resistance and the double layer capacity were evaluated. The electro chemical techniques used in this work are: the route potentiodynamic polarization curves and electro chemical impedance.

Keywords: Bay of Agadir, microbial contamination, seawater (Morocco), corrosion, copper

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Authors: Anyaogu Paul

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The study examines the problem of child labour in respect to National security in Nigeria. The current situation reflects a chronic urban poverty, which can compel parents and guardians to send their children and wards of school age to engage in income yielding activities to augment family income. The study sought to explain the basis of child labour, its causes and its effects on its victim and society at large. A social survey research design was employed to select the respondents. A sample size of 250 respondents was selected from targeted population of children below the age of 18 years. A questionnaire instrument was employed to collect data. An accidental sampling technique was employed to select the respondents. The findings revealed that child labour is on the increase and a serious threat to national security and social cohesion. The study recommends that the Nigerian government should enforce the laws on child labour and provide opportunities for job creation for urban dwellers. More so, government should also provide free and compulsory education at primary and secondary school levels of education.

Keywords: child labour, family income, national security, survey research

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Authors: Bella Llego

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This research aims to study on “ASEAN Citizenship in the Internationalization of Thai Higher Education.” The purposes of this research are (1) to examine the Thai academics and scholars defined in the concept of internationalization of higher education, (2) to know how Thailand tries to fulfill its internationalization on education goal, (3) to find out the advantages and disadvantages of Thailand hub for higher education in Asia. Sequential mixed methods, qualitative and quantitative research methods were utilized to gather the data collected. By using a qualitative method (individual interviews from key Thai administrators and educators in the international higher education sector), a quantitative method (survey) was utilized to draw upon and to elaborate the recurring themes present during the interviews. The study found that many aspects of Thai international higher education programs received heavy influence from both the American and European higher education systems. Thailand’s role and leadership in the creation and launch of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015 gives its unique context for its internationalization efforts. English is being designated as the language of all Thai international programs; its influence further strengthened being the current language of academia, international business, and the internet, having global influence.

Keywords: ASEAN citizenship, internationalization, Thai higher education, academics

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Authors: Anastasia V. Kovaleva, Alena A. Ryabova, Vladimir N. Kasatkin

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Background: The most simple form of entrainment to a sensory (typically auditory) rhythmic stimulus involves perceiving and synchronizing movements with an isochronous beat with one level of periodicity, such as that produced by a metronome. Children with pediatric cancer usually treated with chemo- and radiotherapy. Because of such treatment, psychologists and health professionals declare cognitive and motor abilities decline in cancer patients. The purpose of our study was to measure working memory characteristics with association with audio-motor synchronization tasks, also involved some memory resources, in children with different degrees of central nervous system lesions: posterior fossa tumors, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and healthy controls. Methods: Our sample consisted of three groups of children: children treated for posterior fossa tumors (PFT-group, n=42, mean age 12.23), children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL-group, n=11, mean age 11.57) and neurologically healthy children (control group, n=36, mean age 11.67). Participants were tested for working memory characteristics with Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB). Pattern recognition memory (PRM) and spatial working memory (SWM) tests were applied. Outcome measures of PRM test include the number and percentage of correct trials and latency (speed of participant’s response), and measures of SWM include errors, strategy, and latency. In the synchronization tests, the instruction was to tap out a regular beat (40, 60, 90 and 120 beats per minute) in synchrony with the rhythmic sequences that were played. This meant that for the sequences with an isochronous beat, participants were required to tap into every auditory event. Variations of inter-tap-intervals and deviations of children’s taps from the metronome were assessed. Results: Analysis of variance revealed the significant effect of group (ALL, PFT and control) on such parameters as short-term PRM, SWM strategy and errors. Healthy controls demonstrated more correctly retained elements, better working memory strategy, compared to cancer patients. Interestingly that ALL patients chose the bad strategy, but committed significantly less errors in SWM test then PFT and controls did. As to rhythmic ability, significant associations of working memory were found out only with 40 bpm rhythm: the less variable were inter-tap-intervals of the child, the more elements in memory he/she could retain. The ability to audio-motor synchronization may be related to working memory processes mediated by the prefrontal cortex whereby each sensory event is actively retrieved and monitored during rhythmic sequencing. Conclusion: Our results suggest that working memory, tested with appropriate cognitive methods, is associated with the ability to synchronize movements with rhythmic sounds, especially in sub-second intervals (40 per minute).

Keywords: acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), audio-motor synchronization, posterior fossa tumor, working memory

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Authors: Esraa Moustafa, Gaetan Rey, Stephane Lavirotte, Jean-Yves Tigli

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With the development of Internet of Things and Web of Things, computing becomes more pervasive, invisible and present everywhere. In fact, in our environment, we are surrounded by multiple devices that deliver (web) services that meet the needs of the users. However, the mobility of these devices as the users has important repercussions that challenge software design of these applications because the variability of the environment cannot be anticipated at the design time. Thus, it will be interesting to dynamically discover the environment and adapt the application during its execution to the new contextual conditions. We, therefore, propose a model of a context-aware middleware that can address this issue through a monitoring service that is capable of reasoning and observation channels capable of calculating the context during the runtime. The monitoring service evaluates the pre-defined X-Query predicates in the context manager and uses Prolog to deduce the services needed to respond back. An independent Observation Channel for each different predicate is then dynamically generated by the monitoring service depending on the current state of the environment. Each channel sends its result directly to the context manager which consequently calculates the context based on all the predicates’ results while preserving the reactivity of the self-adaptive system.

Keywords: auto-adaptation, context-awareness, middleware, reasoning engine

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Authors: Uwa C. A., Jamiru T.

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Aluminum based alloys with a certain compositional blend and manufacturing method have been reported to have excellent electrical conductors. In the current investigation, metal powders of Aluminum (Al), Copper (Cu), Niobium (Nb), and Molybdenum (Mo) were weighed in accordance with certain ratios and spread equally by combining the powder particles. The metal particles were mixed using a tube mixer for 12 hours. Before pouring into a 30mm-diameter graphite mold, pre-pressed, and placed into an SPS furnace, the thermal conductivity of the mixed metal powders was evaluated using a portable Thermtest device. Axial pressure of 50 MPa was used at a heating rate of 50 oC/min, and a multi-stage heating procedure with a holding period of 10 min. was used to sinter at temperatures between 300 oC and 480 oC. After being cooled to room temperature, the specimens were unmolded to produce the aluminum, copper, niobium, and molybdenum alloy material. The HPS 2662 Precision Four-point Probe Meter was used to determine the electrical resistivity and the values used to calculate the electrical conductivity of the sintered alloy samples. Finally, the alloy with the highest electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity qualities was the one with the following composition: Al 93.5Cu4Nb1.5Mo1. It also had a density of 3.23 g/cm3. It could be advisable for usage in automobile radiator and electric transmission line components.

Keywords: Al-Cu-Nb-Mo, electrical conductivity, alloy, sintering, thermal conductivity

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Authors: Yaqing Hu

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This paper puts forward a syntactic analysis involving multidominance and rightward movement in Chinese bi-comparatives, as in 'Yuehan bi Mali gao (John is taller than Mary).' It is argued here that the predicate of comparison is a shared constituent in two small clauses, namely one for the target and one for the standard; and then it moves rightward to form a degree phrase with the comparative morpheme. This proposal comes from four aspects. First, the example above can also be expressed in this way, 'A: Yuehan he Mali, shui gao? (John and Mary, who is taller?) B: Yuehan gao./Yuehan geng gao. (John is taller).' This shows that the gradable adjective is predicated of the target. In addition, according to a constraint on Chinese bi-comparatives, namely the target and the standard must be arguments of the predicate simultaneously, it is not unreasonable to assume that the gradable adjective may also be predicated of the standard. Second, subcomparatives are totally disallowed in Chinese, as in '*zhe-zhang zhuozi bi zhe-zhang yizi kuan chang. (This table is longer than this chair is wide.)' In order to save it from ungrammaticality, the target and the standard should be compared along the same dimension denoted by the gradable adjective. It may follow that in Chinese comparatives, having equal roles in the same eventuality, the target and the standard bear the same thematic relationship with the predicate of comparison. Third, verb-copy can appear in Chinese bi-comparatives, as in 'Yuehan qi ma bi Mali qi ma qi de kuai. (John rides horses faster than Mary does.)' The predicate qi seems to form a small clause with both the target and the standard. This might be supporting evidence that both the target and the standard share the predicate of comparison. Fourth, Chinese comparatives do have comparative morphemes, as in 'Yuehan bi Mali geng gao. (John is taller than Mary)', which is semantically equivalent to the first example above. Thus, it follows that one feature of Chinese comparative morphemes is that they can remain overt or covert in the syntax, which will not affect semantics. This further shows that comparative morphemes in bi-comparatives may not be able to saturate the degree argument denoted by the predicate of comparison due to its optionality in the structure. These four aspects present a challenge to the Direct Analysis used in Chinese comparatives since this approach would presume that the target and the standard somehow show independency with the predicate in the syntax. Meanwhile, this study also rejects the previous analysis of multidomiance in bi-comparatives in which the degree phrase comprised of the comparative morpheme and the gradable adjective may be shared by the standard when the comparative morpheme is covert. This syntactic analysis proposed in this study will therefore offer a different perspective of how to treat degree phrase in Chinese comparatives and may offer evidence to argue whether there is degree phrase movement in bi-comparatives as in its English counterparts.

Keywords: Chinese comparatives, degree phrase, movement, multidominance, syntactic analysis

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Authors: Jaishree Ranganathan, MuthuPriya Shanmugakani Velsamy, Shamika Kulkarni, Angelina Tzacheva

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Emotions play an important role in everyday life. An-alyzing these emotions or feelings from social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and forums based on user comments and reviews plays an important role in various factors. Some of them include brand monitoring, marketing strategies, reputation, and competitor analysis. The opinions or sentiments mined from such data helps understand the current state of the user. It does not directly provide intuitive insights on what actions to be taken to benefit the end user or business. Actionable Pattern Mining method provides suggestions or actionable recommendations on what changes or actions need to be taken in order to benefit the end user. In this paper, we propose automatic classification of emotions in Twitter data using Recurrent Neural Network - Gated Recurrent Unit. We achieve training accuracy of 87.58% and validation accuracy of 86.16%. Also, we extract action rules with respect to the user emotion that helps to provide actionable suggestion.

Keywords: emotion mining, twitter, recurrent neural network, gated recurrent unit, actionable pattern mining

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Authors: Adferotimi Banso

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A laboratory investigation was conducted to determine the effect of Justica flava and Aframonium melegueta on the growth of Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus stolonifer and Fusarium species in sweet orange and mango juices. Aqueous extract (3%v/v) of Justica flava and Aframonium melegueta reduced the growth of the fungi, a combination of 2% (v/v) each of Justica flava and Aframonium melegueta extracts reduced the growth better. Partial purification of aqueous extracts of Justica flava and Aframonium melegueta showed that ethyl acetate fraction of the extracts exhibited the highest level of inhibition of growth of the test fungi compared with diethyl ether and n-hexane fractions. The results suggest that extracts of Justica flava and Aframonium melegueta may be important substitutes for conventional chemical preservatives in the processing of fruit juices.

Keywords: aqueous, fraction, mango, orange, purification, sweet

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Authors: C. Venkataraman B. E., J. Nagarajan B. E., V. Srinivasan M. Tech

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For a better understanding on sulfide stress corrosion cracking, a theoretical approach based on crystal structure, molecule behavior, flow of electrons and electrochemical reaction is developed. Its impact on different materials such as carbon steel, low alloy, alloy for sour (H2S) environments is studied. This paper describes the theories on various disaster and failures occurred in the industry by Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC). Parameters such as pH of process fluid, partial pressure of CO2, O2, Chlorine, effect of internal pressure (crystal structure deformation by stress), and external environment condition are considered. An analytical line graph is then created for process fluid parameter verses time, temperature, induced/residual stress due to local pressure build-up. By comparison with the load test result of NACE and ASTM, it is possible to predict and simplify the control of SCC by use of materials like ferritic, Austenitic material in the oil and gas & petroleum industries.

Keywords: crystal structure deformation, failure assessment, alloy-environment combination, H2S

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Authors: Jen-Fa Huang, Yu-Wei Chiu, Jhe-Ren Cheng

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Visible light communication (VLC) technique has become useful method via LED light blinking. Several issues on indoor mobile robot positioning with LED blinking are examined in the paper. In the transmitter, we control the transceivers blinking message. Orthogonal Walsh codes are adopted for such purpose on auto-correlation function (ACF) to detect signal sequences. In the robot receiver, we set the frame of time by 1 ns passing signal from the transceiver to the mobile robot. After going through many periods of time detecting the peak value of ACF in the mobile robot. Moreover, the transceiver transmits signal again immediately. By capturing three times of peak value, we can know the time difference of arrival (TDOA) between two peak value intervals and finally analyze the accuracy of the robot position.

Keywords: Visible Light Communication, Auto-Correlation Function (ACF), peak value of ACF, Time difference of Arrival (TDOA)

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Authors: Miroslav Čulík, Petr Gurný

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This paper is aimed at the financial assessment of the hard coal mining in a given region by real option methodology application. Hard coal mining in this mine makes net loss for the owner during the last years due to the long-term unfavourable mining conditions and significant drop in the coal prices during the last years. Management is going to shut down the operation and abandon the project to reduce the loss of the company. The goal is to assess whether the shutting down the operation is the only and correct solution of the problem. Due to the uncertainty in the future hard coal price evolution, the production might be again restarted if the price raises enough to cover the cost of the production. For the assessment, real option methodology is applied, which captures two important aspect of the financial decision-making: risk and flexibility. The paper is structured as follows: first, current state is described and problem is analysed. Next, methodology of real options is described. At last, project is evaluated by applying real option methodology. The results are commented and recommendations are provided.

Keywords: real option, investment, option to abandon, option to shut down and restart, risk, flexibility

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Authors: Miguel Limbert Ramos, Joseph Amado Galvez

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Background: The nasal septal cartilage is an autologous graft that is widely used in different otolaryngologic procedures of the different subspecialties, such as in septorhinoplasty and ear rehabilitation procedures. The cartilage can be easily accessed and harvested to be utilized for such procedures. However, the dimension of the nasal septal cartilage differs, corresponding to race, gender, and age. Measurements can be done via direct measurement of harvested septal cartilage in cadavers or utilizing radiographic imaging studies giving baseline measurement of the nasal septal cartilage distinct to every race. A preliminary baseline measurement of the dimensions of Filipino nasal septal cartilage was previously established by measuring harvested nasal septal cartilage in Filipino Malay cadavers. This study intends to reinforce this baseline measurement by utilizing computed tomography (CT) scans of adult Filipinos in a tertiary government hospital in the City of Manila, Philippines, which will cover a larger sampling population. Methods: The unit of observation and analysis will be the computed tomography (CT) scans of patients ≥ 18years old who underwent cranial, facial, orbital, paranasal sinus, and temporal bone studies for the year 2019. The measurements will be done in a generated best midsagittal image (155 subjects) which is a view through the midline of the cerebrum that is simultaneously viewed with its coronal and axial views for proper orientation. The view should reveal important structures that will be used to plot the anatomic boundaries, which will be measured by a DICOM image viewing software (RadiAnt). The measured area of nasal septal cartilage will be compared by gender and age. Results: The total area of the nasal septal cartilage is larger in males compared to females, with a mean value of 6.52 cm² and 5.71 cm², respectively. The harvestable nasal septal cartilage area is also larger in males with a mean value of 3.57 cm² compared to females with only a measured mean value of 3.13 cm². The total and harvestable area of the nasal septal cartilage is largest in the 18-30 year-old age group with a mean value of 6.47 cm² and 3.60 cm² respectively and tends to decrease with the advancement of age, which can be attributed to continuous ossification changes. Conclusion: The best time to perform septorhinoplasty and other otolaryngologic procedures which utilize the nasal septal cartilage as graft material is during post-pubertal age, hence surgeries should be avoided or delayed to allow growth and maturation of the cartilage. A computed tomography scan is a cost-effective and non-invasive tool that can provide information on septal cartilage areas prior to these procedures.

Keywords: autologous graft, computed tomography, nasal septal cartilage, septorhinoplasty

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Authors: Julieta Daniela Chelaru, Maria Gorea

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The massive demolition of old buildings in recent years has generated tons of waste, especially brick waste. Thus, a concern of recent research is the use of this waste for the production of environmentally friendly concrete. At the same time, corrosion in classical concrete is a current problem. In this context, in the present paper a study was carried out on the corrosion of metal reinforcement in cement mortars with brick waste. The corrosion process was analyzed on four compositions of mortars without and with 15 %, 25 % and 35 % bricks waste replacing the sand. The brick waste has a majority content in SiO2, Al₂O₃, FeO₃ and CaO. The grain size distribution of brick waste was close to that of the sand (dₘₐₓ = 3 mm). The preparation method of the samples was similar to ordinary mortars. The corrosion properties of concrete, at different waste bricks concentrations, on rebar, were investigated by electrochemical measurements (Tafel curves and EIS) at 1 and 6 months. The results obtained at 6 months revealed that the addition of the bricks waste in mortar are improved the anticorrosion properties, in the case of all samples compared with the sample with 0% bricks waste. The best results were obtained in the case of the sample with 15% bricks waste (the efficiency was ≈ 90 %). The corrosion intermediary layer formed on the rebar surface was determined by SEM-EDX.

Keywords: EIS, steel corrosion, steel reinforced concrete, waste materials

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Authors: Karen Boaz, C. R. Charan

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Background: The infiltration of tumour stroma by eosinophils, Tumor-Associated Tissue Eosinophilia (TATE), is known to modulate the progression of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC). Eosinophils have direct tumoricidal activity by release of cytotoxic proteins and indirectly they enhance permeability into tumor cells enabling penetration of tumoricidal cytokines. Also, eosinophils may promote tumor angiogenesis by production of several angiogenic factors. Identification of eosinophils in the inflammatory stroma has been proven to be an important prognosticator in cancers of mouth, oesophagus, larynx, pharynx, breast, lung, and intestine. Therefore, the study aimed to correlate TATE with clinical and histopathological variables, and blood eosinophil count to assess the role of TATE as a prognosticator in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC). Methods: Seventy two biopsy-proven cases of OSCC formed the study cohort. Blood eosinophil counts and TNM stage were obtained from the medical records. Tissue sections (5µm thick) were stained with Haematoxylin and Eosin. The eosinophils were quantified at invasive tumour front (ITF) in 10HPF (40x magnification) with an ocular grid. Bryne’s grading of ITF was also performed. A subset of thirty cases was also assessed for association of TATE with recurrence, involvement of lymph nodes and surgical margins. Results: 1) No statistically significant correlation was found between TATE and TNM stage, blood eosinophil counts and most parameters of Bryne’s grading system. 2) Statistically significant relation of intense degree of TATE was associated with the absence of distant metastasis, increased lympho-plasmacytic response and increased survival (diseasefree and overall) of OSCC patients. 3) In the subset of 30 cases, tissue eosinophil counts were higher in cases with lymph node involvement, decreased survival, without margin involvement and in cases that did not recur. Conclusion: While the role of eosinophils in mediating immune responses seems ambiguous as eosinophils support cell-mediated tumour immunity in early stages while inhibiting the same in advanced stages, TATE may be used as a surrogate marker for determination of prognosis in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Keywords: tumour-associated tissue eosinophilia, oral squamous cell carcinoma, prognosticator, tumoral immunity

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Authors: Sayed Mansour, Mohammad Aldoasri, Nagib Elmarzugi, Nadia A. Al-Mouallimi

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The archaeological large stone used in construction of ancient Pharaonic tombs, temples, obelisks and other sculptures, always subject to physicomechanical deterioration and destructive forces, leading to their partial or total broken. The task of reassembling this type of artifact represent a big challenge for the conservators. Recently, the researchers are turning to new technologies to improve the properties of traditional adhesive materials and techniques used in re-assembly of broken large stone. The epoxy resins are used extensively in stone conservation and re-assembly of broken stone because of their outstanding mechanical properties. The introduction of nanoparticles to polymeric adhesives at low percentages may lead to substantial improvements of their mechanical performances in structural joints and large objects. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of clay nanoparticles in enhancing the performances of epoxy adhesives used in re-assembly of archaeological massive stone by adding proper amounts of those nanoparticles. The nanoparticles reinforced epoxy nanocomposite was prepared by direct melt mixing with a nanoparticles content of 3% (w/v), and then mould forming in the form of rectangular samples, and used as adhesive for experimental stone samples. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to investigate the morphology of the prepared nanocomposites, and the distribution of nanoparticles inside the composites. The stability and efficiency of the prepared epoxy-nanocomposites and stone block assemblies with new formulated adhesives were tested by aging artificially the samples under different environmental conditions. The effect of incorporating clay nanoparticles on the mechanical properties of epoxy adhesives was evaluated comparatively before and after aging by measuring the tensile, compressive, and Elongation strength tests. The morphological studies revealed that the mixture process between epoxy and nanoparticles has succeeded with a relatively homogeneous morphology and good dispersion in low nano-particles loadings in epoxy matrix was obtained. The results show that the epoxy-clay nanocomposites exhibited superior tensile, compressive, and Elongation strength. Moreover, a marked improvement of the mechanical properties of stone joints increased in all states by adding nano-clay to epoxy in comparison with pure epoxy resin.

Keywords: epoxy resins, nanocomposites, clay nanoparticles, re-assembly, archaeological massive stones, mechanical properties

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Authors: Adel Yasky, Waseem Al-Talalwah, Shorok Al Dorazi, Roger Soames

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The internal pudendal artery is a standard branch of the anterior division of the internal iliac artery. The current study includes 41 cadavers to investigate the origin and branches of the internal pudendal artery and its clinical significances. The internal pudendal artery arose directly from the anterior division of the internal iliac artery in 48.3% while it arose indirectly in 48.5%. However, the internal pudendal artery arose from the posterior division of internal iliac artery in 1.6%. Moreover, it arose internal iliac artery bifurcation site in 1.6%. Further, the internal pudendal artery supplied the urinary bladder in 17.1%. Also, the internal pudendal artery supplied the rectum 33.5% respectively. It gave uterine and vaginal arteries in 9.4% and 7.8% respectively. Finally, it supplied the sciatic nerve via giving lateral sacral branch in 1.6%. Internists, surgeons and radiologists have to be aware of the variability to decrease iatrogenic injury. Therefore, unnecessary proximal ligation should be avoided at the site of indirect origin of the internal pudendal artery to prevent sciatic neuropathy. Further, intrapelvic bleeding as result of laceration of internal pudendal branches during hysterectomy, prostatectomy or proctectomy should be expected. Therefore, this study increases the awareness of surgeons leading to minimize iatrogenic faults,

Keywords: internal pudendal artery, inferior gluteal artery, superior gluteal artery, internal iliac artery, impotence, decreased libido

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Authors: Barzan Hadi Hama Karim

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The purpose of this research study is to determine how educators, students at the university level are using storytelling to support the educational process. This study provides a general framework about educational uses of storytelling as a pedagogical too to learn English language in the higher education and describes the different perceptions of people (teachers and students) at different levels. A survey is used to collect responses from a group of educators and students in educational settings to determine how they are using storytelling for educational purposes. The results show the current situation of educational uses of storytelling and explore some of the benefits and challenges educators face in implementing storytelling in their institutions. The purpose of our research is to investigate the impact of storytelling as a pedagogical tool to learn English language in higher education and its academic achievements on ESL students. It highlights findings that address the following questions: (1) How has storytelling been approached historically? (2) Is storytelling beneficial for students in early grades at university? (3) To what extent do teacher and student prefer storytelling as a pedagogical tool to teach and learn English language in higher education?

Keywords: storytelling, teacher's beliefs, student’s beliefs, student’s academic achievement, narrative, pedagogy, ESL

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Authors: S. Maddi Muhammed, Paul Davis, John Geraghty, Mabruk Derbesh

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This study discusses the probability of using electronic management in higher education institutions in Libya. This could be as sampled by creating an electronic gate at the faculties of Engineering and Computing "Information Technology" at Zaytuna University or any other university in Libya. As we all know, the competitive advantage amongst universities is based on their ability to use information technology efficiently and broadly. Universities today value information technology as part of the quality control and assurance and a ranking criterion for a range of services including e-learning and e-Registration. This could be done by developing email systems, electronic or virtual libraries, electronic cards, and other services provided to all students, faculty or staff. This paper discusses a range of important topics that explain how to apply the gate "E" with the faculties at Zaytuna University, Bani Walid colleges in Libya.

Keywords: e-management, educational institutions (EI), Libya, Zaytuna, information technology

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Authors: Romisaa Ali

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The Policy Gradient approach is one of the deep reinforcement learning families that combines deep neural networks (DNN) with reinforcement learning RL to discover the optimum of the control problem through experience gained from the interaction between the robot and its surroundings. In contrast to earlier policy gradient algorithms, which were unable to handle these two types of error because of over-or under-estimation introduced by the deep neural network model, this article will discuss the state-of-the-art SOTA policy gradient technique, trust region policy optimization (TRPO), by applying this method in various environments compared to another policy gradient method, the Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO), to explain their robust optimization, using this SOTA to gather experience data during various training phases after observing the impact of hyper-parameters on neural network performance.

Keywords: deep neural networks, deep reinforcement learning, proximal policy optimization, state-of-the-art, trust region policy optimization

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Authors: Reshu Yadav, Himanshu Joshi, S. K. Tripathi

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Fresh water is a scarce resource which is essential for humans and ecosystems, but its distribution is uneven. Agricultural production accounts for 70% of all surface water supplies. It is projected that against the expansion in the area equipped for irrigation by 0.6% per year, the global potential irrigation water demand would rise by 9.5% during 2021-25. This would, on one hand, have to compete against the sharply rising urban water demand. On the other, it would also have to face the fear of climate change, as temperatures rise and crop yields could drop from 10-30% in many large areas. The huge demand for irrigation combined with fresh water scarcity encourages to explore the reuse of wastewater as a resource. However, the use of such wastewater is often linked to the safety issues when used non judiciously or with poor safeguards while irrigating food crops. Paddy is one of the major crops globally and amongst the most important in South Asia and Africa. In many parts of the world, use of municipal wastewater has been promoted as a viable option in this regard. In developing and fast growing countries like India, regularly increasing wastewater generation rates may allow this option to be considered quite seriously. In view of this, a pilot field study was conducted at the Jagjeetpur Municipal Sewage treatment plant situated in the Haridwar town of Uttarakhand state, India. The objectives of the present study were to study the effect of treated wastewater on the production of various paddy varieties (Sharbati, PR-114, PB-1, Menaka, PB1121 and PB 1509) and emission of GHG gases (CO2, CH4 and N2O) as compared to the same varieties grown in the control plots irrigated with fresh water. Of late, the concept of water footprint assessment has emerged, which explains enumeration of various types of water footprints of an agricultural entity from its production to processing stages. Paddy, the most water demanding staple crop of Uttarakhand state, displayed a high green water footprint value of 2966.538 m3/ton. Most of the wastewater irrigated varieties displayed upto 6% increase in production, except Menaka and PB-1121, which showed a reduction in production (6% and 3% respectively), due to pest and insect infestation. The treated wastewater was observed to be rich in Nitrogen (55.94 mg/ml Nitrate), Phosphorus (54.24 mg/ml) and Potassium (9.78 mg/ml), thus rejuvenating the soil quality and not requiring any external nutritional supplements. Percentage increase of GHG gases on irrigation with treated municipal waste water as compared to control plots was observed as 0.4% - 8.6% (CH4), 1.1% - 9.2% (CO2), and 0.07% - 5.8% (N2O). The variety, Sharbati, displayed maximum production (5.5 ton/ha) and emerged as the most resistant variety against pests and insects. The emission values of CH4 ,CO2 and N2O were 729.31 mg/m2/d, 322.10 mg/m2/d and 400.21 mg/m2/d in water stagnant condition. This study highlighted a successful possibility of reuse of wastewater for non-potable purposes offering the potential for exploiting this resource that can replace or reduce existing use of fresh water sources in agricultural sector.

Keywords: greenhouse gases, nutrients, water footprint, wastewater irrigation

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Authors: Marcia J. Watson

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The “school-to-prison pipeline” is a widely known phenomenon within education. Although data surrounding this epidemic is daunting, we coin the term “school-to-postsecondary pipeline” to explore proactive strategies that are currently working in K-12 education for African American students. The assumption that high school graduation, postsecondary matriculation, and social success are not the assumed norms for African American youth, positions the term “school-to-postsecondary pipeline” as the newly casted advocacy term for African American educational success. Using secondary data from the Children’s Defense Fund and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, we examine current conditions of educational accessibility and attainment for African American students, and provide effective strategies for classroom teachers, administrators, and parents to use for the immediate implementation in schools. These strategies include: (a) engaging instruction, (b) relevant curriculum, and (c) utilizing useful enrichment and community resources. By providing proactive steps towards the school-to-postsecondary pipeline, we hope to counter the docility of the school-to-prison pipeline as the assumed reality for African American youth.

Keywords: college access, higher education, school-to-prison pipeline, urban education reform

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Authors: Nourhan G. Sahly, Ahmed Moustafa, Mohamed S. Zaghloul, Tamer Z. Salem

Abstract:

The gut microbiome plays important roles in the human body that includes but not limited to digestion, immunity, homeostasis and response to some drugs such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Its role has also been linked to radiotherapy and associated gastrointestinal injuries, where the microbial dysbiosis could be the driving force for dose determination or the complete suspension of the treatment protocol. Linking the gut microbiota alterations to different cancer treatment protocols is not easy especially in humans. However, enormous effort was exerted to understand this complex relationship. In the current study, we described the gut microbiota dysbiosis in pediatric sarcoma patients, in the pelvic region, with regards to radiotherapy and antibiotics. Fecal samples were collected as a source of microbial DNA for which the gene encoding for V3-V5 regions of 16S rRNA was sequenced. Two of the three patients understudy had experienced an increase in alpha diversity post exposure to 50.4 Gy. Although phylum Firmicutes overall relative abundance has generally decreased, six of its taxa increased in all patients. Our results may indicate the possibility of radiosensitivity or enrichment of the antibiotic resistance of the elevated taxa. Further studies are needed to describe the extent of radiosensitivity with regards to antibiotic resistance.

Keywords: combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy, gut microbiome, pediatric cancer, radiosensitivity

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Authors: Daniel Gredig, Annabelle Bartelsen-Raemy

Abstract:

Social work professionals should underpin their decisions with scientific knowledge and research findings. Hence, research is used as a framework for social work education and research courses have become a taken-for-granted component of study programmes. However, it has been acknowledged that social work students have negative beliefs and attitudes as well as frequently feelings of fear of research courses. Against this background, the present study aimed to establish the relationship between student’s fear of research courses, their research orientation and interest in research courses. We hypothesized that fear predicts the interest in research courses. Further, we hypothesized that research orientation (perceived importance and attributed usefulness for research for social work practice and perceived unbiased nature of research) was a mediating variable. In the years 2014, 2015 and 2016, we invited students enrolled for a bachelor programme in social work in Switzerland to participate in the study during their introduction day to the school taking place two weeks before their programme started. For data collection, we used an anonymous self-administered on-line questionnaire filled in on site. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling (generalized least squares estimates method). The sample included 708 students enrolled in a social work bachelor-programme, 501 being female, 184 male, and 5 intersexual, aged 19–56, having various entitlements to study, and registered for three different types of programme modes (full time programme; part time study with field placements in blocks; part time study involving concurrent field placement). Analysis showed that the interest in research courses was predicted by fear of research courses (β = -0.29) as well as by the perceived importance (β = 0.27), attributed usefulness of research (β = 0.15) and perceived unbiased nature of research (β = 0.08). These variables were predicted, in turn, by fear of research courses (β = -0.10, β = -0.23, and β = -0.13). Moreover, interest was predicted by age (β = 0.13). Fear of research courses was predicted by age (β = -0.10) female gender (β = 0.28) and having completed a general baccalaureate (β = -0.09). (GFI = 0.997, AGFI = 0.988, SRMR = 0.016, CMIN/df = 0.946, adj. R2 = 0.312). Findings evidence a direct as well as a mediated impact of fear on the interest in research courses in entering first-year students in a social work bachelor-programme. It highlights one of the challenges social work education in a research framework has to meet with. It seems, there have been considerable efforts to address the research orientation of students. However, these findings point out that, additionally, research anxiety in terms of fear of research courses should be considered and addressed by teachers when conceptualizing research courses.

Keywords: research anxiety, research courses, research interest, research orientation, social work students, teaching

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Authors: Chia-Jui Yu, Chien-Ju Chen, Jyun-Hao Liao, Chia-Ching Wu, Meng-Chyi Wu

Abstract:

In this letter, we demonstrate high-performance AlGaN/GaN planar Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) on the silicon substrate with field plate structure for increasing breakdown voltage V_B. A low turn-on resistance R_ON (3.55 mΩ-cm²), low reverse leakage current (< 0.1 µA) at -100 V, and high reverse breakdown voltage V_B (> 1.1 kV) SBD has been fabricated. A virgin SBD exhibited a breakdown voltage (measured at 1 mA/mm) of 615 V, and with the field plate technology device exhibited a breakdown voltage (measured at 1 mA/mm) of 1525 V (the anode–cathode distance was L_AC = 40 µm). Devices without the field plate design exhibit a Baliga’s figure of merit of V_B²/ R_ON = 60.2 MW/cm², whereas devices with the field plate design show a Baliga’s figure of merit of V_B²/ R_ON = 340.9 MW/cm² (the anode–cathode distance was L_AC = 20 µm).

Keywords: AlGaN/GaN heterostructure, silicon substrate, Schottky barrier diode (SBD), high breakdown voltage, Baliga’s figure-of-merit, field plate

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Authors: Zumra Mehmedovic, Susan Luhrmann

Abstract:

Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is a debilitating mental health disorder for which there are very few available treatment options. Current research suggests that ketamine may be a safe and effective option for the treatment of TRD. Research utilizing a review of the literature was conducted to determine if ketamine in conjunction with antidepressants is more effective than antidepressants alone in the treatment of TRD. The literature consists of ten journal articles which include quantitative studies based on primary research. A critique of the literature was done to determine whether the findings are reliable, critiquing elements influencing the believability and robustness of the research. The research was based on the neuroplasticity theory of depression, hypothesizing that ketamine, in conjunction with antidepressants, will be more effective than antidepressants alone as they have different mechanisms of action. All the studies except one found ketamine in conjunction with antidepressants to be a more effective treatment than antidepressants alone in the treatment of TRD. Results of the studies indicate that ketamine is effective in treating TRD at various doses, settings, and routes of administration. Further research is necessary, though, to further explore and confirm the findings. Several gaps in literature were identified, including the optimal dose of ketamine, its long-term efficacy and safety, and effects of ketamine in repeated doses. The research topic is highly significant to advanced practice nursing, as based on the findings, ketamine can be utilized as a safe and effective treatment for TRD.

Keywords: ketamine, major depressive disorder, treatment-resistant depression, treatment

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Authors: Seyoung Kim, Jeongmin Kim, Kwang Ryel Ryu

Abstract:

A database that records average traffic speeds measured at five-minute intervals for all the links in the traffic network of a metropolitan city. While learning from this data the models that can predict future traffic speed would be beneficial for the applications such as the car navigation system, building predictive models for every link becomes a nontrivial job if the number of links in a given network is huge. An advantage of adopting k-nearest neighbor (k-NN) as predictive models is that it does not require any explicit model building. Instead, k-NN takes a long time to make a prediction because it needs to search for the k-nearest neighbors in the database at prediction time. In this paper, we investigate how much we can speed up k-NN in making traffic speed predictions by reducing the amount of data to be searched for without a significant sacrifice of prediction accuracy. The rationale behind this is that we had a better look at only the recent data because the traffic patterns not only repeat daily or weekly but also change over time. In our experiments, we build several different k-NN models employing different sets of features which are the current and past traffic speeds of the target link and the neighbor links in its up/down-stream. The performances of these models are compared by measuring the average prediction accuracy and the average time taken to make a prediction using various amounts of data.

Keywords: big data, k-NN, machine learning, traffic speed prediction

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: A. Hadjadj, S. Maamir

Abstract:

Since the advent of the law 86/14 concerning the
exploitation of the national territory by foreign companies in
partnership with the Algerian oil and gas company, the problem of
hydrocarbons metering in the sharing production come out.
More generally, good management counting hydrocarbons can
provide data on the production wells, the field and the reservoir for
medium and long term planning, particularly in the context of the
management and field development.
In this work, we are interested in the transactional metering which
is a very delicate and crucial period in the current context of the new
hydrocarbon’s law characterized by assets system between the
various activities of Sonatrach and its foreign partners.
After a state of the art on hydrocarbons metering devices in
Algeria and elsewhere, we will decline the advantages and
disadvantages of each system, and then we describe the problem to
try to reach an optimal solution.

Keywords: transactional metering, flowmeter orifice, heat flow, Sonatrach

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Authors: F. R. Chen, C. Kisielowski, D. Van Dyck

Abstract:

In principle, the latest generation aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) could achieve sub-Å resolution, but there is bottleneck that hinders the final step towards revealing 3D structure. Firstly, in order to achieve a resolution around 1 Å with single atom sensitivity, the electron dose rate needs to be sufficiently large (10⁴-10⁵eÅ⁻² s⁻¹). With such large dose rate, the electron beam can induce surfaces alterations or even bulk modifications, in particular, for electron beam sensitive (soft) materials such as nm size particles, organic materials, proteins or macro-molecules. We will demonstrate methodology of low dose electron holography for observing 3D structure for soft materials such as single Oleic acid molecules at atomic resolution. The main improvement of this new type of electron holography is based on two concepts. Firstly, the total electron dose is distributed over many images obtained at different defocus values from which the electron hologram is then reconstructed. Secondly, in contrast to the current tomographic methods that require projections from several directions, the 3D structural information of the nano-object is then extracted from this one hologram obtained from only one viewing direction.

Keywords: low dose electron microscopy, in-line electron holography, atomic resolution tomography, soft materials

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Authors: Kashif Jabbar

Abstract:

Milk adulteration is a global concern, and the current study was plan to synthesize Selenium nanoparticles by green method using plant extract of garlic, Allium Sativum, and to characterize Selenium nanoparticles through different analytical techniques and to apply Selenium nanoparticles as fast and easy technique for the detection of salicylic acid in milk. The highly selective, sensitive, and quick interference green synthesis-based sensing of possible milk adulterants i.e., salicylic acid, has been reported here. Salicylic acid interacts with nanoparticles through strong bonding interactions, hence resulting in an interruption within the formation of selenium nanoparticles which is confirmed by UV-VIS spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and x-ray diffraction. This interaction in the synthesis of nanoparticles resulted in transmittance wavelength that decrease with the increasing amount of salicylic acid, showing strong binding of selenium nanoparticles with adulterant, thereby permitting in-situ fast detection of salicylic acid from milk having a limit of detection at 10-3 mol and linear coefficient correlation of 0.9907. Conclusively, it can be draw that colloidal selenium could be synthesize successfully by garlic extract in order to serve as a probe for fast and cheap testing of milk adulteration.

Keywords: adulteration, green synthesis, selenium nanoparticles, salicylic acid, aggregation

Procedia PDF Downloads 88