Search results for: quality of communication

Authors: Maria Evnevich

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In modern conditions, in most markets, price competition is becoming less effective. On the one hand, there is a gradual decrease in the level of marginality in main traditional sectors of the economy, so further price reduction becomes too ‘expensive’ for the company. On the other hand, the effect of price reduction is leveled, and the reason for this phenomenon is likely to be informational. As a result, it turns out that even if the company reduces prices, making its products more accessible to the buyer, there is a high probability that this will not lead to increase in sales unless additional large-scale advertising and information campaigns are conducted. Similarly, a large-scale information and advertising campaign have a much greater effect itself than price reductions. At the same time, the cost of mass informing is growing every year, especially when using the main information channels. The article presents generalization, systematization and development of theoretical approaches and best practices in the field of customer focus approach to business management and in the field of relationship marketing in the modern digital economy. The research methodology is based on the synthesis and content-analysis of sociological and marketing research and on the study of the systems of working with consumer appeals and loyalty programs in the 50 largest client-oriented companies in Russia. Also, the analysis of internal documentation on customers’ purchases in one of the largest retail companies in Russia allowed to identify if buyers prefer to buy goods for complex purchases in one retail store with the best price image for them. The cost of attracting a new client is now quite high and continues to grow, so it becomes more important to keep him and increase the involvement through marketing tools. A huge role is played by modern digital technologies used both in advertising (e-mailing, SEO, contextual advertising, banner advertising, SMM, etc.) and in service. To implement the above-described client-oriented omnichannel service, it is necessary to identify the client and work with personal data provided when filling in the loyalty program application form. The analysis of loyalty programs of 50 companies identified the following types of cards: discount cards, bonus cards, mixed cards, coalition loyalty cards, bank loyalty programs, aviation loyalty programs, hybrid loyalty cards, situational loyalty cards. The use of loyalty cards allows not only to stimulate the customer to purchase ‘untargeted’, but also to provide individualized offers, as well as to produce more targeted information. The development of digital technologies and modern means of communication has significantly changed not only the sphere of marketing and promotion, but also the economic landscape as a whole. Factors of competitiveness are the digital opportunities of companies in the field of customer orientation: personalization of service, customization of advertising offers, optimization of marketing activity and improvement of logistics.

Keywords: customer focus, digital economy, loyalty program, relationship marketing

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Authors: Gina M. Newton

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Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) is the premiere, national law under which species and 'ecological communities' (i.e., like ecosystems) can be formally recognised and 'listed' as threatened across all jurisdictions. The listing process involves assessment against a range of criteria (similar to the IUCN process) to demonstrate conservation status (i.e., vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered, etc.) based on the best available science. Over the past decade in Australia, there’s been a transition from almost solely terrestrial to the first aquatic threatened ecological community (TEC or ecosystem) listings (e.g., River Murray, Macquarie Marshes, Coastal Saltmarsh, Salt-wedge Estuaries). All constitute large areas, with some including multiple state jurisdictions. Development of these conservation and listing advices has enabled, for the first time, a more forensic analysis of three key factors across a range of aquatic and coastal ecosystems: -the contribution of invasive species to conservation status, -how to demonstrate and attribute decline in 'ecological integrity' to conservation status, and, -identification of related priority conservation actions for management. There is increasing global recognition of the disproportionate degree of biodiversity loss within aquatic ecosystems. In Australia, legislative protection at Commonwealth or State levels remains one of the strongest conservation measures. Such laws have associated compliance mechanisms for breaches to the protected status. They also trigger the need for environment impact statements during applications for major developments (which may be denied). However, not all jurisdictions have such laws in place. There remains much opposition to the listing of freshwater systems – for example, the River Murray (Australia's largest river) and Macquarie Marshes (an internationally significant wetland) were both disallowed by parliament four months after formal listing. This was mainly due to a change of government, dissent from a major industry sector, and a 'loophole' in the law. In Australia, at least in the immediate to medium-term time frames, invasive species (aliens, native pests, pathogens, etc.) appear to be the number one biotic threat to the biodiversity and ecological function and integrity of our aquatic ecosystems. Consequently, this should be considered a current priority for research, conservation, and management actions. Another key outcome from this analysis was the recognition that drawing together multiple lines of evidence to form a 'conservation narrative' is a more useful approach to assigning conservation status. This also helps to addresses a glaring gap in long-term ecological data sets in Australia, which often precludes a more empirical data-driven approach. An important lesson also emerged – the recognition that while conservation must be underpinned by the best available scientific evidence, it remains a 'social and policy' goal rather than a 'scientific' goal. Communication, engagement, and 'politics' necessarily play a significant role in achieving conservation goals and need to be managed and resourced accordingly.

Keywords: aquatic ecosystem conservation, conservation law, ecological integrity, invasive species

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Authors: Nadia E. Christiana, Azzahra A. N. Ginting, Ardhito Nurcahya, Havisa P. Novira

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One of the quickest ways to do a short trip in urban areas is by walking, either individually, in couple or groups. Walkability nowadays becomes one of the parameters to measure the quality of an urban neighborhood. As a Central Business District and public transport transit hub, Dukuh Atas area becomes one of the highest numbers of commuters that pass by the area and interchange between transportation modes daily. Thus, as a public transport hub, a lot of investment should be focused to speed up the development of the area that would support urban transit activity between transportation modes, one of them is revitalizing pedestrian walkways. The purpose of this research is to formulate the visual design concept of 'Walkable City' based on the results of the observation and a series of rankings. To achieve this objective, it is necessary to accomplish several stages of the research that consists of (1) Identifying the system of pedestrian paths in Dukuh Atas area using descriptive qualitative method (2) Analyzing the sidewalk walkability rate according to the perception and the walkability satisfaction rate using the characteristics of pedestrians and non-pedestrians in Dukuh Atas area by using Global Walkability Index analysis and Multicriteria Satisfaction Analysis (3) Analyzing the factors that determine the integration of pedestrian walkways in Dukuh Atas area using descriptive qualitative method. The results achieved in this study is that the walkability level of Dukuh Atas corridor area is 44.45 where the value is included in the classification of 25-49, which is a bit of facility that can be reached by foot. Furthermore, based on the questionnaire, satisfaction rate of pedestrian walkway in Dukuh Atas area reached a number of 64%. It is concluded that commuters have not been fully satisfied with the condition of the sidewalk. Besides, the factors that influence the integration in Dukuh Atas area have been reasonable as it is supported by the utilization of land and modes such as KRL, Busway, and MRT. From the results of all analyzes conducted, the visual design and the application of the concept of walkable city along the pathway pedestrian corridor of Dukuh Atas area are formulated. Achievement of the results of this study amounted to 80% which needs to be done further review of the results of the analysis. The work of this research is expected to be a recommendation or input for the government in the development of pedestrian paths in maximizing the use of public transportation modes.

Keywords: design, global walkability index, mass rapid transit, walkable city

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Authors: Rita Chattopadhyay, Vivek Anand Thoutam

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Speech is the most acceptable means of communication where we can quickly exchange our feelings and thoughts. Quite often, people can communicate orally but cannot interact or work with computers or devices. It’s easy and quick to give speech commands than typing commands to computers. In the same way, it’s easy listening to audio played from a device than extract output from computers or devices. Especially with Robotics being an emerging market with applications in warehouses, the hospitality industry, consumer electronics, assistive technology, etc., speech-based human-machine interaction is emerging as a lucrative feature for robot manufacturers. Considering this factor, the objective of this paper is to design the “Audio-Visual Co-Data Processing Pipeline.” This pipeline is an integrated version of Automatic speech recognition, a Natural language model for text understanding, object detection, and text-to-speech modules. There are many Deep Learning models for each type of the modules mentioned above, but OpenVINO Model Zoo models are used because the OpenVINO toolkit covers both computer vision and non-computer vision workloads across Intel hardware and maximizes performance, and accelerates application development. A speech command is given as input that has information about target objects to be detected and start and end times to extract the required interval from the video. Speech is converted to text using the Automatic speech recognition QuartzNet model. The summary is extracted from text using a natural language model Generative Pre-Trained Transformer-3 (GPT-3). Based on the summary, essential frames from the video are extracted, and the You Only Look Once (YOLO) object detection model detects You Only Look Once (YOLO) objects on these extracted frames. Frame numbers that have target objects (specified objects in the speech command) are saved as text. Finally, this text (frame numbers) is converted to speech using text to speech model and will be played from the device. This project is developed for 80 You Only Look Once (YOLO) labels, and the user can extract frames based on only one or two target labels. This pipeline can be extended for more than two target labels easily by making appropriate changes in the object detection module. This project is developed for four different speech command formats by including sample examples in the prompt used by Generative Pre-Trained Transformer-3 (GPT-3) model. Based on user preference, one can come up with a new speech command format by including some examples of the respective format in the prompt used by the Generative Pre-Trained Transformer-3 (GPT-3) model. This pipeline can be used in many projects like human-machine interface, human-robot interaction, and surveillance through speech commands. All object detection projects can be upgraded using this pipeline so that one can give speech commands and output is played from the device.

Keywords: OpenVINO, automatic speech recognition, natural language processing, object detection, text to speech

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Authors: E. N. Jansen van Vuuren

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When visiting Foundation Phase (FP) students during their Teaching Practice at schools in rural Mpumalanga, the lack of music education is evident through the absence of musical sounds, with the exception of a limited repertoire of songs that are sung by all classes everywhere you go. The absence of music teaching resources such as posters and music instruments add to the perception that generalist teachers in the FP are not teaching music. Pre-service students also acknowledge that they have never seen a music class being taught during their teaching practice visits at schools. This lack of music mentoring impacts the quality of teachers who are about to enter the workforce and ultimately results in the perpetuation of no music education in many rural schools. The situation in more affluent schools present a contrasting picture with music education being given a high priority and generalist teachers often being supported by music specialists, paid for by the parents. When student teachers start their music course, they have limited knowledge to use as a foundation for their studies. The aim of the study was to ascertain the music knowledge that students gained throughout their school careers so that the curriculum could be adapted to suit their needs. By knowing exactly what pre-service teachers know about music, the limited tuition time at tertiary level can be used in the most suitable manner and concentrate on filling the knowledge gaps. Many scholars write about the decline of music education in South African schools and mention reasons, but the exact music knowledge void amongst students does not feature in the studies. Knowing the parameters of students’ music knowledge will empower lecturers to restructure their curricula to meet the needs of pre-service students. The research question asks, “what is the extent of the music void amongst rural pre-service teachers in a B.Ed. FP course at an African university?” This action research was done using a pragmatic paradigm and mixed methodology. First year students in the cohort studying for a B.Ed. in FP were requested to complete an online baseline assessment to determine the status quo. This assessment was compiled using the CAPS music content for Grade R to 9. The data was sorted using the elements of music as a framework. Findings indicate that students do not have a suitable foundation in music education despite supposedly having had music tuition from grade R to grade 9. Knowing the content required to fill the lack of knowledge provides academics with valuable information to amend their curricula and to ensure that future teachers will be able to provide rural learners with the same foundations in music as those received by learners in more affluent schools. It is only then that the rich music culture of the African continent will thrive.

Keywords: generalist educators, music education, music curriculum, pre-service teachers

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Authors: Lawrence Gumbe

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Kenya Vision 2030 is the country's programme for transformation covering the period 2008 to 2030. Its objective is to help transform Kenya into a newly industrializing, middle-income, exceeding US$10000, country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens by 2030, in a clean and secure environment. Increased agricultural and production and productivity is crucial for the realization of Vision 2030. Mechanization of agriculture in order to achieve greater yields is the only way to achieve these objectives. There are contending groups and views on the strategy for agricultural mechanization. The first group are those who oppose the widespread adoption of advanced technologies (mostly internal combustion engines and tractors) in agricultural mechanization as entirely inappropriate in most situations in developing countries. This group argues that mechanically powered -agricultural mechanization often leads to displacement of labour and hence increased unemployment, and this results in a host of other socio-economic problems, amongst them, rural-urban migration, inequitable distribution of wealth and in many cases an increase in absolute poverty, balance of payments due to the need to import machinery, fuel and sometimes technical assistance to manage them. The second group comprises of those who view the use of the improved hand tools and animal powered technology as transitional step between the most rudimentary step in technological development (characterized by entire reliance on human muscle power) and the advanced technologies (characterized 'by reliance on tractors and other machinery). The third group comprises those who regard these intermediate technologies (ie. improved hand tools and draught animal technology in agriculture) as a ‘delaying’ tactic and they advocate the use of mechanical technologies as-the most appropriate. This group argues that alternatives to the mechanical technologies do not just exist as a practical matter, or, if they are available, they are inefficient and they cannot be compared to the mechanical technologies in terms of economics and productivity. The fourth group advocates a compromise between groups two and third above. This group views the improved hand tools and draught animal technology as more of an 18th century technology and the modem tractor and combine harvester as too advanced for developing countries. This group has been busy designing an ‘intermediate’, ‘appropriate’, ‘mini’, ‘micro’ tractor for use by farmers in developing countries. This paper analyses and concludes on the different agricultural mechanization strategies available to Kenya and other third world countries

Keywords: agriculture, mechanazation, transformation, industrialization

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Authors: D. Bjelica, T. Slavinski, V. Vukimrovic, D. Pavlovic, D. Bodroza, V. Dabetic

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Traditional methods and techniques used in higher education may be significantly persuasive on the university students' perception about quality of the teaching process. Students’ satisfaction with the university experience may be affected by chosen educational approaches. Contemporary project management trends recognize agile approaches' beneficial, so modern practice highlights their usage, especially in the IT industry. A key research question concerns the possibility of applying agile methods in youth education. As agile methodology pinpoint iteratively-incremental delivery of results, its employment could be remarkably fruitful in education. This paper demonstrates the agile concept's application in the university students’ education through the continuous delivery of student solutions. Therefore, based on the fundamental values and principles of the agile manifest, paper will analyze students' performance and learned lessons in their encounter with the agile environment. The research is based on qualitative and quantitative analysis that includes sprints, as preparation and realization of student tasks in shorter iterations. Consequently, the performance of student teams will be monitored through iterations, as well as the process of adaptive planning and realization. Grounded theory methodology has been used in this research, as so as descriptive statistics and Man Whitney and Kruskal Wallis test for group comparison. Developed constructs of the model will be showcase through qualitative research, then validated through a pilot survey, and eventually tested as a concept in the final survey. The paper highlights the variability of educational curricula based on university students' feedbacks, which will be collected at the end of every sprint and indicates to university students' satisfaction inconsistency according to approaches applied in education. Values delivered by the lecturers will also be continuously monitored; thus, it will be prioritizing in order to students' requests. Minimal viable product, as the early delivery of results, will be particularly emphasized in the implementation process. The paper offers both theoretical and practical implications. This research contains exceptional lessons that may be applicable by educational institutions in curriculum creation processes, or by lecturers in curriculum design and teaching. On the other hand, they can be beneficial regarding university students' satisfaction increscent in respect of teaching styles, gained knowledge, or even educational content.

Keywords: academic performances, agile, high education, university students' satisfaction

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Authors: Jeff Moussodji, Dominique Drouin

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The highly complex technology requirements of today’s integrated circuits (ICs), lead to the increased use of several materials types such as metal structures, brittle and porous low-k materials which are used in both front end of line (FEOL) and back end of line (BEOL) process for wafer manufacturing. In order to singulate chip from wafer, a critical laser-grooving process, prior to blade dicing, is used to remove these layers of materials out of the dicing street. The combination of laser-grooving and blade dicing allows to reduce the potential risk of induced mechanical defects such micro-cracks, chipping, on the wafer top surface where circuitry is located. It seems, therefore, essential to have a fundamental understanding of the physics involving laser-dicing in order to maximize control of these critical process and reduce their undesirable effects on process efficiency, quality, and reliability. In this paper, the study was based on the convergence of two approaches, numerical and experimental studies which allowed us to investigate the interaction of a nanosecond pulsed laser and BEOL wafer materials. To evaluate this interaction, several laser grooved samples were compared with finite element modeling, in which three different aspects; phase change, thermo-mechanical and optic sensitive parameters were considered. The mathematical model makes it possible to highlight a groove profile (depth, width, etc.) of a single pulse or multi-pulses on BEOL wafer material. Moreover, the heat affected zone, and thermo-mechanical stress can be also predicted as a function of laser operating parameters (power, frequency, spot size, defocus, speed, etc.). After modeling validation and calibration, a satisfying correlation between experiment and modeling, results have been observed in terms of groove depth, width and heat affected zone. The study proposed in this work is a first step toward implementing a quick assessment tool for design and debug of multiple laser grooving conditions with limited experiments on hardware in industrial application. More correlations and validation tests are in progress and will be included in the full paper.

Keywords: laser-dicing, nano-second pulsed laser, wafer multi-stack, multiphysics modeling

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Authors: Tsao Jui-Jung

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Previous research findings have shown that most students do not fully utilize the written corrective feedback provided by teachers (Stone, 2014). This common phenomenon results in the ineffective utilization of teachers' written corrective feedback. As Ellis (2010) points out, the effectiveness of written corrective feedback depends on the level of student engagement with it. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how students utilize the written corrective feedback from their teachers. Previous studies have confirmed the positive impact of teacher-student writing conferences on students' engagement in the writing process and their writing abilities (Hum, 2021; Nosratinia & Nikpanjeh, 2019; Wong, 1996; Yeh, 2016, 2019). However, due to practical constraints such as time limitations, this instructional activity is not fully utilized in writing classrooms (Alfalagg, 2020). Therefore, to address this research gap, the purpose of this study was to explore several aspects of teacher-student writing conferences, including the frequency of meaning negotiation (i.e., comprehension checks, confirmation checks, and clarification checks) and teacher scaffolding techniques (i.e., feedback, prompts, guidance, explanations, and demonstrations) in teacher-student writing conferences, examining students’ self-assessment of their writing strengths and weaknesses in post-conference journals and their experiences with teacher-student writing conferences (i.e., interaction styles, communication levels, how teachers addressed errors, and overall perspectives on the conferences), and gathering insights from their responses to open-ended questions in the final stage of the study (i.e., their preferences and reasons for different written corrective feedback techniques used by teachers and their perspectives and suggestions on teacher-student writing conferences). Data collection methods included transcripts of audio recordings of teacher-student writing conferences, students’ post-conference journals, and open-ended questionnaires. The participants of this study were sophomore students enrolled in an English writing course for a duration of one school year. Key research findings are as follows: Firstly, in terms of meaning negotiation, students attempted to clearly understand the corrective feedback provided by the teacher-researcher twice as often as the teacher-researcher attempted to clearly understand the students' writing content. Secondly, the most commonly used scaffolding technique in the conferences was prompting (indirect feedback). Thirdly, the majority of participants believed that teacher-student writing conferences had a positive impact on their writing abilities. Fourthly, most students preferred direct feedback from the teacher-research as it directly pointed out their errors and saved them time in revision. However, some students still preferred indirect feedback, as they believed it encouraged them to think and self-correct. Based on the research findings, this study proposes effective teaching recommendations for English writing instruction aimed at optimizing teaching strategies and enhancing students' writing abilities.

Keywords: written corrective feedback, student engagement, teacher-student writing conferences, action research

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Authors: Ashraf Samir Hakim, Randa Mohamed Alarousy

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The consumption of food contaminated with molds (microscopic filamentous fungi) and their toxic metabolites results in the development of food-borne mycotoxicosis. The spores of molds are ubiquitously spread in the environment and can be detected everywhere. Ochratoxin A is a potentially carcinogenic fungal toxin found in a variety of food commodities , not only is considered the most abundant and hence the most commonly detected member but also is the most toxic one.Ochratoxin A is the most abundant and hence the most commonly detected member, but is also the most toxic of the three. A very limited research works concerning foods of porcine origin in Egypt were obtained in spite of presence a considerable swine population and consumers. In this study, the quality of various ready-to-eat local and imported pork meat and meat byproducts sold in Egyptian markets as well as edible organs as liver and kidney were assessed for the presence of various molds and their toxins as a raw material. Mycological analysis was conducted on (n=110) samples which included pig livers n=10 and kidneys n=10 from the Basateen slaughter house; local n=70 and 20 imported processed pork meat byproducts.The isolates were identified using traditional mycological and biochemical tests while, Ochratoxin A levels were quantitatively analyzed using the high performance liquid. Results of conventional mycological tests for detecting the presence of fungal growth (yeasts or molds) were negative, while the results of mycotoxins concentrations were be greatly above the permiceable limits or "tolerable weekly intake" (TWI) of ochratoxin A established by EFSA in 2006 in local pork and pork byproducts while the imported samples showed a very slightly increasing.Since ochratoxin A is stable and generally resistant to heat and processing, control of ochratoxin A contamination lies in the control of the growth of the toxin-producing fungi. Effective prevention of ochratoxin A contamination therefore depends on good farming and agricultural practices. Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) including methods to reduce fungal infection and growth during harvest, storage, transport and processing provide the primary line of defense against contamination with ochratoxin A. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of mycological assessment, especially the mycotoxins in pork byproducts in Egypt.

Keywords: Egyptian markets, mycotoxicosis, ochratoxin A, pork meat, pork by-products

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Authors: Folorunsho J. O., Umar M. A.

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Access to potable water supply in both the rural and urban regions of the world has been neglected, and this has severely affected man and the aesthetics of the natural environment of man. This has further worsened the issue of diseases prevalence. This study considered the effects of inadequate domestic water supply on human health in selected neighbourhoods of Lokoja. The study used descriptive statistics such as relative frequencies, percentages and inferential statistics to analyse the data obtained through the use of structured questionnaire. The results revealed that the females and male constituted 56% and 44% of the respondents respectively; 62% of the respondents married and 32% are unmarried; respondents between ages 31 and 40 years constitute majority of the study population, while respondents with tertiary education constituted 35%, and those with secondary education were 32% of the total respondents. Furthermore, civil servants constituted 40% and unemployed 16% of the total respondents. In terms of monthly income, 40% of the respondents was found to earn between ₦31,000 - 40,000 monthly. On the perception of households on the availability and adequacy of domestic water supply, the study revealed that 64.7% of the respondents have pipe-borne water as their main source of water supply, with only 28.5% out of the 64.7% have pipe-borne water supply daily. On the relationship between water supply characteristics and health status among households, the result shows that 76% of the respondents perceived a strong relationship between water supply and health status. Cumulatively, 67% of the respondents confirm that both the quality and quantity of water supplied play a critical role in determining health status of residents of the study area. The respondents also reported skin diseases (96%), diarrhoea (96%), malaria (91%), cholera (67%), dysentery (67%), and respiratory diseases (67%) as the most perceived and experienced in the area, the disease rate in the prevalence order of malaria (81%), diarrhoea (61%), skin diseases (58%), cholera (34%), dysentery (31%) and respiratory disease (14%) respectively. Finally, the results further showed how households cope with inadequate water supply with 52% of the respondents confirm that they regularly treat their water before it was deployed for domestic uses, while 35%, 26%, 25%, 10% and 4% of the 52% respectively, adopted boiling, addition of alums, filtering with fabrics, chlorination and bleaching as the preferred treatment methods. The study thus recommended policy options that will aggressively launch adequate potable water supply infrastructure in the study area.Keywords: Potable Water, Supply, Human Health, Perception, Chlorination

Keywords: potable water, human health, perception, chlorination

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Authors: Mark Anthony Burdeos, Kara Ella Catoto, Alraine Pauyon, Elesar Malicoban

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This study sought to develop, validate, and implement the WebQuest and Online Treasure Hunt as instructional materials in teaching Motion in One Dimension for Grade 7 students and to determine its effects on the students’ conceptual learning, performance and attitude towards Physics. In the development stage, several steps were taken, such as the actual planning and developing the WebQuest and Online Treasure Hunt and making the lesson plan and achievement test. The content and the ICT(Information Communications Technology) effect of the developed instructional materials were evaluated by the Content and ICT experts using adapted evaluation forms. During the implementation, pretest and posttest were administered to determine students’ performance, and pre-attitude and post-attitude tests to investigate students’ attitudes towards Physics before and after the WebQuest and Online Treasure Hunt activity. The developed WebQuest and Online Treasure Hunt passed the validation of Content experts and ICT experts. Students acquired more knowledge on Motion in One Dimension and gained a positive attitude towards Physics after the utilization of WebQuest and Online Treasure Hunt, evidenced significantly higher scores in posttest compared to pretest and higher ratings in post-attitude than pre-attitude. The developed WebQuest and Online Treasure Hunt were proven good in quality and effective materials in teaching Motion in One Dimension and developing a positive attitude towards Physics. However, students performed better in the pretest and posttest and rated higher in the pre-attitude and post-attitude tests in the WebQuest than in the Online Treasure Hunt. This study would provide significant learning experiences to the students that would be useful in building their knowledge, in understanding concepts in a most understandable way, in exercising to use their higher-order thinking skills, and in utilizing their capabilities and abilities to relate Physics topics to real-life situations thereby, students can have in-depth learning about Motion in One Dimension. This study would help teachers to enhance the teaching strategies as the two instructional materials provide interesting, engaging, and innovative teaching-learning experiences for the learners, which are helpful in increasing the level of their motivation and participation in learning Physics. In addition, it would provide information as a reference in using technology in the classroom and to determine which of the two instructional materials, WebQuest and Online Treasure Hunt, is suitable for the teaching-learning process in Motion in One Dimension.

Keywords: ICT integration, motion in one dimension, online treasure hunt, Webquest

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Authors: Naira Hakobyan, Shant Bagratyan

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This paper explores the phenomenon of management of innovations from the standpoint of work motivation. The main purpose of the theoretical research is to reveal the role of management of innovations to overcome the destructive work motivation and anomie. Systematization of the theoretical approaches and the literary sources indicates connections between destructive forms of work motivation and anomie. These connections allow an understanding of the role of innovations dedicated to decrease the motivational destructiveness of the employees. It is important to note that, in general, the presence of destructive motivation among employees can lead to work anomie. At the same time, issues related to the influence of destructive motivation on innovative processes in the management of an organization are not sufficiently studied. Exploring the factors leading to destructive work motivation and anomie manages toolkit and innovative ways of solution of the motivational destructiveness. The relevance of this scientific issue is that motivational destructiveness and work anomie are widespread phenomena in modern society. It means that previous forms of management become unusable and the way to introduce the innovations seems unclear for the employees. Investigation of the phenomenon of management of innovations is carried out in the following logical sequence: firstly, the issues of destructive work motivation and leadership are considered, and then the key points of work anomie are presented. Finally, there are explored the modern trends in the management of innovations aimed at overcoming motivational destructiveness and work anomie. The issue of management of innovations is explored by two levels: external-social and internal-organizational levels. Considering the phenomenon of management of innovations, the motivational role of the innovations is emphasized. The object of the research is the phenomenon of management of innovations in the context of overcoming motivational and anomic destructiveness. The paper presents the results of the theoretical analysis of the main factors of destructive motivation and work anomie among employees: an excessive dependence of employees on the manager, ignorance of one’s own work functions or unreasonable change by the manager, prevalence of formalism in assessing work comparing with the content and quality of work, lack of adaptive interaction among employees and low self-esteem of work activity. The paper theoretically proves that unclearly formulated innovative strategies for the development of the organization, lack of feedback from the manager to employees regarding the discussion of innovative technologies, non-compliance of working conditions with declared norms and standards, and formalism in management of innovations lead to destructiveness in a management system. The results of the research can be useful for managers, sociologists, economists, and psychologists.

Keywords: management of innovations, destructive motivation, work anomie, leadership, workaholism

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Authors: Rania S. Hussein

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This research mainly focuses on examining engagement in social media brand communities. Engagement in social media has become a main focus in literature affirming that the role of social media in our daily lives is growing. (Akman and Mishra, 2017;Prado-Gascó et al., 2017). Social media has also become a key medium for brand communication and brand building relationships(Frimpong and McLean,2018;Dimitriu and Guesalaga, 2017). Engagement on social media has become a main focus of many researchers who tried to understand this concept further and draw a link between engagement and various social media activities (Cvijikj and Michahelles;2013), Andre,2015; Wang et al., 2015). According to Felix et al. (2017), the internet and social media have provided better digital resources to improve brand loyalty and customer interactions, thus leading to social media engagement within brand communities. The aim of this research is to highlight the importance of social media and why it is important to maintain engagement within social media. While the term ‘engagement’ is widely used in scholarly literature, there isn’t a common consensus about what the term exactly entails, according to Kidd, (2011). On one hand, it was seen as something that includes factors such as participation, activation, empowerment, devotion, trust, and productivity (Zhang et al, andBenyoucef, M. (2016), ). Other scholars held different viewpoints. For example, Lim et al. (2015) has chosen to break down engagement into three types: operational engagement, emotional engagement, and relational engagement. Chandler and Lusch (2015) further studied engagement as a means to measure commitment to a brand. Fernandes&Remelhe (2016) had a more technical view, measuring engagement through comments, following, subscribing, sharing, enjoying, writing, etc., in the social media context. ustomer engagement has become a research focus for understanding how consumer relationships are developed, retained, and improved within a digital context. Based on previous literature, it is evident that many customer engagement related studies are limited to the interaction between firms and consumers on social media. There is a clear gap in the literature regarding consumer-to-consumer interaction and user-generated content and its significance. While some researchers, such as Alversia et al. (2016), touched upon the importance of customer-based engagement, a gap still remains: there is no consistent and well-tested method for defining the factors that affect consumer interaction. Moreover, few scholarly research papers such as (Case, 2019; Riley, 2020;Habibi, 2014) provided to assist businesses understand their customers' interaction habits as well as the best ways to develop customer loyalty. Additionally, the majority of research on brand pages concentrated on the drivers of Consumer engagement, with just a few studies example, Lamberton, Cc(2016), Poorrezaei, (2016). (Jayasingh, 2019), looking into the implications. This study focuses on understanding the concept of engagement and its importance, specifically engagement within social media brand communities. It examines drivers as well as consequences of engagement, including brand knowledge, brand trust, entertainment, and brand page interactivity. Brand engagement is also expected to affect brand loyalty and word of the mouth.

Keywords: engagement, social media, brand communities, drivers

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Authors: Shu-Ling Wang

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Background: Multiple studies showed early skin-to-skin contact (SSC) with mothers was beneficial to newborns such as breastfeeding and maternal childcare. In cases of newborns unable to have early SSC with mothers, fathers’ involvement could let early SSC continue without interruption. However, few studies had explored the effects of early SSC by fathers in comparison to early SSC with mothers. Paternal involvement of early SSC should be equally important in term of childcare and breastfeeding. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of early SSC by fathers in particular in their support of breastfeeding. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was employed by the study. One hundred and forty-four father-infant pairs had participated the study, in which infants were assigned either to SSC with their fathers (n = 72) or to routine care (n = 72) as the control group. The study was conducted at a regional hospital in northern Taiwan. Participants included parents of both vaginal delivery (VD) and caesarean section birth (CS) infants. To be eligible for inclusion, infants must be over 37-week gestational ages. Data were collected twice: as pretest upon admission and as posttest with online questionnaire during first, second, and third postpartum months. The questionnaire included items for Breastfeeding Social Support, methods of feeding, and the mother-infant 24-hour rooming-in rate. The efficacy of early SSC with fathers was evaluated using the generalized estimating equation (GEE) modeling. Research Result: The primary finding was that SSC with fathers had positive impact on fathers’ support of breastfeeding. Analysis of the online questionnaire indicated that early SSC with fathers improved the support of breastfeeding than the control group (VD: t = -4.98, p < .001; CS: t = -2.37, p = .02). Analysis of mother-infant 24-hour rooming-in rate showed that SSC with fathers after CS had a positive impact on the rooming-in rate (χ² = 5.79, p = .02); however, with VD the difference between early SSC with fathers and the control group was insignificant (χ² = .23, p = .63). Analysis of the rate of exclusive breastfeeding indicated that early SSC with fathers had a higher rate than the control group during first three postpartum months for both delivery methods (VD: χ² = 12.51, p < .001 on 1st postpartum month, χ² = 8.13, p < .05 on 2nd postpartum month, χ² = 4.43, p < .05 on 3rd postpartum month; CS: χ² = 6.92, p < .05 on 1st postpartum month, χ² = 7.41, p < .05 on 2nd postpartum month, χ² = 6.24, p < .05 on 3rd postpartum month). No significant difference was found on the rate of exclusive breastfeeding with both methods of delivery between two groups during hospitalization. (VD: χ² =2 .00, p = .16; CS: χ² = .73, p = .39). Conclusion: Implementing early SSC with fathers has many benefits to both parents. The result of this study showed increasing fathers’ support of breastfeeding. This encourages our nursing personnel to focus the needs of father during breastfeeding, therefore further enhancing the quality of parental care, the rate and duration of breastfeeding.

Keywords: breastfeeding, skin-to-skin contact, support of breastfeeding, rooming-in

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Authors: M. M. Essa, S. Subash, M. Akbar, S. Al-Adawi, A. Al-Asmi, G. J. Guillemein

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Objective: Transgenic (tg) mice which contain an amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene mutation, develop extracellular amyloid beta (Aβ) deposition in the brain, and severe memory and behavioural deficits with age. These mice serve as an important animal model for testing the efficacy of novel drug candidates for the treatment and management of symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Several reports have suggested that oxidative stress is the underlying cause of Aβ neurotoxicity in AD. Pomegranates contain very high levels of antioxidants and several medicinal properties that may be useful for improving the quality of life in AD patients. In this study, we investigated the effect of dietary supplementation of Omani pomegranate extract on the memory, anxiety and learning skills along with inflammation in an AD mouse model containing the double Swedish APP mutation (APPsw/Tg2576). Methods: The experimental groups of APP-transgenic mice from the age of 4 months were fed custom-mix diets (pellets) containing 4% pomegranate. We assessed spatial memory and learning ability, psychomotor coordination, and anxiety-related behavior in Tg and wild-type mice at the age of 4-5 months and 18-19 months using the Morris water maze test, rota rod test, elevated plus maze test, and open field test. Further, inflammatory parameters also analysed. Results: APPsw/Tg2576 mice that were fed a standard chow diet without pomegranates showed significant memory deficits, increased anxiety-related behavior, and severe impairment in spatial learning ability, position discrimination learning ability and motor coordination along with increased inflammation compared to the wild type mice on the same diet, at the age of 18-19 months In contrast, APPsw/Tg2576 mice that were fed a diet containing 4% pomegranates showed a significant improvements in memory, learning, locomotor function, and anxiety with reduced inflammatory markers compared to APPsw/Tg2576 mice fed the standard chow diet. Conclusion: Our results suggest that dietary supplementation with pomegranates may slow the progression of cognitive and behavioural impairments in AD. The exact mechanism is still unclear and further extensive research needed.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, pomegranates, oman, cognitive decline, memory loss, anxiety, inflammation

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Authors: Usha Dinakaran, Richa Ganguly

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Gastronomic tourism has evolved into a prominent niche within the travel industry, with tourists increasingly seeking unique culinary experiences as a primary motivation for their journeys. This research explores the intricate relationship between gastronomic tourism and its profound influence on the overall image of travel destinations. It delves into the multifaceted aspects of culinary experiences, tourists' perceptions, and the preservation of cultural identity, all of which play pivotal roles in shaping a destination's image. The primary aim of this study is to comprehensively examine the interplay between gastronomy and tourism, specifically focusing on its impact on destination image. The research seeks to achieve the following objectives: (1) Investigate how tourists perceive and engage with gastronomic tourism experiences. (2) Understand the significance of food in shaping the tourism image. (3.) Explore the connection between gastronomy and the destination's cultural identity Quantify the relationship between tourists' engagement in co-creation activities related to gastronomic tourism and their overall satisfaction with the quality of their culinary experiences. To achieve these objectives, a mixed-method research approach will be employed, including surveys, interviews, and content analysis. Data will be collected from tourists visiting diverse destinations known for their culinary offerings. This research anticipates uncovering valuable insights into the nexus between gastronomic tourism and destination image. It is expected to shed light on how tourists' perceptions of culinary experiences impact their overall perception of a destination. Additionally, the study aims to identify factors influencing tourist satisfaction and how cultural identity is preserved and promoted through gastronomic tourism. The findings of this research hold practical implications for destination marketers and stakeholders. Understanding the symbiotic relationship between gastronomy and tourism can guide the development of more targeted marketing strategies. Furthermore, promoting co-creation activities can enhance tourists' culinary experiences and contribute to the positive image of destinations.This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge regarding gastronomic tourism by consolidating insights from various studies and offering a comprehensive perspective on its impact on destination image. It offers a platform for future research in this domain and underscores the importance of culinary experiences in contemporary travel. In conclusion, this research endeavors to illuminate the dynamic interplay between gastronomic tourism and destination image, providing valuable insights for both academia and industry stakeholders in the field of tourism and hospitality.

Keywords: gastronomy, tourism, destination image, culinary

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Authors: Stehr Melanie

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The availability of apposite information is essential for the decision-making process of organizational buyers. Due to the constraints of the Covid-19 crisis, information channels that emphasize face-to-face contact (e.g. sales visits, trade shows) have been unavailable, and usage of digitally-driven information channels (e.g. videoconferencing, platforms) has skyrocketed. This paper explores the question in which areas the pandemic induced shift in the use of information channels could be sustainable and in which areas it is a temporary phenomenon. While information and buying behavior in B2C purchases has been regularly studied in the last decade, the last fundamental model of organizational buying behavior in B2B was introduced by Johnston and Lewin (1996) in times before the advent of the internet. Subsequently, research efforts in B2B marketing shifted from organizational buyers and their decision and information behavior to the business relationships between sellers and buyers. This study builds on the extensive literature on situational factors influencing organizational buying and information behavior and uses the economics of information theory as a theoretical framework. The research focuses on the German woodworking industry, which before the Covid-19 crisis was characterized by a rather low level of digitization of information channels. By focusing on an industry with traditional communication structures, a shift in information behavior induced by an exogenous shock is considered a ripe research setting. The study is exploratory in nature. The primary data source is 40 in-depth interviews based on the repertory-grid method. Thus, 120 typical buying situations in the woodworking industry and the information and channels relevant to them are identified. The results are combined into clusters, each of which shows similar information behavior in the procurement process. In the next step, the clusters are analyzed in terms of the post and pre-Covid-19 crisis’ behavior identifying stable and dynamic information behavior aspects. Initial results show that, for example, clusters representing search goods with low risk and complexity suggest a sustainable rise in the use of digitally-driven information channels. However, in clusters containing trust goods with high significance and novelty, an increased return to face-to-face information channels can be expected after the Covid-19 crisis. The results are interesting from both a scientific and a practical point of view. This study is one of the first to apply the economics of information theory to organizational buyers and their decision and information behavior in the digital information age. Especially the focus on the dynamic aspects of information behavior after an exogenous shock might contribute new impulses to theoretical debates related to the economics of information theory. For practitioners - especially suppliers’ marketing managers and intermediaries such as publishers or trade show organizers from the woodworking industry - the study shows wide-ranging starting points for a future-oriented segmentation of their marketing program by highlighting the dynamic and stable preferences of elaborated clusters in the choice of their information channels.

Keywords: B2B buying process, crisis, economics of information theory, information channel

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Authors: Masnur Marzuki

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As in other democratic countries, the constitutional court of Indonesia has the role of interpreting and applying the Constitution in order to preserve its supremacy testing the constitutionality of statutes. With its strong power to enforce and guard the Constitution, the court is now challenged to provide people an opportunity to understand their constitutional rights close up. At the same time, the court has built up an enviable reputation among constitutional courts in new democracies for the technical quality of its legitimacy in the legal sense. Since its establishment in 2003, the Constitutional Court of Indonesia has decided more than 190 statutes in judicial review case. It has been remarkably successful to make a credible start on its work of guarding the Constitution. Unsurprisingly, many argue that the Court has elevated Indonesia’s democracy to a whole new level. In accomplishing its roles judicial review, the basic principle that can be identified is that the Constitutional Court must always be subordinated to the Constitution. It is not being allowed to invade the field of the legislator. In doing so, the court does not have any discretionary political basis in order to create legal norms or provisions that could not be deducted from the Constitution itself. When interpreting a statute “in accordance with the constitution”, the court recognizes and reasserts that it is strictly forbidden to extend the scope of a legal provision in such a way that would create a general norm not established by the law-maker. This paper aims to identify and assess the latest role of Indonesian Constitutional Court in interpreting and applying the Constitution. In particular, it questions 1) the role of the Constitutional Court in judicial review; and 2) the role of the court to assist the legislators in the accomplishment of their functions in order to preserve its supremacy testing the constitutionality of statutes. Concerning positive legislator, jurisprudential and judicial review theories will be approached. The empirical part will include qualitative and comparative research. Main questions to be addressed: Can the Constitutional Court be functionalized as positive legislator? What are the criteria for conducting role of Constitutional Courts as Positive Legislators and how can it be accepted? Concerning the subordination of Constitutional Courts to the Constitution and judicial review, both qualitative and quantitative methods will be used, and differences between Indonesia and German Constitutional Court will be observed. Other questions to be addressed: Can Constitutional Courts have any discretionary political basis in order to create legal norms or provisions that could not be deducted from the Constitution itself. Should the Constitutional Court always act as a negative legislator? However, the Constitutional Court in Indonesia has played role as positive legislators which create dynamic of Indonesian legal development. In performing the task of reviewing the constitutionality of statutes, the Constitutional Court has created legal norms or provisions that could be deducted from the Constitution itself.

Keywords: constitution, court, law, rights

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Authors: Aulanni’am Aulanni’am

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Incidence of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) progressively increasing it became a serious problem in Indonesia and it is a disease that government is priority to be addressed. The longer a person is suffering from diabetes the more likely to develop complications particularly diabetic patients who are not well maintained. Therefore, Incidence of Diabetes Mellitus needs to be done in the early diagnosis of pre-phase of the disease. In this pre-phase disease, already happening destruction of pancreatic beta cells and declining in beta cell function and the sign autoimmunity reactions associated with beta cell destruction. Type 1 DM is a multifactorial disease triggered by genetic and environmental factors, which leads to the destruction of pancreatic beta cells. Early marker of "beta cell autoreactivity" is the synthesis of autoantibodies against 65-kDa protein, which can be a molecule that can be detected early in the disease pathomechanism. The importance of early diagnosis of diabetic patients held in the phase of pre-disease is to determine the progression towards the onset of pancreatic beta cell destruction and take precautions. However, the price for this examination is very expensive ($ 150/ test), the anti-GAD65 abs examination cannot be carried out routinely in most or even in all laboratories in Indonesia. Therefore, production-based Rapid Test Recombinant Human Protein GAD65 with "Reverse Flow Immunchromatography Technique" in Indonesia is believed to reduce costs and improve the quality of care of patients with diabetes in Indonesia. Rapid Test Product innovation is very simple and suitable for screening and routine inspection of GAD65 autoantibodies. In the blood serum of patients with diabetes caused by autoimmunity, autoantibody-GAD65 is a major serologic marker to detect autoimmune reaction because their concentration level of stability.GAD65 autoantibodies can be found 10 years before clinical symptoms of diabetes. Early diagnosis is more focused to detect the presence autontibodi-GAD65 given specification and high sensitivity. Autoantibodies- GAD65 that circulates in the blood is a major indicator of the destruction of the islet cells of the pancreas. Results of research in collaboration with Biofarma has produced GAD65 autoantibodies based Rapid Test had conducted the soft launch of products and has been tested with the results of a sensitivity of 100 percent and a specificity between 90 and 96% compared with the gold standard (import product) which worked based on ELISA method.

Keywords: diabetes mellitus, GAD65 autoantibodies, rapid test, sensitivity, specificity

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Authors: A. Askerov, Y. Teterin, P. Yartcev, S. Novikov

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Introduction: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a socially significant problem for public health and continues to be one of the most common causes of hospitalization of patients with pathology of the gastrointestinal tract. It is characterized by high mortality rates, which reaches 62-65% in infected pancreatic necrosis. Aims & Methods: The study group included 63 patients who underwent transluminal drainage (TLD) fluid collection (FC). All patients were performed transabdominal ultrasound, computer tomography of the abdominal cavity and retroperitoneal organs and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) of the pancreatobiliary zone. The EUS was used as a final diagnostic method to determine the characteristics of FC. The indications for TLD were: the distance between the wall of the hollow organ and the FC was not more than 1 cm, the absence of large vessels on the puncture trajectory (more than 3 mm), and the size of the formation was more than 5 cm. When a homogeneous cavity with clear, even contours was detected, a plastic stent with rounded ends (“double pig tail”) was installed. The indication for the installation of a fully covered self-expanding stent was the detection of nonhomogeneous anechoic FC with hyperechoic inclusions and cloudy purulent contents. In patients with necrotic forms after drainage of the purulent cavity, a cystonasal drainage with a diameter of 7Fr was installed in its lumen under X-ray control to sanitize the cavity with a 0.05% aqueous solution of chlorhexidine. Endoscopic necrectomy was performed every 24-48 hours. The plastic stent was removed in 6 month, the fully covered self-expanding stent - in 1 month after the patient was discharged from the hospital. Results: Endoscopic TLD was performed in 63 patients. The FC corresponding to interstitial edematous pancreatitis was detected in 39 (62%) patients who underwent TLD with the installation of a plastic stent with rounded ends. In 24 (38%) patients with necrotic forms of FC, a fully covered self-expanding stent was placed. Communication with the ductal system of the pancreas was found in 5 (7.9%) patients. They underwent pancreaticoduodenal stenting. A complicated postoperative period was noted in 4 (6.3%) cases and was manifested by bleeding from the zone of pancreatogenic destruction. In 2 (3.1%) cases, this required angiography and endovascular embolization a. gastroduodenalis, in 1 (1.6%) case, endoscopic hemostasis was performed by filling the cavity with 4 ml of Hemoblock hemostatic solution. The combination of both methods was used in 1 (1.6%) patient. There was no evidence of recurrent bleeding in these patients. Lethal outcome occurred in 4 patients (6.3%). In 3 (4.7%) patients, the cause of death was multiple organ failure, in 1 (1.6%) - severe nosocomial pneumonia that developed on the 32nd day after drainage. Conclusions: 1. EUS is not only the most important method for diagnosing FC in AP, but also allows you to determine further tactics for their intraluminal drainage.2. Endoscopic intraluminal drainage of fluid zones in 45.8% of cases is the final minimally invasive method of surgical treatment of large-focal pancreatic necrosis. Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Keywords: acute pancreatitis, fluid collection, endoscopy surgery, necrectomy, transluminal drainage

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Authors: Jigg Pelayo, Ricardo Villar, Einstine Opiso

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The rampant and unintended spread of urban areas resulted in increasing artificial component features in the land cover types of the countryside and bringing forth the urban heat island (UHI). This paved the way to wide range of negative influences on the human health and environment which commonly relates to air pollution, drought, higher energy demand, and water shortage. Land cover type also plays a relevant role in the process of understanding the interaction between ground surfaces with the local temperature. At the moment, the depiction of the land surface temperature (LST) at city/municipality scale particularly in certain areas of Misamis Oriental, Philippines is inadequate as support to efficient mitigations and adaptations of the surface urban heat island (SUHI). Thus, this study purposely attempts to provide application on the Landsat 8 satellite data and low density Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) products in mapping out quality automated LST model and crop-level land cover classification in a local scale, through theoretical and algorithm based approach utilizing the principle of data analysis subjected to multi-dimensional image object model. The paper also aims to explore the relationship between the derived LST and land cover classification. The results of the presented model showed the ability of comprehensive data analysis and GIS functionalities with the integration of object-based image analysis (OBIA) approach on automating complex maps production processes with considerable efficiency and high accuracy. The findings may potentially lead to expanded investigation of temporal dynamics of land surface UHI. It is worthwhile to note that the environmental significance of these interactions through combined application of remote sensing, geographic information tools, mathematical morphology and data analysis can provide microclimate perception, awareness and improved decision-making for land use planning and characterization at local and neighborhood scale. As a result, it can aid in facilitating problem identification, support mitigations and adaptations more efficiently.

Keywords: LiDAR, OBIA, remote sensing, local scale

Procedia PDF Downloads 280

Authors: Ahmed F. Ghanem, Marwa I. Wahba, Asmaa N. El-Dein, Mohamed A. EL-Raey, Ghada E.A. Awad

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Numerous attempts are being performed in order to formulate suitable packaging materials for meat products. However, to the best of our knowledge, the incorporation of free hibiscus extract or its microcapsules in the pure polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix as packaging materials for meats is seldom reported. Therefore, this study aims at protection of the aqueous crude extract of hibiscus flowers utilizing spry drying encapsulation technique. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and zetasizer results confirmed the successful formation of assembled capsules via strong interactions, spherical rough microparticles, and ~ 235 nm of particle size, respectively. Also, the obtained microcapsules enjoy high thermal stability, unlike the free extract. Then, the obtained spray-dried particles were incorporated into the casting solution of the pure PVA film with a concentration 10 wt. %. The segregated free-standing composite films were investigated, compared to the neat matrix, with several characterization techniques such as FTIR, SEM, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), mechanical tester, contact angle, water vapor permeability, and oxygen transmission. The results demonstrated variations in the physicochemical properties of the PVA film after the inclusion of the free and the extract microcapsules. Moreover, biological studies emphasized the biocidal potential of the hybrid films against microorganisms contaminating the meat. Specifically, the microcapsules imparted not only antimicrobial but also antioxidant activities to PVA. Application of the prepared films on the real meat samples displayed low bacterial growth with a slight increase in the pH over the storage time up to 10 days at 4 oC which further proved the meat safety. Moreover, the colors of the films did not significantly changed except after 21 days indicating the spoilage of the meat samples. No doubt, the dual-functional of prepared composite films pave the way towards combined active/smart food packaging applications. This would play a vital role in the food hygiene, including also quality control and assurance.

Keywords: PVA, hibiscus, extraction, encapsulation, active packaging, smart and intelligent packaging, meat spoilage

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: Arlene Villarama, Micol Grace Guanzon, Zenaida Ramos

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This paper provides insights into teaching English as a Foreign Language in the Philippines. The authors reviewed relevant theories and literature, and provide an analysis of the issues in teaching English in the Philippine setting in the light of these theories. The authors made an investigation in Bagong Barrio National High School (BBNHS) - a public school in Caloocan City. The institution has a population of nearly 3,000 students. The performances of randomly chosen 365 respondents were scrutinised. The study regarding the success of teaching English as a foreign language to Filipino children were highlighted. This includes the respondents’ family background, surroundings, way of living, and their behavior and understanding regarding education. The results show that there is a significant relationship between demonstrative, communal, and logical areas that touch the efficacy of introducing English as a foreign Dialectal. Filipino children, by nature, are adventurous and naturally joyful even for little things. They are born with natural skills and capabilities to discover new things. They highly consider activities and work that ignite their curiosity. They love to be recognised and are inspired the most when given the assurance of acceptance and belongingness. Fun is the appealing influence to ignite and motivate learning. The magic word is excitement. The study reveals the many facets of the accumulation and transmission of erudition, in introduction and administration of English as a foreign phonological; it runs and passes through different channels of diffusion. Along the way, there are particles that act as obstructions in protocols where knowledge are to be gathered. Data gained from the respondents conceals a reality that is beyond one’s imagination. One significant factor that touches the inefficacy of understanding and using English as a foreign language is an erroneous outset gained from an old belief handed down from generation to generation. This accepted perception about the power and influence of the use of language, gives the novices either a negative or a positive notion. The investigation shows that a higher number of dislikes in the use of English can be tracked down from the belief of the story on how the English language came into existence. The belief that only the great and the influential have the right to use English as a means of communication kills the joy of acceptance. A significant notation has to be examined so as to provide a solution or if not eradicate the misconceptions that lie behind the substance of the matter. The result of the authors’ research depicts a substantial correlation between the emotional (demonstrative), social (communal), and intellectual (logical). The focus of this paper is to bring out the right notation and disclose the misconceptions with regards to teaching English as a foreign language. This will concentrate on the emotional, social, and intellectual areas of the Filipino learners and how these areas affect the transmittance and accumulation of learning. The authors’ aim is to formulate logical ways and techniques that would open up new beginnings in understanding and acceptance of the subject matter.

Keywords: accumulation, behaviour, facets, misconceptions, transmittance

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Authors: Genevieve Jorolan-Quintero

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The recording as well as the preservation of indigenous literature is an important task as it deals with a significant heritage of pre-colonial culture. The beliefs and traditions of a people are reflected in their oral narratives, such as the folk epic, which must be written down to insure their preservation. The epic poem for instance, known as dawot among the Mandaya, one of the indigenous communities in the southern region of the Philippines, narrates the customs, the ways of life, and the adventures of an ancient people. Nabayra, an expert on Philippine folkloric studies, stresses that still extant after centuries of unknown origin, the dawot was handed down to the magdadawot (bard) by word of mouth, forming the greatest bulk of Mandaya oral tradition. Unhampered by modern means of communication to distract her/him, the magdadawot has a sharp memory of the intricacies of the ancient art of chanting the panayday (verses) of the epic poem. The dawot has several hullubaton (episodes), each of which takes several nights to chant . The language used in these oral traditions is archaic Mandaya, no longer spoken or clearly understood by the present generation. There is urgency to the task of recording and writing down what remain of the epic poem since the singers and storytellers who have retained the memory and the skill of chanting and narrating the dawot and other forms of oral tradition in their original forms are getting fewer. The few who are gifted and skilled to transmit these ancient arts and wisdom are old and dying. Unlike the other Philippine epics (i.e. the Darangen, the Ulahingan, the Hinilawod, etc.), the Mandaya epic is yet to be recognized and given its rightful place among the recorded epics in Philippine Folk Literature. The general aim of this study was to put together and preserve an intangible heritage, the Mandaya hullubaton (episodes of the dawot), in order to preserve and promote appreciation for the oral traditions and cultural legacy of the Mandaya. It was able to record, transcribe, and translate four hullubaton of the folk epic into two languages, Visayan and English to insure understanding of their contents and significance among non-Mandaya audiences. Evident in the contents of the episodes are the cultural practices, ideals, life values, and traditions of the ancient Mandaya. While the conquests and adventures of the Mandaya heroes Lumungtad, Dilam, and Gambong highlight heroic virtues, the role of the Mandaya matriarch in family affairs is likewise stressed. The recording and the translation of the hullubaton and the dawot into commonly spoken languages will not only promote knowledge and understanding about their culture, but will also stimulate in the members of this cultural community a sense of pride for their literature and culture. Knowledge about indigenous cultural system and philosophy derived from their oral literature will serve as a springboard to further comparative researches dealing with indigenous mores and belief systems among the different tribes in the Philippines, in Asia, in Africa, and other countries in the world.

Keywords: Dawot, epic poem, Mandaya, Philippine folk literature

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Authors: Alberto Mínguez-Martínez, Jesús De Vicente Y Oliva

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It seems that we live in a world in which the trend in industrial environments is the miniaturization of systems and materials and the fabrication of parts at the micro-and nano-scale. The problem arises when manufacturers want to study the quality of their production. This characteristic is becoming crucial due to the evolution of the industry and the development of Industry 4.0. As Industry 4.0 is based on digital models of production and processes, having accurate measurements becomes capital. At this point, the metrology field plays an important role as it is a powerful tool to ensure more stable production to reduce scrap and the cost of non-conformities. The most extended measuring instruments that allow us to carry out accurate measurements at these scales are optical microscopes, whether they are traditional, confocal, focus variation microscopes, profile projectors, or any other similar measurement system. However, the accuracy of measurements is connected to the traceability of them to the SI unit of length (the meter). The fact of providing adequate traceability to 2D and 3D dimensional measurements at micro-and nano-scale in industrial environments is a problem that is being studied, and it does not have a unique answer. In addition, if commercial material standards for micro-and nano-scale are considered, we can find that there are two main problems. On the one hand, those material standards that could be considered complete and very interesting do not give traceability of dimensional measurements and, on the other hand, their calibration is very expensive. This situation implies that these kinds of standards will not succeed in industrial environments and, as a result, they will work in the absence of traceability. To solve this problem in industrial environments, it becomes necessary to have material standards that are easy to use, agile, adaptive to different forms, cheap to manufacture and, of course, traceable to the definition of meter with simple methods. By using these ‘customized standards’, it would be possible to adapt and design measuring procedures for each application and manufacturers will work with some traceability. It is important to note that, despite the fact that this traceability is clearly incomplete, this situation is preferable to working in the absence of it. Recently, it has been demonstrated the versatility and the utility of using laser technology and other AM technologies to manufacture customized material standards. In this paper, the authors propose to manufacture a customized material standard using an ultraviolet laser system and a method to calibrate it. To conclude, the results of the calibration carried out in an accredited dimensional metrology laboratory are presented.

Keywords: industrial environment, material standards, optical measuring instrument, traceability

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Authors: Pradip Kumar Das

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India is a developing country and is also one of the most industrialized developing countries of the world. In post-independence period, industry has grown rapidly in India and with industrialization corporate sector in the country has been growing day after day. Nowadays, the investment is not limited to be shareholders alone, apart from the shareholders the common people of the society have also started investing in shares of the corporate sectors. Thus, the responsibilities of the corporate sectors have increased much. Corporate financial reporting refers to a system which provides valuable information to different types of users in the society for taking resourceful decisions with regards to investment policy, organization credit worthiness, profitability, liquidity, provision of taxation etc. The quality of information available to different users fosters the efficient allocation of resources which are very urgent for economic development of a country like India. It is the responsibility of the management of the corporate sector to convey reliable and authentic information with the help of generally accepted accounting principles. Corporate sectors which disclose information through annual reports should be sufficient enough for the purpose of bringing out the salient features relating to business performances and other activities. However, the disclosures practices of the corporate sectors though annual reports have undergone several major changes from time to time. Many a time, these vital changes are in the fashion of presenting information in the annual reports and addition of so many non-statutory disclosures of the company. Very often managements of the corporate sectors are blamed for concealing true picture which is not desirable at all. The corporate financial reporting practice which in the current period has gained a place of prime importance suffers from certain limitations and invites question from the public about its reliability. Thus, the wide gap created by management between the exhibited picture and the real picture sometimes attains to such extent that the purpose of the reporting practice loses its importance. The requirement of full and adequate disclosure of information including information relating to human resources in the annual report in free trade economy of India helps the prospective investors to select the best portfolio of their investments. This paper is a reflection of a modest attempt of the author to highlight the corporate reporting practices followed in India. A cursory glance of the conceptual study shows limitations along with reliability of the reporting practices and suggests measures to overcome the shortcomings of the financial reporting practices.

Keywords: corporate enterprise, cursory glance, portfolio, yawning gap

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Authors: Yuriko Takayama, Norihiro Kato

Abstract:

Quorum sensing (QS) is a cell-to-cell communication system in bacteria to regulate expression of target genes. In gram-negative bacteria, activation on QS is controlled by a concentration increase of N-acylhomoserine lactone (AHL), which can diffuse in and out of the cell. Effective control of QS is expected to avoid virulence factor production in infectious pathogens, biofilm formation, and antibiotic production because various cell functions in gram-negative bacteria are controlled by AHL-mediated QS. In this research, we applied cyclodextrins (CDs) as artificial hosts for the AHL signal to reduce the AHL concentration in the culture broth below its threshold for QS activation. The AHL-receptor complex induced under the high AHL concentration activates transcription of the QS-target gene. Accordingly, artificial reduction of the AHL concentration is one of the effective strategies to inhibit the QS. A hydrophobic cavity of the CD can interact with the acyl-chain of the AHL due to hydrophobic interaction in aqueous media. We studied N-hexanoylhomoserine lactone (C6HSL)-mediated QS in Serratia marcescens; accumulation of C6HSL is responsible for regulation of the expression of pig cluster. Inhibitory effects of added CDs on QS were demonstrated by determination of prodigiosin amount inside cells after reaching stationary phase, because production of prodigiosin depends on the C6HSL-mediated QS. By adding approximately 6 wt% hydroxypropyl-β-CD (HP-β-CD) in Luria-Bertani (LB) medium prior to inoculation of S. maecescens AS-1, the intracellularly accumulated prodigiosin was drastically reduced to 7-10%, which was determined after the extraction of prodigiosin in acidified ethanol. The AHL retention ability of HP-β-CD was also demonstrated by Chromobacterium violacuem CV026 bioassay. The CV026 strain is an AHL-synthase defective mutant that activates QS solely by adding AHLs from outside of cells. A purple pigment violacein is induced by activation of the AHL-mediated QS. We demonstrated that the violacein production was effectively suppressed when the C6HSL standard solution was spotted on a LB agar plate dispersing CV026 cells and HP-β-CD. Physico-chemical analysis was performed to study the affinity between the immobilized CD and added C6HSL using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor. The COOH-terminated self-assembled monolayer was prepared on a gold electrode of 27-MHz AT-cut quartz crystal. Mono(6-deoxy-6-N, N-diethylamino)-β-CD was immobilized on the electrode using water-soluble carbodiimide. The C6HSL interaction with the β-CD cavity was studied by injecting the C6HSL solution to a cup-type sensor cell filled with buffer solution. A decrement of resonant frequency (ΔFs) clearly showed the effective C6HSL complexation with immobilized β-CD and its stability constant for MBP-SpnR-C6HSL complex was on the order of 102 M-1. The CD has high potential for engineered control of QS because it is safe for human use.

Keywords: acylhomoserine lactone, cyclodextrin, intracellular signaling, quorum sensing

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Authors: Alua Masalimova, Dameli Sulubecova, Talgat Isaev, Raushan Magzumova

Abstract:

The usual relation to nurses of heads of medical organizations in Kazakhstan is to use them only for per performing medical manipulations, but new economic conditions require the introduction of nursing innovations. There is an increasing need for managers of hospital departments and regions of ambulatory clinics to ensure comfortable conditions for doctors, nurses, aides, as well as monitoring marketing technology (the needs and satisfaction of staff work, the patient satisfaction of the department). It is going to the past the nursing activities as physician assistant performing his prescriptions passively. We are suggesting a model for the developing the head nurse as the manager on the example of Blood Service. We have studied in the scientific-production center of blood transfusion head nurses by the standard method of interviewing for involvement in coordinating the flow of information, promoting the competitiveness of the department. Results: the average age of the respondents 43,1 ± 9,8, female - 100%; manager in the Organization – 9,3 ± 10,3 years. Received positive responses to the knowledge of the nearest offices in providing similar medical service - 14,2%. The cost of similar medical services in other competitive organizations did not know 100%, did a study of employee satisfaction Division labour-85,7% answered negatively, the satisfaction donors work staff studied in 50.0% of cases involved in attracting paid Services Division showed a 28.5% of the respondent. Participation in management decisions medical organization: strategic planning - 14,2%, forming analysis report for the year – 14,2%, recruitment-30.0%, equipment-14.2%. Participation in the social and technical designing workplaces Division staff showed 85,0% of senior nurses. Participate in the cohesion of the staff of the Division method of the team used the 10.0% of respondents. Further, we have studied the behavioral competencies for senior sisters: customer focus – 20,0% of respondents have attended, the ability to work in a team – 40,0%. Personal qualities senior nurses were apparent: sociability – 80,0%, the ability to manage information – 40,0%, to make their own decisions - 14,2%, 28,5% creativity, the desire to improve their professionalism – 50,0%. Thus, the modern market conditions dictate this organization, which works for the rights of economic management; include the competence of the post of the senior nurse knowledge and skills of Marketing Management Department. Skills to analyses the information collected and use of management offers superior medical leadership organization. The medical organization in the recruitment of the senior nurse offices take into account personal qualities: flexibility, fluency of thinking, communication skills and ability to work in a team. As well as leadership qualities, ambition, high emotional and social intelligence, that will bring out the medical unit on competitiveness within the country and abroad.

Keywords: blood service, head nurse, manager, skills

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Authors: Donghee Kang

Abstract:

Background: Cancer pain is very difficult to control as the mechanism of pain is varied, and the patient has several co-morbidities. The use of Intravenous Patient-Controlled Analgesia (IV-PCA) can effectively control underlying pain and breakthrough pain. Ketamine is used in many pain patients due to its unique analgesic effect. In this study, it was checked whether there was a difference in the amount of analgesic usage, pain control degree, and side effects between patients who controlled pain with fentanyl-based IV-PCA and those who added Ketamine for pain control. Methods: Among the patients referred to this department for cancer pain, IV-PCA was applied to patients who were taking sufficient oral analgesics but could not control them or had blood clotting disorders that made the procedure difficult, and this patient group was targeted. In IV-PCA, 3000 mcg of Fentanyl, 160 mg of Nefopam, and 0.3 mg of Ramosetrone were mixed with normal saline to make a total volume of 100 ml. Group F used this IV-PCA as it is, and group K mixed 250 mg of Ketamine with normal saline to make a total volume of 100 ml. For IV-PCA, the basal rate was 0.5ml/h, the bolus was set to 1ml when pressed once, and the lockout time was set to 15 minutes. If pain was not controlled after IV-PCA application, 500 mcg of Fentanyl was added, and if excessive sedation or breathing difficulties occurred, the use was stopped for one hour. After that, the degree of daily pain control, analgesic usage, and side effects were investigated for seven days using this IV-PCA. Results: There was no difference between the two groups in the demographic data. Both groups had adequate pain control. Initial morphine milligram equivalents did not differ between the two groups, but the total amount of Fentanyl used for seven days was significantly different between the two groups [p=0.014], and group F used more Fentanyl through IV-PCA. In addition, the amount of sleeping pills used during the seven days was higher in Group F [p<0.01]. Overall, there was no difference in the frequency of side effects between the two groups, but the nausea was more frequent in Group F [p=0.031]. Discussion: When the two groups were compared, pain control was good in both groups. This seems to be because Fentanyl-based IV-PCA showed an adequate pain control effect. However, there was a significant difference in the total amount of opioid (Fentanyl) used, which is thought to be the opioid-sparing effect of Ketamine. Also, among the side effects, nausea was significantly less, which is thought to be possible because the amount of opioids used in the Ketamine group was small. The frequency of requesting sleeping pills was significantly less in the group using Ketamine, and it seems that Ketamine also helped improve sleep quality. In conclusion, using Ketamine with an opioid to control pain seems to have advantages. IV-PCA, which can be used effectively when other procedures are difficult, is more effective and safer when used together with Ketamine than opioids alone.

Keywords: cancer pain, intravenous patient-controlled analgesia, Ketamine, opioid

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