Search results for: content based image retrieval (CBIR)

Authors: Mohammad Zahidul Islam Bhuiyan, Shanyong Wang, Scott William Sloan, Daichao Sheng

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Nowadays soil pressure transducers are widely used to measure the soil stress states in laboratory and field experiments. The soil pressure transducers, investigated here, are traditional diaphragm-type earth pressure cells (DEPC) based on strain gauge principle. It is found that the output of these sensors varies with the soil conditions as well as the position of a sensor. Therefore, it is highly recommended to calibrate the pressure sensors based on the similar conditions of their intended applications. The factory calibration coefficients of the EPCs are not reliable to use since they are normally calibrated by applying fluid (a special type of oil) pressure only over load sensing zone, which does not represent the actual field conditions. Thus, the calibration of these sensors is utmost important, and they play a pivotal role for assessing earth pressures precisely. In the present study, TML soil pressure sensor is used to compare its sensitivity under different calibration systems, for example, fluid calibration, and static load calibration with or without soil. The results report that the sensor provides higher sensitivity (more accurate results) under soil calibration system.

Keywords: calibration, soil pressure, earth pressure cell, sensitivity

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Authors: Sodamade Abiodun, Adeboye Olubunmi Omolara

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Problems associated with protein malnutrition are still prevalent in third-world countries, leading to the constant search for plants that can serve as nutrients and medicinal purposes. Huckleberry is one of the plants that has been proven useful locally in the treatment of numerous ailments and diseases. A fresh sample of Huckleberry was collected from a vegetable garden situated near the Erelu dam of the Emmanuel Alayande College of Education campus, Oyo. The sample was authenticated at the forestry research institute of Nigeria (FRIN) Ibadan. The leaves of the plant were plucked and processed for leaf protein concentrates before proximate composition; mineral analysis phytochemical and antimicrobial properties of the leaf protein concentrates were determined using a standard method of analysis. The results of proximate constituents showed; moisture content; 9.89±0.051g/100g, Ash; 3.23±0.12g/100g, crude fat; 3.96±0.11g/100g and 61.27±0.56g/100g of Nitrogen free extractive results of the mineral analysis showed that the sample contains Mg; 0.081±0.00mg/100g, Ca; 42.30±0.05mg/100g, Na; 27.57±0.09mg/100g, K; 6.81±0.01mg/100g, P; 8.90±0.03mg/100g Fe; 0.51±0.00mg/100g, Zn; 0.021±0.00mg/100g, Cd; 0.04±0.04mg/100g, Pb; 0.002±0.00mg/100g, Cr; 0.041±0.00mg/100g while cadmium was not detected in the sample. The result of phytochemical analysis of leaf protein concentrates of the Huckleberry showed the presence of Alkaloid, Saponin, Flavonoid, Tanin, Coumarin, steroid, Terpenoid, cordial glycosides, Glycosides, Quinones, Anthocyanin, phytosterols, and phenols. Ethanolic extracts of the Huckleberry leaf protein concentrates showed that it contains bioactive compounds that are capable of eradicating some tested microorganisms; Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebisidlae pneumonia and Proteus merabilis. The results of the analysis of leaf protein concentrates of Huckleberry showed that the sample contains high nutrient and mineral constituents and phytochemical compounds that could make the sample useful for medicinal activities.

Keywords: huckleberry, mentha piperita, phytochemical, leaf protein concentrates, nutritional characteristics

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Authors: Valentina Zhang

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While facial expression is a complex and individualized behavior, all facial emotion recognition (FER) systems known to us rely on a single facial representation and are trained on universal data. We conjecture that: (i) different facial representations can provide different, sometimes complementing views of emotions; (ii) when employed collectively in a discussion group setting, they enable more accurate emotion reading which is highly desirable in autism care and other applications context sensitive to errors. In this paper, we first study FER using pixel-based DL vs semantics-based DL in the context of deepfake videos. Our experiment indicates that while the semantics-trained model performs better with articulated facial feature changes, the pixel-trained model outperforms on subtle or rare facial expressions. Armed with these findings, we have constructed an adaptive FER system learning from both types of models for dyadic or small interacting groups and further leveraging the synthesized group emotions as the ground truth for individualized FER training. Using a collection of group conversation videos, we demonstrate that FER accuracy and personalization can benefit from such an approach.

Keywords: neurodivergence care, facial emotion recognition, deep learning, ground truth for supervised learning

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Authors: Suresh Vanguri, Suresh Palla, K. V. Kalyani, S. K. Chaturvedi, B. N. Mohapatra

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Enhancing the fly ash utilization in the manufacture of cement is identified as one of the key areas to mitigate the Green House Gas emissions from the cement industry. Though increasing the fly ash content in cement has economic and environmental benefits, it results in a decrease in the compressive strength values, particularly at early ages. Quality of clinker and fly ash were identified as predominant factors that govern the extent of absorption of fly ash in the manufacturing of cement. This paper presents systematic investigations on the effect of clinker and fly ash quality on the properties of resultant cement. Since mechanical activation alters the physicochemical properties such as particle size distribution, surface area, phase morphology, understanding the variation of these properties with activation is required for its applications. The effect of mechanical activation on fly ash surface area, specific gravity, flow properties, lime reactivity, comparative compressive strength (CCS), reactive silica and mineralogical properties were also studied. The fineness of fly ash was determined by Blaine’s method, specific gravity, lime reactivity, CCS were determined as per the method IS 1727-1967. The phase composition of fly ash was studied using the X-ray Diffraction technique. The changes in the microstructure and morphology with activation were examined using the scanning electron microscope. The studies presented in this paper also include evaluation of Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC), prepared using high volume fly ash. Studies are being carried out using clinker from cement plants located in different regions/clusters in India. Blends of PPC containing higher contents of activated fly ash have been prepared and investigated for their chemical and physical properties, as per Indian Standard procedures. Changes in the microstructure of fly ash with activation and mechanical properties of resultant cement containing high volumes of fly ash indicated the significance of optimization of the quality of clinker and fly ash fineness for better techno-economical benefits.

Keywords: flow properties, fly ash enhancement, lime reactivity, microstructure, mineralogy

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Authors: Lukman Oyelami

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Studies have identified trade as a veritable tool for inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction in developing countries. However, contrary to the overwhelming pieces of evidence of the Asian tiger as a success story of beneficial trade, many African countries still experience poverty unabatedly despite active engagement in trade. Consequently, this study seeks to investigate the contributory effect of technological innovation on total export performance and specifically manufacturing exports of African countries. This is with a view to exploring manufacturing exports as a viable option for diversification. To achieve the empirical investigation this study, require Systems Generalized Method of Moments (sys-GMM) estimation technique was adopted based on the econometric realities inherent in the data utilized. However, the static technique of panel estimation of the Fixed Effects (FE) model was utilized for baseline analysis and robustness check. The conclusion from this study is that innovation generally impacts export performance of African countries positively, however, manufacturing export shows more sensitivity to innovation than total export. And, this provides a clear pathway for export diversification for many African countries that run a resource-based economy.

Keywords: innovation, export, GMM, Africa

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Authors: Ping-Ping Zhang, Hui-Zhang, Xu-Hui Sun

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Highly-uniform In2O3/CuO bilayer and multilayer porous thin films were successfully fabricated using self-assembled soft template and simple sputtering deposition technique. The sensor based on the In2O3/CuO bilayer porous thin film shows obviously improved sensing performance to ethanol at the lower working temperature, compared to single layer counterpart sensors. The response of In2O3/CuO bilayer sensors exhibits nearly 3 and 5 times higher than those of the single layer In2O3 and CuO porous film sensors over the same ethanol concentration, respectively. The sensing mechanism based on p-n hetero-junction, which contributed to the enhanced sensing performance was also experimentally confirmed by a control experiment which the SiO2 insulation layer was inserted between the In2O3 and CuO layers to break the p-n junction. In addition, the sensing performance can be further enhanced by increasing the number of In2O3/CuO junction layers. The facile process can be easily extended to the fabrication of other semiconductor oxide gas sensors for practical sensing applications.

Keywords: gas sensor, multilayer porous thin films, In2O3/CuO, p-n junction

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Authors: Chuanbo Xu, Xinying Li, Gejirifu De, Yunna Wu

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Energy Internet (EI) is a new form that deeply integrates the Internet and the entire energy process from production to consumption. The assessment of energy efficient performance is of vital importance for the long-term sustainable development of EI project. Although the newly proposed fuzzy integrated cloud evaluation algorithm considers the randomness of uncertainty, it relies too much on the experience and knowledge of experts. Fortunately, the enrichment of EI data has enabled the utilization of data-driven methods. Therefore, the main purpose of this work is to assess the energy efficient of park-level EI by using a combination of a data-driven method with the fuzzy integrated cloud evaluation algorithm. Firstly, the indicators for the energy efficient are identified through literature review. Secondly, the artificial neural network (ANN)-based data-driven method is employed to cluster the values of indicators. Thirdly, the energy efficient of EI project is calculated through the fuzzy integrated cloud evaluation algorithm. Finally, the applicability of the proposed method is demonstrated by a case study.

Keywords: energy efficient, energy internet, data-driven, fuzzy integrated evaluation, cloud model

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Authors: Mohammad Molavi, Mohsen Nourai

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The emancipation of the Muslim nation from the numerous problems and achieving to the decent position is one of the old desires of Muslim. Increasing efforts to realize this wish based on religious and rational teachings is the main goal for Muslim reformist. Almost all scholars relying on the Qur'an teaching emphasize on the significant role of Islamic Unity for the revival of Islamic civilization. But their methods for achieving to the Islamic Unity are not so clear. Generally speaking, failure to provide specific solutions, uncertainty in the face of universal literature in politics and governance, and etc. are some of the challenges facing the Islamic Unity.This paper via the descriptive-analytical method and by focusing on theoretical aspects of the subject has attempted to analyze Imam Khomeini points of view. Research findings show that there are several significant differences between Imam Khomeini's idea of Islamic Unity and ideas like 'Pan-Turkism', 'Pan-Arabism' and so on. Some of Imam Khomeini's principles in this regard are as follow: Strategic approach to unity, relying on juridical certain and systematic attitude, comprehensive approach, Holistic, rationality, and moderation. So, there is no any generality speaking or ambiguity in Khomeini's thought.

Keywords: Qur'an, Imam Khomeini, islamic unity, islamic nation, islamic political thought

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Authors: Simona Capossela, Ramona Schaniel, Singer Franziska, Aquino Fournier Catharine, Daniel Stekhoven, Jivko Stoyanov

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A spinal cord injury (SCI) is a traumatic life event that often results in ageing associated health conditions such as muscle mass decline, adipose tissue increase, decline in immune function, frailty, systemic chronic inflammation, and psychological distress and depression. Psychological, oxidative, and metabolic stressors may facilitate accelerated ageing in the SCI population with reduced life expectancy. Research designs using biomarkers of aging and stress are needed to elucidate the role of psychological distress in accelerated aging. The aim of this project is a feasibility pilot study to observe changes in stress biomarkers and correlate them with aging markers in SCI patients during their first rehabilitation (longitudinal cohort study). Biological samples were collected in the SwiSCI (Swiss Spinal Cord Injury Cohort Study) Biobank in Nottwil at 4 weeks±12 days after the injury (T1) and at the end of the first rehabilitation (discharge, T4). The "distress thermometer" is used as a selfassessment tool for psychological distress. Stress biomarkers, as cortisol and protein carbonyl content (PCC), and markers of cellular aging, such as telomere lengths, will be measured. 2 Preliminary results showed that SCI patients (N= 129) are still generally distressed at end of rehabilitation, however we found a statistically significant (p< 0.001) median decrease in distress from 6 (T1) to 5 (T4) during the rehabilitation. In addition, an explorative transcriptomics will be conducted on N=50 SCI patients to compare groups of persons with SCI who have different trajectories of selfreported distress at the beginning and end of the first rehabilitation after the trauma. We identified 4 groups: very high chronic stress (stress thermometer values above 7 at T1 and T4; n=14); transient stress (high to low; n=14), low stress (values below 5 at T1 and T4; n=14), increasing stress (low to high; n=8). The study will attempt to identify and address issues that may occur in relation to the design and conceptualization of future study on stress and aging in the SCI population.

Keywords: stress, aging, spinal cord injury, biomarkers

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Authors: Devender Sharma, Shweta Goyal

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Sustainable development is a key to protect the environment for a secure future. Accelerated carbonation curing is a comparatively new technique for curing of concrete which involves sequestration of carbon dioxide gas into the precast concrete, resulting in improvement of the properties of concrete. This paper presents the results of a study to evaluate the effect of carbonation curing on cement mortars incorporating cement kiln dust (CKD) as partial replacement of cement. The mortar specimens were prepared by replacing cement with CKD in varying percentages of 0-50% by the weight of cement. The specimens were subjected to 12 hour carbonation curing, followed by sealed packing till testing age. The results were compared with the normal curing procedure, in which the specimens were water cured till the testing age. Compressive strength and microstructure of the mix were studied. It was noted that on increasing the percentage of CKD up to 10% by the weight of the cement, no considerable change was observed in the compressive strength. But as the percentage of CKD was further increased, there was a decrease in compressive strength, with strength decreasing up to 40% when 50% of the cement was replaced with CKD. The decrease in strength is due to the lesser lime content in CKD as compared to cement. High ettringite formation was observed in mixes with high percentages of CKD, thus indicating a decrease in the compressive strength. With carbonation curing, an early age strength gain was observed in mortars, even with higher percentages of CKD. The early strength of the carbonation cured mixes was found to be greater than water cured mixes irrespective of the percentage of CKD. 7 days and 28 days compressive strength of the mix was comparable for both the carbonation cured and water cured specimen. The increase in compressive strength can be attributed to the conversion of unstable Ca(OH)2 into stable CaCO3, which causes densification of the mix. CaCO3 precipitation and greater CSH gel formation was clearly observed in the SEM images of carbonation cured specimen, indicating higher compressive strength. Thus, carbonation curing can be used as an efficient method to enhance the properties of concrete.

Keywords: carbonation, cement kiln dust, compressive strength, microstructure

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Authors: Kamal Heidari

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Covid-19 has borne drastic effects on different areas of society, including the education area, in that it brought virtual education to the center of attention, as an alternative to in-person education. In virtual education, the importance of flipped learning doubles, as students are supposed to take the main responsibility of teaching/learning process; and teachers play merely a facilitative/monitoring role. Given the students’ responsibility in virtual flipped learning, students’ motivation plays a pivotal role in the effectiveness of this learning method. The L2 Motivational Self-System (L2MSS) model is a currently proposed model elaborating on students’ motivation based on three sub-components: ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, and L2 learning experience. Drawing on an exploratory sequential mixed-methods research design, this study probed the effect of virtual flipped learning (via SHAD platform) on 112 gifted and non-gifted students’ motivation based on the L2 MSS. This study uncovered that notwithstanding the point that virtual flipped learning improved both gifted and non-gifted students’ motivation, it differentially affected their motivation. In other words, gifted students mostly referred to ideal L2 self, while non-gifted ones referred to ought-to L2 self and L2 learning experience aspects of motivation.

Keywords: virtual flipped learning, giftedness, motivation, L2MSS

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Authors: Kasra Afsahi, Maryam Soheilifar, S. Hossein Hosseini

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Background: There is growing evidence that Cerebral Vascular Accident (CVA) can be a consequence of Covid-19 infection. Understanding novel treatment approaches are important in optimizing patient outcomes. Case: This case explores the use of Virtual Reality (VR) in the treatment of a 23-year-old COVID-positive female presenting with left hemiparesis in August 2020. Imaging showed right globus pallidus, thalamus, and internal capsule ischemic stroke. Conventional rehabilitation was started two weeks later, with virtual reality (VR) included. This game-based virtual reality (VR) technology developed for stroke patients was based on upper extremity exercises and functions for stroke. Physical examination showed left hemiparesis with muscle strength 3/5 in the upper extremity and 4/5 in the lower extremity. The range of motion of the shoulder was 90-100 degrees. The speech exam showed a mild decrease in fluency. Mild lower lip dynamic asymmetry was seen. Babinski was positive on the left. Gait speed was decreased (75 steps per minute). Intervention: Our game-based VR system was developed based on upper extremity physiotherapy exercises for post-stroke patients to increase the active, voluntary movement of the upper extremity joints and improve the function. The conventional program was initiated with active exercises, shoulder sanding for joint ROMs, walking shoulder, shoulder wheel, and combination movements of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints, alternative flexion-extension, pronation-supination movements, Pegboard and Purdo pegboard exercises. Also, fine movements included smart gloves, biofeedback, finger ladder, and writing. The difficulty of the game increased at each stage of the practice with progress in patient performances. Outcome: After 6 weeks of treatment, gait and speech were normal and upper extremity strength was improved to near normal status. No adverse effects were noted. Conclusion: This case suggests that VR is a useful tool in the treatment of a patient with covid-19 related CVA. The safety of newly developed instruments for such cases provides new approaches to improve the therapeutic outcomes and prognosis as well as increased satisfaction rate among patients.

Keywords: covid-19, stroke, virtual reality, rehabilitation

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Authors: D. Aydinoglu, N. Karaca, O. Ceylan

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Limited water resources on the earth come first among the most alarming issues. In this respect, several solutions from treatment of waste water to water management have been proposed. Recently, use of hydrogels as soil additive, which is one of the water management ways in agriculture, has gained increasing interest. In traditional agriculture applications, water used with irrigation aim, rapidly flows down between the pore structures in soil, without enough useful for soil. To overcome this fact and increase the abovementioned limit values, recently, several natural based hydrogels have been suggested and tested to find out their efficiency in soil. However, most of these researches have dealt with grafting of synthetic acrylate based monomers on natural gelling agents, most probably due to reinforced of the natural gels. These results motivated us to search a natural based hydrogel formulations, not including any synthetic component, and strengthened with montmorillonite clay instead of any grafting polymerization with synthetic monomer and examine their potential in this field, as well as characterize of them. With this purpose, carrageenan-psyllium/ montmorillonite hybrid hydrogels have been successively prepared. Their swelling capacities were determined both in deionized and tap water and were found to be dependent on the carrageenan, psyllium and montmorillonite ratios, as well as the water type. On the other hand, mechanical tests revealed that especially carrageenan and montmorillonite contents have a great effect on gel strength, which is one of the essential features, preventing the gels from cracking resulted in readily outflow of all the water in the gel without beneficial for soil. They found to reach 0.23 MPa. The experiments carried out with soil indicated that hydrogels significantly improved the water uptake capacities and water retention degrees of the soil from 49 g to 85 g per g of soil and from 32 to 67%, respectively, depending on the ingredient ratios. Also, biodegradation tests demonstrated that all the hydrogels undergo biodegradation, as expected from their natural origin. The overall results suggested that these hybrid hydrogels have a potential for use as soil additive and can be safely used owing to their totally natural structure.

Keywords: carrageenan, hydrogel, montmorillonite, psyllium

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Authors: Daihui Zhang, Marie J. Dumont

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A derivative of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was synthesized for the thiol-Michael addition reaction. The efficiency of the catalysts (base and nucleophiles) and side reactions during the thiol-Michael addition were investigated. Dimethylphenylphosphine efficiently initiated the thiol-Michael addition polymerization for synthesizing a series of bio-based furan polymers with different structure and properties. The benzene rings or hydroxyl groups present in the polymer chains increased the glass transition temperature (Tg) of poly (β-thioether ester). Additionally, copolymers with various compositions were obtained via adding different ratio of 1,6-hexanedithiols to 1,4-benzenedithiols. 1H NMR analysis revealed that experimental ratios of two dithiols monomers matched well with theoretical ratios. The occurrence of a reversible Diels-Alder reaction between furan rings and maleimide groups allowed poly (β-thioether ester) to be dynamically crosslinked. These polymers offer the potentials to produce materials from biomass that have both practical mechanical properties and reprocessing ability.

Keywords: copolymers, Diels-Alder reaction, hydroxymethylfurfural, Thiol-Michael addition

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Authors: Rakesh Tiwary, D. M. Diwakar, Sandhya Mahapatro

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Agro-forestry offers huge opportunities for diversification of agriculture in middle Gangetic Basin of India, particularly in the state of Bihar as the region is identified with traditional & stagnant agriculture, low productivity, high population pressure, rural poverty and lack of agro- industrial development. The region is endowed with favourable agro-climatic, soil & drainage conditions; interestingly, there has been an age old tradition of agro-forestry in the state. However, due to demographic pressures, declining land holdings and other socio- economic factors, agro forestry practices have declined in recent decades. The government of Bihar has initiated a special program for expansion of agro-forestry based on modern practices with an aim to raise income level of farmers, make available raw material for wood based industries and increase green cover in the state. The Agro-forestry Schemes – Poplar & Other Species are the key components of the program being implemented by Department of Environment & Forest, Govt. of Bihar. The paper is based on fieldwork based evaluation study on experiences of implementation of the agro-forestry schemes. Understanding adoption patterns, identification of key motives for practising agro-forestry, experiences of farmers well analysing the barriers in expansion constituted the major themes of the research study. This paper is based on primary as well as secondary data. The primary data consists of beneficiary household survey, Focus Group Discussions among beneficiary communities, dialogue and multi stakeholder meetings and field visit to the sites. The secondary data information was collected and analysed from official records, policy documents and reports. Primary data was collected from about 500 beneficiary households of Muzaffarpur & Saharsa- two populous, large and agriculture dominated districts of middle Gangetic basin of North Bihar. Survey also covers 100 households of non-beneficiaries. Probability Proportionate to Size method was used to determine the number of samples to be covered in different blocks of two districts. Qualitative tools were also implemented to have better insights about key research questions. Present paper discusses socio-economic background of farmers practising agro-forestry; the adoption patterns of agro- forestry (choice of plants, methods of plantation and others); and motivation behind adoption of agro-forestry and the comparative benefits of agro-forestry (vis-a-vis traditional agriculture). Experience of beneficiary farmers with agro-forestry based on government programs & promotional campaigns (in terms of awareness, ease of access, knowhow and others) have been covered in the paper. Different aspects of survival of plants have been closely examined. Non beneficiaries but potential adopters were also interviewed to understand barriers of adoption of agro- forestry. Paper provides policy recommendations and interventions required for effective expansion of the agro- forestry and realisation of its future prospects for agricultural diversification in the region.

Keywords: agro-forestry adoption patterns, farmers’ motivations & experiences, Indian middle Gangetic plains, strategies for expansion

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Authors: Mathieu Audet, Monica Soliman, Emilie Eve Gravel, Rebecca Friesdorf

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Access to higher education is critical for reducing social inequalities. The Canada Learning Bond (CLB) is a government savings incentive aimed at increasing higher education access for children of low income families by providing money toward a Registered Education Savings Plan. To better understand the educational and financial decision-making of low income families, Employment Social Development Canada conducted qualitative fieldwork with eligible parents and children, teachers, and community organizations promoting the Bond. Insights from this fieldwork were then used to develop letters to better target the needs and experiences of eligible families. In the present study, we conducted a randomized controlled trial with children ages 12 to 13, the oldest cohort of eligible children, to test the effectiveness of the new letters. Parents or caregivers of 150,088 eligible children were assigned to one of five letter conditions promoting the Bond or to a control condition that did not receive a letter. The letter conditions were: (a) the standard letter from past outreach, (b) a letter presenting the exact amount the child was eligible to receive, enhancing the salience of benefits, (c) a letter with a social norm, (d) a letter with an image emphasizing the feasibility of higher education by presenting the diversity of options (i.e., college, trade schools, apprenticeships) – many participants interviewed viewed that university was unfeasible, and (e) a letter minimizing references to 'saving' (i.e., not framing the Bond explicitly as a savings incentive) – a concept that did not resonate with low income families who felt they could not afford to save. The exact amount was also presented in letters (c) through (e). The letter minimizing references to 'saving' and presenting the exact amount had the highest net take-up rate at 6.6%, compared to 3.5% for the standard letter group. Furthermore, this trial’s BI-informed letters showed the largest impact on take-up so far, with a net take-up of 5.7% compared to 3.0% and 3.9% in the first two trials. This research highlights the value of mixed-method approaches combining qualitative and behavioural insights methods for developing context-sensitive interventions for social programs. By gaining a deeper understanding of the needs and experiences of program users through qualitative fieldwork, and then integrating these insights into behaviourally informed communications, we were able to increase take-up of an education savings program, which may ultimately improve access to higher education in children of low income families.

Keywords: access to higher education, behavioral insights, government, innovation, mixed-methods, social programs

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Authors: Nadezhda Kvatashidze

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The conceptual framework of International Financial Reporting Standards determines the basic principles of accounting. The said principles have multiple applications, with professional judgments being one of those. Recognition and assessment of the information contained in financial reporting, especially so the somewhat uncertain events and transactions and/or the ones regarding which there is no standard or interpretation are based on professional judgments. Professional judgments aim at the formulation of expert assumptions regarding the specifics of the circumstances and events to be entered into the report based on the conceptual framework terms and principles. Experts have to make a choice in favor of one of the aforesaid and simulate the situations applying multi-variant accounting estimates and judgment. In making the choice, one should consider all the factors, which may help represent the information in the best way possible. Professional judgment determines the relevance and faithful representation of the presented information, which makes it more useful for the existing and potential investors. In order to assess the prospected net cash flows, the information must be predictable and reliable. The publication contains critical analysis of the aforementioned problems. The fact that the International Financial Reporting Standards are developed continuously makes the issue all the more important and that is another point discussed in the study.

Keywords: conceptual framework, faithful representation, professional judgement, relevance

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Authors: Rani Abro, Ali Ata Moazzami, Jan Erik Lindberg, Torbjörn Lundh

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The effect of dietary starch level on liver metabolism in Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) and tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) was studied using 1H-NMR based metabolomics. Fingerlings were fed iso-nitrogenous diets containing 0, 10 and 20 % starch for two months before liver samples were collected for metabolite analysis. Metabolite profiling was performed using 600 MHz NMR Chenomx software. In total, 48 metabolites were profiled in liver extracts from both fish species. Following the profiling, principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis (OPLC-DA) were performed. These revealed that differences in the concentration of significant metabolites were correlated to the dietary starch level in both species. The most prominent difference in metabolic response to starch feeding between the omnivorous tilapia and the carnivorous Arctic charr was an indication of higher anaerobic metabolism in Arctic charr. The data also indicated that amino acid and pyrimidine metabolism was higher in Artic charr than in tilapia.

Keywords: arctic charr, metabolomics, starch, tilapia

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Authors: B. SahaRoy, T. Medhi, S. C. Saha

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To understand the friction stir welding process, it is very important to know the nature of the material flow in and around the tool. The process is a combination of both thermal as well as mechanical work i.e it is a coupled thermo-mechanical process. Numerical simulations are very much essential in order to obtain a complete knowledge of the process as well as the physics underlying it. In the present work a model based approach is adopted in order to study material flow. A thermo-mechanical based CFD model is developed using a Finite Element package, Comsol Multiphysics. The fluid flow analysis is done. The model simultaneously predicts shear strain fields, shear strain rates and shear stress over the entire workpiece for the given conditions. The flow fields generated by the streamline plot give an idea of the material flow. The variation of dynamic viscosity, velocity field and shear strain fields with various welding parameters is studied. Finally the result obtained from the above mentioned conditions is discussed elaborately and concluded.

Keywords: AA6061-T6, CFD modelling, friction stir welding, material flow

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Authors: Partha Saha, Uttam Kumar Banerjee

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Maternal and Child Healthcare (MCH) has always been regarded as one of the important issues globally. Reduction of maternal and child mortality rates and increase of healthcare service coverage were declared as one of the targets in Millennium Development Goals till 2015 and thereafter as an important component of the Sustainable Development Goals. Over the last decade, worldwide MCH indicators have improved but could not match the expected levels. Progress of both maternal and child mortality rates have been monitored by several researchers. Each of the studies has stated that only less than 26% of low-income and middle income countries (LMICs) were on track to achieve targets as prescribed by MDG4. Average worldwide annual rate of reduction of under-five mortality rate and maternal mortality rate were 2.2% and 1.9% as on 2011 respectively whereas rates should be minimum 4.4% and 5.5% annually to achieve targets. In spite of having proven healthcare interventions for both mothers and children, those could not be scaled up to the required volume due to fragmented health systems, especially in the developing and under-developed countries. In this research, a knowledge discovery based interactive Decision Support System (DSS) has been developed on web platform which would assist healthcare policy makers to develop evidence-based policies. To achieve desirable results in MCH, efficient resource planning is very much required. In maximum LMICs, resources are big constraint. Knowledge, generated through this system, would help healthcare managers to develop strategic resource planning for combatting with issues like huge inequity and less coverage in MCH. This system would help healthcare managers to accomplish following four tasks. Those are a) comprehending region wise conditions of variables related with MCH, b) identifying relationships within variables, c) segmenting regions based on variables status, and d) finding out segment wise key influential variables which have major impact on healthcare indicators. Whole system development process has been divided into three phases. Those were i) identifying contemporary issues related with MCH services and policy making; ii) development of the system; and iii) verification and validation of the system. More than 90 variables under three categories, such as a) educational, social, and economic parameters; b) MCH interventions; and c) health system building blocks have been included into this web-based DSS and five separate modules have been developed under the system. First module has been designed for analysing current healthcare scenario. Second module would help healthcare managers to understand correlations among variables. Third module would reveal frequently-occurring incidents along with different MCH interventions. Fourth module would segment regions based on previously mentioned three categories and in fifth module, segment-wise key influential interventions will be identified. India has been considered as case study area in this research. Data of 601 districts of India has been used for inspecting effectiveness of those developed modules. This system has been developed by importing different statistical and data mining techniques on Web platform. Policy makers would be able to generate different scenarios from the system before drawing any inference, aided by its interactive capability.

Keywords: maternal and child heathcare, decision support systems, data mining techniques, low and middle income countries

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Authors: Gu Dongxing, Li Yuxuan, Nong Tengxiao, Burra Venkata Durga Kumar

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Since computers are widely used in business models, more and more companies choose to store important information in computers to improve productivity. However, this information can be compromised in many cases, such as when it is stored locally on the company's computers or when it is transferred between servers and clients. Of these important information leaks, source code leaks are probably the most costly. Because the source code often represents the core technology of the company, especially for the Internet companies, source code leakage may even lead to the company's core products lose market competitiveness, and then lead to the bankruptcy of the company. In recent years, such as Microsoft, AMD and other large companies have occurred source code leakage events, suffered a huge loss. This reveals to us the importance and necessity of preventing source code leakage. This paper aims to find ways to prevent source code leakage based on the direction of operating system, and based on the fact that most companies use Linux or Linux-like system to realize the interconnection between server and client, to discuss how to reduce the possibility of source code leakage during data transmission.

Keywords: data transmission, Linux, source code, operating system

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Authors: Mohamed S. Negm, Waleed S. Mandour

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The present study aims primarily at investigating words of peace (lexemes of peace) in the formal speeches of the Egyptian president Abdulfattah El-Sisi in a two-year span of time, from 2018 to 2019. This paper attempts to shed light not only on the contextual use of the antonyms, war and peace, but also it underpins quantitative analysis through the current methods of corpus linguistics. As such, the researchers have deployed a corpus-based approach in collecting, encoding, and processing 30 presidential speeches over the stated period (23,411 words and 25,541 tokens in total). Further, semantic fields and collocational networkzs are identified and compared statistically. Results have shown a significant propensity of adopting peace, including its relevant collocation network, textually and therefore, ideationally, at the expense of war concept which in most cases surfaces euphemistically through the noun conflict. The president has not justified the action of war with an honorable cause or a valid reason. Such results, so far, have indicated a positive sociopolitical mindset the Egyptian president possesses and moreover, reveal national and international fair dealing on arising issues.

Keywords: CADS, collocation network, corpus linguistics, critical discourse analysis

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Authors: Soraya Hoornam, Zeinab Sanaee

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Lithium-ion batteries are widely used for providing energy for mobile electronic devices. Graphite is a traditional anode material that was used in almost all commercialized lithium-ion batteries. It gives a specific capacity of 372 mAh/g for lithium storage. But there are multiple better choices for storing lithium that propose significantly higher specific capacities. As an example, silicon-based materials can be mentioned. In this regard, SiO₂ material can offer a huge specific capacity of 1965 mAh/g. Due to this high lithium storage ability, large volume change occurs in this electrode material during insertion and extraction of lithium, which may lead to cracking and destruction of the electrode. The use of nanomaterials instead of bulk material can significantly solve this problem. In addition, if we insert lithium in the active material of the battery before its cycling, which is called pre-lithiation, a further enhancement in the performance is expected. Here, we have fabricated an anode electrode of the battery using SiO₂ nanomaterial mixed with Graphite and assembled a lithium-ion battery half-cell with this electrode. Next, a pre-lithiation was performed on the SiO₂ nanoparticle-containing electrode, and the resulting anode material was investigated. This electrode has great potential for high-performance lithium-ion batteries.

Keywords: SiO₂ nanoparticles, lithium-ion battery, pre-lithiation, anode material

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Authors: Suzi M. S. Cavalari, Tim Lewis

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Teletandem is a bilingual model of virtual exchange in which two partners from different countries( and speak different languages) meet synchronously and regularly over a period of 8 weeks to learn each other’s mother tongue (or the language of proficiency). At São Paulo State University (UNESP), participants should answer a questionnaire before starting the exchanges in which one of the questions refers to setting a goal to be accomplished with the help of the teletandem partner. In this context, the present presentation aims to examine the goal-setting activity of 79 Brazilians who participated in Portuguese-English teletandem exchanges over a period of four years (2012-2015). The theoretical background is based on goal setting and self-regulated learning theories that propose that appropriate efficient goals are focused on the learning process (not on the product) and are specific, proximal (short-term) and moderately difficult. The data set used was 79 initial questionnaires retrieved from the MulTeC (Multimodal Teletandem Corpus). Results show that only approximately 10% of goals can be considered appropriate. Features of these goals are described in relation to specificities of the teletandem context. Based on the results, three mechanisms that can help learners to set attainable goals are discussed.

Keywords: foreign language learning, goal setting, teletandem, virtual exchange

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Authors: P. C. Li, R. H. Feng, S. J. Chen, Y. J. Yu, Y. L. Chen, X. Y. Fan

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of mindfulness and wisdom comprehensive strategy intervention on addiction to the Internet of college students by engaging fourteen intensive full-day mindfulness-based wisdom retreat curriculum. Wisdom, one of the practice method from the threefold training. Internet addiction, a kind of impulse control disorder, which attract the attentions of society due to its high prevalence and harmfulness in the last decade. Therefore, the study of internet addiction intervention is urgent. Participants with internet addiction were Chinese college students and screened by internet addiction disorder diagnose questionnaire (IAD-DQ). A quasi-experimental pretest and posttest design was used as research design. The finding shows that the mindfulness-based wisdom intervention strategy appeared to be effective in reducing the Internet addiction. Moreover, semi-structure interview method was conducted and outcomes included five themes: the reduction of internet use, the increment of awareness on emotion, self-control, present concentration and better positive lifestyle, indicating that mindfulness could be an effective intervention for this group with internet addiction.

Keywords: mindfulness, internet addiction, wisdom comprehensive intervention, cognitive-behavior therapy

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Authors: Modi Alsubaie, Willem Kuyken, Rebecca Abbott, Barnaby Dunn, Chris Dickens, Tina Keil, William Henley

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Background: Recently, there has been an increased interest in studying the effects of mindfulness-based interventions for people with psychological and physical problems. However, the mechanisms of action in these interventions that lead to beneficial physical and psychological outcomes have yet to be clearly identified. Purpose: The aim of this paper is to review, systematically, the evidence to date on the mechanisms of action in mindfulness interventions in populations with physical and/or psychological conditions. Method: Searches of seven databases (PsycINFO, Medline (Ovid), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, ClinicalTrials.gov) were undertaken in June 2014 and July 2015. We evaluated to what extent the studies we identified met the criteria suggested by Kazdin for establishing mechanisms of action within a psychological treatment (2007, 2009). Results: We identified four trials examining mechanisms of mindfulness interventions in those with comorbid psychological and physical health problems and 14 in those with psychological conditions. These studies examined a diverse range of potential mechanisms, including mindfulness and rumination. Of these candidate mechanisms, the most consistent finding was that greater self-reported change in mindfulness mediated superior clinical outcomes. However, very few studies fully met the Kazdin criteria for examining treatment mechanisms. Conclusion: There was evidence that global changes in mindfulness are linked to better outcomes. This evidence pertained more to interventions targeting psychological rather than physical health conditions. While there is promising evidence that MBCT/MBSR intervention effects are mediated by hypothesised mechanisms, there is a lack of methodological rigour in the field of testing mechanisms of action for both MBCT and MBSR, which precludes definitive conclusions.

Keywords: MBCT, MBSR, mechanisms, physical conditions, psychological conditions, systematic review

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Authors: Lara Alam, Laetitia Van-Schoors, Olivier Sicot, Benoit Piezel, Shahram Aivazzadeh

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Over the last decades, worldwide environmental awareness has grown due to the depletion of raw material resources and global warming. This awareness has prompted the development of new products more environmentally friendly. Among these products are biocomposite materials reinforced with natural fibers. The main challenge in developing the use of biocomposites in exterior applications is the lack of knowledge about their durability and the evolution of their mechanical and physico-chemical properties in the long term. Few studies have been carried out on the photooxidation of unidirectional (UD) composites based on recycled matrix, which is the aim of this work. For this purpose, UD flax fiber composites based on recycled polypropylene were prepared by thermocompression. An accelerated aging test was carried out using a xenon arc WeatherOmeter. The consequences of UV exposure on the chemical composition and morphology of the surface of composites as well as on their tensile mechanical properties have been reported. The results showed that accelerated aging had a significant effect on the surface of these composites while it had little impact on their mechanical properties.

Keywords: flax fiber, photooxidation, physico-chemical properties, recycled polypropylene, tensile properties

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Authors: Ibrahim M. Alwehaibi

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Recently the windows of globalization weirdly open, which increase the trade between the Western countries and Muslim nations. Sales of goods contracts are one of the most common business transaction in the world. This commercial exchange has faced many obstacles. One of the most concerned obstacles is the conflicts between laws. Thus, United Nation created a Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). Some of Islamic countries have ratified the CISG, while other Islamic countries have concerns about the feasibility of ratification of the CISG, and many businessmen have a concern of application of the convention. The concerns related to the conflict between CISG and Sharia, and the long debate about the success, ambiguity, and stability of the CISG. Therefore, this research will examine the feasibility of Muslim countries and Muslim businessmen to adopt the CISG by following steps: First, this research will introduce sharia Law (Islamic contracts law) and CISG and provide backgrounds of both laws. Second, this research will compare the provisions of CISG and Sharia and figuring out the conflicts and provide possible solutions for the conflicts. Third, this study will examine the advantages and disadvantages of adopting the CISG and examining the success of the CISG. Fourth, this study will explore the current situation in Islamic countries by taking Saudi Arabia as a case and explore how the application of Sharia law works and the possibility to enforce the CISG and explore the current practice of foreign Sales in Saudi Arabia. The research finds that there are some conflicts between CISG and Sharia Law. The most notable conflicts are interest and uncertainty in considerations. Also, this research finds that it seems that ratification of CISG is not beneficial for Muslim countries because the convention has not reached its goal which is uniformity of laws. Moreover, the CISG has been excluded and ignored by businessmen and some courts. Additionally, this research finds that it could be possible to enforce CISG in Saudi Arabia, provided that no conflict between the enforced provision and Sharia Law. This study is following the competitive and analysis methodologies to reach its findings. The researcher analyzes the provision of CISG and compares them with Sharia rules and finds the conflicts and compatibilities. In fact, CISG has 101 articles, so a comprehensive comparison of all articles in CISG with Sharia is difficult. Thus, in order to deeply analyze all aspects of this issue, this study will exclude some areas of contract which have been discussed by other researchers such as deliver of goods, conformity, and mirror image rules. The comparative section of this study will focus on the most concerned articles that conflict or doubtful of conflict with Sharia, which are interest, uncertainty, statute of limitation, specific performance, and pass of risk.

Keywords: Sharia, CISG, Contracts for International Sale of Goods, contracts, sale of goods, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Margareth E. Bolla, Ludfi Djakfar, Achmad Wicaksono

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The increase in the number of motorcycle users in Indonesia is in line with the increase in accidents involving motorcycles. Several previous studies have shown that humans are the biggest factor causing accidents, and the driver's personality factor will affect his behavior on the road. This study was conducted to see how a person's personality traits will affect the probability of having an accident while driving. The Big Five Inventory (BFI) questionnaire and the Honda Riding Trainer (HRT) simulator were used as measuring tools, while the analysis carried out was logistic regression analysis. The results of the descriptive analysis of the respondent's personality based on the BFI show that the majority of drivers have the dominant character of neuroticism (34%), while the smallest group is the driver with the dominant type of openness character (6%). The percentage of motorists who were not involved in an accident was 54%. The results of the logistic regression analysis form a mathematical model as follows Y = -3.852 - 0.288 X1 + 0.596 X2 + 0.429 X3 - 0.386 X4 - 0.094 X5 + 0.436 X6 + 0.162 X7, where the results of hypothesis testing indicate that the variables openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, history of traffic accidents and age at starting driving did not have a significant effect on the probability of a motorcyclist being involved in an accident.

Keywords: accidents, BFI, probability, simulator

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Authors: Nirmalasanti Pramesi

Abstract:

In 2004 the CLD KHI Team offered several new ideas in the field of Islamic family law, such as marriage, inheritance (waris), and waqf. The new idea is based on six main principles; pluralism, nationality, human rights, democracy, maslahah, and gender equality. However, the existence of this has actually caused various criticisms, appreciations, and controversies. For this reason, CLD-KHI, as the idea of reforming family law, especially in the field of marriage, really needs to be studied academically with a comprehensive method as an unfinished problem. The main issues examined in this study are what are the ideas for reforming the law of marriage that have been formulated by the CLD KHI team, as well as how to implement Maqasid Sharia in legal reform. The methodology used in this research is a qualitative method with a normative-empirical-sociological approach. The results of this research show every substance of the idea considers aspects of locality, nationality, and global ethics. The Maqasid approach used in most of the legal provisions is moderate (wasati). Meanwhile, in matters of wali niqah and inheritance, it is adjusted to the context of Indonesian society.

Keywords: Maqasid syari'ah, CLD KHI, marriage law reform, moderate

Procedia PDF Downloads 182