Search results for: multicolour changing textiles

Authors: Tim Nedyalkov

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A business decision to move to the cloud brings fundamental changes in how an organization develops and delivers its Information Technology solutions. The accelerated pace of digital transformation across businesses and government agencies increases the reliance on cloud-based services. They are collecting, managing, and retaining large amounts of data in cloud environments makes information security and data privacy protection essential. It becomes even more important to understand what key factors drive successful cloud adoption following the commencement of the Privacy Amendment Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) Act 2017 in Australia as the regulatory changes impact many organizations and industries. This quantitative correlational research investigated the governance, risk management, and compliance factors contributing to cloud security success. The factors influence the adoption of cloud computing within an organizational context after the commencement of the NDB scheme. The results and findings demonstrated that corporate information security policies, data storage location, management understanding of data governance responsibilities, and regular compliance assessments are the factors influencing cloud computing adoption. The research has implications for organizations, future researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and cloud computing providers to meet the rapidly changing regulatory and compliance requirements.

Keywords: cloud compliance, cloud security, data governance, privacy protection

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Authors: F. Ahmed, Y. Dawood

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One of the vehement debates nowadays is about the effect of taxation and economic growth. From one side, taxes are an essential factor to absorb the unemployment, improve the stander of living and achieve a high level of economic growth. On the other hand, they consider it as the main reason to lose the growth ground. The primary goal of the present study is to provide a cross-country evidence of the relationship between taxes and entrepreneurship. There are several important areas where this study makes an original contribution to Entrepreneurship literature. Our paper will use a combination of macro and micro data to present more accurate evidence of the relation. Our study considers large cross sections of countries for the period from 2008 to 2014 for 59 countries. In addition to that and most importantly, our study examines the effect of corruption on the relation between taxes and Entrepreneurship as the corruption is a very important dimension that can explain international entrepreneurship. The importance of this study can be seen from several perspectives: By investigating the taxes effect on entrepreneurship motivation, it is important for the policy makers as well as scholars. Governments and regulators who consider changing in the entrepreneurship sector as an important determinant of economic growth can benefit also from this research. Also, countries who are considering improving their growth level. Scholars also can get insights from this research to gain insights regarding the validity of the Environmental Determinism the institutional theory in the entrepreneurship contest. In addition, it also highlights the obstacles of corruption in developing countries.

Keywords: taxes, corruption, entrepreneurship, across countries

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Authors: Sitalakshmi Venkatraman, Fiona Wahr, Anthony de Souza-Daw, Samuel Kaspi

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There is a growing emphasis on generic skills in higher education to match the changing skill-set requirements of the labour market. However, researchers and policy makers have not arrived at a consensus on the generic skills that actually contribute towards workplace employability and performance that complement and/or underpin discipline-specific graduate attributes. In order to strengthen the qualifications framework, a range of ‘generic’ learning outcomes have been considered for students undergoing higher education programs and among them it is necessary to have the fundamental generic skills such as literacy and numeracy at a level appropriate to the qualification type. This warrants for curriculum design approaches to contextualise the form and scope of these fundamental generic skills for supporting both students’ learning engagement in the course, as well as the graduate attributes required for employability and to progress within their chosen profession. Little research is reported in integrating such generic skills into discipline-specific learning outcomes. This paper explores the literature of the generic skills required for graduates from the discipline of Information Technology (IT) in relation to an Australian higher education institution. The paper presents the rationale of a proposed Bachelor of IT curriculum designed to contextualize the learning of these generic skills within the students’ discipline studies.

Keywords: curriculum, employability, generic skills, graduate attributes, higher education, information technology

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Authors: James M. Wakiru, Liliane Pintelon, Peter Muchiri, Peter Chemweno

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The fast-changing business and operational environment are forcing organizations to adopt asset performance management strategies, not only to reduce costs but also maintain operational and production policies while addressing demand. To attain optimal asset performance management, a framework that ensures a continuous and systematic approach to analyzing an organization’s current maturity level and expected improvement regarding asset maintenance processes, strategies, technologies, capabilities, and systems is essential. Moreover, this framework while addressing maintenance-intensive organizations should consider the diverse business, operational and technical context (often dynamic) an organization is in and realistically prescribe or relate to the appropriate tools and systems the organization can potentially employ in the respective level, to improve and attain their maturity goals. This paper proposes an asset maintenance maturity model to assess the current capabilities, strength and weaknesses of maintenance processes an organization is using and analyze gaps for improvement via structuring set levels of achievement. At the epicentre of the proposed framework is the utilization of maintenance objective selected by an organization for various maintenance optimization programs. The framework adapts the Capability Maturity Model of assessing the maintenance process maturity levels in the organization.

Keywords: asset maintenance, maturity models, maintenance objectives, optimization

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Authors: H. K. Bonsu-Owu

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Media portrayal of women in traditional stereotypical roles such as mothers, or seductress has been the norm for years. However, the changing socioeconomic and political environment and advancement of women in today’s society have given rise to questions on the appropriate portrayal of women in the media today. The purpose of the study is to analyze the portrayal of women in Ghanaian newspapers and find women’s perception on the issue. The study uses a three step approach in gathering data for analysis. Using the stratified sampling method, it analyzes front page images of women from 210 issues of the selected newspapers. Further, it administers questionnaires to 100 female students to find out how they relate to the images of women in the selected newspapers. Finally, editors of the newspapers are interviewed to find their rational for portraying women as seen on their front pages. The findings suggest that the newspapers portray women for varied reasons such as promoting sales and influencing the public agenda. Further, the female students claim that in spite of women’s vast contribution to the growth of society, the media continue to marginalize them. They add that such portrayals promote and reinforce social construct, however, refuse to see themselves through the male gaze concept. The study concludes that the stereotyped portrayal of women is likely to continue if the government, regulatory bodies, the media and society do not make a conscious effort to address this problem.

Keywords: women, newspaper, portrayal, social construct

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Authors: Saleem Z. Ramadan

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This paper discusses the effects of using progressive Type-I right censoring on the design of the Simple Step Accelerated Life testing using Bayesian approach for Weibull life products under the assumption of cumulative exposure model. The optimization criterion used in this paper is to minimize the expected pre-posterior variance of the PTH percentile time of failures. The model variables are the stress changing time and the stress value for the first step. A comparison between the conventional and the progressive Type-I right censoring is provided. The results have shown that the progressive Type-I right censoring reduces the cost of testing on the expense of the test precision when the sample size is small. Moreover, the results have shown that using strong priors or large sample size reduces the sensitivity of the test precision to the censoring proportion. Hence, the progressive Type-I right censoring is recommended in these cases as progressive Type-I right censoring reduces the cost of the test and doesn't affect the precision of the test a lot. Moreover, the results have shown that using direct or indirect priors affects the precision of the test.

Keywords: reliability, accelerated life testing, cumulative exposure model, Bayesian estimation, progressive type-I censoring, Weibull distribution

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Authors: Oswaldo Otero, Eduardo A. Orozco, Ana M. Herrera

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In this work, we present results from analytical and numerical studies of the electron acceleration by a TE₀₁₁ cylindrical microwave mode in a static homogeneous magnetic field under electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) condition. The stability of the orbits is analyzed using the particle orbit theory. In order to get a better understanding of the interaction wave-particle, we decompose the azimuthally electric field component as the superposition of right and left-hand circular polarization standing waves. The trajectory, energy and phase-shift of the electron are found through a numerical solution of the relativistic Newton-Lorentz equation in a finite difference method by the Boris method. It is shown that an electron longitudinally injected with an energy of 7 keV in a radial position r=Rc/2, being Rc the cavity radius, is accelerated up to energy of 90 keV by an electric field strength of 14 kV/cm and frequency of 2.45 GHz. This energy can be used to produce X-ray for medical imaging. These results can be used as a starting point for study the acceleration of electrons in a magnetic field changing slowly in time (GYRAC), which has some important applications as the electron cyclotron resonance ion proton accelerator (ECR-IPAC) for cancer therapy and to control plasma bunches with relativistic electrons.

Keywords: Boris method, electron cyclotron resonance, finite difference method, particle orbit theory, X-ray

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Authors: B. Adcock, H. van Rensburg

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Education is ever-changing to keep up with innovative technological development and the rapid acceleration of globalisation. This chapter introduces the historical development and transformation of teaching in distance education from correspondence to on-line learning in Queensland universities. It furthermore investigates changes to the delivery models of distance education that have impacted on teaching at tertiary level in Queensland, and reflects on the social changes that have taken place during the past 100 years. This includes an analysis of the following five different periods in time: Foundation period (1911-1919) including World War I; 1920-1939 including the Great Depression; 1940-1970s, including World War II and the post war reconstruction; and the current technological era (1980s to present). In Queensland, the concept of distance education was begun by the University of Queensland (UQ) in 1911, when it began offering extension courses. The introduction of modern technology, in the form of electronic delivery, dramatically changed tertiary distance education due to political initiatives. The inclusion of electronic delivery in education signifies change at many levels, including policy, pedagogy, curriculum and governance. Changes in delivery not only affect the way study materials are delivered, but also the way courses are be taught and adjustments made by academics to their teaching methods.

Keywords: distance education, innovative technological development, on line education, tertiary education

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Authors: Clarice Zimbili Zondi

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This study investigates the effect of restorative justice programmes offered to offenders in prison environment (Correctional Centres) during their rehabilitation. The study looks specifically to programmes offered by a Non-Profit Organisation (NPO), Phoenix Zululand (PZ) in twelve (12) different prisons in Zululand, South Africa. Document analysis, interviews and participant observation methods were used to test whether the work done by Phoenix Zululand is in line with the remarks made on restorative justice as encapsulated in the White Paper on Corrections 2005 in South Africa. Also tested was whether a better understanding of restorative justice programmes assists in coming up with better strategies to change the behaviour of offenders. The study findings discovered that the work that is done by PZ is not in line with the remarks made in the White Paper on Corrections. Also the importance of a full comprehension of what one is doing in order to be effective in rehabilitation. However, rehabilitation that is aimed at only changing the decision-making processes of offenders not to reoffend, does not serve as a total rehabilitation programme. Rehabilitation is only successful if ex-offenders, whilst still in prison, have developed market-related skills and become employed or self-employed. Restorative Justice Programmes offered by PZ, although they play a critical role, appears to be lacking in equipping offenders with skills for effective reintegration into society and, subsequently, self-reliance.

Keywords: offender, rehabilitation, restorative justice, prison

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Authors: Qiang Ren

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A growing number of states are improving domestic law to better protect and promote foreign investment by changing/upgrading the existing law. However, inconsistency occurs because the new law is different from the ‘old’ law. For example, China has issued an unprecedented Foreign Investment Law and several regulations allowing comprehensive market access for foreign investment in most energy sectors since 2020. However, some laws, rules, regulations, etc. enacted previously remain valid, and the provisions regulating foreign investment do not grant full market access to foreign investment as such. The inconsistency above makes it necessary to investigatehow the international investment treaty law and dispute settlement practice respond to the ‘inconsistency and conflict’ in municipal law andwhat remedy foreign investors can seek under international law if the investment is denied due to inconsistency. Ultimately, it aims to examine how international tribunals should balance the gradually developing legal system of host states and the protection of foreign investors and investments if the host states cannot provide consistency during such a transition period of law development. The research seeks to answer these questions by making a comparative analysis of domestic law on market access to foreign investment, international investment treaties, and dispute arbitral practice. The objective is to examine how international investment treaty law and international investment dispute settlement practice evaluate the conflicts in the municipal law of host states in the admission of foreign investment. It also explores the possibility of harmonisation among them.

Keywords: municipal law, protect and promote foreign investment, international law, host states

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Authors: T. L. Granzyk, S. Scarborough, J. DeCosmo

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The use of health-related or medical narratives has gained increasing anecdotal and research-based support as a successful device for changing health behavior and outcomes. These narratives, in the form of oral storytelling, short films, and educational documentaries, for example, are most effective when including empathetic characters that transport viewers into the story and command both their attention and emotional response. This case study outlines how and why one large health system created a short narrative film for their internal Sepsis Awareness campaign, which told the dramatic story of a patient recovering from a missed sepsis diagnosis, leaving her a quad-amputee. Results include positive global anecdotal response to the film from healthcare professionals and patients, as well as use of the film to support legislation, ultimately passed in favor of the formation of Sepsis Awareness Workgroups in Maryland. Authors conclude that narrative films can be used successfully to initiate healthcare legislation and to increase internal and external awareness of health-related areas in need of greater improvement and support. As such, healthcare leaders and stakeholders would benefit from learning how to intentionally create, cultivate, and curate narratives from within their own health systems that elicit an empathetic response.

Keywords: healthcare policy, healthcare narratives, sepsis awareness, short films

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Authors: Maninder Kaur Gill, Alpana Agarwal

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It is practically not feasible to measure the open-loop voltage gain of the operational amplifier in the open loop configuration. It is because the open-loop voltage gain of the operational amplifier is very large. In order to avoid the saturation of the output voltage, a very small input should be given to operational amplifier which is not possible to be measured practically by a digital multimeter. A test circuit for measurement of open loop voltage gain of an operational amplifier has been proposed and verified using simulation tools as well as by experimental methods on breadboard. The main advantage of this test circuit is that it is simple, fast, accurate, cost effective, and easy to handle even on a breadboard. The test circuit requires only the device under test (DUT) along with resistors. This circuit has been tested for measurement of open loop voltage gain for different operational amplifiers. The underlying goal is to design testable circuits for various analog devices that are simple to realize in VLSI systems, giving accurate results and without changing the characteristics of the original system. The DUTs used are LM741CN and UA741CP. For LM741CN, the simulated gain and experimentally measured gain (average) are calculated as 89.71 dB and 87.71 dB, respectively. For UA741CP, the simulated gain and experimentally measured gain (average) are calculated as 101.15 dB and 105.15 dB, respectively. These values are found to be close to the datasheet values.

Keywords: Device Under Test (DUT), open loop voltage gain, operational amplifier, test circuit

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Authors: Debasish Pradhan, Shaktiprasad Pradhan, Rakesh Kumar Pradhan, Gitanjali Tripathy

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Suppressors of cytokine signalling (SOCS1), a newly indentified antiapoptotic molecule is a downstream effector of the receptor tyrosine kinase-Ras signalling pathway. The current study has uncovered that SOCS1 may have wide and imperative capacities, particularly because of its close correlation with malignant tumors. To investigate the impact of SOCS1 on MDR, we analyzed the expression of P-gp and SOCS1 by immunohistochemistry and found there was a positive correlation between them. At that point, we effectively interfered with RNA translation by the contamination of siRNA of SOCS1 into MCF7/ADM breast cancer cell lines through a lentivirus, and the expression of the target gene was significantly inhibited. After RNAi, the drug resistance was reduced altogether and the expression of MDR1 mRNA and P-gp in MCF7/ADM cell lines demonstrated a significant decrease. Likewise, the expression of P53 protein increased in a statistically significant manner (p ≤ 0.01) after RNAi exposure. Moreover, flow cytometry analysis uncovers that cell cycle and anti-apoptotic enhancing capacity of cells changed after RNAi treatment. These outcomes proposed SOCS1 may take part in breast cancer MDR by managing MDR1 and P53 expression, changing cell cycle and enhancing the anti-apoptotic ability.

Keywords: breast cancer, multidrug resistance, SOCS1 gene, MDR1 gene, RNA interference

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Authors: Samaneh Eshraghi Ivaria, Torkild Thellefsenb

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The article discusses the significance of understanding the semiotics of future cities and recognizing the signs of cultural identity in contributing to the preservation of citizens' memories. The identities of citizens are conveyed through memories in urban planning, and with the rapid advancements in technology, cities are constantly changing. Therefore, preserving memories in the design of future cities is essential in maintaining a quality environment that reflects the citizens' identities. The article focuses on the semiotics of the movement pattern morphology in Mashhad city's historical area, using the historical interpretation method. The practice of walking to the shrine of Imam Reza as a religious building has been a historical and religious custom among Shiites from the past until now. By recognizing the signs that result from this religious and cultural approach on the morphology of the city, the aim of the research is to preserve the place of memories in future cities. Overall, the article highlights the importance of recognizing the cultural and historical significance of cities in designing future urban spaces. By doing so, it is possible to preserve the memories and identities of citizens, ensuring that the urban environment reflects the unique cultural heritage of a place.

Keywords: memories, future cities, movement pattern, mashhad, semiotics

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Authors: Pradeep Kumar, Shibashish Chakraborty, Sasadhar Bera

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In the anticipation of demand fluctuations, services cannot be inventoried and hence it creates a difficult problem in marketing of services. The inability to meet customers (patients) requirements in healthcare context has more serious consequences than other service sectors. In order to meet patient requirements in the current uncertain environment, healthcare organizations are seeking ways for improved service delivery. Flexibility provides a mechanism for reducing variability in service encounters and improved performance. Flexibility is defined as the ability of the organization to cope with changing circumstances or instability caused by the environment. Patient satisfaction is an important performance outcome of healthcare organizations. However, the paucity of information exists in healthcare delivery context to examine the impact of flexibility on patient satisfaction and behavioral intention. The present study is an attempt to develop a conceptual foundation for investigating overall impact of flexibility on patient satisfaction and behavioral intention. Several dimensions of flexibility in healthcare context are examined and proposed to have a significant impact on patient satisfaction and intention. Furthermore, the study involves a critical examination of determinants of patient satisfaction and development of a comprehensive view the relationship between flexibility, patient satisfaction and behavioral intention. Finally, theoretical contributions and implications for healthcare professionals are suggested from flexibility perspective.

Keywords: healthcare, flexibility, patient satisfaction, behavioral intention

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Authors: Farhan Beg

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A space vector based pulse width modulation control technique for the three-phase PWM converter is proposed in this paper. The proposed control scheme is based on a synchronous reference frame model. High performance and efficiency is obtained with regards to the DC bus voltage and the power factor considerations of the PWM rectifier thus leading to low losses. MATLAB/SIMULINK are used as a platform for the simulations and a SIMULINK model is presented in the paper. The results show that the proposed model demonstrates better performance and properties compared to the traditional SPWM method and the method improves the dynamic performance of the closed loop drastically. For the space vector based pulse width modulation, sine signal is the reference waveform and triangle waveform is the carrier waveform. When the value of sine signal is larger than triangle signal, the pulse will start producing to high; and then when the triangular signals higher than sine signal, the pulse will come to low. SPWM output will change by changing the value of the modulation index and frequency used in this system to produce more pulse width. When more pulse width is produced, the output voltage will have lower harmonics contents and the resolution will increase.

Keywords: power factor, SVPWM, PWM rectifier, SPWM

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Authors: Phyo Wai Aung, Sysoev Oleg Evgenevich, Boris Necolavet Maryin

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The article deals with theoretical problems of correlation of processes of microstructure changes of structural materials under cyclic loading and acoustic emission. The ways of the evolution of a microstructure under the influence of cyclic loading are shown depending on the structure of the initial crystal structure of the material. The spectra of the frequency characteristics of acoustic emission signals are experimentally obtained when testing titanium samples for cyclic loads. Changes in the fractal dimension of the acoustic emission signals in the selected frequency bands during the evolution of the microstructure of structural materials from the action of cyclic loads, as well as in the destruction of samples, are studied. The experimental samples were made of VT-20 structural material widely used in aircraft and rocket engineering. The article shows the striving of structural materials for synergistic stability and reduction of the fractal dimension of acoustic emission signals, in accordance with the degradation of the microstructure, which occurs as a result of fatigue processes from the action of low cycle loads. As a result of the research, the frequency range of acoustic emission signals of 100-270 kHz is determined, in which the fractal dimension of the signals, it is possible to most reliably predict the durability of structural materials.

Keywords: cyclic loadings, material structure changing, acoustic emission, fractal dimension

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Authors: Siva Kumar Reddy, Anwesha Mukherjee, Abha Misra

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Excellent energy absorption capability in carbon nanotubes (CNT) is shown in their bulk structure that behaves like super compressible foam. Furthermore, a tunable mechanical behavior of CNT foam is achieved using several methods like changing the concentration of precursors, polymer impregnation, non covalent functionalization of CNT microstructure etc. Influence of magnetic field on compressive behavior of magnetic CNT demonstrated an enhanced peak stress and energy absorption capability, which does not require any surface and structural modification of the foam. This presentation discusses the mechanical behavior of micro porous CNT foam that is impregnated in magnetic field responsive fluid. Magnetic particles are dispersed in a nonmagnetic fluid so that alignment of both particles and CNT could play a crucial role in controlling the stiffness of the overall structure. It is revealed that the compressive behavior of CNT foam critically depends on the fluid viscosity as well as magnetic field intensity. Both peak Stress and energy absorption in CNT foam followed a power law behavior with the increase in the magnetic field intensity. However, in the absence of magnetic field, both peak stress and energy absorption capability of CNT foam presented a linear dependence on the fluid viscosity. Hence, this work demonstrates the role magnetic filed in controlling the mechanical behavior of the foams prepared at nanoscale.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes, magnetic field, energy absorption capability and viscosity

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Authors: Anna Kesoyan

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The present paper deals with the syntax-related problems of translation from English into Armenian. Although Syntax is a part of grammar, syntax-related problems of translation are studied separately during the process of translation. Translation from one language to another is widely accepted as a challenging problem. This becomes even more challenging when the source and target languages are widely different in structure and style, as is the case with English and Armenian. Syntax-related problems of translation from English into Armenian are mainly connected with the syntactical structures of these languages, and particularly, with the word order of the sentence. The word order of the sentence of the Armenian language, which is a synthetic language, is usually characterized as “rather free”, and the word order of the English language, which is an analytical language, is characterized “fixed”. The following research examines the main translation means, particularly, syntactical transformations as the translator has to take real steps while trying to solve certain syntax-related problems. Most of the means of translation are based on the transformation of grammatical components of the sentence, without changing the main information of the text. There are several transformations that occur during translation such as word order of the sentence, transformations of certain grammatical constructions like Infinitive participial construction, Nominative with the Infinitive and Elliptical constructions which have been covered in the following research.

Keywords: elliptical constructions, nominative with the infinitive constructions, fixed and free word order, syntactic structures

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Authors: Dijana Sulejmanović

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Cognitive-behavioral modification (CBM) is a combination of cognitive and behavioral learning principles to shape and encourage the desired behaviors. A crucial element of cognitive-behavioral modification is that a change the behavior precedes awareness of how it affects others. CBM is oriented toward changing inner speech and learning to control behaviors through self-regulation techniques. It aims to teach individuals how to develop the ability to recognize, monitor and modify their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The review of literature emphasizes the efficiency the CBM approach in the treatment of children's hyperactivity and negative emotions such as anger. The results of earlier research show how impulsive and hyperactive behavior, agitation, and aggression may slow down and block the child from being able to actively monitor and participate in regular classes, resulting in the disruption of the classroom and the teaching process, and the children may feel rejected, isolated and develop long-term poor image of themselves and others. In this article, we will provide how the use of CBM, adapted to child's age, can incorporate measures of cognitive and emotional functioning which can help us to better understand the children’s cognitive processes, their cognitive strengths, and weaknesses, and to identify factors that may influence their behavioral and emotional regulation. Such a comprehensive evaluation can also help identify cognitive and emotional risk factors associated with aggressive behavior, specifically the processes involved in modulating and regulating cognition and emotions.

Keywords: aggressive behavior, cognitive behavioral modification, cognitive behavioral theory, modification

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Authors: Huan Li, Jianchun Li, Yancheng Li, Yang Yu

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As a seismic protection method of civil and engineering structures, weakening and damping is effective during the elastic region, while it somehow leads to the early yielding of the entire structure accompanying with large excursions and permanent deformations. Adaptive negative stiffness device is attractive for realizing yielding property without changing the stiffness of the primary structure. In this paper, a new modification negative stiffness device (MNSD) with constant force-displacement characteristic is proposed by combining a magnetic negative stiffness spring, a piecewise linear positive spring and a passive damper with a certain adaptive stiffness device. The proposed passive control MNSD preserves no effect under small excitation. When the displacement amplitude increases beyond the pre-defined yielding point, the force-displacement characteristics of the system with MNSD will keep constant. The seismic protection effect of the MNSD is evaluated by employing it to a single-degree-of-freedom system under sinusoidal excitation, and real earthquake waves. By comparative analysis, the system with MNSD performs better on reducing acceleration and displacement response under different displacement amplitudes than the scenario without it and the scenario with unmodified certain adaptive stiffness device.

Keywords: negative stiffness, adaptive stiffness, weakening and yielding, constant force-displacement characteristic

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Authors: Zohreh Rostami, Arezoo Khosravi, Mohammad Nikpoor Aghdam, Mahmood Salesi

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Background: Cardiovascular mortality in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients have a strong relationship with baseline or progressive left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) meanwhile in hemodialysis patients 10% decrement in left ventricular mass was associated with 28% reduction in cardiovascular mortality risk. In consonance with these arguments, we designed a study to measure morphological and functional echocardiographic variations early after transplantation. Method: The patients with normal renal function underwent two advanced echocardiographic studies to examine the structural and functional changes in left ventricular mass before and 3-month after transplantation. Results: From a total of 23 participants 21(91.3%) presented with left ventricular hypertrophy, 60.9% in eccentric and 30.4% in concentric group. Diastolic dysfunction improved in concentric group after transplantation. Both in pre and post transplantation global longitudinal strain (GLS)- average in eccentric group was more than concentric (-17.45 ± 2.75 vs -14.3 ± 3.38 p=0.03) and (-18.08 ± 2.6 vs -16.1 ± 2.7 p= 0.04) respectively. Conclusion: Improvement and recovery of left ventricular function in concentric group was better and sooner than eccentric after kidney transplantation. Although fractional shortening and diastolic function and GLS-4C in pre-transplantation in concentric group was worse than eccentric, but therapeutic response to kidney transplantation in concentric was more and earlier than eccentric group.

Keywords: chronic kidney disease, end stage renal disease, left ventricular hypertrophy, global longitudinal strain

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Authors: Atef M. Ghaleb, Mohamed Z. Ramadan, Khalid Saad Aljaloud

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The aim of this study is to assesses the lifting capabilities of persons experiencing hypoxia. It also examines the behavior of the physiological response induced through the lifting process related to changing in the hypoxia and lifting frequency variables. For this purpose, the study performed two consecutive tests by using; (1) training and acclimatization; and (2) an actual collection of data. A total of 10 male students from King Saud University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, were recruited in the study. A two-way repeated measures design, with two independent variables (ambient oxygen (15%, 18% and 21%)) and lifting frequency (1 lift/min and 4 lifts/min) and four dependent variables i.e., maximum acceptable weight of lift (MAWL), Electromyography (EMG) of four muscle groups (anterior deltoid, trapezius, biceps brachii, and erector spinae), rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and rating of oxygen feeling (ROF) were used in this study. The results show that lifting frequency has significantly impacted the MAWL and muscles’ activities. The oxygen content had a significant effect on the RPE and ROE. The study has revealed that acclimatization and training sessions significantly reduce the effect of the hypoxia on the human physiological parameters during the manual materials handling tasks.

Keywords: lifting capabilities, muscle activities, oxygen content, perceived exertion

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Authors: Prakash Singh

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The aim of this study was to investigate the extent of teachers’ experiences of tobephobia (TBP) in their heterogeneous classrooms and what impact this had on their emotions and job satisfaction. The expansive and continuously changing demands for quality and equal education for all students in educational organisations that have limited resources connotes that the negative effects of TBP cannot be simply ignored as being non-existent in the educational environment. As this quantitative study reveals, teachers disliking their job with low expectations, lack of motivation in their workplace and pessimism, result in their low self-esteem. When there is pessimism in the workplace, then the employees’ self-esteem will inevitably be low, as pointed out by 97.1% of the respondents in this study. Self-esteem is a reliable indicator of whether employees are happy or not in their jobs and the majority of the respondents in this study agreed that their experiences of TBP negatively impacted on their self-esteem. Hence, this exploratory study strongly indicates that productivity in the workplace is directly linked to the employees’ expectations, self-confidence and their self-esteem. It is therefore inconceivable for teachers to be productive in their regular classrooms if their genuine professional concerns, anxieties, and curriculum challenges are not adequately addressed. This empirical study contributes to our knowledge on TBP because it clearly outlines some of the teaching problems that we are grappling with and constantly experience in our schools in this century. Therefore, it is imperative that the tobephobic experiences of teachers are not merely documented, but appropriately addressed with relevant action by every stakeholder associated with education so that our teachers’ emotions and job satisfaction needs are fully taken care of.

Keywords: demotivated teachers' pessimism, low expectations of teachers' job satisfaction, self-esteem, tobephobia

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Authors: Mariam Aref Mahmoud

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A myth surrounding the development of Cairo bases itself in the Fatimid era when the city, as we know it today, was built. Surrounding the city was a wall meant to protect the main center from any possible attack. The effects of global hierarchies of power extend further than labor regulations and trade statistics. Beyond that, they form dialectical oppositions between local and global identities within urban space. As such, those in power often aim to claim national identity as what they perceive to be the most nationally beneficial strategy. These claims over perceptions of national identity take over the streets, the advertisements, and the parks and eventually make their way into the different forms of media. Often, these claims take over the main planning goals of the city. Whether it is through the control over which sounds are allowed to be produced in public space, what type of people are encouraged to enter which spaces, or other forms of performing local and national identity, public space, property, and land have often been used as a method to present to both the public and the global population what people in power wish for these spaces to represent. In Egypt, these developments have been changing since the end of colonial rule. In particular, this paper will analyze how Hosni Mubarak, and to a certain extent Anwar el-Sadat, enacted neoliberal designs dedicated towards modernization in order to present an image of a Cairo that is not uniquely Egyptian but essentially Western cosmopolitan - a Cairo that belongs to a globalized world.

Keywords: Egypt, imperialism, westernization, housing

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Authors: M. Kamil, Rahber Husain Khan

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In the present study, the Interaction of anionic polymer, sodium carboxymethylcellulose (NaCMC), with cationic gemini surfactants 2,2[(oxybis(ethane-1,2-diyl))bis(oxy)]bis(N-hexadecyl1-N,N-[di(E2)/tri(E3)]methyl1-2-oxoethanaminium)chloride (16-E2-16 and 16-E3-16) and conventional surfactant (CTAC) in aqueous solutions have been studied by surface tension measurement of binary mixtures (0.0- 0.5 wt% NaCMC and 1 mM gemini surfactant/10 mM CTAC solution). Surface tension measurements were used to determine critical aggregation concentration (CAC) and critical micelle concentration (CMC). The maximum surface excess concentration (Ґmax) at the air-water interface was evaluated by the Gibbs adsorption equation. The minimum area per surfactant molecule was evaluated, which indicates the surfactant-polymer Interaction in a mixed system. The effect of changing surfactant chain length on CAC and CMC values of mixed polymer-surfactant systems was examined. From the results, it was found that the gemini surfactant interacts strongly with NaCMC as compared to its corresponding monomeric counterpart CTAC. In these systems, electrostatic interactions predominate. The lowering of surface tension with an increase in the concentration of surfactants is higher in the case of gemini surfactants almost 10-15 times. The measurements indicated that the Interaction between NaCMC-CTAC resulted in complex formation. The volume of coacervate increases with an increase in CTAC concentration; however, above 0.1 wt. % concentration coacervate vanishes.

Keywords: anionic polymer, gemni surfactants, tensiometer, CMC, interaction

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Authors: Thinh Huu Nguyen, Shahab Sharfaei, Jindřich Soukup

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In the pursuit of reducing production costs, offshoring has been a major trend throughout global value chains for many decades. However, with the rise of advanced technologies, new opportunities to automate their production are changing the motivation of multinational firms to go offshore. Instead, many firms are working to relocate their offshored activities from developing economies back to their home countries. This phenomenon, known as reshoring, has recently garnered much attention as it becomes clear that automation in advanced countries might have major implications not only on their own economies but also through international trade on the economy of low-income countries, including their labor market outcomes and their comparative advantages. Thus, while using robots to substitute human labor may lower the relative costs of producing at home, it has the potential to decrease employment and demand for exports from developing economies through reshoring. In this paper, we investigate the recent literature to provide a further understanding of the relationships between robotization and the reshoring of production. Moreover, we analyze the impact of robot adoption on international trade in both developed and emerging markets. Finally, we identify the research gaps and provide avenues for future research in international economics. This study is a part of the project funded by the Internal Grant Agency (IGA) of the Faculty of Business Administration, Prague University of Economics and Business.

Keywords: automation, robotization, reshoring, international trade

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Authors: Adewale O. Ogunde, Olusegun Folorunso, Adesina S. Sodiya

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Most existing Distributed Association Rule Mining (DARM) systems are still facing several challenges. One of such challenges that have not received the attention of many researchers is the inability of existing systems to adapt to constantly changing databases and mining environments. In this work, an Adaptive Incremental Mining Algorithm (AIMA) is therefore proposed to address these problems. AIMA employed multiple mobile agents for the entire mining process. AIMA was designed to adapt to changes in the distributed databases by mining only the incremental database updates and using this to update the existing rules in order to improve the overall response time of the DARM system. In AIMA, global association rules were integrated incrementally from one data site to another through Results Integration Coordinating Agents. The mining agents in AIMA were made adaptive by defining mining goals with reasoning and behavioral capabilities and protocols that enabled them to either maintain or change their goals. AIMA employed Java Agent Development Environment Extension for designing the internal agents’ architecture. Results from experiments conducted on real datasets showed that the adaptive system, AIMA performed better than the non-adaptive systems with lower communication costs and higher task completion rates.

Keywords: adaptivity, data mining, distributed association rule mining, incremental mining, mobile agents

Procedia PDF Downloads 396

Authors: Richard Grant, Landolf Rhode-Barbarigos, Shouraseni Sen Roy, Lucas Brittan, Change Li, Aiden Rowe

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Ports are critical for the US economy, connecting farmers, manufacturers, retailers, consumers and an array of transport and storage operators. Port facilities vary widely in terms of their productivity, footprint, specializations, and governance. In this context, Port Miami is considered as one of the busiest ports providing both cargo and cruise services in connecting the wider region of the Caribbean and Mesoamerica to the global networks. It is considered as the “Cruise Capital of the World and Global Gateway of the Americas” and “leading container port in Florida.” Furthermore, it has also been ranked as one of the top container ports in the world and the second most efficient port in North America. In this regard, Port Miami has made significant investments in the strategic and capital infrastructure of about US$1 billion, including increasing the channel depth and other onshore infrastructural enhancements. Therefore, this study involves a detailed analysis of Port Miami’s network, using publicly available multiple years of data about marine vessel traffic, cargo, and connectivity and performance indices from 2015-2021. Through the analysis of cargo and cruise vessels to and from Port Miami and its relative performance at the global scale from 2015 to 2021, this study examines the port’s long-term resilience and future growth potential. The main results of the analyses indicate that the top category for both inbound and outbound cargo is manufactured products and textiles. In addition, there are a lot of fresh fruits, vegetables, and produce for inbound and processed food for outbound cargo. Furthermore, the top ten port connections for Port Miami are all located in the Caribbean region, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Southeast USA. About half of the inbound cargo comes from Savannah, Saint Thomas, and Puerto Plata, while outbound cargo is from Puerto Corte, Freeport, and Kingston. Additionally, for cruise vessels, a significantly large number of vessels originate from Nassau, followed by Freeport. The number of passenger's vessels pre-COVID was almost 1,000 per year, which dropped substantially in 2020 and 2021 to around 300 vessels. Finally, the resilience and competitiveness of Port Miami were also assessed in terms of its network connectivity by examining the inbound and outbound maritime vessel traffic. It is noteworthy that the most frequent port connections for Port Miami were Freeport and Savannah, followed by Kingston, Nassau, and New Orleans. However, several of these ports, Puerto Corte, Veracruz, Puerto Plata, and Santo Thomas, have low resilience and are highly vulnerable, which needs to be taken into consideration for the long-term resilience of Port Miami in the future.

Keywords: port, Miami, network, cargo, cruise

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Supannee Chaiumporn

Abstract:

This article is to introduce the meaning and form of social quality moving process as indicated by members of two suburb communities with different social and cultural contexts. The form of social quality moving process is very significant for the community and social development, because it will make the people living together with sustainable happiness. This is a qualitative study involving 30 key-informants from two suburb communities. Data were collected though key-informant interviews, and analyzed using logical content description and descriptive statistics. This research found that on the social quality component, the people in both communities stressed the procedure for social quality-making. This includes the generousness, sharing and assisting among people in the communities. These practices helped making people to live together with sustainable happiness. Living as a family or appear to be a family is the major social characteristic of these two communities. This research also found that form of social quality’s moving process of both communities stress relation of human and nature; “nature overpower humans” paradigm and influence of religious doctrine that emphasizes relations among humans. Both criteria make the form of social’s moving process simple, adaptive to nature and caring for opinion sharing and understanding among each other before action. This form of social quality’s moving process is composed of 4 steps; (1) awareness building, (2) motivation to change, (3) participation from every party concerned (4) self-reliance.

Keywords: social quality, form of social quality moving process, happiness, different social and cultural context

Procedia PDF Downloads 389