Search results for: specific methane production

Authors: M. Naimi, M. B. Khaled

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The aim of the present work was to test in vitro inhibition of food pathogens and spoilage bacteria by crude bacteriocins from autochthonous lactic acid bacteria. Thirty autochthonous lactic acid bacteria isolated previously, belonging to the genera: Lactobacillus, Carnobacterium, Lactococcus, Vagococcus, Streptococcus, and Pediococcus, have been screened by an agar spot test and a well diffusion assay against Gram-positive and Gram-negative harmful bacteria: Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 14028, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa under conditions means to reduce lactic acid and hydrogen peroxide effect to select bacteria with high bacteriocinogenic potential. Furthermore, crude bacteriocins semiquantification and heat sensitivity to different temperatures (80, 95, 110°C, and 121°C) were performed. Another exploratory test concerning the response of St. aureus ATCC 6538 to the presence of crude bacteriocins was realized. It has been observed by the agar spot test that fifteen candidates were active toward Gram-positive targets strains. The secondary screening demonstrated an antagonistic activity oriented only against St. aureus ATCC 6538, leading to the selection of five isolates: Lm14, Lm21, Lm23, Lm24, and Lm25 with a larger inhibition zone compared to the others. The ANOVA statistical analysis reveals a small variation of repeatability: Lm21: 0.56%, Lm23: 0%, Lm25: 1.67%, Lm14: 1.88%, Lm24: 2.14%. Conversely, slight variation was reported in terms of inhibition diameters: 9.58± 0.40, 9.83± 0.46, and 10.16± 0.24 8.5 ± 0.40 10 mm for, Lm21, Lm23, Lm25, Lm14and Lm24, indicating that the observed potential showed a heterogeneous distribution (BMS = 0.383, WMS = 0.117). The repeatability coefficient calculated displayed 7.35%. As for the bacteriocins semiquantification, the five samples exhibited production amounts about 4.16 for Lm21, Lm23, Lm25 and 2.08 AU/ml for Lm14, Lm24. Concerning the sensitivity the crude bacteriocins were fully insensitive to heat inactivation, until 121°C, they preserved the same inhibition diameter. As to, kinetic of growth , the µmax showed reductions in pathogens load for Lm21, Lm23, Lm25, Lm14, Lm24 of about 42.92%, 84.12%, 88.55%, 54.95%, 29.97% in the second trails. Inversely, this pathogen growth after five hours displayed differences of 79.45%, 12.64%, 11.82%, 87.88%, 85.66% in the second trails, compared to the control. This study showed potential inhibition to the growth of this food pathogen, suggesting the possibility to improve the hygienic food quality.

Keywords: exploratory test, lactic acid bacteria, crude bacteriocins, spoilage, pathogens

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Authors: Bill Wang, Paul Childerhouse, Yuanfei Kang

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Purpose: The research is to extend resource orchestration theory (ROT) into supply chain management (SCM) area to investigate the dyadic relationships at both individual and organizational levels in supply chain integration (SCI). Also, we try to explore the interaction mechanism between inter-personal relationships (IPRs) and inter-organizational (IORs) during the whole SCI process. Methodology/approach: The research employed an exploratory multiple case study approach of four New Zealand companies. The data was collected via semi-structured interviews with top, middle, and lower level managers and operators from different departments of both suppliers and customers triangulated with company archival data. Findings: The research highlights the important role of both IPRs and IORs in the whole SCI process. Both IPRs and IORs are valuable, inimitable resources but IORs are formal and exterior while IPRs are informal and subordinated. In the initial stage of SCI process, IPRs are seen as key resources antecedents to IOR building while three IPRs dimensions work differently: personal credibility acts as an icebreaker to strengthen the confidence forming IORs, and personal affection acts as a gatekeeper, whilst personal communication expedites the IORs process. In the maintenance and development stage, IORs and IPRs interact each other continuously: good interaction between IPRs and IORs can facilitate SCI process while the bad interaction between IPRs can damage the SCI process. On the other hand, during the life-cycle of SCI process, IPRs can facilitate the formation, development of IORs while IORs development can cultivate the ties of IPRs. Out of the three dimensions of IPRs, Personal communication plays a more important role to develop IORs than personal credibility and personal affection. Originality/value: This research contributes to ROT in supply chain management literature by highlighting the interaction of IPRs and IORs in SCI. The intangible resources and capabilities of three dimensions of IPRs need to be orchestrated and nurtured to achieve efficient and effective IORs in SCI. Also, IPRs and IORs need to be orchestrated in terms of breadth, depth, and life-cycle of whole SCI process. Our study provides further insight into the rarely explored inter-personal level of SCI. Managerial implications: Our research provides top management with further evidence of the significance roles of IPRs at different levels when working with trading partners. This highlights the need to actively manage and develop these soft IPRs skills as an intangible competitive resource. Further, the research identifies when staff with specific skills and connections should be utilized during the different stages of building and maintaining inter-organizational ties. More importantly, top management needs to orchestrate and balance the resources of IPRs and IORs.

Keywords: case study, inter-organizational relationships, inter-personal relationships, resource orchestration, supply chain integration

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Authors: T. Garlan, I. Gabelotaud, S. Lucas, E. Marchès

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Production of a global sedimentological seabed map has been initiated in 1995 to provide the necessary tool for searches of aircraft and boats lost at sea, to give sedimentary information for nautical charts, and to provide input data for acoustic propagation modelling. This original approach had already been initiated one century ago when the French hydrographic service and the University of Nancy had produced maps of the distribution of marine sediments of the French coasts and then sediment maps of the continental shelves of Europe and North America. The current map of the sediment of oceans presented was initiated with a UNESCO's general map of the deep ocean floor. This map was adapted using a unique sediment classification to present all types of sediments: from beaches to the deep seabed and from glacial deposits to tropical sediments. In order to allow good visualization and to be adapted to the different applications, only the granularity of sediments is represented. The published seabed maps are studied, if they present an interest, the nature of the seabed is extracted from them, the sediment classification is transcribed and the resulted map is integrated in the world map. Data come also from interpretations of Multibeam Echo Sounder (MES) imagery of large hydrographic surveys of deep-ocean. These allow a very high-quality mapping of areas that until then were represented as homogeneous. The third and principal source of data comes from the integration of regional maps produced specifically for this project. These regional maps are carried out using all the bathymetric and sedimentary data of a region. This step makes it possible to produce a regional synthesis map, with the realization of generalizations in the case of over-precise data. 86 regional maps of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Indian Ocean have been produced and integrated into the world sedimentary map. This work is permanent and permits a digital version every two years, with the integration of some new maps. This article describes the choices made in terms of sediment classification, the scale of source data and the zonation of the variability of the quality. This map is the final step in a system comprising the Shom Sedimentary Database, enriched by more than one million punctual and surface items of data, and four series of coastal seabed maps at 1:10,000, 1:50,000, 1:200,000 and 1:1,000,000. This step by step approach makes it possible to take into account the progresses in knowledge made in the field of seabed characterization during the last decades. Thus, the arrival of new classification systems for seafloor has improved the recent seabed maps, and the compilation of these new maps with those previously published allows a gradual enrichment of the world sedimentary map. But there is still a lot of work to enhance some regions, which are still based on data acquired more than half a century ago.

Keywords: marine sedimentology, seabed map, sediment classification, world ocean

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Authors: Elena Arquer Cuenca

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The gypsy community has been a mistreated and rejected group since its arrival in the Iberian Peninsula in the 15th century. At present, despite being the largest ethnic minority group in Spain as well as in Europe, the different legal and social initiatives in favour of equality continue to suffer discrimination by the general society. This has fostered a strengthening of the endogroup accompanied by cultural conservatism as a form of self-protection. Despite the current trend of normalization of sexual diversity in modern societies, LGB people continue to suffer discrimination, especially in more traditional environments or communities. This rejection for reasons of sexual orientation within the family or community can hinder the free development of the person and compromise peaceful coexistence. The present work is intended as an approach to the attitudes of the gypsy population towards non-heterosexual sexual orientation. The objective is none other than ‘to know the appreciation that the gypsy population has about homosexual sex-affective relationships, in order to assess whether this has any impact on family and community coexistence’. The following specific objectives are derived from this general objective: ‘To find out whether there is a relationship between the dichotomous Roma gender system and the acceptance/rejection of homosexuality’; ‘to analyse whether sexual orientation has an impact on the coexistence of the Roman family and community’; ‘to analyse whether the historical discrimination suffered by the Roman population favours the maintenance of the patriarchal heterosexual reproductive family’; and lastly ‘to explore whether ICTs have promoted the process of normalisation and/or acceptance of homosexuality within the Roma community’. In order to achieve these objectives, a bibliographical and documentary review has been used, as well as the semi-structured interview technique, in which 4 gypsy people participated (2 women and 2 men of different ages). One of the main findings was the inappropriateness of the use of the homogenising category "Gypsy People" at present, given the great diversity among the Roma communities. Moreover, the difficulty in accepting homosexuality seems to be related to the fact that the heterosexual reproductive family has been the main survival mechanism of Roma communities over centuries. However, it will be concluded that attitudes towards homosexuality will vary depending on the socio-economic and cultural context and factors such as age or professed religion. Three main contributions of this research are: firstly, the inclusion of sexual orientation as a variable to be considered when analysing peaceful coexistence; secondly socio-historical dynamics and structures of inequality have been taken into account when analysing Roma attitudes towards homosexuality; and finally, the processual nature of socio-cultural changes has also been considered.

Keywords: gender, homosexuality, ICTs, peaceful coexistence, Roma community, sexual orientation

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Authors: Tan Hui Ying Renee, Stella Rizalina Sasha, Farah Safdar Husain

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Introduction: Menopause Hormone Therapy (MHT) is an effective drug indicated for the treatment of menopausal symptoms and as replacement therapy in women who undergo premature menopause. In 2020, less than 8.8% of perimenopausal Singaporean women are on hormonal therapy, as compared to the Western population, where up to 50% may be on MHT. Factors associated with MHT utilization have been studied from patient characteristics, but the impact of locally prescribing physicians resulting in low MHT utilization has yet to be evaluated. The aim of the study is to determine the level of knowledge physicians in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology specialty have and their attitudes toward MHT. We believe that knowledge of MHT is lacking and that negative attitudes towards MHT may influence its use and undermine the benefits MHT may have for women. This paper is a part of a larger study on Singaporean physicians’ knowledge and attitudes towards MHT. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study intended to assess the knowledge and attitudes of physicians toward Menopausal Hormone Therapy. An anonymous questionnaire was disseminated via institutional internal circulations to optimize reach to physicians who may prescribe MHT, particularly in the fields of Gynaecology, Family Medicine and Endocrinology. Responses were completed voluntarily. Physicians had the option for each question to declare that they were ‘unsure’ or that the question was ‘beyond their expertise’. 21 knowledge questions tested factual recall on indications, contraindications, and risks of MHT. The remaining 6 questions were clinical scenarios crafted with the intention of testing specific principles related to the use of MHT. These questions received face validation from experts in the field. 198 responses were collected, 79 of which were from physicians in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology specialty. The data will be statistically analyzed to investigate areas that can be improved to increase the overall benefits of MHT for the Singaporean population. Results: Preliminary results show that the prevailing factors that limit Singaporean gynecologists and obstetricians from prescribing MHT are a lack of knowledge of MHT and a lack of confidence in prescribing MHT. Risks and indications of MHT were not well known by many physicians, with the majority of the questions having more than 25% incorrect and ‘unsure’ as their reply. The clinical scenario questions revealed significant shortcomings in knowledge on how to navigate real-life challenges in MHT use, with 2 of 6 questions with more than 50% incorrect or ‘beyond their expertise’ as their reply. The portion of the questionnaire that investigated the attitudes of physicians showed that though a large majority believed MHT to be an effective drug, only 40.5% were confident in prescribing it. Conclusion: Physicians in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology specialty lack knowledge and confidence in MHT. Therefore, it is imperative to formulate solutions on both the individual and institutional levels to fill these gaps and ensure that MHT is used appropriately and prescribed to the patients who need it.

Keywords: menopause, menopause hormone therapy, physician factors, obstetrics and gynecology, menopausal symptoms, Singapore

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Authors: Sevde Altuntas, Fatih Buyukserin

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Alzheimer’s disease is responsible for irreversible neural damage of brain parts. One of the disease markers is Amyloid-β 1-42 protein that accumulates in the brain in the form plaques. The basic problem for detection of the protein is the low amount of protein that cannot be detected properly in body liquids such as blood, saliva or urine. To solve this problem, tests like ELISA or PCR are proposed which are expensive, require specialized personnel and can contain complex protocols. Therefore, Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) a good candidate for detection of Amyloid-β 1-42 protein. Because the spectroscopic technique can potentially allow even single molecule detection from liquid and solid surfaces. Besides SERS signal can be improved by using nanopattern surface and also is specific to molecules. In this context, our study proposes to fabricate diagnostic test models that utilize Au-coated nanopatterned polycarbonate (PC) surfaces modified with Thioflavin - T to detect low concentrations of Amyloid-β 1-42 protein in water and artificial saliva medium by the enhancement of protein SERS signal. The nanopatterned PC surface that was used to enhance SERS signal was fabricated by using Anodic Alumina Membranes (AAM) as a template. It is possible to produce AAMs with different column structures and varying thicknesses depending on voltage and anodization time. After fabrication process, the pore diameter of AAMs can be arranged with dilute acid solution treatment. In this study, two different columns structures were prepared. After a surface modification to decrease their surface energy, AAMs were treated with PC solution. Following the solvent evaporation, nanopatterned PC films with tunable pillared structures were peeled off from the membrane surface. The PC film was then modified with Au and Thioflavin-T for the detection of Amyloid-β 1-42 protein. The protein detection studies were conducted first in water via this biosensor platform. Same measurements were conducted in artificial saliva to detect the presence of Amyloid Amyloid-β 1-42 protein. SEM, SERS and contact angle measurements were carried out for the characterization of different surfaces and further demonstration of the protein attachment. SERS enhancement factor calculations were also completed via experimental results. As a result, our research group fabricated diagnostic test models that utilize Au-coated nanopatterned polycarbonate (PC) surfaces modified with Thioflavin-T to detect low concentrations of Alzheimer’s Amiloid – β protein in water and artificial saliva medium. This work was supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) Grant No: 214Z167.

Keywords: alzheimer, anodic aluminum oxide, nanotopography, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy

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Authors: Anjula Negi, D. T. V. Raghu Ramaswamy, Rajneesh Sareen

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Road infrastructure is emphatically one of the top most critical infrastructure to the Indian economy. Road network in the country of around 3.3 million km is the second largest in the world. Nationwide statistics released by Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways reveal that every minute an accident happens and one death every 3.7 minutes. This reported scale in terms of safety is a matter of grave concern, and economically represents a national loss of 3% to the GDP. Union Budget 2016-17 has allocated USD 12 billion annually for development and strengthening of roads, an increase of 56% from last year. Thus, highlighting the importance of roads as critical infrastructure. National highway alone represent only 1.7% of the total road linkages, however, carry over 40% of traffic. Further, trends analysed from 2002 -2011 on national highways, indicate that in less than a decade, a 22 % increase in accidents have been reported, but, 68% increase in death fatalities. Paramount inference is that accident severity has increased with time. Over these years many measures to increase road safety, lessening damage to physical assets, reducing vulnerabilities leading to a build-up for resilient road infrastructure have been taken. In the context of national highway development program, policy makers proposed implementation of around 20 % of such road length on PPP mode. These roads were taken up on high-density traffic considerations and for qualitative implementation. In order to understand resilience impacts and safety parameters, enshrined in various PPP concession agreements executed with the private sector partners, such highway specific projects would be appraised. This research paper would attempt to assess such safety measures taken and the possible reasons behind an increase in accident severity through these PPP case study projects. Delving further on safety features to understand policy measures adopted in these cases and an introspection on reasons of severity, whether an outcome of increased speeds, faulty road design and geometrics, driver negligence, or due to lack of discipline in following lane traffic with increased speed. Assessment exercise would study these aspects hitherto to PPP and post PPP project structures, based on literature review and opinion surveys with sectoral experts. On the way forward, it is understood that the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highway’s estimate for strengthening the national highway network is USD 77 billion within next five years. The outcome of this paper would provide an understanding of resilience measures adopted, possible options for accessible and safe road network and its expansion to policy makers for possible policy initiatives and funding allocation in securing critical infrastructure.

Keywords: national highways, policy, PPP, safety

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Authors: Marike Venter de Villiers, Jessica Ramoshaba

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In recent years, the fashion industry has been associated with the exploitation of both people and resources. This is largely due to the emergence of the fast fashion concept, which entails rapid and continual style changes where clothes quickly lose their appeal, become out-of-fashion, and are then disposed of. This cycle often entails appalling working conditions in sweatshops with low wages, child labor, and a significant amount of textile waste that ends up in landfills. Although the awareness of the negative implications of ‘mindless fashion production and consumption’ is growing, fast fashion remains to be a popular choice among the youth. This is especially prevalent in South Africa, a poverty-stricken country where a vast number of young adults are unemployed and living in poverty. Despite being in poverty, the celebrity conscious culture and fashion products frequently portrayed on the growing intrusive social media platforms in South Africa pressurizes the consumers to purchase fashion and luxury products. Young adults are therefore more vulnerable to the temptation to purchase fast fashion products. A possible solution to the detrimental effects that the fast fashion industry has on the environment is the revival of the secondhand clothing trend. Although the popularity of secondhand clothing has gained momentum among selected consumer segments, the adoption rate of such remains slow. The main purpose of this study was to explore consumers’ perceptions of the secondhand clothing trend and to gain insight into factors that inhibit the adoption of secondhand clothing. This study also aimed to investigate whether consumers are aware of the negative implications of the fast fashion industry and their likelihood to shift their clothing purchases to that of secondhand clothing. By means of a quantitative study, fifty young females were asked to complete a semi-structured questionnaire. The researcher approached females between the ages of 18 and 35 in a face-to-face setting. The results indicated that although they had an awareness of the negative consequences of fast fashion, they lacked detailed insight into the pertinent effects of fast fashion on the environment. Further, a number of factors inhibit their decision to buy from secondhand stores: firstly, the accessibility to the latest trends was not always available in secondhand stores; secondly, the convenience of shopping from a chain store outweighs the inconvenience of searching for and finding a secondhand store; and lastly, they perceived secondhand clothing to pose a hygiene risk. The findings of this study provide fashion marketers, and secondhand clothing stores, with insight into how they can incorporate the secondhand clothing trend into their strategies and marketing campaigns in an attempt to make the fashion industry more sustainable.

Keywords: eco-friendly fashion, fast fashion, secondhand clothing, eco-friendly fashion

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Authors: Claire Norman-Maillet

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Insider fraud, including its various synonyms such as occupational, employee or internal fraud, is a major financial crime threat whereby an employee defrauds (or attempts to defraud) their current, prospective, or past employer. ‘Employee’ covers anyone employed by the company, including contractors, directors, and part time staff; they may be a solo bad actor or working in collusion with others, whether internal or external. Insider fraud is even more of a concern given the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic, which has generated multiple opportunities to commit insider fraud. Insider fraud is something that is not necessarily thought of as a significant financial crime threat; the focus of most academics and practitioners has historically been on that of ‘external fraud’ against businesses or entities where an individual or group has no professional ties. Without the face-to-face, ‘over the shoulder’ capabilities of staff being able to keep an eye on their employees, there is a heightened reliance on trust and transparency. With this, naturally, comes an increased risk of insider fraud perpetration. The objective of the research is to better understand how companies are impacted by insider fraud, and therefore how to stop it. This research will make both an original contribution and stimulate debate within the financial crime field. The financial crime landscape is never static – criminals are always creating new ways to perpetrate financial crime, and new legislation and regulations are implemented as attempts to strengthen controls, in addition to businesses doing what they can internally to detect and prevent it. By focusing on insider fraud specifically, the research will be more specific and will be of greater use to those in the field. To achieve the aims of the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 individuals who either work in financial services and deal with insider fraud or work within insider fraud perpetration in a recruitment or advisory capacity. This was to enable the sourcing of information from a wide range of individuals in a setting where they were able to elaborate on their answers. The principal recruitment strategy was engaging with the researcher’s network on LinkedIn. The interviews were then transcribed and analysed thematically. Main findings in the research suggest that insider fraud has been ignored owing to the denial of accepting the possibility that colleagues would defraud their employer. Whilst Coronavirus has led to a significant rise in insider fraud, this type of crime has been a major risk to businesses since their inception, however have never been given the financial or strategic backing required to be mitigated, until it's too late. Furthermore, Coronavirus should have led to companies tightening their access rights, controls and policies to mitigate the insider fraud risk. However, in most cases this has not happened. The research concludes that insider fraud needs to be given a platform upon which to be recognised as a threat to any company and given the same level of weighting and attention by Executive Committees and Boards as other types of economic crime.

Keywords: fraud, insider fraud, economic crime, coronavirus, Covid-19

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Authors: Fouad Mrad, Viviane Zaccour

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The accelerated developments in the political, economic, environmental, security, health, and social folders are exhausting planners across the world, especially in Arab countries. The impact of the tension is multifaceted and has resulted in conflicts, wars, migration, and human insecurity. The potential cross-cutting role that science, innovation and technology can play in supporting Arab societies to address these pressing challenges is a serious, unique chance for the people of the region. This opportunity is based on the existing capacity of educated youth and inaccessible talents in the local universities and research centers. It has been accepted that Arab countries have achieved major advancements in the economy, education and social wellbeing since the 70s of the 20th Century. Mainly direct outcome of the oil and other natural resources. The UN Secretary-General, during the Education Summit in Sep 2022, stressed that “Learning continues to underplay skills, including problem-solving, critical thinking and empathy.” Stars of Science by Qatar Foundation was launched in 2009 and has been sustained through 2023. Consistent mission from the start: To mobilize a new generation of Pan-Arab innovators and problem solvers by encouraging youth participation and interest in Science, Technology and Entrepreneurship throughout the Arab world via the program and its social media activities. To make science accessible and attractive to mass audiences by de-mystifying the process of innovation. Harnessing best practices within reality TV to show that science, engineering, and innovation are important in everyday life and can be fun.” Thousands of Participants learned unforgettable lessons; winners changed their lives forever as they learned and earned seed capital; they became drivers of change in their countries and families; millions of viewers were exposed to an innovative experimental process, and culturally, several relevant national institutions adopted the SOS track in their national initiatives. The program exhibited experientially youth self-efficacy as the most distinct core property of human agency, which is an individual's belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments. In addition, the program proved that innovations are performed by networks of people with different sets of technological, useful knowledge, skills and competencies introduced by socially shared technological knowledge as a main determinant of economic activities in any economy.

Keywords: science, invention, innovation, Qatar foundation, QSTP, prototyping

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Authors: Tran Thi Thuy Oanh, Nguyen Ngoc Bao Tran

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In the view of Cognitive Linguistics (CL), knowledge and experience of things and events are used by human beings in expressing concepts, especially in their daily life. The human conceptual system is considered to be fundamentally metaphorical in nature. It is also said that the way we think, what we experience, and what we do everyday is very much a matter of language. In fact, language is an integral factor of cognition in that CL is a family of broadly compatible theoretical approaches sharing the fundamental assumption. The relationship between language and thought, of course, has been addressed by many scholars. CL, however, strongly emphasizes specific features of this relation. By experiencing, we receive knowledge of lives. The partial things are ideal domains, we make use of all aspects of this domain in metaphorically understanding abstract targets. The paper refered to applying this theory on pragmatics lessons for major English students at University of Foreign Language Studies - The University of Da Nang, Viet Nam. We conducted the study with two third – year students groups studying English pragmatics lessons. To clarify this study, the data from these two classes were collected for analyzing linguistic perspectives in the view of CL and traditional concepts. Descriptive, analytic, synthetic, comparative, and contrastive methods were employed to analyze data from 50 students undergoing English pragmatics lessons. The two groups were taught how to transfer the meanings of expressions in daily life with the view of CL and one group used the traditional view for that. The research indicated that both ways had a significant influence on students' English translating and interpreting abilities. However, the traditional way had little effect on students' understanding, but the CL view had a considerable impact. The study compared CL and traditional teaching approaches to identify benefits and challenges associated with incorporating CL into the curriculum. It seeks to extend CL concepts by analyzing metaphorical expressions in daily conversations, offering insights into how CL can enhance language learning. The findings shed light on the effectiveness of applying CL in teaching and learning English pragmatics. They highlight the advantages of using metaphorical expressions from daily life to facilitate understanding and explore how CL can enhance cognitive processes in language learning in general and teaching English pragmatics to third-year students at the UFLS - UDN, Vietnam in personal. The study contributes to the theoretical understanding of the relationship between language, cognition, and learning. By emphasizing the metaphorical nature of human conceptual systems, it offers insights into how CL can enrich language teaching practices and enhance students' comprehension of abstract concepts.

Keywords: cognitive linguisitcs, lakoff and johnson, pragmatics, UFLS

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Authors: Doaa Alhaboby

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Behavior change is a complex process that often requires ongoing support and guidance. Telecoaching programs have emerged as effective tools in facilitating behavior change by providing personalized support remotely. This abstract explores the lessons learned from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluation of a telecoaching program focused on behavior change for Diabetics and discusses strategies for implementing these lessons to overcome the challenge of making physical activity a habit. The telecoaching program involved participants engaging in regular coaching sessions delivered via phone calls. These sessions aimed to address various aspects of behavior change, including goal setting, self-monitoring, problem-solving, and social support. Over the course of the program, participants received personalized guidance tailored to their unique needs and preferences. One of the key lessons learned from the RCT was the importance of engagement, readiness to change and the use of technology. Participants who set specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals were more likely to make sustained progress toward behavior change. Additionally, regular self-monitoring of behavior and progress was found to be instrumental in promoting accountability and motivation. Moving forward, implementing the lessons learned from the RCT can help individuals overcome the hardest part of behavior change: making physical activity a habit. One strategy is to prioritize consistency and establish a regular routine for physical activity. This may involve scheduling workouts at the same time each day or week and treating them as non-negotiable appointments. Additionally, integrating physical activity into daily life routines and taking into consideration the main challenges that can stop the process of integrating physical activity routines into the daily schedule can help make it more habitual. Furthermore, leveraging technology and digital tools can enhance adherence to physical activity goals. Mobile apps, wearable activity trackers, and online fitness communities can provide ongoing support, motivation, and accountability. These tools can also facilitate self-monitoring of behavior and progress, allowing individuals to track their activity levels and adjust their goals as needed. In conclusion, telecoaching programs offer valuable insights into behavior change and provide strategies for overcoming challenges, such as making physical activity a habit. By applying the lessons learned from these programs and incorporating them into daily life, individuals can cultivate sustainable habits that support their long-term health and well-being.

Keywords: lifestyle, behavior change, physical activity, chronic conditions

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Authors: Ilona Buchem, Carolin Gellner

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Over the last few years, the call for the support of senior learners in the development of their digital literacy has become prevalent, mainly due to the progression towards ageing societies paired with advances in digitalisation in all spheres of life, including e-health and electronic patient record (EPA). While major research efforts in supporting senior learners in developing digital literacy have been invested so far in e-learning focusing on knowledge acquisition and cognitive tasks, little research exists in learning models which target virtual mentoring and coaching with the help of pedagogical agents and address the social dimensions of learning. Research from studies with students in the context of formal education has already provided methods for designing intelligent virtual agents in support of personalised learning. However, this research has mostly focused on cognitive skills and has not yet been applied to the context of mentoring/coaching of senior learners, who have different characteristics and learn in different contexts. In this paper, we describe how insights from previous research can be used to develop an intelligent virtual learning coach (agent) for senior learners with a focus on building the social relationship between the agent and the learner and the key task of the agent to socialize learners to the larger context of digital literacy with a focus on electronic health records. Following current approaches to mentoring and coaching, the agent is designed not to enhance and monitor the cognitive performance of the learner but to serve as a trusted friend and advisor, whose role is to provide one-to-one guidance and support sharing of experiences among learners (peers). Based on literature review and synopsis of research on virtual agents and current coaching/mentoring models under consideration of the specific characteristics and requirements of senior learners, we describe the design framework which was applied to design an intelligent virtual learning coach as part of the e-learning system for digital literacy of senior learners in the ePA-Coach project founded by the German Ministry of Education and Research. This paper also presents the results from the evaluation study, which compared the use of the first prototype of the virtual learning coach designed according to the design framework with a voice narration in a multimedia learning environment with senior learners. The focus of the study was to validate the agent design in the context of the persona effect (Lester et al., 1997). Since the persona effect is related to the hypothesis that animated agents are perceived as more socially engaging, the study evaluated possible impacts of agent coaching in comparison with voice coaching on motivation, engagement, experience, and digital literacy.

Keywords: virtual learning coach, virtual mentor, pedagogical agent, senior learners, digital literacy, electronic health records

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Authors: Baran Johansson

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This PhD dissertation aimed to explore children’s writing and reading in L1 (Persian) and L2 (Swedish). It adds new perspectives to reading and writing studies of bilingual biscriptal children with and without reading and writing difficulties (RWD). The study used standardised tests to examine linguistic and cognitive skills related to word reading and writing fluency in both languages. Furthermore, all participants produced two texts (one descriptive and one narrative) in each language. The writing processes and the writing product of these children were explored using logging methodologies (Eye and Pen) for both languages. Furthermore, this study investigated how two bilingual children with RWD presented themselves through writing across their languages. To my knowledge, studies utilizing standardised tests and logging tools to investigate bilingual children’s word reading and writing fluency across two different alphabetic scripts are scarce. There have been few studies analysing how bilingual children construct meaning in their writing, and none have focused on children who write in two different alphabetic scripts or those with RWD. Therefore, some aspects of the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) perspective were employed to examine how two participants with RWD created meaning in their written texts in each language. The results revealed that children with and without RWD had higher writing fluency in all measures (e.g. text lengths, writing speed) in their L2 compared to their L1. Word reading abilities in both languages were found to influence their writing fluency. The findings also showed that bilingual children without reading difficulties performed 1 standard deviation below the mean when reading words in Persian. However, their reading performance in Swedish aligned with the expected age norms, suggesting greater efficient in reading Swedish than in Persian. Furthermore, the results showed that the level of orthographic depth, consistency between graphemes and phonemes, and orthographic features can probably explain these differences across languages. The analysis of meaning-making indicated that the participants with RWD exhibited varying levels of difficulty, which influenced their knowledge and usage of writing across languages. For example, the participant with poor word recognition (PWR) presented himself similarly across genres, irrespective of the language in which he wrote. He employed the listing technique similarly across his L1 and L2. However, the participant with mixed reading difficulties (MRD) had difficulties with both transcription and text production. He produced spelling errors and frequently paused in both languages. He also struggled with word retrieval and producing coherent texts, consistent with studies of monolingual children with poor comprehension or with developmental language disorder. The results suggest that the mother tongue instruction provided to the participants has not been sufficient for them to become balanced biscriptal readers and writers in both languages. Therefore, increasing the number of hours dedicated to mother tongue instruction and motivating the children to participate in these classes could be potential strategies to address this issue.

Keywords: reading, writing, reading and writing difficulties, bilingual children, biscriptal

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Authors: Shreyas S. Hegde, Anindya Deb, Suresh Nagesh

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Computational bio-mechanics is developing rapidly as a non-invasive tool to assist the medical fraternity to help in both diagnosis and prognosis of human body related issues such as injuries, cardio-vascular dysfunction, atherosclerotic plaque etc. Any system that would help either properly diagnose such problems or assist prognosis would be a boon to the doctors and medical society in general. Recently a lot of work is being focused in this direction which includes but not limited to various finite element analysis related to dental implants, skull injuries, orthopedic problems involving bones and joints etc. Such numerical solutions are helping medical practitioners to come up with alternate solutions for such problems and in most cases have also reduced the trauma on the patients. Some work also has been done in the area related to the use of computational fluid mechanics to understand the flow of blood through the human body, an area of hemodynamics. Since cardio-vascular diseases are one of the main causes of loss of human life, understanding of the blood flow with and without constraints (such as blockages), providing alternate methods of prognosis and further solutions to take care of issues related to blood flow would help save valuable life of such patients. This project is an attempt to use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to solve specific problems related to hemodynamics. The hemodynamics simulation is used to gain a better understanding of functional, diagnostic and theoretical aspects of the blood flow. Due to the fact that many fundamental issues of the blood flow, like phenomena associated with pressure and viscous forces fields, are still not fully understood or entirely described through mathematical formulations the characterization of blood flow is still a challenging task. The computational modeling of the blood flow and mechanical interactions that strongly affect the blood flow patterns, based on medical data and imaging represent the most accurate analysis of the blood flow complex behavior. In this project the mathematical modeling of the blood flow in the arteries in the presence of successive blockages has been analyzed using CFD technique. Different cases of blockages in terms of percentages have been modeled using commercial software CATIA V5R20 and simulated using commercial software ANSYS 15.0 to study the effect of varying wall shear stress (WSS) values and also other parameters like the effect of increase in Reynolds number. The concept of fluid structure interaction (FSI) has been used to solve such problems. The model simulation results were validated using in vivo measurement data from existing literature

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, hemodynamics, blood flow, results validation, arteries

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Authors: T. J. O Ceallaigh

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Subject matter driven programs such as immersion programs are increasingly popular across the world. These programs have allowed for extensive experimentation in the realm of second language teaching and learning and have been at the centre of many research agendas since their inception. Even though immersion programs are successful, especially in terms of second language development, they remain complex to implement and not always as successful as what we would hope them to be. Among all the challenges these varied programs face, research indicates that the primary issue lies in the difficulty to create well-balanced programs where both content instruction and language/literacy instruction can be targeted simultaneously. Initial teacher education and professional development experiences are key drivers of successful language immersion education globally. They are critical to the supply of teachers with the mandatory linguistic and cultural competencies as well as associated pedagogical practices required to ensure learners’ success. However, there is a significant dearth of research on professional development experiences of immersion teachers. We lack an understanding of the nature of their expertise and their needs in terms of professional development as well as their perceptions of the primary challenges they face as they attempt to formulate a coherent pedagogy of integrated language and content instruction. Such an understanding is essential if their specific needs are to be addressed appropriately and thus improve the overall quality of immersion programs. This paper reports on immersion teacher perceptions of online professional development experiences that have a positive impact on their ability to facilitate language and content connections in instruction. Twenty Irish-medium immersion teachers engaged in the instructional integration of language and content in a systematic and developmental way during a year-long online professional development program. Data were collected from a variety of sources e.g., an extensive online questionnaire, individual interviews, reflections, assignments and focus groups. This study provides compelling evidence of the potential of online professional development experiences as a pedagogical framework for understanding the complex and interconnected knowledge demands that arise in content and language integration in immersion. Findings illustrate several points of access to classroom research and pedagogy and uncover core aspects of high impact online experiences. Teachers identified aspects such as experimentation and risk-taking, authenticity and relevance, collegiality and collaboration, motivation and challenge and teacher empowerment. The potential of the online experiences to foster teacher language awareness was also identified as a contributory factor to success. The paper will conclude with implications for designing meaningful and effective online CLIL professional development experiences.

Keywords: content and language integrated learning , immersion pedagogy, professional development, teacher language awareness

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Authors: Sonia Boulos

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The prohibition on ‘inhuman treatment’ constitutes one of the central tenets of modern international human rights law. It is incorporated in principal international human rights instruments including Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. However, in the absence of any legislative definition of the term ‘inhuman’, its interpretation becomes challenging. The aim of this article is to critically analyze the interpretation of the term ‘inhuman’ in international human rights law and to suggest a new approach to construct its meaning. The article is composed of two central parts. The first part is a critical appraisal of the interpretation of the term ‘inhuman’ by supra-national human rights law institutions. It highlights the failure of supra-national institutions to provide an independent definition for the term ‘inhuman’. In fact, those institutions consistently fail to distinguish the term ‘inhuman’ from its other kin terms, i.e. ‘cruel’ and ‘degrading.’ Very often, they refer to these three prohibitions as ‘CIDT’, as if they were one collective. They were primarily preoccupied with distinguishing ‘CIDT’ from ‘torture.’ By blurring the conceptual differences between these three terms, supra-national institutions supplemented them with a long list of specific and purely descriptive subsidiary rules. In most cases, those subsidiary rules were announced in the absence of sufficient legal reasoning explaining how they were derived from abstract and evaluative standards embodied in the prohibitions collectively referred to as ‘CIDT.’ By opting for this option, supra-national institutions have created the risk for the development of an incoherent body of jurisprudence on those terms at the international level. They also have failed to provide guidance for domestic courts on how to enforce these prohibitions. While blurring the differences between the terms ‘cruel,’ ‘inhuman,’ and ‘degrading’ has consequences for the three, the term ‘inhuman’ remains the most impoverished one. It is easy to link the term ‘cruel’ to the clause on ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ originating from the English Bill of Rights of 1689. It is also easy to see that the term ‘degrading’ reflects a dignatarian ideal. However, when we turn to the term ‘inhuman’, we are left without any interpretative clue. The second part of the article suggests that the ordinary meaning of the word ‘inhuman’ should be our first clue. However, regaining the conceptual independence of the term ‘inhuman’ requires more than a mere reflection on the word-meaning of the term. Thus, the second part introduces philosophical concepts related to the understanding of what it means to be human. It focuses on ‘the capabilities approach’ and the notion of ‘human functioning’, introduced by Amartya Sen and further explored by Martha Nussbaum. Nussbaum’s work on the basic human capabilities is particularly helpful or even vital for understanding the moral and legal substance of the prohibition on ‘inhuman’ treatment.

Keywords: inhuman treatment, capabilities approach, human functioning, supra-national institutions

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Authors: James Rigor Camacho, Wansu Lim

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Over the last few years, the development of new wearable and processing technologies has accelerated in order to harness physiological data such as electroencephalograms (EEGs) for EEG-based applications. EEG has been demonstrated to be a source of emotion recognition signals with the highest classification accuracy among physiological signals. However, when emotion recognition systems are used for real-time classification, the training unit is frequently left to run offline or in the cloud rather than working locally on the edge. That strategy has hampered research, and the full potential of using an edge AI device has yet to be realized. Edge AI devices are computers with high performance that can process complex algorithms. It is capable of collecting, processing, and storing data on its own. It can also analyze and apply complicated algorithms like localization, detection, and recognition on a real-time application, making it a powerful embedded device. The NVIDIA Jetson series, specifically the Jetson Nano device, was used in the implementation. The cEEGrid, which is integrated to the open-source brain computer-interface platform (OpenBCI), is used to collect EEG signals. An EEG-based real-time emotion recognition system on Edge AI is proposed in this paper. To perform graphical spectrogram categorization of EEG signals and to predict emotional states based on input data properties, machine learning-based classifiers were used. Until the emotional state was identified, the EEG signals were analyzed using the K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) technique, which is a supervised learning system. In EEG signal processing, after each EEG signal has been received in real-time and translated from time to frequency domain, the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) technique is utilized to observe the frequency bands in each EEG signal. To appropriately show the variance of each EEG frequency band, power density, standard deviation, and mean are calculated and employed. The next stage is to identify the features that have been chosen to predict emotion in EEG data using the K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) technique. Arousal and valence datasets are used to train the parameters defined by the KNN technique.Because classification and recognition of specific classes, as well as emotion prediction, are conducted both online and locally on the edge, the KNN technique increased the performance of the emotion recognition system on the NVIDIA Jetson Nano. Finally, this implementation aims to bridge the research gap on cost-effective and efficient real-time emotion recognition using a resource constrained hardware device, like the NVIDIA Jetson Nano. On the cutting edge of AI, EEG-based emotion identification can be employed in applications that can rapidly expand the research and implementation industry's use.

Keywords: edge AI device, EEG, emotion recognition system, supervised learning algorithm, sensors

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Authors: Ahlam Ali, Katrina Lappin, Jaine Blayney, Ken Mills

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Leukaemia is the most frequently (30%) occurring type of paediatric cancer. Of these, approximately 80% are acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) cases making up the remaining 20% alongside other leukaemias. Unfortunately, children with AML do not have promising prognosis with only 60% surviving 5 years or longer. It has been highlighted recently the need for age-specific therapies for AML patients, with paediatric AML cases having a different mutational landscape compared with AML diagnosed in adult patients. Drug Repurposing is a recognized strategy in drug discovery and development where an already approved drug is used for diseases other than originally indicated. We aim to identify novel combination therapies with the promise of providing alternative more effective and less toxic induction therapy options. Our in-silico analysis highlighted ‘cell death and survival’ as an aberrant, potentially targetable pathway in paediatric AML patients. On this basis, 83 apoptotic inducing compounds were screened. A preliminary single agent screen was also performed to eliminate potentially toxic chemicals, then drugs were constructed into a pooled library with 10 drugs per well over 160 wells, with 45 possible pairs and 120 triples in each well. Seven cell lines were used during this study to represent the clonality of AML in paediatric patients (Kasumi-1, CMK, CMS, MV11-14, PL21, THP1, MOLM-13). Cytotoxicity was assessed up to 72 hours using CellTox™ Green reagent. Fluorescence readings were normalized to a DMSO control. Z-Score was assigned to each well based on the mean and standard deviation of all the data. Combinations with a Z-Score <2 were eliminated and the remaining wells were taken forward for further analysis. A well was considered ‘successful’ if each drug individually demonstrated a Z-Score <2, while the combination exhibited a Z-Score >2. Each of the ten compounds in one well (155) had minimal or no effect as single agents on cell viability however, a combination of two or more of the compounds resulted in a substantial increase in cell death, therefore the ten compounds were de-convoluted to identify a possible synergistic pair/triple combinations. The screen identified two possible ‘novel’ drug pairing, with BCL2 inhibitor ABT-737, combined with either a CDK inhibitor Purvalanol A, or AKT/ PI3K inhibitor LY294002. (ABT-737- 100 nM+ Purvalanol A- 1 µM) (ABT-737- 100 nM+ LY294002- 2 µM). Three possible triple combinations were identified (LY2409881+Akti-1/2+Purvalanol A, SU9516+Akti-1/2+Purvalanol A, and ABT-737+LY2409881+Purvalanol A), which will be taken forward for examining their efficacy at varying concentrations and dosing schedules, across multiple paediatric AML cell lines for optimisation of maximum synergy. We believe that our combination screening approach has potential for future use with a larger cohort of drugs including FDA approved compounds and patient material.

Keywords: AML, drug repurposing, ABT-737, apoptosis

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Authors: Robert Pellerin, Michel Gamache, Remi Trudeau, Nathalie Perrier

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The context of large engineering projects is particularly favorable to the appearance of engineering changes and contractual modifications. These elements are potential causes for claims. In this paper, we investigate one of the critical components of the claim management process: the calculation of the impacts of changes in terms of losses of productivity due to the need to accelerate some project activities. When project changes are initiated, delays can arise. Indeed, project activities are often executed in fast-tracking in an attempt to respect the completion date. But the acceleration of project execution and the resulting rework can entail important costs as well as induce productivity losses. In the past, numerous methods have been proposed to quantify the duration of delays, the gains achieved by project acceleration, and the loss of productivity. The calculation related to those changes can be divided into two categories: direct cost and indirect cost. The direct cost is easily quantifiable as opposed to indirect costs which are rarely taken into account during the calculation of the cost of an engineering change or contract modification despite several research projects have been made on this subject. However, proposed models have not been accepted by companies yet, nor they have been accepted in court. Those models require extensive data and are often seen as too specific to be used for all projects. These techniques are also ignoring the resource constraints and the interdependencies between the causes of delays and the delays themselves. To resolve this issue, this research proposes a simulation model that mimics how major engineering changes or contract modifications are handled in large construction projects. The model replicates the use of overtime in a reactive scheduling mode in order to simulate the loss of productivity present when a project change occurs. Multiple tests were conducted to compare the results of the proposed simulation model with statistical analysis conducted by other researchers. Different scenarios were also conducted in order to determine the impact the number of activities, the time of occurrence of the change, the availability of resources, and the type of project changes on productivity loss. Our results demonstrate that the number of activities in the project is a critical variable influencing the productivity of a project. When changes occur, the presence of a large number of activities leads to a much lower productivity loss than a small number of activities. The speed of reducing productivity for 30-job projects is about 25 percent faster than the reduction speed for 120-job projects. The moment of occurrence of a change also shows a significant impact on productivity. Indeed, the sooner the change occurs, the lower the productivity of the labor force. The availability of resources also impacts the productivity of a project when a change is implemented. There is a higher loss of productivity when the amount of resources is restricted.

Keywords: engineering changes, indirect costs overtime, productivity, scheduling, simulation

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Authors: Sumanta Daw, Gopal Chandra Saha

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The present study was conducted to explore the basic pulmonary functions which may generally vary according to the bio-physical characteristics including age, height, body weight, and environment etc. of the sports performers. Regular and specific training exercises also change the characteristics of an athlete’s prowess and produce a positive effect on the physiological functioning, mostly upon cardio-pulmonary efficiency and thereby improving the body mechanism. The objective of the present study was to compare the differences in cardio-respiratory functions between aquatics and track and field performers. As cardio-respiratory functions are influenced by pulse rate and blood pressure (systolic and diastolic), so both of the factors were also taken into consideration. The component selected under cardio-respiratory functions for the present study were i) FEVI/FVC ratio (forced expiratory volume divided by forced vital capacity ratio, i.e. the number represents the percentage of lung capacity to exhale in one second) ii) FVC1 (this is the amount of air which can force out of lungs in one second) and iii) FVC (forced vital capacity is the greatest total amount of air forcefully breathe out after breathing in as deeply as possible). All the three selected components of the cardio-respiratory efficiency were measured by spirometry method. Pulse rate was determined manually. The radial artery which is located on the thumb side of our wrist was used to assess the pulse rate. Blood pressure was assessed by sphygmomanometer. All the data were taken in the resting condition. 36subjects were selected for the present study out of which 18were water polo players and rest were sprinters. The age group of the subjects was considered between 18 to 23 years. In this study the obtained data inform of digital score were treated statistically to get result and draw conclusions. The Mean and Standard Deviation (SD) were used as descriptive statistics and the significant difference between the two subject groups was assessed with the help of statistical ‘t’-test. It was found from the study that all the three components i.e. FEVI/FVC ratio (p-value 0.0148 < 0.01), FVC1 (p-value 0.0010 < 0.01) and FVC (p-value 0.0067 < 0.01) differ significantly as water polo players proved to be better in terms of cardio-respiratory functions than sprinters. Thus study clearly suggests that the exercise training as well as the medium of practice arena associated with water polo players has played an important role to determine better cardio respiratory efficiency than track and field athletes. The outcome of the present study revealed that the lung function in land-based activities may not provide much impact than that of in water activities.

Keywords: cardio-respiratory efficiency, spirometry, water polo players, sprinters

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Authors: Benjamin D Reese Jr

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Implicit bias is understood as unconscious attitudes, stereotypes, or associations that can influence the cognitions, actions, decisions, and interactions of an individual without intentional control. These unconscious attitudes or stereotypes are often targeted toward specific groups of people based on their gender, race, age, perceived sexual orientation or other social categories. Since the late 1980s, there has been a proliferation of research that hypothesizes that the operation of implicit bias is the result of the brain needing to process millions of bits of information every second. Hence, one’s prior individual learning history provides ‘shortcuts’. As soon as one see someone of a certain race, one have immediate associations based on their past learning, and one might make assumptions about their competence, skill, or danger. These assumptions are outside of conscious awareness. In recent years, an alternative conceptualization has been proposed. The ‘bias of crowds’ theory hypothesizes that a given context or situation influences the degree of accessibility of particular biases. For example, in certain geographic communities in the United States, there is a long-standing and deeply ingrained history of structures, policies, and practices that contribute to racial inequities and bias toward African Americans. Hence, negative biases among groups of people towards African Americans are more accessible in such contexts or communities. This theory does not focus on individual brain functioning or cognitive ‘shortcuts.’ Therefore, attempts to modify individual perceptions or learning might have negligible impact on those embedded environmental systems or policies that are within certain contexts or communities. From the ‘bias of crowds’ perspective, high levels of racial bias in a community can be reduced by making fundamental changes in structures, policies, and practices to create a more equitable context or community rather than focusing on training or education aimed at reducing an individual’s biases. The current paper acknowledges and supports the foundational role of long-standing structures, policies, and practices that maintain racial inequities, as well as inequities related to other social categories, and highlights the critical need to continue organizational, community, and national efforts to eliminate those inequities. It also makes a case for providing individual leaders with a deep understanding of the dynamics of how implicit biases impact cognitions, actions, decisions, and interactions so that those leaders might more effectively develop structural changes in the processes and systems under their purview. This approach incorporates both the importance of an individual’s learning history as well as the important variables within the ‘bias of crowds’ theory. The paper also offers a model for leadership education, as well as examples of structural changes leaders might consider.

Keywords: implicit bias, unconscious bias, bias, inequities

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Authors: Izabella Szollosi, Klara Marton

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Aphasia can be defined as a weakness in accessing linguistic information. Accessing linguistic information is strongly related to information processing, which in turn is associated with the cognitive control system. According to the literature, a deficit in the cognitive control system interferes with language processing and contributes to non-fluent speech performance. The aim of our study was to explore this hypothesis by investigating how cognitive control interacts with language performance in participants with non-fluent aphasia. Cognitive control is a complex construct that includes working memory (WM) and the ability to resist proactive interference (PI). Based on previous research, we hypothesized that impairments in domain-general (DG) cognitive control abilities have negative effects on language processing. In contrast, better DG cognitive control functioning supports goal-directed behavior in language-related processes as well. Since stroke itself might slow down information processing, it is important to examine its negative effects on both cognitive control and language processing. Participants (N=52) in our study were individuals with non-fluent Broca’s aphasia (N = 13), with transcortical motor aphasia (N=13), individuals with stroke damage without aphasia (N=13), and unimpaired speakers (N = 13). All participants performed various computer-based tasks targeting cognitive control functions such as WM and resistance to PI in both linguistic and non-linguistic domains. Non-linguistic tasks targeted primarily DG functions, while linguistic tasks targeted more domain specific (DS) processes. The results showed that participants with Broca’s aphasia differed from the other three groups in the non-linguistic tasks. They performed significantly worse even in the baseline conditions. In contrast, we found a different performance profile in the linguistic domain, where the control group differed from all three stroke-related groups. The three groups with impairment performed more poorly than the controls but similar to each other in the verbal baseline condition. In the more complex verbal PI condition, however, participants with Broca’s aphasia performed significantly worse than all the other groups. Participants with Broca’s aphasia demonstrated the most severe language impairment and the highest vulnerability in tasks measuring DG cognitive control functions. Results support the notion that the more severe the cognitive control impairment, the more severe the aphasia. Thus, our findings suggest a strong interaction between cognitive control and language. Individuals with the most severe and most general cognitive control deficit - participants with Broca’s aphasia - showed the most severe language impairment. Individuals with better DG cognitive control functions demonstrated better language performance. While all participants with stroke damage showed impaired cognitive control functions in the linguistic domain, participants with better language skills performed also better in tasks that measured non-linguistic cognitive control functions. The overall results indicate that the level of cognitive control deficit interacts with the language functions in individuals along with the language spectrum (from severe to no impairment). However, future research is needed to determine any directionality.

Keywords: cognitive control, information processing, language performance, non-fluent aphasia

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Authors: A. Shakoor, M. Arshad

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The utilization of groundwater resources in irrigation has significantly increased during the last two decades due to constrained canal water supplies. More than 70% of the farmers in the Punjab, Pakistan, depend directly or indirectly on groundwater to meet their crop water demands and hence, an unchecked paradigm shift has resulted in aquifer depletion and deterioration. Therefore, a comprehensive research was carried at central Punjab-Pakistan, regarding spatiotemporal variation in groundwater level and quality. Processing MODFLOW for window (PMWIN) and MT3D (solute transport model) models were used for existing and future prediction of groundwater level and quality till 2030. The comprehensive data set of aquifer lithology, canal network, groundwater level, groundwater salinity, evapotranspiration, groundwater abstraction, recharge etc. were used in PMWIN model development. The model was thus, successfully calibrated and validated with respect to groundwater level for the periods of 2003 to 2007 and 2008 to 2012, respectively. The coefficient of determination (R2) and model efficiency (MEF) for calibration and validation period were calculated as 0.89 and 0.98, respectively, which argued a high level of correlation between the calculated and measured data. For solute transport model (MT3D), the values of advection and dispersion parameters were used. The model used for future scenario up to 2030, by assuming that there would be no uncertain change in climate and groundwater abstraction rate would increase gradually. The model predicted results revealed that the groundwater would decline from 0.0131 to 1.68m/year during 2013 to 2030 and the maximum decline would be on the lower side of the study area, where infrastructure of canal system is very less. This lowering of groundwater level might cause an increase in the tubewell installation and pumping cost. Similarly, the predicted total dissolved solids (TDS) of the groundwater would increase from 6.88 to 69.88mg/L/year during 2013 to 2030 and the maximum increase would be on lower side. It was found that in 2030, the good quality would reduce by 21.4%, while marginal and hazardous quality water increased by 19.28 and 2%, respectively. It was found from the simulated results that the salinity of the study area had increased due to the intrusion of salts. The deterioration of groundwater quality would cause soil salinity and ultimately the reduction in crop productivity. It was concluded from the predicted results of groundwater model that the groundwater deteriorated with the depth of water table i.e. TDS increased with declining groundwater level. It is recommended that agronomic and engineering practices i.e. land leveling, rainwater harvesting, skimming well, ASR (Aquifer Storage and Recovery Wells) etc. should be integrated to meliorate management of groundwater for higher crop production in salt affected soils.

Keywords: groundwater quality, groundwater management, PMWIN, MT3D model

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Authors: Yazmin Pineda Zapata

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Leading a complete school and culture transformation can be a daunting task for any administrator. This is especially true when change agents are advocating for inclusive reform in their schools. As leaders embark on this journey, they must ascertain that an inclusive environment is not a place, a classroom, or a resource setting; it is a place of acceptance nurtured by supportive and meaningful learning opportunities where all students can thrive. A qualitative approach, phenomenology, was used to investigate principals’ actions and behaviors that supported inclusive schooling for students with disabilities. Specifically, this study sought to answer the following research question: How do leaders develop and maintain inclusive education? Fourteen K-12 principals purposefully selected from various sources (e.g., School Wide Integrated Framework for Transformation (SWIFT), The Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education (MCIE), The Arc of Texas Inclusion Works organization, The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps (TASH), the CAL State Summer Institute in San Marcos, and the PEAK Parent Center and/or other recognitions were interviewed individually using a semi-structured protocol. Upon completion of data collection, all interviews were transcribed and marked using A priori coding to analyze the responses and establish a correlation among Villa and Thousand’s five organizational supports to achieve inclusive educational reform: Vision, Skills, Incentives, Resources, and Action Plan. The findings of this study reveal the insights of principals who met specific criteria and whose schools had been highlighted as exemplary inclusive schools. Results show that by implementing the five organizational supports, principals were able to develop and sustain successful inclusive environments where both teachers and students were motivated, made capable, and supported through the redefinition and restructuring of systems within the school. Various key details of the five variables for change depict essential components within these systems, which include quality professional development, coaching and modeling of co-teaching strategies, collaborative co-planning, teacher leadership, and continuous stakeholder (e.g., teachers, students, support staff, and parents) involvement. The administrators in this study proved the valuable benefits of inclusive education for students with disabilities and their typically developing peers. Together, along with their teaching and school community, school leaders became capable stakeholders that promoted the vision of inclusion, planned a structured approach, and took action to make it a reality.

Keywords: Inclusive education, leaders, principals, shared-decision making, shared leadership, special education, sustainable change

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Authors: K. A. Gladkova, N. P. Babushkina, E. Y. Bragina

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Purpose: Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is one of the major public health problems worldwide. It is clear that the immune response to M. tuberculosis infection is a relationship between inflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses in which Tumour Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) plays key roles as a pro-inflammatory cytokine. TNF-α involved in various cell immune responses via binding to its two types of membrane-bound receptors, TNFRSF1A and TNFRSF1B. Importantly, some variants of the TNFRSF1B gene have been considered as possible markers of host susceptibility to TB. However, the possible impact of such TNF-α and its receptor genes polymorphism on TB cases in Tomsk is missing. Thus, the purpose of our study was to investigate polymorphism of TNF-α (rs1800629) and its receptor TNFRSF1B (rs652625 and rs525891) genes in population of Tomsk and to evaluate their possible association with the development of pulmonary TB. Materials and Methods: The population distribution features of genes polymorphisms were investigated and made case-control study based on group of people from Tomsk. Human blood was collected during routine patients examination at Tomsk Regional TB Dispensary. Altogether, 234 TB-positive patients (80 women, 154 men, average age is 28 years old) and 205 health-controls (153 women, 52 men, average age is 47 years old) were investigated. DNA was extracted from blood plasma by phenol-chloroform method. Genotyping was carried out by a single-nucleotide-specific real-time PCR assay. Results: First, interpopulational comparison was carried out between healthy individuals from Tomsk and available data from the 1000 Genomes project. It was found that polymorphism rs1800629 region demonstrated that Tomsk population was significantly different from Japanese (P = 0.0007), but it was similar with the following Europeans subpopulations: Italians (P = 0.052), Finns (P = 0.124) and British (P = 0.910). Polymorphism rs525891 clear demonstrated that group from Tomsk was significantly different from population of South Africa (P = 0.019). However, rs652625 demonstrated significant differences from Asian population: Chinese (P = 0.03) and Japanese (P = 0.004). Next, we have compared healthy individuals versus patients with TB. It was detected that no association between rs1800629, rs652625 polymorphisms, and positive TB cases. Importantly, AT genotype of polymorphism rs525891 was significantly associated with resistance to TB (odds ratio (OR) = 0.61; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.41-0.9; P < 0.05). Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, the polymorphism of TNFRSF1B (rs525891) was associated with TB, while genotype AT is protective [OR = 0.61] in Tomsk population. In contrast, no significant correlation was detected between polymorphism TNF-α (rs1800629) and TNFRSF1B (rs652625) genes and alveolar TB cases among population of Tomsk. In conclusion, our data expands the molecular particularities associated with TB. The study was supported by the grant of the Russia for Basic Research #15-04-05852.

Keywords: polymorphism, tuberculosis, TNF-α, TNFRSF1B gene

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Authors: Šárka Hradilová, Aleš Panáček, Radek Zbořil

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Nanotechnologies are considered the most promising fields with high added value, brings new possibilities in various sectors from industry to medicine. With the growing of interest in nanomaterials and their applications, increasing nanoparticle production leads to increased exposure of people and environment with ‘human made’ nanoparticles. Nanoparticles (NPs) are clusters of atoms in the size range of 1–100 nm. Metal nanoparticles represent one of the most important and frequently used types of NPs due to their unique physical, chemical and biological properties, which significantly differ from those of bulk material. Biological properties including toxicity of metal nanoparticles are generally determined by their size, size distribution, shape, surface area, surface charge, surface chemistry, stability in the environment and ability to release metal ions. Therefore, the biological behavior of NPs and their possible adverse effect cannot be derived from the bulk form of material because nanoparticles show unique properties and interactions with biological systems just due to their nanodimensions. Silver and gold NPs are intensively studied and used. Both can be used for instance in surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy, a considerable number of applications of silver NPs is associated with antibacterial effects, while gold NPs are associated with cancer treatment and bio imaging. Antibacterial effects of silver ions are known for centuries. Silver ions and silver-based compounds are highly toxic to microorganisms. Toxic properties of silver NPs are intensively studied, but the mechanism of cytoxicity is not fully understood. While silver NPs are considered toxic, gold NPs are referred to as toxic but also innocuous for eukaryotic cells. Therefore, gold NPs are used in various biological applications without a risk of cell damaging, even when we want to suppress the growth of cancer cells. Thus, gold NPs are toxic or harmless. Because most studies comparing particles of various sizes prepared in various ways, and testing is performed on different cell lines, it is very difficult to generalize. The novelty and significance of our research is focused to the complex biological effects of silver and gold NPs prepared by the same method, have the same parameters and the same stabilizer. That is why we can compare the biological effects of pure nanometals themselves based on their chemical nature without the influence of other variable. Aim of our study therefore is to compare the cytotoxic effect of two types of noble metal NPs focusing on the mechanisms that contribute to cytotoxicity. The study was conducted on murine fibroblasts by selected common used tests. Each of these tests monitors the selected area related to toxicity and together provides a comprehensive view on the issue of interactions of nanoparticles and living cells.

Keywords: cytotoxicity, gold nanoparticles, mechanism of cytotoxicity, silver nanoparticles

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Authors: Mihai Palade, Gina Cecilia Pistol, Mariana Stancu, Veronica Chedea, Ionelia Taranu

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Nutrition is an important determinant of general health status, with especially focus on prevention and/or attenuation of the inflammatory-associated pathologies. People with chronic kidney disease can experience chronic inflammation that can lead to cardiovascular disease and even an increased rate of death. There are important links between chronic kidney diseases, inflammation and nutritional strategies that may prevent or protect against undesirable inflammation and oxidative stress. The grape by-products either seeds or pomace are rich in polyphenols which may be beneficial in prevention of inflammatory, antioxidant and antimicrobial processes. As a model for studying the impact of grape seeds on renal inflammation and oxidative stress, we used in this study weaned piglets. After a feeding trial of 30 days with a control diet and an experimental diet containing 5% grape seed (GS), kidney samples were collected. In renal tissues were determined the expression and activity of important markers of immune respose and oxidative stress: pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-6, IL-8, IFN-gamma), anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-10), anti-oxidant enzymes (catalase CAT, superoxide dismutase SOD, glutathione peroxidise GPx) and important mediators belonging to nuclear receptors (NF-kB1, Nrf-2 and PPAR-gamma). Gene expression was evaluated by qPCR, whereas protein concentration was determined using proteomic techniques (ELISA). The activity of anti-oxidant enzymes was determined using specific kits. Our results showed that GS enriched in polyphenols does not have effect on TNF-alpha, IL-6 and IL-1 beta gene expression and protein concentration in kidney. By contrast, the gene expression and protein level of IL-8 and IFN-gamma were decreased in GS kidney. Anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4 and IL-10 gene levels were increased in kidneys collected from GS piglets in comparison with controls, with no modification of protein levels between the two groups. The activities of anti-oxidant enzymes CAT and GPx were increased in kidney by GS, whereas SOD activity was unmodified in comparison with control samples. Also, the GS diet was associated with no modulation of mRNAs for nuclear receptors NF-kB1, Nrf-2 and PPAR-gamma gene expressions in kidneys. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that GS enriched in bioactive compounds such polyphenols could modulate inflammation and oxidative stress markers in kidney tissues. Further studies are necessary to elucidate the mechanism of action of GS compounds in case kidney inflammation associated with oxidative stress, and signalling molecules involved in these mechanisms.

Keywords: animal model, kidney inflammation, oxidative stress, grape seed

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Authors: Ceren Ince, Berkay Zafer Erdem, Shahram Derogar, Nabi Yuzer

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Fibre cement plates, often used in construction, generally are made using quartz as an inert material, cement as a binder and cellulose as a fibre. This paper first of all investigates the mechanical properties and durability of fibre cement plates when quartz is both partly and fully replaced with diatomite. Diatomite does not only have lower density compared to quartz but also has high pozzolanic activity. The main objective of this paper is the investigation of the effects of supplementary cementing materials (SCMs) on the short and long term mechanical properties and durability characteristics of fibre cement plates prepared using diatomite. Supplementary cementing materials such as ground granulated blast furnace slug (GGBS) and fly ash (FA) are used in this study. 10, 20, 30 and 40% of GGBS and FA are used as partial replacement materials to cement. Short and long term mechanical properties such as compressive and flexural strengths as well as capillary absorption, sorptivity characteristics and mass were investigated. Consistency and setting time at each replacement levels of SCMs were also recorded. The effects of using supplementary cementing materials on the carbonation and sulphate resistance of fibre cement plates were then experimented. The results, first of all, show that the use of diatomite as a full or partial replacement to quartz resulted in a systematic decrease in total mass of the fibre cement plates. The reduction of mass was largely due to the lower density and finer particle size of diatomite compared to quartz. The use of diatomite did not only reduce the mass of these plates but also increased the compressive strength significantly as a result of its high pozzolanic activity. The replacement levels of both GGBS and FA resulted in a systematic decrease in short term compressive strength with increasing replacement levels. This was essentially expected as the total heat of hydration is much lower in GGBS and FA than that of cement. Long term results however, indicated that the compressive strength of fibre cement plates prepared using both GGBS and FA increases with time and hence the compressive strength of plates prepared using SCMs is either equivalent or more than the compressive strength of plates prepared using cement alone. Durability characteristics of fibre cement plates prepared using SCMs were enhanced significantly. Measurements of capillary absorption and sopritivty characteristics were also indicated that the plates prepared using SCMs has much lower permeability compared to plates prepared cement alone. Much higher resistance to carbonation and sulphate attach were observed with plates prepared using SCMs. The results presented in this paper show that the use of SCMs does not only support the production of more sustainable construction materials but also enhances the mechanical properties and durability characteristics of fibre cement plates.

Keywords: diatomite, fibre, strength, supplementary cementing material

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Authors: Joyce Mary Adam

Abstract:

The subject of youth and education has been on the agenda of both public policies and specific education policies. In this sense, this work aims to discuss, based on the conceptions of social capital and cultural capital, the possibilities of elaborating and putting into practice the life projects they build during secondary school. The critical view brought by the concepts of social capital and cultural capital considers that in the school environment, those who have social capital and cultural capital have more tools to continue their projects, while those who do not have such capital will consequently have fewer opportunities, a fact that directly contributes to the perpetuation of social and educational inequality. When the "Life Project" is discussed under the sole responsibility of the students, it is clear that it is the students who must "take their responsibilities and decisions", their success or failure. From this point of view, the success of the implementation of the Life Project is determined by how well the students have developed their "skills and competencies" and their capacity for entrepreneurship without promoting a critical reflection on the real economic difficulties of the majority of students at this level of education. This situation gives rise to feelings of self-blame and self-responsibility among young people, who are compelled to confront the reality that their expectations have not been fulfilled, that they have been unable to gain employment, and, in some instances, that they have been marginalized. In this regard, the research project aimed to gather data on the living conditions of students at a public school and a private school in Brazil through interviews. The research methodology was interviews with students from a public school and an elite private school. The main objective of the research was to analyze the students' cultural and social capital as a key element in their social and professional integration after completing this stage of education. The study showed that social and cultural capital has a significant influence on opportunities to continue studying or to find a satisfactory job. For young people from public schools and from lower economic classes, the need to enter the job market as soon as they finish or even before they finish high school is due to economic and survival issues. The hours of dedication to studies and the diversity of cultural activities such as trips, visits to museums, or the cultivation of artistic activities available to poorer students in state schools have proved to be rarer. In conclusion, we found that the difference in social and cultural capital between the young people taking part in the research has been shown to play an important role in the social and professional integration of the students and contributes to the maintenance of school and social inequality. This highlights the importance of public policies and support networks for young people leaving secondary school.

Keywords: social capital, cultural capital, high school, life project, social insertion, professional insertion, youth

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