Search results for: effective connectivity

Authors: Judith Enriquez-Gibson

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This paper meddles with the notion of phatic communion introduced 90 years ago by Malinowski, who was a Polish-born British anthropologist. It explores the phatic in Twitter within the contents of tweets related to moocs (massive online open courses) as a topic or trend. It is not about moocs though. It is about practices that could easily be hidden or neglected if we let big or massive topics take the lead or if we simply follow the computational or secret codes behind Twitter itself and third party software analytics. It draws from media and cultural studies. Though at first it appears data-driven as I submitted data collection and analytics into the hands of a third party software, Twitonomy, the aim is to follow how phatic communion might be practised in a social media site, such as Twitter. Lurking becomes its research method to analyse mooc-related tweets. A total of 3,000 tweets were collected on 11 October 2013 (UK timezone). The emphasis of lurking is to engage with Twitter as a system of connectivity. One interesting finding is that a click is in fact a phatic practice. A click breaks the silence. A click in one of the mooc website is actually a tweet. A tweet was posted on behalf of a user who simply chose to click without formulating the text and perhaps without knowing that it contains #mooc. Surely, this mechanism is not about reciprocity. To break the silence, users did not use words. They just clicked the ‘tweet button’ on a mooc website. A click performs and maintains connectivity – and Twitter as the medium in attendance in our everyday, available when needed to be of service. In conclusion, the phatic culture of breaking silence in Twitter does not have to submit to the power of code and analytics. It is a matter of human code.

Keywords: click, Twitter, phatic communion, social media data, mooc

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Authors: Ouardi Okkacha, Kaarour Abedlkrim, Meskine Mohamed

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The effective Hamiltonians are widely used in molecular spectroscopy for the interpretation of the vibration-rotation spectra. Their construction is an ambiguous procedure due to the existence of unitary transformations that change the effective Hamiltonian but do not change its eigenvalues. As a consequence of this ambiguity, it may happen that some parameters of effective Hamiltonians cannot be recovered from experimental data in a unique way. The type of admissible transformations which keeps the operator form of the effective Hamiltonian unaltered and the number of empirically determinable parameters strongly depend on the symmetry type of a molecule (asymmetric top, spherical top, and so on) and on the degeneracy of the vibrational state. In this work, we report the study of the ambiguity of effective Hamiltonian for the fundamental degenerate states v3 of the Molecule 12CD4.

Keywords: 12CD4, high-resolution infrared spectra, tetrahedral tensorial formalism, vibrational states, rovibrational line position analysis, XTDS, SPVIEW

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Authors: Wassim Jerbi, Abderrahmen Guermazi, Hafedh Trabelsi

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The optimum use of coverage in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is very important. LEACH protocol called Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy, presents a hierarchical clustering algorithm for wireless sensor networks. LEACH is a protocol that allows the formation of distributed cluster. In each cluster, LEACH randomly selects some sensor nodes called cluster heads (CHs). The selection of CHs is made with a probabilistic calculation. It is supposed that each non-CH node joins a cluster and becomes a cluster member. Nevertheless, some CHs can be concentrated in a specific part of the network. Thus, several sensor nodes cannot reach any CH. to solve this problem. We created an O-LEACH Orphan nodes protocol, its role is to reduce the sensor nodes which do not belong the cluster. The cluster member called Gateway receives messages from neighboring orphan nodes. The gateway informs CH having the neighboring nodes that not belong to any group. However, Gateway called (CH') attaches the orphaned nodes to the cluster and then collected the data. O-Leach enables the formation of a new method of cluster, leads to a long life and minimal energy consumption. Orphan nodes possess enough energy and seeks to be covered by the network. The principal novel contribution of the proposed work is O-LEACH protocol which provides coverage of the whole network with a minimum number of orphaned nodes and has a very high connectivity rates.As a result, the WSN application receives data from the entire network including orphan nodes. The proper functioning of the Application requires, therefore, management of intelligent resources present within each the network sensor. The simulation results show that O-LEACH performs better than LEACH in terms of coverage, connectivity rate, energy and scalability.

Keywords: WSNs; routing; LEACH; O-LEACH; Orphan nodes; sub-cluster; gateway; CH’

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Authors: Dileep G., Akash Singh, Dalchand Ahirwar, Arkadeep Ghosh, Ashutosh Purohit, Gaurav Guleria, Kshatriya Om Prashant, Pushkar Patel, Saksham Kumar, Vanshaj Nathani, Vikas Dangi, Shubhajit Roy Chowdhury, Varun Dutt

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Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has shown promise as a novel approach to enhance cognitive performance and provide therapeutic benefits for various brain disorders. However, the exact underlying brain mechanisms are not fully understood. We conducted a study to examine the brain's functional changes when subjected to simultaneous tDCS and music (Indian classical raga). During the study, participants in the experimental group underwent a 20-minute session of tDCS at two mA while listening to music (raga) for a duration of seven days. In contrast, the control group received a sham stimulation for two minutes at two mA over the same seven-day period. The objective was to examine whether repetitive tDCS could lead to the formation of additional functional connections between the medial prefrontal cortex (the stimulated area) and the auditory cortex in comparison to a sham stimulation group. In this study, 26 participants (5 female) underwent pre- and post-intervention scans, where changes were compared after one week of either tDCS or sham stimulation in conjunction with music. The study revealed significant effects of tDCS on functional connectivity between the stimulated area and the auditory cortex. The combination of tDCS applied over the mPFC and music resulted in newly formed connections. Based on our findings, it can be inferred that applying anodal tDCS over the mPFC enhances functional connectivity between the stimulated area and the auditory cortex when compared to the effects observed with sham stimulation.

Keywords: fNIRS, tDCS, neuroplasticity, music

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Authors: Jae Won Shin, Chang Ho Hyun

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A disintegration of deuterons by photons (dγ → np) reaction model for GEANT4 is developed in this work. An effective field theory with dibaryon fields Introducing a dibaryon field, we can take into account the effective range contribution to the propagator up to infinite order, and it consequently makes the convergence of the theory better than the pionless effective field theory without dibaryon fields. We develop a hadronic model for GEANT4 which is specialized for the disintegration of the deuteron by photons, dγ → np. For the description of two-nucleon interactions, we employ an effective field theory so called pionless theory with dibaryon fields (dEFT). In spite of its simplicity, the theory has proven very effective and useful in the applications to various two-nucleon systems and processes at low energies. We apply the new model of GEANT4 (G4dEFT) to the calculation of total and differential cross sections in dγ → np, and obtain good agreements to experimental data for a wide range of incoming photon energies.

Keywords: dγ → np, dibaryon fields, effective field theory, GEANT4

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Authors: Rommila Chandra, Harshika Choudhary

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The value of integrated, participatory, and community based sustainable development strategies is eminent, but in practice, it still remains fragmentary and often leads to short-lived results. Despite the global presence of climate change, its impacts are felt differently by different communities based on their vulnerability. The developing countries have the low adaptive capacity and high dependence on environmental variables, making them highly susceptible to outmigration and poverty. We need to understand how to enable these approaches, taking into account the various governmental and non-governmental stakeholders functioning at different levels, to deliver long-term socio-economic and environmental well-being of local communities. The research assessed the financial and natural vulnerability of Himalayan networks, focusing on their potential to adapt to various changes, through accessing their perceived reactions and local knowledge. The evaluation was conducted by testing indices for vulnerability, with a major focus on indicators for adaptive capacity. Data for the analysis were collected from the villages around Govind National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, located in the Indian Himalayan Region. The villages were stratified on the basis of connectivity via road, thus giving two kinds of human settlements connected and isolated. The study focused on understanding the complex relationship between outmigration and the socio-cultural sentiments of local people to not abandon their land, assessing their adaptive capacity for livelihood opportunities, and exploring their contribution that integrated participatory methodologies can play in delivering sustainable development. The result showed that the villages having better road connectivity, access to market, and basic amenities like health and education have a better understanding about the climatic shift, natural hazards, and a higher adaptive capacity for income generation in comparison to the isolated settlements in the hills. The participatory approach towards environmental conservation and sustainable use of natural resources were seen more towards the far-flung villages. The study helped to reduce the gap between local understanding and government policies by highlighting the ongoing adaptive practices and suggesting precautionary strategies for the community studied based on their local conditions, which differ on the basis of connectivity and state of development. Adaptive capacity in this study has been taken as the externally driven potential of different parameters, leading to a decrease in outmigration and upliftment of the human environment that could lead to sustainable livelihood development in the rural areas of Himalayas.

Keywords: adaptive capacity, Indian Himalayan region, participatory, sustainable livelihood development

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Authors: Sadhana Ghnayiem

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This article deals with the issue of effective communication between parents and children and its impact on the family in general and on the child in particular. The aim of this article is to provide information to parents, students, anyone interested in family communication between parents and children, and to provide them with tools to deal with barriers to communication in the family unit. The article presented a literature review of the importance of effective communication in the family, the definition of the concept of communication, and was a reference to factors and barriers in communication between parents and children leading to conflict destructive to the extent that barriers to effective communication in the family unit. At the end of the article, strategies were introduced to motivate children to behave appropriately, and to equip parents best to foster the healthy development of their children when they can create an atmosphere of effective communication. From the literature review, it's found that effective communication between parents and children prevents problematic behavior and helps children understand how to communicate effectively with others. Communication between parents and children is the cornerstone of a happy family life and is the basis for positive interactions between parents and children and increases self-esteem in children.

Keywords: children, communication, conflict, family

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Authors: Daniel Y. Abebe, Jeonghyun Jang, Jaehyouk Choi

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This study aims to evaluate the effective size, section and structural characteristics of circular hollow steel (CHS) damper. CHS damper is among steel dampers which are used widely for seismic energy dissipation because they are easy to install, maintain and are inexpensive. CHS damper dissipates seismic energy through metallic deformation due to the geometrical elasticity of circular shape and fatigue resistance around connection part. After calculating the effective size, which is found to be height to diameter ratio of √("3"), nonlinear FE analyses were carried out to evaluate the structural characteristics and effective section (diameter-to-ratio).

Keywords: circular hollow steel damper, structural characteristics, effective size, effective section, large deformation, FE analysis

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Authors: I. M. Salama, R. N. Miftahof

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A functional element of the myenteric nervous plexus is a morphologically distinct ganglion. Composed of sensory, inter- and motor neurons and arranged via synapses in neuronal circuits, their task is to decipher and integrate spike coded information within the plexus into regulatory output signals. The stability of signal processing in response to a wide range of internal/external perturbations depends on the plasticity of individual neurons. Any aberrations in this inherent property may lead to instability with the development of a dynamics chaos and can be manifested as pathological conditions, such as intestinal dysrhythmia, irritable bowel syndrome. The aim of this study is to investigate patterns of signal transduction within a two-neuronal chain - a ganglion - under normal physiological and structurally altered states. The ganglion contains the primary sensory (AH-type) and motor (S-type) neurons linked through a cholinergic dendro somatic synapse. The neurons have distinguished electrophysiological characteristics including levels of the resting and threshold membrane potentials and spiking activity. These are results of ionic channel dynamics namely: Na+, K+, Ca++- activated K+, Ca++ and Cl-. Mechanical stretches of various intensities and frequencies are applied at the receptive field of the AH-neuron generate a cascade of electrochemical events along the chain. At low frequencies, ν < 0.3 Hz, neurons demonstrate strong connectivity and coherent firing. The AH-neuron shows phasic bursting with spike frequency adaptation while the S-neuron responds with tonic bursts. At high frequency, ν > 0.5 Hz, the pattern of electrical activity changes to rebound and mixed mode bursting, respectively, indicating ganglionic loss of plasticity and adaptability. A simultaneous increase in neuronal conductivity for Na+, K+ and Ca++ ions results in tonic mixed spiking of the sensory neuron and class 2 excitability of the motor neuron. Although the signal transduction along the chain remains stable the synchrony in firing pattern is not maintained and the number of discharges of the S-type neuron is significantly reduced. A concomitant increase in Ca++- activated K+ and a decrease in K+ in conductivities re-establishes weak connectivity between the two neurons and converts their firing pattern to a bistable mode. It is thus demonstrated that neuronal plasticity and adaptability have a stabilizing effect on the dynamics of signal processing in the ganglion. Functional modulations of neuronal ion channel permeability, achieved in vivo and in vitro pharmacologically, can improve connectivity between neurons. These findings are consistent with experimental electrophysiological recordings from myenteric ganglia in intestinal dysrhythmia and suggest possible pathophysiological mechanisms.

Keywords: neuronal chain, signal transduction, plasticity, stability

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Authors: Javed Y. Uppal

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The background of this study is the great degree of stress that the world is experiencing today, internationally among the countries, within a community among people, and even individually within one’s own self. The significance of the study is the attempt to find a solution of this stress in the philosophy of the olden times of Jalaluddin Rumi and comparatively recently of that of Allama Iqbal. The methodology adopted in this paper is firstly exploration of the perspectives of these philosophers that are being consolidated by a number of psychic and spiritual experts of today, who are being widely read but less followed. This paper further goes on presenting brief life sketches of Rumi and Iqbal. It expounds the key concepts proposed by them and the social change that was resulted in the times of the two above mentioned metaphysical philosophers. It is further amplified that with the recent advancements, in both metaphysics and the physical sciences, the gap between the two is closing down. Both Rumi and Iqbal emphasized their common essence. The old time's concepts, postulates, and philosophies are hence once again becoming valid. The findings of this paper are that the existence of human empathy, affection and mutual social attraction among humans is still valid. The positive inner belief system that dictates our thoughts and actions is vital. As a conclusion, empathy should enable us solving our problems collectively. We need to strengthen our inner communication system, to listen to the messages that come to our inner-selves. We need to get guidance and strength from them. We need to value common needs and purposes collectively to achieve results. Spiritual energy among us is to be harnessed and utilized. Connectivity is to be recognized to unify and strengthen ties among people. Mutual bonding at small and large group levels is to be employed for the survival of the disadvantaged, and sustainability of the empowering trends. With the above guidelines, hopefully, we can define a framework towards a brave and happy new humane world.

Keywords: belief system, connectivity, human empathy, inner-self, mutual bonding, spiritual energy

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Authors: Shehu S. Janguza

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The need for national security cannot be over Emphasis, which should be pursued by any means. Thus the need for effective management of education through effective school community Relationship/participation. In preparing and implementing only effort to promote community involvement in manning Education, it is importance to understand the whole picture of community participation, how it works, what forms are used, what benefit it can yield and what we should expect in the process of carrying out the efforts finally emphasis will be made on how effective school community relationship/participation and lead to national security.

Keywords: community participation, managing, school community, national security

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Authors: R. Poonkuzhali, M. Y. Sanavullah, M. R. Gurupriya

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Opportunistic routing is used, where the network has the features like dynamic topology changes and intermittent network connectivity. In Delay Tolerant network or Disruption tolerant network opportunistic forwarding technique is widely used. The key idea of opportunistic routing is selecting forwarding nodes to forward data and coordination among these nodes to avoid duplicate transmissions. This paper gives the analysis of pros and cons of various opportunistic routing techniques used in MANET.

Keywords: ETX, opportunistic routing, PSR, throughput

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Authors: D. A. Carnegie

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Whilst there is a movement towards increased digital augmentation in order to facilitate effective tertiary learning, this must come with an awareness of the limitations of such an approach. Learning is best achieved in an environment that includes their learning peers where difficulties can be shared and learning enabled. Policy that advocates for digital technology in place of a physical classroom is dangerous and is often driven by financial concerns rather than pedagogical ones. In this paper, a mostly digital-less form of teaching is presented – one that has proven to be extremely effective. Implicit is anecdotal evidence that student prefer the old overhead transparencies to PowerPoint presentations. Varying and reinforcing assessment, facilitation of effective note-taking, and just actively engaging with students is at the core of a good tertiary education experience. Digital techniques can augment and complement, but not replace these core personal teaching requirements.

Keywords: engineering education, active classroom engagement, effective note taking, reinforcing assessment

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Authors: Sabah Mohammed, Jinan Fiaidhi, Darien Sawyer

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Data integration of health through connected services can save lives in the event of a medical emergency or provide efficient and effective interventions for the benefit of the patients through the integration of bedside and bench side clinical research. Such integration will support all wind of change in healthcare by being predictive, pre-emptive, personalized, problem-oriented and participatory. Prototyping a healthcare system that enables data integration has been a big challenge for healthcare for a long time. However, an innovative solution started to emerge by focusing on problem lists where everything can connect the problem list forming a growing graph. This notion was introduced by Dr. Lawrence Weed in early 70’s, but the enabling technologies weren’t mature enough to provide a successful implementation prototype. In this article, we are describing our efforts in prototyping Dr. Lawrence Weed's problem-oriented medical record (POMR) and his patient case schema (SOAP) to shape a prototype for connected health. For this, we are using the TypeGraphQL API and our enterprise-based QL4POMR to describe a Web-Based gateway for healthcare services connectivity. Our prototype has reported success in connecting to the HL7 FHIR medical record and the OpenTarget biomedical repositories.

Keywords: connected health, problem-oriented healthcare record, SOAP, QL4POMR, typegraphQL

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Authors: Zhi Huang

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This study follows on from previous survey and focus group research exploring the effective teaching process in a translation classroom in Australian universities through case study method. The data analysis draws on social constructivist theory in translation teaching and focuses on teaching process aiming to discover how effective translation teachers conduct teaching in the classroom. The results suggest that effective teaching requires the teacher to have ability in four aspects: classroom management, classroom pedagogy, classroom communication, and teacher roles. Effective translation teachers are able to control the whole learning process, facilitate students in independent learning, guide students to be more critical about translation, giving both positive and negative feedback for students to reflect on their own, and being supportive, patient and encouraging to students for better classroom communication and learning outcomes. This study can be applied to other teachers in translation so that they can reflect on their own teaching in their education contexts and strive for being a more qualified translation teacher and achieving teaching effectiveness.

Keywords: case study, classroom observation, classroom teaching, effective translation teaching, teacher effectiveness

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Authors: Kristine Joy Y. Sumanga, Clarissa Mae D. Derecho

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Telemedicine is providing health care services using electronic means at a distance, including the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases as well as the research and evaluation and education of health care providers. The role of telemedicine in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic is vital, especially in the practice of medicine. General Objective: To determine the extent of knowledge, preparedness and perception of telemedicine among Family Medicine Resident Physicians in different training institutions in Cebu City during the Coronavirus Disease 19 pandemic. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional survey research study was conducted in four hospital training institutions in Cebu City. A total of 41 respondents gave their consent and were given the online survey questionnaire pertaining to the extent of knowledge, preparedness and perceptions on telemedicine, including respondents’ demographic data and problems encountered in Telemedicine. Results: Out of the 41 respondents, 56.10% were young adults (26 to 30 years old), mostly females (70.73%), single (68.29%), first-year residents (43.90%), employed at a government hospital (70.73%) and are in the traditional residency pathway (82.93%). On relevant experience, 82.93% experienced telemedicine during residency, with 100% on follow-up consultations, and 95% were consulted due to infections. Respondents’ extent of knowledge was average, while the extent of preparedness and perception were great. Problems with low connectivity (80.48%) were noted by most of the respondents. Conclusion: Resident physicians moderately understood the information about telemedicine but with a great extent of preparedness and perception. They are always prepared for telemedicine modality because they are fully aware of its existence and need in the delivery of health care services among their patients at the time of the pandemic. Challenges to low connectivity and handling patients’ data privacy were the major concerns met by the resident physicians in the use of telemedicine.

Keywords: telemedicine, knowledge, preparedness, perception, family medicine, residents, COVID 19

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Authors: Rafiu Babatunde Ibrahim, Richard Oluseyi Taiwo, Abiodun Toheeb Akintunde

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The relationship between road transport infrastructure and commercial activities in Nigeria has been a topical issue and identified as one of the crucial components for economic development in the country. This study examines road transport infrastructure and commercial activities along selected roads in Ede, Nigeria. The study assesses the characteristics of the selected roads, the condition of road infrastructure, the degree of road network connectivity, maintenance culture for the road infrastructure as well as commercial activities along identified roads in the study area. Stratified Sampling Techniques were used to partition the study area into core, Intermediate and Suburb Township zones. Roads were also classified into Major, Distributor and Access Roads. Field observation and measurement, as well as a questionnaire, were used to obtain primary data from 246 systematically sampled respondents along the roads selected, and they were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed that most of the roads were characterized by an incidence of potholes. A total of 448 potholes were observed, where Olowoibida Road accounted for (19.0%), Federal Polytechnic Road (17.4%), and Back to Land Road (16.3%). The majority of the selected roads have no street lights and are of open drainage systems. Also, the condition of road surfaces was observed to be deteriorating. Road network connectivity of the study area was found to be poorly connected with 11% using the alpha index and 40% of Gamma index. It was found that the tailoring business (39) is predominant on major roads and Distributor Roads, while petty trading (35) is dominant on the access road. Results of correlation analysis (r = 0.242) show that there is a low positive correlation between road infrastructure and commercial activities; the significant relationships have indeed explained how important it is in influencing commercial activities across the study area. The study concluded by emphasizing the need for the provision of more roads and proper maintenance of the existing ones. This will no doubt improve the commercial activities along the roads in the study area.

Keywords: road transport, infrastructure, commercial activities, maintenance culture

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Authors: Andrea Cretu, Calin Cadar, Maria Miclaus, Lucian Barbu-Tudoran, Siegfried Stapf, Ioan Ardelean

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Additives and mineral admixtures have become an integral part of cement-based materials. It is common practice to add silica fume to cement based mixes in order to produce high-performance concrete. There is still a lack of scientific understanding regarding the effects that silica fume has on the microstructure of hydrated cement paste. The aim of the current study is to develop high-performance materials with low permeability and high resistance to flexural stress using silica fume and an organosilane. Organosilane bonds with cement grains and silica fume, influencing both the workability and the final properties of the mix, especially the pore size distributions and pore connectivity. Silica fume is a known pozzolanic agent which reacts with the calcium hydroxide in hydrated cement paste, producing more C-S-H and improving the mechanical properties of the mix. It is believed that particles of silica fume act as capillary pore fillers and nucleation centers for C-S-H and other hydration products. In order to be able to design cement-based materials with added silica fume and organosilane, it is necessary first to understand the formation of the porous network during hydration and to observe the distribution of pores and their connectivity. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods in low-fields are non-destructive and allow the study of cement-based materials from the standpoint of their porous structure. Other methods, such as XRD and SEM-EDS, help create a comprehensive picture of the samples, along with the classic mechanical tests (compressive and flexural strength measurements). The transverse relaxation time (T₂) was measured during the hydration of 16 samples prepared with two water/cement ratios (0.3 and 0.4) and different concentrations or organosilane (APTES, up to 2% by mass of cement) and silica fume (up to 6%). After their hydration, the pore size distribution was assessed using the same NMR approach on the samples filled with cyclohexane. The SEM-EDS and XRD measurements were applied on pieces and powders prepared from the samples that were used in mechanical testing, which were kept under water for 28 days. Adding silica fume does not influence the hydration dynamics of cement paste, while the addition of organosilane extends the dormancy stage up to 10 hours. The size distribution of the capillary pores is not influenced by the addition of silica fume or organosilane, while the connectivity of capillary pores is decreased only when there is organosilane in the mix. No filling effect is observed even at the highest concentration of silica fume. There is an apparent increase in flexural strength of samples prepared only with silica fume and a decrease for those prepared with organosilane, with a few exceptions. XRD reveals that the pozzolanic reactivity of silica fume can only be observed when there is no organosilane present and the SEM-EDS method reveals the pore distribution, as well as hydration products and the presence or absence of calcium hydroxide. The current work was funded by the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNCS – UEFISCDI, through project PN-III-P2-2.1-PED-2016-0719.

Keywords: cement hydration, concrete admixtures, NMR, organosilane, porosity, silica fume

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Authors: Alokananda Ghosh, Shraban Sarkar

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The study aims to identify suitable sites for new hospitals with critical obstetric care facilities in Birbhum, one of the vulnerable and underserved districts of Eastern India, considering six main and 14 sub-criteria, using GIS-based Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) approach. The criteria were identified through field surveys and previous literature. After collecting expert decisions, a pairwise comparison matrix was prepared using the Saaty scale to calculate the weights through AHP. On the contrary, objective weighting methods, i.e., Entropy and Criteria Importance through Interaction Correlation (CRITIC), were used to perform the MAUT. Finally, suitability maps were prepared by weighted sum analysis. Sensitivity analyses of AHP were performed to explore the effect of dominant criteria. Results from AHP reveal that ‘maternal death in transit’ followed by ‘accessibility and connectivity’, ‘maternal health care service (MHCS) coverage gap’ were three important criteria with comparatively higher weighted values. Whereas ‘accessibility and connectivity’ and ‘maternal death in transit’ were observed to have more imprint in entropy and CRITIC, respectively. While comparing the predictive suitable classes of these three models with the layer of existing hospitals, except Entropy-MAUT, the other two are pointing towards the left-over underserved areas of existing facilities. Only 43%-67% of existing hospitals were in the moderate to lower suitable class. Therefore, the results of the predictive models might bring valuable input in future planning.

Keywords: hospital site suitability, analytic hierarchy process, multi-attribute utility theory, entropy, criteria importance through interaction correlation, multi-criteria decision analysis

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Authors: George Charkoftakis, Panagiotis Liosatos, Nicolas-Alexander Tatlas, Dimitrios Goustouridis, Stelios M. Potirakis

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E-maintenance is a relatively new concept, generally referring to maintenance management by monitoring assets over the Internet. One of the key links in the chain of an e-maintenance system is data acquisition and transmission. Specifically for the case of a fleet of heavy-duty vehicles, where the main challenge is the diversity of the vehicles and vehicle-embedded self-diagnostic/reporting technologies, the design of the data acquisition and transmission unit is a demanding task. This clear if one takes into account that a heavy-vehicles fleet assortment may range from vehicles with only a limited number of analog sensors monitored by dashboard light indicators and gauges to vehicles with plethora of sensors monitored by a vehicle computer producing digital reporting. The present work proposes an adaptable internet of things (IoT) sensor node that is capable of addressing this challenge. The proposed sensor node architecture is based on the increasingly popular single-board computer – expansion boards approach. In the proposed solution, the expansion boards undertake the tasks of position identification by means of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), cellular connectivity by means of 3G/long-term evolution (LTE) modem, connectivity to on-board diagnostics (OBD), and connectivity to analog and digital sensors by means of a novel design of expansion board. Specifically, the later provides eight analog plus three digital sensor channels, as well as one on-board temperature / relative humidity sensor. The specific device offers a number of adaptability features based on appropriate zero-ohm resistor placement and appropriate value selection for limited number of passive components. For example, although in the standard configuration four voltage analog channels with constant voltage sources for the power supply of the corresponding sensors are available, up to two of these voltage channels can be converted to provide power to the connected sensors by means of corresponding constant current source circuits, whereas all parameters of analog sensor power supply and matching circuits are fully configurable offering the advantage of covering a wide variety of industrial sensors. Note that a key feature of the proposed sensor node, ensuring the reliable operation of the connected sensors, is the appropriate supply of external power to the connected sensors and their proper matching to the IoT sensor node. In standard mode, the IoT sensor node communicates to the data center through 3G/LTE, transmitting all digital/digitized sensor data, IoT device identity, and position. Moreover, the proposed IoT sensor node offers WiFi connectivity to mobile devices (smartphones, tablets) equipped with an appropriate application for the manual registration of vehicle- and driver-specific information, and these data are also forwarded to the data center. All control and communication tasks of the IoT sensor node are performed by dedicated firmware. It is programmed with a high-level language (Python) on top of a modern operating system (Linux). Acknowledgment: This research has been co-financed by the European Union and Greek national funds through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation, under the call RESEARCH—CREATE—INNOVATE (project code: T1EDK- 01359, IntelligentLogger).

Keywords: IoT sensor nodes, e-maintenance, single-board computers, sensor expansion boards, on-board diagnostics

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Authors: Jasmine Renner, Alice Njuguna

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The booming technological revolution is driving a change in the mode of delivery systems especially for e-learning and distance learning in higher education. The report and findings of the study; an assessment of digital platforms, student online learning, teaching pedagogies, research and training at Kenya College of Accounting University (hereinafter 'KCA') was undertaken as a joint collaboration project between the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship and input from the staff, students and faculty at KCA University. The participants in this assessment/research met for selected days during a six-week period during which, one-one consultations, surveys, questionnaires, foci groups, training, and seminars were conducted to ascertain 'online learning and teaching, curriculum development, research and training at KCA.' The project was organized into an eight-week project workflow with each week culminating in project activities designed to assess digital online teaching and learning at KCA. The project also included the training of distance learning instructors at KCA and the evaluation of KCA’s distance platforms and programs. Additionally, through a curriculum audit and redesign, the project sought to enhance the curriculum development activities related to of distance learning at KCA. The findings of this assessment/research represent the systematic deliberate process of gathering, analyzing and using data collected from DL students, DL staff and lecturers and a librarian personnel in charge of online learning resources and access at KCA. We engaged in one-on-one interviews and discussions with staff, students, and faculty and collated the findings to inform practices that are effective in the ongoing design and development of eLearning earning at KCA University. Overall findings of the project led to the following recommendations. First, there is a need to address infrastructural challenges that led to poor internet connectivity for online learning, training needs and content development for faculty and staff. Second, there is a need to manage cultural impediments within KCA; for example fears of vital change from one platform to another for effectiveness and Institutional goodwill as a vital promise of effective online learning. Third, at a practical and short-term level, the following recommendations based on systematic findings of the research conducted were as follows: there is a need for the following to be adopted at KCA University to promote the effective adoption of online learning: a) an eLearning compatible faculty lab, b) revision of policy to include an eLearn strategy or strategic management, c) faculty and staff recognitions engaged in the process of training for the adoption and implementation of eLearning and d) adequate website resources on eLearning. The report and findings represent a comprehensive approach to a systematic assessment of online teaching and learning, research and training at KCA.

Keywords: e-learning, digital platforms, student online learning, online teaching pedagogies

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Authors: Abdulrahman Yarali

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The advancement of technology never stops because the demands for improved internet and communication connectivity are increasing. Just as 5G networks are rolling out, the world has begun to talk about the sixth-generation networks (6G). The semantics of 6G are more or less the same as 5G networks because they strive to boost speeds, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, and latency reduction. However, some of the distinctive focuses of 6G include the optimization of networks of machines through super speeds and innovative features. This paper discusses many aspects of the technologies, architectures, challenges, and opportunities of 6G wireless communication systems.

Keywords: 6G, characteristics, infrastructures, technologies, AI, ML, IoT, applications

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Authors: Jaffar Hussain, Farman Ali Shah

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As we know that Pakistan is the developing country so it adopts new technologies for progress. In last three decays, some new technologies were introduced in the world in which Effective Microorganism was one of them. Microorganisms are one of the most power full living forces on earth. Originally, EM was developed as an odor control, farm, and animal health, human health many industrial treatments. Effective Microorganism is an organic fertilizer that contains a mixture of co-existing valuable microorganism composed from the environment. There are vast application of the EM in the world in which the researchers are explained in literature .In Pakistan work on EM technologies are under process, researcher are doing work to make them most valuable. At that time the application of EM are in agriculture, water treatment, to increase Cement strength, improving saline soil etc. Effective microorganisms are environmentally friendly , not-naturally organized, not chemically synthesized, not dangerous and not pathogenic.

Keywords: developing country, technologies, effective microorganism, researchers, Pakistan, agriculture

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Authors: Layla Albdr

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Saudi Arabia instituted the policy of Sensitizing and Training Stakeholders for E-learning and witnessed wide adoption in many institutions. However, it is at the infancy stage and needs time to develop to mirror the US and UK. The majority of the higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia have adopted E-learning as an alternative to traditional methods to advance education. Conversely, effective implementation of the policy of sensitization and training of stakeholders for E-learning implementation has not been attained because of various challenges. The objectives included determining the challenges and opportunities of the E-learning policy of sensitization and training of stakeholders in Saudi Arabia's higher education and examining if sensitization and training of stakeholder's policy will help promote the implementation of E-learning in institutions. The study employed a descriptive research design based on qualitative analysis. The researcher recruited 295 students and 60 academic staff from four Saudi Arabian universities to participate in the study. An online questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data was then analyzed and reported both quantitatively and qualitatively. The analysis provided an in-depth understanding of the opportunities and challenges of E-learning policy in Saudi Arabian universities. The main challenges identified as internal challenges were the lack of educators’ interest in adopting the policy, and external challenges entailed lack of ICT infrastructure and Internet connectivity. The study recommends encouraging, sensitizing, and training all stakeholders to address these challenges and adopt the policy.

Keywords: e-learning, educational policy, Saudi Arabia, policy of sensitization and training

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Authors: Mohammadhossein Moghimi, Robert Stone, Pia Rotshtein

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Recording psychological and physiological correlates of human performance within virtual environments and interpreting their impacts on human engagement, ‘immersion’ and related emotional or ‘effective’ states is both academically and technologically challenging. By exposing participants to an effective, real-time (game-like) virtual environment, designed and evaluated in an earlier study, a psychophysiological database containing the EEG, GSR and Heart Rate of 30 male and female gamers, exposed to 10 games, was constructed. Some 174 features were subsequently identified and extracted from a number of windows, with 28 different timing lengths (e.g. 2, 3, 5, etc. seconds). After reducing the number of features to 30, using a feature selection technique, K-Nearest Neighbour (KNN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) methods were subsequently employed for the classification process. The classifiers categorised the psychophysiological database into four effective clusters (defined based on a 3-dimensional space – valence, arousal and dominance) and eight emotion labels (relaxed, content, happy, excited, angry, afraid, sad, and bored). The KNN and SVM classifiers achieved average cross-validation accuracies of 97.01% (±1.3%) and 92.84% (±3.67%), respectively. However, no significant differences were found in the classification process based on effective clusters or emotion labels.

Keywords: virtual reality, effective computing, effective VR, emotion-based effective physiological database

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Authors: Yen-Hao Su, Wan-Chun Tang, Ya-Wen Cheng, Peik Sia, Chi-Chen Huang, Yi-Chao Lee, Hsin-Yi Jiang, Ming-Heng Wu, I-Lu Lai, Jun-Wei Lee, Kuen-Haur Lee

Abstract:

There is a wide range of drugs and combinations under investigation and/or approved over the last decade to treat colorectal cancer (CRC), but the 5-year survival rate remains poor at stages II–IV. Therefore, new, more efficient drugs still need to be developed that will hopefully be included in first-line therapy or overcome resistance when it appears, as part of second- or third-line treatments in the near future. In this study, we revealed that heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitors have high therapeutic potential in CRC according to combinative analysis of NCBI's Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) repository and chemical genomic database of Connectivity Map (CMap). We found that second generation Hsp90 inhibitor, NVP-AUY922, significantly down regulated the activities of a broad spectrum of kinases involved in regulating cell growth arrest and death of NVPAUY922-sensitive CRC cells. To overcome NVP-AUY922-induced upregulation of survivin expression which causes drug insensitivity, we found that combining berberine (BBR), a herbal medicine with potency in inhibiting survivin expression, with NVP-AUY922 resulted in synergistic antiproliferative effects for NVP-AUY922-sensitive and -insensitive CRC cells. Furthermore, we demonstrated that treatment of NVP-AUY922-insensitive CRC cells with the combination of NVP-AUY922 and BBR caused cell growth arrest through inhibiting CDK4 expression and induction of microRNA-296-5p (miR-296-5p)-mediated suppression of Pin1–β-catenin–cyclin D1 signaling pathway. Finally, we found that the expression level of Hsp90 in tumor tissues of CRC was positively correlated with CDK4 and Pin1 expression levels. Taken together, these results indicate that combination of NVP-AUY922 and BBR therapy can inhibit multiple oncogenic signaling pathways of CRC.

Keywords: berberine, colorectal cancer, connectivity map, heat shock protein 90 inhibitor

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Authors: Michiko Miyamoto

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The market for "functional foods" and "foods with functional claims" that are effective in maintaining and improving health, has expanded year by year due to the entry of major food and beverage manufacturers following the introduction of the specified health food system in 1991 in Japan. To bring health claims related products or services to the market, it is necessary to let consumers to learn about these products or services; an effective marketing through advertising are important. This research proposes a framework for an effective advertisement medium for the food supplement industry by using survey data of 2,500 people.

Keywords: functional foods, dietary supplements, marketing strategy, structural equation modeling

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Authors: Oleg Vlasovets, Fabian Schaipp, Christian L. Mueller

Abstract:

we conduct a network analysis and predict the sex of 1000 participants based on ”connectome” - pairwise Pearson’s correlation across 436 brain parcels. We solve the non-smooth convex optimization problem, known under the name of Graphical Lasso, where the solution includes a low-rank component. With this solution and machine learning model for a sex prediction, we explain the brain parcels-sex connectivity patterns.

Keywords: network analysis, neuroscience, machine learning, optimization

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Authors: Venuka Kuruwita Arachchige Don, Mohamed Shaheen, Chris Goodier

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Aerated autoclaved concrete (AAC) is known for its lightweight, easy handling, high thermal insulation, and extremely porous structure. Investigation of pore behavior in AAC is crucial for characterizing the material, standardizing design and production techniques, enhancing the mechanical, durability, and thermal performance, studying the effectiveness of protective measures, and analyzing the effects of weather conditions. The significant details of pores are complicated to observe with acknowledged accuracy. The High-resolution Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) image analysis is a promising technique for investigating the pore behavior and density of AAC, which is adopted in this study. Mercury intrusion porosimeter and gas pycnometer were employed to characterize porosity distribution and density parameters. The analysis considered three different densities of AAC blocks and three layers in the altitude direction within each block. A set of understandings was presented to extract and analyze the details of pore shape, pore size, pore connectivity, and pore percentages from FESEM images of AAC. Average pore behavior outcomes per unit area were presented. Comparison of porosity distribution and density parameters revealed significant variations. FESEM imaging offered unparalleled insights into porosity behavior, surpassing the capabilities of other techniques. The analysis conducted from a multi-staged approach provides porosity percentage occupied by various pore categories, total porosity, variation of pore distribution compared to AAC densities and layers, number of two-dimensional and three-dimensional pores, variation of apparent and matrix densities concerning pore behaviors, variation of pore behavior with respect to aluminum content, and relationship among shape, diameter, connectivity, and percentage in each pore classification.

Keywords: autoclaved aerated concrete, density, imaging technique, microstructure, porosity behavior

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Authors: Delio I. Castaneda, Paul Toulson

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge sharing effectiveness of two types of knowledge, tacit and explicit, depending on two channels: face to face or digital. Participants were 217 knowledge workers in New Zealand and researchers who attended a knowledge management conference in the United Kingdom. In the study, it was found that digital tools are effective to share explicit knowledge. In addition, digital tools that facilitated dialogue were effective to share tacit knowledge. It was also found that face to face communication was an effective way to share tacit and explicit knowledge. Results of this study contribute to clarify in what cases digital tools are effective to share tacit knowledge. Additionally, even though explicit knowledge can be easily shared using digital tools, this type of knowledge is also possible to be shared through dialogue. Result of this study may support practitioners to redesign programs and activities based on knowledge sharing to make strategies more effective.

Keywords: digital knowledge, explicit knowledge, knowledge sharing, tacit knowledge

Procedia PDF Downloads 255