Search results for: emotional state

Authors: Nguyen The Hoang Anh, Tran Huy Hoang, Vu Tat Thang, T. T. Quyen Bui

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Mental state classification is an important step for realizing a control system based on electroencephalography (EEG) signals which could benefit a lot of paralyzed people including the locked-in or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Considering that EEG signals are nonstationary and often contaminated by various types of artifacts, classifying thoughts into correct mental states is not a trivial problem. In this work, our contribution is that we present and realize a novel model which integrates different techniques: Independent component analysis (ICA), relative wavelet energy, and support vector machine (SVM) for the same task. We applied our model to classify thoughts in two types of experiment whether with two or three mental states. The experimental results show that the presented model outperforms other models using Artificial Neural Network, K-Nearest Neighbors, etc.

Keywords: EEG, ICA, SVM, wavelet

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Authors: Sun H. Hwang, Young E. Lee, Yunhan Ga, Gilwon Yoon

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EEG is a very complex signal with noises and other bio-potential interferences. EOG is the most distinct interfering signal when EEG signals are measured and analyzed. It is very important how to process raw EEG signals in order to obtain useful information. In this study, the EEG signal processing techniques such as EOG filtering and outlier removal were examined to minimize unwanted EOG signals and other noises. The two different mental states of resting and focusing were examined through EEG analysis. A focused state was induced by letting subjects to watch a red dot on the white screen. EEG data for 32 healthy subjects were measured. EEG data after 60-Hz notch filtering were processed by a commercially available EOG filtering and our presented algorithm based on the removal of outliers. The ratio of beta wave to theta wave was used as a parameter for determining the degree of focusing. The results show that our algorithm was more appropriate than the existing EOG filtering.

Keywords: EEG, focus, mental state, outlier, signal processing

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Authors: Obaid Alotaibi

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The geographical location of the State of Kuwait contributed significantly to the suffering of Kuwait in the past, due to the scarcity of natural water resources and the inability of the State's financial resources to provide other water resources to meet the needs of the population. The problem of water scarcity in Kuwait remained until the beginning of the second half of the twentieth century, as the country's economic conditions revived with the emergence and export of oil; which was clearly reflected in the steady growth of the population. To cope with this population, increase, it was necessary to expand the various development programs to include all sectors of the state. The process of development and urbanization could not start without finding solutions to the problem of water shortage in Kuwait. The only option for officials to meet the needs of the population and the different sectors of water development is the desalination of seawater. This process necessitated the establishment of six desalination plants along the coast of Kuwait and extended freshwater arteries to reach everywhere on the land. However, this does not mean that the problem of water shortage has been completely solved. The desalination plants are not meeting the country's future water needs, especially considering the increasing population growth. These stations are nearing completion and they need to be replaced, renovation and maintenance, require significant expenses. Therefore, it was necessary for scientific research to address the issue of water in Kuwait, whether in the field of development of existing resources or in the field of rationalization of consumption and protection of available resources. The study focused on how to address the increasing demand for water resulting from population increase, the impact of water on economic and social development, the prospects of water resources in Kuwait and its ability to meet the needs of the country by 2030.

Keywords: economic, development, Kuwait, social, water resources

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Authors: Chandra Gupt Porwal, Preeti C. Porwal

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Transient data reveals much about the machine's condition that steady-state data cannot. New technologies make this information much more available for evaluating the mechanical integrity of a machine train. Recent surveys at various stations indicate that simplicity is preferred over completeness in machine audits throughout the power generation industry. This is most clearly shown by the number of rotating machinery predictive maintenance programs in which only steady-state vibration amplitude is trended while important transient vibration data is not even acquired. Efforts have been made to explain what transient data is, its importance, the types of plots used for its display, and its effective utilization for analysis. In order to demonstrate the value of measuring transient data and its practical application in rotating machinery for resolving complex and persistent issues with turbine generators, the author presents a few case studies that highlight the presence of rotor instabilities due to the shaft moving towards the bearing centre in a 100 MM LMZ unit located in the Northern Capital Region (NCR), heavy misalignment noticed—especially after 2993 rpm—caused by loose coupling bolts, which prevented the machine from being synchronized for more than four months in a 250 MW KWU unit in the Western Region (WR), and heavy preload noticed at Intermediate pressure turbine (IPT) bearing near HP- IP coupling, caused by high points on coupling faces at a 500 MW KWU unit in the Northern region (NR), experienced at Indian power plants.

Keywords: transient data, steady-state-data, intermediate -pressure-turbine, high-points

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Authors: Najibullah Arsalan, Masaru Akaishi, Motohiro Sugiyama

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When constructing a structure on soft rock, adequate research and study are required concerning the shear behavior in the over-consolidation region because soft rock is considered to be in a heavily over-consolidated state. In many of the existing studies concerning the strength of soft rock, triaxial compression tests were conducted using isotropically consolidated samples. In this study, the strength of diatomaceous soft rock anisotropically consolidated under a designated consolidation pressure is examined in undrained triaxial compression tests, and studies are made of the peak and residual strengths of the sample in the over-consolidated state in the initial yield surface and the anisotropic yield surface.

Keywords: diatomaceouse mudstone, shear strength, yield surface, triaxial compression test

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Authors: Moqbil S. Alenazi, Magdy. M. Elkhateeb

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A comprehensive photometric study and evolutionary state for the newly discovered Beta Lyr systems V0487 Lac, V0566 Hya, and V0666 Lac were carried out by means of their first photometric observations. New times of minima were estimated from the observed light curves, and first (O-C) curves were established for all systems. A windows interface version of the Wilson and Devinney code (W-D) based on model atmospheres and a pass band prescription have been used for the radiative treatment. The accepted models reveal some absolute parameters for the studied systems, which are used in adopting the spectral type of the system's components and their evolutionary status. Distances to each system were calculated, and physical properties were estimated. Locations of the systems on the theoreticalmass–luminosity and mass–radius relations revealed a good fit for all systems components except for the secondary component of the system V0487 Lac.

Keywords: eclipsing binaries, light curve modelling, evolutionary state

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Authors: Bashir Abdu Muzakkari, Aisha Umar Sulaiman, Mohamed Afendee Muhamad, Sanah Abdullahi Muaz

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The field of the Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly expanding and has the potential to completely change how we work, live, and interact with the world. The Internet of Things (IoT) is the term used to describe a network of networked physical objects, including machinery, vehicles, and buildings, which are equipped with electronics, software, sensors, and network connectivity. This review paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of IoT, including its definition, key components, development history, and current applications. The paper will also discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by IoT, as well as its potential impact on various industries, such as healthcare, agriculture, and transportation. In addition, this paper will highlight the ethical and security concerns associated with IoT and the need for effective solutions to address these challenges. The paper concludes by highlighting the prospects of IoT and the directions for future research in this field.

Keywords: internet of things, IoT, sensors, network

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Authors: Ayoub Moufid, Najib Bennis, Soumia El Hani

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The objective of greenhouse climate control is to improve the culture development and to minimize the production costs. A greenhouse is an open system to external environment and the challenge is to regulate the internal climate despite the strong meteorological disturbances. The internal state of greenhouse considered in this work is defined by too relevant and coupled variables, namely inside temperature and hygrometry. These two variables are chosen to describe the internal state of greenhouses due to their importance in the development of plants and their sensitivity to external climatic conditions, sources of weather disturbances. A multivariable model is proposed and validated by considering a greenhouse as black-box system and the least square method is applied to parameters identification basing on collected experimental measures. To regulate the internal climate, we propose a Model Predictive Control (MPC) scheme. This one considers the measured meteorological disturbances and the physical and operational constraints on the control and state variables. A successful feasibility study of the proposed controller is presented, and simulation results show good performances despite the high interaction between internal and external variables and the strong external meteorological disturbances. The inside temperature and hygrometry are tracking nearly the desired trajectories. A comparison study with an On/Off control applied to the same greenhouse confirms the efficiency of the MPC approach to inside climate control.

Keywords: climate control, constraints, identification, greenhouse, model predictive control, optimization

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Authors: Demelash Kassaye

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The Ethiopia case study reveals a unique model of community policing that has developed from a particular political context in which there is a history of violent political transition, a political structure characterized by ethnic federalism and a political ideology that straddles liberal capitalism and democracy on the one hand, and state-led development and centralized control on the other. The police see community policing as a way to reduce crime. Communities speak about community policing as an opportunity to take on policing responsibilities themselves. Both of these objectives are brought together in an overarching rhetoric of community policing as a way of ‘mobilizing for development’ – whereby the community cooperate with the police to reduce crime, which otherwise inhibits development progress. Community policing in Amhara has primarily involved the placement of Community Police Officers at the kebele level across the State. In addition, a number of structures have also been established in the community, including Advisory Councils, Conflict Resolving Committees, family police and the use of shoe shiner’s and other trade associations as police informants. In addition to these newly created structures, community policing also draws upon pre-existing customary actors, such as militia and elders. Conflict Resolving Committees, Community Police Officers and elders were reported as the most common first ports of call when community members experience a crime. The analysis highlights that the model of community policing in Amhara increased communities’ access to policing services, although this is not always attended by increased access to justice. Community members also indicate that public perceptions of the police have improved since the introduction of community policing, in part due to individual Community Police Officers who have, with limited resources, innovated some impressive strategies to improve safety in their neighborhoods. However, more broadly, community policing has provided the state with more effective surveillance of the population – a potentially oppressive function in the current political context. Ultimately, community policing in Amhara is anything but straightforward. It has been a process of attempting to demonstrate the benefits of newfound (and controversial) ‘democracy’ following years of dictatorship, drawing on generations of customary dispute resolution, providing both improved access to security for communities and an enhanced surveillance capacity for the state. For external actors looking to engage in community policing, this case study reveals the importance of close analysis in assessing potential merits, risks and entry points of programming. Factors found to be central in shaping the nature of community policing in the Amhara case include the structure of the political system, state-society relations, cultures dispute resolution and political ideology.

Keywords: community policing, community, militias, ethiopia

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Authors: Temur Chilachava

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In work the new nonlinear mathematical model describing assimilation of the people (population) with some less widespread language by two states with two various widespread languages, taking into account demographic factor is offered. In model three subjects are considered: the population and government institutions with the widespread first language, influencing by means of state and administrative resources on the third population with some less widespread language for the purpose of their assimilation; the population and government institutions with the widespread second language, influencing by means of state and administrative resources on the third population with some less widespread language for the purpose of their assimilation; the third population (probably small state formation, an autonomy), exposed to bilateral assimilation from two rather powerful states. Earlier by us it was shown that in case of zero demographic factor of all three subjects, the population with less widespread language completely assimilates the states with two various widespread languages, and the result of assimilation (redistribution of the assimilated population) is connected with initial quantities, technological and economic capabilities of the assimilating states. In considered model taking into account demographic factor natural decrease in the population of the assimilating states and a natural increase of the population which has undergone bilateral assimilation is supposed. At some ratios between coefficients of natural change of the population of the assimilating states, and also assimilation coefficients, for nonlinear system of three differential equations are received the two first integral. Cases of two powerful states assimilating the population of small state formation (autonomy), with different number of the population, both with identical and with various economic and technological capabilities are considered. It is shown that in the first case the problem is actually reduced to nonlinear system of two differential equations describing the classical model "predator - the victim", thus, naturally a role of the victim plays the population which has undergone assimilation, and a predator role the population of one of the assimilating states. The population of the second assimilating state in the first case changes in proportion (the coefficient of proportionality is equal to the relation of the population of assimilators in an initial time point) to the population of the first assimilator. In the second case the problem is actually reduced to nonlinear system of two differential equations describing type model "a predator – the victim", with the closed integrated curves on the phase plane. In both cases there is no full assimilation of the population to less widespread language. Intervals of change of number of the population of all three objects of model are found. The considered mathematical models which in some approach can model real situations, with the real assimilating countries and the state formations (an autonomy or formation with the unrecognized status), undergone to bilateral assimilation, show that for them the only possibility to avoid from assimilation is the natural demographic increase in population and hope for natural decrease in the population of the assimilating states.

Keywords: nonlinear mathematical model, bilateral assimilation, demographic factor, first integrals, result of assimilation, intervals of change of number of the population

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Authors: Satpal Yadav, Biswajit Basumatary, Arvind S. Sajwan, Ranjan Chakravarty

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The purpose of the study was to assess the effect of 2D kinematical selected variables on sprint start with sprinting performance of novice athletes. Six (3 National and 3 State level) athletes of sports authority of India, Guwahati has been selected for this study. The mean (M) and standard deviation (SD) of sprinters were age (17.44, 1.55), height (1.74m, .84m), weight (62.25 kg, 4.55), arm length (65.00 cm, 3.72) and leg length (96.35 cm, 2.71). Biokin-2D motion analysis system V4.5 can be used for acquiring two-dimensional kinematical data/variables on sprint start with Sprinting Performance. For the purpose of kinematic analysis a standard motion driven camera which frequency of the camera was 60 frame/ second i.e. handy camera of Sony Company were used. The sequence of photographic was taken under controlled condition. The distance of the camera from the athletes was 12 mts away and was fixed at 1.2-meter height. The result was found that National and State level athletes significant difference in there, trajectory knee, trajectory ankle, displacement knee, displacement ankle, linear velocity knee, linear velocity ankle, and linear acceleration ankle whereas insignificant difference was found between National and State level athletes in their linear acceleration knee joint on sprint start with sprinting performance. For all the Statistical test the level of significance was set at p<0.05.

Keywords: 2D kinematic analysis, sprinting performance, novice athletes, sprint start

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Authors: Munaza Mubeen

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The colonial Urdu literature has played a significant role in uplifting the overall status of the Indians. Taking example of the Bhopal State, the contribution of the Royal ladies holds no match in the contemporary age. Similarly, the efforts of the Begamat-e-Bhopal in the field of education had been acknowledged across the Sub-continent. It had been noticed that with the downfall of the Mughal Empire at the hands of the British Raj, the local culture in the Indian sub-continent in general and in Bhopal State in proper got deteriorated. This led to uncertainty, chaos and an anti-British sentiment which created hatred against them in the entire sub-continent. Likely, in Bhopal State, the role of women in field of education also vanished. However, this change was felt by the ladies in the Royal Household where they struggled for restoration of the status quo with their personal efforts. The prominent contributors from the Royal household included Qudseya Begum, Nawab Sikander Begum, Nawab Shah Jahan Begum and Nawab Sultan Johan-they are known as Begamat-i-Bhopal. They established schools, colleges and universities to impart formal and non-formal education respectively. Their systematic approach and continued efforts constituted a dynamic aspect of women’ empowerment. Focused on the female education, however, one of the by-products of their efforts was an introduction of socio-cultural and politico-religious awareness among the middle class womenfolk. Unfortunately, the role of these Bagamat-i-Bhopal has been left untouched or ignored by the academic scholars. This study critically analyzed the role of Beghamat-i-Bhopal regarding female education in Hindustan in general and in Bhopal in particular. Similarly, the contribution of the contemporary writers in development of female education in Bhopal has also been discussed in this paper. This paper is based on the 'historico-textual' approach following structural reason which has established a justifiable argument. The researcher, therefore, has taken into consideration all the chronological nuances in order to accord greater visibility to the contents. The data has been described, analyzed and interpreted inclusively and in generalized manner.

Keywords: colonialism, Begamaat e Bhopal, female education, State of Bhopal

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Authors: Kadiri Kayode Ibrahim

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Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play significant roles in the economic development of Nigeria. However, the performance of these SMEs is influenced by various factors, including cultural factors. Keffi Local Government Area (LGA) in Nasarawa State, Nigeria, has a large number of registered SMEs. Understanding the impact of cultural factors on the performance of these SMEs in Keffi LGA is essential for their growth and sustainability. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of cultural factors on the performance of selected SMEs in Keffi LGA, Nasarawa State. A cross-sectional survey research design was used to collect data from 165 purposefully selected SME owners out of the 283 registered SMEs in Keffi LGA. The data was collected using a questionnaire divided into three sections, and analysed using descriptive and ordinary least square regression (OLS). The results indicate that socio-cultural factors and ethical values have a positive and significant effect on the performance of SMEs in Keffi LGA, while attitude has a negative and significant effect on the performance of SMEs in Keffi LGA. Therefore, the study recommends that SMEs in Keffi LGA should understand the socio-cultural elements of their operating environment, adopt socio-cultural factors as elements to guide their planning and strategizing and take into consideration the ethical values of the business environment when offering new products or services. Additionally, SME Managers should take cognisance of people’s attitudes and use them to gauge their activities and ensure they support the overall performance of the business.

Keywords: cultural, factors, performance, SMEs

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Authors: Hamda Ajmal, Karen Young, Ruth Melia, John Bogue, Mary O'Sullivan, Jim Duggan, Hannah Wood

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The Covid-19 pandemic led to a range of public health mitigation strategies in order to suppress the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The drastic changes in everyday life due to lockdowns had the potential for a significant negative impact on public mental health, and a key public health goal is to now assess the evidence from available Irish datasets to provide useful insights on this issue. Text-50808 is an online text-based mental health support service, established in Ireland in 2020, and can provide a measure of revealed distress and mental health concerns across the population. The aim of this study is to explore statistical associations between public mental health in Ireland and the Covid-19 pandemic. Uniquely, this study combines two measures of emotional wellbeing in Ireland: (1) weekly text volume at Text-50808, and (2) emotional wellbeing indicators reported by respondents of the Amárach public opinion survey, carried out on behalf of the Department of Health, Ireland. For this analysis, a multivariate graphical exploratory data analysis (EDA) was performed on the Text-50808 dataset dated from 15th June 2020 to 30th June 2021. This was followed by time-series analysis of key mental health indicators including: (1) the percentage of daily/weekly texts at Text-50808 that mention Covid-19 related issues; (2) the weekly percentage of people experiencing anxiety, boredom, enjoyment, happiness, worry, fear and stress in Amárach survey; and Covid-19 related factors: (3) daily new Covid-19 case numbers; (4) daily stringency index capturing the effect of government non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) in Ireland. The cross-correlation function was applied to measure the relationship between the different time series. EDA of the Text-50808 dataset reveals significant peaks in the volume of texts on days prior to level 3 lockdown and level 5 lockdown in October 2020, and full level 5 lockdown in December 2020. A significantly high positive correlation was observed between the percentage of texts at Text-50808 that reported Covid-19 related issues and the percentage of respondents experiencing anxiety, worry and boredom (at a lag of 1 week) in Amárach survey data. There is a significant negative correlation between percentage of texts with Covid-19 related issues and percentage of respondents experiencing happiness in Amárach survey. Daily percentage of texts at Text-50808 that reported Covid-19 related issues to have a weak positive correlation with daily new Covid-19 cases in Ireland at a lag of 10 days and with daily stringency index of NPIs in Ireland at a lag of 2 days. The sudden peaks in text volume at Text-50808 immediately prior to new restrictions in Ireland indicate an association between a rise in mental health concerns following the announcement of new restrictions. There is also a high correlation between emotional wellbeing variables in the Amárach dataset and the number of weekly texts at Text-50808, and this confirms that Text-50808 reflects overall public sentiment. This analysis confirms the benefits of the texting service as a community surveillance tool for mental health in the population. This initial EDA will be extended to use multivariate modeling to predict the effect of additional Covid-19 related factors on public mental health in Ireland.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, data analysis, digital health, mental health, public health, digital health

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Authors: É. Kónya, E. Szabó, I. Bata-Vidács, T. Deák, M. Ottucsák, N. Adányi, A. Székács

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Spice paprika is a major spice commodity in the European Union (EU), produced locally and imported from non-EU countries, reported not only for chemical and microbiological contamination, but also for fraud. The effective interaction between producers’ quality management practices and government and EU activities is described on the example of spice paprika production and control in Hungary, a country of leading spice paprika producer and per capita consumer in Europe. To demonstrate the importance of various contamination factors in the Hungarian production and EU trade of spice paprika, several aspects concerning food safety of this commodity are presented. Alerts in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) of the EU between 2005 and 2013, as well as Hungarian state inspection results on spice paprika in 2004 are discussed, and quality non-compliance claims regarding spice paprika among EU member states are summarized in by means of network analysis. Quality assurance measures established along the spice paprika production technology chain at the leading Hungarian spice paprika manufacturer, Kalocsai Fűszerpaprika Zrt. are surveyed with main critical control points identified. The structure and operation of the Hungarian state food safety inspection system is described. Concerted performance of the latter two quality management systems illustrates the effective interaction between internal (manufacturer) and external (state) quality control measures.

Keywords: spice paprika, quality control, reporting mechanisms, RASFF, vulnerable points, HACCP

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Authors: John Lorenzo Bautista, Yoon-Joong Kim

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This paper presents the development of a Filipino speech recognition tool using the HTK System. The system was trained from a subset of the Filipino Speech Corpus developed by the DSP Laboratory of the University of the Philippines-Diliman. The speech corpus was both used in training and testing the system by estimating the parameters for phonetic HMM-based (Hidden-Markov Model) acoustic models. Experiments on different mixture-weights were incorporated in the study. The phoneme-level word-based recognition of a 5-state HMM resulted in an average accuracy rate of 80.13 for a single-Gaussian mixture model, 81.13 after implementing a phoneme-alignment, and 87.19 for the increased Gaussian-mixture weight model. The highest accuracy rate of 88.70% was obtained from a 5-state model with 6 Gaussian mixtures.

Keywords: Filipino language, Hidden Markov Model, HTK system, speech recognition

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Authors: E. O. Fakoya, B. G. Abiona, J. O. Soetan

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The study determined Perception of Agricultural Extension Agents of Private Sector Participation in Extension Services in Ogun State, Nigeria. Data were collected from 80 respondents with a well-structured questionnaire. The result of the findings showed that there is need for private sector participation in extension services (=4.313), private extension services has facilities than public extension services (=4.97). Private sector participated in extension services by: giving of loans and credits to farmers (=4.50). Major constraints identified by the respondents were: Transportation problem (=2.88) and lack of fund (=2.77) A significant relationship (P<0.05) exists between factors affecting public extension services(r = 0.641, p = 0.00) and private sector participation in extension services. It was concluded from the study that there is need for private sector to participate in extension service in order to improve productivity of the farmers.

Keywords: agricultural extension, extension agent, private sector, perception

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Authors: Patcharawalai Jaisamut, Kamonthip Wiwattanawongsa, Ruedeekorn Wiwattanapatapee

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Supersaturation of drugs in the gastrointestinal tract is one approach to increase the absorption of poorly water-soluble drugs. The stabilization of a supersaturated state was achieved by adding precipitation inhibitors that may act through a variety of mechanisms.In this study, the effect of the natural gums, acacia, gelatin, pectin and tragacanth on curcumin supersaturation in simulated gastric fluid (SGF) (pH 1.2), fasted state simulated gastric fluid (FaSSGF) (pH 1.6), and simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) (pH 6.8)was investigated. The results indicated that all natural gums significantly increased the curcum insolubility (about 1.2-6-fold)when compared to the absence of gum, and assisted in maintaining the supersaturated drug solution. Among the tested gums, pectin at 3% w/w was the best precipitation inhibitor with a significant increase in the degree of supersaturation about 3-fold in SGF, 2.4-fold in FaSSGF and 2-fold in SIF.

Keywords: curcumin, solubility, supersaturation, precipitation inhibitor

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Authors: Sengul Celik, Alper Ketenci

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In Turkish Constitution about health care in Article 56, it is said that: everyone has the right to live in a healthy and balanced environment. It is the duty of the state and citizens to improve the environment, protect environmental health, and prevent environmental pollution. The state ensures that everyone lives their lives in physical and mental health; it organizes the planning and service of health institutions from a single source in order to realize cooperation by increasing savings and efficiency in human and substance power. The state fulfills this task by utilizing and supervising health and social institutions in the public and private sectors. General health insurance can be established by law for the widespread delivery of health services. To have health care is one of the basic rights of patients. After the coupe attempt in July 2016, the Government of Turkey has announced a state of emergency and issued lots of emergency decrees. By these emergency decrees, lots of people were dismissed from their jobs and lost their some basic social rights. The violations occur in social life. One of the most common observations is the discrimination by government in health care system. This study aims to put forward the violation of human rights in health care system in Turkey due to their discriminated position by an emergency decree. The study is a case study that is based on nine interviews with the people or relatives of people who lost their jobs by an emergency decree in Turkey. In this study, no personally identifiable information was obtained for the safety of individuals. Also no distinctive questions regarding the identity of individuals were asked. The interviews are obtained through internet call applications. The data were analyzed through the requirements of regular health care system in Turkey. The interviews expose that the people or the relatives of people lost their right to have regular health care. They have to pay extra amount both in clinical services and in medication treatment. The patient right to quality medical care without prejudice is violated. It was assessed that the people who are involved in emergency decree and their relatives are discriminated by government and deprived of regular medical care and supervision. Although international legal arrangements and legal responsibilities of the state have been put forward by Article 56, they are violated in practice. To prevent these kinds of violations, some measures should be taken against the deprivation in health care system especially towards the discriminated people by an emergency decree.

Keywords: emergency decree in Turkey, health care, discriminated people, patients rights

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Authors: Emad A. M. Osman, Ahmed M. Abu-Bakr

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Compacted granular fill under shallow foundation is one of the oldest, cheapest, and easiest techniques to improve the soil characteristics to increase the bearing capacity and decrease settlement under footing. There are three main factors affecting the design of soil replacement to gain these advantages. These factors are the type of replaced soil, characteristics, and thickness. The first two factors can be easily determined by laboratory and field control. This paper emphasizes on how to determine the thickness accurately for footing under centric axial load by limit state design method. The advantages of the method are the way of determining the thickness (independent of experience) and it takes into account the replaced and original or underneath soil characteristics and reaches the goals of replaced soils economically.

Keywords: design of soil replacement, LSD method, soil replacement, soil improvement

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Authors: Chyong-Ru Liu, Wen-Shiung Huang, Wan-Ching Tang, Shan-Pei Chen

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Two of the biggest challenges companies involved in sports and exercise information services face are how to strengthen participation in virtual sports/exercise communities and how to increase the ongoing participatoriness of those communities. In the past, relatively little research has explored mechanisms for strengthening alignment practice and community response from the perspective of self-construal, and as such this study seeks to explore the self-construal of virtual sports/exercise communities, the role it plays in the emotional commitment of forming communities, and the factor that can strengthen alignment practice. Moreover, which factor of the emotional commitment of forming virtual communities have the effect of strengthening interference in the process of transforming customer citizenship behaviors? This study collected 625 responses from the two leading websites in terms of fan numbers in the provision of information on road race and marathon events in Taiwan, with model testing conducted through linear structural equation modelling and the bootstrapping technique to test the proposed hypotheses. The results proved independent construal had a stronger positive direct effect on affective commitment to fellow customers than did interdependent construal, and the influences of affective commitment to fellow customers in enhancing customer citizenship behavior. Public self-consciousness moderates the relationships among independent self-construal and interdependent self-construal on effective commitment to fellow customers. Perceived playfulness moderates the relationships between effective commitment to fellow customers and customer citizenship behavior. The findings of this study provide significant insights for the researchers and related organizations. From the theoretical perspective, this is empirical research that investigated the self-construal theory and responses (i.e., affective commitment to fellow customers, customer citizenship behavior) in virtual sports/exercise communities. We further explore how to govern virtual sports/exercise community participants’ heterogeneity through public self-consciousness mechanism to align participants’ affective commitment. Moreover, perceived playfulness has the effect of strengthening effective commitment to fellow customers with customer citizenship behaviors. The results of this study can provide a foundation for the construction of future theories and can be provided to related organizations for reference in their planning of virtual communities.

Keywords: self-construal theory, public self-consciousness, affective commitment, customer citizenship behavior

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Authors: Gona Ayuba, Isiaka Mohammed, Kotom Mohammed Baba, Mohammed Aabubakar Maikasuwa

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The study examined the technical efficiency and its determinants of cattle fattening enterprises in Kebbi state, Nigeria. Data were collected from a sample of 160 fatteners between June 2010 and June 2011 using the multistage random sampling technique. Translog stochastic frontier production function was employed for the analysis. Results of the analysis show that technical efficiency indices varied from 0.74 to 0.98%, with a mean of 0.90%, indicating that there was no wide gap between the efficiency of best technical efficient fatteners and that of the average fattener. The result also showed that fattening experience and herd size influenced the level of technical efficiency at 1% levels. It is recommended that credit agencies should ensure that credit made available to the fatteners is monitored to ensure appropriate utilization.

Keywords: technical efficiency, determinants, cattle, fattening enterprises

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Authors: Anil Nis, Nilufer Ozyurt Zihnioglu

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The object of the study is to investigate fresh state properties of the steel fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete (SFR-SCC). Three different steel fibers; straight (Vf:0.5%), hooked-end long (Vf:0.5% and 1%) and hybrid fibers (0.5%short+0.5%long) were used in the research aiming to obtain flow properties of non-fibrous self-compacting concrete. Fly ash was used as a supplementary with an optimum dosage of 30% of the total cementitious materials. Polycarboxylic ether based high-performance concrete superplasticizer was used to get high flowability with percentages ranging from 0.81% (non-fibrous SCC) to 1.07% (hybrid SF-SCC) of the cement weight. The flowability properties of SCCs were measured via slump flow and V-funnel tests; passing ability properties of SCCs were measured with J-Ring, L-Box, and U-Box tests. Workability results indicate that small increase on the superplasticizer dosages compensate the adverse effects of steel fibers on flowability properties of SSC. However, higher dosage fiber addition has a negative effect on passing ability properties, causing blocking of the mixes. In addition, compressive strength, tensile strength, and four point bending results were given. Results indicate that SCCs including steel fibers have superior performances on tensile and bending strength of concrete. Crack bridging capability of steel fibers prevents concrete from splitting, yields higher deformation and energy absorption capacities than non-fibrous SCCs.

Keywords: fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete, fly ash, fresh state properties, steel fiber

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Authors: Saraswati Suna

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The outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic and the subsequent lockdown have significantly impacted India's political, structural, and economic systems and a rising gap between the rich and the disadvantaged, upper and lower caste. For Dalit women, such forms of subjugation were followed by socioeconomic uncertainty due to the pandemic's economic shutdown and labour oppressions. Dalit women have been the victims of the most oppression among the nation's underprivileged groups. Dalit women undergo systemic oppression at the hands of the state, caste, class, gender, and religious hegemons historically. Dalit women hold a subordinate position within the gender to their male counterparts and caste to their upper-caste counterparts. This paper examines how Brahminical patriarchy and state power severely affected Dalit/Adivasi women during COVID-19 in Odisha, India. In order to understand caste-based sexual violence, a total of five cases have been analysed from newspapers. Findings revealed that Covid-19 appears to have a significant physical, psychological, and economic impact on Dalit women. The intention of sexual harassment and rape perpetrated by upper caste men is to maintain power and patriarchal culture in society. Dalit women are economically, socially, and culturally marginalised, which effectively exacerbates the sense of impunity by perpetrators of violence against Dalit women. This issue requires special attention to end atrocities against Dalit women. Dalit women become the target of rape, sexual assault, and murder. Sexual violence against Dalit women cannot be fully explained without linkage to caste, gender, and power. Dominant caste comes through caste privilege-socio-economic and politically; these factors contribute to sexual violence against Dalit women. The findings revealed that state police manipulate sexual violence, and in so doing, they create and deny access to both services to get justice. This article has argued that understanding Brahminical culture and the legal impacts of state police on Dalit women's identity requires a nuanced analysis.

Keywords: COVID-19, dalit women, sexual violence, brahminical patriarchy, power

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Authors: Enock E. Goler, Emmanuel H. Kwon-Ndung, Gbenga F. Akomolafe, Terna T. Paul, Markus Musa, Joshua I. Waya, James H. Okogbaa

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An ethno-medicinal survey of plants used in treating various diseases and ailments was carried out in the study area of Nasarawa State, North Central Nigeria to obtain information on their uses and potentials. The ethno-medicinal survey was administered through structured questionnaires among local inhabitants from areas with high plant density and diversity within the various Local Government Areas of the State. A total of 84 (Eighty four) plant species belonging to 45 (Forty five) families were found to be useful in treatment of various ailments such as diabetes, measles, fever, asthma, jaundice, pneumonia, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), aches, diarrhea, cough, arthritis, yellow fever, typhoid, erectile dysfunction and excessive bleeding. Different parts of the plant such as the roots, leaves and stems are used in preparing herbal remedies which could be from dry or freshly collected plants. The main methods of preparation are decoction or infusion, while in some cases the plant parts used are consumed directly. Residents in the study areas find the herbal remedy cheaper and more accessible and claimed that there are no side effects compared to orthodox medicine. This study has confirmed the need towards the conscious conservation of plant genetic resources in order to ensure sustained access to these ethno-medicinal plant materials.

Keywords: ethno-medicinal, Nasarawa, plants, survey

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Authors: N. Belas, O. Belaribi, S. Aggoun, K. Bendani, N. Bouhamou, A. Mebrouki

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This experimental work is a part of a long research on the valorization of the dam dredged sediments issued from Fergoug Dam (Mascara-West Algeria). These sediments have to be subjected to thermal treatment to become reactive with the cement and thus to obtain an artificial pozzolana. It is therefore a question of developing the calcined mud as substitutable material in part to the cement used in the composition of self compacting concrete. The objective of the present work is to highlight its influence on the behavior of self compacting concrete compared to that of the natural pozzolana and this, in fresh and hardened states. The study is being conducted on three SCC, the first using 20% in volume of natural pozzolana, the second with 20 % of calcined mud and the third for the sake of comparison is made with cement only. The first results showed the possibility of obtaining SCC with calcined mud complying with the AFGC recommendations having a good mechanical behavior which makes interesting its development as construction materials.

Keywords: dam, fresh state, hardened state mud, sediments, self compacting concrete, valorization

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Authors: Reshma Parvin Nuri, Heather Michelle Aldersey, Setareh Ghahari

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Objectives: Worldwide, it is well known that taking care of children with disabilities (CWD) can have a significant impact on the entire family unit. Over the last few decades, an increased number of studies have been conducted on families of CWD in higher income countries, and much of this research has identified family needs and strategies to meet those needs. However, family needs are incredibly under-studied in developing countries. Therefore, the aims of this study were to: (a) explore the needs of families of children with cerebral palsy (CP) in Bangladesh; (b) investigate how some of the family needs have been met and (c) identify the sources of supports that might help the families to meet their needs in the future. Methods: A face to face, semi-structured in-depth interview was conducted with 20 family members (12 mothers, 4 fathers, 1 sister, 2 grandmothers, and 1 aunt) who visited the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP), Bangladesh between June and August 2016. Constant comparison method of grounded theory approach within the broader spectrum of qualitative study was used to analyze the data. Results: Participants identified five categories of needs: (a) financial needs, (b) access to disability-related services, (c) family and community cohesion, (d) informational needs, and (e) emotional needs. Participants overwhelmingly reported that financial need is their greatest family need. Participants noted that families encountered additional financial expenses for a child with CP, beyond what they would typically pay for their other children. Participants were seeing education as their non-primary need as they had no hope that their children would be physically able to go to school. Some participants also shared their needs for social inclusion and participation and receiving emotional support. Participants further expressed needs to receive information related to the child’s health condition and availability/accessibility of governmental support programs. Besides unmet needs, participants also highlighted that some of their needs have been met through formal and informal support systems. Formal support systems were mainly institution-based and run by non-governmental organizations, whereas participants identified informal support coming from family, friends and community members. Participants overwhelmingly reported that they receive little to no support from the government. However, participants identified the government as the key stakeholder who can play vital role in meeting their unmet needs. Conclusions: In the next phase of this research, the plan is to understand how the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh is working to meet the needs of families of CWD. There is also need for further study on needs of families of children with conditions other than CP and those who live in the community and do not have access to the CRP Services. There is clear need to investigate ways to enable children with CP have better access to education in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Bangladesh, children with cerebral palsy, family needs, support

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Authors: Shamsu Abdullahi, Nazir Yusuf, Hazrina Sofian, Abubakar Zakari, Amina Nura, Salisu Suleiman

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Requirements negotiation process models help in resolving conflicting requirements of the heterogeneous stakeholders in the software development industry. This is to achieve a shared vision of software projects to be developed by the industry. Negotiating stakeholder agreements is a serious and difficult task in the software development process. There are many requirements negotiation process models that effectively negotiate stakeholder agreements that have been proposed by the research community. Other issues in the requirements negotiation research domain include stakeholder communication, decision-making, lack of negotiation interoperability, and managing requirement changes and analysis. This study highlights the current state of the art in the existing software requirements negotiation process models. The study also describes the issues and limitations in the software requirements negotiations process models.

Keywords: requirements, negotiation, stakeholders, agreements

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Authors: Cory Cannon

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In the current era of shrinking budgets, increasing amounts of worldwide natural disasters, state and non-state initiated conflicts within the world. The response has involved multinational coalitions to conduct effective military operations. The need for a Knowledge Management strategy when developing these coalitions have been overlooked in the past and the need for developing these accords early on will save time and help shape the way information and knowledge are transferred from the staff and action officers of the coalition to the decision-makers in order to make timely decisions within an ever changing environment. The aim of this paper is to show how Knowledge Management has developed within the United States military and how the transformation of working within a Combined/ Joint environment in both the Middle East and the Far East has improved relations between members of the coalitions as well as being more effective as a military force. These same principles could be applied to multinational corporations when dealing with cultures and decision-making processes.

Keywords: civil-military, culture, joint environment, knowledge management

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Authors: Ross J. Maestas

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Biofuels are derived from multiple renewable bioenergy feedstocks including animal fats, wood, starchy grains, and oil seeds. Transportation agencies have considered growing the latter two on underutilized and nontraditional lands that they manage, such as in the Right of Way (ROW), abandoned weigh stations, and at maintenance yards. These crops provide the opportunity to generate revenue or supplement fuel once converted and offer a solution to increasing fuel costs and instability by creating a ‘home-grown’ alternative. Biofuels are non-toxic, biodegradable, and emit less Green House Gasses (GHG) than fossil fuels, therefore allowing agencies to meet sustainability goals and regulations. Furthermore, they enable land managers to achieve soil erosion and roadside aesthetic strategies. The research sought to understand if the cultivation of a biofuel feedstock within the Arkansas State Highway Transportation Department’s (AHTD) managed and marginalized lands is feasible by identifying potential land areas and crops. To determine potential plots the parcel data was downloaded from Arkansas’s GIS office. ArcGIS was used to query the data for all variations of the names of property owned by AHTD and a KML file was created that identifies the queried parcel data in Google Earth. Furthermore, biofuel refineries in the state were identified to optimize the harvest to transesterification process. Agricultural data was collected from federal and state agencies and universities to assess various oil seed crops suitable for conversion and suited to grow in Arkansas’s climate and ROW conditions. Research data determined that soybean is the best adapted biofuel feedstock for Arkansas with camelina and canola showing possibilities as well. Agriculture is Arkansas’s largest industry and soybean is grown in over half of the state’s counties. Successful cultivation of a feedstock in the aforementioned areas could potentially offer significant employment opportunity for which the skilled farmers already exist. Based on compiled data, AHTD manages 21,489 acres of marginalized land. The result of the feasibility assessment offer suggestions and guidance should AHTD decide to further investigate this type of initiative.

Keywords: Arkansas highways, biofuels, renewable energy initiative, marginalized lands

Procedia PDF Downloads 329