Search results for: reactor feedback
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1924

Search results for: reactor feedback

424 Geoeducation Strategies for Teaching Natural Hazards in Schools

Authors: Carlos Alberto Ríos Reyes, Andrés Felipe Mejía Durán, Oscar Mauricio Castellanos Alarcón

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There is no doubt of great importance to make it known that planet Earth is an entity in constant change and transformation; processes such as construction and destruction are part of the evolution of the territory. Geoeducation workshops represent a significant contribution to the search for educational projects focused on teaching relevant geoscience topics to make natural threats known in schools through recreational and didactic activities. This initiative represents an educational alternative that must be developed with the participation of primary and secondary schools, universities, and local communities. The methodology is based on several phases, which include: diagnosis to know the best teaching method for basic concepts and establish a starting point for the topics to be taught, as well as to identify areas and concepts that need to be reinforced and/or deepened; design of activities that involve all students regardless of their ability or level; use of accessible materials and experimentation to support clear and concise explanations for all students; adaptation of the teaching-learning process to individual needs; sensitization about natural threats; and evaluation and feedback. It is expected to offer a series of activities and materials as a significant contribution to the search for educational projects focused on teaching relevant geoscientific topics such as natural threats associated with earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, landslides, etc. The major findings of this study are the pedagogical strategies that primary and secondary school teachers can appropriate to face the challenge of transferring geological knowledge and to advise decision-makers and citizens on the importance of geosciences for daily life. We conclude that the knowledge of the natural threats to our planet is very important to contribute to mitigating their risk.

Keywords: workshops, geoeducation, curriculum, geosciences, natural threats

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423 Exploring Management of the Fuzzy Front End of Innovation in a Product Driven Startup Company

Authors: Dmitry K. Shaytan, Georgy D. Laptev

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In our research we aimed to test a managerial approach for the fuzzy front end (FFE) of innovation by creating controlled experiment/ business case in a breakthrough innovation development. The experiment was in the sport industry and covered all aspects of the customer discovery stage from ideation to prototyping followed by patent application. In the paper we describe and analyze mile stones, tasks, management challenges, decisions made to create the break through innovation, evaluate overall managerial efficiency that was at the considered FFE stage. We set managerial outcome of the FFE stage as a valid product concept in hand. In our paper we introduce hypothetical construct “Q-factor” that helps us in the experiment to distinguish quality of FFE outcomes. The experiment simulated for entrepreneur the FFE of innovation and put on his shoulders responsibility for the outcome of valid product concept. While developing managerial approach to reach the outcome there was a decision to look on product concept from the cognitive psychology and cognitive science point of view. This view helped us to develop the profile of a person whose projection (mental representation) of a new product could optimize for a manager or entrepreneur FFE activities. In the experiment this profile was tested to develop breakthrough innovation for swimmers. Following the managerial approach the product concept was created to help swimmers to feel/sense water. The working prototype was developed to estimate the product concept validity and value added effect for customers. Based on feedback from coachers and swimmers there were strong positive effect that gave high value for customers, and for the experiment – the valid product concept being developed by proposed managerial approach for the FFE. In conclusions there is a suggestion of managerial approach that was derived from experiment.

Keywords: concept development, concept testing, customer discovery, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial management, idea generation, idea screening, startup management

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422 Abatement of NO by CO on Pd Catalysts: Influence of the Support in Oxyfuel Combustion Conditions

Authors: Joudia Akil, Stephane Siffert, Laurence Pirault-Roy, Renaud Cousin, Christophe Poupin

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The CO2 emitted from anthropic activities is perceived as a constraint in industrial activity due to taxes, stringent environmental regulations, impact on global warming… To limit these CO2 emissions, reuse of CO2 represents a promising alternative, with important applications in chemical industry and for power generation. However, CO2 valorization process requires a gas as pure as possible Oxyfuel-combustion that enables obtaining a CO2 rich stream, with water vapor (10%) is then interesting. Nevertheless to decrease the amount of the by-products found with the CO2 (especially CO and NOx which are harmful to the environment) a catalytic treatment must be applied. Nowadays three-way catalysts are well-developed material for simultaneous conversion of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). The use of Pd attracted considerable attention on the basis of economic factors (the high cost and scarcity of Pt and Rh). This explains the large number of studies concerning the CO-NO reaction on Pd in the recent years. In the present study, we will compare a series of Pd materials supported on different oxides for CO2 purification from the oxyfuel combustion system, by reducing NO with CO in an oxidizing environment containing CO2 rich stream and presence of 8.2% of water. Al2O3, CeO2, MgO, SiO2 and TiO2 were used as support materials of the catalysts. 1wt% Pd/Support catalysts were obtained by wet impregnation on supports with a precursor of palladium [Pd(acac)2]. The obtained samples were subsequently characterized by H2 chemisorption, BET surface area and TEM. Finally, their catalytic performances were evaluated in CO2 purification which is carried out in a fixed-bed flow reactor containing 150 mg of catalyst at atmospheric pressure. The flow of the reactant gases is composed of: 20% CO2, 10% O2, 0.5% CO, 0.02% NO and 8.2% H2O (He as eluent gas) with a total flow of 200mL.min−1, in the same GHSV. The catalytic performance of the Pd catalysts for CO2 purification revealed that: -The support material has a strong influence on the catalytic activity of 1wt.% Pd supported catalysts. depending of the nature of support, the Pd-based catalysts activity changes. -The highest reduction of NO with CO is obtained in the following ranking: TiO2>CeO2>Al2O3. -The supports SiO2 and MgO should be avoided for this reaction, -Total oxidation of CO occurred over different materials, -CO2 purification can reach 97%, -The presence of H2O has a positive effect on the NO reduction due to the production of the reductant H2 from WGS reaction H2O+CO → H2+CO2

Keywords: carbon dioxide, environmental chemistry, heterogeneous catalysis, oxyfuel combustion

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421 Implementation of an Induction Programme to Help the International Medical Graduates in the NHS

Authors: Mohammad K. Rumjaun, Sana Amjed, Muhammad A. Ghazi, Safa G. Attar, Jason Raw

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Background: National Health Service (NHS) in England is one of the leading healthcare systems in the world and it heavily relies on the recruitment of overseas doctors. 30.7% of the doctors currently serving in NHS are overseas doctors. Most of these doctors do not receive the essential induction required to work in the NHS when they first arrive and therefore, they mostly struggle to work effectively in the first few months of their new jobs as compared to UK graduates. In our hospital, the clinical need for a dedicated induction programme for the International Medical Graduates (IMGs) was identified for their initial settling period and this programme was designed to achieve this. Methods: A questionnaire was designed for the previous 7 IMGs (Group 1) in order to identify the difficulties they faced in their initial phase. Thereafter, an induction programme consisting of presentations explaining the NHS and hospital framework, communication skills practice sessions, the clinical ceiling of care and patient simulation training was implemented for 6 new IMGs (Group 2). Another survey was done and compared with the previous. Results: After this programme, group 2 required only 1 week to understand the complexity of the IT systems as compared 3 weeks in group 1. 83% of group 2 was well-supported for their on-call duties after this programme as compared to 29% and 100% of group 2 was aware of their role in the job after the induction as compared to 0%. Furthermore, group 2 was able to function independently and confidently in their roles after only 1 month as compared to an average of 3 months for group 1. After running the PDSA cycles, our results show clear evidence that this programme has tremendously benefitted the IMGs in settling in the NHS. The IMGs really appreciated this initiative and have given positive feedback. Conclusion: Leaving your home country to begin your career in a different country is not an easy transition and undoubtedly, everyone struggles. It is important to invest in a well-structured induction programme for the IMGs in the initial phase of their jobs as this will improve not only their confidence and efficacy but also patients’ safety.

Keywords: induction programme, international medical graduates, NHS, overseas doctors struggles.

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420 EFL Teachers’ Sequential Self-Led Reflection and Possible Modifications in Their Classroom Management Practices

Authors: Sima Modirkhameneh, Mohammad Mohammadpanah

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In the process of EFL teachers’ development, self-led reflection (SLR) is thought to have an imperative role because it may help teachers analyze, evaluate, and contemplate what is happening in their classes. Such contemplations can not only enhance the quality of their instruction and provide better learning environments for learners but also improve the quality of their classroom management (CM). Accordingly, understanding the effect of teachers’ SLR practices may help us gain valuable insights into what possible modifications SLR may bring about in all aspects of EFL teachers' practitioners, especially their CM. The main purpose of this case study was, thus, to investigate the impact of SLR practices of 12 Iranian EFL teachers on their CM based on the universal classroom management checklist (UCMC). In addition, another objective of the current study was to have a clear image of EFL teachers’ perceptions of their own SLR practices and their possible outcomes. By conducting repeated reflective interviews, observations, and feedback of the participants over five teaching sessions, the researcher analyzed the outcomes qualitatively through the process of meaning categorization and data interpretation based on the principles of Grounded Theory. The results demonstrated that EFL teachers utilized SLR practices to improve different aspects of their language teaching skills and CM in different contexts. Almost all participants had positive comments and reactions about the effect of SLR on their CM procedures in different aspects (expectations and routines, behavior-specific praise, error corrections, prompts and precorrections, opportunity to respond, strengths and weaknesses of CM, teachers’ perception, CM ability, and learning process). Otherwise stated, results implied that familiarity with the UCMC criteria and reflective practices contributes to modifying teacher participants’ perceptions about their CM procedure and utilizing the reflective practices in their teaching styles. The results are thought to be valuably beneficial for teachers, teacher educators, and policymakers, who are recommended to pay special attention to the contributions as well as the complexity of reflective teaching. The study concludes with more detailed results and implications and useful directions for future research.

Keywords: classroom management, EFL teachers, reflective practices, self-led reflection

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419 E-Portfolios as a Means of Perceiving Students’ Listening and Speaking Progress

Authors: Heba Salem

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This paper aims to share the researcher’s experience of using e-Portfolios as an assessment tool to follow up on students’ learning experiences and performance throughout the semester. It also aims at highlighting the importance of students’ self-reflection in the process of language learning. The paper begins by introducing the advanced media course, with its focus on listening and speaking skills, and introduces the students’ profiles. Then it explains the students’ role in the e-portfolio process as they are given the option to choose a listening text they studied throughout the semester and to choose a recorded oral production of their collection of artifacts throughout the semester. Students showcase and reflect on their progress in both listening comprehension and speaking. According to the research, re-listening to work given to them and to their production is a means of reflecting on both their progress and achievement. And choosing the work students want to showcase is a means to promote independent learning as well as self-expression. Students are encouraged to go back to the class learning outcomes in the process of choosing the work. In their reflections, students express how they met the specific learning outcome. While giving their presentations, students expressed how useful the experience of returning and going over what they covered to select one and going over their production as well. They also expressed how beneficial it was to listen to themselves and literally see their progress in both listening comprehension and speaking. Students also reported that they grasped more details from the texts than they did when first having it as an assignment, which coincided with one of the class learning outcomes. They also expressed the fact that they had more confidence speaking as well as they were able to use a variety of vocabulary and idiomatic expressions that students have accumulated. For illustration, this paper includes practical samples of students’ tasks and instructions as well as samples of their reflections. The results of students’ reflections coincide with what the research confirms about the effectiveness of the e-portfolios as a means of assessment. The employment of e-Portfolios has two-folded benefits; students are able to measure the achievement of the targeted learning outcomes, and teachers receive constructive feedback on their teaching methods.

Keywords: e-portfolios, assessment, self assessment, listening and speaking progress, foreign language, reflection, learning out comes, sharing experience

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418 Nursing Experience in Improving Physical and Mental Well-Being of a Patient with Premature Menopause Osteoporosis and Sarcopenia in Nursing-Led Multi-Discipline Care

Authors: Huang Chiung Chiu

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This article is about the nursing experience of assisting an outpatient with premature menopause, osteoporosis and sarcopenia through a multi-discipline care model. The nursing period is from September 22nd, 2020, to December 7th, 2020, collecting data through interviews with the patient, observation, and physical assessment. It was found that the main health problems were insufficient nutrition, less physical need, insomnia, and potentially dangerous falls. As an outpatient nurse, the author observed that in recent years, the age group of women with premature menopause, osteoporosis and sarcopenia had shifted downward. Integrated multi-disciplinary interventions were provided upon the initial diagnosis of osteoporosis and sarcopenia. Under the outpatient care setting, the collaborative team works between the doctors, nutritionists, osteoporosis educators, rehabilitates, physical therapists and other specialized teams were applied to provide individualized, integrated multi-disciplinary care. Through empathy and the establishment of attentive care, companionship and trust, we discussed care plans and treatment guidelines with the case, providing accurate, complete disease information and feedback education to strengthen the patient’s knowledge and motivation for exercise. Nursing guidance regarding the dietary nutrition and adjustment of daily routine was provided to increase the self-care ability, improve the health problems of muscle weakness and insomnia, and prevent falls. For patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis and sarcopenia, it is recommended that the nurses coordinate the multi-discipline integrated care model, adjust patients’ lifestyle and diet, and establish a regular exercise plan so that the cases can be evaluated holistically to improve the quality of care and physical and mental comfort.

Keywords: multi-discipline care model, premature menopause, osteoporosis, sarcopenia, insomnia

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417 Evaluation of the Impact of Telematics Use on Young Drivers’ Driving Behaviour: A Naturalistic Driving Study

Authors: WonSun Chen, James Boylan, Erwin Muharemovic, Denny Meyer

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In Australia, drivers aged between 18 and 24 remained at high risk of road fatality over the last decade. Despite the successful implementation of the Graduated Licensing System (GLS) that supports young drivers in their early phases of driving, the road fatality statistics for these drivers remains high. In response to these statistics, studies conducted in Australia prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic have demonstrated the benefits of using telematics devices for improving driving behaviour, However, the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on young drivers’ driving behaviour has emerged as a global concern. Therefore, this naturalistic study aimed to evaluate and compare the driving behaviour(such as acceleration, braking, speeding, etc.) of young drivers with the adoption of in-vehicle telematics devices. Forty-two drivers aged between 18 and 30 and residing in the Australian state of Victoria participated in this study during the period of May to October 2022. All participants drove with the telematics devices during the first 30-day. At the start of the second 30-day, twenty-one participants were randomised to an intervention group where they were provided with an additional telematics ray device that provided visual feedback to the drivers, especially when they committed to aggressive driving behaviour. The remaining twenty-one participants remined their driving journeys without the extra telematics ray device (control group). Such trustworthy data enabled the assessment of changes in the driving behaviour of these young drivers using a machine learning approach in Python. Results are expected to show participants from the intervention group will show improvements in their driving behaviour compared to those from the control group.Furthermore, the telematics data enable the assessment and quantification of such improvements in driving behaviour. The findings from this study are anticipated to shed some light in guiding the development of customised campaigns and interventions to further address the high road fatality among young drivers in Australia.

Keywords: driving behaviour, naturalistic study, telematics data, young drivers

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416 DeepLig: A de-novo Computational Drug Design Approach to Generate Multi-Targeted Drugs

Authors: Anika Chebrolu

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Mono-targeted drugs can be of limited efficacy against complex diseases. Recently, multi-target drug design has been approached as a promising tool to fight against these challenging diseases. However, the scope of current computational approaches for multi-target drug design is limited. DeepLig presents a de-novo drug discovery platform that uses reinforcement learning to generate and optimize novel, potent, and multitargeted drug candidates against protein targets. DeepLig’s model consists of two networks in interplay: a generative network and a predictive network. The generative network, a Stack- Augmented Recurrent Neural Network, utilizes a stack memory unit to remember and recognize molecular patterns when generating novel ligands from scratch. The generative network passes each newly created ligand to the predictive network, which then uses multiple Graph Attention Networks simultaneously to forecast the average binding affinity of the generated ligand towards multiple target proteins. With each iteration, given feedback from the predictive network, the generative network learns to optimize itself to create molecules with a higher average binding affinity towards multiple proteins. DeepLig was evaluated based on its ability to generate multi-target ligands against two distinct proteins, multi-target ligands against three distinct proteins, and multi-target ligands against two distinct binding pockets on the same protein. With each test case, DeepLig was able to create a library of valid, synthetically accessible, and novel molecules with optimal and equipotent binding energies. We propose that DeepLig provides an effective approach to design multi-targeted drug therapies that can potentially show higher success rates during in-vitro trials.

Keywords: drug design, multitargeticity, de-novo, reinforcement learning

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415 Practice Educators' Perspective: Placement Challenges in Social Work Education in England

Authors: Yuet Wah Echo Yeung

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Practice learning is an important component of social work education. Practice educators are charged with the responsibility to support and enable learning while students are on placement. They also play a key role in teaching students to integrate theory and practice, as well as assessing their performance. Current literature highlights the structural factors that make it difficult for practice educators to create a positive learning environment for students. Practice educators find it difficult to give sufficient attention to their students because of the lack of workload relief, the increasing emphasis on managerialism and bureaucratisation, and a range of competing organisational and professional demands. This paper reports the challenges practice educators face and how they manage these challenges in this context. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with thirteen practice educators who support students in statutory and voluntary social care settings in the Northwest of England. Interviews were conducted between April and July 2017 and each interview lasted about 40 minutes. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. All practice educators are experienced social work practitioners with practice experience ranging from 6 to 42 years. On average they have acted as practice educators for 13 years and all together have supported 386 students. Our findings reveal that apart from the structural factors that impact how practice educators perform their roles, they also faced other challenges when supporting students on placement. They include difficulty in engaging resistant students, complexity in managing power dynamics in the context of practice learning, and managing the dilemmas of fostering a positive relationship with students whilst giving critical feedback. Suggestions to enhance the practice educators’ role include support from organisations and social work teams; effective communication with university tutors, and a forum for practice educators to share good practice and discuss placement issues.

Keywords: social work education, placement challenges, practice educator, practice learning

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414 The Work Book Tool, a Lifelong Chronicle: Part of the "Designprogrammet" at the Design School of the University in Kalmar, Sweden

Authors: Henriette Jarild-Koblanck, Monica Moro

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The research has been implemented at the Kalmar University now LNU Linnaeus University inside the Design Program (Designprogrammet) for several years. The Work Book tool was created using the framework of the Bologna declaration. The project concerns primarily pedagogy and design methodology, focusing on how we evaluate artistic work processes and projects and on how we can develop the preconditions for cross-disciplinary work. The original idea of the Work Book springs from the steady habit of the Swedish researcher and now retired full professor and dean Henriette Koblanck to put images, things and colours in a notebook, right from her childhood, writing down impressions and reflections. On this preliminary thought of making use of a work book, in a form freely chosen by the user, she began to develop the Design Program (Designprogrammet) that was applied at the Kalmar University now LNU Linnaeus University, where she called a number of professionals to collaborate, among them Monica Moro an Italian designer, researcher, and teacher in the field of colour and shape. The educational intention is that the Work Book should become a tool that is both inspirational for the process of thinking and intuitional creating, and personal support for both rational and technical thinking. The students were to use the Work Book not only to visually and graphically document their results from investigations, experiments and thoughts but also as a tool to present their works to others, -students, tutors and teachers, or to other stakeholders they discussed the proceedings with. To help the students a number of matrixes were developed oriented to evaluate the projects in elaboration, based on the Bologna Declaration. In conclusion, the feedback from the students is excellent; many are still using the Work Book as a professional tool as in their words they consider it a rather accurate representation of their working process, and furthermore of themselves, so much that many of them have used it as a portfolio when applying for jobs.

Keywords: academic program, art, assessment of student’s progress, Bologna Declaration, design, learning, self-assessment

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413 Hierarchical Zeolites as Catalysts for Cyclohexene Epoxidation Reactions

Authors: Agnieszka Feliczak-Guzik, Paulina Szczyglewska, Izabela Nowak

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A catalyst-assisted oxidation reaction is one of the key reactions exploited by various industries. Their conductivity yields essential compounds and intermediates, such as alcohols, epoxides, aldehydes, ketones, and organic acids. Researchers are devoting more and more attention to developing active and selective materials that find application in many catalytic reactions, such as cyclohexene epoxidation. This reaction yields 1,2-epoxycyclohexane and 1,2-diols as the main products. These compounds are widely used as intermediates in the perfume industry and synthesizing drugs and lubricants. Hence, our research aimed to use hierarchical zeolites modified with transition metal ions, e.g., Nb, V, and Ta, in the epoxidation reaction of cyclohexene using microwaveheating. Hierarchical zeolites are materials with secondary porosity, mainly in the mesoporous range, compared to microporous zeolites. In the course of the research, materials based on two commercial zeolites, with Faujasite (FAU) and Zeolite Socony Mobil-5 (ZSM-5) structures, were synthesized and characterized by various techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and low-temperature nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms. The materials obtained were then used in a cyclohexene epoxidation reaction, which was carried out as follows: catalyst (0.02 g), cyclohexene (0.1 cm3), acetonitrile (5 cm3) and dihydrogen peroxide (0.085 cm3) were placed in a suitable glass reaction vessel with a magnetic stirrer inside in a microwave reactor. Reactions were carried out at 45° C for 6 h (samples were taken every 1 h). The reaction mixtures were filtered to separate the liquid products from the solid catalyst and then transferred to 1.5 cm3 vials for chromatographic analysis. The test techniques confirmed the acquisition of additional secondary porosity while preserving the structure of the commercial zeolite (XRD and low-temperature nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms). The results of the activity of the hierarchical catalyst modified with niobium in the cyclohexene epoxidation reaction indicate that the conversion of cyclohexene, after 6 h of running the process, is about 70%. As the main product of the reaction, 2-cyclohexanediol was obtained (selectivity > 80%). In addition to the mentioned product, adipic acid, cyclohexanol, cyclohex-2-en-1-one, and 1,2-epoxycyclohexane were also obtained. Furthermore, in a blank test, no cyclohexene conversion was obtained after 6 h of reaction. Acknowledgments The work was carried out within the project “Advanced biocomposites for tomorrow’s economy BIOG-NET,” funded by the Foundation for Polish Science from the European Regional Development Fund (POIR.04.04.00-00-1792/18-00.

Keywords: epoxidation, oxidation reactions, hierarchical zeolites, synthesis

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412 Examining Electroencephalographic Activity Differences Between Goalkeepers and Forwards in Professional Football Players

Authors: Ruhollah Basatnia, Ali Reza Aghababa, Mehrdad Anbarian, Sara Akbari, Mohammad Khazaee

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Introduction: The investigation of brain activity in sports has become a subject of interest for researchers. Several studies have examined the patterns or differences in brain activity during different sports situations. Previous studies have suggested that the pattern of cortical activity may differ between different football positions, such as goalkeepers and other players. This study aims to investigate the differences in electroencephalographic (EEG) activity between the positions of goalkeeper and forward in professional football players. Methods: Fourteen goalkeepers and twelve forwards, all males between 19-28 years old, participated in the study. EEG activity was recorded while participants were sitting with their eyes closed for 5 minutes. The mean relative power of EEG activity for each frequency band was compared between the two groups using independent samples t-test. Findings: The study found significant differences in the relative power of EEG activity between different frequency bands and electrodes. Notably, significant differences were observed in the mean relative power of EEG activity between the two groups for certain frequency bands and electrodes. These findings suggest that EEG activity can serve as a sensory indicator for cognitive and performance differences between goalkeepers and forwards in football players. Discussion: The results of this study suggest that EEG activity can be used to identify cognitive and performance differences between goalkeepers and forwards in football players. However, further research is needed to establish the relationship between EEG activity and actual performance in the field. Future studies should investigate the potential influence of other factors, such as fatigue and stress, on the EEG activity of football players. Additionally, the use of real-time EEG feedback could be explored as a tool for training and performance optimization in football players. Further research is required to fully understand the potential of EEG activity as a sensory indicator for cognitive and performance differences between football player positions and to explore its potential applications for training and performance optimization in football and other sports.

Keywords: football, brain activity, EEG, goalkeepers, forwards

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411 A Suggested Study Plan for Mining Engineering Program in Northern Border University (NBU) to Match the Requirements of the Local Mining Industry

Authors: Mohammad Aljuhani, Yasamina Aljuhani

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The Mining Engineering Department at College of Engineering in NBU is under establishment. It is essential to establish such department in NBU. This is because, it is the only university in the region. Moreover, the mining industry is very active in the northern borders region. However, there is no mining engineering department in KSA except one in King Abdulziz University, which is 1400 km from the mining industry in the northern borders. As a result, department graduates from KAU find difficulties to get suitable jobs in their specialization in spite of their few numbers graduated per year and the presence of many jobs vacancies at the local mining sector. Therefore, the objectives of this research are to identify, measure and analyze the above mentioned problem from educational point of view. One more objective is to add a contribution towards solving such vital, society affecting problem. For achieving the first task of the research, that is problem size identification and analyses, a questionnaire was designed. The questionnaire was directed towards experienced engineers, in the mining and related industries, including the ministry of petroleum and minerals, Saudi Geological Survey, and Ma’aden Company as being prospective employers for the mining sector. The questionnaire target was to evaluate the Saudi mining engineers from an industrial point of view and to detect the main reasons behind their failure to find jobs. In addition, the study focuses in the demand of mining engineers in the northern borders region. Moreover, the study plan of the suggested department is designed based on the requirements of the mining industry. The feedback received from the industry reflected major educational shortcomings. In order to overcome the revealed defects, the second objective of the research was achieved where a suggested study plan “curriculum” has been prepared to take into consideration all the points of weakness so as to improve the graduates’ quality to fit the local mining work market.

Keywords: mining engineering, labor market, qualifications, curriculum, mining industry, mining engineers

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410 A Team-Based Learning Game Guided by a Social Robot

Authors: Gila Kurtz, Dan Kohen Vacs

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Social robots (SR) is an emerging field striving to deploy computers capable of resembling human shapes and mimicking human movements, gestures, and behaviors. The evolving capability of SR to interact with human offers groundbreaking ways for learning and training opportunities. Studies show that SR can offer instructional experiences for fostering creativity, entertainment, enjoyment, and curiosity. These added values are essential for empowering instructional opportunities as gamified learning experiences. We present our project focused on deploying an activity to be experienced in an escape room aimed at team-based learning scaffolded by an SR, NAO. An escape room is a well-known approach for gamified activities focused on a simulated scenario experienced by team-based participants. Usually, the simulation takes place in a physical environment where participants must complete a series of challenges in a limited amount of time. During this experience, players learn something about the assigned topic of the room. In the current learning simulation, students must "save the nation" by locating sensitive information stolen and stored in a vault of four locks. Team members have to look for hints and solve riddles mediated by NAO. Each solution provides a unique code for opening one of the four locks. NAO is also used to provide ongoing feedback on the team's performance. We captured the proceeding of our activity and used it to conduct an evaluation study among ten experts in related areas. The experts were interviewed on their overall assessment of the learning activity and their perception of the added value related to the robot. The results were very encouraging on the feasibility that NAO can serve as a motivational tutor in adults' collaborative game-based learning. We believe that this study marks the first step toward a template for developing innovative team-based training using escape rooms supported by a humanoid robot.

Keywords: social robot, NAO, learning, team based activity, escape room

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409 Divorce Advice and Parents' Council Support Groups: Help for Divorced Parents to Create Co-Parenting after Divorce

Authors: Paivi Hietanen

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At family with children, divorce is a risk for a child to lose the relationship to the parent with whom the child doesn't live. A child has the right to the get care from both parents after the divorce. Even though your ex-spouse isn’t longer your companion, to the child he or she is still unique as a parent and parents must cooperate and support their child in the new family situation. To divorcee, it's necessary to understand the difference between the intimate relationship that ends and parenthood that continues. Cooperative parenting takes a lot of effort and flexibility for the parents to make joint custody work well. It is vital that parents get help to understand the situation from child points of view. When parent is facing divorce, and all the emotions that it brings along, can the child easily be forgotten. To help children, we must help parents to understand, that a relationship can end, parenthood cannot. As professionals, we should help the parents to see the significance and value of both parents to the child and try to support and protect parenthood-relationship between parents. The Federation of Mother and Child Homes and Shelters have developed group models to work with parents during or after divorce. These support groups are led by professionals, but peer support is also used. These support groups have been held over 10 years and there are found from 20 different cities in Finland. Eroneuvo event (divorce advice) service is intended for parents who are considering or have already divorced. The Vanhemman neuvo (parents' council) is a peer support group that helps parents with post-divorce parenting issues. From these groups, parents receive information and peer support for matters related to divorcing and how to support the child and do co-parenting. At the groups and in given information for divorced parents, is used a method called the 'Irreversible triangle'. It's a way to picture the intimate relationship and parenthood after the divorce and what is the difference between these two things. 'Irreversible triangle' is used to help parents and professionals to understand, what happens if a child loses the relationship to the other parent or if parents co-parenting doesn't work well. From the largely collected feedback, group members tell that they feel themselves relieved after taking part of the group. Parents also experience that talking with other parents helps to survive. Group members learn to co-operate with the other parent, and they'll also learn to see the best interest of the child after the divorce. Parents would highly recommend these groups to other parents.

Keywords: child's right, co-parenting, parenthood after the divorce, peer support

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408 Constructivist Design Approaches to Video Production for Distance Education in Business and Economics

Authors: C. von Essen

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This study outlines and evaluates a constructivist design approach to the creation of educational video on postgraduate business degree programmes. Many online courses are tapping into the educational affordances of video, as this form of online learning has the potential to create rich, multimodal experiences. And yet, in many learning contexts video is still being used to transmit instruction to passive learners, rather than promote learner engagement and knowledge creation. Constructivism posits the notion that learning is shaped as students make connections between their experiences and ideas. This paper pivots on the following research question: how can we design educational video in ways which promote constructivist learning and stimulate analytic viewing? By exploring and categorizing over two thousand educational videos created since 2014 for over thirty postgraduate courses in business, economics, mathematics and statistics, this paper presents and critically reflects on a taxonomy of video styles and features. It links the pedagogical intent of video – be it concept explanation, skill demonstration, feedback, real-world application of ideas, community creation, or the cultivation of course narrative – to specific presentational characteristics such as visual effects including diagrammatic and real-life graphics and aminations, commentary and sound options, chronological sequencing, interactive elements, and presenter set-up. The findings of this study inform a framework which captures the pedagogical, technological and production considerations instructional designers and educational media specialists should be conscious of when planning and preparing the video. More broadly, the paper demonstrates how learning theory and technology can coalesce to produce informed and pedagogical grounded instructional design choices. This paper reveals how crafting video in a more conscious and critical manner can produce powerful, new educational design.

Keywords: educational video, constructivism, instructional design, business education

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407 Design and Fabrication of Piezoelectric Tactile Sensor by Deposition of PVDF-TrFE with Spin-Coating Method for Minimally Invasive Surgery

Authors: Saman Namvarrechi, Armin A. Dormeny, Javad Dargahi, Mojtaba Kahrizi

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Since last two decades, minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has grown significantly due to its advantages compared to the traditional open surgery like less physical pain, faster recovery time and better healing condition around incision regions; however, one of the important challenges in MIS is getting an effective sensing feedback within the patient’s body during operations. Therefore, surgeons need efficient tactile sensing like determining the hardness of contact tissue for investigating the patient’s health condition. In such a case, MIS tactile sensors are preferred to be able to provide force/pressure sensing, force position, lump detection, and softness sensing. Among different pressure sensor technologies, the piezoelectric operating principle is the fittest for MIS’s instruments, such as catheters. Using PVDF with its copolymer, TrFE, as a piezoelectric material, is a common method of design and fabrication of a tactile sensor due to its ease of implantation and biocompatibility. In this research, PVDF-TrFE polymer is deposited via spin-coating method and treated with various post-deposition processes to investigate its piezoelectricity and amount of electroactive β phase. These processes include different post thermal annealing, the effect of spin-coating speed, different layer of deposition, and the presence of additional hydrate salt. According to FTIR spectroscopy and SEM images, the amount of the β phase and porosity of each sample is determined. In addition, the optimum experimental study is established by considering every aspect of the fabrication process. This study clearly shows the effective way of deposition and fabrication of a tactile PVDF-TrFE based sensor and an enhancement methodology to have a higher β phase and piezoelectric constant in order to have a better sense of touch at the end effector of biomedical devices.

Keywords: β phase, minimally invasive surgery, piezoelectricity, PVDF-TrFE, tactile sensor

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406 Degradation and Detoxification of Tetracycline by Sono-Fenton and Ozonation

Authors: Chikang Wang, Jhongjheng Jian, Poming Huang

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Among a wide variety of pharmaceutical compounds, tetracycline antibiotics are one of the largest groups of pharmaceutical compounds extensively used in human and veterinary medicine to treat and prevent bacterial infections. Because it is water soluble, biologically active, stable and bio-refractory, release to the environment threatens aquatic life and increases the risk posed by antibiotic-resistant pathogens. In practice, due to its antibacterial nature, tetracycline cannot be effectively destructed by traditional biological methods. Hence, in this study, two advanced oxidation processes such as ozonation and sono-Fenton processes were conducted individually to degrade the tetracycline for investigating their feasibility on tetracycline degradation. Effect of operational variables on tetracycline degradation, release of nitrogen and change of toxicity were also proposed. Initial tetracycline concentration was 50 mg/L. To evaluate the efficiency of tetracycline degradation by ozonation, the ozone gas was produced by an ozone generator (Model LAB2B, Ozonia) and introduced into the reactor with different flows (25 - 500 mL/min) at varying pH levels (pH 3 - pH 11) and reaction temperatures (15 - 55°C). In sono-Fenton system, an ultrasonic transducer (Microson VCX 750, USA) operated at 20 kHz combined with H₂O₂ (2 mM) and Fe²⁺ (0.2 mM) were carried out at different pH levels (pH 3 - pH 11), aeration gas and flows (air and oxygen; 0.2 - 1.0 L/min), tetracycline concentrations (10 - 200 mg/L), reaction temperatures (15 - 55°C) and ultrasonic powers (25 - 200 Watts), respectively. Sole ultrasound was ineffective on tetracycline degradation, where the degradation efficiencies were lower than 10% with 60 min reaction. Contribution of Fe²⁺ and H₂O₂ on the degradation of tetracycline was significant, where the maximum tetracycline degradation efficiency in sono-Fenton process was as high as 91.3% followed by 45.8% mineralization. Effect of initial pH level on tetracycline degradation was insignificant from pH 3 to pH 6 but significantly decreased as the pH was greater than pH 7. Increase of the ultrasonic power was slightly increased the degradation efficiency of tetracycline, which indicated that the hydroxyl radicals dominated the oxidation of tetracycline. Effects of aeration of air or oxygen with different flows and reaction temperatures were insignificant. Ozonation showed better efficiencies in tetracycline degradation, where the optimum reaction condition was found at pH 3, 100 mL O₃/min and 25°C with 94% degradation and 60% mineralization. The toxicity of tetracycline was significantly decreased due to the mineralization of tetracycline. In addition, less than 10% of nitrogen content was released to solution phase as NH₃-N, and the most degraded tetracycline cannot be full mineralized to CO₂. The results shown in this study indicated that both the sono-Fenton process and ozonation can effectively degrade the tetracycline and reduce its toxicity at profitable condition. The costs of two systems needed to be further investigated to understand the feasibility in tetracycline degradation.

Keywords: degradation, detoxification, mineralization, ozonation, sono-Fenton process, tetracycline

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405 Reviving the Ancient Craft of Patteda Anchu Saree Weaving of Karnataka, India

Authors: Hemalatha Jain, M. Vasantha

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Patteda Anchu is one of the first variety of sari woven centuries ago in Gajendragarh village from Gadag district of north Karnataka. The sari played a significant role in bringing together the socio-cultural aspect in ancient days. It was used as wedding sari for bride and also to adorn goddess Yellamma Saundatti by the devotees. Indian traditional art and crafts were rich in culture and diversity, however with the onset of liberalisation and end of the license raj lot of traditional Indian artwork are on the verge of extinction today. Patteda Anchu is one of the examples of traditional art lost to globalisation. The main aim of the study was to document the ancient weaving tradition of the Patteda Anchu and revive by exploring the weaving possibility as yardage with different product layout. To accomplish the formulated objectives a exploratory cum diagnostic study was planned. Data was collected through observations and interviews schedule during the field visits in Gajendragarh village. There are very few weavers weaving on traditional looms and many weavers who have moved to weaving other sari's or construction work were interviewed to understand the downfall of the sari. The discussions and interviews conducted with the local weavers, shop keepers, sales agents, weaving society, NGOs and Self help groups helped in unearthing the new opportunities to develop products for the local and national market and help start weaving of Patteda Anchu and expand its market. The handloom art details in terms of raw materials, loom set up, dyeing, types of Patteda Anchu, weaving process and colors were documented through photographs, video recordings and supplemented with notes. Based on the analysis of the feedback gathered it was recommended to develop products on the handloom without changing the width frame or design of the traditional weaving methods. The weavers, weavers society and other cooperatives centres also were in consent with the new product development which will help sustain the Patteda Anchu.

Keywords: Gajendragarh, patteda Anchu sari, revival of traditional art, weaving, handloom

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404 Assessment of the Impact of Family Care Team in the District Health System of Regional Health, Thailand

Authors: Nithra Kitreerawutiwong, Sunsanee Mekrungrongwong, Artitaya Wongwonsin, Chakkraphan Phetphoom, Buaploy Phromjang

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Background: Thailand has implemented a district health system based on the concept of primary health care. Since 2014, Family Care Team (FCT) was launched to improve the quality of care through a multidisciplinary team include not only the health sector but also social sector work together. FCT classified into 3 levels: district, sub-district, and community. This system now consists of 66,353 teams, including 3,890 teams at district level, 12,237 teams at the sub-district level, and 50,326 teams at the community level. There is a report regarding assessment the situation and perception on FCT, however, relatively few examined the operationality of this policy. This study aimed to explore the perception of district manager on the process of the implementation of FCT policy and the factors associating to implement FCT in the district health system. Methods/Results: Forty in-depth interviews were performed: 5 of primary care manager at the provincial medical health office, 5 of community hospital director, 5 of district administrative health office, 10 of sub-district health promoting hospital, and 10 of local organization. Semi-structure interview guidelines were used in the discussions. The data was analyzed by thematic analysis. This policy was formulated based on the demographic change and epidemiology transition to serve a long term care for elderly. Facilitator factors are social capital in district health systems such as family health leader and multidisciplinary team. Barrier factors are communication to the frontline provider and local organization. The output of this policy in relation to the structure of FCT is well-defined. Unanticipated effects include training of FCT in community level. Conclusion: Early feedback from healthcare manager is valuable information for the improvement of FCT to function optimally. Moreover, in the long term, health outcome need to be evaluated.

Keywords: family care team, district health system, primary care, qualitative study

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403 American Sign Language Recognition System

Authors: Rishabh Nagpal, Riya Uchagaonkar, Venkata Naga Narasimha Ashish Mernedi, Ahmed Hambaba

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The rapid evolution of technology in the communication sector continually seeks to bridge the gap between different communities, notably between the deaf community and the hearing world. This project develops a comprehensive American Sign Language (ASL) recognition system, leveraging the advanced capabilities of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and vision transformers (ViTs) to interpret and translate ASL in real-time. The primary objective of this system is to provide an effective communication tool that enables seamless interaction through accurate sign language interpretation. The architecture of the proposed system integrates dual networks -VGG16 for precise spatial feature extraction and vision transformers for contextual understanding of the sign language gestures. The system processes live input, extracting critical features through these sophisticated neural network models, and combines them to enhance gesture recognition accuracy. This integration facilitates a robust understanding of ASL by capturing detailed nuances and broader gesture dynamics. The system is evaluated through a series of tests that measure its efficiency and accuracy in real-world scenarios. Results indicate a high level of precision in recognizing diverse ASL signs, substantiating the potential of this technology in practical applications. Challenges such as enhancing the system’s ability to operate in varied environmental conditions and further expanding the dataset for training were identified and discussed. Future work will refine the model’s adaptability and incorporate haptic feedback to enhance the interactivity and richness of the user experience. This project demonstrates the feasibility of an advanced ASL recognition system and lays the groundwork for future innovations in assistive communication technologies.

Keywords: sign language, computer vision, vision transformer, VGG16, CNN

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402 CO₂ Conversion by Low-Temperature Fischer-Tropsch

Authors: Pauline Bredy, Yves Schuurman, David Farrusseng

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To fulfill climate objectives, the production of synthetic e-fuels using CO₂ as a raw material appears as part of the solution. In particular, Power-to-Liquid (PtL) concept combines CO₂ with hydrogen supplied from water electrolysis, powered by renewable sources, which is currently gaining interest as it allows the production of sustainable fossil-free liquid fuels. The proposed process discussed here is an upgrading of the well-known Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The concept deals with two cascade reactions in one pot, with first the conversion of CO₂ into CO via the reverse water gas shift (RWGS) reaction, which is then followed by the Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis (FTS). Instead of using a Fe-based catalyst, which can carry out both reactions, we have chosen the strategy to decouple the two functions (RWGS and FT) on two different catalysts within the same reactor. The FTS shall shift the equilibrium of the RWGS reaction (which alone would be limited to 15-20% of conversion at 250°C) by converting the CO into hydrocarbons. This strategy shall enable optimization of the catalyst pair and thus lower the temperature of the reaction thanks to the equilibrium shift to gain selectivity in the liquid fraction. The challenge lies in maximizing the activity of the RWGS catalyst but also in the ability of the FT catalyst to be highly selective. Methane production is the main concern as the energetic barrier of CH₄ formation is generally lower than that of the RWGS reaction, so the goal will be to minimize methane selectivity. Here we report the study of different combinations of copper-based RWGS catalysts with different cobalt-based FTS catalysts. We investigated their behaviors under mild process conditions by the use of high-throughput experimentation. Our results show that at 250°C and 20 bars, Cobalt catalysts mainly act as methanation catalysts. Indeed, CH₄ selectivity never drops under 80% despite the addition of various protomers (Nb, K, Pt, Cu) on the catalyst and its coupling with active RWGS catalysts. However, we show that the activity of the RWGS catalyst has an impact and can lead to longer hydrocarbons chains selectivities (C₂⁺) of about 10%. We studied the influence of the reduction temperature on the activity and selectivity of the tandem catalyst system. Similar selectivity and conversion were obtained at reduction temperatures between 250-400°C. This leads to the question of the active phase of the cobalt catalysts, which is currently investigated by magnetic measurements and DRIFTS. Thus, in coupling it with a more selective FT catalyst, better results are expected. This was achieved using a cobalt/iron FTS catalyst. The CH₄ selectivity dropped to 62% at 265°C, 20 bars, and a GHSV of 2500ml/h/gcat. We propose that the conditions used for the cobalt catalysts could have generated this methanation because these catalysts are known to have their best performance around 210°C in classical FTS, whereas the iron catalysts are more flexible but are also known to have an RWGS activity.

Keywords: cobalt-copper catalytic systems, CO₂-hydrogenation, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, hydrocarbons, low-temperature process

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401 An Exploration of German Tourists’ Market Demand Towards Ethiopian Tourist Destinations

Authors: Dagnew Dessie Mengie

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The purpose of this study was to investigate German tourists' demand for Ethiopian tourism destinations. The author has made every effort to identify the differences in the preferences of German visitors’ demand in Ethiopia comparing with Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, and South African tourism sectors if they are invited to visit at the same time. However, the demand for international tourism for Ethiopia currently lags behind these African countries. Therefore, to offer demand-driven tourism products, the Ethiopian government and tour and travel operators need to understand the important factors that affect international tourists’ decision to visit Ethiopian tourist destinations. The aim of this study was to analyze German Tourists’ Demand for Ethiopian destinations. The researcher aimed to identify the demand for German tourists’ preference for Ethiopian tourist destinations compared to the above-mentioned African countries. For collecting and analysing data for this study, both quantitative and qualitative methods of research are being used in this study. The most significant data are collected by using the primary data collection method i.e. survey and interviews which are the most and large number of potential responses and feedback from nine German active tourists,12 Ethiopian tourism officials, four African embassies, and four well functioning private tour companies and secondary data collected from books, journals, previous research and electronic websites. Based on the data analysis of the information gathered from interviews and questionnaires, the study disclosed that the majority of German tourists do have not that high demand for Ethiopian Tourist destinations due to the following reasons: (1) Many Germans are fascinated by adventures and safari and simply want to lie on the beach and relax. These interests have leaded them to look for other African countries which have these accesses. (2) Uncomfortable infrastructure and transport problems are attributed to the decreasing number of German tourists in the country. (3) Inadequate marketing operation of the Ethiopian Tourism Authority and its delegates in advertising and clarifying the above irregularities which are raised by the tourists.

Keywords: environmental benefits of tourism, social benefits of tourism, economic benefits of tourism, political factors on tourism

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400 ROSgeoregistration: Aerial Multi-Spectral Image Simulator for the Robot Operating System

Authors: Andrew R. Willis, Kevin Brink, Kathleen Dipple

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This article describes a software package called ROS-georegistration intended for use with the robot operating system (ROS) and the Gazebo 3D simulation environment. ROSgeoregistration provides tools for the simulation, test, and deployment of aerial georegistration algorithms and is available at github.com/uncc-visionlab/rosgeoregistration. A model creation package is provided which downloads multi-spectral images from the Google Earth Engine database and, if necessary, incorporates these images into a single, possibly very large, reference image. Additionally a Gazebo plugin which uses the real-time sensor pose and image formation model to generate simulated imagery using the specified reference image is provided along with related plugins for UAV relevant data. The novelty of this work is threefold: (1) this is the first system to link the massive multi-spectral imaging database of Google’s Earth Engine to the Gazebo simulator, (2) this is the first example of a system that can simulate geospatially and radiometrically accurate imagery from multiple sensor views of the same terrain region, and (3) integration with other UAS tools creates a new holistic UAS simulation environment to support UAS system and subsystem development where real-world testing would generally be prohibitive. Sensed imagery and ground truth registration information is published to client applications which can receive imagery synchronously with telemetry from other payload sensors, e.g., IMU, GPS/GNSS, barometer, and windspeed sensor data. To highlight functionality, we demonstrate ROSgeoregistration for simulating Electro-Optical (EO) and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image sensors and an example use case for developing and evaluating image-based UAS position feedback, i.e., pose for image-based Guidance Navigation and Control (GNC) applications.

Keywords: EO-to-EO, EO-to-SAR, flight simulation, georegistration, image generation, robot operating system, vision-based navigation

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399 Creating a Multilevel ESL Learning Community for Adults

Authors: Gloria Chen

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When offering conventional level-appropriate ESL classes for adults is not feasible, a multilevel adult ESL class can be formed to benefit those who need to learn English for daily function. This paper examines the rationale, the process, the contents, and the outcomes of a multilevel ESL class for adults. The action research discusses a variety of assessments, lesson plans, teaching strategies that facilitate lifelong language learning. In small towns where adult ESL learners are only a handful, often advanced students and inexperienced students have to be placed in one class. Such class might not be viewed as desirable, but with on-going assessments, careful lesson plans, and purposeful strategies, a multilevel ESL class for adults can overcome the obstacles and help learners to reach a higher level of English proficiency. This research explores some hand-on strategies, such as group rotating, cooperative learning, and modifying textbook contents for practical purpose, and evaluate their effectiveness. The data collected in this research include Needs Assessment (beginning of class term), Mid-term Self-Assessment (5 months into class term), End-of-term Student Reflection (10 months into class), and End-of-term Assessment from the Instructor (10 months into class). A descriptive analysis of the data explains the practice of this particular learning community, and reveal the areas for improvement and enrichment. This research answers the following questions: (1) How do the assessments positively help both learners and instructors? (2) How do the learning strategies prepare students to become independent, life-long English learners? (3) How do materials, grouping, and class schedule enhance the learning? The result of the research contributes to the field of teaching and learning in language, not limited in English, by (a) examining strategies of conducting a multilevel adult class, (b) involving adult language learners with various backgrounds and learning styles for reflection and feedback, and (c) improving teaching and learning strategies upon research methods and results. One unique feature of this research is how students can work together with the instructor to form a learning community, seeking and exploring resources available to them, to become lifelong language learners.

Keywords: adult language learning, assessment, multilevel, teaching strategies

Procedia PDF Downloads 333
398 Brand Tips of Thai Halal Products

Authors: Pibool Waijittragum

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The purpose of this research is to analyze the marketing strategies of Thai Halal products which related to the way of life for Thai Muslims. The expected benefit is the marketing strategy for brand building process for Halal products in Thailand. 4 elements of marketing strategies which necessary for the brand identity creation is the research framework: Consists of Attributes, Benefits, Values and Personality. The research methodology was applied using qualitative and quantitative; 19 marketing experts with dynamic roles in Thai consumer products were interviewed. In addition, a field survey of 122 Thai Muslims selected from 175 Muslim communities in Bangkok was studied. Data analysis will be according to 5 categories of Thai Halal product: 1) Meat 2) Vegetable and Fruits 3) Instant foods and Garnishing ingredient 4) Beverages, desserts and snacks 5) Hygienic daily products; such as soap, shampoo and body lotion. The results will explain some suitable representation in the marketing strategies of Thai Halal products as are: 1) Benefit; the characteristics of the product with its benefit. Consumers will purchase this product with the reason of; it is beneficial nutrients product, there are no toxic or chemical residues. Fresh and clean materials 2) Attribute; the exterior images that attract to consumer. Consumers will purchase this product with the reason of; there is a standard proof mark, food and drug secure proof mark and Halal products mark. Packaging and its materials should be draw attention. Use an attractive graphic. Use outstanding images of product, material or ingredients. 3) Value; the value of products that affect to consumers perception; it is healthy products. Accumulate quality of life. It is a product of expertise, manufacturing of research result. Consumers are important. It’s sincere, honest and reliable to all. 4) Personality; reflection of consumers thought. The personality feedback to them after they were consumes this product; they are health care persons. They are the rational person, moral person, justice person and thoughtful person like a progressive thinking.

Keywords: marketing strategies, product identity, branding, Thai Halal products

Procedia PDF Downloads 366
397 Development of an Optimised, Automated Multidimensional Model for Supply Chains

Authors: Safaa H. Sindi, Michael Roe

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This project divides supply chain (SC) models into seven Eras, according to the evolution of the market’s needs throughout time. The five earliest Eras describe the emergence of supply chains, while the last two Eras are to be created. Research objectives: The aim is to generate the two latest Eras with their respective models that focus on the consumable goods. Era Six contains the Optimal Multidimensional Matrix (OMM) that incorporates most characteristics of the SC and allocates them into four quarters (Agile, Lean, Leagile, and Basic SC). This will help companies, especially (SMEs) plan their optimal SC route. Era Seven creates an Automated Multidimensional Model (AMM) which upgrades the matrix of Era six, as it accounts for all the supply chain factors (i.e. Offshoring, sourcing, risk) into an interactive system with Heuristic Learning that helps larger companies and industries to select the best SC model for their market. Methodologies: The data collection is based on a Fuzzy-Delphi study that analyses statements using Fuzzy Logic. The first round of Delphi study will contain statements (fuzzy rules) about the matrix of Era six. The second round of Delphi contains the feedback given from the first round and so on. Preliminary findings: both models are applicable, Matrix of Era six reduces the complexity of choosing the best SC model for SMEs by helping them identify the best strategy of Basic SC, Lean, Agile and Leagile SC; that’s tailored to their needs. The interactive heuristic learning in the AMM of Era seven will help mitigate error and aid large companies to identify and re-strategize the best SC model and distribution system for their market and commodity, hence increasing efficiency. Potential contributions to the literature: The problematic issue facing many companies is to decide which SC model or strategy to incorporate, due to the many models and definitions developed over the years. This research simplifies this by putting most definition in a template and most models in the Matrix of era six. This research is original as the division of SC into Eras, the Matrix of Era six (OMM) with Fuzzy-Delphi and Heuristic Learning in the AMM of Era seven provides a synergy of tools that were not combined before in the area of SC. Additionally the OMM of Era six is unique as it combines most characteristics of the SC, which is an original concept in itself.

Keywords: Leagile, automation, heuristic learning, supply chain models

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396 The Path to Ruthium: Insights into the Creation of a New Element

Authors: Goodluck Akaoma Ordu

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Ruthium (Rth) represents a theoretical superheavy element with an atomic number of 119, proposed within the context of advanced materials science and nuclear physics. The conceptualization of Rth involves theoretical frameworks that anticipate its atomic structure, including a hypothesized stable isotope, Rth-320, characterized by 119 protons and 201 neutrons. The synthesis of Ruthium (Rth) hinges on intricate nuclear fusion processes conducted in state-of-the-art particle accelerators, notably utilizing Calcium-48 (Ca-48) as a projectile nucleus and Einsteinium-253 (Es-253) as a target nucleus. These experiments aim to induce fusion reactions that yield Ruthium isotopes, such as Rth-301, accompanied by neutron emission. Theoretical predictions outline various physical and chemical properties attributed to Ruthium (Rth). It is envisaged to possess a high density, estimated at around 25 g/cm³, with melting and boiling points anticipated to be exceptionally high, approximately 4000 K and 6000 K, respectively. Chemical studies suggest potential oxidation states of +2, +3, and +4, indicating a versatile reactivity, particularly with halogens and chalcogens. The atomic structure of Ruthium (Rth) is postulated to feature an electron configuration of [Rn] 5f^14 6d^10 7s^2 7p^2, reflecting its position in the periodic table as a superheavy element. However, the creation and study of superheavy elements like Ruthium (Rth) pose significant challenges. These elements typically exhibit very short half-lives, posing difficulties in their stabilization and detection. Research efforts are focused on identifying the most stable isotopes of Ruthium (Rth) and developing advanced detection methodologies to confirm their existence and properties. Specialized detectors are essential in observing decay patterns unique to Ruthium (Rth), such as alpha decay or fission signatures, which serve as key indicators of its presence and characteristics. The potential applications of Ruthium (Rth) span across diverse technological domains, promising innovations in energy production, material strength enhancement, and sensor technology. Incorporating Ruthium (Rth) into advanced energy systems, such as the Arc Reactor concept, could potentially amplify energy output efficiencies. Similarly, integrating Ruthium (Rth) into structural materials, exemplified by projects like the NanoArc gauntlet, could bolster mechanical properties and resilience. Furthermore, Ruthium (Rth)--based sensors hold promise for achieving heightened sensitivity and performance in various sensing applications. Looking ahead, the study of Ruthium (Rth) represents a frontier in both fundamental science and applied research. It underscores the quest to expand the periodic table and explore the limits of atomic stability and reactivity. Future research directions aim to delve deeper into Ruthium (Rth)'s atomic properties under varying conditions, paving the way for innovations in nanotechnology, quantum materials, and beyond. The synthesis and characterization of Ruthium (Rth) stand as a testament to human ingenuity and technological advancement, pushing the boundaries of scientific understanding and engineering capabilities. In conclusion, Ruthium (Rth) embodies the intersection of theoretical speculation and experimental pursuit in the realm of superheavy elements. It symbolizes the relentless pursuit of scientific excellence and the potential for transformative technological breakthroughs. As research continues to unravel the mysteries of Ruthium (Rth), it holds the promise of reshaping materials science and opening new frontiers in technological innovation.

Keywords: superheavy element, nuclear fusion, bombardment, particle accelerator, nuclear physics, particle physics

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395 Residential Satisfaction and Public Perception of Socialized Housing Projects in Davao City, Philippines

Authors: Micah Amor P. Yares

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Aside from the provision of adequate housing, the Philippine government faces the challenge of ensuring that the housing units provided conform to the Filipino’s ambition to self as manifested by owning a small house on a big lot. The study aimed to explore the levels of satisfaction of end-users and the public perception towards socialized housing in Davao City, Philippines. The residential satisfaction survey includes three types of respondents, which are end-users of single-detached, duplex and rowhouse socialized housing units. Respondents were asked to rate their level of satisfaction and perception to the following housing components: Dwelling Unit; Public Facilities; Social Environment; Neighborhood Facilities; Management Systems; and Acquisition and Financing. The data were subjected to Exploratory Factor Analysis to determine if variables can be grouped together, and Confirmatory Factor Analysis to measure if the model fits the construct. In determining which component affects the level of perception and satisfaction, a Multiple Linear Regression Analysis was employed. Lastly, an Individual Samples T-Test was performed to compare the levels of satisfaction and perception among respondents. Results revealed that residents of socialized housing were highly satisfied with their living conditions despite concerns on management systems, public and neighborhood facilities. Residents' satisfaction is primarily influenced by the Social Environment, Acquisition and Financing, and the Dwelling Unit. However, a significant difference in residential satisfaction level was observed among different types of housing with rowhouse residents recording the lowest satisfaction level compared to single-detached and duplex units. Moreover, the general public perceived Socialized housing as moderately satisfactory having the same determinant as the end-users aside from the Public Facilities. This study recommends revisiting the current Socialized Housing policies by considering the feedback from the end-users based on their lived experience and the public according to their perception.

Keywords: public perception, residential satisfaction, rowhouse, socialized housing

Procedia PDF Downloads 188