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Authors: Mohammed Talib Alkiyumi

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The Sultanate of Oman is characterized by a huge musical heritage that remains mostly preserved. 142 different traditional musical genres and styles (funun) have been registered in the Sultanate. This large number is a unique phenomenon that is worthy of attention and study. These genres and styles are different from others in their origins, rhythms, melodies, poetry, dance movements, etc. Certainly, Oman is exposed to other cultures and there is a variety of ethnicities in the Sultanate; however, this musical diversity is mostly an Omani product. This paper investigates the psychological motives behind Omani musical creativity. This qualitative study is based on relevant documents, as well as an analysis of Omani performance in those genres through documentary films and direct observations. Musical genres are performed in social events such as weddings and celebrations; however, research has shown psychological motives that motivated Omani people to create these various genres, such as provocation of enthusiasm, meditation, religious motivations, poetic competition, and emotional motivation. For each motive, musical genres have been presented.

Keywords: traditional musical, creativity, musical intelligence, Sultanate of Oman

Procedia PDF Downloads 98

Authors: Habab Ahmed Hassan Abuzeid

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Organizations are social systems. If one wishes to work in them or to manage them, it is necessary to understand how they operate. Organizations combine science and people–technology and humanity. Unless we have qualified people to design and implement, techniques alone will not produce desirable results. Human behavior in organizations is rather unpredictable. It is unpredictable because it arises from people’s deep-seated needs and value systems. However, it can be partially understood in terms of the framework of behavioral science, management and other disciplines. There is no idealistic solution to organizational problems. All that can be done is to increase our understanding and skills so that human relations at work can be enhanced. In this paper, we consider management of organization behavior utilizing human resources. Study the elements of organization behavior, the effectiveness of mechanism to enhance staff relationships. Many approaches could be applied for healthy organizational environment, it’s highlighted more details in this paper. Organization behavior can raise the employees’ engagement, loyalty and commitment; to accomplish the goal.

Keywords: environment, engagement, human resources, organization behavior

Procedia PDF Downloads 360

Authors: Vivian Franco

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There has been a great deal of research about vowel production of second language learners of Spanish, vowel variation across Spanish dialects, and more recently, research related to Spanish heritage speakers’ vowel production based on speech style. However, there is little investigation reported on Spanish heritage speakers’ vowel production in regard to task modality by incorporating own comparison groups of monolinguals and late bilinguals. Thus, the present study investigates the influence of speech style on Spanish heritage speakers’ vowel production by comparing Spanish-English early and late bilinguals and Spanish monolinguals. The study was guided by the following research question: How do early bilinguals (heritage speakers) differ/relate to advanced L2 speakers of Spanish (late bilinguals) and Spanish monolinguals in their vowel quality (acoustic distribution) and quantity (duration) based on speech style? The participants were a total of 11 speakers of Spanish: 7 early Spanish-English bilinguals with a similar linguistic background (simultaneous bilinguals of the second generation); 2 advanced L2 speakers of Spanish; and 2 Spanish monolinguals from Mexico. The study consisted of two tasks. The first one adopted a semi-spontaneous style by a solicited narration of life experiences and a description of a favorite movie with the purpose to collect spontaneous speech. The second task was a reading activity in which the participants read two paragraphs of a Mexican literary essay 'La nuez.' This task aimed to obtain a more controlled speech style. From this study, it can be concluded that early bilinguals and monolinguals show a smaller formant vowel space overall compared to the late bilinguals in both speech styles. In terms of formant values by stress, the early bilinguals and the late bilinguals resembled in the semi-spontaneous speech style as their unstressed vowel space overlapped with that of the unstressed vowels different from the monolinguals who displayed a slightly reduced unstressed vowel space. For the controlled data, the early bilinguals were similar to the monolinguals as their stressed and unstressed vowel spaces overlapped in comparison to the late bilinguals who showed a more clear reduction of unstressed vowel space. In regard to stress, the monolinguals revealed longer vowel duration overall. However, findings of duration by stress showed that the early bilinguals and the monolinguals remained stable with shorter values of unstressed vowels in the semi-spontaneous data and longer duration in the controlled data when compared to the late bilinguals who displayed opposite results. These findings suggest an implication for Spanish heritage speakers and L2 Spanish vowels research as it has been frequently argued that Spanish bilinguals differ from the Spanish monolinguals by their vowel reduction and centralized vowel space influenced by English. However, some Spanish varieties are characterized by vowel reduction especially in certain phonetic contexts so that some vowels present more weakening than others. Consequently, it would not be conclusive to affirm an English influence on the Spanish of these bilinguals.

Keywords: Spanish-English bilinguals, Spanish monolinguals, spontaneous and controlled speech, vowel production.

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: Fatma Abidi, Taoufik Harizi, Slah Msahli, Faouzi Sakli

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Nine different Tunisian handmade carpets were used for the investigation. The raw material of the carpet pile yarns was wool. The influence of the different structure parameters (linear density and pile height) on the carpet compression was investigated. Carpets were tested under dynamic loading in order to evaluate and observe the thickness loss and carpet behavior under dynamic loads. To determine the loss of pile height under dynamic loading, the pile height carpets were measured. The test method was treated according to the Tunisian standard NT 12.165 (corresponds to the standard ISO 2094). The pile height measurements are taken and recorded at intervals up to 1000 impacts (measures of this study were made after 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000 impacts). The loss of pile height is calculated using the variation between the initial height and those measured after the number of reported impacts. The experimental results were statistically evaluated using Design Expert Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) software. As regards the deformation, results showed that both of the structure parameters of the pile yarn and the pile height have an influence. The carpet with the higher pile and the less linear density of pile yarn showed the worst performance. Results of a polynomial regression analysis are highlighted. There is a good correlation between the loss of pile height and the impacts number of dynamic loads. These equations are in good agreement with measured data. Because the prediction is reasonably accurate for all samples, these equations can also be taken into account when calculating the theoretical loss of pile height for the considered carpet samples. Statistical evaluations of the experimen¬tal data showed that the pile material and number of impacts have a significant effect on mean thickness and thickness loss variations.

Keywords: Tunisian handmade carpet, loss of pile height, dynamic loads, performance

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Authors: Lorena Mihelac, Janez Povh

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In 2017, we conducted a research study using data consisting of 160 musical excerpts from different musical styles, to analyze the impact of entropy of the harmony on the acceptability of music. In measuring the entropy of harmony, we were interested in unigrams (individual chords in the harmonic progression) and bigrams (the connection of two adjacent chords). In this study, it has been found that 53 musical excerpts out from 160 were evaluated by participants as very complex, although the entropy of the harmonic progression (unigrams and bigrams) was calculated as low. We have explained this by particularities of chord progression, which impact the listener's feeling of complexity and acceptability. We have evaluated the same data twice with new participants in 2018 and with the same participants for the third time in 2019. These three evaluations have shown that the same 53 musical excerpts, found to be difficult and complex in the study conducted in 2017, are exhibiting a high feeling of complexity again. It was proposed that the content of these musical excerpts, defined as “irregular,” is not meeting the listener's expectancy and the basic perceptual principles, creating a higher feeling of difficulty and complexity. As the “irregularities” in these 53 musical excerpts seem to be perceived by the participants without being aware of it, affecting the pleasantness and the feeling of complexity, they have been defined as “subliminal irregularities” and the 53 musical excerpts as “irregular.” In our recent study (2019) of the same data (used in previous research works), we have proposed a new measure of the complexity of harmony, “regularity,” based on the irregularities in the harmonic progression and other plausible particularities in the musical structure found in previous studies. We have in this study also proposed a list of 10 different particularities for which we were assuming that they are impacting the participant’s perception of complexity in harmony. These ten particularities have been tested in this paper, by extending the analysis in our 53 irregular musical excerpts from harmony to melody. In the examining of melody, we have used the computational model “Information Dynamics of Music” (IDyOM) and two information-theoretic measures: entropy - the uncertainty of the prediction before the next event is heard, and information content - the unexpectedness of an event in a sequence. In order to describe the features of melody in these musical examples, we have used four different viewpoints: pitch, interval, duration, scale degree. The results have shown that the texture of melody (e.g., multiple voices, homorhythmic structure) and structure of melody (e.g., huge interval leaps, syncopated rhythm, implied harmony in compound melodies) in these musical excerpts are impacting the participant’s perception of complexity. High information content values were found in compound melodies in which implied harmonies seem to have suggested additional harmonies, affecting the participant’s perception of the chord progression in harmony by creating a sense of an ambiguous musical structure.

Keywords: entropy and information content, harmony, subliminal (ir)regularity, IDyOM

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Authors: Sridhar Rapuru, D. Mallikarjunreddy, Rajanarendra Sai

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In this reign of the internet, the access of any multimedia file to the users at any time with a superior quality is needed. To achieve this goal, it is very important to have a good network without any interruptions between the satellites along with various earth stations. For that purpose, a high speed inter-satellite optical wireless communication system (IsOWC) is designed with space and polarization diversity techniques. IsOWC offers a high bandwidth, small size, less power requirement and affordable when compared with the present microwave satellite systems. To improve the efficiency and to reduce the propagation delay, inter-satellite link is established between the satellites. High accurate tracking systems are required to establish the reliable connection between the satellites as they have their own orbits. The only disadvantage of this IsOWC system is laser beam width is narrower than the RF because of this highly accurate tracking system to meet this requirement. The satellite uses the 'ephemerides data' for rough pointing and tracking system for fine pointing to the other satellite. In this proposed IsOWC system, laser light is used as a wireless connectedness between the source and destination and free space acts as the channel to carry the message. The proposed system will be designed, simulated and analyzed for 6000km with an improvement of data rate over previously existing systems. The performance parameters of the system are Q-factor, eye opening, bit error rate, etc., The proposed system for Inter-satellite Optical Wireless Communication System Design Using Diversity Techniques finds huge scope of applications in future generation communication purposes.

Keywords: inter-satellite optical wireless system, space and polarization diversity techniques, line of sight, bit error rate, Q-factor

Procedia PDF Downloads 263

Authors: Fameli Kyriaki-Maria, Assimakopoulos D. Vasiliki, Kotroni Vassiliki

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The Greater Athens Area (GAA) faces photochemical and particulate pollution episodes as a result of the combined effects of local pollutant emissions, regional pollution transport, synoptic circulation and topographic characteristics. The area has undergone significant changes since the Athens 2004 Olympic Games because of large scale infrastructure works that lead to the shift of population to areas previously characterized as rural, the increase of the traffic fleet and the operation of highways. However, no recent modelling studies have been performed due to the lack of an accurate, updated emission inventory. The photochemical modelling system MM5/CAMx was applied in order to study the photochemical and particulate pollution characteristics above the GAA for two distinct ten-day periods in the summer of 2006 and 2010, where air pollution episodes occurred. A new updated emission inventory was used based on official data. Comparison of modeled results with measurements revealed the importance and accuracy of the new Athens emission inventory as compared to previous modeling studies. The model managed to reproduce the local meteorological conditions, the daily ozone and particulates fluctuations at different locations across the GAA. Higher ozone levels were found at suburban and rural areas as well as over the sea at the south of the basin. Concerning PM10, high concentrations were computed at the city centre and the southeastern suburbs in agreement with measured data. Source apportionment analysis showed that different sources contribute to the ozone levels, the local sources (traffic, port activities) affecting its formation.

Keywords: photochemical modelling, urban pollution, greater Athens area, MM5/CAMx

Procedia PDF Downloads 279

Authors: Selim A., Albasher N., Bakrmom G., Alanzi S.

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Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic functional bowel disorder characterized by abdominal discomfort or pain and associated with alteration in frequency and/or form of bowel habit among other symptoms. This diagnosis is associated with increased levels of psychological distress, maladaptive coping, genetic risk factors, abnormal small and colonic intestine transit, change in stool frequency or form and abdominal discomfort or pain. Aim: The aim of the study was to assess psychological alarm among individuals suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Methods: A cross-sectional correlational research design was used to conduct the current study. A convenience sample of 504 participants was included in the present study. Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire. The questionnaire included socio-demographic data, ROME III to identify Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Psychological Alarm Questionnaire. Results: Out of 504 participants who reported abdominal discomfort, 297 (58.9 %) participants met the diagnostic criteria of IBS. The mean age of the IBS participants was 30.16 years, females composed 75.1% of the IBS participants, and 55.2% did not seek medical help. Psychological alarms such as feeling anxious, feeling depressed, having suicidal ideations, bodily pain, having impaired functioning due to pain and feeling unable to cope with pain were significantly high among IBS individuals when compared to individuals not suffering from IBS. Psychological alarms such as feeling anxious, feeling depressed, having suicidal ideations, bodily pain, having impaired functioning due to pain and feeling unable to cope with pain were significantly high among IBS individuals compared to individuals not suffering from IBS. Conclusion: IBS is highly associated with significant psychological alarms including depression, anxiety and suicidal ideas.

Keywords: abdominal pain , irritable bowel syndrome, distress, psychological alarms

Procedia PDF Downloads 184

Authors: Judith Hanke

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Due to the increase of students with reading difficulties, digital reading support with diagnostics was developed to foster the individual student's reading comprehension. The digital reading support focused on the reading comprehension of elementary school students. The digital reading packages consist of literary texts with aligned reading exercises. The number of students with German as a second language is growing in Germany. Students with multilingualism, language 1, and language 2 learn German together in school. The research's focus is on determining whether and to what extent multilingualism, language 1, and language 2 affect reading comprehension. For the methodology, an ABA design was selected for the intervention study to examine the reading support. The study was expedited from April 2023 until July 2023 and collected quantitative data of individuals, groups, and classes. It comprised a survey group (N = 58) and a control group (N = 53). The quantitative data was collected from 3 classes of 3 teachers and 47 students for all three test times. To show differences between the groups, a standardized reading comprehension test was used for the three test times, pretest, posttest, and follow-up. The standardized test consists of three subtests regarding word comprehension, sentence comprehension, and text comprehension. The main findings include that students who spoke German as their first language had the best test scores. Interestingly, students with a different language had better testing scores than students with German as the first language and (an) other language/s. Also, the students with another language outperformed the native language speakers in one of the subtests of the post-testing. The variables of spoken language at home and German as a second language were also examined and correlated with the test results. One significant correlation was found between spoken language at home and the text comprehension test of the pretesting. Additionally, the variable German as a second language had multiple significant correlations in the pretest, posttest and follow-up. The study's significance is to understand the influence of several languages, language 1, and language 2, on reading comprehension.

Keywords: multilingualism, language 1, language 2, reading comprehension, second language

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Authors: Charlotte Bose Iro-Idoro, Adebisi Folake Osore, Tajudeen Adisa Jimoh

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All changes in the office environment were and are still driven by advances in technology. The impact of computers on office work has resulted in numerous changes in office activities, procedures and the expectations from office managers and secretaries. This study investigated the level of knowledge and use of computer office application packages by secretaries and office managers in higher educational institutions in Ogun State and the implications of these on their performance enhancement. The study is an ex post facto research and adopted the survey design for the collection of data. Two hypotheses were formulated, and a questionnaire was developed and tested at 0.05 level of significance. All office managers and secretaries in the service of higher educational institutions in Ogun State, Nigeria formed the population of the study. The study was limited to federal institutions and a total of 120 office managers/secretaries were selected to form the sample such that 40 office managers/secretaries were randomly selected from each of the three Federal higher institutions in the State, that is Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro and Federal College of Education, Osiele, Abeokuta, Ogun State. Analysis of data and hypotheses tests were carried out with frequency counts, percentage and T-Test. The result indicated varying levels of awareness on office application tools with limited knowledge and use of computer application packages by office managers/secretaries. The results also showed that good knowledge and high use of office application tools enhance performance of office managers/secretaries. The study recommended that there should be maximum institutional resources and support and personal development on the part of the office managers to ensure update knowledge and maximal use of office application tools by office managers/secretaries.

Keywords: application packages, computer, office managers, performance enhancement

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Kelechi E. Ezeji

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The inclusion of relevant content in curricula of architecture schools is vital for attainment of Computer Aided Design (CAD) proficiency by graduates. Implementing this content involves, among other variables, the presence of competent tutors. Consequently, this study sought to investigate the importance of personnel recruitment for inclusion of content vital to the implementation of CAD in the curriculum for architecture education. This was with a view to developing a framework for appropriate implementation of CAD curriculum. It was focused on departments of architecture in universities in south-east Nigeria which have been accredited by National Universities Commission. Survey research design was employed. Data were obtained from sources within the study area using questionnaires, personal interviews, physical observation/enumeration and examination of institutional documents. A multi-stage stratified random sampling method was adopted. The first stage of stratification involved random sampling by balloting of the departments. The second stage involved obtaining respondents’ population from the number of staff and students of sample population. Chi Square analysis tool for nominal variables and Pearson’s product moment correlation test for interval variables were used for data analysis. With ρ < 0.5, the study found significant correlation between the number of CAD literate academic staff and use of CAD in design studio/assignments; that increase in the overall number of teaching staff significantly affected total CAD credit units in the curriculum of the department. The implications of these findings were that for successful implementation leading to attainment of CAD proficiency to occur, CAD-literacy should be a factor in the recruitment of staff and a policy of in-house training should be pursued.

Keywords: computer-aided design, education, personnel recruitment, curriculum

Procedia PDF Downloads 202

Authors: Suleh Yusufu Godi, Ado Makama Adamu

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Marketing involves all the legal, physical, and economic services which are necessary in moving products from producer to consumers. The more efficient the marketing functions are performed the better the marketing system for the farmers, marketing agents, and the society at large. Rice marketing ensures the flow of product from producers to consumers in the form, time and place of need. Therefore, this study examined profitability of milled rice marketing in Gombe metropolis, Gombe State. Data were collected using structured questionnaires from ninety randomly selected rice marketers in Gombe metropolis. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, farm budget technique and regression analysis. The study revealed the total rice marketing cost incurred by rice marketers to be N6, 610,214.70. This gave an average of N73, 446.83 per marketer and N37.30 per Kilogram of rice. The Gross Income for rice marketers in Gombe metropolis was N15, 064,600.00. This value gave an average of N167, 384.44 per rice marketer or N85.00 per kilogram of rice. The study also revealed net income for all rice marketers to be N8, 454,385.30. This gave an average of N93, 937.61 per rice marketer or N47.70 per Kilogram of rice. The study further revealed a marketing margin, marketing efficiency and return per naira invested on rice marketing to be 39.30%, 150.16% and N0.56, respectively. The result of regression analysis shows that age, sex and cost of transportation are positive and significantly affect marketing margin of rice marketers in Gombe Metropolis. However, the main constraints to rice marketing in Gombe metropolis include inadequate electricity, capital, high transportation cost, instability of prices and low patronage among others. The study recommends provision of adequate electrical power supply in the State especially the State capital and also encouraging rice marketers in Gombe metropolis to form cooperative societies so as to have easy access to credit facilities especially from the formal sources.

Keywords: rice marketers, milled rice, cost and return, marketing margin, efficiency, profitability

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Kaleem Ullah, Abd Halid Bin Abdullah

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This study examines previous literature on cost overrun in construction projects with the specific aim of determining the frequently observed causes of cost overruns in Malaysian construction projects. Cost overrun is one of the major problems in construction projects. Cost overrun is frequently observed in almost every construction projects. This cost overrun in construction projects occurs due to various reasons and many researchers have carried out various studies to identify the cause factors of this issue. The causes of construction cost overrun could vary from country to country because of the difference in political, economic, social and environmental conditions. Likewise, other countries construction projects in Malaysia have also the issue of cost overrun. The concept of cost overrun in construction projects has attracted much attention in recent years and researches are trying to understand the causes of these overruns and their effects to the construction industry as whole. This paper review various research studies carried out in Malaysia which surveyed the cost performance and cause factors of cost overruns in construction projects in Malaysia.

Keywords: cause of cost overrun, cost overrun, construction industry in Malaysia, effects of cost overrun

Procedia PDF Downloads 277

Authors: Christopher Webb

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This work presents a new model of mentoring in an organizational environment and has important implications for both practice and research, the model frames the organizational environment as organizational curriculum, which includes the elements that affect learning within the organization. This includes the organizational structure and culture, roles within the organization, and accessibility of knowledge. The program curriculum includes the elements of the mentoring program, including materials, training, and scheduled events for the program participants. The term dyadic curriculum is coined in this work. The dyadic curriculum describes the participation, behavior, and identities of the pairs participating in mentorships. This also includes the identity work of the participants and their views of each other. Much of this curriculum is unprescribed and is unique within each dyad. It describes how participants mediate the elements of organizational and program curricula. These three curricula interact and affect each other in predictable ways. A detailed example of a mentoring program framed in this model is provided.

Keywords: curriculum, mentoring, organizational learning and development, social learning

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Authors: Sookbin Im, Myounglyun Heo

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This study aims at analyzing composition and effects of the preliminary intervention to promote resiliency of children whose parents suffer mental illness, and considerations according to the program, and developing the resiliency promotion program for children of psychiatric patients. For participants of preliminary intervention, they were recruited through a community mental health and social welfare center in a city, and there were 10 children (eight girls and two boys) who are from second to five graders in elementary school, and whose parents suffer schizophrenia, depression, or alcoholism, etc. The program was conducted in the seminar room of the community mental illness and social welfare center from October to December 2015 and from July to September 2016. The elements of resiliency were figured out by reviewing the literature. And therapeutic activities to promote resiliency was composed, and total twice, 8 sessions(two hours, once a week) were applied. Each session consisted of playgroup activities, art activities, and role-playing with feedback for achieving goals to promote self-awareness, self-efficacy, positive outlook, ability to solve problems, empathy for others, peer group acceptance, having goals and aspirations, and assertiveness. In addition, auxiliary managers as many as children played a role as mentor and role model, and children's behaviors were collected by participatory observation. As a result of the study, four children quit the program because the schedules of their own school programs were overlapped with it. Therefore, six children completed the program. Children who completed it became active, positive, decreased compulsive actions, and increased self-expressions. The participants reacted the 8-session program is too short and regretted about it. However, recruiting the participants were difficult, and too distracting children caused negative influences in the group activities. Based on the results, the program was developed as follows: The program would consist of total 11 sessions, and the first eight sessions would be made of plays, art activities, role-plays, and presentations for promoting self-understanding, improving positiveness, providing meaning for experiences, emotional control, and interpersonal relations. In order to balance various contents, methods such as structuring environments, storytelling, emotional coaching, and group feedback would be applied, and the ninth to eleventh sessions would be booster sessions consisting of optional activities for children. This program is for children who attend school with active linguistic communications and interactions with peers. Especially, considering that effective development starts at around 10 years old, it would be for children who are third and fourth graders in elementary school. These result showed that this program was useful for improving the key elements of resiliency such as positive thinking or impulse control. It is suggested the necessary of resiliency promoting program model and practical guidance with comprehensive measuring methods(narratives, drawing, self-reported questionnaire, behavioral observation). Also, it is necessary to make a training program for the coaches or leaders to operate this program to spread out for child health.

Keywords: children, mental, parents, resilience

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Authors: Janaína F. Guidolini, Jean P. H. B. Ometto, Angélica Giarolla, Peter M. Toledo, Carlos A. Valera

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The water crisis, a major problem of the 21^st century, occurs mainly due to poor management. The central issue that should govern the management is the integration of the various aspects that interfere with the use of water resources and their protection, supported by legal basis. A watershed is a unit of water interacting with the physical, biotic, social, economic and cultural variables. The Brazilian law recognized river basin as the territorial management unit. Based on the diagnosis of the current situation of the water resources of the Rio Grande Basin, a discussion informed in the Brazilian legal basis was made to propose measures to fight or mitigate damages and environmental degradation in the Basin. To manage water resources more efficiently, conserve water and optimize their multiple uses, the integration of acquired scientific knowledge and management is essential. Moreover, it is necessary to monitor compliance with environmental legislation.

Keywords: conservation of soil and water, environmental laws, river basin, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 275

Authors: Adrita Banerjee, Ajeet Kumar Singh

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Antenatal care (ANC) from a skilled provider is important to monitor the pregnancy and reduce the risk of morbidity for mother and baby during pregnancy and delivery. The quality of antenatal care can be monitored through the content of services received and the kind of information mothers are given during their visit. Objective: The paper tries to examine the association between ANC check-ups and size/ birth weight. It also focuses on investigating the relationship between utilization of recommended prenatal care for mothers and its effect on infant survival in Nepal. Data and methods: This paper uses data from Nepal demographic Health Survey 2011. To understand the relationship bi-variate statistical analysis and logistic regressions has been done. Maternal health care utilization include ANC check-ups i.e. the type of ante-natal care providers, the number and timing of the visit. The various components of the check-ups include intake of iron tablets/syrups, intestinal parasitic drugs, etc. Results: The results show that women who had no antenatal care visits about 40% had small sized babies at the time of birth compared to women to had at least 3 ANC check up. Women who had at least 3 check-ups 17% of the babies have a small size. It has also been found that about 50 % of the women prefer ANC check-ups during pregnancies which have resulted in lowering the infant mortality by about 40% during 1996-2011. Conclusion: Ante natal care check is care and monitoring of the pregnant woman and her foetus throughout pregnancy. ANC checks have an effect on the infant health and child survival. A woman who had at least three check-ups the possibilities of adverse effect on infant health and infant survival was significantly lower. The findings argue for a more enhanced focus on ANC check-ups for improving the maternal and child health in Nepal.

Keywords: maternal, health, pregnancy, outcome

Procedia PDF Downloads 235

Authors: M. S. Hasni, J. Guan, K. Yakimchuk, M. Berglund, B. Sander, G. Enblad, R. M. Amini, S. Okret

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Lymphomas are generally not considered as endocrine-related cancers. However, most lymphoid malignancies show gender differences in incidence and show prognosis with males being more affected. Furthermore, some epidemiological data indicate a protective role of estrogens against Non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Recent studies have demonstrated estrogen receptor β (ERβ) to be the major ER expressed in normal and malignant cells of lymphoid origin. We have analyzed the effects of estradiol and selective ERα and ERβ agonists on lymphoma growth in culture and in vivo. Treating lymphoma cells with estradiol or ERα selective agonist had minor or no effect on cell growth while selective ERβ agonist treatment showed an antiproliferative effect. When grafting mice with murine T lymphoma cells, male mice developed larger tumors compared to female mice, a difference that was abolished following ovariectomy, demonstrating estrogen-dependent growth in vivo. When subcutaneously grafting lymphoma cells to mice, so far growth of all tested human B lymphoma tumors (Raji and Ramos Burkitt lymphoma, SU.DHL4 (GC) and U2932 (ABC) DLBCL, Granta-519, Maver1 and Z138 MCL cells), were reduced following treatment with ERβ selective agonist (ref. 2 and unpublished). Moreover, the number and size of liver foci of disseminating Raji cells was reduced. We have identified target genes and mechanism that could explain the above effects of ERβ agonists. This included effects on angio and lymphangiogenesis. Now we have further analyzed effects of ERβ agonists on Ibrutinib-sensitive and -insensitive MCL cells in xenograft experiments as well as ERβ expression in primary lymphoma material (DLBCL). Preliminary statistical analysis has been done correlating ERβ expression to other biomarkers and clinical data.

Keywords: lymphomas, estrogen receptors, cancer, liver foci

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Authors: Abdullah Almulhim

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The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) was established in 2001 to develop International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) that bring transparency, accountability, and efficiency to financial markets around the world. In addition, the IFRS provide a unified accounting language, which is especially important in the era of globalization. However, the establishment of a single set of high-quality international accounting standards is a matter of growing importance, as participants in the increasingly integrated world capital market demand comparability and transparency of financial reporting worldwide. Saudi Arabia became the 149th member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 11 December 2005, which has increased the need to convert to IFRS. Currently, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) requires banks and insurance companies in Saudi Arabia to report under IFRS Standards. However, until the end of 2016, SOCPA standards were applied to all other companies, listed and unlisted. From 2017, listed Saudi companies would be required to report under IFRS Standards as adopted by SOCPA effective 2017. This paper is to investigate the expected benefits gained and highlight the challenges faced by adopting IFRS by the listed companies in the Saudi Stock Exchange. Questionnaires were used as the main method of data collection. They were distributed to listed companies in the Saudi Capital Market. Data obtained through the questionnaires have been imported into SPSS statistical software for analysis. The expected results of this study will show the benefits of adopting IFRS by Saudi Listed Companies. However, this study will investigate the challenges faced by adopting IFRS by the listed companies in the Saudi Arabian Stock Market. Findings will be discussed later upon completion of initial analysis.

Keywords: challenges, IAS, IFRS, opportunities, Saudi, SOCPA

Procedia PDF Downloads 243

Authors: Kenneth Lee

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During Buddha’s time in the 5th century BCE, the Indian society was organized by a social stratification system called “the caste system” (Skt. varna), which still exists today. The origination of the caste system can be traced back to 1500 BCE within the ancient Vedic texts of the Aryans, the Indo-European nomadic people who migrated and settled in the Indus Valley region. However, the four-tiered hierarchical nature of the caste system created inequality, privilege, and discrimination based on hereditary transmission. After renouncing his royal status as a prince, Siddhartha Gautama spent six years in the forest, practiced austerities, mastered meditation, and eventually realized enlightenment. Thereupon, now referred to as “Shakyamuni Buddha” or “sage from the tribe of Shakya who has become awake,” the Buddha founded the Sangha, a community of monks, nuns, and lay followers, where everyone was equal and treated equally. After providing a brief overview of Buddha’s time, this talk will examine Buddha’s Dharma or teachings on equality and his creation of the Sangha as “society within a society, which had a dissolving effect on society.

Keywords: equality, women, buddhism, discrimination

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Authors: Prashant Gupta

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Throughout India, temples have served as cultural centers, commerce hubs, art galleries, educational institutions, and social centers in addition to being places of worship since centuries. Across the country, there are over two million temples, which are crucial economic hubs, attracting devotees and tourists worldwide. In India, we have 53 temples per each 100,000 Indians. As per NSSO survey, the temple economy is worth about $40 billion and 2.32 per cent of GDP based on major temple’s survey, which only includes formal sector. It could be much larger as an actual estimation has not been done yet. In India, 43.1% of total economy represents informal sector. Over 10 billion domestic tourists visit to new destinations every year within India. Even 20 per cent of the 90 million foreign tourists visited Madurai and Mahabalipuram temples which became the most visited tourist spot in 2022. Recently the current central government in power have started revitalizing the ancient Indian civilization by reconstructing and beautifying the major temples of India i.e., Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, Mahakaleshwara Temple, Kedarnath, Ayodhya etc. The reason researcher chose Kashi as a case study because it is known as a Spiritual Capital of India, which is also the abode for the spread of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikkism, which are core Sanatan Dharmic practices. 17,800 Million INR Amount was spend to redevelop Kashi Vishwanath Corridor since 2019. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 1. To assess historical contribution of temples in socio economic development and revival of Indic Civilization. 2. To examine the role of temples redevelopment for informal sector businesses. 3. To identify the sub-sectors of informal sector businesses 4. To identify products and services of informal businesses for investigation of marketing strategies and business development. PROPOSED METHODS AND PROCEDURES This study will follow a mixed approach, employing both qualitative and quantitative methods of research. To conduct the study, data will be collected from 500 informal business owners through structured questionnaire and interview instruments. The informal business owners will be selected using a systematic random sampling technique. In addition, documents from government offices of the last 10 years of tax collection will be reviewed to substantiate the study. To analyze the study, descriptive and econometric analysis techniques will be employed. EXPECTED CONTRIBUTION OF THE PROPOSED STUDY By studying the contribution of temple re-development on informal business creation and growth, the study will be beneficial to the informal business owners and the government. For the government, scientific and empirical evidence on the contribution of temple re-development for informal business creation and growth to give evidence the study will give based infrastructural development and boosting tax collection. For informal businesses, the study will give them a detailed insight on the nature of their business and the possible future growth potential of their business, and the alternative products and services supplying to their customers in the future. Studying informal businesses will help to identify the key products and services which are majorly profitable and possess potential to multiply and grow through correct product marketing strategies and business development.

Keywords: business development, informal sector businesses, services and products marketing, temple economics

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Authors: Suheyla Saritas

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No matter who we are or where we live, our lives revolve around food, which is much more than a merely sustenance. As a part of the human culture, food carries complex significance and symbolic meanings. Turkish people attribute great value to food and its usage specifically tied to rites of passages of human life. Traditions, especially the ones practiced during rites of passages, such as birth, circumcisions, weddings and funerals, have always been accompanied by food in Turkish culture. Since food celebrates and symbolizes human progress in life in the culture, it also surrounds by aspects of belief, custom, magic, ritual and religion and has always been used in ceremonial context during such rites. Even though that context may be different depending on the religious, economic and social nuances of the various Turkish regions, like wheat, meat and bread, certain kinds of food play key roles during Turkish rites, generally upholding traditions. This paper highlights the sociocultural aspect of food in the rites of passages in the Turkish culture. The importance of this work also is how the ceremonial food represents the identity of Turkish people.

Keywords: food, culture, rites of passages, ritual and identity

Procedia PDF Downloads 423

Authors: Ahmed Tawfik, Fausto Giunchiglia, Vincenzo Maltese

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Ontologies provide a common understanding of a specific domain of interest that can be communicated between people and used as background knowledge for automated reasoning in a wide range of applications. In this paper we address the design of multilingual ontologies following well-defined knowledge engineering methodologies with the support of novel collaborative development approaches. In particular, we present a collaborative platform which allows ontologies to be developed incrementally in multiple languages. This is made possible via an appropriate mapping between language independent concepts and one lexicalization per language (or a lexical gap in case such lexicalization does not exist). The collaborative platform has been designed to support the development of the Universal Knowledge Core, a multilingual ontology currently in English, Italian, Chinese, Mongolian, Hindi, and Bangladeshi. Its design follows a workflow-based development methodology that models resources as a set of collaborative objects and assigns customizable workflows to build and maintain each collaborative object in a community driven manner, with extensive support of modern web 2.0 social and collaborative features.

Keywords: knowledge diversity, knowledge representation, ontology, development

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Authors: Lia Matchavariani

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Water reservoir construction on the rivers flowing into the sea complicates the coast protection, seashore starts to degrade causing coast erosion and disaster on the backdrop of current climate change. The instruments of the impact of a water reservoir on the climate and coastal areas are its contact surface with the atmosphere and the area irrigated with its water or humidified with infiltrated waters. The Black Sea coastline is characterized by the highest ecological vulnerability. The type and intensity of the water reservoir impact are determined by its morphometry, type of regulation, level regime, and geomorphological and geological characteristics of the adjoining area. Studies showed the impact of the water reservoir on the climate, on its comfort parameters is positive if it is located in the zone of insufficient humidity and vice versa, is negative if the water reservoir is found in the zone with abundant humidity. There are many natural and anthropogenic factors determining the peculiarities of the impact of the water reservoir on the climate, which can be assessed with maximum accuracy by the so-called “long series” method, which operates on the meteorological elements (temperature, wind, precipitations, etc.) with the long series formed with the stationary observation data. This is the time series, which consists of two periods with statistically sufficient duration. The first period covers the observations up to the formation of the water reservoir and another period covers the observations accomplished during its operation. If no such data are available, or their series is statistically short, “an analog” method is used. Such an analog water reservoir is selected based on the similarity of the environmental conditions. It must be located within the zone of the designed water reservoir, under similar environmental conditions, and besides, a sufficient number of observations accomplished in its coastal zone.

Keywords: coast-constituent sediment, eustasy, meteorological parameters, seashore degradation, water reservoirs impact

Procedia PDF Downloads 41

Authors: Mahdiyeh Zafaranchi, Ethan S. Cantor, William T. Riddell, Jess W. Everett

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The New Jersey Department of Military and Veteran’s Affairs (NJ DMAVA) operates over 50 facilities throughout the state of New Jersey, U.S. NJDMAVA is under a mandate to move toward decarbonization, which will eventually include eliminating the use of natural gas and other fossil fuels for heating. At the same time, the organization requires increased resiliency regarding electric grid disruption. These competing goals necessitate adopting the use of on-site renewables such as photovoltaic and geothermal power, as well as implementing power control strategies through microgrids. Planning for these changes requires a detailed understanding of current and future electricity use on yearly, monthly, and shorter time scales, as well as a breakdown of consumption by heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment. This paper discusses case studies of two buildings that were simulated using the QUick Energy Simulation Tool (eQUEST). Both buildings use electricity from the grid and photovoltaics. One building also uses natural gas. While electricity use data are available in hourly intervals and natural gas data are available in monthly intervals, the simulations were developed using monthly and yearly totals. This approach was chosen to reflect the information available for most NJ DMAVA facilities. Once completed, simulation results are compared to metrics recommended by several organizations to validate energy use simulations. In addition to yearly and monthly totals, the simulated peak demands are compared to actual monthly peak demand values. The simulations resulted in monthly peak demand values that were within 30% of the measured values. These benchmarks will help to assess future energy planning efforts for NJ DMAVA.

Keywords: building energy modeling, eQUEST, peak demand, smart meters

Procedia PDF Downloads 61

Authors: H. Hakim, C. Kibert, C. Fabre, S. Monadizadeh

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Construction industry is an industry saddled with chronic problems of high waste generation. Waste management that is to ensure materials are utilized in an efficient manner would make a major contribution to mitigating the negative environmental impacts of construction waste including finite resources depletion and growing occupied landfill areas to name a few. Furthermore, ‘material resource efficiency’ has been found an economically smart approach specially when considered during the design phase. One effective strategy is to utilizing off-site construction process which includes a series of prefabricated systems such as mobile, modular, and HUD construction (Department of Housing and Urban Development manufactured buildings). These types of buildings are by nature material and resource-efficient. Despite conventional construction that is exposed to adverse weather conditions, manufactured construction production line is capable of creating repetitive units in a factory controlled environment. A factory can have several parallel projects underway with a high speed and in a timely manner which simplifies the storage of excess materials and re-allocating to the next projects. The literature reports that prefabricated construction significantly helps reduce errors, site theft, rework, and delayed problems and can ultimately lead to a considerable waste reduction. However, there is not sufficient data to quantify this reduction when it comes to a regular modular house in the U.S. Therefore, this manuscript aims to provide an analysis of waste originated from a manufactured factory trend. The analysis was made possible with several visits and data collection of Homes of Merits, a Florida Manufactured and Modular Homebuilder. The results quantify and verify a noticeable construction waste reduction.

Keywords: construction waste, modular construction, prefabricated buildings, waste management

Procedia PDF Downloads 261

Authors: Abdallah Touaibia, Nachida Kasbadji Merzouk, Mustapha Merzouk, Ryma Belarbi

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accuracy assessment and a better understand of the wind resource distribution are the most important tasks for decision making before installing wind energy operating systems in a given region, there where our interest come to the Algerian coastline and its Mediterranean sea area. Despite its large coastline overlooking the border of Mediterranean Sea, there is still no strategy encouraging the development of offshore wind farms in Algerian waters. The present work aims to estimate the offshore wind fields for the Algerian Mediterranean Sea based on wind data measurements ranging from 1995 to 2018 provided of 24 years of measurement by seven observation stations focusing on three coastline cities in Algeria under a different measurement time step recorded from 30 min, 60 min, and 180 min variate from one to each other, two stations in Spain, two other ones in Italy and three in the coast of Algeria from the east Annaba, at the center Algiers, and to Oran taken place at the west of it. The idea behind consists to have multiple measurement points that helping to characterize this area in terms of wind potential by the use of interpolation method of their average wind speed values between these available data to achieve the approximate values of others locations where aren’t any available measurement because of the difficulties against the implementation of masts within the deep depth water. This study is organized as follow: first, a brief description of the studied area and its climatic characteristics were done. After that, the statistical properties of the recorded data were checked by evaluating wind histograms, direction roses, and average speeds using MatLab programs. Finally, ArcGIS and MapInfo soft-wares were used to establish offshore wind maps for better understanding the wind resource distribution, as well as to identify windy sites for wind farm installation and power management. The study pointed out that Cap Carbonara is the windiest site with an average wind speed of 7.26 m/s at 10 m, inducing a power density of 902 W/m², then the site of Cap Caccia with 4.88 m/s inducing a power density of 282 W/m². The average wind speed of 4.83 m/s is occurred for the site of Oran, inducing a power density of 230 W/m². The results indicated also that the dominant wind direction where the frequencies are highest for the site of Cap Carbonara is the West with 34%, an average wind speed of 9.49 m/s, and a power density of 1722 W/m². Then comes the site of Cap Caccia, where the prevailing wind direction is the North-west, about 20% and 5.82 m/s occurring a power density of 452 W/m². The site of Oran comes in third place with the North dominant direction with 32% inducing an average wind speed of 4.59 m/s and power density of 189 W/m². It also shown that the proposed method is either crucial in understanding wind resource distribution for revealing windy sites over a large area and more effective for wind turbines micro-siting.

Keywords: wind ressources, mediterranean sea, offshore, arcGIS, mapInfo, wind maps, wind farms

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Authors: Larry Turkish

Abstract:

Introduction: The NBA is an example of mediocrity and this will be evident in the following paper. The study examines and evaluates the characteristics of the NBA champions. As divisions and playoff teams increase, there is an increase in the probability that the champion originates from the mediocre category. Since it’s inception in 1947, the league has been mediocre and continues to this day. Why does a professional league allow any team with a less than 50% winning percentage into the playoffs? As long as the finances flow into the league, owners will not change the current algorithm. The objective of this paper is to determine if the regular season has meaning in finding an NBA champion. Statistical Analysis: The data originates from the NBA website. The following variables are part of the statistical analysis: Rank, the rank of a team relative to other teams in the league based on the regular season win-loss record; Winning Percentage of a team based on the regular season; Divisions, the number of divisions within the league and Playoff Teams, the number of playoff teams relative to a particular season. The following statistical applications are applied to the data: Pearson Product-Moment Correlation, Analysis of Variance, Factor and Regression analysis. Conclusion: The results indicate that the divisional structure and number of playoff teams results in a negative effect on the winning percentage of playoff teams. It also prevents teams with higher winning percentages from accessing the playoffs. Recommendations: 1. Teams that have a winning percentage greater than 1 standard deviation from the mean from the regular season will have access to playoffs. (Eliminates mediocre teams.) 2. Eliminate Divisions (Eliminates weaker teams from access to playoffs.) 3. Eliminate Conferences (Eliminates weaker teams from access to the playoffs.) 4. Have a balanced regular season schedule, (Reduces the number of regular season games, creates equilibrium, reduces bias) that will reduce the need for load management.

Keywords: alignment, mediocrity, regression, z-score

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: Gholizadeh F. F., Goldansaz S. H., Bandani A. R., A. Ashouri

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This study aimed to investigate the direct effects of increasing carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration on the behavior of Bombus terrestris bumblebees in laboratory conditions to understand the outcomes of the augmentation of this gas in the Earth's atmosphere on the decline of populations of these pollinators. Learning and memory duration of bumblebees were evaluated as two main behavioral factors in social insects at different concentrations of CO₂. In both series of experiments, the behavior of bees under the influence of CO₂ changes compared to the control. Insects kept at high CO₂ concentrations learn less than control bees and spend more time identifying and navigating to discover their food source and access time (nectar consumption). These results showed that bees maybe lose some of their food resources due to poorer identification and act weaker on searching due to less memory and avoiding the enemy in higher CO₂ concentration. Therefore, CO₂ increasing concentration can be one of the reasons for the decline of these pollinating insects' populations by negatively affecting their fitness.

Keywords: Bombus terrestris, CO₂, learning, memory duration

Procedia PDF Downloads 173

Authors: Shahna K. C., Belay Menon, Taniya Joshua

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As globalization in the era progresses, spatial inequality is turned to be one of the major concerns; the main intent of the Study is to focus on if there is any interdependencies of culture economy and resource availability on creating spatial inequality in cities. The paper tries to establish the relationship between spatial inequality – the quality of life – the DETERMINANT TRIAD (culture, economy, resource availability). Slum area of Dharavi is taken to evaluate the influence of these determinants on the quality of life as spatial inequality is evident there. Interdependencies of the determinants on creating spatial inequality is evaluated. For this, It is understood that these three parameters, i.e., culture, economy, resource availability, are determinants of urban design, each from the social, economic, environmental domains of sustainability, respectively. And there are studies individually on each of these aspects, how they determine the urban spaces, and how influential on the whole process of urbanization. Now extending the study towards the interdependencies of these three so as to find out how these trilogy shapes the urban form and space.

Keywords: spatial inequality, culture, economy, resource availability, quality of life

Procedia PDF Downloads 206