Search results for: Management Information Systems (MIS)

Authors: Razak Zakariya, Fazliana Mustajap, Lenny Sharinee Sakai

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A sediment map is quite important in the marine environment. The sediment itself contains thousands of information that can be used for other research. This study was conducted by using a multibeam echo sounder Reson T20 on 15 August 2020 at the Karang Sela (coral reef area) at Pulau Bidong. The study aims to identify the sediment type around the coral reef by using bathymetry and backscatter data. The sediment in the study area was collected as ground truthing data to verify the classification of the seabed. A dry sieving method was used to analyze the sediment sample by using a sieve shaker. PDS 2000 software was used for data acquisition, and Qimera QPS version 2.4.5 was used for processing the bathymetry data. Meanwhile, FMGT QPS version 7.10 processes the backscatter data. Then, backscatter data were analyzed by using the maximum likelihood classification tool in ArcGIS version 10.8 software. The result identified three types of sediments around the coral which were very coarse sand, coarse sand, and medium sand.

Keywords: sediment type, MBES echo sounder, backscatter, ArcGIS

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Authors: Ahmed Mateen, Zhu Qingsheng, Faisal Shahzad

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Requirement Engineering (RE) is a part being created for programming structure during the software development lifecycle. Software product line development is a new topic area within the domain of software engineering. It also plays important role in decision making and it is ultimately helpful in rising business environment for productive programming headway. Decisions are central to engineering processes and they hold them together. It is argued that better decisions will lead to better engineering. To achieve better decisions requires that they are understood in detail. In order to address the issues, companies are moving towards Software Product Line Engineering (SPLE) which helps in providing large varieties of products with minimum development effort and cost. This paper proposed a new framework for software product line and compared with other models. The results can help to understand the needs in SPL testing, by identifying points that still require additional investigation. In our future scenario, we will combine this model in a controlled environment with industrial SPL projects which will be the new horizon for SPL process management testing strategies.

Keywords: requirements engineering, software product lines, scoping, process structure, domain specific language

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Authors: Tewelde Gebresslase Haile, S. P. Singh

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To bridge the existing knowledge gap on public intervention implementations, this study estimates the impact of social protection intervention (SPI) on alleviating social vulnerability. Following a multi-stage sampling, primary information was gathered through a self-administered questionnaire, FGD, and interviews from the target households located at four systematically selected districts of Tigrai, Ethiopia. Factor analysis and Propensity Score Matching are applied to construct Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) and measuring the counterfactual impact of selected intervention. As a multidimensional challenge, social vulnerability is found as an important concept used to guide policy evaluation. Accessibility of basic services of Social Affairs, Agriculture, Health and Education sectors, and Food Security Program are commonly used as SPIs. Finally, this study discovers that the households who had access to SPI have scored 9.65% lower SVI than in the absence of the intervention. Finally, this study suggests the provision of integrated, proactive, productive, and evidence-based SPIs to alleviate social vulnerability.

Keywords: social protection, livelihood assets, social vulnerability, public policy SVI

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Authors: Lama Yaseen, Nourah Al-Hosain

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A Multi-modal system in urban mobility is an essential framework for an optimized urban transport network. Many cities are still heavily dependent on vehicle transportation, dominantly using conventional fuel-based cars for daily travel. With the reliance on motorized vehicles in large cities such as Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, traffic congestion is eminent, which ultimately results in an increase in road emissions and loss of time. Saudi Arabia plans to undergo a massive transformation in mobility infrastructure and urban greening projects, including introducing public transport and other massive urban greening infrastructures that enable alternative mobility options. This paper uses a Geographic Information System (GIS) approach that analyzes the accessibility of current and planned public transport stations and how they intertwine with massive urban greening projects that may play a role as an enabler of micro-mobility and walk-ability options in the city.

Keywords: urban development, urban mobility, sustainable mobility, Middle East

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Authors: Olga Lasaga, Carmen Parra

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Within the EU 'New Skills for New Jobs' initiative, the art and music sector is considered one of the most vulnerable. Its graduates are faced with the threat of the dole or of not finding work in the sector in which they trained. In this regard, an increasing number of students are graduating every year from European Conservatories and Fine Arts Centres, while the number of job opportunities in this sector has stagnated or decreased. Moreover, the traditional teaching of these institutes does not favour the acquisition of basic skills, such as team building, entrepreneurship, marketing, website design and the design of events, which are among the most important facets of project management and are precisely those aspects that are often most related to the improvement of employability in the art world. To remedy this situation, the results of the European Erasmus+ OMEGA project (Opening More Employment Gates for Art and Music Students) are presented. The OMEGA project aims to increase the employability of art and music students by equipping them with additional skills needed for the search for work. As a result of this project, a manual has been created, a pilot course has been designed and taught, and a comparative study has been conducted on the state of play of the participating countries.

Keywords: artists, employability, entrepreneurship, musicians, skills

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Authors: Phenphak Horadee, Rodchares Hanrinth, Saithip Suttiruksa

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Inappropriate use of antibiotics has happened in several hospitals, Thailand. Drug use evaluation (DUE) is one strategy to overcome this difficulty. However, most community hospitals still encounter incomplete evaluation resulting overuse of antibiotics with high cost. Consequently, drug-resistant bacteria have been rising due to inappropriate antibiotic use. The aim of this study was to involve stakeholders in conceptualizing, developing, and prioritizing a feasible intervention strategy to promote and support appropriate antibiotic prescribing in a community hospital, Thailand. Study antibiotics included four antibiotics such as Meropenem, Piperacillin/tazobactam, Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, and Vancomycin. The study was conducted for the 1-year period between March 1, 2018, and March 31, 2019, in a community hospital in the northeastern part of Thailand. Concept mapping was used in a purposive sample, including doctors (one was an administrator), pharmacists, and nurses who involving drug use evaluation of antibiotics. In-depth interviews for each participant and survey research were conducted to seek the problems for inappropriate use of antibiotics based on drug use evaluation system. Seventy-seven percent of DUE reported appropriate antibiotic prescribing, which still did not reach the goal of 80 percent appropriateness. Meropenem led other antibiotics for inappropriate prescribing. The causes of the unsuccessful DUE program were classified into three themes such as personnel, lack of public relation and communication, and unsupported policy and impractical regulations. During the first meeting, stakeholders (n = 21) expressed the generation of interventions. During the second meeting, participants who were almost the same group of people in the first meeting (n = 21) were requested to independently rate the feasibility and importance of each idea and to categorize them into relevant clusters to facilitate multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis. The outputs of analysis included the idealist, cluster list, point map, point rating map, cluster map, and cluster rating map. All of these were distributed to participants (n = 21) during the third meeting to reach consensus on an intervention model. The final proposed intervention strategy included 29 feasible and crucial interventions in seven clusters: development of information technology system, establishing policy and taking it into the action plan, proactive public relations of the policy, action plan and workflow, in cooperation of multidisciplinary teams in drug use evaluation, work review and evaluation with performance reporting, promoting and developing professional and clinical skill for staff with training programs, and developing practical drug use evaluation guideline for antibiotics. These interventions are relevant and fit to several intervention strategies for antibiotic stewardship program in many international organizations such as participation of the multidisciplinary team, developing information technology to support antibiotic smart use, and communication. These interventions were prioritized for implementation over a 1-year period. Once the possibility of each activity or plan is set up, the proposed program could be applied and integrated into hospital policy after evaluating plans. Effectiveness of each intervention could be promoted to other community hospitals to promote and support antibiotic smart use.

Keywords: antibiotic, concept mapping, drug use evaluation, multidisciplinary teams

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Authors: Nilanjana Chanda, Rangeet Bhattacharyya

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Grover’s search algorithm is the fastest possible quantum mechanical algorithm to search a certain element from an unstructured set of data of N items. The algorithm can determine the desired result in only O(√N) steps. It has been demonstrated theoretically and experimentally on two-qubit systems long ago. In this work, we investigate the fidelity of Grover’s search algorithm by implementing it on an open quantum system. In particular, we study with what accuracy one can estimate that the algorithm would deliver the searched state. In reality, every system has some influence on its environment. We include the environmental effects on the system dynamics by using a recently reported fluctuation-regulated quantum master equation (FRQME). We consider that the environment experiences thermal fluctuations, which leave its signature in the second-order term of the master equation through its appearance as a regulator. The FRQME indicates that in addition to the regular relaxation due to system-environment coupling, the applied drive also causes dissipation in the system dynamics. As a result, the fidelity is found to depend on both the drive-induced dissipative terms and the relaxation terms, and we find that there exists a competition between them, leading to an optimum drive amplitude for which the fidelity becomes maximum. For efficient implementation of the search algorithm, precise knowledge of this optimum drive amplitude is essential.

Keywords: dissipation, fidelity, quantum master equation, relaxation, system-environment coupling

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Authors: M. Rashid Hussain, Shady S. Refaat

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The high voltage power transformer is the most essential part of the electrical power utilities. Reliability on the transformers is the utmost concern, and any failure of the transformers can lead to catastrophic losses in electric power utility. The causes of transformer failure include insulation failure by partial discharge, core and tank failure, cooling unit failure, current transformer failure, etc. For the study of power transformer defects, finite element analysis (FEA) can provide valuable information on the severity of defects. FEA provides a more accurate representation of complex geometries because they consider thermal, electrical, and environmental influences on the insulation models to obtain basic characteristics of the insulation system during normal and partial discharge conditions. The purpose of this paper is the time domain analysis of defects 3D model of high voltage power transformer using FEA to study the electric field distribution at different points on the defects.

Keywords: power transformer, finite element analysis, dielectric response, partial discharge, insulation

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Authors: Christoph Köster

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Supplier selection is one of the key challenges in supply chain management and can be considered a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. In the 1960s, it evolved from considering only economic criteria, such as price, quality, and performance, to including environmental and social criteria nowadays. Although receiving considerable attention from scholars and practitioners over the past decades, existing research has not considered governance criteria so far. This is, however, surprising, as ESG (environmental, social, and governance) criteria have gained considerable attention. In order to complement ESG criteria in the supplier selection process, this study investigates German DAX and MDAX companies and evaluates the impact of governance criteria along their supplier selection process. Moreover, it proposes a set of criteria for the respective process steps. Specifically, eleven criteria for the first process step and five criteria for the second process step are identified. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the supplier selection process by elucidating the relevance of governance criteria in the supplier selection process and providing a set of empirically developed governance criteria. These results can be applied by practitioners to complement the criteria set in the supplier selection process and thus balance economic, environmental, social, and governance targets.

Keywords: ESG, governance, sustainable supplier selection, sustainability

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Authors: Dong Yue, Hua Chen

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The study region Xihu Harbor in Xiangshan County, Ningbo City is located in the central coast of Zhejiang Province. Concerning the wave dispating issue, Ningbo government firstly introduced Spartina alterniflora in 1980s. In the 1990s, S. alterniflora spread so rapidly thus a ‘grassland’ in the sea has been created nowadays. It has become the most important invasive plant of China’s coastal tidal flats. Although S. alterniflora had some ecological and economic functions, it has also brought series of hazards. It has ecological hazards on many aspects, including biomass and biodiversity, hydrodynamic force and sedimentation process, nutrient cycling of tidal flat, succession sequence of soil and plants and so on. On engineering, it courses problems of poor drainage and channel blocking. On economy, the hazard mainly reflected in the threat on aquaculture industry. The purpose of this study is to explore an ecological, feasible and economical way to manage Spartina alterniflora and use the land formed by it, taking Xihu Harbor in Xiangshan County as a case. Comparison method, mathematical modeling, qualitative and quantitative analysis are utilized to proceed the study. Main outcomes are as follows. By comparing a series of S. alterniflora managing methods which include the combination of mechanical cutting and hydraulic reclamation, waterlogging, herbicide and biological substitution from three standpoints – ecology, engineering and economy. It is inferred that the combination of mechanical cutting and hydraulic reclamation is among the top rank of S. alternifora managing methods. The combination of mechanical cutting and hydraulic reclamation means using large-scale mechanical equipment like large screw seagoing dredger to excavate the S. alterniflora with root and mud together. Then the mix of mud and grass was blown off nearby coastal tidal zone transported by pipelines, which can cushion the silt of tidal zone to form a land. However, as man-made land by coast, the reclamation area’s ecological sensitivity is quite high and will face high possibility of flood threat. Therefore, the reclamation area has many reasonability requirements, including ones on location, specific scope, water surface rate, direction of main watercourse, site of water-gate, the ratio of ecological land to urban construction land. These requirements all became important basis when the planning was being made. The water system planning, green space system planning, road structure and land use all need to accommodate the ecological requests. Besides, the profits from the formed land is the managing project’s source of funding, so how to utilize land efficiently is another considered point in the planning. It is concluded that by aiming at managing a large area of S. alterniflora, the combination of mechanical cutting and hydraulic reclamation is an ecological, feasible and economical method. The planning of reclamation area should fully respect the natural environment and possible disasters. Then the planning which makes land use efficient, reasonable, ecological will promote the development of the area’s city construction.

Keywords: ecological management, ecological planning method, reclamation area, Spartina alternifora, Xihu harbor

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Authors: Yafa Haron, Hanna Adami

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Background: World Health Organization emphasizes the contribution of nurses in planning and implementing health policies and reforms. Aim: To evaluate nursing students’ attitudes towards nurses’ involvement in health policy issues. Methods: Mixed-methods; qualitative and quantitative – a descriptive study. Participants - nursing students who were enrolled in their last year in the undergraduate program (BSN). Qualitative data included two open-ended questions: What is health policy and what is the importance of studying health policy, and 18 statements on the Likert Scale range 1-5. Results: Qualitativeanalysisrevealed that the majority of students defined health policy as a set of rules and regulations that defined procedures, borders, and proper conduct. 73% of students responded that nurses should be active in policymaking, but only 22% thought that nurses were currently involved in political issues. 28% thought that nurses do not have the knowledge and the time needed (60%) for political activity. 77% thought that the work environment did not encourage nurses to be politically active. Nursing students are aware of the importance towards nurses’ involvement in health policy issues, however, they do not have role models based on their low evaluation regarding nurses’ involvement in the health policy decision making process at the local or national level. Conclusions: Results emphasize the importance and the need of implementation the recommendation to include “advance policy changes” as core competency in nursing education and practice.

Keywords: health policy, nursing education, health systems, student perceptions

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Authors: Atef Alaaeddine Sarraj, Brendan Jackman, Frank Walsh

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Tomorrow’s car will be more automated and increasingly connected. Innovative and intuitive interfaces are essential to accompany this functional enrichment. For that, today the automotive companies are competing to offer an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) which will be able to provide enhanced navigation, collision avoidance, intersection support and lane keeping. These vision-based functions require an accurately calibrated camera. To achieve such differentiation in ADAS requires sophisticated sensors and efficient algorithms. This paper explores the different calibration methods applicable to vehicle-mounted fish-eye cameras with arbitrary fields of view and defines the first steps towards a self-calibration method that adequately addresses ADAS requirements. In particular, we present a self-calibration method after comparing different camera calibration algorithms in the context of ADAS requirements. Our method gathers data from unknown scenes while the car is moving, estimates the camera intrinsic and extrinsic parameters and corrects the wide-angle distortion. Our solution enables continuous and real-time detection of objects, pedestrians, road markings and other cars. In contrast, other camera calibration algorithms for ADAS need pre-calibration, while the presented method calibrates the camera without prior knowledge of the scene and in real-time.

Keywords: advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), fish-eye, real-time, self-calibration

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Authors: Norbayah Mohd Suki, Norazah Mohd Suki

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This study aims to examine relationships between attitude, self-efficacy, and subjective norm with students’ behavioural intention to use public computing facilities at a library. Data was collected from 200 undergraduate students enrolled at a higher learning institution in the Federal Territory of Labuan, Malaysia via a structured questionnaire comprising closed-ended questions. Data was analyzed using multiple regression analysis. The results show that students’ behavioural intention to use public computing facilities at the library is widely affected by subjective norm factor i.e. influence of the support of family members, friends and neighbours. The findings of this study provide a better understanding of factors likely to influence students’ behavioural intention to use public computing facilities at a library. It also offers valuable insights into factors which university librarians need to focus on to improve students’ behavioural intention to actively use public computing facilities at a library for quality information retrieval. Direction for future research is also presented.

Keywords: attitude, self-efficacy, subjective norm, behavioural intention

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Authors: Joanna Cabaj, Sylwia Baluta, Karol Malecha

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Catecholamines are vital neurotransmitters that mediate a variety of central nervous system functions, such as motor control, cognition, emotion, memory processing, and endocrine modulation. Dysfunctions in catecholamine neurotransmission are induced in some neurologic and neuropsychiatric diseases. Changeable neurotransmitters level in biological fluids can be a marker of several neurological disorders. Because of its significance in analytical techniques and diagnostics, sensitive and selective detection of neurotransmitters is increasingly attracting a lot of attention in different areas of bio-analysis or biomedical research. Recently, optical techniques for the detection of catecholamines have attracted interests due to their reasonable cost, convenient control, as well as maneuverability in biological environments. Nevertheless, with the observed need for a sensitive and selective catecholamines sensor, the development of a convenient method for this neurotransmitter is still at its basic level. The manipulation of nanostructured materials in conjunction with biological molecules has led to the development of a new class of hybrid-modified enzymatic sensors in which both enhancement of charge transport and biological activity preservation may be obtained. Immobilization of biomaterials on electrode surfaces is the crucial step in fabricating electrochemical as well as optical biosensors and bioelectronic devices. Continuing systematic investigation in manufacturing of enzyme–conducting sensitive systems, here is presented a convenient fluorescence as well as electrochemical sensing strategy for catecholamines detection.

Keywords: biosensors, catecholamines, fluorescence, enzymes

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Authors: Sonia Anand Knowlton

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As the use of Artificial Intelligence is becoming increasingly integrated in virtually every area of life, the need and interest to logically formalize the law and judicial reasoning is growing tremendously. The study of argumentation frameworks (AFs) provides promise in this respect. AF’s provide a way of structuring human reasoning using a formal system of non-monotonic logic. P.M. Dung first introduced this framework and demonstrated that certain arguments must prevail and certain arguments must perish based on whether they are logically “attacked” by other arguments. Dung labelled the set of prevailing arguments as the “preferred extension” of the given argumentation framework. Trevor Bench-Capon’s Value-based Argumentation Frameworks extended Dung’s AF system by allowing arguments to derive their force from the promotion of “preferred” values. In VAF systems, the success of an attack from argument A to argument B (i.e., the triumph of argument A) requires that argument B does not promote a value that is preferred to argument A. There has been thorough discussion of the application of VAFs to the law within the computer science literature, mainly demonstrating that legal cases can be effectively mapped out using VAFs. This article analyses VAFs from a jurisprudential standpoint to provide a philosophical and theoretical analysis of what VAFs tell the legal community about the judicial reasoning, specifically distinguishing between legal and moral reasoning. It highlights the limitations of using VAFs to account for judicial moral reasoning in theory and in practice.

Keywords: nonmonotonic logic, legal formalization, computer science, artificial intelligence, morality

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Authors: T. L. Granzyk, S. Scarborough, J. DeCosmo

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The use of health-related or medical narratives has gained increasing anecdotal and research-based support as a successful device for changing health behavior and outcomes. These narratives, in the form of oral storytelling, short films, and educational documentaries, for example, are most effective when including empathetic characters that transport viewers into the story and command both their attention and emotional response. This case study outlines how and why one large health system created a short narrative film for their internal Sepsis Awareness campaign, which told the dramatic story of a patient recovering from a missed sepsis diagnosis, leaving her a quad-amputee. Results include positive global anecdotal response to the film from healthcare professionals and patients, as well as use of the film to support legislation, ultimately passed in favor of the formation of Sepsis Awareness Workgroups in Maryland. Authors conclude that narrative films can be used successfully to initiate healthcare legislation and to increase internal and external awareness of health-related areas in need of greater improvement and support. As such, healthcare leaders and stakeholders would benefit from learning how to intentionally create, cultivate, and curate narratives from within their own health systems that elicit an empathetic response.

Keywords: healthcare policy, healthcare narratives, sepsis awareness, short films

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Authors: Mehdi Modabberifar, Sanaz Jabary, Mojtaba Ghodsi

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Stiffness sensing is an important issue in medical diagnostic, robotics surgery, safe handling, and safe grasping of objects in production lines. Detecting and obtaining the characteristics in dwelling lumps embedded in a soft tissue and safe removing and handling of detected lumps is needed in surgery. Also in industry, grasping and handling an object without damaging in a place where it is not possible to access a human operator is very important. In this paper, a method for object handling is presented. It is based on the use of an intelligent gripper to detect the object stiffness and then setting a programmable force for grasping the object to move it. The main components of this system includes sensors (sensors for measuring force and displacement), electrical (electrical and electronic circuits, tactile data processing and force control system), mechanical (gripper mechanism and driving system for the gripper) and the display unit. The system uses a rotary potentiometer for measuring gripper displacement. A microcontroller using the feedback received by the load cell, mounted on the finger of the gripper, calculates the amount of stiffness, and then commands the gripper motor to apply a certain force on the object. Results of Experiments on some samples with different stiffness show that the gripper works successfully. The gripper can be used in haptic interfaces or robotic systems used for object handling.

Keywords: gripper, haptic, stiffness, robotic

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Authors: Snehal L. Kadam, Shriniwas B. Kulkarni

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Flexible electrode material with high surface area and good electrochemical properties is the current trend captivating the researchers across globe for application in the next generation energy storage field. In the present work, crumpled sheet like reduced graphene oxide grown on carbon cloth by the hydrothermal method with a series of different deposition temperatures at fixed time. The influence of the deposition temperature on the structural, morphological, optical and supercapacitive properties of the electrode material was investigated by XRD, RAMAN, XPS, TEM, FE-SEM, UV-VISIBLE and electrochemical characterization techniques.The results show that the hydrothermally synthesized reduced graphene oxide on carbon cloth has sheet like mesoporous structure. The reduced graphene oxide material at 160°C exhibits the best supercapacitor performance, with a specific capacitance of 443 F/g at scan rate 5mV/sec. Moreover, stability studies show 97% capacitance retention over 1000 CV cycles. This result shows that hydrothermally synthesized RGO on carbon cloth is the potential electrode material and would be used in the next-generation wearable energy storage systems. The detailed analysis and results will be presented at the conference.

Keywords: graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide, carbon cloth, deposition temperature, supercapacitor

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Authors: Mohd Ridzwan Yaakub, Muhammad Iqbal Abu Latiffi

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Online business has become popular recently due to the massive amount of information and medium available on the Internet. This has resulted in the huge number of reviews where the consumers share their opinion, criticisms, and satisfaction on the products they have purchased on the websites or the social media such as Facebook and Twitter. However, to analyze customer’s behavior has become very important for organizations to find new market trends and insights. The reviews from the websites or the social media are in structured and unstructured data that need a sentiment analysis approach in analyzing customer’s review. In this article, techniques used in will be defined. Definition of the ontology and description of its possible usage in sentiment analysis will be defined. It will lead to empirical research that related to mobile phones used in research and the ontology used in the experiment. The researcher also will explore the role of preprocessing data and feature selection methodology. As the result, ontology-based approach in sentiment analysis can help in achieving high accuracy for the classification task.

Keywords: feature selection, ontology, opinion, preprocessing data, sentiment analysis

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Authors: Jessica Maiuolo, Irene Bava, Micaela Gliozzi, Vincenzo Mollace

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Doxorubicin is an anthracycline that is commonly used as a chemotherapy drug due to its cytotoxic effects. The clinical use of doxorubicin is limited due to its known cardiotoxic effects. Polyphenols have a wide range of beneficial properties, and particular importance is given to Oleuropein, one of the main polyphenolic compounds of olive oil. The biological mechanisms involved and the role of the endoplasmic reticulum were examined. Olive oil extract and Oleuropein were able to decrease the damage induced by exposure to doxorubicin. In particular, this natural compound was found to reduce cell mortality and oxidative damage, increase lipid content, and decrease the concentration of calcium ions that escaped from the endoplasmic reticulum. In addition, the direct involvement of this cellular organelle was demonstrated by silencing the ATF6 arm of the Unfolded Protein Response, which was activated after treatment with doxorubicin. The protection afforded by pre-treatment with the natural compound of interest, following the early damage induced by DOXO, provided valuable information regarding the potential use of these substances along with chemotherapy treatment.

Keywords: Olea europea L., oleuropein, doxorubicin, endoplasmic reticulum, nutraceutical support

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Authors: Ssekamanya, Mastura Badzis, Khamsiah Ismail, Dayang Shuzaidah Bt Abduludin

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With rising incidents of school violence worldwide, educators and researchers are trying to understand and find ways to enhance the safety of children at school. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which the demographic variables of gender, age, length of service, position, academic qualification, and school location predicted teachers’ awareness about school safety practices in Malaysian primary schools. A stratified random sample of 380 teachers was selected in the central Malaysian states of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. Multiple regression analysis revealed that none of the factors was a good predictor of awareness about school safety training, delivery methods of school safety information, and available school safety programs. Awareness about school safety activities was significantly predicted by school location (whether the school was located in a rural or urban area). While these results may reflect a general lack of awareness about school safety among primary school teachers in the selected locations, a national study needs to be conducted for the whole country.

Keywords: school safety awareness, predictors of school safety, multiple regression analysis, malaysian primary schools

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Authors: Ibrahim Cil, Onur Kurtcu, H. Ibrahim Demir, Furkan Yener, Yusuf. S. Turkan, Muharrem Unver, Ramazan Evren

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Fuzzy AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) method is decision-making way at the end of integrating the current AHP method with fuzzy structure. In this study, the processes of production planning, inventory management and purchasing department of a system were analysed and were requested to decide the performance criteria of each area. At this point, the current work processes were analysed by various decision-makers and comparing each criteria by giving points according to 1-9 scale were completed. The criteria were listed in order to their weights by using Fuzzy AHP approach and top three performance criteria of each department were determined. After that, the performance criteria of supply chain consisting of three departments were asked to determine. The processes of each department were compared by decision-makers at the point of building the supply chain performance system and getting the performance criteria. According to the results, the criteria of performance system of supply chain by using Fuzzy AHP were determined for which will be used in the supply chain performance system in the future.

Keywords: AHP, fuzzy, performance evaluation, supply chain

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Authors: Natalia Koltovaya, Nadezhda Zhuchkina, Ksenia Lyubimova

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We study the biological effects induced by ionizing radiation in view of therapeutic exposure and the idea of space flights beyond Earth's magnetosphere. In particular, we examine the differences between base pair substitution induction by ionizing radiation in model haploid and diploid yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. Such mutations are difficult to study in higher eukaryotic systems. In our research, we have used a collection of six isogenic trp5-strains and 14 isogenic haploid and diploid cyc1-strains that are specific markers of all possible base-pair substitutions. These strains differ from each other only in single base substitutions within codon-50 of the trp5 gene or codon-22 of the cyc1 gene. Different mutation spectra for two different haploid genetic trp5- and cyc1-assays and different mutation spectra for the same genetic cyc1-system in cells with different ploidy — haploid and diploid — have been obtained. It was linear function for dose-dependence in haploid and exponential in diploid cells. We suggest that the differences between haploid yeast strains reflect the dependence on the sequence context, while the differences between haploid and diploid strains reflect the different molecular mechanisms of mutations.

Keywords: base pair substitutions, γ-rays, haploid and diploid cells, yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

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Authors: Maninder Kaur Gill, Alpana Agarwal

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It is practically not feasible to measure the open-loop voltage gain of the operational amplifier in the open loop configuration. It is because the open-loop voltage gain of the operational amplifier is very large. In order to avoid the saturation of the output voltage, a very small input should be given to operational amplifier which is not possible to be measured practically by a digital multimeter. A test circuit for measurement of open loop voltage gain of an operational amplifier has been proposed and verified using simulation tools as well as by experimental methods on breadboard. The main advantage of this test circuit is that it is simple, fast, accurate, cost effective, and easy to handle even on a breadboard. The test circuit requires only the device under test (DUT) along with resistors. This circuit has been tested for measurement of open loop voltage gain for different operational amplifiers. The underlying goal is to design testable circuits for various analog devices that are simple to realize in VLSI systems, giving accurate results and without changing the characteristics of the original system. The DUTs used are LM741CN and UA741CP. For LM741CN, the simulated gain and experimentally measured gain (average) are calculated as 89.71 dB and 87.71 dB, respectively. For UA741CP, the simulated gain and experimentally measured gain (average) are calculated as 101.15 dB and 105.15 dB, respectively. These values are found to be close to the datasheet values.

Keywords: Device Under Test (DUT), open loop voltage gain, operational amplifier, test circuit

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Authors: Hamideh Marefat, Eskandar Samadi

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This study examined the effect of semantics on processing ambiguous sentences containing Relative Clauses (RCs) preceded by a complex Determiner Phrase (DP) by Persian-speaking learners of L2 English with different proficiency and Working Memory Capacities (WMCs). The semantic relationship studied was one between the subject of the main clause and one of the DPs in the complex DP to see if, as predicted by Spreading Activation Model, priming one of the DPs through this semantic manipulation affects the L2ers’ preference. The results of a task using Rapid Serial Visual Processing (time-controlled paradigm) showed that manipulation of the relationship between the subject of the main clause and one of the DPs in the complex DP preceding RC has no effect on the choice of the antecedent; rather, the L2ers' processing is guided by the phrase structure information. Moreover, while proficiency did not have any effect on the participants’ preferences, WMC brought about a difference in their preferences, with a DP1 preference by those with a low WMC. This finding supports the chunking hypothesis and the predicate proximity principle, which is the strategy also used by monolingual Persian speakers.

Keywords: semantics, relative clause processing, ambiguity resolution, proficiency, working memory capacity

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Authors: Christianah Oyelekan Oyewole, Adeniyi Temitope Adetunji

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Earlier researchers acknowledge the significance of knowledge sharing among employees in improving their responsiveness when dealing with unpredicted situations. Effective leadership styles have been known to impact employee knowledge-sharing behavior within an organisation positively. The role of influential leaders in knowledge sharing is accomplished through enhanced social networks and technology. However, preliminary research pointed to a lack of clear conclusions from recently published studies on the impact of effective leadership styles on knowledge-sharing behaviour among employees. The present study addressed this problem through a structured literature review. The review demonstrated that knowledge managers incorporate incentives and reward systems with their leadership styles to influence knowledge-sharing behaviour among employees positively. There was ample evidence that rational, innovative, stable and participatory organisational cultures combined with supportive and command leadership enhance employee intention for knowledge sharing in the organisation. The analysis revealed that transformational, transactional, and mentor leadership styles enhance employees’ knowledge-sharing behavior. Overall, it was resolved that the relationship between knowledge-sharing behavior among employees and leadership styles is mediated by the ability of the organisation to prioritize employee development.

Keywords: leadership styles, knowledge sharing, transactional leadership, transformational leadership, mentor leadership, team performance, team productivity, motivation, and creativity

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Authors: Gerges Samaan Henin Abdalla

Abstract:

New methods of providing banking services to the customer have been introduced, such as online banking. Banks have begun to consider electronic banking (e-banking) as a way to replace some traditional branch functions by using the Internet as a new distribution channel. Some consumers have at least one account at multiple banks and access these accounts through online banking. To check their current net worth, clients need to log into each of their accounts, get detailed information, and work toward consolidation. Not only is it time consuming, but it is also a repeatable activity with a certain frequency. To solve this problem, the concept of account aggregation was added as a solution. Account consolidation in e-banking as a form of electronic banking appears to build a stronger relationship with customers. An account linking service is generally referred to as a service that allows customers to manage their bank accounts held at different institutions via a common online banking platform that places a high priority on security and data protection. The article provides an overview of the account aggregation approach in e-banking as a new service in the area of e-banking.

Keywords: compatibility, complexity, mobile banking, observation, risk banking technology, Internet banks, modernization of banks, banks, account aggregation, security, enterprise development

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Authors: Ashok Kumar Lonavath, V. Sathish Kumar

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Urban sprawl is the uncontrolled and uncoordinated outgrowth of towns and cities. The process of urban sprawl can be described by change in pattern over time, like proportional increase in built-up surface to population leading to rapid urban spatial expansion. Significant economic and livelihood opportunities in the urban areas results in lack of basic amenities due to the unplanned growth The patterns, processes, dynamic causes and consequences of sprawl can be explored and designed with the help of spatial planning support system. In India context the urban area is defined as the population more than 5000, density more than 400 persons per sq. km and 75% of the population is involved in non-agricultural occupations. India’s urban population is increasing at the rate of 2.35% pa. The class I town’s population of India according to 2011 census is 18.8% that accounts for 60.4% of total unban population. Similarly in Erstwhile Andhra Pradesh it is 22.9% which accounts for 68.8% of total urban population. Suryapet town has historical recognition as ‘Gate Way of Telangana’ in the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh. The Municipality was constituted in 1952 as Grade-III, later upgraded into Grade-II in 1984 and to Grade-I in 1998. The area is 35 Sq.kms. Three major tanks located in three different directions and Musi River is flowing from a distance of 8 kms. The average ground water table is about 50m below ground. It is a fast growing town with a population of 1, 06,805 and 25,448 households. Density is 3051pp sq km, It is a Class I city as per population census. It secured the ISO 14001-2004 certificate for establishing and maintaining an environment-friendly system for solid waste disposal. It is the first municipality in the country to receive such a certificate. It won HUDCO award under environment management, award of appreciation and cash from Ministry of Housing and Poverty Elevation from Government of India and undivided Andhra Pradesh under UN Human Settlement Programme, Greentech Excellance award, Supreme Courts appreciation for solid waste management. Foreign delegates from different countries and also from various other states of India visited Suryapet municipality for study tour and training programs as part of their official visit Suryapet is located at 17°5’ North Latitude and 79°37’ East Longitude. The average elevation is 266m, annual mean temperature is 36°C and average rainfall is 821.0 mm. The people of this town are engaged in Commercial and agriculture activities hence the town has become a centre for marketing and stocking agricultural produce. It is also educational centre in this region. The present paper on urban sprawl is a theoretical framework to analyze the interaction of planning and governance on the extent of outgrowth and level of services. The GIS techniques, SOI Toposheet, satellite imageries and image analysis techniques are extensively used to explore the sprawl and measure the urban land-use. This paper concludes outlining the challenges in addressing urban sprawl while ensuring adequate level of services that planning and governance have to ensure towards achieving sustainable urbanization.

Keywords: remote sensing, GIS, urban sprawl, urbanization

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Authors: Jiahui Song

Abstract:

In order to predict or explain a complicated biological process, it is important first to construct mathematical models that can be used to yield analytical solutions. Through numerical simulation, mathematical model results can be used to test scenarios that might not be easily attained in a laboratory experiment, or to predict parameters or phenomena. High-intensity, nanosecond pulse electroporation has been a recent development in bioelectrics. The dynamic pore model can be achieved by including a dynamic aspect and a dependence on the pore population density into pore formation energy equation to analyze and predict such electroporation effects. For greater accuracy, with inclusion of atomistic details, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were also carried out during this study. Besides inducing pores in cells, external voltages could also be used in principle to modulate action potential generation in nerves. This could have an application in electrically controlled ‘pain management’. Also a simple model-based rate equation treatment of the various cellular bio-chemical processes has been used to predict the pulse number dependent cell survival trends.

Keywords: model, high-intensity, nanosecond, bioelectrics

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Authors: Monika Lipska

Abstract:

Drinking water is water with a very high quality, and as such represents only 2.5% of the total quantity of all water in the world. For many years we have observed continuous increase in its consumption as a result of many factors such as: Growing world population (7 billion in 2011r.), increase of human lives comfort and – above all – the economic growth. Due to the rocketing consumption and growing costs of production of water with such high-quality parameters, we experience accelerating interest in alternative sources of obtaining potable water. One of the ways of saving this valuable material is using rainwater in the Urban Building. With an exponentially growing demand, the acquisition of additional sources of water is necessary to maintain the proper balance of all ecosystems. The first part of the paper describes what rainwater is and what are its potential sources and means of use, while the main part of the article focuses on the description of the methods of obtaining water from rain on the example of new urban building in Poland. It describes the method and installations of rainwater in the new urban building (“MBJ2030”). The paper addresses also the issue of monitoring of the whole recycling systems as well as the particular quality indicators important because of identification of the potential risks to human health. The third part describes the legal arrangements concerning the recycling of rainwater existing in different European Union countries with particular reference to Poland on example the new urban building in Warsaw.

Keywords: rainwater, potable water, non-potable water, Poland

Procedia PDF Downloads 408