Search results for: gender specific data

Authors: Minhui Chiu

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According to relevant studies, clinical nurses have high work pressure and relatively high job adaptation needs. The nurses who work in oncology wards have more adaptation needs when they face repeating hospitalization patients. The aims of this study were to investigate the job stress adaptation and related factors of nurses in oncology wards and to understand the predictors of job stress adaptation needs. Convenience sampling was used in this study. The nurses in the oncology specialist ward of a regional teaching hospital in southern Taiwan were selected as the research objects. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire, random sampling, and the questionnaires were filled out by the participating nurses. A total of 68 people were tested, and 65 valid questionnaires (95.6%). One basic data questionnaire and nurses’ job stress adaptation needs questionnaire were used. The data was archived with Microsoft Excel, and statistical analysis was performed with JMP12.0. The results showed that the average age was 28.8 (±6.7) years old, most of them were women, 62 (95.38%), and the average clinical experience in the hospital was 5.7 years (±5.9), and 62 (95.38%) were university graduates. 39 people (60.0%) had no work experience. 39 people (60.0%) liked nursing work very much, and 23 people (35.3%) just “liked”. 47 (72.3%) people were supported to be oncology nurses by their families. The nurses' job stress adaptation needs were 119.75 points (±17.24). The t-test and variance analysis of the impact of nurses' job pressure adaptation needs were carried out. The results showed that the score of college graduates was 121.10 (±16.39), which was significantly higher than that of master graduates 96.67 (±22.81), and the degree of liking for nursing work also reached a Significant difference. These two variables are important predictors of job adaptation needs, and the R Square is 24.15%. Conclusion: Increasing the love of clinical nurses in nursing and encouraging university graduation to have positive effects on job pressure adaptation needs and can be used as a reference for the management of human resources hospitals for oncology nurses.

Keywords: oncology nurse, job stress, job stress adaptation needs, manpower

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Authors: Alejandro Molina-Villegas, Silvia Fernández-Sabido, Eduardo Mendoza-Vargas, Fátima Miranda-Pestaña

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The automatic detection of indigenous languages ​​in digital texts is essential to promote their inclusion in digital media. Underrepresented languages, such as Maya, are often excluded from language detection tools like Google’s language-detection library, LANGDETECT. This study addresses these limitations by developing a hybrid language detection solution that accurately distinguishes Maya (YUA) from Spanish (ES). Two strategies are employed: the first focuses on creating a profile for the Maya language within the LANGDETECT library, while the second involves training a Naive Bayes classification model with two categories, YUA and ES. The process includes comprehensive data preprocessing steps, such as cleaning, normalization, tokenization, and n-gram counting, applied to text samples collected from various sources, including articles from La Jornada Maya, a major newspaper in Mexico and the only media outlet that includes a Maya section. After the training phase, a portion of the data is used to create the YUA profile within LANGDETECT, which achieves an accuracy rate above 95% in identifying the Maya language during testing. Additionally, the Naive Bayes classifier, trained and tested on the same database, achieves an accuracy close to 98% in distinguishing between Maya and Spanish, with further validation through F1 score, recall, and logarithmic scoring, without signs of overfitting. This strategy, which combines the LANGDETECT profile with a Naive Bayes model, highlights an adaptable framework that can be extended to other underrepresented languages in future research. This fills a gap in Natural Language Processing and supports the preservation and revitalization of these languages.

Keywords: indigenous languages, language detection, Maya language, Naive Bayes classifier, natural language processing, low-resource languages

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Authors: Majed Sanan, Mohammad Rammal, Wassim Rammal

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Today, security is a major concern. Intrusion Detection, Prevention Systems and Honeypot can be used to moderate attacks. Many researchers have proposed to use many IDSs ((Intrusion Detection System) time to time. Some of these IDS’s combine their features of two or more IDSs which are called Hybrid Intrusion Detection Systems. Most of the researchers combine the features of Signature based detection methodology and Anomaly based detection methodology. For a signature based IDS, if an attacker attacks slowly and in organized way, the attack may go undetected through the IDS, as signatures include factors based on duration of the events but the actions of attacker do not match. Sometimes, for an unknown attack there is no signature updated or an attacker attack in the mean time when the database is updating. Thus, signature-based IDS fail to detect unknown attacks. Anomaly based IDS suffer from many false-positive readings. So there is a need to hybridize those IDS which can overcome the shortcomings of each other. In this paper we propose a new approach to IDS (Intrusion Detection System) which is more efficient than the traditional IDS (Intrusion Detection System). The IDS is based on Honeypot Technology and Anomaly based Detection Methodology. We have designed Architecture for the IDS in a packet tracer and then implemented it in real time. We have discussed experimental results performed: both the Honeypot and Anomaly based IDS have some shortcomings but if we hybridized these two technologies, the newly proposed Hybrid Intrusion Detection System (HIDS) is capable enough to overcome these shortcomings with much enhanced performance. In this paper, we present a modified Hybrid Intrusion Detection System (HIDS) that combines the positive features of two different detection methodologies - Honeypot methodology and anomaly based intrusion detection methodology. In the experiment, we ran both the Intrusion Detection System individually first and then together and recorded the data from time to time. From the data we can conclude that the resulting IDS are much better in detecting intrusions from the existing IDSs.

Keywords: security, intrusion detection, intrusion prevention, honeypot, anomaly-based detection, signature-based detection, cloud computing, kfsensor

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Authors: John Ayoade

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Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has gained a lot of popularity in all walks of life due to its usefulness and diverse use of the technology in almost every application. However, there have been some security concerns most especially in regards to how authentic readers and tags can confirm their authenticity before confidential data is exchanged between them. In this paper, Kerberos protocol is adopted for the mutual authentication of RFID system components in order to ensure the secure communication between those components and to realize the authenticity of the communicating components.

Keywords: RFID, security, mutual authentication, Kerberos

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Authors: Malini Ganapathy, Sarjit Kaur

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Maximising learning with higher-order thinking skills with Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has been deep-rooted and emphasised in various developed countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Singapore. The transformation of the education curriculum in the Malaysia Education Development Plan (PPPM) 2013-2025 focuses on the concept of Higher Order Thinking (HOT) skills which aim to produce knowledgeable students who are critical and creative in their thinking and can compete at the international level. HOT skills encourage students to apply, analyse, evaluate and think creatively in and outside the classroom. In this regard, the National Education Blueprint (2013-2025) is grounded based on high-performing systems which promote a transformation of the Malaysian education system in line with the vision of Malaysia’s National Philosophy in achieving educational outcomes which are of world class status. This study was designed to investigate ESL students’ learning practices on the emphasis of promoting HOTs while using ICT in their curricula. Data were collected using a stratified random sampling where 100 participants were selected to take part in the study. These respondents were a group of undergraduate students who undertook ESL courses in a public university in Malaysia. A three-part questionnaire consisting of demographic information, students’ learning experience and ICT utilization practices was administered in the data collection process. Findings from this study provide several important insights on students’ learning experiences and ICT utilization in developing HOT skills.

Keywords: English as a second language students, critical and creative thinking, learning, information and communication technology and higher order thinking skills

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Authors: Dragan Zivotic, Mirjana Ilic, Aleksandra Perovic, Predrag Gavrilovic

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As with the provision of other services, the service quality perception is one of the key factors that the modern manager must pay attention to. Countries in which the state regulation is in transition also have specific features in providing fitness services. Identification of the dimensions in which the most significant different service quality perception between different types of fitness centers, enables managers to profile the offer according to the wishes and expectations of users. The aim of the paper was the comparison of the quality of services perception in the field of fitness in Serbia between three categories of fitness centers: the privately owned centers, the publicly owned centers, and the Public-private partnership centers. For this research 350 respondents of both genders (174 men and 176 women) were interviewed, aged between 18 and 68 years, being beneficiaries of fitness services for at least 1 year. Administered questionnaire with 100 items provided information about the 15 basic areas in which they expressed the service quality perception in the gym. The core sample was composed of 212 service users in private fitness centers, 69 service users in public fitness centers and 69 service users in the public-private partnership. Sub-samples were equal in representation of women and men, as well as by age and length of use of fitness services. The obtained results were subject of univariate analysis with the Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric analysis of variance. Significant differences between the analyzed sub-samples were not found solely in the areas of rapid response and quality outcomes. In the multivariate model, the results were processed by backward stepwise discriminant analysis that extracted 3 areas that maximize the differences between sub-samples: material and technical basis, secondary facilities and coaches. By applying the classification function 93.87% of private centers services users, 62.32% of public centers services users and 85.51% of the public-private partnership centers users of services were correctly classified (total 86.00%). These results allow optimizing the allocation of the necessary resources in profiling offers of a fitness center in order to optimally adjust it to the user’s needs and expectations.

Keywords: fitness, quality perception, management, public ownership, private ownership, public-private partnership, discriminative analysis

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Authors: Tayib Bromand, Keisuke Sato

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This paper presents the introduction to current water balance and climate change assessment in the Kabul river basin. The historical and future impacts of climate change on different components of water resources and hydrology in the Kabul river basin. The eastern part of Afghanistan, the Kabul river basin was chosen due to rapid population growth and land degradation to quantify the potential influence of Gobal Climate Change on its hydrodynamic characteristics. Luck of observed meteorological data was the main limitation of present research, few existed precipitation stations in the plain area of Kabul basin selected to compare with TRMM precipitation records, the result has been evaluated satisfactory based on regression and normal ratio methods. So the TRMM daily precipitation and NCEP temperature data set applied in the SWAT model to evaluate water balance for 2008 to 2012. Middle of the twenty – first century (2064) selected as the target period to assess impacts of climate change on hydrology aspects in the Kabul river basin. For this purpose three emission scenarios, A2, A1B and B1 and four GCMs, such as MIROC 3.2 (Med), CGCM 3.1 (T47), GFDL-CM2.0 and CNRM-CM3 have been selected, to estimate the future initial conditions of the proposed model. The outputs of the model compared and calibrated based on (R2) satisfactory. The assessed hydrodynamic characteristics and precipitation pattern. The results show that there will be significant impacts on precipitation patter such as decreasing of snowfall in the mountainous area of the basin in the Winter season due to increasing of 2.9°C mean annual temperature and land degradation due to deforestation.

Keywords: climate change, emission scenarios, hydrological components, Kabul river basin, SWAT model

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Authors: Arya Farjand

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This study delves into the Early Pleistocene fauna of the Yuanmou Basin, highlighting two significant findings. The first is the discovery of exceptionally well-preserved canid coprolites, which provide a rare glimpse into the diet and ecological niche of these ancient carnivores. The analysis of these coprolites has revealed a diet rich in diverse prey species, suggesting a complex food web and a dynamic ecological environment. This discovery not only sheds light on the dietary habits of these canids but also offers broader insights into the region's ecological dynamics during the Early Pleistocene. Additionally, the preservation of these coprolites allows for detailed study of the carnivore's role in the ecosystem, including their interactions with other species and the overall health of the environment. The second major finding is the identification of a mustelid species, Eirictis yuanmouensis, from the same fossil horizon as the coprolites. This discovery is crucial for understanding the diversity and evolution of Mustelidae in the region. The detailed analysis of cranial and dental morphology of Eirictis yuanmouensis indicates unique adaptations that suggest a specialized ecological niche. This finding, in conjunction with the coprolite analysis, provides a comprehensive view of the ecological niches occupied by both mustelids and hyenas, enhancing our understanding of their adaptations and interactions within this paleoenvironment. The study's significance is further amplified by the analysis of pollen data from the same horizon, which indicates a paleoenvironment characterized by rapid climatic changes and a dominant semiarid climate. This combination of faunal and floral data paints a detailed picture of the Early Pleistocene environment in the Yuanmou Basin, offering valuable insights into the interactions between different carnivore species and their adaptation strategies in response to changing environmental conditions.

Keywords: Yuanmou Basin, coprolite, Hyaena, eirictis yuanmouensis, early pleistocene

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Authors: Olatunde Sunday Eludoyin, Charles Obiechina Olisa

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The study examined the spatial interactions between earthworm abundance (EA) and tree growth characteristics in ecological belts of Western Niger Delta, Nigeria. Eight 20m x 20m quadrat were delimited in the natural vegetation in each of the rainforest (RF), mangrove (M), fresh water swamp (FWS), and guinea savanna (GS) ecological belts to gather data about the tree species (TS) characteristics which included individual number of tree species (IN), diversity (Di), density (De) and richness (Ri). Three quadrats of 1m x 1m were delineated in each of the 20m x 20m quadrats to collect earthworm species the topsoil (0-15cm), and subsoil (15-30cm) and were taken to laboratory for further analysis. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Findings showed that a total of 19 earthworm species was found, with 58.5% individual species recorded in the topsoil and 41.5% recorded in the subsoil. The total population ofEudriliuseugeniae was predominantly highest in both topsoil (38.4%) and subsoil (27.1%). The total population of individual species of earthworm was least in GS in the topsoil (11.9%) and subsoil (8.4%). A total of 40 different species of TS was recorded, of which 55.5% were recorded in FWS, while RF was significantly highest in the species diversity(0.5971). Regression analysis revealed that Ri, IN, DBH, Di, and De of trees explained 65.9% of the variability of EA in the topsoil, while 46.9 % of the variability of earthworm abundance was explained by the floristic parameters in the subsoil.Similarly, correlation statistics revealed that in the topsoil, EA is positively and significantly correlated with Ri (r=0.35; p<0.05), IN (r=0.523; p<0.05) and De (r=0.469; p<0.05) while DBH was negatively and significantly correlated with earthworm abundance (r=-0.437; p<0.05). In the subsoil, only Ri and DBH correlated significantly with EA. The study concluded that EA in the study locations was highly influenced by tree growth species especially Ri, IN, DBH, Di, and De. The study recommended that the TSabundance should be improved in the study locations to ensure the survival of earthworms for ecosystem functions.

Keywords: interactions, earthworm abundance, tree growth, ecological zones, western niger delta

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Authors: Assane Dieng, Abass Sarr, Gora Lo, Awa Ba, Halimatou Diop Ndiaye, Makhtar Camara

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Introduction: Escherchia coli is one of the main beta-lactamase-producing bacteria. In Senegal, we are witnessing a weakness in the technical platform and a deficit in qualified personnel in laboratories, especially in rural areas. This is why there is little updated data on antibiotic bacterial resistance in rural areas. The objective is to study infections with Escherichia coli producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) at the Tambacounda Regional Hospital Center (CHRT), Senegal. Methodology: Samples were taken from patients consulted at the Tambacounda Regional Hospital Center (CHRT) from January to October 2024. The search for Escherichia coli was carried out by determining morphological, biochemical and cultural characteristics. The antibiogram was performed using the Mueller-Hinton (MH) agar diffusion method following the recommendations of the Antibiogram Committee of the French Society of Microbiology (CA SFM). ESBL production was detected using the double synergy method Results: A total of 287 germs were isolated during the study period, including 96 strains of Escherichia coli, 47 of which produced a broad-spectrum beta-lactamase. ESBL-producing E. coli strains were more common in men (61.2%). The most affected age groups were [60-79 years] and [20-39 years] with respective rates of 36.7% and 27%. ESBL-producing E. coli strains were isolated mainly in non-hospitalized patients (79%). Beta-lactamase-producing E. coli strains were mainly resistant to tetracycline (95.7%), norfloxacin (91.5%) and ciprofloxacin (87.2%).Conclusion: ESBL-producing E. coli strains are also present in rural areas Thus, to have more comprehensive data, qualified personnel as well as a high-level technical platform should be available in these laboratories.

Keywords: E. coli, beta-lactamase, rural area, non hospitalized

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Authors: Neha P. Amin, Maliha Zainib, Sean Parker, Malcolm Mattes

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Purpose/Objectives: Combination immunotherapy (IT) and radiation therapy (RT) is an actively growing field of clinical investigation due to promising findings of synergistic effects from immune-mediated mechanisms observed in preclinical studies and clinical data from case reports of abscopal effects. While there are many ongoing trials of combined IT-RT, there are still limited data on toxicity and outcome optimization regarding RT dose, fractionation, and sequencing of RT with IT. Nivolumab (NIVO), an anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody, has been rapidly adopted in the clinic over the past 2 years, resulting in more patients being considered for concurrent RT-NIVO. Knowledge about the toxicity profile of combined RT-NIVO is important for both the patient and physician when making educated treatment decisions. The acute toxicity profile of concurrent RT-NIVO was analyzed in this study. Materials/Methods: A retrospective review of all consecutive patients who received NIVO from 1/2015 to 5/2017 at 4 separate centers within two separate institutions was performed. Those patients who completed a course of RT from 1 day prior to initial NIVO infusion through 1 month after last NIVO infusion were considered to have received concurrent therapy and included in the subsequent analysis. Descriptive statistics are reported for patient/tumor/treatment characteristics and observed acute toxicities within 3 months of RT completion. Results: Among 261 patients who received NIVO, 46 (17.6%) received concurrent RT to 67 different sites. The median f/u was 3.3 (.1-19.8) months, and 11/46 (24%) were still alive at last analysis. The most common histology, RT prescription, and treatment site included non-small cell lung cancer (23/46, 50%), 30 Gy in 10 fractions (16/67, 24%), and central thorax/abdomen (26/67, 39%), respectively. 79% (53/67) of irradiated sites were treated with 3D-conformal technique and palliative dose-fractionation. Grade 3, 4, and 5 toxicities were experienced by 11, 1, and 2 patients, respectively. However all grade 4 and 5 toxicities were outside of the irradiated area and attributed to the NIVO alone, and only 4/11 (36%) of the grade 3 toxicities were attributed to the RT-NIVO. The irradiated site in these cases included the brain [2/10 (20%)] and central thorax/abdomen [2/19 (10.5%)], including one unexpected grade 3 pancreatitides following stereotactic body RT to the left adrenal gland. Conclusions: Concurrent RT-NIVO is generally well tolerated, though with potentially increased rates of severe toxicity when irradiating the lung, abdomen, or brain. Pending more definitive data, we recommend counseling patients on the potentially increased rates of side effects from combined immunotherapy and radiotherapy to these locations. Future prospective trials assessing fractionation and sequencing of RT with IT will help inform combined therapy recommendations.

Keywords: combined immunotherapy and radiation, immunotherapy, Nivolumab, toxicity of concurrent immunotherapy and radiation

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Authors: Masome Moeni, Roya Abedizadeh, Elham Aram, Hamid Sadeghi-Abandansari, Davood Sabour, Robert Menzel, Ali Hassanpour

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Mitochondria- targeting immunogenic cell death inducers (MT-ICD) have been designed to trigger intrinsic apoptosis signalling pathway in malignant cells and revive the antitumour immune system. MT-ICD inducers have considered to be non-specific, which can deteriorate the ability to initiate mitochondria-selective oxidative stress, causing high toxicity. Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) can be an ideal candidate as vehicles for utilizing in immunotherapy due to their biocompatibility, modifiable surface chemistry, magnetic characteristics and multi-functional applications in single platform. These types of NPs can facilitate a real time imaging which can provide an effective strategy to analyse pharmacokinetic parameters of nano-formula, including blood circulation time, targeted and controlled release at tumour microenvironment. To our knowledge, the conjugation of IONPs with MT-ICD and oxaliplatin (a chemotherapeutic agent used for the treatment of colorectal cancer) for immunotherapy have not been investigated. Herein, IONPs were generated via co-precipitation reaction at high temperatures, followed by coating the colloidal suspension with tetraethyl orthosilicate and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane to optimize their bio-compatibility, preventing aggregation and maintaining stability at physiological pH, then functionalized with (3-carboxypropyl) triphenyl phosphonium bromide for mitochondrial delivery. Analytical results demonstrated the successful process of IONPs functionalization. In particular, the colloidal particles of doped IONPs exhibited an excellent stability and dispersibility. The resultant particles were also successfully loaded with the oxaliplatin for an active mitochondrial targeting in immunotherapy, resulting in well-maintained super-paramagnetic characteristics and stable structure of the functionalized IONPs with nanoscale particle sizes.

Keywords: Immunotherapy, mitochondria, cancer, iron oxide nanoparticle

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Authors: Aamir Hasan, Subhash Mishra

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The purpose of the study was to determine the key drivers which influence the shopping behavior of the customers in the retail store. In today‟s competitive world with increasing number of retail stores, the retailers need to be more customer oriented. Retail has changed and expanded in all lines of business, be it apparel,jewelry, footwear, groceries etc. The modern consumer is posing a challenging task for the Indian retailer. More aware, more confident and much more demanding, therefore the retailers are looking for ways to deliver better consumer value and to increase consumer purchase intention. Retailers tend to differentiate themselves by making their service easier to consumers. The study aims to study the key drivers that can influence shopping behavior in retail store. A survey (store intercept) method was employed to elicit primary information from 300 shoppers in different retail stores of Lucknow. The findings reveal the factors that play a greater role in influencing the shopping behavior of customers in retail store. As such, a survey of retail store customers‟ attitude towards reduced price, sales promotion, quality of the products, proximity to the home, customer service, store atmospherics were analyzed to identify the key drivers influencing shopping behavior in retail store. A questionnaire based on a five-item Likert scale, as well as random sampling, was employed for data collection. Data analysis was accomplished using SPSS software. The paper has found shopping experience, store image and value for money as three important variable out of which shopping experience emerged as a dominant factor which influences the consumer's shopping behavior in the retail store. Since the research has established empirical evidences in determining the key drivers which influences the shopping behavior of the customers in the retail store, it serves as a foundation for a deeper probe into the shopping behavior of the customers in the retail store research domain in the Indian context.

Keywords: retail, shopping, customers, questionnaire

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Authors: Ramona-Niculina Jurcau, Ioana-Marieta Jurcau, Dong Hun Kwak, Nicolae-Alexandru Colceriu

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Background: Academic environment led, in time, to the birth of some research subjects concluded with many publications. One of these issues is related to the learning stress. Thus far, the PubMed website displays an impressive number of papers related to the academic stress. Aims: Through this study, we aimed to evaluate the research concerning academic learning stress (ALS), by a retrospective analysis of PubMed publications. Methods: We evaluated the ALS, considering: a) different keywords as - ‘academic stress’ (AS), ‘academic stressors’ (ASs), ‘academic learning stress’ (ALS), ‘academic student stress’ (ASS), ‘academic stress college’ (ASC), ‘medical academic stress’ (MAS), ‘non-medical academic stress’ (NMAS), ‘student stress’ (SS), ‘nursing student stress’ (NS), ‘college student stress’ (CSS), ‘university student stress’ (USS), ‘medical student stress’ (MSS), ‘dental student stress’ (DSS), ‘non-medical student stress’ (NMSS), ‘learning students stress’ (LSS), ‘medical learning student stress’ (MLSS), ‘non-medical learning student stress’ (NMLSS); b) the year average for decades; c) some selection filters provided by PubMed website: Article types - Journal Article (JA), Clinical Trial (CT), Review (R); Species - Humans (H); Sex - Male (M) and Female (F); Ages - 13-18, 19-24, 19-44. Statistical evaluation was made on the basis of the Student test. Results: There were differences between keywords, referring to all filters. Nevertheless, for all keywords were noted the following: the majority of studies have indicated that subjects were humans; there were no important differences between the number of subjects M and F; the age of participants was mentioned only in some studies, predominating those with teenagers and subjects between 19-24 years. Conclusions: 1) PubMed publications document that concern for the research field of academic stress, lasts for 56 years and was materialized in more than 5.010 papers. 2) Number of publications in the field of academic stress varies depending on the selected keywords: those with a general framing (AS, ASs, ALS, ASS, SS, USS, LSS) are more numerous than those with a specific framing (ASC, MAS, NMAS, NS, CSS, MSS, DSS, NMSS, MLSS, NMLSS); those concerning the academic medical environment (MAS, NS, MSS, DSS, MLSS) prevailed compared to the non-medical environment (NMAS, NMSS, NMLSS). 3) Most of the publications are included at JA, of which a small percentage are CT and R. 4) Most of the academic stress studies were conducted with subjects both M and F, most aged under 19 years and between 19-24 years.

Keywords: academic stress, student stress, academic learning stress, medical student stress

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Authors: Petra Borilova Linhartova, Michaela Ruckova, Sabina Sevcikova, Natalie Mlcuchova, Jan Bohm, Katerina Zukalova, Monika Vlachova, Jiri Dolina, Lumir Kunovsky, Radek Kroupa, Zdenek Pavlovsky, Zdenek Danek, Tereza Deissova, Lydie Izakovicova Holla, Ondrej Slaby, Zdenek Kala

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Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is a highly aggressive malignancy that frequently develops from Barrett's esophagus (BE), a premalignant pathologic change occurring in the lower end of the esophagus. Specific microRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs that function as posttranscriptional regulators of gene expression, were repeatedly proved to play key roles in the pathogenesis of these diseases. This pilot study aimed to analyze four selected miRNAs in esophageal tissues from healthy controls (HC) and patients with reflux esophagitis (RE)/BE/EAC, as well as to compare expression at the site of Barrett's mucosa/adenocarcinoma and healthy esophageal tissue outside the area of the main pathology in patients with BE/EAC. In this pilot study, 22 individuals (3 HC, 8 RE, 5 BE, 6 EAC) were included and endoscopically examined. RNA was isolated from the fresh-frozen esophageal tissue (stored in the RNAlater™ Stabilization Solution −70°C) using the AllPrep DNA/RNA/miRNA Universal Kit. Subsequent RT-qPCR analysis was performed using selected TaqMan MicroRNA Assays for miR-21, miR-34a, miR-196a, miR-196b, and endogenous control (RNU44). While the expression of miR-21 in the esophageal tissue with the main pathology was decreased in BE and EAC patients in comparison to the group of HC and RE patients (p=0.01), the expression of miR-196a was increased in the BE and EAC patients (p<0.01). Correlations between those miRNAs expression in tissue and severity of diagnosis were observed (p<0.05). In addition, miR-196a was significantly more expressed at the site with the main pathology than in paired adjacent esophageal tissue in BE and EAC patients (p<0.01). In conclusion, our pilot results showed that miR-196a, which regulates the proliferation, invasion, and migration (and was previously associated with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and marked as a potential therapeutic target), could be a diagnostic tissue biomarker for BE and EAC as well.

Keywords: microRNA, barrett´s esophagus, esophageal adenocarcinoma, biomarker

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Authors: Othman Maklouf, Ahmed Adwaib

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This paper introduces a comparative study between the main GPS/INS coupling schemes, this will include the loosely coupled and tightly coupled configurations, several types of situations and operational conditions, in which the data fusion process is done using Kalman filtering. This will include the importance of sensors calibration as well as the alignment of the strap down inertial navigation system. The limitations of the inertial navigation systems are investigated.

Keywords: GPS, INS, Kalman filter, sensor calibration, navigation system

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Authors: H. Hammoudi, S. Bendenia, I. Batonneau-Gener, A. Khelifa

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Applying growing zeolites is due to their intrinsic physicochemical properties: a porous structure, regular, generating a large free volume, a high specific surface area, acidic properties of interest to the origin of their activity, selectivity energy and dimensional, leading to a screening phenomenon, hence the name of molecular sieves is generally attributed to them. Most of the special properties of zeolites have been valued as direct applications such as ion exchange, adsorption, separation and catalysis. Due to their crystalline structure stable, their large pore volume and their high content of cation X zeolites are widely used in the process of adsorption and separation. The acidic properties of zeolites X and interesting selectivity conferred on them their porous structure is also have potential catalysts. The study presented in this manuscript is devoted to the chemical modification of an X zeolite by cation exchange. Ion exchange of zeolite NaX by Zn 2 + cations and / or Cu 2 + is gradually conducted by following the evolution of some of its characteristics: crystallinity by XRD, micropore volume by nitrogen adsorption. Once characterized, the different samples will be used for the adsorption of propane and propylene. Particular attention is paid thereafter, on the modeling of adsorption isotherms. In this vein, various equations of adsorption isotherms and localized mobile, some taking into account the adsorbate-adsorbate interactions, are used to describe the experimental isotherms. We also used the Toth equation, a mathematical model with three parameters whose adjustment requires nonlinear regression. The last part is dedicated to the study of acid properties of Cu (x) X, Zn (x) X and CuZn (x) X, with the adsorption-desorption of pyridine followed by IR. The effect of substitution at different rates of Na + by Cu2 + cations and / or Zn 2 +, on the crystallinity and on the textural properties was treated. Some results on the morphology of the crystallites and the thermal effects during a temperature rise, obtained by scanning electron microscopy and DTA-TGA thermal analyzer, respectively, are also reported. The acidity of our different samples was also studied. Thus, the nature and strength of each type of acidity are estimated. The evaluation of these various features will provide a comparison between Cu (x) X, Zn (x) X and CuZn (x) X. One study on adsorption of C3H8 and C3H6 in NaX, Cu (x) X , Zn (x) x and CuZn (x) x has been undertaken.

Keywords: adsorption, acidity, ion exchange, zeolite

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Authors: Jianan Sun, Ziwen Ye

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Multidimensional computerized adaptive testing (MCAT) is a popular research topic in psychometrics. It is important for practitioners to clearly know the item-trait patterns of administered items when a test like MCAT is operated. Item-trait pattern recognition refers to detecting which latent traits in a psychological test are measured by each of the specified items. If the item-trait patterns of the replenished items in MCAT item pool are well detected, the interpretability of the items can be improved, which can further promote the abilities of the examinees who attending the MCAT to be accurately estimated. This research explores to solve the item-trait pattern recognition problem of the replenished items in MCAT item pool from the perspective of statistical variable selection. The popular multidimensional item response theory model, multidimensional two-parameter logistic model, is assumed to fit the response data of MCAT. The proposed method uses the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) to detect item-trait patterns of replenished items based on the essential information of item responses and ability estimates of examinees collected from a designed MCAT procedure. Several advantages of the proposed method are outlined. First, the proposed method does not strictly depend on the relative order between the replenished items and the selected operational items, so it allows the replenished items to be mixed into the operational items in reasonable order such as considering content constraints or other test requirements. Second, the LASSO used in this research improves the interpretability of the multidimensional replenished items in MCAT. Third, the proposed method can exert the advantage of shrinkage method idea for variable selection, so it can help to check item quality and key dimension features of replenished items and saves more costs of time and labors in response data collection than traditional factor analysis method. Moreover, the proposed method makes sure the dimensions of replenished items are recognized to be consistent with the dimensions of operational items in MCAT item pool. Simulation studies are conducted to investigate the performance of the proposed method under different conditions for varying dimensionality of item pool, latent trait correlation, item discrimination, test lengths and item selection criteria in MCAT. Results show that the proposed method can accurately detect the item-trait patterns of the replenished items in the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional item pool. Selecting enough operational items from the item pool consisting of high discriminating items by Bayesian A-optimality in MCAT can improve the recognition accuracy of item-trait patterns of replenished items for the proposed method. The pattern recognition accuracy for the conditions with correlated traits is better than those with independent traits especially for the item pool consisting of comparatively low discriminating items. To sum up, the proposed data-driven method based on the LASSO can accurately and efficiently detect the item-trait patterns of replenished items in MCAT.

Keywords: item-trait pattern recognition, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator, multidimensional computerized adaptive testing, variable selection

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Authors: Sunday Olufemi Adesogan

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The supply of potable water at least is a very important index in national development. Water tariffs depend on the treatment cost which carries the highest percentage of the total operation cost in any water supply scheme. In order to keep water tariffs as low as possible, treatment costs have to be minimized. The University of Ibadan, Nigeria, water supply scheme consists of a treatment plant with three distribution stations (Amina way, Kurumi and Lander) and two raw water supply sources (Awba dam and Eleyele dam). An operational study of the scheme was carried out to ascertain the efficiency of the supply of potable water on the campus to justify the need for water supply schemes in tertiary institutions. The study involved regular collection, processing and analysis of periodic operational data. Data collected include supply reading (water production on daily basis) and consumers metered reading for a period of 22 months (October 2013 - July 2015), and also collected, were the operating hours of both plants and human beings. Applying the required mathematical equations, total loss was determined for the distribution system, which was translated into monetary terms. Adequacies of the operational functions were also determined. The study revealed that water supply scheme is justified in tertiary institutions. It was also found that approximately 10.7 million Nigerian naira (N) is lost to leakages during the 22-month study period; the system’s storage capacity is no longer adequate, especially for peak water production. The capacity of the system as a whole is insufficient for the present university population and that the existing water supply system is not being operated in an optimal manner especially due to personnel, power and system ageing constraints.

Keywords: development, panacea, supply, water

Procedia PDF Downloads 215

Authors: Larry V. Aceres, Jesryl B. Paulite, Emelie M. Pelicano, J. B. Anciano, J. A. Esteban

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Enhancing the population of beneficial arthropods under less diverse agroecosystem is the most sought by many researchers and plant growers. This strategy was done through the establishment of pintoi peanut, Arachis pintoi as live mulch or cover crop in pummelo orchard of the University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP), Mabini, Compostela Valley Province, Philippines. This study was conducted to compare and compute population dynamics and diversity of beneficial arthropods in pummelo in with and without Arachis pintoi cover crop. Data collections were done for the 12-month period (from June 2013 to May 2014) at the pummelo orchard of USeP Mabini Campus, COMVAL Province, Philippines and data were analyzed using the Independent Samples T-Test to compare the effect of the presence and absence of Arachis pintoi on beneficial arthropods incidence in pummelo orchard. Moreover, diversity and family richness analyses were computed using the Margalef’s diversity index for family richness; the Shannon index of general diversity and the evenness index; and the Simpson index of dominance. Results revealed numerically and statistically higher density of important beneficial arthropods such as microhymenopterans, macrohymenopterans, spiders, tachinid flies and ground beetles were recorded in pummelo orchard with Arachis pintoi than from without Arachis pintoi cover crop for the 12-month observation period. Further, the result of the study revealed the high family richness and diversity index with more or less even distribution of individuals within the family and low dominance index were documented in pummelo with Arachis pintoi cover crop than from pummelo without Arachis pintoi cover crop. The study revealed that planting A. pintoi in pummelo orchard could enhance natural enemy populations.

Keywords: Arachis pintoi, cover crop, beneficial arthropods, pummelo

Procedia PDF Downloads 325

Authors: Bhenjamin Jordan L. Ona

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Weather modification is an act of altering weather systems that catches interest on scientific studies. Cloud seeding is a common form of weather alteration. On the same principle, tropical cyclone mitigation experiment follows the methods of cloud seeding with intensity to account for. This study will present the effects of aerosol to tropical cyclone cloud microphysics and intensity. The framework of Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model incorporated with Thompson aerosol-aware scheme is the prime host to support the aerosol-cloud microphysics calculations of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) ingested into the tropical cyclones before making landfall over the Philippine coast. The coupled microphysical and radiative effects of aerosols will be analyzed using numerical data conditions of Tropical Storm Ketsana (2009), Tropical Storm Washi (2011), and Typhoon Haiyan (2013) associated with varying CCN number concentrations per simulation per typhoon: clean maritime, polluted, and very polluted having 300 cm-3, 1000 cm-3, and 2000 cm-3 aerosol number initial concentrations, respectively. Aerosol species like sulphates, sea salts, black carbon, and organic carbon will be used as cloud nuclei and mineral dust as ice nuclei (IN). To make the study as realistic as possible, investigation during the biomass burning due to forest fire in Indonesia starting October 2015 as Typhoons Mujigae/Kabayan and Koppu/Lando had been seeded with aerosol emissions mainly comprises with black carbon and organic carbon, will be considered. Emission data that will be used is from NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The physical mechanism/s of intensification or deintensification of tropical cyclones will be determined after the seeding experiment analyses.

Keywords: aerosol, CCN, IN, tropical cylone

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Authors: Ayse Ozbil, Gorsev Argin, Demet Yesiltepe

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Data for this cross-sectional study were drawn from questionnaires conducted in 10 elementary schools (1000 students, ages 12-14) located in Istanbul, Turkey. School environments (1600 meter buffers around the school) were evaluated through GIS-based land-use data (parcel level land use density) and street-level topography. Street networks within the same buffers were evaluated by using angular segment analysis (Integration and Choice) implemented in Depthmap as well as two segment-based connectivity measures, namely Metric and Directional Reach implemented in GIS. Segment Angular Integration measures how accessible each space from all the others within the radius using the least angle measure of distance. Segment Angular Choice which measures how many times a space is selected on journeys between all pairs of origins and destinations. Metric Reach captures the density of streets and street connections accessible from each individual road segment. Directional Reach measures the extent to which the entire street network is accessible with few direction changes. In addition, socio-economic characteristics (annual income, car ownership, education-level) of parents, obtained from parental questionnaires, were also included in the analysis. It is shown that surrounding street network configuration is strongly associated with both walk-mode shares and average walking distances to/from schools when controlling for parental socio-demographic attributes as well as land-use compositions and topographic features in school environments. More specifically, findings suggest that the scale at which urban form has an impact on pedestrian travel is considerably larger than a few blocks around the school.

Keywords: Istanbul, street network layout, urban form, walking to/from school

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Authors: June Keeling, Christina Athanasiades, Vaiva Hendrixson, Delyth Wyndham

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Recognition and education in violence, abuse, and neglect for medical and healthcare practitioners (REVAMP) is a trans-European project aiming to introduce a training programme that has been specifically developed by partners across seven European countries to meet the needs of medical and healthcare practitioners. Amalgamating the knowledge and experience of clinicians, researchers, and educators from interdisciplinary and multi-professional backgrounds, REVAMP has tackled the under-resourced and underdeveloped area of domestic violence and abuse. The team designed an online training programme to support medical and healthcare practitioners to recognise and respond appropriately to survivors of domestic violence and abuse at their point of contact with a health provider. The REVAMP partner countries include Europe: France, Lithuania, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Norway, and the UK. The training is delivered through a series of interactive online modules, adapting evidence-based pedagogical approaches to learning. Capturing and addressing the complexities of the project impacted the methodological decisions and approaches to evaluation. The challenge was to find an evaluation methodology that captured valid data across all partner languages to demonstrate the extent of the change in knowledge and understanding. Co-development by all team members was a lengthy iterative process, challenged by a lack of consistency in terminology. A mixed methods approach enabled both qualitative and quantitative data to be collected, at the start, during, and at the conclusion of the training for the purposes of evaluation. The module content and evaluation instrument were accessible in each partner country's language. Collecting both types of data provided a high-level snapshot of attainment via the quantitative dataset and an in-depth understanding of the impact of the training from the qualitative dataset. The analysis was mixed methods, with integration at multiple interfaces. The primary focus of the analysis was to support the overall project evaluation for the funding agency. A key project outcome was identifying that the trans-European approach posed several challenges. Firstly, the project partners did not share a first language or a legal or professional approach to domestic abuse and neglect. This was negotiated through complex, systematic, and iterative interaction between team members so that consensus could be achieved. Secondly, the context of the data collection in several different cultural, educational, and healthcare systems across Europe challenged the development of a robust evaluation. The participants in the pilot evaluation shared that the training was contemporary, well-designed, and of great relevance to inform practice. Initial results from the evaluation indicated that the participants were drawn from more than eight partner countries due to the online nature of the training. The primary results indicated a high level of engagement with the content and achievement through the online assessment. The main finding was that the participants perceived the impact of domestic abuse and neglect in very different ways in their individual professional contexts. Most significantly, the participants recognised the need for the training and the gap that existed previously. It is notable that a mixed-methods evaluation of a trans-European project is unusual at this scale.

Keywords: domestic violence, e-learning, health professionals, trans-European

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Authors: Sanchari Mukhopadhyay

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Today, almost the entire realm of human activities are becoming increasingly dependent on the power of information, where through ICTs it is now possible to cater distances and avail various services at a few clicks. In principle, ICTs are thus expected to blur location-specific differences and affiliations of development and bring in an inclusive society at the wake of globalization. However, eventually researchers and policy analysts realized that ICTs are also generating inequality in spite of the hope for an integrated world and widespread social well-being. Regarding this unevenness, location plays a major role as often ICT development is seen to be concentrated into pockets, leaving behind large tracks as underprivileged. Thus, understanding the spatial pattern of ICT development and distribution is significant in relation to exploring the extent to which ICTs are fulfilling the promises or reassuring the existing divisions. In addition, it is also profoundly crucial to investigate how regions are connecting and competing both locally and globally. The focus of the research paper is to evaluate the spatial structure of ICT led development in India. Thereby, it attempts to understand the state level (four selected states) pattern of ICT penetration, the pattern of diffusion across districts with respect to large urban centres and the rural-urban disparity of technology adoption. It also tries to assess the changes in access dynamisms of ICTs as one move away from a large metropolitan city towards the periphery. In brief, the analysis investigates into the tendency towards the uneven growth of development through the identification of the core areas of ICT advancement within the country and its diffusion from the core to the periphery. In order to assess the level of ICT development and rural-urban disparity across the districts of selected states, two indices named ICT Development Index and Rural-Urban Digital Divide Index have been constructed. The study mostly encompasses the latest Census (2011) of the country and TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) in some cases.

Keywords: ICT development, diffusion, core-periphery, digital divide

Procedia PDF Downloads 337

Authors: C. A. Bradley, D. Patsios, D. Berridge

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This paper presents evidence to better understand the risk and protective factors related to sibling conflict and the patterns of association between sibling conflict and negative adjustment outcomes by incorporating additional familial and societal factors within statistical models of risk and adjustment. It was conducted through the secondary analysis of a large representative cross-sectional dataset of children in the UK. The original study includes proxy interviews for young children and self-report interviews for adolescents. The study applies an ecological systems framework for the analyses. Hierarchical regression models assess risk and protective factors and adjustment outcomes associated with sibling conflict. Interactions reveal differential effect between contextual risk factors and the social context of influence. The general pattern of findings suggested that, although factors affecting likelihood of experiencing sibling conflict were often determined by child age, some remained consistent across childhood. These factors were often conditional on each other, reinforcing the importance of an ecological framework. Across both age-groups, sibling conflict was associated with siblings closer in age; male sibling groups; most advantaged socio-economic group; and exposure to community violence, such as witnessing violent assault or robbery. The study develops the evidence base on the influence of ethnicity and socio-economic group on sibling conflict by exploring interactions between social context. It also identifies key new areas of influence – such as family structure, disability, and community violence in exacerbating or reducing risk of conflict. The study found negative associations between sibling conflict and young children’s mental well-being and adolescents' mental well-being and anti-social behaviour, but also more context specific associations – such as sibling conflict moderating the negative impact of adversity and high risk experiences for young children such as parental violence toward the child.

Keywords: adjustment, conflict, ecological systems, family systems, risk and protective factors, sibling

Procedia PDF Downloads 111

Authors: Anna Yagodnitsyna, Alexander Kovalev, Artur Bilsky

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The efficiency of certain technological processes in two-phase microfluidics such as emulsion production, nanomaterial synthesis, nitration, extraction processes etc. depends on two-phase flow regimes in microchannels. For practical application in chemistry and biochemistry it is very important to predict the expected flow pattern for a large variety of fluids and channel geometries. In the case of immiscible liquids, the plug flow is a typical and optimal regime for chemical reactions and needs to be predicted by empirical data or correlations. In this work flow patterns of immiscible liquid-liquid flow in a rectangular microchannel with T-junction are investigated. Three liquid-liquid flow systems are considered, viz. kerosene – water, paraffin oil – water and castor oil – paraffin oil. Different flow patterns such as parallel flow, slug flow, plug flow, dispersed (droplet) flow, and rivulet flow are observed for different velocity ratios. New flow pattern of the parallel flow with steady wavy interface (serpentine flow) has been found. It is shown that flow pattern maps based on Weber numbers for different liquid-liquid systems do not match well. Weber number multiplied by Ohnesorge number is proposed as a parameter to generalize flow maps. Flow maps based on this parameter are superposed well for all liquid-liquid systems of this work and other experiments. Plug length and velocity are measured for the plug flow regime. When dispersed liquid wets channel walls plug length cannot be predicted by known empirical correlations. By means of particle tracking velocimetry technique instantaneous velocity fields in a plug flow regime were measured. Flow circulation inside plug was calculated using velocity data that can be useful for mass flux prediction in chemical reactions.

Keywords: flow patterns, hydrodynamics, liquid-liquid flow, microchannel

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Authors: Nayak Amar, Turner Naomi, Gobina Edward

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The Scottish Higher Education Institutes must report their scope 1 & 2 emissions, whereas reporting scope 3 is optional. Scope 3 is indirect emissions which embodies a significant component of total carbon footprint and therefore it is important to record, measure and report it accurately. Robert Gordon University (RGU) reported only business travel, grid transmission and distribution, water supply and transport, and recycling scope 3 emissions. This study estimates the RGUs total scope 3 emissions by comparing it with a similar HEI in scale. The scope 3 emission reporting of sixteen Scottish HEI was studied. Glasgow Caledonian University was identified as the nearest neighbour by comparing its students' full time equivalent, staff full time equivalent, research-teaching split, budget, and foundation year. Apart from the peer, data was also collected from the Higher Education Statistics Agency database. RGU reported emissions from business travel, grid transmission and distribution, water supply, and transport and recycling. This study estimated RGUs scope 3 emissions from procurement, student-staff commute, and international student trip. The result showed that RGU covered only 11% of the scope 3 emissions. The major contributor to scope 3 emissions were procurement (48%), student commute (21%), international student trip (16%), and staff commute (4%). The estimated scope 3 emission was more than 14 times the reported emissions. This study has shown the relative importance of each scope 3 emissions source, which gives a guideline for the HEIs, on where to focus their attention to capture maximum scope 3 emissions. Moreover, it has demonstrated that it is possible to estimate the scope 3 emissions with limited data.

Keywords: HEI, university, emission calculations, scope 3 emissions, emissions reporting

Procedia PDF Downloads 103

Authors: Aishwarya Venkat, Anastasia Marshak, Ryan B. Simpson, Elena N. Naumova

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Livestock ownership is simultaneously linked to improved nutritional status through increased availability of animal-source protein, and increased risk of enteric infections through higher exposure to contaminated water sources. Agrarian and agro-pastoral households, especially those with cattle, goats, and sheep, are highly dependent on seasonally various environmental conditions, which directly impact nutrition and health. This study explores global spatiotemporally explicit evidence regarding the relationship between livestock ownership, enteric infections, and malnutrition. Seasonal and cyclical fluctuations, as well as mediating effects, are further examined to elucidate health and nutrition outcomes of individual and communal livestock ownership. The US Agency for International Development’s Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund’s Multi-Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) provide valuable sources of household-level information on anthropometry, asset ownership, and disease outcomes. These data are especially important in data-sparse regions, where surveys may only be conducted in the aftermath of emergencies. Child-level disease history, anthropometry, and household-level asset ownership information have been collected since DHS-V (2003-present) and MICS-III (2005-present). This analysis combines over 15 years of survey data from DHS and MICS to study 2,466,257 children under age five from 82 countries. Subnational (administrative level 1) measures of diarrhea prevalence, mean livestock ownership by type, mean and median anthropometric measures (height for age, weight for age, and weight for height) were investigated. Effects of several environmental, market, community, and household-level determinants were studied. Such covariates included precipitation, temperature, vegetation, the market price of staple cereals and animal source proteins, conflict events, livelihood zones, wealth indices and access to water, sanitation, hygiene, and public health services. Children aged 0 – 6 months, 6 months – 2 years, and 2 – 5 years of age were compared separately. All observations were standardized to interview day of year, and administrative units were harmonized for consistent comparisons over time. Geographically weighted regressions were constructed for each outcome and subnational unit. Preliminary results demonstrate the importance of accounting for seasonality in concurrent assessments of malnutrition and enteric infections. Household assets, including livestock, often determine the intensity of these outcomes. In many regions, livestock ownership affects seasonal fluxes in malnutrition and enteric infections, which are also directly affected by environmental and local factors. Regression analysis demonstrates the spatiotemporal variability in nutrition outcomes due to a variety of causal factors. This analysis presents a synthesis of evidence from global survey data on the interrelationship between enteric infections, malnutrition, and livestock. These results provide a starting point for locally appropriate interventions designed to address this nexus in a timely manner and simultaneously improve health, nutrition, and livelihoods.

Keywords: diarrhea, enteric infections, households, livestock, malnutrition, seasonality

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Authors: Khiari Nor El Houda, Hiouani Amira Sarra

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Many EFL students with high capacities are hidden because they suffer from speaking anxiety (SA). Most of them find public speaking much demanding. They feel unable to communicate, they fear to make mistakes and they fear negative evaluation or being called on. With the growing number of the learners who suffer from foreign language speaking anxiety (FLSA), it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore its harmful outcomes on their performance and success, especially during their first contact with the pupils, as they will be teaching in the near future. Different researchers suggested different ways to minimize the negative effects of FLSA. The present study sheds light on emotional intelligence skills training as an effective strategy not only to influence public speaking success but also to help pre-service EFL teachers lessen their speaking anxiety and eventually to prepare them for their professional career. A quasi-experiment was used in order to examine the research hypothesis. We worked with two groups of third-year EFL students at Oum El Bouaghi University. The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) and the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) were used to collect data about the participants’ FLSA and EI levels. The analysis of the data has yielded that the assumption that there is a negative correlation between EI and FLSA was statistically validated by the Pearson Correlation Test, concluding that, the more emotionally intelligent the individual is the less anxious s/he will be. In addition, the lack of amelioration in the results of the control group and the noteworthy improvement in the experimental group results led us to conclude that EI skills training was an effective strategy in minimizing the FLSA level and therefore, we confirmed our research hypothesis.

Keywords: emotional intelligence, emotional intelligence skills training, EQ-I, FLCAS, foreign language speaking anxiety, pre-service EFL teachers

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Authors: Sandra Baez, Mariana Pino, Mildred Berrio, Hernando Santamaria-Garcia, Lucas Sedeno, Adolfo Garcia, Sol Fittipaldi, Agustin Ibanez

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Schadenfreude refers to the perceiver’s experience of pleasure at another’s misfortune. This is a multidetermined emotion which can be evoked by hostile feelings and envy. The experience of Schadenfreude engages mechanisms implicated in diverse social cognitive processes. For instance, Schadenfreude involves heightened reward processing, accompanied by increased striatal engagement and it interacts with mentalizing and perspective-taking abilities. Patients with Huntington's disease (HD) exhibit reductions of Schadenfreude experience, suggesting a role of striatal degeneration in such an impairment. However, no study has directly assessed the relationship between regional brain atrophy in HD and reduced Schadenfreude. This study investigated whether gray matter (GM) atrophy in HD patients correlates with ratings of Schadenfreude. First, we compared the performance of 20 HD patients and 23 controls on an experimental task designed to trigger Schadenfreude and envy (another social emotion acting as a control condition). Second, we compared GM volume between groups. Third, we examined brain regions where atrophy might be associated with specific impairments in the patients. Results showed that while both groups showed similar ratings of envy, HD patients reported lower Schadenfreude. The latter pattern was related to atrophy in regions of the reward system (ventral striatum) and the mentalizing network (precuneus and superior parietal lobule). Our results shed light on the intertwining of reward and socioemotional processes in Schadenfreude, while offering novel evidence about their neural correlates. In addition, our results open the door to future studies investigating social emotion processing in other clinical populations characterized by striatal or mentalizing network impairments (e.g., Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorders).

Keywords: envy, Gray matter atrophy, Huntigton's disease, Schadenfreude, social emotions

Procedia PDF Downloads 342