Search results for: research management

Authors: Merav Ben Natan, May Revach, Or Sade, Yaniv Yonay, Yaron Berkovich

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Background: The inclusion of nurse practitioners (NPs) specializing in orthopedics holds promise for enhancing the quality of care for orthopedic patients. Understanding patients’ perspectives on this role is crucial for evaluating the feasibility and acceptance of integrating NPs into orthopedic settings. This study aims to explore the receptiveness of orthopedic patients to treatment by orthopedic NPs and examines potential associations between patients’ willingness to engage with NPs, their familiarity with the NP role, perceptions of nursing, and satisfaction with orthopedic nursing care. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved patients admitted to an orthopedic department at a central Israeli hospital between January and February 2023. Data was collected using a validated questionnaire consisting of five sections, reviewed by content experts. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS and included descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, Pearson correlations, and linear regression. Results: Participants in the study showed a moderate willingness to receive treatment from orthopedic NPs, with more than two-thirds expressing strong openness. Patients were generally receptive to NPs performing various clinical tasks, though there was less enthusiasm for NPs’ involvement in medication management and preoperative evaluations. Positive attitudes towards nurses and familiarity with the NP role were significant predictors of patient receptiveness to NP treatment. Conclusion: Patient acceptance of orthopedic NPs varies across different aspects of care. While there is a general willingness to receive care from NPs, these nuanced preferences must be considered when implementing NPs in orthopedic settings. Awareness and positive perceptions of the NP role play crucial roles in shaping patients’ willingness to engage with NPs.

Keywords: orthopedic nurse practitioners, patient receptiveness, perceptions of nursing, clinical tasks

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Authors: Khushi, Simrat

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The study aims to investigate the relationship between emotions and employee's social cognition and decision-making among employees. The sample of the study was the total number of participants, which included employees from various industries and job positions. Research papers in the same area were reviewed, providing a comprehensive review of existing literature and theoretical frameworks and shedding light on the interpersonal effects of emotions in the workplace. It emphasizes how one worker's emotions can significantly impact the overall work environment and productivity as well as the work of a common phenomenon known as Emotional contagion at the workplace, affecting social interactions and group dynamics. Therefore, this study concludes that Emotional contagion can lead to a ripple effect within the workplace, influencing the overall atmosphere and productivity. Emotions can shape how employees process information and make choices, ultimately impacting organizational outcomes.

Keywords: employee decision making, social cognition, emotions, industry, emotional contagion, workplace dynamics

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Authors: P. F. Wong, H. Salleh, F. A. Rahim

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The adoption of building information modeling (BIM) is increasing in the construction industry. However, quantity surveyors are slow in adoption compared to other professions due to lack of awareness of the BIM’s potential in their profession. It is still unclear on how BIM application can enhance quantity surveyors’ work performance and project performance. The aim of this research is to identify the capabilities of BIM in quantity surveying practices and examine the relationship between BIM capabilities and project performance. Questionnaire survey and interviews were adopted for data collection. Literature reviews identified there are eleven BIM capabilities in quantity surveying practice. Questionnaire results showed that there are several BIM capabilities significantly correlated with project performance in time, cost and quality aspects and the results were validated through interviews. These findings show that BIM has the capabilities to enhance quantity surveyors’ performances and subsequently improved project performance.

Keywords: Building Information Modeling (BIM), quantity surveyors, capability, project performance

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Authors: Jennie Long, Marjorie Bock

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Although the professional literature related to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has focused on successful interventions and strategies, there is a lack of documentation regarding which of these methods and supports are most foundational and essential for classroom use. Specifically, literature does not define the core foundational interventions and strategies that would be elemental for educators to use with students with an ASD diagnosis. From the increase in prevalence of autism spectrum disorders, to the challenge students with ASD pose in classrooms, to the requirement to implement evidence-based practice, rises an enormous challenge in the field of education. Foundational interventions should be in place the first day the student enters the classroom. The nine interventions are foundational in nature and because of the dramatic increase in prevalence there is currently a need for classroom programs to provide the foundation of basic educational skills as well as the specialty skills specific to the area of ASD utilizing the most current research. This article presents nine evidence-based intervention categories for implementation with students on the spectrum.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, classroom, evidence-based, foundational

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Authors: Jasna Prester, Ivana Rašić Bakarić, Božidar Matijević

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Various prominent scholars and substantial practitioner-oriented literature on innovation orientation have shown positive effects on firm performance. There is a myriad of factors that influence and enhance innovation but it has been found in the literature that new product innovations accounted for an average of 14 percent of sales revenues for all firms. If there is one thing that has changed in innovation management during the last decade, it is the growing reliance on external partners. As a consequence, a new task for purchasing arises, as firms need to understand which suppliers actually do have high potential contributing to the innovativeness of the firm and which do not. Purchasing function in an organization is extremely important as it deals on an average of 50% or more of a firm's expenditures. In the nineties the purchasing department was largely seen as a transaction-oriented, clerical function but today purchasing integration provides a formal interface mechanism between purchasing and other firm functions that services other functions within the company. Purchasing function has to be organized differently to enable firm innovation potential. However, innovations are inherently risky. There are behavioral risk (that some partner will take advantage of the other party), technological risk in terms of complexity of products and processes of manufacturing and incoming materials and finally market risks, which in fact judge the value of the innovation. These risks are investigated in this work since it has been found in the literature that the higher the technological risk, higher will be the centralization of the purchasing function as an interface with other supply chain members. Most researches on organization of purchasing function were done by case study analysis of innovative firms. This work actually tends to prove or discard results found in the literature based on case study method. A large data set of 1493 companies, from 25 countries collected in the GMRG 4 survey served as a basis for analysis.

Keywords: purchasing function organization, innovation, technological risk, GMRG 4 survey

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Authors: Esra Alhamal

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Islamic architecture is known for the ornamental patterns that cover the architectural surfaces: floors, walls, and ceilings. This quality in Islamic buildings has long impressed other civilisation, and it is a visual language that exists across the Islamic lands. Ornamentation is divided into three types: geometry, biomorphs, and Arabic calligraphy. The focus of this study is the biomorphic ornaments. This paper will aim to define and characterise biomorphic patterns and trace their development from the 7th to the 18th centuries. Although the time period is seemingly long, the biomorphic patterns and their motifs have been consistent and supported by a geometric system underlying the free flowing, symmetrical motifs. The methodology of this paper consists of analysing and comparing biomorphic patterns from each Islamic period using rules of geometry and symmetry. The study is concluded with a table showcasing the main motifs and how they developed under each Islamic dynasty. This research is a documentation of the biomorphic language and having this record will help contemporary designers employ biomorphic ornaments thoughtfully.

Keywords: architectural surface, biomorphic patterns, Islamic patterns, Islamic ornamentation

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Authors: Murat Emre, Zeynep Tufekcioglu

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Objective: We describe a patient with late onset phenylketonuria which presented with rapidly progressive dementia and parkinsonism that were reversible after management. Background: Phenylketonuria is an autosomal recessive disorder due to mutations in the phenylalanine hydroxlase gene. It normally presents in childhood, in rare cases, however, it may have its onset in adulthood and may mimic other neurological disorders. Case description: A previously normal functioning, 59 year old man was admitted for blurred vision, cognitive impairment and gait difficulty which emerged over the past eight months. In neurological examination he had brisk reflexes, slow gait and left-dominant parkinsonism. Mini-mental state examination score was 25/30, neuropsychological testing revealed a dysexecutive syndrome with constructional apraxia and simultanagnosia. In cranial MRI there were bilateral diffuse hyper-intense lesions in parietal and occipital white matter with no significant atrophy. Electroencephalography showed diffuse slowing with predominance of teta waves. In cerebrospinal fluid examination protein level was slightly elevated (61mg/dL), oligoclonal bands were negative. Electromyography was normal. Routine laboratory examinations for rapidly progressive dementia and parkinsonism were also normal. Serum amino acid levels were determined to explore metabolic leukodystrophies and phenylalanine level was found to be highly elevated (1075 µmol/L) with normal tyrosine (61,20 µmol/L). His cognitive impairment and parkinsonian symptoms improved following three months of phenylalanine restricted diet. Conclusions: Late onset phenylketonuria is a rare, potentially reversible cause of rapidly progressive parkinsonism with dementia. It should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with suspicious features.

Keywords: dementia, neurology, Phenylketonuria, rapidly progressive parkinsonism

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Authors: Elana Mahboub, Lamar Bakhurji, Hind Alhindi, Sara Alesayi

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Duolingo is a revolutionary language learning platform that offers an interactive and accessible learning experience. Its gamified approach makes language learning engaging and enjoyable, with a diverse range of languages available. The platform's adaptive learning system tailors lessons to individual proficiency levels, ensuring a personalized and efficient learning journey. The incorporation of multimedia elements enhances the learning experience and promotes practical language application. Duolingo's success is attributed to its mobile accessibility, offering basic access to language courses for free, with optional premium features for those seeking additional resources. Research shows positive outcomes for users, and the app's global impact extends beyond individual learning to formal language education initiatives. Duolingo is a transformative force in language education, breaking down barriers and making language learning an attainable goal for millions worldwide.

Keywords: duolingo, artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence in duolingo, benefit of artificial intelligence

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Authors: Farhood Rismanchian, Seong Hyeon Park, Young Hoon Lee

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This paper proposes a method to optimize the layout of an emergency department (ED) based on real executions of care processes by considering several planning objectives simultaneously. Recently, demand for healthcare services has been dramatically increased. As the demand for healthcare services increases, so do the need for new healthcare buildings as well as the need for redesign and renovating existing ones. The importance of implementation of a standard set of engineering facilities planning and design techniques has been already proved in both manufacturing and service industry with many significant functional efficiencies. However, high complexity of care processes remains a major challenge to apply these methods in healthcare environments. Process mining techniques applied in this study to tackle the problem of complexity and to enhance care process analysis. Process related information such as clinical pathways extracted from the information system of an ED. A 0-1 goal programming approach is then proposed to find a single layout that simultaneously satisfies several goals. The proposed model solved by optimization software CPLEX 12. The solution reached using the proposed method has 42.2% improvement in terms of walking distance of normal patients and 47.6% improvement in walking distance of critical patients at minimum cost of relocation. It has been observed that lots of patients must unnecessarily walk long distances during their visit to the emergency department because of an inefficient design. A carefully designed layout can significantly decrease patient walking distance and related complications.

Keywords: healthcare operation management, goal programming, facility layout problem, process mining, clinical processes

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Authors: Wahab Ali, Oyebade K. Oyedotun, Adnan Khashman

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Breast cancer remains a threat to the woman’s world in view of survival rates, it early diagnosis and mortality statistics. So far, research has shown that many survivors of breast cancer cases are in the ones with early diagnosis. Breast cancer is usually categorized into stages which indicates its severity and corresponding survival rates for patients. Investigations show that the farther into the stages before diagnosis the lesser the chance of survival; hence the early diagnosis of breast cancer becomes imperative, and consequently the application of novel technologies to achieving this. Over the year, mammograms have used in the diagnosis of breast cancer, but the inconclusive deductions made from such scans lead to either false negative cases where cancer patients may be left untreated or false positive where unnecessary biopsies are carried out. This paper presents the application of artificial neural networks in the prediction of severity of breast tumour (whether benign or malignant) using mammography reports and other factors that are related to breast cancer.

Keywords: breast cancer, intelligent classification, neural networks, mammography

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Authors: Muhammad Waiz, Rana Maruf Tahir, Fatima Javaid

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Technology in the recent times is available for everyone in the world that no one is left behind. After getting technology into our daily routine, there is a need to study the different factors regarding online shopping. This study examines the impact of online reviews, mobile shopping and computer literacy on online purchasing intention. The sample size was 200 from which 167 complete questionnaires were collected from students and employees of twin cities. SPSS programming software was used to analyze the impact of different factors on purchasing intention. The results of this study showed that those websites which have good ratings and have online shopping application will attract more customers towards them whereas the results showed that the computer literacy has no impact on online purchasing intention. Findings may help for those who want to increase their sales or to start a new online business. Future research, limitations, and implications are discussed.

Keywords: computer literacy, mobile shopping, online purchase intention, online reviews, theory of planned behavior

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Authors: Jamal Wiwoho, Pujiyono, Triyanto

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Terrorism is a real enemy for all countries, including Indonesia. Bomb attacks in some parts of Indonesia are proof that Indonesia has serious problems with terrorism. Perpetrators of terror are arrested and imprisoned, and some of them were executed. However, this method did not succeed in stopping the terrorist attacks. Former terrorists continue to carry out bomb attacks. Therefore, this paper proposes a program towards deradicalization efforts of former terrorists through entrepreneurship. This is necessary because it is impossible to change their radical ideology. The program is also motivated by understanding that terrorists generally come from poor families. This program aims to occupy their time with business activities so there is no time to plan and carry out bomb attacks. This research is an empirical law study. Data were collected by literature study, observation, and in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed with the Miles and Huberman interactive model. The results show that the entrepreneurship program is effective to prevent terrorist attack. Former terrorists are busy with their business. Therefore, they have no time to carry out bomb attacks.

Keywords: deradicalization, terrorism, terrorists, entrepreneurship

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Authors: A. Al-Yaqout, A. Al-Alawi, T. Al-Said, E. Al-Enezi, M. Al-Roumi

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Kuwait’s marine environment suffers from increased organic pollution. Sea cucumbers play an important role in the marine environment. They create a healthier environment for many types of benthic micro-organisms through their slow movement and feeding mechanism on micro-organisms and organic material. A preliminary study has been conducted in Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research to assess the possibility of using sea cucumbers for mitigation of the coastal pollution. Sediments were collected from locations identified to be heavily loaded with organic pollutants. Ten aquaria glass tanks, 65x 40x 30cm will be supplied with 10 cm height (14 kg) of the sediments added in each tank and filled with 70 L of filtered seawater. Two species were used in this study, Stichopus hermanni, and Holothuria atra. Water and sediment samples were analyzed weekly. The results showed promising possibility for using sea cucumber to lower the organic load in sediments.

Keywords: organic pollution, sea cucumbers, mitigation, Stichopus hermanni, Holothuria atra

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Authors: Yael Neumann

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Attention deficits are common in people with aphasia (PWA). Two treatment approaches address these deficits: domain-general methods like Play Attention, which focus on cognitive functioning, and domain-specific methods like Language-Specific Attention Treatment (L-SAT), which use linguistically based tasks. Research indicates that L-SAT can improve both attentional deficits and functional language skills, while Play Attention has shown success in enhancing attentional capabilities among school-aged children with attention issues compared to standard cognitive training. This study employed a randomized controlled cross-over single-subject design to evaluate the effectiveness of these two attention treatments over 25 weeks. Four PWA participated, undergoing a battery of eight standardized tests measuring language and cognitive skills. The treatments were counterbalanced. Play Attention used EEG sensors to detect brainwaves, enabling participants to manipulate items in a computer game while learning to suppress theta activity and increase beta activity. An algorithm tracked changes in the theta-to-beta ratio, allowing points to be earned during the games. L-SAT, on the other hand, involved hierarchical language tasks that increased in complexity, requiring greater attention from participants. Results showed that for language tests, Participant 1 (moderate aphasia) aligned with existing literature, showing L-SAT was more effective than Play Attention. However, Participants 2 (very severe) and 3 and 4 (mild) did not conform to this pattern; both treatments yielded similar outcomes. This may be due to the extremes of aphasia severity: the very severe participant faced significant overall deficits, making both approaches equally challenging, while the mild participant performed well initially, leaving limited room for improvement. In attention tests, Participants 1 and 4 exhibited results consistent with prior research, indicating Play Attention was superior to L-SAT. Participant 2, however, showed no significant improvement with either program, although L-SAT had a slight edge on the Visual Elevator task, measuring switching and mental flexibility. This advantage was not sustained at the one-month follow-up, likely due to the participant’s struggles with complex attention tasks. Participant 3's results similarly did not align with prior studies, revealing no difference between the two treatments, possibly due to the challenging nature of the attention measures used. Regarding participation and ecological tests, all participants showed similar mild improvements with both treatments. This limited progress could stem from the short study duration, with only five weeks allocated for each treatment, which may not have been enough time to achieve meaningful changes affecting life participation. In conclusion, the performance of participants appeared influenced by their level of aphasia severity. The moderate PWA’s results were most aligned with existing literature, indicating better attention improvement from the domain-general approach (Play Attention) and better language improvement from the domain-specific approach (L-SAT).

Keywords: attention, language, cognitive rehabilitation, neurofeedback

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Authors: Carlos Minguez, Christian F. Sagbay, Erika E. Ordoñez

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Guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) play prominent roles as experimental models for medical research and as pets. However, in developing countries like South America, the Philippines, and sub-Saharan Africa, the meat of guinea pigs is an economic source of animal protein for the poor and malnourished humans because guinea pigs are mainly fed with forage and do not compete directly with human beings for food resources, such as corn or wheat. To achieve efficient production of guinea pigs, it is essential to provide insurance against vitamin C deficiency. The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of the partial replacement of alfalfa with fresh citrus pulp (Citrus sinensis) in a diet of guinea pigs on the growth performance, slaughter traits and mortality during the fattening period (between 20 and 74 days of age). A total of 300 guinea pigs were housed in collective cages of about ten animals (2 x 1 x 0.4 m) and were distributed into two completely randomized groups. Guinea pigs in both groups were fed ad libitum, with a standard commercial pellet diet (10 MJ of digestible energy/kg, 17% crude protein, 11% crude fiber, and 4.5% crude fat). Control group was supplied with fresh alfalfa as forage. In the treatment group, 30% of alfalfa was replaced by fresh citrus pulp. Growth traits, including body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), feed intake (FI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR), were measured weekly. On day 74, the animals were slaughtered, and slaughter traits, including live weight at slaughter (LWS), full gastrointestinal tract weight (FGTW), hot carcass weight (with head; HCW), cold carcass weight (with head; CCW), drip loss percentage (DLP) and dressing out carcass yield percentage (DCY), were evaluated. Contrasts between groups were obtained by calculated generalized least squares values. Mortality was evaluated by Fisher's exact test due to low numbers in some cells. In the first week, there were significant differences in the growth traits BW, ADG, FI, and FCR, which were superior in control group. These differences may have been due to the origin of the young guinea pigs, which, before weaning, were all raised without fresh citrus pulp, and they were not familiarized with the new supplement. In the second week, treatment group had significantly increased ADG compared with control group, which may have been the result of a process of compensatory growth. During subsequent weeks, no significant differences were observed between animals raised in the two groups. Neither were any significant differences observed across the total fattening period. No significant differences in slaughter traits or mortality rate were observed between animals from the two groups. In conclusion, although there were no significant differences in growth performance, slaughter traits, or mortality, the use of fresh citrus pulp is recommended. Fresh citrus pulp is a by-product of orange juice industry and it is cheap or free. Forage made with fresh citrus pulp could reduce about of 30 % the quantity of alfalfa in guinea pig for meat and as consequence, reduce the production costs.

Keywords: fresh citrus, growth, Guinea pig, mortality

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Authors: Asmaa Baghli

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Self-acceptance is one of the most pertinent notions that attracted the attention of many scholars. These latters believed that the sense of self-acceptance for people contributes in the emergence of their self-esteem and helps to improve their efficacy level. Simply defined, self-acceptance stands for the ability of the person to admire and accept herself and her potentials. This fact is believed to participate in the personal image creation depending on the qualities and features possessed. Hitherto, the following paper aims, first, to provide a brief and concise definition of self-acceptance, self-esteem and self-efficacy. It tries to explain the correlation between the three concepts along with its linkage to language teaching. Then, it examines teachers’ acceptance level and its influence on their classroom actions. For that purpose, the main methodology undertaken is the mixed method. That means the combination between both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The prime tools selected are a questionnaire and self-acceptance test for teachers. Finally, it suggests some techniques for developing teachers’ self-acceptance.

Keywords: competence, development, efficacy, Self-acceptance, self-esteem, teachers

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Authors: Myung Kwon Cho, Seul Ki Min, Gwang Heum Yoon, Jung Hyun Joo, Sang Jun Sim, Hwa Sung Shin

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Mechanotransduction is a mechanism that external mechanical stimulation is converted to biochemical activity in the cell. When applying this mechanism to the unicellular green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the dramatic result that the accumulation of intracellular lipid was up to 60% of dry weight basis occurred. Furthermore, various variations in cellular physiology occurred, but there is a lack of the development of the system and related research for applying that technology to control the mechanical stress and facilitate molecular analyses. In this study, applying a mechanical stress to microalgae, the microfluidic device system that finely induced direct membrane distortion of microalgae. Cellular membrane distortion led to deflagellation, calcium influx and lipid accumulation in microalgae. In conclusion, cytological studies such as mechanotransduction can be actualized by using this system and membrane distortion is a promising inducer for biodiesel production.

Keywords: mechanotransduction, microalgae, membrane distortion, biodiesel

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Authors: Leonardo Parra, Manuel Chacón-Fuentes, Andrés Quiroz

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One of the most important factors in beef and dairy production in the world as well as also in Chile, is related to the correct choice of cultivars or mixtures of forage grasses and legumes to ensure high yields and quality of grassland. However, a great problem is the persistence of the grasses as a result of the action of different hypogeous as epigean pests. The complex insect pests associated with grassland include white grubs (Hylamorpha elegans, Phytoloema herrmanni), blackworm (Dalaca pallens) and Argentine stem weevil (Listronotus bonariensis). In Chile, the principal strategy utilized for controlling this pest is chemical control, through the use of synthetic insecticides, however, underground feeding habits of larval and flight activity of adults makes this uneconomic method. Furthermore, due to problems including environmental degradation, development of resistance and chemical residues, there is a worldwide interest in the use of alternative environmentally friendly pest control methods. In this sense, in recent years there has been an increasing interest in determining the role of endophyte fungi in controlling epigean and hypogeous pest. Endophytes from ryegrass (Lolium perenne), establish a biotrophic relationship with the host, defined as mutualistic symbiosis. The plant-fungi association produces a “cocktail of alkaloids” where peramine is the main toxic substance present in endophyte of ryegrass and responsible for damage reduction of L. bonariensis. In the last decade, few studies have been developed on the effectiveness of new ryegrass cultivars carriers of endophyte in controlling insect pests. Therefore, the aim of this research is to provide knowledge concerning to evaluate the alkaloid content, such as peramine and Lolitrem B, present in new experimental lines of ryegrass and feasible to be used in grasslands of southern Chile. For this, during 2016, ryegrass plants of six experimental lines and two commercial cultivars sown at the Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias Carrillanca (Vilcún, Chile) were collected and subjected to a process of chemical extraction to identify and quantify the presence of peramine and lolitrem B by the technique of liquid chromatography of high resolution (HPLC). The results indicated that the experimental lines EL-1 and EL-3 had high content of peramine (0.25 and 0.43 ppm, respectively) than with lolitrem B (0.061 and 0.19 ppm, respectively). Furthermore, the higher contents of lolitrem B were detected in the EL-4 and commercial cultivar Alto (positive control) with 0.08 and 0.17 ppm, respectively. Peramine and lolitrem B were not detected in the cultivar Jumbo (negative control). These results suggest that EL-3 would have potential as future cultivate because it has high content of peramine, alkaloid responsible for controlling insect pest. However, their current role on the complex insects attacking ryegrass grasslands should be evaluated. The information obtained in this research could be used to improve control strategies against hypogeous and epigean pests of grassland in southern Chile and also to reduce the use of synthetic pesticides.

Keywords: HPLC, Lolitrem B, peramine, pest

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Authors: K. V. Nabichu

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The rationale of this research was to review how Germans perceive Uganda as a tourism destination, after German visitors arrivals to Uganda remain few compared to other destinations like Kenya. It was assumed that Uganda suffers a negative image in Germany due to negative media influence. The study findings indicate that Uganda is not a popular travel destination in Germany, there is generally lack of travel information about Uganda. Despite the respondents’ hearing about Uganda’s and her beautiful attractions, good climate and friendly people, they also think Uganda is unsafe for travel. Findings further show that Uganda is a potential travel destination for Germans due to her beautifull landscape, rich culture, wild life, primates and the Nile, however political unrest, insecurity, the fear for diseases and poor hygiene hinder Germans from travelling to Uganda. The media, internet as well as friends and relatives were the major primary sources of information on Uganda while others knew about Uganda through their school lessons and sports. Uganda is not well advertised and promoted in Germany.

Keywords: destination Uganda and Germany, image, perception, negative media influence

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Authors: Paola Cattabriga

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According to Gödel’s first incompleteness argument it is possible to construct a formally undecidable proposition in Principia mathematica, a statement that, although true, turns out to be neither provable nor refutable for the system, making therefore incomplete any formal system suitable for the arithmetic of integers. Its features and limitation effects are today widespread basics throughout whole scientific thought. This article brings Gödel’s achievement into question by the definition of the refutability predicate as a number-theoretical statement. We develop proof of invalidity of Theorem VI in Gödel’s 1931, the so-called Gödel’s first incompleteness theorem, in two steps: defining refutability within the same recursive status as provability and showing that as a consequence propositions (15) and (16), derived from definition 8.1 in Gödel’s 1931, are false and unacceptable for the system. The achievement of their falsity blocks the derivation of Theorem VI, which turns out to be therefore invalid, together with all the depending theorems. This article opens up thus new perspectives for mathematical research and for the overall scientific reasoning.

Keywords: Gödel numbering, incompleteness, provability predicate, refutability predicate

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Authors: Ramuel Spirituel Mattathiah A. San Juan, Neil Ambasing

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Background: Reversal of vision metamorphopsia is a transient form of metamorphopsia described as an upside-down alteration of the visual field in the coronal plane. Patients would describe objects, such as cups, upside down, but the tea would not spill, and people would walk on their heads. It is extremely rare as a stable finding, lasting days or weeks. We report a case wherein this type of metamorphopsia occurred only in written words and lasted for six months. Objective: To the best of our knowledge, we report the first rare occurrence of reversal of vision metamorphopsia described as inverted words as the sole initial presentation of an underlying stroke. Case Presentation: We report a 59-year-old male with poorly controlled hypertension and diabetes mellitus who presented with a 3-day history of difficulty reading, described as the words were turned upside down as if the words were inverted horizontally then with the progression of deficits such as right homonymous hemianopia and achromatopsia, prosopagnosia. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed an acute infarct on the left posterior cerebral artery territory. Follow-up after six months revealed improvement of the visual field cut but with the persistence of the higher cortical function deficits. Conclusion: We report the first rare occurrence of metamorphopsia described as purely inverted words as the sole initial presentation of an underlying stroke. The differential diagnoses of a patient presenting with text reversal metamorphopsia should include stroke in the occipitotemporal areas. It further expands the landscape of metamorphopsias due to its exclusivity to written words and prolonged duration. Knowing these clinical features will help identify the lesion locus and improve subsequent stroke care, especially in time-bound management like intravenous thrombolysis.

Keywords: rare presentation, text reversal metamorphopsia, ischemic stroke, stroke

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Authors: Areej Al-Hamad, Yasin Yasin, Kateryna Metersky

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This mixed-method systematic review and meta-analysis provide an encompassing understanding of the barriers, facilitators, and predictors of refugee women's employment and economic inclusion. The study sheds light on the complex interplay of sociocultural, personal, political, and environmental factors influencing these outcomes, underlining the urgent need for a multifaceted, tailored approach to devising strategies, policies, and interventions aimed at boosting refugee women's economic empowerment. Our findings suggest that sociocultural factors, including gender norms, societal attitudes, language proficiency, and social networks, profoundly shape refugee women's access to and participation in the labor market. Personal factors such as age, educational attainment, health status, skills, and previous work experience also play significant roles. Political factors like immigration policies, regulations, and rights to work, alongside environmental factors like labor market conditions, availability of employment opportunities, and access to resources and support services, further contribute to the complex dynamics influencing refugee women's economic inclusion. The significant variability observed in the impacts of these factors across different contexts underscores the necessity of adopting population and region-specific strategies. A one-size-fits-all approach may prove to be ineffective due to the diversity and unique circumstances of refugee women across different geographical, cultural, and political contexts. The study's findings have profound implications for policy-making, practice, education, and research. The insights garnered a call for coordinated efforts across these domains to bolster refugee women's economic participation. In policy-making, the findings necessitate a reassessment of current immigration and labor market policies to ensure they adequately support refugee women's employment and economic integration. In practice, they highlight the need for comprehensive, tailored employment services and interventions that address the specific barriers and leverage the facilitators identified. In education, they underline the importance of language and skills training programs that cater to the unique needs and circumstances of refugee women. Lastly, in research, they emphasize the need for ongoing investigations into the multifaceted factors influencing refugee women's employment experiences, allowing for continuous refinement of our understanding and interventions. Through this comprehensive exploration, the study contributes to ongoing efforts aimed at creating more inclusive, equitable societies. By continually refining our understanding of the complex factors influencing refugee women's employment experiences, we can pave the way toward enhanced economic empowerment for this vulnerable population.

Keywords: refugee women, employment barriers, systematic review, employment facilitators

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Authors: Olabisi Adedigba

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It is a fundamental truth that Information Communication Technology (ICT) lies at the very heart of our today’s society and determines its development. The use of ICT has given a boost to the educational and mental development of an average pupil of this age far above their counterparts who lived centuries ago. Nevertheless, the present age children stand the risk of the scourge of this technology if proactive measures are not taken urgently to arrest the damages of its negative use on them. One of the measures that can be taken is supervision of children’s use of ICT. This research therefore investigated parents’ views and supervision of their children’s use of Information Communication Technology. Descriptive design was adopted for this study. 300 parents were randomly selected. “Parents’ Views and Supervision of Children’s Use of ICT” was used to collect data for the study. Data collected were analyzed using percentage, mean, standard deviation and t-test. The result revealed that parents’ view of their children’s use of ICT is negative while supervision of their children’s use of ICT is low. Recommendations were thus offered that schools and other stakeholders should educate parents on children’s proper utilization of ICT and parents are urged to maintain adequate supervision on their children use of ICT.

Keywords: appraisal of parents’ views and supervision, children’s use, information communication technology, t-test

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Authors: Liu Mingxin

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Streets act as the organizers of each image element on the urban spatial route, and the spatial continuity of urban streets is the basis for people to perceive the overall image of the city. This paper takes the walking space of Zhengzhou city as the research object, conducts investigation and analysis through questionnaire interviews, and selects typical walking space for in-depth study. Through the analysis of questionnaire data, the investigation and analysis of the current situation of walking space, and the analysis of pedestrian psychological behavior activities, the paper summarizes the construction suggestions of urban walking space continuity from the three aspects of the composition of walking street, the bottom interface and side interface, and the service facilities of walking space. The walking space is not only the traffic space but also the comfortable experience and the continuity of the space.

Keywords: walking space, spatial continuity, walking psychology, space reconstruction

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Authors: Mohammed Alaa Alwafaie, Bela Kovacs

Abstract:

With the rapid emergence and evolution of renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, there is an increasing demand for effective energy harvester architectures. This paper focuses on investigating the concept of energy harvesting using a wheel-motion energy source. The proposed method involves the placement of magnets and copper coils inside the hubcap rod of a wheel. When the wheel is set in motion, following Faraday's Law, the movement of the magnet within the coil induces an electric current. The paper includes an experiment to measure the output voltage of electromagnetics, as well as a numerical simulation to further explore the potential of this energy harvesting approach. By harnessing the rotational motion of wheels, this research aims to contribute to the development of innovative techniques for generating electrical power in a sustainable and efficient manner.

Keywords: harvesting energy, electromagnetic, hubcap rod wheel, magnet movement inside coil, faraday law

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Authors: Raziel Felix-Aguelo

Abstract:

Language competencies refer to the knowledge and abilities to use English in four inter-related skills: Speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Cooperative learning is a type of instruction where learners are grouped together to work on an assignment, project, or task. To become competent in second language, one needs to actively use English in each of four modalities. Learning English is challenging to second language learners. Sometimes, some students feel demotivated and scared to use English during class discussions and recitations. This paper explores the students’ attitude and perception towards cooperative learning in enhancing their language competencies. The primary method for this research is case study. Thirty-two grade 9 students within a single selected class are used as sample. The instruments used in data collection were questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The finding shows that collaborative learning activities enhance the four skills of the students. The participants consider this approach motivational as they engage and interact with others. This indicates that students develop their language competencies as they rely to one another in doing meaningful language activities.

Keywords: language competencies, collaborative learning, motivation, language activities

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Authors: M. A. Badr, A. N. Mohib, M. M. Ibrahim

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The objective of this research is to study the technical and economic performance of wind/diesel/battery (W/D/B) system supplying a remote small gathering of six families using HOMER software package. The electrical energy is to cater for the basic needs for which the daily load pattern is estimated. Net Present Cost (NPC) and Cost of Energy (COE) are used as economic criteria, while the measure of performance is % of power shortage. Technical and economic parameters are defined to estimate the feasibility of the system under study. Optimum system configurations are estimated for two sites. Using HOMER software, the simulation results showed that W/D/B systems are economical for the assumed community sites as the price of generated electricity is about 0.308 $/kWh, without taking external benefits into considerations. W/D/B systems are more economical than W/B or diesel alone systems, as the COE is 0.86 $/kWh for W/B and 0.357 $/kWh for diesel alone.

Keywords: optimum energy systems, remote electrification, renewable energy, wind turbine systems

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Authors: Amani A. Saad, Ahmed A. El-Farag, El-Sayed A. Helali

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Cloud computing is an important and promising field in the recent decade. Cloud computing allows sharing resources, services and information among the people of the whole world. Although the advantages of using clouds are great, but there are many risks in a cloud. The data security is the most important and critical problem of cloud computing. In this research a new security model for cloud computing is proposed for ensuring secure communication system, hiding information from other users and saving the user's times. In this proposed model Blowfish encryption algorithm is used for exchanging information or data, and SHA-2 cryptographic hash algorithm is used for data integrity. For user authentication process a simple user-name and password is used, the password uses SHA-2 for one way encryption. The proposed system shows an improvement of the processing time of uploading and downloading files on the cloud in secure form.

Keywords: cloud computing, data security, SAAS, PAAS, IAAS, Blowfish

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Authors: Patik Joslin Kenfack, Polyakov Vladimir Mikhailovich

Abstract:

Machine Learning (ML) systems are trained using human generated data that could be biased by implicitly containing racist, sexist, or discriminating data. ML models learn those biases or even amplify them. Recent research in work on has begun to consider issues of fairness. The concept of fairness is extended to recommendation. A recommender system will be considered fair if it doesn’t under rank items of protected group (gender, race, demographic...). Several metrics for evaluating fairness concerns in recommendation systems have been proposed, which take pairs of items as ‘instances’ in fairness evaluation. It doesn’t take in account the fact that the fairness should be evaluated across a list of items. The paper explores a probabilistic approach that generalize pairwise metric by using a list k (listwise) of items as ‘instances’ in fairness evaluation, parametrized by k. We also explore new regularization method based on this metric to improve fairness ranking during model training.

Keywords: Fairness, Recommender System, Ranking, Listwise Approach

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Authors: E. A. Alaswad, H. M. Choudhry, F. Z. Filimban

Abstract:

Sickle Cell Anemia (SCA) is one type of blood diseases related to autosomal disorder. The sickle shaped red blood cells are the main cause of many problems in the blood vessels and capillaries. Aerva Javanica (J) and Ficus Palmata (P) are medicinal plants that have many popular uses and have been proved their efficacy. The aim of this study was to assess the antioxidants activity and the antisickling effect of J and P extractions. The period of this study, air-dried leaves of J, and P plants were ground and the active components were extracted by maceration in water (W) and methanol (M) as solvents. The antioxidants activity of JW, PW, JM, and PM were assessed by way of the radical scavenging method using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). To determine the antisickling effect of J and P extracts. 20 samples were collected from sickle cell anemia patients. Different concentrations of J and P extracts (200 and 110 μg/mL) were added on the sample and incubated. A drop of each sample was examined with light microscope. Normal and sickled RBCs were calculated and expressed as the percent of sickling. The stabilization effect of the extracts was measured by the osmotic fragility test for erythrocytes. The finding suggests as estimated by DPPH method, all the extracts showed an antioxidant activity with a significant inhibition of the DPPH radicals. PM has the least IC50% with 71.49 μg/ml while JM was the most with 408.49 μg/ml. Sickle cells treated with extracts at different concentrations significantly reduced the percentage of sickling compering to control samples. However, JM 200 μg/mL give the highest anti-sickling affect with 17.4% of sickling compared to control 67.5 of sickling while PM at 200 μg/mL showed the highest membrane cell stability. In a conclusion, the results showed that J and P extracts have antisickling effects. Therefore, the Aerva javanica and Ficus palmata may have a role in SCA management and a good impact on the patient's lives.

Keywords: Aerva javanica, antioxidant, antisickling, Ficus palmata, sickle cell anemia

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