Search results for: natural language processing

Authors: U. Borasi, Amit Kr. Jain, Rakesh, Piyush Jain

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Data collection, data preparation, model training, model evaluation, and deployment are all processes in a typical machine learning workflow. Training data needs to be gathered and organised. This often entails collecting a sizable dataset and cleaning it to remove or correct any inaccurate or missing information. Preparing the data for use in the machine learning model requires pre-processing it after it has been acquired. This often entails actions like scaling or normalising the data, handling outliers, selecting appropriate features, reducing dimensionality, etc. This pre-processed data is then used to train a model on some machine learning algorithm. After the model has been trained, it needs to be assessed by determining metrics like accuracy, precision, and recall, utilising a test dataset. Every time a new model is built, both data pre-processing and model training—two crucial processes in the Machine learning (ML) workflow—must be carried out. Thus, there are various Machine Learning algorithms that can be employed for every single approach to data pre-processing, generating a large set of combinations to choose from. Example: for every method to handle missing values (dropping records, replacing with mean, etc.), for every scaling technique, and for every combination of features selected, a different algorithm can be used. As a result, in order to get the optimum outcomes, these tasks are frequently repeated in different combinations. This paper suggests a simple architecture for organizing this largely produced “combination set of pre-processing steps and algorithms” into an automated workflow which simplifies the task of carrying out all possibilities.

Keywords: machine learning, automation, AUTOML, architecture, operator pool, configuration, scheduler

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Authors: Lutendo Nendauni

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Colonialism breaks things, colonisers exploded native cultural solidarity, producing the spiritual confusion, psychic wounding, and economic exploitation of a new and dominated ‘other’. Colonialism as the cultural and economic exploitation began when the West defended in their seizure of foreign territories for the exploitation of its natural resources; this resulted in brutal socio-economic imbalances. The Western profited at the detriment of the weak Africa. However, colonialism has since passed, but the effects are still evident culturally, socially, and economically. This paper explored how postcolonial writers and critics attempt to reverse the socio-economic imbalances resulting from the fragmentation of colonialism, with a focus on the play 'I will Marry When I Want' by Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Ngugi wa Mirii, as a primary text. Using qualitative discourse-textual analysis as the research methodology, the researcher purposively extracts discourse segments from the text for analysis and interpretation. The findings reveal that Postcolonial critics and writers attempt to reverse the socio-economic effects of colonialism through various counter discourses; their literature is concerned with the destruction of colonised identity, the search for this identity, and its assertion. It is manifest in the text that writers offer corrective views about Africans; they stress that they write their literary texts to conscientise their fellow Africans. Postcolonial writers and critics argue that language is a carrier of culture and that the only way to break free from colonial influence is by not adopting a foreign language. They further through their poems, novels, plays, and music strategically shine the spotlight on the previously nameless and destitute people so that they can develop the human spirit’s desire to overcome defeat, socio-political deprivation, and isolation.

Keywords: colonialism, postcoloniality, critics, socio-economic imbalances

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Authors: Houda Zouar, Hanane Sarnou

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In the 21st, century the concept of learners' autonomy is crucial. The concept of self-regulated learning has come forward as a result of enabling learners to direct their learning with autonomy towards academic goals achievement. Academic self-regulation is defined as the process by which learners systematically plan, monitor and asses their learning to achieve their academic established goals. In the field of English as a foreign language, teachers emphasise the role of learners’ autonomy to foster the process of English language learning. Consequently, academic self-regulation is considered as a vehicle to enhance autonomy among English language learners. However, not all learners can be equally self-regulators if not well assisted, mainly those novice pupils of basic education. For this matter, understanding the role of teachers in fostering academic self- regulation must be among the preliminary objectives in searching and developing this area. The present research work targets the role of the Algerian middle school teachers in enhancing academic self-regulation and teaching pupils how to learn, besides their role as models in the trajectory of teaching their pupils to become self-regulators. Despite the considerable endeavours in the field of educational setting on Self-Regulated Learning, the literature of the Algerian context indicates confined endeavours to undertake and divulge this notion. To go deeper into this study, a mixed method approach was employed to confirm our hypothesis. For data collection, teachers were observed and addressed by a questionnaire on their role in enhancing academic self- regulation among their pupils. The result of the research indicates that the attempts of middle school Algerian teachers are implicit and limited. This study emphasises the need to prepare English language teachers with the necessary skills to promote autonomous and self-regulator English learners.

Keywords: Algeria, English as a foreign language, middle school, self-regulation, Teachers' role

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Authors: Pedro Augusto Da Silva E Souza Miranda, Niloofar Jalali, Shweta Mistry

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BACKGROUND: Software developers utilize automated solutions to scrape users’ reviews to extract meaningful knowledge to identify problems (e.g., bugs, compatibility issues) and possible enhancements (e.g., users’ requests) to their solutions. However, most of these solutions do not consider the health risk aspects to users. Recent works have shed light on the importance of including health risk considerations in the development cycle of mHealth apps to prevent harm to its users. PROBLEM: The COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada (and World) is currently forcing physical distancing upon the general population. This new lifestyle made the usage of mHealth applications more essential than ever, with a projected market forecast of 332 billion dollars by 2025. However, this new insurgency in mHealth usage comes with possible risks to users’ health due to mHealth apps problems (e.g., wrong insulin dosage indication due to a UI error). OBJECTIVE: These works aim to raise awareness amongst mHealth developers of the importance of considering risks to users’ health within their development lifecycle. Moreover, this work also aims to help mHealth developers with a Proof-of-Concept (POC) solution to understand, process, and identify possible health risks to users of mHealth apps based on users’ reviews. METHODS: We conducted a mixed-method study design. We developed a crawler to mine the negative reviews from two samples of mHealth apps (my fitness, medisafe) from the Google Play store users. For each mHealth app, we performed the following steps: • The reviews are divided into two groups, before starting the COVID-19 (reviews’ submission date before 15 Feb 2019) and during the COVID-19 (reviews’ submission date starts from 16 Feb 2019 till Dec 2020). For each period, the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic model was used to identify the different clusters of reviews based on similar topics of review The topics before and during COVID-19 are compared, and the significant difference in frequency and severity of similar topics are identified. RESULTS: We successfully scraped, filtered, processed, and identified health-related topics in both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The results demonstrated the similarity between topics before and during the COVID-19.

Keywords: natural language processing (NLP), topic modeling, mHealth, COVID-19, software engineering, telemedicine, health risks

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Authors: Daniel Li

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We present a novel application of neural rendering methods to confocal microscopy. Neural rendering and implicit neural representations have developed at a remarkable pace, and are prevalent in modern 3D computer vision literature. However, they have not yet been applied to optical microscopy, an important imaging field where 3D volume information may be heavily sought after. In this paper, we employ neural rendering on confocal microscopy focus stack data and share the results. We highlight the benefits and potential of adding neural rendering to the toolkit of microscopy image processing techniques.

Keywords: neural rendering, implicit neural representations, confocal microscopy, medical image processing

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Authors: Sharon Truter, Ann B. Shuttleworth-Edwards

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South Africa is a developing country with significant diversity in languages spoken and quality of education available, creating challenges for fair and accurate neuropsychological assessments when most available neuropsychological tests are obtained from English-speaking developed countries. The aim of this research was to compare normative data on a spectrum of commonly used neuropsychological tests for English- and Afrikaans-speaking South Africans with relatively high quality of education and South Africans with relatively low quality of education who speak Afrikaans, Sesotho, Setswana, Sepedi, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa or Zulu. The participants were all healthy adults aged 18-60 years, with 8-12 years of education. All the participants were tested in their first language on the following tests: two non-verbal tests (Rey Osterrieth Complex Figure Test and Bell Cancellation Test), four verbal fluency tests (category, phonemic, verb and 'any words'), one verbal learning test (Rey Auditory Verbal Leaning Test) and three tests that have a verbal component (Trail Making Test A & B; Symbol Digit Modalities Test and Digit Span). Descriptive comparisons of mean scores and standard deviations across the language groups and between the groups with relatively high versus low quality of education highlight the importance of using normative data that takes into account language and quality of education.

Keywords: cross-cultural, language, multi-lingual, neuropsychological testing, quality of education

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Authors: Sahar S. Moursi

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Due to the unique background of the Saudi female international students who study in western institutes, they face tough challenges as English as a second language (ESL) learners. This paper draws on a Ph.D. study that examines a wide range of challenges faced by Saudi female international students when they study the English language and other academic subjects in a new culture. This research project followed the phenomenological approach and, more specifically, used the in-depth interview to provide an opportunity to the seven female participants to make their voices heard through telling their stories. The data analysis indicated that the Saudi female international students who study in western institutes are faced with religious and cultural challenges that impact their academic performance. This study is significant for the authorities in Saudi Arabia and the hosting universities as it gives essential recommendations to both sides of the aisle. It also provides the Saudi female international students with vital recommendations to better cope with those challenges.

Keywords: English language learners, religious and cultural background, Saudi female students, tough challenges

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Authors: R. Sri Karthi Krishna, A. Saravana Kumar, Kesava Brahmaji, V. S. Vinoj

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The lunar surface may contain rough and non-uniform terrain with dips and peaks. Soft-landing is a method of landing the lander on the lunar surface without any damage to the vehicle. This project focuses on finding a safe landing site for the vehicle by developing a method for the lateral velocity determination of the lunar lander. This is done by processing the real time images obtained by means of an on-board vision sensor. The hazard avoidance phase of the soft-landing starts when the vehicle is about 200 m above the lunar surface. Here, the lander has a very low velocity of about 10 cm/s:vertical and 5 m/s:horizontal. On the detection of a hazard the lander is navigated by controlling the vertical and lateral velocity. In order to find an appropriate landing site and to accordingly navigate, the lander image processing is performed continuously. The images are taken continuously until the landing site is determined, and the lander safely lands on the lunar surface. By integrating this vision-based navigation with the INS a better accuracy for the soft-landing of the lunar lander can be obtained.

Keywords: vision aided INS, image processing, lateral velocity estimation, materials engineering

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Authors: Julio Jesus Salazar, Max Jesus De Lama

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The challenges of water management are aggravated by global change, which implies high complexity and associated uncertainty; water management is difficult because water networks cross domains (natural, societal, and political), scales (space, time, jurisdictional, institutional, knowledge, etc.) and levels (area: patches to global; knowledge: a specific case to generalized principles). In this context, we need to apply natural and non-natural measures to manage water and soil. The Basin Management Methodology considers multifunctional measures of natural water retention and erosion control and soil formation to protect water resources and address the challenges related to the recovery or conservation of the ecosystem, as well as natural characteristics of water bodies, to improve the quantitative status of water bodies and reduce vulnerability to floods and droughts. This method of water management focuses on the positive impacts of the chemical and ecological status of water bodies, restoration of the functioning of the ecosystem and its natural services; thus, contributing to both adaptation and mitigation of climate change. This methodology was applied in 7 interventions in the sub-basin of the Shullcas River in Huancayo-Junín-Peru, obtaining great benefits in the framework of the participation of alliances of actors and integrated planning scenarios. To implement the methodology in the sub-basin of the Shullcas River, a process called Climate Smart Territories (CST) was used; with which the variables were characterized in a highly complex space. The diagnosis was then worked using risk management and adaptation to climate change. Finally, it was concluded with the selection of alternatives and projects of this type. Therefore, the CST approach and process face the challenges of climate change through integrated, systematic, interdisciplinary and collective responses at different scales that fit the needs of ecosystems and their services that are vital to human well-being. This methodology is now replicated at the level of the Mantaro river basin, improving with other initiatives that lead to the model of a resilient basin.

Keywords: climate-smart territories, climate change, ecosystem services, natural measures, Climate Smart Territories (CST) approach

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Authors: Stuart Noel

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In a streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams presents Blanche DuBois, a most complex and intriguing character who often uses prestige language to project the image of an upper-class speaker and to disguise her darker and complicated self. She embodies various fascinating and contrasting characteristics. Like New Orleans (the locale of the play), Blanche represents two opposing images. One image projects that of genteel, Southern charm and beauty, speaking formally and using prestige language and what some linguists refer to as “hypercorrection,” and the other image reveals that of a soiled, deteriorating façade, full of decadence and illusion. Williams said on more than one occasion that Blanche’s use of such language was a direct reflection of her personality and character (as a high school English teacher). Prestige language is an exaggeratedly elevated, pretentious, and oftentimes melodramatic form of one’s language incorporating superstandard or more standard speech than usual in order to project a highly authoritative individual identity. Speech styles carry personal identification meaning not only because they are closely associated with certain social classes but because they tend to be associated with certain conversational contexts. Features which may be considered to be “elaborated” in form (for example, full forms vs. contractions) tend to cluster together in speech registers/styles which are typically considered to be more formal and/or of higher social prestige, such as academic lectures and news broadcasts. Members of higher social classes have access to the elaborated registers which characterize formal writings and pre-planned speech events, such as lectures, while members of lower classes are relegated to using the more economical registers associated with casual, face-to-face conversational interaction, since they do not participate in as many planned speech events as upper-class speakers. Tennessee Williams’s work is characteristically concerned with the conflict between the illusions of an individual and the reality of his/her situation equated with a conflict between truth and beauty. An examination of Blanche DuBois reveals a recurring theme of art and decay and the use of prestige language to reveal artistry in language and to hide a deteriorating self. His graceful and poetic writing personifies her downfall and deterioration. Her loneliness and disappointment are the things so often strongly feared by the sensitive artists and heroes in the world. Hers is also a special and delicate human spirit that is often misunderstood and repressed by society. Blanche is afflicted with a psychic illness growing out of her inability to face the harshness of human existence. She is a sensitive, artistic, and beauty-haunted creature who is avoiding her own humanity while hiding behind her use of prestige language. And she embodies a partial projection of Williams himself.

Keywords: American drama, prestige language, Southern American literature, Tennessee Williams

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Authors: Jui-Chien Wang

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Because of China’s continued economic growth and dominance, increasingly many students of Chinese from western countries are interested in pursuing careers related to China. Unless we do more to teach them about contemporary Chinese society and Chinese cultural codes, however, few will be able to do so successfully. Most traditional language textbooks treat these topics only cursorily, and, because of the rapid pace of China’s social and economic development, what they do cover is frequently outdated and insufficient. However, understanding contemporary Chinese society and Chinese cultural codes is essential to successfully negotiating real-world China. The current paper details one of the main ways in which the presenter has dealt with this educational lacuna: the development and implementation of a series of teaching modules for advanced Chinese language classes. Each module explores a particular area, provides resources, and raises questions to engage students in strengthening their language and cultural competencies. The teaching modules address four main areas: (1) Chinese behavioral culture; (2) critical issues in contemporary China; (3) current events in China; and (4) great social transformations in contemporary China. The presenter will also discuss lessons learned and insights gained during the development and implementation process as well as the benefits of using these modules. In addition, the presenter will offer suggestions for the application of these modules, so that other language teachers will be able to make better use of them in their own classrooms.

Keywords: behavioral culture, contemporary Chinese society, cultural code, teaching module

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Authors: Rim Bouhaouel, Naoufel Kraïem, Zuhoor Al Khanjari

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Unified Modeling Language (UML) is considered as one of the widespread modeling language standardized by the Object Management Group (OMG). Therefore, the model driving engineering (MDE) community attempts to provide reuse of UML diagrams, and do not construct it from scratch. The UML model appears according to a specific software development process. The existing method generation models focused on the different techniques of transformation without considering the development process. Our work aims to construct an UML component from fragments of UML diagram basing on an agile method. We define UML fragment as a portion of a UML diagram, which express a business target. To guide the generation of fragments of UML models using an agile process, we need a flexible approach, which adapts to the agile changes and covers all its activities. We use the software product line (SPL) to derive a fragment of process agile method. This paper explains our approach, named RECUP, to generate UML fragments following an agile process, and overviews the different aspects. In this paper, we present the approach and we define the different phases and artifacts.

Keywords: UML, component, fragment, agile, SPL

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Authors: Sunny Arora, Meghal A. Desai

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An impetus towards green consumerism and implementation of sustainable techniques, consumption of natural products and utilization of environment friendly techniques have gained accelerated acceptance. Butein, a natural colorant, has many medicinal properties apart from its use in dyeing industries. Extraction of butein from the flowers of flame of forest was carried out using ultrasonication bath. Solid loading (2-6 g), extraction time (30-50 min), volume of solvent (30-50 mL) and types of solvent (methanol, ethanol and water) have been studied to maximize the yield of butein using the Taguchi method. The highest yield of butein 4.67% (w/w) was obtained using 4 g of plant material, 40 min of extraction time and 30 mL volume of methanol as a solvent. The present method provided a greater reduction in extraction time compared to the conventional method of extraction. Hence, the outcome of the present investigation could further be utilized to develop the method at a higher scale.

Keywords: butein, flowers of Flame of the Forest, Taguchi method, ultrasonic bath

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Authors: Md. Jahidul Islam, A. K. M. Rakinul Islam, M. Salamah Meherier

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This study investigates the suitability of using plastic, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), as a partial replacement of natural coarse and fine aggregates (for example, brick chips and natural sand) to produce lightweight concrete for load bearing structural members. The plastic coarse aggregate (PCA) and plastic fine aggregate (PFA) were produced from melted polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. Tests were conducted using three different water–cement (w/c) ratios, such as 0.42, 0.48, and 0.57, where PCA and PFA were used as 50% replacement of coarse and fine aggregate respectively. Fresh and hardened properties of concrete have been compared for natural aggregate concrete (NAC), PCA concrete (PCC) and PFA concrete (PFC). The compressive strength of concrete at 28 days varied with the water–cement ratio for both the PCC and PFC. Between PCC and PFC, PFA concrete showed the highest compressive strength (23.7 MPa) at 0.42 w/c ratio and also the lowest compressive strength (13.7 MPa) at 0.57 w/c ratio. Significant reduction in concrete density was mostly observed for PCC samples, ranging between 1977–1924 kg/m³. With the increase in water–cement ratio PCC achieved higher workability compare to both NAC and PFC. It was found that both the PCA and PFA contained concrete achieved the required compressive strength to be used for structural purpose as partial replacement of the natural aggregate; but to obtain the desired lower density as lightweight concrete the PCA is most suited.

Keywords: polyethylene terephthalate, plastic aggregate, concrete, fresh and hardened properties

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Authors: Katarina Lazarević, Mirjana Todosijević, Tijana Vulević, Natalija Momirović, Ranka Erić

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Due to increasing demand, climate change, and world population growth, natural resources are getting exploit fast. One of the most important natural resources is soil, which is susceptible to degradation. Erosion as one of the forms of land degradation is also one of the most global environmental problems. Ecosystem services are often defined as benefits that nature provides to humankind. Soil, as the foundation of basic ecosystem functions, provides benefits to people, erosion control, water infiltration, food, fuel, fibers… This research is using the ecosystem approach as a strategy for natural resources management for promoting sustainability and conservation. The research was done on the Topčiderska River basin (Belgrade, Serbia). The InVEST Sediment Delivery Ratio model was used, to quantify erosion intensity with a spatial distribution output map of overland sediment generation and delivery to the stream. InVEST SDR, a spatially explicit model, is using a method based on the concept of hydrological connectivity and (R) USLE model. This, combined with socio-economic and law and policy analysis, gives a full set of information to decision-makers helping them to successfully manage and deliver sustainable ecosystems.

Keywords: ecosystem services, InVEST model, soil erosion, sustainability

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Authors: Joris Zufferey, Roderick John Lawrence

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This paper provides an overview of the state of the art about the positive health impacts of exposure to natural outdoor environments. It presents the results of a “review of reviews” in terms of empirical evidence and identifies some key questions. Finally, the authors stress the need to develop more interdisciplinary and systemic contributions. This synthesis of empirical research has been done as part of the EU- FP7 PHENOTYPE research project.

Keywords: Exposure, environment, phenotype, salutogenic effects

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Authors: Kinza Qadeer, Muhammad Abdul Qyyum, Moonyong Lee

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Natural gas has become an attractive energy source in comparison with other fossil fuels because of its lower CO₂ and other air pollutant emissions. Therefore, compared to the demand for coal and oil, that for natural gas is increasing rapidly world-wide. The transportation of natural gas over long distances as a liquid (LNG) preferable for several reasons, including economic, technical, political, and safety factors. However, LNG production is an energy-intensive process due to the tremendous amount of power requirements for compression of refrigerants, which provide sufficient cold energy to liquefy natural gas. Therefore, one of the major issues in the LNG industry is to improve the energy efficiency of existing LNG processes through a cost-effective approach that is 'optimization'. In this context, a bio-inspired Krill-herd (KH) step-up approach was examined to enhance the energy efficiency of a single mixed refrigerant (SMR) natural gas liquefaction (LNG) process, which is considered as a most promising candidate for offshore LNG production (FPSO). The optimal design of a natural gas liquefaction processes involves multivariable non-linear thermodynamic interactions, which lead to exergy destruction and contribute to process irreversibility. As key decision variables, the optimal values of mixed refrigerant flow rates and process operating pressures were determined based on the herding behavior of krill individuals corresponding to the minimum energy consumption for LNG production. To perform the rigorous process analysis, the SMR process was simulated in Aspen Hysys® software and the resulting model was connected with the Krill-herd approach coded in MATLAB. The optimal operating conditions found by the proposed approach significantly reduced the overall energy consumption of the SMR process by ≤ 22.5% and also improved the coefficient of performance in comparison with the base case. The proposed approach was also compared with other well-proven optimization algorithms, such as genetic and particle swarm optimization algorithms, and was found to exhibit a superior performance over these existing approaches.

Keywords: energy efficiency, Krill-herd, LNG, optimization, single mixed refrigerant

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Authors: Carmen Manuela Pereira Carneiro Lucas

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Background: The milestones on first (L1) and second (L2) language acquisition have fascinated researchers and practitioners for decades. However, the findings from the available research do not always and instantly reflect on the classroom, specifically in Teaching English to Young Learners in Portuguese primary schools. Within this, it is worth highlighting, as per previous studies, the lack of uniformity in terms of syllabus design and implementation in the classroom. Moreover, more continuous professional development opportunities would be welcome. This paper is set out to gather the “best of both worlds”, with the aim of contributing to research-informed teaching, based in actual findings from the classroom, through and after the implementation of an action-research programme for nurturing the seeds in learning how to read in English. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of read-aloud storybooks, associated with the use of interactive whiteboards, further anchored in a phonics-based approach to teach reading and writing to Young Learners of English. Methods: Participants were 80 (n=80) native Portuguese children, attending the second year of primary school, learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes, aged 7 years old. Results and Conclusions: The findings suggest that through the use of storybooks, followed by watching the respective videos, together with follow-up phonics activities are effective strategies which Teachers of English to Young Learners can certainly use to “nurture the seeds” for English language learning.

Keywords: teaching English to young learners, phonics-based approach, content for language and integrated learning, English across the curriculum, interactive whiteboards, teacher training

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Authors: Carmen Soria

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The aim of this paper is the study of the cultural and anthropological consequences of the historical natural disasters in Abruzzo (Italy, Central Apennine). These events have left cultural marks in local traditions as well as mythological stories, specific cults, or sanctuary areas in apotropaic function to prevent catastrophic events. Despite the difficult to find archaeological evidence of natural disasters, neverthless, the analisys of micro placenames, directly or indirectly related to such events, represents an integrated and interdisciplinary approach between seismology studies and landscape analysis. Toponymic data, indeed, highlight the strong relation between geomorphological features of areas affected by natural disasters and heritage community resilience, such as, for example, the cult of St. Agatha, widespread in the nearby of healing spring-water and ancient caves as a place of worship, in continuity with pagan rituals.

Keywords: abruzzo, heritage community resilience, seismic planames, St. agata

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Authors: Ahmed Mohamed Al-Abdali

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Providing English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses that are more closely geared to the learners’ needs and requirements in their fields of study undoubtedly enhance learners’ interest and success in a highly academic environment. While needs analysis is crucial to the success of ESP courses, it has not received sufficient attention from researchers in the Arab world. Oman is no exception from the Arab countries as this fact is realised in the ESP practices in the Omani higher educational context. This presentation, however, discusses the perceptions of the Language Centre (LC) students at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), Oman, in relation to the requirements of their science colleges. The discussion of the presentation will be based on a mixed-method-approach study, which included semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and document analyses. These mixed methods have allowed for closer investigation of the participants' views, backgrounds and experiences. It is hoped that the findings of this study will be used to recommend changes to the ESP curriculum in the LC of SQU so that it better meets the needs of its students and requirements of the science colleges.

Keywords: curriculum, ESP, ELT, needs analysis, college requirements

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Authors: Maryam Maimota

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Words are the basic building blocks of a language. In everyday usage of a language, words are used and new words are formed and reformed in order to contain and accommodate all entities, phenomena, qualities and every aspect of the entire human life. This research study seeks to examine and compare some of the word formation processes and how they are used in forming new words in English and Hausa languages. The study focuses its main attention on blending and compounding as word formation processes and how the processes are used adequately in the formation of words in both English and Hausa languages. The research aims to find out, how compounding and blending are used, as processes of word formation in these two languages. And also, to investigate the word formation processes involved in compounding and blending in these languages, and the nature of words that are formed. Therefore, the research tries to find the answers to the following research questions; What types of compound and blended forms are found and how they are formed in the English and Hausa languages? How these compounded and blended forms functioned in both English and Hausa languages in different context such as in phrases and sentences structures? Findings of the study reveal that, there exist new kind of words formed in Hausa and English language under blending, which previous findings did not either reveal or explain in detail. Similarly, there are a lot of similarities found in the way these blends and compounds forms in the two languages, however, the data available shows that, blends in the Hausa language are more, when compared to the blends in English. The data of this study will be gathered based on discourse found in newspaper, articles, novels, and written literature of the Hausa and English languages.

Keywords: blending, compounding, morphology, word formation

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Authors: Sheetal Sharma

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Runoff,decreasing water levels and recharge in urban areas have been a complex issue now a days pointing defective urban design and increasing demography as cause. Very less has been discussed or analysed for water sensitive Urban Master Plans or local area plans. Land use planning deals with land transformation from natural areas into developed ones, which lead to changes in natural environment. Elaborated knowledge of relationship between the existing patterns of land use-land cover and recharge with respect to prevailing soil below is less as compared to speed of development. The parameters of incompatibility between urban functions and the functions of the natural environment are becoming various. Changes in land patterns due to built up, pavements, roads and similar land cover affects surface water flow seriously. It also changes permeability and absorption characteristics of the soil. Urban planners need to know natural processes along with modern means and best technologies available,as there is a huge gap between basic knowledge of natural processes and its requirement for balanced development planning leading to minimum impact on water recharge. The present paper analyzes the variations in land use land cover and their impacts on surface flows and sub-surface recharge in study area. The methodology adopted was to analyse the changes in land use and land cover using GIS and Civil 3d auto cad. The variations were used in  computer modeling using Storm-water Management Model to find out the runoff for various soil groups and resulting recharge observing water levels in POW data for last 40 years of the study area. Results were anlayzed again to find best correlations for sustainable recharge in urban areas.

Keywords: geology, runoff, urban planning, land use-land cover

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Authors: Muhammad Saleem

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The research paper entitled above would be a comprehensive and critical study of translations of the meanings of the Holy Qur’an. The discussion will deal with the targets & purposes of Urdu (National Language of Pakistan) translators of the meanings of the Holy Qur’an. There are more than 400 translations of the meanings of the Holy Qur’an in the Urdu Language. Muslims, non-Muslims and some organizations have made translations of the meanings of the Holy Qur’an to meet various targets. It is observed that all Urdu translators have not translated the Qur’an with a single objective and motivation; rather, some are biased and strive to discredit the Qur’an. Thus, they have made unauthentic and fabricated translations of the Qur’an. Some optimistically believe that they intend to do a service, whereas others pessimistically hold that they treacherously seek to further their rule. Some of them have been observed to be against Islam, starting their activities with spite, but after perceiving the truths of Islam and the miracle and greatness of the Holy Qur’an, they submitted to Islam, embracing it with pure hearts. Some translators made their translations of the meanings of the Holy Qur’an to serve Allah, and some of them have done their translations to earn only. All these translations vary from one to another due to style, trend, type, method and style. Some Urdu translations have been made to fulfill the lingual requirements. Some translations have been made by Muslim scholars to reduce the influence of Urdu translations of the meanings of the Holy Qur’an by Non-Muslims. The article deals with the various purposes of the translators of the meanings of the Holy Qur’an.

Keywords: Qur'an, translation, urdu, language

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Authors: Ugahara Bin Mahyuddin Yunus

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In English Language Teaching, it cannot be denied that the backgrounds of English teachers do affect the way they teach English to their students, which in turn will affect their students’ English learning itself. Thus, it is very important to understand who the English teachers are so that how they teach English to their students can be understood. One of their backgrounds that is essential to be highlighted is their culture. Certainly, they wittingly or not will bring the perspectives and values of their culture into their daily teaching practices. In other words, their cultural identities do shape how they teach their students. Cultural identities themselves actually consist of some elements, one of which is regional identity. Indeed, the culture of the region in which English teachers identify with has impact on their beliefs and actions during teaching. For this reason, this study aims to understand how the regional identity of English teachers influence the way they teach English to their students. This study is a qualitative study conducted in a multilingual and multicultural setting, namely Aceh, Indonesia. Here, four Acehnese English teachers were involved as the research participants. In addition, this study adopted poststructuralist perspective to identity as the theoretical framework. Three research instruments were used in this study, namely semi-structured interviews, classroom observation, and teacher journal. The data gained from these instruments were then analyzed by using thematic analysis. Obviously, the research about the regional identity of English teachers in English Language Teaching has been studied worldwide. However, little is still known about it in Indonesian context, let alone Indonesia itself is a super diverse country with 34 regions. As a result, this study presents a good opportunity to advance the knowledge of how the regional identity construction of English teachers in this setting is. The findings of the study revealed that their regional identity construction in teaching was highly influenced by their indigenous language and religious faith. Even, how they teach English in classroom, in fact, is related to these two things. The conclusion that can be drawn from this study is for these English teachers, in fact, their regional identity itself constitutes their use of local language and religious identity, which are considered by them as their core identity.

Keywords: English language teaching, English teachers, identity construction, regional identity

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Authors: Mohammad Khosravi, Ali Kiani, Behroz Dastar, Parvin Showrang

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Review was carried out on important anti-nutritional compounds of livestock and poultry foods and the effect of radiation usage. Nowadays, with advancement in technology, different methods have been considered for the optimum usage of nutrients in livestock and poultry foods. Steaming, extruding, pelleting, and the use of chemicals are the most common and popular methods in food processing. Use of radiation in food processing researches in the livestock and poultry industry is currently highly regarded. Ionizing (electrons, gamma) and non-ionizing beams (microwave and infrared) are the most useable rays in animal food processing. In recent researches, these beams have been used to remove and reduce the anti-nutritional factors and microbial contamination and improve the digestibility of nutrients in poultry and livestock food. The evidence presented will help researchers to recognize techniques of relevance to them. Simplification of some of these techniques, especially in developing countries, must be addressed so that they can be used more widely.

Keywords: antitrypsin, gamma anti-nutritional components, phytic acid, radiation

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Authors: Javad Hesari, Tahereh Donyatalab, Sodeif Azadmard Damirchi, Reza Rezaii Mokaram, Abbas Rafat

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The main objective of this research was to increase shelf life of stirred yoghurt by adding chitosan as a naturally antimicrobial compound. Chitosan were added at different concentrations (0.1, 0.3 and 0.6%) to the stirred yoghurt. Samples were stored at refrigerator and room temperature for 3 weeks and tested with respect of microbial properties (counts of starter bacteria, mold and yeast, coliforms and E. coli). Starter bacteria and yeast counts in samples containing chitosan was significantly (p<0.05) lower than those in control samples and its antibacterial and anti-yeast effects increased with increasing concentration of chitosan. The lowest counts of starter bacteria and yeast were observed at samples whit 0.6% of chitosan. The Results showed Chitosan had a positive effect on increasing shelf life and controlling of yeasts and therefore can be used as a natural preservative in stirred yogurt.

Keywords: chitosan, natural preservative, stirred yoghurt, self-life

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Authors: Rahmathulla Noufal E.

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Investigating the dynamic responses of high rise structures under the effect of siesmic ground motion is extremely important for the proper analysis and design of multitoried structures. Since the presence of infilled walls strongly influences the behaviour of frame systems in multistoried buildings, there is an increased need for developing guidelines for the analysis and design of infilled frames under the effect of dynamic loads for safe and proper design of buildings. In this manuscript, we evaluate the natural frequencies and natural periods of single bay single storey frames considering the effect of infill walls by using the Eigen value analysis and validating with SAP 2000 (free vibration analysis). Various parameters obtained from the diagonal strut model followed for the free vibration analysis is then compared with the Finite Element model, where infill is modeled as shell elements (four noded). We also evaluated the effect of various parameters on the natural periods of vibration obtained by free vibration analysis in SAP 2000 comparing them with those obtained by the empirical expressions presented in I.S. 1893(Part I)-2002.

Keywords: infilled frame, eigen value analysis, free vibration analysis, diagonal strut model, finite element model, SAP 2000, natural period

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Authors: D. Aydinoglu, N. Karaca, O. Ceylan

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Limited water resources on the earth come first among the most alarming issues. In this respect, several solutions from treatment of waste water to water management have been proposed. Recently, use of hydrogels as soil additive, which is one of the water management ways in agriculture, has gained increasing interest. In traditional agriculture applications, water used with irrigation aim, rapidly flows down between the pore structures in soil, without enough useful for soil. To overcome this fact and increase the abovementioned limit values, recently, several natural based hydrogels have been suggested and tested to find out their efficiency in soil. However, most of these researches have dealt with grafting of synthetic acrylate based monomers on natural gelling agents, most probably due to reinforced of the natural gels. These results motivated us to search a natural based hydrogel formulations, not including any synthetic component, and strengthened with montmorillonite clay instead of any grafting polymerization with synthetic monomer and examine their potential in this field, as well as characterize of them. With this purpose, carrageenan-psyllium/ montmorillonite hybrid hydrogels have been successively prepared. Their swelling capacities were determined both in deionized and tap water and were found to be dependent on the carrageenan, psyllium and montmorillonite ratios, as well as the water type. On the other hand, mechanical tests revealed that especially carrageenan and montmorillonite contents have a great effect on gel strength, which is one of the essential features, preventing the gels from cracking resulted in readily outflow of all the water in the gel without beneficial for soil. They found to reach 0.23 MPa. The experiments carried out with soil indicated that hydrogels significantly improved the water uptake capacities and water retention degrees of the soil from 49 g to 85 g per g of soil and from 32 to 67%, respectively, depending on the ingredient ratios. Also, biodegradation tests demonstrated that all the hydrogels undergo biodegradation, as expected from their natural origin. The overall results suggested that these hybrid hydrogels have a potential for use as soil additive and can be safely used owing to their totally natural structure.

Keywords: carrageenan, hydrogel, montmorillonite, psyllium

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Authors: Ružica Tomičić, Zorica Tomičić, Peter Raspor

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An abundant growth of unwanted yeasts in food processing plants can lead to problems in quality and safety with significant financial losses. Candida and Pichia are the genera mainly involved in spoilage of products in the food and beverage industry. These contaminating microorganisms can form biofilms on food contact surfaces, being difficult to eradicate, increasing the probability of microbial survival and further dissemination during food processing. It is well known that biofilms are more resistant to antimicrobial agents compared to planktonic cells and this makes them difficult to eliminate. Among the strategies used to overcome resistance to antifungal drugs and preservatives, the use of natural substances such as plant extracts has shown particular promise, and many natural substances have been found to exhibit antifungal properties. This study aimed to investigated the impact of growth medium (Malt Extract broth (MEB) or Yeast Peptone Dextrose (YPD) broth) and temperatures (7°C, 37°C, 43°C for Candida strains and 7°C, 27°C, 32°C for Pichia strains) on the adhesion of Candida spp. and Pichia spp. to stainless steel (AISI 304) discs with different degrees of surface roughness (Ra = 25.20 – 961.9 nm), a material commonly used in the food industry. We also evaluated the antifungal and antiadhesion activity of plant extracts such as Humulus lupulus, Alpinia katsumadai and Evodia rutaecarpa against C. albicans, C glabrata and P. membranifaciens and investigated whether these plant extracts can interfere with biofilm formation. The adhesion was assessed by the crystal violet staining method, while the broth microdilution method CLSI M27-A3 was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of plant extracts. Our results indicated that the nutrient content of the medium significantly influenced the amount of adhered cells of the tested yeasts. The growth medium which resulted in a higher adhesion of C. albicans and C. glabrata was MEB, while for C. parapsilosis and C. krusei was YPD. In the case of P. pijperi and P. membranifaciens, YPD broth was more effective in promoting adhesion than MEB. Regarding the effect of temperature, C. albicans strain adhered to stainless steel surfaces in significantly higher level at a temperature of 43°C, while on the other hand C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis and C. krusei showed a different behavior with significantly higher adhesion at 37°C than at 7°C and 43°C. Further, the adherence ability of Pichia strains was highest at 27°C. Based on the MIC values, all plant extracts exerted significant antifungal effects with MIC values ranged from 100 to 400 μg/mL. It was observed that biofilm of C. glabrata were more resistance to plant extracts as compared to C. albicans. However, extracts of A. katsumadai and E. rutaecarpa promoted the growth and development of the preformed biofilm of P. membranifaciens. Thus, the knowledge of how these microorganisms adhere and which factors affect this phenomenon is of great importance in order to avoid their colonization on food contact surfaces.

Keywords: adhesion, Candida spp., Pichia spp., plant extracts

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Authors: Vasudha Hegde, Narendra Chaulagain, H. M. Ravikumar, Sonu Mishra, Siva Yellampalli

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Acoustic sensors are extensively used in recent days not only for sensing and condition monitoring applications but also for small scale energy harvesting applications to power wireless sensor networks (WSN) due to their inherent advantages. The natural frequency of the structure plays a major role in energy harvesting applications since the sensor key element has to operate at resonant frequency. In this paper, circular diaphragm based MEMS acoustic sensor is modelled by Lumped Element Model (LEM) and the natural frequency is compared with the simulated model using Finite Element Method (FEM) tool COMSOL Multiphysics. The sensor has the circular diaphragm of 3000 µm radius and thickness of 30 µm to withstand the high SPL (Sound Pressure Level) and also to withstand the various fabrication steps. A Piezoelectric ZnO layer of thickness of 1 µm sandwiched between two aluminium electrodes of thickness 0.5 µm and is coated on the diaphragm. Further, a channel with radius 3000 µm radius and length 270 µm is connected at the bottom of the diaphragm. The natural frequency of the structure by LEM method is approximately 16.6 kHz which is closely matching with that of simulated structure with suitable approximations.

Keywords: acoustic sensor, diaphragm based, lumped element modeling (LEM), natural frequency, piezoelectric

Procedia PDF Downloads 444