Search results for: social work teaching methods

Authors: Henry Nicholas Lee, George Thomas, Juliana Johari, Carmilla Freddie, Caroline Val Madin

Abstract:

Research in comparative and international education often provides value-laden views of an education system within and in between other countries. These views are frequently used by policy makers or educators to explore similarities and differences for, among others, benchmarking purposes. In this study, a comparison is made between Malaysia and England, focusing on the process of writing children went through to create a text, using a multimodal theoretical framework to analyse this comparison. The main purpose is political in nature as it served as an answer to Malaysia’s call for benchmarking of best practices for language learning. Furthermore, the focus on writing in this study adds into more empirical findings about early writers’ writing development and writing improvement, especially for children at the ages of 5-9. In research, comparative studies in English as a Second Language (ESL) writing pedagogy – particularly in Malaysia since the introduction of the Standard- based English Language Curriculum (KSSR) in 2011 as a draft and its full implementation in 2017; reviewed 2018 KSSR-CEFR aligned – has not been done comparatively. In theory, a multimodal theoretical framework somehow allows a logical comparison between first language and ESL which would provide useful insights to illuminate the writing process between Malaysia and England. The comparisons are not representative because of the different school systems in both countries. So far, the literature informs us that the curriculum for language learning is very much emphasised on children’s linguistic abilities, which include their proficiency and mastery of the language, its conventions, and technicalities. However, recent empirical findings suggested that literacy in its concepts and characters need change. In view of this suggestion, the comparison will look at how the process of writing is implemented through the five modes of communication: linguistic, visual, aural, spatial, and gestural. This project draws on data from Malaysia and England, involving 10 teachers, 26 classroom observations, 20 lesson plans, 20 interviews, and 20 brief conversations with teachers. The research focused upon 20 primary children of different genders aged 5-9, and in addition to primary data descriptions, 40 children’s works, 40 brief classroom conversations, 30 classroom photographs, and 30 school compound photographs were undertaken to investigate teachers and children’s use of modes and semiotic resources to design a text. The data were analysed by means of within-case analysis, cross-case analysis, and constant comparative analysis, with an initial stage of data categorisation, followed by general and specific coding, which clustered the data into thematic groups. The study highlights the importance of teachers’ and children’s engagement and interaction with various modes of communication, an adaptation from the English approaches to teaching writing within the KSSR framework and providing ‘voice’ to ESL writers to ensure that both have access to the knowledge and skills required to make decisions in developing multimodal texts and artefacts.

Keywords: comparative education, early writers, KSSR, multimodal theoretical framework, writing development

Procedia PDF Downloads 62

Authors: K. Alese Boniface, K. Adu Michael

Abstract:

Cybercrime is now becoming a big challenge in Nigeria apart from the traditional crime. Inability to identify perpetrators is one of the reasons for the growing menace. This paper proposes a design for monitoring internet users’ activities in order to curbing cybercrime. It requires redefining the operations of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) which will now mandate users to be authenticated before accessing the internet. In implementing this work which can be adapted to a larger scale, a virtual router application is developed and configured to mimic a real router device. A sign-up portal is developed to allow users to register with the ISP. The portal asks for identification information which will include bio-data and government issued identification data like National Identity Card number, et cetera. A unique username and password are chosen by the user to enable access to the internet which will be used to reference him to an Internet Protocol Address (IP Address) of any system he uses on the internet and thereby associating him to any criminal act related to that IP address at that particular time. Questions such as “What happen when another user knows the password and uses it to commit crime?” and other pertinent issues are addressed.

Keywords: cybercrime, sign-up portal, internet service provider (ISP), internet protocol address (IP address)

Procedia PDF Downloads 272

Authors: Panagiotis Kosmas, Panayiotis Zaphiris

Abstract:

Embodied Cognition (EC) as a learning paradigm is based on the idea of an inseparable link between body, mind, and environment. In recent years, the advent of theoretical learning approaches around EC theory has resulted in a number of empirical studies exploring the implementation of the theory in education. This systematic literature overview identifies the mainstream of EC research and emphasizes on the implementation of the theory across learning environments. Based on a corpus of 43 manuscripts, published between 2013 and 2017, it sets out to describe the range of topics covered under the umbrella of EC and provides a holistic view of the field. The aim of the present review is to investigate the main issues in EC research related to the various learning contexts. Particularly, the study addresses the research methods and technologies that are utilized, and it also explores the integration of body into the learning context. An important finding from the overview is the potential of the theory in different educational environments and disciplines. However, there is a lack of an explicit pedagogical framework from an educational perspective for a successful implementation in various learning contexts.

Keywords: embodied cognition, embodied learning, education, technology, schools

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: Yudhajit Datta

Abstract:

Will is a phenomenon that has puzzled humanity for a long time. It is a belief that Will Power of an individual affects the success achieved by an individual in life. It is thought that a person endowed with great will power can overcome even the most crippling setbacks of life while a person with a weak will cannot make the most of life even the greatest assets. Behavioral aspects of the human experience such as will are rarely subjected to quantitative study owing to the numerous uncontrollable parameters involved. This work is an attempt to subject the phenomena of will to the test of an artificial neural network. The claim being tested is that will power of an individual largely determines success achieved in life. In the study, an attempt is made to incorporate the behavioral phenomenon of will into a computational model using data pertaining to the success of individuals obtained from an experiment. A neural network is to be trained using data based upon part of the model, and subsequently used to make predictions regarding will corresponding to data points of success. If the prediction is in agreement with the model values, the model is to be retained as a candidate. Ultimately, the best-fit model from among the many different candidates is to be selected, and used for studying the correlation between success and will.

Keywords: will power, will, success, apathy factor, random factor, characteristic function, life story

Procedia PDF Downloads 374

Authors: Mombaur Busisiwe, Lesosky Maia, Liebenberg Lisa, Heckmann Jeannine

Abstract:

Introduction: To assess age- and gender-specific incidence rates (IR) of acetylcholine receptor (AChR)-antibody positive myasthenia gravis (MG) in South Africa, and geographical variation in incidence. Methods: IRs were calculated from positive AChR antibody laboratory data between 2011 and 2012, using 2011 population census data. Results:890 individuals were seropositive, for an annual IR of 8.5 per million. Age-standardized IR for early- (< 50) and late-onset (≥ 50) MG were 4.1 and 24 per million, respectively, and for juveniles, 4.3 per million. The IR between provinces ranged from 1 to 19 per million. Conclusions: In this Southern hemisphere African population, the overall IR and peak IR (in older men) for seropositive MG is comparable to that in Europe and North America, arguing against environmental factors. However, IRs may be higher among children with African genetic ancestry. Geographical variation in incidence underscores the importance of outreach programs for regions with limited resources.

Keywords: incidence rates (IR), acetylcholine receptor (AChR), myasthenia gravis (MG), South Africa

Procedia PDF Downloads 488

Authors: Kumator Josiphiah Taku

Abstract:

Sustainability in construction is essential to the economic construction and can be achieved by the use of locally available construction materials. This research work, thus, uses locally available materials –calcined clay and Sandcrete SPR-300 superplasticizer in the production of Self Compacting Concrete (SCC) by investigating the correlation between the superplasticizer dosage and the fresh and hardened states properties of a grade 50 SCC made by incorporating a Calcined Clay (CC) – Portland Limestone Cement (PLC) blend as the cementitious matter at 20% replacement of PLC with CC and using CC as filler. The superplasticizer dosage was varied from 0.4 to 3.0% by weight of cementitious material and the slump, v-funnel, L-box and strength parameters investigated. The result shows a positive correlation between the increased dosage of the superplasticizer and the fresh and hardened states properties of the SCC up to 2% dosage. The J¬Spread¬, t¬500J¬, Slump flow, L-box H¬2¬/H¬1 ¬ratio and strength, all increases with SP dosage while the V-funnel flow decreased with SP dosage. Overall, SP ratio of 0.5 to 2.0 can be used in improving the properties of SCC produced using calcined clay both as filler and cementitious material.

Keywords: calcined clay, compressive strength, fresh-state properties of SCC, self compacting concrete, superplasticizer dosage

Procedia PDF Downloads 152

Authors: Hala A. Hassan, Vasiliki K. Tsiouri, Konstantinos E. Konstantinos

Abstract:

Fugitive particulate matter (PM) is a major source of airborne pollution in the Middle East countries. The meteorological conditions and topography of the area make it highly susceptible to wind-blown particles which raise many air quality concerns. Air quality tools such as field monitoring, emission factors, and dispersion modeling have been used in previous research studies to analyze the release and impacts of fugitive PM in the region. However, these tools have been originally developed based on experiments made for European and North American regions. In this work, an experimental campaign was conducted on April-May 2014 in a construction site in Doha city, Qatar. The ultimate goal is to evaluate the applicability of the existing emission factors for construction sites in dry and arid areas like the Middle East. This publication was made possible by a NPRP award [NPRP 7-649-2-241] from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.

Keywords: particulate matter, emissions, fugitive, construction, air pollution

Procedia PDF Downloads 345

Authors: Jean Rosemond Dora, Karol Nemoga

Abstract:

In this work, we tackle a frequent problem that frequently occurs in the cybersecurity field which is the exploitation of websites by XSS attacks, which are nowadays considered a complicated attack. These types of attacks aim to execute malicious scripts in a web browser of the client by including code in a legitimate web page. A serious matter is when a website accepts the “user-input” option. Attackers can exploit the web application (if vulnerable), and then steal sensitive data (session cookies, passwords, credit cards, etc.) from the server and/or from the client. However, the difficulty of the exploitation varies from website to website. Our focus is on the usage of ontology in cybersecurity against XSS attacks, on the importance of the ontology, and its core meaning for cybersecurity. We explain how a vulnerable website can be exploited, and how different JavaScript payloads can be used to detect vulnerabilities. We also enumerate some tools to use for an efficient analysis. We present detailed reasoning on what can be done to improve the security of a website in order to resist attacks, and we provide supportive examples. Then, we apply an ontology model against XSS attacks to strengthen the protection of a web application. However, we note that the existence of ontology does not improve the security itself, but it has to be properly used and should require a maximum of security layers to be taken into account.

Keywords: cybersecurity, web application vulnerabilities, cyber threats, ontology model

Procedia PDF Downloads 164

Authors: Burcu Oralhan, Zeki Oralhan, Nilsun Sariyer, Kumru Uyar

Abstract:

Data mining has been becoming more and more important and a wide range of applications in recent years. Data mining is the process of find hidden and unknown patterns in big data. One of the applied fields of data mining is Customer Relationship Management. Understanding the relationships between products and customers is crucial for every business. Customer Relationship Management is an approach to focus on customer relationship development, retention and increase on customer satisfaction. In this study, we made an application of a data mining methods in telecommunication customer relationship management side. This study aims to determine the customers profile who likely to leave the system, develop marketing strategies, and customized campaigns for customers. Data are clustered by applying classification techniques for used to determine the churners. As a result of this study, we will obtain knowledge from international telecommunication industry. We will contribute to the understanding and development of this subject in Customer Relationship Management.

Keywords: customer churn analysis, customer relationship management, data mining, telecommunication industry

Procedia PDF Downloads 308

Authors: A. N. Sharma

Abstract:

A traditional medicine comprises a knowledge system, practices related to the cure of various ailments that developed over generations by indigenous people or populations. The indigenous populations developed a unique understanding with wild plants, herbs, etc., and earned specialized knowledge of disease pattern and curative therapy-though hard experiences, common sense, trial, and error methods. Here, an attempt has been made to study the possible aspects of traditional medicines for the enhancement of male sexual performance among the indigenous populations of Madhya Pradesh, India. Madhya Pradesh state is situated more or less in the central part of India. The data have been collected from the 305 Bharias of Patalkot, traditional health service providers of Sagar district, and other indigenous populations of Madhya Pradesh. It may be concluded that sizable traditional medicines exist in Madhya Pradesh, India, for the enhancement of male sexual performance, which still awaits for scientific exploration and intensive pharmaceutical investigations.

Keywords: Bharias, indigenous, Madhya Pradesh, sexual performance, traditional medicine

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: Amir Moslehi, Gholamreza Raisali

Abstract:

Microdosimetric detectors based on multiple-thick gas electron multiplier (multiple-THGEM) configurations are being used in various fields of radiation protection and dosimetry. In the present work, microdosimetric response of these detectors to fast neutrons has been investigated by Monte Carlo method. Three similar microdosimeters made of A-150 and rexolite as the wall materials are designed; the first based on single-THGEM, the second based on double-THGEM and the third is based on triple-THGEM. Sensitive volume of the three microdosimeters is a right cylinder of 5 mm height and diameter which is filled with the propane-based tissue-equivalent (TE) gas. The TE gas with 0.11 atm pressure at the room temperature simulates 1 µm of tissue. Lineal energy distributions for several neutron energies from 10 keV to 14 MeV including 241Am-Be neutrons are calculated by the Geant4 simulation toolkit. Also, mean quality factor and dose-equivalent value for any neutron energy has been determined by these distributions. Obtained data derived from the three microdosimeters are in agreement. Therefore, we conclude that the multiple-THGEM structures present similar microdosimetric responses to fast neutrons.

Keywords: fast neutrons, geant4, multiple-thick gas electron multiplier, microdosimeter

Procedia PDF Downloads 343

Authors: Dai Zhimei, Hua Chen

Abstract:

The exploration of urban spatial evolution is an important part of urban development research. Therefore, the evolutionary modern Yangzhou urban spatial texture was taken as the research object, and Spatial Syntax was used as the main research tool, this paper explored Yangzhou spatial evolution law and its driving factors from the urban street network scale, district scale and street scale. The study has concluded that at the urban scale, Yangzhou urban spatial evolution is the result of a variety of causes, including physical and geographical condition, policy and planning factors, and traffic conditions, and the evolution of space also has an impact on social, economic, environmental and cultural factors. At the district and street scales, changes in space will have a profound influence on the history of the city and the activities of people. At the end of the article, the matters needing attention during the evolution of urban space were summarized.

Keywords: block, space syntax and methodology, street, urban space, Yangzhou

Procedia PDF Downloads 173

Authors: Muhammad Irfan

Abstract:

The UN General Assembly has advocated improving energy efficiency by SDG criteria to promote global economic growth. Pakistan is confronted with financial obstacles when it comes to acquiring energy efficiency because of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic and political instability, budgetary strains, and poor financial circumstances. The study examines how cutting-edge financing approaches like FinTech, financial inclusion, and green financing affect Pakistan's energy consumption. It finds noteworthy outcomes. The study's results have demonstrated the important impact of these funding methods on energy conservation. The best and most helpful finance tool for energy efficiency is green financing; yet, because of differences in characteristics, workings, and financial institutions, FinTech, and financial inclusion play a smaller role in Pakistan. The researchers propose that to achieve energy efficiency, FinTech activities and funding criteria such as green bonds should be reviewed. It also advised authorities to create energy system-friendly regulations for green finance in Pakistan.

Keywords: green finance, FinTech, financial inclusion, energy efficiency, Pakistan

Procedia PDF Downloads 42

Authors: Malaiphan Pansap, Surasit Vithayarat

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to study the relationship between internal organization communications’ effectiveness and employee’s performance of Faculty of Management Science, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. Study on solutions of communication were carried out within the organization. Questionnaire was used to collect information from 136 people of staff and instructor and data were analyzed by using frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation and then data processing statistic programs. The result found that organization communication that affects their employee’s performance is sender which lack the skills for speaking and writing to convince audiences ready before taking message and the message which organizations are not always informed. The employees believe the behavior of good organization communication has a positive impact on the development of organization because the employees feel involved and be a part of the organization, by the cooperation in working to achieve the goal, the employees can work in the same direction and meet goal quickly.

Keywords: employee’s performance, faculty of management science, internal organization communications’ effectiveness, management accounting, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University

Procedia PDF Downloads 234

Authors: Tamer Mokhtar Mohamed Ahmed

Abstract:

Throughout the ages the Caliphs, Sultans and rulers have paid great care to tomb covers and in particular to the cover of the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad as well as other prophets. For that purpose they established waqfs and ensured that the covers appeared in the most magnificent manner to befit their purpose, as we can see in the beautiful examples in museums across the world. In fact tomb covers are some of the most beautiful examples of Islamic art in their detail of craftsmanship which have made them great works of art. It became the custom that the Kiswa or the tomb covers were made of silk or satin with gold and silver threads. Museums across the word preserve examples of the highest craftsmanship of tomb covers produced in the capital of the Ottomans and other capital cities, all differing in their designs or colors reflecting the work of the individual cities like Cairo, Istanbul or Bursa. Other than the cover for the tomb of the Prophet, many other tomb covers were produced for the tombs of other prophets and their wives in Hebron. In addition tomb covers were made for the sufi saints as well as for the Ottoman sultans and for their wives and children. In this paper I will Study the Kiswa or the tomb covers in Ottoman period.

Keywords: kiswa, ottoman period, textiles, silk, tomb of the Prophet Muhammad

Procedia PDF Downloads 69

Authors: Charles Anthony S. Santillan, Jude Noel P. Jarina, Patricia Mae A. Cuevas, Julito B. Añora Jr.

Abstract:

The research examines the effectiveness of Two-Position and Tuned PID controllers in magnetic levitation systems. Magnetic levitation, a crucial technology in diverse industries, depends on meticulous control mechanisms for stability and performance. The study seeks to compare these two control strategies to ascertain their efficacy in practical applications. The paper explores the theoretical foundations of the controllers, presents an experimental methodology emphasizing setup and installation, and examines the results about stability, response time, and susceptibility to disturbances. By interpreting and discussing the findings, the research provides valuable perspectives on the practical ramifications of utilizing Two-Position and Tuned PID controllers in magnetic levitation systems. The conclusion encapsulates significant outcomes and proposes avenues for future research, thereby contributing to the progress of control strategies in magnetic levitation technology.

Keywords: arduino, comparative analysis, magnetic levitation, tuned PID controller, two-position controller

Procedia PDF Downloads 60

Authors: Amit Verma, Simranjeet Kaur, Sandeep Kaur

Abstract:

Test Case Prioritization (TCP) has gained wide spread acceptance as it often results in good quality software free from defects. Due to the increase in rate of faults in software traditional techniques for prioritization results in increased cost and time. Main challenge in TCP is difficulty in manually validate the priorities of different test cases due to large size of test suites and no more emphasis are made to make the TCP process automate. The objective of this paper is to detect the priorities of different test cases using an artificial neural network which helps to predict the correct priorities with the help of back propagation algorithm. In our proposed work one such method is implemented in which priorities are assigned to different test cases based on their frequency. After assigning the priorities ANN predicts whether correct priority is assigned to every test case or not otherwise it generates the interrupt when wrong priority is assigned. In order to classify the different priority test cases classifiers are used. Proposed algorithm is very effective as it reduces the complexity with robust efficiency and makes the process automated to prioritize the test cases.

Keywords: test case prioritization, classification, artificial neural networks, TF-IDF

Procedia PDF Downloads 386

Authors: Benarous Khedidja, Yousfi Mohamed

Abstract:

Infections caused by Candida species manifest in a number of diseases, including candidemia, vulvovaginal candidiasis, endocarditis, and peritonitis. These Candida species have been reported to have lipolytic activity by secretion of lipolytic enzymes such as esterases, lipases and phospholipases. These Extracellular hydrolytic enzymes seem to play an important role in Candida overgrowth. Candidiasis is commonly treated with antimycotics such as clotrimazole and nystatin, which bind to a major component of the fungal cell membrane (ergosterol). This binding forms pores in the membrane that lead to death of the fungus. Due to their secondary effects, scientists have thought of another treatment basing on lipase inhibition but we haven’t found any lipase inhibitors used as candidiasis treatment. In this work, we are interested to lipases inhibitors such as alkaloids as another candidiasis treatment. In the first part, we have proceeded to optimize the alkaloid structures and protein 3D structure using Hyperchem software. Secondly, we have docked inhibitors using Genetic algorithm with GOLD software. The results have shown ten possibilities of binding inhibitor to Candida rugosa lipase (CRL) but only one possibility has been accepted depending on the weakest binding energy.

Keywords: marrubiin, candida rugosa lipase, docking, gold

Procedia PDF Downloads 239

Authors: R. Rama Kishore, Sunesh Malik

Abstract:

Development in the usage of internet for different purposes in recent times creates great threat for the copy right protection of the digital images. Digital watermarking is the best way to rescue from the said problem. This paper presents detailed review of the different watermarking techniques, latest trends in the field and categorized like spatial and transform domain, blind and non-blind methods, visible and non visible techniques etc. It also discusses the different optimization techniques used in the field of watermarking in order to improve the robustness and imperceptibility of the method. Different measures are discussed to evaluate the performance of the watermarking algorithm. At the end, this paper proposes a watermarking algorithm using (k.n) shares of halftone visual cryptography (HVC) instead of (2, 2) share cryptography. (k,n) shares visual cryptography improves the security of the watermark. As halftone is a method of reprographic, it helps in improving the visual quality of watermark image. The proposed method uses fractional transformation to improve the robustness of the copyright protection of the method.

Keywords: digital watermarking, fractional transform, halftone, visual cryptography

Procedia PDF Downloads 349

Authors: Yang Zhang, Jian He

Abstract:

Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in the world, and coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the major heart diseases. Electrocardiogram (ECG) is widely used in the detection of heart diseases, but the traditional manual method for CHD prediction by analyzing ECG requires lots of professional knowledge for doctors. This paper introduces sliding window and continuous wavelet transform (CWT) to transform ECG signals into images, and then ResNet and Bi-LSTM are introduced to build the ECG feature extraction network (namely ECGNet). At last, an auxiliary system for coronary heart disease prediction was developed based on modified ResNet18 and Bi-LSTM, and the public ECG dataset of CHD from MIMIC-3 was used to train and test the system. The experimental results show that the accuracy of the method is 83%, and the F1-score is 83%. Compared with the available methods for CHD prediction based on ECG, such as kNN, decision tree, VGGNet, etc., this method not only improves the prediction accuracy but also could avoid the degradation phenomenon of the deep learning network.

Keywords: Bi-LSTM, CHD, ECG, ResNet, sliding window

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: Oluwaseun Adeleke, Samuel O. Ikani, Fidelis Edet, Anthony Nwala, Mopelola Raji, Simeon Christian Chukwu

Abstract:

Background The Delivering Innovations in Selfcare (DISC) project promotes universal access to quality selfcare services beginning with subcutaneous depot medroxy progesterone acetate (DMPA-SC) contraceptive self-injection (SI) option. Self-inject (SI) offers women a highly effective and convenient option that saves them frequent trips to providers. Its increased use has the potential to improve the efficiency of an overstretched healthcare system by reducing provider workloads. State Social and Behavioral Change Communications (SBCC) Officers lead project demand creation and service delivery innovations that have resulted in significant increases in SI uptake among women who opt for injectables. Strategies Service Delivery Innovations The implementation of the "Moment of Truth (MoT)" innovation helped providers overcome biases and address client fear and reluctance to self-inject. Bi-annual program audits and supportive mentoring visits helped providers retain their competence and motivation. Proper documentation, tracking, and replenishment of commodities were ensured through effective engagement with State Logistics Units. The project supported existing state monitoring and evaluation structures to effectively record and report subcutaneous depot medroxy progesterone acetate (DMPA-SC) service utilization. Demand creation Innovations SBCC Officers provide oversight, routinely evaluate performance, trains, and provides feedback for the demand creation activities implemented by community mobilizers (CMs). The scope and intensity of training given to CMs affect the outcome of their work. The project operates a demand creation model that uses a schedule to inform the conduct of interpersonal and group events. Health education sessions are specifically designed to counter misinformation, address questions and concerns, and educate target audience in an informed choice context. The project mapped facilities and their catchment areas and enlisted the support of identified influencers and gatekeepers to enlist their buy-in prior to entry. Each mobilization event began with pre-mobilization sensitization activities, particularly targeting male groups. Context-specific interventions were informed by the religious, traditional, and cultural peculiarities of target communities. Mobilizers also support clients to engage with and navigate online digital Family Planning (FP) online portals such as DiscoverYourPower website, Facebook page, digital companion (chat bot), interactive voice response (IVR), radio and television (TV) messaging. This improves compliance and provides linkages to nearby facilities. Results The project recorded 136,950 self-injection (SI) visits and a self-injection (SI) proportion rate that increased from 13 percent before the implementation of interventions in 2021 to 62 percent currently. The project cost-effectively demonstrated catalytic impact by leveraging state and partner resources, institutional platforms, and geographic scope to scale up interventions. The project also cost effectively demonstrated catalytic impact by leveraging on the state and partner resources, institutional platforms, and geographic scope to sustainably scale-up these strategies. Conclusion Using evidence-informed iterations of service delivery and demand creation models have been useful to significantly drive self-injection (SI) uptake. It will be useful to consider this implementation model during program design. Contemplation should also be given to systematic and strategic execution of strategies to optimize impact.

Keywords: family planning, contraception, DMPA-SC, self-care, self-injection, innovation, service delivery, demand creation.

Procedia PDF Downloads 71

Authors: Ghanem Al-Ghamdi

Abstract:

African Horse Sickness causes significant challenges to horse practitioners and owners in Africa and possibly in certain locations in the Arab Pensila. The aim of this work was to observe a hot spot of epidemic in Al-Baha, Southwestern of Saudi Arabia that could be AHS. A five year-old horse farm that had eight horses with no history of clinical problems was visited in late October 2014. In August 2014, horses showed clinical signs of severe pain, congestion of mucus membranes, foam oozing of the nose, recumbency, difficult breath and ultimately death. The course of the disease averaged 2 days. The farm had no previous history of this episode. Other animals including camel, sheep reside the same farm sharing feeding and water sources however no obvious similar clinical problems were noticed among the two species. Five horses showed the clinical disease and all horses were lost. Veterinary help was not available for diagnosis or treatment. A follow up visit to the farm after one year indicated that the three remaining horses were healthy but were relocated to a different facility out the Al-Baha Region. The most likely cause of such clinical problem is African Horse Sickness, however clinical exam and sampling of other horses in the region is absolute must as well as examining arthropods.

Keywords: African horse sickness, horses, Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia

Procedia PDF Downloads 343

Authors: Andre Slonopas, Zona Kostic, Warren Thompson

Abstract:

Obfuscation is one of the most useful tools to prevent network compromise. Previous research focused on the obfuscation of the network communications between external-facing edge devices. This work proposes the use of two edge devices, external and internal facing, which communicate via private IPv4 addresses in a software-defined pseudo-random IP hopping. This methodology does not require additional IP addresses and/or resources to implement. Statistical analyses demonstrate that the hopping surface must be at least 1e3 IP addresses in size with a broad standard deviation to minimize the possibility of coincidence of monitored and communication IPs. The probability of breaking the hopping algorithm requires a collection of at least 1e6 samples, which for large hopping surfaces will take years to collect. The probability of dropped packets is controlled via memory buffers and the frequency of hops and can be reduced to levels acceptable for video streaming. This methodology provides an impenetrable layer of security ideal for information and supervisory control and data acquisition systems.

Keywords: moving target defense, cybersecurity, network security, hopping randomization, software defined network, network security theory

Procedia PDF Downloads 176

Authors: Naza Djafarova, Tony Bates, Margaret Verkuyl, Leonora Zefi, Ozgur Turetken, Alex Ferworn, Mastrilli Paula, Daria Romaniuk, Kosha Bramesfeld, Anastasia Dimitriadou, Cheryl To

Abstract:

Designing serious games for education is a challenging and resource-intensive effort. If a well-designed process that balances pedagogical principles with game mechanics is in place, it can help to simplify the design process of serious games and increase efficiency. Multidisciplinary teams involved in designing serious games can benefit tremendously from such a process in their endeavours to develop and implement these games at undergraduate and graduate levels. This paper presentation will outline research results on identified gaps within existing processes and frameworks and present an adapted process that emerged from the research. The research methodology was based on a survey, semi-structured interviews and workshops for testing the adapted process for game design. Based on the findings, the authors propose a simple process for the pre-production stage of serious game design that may help guide multidisciplinary teams in their work. This process was used to facilitate team brainstorming, and is currently being tested to assess if multidisciplinary teams find value in using it in their process of designing serious games.

Keywords: serious game-design, multidisciplinary team, game design framework, learning games, multidisciplinary game design process

Procedia PDF Downloads 420

Authors: J. C. M. Santos, J. C. A. Sousa, A. J. Rubio, L. S. Soletti, F. Gasparotto, N. U. Yamaguchi

Abstract:

Magnetic graphene has received widespread attention for their capability of water and wastewater treatment, which has been attracted many researchers in this field. A bibliometric analysis based on the Web of Science database was employed to analyze the global scientific outputs of magnetic graphene for water treatment until the present time (2012 to 2017), to improve the understanding of the research trends. The publication year, place of publication, institutes, funding agencies, journals, most cited articles, distribution outputs in thematic categories and applications were analyzed. Three major aspects analyzed including type of pollutant, treatment process and composite composition have further contributed to revealing the research trends. The most relevant research aspects of the main technologies using magnetic graphene for water treatment were summarized in this paper. The results showed that research on magnetic graphene for water treatment goes through a period of decline that might be related to a saturated field and a lack of bibliometric studies. Thus, the result of the present work will lead researchers to establish future directions in further studies using magnetic graphene for water treatment.

Keywords: composite, graphene oxide, nanomaterials, scientometrics

Procedia PDF Downloads 238

Authors: Chih-Hsiang Chang, Chia-Ching Tsai

Abstract:

The aim of this study is to examine the stock price effect of the enterprises being classified as socially responsible. We explore the stock price response to the announcement that an enterprise is selected for the Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Awards. Empirical results indicate that the announcements of the Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Awards provide useful informational content to stock market. We find the evidence of insignificantly positive short-term and significantly positive long-term price reaction to the enterprises being classified as socially responsible. This study concludes that investors in the Taiwan stock market tend to view an enterprise being selected for the Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Awards as one with superior quality and long-term price potential.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, stock price effect, Taiwan stock market, investments

Procedia PDF Downloads 150

Authors: Salah Jellali, Nusiba Suliman, Yassine Charabi, Jamal Al-Sabahi, Ahmed Al Raeesi, Malik Al-Wardy, Mejdi Jeguirim

Abstract:

Huge amounts of agricultural biomasses are worldwide produced. At the same time, large quantities of phosphorus are annually discharged into water bodies with possible serious effects onto the environment quality. The main objective of this work is to turn a local Omani biomass (date palm fronds wastes: DPFW) into an effective material for phosphorus recovery from aqueous and the reuse of this P-loaded material in agriculture as ecofriendly amendment. For this aim, the raw DPFW were firstly impregnated with 1 M salt separated solutions of CaCl₂, MgCl₂, FeCl₃, AlCl₃, and a mixture of MgCl₂/AlCl₃ for 24 h, and then pyrolyzed under N2 flow at 500 °C for 2 hours by using an adapted tubular furnace (Carbolite, UK). The synthetized biochars were deeply characterized through specific analyses concerning their morphology, structure, texture, and surface chemistry. These analyses included the use of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with an energy-dispersive X-Ray spectrometer (EDS), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), sorption micrometrics, and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) apparatus. Then, their efficiency in recovering phosphorus was investigated in batch mode for various contact times (1 min to 3 h), aqueous pH values (from 3 to 11), initial phosphorus concentrations (10-100 mg/L), presence of anions (nitrates, sulfates, and chlorides). In a second step, dynamic assays, by using laboratory columns (height of 30 cm and diameter of 3 cm), were performed in order to investigate the recovery of phosphorus by the modified biochar with a mixture of Mg/Al. The effect of the initial P concentration (25-100 mg/L), the bed depth height (3 to 8 g), and the flow rate (10-30 mL/min) was assessed. Experimental results showed that the biochars physico-chemical properties were very dependent on the type of the used modifying salt. The main affected parameters concerned the specific surface area, microporosity area, and the surface chemistry (pH of zero-point charge and available functional groups). These characteristics have significantly affected the phosphorus recovery efficiency from aqueous solutions. Indeed, the P removal efficiency in batch mode varies from about 5 mg/g for the Fe-modified biochar to more than 13 mg/g for the biochar functionalized with Mg/Al layered double hydroxides. Moreover, the P recovery seems to be a time dependent process and significantly affected by the pH of the aqueous media and the presence of foreign anions due to competition phenomenon. The laboratory column study of phosphorus recovery by the biochar functionalized with Mg/Al layered double hydroxides showed that this process is affected by the used phosphorus concentration, the flow rate, and especially the column bed depth height. Indeed, the phosphorus recovered amount increased from about 4.9 to more than 9.3 mg/g used biochar mass of 3 and 8 g, respectively. This work proved that salt-modified palm fronds-derived biochars could be considered as attractive and promising materials for phosphorus recovery from aqueous solutions even under dynamic conditions. The valorization of these P-loaded-modified biochars as eco-friendly amendment for agricultural soils is necessary will promote sustainability and circular economy concepts in the management of both liquid and solid wastes.

Keywords: date palm wastes, Mg/Al double-layered hydroxides functionalized biochars, phosphorus, recovery, sustainability, circular economy

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: Zoe Polk

Abstract:

In cities across the US, race continues to predict an individual’s likelihood to be employed, to receive a quality education, to live in a safe neighborhood, to life expectancy to contacts with the criminal justice system. Deep and pervasive disparities exist despite laws enacted at the federal, state and local level to eliminate discrimination. This paper examines the strengths of the U.S. civil rights movement in making discrimination a moral issue. Following the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, cities throughout the US adopted laws that mirror the language, theories of practice and enforcement of the law. This paper argues that while those laws were relevant to the way discrimination was conducted in that time, they are limited in their ability to help cities address discrimination today. This paper reviews health indicators This paper concludes that in order for cities to create environments where race no longer predicts one’s success, cities must conduct institutional and structural racism audits.

Keywords: racism, racial equity, constitutional law, social justice

Procedia PDF Downloads 362

Authors: My T. Truong

Abstract:

Among various professional development (PD) options available for English as a second language (ESL) teachers, especially those at the tertiary level, research engagement has been recently recommended as an innovative model with a transformative force for both individual teachers’ PD and wider school improvement. Teachers who conduct research themselves tend to develop critical and analytical thinking about their instructional practices, and enhance their ability to make autonomous pedagogical judgments and decisions. With such capabilities, teacher researchers are thus more likely to contribute to curriculum innovation of their schools and improvement of the whole educational process. The extent to which ESL teachers are engaged in research, however, depends largely on their research motivation, which can not only decide teachers’ choice of a PD activity to pursue but also affect the degree and duration of effort they are willing to invest in pursuing it. To understand language teachers’ research practices, and to inform educational authorities about ways to promote research culture among their ESL teaching staff, it is therefore vital to investigate teachers’ research motivation. Despite its importance as such, this individual difference construct has not been paid due attention especially in the ESL contexts. To fill this gap, this study aims to explore Vietnamese tertiary ESL teachers’ motivations towards research. Guided by the self-determination theory and the process model of motivation, it investigates teachers’ initial motivations for conducting research, and the factors that sustained or degraded their motivation during the research engagement process. Adopting a qualitative case-study approach, the study collected longitudinal data via semi-structured interviews and guided diary entries from three ESL tertiary teachers who were conducting their own research project. The respondents attended two semi-structured interviews (one at the beginning of their project, and the other one three months afterwards); and wrote six guided diary entries between the two interviews. The results confirm the significant role motivation plays in driving teachers to initiate and maintain their participation in research, and challenge some common assumptions in teacher motivation literature. For instance, the quality of the past and actual research experience unsurprisingly emerged as an important factor that both motivated and demotivated teachers in their research engagement process. Unlike general suggestions in the motivation literature however, external demand was found in this study to be a critical motivation sustaining factor while intrinsic research interest actually did not suffice to help a teacher fulfil his research endeavor. With such findings, the study is expected to widen the motivational perspective in understanding language teacher research practice given the paucity of related studies. Practically, it is hoped to enable teacher educators, PD program designers and educational policy makers in Vietnam and similar contexts to approach the question of whether and how to promote research activities among ESL teachers feasibly. For practicing and in-service teachers, the findings may elucidate to them the motivational conditions in which they can be research engaged, and the motivational factors that might hinder or encourage them in so doing.

Keywords: teacher motivation, teacher professional development, teacher research engagement, English as a second language (ESL)

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: Jose Gonzalez, Fai Cheng, Ivy Fan

Abstract:

Shipping has a mature and ever expanding worldwide market. The future of the marine industry itself is not only irrevocably linked with the global economic, social, and political landscape; it is also subject to the technological developments in different fields. Some of them may have never been linked to the marine industry before. Companies in the marine sector are getting more dependent on technologies to achieve competitive advantage in an increasing open market. Technologies can be fused across different business functions and geopolitical influences. A successful marine business should be prepared to embrace such potential changes that lie ahead. The present paper intends to articulate long-term marine technology strategies from an industrial perspective. Methodology and current development are introduced. The paper will also provide insight into future technological trends demand for major commercial ship types. It may also assist different stakeholders in tailoring their long-term strategies to achieve a Sea Change and to uncap opportunity.

Keywords: commercial sector, marine, trends, technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 400