Search results for: object relational fact

Authors: Tien-Hui Chiang, Q. Zhou

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For structural-functionalism, one set of the common traits of traditional professionals, such as medical practitioners and engineers, can be viewed as the criteria for evaluating whether a given occupation has the right of claiming its professional status or not. Under the influence of this professionalism, teaching practitioners have devoted themselves to acquiring this right as evidenced by the fact that initial training has been extended to even the level of postgraduate. However, for interactionalists, professionalism adopts a predetermined assumption so that it ignores the dynamic nature of social development, which is able to regulate the professional status of a given occupation. Such an interactive approach highlights the concept of professionalization. Furthermore, Marxists argue that structural-functionalists have ignored the impact of proletarianization on the white collar. While professionals gradually lose their control over their practices, the title of profession functions as a self-regulated icon that prevents them from collaborating with the working class and, in turn, creates the ideology of de-politicization sustaining the interests of the ruling class. This article adopts a theoretical analysis on these contradictory arguments. It argues that these criticisms neglect the influence of the institutionalized value system on social operation, which is the core element in sustaining the notion of the profession.

Keywords: teaching profession, professionalism, professionalization, proletarianialization, institutionalized value system

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Authors: Assad Rashid, Umair Ahmed, Zafar Baig

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A new trend in construction is widely influenced by the use of Steel-Concrete Composite Columns. The rapid growth in Steel-Concrete Composite construction has widely decreased the conventional R.C.C structures. Steel Concrete composite construction has obtained extensive receiving around the globe. It is considering the fact that R.C.C structures construction is most suitable and economical for low-rise construction, so it is used in farming systems in most of the buildings. However, increased dead load, span restriction, less stiffness and risky formwork make R.C.C construction uneconomical and not suitable when it comes to intermediate to high-rise buildings. A Base + Ground +11 storey commercial building was designed on ETABS 2017 and made a comparison between conventional R.C.C and encased composite column structure. After performing Equivalent Static non-linear analysis, it has been found that construction cost is 13.01% more than R.C.C structure but encased composite column building has 7.7% more floor area. This study will help in understanding the behavior of conventional R.C.C structure and Encased Composite column structure.

Keywords: composite columns structure, equivalent static non-linear analysis, comparison between R.C.C and encased composite column structures, cost-effective structure

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Authors: Raúl Pereda García, Julio Manuel de Luis Ruiz, Elena Castillo López, Rubén Pérez Álvarez, Felipe Piña García

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New technologies for the capture of point clouds have experienced a great advance in recent years. In this way, its use has been extended in geomatics, providing measurement solutions that have been popularized without there being, many times, a detailed study of its accuracy. This research focuses on the study of the viability of topographic works with drones incorporating different sensors sensitive to the visible spectrum. The fundamentals have been applied to a road, located in Cantabria (Spain), where a platform extension and the reform of a riprap were being constructed. A total of six flights were made during two months, all of them with GPS as part of the photogrammetric process, and the results were contrasted with those measured with total station. The obtained results show that the choice of the camera and the planning of the flight have an important impact on the accuracy. In fact, the representations with a level of detail corresponding to 1/1000 scale are admissible, depending on the existing vegetation, and obtaining better results in the area of the riprap. This set of techniques is, therefore, suitable for the control of earthworks in road works but with certain limitations which are exposed in this paper.

Keywords: drone, earth movement control, global position system, surveying technology.

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Authors: Fedili Benamar, Beloulou Mohamed Lamine, Ouahes Hassane, Ghattas Samir

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Background and aims: While in Western countries, unilateral spinal anesthesia has been widely practiced for a long time, it remains little known in the local anesthesia community, and has not been the object of many studies. However, it is a simple, practical and effective technique. Our objective was to evaluate this practice in emergency anesthesia management in frail patients and to compare it with conventional spinal anesthesia. Methods: This is a prospective, observational, comparative study between hypobaric unilateral and conventional spinal anaesthesia for hip fracture surgery carried out in the operating room of the university military hospital of Staoueli. The work was spread over of 12-month period from 2019 to 2020. The parameters analyzed were hemodynamic variations, vasopressor use, block efficiency, postoperative adverse events, and postoperative morphine consumption. Results: -75 cases (mean age 72±14 years) -Group1= 41 patients (54.6%) divided into (ASA1=14.6% ASA2=60.98% ASA3=24.39%) single shoot spinal anaesthesia -Group2= 34 patients (45.3%) divided into (ASA1=2.9%, ASA2=26.4% ASA3=61.7%, ASA4=8.8%) unilateral hypobaric spinal anesthesia. -Hemodynamic variations were more severe in group 1 (51% hypotension) compared to 30% in group 2 RR=1.69 and odds ratio=2.4 -these variations were more marked in the ASA3 subgroup (group 1=70% hypotension versus group 2=30%) with an RR=2.33 and an odds ratio=5.44 -39% of group 1 required vasoactive drugs (15mg +/- 11) versus 32% of group 2 (8mg+/- 6.49) - no difference in the use of morphine in post-op. Conclusions: Within the limits of the population studied, this work demonstrates the clinical value of unilateral spinal anesthesia in ortho-trauma surgery in the frail patient.

Keywords: spinal anaesthesia, vasopressor, morphine, hypobaric unilateral spinal anesthesia, ropivacaine, hip surgery, eldery, hemodynamic

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Authors: M. Macchiaroli, V. Pellecchia, L. Dolores

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The water supply for production users (craft, commercial, industrial), understood as the set of water supply and wastewater collection services becomes an increasingly felt problem in a water scarcity regime. In fact, disputes are triggered between the different social parties for the fair and efficient use of water resources. Within this aspect, the problem arises of the different pricing of services between civil users and production users. Of particular interest is the question of defining the tariff classes depending on consumption levels. If for civil users, this theme is strongly permeated by social profiles (a topic dealt with by the author in a forthcoming research contribution) connected with the inalienability of the right to have water and with the reconciliation of the needs of the weakest groups of the population, for consumers in the production sector the logic adopted by the manager may be inspired by criteria of greater corporate rationality. This work illustrates the Italian regulatory framework and shows an optimization model of tariff classes in the production sector that reconciles the public objective of sustainable use of the resource and the needs of a production system in search of recovery after the depressing effects caused by COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: decision making, economic evaluation, urban water management, water tariff

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Authors: Aykut Sigin

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In feminist theory, home is usually regarded as an unsafe place for women to be in, as it continually produces inequalities between men and women, favoring the former, and maintains the patriarchal status quo. The second-wave feminists argued that women need to raise their concerns regarding domestic problems and this eventually led to the emergence of the motto 'the personal is political', pointing out to the fact that the domestic problems one woman experienced were essentially the problems of women in general as the patriarchal ideology manifested itself at home. Although this motto was from the late 1960s, it still holds significance today. In the golden era of the Internet, women could use social media to voice their concerns more easily than ever. Following this line of thought, the aim of this study is to analyze the domestic problems of the women in Turkey during the lockdown caused by COVID-19 through social media as they find themselves at home with their fathers, husbands and/or brothers for longer periods of time than ever before. For this purpose, an investigation of the posts shared under '#EvdeKal' ('StayAtHome') was carried out. The results of the study made it clear that women find the lockdown process to be problematic, that they express their domestic concerns rather freely through social media, and that the inequalities caused by the patriarchal ideology persist in the 21st century.

Keywords: COVID-19, lockdown, home, feminism

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Authors: Linda Torresin

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This paper is devoted to the Russian as a Foreign Language (RFL) textbook, which is understood as a fundamental element of the RFL system. The aim of the study is to explore the role of the RFL textbook in modern RFL teaching theories and practices. It is suggested that the RFL textbook is not a secondary factor but contributes to the advancement and rewriting of both RFL theories and practices. This study applies to the RFL textbook theory's recent pedagogical developments in education. Therefore, the RFL system is conceived as a complex adaptive system whose elements (teacher, textbook, students, etc.) interact in a dynamic network of interconnections. In particular, the author shows that the textbook plays a central role in the RFL system since it may change and even renew RFL teaching from both theoretical and practical perspectives. On the one hand, in fact, the use of an RFL textbook may impact teaching theories: that is, the textbook may either consolidate preexisting theories or launch new approaches. On the other hand, the RFL textbook may also influence teaching practices by reinforcing the preexisting ones or encouraging teachers to try new strategies instead. All this allows the RFL textbook, within the RFL complex adaptive system, to exert an influence on the specific teaching contexts in which Russian is taught, interacting with the other elements of the system itself. Through its findings, this paper contributes to the advancement of research on RFL textbook theory.

Keywords: adaptive system, foreign language textbook, teaching Russian as a foreign language, textbook of Russian as a foreign language

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Authors: Fakhr Eddin Alnaal, Angela Dahdal, Duaa Aladib, Sabeen Ibrahim, Ibrahim Ghoraibi, Bissan Ahmed

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Dementia is one of the diseases which had several stages and Alzheimer’s term was selected in respect for the first doctor Alzheimer who defined the first symptoms of this diseases in a woman whom was well treated by him. The fact that this is a type of a silent disease on which you have a long-term process of neurological degradation and suddenly gives symptoms which are most often irreversible, on clinical level likely we can consider it as a malignancy, one in terms of that it is sudden shocking irreversible and on the level of behavior and some mortality beside the lack of early detection tools for diagnosis. Therefore, the goal of our project is to test the concept of the ability of Statin in prevention of such disease and we investigated that both on experimental level and most importantly on clinical one, the clinical part was performed in a recognized house of aged people who had accidently a high cholesterol and were for years given Statin to treat that elevation, however after the symptoms of Alzheimer’s appeared and when diagnosed, they were well treated and rapidly recovered compared to Alzheimer’s patients in the same house who did not receive Statin had a mild improvement in their symptoms after the therapy, on the other hand we confirmed such observation by a well-organized experimental work.

Keywords: Alzheimer's, dementia, silent disease, statin

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Authors: Asaiel Alohaly

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A theoretical framework for corporate governance is needed to bridge the gap between the corporate governance of private companies and State-owned Enterprises (SOEs). The two dominant models, being shareholder and stakeholder, do not always address the specific requirements and challenges posed by ‘hybrid’ companies; namely, previously national bodies that have been privatised bffu t where the government retains significant control or holds a majority of shareholders. Thus, an exploratory theoretical study is needed to identify how ‘hybrid’ companies should be defined and why the state model should be acknowledged since it is the less conspicuous model in comparison with the shareholder and stakeholder models. This research focuses on ‘the state model of corporate governance to understand the complex ownership, control pattern, goals, and corporate governance of these hybrid companies. The significance of this research lies in the fact that there is a limited available publication on the state model. The outcomes of this research are as follows. It became evident that the state model exists in the ecosystem. However, corporate governance theories have not extensively covered this model. Though, there is a lot being said about it by OECD and the World Bank. In response to this gap between theories and industry practice, this research argues for the state model, which proceeds from an understanding of the institutionally embedded character of hybrid companies where the government is either a majority of the total shares or a controlling shareholder.

Keywords: corporate governance, control, shareholders, state model

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Authors: Altaf Ahmed

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Unhindered progress and advancement of life are directly associated with peace and development. Unfortunately, many modern states are prone to the perilous of social challenges; Violent Extremism is the most ubiquitous adversary among all. Islam in its origin fully supports peace and security; the charter of Madina, the treaty of Hudabia and conquer of Mecca are the biggest examples in this reference. The holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ always gave priority to peace in these cases. Today, the majority of the Muslim World faces VE and terrorism due to multiple reasons ranging from religious interpretations to political, social and economic conditions. This research will try to explore challenges for Muslim Ummah in maintaining peace and what steps have been taken by it to resolve conflicts among states. In this context, Sustainable development goals (SDGs) will be particularly analysed. SDGs were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015. It is an undeniable fact that these are the best peace-building tools. Although there are 17 SDGs, the paper will mainly focus on quality education, zero hunger, end of poverty (social protection), women empowerment, reduced inequalities and economic growth as the best peace-building approaches for eradication of violent extremism.

Keywords: violent extremism, Muslim Ummah, peace, modern world, education

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Authors: Xvelian Qin

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Urban "organic renewal" based on the development of existing resources in high-density urban areas has become the mainstream of urban development in the new era. As an important stock resource of public space in high-density urban areas, promoting its value remodeling is an effective way to alleviate the shortage of public space resources. However, due to the lack of evaluation links in the process of underpass space renewal, a large number of underpass space resources have been left idle, facing the problems of low space conversion efficiency, lack of accuracy in development decision-making, and low adaptability of functional positioning to citizens' needs. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to construct the evaluation system of under-bridge space renewal potential and explore the renewal mode. In this paper, some of the under-bridge spaces in the main urban area of Chongqing are selected as the research object. Through the questionnaire interviews with the users of the built excellent space under the bridge, three types of six levels and twenty-two potential evaluation indexes of "objective demand factor, construction feasibility factor and construction suitability factor" are selected, including six levels of land resources, infrastructure, accessibility, safety, space quality and ecological environment. The analytical hierarchy process and expert scoring method are used to determine the index weight, construct the potential evaluation system of the space under the bridge in high-density urban areas of Chongqing, and explore the direction of renewal and utilization of its suitability. To provide feasible theoretical basis and scientific decision support for the use of under bridge space in the future.

Keywords: high density urban area, potential evaluation, space under bridge, updated using

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Authors: Adel Atta Youssef Rezkalla

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Russia's invasion of Ukraine tested the international community and prompted not only states but also non-state actors to take deterrent measures in response. In fact, international sports federations, notably FIFA and UEFA, have managed to shift the power dynamic quite effectively by imposing a blanket ban on Russian national teams and clubs. The purpose of this article is to examine the human rights consequences of such actions by international sports organizations. First, the article moves away from assessing the legal status of FIFA and UEFA under international law and examines the question of how a legal connection can be established with their human rights obligations. Secondly, the human rights aspects of the controversial FIFA and UEFA measures against Russian athletes are examined and these are analyzed in more detail using the proportionality test than the principle of non-discrimination under international human rights law. Finally, the main avenues for redress for possible human rights violations related to the actions taken by these organizations are identified and the challenges of arbitration and litigation in Switzerland are highlighted.

Keywords: sustainable development, human rights, the right to development, the human rights-based approach to development, environmental rights, economic development, social sustainability human rights protection, human rights violations, workers’ rights, justice, security.

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Authors: Magid Maatallah

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The problem is, investment management in modern conditions boils down to risk management which is very underdeveloped in Islamic financial theory and practice. Add to this the fact that, in Islamic perception, this is one of the areas of conventional finance in need of drastic reforms. This need was recently underlined by the story of Long Term Capital Management (LTCM ), ( told by Roger Lowenstein in his book, When Genius Failed, Random House, 2000 ). So we face a double challenge, to develop Islamic techniques of risk management and to see that these new techniques are free from the ills with which conventional methods are suffering. This is different from the challenge faced in the middle of twentieth century, to develop a method of financial intermediation free of interest.Risk was always there, especially in business. But industrialization brought risks unknown in trade and agriculture. Industrial production often involves long periods of time .The longer the period of production the more the uncertainty. The scope of the market has expanded to cover the whole world, introducing new kinds of risk. More than a thousand years ago, when Islamic laws were being written, the nature and scope of risk and uncertainty was different. However, something can still be learnt which, in combination with the modern experience, should enable us to realize the Shariah objectives of justice, fairness and efficiency.

Keywords: financial markets, Islamic framework, risk management, investment

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Authors: Pradeep Kumar

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The present work is based on application of cement mortar with natural sand and discontinuous steel fiber through which bending behavior of skinny beam was evaluated. This research is to study the effects of combining reinforcing steel meshes (continuous steel reinforcement) with discontinuous fibers as reinforcement in skinny walled Portland cement based cement mortar with crushed stone dust as a fine aggregate. The term ‘skinny’ means thickness of the beams is less than 25 mm. The main idea behind this combination is to satisfy the ultimate strength limit state through the steel mesh reinforcement (as a main reinforcement) and to control the cracking under service loads through fiber (Recron 3s) reinforcement (as secondary reinforcement). The main object of this study is to carry out the bending behavior of mortar reinforced thin beam with only one layer of steel mesh (with various transfer wire spacing) and with a recron 3s (Reliance) fifers. The wide experimental program with bending tests is undertaken. The following variables are investigated: (a) the reference mesh size - 25.4 x 25.4 mm and 50.8 x 50.8 mm; (b) the transverse wire spacing - 25.4 mm, 50.8 mm, and no transverse wires; (c) the type of fibers – Reliance (Recron 3s, 6mm length); and (d) the fiber volume fraction – 0.1% and 0.25%. Some of the main conclusions are: (a) the use of recron 3s fibers leads to a little better overall performance than that with no fiber; (b) an increase in equivalent stress is observed when 0.1% RF,0.25% R Fibers are used; (c) when 25.4 x 50.8 size steel mesh is used, no noticeable change in behavior is observed in comparison to specimens without fibers; and (d) for no fibers 0.1% and o.1% RF the transverse wire spacing has some little effect on the equivalent stress for RF fibers, the transverse wire has no influence but the equivalent stress are increased.

Keywords: cement mortar, crushed stone dust, fibre, steel mesh

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Authors: N. Zanganeh, M. Zabet

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Lactulose is a synthetic disaccharide which has remarkable applications in food and pharmaceutical fields. Lactulose is not found in nature and it is produced by isomerization reaction of lactose in an alkaline environment. It should be noted that this reaction has a very low yield since significant amount of lactose stays un-reacted in the system. Basically, purification of lactulose is difficult and costly. Previous studies have revealed that solubility of lactose and lactulose are significantly different in ethanol. Considering the fact that solubility is also affected by temperature itself, we investigated the effect of ethanol and temperature on separation process of lactose from the syrup containing lactose and lactulose. For this purpose, a saturated solution containing lactulose and lactose was made at three different temperatures; 25⁰C (room temperature), 31⁰C, and 37⁰C first.  Five samples containing 2g saturated solution was taken and then 2g, 3g, 4g, 5g, and 6g ethanol separately was added to the sampling tubes. Sampling tubes were kept at respective temperatures afterward. The concentration of lactose and lactulose after separation process measured and analyzed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Results showed that ethanol has such a greater impact than operating temperature on purification process. Also, it was observed that the maximum rate of separation occurred at initial amount of added ethanol.

Keywords: lactulose, lactose, purification, solubility

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Authors: Taher Bahrani

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Armed with technological development, the present study aimed at gauging the effectiveness of exposure to news and movies as two types of audio-visual programs on improving language learners’ listening comprehension at the intermediate level. To this end, a listening comprehension test was administered to 108 language learners and finally 60 language learners were selected as intermediate language learners and randomly divided into group one and group two. During the experiment, group one participants had exposure to audio-visual news stories to work on in-and out-side the classroom. On the contrary, the participants in group two had only exposure to a sample selected utterances extracted from different kinds of movies. At the end of the experiment, both groups took another sample listening test to find out to what extent the participants in each group could enhance their listening comprehension. The results obtained from the post-test were indicative of the fact that the participants who had exposure to news outperformed the participants who had exposure to movies. The findings of the present research seem to indicate that the language input embedded in the type of audio-visual programs which language learners are exposed to is more important than the amount of exposure.

Keywords: audio-visual news, movies, listening comprehension, intermediate level

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Authors: Thulya Premathilake, Tharushi Perera, Hansi Thathsarani, Tharushi Nethmini, Dilshan De Silva, Piyumika Samarasekara

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One of the most efficient ways to assist developers in grasping the source code is to make use of comments, which can be found throughout the code. When working in fields such as software development, having comments in your code that are of good quality is a fundamental requirement. Tackling software problems while making use of programs that have already been built. It is essential for the intention of the source code to be made crystal apparent in the comments that are added to the code. This assists programmers in better comprehending the programs they are working on and enables them to complete software maintenance jobs in a more timely manner. In spite of the fact that comments and documentation are meant to improve readability and maintainability, the vast majority of programmers place the majority of their focus on the actual code that is being written. This study provides a complete and comprehensive overview of the previous research that has been conducted on the topic of code comments. The study focuses on four main topics, including automated comment production, comment consistency, comment classification, and comment quality rating. One is able to get the knowledge that is more complete for use in following inquiries if they conduct an analysis of the proper approaches that were used in this study issue.

Keywords: code commenting, source code, software quality, quality assurance

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Authors: Zaid H. Yaseen, Jamel A. Orfi, Zeyad A. Alsuhaibani

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Solar power has a huge potential to be employed in the fields of electricity production, water desalination, and multi-generation. There are various types of solar collectors, and parabolic trough collectors (PTCs) are common among these types. In PTCs, a mirror is used to direct the incident radiation on an absorber tube to utilize the heat in power generation. In this work, a PTC covered with a glass tube is presented and analyzed. Results showed that temperatures of 510℃ for steam can be reached for certain parameters. The work also showed the viability of using Benzene as the working fluid in the absorber tube. Also, some analysis regarding changing the absorber’s tube diameter and the efficiency of the solar collector was demonstrated in this work. The effect of changing the heat transfer correlations for the convection phenomena of the working fluid was illustrated. In fact, two heat transfer correlations, the Dittus-Boelter and Gnielinski correlations, were used, and the outcomes showed a resemblance in the results for the maximum attainable temperature in the working fluid.

Keywords: absorber tube, glass tube, incident radiation, parabolic trough collector

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Authors: F. Ahwide, Y. Aldali

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This article presents a current and future energy situation in Libya. The electric power efficiency and operating hours in power plants are evaluated from 2005 to 2010. Carbon dioxide emissions in most of power plants are estimated. In 2005, the efficiency of steam power plants achieved a range of 20% to 28%. While, the gas turbine power plants efficiency ranged between 9% and 25%, this can be considered as low efficiency. However, the efficiency improvement has clearly observed in some power plants from 2008 to 2010, especially in the power plant of North Benghazi and west Tripoli. In fact, these power plants have modified to combine cycle. The efficiency of North Benghazi power plant has increased from 25% to 46.6%, while in Tripoli it is increased from 22% to 34%. On the other hand, the efficiency improvement is not observed in the gas turbine power plants. When compared to the quantity of fuel used, the carbon dioxide emissions resulting from electricity generation plants were very high. Finally, an estimation of the energy demand has been done to the maximum load and the annual load factor (i.e., the ratio between the output power and installed power).

Keywords: power plant, efficiency improvement, carbon dioxide emissions, energy situation in Libya

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Authors: Simran Sharda

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There is increasing evidence that leads psychologists today to believe that the attachment formed between a mother and child plays a much more profound role in later-life outcomes than previously expected. Particularly, the fact that a link may exist between maternal attachment and the development in addition to the severity of social anxiety in middle childhood seems to be gaining ground. This research will examine and address a myriad of major issues related to the impact of mother-child attachment: behaviors of children with different levels of secure attachment, various aspects of anxiety in relation to attachment security as well as other styles of mother-child attachments, especially avoidant attachment and over-attachment. This analysis serves to compile previous literature on the subject and touch light upon a logical extension of the research. Moreover, researchers have identified links between attachment and the externalization of problem behaviors: these behaviors may later manifest as social anxiety as well as increased severity and likelihood of PTSD diagnosis (an anxiety disorder). Furthermore, secure attachment has been linked to increased health benefits, cognitive skills, emotive socialization, and developmental psychopathology.

Keywords: child development, anxiety, cognition, developmental psychopathology, mother-child relationships, maternal, cognitive development

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Authors: Khalid Kaddoura, Tarek Zayed

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Sewer networks are constructed to protect the communities and the environment from any contact with the sewer mediums. Pipelines, being laterals or sewer mains, and manholes form the huge underground infrastructure in every urban city. Due to the sewer networks importance, the infrastructure asset management field has extensive advancement in condition assessment and rehabilitation decision models. However, most of the focus was devoted to pipelines giving little attention toward manholes condition assessment. In fact, recent studies started to emerge in this area to preserve manholes from any malfunction. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to propose a condition assessment model for sewer manholes. The model divides the manhole into several components and determines the relative importance weight of each component using the Analytic Network Process (ANP) decision-making method. Later, the condition of the manhole is computed by aggregating the condition of each component with its corresponding weight. Accordingly, the proposed assessment model will enable decision-makers to have a final index suggesting the overall condition of the manhole and a backward analysis to check the condition of each component. Consequently, better decisions are made pertinent to maintenance, rehabilitation, and replacement actions.

Keywords: Analytic Network Process (ANP), condition assessment, decision-making, manholes

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Authors: Anthony D. Rhodes, Manan Goel

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We provide a high fidelity deep learning algorithm (HyperSeg) for interactive video segmentation tasks using a dense convolutional network with context-aware skip connections and compressed, 'hypercolumn' image features combined with a convolutional tessellation procedure. In order to maintain high output fidelity, our model crucially processes and renders all image features in high resolution, without utilizing downsampling or pooling procedures. We maintain this consistent, high grade fidelity efficiently in our model chiefly through two means: (1) we use a statistically-principled, tensor decomposition procedure to modulate the number of hypercolumn features and (2) we render these features in their native resolution using a convolutional tessellation technique. For improved pixel-level segmentation results, we introduce a boundary loss function; for improved temporal coherence in video data, we include temporal image information in our model. Through experiments, we demonstrate the improved accuracy of our model against baseline models for interactive segmentation tasks using high resolution video data. We also introduce a benchmark video segmentation dataset, the VFX Segmentation Dataset, which contains over 27,046 high resolution video frames, including green screen and various composited scenes with corresponding, hand-crafted, pixel-level segmentations. Our work presents a improves state of the art segmentation fidelity with high resolution data and can be used across a broad range of application domains, including VFX pipelines and medical imaging disciplines.

Keywords: computer vision, object segmentation, interactive segmentation, model compression

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Authors: Kamilya Khamitova

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This study analyzes the overarching theme of obsession as portrayed through the two protagonists, Humbert Humbert and Kemal, in Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita and Orhan Pamuk's The Museum of Innocence through the lens of Freudian psychoanalytical theory of “transference.” Their obsessions are channeled into various forms of artistic expression following the loss of their beloved Lolita and Füsun. Employing psychoanalytical literary criticism, firmly grounded in the classical era of psychoanalysis, as pioneered by Sigmund Freud, this research explores the characters' psyches, revealing the concealed desires, conflicts, and symbolic manifestations within their relentless obsessions. The aim of this study is to unravel the psychological complexities of obsession, shedding light on the motivations and behaviors of Humbert and Kemal within the context of their respective narratives. Methodologically, this research employs close textual analysis of the novels, dissecting the protagonists' thoughts, actions, and artistic expressions. Through the lens of Freud's fundamental concept of “transference,” this analysis uncovers the protagonists' mechanisms of projecting their desires onto unattainable objects of desire—Lolita and Füsun. Humbert's pursuit of Lolita mirrors his unresolved emotional traumas and attempts to recapture the lost object of his childhood. In contrast, Kemal's fixation on Füsun is a desperate desire to fill an existential void, address a sense of inadequacy, and construct a semblance of immortality through the meticulous preservation of his memories with her. By adopting a psychoanalytic lens, this research provides a richer understanding of the characters, themes, and symbolism inherent in their artistic expressions of devotion.

Keywords: artistic expression, psychoanalysis of obsession, Sigmund Freud, transference

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Authors: Yuko Tomoto

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The purpose of this research is to examine the assumption that female bilingual speakers more often change the way they talk or think depending on the language they use compared with male bilingual speakers. The author collected data through questionnaires on 241 bilingual speakers. Also, in-depth interview surveys were conducted with 13 Japanese/English bilingual speakers whose native language is Japanese and 16 English/Japanese bilingual speakers whose native language is English. The results indicate that both male and female bilingual speakers are more or less influenced consciously and unconsciously by the language they use, as well as by the background cultural values of each language. At the same time, it was found that female speakers are much more highly affected by the language they use, its background culture and also by the interlocutors they were talking to. This was probably due to the larger cultural expectations on women. Through conversations, speakers are not only conveying a message but also attempting to express who they are, and what they want to be like. In other words, they are constantly building up and updating their own identities by choosing the most appropriate language and descriptions to express themselves in the dialogues. It has been claimed that the images of ideal L2 self could strongly motivate learners. The author hopes to make the best use of the fact that bilingual speakers change their presence depending on the language they use, in order to motivate Japanese learners of English, especially female learners from the viewpoint of finding their new selves in English.

Keywords: cultural influence, gender expectation, language learning, L2 self

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Authors: María Del Carmen Baena Lupiáñez

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Music has been considered for decades as a tool to express emotions. In the case of people with some physical disabilities, they are able to develop what is known as echolocation. It means that the development of some of the senses to compensate the lack of one of them. For instance, it has been proved that people with reduced visibility have a more developed hearing capacity. In series or films, music is fundamental to contextualize the viewer in the story. Music becomes an indispensable element to make people with reduced visibility to understand the plot and to avoid ambiguities, in the absence of an audio description. Since the songs of Japanese animes have not been as studied as other soundtracks from this point of view to our knowledge, the three openings of the anime Shingeki no Kyojin have been chosen to carry out the experiment from which this study will start. It will test the perceptions of people with reduced visibility by reproducing the three opening songs of Shingeki no Kyojin and asking the users questions related to their thoughts about the anime, their feelings when listening to these songs and the possible story that this anime could be about. In fact, users could identify in general the plot of the story and their perceptions corresponded to what the songs should transmit, taking into account its chords and harmonies.

Keywords: anime, argumental contextualization, echolocations, emotions

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Authors: Jerzy Merkisz, Pawel Fuc, Piotr Lijewski, Andrzej Ziolkowski, Pawel Czarkowski

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The paper presents preliminary results of the development of an automotive exhaust gas energy recovery module. The aim of the performed analyses was to select the geometry of the heat exchanger that would ensure the highest possible transfer of heat at minimum heat flow losses. The starting point for the analyses was a straight portion of a pipe, from which the exhaust system of the tested vehicle was made. The design of the heat exchanger had a cylindrical cross-section, was 300 mm long and was fitted with a diffuser and a confusor. The model works were performed for the mentioned geometry utilizing the finite volume method based on the Ansys CFX v12.1 and v14 software. This method consisted in dividing of the system into small control volumes for which the exhaust gas velocity and pressure calculations were performed using the Navier-Stockes equations. The heat exchange in the system was modeled based on the enthalpy balance. The temperature growth resulting from the acting viscosity was not taken into account. The heat transfer on the fluid/solid boundary in the wall layer with the turbulent flow was done based on an arbitrarily adopted dimensionless temperature. The boundary conditions adopted in the analyses included the convective condition of heat transfer on the outer surface of the heat exchanger and the mass flow and temperature of the exhaust gas at the inlet. The mass flow and temperature of the exhaust gas were assumed based on the measurements performed in actual traffic using portable PEMS analyzers. The research object was a passenger vehicle fitted with a 1.9 dm3 85 kW diesel engine. The tests were performed in city traffic conditions.

Keywords: waste heat recovery, heat exchanger, CFD simulation, pems

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Authors: Saida Haider, Syeda Madiha

Abstract:

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common neurological disorder characterized by motor deficits and loss of dopaminergic neurons. Oxidative stress is said to play a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of the disease. In the present study, PD was induced by injection of rotenone (1.5 mg/kg/day, s.c.) for eight days. Pistachio (800 mg/kg/day, p.o.) was given for two weeks. At the end of treatment brains were dissected out and striatum was isolated for biochemical and neurochemical analysis. Morris water maze (MWM) test and novel object recognition (NOR) task was used to test the memory function while motor behavior was determined by open field test (OFT), Kondziela inverted screen test (KIST), pole test (PT), beam walking test (BWT), inclined plane test (IPT) and footprint (FP) test. Several dietary components have been evaluated as potential therapeutic compounds in many neurodegenerative diseases. Increasing evidence shows that nuts have protective effects against various diseases by improving the oxidative status and reducing lipid peroxidation. Pistachio is the only nut that contains anthocyanin, a potent antioxidant having neuroprotective properties. Results showed that pistachio supplementation significantly restored the rotenone-induced motor deficits and improved the memory performance. Moreover, rats treated with pistachio also exhibited enhanced oxidative status and increased dopamine (DA) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) concentration in striatum. In conclusion, to our best knowledge, we have for the first time shown that pistachio nut possesses neuroprotective effects against rotenone-induced motor and cognitive deficits. These beneficial effects of pistachio may be attributed to its high content of natural antioxidant and phenolic compounds. Hence, consumption of pistachio regularly as part of a daily diet can be beneficial in the prevention and treatment of PD.

Keywords: rotenone, pistachio, oxidative stress, Parkinson’s disease

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Authors: Dumith Kulasekara

Abstract:

This paper examines the representation of the body that particularly stresses the anatomical organs and the psychic conditions in contemporary art. The paper looks closely at the works that address personal and social meanings implying psychic conditions by bringing the internal hidden anatomical organs of the body to the surface of the visual language. The paper argues that contemporary artists conceptualize the idea of the body as a site of generating psychic conditions by excavating the body as material, subject, and object in art practice. The paper conceptualizes this excavating process of the body acts similarly to the idea of dissecting the corporeal body to understand its internal organism that again shapes the materiality of the surface of the body. In doing so, the paper brings together this argument, knowledge produced in the historical and contemporary anatomical education in art and science, and psychoanalytical approaches to the theme to develop new interpretations of representing psyche in the anatomical-bodied. The present paper defines this new form of body conceptually and materially addresses the issues related to psychic conditions: sexual desires, gender, traumas, and memories. The paper suggests that representation of the anatomical-bodied brings a new direction of the multidisciplinary approach introduced by artists to visualize the body and psyche in the contemporary context. The paper also presents an in-depth- discussion on technological, scientific, and philosophical knowledge employed in representing the idea of the body in addressing different psychic conditions to challenge the experiencing the body in contemporary art. Therefore, the paper focuses on examining the theme in the different forms of visual language and contexts in contemporary art. Finally, this research aims to offer a theoretical and conceptual background to curate an exhibition on the title of the anatomical-bodied and psyche in contemporary art with the body of work discussed in this paper.

Keywords: anatomy, body, contemporary art, psyche, psychoanalysis, representation, trauma

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Authors: Nassrin Badrkhani

Abstract:

Current paper was designed aiming at finding the impacts of play therapy on the development of mentally retarded students in elementary school. The sample included 191 elementary students from 5 classes. Sixty students were chosen from each class, and based on their learning capabilities, they were further assigned into similar control and treatment groups. Then, five groups received treatments with special types of games, instruments, and methods for two months. The teacher-made instruments in literature, math, and science were adopted after their content validity had been confirmed by experienced teachers. The findings were analyzed in both descriptive, including mean, median, and standard deviation, and interpretive levels, using covariance analysis in SPSS. The results were indicative of the fact that play therapy (individual and group games) was positively effective in mentally retarded students’ educational development. Moreover, regarding P ˂0/001, it was found that group games were more influential than individual ones. It was also clear that the students’ gender played no role in this kind of treatment. Therefore, it is highly recommended to implement play therapy as a part of the educational curriculum for mentally retarded pupils.

Keywords: development, education, learning, play therapy, student, teacher

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Authors: Houria Hamitouche, Abdellah Khelifa

Abstract:

Quaternary ammonium salts (QACs) are the most common cationic surfactants of natural or synthetic origin usually. They possess one or more hydrophobic hydrocarbon chains and hydrophilic cationic group. In fact, the hydrophobic groups are derived from three main sources: petrochemicals, vegetable oils, and animal fats. These QACs have attracted the attention of chemists for a long time, due to their general simple synthesis and their broad application in several fields. They are important as ingredients of cosmetic products and are also used as corrosion inhibitors, in emulsion polymerization and textile processing. Within biological applications, QACs show a good antimicrobial activity and can be used as medicines, gene delivery agents or in DNA extraction methods. The 2004 worldwide annual consumption of QACs was reported as 500,000 tons. The petroleum product is considered a true reservoir of a variety of chemical species, which can be used in the synthesis of quaternary ammonium salts. The purpose of the present contribution is to synthesize the quaternary ammonium salts by Menschutkin reaction, via chloromethylation/quaternization sequences, from Algerian petroleum products namely: reformate, light naphtha and kerosene and characterize.

Keywords: quaternary ammonium salts, reformate, light naphtha, kerosene

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