Search results for: support for learners experiencing special needs

Authors: Cherri Kelly Seese, Renee Bourdeaux, Sarah Drivdahl

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Emergent adults in the United States are currently experiencing high levels of anxiety. It is imperative to uncover insulating factors which mitigate the impact of anxiety. This study aims to explore how constructs such as belongingness, relational communication, screen time and religiosity impact anxiety levels of emerging adults. Approximately 250 college students from a small, private university on the West Coast were given an online assessment that included: the General Belongingness Scale, Relational Communication Scale, Duke University Religion Index (DUREL), a survey of screen time, and the Beck Anxiety Inventory. A MANOVA statistical test was conducted by assessing the effects of multiple dependent variables (scores on GBS, RCS, self-reported screen time and DUREL) on the four different levels of anxiety as measured on the BAI (minimal = 1, mild =2, moderate = 3, or severe = 4). Results indicated a significant relationship between one’s sense of belonging and one’s reported level of anxiety. These findings have implications for systems, like universities, churches, and corporations that want to improve young adults’ level of anxiety.

Keywords: anxiety, belongingness, relational communication, religiosity, screen time

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Authors: Saki Makume

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Misogyny is a serious problem in the world that is predominantly patriarchal. South Africa is a very unequal society, so are the companies in this country. After 1994, laws were promulgated to outlaw unfair discrimination, amongst them discrimination based on gender. The presentation aims to share the experiences and learnings of Rand Water through its transformation journey. The environment was so hostile to women in the workplace that policies and practices excluded or unfairly discriminated against women. The paper will be in the form of a case study, predominantly qualitative and to a lesser extent quantitative. The results will show that the number of women at Board, Executive and Management levels have increased; and policies amended to be gender sensitive. Policies were developed that specifically protected women’s rights e.g. sexual harassment. A program like TechnoGirl was introduced to lure girl learners to Rand Water.

Keywords: gender mainstreaming, policies, transformation, unfair discrimination

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Authors: Shaoying Guo, Yanyun Xu, Meng Zhang, Weiqing Huang

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The wireless communication network is developing rapidly, thus the wireless security becomes more and more important. Specific emitter identification (SEI) is an vital part of wireless communication security as a technique to identify the unique transmitters. In this paper, a SEI method based on multiscale dispersion entropy (MDE) and refined composite multiscale dispersion entropy (RCMDE) is proposed. The algorithms of MDE and RCMDE are used to extract features for identification of five wireless devices and cross-validation support vector machine (CV-SVM) is used as the classifier. The experimental results show that the total identification accuracy is 99.3%, even at low signal-to-noise ratio(SNR) of 5dB, which proves that MDE and RCMDE can describe the communication signal series well. In addition, compared with other methods, the proposed method is effective and provides better accuracy and stability for SEI.

Keywords: cross-validation support vector machine, refined com- posite multiscale dispersion entropy, specific emitter identification, transient signal, wireless communication device

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Authors: M. A. Elbagermia, A. I. Alajtala, M. Alkerzab

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This study compares the quality of different brands of Portland Cement (PC) available in Libyan market. The amounts of chemical constituents like SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, CaO, MgO, SO3, and Lime Saturation Factor (LSF) were determined in accordance with Libyan (L.S.S) and Amrican (A.S.S) Standard Specifications. All the cement studies were found to be good for concrete work especially where no special property is required. The chemical and mineralogical analyses for studied clinker samples show that the dominant phases composition are C3S and C2S while the C3A and C4AF are less abundant.

Keywords: Portland cement, chemical composition, Libyan market, X-Ray fluorescence

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Authors: Jabulani Sibanda, Clemence Chikiwa

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This paper traces diverse language practices representative of equally diverse conceptions of language. To be dynamic with languaging practices, one needs to appreciate nuanced languaging practices, their challenges, prospects, and opportunities. The paper presents what we envision as three major conceptions of language that give impetus to diverse language practices. It examines theoretical models of the bilingual mental lexicon and how they inform language practices. The paper explores classroom languaging practices that have been promulgated and experimented with. The paper advocates the deployment of multisensory semiotic systems to complement linguistic classroom communication and the acknowledgement of learners’ linguistic and semiotic resources as valid in the learning enterprise. It recommends the enactment of specific clauses on language in education policies and curriculum documents that empower classroom interactants to exercise discretion in languaging practices.

Keywords: languaging, monolingual, multilingual, semiotic and linguistic repertoire

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Authors: Steve Haberlin

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United States college students are experiencing record-high stress and anxiety rates, and due to technological advances, there are more distractions in the classroom. With these challenges comes the need to explore additional, non-traditional pedagogical strategies that can help students de-stress, become centered, and feel more deeply connected to content. In addition, embedding contemplative practices, such as mindfulness meditation, in the higher education classroom could assist faculty in presenting a more holistic education that encourages students to develop self-awareness, emotional intelligence, compassion, interconnectedness, and other “non-academic” qualities. Brief meditation may help students de-stress, focus, and connect. A facilitation guide could also help faculty implement classroom meditation practices; however, additional research is needed to determine how to best train faculty, what meditation techniques work best with students, and how to handle resistance. In this paper, a two-phase study is presented that involves a mindfulness meditation intervention with 180 undergraduate students at a private college in the southeastern United States. Data were collected through qualitative surveys and journaling and analyzed for themes. Findings included a majority of students reporting improved calm, reduced stress, and increased focus and ability to transition to classroom instruction.

Keywords: college students, higher education, mindfulness meditation, stress

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Authors: Sin Ying Tan, Mohammed Alloghani, A. J. Aljaaf, Abir Hussain, Jamila Mustafina

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Industry 4.0 is a term frequently used to describe the new upcoming industry era. Higher education institutions aim to prepare students to fulfil the future industry needs. Advancement of digital technology has paved the way for the evolution of education and technology. Evolution of education has proven its conservative nature and a high level of resistance to changes and transformation. The gap between the industry's needs and competencies offered generally by education is revealing the increasing need to find new educational models to face the future. The aim of this study was to identify the main issues faced by both universities and students in preparing the future workforce. From December 2018 to April 2019, a regional qualitative study was undertaken in Liverpool, United Kingdom (UK). Interviews were conducted with employers, faculty members and undergraduate students, and the results were analyzed using the open coding method. Four main issues had been identified, which are the characteristics of the future workforce, student's readiness to work, expectations on different roles played at the tertiary education level and awareness of the latest trends. The finding of this paper concluded that the employers and academic practitioners agree that their expectations on each other’s roles are different and in order to face the rapidly changing technology era, students should not only have the right skills, but they should also have the right attitude in learning. Therefore, the authors address this issue by proposing a learning framework known as 'ASK SUMA' framework as a guideline to support the students, academicians and employers in meeting the needs of 'Industry 4.0'. Furthermore, this technology era requires the employers, academic practitioners and students to work together in order to face the upcoming challenges and fast-changing technologies. It is also suggested that an interactive system should be provided as a platform to support the three different parties to play their roles.

Keywords: attitude, expectations, industry needs, knowledge, skills

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Authors: Yunus Onur Yildiz, Mesut Kirca

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In this study, mechanical properties of a nanoporous metal coated with a different metallic material are studied through a new atomistic modelling technique and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. This new atomistic modelling technique is based on the Voronoi tessellation method for the purpose of geometric representation of the ligaments. With the proposed technique, atomistic models of nanoporous metals which have randomly oriented ligaments with non-uniform mass distribution along the ligament axis can be generated by enabling researchers to control both ligament length and diameter. Furthermore, by the utilization of this technique, atomistic models of coated nanoporous materials can be numerically obtained for further mechanical or thermal characterization. In general, this study consists of two stages. At the first stage, we use algorithms developed for generating atomic coordinates of the coated nanoporous material. In this regard, coordinates of randomly distributed points are determined in a controlled way to be employed in the establishment of the Voronoi tessellation, which results in randomly oriented and intersected line segments. Then, line segment representation of the Voronoi tessellation is transformed to atomic structure by a special process. This special process includes generation of non-uniform volumetric core region in which atoms can be generated based on a specific crystal structure. As an extension, this technique can be used for coating of nanoporous structures by creating another volumetric region encapsulating the core region in which atoms for the coating material are generated. The ultimate goal of the study at this stage is to generate atomic coordinates that can be employed in the MD simulations of randomly organized coated nanoporous structures. At the second stage of the study, mechanical behavior of the coated nanoporous models is investigated by examining deformation mechanisms through MD simulations. In this way, the effect of coating on the mechanical behavior of the selected material couple is investigated.

Keywords: atomistic modelling, molecular dynamic, nanoporous metals, voronoi tessellation

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Authors: Kumar Vikas

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Education is to be anticipated for Human resource development and then national development. However, in most of the developing countries, due to the inadequacy of resources it is almost unattainable to educate all of their citizens through on-campus teaching. Huge amount of money is necessary to establish the infrastructure for on-campus teaching which is out of the reach of the developing countries. In these circumstances, to educate their huge inhabitants the developing countries are to depend on open learning and distance education system. However, a question still stands: can the educators dissimulate knowledge to the learners smoothly through this new system of education? Some recent research shows that the graduates of the open and distance learning institutions in the developing countries are treated as second-grade graduates. This paper aims to identify the challenges or barriers in the development of distance and Open learning system in India and suggest possible alternatives may be followed to overcome the barriers.

Keywords: barriers, distance education, developing countries, motivation, alternative solutions

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Authors: Hasen Keder Edris, Ryuji Matsunaga, Toshi Yamanaka

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The issue of climate change and its impact is a major contemporary global concern. Ethiopia is one of the countries experiencing adverse climate change impact including frequent extreme weather events that are exacerbating drought and water scarcity. Due to this reason, the government of Ethiopia develops a strategic document which focuses on the climate resilience green economy. One of the major components of the strategic framework is designed to improve community adaptation capacity and mitigation of drought. For effective implementation of the strategy, identification of regions relative vulnerability to drought is vital. There is a growing tendency of applying Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing technologies for collecting information on duration and severity of drought by direct measure of the topography as well as an indirect measure of land cover. This study aims to show an application of remote sensing technology and GIS for developing drought vulnerability index by taking lowland of Ethiopia as a case study. In addition, it assesses integrated Information Communication Technology (ICT) potential of Ethiopia lowland and proposes integrated solution. Satellite data is used to detect the beginning of the drought. The severity of drought risk prone areas of livestock keeping pastoral is analyzed through normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and ten years rainfall data. The change from the existing and average SPOT NDVI and vegetation condition index is used to identify the onset of drought and potential risks. Secondary data is used to analyze geographical coverage of mobile and internet usage in the region. For decades, the government of Ethiopia introduced some technologies and approach to overcoming climate change related problems. However, lack of access to information and inadequate technical support for the pastoral area remains a major challenge. In conventional business as usual approach, the lowland pastorals continue facing a number of challenges. The result indicated that 80% of the region face frequent drought occurrence and out of this 60% of pastoral area faces high drought risk. On the other hand, the target area mobile phone and internet coverage is rapidly growing. One of identified ICT solution enabler technology is telecom center which covers 98% of the region. It was possible to identify the frequently affected area and potential drought risk using the NDVI remote-sensing data analyses. We also found that ICT can play an important role in mitigating climate change challenge. Hence, there is a need to strengthen implementation efforts of climate change adaptation through integrated Remote Sensing and web based information dissemination and mobile alert of extreme events.

Keywords: climate changes, ICT, pastoral, remote sensing

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Authors: Xiaolian Jiang, Dongling Liu, Kun Liu

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Aims: To examine the prevalence of POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD) symptoms among Tibetan adolescents in heavily-hit disaster area three years after Yushu earthquake, and to explore the interactions of the psycho-social-genetic risk factors. Methods: This was a three-stage study. Firstly, demographic variables，PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version （PCL-C），the Internality、Powerful other、Chance Scale，（IPC），Coping Style Scale（CSS），and the Social Support Appraisal（SSA）were used to explore the psychosocial factors of PTSD symptoms among adolescent survivors. PCL-C was used to examine the PTSD symptoms among 4072 Tibetan adolescents，and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Disorders（SCID）was used by psychiatrists to make the diagnosis precisely. Secondly，a case-control trial was used to explore the relationship between PTSD and gene polymorphisms. 287adolescents diagnosed with PTSD were recruited in study group, and 280 adolescents without PTSD in control group. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism technology（PCR-RFLP）was used to test gene polymorphisms. Thirdly，SPSS 22.0 was used to explore the interactions of the psycho-social-genetic risk factors of PTSD on the basis of the above results. Results and conclusions: 1．The prevalence of PTSD was 9.70%. 2．The predictive psychosocial factors of PTSD included earthquake exposure, support from others, imagine, abreact, tolerant, powerful others and family support. 3．Synergistic interactions between A1 gene of DRD2 TaqIA and the external locus of control, negative coping style, severe earthquake exposure were found. Antagonism interactions between A1 gene of DRD2 TaqIA and poor social support was found. Synergistic interactions between A1/A1 genotype and the external locus of control, negative coping style were found. Synergistic interactions between 12 gene of 5-HTTVNTR and the external locus of control, negative coping style, severe earthquake exposure were found. Synergistic interactions between 12/12 genotype and the external locus of control, negative coping style, severe earthquake exposure were also found.

Keywords: adolescents, earthquake, PTSD, risk factors

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Authors: Shah Muhammad Butt

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The study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the adoption of e-governance in Pakistan's public universities and how that adoption has affected organizational performance. An online Likert scale survey was utilized to gather information from 350 participants from different public universities in Pakistan. The data were examined using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. The findings suggest that organizational culture, infrastructure, and leadership support are among the elements impacting the adoption of e-governance at Pakistan's public sector universities. A further finding of the study was that e-governance adoption benefited organizational performance, including effectiveness, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. The study emphasizes the significance of e-governance adoption at public sector universities and the demand for successful policies and strategies to support its implementation. To increase organisational performance and raise the standard of higher education in Pakistan, policymakers and university administrators should use the study's findings to develop and practice e-governance policies and initiatives.

Keywords: e-governance, adoption, public sector universities, Pakistan, organizational performance, higher education, technology, ICT, factors, comparative analysis

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Authors: Lan Wu

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The declared transformation towards a ‘new electricity system dominated by renewable energy’ by China requires a cleaner electricity consumption mix with high shares of renewable energy sourced-electricity (RES-E). Unfortunately, integration of RES-E into Chinese electricity markets remains a problem pending more robust legal support, evidenced by the curtailment of wind and solar power as a consequence of integration constraints. The upcoming energy law of the PRC (energy law) is expected to provide such long-awaiting support and coordinate the existing diverse sector-specific laws to deal with the weak implementation that dampening the delivery of their desired regulatory effects. However, in the shadow of the COVID-19 crisis, it remains uncertain how this new energy law brings synergies to RES-E integration, mindful of the significant impacts of the pandemic. Through the theoretical lens of the interplay between China’s electricity reform and legislative development, the present paper investigates whether there is a paradigm shift in energy law regarding renewable energy integration compared with the existing sector-specific energy laws. It examines the 2020 draft for comments on the energy law and analyses its relationship with sector-specific energy laws focusing on RES-E integration. The comparison is drawn upon five key aspects of the RES-E integration issue, including the status of renewables, marketisation, incentive schemes, consumption mechanisms, access to power grids, and dispatching. The analysis shows that it is reasonable to expect a more open and well-organized electricity market enabling absorption of high shares of RES-E. The present paper concludes that a period of prosperous development of RES-E in the post-COVID-19 era can be anticipated with the legal support by the upcoming energy law. It contributes to understanding the signals China is sending regarding the transition towards a cleaner energy future.

Keywords: energy law, energy transition, electricity market reform, renewable energy integration

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Authors: Carlos A. C. G. Neto, Natan C. G. e Silva , Thaís de O. Costa, Luciana R. B. Gonçalves, Maria V. P. Rocha

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β-galactosidases (E.C. 3.2.1.23) are enzymes that have attracted by catalyzing the hydrolysis of lactose and in producing galacto-oligosaccharides by favoring transgalactosylation reactions. These enzymes, when immobilized, can have some enzymatic characteristics substantially improved, and the coating of supports with multifunctional polymers is a promising alternative to enhance the stability of the biocatalysts, among which polyethylenimine (PEI) stands out. PEI has certain properties, such as being a flexible polymer that suits the structure of the enzyme, giving greater stability, especially for multimeric enzymes such as β-galactosidases. Besides that, protects them from environmental variations. The use of chitosan support coated with PEI could improve the catalytic efficiency of β-galactosidase from Kluyveromyces lactis in the transgalactosylation reaction for the production of prebiotics, such as lactulose since this strain is more effective in the hydrolysis reaction. In this context, the aim of the present work was first to develop biocatalysts of β-galactosidase from K. lactis immobilized on chitosan-coated with PEI, determining the immobilization parameters, its operational and thermal stability, and then to apply it in hydrolysis and transgalactolisation reactions to produce lactulose using whey as a substrate. The immobilization of β-galactosidase in chitosan previously functionalized with 0.8% (v/v) glutaraldehyde and then coated with 10% (w/v) PEI solution was evaluated using an enzymatic load of 10 mg protein per gram support. Subsequently, the hydrolysis and transgalactosylation reactions were conducted at 50 °C, 120 RPM for 20 minutes, using whey supplemented with fructose at a ratio of 1:2 lactose/fructose, totaling 200 g/L. Operational stability studies were performed in the same conditions for 10 cycles. Thermal stabilities of biocatalysts were conducted at 50 ºC in 50 mM phosphate buffer, pH 6.6 with 0.1 mM MnCl2. The biocatalyst whose support was coated was named CHI_GLU_PEI_GAL, and the one that was not coated was named CHI_GLU_GAL. The coating of the support with PEI considerably improved the parameters of immobilization. The immobilization yield increased from 56.53% to 97.45%, biocatalyst activity from 38.93 U/g to 95.26 U/g and the efficiency from 3.51% to 6.0% for uncoated and coated support, respectively. The biocatalyst CHI_GLU_PEI_GAL was better than CHI_GLU_GAL in the hydrolysis of lactose and production of lactulose, converting 97.05% of lactose at 5 min of reaction and producing 7.60 g/L lactulose in the same time interval. QUI_GLU_PEI_GAL biocatalyst was stable in the hydrolysis reactions of lactose during the 10 cycles evaluated, converting 73.45% lactose even after the tenth cycle, and in the lactulose production was stable until the fifth cycle evaluated, producing 10.95 g/L lactulose. However, the thermal stability of CHI_GLU_GAL biocatalyst was superior, with a half-life time 6 times higher, probably because the enzyme was immobilized by covalent bonding, which is stronger than adsorption (CHI_GLU_PEI_GAL). Therefore, the strategy of coating the supports with PEI has proven to be effective for the immobilization of β-galactosidase from K. lactis, considerably improving the immobilization parameters, as well as, the catalytic action of the enzyme. Besides that, this process can be economically viable due to the use of an industrial residue as a substrate.

Keywords: β-galactosidase, immobilization, kluyveromyces lactis, lactulose, polyethylenimine, transgalactosylation reaction, whey

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Authors: Patsy Tan, Dana Baltutis

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This presentation demonstrates the effectiveness of music therapy in co-treatment with speech pathology and occupational therapy as an innovative way when working with children and adolescents with complex individual differences to facilitate communication, emotional, motor and social skills development. Each child with special needs and their carer has an individual profile which encompasses their visual-spatial, auditory, language, learning, mental health, family dynamic, sensory-motor, motor planning and sequencing profiles. The most common issues among children with special needs, especially those diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, are in the areas of regulation, communication, and social-emotional development. The ability of children living with challenges to communicate and use language and understand verbal and non-verbal information, as well as move their bodies to explore and interact with their environments in social situations, depends on the children being regulated both internally and externally and trusting their communication partners and understanding what is happening in the moment. For carers, it is about understanding the tempo, rhythm, pacing, and timing of their own individual profile, as well as the profile of the child they are interacting with, and how these can sync together. In this study, music therapy is used in co-treatment sessions with a speech pathologist and/or an occupational therapist using the DIRFloortime approach to facilitate the regulation, attention, engagement, reciprocity and social-emotional capacities of children presenting with complex individual differences. Documented changes in 10 domains of children’s development over a 12-month period using the Individual Music Therapy Assessment Profile (IMTAP) were observed. Children were assessed biannually, and results show significant improvements in the social-emotional, musicality and receptive language domains indicating that co-treatment with a music therapist using the DIRFloortime framework is highly effective. This presentation will highlight strategies that facilitate regulation, social-emotional and communication development for children and adolescents with complex individual profiles.

Keywords: communication, shared attention, regulation, social emotional

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Authors: Siti Mariani, Arwin DW Sumari, Retno Gumilang Dewi

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This paper analyzes the necessity of a structured tariff calculation for geothermal electricity in Indonesia. Indonesia is blessed with abundant natural resources and a choices of energy resources to generate electricity among other are coal, gas, biomass, hydro to geothermal, creating a fierce competition in electricity tariffs. While geothermal is inline with energy security principle and green growth initiative, it requires a huge capital funding. Geothermal electricity development consists of phases of project with each having its own financial characteristics. The Indonesian government has set a support in the form of ceiling price of geothermal electricity tariff by 11 U.S cents / kWh. However, the government did not set a levelized cost of geothermal, as an indication of lower limit capacity class, to which support is given. The government should establish a levelized cost of geothermal energy to reflect its financial capability in supporting geothermal development. Aside of that, the government is also need to establish a structured tariff calculation to reflect a fair and transparent business cooperation.

Keywords: load fator, levelized cost of geothermal, geothermal power plant, structured tariff calculation

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Authors: Riyona Chetty, Raisuyah Bhagwan, Nalini Govender

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Background: A myriad of physical, psychosocial, and environmental sequelae are associated with limb loss. However, there is a paucity of empirical South African data, which focuses on these sequelae, how they interface with the amputee’s quality of life as well as the challenges they experience following amputation. Objective: This study sought to explore the biopsychosocial effects of amputation and how amputation affected the quality of life of transtibial amputees. Setting: Participants were recruited from a medical facility, under the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health in South Africa. Methods: A qualitative approach guided this study. Data was collected using one-on-one interviews with 14 unilateral transtibial amputees. Data was analysed thematically. Results: Five broad themes emerged from the inquiry, which captured amputees’ experiences of phantom limb pain, body image disturbances, and their challenges related to adapting to daily activities. Participants also expressed the salience of familial support as well as the importance of psychological interventions to cope. Conclusion: The findings suggested that support networks and professional psychological intervention are imperative in facilitating successful adjustment to the amputation experience. Raising awareness of limb loss in both, rural and urban settings may help reduce the stigma attached to it. Contribution: Quality of life comprises several domains, namely physical, psychological, environmental, and social albeit limited local and international data exists regarding the environmental and social effects. This study brought to the fore the positive and negative effects of amputation in each domain, as well as various strategies that facilitate successful adjustment to amputation.

Keywords: amputation, quality of life, biopsychosocial, phantom limb pain, body image, support

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Authors: Muhammad Usman

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Pattern extraction has been done in past to extract hidden and interesting patterns from large datasets. Recently, advancements are being made in these techniques by providing the ability of multi-level mining, effective dimension reduction, advanced evaluation and visualization support. This paper focuses on reviewing the current techniques in literature on the basis of these parameters. Literature review suggests that most of the techniques which provide multi-level mining and dimension reduction, do not handle mixed-type data during the process. Patterns are not extracted using advanced algorithms for large datasets. Moreover, the evaluation of patterns is not done using advanced measures which are suited for high-dimensional data. Techniques which provide visualization support are unable to handle a large number of rules in a small space. We present a theoretical model to handle these issues. The implementation of the model is beyond the scope of this paper.

Keywords: association rule mining, data mining, data warehouses, visualization of association rules

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Authors: Hoa Pham

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Code switching, which can be described as the use of students’ first language in second language classrooms, has long been a controversial topic in the area of language teaching and second language acquisition. While this has been widely investigated across different contexts, little empirical research has been undertaken in Vietnam. The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of bilingual discourse and code switching practices in content and language integrated classrooms, which has significant implications for language teaching and learning in general and in particular for language pedagogy at tertiary level in Vietnam. This study examines the accounts the teachers articulated for their code switching practices in content-based Business English in Vietnam. Data were collected from five teachers through the use of stimulated recall interviews facilitated by the video data to garner the teachers' cognitive reflection, and allowed them to vocalise the motivations behind their code switching behaviour in particular contexts. The literature has recommended that when participants are provided with a large amount of stimuli or cues, they will experience an original situation again in their imagination with great accuracy. This technique can also provide a valuable "insider" perspective on the phenomenon under investigation which complements the researcher’s "outsider" observation. This can create a relaxed atmosphere during the interview process, which in turn promotes the collection of rich and diverse data. Also, participants can be empowered by this technique as they can raise their own concerns and discuss instances which they find important or interesting. The data generated through this study were analysed using a constant comparative approach. The study found that the teachers indicated their support for the use of code switching in their pedagogical practices. Particularly, as a pedagogical resource, the teachers saw code switching to the L1 playing a key role in facilitating the students' comprehension of both content knowledge and the target language. They believed the use of the L1 accommodates the students' current language competence and content knowledge. They also expressed positive opinions about the role that code switching plays in stimulating students' schematic language and content knowledge, encouraging retention and interest in learning and promoting a positive affective environment in the classroom. The teachers perceived that their use of code switching to the L1 helps them meet the students' language needs and prepares them for their study in subsequent courses and addresses functional needs so that students can cope with English language use outside the classroom. Several factors shaped the teachers' perceptions of their code switching practices, including their accumulated teaching experience, their previous experience as language learners, their theoretical understanding of language teaching and learning, and their knowledge of the teaching context. Code switching was a typical phenomenon in the observed classes and was supported by the teachers in certain contexts. This study reinforces the call in the literature to recognise this practice as a useful instructional resource.

Keywords: codeswitching, language teaching, teacher beliefs, tertiary level

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Authors: Jilu David

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Background: Schizophrenia is one of the most misunderstood mental illnesses across the globe. Lack of understanding about mental illnesses often delay treatment, severely affects the functionality of the person, and causes distress to the family. The study, Video-based Psychoeducation for Caregivers of Persons with Schizophrenia, consisted of developing a psychoeducational video about Schizophrenia, its symptoms, causes, treatment, and the importance of family support. Methodology: A quasi-experimental pre-post design was used to understand the feasibility of the study. Qualitative analysis strengthened the feasibility outcomes. Knowledge About Schizophrenia Interview was used to assess the level of knowledge of 10 participants, before and after the screening of the video. Results: Themes of usefulness, length, content, educational component, format of the intervention, and language emerged in the qualitative analysis. There was a statistically significant difference in the knowledge level of participants before and after the video screening. Conclusion: The statistical and qualitative analysis revealed that the video-based psychoeducation program was feasible and that it facilitated a general improvement in knowledge of the participants.

Keywords: Schizophrenia, mental illness, psychoeducation, video-based psychoeducation, family support

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Authors: Anupama Purohit

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The paper is a study on the inevitable cross-linguistic effect found in the early multilingual learners. The cross-linguistic behaviour like code-mixing, code-switching, foreign accent, literal translation, redundancy and syntactic manipulation effected due to other languages on the English language output of a non-native pre-school child are discussed here. A case study method is adopted in this paper to support the claim of the title. A simultaneously tetra lingual pre-school child’s (within 1;3 to 4;0) language behaviour is analysed here. The sample output data of the child is gathered from the diary entries maintained by her family, regular observations and video recordings done since her birth. She is getting the input of her mother tongue, Sambalpuri, from her grandparents only; Hindi, the local language from her play-school and the neighbourhood; English only from her mother and occasional visit of other family friends; Odia only during the reading of the Odia story book. The child is exposed to code-mixing of all the languages throughout her childhood. But code-mixing, literal translation, redundancy and duplication were absent in her initial stage of multilingual acquisition. As the child was more proficient in English in comparison to her other first languages and had never heard code-mixing in English language; it was expected from her input pattern of English (one parent, English language) that she would maintain purity in her use of English while talking to the English language interlocutor. But with gradual increase in the language proficiency in each of the languages of the child, her handling of the multiple codes becomes deft cross-linguistically. It can be deduced from the case study that after attaining certain milestone proficiency in each language, the child’s linguistic faculty can operate at a metalinguistic level. The functional use of each morpheme, their arrangement in words and in the sentences, the supra segmental features, lexical-semantic mapping, culture specific use of a language and the pragmatic skills converge to give a typical childlike multilingual output in an intelligible manner to the multilingual people (with the same set of languages in combination). The result is appealing because for expressing the same ideas which the child used to speak (may be with grammatically wrong expressions) in one language, gradually, she starts showing cross-linguistic effect in her expressions. So the paper pleads for the separatist view from the very beginning of the holophrastic phase (as the child expresses in addressee-specific language); but development of a metalinguistic ability that helps the child in communicating in a sophisticated way according to the linguistic status of the addressee is unique to the multilingual child. This metalinguistic ability is independent of the mode if input of a multilingual child.

Keywords: code-mixing, cross-linguistic effect, early multilingualism, literal translation

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Authors: Annika Skansberg

Abstract:

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) use vapor to deliver nicotine, have recently become popular, especially amongst adolescents. Because of this, the FDA has decided to regulate e-cigarettes, and therefore would like to determine the abuse liability of the products compared to traditional nicotine products. This will allow them to determine the impact of regulating them on public health and shape the decisions they make when creating new laws. This study assessed the abuse liability of Aroma E-juice Dark Honey Tobacco compared to nicotine using an animal model. This e-liquid contains minor alkaloids that may increase abuse liability compared to nicotine alone. The abuse liability of nicotine alone and e-juice liquid were compared in rats using intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) thresholds. E-liquid had less aversive effects at high nicotine doses in the ICSS model, suggesting that the minor alkaloids in the e-liquid allow users to use higher doses without experiencing the negative effects felt when using high doses of nicotine alone. This finding could mean that e-cigarettes have a higher abuse liability than nicotine alone, but more research is needed before this can be concluded. These findings are useful in observing the abuse liability of e-cigarettes and will help inform the FDA while regulating these products.

Keywords: electronic cigarettes, intra-cranial self stimulation, abuse liability, anhedonia

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Authors: Gulnara N. Nabiyeva, Stephen M. Wheeler

Abstract:

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a multipurpose computer-based tool that provides a sophisticated ability to map and analyze data on different spatial layers. However, GIS is far more easily applied in some policy areas than others. This paper seeks to determine the areas of sustainable development, including environmental, economic, and social dimensions, where GIS has been used to date to support efforts to implement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to discuss potential areas where it might be used more. Based on an extensive analysis of published literature, we ranked the SDGs according to how frequently GIS has been used to study related policy. We found that SDG#15 “Life on Land” is most often addressed with GIS, following by SDG#11 “Sustainable Cities and Communities”, and SDG#13 “Climate Action”. On the other hand, we determined that SDG#2 “Zero Hunger”, SDG#8 “Decent Work and Economic Growth”, and SDG#16 “Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions” are least addressed with GIS. The paper outlines some specific ways that GIS might be applied to the SDGs least linked to this tool currently.

Keywords: GIS, GIS application, sustainable community development, sustainable development goals

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Authors: P. Chandhra Sekhar, R. A. Deshpande, T. Raghunatha

Abstract:

The government of India has given special attention on rural electrification under Rajiv Gandhi Grameena Vidyuthikarana Yojana (RGGVY) during 10th plan and 11th plan. Government of India electrified about 107523 villages and 21164003 BPL Households. This paper briefs about various rural electrification programs initiated by government of India and status of RGGVY in India. The paper mainly describes about challenges in the rural electrification, new ideas recently implemented and suggestions for improvement in the rural electrification.

Keywords: rural electrification, RGGVY, NJY, BPL

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Authors: Qian Huiya, Feng Lin

Abstract:

The progressive collapse of reinforced concrete (RC) structures will cause huge casualties and property losses. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the ability of structures against progressive collapse accurately. This paper numerically investigated the effect of storey number on the mechanism and quantitative contribution of the Vierendeel action (VA) in progressive collapse under corner column removal scenario. First, finite element (FE) models of multi-storey RC frame structures were developed using LS-DYNA. Then, the accuracy of the modeling technique was validated by test results conducted by the authors. Last, the validated FE models were applied to investigated the structural behavior of the RC frames with different storey numbers from one to six storeys. Results found the multi-storey substructure formed additional plastic hinges at the beam ends near the corner column in the second to top storeys, and at the lower end of the corner column in the first storey. The average ultimate resistance of each storey of the multi-storey substructures were increased by 14.0% to 18.5% compared with that of the single-storey substructure experiencing no VA. The contribution of VA to the ultimate resistance was decreased with the increase of the storey number.

Keywords: progressive collapse, reinforced concrete structure, storey number, Vierendeel action

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Authors: Jamerson Felipe Pereira Lima, Jeane Cecília Bezerra de Melo

Abstract:

The difficulty and cost related to obtaining of protein tertiary structure information through experimental methods, such as X-ray crystallography or NMR spectroscopy, helped raising the development of computational methods to do so. An approach used in these last is prediction of tridimensional structure based in the residue chain, however, this has been proved an NP-hard problem, due to the complexity of this process, explained by the Levinthal paradox. An alternative solution is the prediction of intermediary structures, such as the secondary structure of the protein. Artificial Intelligence methods, such as Bayesian statistics, artificial neural networks (ANN), support vector machines (SVM), among others, were used to predict protein secondary structure. Due to its good results, artificial neural networks have been used as a standard method to predict protein secondary structure. Recent published methods that use this technique, in general, achieved a Q3 accuracy between 75% and 83%, whereas the theoretical accuracy limit for protein prediction is 88%. Alternatively, to achieve better results, support vector machines prediction methods have been developed. The statistical evaluation of methods that use different AI techniques, such as ANNs and SVMs, for example, is not a trivial problem, since different training sets, validation techniques, as well as other variables can influence the behavior of a prediction method. In this study, we propose a prediction method based on artificial neural networks, which is then compared with a selected SVM method. The chosen SVM protein secondary structure prediction method is the one proposed by Huang in his work Extracting Physico chemical Features to Predict Protein Secondary Structure (2013). The developed ANN method has the same training and testing process that was used by Huang to validate his method, which comprises the use of the CB513 protein data set and three-fold cross-validation, so that the comparative analysis of the results can be made comparing directly the statistical results of each method.

Keywords: artificial neural networks, protein secondary structure, protein structure prediction, support vector machines

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Authors: R. J. Kuo, W. C. Cheng, W. C. Lien, T. J. Yang

Abstract:

Taiwan is a hyper endemic area for the Hepatitis B virus (HBV). The estimated total number of HBsAg carriers in the general population who are more than 20 years old is more than 3 million. Therefore, a case record review is conducted from January 2003 to June 2007 for all patients with a diagnosis of acute hepatitis who were admitted to the Emergency Department (ED) of a well-known teaching hospital. The cost for the use of medical resources is defined as the total medical fee. In this study, principal component analysis (PCA) is firstly employed to reduce the number of dimensions. Support vector regression (SVR) and artificial neural network (ANN) are then used to develop the forecasting model. A total of 117 patients meet the inclusion criteria. 61% patients involved in this study are hepatitis B related. The computational result shows that the proposed PCA-SVR model has superior performance than other compared algorithms. In conclusion, the Child-Pugh score and echogram can both be used to predict the cost of medical resources for patients with acute hepatitis in the ED.

Keywords: acute hepatitis, medical resource cost, artificial neural network, support vector regression

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Authors: Li Chen

Abstract:

For an aerofoil or hydrofoil in high Reynolds number flows, broadband noise is generated efficiently as the result of the turbulence convecting over the trailing edge. This noise can be related to the surface pressure fluctuations, which can be predicted by either CFD or empirical models. However, in reality, the aerofoil or hydrofoil often operates at an angle of attack. Under this situation, the flow is subjected to an Adverse-Pressure-Gradient (APG), and as a result, a flow separation may occur. This study is to assess trailing-edge noise models for such flows. In the present work, the trailing-edge noise from a 2D airfoil at 6 degree of angle of attach is investigated. Under this condition, the flow is experiencing a strong APG, and the flow separation occurs. The flow over the airfoil with a chord of 300 mm, equivalent to a Reynold Number 4x10⁵, is simulated using RANS with the SST k-ɛ turbulent model. The predicted surface pressure fluctuations are compared with the published experimental data and empirical models, and show a good agreement with the experimental data. The effect of the APG on the trailing edge noise is discussed, and the associated trailing edge noise is calculated.

Keywords: aero-acoustics, adverse-pressure gradient, computational fluid dynamics, trailing-edge noise

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Authors: Galal Omer, Onisimo Mutanga, Elfatih M. Abdel-Rahman, Elhadi Adam

Abstract:

Threatened tree species (TTS) play a significant role in ecosystem functioning and services, land use dynamics, and other socio-economic aspects. Such aspects include ecological, economic, livelihood, security-based, and well-being benefits. The development of techniques for mapping and monitoring TTS is thus critical for understanding the functioning of ecosystems. The advent of advanced imaging systems and supervised learning algorithms has provided an opportunity to classify TTS over fragmenting landscape. Recently, vegetation maps have been produced using advanced imaging systems such as WorldView-2 (WV-2) and robust classification algorithms such as support vectors machines (SVM) and artificial neural network (ANN). However, delineation of TTS in a fragmenting landscape using high resolution imagery has widely remained elusive due to the complexity of the species structure and their distribution. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to examine the utility of the advanced WV-2 data for mapping TTS in the fragmenting Dukuduku indigenous forest of South Africa using SVM and ANN classification algorithms. The results showed the robustness of the two machine learning algorithms with an overall accuracy (OA) of 77.00% (total disagreement = 23.00%) for SVM and 75.00% (total disagreement = 25.00%) for ANN using all eight bands of WV-2 (8B). This study concludes that SVM and ANN classification algorithms with WV-2 8B have the potential to classify TTS in the Dukuduku indigenous forest. This study offers relatively accurate information that is important for forest managers to make informed decisions regarding management and conservation protocols of TTS.

Keywords: artificial neural network, threatened tree species, indigenous forest, support vector machines

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Authors: Jeonghun Lee

Abstract:

In this study, we investigated the relationship between stress and thyroid dysfunction in such patients who underwent thyroidectomy. This study included 101 patients who underwent thyroidectomy from January 2015 to June 2020 and experienced hypothyroidism. The included patients had good drug compliance with the same dosage of levothyroxine (LT4). The male-to-female ratio was 1:4.6, and the mean age was 45.4 years at surgery and 50.2 years at stressful events. Eighteen patients underwent lobectomies and, of these, 12 did not take LT4. The mean follow-up period was 49(8-93) months. Statistical analyses were performed using the paired t-test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and McNemer test using PROC MIXED with SAS 9.4. Forty-five patients (44.6%) had hypothyroidism with thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) >10 μIU/mL. There was distress in 81 patients and eustress in 10 patients. TSH levels increased during a mean 5.8 months (min 1, max 12) in 24 patients who specified the date of their life events. Even though each patient took the same dose of LT4, when the patients were under stress, both the free T4 and T3 decreased and TSH increased, regardless of whether the patient experienced distress or eustress (P <0.001). While adjusting for the effect of the free T4 and T3, TSH increased significantly in the patients after stress (P <0.001). For patients with thyroid cancer who are simultaneously experiencing life events, TSH may be used as a stress biomarker to enable the implementation of appropriate treatment and counseling strategies.

Keywords: endocrine, thyroid, thyroid function, biomarker, stress

Procedia PDF Downloads 68