Search results for: distributed training

Authors: Seyed Hassan Moosa-kazemi, Hassan Vatandoost

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Malaria, Dirofilaria immitis (dog heart worm), and D. repens (dirofilariasis), which are transmitted by mosquitoes, have been reported in Iran. The Iranian mosquito fauna includes seven genera, 65 species, and three subspecies. Aedes albopictus has been reported since. West Nile, Sindbis, Dengue, Japanese encephalitis viruses, and the nematode Setaria (setariasis) has been reported in the country but there are no information about their vectors in Iran. Iran is malaria elimination phase. Insecticides residual spraying (IRS), distributed of insecticides long lasting treated nets (ITNs), fogging, release of larvivours fishes and Bacillus thuringiensis, chemical larviciding, as well as case finding and manipulation and modification of breeding places carried out thought the IVM program in the country. Prolonged exposure to insecticides over several generations of the vectors, develop resistance, a capacity to survive contact with insecticides. However, use of insecticides in agriculture has often been implicated as contributing to resistance in mosquito’s vectors. Resistance of mosquitoes to some insecticides has been documented just within a few years after the insecticides were introduced. Some enzymes such as monooxygenases, esterases and glutathione S-transferases have been considered as a reason for resistance to pyrethroid insecticides. In conclusion, regarding to documented resistance and tolerance of mosquitoes vectors to some insecticides, resistance management is suggested by using new insecticide with novel mode of action.

Keywords: control, Iran, resistance, vector

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Authors: Ihtasham Hamza

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In the contemporary world, where the West is afflicted by the diseases of excess nutrition, much of the rest globe suffers at the hands of hunger. A troubling constituent of hunger is micronutrient deficiency, also called hidden hunger. Major dependence on calorie-rich diets and low diet diversification are responsible for high malnutrition rates, especially in African and Asian countries. But the dilemma isn’t immune to solutions. Highlighting the substantial cause to be sole dependence on staples for food, biofortification has emerged as a novel tool to confront the widely distributed jeopardize of hidden hunger. Biofortification potentials the better nutritional approachability to commonalities overcoming various difficulties and reaching the doorstep. The crops associated with biofortification offer a rural-based involvement that, proposal, primarily reaches these more remote populations, which comprise a majority of the malnourished in many countries, and then penetrates to urban populations as assembly overages are marketed. Initial investments in agricultural research at a central location can generate high recurrent benefits at low cost as adapted biofortified cultivars become widely available in countries across time at low recurrent costs as opposed to supplementation which is comparatively expensive and requires continued financing over time, which may be imperilled by fluctuating political curiosity.

Keywords: biofortified crops, hunger, malnutrition, agricultural practices

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Authors: Sara Patricia Ibarra-Zavaleta, Rabindranarth Romero-Lopez, Rosario Langrave, Annie Poulin, Gerald Corzo, Mathias Glaus, Ricardo Vega-Azamar, Norma Angelica Oropeza

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The progressive change in climatic conditions worldwide has increased frequency and severity of extreme hydrometeorological events (EHE). Mexico is an example; this has been affected by the presence of EHE leaving economic, social and environmental losses. The objective of this research was to apply a Canadian distributed hydrological model (DHM) to tropical conditions and to evaluate its capacity to predict flows in a basin in the central Gulf of Mexico. In addition, the DHM (once calibrated and validated) was used to calculate the theoretical hydraulic power and the performance to predict streamflow before the presence of an EHE. The results of the DHM show that the goodness of fit indicators between the observed and simulated flows in the calibration process (NSE=0.83, RSR=0.021 and BIAS=-4.3) and validation: temporal was assessed at two points: point one (NSE=0.78, RSR=0.113 and BIAS=0.054) and point two (NSE=0.825, RSR=0.103 and BIAS=0.063) are satisfactory. The DHM showed its applicability in tropical environments and its ability to characterize the rainfall-runoff relationship in the study area. This work can serve as a tool for identifying vulnerabilities before floods and for the rational and sustainable management of water resources.

Keywords: HYDROTEL, hydraulic power, extreme hydrometeorological events, streamflow

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Authors: Nawel Ganaoui, Chadli Souhila, Gahdab Chakal

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This study presents the results of a comparative research aiming to examine the distribution of beetles in four agroecosystems in the Tiaret region, located in northwestern Algeria, during the year 2023. This study was initiated across 04 stations that were randomly distributed within the Ksar Chellala region and selected based on their plant composition. The sampling method used was based on pitfall traps, which were filled two-thirds with a solution of saltwater supplemented with vinegar. In total, 40 species of beetles belonging to 9 families were identified. Among them, tenebrionids were the most abundant group (43%), followed by scarab beetles (30%) The comparison between the four types of agroecosystems - olive culture, sheep farming, cereal cultivation, and Pomegranate cultivation- in this region revealed that cereal cultivation harbored the greatest species diversity (30 species), followed by the sheep farming site (32 species), and then the other sites based on their ecological importance and trophic interactions, these beetle species were mainly categorized as coprophages, phytophages, and predators. The spatiotemporal evolution of beetle activity highlighted peaks of rich-ness and abundance, mainly during the dry period (from April to May), while the cold period (January) showed the low-est levels. The specific diversity of beetles varied significantly from one habitat to another.

Keywords: agroecosystem, beetle, entomology, steppe regoin

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Authors: Ibrahim Rabiu Darazo

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The research has been conducted on the impact of E-banking on the operational efficiency of Banks in Nigeria, A case of some selected banks (Diamond Bank Plc, GTBankPlc, and Fidelity Bank Plc) in Nigeria. The research is a quantitative research which uses both primary and secondary sources of data collection. Questionnaire were used to obtained accurate data, where 150 Questionnaire were distributed among staff and customers of the three Banks , and the data collected where analysed using chi-square, whereas the secondary data where obtained from relevant text books, journals and relevant web sites. It is clear from the findings that, the use of e-banking by the banks has improved the efficiency of these banks, in terms of providing efficient services to customers electronically, using Internet Banking, Telephone Banking ATMs, reducing time taking to serve customers, e-banking allow new customers to open an account online, customers have access to their account at all the time 24/7.E-banking provide access to customers information from the data base and cost of check and postage were eliminated using e-banking. The recommendation at the end of the research include; the Banks should try to update their electronic gadgets, e-fraud(internal & external) should also be controlled, Banks shall employ qualified man power, Biometric ATMs shall be introduce to reduce fraud using ATM Cards, as it is use in other countries like USA.

Keywords: banks, electronic banking, operational efficiency of banks, biometric ATMs

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Authors: Hicham Benamirouche, Oum Elkheir Moussi

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The purpose of the study is to examine the dynamics of Algeria’s natural gas exports through the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach with break points. The analysis was carried out for the period from 1967 to 2015. Based on imperfect substitution specification, the ARDL approach reveals a long-run equilibrium relationship between Algeria’s Natural gas exports and their determinant factors (Algeria’s gas reserves, Domestic gas consumption, Europe’s GDP per capita, relative prices, the European gas production and the market share of competitors). All the long-run elasticities estimated are statistically significant with a large impact of domestic factors, which constitute the supply constraints. In short term, the elasticities are statistically significant, and almost comparable to those of the long term. Furthermore, the speed of adjustment towards long-run equilibrium is less than one year because of the little flexibility of the long term export contracts. Two break points have been estimated when we employ the domestic gas consumption as a break variable; 1984 and 2010, which reflect the arbitration policy between the domestic gas market and gas exports.

Keywords: natural gas exports, elasticity, ARDL bounds testing, break points, Algeria

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Authors: B. G. Abiona, T. D. Odetayo, S. O. Adeogun, O. E. Fakoya

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This study determined the effects of workplace power on employees’ job performance in selected federal universities of agriculture in Nigeria. Two hundred and twenty-seven (227) employees were randomly drawn from the selected universities through a multistage sampling procedure. The mean age of the employees was 38 years, mostly (60.8%) male. Results indicated that the overall job performance was significantly influenced by an expert (b = 0.287, p<0.01) and legitimate power (b = -0.279, p<0.05). The findings clearly showed that supervisor has considerable professional experience to draw from in helping subordinates to do their work better because they have specialized training in their field of study, and subordinates prefer to do what the supervisor suggests because of their professional expertise, which greatly influences employees’ job performance. A policy that will ensure transparency in all administrative procedures, with a formal line of authority that will enhance the thriving of legitimate power, should be established within organisation is recommended.

Keywords: workplace power, employees, job performance, agricultural unversities

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Authors: Turk Ayman, Ahn Jong Hoon, Khalife K. Hala, Gali-Muhtasib Hala, Lee Mi Kyeong

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Laurus nobilis is an aromatic plant widely distributed in the Mediterranean region. The leaves of this plant are frequently used as a spice and as a traditional medicine for several diseases. In our present study, the methanolic extract of L. nobilis leaves showed antioxidant activity. Chromatographic separations of the EtOAc fraction which had the highest antioxidant activity led to the isolation of 12 compounds. Among them, there was a new phenylpropanoid derivative, which was identified by 1D and 2D NMR experiments, as well as high resolution mass spectrometry. In addition, two major compounds, catechin and epicatechin, which showed strong antioxidant activity may be responsible for the antioxidant activity of L. nobilis leaves. Since different plant parts may contain different types of constituents which contribute to the biological activities, we investigated the antioxidant activity of different parts of L. nobilis such as leaves, stems and fruits. Stems of L. nobilis showed the most potent antioxidant activity, followed by leaves. Further quantitation of total phenol and flavonoids contents revealed a positive correlation between the content of these compounds and antioxidant activity. Taken together, phenolic compounds including flavonoids are responsible for antioxidant activity of L. nobilis. In addition, stem parts of L. nobilis are suggested as good sources for antioxidant activity. Conclusively, L. nobilis might be effective in several free radical mediated diseases.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, different parts, Laurus nobilis, phenolic compound

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Authors: M. Chojak

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Recently, more and more scientific disciplines refer to research in the field of neurobiology. Interdisciplinary research procedures are created using modern methods of brain imaging. Neither did the pedagogues start looking for neuronal conditions for various processes. The publications began to show concepts such as ‘neuropedagogy’, ‘neuroeducation’, ‘neurodidactics’, ‘brain-friendly education’. They were and are still used interchangeably. In the offer of training for teachers, the topics of multiple intelligences or educational kinesiology began to be more and more popular. These and other ideas have been actively introduced into the curricula. To our best knowledge, the literature on the subject lacks articles organizing the new nomenclature and indicating the methodological framework for research that would confirm the effectiveness of the above-mentioned innovations. The author of this article tries to find the place for neuropedagogy in the system of sciences, define its subject of research, methodological framework and basic concepts. This is necessary to plan studies that will verify the so-called neuromyths.

Keywords: brain, education, neuropedagogy, research

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Authors: Érick Aragão Ribeiro, George André Pereira Thé, José Marques Soares

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Graphical Human Interface, also known as supervision software, are increasingly present in industrial processes supported by Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems and so it is evident the need for qualified developers. In order to make engineering students able to produce high quality supervision software, method for the development must be created. In this paper we propose model, based on the international standards ISO/IEC 25010 and ISO/IEC 25040, for the development of graphical human interface. When compared with to other methods through experiments, the model here presented leads to improved quality indexes, therefore help guiding the decisions of programmers. Results show the efficiency of the models and the contribution to student learning. Students assessed the training they have received and considered it satisfactory.

Keywords: software development models, software quality, supervision software, fuzzy logic

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Authors: Eric S. Parilla, Marc Edward Abadilla

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The study aims to determine the effect of awareness of business students towards cryptocurrencies and the readiness of universities and colleges to accept cryptocurrencies as a medium of exchange, considering the mediation of business students’ attitudes. The research used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and deployed a questionnaire attuned to the awareness and attitudes of business students towards cryptocurrencies and readiness and compatibility of use in universities and colleges in Ilocos Norte. The output of the investigation revealed that awareness of business students is not correlated to the readiness of universities and colleges, which means that even though students understand cryptocurrencies, it is not an assurance that universities and colleges are ready to accept them as the medium of exchange. The study proposes that training and seminars for business students and professionals should be conducted to expand understanding and acceptance of cryptocurrencies.

Keywords: cryptocurrencies, awareness, readiness, attitudes

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Authors: Nahla Khatib

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This study investigated several learning difficulties that affected the classroom learning experience of preservice students who are studying general science and methods of teaching science students at Faculty of Educational Studies at the Arab Open University (AOU) in Amman, Jordan. The focus questions for this study were to find answers for the following: 1. What are the main areas of learning difficulty among preservice students towards science education? 2. What are the main aspects of reducing obstacles towards success in science education? To achieve this goal, the researcher prepared a questionnaire which included 30 items to point out the learning difficulties among preservice students towards science education. The questionnaire was distributed among students enrolled in the general science courses 1&2 and methods of teaching science courses at the beginning of the spring semester of year (2013-2014). After collecting the filled questionnaire a descriptive statistical analysis was carried out (means and standard deviation) for the items of the questionnaire. After analyzing the data statistically our findings showed that student control–factors as well as course controlled factor, factors related to the nature of science, and factors related to the role of instructor affected student success toward science education. The study was concluded with a number of recommendations.

Keywords: nature of science, preservice teachers, science education, learning difficulties

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Authors: Yael Fisher

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Little is known about perceived self-efficacy of public preschool teachers, their perception of preschool excellence, or the relations between the two. There were three purposes for this research: defining the professional self-efficacy of preschool teachers (PTSE); defining preschool teachers' perception of preschool excellence (PTPPE); and investigating the relationship between the two. Scales for PTSE and PTPPE were developed especially for this study. Public preschool teachers (N = 202) participated during the 2013 school year. Structural Equation Modeling was performed to test the fit between the research model and the obtained data. PTPSE scale (α = 0.91) was comprised of three subscales: pedagogy (α=0.84), organization (α = 0.85) and staff (α = 0.72). The PTPPE scale (α = 0.92) is also composed of three subscales: organization and pedagogy (α = 0.88), staff (α = 0.84) and parents (α = 0.83). The goodness of fit measures were RMSEA = 0.045, CFI = 0.97, NFI = 0.89, df = 173, χ²=242.94, p= .000, showing GFI = 1.4 (< 3) as a good fit. Understanding self-efficacy of preschool teachers, preschool could and should lead to better professional development (in-service training) of preschool teachers.

Keywords: self-efficacy, public pre schools, preschool excellence, SEM

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Authors: Henry Venter, Murali Thyloth, Alceu Casseb

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Historically, mental and substance use disorders were not a global health priority. Since the 1993 World Development Report, the importance of the contribution of mental health and substance abuse on the relative global burden associated with disease morbidity has been recognized with 300 million people worldwide suffering from depression alone. This led to an international effort to improve the mental health of populations around the world. Despite these efforts some countries remain at the top of the list of countries with the highest rate of mental illness. Important research questions were asked: Would there be commonalities regarding mental health between these countries; would there be common factors leading to the high prevalence of mental illness; and how prepared are these countries with mental health delivery? Findings from this research can aid organizations and institutions preparing mental health service providers to focus training and preparation to address specific needs revealed by the study. Methods: Researchers decided to compare three distinctly different countries at the top of the list of countries with the highest rate of mental illness, the USA, India and Brazil, situated on three different continents with different economies and lifestyles. Data were collected using archival research methodology, reviewing records and findings of international and national health and mental health studies to subtract and compare data and findings. Results: The findings indicated that India is the most depressed country in the world, followed by the USA (and China) with Brazil in Latin America with the greatest number of depressed individuals. By 2020 roughly 20% of India, acountry of over one billion citizens, will suffer from some form of mental illnees, yet there are less than 4,000 experts available. In the USA 164.8 million people were substance abusers and an estimate of 47.6 million adults, 18 or older, had any mental illness in 2018. That means that about one in five adults in the USA experiences some form of mental illness each year, but only 41% of those affected received mental health care or services in the past year. Brazil has the greatest number of depressed individuals, in Latin America. Adults living in Sao Paulo megacity has prevalence of mental disorders at greater levels than similar surveys conducted in other areas of the world with more than one million adults with serious impairment levels. Discussion: The results show that, despite the vast socioeconomic differences between the three countries, there are correlations regarding mental health prevalence and difficulty to provide adequate services including a lack of awareness of how serious mental illness is, stigma for seeking mental illness, with comorbidity a common phenomenon, and a lack of partnership between different levels of service providers, which weakens mental health service delivery. The findings also indicate that mental health training institutions have a monumental task to prepare personnel to address the future mental health needs in each of the countries compared, which will constitute the next phase of the research.

Keywords: mental health epidemiology, mental health disorder, mental health prevalence, mental health treatment

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Authors: Assel Jaxylykova, Alexnder Pak

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This study utilized a Self-Organizing Map (SOM) for unsupervised learning on the CONLL-2003 dataset for Named Entity Recognition (NER). The process involved encoding words into 300-dimensional vectors using FastText. These vectors were input into a SOM grid, where training adjusted node weights to minimize distances. The SOM provided a topological representation for identifying and clustering named entities, demonstrating its efficacy without labeled examples. Results showed an F1-measure of 0.86, highlighting SOM's viability. Although some methods achieve higher F1 measures, SOM eliminates the need for labeled data, offering a scalable and efficient alternative. The SOM's ability to uncover hidden patterns provides insights that could enhance existing supervised methods. Further investigation into potential limitations and optimization strategies is suggested to maximize benefits.

Keywords: named entity recognition natural, language processing, self-organizing map, CONLL-2003, semantics

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Authors: Raqiqa Tur Rasool, Ghulam Abbas Ashraf

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This study presents the synthesis and application of Carbon@NiCoFeS nanoparticles as a photocatalyst for the degradation of organic pollutants through peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. The Carbon@NiCoFeS nanoparticles, synthesized via a hydrothermal method, exhibit a highly crystalline and uniformly distributed nanostructure, as confirmed by XRD, SEM, TEM, and FTIR analyses. The photocatalytic performance was tested using ibuprofen (IBU) as a model pollutant under visible light, demonstrating remarkable efficiency across various conditions, including different concentrations of photocatalyst and PMS and a range of pH values. The enhanced activity is attributed to the synergistic effects of Ni, Co, and Fe, promoting effective electron-hole separation and reactive radical generation, primarily SO4•− and •OH. Quenching experiments highlighted sulfate radicals' predominant role in the degradation process. The Carbon@NiCoFeS photocatalyst also showed excellent reusability and stability over multiple cycles, and its versatility in degrading various organic pollutants underscores its potential for practical wastewater treatment applications. This research offers significant insights into multi-metal sulfide photocatalyst design, showcasing Carbon@NiCoFeS nanoparticles' promising role in environmental remediation via efficient PMS activation.

Keywords: NiCoFeS nanoparticles, photocatalytic degradation, peroxymonosulfate activation, organic pollutant removal, wastewater treatment

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Authors: Sara M. Ismael, Ali H. Al-Badi

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The rapid development and growth of technology has changed the method of obtaining information for educators and learners. Technology has created a new world of collaboration and communication among people. Incorporating new technology into the teaching process can enhance learning outcomes. Billions of individuals across the world are now connected together, and are cooperating and contributing their knowledge and intelligence. Time is no longer wasted in waiting until the teacher is ready to share information as learners can go online and get it immediately. The objectives of this paper are to understand the reasons why changes in teaching and learning methods are necessary, to find ways of improving them, and to investigate the challenges that present themselves in the adoption of new ICT tools in higher education institutes. To achieve these objectives two primary research methods were used: questionnaires, which were distributed among students at higher educational institutes and multiple interviews with faculty members (teachers) from different colleges and universities, which were conducted to find out why teaching and learning methodology should change. The findings show that both learners and educators agree that educational technology plays a significant role in enhancing instructors’ teaching style and students’ overall learning experience; however, time constraints, privacy issues, and not being provided with enough up-to-date technology do create some challenges.

Keywords: e-books, educational technology, educators, e-learning, learners, social media, Web 2.0, LMS

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Authors: Almagul Assainova , Dariya Abykenova, Liudmila Goncharenko, Sergey Sybachin, Saule Rakhimova, Abay Aman

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The recognition of a handwritten Kazakh text is a relevant objective today for the digitization of materials. The study presents a model of a hybrid neural network for handwriting recognition, which includes a convolutional neural network and a multi-layer perceptron. Each network includes 1024 input neurons and 42 output neurons. The model is implemented in the program, written in the Python programming language using the EMNIST database, NumPy, Keras, and Tensorflow modules. The neural network training of such specific letters of the Kazakh alphabet as ә, ғ, қ, ң, ө, ұ, ү, h, і was conducted. The neural network model and the program created on its basis can be used in electronic document management systems to digitize the Kazakh text.

Keywords: handwriting recognition system, image recognition, Kazakh font, machine learning, neural networks

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Authors: Mohsen Varzande

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Translators’ professional and academic characteristics may directly influence their translation quality. The present study aimed at investigating whether translators’ degree in translation and years of professional experience predict their translation quality. Following a causal-comparative study, a sample of one hundred professional translators was selected using purposive sampling method. The participants were divided into two groups each containing individuals with and without a degree in translation, respectively. The participants were asked to translate a paragraph to assess their translation quality. For data analysis, appropriate statistical procedures including correlation and regression were used. Results showed that both degree in translation and years of professional experience significantly predict translation quality. Also, the interaction of translators’ years of professional experience and degree in translation significantly affect their translation quality. An implication could be that besides providing translators with academic knowledge and theories, practical training in translation is necessary as a prerequisite for a competent translator.

Keywords: translation, degree in translation, translation quality, professional experience

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Authors: Kanda Runapongsa Saikaew, Chaluemwut Noyunsan

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Nowadays social media information, such as news, links, images, or VDOs, is shared extensively. However, the effectiveness of disseminating information through social media lacks in quality: less fact checking, more biases, and several rumors. Many researchers have investigated about credibility on Twitter, but there is no the research report about credibility information on Facebook. This paper proposes features for measuring credibility on Facebook information. We developed the system for credibility on Facebook. First, we have developed FB credibility evaluator for measuring credibility of each post by manual human’s labelling. We then collected the training data for creating a model using Support Vector Machine (SVM). Secondly, we developed a chrome extension of FB credibility for Facebook users to evaluate the credibility of each post. Based on the usage analysis of our FB credibility chrome extension, about 81% of users’ responses agree with suggested credibility automatically computed by the proposed system.

Keywords: facebook, social media, credibility measurement, internet

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Authors: B. G. Abiona, E. O. Fakoya, D. O. Alabi

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Influence of leadership roles on agricultural employees’ job satisfaction was studied. Data were from 68 randomly selected respondents. Major leadership roles include supervision of employees work (x̄=3.67), leaders were goal oriented (x̄=3.39), dissemination of information among the employees (x̄=3.35). Major employees’ satisfaction was: Employees work together with their colleagues (x̄=3.54) and also interact freely with their colleagues (x̄=3.51). Major challenges affecting employees job satisfaction were inadequate funding (x̄=3.30), irregular leave bonus (x̄=3.29), climate and weather condition (x̄=3.08) and inadequate incentive (x̄=3.02). Regression analysis showed a positive significant coefficient (P<0.05) exist between religion (p<0.05), educational status(p<0.05), year of service(p<0.05), leadership roles (p<0.005), challenges faced by respondents(P<0.05), and employees’ job satisfaction. For adequate leadership role, organization should pay attention to disbursement of training funds, availability of adequate incentive and leadership recognition.

Keywords: leadership roles, agricultural employees’, job satisfaction, institute, Nigeria

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Authors: Siddeeq Y. Ameen, Mohammed K. Yousif

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Cooperative communication systems are considered to be a promising technology to improve the system capacity, reliability and performances over fading wireless channels. Cooperative relaying system with a single antenna will be able to reach the advantages of multiple antenna communication systems. It is ideally suitable for the distributed communication systems; the relays can cooperate and form virtual MIMO systems. Thus the paper will aim to investigate the possible enhancement of cooperated system using decode and forward protocol. On decode and forward an attempt to cancel or at least reduce the interference instead of increasing the SNR values is achieved. The latter can be achieved via the use group of relays depending on the channel status from source to relay and relay to destination respectively. In the proposed system, the transmission time has been divided into two phases to be used by decode and forward protocol. The first phase has been allocated for the source to transmit its data whereas the relays and destination nodes are in receiving mode. On the other hand, the second phase is allocated for the first and second groups of relay nodes to relay the data to the destination node. Simulations results have shown an improvement in performance is achieved compared to the conventional decode and forward in terms of BER and transmission rate.

Keywords: cooperative systems, decode and forward, interference cancellation, virtual MIMO

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Authors: Xiao Liulingzi

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It is important for using multi-sensory teaching in music learning. This article aims to provide knowledge in multi-sensory learning and teaching music in primary school. For primary school students, in addition to the training of basic knowledge and skills of music, students' sense of participation and creativity in music class are the key requirements, especially the flexibility and dynamics in music class, so that students can integrate into music and feel the music. The article explains the multi-sensory sense in music learning, the differences between multi-sensory music teaching and traditional music teaching, and music multi-sensory teaching in primary schools in China.

Keywords: multi-sensory, teaching practice, primary music classroom, China

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Authors: Belinda du Plooy, Ruth Albertyn, Christel Troskie-De Bruin, Ella Belcher

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In the academy, scholarliness or intellectual craftsmanship is considered the highest level of achievement, culminating in being consistently successfully published in impactful, peer-reviewed journals and books. Scholarliness implies rigorous methods, systematic exposition, in-depth analysis and evaluation, and the highest level of critical engagement and reflexivity. However, being a scholar does not happen automatically when one becomes an academic or completes graduate studies. A graduate qualification is an indication of one’s level of research competence but does not necessarily prepare one for the type of scholarly writing for publication required after a postgraduate qualification has been conferred. Scholarly writing for publication requires a high-level skillset and a specific mindset, which must be intentionally developed. The rite of passage to become a scholar is an iterative process with liminal spaces, thresholds, transitions, and transformations. The journey from researcher to published author is often fraught with rejection, insecurity, and disappointment and requires resilience and tenacity from those who eventually triumph. It cannot be achieved without support, guidance, and mentorship. In this article, the authors use collective auto-ethnography (CAE) to describe the phases and types of liminality encountered during the liminal journey toward scholarship. The authors speak as long-time facilitators of Writing for Academic Publication (WfAP) capacity development events (training workshops and writing retreats) presented at South African universities. Their WfAP facilitation practice is structured around experiential learning principles that allow them to act as critical reading partners and reflective witnesses for the writer-participants of their WfAP events. They identify three essential facilitation features for the effective holding of a generative, liminal, and transformational writing space for novice academic writers in order to enable their safe passage through the various liminal spaces they encounter during their scholarly development journey. These features are that facilitators should be agents of disruption and liminality while also guiding writers through these liminal spaces; that there should be a sense of mutual trust and respect, shared responsibility and accountability in order for writers to produce publication-worthy scholarly work; and that this can only be accomplished with the continued application of high levels of sensitivity and discernment by WfAP facilitators. These are key features for successful WfAP scholarship training events, where focused, individual input triggers personal and professional transformational experiences, which in turn translate into high-quality scholarly outputs.

Keywords: academic writing, liminality, scholarship, scholarliness, threshold experience, writing for publication

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Authors: Liu Zhiyuan, Sun Zongdi

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In this paper, the BP neural network model is established to predict the carbon trading price and carbon trading volume in Shanghai City. First of all, we find the data of carbon trading price and carbon trading volume in Shanghai City from September 30, 2015 to December 23, 2016. The carbon trading price and trading volume data were processed to get the average value of each 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 carbon trading price and trading volume. Then, these data are used as input of BP neural network model. Finally, after the training of BP neural network, the prediction values of Shanghai carbon trading price and trading volume are obtained, and the model is tested.

Keywords: Carbon trading price, carbon trading volume, BP neural network model, Shanghai City

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Authors: Okwan Frank

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Maternal health outcome is one of the major population development challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. The region has the highest maternal mortality ratio, despite the progressive economic growth in the region during the global economic crisis. It has been hypothesized that increase in economic growth will reduce the level of maternal mortality. The purpose of this study is to investigate the existence of the negative relationship between health outcome proxy by maternal mortality ratio and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study used the Pooled Mean Group estimator of ARDL Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and the Kao test for cointegration to examine the short-run and long-run relationship between maternal mortality and economic growth. The results of the cointegration test showed the existence of a long-run relationship between the variables considered for the study. The long-run result of the Pooled Mean group estimates confirmed the hypothesis of an inverse relationship between maternal health outcome proxy by maternal mortality ratio and economic growth proxy by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. Thus increasing economic growth by investing in the health care systems to reduce pregnancy and childbirth complications will help reduce maternal mortality in the sub-region.

Keywords: economic growth, maternal mortality, pool mean group, Sub-Saharan Africa

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Authors: Rafael Dias Silva

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The school is a social institution that should promote learning situations that remain throughout life. Based on this, the teaching activities promoted in museum spaces can represent an educational strategy that contributes to the learning process in a more meaningful way. This article systematizes a series of elements that guide the use of these spaces for the scientific literacy of deaf students and as experiences of this nature are favorable for the school development through the concept of the circularity. The methodology for the didactic use of these spaces of non-formal education is one of the reflections developed in this study and how such environments can contribute to the learning in the classroom. To develop in the student the idea of ​​association making him create connections with the curricular proposal and notice how the proposed activity is articulated. It is in our interest that the experience lived in the museum be shared collaborating for the construction of a scientific literacy and cultural identity through the research.

Keywords: accessibility in museums, Brazilian sign language, deaf students, teacher training

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Authors: Manal Sultan Alhussein, Xiang Michelle Liu

Abstract:

Telehealth is an advanced technology using digital information and telecommunication facilities that provide access to health services from a distance. It slows the transmission factor of COVID-19, especially for elderly patients and patients with chronic diseases during the pandemic. Therefore, understanding patient perspectives on telehealth services and the factors impacting their option of telehealth service will shed light on the measures that healthcare providers can take to improve the quality of telehealth services. This study aimed to evaluate perceptions of telehealth services among different patient groups and explore various aspects of telehealth utilization in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey distributed via social media platforms was used to collect research data. In addition to the descriptive statistics, both correlation and regression analyses were conducted to test research hypotheses. The empirical results highlighted that the factors such as accessibility to telehealth services and the type of specialty clinics that the patients required play important roles in the effectiveness of telehealth services they received. However, the results found that patients’ waiting time to receive telehealth services and their annual income did not significantly influence their desire to select receiving healthcare services via telehealth. The limitations of the study and future research directions are discussed.

Keywords: telehealth, patient satisfaction, pandemic, healthcare, survey

Procedia PDF Downloads 95

Authors: Nermin A. Morsy, Amany N. Beshay

Abstract:

The tourism industry has seen considerable transformations due to the emergency of e-commerce. For instance, airlines are increasingly dependent on achieving online sales instead of their traditional platform. Online travel agencies’ (OTAs) websites have been able to reach a broader range of customers and generate more revenue. Therefore, website quality plays an important role in attaining website effectiveness. It is now considered as a critical factor in attracting customers' attention and build loyalty. Customers are more likely to visit and purchase at websites that exhibit highly desirable qualities. A user-friendly website can help tourists find their target information easily and make decisions quickly. This research focuses on analyzing the impact of airline and OTAs’ websites quality on the actual customer usage and purchase intentions. An online survey was distributed among internet users to assess the various dimensions of website quality in the context of online booking and their effect on customer’s usage and purchase intentions. The data from the survey was analyzed statistically using correlation, t-tests and other statistical tests. Results revealed the direct impact of website quality on customer usage and purchase intentions.

Keywords: airlines, OTAs, purchasing intention, website quality

Procedia PDF Downloads 163

Authors: Stylianos Kampakis

Abstract:

This paper presents a new algorithm for neural networks called “Input Dropout with Aggressive Re-weighting” (IDAR) aimed specifically at datasets with many useless features. IDAR combines two techniques (dropout of input neurons and aggressive re weighting) in order to eliminate the influence of noisy features. The technique can be seen as a generalization of dropout. The algorithm is tested on two different benchmark data sets: a noisy version of the iris dataset and the MADELON data set. Its performance is compared against three other popular techniques for dealing with useless features: L2 regularization, LASSO and random forests. The results demonstrate that IDAR can be an effective technique for handling data sets with many useless features.

Keywords: neural networks, feature selection, regularization, aggressive reweighting

Procedia PDF Downloads 438