Search results for: online lessons

Authors: Khanyisile Mnguni, Muthukrishnavellaisamy Kumarasamy, Jeff C. Smithers

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Umgeni Water is a water board that supplies most parts of KwaZulu Natal with bulk portable water. Currently, Umgeni Water is running its distribution system based on required reservoir levels and demands and does not consider the energy cost at different times of the day, number of pump switches, and background leakages. Including these constraints can reduce operational cost, energy usage, leakages, and increase performance. Optimising pump schedules can reduce energy usage and costs while adhering to hydraulic and operational constraints. Umgeni Water has installed an online hydraulic software, WaterNet Advisor, that allows running different operational scenarios prior to implementation in order to optimise the distribution system. This study will investigate operation scenarios using optimisation techniques and WaterNet Advisor for a local water distribution system. Based on studies reported in the literature, introducing pump scheduling optimisation can reduce energy usage by approximately 30% without any change in infrastructure. Including tariff structures in an optimisation problem can reduce pumping costs by 15%, while including leakages decreases cost by 10%, and pressure drop in the system can be up to 12 m. Genetical optimisation algorithms are widely used due to their ability to solve nonlinear, non-convex, and mixed-integer problems. Other methods such as branch and bound linear programming have also been successfully used. A suitable optimisation method will be chosen based on its efficiency. The objective of the study is to reduce energy usage, operational cost, and leakages, and the feasibility of optimal solution will be checked using the Waternet Advisor. This study will provide an overview of the optimisation of hydraulic networks and progress made to date in multi-objective optimisation for a selected sub-system operated by Umgeni Water.

Keywords: energy usage, pump scheduling, WaterNet Advisor, leakages

Procedia PDF Downloads 92

Authors: Anne Tetens, Susan Andersen, Lars Ole Bonde, Pia Jeppesen, Katrine Rich Madsen

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Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) has emphasized the critical need for feasible and effective school-based mental health promotion interventions. High-quality music education in school has been suggested to promote well-being, inclusion, and positive relations, which are essential for children’s mental health. This study explores the potential of choir singing as a distinct approach to enhance children’s mental health within the school setting. ‘Everyone Can Sing’ is a class-based mental health promotion intervention for children in grades 0-3 (ages 5-10) in Danish primary school, which integrates choir singing into the students’ normal school schedule twice a week to promote mental health through the increase of school well-being, class coherence and social inclusion. The intervention uses trained choir leaders to lead the lessons in close collaboration with the class teacher, placing a distinct emphasis on well-being and the inclusive aspect of musical expression through body and voice. Aim: The aim of the study is to evaluate the feasibility of the Everyone Can Sing intervention with the specific objective to assess implementation and changes in mental health parameters, including school well-being, class coherence and social inclusion. Methodologies: The study is a feasibility study of a one-year intervention, which started in January 2024 and is being implemented in grades 0-3 (ages 5-10) across three different Danish primary schools. It is designed according to a mixed methods approach, including both quantitative and qualitative methods. Baseline questionnaires were obtained from students, parents and teachers, and follow-up is planned at 12 months. Participant observations of class choir and individual and group interviews with students, teachers, choir leaders, and school management are collected during the intervention period. The study uses the validated ‘Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire’ for parent- and teacher-reports. The student questionnaire, which assesses school well-being, class coherence, social inclusion and indicators of mental health, was developed and validated for this study. Participant observations and interviews provide in-depth insights into the implementation process and participants’ experiences of the mental health-promoting potential of the intervention. Findings: The study included 41 classes across three schools (N=904) and questionnaire data from students (n=845, = 93%), teachers (n=890, = 98%), and parents (n=608, = 67%) at baseline. Follow-up data will be obtained in January 2025. While collection and analyses of data are still ongoing, preliminary implementation findings based on interviews and observations indicate high levels of engagement and acceptability. At 6 months into the intervention period, the study protocol is on track and suggests that the intervention is well-received. Further findings and analyses will be presented. The final results of the study will be used to decide whether the AKS intervention should proceed to a future, full-size effectiveness trial, return to refinement of the intervention or the evaluation design, or stop. Contributions: This study will provide valuable insights into new approaches to school-based mental health promotion initiatives. If feasible, the vision is to implement the intervention or elements of it in primary schools across all five Danish regions, potentially lowering the mental health burden.

Keywords: child mental health, early childhood, mental health promotion, mixed methods research, school-based intervention.

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Authors: Bency Ann Massinello, Nancy Day, Janet Fellini

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Background: The use of an appropriate mode of communication among the multidisciplinary care team members regarding coordination of care is an extremely complicated yet important patient safety initiative. Effective communication among the team members(nursing staff, medical staff, respiratory therapists, rehabilitation therapists, patient-family services team…) become essential to develop a culture of trust and collaboration to deliver the highest quality care to patients are their families. The inpatient post-acute pediatrics, where children and their caregivers come for continuity of care, is no exceptions to the increasing use of text messages as a means to communication among clinicians. One such platform is the Vocera Communications (Vocera Smart Mobile App called Vocera Edge) allows the teams to use the application and share sensitive patient information through an encrypted platform using IOS company provided shared and assigned mobile devices. Objective: This paper discusses the quality initiative of implementing the transition from Vocera Smartbage to Vocera Edge Mobile App, technology advantage, use case expansion, and lessons learned about a secure alternative modality that allows sending and receiving secure text messages in a pediatric post-acute setting using an IOS device. This implementation process included all direct care staff, ancillary teams, and administrative teams on the clinical units. Methods: Our institution launched this transition from voice prompted hands-free Vocera Smartbage to Vocera Edge mobile based app for secure care team texting using a big bang approach during the first PDSA cycle. The pre and post implementation data was gathered using a qualitative survey of about 500 multidisciplinary team members to determine the ease of use of the application and its efficiency in care coordination. The technology was further expanded in its use by implementing clinical alerts and alarms notification using middleware integration with patient monitoring (Masimo) and life safety (Nurse call) systems. Additional use of the smart mobile iPhone use include pushing out apps like Lexicomp and Up to Date to have it readily available for users for evident-based practice in medication and disease management. Results: Successful implementation of the communication system in a shared and assigned model with all of the multidisciplinary teams in our pediatric post-acute setting. In just a 3-monthperiod post implementation, we noticed a 14% increase from 7,993 messages in 6 days in December 2020 to 9,116messages in March 2021. This confirmed that all clinical and non-clinical teams were using this mode of communication for coordinating the care for their patients. System generated data analytics used in addition to the pre and post implementation staff survey for process evaluation. Conclusion: A secure texting option using a mobile device is a safe and efficient mode for care team communication and collaboration using technology in real time. This allows for the settings like post-acute pediatric care areas to be in line with the widespread use of mobile apps and technology in our mainstream healthcare.

Keywords: nursing informatics, mobile secure texting, multidisciplinary communication, pediatrics post acute care

Procedia PDF Downloads 194

Authors: Halkiopoulos Constantinos, Gkintoni Evgenia, Koutsopoulou Ioanna, Antonopoulou Hera

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E-sports and e-gaming have emerged in recent years since the increase in internet use have become universal and e-gamers are the new reality in our homes. The excessive involvement of young adults with e-sports has already been revealed and the adverse consequences have been reported in researches in the past few years, but the issue has not been fully studied yet. The present research is conducted in Greece and studies the psychological profile of video game players and provides information on personality traits, habits and emotional status that affect online gamers’ behaviors in order to help professionals and policy makers address the problem. Three standardized self-report questionnaires were administered to participants who were young male and female adults aged from 19-26 years old. The Profile of Mood States (POMS) scale was used to evaluate people’s perceptions of their everyday life mood; the personality features that can trace back to people’s habits and anticipated reactions were measured by Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), and the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue) was used to measure which cognitive (gamers’ beliefs) and emotional parameters (gamers’ emotional abilities) mainly affected/ predicted gamers’ behaviors and leisure time activities?/ gaming behaviors. Data mining techniques were used to analyze the data, which resulted in machine learning algorithms that were included in the software package R. The research findings attempt to designate the effect of personality traits, emotional status and emotional intelligence influence and correlation with e-sports, gamers’ behaviors and help policy makers and stakeholders take action, shape social policy and prevent the adverse consequences on young adults. The need for further research, prevention and treatment strategies is also addressed.

Keywords: e-sports, e-gamers, personality traits, POMS, emotional intelligence, data mining, R

Procedia PDF Downloads 229

Authors: Tamar Trop, Michal Roffeh

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One of the emerging trends in construction is installing an exterior “green wall” (GW). GW is an overarching and most common term for various techniques of incorporating greenery into buildings’ vertical elements, mainly facades. This green infrastructure yields numerous benefits for the urban environment, the public, and the buildings’ tenants and users, such as enhancing air quality and biodiversity, managing stormwater runoff, mitigating urban heat island and climate change, improving urban aesthetics and mental wellbeing, improving indoor comfort conditions, and saving energy. Yet, the penetration rate of GWs into the construction market, especially into the housing sector, is still very slow. Furthermore, the research regarding prospective homebuyers’ willingness to purchase and pay a price premium for GW apartments is scarce and does not refer to newly built buildings and specific GW types. This research aims to narrow these knowledge gaps by exploring the willingness of prospective homebuyers in Israel to purchase a newly built apartment with a hydroponic living wall, the size of the PP that they would be willing to pay for it, and the various factors ̶ knowledge-related, concern, economic, and personal ̶ that influence these motivations. A nationwide online survey was conducted among a sample of 514 adults using a structured questionnaire. Findings show that despite low familiarity with GWs and strong concerns about various kinds of nuisance, technical issues, and maintenance costs, potential homebuyers express a relatively high willingness to purchase and pay a significant price premium for such an apartment. The main motivations behind this willingness were found to be potential energy savings and governmental incentives. Study findings can contribute to a better understanding of the maturity of the housing market in Israel to adopt GWs and to better tailor intervention tools for increasing GWs’ uptake among potential homebuyers.

Keywords: green façade, green wall, living wall, willingness to pay

Procedia PDF Downloads 29

Authors: Mona Almanasef, Dalia Almaghaslah, Geetha Kandasamy, Rajalakshimi Vasudevan, Sadia Batool

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Background: Community pharmacists are one of the most accessible healthcare practitioners worldwide and their services are used by a large proportion of the population. Expanding the roles of community pharmacists could contribute to reducing pressure on general health practice and other areas of health services. This research aimed to evaluate the contribution of community pharmacists in the provision of public health services and to investigate the perceived barriers to the provision of these services in Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: This study followed a cross-sectional design using an online anonymous self-administered questionnaire. The study took place in the Asir region, Saudi Arabia, between September 2019 and February 2020. A convenience sampling strategy was used to select and recruit the study participants. The questionnaire was adapted from previous research and involved three sections: demographics, involvement in public health services and barriers to practicing public health roles. Results: The total number of respondents was 193. The proportion of respondents who reported that they were “very involved” or “involved” in each service was 61.7% for weight management, 60.6% for sexual health, 57.5% for healthy eating, 53.4% for physical activity promotion, 51.3% for dental health, 46.1% for smoking cessation, 39.4% for screening for diabetes, 35.7% for screening for hypertension, 31.1% for alcohol dependence and drug misuse counseling, 30.6% for screening for dyslipidaemia, and 21.8% for vaccination and immunization. Most of the barriers in the current research were rated as having low relevance to the provision of public health services. Conclusion: Findings in the current research suggest that community pharmacists in the Asir region have varying levels of involvement in public health roles. Further research needs to be undertaken to understand the barriers to the provision of public health services and what strategies would be beneficial for enhancing the public health role of community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: community pharmacist, public health, Asir region, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Zyrah Lou R. Samar, Genecarlo Liwanag

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Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus is the more prevalent type, caused by a combination of insulin resistance and inadequate insulin response to hyperglycemia1. Aside from pharmacologic interventions, medical nutrition therapy is an integral part of the management of patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Whey protein, which is one of the best protein sources, has been investigated for its applicability in improving glycemic control in patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to measure the magnitude of the effect of whey protein on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus. The aim of this review is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of whey protein in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: A systematic electronic search for studies in the PubMed and Cochrane Collaboration database was done. Included in this review were randomized controlled trials of whey protein enrolling patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Three reviewers independently searched, assessed, and extracted data from the individual studies. Results: A systematic literature search on online databases such as Cochrane Central Registry, PubMed, and Herdin Plus was conducted in April to September 2021 to identify eligible studies. The search yielded 21 randomized controlled trials after removing duplicates. Only 5 articles were included after reviewing the full text, which met the criteria for selection. Conclusion: Whey protein supplementation significantly reduced fasting blood glucose. However, it did not reduce post-prandial blood glucose, HbA1c level, and weight when compared with the placebo. There has been a considerate heterogeneity across all studies, which may have contributed/confounded its effects. A larger sample size and better inclusion, and a more specific study may be included in the future reviews.

Keywords: whey protein, diabetes, nutrition, fasting blood sugar, postprandial glucose, HbA1c, weight reduction

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Authors: Jennifer Nutton, Gayle Ployer, Ky Scott, Jenny Morgan

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Working in a circle within higher education creates a decolonial space of mutual respect, responsibility, and reciprocity that facilitates collaborative learning and deep connections among learners and instructors. This approach is beyond simply facilitating a group in a circle but opens the door to creating a sacred space connecting each member to the land, to the Indigenous peoples who have taken care of the lands since time immemorial, to one another, and to one’s own positionality. These deep connections not only center human knowledges and relationships but also acknowledges responsibilities to land. Working in a circle as a relational pedagogical praxis also disrupts institutional power dynamics by creating a space of collaborative learning and deep connections in the classroom. Inherent within circle work is to facilitate connections not just academically but emotionally, physically, culturally, and spiritually. Recent literature supports the use of online talking circles, finding that it can offer a more relational and experiential learning environment, which is often absent in the virtual world and has been made more evident and necessary since the pandemic. These deeper experiences of learning and connection, rooted in both knowledge and the land, can then be shared with openness and vulnerability with one another, facilitating growth and change. This process of beginning with the land is critical to ensure we have the grounding to obstruct the ongoing realities of colonialism. The authors, who identify as both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, as both educators and learners, reflect on their teaching and learning experiences in circle. They share a relational pedagogical praxis framework that has been successful in educating future social workers, environmental activists, and leaders in social and human services, health, legal and political fields.

Keywords: circle work, relational pedagogies, decolonization, distance education

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Authors: Felermino D. M. A. Ali, S. C. Ng

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E-learning is an evolutionary form of distance learning and has become better over time as new technologies emerged. Today, efforts are still being made to embrace E-learning systems with emerging technologies in order to make them better. Among these advancements, Educational Data Mining (EDM) is one that is gaining a huge and increasing popularity due to its wide application for improving the teaching-learning process in online practices. However, even though EDM promises to bring many benefits to educational industry in general and E-learning environments in particular, its principal drawback is the lack of easy to use tools. The current EDM tools usually require users to have some additional technical expertise to effectively perform EDM tasks. Thus, in response to these limitations, this study intends to design and implement an EDM application framework which aims at automating and simplify the development of EDM in E-learning environment. The application framework introduces a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) that hides the complexity of technical details and enables users to perform EDM in an automated fashion. The framework was designed based on abstraction, extensibility, and interoperability principles. The framework implementation was made up of three major modules. The first module provides an abstraction for data gathering, which was done by extending Moodle LMS (Learning Management System) source code. The second module provides data mining methods and techniques as services; it was done by converting Weka API into a set of Web services. The third module acts as an intermediary between the first two modules, it contains a user-friendly interface that allows dynamically locating data provider services, and running knowledge discovery tasks on data mining services. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the overhead of the proposed framework through a combination of simulation and implementation. The experiments have shown that the overhead introduced by the SOA mechanism is relatively small, therefore, it has been concluded that a service-oriented architecture can be effectively used to facilitate educational data mining in E-learning environments.

Keywords: educational data mining, e-learning, distributed data mining, moodle, service-oriented architecture, Weka

Procedia PDF Downloads 235

Authors: Tosin Deborah Akanbi

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The Building Information Modeling Execution Plan (BEP) is a document that manifests the specifications for the adoption and execution of building information modeling in the construction sector in an organized manner so as to attain the listed goals. In this regard, the study examined the barriers to the adoption of building information modeling, evaluated the effect of building information modeling adoption characteristics on the key elements of a building information modeling execution plan and developed a strategic framework for a BEP in the Lagos State construction industry. Data were gathered through a questionnaire survey with 332 construction professionals in the study area. Three online structured interviews were conducted to support and validate the findings of the quantitative analysis. The results showed the significant relationships and connections between the variables in the framework: BIM usage and model quality control (aBIMskill -> dMQ, Beta = 0.121, T statistics = 1.829), BIM adoption characteristics and information exchange (bBIM_CH -> dIE, Beta = 0.128, T statistics = 1.727), BIM adoption characteristics and process design (bBIM_CH -> dPD, Beta = 0.170, T statistics = 2.754), BIM adoption characteristics and roles and responsibilities (bBIM_CH -> dRR, Beta = 0.131, T statistics = 2.181), interest BIM barriers and BIM adoption characteristics (cBBIM_INT -> bBIM_CH, Beta = 0.137, T statistics = 2.309), legal BIM barriers and BIM adoption characteristics (cBBIM_LEG -> bBIM_CH, Beta = 0.168, T statistics = 2.818), professional BIM barriers and BIM adoption characteristics (cBBIM_PRO -> bBIM_CH, Beta = 0.152, T statistics = 2.645). The results also revealed that seven final themes were generated, namely: model structure and process design, BIM information exchange and collaboration procedures, project goals and deliverables, project model quality control, roles and responsibilities, reflect Lagos state construction industry and validity of the BEP framework. Thus, there is a need for the policy makers to direct interventions to promote, encourage and support the understanding and adoption of BIM by emphasizing the various benefits of using the technology in the Lagos state construction industry.

Keywords: building information modelling execution plan, BIM adoption characteristics, BEP framework, construction industry

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Authors: Tambe Daniel Atem

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Background: Clinical Research is an organized research on human beings intended to provide adequate information on the drug use as a therapeutic agent on its safety and efficacy. The significance of the study is to educate the global health and life science graduates in Clinical Research in depth to perform better as it involves testing drugs on human beings. Objectives: to provide an overall understanding of the scientific approach to the evaluation of new and existing medical interventions and to apply ethical and regulatory principles appropriate to any individual research. Methodology: It is based on – Primary data analysis and Secondary data analysis. Primary data analysis: means the collection of data from journals, the internet, and other online sources. Secondary data analysis: a survey was conducted with a questionnaire to interview the Clinical Research Professionals to understand the need of training to perform clinical trials globally. The questionnaire consisted details of the professionals working with the expertise. It also included the areas of clinical research which needed intense training before entering into hardcore clinical research domain. Results: The Clinical Trials market worldwide worth over USD 26 billion and the industry has employed an estimated 2,10,000 people in the US and over 70,000 in the U.K, and they form one-third of the total research and development staff. There are more than 2,50,000 vacant positions globally with salary variations in the regions for a Clinical Research Coordinator. R&D cost on new drug development is estimated at US$ 70-85 billion. The cost of doing clinical trials for a new drug is US$ 200-250 million. Due to an increase trained Clinical Research Professionals India has emerged as a global hub for clinical research. The Global Clinical Trial outsourcing opportunity in India in the pharmaceutical industry increased to more than $2 billion in 2014 due to increased outsourcing from U.S and Europe to India. Conclusion: Assessment of training need is recommended for newer Clinical Research Professionals and trial sites, especially prior the conduct of larger confirmatory clinical trials.

Keywords: clinical research, clinical trials, clinical research professionals

Procedia PDF Downloads 450

Authors: Alexandra-Monica Toma

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Internet memes are an element of computer mediated communication and an important part of online culture that combines text and image in order to generate meaning. This term coined by Richard Dawkings refers to more than a mere way to briefly communicate ideas or emotions, thus naming a complex and an intensely perpetuated phenomenon in the virtual environment. This paper approaches memes as a cultural artefact and a virtual trope that mirrors societal concerns and issues, and analyses the pragmatics of their use. Memes have to be analysed in series, usually relating to some image macros, which is proof of the interplay between imitation and creativity in the memes’ writing process. We believe that their potential to become viral relates to three key elements: adaptation to context, reference to a successful meme series, and humour (jokes, irony, sarcasm), with various pragmatic functions. The study also uses the concept of multimodality and stresses how the memes’ text interacts with the image, discussing three types of relations: symmetry, amplification, and contradiction. Moreover, the paper proves that memes could be employed as speech acts with illocutionary force, when the interaction between text and image is enriched through the connection to a specific situation. The features mentioned above are analysed in a corpus that consists of memes related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This corpus shows them to be highly adaptable to context, which helps build the feeling of connection and belonging in an otherwise tremendously fragmented world. Some of them are created based on well-known image macros, and their humour results from an intricate dialogue between texts and contexts. Memes created in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic can be considered speech acts and are often used as such, as proven in the paper. Consequently, this paper tackles the key features of memes, makes a thorough analysis of the memes sociocultural, linguistic, and situational context, and emphasizes their intertextuality, with special accent on their illocutionary potential.

Keywords: context, memes, multimodality, speech acts

Procedia PDF Downloads 197

Authors: Sara Dalma Galgoczi, Judith Gabriella Kengyel

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Sex scandals are quite an engaging topic to work with, especially with their judgment in society. Most people are interested in other people's lives, specifically in public figures' such as celebrities or politicians, because ordinary people feel like they have the right to know more things about the famous and notorious ones than they would probably willing to share. Intimacy and sexual acts aren't exceptions; moreover, sexuality is one of the central interests of humans ever since. Besides, knowing and having an opinion about any kind of scandal can change even whole social groups or classes estimation of anyone. This study aims to research the social judgment of some Hungarian politicians' sex scandals and asks important questions like diverse public opinions in the light of gender or delegates’ abuse of power. Considering that this study is about collecting and evaluating opinions from the public, and no one before researched and published this exact topic and cases, an online survey was created. In the survey were different sections. We collected data about party-preference, conservativism-liberalism scale; then we used the following questionnaires: from Zero-sum perspective with regard to gender equality (Ruthig, Kehn, Gamblin, Vanderzanden & Jones, 2017), Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI; Glick & Fiske, 1996), Ambivalence Toward Men Inventory (AMI; Glick & Fiske, 1999). Finally, 5 short summaries were presented about five Hungarian politicians' sex scandal cases (3 males, 2 females) from the recent past. These stories were followed by questions about their opinion of the party and attitudes towards the parties' reactions to the cases. We came to the conclusion that people are more permissive with the scandals of men, and benevolent sexism and ambivalence towards men mediate this relation. Men tend to see these cases as part of politicians' private lives more than women. Party preference had a significant effect - people tend to pass a sentence the delegates of the opposing parties, and they rather release the delegates of their preferred party.

Keywords: sex scandal, sexism, social judgement, politician

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Authors: Tobias Bader, Joerg Rickert

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One key factor in achieving net zero emissions along the cement and concrete value chain in Europe by 2050 is the use of distinct constituents to produce improved and advanced cements. These cements will contain e.g. calcined clays, recycled concrete fines that are chemically similar as well as X-ray amorphous and therefore difficult to distinguish. This leads to enhanced requirements on the analytical methods for quality control regarding accuracy as well as reproducibility due to the more complex cement composition. With the methods currently provided for in the European standards, it will be a challenge to ensure reliable analyses of the composition of the cements. In an ongoing research project, infrared (IR) spectroscopy in combination with mathematical tools (chemometrics) is going to be evaluated as an additional analytical method with fast and low preparation effort for the characterization of silicate-based cement constituents. The resulting comprehensive database should facilitate determination of the composition of new cements. First results confirmed the applicability of near-infrared IR for the characterization of traditional silicate-based cement constituents (e.g. clinker, granulated blast furnace slag) and modern X-ray amorphous constituents (e.g. calcined clay, recycled concrete fines) as well as different sulfate species (e.g. gypsum, hemihydrate, anhydrite). A multivariant calibration model based on numerous calibration mixtures is in preparation. The final analytical concept to be developed will form the basis for establishing IR spectroscopy as a rapid analytical method for characterizing material flows of known and unknown inorganic substances according to their material properties online and offline. The underlying project was funded by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building with funds from the ‘Zukunft Bau’ research programme.

Keywords: cement, infrared spectroscopy, quality control, X-ray amorphous

Procedia PDF Downloads 39

Authors: Othmane Touri, Sanaa El Filali, El Habib Benlahmar

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Natural Language Processing (NLP) has gained significant attention lately. It has proved its ability to analyze and extract insights from unstructured text data in various languages. It is found that one of the most popular NLP applications is sentiment analysis which aims to identify the sentiment expressed in a piece of text, such as positive, negative, or neutral, in multiple languages. While there are several multilingual NLP models available for sentiment analysis, there is a need to investigate their effectiveness in different contexts and applications. In this study, we aim to investigate the effectiveness of different multilingual NLP models for sentiment analysis on a dataset of online product reviews in multiple languages. The performance of several NLP models, including Google Cloud Natural Language API, Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services, Amazon Comprehend, Stanford CoreNLP, spaCy, and Hugging Face Transformers are being compared. The models based on several metrics, including accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 score, are being evaluated and compared to their performance across different categories of product reviews. In order to run the study, preprocessing of the dataset has been performed by cleaning and tokenizing the text data in multiple languages. Then training and testing each model has been applied using a cross-validation approach where randomly dividing the dataset into training and testing sets and repeating the process multiple times has been used. A grid search approach to optimize the hyperparameters of each model and select the best-performing model for each category of product reviews and language has been applied. The findings of this study provide insights into the effectiveness of different multilingual NLP models for Multilingual Sentiment Analysis and their suitability for different languages and applications. The strengths and limitations of each model were identified, and recommendations for selecting the most performant model based on the specific requirements of a project were provided. This study contributes to the advancement of research methods in multilingual NLP and provides a practical guide for researchers and practitioners in the field.

Keywords: NLP, multilingual, sentiment analysis, texts

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Authors: Francesca Radice

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Domestic and sexual violence provokes, on average in Australia, one female death per week due to intimate violence behaviours. 83% of couples meet online, and intercepting domestic and sexual violence at this level would be beneficial. It has been observed that violent or coercive behaviour has been apparent from initial conversations on dating apps like Tinder. Child pornography, stalking, and coercive control are some criminal offences from dating apps, including women murdered after finding partners through Tinder. Police databases and predictive policing are novel approaches taken to prevent crime before harm is done. This research will investigate how police databases can be used in a privacy-preserving way to characterise users in terms of their potential for violent crime. Using the COPS database of NSW Police, we will explore how the past criminal record can be interpreted to yield a category of potential danger for each dating app user. It is up to the judgement of each subscriber on what degree of the potential danger they are prepared to enter into. Sentiment analysis is an area where research into natural language processing has made great progress over the last decade. This research will investigate how sentiment analysis can be used to interpret interchanges between dating app users to detect manipulative or coercive sentiments. These can be used to alert law enforcement if continued for a defined number of communications. One of the potential problems of this approach is the potential prejudice a categorisation can cause. Another drawback is the possibility of misinterpreting communications and involving law enforcement without reason. The approach will be thoroughly tested with cross-checks by human readers who verify both the level of danger predicted by the interpretation of the criminal record and the sentiment detected from personal messages. Even if only a few violent crimes can be prevented, the approach will have a tangible value for real people.

Keywords: sentiment analysis, data mining, predictive policing, virtual manipulation

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Authors: Shoukat Ali, Abdul Qadir Jandga, Amjad Hussain

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Objective: The main purpose of this study is to compare the Percent Depth dose (PDD) and In-plane and cross-plane profiles of Varian Golden beam data to the measured data of 6 and 18 MV photons for the commissioning of Eclipse treatment planning system. Introduction: Commissioning of treatment planning system requires an extensive acquisition of beam data for the clinical use of linear accelerators. Accurate dose delivery require to enter the PDDs, Profiles and dose rate tables for open and wedges fields into treatment planning system, enabling to calculate the MUs and dose distribution. Varian offers a generic set of beam data as a reference data, however not recommend for clinical use. In this study, we compared the generic beam data with the measured beam data to evaluate the reliability of generic beam data to be used for the clinical purpose. Methods and Material: PDDs and Profiles of Open and Wedge fields for different field sizes and at different depths measured as per Varian’s algorithm commissioning guideline. The measurement performed with PTW 3D-scanning water phantom with semi-flex ion chamber and MEPHYSTO software. The online available Varian Golden Beam Data compared with the measured data to evaluate the accuracy of the golden beam data to be used for the commissioning of Eclipse treatment planning system. Results: The deviation between measured vs. golden beam data was in the range of 2% max. In PDDs, the deviation increases more in the deeper depths than the shallower depths. Similarly, profiles have the same trend of increasing deviation at large field sizes and increasing depths. Conclusion: Study shows that the percentage deviation between measured and golden beam data is within the acceptable tolerance and therefore can be used for the commissioning process; however, verification of small subset of acquired data with the golden beam data should be mandatory before clinical use.

Keywords: percent depth dose, flatness, symmetry, golden beam data

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Authors: Betsy Ng, Seng Chee Tan, Choon Lang Quek, Peter Looker, Jaime Koh

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The purpose of the present study was to determine the particular scale rating that stands out for an instrument. The instrument was designed to assess student perceptions of various learning environments, namely face-to-face, online and blended. The original instrument had a 5-point Likert items (1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree). Alternate versions were modified with a 6-point Likert scale and a bar scale rating. Participants consisted of undergraduates in a local university were involved in the usability testing of the instrument in an electronic setting. They were presented with the 5-point, 6-point and percentage-bar (100-point) scale ratings, in response to their perceptions of learning environments. The 5-point and 6-point Likert scales were presented in the form of radio button controls for each number, while the percentage-bar scale was presented with a sliding selection. Among these responses, 6-point Likert scale emerged to be the best overall. When participants were confronted with the 5-point items, they either chose 3 or 4, suggesting that data loss could occur due to the insensitivity of instrument. The insensitivity of instrument could be due to the discreet options, as evidenced by response interpolation. To avoid the constraint of discreet options, the percentage-bar scale rating was tested, but the participant responses were not well-interpolated. The bar scale might have provided a variety of responses without a constraint of a set of categorical options, but it seemed to reflect a lack of perceived and objective accuracy. The 6-point Likert scale was more likely to reflect a respondent’s perceived and objective accuracy as well as higher sensitivity. This finding supported the conclusion that 6-point Likert items provided a more accurate measure of the participant’s evaluation. The 5-point and bar scale ratings might not be accurately measuring the participants’ responses. This study highlighted the importance of the respondent’s perception of accuracy, respondent’s true evaluation, and the scale’s ease of use. Implications and limitations of this study were also discussed.

Keywords: usability, interpolation, sensitivity, Likert scales, accuracy

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Authors: Mehwish Ishfaq, Aiman Kamran

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This study aimed at impact of perceived parental attitude on life orientation with moderating role of body dysmorphic symptoms. Perceived parental attitude comprised of parental autonomy support & psychological control to their child for development of individuality, self-regulation, and bodily construction that includes cognitive, social, and affective development. This perceived parental attitude have significant relationship with life orientation on individual’s self. Data was collected from schools and universities residing in Islamabad and Rawalpindi and was also obtained through online survey. Instrument used to measure perceived parental attitude was Perceived Parental Autonomy Support Scale (PPASS). Through The Life Orientation Test (LOT-R) which was developed by Michael F. Scheier in 1994, level of optimism and pessimism was assessed. For measuring body dysmorphic disorder, the Body Dysmorphic Questionnaire (BDDQ) which was developed by Dr. Katherine A. Phillips in 2009, a screening scale was used. The present study includes a total sample size of (N= 100) females and was conducted through cross-sectional survey. The findings of current study suggested that perceived parental attitude showed negative relationship with life orientation and this relationship was moderated by body dysmorphic disorder symptoms in females. There was significant age difference in body dysmorphia, perceived parental attitude, and life orientation. Body dysmorphic symptoms were more common in females with age 20-29 (M= 1.33, S.D=1.91) as compared to 12-19 (M=1.16, S.D=1.95). Participants also reported that affected relationship with either parent caused problems in daily life, including school, public interactions and activities leading to low dispositional optimism in life orientation. This study gives us insight about maintaining factors for body dysmorphic disorder symptoms which is beneficial for therapeutic approaches.

Keywords: body dysmorphic disorder, perceived parental attitude, parental autonomy support, psychological control, dispositional optimism

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Authors: Yaser Ghasemi Aryan, Firoozeh Moghiminejad, Mohammadreza Shahraki

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Background: The cooperative institution is considered the first and most essential pillar of strengthening social capital, whose sustainability is the main guarantee of survival and continued participation of local communities in natural resource management projects. The Village Development Group and the Microcredit Fund are two important social and economic institutions in the implementation of the International Project for the Restoration of Degraded Forest Lands (RFLDL) in Sarayan City, South Khorasan Province, which has learned positive lessons from the participation of the beneficiaries in the implementation. They have brought more effective projects to deal with desertification. However, the low activity or liquidation of some of these institutions has become one of the important challenges and concerns of project executive experts. The current research was carried out with the aim of explaining the main components of the instability of these institutions. Materials and Methods: This research is descriptive-analytical in terms of method, practical in terms of purpose, and the method of collecting information is two documentary and survey methods. The statistical population of the research included all the members of the village development groups and microcredit funds in the target villages of the RFLDL project of Sarayan city, based on the Kochran formula and matching with the Karjesi and Morgan table. Net people were selected as a statistical sample. After confirming the validity of the expert's opinions, the reliability of the questionnaire was 0.83, which shows the appropriate reliability of the researcher-made questionnaire. Data analysis was done using SPSS software. Results: The results related to the extraction of obstacles to the stability of social and economic networks were classified and prioritized in the form of 5 groups of social-cultural, economic, administrative, educational-promotional and policy-management factors. Based on this, in the socio-cultural factors, the items ‘not paying attention to the structural characteristics and composition of groups’, ‘lack of commitment and moral responsibility in some members of the group,’ and ‘lack of a clear pattern for the preservation and survival of groups’, in the disciplinary factors, The items ‘Irregularity in holding group meetings’ and ‘Irregularity of members to participate in meetings’, in the economic factors of the items "small financial capital of the fund’, ‘the low amount of loans of the fund’ and ‘the fund's inability to conclude contracts and attract capital from other sources’, in the educational-promotional factors of the items ‘non-simultaneity of job training with the granting of loans to create jobs’ and ‘insufficient training for the effective use of loans and job creation’ and in the policy-management factors of the item ‘failure to provide government facilities for support From the funds, they had the highest priority. Conclusion: In general, the results of this research show that policy-management factors and social factors, especially the structure and composition of social and economic institutions, are the most important obstacles to their sustainability. Therefore, it is suggested to form cooperative institutions based on network analysis studies in order to achieve the appropriate composition of members.

Keywords: cooperative institution, social capital, network analysis, participation, Sarayan.

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Authors: Reeta Devi, Hitender Kumar Tyagi, Dinesh Kumar

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In present scenario, cardiovascular problems are growing challenge for researchers and physiologists. As heart disease have no geographic, gender or socioeconomic specific reasons; detecting cardiac irregularities at early stage followed by quick and correct treatment is very important. Electrocardiogram is the finest tool for continuous monitoring of heart activity. Heart rate variability (HRV) is used to measure naturally occurring oscillations between consecutive cardiac cycles. Analysis of this variability is carried out using time domain, frequency domain and non-linear parameters. This paper presents HRV analysis of the online dataset for normal sinus rhythm (taken as healthy subject) and sudden cardiac death (SCD subject) using all three methods computing values for parameters like standard deviation of node to node intervals (SDNN), square root of mean of the sequences of difference between adjacent RR intervals (RMSSD), mean of R to R intervals (mean RR) in time domain, very low-frequency (VLF), low-frequency (LF), high frequency (HF) and ratio of low to high frequency (LF/HF ratio) in frequency domain and Poincare plot for non linear analysis. To differentiate HRV of healthy subject from subject died with SCD, k –nearest neighbor (k-NN) classifier has been used because of its high accuracy. Results show highly reduced values for all stated parameters for SCD subjects as compared to healthy ones. As the dataset used for SCD patients is recording of their ECG signal one hour prior to their death, it is therefore, verified with an accuracy of 95% that proposed algorithm can identify mortality risk of a patient one hour before its death. The identification of a patient’s mortality risk at such an early stage may prevent him/her meeting sudden death if in-time and right treatment is given by the doctor.

Keywords: early stage prediction, heart rate variability, linear and non-linear analysis, sudden cardiac death

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Authors: Tosin Deborah Akanbi, Adeyemi Oluwaseun Adepoju, Hameed Olusegun Adebambo, Akinloye Fatai Lawal

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Building information modelling (BIM) is a process that starts with the development of a sequential 3D design and encourages data administration, organization, and visualization throughout the life span of a facility (drawings, construction, and supervision). The implementation of building information modelling has been slow in recent years, and this is due to some prominent barriers that hinder its adoption. In this regard, the study aims to examine the significant barriers that influence the adoption of building information modelling in the Lagos state construction industry. Data were gathered through a questionnaire survey with 332 construction professionals in the study area. Three online structured interviews were conducted to support and validate the findings of the quantitative analysis. The results revealed that interest (lack of awareness and understanding of BIM, absence of in-house BIM competent professionals, and unavailability of BIM competent professionals in the labour market), legal (lack of policies and regulations on copyright ownership and lack of enforcement from government agencies and industry leaderships) and professional (people’s inability or refusal to learn new technologies and processes, waste in time and human resource and lack of clarity of professional roles in BIM) barriers are the major barriers influencing the adoption of BIM. The results also revealed that six final themes were generated, namely: finance barriers, industry barriers, interest barriers, leadership barriers, legal barriers, and professional barriers. Thus, there is a need for policymakers to design and implement policies (regulatory, economic, and information) to promote financial schemes to support construction firms and professionals and to reduce financial barriers. It is also important for the government to lay down rules and regulations that must be enforced among the construction professionals and firms in the Lagos state construction industry.

Keywords: BIM barriers, BIM adoption characteristics, construction industry, Lagos State Nigeria

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Authors: Emrah Ayhan, Puspa Saananta Irfani, Ömer Doğukan Şahin

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Public services, which are important for the order and continuity of social life, have begun to transform into electronic services (E-service) with the development of information and communication technologies in recent years. In particular, as a result of the widespread use of the internet and the increase in citizen demands, it has become necessary to provide public services electronically. In addition to facilitating traditional public services, new types of e-services strengthen the interaction, cooperation, accessibility, transparency, citizen participation (e-governance) and accountability between citizens and the state. In this context, the factors in the literature that are considered to influence the citizens’ satisfaction towards e-services will be examined through the example of student satisfaction with the e-services (Anasis, Mergen, E-mail, library, cafeteria and other transactions) offered by Anadolu University (Eskişehir, Türkiye) through university website and mobile application. The data for the analysis will be obtained from the survey research that will be used to measure user satisfaction with university e-services of 1,000 students studying at 9 different faculties and graduate schools of Anadolu University. These data will be analyzed with a unique methodology that uses the E-GovQual model and Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) methods together. The e-GovQual model serves as a framework for evaluating the quality of e-services, allowing a detailed understanding of students' perceptions. On the other hand, the IPA method will be used to determine the performance level of Anadolu University in the provision of e-services and to understand the areas that require improvement and student expectations. Strategic goals and suggestions will be made to decision-makers, students, and researchers in line with the findings obtained in the research. Thus, it is planned to contribute to e-governance and user satisfaction in educational institutions and to reveal practical implications for optimizing online platforms to better serve student needs.

Keywords: e-service, Anadolu university, student satisfaction, e-governance, e-govqual, importance performance analysis

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Authors: Jill Villarreal, Kristalyn Cooksey, Kai Lloyd, Daniel Ha

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Little research has been conducted to examine college students' reading attitudes, including students' perceptions of reading behaviors and reading abilities. This is problematic, as reading assigned course material is a critical component to an undergraduate student's academic success. For this study, flyers were electronically disseminated to instructors at 24 public and 10 private U.S. institutions in “Reading-Intensive Departments” including Psychology, Sociology, Education, Business, and Communications. We requested the online survey be completed as an in-class activity during the fall 2019 and spring 2020 semesters. All participants voluntarily completed the questionnaire anonymously. Of the participants, 280 self-identified their race as Black and 280 self-identified their race as White. Of the participants, 177 self-identified their gender as Male and 383 self-identified their Gender as Female. Participants ranged in age from 18-24. Factor analysis found four dimensions resulting from the questions regarding reading. The first we interpret as “Reading Proficiency”, accounted for 19% of the variability. The second dimension was “Reading Anxiety” (15%), the third was “Textbook Reading Ability” (9%), and the fourth was “Reading Enjoyment” (8%). Linear models on each of these dimensions revealed no effect of Age, Gender, Race, or Income on “Reading proficiency”. The linear model of “Reading Anxiety” showed a significant effect of race (p = 0.02), with higher anxiety in white students, as well as higher reading anxiety in female students (p < 0.001). The model of “Textbook Reading Ability” found a significant effect of race (p < 0.001), with higher textbook problems in white students. The model of “Reading Enjoyment” showed significant effects of race (p = 0.013) with more enjoyment for white students, gender (p = 0.001) with higher enjoyment for female students, and age (p = 0.033) with older students showing higher enjoyment. These findings suggest that gender, age, and race are important factors in many aspects of college students' reading attitudes. Further research will investigate possible causes for these differences. In addition, the effectiveness of college-level programs to reduce reading anxiety, promote the reading of textbooks, and foster a love of reading will be assessed.

Keywords: age, college, gender, race, reading

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Authors: Luojie Tang

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Riverside space is an important public space and ecological corridor in urban areas, but mountainous urban rivers are often overlooked due to their deep valleys and poor accessibility. This article takes the Qing Shui Xi River in Chongqing as an example, and through long-term field inspections, measurements, interviews, and online surveys, summarizes the problems of poor accessibility, limited space for renovation, lack of waterfront facilities, excessive artificial intervention, low average runoff, severe river water pollution, and difficulty in integrated watershed management in riverside space. Based on the current situation and drawing on relevant experiences, this article summarizes the design methods for riverside space in deep valley rivers in mountainous urban areas. Regarding spatial design techniques, the article emphasizes the importance of integrating waterfront spaces into the urban public space system and vertical linkages. Furthermore, the article suggests different design methods and improvement strategies for the already developed areas and new development areas. Specifically, the article proposes a planning and design strategy of "protection" and "empowerment" for new development areas and an updating and transformation strategy of "improvement" and "revitalization" for already developed areas. In terms of ecological restoration methods, the article suggests three focus points: increasing the runoff of urban rivers, raising the landscape water level during dry seasons, and restoring vegetation and wetlands in the riverbank buffer zone while protecting the overall pattern of the watershed. Additionally, the article presents specific design details of the Qingshuixi River to illustrate the proposed design and restoration techniques.

Keywords: deep-cut river, design method, mountainous city, Qingshuixi river in Chongqing, waterfront space design

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Authors: Simont Toussi

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Cameroon and the Central African Republic arebound by the provisions of many regional and international charters, which condemn the manipulation of information, obstacles to access reliable information, or the limitation of freedoms of expression and opinion. These two countries also have constitutional guarantees for free speech and access to true and liable information. However, they are yet to define specific policies and regulations for access to information, disinformation, or misinformation. Yet, certain countries’ laws and regulations related to information and communication technologies, to criminal procedures, to terrorism, or intelligence services contain provisions that rather hider human rights by condemning false information. Like many other African countries, Cameroon and the Central African Republic face a profound democratic regression, and governments use multiple methods to stifle online discourse and digital rights. Despite the increased uptake of digital tools for political participation, there is a lack of interactivity and adoption of these tools. This enables a scarcity of information and creates room for the spreading of disinformation in the public space, hamperingdemocracy and the respect for human rights. This research aims to analyse the adequacy of stakeholders’ responses to disinformation in Cameroon and the Central African Republic in periods of political contestation, such as elections and anti-government protests, to highlight the nature, perpetrators, strategies, and channels of disinformation, as well as its effects on democratic actors, including civil society, bloggers, government critics, activists, and other human rights defenders. The study follows a qualitative method with literature review, content analysis, andkey informant’sinterviews with stakeholders’ representatives, emphasized crowdsourcing as a data and information collecting method in the two countries.

Keywords: disinformation, democracy, political manipulation, social media, media, fake news, central Africa, cameroon, misinformation, free speech

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Authors: Almagul Nurgaliyeva

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The phenomenon of novice teacher attrition is an urgent issue. The effective mechanisms to increase the retention rate of novice teachers relate to the nature and level of support provided at an employing site. This study considered novice teacher retention as a motivation-based process, which is based on a variety of support activities employed to satisfy novice teachers’ needs at an early career stage. The purpose of the study was to examine novice teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the induction program and other support structure(s) at a secondary school in Nur-Sultan. The study was guided by Abraham Maslow’s (1943) theory of motivation. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was used as a theoretical framework to identify the novice teachers’ primary needs and the extent to which the induction programs and other support mechanisms provided by the school administrators fulfill those needs. One school supervisor and eight novice teachers (four current and four former novice teachers) with a maximum of four years of teaching experience took part in the study. To investigate the perspectives and experiences of the participants, an online semi-structured interview was utilized. The responses were collected and analyzed. The study revealed four major challenges: educational, personal-psychological, sociological, and structural which are seen as the main constraints during the adaptation period. Four induction activities, as emerged from the data, are being carried out by the school to address novice teachers’ challenges: socialization activities, mentoring programs, professional development, and administrative support. These activities meet novice teachers’ needs and confront the challenges they face. Sufficient and adequate support structures provided to novice teachers during their first years of working experience is essential, as they may influence their decision to remain in the teaching profession, thereby reducing the attrition rate. The study provides recommendations for policymakers and school administrators about the structure and the content of induction program activities.

Keywords: beginning teacher induction, induction programme, orientation programmes, adaptation challenges, novice teacher retention

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Authors: Amizawati Mohd Amir, Ruhanita Maelah, Zaidi Mohd Noor

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As part of the Malaysia Higher Institutions' Strategic Plan in promoting high-quality research and education, the Ministry of Higher Education has introduced various instrument to assess the universities performance. The aims are that university will produce more commercially-oriented research and continue to contribute in producing professional workforce for domestic and foreign needs. Yet the spirit of the success lies in the commitment of university particularly the academic staff to translate the vision into reality. For that reason, the element of fairness and justice in assessing individual academic staff performance is crucial to promote directly linked between university and individual work goals. Focusing on public research universities (RUs) in Malaysia, this study observes at the issue through the practice of university contemporary performance measurement system. Accordingly management control theory has conceptualized that contemporary performance measurement consisting of three dimension namely strategic, comprehensive and dynamic building upon equity theory, the relationships between contemporary performance measurement system and organizational justice and in turn the effect on academic staff work performance are tested based on online survey data administered on 365 academic staff from public RUs, which were analyzed using statistics analysis SPSS and Equation Structure Modeling. The findings validated the presence of strategic, comprehensive and dynamic in the contemporary performance measurement system. The empirical evidence also indicated that contemporary performance measure and procedural justice are significantly associated with work performance but not for distributive justice. Furthermore, procedural justice does mediate the relationship between contemporary performance measurement and academic staff work performance. Evidently, this study provides evidence on the importance of perceptions of justice towards influencing academic staff work performance. This finding may be a fruitful input in the setting up academic staff performance assessment policy.

Keywords: comprehensive, dynamic, distributive justice, contemporary performance measurement system, strategic, procedure justice, work performance

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Authors: Michael Josef Schwerer

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Background: Analyzing any aircraft accident is mandatory based on the regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization and the respective country’s criminal prosecution authorities. Legal medicine investigations are unavoidable when fatalities involve the flight crew or when doubts arise concerning the pilot’s aeromedical health status before the event. As a result of frequently tremendous blunt and sharp force trauma along with the impact of the aircraft to the ground, consecutive blast or fire exposition of the occupants or putrefaction of the dead bodies in cases of delayed recovery, relevant findings can be masked or destroyed and therefor being inaccessible in standard pathology practice comprising just forensic autopsy and histopathology. Such cases are of considerable risk of remaining unsolved without legal consequences for those responsible. Further, no lessons can be drawn from these scenarios to improve flight safety and prevent future mishaps. Aims and Methods: To learn from previously unsolved aircraft accidents, re-evaluations of the investigation files and modern molecular pathology studies were performed. Genetic testing involved predominantly PCR-based analysis of gene regulation, studying DNA promotor methylations, RNA transcription and posttranscriptional regulation. In addition, the presence or absence of infective agents, particularly DNA- and RNA-viruses, was studied. Technical adjustments of molecular genetic procedures when working with archived sample material were necessary. Standards for the proper interpretation of the respective findings had to be settled. Results and Discussion: Additional molecular genetic testing significantly contributes to the quality of forensic pathology assessment in aviation mishaps. Previously undetected cardiotropic viruses potentially explain e.g., a pilot’s sudden incapacitation resulting from cardiac failure or myocardial arrhythmia. In contrast, negative results for infective agents participate in ruling out concerns about an accident pilot’s fitness to fly and the aeromedical examiner’s precedent decision to issue him or her an aeromedical certificate. Care must be taken in the interpretation of genetic testing for pre-existing diseases such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or ischemic heart disease. Molecular markers such as mRNAs or miRNAs, which can establish these diagnoses in clinical patients, might be misleading in-flight crew members because of adaptive changes in their tissues resulting from repeated mild hypoxia during flight, for instance. Military pilots especially demonstrate significant physiological adjustments to their somatic burdens in flight, such as cardiocirculatory stress and air combat maneuvers. Their non-pathogenic alterations in gene regulation and expression will likely be misinterpreted for genuine disease by inexperienced investigators. Conclusions: The growing influence of molecular pathology on legal medicine practice has found its way into aircraft accident investigation. As appropriate quality standards for laboratory work and data interpretation are provided, forensic genetic testing supports the medico-legal analysis of aviation mishaps and potentially reduces the number of unsolved events in the future.

Keywords: aviation medicine, aircraft accident investigation, forensic pathology, molecular pathology

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Authors: Ivan Potapov

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Background: The aim of this paper is to investigate poly code texts in the communication of youth antisocial groups. Nowadays, the notion of a text has numerous interpretations. Besides all the approaches to defining a text, we must take into account semiotic and cultural-semiotic ones. Rapidly developing IT, world globalization, and new ways of coding of information increase the role of the cultural-semiotic approach. However, the development of computer technologies leads also to changes in the text itself. Polycode texts play a more and more important role in the everyday communication of the younger generation. Therefore, the research of functional and pragmatic aspects of both verbal and non-verbal content is actually quite important. Methods and Material: For this survey, we applied the combination of four methods of text investigation: not only intention and content analysis but also semantic and syntactic analysis. Using these methods provided us with information on general text properties, the content of transmitted messages, and each communicants’ intentions. Besides, during our research, we figured out the social background; therefore, we could distinguish intertextual connections between certain types of polycode texts. As the sources of the research material, we used 20 public channels in the popular messenger Telegram and data extracted from smartphones, which belonged to arrested members of antisocial groups. Findings: This investigation let us assert that polycode texts can be characterized as highly intertextual language unit. Moreover, we could outline the classification of these texts based on communicants’ intentions. The most common types of antisocial polycode texts are a call to illegal actions and agitation. What is more, each type has its own semantic core: it depends on the sphere of communication. However, syntactic structure is universal for most of the polycode texts. Conclusion: Polycode texts play important role in online communication. The results of this investigation demonstrate that in some social groups using these texts has a destructive influence on the younger generation and obviously needs further researches.

Keywords: text, polycode text, internet linguistics, text analysis, context, semiotics, sociolinguistics

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