Search results for: Ariel Cohen

Authors: Helen Pushkarskaya, David Tolin, Lital Ruderman, Ariel Kirshenbaum, J. MacLaren Kelly, Christopher Pittenger, Ifat Levy

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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) produces profound morbidity. Difficulties with decision making and intolerance of uncertainty are prominent clinical features of OCD. The nature and etiology of these deficits are poorly understood. We used a well-validated choice task, grounded in behavioral economic theory, to investigate differences in valuation and value-based choice during decision making under uncertainty in 20 unmedicated participants with OCD and 20 matched healthy controls. Participants’ choices were used to assess individual decision-making characteristics. Compared to controls, individuals with OCD were less consistent in their choices and less able to identify options that were unambiguously preferable. These differences correlated with symptom severity. OCD participants did not differ from controls in how they valued uncertain options when outcome probabilities were known (risk) but were more likely than controls to avoid uncertain options when these probabilities were imprecisely specified (ambiguity). These results suggest that the underlying neural mechanisms of valuation and value-based choices during decision-making are abnormal in OCD. Individuals with OCD show elevated intolerance of uncertainty, but only when outcome probabilities are themselves uncertain. Future research focused on the neural valuation network, which is implicated in value-based computations, may provide new neurocognitive insights into the pathophysiology of OCD. Deficits in decision-making processes may represent a target for therapeutic intervention.

Keywords: obsessive compulsive disorder, decision-making, uncertainty intolerance, risk aversion, ambiguity aversion, valuation

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Authors: Vadim E. Levit, Eugen Mandrescu

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A graph is well-covered if all its maximal independent sets are of the same size. A well-covered graph is 1-well-covered if deletion of every vertex of the graph leaves it well-covered. It is known that a graph without isolated vertices is 1-well-covered if and only if every two disjoint independent sets are included in two disjoint maximum independent sets. Well-covered graphs are related to combinatorial commutative algebra (e.g., every Cohen-Macaulay graph is well-covered, while each Gorenstein graph without isolated vertices is 1-well-covered). Our intent is to construct several infinite families of 1-well-covered graphs using the following known graph operations: corona, join, and rooted product of graphs. Adopting some known techniques used to advantage for well-covered graphs, one can prove that: if the graph G has no isolated vertices, then the corona of G and H is 1-well-covered if and only if H is a complete graph of order two at least; the join of the graphs G and H is 1-well-covered if and only if G and H have the same independence number and both are 1-well-covered; if H satisfies the property that every three pairwise disjoint independent sets are included in three pairwise disjoint maximum independent sets, then the rooted product of G and H is 1-well-covered, for every graph G. These findings show not only how to generate some more families of 1-well-covered graphs, but also that, to this aim, sometimes, one may use graphs that are not necessarily 1-well-covered.

Keywords: maximum independent set, corona, concatenation, join, well-covered graph

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Authors: C. Cohen, O. Levi

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This work introduces a generalization of the classical Tullock’s model of one-stage contests under complete information with multiple unlimited numbers of contestants. In classical Tullock’s model, the contest winner is not necessarily the highest bidder. Instead, the winner is determined according to a draw in which the winning probabilities are the relative contestants’ efforts. The Tullock modeling fits well political contests, in which the winner is not necessarily the highest effort contestant. This work presents a modified model which uses a simple non-discriminating rule, namely, a parameter to influence the total costs planned for an election, for example, the contest designer can control the contestants' efforts. The winner pays a fee, and the losers are reimbursed the same amount. Our proposed model includes a mechanism that controls the efforts exerted and balances competition, creating a tighter, less predictable and more interesting contest. Additionally, the proposed model follows the fairness criterion in the sense that it does not alter the contestants' probabilities of winning compared to the classic Tullock’s model. We provide an analytic solution for the contestant's optimal effort and expected reward.

Keywords: contests, Tullock's model, political elections, control expenses

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Authors: Nouini Adrâa

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Background: The management of dizziness and vertigo can be challenging in the emergency department (ED). It is important to rapidly diagnose vertebrobasilar stroke (VBS), as therapeutic options such as thrombolysis and anticoagulation require prompt decisions. Objective: This study aims to assess the rate of misdiagnosis in patients with dizziness caused by VBS in the ED. Methods and Results: The cohort was comprised of 82 patients with a mean age of 55 years; 51% were women and 49% were men. Among dizzy patients, 15% had VBS. We used Cohen’s kappa test to quantify the agreement between two raters – namely, emergency physicians and neurologists – regarding the causes of dizziness in the ED. The agreement between emergency physicians and neurologists is low for the final diagnosis of central vertigo disorders and moderate for the final diagnosis of VBS. The sensitivity of ED clinal examination for benign conditions such as BPPV was low at 56%. The positive predictive value of the ED clinical examination for VBS was also low at 50%. Conclusion: There is a substantial rate of misdiagnosis in patients with dizziness caused by VBS in the ED. To reduce the number of missing diagnoses of VBS in the future, there is a need to train emergency physicians in neuro vestibular examinations, including the HINTS examination for acute vestibular syndrome (AVS) and the Dix-Hallpike (DH) maneuver for episodic vestibular syndrome. Using video head impulse tests could help reduce the rate of misdiagnosis of VBS in the ED.

Keywords: dizziness, vertigo, vestibular disease, emergency

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Authors: Amani M. Al-Hussan

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The current study aimed to explore the effects of science teaching strategies course (CURR422) on developing academic self efficacy and motivation towards teaching it in female primary classroom teachers in College of Education in Princess Nora Bint AbdulRahman University. The study sample consisted (48) female student teachers. To achieve the study aims, the researcher designed two instruments: Academic Self Efficacy Scale & Motivation towards Teaching Science Scale while maintaining the validity and reliability of these instruments.. Several statistical procedures were conducted i.e. Independent Sample T-test, Eta Square, Cohen D effect size. The results reveal that there were statistically significant differences between means of pre and post test for the sample in favor of post test. For academic self efficacy scale, Eta square was 0.99 and the effect size was 27.26. While for the motivation towards teaching science scale, Eta was 0.99 and the effect size was 51.72. These results indicated high effects of independent variable on the dependent variable.

Keywords: academic self efficiency, achievement, motivation, primary classroom teacher, science teaching strategies course, evaluation

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Authors: Jin Koo

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The main purpose of this study is to investigate the comparability of student scores obtained from Test Center (TC) vs. Online-Proctored (OP) Delivery in the three subject areas of Verbal, Reading, and Mathematics for each level (Middle and Upper). Also, this study examines whether there is an interaction effect between test deliveries (TC vs. OP) and gender/ethnicity/ability level in each subject area. The test used in this study is a multiple-choice standardized test for students in grades 5-11. For this study, data were collected during the 2022-23 test administration. This research used a one-factor between-subjects ANOVA and Cohen’s d to compare the TC and OP groups’ test means for each level and each subject area. Also, 2-factor between-subjects ANOVAs were conducted to investigate examinee characteristics: gender (male and female), ethnicity (African-American, Asian, Hispanic, Multi-racial, and White), and ability level (low, average, and high-ability groups). The author found that students’ test scores in some subject areas varied between TC and OP test deliveries by gender, ethnicity, and ability level, meaning that gender, ethnicity, and ability level were related to the score difference. These results will be discussed according to the current testing systems.

Keywords: ability level, ethnicity, gender, online-proctored delivery, standardized test, test center

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Authors: Naor Cohen

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In recent years, business schools made teaching ethical leadership a higher priority. Greater attention to moral and ethical concepts and reasoning processes may prove beneficial to future business leaders. But with a shift in focus, there is a need for a shift in pedagogy. This paper explores an imaginative literature-based pedagogy in the teaching of ethical leadership. An imaginative literature-based pedagogy uses works of fiction to help students build moral analysis and moral judgment capabilities through a rigorous assessment of the moral soundness of actions, motivations, rationales, and consequences portrayed in works of fiction. Business students enrolled in 4 leadership senior-level courses were assigned the White Tiger: A Novel by Aravind Adiga as their main course reading. Students' engagement was measured as a three-factor construct exploring cognitive engagement, behavioural engagement and emotional engagement. In addition, students' final papers were analyzed using thematic content analysis. This paper will present the results of this analysis and argue that incorporating fiction into the leadership curriculum allows students to explore the dire consequences of avoiding countervailing interests, engaging in dishonesty and engaging in moral puffery-based leadership.

Keywords: ethical leadership, empathetic imagination, business education, pedagogy, fiction

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Authors: Sharon Cayzer-Haller, Shir Ginosar-Yaari, Ariel Knafo-Noam

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The 21st century emerged as the digital century, and it is marked by a wide range of technological developments and changes, followed by potential changes in human communication skills. This technological revolution has changed human means of communication in many different ways: children and adolescents are spending much of their time in front of screens, participating in all sorts of online activities (even more so since the outbreak of COVID-19). The current study focuses on the role of values in adolescents' online bystanders' behavior. Values are cognitive, abstract representations of desirable goals that motivate behavior, and we hypothesized finding significant associations between specific values and differential online bystanders' feelings and behavior. Data was collected through online questionnaires that measured the participants' values, using Schwartz's short version of the Portrait Values Questionnaire (Schwartz, 2012). Participants’ online behavior was assessed in a questionnaire addressing reactions to situations of cyber shaming and cyberbullying, and specifically positive feelings and pro-social behavior (e.g., more supportive reactions) toward the victims, as opposed to different offensive behavioral reactions (such as laughing at the victim or ignoring the situation). Participants were recruited with a commercial research panel company, and 308 Israeli adolescents' values and online behavior were examined (mean age 15.2). As hypothesized, results show significant associations between self-transcendence values (universalism and benevolence) and conservation values (conformity, tradition, and security). These two groups of values were positively correlated with pro-social bystanders' feelings and behavior. On the opposite side of the values scale, the value of power was negatively associated with the participants' pro-social behavior, and positively associated with offensive behavioral reactions. Further research is needed, but we conclude that values serve as crucial guiding factors in directing adolescents' online feelings and behavior.

Keywords: adolescents, values, cyberbullying, online behavior, power

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Authors: Chloe T. Cohen, Sarah Johnson

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Psychoanalytic literature has traditionally focused on the theoretical explanations of psychological phenomena rather than empirical research to support those ideas. Many clinicians assume a lack of empirical verification of the theories that underpin psychoanalytic treatment disqualifies psychoanalytic psychotherapy as an effective clinical technique. One such theory is Lacan’s ‘Name of the Father’, which extended Freud’s idea of the importance of a successful resolution of the Oedipal problem, situating it even earlier in psychological development. Lacan posited that the Name of the Father construct (establishing psychological structure and preventing psychosis) was best represented in language use, metaphor, and linguistic structure. However, no study to date has empirically examined the Name of the Father construct. The current study attempts to measure Lacan’s ‘Name of the Father’ construct through linguistic structure and metaphor use and to compare it with Freud’s ‘original introject’. We will then investigate whether they relate to adult personality functioning (measured using the Rorschach Inkblot Test). We aim to contribute to the empirical study of psychoanalytic concepts by operationalizing and validating the Name of the Father empirically. We also aim to examine the relationship of the Name of the Father construct to Freud’s concept of the original introject and to adult pathology. We hypothesize that measures of the original introject will mediate the pathway between linguistic indicators of Lacan’s Name of the Father construct and personality functioning.

Keywords: Lacan, Name of the Father, original introject, personality functioning, psychoanalysis

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Authors: Wanlapa Kunsongkeit

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When a person gets sick, he or she goes to hospital for the treatment. In the case of severe illness, there might be no hope for some patients to recover. In this state, the patients will face anxiety and fear. These feelings make the patients suffer in mind until the time of death or called bad death. These feeling also directly effect to family members who are loved ones and significant persons of the patients. They can help the dying patients to have good death. From literature reviews, many studies focused on good death in patients and nurses. Little is known about good death in family member. Therefore, the qualitative research based on Heideggerian phenomenology aimed to describe good death as perceived by the critically ill patients’ family members. Five informants who were the critically ill patients’ family members at hospital in Chonburi were purposively selected. Data were collected by in-depth interview, observation and critical reflection during January, 2014 to March, 2014 . Cohen, Kahn and Steeves’s (2000) steps guided data analysis. Trustworthiness was maintained throughout the study following Lincoln and Guba’s guidelines. Four themes were emerged, which were no suffering, acceptance of imminent death, preparing for death, and being with the family. This findings provide deep understanding of good death as perceived by the critically ill patients’ family members. It can be basic information for nurses to provide good death nursing care and further explore for development of knowledge regarding good death nursing care.

Keywords: good death, family member, critically ill patient, phenomenology

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Authors: Silvia Riva, Ezekiel Chinyio

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Introduction: Workers in different sectors are prone to stress at varying levels. They also respond to stress in different ways. An inspiration was to study stress development amongst workers in a work dangerous setting (Construction Industry) as well as how they cope with specific stress incidences. Objective: The overarching objective of the study was to study and correlate between stress and coping strategies. The research was conducted in an organizational industrial setting, and its findings on the coping actions of construction workers are reported in this article. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted with 80 participants aged 18-62. These were working for three different construction organizations in the West Midland region of the UK. Their coping actions were assessed using the COPE Inventory (Carver, 2013) instrument while the level of stress was assessed by the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, 1994). Results: Out of 80 workers (20 female, 25%, mean age 40.66), positive reinterpretation (M=4.15, SD=2.60) and active coping (M=4.18, SD=2.55) were the two most adaptive strategies reported by the workers while the most frequent maladaptive behavior was mental disengagement (M=3.62, SD=2.25). Among the maladaptive tactics, alcohol and drug abuse was a significant moderator in stress reactions (t=6.12, p=.000). Conclusion: Some maladaptive strategies are adopted by construction workers to cope with stress. So, it could be argued that programs of stress prevention and control in the construction industry have a basis to develop solutions that can improve and strengthen effective interventions when workers are stressed or getting stressed.

Keywords: coping, organization, strategies, stress

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Authors: Jeet Shende, Leonid Shpanin, Misko Abramiuk, Mattew Goodwin, Nicholas Pickett

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Energy harvesting on board the Unmanned Ariel Vehicle (UAV) is one of the most rapidly growing emerging technologies and consists of the collection of small amounts of energy, for different applications, from unconventional sources that are incidental to the operation of the parent system or device. Different energy harvesting techniques have already been investigated in the multirotor drones, where the energy collected comes from the systems surrounding ambient environment and typically involves the conversion of solar, kinetic, or thermal energies into electrical energy. The energy harvesting from the vibrated propeller using the piezoelectric components inside the propeller has also been proven to be feasible. However, the impact on the UAV flight performance using this technology has not been investigated. In this contribution the impact on the multirotor drone operation has been investigated at different flight control configurations which support the efficient performance of the propeller vibration energy harvesting. The industrially made MANTIS X8-PRO octocopter frame kit was used to explore the octocopter operation which was modelled using SolidWorks 3D CAD package for simulation studies. The octocopter flight control strategy is developed through integration of the SolidWorks 3D CAD software and MATLAB/Simulink simulation environment for evaluation of the octocopter behaviour under different simulated flight modes and octocopter geometries. Analysis of the two modelled octocopter geometries and their flight performance is presented via graphical representation of simulated parameters. The possibility of not using the landing gear in octocopter geometry is demonstrated. The conducted study evaluates the octocopter’s flight control technique and its impact on the energy harvesting mechanism developed on board the octocopter. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) simulation results of the modelled octocopter in operation are presented exploring the performance of the octocopter flight control and structural configurations. Applications of both octocopter structures and their flight control strategy are discussed.

Keywords: energy harvesting, flight control modelling, object modeling, unmanned aerial vehicle

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Authors: Aicha Bouhlala, Sabah Chettibi

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A systematic investigation on structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of Ce₀.₇₅A₀.₂₅O₂ (A = W, Mo) is performed using first-principles calculations within the framework Full-Potential Linear Augmented Plane Wave (FP-LAPW) method based on the Density Functional Theory (DFT). The exchange-correlation potential has been treated using the generalized gradient approximation (WC-GGA) developed by Wu-Cohen. The host compound CeO2 was doped with transition metal atoms W and Mo in the doping concentration of 25% to replace the Ce atom. In structural properties, the equilibrium lattice constant is observed for the W-doped CeO₂ compound which exists within the value of 5.314 A° and the value of 5.317 A° for Mo-doped CeO2. The present results show that Ce₀.₇₅A₀.₂₅O₂ (A=W, Mo) systems exhibit semiconducting behavior in both spin channels. Although undoped CeO₂ is a non-magnetic semiconductor. The band structure of these doped compounds was plotted and they exhibit direct band gap at the Fermi level (EF) in the majority and minority spin channels. In the magnetic properties, the doped atoms W and Mo play a vital role in increasing the magnetic moments of the supercell and the values of the total magnetic moment are found to be 1.998 μB for Ce₀.₇₅W₀.₂₅O₂ and to be 2.002 μB for Ce₀.₇₅Mo₀.₂₅O₂ compounds. Calculated results indicate that the magneto-electronic properties of the Ce₁₋ₓAₓO₂(A= W, Mo) oxides supply a new way to the experimentalist for the potential applications in spintronics devices.

Keywords: FP-LAPW, DFT, CeO₂, properties

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Authors: Su-Lin Yu

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This paper will explore how gender and care discourse are intersected, reformulated and contested in American daughters’ caregiving memoirs. In particular, it will attempt to show how gender structure has worked to regulate a daughter’s response to her mother’s illness. In other words, how do certain cultural notions and class difference affect the ways in which the daughter enacts her caregiving response to her mother’s illness? What is the interrelation of female subjectivity and care practice? To understand care and gender politics in the memoirs, this paper will engage in close readings of five texts: Sandra Bullock Simith’s Trading Places: Becoming My Mother’s Mother: A Daughter’s Memoir (2015),Martha Stettinius’s Inside the Dementia Epidemic: A Daughter’s Memoir (2012), Patricia Thompson Collamer’s Grace on the Ledge: a Caregiver's Memoir, Judith Henry’s The Dutiful Daughter's Guide to Caregiving: A Practical Memoir (2015), and The Daughter's Dilemma: A Survival Guide to Caring for an Aging, Abusive Parent by Emily Wanderer Cohen (2018). By analyzing these texts, this paper will show why adult daughters become the primary caregivers, how gender norms and care practices influence a daughter’s thoughts and actions, and how it affects her self-understanding. Taken as a whole, then, the paper will provide an important examination not only of care and gender politics, but also a contribution to the intersecting discourses of illness, death, and mother-daughter relationship.

Keywords: care ethics, daughter-mother relationship, gender politics, memoirs

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Authors: Einat Peles, Anat Sason, Ariel Claman, Gabriel Barkay, Miriam Adelson

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Individuals with opioid addiction are characterized as suffering from stress responses disturbance, including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, and autonomic nervous system function. HPA axis is known to be stabilized during methadone maintenance treatment (MMT). Mindfulness (present-oriented, nonjudgmental awareness of cognitions, emotions, perceptions, and habitual behavioral reactions in daily life) counteracts stress. To our knowledge, the relation between perceived stress and mindfulness trait among MMT patients has never been studied. To measure indices of mindfulness and their relation to perceived stress among MMT patients, a cross-sectional random sample of current MMT patients was performed using questionnaires for perceived stress (PSS) and mindfulness trait (FFMQ- yields a total score and individual scores for five internally consistent mindfulness factors: Observing, Describing, Acting with awareness and consciousness, Non-judging the inner experience, Non-reactivity to the inner experience). Two additional groups were studied to serve as reference groups; Medical students that are known to suffer from stress, and Axis II psychiatric diagnosis patients that are known to characterized with poor mindfulness trait. Results: Groups included 41 MMT patients, 27 Axis II patients and 36 medical students. High perceived stressed (PSS≥18) defined among 61% of the MMT patients and 50% of the medical students. Highest mindfulness score observed among non-stressed MMT patients (153.5±17.2) followed by the groups of stressed MMT and non-stressed student (128.9±17.0 and 130.5±13.3 respectively), with the lowest score among stressed students (116.3±17.9) (multivariate analyses, corrected model p (F=14.3) < 0.0005, p (group) < 0.0005, p (stress) < 0.0005, p (interaction) =0.2). Linear inverse correlations were found between perceived stress score and mindfulness score among MMT patients (R=-0.65, p < 0.0005) and students (R=-0.51, p=0.002). Axis II patients had the lowest mindfulness score (103.4±25.3). Conclusion: High prevalence of high perceived stressed which characterized with poor mindfulness trait observed in both MMT patients and medical students, two different population groups. The effectiveness of mindfulness treatment in reducing stress and improve mindfulness trait should be evaluated to improve rehabilitation of MMT patients, and students success.

Keywords: mindfulness, stress, methadone maintenance treatment, medical students

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Authors: Aslanova Aida Ramiz

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One of the important aspects of rheophysical problems in oil and gas extraction is the regulation of thermohydrodynamic properties of liquid systems using physical and physicochemical methods. It is known that the constituent parts of real fluid systems in oil and gas production are practically non-conducting, non-magnetically active components. Real heterogeneous hydrocarbon systems, from the structural point of view, consist of an infinite number of microscopic local ion-electrostatic cores distributed in the volume of the dispersion medium. According to Cohen's rule, double electric layers are formed at the contact boundaries of components in contact (oil-gas, oil-water, water-condensate, etc.) in a heterogeneous system, and as a result, each real fluid system can be represented as a complex composition of a set of local electrostatic fields. The electrokinetic properties of this structure are characterized by a certain electrode potential. Prof. F.H. Valiyev called this potential the α-factor and came up with the idea that many natural and technological rheophysical processes (effects) are essentially electrokinetic in nature, and by changing the α-factor, it is possible to adjust the physical properties of real hydraulic systems, including thermohydrodynamic parameters. Based on this idea, extensive research work was conducted, and the possibility of reducing hydraulic resistances and improving rheological properties was experimentally discovered in real liquid systems by reducing the electrical potential with various physical and chemical methods.

Keywords: microcracked, electrode potential, hydraulic resistance, Newtonian fluid, rheophysical properties

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Authors: Ran Etgar, Yuval Cohen, Erel Avineri

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One of the major challenges of transportation in medium sized inner-cities (such as Tel-Aviv) is the last-mile solution. Personal rapid transit (PRT) seems like an applicable candidate for this, as it combines the benefits of personal (car) travel with the operational benefits of transit. However, the investment required for large area PRT grid is significant and there is a need to economically justify such investment by correctly evaluating the grid capacity. PRT main elements are small automated vehicles (sometimes referred to as podcars) operating on a network of specially built guideways. The research is looking at a specific concept of elevated PRT system. Literature review has revealed the drawbacks PRT modelling and simulation approaches, mainly due to the lack of consideration of technical and operational features of the system (such as headways, acceleration, safety issues); the detailed design of infrastructure (guideways, stations, and docks); the stochastic and sessional characteristics of demand; and safety regulations – all of them have a strong effect on the system performance. A highly detailed model of the system, developed in this research, is applying a discrete event simulation combined with an agent-based approach, to represent the system elements and the podecars movement logic. Applying a case study approach, the simulation model is used to study the capacity of the system, the expected throughput of the system, the utilization, and the level of service (journey time, waiting time, etc.).

Keywords: capacity, productivity measurement, PRT, simulation, transportation

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Authors: Marcelo Araujo da Nóbrega, Ariel Moura Vilas Boas

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This study aims to characterize the physicochemical aspects of the soils of southeastern Chapada Diamantina - Bahia related to the phytophysiognomies of this area, rupestrian field, small savanna (savanna fields), small dense savanna (savanna fields), savanna (Cerrado), dry thorny forest (Caatinga), dry thorny forest/savanna, scrub (Carrasco - ecotone), forest island (seasonal semi-deciduous forest - Capão) and seasonal semi-deciduous forest. To achieve the research objective, soil samples were collected in each plant formation and analyzed in the soil laboratory of ESALQ - USP in order to identify soil fertility through the determination of pH, organic matter, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, potential acidity, sum of bases, cation exchange capacity and base saturation. The composition of soil particles was also checked; that is, the texture, step made in the terrestrial ecosystems laboratory of the Department of Ecology of USP and in the soil laboratory of ESALQ. Another important factor also studied was to show the variations in the vegetation cover in the region as a function of soil moisture in the different existing physiographic environments. Another study carried out was a comparison between the average soil moisture data with precipitation data from three locations with very different phytophysiognomies. The soils found in this part of Bahia can be classified into 5 classes, with a predominance of oxisols. All of these classes have a great diversity of physical and chemical properties, as can be seen in photographs and in particle size and fertility analyzes. The deepest soils are located in the Central Pediplano of Chapada Diamantina where the dirty field, the clean field, the executioner and the semideciduous seasonal forest (Capão) are located, and the shallower soils were found in the rupestrian field, dry thorny forest, and savanna fields, the latter located on a hillside. As for the variations in water in the region's soil, the data indicate that there were large spatial variations in humidity in both the rainy and dry periods.

Keywords: Bahia, Brazil, chapada diamantina, phytophysiognomies, soils

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Authors: Fernando Valerio-Holguin

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Over the recent three decades, the tourism industry in the Dominican Republic has had an enormous impact on the country’s culture. The arrival of tourists from Germany, France, Italy, Russia and the United States has rewritten Dominican cultural identity and created a cultural palimpsest in the areas of language, gastronomy, habits, fashion, values, and gender relations. As a consequence of tourism, a prostitution network has flourished across the country. In the film Sand Dollars (2015) directed by Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas, Noelí (Janet Mojica), a young mulatto woman, altogether with her boyfriend (Ricardo Ariel Toribio), strips tourists of dollars and euro through prostitution. One of her frequent clients is Anne, a mature French woman (Geraldine Chaplin). While Noeli’s goal is to get all the euros she can, Anne falls in love with her and tries to bring her to France. Both the content of the film and its cinematographic languages are analyzed in light of theory of coloniality. This concept shows how European and American tourism, through the power of money, perpetuates colonial discourse, i. e., how race and ethnocentrism permeate cultural activities in their former colonies. Moreover, in the content analysis of the film the concepts of exchange value and fetishism are crucial to understanding how the colonial body becomes sexual commodity. They facilitate grasping the film’s inequity in terms of power in the relationship between the two women: the white old European woman and the young, poor, third-world mulatta. Even though the film attempts to break away from compulsory heterosexuality, the power relation between the two women persists due to the presence of the axis of race, ethnicity, age and gender. Both the novel Les dollars des sables written by Jean-Noel Pancrazi, and the film Sand Dollars offer an interesting insight into sex tourism and coloniality and shed additional light on the power relations between the former colonizers and its colonies.

Keywords: coloniality, ethnocentrism, exchange value, Europe, fetishism, money, power, prostitution, sex tourism, United States of America

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Authors: Alireza Monzavi Chaleshtori, Mahnaz Aliakbari Dehkordi, Maryam Aliakbari, Solmaz Seyed Mostafaii

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Objective: Considering the growing obesity among children and the role of mother's psychological factors as well as the need to prevent childhood obesity, this study aimed to investigate the mediating role of mother's self-efficacy in the relationship between mother's stress and depression and child obesity. Method: For this purpose, in a descriptive-correlation study, 222 mothers and children aged 1 to 5 years in Tehran, who had the opportunity to answer an online questionnaire, were selected by random sampling and to the depression scales of the Kroenke and Spitzer Patient Health Questionnaire, Cohen's stress and Self-efficacy of Berkeley mothers answered. Pearson correlation test and path analysis were used for data analysis. Findings: The findings showed that maternal depression had an indirect and significant effect on child obesity, and the effect of stress and depression on child obesity was indirect and non-significant. Therefore, the model has a good fit with the research data, and stress and depression indirectly predicted child obesity with the mediating role of self-efficacy. Conclusion: The hypothesized model tested based on mother's stress and depression with the mediating role of mother's self-efficacy was a good model in explaining the prediction of child obesity. Based on the findings of this research, a practical framework can be provided to explain the psychological factors of the mother in relation to child obesity and its treatment.

Keywords: stress, self-efficacy, child obesity, depression

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Authors: Hana Barak, Alex Sivan, Ariel Kushmaro

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Microorganisms are the most diverse and abundant life forms on Earth and account for a large portion of the Earth’s biomass and biodiversity. To date though, our knowledge regarding microbial life is lacking, as it is based mainly on information from cultivated organisms. Indeed, microbiologists have borrowed from astrophysics and termed the ‘uncultured microbial majority’ as ‘microbial dark matter’. The realization of how diverse and unexplored microorganisms are, actually stems from recent advances in molecular biology, and in particular from novel methods for sequencing microbial small subunit ribosomal RNA genes directly from environmental samples termed next-generation sequencing (NGS). This has led us to use NGS that generates several gigabases of sequencing data in a single experimental run, to identify and classify environmental samples of microorganisms. In metagenomics sequencing analysis (both 16S and shotgun), sequences are compared to reference databases that contain only small part of the existing microorganisms and therefore their taxonomy assignment may reveal groups of unknown microorganisms or origins. These unknowns, or the ‘microbial sequences dark matter’, are usually ignored in spite of their great importance. The goal of this work was to develop an improved bioinformatics method that enables more complete analyses of the microbial communities in numerous environments. Therefore, NGS was used to identify previously unknown microorganisms from three different environments (industrials wastewater, Negev Desert’s rocks and water wells at the Arava valley). 16S rRNA gene metagenome analysis of the microorganisms from those three environments produce about ~4 million reads for 75 samples. Between 0.1-12% of the sequences in each sample were tagged as ‘Unassigned’. Employing relatively simple methodology for resequencing of original gDNA samples through Sanger or MiSeq Illumina with specific primers, this study demonstrates that the mysterious ‘Unassigned’ group apparently contains sequences of candidate phyla. Those unknown sequences can be located on a phylogenetic tree and thus provide a better understanding of the ‘sequences dark matter’ and its role in the research of microbial communities and diversity. Studying this ‘dark matter’ will extend the existing databases and could reveal the hidden potential of the ‘microbial dark matter’.

Keywords: bacteria, bioinformatics, dark matter, Next Generation Sequencing, unknown

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Authors: Ariel Vilchez, Francisca Acevedo, Rodrigo Navia

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The wound healing process can be accelerated and improved by the action of antioxidants such as curcumin (Cur) over the tissues; however, the efficacy of curcumin used through the digestive system is not enough to exploit its benefits. Electrospinning presents an alternative to carry curcumin directly to the wounds, and polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is proposed as the matrix to load curcumin owing to its biodegradable and biocompatible properties. PHB is among 150 types of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) identified, it is a natural thermoplastic polyester produced by microbial fermentation obtained from microorganisms. The proposed objective is to develop electrospun bacterial PHB-based microfibers containing curcumin for possible biomedical applications. Commercial PHB was solved in Chloroform: Dimethylformamide (4:1) to a final concentration of 7% m/V. Curcumin was added to the polymeric solution at 1%, and 7% m/m regarding PHB. The electrospinning equipment (NEU-BM, China) with a rotary collector was used to obtain Cur-PHB fibers at different voltages and flow rate of the polymeric solution considering a distance of 20 cm from the needle to the collector. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to determine the diameter and morphology of the obtained fibers. Thermal stability was obtained from Thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis, and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) was carried out in order to study the chemical bonds and interactions. A preliminary curcumin release to Phosphate Buffer Saline (PBS) pH = 7.4 was obtained in vitro and measured by spectrophotometry. PHB fibers presented an intact chemical composition regarding the original condition (dust) according to FTIR spectra, the diameter fluctuates between 0.761 ± 0.123 and 2.157 ± 0.882 μm, with different qualities according to their morphology. The best fibers in terms of quality and diameter resulted in sample 2 and sample 6, obtained at 0-10kV and 0.5 mL/hr, and 0-10kV and 1.5 mL/hr, respectively. The melting temperature resulted near 178 °C, according to the bibliography. The crystallinity of fibers decreases while curcumin concentration increases for the studied interval. The curcumin release reaches near 14% at 37 °C at 54h in PBS adjusted to a quasi-Fickian Diffusion. We conclude that it is possible to load curcumin in PHB to obtain continuous, homogeneous, and solvent-free microfibers by electrospinning. Between 0% and 7% of curcumin, the crystallinity of fibers decreases as the concentration of curcumin increases. Thus, curcumin enhances the flexibility of the obtained material. HPLC should be used in further analysis of curcumin release.

Keywords: antioxidant, curcumin, polyhydroxybutyrate, wound healing

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Authors: Dechen Tshering Vogel, Johannes T. Heverhagen, Bernard Kiss, Spyridon Arampatzis

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In addition to computed tomography (CT), contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are being increasingly used for imaging of renal lesions. The aim of this prospective study was to compare the classification of complex cystic renal lesions using the Bosniak classification with CEUS and MRI to CT. Forty-eight patients with 65 cystic renal lesions were included in this study. All participants signed written informed consent. The agreement between the Bosniak classifications of complex renal lesions ( ≥ BII-F) on CEUS and MRI were compared to that of CT and were tested using Cohen’s Kappa. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV/NPV) and the accuracy of CEUS and MRI compared to CT in the detection of complex renal lesions were calculated. Twenty-nine (45%) out of 65 cystic renal lesions were classified as complex using CT. The agreement between CEUS and CT in the classification of complex cysts was fair (agreement 50.8%, Kappa 0.31), and was excellent between MRI and CT (agreement 93.9%, Kappa 0.88). Compared to CT, MRI had a sensitivity of 96.6%, specificity of 91.7%, a PPV of 54.7%, and an NPV of 54.7% with an accuracy of 63.1%. The corresponding values for CEUS were sensitivity 100.0%, specificity 33.3%, PPV 90.3%, and NPV 97.1% with an accuracy 93.8%. The classification of complex renal cysts based on MRI and CT scans correlated well, and MRI can be used instead of CT for this purpose. CEUS can exclude complex lesions, but due to higher sensitivity, cystic lesions tend to be upgraded. However, it is useful for initial imaging, for follow up of lesions and in those patients with contraindications to CT and MRI.

Keywords: Bosniak classification, computed tomography, contrast enhanced ultrasound, cystic renal lesions, magnetic resonance imaging

Procedia PDF Downloads 113

Authors: Hosein Ghahremani, MohammadReza Khoshchehre, Pejman Hakemi

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This study involves numerical simulations of a vertical plate-type photo-bioreactor to investigate the performance of Microalgae Spirulina and Control and optimization of parameters for the digital controller by Taguchi method that MATLAB software and Qualitek-4 has been made. Since the addition of parameters such as temperature, dissolved carbon dioxide, biomass, and ... Some new physical parameters such as light intensity and physiological conditions like photosynthetic efficiency and light inhibitors are involved in biological processes, control is facing many challenges. Not only facilitate the commercial production photo-bioreactor Microalgae as feed for aquaculture and food supplements are efficient systems but also as a possible platform for the production of active molecules such as antibiotics or innovative anti-tumor agents, carbon dioxide removal and removal of heavy metals from wastewater is used. Digital controller is designed for controlling the light bioreactor until Microalgae growth rate and carbon dioxide concentration inside the bioreactor is investigated. The optimal values of the controller parameters of the S/N and ANOVA analysis software Qualitek-4 obtained With Reaction curve, Cohen-Con and Ziegler-Nichols method were compared. The sum of the squared error obtained for each of the control methods mentioned, the Taguchi method as the best method for controlling the light intensity was selected photo-bioreactor. This method compared to control methods listed the higher stability and a shorter interval to be answered.

Keywords: photo-bioreactor, control and optimization, Light intensity, Taguchi method

Procedia PDF Downloads 371

Authors: Seden Demirtaş, Feyza Tantekin Erden

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The importance of research in early childhood education is growing all around the world. This study aims to investigate research trends in graduate theses written in Turkey in the area of early childhood education. Descriptive, contextual and methodological aspects of graduate theses were analyzed to investigate the trends. A sample of the study consisted of 1000 graduate theses (n= 1000) including both MS theses and Ph.D. dissertations. Theses and dissertations were obtained from the thesis database of Council of Higher Education (CoHE). An investigation form was developed by the researcher to analyze graduate theses. The investigation forms validated by expert opinion from early childhood education department. To enhance the reliability of the investigation form, inter-coder agreement was measured by Cohen’s Kappa value (.86). Data were gathered via using the investigation form, and content analysis method was used to analyze the data. Results of the analysis were presented by descriptive statistics and frequency tables. Analysis of the study is on-going and preliminary results of the study show that master theses related to early childhood education have started to be written in 1986, and the number of the theses has increased gradually. In most of the studies, sample group consisted of children especially in between 5-6 age group. Child development, activities (applied in daily curriculum of preschools) and teaching methods are the mostly examined concepts in graduate theses. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were referred equally by researchers in these theses.

Keywords: content analysis, early childhood education, graduate thesis, research trends

Procedia PDF Downloads 231

Authors: Jocelyn Cohen

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This paper identifies a powerful synchronicity of two traditions of life-story writing in the autobiographies of ritual abuse (RA) survivors, the Christian conversion narrative and the memoir of healing from childhood sexual trauma. Using methodologies from literary studies, history, and psychology, a close reading of three RA memoirs sheds light on a taboo and deeply suspect form of violence. Treatment of RA survivors and the unique role of psychotherapists, in particular, deserve far greater attention from multi-disciplinary scholars. Each story reflects salient characteristics of the Christian conversion narrative, a genre which originated in the US in the early 19th century with the serendipitous confluence of the simultaneous emergence of print culture and the basic structures of evangelicalism during the Second Great Awakening. The impulse of writing is thus to give testimony against the sin they witnessed and endured as young children during ritual violence perpetrated within the church. Importantly, RA is seen as an inherent if obscure aspect of Christian discourse itself, not in opposition to it, and not as an aberration. In RA's memoir, healing comes in part from the Christian narrative praxis of personal redemption, framed as prevailing in a war between good and evil. In other words, storytelling itself affects the healing, much as it does by means of each writer’s 'talking cure,' in the relationship with a psychotherapist who guides her through a repair of the life-story through the excavation of traumatic memories and their integration into the writer’s psyche. Integrating literary techniques into the psychotherapeutic relationship, therapists leverage the deep linguistic structures that clients possess as a resource to aid in their healing.

Keywords: memoir, psychotherapy, religion, trauma

Procedia PDF Downloads 95

Authors: Mark Gavriel, Ariel J. Jaffa, Dan Grisaru, David Elad

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The human endometrium-myometrium interface (EMI) is the uterine inner barrier without a separatig layer. It is composed of endometrial epithelial cells (EEC) and endometrial stromal cells (ESC) in the endometrium and myometrial smooth muscle cells (MSMC) in the myometrium. The EMI undergoes structural remodeling during the menstruation cycle which are essential for human reproduction. Recently, we co-cultured a layer-by-layer in vitro model of EEC, ESC and MSMC on a synthetic membrane for mechanobiology experiments. We also treated the model with progesterone and β-estradiol in order to mimic the in vivo receptive uterus In the present study we analyzed the cytokines profile in a single layer of EEC the hormonal treated in vitro model of the EMI. The methodologies of this research include simple tissue-engineering . First, we cultured commercial EEC (RL95-2, ATCC® CRL-1671™) in 24-wellplate. Then, we applied an hormonal stimuli protocol with 17-β-estradiol and progesterone in time dependent concentration according to the human physiology that mimics the menstrual cycle. We collected cell supernatant samples of control, pre-ovulation, ovulation and post-ovulaton periods for analysis of the secreted proteins and cytokines. The cytokine profiling was performed using the Proteome Profiler Human XL Cytokine Array Kit (R&D Systems, Inc., USA) that can detect105 human soluble cytokines. The relative quantification of all the cytokines will be analyzed using xMAP – LUMINEX. We conducted a fishing expedition with the 4 membranes Proteome Profiler. We processed the images, quantified the spots intensity and normalized these values by the negative control and reference spots at the membrane. Analyses of the relative quantities that reflected change higher than 5% of the control points of the kit revealed the The results clearly showed that there are significant changes in the cytokine level for inflammation and angiogenesis pathways. Analysis of tissue-engineered models of the uterine wall will enable deeper investigation of molecular and biomechanical aspects of early reproductive stages (e.g. the window of implantation) or developments of pathologies.

Keywords: tissue-engineering, hormonal stimuli, reproduction, multi-layer uterine model, progesterone, β-estradiol, receptive uterine model, fertility

Procedia PDF Downloads 97

Authors: Chia-Chen Hsieh, Fei-Hsiu Hsiao

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Objective: To examine the effects of supportive care interventions on depressive symptoms in patients with lung cancer. Methods: The databases of Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Ovid EMBASE, PubMed, and Chinese Electronic Periodical Services (CEPS) were searched from their inception until September 2015. We included the studies with randomized controlled trial design that compared standard care with supportive care interventions using psychotherapeutic or exercises approach. The standardized mean differences (SMD) (Cohen’s d) were calculated to estimate the treatment effects. The Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool was used for quality assessment and subgroup analysis was conducted to identify possible sources of heterogeneity. Results: A total of 1472 patients with lung cancer were identified. Compared with standard care, the overall effects of all supportive care interventions significantly reduced depressive symptoms (SMD = -0.74 with 95% CI = -1.07 to -0.41), and the effect was maintained at the 4th, 8th, and 12th weeks of follow-up. Either psychotherapy combined with psychoeducation or exercise alone produced significant improvements in depressive symptoms, while psychoeducation alone did not. The greater improvements in depressive symptoms occurred in lung cancer patients with severe depressive symptoms at baseline, total duration of interventions of less than ten weeks, and intervention provided through face-to-face delivery. Conclusions: Psychotherapy combined with psychoeducation can help patients manage the causes of depressive symptoms, including both symptom distress and psychological trauma due to lung cancer. Exercise can target the impaired respiratory function that is a cause of depressive symptoms in lung cancer patients.

Keywords: supportive care intervention, depressive symptoms, lung cancer, meta-analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 274

Authors: Irit Rutman Halili, Tehila Zvulun, Natali Elgabsi, Revaya Cohen, Shlomo Sarig

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Active sand dunes (ASD) may cause significant damage to field crops and livelihood, and therefore, it is necessary to find a treatment that would enhance ADS soil stability. Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) contain microorganisms on the soil surface. Metabolic polysaccharides secreted by biocrust cyanobacteria glue the soil particles into aggregates, thereby stabilizing the soil surface. Filter cake powder (FCP) is a waste by-product in the final stages of the production of sugar from sugarcane, and its disposal causes significant environmental pollution. FCP contains high concentrations of polysaccharides and has recently been shown to be soil stability enhancing agent in ASD. It has been reported that adding FCP to the ASD soil surface by dispersal significantly increases the level of penetration resistance of soil biocrust (PRSB) nine weeks after a single treatment. However, it was not known whether a similar effect could be obtained by administering the FCP in liquid form by means of spraying. It has now been found that spraying a water solution of FCP onto the ASD soil surface significantly increased the level of penetration resistance of soil biocrust (PRSB) three weeks after a single treatment. These results suggest that FCP spraying can be used as a short-term soil stability-enhancing agent for ASD, while administration by dispersal might be more efficient over the long term. Finally, an additional benefit of using FCP as a soil stabilizer, either by dispersal or by spraying, is the reduction in environmental pollution that would otherwise result from the disposal of FCP solid waste.

Keywords: active sand dunes, filter cake powder, biological soil crusts, penetration resistance of soil biocrust

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Nir Schreiber, Reuven Cohen, Simi Haber

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The Potts model has been widely explored in the literature for the last few decades. While many analytical and numerical results concern with the traditional two site interaction model in various geometries and dimensions, little is yet known about models where more than two spins simultaneously interact. We consider a ferromagnetic four site interaction Potts model on the square lattice (FFPS), where the four spins reside in the corners of an elementary square. Each spin can take an integer value 1,2,...,q. We write the partition function as a sum over clusters consisting of monochromatic faces. When the number of faces becomes large, tracing out spin configurations is equivalent to enumerating large lattice animals. It is known that the asymptotic number of animals with k faces is governed by λᵏ, with λ ≈ 4.0626. Based on this observation, systems with q < 4 and q > 4 exhibit a second and first order phase transitions, respectively. The transition nature of the q = 4 case is borderline. For any q, a critical giant component (GC) is formed. In the finite order case, GC is simple, while it is fractal when the transition is continuous. Using simple equilibrium arguments, we obtain a (zero order) bound on the transition point. It is claimed that this bound should apply for other lattices as well. Next, taking into account higher order sites contributions, the critical bound becomes tighter. Moreover, for q > 4, if corrections due to contributions from small clusters are negligible in the thermodynamic limit, the improved bound should be exact. The improved bound is used to relate the critical point to the finite correlation length. Our analytical predictions are confirmed by an extensive numerical study of FFPS, using the Wang-Landau method. In particular, the q=4 marginal case is supported by a very ambiguous pseudo-critical finite size behavior.

Keywords: entropic sampling, lattice animals, phase transitions, Potts model

Procedia PDF Downloads 133