Search results for: John U. Kennedy Oubagaranadin

Authors: Nomagugu Ndlovu, Kennedy H. Erlwanger, Eliton Chivandi

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In order to enhance egg production and egg quality from layer poultry, producers use synthetic feed additives that enhance nutrient digestion and absorption in the gut. Synthetic feed additives have negative effects on consumer health hence the need to replace them with natural alternatives which are deemed safer for consumer health. Hibiscus sabdariffa calyces meal has hypolipidemic, probiotic and antioxidant activities; hence we investigated the effect of fortifying Japanese quail pullet diets with its calyces meal on egg production and egg quality. A standard Japanese quail layer diet was supplemented with H. sabdariffa calyces meal at 0%, 5% and 10% in diets 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Ninety, 5-week old Japanese quail hens were randomly allocated to and fed the layer diets for 56 days. Body mass, feed intake and egg mass, width, length, shell mass and thickness, yolk mass, height and diameter, albumen mass, length, width and height, and the proximate content and fatty acid profile of the egg albumen and yolk were determined. Supplemental fortification of the Japanese quail layer diet with H. sabdariffa calyces meal had no effect on growth performance and feed intake and conversion rate of the quail (P>0.05). The meal delayed the onset of laying and reduced (P < 0.0001) the number of eggs laid. It did not affect the external and internal egg quality parameters of Japanese quail (P > 0.05). Dietary fortification with H. sabdariffa calyces meal at 10% significantly increased the dry matter and reduced the fat content of the yolk and albumin of Japanese quail eggs (P < 0.05). Dietary H. sabdariffa calyces meal reduced the total omega 3 fatty acids in the yolk and significantly increased arachidonic acid (P = 0.0019), an omega 6 fatty acid. Inclusion of Hibiscus sabdariffa meal depressed egg production, suppressed omega 3 fatty acids and increased arachidonic acid thus, using it as a dietary supplement may result in losses to producers of Japanese quail eggs and may result in eggs whose fatty acid profile can compromise consumer health.

Keywords: quail, eggs, hibiscus sabdariffa, quality

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Authors: James A. Bryant Jr

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This article examines the far-reaching consequences of the mainstreaming of the Christian Dominionist philosophy on public schools all across the United States of America. Under the guise of “school choice,” and the ever-growing influence and legacy of its most vocal proponent, R.J. Rushdoony, the American right has declared an all-out war on public education, public schools, and the men and women who staff these institutions. For the purposes of this paper, the term “school choice” encompasses both the efforts to use public money to support private, religious education as well as the move to dramatically expand the number of children and youth who are home schooled. This article examines both the history and dangers of the homeschool movement and the vouchers-for-religious school's scheme, with particular attention to the philosophy and words of its most renowned advocate, the missionary Rousas John Rushdoony.

Keywords: history education, multicultural education, public education, Christian Dominionism

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Authors: Rodrigo S. Piera, Jailson Sales Ara´ujo, Gabriela B. Lemos, Matthew B. Weiss, John B. DeBrota, Gabriel H. Aguilar, Jacques L. Pienaar

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The Born rule was historically viewed as an independent axiom of quantum mechanics until Gleason derived it in 1957 by assuming the Hilbert space structure of quantum measurements [1]. In subsequent decades there have been diverse proposals to derive the Born rule starting from even more basic assumptions [2]. In this work, we demonstrate that a simple reinforcement-learning algorithm, having no pre-programmed assumptions about quantum theory, will nevertheless converge to a behaviour pattern that accords with the Born rule, when tasked with predicting the output of a quantum optical implementation of a symmetric informationally-complete measurement (SIC). Our findings support a hypothesis due to QBism (the subjective Bayesian approach to quantum theory), which states that the Born rule can be thought of as a normative rule for making decisions in a quantum world [3].

Keywords: quantum Bayesianism, quantum theory, quantum information, quantum measurement

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Authors: Wesley H. Brewer, John C. Sanford

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SciPaaS is a prototype development of an execution platform/middleware designed to make it easy for scientists to rapidly deploy their scientific applications (apps) to the cloud. It provides all the necessary infrastructure for running typical IXP (Input-eXecute-Plot) style apps, including: a web interface, post-processing and plotting capabilities, job scheduling, real-time monitoring of running jobs, and even a file/case manager. In this paper, first the system architecture is described and then is demonstrated for a two scientific applications: (1) a simple finite-difference solver of the inviscid Burger’s equation, and (2) Mendel’s Accountant—a forward-time population genetics simulation model. The implications of the prototype are discussed in terms of ease-of-use and deployment options, especially in cloud environments.

Keywords: web-based simulation, cloud computing, Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), rapid application development (RAD), population genetics

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Authors: John Vergara, Giuseppe Palmese

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Fundamental studies aimed at elucidating the key contributions to corrosion performance are needed to make progress toward effective and environmentally compliant corrosion control. Epoxy/amine systems are typically employed as barrier coatings for corrosion control. However, the hardening agents used for coating applications can be very complex, making fundamental studies of water and oxygen permeability challenging to carry out. Creating model building blocks for epoxy/amine coatings is the first step in carrying out these studies. We will demonstrate the synthesis and characterization of model amine building blocks from saturated fatty acids and simple amines such as diethylenetriamine (DETA) and Bis(3-aminopropyl)amine. The structure-property relationship of thermosets made from these model amines and Diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGBEA) will be discussed.

Keywords: building block, amine, synthesis, characterization

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Authors: Lexuan Zhong, Chang-Seo Lee, Fariborz Haghighat, Stuart Batterman, John C. Little

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Ultraviolet photocatalytic oxidation (UV-PCO) technology has been recommended as a green approach to health indoor environment when it is integrated into mechanical ventilation systems for inorganic and organic compounds removal as well as energy saving due to less outdoor air intakes. Although much research has been devoted to UV-PCO, limited information is available on the UV-PCO behavior tested by the mixtures in literature. This project investigated UV-PCO performance and by-product generation using a single and a mixture of acetone and MEK at 100 ppb each in a single-pass duct system in an effort to obtain knowledge associated with competitive photochemical reactions involved in. The experiments were performed at 20 % RH, 22 °C, and a gas flow rate of 128 m3/h (75 cfm). Results show that acetone and MEK mutually reduced each other’s PCO removal efficiency, particularly negative removal efficiency for acetone. These findings were different from previous observation of facilitatory effects on the adsorption of acetone and MEK on photocatalyst surfaces.

Keywords: by-products, inhibitory effect, mixture, photocatalytic oxidation

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Authors: Anna Daskalaki, Andreas Ashikalis

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This is a conceptual project that suggests an alternative type of summer camp in the forest of Rouvas in the island of Crete. Taking into account some feasts that are organised by the locals or mountaineering clubs near the church of St. John, we created a network of lightweight timber structures that serve the needs of the visitor. These structures are transformable and satisfy the need for rest, food, and sleep – this means a seat, a table and a tent are embodied in each structure. These structures blend in with the environment as they are being installed according to the following parameters: (a) the local relief, (b) the clusters of trees, and (c) the existing paths. Each timber structure could be considered as a module that could be totally independent or part of a bigger construction. The design showcases the advantages of a timber structure as it can be quite adaptive to the needs of the project, but also it is a sustainable and environmentally friendly material that can be recycled. Finally, it is important to note that the basic goal of this project is the minimum alteration of the natural environment.

Keywords: lightweight structures, timber, transformable, tent

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Authors: Rosie S. Abalos, John Patrick M. Dizon

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The operation of fish cages in mariculture parks for milkfish production remains a lucrative business for aquaculture operators. Three areas in the Philippines where mariculture parks are still in active operation were identified as study sites for this research. Financial analysis was used to estimate profitability of mariculture operations in the selected study sites. Based on the result of this research, milkfish production in mariculture parks remains profitable both in terms of net profit generation and the return on investment. To improve the profitability of aquaculture operations in mariculture parks, the relatively high price of operational inputs should be managed. As a recommendation, further studies should be conducted on the profitability of aquaculture operations in mariculture parks in the country to include other factors which may cause losses on the part of the operator and factors that may affect price of produce upon harvest.

Keywords: mariculture parks, milkfish production, aquaculture, profitability

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Authors: Mohammad A. Alolayan, John S. Evans, James K. Hammitt

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The value of statistical life has been estimated for a middle eastern country with high economical subsidization system. In this study, in-person interviews were conducted on a stratified random sample to estimate the value of mortality risk. Double-bounded dichotomous choice questions followed by open-ended question were used in the interview to investigate the willingness to pay of the respondent for mortality risk reduction. High willingness to pay was found to be associated with high income and education. Also, females were found to have lower willingness to pay than males. The estimated value of statistical life is larger than the ones estimated for western countries where taxation system exists. This estimate provides a baseline for monetizing the health benefits for proposed policy or program to the decision makers in an eastern country. Also, the value of statistical life for a country in the region can be extrapolated from this this estimate by using the benefit transfer method.

Keywords: mortality, risk, VSL, willingness-to-pay

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Authors: Jaithish John

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In this paper a brief overview is provided of the developments in interdisciplinary knowledge exchange with use of soil and geological (earth) materials in the search for evidence. The aim is to provide background information on the role and value of understanding ‘earth materials’ from the crime scene through to microscopic scale investigations to support law enforcement agencies in solving criminal and environmental concerns and investigations. This involves the sampling, analysis, interpretation and explanation presentation of all these evidences. In this context, field and laboratory methods are highlighted for the controlled / referenced sample, alibi sample and questioned sample. The aim of forensic analyses of earth materials is to associate these samples taken from a questioned source to determine if there are similar and outstanding characteristics features of earth materials crucial to support the investigation to the questioned earth materials and compare it to the controlled / referenced sample and alibi samples.

Keywords: soil, texture, grain, microscopy

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Authors: John Lorenzo Bautista, Yoon-Joong Kim

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This paper presents the development of a Filipino speech recognition tool using the HTK System. The system was trained from a subset of the Filipino Speech Corpus developed by the DSP Laboratory of the University of the Philippines-Diliman. The speech corpus was both used in training and testing the system by estimating the parameters for phonetic HMM-based (Hidden-Markov Model) acoustic models. Experiments on different mixture-weights were incorporated in the study. The phoneme-level word-based recognition of a 5-state HMM resulted in an average accuracy rate of 80.13 for a single-Gaussian mixture model, 81.13 after implementing a phoneme-alignment, and 87.19 for the increased Gaussian-mixture weight model. The highest accuracy rate of 88.70% was obtained from a 5-state model with 6 Gaussian mixtures.

Keywords: Filipino language, Hidden Markov Model, HTK system, speech recognition

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Authors: Alwyn John Lim

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Philippines is one of the most vulnerable areas to natural disasters in the world. Almost every year different types of natural disasters occur in Philippines and destroy many lives and resources of people. Although it is not possible to prevent the occurrence of disasters influenced by natural causes, proper plan and management such as disaster risk reduction may minimize the damage cause by natural disasters. Based on literature review this paper will analyze literatures on public/community awareness and education in disaster risk reduction that would help promote a country wide public disaster awareness and education program in the Philippines. This will include best practices and importance of community disaster awareness and education. The paper will also tackle ICT tools that will help boost the process and effectiveness of community/public disaster awareness and education.

Keywords: community awareness, disaster education, disaster risk reduction, Philippines

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Authors: Jo Angouri, Charlotte Kennedy, Shawnea Ting, David Rawlinson, Matthew Booker, Nigel Rees

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Ambulance services need to balance the large volume of emergency (999 in the UK) calls they receive (e.g., West Midlands Ambulance Service reports per day about 4,000 999 calls; about 679,000 calls per year are received in Wales), with dispatching limited resource for on-site intervention to the most critical cases. The process by which Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) decisions are made is related to risk assessment and involves the caller and call-taker as well as clinical teams negotiating risk levels on a case-by-case basis. Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS – also referred to as Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch System AMPDS) are used in the UK by NHS Trusts (e.,g WAST) to process and prioritise 999 calls. MPDS / AMPDS provide structured protocols for call prioritisation and call management. Protocols/policy frameworks have not been examined before in the way we propose in our project. In more detail, the risk factors that play a role in the EMD negotiation between the caller and call-taker have been analysed in both medical and social science research. Research has focused on the structural, morphological and phonological aspects that could improve, and train, human-to-human interaction or automate risk detection, as well as the medical factors that need to be captured from the caller to inform the dispatch decision. There are two significant gaps in our knowledge that we address in our work: 1. the role of backstage clinical teams in translating the caller/call-taker interaction in their internal risk negotiation and, 2. the role of policy frameworks, protocols and regulations in the framing of institutional priorities and resource allocation. We take a multi method approach and combine the analysis of 999 calls with the analysis of policy documents. We draw on interaction analysis, corpus methodologies and thematic analysis. In this paper, we report on our preliminary findings and focus in particular on the risk factors we have identified and the relationship with the regulations that create the frame within which teams operate. We close the paper with implications of our study for providing evidence-based policy intervention and recommendations for further research.

Keywords: emergency (999) call, interaction analysis, discourse analysis, ambulance dispatch, medical discourse

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Authors: Walid S. Alfuhaid, Saud A. Alghamdi, John M. Watkins, M. Edwin Sawan

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Designing a controller for stochastic decentralized interconnected large scale systems usually involves a high degree of complexity and computation ability. Noise, observability, and controllability of all system states, connectivity, and channel bandwidth are other constraints to design procedures for distributed large scale systems. The quasi-steady state model investigated in this paper is a reduced order model of the original system using singular perturbation techniques. This paper results in an optimal control synthesis to design an observer based feedback controller by standard stochastic control theory techniques using Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) approach and Kalman filter design with less complexity and computation requirements. Numerical example is given at the end to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method.

Keywords: decentralized, optimal control, output, singular perturb

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Authors: Olasunkanmi G. Jeje, John G. Laah, Eunice S. A. Jeje

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In recent times Nigeria has been bedeviled with political, religious and ethnic crises such as indigene/settler phenomena, Boko Haram etc. resulting in the emergence of internally displaced persons(IDPs), this has been a hunch on national development. Most states of the federation have had their share of one crisis or the other such as Jos, Yobe, Borno etc thereby affecting the economy of the country. These persons are uprooted from their residential locations of which they are active contributors to the national GDP. In addition, the attempt to rehabilitate them has gulped billions of naira for feeding, shelter and medicals etc., which is not adequate for such. However, the financing could have been used for projects such as capacity building and infrastructural development. Similarly, traumatic experience by this group of people is overwhelming as most of them are mainly the aged, women and children. Importantly, the active roles of youths that constitute the productive sector of the economy have also been truncated. Therefore, it is the prerogative of this research to examine the effect of IDP's on National Development and also to recommend solutions.

Keywords: development, implication, internally displaced persons, Nigeria

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Authors: John Mark Payawal, Francis Aldrine Uy, John Paul Carreon

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This paper shows the application of Structural Health Monitoring, SHM into bridges. Bridges are structures built to provide passage over a physical obstruction such as rivers, chasms or roads. The Philippines has a total of 8,166 national bridges as published on the 2015 atlas of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and only 2,924 or 35.81% of these bridges are in good condition. As a result, PHP 30.464 billion of the 2016 budget of DPWH is allocated on roads and/or bridges maintenance alone. Intensive spending is owed to the present practice of outdated manual inspection and assessment, and poor structural health monitoring of Philippine infrastructures. As the School of Civil, Environmental, & Geological Engineering of Mapua Institute of Technology (MIT) continuous its well driven passion in research based projects, a partnership with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the DPWH launched the application of Structural Health Monitoring, (SHM) in Padre Jacinto Zamora Flyover. The flyover is located along Nagtahan Boulevard in Sta. Mesa, Manila that connects Brgy. 411 and Brgy. 635. It gives service to vehicles going from Lacson Avenue to Mabini Bridge passing over Legarda Flyover. The flyover is chosen among the many located bridges in Metro Manila as the focus of the pilot testing due to its site accessibility, and complete structural built plans and specifications necessary for SHM as provided by the Bureau of Design, BOD department of DPWH. This paper focuses on providing a method to calibrate theoretical readings from STAAD Vi8 Pro and sync the data to actual MEMS accelerometer readings. It is observed that while the design standards used in constructing the flyover was reflected on the model, actual readings of MEMS accelerometer display a large difference compared to the theoretical data ran and taken from STAAD Vi8 Pro. In achieving a true seismic response of the modeled bridge or hence syncing the theoretical data to the actual sensor reading also called as the independent variable of this paper, analysis using single degree of freedom (SDOF) of the flyover under free vibration without damping using STAAD Vi8 Pro is done. The earthquake excitation and bridge responses are subjected to earthquake ground motion in the form of ground acceleration or Peak Ground Acceleration, PGA. Translational acceleration load is used to simulate the ground motion of the time history analysis acceleration record in STAAD Vi8 Pro.

Keywords: accelerometer, analysis using single degree of freedom, micro electro mechanical system, peak ground acceleration, structural health monitoring

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Authors: Mohammad D. H. Beg, John O. Akindoyo, Suriati Ghazali, Abdullah A. Mamun

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In this study, composites were fabricated from oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber and poly(lactic) acid by extrusion followed by injection moulding. Surface of the fiber was pre-treated by ultrasound in an alkali medium and treatment efficiency was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis and Fourier transforms infrared spectrometer (FTIR). Effect of fiber treatment on composite was characterized by tensile strength (TS), tensile modulus (TM) and impact strength (IS). Furthermore, biostrong impact modifier was incorporated into the treated fiber composite to improve its impact properties. Mechanical testing showed an improvement of up to 23.5% and 33.6% respectively for TS and TM of treated fiber composite above untreated fiber composite. On the other hand incorporation of impact modifier led to enhancement of about 20% above the initial IS of the treated fiber composite.

Keywords: fiber treatment, impact modifier, natural fibers, ultrasound

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Authors: Victor Counted

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John Bowlby's Attachment theory is often a framework used by many researchers to understand human relationship experiences with close 'others'. In this short brief on sexuality, I tried to discuss homosexual relationships from three attachment positions, or if you like, conditions, in relation to the compensation and correspondence hypothesis used to understand an individual's attachment orientation with an attachment figure who is seen as a secure base, safe haven, and some kind of target for proximity seeking. Drawing from the springs of virtue and hope in light of Murdock’s ‘just and love gaze’ model, I allowed myself to see the homosexual cases cited in positive terms, as I related to the situations and experiences of our homosexual ‘others’ from the guiding herald of Moltmann's theology of hope. This approach allowed me to conclusively convince readers to engage sexuality from a tolerating tendency of hope in our thinking and thoughts towards the actions and conditions of our dynamic world which is always plunging toward the future.

Keywords: attachment, wellbeing, sexuality, homosexuality, abandonment, tolerance of hope, wise fool

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Authors: Sahil Anand, John Luetke, Nikhil Venkatesh, Dorothy Wong

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Trust plays an important role in building and sustaining long-term relationships between people. In this paper, we present a robot that communicates using nonverbal behaviors such as facial expressions and body movements. Our study reports on an experiment in which participants were asked to team up with the robot to perform specific tasks. We varied the expressivity of the robot and measured the effects on trust, quality of interactions as well as on the praising and punishing behavior of the participant towards the robot. We found that participants developed a stronger affinity towards the expressive robot, but did not show any significant differences in the level of trust. When the same robot made mistakes, participants unconsciously punished it with lesser intensity compared to the neutral robot. The results emphasize the role of expressive behaviors on participant’s perception of the robot and also on the quality of interactions between humans and robots.

Keywords: human-robot interaction, nonverbal communication, relationships, social robot, trust

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Authors: John Kabuba, Hilary Rutto

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Ion exchange is one of the methods used to remove heavy metal such as copper and cobalt from wastewaters. Parameters affecting the ion-exchange of copper and cobalt aqueous solutions using clinoptilolite are the objectives of this study. Synthetic solutions were prepared with the concentration of 0.02M, 0.06M and 0.1M. The cobalt solution was maintained to 0.02M while varying the copper solution to the above stated concentrations. The clinoptilolite was activated with HCl and H2SO4 for removal efficiency. The pHs of the solutions were found to be acidic hence enhancing the copper and cobalt removal. The natural clinoptilolite performance was also found to be lower compared to the HCl and H2SO4 activated one for the copper removal ranging from 68% to 78% of Cu2+ uptake with the natural clinoptilolite to 66% to 51% with HCl and H2SO4 respectively. It was found that the activated clinoptilolite removed more copper and cobalt than the natural one and found that the electronegativity of the metal plays a role in the metal removal and the clinoptilolite selectivity.

Keywords: clinoptilolite, cobalt and copper, ion-exchange, mass dosage, pH

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Authors: John Benedict Bernardo

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Crowdsourcing is a way of collecting information provided by the volunteers. This crowdsourced information has the capacity to increase the people’s situational awareness in times of disasters. The research reflected in this paper strives to demonstrate the benefits of crowdsourcing during natural disasters and the ways of utilizing it for disaster response. Shared information regarding natural disasters from social media is often scattered as the inputs from these media are uncategorized. For this reason, the study aims to equip the citizens a medium that is solely intended for sharing and/or obtaining natural disaster-related information. Ergo, an android application was developed to gather and publicize this volunteered information. The capability of crowdsourcing and the effectiveness of the application were evaluated and the result shows overwhelming agreement that this study is indeed efficient in increasing the awareness and response initiatives of the citizens during natural disasters.

Keywords: crowdsourcing, natural disasters, mobile application, social media

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Authors: Ali Asmari, Alex Symington, Htaik Than, Austin Caradonna, John Senft

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This paper presents the collaborative effort between ULC Technologies and Con Edison in developing a groundbreaking robotic cable splicing machine. The focus is on the machine's design, which integrates advanced robotics and automation to enhance safety and efficiency in power network maintenance. The paper details the operational steps of the machine, including cable grounding, cutting, and removal of different insulation layers, and discusses its novel technological approach. The significant benefits over traditional methods, such as improved worker safety and reduced outage times, are highlighted based on the field data collected during the validation phase of the project. The paper also explores the future potential and scalability of this technology, emphasizing its role in transforming the landscape of power network maintenance.

Keywords: cable splicing machine, power network maintenance, electric distribution, electric transmission, medium voltage cable

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Authors: Najmeh Dehghanitafti

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Paradise Lost, John Milton's epic poem of theology and cosmology, gained substantial critical attention in the twentieth century. Milton's illustration of Satan and Eve and his allusions to the Bible can be an interesting source of criticism for the scholars who try to analyze Milton's works in terms of religious studies. Therefore, various studies of Paradise Lost try to investigate this epic in terms of religions beyond Christianity. Paradise Lost's comparison with religious books such as the Qur’an in Islam in terms of character illustration created multiple translations of this epic into Arabic. Accordingly, this paper aims to compare Miltonic Satan versus Quranic Iblis based on Inani’s translation of Paradise Lost into Arabic. This study also tries to investigate Miltonic and Quranic view of Eve to find out the similarities and differences between Christianity and Islam in terms of feminism.

Keywords: Eve, feminism, Iblis, Paradise Lost, Satan, The Quran

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Authors: Divnesh Lingam, Devi Rengamani Seenivasagam, Prashant Chand, Caleb Yee, John Chief, Rajeshkannan Ananthanarayanan

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Telecommuting Post-Pandemic: Barriers, Solutions, and Strategies. Amidst the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, remote work emerged as a vital business continuity measure. This study investigates telecommuting’s modern work model, exploring its benefits and obstacles. Utilizing Interpretive Structural Modelling uncovers barriers hindering telecommuting adoption. A validated set of thirteen barriers is examined through departmental surveys, revealing interrelationships. The resulting model highlights interactions and dependencies, forming a foundational framework. By addressing dominant barriers, a domino effect on subservient barriers is demonstrated. This research fosters further exploration, proposing management strategies for successful telecommuting adoption and reshaping the traditional workspace.

Keywords: barriers, interpretive structural modelling, post-pandemic, telecommuting

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Authors: Nina Robson, Kenneth John Faller II, Vishalkumar Ahir, Mustafa Mhawesh, Reza Langari

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This paper describes the development of a model of an impaired human arm performing a reaching motion, which will be used to predict hand path trajectories for people with reduced arm joint mobility. Assuming that the arm was in contact with a surface during the entire movement, the contact conditions at the initial and final task locations were determined and used to generate the entire trajectory. The model was validated by comparing it to experimental data, which simulated an arm joint impairment by physically constraining the joint motion with a brace. Future research will include using the model in the development of physical training protocols that avoid early recruitment of “healthy” Degrees-Of-Freedom (DOF) for reaching motions, thus facilitating an Active Range-Of-Motion Recovery (AROM) for a particular impaired joint.

Keywords: higher order kinematic specifications, human motor coordination, impaired movement, kinematic synthesis

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Authors: Upasna Bhandari, Indranil Saha, Deepak John Mathew

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The green fashion market is growing rapidly as eco-friendly consumers are willing to expand their organic lifestyle to include clothing. With an increasing share of fashion consumers globally, Indian consumers are observed to consider the social and environmental ethics while making purchasing decisions. While some research clearly identifies the efforts of responsible consumers towards green fashion, some argue that fashion-orientated consumers who are sensitive towards environment do not actively participate towards supporting green fashion. This study aims to analyze the current perception of green fashion among Indian consumers. A small-scale exploratory study is conducted where consumers’ perception of green fashion is examined followed by an analysis of translation of this perception into purchase decision making. This research paper gives insight into consumer awareness on green fashion and provides scope towards the expansion of ethical fashion consumption within the demography of India.

Keywords: consumer perception, environmental attitudes, fashion retailing, green fashion, sustainability

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Authors: S. Maddi Muhammed, Paul Davis, John Geraghty, Mabruk Derbesh

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This study discusses the probability of using electronic management in higher education institutions in Libya. This could be as sampled by creating an electronic gate at the faculties of Engineering and Computing "Information Technology" at Zaytuna University or any other university in Libya. As we all know, the competitive advantage amongst universities is based on their ability to use information technology efficiently and broadly. Universities today value information technology as part of the quality control and assurance and a ranking criterion for a range of services including e-learning and e-Registration. This could be done by developing email systems, electronic or virtual libraries, electronic cards, and other services provided to all students, faculty or staff. This paper discusses a range of important topics that explain how to apply the gate "E" with the faculties at Zaytuna University, Bani Walid colleges in Libya.

Keywords: e-management, educational institutions (EI), Libya, Zaytuna, information technology

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Authors: John Knight, Fuchun Li, Yan Xu

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Based on a new method of the nonparametric estimator of the drift function, we propose a consistent test for the parametric specification of the drift function in the short rate diffusion process using observations from a panel of yields. The test statistic is shown to follow an asymptotic normal distribution under the null hypothesis that the parametric drift function is correctly specified, and converges to infinity under the alternative. Taking the daily 7-day European rates as a proxy of the short rate, we use our test to examine whether the drift of the short rate diffusion process is linear or nonlinear, which is an unresolved important issue in the short rate modeling literature. The testing results indicate that none of the drift functions in this literature adequately captures the dynamics of the drift, but nonlinear specification performs better than the linear specification.

Keywords: diffusion process, nonparametric estimation, derivative security price, drift function and volatility function

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Authors: Bokolombe Pitchou Ngoy, John Mack, Tebello Nyokong

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Synthesis and photochemical studies of BODIPY dyes have been investigated in this work in order to have a broad benchmark of this functionalized photosensitizer for biological applications such as photodynamic therapy or antimicrobial activity. The common acid catalyzed synthetic method was used, and BODIPY dyes were obtained in quite a good yield (25 %) followed by bromination and Knoevenagel condensation to afford the BODIPY dyes conjugated with maximum absorbance in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The fluorescence lifetimes, fluorescence quantum yield, and Singlet oxygen quantum yield of the conjugated BODIPY dyes were determined in different solvents by using Time Correlation Single Photon Counting (TCSPC), fluorimeter, and Laser Flash Photolysis respectively. It was clearly shown that the singlet oxygen quantum yield was higher in THF followed by DMSO compared to another solvent. The same trend was observed for the fluorescence lifetimes.

Keywords: BODIPY, photodynamic therapy, photosensitizer, singlet oxygen

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Authors: Bárbara Dantas

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Nicolas-Antoine Taunay had everything to have a quiet life with his numerous family, his colleagues from the Paris Academy of Art, and as a renowned painter of the French Court, but the conjuncture was quite complicated in those final years of the eighteenth century and first decades of the 19th century. The painter had to adapt to various political and social ruptures: from royalty to the French Revolution, from the empire of Napoleon Bonaparte to the empire of King John VI. According to the method of analysis that involves the idea of "political iconography" from Carlo Ginzburg and the concept of "representation" associated with Georges Didi-Huberman, this work wishes to insert Taunay in its context through the analysis of his portrait made by a colleague of the profession and of a Brazilian landscape painted of his own (1816-1821) and, in which he represented himself. Finally, the intention is to find in these two paintings how Nicolas-Antoine Taunay faced himself and in the middle that surrounded him in the traffic that was forced to make it between Paris and Rio de Janeiro.

Keywords: Nicolas-Antoine Taunay, politic iconography, French art, Brazilian art, 19th century

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