Search results for: interactive activities
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 6755

Search results for: interactive activities

6485 Data Collection Techniques for Robotics to Identify the Facial Expressions of Traumatic Brain Injured Patients

Authors: Chaudhary Muhammad Aqdus Ilyas, Matthias Rehm, Kamal Nasrollahi, Thomas B. Moeslund

Abstract:

This paper presents the investigation of data collection procedures, associated with robots when placed with traumatic brain injured (TBI) patients for rehabilitation purposes through facial expression and mood analysis. Rehabilitation after TBI is very crucial due to nature of injury and variation in recovery time. It is advantageous to analyze these emotional signals in a contactless manner, due to the non-supportive behavior of patients, limited muscle movements and increase in negative emotional expressions. This work aims at the development of framework where robots can recognize TBI emotions through facial expressions to perform rehabilitation tasks by physical, cognitive or interactive activities. The result of these studies shows that with customized data collection strategies, proposed framework identify facial and emotional expressions more accurately that can be utilized in enhancing recovery treatment and social interaction in robotic context.

Keywords: computer vision, convolution neural network- long short term memory network (CNN-LSTM), facial expression and mood recognition, multimodal (RGB-thermal) analysis, rehabilitation, robots, traumatic brain injured patients

Procedia PDF Downloads 117
6484 Assessment and Prediction of Vehicular Emissions in Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City at Various Policy and Technology Scenarios Using Simple Interactive Model (SIM-Air)

Authors: Ria M. Caramoan, Analiza P. Rollon, Karl N. Vergel

Abstract:

The Simple Interactive Models for Better Air Quality (SIM-air) is an integrated approach model that allows the available information to support the integrated urban air quality management. This study utilized the vehicular air pollution information system module of SIM-air for the assessment of vehicular emissions in Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City, Philippines. The main objective of the study is to assess and predict the contribution of different types of vehicles to the vehicular emissions in terms of PM₁₀, SOₓ, and NOₓ at different policy and technology scenarios. For the base year 2017, the results show vehicular emissions of 735.46 tons of PM₁₀, 108.90 tons of SOₓ, and 2,101.11 tons of NOₓ. Motorcycle is the major source of particulates contributing about 52% of the PM₁₀ emissions. Meanwhile, Public Utility Jeepneys contribute 27% of SOₓ emissions and private cars using gasoline contribute 39% of NOₓ emissions. Ambient air quality monitoring was also conducted in the study area for the standard parameters of PM₁₀, S0₂, and NO₂. Results show an average of 88.11 µg/Ncm, 47.41 µg/Ncm and 22.54 µg/Ncm for PM₁₀, N0₂, and SO₂, respectively, all were within the DENR National Ambient Air Quality Guideline Values. Future emissions of PM₁₀, NOₓ, and SOₓ are estimated at different scenarios. Results show that in the year 2030, PM₁₀ emissions will be increased by 186.2%. NOₓ emissions and SOₓ emissions will also be increased by 38.9% and 5.5%, without the implementation of the scenarios.

Keywords: ambient air quality, emissions inventory, mobile air pollution, vehicular emissions

Procedia PDF Downloads 107
6483 Coordinated Renewal Planning of Civil Infrastructure Systems

Authors: Hesham Osman

Abstract:

The challenges facing aging urban infrastructure systems require a more holistic and comprehensive approach to their management. The large number of urban infrastructure renewal activities occurring in cities throughout the world leads to social, economic and environmental impacts on the communities in its vicinity. As such, a coordinated effort is required to streamline these activities. This paper presents a framework to enable temporal (time-based) coordination of water, sewer and road intervention activities. Intervention activities include routine maintenance, renewal, and replacement of physical assets. The coordination framework considers 1) Life-cycle costs, 2) Infrastructure level-of-service, and 3) Risk exposure to system operators. The model enables infrastructure asset managers to trade-off options of delaying versus bringing forward intervention activities of one system in order to be executed in conjunction with another co-located system in the right-of-way. The framework relies on a combination of meta-heuristics and goal-based optimization. In order to demonstrate the applicability of the framework, a case study for a major infrastructure corridor in Cairo, Egypt is taken as an example. Results show that the framework can be scaled-up to include other infrastructure systems located in the right-of-way like electricity, gas and telecom, provided that information can be shared among these entities.

Keywords: infrastructure, rehabilitation, construction, optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 269
6482 Participation Motivation and Financing Approach of Small and Medium Enterprises in Mergers and Acquisitions in Vietnam from the Viewpoint of Intermediaries

Authors: Nguyen Thi Hoang Hieu

Abstract:

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) activities have increasingly become popular in both developed and developing countries. It is also an attractive topic for researchers to exploit in various sectors such as business, economies or finance. However, activities of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in M&A activities for a long time have not been sufficiently studied to provide the complete picture of what has been really, particularly in the developing market like Vietnam. The study employs semi-structured in-depth interviews with experts who have worked for years in the M&A sector to explore the participation motivation of both buy side and sell side of M&A activities. In addition, through the interviews, the study attempts to explain how firms finance their M&A deals. The collected data then will be content-analyzed to reflect the study's expectations based on the theories and practices reviews. In addition, limitations and recommendations are given in the hope that the M&A performance in Vietnam can be improved in the future.

Keywords: mergers and acquisitions, Vietnam, small and medium enterprises, content-analysis, semi-structure in-depth interview

Procedia PDF Downloads 235
6481 The Quality of Food and Drink Product Labels Translation from Indonesian into English

Authors: Rudi Hartono, Bambang Purwanto

Abstract:

The translation quality of food and drink labels from Indonesian into English is poor because the translation is not accurate, less natural, and difficult to read. The label translation can be found in some cans packages of food and drink products produced and marketed by several companies in Indonesia. If this problem is left unchecked, it will lead to a misunderstanding on the translation results and make consumers confused. This study was conducted to analyze the translation errors on food and drink products labels and formulate the solution for the better translation quality. The research design was the evaluation research with a holistic criticism approach. The data used were words, phrases, and sentences translated from Indonesian to English language printed on food and drink product labels. The data were processed by using Interactive Model Analysis that carried out three main steps: collecting, classifying, and verifying data. Furthermore, the data were analyzed by using content analysis to view the accuracy, naturalness, and readability of translation. The results showed that the translation quality of food and drink product labels from Indonesian to English has the level of accuracy (60%), level of naturalness (50%), and level readability (60%). This fact needs a help to create an effective strategy for translating food and drink product labels later.

Keywords: translation quality, food and drink product labels, a holistic criticism approach, interactive model, content analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 325
6480 Brain Tumor Segmentation Based on Minimum Spanning Tree

Authors: Simeon Mayala, Ida Herdlevær, Jonas Bull Haugsøen, Shamundeeswari Anandan, Sonia Gavasso, Morten Brun

Abstract:

In this paper, we propose a minimum spanning tree-based method for segmenting brain tumors. The proposed method performs interactive segmentation based on the minimum spanning tree without tuning parameters. The steps involve preprocessing, making a graph, constructing a minimum spanning tree, and a newly implemented way of interactively segmenting the region of interest. In the preprocessing step, a Gaussian filter is applied to 2D images to remove the noise. Then, the pixel neighbor graph is weighted by intensity differences and the corresponding minimum spanning tree is constructed. The image is loaded in an interactive window for segmenting the tumor. The region of interest and the background are selected by clicking to split the minimum spanning tree into two trees. One of these trees represents the region of interest and the other represents the background. Finally, the segmentation given by the two trees is visualized. The proposed method was tested by segmenting two different 2D brain T1-weighted magnetic resonance image data sets. The comparison between our results and the standard gold segmentation confirmed the validity of the minimum spanning tree approach. The proposed method is simple to implement and the results indicate that it is accurate and efficient.

Keywords: brain tumor, brain tumor segmentation, minimum spanning tree, segmentation, image processing

Procedia PDF Downloads 96
6479 The Role of Marketing in the Promotion of the Istanbul Brand

Authors: Ipek Krom, Nurdan Tumbek Tekeoglu

Abstract:

In our globalizing world increased competition between cities have resulted in expanding investments in marketing activities. In order to promote tourism and reinvestments, the cities have been using marketing activities to create more attractive sites and make use of their resources more efficiently. In becoming a branded city marketing activities play a major role in building brand value, which in turn results in the attraction of newcomers, revisits, settlements, reinvestments and the development of the city. This paper focuses on the Istanbul brand, which carries an important role in the promotion of Turkey as being its cultural, economic and financial center. As one of the most historical and appealing metropolitans in the world with remains of ancient civilizations, Istanbul has attracted 11 million 843 thousand tourists in 2014. Increasing number of marketing activities developed by numerous actors of private and public sector are among the reasons why tourists prefer Istanbul. Among these reasons we can list the increasing number of hotels, developed infrastructure and better transportation, modern shopping malls, international festivals, exportation of Turkish TV series, gastronomy investments, congress tourism, health tourism, student exchange programs, expatriation opportunities, recreational activities and new tourism destinations. In this paper we explore the marketing activities in Istanbul in order to make the city of the most visited metropolitans in the world. Decision making people in the tourism sector have been interviewed to provide better insight to the addressed topics.

Keywords: brand cities, marketing, tourism in istanbul, tourism marketing

Procedia PDF Downloads 293
6478 A Contribution to Human Activities Recognition Using Expert System Techniques

Authors: Malika Yaici, Soraya Aloui, Sara Semchaoui

Abstract:

This paper deals with human activity recognition from sensor data. It is an active research area, and the main objective is to obtain a high recognition rate. In this work, a recognition system based on expert systems is proposed; the recognition is performed using the objects, object states, and gestures and taking into account the context (the location of the objects and of the person performing the activity, the duration of the elementary actions and the activity). The system recognizes complex activities after decomposing them into simple, easy-to-recognize activities. The proposed method can be applied to any type of activity. The simulation results show the robustness of our system and its speed of decision.

Keywords: human activity recognition, ubiquitous computing, context-awareness, expert system

Procedia PDF Downloads 67
6477 Simplifying Health Risk Assessment (HRA) and Its Operationalisation for Turnaround Activities

Authors: Thirumila Muthukamaru

Abstract:

The objective of a Health Risk Assessment (HRA) is to achieve a quality evaluation of risk assessments in a timely manner where adequate controls can be in place to protect workers health, especially during turnarounds where the exposure to health hazards is expected to rise during the performance of the many activities that take place, exposing workers to health risk. HRA development requires a competent team comprising experienced subject matter experts in the field, such as Industrial hygienists, Occupational Health Doctors, Turnaround Coordinators, Operation / Maintenance personnel, etc. The conventional way of conducting HRA is not only tedious and time-consuming but also less appreciated when it is not interpreted correctly, which may contribute to inadequate operationalization of it. Simplification can be the essence of timely intervention in managing health risks. This paper is intended as a sharing of the approach taken to simplify the methodology of developing the HRA report and operationalizing it. The approach includes developing a Generic HRA for turnaround activities to be used as a reference document and the empowerment of identified personnel through upskilling sessions to take up the role of facilitating HRA sessions. This empowerment is one of the key approaches towards the successful translation of the HRA into specific turnaround Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) that embed it in the Permit to Work (PTW) process. The approach used here increases awareness and compliance on HRA for turnaround activities through better interpretation and operationalization of the HRA report, adding value to the risk assessment for turnaround activities.

Keywords: industrial hygiene, health risk assessment, HRA, risk assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 18
6476 The Effect of Critical Activity on Critical Path and Project Duration in Precedence Diagram Method

Authors: J. Nisar, S. Halim

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The additional relationships i.e., start-to-start, finish-to-finish, and start-to-finish, between activity in Precedence Diagram Method (PDM) provides a more flexible schedule than traditional Critical Path Method (CPM). But, changing the duration of critical activities in the PDM network will have an anomalous effect on the critical path and the project completion date. In this study, we classified the critical activities in two groups i.e., 1. activity on single critical path and 2. activity on multi-critical paths, and six classes i.e., normal, reverse, neutral, perverse, decrease-reverse and increase-normal, based on their effects on project duration in PDM. Furthermore, we determined the maximum float of time by which the duration each type of critical activities can be changed without effecting the project duration. This study would help the project manager to clearly understand the behavior of each critical activity on critical path, and he/she would be able to change the project duration by shortening or lengthening activities based on project budget and project deadline.

Keywords: construction management, critical path method, project scheduling network, precedence diagram method

Procedia PDF Downloads 184
6475 Fostering Fresh Graduate Students’ Confidence in Speaking English: An Action Research to Students of Muria Kudus University, Central Java, Indonesia

Authors: Farid Noor Romadlon

Abstract:

Welcoming the ASEAN Economic Community and globalization, people need to have a good communication skill. Being able to speak English is one of important qualification in this skill and as global citizen. This study focused on fostering fresh graduate students’ confidence in speaking English. So, students have good performance in speaking. There were thirty (30) students from first semester of English Education Department who joined Intensive Course class as the subject. They had poor motivation to speak English since English is a foreign language which is not exposed in their environment. This study used Three Communicative Activities technique in twelve successive meetings totally. It was done in two cycles (six meetings for each) since there were some activities should be improved in the first session (cycle). Oral test was administered to find the quantitative result and observation conducted to strengthen the finding. The result indicated that Three Communicative Activities improved students’ confidence in speaking English. They had significant progress in their performance in the class. The technique which allowed students to have more spaces to explore and express their ideas to their friends increased their confidence in their performance. The group or cooperative activities stimulated students to think critically in the discussion and promoted their confidence to talk more.

Keywords: students’ confidence, three communicative activities, speaking, Muria Kudus University

Procedia PDF Downloads 186
6474 Determination of Antioxidant Activities of Sumac (Rhus Coriaria) Extracts with Different Solvents

Authors: F. T. Senberber, N. Tugrul, E. Moroydor Derun

Abstract:

As a nutraceutical, sumac (Rhus Coriaria) was extracted by using different solvents of methanol, ethanol, and water. The DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate) method of free radical scavenging capacity was used to determine the effects of solvent on antioxidant activities of the plant. The total phenolic content was studied by The Folin Ciocalteu Reagent method. The antioxidant activities of extracts exhibit minor changes in different solvents and varied in the range of 84.3–86.4 %. The total phenolic contents are affected by the selected solvent. The highest total phenolic content was determined at the liquid phase of water and it was estimated as 26.3 mg/g in gallic acid.

Keywords: DPPH, solvent, sumac, total phenolic content

Procedia PDF Downloads 127
6473 Systems Engineering Management Using Transdisciplinary Quality System Development Lifecycle Model

Authors: Mohamed Asaad Abdelrazek, Amir Taher El-Sheikh, M. Zayan, A.M. Elhady

Abstract:

The successful realization of complex systems is dependent not only on the technology issues and the process for implementing them, but on the management issues as well. Managing the systems development lifecycle requires technical management. Systems engineering management is the technical management. Systems engineering management is accomplished by incorporating many activities. The three major activities are development phasing, systems engineering process and lifecycle integration. Systems engineering management activities are performed across the system development lifecycle. Due to the ever-increasing complexity of systems as well the difficulty of managing and tracking the development activities, new ways to achieve systems engineering management activities are required. This paper presents a systematic approach used as a design management tool applied across systems engineering management roles. In this approach, Transdisciplinary System Development Lifecycle (TSDL) Model has been modified and integrated with Quality Function Deployment. Hereinafter, the name of the systematic approach is the Transdisciplinary Quality System Development Lifecycle (TQSDL) Model. The QFD translates the voice of customers (VOC) into measurable technical characteristics. The modified TSDL model is based on Axiomatic Design developed by Suh which is applicable to all designs: products, processes, systems and organizations. The TQSDL model aims to provide a robust structure and systematic thinking to support the implementation of systems engineering management roles. This approach ensures that the customer requirements are fulfilled as well as satisfies all the systems engineering manager roles and activities.

Keywords: axiomatic design, quality function deployment, systems engineering management, system development lifecycle

Procedia PDF Downloads 327
6472 Reuse of Spent Lithium Battery for the Production of Environmental Catalysts

Authors: Jyh-Cherng Chen, Chih-Shiang You, Jie-Shian Cheng

Abstract:

This study aims to recycle and reuse of spent lithium-cobalt battery and lithium-iron battery in the production of environmental catalysts. The characteristics and catalytic activities of synthesized catalysts for different air pollutants are analyzed and tested. The results show that the major metals in spent lithium-cobalt batteries are lithium 5%, cobalt 50%, nickel 3%, manganese 3% and the major metals in spent lithium-iron batteries are lithium 4%, iron 27%, and copper 4%. The catalytic activities of metal powders in the anode of spent lithium batteries are bad. With using the precipitation-oxidation method to prepare the lithium-cobalt catalysts from spent lithium-cobalt batteries, their catalytic activities for propane decomposition, CO oxidation, and NO reduction are well improved and excellent. The conversion efficiencies of the regenerated lithium-cobalt catalysts for those three gas pollutants are all above 99% even at low temperatures 200-300 °C. However, the catalytic activities of regenerated lithium-iron catalysts from spent lithium-iron batteries are unsatisfied.

Keywords: catalyst, lithium-cobalt battery, lithium-iron battery, recycle and reuse

Procedia PDF Downloads 219
6471 The Influence of Beta Shape Parameters in Project Planning

Authors: Αlexios Kotsakis, Stefanos Katsavounis, Dimitra Alexiou

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Networks can be utilized to represent project planning problems, using nodes for activities and arcs to indicate precedence relationship between them. For fixed activity duration, a simple algorithm calculates the amount of time required to complete a project, followed by the activities that comprise the critical path. Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) generalizes the above model by incorporating uncertainty, allowing activity durations to be random variables, producing nevertheless a relatively crude solution in planning problems. In this paper, based on the findings of the relevant literature, which strongly suggests that a Beta distribution can be employed to model earthmoving activities, we utilize Monte Carlo simulation, to estimate the project completion time distribution and measure the influence of skewness, an element inherent in activities of modern technical projects. We also extract the activity criticality index, with an ultimate goal to produce more accurate planning estimations.

Keywords: beta distribution, PERT, Monte Carlo simulation, skewness, project completion time distribution

Procedia PDF Downloads 115
6470 The Influence of Social Interaction of Flat Occupants to Infrastucture Management of Kutobedah Flat in Malang City

Authors: Nony Rahadiva

Abstract:

The development of housing in urban areas can not be separated from the high rate of population growth from both natural population growth and population growth due to migration. The development is bounded by urban land area so that construction of flats become a development priority. Quality of residential flats are influenced by the patterns of behavior of its inhabitants. The frequency of contact between the occupants become one of the effects of good social relations, but harmful activity can degrade the environment, especially in flats. One of the social relationships that can be seen on the flats development is the residents in Kutobedah flat built in Malang city. Problems that occur in that place is unfavorable flat management due to social activities such as daily activities and also the neighboring activities of apartment dwellers who tend not to pay attention to the environment. Based on these problems we can do a study on social interaction in Kutobedah flat and its influence on the management of flat facilities and infrastructures. This research was carried out by submitting a questionnaire to the residents of the apartment based social activities , operations and maintenance of the flats. By using a weighted analysis, we can find that social interaction tenants is high, but the level of infrastructure and facilities management of the tenants is low so it is needed to counsel the residents how to use and maintain the infrastructure properly.

Keywords: activities, flat, infrastructure management, social interaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 401
6469 Visualization and Performance Measure to Determine Number of Topics in Twitter Data Clustering Using Hybrid Topic Modeling

Authors: Moulana Mohammed

Abstract:

Topic models are widely used in building clusters of documents for more than a decade, yet problems occurring in choosing optimal number of topics. The main problem is the lack of a stable metric of the quality of topics obtained during the construction of topic models. The authors analyzed from previous works, most of the models used in determining the number of topics are non-parametric and quality of topics determined by using perplexity and coherence measures and concluded that they are not applicable in solving this problem. In this paper, we used the parametric method, which is an extension of the traditional topic model with visual access tendency for visualization of the number of topics (clusters) to complement clustering and to choose optimal number of topics based on results of cluster validity indices. Developed hybrid topic models are demonstrated with different Twitter datasets on various topics in obtaining the optimal number of topics and in measuring the quality of clusters. The experimental results showed that the Visual Non-negative Matrix Factorization (VNMF) topic model performs well in determining the optimal number of topics with interactive visualization and in performance measure of the quality of clusters with validity indices.

Keywords: interactive visualization, visual mon-negative matrix factorization model, optimal number of topics, cluster validity indices, Twitter data clustering

Procedia PDF Downloads 107
6468 The Investigation of Enzymatic Activity in the Soils Under the Impact of Metallurgical Industrial Activity in Lori Marz, Armenia

Authors: T. H. Derdzyan, K. A. Ghazaryan, G. A. Gevorgyan

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Beta-glucosidase, chitinase, leucine-aminopeptidase, acid phosphomonoestearse and acetate-esterase enzyme activities in the soils under the impact of metallurgical industrial activity in Lori marz (district) were investigated. The results of the study showed that the activities of the investigated enzymes in the soils decreased with increasing distance from the Shamlugh copper mine, the Chochkan tailings storage facility and the ore transportation road. Statistical analysis revealed that the activities of the enzymes were positively correlated (significant) to each other according to the observation sites which indicated that enzyme activities were affected by the same anthropogenic factor. The investigations showed that the soils were polluted with heavy metals (Cu, Pb, As, Co, Ni, Zn) due to copper mining activity in this territory. The results of Pearson correlation analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between heavy metal pollution degree (Nemerow integrated pollution index) and soil enzyme activity. All of this indicated that copper mining activity in this territory causing the heavy metal pollution of the soils resulted in the inhabitation of the activities of the enzymes which are considered as biological catalysts to decompose organic materials and facilitate the cycling of nutrients.

Keywords: Armenia, metallurgical industrial activity, heavy metal pollutionl, soil enzyme activity

Procedia PDF Downloads 265
6467 Hacking's 'Between Goffman and Foucault': A Theoretical Frame for Criminology

Authors: Tomás Speziale

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This paper aims to analyse how Ian Hacking states the theoretical basis of his research on the classification of people. Although all his early philosophical education had been based in Foucault, it is also true that Erving Goffman’s perspective provided him with epistemological and methodological tools for understanding face-to-face relationships. Hence, all his works must be thought of as social science texts that combine the research on how the individuals are constituted ‘top-down’ (as in Foucault), with the inquiry into how people renegotiate ‘bottom-up’ the classifications about them. Thus, Hacking´s proposal constitutes a middle ground between the French Philosopher and the American Sociologist. Placing himself between both authors allows Hacking to build a frame that is expected to adjust to Social Sciences’ main particularity: the fact that they study interactive kinds. These are kinds of people, which imply that those who are classified can change in certain ways that prompt the need for changing previous classifications themselves. It is all about the interaction between the labelling of people and the people who are classified. Consequently, understanding the way in which Hacking uses Foucault’s and Goffman’s theories is essential to fully comprehend the social dynamic between individuals and concepts, what Bert Hansen had called dialectical realism. His theoretical proposal, therefore, is not only valuable because it combines diverse perspectives, but also because it constitutes an utterly original and relevant framework for Sociological theory and particularly for Criminology.

Keywords: classification of people, Foucault's archaeology, Goffman's interpersonal sociology, interactive kinds

Procedia PDF Downloads 315
6466 Improving Learning and Teaching of Software Packages among Engineering Students

Authors: Sara Moridpour

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To meet emerging industry needs, engineering students must learn different software packages and enhance their computational skills. Traditionally, face-to-face is selected as the preferred approach to teaching software packages. Face-to-face tutorials and workshops provide an interactive environment for learning software packages where the students can communicate with the teacher and interact with other students, evaluate their skills, and receive feedback. However, COVID-19 significantly limited face-to-face learning and teaching activities at universities. Worldwide lockdowns and the shift to online and remote learning and teaching provided the opportunity to introduce different strategies to enhance the interaction among students and teachers in online and virtual environments and improve the learning and teaching of software packages in online and blended teaching methods. This paper introduces a blended strategy to teach engineering software packages to undergraduate students. This article evaluates the effectiveness of the proposed blended learning and teaching strategy in students’ learning by comparing the impact of face-to-face, online and the proposed blended environments on students’ software skills. The paper evaluates the students’ software skills and their software learning through an authentic assignment. According to the results, the proposed blended teaching strategy successfully improves the software learning experience among undergraduate engineering students.

Keywords: teaching software packages, undergraduate students, blended learning and teaching, authentic assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 79
6465 K-12 Students’ Digital Life: Activities and Attitudes

Authors: Meital Amzalag, Sharon Hardof-Jaffe

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In the last few decades, children and youth have been immersed in digital technologies. Indeed, recent studies explored the implication of technology use in their leisure and learning activities. Educators face an essential need to utilize technology and implement them into the curriculum. To do that, educators need to understand how young people use digital technology. This study aims to explore K12 students' digital lives from their point of view, to reveal their digital activities, age and gender differences with respect to digital activities, and to present the students' attitudes towards technologies in learning. The study approach is quantitative and includes354 students ages 6-16 from three schools in Israel. The online questionnaire was based on self-reports and consists of four parts: Digital activities: leisure time activities (such as social networks, gaming types), search activities (information types and platforms), and digital application use (e.g., calendar, notes); Digital skills (requisite digital platform skills such as evaluation and creativity); Social and emotional aspects of digital use (conducting digital activities alone and with friends, feelings, and emotions during digital use such as happiness, bullying); Digital attitudes towards digital integration in learning. An academic ethics board approved the study. The main findings reveal the most popular K12digital activities: Navigating social network sites, watching TV, playing mobile games, seeking information on the internet, and playing computer games. In addition, the findings reveal age differences in digital activities, such as significant differences in the use of social network sites. Moreover, the finding raises gender differences as girls use more social network sites and boys use more digital games, which are characterized by high complexity and challenges. Additionally, we found positive attitudes towards technology integration in school. Students perceive technology as enhancing creativity, promoting active learning, encouraging self-learning, and helping students with learning difficulties. The presentation will provide an up-to-date, accurate picture of the use of various digital technologies by k12 students. In addition, it will discuss the learning potentials of such use and how to implement digital technologies in the curriculum. Acknowledgments: This study is a part of a broader study about K-12 digital life in Israel and is supported by Mofet-the Israel Institute for Teachers'Development.

Keywords: technology and learning, K-12, digital life, gender differences

Procedia PDF Downloads 100
6464 Building in Language Support in a Hong Kong Chemistry Classroom with English as a Medium of Instruction: An Exploratory Study

Authors: Kai Yip Michael Tsang

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Science writing has played a crucial part in science assessments. This paper reports a study in an area that has received little research attention – how Language across the Curriculum (LAC, i.e. science language and literacy) learning activities in science lessons can increase the science knowledge development of English as a foreign language (EFL) students in Hong Kong. The data comes from a school-based interventional study in chemistry classrooms, with written data from questionnaires, assessments and teachers’ logs and verbal data from interviews and classroom observations. The effectiveness of the LAC teaching and learning activities in various chemistry classrooms were compared and evaluated, with discussion of some implications. Students in the treatment group with lower achieving students received LAC learning and teaching activities while students in the control group with higher achieving students received conventional learning and teaching activities. After the study, they performed better in control group in formative assessments. Moreover, they had a better attitude to learning chemistry content with a richer language support. The paper concludes that LAC teaching and learning activities yielded positive learning outcomes among chemistry learners with low English ability.

Keywords: science learning and teaching, content and language integrated learning, language across the curriculum, English as a foreign language

Procedia PDF Downloads 158
6463 Students’ Level of Knowledge Construction and Pattern of Social Interaction in an Online Forum

Authors: K. Durairaj, I. N. Umar

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The asynchronous discussion forum is one of the most widely used activities in learning management system environment. Online forum allows participants to interact, construct knowledge, and can be used to complement face to face sessions in blended learning courses. However, to what extent do the students perceive the benefits or advantages of forum remain to be seen. Through content and social network analyses, instructors will be able to gauge the students’ engagement and knowledge construction level. Thus, this study aims to analyze the students’ level of knowledge construction and their participation level that occur through online discussion. It also attempts to investigate the relationship between the level of knowledge construction and their social interaction patterns. The sample involves 23 students undertaking a master course in one public university in Malaysia. The asynchronous discussion forum was conducted for three weeks as part of the course requirement. The finding indicates that the level of knowledge construction is quite low. Also, the density value of 0.11 indicating that the overall communication among the participants in the forum is low. This study reveals that strong and significant correlations between SNA measures (in-degree centrality, out-degree centrality) and level of knowledge construction. Thus, allocating these active students in a different groups aids the interactive discussion takes place. Finally, based upon the findings, some recommendations to increase students’ level of knowledge construction and also for further research are proposed.

Keywords: asynchronous discussion forums, content analysis, knowledge construction, social network analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 349
6462 A Proposed Program for Developing Some Concepts to the Nursery Children in Egypt Using Artistic Activities

Authors: Ebtehag Tolba, Ahmed Mousa, Mohamed Abd El-Salam

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The study presents a proposed program for nursery school children in Egypt. The program consists of a collection of artistic activities and aims to develop the language, mathematical, and artistic skills of preschool children. Furthermore, the researcher has presented a questionnaire to experts about the link between the target group and the content. Finally, the proposed program was applied to group of 30 children. In addition, the researcher has prepared another questionnaire for measuring the effect of the program. This questionnaire was used as a pre-test and post-test, and at the end of the study, a significant difference was determined in favour of the post-test results.

Keywords: developing, concepts, nursery, children, artistic activities

Procedia PDF Downloads 230
6461 A Survey in Techniques for Imbalanced Intrusion Detection System Datasets

Authors: Najmeh Abedzadeh, Matthew Jacobs

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An intrusion detection system (IDS) is a software application that monitors malicious activities and generates alerts if any are detected. However, most network activities in IDS datasets are normal, and the relatively few numbers of attacks make the available data imbalanced. Consequently, cyber-attacks can hide inside a large number of normal activities, and machine learning algorithms have difficulty learning and classifying the data correctly. In this paper, a comprehensive literature review is conducted on different types of algorithms for both implementing the IDS and methods in correcting the imbalanced IDS dataset. The most famous algorithms are machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), synthetic minority over-sampling technique (SMOTE), and reinforcement learning (RL). Most of the research use the CSE-CIC-IDS2017, CSE-CIC-IDS2018, and NSL-KDD datasets for evaluating their algorithms.

Keywords: IDS, imbalanced datasets, sampling algorithms, big data

Procedia PDF Downloads 277
6460 Design of Smart Urban Lighting by Using Social Sustainability Approach

Authors: Mohsen Noroozi, Maryam Khalili

Abstract:

Creating cities, objects and spaces that are economically, environmentally and socially sustainable and which meet the challenge of social interaction and generation change will be one of the biggest tasks of designers. Social sustainability is about how individuals, communities and societies live with each other and set out to achieve the objectives of development model which they have chosen for themselves. Urban lightning as one of the most important elements of urban furniture that people constantly interact with it in public spaces; can be a significant object for designers. Using intelligence by internet of things for urban lighting makes it more interactive in public environments. It can encourage individuals to carry out appropriate behaviors and provides them the social awareness through new interactions. The greatest strength of this technology is its strong impact on many aspects of everyday life and users' behaviors. The analytical phase of the research is based on a multiple method survey strategy. Smart lighting proposed in this paper is an urban lighting designed on results obtained from a collective point of view about the social sustainability. In this paper, referring to behavioral design methods, the social behaviors of the people has been studied. Data show that people demands for a deeper experience of social participation, safety perception and energy saving with the meaningful use of interactive and colourful lighting effects. By using intelligent technology, some suggestions are provided in the field of future lighting to consider the new forms of social sustainability.

Keywords: behavior pattern, internet of things, social sustainability, urban lighting

Procedia PDF Downloads 164
6459 Antimicrobial, Antioxidant Activities and Phytochemical Screening of Five Species from Acacia Used in Sudanese Ethnomedicine

Authors: Hajir Abdllha, Alaa Mohamed, Khansa Almoniem, Naga Adam, Wdeea Alhaadi, Ahmed Elshikh, Ahmed Ali, Ismail Makuar, Anas Elnazeer, Nagat Elrofaei, Samir Abdoelftah, Monier Hemidan

Abstract:

The present study was designed to investigate antimicrobial, and antioxidant activities of five species from Acacia (Acacia albidia, Acacia mellifera, Acacia nubica, Acacia seyal var. seyal and Acacia tortilis). Phytochemical study was piloted to detect the bioactive compounds, which have been responsible from the biological activities. The ethanol, chloroform and acetone plant extracts were seasoned against standard bacteria strains of gram +ve bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Gram -ve bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853) and standard fungi Candida albicans (ATCC 90028), using cup-plate method. The antioxidant activities were conducted via DPPH radical scavenging and metal chelating assays. Prospective activity against the five species was observed in acetone extract. Ethanol extract showed highest activities against Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans. Potential antioxidant activity was presented by ethanol. Cholorophorm and acetone extracts via DPPH, the radical scavenging activities were found to be 91±0.03, 88±0.01 and 85±0.04 respectively. The results of phytochemical screening showed that all extracts of studied plant contain flavonoids, saponins, terpenoids, steroids, alkaloids, phenols and tannins. This study gives rise to antioxidant, antimicrobial properties of studied plant, and showed interesting correlation with the phytochemical constituents and biological activities.

Keywords: antimicrobial, antioxidant, Acacia albidia, Acacia mellifera, Acacia nubica, Acacia seyal var. seyal, Acacia tortilis

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6458 Evaluation of the Biological Activities of Chrysin as an Important Perspective in the Treatment of Infectious and Cancer Diseases

Authors: Sajjad Jafari, Reza Akbari

Abstract:

Background and Aim: Chrysin, a flavonoid compound found in medicinal plants, honey, and propolis, has potential biological activities that make it an important perspective in the treatment of infectious and cancer diseases. The aim of this review study is to evaluate the biological activities of chrysin in the treatment of infectious and cancer diseases. Material and Methods: The present study is a review study that searched reputable scientific databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science from 2000 to 2023 using keywords such as antimicrobial, antifungal, chrysin, anticancer, antioxidants, and infectious diseases. The researchers examined 25 articles to determine the biological activities of chrysin. Results: Chrysin has high inhibitory or lethal activities on gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, and Enterococcus faeces. It also has anti-biofilm effects and antifungal effects on strains such as Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans. Chrysin also has anticancer effects on various cancers, including colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, and MCF-7 cancer, which have been confirmed in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: Chrysin has the potential as an important therapeutic option in the treatment of infectious and cancer diseases. Its high antimicrobial and anticancer activities, combined with its low toxicity in nanoparticle form, make it a promising candidate for further clinical trials. The production of anti-microbial and anti-cancer drugs from natural substances, such as chrysin, is a valuable contribution to the field of medicine.

Keywords: chrysin, antimicrobial, anticancer, infectious diseases

Procedia PDF Downloads 80
6457 Antimicrobial, Antioxidant Activities, and Phytochemical Screening of Five Species from Acacia Used in Sudanese Ethnomedicine

Authors: Hajir, B. Abdllha, , Alaa, I. Mohamed, Khansa, A. Almoniem, Naga, I. Adam, Wdeea, Alhaadi, Ahmed, A. Elshikh, Ahmed, J. Ali, Ismail, G. Makuar, Anas, M. Elnazeer, Nagat, A. Elrofaei, Samir, F. Abdoelftah, Monier, N. Hemidan

Abstract:

The present study was designed to investigate antimicrobial, and antioxidant activities of five species from Acacia (Acacia albidia, Acacia mellifera, Acacia nubica, Acacia seyal var.seyal and Acacia tortilis). Phytochemical study was piloted to detect the bioactive compounds, which have been responsible from the biological activities. The ethanol, chloroform and acetone plant extracts were seasoned against standard bacteria strains of gram +ve bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) ,Gram -ve bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853) and standard fungi Candida albicans (ATCC 90028), using cup-plate method. The antioxidant activities were conducted via DPPH radical scavenging and metal chelating assays. Prospective activity against the five species was observed in acetone extract. Ethanol extract showed highest activities against Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans. Potential antioxidant activity was presented by ethanol. Cholorophorm and acetone extracts via DPPH, the radical scavenging activities were found to be 91±0.03, 88±0.01 and 85±0.04 respectively. The results of phytochemical screening showed that all extracts of studied plant contain flavonoids, saponins, terpenoids, steroids, alkaloids, phenols and tannins. This study give rise to antioxidant, antimicrobial properties of studied plant, and showed interesting correlation with the phytochemical constituents and biological activities.

Keywords: antimicrobial, Antioxidant, Acacia albidia, Acacia mellifera, acacia nubica, acacia seyal var.seyal, Acacia tortilis

Procedia PDF Downloads 521
6456 GeneNet: Temporal Graph Data Visualization for Gene Nomenclature and Relationships

Authors: Jake Gonzalez, Tommy Dang

Abstract:

This paper proposes a temporal graph approach to visualize and analyze the evolution of gene relationships and nomenclature over time. An interactive web-based tool implements this temporal graph, enabling researchers to traverse a timeline and observe coupled dynamics in network topology and naming conventions. Analysis of a real human genomic dataset reveals the emergence of densely interconnected functional modules over time, representing groups of genes involved in key biological processes. For example, the antimicrobial peptide DEFA1A3 shows increased connections to related alpha-defensins involved in infection response. Tracking degree and betweenness centrality shifts over timeline iterations also quantitatively highlight the reprioritization of certain genes’ topological importance as knowledge advances. Examination of the CNR1 gene encoding the cannabinoid receptor CB1 demonstrates changing synonymous relationships and consolidating naming patterns over time, reflecting its unique functional role discovery. The integrated framework interconnecting these topological and nomenclature dynamics provides richer contextual insights compared to isolated analysis methods. Overall, this temporal graph approach enables a more holistic study of knowledge evolution to elucidate complex biology.

Keywords: temporal graph, gene relationships, nomenclature evolution, interactive visualization, biological insights

Procedia PDF Downloads 33