Search results for: reader response

Authors: Sara Ramezanzadeh, Nashid Nabian

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Historically, pandemics in different periods have caused compulsory changes in human life. In the case of Covid-19, according to the limitations and established care instructions, spatial alignment with the conditions is important. Following the outbreak of Covid-19, the question raised in this study is how to do spatial design in five scales, namely object, space, architecture, city, and infrastructure, in response to the consequences created in the realms under study. From the beginning of the pandemic until now, some changes in the spatial realm have been created spontaneously or by space users. These transformations have been mostly applied in modifiable parts such as furniture arrangement, especially in work-related spaces. To implement other comprehensive requirements, flexibility and adaptation of space design to the conditions resulting from the pandemics are needed during and after the outbreak. Studying the effects of pandemics from the past to the present, this research covers eight major realms, including three categories of ramifications, solutions, and paradigm shifts, and analytical conclusions about the solutions that have been created in response to them. Finally, by the consideration of epidemiology as a modern discipline influencing the design, spatial solutions in the five scales mentioned (in response to the effects of the eight realms for spatial adaptation in the face of pandemics and their following conditions) are presented as a series of guidelines. Due to the unpredictability of possible pandemics in the future, the possibility of changing and updating the provided guidelines is considered.

Keywords: pandemics, Covid 19, spatial design, ramifications, solutions, paradigm shifts, guidelines

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Authors: Waddah Abdelbagi Talha, Mohammed Abdullah Elmaleeh, John Ojur Dennis

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This paper focuses on the simulation and implementation of a resonator micro-sensor for low magnetic field sensing based on a U-shaped cantilever and piezoresistive configuration, which works based on Lorentz force physical phenomena. The resonance frequency is an important parameter that depends upon the highest response and sensitivity through the frequency domain (frequency response) of any vibrated micro-scale of an electromechanical system (MEMS) device. And it is important to determine the direction of the detected magnetic field. The deflection of the cantilever is considered for vibrated mode with different frequencies in the range of (0 Hz to 7000 Hz); for the purpose of observing the frequency response. A simple electronic circuit-based polysilicon piezoresistors in Wheatstone's bridge configuration are used to transduce the response of the cantilever to electrical measurements at various voltages. Microcontroller-based Arduino program and PROTEUS electronic software are used to analyze the output signals from the sensor. The highest output voltage amplitude of about 4.7 mV is spotted at about 3 kHz of the frequency domain, indicating the highest sensitivity, which can be called resonant sensitivity. Based on the resonant frequency value, the mode of vibration is determined (up-down vibration), and based on that, the vector of the magnetic field is also determined.

Keywords: resonant frequency, sensitivity, Wheatstone bridge, UNO-microcontroller

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Authors: C. Iihoshi, G. A. MacRae, G. W. Rodgers, J. G. Chase

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Slab Sliding System (SSS) with Coulomb friction interface between slab and supporting frame is a passive structural vibration control technology. The system can significantly reduce the slab acceleration and accompanied lateral force of the frame. At the same time it is expected to cause the slab displacement magnification by sliding movement. To obtain the general comprehensive seismic response of a single story structure, inelastic response spectra were computed for a large ensemble of ground motions and a practical range of structural periods and friction coefficient values. It was shown that long period structures have no trade-off relation between force reduction and displacement magnification with respect to elastic response, unlike short period structures. For structures with the majority of mass in the slab, the displacement magnification value can be predicted according to simple inelastic displacement relation for in elastically responding SDOF structures because the system behaves elastically to a SDOF structure.

Keywords: earthquake, isolation, slab, sliding

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Authors: X. Laurent, M. A. Estevez, P. Mari-Beffa

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A focus of recent research is to understand the role of our own response goals in the selection of information that will be encoded in episodic memory. For example, if we respond to a target in the presence of distractors, an important aspect under study is whether the distractor and the target share a common response (compatible) or not (incompatible). Some studies have found that compatible objects tend to be groups together and stored in episodic memory, whereas others found that targets in the presence of incompatible distractors are remembered better. Our current research seems to support both views. We used a Tulving-based definition of episodic memory to differentiate memory from episodic and non-episodic traces. In this task, participants first had to classify a blue object as human or animal (target) which appeared in the presence of a green one (distractor) that could belong to the same category of the target (compatible), to the opposite (incompatible) or to an irrelevant one (neutral). Later they had to report the identity (What), location (Where) and time (When) of both target objects (which had been previously responded to) and distractors (which had been ignored). Episodic memory was inferred when the three scene properties (identity, location and time) were correct. The measure of non-episodic memory consisted of those trials in which the identity was correctly remembered, but not the location or time. Our results showed that episodic memory for compatible stimuli is significantly superior to incompatible ones. In sharp contrast, non-episodic measures found superior memory for targets in the presence of incompatible distractors. Our results demonstrate that response compatibility affects the encoding of episodic and non-episodic memory traces in different ways.

Keywords: episodic memory, action systems, compatible response, what-where-when task

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Authors: Laboratory of Semiconducting, Metallic Materials (LMSM) Biskra Algeria

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InZnSnO2 (IZTO)/β-Ga2O3 Schottky solar barrier photodetector (PhD) exposed to 255 nm was simulated and compared to the measurement. Numerical simulations successfully reproduced the photocurrent at reverse bias and response by taking into account several factors, such as conduction mechanisms and material parameters. By adopting reducing the density of the trap as an improvement. The effect of reducing the bulk trap densities on the photocurrent, response, and time-dependent (continuous conductivity) was studied. As the trap density decreased, the photocurrent increased. The response was 0.04 A/W for the low Ga2O3 trap density. The estimated decay time for the lowest intensity ET (0.74, 1.04 eV) is 0.05 s and is shorter at ∼0.015 s for ET (0.55 eV). This indicates that the shallow traps had the dominant effect (ET = 0.55 eV) on the continuous photoconductivity phenomenon. Furthermore, with decreasing trap densities, this PhD can be considered as a self-powered solar-blind photodiode (SBPhD).

Keywords: IZTO/β-Ga2O3, self-powered solar-blind photodetector, numerical simulation, bulk traps

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Authors: Ahmed Hassan Sabra

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Context: The research explores the impact of ideology on the aesthetic reading of literary texts. It aims to investigate how ideology affects the way in which readers interpret and appreciate literature. The study focuses on a selection of Arabic novels that have been subject to significant controversy among critics, with some praising their aesthetic value and others denouncing it. By analyzing this controversy, the research seeks to demonstrate the extent to which ideology influences aesthetic judgments in literary readings. Research Aim: The aim of this study is to examine the influence of ideology on the aesthetic reading of literary texts. It seeks to understand how the ideological perspective of readers shapes their interpretation and evaluation of literature. Methodology: The research adopts an aesthetic approach as the primary methodology for investigating the relationship between literary reading and ideological reception. By employing this approach, the study aims to uncover the intricate connections between aesthetics and ideology in the process of interpreting and appreciating literature. Findings: The research reveals that ideology cannot be separated from the aesthetic experience of reading literary texts. It argues that the ideological perspective of the reader significantly impacts their aesthetic judgments and interpretations. The differing viewpoints among critics regarding the aesthetic value of the selected Arabic novels highlight the influence of ideology on readers' assessments of artistic merit. Theoretical Importance: The study contributes to the understanding of the complex interplay between aesthetics and ideology in the realm of literary interpretation. It reinforces the notion that aesthetic judgments are not solely based on the intrinsic qualities of the text but are also shaped by the ideological framework of the reader. Data Collection: The research collects data by examining critical responses to a number of Arabic novels that have generated controversy. These responses include both positive and negative evaluations of the novels' aesthetic value. The research also considers the ideological positions and perspectives of the critics. Analysis Procedures: The collected data is analyzed using an aesthetic lens, taking into account the ideological viewpoints expressed in the critical responses. The analysis explores how these ideological perspectives influence the aesthetic judgments made by the critics. Questions Addressed: The research addresses the question of how ideology impacts the aesthetic reading of literary texts. It investigates the extent to which ideology shapes readers' interpretations and evaluations of literature, particularly in the case of controversial novels. Conclusion: The study concludes that ideology plays a significant role in the aesthetic reading of literary texts. It demonstrates that readers' ideological perspectives influence their interpretation and evaluation of a text's aesthetic value. The research highlights the interconnectedness of aesthetics and ideology in the process of literary reception, emphasizing the importance of considering the ideological framework of readers when analyzing the aesthetic qualities of literature.

Keywords: novel, aesthetic, ideology, reading

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Authors: Abdelhacine Gouasmia, Abdelhamid Belkhiri, Allaeddine Athmani

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The objective of this paper is to evaluate the effects of soil-structure interaction (SSI) on the modal characteristics and on the dynamic response of current structures. The objective is on the overall behaviour of a real structure of five storeys reinforced concrete (R/C) building typically encountered in Algeria. Sensitivity studies are undertaken in order to study the effects of frequency content of the input motion, frequency of the soil-structure system, rigidity and depth of the soil layer on the dynamic response of such structures. This investigation indicated that the rigidity of the soil layer is the predominant factor in soil-structure interaction and its increases would definitely reduce the deformation in the R/C structure. On the other hand, increasing the period of the underlying soil will cause an increase in the lateral displacements at story levels and create irregularity in the distribution of story shears. Possible resonance between the frequency content of the input motion and soil could also play an important role in increasing the structural response.

Keywords: direct method, finite element method, foundation, R/C Frame, soil-structure interaction

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Authors: Aruha Khan, Brynn E. Kankel, Paraskevi Papadopoulou

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In recent years, extensive research upon ‘stress’ has provided insight into its two distinct guises, namely the short–term (fight–or–flight) response versus the long–term (chronic) response. Specifically, the long–term or chronic response is associated with the suppression or dysregulation of immune function. It is also widely noted that the occurrence of cancer is greatly correlated to the suppression of the immune system. It is thus necessary to explore the impact of long–term or chronic stress upon the prevalence and risk of cancer. To what extent can the dysregulation of immune function caused by long–term exposure to stress be controlled or minimized? This study focuses explicitly upon immunosuppression due to its ability to increase disease susceptibility, including cancer itself. Based upon an analysis of the literature relating to the fundamental structure of the immune system alongside the prospective linkage of chronic stress and the development of cancer, immunosuppression may not necessarily correlate directly to the acquisition of cancer—although it remains a contributing factor. A cross-sectional analysis of the survey data from the University of Tennessee Medical Center (UTMC) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) will provide additional supporting evidence (or otherwise) for the hypothesis of the study about whether immunosuppression (caused by the chronic stress response) notably impacts the prevalence of cancer. Finally, a multidimensional framework related to education on chronic stress and its effects is proposed.

Keywords: immune system, immunosuppression, long–term (chronic) stress, risk of cancer

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Authors: Bakhtiar Azadbakht, Karim Adinehvand, Amin Sahebnasagh

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The purpose of this study was to evaluate dependence of PAGAT polymer gel dosimeter 1/T2 on different electron and photon energies as well as on different mean dose rates for a standard clinically used Co-60 therapy unit and an ELECTA linear accelerator. A multi echo sequence with 32 equidistant echoes was used for the evaluation of irradiated polymer gel dosimeters. The optimal post-manufacture irradiation and post imaging times were both determined to be one day. The sensitivity of PAGAT polymer gel dosimeter with irradiation of photon and electron beams was represented by the slope of calibration curve in the linear region measured for each modality. The response of PAGAT gel with photon and electron beams is very similar in the lower dose region. The R2-dose response was linear up to 30Gy. In electron beams the R2-dose response for doses less than 3Gy is not exact, but in photon beams the R2-dose response for doses less than 2Gy is not exact. Dosimeter energy dependence was studied for electron energies of 4, 12 and 18MeV and photon energies of 1.25, 4, 6 and 18MV. Dose rate dependence was studied in 6MeV electron beam and 6MV photon beam with the use of dose rates 80, 160, 240, 320, 400, and 480cGy/min. Evaluation of dosimeters were performed on Siemens Symphony, Germany 1.5T Scanner in the head coil. In this study no trend in polymer-gel dosimeter 1/T2 dependence was found on mean dose rate and energy for electron and photon beams.

Keywords: polymer gels, PAGAT gel, electron and photon beams, MRI

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Authors: Saraswati Verma, Ankit Batra

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In the modern day, structures are designed with a lot of complexities due to economical, aesthetical, and functional needs causing various levels of irregularities to be induced. In the past, several studies have repeatedly shown that irregular structures suffer more damage than regular structures during earthquakes. The present study makes an effort to study the contribution of the orientation of columns in the seismic behaviour of buildings with vertical irregularities namely, soft storey irregularity, mass irregularity and geometric irregularity. The response of the various models is analysed using sap2000 version 14. The parameters through which a comparative response is investigated are displacement, variation in the stiffness contribution, and inter-storey drift. Models with different configurations of column orientations were studied for each vertical irregularity and it was observed that column orientation contributed significantly in affecting a better seismic response. Square columns of the same cross-sectional area showed a good response as compared to that of rectangular columns. The study concludes that as displacement values for buildings with a soft storey and mass irregularity are very high, square columns could be used to minimise the effect of displacement in x and y-axis. In buildings with geometric irregularity, exterior column orientations can be played with to enhance the stiffness in the shorter direction to control the displacement and drift values in both x and y directions.

Keywords: soft storey, mass irregularity, geometric irregularity, column orientation, square column

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Authors: Regis Pochon, Nicolas Stefaniak, Veronique Baltazart, Pamela Gobin

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Anxiety is known to have an impact on working memory. In reasoning or memory tasks, individuals with anxiety tend to show longer response times and poorer performance. Furthermore, there is a memory bias for negative information in anxiety. Given the crucial role of working memory in lexical learning, anxious students may encounter more difficulties in learning to read and spell. Anxiety could even affect an earlier learning, that is the activation of phonological representations, which are decisive for the learning of reading and writing. The aim of this study is to compare the access to phonological representations of beginning readers and writers according to their level of anxiety, using an auditory lexical decision task. Eighty students of 6- to 9-years-old completed the French version of the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale and were then divided into four anxiety groups according to their total score (Low, Median-Low, Median-High and High). Two set of eighty-one stimuli (words and non-words) have been auditory presented to these students by means of a laptop computer. Stimuli words were selected according to their emotional valence (positive, negative, neutral). Students had to decide as quickly and accurately as possible whether the presented stimulus was a real word or not (lexical decision). Response times and accuracy were recorded automatically on each trial. It was anticipated a) longer response times for the Median-High and High anxiety groups in comparison with the two others groups, b) faster response times for negative-valence words in comparison with positive and neutral-valence words only for the Median-High and High anxiety groups, c) lower response accuracy for Median-High and High anxiety groups in comparison with the two others groups, d) better response accuracy for negative-valence words in comparison with positive and neutral-valence words only for the Median-High and High anxiety groups. Concerning the response times, our results showed no difference between the four groups. Furthermore, inside each group, the average response times was very close regardless the emotional valence. Otherwise, group differences appear when considering the error rates. Median-High and High anxiety groups made significantly more errors in lexical decision than Median-Low and Low groups. Better response accuracy, however, is not found for negative-valence words in comparison with positive and neutral-valence words in the Median-High and High anxiety groups. Thus, these results showed a lower response accuracy for above-median anxiety groups than below-median groups but without specificity for the negative-valence words. This study suggests that anxiety can negatively impact the lexical processing in young students. Although the lexical processing speed seems preserved, the accuracy of this processing may be altered in students with moderate or high level of anxiety. This finding has important implication for the prevention of reading and spelling difficulties. Indeed, during these learnings, if anxiety affects the access to phonological representations, anxious students could be disturbed when they have to match phonological representations with new orthographic representations, because of less efficient lexical representations. This study should be continued in order to precise the impact of anxiety on basic school learning.

Keywords: anxiety, emotional valence, childhood, lexical access

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Authors: Morteza Shayan Arani, Mohammadamin Esmailzadehazimi, Mohammadreza Moeini, Mohammad Toorani, Aouni A. Lakis

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This paper investigates the nonlinear response of thin, incompressible, hyperelastic cylindrical shells in the presence of a time-varying temperature field while considering initial geometric imperfections. The governing equations of motion are derived using an improved Donnell's shallow shell theory. The hyperelastic material is modeled using the Mooney-Rivlin model with two parameters, incorporating temperature-dependent terms. The Lagrangian method is applied to obtain the equation of motion. The resulting governing equation is addressed through the Lindstedt-Poincaré and Multiple Scale methods. The linear and nonlinear models presented in this study are verified against existing open literature, demonstrating the accuracy and reliability of the presented model. The study focuses on understanding the influence of temperature variations and geometrical imperfections on the natural frequency and amplitude-frequency response of the systems. Notably, the investigation reveals the coexistence of hardening and softening peaks in the amplitude-frequency response, which vary in magnitude depending on these parameters. Additionally, resonance peaks exhibit changes as a result of temperature and geometric imperfections.

Keywords: hyperelastic material, cylindrical shell, geometrical nonlinearity, material naolinearity, initial geometric imperfection, temperature gradient, hardening and softening

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Authors: Sayuri Inoue, Naohiro Nakamura, Tsubasa Hamada

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The seismic design method of buildings is classified into two types: static design and dynamic design. The static design is a design method that exerts static force as seismic force and is a relatively simple design method created based on the experience of seismic motion in the past 100 years. At present, static design is used for most of the Japanese buildings. Dynamic design mainly refers to the time history response analysis. It is a comparatively difficult design method that input the earthquake motion assumed in the building model and examine the response. Currently, it is only used for skyscrapers and specific buildings. In the present design standard in Japan, it is good to use either the design method of the static design and the dynamic design in the medium and high-rise buildings. However, when actually designing middle and high-rise buildings by two kinds of design methods, the relatively simple static design method satisfies the criteria, but in the case of a little difficult dynamic design method, the criterion isn't often satisfied. This is because the dynamic design method was built with the intention of designing super high-rise buildings. In short, higher safety is required as compared with general buildings, and criteria become stricter. The authors consider applying the dynamic design method to general buildings designed by the static design method so far. The reason is that application of the dynamic design method is reasonable for buildings that are out of the conventional standard structural form such as emphasizing design. For the purpose, it is important to compare the design results when the criteria of both design methods are arranged side by side. In this study, we performed time history response analysis to medium-rise buildings that were actually designed with allowable stress method. Quantitative comparison between static design and dynamic design was conducted, and characteristics of both design methods were examined.

Keywords: buildings, seismic design, allowable stress design, time history response analysis, Japanese seismic code

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Authors: Rosana Marar, Edward Jaser

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This paper presents a software solution to enhance the content and presentation of graphic design and animation related textbooks. Using augmented and virtual reality concepts, a mobile application is developed to improve the static material found in books. This allows users to interact with animated examples and tutorials using their mobile phones and stereoscopic 3D viewers which will enhance information delivery. The application is tested on Google Cardboard with visual content in 3D space. Evaluation of the proposed application demonstrates that it improved the readability of static content and provided new experiences to the reader.

Keywords: animation, augmented reality, google cardboard, interactive media, technology enhanced learning, virtual reality

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Authors: Sergio Paez Moncaleano, Alvaro Mauricio Montenegro

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This paper presents a novel statistical methodology for measuring and founding constructs in Latent Regression Analysis. This approach uses the qualities of Factor Analysis in binary data with interpretations on Item Response Theory (IRT). In addition, based on the fundamentals of submodel theory and with a convergence of many ideas of IRT, we propose an algorithm not just to solve the dimensionality problem (nowadays an open discussion) but a new research field that promises more fear and realistic qualifications for examiners and a revolution on IRT and educational research. In the end, the methodology is applied to a set of real data set presenting impressive results for the coherence, speed and precision. Acknowledgments: This research was financed by Colciencias through the project: 'Multidimensional Item Response Theory Models for Practical Application in Large Test Designed to Measure Multiple Constructs' and both authors belong to SICS Research Group from Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

Keywords: item response theory, dimensionality, submodel theory, factorial analysis

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Authors: Swanand Patil, Pankaj Agarwal

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In past few decades, seismic performance objectives have shifted from earthquake resistance to earthquake resilience of the structures, especially for the lifeline buildings. Features such as negligible post-earthquake damage and replaceable damaged components, makes energy dissipating systems a valid choice for a seismically resilient building. In this study, various energy dissipation devices are applied on an eight-storey moment resisting RC building model. The energy dissipating devices include both hysteresis-based and viscous type of devices. The seismic response of the building is obtained for different positioning and mechanical properties of the devices. The investigation is carried forward to the deficiently ductile RC frame also. The performance assessment is done on the basis of drift ratio, mode shapes and displacement response of the model structures. Nonlinear dynamic analysis shows largely improved displacement response. The damping devices improve displacement response more efficiently in the deficient ductile frames than that in the perfectly moment resisting frames. This finding is important considering the number of deficient buildings in India and the world. The placement and mechanical properties of the dampers prove to be a crucial part in modelling, analyzing and designing of the structures with supplemental energy dissipation.

Keywords: earthquake resilient structures, lifeline buildings, retrofitting of structures, supplemental energy dissipation

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Authors: Fuad Alzahrani, Yiannis Kyratsis

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Although emergency nurses, being the frontline workers in mass-gatherings, are essential for providing an effective public health response, little is known about the skills that emergency nurses have, or require, in order to respond effectively to a disaster event. This paper is designed to address this gap in the literature by conducting an empirical study on emergency nurses’ preparedness at the mass-gathering event of Hajj in Mecca city. To achieve this aim, this study conducted a cross-sectional survey among 106 emergency department nurses in all the public hospitals in Mecca in 2014. The results revealed that although emergency nurses’ role understanding is high; they have limited knowledge and awareness of how to respond appropriately to mass-gathering disaster events. To address this knowledge gap, the top three most beneficial types of education and training courses suggested are: hospital education sessions, the Emergency Management Saudi Course and workshop; and short courses in disaster management. Finally, recommendations and constructive strategies are developed to provide the best practice in enhancing disaster preparedness. This paper adds to the body of knowledge regarding emergency nurses and mass gathering disasters. This paper measures the level of disaster knowledge, previous disaster response experience and disaster education and training amongst emergency nurses in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is anticipated that this study will provide a foundation for future studies aimed at better preparing emergency nurses for disaster response. This paper employs new strategies to improve the emergency nurses’ response during mass gatherings for the Hajj. Increasing the emergency nurses’ knowledge will develop their effective responses in mass-gathering disasters.

Keywords: emergency nurses, mass-gatherings, hajj, disaster preparedness, disaster knowledge, perceived role, disaster training, previous disaster response experience

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Authors: Deepshikha Shukla, C. H. Solanki, Mayank Desai

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In the last few years, it has been observed that earthquake is proving a threat to the scientist across the world. With a large number of earthquakes occurring in day to day life, the threat to life and property has increased manifolds which call for an urgent attention of all the researchers globally to carry out the research in the field of Earthquake Engineering. Any hazard related to the earthquake and seismicity is considered to be seismic hazards. The common forms of seismic hazards are Ground Shaking, Structure Damage, Structural Hazards, Liquefaction, Landslides, Tsunami to name a few. Among all the natural hazards, the most devastating and damaging is the earthquake as all other hazards are triggered only after the occurrence of an earthquake. In order to quantify and estimate the seismicity and seismic hazards, many methods and approaches have been proposed in the past few years. Such approaches are Mathematical, Conventional and Computational. Convex Set Theory, Empirical Green’s Function are some of the Mathematical Approaches whereas the Deterministic and Probabilistic Approaches are the Conventional Approach for the estimation of the seismic Hazards. Ground response and Ground Shaking of a particular area or region plays an important role in the damage caused due to the earthquake. In this paper, seismic study using Deterministic Approach and 1 D Ground Response Analysis has been carried out for Madhya Pradesh Tourism Office in Indore Region in Madhya Pradesh in Central India. Indore lies in the seismic zone III (IS: 1893, 2002) in the Seismic Zoning map of India. There are various faults and lineament in this area and Narmada Some Fault and Gavilgadh fault are the active sources of earthquake in the study area. Deepsoil v6.1.7 has been used to perform the 1 D Linear Ground Response Analysis for the study area. The Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) of the city ranges from 0.1g to 0.56g.

Keywords: seismicity, seismic hazards, deterministic, probabilistic methods, ground response analysis

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Authors: Mohamed M. M. Elnasharty, Azhar M. Elwan

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Irradiation deposits energy through ionisation changing the bio-system’s net dipole, allowing the use of dielectric parameters and thermodynamic state functions related to these parameters as biophysical detectors to electrical inhomogeneity within the biosystem. This part is concerned with the effect of Moringa leaves extract, natural supplement, on the response of the biosystem to two different dose rates of irradiation. Having Hb molecule as a representative to the biosystem to be least invasive to the biosystem, dielectric measurements were used to extract the relaxation time of certain process found in the Hb spectrum within the indicated frequency window and the interrelated thermodynamic state functions were calculated from the deduced relaxation time. The results showed that relaxation time was decreased for both dose rates indicating a strong influence of Moringa on the response of biosystem and consequently Hb molecule. This influence was presented in the relaxation time and other parameters as well.

Keywords: activation energy, DC conductivity, dielectric relaxation, enthalpy change, Moringa leaves extract, relaxation time

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Authors: HebatAllah Mohamed

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The present study aims at identifying compliment response strategies used by Egyptian students when responding to a problematic and cultural-specific type of compliments: those allegedly provoking the evil eye. Discourse Completion Tasks (DCTs) and interviews were used to collect the data. both The participants were 21 female and 16 male Egyptian graduate and undergraduate students at the American university in Cairo. The results revealed a number of both common and different main and sub-categories of responses utilized by participants of both genders. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

Keywords: Arabic pragmatics, compliment responses, evil eye pragmatics, pragmatics in Egypt

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Authors: Prajna Paramita Mohapatra, Pamu Dobbidi

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Lithium ferrite (LiFe5O8) has potential applications as a component of microwave magnetic devices such as circulators and monolithic integrated circuits. For efficient device applications, spinel ferrites in the form of thin films are highly required. It is necessary to improve their magnetic and dielectric behavior by optimizing the processing parameters during deposition. The lithium ferrite thin films are deposited on Pt/Si substrate using the pulsed laser deposition technique (PLD). As controlling the film thickness is the easiest parameter to tailor the strain, we deposited the thin films having different film thicknesses (160 nm, 200 nm, 240 nm) at oxygen partial pressure of 0.001 mbar. The formation of single phase with spinel structure (space group - P4132) is confirmed by the XRD pattern and the Rietveld analysis. The optical bandgap is decreased with the increase in thickness. FESEM confirmed the formation of uniform grains having well separated grain boundaries. Further, the film growth and the roughness are analyzed by AFM. The root-mean-square (RMS) surface roughness is decreased from 13.52 nm (160 nm) to 9.34 nm (240 nm). The room temperature magnetization is measured with a maximum field of 10 kOe. The saturation magnetization is enhanced monotonically with an increase in thickness. The magnetic resonance linewidth is obtained in the range of 450 – 780 Oe. The dielectric response is measured in the frequency range of 104 – 106 Hz and in the temperature range of 303 – 473 K. With an increase in frequency, the dielectric constant and the loss tangent of all the samples decreased continuously, which is a typical behavior of conventional dielectric material. The real part of the dielectric constant and the dielectric loss is increased with an increase in thickness. The contribution of grain and grain boundaries is also analyzed by employing the equivalent circuit model. The highest dielectric constant is obtained for the film having a thickness of 240 nm at 104 Hz. The obtained results demonstrate that desired response can be obtained by tailoring the film thickness for the microwave magnetic devices.

Keywords: PLD, optical response, thin films, magnetic response, dielectric response

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Authors: Tauhidur Rahman, Gitartha Kalita

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In this study a four span box girder bridge is considered and effect of the rotational and translational earthquake ground motion have been thoroughly investigated. This study is motivated by the fact that in many countries the translational and rotational components of earthquake ground motion, especially rocking, is not adequately considered in analysing the overall response of the structures subjected to earthquake ground excitations. Much consideration is given to only the horizontal components of the earthquake ground motion during the response analysis of structures. In the present research work, P waves, SV waves and Rayleigh wave excitations are considered for different angle of incidence. In the present paper, the four span bridge is model considering the effects of vertical and rocking components of P, SV and Rayleigh wave excitations. Ground responses namely displacement, velocity and acceleration of the substructures of the bridge have been considered for rotational and translational effects in addition to the horizontal ground motion due to earthquake and wind.

Keywords: ground motion, response, rotational effects, translational effects

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Authors: Thomais Tsoulia, Arvind Y. M. Sundaram, Stine Braaen, Øyvind Haugland, Espen Rimstad, Øystein Wessel, Maria K. Dahle

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Fish red blood cells (RBC) are nucleated, and in addition to their function in gas exchange, they have been characterized as mediators of immune responses. Salmonid RBC are the major target cells of Piscineorthoreovirus (PRV), a virus associated with heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI) in farmed Atlantic salmon. The activation of antiviral response genesin RBChas previously been described in ex vivo and in vivo PRV-infection models, but not explored in the initial virus encounter phase. In the present study, mRNA transcriptome responses were explored in erythrocytes from individual fish, kept ex vivo, and exposed to purified PRV for 24 hours. The responses were compared to responses in macrophage-like salmon head kidney (SHK-1) and endothelial-like Atlantic salmon kidney (ASK) cells, none of which support PRV replication. The comparative analysis showed that the antiviral response to PRV was strongest in the SHK-1 cells, with a set of 80 significantly induced genes (≥ 2-fold upregulation). In RBC, 46 genes were significantly upregulated, while ASK cells were not significantly responsive. In particular, the transcriptome analysis of RBC revealed that PRV significantly induced interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF1) and interferon-induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 5-like (IFIT9). However, several interferon-regulated antiviral genes which have previously been reported upregulated in PRV infected RBC in vivo (myxovirus resistance (Mx), interferon-stimulated gene 15 (ISG15), toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3)), were not significantly induced after 24h of virus stimulation. In contrast to RBC, these antiviral response genes were significantly upregulated in SHK-1. These results confirm that RBC are involved in the innate immune response to viruses, but with a delayed antiviral response compared to SHK-1. A notable difference is that interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF-1) is the most strongly induced gene in RBC, but not among the significantly induced genes in SHK-1. Putative differences in the binding, recognition, and response to PRV, and any link to effects on the ability of PRV to replicate remains to be explored.

Keywords: antiviral responses, atlantic salmon, piscine orthoreovirus-1, red blood cells, RNA-seq

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Authors: Mohammed F. Haddad, Mohammad A. Albenayyan

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Realistically, 3-D printing as a technology has not yet reached the required maturity level to handle construction housing projects for citizens on a country scale. However, potentially, it has all of the required elements for addressing this issue. There are two main high-level elements of this technology that need to be capitalized on in order for the technology to reach its full potential, technical and logistical. This paper aims to cover how 3-D printing can be a viable technical solution for housing projects and describe the impact of 3-D printing technical features on the logistical aspects of completing a housing project. Additionally, a perspective about 3-D printing in Saudi Arabia will be presented in order to give the reader an idea of where the kingdom stands in the deployment of this technology. Finally, a glimpse will be given regarding the potential utilization of this technology for space applications.

Keywords: large-scale 3-D printing, additive manufacturing, D- shape, contour crafting

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Authors: Faisel Elramalli, Ibrahim Althomali Amjad Sabbagh, Dhananjay Tambe

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SPEC CPU benchmarks are used to evaluate the performance of CPUs on computer systems. In our project we are going to use SPEC CPU suite that contains several benchmarks running on two different compilers gcc and icc in different optimizations levels to evaluate the performance of a CPU. The motivation of this project is to find out which compiler and in which optimization level makes the CPU reaches the best performance. The results of that evaluation will help users of these compilers to choose the best compiler and optimization level that perform efficiently for their work. In other words, it will give users the best performance of the CPU while doing their works. This project is interesting since it will provide the method used to measure the performance of CPU and how different optimization levels of compilers can help achieve a higher performance. Moreover, it will give a good understanding of how benchmarks are used to evaluate a CPU performance. For the reader, in reality SPEC CPU benchmarks are used to measure the performance of new released CPUs to be compared to other CPUs.

Keywords: SPEC, CPU, GCC, ICC, copilers

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Authors: Vipan Kumar Sohpal

Abstract:

Temperature effect on the adsorption of crystal violet dye (CVD) was investigated using a castor leaf powder (CLP) that was prepared from the mature leaves of castor trees, through chemical reaction. The optimum values of pH (8), adsorbent dose (10g/L), initial dye concentration (10g/L), time (2hrs), and stirrer speed (120 rpm) were fixed to investigate the influence of temperature on adsorption capacity, percentage of removal of dye and free energy. A central composite design (CCD) was successfully employed for experimental design and analysis of the results. The combined effect of temperature, absorbance, and concentration on the dye adsorption was studied and optimized using response surface methodology. The optimum values of adsorption capacity, percentage of removal of dye and free energy were found to be 0.965(mg/g), 93.38 %, -8202.7(J/mol) at temperature 55.97 °C having desirability > 90% for removal of crystal violet dye respectively. The experimental values were in good agreement with predicted values.

Keywords: crystal violet dye, CVD, castor leaf powder, CLP, response surface methodology, temperature, optimization

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Authors: Kuang-Chi Pan, Shu-Jen Tuan

Abstract:

Scolothrips takahashii Priesner (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is a common predatory thrips which feeds on spider mites; it is considered an important natural enemy and a potential biological control agent against spider mites. In order to evaluate the efficacy of S. takahashii against tetranychid mites, life table and functional response study were conducted at 25±1°C, with Tetranychus urticae Priesner as prey. The intrinsic rate of increase (r), finite rate of increase (λ), net reproduction rate (R₀), mean generation time (T) were 0.1674 d⁻¹, 1.1822d⁻¹, 62.26 offspring/individual, and 24.68d. The net consumption rate (C₀) was 846.15, mean daily consumption rate was 51.92 eggs for females and 19.28 eggs for males. S. takahashii exhibited type III functional response when offered T. urticae deutonymphs. Based on the random predator equation, the estimated maximum attack rate (a) and handling time (Th) were 0.1376h⁻¹ and 0.7883h. In addition, a life table experiment was conducted to evaluate the offspring sex allocation and population dynamic of Tetranychus ludeni Zacher under group-rearing conditions with different sex ratios. All bisexual groups produced offspring with similar sex allocation patterns, which started with the majority of females, then transited during the middle of the oviposition period and turned male-biased at the end of the oviposition period.

Keywords: Scolothrips takahashii, Tetranychus urticae, Tetranychus ludeni, two-sex life table, functional response, sex allocation

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Authors: D: Gupta, M. Radhakrishnan, Y. Kurhe, D. Thangaraj

Abstract:

Depression is among the leading causes of death worldwide. The current pharmacotherapy is associated with poor compliance, resistance and relapse, which necessitate the development of novel compounds with better efficacy. The present study designed and synthesized EQC-34 (N-cyclohexyl-3-ethoxyquinoxalin-2-carboxamide) as novel serotonin type-3 (5HT3) antagonist and evaluated its antidepressant-like effects using neurobehavioral mouse model. 5HT3 antagonism (as pA2 value) was determined on the longitudinal smooth muscle of guinea-pig ileum against 2-methyl-5HT (a 5HT3 agonist). The doses were calculated by dose response of basal locomotor activity. Consequently, effects of EQC-34 on neurobehavioral parameters were measured in forced swim (FST) and tail suspension test (TST). The possible mechanism was estimated by interaction study with fluoxetine (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) and mCPBG (1-(m-chlorophenyl)-biguanide, a selective 5HT3 agonist), and confirmed by potentiation of head twitch response by 5hydroxy-L-tryptophan (5HTP). EQC-34 (1-4 mg/kg, i.p.) produced significant decreased behavioral despair effects in FST and TST. It potentiated fluoxetine response, while mCPBG reduced EQC-34 activity in FST. Further, EQC-34 potentiated 5HTP induced head twitch response. EQC-34 revealed potential antidepressant-like effects, which may involve 5HT3 receptor mediated facilitation of 5HT neurotransmission, thereby reversing the pathological deficiency of monoamines (5HT) observed in depression. Thus, it may be further investigated as promising agent to improve therapeutics of depression.

Keywords: depression, forced swim test, 5HT3 receptor antagonist, serotonin

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Authors: J. R. Wang, H. T. Lin, H. C. Chen, C. Shih, S. W. Chen, S. C. Chiang, C. C. Liu

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In this research, TRACE model of Chinshan BWR/4 Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) has been developed for the simulation and analysis of Ultimate Response Guideline (URG). The main actions of URG are the depressurization and low pressure water injection of reactor and containment venting. This research focuses to verify the URG efficiency under Fukushima-like conditions. Trace analysis results show that the URG can keep the PCT below the criteria 1088.7 K under Fukushima-like conditions. It indicated that Chinshan NPP was safe.

Keywords: BWR, trace, safety analysis, URG

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Authors: Mona Solvoll, Ragnhild Kr. Olsen

Abstract:

Background and significance of the study: Newspapers are going through radical changes with increased competition, eroding readerships and declining advertising resulting in plummeting overall revenues. This has lead to a quest for new business models, focusing on monetizing content. This research paper investigates both how local online newspapers have introduced user payment and how the audience has received these changes. Given the role of local media in keeping their communities informed and those in power accountable, their potential impact on civic engagement and cultural integration in local communities, the business model innovations of local media deserves far more research interest. Empirically, the findings are interesting for local journalists, local media managers as well as local advertisers. Basic methodologies: The study is based on interviews with commercial leaders in 20 Norwegian local newspapers in addition to a national survey data from 1600 respondents among local media users. The interviews were conducted in the second half of 2015, while the survey was conducted in September 2016. Theoretically, the study draws on the business model framework. Findings: The analysis indicates that paywalls aim more at reducing digital cannibalisation of print revenue than about creating new digital income. The newspapers are mostly concerned with retaining “old” print subscribers and transform them into digital subscribers. However, this strategy may come at a high price for newspapers if their defensive print strategy drives away younger digital readership and hamper their recruitment potential for new audiences as some previous studies have indicated. Analysis of young reader news habits indicates that attracting the younger audience to traditional local news providers is particularly challenging and that they are more prone to seek alternative news sources than the older audience is. Conclusion: The paywall strategy applied by the local newspapers may be well fitted to stabilise print subscription figures and facilitate more tailored and better services for already existing customers, but far less suited for attracting new ones. The paywall is a short-sighted strategy, which drives away younger readers and paves the road for substitute offerings, particularly Facebook.

Keywords: business model, newspapers, paywall, user payment

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