Search results for: social impact

Authors: Zahraa Albasry, Hadeel D. Najim, Anmar Al-Taie

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Background: Hypertension is considered as one of the most important causes of cardiovascular complications and one of the leading causes of worldwide mortality. Identifying the potential risk factors associated with this medical health problem plays an important role in minimizing its incidence and related complications. The objective of this study is to explore the prevalence of receptor sensitivity regarding assess and understand the perception of specific predictive confounding factors on the prevalence of hypertension (HT) among a sample of Iraqi population in Baghdad, Iraq. Materials and Methods: A randomized cross sectional study was carried out on 100 adult subjects during their visit to the outpatient clinic at a certain sector of Baghdad Province, Iraq. Demographic, clinical and health records alongside specific screening and laboratory tests of the participants were collected and analyzed to detect the potential of confounding factors on the prevalence of HT. Results: 63% of the study participants suffered from HT, most of them were female patients (P < 0.005). Patients aged between 41-50 years old significantly suffered from HT than other age groups (63.5%, P < 0.001). 88.9% of the participants were obese (P < 0.001) and 47.6% had diabetes with HT. Positive family history and sedentary lifestyle were significantly higher among all hypertensive groups (P < 0.05). High salt and fatty food intake was significantly found among patients suffered from isolated systolic hypertension (ISHT) (P < 0.05). A significant positive correlation between packed cell volume (PCV) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) (r = 0.353, P = 0.048) found among normotensive participants. Among hypertensive patients, a positive significant correlation found between triglycerides (TG) and both SBP (r = 0.484, P = 0.031) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (r = 0.463, P = 0.040), while low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-c) showed a positive significant correlation with DBP (r = 0.443, P = 0.021). Conclusion: The prevalence of HT among Iraqi populations is of major concern. Further consideration is required to detect the impact of potential risk factors and to minimize blood pressure (BP) elevation and reduce the risk of other cardiovascular complications later in life.

Keywords: Correlation, hypertension, Iraq, risk factors.

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Authors: N. Fujisaka

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This sociological case study analyzes a sequence of student maltreatment in an elementary school in Japan, based on narratives from former students. Among various forms of student maltreatment, emotional maltreatment has received less attention. One reason for this is that emotional maltreatment is often considered part of education and is difficult to capture in surveys. To discuss the challenge of recognizing emotional maltreatment, it is necessary to consider the social background in which student maltreatment occurs. Therefore, from the perspective of the sociology of education, this study aims to clarify the process through which emotional maltreatment was embraced by students within a Japanese classroom. The research employs retrospective narrative data collected through interviews and autoethnography. The research results imply a pattern of emotional maltreatment that is challenging to differentiate from education. The finding is analyzed and discussed in conjunction with the cycle of violence theory and the deschooling theory. The cycle of violence theory explains how violence in a specific relationship can be tolerated. The deschooling theory provides a sociological explanation for how emotional maltreatment can be overlooked in society. Analyzing the case in association with these two theories highlights the characteristics of teachers’ behaviors that rationalize maltreatment as education and hinder students from escaping emotional maltreatment. This study deepens our understanding of the causes of student maltreatment and provides a perspective for future qualitative and quantitative research.

Keywords: Emotional maltreatment, education, student maltreatment, Japan.

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Authors: Timothy Yoonsuk Lee, Jinhwan Yu, Somi Nah

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Hollywood has produced various blockbusters on the subject of disasters. Entering the 2000s, disaster films began to be produced in the East Asian region as well, and as most of them were successful, disaster films have settled as a popular genre in the region. East Asian disaster films utilize a plot structure similar to Hollywood films but, at the same time, represent East Asian people-s unique value system. East Asian people-s social behavior pattern defined as collectivism is a characteristic that distinguishes this region from other cultural regions. In order to examine Confucian culture in disaster films on the premise of the difference, the author conducts this research as follows.This study first reviews the concepts disaster and disaster film, and understands the genre through analyzing the narrative structure and style. In addition, it discusses collectivism, a characteristic of the East Asian region distinguished from the West, and investigates Confucian culture in films and examines differences among Korean, Chinese and Japanese Confucianism. Films selected for this study are Tidal Wave (Korea, 2009), After Shock (China, 2006), and The Sinking of Japan (Japan, 2006). Using the characters in these films, we analyze how Confucian thought is described and reproduced.

Keywords: Confucianism, Disaster Film, East Asian Films, Three Basic Principles and Five Moral Disciplines in Human Relations

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Authors: S. N. Deepa, G. Sugumaran

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This paper proposes a new version of the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) namely, Modified PSO (MPSO) for model order formulation of Single Input Single Output (SISO) linear time invariant continuous systems. In the General PSO, the movement of a particle is governed by three behaviors namely inertia, cognitive and social. The cognitive behavior helps the particle to remember its previous visited best position. In Modified PSO technique split the cognitive behavior into two sections like previous visited best position and also previous visited worst position. This modification helps the particle to search the target very effectively. MPSO approach is proposed to formulate the higher order model. The method based on the minimization of error between the transient responses of original higher order model and the reduced order model pertaining to the unit step input. The results obtained are compared with the earlier techniques utilized, to validate its ease of computation. The proposed method is illustrated through numerical example from literature.

Keywords: Continuous System, Model Order Formulation, Modified Particle Swarm Optimization, Single Input Single Output, Transfer Function Approach

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Authors: Sevil Yildiz

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In parallel, broadcasting has changed rapidly with the changing of the world at the same area. Broadcasting is also influenced and reshaped in terms of the emergence of new communication technologies. These developments have resulted a lot of economic and social consequences. The most important consequences of these results are those of the powers of the governments to control over the means of communication and control mechanisms related to the descriptions of the new issues. For this purpose, autonomous and independent regulatory bodies have been established by the state. One of these regulatory bodies is the Radio and Television Supreme Council, which to be established in 1994, with the Code no 3984. Today’s Radio and Television Supreme Council which is responsible for the regulation of the radio and television broadcasts all across Turkey has an important and effective position as autonomous and independent regulatory body. The Radio and Television Supreme Council acts as being a remarkable organizer for a sensitive area of radio and television broadcasting on one hand, and the area of democratic, liberal and keep in mind the concept of the public interest by putting certain principles for the functioning of the Board control, in the context of media policy as one of the central organs, on the other hand. In this study, the role of the Radio and Television Supreme Council is examined in accordance with the Code no 3894 in order to control over the communication and control mechanisms as well as the examination of the changes in the duties of the Code No. 6112, dated 2011.

Keywords: Regulatory Boards, Radio and Television Supreme Council.

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Authors: Yasmin Nanabhay

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The paper scrutinizes the literature on accountability and non-accountability, and then presents an analysis of a South African case which demonstrated consequences of a lack of accountability. Ethical conduct displayed by members of the public sector is integral to creating a sustainable democratic government, which upholds the constitutional tenets of accountability, transparency and professional ethicality. Furthermore, a true constitutional democracy emphasises and advocates the notion of service leadership that nurtures public participation and engages with citizens in a positive manner. Ethical conduct and accountability in the public sector earns public trust; hence these are key principles in good governance. Yet, in the years since the advent of democracy in South Africa, the government has been plagued by rampant corruption and mal-administration by public officials and politicians in leadership positions. The control measures passed by government in an attempt to ensure ethicality and accountability within the public sector include codes of ethics, rules of conduct and the enactment of legislation. These are intended to shape the mindset of members of the public sector, with the ultimate aim of an efficient, effective, ethical, responsive and accountable public service. The purpose of the paper is to analyse control systems and accountability within the public sector and to present reasons for non-accountability by means of a selected case study. The selected case study is the corruption trial of Jackie Selebi, who served as National Commissioner of the South African Police Service but was dismissed from the post. The reasons for non-accountability in the public sector as well as recommendations based on the findings to enhance accountability will be undertaken. The case study demonstrates the experience and impact of corruption and/or mal-administration, as a result of a lack of accountability, which has contributed to the increasing loss of confidence in political leadership in the country as elsewhere in the world. The literature is applied to the erstwhile National Commissioner of the South African Police Service and President of Interpol, as a case study of non-accountability.

Keywords: Public sector, public accountability, internal control, oversight mechanisms, non-compliance, corruption, mal-administration.

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Authors: Ehi E. Aimiuwu

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As of 2017, many researchers in educational journals are still wondering if students are effectively and efficiently engaged in active learning in the online learning environment. The goal of this qualitative single case study and narrative research is to explore if students are actively engaged in their online learning. Seven online students in the United States from LinkedIn and residencies were interviewed for this study. Eleven online learning techniques from research were used as a framework.  Data collection tools were used for the study that included a digital audiotape, observation sheet, interview protocol, transcription, and NVivo 12 Plus qualitative software.  Data analysis process, member checking, and key themes were used to reach saturation. About 85.7% of students preferred individual grading. About 71.4% of students valued professor’s interacting 2-3 times weekly, participating through posts and responses, having good internet access, and using email.  Also, about 57.1% said students log in 2-3 times weekly to daily, professor’s social presence helps, regular punctuality in work submission, and prefer assessments style of research, essay, and case study.  About 42.9% appreciated syllabus usefulness and professor’s expertise.

Keywords: Class facilitation, course management, online teaching, online education, student engagement.

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Authors: Yehia Manawi, Ahmad Kayvani Fard

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Membrane distillation is an emerging technology which has been used to produce freshwater and purify different types of aqueous mixtures. Qatar is an arid country where almost 100% of its freshwater demand is supplied through the energy-intensive thermal desalination process. The country’s need for water has reached an all-time high which stipulates finding an alternative way to augment freshwater without adding any drastic affect to the environment. The objective of this paper was to investigate the potential of using the industrial low grade waste heat to produce freshwater using membrane distillation. The main part of this work was conducting a heat audit on selected Qatari chemical industries to estimate the amounts of freshwater produced if such industrial waste heat were to be recovered. By the end of this work, the main objective was met and the heat audit conducted on the Qatari chemical industries enabled us to estimate both the amounts of waste heat which can be potentially recovered in addition to the amounts of freshwater which can be produced if such waste heat were to be recovered.

By the end, the heat audit showed that around 605 Mega Watts of waste heat can be recovered from the studied Qatari chemical industries which resulted in a total daily production of 5078.7 cubic meter of freshwater.

This water can be used in a wide variety of applications such as human consumption or industry. The amount of produced freshwater may look small when compared to that produced through thermal desalination plants; however, one must bear in mind that this water comes from waste and can be used to supply water for small cities or remote areas which are not connected to the water grid. The idea of producing freshwater from the two widely-available wastes (thermal rejected brine and waste heat) seems promising as less environmental and economic impacts will be associated with freshwater production which may in the near future augment the conventional way of producing freshwater currently being thermal desalination. This work has shown that low grade waste heat in the chemical industries in Qatar and perhaps the rest of the world can contribute to additional production of freshwater using membrane distillation without significantly adding to the environmental impact.

Keywords: Membrane distillation, desalination, heat recovery, environment.

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Authors: Sadaf Moeez, Madiha Khalid, Zoya Khalid, Sania Shaheen, Sumbul Khalid

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Background: Inter-individual variation in response to metformin, which has been considered as a first line therapy for T2DM treatment is considerable. In the current study, it was aimed to investigate the impact of two genetic variants Leu125Phe (rs77474263) and Gly64Asp (rs77630697) in gene SLC47A1 on the clinical efficacy of metformin in T2DM Pakistani patients. Methods: The study included 800 T2DM patients (400 metformin responders and 400 metformin non-responders) along with 400 ethnically matched healthy individuals. The genotypes were determined by allele-specific polymerase chain reaction. In-silico analysis was done to confirm the effect of the two SNPs on the structure of genes. Association was statistically determined using SPSS software. Results: Minor allele frequency for rs77474263 and rs77630697 was 0.13 and 0.12. For SLC47A1 rs77474263 the homozygotes of one mutant allele ‘T’ (CT) of rs77474263 variant were fewer in metformin responders than metformin non-responders (29.2% vs. 35.5 %). Likewise, the efficacy was further reduced (7.2% vs. 4.0 %) in homozygotes of two copies of ‘T’ allele (TT). Remarkably, T2DM cases with two copies of allele ‘C’ (CC) had 2.11 times more probability to respond towards metformin monotherapy. For SLC47A1 rs77630697 the homozygotes of one mutant allele ‘A’ (GA) of rs77630697 variant were fewer in metformin responders than metformin non-responders (33.5% vs. 43.0 %). Likewise, the efficacy was further reduced (8.5% vs. 4.5%) in homozygotes of two copies of ‘A’ allele (AA). Remarkably, T2DM cases with two copies of allele ‘G’ (GG) had 2.41 times more probability to respond towards metformin monotherapy. In-silico analysis revealed that these two variants affect the structure and stability of their corresponding proteins. Conclusion: The present data suggest that SLC47A1 Leu125Phe (rs77474263) and Gly64Asp (rs77630697) polymorphisms were associated with the therapeutic response of metformin in T2DM patients of Pakistan.

Keywords: Diabetes, T2DM, SLC47A1, Pakistan, polymorphism.

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Authors: Manal Sultan Alhussein, Xiang Michelle Liu

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Telehealth is an advanced technology using digital information and telecommunication facilities that provide access to health services from a distance. It slows the transmission factor of COVID-19, especially for elderly patients and patients with chronic diseases during the pandemic. Therefore, understanding patient perspectives on telehealth services and the factors impacting their option of telehealth service will shed light on the measures that healthcare providers can take to improve the quality of telehealth services. This study aimed to evaluate perceptions of telehealth services among different patient groups and explore various aspects of telehealth utilization in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey distributed via social media platforms was used to collect research data. In addition to the descriptive statistics, both correlation and regression analyses were conducted to test research hypotheses. The empirical results highlighted that the factors such as accessibility to telehealth services and the type of specialty clinics that the patients required play important roles in the effectiveness of telehealth services they received. However, the results found that patients’ waiting time to receive telehealth services and their annual income did not significantly influence their desire to select receiving healthcare services via telehealth. The limitations of the study and future research directions are discussed.

Keywords: Telehealth, patient satisfaction, pandemic, healthcare, remote patient monitor.

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Authors: Ioannis I. Αngeli

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Worldwide and mainly in the European Union, many standards, regulations, models and systems exists for the evaluation and identification of stakeholders’ requirements of individual universities and higher education (HE) in general. All systems are targeting to measure or evaluate the Universities’ Quality Assurance Systems and the services offered to the recipients of HE, mainly the students. Numerous surveys were conducted in the past either by each university or by organized bodies to identify the students’ satisfaction or to evaluate to what extent these requirements are fulfilled. In this paper, the main results of an ongoing 6-year joint research will be presented very briefly. This research deals with an in depth investigation of student’s satisfaction, students personal requirements, a cup analysis among these two parameters and compares different universities. Through this research an attempt will be made to address four very important questions in higher education establishments (HEE): (1) Are there any common requirements, parameters, good practices or questions that apply to a large number of universities that will assure that students’ requirements are fulfilled? (2) Up to what extent the individual programs of HEE fulfil the requirements of the stakeholders? (3) Are there any similarities on specific programs among European HEE? (4) To what extent the knowledge acquired in a specific course program is utilized or used in a specific country? For the execution of the research an internationally accepted questionnaire(s) was used to evaluate up to what extent the students’ requirements and satisfaction were fulfilled in 2012 and five years later (2017). Samples of students and or universities were taken from many European Universities. The questionnaires used, the sampling method and methodology adopted, as well as the comparison tables and results will be very valuable to any university that is willing to follow the same route and methodology or compare the results with their own HHE. Apart from the unique methodology, valuable results are demonstrated from the four case studies. There is a great difference between the student’s expectations or importance from what they are getting from their universities (in all parameters they are getting less). When there is a crisis or budget cut in HEE there is a direct impact to students. There are many differences on subjects taught in European universities.

Keywords: Quality in higher education, students’ requirements, education standards, student’s survey, stakeholder’s requirements, Mechanical Engineering courses.

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Authors: Marco Sernaglia, Augusto M. P. Carreira, Helena M. L. Carvalho, Pedro B. Água, Armindo Frias, Manuel Carrasqueira

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The existence of mismatches between the qualification requirements of professionals in the maritime industry and existing higher education offers was verified within the scope of the European project MarLEM (Maritime Logistics Engineering and Management). Professionals in the maritime industry today and in the future face additional obstacles as a result of the sector's global nature as well as the sector's rapid technological and social evolution. As a result, they feel the need to update their skills and knowledge. A professional-oriented master's program was developed to fill this gap. The NOVA School of Science and Technology and the Portuguese Naval School co-developed this Master's program with the active participation of MarLEM project partners from academia and industry. In this work, the principles and approach used to design the master's program are presented. Its design and a concise synopsis of the courses' content are shown. In addition, other international courses covering the same topic are compared. As a result of this work, the teaching materials related to maritime logistics are improved and the assumptions and methodology that guided the creation of an international master's program in maritime logistics are disseminated.

Keywords: Education, maritime logistics, shipping, industrial engineering, management, soft skills.

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Authors: Edelyn Alicar-Cadorna

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This study assessed the productivity and performance of the barangays in the Heritage City of Vigan in terms of the barangays- resource requirements, management of resources, produced goods and services, and outcomes of service delivery. The descriptive research design was used in the study employing the input-process-output-outcomes model. Findings of this study showed that the barangays were strong in terms of resource requirements which enabled them to produce goods and services. The barangays were also strong in terms of management of resources in development planning. They also showed great potential along fiscal administration, and had a moderately high capability in organization and management. However, the barangays appeared to be most wanting in the area of barangay legislation, but they were strong in community mobilization and they had strong linkages with POs, NGOs and educational institutions. In the delivery of social services, the barangays favored the maintenance of day care centers. However, the barangays seem to be weak in the delivery of economic services. They fared well along providing protective services such as in establishing a Barangay Disaster Coordinating Council and organizing a group of Barangay Tanod. In terms of environmental services, the barangays performed garbage collection and disposal; however, garbage still found their way in the streets in some barangays. The services delivered had effected an improved status of the barangays. However, the barangays are still facing some problems.

Keywords: Barangays, Performance and Productivity.

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Authors: Andres Gonzalez, Adam Boies, Jacob Swanson, David Kittelson

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The concern of the indoor air quality (IAQ) has been increasing due to its risk to human health. The smoking, sweeping, and stove and stovetop use are the activities that have a major contribution to the indoor air pollution. Outdoor air pollution also affects IAQ. The most important factors over IAQ from cooking activities are the materials, fuels, foods, and ventilation. The low-cost, mobile air quality monitoring (LCMAQM) sensors, is reachable technology to assess the IAQ. This is because of the lower cost of LCMAQM compared to conventional instruments. The IAQ was assessed, using LCMAQM, during cooking activities in a University of Minnesota graduate-housing evaluating different ventilation systems. The gases measured are carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO₂). The particles measured are particle matter (PM) _2.5 micrometer (µm) and lung deposited surface area (LDSA). The measurements are being conducted during April 2019 in Como Student Community Cooperative (CSCC) that is a graduate housing at the University of Minnesota. The measurements are conducted using an electric stove for cooking. The amount and type of food and oil using for cooking are the same for each measurement. There are six measurements: two experiments measure air quality without any ventilation, two using an extractor as mechanical ventilation, and two using the extractor and windows open as mechanical and natural ventilation. 3The results of experiments show that natural ventilation is most efficient system to control particles and CO₂. The natural ventilation reduces the concentration in 79% for LDSA and 55% for PM_2.5, compared to the no ventilation. In the same way, CO₂ reduces its concentration in 35%. A well-mixed vessel model was implemented to assess particle the formation and decay rates. Removal rates by the extractor were significantly higher for LDSA, which is dominated by smaller particles, than for PM_2.5, but in both cases much lower compared to the natural ventilation. There was significant day to day variation in particle concentrations under nominally identical conditions. This may be related to the fat content of the food. Further research is needed to assess the impact of the fat in food on particle generations.

Keywords: Cooking, indoor air quality, low-cost sensor, ventilation.

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Authors: R. A. Harun, N. M. Ishak, N. Yusoff, S. Amat

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This quantitative research is aimed to identify the level of leadership quality and emotional intelligence for members of Students' Representatives Council (SRC) of Malaysian Public Universities (MPU). The variables include the leadership quality and emotional quotient (EQ). 238 SRC members in MPU were selected as subjects of the study. Data were collected using two instruments i.e. Malaysian Emotional Quotient Inventory (MEQI) and Ayu-Noriah Leadership Audit Trail Inventory (Ayu-Noriah, LATI). Data were analyzed using descriptive (mean and percentage). Research findings showed that the subjects scored highly in four out of five EQ domains (Self-Regulations, Self-Motivation, Empathy and Social Skills). However, the subjects scored medium to low in Self-Awareness. Analysis on the sub domains (a total of 28 sub domains) showed that the subjects scored high in 17 sub domains for EQ, whilst another 11 were at medium level. The overall analysis indicates that the subjects have high level of EQ. Findings on their leadership qualities showed that they obtained high scores in all seven factors that were measured i.e. Strategy and Leadership Model, Recruit, Review Performance and Honor, Deploy Strategically, Developing, Engage and Retain and Built HR Capabilities/Line Ownership. The overall score for leadership qualities was found to be high.

Keywords: Emotional intelligence, leadership, students.

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Authors: B. Frączek

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The paper analyses the usage of the Internet by university students in Visegrad Countries (4V Countries) who study economic fields in their formal and informal financial education and captures the areas of untapped potential of Internet in educational processes. Higher education and training, technological readiness, and the financial market development are in the group of pillars, that are key for efficiency driven economies. These three pillars have become an inspiration to the research on using the Internet in the financial education among economic university students as the group of the best educated people in finance. The financial education is a process that allows for improving the level of financial literacy. In turn, the financial literacy it is the set of financial knowledge, skills, awareness and patterns influencing the financial decisions. The level of financial literacy influences the level of financial well-being of individuals, determines the scale of saving of households and at the same time gives the greater chance for sustainable and more predictable development of the financial market with the positive impact on economy. The financial literacy is necessary for each group of society but its appropriate level is desirable especially in respect of economics students as future participants of financial markets as well as the experts and advisors in financial decision making. The low level of financial literacy is the great problem of many target groups in both developing and developed countries and the financial education is seen as the best way of improving this situation. Also the financial inclusion plays the special role in enhancing the level of financial literacy in the aspect of education by practice as well as due to interrelation between level of financial literacy and degree of financial inclusion. Despite many initiatives under financial education, the level of financial literacy is still very low. Scientists still search for new ways of solving this problem. One of the proposal is more effective usage of the new technology in financial education, especially the Internet, because of the growing popularity of e-learning and the increasing number of Internet users, especially among young people who are called the Generation Net. Due to special role of the university students studying the economics fields for the future financial markets, students of four universities from Visegrad Countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) were invited to participate in the survey. The aim of the article is to present the level and ways of using the Internet technology in financial education and indicating the so far unused or underused opportunities.

Keywords: Financial education, financial inclusion, financial literacy, usage of Internet in education.

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Authors: Anupama Pande, Ashok Kumar Thakur, Swapnoneel Roy

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A complex valued neural network is a neural network which consists of complex valued input and/or weights and/or thresholds and/or activation functions. Complex-valued neural networks have been widening the scope of applications not only in electronics and informatics, but also in social systems. One of the most important applications of the complex valued neural network is in signal processing. In Neural networks, generalized mean neuron model (GMN) is often discussed and studied. The GMN includes a new aggregation function based on the concept of generalized mean of all the inputs to the neuron. This paper aims to present exhaustive results of using Generalized Mean Neuron model in a complex-valued neural network model that uses the back-propagation algorithm (called -Complex-BP-) for learning. Our experiments results demonstrate the effectiveness of a Generalized Mean Neuron Model in a complex plane for signal processing over a real valued neural network. We have studied and stated various observations like effect of learning rates, ranges of the initial weights randomly selected, error functions used and number of iterations for the convergence of error required on a Generalized Mean neural network model. Some inherent properties of this complex back propagation algorithm are also studied and discussed.

Keywords: Complex valued neural network, Generalized Meanneuron model, Signal processing.

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Authors: Angelo Corallo, Maria Elena Latino, Marta Menegoli

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Agri-food value chain involves various stakeholders with different roles. All of them abide by national and international rules and leverage marketing strategies to advance their products. Food products and related processing phases carry with it a big mole of data that are often not used to inform final customer. Some data, if fittingly identified and used, can enhance the single company, and/or the all supply chain creates a math between marketing techniques and voluntary traceability strategies. Moreover, as of late, the world has seen buying-models’ modification: customer is careful on wellbeing and food quality. Food citizenship and food democracy was born, leveraging on transparency, sustainability and food information needs. Internet of Things (IoT) and Analytics, some of the innovative technologies of Industry 4.0, have a significant impact on market and will act as a main thrust towards a genuine ‘4.0 change’ for agriculture. But, realizing a traceability system is not simple because of the complexity of agri-food supply chain, a lot of actors involved, different business models, environmental variations impacting products and/or processes, and extraordinary climate changes. In order to give support to the company involved in a traceability path, starting from business model analysis and related business process a Framework to Manage Product Data in Agri-Food Supply Chain for Voluntary Traceability was conceived. Studying each process task and leveraging on modeling techniques lead to individuate information held by different actors during agri-food supply chain. IoT technologies for data collection and Analytics techniques for data processing supply information useful to increase the efficiency intra-company and competitiveness in the market. The whole information recovered can be shown through IT solutions and mobile application to made accessible to the company, the entire supply chain and the consumer with the view to guaranteeing transparency and quality.

Keywords: Agriculture 4.0, agri-food supply chain, Industry 4.0, voluntary traceability.

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Authors: S. V. Ukwungwu, A. J. Abbas, G. G. Nasr

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The increasing high price of natural gas and oil with attendant increase in energy demand on world markets in recent years has stimulated interest in recovering residual oil saturation across the globe. In order to meet the energy security, efforts have been made in developing new technologies of enhancing the recovery of oil and gas, utilizing techniques like CO₂ flooding, water injection, hydraulic fracturing, surfactant flooding etc. Surfactant flooding however optimizes production but poses risk to the environment due to their toxic nature. Amongst proven records that have utilized other type of bacterial in producing biosurfactants for enhancing oil recovery, this research uses a technique to combine biosurfactants that will achieve a scale of EOR through lowering interfacial tension/contact angle. In this study, three biosurfactants were produced from three Bacillus species from freeze dried cultures using sucrose 3 % (w/v) as their carbon source. Two of these produced biosurfactants were screened with the TEMCO Pendant Drop Image Analysis for reduction in IFT and contact angle. Interfacial tension was greatly reduced from 56.95 mN.m^-1 to 1.41 mN.m^-1 when biosurfactants in cell-free culture (Bacillus licheniformis) were used compared to 4. 83mN.m^-1 cell-free culture of Bacillus subtilis. As a result, cell-free culture of (Bacillus licheniformis) changes the wettability of the biosurfactant treatment for contact angle measurement to more water-wet as the angle decreased from 130.75^o to 65.17^o. The influence of microbial treatment on crushed rock samples was also observed by qualitative wettability experiments. Treated samples with biosurfactants remained in the aqueous phase, indicating a water-wet system. These results could prove that biosurfactants can effectively change the chemistry of the wetting conditions against diverse surfaces, providing a desirable condition for efficient oil transport in this way serving as a mechanism for EOR. The environmental friendly effect of biosurfactants applications for industrial purposes play important advantages over chemically synthesized surfactants, with various possible structures, low toxicity, eco-friendly and biodegradability.

Keywords: Bacillus, biosurfactant, enhanced oil recovery, residual oil, wettability.

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Authors: Erika Ann Schaub, Christian J Darken

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Sociological models (e.g., social network analysis, small-group dynamic and gang models) have historically been used to predict the behavior of terrorist groups. However, they may not be the most appropriate method for understanding the behavior of terrorist organizations because the models were not initially intended to incorporate violent behavior of its subjects. Rather, models that incorporate life and death competition between subjects, i.e., models utilized by scientists to examine the behavior of wildlife populations, may provide a more accurate analysis. This paper suggests the use of biological models to attain a more robust method for understanding the behavior of terrorist organizations as compared to traditional methods. This study also describes how a biological population model incorporating predator-prey behavior factors can predict terrorist organizational recruitment behavior for the purpose of understanding the factors that govern the growth and decline of terrorist organizations. The Lotka-Volterra, a biological model that is based on a predator-prey relationship, is applied to a highly suggestive case study, that of the Irish Republican Army. This case study illuminates how a biological model can be utilized to understand the actions of a terrorist organization.

Keywords: Biological Models, Lotka-Volterra Predator-Prey Model, Terrorist Organizational Behavior, Terrorist Recruitment.

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Authors: W. EL Khoumsi, A. Hammani, M. Kuper, A. Bouaziz

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Oases are complex and fragile agro-ecosystems. They have always existed in environments characterized by an arid climate, scarcity of rainfall, high temperatures and high evaporation. These palms have grown up despite the severity of the physical characteristics thanks to the water's existence and irrigation practice. The oases are generally spread along non-perennial rivers (wadis), shallow water table or deep artesian groundwater. However, the sustainability of oasis system is threatened by water scarcity and declining of water table levels particularly in arid areas. Located in the southern east area of Morocco, Tafilalet plain encompasses one of the largest palm groves in the kingdom. In recent years, this area has become increasingly threatened by water shortage and has seen a sharp deterioration under the effect of several combined anthropogenic and climatic factors. The Bayoud disease, successive years of drought, Hassan Addakhil dam construction etc are all factors that have affected both water and phoenicicole heritage of the area. The objective of this study is to understand the interaction between qualitative and quantitative degradation of groundwater resources, and the palm grove dynamics, while reviewing the assumption that groundwater resources contribute in a direct way to the conservation of this oasis agroecosystem. A historical analysis tracing both the oasis dynamics and the groundwater evolution has been established. Data were collected from satellite images, surveys with different actors (farmers, Regional Office for Agricultural Development, Basin agency...). They were complemented by a synthesis of numerous technical reports in the area. The results showed that within 40 years, the thickness of the groundwater table has dropped in 50 %. Along with this, there has been a downsizing of date palm by 50 %. Areas with higher groundwater level were the least affected by the downsizing. So we can say that the shallow groundwater contribute significantly and directly to the water supply of date palm through its root system, and largely ensures the oasis ecosystem sustainability.

Keywords: Oasis dynamics, Arid environments, Groundwater deterioration, Date palm.

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Authors: Lamia Hammadi, Abdellah Ait Ouhman, Aomar Ibourk

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It is widely assumed that the case of Customs Supply Chain is classified as a complex system, due to not only the variety and large number of actors, but also their complex structural links, and the interactions between these actors, that’s why this system is subject to various types of Risks. The economic, political and social impacts of those risks are highly detrimental to countries, businesses and the public, for this reason, Risk management in the customs supply chain is becoming a crucial issue to ensure the sustainability, security and safety. The main characteristic of customs risk management approach is determining which goods and means of transport should be examined? To what extend? And where future compliance resources should be directed? The purposes of this article are, firstly to deal with the concept of customs supply chain, secondly present our risk management approach based on Cross Activity Based Costing (ABC) Method as an interactive tool to support decision making in customs risk management. Finally, analysis of case study of Moroccan customs to putting theory into practice and will thus draw together the various elements of a structured and efficient risk management approach.

Keywords: Cross ABC Method, Customs Supply Chain, Risk, Risk Management.

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Authors: Md. Emaj Uddin

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Arrack is one of the forms of alcoholic beverage or liquor which is produced from palm or date juice and commonly consumed by the lower social class of all religious/ethnic communities in the north-western villages of Bangladesh. The purpose of the study was to compare arrack drinking patterns associated with socio-demographic status among the Muslim, Hindu, Santal, and Oraon communities in the Rasulpur union of Bangladesh. A total of 391 respondents (Muslim n-109, Hindu n-103, Santal n-89, Oraon n-90) selected by cluster random sampling were interviewed by ADP (Arrack Drinking Pattern) questionnaire. The results of Pearson Chi-Squire test revealed that arrack drinking patterns were significantly differed among the Muslim, Hindu, Santal, and Oraon communities- drinkers. In addition, the results of Spearman-s bivariate correlation coefficients also revealed that sociodemographic characteristics of the communities- drinkers were the significantly positive and negative associations with the arrack drinking patterns in the Rasulpur union, Bangladesh. The study suggests that further cross-cultural researches should be conducted on the consequences of arrack drinking patterns on the communities- drinkers.

Keywords: Arrack Drinking Patterns, Bangladesh, Community, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Socio-Demographic Status.

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Authors: Sara M. Ismael, Ali H. Al-Badi

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The rapid development and growth of technology has changed the method of obtaining information for educators and learners. Technology has created a new world of collaboration and communication among people. Incorporating new technology into the teaching process can enhance learning outcomes. Billions of individuals across the world are now connected together, and are cooperating and contributing their knowledge and intelligence. Time is no longer wasted in waiting until the teacher is ready to share information as learners can go online and get it immediatelt.

The objectives of this paper are to understand the reasons why changes in teaching and learning methods are necessary, to find ways of improving them, and to investigate the challenges that present themselves in the adoption of new ICT tools in higher education institutes.

 To achieve these objectives two primary research methods were used: questionnaires, which were distributed among students at higher educational institutes and multiple interviews with faculty members (teachers) from different colleges and universities, which were conducted to find out why teaching and learning methodology should change.

The findings show that both learners and educators agree that educational technology plays a significant role in enhancing instructors’ teaching style and students’ overall learning experience; however, time constraints, privacy issues, and not being provided with enough up-to-date technology do create some challenges.

Keywords: E-books, educational technology, educators, e-learning, learners, social media, Web 2.0, LMS.

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Authors: C. Alexandridou, G. N. Angelopoulos, F. A. Coutelieris

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Construction industry in Greece consumes annually more than 25 million tons of natural aggregates originating mainly from quarries. At the same time, more than 2 million tons of construction and demolition waste are deposited every year, usually without control, therefore increasing the environmental impact of this sector. A potential alternative for saving natural resources and minimize landfilling, could be the recycling and re-use of Concrete and Demolition Waste (CDW) in concrete production. Moreover, in order to conform to the European legislation, Greece is obliged to recycle non-hazardous construction and demolition waste to a minimum of 70% by 2020. In this paper characterization of recycled materials - commercially and laboratory produced, coarse and fine, Recycled Concrete Aggregates (RCA) - has been performed. Namely, X-Ray Fluorescence and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis were used for chemical and mineralogical analysis respectively. Physical properties such as particle density, water absorption, sand equivalent and resistance to fragmentation were also determined. This study, first time made in Greece, aims at outlining the differences between RCA and natural aggregates and evaluating their possible influence in concrete performance. Results indicate that RCA’s chemical composition is enriched in Si, Al, and alkali oxides compared to natural aggregates. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses results indicated the presence of calcite, quartz and minor peaks of mica and feldspars. From all the evaluated physical properties of coarse RCA, only water absorption and resistance to fragmentation seem to have a direct influence on the properties of concrete. Low Sand Equivalent and significantly high water absorption values indicate that fine fractions of RCA cannot be used for concrete production unless further processed. Chemical properties of RCA in terms of water soluble ions are similar to those of natural aggregates. Four different concrete mixtures were produced and examined, replacing natural coarse aggregates with RCA by a ratio of 0%, 25%, 50% and 75% respectively. Results indicate that concrete mixtures containing recycled concrete aggregates have a minor deterioration of their properties (3-9% lower compression strength at 28 days) compared to conventional concrete containing the same cement quantity.

Keywords: Chemical and physical characterization, compressive strength, mineralogical analysis, recycled concrete aggregates, waste management.

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Authors: Hersh C. Waxman, Yolanda N. Padrón, Jee-Young Shin, Héctor H. Rivera

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While many studies have conducted the achievement gap between groups of students in school districts, few studies have utilized resilience research to investigate achievement gaps within classrooms. This paper aims to summarize and discuss some recent studies Waxman, Padr├│n, and their colleagues conducted, in which they examined learning environment differences between resilient and nonresilient students in reading and mathematics classrooms. The classes consist of predominantly Hispanic elementary school students from low-income families. These studies all incorporated learning environment questionnaires and systematic observation methods. Significant differences were found between resilient and nonresilient students on their classroom learning environments and classroom behaviors. The observation results indicate that the amount and quality of teacher and student academic interaction are two of the most influential variables that promote student outcomes. This paper concludes by suggesting the following teacher practices to promote resiliency in schools: (a) using feedback from classroom observation and learning environment measures, (b) employing explicit teaching practices; and (c) understanding students on a social and personal level.

Keywords: achievement gap, classroom learning environments, educational resilience, systematic classroom observation

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Authors: Dennis Corbett

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The city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, provides a number of examples of how a growing city can integrate urban planning and water planning to achieve sustainable urban development, environmental protection, liveability and integrated water management outcomes, and move towards becoming a “Water Sensitive City". Three examples are provided - the development at Botanic Ridge, where a 318 hectare residential development is being planned and where integrated water management options are being implemented using a “triple bottom line" sustainability investment approach; the Toolern development, which will capture and reuse stormwater and recycled water to greatly reduce the suburb-s demand for potable water, and the development at Kalkallo where a 1,200 hectare industrial precinct development is planned which will merge design of the development's water supply, sewerage services and stormwater system. The Paper argues that an integrated urban planning and water planning approach is fundamental to creating liveable, vibrant communities which meet social and financial needs while being in harmony with the local environment. Further work is required on developing investment frameworks and risk analysis frameworks to ensure that all possible solutions can be assessed equally.

Keywords: Integrated water management, stormwater management, sustainable urban development.

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Authors: Bahman Ramezani Gourabi

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Drought is one of the most important natural disasters which is probable to occur in all regions with completely different climates and in addition to causing death. It results in many economic losses and social consequences. For this reason. Studying the effects and losses caused by drought which include limitation or shortage of agricultural and drinking water resources. Decreased rainfall and increased evapotranspiration. Limited plant growth and decreased agricultural products. Especially those of dry-farming. Lower levels of surface and ground waters and increased immigrations. Etc. in the country is statistical period (1988-2007) for six stations in Roudbar town were used for statistical analysis and calculating humid and dry years. The dependable rainfall index (DRI) was the main method used in this research. Results showed that during the said statistical period and also during the years 1996-1998 and 2007. more than half of the stations had faced drought. With consideration of the conducted studies. Drawing diagrams and comparing the available data with those of dry and humid years it was found that drought affected agricultural products (e.g.olive) in a way that during the year 1996 1996 drought. Olive groves of Roudbar suffered the greatest damages. Whereupon about 70% of the crops were lost.

Keywords: Dependable rainfall, drought, annual rainfall, roudbar, olive, gilan.

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Authors: Dasom Kim, Chen Liu, Myungsu Lim, Soo-Hyeon Jeon, Byeoung Kug Jeon, Kee-Young Kwahk, Namgyu Kim

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Recently, numerous documents including large volumes of unstructured data and text have been created because of the rapid increase in the use of social media and the Internet. Usually, these documents are categorized for the convenience of users. Because the accuracy of manual categorization is not guaranteed, and such categorization requires a large amount of time and incurs huge costs. Many studies on automatic categorization have been conducted to help mitigate the limitations of manual categorization. Unfortunately, most of these methods cannot be applied to categorize complex documents with multiple topics because they work on the assumption that individual documents can be categorized into single categories only. Therefore, to overcome this limitation, some studies have attempted to categorize each document into multiple categories. However, the learning process employed in these studies involves training using a multi-categorized document set. These methods therefore cannot be applied to the multi-categorization of most documents unless multi-categorized training sets using traditional multi-categorization algorithms are provided. To overcome this limitation, in this study, we review our novel methodology for extending the category of a single-categorized document to multiple categorizes, and then introduce a survey-based verification scenario for estimating the accuracy of our automatic categorization methodology.

Keywords: Big Data Analysis, Document Classification, Text Mining, Topic Analysis.

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Authors: Walid A. M. Ghoneim, Hamdy A. Ashour, Asmaa E. Abdo

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In this paper, linear analysis of a Switched Reluctance Generator (SRG) model is applied on the most common configurations (4/2, 6/4 and 8/6) for both conventional short-pitched and fully-pitched designs, in order to determine the optimum stator/rotor pole angles at which the maximum output voltage is generated per unit excitation current. This study is focused on SRG analysis and design as a proposed solution for renewable energy applications, such as wind energy conversion systems. The world’s potential to develop the renewable energy technologies through dedicated scientific researches was the motive behind this study due to its positive impact on economy and environment. In addition, the problem of rare earth metals (Permanent magnet) caused by mining limitations, banned export by top producers and environment restrictions leads to the unavailability of materials used for rotating machines manufacturing. This challenge gave authors the opportunity to study, analyze and determine the optimum design of the SRG that has the benefit to be free from permanent magnets, rotor windings, with flexible control system and compatible with any application that requires variable-speed operation. In addition, SRG has been proved to be very efficient and reliable in both low-speed or high-speed applications. Linear analysis was performed using MATLAB simulations based on the (Modified generalized matrix approach) of Switched Reluctance Machine (SRM). About 90 different pole angles combinations and excitation patterns were simulated through this study, and the optimum output results for each case were recorded and presented in detail. This procedure has been proved to be applicable for any SRG configuration, dimension and excitation pattern. The delivered results of this study provide evidence for using the 4-phase 8/6 fully pitched SRG as the main optimum configuration for the same machine dimensions at the same angular speed.

Keywords: Generalized matrix approach, linear analysis, renewable applications, switched reluctance generator, SRG.

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