Search results for: public expenditure and financial accountability (PEFA)

Authors: T. Bovornvirakit, K. Viravaidya

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Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a new worldwide public health problem. A diagnosis of this disease using creatinine is still a problem in clinical practice. Therefore, a measurement of biomarkers responsible for AKI has received much attention in the past couple years. Cytokine interleukin-18 (IL-18) was reported as one of the early biomarkers for AKI. The most commonly used method to detect this biomarker is an immunoassay. This study used a planar platform to perform an immunoassay using fluorescence for detection. In this study, anti-IL-18 antibody was immobilized onto a microscope slide using a covalent binding method. Make-up samples were diluted at the concentration between 10 to 1000 pg/ml to create a calibration curve. The precision of the system was determined using a coefficient of variability (CV), which was found to be less than 10%. The performance of this immunoassay system was compared with the measurement from ELISA.

Keywords: Acute kidney injury, Acute renal failure, Antibody immobilization, Interleukin-18

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Authors: M. Aslan, A. Karaaslan, S. Selcuk

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The research was conducted in order to determine the organizational socialization levels of nurses working in hospitals in the form of a descriptive study. The research population was composed of nurses employed in public and private sector hospitals in the province of Konya with 0-3 years of professional experience in the hospitals (N=1200); and the sample was composed of 495 nurses that accepted to take part in the study voluntarily. Statistical evaluation of data was conducted in SPSS.16 software. The results of the study revealed that the total score taken by nurses at the organizational socialization scale was 262.95; and this was close to the maximum score. Particularly the departmental socialization sub-dimension proved to be higher in comparison to the other two dimensions (organization socialization and task socialization). Statistically meaningful differences were found in the levels of organization socialization in relation to the status of organizational orientation training, level of education and age group.

Keywords: Nurses, Newcomers, Organizational Socialization.

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Authors: Zulkiflee M., Robiah Y., Nur Azman Abu, Shahrin S.

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Malware is software which was invented and meant for doing harms on computers. Malware is becoming a significant threat in computer network nowadays. Malware attack is not just only involving financial lost but it can also cause fatal errors which may cost lives in some cases. As new Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) emerged, many people believe this protocol could solve most malware propagation issues due to its broader addressing scheme. As IPv6 is still new compares to native IPv4, some transition mechanisms have been introduced to promote smoother migration. Unfortunately, these transition mechanisms allow some malwares to propagate its attack from IPv4 to IPv6 network environment. In this paper, a proof of concept shall be presented in order to show that some existing IPv4 malware detection technique need to be improvised in order to detect malware attack in dual-stack network more efficiently. A testbed of dual-stack network environment has been deployed and some genuine malware have been released to observe their behaviors. The results between these different scenarios will be analyzed and discussed further in term of their behaviors and propagation methods. The results show that malware behave differently on IPv6 from the IPv4 network protocol on the dual-stack network environment. A new detection technique is called for in order to cater this problem in the near future.

Keywords: Dual-Stack, Malware, Worm, IPv6;IDS

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Authors: Gabriella Tjondro, Julita Dortua Laurentina Nainggolan

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Introduction: There are several things affecting menstrual cycle, namely, nutritional status, diet, financial status of one’s household and exercises. The most commonly used parameter to calculate the fat in a human body is body mass index. Therefore, it is necessary to do research to prevent complications caused by menstrual disorder in the future. Design Study: This research is an observational analytical study with the cross-sectional-case control approach. Participants (n = 124; median age = 19.5 years ± SD 3.5) were classified into 2 groups: normal, NM (n = 62; BMI = 18-23 kg/m²) and obese, OB (n = 62; BMI = > 25 kg/m²). BMI was calculated from the equation; BMI = weight, kg/height, m². Results: There were 79.10% from obese group who experienced menstrual cycle disorders (n=53, 79.10%; p value 0.00; OR 5.25) and 20.90% from normal BMI group with menstrual cycle disorders. There were several factors in this research that also influence the menstrual cycle disorders such as stress (44.78%; p value 0.00; OR 1.85), sleep disorders (25.37%; p value 0.00; OR 1.01), physical activities (25.37%; p value 0.00; OR 1.24) and diet (10.45%; p value 0.00; OR 1.07). Conclusion: There is a significant relation between body mass index (obese) and menstrual cycle disorders. However, BMI is not the only factor that affects the menstrual cycle disorders. There are several factors that also can affect menstrual cycle disorders, in this study we use stress, sleep disorders, physical activities and diet, in which none of them are dominant.

Keywords: Menstrual disorders, menstrual cycle, obesity, body mass index, stress, sleep disorders, physical activities, diet.

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Authors: Souâd Demigha

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Early detection of breast cancer is considered as a major public health issue. Breast cancer screening is not generalized to the entire population due to a lack of resources, staff and appropriate tools. Systematic screening can result in a volume of data which can not be managed by present computer architecture, either in terms of storage capabilities or in terms of exploitation tools. We propose in this paper to design and develop a data warehouse system in radiology-senology (DWRS). The aim of such a system is on one hand, to support this important volume of information providing from multiple sources of data and images and for the other hand, to help assist breast cancer screening in diagnosis, education and research.

Keywords: Breast cancer screening, data warehouse, diagnosis, education, research.

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Authors: Abimbola O. Aniki, Esther T. Akinlabi

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This paper proposes an effective maintenance method by considering the implementation of the Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) software to plan a maintenance activity in a manufacturing industry. Globally, maintenance is a very important activity in the manufacturing sector to prolong the life span of equipment and machinery; it is also applicable to all household items. It is obvious and well known that apart from giving long life to equipment, it reduces the substantial financial losses for repairs and save the production downtime. In some cases, appropriate maintenance of plant equipment and machinery reduces the tendencies of injuries to personnel in the job floor. But before the maintenance process can be carried out, proper and effective work order planning and scheduling must be in place in other to achieve the set goals and objectives of a maintenance shop. Brief reviews of common planning tools which include the Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) are presented. An interesting outline of analyses on planning and scheduling for effective job planning in a typical manufacturing industry using the CMMS is also presented and discussed. Finally, the steps to adhere to in making job planning effective in a manufacturing industry are also highlighted.

Keywords: Advanced Downtime Analysis Programme (ADAP), Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS), Corrective Maintenance (CM), Executing Department (ED), Maintenance Department (MD), Preventive Maintenance (PM).

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Authors: Geeta Sikka, Arvinder Kaur Takkar, Moin Uddin

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Missing data is a persistent problem in almost all areas of empirical research. The missing data must be treated very carefully, as data plays a fundamental role in every analysis. Improper treatment can distort the analysis or generate biased results. In this paper, we compare and contrast various imputation techniques on missing data sets and make an empirical evaluation of these methods so as to construct quality software models. Our empirical study is based on NASA-s two public dataset. KC4 and KC1. The actual data sets of 125 cases and 2107 cases respectively, without any missing values were considered. The data set is used to create Missing at Random (MAR) data Listwise Deletion(LD), Mean Substitution(MS), Interpolation, Regression with an error term and Expectation-Maximization (EM) approaches were used to compare the effects of the various techniques.

Keywords: Missing data, Imputation, Missing Data Techniques.

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Authors: Krzysztof Zieliński, Dariusz Kierzek

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The addition of a small amount of alumina cement to Portland cement results in immediate setting, a rapid increase in the compressive strength and a clear increase of the adhesion to concrete substrate. This phenomenon is used, among others, for the production of liquid floor self-levelling compounds. Alumina cement is several times more expensive than Portland cement and is a component having a significant impact on prices of products manufactured with its use. For the production of liquid floor self-levelling compounds, low-alumina cement containing approximately 40% Al₂O₃ is normally used. The aim of the study was to determine the impact of Portland cement with the addition of alumina cement on the basic physical and mechanical properties of cement slurries and mortars. CEM I 42.5R and three types of alumina cement containing 40%, 50% and 70% of Al₂O₃ were used for the tests. Mixes containing 4%, 6%, 8%, 10% and 12% of different varieties of alumina cement were prepared; for which, the time of initial and final setting, compressive and flexural strength and adhesion to concrete substrate were determined. The analysis of the obtained test results showed that a similar immediate setting effect and clearly better adhesion strength can be obtained using the addition of 6% of high-alumina cement than 12% of low-alumina cement. As the prices of these cements are similar, this can give significant financial savings in the production of liquid floor self-levelling compounds.

Keywords: Alumina cement, immediate setting, compression strength, adhesion to substrate.

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Authors: Yau-Ting, Sung, Hsueh-Chih, Chen, Hui-Peng, Hsiung, Hsun-Tsum, Huang

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In accordance with environmental impacts contended in Kyoto Protocol, the study aims to explore the different administrative and non-administrative measurements that industrial countries, such as America, German, Japan, Korea, Holland and British take to face with the increasing Global Warming phenomena. By large, these measurements consist of versatile dimensions, including of education and advocating, economical instruments, research developments and instances, restricted instruments, voluntary contacts, exchangeable permit for carbon-release and public investments. The results of discussion for the study are as follows: both economical impacts as well as reformations for nations that are affected via Kyoto Protocol, and human testifying for variables of global surroundings in the age of Kyoto Protocol.

Keywords: Global warming, Kyoto protocol.

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Authors: M. Kowalski, M. Kastek, M. Szustakowski

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Multispectral screening systems are becoming more popular because of their very interesting properties and applications. One of the most significant applications of multispectral screening systems is prevention of terrorist attacks. There are many kinds of threats and many methods of detection. Visual detection of objects hidden under clothing of a person is one of the most challenging problems of threats detection. There are various solutions of the problem; however, the most effective utilize multispectral surveillance imagers. The development of imaging devices and exploration of new spectral bands is a chance to introduce new equipment for assuring public safety. We investigate the possibility of long lasting detection of potentially dangerous objects covered with various types of clothing. In the article we present the results of comparative studies of passive imaging in three spectrums – visible, infrared and terahertz.

Keywords: Infrared, image processing, object detection, screening camera, terahertz.

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Authors: Çiğdem Tekin, C. Zeynep Oğuz

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The birdhouses and dovecotes, which are the indicator of naturalness and human-animal relationship, are one of the traditional cultural values of Turkey. With their structures compatible with nature and respectful to humans the bird houses and dovecotes, which have an important position in local urbanization models as a representative of the civil architecture with their unique form and function are important subjects that should be evaluated in a wide frame comprising from architecture to urbanism, from ecologic agriculture to globalization. The traditional bird houses and dovecotes are disregarded due to the insensitivity affecting the city life and the change in the public sense of art. In this study, the characteristic properties of traditional dovecotes and birdhouses, started in 13th century and ended in 19th century in Anatolia, are tried to be defined for the sustainability of the tradition and for giving a new direction to the designers.

Keywords: Birdhouse, conservation, human-animal relationship, traditional identity.

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Authors: G. Sekeroglu, M. Altan

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Working capital is identified as firm’s all current assets. Inventories which are one of the working capital elements are very important among current assets for firms. Because, profitability is an indicator for firms’ financial success is provided with minimum cost and optimum inventory quantity. So in this study, it is investigated as comparatively that the effect of inventory management on the profitability of Turkish firms which operated in weaving industry, eatables industry, wholesale and retail industry in between 2003 – 2012 years. Research data consist of profitability ratios and inventory turnovers ratio calculated by using balance sheets and income statements of firms which operated in Borsa Istanbul (BIST). In this research, the relationship between inventories and profitability is investigated by using SPSS-20 software with regression and correlation analysis. The results achieved from three industry departments which exist in study interpreted as comparatively. Accordingly, it is determined that there is a positive relationship between inventory management and profitability in eatables industry. However, it was founded that there is no relationship between inventory management and profitability in weaving industry and wholesale and retail industry.

Keywords: Profitability, regression analysis, inventory management, working capital.

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Authors: Meet Shah, Ankita Aditya, Dhruv Bindra, V. S. Omkar, Aashruti Seervi

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In today's world, we need documents everywhere for a smooth workflow in the identification process or any other security aspects. The current system and techniques which are used for identification need one thing, that is ‘proof of existence’, which involves valid documents, for example, educational, financial, etc. The main issue with the current identity access management system and digital identification process is that the system is centralized in their network, which makes it inefficient. The paper presents the system which resolves all these cited issues. It is based on ‘blockchain’ technology, which is a 'decentralized system'. It allows transactions in a decentralized and immutable manner. The primary notion of the model is to ‘have everything with nothing’. It involves inter-linking required documents of a person with a single identity card so that a person can go anywhere without having the required documents with him/her. The person just needs to be physically present at a place wherein documents are necessary, and using a fingerprint impression and an iris scan print, the rest of the verification will progress. Furthermore, some technical overheads and advancements are listed. This paper also aims to layout its far-vision scenario of blockchain and its impact on future trends.

Keywords: Blockchain, decentralized system, fingerprint impression, identity management, iris scan.

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Authors: Altayeb Qasem, Tarek Zayed, Zhi Chen

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Statistics Canada stated that the wastewater treatment facilities in most provinces are aging and passes 63% of their useful life in 2007 the highest ratio among public infrastructure assets. Currently, there is no standard condition rating system for wastewater treatment plants that give a specific rating index that describe the physical integrity of different infrastructure elements in the treatment plant and its environmental performance. The main objective of this study is to develop a condition-rating index for wastewater treatment plants mainly activated sludge systems. The proposed WWTP CRI, is based on dividing the treatment plant into its three treatment phases; primary phase, secondary phase and the tertiary phase. The condition-rating index will reflect the infrastructures state for each phase, mainly tanks, pipes, blowers and pumps.

Keywords: Condition rating index, Wastewater treatment plants, AHP- MUAT.

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Authors: Anqi Wang, Linye Zhang

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With the proliferation and development of mobile devices, various mobile apps have appeared to satisfy people’s needs. Metro, with the feature of convenient, punctuality and economic, is one of the most popular modes of transportation in cities. Yet, there are still some inconveniences brought by various factors, impacting tourists’ riding experience. The aim of this study is to help tourists to shorten the time of purchasing tickets, to provide them clear metro information and direct navigation, detailed schedule as well as a way to collect metro cards as souvenir. The study collects data through three phases, including observation, survey and test. Data collected from 106 tourists totally in Wuhan metro stations are discussed in the study. The result reflects tourists’ demand when they take the metro. It also indicates the feasibility of using mobile technology to improve passenger’s experience.

Keywords: Mobile App, metro, public transportation, ticket, mobile payment, indoors positioning, tourists.

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Authors: In Su Na, Gunwon Lee, Seiyong Kim

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This study analyzed the effect of area variables and economic variables on the length of each period of the project in order to analyze the effect of agreement rate on project implementation in housing renewal projects. In conclusion, as can be seen from these results, a low agreement rate may not translate into project promotion, and a higher agreement rate may not translate into project delay. The expectation of the policy is that the lower the agreement rate, the more projects would be promoted, but that is not the actual effect. From a policy consistency viewpoint, changing the agreement rate frequently, depending on the decision of the public, is not reasonable. The policy of using agreement rate as a necessary condition for project implementation should be reconsidered.

Keywords: Area and Economic Variables, Elapsed time, Housing Renewal Project.

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Authors: Wanda Luen-Wun Siu, Xiaowen Zhang

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The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportune time for China to deploy its health diplomacy around the world. This paper focused on China’s health diplomacy along the path of its Health Silk Road, with particular emphasis on the Southeast Asia and Europe amid COVID-19. This paper employed a retrospective literature review, analyzed China’s health diplomacy in such regions to cultivate bilateral and multilateral relationships. Findings argued that such health diplomacy is a success and China has taken the helm of international public health patronage. This research contributes to the literature in health diplomacy and suggests that amid the ever changing international order, China has exerted great effort in its health diplomacy and established itself as a responsible world power.

Keywords: China’s health silk road, COVID-19, Europe, Middle East.

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Authors: A. Alseiari, P. Farrell

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Maintenance has evolved into an imperative function, and contributes significantly to efficient and effective equipment performance. Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is an ideal approach to support the development and implementation of operation performance improvement. It systematically aims to understand the function of equipment, the service quality relationship with equipment and the probable critical equipment failure conditions. Implementation of TPM programmes need strategic planning and there has been little research applied in this area within Middle-East power plants. In the power sector of Abu Dhabi, technologically and strategically, the power industry is extremely important, and it thus needs effective and efficient equipment management support. The aim of this paper is to investigate barriers to successful TPM implementation in the Abu Dhabi power industry. The study has been conducted in the context of a leading power company in the UAE. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 employees, including maintenance and operation staff, and senior managers. The findings of this research identified seven key barriers, thus: managerial; organisational; cultural; financial; educational; communications; and auditing. With respect to the understanding of these barriers and obstacles in TPM implementation, the findings can contribute towards improved equipment operations and maintenance in power organisations.

Keywords: Abu Dhabi power industry, TPM implementation, key barriers, organisational culture, critical success factors.

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Authors: H. El-Kamchouchi, Heba Gaber, Fatma Ahmed, Dalia H. El-Kamchouchi

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A digital signature is an electronic signature form used by an original signer to sign a specific document. When the original signer is not in his office or when he/she travels outside, he/she delegates his signing capability to a proxy signer and then the proxy signer generates a signing message on behalf of the original signer. The two parties must be able to authenticate one another and agree on a secret encryption key, in order to communicate securely over an unreliable public network. Authenticated key agreement protocols have an important role in building a secure communications network between the two parties. In this paper, we present a secure proxy signature scheme over an efficient and secure authenticated key agreement protocol based on factoring and discrete logarithm problem.

Keywords: Discrete logarithm, factoring, proxy signature, key agreement.

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Authors: M. Boukhrouk, R. Ed-Dali

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Outbound tourism in Morocco, as in the majority of developing countries, reveals some of the aspects of inequality between the north and the south. Considered by some researchers as one of the facets of the development crisis, access to tourism and especially international tourism is a chance for a small minority with financial means, while the vast portions of the population dream rather of immigrating to a developed country for the sake of improving their standard of living. The right to travel is also limited by visa requirements, procedures in host countries, security and technical measures and creates discrimination in the practice of tourism. These conditions do not seem to be favorable to the democratization of the practice of international tourism for the populations of the southern countries. This paper is a contribution to the reading of the trends of outbound tourism in developing countries through the example of Morocco. It highlights the different aspects of Moroccan outbound tourism, destinations and the behavior of tourists through an analysis of the offer of a sample of 50 travel agencies. In the same vein, it offers a reading grid of the possibilities offered for the development of outbound tourism and the various existing obstacles to the democratization of international outbound tourism in the southern countries. This reading reveals the transformation in the behavior of Moroccan international tourists as well as the profound changes in Moroccan society, through a model of statistical analysis.

Keywords: Demand, Hajj, Morocco, outbound tourism, tendency, Umrah.

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Authors: A. O. Oladele

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The purpose of this study was to find out the effectiveness of neurological impress method and repeated reading technique on reading fluency of children with learning disabilities. Thirty primary four pupils in three public primary schools participated in the study. There were two experimental groups and a control. This research employed a 3 by 2 factorial matrix and the participants were taught for one session. Two hypotheses were formulated to guide the research. T-test was used to analyse the data gathered, and data analysis revealed that pupils exposed to the two treatment strategies had improvement in their reading fluency. It was recommended that the two strategies used in the study can be used to intervene in reading fluency problems in children with learning disabilities.

Keywords: Learning disabilities, neurological impress method, repeated reading, reading fluency.

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Authors: Hend S.H. Hassan, Essam M. Shehab, Joe Peppard

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E-government projects have potential for greater efficiency and effectiveness of government operations. For this reason, many developing countries governments have invested heavily in this agenda and an increasing number of e-government projects are being implemented. However, there is a lack of clear case material, which describes the potentialities and consequence experienced by organizations trying to manage with this change. The Ministry of State for Administrative Development (MSAD) is the organization responsible for the e-Government program in Egypt since early 2004. This paper presents a case study of the process of admission to public universities and institutions in Egypt which is led by MSAD. Underlining the key benefits resulting from the initiative, explaining the strategies and the development steps used to implement it, and highlighting the main obstacles encountered and how they were overcome will help repeat the experience in other useful e-government projects.

Keywords: Case studies, Egypt, Electronic government, Electronic services, University enrolment.

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Authors: M. Abdelhamid, I. Beshara, M. Ghoneim

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In Egypt, the concept of Asset Management (AM) is new; however, the need for applying it has become crucial because deteriorating or losing an asset is unaffordable in a developing country like Egypt. Therefore the current study focuses on educational buildings as one of the most important assets regarding planning, building, operating and maintenance expenditures. The main objective of this study is to develop a SAMF for educational buildings in Egypt. The General Authority for Educational Buildings (GAEB) was chosen as a case study of the current research as it represents the biggest governmental organization responsible for planning, operating and maintaining schools in Egypt. To achieve the research objective, structured interviews were conducted with senior managers of GAEB using a pre designed questionnaire to explore the current practice of AM. Gab analysis technique was applied against best practices compounded from a vast literature review to identify gaps between current practices and the desired one. The previous steps mainly revealed; limited knowledge about strategic asset management, no clear goals, no training, no real risk plan and lack of data, technical and financial resources. Based on the findings, a SAMF for GAEB was introduced and Framework implementation steps and assessment techniques were explained in detail.

Keywords: Strategic Asset Management, Educational Building, Framework, Gab Analysis, Developing Country.

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Authors: Safaa R. Amer

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Missing data yields many analysis challenges. In case of complex survey design, in addition to dealing with missing data, researchers need to account for the sampling design to achieve useful inferences. Methods for incorporating sampling weights in neural network imputation were investigated to account for complex survey designs. An estimate of variance to account for the imputation uncertainty as well as the sampling design using neural networks will be provided. A simulation study was conducted to compare estimation results based on complete case analysis, multiple imputation using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo, and neural network imputation. Furthermore, a public-use dataset was used as an example to illustrate neural networks imputation under a complex survey design

Keywords: Complex survey, estimate, imputation, neural networks, variance.

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Authors: M. I. Ribah, M. Jibir, Y. A. Bashar, S. S. Manga

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Food safety is a significant and growing public health problem in the world and Nigeria as a developing country, since food-borne diseases are important contributors to the huge burden of sickness and death of humans. In Nigeria, traditional ready-to-eat meat products (RTE-MPs) like balangu, tsire, guru and dried meat products like kilishi, dambun nama, banda, were reported to be highly appreciated because of their eating qualities. The consumption of these products was considered as safe due to the treatments that are usually involved during their production process. However, during processing and handling, the products could be contaminated by pathogens that could cause food poisoning. Therefore, a hazard identification for pathogenic bacteria on some traditional RTE-MPs was conducted in Kebbi and Sokoto States, Nigeria. A total of 116 RTE-MPs (balangu-38, kilishi-39 and tsire-39) samples were obtained from retail outlets and analyzed using standard cultural microbiological procedures in general and selective enrichment media to isolate the target pathogens. A six-fold serial dilution was prepared and using the pour plating method, colonies were counted. Serial dilutions were selected based on the prepared pre-labeled Petri dishes for each sample. A volume of 10-12 ml of molten Nutrient agar cooled to 42-45°C was poured into each Petri dish and 1 ml each from dilutions of 102, 104 and 106 for every sample was respectively poured on a pre-labeled Petri plate after which colonies were counted. The isolated pathogens were identified and confirmed after series of biochemical tests. Frequencies and percentages were used to describe the presence of pathogens. The General Linear Model was used to analyze data on pathogen presence according to RTE-MPs and means were separated using the Tukey test at 0.05 confidence level. Of the 116 RTE-MPs samples collected, 35 (30.17%) samples were found to be contaminated with some tested pathogens. Prevalence results showed that Escherichia coli, salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus were present in the samples. Mean total bacterial count was 23.82×106 cfu/g. The frequency of individual pathogens isolated was; Staphylococcus aureus 18 (15.51%), Escherichia coli 12 (10.34%) and Salmonella 5 (4.31%). Also, among the RTE-MPs tested, the total bacterial counts were found to differ significantly (P < 0.05), with 1.81, 2.41 and 2.9×104 cfu/g for tsire, kilishi, and balangu, respectively. The study concluded that the presence of pathogenic bacteria in balangu could pose grave health risks to consumers, and hence, recommended good manufacturing practices in the production of balangu to improve the products’ safety.

Keywords: Ready-to-eat meat products, retail outlets, safety assessment, public health.

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Authors: Liliana M. Ştefan, Ana M. Pană, Geza Bandur, Marcel Popa, Lucian M. Rusnac

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Polymers are one of the most widely used materials in our every day life. The subject of renewable resources has attracted great attention in the last period of time. New polymeric materials derived from renewable resources, like carbohydrates draw attention to public eye especially because of their biocompatibility and biodegradability. The aim of our paper was to obtain environmentally compatible polymers from monosaccharides. Novel glycopolymers based on D-glucose have been obtained from copolymerization of a new monomer carrying carbohydrate moiety with methyl methacrylate (MMA) via free radical bulk polymerization. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was performed in order to study the copolymerization process of the monomer into the chosen co-monomer; the activation energy of this process was evaluated using Ozawa method. The copolymers obtained were characterized using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. The thermal stability of the obtained products was studied by thermogravimetry (TG).

Keywords: DSC, glycopolymer, monosaccarides, TG.

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Authors: Thanomsin Chakreeves, Atichat Preittigun, Ajchara Phu-ang

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This paper presents a stakeholder analysis of agricultural drone policies that meet the government's goal of building an agricultural drone ecosystem in Thailand. Firstly, case studies from other countries are reviewed. The stakeholder analysis method and qualitative data from the interviews are then presented including data from the Institute of Innovation and Management, the Office of National Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Policy Council, agricultural entrepreneurs and farmers. Study and interview data are then employed to describe the current ecosystem and to guide the implementation of agricultural drone policies that are suitable for the ecosystem of Thailand. Finally, policy recommendations are then made that the Thai government should adopt in the future.

Keywords: Drone public policy, drone ecosystem, policy development, agricultural drone.

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Authors: Khashayar Kashani Jou, Ilnaz Fathololoomi

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Nowadays, access to sustainable development in cities is assumed as one of the most important goals of urban managers. In the meanwhile, neighborhood as the smallest unit of urban spatial organization has a substantial effect on urban sustainability. Hence, attention to and focus on this subject is highly important in urban development plans. The objective of this study is evaluation of the status of Jahanshahr Neighborhood in Karaj city based on sustainable neighborhood development indicators. This research has been applied based on documentary method and field surveys. Also, evaluating of Jahanshahr Neighborhood of Karaj shows that it has a high level in sustainability in physical and economical dimension while a low level in cultural and social dimension. For this purpose, this neighborhood as a semi-sustainable neighborhood must take measures for development of collective spaces and efficiency of utilizing the public neighborhood spaces via collaboration of citizens and officials.

Keywords: Neighborhood, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Neighborhood Development, Jahanshahr Neighborhood.

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Authors: S. M. Mirdamadi, S. Esmaeili, S. A. Tohidloo

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The main purpose of this research was to analyze Socio-Cultural obstacles of disseminating of nanotechnology in Iran's agricultural section. One hundred twenty eight out of a total of 190 researchers with different levels of expertise in and familiarity with nanotechnology were randomly selected and questionnaires completed by them. Face validity have been done by expert's suggestion and correction, reliability by using Cronbakh-Alpha formula. The results of a factor analysis showed variation for different factors. For cultural factors 19/475 percent, for management 13/139 percent, information factor 11/277 percent, production factor 9/703 percent, social factor 9/267 percent, and for attitude factor it became 8/947 percent. Also results indicated that socio-cultural factors were the most important obstacle for nanotechnology dissemination in agricultural section in Iran.

Keywords: Agriculture, Iran, nanotechnology, public perception, social-cultural obstacles.

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Authors: Sholpan Zhandossova, Erden Ordabek, Yelbolsyn Nazarov

Abstract:

the article analyzes the national security as a scientific and practical problem, characterized by the state's political institutions to ensure effective action to maintain optimal conditions for the existence and development of the individual and society. National security, as a category of political science reflects the relationship between the security to the nation, including public relations and social consciousness, social institutions and their activities, ensuring the realization of national interests in a particular historical situation. In national security are three security levels: individual, society and state. Their role and place determined by the nature of social relations, political systems, the presence of internal and external threats. In terms of content in the concept of national security is taken to provide political, economic, military, environmental, information security and safety of the cultural development of the nation.

Keywords: Kazakhstan, national security, religious extremism

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