Search results for: basic education

Authors: Gioacchino Lavanco, Elisabetta Di Giovanni, Floriana Romano

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The aim of this paper is to study in depth some methodological aspects of social interventation, focusing on desirable passage from social maternage method to peer advocacy method. For this purpose, we intend analyze social and organizative components, that affect operator's professional action and that are part of his psychological environment, besides the physical and social one. In fact, operator's interventation should not be limited to a pure supply of techniques, nor to take shape as improvised action, but “full of good purposes".

Keywords: Advocacy, education, relationship, social mandate.

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Authors: Zare Aliabad, H., Mirzaei, S.

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This work presents a theoretical investigation of the simultaneous absorption of CO2 and H2S into aqueous solutions of MDEA and DEA. In this process the acid components react with the basic alkanolamine solution via an exothermic, reversible reaction in a gas/liquid absorber. The use of amine solvents for gas sweetening has been investigated using process simulation programs called HYSYS and ASPEN. We use Electrolyte NRTL and Amine Package and Amines (experimental) equation of state. The effects of temperature and circulation rate and amine concentration and packed column and murphree efficiency on the rate of absorption were studied. When lean amine flow and concentration increase, CO2 and H2S absorption increase too. With the improvement of inlet amine temperature in absorber, CO2 and H2S penetrate to upper stages of absorber and absorption of acid gases in absorber decreases. The CO2 concentration in the clean gas can be greatly influenced by the packing height, whereas for the H2S concentration in the clean gas the packing height plays a minor role. HYSYS software can not estimate murphree efficiency correctly and it applies the same contributions in all diagrams for HYSYS software. By improvement in murphree efficiency, maximum temperature of absorber decrease and the location of reaction transfer to the stages of bottoms absorber and the absorption of acid gases increase.

Keywords: Absorber, DEA, MDEA, Simulation.

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Authors: Permphan Dharmasaroja

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Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) has been reported to develop after a hymenoptera sting, but its pathogenesis is not known in detail. Myelin basic protein (MBP)- specific T cells have been detected in the blood of patients with ADEM, and a proportion of these patients develop multiple sclerosis (MS). In an attempt to understand the mechanisms underlying ADEM, molecular mimicry between hymenoptera venom peptides and the human immunodominant MBP peptide was scrutinized, based on the sequence and structural similarities, whether it was the root of the disease. The results suggest that the three wasp venom peptides have low sequence homology with the human immunodominant MBP residues 85-99. Structural similarity analysis among the three venom peptides and the MS-related HLA-DR2b (DRA, DRB1*1501)-associated immunodominant MHC binding/TCR contact residues 88-93, VVHFFK showed that hyaluronidase residues 7-12, phospholipase A1 residues 98-103, and antigen 5 residues 109-114 showed a high degree of similarity 83.3%, 100%, and 83.3% respectively. In conclusion, some wasp venom peptides, particularly phospholipase A1, may potentially act as the molecular motifs of the human 3HLA-DR2b-associated immunodominant MBP88-93, and possibly present a mechanism for induction of wasp sting-associated ADEM.

Keywords: central nervous system, Hymenoptera, myelin basicprotein, molecular mimicry.

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Authors: Ahmad M. Abdel Fattah, Ayman M. Bahaa El-Din, Hossam M.A. Fahmy

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Modular multiplication is the basic operation in most public key cryptosystems, such as RSA, DSA, ECC, and DH key exchange. Unfortunately, very large operands (in order of 1024 or 2048 bits) must be used to provide sufficient security strength. The use of such big numbers dramatically slows down the whole cipher system, especially when running on embedded processors. So far, customized hardware accelerators - developed on FPGAs or ASICs - were the best choice for accelerating modular multiplication in embedded environments. On the other hand, many algorithms have been developed to speed up such operations. Examples are the Montgomery modular multiplication and the interleaved modular multiplication algorithms. Combining both customized hardware with an efficient algorithm is expected to provide a much faster cipher system. This paper introduces an enhanced architecture for computing the modular multiplication of two large numbers X and Y modulo a given modulus M. The proposed design is compared with three previous architectures depending on carry save adders and look up tables. Look up tables should be loaded with a set of pre-computed values. Our proposed architecture uses the same carry save addition, but replaces both look up tables and pre-computations with an enhanced version of sign detection techniques. The proposed architecture supports higher frequencies than other architectures. It also has a better overall absolute time for a single operation.

Keywords: Montgomery multiplication, modular multiplication, efficient architecture, FPGA, RSA

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Authors: Guojian Cheng, Tianshi Liu, Jiaxin Han, Zheng Wang

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The competitive learning is an adaptive process in which the neurons in a neural network gradually become sensitive to different input pattern clusters. The basic idea behind the Kohonen-s Self-Organizing Feature Maps (SOFM) is competitive learning. SOFM can generate mappings from high-dimensional signal spaces to lower dimensional topological structures. The main features of this kind of mappings are topology preserving, feature mappings and probability distribution approximation of input patterns. To overcome some limitations of SOFM, e.g., a fixed number of neural units and a topology of fixed dimensionality, Growing Self-Organizing Neural Network (GSONN) can be used. GSONN can change its topological structure during learning. It grows by learning and shrinks by forgetting. To speed up the training and convergence, a new variant of GSONN, twin growing cell structures (TGCS) is presented here. This paper first gives an introduction to competitive learning, SOFM and its variants. Then, we discuss some GSONN with fixed dimensionality, which include growing cell structures, its variants and the author-s model: TGCS. It is ended with some testing results comparison and conclusions.

Keywords: Artificial neural networks, Competitive learning, Growing cell structures, Self-organizing feature maps.

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Authors: A.Campanile, M. Mandarino, V. Piscopo

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This paper deals with the problem of non-uniform torsion in thin-walled elastic beams with asymmetric cross-section, removing the basic concept of a fixed center of twist, necessary in the Vlasov-s and Benscoter-s theories to obtain a warping stress field equivalent to zero. In this new torsion/flexure theory, despite of the classical ones, the warping function will punctually satisfy the first indefinite equilibrium equation along the beam axis and it wont- be necessary to introduce the classical congruence condition, to take into account the effect of the beam restraints. The solution, based on the Fourier development of the displacement field, is obtained assuming that the applied external torque is constant along the beam axis and on both beam ends the unit twist angle and the warping axial displacement functions are totally restrained. Finally, in order to verify the feasibility of the proposed method and to compare it with the classical theories, two applications are carried out. The first one, relative to an open profile, is necessary to test the numerical method adopted to find the solution; the second one, instead, is relative to a simplified containership section, considered as full restrained in correspondence of two adjacent transverse bulkheads.

Keywords: Non-uniform torsion, Asymmetric cross-section, Fourier series, Helmholtz equation, FE method.

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Authors: N. Neysani Samany, M.R. Delavar, N. Chrisman, M.R. Malek

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Location-aware computing is a type of pervasive computing that utilizes user-s location as a dominant factor for providing urban services and application-related usages. One of the important urban services is navigation instruction for wayfinders in a city especially when the user is a tourist. The services which are presented to the tourists should provide adapted location aware instructions. In order to achieve this goal, the main challenge is to find spatial relevant objects and location-dependent information. The aim of this paper is the development of a reusable location-aware model to handle spatial relevancy parameters in urban location-aware systems. In this way we utilized ontology as an approach which could manage spatial relevancy by defining a generic model. Our contribution is the introduction of an ontological model based on the directed interval algebra principles. Indeed, it is assumed that the basic elements of our ontology are the spatial intervals for the user and his/her related contexts. The relationships between them would model the spatial relevancy parameters. The implementation language for the model is OWLs, a web ontology language. The achieved results show that our proposed location-aware model and the application adaptation strategies provide appropriate services for the user.

Keywords: Spatial relevancy, Context-aware, Ontology, Modeling

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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: Chimaobi Valentine Okolo, Chizoba Obidigbo

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As a basic physiology need, threat to sufficient food production is threat to human survival. Food security has been an issue that has gained global concern. This paper looks at the food security in Nigeria by assessing the availability of food and accessibility of the available food. The paper employed multiple linear regression technique and graphic trends of growth rates of relevant variables to show the situation of food security in Nigeria. Results of the tests revealed that population growth rate was higher than the growth rate of food availability in Nigeria for the earlier period of the study. Commercial bank credit to agricultural sector, foreign exchange utilization for food and the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) contributed significantly to food availability in Nigeria. Food prices grew at a faster rate than the average income level, making it difficult to access sufficient food. It implies that prior to the year 2012; there was insufficient food to feed the Nigerian populace. However, continued credit to the food and agricultural sector will ensure sustained and sufficient production of food in Nigeria. Microfinance banks should make sufficient credit available to smallholder farmer. Government should further control and subsidize the rising price of food to make it more accessible by the people.

Keywords: Food security, food availability and food accessibility.

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Authors: Byung-Kon Kim

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According as the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) Industry projects have grown more complex and larger, the number of utilization of BIM for 3D design and simulation is increasing significantly. Therefore, typical applications of BIM such as clash detection and alternative measures based on 3-dimenstional planning are expanded to process management, cost and quantity management, structural analysis, check for regulation, and various domains for virtual design and construction. Presently, commercial BIM software is operated on single-user environment, so initial cost is so high and the investment may be wasted frequently. Cloud computing that is a next-generation internet technology enables simple internet devices (such as PC, Tablet, Smart phone etc) to use services and resources of BIM software. In this paper, we suggested developing method of the BIM software based on cloud computing environment in order to expand utilization of BIM and reduce cost of BIM software. First, for the benchmarking, we surveyed successful case of BIM and cloud computing. And we analyzed needs and opportunities of BIM and cloud computing in AEC Industry. Finally, we suggested main functions of BIM software based on cloud computing environment and developed a simple prototype of cloud computing BIM software for basic BIM model viewing.

Keywords: Construction IT, BIM(Building Information Modeling), Cloud Computing, BIM Service Based Cloud Computing, Viewer Based BIM Server, 3D Design.

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Authors: Teresa Coffman, Mary Beth Klinger

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Multi User Virtual Worlds are becoming a valuable educational tool. Learning experiences within these worlds focus on discovery and active experiences that both engage students and motivate them to explore new concepts. As educators, we need to explore these environments to determine how they can most effectively be used in our instructional practices. This paper explores the current application of virtual worlds to identify meaningful educational strategies that are being used to engage students and enhance teaching and learning.

Keywords: Virtual Environments, MUVEs, Constructivist, Distance Learning, Learner Centered.

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Authors: Kinda AlSamara

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The nineteenth century was characterized by major educational reforms in the Arab World. One of the unintended outcomes of colonization in Arab countries was the initiation of women liberation as well as the introduction of modern education and its application in sensitizing people on the rights of women and their liberation. The reforms were often attributed to various undercurrents that took place at different levels within the Ottoman Empire, and particularly the arrival and influence of the Christian missionaries were supported by the American and European governments. These trends were also significantly attributed to the increase in the presence of Europeans in the region, as well as the introduction of secular ideas and approaches related to the meaning of modernity. Using literary analysis as a method, this paper examines the role of an important male figure like the political activist and writer Qāsim Amīn and the religious reformer Muḥammad ʻAbduh in starting this discourse and shows their impact on the emancipation of women movement (Taḥrīr), and how later women led the movement with their published work. This paper explores Arab Salons and the initiation of women’s literary circles. Women from wealthy families in Egypt and Syria who had studied in Europe or interacted with European counterparts began these circles. These salons acted as central locations where people could meet and hold discussions on political, social, and literary trends as they happened each day. The paper concludes with a discussion of current debates between the Islamist and the secularist branches of the movement today. While the Islamists believe that adhering to the core of Islam with some of its contested position on women is a modern ideology of liberation that fits the current culture of modern time Egypt; the secularists argue that the influence that Islam has on the women’s liberation movement in Egypt has been a threat to the natural success and progress of the movement, which was initiated in the early nineteenth century independent of the more recent trends towards religiosity in the country.

Keywords: Educational model, crisis of terminologies, Arab awakening, nineteenth century.

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Authors: Haider AlAbadi, Joe Petrolito, Nelson Lam, Emad Gad

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In areas of low to moderate seismicity many building contents and equipment are not positively fixed to the floor or tied to adjacent walls. Under seismic induced horizontal vibration, such contents and equipment can suffer from damage by either overturning or impact associated with rocking. This paper focuses on the estimation of shock on typical contents and equipment due to rocking. A simplified analytical model is outlined that can be used to estimate the maximum acceleration on a rocking object given its basic geometric and mechanical properties. The developed model was validated against experimental results. The experimental results revealed that the maximum shock acceleration can be underestimated if the static stiffness of the materials at the interface between the rocking object and floor is used rather than the dynamic stiffness. Excellent agreement between the model and experimental results was found when the dynamic stiffness for the interface material was used, which was found to be generally much higher than corresponding static stiffness under different investigated boundary conditions of the cushion. The proposed model can be a beneficial tool in performing a rapid assessment of shock sensitive components considered for possible seismic rectification. 

Keywords: Impact, shock, earthquakes, rocking, building contents, overturning.

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Authors: Dejana Bouillet, Vlatka Domović

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Both policymakers and researchers recognize that participating in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is useful for all children, especially for those who are exposed to the high risk of social exclusion. Social exclusion of children is understood as a multidimensional construct including economic, social, cultural, health, and other aspects of disadvantage and deprivation, which individually or combined can have an unfavorable effect on the current life and development of a child, as well as on the child’s development and on disadvantaged life chances in adult life. ECEC institutions should be able to promote educational approaches that portray developmental, cultural, language, and other diversity amongst children. However, little is known about the ways in which Croatian ECEC institutions recognize and respect the diversity of children and their families and how they respond to their educational needs. That is why this paper is dedicated to the analysis of the capacities of ECEC professionals to respond to the demands of educational needs of this very diverse group of children and their families. The results obtained in the frame of the project “Models of response to educational needs of children at risk of social exclusion in ECEC institutions,” funded by the Croatian Science Foundation, will be presented. The research methodology arises from explanations of educational processes and risks of social exclusion as a complex and heterogeneous phenomenon. The preliminary results of the qualitative data analysis of educational practices regarding capacities to identify and appropriately respond to the requirements of children at risk of social exclusion will be presented. The data have been collected by interviewing educational staff in 10 Croatian ECEC institutions (n = 10). The questions in the interviews were related to various aspects of inclusive institutional policy, culture, and practices. According to the analysis, it is possible to conclude that Croatian ECEC professionals are still faced with great challenges in the process of implementation of inclusive policies, culture, and practices. There are several baselines of this conclusion. The interviewed educational professionals are not familiar enough with the whole complexity and diversity of needs of children at risk of social exclusion, and the ECEC institutions do not have enough resources to provide all interventions that these children and their families need.

Keywords: children at risk of social exclusion, ECEC professionals, inclusive policies, culture and practices, interpretative phenomenological analysis

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Authors: S. Wagner, C. Boley, Y. Forouzandeh

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When digging excavations, groundwater bearing layers are often encountered. In order to allow anhydrous excavation, soil groutings are carried out, which form a water-impermeable layer. As it is injected into groundwater areas, the effects of the materials used on the environment must be known. Developing an eco-friendly, economical and low viscous acrylic gel which has a sealing effect on groundwater is therefore a significant task. At this point the study begins. Basic investigations with the rheometer and a reverse column experiment have been performed with different mixing ratios of an acrylic gel. A dynamic rheology study was conducted to determine the time at which the gel still can be processed and the maximum gel strength is reached. To examine the effect of acrylic gel grouting on determine the parameters pH value, turbidity, electric conductivity, and total organic carbon on groundwater, an acrylic gel was injected in saturated sand filled the column. The structure was rinsed with a constant flow and the eluate was subsequently examined. The results show small changes in pH values and turbidity but there is a dependency between electric conductivity and total organic carbon. The curves of the two parameters react at the same time, which means that the electrical conductivity in the eluate can be measured constantly until the maximum is reached and only then must total organic carbon (TOC) samples be taken.

Keywords: Acrylic gel grouting, dynamic rheology study, electric conductivity, total organic carbon.

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Authors: Jamal S. Yassin

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This paper is to formulate a mathematical model to predict the amounts of the emissions produced from the combustion process of the gas turbine unit of the jet engine. These emissions have bad impacts on the environment if they are out of standards, which cause real threats to all type of life on the earth. The amounts of the emissions from the gas turbine engine are functions to many operational and design factors. In landing-takeoff (LTO) these amounts are not the same as in taxi or cruise of the plane using jet engines, because of the difference in the activity period during these operating modes. These emissions can be affected by several physical and chemical variables, such as fuel type, fuel to air ratio or equivalence ratio, flame temperature, combustion pressure, in addition to some inlet conditions such as ambient temperature and air humidity. To study the influence of these variables on the amounts of these emissions during the combustion process in the gas turbine unit, a computer program has been developed by using the visual basic 6 software. Here, the analysis of the combustion process is carried out by considering it as a chemical reaction with shifting equilibrium to find the products of the combustion of the octane fuel, at different equivalence ratios, compressor pressure ratios (CPR) and combustion temperatures. The results obtained have shown that there is noticeable influence of the equivalence ratio, CPR, and the combustion temperature on the amounts of the main emissions which are considered pollutants, such as CO, CO₂ and NO.

Keywords: Mathematical model, gas turbine unit, equivalence ratio, emissions, shifting equilibrium.

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Authors: Amir Tosson, Mohammad Reza, Christian Gutt

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Metadata is one of the most important aspects for advancing data management practices within all research communities. Definitions and schemes of metadata are inter alia of particular significance in the domain of neutron and photon scattering experiments covering a broad area of different scientific disciplines. The demand of describing continuously evolving highly non-standardized experiments, including the resulting processed and published data, constitutes a considerable challenge for a static definition of metadata. Here, we present the concept of dynamic metadata for the neutron and photon scientific community, which enriches a static set of defined basic metadata. We explore the idea of dynamic metadata with the help of the use case of X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (XPCS), which is a synchrotron-based scattering technique that allows the investigation of nanoscale dynamic processes. It serves here as a demonstrator of how dynamic metadata can improve data acquisition, sharing, and analysis workflows. Our approach enables researchers to tailor metadata definitions dynamically and adapt them to the evolving demands of describing data and results from a diverse set of experiments. We demonstrate that dynamic metadata standards yield advantages that enhance data reproducibility, interoperability, and the dissemination of knowledge.

Keywords: Big data, metadata, schemas, XPCS, X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy.

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Authors: Saule Mussabekova, Samal Abzhanova

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The Kazakh Language Fluency Test, based on the IELTS exam, was implemented in 2012 at Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan. We would like to share our experience in developing this exam and some exam results with other language instructors. In this paper, we will cover all these peculiarities and their related issues. The Kazakh Language Fluency Test is a young exam. During its development, we faced many difficulties. One of the goals of the university and the country is to encourage fluency in the Kazakh language for all citizens of the Republic. Nazarbayev University has introduced a Kazakh language program to assist in achieving this goal. This policy is one-step in ensuring that NU students have a thorough understanding of the Kazakh language through a fluency test based on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). The Kazakh Language Fluency Test exam aims to determine student’s knowledge of Kazakh language. The fact is that there are three types of students at Nazarbayev University: Kazakh-speaking heritage learners, Russian-speaking and English-speaking students. Unfortunately, we have Kazakh students who do not speak Kazakh. All students who finished school with Russian language instruction are given Kazakh Language Fluency Test in order to determine their Kazakh level. After the test exam, all students can choose appropriate Kazakh course: Basic Kazakh, Intermediate Kazakh and Upper-Intermediate Kazakh. The Kazakh Language Fluency Test consists of four parts: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. They are taken on the same day in the abovementioned order.

Keywords: Diagnostic language test, Kazakh language, placement test, test result.

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Authors: Reiko Yamamoto

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This paper reports on a project to integrate Japanese (as a first language) and English (as a second language) education. This study focuses on the mutual effects of the two languages on the linguistic proficiency of elementary school students. The research team consisted of elementary school teachers and researchers at a university. The participants of the experiment were students between 3^rd and 6^th grades at an elementary school. The research process consisted of seven steps: 1) specifying linguistic proficiency; 2) developing the cross-curriculum of L1 and L2; 3) forming can-do statements; 4) creating a self-evaluation questionnaire; 5) executing the self-evaluation questionnaire at the beginning of the school year; 6) instructing L1 and L2 based on the curriculum; and 7) executing the self-evaluation questionnaire at the beginning of the next school year. In Step 1, the members of the research team brainstormed ways to specify elementary school students’ linguistic proficiency that can be observed in various scenes. It was revealed that the teachers evaluate their students’ linguistic proficiency on the basis of the students’ utterances, but also informed by their non-verbal communication abilities. This led to the idea that competency for understanding others’ minds through the use of physical movement or bodily senses in communication in L1 – to sympathize with others – can be transferred to that same competency in communication in L2. Based on the specification of linguistic proficiency that L1 and L2 have in common, a cross-curriculum of L1 and L2 was developed in Step 2. In Step 3, can-do statements based on the curriculum were also formed, building off of the action-oriented approach from the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) used in Europe. A self-evaluation questionnaire consisting of the main can-do statements was given to the students between 3^rd grade and 6^th grade at the beginning of the school year (Step 4 and Step 5), and all teachers gave L1 and L2 instruction based on the curriculum to the students for one year (Step 6). The same questionnaire was given to the students at the beginning of the next school year (Step 7). The results of statistical analysis proved the enhancement of the students’ linguistic proficiency. This verified the validity of developing the cross-curriculum of L1 and L2 and adapting it in elementary school. It was concluded that elementary school students do not distinguish between L1 and L2, and that they just try to understand others’ minds through physical movement or senses in any language.

Keywords: Cross-curriculum of L1 and L2, elementary school education, language proficiency, sympathy with others.

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Authors: Theodore N.S. Karfakis, Anna Andrade, Carolina Volkmer-Castilho, Dennis R. Valle, Eric Arets, Paul van Gardingen

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The aim of the work presented here was to either use existing forest dynamic simulation models or calibrate a new one both within the SYMFOR framework with the purpose of examining changes in stand level basal area and functional composition in response to selective logging considering trees > 10 cm d.b.h for two areas of undisturbed Amazonian non flooded tropical forest in Brazil and one in Peru. Model biological realism was evaluated for forest in the undisturbed and selectively logged state and it was concluded that forest dynamics were realistically represented. Results of the logging simulation experiments showed that in relation to undisturbed forest simulation subject to no form of harvesting intervention there was a significant amount of change over a 90 year simulation period that was positively proportional to the intensity of logging. Areas which had in the dynamic equilibrium of undisturbed forest a greater proportion of a specific ecological guild of trees known as the light hardwoods (LHW’s) seemed to respond more favorably in terms of less deviation but only within a specific range of baseline forest composition beyond which compositional diversity became more important. These finds are in line partially with practical management experience and partiality basic systematics theory respectively.

Keywords: Amazonbasin, ecological species guild, selective logging, simulation modeling.

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Authors: Saimir Heta, Kers Kapa, Rialda Xhizdari, Ilma Robo

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Despite the existence of different dental specialties, the dentist-patient relationship is unique, in the very fact that the treatment is performed by one doctor and the patient identifies the malpractice presented as part of that doctor's practice; this is in complete contrast to cases of medical treatments where the patient can be presented to a team of doctors, to treat a specific pathology. The rules of dental ethics are almost the same as the rules of medical ethics. The appearance of dental malpractice affects exactly this two-party relationship, created on the basis of professionalism, without deviations in this direction, between the dentist and the patient, but with very narrow individual boundaries, compared to cases of medical malpractice. Malpractice can have different reasons for its appearance, starting from professional negligence, but also from the lack of professional knowledge of the dentist who undertakes the dental treatment. It should always be seen in perspective that we are not talking about the individual - the dentist who goes to work with the intention of harming their patients. Malpractice can also be a consequence of the impossibility, for anatomical or physiological reasons of the tooth under dental treatment, to realize the predetermined dental treatment plan. On the other hand, the dentist himself is an individual who can be affected by health conditions, or have vices that affect the systemic health of the dentist as an individual, which in these conditions can cause malpractice. So, depending on the reason that led to the appearance of malpractice, the method of treatment from a legal point of view also varies, for the dentist who committed the malpractice, evaluating the latter if the malpractice came under the conditions of applying the rules of dental ethics. The deviation from the predetermined dental plan is the minimum sign of malpractice and the latter should not be definitively related only to cases of difficult dental treatments. The identification of the reason for the appearance of malpractice is the initial element, which makes the difference in the way of its treatment, from a legal point of view, and the involvement of the dentist in the assessment of the malpractice committed, must be based on the legislation in force, which must be said to have their specific changes in different states. Malpractice should be referred to, or included in the lectures or in the continuing education of professionals, because it serves as a method of obtaining professional experience in order not to repeat the same thing several times, by different professionals.

Keywords: Dental ethics, malpractice, negligence, legal basis, continuing education, dental treatments.

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Authors: Lubis A., Setiawati L., Setyoningrum A. R., Suryawan A., Irwanto

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Asthma is a condition that causing chronic health problems in children. In addition to basic therapy against disease, we must try to reduce the impact of chronic health problems and also optimize their medical aspect of growth and development. A boy with mild asthma attack frequent episode did not showed any improvement with medical treatment and his asthma control test was 11. From radiologic examination he got hyperaerated lung and billateral sinusitis maxillaris; skin test results were house dust, food and pet allergy; an overweight body; bad school grades; psychological and environmental problem. We followed and evaluated this boy in 6 months, treated holistically. Even we could not do much on environmental but no more psychological and school problems, his on a good bodyweight and his asthma control test was 22. A case of a child with mild asthma attack frequent episode was reported. Asthma clinical course show no significant improvement when other predisposing factor is not well-controlled and a child’s growth and development may be affected. Improving condition of the patient can be created with the help of loving and caring way of nurturing from the parents and supportive peer group. Therefore, continuous and consistent monitoring is required because prognosis of asthma is generally good when regularly and properly controlled.

Keywords: Asthma, chronic health problems, growth and development.

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Authors: P. Mbecke

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The role of the government to tangibly alleviate poverty, improve and sustain the quality of people’s lives remains a “work in progress” twenty-two years after the dawn of democracy in South Africa despite a host of socio-economic programs and pro-poor policies and legislations. This paper assesses the development process and the implementation of the White Paper on Families in South Africa as one of the pro-poor policies intended to curb poverty and redress the imbalances of the apartheid regime. The paper is the result of a qualitative implementation research theory facilitated through in-depth interviews with social work managers complemented by literature and policy review techniques. It investigates the level of basic knowledge and understanding as well as the implementation challenges of the White Paper on Families as causes of its failure. The paper emphasizes the importance of the family-centered approach in the implementation of pro-poor policies. To facilitate the understanding of the White Paper on Families by its users, the Department of Social Development needs take stock of the identified challenges of its implementation so as to facilitate its success in fostering positive family well-being that will directly contributes to the overall socio-economic development of South Africa.

Keywords: Poverty alleviation, pro-poor policy, social development, social welfare, South Africa.

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Authors: R. Tlili Yaakoubi, H. Nakouri, O. Blanpain, S. Lallahem

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The current tools for real time management of sewer systems are based on two software tools: the software of weather forecast and the software of hydraulic simulation. The use of the first ones is an important cause of imprecision and uncertainty, the use of the second requires temporal important steps of decision because of their need in times of calculation. This way of proceeding fact that the obtained results are generally different from those waited. The major idea of this project is to change the basic paradigm by approaching the problem by the "automatic" face rather than by that "hydrology". The objective is to make possible the realization of a large number of simulations at very short times (a few seconds) allowing to take place weather forecasts by using directly the real time meditative pluviometric data. The aim is to reach a system where the decision-making is realized from reliable data and where the correction of the error is permanent. A first model of control laws was realized and tested with different return-period rainfalls. The gains obtained in rejecting volume vary from 19 to 100 %. The development of a new algorithm was then used to optimize calculation time and thus to overcome the subsequent combinatorial problem in our first approach. Finally, this new algorithm was tested with 16- year-rainfall series. The obtained gains are 40 % of total volume rejected to the natural environment and of 65 % in the number of discharges.

Keywords: Automation, optimization, paradigm, RTC.

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Authors: Federico Pérez González, Iñaki Goirizelaia Ordorika, Pedro Iriondo Bengoa

Abstract:

In this work a new method for low complexity image coding is presented, that permits different settings and great scalability in the generation of the final bit stream. This coding presents a continuous-tone still image compression system that groups loss and lossless compression making use of finite arithmetic reversible transforms. Both transformation in the space of color and wavelet transformation are reversible. The transformed coefficients are coded by means of a coding system in depending on a subdivision into smaller components (CFDS) similar to the bit importance codification. The subcomponents so obtained are reordered by means of a highly configure alignment system depending on the application that makes possible the re-configure of the elements of the image and obtaining different importance levels from which the bit stream will be generated. The subcomponents of each importance level are coded using a variable length entropy coding system (VBLm) that permits the generation of an embedded bit stream. This bit stream supposes itself a bit stream that codes a compressed still image. However, the use of a packing system on the bit stream after the VBLm allows the realization of a final highly scalable bit stream from a basic image level and one or several improvement levels.

Keywords: Image compression, wavelet transform, highly scalable, reversible transform, embedded, subcomponents.

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Authors: Elyas Akbari, Jafar Hasani, Newsha Dehestani, Mohammad Khaleghi, Alireza Moradi

Abstract:

The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of emotional experience induction in the mirror neurons systems (MNS) activity with regard to the spectrum of depressive symptoms. For this purpose, at first stage, 449 students of Kharazmi University of Tehran were selected randomly and completed the second version of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). Then, 36 students with standard Z-score equal or above +1.5 and equal or equal or below -1.5 were selected to construct two groups of high and low spectrum of depressive symptoms. In the next stage, the basic activity of MNS was recorded (mu wave) before presenting the positive and negative emotional video clips by Electroencephalography (EEG) technique. The findings related to emotion induction (neutral, negative and positive emotion) demonstrated that the activity of recorded mirror neuron areas had a significant difference between the depressive and non-depressive groups. These findings suggest that probably processing of negative emotions in depressive individuals is due to the idea that the mirror neurons in motor cortex matched up the activity of cognitive regions with the person’s schema. Considering the results of the present study, it could be said that the MNS provides a substrate where emotional disorders can be studied and evaluated.

Keywords: Emotional experiences, mirror neurons, depressive symptoms.

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Authors: Si-Hwan Kim, Gum-Sung Ryu, Kyung-Taek Koh, Jang-Hwa Lee

Abstract:

Despite of the preponderant role played by cement among the construction materials, it is today considered as a material destructing the environment due to the large quantities of carbon dioxide exhausted during its manufacture. Besides, global warming is now recognized worldwide as the new threat to the humankind against which advanced countries are investigating measures to reduce the current amount of exhausted gases to the half by 2050. Accordingly, efforts to reduce green gases are exerted in all industrial fields. Especially, the cement industry strives to reduce the consumption of cement through the development of alkali-activated geopolymer mortars using industrial byproducts like bottom ash. This study intends to gather basic data on the flowability and strength development characteristics of alkali-activated geopolymer mortar by examining its FT-IT features with respect to the effects and strength of the alkali-activator in order to develop bottom ash-based alkali-activated geopolymer mortar. The results show that the 35:65 mass ratio of sodium hydroxide to sodium silicate is appropriate and that a molarity of 9M for sodium hydroxide is advantageous. The ratio of the alkali-activators to bottom ash is seen to have poor effect on the strength. Moreover, the FT-IR analysis reveals that larger improvement of the strength shifts the peak from 1060 cm–1 (T-O, T=Si or Al) toward shorter wavenumber.

Keywords: Bottom Ash, Geopolymer mortar, Flowability, Strength Properties.

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Authors: Said Baadel

Abstract:

The belief of a heavenly God is enshrined to all Abrahamic religions which form the three major religions of the world today. Muslims believe in Allah who is above the seven heavens. The youth in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) study Islamic courses as part of their high school curriculum and are required to take at least one Islamic course at the university level to gain credit hours towards their general education (GENED). This paper provides an insight of what the youth studying in the UAE think of where Allah is. Our analysis shows that a big number of Muslim youth were not sure, especially those from the Middle Eastern and Arab countries bringing to conclusion that this subject needs to be revisited again in the course work.

Keywords: Allah, Islam, Tawheed.

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Authors: P. Asadee

Abstract:

Multiplication algorithms have considerable effect on processors performance. A new high-speed, low-power multiplication algorithm has been presented using modified Dadda tree structure. Three important modifications have been implemented in inner product generation step, inner product reduction step and final addition step. Optimized algorithms have to be used into basic computation components, such as multiplication algorithms. In this paper, we proposed a new algorithm to reduce power, delay, and transistor count of a multiplication algorithm implemented using low power modified counter. This work presents a novel design for Dadda multiplication algorithms. The proposed multiplication algorithm includes structured parts, which have important effect on inner product reduction tree. In this paper, a 1.3V, 64-bit carry hybrid adder is presented for fast, low voltage applications. The new 64-bit adder uses a new circuit to implement the proposed carry hybrid adder. The new adder using 80 nm CMOS technology has been implemented on 700 MHz clock frequency. The proposed multiplication algorithm has achieved 14 percent improvement in transistor count, 13 percent reduction in delay and 12 percent modification in power consumption in compared with conventional designs.

Keywords: adder, CMOS, counter, Dadda tree, encoder.

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Authors: M. Kaomek, J. R. Ketudat-Cairns

Abstract:

The cDNA encoding the 326 amino acids of a Class I basic chitinase gene from Leucaena leucocephala de Wit (KB3, Genbank accession: AAM49597) was cloned under the control of CaMV35S promoter in pCAMBIA 1300 and transferred to Koshihikari. Calli of Koshihikari rice was transformed with agrobacterium with this construct expressing the chitinase and β- glucouronidase (GUS). The frequencies of calli 90 % has been obtained from rice seedlings cultured on NB medium. The high regeneration frequencies, 74% was obtained from calli cultured on regeneration medium containing 4 mg/l BAP, and 7 g/l phytagel at 25°C. Various factors were studied in order to establish a procedure for the transformation of Koshihikari Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Supplementation of 50 mM acetosyringone to the medium during coculivation was important to enhance the frequency to transient transformation. The 4 week-old scutellum-derived calli were excellent starting materials. Selection medium based on NB medium supplement with 40 mg/l hygromycin and 400 mg/l cefotaxime were an optimized medium for selection of transformed rice calli. The percentage of transformation 70 was obtained. Recombinant calli and regenerated rice plants were checked the expression of chitinase and gus by PCR, northern blot gel, southern blot gel, and gus assay. Chitinase and gus were expressed in all parts of recombinant rice. The rice line expressing the KB3 chiitnase was more resistant to the blast fungus Fusarium monoliforme than control line.

Keywords: chitinase, Leucaena leucocephala de Wit, Koshihikari, transgenic rice.

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