Search results for: significant factors

Authors: N. S. Pradeep, M. Balasingh Moses, V. Aarthi

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Any signal transmitted over a channel is corrupted by noise and interference. A host of channel coding techniques has been proposed to alleviate the effect of such noise and interference. Among these Turbo codes are recommended, because of increased capacity at higher transmission rates and superior performance over convolutional codes. The multimedia elements which are associated with ample amount of data are best protected by Turbo codes. Turbo decoder employs Maximum A-posteriori Probability (MAP) and Soft Output Viterbi Decoding (SOVA) algorithms. Conventional Turbo coded systems employ Equal Error Protection (EEP) in which the protection of all the data in an information message is uniform. Some applications involve Unequal Error Protection (UEP) in which the level of protection is higher for important information bits than that of other bits. In this work, enhancement to the traditional Log MAP decoding algorithm is being done by using optimized scaling factors for both the decoders. The error correcting performance in presence of UEP in Additive White Gaussian Noise channel (AWGN) and Rayleigh fading are analyzed for the transmission of image with Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) as source coding technique. This paper compares the performance of log MAP, Modified log MAP (MlogMAP) and Enhanced log MAP (ElogMAP) algorithms used for image transmission. The MlogMAP algorithm is found to be best for lower Eb/N0 values but for higher Eb/N0 ElogMAP performs better with optimized scaling factors. The performance comparison of AWGN with fading channel indicates the robustness of the proposed algorithm. According to the performance of three different message classes, class3 would be more protected than other two classes. From the performance analysis, it is observed that ElogMAP algorithm with UEP is best for transmission of an image compared to Log MAP and MlogMAP decoding algorithms.

Keywords: AWGN, BER, DCT, Fading, MAP, UEP.

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Authors: Dabyltayeva R. Y., Smatova K.B., Кabekenov G., Toleshova U., Shagyrbayeva M.

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In recent years in Kazakhstan, as well as in all countries, we have been talking not only about the professional stress, but also professional Burnout Syndrome of employees. Burnout is essentially a response to chronic emotional stress – manifests itself in the form of chronic fatigue, despondency, unmotivated aggression, anger, and others. This condition is due to mental fatigue among teachers as a sort of payment for overstrain when professional commitments include the impact of “heat your soul", emotional investment. The emergence of professional Burnout among teachers is due to the system of interrelated and mutually reinforcing factors relating to the various levels of the personality: individually-psychological level is psychodynamic special subject characteristics of valuemotivational sphere and formation of skills and habits of selfregulation; the socio-psychological level includes especially the Organization and interpersonal interaction of a teacher. Signs of the Burnout were observed in 15 testees, and virtually a symptom could be observed in every teacher. As a result of the diagnosis 48% of teachers had the signs of stress (phase syndrome), resulting in a sense of anxiety, mood, heightened emotional susceptibility. The following results have also been got:-the fall of General energy potential – 14 pers. -Psychosomatic and psycho vegetative syndrome – 26 pers. -emotional deficit-34 pers. -emotional Burnout Syndrome-6 pers. The problem of professional Burnout of teachers in the current conditions should become not only meaningful, but particularly relevant. The quality of education of the younger generation depends on professional development; teachers- training level, and how “healthy" teachers are. That is why the systematic maintenance of pedagogic-professional development for teachers (including disclosure of professional Burnout Syndrome factors) takes on a special meaning.

Keywords: Professional burnout syndrome, adaptive syndrome, stage of depletion syndrome, symptoms and characteristics of burnout, prophylactic of professional destruction techniques.

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Authors: L. S. Zavodna, J. Zavodny Pospisil

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The aim of this paper is to identify the factors for sustainability in the accommodation sector. Although sustainability is a current trend in tourism, not many facilities know how to apply the concept in practice. This paper presents a model for the implementation of sustainability in hotels, hostels, campgrounds, or other facilities. First, there are identified sections of each accommodation facility, which can contribute to sustainability. Furthermore, concrete steps are presented to transfer this model into reality.

Keywords: Accommodation sector, model, sustainable tourism, sustainability.

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Authors: A. F. Agboola, B. R. O. Omidiwura, A. Oyeyemi, E. A. Iyayi, A. S. Adelani

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Dietary cholesterol has elicited the most public interest as it relates with coronary heart disease. Thus, humans have been paying more attention to health, thereby reducing consumption of cholesterol enriched food. Egg is considered as one of the major sources of human dietary cholesterol. However, an alternative way to reduce the potential cholesterolemic effect of eggs is to modify the fatty acid composition of the yolk. The effect of palm oil (PO), soybean oil (SO), sesame seed oil (SSO) and fish oil (FO) supplementation in the diets of layers on egg yolk fatty acid, cholesterol, egg production and egg quality parameters were evaluated in a 42-day feeding trial. One hundred and five Isa Brown laying hens of 34 weeks of age were randomly distributed into seven groups of five replicates and three birds per replicate in a completely randomized design. Seven corn-soybean basal diets (BD) were formulated: BD+No oil (T1), BD+1.5% PO (T2), BD+1.5% SO (T3), BD+1.5% SSO (T4), BD+1.5% FO (T5), BD+0.75% SO+0.75% FO (T6) and BD+0.75% SSO+0.75% FO (T7). Five eggs were randomly sampled at day 42 from each replicate to assay for the cholesterol, fatty acid profile of egg yolk and egg quality assessment. Results showed that there were no significant (P>0.05) differences observed in production performance, egg cholesterol and egg quality parameters except for yolk height, albumen height, yolk index, egg shape index, haugh unit, and yolk colour. There were no significant differences (P>0.05) observed in total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein and low density lipoprotein levels of egg yolk across the treatments. However, diets had effect (P<0.05) on TAG (triacylglycerol) and VLDL (very low density lipoprotein) of the egg yolk. The highest TAG (603.78 mg/dl) and VLDL values (120.76 mg/dl) were recorded in eggs of hens on T4 (1.5% sesame seed oil) and was similar to those on T3 (1.5% soybean oil), T5 (1.5% fish oil) and T6 (0.75% soybean oil + 0.75% fish oil). However, results revealed a significant (P<0.05) variations on eggs’ summation of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). In conclusion, it is suggested that dietary oils could be included in layers’ diets to produce designer eggs low in cholesterol and high in PUFA especially omega-3 fatty acids.

Keywords: Dietary oils, Egg cholesterol, Egg fatty acid profile, Egg quality parameters.

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Authors: A. Raceviciute-Stupeliene, V. Sasyte, V. Viliene, V. Slausgalvis, J. Al-Saifi, R. Gruzauskas

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The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of special additives such as chelators, zinc sulphate and silicic acid on productivity parameters, carcass characteristics and meat quality of fattening pigs. The test started with 40 days old fattening pigs (mongrel (mother) and Yorkshire (father)) and lasted up to 156 days of age. During the fattening period, 32 pigs were divided into 2 groups (control and experimental) with 4 replicates (total of 8 pens).  The pigs were fed for 16 weeks’ ad libitum with a standard wheat-barley-soybean meal compound (Control group) supplemented with chelators, zinc sulphate and silicic acid (dosage 2 kg/t of feed, Experimental group). Meat traits in live pigs were measured by ultrasonic equipment Piglog 105. The results obtained throughout the experimental period suggest that supplementation of chelators, zinc sulphate and silicic acid tend to positively affect average daily gain and feed conversion ratio of pigs for fattening (p < 0.05). Pigs’ evaluation with Piglog 105 showed that thickness of fat in the first and second point was by 4% and 3% respectively higher in comparison to the control group (p < 0.05). Carcass weight, yield, and length, also thickness of fat showed no significant difference among the groups. The water holding capacity of meat in Experimental group was lower by 5.28%, and tenderness – lower by 12% compared with that of the pigs in the Control group (p < 0.05). Regarding pigs’ meat chemical composition of the experimental group, a statistically significant difference comparing with the data of the control group was not determined. Cholesterol concentration in muscles of pigs fed diets supplemented with chelators, zinc sulphate and silicic acid was lower by 7.93 mg/100 g of muscle in comparison to that of the control group. These results suggest that supplementation of chelators, zinc sulphate and silicic acid in the feed for fattening pigs had significant effect on pigs growing performance and meat quality.

Keywords: Chelators, meat quality, pigs, silicic acid, zinc sulphate.

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Authors: L. Delovarova, A. Davar, S. Asanov, F. Kukeyeva

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This article is dedicated to the question of regionalism and regionalization in contemporary international relations, with a specific focus on Central Asia. The article addresses the question of whether or not Central Asia can be referred to as a true geopolitical region. In addressing this question, the authors examine particular factors that are essential for the formation of a region, including those tied to the economy, energy, culture, and labor migration.

Keywords: Central Asia, integration, regionalization, regionalism.

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Authors: Achim Kampker, Heiner H. Heimes, Mathias Ordung, Christoph Lienemann, Ansgar Hollah, Nemanja Sarovic

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Electric cars with their fast innovation cycles and their disruptive character offer a high degree of freedom regarding innovative design for remanufacturing. Remanufacturing increases not only the resource but also the economic efficiency by a prolonged product life time. The reduced power train wear of electric cars combined with high manufacturing costs for batteries allow new business models and even second life applications. Modular and intermountable designed battery packs enable the replacement of defective or outdated battery cells, allow additional cost savings and a prolongation of life time. This paper discusses opportunities for future remanufacturing value chains of electric cars and their battery components and how to address their potentials with elaborate designs. Based on a brief overview of implemented remanufacturing structures in different industries, opportunities of transferability are evaluated. In addition to an analysis of current and upcoming challenges, promising perspectives for a sustainable electric car circular economy enabled by design for remanufacturing are deduced. Two mathematical models describe the feasibility of pursuing a circular economy of lithium ion batteries and evaluate remanufacturing in terms of sustainability and economic efficiency. Taking into consideration not only labor and material cost but also capital costs for equipment and factory facilities to support the remanufacturing process, cost benefit analysis prognosticate that a remanufacturing battery can be produced more cost-efficiently. The ecological benefits were calculated on a broad database from different research projects which focus on the recycling, the second use and the assembly of lithium ion batteries. The results of this calculations show a significant improvement by remanufacturing in all relevant factors especially in the consumption of resources and greenhouse warming potential. Exemplarily suitable design guidelines for future remanufacturing lithium ion batteries, which consider modularity, interfaces and disassembly, are used to illustrate the findings. For one guideline, potential cost improvements were calculated and upcoming challenges are pointed out.

Keywords: Circular economy, electric mobility, lithium ion batteries, remanufacturing.

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Authors: M. Sadoughi, R. Ehsani

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The aim of the present study is examining the relationship between conceptual organizational culture and the level of tolerance in employees of Islamic Azad University of Shahre Ghods. This research is a correlational and analytic-descriptive one. The samples included 144 individuals. A 24-item standard questionnaire of organizational culture by Cameron and Queen was used in this study. This questionnaire has six criteria and each criterion includes four items that each item indicates one cultural dimension. Reliability coefficient of this questionnaire was normed using Cronbach's alpha of 0.91. Also, the 25-item questionnaire of tolerance by Conor and Davidson was used. This questionnaire is in a five-degree Likert scale form. It has seven criteria and is designed to measure the power of coping with pressure and threat. It has the needed content reliability and its reliability coefficient is normed using Cronbach's alpha of 0.87. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and multivariable regression. The results showed among various dimensions of organizational culture, there is a positive significant relationship between three dimensions (family, adhocracy, bureaucracy) and tolerance, there is a negative significant relationship between dimension of market and tolerance and components of organizational culture have the power of prediction and explaining the tolerance. In this explanation, the component of family is the most effective and the best predictor of tolerance.

Keywords: Adhocracy, bureaucracy, organizational culture, tolerance.

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Authors: Sarantos Psycharis

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Physical Computing, as an instructional model, is applied in the framework of the Engineering Pedagogy to teach “transversal/cross-cutting ideas” in a STEM content approach. Labview and Arduino were used in order to connect the physical world with real data in the framework of the so called Computational Experiment. Tertiary prospective engineering educators were engaged during their course and Computational Thinking (CT) concepts were registered before and after the intervention across didactic activities using validated questionnaires for the relationship between self-efficacy, computer programming, and CT concepts when STEM content epistemology is implemented in alignment with the Computational Pedagogy model. Results show a significant change in students’ responses for self-efficacy for CT before and after the instruction. Results also indicate a significant relation between the responses in the different CT concepts/practices. According to the findings, STEM content epistemology combined with Physical Computing should be a good candidate as a learning and teaching approach in university settings that enhances students’ engagement in CT concepts/practices.

Keywords: STEM, computational thinking, physical computing, Arduino, Labview, self-efficacy.

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Authors: Okezie A. Ihugba

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The bounds testing ARDL (2, 2, 2, 2, 0) technique to cointegration was used in this study to investigate the effect of energy consumption and energy loss on Nigeria's manufacturing sector from 1981 to 2020. The model was created to determine the relationship between these three variables while also accounting for interactions with control variables such as inflation and commercial bank loans to the manufacturing sector. When the dependent variables are energy consumption and energy loss, the bound tests show that the variables of interest are bound together in the long run. Because electricity consumption is a critical factor in determining manufacturing value-added in Nigeria, some intriguing observations were made. According to the findings, the relationship between log of electricity consumption (LELC) and log of manufacturing value added (LMVA) is statistically significant. According to the findings, electricity consumption reduces manufacturing value-added. The target variable (energy loss) is statistically significant and has a positive sign. In Nigeria, a 1% reduction in energy loss increases manufacturing value-added by 36% in the first lag and 35% in the second. According to the study, the government should speed up the ongoing renovation of existing power plants across the country, as well as the construction of new gas-fired power plants. This will address a number of issues, including overpricing of electricity as a result of grid failure.

Keywords: ARDL, cointegration, Nigeria's manufacturing, electricity.

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Authors: Dong Xie, Leah Howard, Yiming Weng

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The objective of this study was to synthesize and characterize 5-acryloyloxy-3,4-dichlorocrotonolactone (a furanone derivative), use this derivative to modify a dental restorative, and study the effect of the derivative on the antibacterial activity and compressive strength of the formed restorative. In this study, a furanone derivative was synthesized, characterized, and used to formulate a dental restorative. Compressive strength (CS) and S. mutans viability were used to evaluate the mechanical strength and antibacterial activity of the formed restorative. The fabricated restorative specimens were photocured and conditioned in distilled water at 37^oC for 24 h, followed by direct testing for CS or/and incubating with S. mutans for 48 h for antibacterial testing. The results show that the modified dental restorative showed a significant antibacterial activity without substantially decreasing the mechanical strengths. With addition of the antibacterial derivative up to 30%, the restorative kept its original CS nearly unchanged but showed a significant antibacterial activity with 68% reduction in the S. mutans viability. Furthermore, the antibacterial function of the modified restorative was not affected by human saliva. The aging study also indicates that the modified restorative may have a long-lasting antibacterial function. It is concluded that this experimental antibacterial restorative may potentially be developed into a clinically attractive dental filling restorative due to its high mechanical strength and antibacterial function.

Keywords: Antibacterial, dental filling restorative, compressive strength, S. mutans viability.

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Authors: T. Qasim, M. Obeidat, S. Al-Sharairi

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The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of the excessive use of smartphones. Smartphones have enormous effects on the human body in that some musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and health problems might evolve. These days, there is a wide use of the smartphones among all age groups of society, thus, the focus on smartphone effects on human behavior and health, especially on the young and elderly people, becomes a crucial issue. This study was conducted in Jordan on smartphone users for different genders and ages, by conducting a survey to collect data related to the symptoms and MSDs that are resulted from the excessive use of smartphones. A total of 357 responses were used in the analysis. The main related symptoms were numbness, fingers pain, and pain in arm, all linked to age and gender for comparative reasons. A statistical analysis was performed to find the effects of extensive usage of a smartphone for long periods of time on the human body. Results show that the significant variables were the vision problems and the time spent when using the smartphone that cause vision problems. Other variables including age of user and ear problems due to the use of the headsets were found to be a border line significant.

Keywords: Smartphone, age group, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), health problems.

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Authors: A. Qayed Al-Emadi, C. Schwabenland, B. Czarnecka

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In 2009, the new HRM policy was implemented in Qatar for public sector organisations. The purpose of this research is to examine how Qatar’s 2009 HRM policy was significant in influencing employee retention in public organisations. The conducted study utilised quantitative methodology to analyse the data on employees’ perceptions of such HRM practices as Performance Management, Rewards and Promotion, Training and Development associated with the HRM policy in public organisations in comparison to semi-private organisations. Employees of seven public and semi-private organisations filled in the questionnaire based on the 5-point Likert scale to present quantitative results. The data was analysed with the correlation and multiple regression statistical analyses. It was found that Performance Management had the relationship with Employee Retention, and Rewards and Promotion influenced Job Satisfaction in public organisations. Relationship between Job Satisfaction and Employee Retention was also observed. However, no significant differences were observed in the role of HRM practices in public and semi-private organisations.

Keywords: Performance management, rewards, promotion, training and development, job satisfaction, employee retention, SHRM, configurationally perspective.

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Authors: Puvanasvaran, A. P., Suresh V., N. Norazlin

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The Lean Environmental Management Integration System (LEMIS) framework development is integration between lean core element and ISO 14001. The curiosity on the relationship between continuous improvement and sustainability of lean implementation has influenced this study toward LEMIS. Characteristic of ISO 14001 standard clauses and core elements of lean principles are explored from past studies and literature reviews. Survey was carried out on ISO 14001 certified companies to examine continual improvement by implementing the ISO 14001 standard. The study found that there is a significant and positive relationship between Lean Principles: value, value stream, flow, pull and perfection with the ISO 14001 requirements. LEMIS is significant to support the continuous improvement and sustainability. The integration system can be implemented to any manufacturing company. It gives awareness on the importance on why organizations need to sustain its environmental management system. In the meantime, the lean principle can be adapted in order to streamline daily activities of the company. Throughout the study, it had proven that there is no sacrifice or trade-off between lean principles with ISO 14001 requirements. The framework developed in the study can be further simplified in the future, especially the method of crossing each sub requirements of ISO 14001 standard with the core elements of Lean principles in this study.

Keywords: LEMIS, ISO 14001, integration, framework.

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Authors: Seema Sharma Kaushik, Dhananjoy Shaw

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Various length dimensions of the body have been a variable of interest in the research areas of kinanthropometry. However the inclusion of length measurements in various studies remains restricted to reflect characteristics of a particular game/sport at a particular time. Hence, the present investigation was conducted to study various length dimensions correlates of a longitudinal physical conditioning program on Indian male youth. The study was conducted on 90 Indian male youth. The sample was equally divided into three groups namely, progressive load training (PLT), constant load training (CLT) and no load training (NL). The variables included sitting height, leg length, arm length and foot length. The study was conducted by adopting the multi group repeated measure design. Three different groups were measured four times after completion of each of the three meso-cycles of six-weeks duration each. The measurements were taken using the standard landmarks and procedures. Mean, standard deviation and analysis of co-variance were computed to analyze the data statistically. The post-hoc analysis was conducted for the significant F-ratios at 0.05 level. The study concluded that the followed longitudinal physical conditioning program had significant effect on various length dimensions of Indian male youth.

Keywords: Indian male youth, longitudinal, length dimensions, physical conditioning.

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Authors: Azizeh Chalak, Niloufar Nasri

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Students' academic achievement, along with the effects of different variables, has been a serious concern of educators since long ago. This study was an attempt to investigate the interplay of Locus of Control (LOC), academic achievement and biological variables among Iranian online EFL Learners. The participants of the study included 100 students of different age groups and genders studying English online at Iran Language Institute (ILI), Isfahan, Iran. The instrument used was Trice Academic LOC questionnaire which identifies orientations of internality or externality. The participants' Grade Point Averages (GPAs) were used as the measure of their academic achievement. A series of independent samples ttests were performed on the data. The results of the study showed that (a) there were no significant differences between male and female participants in LOC orientation, (b) there was no relationship between LOC and academic achievement among internal males and females, (c) external females were better achievers than external males, (d) and the age had no significant relationship with LOC and academic achievement. It can be concluded that the social, cultural patterns of genders have changed. This study might help sociologists and psychologists as well as applied linguists in that they reflect the recent social changes and their effects on the LOC and their consequent implications in teaching languages.

Keywords: Academic achievement, biological variables, Iranian online EFL learners, locus of control.

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Authors: Mahvash Zandy Navgaran, Maryam Momeni Feili

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The bag radius of the nucleon can be determined by MIT bag model based on electric and magnetic form factors of the nucleon. Also we determined the masses and magnetic moment of the nucleon with MIT bag model, using bag radius and compared with other results, suggests a suitable compatibility.

Keywords: MIT bag model, masses and magnetic moment of thenucleon, bag radius of the nucleon.

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Authors: Abdulaziz H. El-Sinawi

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Some of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the strongest known carcinogens compounds; the majority of them are mostly produced by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels; Motor vehicles are a significant source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) where diesel emission is one of the main sources of such compounds available in the ambient air. There is a big concern about the increasing concentration of PAHs in the environment. Researchers are trying to explore optimal methods to reduce those pollutants and improve the quality of air. Water blended fuel is one of the possible approaches to reduce emission of PAHs from the combustion of diesel in urban and domestic vehicles. In this work a modeling study was conducted using CHEMKIN-PRO software to simulate spray combustion at similar diesel engine conditions. Surrogate fuel of (80 % n-heptane and 20 % toluene) was used due to detailed kinetic and thermodynamic data needed for modeling is available for this kind of fuel but not available for diesel. An emulsified fuel with 3, 5, 8, 10 and 20 % water by volume is used as an engine feed for this study. The modeling results show that water has a significant effect on reducing engine soot and PAHs precursors formation up to certain extent.

Keywords: Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), DieselEngine, Emission, Surrogate Fuel, Emulsified Fuel, Soot precursors, Combustion

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Authors: Igor Miňo, Lenka Lešková

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Over the past 80 years, open-field method has evolved as a commonly used tool for the analysis of animal behaviour. The study was carried out using 50 kennel-reared purebred puppies of the German Shepherd dog breed. All dogs were tested in 5^th, 7^th, and 9^th week of age. For the purpose of behavioural analysis, an open-field evaluation report was designed prior to testing to ensure the most convenient, rapid, and suitable way to assess selected behavioural patterns in field conditions. Onset of vocalisation, intensity of vocalisation, level of physical activity, response to sound, and overall behaviour was monitored in the study. Correlations between measures of height, weight and chest circumference, and behavioural characteristics in the 5^th, 7^th, and 9^th week of age were not statistically significant. Onset of vocalisation, intensity of vocalisation, level of physical activity and response to sound differed on statistically significant level between 5^th, 7^th, and 9^th week of age. Results suggest that our practical assessment report may be used as an applicable method to evaluate the suitability of service dog puppies for future working roles.

Keywords: Dog, behaviour, open-field, testing.

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Authors: G. Quiroga-Cubides, A. Díaz, M. Gómez

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The genus Azotobacter has been widely used as bio-fertilizer due to its significant effects on the stimulation and promotion of plant growth in various agricultural species of commercial interest. In order to obtain significantly viable cellular concentration, a scale-up strategy for a liquid fermentation process (SmF) with two strains of A. chroococcum (named Ac1 and Ac10) was validated and adjusted at laboratory and pilot scale. A batch fermentation process under previously defined conditions was carried out on a biorreactor Infors®, model Minifors of 3.5 L, which served as a baseline for this research. For the purpose of increasing process efficiency, the effect of the reduction of stirring speed was evaluated in combination with a fed-batch-type fermentation laboratory scale. To reproduce the efficiency parameters obtained, a scale-up strategy with geometric and fluid dynamic behavior similarities was evaluated. According to the analysis of variance, this scale-up strategy did not have significant effect on cellular concentration and in laboratory and pilot fermentations (Tukey, p > 0.05). Regarding air consumption, fermentation process at pilot scale showed a reduction of 23% versus the baseline. The percentage of reduction related to energy consumption reduction under laboratory and pilot scale conditions was 96.9% compared with baseline.

Keywords: Azotobacter chroococcum, scale-up, liquid fermentation, fed-batch process.

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Authors: Wan-I Lee, Nelio Mendoza Figueredo

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The impact of COVID-19 has a significant effect on all sectors of society globally. Health information technology (HIT) has become an effective health strategy in this age of distancing. In this regard, Mobile Health (mHealth) plays a critical role in managing patient and provider workflows during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the users' perception of service quality about mHealth services plays a significant role in shaping confidence and subsequent behaviors regarding the mHealth users' intention of use. This study's objective was to explore levels of user attributes analyzed by a qualitative method of how health practitioners and patients are satisfied or dissatisfied with using mHealth services; and analyzed the users' intention in the context of Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research explores the experienced usability of a mHealth services during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study uses qualitative methods that include in-depth and semi-structured interviews that investigate participants' perceptions and experiences and the meanings they attribute to them. The five cases consisted of health practitioners, clinic staff, and patients' experiences using mHealth services. This study encourages participants to discuss issues related to the research question by asking open-ended questions, usually in one-to-one interviews. The findings show the positive and negative attributes of mHealth service quality. Hence, the significant importance of patients' and health practitioners' issues on several dimensions of perceived service quality is system quality, information quality, and interaction quality. A concept map for perceptions regards to emergency uses' intention of mHealth services process is depicted. The findings revealed that users pay more attention to "Medical care", "ease of use" and "utilitarian benefits" and have less importance for "Admissions and Convenience" and "Social influence". To improve mHealth services, the mHealth providers and health practitioners should better manage users' experiences to enhance mHealth services. This research contributes to the understanding of service quality issues in mHealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19, mobile health, mHealth, service quality, use intention.

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Authors: Simon B. N. Thompson

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Cortisol is essential to the regulation of the immune system and yawning is a pathological symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS). Electromyography activity (EMG) in the jaw muscles typically rises when the muscles are moved and with yawning is highly correlated with cortisol levels in healthy people. Saliva samples from 59 participants were collected at the start and after yawning, or at the end of the presentation of yawning-provoking stimuli, in the absence of a yawn, together with EMG data and questionnaire data: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Yawning Susceptibility Scale, General Health Questionnaire, demographic, health details. Exclusion criteria: chronic fatigue, diabetes, fibromyalgia, heart condition, high blood pressure, hormone replacement therapy, multiple sclerosis, stroke. Significant differences were found between the saliva cortisol samples for the yawners, t (23) = -4.263, p = 0.000, as compared with the non-yawners between rest and post-stimuli, which was nonsignificant. Significant evidence was found to support the Thompson Cortisol Hypothesis suggesting that rises in cortisol levels are associated with yawning. Further research is exploring the use of cortisol as an early diagnostic tool for MS. Ethics approval granted and professional code of conduct, confidentiality, and safety issues are approved therein.

Keywords: Cortisol, Multiple Sclerosis, Yawning, Thompson’s Cortisol Hypothesis.

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Authors: Hind Bouami, Patrick Millot

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Handling life-critical systems complexity requires to be equipped with appropriate technology and the right human agents’ functions such as knowledge, experience, and competence in problem’s prevention and solving. Human agents are involved in the management and control of human-machine system’s performance. Documenting human agent’s situation awareness is crucial to support human-machine designers’ decision-making. Knowledge about risks, critical parameters and factors that can impact and threaten automation system’s performance should be collected using preventive and retrospective approaches. This paper aims to document operators’ situation awareness through the analysis of automated organizations’ feedback. The analysis of automated hospital pharmacies feedback helps identify and control critical parameters influencing human machine interaction in order to enhance system’s performance and security. Our human machine system evaluation approach has been deployed in Macon hospital center’s pharmacy which is equipped with automated drug dispensing systems since 2015. Automation’s specifications are related to technical aspects, human-machine interaction, and human aspects. The evaluation of drug delivery automation performance in Macon hospital center has shown that the performance of the automated activity depends on the performance of the automated solution chosen, and also on the control of systemic factors. In fact, 80.95% of automation specification related to the chosen Sinteco’s automated solution is met. The performance of the chosen automated solution is involved in 28.38% of automation specifications performance in Macon hospital center. The remaining systemic parameters involved in automation specifications performance need to be controlled. 

Keywords: Life-critical systems, situation awareness, human-machine interaction, decision-making.

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Authors: M. Rodionov, Z. Dedovets

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The level and type of student academic motivation are the key factors in their development and determine the effectiveness of their education. Improving motivation is very important with regard to courses on middle school mathematics. This article examines the general position regarding the practice of academic motivation. It also examines the particular features of mathematical problem solving in a school setting.

Keywords: Teaching strategy, mathematics, motivation, student.

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Authors: Orkide Donma, Mustafa M. Donma

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Association between insulin resistance (IR) and hematological parameters has long been a matter of interest. Within this context, body mass index (BMI), red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets were involved in this discussion. Parameters related to platelets associated with IR may be useful indicators for the identification of IR. Platelet indices such as mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW) and plateletcrit (PCT) are being questioned for their possible association with IR. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between platelet (PLT) count as well as PLT indices and the surrogate indices used to determine IR in morbid obese (MO) children. A total of 167 children participated in the study. Three groups were constituted. The number of cases was 34, 97 and 36 children in the normal BMI, MO and metabolic syndrome (MetS) groups, respectively. Sex- and age-dependent BMI-based percentile tables prepared by World Health Organization were used for the definition of morbid obesity. MetS criteria were determined. BMI values, homeostatic model assessment for IR (HOMA-IR), alanine transaminase-to-aspartate transaminase ratio (ALT/AST) and diagnostic obesity notation model assessment laboratory (DONMA-lab) index values were computed. PLT count and indices were analyzed using automated hematology analyzer. Data were collected for statistical analysis using SPSS for Windows. Arithmetic mean and standard deviation were calculated. Mean values of PLT-related parameters in both control and study groups were compared by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey post hoc tests to determine whether a significant difference exists among the groups. The correlation analyses between PLT as well as IR indices were performed. Statistically significant difference was accepted as p-value < 0.05. Increased values were detected for PLT (p < 0.01) and PCT (p > 0.05) in MO group compared to those observed in children with N-BMI. Significant increases for PLT (p < 0.01) and PCT (p < 0.05) were observed in MetS group in comparison with the values obtained in children with N-BMI (p < 0.01). Significantly lower MPV and PDW values were obtained in MO group compared to the control group (p < 0.01). HOMA-IR (p < 0.05), DONMA-lab index (p < 0.001) and ALT/AST (p < 0.001) values in MO and MetS groups were significantly increased compared to the N-BMI group. On the other hand, DONMA-lab index values also differed between MO and MetS groups (p < 0.001). In the MO group, PLT was negatively correlated with MPV and PDW values. These correlations were not observed in the N-BMI group. None of the IR indices exhibited a correlation with PLT and PLT indices in the N-BMI group. HOMA-IR showed significant correlations both with PLT and PCT in the MO group. All of the three IR indices were well-correlated with each other in all groups. These findings point out the missing link between IR and PLT activation. In conclusion, PLT and PCT may be related to IR in addition to their identities as hemostasis markers during morbid obesity. Our findings have suggested that DONMA-lab index appears as the best surrogate marker for IR due to its discriminative feature between morbid obesity and MetS.

Keywords: Children, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, plateletcrit, platelet indices.

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Authors: Oqba Basal, András Szabó

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Legume crops are able to fix atmospheric nitrogen by the symbiotic relation with specific bacteria, which allows the use of the mineral nitrogen-fertilizer to be reduced, or even excluded, resulting in more profit for the farmers and less pollution for the environment. Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) is one of the most important legumes with its high content of both protein and oil. However, it is recommended to combine the two nitrogen sources under stress conditions in order to overcome its negative effects. Drought stress is one of the most important abiotic stresses that increasingly limits soybean yields. A precise rate of mineral nitrogen under drought conditions is not confirmed, as it depends on many factors; soybean yield-potential and soil-nitrogen content to name a few. An experiment was conducted during 2017 growing season in Debrecen, Hungary to investigate the effects of nitrogen source on the physiology and the yield of the soybean cultivar 'Boglár'. Three N-fertilizer rates including no N-fertilizer (0 N), 35 kg ha^-1 of N-fertilizer (35 N) and 105 kg ha^-1 of N-fertilizer (105 N) were applied under three different irrigation regimes; severe drought stress (SD), moderate drought stress (MD) and control with no drought stress (ND). Half of the seeds in each treatment were pre-inoculated with Bradyrhizobium japonicum inoculant. The overall results showed significant differences associated with fertilization and irrigation, but not with inoculation. Increasing N rate was mostly accompanied with increased chlorophyll content and leaf area index, whereas it positively affected the plant height only when the drought was waived off. Plant height was the lowest under severe drought, regardless of inoculation and N-fertilizer application and rate. Inoculation increased the yield when there was no drought, and a low rate of N-fertilizer increased the yield furthermore; however, the high rate of N-fertilizer decreased the yield to a level even less than the inoculated control. On the other hand, the yield of non-inoculated plants increased as the N-fertilizer rate increased. Under drought conditions, adding N-fertilizer increased the yield of the non-inoculated plants compared to their inoculated counterparts; moreover, the high rate of N-fertilizer resulted in the best yield. Regardless of inoculation, the mean yield of the three fertilization rates was better when the water amount increased. It was concluded that applying N-fertilizer to provide the nitrogen needed by soybean plants, with the absence of N₂-fixation process, is very important. Moreover, adding relatively high rate of N-fertilizer is very important under severe drought stress to alleviate the drought negative effects. Further research to recommend the best N-fertilizer rate to inoculated soybean under drought stress conditions should be executed.

Keywords: Drought stress, inoculation, N-fertilizer, soybean physiology, yield.

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Authors: Rana Th. A. Al-Rubaye, Burcin Atilgan, Richard J. Holmes, Arthur A. Garforth

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Structured catalysts formed from the growth of zeolites on substrates is an area of increasing interest due to the increased efficiency of the catalytic process, and the ability to provide superior heat transfer and thermal conductivity for both exothermic and endothermic processes. However, the generation of structured catalysts represents a significant challenge when balancing the relationship variables between materials properties and catalytic performance, with the Na2O, H2O and Al2O3 gel composition paying a significant role in this dynamic, thereby affecting the both the type and range of application. The structured catalyst films generated as part of this investigation have been characterised using a range of techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Electron microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), with the transition from oxide-on-alloy wires to hydrothermally synthesised uniformly zeolite coated surfaces being demonstrated using both SEM and XRD. The robustness of the coatings has been ascertained by subjecting these to thermal cycling (ambient to 550oC), with the results indicating that the synthesis time and gel compositions have a crucial effect on the quality of zeolite growth on the FeCrAlloy wires. Finally, the activity of the structured catalyst was verified by a series of comparison experiments with standard zeolite Y catalysts in powdered pelleted forms.

Keywords: FeCrAlloy, Structured catalyst, and Zeolite Y.

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Authors: Anthony Bawa, Konstantinos Banitsas

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Rheumatism is a muscular disorder that affects the muscles of the upper and lower limbs. This condition could potentially progress to impair the movement of patients. This study aims to investigate the hip muscular imbalance in patients with chronic rheumatism. A clinical trial involving a total of 15 participants, made up of 10 patients and five control subjects, took place in KATH Hospital between August and September. Participants recruited for the study were of age 54 ± 8 years, weight 65 ± 8 kg, and height 176 ± 8 cm. Muscle signals were recorded from the rectus femoris, and vastus lateralis on the right and left hip of participants. The parameters used in determining the hip muscular imbalances were the maximum voluntary contraction (MVC%), the mean difference, and hip muscle fatigue levels. The mean signals were compared using a t-test, and the metrics for muscle fatigue assessment were based on the root mean square (RMS), mean absolute value (MAV) and mean frequency (MEF), which were computed between the hip muscles of participants. The results indicated that there were significant imbalances in the muscle coactivity between the right and left hip muscles of patients. The patients’ MVC values were observed to be above 10% when compared with control subjects. Furthermore, the mean difference was seen to be higher with p > 0.002 among patients, which indicated clear differences in the hip muscle contraction activities. The findings indicate significant hip muscular imbalances for patients with rheumatism compared with control subjects. Information about the imbalances among patients will be useful for clinicians in designing therapeutic muscle-strengthening exercises.

Keywords: Muscular, imbalances, rheumatism, hip.

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Authors: Tomislav Stambolic, Anton Causevski

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The deficit of power for electricity demand reaches almost 30% for consumers in the last few years. This reflects with continually increasing the price of electricity, and today the price for small industry is almost 110Euro/MWh. The high price is additional problem for the owners in the economy crisis which is reflected with higher price of the goods. The paper gives analyses of the energy needs for real agro complex in Macedonia, private vinery with capacity of over 2 million liters in a year and with self grapes and fruits fields. The existing power supply is from grid with 10/04 kV transformer. The geographical and meteorological condition of the vinery location gives opportunity for including renewable as a power supply option for the vinery complex. After observation of the monthly energy needs for the vinery, the base scenario is the existing power supply from the distribution grid. The electricity bill in small industry has three factors: electricity in high and low tariffs in kWh and the power engaged for the technological process of production in kW. These three factors make the total electricity bill and it is over 110 Euro/MWh which is the price near competitive for renewable option. On the other side investments in renewable (especially photovoltaic (PV)) has tendency of decreasing with price of near 1,5 Euro/W. This means that renewable with PV can be real option for power supply for small industry capacities (under 500kW installed power). Therefore, the other scenarios give the option with PV and the last one includes wind option. The paper presents some scenarios for power supply of the vinery as the followings: • Base scenario of existing conventional power supply from the grid • Scenario with implementation of renewable of Photovoltaic • Scenario with implementation of renewable of Photovoltaic and Wind power The total power installed in a vinery is near 570 kW, but the maximum needs are around 250kW. At the end of the full paper some of the results from scenarios will be presented. The paper also includes the environmental impacts of the renewable scenarios, as well as financial needs for investments and revenues from renewable.

Keywords: Energy, Power Supply, Renewable, Efficiency.

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Authors: O. E. Okafor, L. U. S. Ezeanyika, C. G. Nkwonta, C. J. Okonkwo

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The effect of processing on plasma lipid profile and atherogenic indices of rats fed Artocarpus heterophyllus seed diets at different concentrations were investigated. Fifty five rats were used for this study, they were divided into eleven groups of five rats each (one control group and ten test groups), the test groups were fed raw, boiled, roasted, fermented and soaked diets at 10% and 40% concentrations. The study lasted for thirty five days. The diets led to significant decrease (p<0.05) in plasma cholesterol and triacylglycerol of rats fed 10% and 40% concentrations of the diets, and a significant increase (p<0.05) in high density lipoprotein (HDL) levels at 40% concentrations of the test diets. The diets also produced decrease in low density lipoprotein (LDL), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), cardiac risk ratio (CRR), atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) and atherogenic coefficient (AC) at 40% concentrations except the soaked group that showed slight elevation of LDL, CRR, AC and AIP at 40% concentration. Artocarpus heterophyllus seeds could be beneficial to health because of its ability to increase plasma HDL and reduce plasma LDL, VLDL, cholesterol, triglycerides and atherogenic indices at higher diet concentration.

Keywords: Artocarpus heterophyllus, atherogenic indices, concentrations, lipid profile.

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