Search results for: Health risk index

Authors: Tahmina Akhter

Abstract:

In the present work, we make a study of the repercussions of the pandemic generated by COVID-19 in the real estate market, this disease has affected almost all sectors of the economy across different countries in the world, including the real estate markets. This documentary research, basically focused on the years 2021 and 2022, as we seek to focus on the strongest time of the pandemic. We carried out the study trying to take into account the repercussions throughout the world and that is why the data we analyze take into account information from all possible continents. Particularly in the US, Europe and China, where the COVID-19 impact has been of such proportions that it has fundamentally affected the housing market for middle-class housing. In addition, the pandemic has posed risks to investments in this market, due to the fact that companies in the sector have generated losses in certain cases; in the Chinese case, Evergrande, one of the largest companies in the sector, fell into default.

Keywords: COVID-19, real estate market, statistics of COVID-19, Evergrande Real Estate.

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Authors: Zhaojun Wang, Zongdi Sun, Zhiyuan Liu

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First of all, the carbon trading price and trading volume in Shanghai are transformed by Fourier transform, and the frequency response diagram is obtained. Then, the frequency response diagram is analyzed and the Blackman filter is designed. The Blackman filter is used to filter, and the carbon trading time domain and frequency response diagram are obtained. After wavelet analysis, the carbon trading data were processed; respectively, we got the average value for each 5 days, 10 days, 20 days, 30 days, and 60 days. Finally, the data are used as input of the Back Propagation Neural Network model for prediction.

Keywords: Shanghai carbon trading, carbon trading price, carbon trading volume, wavelet analysis, BP neural network model.

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Authors: Alexander L. Pyayt, Ilya I. Mokhov, Bernhard Lang, Valeria V. Krzhizhanovskaya, Robert J. Meijer

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More and more natural disasters are happening every year: floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc. In order to reduce the risk of possible damages, governments all around the world are investing into development of Early Warning Systems (EWS) for environmental applications. The most important task of the EWS is identification of the onset of critical situations affecting environment and population, early enough to inform the authorities and general public. This paper describes an approach for monitoring of flood protections systems based on machine learning methods. An Artificial Intelligence (AI) component has been developed for detection of abnormal dike behaviour. The AI module has been integrated into an EWS platform of the UrbanFlood project (EU Seventh Framework Programme) and validated on real-time measurements from the sensors installed in a dike.

Keywords: Early Warning System, intelligent environmentalmonitoring, machine learning, flood protection.

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Authors: Rostami F, Haj Hosseini R, Sharifi K, Daneshpour M, Azizi F, Hedayati M

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Expression and secretion of inflammation markers are disturbed in obesity. Interleukin-6 reduces body fat mass. The common G-174C polymorphism in the promoter of IL-6 gene has been reported that effects on transcriptional regulation. The objective was to investigate association of the common polymorphism G-174C with obesity in Iranian population. The present study is cross sectional association study that included 242 individuals (110 men and 132 women). Serum IL-6 levels, C-reactive protein, fasting blood glucose and blood lipids profile were measured .BMI and WHR were calculated. Genotyping is carried out by PCR and RFLP. The frequencies of G and C allele were 64.5% and 35.5%, respectively. The G-174C polymorphism was not associated with BMI and WHR. However in obese individual, fasting blood glucose was significantly higher in carrier of C allele compared with the noncarrier. The IL-6 G-174C polymorphism is not a risk factor for obesity in Iranian population.

Keywords: Interleukin 6, Polymorphism genetic, Obesity.

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Authors: Jana Kisková, Dana Gabriková

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Monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) is suggested to be a candidate gene implicated in many neuropsychiatric disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This meta-analytic review evaluates the relationship between ASD and MAOA markers such as 30 bp variable number tandem repeats in the promoter region (uVNTR) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) by using findings from recently published studies. It seems that in Caucasian males, the risk of developing ASD increase with the presence of 4- repeat allele in the promoter region of MAOA gene whereas no differences were found between autistic patients and controls in Egyptian, West Bengal and Korean population. Some studies point to the importance of specific haplotype groups of SNPs and interaction of MAOA with others genes (e. g. FOXP2 or SRY). The results of existing studies are insufficient and further research is needed.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, MAOA, uVNTR, single nucleotide polymorphism.

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Authors: Azwadi Ali

Abstract:

The survival of publicly listed companies largely depends on their stocks being liquidly traded. This goal can be achieved when new investors are attracted to invest on companies- stocks. Among different groups of investors, individual investors are generally less able to objectively evaluate companies- risks and returns, and tend to be emotionally biased in their investing decisions. Therefore their decisions may be formed as a result of perceived risks and returns, and influenced by companies- images. This study finds that perceived risk, perceived returns and trust directly affect individual investors- trading decisions while attitude towards brand partially mediates the relationships. This finding suggests that, in courting individual investors, companies still need to perform financially while building a good image can result in their stocks being accepted quicker than the stocks of good performing companies with hidden images.

Keywords: Behavioral Finance, Investment, Attitude towardsBrand, Partial Least Squares

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Authors: Abdulrahim Aljamal

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Bay leaves have been shown to improve insulin function in vitro but the effects on people have not been determined. The objective of this study was to determine if bay leaves may be important in the prevention and/or alleviation of type 1 diabetes. Methods: Fifty five people with type 1 diabetes were divided into two groups, 45 given capsules containing 3 g of bay leaves per day for 30 days and 10 given a placebo capsules. Results All the patients consumed bay leaves shows reduced serum glucose with significant decreases 27% after 30 d. Total cholesterol decreased, 21 %, after 30 days with larger decreases in low density lipoprotein (LDL) 24%. High density lipoprotein (HDL) increased 20% and Triglycerides also decreased 26%. There were no significant changes in the placebo group. Conclusion, this study demonstrates that consumption of bay leaves, 3 g/d for 30 days, decreases risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases and suggests that bay leaves may be beneficial for people with type 1 diabetes.

Keywords: bay leave, cholesterol, diabetes, triglycerides

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Authors: Rehab F. Abdel-Kader, Rabab M. Ramadan, Rawya Y. Rizk

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The recognition of human faces, especially those with different orientations is a challenging and important problem in image analysis and classification. This paper proposes an effective scheme for rotation invariant face recognition using Log-Polar Transform and Discrete Cosine Transform combined features. The rotation invariant feature extraction for a given face image involves applying the logpolar transform to eliminate the rotation effect and to produce a row shifted log-polar image. The discrete cosine transform is then applied to eliminate the row shift effect and to generate the low-dimensional feature vector. A PSO-based feature selection algorithm is utilized to search the feature vector space for the optimal feature subset. Evolution is driven by a fitness function defined in terms of maximizing the between-class separation (scatter index). Experimental results, based on the ORL face database using testing data sets for images with different orientations; show that the proposed system outperforms other face recognition methods. The overall recognition rate for the rotated test images being 97%, demonstrating that the extracted feature vector is an effective rotation invariant feature set with minimal set of selected features.

Keywords: Discrete Cosine Transform, Face Recognition, Feature Extraction, Log Polar Transform, Particle SwarmOptimization.

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Authors: Mary L. G. S. Senna, Afonso R. Aquino

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The development of tourism causes negative impacts on the environment. It is in this context, through the Ecological Footprint (EF) method that this study aimed to characterize the impacts of ecotourism on the community of Mateiros, Jalapão, Brazil. The EF, which consisted in its original a method to construct a land use matrix, considering some major categories of human consumption such as food, housing, transportation, consumer goods and services, and six other categories from the main land use which are divided into the topics: land use, degraded environment, gardens, fertile land, pasture and forests protected by the government. The main objective of this index is to calculate the land area required for the production and maintenance of goods and services consumed by a community. The field research was conducted throughout the year of 2014 until July 2015. After the calculations of each category, these components were added according to the presented method in order to determine the annual EF of the tourism sector in Mateiros. The results show that the EF resulting from tourism in Mateiros is 2,194.22 hectares of land required for tourism activities in the region. The EF of tourism was considered high, nevertheless, if it is added the total of hectares needed annually for tourism activities, the result found would be 2,194.22 hectares needed to absorb the CO₂ emissions generated in the region directly from the tourism sector.

Keywords: Sustainable tourism, tourism ecological footprint, Jalapão/TO/Brazil.

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Authors: Martin Henkel

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Different forms of interaction are an integral part of modern courses. Traditional courses held on-campus might focus on teacher-student interaction, or student-student interaction, or both. However when these traditional on-campus courses are to be held as distance courses there is a risk that these well-designed interactions will be difficult or impossible to uphold. For example, studentstudent interaction in traditional project assignments might not work well if the students are scattered across the world. Thus, even a welldesigned traditional on-site course cannot without modification be turned into a distance course. Traditional on-site courses simply have to be redesigned to become true distance courses. This paper describes a structured approach which facilitates the redesign of a traditional course into a distance course. The approach is based on that the desired forms of course flexibility are identified, and thereafter that the course activities are redesigned to facilitate interaction in a distance course. The approach is making use of known patterns of pedagogic interaction and existing guidelines for distance education design. The approach is illustrated with an example course in the field of information systems design.

Keywords: Distance education, interaction in education, course design.

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Authors: Philippe Fauquet-Alekhine

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For professions of high risk industries, simulation training has always been thought in terms of high degree of fidelity regarding the real operational situation. Due to the recent progress, this way of training is changing, modifying the human-computer and software interactions: the interactions between trainees during simulation training session tend to become virtual, transforming the social-based embodiness (the way subjects integrate social skills for interpersonal relationship with co-workers). On the basis of the analysis of eight different profession trainings, a categorization of interactions has help to produce an analytical tool, the social interactions table. This tool may be very valuable to point out the changes of social interactions when the training sessions are skipping from a high fidelity simulator to a virtual simulator. In this case, it helps the designers of professional training to analyze and to assess the consequences of the potential lack the social-based embodiness.

Keywords: Interface, interaction, simulator, virtual training.

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Authors: Sibel Uzuner, Jale Acar

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Pomegranate and pomegranate juices (PJs) have taken great attention for their health benefits in the last years. As there is an increasing concern about potential health benefits of ellagic acid, it is of great interest to evaluate alterations in ellagic acid concentration of commercial PJs. The purpose of this study is to analyze total phenolic, free and total ellagic acid content of six commercial PJs sold in Turkish markets using HPLC. The results showed that some commercial PJs had markedly high total phenolic and ellagic acid content. Total phenolic substances of commercial PJs range from 796.71 to 4608.91 mg GAE/l. Free amount of ellagic acid in commercial PJs range from 27.64 to 111.78 mg/l. Samples are hydrolyzed with concentrated HCl at 93oC for 2 and 24 hour and influences of temperature and time parameters on hydrolization were investigated. Thermal processing for pasteurization increased ellagic acid via ellagitannins hydrolysis.

Keywords: Ellagic acid, ellagitannin, pomegranate juice, total phenolic compounds

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Authors: Bin Su

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Auckland has a temperate climate with comfortable warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. Auckland house design not only focus on winter thermal performance and indoor thermal condition, but also indoor moisture control, which is closely related to indirect health effects such as dust mites, fungi, etc. Most Auckland houses are designed to use temporary heating for winter indoor thermal comfort. Based on field study data of indoor microclimate conditions of two Auckland townhouses with a whole home mechanical ventilation system or a passive wind directional skylight vent, this study is to evaluate and compare indoor moisture conditions of two insulated townhouses only using temporary heating with different ventilation systems.

Keywords: House ventilation, house thermal design, indoor health condition, indoor moisture control.

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Authors: Faraj El Dabee, Romeo Marian, Yousef Amer

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This paper implements the inventory model developed in the first part of this paper in a simplified problem to simultaneously reduce costs and risks in JIT systems. This model is developed to ascertain an optimal ordering strategy for procuring raw materials by using regular multi-external and local backup suppliers to reduce the total cost of the products, and at the same time to reduce the risks arising from this cost reduction within production systems. A comparison between the cost of using the JIT system and using the proposed inventory model shows the superiority of the use of the inventory model.

Keywords: Lean manufacturing, Just-in-Time (JIT), production system, cost-risk reduction, inventory model, eternal supplier, local backup supplier.

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Authors: Farnaz Motamediyan Dehkordi, Anthony Thompson, Tobias Larsson

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Market competition and a desire to gain advantages on globalized market, drives companies towards innovation efforts. Project overload is an unpleasant phenomenon, which is happening for employees inside those organizations trying to make the most efficient use of their resources to be innovative. But what are the impacts of project overload on organization-s innovation capabilities? Advanced engineering teams (AE) inside a major heavy equipment manufacturer are suffering from project overload in their quest for innovation. In this paper, Agent-based modeling (ABM) is used to examine the current reality of the company context, and of the AE team, where the opportunities and challenges for reducing the risk of project overload and moving towards innovation were identified. Project overload is more likely to stifle innovation and creativity inside teams. On the other hand, motivations on proper challenging goals are more likely to help individual to alleviate the negative aspects of low level of project overload.

Keywords: Innovation, Creativity, Project overload, Agentbased modelling.

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Authors: I. Slim, H. Akkari, A. Ben Abdallah, I. Bhouri, M. Hedi Bedoui

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Osteoporosis is a common disease characterized by low bone mass and deterioration of micro-architectural bone tissue, which provokes an increased risk of fracture. This work treats the texture characterization of trabecular bone radiographs. The aim was to analyze according to clinical research a group of 174 subjects: 87 osteoporotic patients (OP) with various bone fracture types and 87 control cases (CC). To characterize osteoporosis, Fractal and MultiFractal (MF) methods were applied to images for features (attributes) extraction. In order to improve the results, a new method of MF spectrum based on the q-stucture function calculation was proposed and a combination of Fractal and MF attributes was used. The Support Vector Machines (SVM) was applied as a classifier to distinguish between OP patients and CC subjects. The features fusion (fractal and MF) allowed a good discrimination between the two groups with an accuracy rate of 96.22%.

Keywords: Fractal, micro-architecture analysis, multifractal, SVM, osteoporosis.

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Authors: Anabel Fernandez, Leandro Rodriguez-Ortiz, Rosa Rodríguez

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Due to the negative impact of fossil fuels, renewable energies are promising sources to limit global temperature rise and damage to the environment. Also, the development of technology is focused on obtaining energetic products from renewable sources. In this study, a thermodynamic model including exergy balance and a subsequent Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) were carried out for four subsystems of the integrated gasification-combustion of pinewood. Results of exergy analysis and LCA showed the process feasibility in terms of exergy efficiency and global energy efficiency of the life cycle (GEELC). Moreover, the energy return on investment (EROI) index was calculated. The global exergy efficiency resulted in 67%. For pretreatment, reaction, cleaning, and electric generation subsystems, the results were 85%, 59%, 87%, and 29%, respectively. Results of LCA indicated that the emissions from the electric generation caused the most damage to the atmosphere, water, and soil. GEELC resulted in 31.09% for the global process. This result suggested the environmental feasibility of an integrated gasification-combustion system. EROI resulted in 3.15, which determines the sustainability of the process.

Keywords: Exergy analysis, Life Cycle Assessment, LCA, renewability, sustainability.

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Authors: Rauno Pääkkönen, Fabriziomaria Gobba, Leena Korpinen

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The objective of the study is to assess the implementation of LED lighting into forest machine work in the dark. In addition, the paper includes a wide variety of important and relevant safety and health parameters. In modern, computerized work in the cab of forest machines, artificial illumination is a demanding task when performing duties, such as the visual inspections of wood and computer calculations. We interviewed entrepreneurs and gathered the following as the most pertinent themes: (1) safety, (2) practical problems, and (3) work with LED lighting. The most important comments were in regards to the practical problems of LED lighting. We found indications of technical problems in implementing LED lighting, like snow and dirt on the surfaces of lamps that dim the emission of light. Moreover, service work in the dark forest is dangerous and increases the risks of on-site accidents. We also concluded that the amount of blue light to the eyes should be assessed, especially, when the drivers are working in a semi-dark cab.

Keywords: Forest machines, health, LED, safety.

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Authors: Mohammed Saleem Tariq

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The enthusiasm for gluten avoidance in a growing market is met by improvements in sensitive detection methods for analysing gluten content. Paradoxically, manufacturers employ no such systems in the production process but continue to market their product as gluten free, a significant risk posed to an undetermined coeliac population. This paper resonates with an immunological response that causes gastrointestinal scarring and villous atrophy with the conventional description of personal injury. This thesis divulges into evaluating potential inadequacies of gluten labelling laws which not only present a diagnostic challenge for general practitioners in the UK but it also exposes a less than adequate form of available legal protection to those who suffer adverse reactions as a result of gluten digestion. Central to this discussion is whether a claim brought in misrepresentation, negligence and/or under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 could be sustained. An interesting comparison is then made with the legal regimes of neighboring jurisdictions furthering the theme of a legally un-catered for gluten kingdom.

Keywords: Coeliac, litigation, misrepresentation, negligence.

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Authors: Hyun-Seop Shin, Chin-Hyung Lee, Ki-Tae Park

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In order to apply partially filled steel grid composite deck as the horizontal supporting structure of various kinds of infrastructures, the variation of its flexural strength according to design parameters such as cross and longitudinal bars constituting the steel grid and the type of shear connection is evaluated and compared experimentally. The result shows that the design sensitivity of the deck to the spacing of the cross bars is insignificant in the case of structure with low risk of punching failure or without load distribution problem. By means of shear connection composed by transverse rebar and longitudinal bar without additional shear stud bolts, the complete interaction between steel grid and concrete slab is able to be achieved and the composite deck can develop its bending resistance capacity.

Keywords: bending strength, composite action, shear connection, steel grid composite deck

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Authors: Abu Salim Mustafa

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Water plays a major role in maintaining life on earth, but it can also serve as a matrix for pathogenic organisms, posing substantial health threats to humans. Although, outbreaks of diseases attributable to drinking water may not be common in industrialized countries, they still occur and can lead to serious acute, chronic, or sometimes fatal health consequences. The analysis of drinking water samples from different regions of Kuwait was performed in this study for bacterial and viral contaminations. Drinking tap water samples were collected from 15 different locations of the six Kuwait governorates. All samples were analyzed by confocal microscopy for the presence of bacteria. The samples were cultured in vitro to detect cultivable organisms. DNA was isolated from the cultured organisms and the identity of the bacteria was determined by sequencing the bacterial 16S rRNA genes, followed by BLAST analysis in the database of NCBI, USA. RNA was extracted from water samples and analyzed by real-time PCR for the detection of viruses with potential health risks, i.e. Astrovirus, Enterovirus, Norovirus, Rotavirus, and Hepatitis A. Confocal microscopy showed the presence of bacteria in some water samples. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing of culture grown organisms, followed by BLAST analysis, identified the presence of several non-pathogenic bacterial species. However, one sample had Acinetobacter baumannii, which often causes opportunistic infections in immunocompromised people, but none of the studied viruses could be detected in the drinking water samples analyzed. The results indicate that drinking water samples analyzed from various locations in Kuwait are relatively safe for drinking and do not contain many harmful pathogens.

Keywords: Drinking water, 16S rRNA, microbial diversity, viruses, Kuwait.

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Authors: Morteza Raei Dehaghi, Seyed Mohammad Mirhashemi

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The current study explored the effect of economic development, financial development and institutional quality on environmental destruction in upper-middle income countries during the time period of 1999-2011. The dependent variable is logarithm of carbon dioxide emissions that can be considered as an index for destruction or quality of the environment given to its effects on the environment. Financial development and institutional development variables as well as some control variables were considered. In order to study cross-sectional correlation among the countries under study, Pesaran and Friz test was used. Since the results of both tests show cross-sectional correlation in the countries under study, seemingly unrelated regression method was utilized for model estimation. The results disclosed that Kuznets’ environmental curve hypothesis is confirmed in upper-middle income countries and also, financial development and institutional quality have a significant effect on environmental quality. The results of this study can be considered by policy makers in countries with different income groups to have access to a growth accompanied by improved environmental quality.

Keywords: Economic Development, Environmental Destruction, Financial Development, Institutional Development, Seemingly Unrelated Regression.

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Authors: Muhammad Yasir Babar, Ebrahim Panah

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Over the past 20 years, internet has seen continual advancement and with the advent of online technology, various types of web-based games have been developed. Games are frequently being used among different age groups from baby boomers to generation Z. Games are not only used for entertainment but also utilized as a learning approach transmitting education to a level that is more interesting and effective for students. One of the popular web-based education games is Kahoot with growing popularity and usage, which is being used in different fields of studies. However, little knowledge is available on university students’ perception of Kahoot environment and application for learning subjects. Hence, the objective of the current study is to investigate students’ perceptions of Kahoot application and environment as a learning tool. The study employed a survey approach by distributing Google Forms –created questionnaire, with high level of reliability index, to 62 students (11 males and 51 females). The findings show that students have positive attitudes towards Kahoot application and its environment for learning. Regarding Kahoot application, it was indicated that activities created using Kahoot are more interesting for students, Kahoot is useful for collaborative learning, and Kahoot enhances interest in learning lesson. In terms of Kahoot environment, it was found that using this application through mobile is easy for students, its design is simple and useful, Kahoot-created activities can easily be shared, and the application can easily be used on any platform. The findings of the study have implications for instructors, policymakers and curriculum developers.

Keywords: Application, environment, Kahoot, learning tool.

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Authors: Levente Varga, Dávid Deritei, Mária Ercsey-Ravasz, Răzvan Florian, Zsolt I. Lázár, István Papp, Ferenc Járai-Szabó

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One of the major shortcomings of widely used scientometric indicators is that different disciplines cannot be compared with each other. The issue of cross-disciplinary normalization has been long discussed, but even the classification of publications into scientific domains poses problems. Structural properties of citation networks offer new possibilities, however, the large size and constant growth of these networks asks for precaution. Here we present a new tool that in order to perform cross-field normalization of scientometric indicators of individual publications relays on the structural properties of citation networks. Due to the large size of the networks, a systematic procedure for identifying scientific domains based on a local community detection algorithm is proposed. The algorithm is tested with different benchmark and real-world networks. Then, by the use of this algorithm, the mechanism of the scientometric indicator normalization process is shown for a few indicators like the citation number, P-index and a local version of the PageRank indicator. The fat-tail trend of the article indicator distribution enables us to successfully perform the indicator normalization process.

Keywords: Citation networks, scientometric indicator, cross-field normalization, local cluster detection.

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Authors: Chia-Jou Hsieh, Feng-Chuan Pan

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Oral health is particular important to the hospitalized patients with chronic schizophrenia for an extreme high potential of the respiratory infections. Due to the degeneration of physical capability, patients of this kind typically fall dependent in the activity of daily living (ADL). A very high percentage of patients had dental problems of which mostly could be easily avoid by easy regular tooth brushing. Purpose of the project is to develop a mechanism in helping the schizophrenia patients in rebuilding a tooth-cleaning habit. The project observed and evaluated the tooth-cleaning behavior of 100 male patients in a psychiatric hospital, and found the majority of them ignored such an activity in a three-month period of time. In the meantime, the primary care-givers were not aware or not convinced the importance of such a need of dental hygiene, and thus few if any tooth cleaning training or knowledge on dental hygiene were given to the patients. The project then developed a program based on the numerous observations and discussions. The improvement program included patients- group education, care-givers- training, and a tool-kit for tooth-brush holding was erected. The project launched with some incentive package. The outcomes were encouraging with 87% of the patients had rebuilt their tooth-brushing habits against previous 22%, and the tooth cleaning kits were 100% kept against 22% in the past. This project had significantly improved the oral health of the patients. The project, included the procedure and the tool-kit holder specific for this purpose, was a good examples for psychiatric hospitals.

Keywords: Schizophrenia, dental hygiene, tool-kit holder, health education

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Authors: P. Konvalina, I. Capouchová, Z. Stehno

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The organic farmers use wider range of crop varieties than the conventional farming. Bread wheat is the most favorite and the most common food crop. The organic bread wheat is usually of worse technological quality. Therefore, it is supposed to be an attractive alternative to the hulled wheat species (einkorn, emmer wheat and spelt). Twenty-five hulled bread wheat varieties and control bread wheat ones were grown on the certified organic parcel in České Budějovice (the Czech Republic) between 2009 and 2012. Their baking quality was measured and evaluated with standard methods, and in accordance with ICC. The results have shown that the grain of hulled wheat varieties contain a lot of proteins in grains (up to 18 percent); even the organic hulled bread wheat varieties are characterized by such good baking quality. Einkorn and emmer wheat are of worse technological quality of proteins (low values of gluten index and Zeleny test), which is a disadvantage of these two wheat species. On the other hand, spelt wheat is of better technological quality and is similar to the control bread wheat varieties. Mixtures consisting of bread wheat, among others, are considered good alternatives; they may contribute to wider range of use of the hulled wheat species. It is one of the possibilities which may increase the proportion of proteins in bread wheat grains; the nutrition-rich hulled wheat grains may be also used in such way at the same time.

Keywords: Baking quality, organic farming, einkorn, emmer wheat, spelt.

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Authors: A. Tannai, V. Herbert, C. Rufin-Soler

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Since the beginning of the 21st century, we have been observing in some seaside resorts aging demography, combined with an increase in second homes. These seaside resorts are said to have become places undergoing profound changes, leading to hybridization of functions (personal services, health, residential, etc.) and practices. All of these issues are part of the challenges of silver tourism, which stems from the silver economy. The Hauts-de-France region is made up of numerous seaside resorts that have a significant proportion of second homes in their real estate stock. The seaside resorts have tourist offers based on sports and leisure activities. They also offer a suitable environment for the installation of this category of the population. This set of attractive criteria in the choice of installation in seaside resorts is likely to be replaced by personal and health services due to the advanced age of the population. The resorts of Le Touquet Paris-Plage, Bray-Dunes, Neufchâtel-Hardelot and Le Crotoy seem to be evolving towards other functions of residential resorts, as opposed to seaside resorts This paper will be an opportunity to present the results of the surveys we conducted in 4 seaside resorts in the Hauts-de-France region, where more than 420 retired secondary residents were questioned. The results show that nearly 90% of retirees spend their time in their second home at any time of the year. The criteria that lead them there are school vacations and the weather. More than 40% of them have been living there for more than 20 years. The reasons for the installations are the living environment (83%) and the quality of life (79%). Their activities are walking and strolling, as well as sports. More than 99% of the respondents do not take into account the health service offers. Personal services are also little taken into account - around 60% of respondents say they do not know whether personal services exist in the resort. 80% of respondents answer that their grandchildren benefit from activities organized by the commune and the tourist offices during their stay. To conclude, the influx of retired secondary residents will not lead to a change in the functions of the seaside resorts. Their classic tourist offers - leisure and sports activities, the environment - will remain the attractive criteria of the seaside resorts.  The results of the study prove that personal services and health services are not the first choice criteria in the installation of retired secondary residents, quite the contrary. We can even complete that retirees in secondary residences are demanding and concerned about living in a calm, safe and clean environment and quality of life.

Keywords: Health services, people care, second home, seniors, silver tourism, tourism, tourist functions.

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Authors: Hassnen M. Jafer, Khalid S. Hashim, W. Atherton, Ali W. Alattabi

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This study investigates the effect of two important parameters (length of curing period and percentage of the added binder) on the strength of soil treated with OPC. An intermediate plasticity silty clayey soil with medium organic content was used in this study. This soft soil was treated with different percentages of a commercially available cement type 32.5-N. laboratory experiments were carried out on the soil treated with 0, 1.5, 3, 6, 9, and 12% OPC by the dry weight to determine the effect of OPC on the compaction parameters, consistency limits, and the compressive strength. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test was carried out on cement-treated specimens after exposing them to different curing periods (1, 3, 7, 14, 28, and 90 days). The results of UCS test were used to develop a non-linear multi-regression model to find the relationship between the predicted and the measured maximum compressive strength of the treated soil (qu). The results indicated that there was a significant improvement in the index of plasticity (IP) by treating with OPC; IP was decreased from 20.2 to 14.1 by using 12% of OPC; this percentage was enough to increase the UCS of the treated soil up to 1362 kPa after 90 days of curing. With respect to the statistical model of the predicted qu, the results showed that the regression coefficients (R2) was equal to 0.8534 which indicates a good reproducibility for the constructed model.

Keywords: Cement admixtures, soft soil stabilisation, geotechnical parameters, unconfined compressive strength, multi-regression model.

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Authors: B. Alajmi, L. Marouf, A. S. Chaudhry

Abstract:

Knowledge management is considered as an important factor in improving health care services. KM facilitates the transfer of existing knowledge and the development of new knowledge in hospitals. This paper reviews practices adopted by doctors in Kuwait for capturing, sharing, and generating knowledge. It also discusses the perceived impact of KM practices on performance of hospitals. Based on a survey of 277 doctors, the study found that KM practices among doctors in the sampled hospitals were not very effective. Little attention was paid to the main activities that support the transfer of expertise among doctors in hospitals. However, as predicted by previous studies, good km practices were perceived by doctors to have a positive impact on performance of hospitals. It was concluded that through effective KM practices hospitals could improve the services they provide. Documentation of best practices and capturing of lessons learnt for re-use of knowledge could help transform the hospitals into learning organizations.

Keywords: Health Sector, Hospitals, Knowledge Management, Kuwait, Tools and Practices.

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Authors: I. Struhár, L. Dovrtělová, M. Kumstát

Abstract:

Regular exercise promotes reduction in blood pressure, reduction in body weight and it also helps to increase in insulin sensitivity. Participation in physical activity should always be linked to medical screening which can reveal serious medical problems. One of them is high blood pressure. Hypertension is risk factor for one billion people worldwide and the highest prevalence is found in Africa. Another component of hypertension is that people who suffer from hypertension have no symptoms. It is estimated that reduction of 3mm Hg in Systolic Blood Pressure decreases cardiac morbidity at least 5%. The most of the guidelines suggest aerobic exercise in a prevention of cardiovascular diseases. On the other hand, it is important to emphasize the impact of resistance training. Even, it was found higher effect for reduction on the level of systolic blood pressure than aerobic exercise.

Keywords: Coronary artery disease, physical activity, prevention, resistance training.

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