Search results for: General Education.

Authors: B. O. Diyaolu

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The web created by sport in academics has made it difficult for it to be separated from adolescent educational development. The enthusiasm expressed towards sport by students in higher institutions is quite enormous. Primarily, academic performance should be the pride of all students but whether sports affect the academic performance of student-athletes remain an unknown fact. This study investigated the influence of sports participation on academic performance among Afe Babalola University student-athletes. Ex post facto research design was used. Two groups of students were used for the study; Student-athlete (SA) and Regular Students (RS). Purposive sampling technique was used to select 224 student-athletes, only those that are regular in the university sports team training were considered and their records (i.e. name, department, level, matriculation number, and phone number) were collected through the assistance of their coaches. For the regular students, purposive sampling technique was used to select 224 participants, only those that have no interest in sports were considered and their records were retrieved from the college registration officer. The first and second semester examination results of the two groups were compared in 10 general study courses without their knowledge, using descriptive statistics of frequency counts, mean, and standard deviation. Out of the 10 compared courses, 7 courses result showed no significant difference between students-athlete and regular students while student-athletes perform better in 3 practically oriented courses. Sports role in academics is quite significant. Exposure to sports can help build the confidence that athletes need especially when it comes to practical courses. Student-athletes can perform better in academics if the environment is friendly and not intimidating. Lecturers and coaches need to work together in order to build a well cultured and intelligent graduate.

Keywords: Academic performance, regular students, sports participation, student-athlete, university sports team.

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Authors: Rasheed O. Oloyede, Joseph O. Adelusi, Peter O. Akinbile

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This study was conducted to investigate the extent with which knowledge of results influences the performance of cricket players. A sample of 160 fresh students in the Department of Physical and Health Education who are novice in the game were randomly assigned into two groups. The first group of eighty (80) subjects was classified as experimental group while the second group of eighty (80) subjects was the control group. Subjects in both groups were asked to bowl and bat ten times each for a period of six weeks. After the first round, the subjects in the experimental group were allowed feedback on their performance in the first trial while those in the control group were denied feedback. Two null hypotheses generated for the study were tested using percentages and chi-square statistical analysis at 0.05 level of significance. Analysis of data showed that knowledge of results influenced the performance of cricket players. It was concluded that knowledge of results is pertinent for effective skill acquisition and could enhance better performance among unskilled cricket players. Hence, it is suggested that immediate feedback on the level of skill acquisition by the prospective and unskilled cricket players would inspire them for better performance in cricket tournaments.

Keywords: Batting, Bowling, Knowledge of Results, Performance, Skill Acquisition.

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Authors: Javier Barrachina, Piedad Garrido, Manuel Fogue, Julio A. Sanguesa, Francisco J. Martinez

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It is very common to observe, especially in Computer Science studies that students have difficulties to correctly understand how some mechanisms based on Artificial Intelligence work. In addition, the scope and limitations of most of these mechanisms are usually presented by professors only in a theoretical way, which does not help students to understand them adequately. In this work, we focus on the problems found when teaching Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs), which imitate the principles of natural evolution, as a method to solve parameter optimization problems. Although this kind of algorithms can be very powerful to solve relatively complex problems, students often have difficulties to understand how they work, and how to apply them to solve problems in real cases. In this paper, we present two interactive graphical applications which have been specially designed with the aim of making Evolutionary Algorithms easy to be understood by students. Specifically, we present: (i) TSPS, an application able to solve the ”Traveling Salesman Problem”, and (ii) FotEvol, an application able to reconstruct a given image by using Evolution Strategies. The main objective is that students learn how these techniques can be implemented, and the great possibilities they offer.

Keywords: Education, evolutionary algorithms, evolution strategies, interactive learning applications.

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Authors: Satish Kumar, Arun Kumar Gupta, Pankaj Chandna

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In the modern manufacturing systems, the use of thermal cutting techniques using oxyfuel, plasma and laser have become indispensable for the shape forming of high quality complex components; however, the conventional chip removal production techniques still have its widespread space in the manufacturing industry. Both these types of machining operations require the positioning of end effector tool at the edge where the cutting process commences. This repositioning of the cutting tool in every machining operation is repeated several times and is termed as non-productive time or airtime motion. Minimization of this non-productive machining time plays an important role in mass production with high speed machining. As, the tool moves from one region to the other by rapid movement and visits a meticulous region once in the whole operation, hence the non-productive time can be minimized by synchronizing the tool movements. In this work, this problem is being formulated as a general travelling salesman problem (TSP) and a genetic algorithm approach has been applied to solve the same. For improving the efficiency of the algorithm, the GA has been hybridized with a noble special heuristic and simulating annealing (SA). In the present work a novel heuristic in the combination of GA has been developed for synchronization of toolpath movements during repositioning of the tool. A comparative analysis of new Meta heuristic techniques with simple genetic algorithm has been performed. The proposed metaheuristic approach shows better performance than simple genetic algorithm for minimization of nonproductive toolpath length. Also, the results obtained with the help of hybrid simulated annealing genetic algorithm (HSAGA) are also found better than the results using simple genetic algorithm only.

Keywords: Non-productive time, Airtime, 2.5 D milling, Laser cutting, Metaheuristic, Genetic Algorithm, Simulated Annealing.

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Authors: Amit Bhattacharyya

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The economic scenario of any region does not show the real picture for the measurement of overall development. Therefore, economic development must be accompanied by social development to be able to make an assessment to measure the level of development. The spatial variation with respect to social development has been discussed taking into account the quality of functioning of a social system in a specific area. In this paper, an attempt has been made to study the spatial distribution of social infrastructural facilities and analyze the magnitude of regional disparities at inter- block level in Barddhman district. It starts with the detailed account of the selection process of social infrastructure indicators and describes the methodology employed in the empirical analysis. Analyzing the block level data, this paper tries to identify the disparity among the blocks in the levels of social development. The results have been subsequently explained using both statistical analysis and geo spatial technique. The paper reveals that the social development is not going on at the same rate in every part of the district. Health facilities and educational facilities are concentrated at some selected point. So overall development activities come to be concentrated in a few centres and the disparity is seen over the blocks.

Keywords: Disparity, inter-block, social development, spatial variation.

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Authors: Nives Mikelic Preradovic, Damir Boras, Tomislava Lauc

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The paper presents the service learning project titled DicDucFac (idea-leadership-product), that was planned and conducted by the team of information sciences students. It was planned as a workshop dealing with the application of modern social media (Facebook, YouTube, Gmail) for the purposes of selfpromotion, free advertising via social networks and marketing own ideas and/or products in the virtual world. The workshop was organized for highly-skilled computer literate unemployed youth. These youth, as final beneficiaries, will be able to apply what they learned in this workshop to “the real world“, increasing their chances for employment and self-employment. The results of the project reveal that the basic, active-learning principles embodied in our teaching approach allow students to learn more effectively and gain essential life skills (from computer applications to teamwork) that can only be learned by doing. It also shows that our students received the essentials of professional ethics and citizenship through direct, personal engagement in professional activities and the life of the community.

Keywords: Service Learning, Innovation, Engaged Citizenship, Leadership, Social Networks, Marketing.

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Authors: Isaac Kofi Mensah

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Governments around the world are adopting Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) because of the important opportunities it provides through E-government (EG) to modernize government public administration processes and delivery of quality and efficient public services. Almost every country in the world is adopting ICT in its public sector administration (EG) to modernize and change the traditional process of government, increase citizen engagement and participation in governance, as well as the provision of timely information to citizens. This paper, therefore, seeks to present the adoption, development and implementation of EG in regions globally, as well as the ICT indicators around the world, which are making EG initiatives successful. Europe leads the world in its EG adoption and development index, followed by the Americas, Asia, Oceania and Africa. There is a gradual growth in ICT indicators in terms of the increase in Internet access and usage, increase in broadband penetration, an increase of individuals using the Internet at home and a decline in fixed telephone use, while the mobile cellular phone has been on the increase year-on-year. Though the lack of ICT infrastructure is a major challenge to EG adoption and implementation around the world, in Africa it is very pervasive, hampering the expansion of Internet access and provision of broadband, and hence is a barrier to the successful adoption, development, and implementation of EG initiatives in countries on the continent. But with the general improvement and increase in ICT indicators around the world, it provides countries in Europe, Americas, Asia, Arab States, Oceania and Africa with the huge opportunity to enhance public service delivery through the adoption of EG. Countries within these regions cannot fail their citizens who desire to enjoy an enhanced and efficient public service delivery from government and its many state institutions.

Keywords: E-government development index, e-government, indicators, information and communication technologies.

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Authors: D. Mokhtari

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Any variation in environmental characteristics of geomorphosites would lead to destabilisation of their geotouristic values all around the planet. The Urmia lake, with an area of approximately 5,500 km2 and a catchment area of 51,876 km2, and to which various reasons over time, especially in the last fifty years have seen a sharp decline and have decreased by about 93 % in two recent decades. These variations are not only driving significant changes in the morphology and ecology of the present lake landscape, but at the same time are shaping newly formed morphologies, which vanished some valuable geomorphosites or develop into smaller geomorphosites with significant value from a scientific and cultural point of view. This paper analyses and discusses features and evolution in several representative coastal and island geomorphosites. For this purpose, a total of 23 geomorphosites were studied in two data series (1963 and 2015) and the respective data were compared and analysed. The results showed, the total loss in geomorphosites area in a half century amounted to a loss of more than 90% of the valuable geomorphosites. Moreover, the comparison between the mean yearly value of coastal area lost over the entire period and the yearly average calculated for the shorter period (1998- 2014) clearly indicates a pattern of acceleration. This acceleration in the rate of reduction in lake area was seen in most of the southern half of the lake. In the region as well, the general water-level falling is not only causing the loss of a significant water resource, which is followed by major impact on regional ecosystems, but is also driving the most marked recent (last century) changes in the geotouristic landscapes. In fact, the disappearance of geomorphosites means the loss of tourism phenomenon. In this context attention must be paid to the question of conservation. The action needed to safeguard geomorphosites includes: 1) Preventive action, 2) Corrective action, and 3) Sharing knowledge.

Keywords: Changing lake, environmental changes, geomorphosite, northwest of Iran, Urmia lake.

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Authors: Xhevrie Mamaqi, Jesus Miguel, Pilar Olave

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The lifelong learning is a crucial element in the modernization of European education and training systems. The most important actors in the development process of the lifelong learning are the trainers, whose professional characteristics need new competences and skills in the current labour market. The main objective of this paper is to establish an importance ranking of the new competences, capabilities and skills that the lifelong learning Spanish trainers must possess nowadays. A wide study of secondary sources has allowed the design of a questionnaire that organizes the trainer-s skills and competences. The e-Delphi method is used for realizing a creative, individual and anonymous evaluation by experts on the importance ranking that presents the criteria, sub-criteria and indicators of the e-Delphi questionnaire. Twenty Spanish experts in the lifelong learning have participated in two rounds of the e- DELPHI method. In the first round, the analysis of the experts- evaluation has allowed to establish the ranking of the most importance criteria, sub-criteria and indicators and to eliminate the least valued. The minimum level necessary to reach the consensus among experts has been achieved in the second round.

Keywords: competences and skills, lifelong learningtrainers, Spain, e-DELHI method.

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Authors: R.P.Masztalski, M.Michalski

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The paper presents the results of research on trends in shaping of multifamily buildings in Poland on the example of Wrocław, after Polish accession to the European Union. The study is conducted within the research project: “Trends in creating of multifamily housing development since 2004, on the Wrocław study case" supported by Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education and will be completed in November 2011. The research involves multifamily buildings completed in the last decade, in term of fundamental urbanization factors such as: building-s coefficient area, useable area, green area (biologically active surface), intensity of building development, amount of dwellings, dwelling area, amount of parking places, numbers of floors, etc. The analysis of these indicators was conducted based on the date obtained in the study of approximately one hundred new housing units, completed in Wroclaw. The analysis attempts to formulate the main trends in creating of housing policy in Poland during the last 10 years in reference to local urban policy.

Keywords: Housing indicators, multifamily housing development in Poland, multifamily housing transformation.

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Authors: Muhammad Javid Qadir, Abdul Hameed

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The purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of ICT training workshop of tutors of Allama Iqbal Open University Pakistan. The study was delimited to tutors of Multan region. The total sample comprised of 100 tutors. All the tutors who participated in ICT training workshop in Multan region were taken as sample in the study. A questionnaire having two parts, based on five point rating scale was developed by the researcher. Part one was about the competency level of computer skills while Part two was based on items related to training delivery, structure and content. Part One of questionnaire had five levels of competency about computer skills. The questionnaire was personally administered and collected back by the researcher himself on the last day of workshop. The collected data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics. Through this study it was found that majority of the tutors strongly agreed that training enhanced their computer skills. Majority of the respondents consider themselves to be generally competent in the use of computer. They also agreed that there was appropriate infrastructure and technical support in lab during training workshop. Moreover, it was found that the training imparted the knowledge of pedagogy of using computers for distance education.

Keywords: ICT, Tutors, AIOU.

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Authors: B. Geethanjali, K. Adalarasu, R. Rajsekaran

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Music has a great effect on human body and mind; it can have a positive effect on hormone system. Objective of this study is to analysis the effect of music (carnatic, hard rock and jazz) on brain activity during mental work load using electroencephalography (EEG). Eight healthy subjects without special musical education participated in the study. EEG signals were acquired at frontal (Fz), parietal (Pz) and central (Cz) lobes of brain while listening to music at three experimental condition (rest, music without mental task and music with mental task). Spectral powers features were extracted at alpha, theta and beta brain rhythms. While listening to jazz music, the alpha and theta powers were significantly (p < 0.05) high for rest as compared to music with and without mental task in Cz. While listening to Carnatic music, the beta power was significantly (p < 0.05) high for with mental task as compared to rest and music without mental task at Cz and Fz location. This finding corroborates that attention based activities are enhanced while listening to jazz and carnatic as compare to Hard rock during mental task.

Keywords: Music, Brain Function, Electroencephalography (EEG), Mental Task, Features extraction parameters

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Authors: P. Nafisi Poor, P. Javid

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Religion and divinity have always held important meaning to humans, and therefore it affects different aspects of life including art and architecture. Numerous works of art are related to religion whether supporting or denying it. Religion and religious scholars have influenced and changed art throughout history. This paper focuses on Islam and Christianity because these two religions have been the most discussed and most popular of all time, starting from the birth of Jesus to the arrival of Mohammad. Based on this popularity, these religions have influenced the arts and especially architecture. Islam on one hand changed Iranian and Arabian architecture and they applied it in different places around the world. From the appearance of Islam at 622 AD to this day, Islamic architecture has been evolving; however, one of the most important periods for this style was between 1501 AD and 1736 AD in Iran. Christianity, on the other hand, changed European architecture especially between 1150 AD and 1450 AD or the so-called "Gothic" era, which begins at medieval time and reaches its peak at International Gothic ages. At both of these periods, designing buildings based on spiritual concepts and divine statements reached its peak, and architects were considering God and religion as their center of attention. This article studies the focus on the religions of Islam and Christianity in terms of architecture and presents a general philosophy of both styles to comprehend the idea behind each one, followed by an analysis of their geometry and architectural aspects derived from the best examples, all to understand the purpose of each style and to realize, which one was more successful in reaching their purpose. Subsequently, a comprehensive review of each building is provided including 3D visualizations to help achieve the goal of the article. These studies can support diverse inquiries about both Islamic and Gothic architecture and can be used as a resource to support studies and research towards designing based on religion or for divine purposes.

Keywords: Architecture, gothic, Islamic, religion.

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Authors: Jaflah H. Al-Ammary

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The increasing recognition of the need for education to be closely aligned with team playing, project based learning and problem solving approaches has increase the interest in collaborative learning among university and college instructors. Using online collaboration learning in learning can enhance the outcome and achievement of students as well as improve their communication, critical thinking and personnel skills. The current research aims at examining the effect of OCL on the student's achievement at Kingdom of Bahrain. Numbers of objectives were set to achieve the aim of the research include: investigating the current situation regarding the collaborative learning and OCL at the Kingdom of Bahrain by identifying the advantages and effectiveness of OCL as a learning tool over traditional learning, examining the factors that affect OCL as well as examining the impact of OCL on the student's achievement. To achieve these objectives, quantitative method was adopted. Two hundred and thirty one questionnaires were distributed to students in different local and private universities at Kingdom of Bahrain. The findings of the research show that most of the students prefer to use FTFCL in learning and that OCL is already adopted in some universities especially in University of Bahrain. Moreover, the most factors affecting the adopted OCL are perceived readiness, and guidance and support.

Keywords: Collaborative learning, perceived readiness, student achievement.

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Authors: Reza Ariaeinejad, Norm Archer

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Self-management is becoming a new emphasis for healthcare systems around the world. But there are many different problems with adoption of new health-related intervention systems. The situation is even more complicated for chronically ill patients with disabilities, illiteracy, and impairment in judgment in addition to their conditions, or having multiple co-morbidities. Providing online decision support to manage patient health and to provide better support for chronically ill patients is a new way of dealing with chronic disease management. In this study, the importance of mobile technology through an m-Health system that supports self-management interventions including the care provider, family and social support, education and training, decision support, recreation, and ongoing patient motivation to promote adherence and sustainability of the intervention are discussed. A proposed theoretical model for adoption and sustainability of system use is developed, based on UTAUT2 and IS Continuance of Use models, both of which have been pre-validated through longitudinal studies. The objective of this paper is to show the importance of using mobile technology in adoption and sustainability of use of an m-Health system which will result in commercially sustainable self-management support for chronically ill patients.

Keywords: M-health, e-health, self-management, disease.

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Authors: C. S. Caires, A. Barbosa, W. Hanyou

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In this paper, we present the main results achieved during a five-week international workshop on Interactive Furniture for the Classroom, with 22 Chinese design students, in Jiangmen city (Guangdong province, China), and five teachers from Portugal, France, Iran, Macao SAR, and China. The main goal was to engage design students from China with new skills and practice methodologies towards interactive design research for furniture and product design for the classroom. The final results demonstrate students' concerns on improving Chinese furniture design for the classrooms, including solutions related to collaborative learning and human-interaction design for interactive furniture products. The findings of the research led students to the fabrication of five original prototypes: two for kindergartens ('Candy' and 'Tilt-tilt'), two for primary schools ('Closer' and 'Eks(x)'), and one for art/creative schools ('Wave'). From the findings, it was also clear that collaboration, personalization, and project-based teaching are still neglected when designing furniture products for the classroom in China. Students focused on these issues and came up with creative solutions that could transform this educational field in China.

Keywords: Product design, interface design, interactive design, collaborative education and design research, design prototyping.

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Authors: Chan Eang Teng, Tang Mui Joo

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With the viral factor on social media, the sense of persuasion is generated by repetition and popularity. When users’ interest is captured, political awareness increases to spark political enthusiasm, but, the level of user’s political participation and political attitude of those active users is still questionable. An online survey on 250 youth and in-depth interview on two politicians are conducted to answer the main question in this paper. The result shows that Facebook significantly increases political awareness among youths. Social media may not be the major trigger to political activism among youths as most respondents opined that they would still vote without Facebook. Other factors could be political campaigning, political climate, age, peer pressure or others. Finding also shows that majority of respondents did not participate in online political debates or political groups. Many also wondered if the social media was the main power switch that triggers the political influx among young voters. The research finding is significant to understand how the new media, Facebook, has reshaped the political landscape in Malaysia, creating the Social Media Election that changed the rules of the political game. However, research finding does not support the ideal notion that the social media is the major trigger to youth’s political activism. This research outcome has exposed the flaws of the Social Media Election. It has revealed the less optimistic side of youth political activism. Unfortunately, results fall short of the idealistic belief that the social media have given rise to political activism among youths in the 13^th General Election in Malaysia. The research outcome also highlights an important lesson for the democratic discourse of Malaysia which is making informed and educated decisions takes more commitment, proactive and objective attitude.

Keywords: Social media, political participation, political activism, democracy, political communication.

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Authors: Toby Gibbs, Suwaree Yordchim

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This research analyzes factors affecting the success of Litecoin Value within Thailand and develops a guideline for selfreliance for effective business implementation. Samples in this study included 119 people through surveys. The results revealed four main factors affecting the success as follows: 1) Future Career training should be pursued in applied Litecoin development. 2) Didn't grasp the concept of a digital currency or see the benefit of a digital currency. 3) There is a great need to educate the next generation of learners on the benefits of Litecoin within the community. 4) A great majority didn't know what Litecoin was. The guideline for self-reliance planning consisted of 4 aspects: 1) Development planning: by arranging meet up groups to conduct further education on Litecoin and share solutions on adoption into every day usage. Local communities need to develop awareness of the usefulness of Litecoin and share the value of Litecoin among friends and family. 2) Computer Science and Business Management staff should develop skills to expand on the benefits of Litecoin within their departments. 3) Further research should be pursued on how Litecoin Value can improve business and tourism within Thailand. 4) Local communities should focus on developing Litecoin awareness by encouraging street vendors to accept Litecoin as another form of payment for services rendered.

Keywords: Litecoin, Mining, Confirmations.

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Authors: Kongrit Jittangthammagul, Sakesun Yampinij, Thapanee Endoo, Nattapong Kramwong

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The study entitled “The Construction of Interactive Computer Multimedia Instruction on Basic Japanese Vocabulary" was aimed: 1) To construct the interactive computer multimedia instruction on Basic Japanese Vocabulary, 2) To find out multimedia-s quality, 3) To examine the student-s satisfaction and 4) To study the learning achievement in Basic Japanese vocabulary. The sampling group used in this study was composed of 40 1st year student in Educational Communications and Technology Department, Faculty of Industrial Education and Technology, King Mongkut-s University of Technology Thonburi, in the academic year 2553 B.E. (2010). According to research results, we found that 1). The quality assessment by 3 mass media experts was at 4.72 on average or at high level. 2) In terms of contents, the evaluation by 3 experts was at 4.81 on average or at high level. 3) In terms of achievement, there was a statistical significance between before and after the treatment at the .05 level. 4) The satisfaction of students towards the interactive computer multimedia Instruction on “Basic Japanese Vocabulary" was 4.35 on average, or at high level.

Keywords: Interactive Computer Multimedia on Basic Japanese Vocabulary, Learning Achievement, Quality

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Authors: S. Zeynep Siretioglu Girgin, Gizem Turna Cebeci

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Turkey’s immigration policy is a controversial issue considering its legal, economic, social, and political and human rights dimensions. Formulation of an immigration policy goes hand in hand with political processes, where natives’ attitudes play a significant role. On the other hand, as was the case in Turkey, radical changes made in immigration policy or policies lacking transparency may cause severe reactions by the host society. The underlying discussion paper aims to analyze quantitatively the effects of the existing ‘open door’ immigration policy on the economic integration of Syrian refugees in Turkey, and on the perception of the native population of refugees. For the analysis, semi-structured in-depth interviews and focus group interviews have been conducted. After the introduction, a literature review is provided, followed by theoretical background on the explanation of natives’ attitudes towards immigrants. In the next section, a qualitative analysis of natives’ attitudes towards Syrian refugees is presented with the subtopics of (i) awareness, general opinions and expectations, (ii) open-door policy and management of the migration process, (iii) perception of positive and negative impacts of immigration, (iv) economic integration, and (v) cultural similarity. Results indicate that, natives concurrently have social, economic and security concerns regarding refugees, while difficulties regarding security and economic integration of refugees stand out. Socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, such as the educational level and employment status, are not sufficient to explain the overall attitudes towards refugees, while they can be used to explain the awareness of the respondents and the priority of the concerns felt.

Keywords: Economic integration, immigration policy, integration policies, migrants, natives’ attitudes, perception, Syrian refugees, Turkey.

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Authors: Adam Pitluk

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In a time period populated by legacy newspaper readers who throw around the term “fake news” as though it has long been a part of the lexicon, journalism schools must convince would-be students that their degree is still viable and that they are not teaching a curriculum of deception. As such, journalism schools’ academic administrators tasked with creating and maintaining conversant curricula must stay ahead of legacy newspaper industry trends – both in the print and online products – and ensure that what is being taught in the classroom is both fresh and appropriate to the demands of the evolving legacy newspaper industry. This study examines the information obtained from the result of interviews of journalism academic administrators in order to identify institutional pedagogy for recent journalism school graduates interested in pursuing careers at legacy newspapers. This research also explores the existing relationship between journalism school academic administrators and legacy newspaper editors. The results indicate the value administrators put on various academy teachings, and they also highlight a perceived disconnect between journalism academic administrators and legacy newspaper hiring editors.

Keywords: Academic administration, education, journalism, media management, newspapers.

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Authors: Khaled M. Khader, Mamdouh I. Elimy

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Reducing energy consumption became the major concern for all countries of the world during the recent decades. In general, power saving is currently the nominal goal of most industrial countries. It is well known that fossil fuels are the main pillar of development of world countries. Unfortunately, the increased rate of fossil fuel consumption will lead to serious problems caused by an expected depletion of fuels. Moreover, dangerous gases and vapors emission lead to severe environmental problems during fuel burning. Consequently, most engineering sectors especially the mechanical sectors are looking for improving any machine accompanied by reducing its energy consumption. Crank-Rocker planar mechanism is the most applied in mechanical systems. Besides, it is one of the most significant parts of the machines for obtaining the oscillatory motion. The transmission angle of this mechanism can be considered as an optimum value when its extreme values are equally varied around 90°. In addition, the transmission angle plays an important role in decreasing the required driving power and improving the dynamic properties of the mechanism. Hence, appropriate selection of mechanism links lengthens, which assures optimum transmission angle leads to decreasing the driving power. Moreover, mechanism's links manufactured from composite materials afford link's lightweight, which decreases the required driving torque. Furthermore, wear and corrosion problems can be treated through using composite links instead of using metal ones. This paper is dealing with improving the performance of crank-rocker mechanism using composite links due to their flexural elastic modulus values and stiffness in addition to high damping of composite materials.

Keywords: Composite material, crank-rocker mechanism, transmission angle, design techniques, power saving.

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Authors: Joe Walsh, Mike Climstein, Ian Timothy Heazlewood, Stephen Burke, Jyrki Kettunen, Kent Adams, Mark DeBeliso

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Thousands of masters athletes participate quadrennially in the World Masters Games (WMG), yet this cohort of athletes remains proportionately under-investigated. Due to a growing global obesity pandemic in context of benefits of physical activity across the lifespan, the BMI trends for this unique population was of particular interest. The nexus between health, physical activity and aging is complex and has raised much interest in recent times due to the realization that a multifaceted approach is necessary in order to counteract the obesity pandemic. By investigating age based trends within a population adhering to competitive sport at older ages, further insight might be gleaned to assist in understanding one of many factors influencing this relationship.BMI was derived using data gathered on a total of 6,071 masters athletes (51.9% male, 48.1% female) aged 25 to 91 years ( =51.5, s =±9.7), competing at the Sydney World Masters Games (2009). Using linear and loess regression it was demonstrated that the usual tendency for prevalence of higher BMI increasing with age was reversed in the sample. This trend in reversal was repeated for both male and female only sub-sets of the sample participants, indicating the possibility of improved prevalence of BMI with increasing age for both the sample as a whole and these individual sub-groups.This evidence of improved classification in one index of health (reduced BMI) for masters athletes (when compared to the general population) implies there are either improved levels of this index of health with aging due to adherence to sport or possibly the reduced BMI is advantageous and contributes to this cohort adhering (or being attracted) to masters sport at older ages.

Keywords: Aging, masters athlete, Quetelet Index, sport

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Authors: Morteza Alizadeh Foroutan, Hassan Moayeri, Keivan Sabooni, Motahareh Rouhi Ardeshiri

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Breast cancer incidence is annually increasing in various parts of the world, and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has turned into a new standard for care as a staging process in this regard. In the present study, the gamma probe technique was used for SLNB as a safe method with more accuracy and less complications. The study sought to compare the results of two surgical techniques, namely, axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) and SLNB, including epidemiological results and clinicopathological features of BC patients from the western provinces of Iran. In general, 420 BC women were identified who referred to the breast clinic in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province during 2017-2021. Of whom, 318 patients underwent breast surgery, and from these patients, 277 cases participated in the current study. Patients were divided into those undergoing ALND and SLNB. The criteria for complete dissection or axillary biopsy using the gamma probe were based on the results of clinical examinations and the presence of palpable lymph nodes. Overall complications after surgery belonged to 58 (18.9%) cases, including 15 (25.9%) and 43 (74.1%) patients in the SLNB and ALND groups, respectively (P = 0.74). Based on the findings, Seroma (60.3%) was the most reported complication in each group. Most patients had tumors in the upper-outer quadrant of their left breast. The mean of the tumor dimension in the SLNB and ALND groups was 2.1 ± 1.3 cm and 3.2 ± 1.8 cm, respectively, (P = 0.003). The benefits of breast-conserving surgery (BCS) with the SLNB technique are clearly undeniable and can be considered a method with less complications and a better prognosis. Accordingly, SLNB and BCS are favorable methods that can be performed, along with gamma probe technique, which is safe and accurate.

Keywords: Breast cancer, Sentinel lymph node biopsy, Axillary lymph node dissection, Gamma probe.

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Authors: Alexiou Dimitra, Fragkaki Maria

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The objective of the paper is the study of geographic, economic and educational variables and their contribution to determine the position of each member-state among the EU-28 countries based on the values of seven variables as given by Eurostat. The Data Analysis methods of Multiple Factorial Correspondence Analysis (MFCA) Principal Component Analysis and Factor Analysis have been used. The cross tabulation tables of data consist of the values of seven variables for the 28 countries for 2014. The data are manipulated using the CHIC Analysis V 1.1 software package. The results of this program using MFCA and Ascending Hierarchical Classification are given in arithmetic and graphical form. For comparison reasons with the same data the Factor procedure of Statistical package IBM SPSS 20 has been used. The numerical and graphical results presented with tables and graphs, demonstrate the agreement between the two methods. The most important result is the study of the relation between the 28 countries and the position of each country in groups or clouds, which are formed according to the values of the corresponding variables.

Keywords: Multiple factorial correspondence analysis, principal component analysis, factor analysis, E.U.-28 countries, statistical package IBM SPSS 20, CHIC Analysis V 1.1 Software, Eurostat.eu statistics.

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Authors: C. Paramasivam, K. B. Jayanthi

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An innovative approach to develop modified scaling free CORDIC based two parallel pipelined Multipath Delay Commutator (MDC) FFT and IFFT architectures for radix 2² FFT algorithm is presented. Multipliers and adders are the most important data paths in FFT and IFFT architectures. Multipliers occupy high area and consume more power. In order to optimize the area and power overhead, modified scaling-free CORDIC based complex multiplier is utilized in the proposed design. In general twiddle factor values are stored in RAM block. In the proposed work, modified scaling-free CORDIC based twiddle factor generator unit is used to generate the twiddle factor and efficient switching units are used. In addition to this, four point FFT operations are performed without complex multiplication which helps to reduce area and power in the last two stages of the pipelined architectures. The design proposed in this paper is based on multipath delay commutator method. The proposed design can be extended to any radix 2ⁿ based FFT/IFFT algorithm to improve the throughput. The work is synthesized using Synopsys design Compiler using TSMC 90-nm library. The proposed method proves to be better compared to the reference design in terms of area, throughput and power consumption. The comparative analysis of the proposed design with Xilinx FPGA platform is also discussed in the paper.

Keywords: Coordinate Rotational Digital Computer(CORDIC), Complex multiplier, Fast Fourier transform (FFT), Inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT), Multipath delay Commutator (MDC), modified scaling free CORDIC, complex multiplier, pipelining, parallel processing, radix-2^2.

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Authors: Mehran Jamshidi, Naghmeh Yazdanfar, Masoud Nasri

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In general architecture means the art of creating the space. Comprehensive and complete body which is created by a creative and purposeful thought to respond the human needs. Professionally, architecture is the are of designing and comprehensive planning of physical spaces that is created for human-s productivity. The purpose of architectural design is to respond the human needs which is appeared in physical frame. Human in response to his needs is always looking to achieve comfort. Throughout history of human civilization this relative comfort has been inspired by nature and assimilating the facility and natural achievement in the format of artifact patterns base on the nature, so that it is achieved in this comfort level and invention of these factors. All physical factors like regional, social and economical factors are made available to human in order to achieve a specific goal and are made to gain an ideal architecture to respond the functional needs and consider the aesthetics and elemental principles and pay attention to residents- comfort. In this study the Persian architecture with exploiting and transforming the energies into the requisite energies of architecture spaces and importing fuel products, utilities, etc, in order to achieve a relative comfort level will be investigated. In this paper the study of structural and physical specialties of traditional houses in desert regions and Central Plateau of Iran gave us this opportunity to being more familiar with important specialties of energy productivity in architecture body of traditional houses in these regions specially traditional houses of Kashan and in order to use these principles to create modern architectures in these regions.

Keywords: architecture principles, stable architecture, management, energy productivity, body, energy

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Authors: Toby Gibbs, Suwaree Yordchim

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This research analyzes factors affecting the success of Bitcoin Value within Thailand and develops a guideline for self-reliance for effective business implementation. Samples in this study included 121 people through surveys. The results revealed four main factors affecting the success as follows: 1) A great majority didn't know what Bitcoin was. 2) Didn't grasp the concept of a digital currency or see the benefit of a digital currency. 3) There is a great need to educate the next generation of learners on the benefits of Bitcoin within the community. 4) Future Career training should be pursued in applied Bitcoin development.

The guideline for self-reliance planning consisted of 4 aspects: 1) Local communities need to develop awareness of the usefulness of Bitcoin and share the value of Bitcoin among friends and family. 2) Computer Science and Business Management staff should develop skills to expand on the benefits of Bitcoin within their departments. 3) Further research should be pursued on how Bitcoin Value can improve business and tourism within Thailand. Local communities should focus on developing Bitcoin awareness by encouraging street vendors to accept Bitcoin as another form of payment for services rendered. 4) Development planning: by arranging meet up groups to conduct further education on Bitcoin and share solutions on adoption into every day usage.

Keywords: Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Decentralized.

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Authors: Philomena Ibuh Adzongo, Margaret U. Oluwole, Justina Nguveren Jor.

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This paper investigated the need for the development of entrepreneurial skills for Benue State University students. The population consisted of all 1,500 final year students in Benue State University. A sample of 100 students was selected using simple random sampling. A 12-item self-constructed and content validated questionnaire by research experts titled, the Need for the Development of Entrepreneurial Skills in Benue State University Students (NDECBSUS) was used to collect the data. The questionnaire items were rated using a 4-point modified rating scale of Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree and Strongly Disagree, assigned the following scores of 4,3,2 and 1, respectively. The questionnaire was administered by the researcher with the help of two research assistants through the primary source. Simple percentages and chi-square were used to answer the research questions and test the hypotheses, respectively. The findings revealed that in business management, business management skills, personal skills, and technical skills need to be developed in students for them to become effective and efficient entrepreneurs and concluded that the acquisition of these skills will reduce the challenge of unemployment. The study recommended that funds should be made available by all education stakeholders for such programmes to remain functional.

Keywords: Entrepreneurial skill, entrepreneurship, need for development, university students.

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Authors: Seyed Ziya Tabatabaei, Azimi Bin Hj Hamzah, Fatemeh Ebrahimi

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The increase in proportion of older people in Malaysia has led to a significant growth of health care demands. The aim of this study is to explore how perceived health care needs influence on quality of life among elderly Malay residents who reside in a Malaysian residential home. This study employed a method known as ethnographic research from May 2011 to January 2012. Four data collection strategies were selected as the main data-collecting tools including participant observation, field notes, in-depth interviews, and review of related documents. The nine knowledgeable participants for the present study were selected using the purposive sampling method. Two themes were identified: (1) Medical concerns: Feeling secure, lack of information, inadequate medical staff; and (2) Health promotion: Body condition, health education, physiotherapy and rehabilitation. These results could evoke the attention of policy-makers and care providers to better meet elderly residents’ health care needs.

Keywords: Ethnographic study, health care needs, elderly Malay people, Malaysia, quality of life, residential home.

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