bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Very Long Engagements: The Persistent Authority of Bridewealth in a Post-Apartheid South African Community
Authors: Yarbrough Michael W.
Published: May 2019

This article examines the persistent authority of lobola, the customary practice for forming marriages in many South African communities. South African marriage rates have sharply fallen, and many blame this on economic challenges completing lobola. Using in‐depth, qualitative research from a village in KwaZulu‐Natal, where lobola demands are the country's highest and marriage rates its lowest, I argue that lobola's authority survives because lay actors have innovated new approaches for pursuing emerging desires for marriage via lobola. I argue that dyadic narratives of marriage increasingly circulate alongside “traditional” extended‐family narratives, especially among the young women who strongly support lobola while yearning for gender‐egalitarian marriages. My argument synthesizes actor‐oriented analyses of legal pluralism with Ewick and Silbey's theorization of lay actors’ role in producing legality to illuminate how lay actors contribute not only to the form and content of different legal systems, but also to the reach of their authority.
Internet, Social Media and Conflict Studies: Can Greater Interdisciplinarity Solve the Analytical Deadlocks in Cybersecurity Research?
Authors: Unver Hamid Akin
Published: May 2019

In recent years, computational research methods, digital trace data and online human interactions have contributed to the emergence of new technology-oriented sub-fields within International Relations (IR). Although the cybersecurity scholarship had an initial promise to be the primus inter pares among these emerging fields, the main thrust of this new methodological innovation came through the ‘digital conflict studies’ sub-field. By integrating Internet and social media research tools and questions into its core topics of sub-national violence, terrorism and radical mobilization, digital conflict studies has recently succeeded in addressing some of the data validity and methodology problems faced by the cybersecurity scholarship. This article begins by briefly reviewing some of the persistent data and method-oriented hurdles faced by the cybersecurity scholarship. Then, it moves onto a more detailed account of how digital conflict studies have been addressing some of these deadlocks by focusing individually on the literature on onset, mobilization, targeting, intensity/duration and termination phases of conflicts. Ultimately, the article concludes with the suggestion that the cybersecurity scholarship could move past its own deadlocks by building more granular and dedicated research datasets and establishing mechanisms to share event data with the scientific community.
Vasijas que cuentan historias. La cerámica de El Sunchal, Anfama
Authors: Franco Francisco
Published: May 2019

Esta pequeña obra forma parte de una serie de libros de divulgación científica que pretenden acercar el conocimiento que se genera desde la Arqueología a un público más amplio, tratando de expresar de forma sencilla los resultados de las distintas investigaciones que hemos realizado con el Equipo de Arqueología del Sur de las Cumbres Calchaquíes (EASCC) en conjunto con las Comunidades Indígenas Diaguitas.Este volumen es una adaptación de divulgación de la Tesis de Licenciatura en Historia del autor, dirigida por el Dr. Julián Salazar, titulada La práctica alfarera durante el Primer milenio de la era en El Sunchal, Anfama (Dto. Tafí Viejo, Tucumán, Rep. Argentina). Trayectorias de vida, cadenas operativas y ¿tradición? y defendida en marzo de 2019. El texto y las imágenes seleccionadas tienen por objetivo presentar a un público ampliado los resultados de una investigación científica cuyos formatos y contenidos no son demasiado amigables. Sin embargo, esta operación implica simplificar argumentos, esquematizar interpretaciones y tomar atajos metodológicos, operaciones que no son bienvenidas en los entornos académicos. Para una lectura de pares o la consideración de la construcción de los datos aquí vertidos se sugiere recurrir al trabajo original y/o a las publicaciones en revistas científicas que de él se produjeron.
Identificación de razas de roya de la hoja del trigo presentes en Uruguay durante 2011-2012
Authors: Scholz Ruth , Pereyra Silvia , García Richard , Germán Silvia
Published: May 2019

La roya de la hoja de trigo (RH), causada por Puccinia triticina Ericks, es una de las enfermedades del cultivo más prevalentes en Uruguay y otros países del Cono Sur. En epidemias severas se han estimado pérdidas de rendimiento de más de 50 % y pueden ser necesarias dos o más aplicaciones de fungicidas para controlar la enfermedad en cultivares susceptibles. Los estudios de la variabilidad del patógeno son importantes para determinar su rango de virulencia, para inferir el mecanismo de su variación, determinar el origen y dispersión de los patotipos y confirmar la presencia de nuevas razas inferidas por el cambio de comportamiento del hospedero. El objetivo de esta investigación fue estudiar la diversidad en la población de P. triticina en Uruguay durante 2011 y 2012. Se estudiaron un total de 363 muestras de RH recolectadas en diferentes momentos de distintos cultivares y localidades de la región del cultivo. La prevalencia de las 22 razas identificadas (de mayor a menor frecuencia MFP; TDT-10,20; MDP; MDT-10,20; TFT-10,20; MFP-20; MFP-10,20; MDP-20; DBB-10,20; MKD-10; TPR-20,39; MFT-10,20; MDP-10,20; MDR-10,20; MFT; MDT; MFP-10; MHJ-10; MJD-10; TMD-10,20; MCP; MFR-10,20), se relacionó a su virulencia sobre los cultivares utilizados por los agricultores. La presencia o frecuencia de las razas varió entre años, zonas y momento de recolección. Se reportan por primera vez las razas DBB-10,20, MHJ-10, MJD-10, MKD-10, TMD-10,20 y TPR-20,30, no previamente detectadas en Uruguay. Este estudio permitió confirmar que la población del patógeno presente en Uruguay es diversa y continúa evolucionando.
Inclusion of Rice Bran in Diets for Post-weaning Piglets: Effect on the Productive Behavior and Carcass Traits
Authors: Montenegro María del Carmen , Carballo Cecilia , Gonzalez Barrios Pablo Martin , Castro Gustavo , Barlocco Nelson , Llambi Silvia
Published: May 2019

This study assessed the effect of bran rice inclusion in the diet on the productive behavior and carcass characteristics of Pampa Rocha piglets. Sixteen animals were used from weaning up to 42 days and 77 days of age, which were housed in boxes in a deep bed system of wheat straw. A randomized complete block design with two treatments and four replications was used. Treatments consisted of diets with different lipid content (T0 = 0 % rice bran; T15 = 15 % rice bran). Productive behavior was evaluated through analysis of variance and comparison of means for daily food consumption (DC), daily weight gain (DG) and conversion efficiency (CE). Weight and backfat thickness were the evaluated carcass traits, and they were analyzed through a comparison of means per treatment. The DG and CE showed differences during week 5, although they showed no differences in the experimental period average. For DC, no differences were recorded during the weeks or the average of the experimental period. Carcass traits did not differ statistically between treatments. Based on the results, rice bran could be considered as an alternative in the preparation of ration for piglets.
The vermicompost anticipates flowering and increases tomato productivity
Authors: Steffen Gerusa Pauli Kist , Maldaner Joseila , de Morais Rosana Matos , Saldanha Cleber Witt , Missio Evandro Luiz , Steffen Ricardo Bemfica , Osorio Filho Benjamin Dias
Published: May 2019

Apart from supplying nutrients, a substrate for plant production should provide adequate conditions for root growth and development. To this effect, the use of vermicompost in the composition of substrates presents itself as an alternative to promote increments in plant production. This study aimed to determine the effective ness of vermicompost in productivity and flowering in tomato crops when partially replacing mineral fertilizers with vermicompost. Five treatments corresponding to different proportions of vermicompost and mineral fertilization were evaluated in the cultivation of two hybrid varieties of tomato (Tinto and Absoluto) in a protected environment. The percentages of vermicompost evaluated were: 0; 10; 20; 40 and 50 % in relation to mineral supplementation. The use of vermicompost to replace the mineral fertilization in 40 and 50 %provided early flowering and fruiting of tomato. For both evaluated tomato hybrids, the substitution of 40 and 50 % of mineral fertilizers for vermicompost provided mature fruits with higher mean values of fresh mass and total productivity per plant. The incorporation of vermicomposts in substrates for commercial production of tomato promotes significant benefits, such as early flowering and fruiting and productivity increase.
Investigation of fused deposition modeling processing parameters of 3D PLA specimens by an experimental design methodology
Authors: Çelebi Ahu
Published: May 2019

The main objective of this study is to analyze the tensile strength of PLA parts manufactured through fused filament fabrication (FFF) using a commercially available 3D printer. This study is primarily focused on the effects of the tensile strength of specimens subjected to the influence of four factors; layer thickness, fill density, raster orientation and sample structure type. A 2331 mixed-level factorial design approach was used, and the individual effects of the four main factors and their interactions determined. This experimental design had been implemented for two different infills: rectilinear and honeycomb. Specimens were printed at raster orientation angles of 30 °, 60 ° and 90 ° at a fill density of 50 % and 100 %. A layer thickness of 0.15 mm and 0.05 mm was chosen for printing the specimens. The samples were tested using a standard tensile testing machine with an extensometer to determine mechanical strength characteristics such as ultimate tensile strength, maximum force and maximum elongation. The data obtained was then analyzed using Minitab 13.20 software. The results showed that 30 ° raster orientation yields the highest mechanical properties at each individual layer when compared to 60 ° and 90 °. The fill density proves to be the most influential parameter on tensile strength, followed by the sample structure type. The results also found tensile strength to directly proporionate to layer thickness. By improving the material properties through the addition of layers as observed in the results, it will be possible to provide support for software developers, mechanical designers and engineers to reduce manufacturing time, material use and costs.
Uncertainty analysis of milling parameters using Monte Carlo simulation, the Taguchi optimization method and data-driven modeling
Authors: Kahraman Mehmet Fatih , Bilge Habibullah , Öztürk Sabri
Published: May 2019

Surface roughness plays an important role in the performance of finished structures. The surface quality obtained is enormously affected by cutting parameters. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to examine the surface roughness value of aluminum 7075 workpiece material during milling operation by considering three steps: (1) the multi-nonlinear regression (MNLR) modeling basis of Taguchi design, (2) optimization based on signal to noise ratio (S/N), and (3) probabilistic uncertainty analysis depending on Monte Carlo technique as a result of depth of cut, cutting speed and feed rate. The depth of cut of 0.2 mm, cutting speed of 900 m × min−1, and feed rate of 0.1 mm × tooth−1 were determined as Taguchi-optimized conditions with a surface roughness of 0.964 μm. In order to justify the surface roughness predicted under optimized conditions in relation to the predicted Taguchi method, three repetitive verification experiments were performed and surface roughness of 0.964 μm ± 0.3 % was achieved. The best-fit MNLR method with an R2
pred (predicted regression coefficient) of 98.02 % is useful for calculating the success of estimating the outcome variable. Monte Carlo simulations were found to be quite effective for identifying the uncertainties in surface roughness that could not be captured by means of deterministic methods.
Strengthening of reinforced concrete buildings with soft story irregularity
Authors: Döndüren Mahmud Sami , Nakipoğlu Abdulhamit
Published: May 2019

Turkey is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. The studies on the damaged buildings with reinforced concrete structural systems, especially done after the 1999 Gölcük earthquake and other earthquakes in the past, showed that the negative effects of the structural irregularities in the buildings come to light through the impact of earthquake load. They also revealed that the regularity of structural systems is one of the main principles in the design of earthquake resistant reinforced concrete structural systems. In this study, two-story single-span 1/3 scaled reinforced concrete test specimens having soft story irregularity (interstory stiffness irregularity) and insufficient earthquake resistance were tested by applying different strengthening methods. The purpose of strengthening applications is to eliminate the adverse effects of the soft story irregularity. Reversed-cyclic lateral load was applied on the test specimens to simulate the earthquake effect. While the upper stories in all the test specimens had infill walls, the lower stories had been strengthened using different types of steel bracings. The first frame was strengthened with K-type shaped (<>), the second one with straight V-type (V) and the third with turned sideways V-type (>) steel diagonal elements. As a reference to these three strengthened frames, the following two frames, which were taken from another study, were used; a frame with both stories having infill walls and a frame with infill walls on the upper story, which is empty on the lower story. As a result of the study, load and displacement histories, hysteresis and envelope curves and energy dissipation graphs of these three strengthened reinforced concrete frames were obtained. Furthermore, all the experimental results, obtained graphs and the data from the reference frames were compared and interpreted. The results show that the frame strengthened with K-type steel bracings is the best solution to reduce the effect of soft story irregularity.
In-Service Microstructural Modifications caused by Fatigue Phenomena leading to the Failure of a High-Voltage Cable
Authors: Gonzalez-Pociño A. , Alvarez-Antolin J. F. , Asensio-Lozano J.
Published: May 2019

This study analyses the causes leading to the failure of a high-voltage cable in regions close to it “mooring” at the end near to one of the high-voltage towers. The horizontal span of the cable between moorings was over 1040 m, with a difference in elevation between high-voltage towers of approximately 300 m. The conductor was made up of 30 aluminium strands with a 7 strands eutectoid steel core. The aluminium filaments were distributed in 2 layers, an outer layer with 18 filaments and an inner layer with 12. The steel filaments were distributed in a layer composed of 6 filaments surrounding a single central filament. All the filaments had a diameter of 2.6 mm. Cold drawn and twisted aluminium and the possible presence of recovery substructures in regions close to the fracture were analysed by means of optical microscopy. The steel was similarly studied, verifying its pearlitic nature and assessing the existence of softening phenomena due to recovery or recrystallization. The thicknesses of the zinc coating on the steel filaments were determined. The fracture faces of the aluminium and steel filaments were analysed by scanning electron microscopy and the fused remains resulting from possible arcs between the aluminium filaments were examined. In order to assess the deterioration of the filaments, tensile tests were performed on all the individual filament in regions adjacent to and at a certain distance from the fracture. The failure of the conductor had its origin in the outer aluminium filaments due to causes imputable to fatigue phenomena. The reduction in the cross-section of the conductor led to an increase in temperature, leading to the weakening of the remaining aluminium filaments and their subsequent failure, the electrical current being subsequently transferred to the steel core. The increase in electrical resistivity characteristic of steel led to a significant increase in temperature that drastically decreased the mechanical strength of the steel cables.
Radiation Induced Demyelination in Cervical Spinal Cord of the Head and Neck Cancer Patients after Receiving Radiotherapy
Authors: Goyal H , Singh N , Gurjar O P , Tanwar R K
Published: May 2019

Introduction: Cervical spinal cord is important and radiosensitive. It is the most critical organ for the head and neck (H&N) cancer patients during radiotherapy. If dos delivered to the cord is more than tolerance dose, demyelination may occur. Current study aims to analyze the post radiotherapy status of cord in the H&N cancer patients.Materials and Methods: Sixty patients who received more than 50 Gray (Gy) dose for more than 10 cm length of spinal cord participated in the study. All the patients were clinically examined and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed for patients who had demyelination symptoms. Adequate medical management was provided for all the patients having demyelination.Results: Out of sixty patients, ten cases were reported with demyelination symptoms, and only six cases gave consent for this study. One patient was found to have irreversible demyelination while five patients have reversible demyelination.Conclusions: Demyelination may occur if long segment spinal cord receives dose more than tolerance limit. However target dose should not be compromised up to 54 Gy to spinal cord.
The history of the early attempts to apply the algebra of logic to engineering problems
Authors: Druzhinin Yury
Published: May 2019

The development of electric engineering led to the emergence of relay-contact systems that included dozens of relays and contacts in some areas of technology (interlocking in naval turret artillery, automated statistical calculations, etc.) back in the 1880s and 1890s. Due to their relative simplicity, notwithstanding certain expenses, such systems were designed without using the apparatus of the algebra of logic. At the same time, the need in logical description of the functioning of complicated technological systems had arisen in the railroad sector (central mechanical signal and switch control). Such descriptions that actually used binary variables had been created by the French and Belgian engineering practitioners. The operators of one of such systems, i.e. Armand Flamache’s system, were functionally the same as logical operators of the algebra of logic, while lacking a wide set of properties inherent in the latters. Flamache’s system did not go any further and was forgotten although, despite its being narrowly specialized, was the first portent of using the algebra of logic in technology.
Acceleration of cocoa fermentation through the action of bacteria (Acetobacter aceti) and yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae)
Authors: El Salous Ahmed , Angulo-González Alex , Solís Flores Luis
Published: May 2019

Introductionthe management of the curriculum in teacher training within the Catholic University of Salta in the School of Education and Teacher Improvement, this thought from a deductive perspective in which theoretical processes are established that allow the explanation of the curriculum in terms of teacher training and its impact on the organizational articulation. Objectiveto specify a strategic articulated intervention device that requires the constitution of a new emancipatory discourse. Materials and methodsWe present a qualitative research that analyzes the problems and variables established in the study. ResultsThe process of rupture leads us to reflect on the teaching position in the face of praxis, on the processes of "learning to teach" which involves continuous training. DiscussionThis perspective points to the development of certain skills that are developed over time of the formation through diverse strategies Conclusionsthe development of the professional competences of the teacher that confront with the disciplinary approach from an innovative glance
The anxiety and the relation in the academic performance of the students of the career of Psychology of the Technical University of Manabí
Authors: Pinargote Macías Eleticia Isabel , Caicedo Guale Liliana Carolina , Vélez Arévalo Luis Guillermo
Published: May 2019

Introduction The research was based on the study of anxiety and its relationship with academic performance in 163 Psychology students through the revision of the grades registered in the Academic Management System. Objectiveto assess the effect of anxiety and stress on academic performance. Materials and methodsthe application of the Hamilton anxiety scale and a survey that allowed to identify factors of the classroom climate, is of descriptive type, of qualitative-quantitative, correlational and statistical approach. Resultsdenote a significant relationship between the variables, according to the Pearson coefficient p = 0.777 with a level of bilateral significance less than 0.05. DiscussionAnxiety is perceived in all students with good academic performance, but no clear evidence is established that demonstrates that anxiety affects academic success or failure. ConclusionsThe classroom climate was rated as very good and does not interfere with student performance. These data allow the emergence of new research that clarifies what other factors interfere with academic performance.
Martina Ponížilová: Regionální řád a mocnosti Blízkého východu. Formování blízkovýchodního řádu na pozadí soupeření regionálních mocností v letech 1945-2015.
Authors: Havlová Radka
Published: May 2019

Blízký východ je vysoce nestabilním a konfliktním regionem, tedy oblastíčastého výskytu mezistátních i vnitrostátních konfliktů a s tím spojenéspirály zbrojení a napjatých vztahů mezi státy. Autorka ve své knizepředkládá systémové vysvětlení tohoto fenoménu, když hledá příčinunestability a geopolitické nevyzrálosti Blízkého východu v absencijednotícího politického centra, které by mělo potenciál region sjednotit,stabilizovat a zároveň jej i bránit před pronikáním vnějších mocností.Ukazuje, jak od první poloviny 20. století dochází k trvalému soupeřeníněkolika adeptů na pozici vůdčí mocnosti regionu, a to Egypta, Íránu,Saúdské Arábie a Turecka. Snahy jednotlivých regionálních mocnostíprosadit navzájem si konkurující vize však umocňují jeho nejednotu aznesnadňují vznik a fungování celoregionálních kooperativních institucí.
Threat and Security Production at Václav Havel Airport Prague
Authors: Komasová Sarah
Published: May 2019

Building on empirical qualitative research, this article explores the nature ofsecurity and threat resulting from the contemporary security practice atVáclav Havel Airport Prague. The article, building on Actor-Network Theory,interprets a security check as a chain of translation, the possibility of threatdeployment as a program of action, and activities aiming to disable threatsas a security antiprogram. Deployment of threats is further conceptualisedas a failure of a security chain implementation, its design, threat programexpectation, and the sole existence of a particular program. Consideringinflight explosions as the main threat to be identified, the article proceedsby finding divergences between travellers and employees regarding thesubject of protection, and analyses the notion of terrorism present inpractice as well as its consequences. Security is then identified as a serviceof agency take-over. The article indicates the importance of security agencyand the ANT-based inquiry enabling its exploration.
Changing the Story: Implications of Narrative on Teacher Identity
Authors: Pressgrove Geah , Janoske Melissa , Madden Stephanie
Published: May 2019

This study takes a qualitative approach to understanding the connections among narrative, professional identity, and reputation management in public education. Through 15 interviews and five focus groups with high-achieving teachers and administrators, researchers explored the narratives these educators share to understand and improve the story of the teaching profession. Central to the findings are societal, organizational, and community-level factors that have led to a reputation crisis for the profession of teaching and thus contribute to the national teacher shortage. Ultimately, this study points to the notion that a shift in the perception of the value of teaching and teachers can be affected when narratives are understood and the principles of reputation management are applied. Communication interventions that provide a path forward are discussed.
Raining on SeaWorld’s Parade: PETA’s Direct Action and Public Interest Communication
Authors: Stokes Ashli
Published: May 2019

PETA is well known for creative animal rights activism, with studies exploring how its text-based advocacy creates change regarding societal treatment of animals. What is less explored is how PETA uses on the ground direct action strategies as public interest communications (PIC). For PIC scholars, these strategies are relevant, as direct action provides communicators with experiential ways to persuade stakeholders of new perspectives to push for social change. Building on previous studies in public relations activism and PIC, this essay argues that PETA’s direct-action strategies complement its text-based advocacy by shaping stakeholder perception through encounters with material realities, specifically by using embodied forms of persuasion. Answering how public interest communicators create effective persuasive messages on the ground is crucial in understanding contemporary social change.
Impact of weather factors on the speed of the reaction of formaldehyde formation above motorway overpasses.
Authors: Sipakov Rostyslav , Voloshkina Olena , Trofimovich Volodimir , Bereznitska Julia
Published: May 2019

The analysis of the actual air condition in the city of Kyiv in the areas of big overpasses and crossroads shows that the average annual concentration of formaldehyde more than 3 times exceeds the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) of this toxic substance. One of the most powerful sources of formaldehyde formation in the air of the city is motor vehicles. The role of weather factors in formaldehyde formation rate (K) depending on capacity of emissions of internal combustion engines has been analyzed in this article. The equation for determining rate constant has been obtained, which depends on the temperature in the city of Kyiv and on the value of effective energy activation of the mentioned process. The comparison of the calculated and measured values of the rate reaction constant in Observation Point (OP) No. 9 in the area of Leningradska square has been given. The conducted research gives the opportunity to assess and obtain forecasting data on atmospheric pollution and probability of smog situations emergence in Kyiv. The suggested methodology can be used for other cities in Ukraine where motor vehicles are the main indicator of photochemical smog emergence.
Learning hand latent features for unsupervised 3D hand pose estimation
Authors: Banzi Jamal Firmat , Bulugu Isack , Ye Zhongfu
Published: May 2019

Recent hand pose estimation methods require large numbers of annotated training data to extract the dynamic information from a hand representation. Nevertheless, precise and dense annotation on the real data is difficult to come by and the amount of information passed to the training algorithm is significantly higher. This paper presents an approach to developing a hand pose estimation system which can accurately regress a 3D pose in an unsupervised manner. The whole process is performed in three stages. Firstly, the hand is modelled by a novel latent tree dependency model (LTDM) which transforms internal joints location to an explicit representation. Secondly, we perform predictive coding of image sequences of hand poses in order to capture latent features underlying a given image without supervision. A mapping is then performed between an image depth and a generated representation. Thirdly, the hand joints are regressed using convolutional neural networks to finally estimate the latent pose given some depth map. Finally, an unsupervised error term which is a part of the recurrent architecture ensures smooth estimations of the final pose. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed system, a complete experiment is conducted on three challenging public datasets, ICVL, MSRA, and NYU. The empirical results show the significant performance of our method which is comparable or better than state-of-the-art approaches.
Dilatometria da Zircônia pelo Processo de Colagem de Barbotina em Moldes de Gesso para Eixos no DAV
Authors: Florentino da Silva Pamela C , Campos Filho W , Ortega Fernando , Araki Sergio Y , Bock Eduardo GP
Published: May 2019

Em continuidade ao estudo tribológico dos eixos de material cerâmico, desenvolvidos para um dispositivo de assistência ventricular (DAV); este artigo tem como objetivo estudar do comportamento de retração do material cerâmico Zircônia (ZrO2) pelo processamento de colagem de barbotina e sinterização para otimizar os parâmetros do processo de fabricação, que é determinante na obtenção das propriedades finais do material cerâmico. Analisou-se o processo, que consiste em depositar a suspensão da cerâmica em moldes de gesso, na qual ocorre a absorção da água pelo gesso, e após cura retira-se o material cerâmico à verde do molde, para então ser sinterizadas em forno. Realizou-se a dilatometria em um dos corpos de prova para analisar o comportamento de retração da cerâmica durante a sinterização, em ambiente controlado, na qual o dilatômetro realiza a análise até atingir a temperatura de 1600°C, este ciclo corresponde a 3 horas. E em paralelo foi sinterizado o corpo de prova no forno, à temperatura de 1550ºC/2h conforme parâmetros estabelecidos pela literatura. Desta maneira, buscou-se obter uma análise comparativa com a finalidade de avaliar a faixa de temperatura em que o material tem maior taxa de densidade com menor perda de massa; os valores da retração da zircônia foram divergentes entre a dilatometria e a queima em forno, em um percentual de 2,05%; os ensaios contribuíram para determinação dos moldes e cálculo do coeficiente de expansão térmica. Os resultados obtidos comprovam a viabilidade do processo de colagem de barbotina na confecção dos eixos cerâmicos, e com esses resultados espera-se em trabalhos futuros realizar um comparativo das propriedades mecânicas dos eixos obtidos por usinagem de blocos pré-sinterizado e colagem de barbotina.
Estudo da Convergência de Malha Hexaédrica. Estudo de Caso: Estrutura de contraforte D38 – Usina hidrelétrica de Itaipu (UHI)
Authors: Neto W , Aracayo LAS
Published: May 2019

O presente trabalho aborda uma atualização da análise de convergência de malha utilizando o programa programa Ansys®, com o enfoque nas tensões geradas no Bloco de Contraforte D-38, através do final de enchimento do reservatório em 1982. A convergência se dará por meio do refinamento dos elementos da malha, em busca da diminuição do erro numérico, procurando uma malha com qualidade que não influencie no modelo numérico que representará o comportamento da estrutura no instante da aplicação da carga. Os dados de simulação convergem quando o tamanho dos elementos estão em um intervalo de 1 a 2 metros.
Machine-learning classification of pronunciation difficulty for learners of English as a Foreign Language
Authors: Kotani Katsunori , Yoshimi Takehiko
Published: May 2019

This study compiled and assessed a learner corpus to measure the difficulty of pronouncing a sentence (henceforth, pronounceability). The method of measuring pronounceability is useful for computer-assisted language learning of English as a Foreign Language that employs online materials as a resource for pronunciation training. An advantage of this resource is that learners can select materials depending on their interest, a disadvantage being that pronounceability is unknown to learners. If pronounceability is automatically measured, learners can independently access materials appropriate for their proficiency levels without teachers’ assistance. The pronounceability assessment demonstrated moderate reliability and partial validity when it was measured by learners’ subjective judgment on a five-point Likert scale. Given the reliability and validity, this study developed a pronounceability measuring method utilizing a machine learning algorithm that automatically predicts the pronounceability of a sentence based on the linguistic features of the sentences and learners’ features (i.e. learners’ scores for an English proficiency test). The proposed measuring method demonstrated a higher classification accuracy (53.7 percent) than the majority class baseline (46.0 percent).
Uptake of corpus tools in the Spanish Higher Education context: a mixed-methods study
Authors: Pérez-Paredes Pascual , Sánchez-Hernández Purificación
Published: May 2019

This paper examines the introduction and use of corpus consultation in the course of a training initiative sponsored by the Professional Training Unit of a medium-sized University in Spain. ‘Introducing Research Articles (RA) Writing’ was a 12-hour module that offered researchers the opportunity to gain insight into the nature of the research articles (RA) across different disciplines. The researchers (n=25) and the instructors met three times in two-hour sessions during a two-month period. All participants completed two post-task questionnaires and a delayed questionnaire. An interview was completed two years after the end of the course. After task 2, 64 percent of the participants found corpus tools to be of great help when writing their research articles. No significant differences between B1 and B2–C1 groups were found in their assessment of the writing tools provided. Increased familiarity with the corpus tools did not result in a better appraisal of these resources and all participants seemed to favour the use of the curated list of vocabulary provided. The delayed questionnaire and subsequent delayed interviews (n=5) revelaled that the use of corpora had had limited or no impact on the writing practices of these researchers. We argue that the use of corpora in professional writing contexts requires careful planning as well as continued institutional support.
Revisiting you know and I mean: some notes on the functions of the two pragmatic markers in contemporary spoken American English
Authors: Pettersson-Traba Daniela
Published: May 2019

This article presents a corpus-based study of the pragmatic markers you know and I mean in contemporary spoken American English. Previous research indicates that you know and I mean are polysemous in their discourse roles, serving various functions in speech. By drawing on tokens extracted from the Corpus of Contemporary American English, the Corpus of American Soap Operas and the Corpus of Spoken, Professional American English, which include data from text types differing on the scales of formality and spontaneity, the main aims are 1) to compare the use of these two pragmatic markers and 2) to explore whether and how their behavior differs in three text types: TV and radio programs, soap operas, and White House press conferences and faculty/committee meetings. The results demonstrate that, despite overlapping in some of their functions, you know and I mean cannot be used interchangeably in discourse. Additionally, the functions of the two pragmatic markers vary significantly depending on the corpora, which is due to the particular characteristics of the speech situations in which they are used.
Agro-Related Policy Awareness and Their Influence in Adoption of New Agricultural Technologies; A Case of Tissue Culture Banana in Uganda
Authors: Barbra Wanyana , Marius Flarian Murongo , Julius Mwine , Sam Wamani
Published: May 2019

Adoption of banana tissue culture in Uganda still remains low despite the availability of policies geared to enhancing agriculture. A survey was carried out on 115 smallholder farmers in Central Uganda to establish the influence of agro-related policies in tissue culture banana adoption between January and July 2018. Results from the study indicated that 83.8% of the respondents were aware about the Plan for Modernization of Agriculture policy as compared to National Agricultural Policy (5.5%), National Development Plan (13.12%) and Agricultural Sector Development Strategy and Investment Plan (3.3%). Age, gender and education level all exhibited weak correlations in relation to policy awareness while generally, the study found out that awareness of the of the policies did not significantly influence farmer’s adoption of tissue culture banana in central Uganda (P>0.05). We conclude that most of the agro-related polices were on paper and minimal efforts were in place to enhance their awareness amongst small holder farmers. We therefore recommend that increased awareness of agro-related policies to the farmers as well as integration of farmer interests in policy formulation are paramount in order to achieve wide uptake of agro-technologies like banana tissue culture.
Response of Potato (Solanum Tuberosum L.), To Nps Fertilizer Application on Growth Parameters at Mizan -Aman, South West Ethiopia
Authors: Koroto Simon , Dula Selemawit
Published: May 2019

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the most important crops globally. There is little information on balanced use of chemical fertilizer on potato production in Benchi-Maji Zone. Thus, a field experiment was conducted with the objective to investigate the effect of NPS fertilizer rate on the growth parameters of potato. The treatment consisted of four levels of NPS fertilizer (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg ha-1) which were laid out in RCBD with three replications. Improved potato variety "Gudene" was used as a test crop. NPS fertilizer rate had significantly influenced almost all the tested parameters of potato. Day’s to 50% flowering was highly significantly affected by NPS rate. Early day to flower were obtained with the application of 100 kg ha-1 of NPS fertilizer and late flowering recorded at 150 kg ha-1 NPS fertilizer application rate. Significantly highest plant height of potato was obtained from application of 150 kg ha-1 NPS fertilizer and the smallest height is obtained from application of 50 kg ha-1 NPS fertilizer.
An Exploration of EFL Students' Use of Online English Reading Strategies at University Level
Authors: Chen Kate Tzu-Ching
Published: May 2019

The purpose of this survey method study was to explore English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ online English reading strategies using Taiwanese university students as examples. The relationships between online English reading strategy and individual students’ characteristics were also examined. Data was obtained through a self-developed questionnaire with a cluster sample of 537 students from 11 universities. The collected data was then analyzed using descriptive analysis, t-test, and one way ANOVA in SPSS v.23, with the significance level set at .05. The results indicated that the participated students used online English reading strategies in a medium level. No significant difference was found in students’ uses of these strategies in genders and years of English learning experience, but in grade level and perceived reading ability. This study results provided information that completes the literature and implications for practice and directions for further research.
Nigeria–China Relations: The Contemporary Challenges
Authors: Ebere Richard Dr. Adigbuo
Published: May 2019

2018 marks the 47th anniversary of Nigeria-China diplomatic relations. Nigeria’s relation with china is decisively important for the future of both countries and to an ever evolving international system. It is appropriate to understand the contemporary challenges facing this relationship. Thus, this article examines Sino-Nigeria relation with a view to providing a balance sheet of cost and benefits. To do this, the study rests on qualitative research method that examines and synthesizes extant literature on international relations and in particular relevant literature on Sino-Nigeria relations. It is thus discovered that in the bilateral relations between the two countries, China has gained more than Nigeria in terms of balance of trade and the unwillingness of China to transfer technology to Nigeria. Since the relationship is asymmetrical, the article concludes that China cannot solve Nigeria’s problem and that the latter must learn from China bitter and hard way to greatness.
Kepemilikan Institusional, Kinerja Perusahaan, dan Efek Moderasi dari Kepemilikan Institusional Aktif
Authors: Setiawan Rahmat , Syarif Moh Maulidi
Published: May 2019

This research investigate impact of institutional ownership on firm performance, and moderating effect of active institutional ownership. Using purposive sampling and the period of 2012-2016, we obtained 436 observations of 99 manufacturing firms for dependent variable mea- sured by ROA, and 415 observations of 95 manufacturing firms for dependent variable measured by Tobin’s Q. We found that institutional ownership had significant positive effect on firm perfor- mance. Active institutional ownership as a moderating variable, strengthens the positive effect of institutional ownership on firm performance.
Prediction of Iron Deficiency by Red Cell Distribution Width, Mean Corpuscular Volume and Haemoglobin Concentration in Pregnant Women
Authors: Sultana Gazi Sharmin , Haque Syed Aminul , Mishu Farzana Akonjee , Muttalib Md MA , Rahman Md Quddusur
Published: May 2019

Background: Red cell distribution width (RDW) is a routine parameter in fully automated hematology auto analyzer, can give the idea of iron deficiency before haemoglobin and mean corpuscular volume in early iron deficiency or latent stage. Patient can be benefited by doing complete blood count including RDW for the diagnosis of early iron deficiency as a cheaper test than iron profile. This study was aimed to predict early iron deficiency by RDW, mean corpuscular volume and haemoglobin concentration in pregnant women.

Methods: In this study, 190 pregnant women were included from Gynae and Obstetric outdoor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University from august 2008-2009. Complete blood count including haemoglobin percentage, mean corpuscular volume and RDW and iron profile were done. RDW was compared with haemoglobin concentration and mean corpuscular volume in various stages of iron deficiency.

Results: RDW was more significant than haemoglobin concentration in latent iron deficiency when haemoglobin level was normal (p<0.05). In mild and moderate iron deficiency anemia, RDW was increased progressively though haemoglobin level was reduced. RDW was more significant than mean corpuscular volume level in latent iron deficiency, mild and moderate iron deficiency anemia. The difference of mean corpuscular volume and RDW was statistically significant (p<0.05) in latent iron deficiency, mild iron deficiency anaemia and moderate iron deficiency anaemia (p value of 0.001, 0.001 and 0.011). In this study RDW had sensitivity 82.3% and specificity 97.4%. haemoglobin concentration and mean corpuscular volume had sensitivity 56.6% and 29.2 % and specificity 90.9% and 98.7 % respectively. Based on the receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curves RDW had the best area (0.925) under curve compared to haemoglobin and mean corpuscular volume.

Conclusion: Latent iron deficiency without other existing disease like haemoglobinopathy, early folate / vit B12 deficiency could be predicted early by increased RDW when haemoglobin concentration and mean corpuscular volume were normal.

Birdem Med J 2019; 9(2): 111-116
Socio-demographic, Clinical and Laboratory Characteristics of a Chikungunya Cohort from the 2017 Dhaka Outbreak of Bangladesh
Authors: Rahim Muhammad Abdur , Ananna Mehruba Alam , Zaman Shahana , Jahan Ishrat , Habib Samira Humaira , Chowdhury Tufayel Ahmed , Iqbal Sarwar , Uddin Khwaja Nazim , Latif Zafar Ahmed
Published: May 2019

Background: Chikungunya is a rapidly spreading viral infection of global concern. Initial presentation of chikungunya infection is often indistinguishable from other viral infections. In Bangladesh, chikungunya is an emerging infection. In this report, we describe socio-demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics of chikungunya in a selected group of Bangladeshi patients.

Methods: A multi-center descriptive study was done including adult patients with chikungunya virus infection from July 1, 2017 to October 31, 2017. Diagnosis of chikungunya virus infection was confirmed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or immunoglobulin M (IgM) against chikungunya.

Results: Total patients were 107 including 61 (57%) males. Mean age of the study participants was 35.6 (range 19-84) years. Ninety three (86.9%) patients presented with fever and 14 (13.1%) patients (with history of recent fever) presented due to joint pain. Most (93, 86.9%) patients were managed as out-patient basis; while 14 (13.1%) patients required hospitalization. Common features were fever/history of fever, joint pain, rash and lymphadenopathy. Out of 93 patients who presented with fever, 79 (85%) had concomitant arthralgia/ arthritis, 70 (75.3%) had persistent joint symptoms beyond febrile illness requiring paracetamol, 63 (67.2%) patients had joint pain beyond 3 weeks (sub-acute phase) requiring paracetamol, non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs or corticosteroids and 11 patients had passed 3 months since symptom onset (chronic phase) and only one (9%) had joint symptoms requiring hydroxychloroquine. There was no death.

Conclusion: Clinical manifestation of chikungunya virus infection was comparable with other viral infections but arthritis/arthralgia was an important differentiating point. As chikungunya is an emerging infection in Bangladesh, physicians should have a high index of suspicion and care should be taken to exclude other viral infections specially dengue.

Birdem Med J 2019; 9(2): 106-110