bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Challenges of Interior Decoration Using Low Formaldehyde-Emitting Materials in Taiwan
Authors: Huang Lin-Lin
Published: August 2023

Regardless of material regulations at the supply source or post-construction quality inspection systems, certain levels of model management systems have been developed. However, in the hospital waiting room, the measured formaldehyde concentration in the air reached 0.99 ppm, which is 12 times higher than that of the standard value.

The formaldehyde emission rates measured in the building materials of the private housings or hospital waiting room ranged from 158 to 238 μg/m2∙h, which exceed both the ABSL and BSMI standards. Moreover, the decoration locations, construction staff, and construction behaviors varied despite their claims of using low formaldehyde-emitting materials.

This study compiled the current objectives and regulations established by various supervising authorities and implemented a supporting management system in material grading, amount of material usage, ventilation path control, and ventilation effectiveness for facilitating the promotion of healthy indoor air quality, thereby enhancing public health.
Human-Based Design and Digital Fabrication: Behavioral Mapping Parametric Knitter (BMPK)
Authors: Kalantari Saleh , Poustinchi Ebrahim , Ahmadi Nooshin
Published: August 2023

Reducing human stress has become a critical issue in contemporary architecture. The design of the physical environment plays an important role in the ease of wayfinding as people navigate a path through their surroundings. The goal of this project is to create an automated system that can analyze human behavior within a building, generate architectural forms based on the results, and then fabricate an optimal interior space design for facilitating the observed behaviors. The Behavioral Mapping Parametric Knitter (BMPK) juxtaposes key characteristics of biological design (modularity, robustness, homeostasis, and adaptation) with smart technologies. The BMPK Robot is an aggregated system that observes human behaviors, analyzes this behavioral data, designs parametric patterns, and then weaves spatial designs. The robot extracts data about complex human behaviors using intelligent sensors embedded within the environment. Knowledge extracted from this behavioral data is then used to design a parametric pattern. Finally, the robot employs this pattern to determine an optimal space structure to make the observed human behaviors as easy as possible. The spatial designs produced by the BMPK Robot are thus intended to help optimize the dynamic human behaviors that are already observed within the built environment. The results from this research project will lead to reduced stress and improved wayfinding among end-users. In addition, the research will produce a design tool capable of measuring the performance of different architectural forms in regard to how well they facilitate human behavior.
Design Methods for Creative Industry Buildings
Authors: Pieczara Marta
Published: August 2023

Being an important element of the urban space, a workplace for many people and a landmark for even more, any industrial building should be mindfully designed with regard to its importance for the local society. Nowadays, a raising significance of the creative sector of economy requires particular attention of architects and urbanists to summarize the methods supporting the successful design of creative industry buildings. Among plenty of different design approaches, at first glance personal to every architect, we can nonetheless identify a set of general rules and universal design tools which are shared in common.
Teachers and Technology: A Complicated Relationship
Authors: Brás Pedro , Miranda Guilhermina Lobato , Marôco João
Published: August 2023

Although technology is present in most classrooms and many countries have made strong recommendations for ICT integration in schools and teachers’ practices, a great number of teachers do not use ICT in their educational activities. Research has provided theories and models that explain the consistency of the relationship between attitudes and behavior. These theories converge to identify common aspects that foster technology integration.

We now propose an “ICT Skills Towards Technology Use” (ISTTU) model to evaluate the impact of “ICT Knowledge” over “Intention to Use ICT” (IUICT). Based on previously validated questionnaires, we have developed a questionnaire that was applied to a sample of teachers from the vocational stream of secondary education in Portugal. The data was tested and evaluated using Structural Equation Modeling techniques and we concluded that “ICT Knowledge” is a good predictor of the “IUICT” and that “teaching area” has an impact on “Intention to Use ICT”. We also concluded that “gender” and “Learning through ICT” have no significant impact on IUICT. The ISTTU model shows that fostering the development of ICT skills (increasing “ICT Knowledge”) will develop the “intention to use technologies with students”.
Teaching with Technology: The Role of the Instructional Coach
Authors: Nelson Regena F. , Webb La Shaunda
Published: August 2023

The Teaching with Technology professional development model was developed to create a comprehensive technology plan that would support teaching and learning in teacher education courses. This study explains how an instructional technology coaches help faculty transform their teaching by giving them new tools, information and skills.
Mismatch between Curriculum Intentions and Textbook Design
Authors: Berisha Valbone , Jashari Hasan , Thaqi Xhevdet
Published: August 2023

This paper discusses the functionality of mathematics textbooks for lower secondary school in Kosovo, as representations of the curriculum. A summary is given of the main orientations and aims of the current Kosovo curriculum for mathematics in lower secondary school. This is followed by an assessment of the level of implementation of the main curriculum objectives within textbook design and an analysis of the nature of the key elements of textbook content that enable curricular objectives to be met. These elements include the use of motivational factors, real and interdisciplinary application of mathematical concepts and content in the expository parts of the text, worked – out examples, the use of real and interdisciplinary contexts in the tasks for students to work through individually, problems and problem-solving procedures and strategies, as well as the inclusion of a range of individual and group learning activities. The results of the analysis indicate a huge mismatch between the main curriculum objectives and textbook design. The conclusion is that Kosovan students in lower secondary school are not given adequate opportunities for developing critical mathematical skills and abilities in accordance with the orientations of the national curriculum.
Suffixation in Old Turkic Inscriptions
Authors: Kupayeva Aisulu
Published: August 2023

Recently, the language of one of the oldest Turkic written records, which are dated back to VII-IX centuries, the Orhon Old Turkic monuments are studied in different aspects, considering that these inscriptions contain important historical, linguistic and cultural data on Old Turkic period. In addition, the language of Old Turkic inscriptions, as the earliest valuable written data for language reconstruction and establishment of genetic relations of modern Turkic languages, is still a frequent subject in Turkological studies, as well as in Altaic studies.

Suffixation is widely used productive word formation in Old Turkic as well as in Modern Turkic languages as an agglutinative type of languages. The study of suffixal morphemes in the language of Old Turkic inscriptions is important in reconstruction of archetypes, etymological base of suffixes and historical development of word formation process of Modern Turkic languages. This paper presents a detailed description of suffixes in Old Turkic inscriptions, giving the morphemic –structural, semantic and etymological analyses and historical development of derivations in modern Turkic languages.
The Role of Achievement Motivation Training Model-Based on E-Learning to Clarify Future Education Orientation of Adolescent in Jatinangor, Indonesia
Authors: Iskandar Yanti Rubiyanti , Novianti Langgersari Elsari , Siswanto Shantosa Yudha
Published: August 2023

The study is an applied research aimed to investigate the role of motivation training on future orientation of adolescent in Jatinangor, Indonesia. Future orientation is individual orientation of adolescence in future context. It become a guidance to achieve systematic changes to accomplish their goal (Nurmi 1991). The study used posttest design experimental approach to investigate the role of training. Measurement tools consist of observation notes, training evaluation questioner and future orientation questioner. The results of the study indicated that future orientation of adolescent in Jatinangor considered as high. It shows the object already have clear future orientation. The biggest contribution aspect for their future orientation is motivation. Planning and evaluation aspects are still considered as intermediate level. This result indicates that adolescent still needs to be guided to get strategies and methods in order to plan their future. Motivation training was conducted to assists adolescent to plan and determine their goals and also make strategy to implement their planning. After training, they were more motivated to continue their education to a higher level, aware of education strategy, able to enhance knowledge about interested subject and kind of occupation they can do in the future.
Cross linguistic influence in adult L2/L3 learners:
Authors: Fung King Tat Daniel , Murphy Victoria A.
Published: August 2023

The potential ways in which learning a second or third language can influence other languages in the mind of the (emergent) bilingual is an increasingly important issue given the international importance of foreign language learning. This study explored whether learning French as a foreign language influences knowledge of English morphosyntax in learners of L2 French with L1 English (n=21) and learners of L3 French with L2 English (n=9). Comparing these two groups allowed us to identify whether and to what extent backwards cross linguistic influence (CLI) are different depending on whether French is L2 or L3, and whether English is L1 or L2. Accuracy on tenseaspects of English morphosyntax was measured through two tasks (Grammaticality Judgement and Proofreading). Results indicated no inhibitive influence from L2 French to L1 English, with potential enhancement of explicit knowledge when compared to a control group of English-speaking participants with no French. In contrast, influence leading to inaccuracy was observed from L3 French to L2 English in that the L3 French learners made more errors in past simple and present perfect in the GJT. Results are discussed in the context of better understanding the nature of developing grammatical systems, together with implications for future work.
Noam Chomsky and the History of Ideas
Authors: Giridhar P.P
Published: August 2023

Noam Chomsky incarnates rationalism in the study of language like no other man has or does in man’s history, it seems to me. I will attempt to elucidate this position, however inchoately and incompletely, by enumerating his revolutionarily perceptive contributions to the study of language as a phenomenon. There is so much conventional perceptual deadwood about language that its position in epistemological space needs to be clarified, and perspectivised, deadwood that has come down and continues to float down the canons in the social sciences and the humanities. Once clarified, people could agree or disagree. People now seem to disagree with some of these positions without understanding them! The paper will position Chomsky in his niche in the history of ideas about language, a niche which is noticeably distinctly different from that of a Panini, the great Indian grammarian or a Sibavahi, the great Arabic grammarian, the three of whom together form the great grammarian trio the world has seen 2 . The intervention is clearly more an elucidatory, albeit argumentative, exercise than an originally researched paper although of course it has to do with placing language in epistemological space.
Taprooting translation : Reflections on the epistemology of translation
Authors: Giridhar P.P
Published: August 2023

Whatever is intelligible is translatable. Whatever is intelligible is by definition subject to externalisation, and whatever is subject to externalisation is by definition subject to translation.
Malaysian Pre-University Students' Level Of Intellectual Quality
Authors: Ishak Nor Asniza , Jamil Hazri , Razak Nordin Abd.
Published: August 2023

This study identifies the level of intellectual quality of pre-university students in Malaysia. A mixed method approach is adapted to acquire data and information from the samples and informans. A total of 500 sixth form pre-university students from 38 secondary schools in Penang was selected quantitatively. Classroom observations of pre-university classes of 8 students from 8 schools in Penang were done to obtain information for qualitative method. Data analysis using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used. The research findings show that the intellectual quality of pre-university students is at a moderate level with girls showing higher intellectual level than boys for all six dimensions of intellectual quality. Meanwhile, the Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) and Problem Solving Skills dimensions have the most number of students at a high level compared to other dimensions. The study also showed that the students who major in religious studies shown a higher intellectual quality for all dimensions compared to those who major in science and arts. Information gain through qualitative study also found that students shows an interest in learning the subject when the teachers integrated the usage of ICT during teaching and learning session. This enhanced the students to apply HOTS as well as Problem Solving Skills. Information gathered through this study will provide new understanding and knowledge to teachers and researchers related to intellectual thoughts and pedagogical practices that can be used to improve sixth form pre-university students intellectual quality and hence help improve students’ intellectual capital to keep abreast with the rapid developing country in the 21st century.
Classification of Alzheimer’s disease stages from magnetic resonance images using deep learning
Authors: Mora-Rubio Alejandro , Bravo-Ortíz Mario Alejandro , Quiñones Arredondo Sebastián , Saborit Torres Jose Manuel , Ruz Gonzalo A. , Tabares-Soto Reinel
Published: August 2023

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive type of dementia characterized by loss of memory and other cognitive abilities, including speech. Since AD is a progressive disease, detection in the early stages is essential for the appropriate care of the patient throughout its development, going from asymptomatic to a stage known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and then progressing to dementia and severe dementia; is worth mentioning that everyone suffers from cognitive impairment to some degree as we age, but the relevant task here is to identify which people are most likely to develop AD. Along with cognitive tests, evaluation of the brain morphology is the primary tool for AD diagnosis, where atrophy and loss of volume of the frontotemporal lobe are common features in patients who suffer from the disease. Regarding medical imaging techniques, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans are one of the methods used by specialists to assess brain morphology. Recently, with the rise of deep learning (DL) and its successful implementation in medical imaging applications, it is of growing interest in the research community to develop computer-aided diagnosis systems that can help physicians to detect this disease, especially in the early stages where macroscopic changes are not so easily identified. This article presents a DL-based approach to classifying MRI scans in the different stages of AD, using a curated set of images from Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative and Open Access Series of Imaging Studies databases. Our methodology involves image pre-processing using FreeSurfer, spatial data-augmentation operations, such as rotation, flip, and random zoom during training, and state-of-the-art 3D convolutional neural networks such as EfficientNet, DenseNet, and a custom siamese network, as well as the relatively new approach of vision transformer architecture. With this approach, the best detection percentage among all four architectures was around 89% for AD vs. Control, 80% for Late MCI vs. Control, 66% for MCI vs. Control, and 67% for Early MCI vs. Control.
Classification of melanonychia, Beau’s lines, and nail clubbing based on nail images and transfer learning techniques
Authors: Coşar Soğukkuyu Derya Yeliz , Ata Oğuz
Published: August 2023

Background

Nail diseases are malformations that appear on the nail plate and are classified according to their own signs and symptoms that may be related to other medical conditions. Although most nail diseases have distinct symptoms, making a differential diagnosis of nail problems can be challenging for medical experts.

Method

One early diagnosis method for any dermatological disease is designing an image analysis system based on artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. This article implemented a novel model using a publicly available nail disease dataset to determine the occurrence of three common types of nail diseases. Two classification models based on transfer learning using visual geometry group (VGGNet) were utilized to detect and classify nail diseases from images.

Result and Finding

The experimental design results showed good accuracy: VGG16 had a score of 94% accuracy and VGG19 had a 93% accuracy rate. These findings suggest that computer-aided diagnostic systems based on transfer learning can be used to identify multiple-lesion nail diseases.
Neighborhood-based inference and restricted Boltzmann machine for small molecule-miRNA associations prediction
Authors: Qu Jia , Song Zihao , Cheng Xiaolong , Jiang Zhibin , Zhou Jie
Published: August 2023

Background

A growing number of experiments have shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) can be used as target of small molecules (SMs) to regulate gene expression for treating diseases. Therefore, identifying SM-related miRNAs is helpful for the treatment of diseases in the domain of medical investigation.

Methods

This article presents a new computational model, called NIRBMSMMA (neighborhood-based inference (NI) and restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM)), which we developed to identify potential small molecule-miRNA associations (NIRBMSMMA). First, grounded on known SM-miRNAs associations, SM similarity and miRNA similarity, NI was used to predict score of an unknown SM-miRNA pair by reckoning the sum of known associations between neighbors of the SM (miRNA) and the miRNA (SM). Second, utilizing a two-layered generative stochastic artificial neural network, RBM was used to predict SM-miRNA association by learning potential probability distribution from known SM-miRNA associations. At last, an ensemble learning model was conducted to combine NI and RBM for identifying potential SM-miRNA associations.

Results

Furthermore, we conducted global leave one out cross validation (LOOCV), miRNA-fixed LOOCV, SM-fixed LOOCV and five-fold cross validation to assess performance of NIRBMSMMA based on three datasets. Results showed that NIRBMSMMA obtained areas under the curve (AUC) of 0.9912, 0.9875, 0.8376 and 0.9898 ± 0.0009 under global LOOCV, miRNA-fixed LOOCV, SM-fixed LOOCV and five-fold cross validation based on dataset 1, respectively. For dataset 2, the AUCs are 0.8645, 0.8720, 0.7066 and 0.8547 ± 0.0046 in turn. For dataset 3, the AUCs are 0.9884, 0.9802, 0.8239 and 0.9870 ± 0.0015 in turn. Also, we conducted case studies to further assess the predictive performance of NIRBMSMMA. These results illustrated the proposed model is a useful tool in predicting potential SM-miRNA associations.
Effects of drought and salt stress on seed germination and seedling growth of Elymus nutans
Authors: Long Jianting , Dong Mengjie , Wang Chuanqi , Miao Yanjun
Published: August 2023

Drought and soil salinization are global environmental issues, and Elymus nutans play an important role in vegetation restoration in arid and saline environments due to their excellent stress resistance. In the process of vegetation restoration, the stage from germination to seedling growth of forage is crucial. This experiment studied the effects of PEG-6000 simulated drought stress and NaCl simulated salinization stress on the germination of E. nutans seeds, and explored the growth of forage seedlings from sowing to 28 days under drought and salinization stress conditions. The results showed that under the same environmental water potential, there were significant differences in responses of seed germination, seedling growth, organic carbon, total nitrogen and total phosphorus of above-ground and underground parts of E. nutans to drought stress and salinization stress. Using the membership function method to comprehensively evaluate the seed germination and seedling indicators of E. nutans, it was found that under the same environmental water potential, E. nutans was more severely affected by drought stress during both the seed germination and seedling growth stages. E. nutans showed better salt tolerance than drought resistance.
Trayectorias cognitivas y nivel socioeconómico en la niñez, ¿cuál es el rol de las experiencias adversas en la infancia?: evidencia a partir de datos longitudinales en Chile
Authors:   ,   Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Instituto de Sociología, Reyes Sofía de los
Published: August 2023

En el marco del interés en el fenómeno de la transmisión intergeneracional de recursos, la tesis explora la relación entre el nivel socioeconómico y el desarrollo cognitivo en la infancia de niños/as en Chile. Existe vasta evidencia según la cual dicha asociación es positiva, sin embargo, los mecanismos subyacentes a la misma son menos conocidos. En búsqueda de indagar en uno de estos posibles mecanismos, esta investigación se pregunta si acaso la relación entre el nivel socioeconómico y el desarrollo cognitivo en la infancia puede verse moderada por la presencia de experiencias adversas en la infancia (ACE por sus siglas en inglés). Adicionalmente, se indaga en posibles brechas de género dentro de esta asociación. Las ACE constituyen aquellas fuentes de estrés más intensas a las cuales puede estar expuesto/a un/a niño/a, tales como el abuso (físico, sexual, psicológico), la negligencia infantil, la presencia de enfermedades mentales en algún miembro del hogar, entre otras. En general, la prevalencia de ACE es alta durante la infancia temprana (previo a los 6 años), y está ampliamente documentado que este tipo de experiencias se asocia con resultados negativos en distintos dominios durante el curso de vida, por lo cual constituyen un problema de salud pública. Los datos utilizados en la investigación son obtenidos a partir de la ELPI (Encuesta Longitudinal de la Primera Infancia), y se exploró el problema de investigación en las tres rondas disponibles de esta encuesta. Los hallazgos principales dan cuenta de 1) Una distribución sesgada del desarrollo cognitivo según la gradiente de riqueza, vale decir, de mejores resultados en niños/as pertenecientes a familias más aventajadas, y 2) Un efecto moderador de solo una de las adversidades medidas: la pertenencia a una minoría étnica. Por otro lado, se corroboró que las ACE, si bien no moderan la relación principal, constituyen predictores negativos y estadísticamente significativos del desarrollo cognitivo de niños/as en Chile. Finalmente, los resultados también dan cuenta de brechas de género tanto en el desarrollo cognitivo como en las consecuencias de la experiencia de ACE.
La Teología del pueblo en Lucio Gera: la Iglesia se constituye como Pueblo de Dios desde el pueblo
Authors:   ,   Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Facultad de Teología, Aránguiz Saavedra María del Pilar
Published: August 2023

El objetivo de esta tesis de magíster es indagar los aportes de la teología del pueblo como un camino para fortalecer la fe y el sentido de pertenencia a la Iglesia de hoy, desde la reflexión sistemática teológica del sacerdote-teólogo argentino Lucio Gera, en un período específico que va desde 1940 a 1976. Se ha elegido este tiempo dado que, en este, se encuentran las primeras reflexiones que encauzan el origen de esta teología y que dan cuenta de sus nociones básicas con las que se conoce: Pueblo de Dios, pueblo, cultura, religión del pueblo, signos de los tiempos, que suelen utilizarse para sintetizar sus resultados. El método que se usó fue la revisión de la compilación de textos de Gera desde un análisis histórico, político, social y teológico de este período, en diálogo con las voces argentinas y textos del magisterio, además con literatura secundaria que aportan a la comprensión de esta teología. Primero se hizo un análisis de los antecedentes del Concilio Vaticano II y su recepción teológica en Gera, y como este impactó a nuestro autor en la renovación eclesial y en su pensamiento. Segundo se realizó una sistematización de las nociones básicas que presenta Gera, por la importancia que tuvo como perito, en la Coepal, que da origen a la teología del pueblo, y Medellín 1976 en la semana de estudio sobre la religiosidad popular del Celam. Por último, se analiza la importancia teológica que le da Gera a la piedad popular como un proceso de inculturación del evangelio en los pueblos con sus culturas para pensar en la acción pastoral de la Iglesia. Se ha concluido que Lucio Gera presenta una teología sistemática latinoamericana y netamente conciliar del Vaticano II, lo que permite que esta haga sentido a los pueblos con sus culturas. Además, en su reflexión de la relación Iglesia-mundo(Pueblo de Diospueblo) se presenta la dimensión teándrica de la Iglesia que lo fundamenta desde el misterio de la Encarnación. Además, para Gera el Pueblo de Dios es un estado eclesial en sí mismo, por lo tanto, concibe teológicamente al Pueblo de Dios sustancialmente unido entre sus miembros con distintas funciones, en virtud del bautismo. Por último, la gran novedad de Gera es que su teología brota de la pastoral, la cual se realiza desde una lectura profunda de los signos de los tiempos. Piensa la relación fe-cultura como un binomio teológico por la dimensión encarnacionista, que permite la evangelización a los pueblos en sus culturas y al mismo tiempo estos pueblos son los que evangelizan, dado que la substancia de la cultura es lo religioso del ser humano, lo que permite pensar la acción pastoral de la Iglesia para el mundo de hoy, desde un catolicismo popular.
Entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurship intention: perceived desirability and perceived feasibility mediation
Authors: Jabid Abdullah Wajir , Syahdan Rinto , Fahri Johan , Buamonabot Irfandi
Published: August 2023

The impact of entrepreneurial education on entrepreneurial interests, entrepreneurial education on entrepreneurial interests through the mediation of perceived desirability, and entrepreneurial education on entrepreneurial interests through the mediation of perceived feasibility are all examined in this study. Students in their final year at Khairun University's Faculty of Economics and Business made up the samples. The survey approach was used to gather the data. SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) employing the PLS (Partial Least Square) technique and the SmartPLS tool version 3.0 was the data analysis model used in this investigation. The findings indicate that entrepreneurship education influences entrepreneurial intentions through the mediation of perceived desirability, entrepreneurship education affects perceived desirability, entrepreneurship education influences perceived feasibility, perceived desirability of entrepreneurial intentions, perceived feasibility of entrepreneurial intentions, and education entrepreneurship influences. Future research suggestions are also given.
Desafios de inovação e marketing das pequenas empresas petrolíferas da bacia potiguar: a experiência do programa catalisa MPE
Authors: Valente Karan Roberto da Motta , De Anunciação Talita Andrade , Araújo Flavia Silva
Published: August 2023

O presente estuda objetiva descrever os desafios de marketing de empresas atuantes no setor de petróleo e gás da Bacia Potiguar, atuantes na cidade de Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil. A metodologia consistiu em uma pesquisa aplicada, de abordagem mista, partindo da realização de pesquisa bibliográfica analisando as temáticas “inovação aberta”, “transformação digital” e “marketing para micro e pequenas empresas”, vide investigação de estudos indexados nas plataformas de buscas Periódicos - Capes e Google Scholar, conseguinte à aplicação de questionários e reuniões com empresários participantes do Programa Catalisa MPE. Os resultados sinalizam uma contribuição original e crítica a partir de uma revisão teórica e experiência prática. Verificou-se que, embora o marketing seja essencial para aumentar a visibilidade das empresas no mercado, os empresários enfrentam dificuldades para aplicar esse conceito, seja devido às múltiplas atividades desempenhadas pelos poucos membros dessas empresas ou aos custos associados aos processos de inovação. Além disso, embora a aplicação de estratégias de marketing por meio dos conceitos de inovação aberta possa resultar em redução de custos, os valores ainda não são acessíveis à realidade brasileira e muitos empreendedores não conseguem perceber o valor em agregar novos serviços.
Applications of non-parametric testing in a chemical industry
Authors: De Oliveira Alexandra Cristina , De Barros José Glênio Medeiros , De Almeida Maria da Glória Diniz , De Carvalho Cleginaldo Pereira , Sampaio Nilo Antonio de Souza
Published: August 2023

This study aimed to identify research gaps on the topic "Non-Parametric Statistical Tests", specifically showing an application of the Mann-Whitney Test. To achieve this goal, an application of this test was performed on data from a chemical industry in the South Fluminense region. It is noteworthy that the confidentiality of the data was prioritized, for the sake of the company's interest.
Perception and Attitude towards Involvement of Males in Family Planning Practices in Nigeria
Authors: Victoria Adedapo Oluwafunmilayo , Moses Aremu Fiyinfoluwa , Ifeoluwapo Asekun Olarinmoye
Published: August 2023

Aim: The study is designed to assess the perception and attitude towards the involvement of males in family planning practices in Nigeria.

Methodology: This study design was a descriptive cross-sectional design, whose population were males (15-55 years), and selected via the convenience sampling technique. The research instrument was a semi-structured questionnaire on male involvement in family planning and was subjected to face and content validity (Cronbach Alpha = 0.673). The study data (responses) were analysed using simple frequency, percentages, and means, with the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) V 21.

Results: Most of the men (n=267; 96.4%) have good knowledge of family planning, and there is a medium level of men’s involvement (n=141; 50.9%) towards family planning practices. Furthermore, regarding their behaviours towards family planning methods involvement, 208 (75.1%) men disagreed that family planning is meant for only females and that contraceptives are not working for males, while all the men (n=277; 100 %) disagreed that family planning is meant for the literate only. More so, half of the men (n=147; 53.1%) rejected that family planning delay pregnancy, while 208 (75.1%) men accepted that it prevents pregnancies. These results proved that the men do not believe only the literate utilize family planning methods.

Conclusion: Most males are knowledgeable about family planning and many adopted condoms as their methods of family planning, which implies that men could be effectively involved in family planning with proper and effective education.
Assessment of Nutritional Composition of Shrimps Using Different Smoking Method
Authors: Abankwa Agnes , Acquaye Rosemary
Published: August 2023

The study assessed the effects of smoking on the nutrient attributes of penaeus notialis shrimps in Ghana. Terminalia ivorensis, Petersianthus macrocarpus and Albizia zygia were used as fuel woods to smoolder the shrimps. Descriptive and experimental research designs were adopted to guide the entire study. A Random sampling technique was used to select 88 second year students of the Catering and Hospitality Department at the Kumasi Technical University. Frequency and percentage were used to analyse the background information of the respondents. One way Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test for significant differences among the types of wood used. The study revealed that seven nutrients (Dry Matter, Moisture, Ash, Protein, Fibre, Fat/Oil and Carbohydrate) were found. There is a significant difference in nutritional and chemical properties of the shrimps based on the types of wood used for smoking. The study, therefore, recommended that, care must be taken not to use any wood for fuel in smoking shrimps.
Properties and Characterizations of Norm-Attainable Operators in Compact and Self-Adjoint Settings
Authors: Evans Mogoi N. , Apima Samuel B.
Published: August 2023

In this research paper, we investigate the properties and characterizations of norm-attainable operators in the context of compactness and self-adjointness. We present a series of propositions, a lemma, a theorem, and a corollary that shed light on the nature of these operators and provide insights into their behavior in various settings. Our results contribute to the understanding of norm-attainable operators and their implications in functional analysis.
Effect of Organic Manures and Nano Zinc on Growth and Yield of Wheat
Authors: Prasanghi Yalamala , C. Umesha
Published: August 2023

A field experiment was carried out during Rabi season 2022 at experimental field of Crop Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, Naini Agricultural Institute, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology And Sciences, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India. The soil of experimental plot was sandy loam in texture, nearly neutral in soil reaction (pH7.3), low in organic carbon (0.48%), available nitrogen (230 kg/ha), available phosphorus (13.60 kg/ha) and available potassium (215.4 kg/ha). The treatments consist of organic manures (FYM 10t/ha, panchagavya 3%, FYM 5t/ha + panchagavya 1.5%) and nano zinc (30, 40, 50 ppm) along with control plot (Recommended Dose Fertilizer). The experiment was layout in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with ten treatments each replicated thrice. Higher plant height (91.90 cm), higher plant dry weight (27.27 g), number of tillers/hill (8.67), Crop Growth Rate (11.82), grains/spike (45.12), effective tillers/row meter (73.57), Spikes/running row meter (77.57), grain yield (6.01 t/ha), straw yield (8.49 t/ha), maximum gross return (127712.50 INR/ha), net return (85765.70 INR/ha) and B:C ratio (2.04) were also obtained highest in the treatment 9 [FYM 5t/ha + Panchagavya 1.5% + Nano-zinc 50ppm].
Phytochemical Investigation and Thin Layer Chromatography of Methanol Extract of Psoralea corylifolia and Emblica officinalis Leaves
Authors: More Keshav Kalyan , Gade Rajendra Maratrao , Gurav Nitin Vitthal , Chaudhari Rupeshkumar Jagannath
Published: August 2023

The current study focuses on phytochemical screening of Psoralea corylifolia and Emblica officinalis leaf extracts in methanol solvent. The antibacterial compounds found in both leaf extracts of Psoralea corylifolia and Emblica officinalis plants were investigated using phytochemical studies. The extracts contained flavonoids, terpenoids, tannins, alkaloids, saponins, and phenolic chemicals, according to preliminary phytochemical screening. The solvent systems of toluene: ethyl acetate: methanol (24:5:2) and chloroform: ethyl acetate: acetic acid (50:50:1) yielded the most phytochemicals from methanolic extracts of Psoralea corylifolia and Emblica officinalis plants, respectively. On TLC plates, these chemicals were separated, resulting in the discovery of different spots in both leaf extracts. The Rf values of methanol extract of P. corylifolia run under toluene: ethyl acetate: methanol (24:5:2) solvent system was 0.12, 0.19, 0.30, 0.41, 0.53, 0.65, 0.77, 0.84, 0.89, and 0.92, respectively, while Rf values of methanol leaf extract of E. officinalis run under chloroform: ethyl acetate: acetic acid (50:50:1)solvent system was 0.23, 0.31, 0.41, 0.64, 0.76 and 0.88 respectively. The results of the investigation will be used to confirm the proper identification of antibacterial fractions from P. corylifolia and E. officinalis crude plant extracts by GC-MS. The optimum solvent for extracting antibacterial components from P. corylifolia and E. officinalis leaves was methanol.
Morphological Characterisation and Cyanide Content Determination in Phaseolus lunatus Linn. (Lima Beans) Accessions
Authors: Olawuyi O. J. , Adeyeye E. F. , Ajayi I. I.
Published: August 2023

Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus Linn.) is one of the important legumes in developing countries. The study was carried out to evaluate the morphological characters and determine the amount of cyanide in lima beans. A total of 15 Lima bean accessions were obtained from the genebank of Genetic Resource Centre, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria and laid in Complete Randomised Design with three replicates. Morphological characters were evaluated based on the descriptors proposed by the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, while hydrogen cyanide (HCN) content was determined using alkaline picrate colorimetric method. Six of the accessions (2005-014, 2006-003A, 2006-003B, 2006- 005A, PS-16 and TPl-2429) having best yield, moderate yield and lowest yield were selected for cyanide determination. Result showed that the accessions varied morphologically. The highest yielding accessions were TPl-2429, 2005- 014, 2006-003A and 2005-011, while 2006-003B and TPl-178 have moderate yields. Accession 2005-014 had the highest growth characters, followed by 2006-015 and 2006-003A which showed good quality. Lower amounts of cyanide were detected in 2005-014 and PS-16 accessions, while 2006-003A, 2006-003B and 2006-005A accessions did not show cyanide contents. Therefore, TPl-2429, 2006-003A and 2005-011 accessions which showed higher growth and yield with no cyanide content could be further improved in breeding of lima beans.
Comparative Analysis in Utilizing Different Diagnostic Methods for Plasmodium falciparum Detection within Owerri Municipal, Imo State, Nigeria
Authors: Camillius Ejimmadu Delight , Celestina Mgbemena Ifeyinwa , Nicholas Ugwu Tochukwu , Ngozi Madubuike Mercy , Alex Osuji Johnchrist
Published: August 2023

Malaria is one of the major public health issues in Africa as its affects human beings at different levels. However, any wrong diagnosis of malaria infection can lead to severe ill health, and death of the infected individual. This study was carried out to compare different diagnostic methods of malarial detection within owerri municipal in Imo State Nigeria. Blood samples were collected from patients and diagnosed via microscopy, antigen assay technique and polymerase chain reaction. About 200 blood samples were obtained utilizing the Ethylenediamine tetracetic acid (EDTA) bottles and examined. In  200 blood samples, microscopy had 75 total positive and  Antigen assay had 83 while, PCR had 94 However, a percentage prevalence of about 37% was obtained from microscopy though,  about 41.5% were observed in Antigen Assay and 47% for a Polymerase chain reaction. There was high malaria prevalence recorded in relation to age within the age range of 31 to 40. The Sensitivity and specificity of the three diagnostic methods show that PCR had the highest for both while, microscopy had the least sensitivity followed by RDT. Moreover, positive predictive value and negative predictive value assessments were analyzed.  The results showed that Microscopy has a 0.2% chance of missing a truly positive and antigen assay has 0.1% while, PCR has 0%. Therefore, more emphasis should be given to PCR as the possibility of an error during diagnosis is less.
Concurrent Right Lung and Liver Hydatidosis: An Uncommon Presentation - Managed by One Stage Surgery
Authors: Jain Nitin , Ratan Simmi K.
Published: August 2023

Hydatid cyst is a parasitic disease caused by larval stage of small tape worm (Echinococcus), causing cyst formation in the liver and in the lung. It affects liver primarily and secondary mostly the lungs. Hydatidosis is endemic in many countries and it is more prevalent in India. We came across a case of 4 years old female child presented with concomitant hydatidosis of the lung and liver and managed by single stage surgery involving cystotomy and partial excision for the cyst located in the lung and cystotomy, partial excision and inversion of the cavity with sutures for the cyst in the liver.
Epidemiological Aspect and Antibiotic Susceptibility Profile of Bacteria Responsible for Meningitis in Children in the Pediatrics Department of the CHU Donka National Hospital of Conakry, Guinea
Authors: Camara Taliby Dos , Makanera Abdoulaye , Magassouba Demba , Barry Alpha Ousmane
Published: August 2023

Introduction: Meningitis represents a major public health problem in the tropical countries Objective: To determine the sensitivity to antibiotics of bacteria associated with meningitis in children at Donka National Hospital in Conakry.

Methods: This is a prospective and descriptive cross-sectional study conducted from January 20th to April 20th, 2022. A total of 110 cerebrospinal fluids samples (CSF) from suspected children were cultured on different agar media. 

Results: The results showed that 13 samples were positive. Three different bacterial species were identified: Streptococcus pneumoniae (54%=7/13), Hemophilus influenzae b (31%=4/13) and Escherichia coli (15%=2/13). Males predominated, with a sex ratio (M/F) of 1.6. The commune of Ratoma was the most represented with 36%. The most clinical manifestations were fever (54%), vomiting (35%), meningeal stiffness (20%), convulsion (24%) and headache (27%). All the Streptococcus pneumoniae strains were susceptible to levofloxacin and ofloxacin (100%), while 57% of these strains were susceptible to amikacin, 43% to tobramycin as well as to nitrofurantoin and 29% to gentamicin. For Hemophilus influenzae, 75% of the strains were susceptible to gentamicin as well as to tobramycin, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, and ofloxacin, while the susceptibility to amikacin was 50%. Finally, all Escherichia coli strains were sensitive to ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, ofloxacin and nitrofurantoin, while only 50% of these strains were susceptible to amikacin and tobramycin.

Conclusion: This study showed that three bacterial species were associated to meningitis in children, of which Streptococcus pneumoniae was mainly encountered.  Quinolones and aminoglycosides were the most active antibiotic families on these strains studied. The study populations being made up of children and the fact that quinolones are not recommended in this category of patients, aminoglycosides should be chosen for the empirical treatment of children. However, the treatment of cases of meningitis requires antibiotic treatment whenever possible based on the results of an antibiogram.
Individual Health Accounts Can Bring Health Savings to More People in the US
Authors: Chen Lanhee J.
Published: August 2023

This JAMA Forum discusses health savings accounts and introduces the concept of individual health accounts that could enhance the ability of people in the US to save for their own health care expenses.
In-Office Suprachoroidal Viscopexy for Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment Repair
Authors: Muni Rajeev H. , Melo Isabela Martins , Pecaku Aurora , Mannina Amar , Batawi Hatim , Bansal Aditya
Published: August 2023

Importance

In-office suprachoroidal viscopexy (SCVEXY) is a minimally invasive technique for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) repair that can be performed with no incision, no tamponade agent, and no positioning requirements. This technique has the potential to be a step forward in the armamentarium to treat RRDs.

Objective

To describe in-office SCVEXY for RRD repair.

Design, Setting, and Participant

In this single-case report with short follow-up, a man in his 50s with pseudophakia and recent visual loss presented to St Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, with a fovea-off RRD in the right eye, extending from 6 to 10 o’clock, with no visible causative retinal break.

Exposure

Injection of suprachoroidal sodium hyaluronate, 1%, in the region of the suspected break, using a 30-gauge needle with a custom-made guard that exposed only 1 mm of the needle.

Main Outcome and Measures

Ability to perform in-office SCVEXY and to obtain a visible choroidal indentation.

Results

After the procedure, a dome-shaped choroidal convexity was present in the superior temporal area. The patient achieved macular reattachment in less than 24 hours with no postoperative abnormalities, such as outer retinal folds, residual subfoveal fluid, or retinal displacement, with rapid recovery of the outer retinal bands on optical coherence tomography. The optical coherence tomography scans acquired in the area of the choroidal convexity demonstrated the location of the viscoelastic material in the suprachoroidal space. Laser retinopexy was applied in the suspected region of the retinal tear, and the patient was able to resume normal activity immediately after the procedure with no restrictions.

Conclusions and Relevance

Suprachoroidal viscopexy is feasible as an in-office technique to create a temporary choroidal buckle for RRD repair. It is a minimally invasive procedure with the potential to maximize anatomical outcomes of integrity and postoperative functional outcomes in RRD because its mechanism of action does not require drainage of subretinal fluid or intraocular gas tamponade. Nevertheless, this was a single-case report with short follow-up, which limits the ability to determine the procedure’s benefits, potential adverse events, failure rates, and best-case selection. Further work is required to refine the procedure and assess its efficacy and safety.
Enhanced Cooling Performance of Three‐Dimensional Printed Heat Sink via Solution‐Processed Layer‐by‐Layer CNT Coatings
Authors: Song Chanho , Lee Jaemin , Seo Byungseok , Shim Joon Hyung , Hu Run , Choi Wonjoon
Published: August 2023

3D printing technique offers lightweight, compact, and flexible thermal components that can be integrated into bendable and curved form factors. However, their low thermal conductivity of the polymer‐based backbone structures degrades thermal performances, thereby demanding the rational solution to compensate heat transfer. Herein, a thermally functional coating of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and polyethyleneimine (PEI) through a layer‐by‐layer (LbL) deposition process for a 3D‐printed polymer heat sink (3DP‐HS) is studied. The 3DP‐HS is manufactured using the fused filament fabrication and can withstand bending and twisting while solution‐processed LbL self‐assembly deposits ultrathin MWCNT–PEI bilayers through stacking materials dissolved in positively and negatively charged solutions using electrostatic attraction. Compared with the flat polymer plate, the 3DP‐HS validates the heat dissipation function, confirmed via the improved heat transfer coefficient. Furthermore, the LbL MWCNT–PEI bilayers highly increase the enhancement rate over 85% due to extended nanoporous areas and airflow mixing on the rough surface. Precise analyses of thermal performances for 10 and 30 MWCNT–PEI bilayers (≈120–180 nm in thickness) elucidate the proper LbL surfaces on HS, in accordance with heat generation levels. This work leads to developing a facile yet effective functional coating process for various 3D‐printed thermal management components.