bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Agile IT Department Contracted for New Roles in a New Era
Authors: Alharbi Fawaz
Published: February 2021

The complexity of business and competitive environment enforces organizations to adopt innovative ways for doing business. This drives a new trend of agile organizations that are adaptable to market and technology changes. As a result, 75% of organizations recognized agility as one of the key drivers for their IT strategies. As organizations start adopting digital transformation initiatives, they recognize the necessity to adapt agility in their IT departments as well. However, moving to an agile organization and an agile IT department is more complex than adapting an agile software. This chapter aims to provide an in-depth explanation of agile IT department specifying its features, roles, and differentiation elements from the traditional IT department. Emerging technologies that are crucial in the movement towards an agile IT department are also discussed with possible change management process to facilitate the transition of the agile IT department into profit center that is contracted to add value for the whole organization while working in a feasible partnership mode with the business.
Basic Concepts of Electric Power System Planning
Authors: Alshaalan Abdullah
Published: February 2021

Power systems' planning, particularly in developing countries, faces enormous challenges and problems such as defining the future load growth in the face of uncertainties. Renewable energies are coming to the arena and affecting the planning of power and energy systems. The relation between power generation, transmission, and distribution entities, as well as the need for consolidating the dispersed electric utilities in the isolated regions is a prerequisite for future planning. Plenty of technologies, systems, and contractors are coming off the road while an optimal reliability levels need to be achieved. This chapter attempts to display the most tedious and prominent problems and challenges that face innovating the electric power systems which must be based on two major factors, namely reliability and cost. This chapter will help in drafting a new contracting style that mitigate obstacles that face power systems planners and concerned agencies while planning and operating electric power facilities.
Responding to COVID-19 for Information Delivery
Authors: Raghu Mantha
Published: February 2021

The purpose of the case study is to share the experience in responding to the COVID-19 for information delivery by the Learning Resource Centre (LRC), Vignana Jyothi Institute of Management (VJIM), Hyderabad. The case study illustrates the unexplored challenges faced by the LRC VJIM during COVID-19 and the actions taken by using innovative technologies. Data were collected regarding the use of e-resources with the help of statistics available in the dashboard of Remote Xs and analyses have been made accordingly. Furthermore, the case study revealed the extensive use of digital services and e-resources provided by the LRC, VJIM in pre pandemic and at the time of pandemic. The findings of the case study will lead to help the academic libraries to meet the user expectations in getting the required information and roles and responsibilities of library professionals during the new normal for the information delivery.
The Studies on Veteran Entrepreneurship in the Past Decade in China
Authors: Geng Hua , Yang Benzhao , Huang Qingan
Published: February 2021

To have a thorough understanding of the current state of veteran entrepreneurship in China, a literature mapping was made on the basis of 235 related articles and research literature published in the past decade (from 2010 to 2019), which are open to the public and available on the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Via combing through the above findings, the authors tried to unlock a phase with prominent rise of corresponding research papers and its possible reason, reveal the leading research power and their correlation, and also explore a potential research trend in the future. On the basis of the overall context and generalization of the status quo and limitations of this field during the past 10 years, reference and guidance can be provided for future study and policy making.
Counselling and Psychological Strategies for Improved Entrepreneurial Tendencies in the Nigerian Military
Authors: Fakokunde Mogbekeloluwa Oluyinka
Published: February 2021

This chapter examines post-retirement career pathways of ex-service personnel in the Nigerian military via entrepreneurship activities. One of the measures taken to assist ex-service personnel get adjusted into the civil life is the establishment of vocational training, which helps to facilitate viable entrepreneurial events. However, there are psychological issues that must be tackled in order to effectively transit into entrepreneurship. The chapter, therefore, looks at these issues to address the concept of entrepreneurship and its tendencies in the Nigerian military. The findings suggest that objectives and components of entrepreneurship education being advocated should be given to personnel early enough and throughout their military career.
Energy Harvesting Models and Techniques for Green IoT
Authors: Muzafar Saira
Published: February 2021

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been popular due to their wide range of applications in almost all walks of life including industry controls, environmental monitoring, health, transportation, military. Usually conventional sensor networks are dedicated, and private networks have little or no communication with the outside world; hence, when connected to the external world by using internet protocol (IP), they form a network of connected devices, sensors, and systems and form an internet of things (IoT). Due to rapid development of IoT infrastructures worldwide, energy demand has been increased significantly to meet the power requirements of billions of connected devices. Since WSN is a foundation of IoT; hence, IoT also inherited with the challenge of providing consistent energy and to maintain hazard-free environments. This chapter is the extension of “Energy Harvesting Models and Techniques: A Review,” which focuses on possible energy sources available in ambient environment and the technological mechanism to harvest energy for WSN and IoT that promotes green energy concept.
Communicating and Building Destination Brands With New Media
Authors: Goyal Anita
Published: February 2021

The chapter aims to discuss building destination brands with the use of brand placements, like in movies and in songs, brand communities, and storytelling through new media options. The objective is to share how these three tools using new media can help build a destination's brand awareness, brand recognition, brand associations, and brand personality. The chapter presents the meaning of new media and old media and then details the meaning and applications of brand placements, brand community, and storytelling. There is a discussion to understand how these three tools help build a destination brand by sharing information with consumers. The use of three techniques will help gain consumers' attention and may develop their attitudes in favour of destination brands to visit the destination.
Customer Relationship Management as an Important Relationship Marketing Tool
Authors: Marques Mariana , Moleiro Diogo , Brito Telma Medeiros , Marques Tiago
Published: February 2021

Nowadays, the traditional four P's of marketing are not enough, especially in hospitality services, because of the permanent need to satisfy the customers, in order to keep them loyal. This chapter aims to understand the application of customer relationship management (CRM) in order to manage client retention and how this can translate into a competitive advantage for the hospitality industry. The chapter has a theoretical framework on the main concepts, such as relational marketing and CRM, and their importance and application to hospitality. The Estoril Coast in Portugal was chosen because it is considered as an international brand due to the importance for national and international tourism. For that, the authors made online questionnaires to hotels in this geographical area. The results allow to measure the use of CRM in the sample hotels and understand the importance of relationship marketing.
Creating an Online Brand Identity
Authors: Almeida Sofia , Ivanescu Yvonne , Campos Ana Cláudia
Published: February 2021

Content generation in the age of the internet of things has been transforming tourism businesses' digital strategies. Despite changes observed in the business environment following the continuous importance of consumers' role in the creation of content, hotels have to pay attention to the creation of their own content as it will influence visibility and relationship with customers. Information and communication technologies (ICT) are increasingly critical for the management and marketing of the hotel sector. This research aims at exploring the influence of generated content in the effectiveness of hotel brand identity creation. A case study was conducted on The Hotel, a luxury hotel located in Brussels, as a way to discuss the importance of the application of digital strategies in building hotel brand identity using a co-creation approach to the process. The chapter also highlights the tools used to communicate the identity and the resulting impacts on the performance of The Hotel.
Digital Marketing Strategies of Portugal's National Tourism Authority
Authors: Dinis Maria Gorete , Costa Rui Augusto , Breda Zélia
Published: February 2021

In recent years, destination management organisations have invested heavily in digital marketing, with online advertising accounting for over half of the total budget. This chapter aims to understand how tourism marketing has been adopted by Portugal's national tourism administration and the role of digital marketing in the country's tourism strategy. The country has been awarded as the best destination in the world (2017 to 2019) and Europe's leading destination (2017 to 2020) and has registered a significant evolution of the tourism sector. Turismo de Portugal is responsible for the country's tourism strategy and the international promotion of the destination, having been awarded as the best official tourism body in the world (2017 to 2019). This chapter combines secondary data (statistics and policy documents) and data from an interview with the Director of the Sales Support Direction of Turismo de Portugal. The results show a change in its communication strategy, being currently performed exclusively online, accompanying the consumer during all stages of the travel cycle.
Transformational Tourism Experiences
Authors: Melo Carla , Richards Greg , Smith Melanie Kay
Published: February 2021

Transformational tourism is an emergent research field, reflecting a broader paradigm shift that encompasses changes in tourist profiles that challenge tourism businesses to deliver experiences that meet the expectations of tourists seeking opportunities for self-development and inner transformation. This chapter presents the outcomes of a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis (CAQDAS) exploring how service providers are communicating transformational tourism experiences online. The findings reveal that the place where the experiences are delivered and the experience characteristics are frequently emphasised, which reinforces their relevance in the process of tourist transformation. Contents addressing the transformation process and the needs of the tourist can also be found. Based on these findings and the literature review, research implications are discussed, and future research directions are presented.
The Impact of the ICT in the Analysis of Visual Attention Using Facial Expressions of the Students
Authors: Bilal Muhammad Yasir , Latif Rana Muhammad Amir , Jhanjhi N. Z. , Humayun Mamoona
Published: February 2021

Measuring and analyzing the student's visual attention are significant challenges in the e-learning environment. Machine learning techniques and multimedia tools can be used to examine the visual attention of a student. Emotions play a vital impact in understanding or judging the attention of the student in the class. If the student is interested in the lecture, the teacher can judge it by reading his emotions, and the learning has increased, and students can pay more attention to the classroom, authors say. The study explores the effect on the brand reputation of universities of information and communication technology (ICT), e-service quality, and e-information quality by focusing on the e-learning and fulfillment of students.
Owner Managers, Family Business, and Earnings Management Preceding Management Buyouts
Authors: Tutuncu Lokman
Published: February 2021

This study investigates earnings management prior to management buyouts in a sample of 269 UK private family and non-family firms. It hypothesizes that concentrated ownership in private non-family firms provides sufficient wealth incentives and power to owner/managers to manage earnings upwards before the acquisition, while family owners use management buyouts as a succession tool in the absence of a suitable family successor out of concern for the future of family business. The results are consistent with this prediction. Owner/managers in non-family firms tend to overstate earnings preceding the buyout while family ownership is negatively associated with discretionary accruals one year before the buyout transaction.
Earnings Management and Stock Liquidity
Authors: Özkaya Hakan
Published: February 2021

This chapter tests whether the earnings management practices in Turkey are considered informative or opportunistic by outside investors by examining its effect on stock liquidity. Earnings management is measured by discretionary accruals calculated by two different competing methods. Stock liquidity is also proxied by two different measures: the illiquidity measure of Amihud and the turnover ratio. Amihud's illiquidity measure indicates firms' daily price responses associated with the trading volume and the turnover ratio indicates how many times a stock changes its owner in a year. Relevant control variables are also included in the models. A positive association between earnings management and stock liquidity implies informative earnings management and vice versa. Earnings management is found to be positively associated with stock market liquidity. Results favor the informative earnings management view for Turkish firms and are robust to alternative specifications of earnings management and stock liquidity measures.
Internet-Enabled Business Models and Marketing Strategies
Authors: Patro Chandra Sekhar
Published: February 2021

The internet is continuously growing and evolving as a vital resource with which organizations can upgrade their capabilities and expand their business activities. The revolution of information technology has a major impact on internet-based business models. At the basic level, it is the shift from analog to digital technologies that are responsible for much new information technology (IT) capabilities. The IT-enabled business trends are profoundly altering the business landscape with the pace of technology change, innovation, and business adoption. Digital technologies have created innovative trends for organizations to create value propositions and perform value-added activities. The chapter articulates the various internet-based models, e-marketing business models, internet marketing strategies, and mix adopted by the organizations in leveraging the unique features of digital technology to create competitive advantages. Further, focuses on the emerging internet-based market structure and IT-enabled business marketing trends.
Modelling of Seismic Liquefaction Using Classification Techniques
Authors: Mehta Azad Kumar , Kumar Deepak , Singh Prithvendra , Samui Pijush , Samui Pijush
Published: February 2021

Liquefaction susceptibility of soil is a complex problem due to non-linear behaviour of soil and its physical attributes. The assessment of liquefaction potential is commonly assessed by the in-situ testing methods. The classification problem of liquefaction is non-linear in nature and difficult to model considering all independent variables (seismic and soil properties) using traditional techniques. In this study, four different classification techniques, namely Fast k-NN (F-kNN), Naïve Bayes Classifier (NBC), Decision Forest Classifier (DFC), and Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH), were used. The SPT-based case record was used to train and validate the models. The performance of these models was assessed using different indexes, namely sensitivity, specificity, type-I error, type-II error, and accuracy rate. Additionally, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were plotted for comparative study. The results show that the F-kNN models perform far better than other models and can be used as a reliable technique for analysis of liquefaction susceptibility of soil.
Predicting Bug Priority Using Topic Modelling in Imbalanced Learning Environments
Authors: Ekanayake Jayalath Bandara
Published: February 2021

Manual classification of bug reports is time-consuming as the reports are received in large quantities. Alternatively, this project proposed automatic bug prediction models to classify the bug reports. The topics or the candidate keywords are mined from the developer description in bug reports using RAKE algorithm and converted into attributes. These attributes together with the target attribute—priority level—construct the training datasets. Naïve Bayes, logistic regression, and decision tree learner algorithms are trained, and the prediction quality was measured using area under recursive operative characteristics curves (AUC) as AUC does not consider the biasness in datasets. The logistics regression model outperforms the other two models providing the accuracy of 0.86 AUC whereas the naïve Bayes and the decision tree learner recorded 0.79 AUC and 0.81 AUC, respectively. The bugs can be classified without developer involvement and logistic regression is also a potential candidate as naïve Bayes for bug classification.
Rethinking the Development of Technology-Enhanced Learning and the Role of Cognitive Computing
Authors: Cheng Yihang , Zhang Xi , Wang Xiaojiong , Zhao Hongke , Yu Yao , Wang Xianhai , Ordoñez de Pablos Patricia
Published: February 2021

Technology-enhanced learning (TEL) is important in social web. Recently, cognitive computing became significant to analyze sentiment and improve effectiveness in TEL field. So analyzing the development of cognitive computing, what and how its abilities improve TEL are necessary. For solving these issues, this study used systematic review approach based on technology view and enhancement view of TEL. Specifically, this study used topic search results in computer science field of “cognitive computing” and “anticipatory computing” in Web of Science database to do map analysis. Besides development footprints, the manuscript describes three development stages and key technologies of cognitive computing through burst study and step-by-step clustering. Finally, this study proposed influencing framework of cognitive computing on TEL and some research trends. This work provides an advanced background of TEL and a systemic review of cognitive computing, contributing to theory development and application of cognitive computing in TEL.
Learning Non-Taxonomic Relations of Ontologies
Authors: Ali Mohamed Hassan Mohamed , Fathalla Said , Kholief Mohamed , Hassan Yasser Fouad
Published: February 2021

Ontologies, as semantic knowledge representation, have a crucial role in various information systems. The main pitfall of manually building ontologies is effort and time-consuming. Ontology learning is a key solution. Learning Non-Taxonomic Relationships of Ontologies (LNTRO) is the process of automatic/semi-automatic extraction of all possible relationships between concepts in a specific domain, except the hierarchal relations. Most of the research works focused on the extraction of concepts and taxonomic relations in the ontology learning process. This article presents the results of a systematic review of the state-of-the-art approaches for LNTRO. Sixteen approaches have been described and qualitatively analyzed. The solutions they provide are discussed along with their respective positive and negative aspects. The goal is to provide researchers in this area a comprehensive understanding of the drawbacks of the existing work, thereby encouraging further improvement of the research work in this area. Furthermore, this article proposes a set of recommendations for future research.
Sup_Ont
Authors: Malik Sonika , Jain Sarika
Published: February 2021

A domain-independent conceptual model that aims to be highly reusable across specific domain applications is provided by upper-level ontologies which usually describe abstract concepts. In this paper, the authors proposed Sup_Ont, a fundamental upper ontology. In this ontology, the structure of the universe shows the concept of reality that is defined to have an existence which is known as truth. The devised super ontology and hence the domain ontologies can be reused across applications because of the generalized representation scheme used that is an EHCPR. An extended hierarchical censored production rules (EHCPRs) system is a knowledge representation system for reasoning with real-life problems and a step towards a generalized representation system. An EHCPR is a unit of knowledge resulting in a knowledge base that shows modularity and hierarchy. Extended hierarchical censored production rules (EHCPRs) have been used to represent the knowledge in intelligent systems.
Enhancing the Retailer Gift Card via Blockchain
Authors: Lu Yuan , Tang Qiang , Wang Guiling
Published: February 2021

Though the retailer gift card has been an ultra-practical marketing tactic to attract customers to spend more, it, on the contrary, also places a great number of customers in troublesome situations due to its current limitations. First, dealing with unwanted gift cards is often time-consuming, costly, or even risky due to the frequent occurrences of gift card resale frauds. Worse still, the issuance and redemption of gift cards happen inside the retailer as in a “black-box,” indicating that a compromised retailer can cheat customers (or even third-party auditors) to deny the issuances of some unredeemed gift cards. This paper proposes a practical middle-layer solution based on blockchain to address the fundamental issues of the existing gift card system, with incurring minimal changes to the current infrastructure.
Spammer Group Detection Using Machine Learning Technology for Observation of New Spammer Behavioral Features
Authors: Cheng Li-Chen , Hu Hsiao-Wei , Wu Chia-Chi
Published: February 2021

Recently, the rapid growth in the number of customer reviews on e-commence platforms and in the amount of user-generated content has begun to have a profound impact on customer purchasing decisions. To counter the negative impact of social media marketing, some firms have begun hiring people to generate fake reviews which either promote their own products or damage their competitor's reputation. This study proposes a framework, which takes advantage of both supervised and unsupervised learning techniques, for the observation of behaviors among spammers. Then, based on the behavior of participants on web forums, the authors build up a post-reply network. The main focus is on the behavior-related features of the reviews, their propagation, and their popularity. The primary objective of this study is to build an effective online spammer detection model and the method detailed in this work can be used to improve the performance of spammer detection models. An experiment is carried out with a real dataset, the results of which indicate that these new features are important for identifying spammers. Finally, random walk clustering is applied to investigate the post-reply network. Some interesting and important features are observed in the interactions between a group of spammers which could be subjected to further research.
Modeling Residential Energy Consumption
Authors: Gholami Roya , Nishant Rohit , Emrouznejad Ali
Published: February 2021

Smart meters that allow information to flow between users and utility service providers are expected to foster intelligent energy consumption. Previous studies focusing on demand-side management have been predominantly restricted to factors that utilities can manage and manipulate, but have ignored factors specific to residential characteristics. They also often presume that households consume similar amounts of energy and electricity. To fill these gaps in literature, the authors investigate two research questions: (RQ1) Does a data mining approach outperform traditional statistical approaches for modelling residential energy consumption? (RQ2) What factors influence household energy consumption? They identify household clusters to explore the underlying factors central to understanding electricity consumption behavior. Different clusters carry specific contextual nuances needed for fully understanding consumption behavior. The findings indicate electricity can be distributed according to the needs of six distinct clusters and that utilities can use analytics to identify load profiles for greater energy efficiency.
Process Simulation and Economic Analysis of Rhamnolipid Production by Pseudomonas aeruginosa Using Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch as Substrate
Authors: Fauzi Andrea Gilang , Sari Cut Nanda , Harahap Andre Fahriz Perdana , Ramadhan Muhammad Yusuf Arya , Gozan Misri
Published: February 2021

Surfactants are amphiphilic molecules that have been used in widely used as emulsifier and cleaning agent in various industries. These broad industrial applications made the global surfactant production increased annually. In 2020, the amount of global surfactant production estimated would reach more than 24 million per year. However, the currently used surfactants are synthetically produced from chemical or petroleum-derived products, so it is often toxic and non-biodegradable. Rhamnolipids are “surfactant like” molecules produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which could be alternatives for more environmentally friendly surfactants. The use of rhamnolipids is quite limited due to its expensive production cost. The production cost of rhamnolipid could be reduced using by agro-industrial by-product as a substrate. One of the abundant agro-industrial by-products in Indonesia that can be used as a substrate for rhamnolipid production is Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB). This study employed SuperPro Designer v9.5 to performed process simulation and economic assessment of rhamnolipid production using OPEFB as a substrate through two different purification methods, which are solvent extraction and chromatography adsorption. Based on the process simulation that has been done, the process that used adsorption chromatography purification methods more efficient in terms of the usage of the feedstock and energy. The economic assessment also showed that these methods were more profitable and economically attractive, with the value of NPV 11.400.000 USD, IRR 11,64%, and Payback Period 6,21 years.
Study of some Physical Properties and the Effect of Gamma Irradiation on Optical Properties of Electrochromic Co3O4 Thin Film
Authors: Ibrahim Buthainah A. , Khodiar Ziad T. , Farhan Marwan M.
Published: February 2021

Cobalt oxide thin film (Co3O4) has been prepared from cobalt chloride with distilled water on conducting glass substrates Fluorine doped Tin Oxide (FTO) at (400ºC) by depositing chemical spray pyrolysis, with thickness (200 nm). The structural properties are studied by XRD. Also, optical properties and electrical properties of Co3O4 thin film are studied by UV spectroscopy and Cyclic voltammetry (CV) respectively. The effects of gamma irradiation on optical properties are also examined. XRD results showed that the film was polycrystalline with cubic structure having preferred orientation (111). The as-prepared Co3O4 film exhibits a noticeable EC behaviour with reversible colour which changes from dark grey to pale yellow with bleaching time (55 s) and colouring time (40 s). After irradiation, the optical properties showed that as the transmittance decrease leads to decrease the direct optical band gap from (3.68eV) to (3.55eV)
Antibacterial Activity of Cobalt Ferrite (CoFe2O4) Nanoparticles against Oral Enterococci
Authors: Sulaiman Jameel M.A. , Hamdoon Suhad M. , Abdulrahman Ghada Y.
Published: February 2021

This study aimed to show the enhanced effect of nanoparticles cobalt ferrite CoFe2O4 with chlorhexidine on Enterococcus faecium isolated from failure root canal treatment cases. Sol-gel technique was used to prepare the spinel cobalt ferrite CoFe2O4 at 200 °C then sintering at 400 °C & 600 °C, whereas the antimicrobial susceptibility test of nanoparticles was carried out according to the Kirby-Bauer technique compared with chlorhexidine. Fifteen isolates of Enterococcus faecium obtained by inserting sterile paper points in root canals, from patients who consulted the Teaching Hospital of Dentistry College at the University of Mosul, Iraq. For the first time, results showed that the nanoparticle cobalt ferrite CoFe2O4 at 400 °C and 600 °C, when mixed with chlorhexidine, give the mean inhibition zone 8.5334 mm and 8.0667mm respectively, while the pure chlorhexidine was providing a mean inhibition zone of 3.1667 mm, and also the nanoparticles cobalt ferrite in both cases of sintering without mixing, there was no antimicrobial effect. Statistical analysis using Duncan showed significant differences among groups (p < 0.05).
Some Properties of Cement Mortar Incorporating Micro and Nano-Metakaolin Materials
Authors: Al-Wahab Ali Manolia Abed , Kadhim Mohammed Jawad , Nasser Ibtesam F.
Published: February 2021

There are many reasons neededfor continuous evolution in concrete technology; one of them concern on the greenhouse gas emission and depletion of natural resource as a results of high production of Portland cement. Many solutions are used to solve these problems; one of them is using cement replacement materials in concrete like metakaolin (in micro or Nano scale) which offered positive effect on the properties of cement concrete. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the effects of metakaolin (MK) and Nano-metakaolin (NMK) on some physical and mechanical properties of cement mortar. For this purpose, mortar mixes are prepared by substituting cement (by weight) with (10%) metakaolin or (1, 3, 5, and 7%) Nano - metakaolin. The amount of binder for mortar mixtures is 700 kg/m with a constant water / binder ratio of 0.33. Workability, apparent density, water absorption, compressive strength, and flexural strength of all mortar mixes are determined and compared with reference mix without any mineral admixture (0% MK or NMK). The results indicated that the performance of mortar mixes can be enhanced by metakaoline replacement. Furthermore, Nano-metakaolin has significantly positive impacts on the properties of mortar mixes which have found to be improved with increasing the Nano-metakaolin replacement, due to better pore refinement, micro filling action, and higher pozzolanic reaction. The optimum Nano-metakaolin substitution ratio (7%) causes increase in compressive and flexural strength reach to (82.6% and 59.5%), respectively compared with the reference mix, at age of 28 days.
Green Corrosion Inhibitor of Low Carbon Steel in Acidic Media by Pectin Nanoparticles Using Potentiostatic and Weight Losses Method
Authors: Abdulhessein Basheer A. , Ali Alaa Mashjel
Published: February 2021

In the present work, corrosion inhibition of low carbon steel in a 1M H2SO4 solution by pectin nanoparticles extract was studied by potentiostatic and weight loss methods. Increasing the acid concentration leads to an increase in the corrosion rate of the electrode. The variable conditions of the pectin nanoparticles used in this investigation are (2 to 10g/l at 25oC). It was found that the concentrates acts as a compelling consumption inhibitor for gentle steel in an acidic medium. The hindrance process is credited to the adsorbed film development of the inhibitor on the metal surface of that protects the metal against corrosion. It was observed that the efficiency of the inhibition rose with increased inhibitor concentration up to the maximum level of 92% for 10 g/l at 25 oC. The results showed that the corrosion rate without the inhibitor was 2.263mpy while with the inhibitor 0.179 mpy, meaning that the rate of corrosion improved more than 90%. The results of the immersion time (1 h) at 25oC on the inhibition of the corrosion also indicated improved corrosion resistance. The results demonstrated that an extract of pectin nanoparticles could serve as an excellent eco-friendly, green corrosion inhibitor. Fourier- transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results indicate that these nanoparticles contain various chemical bonds (C-C, CH2, C-O-C, and cellulose) with metal surfaces, lead to producing a barrier layer that protects the surface.
Date Seeds Fiber Reinforced Low-Density Polyethylene: Effect of Stearic Acid on its Mechanical and Morphological Characteristics
Authors: Elnaid Abduati , Noriman N.Z.
Published: February 2021

The effect of different content of steric acid (3, 6 and 9 wt.%) on the mechanical properies (tensile, flexural and impact properties) and morphology of linear low-density polyethylene / date seeds (LLDPE/DS) composites were evaulated in this research. The composites were produced by using extrusion followed by injuction molding process. Results presented that the addition of steric acid at 3 wt.% to the composite has shown highest tensile strength and elongation at break as compared to other treated samples. This is due to the improvement on the fiber surface in presence of SA. However, the tensile strength and elongation at break decreased thereafter treatment with 6% and 9% of SA. Furthermore, the flexural and impact properties have shown the same trend of the tensile properties, this was consistent with the results shown on SEM micrographs.
Formulation and Evaluation of Diluted Sulfuric-Peroxide-HF (DSP+) Mixtures for Cleaning High-Aspect Ratio Contacts in 3D NAND
Authors: An Kook Hyun , Kim Dong Gyu , Kim Hyun Tae , Yerriboina Nagendra Prasad , Kim Tae Gon , Park Jin Goo
Published: February 2021

In this study, organic strip, particle removal efficiency and wettability were investigated at different mixing concentrations of diluted Sulfuric-Peroxide-HF (DSP+) solutions with and without the addition of IPA. Organic strip evaluation was carried out with KrF photoresist (PR), and the strip rate was increased rapidly with the increase in H2SO4 concentration mixed with DI water (DIW). The effects of H2O2 and IPA addition on diluted H2SO4 were observed below 30 vol% of H2SO4. The thickness of PR was increased with the addition of H2O2 to the solutions and the strip rate was increased when IPA was added. Silica particles were used to evaluate particle removal efficiency. The concentration of HF was the predominant factor of increasing PRE, and the addition of H2SO4 and H2O2 assisted in obtaining high PRE, while IPA addition reduced PRE. Decreasing of contact angle was observed with an increase of IPA addition to DSP+ solutions, and improved wettability of DSP+ solutions was expected to effectively clean particles in high-aspect-ratio (HAR) contact holes.
Visualization of Acoustic Waves and Cavitation in Ultrasonic Water Flow
Authors: Usui Hidehisa , Ishibashi Tomoatsu , Matsuo Hisanori , Watanabe Katsuhide , Ando Keita
Published: February 2021

Visualization experiments were performed to examine whether acoustic bubbles play a role in ultrasonic water flow cleaning, as in convention cleaning with ultrasonic baths. Schlieren visualization confirmed the standing-wave-like acoustic field in ultrasonic water flow that collides with a glass surface. Backlight visualization showed that cavitation bubbles appear in the water flow spreading over the glass surface. These bubbles are found to oscillate in volume and move inside film flow and thus expected to play a role as active cleaning agents.
The Impact of Financial Reporting Practices on Performance: A Study of Small and Medium Enterprises in Rathnapura District, Sri Lanka
Authors: Jayawardane H. , Gamlath G. R. M.
Published: February 2021

The objective of the study is to examine the impact of ﬁnancial reporting practices on the ﬁnancial performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Rathnapura District, Sri Lanka. This empirical study is based on the primary data through face to face interviews and administered questionnaires and secondary data through examining subject related books, published research papers, websites, statistical reports of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and other institutions, and their speciﬁc regulatory factsheets. Data were collected from the total selected sample of 60 SMEs Statistical tools; hypothesis testing, descriptive statistics, and Multiple Regression Analysis are used to analyze and ﬁnd the result of the study. The designated measures of ﬁnancial reporting practices are ﬁnancial reporting practices, investment analysis practices, Inventory management practices, cash management practices, and ﬁxed assets management practices. The ﬁndings revealed that among the ﬁve selected independent variables, there was a variation of 93% (Approx.) of the ﬁnancial performance of SMEs due to changes in ﬁnancial reporting practices, investment analysis practices, inventory analysis practices, cash management practices and ﬁxed assets management practices that have been depicted in the model. Out of ﬁve variables, FR, IA, and FA management practices are highly supported to better ﬁnancial performance than that of the INA and CM practices. This paper provides useful information to the Government Ministries, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Professional Bodies SME owners, researchers, accounting practitioners and other stakeholders in Sri Lanka for their involvement in making eﬀorts to the future development of SMEs.
Instilling Entrepreneurial Mind-Set through Entrepreneurship Education: A Systematic Review of Literature
Authors: Mathushan P.
Published: February 2021

Entrepreneurship has never been more signiﬁcant than at the present moment, when economies across the world encounter the challenges of economic growth, connecting the inequality gap and solving social problems. Society necessitates individuals equipped with entrepreneurial and innovative skills, attitudes and behavior. Education is one way the government can grasp to create an environment for entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship education has generated considerable interest in recent decades. More so, entrepreneurship education fosters entrepreneurial mind-sets, behaviors and capabilities in young people enabling them to create and lead new organizations and entrepreneurship educators are hence looking for pedagogies that enable students to be exposed to multiple experiences in entrepreneurial decision-making. However, the argument on the pedagogy of entrepreneurship education still remains agnostic. The ﬁnest outcomes in entrepreneurship education are achieved when students are exposed to action-oriented experiential learning that encourages problem-solving, creativity and peer evaluation. Building upon insights from existing literature, the ﬁndings suggest that, by embracing game-based learning model for entrepreneurship education, and design thinking approach in entrepreneurship education can foster entrepreneurial mind-set. Notably, business simulation games can play in the development of entrepreneurial capabilities in undergraduate students.
Testicular germ cell tumors type 2 have high RNA expression of LDHB, the gene for lactate dehydrogenase subunit B
Authors: von Eyben Finn Edler , Parraga-Alava Jorge , Tu Shi-Ming
Published: February 2021

This study analyzed RNA expression of genes for three serum tumor markers, alpha fetoprotein (AFP), human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), in patients with testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) type 2. The gene AFP encodes AFP, the gene for chorionic gonadotropin beta polypeptide 5 (CGB5) encodes a major part of the specific beta subunit of hCG, and the genes for LDH subunit A (LDHA), LDH subunit B (LDHB), and LDH subunit C (LDHC) encode three different subunits of LDH. LDHB encodes the LDHB subunit present as a tetramer in LDH isoenzyme 1 (LDH-1). We examined three datasets with 203 samples of normal testis tissue (NT) and TGCT type 2. Yolk sac tumor (YST) expressed RNA of AFP fourteen thousand times higher than seminoma (SE), embryonal carcinoma (EC), and teratoma (TER) combined (P = 0.00015). In the second microarray, choriocarcinoma (CC) expressed RNA of CGB5 ten times higher than other histologic types of TGCT combined. EC expressed RNA of LDHB twice higher than SE, YST and TER combined (P = 0.000041). EC expressed RNA of LDHB higher than that YST expressed RNA of AFP and that CC expressed RNA of CGB5. In conclusion, TGCT type 2 expressed RNA of LDHB markedly higher than the RNA of 23 other candidate genes for TGCT type 2.
The Gift of Life
Authors: Keya Tahmina Afrose , Leela Anthony , Fernandez Kevin , Das Suprava , Habib Nasrin
Published: February 2021

Background:

In Malaysia, there is a large gap between the number of organ donors and recipients.

Aim and Objectives:

This study was done to determine the knowledge and attitude toward organ donation among medical students in a private medical institution in Malaysia. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from April to June, 2019, among 122 randomly selected participants from MBBS students of a private medical university, Malaysia. Data were collected using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 23.23 years (standard deviation ± 0.58 years). The male-to-female ratio was almost equal (49.2: 50.8%). All the participants (100%) had correct knowledge regarding brain death and the place of registration for organ donation. However, only 54 (44.3% students [95% confidence interval (CI): 35.49–53.11]) had adequate knowledge about organ donation and 59 (48.4%) students (95% CI: 39.53–57.27) had a positive attitude toward it. Younger respondents (odds ratio [OR] = 0.3685, P = 0.02) were more likely to have higher knowledge about organ donation. Positive attitude was more among male respondents (OR = 0.8788, P = 0.72) and those aged <24 years (OR = 0.5535, P = 0.19) but were not statistically significant. The study showed that there was no statistically significant relationship between knowledge of organ donation and attitude.

Conclusion:

Almost half of the study population had adequate knowledge of organ donation, but most of them had a negative attitude toward it. It is crucial to address the misconceptions and sociocultural beliefs regarding organ donation through various awareness campaigns. Further study is required to explore the factors hindering willingness to organ transplantation.
New insights into intestinal failure–associated liver disease in adults
Authors: Fousekis Fotios S. , Mitselos Ioannis V. , Christodoulou Dimitrios K.
Published: February 2021

Intestinal failure–associated liver disease (IFALD) remains one of the most common and serious complications of parenteral nutrition (PN), causing a wide spectrum of hepatic manifestations from steatosis and mild cholestasis to portal hypertension and end-stage liver failure. The prevalence of IFALD depends on the diagnostic criteria and ranges from 4.3% to 65%. Moreover, many factors are shown to contribute to its development, including nutrient deficiencies, toxicity of PN, infections, and alterations of bile acid metabolism and gut microbiota. Prevention and management of IFALD aim at ameliorating or eliminating the risk factors associated with IFALD. The use of PN formulations with a lower ratio omega-6-to-omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, cycle PN, optimization of enteral stimulation and prevention and early treatment of infections constitute the main therapeutic targets. However, failure of improvement and severe IFALD with end-stage liver failure should be considered as the indications of intestinal transplantation. The aim of this review is to provide an update of the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and diagnosis of IFALD in the adult population as well as to present a clinical approach of the therapeutic strategies of IFALD and present novel therapeutic targets.
A multiplicative dual of nil-clean rings
Authors: Zhou Yiqiang
Published: February 2021

The goal of this note is to completely determine the rings for which every nonunit is a product of a nilpotent and an idempotent (in either order).
SÍNTOMAS DEPRESIVOS Y NIVEL DE RESILIENCIA EN TRANSGÉNEROS FEMENINAS MEDIADOS POR LA CONSTRUCCIÓN DE GÉNERO
Authors: Zambrano-Zambrano Camila Gabriela , Bumbila-García Bibian Bibeca
Published: February 2021

El objetivo de la investigación es identificar los síntomas depresivos y nivel de resiliencia, que se encuentran mediados por la construcción de género. Para el desarrollo de la investigación se aplica metodología de enfoque cuanti-cualitativo, de tipo descriptivo; donde se utiliza como población y muestra a las mujeres que conforman la Organización Trans Femeninas de Portoviejo. Los datos que se establecen de la investigación se obtienen mediante el uso de instrumentos, como son una entrevista semiestructurada de tipo “ad-hoc “; además, se aplica el Inventario de Depresión de Beck BDI-II; mientras que, para identificar el nivel de resiliencia se utiliza la Escala de Resiliencia SV-RES. El principal resultado obtenido refleja que las personas transgéneros femeninas tienen nivel de depresión minino, a partir de la construcción de género, que son objeto de sus propias relaciones intrapersonales e interpersonales. Además, se identifica nivel de resiliencia promedio basado en la autoestima.

Palabras clave: Síntomas depresivos, Nivel de resiliencia, Construcción de género, Personas transgéneros.
Application of Splines of the Second Order Approximation to Volterra Integral Equations of the Second Kind. Applications in Systems Theory and Dynamical Systems
Authors: Burova I. G. , Alcybeev G. O.
Published: February 2021

This paper discusses the application of local interpolation splines of the second order of approximation for the numerical solution of Volterra integral equations of the second kind. Computational schemes based on the use of polynomial and non-polynomial splines are constructed. The advantages of the proposed method include the ability to calculate the integrals which are present in the computational methods. The application of splines to the solution of nonlinear Volterra integral equations is also discussed. The results of numerical experiments are presented
Probleme Dayalı Öğrenmenin 5. Sınıf Öğrencilerinin Fen Bilimleri Dersi Akademik Başarılarına ve Tutumlarına Etkisi
Authors: Yılmaz Taner , Çavuş Murat
Published: February 2021

Bu araştırmanın amacı, Probleme Dayalı Öğrenmenin (PDÖ) ortaokul 5. Sınıf Fen Bilimleri dersine ait “Işık ve Ses” ünitesinin öğrenilmesinde öğrencilerin akademik başarılarına ve fen dersi tutumlarına etkisi olup olmadığını incelemektir. Araştırmanın evrenini Yozgat İl Merkezi’ndeki tüm ortaokul 5. Sınıf öğrencileri, örneklemini ise Yozgat İl Merkezi’nde bulunan bir devlet ortaokulundaki 5. Sınıf öğrencileri oluşturmaktadır. Deney ve kontrol grubu seçkisiz (yansız) atama yöntemi ile 68 öğrenci olarak belirlenmiştir. Araştırmada öntest-sontest kontrol gruplu yarı deneysel desen kullanılmıştır. Uygulama, 2014-2015 eğitim-öğretim yılının ikinci döneminde, haftada 4 ders saati olmak üzere 6 haftada gerçekleştirilmiştir. Veriler Akademik Başarı Testi (ABT), Fen Bilimleri Tutum Ölçeği (FBTÖ) ve PDÖ senaryoları kullanılarak toplanmıştır. Veriler betimsel istatistik, One-Sample K-S Testi, Bağımlı ve Bağımsız t testlerinden faydalanılarak SPSS-13 programıyla analiz edilmiştir. Bulgular, “Işık ve Ses” ünitesinde PDÖ’nün geleneksel yönteme kıyasla öğrencilerin akademik başarılarında ve fen dersi tutumlarında olumlu yönde anlamlı bir artış sağladığını göstermiştir.