bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Novel Approach for Block Chain Technology based Cyber Security in Cloud Storage Using Hash Function
Authors: Chandramohan Kanmani Pappa  , Dasthegir Nasreen Banu  , Kumar Vaishnavi  , Susila Nagarajan  , Manivannan Karunakaran  , Perisetla Kandaswamy Hemalatha
Published: October 2023

Block chain is generic name to describe the technology used by Bitcoin and other digital currency to record and secure transaction. This technology enables a highly accessible ledger with greatly reduced risk for tampering. The dynamic immutable, data ledger makes ideal for real time monitoring of the shipment of goods. Cloud is an important of distributed storage system of networking. Cloud system need for security, storage management, minimize the cloud cost and fast storage could be improved. The security using new most development security system of block chain technology is used to improve the cloud security. The data owner to be uploads the data on web page and access the folder. The user has been accessing the data on cloud storage using encryption and decryption using block chain based cyber security system. the problem for security in cloud storage because data transmission and data sharing, the alternate for security solution using Post Quantum-proof cryptography algorithm is used to improve the encryption and decryption process and more tight security for block chain technology for the cloud system. The SHA-3 512 Hash function algorithm automatically generate the key for data security enhancements of cloud networks. Post Quantum-proof cryptography algorithm has been improved the encryption Performance and reduced the power consumption, and increase the Latency performance, and boost up the security performances. Finally Post Quantum-proof cryptography algorithm for well support for security system of the cloud networks. Even some passwords, which are often cited as the weakest link in cyber security, may not be necessary.
Convolutional Neural Network for Transmission Line Fault Diagnosis Based on Signal Segmentation Approach
Authors: Abdul Malek Saidina Omar  , Ahmad Asri Abd Samat  , Fasihah Faisal  , Muhammad Khusairi Osman  , Mohammad Nizam Ibrahim  , Zakaria Hussain
Published: October 2023

Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is a Deep Learning algorithm that can take in an input signal, assign importance (learnable weights and biases) to various aspects of the signals and distinguish between them. The CNN algorithm trains a sample and obtains a CNN model capable of identifying different fault types to analyse transmission line faults. Fault analysis methods typically require feature extraction to synthesise the relevant and non-redundant information from the raw signals. However, these traditional methods are time-consuming and inconsistent, and they can produce biased results due to the reliance on human expertise and experience. Hence, this research focused on developing an intelligent system for fault detection in a three-phase transmission line using CNN. This research aims to develop a CNN model for automatic fault detection in a three-phase transmission line and evaluate the performance of the CNN model for analysing transmission line faults. The three-phase transmission line model was developed using MATLAB-Simulink. CNN was implemented to detect transmission line faults. The performance of CNN based on the signal segmentation approach was evaluated through three different types of data: ideal and noise-added signal data. The simulation result shows good performance accuracy of 99.11% for the ideal case, 99.36%, and 99.39% for 20 dB and 30 dB noise-added cases, respectively. The result shows that a higher noise value in transmission line fault current could increase the performance of CNN. In conclusion, the utilisation of CNN based on a signal segmentation approach for transmission line fault analysis has showed promising performance.
Analysis of Early Stroke Diagnosis Based on Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging using Machine Learning
Authors: Shaarmila Kandaya  , Abdul Rahim Abdullah  , Norhashimah Mohd Saad  , Izzatul Husna Azman  , Ezreen Farina Shair  , Nur Hasanah Ali
Published: October 2023

Stroke causes paralysis resulting from a hemorrhage in the brain or blockage of blood flow to the brain. It is third leading cause of death in Malaysia, with at least 32 deaths per day, and poses a major challenge to Malaysia's health services. A recent study showed that he could save a patient's life if he received treatment within six hours of a stroke. Unfortunately, Malaysia is facing a shortage of neuroradiologists, hampering efforts to treat its growing number of stroke patients. In this research, used Magnetic Resonance Imaging which is better compare to CT scan and CBCT because MRI will produce more detailed images of soft tissues, ligaments and organs. So that, advanced imaging using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has gained more attention than conventional angiography in the diagnosis of acute stroke due to its high spatial resolution and fast scan times. Traditionally, diagnosis was made manually by neuroradiologists during a highly subjective and time-consuming task. Detecting collaterals from MRI images is a challenging task due to the presence of noise and artifacts, small size, and heterogeneous structure of vessels. By the way, this paper is mainly about the early diagnosis of stroke based on brain magnetic resonance imaging using machine learning. Based on the results, can see that the Fuzzy c-means (FCM) and Watershed Transformation (WT) segmentation of brain infarcts which are original image, output of guided filter, gradient magnitude image, output of watershed transform and final detected infarct with morphological operation.
PANDA Fiber Sagnac Interferometer for Temperature Sensor Application
Authors: Tan Jun Wei  , Lip Zhan Hong  , Sulaiman Wadi Harun  , Cheng Xiau San
Published: October 2023

Fiber Sagnac loop mirror has great potential for use in various application such as multi-wavelength laser source, strain and temperature sensors. This paper demonstrates an optical fiber temperature sensor based on two lengths of PANDA polarization maintaining fibers (PMFs) in a fiber Sagnac interferometer. The temperature sensing is based on the change of spectral spacing of the generated optical comb with the temperature difference between two PMFs. The performance of the system was characterized numerically and experimentally by measuring the spectral spacing when raising the temperature of one of the PMFs. A high temperature sensitivity up to 0.36 nm/°C is obtained, with detuning range of 43 nm. This makes it a good candidate for various in-field sensing application.
Indoor Environmental Quality in Micro & Nanoelectronics Laboratories at IMEN, Research Complex, UKM
Authors: Mohd Hannas Hosnon  , Noor Anilizawatima Sulong  , Abang Annuar Ehsan  , Khairul Nisha Mohd. Kharuddin
Published: October 2023

The National University of Malaysia's Micro and Nanoelectronics laboratories were examined to ascertain their comfort levels. Eight laboratories were chosen as the study locations. This study aims to assess the interior air quality at six locations by measuring CO2, formaldehyde CHOH, total volatile organic compound TVOC, PM2.5, indoor temperature, and relative humidity. The thermal comfort evaluation for labs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 is between 20.45 and 22.47 °C, which is below the range of DOSH and Ashrae. While the average readings in laboratories 6 and 8 are within the limits allowed at 23,21 °C and 23,75 °C, respectively. Five laboratories were exceeding the upper limit of RH (30–60%) but only three laboratories were still within the maximum level mentioned by the Ashrae standard. RH exceeded the ICOP limit (60%) at 70.3%, 63.7%, 75.4%, 60.6%, 62.8% and 65.5%, at Lab 1, 2,3,6,7 and 8, respectively, whereas temperature exceeded it (22.5- 26 °C) at 20.45, 22.2, 21.9, 22.43, 21.58 and 22.47 at Lab 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8, respectively. While the average air velocities for all laboratories are 0.17, 0.13, 0.10, 0.16, 0.12, 0.14, 0.15 and 0.09 ms-1, respectively. All the data that has been measured is found to be below the maximum level as recommended by the ASHRAE Standard 55 (2004) of 0.25 ms-1. The indoor air contaminants (CO, CHOH, TVOC, PM2.5, and PM10) met the standard level of ICOP and DOSH except for CHOH approaches ICOP (0.1ppm) at 0.1 and 0.09, at Point 9 and Point 10 for laboratory 3 compared to other laboratories where the concentration obtained is lower. The highest laboratories average concentration of PM2.5 was 13 µg/m3 determined in Lab 3, which was the most actively utilized one because the research activity in this laboratory was working more intensively than the others. As in the study of PM2.5, the highest average PM10 concentration was evaluated in Lab 3 as 36 µg/m3. Based on observations and studies, we find that fresh outdoor air with a complete and good purifier/filter should be used to reduce the concentration of indoor pollutants.
Automated Defective Ceramic Tiles Classification using Image Processing Techniques
Authors: Shafaf Ibrahim  , Nur Ain Emylia Mohd Vauxhall  , Nur Nabilah Abu Mangshor  , Ahmad Firdaus Ahmad Fadzil  , Nor Azura Md Ghani
Published: October 2023

Surface quality is one of the critical issues in the ceramic tile manufacturing industry. However, there are still large amounts of ceramic tiles manufacturers who use a manual inspection process to check the quality of the ceramic tiles’ surfaces. The manual inspection is time-consuming and has low accuracy. Additionally, the slow inspection process could not keep up with the production rate. Therefore, this study presents a solution where image processing techniques are implemented to construct an automated defective ceramic tiles classification. The process consists of a few phases which include image enhancement, image segmentation, feature extraction, and classification. The input image which is the ceramic tiles image was enhanced using the histogram equalization technique. The segmentation was done using Sobel and the global thresholding technique before the feature extraction process is implemented. Three shape features of mean intensity, area, and perimeter were extracted in analyzing the characteristics of each ceramic tile defect type of crack, corner, and edge. Then, the image was classified using the K-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) technique. A confusion matrix was used to assess the performance of the k-NN classification to 150 testing images. The overall mean accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity returned good performance at 93.34%, 89.93%, and 95% respectively. Thus, it can be inferred that the proposed automated defective ceramic tiles classification using image processing techniques was successful.
Radiation Absorption and Diffusion Thermo Effects on Unsteady MHD Casson Fluid Flow Past a Moving Inclined Plate Embedded in Porous Medium in the Presence of Chemical Reaction and Thermal Radiation
Authors: Sridevi Dandu  , Venkata Ramana Murthy Chitrapu  , Udaya Bhaskara Varma Nadimpalli
Published: October 2023

The aim of the present paper is to investigate the effects of Radiation absorption and diffusion thermo on unsteady magnetohydrodynamic Casson fluid flow past an inclined permeable moving plate in Presence of thermal radiation, heat absorption and homogenous chemical reaction. The plate is assumed to be embedded in a uniform porous medium and Moves with a constant velocity in the flow direction in the presence of a transverse magnetic Field. The equations governing the flow are transformed into a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations by using perturbation technique. Graphical results for the velocity distribution, temperature distribution and concentration distribution based on the numerical solutions are presented and discussed. Also discuss the effects of various parameters on the skin-friction coefficient and the rate of heat transfer in the form of Nusselt number and rate of mass transfer in the form of Sherwood number at the surface. Velocity and temperature distribution is observed to increase with an increase in radiation absorption and Dufour parameter, whereas diminishes with enhances of Magnetic field, heat absorption coefficient, radiation parameter and chemical reaction parameter in respective velocity, temperature and concentration distributions.
Hydrogen and Dark Oxygen drive Microbial Productivity in diverse Groundwater Ecosystems
Authors: Ruff S , Humez Pauline , Hrabe de Angelis Isabella , Diao Muhe , Nightingale Michael , Cho Sara , Connors Liam , Kuloyo Olukayode , Seltzer Alan , Bowman Samuel , Wankel Scott , McClain Cynthia , Mayer Bernhard , Strous Marc
Published: October 2023

Around 50% of humankind relies on groundwater as a source of drinking water. We investigated the age, geochemistry, and microbiology of 138 groundwater samples from 87 monitoring wells (<250 m depth) located in 14 aquifers in Canada (Fig. 1). Geochemistry and microbiology showed consistent trends suggesting large-scale aerobic and anaerobic hydrogen, methane, nitrogen, and sulfur cycling carried out by diverse microbial communities. Older groundwaters, especially in aquifers with organic carbon-rich strata, contained on average more cells than younger groundwaters, challenging current estimates of subsurface cell abundances. We observed substantial concentrations of dissolved oxygen in older groundwaters that could support aerobic lifestyles in subsurface ecosystems at an unprecedented scale. Metagenomics, oxygen isotope analyses and mixing models indicated that “dark oxygen” was produced in situ via microbial dismutation. We show that ancient groundwaters sustain productive communities and highlight an overlooked oxygen source in present and past subsurface ecosystems of Earth Ruff et al. 2023).

Title, Abstract, and Figure 1 are reproduced from (Ruff et al. 2023) without adaptations, according to the terms of http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
On the presence and detectability of polyphosphates in soil microbial biomass
Authors: Čapek Petr , Tupá Adéla
Published: October 2023

Polyphosphates (PolyP), i.e. phosphate polymers, are commonly found in pure cultures of various microorganisms. Although they have been the subject of intensive microbiological research in the past, they have never been directly studied in species-rich soil microbial communities. So far, there are only few studies indirectly suggesting that soil microorganisms build up PolyP as a storage for phosphorus (P), and use them when soil P availability decreases. We attempted to provide direct evidence for PolyP presence in soil microorganisms, and test if the PolyP can be detected in the soil microbial biomass P pool applying the standard chloroform-fumigation extraction method. Twelve different soil samples were collected along the gradient of forest recovery after the bark beetle outbreak in the catchments of two adjacent glacier lakes (Plešné and Čertovo, Bohemian forest, Czech Republic). The presence of PolyP in the samples was assessed by staining in a manipulative experiment designed to deplete any PolyP present. Carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and P in the microbial biomass were estimated by the chloroform-fumigation extraction method and soil slurries of fresh samples stained by the Neisser method. The soils were then mixed with sterile sand and supplemented with growth medium without P. The rate of growth of microbial biomass was estimated from oxygen consumption during one week incubation at dark. After one week, the microbial biomass C, N, and the P were estimated again and samples stained. The combination of the incubation experiment and staining proved that the soil microorganisms in the collected samples contained PolyP and that PolyP were used to achieve maximum growth rate under P-limited conditions. The C to N to P ratio increased significantly over one week of incubation reflecting the changing PolyP content. To further confirm that the fumigation extraction method is sensitive to PolyP content, manufactured PolyP was added to all soils at different steps of the fumigation extraction method, and its recovery was estimated. Recovery ranged from 80 to 100%. Abiotic depolymerisation at acidic conditions required for the correct quantification of P-PO4 using molybdenum-blue method was very likely responsible for half of the recovery, the remaining being enzymatic depolymerisation. We conclude that PolyP are ubiquitous in soils and affect microbial biomass P estimation. The high recovery rate of PolyP around 90% implies that presence of PolyP can cause a significant overestimation of the microbial biomass P when typical correction factor 0.4 is used.
From the Mountain to the Valley - Drivers of Groundwater Prokaryotic Communities along an Alpine River Corridor
Authors: Karwautz Clemens , Retter Alice , Haas Johannes , Birk Steffen , Griebler Christian
Published: October 2023

Rivers extend into the underlying groundwater which represents the unseen freshwater majority. Understanding microbial community composition and dynamics of shallow groundwater and lotic ecosystems is thus crucial, due to their potential impact on ecosystem processes and functioning.

A 300 km section of the Mur river valley, from 2000 m.a.s.l. in the Austrian alps to the flats (200 m.a.s.l.) at the Slovenian border, was followed, analyzing river water from 14 stations and groundwater from 45 wells in early summer and late autumn. The active (RNA derived) and total prokaryotic communities were characterized using high-throughput gene amplicon sequencing. Key physico-chemical parameters and stress indicators were recorded. The groundwater microbiome is analyzed regarding its composition, change with land use, and difference to the river. Community composition and species turnover differed significantly. At high altitudes, dispersal limitation was the main driver of groundwater community assembly, whereas in the lowland, homogeneous selection explained the larger share. Land use was a key determinant of the groundwater microbiome composition. The alpine region was more diverse in prokaryotic taxa, with some early diverging archaeal lineages being highly abundant. This dataset shows a longitudinal change in prokaryotic communities that is dependent on regional differences affected by geomorphology and land use.
Anabolic and Catabolic Microbial Activity in Hydrocarbon-rich Sediments of Guaymas Basin
Authors: Nagakura Toshiki , Morono Yuki , Ito Motoo , Kallmeyer Jens
Published: October 2023

Guaymas Basin, located in the Gulf of California, Mexico, is a young marginal ocean basin with high sedimentation rates of >1 mm/year, active seafloor spreading, and steep geothermal gradients in its sediment. It hosts a unique microbial subseafloor biosphere as these conditions lead to thermal cracking of sedimentary organic matter and the production of bioavailable organic carbon compounds and hydrocarbons already at shallow depths. The abundance and diversity of potential microbial substrates raise the question of which substrates are being used for catabolic and anabolic microbial metabolism. We thus analyzed the microbial uptake of hydrocarbons and inorganic nitrogen using nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) analysis after incubation with stable-isotope labeled substrates. Incubations were carried out with samples from two International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Exp. 385 drill sites. Site U1545 is characterized by undisturbed sedimentary strata and a temperature gradient of 225°C/km, whereas Site U1546 has experienced a sill intrusion at greater depth, below the cored interval. The intrusion led to temporary heating of the sediment, but a temperature gradient of 221°C/km indicates thermal equilibration with the surrounding sediment since sill emplacement. Incubations were carried out with 13C-benzene + 2H-hexadecane + 15NH4Cl or 13C-methane + 15NH4Cl at in-situ temperature (4-62°C) and pressure (25 MPa) for 42 days. Additionally, sulfate reduction rates (SRR) were measured by incubating the samples with four aliphatic hydrocarbons + four aromatic hydrocarbons or methane and radioisotope-labeled 35SO42- for 10 days, also at in-situ temperature and pressure. The NanoSIMS analyses reveal that a few samples showed detectable microbial assimilation of hydrocarbons. Nitrogen was significantly assimilated in some samples incubated with methane. The assimilation mostly occurred in samples from near the seafloor (2 and 44 meter below seafloor (mbsf)). Our results indicate that anaerobic microorganisms in Guaymas Basin take up measurable amounts of hydrocarbons and inorganic nitrogen even in the relatively short incubation time of 42 days. The results of the SRR measurements indicate that a mixture of hydrocarbons and methane increases the SRR in samples from near the seafloor (2 mbsf) and around the sulfate-methane transition zone (44 and 55 mbsf) but not in samples from greater depths. Our results show that anaerobic microorganisms in Guaymas Basin can use hydrocarbons for anabolic and catabolic metabolism in this extreme environment. Given the high abundance of various carbon compounds, nitrogen appears to be a limiting factor for cellular growth.
What the Flux? – Water-Rock-Microbe Interactions and Crustal Gases in the Deep Subsurface
Authors: Kietäväinen Riikka
Published: October 2023

The deep, dark fracture zones of the continental crust host a fascinating interplay between water, rocks, and microbes, resulting in the production and consumption of gases, including methane, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and hydrogen. Various geological factors influence the formation and release of these crustal gases, including the local rock type with its concentration of radioactive elements and carbon, temperature, and the connectivity and dynamics of fracture systems with each other and to the surface.

To understand the formation, accumulation, and release of crustal gases, methodologies of hydrogeochemistry, biogeochemistry, and isotope geochemistry can be employed. Sample collection from drill holes and mines, coupled with on-line monitoring of gas flux rate and composition, provides important data. Furthermore, the integration of molecular biological methods enhances our understanding of the water-rock-microbe interactions that shape the deep subsurface gas realm.

Crustal gases have crucial implications for life in extreme environments, including those outside of our planet Earth, but potentially also pose significant challenges to drilling, mining, and their environmental impact. Moreover, crustal gases hold relevance for the energy sector, contributing to both the long-term safety of geological disposal of nuclear waste, carbon footprint of geothermal wells, and the exploration of hydrogen as a sustainable energy resource.
The impact of subsurface life on ghost-rock karstification processes and cave formation
Authors: Peugnet Guillaume , Pisapia Céline , Bruxelles Laurent , Champollion Cédric , Vernant Philippe , Lecourt Léna , Ménèz Bénédicte , Gérard Emmanuelle
Published: October 2023

Karst systems represent an important carbon and freshwater reservoirs. Although karst systems have been studied for many years, a new paradigm has emerged that suggests some of them could be formed by ghost-rock processes (Dubois et al. 2014). Contrarily to the classical total karstification, ghost-rock karstification leaves in place a weathered rock, called the ghost-rock, that can constitute a microbial habitat (Spilde et al. 2005). The first results of a geomicrobiological study of the Sterkfontein’s cave system in South Africa show that these ghost-rocks are mainly composed of iron and manganese oxides mixed with organic matter of putative microbial origin (Pisapia et al. in prep). To further understand the microbial community inhabiting these ghost-rocks, its specificity compared to groundwater, and its functional impact on the karst system of Sterkfontein, a metagenomic analysis from both ghost-rocks and groundwater samples was performed. It was completed by laser microdissection of the microorganisms attached to the mineral particles, followed by whole-genome amplification and transmission electron microscopy to analyze both the nature of the mineral particles and the microorganisms associated with them. The results highlight the differences in community between these two environments (with higher abundance of Actinobacteriota and Acidobacteriota in ghost-rock samples compared to ground water in particular), and suggest a high importance of microbe-minerals interactions in the ghost rocks, through metallophores production and extracellular electron transfer processes between bacteria and metallic ions.
Acetylenotrophic and Diazotrophic Bradyrhizobium sp. Strain I71 from Trichloroethylene-Contaminated Soils
Authors: Akob Denise , Sutton John , Bushman Timothy , Baesman Shaun , Klein Edina , Shrestha Yesha , Andrews Robert , Fierst Janna , Kolton Max , Gushgari-Doyle Sara , Oremland Ronald , Freeman John
Published: October 2023

Acetylene (C2H2) is a trace constituent of Earth’s modern atmosphere and is used by acetylenotrophic microorganisms as their sole carbon and energy source (Akob et al. 2018) Acetylenotrophs hydrate acetylene through a reaction catalyzed by acetylene hydratase, which is a heterogeneous class of enzymes. As of 2018, there were 15 known strains of acetylenotrophs including aerobic species affiliated with the Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes and anaerobic species affiliated with the Desulfobacterota. However, we hypothesized that there was an unknown diversity of acetylenotrophs in nature. We recently expanded the known distribution of acetylenotrophs via the isolation of the aerobic acetylenotroph, Bradyrhizobium sp. strain I71, from trichloroethylene (TCE)-contaminated soils (Akob et al. 2022). Strain I71 is a member of the class Alphaproteobacteria, and this is the first observation of an aerobic acetylenotroph in the Proteobacteria phylum. The isolate grows via heterotrophic and acetylenotrophic metabolism, and is diazotrophic, capable of nitrogen fixation. Acetylenotrophy and nitrogen fixation are the only two enzymatic reactions known to transform acetylene, and this is only the second isolate known to carry out both reactions (Akob et al. 2017, Baesman et al. 2019). Members of Bradyrhizobium are well studied for their abilities to improve plant health and increase crop yields by providing bioavailable nitrogen. The unique capability of Bradyrhizobium sp. strain I71 to utilize acetylene may increase the genus’ economic impact beyond agriculture as acetylenotrophy is closely linked to bioremediation of chlorinated contaminants (Mao et al. 2017, Gushgari-Doyle et al. 2021). Based on genome, cultivation, and protein prediction analysis, the ability to consume acetylene is likely not widespread within the genus Bradyrhizobium. These findings suggest that the suite of phenotypic capabilities of strain I71 may be unique and make it a good candidate for further study in several research avenues such as contaminant biodegradation and nutrient cycling.
Paiement additionnel malgré la gratuité des soins au Burkina Faso
Authors: Traoré Seydou , Some Winsowmé Aguiratou Linda , Ouattara Cheick Ahmed , Traoré Isidore T. , Méda Ziemlé Clément , Savadogo Gueswende Léon Blaise
Published: October 2023

Introduction : La gratuité des soins chez les enfants de moins de 5 ans au Burkina Faso a été introduite en 2016 afin de lever la barrière financière dans l’accès aux soins. Des dépenses de santé additionnelles subsisteraient malgré cette gratuité, ce qui peut compromettre l’accès aux services de santé des patients les plus démunis. Méthodes : Il s’agit d’une évaluation médico-économique partielle, notamment l’étude descriptive des dépenses de santé additionnelles payées par les parents. Nous avons consulté les reçus de paiement et les déclarations des parents. Résultats : Le revenu mensuel des parents était en moyenne de 73 026,79 FCFA (132 $) avec 5,08 % des parents qui n’ont pas de revenu. Le coût direct total était de 6 043 785 FCFA (10 939 $). Le coût direct total additionnel était de 2 181 150 FCFA (3 950 $), soit 36,09 % du coût direct total. Le pourcentage moyen de prise en charge de la gratuité était de 65,50 %. Près de 10 % (7,7 %) des parents étaient insatisfaits de la gratuité ; ils étaient 34,48 % à ne pas être préparés à honorer des dépenses supplémentaires, 43,97 % avaient eu du mal à payer les frais supplémentaires et parmi ces derniers, 80 % ont déclaré avoir épuisé leur économie pour honorer les prescriptions. Conclusions : Les dépenses de santé additionnelles restent élevées malgré la gratuité des soins. Cela peut compromettre la prise en charge des patients les plus pauvres. Une réorganisation de la gratuité des soins s’avère nécessaire.
Wave interference network with a wave function for traffic sign recognition
Authors: Weng Qiang , Chen Dewang , Chen Yuandong , Zhao Wendi , Jiao Lin
Published: October 2023

In this paper, we successfully combine convolution with a wave function to build an effective and efficient classifier for traffic signs, named the wave interference network (WiNet). In the WiNet, the feature map extracted by the convolutional filters is refined into many entities from an input image. Each entity is represented as a wave. We utilize Euler's formula to unfold the wave function. Based on the wave-like information representation, the model modulates the relationship between the entities and the fixed weights of convolution adaptively. Experiment results on the Chinese Traffic Sign Recognition Database (CTSRD) and the German Traffic Sign Recognition Benchmark (GTSRB) demonstrate that the performance of the presented model is better than some other models, such as ResMLP, ResNet50, PVT and ViT in the following aspects: 1) WiNet obtains the best accuracy rate with 99.80% on the CTSRD and recognizes all images exactly on the GTSRB; 2) WiNet gains better robustness on the dataset with different noises compared with other models; 3) WiNet has a good generalization on different datasets.
Combined Teaching of Mathematics with the Halomda Platform
Authors: Kugel Leonid , Slobodsky Philip , Durcheva Mariana
Published: October 2023

Distance learning is very challenging for both teachers and students. Technology can help educators in combined teaching, which means combining traditional educational methods with active learning. The Halomda educational platform provides improving students’ active learning due to better students’ engagement. This enhances students’ performance as well as the ability to solve mathematics problems. In this paper, we share our experience of how using the Halomda system for combined teaching in the “differential equations” course significantly improves student learning outcomes.
Empowering Teachers in E-Learning: A Case-Based Recommender System for Effective Learning Design
Authors: Gasmi Sara , Bouhadada Tahar
Published: October 2023

In the rapidly evolving field of e-learning over the past decade, the learning design (LD) sector has emerged as a crucial determinant of success. It plays a vital role in ensuring effective instructional design, preserving best practices, enhancing educational quality, promoting personalization, and embracing technological innovation. However, the creation of effective LDs can be challenging due to the diverse range of learning methods, strategies, resources, learner profiles, evolving technologies, and communication platforms. This paper aims to address the research question of how to efficiently leverage recommender systems (RSs) and repurpose existing LD solutions to provide valuable support for teachers in the LD process. Specifically, this paper focuses on the implementation of case-based recommender system (CBRS) and presents the initial evaluation results. CBRS, which is a RS, assists teachers in locating and reusing pre-existing LDs. The initial evaluation results validate the system’s effectiveness in supporting teachers throughout the LD process by offering reliable and useful LDs. Furthermore, additional findings pertaining to the overall user perception and the perceived value of CBRS are discussed.
E-Spot – A Social Media and Collaboration Framework for Students in Albania
Authors: Leka Elva , Lamani Luis , Rexha Genta , Araman Said
Published: October 2023

We know the world is heading towards the virtual side, and we must adapt to it, especially in academic fields. In this paper we propose to develop a social media application for students in Albania as a modern and responsive solution that combines cutting-edge technologies to create a user-friendly interface for students to engage in real-time conversations with each other, store and manage large amounts of data, and collaborate on various academic-related topics. After extensive research and market study, we have identified the shortcomings of current e-learning applications to create the best suitable and enhanced application to solve the problems we are facing today. Our goal is to create a suitable and enhanced environment for e-learning, responding to the needs of academic community and providing a quality of teaching experience virtually. We have designed a user interface that is suitable and easy to use for users of all computer literacy levels. The interface will enable intuitive and easy navigation and use of the application, which will help to create a close collaborative environment and support among e-learning participants. Data security and privacy will be a special priority, by implementing strong security protocols to protect students’ and lecturers’ personal data and information. This will provide a secure and reliable environment for all users of our e-learning application.
Evaluation of Information Skills and Innovative Literacy Cultivation of Digital Talent in Universities
Authors: Wang Songlin , Zhou Li
Published: October 2023

In the context of globalization and informatization, cultivating the information ability and innovative literacy of university digital talents is of great significance for cultivating talents in supply chain majors. However, some shortcomings remain in the information ability evaluation and innovative literacy cultivation of university talents in the current education system. In this context, this study conducted in-depth research on the information ability evaluation of digital talents in universities and its impact on the cultivation of innovative literacy. The fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method was first adopted to make a quantitative evaluation of the information ability of university digital talents, which aimed to compensate for the shortcomings of existing qualitative evaluation methods. Then, regression models, as well as mediating and moderating effect models, were constructed to deeply analyze the impact of information ability on innovative literacy cultivation, aiming to reveal the complexity of the impact mechanism. This study aimed to provide new perspectives and methods for theory and practice, thereby improving the information ability evaluation system and the innovative literacy cultivation mechanism of digital talents in universities. This study is not only theoretically significant, but it also provides a practical reference for universities in cultivating talents in supply chain major.
Smart Teaching Systems: A Hybrid Framework of Reinforced Learning and Deep Learning
Authors: Sun Yijiao , Huang Wei , Wang Zhiwen , Xu Xiaofeng , Wen Min , Wu Pei
Published: October 2023

As vocational education is transforming constantly, there is an urgent demand in the field of education for smart teaching systems to be able to respond to students’ personal learning needs in a more dynamic way, but a review of currently available algorithms reveals that the common application of existing methods lacks a deep enough understanding of students’ individual differences. Out of these concerns, this study aims to propose a novel and hybrid framework for the design of smart teaching systems based on reinforced learning and deep learning, so as to overcome the shortcomings of existing research and more accurately predict students’ personal needs. Besides, an end-to-end model with a retrieval attention mechanism has been designed for generating responses with precise information about students’ learning needs. This study provides a smart teaching scheme for vocational education that is new, efficient, and humane, while also providing a solid theoretical foundation for the reform and innovation of the education system in the future.
Establishing Teacher-Student Communicative Empathy in a Multimodal Interactive Environment and Skill Enhancement
Authors: Cai Jinqiu
Published: October 2023

The multi-modal interactive environment is an important object of research in the field of modern education, and its influence on the communicative empathy of teachers and students gets increasingly obvious these days. However, the complex and dynamic features of communicative empathy of teachers and students are usually overlooked in existing studies, so this paper aims at investigating the teacher-student communicative empathy in a multi-modal interactive environment to fill in the said research gap. At first, the problem of feature fusion of communicative emotions of teachers and students in a multi-modal interactive environment was discussed, and a comprehensive and detailed model was established for measuring the features of these emotions. Then, problems of the recognition of emotional intentions of teachers and students and the establishment of their communicative empathy were studied, and a set of effective measures were proposed for enhancing the said communicative empathy, in the hopes of providing useful theoretical and practical evidences for noticing the importance of teacher-student communicative empathy in teaching and enhancing the ability of the said emotions.
Coping Strategies among Undergraduates of the University of Ruhuna, Southern Province, Sri Lanka, during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Kauashani T. H. M. , Weeratunga E. B.
Published: October 2023

Background and Objective: Undergraduates could be more prone to psychological problems than the general population when there are significant changes in the educational environment. Confined to indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic, and travel restrictions increased the strain on their mental health, severely affecting their psychological well-being and various coping mechanisms were implemented globally. This study examined the coping strategies used by undergraduates of the University of Ruhuna, Southern Province, Sri Lanka, during the COVID-19 pandemic.Method: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was done from mid-June to August 2022 using a pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire among undergraduates from randomly selected five faculties. A stratified random sample of 359 undergraduates was invited to fill the socio-demographic details and the coping strategies using the validated 25-item Brief COPE scale. Ethical approval was granted by the Ethics Review Committee, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University of Ruhuna. Data analysis was done using SPSS (version 23.0). Descriptive statistics, Chi-square and Fisher‟s tests were used.Results: Of the sample, females (62.1%) made up the majority. The mean (±SD) age was 23.67 (±1.6) years. The mean (±SD) adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies were 31.32(±9.08) and 19.31(±5.40) respectively. Among participants, 33.2% reported using high level adaptive coping strategies whereas 9.1% of the participants used high level maladaptive coping strategies. Mostly used adaptive coping strategies were active coping, acceptance and religion while self-distraction was used as a maladaptive coping strategy.Conclusions: Undergraduates adopted more healthy coping strategies than unhealthy coping strategies. It is suggested that more emphasis should be placed on improving mental health, expanding stress management programs and counselling with innovative strategies implemented to improve psychological well-being.
Prevalence and Associated Factors of Symptoms of Depression, Anxiety, Stress and Coping Strategies among Adults in a Rural Community in Southern Province, Sri Lanka
Authors: Priyadarshani U. G. N. , Warnakulasuriya S. S. P.
Published: October 2023

Background and objective: Negative emotional status due to various life challenges have been reported very often among adult population. These problems increase the risk of developing mental health problems and accelerate their progression in communities. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence and associated factors of symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, self-reported reasons for psychological distress and coping strategies among adults in Nagoda Divisional Secretariat area, Galle, Sri Lanka.Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with the participation of 280 adults aged 20-64 years, selected using cluster sampling from randomly selected five Grama Niladari divisions in Nagoda Divisional Secretariat area. Previously validated Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale-21(DASS-21) was administered to assess the symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. Descriptive analysis and chi-square test were performed using SPSS software (Version 23).Results: Of the participants, 59.3% were females. Around 40% were aged 35-50 years. The prevalence of symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress were identified as 33.2%, 18.6% and 59.6% respectively. Prevalence of symptoms of depression (37.9%) and anxiety (21.7%) were higher among females. Stress was more prevalent (52.6%) in males. Gender (p=0.042) and living arrangement (p=0.025) showed a significant association with depression. Presence of a comorbidity (p=0.040) showed a significant association with stress. The reasons for psychological distress perceived by participants were; health issues of family members (53.6%), own health problems (52.1%), relationship issues (44.3%) and dietary pattern associated issues (44%). A few participants reported meditation (15.4%), engaging in exercises (14.6%), seeking counselling support (13.9%) and recreational activities (14.3%) as their healthy coping strategies.Conclusions: This study showed a high prevalence of symptoms of stress compared to depression and anxiety among adults and major determinants of emotional symptoms were personal and family health issues. Only few individuals were practicing healthy coping strategies. The results emphasize the importance of improving adult health at community level that may contribute to positive mental health.
Overcoming Challenges in Mero Field with a Pump and Dump Technique
Authors: Feijó J. L. , Franceschi C. , Tavares R. M. , Hillesheim R. B.
Published: October 2023

The Pump and Dump (P&D) technique was developed to enable designs in 4 sections of Mero Field. To mitigate the risk of critical drilling and cementing problems in the second section such as hole collapse, stuck pipe/casing, high vibration drilling and poor cementing quality, it was proposed to pump large amounts (>40.000 - 100.000 bbl) of fluid with relatively high density and/or saturated in NaCl to the open hole.

The approach of this paper is based on a comparison of drilling parameters (drag, vibration and ROP) and drilling problems between two wells with very similar designs, built at nearby locations - one using Pump and Dump and the other not. It will also present the gain in well construction time in Mero field designs using this technique. The quality of the cement job of the surface casing will be evidenced through Formation Integrity Test (FIT) data, conducted below the casing shoe, and the diameter of the wells after drilling. This technique proved itself not only as necessary to build a "4-section slender well" faster with a deeper surface casing, eliminating the sometimes-necessary extra section/casing, but also as essential to develop the field. It was seen a reduction in critical events associated with poor well quality, and the milder drilling parameters (torque, drag, vibration) made possible to obtain a better ROP (Rate of Penetration) and deeper "surface casing" shoe. The mobilization of materials and fluids may cause challenges to maritime logistics, and an eventual Non- Productive Time (NPT). However, the reuse of water-based fluid from the previous drilling interventions and other drilling rigs, and the storage of high-density fluids and brines on the mud pits are optimizing the logistic demand and consequently reducing the NPT, maintaining the attractiveness of this technique. This work presents a technique that can greatly reduce well construction costs in scenarios where the post-salt rocks are a challenge to drill and provide a better well integrity to withstand catastrophic scenarios.
Impact of the Optimization Procedure on the Equation of State Regression
Authors: Fulchignoni Lívia Paiva , Tartakovsky Daniel M.
Published: October 2023

We investigate the impact of different optimization algorithms and initial guesses on the regression of an equation of state (EoS) for reservoir fluid models, using data for a reservoir fluid from the Brazilian pre-salt region. We employ four optimization strategies, including gradient-based and evolutionary techniques, combined with varied initial guesses to derive alternative regressed EoS models. Our results reveal that while the alternative regressed EoS models demonstrate similar levels of fit to the experimental data, their predictions for phase equilibria are markedly different. This highlights the sensitivity of the EoS regression to subjective choices of an optimization algorithm and an initial guess, and their implications for flow assurance and reservoir simulation and management.
New Method for Evaluating and Managing Reability of Drilling Rigs Critical Systems
Authors: Pereira Y. S. , Lukin N. , Rodrigues S. S. , da Costa P. R. V.
Published: October 2023

For the Performance Contract philosophy, evaluating performance is an essential part of aligning interests in contracted relationships. Furthermore, it allows for assessing the effectiveness of contracted initiatives, enhancing efficiency by fostering competitiveness and autonomy.

In the offshore drilling industry, NPT (Non-Productive Time) is commonly used as a metric for evaluating asset management performance. However, this indicator has many limitations that impact a robust evaluation of contractor and manufacturer management.

To increase the consistency of performance evaluation in drilling management, the initiative sought to expand the currently applied fleet management concepts through the application of Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) and availability concepts. However, for an accurate diagnosis, it is necessary to individualize goals by critical system, so that each system receives a specific target to compare with fleet results. The drilling rigs and operators are then given a rating based on the weighting of system ratings. With structured data, the performance of different operators, manufacturers, and rig classes can be compared, revealing their strengths and improvement opportunities. Additionally, statistical analyses were used to identify significant variables, such as the intrinsic reliability of manufacturers.