bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Opto-Microfluidic System for Absorbance Measurements in Lithium Niobate Device Applied to pH Measurements
Authors: Zamboni Riccardo , Zaltron Annamaria , Izzo Elena , Bottaro Gregorio , Ferraro Davide , Sada Cinzia
Published: September 2020

The aim of Lab-on-a-chip systems is the downscaling of analytical protocols into microfluidic devices, including optical measurements. In this context, the growing interest of the scientific community in opto-microfluidic devices has fueled the development of new materials. Recently, lithium niobate has been presented as a promising material for this scope, thanks to its remarkable optical and physicochemical properties. Here, we present a novel microfluidic device realized starting from a lithium niobate crystal, combining engraved microfluidic channels with integrated and self-aligned optical waveguides. Notably, the proposed microfabrication strategy does not compromise the optical coupling between the waveguides and the microchannel, allowing one to measure the transmitted light through the liquid flowing in the channel. In addition, the device shows a high versatility in terms of the optical properties of the light source, such as wavelength and polarization. Finally, the developed opto-microfluidic system is successfully validated as a probe for real-time pH monitoring of the liquid flowing inside the microchannel, showing a high integrability and fast response.
HFR Projector Camera Based Visible Light Communication System for Real-Time Video Streaming
Authors: Sharma Atul , Raut Sushil , Shimasaki Kohei , Senoo Taku , Ishii Idaku
Published: September 2020

This study develops a projector–camera-based visible light communication (VLC) system for real-time broadband video streaming, in which a high frame rate (HFR) projector can encode and project a color input video sequence into binary image patterns modulated at thousands of frames per second and an HFR vision system can capture and decode these binary patterns into the input color video sequence with real-time video processing. For maximum utilization of the high-throughput transmission ability of the HFR projector, we introduce a projector–camera VLC protocol, wherein a multi-level color video sequence is binary-modulated with a gray code for encoding and decoding instead of pure-code-based binary modulation. Gray code encoding is introduced to address the ambiguity with mismatched pixel alignments along the gradients between the projector and vision system. Our proposed VLC system consists of an HFR projector, which can project 590 × 1060 binary images at 1041 fps via HDMI streaming and a monochrome HFR camera system, which can capture and process 12-bit 512 × 512 images in real time at 3125 fps; it can simultaneously decode and reconstruct 24-bit RGB video sequences at 31 fps, including an error correction process. The effectiveness of the proposed VLC system was verified via several experiments by streaming offline and live video sequences.
Noise Analysis of a Passive Resonant Laser Gyroscope
Authors: Liu Kui , Zhang Fenglei , Li Zongyang , Feng Xiaohua , Li Ke , Du Yuanbo , Schreiber Karl Ulrich , Lu Zehuang , Zhang Jie
Published: September 2020

Large-scale laser gyroscopes have found important applications in Earth sciences due to their self-sufficient property of measurement of the Earth’s rotation without any external references. In order to extend the relative rotation measurement accuracy to a better level so that it can be used for the determination of the Earth orientation parameters (EOP), we investigate the limitations in a passive resonant laser gyroscope (PRG) developed at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) to pave the way for future development. We identify the noise sources from the derived noise transfer function of the PRG. In the frequency range below 10−2Hz, the contribution of free-spectral-range (FSR) variation is the dominant limitation, which comes from the drift of the ring cavity length. In the 10−2 to 103Hz frequency range, the limitation is due to the noises of the frequency discrimination system, which mainly comes from the residual amplitude modulation (RAM) in the frequency range below 2 Hz. In addition, the noise contributed by the Mach–Zehnder-type beam combiner is also noticeable in the 0.01 to 2 Hz frequency range. Finally, possible schemes for future improvement are also discussed.
Design of 2D Sparse Array Transducers for Anomaly Detection in Medical Phantoms
Authors: Li Xiaotong , Gachagan Anthony , Murray Paul
Published: September 2020

Aperiodic sparse 2D ultrasonic array configurations, including random array, log spiral array, and sunflower array, have been considered for their potential as conformable transducers able to image within a focal range of 30–80 mm, at an operating frequency of 2 MHz. Optimisation of the imaging performance of potential array patterns has been undertaken based on their simulated far field directivity functions. Two evaluation criteria, peak sidelobe level (PSL) and integrated sidelobe ratio (ISLR), are used to access the performance of each array configuration. Subsequently, a log spiral array pattern with −19.33 dB PSL and 2.71 dB ISLR has been selected as the overall optimal design. Two prototype transducers with the selected log spiral array pattern have been fabricated and characterised, one using a fibre composite element composite array transducer (CECAT) structure, the other using a conventional 1–3 composite (C1–3) structure. The CECAT device demonstrates improved coupling coefficient (0.64 to 0.59), reduced mechanical cross-talk between neighbouring array elements (by 10 dB) and improved operational bandwidth (by 16.5%), while the C1–3 device performs better in terms of sensitivity (~50%). Image processing algorithms, such as Hough transform and morphological opening, have been implemented to automatically detect and dimension particles located within a fluid-filled tube structure, in a variety of experimental scenarios, including bespoke phantoms using tissue mimicking material. Experiments using the fabricated CECAT log spiral 2D array transducer demonstrated that this algorithmic approach was able to detect the walls of the tube structure and stationary anomalies within the tube with a precision of ~0.1 mm.
A Rapid Method of the Rock Mass Surface Reconstruction for Surface Deformation Detection at Close Range
Authors: Hu Qijun , Ma Chunlin , Bai Yu , He Leping , Tan Jie , Cai Qijie , Zeng Junsen
Published: September 2020

Characterizing the surface deformation during the inter-survey period could assist in understanding rock mass progressive failure processes. Moreover, 3D reconstruction of rock mass surface is a crucial step in surface deformation detection. This study presents a method to reconstruct the rock mass surface at close range in a fast way using the improved structure from motion—multi view stereo (SfM) algorithm for surface deformation detection. To adapt the unique feature of rock mass surface, the AKAZE algorithm with the best performance in rock mass feature detection is introduced to improve SfM. The surface reconstructing procedure mainly consists of image acquisition, feature point detection, sparse reconstruction, and dense reconstruction. Hereafter, the proposed method was verified by three experiments. Experiment 1 showed that this method effectively reconstructed the rock mass model. Experiment 2 proved the advanced accuracy of the improved SfM compared with the traditional one in reconstructing the rock mass surface. Eventually, in Experiment 3, the surface deformation of rock mass was quantified through reconstructing images before and after the disturbance. All results have shown that the proposed method could provide reliable information in rock mass surface reconstruction and deformation detection.
An Analysis of Open-Ended Coaxial Probe Sensitivity to Heterogeneous Media
Authors: Brace Christopher L. , Etoz Sevde
Published: September 2020

Open-ended coaxial probe spectroscopy is commonly used to determine the dielectric permittivity of biological tissues. However, heterogeneities in the probe sensing region can limit measurement precision and reproducibility. This study presents an analysis of the coaxial probe sensing region to elucidate the effects of heterogeneities on measured permittivity. Coaxial probe spectroscopy at 0.5–20 GHz was numerically simulated while a homogenous background was perturbed with a small inclusion of contrasting permittivity. Shifts in the measured effective permittivity provided a three-dimensional assessment of the probe sensitivity field. Sensitivity was well-approximated by the square of the electric field for each analyzed probe. Smaller probes were more sensitive to heterogeneities throughout their sensing region, but were less sensitive to spectral effects compared to larger probes. The probe sensing diameter was less than 0.5 mm in all directions by multiple metrics. Therefore, small heterogeneities may substantially impact permittivity measurement in biological tissues if located near the probe-tissue interface.
Detection of Gait Abnormalities for Fall Risk Assessment Using Wrist-Worn Inertial Sensors and Deep Learning
Authors: Kiprijanovska Ivana , Gjoreski Hristijan , Gams Matjaž
Published: September 2020

Falls are a significant threat to the health and independence of elderly people and represent an enormous burden on the healthcare system. Successfully predicting falls could be of great help, yet this requires a timely and accurate fall risk assessment. Gait abnormalities are one of the best predictive signs of underlying locomotion conditions and precursors of falls. The advent of wearable sensors and wrist-worn devices provides new opportunities for continuous and unobtrusive monitoring of gait during daily activities, including the identification of unexpected changes in gait. To this end, we present in this paper a novel method for determining gait abnormalities based on a wrist-worn device and a deep neural network. It integrates convolutional and bidirectional long short-term memory layers for successful learning of spatiotemporal features from multiple sensor signals. The proposed method was evaluated using data from 18 subjects, who recorded their normal gait and simulated abnormal gait while wearing impairment glasses. The data consist of inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor signals obtained from smartwatches that the subjects wore on both wrists. Numerous experiments showed that the proposed method provides better results than the compared methods, achieving 88.9% accuracy, 90.6% sensitivity, and 86.2% specificity in the detection of abnormal walking patterns using data from an accelerometer, gyroscope, and rotation vector sensor. These results indicate that reliable fall risk assessment is possible based on the detection of walking abnormalities with the use of wearable sensors on a wrist.
A Visual Tracker Offering More Solutions
Authors: Zhao Long , Ishag Mahmoud Mubarak Adam , Ren Honge , Zhu Meng
Published: September 2020

Most trackers focus solely on robustness and accuracy. Visual tracking, however, is a long-term problem with a high time limitation. A tracker that is robust, accurate, with long-term sustainability and real-time processing, is of high research value and practical significance. In this paper, we comprehensively consider these requirements in order to propose a new, state-of-the-art tracker with an excellent performance. EfficientNet-B0 is adopted for the first time via neural architecture search technology as the backbone network for the tracking task. This improves the network feature extraction ability and significantly reduces the number of parameters required for the tracker backbone network. In addition, maximal Distance Intersection-over-Union is set as the target estimation method, enhancing network stability and increasing the offline training convergence rate. Channel and spatial dual attention mechanisms are employed in the target classification module to improve the discrimination of the trackers. Furthermore, the conjugate gradient optimization strategy increases the speed of the online learning target classification module. A two-stage search method combined with a screening module is proposed to enable the tracker to cope with sudden target movement and reappearance following a brief disappearance. Our proposed method has an obvious speed advantage compared with pure global searching and achieves an optimal performance on OTB2015, VOT2016, VOT2018-LT, UAV-123 and LaSOT while running at over 50 FPS.
Classifying Reflectance Targets under Ambient Light Conditions Using Passive Spectral Measurements
Authors: Hamidisepehr Ali , Sama Michael P. , Dvorak Joseph S. , Wendroth Ole O. , Montross Michael D.
Published: September 2020

Collecting remotely sensed spectral data under varying ambient light conditions is challenging. The objective of this study was to test the ability to classify grayscale targets observed by portable spectrometers under varying ambient light conditions. Two sets of spectrometers covering ultraviolet (UV), visible (VIS), and near−infrared (NIR) wavelengths were instrumented using an embedded computer. One set was uncalibrated and used to measure the raw intensity of light reflected from a target. The other set was calibrated and used to measure downwelling irradiance. Three ambient−light compensation methods that successively built upon each other were investigated. The default method used a variable integration time that was determined based on a previous measurement to maximize intensity of the spectral signature (M1). The next method divided the spectral signature by the integration time to normalize the spectrum and reveal relative differences in ambient light intensity (M2). The third method divided the normalized spectrum by the ambient light spectrum on a wavelength basis (M3). Spectral data were classified using a two−step process. First, raw spectral data were preprocessed using a partial least squares (PLS) regression method to compress highly correlated wavelengths and to avoid overfitting. Next, an ensemble of machine learning algorithms was trained, validated, and tested to determine the overall classification accuracy of each algorithm. Results showed that simply maximizing sensitivity led to the best prediction accuracy when classifying known targets. Average prediction accuracy across all spectrometers and compensation methods exceeded 93%.
Spine Cop: Posture Correction Monitor and Assistant
Authors: Ribeiro Pedro , Soares Ana Rita , Girão Rafael , Neto Miguel , Cardoso Susana
Published: September 2020

Back and spine-related issues are frequent maladies that most people have or will experience during their lifetime. A common and sensible observation that can be made is regarding the posture of an individual. We present a new approach that combines accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer sensor data in combination with permanent magnets assembled as a wearable device capable of real-time spine posture monitoring. An independent calibration of the device is required for each user. The sensor data is processed by a probabilistic classification algorithm that compares the real-time data with the calibration result, verifying whether the data point lies within regions of confidence defined by a computed threshold. An incorrect posture classification is considered if both accelerometer and magnetometer classify the posture as incorrect. A pilot trial was performed in a single adult test subject. The combination of the magnets and magnetometer greatly improved the posture classification accuracy (89%) over the accuracy obtained when only accelerometer data were used (47%). The validation of this method was based on image analysis.
The Nexus between Carbon Emissions, Energy Use, Economic Growth and Financial Development: Evidence from Central and Eastern European Countries
Authors: Manta Alina Georgiana , Florea Nicoleta Mihaela , Bădîrcea Roxana Maria , Popescu Jenica , Cîrciumaru Daniel , Doran Marius Dalian
Published: September 2020

The aim and novelty of this study consist of estimating the nexus between CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions, energy use, economic growth, and financial development for ten Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) over the 2000–2017 period, starting from Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) theory. The Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) method was used for testing the cointegration relationship. Granger causality estimation based on the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) and Pairwise Granger causality test were applied to identify the causality relationships between the variables and to identify the direction of causality. The implementation of the tests led to significant conclusions. In the long run, the levels of CO2 emissions and energy use do not have any influence on economic growth. Furthermore, there is a bidirectional causality among economic growth in terms of GDP and financial development variables. Thus, increasing financial development will generate more CO2 emissions and more energy use, and increasing economic growth will lead to rising financial development. In the short run, increasing financial development will generate more CO2 emissions and will lead to increased energy use and economic growth. Also, a bidirectional causality is being revealed between financial development and CO2 emissions. This indicates that financial development may help to reduce CO2 emissions.
Application of Modern Web Technologies to the Citizen Science Project BAYSICS on Climate Research and Science Communication
Authors: Batsaikhan Anudari , Hachinger Stephan , Kurtz Wolfgang , Heller Helmut , Frank Anton
Published: September 2020

Participatory sensing has become an important element in citizen science projects. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as web platforms and mobile phones can generate high-resolution data for science and progress assessment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (e.g., SDGs 11, 13, and 15). This paper gives an overview of web technologies in citizen science and illustrates how these technologies were applied in the citizen science project BAYSICS (Bavarian Citizen Science Information Platform for Climate Research and Science Communication) in Bavaria, in the south-eastern part of Germany. For the project, three digital platforms were developed: a website, web portal, and mobile application, each of which fulfills different tasks based on the project’s needs. The website informs visitors about the project structure, makes the project known to the community, and advertises the latest activities. The web portal is the main interface for citizens who want to join and actively participate in the project. The mobile application of the web portal was realized in the form of a progressive web application, which allows installation on a mobile phone and is connected with offline access to the content. The provision of an IT service for participatory sensing-based research which covers a development package, including a database, website/web application, and smartphone application, is further discussed.
Food Values, Benefits and Their Influence on Attitudes and Purchase Intention: Evidence Obtained at Fast-Food Hamburger Restaurants
Authors: Pérez-Villarreal Héctor Hugo , Martínez-Ruiz María Pilar , Izquierdo-Yusta Alicia , Gómez-Cantó Carmen María
Published: September 2020

This paper analyzes the effects of: (i) Food values on their related benefits (hedonic and utilitarian); (ii) both kinds of benefits on attitudes toward eating hamburgers; and (iii) attitudes on purchase intention. To this end, we adapted the food values scale to the context of fast-food hamburger restaurants. Data were collected from a survey of 512 Mexican consumers and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results show that the strongest influences are those exerted by food values, first, on hedonic benefits and, second, on utilitarian benefits. In contrast, the weakest influence is that exerted by utilitarian benefits on attitudes, followed by that exerted by hedonic benefits on attitudes. Among other findings, this study highlights the importance consumers give to the taste and safety of food, as well as the greater importance given to hedonic benefits compared to utilitarian ones. These findings have several important implications for managers in the industry.
Study of Social and Environmental Needs for the Selection of Sustainable Criteria in the Procurement of Public Works
Authors: Montalbán-Domingo Laura , Aguilar-Morocho Madeleine , García-Segura Tatiana , Pellicer Eugenio
Published: September 2020

Fostering sustainability in the construction industry has been claimed; however, important barriers are hindering its implementation in public procurement. The main reason is the lack of knowledge about what sustainability criteria should be included and the high level of subjectivity in the definition of their level of importance. Both aspects should be addressed depending on the specific context of each country. Therefore, the aim of this research focused on identifying the sustainability shortcomings that exist in each European Union country in order to determine the level of importance of each sustainability category. Five environmental categories and eight social categories were established, and, to assess the sustainability performance of the 28 European countries, 42 national indicators were selected and the Promethee method was undertaken to rank the countries. Finally, through a cluster analysis, two groups of countries were identified. The first group consisted of the most economically developed European Union countries. These countries need to focus mainly on the environmental performance. However, the second group needs to make an effort in social sustainability at the same time, which controls their environmental performance. This research provides guidance on the decision-making with regard to the inclusion of sustainability in public procurement of the construction industry.
How Can Rural Tourism Be Sustainable? A Systematic Review
Authors: An Wookhyun , Alarcón Silverio
Published: September 2020

This investigation reviewed articles associated with sustainable rural tourism found on the Web of Science database over a 10-year span from 2009 to 2019. The 76 articles that were selected for their inclusion of the concept of sustainable rural tourism were listed in a comprehensive table, thereby revealing the research purpose, topics, detailed topics, research methods, and data source of the articles. The findings indicate that many papers on sustainable rural tourism were written from a holistic sustainability perspective without being biased towards any one of the environmental, economic, and social aspects. In the field of rural tourism, it is essential to pay attention to interactions in all aspects of the environment, economy, and society, and to analyze them overall. In addition, this study confirmed that efforts to understand sustainable rural tourism from the customer perspective have been increased since customer loyalty is considered important for sustainability. This study is significant in that, since it evaluated the knowledge status for the first time through systematic review and applied content analysis to academic literature related to sustainability in the sector of rural tourism, it can expand and deepen the knowledge and understanding of related topics and raise awareness of a new research direction.
Spatiotemporal Evolution Characteristics in Ecosystem Service Values Based on Land Use/Cover Change in the Tarim River Basin, China
Authors: Wang Yang , Zhang Shuai , Zhen Hui , Chang Xueer , Shataer Remina , Li Zhi
Published: September 2020

This paper explores the watershed land use and ecosystem services value (ESV) space-time evolution characteristics in the Tarim River Basin in China’s arid northwest. The study applies spatial correlation analysis using Landsat TM remote sensing images for 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2018. The land use data are extracted and the ESV coefficients are adjusted accordingly. The results show as follows: (1) From 1990 to 2018, land use in the Tarim River Basin changed significantly. Construction land, cultivated land, and water exhibited an increasing trend, while grassland, forest land, and water indicated a decreasing trend. Construction land increased the most, while water decreased the most. (2) Overall, ESV in the Tarim Basin charted a downward trend, from 872.884 billion RMB in 1990 to 767.165 billion RMB in 2018. From 2015 to 2018, the Basin’s ESV suffered the largest declines, with grassland ESV accounting for over 39% of the loss and adjustment services accounting for over 62%. (3) During the study period, the spatial distribution of ESV in the study area showed spatial distribution characterized that was either high in all directions or low in the middle, with significant positive spatial autocorrelation. The spatial distribution of ESV dynamic changes showed that ESV value-added regions were distributed in the southeast portion of the study area, while the ESV loss regions were distributed in the western and northern portions of the study area.
Geometrical Formulation for Adjoint-Symmetries of Partial Differential Equations
Authors: Anco Stephen C. , Wang Bao
Published: September 2020

A geometrical formulation for adjoint-symmetries as one-forms is studied for general partial differential equations (PDEs), which provides a dual counterpart of the geometrical meaning of symmetries as tangent vector fields on the solution space of a PDE. Two applications of this formulation are presented. Additionally, for systems of evolution equations, adjoint-symmetries are shown to have another geometrical formulation given by one-forms that are invariant under the flow generated by the system on the solution space. This result is generalized to systems of evolution equations with spatial constraints, where adjoint-symmetry one-forms are shown to be invariant up to a functional multiplier of a normal one-form associated with the constraint equations. All of the results are applicable to the PDE systems of interest in applied mathematics and mathematical physics.
Cattle Manure Trade Network Analysis and the Relevant Spatial Pathways in an Endemic Area of Foot and Mouth Disease in Northern Thailand
Authors: Sansamur Chalutwan , Wiratsudakul Anuwat , Charoenpanyanet Arisara , Punyapornwithaya Veerasak
Published: September 2020

Animal movement is one of the most important risk factors for outbreaks of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in cattle. Likewise, FMD can spread to cattle farms via vehicles contaminated with the FMD virus. In Northern Thailand, the movement of manure transport vehicles and the circulation of manure bags among cattle farms are considered as potential risk factors for FMD outbreaks among cattle farms. This study aimed to determine the characteristics and movement patterns of manure tradesman using social network analysis. A structured questionnaire was used to identify sequences of farms routinely visited by each tradesman. A total of 611 participants were interviewed, including 154 beef farmers, 407 dairy farmers, 36 tradesmen, and 14 final purchasers. A static weighted directed one-mode network was constructed, and the network metrics were measured. For the manure tradesman–cattle farmer network, the tradesman possessed the highest value of in- and out-degree centralities (71 and 4), betweenness centralities (114.5), and k-core values (2). These results indicated that the tradesman had a high frequency of farm visits and had a remarkable influence on other persons (nodes) in the network. The movement of vehicles ranged from within local districts, among districts, or even across provinces. Unclean manure plastic bags were circulated among cattle farms. Therefore, both vehicles and the bags may act as a disease fomite. Interestingly, no recording system was implemented for the movement of manure transport vehicles. This study suggested that the relevant authority and stakeholders should be aware of the risk of FMD spreading within this manure trading network. The findings from this study can be used as supporting data that can be used for enhancing FMD control measures, especially for FMD endemic areas.
Assessment of Rainwater Harvesting Potential from Roof Catchments through Clustering Analysis
Authors: Villar-Navascués Rubén , Pérez-Morales Alfredo , Gil-Guirado Salvador
Published: September 2020

Rainwater harvesting from rooftop catchments represents a climate change adaptation measure that is especially significant in areas affected by water scarcity. This article develops a Geographic Information Systems-based methodology to evaluate the spatial distribution of rainwater catchment potential to identify the most favorable urban areas for the installation of these infrastructures. Since performance and water saving potential of rainwater harvesting systems greatly depends on population density and roof size, this assessment was performed for each residential plot on a per capita basis, based on cadastral data and a method of demographic disaggregation. Furthermore, to evaluate spatial variation of runoff coefficient per building, a supervised classification was carried out to consider the influence of roof types on the rainwater catchment potential. After calculating rainwater catchment potential per capita for each residential plot, the spatial clustering of high (hot spots) and low values (cold spots) was assessed through the Getis-Ord General G statistic. Results indicate a spatial pattern of high rainwater catchment potential values in low-density urban areas, where rainwater catchment systems are expected to offer a better performance and a shorter amortization period. These results may be useful for the enactment of local legislation that regulates the obligation to install these infrastructures or offers subsidies for their implementation.
Functionalized PET Waste Based Low-Cost Adsorbents for Adsorptive Removal of Cu(II) Ions from Aqueous Media
Authors: Ungureanu Oana Ionela , Bulgariu Dumitru , Mocanu Anca Mihaela , Bulgariu Laura
Published: September 2020

The widespread use of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in the packaging industry has led to the discharge of huge amounts of such waste into the environment and is an important source of pollution. Moreover, because the degradation of PET waste requires a very long time (over 180 years), the recycling of this waste is the only solution to reduce environmental pollution in this case. The solution proposed in this study, is the transformation of PET waste into granular adsorbent materials by functionalization with different phenolic compounds (phenol, p-chlor-phenol, and hydroxyquinone), and then their use as adsorbent materials for removing metal ions (ex. Cu(II) ions) from aqueous solutions. The functionalization of PET waste was done with different amounts (2–8 g) of each phenolic compound. The adsorption capacity of obtained materials was tested at different initial Cu(II) ions concentrations, in batch systems, at room temperature (20 ± 1 °C). The experimental results have shown that the adsorbent material obtained by the functionalization of PET waste with 8 g of phenol has the best adsorptive performances (q = 12.80 mg g−1) at low initial concentrations of Cu(II) ions, while the adsorbent material obtained by the functionalization of PET waste with 2 g of hydroxyquinone is more efficient in removal of high concentrations of Cu(II) ions (q = 61.73 mg g−1). The experimental isotherms were modeled using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models, to highlight the adsorptive performances of these new adsorbents and their potential applicability in environmental decontamination processes.
The Use of Skit Technique in Enhancing the Students’ Speaking Ability
Authors: Patmasari Andi
Published: September 2020

This research intended to prove whether the use of skit technique enhanced the students’ speaking ability or not. This research employed quasi-experimental research design with the non-equivalent control group design. The population of this research was the second year students of senior high school that consisted of 260 students. This research used cluster random sampling technique. From nine classes, two classes were taken as a sample of the research. One class was chosen as the experimental class and another one as the control class. The total sample consisted of 72 students. In order to answer the research question, the instrument of this research was speaking test. There are some types of oral tests, but this research used a picture story. The result of data analysis showed that the rate percentage and frequency of the post-test score was higher than the rate percentage and frequency of the pre-test score. In pre-test, the value of t-test (0.34) was lower than the value of t-table (1.980). While in post-test, the t-test value (2.83) was higher than the t-table value (1.980). Based on these findings, it can be inferred that the skit technique significantly enhanced the students’ speaking ability.
Metaphor of BPJS Kesehatan as a Sick Patient in Indonesian Media Headlines
Authors: Adam Muhammad
Published: September 2020

Indonesian health insurance (BPJS Kesehatan) has been facing financial deficit and during the coverage of its deficit, media frequently use many medical terms metaphor to describe the financial condition of BPJS Kesehatan. This study aims to examine the medical terms metaphor used to describe the financial deficit of BPJS Kesehatan to further identify the entailments and to pin point what is the cause of sickness and what could cure the sickness. Qualitative method is used in this study with conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980) as the conceptual framework. There 10 headlines from various online media outlet that are collected as the source of the data. The study examines the particular terms which described BPJS Kesehatan as a sick patient and further analysis is conducted to identify the closest entailments of metaphor, which are to identify who will be the doctor and what cause its sickness. The results shows that the particular conditions  as  metaphor used to describe the financial condition of BPJS Kesehatan is dying (sekarat), critical (kritis), swell (bengkak), and wound (luka).  From the analysis of entailments, the doctor is the government equipped with medical supplies and procedures to cure the patient which is the financial subsidy and the second entailment is the cause of the sickness which is the lack of awareness from the member to pay the premium regularly on time.
Context of Situation in Students’ Textbook: A Pragmatic Study
Authors: Santosa Aulia Wahyu , Fauziati Endang , Supriyadi Slamet
Published: September 2020

This research study is a pragmatic analysis which focuses on context of situation in English Textbook. The objective of the study is to describe the four components of context of situation in the dialogues contains in the textbook. This research applies descriptive qualitative type. By applying this method, the researcher uses the dialogues in one unit of textbook as the data source, while the data of the research are the elaboration of each component of the dialogues. The result of the research show that although there are some components of context of situation that is stated implicitly or even unclear, the ideas of the dialogue are still can be understood.
The Student-Created Poster: A WebQuest Active Learning Strategy in Online Environments
Authors: Rakerda Hilda , Drajati Nur Arifah , Ngadiso Ngadiso
Published: September 2020

Posters are one of the school project artifacts that students could create to engage themselves in their knowledge building at school. Combine with WebQuest as the active learning instruction platform in an online learning, creating posters increase students’ engagement, build interest in topic learned, inspire higher-level independent thinking, and motivate student on their personal learning experiences. The aim of this study was to investigate student-created poster as an active learning approach in an online environment using WebQuest to inform instructional practices of student-created poster. This study used a case study method to explore the phenomenon occurred during the elective English course in the first grade of senior high school at Indonesia. Data analyzed in this study included 21 high school students, students’ posters and the classroom observation done in 5 weeks.  The finding of this qualitative study revealed that student-created poster utilizing WebQuest as the instructional learning method was an active learning activity that improve students perception of self-efficacy in comprehend the reading text and write the information in poster and evidence of student engagement of behavioral, affective and cognitive domains. Themes derived from the perception of the participants included: perceived self-efficacy, the novelty or usefulness of creating a poster, and the technical and content knowledge. Student-created poster as an active approach using WebQuest can be included in the context of High School English learning to enhance the English skills of students and foster integrative skills of the 21st century. Practical implications for teachers when designing poster assignments created by students using WebQuest include (a) following a model for the development of posters; (b) providing extra time for content acquisition and revisions; and (c) incorporating group evaluation.
Native English Teacher’s Politeness Realizations in EFL Classroom Interaction
Authors: Wijayanti Wisma , Wijayanto Agus , Marmanto Sri
Published: September 2020

The realizations of politeness need to be implemented in the process of teaching and learning in the class, especially in English language classroom context. Applying appropriate politeness strategy in talking to the students is very important to create effective teaching and learning process. This study examines politeness strategies used by the native English teacher. It aims to identify the use of politeness strategies realized by the native English teacher in classroom interaction. This research was qualitative research method. The participant of the research was one native English teacher who taught EFL students in a university in Indonesia. The data were obtained through the class observation. Those data then were analyzed by using politeness theory proposed by Brown and Levinson (1987). The result revealed that all politeness strategies suggested by Brown and Levinson (1987) were applied by the teacher in delivering his speech to the students, such as bald on record, positive politeness, negative politeness, and off record. Negative politeness became the most dominant politeness strategy performed by the native English teacher while the least one was off record. These four strategies were mostly employed by the teacher in order to remind the students, give them commands (task-oriented), praise the students, request the students to do something, make the class more interesting, and motivate the students.
The Effect of Using Drama Technique towards the Students’ Speaking Accuracy, Fluency, and Comprehensibility
Authors: Marfuah Julia , Patmasari Andi
Published: September 2020

This research intended to prove whether the use of drama technique affected the students’ speaking accuracy, fluency, and comprehensibility or not. This research employed quasi-experimental research design with the non-equivalent control group design. The population of this research was the second year students of senior high school that consisted of 260 students. This research used cluster random sampling technique. From nine classes, two classes were taken as a sample of the research. One class was chosen as the experimental class and another one as the control class. The total sample consisted of 72 students. In order to answer the research question, the instrument of this research was speaking test. The result of data analysis showed that there was no significant different of the students’ speaking accuracy, fluency, and comprehensibility of both classes in pre-test. But the students’ speaking accuracy, fluency, and comprehensibility of both classes in post-test was significant, which means that drama technique can significantly affect the students’ speaking accuracy, fluency, and comprehensibility.
Engagement During Storybook Reading Promotes Indonesian Children’s English Vocabulary Acquisition
Authors: Rahma Wanodya Rizka Junhita , Drajati Nur Arifah , Tarjana Sri Samiati
Published: September 2020

The purpose of this study is to explore the engagement of parents-child during the implementation of storybook reading to promote Indonesian children’s English vocabulary acquisition. The researcher uses questionnaire and interview to collect the data. There are 81 respondents who fulfil the questionnaire. The researcher applies an in-depth open ended interview. The result shows that children acquire new English vocabularies through the implementation of storybook reading by parents from home-based activity. The researcher uses Narrative Inquiry as the research methodology. The implication of this study to increase the parents’ awareness on the benefit of implementing storybook reading to promote children’s English vocabulary acquisition. The other implication is guiding parents to create engagement to reach the goals.
Teacher's Feedback in Intensive Speaking Program
Authors: La Bugi Madani
Published: September 2020

Interaction plays a very important role in the classroom between students and teachers. This research was conducted to study the ways teachers initiate the interaction and give feedback to the students’ responses and was also meant to find out the students’ and teachers’ views towards their interaction in the classroom.Case study was conducted in an English institution mediating the teachers and students with different goals in the context of one student and one teacher in a class. This study employed observation to see the ways teachers initiate the interaction and give feedback to the students’ responses. Interview was undertaken to know students’ and teachers’ views towards their interaction in the classroom. There were 5 cases observed. This research was conducted following the series of data collection, data reduction, and data display. Interview was conducted to help gain the views from students and teachers.The result shows that the teachers initiated the interaction and gave feedback by employing all strategies with different frequency. However, student was also found to give initiation which gave much contribution to the continuation of the interaction during the teaching and learning process. It is really recommended for the next researchers to study on the non-linguistic strategies employed by teachers to initiate and give feedback since they were also found during the observation of this study.
Self Actualization in a Novel by Andrea Hirata’s Laskar Pelangi
Authors: Rahayu Dyah Puji , Yuwana Setya , Roni Roni
Published: September 2020

The purpose of this research is to describe the fulfillment of needs as a process of self-actualization of the main characters who support in the form of business, difficulties, and achievement.This research is a qualitative research with descriptive method. The data used in this study is verbal, in the form of words, phrases or sentences obtained from research data sources, namely the text of the novel Laskar Pelangi by Andrea Hirata.The research results show that Ikal was able to actualize himself by getting a scholarship to study abroad after going through various failures such as being a badminton athlete and writer. Previously, Ikal succeeded in fulfilling the first stage, namely his physiological needs by working as a letter sorter. Second, the security needs achieved by relying on his own abilities so that Ikal feels safe when doing his work even though he must have discrimination from the head of the expedition.Third, the attainment of love needs and the existence achieved in a way loving his childhood friend, the love of his best friend, and family even by making various kinds of sacrifice. Fourth, Ikal can achieve the appreciation needs by equip himself with some knowledge so as to get praise from the jury even though he previously had difficulty in dividing time between study and work.Key Words: physiological needs, security needs, love and presence needs, appreciation needs, and self-actualization needs.
Middle Class Women Role in the 19th Century as Reflected in Bronte's Wuthering Heights
Authors: Indrasari Desy Nur , Rahman Fathu , Abbas Herawaty
Published: September 2020

The aim of this research is to describe middle class women role in the 19th century in Bronte’s novel, Wuthering Heights, and induce a deeper understanding of effect each role on two characters in society. This research is a qualitative descriptive method using sociological approach. By using sociology of literature, a literary work is seen as a document of social. The data of this research collected from the descriptions and utterances of the characters and narrator in the novel. The result in this research shows that the role of women from the middle class were represented by the characters of the novel known as Catherine Earnshaw Linton, the main female protagonist and the motherless child and also Catherine (Cathy) Linton, daughter of Catherine Earnshaw Linton.
Factors Causing Language Anxiety of EFL Students in Classroom Presentation
Authors: Fadlan Azwar
Published: September 2020

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to identify : (1) Types of foreign language anxiety experienced by the students (2) factors causing language anxiety of EFL students. This research applied qualitative descriptive research method. It was carried out at Graduate Program of Makassar State University. The subject of this study were six students majoring in English who conducted a presentation seminar. They are all selected by using purposive sampling. The researcher observed and interviewed all G-class students conducting presentation seminar from February to April to identify type and factor of anxiety experienced by the students in a presentation seminar. The researcher made observations using video recording devices and field notes. Based on the result, there were three types of anxiety experienced by the students when doing presentation using English, namely anxiety related to positive (facilitative anxiety), anxiety related  to negative or destructive (debilitative anxiety) and anxiety which was not related to any of them. The researcher called it as non-effecting anxiety. As for some factors causing the students feel anxious in their speaking ability, generally they divided into two main factors, namely internal and external factors, but in the case of this study, the researcher found only internal factors.
Impact of the Process Genre Approach on the Management Students’ Business Writing Skills
Authors: Kondal Bonala
Published: September 2020

In the present corporate world, it is prominent to hone business writing skills among students for becoming good management professionals. Writing is foremost and significant skill in the business world, but most of the students lack proficiency in their writing. The present paper attempts to explore the impact of the process genre approach in teaching business writing skills to the management professionals. The sample of the study consists of 40 management students from a professional college and 32 teachers of English who were working in sixteen different professional colleges. In order to collect the data, the questionnaires were administered to the students as well as to the teachers. Post analysis of the data, it was found that management students’ business writing skills had a positive impact when the process-genre approach incorporated in teaching and learning processes.  Hence, it is concluded that the use of the process genre approach for teaching business writing to the management students during the intervention had become successful in achieving the desired goal.  It also aided the students in developing better writing proficiency and enhancing their business writing skill.