bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Study on probiotic as antibiotic replacement to improve egg production in commercial duck farms
Authors: Suswoyo Imam , Ismoyowati Ismoyowati , Tugiyanti Elly
Published: December 2021

Abstract.  A research has been conducted to study the potency of probiotics as antibiotic replacements in terms of egg production and income over feed cost at commercial duck farms. The treatments were control, probiotic administration (P1=5 and P2=7 ml/kg feed), and antibiotic administration (A1=0.5 and A2=1 dose). Thus, there were 5 treatment units which were replicated 4 times.  Each unit had 30 laying ducks, so in total there were 600 local laying ducks. Parameters observed were egg production as Hen Day Production and egg mass. Hen Day Production was measured by calculating the number of eggs, divided by the number of female ducks in percentage. Egg mass was calculated by the number of eggs multiplied by the weight of the eggs, divided by the number of ducks. The results showed that egg production in control, P1, P2, A1 and A2 was 50.95%, 62.90%, 60.85%, 56.75% and 65.40% respectively. For egg mass, the data were 36.07+3.25; 44.58+3.63; 42.64+4.31; 41.44+3.76; and 45.27+4.57 respectively. Statistical analysis revealed that, for both parameters, there was a significant difference (P<0.05) between control and treatments but not a significant difference among treatment groups. It seemed that probiotics and antibiotics had similar effects on Hen Day Production and egg mass. It can be concluded that probiotics could replace antibiotic administration for laying ducks in terms of egg production.
Functional Active Genomics of Isoprene Biogenesis and resistance to cardiovascular diseases
Authors: Fedoriv Anna , Fedoriv Ivan
Published: December 2021

The pathologic development of the atherosclerotic process is often associated with the metabolism of saturated and unsaturated fatty acid. Substitution of the saturated fatty acids in nutrition for polyunsaturated fatty acids is traditionally associated with the lowering of risk of coronary breaches rise. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of the atherosclerosis development and progress is very important for early diagnostic and effective medical treatment of the above-mentioned disease. After a thorough analysis of the data available on the pathological atherosclerotic process, we have come to the conclusion that this disease begins from vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) impaired function. In the basis of the atherosclerosis development lies isoprenes biogenesis breach, caused by cholesterol and the products of its metabolism. Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the media wall of large- and medium-sized arteries. And endothelium injury is a consequence of the pathologic process progressing in myocytes. Metabolic problems have become so relevant that it is time to form a metabolic policy. Real target programs for the prevention of the development of metabolic diseases and their diagnostics in the early stages of development should be developed. But in order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to know the real molecular mechanism of development of the early stages of metabolic diseases. It is necessary to recognize that the research work on the metabolic problem was carried out mainly in the plane of the functionally-energy parameter and captures only the consequences of the pathological process. And the very reason and early stages of metabolic diseases remained hidden from us, as they are depending on the pathology in the plane Regulatory, Information, Coordination and Functional active bioenergy system.
Propuesta de parque biblioteca como potencializador y revitalizador de espacio público
Authors: Camacho Maurad Guissella Solange , Castillo Guamán Karla Gabriela , Coronel Poma María Soledad
Published: December 2021

El espacio público es un eje transformador y revitalizador de ciudades que, además de embellecer el paisaje urbano, vincula las actividades culturales, sociales y económicas de la población. El propósito de este proyecto es diseñar una propuesta de un parque biblioteca con la finalidad de brindar a la comunidad un espacio cultural y social ubicado en el único lote vacío situado en el sector centro sur de la ciudad de Machala, en la provincia de El Oro al sur del Ecuador.

El proyecto se implanta en un espacio que, por su cercanía a la cárcel de la ciudad, ha sido abandonado en pleno seno urbano, y dificulta la conectividad de la ciudad. Con este, se propone crear una conexión tanto de los equipamientos aledaños como de la zona sur y este, y brindar espacios para diferentes actividades culturales y educativas a la comunidad.

Además, se propone aprovechar el reconocimiento que la ciudad de Machala ha adquirido a nivel nacional por contar con el árbol de Navidad más grande de Ecuador, y tomarlo como elemento fortalecedor del proyecto —ya que atrae la atención de turistas— para darle un lugar propio a este hito.

La propuesta va ligada a los resultados obtenidos por encuestas realizadas a la comunidad con el propósito de plantear espacios que sean apropiados para las necesidades del usuario.
Análisis y evaluación de los niveles de CO y CO2 en la ciudad de Tacna en relación con el parque automotor y los estándares de calidad ambiental del aire
Authors: Tirado Rebaza Leo Ulises Michaell , Tirado Paz Eleocadio Diosinio , Tirado Rebaza Ivan Antony , Mena Choque Fabiola , Montánchez Picardo Edwin Gonzalo
Published: December 2021

La contaminación atmosférica en la ciudad de Tacna (Perú), principalmente atribuida a su parque automotor, es una problemática que se viene evidenciando desde hace décadas, y que afecta lentamente a la salud de las personas, animales y al ambiente. La presente investigación buscó determinar en qué medida el horario, los lugares de monitoreo y su interacción influye en los niveles de monóxido de carbono (CO) y dióxido de carbono (CO2) en los principales puntos de la ciudad mencionada. Asimismo, se compararon los niveles de CO con los Estándares de Calidad Ambiental del Aire según el Decreto Supremo No. 003–2017–MINAM (normativa peruana) y, finalmente, se determinó el grado de asociación entre la cantidad de vehículos motorizados que transitaban por la zona y las concentraciones de estos contaminantes. Se concluyó que existe un efecto significativo del horario, el lugar y su interacción en los niveles de CO y CO2. Por otro lado, la concentración de CO no superó los Estándares de Calidad Ambiental del Aire. Además, el nivel de CO se asoció de forma positiva y baja a la cantidad de vehículos que transitaban, mientras que la concentración de CO2 no se asoció con los automóviles.
La importancia del aprendizaje de la historia de la arquitectura moderna
Authors: Meléndez-Rodríguez Lenin John
Published: December 2021

El trabajo de investigación describe la importancia del aprendizaje de la historia de la arquitectura moderna, en circunstancias que se considera superada, y se da énfasis a la arquitectura posmoderna, se soslaya su presencia y herencia a futuro. Se aplicó un diseño cuasiexperimental en la que participaron, como unidades de análisis de población y muestra, 18 estudiantes de la asignatura Seminario de Historia 2018-II de la Facultad de Arquitectura de la Universidad Nacional del Centro del Perú. El instrumento fue un cuestionario de aprendizaje de verificación significativa. Los resultados evidencian la asociación de la información nueva con la que los estudiantes poseían e iniciaron en la asignatura en las dimensiones de conocimiento declarativo y procedimental, en el que han interiorizado los conceptos de antecedentes, desarrollo y continuidad de la arquitectura moderna. Con ello, se demuestra la importancia del aprendizaje de la arquitectura moderna porque dotó de nuevas capacidades para resolver sus propuestas proyectuales académicas y a futuro.
Reliability and Performance Analysis of a Series-Parallel System Using Gumbel–Hougaard Family Copula
Authors: Maihulla Anas Sani , Yusuf Ibrahim , Bala Saminu I.
Published: December 2021

This research looks into the reliability metrics that are used to assess the strength of a solar system’s serial system, which is made up of four subsystems. Each subsystem consists of two parallel active components: two out of two photo-voltaic panels, one of two charge controllers, two of two batteries, and one of two inverters. Both the charge controller and the inverter have two human operators or switches. The Gumbel–Hougaard copula family was used to produce formulations of system dependability metrics such as reliability, mean time to failure (MTTF), availability, and profit function. Numerical examples are presented to show the obtained results and to investigate the impact of various system characteristics. The new study might help homes overcome some of the problems experienced by electric generation systems operating in hostile locations or under adverse weather conditions. A new model was developed, and solar photovoltaic system’s subsystems were analyzed in order to identify the most essential component. It was also indicated how to improve the system.
 
Received: 8 August 2021 | Revised: 14 October 2021 | Accepted: 17 October 2021
 
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.
Nursing Communication Bundle: Behavior Standards Review Article Series: 1
Authors: Pascual Glenn D
Published: December 2021

Changing healthcare delivery systems demand greater accountability from hospital organizations and healthcare providers (Briggs et al., 2018). The radical restructuring of the healthcare system that is required to reduce spiraling healthcare costs and make healthcare accessible to all citizens will necessitate ongoing changes in healthcare organizations. The challenge for hospital organizations is to improve quality and service delivery through an ongoing process of innovation, restructuring of systems and processes, and implementation of aligned service behaviors to increase patient satisfaction and enhance clinical outcomes (Figure 1.0). Patient satisfaction scores serve as system indicators for financial reimbursement from government and private insurance agencies and as impetus for hospital organizations to choose the functional system of delivering care to improve quality, achieve desired outcomes, and enhance the patient care experience. Given the macroeconomic nature of the impact of patient satisfaction scores on hospital reimbursement, the challenge for healthcare organizations is to improve quality and service delivery through an ongoing process of innovation, restructuring systems and processes, and implementation of aligned standardized service behaviors to increase patient satisfaction and enhance clinical outcomes. Hospitals under the current healthcare landscape are rewarded for the quality of care provided; thus, better outcomes indicate hospitals’ financial viability (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2018).Managing service delivery across a highly divergent and fast-paced healthcare system requires sharp focus on execution and standardized operational excellence. Continuous quality improvement (CQI) has been shown to be a powerful tool to help make health care organizations more effective. CQI is a structured system for creating organization-wide participation and partnership in planning and implementing continuous improvement methods to understand, meet, or exceed patient needs and expectations. Developing a culture of excellence and quality in care can create an enthusiasm for change, passion for results, and drive for innovation equating to better service to healthcare consumers and better patient satisfaction scores.
Relationship between Change Management and the Implementation of the Human Resource Information System in Isiolo County Government, Kenya
Authors: Dida Hadija Halake , Moguche Abel , Rintari Dr. Nancy
Published: December 2021

Purpose: To establish the relationship between change management and the implementation of the human resource information system in Isiolo County Government, Kenya.

Methodology: This study was conducted in Isiolo County. Descriptive research design was used by the study to collect a total of 654 Employees of the county government of Isiolo who were the target population. The study employed stratified random sampling to select 30% of the employees in each stratum to obtain a sample of 196 employees of the county government. Data was collected using questionnaires. Data was then analyzed through SPSS version 23. The overall results were presented through inferential statistics such as regression, correlation and descriptive statistics frequencies and percentages. The data was presented using tables.

Results: The study found out that there is a relationship between change management and the implementation of the human resource information system in Isiolo County Government, Kenya. Change management had an R value of 0.791 and R square value of 0.627. This indicated that change management influenced 63% on implementation of HRIS. The other 37% remaining were determined by other factors. This indicated that change management was part of a key ingredient towards implementation of HRIS. It was found that change management had a relationship with implementation of HRIS.

Unique contribution to theory, policy and practice: The study concluded that even though change management was necessary to effectively implement HRIS some employees did not feel the need for change management. This was because the employees felt that they were okay with the current system and norms. The leadership did not articulately involve them in the vision attainment hence the main reason of employees not seeing the bigger picture. Therefore, the management should be more open minded and communicate frequently with the staff on where exactly the county was headed and what was needed to attain its vision and goals. Once the employees understand and internalize these things, it would motivate them to put effort so as to be part of realizing the vision.
The Effectiveness of PAI Learning with Blended Learning Models at Private Islamic High Schools in Palangka Raya
Authors: Rohim Abdur , Normuslim Normuslim , Syabrina Muhammad
Published: December 2021

This research is based on learning problems that cannot be carried out face-to-face because of the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic condition until now, so learning must be carried out by blended learning or face-to-face distance at private Islamic high schools throughout Palangka Raya to reduce the spread of the virus. Covid-19 continues to increase. For this reason, the formulation of the problem in this study is 1) How is the effectiveness of PAI learning with blended learning models in private Islamic high schools throughout Palangka Raya? 2) What are the teacher's obstacles in the PAI learning process with the blended learning model in private Islamic high schools throughout Palangka Raya? This study aims to describe the effectiveness of PAI learning with the blended learning model and the teacher's obstacles in the learning process at private Islamic high schools throughout Palangka Raya. This research was conducted using the descriptive qualitative method. This research was conducted at SMA Muhammadiyah 1 Palangka Raya, SMA Muhammadiyah 2 Palangka Raya and SMA Nahdatul Ulama Palangka Raya. The subjects of this research are teachers who teach PAI subjects. For data collection using observation techniques, interviews, and documentation. The data validation technique uses persistence and constancy of observation and triangulation. Meanwhile, data analysis was carried out using data collection, data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification. The results of this study indicate that: 1) The effectiveness of PAI learning with the blended learning model in private Islamic high schools throughout Palangka Raya is still not maximized because students' interest and motivation to learn decreases and students feel bored with the distance learning model or blended learning so that the strategy used by the teacher in teaching can not run optimally. In addition, the small allocation of learning time also causes the explanation of the material to be less effective. 2) The teacher's obstacle in the learning process is the lack of student participation in learning. This is because the main obstacles that occur are the difficulty of the signal and the weak internet network that occurs to students. In addition, the limited quota is also an obstacle for students who have economic limitations.
Quality Awareness of Indonesian Higher Education During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Google Trend Analysis
Authors: Adzidzah Nur
Published: December 2021

This study aims to determine the trend of society on the quality of higher education and the factors that influence it during COVID-19. Data was collected through the google search engine in the period March 2020 to November 2021. Bibliometric analysis techniques based on Google Trend big data were used. The results of the study found that 1) the community trend regarding the quality of higher education was quite good with a range of information retrieval above 10% and a sharp increase during the July period; 2) two main factors influence the trend of awareness of the quality of higher education, namely the acceptance of new students, and monitoring of accreditation ratings by BAN-PT. Therefore, higher education institutions must continue to improve binding quality services through accreditation instruments, especially on websites or online media owned by universities.
Stakeholders in Higher Education Accreditation: A Bibliometric Analysis
Authors: Nasrudin Dindin , Yuningsih Endah Kurnia , Millah Mila Faizatul
Published: December 2021

The existence of stakeholders in accreditation at every level of education plays a vital role. Their opinions determine the quality of an institution. This paper aims to show research trends related to the part of stakeholders in university accreditation. The method used is a bibliometric analysis of the Scopus database using VOSviewer software. The researcher selected eight hundred ten documents from journal articles and conference proceedings in English through the selection process. The results of the co-occurrence analysis show 4 clusters of related keyword groups. Four keywords that are very influential in the research theme are quality assurance with 142 occurrences, accreditation with 83 occurrences, stakeholders with 28 occurrences, and assessment with 24 occurrences. The relationship between concepts within one cluster and between clusters is shown through network visualization. By visualizing overlays, future work related to stakeholders in higher education accreditation can be mapped, including topics on organizational culture, governance, change management, partnership, and employability. This study concludes that bibliometric analysis through VOSviewer is proven to be able to show trends and future work for stakeholder research in higher education.
Membership of the editorial boards of journals published by the predatory publisher OMICS: willing and unwilling participation
Authors: Downes Mike
Published: December 2021

Introduction. OMICS is the largest and most successful predatory publisher, with numerous subsidiaries. In 2019 it was convicted of unethical publishing practices. Method. A numerical tally of OMICS's editorial listings was compiled across 131 nations. Names and affiliations were recorded for seven nations. A sample was surveyed to estimate the proportions of those aware and unaware of their listing, and of OMICS’s conviction. Analysis. Excel enabled compilation, absolute and proportional tallies and random selection. Results. OMICS has twenty subsidiaries and 26,772 editor (and editorial board) listings, 11,361 from just seven nations. Proportional to population, Greeks were most frequently represented on OMICS's editorial boards, followed by Americans, Singaporeans and Italians. In absolute terms, Americans were the most numerous. The survey found that more than half of the respondents were either unaware of their listing or were unwilling to be listed, and 26% were unaware of OMICS’s conviction. Conclusion. OMICS's editorial boards do not function as they do for respectable publishers, hence the information published in OMICS journals is unreliable. Academic alliances with OMICS are potentially damaging to academic careers and institutional reputations. Universities should develop policies dealing with predatory publishers in general and OMICS in particular.
Automatic Home-based Screening of Obstructive Sleep Apnea using Single Channel Electrocardiogram and SPO2 Signals
Authors: Ghandeharioun Hosna
Published: December 2021

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is one of the most widespread respiratory diseases today. Complete or relative breathing cessations due to upper airway subsidence during sleep is OSA. It has confirmed potential influence on Covid-19 hospitalization and mortality, and is strongly associated with major comorbidities of severe Covid-19 infection. Un-diagnosed OSA may also lead to a variety of severe physical and mental side-effects. To score OSA severity, nocturnal sleep monitoring is performed under defined protocols and standards called polysomnography (PSG). This method is time-consuming, expensive, and requiring professional sleep technicians. Automatic home-based detection of OSA is welcome and in great demand. It is a fast and effective way for referring OSA suspects to sleep clinics for further monitoring. On-line OSA detection also can be a part of a closed-loop automatic control of the OSA therapeutic/assistive devices. In this paper, several solutions for online OSA detection are introduced and tested on 155 subjects of three different databases. The best combinational solution uses mutual information (MI) analysis for selecting out of ECG and SpO2-based features. Several methods of supervised and unsupervised machine learning are employed to detect apnoeic episodes. To achieve the best performance, the most successful classifiers in four different ternary combination methods are used. The proposed configurations exploit limited use of biological signals, have online working scheme, and exhibit uniform and acceptable performance (over 85%) in all the employed databases. The benefits have not been gathered all together in the previous published methods.
Category Trees - Classifiers that Branch on Category
Authors: Greer Kieran
Published: December 2021

This paper presents a batch classifier that splits a dataset into tree branches depending on the category type. It has been improved from the earlier version and fixed a mistake in the earlier paper. Two important changes have been made. The first is to represent each category with a separate classifier. Each classifier then classifies its own subset of data rows, using batch input values to create the centroid and also represent the category itself. If the classifier contains data from more than one category however, it needs to create new classifiers for the incorrect data. The second change therefore is to allow the classifier to branch to new layers when there is a split in the data, and create new classifiers there for the data rows that are incorrectly classified. Each layer can therefore branch like a tree - not for distinguishing features, but for distinguishing categories. The paper then suggests a further innovation, which is to represent some data columns with fixed value ranges, or bands. When considering features, it is shown that some of the data can be classified directly through fixed value ranges, while the rest must be classified using a classifier technique and the idea allows the paper to discuss a biological analogy with neurons and neuron links. Tests show that the method can successfully classify a diverse set of benchmark datasets to better than the state-of-the-art.
Utilizing XAI Technique to Improve Autoencoder based Model for Computer Network Anomaly Detection with Shapley Additive Explanation(SHAP)
Authors: Roshan Khushnaseeb , Zafar Aasim
Published: December 2021

Machine learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) methods are being adopted rapidly, especially in computer network security, such as fraud detection, network anomaly detection, intrusion detection, and much more. However, the lack of transparency of ML and DL based models is a major obstacle to their implementation and criticized due to its black-box nature, even with such tremendous results. Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) is a promising area that can improve the trustworthiness of these models by giving explanations and interpreting its output. If the internal working of the ML and DL based models is understandable, then it can further help to improve its performance. The objective of this paper is to show that how XAI can be used to interpret the results of the DL model, the autoencoder in this case. And, based on the interpretation, we improved its performance for computer network anomaly detection. The kernel SHAP method, which is based on the shapley values, is used as a novel feature selection technique. This method is used to identify only those features that are actually causing the anomalous behaviour of the set of attack/anomaly instances. Later, these feature sets are used to train and validate the autoencoderbut on benign data only. Finally, the built SHAP_Model outperformed the other two models proposed based on the feature selection method. This whole experiment is conducted on the subset of the latest CICIDS2017 network dataset. The overall accuracy and AUC of SHAP_Model is 94% and 0.969, respectively.
The Impact of In-House Software Development Practices on System Usability in the Social Security Funds in Tanzania
Authors: Fredrick Eliazer Hamis , John Haule Michael
Published: December 2021

In-house software development is a critical phenomenon for the production of efficient and effective software in generating requisite job output. A few studies have devoted efforts towards establishing the impact of in-house software development on software. Therefore, this paper is an effort towards establishing the impact of in-house software development practices on system usability. In pursuit of this paper, a sample of a sample size of 169, at 95% confidence level, with margin error of 5% was drawn from bold software users, i.e. 300 employees who used the all software including those dealing with the main stream activities. A total of 102 respondents actually responded to the questionnaires. The Online Sample Calculator was used to draw the sample. Quantitative data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires and processed using the SPSS. Descriptive statistics were applied in the analysis. Findings of the study indicate that software development practices, specifically usability test and user involvement in software designing and development had an impact on determining software usability for in-house software. The paper concludes that software development practices shape the design of the software; hence influence usability of the software produced. Recommended is therefore that software usability test and user involvement in software designing and development be promoted for effective software production.
Malicious Javascript Detection based on Clustering Techniques
Authors: Hong Son Nguyen , Thanh Dung Ha
Published: December 2021

Malicious JavaScript code is still a problem for website and web users. The complication and equivocation of this code make the detection which is based on signatures of antivirus programs becomes ineffective. So far, the alternative methods using machine learning have achieved encouraging results, and have detected malicious JavaScript code with high accuracy. However, according to the supervised learning method, the models, which are introduced, depend on the number of labeled symbols and require significant computational resources to activate. The rapid growth of malicious JavaScript is a real challenge to the solutions based on supervised learning due to the lacking of experience in detecting new forms of malicious JavaScript code. In this paper, we deal with the challenge by the method of detecting malicious JavaScript based on clustering techniques. The known symbols that will be analyzed, the characteristics which are extracted, and a detection processing technique applied on output clusters are included in the model. This method is not computationally complicated, as well as the typical case experiments gave positive results; specifically, it has detected new forms of malicious JavaScript code.
Understanding Traffic Patterns of Covid-19 IoC in Huge Academic Backbone Network SINET
Authors: Ando Ruo , Kadobayashi Youki , Takakura Hiroki , Itoh Hiroshi
Published: December 2021

Recently, APT (Advanced Persistent Threats) groups are using the COVID-19 pandemic as part of their cyber operations. In response to cyber threat actors, IoCs (Indicators of Compromise) are being provided to help us take some countermeasures. In this paper, we analyse how the coronavirus-based cyber attack unfolded on the academic infrastructure network SINET (The Science Information Network) based on the passive measurement with IoC. SINET is Japan's academic information infrastructure network. To extract and analyze the traffic patterns of the COVID-19 attacker group, we implemented a data flow pipeline for handling huge session traffic data observed on SINET. The data flow pipeline provides three functions: (1) identification the direction of the traffic, (2) filtering the port numbers, and (3) generation of the time series data. From the output of our pipeline, it is clear that the attacker's traffic can be broken down into several patterns. To name a few, we have witnessed (1) huge burstiness (port 25: FTP and high port applications), (3) diurnal patterns (port 443: SSL), and (3) periodic patterns with low amplitude (port 25: SMTP) We can conclude that some unveiled patterns by our pipeline are informative to handling security operations of the academic backbone network. Particularly, we have found burstiness of high port and unknown applications with the number of session data ranging from 10,000 to 35,000. For understanding the traffic patterns on SINET, our data flow pipeline can utilize any IoC based on the list of IP address for traffic ingress/egress identification and port filtering.
Improving Security and Fairness in Federated Learning Systems
Authors: R. Short Andrew , G. Orfanoudakis Τheofanis , C. Leligou Helen
Published: December 2021

The ever-increasing use of Artificial Intelligence applications has made apparent that the quality of the training datasets affects the performance of the models. To this end, Federated Learning aims to engage multiple entities to contribute to the learning process with locally maintained data, without requiring them to share the actual datasets. Since the parameter server does not have access to the actual training datasets, it becomes challenging to offer rewards to users by directly inspecting the dataset quality. Instead, this paper focuses on ways to strengthen user engagement by offering “fair” rewards, proportional to the model improvement (in terms of accuracy) they offer. Furthermore, to enable objective judgment of the quality of contribution, we devise a point system to record user performance assisted by blockchain technologies. More precisely, we have developed a verification algorithm that evaluates the performance of users’ contributions by comparing the resulting accuracy of the global model against a verification dataset and we demonstrate how this metric can be used to offer security improvements in a Federated Learning process. Further on, we implement the solution in a simulation environment in order to assess the feasibility and collect baseline results using datasets of varying quality.
Embedding Performance Testing in Agile Software Model
Authors: Duraisamy Suresh Kannan , Bass Bryce , Mukkavilli Sai
Published: December 2021

In the last couple of decades, the software development process has evolved drastically, starting from Big Bang to Waterfall to Agile. The primary driver for the evolution of the software was the “Speed of Delivery” of the Software Product which has significantly accelerated from months to less than weeks and days. For IT (Information Technology) Organizations to be successful, they inevitably need a strong technology presence to roll out new software and features as quickly as possible to their customer base. The current user generation tends to use technology to maximum potential and is always striving to keep up with the new trends. The main subject is for the organizations to be ready with their Speed of Delivery strategy adapting to all technology modernization initiatives like CICD (Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment), Agile, DevOps, and Cloud so that there are negligible customer friction and no risks to their Market shares,. The aim of this paper is to compare the performance testing in every stage of the agile model to the traditional end testing. The results of the corresponding testing phases are presented in this paper.
Comparison between LDH with Zap-70 and CD38 as prognostic Markers in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Sudanese patients - A Pilot Study in Khartoum State
Authors: Hassan Mohammed Yassmin , Hussein Elhassan Salma , Ibrahim Mariam Abbas , Mohammed Ali May , Eljaili Abubaker Nuha , A.Altayeb Osama , Abbass Karrar Eman
Published: December 2021

Background:  Several prognostic markers are used in clinical stages of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL); including lactate dehydrogenase enzyme (LDH), CD38 and Zeta associated protein kinase (ZAP70). This study aimed to compare LDH with ZAP70 and CD38 as prognostic markers in Sudanese patients with CLL.

Materials and Methods: Fifty newly diagnosed patients with CLL were enrolled in this cross-sectional study, the age of patients ranged between 36 - 85 years, with mean of 62 years. Of total patients; there were 34 males (68%) and 16 females (32%). Blood samples were obtained and LDH measurement was done by using Dirui CS-T240 automated analyzer while CD38 and ZAP-70 were measured by flowcytometry. Data were analyzed by statistical package for social science (SPSS) computer software program version 21. Results: The present study revealed a significant association between LDH and Rai staging (p. value= 0.002), when LDH compared with ZA-70 and CD38 as reference prognostic markers; poor correlation between CD38 and LDH was found (R2= 0.086, P value= 0.034) and no correlation between LDH level and ZAP-70 expression (R2= 000, P value= 0.960). In conclusion: According to the outcomes of this study; ZAP-70 and CD38 cannot be substituted by LDH as a prognostic marker.
WORKSHOP SEKOLAH SEBAGAI UPAYA PENINGKATAN KEMAMPUAN GURU DALAM MENGEMBANGKAN DAN MENGGUNAKAN MEDIA PEMBELAJARAN DI SDN NGEMPLAK SIMONGAN 01 SEMARANG
Authors: Astuti Raden Rara Yuni
Published: December 2021

Rata-rata guru di SDN Ngemplak Simongan 01 Kota Semarang masih menggunakan media sederhana hanya dengan menggunakan media Watshap dan foto-foto bergambar yang diambil dari internet untuk dikirimkan peserta didik dalam proses pembelajrannya di masa pandemi ini, rata–rata guru kurang kreatif dalam membuat atau memanfaatkan media pembelajran yang efektif di masa padnemi ini. Dari 9 guru hanya 3 guru atau 33% yang mampu menggunakan media kreatif dalam pembelajran di masa pandemi. Menyikapi hal tersebut guru perlu mendaptkan pelatihan tentang bagaimana berkreativitas dalam penggunaan media belajar terutama di masa pandemi agar pembelaarjan dapat dipahami dan menyenangkan bagi siswa, kepala supervisor perlu memberikan satu workshop sekolah kepada guru secara berkala agar setiap guru dapat memiliki kreativitas dalam memanfaatkan media pembelajran di dalam keadan apapun. Studi ini dimaksudkan untuk menjawab permasalahan: 1) Bagaimanakah pelaksanaan workshop sekolah sebagai upaya peningkatan kemampuan guru dalam mengembangkan dan menggunakan media pembelajaran di SDN Ngemplak Simongan 01 Kota Semarang tahun pelajaran 2020/2021?. 2) Apakah pelaksanaan workshop sekolah dapat meningkatkan kemampuan guru dalam mengembangkan dan menggunakan media pembelajaran di SDN Ngemplak Simongan 01 Kota Semarang tahun pelajaran 2020/2021?. Permasalahan tersebut di bahas melalui penelitian tindakan sekolah yang dilakukan melalui 2 siklus dengan setiap siklus tahapannya adalah perencanaan, tindakan, observasi dan refleksi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan: 1) Pelaksanaan workshop sekolah sebagai upaya peningkatan kemampuan guru dalam mengembangkan dan menggunakan media pembelajaran di SDN Ngemplak Simongan 01 Kota Semarang tahun pelajaran 2020/2021 dilakukan dengan melakukan pelatihan di bawah bimbingan narasumber yang ahli dibidang media pembelajaran baik seara individual maupun kelompok dengan menekankan pada penjelasana dan pembimbignan secra pelan-pelan dan detail. 2) Pelaksanaan workshop sekolah dapat meningkatkan kemampuan guru dalam mengembangkan dan menggunakan media pembelajaran di SDN Ngemplak Simongan 01 Kota Semarang tahun pelajaran 2020/2021, hal ini dapat dilihat dari peningkatan hasil profesionalias guru dalam pengelolaan administrasi kelas per siklus dimana pada siklus I ada 5 guru atau 62,5% dan pada siklus II ada 7 guru atau 87,5%. Hasil tersebut menunjukkan bahwa hasil tersebut sesuai dengan yang diharapkan. Peningkatan juga terjadi pada aktivitas guru dalam mengikuti mini worskhsop dimana pada siklus I ada 5 guru atau 62,5% dan siklus II ada 7 guru atau 87,5%. Peningkatan tersebut pelaksanaan workshop sekolah efektif dalam penggunaan media pembelajaran.
Comparison of logistic regression and linear discriminant analysis
Authors: Pohar Maja , Blas Mateja , Turk Sandra
Published: December 2021

Two of the most widely used statistical methods for analyzing categorical outcome variables are linear discriminant analysis and logistic regression. While both are appropriate for the development of linear classification models, linear discriminant analysis makes more assumptions about the underlying data. Hence, it is assumed that logistic regression is the more flexible and more robust method in case of violations of these assumptions. In this paper we consider the problem of choosing between the two methods, and set some guidelines for proper choice. The comparison between the methods is based on several measures of predictive accuracy. The performance of the methods is studied by simulations. We start with an example where all the assumptions of the linear discriminant analysis are satisfied and observe the impact of changes regarding the sample size, covariance matrix, Mahalanobis distance and direction of distance between group means. Next, we compare the robustness of the methods towards categorisation and non-normality of explanatory variables in a closely controlled way. We show that the results of LDA and LR are close whenever the normality assumptions are not too badly violated, and set some guidelines for recognizing these situations. We discuss the inappropriateness of LDA in all other cases.
Proportional hazards mixed models
Authors: Xu Ronghui
Published: December 2021

We describe our recent work on mixed effects models for right-censored data. Vaida and Xu (2000) provided a general framework for handling random effects in proportional hazards (PH) regression, in a way similar to the linear, non-linear and generalized linear mixed effects models that allow random effects of arbitrary covariates. This general framework includes the frailty models as a special case. Maximum likelihood estimates of the regression parameters, the variance components and the baseline hazard, and empirical Bayes estimates of the random effects can be obtained via an MCEM algoritm. Variances of the parameter estimates are approximated using Louis' formula. We show interesting applications of the PH mixed effects model (PHMM) to a US Vietnam Era Twin Registry study on alcohol abuse, with the primary goal of identifying genetic contributions to such events. The twin pairs in the registry consist of monozygotic and dizygotic twins. After model fitting and for interpretation purposes, the proportional hazards formulation is converted to a linear transformation model before the results on genetic contributions are reported. The model also allows examination of gene and covariate interactions, as well as the modelling of multivariate outcomes (comorbidities).
Discovery of polynomial equations for regression
Authors: Todorovski Ljupčo , Džeroski Sašo , Ljubič Peter
Published: December 2021

Both equation discovery and regression methods aim at inducing models of numerical data. While the equation discovery methods are usually evaluated in terms of comprehensibility of the induced model, the emphasis of the regression methods evaluation is on their predictive accuracy. In this paper, we present Ciper, an efficient method for discovery of polynomial equations and empirically evaluate its predictive performance on standard regression tasks. The evaluation shows that polynomials compare favorably to linear and piecewise regression models, induced by the existing state-of-the-art regression methods, in terms of degree of fit and complexity.
study of k-means method where starting conditions are changed
Authors: Podgornik Rok , Zafred Marijan , Pajtler Anja
Published: December 2021

The goal of our work is to evaluate the performance of k-means clustering method. We created three (or two) groups of units, which compose one of our three different structures. First we created groups, which were clearly separated in three-dimensional space, and then we started to decrease the differences among them with increasing the data dispersion at keeping the centroids constant. We wanted to find out how long we can continue with this process until we still get satisfactory results at clustering of units into groups. Six different methods of clustering were used (with different initial cluster centers) and we evaluated every one of them. In comparison with initial clustering we are observing three criteria: percentage of correctly clustered units, centroids dislocation and value of criteria function. The results of clustering are presented graphically with added values of three chosen criteria for better possibility of evaluation. For the simulation of the data and graphical presentation we used program package R.
A follow-up study of a longitudinal research on malocclusions and tongue thrust
Authors:   University of Utah, Hanson Terry , Hanson Marvin
Published: December 2021

Summary: Ninety-two twelve-year-old subjects were examined for type of swallow and types and degrees of malocclusion. All were subjects who had been chosen at random eight years previously to participate in a longitudinal study of swallowing. Four years had lapsed since the children had been evaluated. Purposes were: (1) to determine incidence of tongue thrust, and (2) to examine relationships between malocclusion and tongue thrust. The incidence of tongue thrust was found to be 48.9%. This was considerably higher than had been expected. It is probable that ten of the 45 with a tongue thrust were transitional thrusters. If these ten were excluded, the incidence would be 38.9%. A chi square formula was used to determine possible relationships between various types and degrees of malocclusions and manner of swallowing. No significant relationships were found. However, all but one of the subjects with overjets of 5mm. or more were tongue thrusters.
Gnathology and the myoprotected occlusion: A hypothesis
Authors: Picard Peter
Published: December 2021

Introduction: The concept of mutually-protected occlusion versus a non-protective occlusion has become meaningful in modern dentistry. The terms pertain to the occlusion and disclusion of the teeth during mandibular motion, how the position of teeth can influence jaw movement, and how the movements in turn can be destructive or protective to the gnathostomatic system. Summary: To establish credibility in oral myology, the authors point out that theories must have scientific justification. Numerous areas of needed study are pointed out and emphasis is that these kinds of studies are needed. In the authors’ opinion, the International Association of Oral Myology should be ideally suited to undertake such studies.
Trends in authorship by women at Canadian universities 2006 to 2019
Authors: Demaine Jeffrey
Published: December 2021

Despite much progress since the mid-20th century, there still exists a disparity in the number of female academics relative to their male colleagues. This gender gap has come under increased focus as universities take steps to foster diversity and inclusiveness. Bibliometrics can provide a window into the gender disparity in research by measuring the metadata of academic publications. By determining the ratio of female to male authors, the gender bias at the level of the institution can be quantified. This study examines the proportion of female authors of academic articles at thirty Canadian universities across five broad fields of research.
ÇOCUKLUK DÖNEMİNDE DUYU VE ALGI GELİŞİMİNE İLİŞKİN TÜRKİYE’DE YAPILAN LİSANSÜSTÜ TEZLERİN İNCELENMESİ (2000-2020)
Authors: ŞENTÜRK Emine , SAĞLAM Mehmet
Published: December 2021

Çevreden bilgi alarak insanların hayata uyum sağlamasını sağlayan duyuların gelişimi anne karnından başlayarak gerçekleşir. Bebekler yaşamın ilk anlarından itibaren tat, koku, dokunma, duyma ve görme duyuları ile çevreyle temas eder. Duyulardan oluşan ve hayata adaptasyonu önemli ölçüde etkileyen algı, farklı bilim disiplinlerinin çalışma alanına da girer. Bu çalışma, Türkiye'de çocukluk döneminde duyu ve algıların gelişimi ile ilgili yayınlanmış tezleri analiz etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Türkiye Ulusal Tez Merkezi'nde farklı anahtar kelimelerle arama yapılmış ve 69 tez çalışmaya dâhil edilmiştir. Araştırmada, nitel araştırma desenlerinden biri olarak betimsel içerik analizi yapılmıştır. Sonuçlara göre, Türkiye'de çocukluk döneminde duyu ve algıların gelişimi ile ilgili yayınlanan tezler en çok 2016-2020 yılları arasında, Hacettepe Üniversitesi’nde, Sağlık Bilimleri Enstitüsü’nde, Fizik Tedavi ve Rehabilitasyon Anabilim Dalı'nda, yüksek lisans düzeyinde ve nicel araştırma deseni kullanılarak çalışılmıştır. Sonuçlar, yayınlanan tezlerin daha çok erken çocukluk döneminde ve sağlıklı gelişen çocuklarla çalışıldığını göstermektedir.
YETİŞKİN BİREYLERİN ÖĞÜN TÜKETİM SIKLIĞI İLE ORTOREKSİYA NERVOZA EĞİLİMLERİNİN DEĞERLENDİRMESİ
Authors: OLCAY EMİNSOY İrem , EMİNSOY Gökhan
Published: December 2021

Giriş: Ortoreksiya nervoza (ON), sağlıklı besinlerin tüketilmesine karşı patolojik bir saplantıdır. Kişinin amacı sağlığını korumaktır. Diğer yandan öğün tüketim sıklığı ve zamanlaması ile öğünler arasındaki sürenin de sağlıkla ilgili etkileri olduğu bilinmektedir.

Amaç: Bu çalışmada, ON eğilimi olan bireylerin öğün düzenlerinin nasıl olduğunun belirlenmesi ve öğün sıklığı ile ON arasındaki ilişkinin belirlenmesi amaçlanmıştır.

Yöntem: Google formlar ile 15 soruluk anket formu ile ORTO-11 ölçeğini içeren bir anket hazırlanmıştır. Anketin sosyal medya üzerinden, haberleşme grupları ve sosyal medya hesapları aracılığıyla dağılması ve uygulaması sağlanmıştır. Ankete Ocak - Nisan 2021 tarihleri arasında erişim sağlanmıştır. Elde edilen veriler SPSS 25 İstatistik paket programı kullanılarak uygun istatistiksel yöntemlerle değerlendirilmiştir.

Bulgular: Çalışmaya katılan bireylerin %87.1’i kadın, %12.9’u erkektir. Kadın ve erkeklerin yaş ortalaması sırası ile 29.2±11.90 ve 41.6±11.96 yıl, genel yaş ortalaması ise 30.8±12.55 yıldır. Kadınların sırası ile ağırlık, boy uzunluğu ve beden kütle indeksi (BKİ) ortalamaları 58.7±21.90 kg, 164.0±5.95 cm ve 21.9±5.07 kg/m2, erkeklerin sırası ile 94.6±15.71 kg, 176.8±5.91 cm ve 30.4±5.80 kg/m2’dir. Kadınların sırası ile ana öğün, ara öğün günlük öğün sayısı ile ORTA-11 puan ortalamaları 2.5±0.55, 1.7±0.99, 4.1±1.09 ve 25.8±4.17’dir, erkeklerin ise 2.6±0.50, 2.5±2.08, 4.8±1.20 ve 27.6±6.29 olarak belirlenmiştir. ORTO-11 puanları ile ağırlık, BKİ, ana öğün sayısı, ara öğün sayısı, toplam öğün sayısı arasında negatif yönlü ilişki, istatistikse olarak anlamlı değildir.

Sonuç: Bu çalışmada, ağırlık, BKİ, ana öğün, ara öğün, toplam öğün sayıları arasında istatistiksel olarak önemsiz olsa da, negatif bir ilişki bulunmuştur. Konu ile ilgili daha fazla çalışmaya ihtiyaç vardır.