bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Totally Flipping Instruction Advantages, Alternative Models, and Challenges of a Flipped Classroom in K-12 and Higher Education
Authors: Torres Kelly M. , Tackett Samantha , Arrastia-Chisholm Meagan Caridad , Landau Jamie
Published: March 2021

The flipped classroom approach is becoming more widespread across K-12 and higher education classrooms. This blended learning instructional model has been found to be effective in engaging learners, creating active learning experiences, and providing students continual access to course materials. By completing these types of active learning experiences, students receive personalized learning opportunities that are more conducive to their academic needs. Through this instructional approach, educators are considered guides on the side instead of a sage on the stage. There are a vast array of advantages and disadvantages to integrating flipped classroom approaches. However, researchers have discovered that flipped classrooms are effective instructional methods that are well received by students but need to be designed carefully to ensure that learners review all required course materials prior to completing in-class activities.
Positive Psychology
Authors: DeLucia Christine A.
Published: March 2021

The application of mindfulness practice in education has been a growing area of interest in research. Some of the benefits of mindfulness practice in education include increased focus and concentration, decreased stress and anxiety, and improved overall well-being. While mindfulness in education has been studied in preschool, elementary, secondary, and tertiary settings, little research has been done examining the benefits of mindfulness in an online learning environment. As online learning continues to be an emerging trend in higher education, it is important for educators to consider alternative ways to support the holistic needs of online learners. This chapter explores the impact of mindfulness resources on the academic and emotional experience of the online learner.
Moving From Passive to Active Blended Learning
Authors: Starr-Glass David
Published: March 2021

This chapter is a reflection on practice that resulted in the incorporation of an active blended learning approach in courses which the author facilitates for transnational students. These courses were popular, received very favorable student evaluations, and seemed successful in delivering their learning goals. However, there was a growing realization that the dynamics of these courses could be enhanced and made more effective in terms of student engagement. There was also a concern that the “blending” in the course designations might be more of an administrative classification than a thoughtful combination of the best features of distance online learning and face-to-face instruction. The chapter details the author's reflection on practice in course design and facilitation. It reviews the identification of areas of concerns and missed opportunities in these learning environments. Finally, the chapter considers the implementation and result of actions taken to revise and reposition these courses through an active blended learning paradigm.
Exploring Active Blended Learning Through the Lens of Team-Based Learning
Authors: Maxwell Rachel , Khatri Roshni
Published: March 2021

This chapter showcases how the collaborative learning and teaching strategy known as Team-Based Learning™ (TBL) can deliver against the conceptual components within active blended learning (ABL), through exploration of different case studies from the authors' university. It begins by detailing the core concepts and theories underpinning each pedagogic approach before considering how adoption of TBL is consistent with the wider implementation of ABL. Case histories are used to highlight how these approaches enhance the student learning experience and how learning technologies can enable staff to do more of what they value within the classroom. The value of different learning spaces to facilitate TBL and augment the learning experience for both staff and students is considered. Finally, the chapter explores some of the more difficult questions around the lack of broader uptake of TBL within an institution committed to ABL as its standard approach to learning and teaching.
Increasing the Visibility of Graduate Students' Employability Skills
Authors: Guàrdia Lourdes , Maina Marcelo Fabián , Mancini Federica
Published: March 2021

This chapter highlights the contributions of the EPICA project in reducing the skills gap of graduate students in sub-Saharan Africa. It presents the solution designed and implemented to improve the quality of employability skills development and visibility to prospective employers. The first part of this chapter provides an overview of the skills gap between higher education institutions and the workplace in sub-Saharan Africa. It includes the description of the specific eAssessment pedagogical framework and methodology supported by the EPICA ePortfolio as a transition tool designed to address this gap. The second part of the chapter outlines the challenges that could hinder the solution's implementation and the full exploitation of its benefits. Solutions and recommendations are also discussed with the aim to increase the impact in the EPICA stakeholder community and encourage the implementation of the proposed solution in other universities, especially those adopting blended and online learning models.
Techniques of Steganography and Cryptography in Digital Transformation
Authors: Pramanik Sabyasachi , Ghosh Ramkrishna , Pandey Digvijay , Samanta Debabrata , Dutta Soumi , Dutta Shawni
Published: March 2021

Digital enterprise transformation is the amalgamation of digital techniques into the scopes of a business enterprise, fundamentally altering how one can employ and furnish ethics to clients. An organization can be authorized to take digital transformation due to several reasons. But the most important reason is that it is the survival issuance for many people. Digital transformation considers dissimilarity in every organization. Generally, it is the amalgamation of digital technology into all quarters of business. That consolidation brings about major alterations in how the business functions and conveys usefulness to its clients. Here, steganography and cryptography are used to facilitate digital transformation in any business.
Analysis of the Effect for Customer Relationship Management on Digital Enterprises
Authors: Ebrahimi Maryam
Published: March 2021

This study aims to investigate the effect of customer relationship management (CRM) on digital enterprises focusing on their digital shopping process using the agent-based modeling (ABM) in a digital store. In this regard, purposive non-probability sampling method was used to select 300 experts and descriptive and correlation coefficient with SPSS tools were used. The digital shopping process considered in this study include product review, product selection, payment, and receipt, and CRM dimensions include economic profitability, quality of optimal use of information, quality of information display, and customer satisfaction of digital shopping services. The research results based on the conceptual model, statistical analysis, and use of ABM in anylogic environment show that CRM system leads to improved digital enterprise performance and all dimensions of CRM system have a positive effect on digital shopping stages. Finally, the usefulness and accuracy of the results were confirmed based on the positive opinions of experts.
Demystifying Corporate Restructuring Strategy Through Digital Transformation
Authors: Dzingirai Mufaro
Published: March 2021

During the past two decades, corporate restructuring in the banking sector has gained much scholarly and public attention in both more developed and less developed countries as a strategic response to a decline in organizational performance. Surprisingly, there is fragmented and scant evidence on corporate restructuring through digital transformation in the banking sector, especially in the Zimbabwean context. With this in mind, this chapter aims at capturing worldwide issues and controversies linked to corporate restructuring through digital transformation, reviewing the success stories of corporate restructuring through digital transformation in the banking sector of Zimbabwe, identifying the challenges associated with digital transformation so that recommendations are proffered to top management and policymakers accordingly, and presenting suggestions for future research.
Precious Metal Prediction by Using XAI in the Perspective of Digital Transformation
Authors: Oztoprak Samet , Orman Zeynep
Published: March 2021

Recent advances in deep learning methodology led to artificial intelligence (AI) performance achieving and even surpassing human levels in an increasing number of complex tasks. There are many impressive examples of this development such as image classification, sensitivity analysis, speech understanding, or strategic gaming. The estimations based on the AI methods do not give any certain information due to the lack of transparency for the visualization, explanation, and interpretation of deep learning models which can be a major disadvantage in many applications. This chapter discusses studies on the prediction of precious metals in the financial field that need an explanatory model. Traditional AI and machine learning methods are insufficient to realize these predictions. There are many advantages to using explainable artificial intelligence (XAI), which enables us to make reasonable decisions based on inferences. In this chapter, the authors examine the precious metal prediction by XAI by presenting a comprehensive literature review on the related studies.
Analysis of Sentiment on Movie Reviews Using Word Embedding Self-Attentive LSTM
Authors: Sivakumar Soubraylu , Rajalakshmi Ratnavel
Published: March 2021

In the contemporary world, people share their thoughts rapidly in social media. Mining and extracting knowledge from this information for performing sentiment analysis is a complex task. Even though automated machine learning algorithms and techniques are available, and extraction of semantic and relevant key terms from a sparse representation of the review is difficult. Word embedding improves the text classification by solving the problem of sparse matrix and semantics of the word. In this paper, a novel architecture is proposed by combining long short-term memory (LSTM) with word embedding to extract the semantic relationship between the neighboring words and also a weighted self-attention is applied to extract the key terms from the reviews. Based on the experimental analysis on the IMDB dataset, the authors have shown that the proposed architecture word-embedding self-attention LSTM architecture achieved an F1 score of 88.67%, while LSTM and word embedding LSTM-based models resulted in an F1 score of 84.42% and 85.69%, respectively.
A Survey of Fog Computing-Based Healthcare Big Data Analytics and Its Security
Authors: Priyadarshini Rojalina , Barik Rabindra Kumar , Dubey Harish Chandra , Mishra Brojo Kishore
Published: March 2021

Growing use of wearables within internet of things (IoT) creates ever-increasing multi-modal data from various smart health applications. The enormous volume of data generation creates new challenges in transmission, storage, and processing. There were challenges such as communication latency and data security associated with processing medical big data in cloud backend. Fog computing (FC) is an emerging distributed computing paradigm that solved these problems by leveraging local data processing, storage, filtering, and machine intelligence within an intermediate fog layer that resides between cloud and wearables devices. This paper focuses on doing survey on two major aspects of deploying fog computing for smart and connected health. Firstly, the role of machine learning-based edge intelligence in fog layer for data processing is investigated. A comprehensive analysis is provided during the survey, highlighting the strength and improvements in the existing literature. The paper ends with some open challenges and future research areas in the domain of fog-based healthcare.
Young Adults' Mental Illness Aesthetics on Social Media
Authors: Vidamaly Somsamay , Lee Soon Li
Published: March 2021

Social media posts expressing mental illness such as depression are trending in today's society. The aesthetics of dark and depressing posts are highlighted in blogs or social media accounts of young individuals. Consequently, this study investigated why young people use mental illness as an aesthetic on social media. On top of that, this study contributes to the limited body of research on this subject. This study applied a method known as netnography, an analysis of social interactions online. Furthermore, the actor-network theory (ANT) was employed as an analytical tool to explore insights and draw conclusions. Seven mediators were identified as possible causes that prompted mental illness aesthetic use, including Tumblr, media, attention seekers, coping mechanism, victimhood, emo culture, and mental health awareness. These findings provided insights into developing interventions and systematic methods to discuss mental illness properly. This study also identified current challenges in social media research regarding mental illness detection.
Structure Preserving Non-Photorealistic Rendering Framework for Image Abstraction and Stylization of Low-Illuminated and Underexposed Images
Authors: Kumar Pavan , Poornima B.  , Nagendraswamy H. S.  , Manjunath C.
Published: March 2021

The proposed abstraction framework manipulates the visual-features from low-illuminated and underexposed images while retaining the prominent structural, medium scale details, tonal information, and suppresses the superfluous details like noise, complexity, and irregular gradient. The significant image features are refined at every stage of the work by comprehensively integrating a series of AnshuTMO and NPR filters through rigorous experiments. The work effectively preserves the structural features in the foreground of an image and diminishes the background content of an image. Effectiveness of the work has been validated by conducting experiments on the standard datasets such as Mould, Wang, and many other interesting datasets and the obtained results are compared with similar contemporary work cited in the literature. In addition, user visual feedback and the quality assessment techniques were used to evaluate the work. Image abstraction and stylization applications, constraints, challenges, and future work in the fields of NPR domain are also envisaged in this paper.
A Systematic Review of Clustering and Classifier Techniques for Brain Tumor Segmentation in MRI Images
Authors: Mulimani Veeresh Ashok , Sannakki Sanjeev S. , Rajpurohit Vijay S.
Published: March 2021

MRI technique is widely used in the field of medicine because of its high spatial resolution, non-invasive characteristics, and soft tissue contrast. In this review article, a systematic study has been conducted to analyze the performance and issues of various techniques for brain tumor segmentation. Latest research on BTS in MRI with the higher resolution is utilized for the systematic review. The high-resolution images increase execution time of the classification, and accuracy is the other problem in BTS. Still, there is some research lacking in accuracy on the brain segmentation. Few researchers carried out the classification of different kinds of tissues in the brain images and also on the prediction on growth of tumor. Each method has specific technique to improve the performance of the BTS, and these methods are compared with one another in terms of result. Research comparison helps to understand the proposed method with their achieved results. Clustering algorithms such as K-means and FCM are generally used for segmentation, and GA, ANN, ANFIS, FCNN, SVM are commonly used as classifiers.
SAR Image Recording Strategy to Improve Characteristics
Authors: Chebi Hocine
Published: March 2021

The low information consistency and serious interference caused by synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging characteristics and target attributes affect the accuracy of SAR image information description, which reduces the performance of SAR image registration. In this work, the polar speeded up robust features (PSURF) descriptor is proposed for SAR image registration. In PSURF, according to the advantages of pole space in the relationship between pixels, a quantitative model of information change based on pole space is established to improve the integrity, consistency, and separability of image features. Firstly, the support region is transformed into polar coordinates. Then, the image gray level changes in the radial and angular directions are quantified with different scales. Finally, the PSURF descriptor based on the scale of keypoints is constructed covering the omnidirectional space.
The Iran-Saudi Cyber Conflict
Authors: Easttom Chuck , Butler William
Published: March 2021

Cyber conflict is a factor in modern politics. There is often a synergy between historical political issues and current cyber conflicts. Saudi Arabia and Iran have a long-standing mutual animosity that is now being expressed via cyber operations. This study provides a context for current cyber conflicts between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Iran. The political history of both countries is briefly explored. Then specific cyber incidents are examined within that existing political conflict. The current state of affairs between Saudi Arabia and Iran can best be described as a cyber cold war. This study provides both current cyber incidents as well as the political and historical context in which these incidents occur. The history of the modern states of Iran and Saudi Arabia provide a context for the political strife between the two countries.
Medium Access Control Protocols for Brain Computer Interface Applications
Authors: Harikrishnan Harshini , Sarkar Aarjish , Al Ajrawi Shams , Mihovska Albena , Paolini Christopher
Published: March 2021

Noteworthy advancements have occurred in the field of brain computer interfaces (BCI) in the last decade. The transmission of the collected signals to the corresponding organ through a wireless link is still in a nascent stage. This paper investigates the feasibility of having multiple UHF-RFID transmitters inside the skull which communicate to the receiver outside. The purpose of this paper is to design a wireless communication channel and enhance the communication using a MAC protocol. The existing MAC protocols were analyzed to be used in a BCI application. Though the combination of existing protocols seems like a possibility to use in a BCI system, the complexity of such a protocol is high. This drawback is overcome by proposing a novel MAC protocol. The performance of the proposed MAC algorithm is related with the widely used Q algorithm for anti-collision in the RFID tags. Parameters like delay and collisions are analyzed in detail which are essential to build a consistent, energy efficient, and a low power BCI system.
RF-Based Machine Learning Solution for Indoor Person Detection
Authors: De Santana Pedro Maia , Scher Thiago A. , Bazzo Juliano Joao , de Medeiros Alvaro A. M. , de Sousa Jr. Vicente A.
Published: March 2021

Machine learning techniques applied to radio frequency (RF) signals are used for many applications in addition to data communication. In this paper, the authors propose a machine learning solution for classifying the number of people within an indoor ambient. The main idea is to identify a pattern of received signal characteristics according to the number of people. Experimental measurements are performed using a software-defined radio platform inside a laboratory. The data collected is post-processed by applying a feature mapping technique based on mean, standard deviation, and Shannon information entropy. This feature-space data is then used to train a supervised machine learning network for classifying scenarios with zero, one, two, and three people inside. The proposed solution presents significant accuracy in classification performance.
WDPMA
Authors: Kumar Santosh , Kumar Ravi
Published: March 2021

The internet is very huge in size and increasing exponentially. Finding any relevant information from such a huge information source is now becoming very difficult. Millions of web pages are returned in response to a user's ordinary query. Displaying these web pages without ranking makes it very challenging for the user to find the relevant results of a query. This paper has proposed a novel approach that utilizes web content, usage, and structure data to prioritize web documents. The proposed approach has applications in several major areas like web personalization, adaptive website development, recommendation systems, search engine optimization, business intelligence solutions, etc. Further, the proposed approach has been compared experimentally by other approaches, WDPGA, WDPSA, and WDPII, and it has been observed that with a little trade off time, it has an edge over these approaches.
A Novel Approach for Determining Shelter Location-Allocation in Humanitarian Relief Logistics
Authors: Praneetpholkrang Panchalee , Kanjanawattana Sarunya
Published: March 2021

This study proposes a methodology that integrates the epsilon constraint method (EC) and artificial neural network (ANN) to determine shelter location-allocation. Since shelter location-allocation is a critical part of disaster response stage, fast decision-making is very important. A multi-objective optimization model is formulated to simultaneously minimize total cost and minimize total evacuation time. The proposed model is solved by EC because it generates the optimal solutions without intervention of decision-makers during the solution process. However, EC requires intensive computational time, especially when dealing with large-scale data. Thus, ANN is combined with EC to facilitate prompt decision-making and address the complexity. Herein, ANN is supervised by the optimal solutions generated by EC. The applicability of the proposed methodology is demonstrated through a case study of shelter allocation in response to flooding in Surat Thani, Thailand. It is plausible to use this proposed methodology to improve disaster response for the benefit of victims and decision-makers.
Detecting Community Structures Within Complex Networks Using a Discrete Unconscious Search Algorithm
Authors: Ardjmand Ehsan , Young II William A. , Almasarwah Najat E.
Published: March 2021

Detecting the communities that exist within complex social networks has a wide range of application in business, engineering, and sociopolitical settings. As a result, many community detection methods are being developed by researchers in the academic community. If the communities within social networks can be more accurately detected, the behavior or characteristics of each community within the networks can be better understood, which implies that better decisions can be made. In this paper, a discrete version of an unconscious search algorithm was applied to three widely explored complex networks. After these networks were formulated as optimization problems, the unconscious search algorithm was applied, and the results were compared against the results found from a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art community detection methods. The comparative study shows that the unconscious search algorithm consistently produced the highest modularity that was discovered through the comprehensive review of the literature.
Stock Market in Georgia
Authors: Aslanishvili Davit (David)
Published: March 2021

The study examines the financial and economic reality and backwardness of Georgia. It reflects the monopoly of commercial banks thanks to the steady support of the state and the central bank, which ultimately does not allow for the attraction of alternative financial capital and is one of the main reasons for the country's failure. In this respect, the economic progress is directly linked to this problem. Developing an economy requires large financial investments and resources. Based on the research a number of proposals need to be introduced to change the situation and to build a competitive financial market. The ultimate goal is to end the monopoly position of commercial banks and to neutralize the negative activity of the Central Bank of Georgia as the regulator of this market. This is the only way to create the independent and competitive source of finance and investment in Georgia. Ultimately, this will increase market capitalization and eliminate the backwardness between Georgia and a number of leading countries in the field of financial market and its infrastructure.
Spectral characteristics of the internal jugular vein and central venous pressure pulses: a proof of concept study
Authors: Beggs Clive , Tavoni Valentina , Menegatti Erica , Tessari Mirko , Ragazzi Riccardo , Malagoni Anna Maria , Giovanardi Luca
Published: March 2021

In this proof-of-concept study the impact of central venous pressure (CVP) on internal jugular veins cross-sectional area (CSA) and blood flow time-average velocity (TAV) was evaluated in eight subjects, with the aim of understanding the drivers of the jugular venous pulse. CVP was measured using a central venous catheter while CSA variation and TAV along a cardiac cycle were acquired using ultrasound. Analysis of CVP, CSA and TAV time-series signals revealed TAV and CSA to lag behind CVP by on average 0.129 s and 0.138 s, with an inverse correlation between CSA and TAV (r= –0.316). The respective autocorrelation signals were strongly correlated (mean r=0.729-0.764), with mean CSA periodicity being 1.062 Hz. Fourier analysis revealed the frequency spectrums of CVP, TAV and CSA signals to be dominated by frequencies at approximately 1 and 2 Hz, with those >1 Hz greatly attenuated in the CSA signal. Because the autocorrelograms and periodograms of the respective signals were aligned and dominated by the same underlying frequencies, this suggested that they are more easily interpreted in the frequency domain rather than the time domain.
Aboriginal Population, 2001
Authors:   Geomatics Canada
Published: March 2021

In 2001, 976305 people in Canada identified themselves as Aboriginal (North American Indian, Métis, Inuit or people who otherwise indicated they are Registered or Treaty Indians and/or are members of a Band or First Nation). They accounted for 3.3% of
the nations total population, compared with 2.8% in 1996. Nearly half of the Aboriginal population (49%) lived in urban areas in 2001, while 31% lived on Indian Reserves or in Indian Settlements, and 20% lived in rural, non-reserve areas. Most of the Indian Reserves are located in
the areas of Canada covered by the numbered and other treaties from pre-Confederation to 1923. A separate inset map shows the areas covered by Historical Indian Treaties.
Задача Римана-Гильберта для нелинейного уравнения Шредингера типа Кунду с $N$ различными полюсами произвольного порядка
Authors: Wang Zi-Yi , Tian Shou-Fu , Zhang Xiao-Fan
Published: March 2021

Метод задачи Римана-Гильберта применяется для изучения нелинейного уравнения Шредингера типа Кунду с нулевым граничным условием в случае, когда коэффициент рассеяния имеет $N$ различных полюсов произвольного порядка. Проведен спектральный анализ пары Лакса и рассмотрены асимптотическое свойство, симметрия и аналитичность решения Йоста. На основе этих результатов сформулирована задача Римана-Гильберта, решение которой позволяет получить решение рассматриваемого нелинейного уравнения Шредингера типа Кунду. Кроме того, с помощью графического анализа исследуются характеристики солитонных решений некоторых частных случаев задачи с $N$ различными полюсами произвольного порядка.
Полная космологическая модель на основе асимметричного скалярного дублета Хиггса
Authors: Ignatev Yuriy Gennadievich , Kokh Irina Aleksandrovna
Published: March 2021

Проведено исследование полной космологической модели, основанной на асимметричном скалярном дублете, представленном классическим и фантомным скалярными полями Хиггса. При этом снято предположение о неотрицательности скорости расширения Вселенной, противоречащее в ряде случаев полной системе уравнений Эйнштейна. Сформулирована замкнутая система динамических уравнений, описывающих эволюцию космологической модели, исследована зависимость топологии гиперповерхности Эйнштейна-Хиггса пятимерного фазового пространства динамической системы, определяющей глобальные свойства космологической модели, от фундаментальных констант модели. Проведен качественный анализ динамической системы соответствующей космологической модели, построены фазовые траектории, иллюстрирующие различные типы поведения космологической модели. Выявлены типы поведения космологической модели, соответствующие переходам между фазами космологического сжатия и расширения.
The Epidemiology of Plasmodium falciparum Malaria in the Bijagos Islands of Guinea-Bissau
Authors: McGregor David , Texeira da Silva Eunice , Grignard Lynn , Goncalves Adriana , Vasileva Hristina , Mabey David , Last Anna
Published: March 2021

Distribution of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs), passive detection and treatment with artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), and intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) are the mainstay malaria control measures of Guinea-Bissau’s national control programme. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum on Bubaque, the most populous island of the country’s remote Bijagos archipelago. A cross-sectional survey was performed at the start of the rainy season in August 2017. Participants were recruited using systematic random sampling in a two-stage stratified cluster design. Malaria parasitemia was detected using rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and quantitative PCR (qPCR). Data on housing, education, larval source management, socioeconomic status, anemia, and malaria preventive measures were collected. Multivariable logistic regression models were constructed to identify associations with P. falciparum infection. Four hundred four persons (aged 6 months–79 years, median 17 years) were enrolled in the study. The prevalence of P. falciparum parasitemia was 5.8% by RDT (95% CI: 3.55–9.33) and 16.9% by qPCR (95% CI: 13.09–21.71). The prevalence of anemia was 74.3% (95% CI: 69.04–78.85) as defined by the WHO criteria. All sampled houses were found to have open eaves; 99.5% of the surveyed population reported sleeping under a bednet (95% CI: 97.8–99.9). Although reported LLIN use is high, there remains an appreciable prevalence of malaria, suggesting that transmission is ongoing and further tools are required to reduce the burden of the disease.
Effects of Gamma Irradiation of Human Serum Samples from rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP (V920) Ebola Virus Vaccine Recipients on Plaque-Reduction Neutralization Assays
Authors: Grant-Klein Rebecca J. , Antonello Joseph , Nichols Rick , Dubey Sheri , Simon Jakub K.
Published: March 2021

Gamma irradiation (GI) is included in the CDC guidance on inactivation procedures to render a group of select agents and toxins nonviable. The Ebola virus falls within this group because it potentially poses a severe threat to public health and safety. To evaluate the impact of GI at a target dose of 50 kGy on neutralizing antibody titers induced by the rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP vaccine (V920), we constructed a panel of 48 paired human serum samples (GI-treated versus non–GI-treated) from healthy participants selected from a phase 3 study of V920 (study V920-012; NCT02503202). Neutralizing antibody titers were determined using a validated plaque-reduction neutralization test. GI of sera from V920 recipients was associated with approximately 20% reduction in postvaccination neutralizing antibody titers. GI was not associated with any change in pre-vaccination neutralizing antibody titers.
A Bead-Based Assay for the Detection of Antibodies against Trichinella spp. Infection in Humans
Authors: Kahsay Ruth , Gómez-Morales Maria A. , Rivera Hilda N. , McAuliffe Isabel , Pozio Edoardo , Handali Sukwan
Published: March 2021

Human trichinellosis can be diagnosed by a combination of medical history, clinical presentation, and laboratory findings, and through detection of anti–Trichinella IgG in the patient’s sera. ELISA using excretory–secretory (E/S) antigens of Trichinella spiralis larvae is currently the most used assay to detect Trichinella spp. antibodies. Bead-based assay can detect antibodies to multiple antigens concurrently; the ability to detect antibody to T. spiralis using a bead assay could be useful for diagnosis and surveillance. We developed and evaluated a bead assay to detect and quantify total IgG or IgG4 Trichinella spp. antibodies in human serum using T. spiralis E/S antigens. The sensitivity and specificity of the assay were determined using serum from 110 subjects with a confirmed diagnosis of trichinellosis, 140 subjects with confirmed infections with other tissue-dwelling parasites, 98 human serum samples from residents of the United States with no known history of parasitic infection, and nine human serum samples from residents of Egypt with negative microscopy for intestinal parasites. Sensitivity and specificity were 93.6% and 94.3% for total IgG and 89.2% and 99.2% for IgG4, respectively. Twelve percent of sera from patients with confirmed schistosomiasis reacted with the IgG Trichinella bead assay, as did 11% of sera from patients with neurocysticercosis. The Trichinella spp. bead assay to detect IgG total antibody responses has a similar performance as the Trichinella E/S ELISA. The Trichinella spp. bead assay shows promise as a method to detect trichinellosis with a possibility to be used in multiplex applications.
How to Talk about Physical Reality? Other Models, Other Questions
Authors: Olshin Benjamin B.
Published: March 2021

Investigating the nature of our apparent physical reality is a profound challenge. Our models from physics, while powerful, do not treat reality per se. The famous painter Paul Gaugin articulated the relevant existential questions famously in a grand painting - questions that also give the painting its title: D’où venons-nous? Que sommes-nous? Où allons-nous? People of religious faith, of course, assume that one can know the ultimate truth of reality, and, then, know the answers to these questions. But even in such a case, there is the issue of how a believer has obtained their faith, through a revelatory or other epistemological process. Joseph Campbell grasped the difficulty of framing the key questions, noting that, “the transcendent is unknowable and unknown. God is transcendent, finally, of anything like the name ‘God.’ God is beyond names and forms.” This metaphysical puzzle concern, in part, models. Physics uses models, and such models are powerful tools: they allow us to navigate through the physical reality we live in, and manipulate aspects of it. However, the models do not lead humanity closer to any ultimate truth, or even give us a clue that there might be an ultimate truth. The problem of using models and talking about reality can be viewed in a new way however, using certain structures in Chinese philosophy. The ancient Dao De Jing states: “The heavens and the earth are not partial to institutionalized morality”. We can extend that to say, “The universe is not partial to institutionalized models”.
The Natural Gas Addiction and Wood Energy Role in Latvia Today and Future
Authors: Cimdina Ginta , Blumberga Andra , Veidenbergs Ivars , Blumberga Dagnija , Barisa Aiga
Published: March 2021

The paper analyzes strategies for restricting Latvia’s dependence on fossil fuel imports in line with an increasing challenge to follow the leading EU Member States in greening the energy sector. Availability of local biomass resources ensures the necessary framework for building an arranged, environmentally and climate-friendly economy. Primary attention is paid to historical pattern of wood fuel use which shows reduction in wood fuel’s share of primary energy consumption, however energy efficiency improvement is not observed. A hypothesis for development of wood fuel consumption up to 2020 is proposed. Analysis indicates potential of reaching a 43% share of wood fuel in national energy mix by 2020.
New Convergence Theorems for Maximal Monotone Operators in Banach Spaces
Authors: Saewan Siwaporn
Published: March 2021

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new hybrid iterative scheme for resolvents of maximal monotone operators in Banach spaces by using the notion of generalized fprojection. Next, we apply this result to the convex minimization and variational inequality problems in Banach spaces. The results presented in this paper improve and extend important recent results in the literature.
Optimum Combinations of GGM and GDEM Models for Precise National Geoid Modelling
Authors: Essam Mohamed Al-Karargy  , Gomaa Mohamed Dawod
Published: March 2021

This study aims to develop a Local Geoid Model (LGM) for Egypt to determine the optimal combinations of global models with Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS/Levelling) data. A precise national geodetic dataset, four Global Geopotential Models (GGMs), and three global Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) have been utilized. Hence, twelve gravimetric LGMs have been developed using the Least-Square Collocation (LSC) method fitted to GNSS/Levelling data and judged over 100 checkpoints. Results revealed that improvements in local geoid accuracy are attributed mainly to GGMs models representing the long wavelength of the Earth's gravitational field. Regarding DEMs, the accuracy of LGMs does not significantly depend on the utilized DEM. Based on the available data, the attained optimum geoid of Egypt has been developed with a standard deviation, equals 0.129 m.
Mechanisms for improving the quality of education
Authors: Yashkova N. V.
Published: March 2021

In modern conditions, there is a competitive struggle among educational institutions for applicants in the educational space. Success is achieved only by an educational institution that has its own brand, based on high-quality education and the demand for its graduates in the real sector of the economy. Can increase your competitiveness by improving the quality of the educational process. This is possible through regular improvement of the educational process, introduction of new pedagogical technologies, and improvement of teachers pedagogical skills.

The main directionsfor improving the quality of the educational process are work in the audience and work in the outside audience with students, as well as the activation of their scientific activities. It is possible to improve the quality of education by increasing the interest of students in the profession they are learning, so they will have internal motivation for better mastering the material and activating their educational and scientific activities. But to do this, the teacher must use modern pedagogical techniques and constantly develop himself. The article is written on the basis of the author’s own pedagogical experience. The article systematizes the directions of quality assessment, which can be used both for the organization of mechanisms for internal and external assessment of the quality of the educational process. Examples of experience in organizing the educational process are given.
Legal regulation of the implementation of secondary vocational education programs in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Matveev V. Yu.
Published: March 2021

The purpose of the study is to identify problems in the legal regulation of the activities of the secondary vocational education system in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and to formulate proposals for their leveling. The subject of study is individual institutions of educational legislation in the field of secondary vocational education, the implementation of which is directly related to the activities of educational organizations in the context of countering the spread of COVID-19.

The key issues of the use of e-learning and distance learning technologies, the provision of paid educational services in the changed conditions are considered; practical issues, as well as the positions on them of the federal executive authorities and judicial practice. The main problems associated with the legal regulation of the education system in a pandemic are presented.

Conclusions are made about the inadmissibility of giving assignments during the holidays to students; that the use of e-learning and distance learning technologies does not change the form of education, while maintaining the volume of compulsory classes of a teacher with students; on situations of application of these technologies, requiring free provision of students with the necessary equipment; on the need to change the content of the contract for the provision of paid educational services, as well as on the inadmissibility of increasing its cost.
Corporate requirements and training of personnel for railway transport in the system of secondary vocational education
Authors: Odinokov A. S.
Published: March 2021

The modern system of secondary vocational education must meet the requirements of practice-orientedness, take into account the requirements of employers to the level of development of general and professional competencies of employees in specific specialties, taking into account the specifics of the type of professional activity. The core of the national qualifications system is represented by professional standards developed jointly with leading companies in the Russian national economy. Actual expectations and needs of employers are guidelines for them educational system of secondary vocational education in the process of modernizing educational standards and programs. Russian Railways, as a natural monopoly, takes an active part in the development of industry education and training for railway transport. The content of requirements for middle-level employees, who make up more than a quarter of the company’s staff, in specific areas of training is reflected in corporate standards.

A brief historical review confirms the conclusion about the practical orientation of secondary vocational education in the field of railway transport, the significant accumulated experience of industry vocational education, the active participation of the relevant department, and then Russian Railways, in its optimization. The growing demand of the company for middle-level employees, skilled workers and employees is matched by the growth in the number of graduates of secondary vocational education institutions.

The results of a comparative analysis of the content of the provisions of the Federal State Educational Standard of secondary vocational education and local acts of JSC Russian Railways related to the educational and professional training of technicians in the field of communication in railway transport are presented. The purpose of the study is to determine the similarities and differences in the requirements of corporate and educational standards for the composition and level of development of professional competencies among employees of this specialty. The findings will make it possible to identify ways to optimize the FSES of secondary vocational education in relation to the results of educational training, taking into account the expectations of the employer.
Technical and economic and organizational-legal bases of formation of the concept of complex use of secondary resources on a railway transportation and in transport building
Authors: Tskhovrebov E. S.
Published: March 2021

A brief review of sources and system of waste management in railway transport, problems of creation and development of waste processing infrastructure was carried out. Issues of formation of organizational, legal and economic mechanism of secondary resources use within the framework of development of effective system of waste management in railway transport, industry documents of strategic planning (strategies, concepts) in the field of secondary resources use in railway transport were considered and analyzed.
Sustainable Feedback: Students’ and Tutors’ Perceptions
Authors: Geitz Gerry , Joosten - Ten Brinke Desirée , Kirschner Paul
Published: March 2021

Feedback has been shown to substantially influence students’ learning. However, not everything characterized as feedback is effective. Sustainable feedback places students in an active role in which they generate and use feedback from peers, self or others and aims at developing lifelong learning skills. First-year higher education students and tutors received sustainable feedback during their problem-based learning. To gain insights into how they perceived the sustainable feedback, students were probed via structured, open-ended questionnaires. While all participants positively valued the feedback, their personal characteristics, previous experience with feedback and concomitant perceptions appeared to have greatly influenced both tutors’ and students’ specific, individual behavior and responses. Conclusion is that sustainable feedback requires an evolving role of students and tutors with respect to sharing their perceptions of what feedback is, understanding the value and importance of feedback contributions of all participants, and developing the necessary skills to ask questions and give feedback.
Rediscovering Husserl: Perspectives on the Epoché and the Reductions
Authors: Butler Jonathan
Published: March 2021

The processes associated with implementing a phenomenological study in the Husserlian interpretation can seem daunting to the new researcher. This is especially true if the researcher intends to implement Husserl’s concepts with intentionality and reflexivity. A leading cause of difficulty lies in the tendency for Husserl to change how he described key elements of his phenomenology, particularly the epoché and the associated reductions. Although many very good manuals exist within which a new researcher will find a host of prescriptions for the execution of a phenomenological study, an essential difficulty exists for those who want a deeper understanding of the intentions of phenomenology, not only as a research method, but as a personal orientation for the scholar-practitioner. The intention of this paper is to provide perspectives useful to the new researcher beginning the process of developing a personal orientation to Edmund Husserl’s phenomenology.
Teaching in Circles: Learning to Harmonize as a Co-Teacher of Gifted Education
Authors: Haberlin Steve
Published: March 2021

In this autoethnography, I explored my daily challenges and frustrations working as a teacher of gifted students in inclusion classrooms in an elementary public school. Inquiring about how I coped with these challenges and eventually thrived in the position, I journaled weekly about my teaching experiences during a six-month period and collected e-mails to teachers and parents. I employed constant comparative analysis and five themes emerged: frustration, isolation, advocacy, collaboration, and influence. I discussed the themes within the greater social and cultural context, drawing upon psychology and educational theories.
Inside the Black Box: A Qualitative Evaluation of Participants’ Experiences of a Drug Treatment Court
Authors: Kuehn Sarah , Ridener Rebecca
Published: March 2021

This study examined the program experiences of participants in a Drug Treatment Court located in Pennsylvania. In-depth interviews were used to investigate participants’ perceptions in regards to program components that aid them in the recovery process and challenges they face while completing the program. Results from the 16 interviews indicate that participants contribute their success in the program to its strict structure, accountability, and dedicated staff who buy into the court’s underlying principles of therapeutic jurisprudence. Implications for other drug treatment courts are discussed.