Abstract: This case study aims to identify teachers’ perception as regards integrity in School-Ba sed Assessment (PBS) practice. This descriptive study involved 9 teachers from 4 secondary schools in 3 districts in the state of Perak. The respondents had undergone an integrity in PBS Practice interview using a focused group discussion method. The overall findings showed that the teachers believed that integrity in PBS practice could be achieved by adjusting the teaching methods align with learning objectives and the students’ characteristics. Many teachers, parents and student did not understand the best practice of PBS. This would affect the integrity in PBS practice. Teachers did not emphasis the principles and ethics. Their integrity as an innovative public servant may also be affected with the frequently changing assessment system, lack of training and no prior action research. The analysis of findings showed that the teachers viewed that organizational integrity involving the integrity of PBS was difficult to be implemented based on the expectations determined by Malaysia Ministry of Education (KPM). A few elements which assisted in the achievement of PBS integrity were the training, students’ understanding, the parents’ understanding of PBS, environment (involving human resources such as support and appreciation and non-human resources such as technology infrastructure readiness and media). The implications of this study show that teachers, as the PBS implementers, have a strong influence on the integrity of PBS. However, the transformation of behavior involving PBS integrity among teachers requires the stabilisation of support and infrastructure in order to enable the teachers to implement PBS in an ethical manner.
Abstract: Space Radiation has become one of the major factors in successful long duration space exploration. Exposure to space radiation not only can affect the health of astronauts but also can disrupt or damage materials and electronics. Hazards to materials include degradation of properties, such as, modulus, strength, or glass transition temperature. Electronics may experience single event effects, gate rupture, burnout of field effect transistors and noise. Presently aluminum is the major component in most of the space structures due to its lightweight and good structural properties. However, aluminum is ineffective at blocking space radiation. Therefore, most of the past research involved studying at polymers which contain large amounts of hydrogen. Again, these materials are not structural materials and would require large amounts of material to achieve the structural properties needed. One of the materials to alleviate this problem is polymeric composite materials, which has good structural properties and use polymers that contained large amounts of hydrogen. This paper presents steps involved in fabrication of multi-functional hybrid sandwich panels that can provide beneficial radiation shielding as well as structural strength. Multifunctional hybrid sandwich panels were manufactured using vacuum assisted resin transfer molding process and were subjected to radiation treatment. Study indicates that various nanoparticles including Boron Nano powder, Boron Carbide and Gadolinium nanoparticles can be successfully used to block the space radiation without sacrificing the structural integrity.
Abstract: Access to advanced medical services has been one of the medical challenges faced by our present society especially in distant geographical locations which may be inaccessible. Then the need for telemedicine arises through which live videos of a doctor can be streamed to a patient located anywhere in the world at any time. Patients’ medical records contain very sensitive information which should not be made accessible to unauthorized people in order to protect privacy, integrity and confidentiality. This research work focuses on a more robust security measure which is biometric (fingerprint) as a form of access control to data of patients by the medical specialist/practitioner.
Abstract: This paper investigates the effects of breaks in bonds,
breaks in the earthing system and breaks in earth wire on the rise of
the earth potential (EPR) in a substation and at the transmission tower
bases using various models of an L6 tower. Different approaches
were adopted to examine the integrity of the earthing system and the
terminal towers. These effects were investigated to see the associated
difference in the EPR magnitudes with respect to a healthy system at
various locations. Comparisons of the computed EPR magnitudes
were then made between the healthy and unhealthy system to detect
any difference. The studies were conducted at power frequency for a
uniform soil with different soil resistivities. It was found that full
breaks in the double bond of the terminal towers increase the EPR
significantly at the fault location, while they reduce EPR at the
terminal tower bases. A fault on the isolated section of the grid can
result in EPR values up to 8 times of those on a healthy system at
higher soil resistivities, provided that the extended earthing system
stays connected to the grid.
Abstract: The paper presents an additive manufacturing process for the production of metal and composite parts. It is termed as composite metal foil manufacturing and is a combination of laminated object manufacturing and brazing techniques. The process has been described in detail and is being used to produce dissimilar aluminum to copper foil single lap joints. A three dimensional finite element model has been developed to study the thermo-mechanical characteristics of the dissimilar Al/Cu single lap joint. The effects of thermal stress and strain have been analyzed by carrying out transient thermal analysis on the heated plates used to join the two 0.1mm thin metal foils. Tensile test has been carried out on the foils before joining and after the single Al/Cu lap joints are made, they are subjected to tensile lap-shear test to analyze the effect of heat on the foils. The analyses are designed to assess the mechanical integrity of the foils after the brazing process and understand whether or not the heat treatment has an effect on the fracture modes of the produced specimens.
Abstract: The social logic of 'Sequina' slum area in Alexandria details the integral measure of space syntax at the room-level of twenty-building samples. The essence of spatial structure integrates the central 'visitor' domain with the 'living' frontage of the 'children' zone against the segregated privacy of the opposite 'parent' depth. Meanwhile, the multifunctioning of shallow rooms optimizes the integral 'visitor' structure through graph and visibility dimensions in contrast to the 'inhabitant' structure of graph-tails out of sight. Common theme of the layout integrity increases in compensation to the decrease of room visibility. Despite the 'pheno-type' of collective integration, the individual layouts observe 'geno-type' structure of spatial diversity per room adjoins. In this regard, the layout integrity alternates the cross-correlation of the 'kitchen & living' rooms with the 'inhabitant & visitor' domains of 'motherhood' dynamic structure. Moreover, the added 'grandparent' restructures the integral measure to become the deepest space, but opens to the 'living' of 'household' integrity. Some isomorphic layouts change the integral structure just through the 'balcony' extension of access, visual or ignored 'ringiness' of space syntax. However, the most integrated or segregated layouts invert the 'geno-type' into a shallow 'inhabitant' centrality versus the remote 'visitor' structure. Overview of the multivariate social logic of spatial integrity could never clarify without the micro-data analysis.
Abstract: Production fluids are transported from the platform to
tankers or process facilities through transfer pipelines. Water being
one of the heavier phases tends to settle at the bottom of pipelines
especially at low flow velocities and this has adverse consequences
for pipeline integrity. On restart after a shutdown, this could result in
corrosion and issues for process equipment, thus the need to have the
heavier liquid dispersed into the flowing lighter fluid. This study
looked at the flow regime of low water cut and low flow velocity oil
and water flow using conductive film thickness probes in a large
diameter 4-inch pipe to obtain oil and water interface height and the
interface structural velocity. A wide range of 0.1–1.0 m/s oil and
water mixture velocities was investigated for 0.5–5% water cut. Two
fluid model predictions were used to compare with the experimental
results.
Abstract: Gastric Cancer (GC) has high morbidity and fatality
rate in various countries. It is still one of the most frequent and
deadly diseases. Gastrokine1 (GKN1) and gastrokine2 (GKN2) genes
are highly expressed in the normal stomach epithelium and play
important roles in maintaining the integrity and homeostasis of
stomach mucosal epithelial cells. In this study, 47 paired samples that
were grouped according to the types of gastric cancer and the clinical
characteristics of the patients, including gender and average of age.
They were investigated with gene expression analysis and mutation
screening by monitoring RT-PCR, SSCP and nucleotide sequencing
techniques. Both GKN1 and GKN2 genes were observed significantly
reduced found by (Wilcoxon signed rank test; p
Abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the factor
structure and psychometric properties (i.e., reliability and convergent
validity) of the Employee Trust Scale, a newly created instrument by
the researchers. The Employee Trust Scale initially contained 82
items to measure employees’ trust toward their supervisors. A sample
of 818 (343 females, 449 males) employees were selected randomly
from public and private organization sectors in Kota Kinabalu,
Sabah, Malaysia. Their ages ranged from 19 to 67 years old with a
mean of 34.55 years old. Their average tenure with their current
employer was 11.2 years (s.d. = 7.5 years). The respondents were
asked to complete the Employee Trust Scale, as well as a managerial
trust questionnaire from Mishra. The exploratory factor analysis on
employees’ trust toward their supervisor’s extracted three factors,
labeled ‘trustworthiness’ (32 items), ‘position status’ (11 items) and
‘relationship’ (6 items) which accounted for 62.49% of the total
variance. Trustworthiness factors were re-categorized into three sub
factors: competency (11 items), benevolence (8 items) and integrity
(13 items). All factors and sub factors of the scales demonstrated
clear reliability with internal consistency of Cronbach’s Alpha above
.85. The convergent validity of the Scale was supported by an
expected pattern of correlations (positive and significant correlation)
between the score of all factors and sub factors of the scale and the
score on the managerial trust questionnaire, which measured the same
construct. The convergent validity of Employee Trust Scale was
further supported by the significant and positive inter-correlation
between the factors and sub factors of the scale. The results suggest
that the Employee Trust Scale is a reliable and valid measure.
However, further studies need to be carried out in other groups of
sample as to further validate the Scale.
Abstract: The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology
has a diverse base of applications, but it is also prone to security
threats. There are different types of security attacks which limit the
range of the RFID applications. For example, deploying the RFID
networks in insecure environments could make the RFID system
vulnerable to many types of attacks such as spoofing attack, location
traceability attack, physical attack and many more. Therefore, security
is often an important requirement for RFID systems. In this paper,
RFID mutual authentication protocol is implemented based on mobile
agent technology and timestamp, which are used to provide strong
authentication and integrity assurances to both the RFID readers and
their corresponding RFID tags. The integration of mobile agent
technology and timestamp provides promising results towards
achieving this goal and towards reducing the security threats in RFID
systems.
Abstract: Target of this study was the analysis of the impact of
crude glycerol on canine spermatozoa motility, morphology,
viability, and membrane integrity. Experiments were realized in vitro.
In the study, semen from 5 large dog breeds was used. They were
typical representatives of large breeds, coming from healthy rearing,
regularly vaccinated and integrated to the further breeding. Semen
collections were realized at the owners of animals and in the
veterinary clinic. Subsequently the experiments were realized at the
Department of Animal Physiology of the SUA in Nitra. The
spermatozoa motility was evaluated using CASA analyzer
(SpermVisionTM, Minitub, Germany) at the temperature 5 and 37°C
for 5 hours. In the study, 13 motility parameters were evaluated.
Generally, crude glycerol has generally negative effect on
spermatozoa motility. Morphological analysis was realized using
Hancock staining and the preparations were evaluated at
magnification 1000x using classification tables of morphologically
changed spermatozoa. Data clearly detected the highest number of
morphologically changed spermatozoa in the experimental groups
(know twisted tails, tail torso and tail coiling). For acrosome
alterations swelled acrosomes, removed acrosomes and acrosomes
with undulated membrane were detected. In this study also the effect
of crude glycerol on spermatozoa membrane integrity were analyzed.
The highest crude glycerol concentration significantly affects
spermatozoa integrity. Results of this study show that crude glycerol
has effect of spermatozoa motility, viability, and membrane integrity.
Detected changes are related to crude glycerol concentration,
temperature, as well as time of incubation.
Abstract: This paper focuses on how judiciaries in post-conflict societies can gain legitimacy through reformation. Legitimacy plays a pivotal role in shaping people’s behavior to submit to the law and verifies the rightfulness of an organ for taking binding decisions. Among various dynamics, judicial independence, access to justice and behavioral changes of the judicial officials broadly contribute to legitimation of judiciary in general, and the courts in particular. Increasing independence of judiciary through reform limits, inter alia, government interference in judicial issues and protects basic rights of the citizens. Judicial independence does not only matter in institutional terms, individual independence also influences the impartiality and integrity of judges, which can be increased through education and better administration of justice. Finally, access to justice as an intertwined concept both at the legal and moral spectrum of judicial reform avails justice to the citizens and increases the level of public trust and confidence. Efficient legal decisions on fostering such elements through holistic reform create a rule of law atmosphere. Citizens neither accept an illegitimate judiciary nor do they trust its decisions. Lack of such tolerance and confidence deters the rule of law and thus, undermines the democratic development of a society.
Abstract: Below-knee amputees commonly experience
asymmetrical gait patterns. It is generally believed that ischemia is
related to the formation of pressure sores due to uneven distribution
of forces. Micro-vascular responses can reveal local malnutrition.
Changes in local skin blood supply under various external loading
conditions have been studied for a number of years. Radionuclide
clearance, photo-plethysmography, trans-cutaneous oxygen tension
along with other studies showed that the blood supply would be
influenced by the epidermal forces, and the rate and the amount of
blood supply would decrease with increased epidermal loads being
shear forces or normal forces. Several cases of socket designs were
investigated using Finite Element Model (FEM) and Design of
Experiment (DOE) to increase flexibility and minimize the pressure
at the limb/socket interface using ultra high molecular weight
polyethylene (UHMWPE) and polyamide 6 (PA6) or Duraform. The
pressure reliefs at designated areas where reducing thickness is
involved are seen to be critical in determination of amputees’ comfort
and are very important to clinical applications. Implementing a hole
between the Patellar Tendon (PT) and Distal Tibia (DT) would
decrease stiffness and increase prosthesis range of motion where
flexibility is needed. In addition, displacement and prosthetic energy
storage increased without compromising mechanical efficiency and
prosthetic design integrity.
Abstract: It is necessary to predict a fatigue crack propagation
life for estimation of structural integrity. Because of an uncertainty
and a randomness of a structural behavior, it is also required to
analyze stochastic characteristics of the fatigue crack propagation life
at a specified fatigue crack size. The essential purpose of this study is to find the effect of load ratio
on probability distribution of the fatigue crack propagation life at a
specified grown crack size and to confirm the good probability
distribution in magnesium alloys under various fatigue load ratio
conditions. To investigate a stochastic crack growth behavior, fatigue
crack propagation experiments are performed in laboratory air under
several conditions of fatigue load ratio using AZ31. By Anderson-Darling test, a goodness-of-fit test for probability
distribution of the fatigue crack propagation life is performed. The
effect of load ratio on variability of fatigue crack propagation life is
also investigated.
Abstract: Designing cost-efficient, secure network protocols for
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is a challenging problem because
sensors are resource-limited wireless devices. Security services such
as authentication and improved pairwise key establishment are
critical to high efficient networks with sensor nodes. For sensor
nodes to correspond securely with each other efficiently, usage of
cryptographic techniques is necessary. In this paper, two key
predistribution schemes that enable a mobile sink to establish a
secure data-communication link, on the fly, with any sensor nodes.
The intermediate nodes along the path to the sink are able to verify
the authenticity and integrity of the incoming packets using a
predicted value of the key generated by the sender’s essential power.
The proposed schemes are based on the pairwise key with the mobile
sink, our analytical results clearly show that our schemes perform
better in terms of network resilience to node capture than existing
schemes if used in wireless sensor networks with mobile sinks.
Abstract: Super steel materials play a vital role in the
construction and fabrication of structural, piping and pipeline
components. In assuring the integrity of onshore and offshore
operating systems, they enable life cycle costs to be minimized. In
this context, Duplex stainless steel (DSS) material related welding on
constructions and fabrications plays a significant role in maintaining
and assuring integrity at an optimal expenditure over the life cycle of
production and process systems as well as associated structures. In
DSS welding, factors such as gap geometry, shielding gas supply
rate, welding current, and type of the welding process are vital to the
final joint performance. Hence, an experimental investigation has
been performed using an engineering robust design approach
(ERDA) to investigate the optimal settings that generate optimal
super DSS (i.e. UNS S32750) joint performance. This manuscript
illustrates the mathematical approach and experimental design,
optimal parameter settings and results of the verification experiment.
Abstract: The paper presents an innovative networked radar
system for detection of obstacles in a railway level crossing scenario.
This Monitoring System (MS) is able to detect moving or still
obstacles within the railway level crossing area automatically,
avoiding the need of human presence for surveillance. The MS is also
connected to the National Railway Information and Signaling System
to communicate in real-time the level crossing status. The
architecture is compliant with the highest Safety Integrity Level
(SIL4) of the CENELEC standard. The number of radar sensors used
is configurable at set-up time and depends on how large the level
crossing area can be. At least two sensors are expected and up four
can be used for larger areas. The whole processing chain that
elaborates the output sensor signals, as well as the communication
interface, is fully-digital, was designed in VHDL code and
implemented onto a Xilinx Virtex 6.
Abstract: Skin aging is a slow multifactorial process influenced
by both internal as well as external factors. Ultra-violet radiations
(UV), diet, smoking and personal habits are the most common
environmental factors that affect skin aging. Fat contents and fibrous
proteins as collagen and elastin are core internal structural
components. The direct influence of UV on elastin integrity and
health is central on aging of skin especially by time. The deposition
of abnormal elastic material is a major marker in a photo-aged skin.
Searching for compounds that may protect against cutaneous photodamage
is exceedingly valued. Retinoids and alpha hydroxy acids
have been endorsed by some researchers as possible candidates for
protecting and or repairing the effect of UV damaged skin. For
consolidating a better system of anti- and protective effects of such
anti-aging agents, we evaluated the combinatory effects of various
dosages of lactic acid and retinol on the dermal fibroblast’s elastin
levels exposed to UV. The UV exposed cells showed significant
reduction in the elastin levels. A combination of drugs with a higher
concentration of lactic acid (30 -35 mM) and a lower concentration of
retinol (10-15mg/mL) showed to work better in maintaining elastin
concentration in UV exposed cells. We assume this preservation
could be the result of increased tropo-elastin gene expression
stimulated by retinol whereas lactic acid probably repaired the UV
irradiated damage by enhancing the amount and integrity of the
elastin fibers.
Abstract: For centuries humans have used the antimicrobial
properties of copper to their advantage. Yet, after all these years the
underlying mechanisms of copper mediated cell death in various
microbes remain unclear. We had explored the hypothesis that copper
mediated increased levels of lipid peroxidation in the membrane fatty
acids is responsible for increased killing in Escherichia coli. In this
study we show that in both gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus)
and gram negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) bacteria there is a
strong correlation between copper mediated cell death and increased
levels of lipid peroxidation. Interestingly, the non-spore forming
gram positive bacteria as well as gram negative bacteria show similar
patterns of cell death, increased levels of lipid peroxidation, as well
as genomic DNA degradation, however there is some difference in
loss in membrane integrity upon exposure to copper alloy surface.
Abstract: Liver disorders are one of the major problems of the
world. Despite its frequent occurrence, high morbidity and high
mortality, its medical management is currently inadequate. This study
was designed to evaluate the hepatoprotective effect of saponin
extract of the root of Garcinia kola on the integrity of the liver of
paracetamol induced wistar albino rats. Twenty five (25) male adult
wistar albino rats were divided into five (5) groups. Group I was the
Control group that received distilled water only, group II was the
negative control that received 2 g/kg of paracetamol on the 13th day,
and group III, IV and V were pre-treated with 100, 200 and
400mg/kg of the saponin extract before inducing the liver damage on
the 13th day with 2 g/kg of paracetamol. Twenty four (24) h after
administration, the rats were sacrificed and blood samples were
collected. The serum Alanine Transaminase (ALT), Aspartate
Transaminase (AST), Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) activities,
Bilirubin and conjugated bilirubin, glucose and protein
concentrations were evaluated. The liver was fixed immediately in
Formalin and was processed and stained in Haematoxylin and Eosin
(H&E). Administration of saponin extract from the root of Garcinia
kola significantly decreased paracetamol induced elevated enzymes
in the test group. Also histological observations showed that saponin
extract of the root of Garcinia kola exhibited a significant liver
protection against the toxicant as evident by the cells trying to return
to normal. Saponin extract from the root of Garcinia kola indicated a
protection of structural integrity of the hepatocytic cell membrane
and regeneration of the damaged liver.