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Microbiological Analysis, Cytotoxic and Genotoxic Effects from Material Captured in PM2.5 and PM10 Filters Used in the Aburrá Valley Air Quality Monitoring Network (Colombia)

Year: 2016 Volume: 10 Issue: 8 492 - 500 Pages

Abstract: This study aims to evaluate the diversity of microorganisms in filters PM2.5 and PM10; and determine the genotoxic and cytotoxic activity of the complex mixture present in PM2.5 filters used in the Aburrá Valley Air Quality Monitoring Network (Colombia). The research results indicate that particulate matter PM2.5 of different monitoring stations are bacteria; however, this study of detection of bacteria and their phylogenetic relationship is not complete evidence to connect the microorganisms with pathogenic or degrading activities of compounds present in the air. Additionally, it was demonstrated the damage induced by the particulate material in the cell membrane, lysosomal and endosomal membrane and in the mitochondrial metabolism; this damage was independent of the PM2.5 concentrations in almost all the cases.

Examining the Usefulness of an ESP Textbook for Information Technology: Learner Perspectives

Year: 2016 Volume: 10 Issue: 8 2808 - 2815 Pages

Abstract: Many English for Specific Purposes (ESP) textbooks are distributed globally as the content development is often obliged to compromises between commercial and pedagogical demands. Therefore, the issue of regional application and usefulness of globally published ESP textbooks has received much debate. For ESP instructors, textbook selection is definitely a priority consideration for curriculum design. An appropriate ESP textbook can facilitate teaching and learning, while an inappropriate one may cause a disaster for both teachers and students. This study aims to investigate the regional application and usefulness of an ESP textbook for information technology (IT). Participants were 51 sophomores majoring in Applied Informatics and Multimedia at a university in Taiwan. As they were non-English majors, their English proficiency was mostly at elementary and elementary-to-intermediate levels. This course was offered for two semesters. The textbook selected was Oxford English for Information Technology. At class end, the students were required to complete a survey comprising five choices of Very Easy, Easy, Neutral, Difficult, and Very Difficult for each item. Based on the content design of the textbook, the survey investigated how the students viewed the difficulty of grammar, listening, speaking, reading, and writing materials of the textbook. In terms of difficulty, results reveal that only 22% of them found the grammar section difficult and very difficult. For listening, 71% responded difficult and very difficult. For general reading, 55% responded difficult and very difficult. For speaking, 56% responded difficult and very difficult. For writing, 78% responded difficult and very difficult. For advanced reading, 90% reported difficult and very difficult. These results indicate that, except the grammar section, more than half of the students found the textbook contents difficult in terms of listening, speaking, reading, and writing materials. Such contradictory results between the easy grammar section and the difficult four language skills sections imply that the textbook designers do not well understand the English learning background of regional ESP learners. For the participants, the learning contents of the grammar section were the general grammar level of junior high school, while the learning contents of the four language skills sections were more of the levels of college English majors. Implications from the findings are obtained for instructors and textbook designers. First of all, existing ESP textbooks for IT are few and thus textbook selections for instructors are insufficient. Second, existing globally published textbooks for IT cannot be applied to learners of all English proficiency levels, especially the low level. With limited textbook selections, third, instructors should modify the selected textbook contents or supplement extra ESP materials to meet the proficiency level of target learners. Fourth, local ESP publishers should collaborate with local ESP instructors who understand best the learning background of their students in order to develop appropriate ESP textbooks for local learners. Even though the instructor reduced learning contents and simplified tests in curriculum design, in conclusion, the students still found difficult. This implies that in addition to the instructor’s professional experience, there is a need to understand the usefulness of the textbook from learner perspectives.

A Recommender System Fusing Collaborative Filtering and User’s Review Mining

Year: 2016 Volume: 10 Issue: 8 1497 - 1500 Pages

Abstract: Collaborative filtering (CF) algorithm has been popularly used for recommender systems in both academic and practical applications. It basically generates recommendation results using users’ numeric ratings. However, the additional use of the information other than user ratings may lead to better accuracy of CF. Considering that a lot of people are likely to share their honest opinion on the items they purchased recently due to the advent of the Web 2.0, user's review can be regarded as the new informative source for identifying user's preference with accuracy. Under this background, this study presents a hybrid recommender system that fuses CF and user's review mining. Our system adopts conventional memory-based CF, but it is designed to use both user’s numeric ratings and his/her text reviews on the items when calculating similarities between users.

Internal and External Factors Affecting Teachers’ Adoption of Formative Assessment to Support Learning

Year: 2016 Volume: 10 Issue: 8 2791 - 2798 Pages

Abstract: Assessment forms an important part of instruction. Assessment that aims to support learning is known as formative assessment and it contributes student’s learning gain and motivation. However, teachers rarely use assessment formatively to aid their students’ learning. Thus, reviewing the factors that limit or support teachers’ practices of formative assessment will be crucial for guiding educators to support prospective teachers in using formative assessment and also eliminate limiting factors to let practicing teachers to engage in formative assessment practices during their instruction. The study, by using teacher’s change environment framework, reviews literature on formative assessment and presents a tentative model that illustrates the factors impacting teachers’ adoption of formative assessment in their teaching. The results showed that there are four main factors consisting personal, contextual, resource-related and external factors that influence teachers’ practices of formative assessment.

Age and Second Language Acquisition: A Case Study from Maldives

Year: 2016 Volume: 10 Issue: 8 2787 - 2790 Pages

Abstract: The age a child to be exposed to a second language is a controversial issue in communities such as the Maldives where English is taught as a second language. It has been observed that different stakeholders have different viewpoints towards the issue. Some believe that the earlier children are exposed to a second language, the better they learn, while others disagree with the notion. Hence, this case study investigates whether children learn a second language better when they are exposed at an earlier age or not. The spoken and written data collected confirm that earlier exposure helps in mastering the sound pattern and speaking fluency with more native-like accent, while a later age is better for learning more abstract and concrete aspects such as grammar and syntactic rules.

Radon Concentration in the Water Samples of Hassan District, Karnataka, India

Year: 2016 Volume: 10 Issue: 8 1084 - 1088 Pages

Abstract: Radon is a radioactive gas emitted from radium, a daughter product of uranium that occurs naturally in rocks and soil. Radon, together with its decay products, emits alpha particles that can damage lung tissue. The activity concentration of 222Ra has been analyzed in water samples collected from borewells and rivers in and around Hassan city, Karnataka State, India. The measurements were performed by Emanometry technique. The concentration of 222Rn in borewell waters varies from 18.49±1.89 to 397.26±12.3 Bql-1 with geometric mean 120.48±12.87 Bql-1 and in river waters it varies from 92.63±9.31 to 93.98±9.51 Bql-1 with geometric mean of 93.16±9.33 Bql-1. In the present study, the radon concentrations are higher in Adarshanagar and Viveka Nagar which are found to be 397.26±12.3 Bql-1 and 325.78±32.56 Bql-1. Most of the analysed samples show a 222Rn concentration more than 100 Bql-1 and this can be attributed to the geology of the area where the ground waters are located, which is predominantly of granitic characteristic. The average inhalation dose and ingestion dose in the borewell water are found to be 0.405 and 0.033 µSvy-1; and in river water it is found to be 0.234 and 0.019 µSvy-1, respectively. The average total effective dose rate in borewell waters and river waters are found to be 0.433 and 0.253 µSvy-1, which does not cause any health risk to the population of Hassan region.

Air Dispersion Model for Prediction Fugitive Landfill Gaseous Emission Impact in Ambient Atmosphere

Year: 2016 Volume: 10 Issue: 7 810 - 816 Pages

Abstract: This paper will explore formation of HCl aerosol at atmospheric boundary layers and encourages the uptake of environmental modeling systems (EMSs) as a practice evaluation of gaseous emissions (“framework measures”) from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The conceptual model predicts greenhouse gas emissions to ecological points beyond landfill site operations. It focuses on incorporation traditional knowledge into baseline information for both measurement data and the mathematical results, regarding parameters influence model variable inputs. The paper has simplified parameters of aerosol processes based on the more complex aerosol process computations. The simple model can be implemented to both Gaussian and Eulerian rural dispersion models. Aerosol processes considered in this study were (i) the coagulation of particles, (ii) the condensation and evaporation of organic vapors, and (iii) dry deposition. The chemical transformation of gas-phase compounds is taken into account photochemical formulation with exposure effects according to HCl concentrations as starting point of risk assessment. The discussion set out distinctly aspect of sustainability in reflection inputs, outputs, and modes of impact on the environment. Thereby, models incorporate abiotic and biotic species to broaden the scope of integration for both quantification impact and assessment risks. The later environmental obligations suggest either a recommendation or a decision of what is a legislative should be achieved for mitigation measures of landfill gas (LFG) ultimately.

Effects of an Added Foaming Agent on Hydro-Mechanical Properties of Soil

Year: 2016 Volume: 10 Issue: 7 805 - 809 Pages

Abstract: Earth pressure balance (EPB) tunnel boring machines are designed for digging in different types of soil, especially clay soils. This operation requires the treatment of soil by lubricants to facilitate the procedure of excavation. A possible use of this soil is limited by the effect of treatment on the hydro-mechanical properties of the soil. This work aims to study the effect of a foaming agent on the hydro-mechanical properties of clay soil. The injection of the foam agent in the soil leads to create a soil matrix in which they are incorporated gas bubbles. The state of the foam in the soil is scalable thanks to the degradation of the gas bubbles in the soil.

Design of a Statistics Lecture for Multidisciplinary Postgraduate Students Using a Range of Tools and Techniques

Year: 2015 Volume: 9 Issue: 12 4360 - 4366 Pages

Abstract: Teaching statistics is a critical and challenging issue especially to students from multidisciplinary and diverse postgraduate backgrounds. Postgraduate research students require statistics not only for the design of experiments; but also for data analysis. Students often perceive statistics as a complex and technical subject; thus, they leave data analysis to the last moment. The lecture needs to be simple and inclusive at the same time to make it comprehendible and address the learning needs of each student. Therefore, the aim of this work was to design a simple and comprehendible statistics lecture to postgraduate research students regarding ‘Research plan, design and data collection’. The lecture adopted the constructive alignment learning theory which facilitated the learning environments for the students. The learning environment utilized a student-centered approach and used interactive learning environment with in-class discussion, handouts and electronic voting system handsets. For evaluation of the lecture, formative assessment was made with in-class discussions and poll questions which were introduced during and after the lecture. The whole approach showed to be effective in creating a learning environment to the students who were able to apply the concepts addressed to their individual research projects.

Safety Culture Implementation Based on Occupational Health and Safety Assessment

Year: 2016 Volume: 10 Issue: 8 2779 - 2786 Pages

Abstract: Safety or the state of being safe can be described as a condition of being not dangerous or not harmful. It is necessary for an individual to avoid dangerous situations every day. Also, an organization is subject to legal requirements for the health and safety of persons inside and around the immediate workplace, or who are exposed to the workplace activities. Although it might be difficult to keep a situation where complete safety is ensured, efforts must nonetheless be made to consider ways of removing any potential danger within an organization. In order to ensure a safe working environment, the capability of responding (i.e., resilience) to signals (i.e., information concerning events that could pose future problems that must be taken into account) that occur in and around corporations is necessary. The ability to evaluate this essential point is thus one way in which safety and security can be managed. This study focuses on OHSAS18001, an internationally applied standard for the construction and operation of occupational health and safety management systems, by using IDEF0 for Function Modeling (IDEF0) and the Resilience Matrix originally made by Bracco. Further, this study discusses a method for evaluating a manner in which Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) systematically functions within corporations. Based on the findings, this study clarifies the potential structural objection for corporations when implementing and operating the OHSAS standard.

Non-Linear Numerical Modeling of the Interaction of Twin Tunnels-Structure

Year: 2016 Volume: 10 Issue: 8 1059 - 1063 Pages

Abstract: Structures on the ground surface bear impact from the tunneling-induced settlement, especially when twin tunnels are constructed. The tunneling influence on the structure is considered as a critical issue based on the construction procedure and relative position of tunnels. Lebanon is suffering from a traffic phenomenon caused by the lack of transportation systems. After several traffic counts and geotechnical investigations in Beirut city, efforts aim for the construction of tunneling systems. In this paper, we present a non-linear numerical modeling of the effect of the twin tunnels constructions on the structures located at soil surface for a particular site in Beirut. A parametric study, which concerns the geometric configuration of tunnels, the distance between their centers, the construction order, and the position of the structure, is performed. The tunnel-soil-structure interaction is analyzed by using the non-linear finite element modeling software PLAXIS 2D. The results of the surface settlement and the bending moment of the structure reveal significant influence when the structure is moved away, especially in vertical aligned tunnels.

Mining User-Generated Contents to Detect Service Failures with Topic Model

Year: 2016 Volume: 10 Issue: 8 1491 - 1496 Pages

Abstract: Online user-generated contents (UGC) significantly change the way customers behave (e.g., shop, travel), and a pressing need to handle the overwhelmingly plethora amount of various UGC is one of the paramount issues for management. However, a current approach (e.g., sentiment analysis) is often ineffective for leveraging textual information to detect the problems or issues that a certain management suffers from. In this paper, we employ text mining of Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) on a popular online review site dedicated to complaint from users. We find that the employed LDA efficiently detects customer complaints, and a further inspection with the visualization technique is effective to categorize the problems or issues. As such, management can identify the issues at stake and prioritize them accordingly in a timely manner given the limited amount of resources. The findings provide managerial insights into how analytics on social media can help maintain and improve their reputation management. Our interdisciplinary approach also highlights several insights by applying machine learning techniques in marketing research domain. On a broader technical note, this paper illustrates the details of how to implement LDA in R program from a beginning (data collection in R) to an end (LDA analysis in R) since the instruction is still largely undocumented. In this regard, it will help lower the boundary for interdisciplinary researcher to conduct related research.

Ideal School of the Future from the Parents´ View: Quantitative Research of Faculty of Education of the University of Hradec Králové

Year: 2016 Volume: 10 Issue: 8 2770 - 2773 Pages

Abstract: The topic of possible forms of future schools according to rapid changes of life in the 21st century has become to reach several economic and social prognoses. In our research, we have tried to find out what the future school form is according to pupils’ parent’s view. School is a part of life of each person and based on own experience there is a certain individual picture created about a possible look of future education. The aim of our quantitative research was to find out how parents of first grade primary school pupils see the ideal school of the future. The quantitative research realized at the Faculty of Education of the University of Hradec Králové (Czech Republic). By statistical analysis of gained data from 120 respondents, there have been several views of schools of future identified in terms of mission and also the way of education. But a common indicator according to addressed parents would be more focused on the overall personality development rather than the field practice which is related to a realistic idea that school of the future is not and will not be the only source of education.

Identification of Common Indicators of Family Environment of Pupils of Alternative Schools

Year: 2016 Volume: 10 Issue: 8 2765 - 2769 Pages

Abstract: The paper presents the results of research in which we were looking for common characteristics of the family environment of students alternative and innovative education systems. Topicality comes from the fact that nowadays in the Czech Republic there are several civic and parental initiatives held with the aim to establish schools for their children. The goal of our research was to reveal key aspects of these families and to identify their common indicators. Among other things, we were interested what reasons lead parents to decide to enroll their child into different education than standard (common). The survey was qualitative and there were eighteen respondents of parents of alternative schools´ pupils. The reason to implement qualitative design was the opportunity to gain deeper insight into the essence of phenomena and to obtain detailed information, which would become the basis for subsequent quantitative research. There have been semi structured interviews done with the respondents which had been recorded and transcribed. By an analysis of gained data (categorization and by coding), we found out that common indicator of our respondents is higher education and higher economic level. This issue should be at the forefront of the researches because there is lack of analysis which would provide a comparison of common and alternative schools in the Czech Republic especially with regard to quality of education. Based on results, we consider questions whether approaches of these parents towards standard education come from their own experience or from the lack of knowledge of current goals and objectives of education policy of the Czech Republic.

The Effects of Transformational Leadership on Process Innovation through Knowledge Sharing

Year: 2016 Volume: 10 Issue: 8 2757 - 2764 Pages

Abstract: Transformational leadership has been identified as the most important factor affecting innovation and knowledge sharing; it leads to increased goal-directed behavior exhibited by followers and thus to enhanced performance and innovation for the organization. However, there is a lack of models linking transformational leadership, knowledge sharing, and process innovation within higher education (HE) institutions in general within developing countries, particularly in Iraq. This research aims to examine the mediating role of knowledge sharing in the transformational leadership and process innovation relationship. A quantitative approach was taken and 254 usable questionnaires were collected from public HE institutions in Iraq. Structural equation modelling with AMOS 22 was used to analyze the causal relationships among factors. The research found that knowledge sharing plays a pivotal role in the relationship between transformational leadership and process innovation, and that transformational leadership would be ideal in an educational context, promoting knowledge sharing activities and influencing process innovation in the public HE in Iraq. The research has developed some guidelines for researchers as well as leaders and provided evidence to support the use of TL to increase process innovation within HE environment in developing countries, particularly in Iraq.

Application of Post-Stack and Pre-Stack Seismic Inversion for Prediction of Hydrocarbon Reservoirs in a Persian Gulf Gas Field

Year: 2016 Volume: 10 Issue: 8 853 - 862 Pages

Abstract: Seismic inversion is a technique which has been in use for years and its main goal is to estimate and to model physical characteristics of rocks and fluids. Generally, it is a combination of seismic and well-log data. Seismic inversion can be carried out through different methods; we have conducted and compared post-stack and pre- stack seismic inversion methods on real data in one of the fields in the Persian Gulf. Pre-stack seismic inversion can transform seismic data to rock physics such as P-impedance, S-impedance and density. While post- stack seismic inversion can just estimate P-impedance. Then these parameters can be used in reservoir identification. Based on the results of inverting seismic data, a gas reservoir was detected in one of Hydrocarbon oil fields in south of Iran (Persian Gulf). By comparing post stack and pre-stack seismic inversion it can be concluded that the pre-stack seismic inversion provides a more reliable and detailed information for identification and prediction of hydrocarbon reservoirs.

An Evaluation of Barriers to Implement Reverse Logistics: A Case Study of Indian Fastener Industry

Year: 2016 Volume: 10 Issue: 8 1502 - 1507 Pages

Abstract: Reverse logistics (RL) is supposed to be a systematic procedure that helps in improving the environmental hazards and maintain business sustainability for industries. Industries in Indian are now opting for adoption of RL techniques in business. But, RL practices are not popular in Indian industries because of many barriers for its successful implementation. Therefore, need arises to identify and evaluate the barriers to implement RL practices by taking an Indian industries perspective. Literature review approach and case study approach have been adapted to identify relevant barriers to implement RL practices. Further, Fuzzy Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory methodology has been brought into use for evaluating causal relationships among the barriers to implement RL practices. Seven barriers out of ten barriers have been categorized into the cause group and remaining into effect group. This research will help Indian industries to manage these barriers towards effective implementing RL practices.

A Practical Model for Managing Beach Safety Focusing on Tourist Drownings in Koh Samui, Thailand

Year: 2016 Volume: 10 Issue: 8 2752 - 2756 Pages

Abstract: This paper aims to investigate management of beach safety with a focus on tourist drownings in Samui. The data collected in this investigation will then lead to the proposal of a practical management model suitable for use in Samui. Qualitative research was conducted in the following manner: nine stakeholders from local government organizations and tourism businesses were interviewed in-depth. Additionally, a best practice case study from Phuket was applied to analyze beach safety. Twelve foreign tourists were also interviewed. Then, a focus group comprised of 32 people was used to determine practical solutions for enhancing tourists’ safety on the beach in Samui. A steering committee to coordinate between public and private organizations was proposed to manage and enhance tourists’ safety. A practical model is proposed to increase the safety level of tourists in Samui

A SiGe Low Power RF Front-End Receiver for 5.8GHz Wireless Biomedical Application

Year: 2016 Volume: 10 Issue: 7 972 - 975 Pages

Abstract: It is necessary to realize new biomedical wireless communication systems which send the signals collected from various bio sensors located at human body in order to monitor our health. Also, it should seamlessly connect to the existing wireless communication systems. A 5.8 GHz ISM band low power RF front-end receiver for a biomedical wireless communication system is implemented using a 0.5 µm SiGe BiCMOS process. To achieve low power RF front-end, the current optimization technique for selecting device size is utilized. The implemented low noise amplifier (LNA) shows a power gain of 9.8 dB, a noise figure (NF) of below 1.75 dB, and an IIP3 of higher than 7.5 dBm while current consumption is only 6 mA at supply voltage of 2.5 V. Also, the performance of a down-conversion mixer is measured as a conversion gain of 11 dB and SSB NF of 10 dB.

A Coupled Extended-Finite-Discrete Element Method: On the Different Contact Schemes between Continua and Discontinua

Year: 2016 Volume: 10 Issue: 2 261 - 268 Pages

Abstract: Recently, advanced geotechnical engineering problems related to soil movement, particle loss, and modeling of local failure (i.e. discontinua) as well as modeling the in-contact structures (i.e. continua) are of the great interest among researchers. The aim of this research is to meet the requirements with respect to the modeling of the above-mentioned two different domains simultaneously. To this end, a coupled numerical method is introduced based on Discrete Element Method (DEM) and eXtended-Finite Element Method (X-FEM). In the coupled procedure, DEM is employed to capture the interactions and relative movements of soil particles as discontinua, while X-FEM is utilized to model in-contact structures as continua, which may consist of different types of discontinuities. For verification purposes, the new coupled approach is utilized to examine benchmark problems including different contacts between/within continua and discontinua. Results are validated by comparison with those of existing analytical and numerical solutions. This study proves that extended-finite-discrete element method can be used to robustly analyze not only contact problems, but also other types of discontinuities in continua such as (i) crack formations and propagations, (ii) voids and bimaterial interfaces, and (iii) combination of previous cases. In essence, the proposed method can be used vastly in advanced soil-structure interaction problems to investigate the micro and macro behaviour of the surrounding soil and the response of the embedded structure that contains discontinuities.