Abstract: Computer education is referred to as the knowledge
and ability to use computers and related technology efficiently, with a
range of skills covering levels from basic use to advance. Computer
continues to make an ever-increasing impact on all aspect of human
endeavours such as education. With numerous benefits of computer
education, what are the insights of students on computer education?
This study investigated the perception of senior secondary school
students on computer education in Federal Capital Territory (FCT),
Abuja, Nigeria. A sample of 7500 senior secondary schools students
was involved in the study, one hundred (100) private and fifty (50)
public schools within FCT. They were selected by using simple
random sampling technique. A questionnaire [PSSSCEQ] was
developed and validated through expert judgement and reliability coefficient
of 0.84 was obtained. It was used to gather relevant data on
computer education. Findings confirmed that the students in the FCT
had positive perception on computer education. Some factors were
identified that affect students’ perception on computer education. The
null hypotheses were tested using t-test and ANOVA statistical
analyses at 0.05 level of significance. Based on these findings, some
recommendations were made which include competent teachers
should be employed into all secondary schools. This will help
students to acquire relevant knowledge in computer education,
technological supports should be provided to all secondary schools;
this will help the users (students) to solve specific problems in
computer education and financial supports should be provided to
procure computer facilities that will enhance the teaching and the
learning of computer education.
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: Issues relating to the destructive phenomena that can
damage people and goods have returned to the centre of debate in
Italy with the increase in catastrophic episodes in recent years in a
country which is highly vulnerable to hydrological risk.
Environmental factors and geological and geomorphological
territorial characteristics play an important role in determining the
level of vulnerability and the natural tendency to risk. However, a
territory has also been subjected to the requirements of and
transformations of society and this brings other relevant factors. The
reasons for the increase in destructive phenomena are often to be
found in the territorial development models adopted. Stewardship of
the landscape and management of risk are related issues. This study aims to summarize the most relevant elements about
this connection and at the same time to clarify the role of
environmental risk assessment as a tool to aid in the sustainable
management of landscape. Finally, the study reflects on how regional
and urban planners deal with environmental risk and which aspects
should be monitored in order to adopt responsible and useful
interventions.
Abstract: Rapid developments in technology in the present age
have made it necessary for communities to follow technological
developments and adapt themselves to these developments. One of
the fields that are most rapidly affected by these developments is
undoubtedly education. Determination of the attitudes of preservice
teachers, who live in an age of technology and get ready to raise
future individuals, is of paramount importance both educationally and
professionally. The purpose of this study was to analyze attitudes of
preservice teachers towards technology and some variables that
predict these attitudes (gender, daily duration of internet use, and the
number of technical devices owned). 329 preservice teachers
attending the education faculty of a large university in central Turkey
participated, on a volunteer basis, in this study, where relational
survey model was used as the research method. Research findings
reveal that preservice teachers’ attitudes towards technology are
positive and at the same time, the attitudes of male preservice
teachers towards technology are more positive than their female
counterparts. As a result of the stepwise multiple regression analysis
where factors predicting preservice teachers’ attitudes towards
technology, it was found that duration of daily internet use was the
strongest predictor of attitudes towards technology.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to analyze the temporal
and spatial variability of thermal conditions in the Republic of
Armenia. The paper describes annual fluctuations in air temperature.
Research has been focused on case study region of Armenia and
surrounding areas, where long–term measurements and observations
of weather conditions have been performed within the National
Meteorological Service of Armenia and its surrounding areas. The
study contains yearly air temperature data recorded between 1961-
2012. Mann-Kendal test and the autocorrelation function were
applied to detect the change trend of annual mean temperature, as
well as other parametric and non-parametric tests searching to find
the presence of some breaks in the long term evolution of
temperature. The analysis of all records reveals a tendency mostly
towards warmer years, with increased temperatures especially in
valleys and inner basins. The maximum temperature increase is up to
1,5°C. Negative results have not been observed in Armenia. The
patterns of temperature change have been observed since the 1990’s
over much of the Armenian territory. The climate in Armenia was
influenced by global change in the last 2 decades, as results from the
methods employed within the study.
Abstract: River Hindon is an important river catering the
demand of highly populated rural and industrial cluster of western
Uttar Pradesh, India. Water quality of river Hindon is deteriorating at
an alarming rate due to various industrial, municipal and agricultural
activities. The present study aimed at identifying the pollution
sources and quantifying the degree to which these sources are
responsible for the deteriorating water quality of the river. Various
water quality parameters, like pH, temperature, electrical
conductivity, total dissolved solids, total hardness, calcium, chloride,
nitrate, sulphate, biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen
demand, and total alkalinity were assessed. Water quality data
obtained from eight study sites for one year has been subjected to the
two multivariate techniques, namely, principal component analysis
and cluster analysis. Principal component analysis was applied with
the aim to find out spatial variability and to identify the sources
responsible for the water quality of the river. Three Varifactors were
obtained after varimax rotation of initial principal components using
principal component analysis. Cluster analysis was carried out to
classify sampling stations of certain similarity, which grouped eight
different sites into two clusters. The study reveals that the
anthropogenic influence (municipal, industrial, waste water and
agricultural runoff) was the major source of river water pollution.
Thus, this study illustrates the utility of multivariate statistical
techniques for analysis and elucidation of multifaceted data sets,
recognition of pollution sources/factors and understanding
temporal/spatial variations in water quality for effective river water
quality management.
Abstract: English like any other language is rich by means of arbitrary, conventional, symbols which lend it to lot of inconsistencies in spelling, phonology, syntax, and morphology. The research examines the irregularities prevalent in the structure and meaning of some ‘er’ lexical items in English and its implication to vocabulary acquisition. It centers its investigation on the derivational suffix ‘er’, which changes the grammatical category of word. English language poses many challenges to Second Language Learners because of its irregularities, exceptions, and rules. One of the meaning of –er derivational suffix is someone or somebody who does something. This rule often confuses the learners when they meet with the exceptions in normal discourse. The need to investigate instances of such inconsistencies in the formation of –er words and the meanings given to such words by the students motivated this study. For this purpose, some senior secondary two (SS2) students in six randomly selected schools in the metropolis were provided a large number of alphabetically selected ‘er’ suffix ending words, The researcher opts for a test technique, which requires them to provide the meaning of the selected words with- er. The marking of the test was scored on the scale of 1-0, where correct formation of –er word and meaning is scored one while wrong formation and meaning is scored zero. The number of wrong and correct formations of –er words meaning were calculated using percentage. The result of this research shows that a large number of students made wrong generalization of the meaning of the selected -er ending words. This shows how enormous the inconsistencies are in English language and how are affect the learning of English. Findings from the study revealed that though students mastered the basic morphological rules but the errors are generally committed on those vocabulary items that are not frequently in use. The study arrives at this conclusion from the survey of their textbook and their spoken activities. Therefore, the researcher recommends that there should be effective reappraisal of language teaching through implementation of the designed curriculum to reflect on modern strategies of teaching language, identification, and incorporation of the exceptions in rigorous communicative activities in language teaching, language course books and tutorials, training and retraining of teachers on the strategies that conform to the new pedagogy.
Abstract: In the present research, whole meal barley flour
(WBF) was supplemented with gelatinized corn flour (GCF) in 0 and
30%. Whole meal wheat flour (WWF) was mixed with defatted rice
bran (DRB) to produce 0, 20, 25, and 30% replacement levels.
Rheological properties of dough were studied. Thermal properties
and starch crystallinity of flours were evaluated. Flat bread, balady
bread and pie were prepared from the different flour blends. The
different bakeries were sensory evaluated. Color of raw materials and
crust of bakery products were determined. Nutrients contents of raw
flours and food products were assessed. Results showed that addition
of GCF to WBF increased the viscosity and falling number of the
produced dough. Water absorption, dough development time and
dough stability increased with increasing the level of DRB in dough
while, weakening and mixing tolerance index decreased.
Extensibility and energy decreased, while, resistance to extension
increased as DRB level increased. Gelatinized temperature of WWF,
WBF, GCF, and DRB were 13.26, 35.09, 28.33, and 39.63,
respectively. Starch crystallinity was affected when DRB was added
to WWF. The highest protein content was present in balady bread
made from 70% WWF and 30% DRB. The highest calcium,
phosphorus, and potassium levels were present in products made
from 100% WBF. Sensory attributes of the products were slightly
affected by adding DRB and GCF. Conclusion: Addition of DRB or
GCF to WWF or WBF, respectively affect the physical, chemical,
rheological and sensory properties of balady bread, flat bread, and pie
while improved their nutritive values.
Abstract: Green and renewable energy is getting extraordinary
consideration today, because of ecological concerns made by blazing
of fossil powers. Photovoltaic and wind power generation are the
basic decisions for delivering power in this respects. Producing
power by the sun based photovoltaic systems is known to the world,
yet control makers may get confounded to pick between on-grid and
off-grid systems. In this exploration work, an endeavor is made to
compare the off-grid (stand-alone) and on-grid (grid-connected)
frameworks. The work presents relative examination, between two
distinctive PV frameworks situated at V.V.P. Engineering College,
Rajkot. The first framework is 100 kW remain solitary and the
second is 60 kW network joined. The real-time parameters compared
are; output voltage, load current, power in-flow, power output,
performance ratio, yield factor, and capacity factor. The voltage
changes and the power variances in both frameworks are given
exceptional consideration and the examination is made between the
two frameworks to judge the focal points and confinements of both
the frameworks.
Abstract: Brushless DC motors (BLDC) are widely used in
industrial areas. The BLDC motors are driven either by indirect ACAC
converters or by direct AC-AC converters. Direct AC-AC
converters i.e. matrix converters are used in this paper to drive the
three phase BLDC motor and it eliminates the bulky DC link energy
storage element. A matrix converter converts the AC power supply to
an AC voltage of variable amplitude and variable frequency. A
control technique is designed to generate the switching pulses for the
three phase matrix converter. For the control of speed of the BLDC
motor a separate PI controller and Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) are
designed and a hysteresis current controller is also designed for the
control of motor torque. The control schemes are designed and tested
separately. The simulation results of both the schemes are compared
and contrasted in this paper. The results show that the fuzzy logic
control scheme outperforms the PI control scheme in terms of
dynamic performance of the BLDC motor. Simulation results are
validated with the experimental results.
Abstract: A psychological contract is an agreement between the
employer and an employee that covers the parties’ informal and
frequently non-verbalized obligations and expectations towards each
other. The contract is a cognitive pattern-governing employee’s
behaviour in the organization. A gap between employee’s
expectations and the organizational reality may lead to difficult-to-solve
conflicts or cause the employee to modify their behaviour
towards organizational values and goals, if they are willing and ready
to verbalize their expectations. The article discusses psychological contracts in the financial
institutions in Poland. Its theoretical part outlines the types of
psychological contracts in organizations (relational, transactional, and
balanced) and shows the process of their verbalization. The purpose
of the article is to present how the type of the psychological contract
relates to employee’s readiness to verbalize it. The article ends with
conclusions arising from the study.
Abstract: Strong anthropogenic impact has uncontrolled
consequences on the nature of the soil. Hence, up-to-date sustainable
methods of soil state improvement are essential. Investigators provide
the evidence that biochar can positively effects physical, chemical,
and biological soil properties and the abundance of mycorrhizal fungi
which are in the focus of this study. The main aim of the present
investigation is to demonstrate the effect of two types of plant growth
promoting bacteria (PGPB) inoculums along with the beech wood
biochar and mineral N additives on mycorrhizal colonization.
Experiment has been set up in laboratory conditions with containers
filled with arable soil from the protection zone of the main water
source “Brezova nad Svitavou”. Lactuca sativa (lettuce) has been
selected as a model plant. Based on the obtained data, it can be
concluded that mycorrhizal colonization increased as the result of
combined influence of biochar and PGPB inoculums amendment. In
addition, correlation analyses showed that the numbers of main
groups of cultivated bacteria were dependent on the degree of
mycorrhizal colonization.
Abstract: The main purpose of this study is to assess the
sediment quality and potential ecological risk in marine sediments in
Gymea Bay located in south Sydney, Australia. A total of 32 surface
sediment samples were collected from the bay. Current track
trajectories and velocities have also been measured in the bay. The
resultant trace elements were compared with the adverse biological
effect values Effect Range Low (ERL) and Effect Range Median
(ERM) classifications. The results indicate that the average values of
chromium, arsenic, copper, zinc, and lead in surface sediments all
reveal low pollution levels and are below ERL and ERM values. The
highest concentrations of trace elements were found close to
discharge points and in the inner bay, and were linked with high
percentages of clay minerals, pyrite and organic matter, which can
play a significant role in trapping and accumulating these elements.
The lowest concentrations of trace elements were found to be on the
shoreline of the bay, which contained high percentages of sand
fractions. It is postulated that the fine particles and trace elements are
disturbed by currents and tides, then transported and deposited in
deeper areas. The current track velocities recorded in Gymea Bay had
the capability to transport fine particles and trace element pollution
within the bay. As a result, hydrodynamic measurements were able to
provide useful information and to help explain the distribution of
sedimentary particles and geochemical properties. This may lead to
knowledge transfer to other bay systems, including those in remote
areas. These activities can be conducted at a low cost, and are
therefore also transferrable to developing countries. The advent of
portable instruments to measure trace elements in the field has also
contributed to the development of these lower cost and easily applied
methodologies available for use in remote locations and low-cost
economies.
Abstract: One of the global combinatorial optimization
problems in machine learning is feature selection. It concerned with
removing the irrelevant, noisy, and redundant data, along with
keeping the original meaning of the original data. Attribute reduction
in rough set theory is an important feature selection method. Since
attribute reduction is an NP-hard problem, it is necessary to
investigate fast and effective approximate algorithms. In this paper,
we proposed two feature selection mechanisms based on memetic
algorithms (MAs) which combine the genetic algorithm with a fuzzy
record to record travel algorithm and a fuzzy controlled great deluge
algorithm, to identify a good balance between local search and
genetic search. In order to verify the proposed approaches, numerical
experiments are carried out on thirteen datasets. The results show that
the MAs approaches are efficient in solving attribute reduction
problems when compared with other meta-heuristic approaches.
Abstract: This study evaluated the acute toxicity and tissue
distribution of intravenously administered gold nanoparticles
(AuNPs) in male rabbits. Rabbits were exposed to single dose of
AuNPs (300 μg/ kg). Toxic effects were assessed via general
behavior, hematological parameters, serum biochemical parameters,
and histopathological examination of various rabbits’ organs.
Inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used
to determine gold concentrations in tissue samples collected at
predetermined time intervals. After one week, AuNPs exerted no
obvious acute toxicity in rabbits. However, inflammatory reactions
were observed in liver, lungs and kidneys accompanied with mild
absolute neutrophilia and significant monocytosis. The highest gold
levels were found in the spleen and liver followed by lungs, and
kidneys. These results indicated that AuNPs could be distributed
extensively to various tissues in the body, but primarily in the spleen
and liver.
Abstract: The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is the goal
of regional economic integration by 2015. In the region, tourism is an
activity that is important, especially as a source of foreign currency, a
source of employment creation and a source of income bringing to the
region. Given the complexity of the issues entailing the concept of
sustainable tourism, this paper tries to assess tourism sustainability
with the ASEAN, based on a number of quantitative indicators for all
the ten economies, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia,
Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, and Brunei. The
methodological framework will provide a number of benchmarks of
tourism activities in these countries. They include identification of the
dimensions; for example, economic, socio-ecologic, infrastructure
and indicators, method of scaling, chart representation and evaluation
on Asian countries. This specification shows that a similar level of
tourism activity might introduce different implementation in the
tourism activity and might have different consequences for the socioecological
environment and sustainability. The heterogeneity of
developing countries exposed briefly here would be useful to detect
and prepare for coping with the main problems of each country in
their tourism activities, as well as competitiveness and value creation
of tourism for ASEAN economic community, and will compare with
other parts of the world.
Abstract: Biochar can be produced from the waste matter and its
application has been associated with returning of carbon in large
amounts into the soil. The impacts of this material on physical and
chemical properties of soil have been described. The biggest part of
the research work is dedicated to the hypothesis of this material’s
toxic effects on the soil life regarding its effect on the soil biological
component. At present, it has been worked on methods which could
eliminate these undesirable properties of biochar. One of the
possibilities is to mix biochar with organic material, such as compost,
or focusing on the natural processes acceleration in the soil. In the
experiment has been used as the addition of compost as well as the
elimination of toxic substances by promoting microbial activity in
aerated water environment. Biochar was aerated for 7 days in a
container with a volume of 20 l. This way modified biochar had six
times higher biomass production and reduce mineral nitrogen
leaching. Better results have been achieved by mixing biochar with
compost.
Abstract: The power electronic components within Electric Vehicles (EV) need to operate in several important modes. Some modes directly influence safety, while others influence vehicle performance. Given the variety of functions and operational modes required of the power electronics, it needs to meet efficiency requirements to minimize power losses. Another challenge in the control and construction of such systems is the ability to support bidirectional power flow. This paper considers the construction, operation, and feasibility of available converters for electric vehicles with feasible configurations of electrical buses and loads. This paper describes logic and control signals for the converters for different operations conditions based on the efficiency and energy usage bases.
Abstract: Durian skin is a newly explores natural fibre
potentially reinforced polyolefin for diverse applications. In this
work, investigation on the effect of coupling agent, maleic anhydride
polypropylene (MAPP) on the mechanical, morphological, and
thermal properties of polypropylene (PP) reinforced with durian skin
fibre (DSF) was conducted. The presence of 30 wt% DSF
significantly reduced the tensile strength of PP-DSF composite.
Interestingly, even though the same trend goes to PP-DSF with the
presence of MAPP, the reduction is only about 4% relative to
unreinforced PP and 18% higher than PP-DSF without MAPP
(untreated composite or UTC). The used of MAPP in treated
composite (TC) also increased the tensile modulus, flexural
properties and degradation temperature. The enhanced mechanical
properties are consistent with good interfacial interaction as
evidenced under scanning electron microscopy.
Abstract: Global economy today is full of sophistication. All
over the world, business and marketing practices are undergoing
unprecedented transformation. In realization of this fact, the federal
government of Nigeria has put in place a robust transformation
agenda in order to put Nigeria in a better position to be a competitive
player and in the process transform all sectors of its economy. New
technologies, especially the Internet, are the driving force behind this
transformation. However, technology has inadvertently affected the
way businesses are done thus necessitating the acquisition of new
skills. In developing countries like Nigeria, citizens are still battling
with effective application of those technologies. Obviously, students
of business education need to acquire relevant business knowledge to
be able to transit into the world of work on graduation from school
and compete favorably in the labor market. Therefore, effective
utilization of social media by both teachers and students can help
extensively in empowering students with the needed skills. Social
media which is a group of Internet-based applications built on the
ideological foundations of Web 2.0, that allow the creation and
exchange of user generated content, and if incorporated into the
classroom experience may be the needed answer to unemployment
and poverty in Nigeria as beneficiaries can easily connect with
existing and potential enterprises and customers, engage with them
and reinforce mutual business benefits. Challenges and benefits of
social media use in education in Nigeria universities were revealed in
this study.