Abstract: This study aims to assess the students' needs for the
tour planning e-guide. The study is developing on the contribution
and importance of the Educational Tour Planning Guide (ETP) is a
multimedia course ware as one of the effective methods in teaching
and learning of environmental science among the students in primary
schools of the Ministry of Education, Malaysia. It is to provide the
student with knowledge and experience about tourism, environmental
science activities and process. E-guide to ETP also hopes to
strengthen the student understanding toward the subject learn in the
tourism environmental science. In order to assess the student's needs
on the e-Guide to Educational Tour Planning in Environmental
Science, the study has produced a similar e-Guide to ETP in the form
as a course ware to be tested during the study. The study has involved
several steps in order to be completed. It is such as the formulation of
the problem, the review of the literature, the formulation of the study
methodology, the production of the e-Guide to ETP, field survey and
finally the analyses and discussion made on the data gathered during
the study. The survey has involved 100 respondents among the
students in standard six primary schools in Kluang Johor. Through
the findings, the study indicates that the current tested product is
acceptable among the students in learning environmental science as a
guide to plan for the tour. The findings also show a slight difference
between the respondents who are using the e-Guide to ETP, and those
who are not on the basis of the e-Guide to ETP results. Due the
important for the study, the researcher hopes to be having a fair
discussion and excellence, recommendation for the development of
the product of the current study. This report is written also important
to provide a written reference for the future related study.
Abstract: The aim of this study is to identify the suitability of
Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in welding simulator
application towards Computer-Based Training (CBT) in developing
skills upon new students at the Advanced Technology Training
Center (ADTEC) Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia and GIATMARA,
Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia. The significance of the study is to create
a computer-based skills development approach in welding technology
among new students in ADTEC and GIATMARA as well as to
cultivate the elements of general skills among them. This study is
also important in elevating the number of individual knowledge
workers (K-workers) working in manufacturing industry in order to
achieve a national vision which is to be an industrial nation in the
year of 2020. The design of the study is a survey type of research
which using questionnaires as the instruments and some 136 students
from ADTEC and GIATMARA were interviewed. Descriptive
analysis is used to identify the frequency and mean values. The
findings of the study show that the welding technology has developed
skills in the students because of the application of VLE simulated at a
high level and the respondents agreed that the skills could be
embedded through the application of the VLE simulator. In summary,
the VLE simulator is suitable in welding skills development training
in terms of exposing new students with the relevant characteristics of
welding skills and at the same time spurring the students’ interest
towards learning more about the skills.
Abstract: The Greater Athens Area (GAA) faces photochemical
and particulate pollution episodes as a result of the combined effects
of local pollutant emissions, regional pollution transport, synoptic
circulation and topographic characteristics. The area has undergone
significant changes since the Athens 2004 Olympic Games because
of large scale infrastructure works that lead to the shift of population
to areas previously characterized as rural, the increase of the traffic
fleet and the operation of highways. However, few recent modelling
studies have been performed due to the lack of an accurate, updated
emission inventory. The photochemical modelling system
MM5/CAMx was applied in order to study the photochemical and
particulate pollution characteristics above the GAA for two distinct
ten-day periods in the summer of 2006 and 2010, where air pollution
episodes occurred. A new updated emission inventory was used
based on official data. Comparison of modeled results with
measurements revealed the importance and accuracy of the new
Athens emission inventory as compared to previous modeling
studies. The model managed to reproduce the local meteorological
conditions, the daily ozone and particulates fluctuations at different
locations across the GAA. Higher ozone levels were found at
suburban and rural areas as well as over the sea at the south of the
basin. Concerning PM10, high concentrations were computed at the
city centre and the southeastern suburbs in agreement with measured
data. Source apportionment analysis showed that different sources
contribute to the ozone levels, the local sources (traffic, port
activities) affecting its formation.
Abstract: This study identified the hypothesised relationship
between creative experience, and revisit intention of handmade
oriental parasol umbrella in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. A face-to-face
questionnaire survey was administered in Meinong town, Kaohsiung.
The components of creative experience were found as “sense of
achievement”, “unique learning” and “interaction with instructors” in
creative tourism. The result also revealed significant positive
relationships between creative experience and revisit intention in
handmade activities. This paper provides additional suggestions for
enhancing revisit intention and guidance regarding creative tourism.
Abstract: The advancements in technology allow the
development of a new system that can continuously measure surface
soil erosion. Continuous soil erosion measurements are required in
order to comprehend the erosional processes and propose effective
and efficient conservation measures to mitigate surface erosion.
Mitigating soil erosion, especially in Mediterranean countries such as
Greece, is essential in order to maintain environmental and
agricultural sustainability. In this paper, we present the Automated
Soil Erosion Monitoring System (ASEMS) that measures surface soil
erosion along with other factors that impact erosional process.
Specifically, this system measures ground level changes (surface soil
erosion), rainfall, air temperature, soil temperature, and soil moisture.
Another important innovation is that the data will be collected by
remote communication. In addition, stakeholder’s awareness is a key
factor to help reduce any environmental problem. The different
dissemination activities that were utilized are described. The overall
outcomes were the development of a new innovative system that can
measure erosion very accurately. These data from the system help
study the process of erosion and find the best possible methods to
reduce erosion. The dissemination activities enhance the stakeholders
and public's awareness on surface soil erosion problems and will lead
to the adoption of more effective soil erosion conservation practices
in Greece.
Abstract: Extreme formation is a theoretical concept of selfsustain
flight when a big airliner is followed by a small UAV glider
flying in the airliner wake vortex. The paper presents results of a
climb analysis with the goal to lift the gliding UAV to airliners cruise
altitude. Wake vortex models, the UAV drag polar and basic
parameters and airliner’s climb profile are introduced at first.
Afterwards, flight performance of the UAV in a wake vortex is
evaluated by analytical methods. Time history of optimal distance
between an airliner and the UAV during a climb is determined. The
results are encouraging. Therefore available UAV drag margin for
electricity generation is figured out for different vortex models.
Abstract: Modelling of building processes of a multimodal
freight transportation support information system is discussed based
on modern CASE technologies. Functional efficiencies of ports in
the eastern part of the Black Sea are analyzed taking into account
their ecological, seasonal, resource usage parameters. By resources,
we mean capacities of berths, cranes, automotive transport, as well as
work crews and neighbouring airports. For the purpose of designing
database of computer support system for Managerial (Logistics)
function, using Object-Role Modeling (ORM) tool (NORMA–Natural ORM Architecture) is proposed, after which Entity
Relationship Model (ERM) is generated in automated process.
Software is developed based on Process-Oriented and Service-Oriented architecture, in Visual Studio.NET environment.
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: In recent years, the power system has been changed
and a flexible power pricing system such as demand response has been
sought in Japan. The demand response system works simply in the
household sector and the owner as the decision-maker, can benefit
from power saving. On the other hand, the execution of demand
response in the office building is more complex than in the household
because various people such as owners, building administrators and
occupants are involved in the decision-making process. While the
owners benefit from demand saving, the occupants are exposed to
restricted benefits of a demand-saved environment. One of the reasons
is that building systems are usually under centralized management and
each occupant cannot choose freely whether to participate in demand
response or not. In addition, it is unclear whether incentives give
occupants the motivation to participate. However, the recent
development of IT and building systems enables the personalized
control of the office environment where each occupant can control the
lighting level or temperature individually. Therefore, it can be possible
to have a system which each occupant can make a decision of whether
or not to participate in demand response in the office building. This study investigates personal responses to demand response
requests, under the condition where each occupant can adjust their
brightness individually in their workspace. Once workers participate
in the demand response, their desk-lights are automatically turned off.
The participation rates in the demand response events are compared
among four groups, which are divided by different motivation, the
presence, or absence of incentives and the method of participation. The
result shows that there are significant differences of participation rates
in demand response event between four groups. The method of
participation has a large effect on the participation rate. The “Opt-out”
groups where the occupants are automatically enrolled in a demand
response event if they do not express non-participation have the
highest participation rate in the four groups. Incentives also have an
effect on the participation rate. This study also reports on the impact of low illumination office
environment on the occupants, such as stress or fatigue. The
electrocardiogram and the questionnaire are used to investigate the
autonomic nervous activity and subjective fatigue symptoms of the
occupants. There is no big difference between dim workspace during
demand response event and bright workspace in autonomic nervous
activity and fatigue.
Abstract: In this study, we examine some spectral properties
of non-selfadjoint matrix-valued difference equations consisting of
a polynomial-type Jost solution. The aim of this study is to
investigate the eigenvalues and spectral singularities of the difference
operator L which is expressed by the above-mentioned difference
equation. Firstly, thanks to the representation of polynomial type Jost
solution of this equation, we obtain asymptotics and some analytical
properties. Then, using the uniqueness theorems of analytic functions,
we guarantee that the operator L has a finite number of eigenvalues
and spectral singularities.
Abstract: Myocardial infarction is one of the leading causes of
death in the world. Some of these deaths occur even before the
patient reaches the hospital. Myocardial infarction occurs as a result
of impaired blood supply. Because the most of these deaths are due to
coronary artery disease, hence the awareness of the warning signs of
a heart attack is essential. Some heart attacks are sudden and intense,
but most of them start slowly, with mild pain or discomfort, then
early detection and successful treatment of these symptoms is vital to
save them. Therefore, importance and usefulness of a system
designing to assist physicians in early diagnosis of the acute heart
attacks is obvious. The main purpose of this study would be to enable patients to
become better informed about their condition and to encourage them
to seek professional care at an earlier stage in the appropriate
situations. For this purpose, the data were collected on 711 heart
patients in Iran hospitals. 28 attributes of clinical factors can be
reported by patients; were studied. Three logistic regression models
were made on the basis of the 28 features to predict the risk of heart
attacks. The best logistic regression model in terms of performance
had a C-index of 0.955 and with an accuracy of 94.9%. The variables,
severe chest pain, back pain, cold sweats, shortness of breath, nausea
and vomiting, were selected as the main features.
Abstract: Objectives: To determine the nutritional status and
risk factors associated with women practicing geophagia in QwaQwa,
South Africa. Materials and Methods: An observational epidemiological study
design was adopted which included an exposed (geophagia) and nonexposed
(control) group. A food frequency questionnaire, anthropometric measurements and blood sampling were applied to
determine nutritional status of participants. Logistic regression
analysis was performed in order to identify factors that were likely to
be associated with the practice of geophagia. Results: The mean total energy intake for the geophagia group (G)
and control group (C) were 10324.31 ± 2755.00 kJ and 10763.94 ±
2556.30 kJ respectively. Both groups fell within the overweight
category according to the mean Body Mass Index (BMI) of each
group (G= 25.59 kg/m2; C= 25.14 kg/m2). The mean serum iron
levels of the geophagia group (6.929 μmol/l) were significantly lower
than that of the control group (13.75 μmol/l) (p = 0.000). Serum
transferrin (G=3.23g/l; C=2.7054g/l) and serum transferrin saturation
(G=8.05%; C=18.74%) levels also differed significantly between
groups (p=0.00). Factors that were associated with the practice of
geophagia included haemoglobin (Odds ratio (OR):14.50), serumiron
(OR: 9.80), serum-ferritin (OR: 3.75), serum-transferrin (OR:
6.92) and transferrin saturation (OR: 14.50). A significant negative
association (p=0.014) was found between women who were wageearners
and those who were not wage-earners and the practice of
geophagia (OR: 0.143; CI: 0.027; 0.755). These findings seem to
indicate that a permanent income may decrease the likelihood of
practising geophagia. Key Findings: Geophagia was confirmed to be a risk factor for
iron deficiency in this community. The significantly strong
association between geophagia and iron deficiency emphasizes the
importance of identifying the practice of geophagia in women,
especially during their child bearing years.
Abstract: The research explores the relationship between
management responsibility and corporate governance of listed
companies in Kazakhstan. This research employs firm level data of
selected listed non-financial firms and firm level data “operational”
financial sector, consisted from banking sector, insurance companies
and accumulated pension funds using multivariate regression analysis
under fixed effect model approach. Ownership structure includes
institutional ownership, managerial ownership and private investor’s
ownership. Management responsibility of the firm is expressed by the
decision of the firm on amount of leverage. Results of the cross
sectional panel study for non-financial firms showed that only
institutional shareholding is significantly negatively correlated with
debt to equity ratio. Findings from “operational” financial sector
show that leverage is significantly affected only by the CEO/Chair
duality and the size of financial institutions, and insignificantly
affected by ownership structure. Also, the findings show, that there is
a significant negative relationship between profitability and the debt
to equity ratio for non-financial firms, which is consistent with
pecking order theory. Generally, the found results suggest that
corporate governance and a management responsibility play
important role in corporate performance of listed firms in
Kazakhstan.
Abstract: Cortisol is essential to the regulation of the immune
system and pathological yawning is a symptom of multiple sclerosis
(MS). Electromyography activity (EMG) in the jaw muscles typically
rises when the muscles are moved – extended or flexed; and yawning
has been shown to be highly correlated with cortisol levels in healthy
people as shown in the Thompson Cortisol Hypothesis. It is likely
that these elevated cortisol levels are also seen in people with MS.
The possible link between EMG in the jaw muscles and rises in saliva
cortisol levels during yawning were investigated in a randomized
controlled trial of 60 volunteers aged 18-69 years who were exposed
to conditions that were designed to elicit the yawning response.
Saliva samples were collected at the start and after yawning, or at the
end of the presentation of yawning-provoking stimuli, in the absence
of a yawn, and EMG data was additionally collected during rest and
yawning phases. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Yawning
Susceptibility Scale, General Health Questionnaire, demographic,
and health details were collected and the following exclusion criteria
were adopted: chronic fatigue, diabetes, fibromyalgia, heart
condition, high blood pressure, hormone replacement therapy,
multiple sclerosis, and stroke. Significant differences were found
between the saliva cortisol samples for the yawners, t (23) = -4.263, p
= 0.000, as compared with the non-yawners between rest and poststimuli,
which was non-significant. There were also significant
differences between yawners and non-yawners for the EMG
potentials with the yawners having higher rest and post-yawning
potentials. Significant evidence was found to support the Thompson
Cortisol Hypothesis suggesting that rises in cortisol levels are
associated with the yawning response. Further research is underway
to explore the use of cortisol as a potential diagnostic tool as an assist
to the early diagnosis of symptoms related to neurological disorders.
Bournemouth University Research & Ethics approval granted:
JC28/1/13-KA6/9/13. Professional code of conduct, confidentiality,
and safety issues have been addressed and approved in the Ethics
submission. Trials identification number: ISRCTN61942768.
http://www.controlled-trials.com/isrctn/
Abstract: High moisture content in fruits generates post-harvest
problems such as mechanical, biochemical, microbial and physical
losses. Dehydration, which is based on the reduction of water activity
of the fruit, is a common option for overcoming such losses.
However, regular hot air drying could affect negatively the quality
properties of the fruit due to the long residence time at high
temperature. Power ultrasound (US) application during the
convective drying has been used as a novel method able to enhance
drying rate and, consequently, to decrease drying time. In the present
study, a new approach was tested to evaluate the effect of US on the
drying time, the final antioxidant activity (AA) and the total
polyphenol content (TPC) of banana slices (BS), mango slices (MS)
and guava slices (GS). There were also studied the drying kinetics
with nine different models from which water effective diffusivities
(Deff) (with or without shrinkage corrections) were calculated.
Compared with the corresponding control tests, US assisted drying
for fruit slices showed reductions in drying time between 16.23 and
30.19%, 11.34 and 32.73%, and 19.25 and 47.51% for the MS, BS
and GS respectively. Considering shrinkage effects, Deff calculated
values ranged from 1.67*10-10 to 3.18*10-10 m2/s, 3.96*10-10 and
5.57*10-10 m2/s and 4.61*10-10 to 8.16*10-10 m2/s for the BS, MS and
GS samples respectively. Reductions of TPC and AA (as DPPH)
were observed compared with the original content in fresh fruit data
in all kinds of drying assays.
Abstract: Health workforce is a fundamental component of
health system and plays a significant role in delivering effective
health care services. However, there is a crucial shortage of skilled
personnel which make them prone to work in stressful conditions. In
spite of excessively high workload and burnout among the staff, little
attention is given to their job satisfaction level which has serious
implications on the productivity and effective performance of staff to
achieve organizational goals. Therefore, this study aims to explore
the job satisfaction of midwives working in the labor ward of the
Lady Dufferin Hospital, Karachi. A cross-sectional survey was
conducted. The short version of Minnesota Job Satisfaction
Questionnaire was administered on a convenient sample group of 22
midwives to gather information on their job satisfaction. The results
demonstrated that midwives were overall satisfied with their job. The
level of job satisfaction was however found different in various
positions within midwifery cadre. The head of midwives was highly
satisfied as compared to midwifery staff who works under the
supervision of head. The level of satisfaction of team leaders fall
between the head and staff of midwifery. Similar trends were
observed for both intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction. Such
evidences on these issues are essential and useful as it helps explore
the attitudes of individuals towards work which has direct
implications on access to quality care services. Strategic interventions
are required at organizational level to provide motivators and
satisfiers to health workers for their work related satisfaction and
enhanced motivation.
Abstract: In this work, we attempt to associate firm
characteristics with innovative activity. We collect microdata from
listed firms of selected Eurozone Country-members, after the
beginning of 2007 financial crisis. The following literature, several
indicators of growth and performance were selected and tested for
their ability to interpret innovative activity. The main scope is to
examine the possible differences in performance and growth between
innovative and non-innovative firms, during a severe recession.
Additionally to that, a special focus will be held on whether
macroeconomic performance and national innovation system,
determines the extent of innovators' performance. Preliminary
findings, through correlation matrices and non-parametric tests,
strongly indicate the positive relation between innovative activity and
most of the measures used (profitability, size, employment),
confirming that even during a recessionary period, innovative firms
not only survive but also seem to succeed better economic results in
almost all indexes relative to non-innovative. However, even though
innovators seem to perform better in all economies examined, the
extent of that performance seems to be strongly affected by the
supportive mechanisms (financial and structural) that their country
provides. Thus, it is clear, that the technologically intensive 'gap'
between European South and North, during the economic crisis,
became chaotic, due to the harsh austerity measures and reduced
budgets in those countries, even in sectors with high potentials in
economic activity and employment, impairing the effects of crisis and
enhancing the vicious circle of recession.
Abstract: Operation enhancement in an air cooler depends on
rate of heat transfer, and pressure drop. In this paper for a given heat
duty, study of the effects of FPI (Fin Per Inch) and fin type (circular
and hexagonal fins) on heat transfer, and pressure drop in an air
cooler in Iran, Arvand petrochemical. A program in EES
(Engineering Equations Solver) software moreover, Aspen B-JAC
and HTFS+ softwares are used for this purpose to solve governing
equations. At first the simulated results obtained from this program is
compared to the experimental data for two cases of FPI. The effects
of FPI from 3 to 15 over heat transfer (Q) to pressure drop ratio
(Q/Δp ratio). This ratio is one of the main parameters in design, and
simulation heat exchangers. The results show that heat transfer (Q)
and pressure drop increase with increasing FPI steadily, and the Q/Δp
ratio increases to FPI=12 and then decreased gradually to FPI=15,
and Q/Δp ratio is maximum at FPI=12. The FPI value selection
between 8 and 12 obtained as a result to optimum heat transfer to
pressure drop ratio. Also by contrast, between circular and hexagonal
fins results, the Q/Δp ratio of hexagonal fins more than Q/Δp ratio of
circular fins for FPI between 8 and 12 (optimum FPI)
Abstract: The consumption of food contaminated with molds
(microscopic filamentous fungi) and their toxic metabolites results in
the development of food-borne mycotoxicosis. The spores of molds
are ubiquitously spread in the environment and can be detected
everywhere. Ochratoxin A is a toxic and potentially carcinogenic
fungal toxin found in a variety of food commodities. In this study, the
mycological quality of various ready-to-eat local and imported pork
meat and meat byproducts sold in Egyptian markets were assessed
and the presence of various molds was determined in pork used as a
raw material, edible organs as liver and kidney as well as in
fermented raw meat by-products. The study assessed the mycological
quality of pork raw meat and their by-products sold in commercial
shops in Cairo, Egypt. Mycological analysis was conducted on
(n=110) samples which included pig’s livers and kidneys from
Egyptian Bassatin slaughter house; local and imported processed
pork meat by-products from Egyptian pork markets. The isolates
were identified using traditional mycological and biochemical tests.
All kidney and liver samples were positive to molds growth while all
byproducts were negative. Ochratoxin A levels were quantitatively
analyzed using the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
and the highest results were present in kidney 7.51 part per billion
(ppb) followed by minced meat 6.19 ppb generally the local samples
showed higher levels than the imported ones. To the best of our
knowledge, this is the first report on mycotoxins detection and
quantification from pork by-products in Egypt.
Abstract: Academic libraries in Malaysia are still not prepared
for disaster even though several occasions have been reported. The
study sets out to assess the current status of preparedness in disaster
management among Malaysian academic libraries in the State of
Selangor and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. To obtain a
base level of knowledge on disaster preparedness of current practices,
a questionnaire was distributed to chief librarians or their assignees in
charge of disaster or emergency preparedness at 40 academic
libraries and 34 responses were received. The study revolved around
the current status of preparedness, on various issues including
existence of disaster preparedness plan among academic libraries in
Malaysia, disaster experiences by the academic libraries, funding,
risk assessment activities and involvement of library staff in disaster
management. Frequency and percentage tables were used in the
analysis of the data collected. Some of the academic libraries under
study have experienced one form of disaster or the other. Most of the
academic libraries do not have a written disaster preparedness plan.
The risk assessments and staff involvement in disaster preparedness
by these libraries were generally adequate.