Abstract: Constuctivism learning theory lays emphasis on the
learners' active learning, such as learning initiative, sociality and
context. By analyzing the relationship between constructivism
learning theory and learner autonomy, this paper explores how to
cultivate learners' learner autonomy under the guidance of
constructivism learning theory.
Abstract: In this study, we estimated the seismic ground motion parameters based on microtremor measurements atPalu City. Several earthquakes have struck along the Palu-Koro Fault during recent years. The USGS epicenter, magnitude Mw 6.3 event that occurred on January 23, 2005 caused several casualties. We conducted a microtremor survey to estimate the strong ground motion distribution during the earthquake. From this surveywe produced a map of the peak ground acceleration, velocity, seismic vulnerability index and ground shear strain maps in Palu City. We performed single observations of microtremor at 151 sites in Palu City. We also conducted8-site microtremors array investigation to gain a representative determination of the soil condition of subsurface structures in Palu City.From the array observations, Palu City corresponds to relatively soil condition with Vs ≤ 300m/s, the predominant periods due to horizontal vertical ratios (HVSRs) are in the range of 0.4 to 1.8 s and the frequency are in the range of 0.7 to 3.3 Hz. Strong ground motions of the Palu area were predicted based on the empirical stochastic green’s function method. Peak ground acceleration and velocity becomes more than 400 gal and 30 kine in some areas, which causes severe damage for buildings in high probability. Microtremor survey results showed that in hilly areas had low seismic vulnerability index and ground shear strain, whereas in coastal alluvium was composed of material having a high seismic vulnerability and ground shear strain indication.
Abstract: Creative tourism is an ongoing development in many countries as an attempt to moving away from serial reproduction of culture and reviving the culture. Despite, in the destinations with diverse and potential cultural resources, creating new tourism services can be vague. This paper presents how tourism experiences are modularized and consolidated in order to form new creative tourism service offerings in evanescent cultural communities of Bangkok, Thailand. The benefits from data mining in accommodating value co-creation are discussed, and implication of experience modularization to national creative tourism policy is addressed.
Abstract: Concrete durability as an important engineering property of concrete, determining the service life of concrete structures very significantly, can be threatened and even lost due to the interactions of concrete with external environment. Bio-corrosion process caused by presence and activities of microorganisms producing sulphuric acid is a special type of sulphate deterioration of concrete materials. The effects of sulphur-oxidizing bacteria Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans on various concrete samples, based on silica fume and zeolite, were investigated in laboratory during 180 days. A laboratory study was conducted to compare the performance of concrete samples in terms of the concrete deterioration influenced by the leaching of calcium and silicon compounds from the cement matrix. The changes in the elemental concentrations of calcium and silicon in both solid samples and liquid leachates were measured by using X – ray fluorescence method. Experimental studies confirmed the silica fume based concrete samples were found out to have the best performance in terms of both silicon and calcium ions leaching.
Abstract: This paper presents a comparative study of static analysis procedure for seismic performance based on UBC-1997 and SBC-301-2007(Saudi Arabia). These building codes define different ductility classes and corresponding response reduction factors based on material, configuration and detailing of reinforcements. Codes differ significantly in specifying the procedures to estimate base shear, drift and effective stiffness of structural members. One of the major improvements made in new SBC (based on IBC-2003) is ground motion parameters used for seismic design. In old SBC (based on UBC) maps have been based on seismic zones. However new SBC provide contour maps giving spectral response quantities. In this approach, a case study of RC frame building located in two different cities and with different ductility classes has been performed. Moreover, equivalent static method based on SBC-301 and UBC-1997 is used to explore the variation in results based on two codes, particularly design base shear, lateral loads and story drifts.
Abstract: Based on the kinematic approach of limit analysis, a full set of upper bound solutions for the stability of homogeneous rock slopes subjected to tension cracks are obtained. The generalized Hoek-Brown failure criterion is employed to describe the non-linear strength envelope of rocks. In this paper, critical failure mechanisms are determined for cracks of known depth but unspecified location, cracks of known location but unknown depth, and cracks of unspecified location and depth. It is shown that there is a nearly up to 50% drop in terms of the stability factors for the rock slopes intersected by a tension crack compared with intact ones. Tables and charts of solutions in dimensionless forms are presented for ease of use by practitioners.
Abstract: The mechanism for extraction bioactive compounds
from plant matrix is essential for optimizing the extraction process. As
a benchmark technique, a soxhlet extraction has been utilized for
discussing the mechanism and compared with an accelerated water
extraction. The trends of both techniques show that the process
involves extraction and degradation. The highest yields of 6-, 8-,
10-gingerols and 6-shogaol in soxhlet extraction were 13.948, 7.12,
10.312 and 2.306 mg/g, respectively. The optimum 6-, 8-,
10-gingerols and 6-shogaol extracted by the accelerated water
extraction at 140oC were 68.97±3.95 mg/g at 3min, 18.98±3.04 mg/g
at 5min, 5.167±2.35 mg/g at 3min and 14.57±6.27 mg/g at 3min,
respectively. The effect of temperature at 3mins shows that the
concentration of 6-shogaol increased rapidly as decreasing the
recovery of 6-gingerol.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to summarize the literature on micromorphology and composition of the enamel of the cat and present an original experiment by SEM on how it responds to the etching with ortophosphoric acid for the time recommended in the veterinary literature (30", 45", 60"), derived from research and experience on human enamel; 21 teeth of cat were randomly divided into three groups of 7 (A, B, C): Group A was subjected to etching for 30 seconds by means of orthophosphoric acid to 40% on a circular area with diameter of about 2mm of the enamel coronal; the Groups B and C had the same treatment but, respectively, for 45 and 60 seconds. The samples obtained were observed by SEM to constant magnification of 1000x framing, in particular, the border area between enamel exposed and not exposed to etching to highlight differences. The images were subjected to the analysis of three blinded experienced operators in electron microscopy. In the enamel of the cat the etching for the times considered is not optimally effective for the purpose adhesives and the presence of a thick prismless layer could explain this situation. To improve this condition may clinically in the likeness of what is proposed for the enamel of human deciduous teeth: a bevel or a chamfer of 1 mm on the contour of the cavity to discover the prismatic enamel and increase the bonding surface.
Abstract: Material damages dynamic analysis is difficult to deal with different material geometry and mechanism. In addition, it is difficult to measure the dynamic behavior of cracks, debond and delamination inside the material. Different simulation methods are developed in recent years for different physical features of mechanical systems like vibration and acoustic. Nonlinear fractures are analyzed and identified for different locations in this paper. The main idea of this work is to perform dynamic analysis on different types of materials (from normal homogeneous material to complex composite laminates). Technical factors like cracks, voids, interfaces and the damages’ locations are evaluated. In this project the modal analysis is performed on different types of materials. The results could be helpful in finding modal frequencies, natural frequencies, Time domain and fast Fourier transform (FFT) in industrial applications.
Abstract: Today COXIBs are used in the treatment of arthritis and many other painful conditions in selected patients with high gastrointestinal risk and low cardiovascular (CV) risk. Previously, we have identified an unexpected mechanism of action of a traditional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) (diclofenac) and a specific inhibitor of cyclooxygenase-2 (COXIB) (lumiracoxib) demonstrating that they possess weak competitive antagonism at the thromboxane receptor (TP). We hypothesize that modifying the structure of a known COXIB so that it becomes also a more potent TP antagonist will preserve the anti-inflammatory and gastrointestinal safety typical of COXIBs and prevent the CV risk associated with long term therapy.
Abstract: The modern energy-efficient houses are often founded on a thermal insulation (TI) layer placed under the building’s RC foundation slab.The purpose of the paper is to identify the potential problems of the buildings founded on TI layer from the seismic point of view. The two main goals of the study were to assess the seismic behavior of such buildings, and to search for the critical structural parameters affecting the response of the superstructure as well as of the extruded polystyrene (XPS) layer. As a test building a multi-storeyed RC frame structure with and without the XPS layer under the foundation slab has been investigated utilizing nonlinear dynamic (time-history) and static (pushover) analyses. The structural response has been investigated with reference to the following performance parameters: i) Building’s lateral roof displacements, ii) Edge compressive and shear strains of the XPS, iii) Horizontal accelerations of the superstructure, iv) Plastic hinge patterns of the superstructure, v) Part of the foundation in compression, and vi) Deformations of the underlying soil and vertical displacements of the foundation slab (i.e. identifying the potential uplift). The results have shown that in the case of higher and stiff structures lying on firm soil the use of XPS under the foundation slab might induce amplified structural peak responses compared to the building models without XPS under the foundation slab. The analysis has revealed that the superstructure as well as the XPS response is substantially affected by the stiffness of the foundation slab.
Abstract: The majority of Special Educational Needs checklists are intended for preliminary screening in the special education disability process. The aim of the present paper is to present their potential usefulness as in-class observation tools for teachers working with students who have already been diagnosed with a disorder. A checklist may complement and organize information about a given child, which is indispensable to improve his or her condition. The case of a Polish boy with autism will serve as an example. Last but not least, alternative uses of checklists are suggested in the article.
Abstract: Traditional service channel is losing its edge due to emerging service technology. To establish interaction with the clients, the service industry is using effective mechanism to give clients direct access to services with emerging technologies. Thus, as service science receives attention, special and unique consumption pattern evolves; henceforth, leading to new market mechanism and influencing attitudes toward life and consumption patterns. The market demand for customized services is thus valued due to the emphasis of personal value, and is gradually changing the demand and supply relationship in the traditional industry. In respect of interior design service, in the process of traditional interior design, a designer converts to a concrete form the concept generated from the ideas and needs dictated by a user (client), by using his/her professional knowledge and drawing tool. The final product is generated through iterations of communication and modification, which is a very time-consuming process. Although this process has been accelerated with the help of computer graphics software today, repeated discussions and confirmations with users are still required to complete the task. In consideration of what is addressed above a space user’s life model is analyzed with visualization technique to create an interaction system modeled after interior design knowledge. The space user document intuitively personal life experience in a model requirement chart, allowing a researcher to analyze interrelation between analysis documents, identify the logic and the substance of data conversion. The repeated data which is documented are then transformed into design information for reuse and sharing. A professional interior designer may sort out the correlation among user’s preference, life pattern and design specification, thus deciding the critical design elements in the process of service design.
Abstract: Building code-related literature provides
recommendations on normalizing approaches to the calculation of
the dynamic properties of structures. Most building codes make a
distinction among types of structural systems, construction material,
and configuration through a numerical coefficient in the
expression for the fundamental period. The period is then used in
normalized response spectra to compute base shear. The typical
parameter used in simplified code formulas for the fundamental
period is overall building height raised to a power determined from
analytical and experimental results. However, reinforced concrete
buildings which constitute the majority of built space in less
developed countries pose additional challenges to the ones built with
homogeneous material such as steel, or with concrete under stricter
quality control. In the present paper, the particularities of reinforced
concrete buildings are explored and related to current methods of
equivalent static analysis. A comparative study is presented between
the Uniform Building Code, commonly used for buildings within
and outside the USA, and data from the Middle East used to model
151 reinforced concrete buildings of varying number of bays, number
of floors, overall building height, and individual story height. The
fundamental period was calculated using eigenvalue matrix
computation. The results were also used in a separate regression
analysis where the computed period serves as dependent variable,
while five building properties serve as independent variables. The
statistical analysis shed light on important parameters that simplified
code formulas need to account for including individual story height,
overall building height, floor plan, number of bays, and concrete
properties. Such inclusions are important for reinforced concrete
buildings of special conditions due to the level of concrete damage,
aging, or materials quality control during construction.
Overall results of the present analysis show that simplified code
formulas for fundamental period and base shear may be applied but
they require revisions to account for multiple parameters. The
conclusion above is confirmed by the analytical model where
fundamental periods were computed using numerical techniques and
eigenvalue solutions. This recommendation is particularly relevant
to code upgrades in less developed countries where it is customary to
adopt, and mildly adapt international codes.
We also note the necessity of further research using empirical data
from buildings in Lebanon that were subjected to severe damage due
to impulse loading or accelerated aging. However, we excluded this
study from the present paper and left it for future research as it has its
own peculiarities and requires a different type of analysis.
Abstract: The main purpose of this research was to study how to
communicate the identity of the Mueang district, SamutSongkram
province for ecotourism. The qualitative data was collected through
studying related materials, exploring the area, in-depth interviews
with three groups of people: three directly responsible officers who
were key informants of the district, twenty foreign tourists and five
Thai tourist guides. A content analysis was used to analyze the
qualitative data. The two main findings of the study were as follows:
1. The identity of Amphur (District) Mueang, SamutSongkram
province. This establishment was near the Mouth of Maekong
River for normal people and tourists, consisting of rest
accommodations. There are restaurants where food and drinks
are served, rich mangrove forests, Hoy Lod (Razor Clam) and
mangrove trees. Don Hoy Lod, is characterized by muddy
beaches, is a coastal wetland for Ramsar Site. It is at 1099th
ranging where the greatest number of Hoy Lod (Razor Clam)
can be seen from March to May each year.
2. The communication of the identity of AmphurMueang,
SamutSongkram province which the researcher could find and
design to present in English materials can be summed up in 4
items: 1) The history of AmphurMueang, SamutSongkram
province 2) WatPhetSamutWorrawihan 3) The Learning source
of Ecotourism: Don Hoy Lod and Mangrove forest 4) How to
keep AmphurMueang, SamutSongkram province for
ecotourism.
Abstract: Theiterative scheme which is used to treat buildup factors for stratified shields is being investigated here using the layer-splitting technique.A simple suggested formalism for the scheme based on the Kalos’ formula is introduced, based on which the implementation of the testing technique is carried out.
The second layer in a double-layer shield was split into two equivalent layers and the scheme (with the suggested formalism) was implemented on the new “three-layer” shieldconfiguration.The results of such manipulation on water-lead and water-iron shields combinations are presented here for 1MeV photons.
It was found that splitting the second layer introduces some deviation on the overall buildup factor value. This expected deviation appeared to be higher in the case of low Z layer followed by high Z. However, the overall performance of the iterative scheme showed a great consistency and strong coherence even with the introduced changes. The introduced layer-splitting testing technique shows the capability to be implemented in test the iterative scheme with a wide range of formalisms.
Abstract: Mastitis is one of the most economic disease affecting dairy cows worldwide. Its classic diagnosis using bacterial culture and biochemical findings is a difficult and prolonged method. In this research, using of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) permitted identification of different microorganisms with high accuracy and rapidity (only 24 hours for microbial growth and analysis). During the application of MALDI-TOF MS, one hundred twenty strains of Staphylococcus and Streptococcus species isolated from milk of cows affected by clinical and subclinical mastitis were identified, and the results were compared with those obtained by traditional methods as API and VITEK 2 Systems. 37 of totality 39 strains (~95%) of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) were exactly detected by MALDI TOF MS and then confirmed by a nuc-based PCR technique, whereas accurate identification was observed in 100% (50 isolates) of the coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS) and Streptococcus agalactiae (31 isolates). In brief, our results demonstrated that MALDI-TOF MS is a fast and truthful technique which has the capability to replace conventional identification of several bacterial strains usually isolated in clinical laboratories of microbiology.
Abstract: Since information and communication technology (ICT) plays a critical role in enhancing national competitiveness, it is a driving force for social and economic growth and prosperity. The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) will integrate this into ASEAN countries as a new mechanism and a measure that will improve economic performance as a global economy. Government policies may support or impede such harmonization. This study was to investigate, analyze the status of Thai IT entrepreneurs and define key strategies to enhance their competitive advantage. Data were collected based on in-depth interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, seminars and fieldwork on information technology excluding communication. SWOT was used as a tool to analyze the study. The results of this study can be used to enable the government to guide policy, measures and strategies for creating a competitive advantage for Thailand’s IT entrepreneurs in the global market.
Abstract: Seismic retrofitting of important structures is essential in seismological active zones. The importance is doubled when it comes to some buildings like schools, hospitals, bridges etc. because they are required to continue their serviceability even after a major earthquake. Generally, seismic retrofitting codes have paid little attention to retrofitting of foundations due to its construction complexity. In this paper different methods for seismic retrofitting of tall buildings’ foundations will be discussed and evaluated. Foundations are considered in three different categories. First, foundations those are in danger of liquefaction of their underlying soil. Second, foundations located on slopes in seismological active regions. Third, foundations designed according to former design codes and may show structural defects under earthquake loads. After describing different methods used in different countries for retrofitting of the existing foundations in seismological active regions, comprehensive comparison between these methods with regard to the above mentioned categories is carried out. This paper gives some guidelines to choose the best method for seismic retrofitting of tall buildings’ foundations in retrofitting projects.
Abstract: Jojoba oil-wax is extracted from the seeds of the jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis Link Schneider), a perennial shrub that grows in semi desert areas in Egypt and in some parts of the world. The main uses of jojoba oil-wax are in the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industry, but new uses could arise related to the search of new energetic crops. This paper summarizes a process to convert the jojoba oil-wax to biodiesel by transesterification with ethanol and a series of aliphatic alcohols using a more economic and energy saving method in a domestic microwave. The effect of time and power of the microwave on the extent of the transesterification using ethanol and other aliphatic alcohols has been studied. The separation of the alkyl esters from the fatty alcohols rich fraction has been done in a single crystallization step at low temperature (−18°C) from low boiling point petroleum ether. Gas chromatography has been used to follow up the transesterification process. All products have been characterized by spectral analysis.