APPLICATION OF MIND MAP IN TEACHING GEOMETRY IN GRADE 4

When it comes to mathematics education and learning, mind maps are a graphical representation of ideas and concepts widely used. A mind map can significantly improve student learning and teacher teaching activities by its unique structure and characteristics. This study demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of incorporating a mind map into the geometry curriculum for fourth-grade students. The findings of an experiment conducted on 44 primary students demonstrate that, with the teacher's guidance, most students can create an appropriate mind map to review a lesson and that the mind map contributes to increasing students' learning motivation and subject interests. Several students responded positively to a survey about their attitudes toward using mind maps in mathematics learning, which revealed that they have favorable attitudes toward using mind maps.  Article visualizations

Research on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy when modified by La, Ce and thermo-mechanical treatment

Influence of rare-earth (La, Ce) and thermo-mechanical treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy are presented in this article. After casting, the alloy which was modified by La, Ce, the grain size of samples obtained around 40–50 µm compared to that of without about 65 µm; and after homogeneous, the grain sizes is about 30 µm. After the cold deformation process, the distance between plates is 10 µm. By EDS after casting, the samples have tended to more La, Ce elements at the grain boundary, after homogeneous, the uniformation distribution of rare-earths was presented by mapping of EDS’s results. In addition, after rolling and heat treatment, the elements were found on the grain boundary and matrix. After recrystallization annealing, the grain size is around 10 µm with the modification sample. The grain size was reduced by two processes of modification as well as thermal-mechanical treatment is a condition for increasing the ductility of the studied alloy. Further, as a result of ability deformation from the tensile test, these results demonstrate that the tensile test obtained 140 % when adding La, Ce contents into the alloy combine with thermal-mechanical treatment. The combined used of La, Ce and thermal-mechanical treatment have increased the ductility of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu allo

CAUSE-EFFECT RELATIONS AND OPTIMIZATION OF TABLET CONTAINING EUCOMMIA ULMOIDES AND GARDENIA JASMINOIDES SPRAY-DRIED EXTRACTS

Objective: The E. ulmoides and G. jasminoides (EG) tablets containing 67 mg E. ulmoides spray-dried extract (ESE) and 173 mg G. jasminoides spray-dried extract (GSE) were prepared by employing the direct compression method. Due to the poor flowability and compressibility of the two spray-dried extracts, various excipients were added at different ratios so that the blends can be compressed into tablets with the required standards. This study aimed at the cause-effect relations and optimization of the EG tablet formulation.Methods: Different diluents including dibasic calcium phosphate anhydrous (DCPA), silicified microcrystalline cellulose (SMCC), spray-dried lactose (SDL) and the active ingredients (blend of ESE and GSE at the ratio of 67:173, w/w) were separately investigated their own physical properties. The binary mixtures of the active ingredients with different ratios of DCPA, SMCC, and SDL were evaluated their flowability. D-optimal design based on three independent variables (% DCPA, % croscarmellose sodium (CCS) and % SMCC) was applied to evaluate the cause-effect relations and optimize the EG tablet formulation. The weight variation, disintegration time, hardness and friability were investigated as four dependent variables.Results: The flowability of the powders was found to be affected by the particle size distribution, particle shape and density. The three diluents could significantly improve the flowability of the active ingredients. All independent variables had significant effects on the dependent variables. An increase in % SMCC reduced the weight variation, hardness and increased the friability of tablets. Disintegration time was found to be in the negative relations with % CCS. The tablet hardness was in positive relations with % DCPA. The optimized EG tablet formulation composed of 9 % DCPA (w/w), 35 % SMCC (w/w), and 14 % CCS (w/w) of the excipient blend. The weight variation, disintegration time, hardness and friability of the optimized EG tablets were found to be 1.8 %, 11.7 min, 61.4 N, and 0.5 %, respectively.Conclusion: The ESE and GSE could be formulated into tablet by using direct compression method. The cause-effect relations and optimization of EG tablet formulation were studied and reported for the first time

Neural network based patient recovery estimation of a PAM-based rehabilitation robot

Rehabilitation robots have shown a promise in aiding patient recovery by supporting them in repetitive, systematic training sessions. A critical factor in the success of such training is the patient’s recovery progress, which can guide suitable treatment plans and reduce recovery time. In this study, a neural network-based approach is proposed to estimate the patient’s recovery, which can aid in the development of an assist-as-needed training strategy for the gait training system. Experimental results show that the proposed method can accurately estimate the external torques generated by the patient to determine their recovery. The estimated patient recovery is used for an impedance control of a 2-DOF robotic orthosis powered by pneumatic artificial muscles, which improves the robot joint compliance coefficients and makes the patient more comfortable and confident during rehabilitation exercises

Smart Shopping Assistant: A Multimedia and Social Media Augmented System with Mobile Devices to Enhance Customers’ Experience and Interaction

Multimedia, social media content, and interaction are common means to attract customers in shopping. However these features are not always fully available for customers when they go shopping in physical shopping centers. The authors propose Smart Shopping Assistant, a multimedia and social media augmented system on mobile devices to enhance users’ experience and interaction in shopping. Smart Shopping turns a regular mobile device into a special prism so that a customer can enjoy multimedia, get useful social media related to a product, give feedbacks or make actions on a product during shopping. The system is specified as a flexible framework to take advantages of different visual descriptors and web information extraction modules. Experimental results show that Smart Shopping can process and provide augmented data in a realtime-manner. Smart Shopping can be used to attract more customers and to build an online social community of customers to share their interests in shopping

STUDY ON CAUSE-EFFECT RELATIONS AND OPTIMIZATION OF TABLETS CONTAINING AQUILARIA CRASSNA SPRAY-DRIED EXTRACT

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop and optimize the formulation of tablets containing Aquilaria crassna extract using the direct compression method.Methods: D-optimal design based on three independent variables was applied to evaluate the cause-effect relations and optimize the A. crassna tablet formulation. The weight variation (Y1), disintegration time (Y2), hardness (Y3) and friability (Y4) were investigated with respect to three independent variables including % dicalcium phosphate anhydrous (DCPA) in filler (X1), % filler (X2) and % croscarmellose sodium (CCNa) (X3). The dissolution study of the optimized A. crassna tablets were investigated in simulated gastric fluid (SGF) (pH 1.2) using a validated high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for mangiferin analysis.Results: All investigation factors were found to have significant effects on the physical properties of A. crassna tablet. The tablet hardness and the disintegration time increased in positive relations with the ratios of DCPA. The results exhibited the negative relations between disintegration time and the percentages of CCNa. The optimized A. crassna tablet formulation which included 35 % (w/w) DCPA in filler, 60 % (w/w) filler and 7% (w/w) CCNa possessed the weight variation of 1.38 % (w/w), the disintegration time of 6.29 min, the hardness of 85.63 N and the friability of 0.41 % (w/w). The optimized A. crassna tablet formulation was experimentally examined which demonstrated a good agreement between the experimental and predicted values. Mangiferin was found to release completely from the optimized A. crassna tablets within 30 min.Conclusion: The cause-effect relations and optimization of A. crassna tablet formulation were investigated and reported for the first time. The A. crassna spray-dried extract could be formulated into tablet by direct compression method with good mechanical properties and acceptable release profile

Factors Affecting Cooperation in the International Supply Chain of Seafood Enterprises: the Case of Vietnamese

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to analyze and evaluate factors affecting cooperation in the international supply chain of Vietnamese seafood enterprises.   Theoretical framework: Operations in international business context are associated with high risks, so cooperation in supply chain helps to improve management flexibility. On the other hand, acccording to the theory of resource dependency, resource sharing and information sharing strategies can affect the quality and the level of cooperation among supply chain partners.   Design/methodology/approach: To achieve the aim of this study, a literature survey related to supply chain and supply chain cooperation is carried out, and empirical analysis is conducted among 327 partners in seafood industry with the results analyzed using Cronbach’s Alpha analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and linear regression analysis (RA).   Findings: Research results have confirmed that there are six main factors directly affecting the international supply chain cooperation of Vietnamese seafood enterprises including: (1) Trust; (2) Power; (3) Distance; (4) Government policy; (5) Cooperation strategies and (6) Information sharing.   Research/Practical & Social implication: The encouraging policies and simplified export regulations are to be implemented by the government, VASEP and enterprises so the knowledge about international supply chain cooperation will be promoted with the help of comprehensive future research directions.   Originality/value: This is literally one of the first research works in Vietnam to incorporate the information sharing component into the model of affecting factors for international supply chain cooperation. Regardless of business uncertainties, the study shed new light on supply chain cooperation and promote firms to gain an edge in the global marketplace

Mitigating effect of embankment to adjacent pipe with CDM columns

Pipelines are valuable infrastructures that covering a large area or expanding to long distance for the transporting function. This leads to the variety of loads and effects applied on such buried structures. A thread to pipeline integrity is the construction of the embankment on the soft soil which leads to the displacement of the pipe adjacent to the slope. This displacement will effect to the increase of internal force or causing failure of the near-by pipes. The use of concrete pile to improve the soil properties may be a solution; however, the cost for this is expensive. To propose an alternative solution for the problem, this study uses a system of cement deep mixing, CDM, columns as the solution for protecting the pipe. A simple 2D Finite Element, FE, model using Plaxis software has been established based on the equivalent soil approach which considering the CDM columns and their surrounding soil as an unified soil. The effectiveness of the proposed solution has been numerically investigated and proven. The lateral displacement of pipe and the maximum ring bending moment and other internal forces are significantly reduced with the appearance of the CDM columns. The selective parametric study has been implemented revealing the critical input variables are the distance of pipe to the slope and the length of the CDM column

Frequency and Risk Factor of Lower-limb Deep Vein Thrombosis after Major Orthopedic Surgery in Vietnamese Patients

BACKGROUND: Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is a prevalent complication of orthopedic surgery. According in many studies. The incidence of DVT may be up to 50% if thromboprophylaxis is not available. AIM: The objective of this study was to check the degree of disease, clinical characteristics and analyzed factors in vulnerabilities with lower-limp DVT after orthopedic surgery in a Vietnam teaching hospital. METHODS: Orthopedic patients who met criteria were recruited at our hospital between August 2017 and June 2018. Ultrasound was used to discovering lower-limp DVT in pre-surgery and 7 days after surgery in all patients. RESULTS: The incidence of DVT after orthopedic surgery was 7.2%. Patients with older age (> 60) have a risk of 2 times higher of DVT after surgery than normal people (p < 0.05). The incidence of postoperative DVT was higher in immobile individuals > 72 hours (p < 0.05). Patients with prolonged surgical time (>120 minutes) had a higher risk of postoperative DVT than non-surgical patients’ surgery (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: DVT remains a common complication following orthopedic surgery. Older age, immobility status, and surgical time have been found to be risky factors for the development of postoperative lower-limp DVT in orthopedic patients