Enhancing the Development of Sustainable Modes of Transportation in Developing Countries: Challenges and Opportunities

All modes of transport can be seen to bring some influence to bear on a country’s economic growth, health, and environment. However, the impact differs among developing countries. This paper presents an assessment and evaluation of the development of a sustainable transportation system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). For this study, data were collected about the four transportation modes of sea, air, road and rail. The data were analyzed to determine the current condition, needs, challenges, and opportunities for improvement for each mode of transportation. Problems associated with each transportation mode were addressed and solutions to overcome these problems were recommended. The results indicate that while sea transportation provides the country with freight transport, it is of limited service to passengers in the Gulf region or on the Red Sea. Air transportation meets the needs of Saudi Arabia with international connections, but domestic flights provide limited passenger transport to the wealthy and are not an effective mode of transport for short distances. Road transport is the most popular mode for the general public but is associated with numerous problems such as the environment, health, noise, a high accident rate, and being the first cause of death in the country. Rail transportation seems to be the mode which is most sustainable for the future. It is essential that KSA meets public demand for public transportation with a reliable, cost effective, and safe public transportation system. Doi: 10.28991/cej-2021-03091776 Full Text: PD

Comparison of Nondestructive Testing Method for Strength Prediction of Asphalt Concrete Material

Concrete is one of the most common construction materials used in rigid pavement, bridges, roads, highways, and buildings. Compressive strength is one of the most important properties of concrete, which determines its quality. This study aims to present the use of a new surface dielectric method to estimate concrete compressive strength. Six concrete mixtures were produced with compressive strengths ranging from 30 to 60 MPa. Compressive strength and strength development were determined during 28 days of curing. All concrete mixes were tested using the ASTM standard. The dielectric properties, ultrasound velocity, and rebound number of all concrete mixes were also measured at each day of curing. The results obtained from the proposed dielectric method in predicting the compressive strength of concrete were compared with the rebound hammer and ultrasonic velocity that are frequently used to evaluate the compressive strength of concrete.  The dielectric method shows a higher square correlation coefficient than the other two methods. The results also indicate that combined more than one method of nondestructive techniques will lead to higher prediction and could help to reduce some errors associated with using a certain method alone. The result indicate that the finding of this study could lead to help in reducing the time of evaluating concrete during construction and could also provide tools for practicing engineer to take decision faster with more confidence level on quality of concrete. Doi: 10.28991/cej-2021-03091645 Full Text: PD

PENERAPAN METODE TALKING STICK UNTUK MENINGKATKAN PRESTASI BELAJAR FIQIH PADA SISWA KELAS III MI MA’ARIF MANGUNSUMAN 2 SIMAN PONOROGO TAHUN PELAJARAN 2014/2015

Kata Kunci : Metode Talking Stick, Prestasi Belajar Fiqih. Pengelolaan kegiatan pembelajaran dikelas mempunyai peranan yang sangat penting bagi tercapainya tujuan pembelajaran. Berdasarkan hasil observasi awal peneliti terhadap proses pembelajaran Fiqih, di peroleh data bahwa nilai hasil belajar peserta didik masih rendah. Maka peneliti mencoba membantu meningkatkan proses pembelajaran Fiqih tersebut yaitu dengan menggunakan metode Talking Stick. Metode Talking Stick adalah salah satu metode Cooperative Learning, yaitu pembelajaran yang dirancang untuk mengukur tingkat penguasaan materi pelajaran oleh peserta didik dengan menggunakan media tongkat. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk meningkatkan prestasi belajar Fiqih melalui metode Talking Stick pada kelas III MI Ma’arif Mangunsuman 2 Siman Ponorogo tahun pelajaran 2014/2015. Penelitian ini menggunakan studi tindakan pada peserta didik dengan 2 siklus. Metode pengumpulan datanya dengan menggunakan observasi, tes dan dokumentasi. Data yang terkumpul dianalisis menggunakan analisis statistik deskriptif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penerapan metode Talking Stick pada pembelajaran Fiqih mempermudah peserta didik untuk mencapai tujuan belajar yang ditetapkan oleh guru. Hal ini ditunjukkan oleh prosentse ketuntasan belajar secara klasikal pada tahap pra-siklus sebesar 63%, pada siklus 1 sebesar 69%, dan pada siklus 2 ketuntasan belajar peserta didik mencapai 100%. Nilai rata-rata hasil belajar peserta didik juga mengalami peningkatan yang signifikan, yaitu pada tahap pra-siklus sebesar 63, siklus 1 sebesar 69 dan pada tahap siklus 2 mencapai 90. Hal ini berarti, target yang ditetapkan peneliti yaitu standard ketuntasan hasil belajar peserta didik secara klasikal mencapai kurang lebih 85% dan secara individual nilai rata-rata yang diperoleh peserta didik kurang lebih 65 sudah tercapai. Selain hasil belajar juga terdapat peningkatan yang signifikan yaitu aktivitas belajar peserta didik yang pada setiap tahapan mengalami peningkatan dengan penerapan metode Talking Stick. Peningkatan tersebut dapat dilihat dari prosentase aktivitas peserta didik pra-siklus mencapai 40%, pada siklus 1 mencapai 67% dan pada siklus 2 mencapai 81%. Pencapaian tersebut menunjukkan bahwa target yang ditentukan oleh peneliti telah terpenuhi yaitu 80%. Hasil penelitian yang dilakukan oleh peneliti membuktikan bahwa ada peningkatan prestasi belajar peserta didik dan peningkatan aktivitas belajar peserta didik dalam mengikuti pembelajaran Fiqih dengan menggunakan metode Talking Stick

Assessors' attitudes toward and experiences of national quality standards: A qualitative study in Iran

To establish a national accreditation system for medical laboratories, Iran has set national standards based on the international standard ISO 15189. Central to the accreditation process are the technical assessors. Their attitude in this regard and their experiences should be identified. This study aims to explore assessors' attitudes toward national laboratory accreditation and their experiences of assessment process in order to identify current gaps and suggest required interventions to solve them. A qualitative study using an open-ended questionnaire was employed. A total of 150 assessors working in the General Directorate of Laboratory Affairs participated in the study. While almost all Iranian laboratory accreditation assessors were generally supportive about the necessity of laboratory accreditation and cited benefits of this process, they pointed to improvement areas including developing assessor selection and appraisal criteria, continuous training, taking into consideration the heterogeneity of laboratories throughout the country, participation of professional associations and adopting measures to increase laboratories' involvement. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Pharmacoeconomic evaluations of ceftriaxone and cefixime in the surgery department in a tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: Pharmacoeconomics involves the analysis of the cost of drug therapy in the health systems which will play a significant role in drug product selection for formulary, comparison of alternative therapies pricing a product and evaluating a drug product and expected quality of life improvement. Objective were to assess pharmacoeconomic evaluation and cost minimization analysis of ceftriaxone and cefixime in the surgery department in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Methods: This prospective observational study conducts to pharmacoeconomic evaluation of ceftriaxone and cefixime. It analyses the number of available brands and generic drugs and performs a cost-minimization analysis for these drugs used in the surgery department. Results: The study includes a total of 173 patients, among them 68 patients (39%) were using ceftriaxone, 39 patients (23%) were using cefixime and 66 patients (38%) were using ceftriaxone and cefixime (IV-PO) for various surgery cases. Monocef (₹121.04; $1.04 per day) was the most commonly used ceftriaxone brand, while Gramocef (₹114;$1.38 per day) least and Xone (₹112; $1.38 per day) were the cheapest options. The mean ceftriaxone cost for a vial is 56.67±10.04 and the tablet is 113.33±20.08 per day. Cost minimization analysis shows that most prescribed drugs were costlier than least prescribed drugs. Taxim-O (₹107.72;$1.30 per strip) was the most prescribed cefixime brand and the least Tanfix ($1.3: ₹107 per strip). The mean of cefixime cost per strip is 107.6±0.28;$1.31 and per day 21.51±0.05; $ 0.26. There is no major cost difference or price variation in cefixime brands (0.69%). Conclusions: The cheaper drugs should be prescribed to patients rather than the costlier and it should be the duty of healthcare professionals to consider the pharmacoeconomic value of drugs while prescribing the medications

EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHMS FOR TRANSFERRING PROPERTIES BETWEEN IMAGES PART I: GRAYSCALE IMAGE COLORIZATION

In this paper, an evolutionary algorithm (EA) for “colorizing” grayscale images is introduced by evolving color patch transfer process between a source colored image and a target grayscale image. As the general problem of inverting a gray palette to a color palette is a severely under-constrained, ambiguous problem and has no exact, objective solution, human labor and costly semantic knowledge are required. The presented EA attempts to minimize the amount of human work by automatically choosing colored patches from the source image and applying their colors to the grayscale patches of the target image. Furthermore, the best patch matching over all EA parent individuals are recombined in a single multi-sexual recombination scheme to form a single offspring individual. Mutation, on the other hand, forms all other EA individuals. The simple technique of the proposed EA can be successfully and efficiently applied to a variety of image

Patterns of Faculty Participation in the Areas of Social Responsibility

The study aimed to identify the patterns of participation of faculty members in the areas of social responsibility. To achieve the objectives of the study, the social survey method was relied on the sample. The study sample consisted of (136) faculty members in a university in the Saudi higher education sector. The questionnaire was used to collect data. Its stability coefficient was (0.830) and it was applied electronically to the study sample. The results of the study revealed that there is daily interaction between a faculty member, students and community institutions to contribute to all areas of responsibility and spread its culture, in addition to the tendency of the educational institution (the field of study) to achieve balance and harmony between its fields (teaching, community service / scientific research) so that the faculty member can participate in all the desired activities and events and adapt to the requirements of the institution and society, there are also some obstacles such as lack of funding for research and studies Common and directed by the faculty member towards the community, the imposition of routine procedures from the university that hinder the faculty member from participating in community initiatives, the lack of opportunities for community partnerships between the university and the private and public sectors of the state and NGOs

Evaluation of the Overall Quality of the Health Technology Assessment Educational Program from the Perspectives of University Professors and Learners in Iran

Abstract Background: Failure to evaluate, examine, assess the requirements, and determine the quality level of the curriculum of educational fields will result in low-quality and obsolete curricula. It will prevent the academic areas from achieving their goals. Therefore, this study evaluates the overall quality of Iran's Health Technology Assessment (HTA) curriculum from the perspectives of instructors and students. Methods: The study was conducted with 127 instructors, students, and Health Technology Assessment (HTA) graduates at Tehran, Iran, Kerman, and Yazd Universities of Medical Sciences. A researcher-made questionnaire did the data collection. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the entire questionnaire was 91%, and the intra-domain correlation coefficient was 87%, indicating that the instrument is appropriate. The data were analyzed with descriptive and analytical tests based on the normality or non-normality of the test using ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, two-way ANOVA, and the Friedman. Results: This research was completed by 114 of 127 participants. According to a review of diverse perspectives, the quality of the educational program in terms of design elements in special courses and executive elements in compensatory courses falls within the range of average (3.66 > mean > 2.33) or average (3.66 > mean > 2.33), to good (mean > 2.33). In addition, the majority of executive elements from special courses and design elements from compensatory classes are in an unfavorable position, with a mean>1.66 to average (3.66> mean >2.33). Conclusions: Problems and inadequacies are observed in a few curriculum implementation elements. Therefore, modifications should be made to remedy the inappropriate details and remove implementation obstacles to enhance the interested groups' capability and practical skills.

Impedance Analysis of Complex Formation Equilibria in Phosphatidylcholine Bilayers Containing Decanoic Acid or Decylamine

Bilayer lipid membranes composed of phosphatidylcholine and decanoic acid or phosphatidylcholine and decylamine were investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Interaction between membrane components causes significant deviations from the additivity rule. Area, capacitance, and stability constant values for the complexes were calculated based on the model assuming 1:1 stoichiometry, and the model was validated by comparison of these values to experimental results. We established that phosphatidylcholine and decylamine form highly stable 1:1 complexes. In the case of decanoic acid-modified phosphatidylcholine membranes, complexes with stoichiometries other than 1:1 should be taken into consideration

Impact of vision 2030 on traffic safety in Saudi Arabia

Background and objectives: Road traffic accident (RTA) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is the first and major cause of death. The primary objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of Saudi Vision 2030 on road traffic safety. The Vision 2030 programs lead to the implementation of two crucial steps. The first step was to introduce value-added tax (VAT), and the second step was to increase fuel prices. The effect of these two steps on RTAs, injuries, and fatalities is determined and evaluated in this study. Research methods: The data of RTAs, injuries, and fatalities in the last three decades before implementing VAT and before increasing fuel prices were collected and analyzed. A short-term effect of fuel prices was evaluated using the data of 3 months after each increase in fuel price. The results of RTA before the increase in fuel prices were compared with those of RTAs after the increase in fuel prices. Time series autoregressive and t-test were used to analyze the significant differences in the results. Results and discussion: The results show that RTAs have increased continuously during the last 30 years until the increase in fuel prices. A short-term effect of Vision 2030 and economic transformation were evaluated using RTA data before and after the increase in fuel prices. The remarkable decline in the number of RTAs, injuries, and fatalities after fuel prices increased was recorded. Conclusion: Despite all the core issues implementing to reduce RTAs, such as traffic law enforcement, RTAs in the KSA increase and become the first cause of death in the country. Vision 2030 leads to an increase in gasoline prices and the implementation of VAT. The increase in gasoline prices contributes to a short-term decrease in RTAs, injuries, and fatalities by 22.4%, 21.9%, and 14.1%, respectively, while intermediate-term decrease in RTAs and road traffic fatalities is by 72892 and 1842, respectively. The decrease in RTAs may be attributed to the reduction in unnecessary trips and slower and careful driving by people to decrease fuel consumption. Statistical analyses performed using time series and t-test confirmed the significant effect of fuel prices on reducing RTAs. Keywords: Traffic safety, Traffic accident, Fuel prices, Vision 2030, Saudi Arabi