RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN KHAZAR UNIVERSITY, AZERBAIJAN

The purpose of the article is to determine the relationship between organizational culture and social responsibility in Khazar University, Azerbaijan. The population of the study comprises management employees, faculty staff and students as well as representatives of neighborhood associations. The results show that there is a directly proportional relationship between the moderate elements of culture and social responsibility of university under study; a situation which explains the strong positive relationship. Considering these findings, a number of strategic guidelines suggested addressed to four categories: performance, education, and social cognitive and epistemological. It was concluded that there are deficiencies in the presence of elements such as beliefs, values, rituals, language and history; aspects which contributes on reflecting the staff perception toward a moderately weak corporate culture.  Article visualizations

Life-space intervention : implications for caregiving

This article explores the concept of life-space intervention, and proposes four dimensions of a single, unified life-space: The physical dimension, where young people's lives unfold; the mental dimension, reflecting how young people make sense of their life-space; the relational dimension, assigning 'space' to young people's relationships; and, the virtual dimension, constituted by technology-based platforms for the construction of identity as well as by the imagination and fantasies held by young people. The implications of this conceptualization of a multi-dimensional single life-spaced are discussed in relation to being present with young people, and the agency-structure dilemma is explored in relation to generating change in the lives of young people

Proprioceptive feedback facilitates motor imagery-related operant learning of sensorimotor β-band modulation

Motor imagery (MI) activates the sensorimotor system independent of actual movements and might be facilitated by neurofeedback. Knowledge on the interaction between feedback modality and the involved frequency bands during MI-related brain self-regulation is still scarce. Previous studies compared the cortical activity during the MI task with concurrent feedback (MI with feedback condition) to cortical activity during the relaxation task where no feedback was provided (relaxation without feedback condition). The observed differences might, therefore, be related to either the task or the feedback. A proper comparison would necessitate studying a relaxation condition with feedback and a MI task condition without feedback as well. Right-handed healthy subjects performed two tasks, i.e., MI and relaxation, in alternating order. Each of the tasks (MI vs. relaxation) was studied with and without feedback. The respective event-driven oscillatory activity, i.e., sensorimotor desynchronization (during MI) or synchronization (during relaxation), was rewarded with contingent feedback. Importantly, feedback onset was delayed to study the task-related cortical activity in the absence of feedback provision during the delay period. The reward modality was alternated every 15 trials between proprioceptive and visual feedback. Proprioceptive input was superior to visual input to increase the range of task-related spectral perturbations in the α- and β-band, and was necessary to consistently achieve MI-related sensorimotor desynchronization (ERD) significantly below baseline. These effects occurred in task periods without feedback as well. The increased accuracy and duration of learned brain self-regulation achieved in the proprioceptive condition was specific to the β-band. MI-related operant learning of brain self-regulation is facilitated by proprioceptive feedback and mediated in the sensorimotor β-band

Application of Artificial Neural Network and Fuzzy Inference System in Prediction of Breaking Wave Characteristics

Abstract Wave height as well as water depth at the breaking point are two basic parameters which are necessary for studying coastal processes. In this study, the application of soft computing-based methods such as artificial neural network (ANN), fuzzy inference system (FIS), adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and semi-empirical models for prediction of these parameters are investigated. The data sets used in this study are published laboratory and field data obtained from wave breaking on plane and barred, impermeable slopes collected from 24 sources. The comparison of results reveals that, the ANN model is more accurate in predicting both breaking wave height and water depth at the breaking point compared to the other methods

Investigating the Spatial and Temporal Variability of Precipitation using Entropy Theory

Abstract This study uses entropy theory to develop a novel application of the apportionment entropy disorder index (AEDI) to capture both spatial and temporal variability in monthly precipitation for various types of hydrologic modeling. In total, 41 Environment Canada stations across Ontario with long term (1955 to 2005) records and a very low percentage of missing data were selected. It was found that the fall and summer seasons are the major contributors to annual precipitation variability. Spatial variability of annual precipitation was observed to be increasing from southern to northern Ontario. The AEDI index map of Ontario, developed in this study, has been successfully integrated into several hydrologic models

New Technologies in the Synthesis of Nano-Structures used in Wastewater Treatment- A Review

Nanotechnology is the engineering of functional systems on a molecular scale, which refers to the projected ability to construct materials, tools, and new systems via controlling individual atoms and molecules through the characteristics of particles of matter at the nano-meter scale. One of the main environmental applications of nanotechnology is in the wastewater treatment processes. Mining activities can lead to serious problems such as acidic waste production, heavy metals pollution, cyanide spills, and the pollution by organic pollutants. There are several techniques to eliminate the above pollutants from the wastewater including precipitation, ion exchange, membrane filtration technology, electrochemical methods, and the absorption process. Currently, absorption process is one of the most effective and economic techniques for wastewater treatment. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) and Nano metal oxides are flexible and reusable nanoscale structures, which make them more advantageous over the other nanostructures. Moreover, they have more applications due to their higher surface area in comparison with other particles. This review explains the application of these nanostructures in wastewater treatment

Long‐term effects of pallidal and thalamic deep brain stimulation in myoclonus dystonia

Objective: Observational study to evaluate long-term effects of deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the globus pallidus internus (GPi) and the ventral intermediate thalamic nucleus (VIM) on patients with medically refractory myoclonus dystonia (MD). Background: More recently, pallidal as well as thalamic DBS have been applied successfully in MD but long-term data are sparse. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed a cohort of seven MD patients with either separate (n = 1, VIM) or combined GPi- DBS and VIM-DBS (n = 6). Myoclonus, dystonia and disability were rated at baseline (BL), short-term (ST-FU) and long-term follow-up (LT-FU) using the United Myoclonus Rating Scale, Burke-Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Rating Scale (BFMDRS) and Tsui rating scale, respectively. Quality of life (QoL) and mood were evaluated using the SF-36 and Beck Depression Inventory questionnaires, respectively. Results: Patients reached a significant reduction of myoclonus at ST-FU (62% ± 7.3%; mean ± SE) and LT-FU (68% ± 3.4%). While overall motor BFMDRS changes were not significant at LT-FU, patients with GPi-DBS alone responded better and predominant cervical dystonia ameliorated significantly up to 54% ± 9.7% at long-term. Mean disability scores significantly improved by 44% ± 11.4% at ST-FU and 58% ± 14.8% at LT-FU. Mood and QoL remained unchanged between 5 and up to 20 years postoperatively. No serious long-lasting stimulation-related adverse events were observed. Conclusions: We present a cohort of MD patients with very long follow-up of pallidal and/or thalamic DBS that supports the GPi as the favourable stimulation target in MD with safe and sustaining effects on motor symptoms (myoclonus>dystonia) and disability

The Inhibitory Effect of Ginger Extract on Ovarian Cancer Cell Line; Application of Systems Biology

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.Purpose: Ginger is a natural compound with anti-cancer properties. The effects of ginger and its mechanism on ovarian cancer and its cell line model, SKOV-3, are unclear. In this study, we have evaluated the effect of ginger extract on SKOV-3. Methods: SKOV-3 cells were incubated with ginger extract for 24, 48 and 72 hours. Cell toxicity assay was performed. Different data mining algorithms were applied to highlight the most important features contributing to ginger inhibition on the SKOV-3 cell proliferation. Moreover, Real-Time PCR was performed to assay p53, p21 and bcl-2 genes expression. For co-expression meta-analysis of p53, mutual ranking (MR) index and transformation to Z-values (Z distribution) were applied on available transcriptome data in NCBI GEO data repository. Results: The ginger extract significantly inhibited cancer growth in ovarian cancer cell line. The most important attribute was 60 μg/ml concentration which received weights higher than 0.50, 0.75 and 0.95 by 90%, 80% and 50% of feature selection models, respectively. The expression level of p53 was increased sharply in response to ginger treatment. Systems biology analysis and meta-analysis of deposited expression value in NCBI based on rank of correlation and Z-transformation approach unraveled the key co-expressed genes and coexpressed network of P53, as the key transcription factor induced by ginger extract. High co-expression between P53 and the other apoptosis-inducing proteins such as CASP2 and DEDD was noticeable, suggesting the molecular mechanism underpinning of ginger action. Conclusion: We found that the ginger extract has anticancer properties through p53 pathway to induce apoptosis