Determining Perceived Work Performance and Self-efficacy Among High-school Teachers

Nowadays, the concept of performance can be related to almost any field of activity, taking into consideration the fact that setting, achieving and even exceeding goals appear to be of constant interest for individuals involved in working activities. Additionally, research literature is rich in notions related to performance measurement, evaluation and management. The same interest in literature is met for the concept of teachers’ self-efficacy and evidence show these two concepts are strongly related one to the other. Hence, the current study aims to bring a new perspective for these topics by analyzing work performance and self-efficacy in the field of education employees, i.e. high-school teachers, and the extent to which they perceive their self-performance and self-efficacy levels. As the present paper focuses on determining the level of the previously mentioned concepts among high school teachers from Romania, the data were gathered through an online questionnaire, answered by 603 Romanian high-school teachers and later analyzed according to quantitative research methods. The results of this study, consistent with the methodology used and within the limitations, show a high level of both perceived work performance and perceived self-efficacy among the high-school teachers. These facts could be of great interest for educational stakeholders, fellow researchers and policy makers

Fuzzy Logic Energy Management for a Residential Power System Using Renewable Energy Sources

A fuzzy logic energy management algorithm is proposed for a hybrid wind/photovoltaic (PV) power generation unit, an electric vehicle battery, and a heat pump for household applications. The proposed concept refers to two independent power systems—a light electric vehicle and a household that interact through light, interchangeable batteries; moreover, they are powered from a renewable energy system comprising PV panels, wind generator, and appropriate MPPT-based converters. The main features of the concept are the heat pump load that produces thermal energy, as the main electric load of the system, and the storage element that is alternately used by the vehicle, which can be recharged from renewable sources. The presented algorithm allows the implementation, by means of fuzzy tools, of an appropriate energy management control system in order to obtain maximum utilization of the renewable energy. The results show that most of the energy required to charge the battery and to feed the heat pump can be covered from renewable sources

Engagement associatif et communication : le cas des simulations académiques

Cette étude porte sur l'organisation des simulations académiques, sujet analysé à travers trois dimensions : les motivations des jeunes engagés dans le processus organisationnel, la structure et le mode de fonctionnement de l'équipe, la visibilité de la communication externe de la simulation. Le jeune organisateur engagé dans l'organisation d'une simulation est un étudiant intéressé par les affaires internationales qui possède une expérience dans le domaine du bénévolat et qui peut s'adapter à d'autres milieux que celui d'origine. Ses motivations peuvent être classées en deux catégories majeures : la mise en pratique des notions théoriques et le développement personnel et professionnel. Grâce à cette expérience, les jeunes franchissent une étape de la professionnalisation. L'équipe d'organisateurs est composée suite à un processus de recrutement et répond à une structure hiérarchique où chaque membre a un rôle et des tâches spécifiques, conformément à l'organigramme. L'organisation interne d'une équipe multiculturelle est surtout assurée par les nouvelles technologies d'information : e-mail, groupe Facebook, Skype, etc. Enfin, les plates-formes en ligne représentent le support de communication externe privilégié mais la visibilité de l'évènement est également consolidée par les partenaires médiatiques, associatifs et institutionnels, parmi lesquels on inclut l’organisation simulée elle-même

Hybrid VLC Communications System for Increased Security Based on Raspberry Pi Microcomputer

VLC (Visible Light Communications) technology represents nowadays a new paradigm that could have a significant impact on future wireless communications. Although this technology has many advantages, one of the most common problem generated by the use of optical communication systems (based on the light in the visible spectrum), is the increased degree of disruption of the communication channel under the direct sunlight influence. The purpose of this article is to present the technological developments specific to the VLC/IR-RF (Visible Light Communication / Infrared - Radio-Frequency) hybrid system developed in the framework of a scientific research project started in 2017, which were recorded during the first half of 2019. This system based on multiple sensory devices such as temperature, motion, light intensity, dust, IR and microbolometer sensors will present the ability of intelligent monitoring and control of indoor environments (houses, office buildings, universities, campuses, etc.). From the point of view of the final purpose of the project, this will result in a hybrid bidirectional optical communication system capable of supporting high transfer rates, increased resistance to the specific sunlight disturbance, and the possibility of transmitting sensory information over long distances. The previous experimentation activities undertaken during the project were based on the use of the Arduino UNO development boards. Currently, it has been chosen to replace them with the development boards based on the ARM Cortex-A53 processor, in order to improve the system’s performance. The Arduino development boards have limited the performance of the communications system from the point of view of the transfer speeds and distances. The new Raspberry Pi development boards, being a complete operating and control system, presents high operational performances that can be used in favor of the final goal of the project.</p

Silver Azide Nanoparticles Embedded into Silica as Energetic Nano-materials

Silver azide is a primary high explosive that can be initiated by different means. In this work, silver azide nanoparticles were obtained, embedded into silica, and further derivatized with biotin. TEM, DLS, and IR measurements were used to characterize the hybrid energetic nanoparticles. The hybrid nanoparticles are made from an explosive core (silver azide) and a shell (silica), to which has been attached through an organic linker a biological target vectot (biotin).These hybrid nanoparticles can be used as models to study smart energetic nano-materials.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ms.21.3.6926</p

The obstetrical management of HIV-positive pregnancy

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is a real public health problem in both developing and developed countries. HIV infection has not been treated efficiently for a long time, with HIV-positive women at increased risk of transmitting the infection to their newborns. Without the appropriate treatment, the evolution of the infection is relatively fast. Due to the antiretroviral treatment, the progression of the disease is blocked during the period of asymptomatic infection, and the risk of neonatal transmission is very low. HIV-positive patients undergoing antiretroviral therapy develop undetectable viremia and, in such situations, patients no longer have a risk of transmitting the infection. The antiretroviral medication is a combination of several classes of drugs (protease inhibitors, nucleoside and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, integrase inhibitors and CCR5 inhibitors) whose aim is to stop the viral replication at different stages. The infection is most often transmitted in the perinatal period, so it is very important that we know the maternal viremia and choose the type of birth with the lowest risk of transmitting the infection to the fetus. For this reason, any HIV-positive patient with detectable viremia at childbirth should receive treatment during labor and delivery, with a nucleoside or non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor that crosses the fetal-placental barrier

The Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Infection on Premature Birth—Our Experience as COVID Center

Information about the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on pregnant women is still limited and raises challenges, even as publications are increasing rapidly. The aim of the present study was to determine the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on preterm birth pregnancies. We performed a prospective, observational study in a COVID-only hospital, which included 34 pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection and preterm birth compared with a control group of 48 healthy women with preterm birth. The rate of cesarean delivery was 82% in the study group versus 6% for the control group. We observed a strong correlation between premature birth and the presence of COVID-19 symptoms (cough p = 0.029, fever p = 0.001, and chills p = 0.001). The risk for premature birth is correlated to a lower value of oxygen saturation (p = 0.001) and extensive radiologic pulmonary lesions (p = 0.025). The COVID-19 pregnant women with preterm delivery were older, and experienced an exacerbation of severe respiratory symptoms, decreased saturation of oxygen, increased inflammatory markers, severe pulmonary lesions and decreased lymphocytes

Cyber-physical Threat Detection Platform Designed for Healthcare Systems

Hospitals are responsible for delivering healthcare services to patients in need. These services are large and complex and get affected by multiple interacting actors, such as doctors, nurses, patients, citizens, medical suppliers, health insurance providers. Lately, hospitals around the world are one of the main targets when it comes to terrorist attacks, the cyber realm being the principal source. The healthcare sector is particularly vulnerable due to heavy involvement in patient personal and health information, time constraints, and complex day-to-day operations. In addition to cyber-threats, physical threats are increasingly growing and even healthcare facilities are not immune to them. Malicious intended people created cyber threatening attacks with the purpose to systematically collect evidence against the healthcare system, to advocate for the end of such attacks, and to endanger people\u27s lives or to use the stolen personal data for bad intended actions. Henceforth it is necessary to build a platform that will get alerts and incidents at a fast pace in real-time to prevent any casualties at low cost. SAFECARE project aims to offer protection to hospitals and increase the compliance for the European regulations and security regarding ethics and privacy for health services. This paper presents a solution that will enhance security in hospitals. The primary platform will be built based on a BTMS (Building Threat Monitoring System) where events, incidents, and alerts will be transmitted by sensors from hospital rooms in real-time. Several scenarios were thought to simulate different types of attacks against hospitals and according to the scenarios, various prototypes will be built for assuring the security of the personal and patients from various hospitals.</p

Advanced technology for gait rehabilitation: An overview

Most gait training systems are designed for acute and subacute neurological inpatients. Many systems are used for relearning gait movements (nonfunctional training) or gait cycle training (functional gait training). Each system presents its own advantages and disadvantages in terms of functional outcomes. However, training gait cycle movements is not sufficient for the rehabilitation of ambulation. There is a need for new solutions to overcome the limitations of existing systems in order to ensure individually tailored training conditions for each of the potential users, no matter the complexity of his or her condition. There is also a need for a new, integrative approach in gait rehabilitation, one that encompasses and addresses all aspects of physical as well as psychological aspects of ambulation in real-life multitasking situations. In this respect, a multidisciplinary multinational team performed an overview of the current technology for gait rehabilitation and reviewed the principles of ambulation training