Traditional and Flipped Learning: Which Enhances Students’ Academic Performance Better?

Most of the learning institutions even before the global pandemic are using a blended learning strategy. One of the most promising and leading blended-strategy today is the Flipped Classroom Model (FCM). FCM, often called as inverted classroom or reversed instruction, is a teaching model where the content of the study is given outside the classroom and homework is done inside the classroom. Previous researches yields different results when FCM is compared with traditional learning in enhancing students’ academic performance. To address the problem, a meta-analysis has been conducted. In this study, 15 articles were chosen to be meta-analyzed. The researchers used the PRISMA model in conducting the meta-analysis and the Meta-essentials for data analysis. The analysis yields a p-value of 0.000 which means that there is a statistical significant effect by the intervention FCM to the academic performance of the students. The hedges’ g value of 0.93 has a verbal interpretation of large effect. Through subgroup analysis, it was found that FCM has a positive effect on the academic performance of the students in the subjects Physics and Mathematics with a p value of 0.000. This is also true in the subgroup, Geographical Location (Eastern and Western Countries), that yields a p-value of 0.000. Further, a moderator analysis on class size and intervention duration was also conducted. A significant p-value was found on the moderator implementation duration but not significant in the moderator class size. The analysis favors the longitudinal use of Flipped Classroom Model on enhancing student’s academic performance over Traditional Lecture Model in the subjects Physics and Mathematics regardless the class size of the students and the regions where the studies were conducted.

Aptamers based sensing of pregnancy associated glycoproteins (PAG) of bovine for early pregnancy detection

Tosyl activated magnetic beads were used for aptamer selection against PAG- 7 and 18 proteins of bovine origin. PAG proteins were immobilized on beads with further addition of biotin tagged aptamer library. The recognition of aptamers with PAG was identified by ST-HRP based approach which was colorimetric in nature. The selected aptamers were sequenced and at the same time several new aptamers were identified. Later M-fold structure and G-quadruplex score of aptamers were analyzed for their selection. Those aptamers having high G value and complex structure were chosen. In dot blot assay, aptamers recognized PAG protein in an animal after 42 days of artificial insemination which later given birth to a healthy calf. Further the cross reactivity with serum of 0th day animal (post AI) or with non pregnant animal serum was minimal. Aptamers have also shown interaction with PAG protein of buffalo origin. These selected aptamers have commercial application especially in development of biosensors for early detection of pregnancy in bovine.

In situ U g-value measurement on three different glazing types

This study presents in situ monitoring data of three different glazing systems over a period of one year. An insulated glass unit (IGU), a Vacuum Insulated Glass hybrid unit (VIG-hybrid) and an opaque architectural insulation module (AIM) were monitored under the equivalent environmental condition in this study. Different issues were observed and analyzed. It was found that the Ug-value cited by the manufacturers agrees with the Ug-values derived from the measured data, to within less than 5 % for the IGU and the VIG-hybrid. The consistency of the Ug-value of each glazing types one year after the start of monitoring was validated for similar environmental conditions. Depending on the magnitude of the resistance to heat flow, an increasing Ug-value was observed for a higher temperature difference between the inside and outside environments. The effect is much more significant for the glazing type with the largest Ug-value (IGU) and less significant for the glazing types with a high thermal resistance (VIG-hybrid, AIM).

Research on Expansion and Classification of Imbalanced Data Based on SMOTE Algorithm

With the development of artificial intelligence, the research of medical auxiliary diagnosis based on big data classification is considered as a new technology that can be expected. Due to the different condition in the collection of different samples, medical big data often has imbalances. The class imbalance problems have been reported to severely hinder classification performance of many standard learning algorithms, and have attracted a great deal of attention from researchers of different fields. Focusing on this problem, an improved SMOTE algorithm based on Normal distribution is proposed in this paper. The principle of Normal random distribution is introduced to expand the minority sample, so that the new sample points are distributed closer to the center of the minority sample with a higher probability. In addition, the distribution of the generated data is controlled based on the characteristics of the Normal distribution. And the influence of the statistical characteristics of the original data on the parameter(variance) selection is analyzed based on the inter-class distance and sample variance. Experiments show that the proposed algorithm has better classification effect on the Pima, WDBC, WPBC, Ionosphere and Breast-cancer-wisconsin imbalanced datasets than the original SMOTE algorithm according to AUC, OOB, F-value, G-value.

Detection of radiation treatment of spices using Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy Technique

Use of ionising radiation for commercial sterilisation to increase the hygienic quality of spices is increasing worldwide. Among several detection methods, Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) spectroscopy is one of the reliable techniques for irradiated foods containing some hard and dried parts. Spices are therefore candidates of such a method and radiation treated spices can be detected. The purpose of the present work was to identify the radiation treatment of spices like cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and rosemary using the sensitive technique of ESR spectroscopy. The spice samples were irradiated to 5, 10, 15 and 20 kilogray (kGy) or unirradiated and the samples were dried in vacuum oven and were placed into quartztubes for ESR measurement. On measurements, the unirradiated samples were found to show the ESR-signal at g-value of 2.004 that is typical in case of plant foods containing cellulose. Whereas, the irradiated samples showed a formation of a new paramagnetic structure that appeared in the form of a triplet-signal, attributed to radiation-induced cellulose radical. The clear difference between the nature of ESR signals in case of unirradiated and irradiated samples provided the evidence of the radiation treatment of spices samples. It is therefore concluded that radiation treatment of spices can be identified using sensitive ESR spectroscopy during a storage period of three to ten months.

PROCESS FOR REMOVAL OF CHROMIUM ION FROM LEATHER INDUSTRIAL WASTES BY ACTIVATED PURE RICE HUSK

The removal of (Cr) ions from industrial wastage by adsorption on rice husk was investigated based on activated pure rice husk dosage, stay time, metal concentration and solution temperature. The optimum values of activated pure rice husk dosage and stay time were determined to be 0.5gm/50ml solution and 60 mins, respectively, for the adsorption of (Cr) ions. The constant for the Freundlich, D-R and Langmuir isotherms were 50%, calculated at 50 . The adsorption of (Cr) from industrial wastage was found to be exothermic. Thermodynamic parameters such as free energy change ( G°), enthalpy change ( H°) and entropy change ( S°) of adsorption also calculated and interpreted from the slope and intercept of the plots of lnkD vs I/T. The G° value decreases with rise in temperature and the negative values of H° indicate that the adsorption of (Cr) from industrial wastage was an exothermic process while positive values of change in entropy ( S°) were also observed

Development of a Drone’s Vibration, Shock, and Atmospheric Profiles

Technological advances in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have made it possible to employ drone deliveries for packaged products, but currently no standards of practice are available to qualify packaged products traveling through this distribution channel. This research proposes a methodology to collect field data from a UAV to develop simulation techniques for use with package testing equipment. This project utilized data recorders to measure the vibration, shock, and atmospheric field data on two models of the DJI drones. The root mean square G value (Grms), the power spectral density (PSD), maximum G-values and shock response spectrum, and atmospheric data were reported in this study. The study found that the general shape of the PSD profile of the drones differed from the PSD air profiles of the aircraft. The overall recorded Grms levels of the drones were also significantly higher than those of the published air profile of the aircraft. Moreover, the study found that the drone’s in-flight vibration intensities in the horizontal level were consistently higher than those in the vertical direction. The major sources of vibration and shock in both drones’ models originated from the two-propeller rotations. Shocks recorded during the flight reached 14 G, took place in the horizontal plane with the drone accelerating as opposed to the vertical plane where the drone is landing.

Trapped radical behavior of electron beam irradiated polytetrafluoroethylene fine powder at various temperatures

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fine powder with 93% crystallinity was irradiated by an electron beam (EB) at various temperatures under a nitrogen atmosphere. Trapped free radicals in PTFE were studied using electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. The observed spectra of the samples exposed to air after irradiation at various temperatures showed asymmetrical signals, which are middle-chain type peroxide macroradicals derived from fluoroalkyl radicals. The radical yields at each irradiation temperature increased with increasing absorbed dose, and eventually saturated. The higher irradiation temperature resulted in higher radical yields when compared at the same exposed dose. Furthermore, the G-value of the radicals (G(R·)) increases with increasing irradiation temperatures corresponding to each relaxation and transition temperature. It is concluded that the chain reaction by the fluorine extraction from the main chain due to the end-chain radical generated via β-scission after dissociative electron attachment (DEA) is enhanced by the synergistic effect of heat and radiation.