Search results for: health monitoring systems

Authors: A. Sathiya Susuman

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Background: The importance of maternal and child healthcare services cannot be stressed enough. These services are very important for the health and health outcomes of the mother and that of the child and in ensuring that both maternal and child deaths are prevented. The objective of the study is to inspire good quality maternal and child health care services in Swaziland. Specifically, is Swaziland on track with the 2015 Millennium Development Goals? Methods: The study used secondary data from the Swaziland Demographic and Health Survey 2006-07. This is an explorative and descriptive study which used pre-selected variables to study factors influencing the use of maternal and child healthcare services in Swaziland. Different types of examinations, such as univariate, bivariate, and multivariate statistical analysis were adopted. Results: The study findings showed a high use rate of antenatal care (97.3%) and delivery care (74.0%), and a low rate of postnatal care use (20.5%). The uptake childhood immunization is also high in the country, averaging more than 80.0%. Moreover, certain factors which were found to be influencing the use of maternal healthcare and childhood immunization include: woman’s age, parity, media exposure, maternal education, wealth status, and residence. The findings also revealed that these factors affect the use of maternal and child health differently. Conclusion: It is important to study factors related to maternal and child health uptake to inform relevant stakeholders about possible areas of improvement. Programs to educate families about the importance of maternal and child healthcare services should be implemented. Swaziland needs to work hard on child survival and maternal health care services, no doubt it is on track with the MDG 4 & 5.

Keywords: maternal healthcare, antenatal care, delivery care, postnatal care, child health, immunization, socio-economic and demographic factors

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Authors: Tannia Vindel, Angel Matute, Erik Elvir, Kelvin Santos

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Currently in Honduras, is been incentivized the generation of energy using renewable fonts, such as: hydroelectricity, wind power, biomass and, more recently with the strongest growth, photovoltaic energy. In July 2015 were installed 455.2 MW of photovoltaic energy, increasing by 24% the installed capacity of the national interconnected system existing in 2014, according the National Energy Company (NEC), that made possible reduce the thermoelectric dependency of the system. Given the good results of those large-scale photovoltaic plants, arises the question: is it interesting for the distribution utility and for the consumers the integration of photovoltaic systems in micro-scale in the urban and rural areas? To answer that question has been researched the insertion of photovoltaic energy in the residential sector in Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela (Central District), Honduras to determine the technical and economic viability. Francisco Morazán department, according the National Statistics Institute (NSI), in 2001 had more than 180,000 houses with power service. Tegucigalpa, department and Honduras capital, and Comayagüela, both, have the highest population density in the region, with 1,300,000 habitants in 2014 (NSI). The residential sector in the south-central region of Honduras represents a high percentage being 49% of total consumption, according with NEC in 2014; where 90% of this sector consumes in a range of 0 to 300 kWh / month. All this, in addition to the high level of losses in the transmission and distribution systems, 31.3% in 2014, and the availability of an annual average solar radiation of 5.20 kWh/(m2∙day) according to the NASA, suggests the feasibility of the implementation of photovoltaic systems as a solution to give a level of independency to the households, and besides could be capable of injecting the non-used energy to the grid. The capability of exchange of energy with the grid could make the photovoltaic systems acquisition more affordable to the consumers, because of the compensation energy programs or other kinds of incentives that could be created. Technical viability of the photovoltaic systems insertion has been analyzed, considering the solar radiation monthly average to determine the monthly average of energy that would be generated with the technology accessible locally and the effects of the injection of the energy locally generated on the grid. In addition, the economic viability has been analyzed too, considering the photovoltaic systems high costs, costs of the utility, location and monthly energy consumption requirements of the families. It was found that the inclusion of photovoltaic systems in Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela could decrease in 6 MW the demand for the region if 100% of the households use photovoltaic systems, which acquisition may be more accessible with the help of government incentives and/or the application of energy exchange programs.

Keywords: grid connected, photovoltaic, residential, technical analysis

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Authors: Vincent Schlageter, Maroua Mestiri, Florian Denzinger, Hugo Raetzo, Michel Demierre

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Precise landslide monitoring with differential global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is well known, but technical or economic reasons limit its application by geotechnical companies. This study demonstrates the reliability and the usefulness of Geomon (Infrasurvey Sàrl, Switzerland), a stand-alone and cost-effective rover network. The system permits deploying up to 15 rovers, plus one reference station for differential GNSS. A dedicated radio communication links all the modules to a base station, where an embedded computer automatically provides all the relative positions (L1 phase, open-source RTKLib software) and populates an Internet server. Each measure also contains information from an internal inclinometer, battery level, and position quality indices. Contrary to standard GNSS survey systems, which suffer from a limited number of beacons that must be placed in areas with good GSM signal, Geomon offers greater flexibility and permits a real overview of the whole landslide with good spatial resolution. Each module is powered with solar panels, ensuring autonomous long-term recordings. In this study, we have tested the system on several sites in the Swiss mountains, setting up to 7 rovers per site, for an 18 month-long survey. The aim was to assess the robustness and the accuracy of the system in different environmental conditions. In one case, we ran forced blind tests (vertical movements of a given amplitude) and compared various session parameters (duration from 10 to 90 minutes). Then the other cases were a survey of real landslides sites using fixed optimized parameters. Sub centimetric-accuracy with few outliers was obtained using the best parameters (session duration of 60 minutes, baseline 1 km or less), with the noise level on the horizontal component half that of the vertical one. The performance (percent of aborting solutions, outliers) was reduced with sessions shorter than 30 minutes. The environment also had a strong influence on the percent of aborting solutions (ambiguity search problem), due to multiple reflections or satellites obstructed by trees and mountains. The length of the baseline (distance reference-rover, single baseline processing) reduced the accuracy above 1 km but had no significant effect below this limit. In critical weather conditions, the system’s robustness was limited: snow, avalanche, and frost-covered some rovers, including the antenna and vertically oriented solar panels, leading to data interruption; and strong wind damaged a reference station. The possibility of changing the sessions’ parameters remotely was very useful. In conclusion, the rover network tested provided the foreseen sub-centimetric-accuracy while providing a dense spatial resolution landslide survey. The ease of implementation and the fully automatic long-term survey were timesaving. Performance strongly depends on surrounding conditions, but short pre-measures should allow moving a rover to a better final placement. The system offers a promising hazard mitigation technique. Improvements could include data post-processing for alerts and automatic modification of the duration and numbers of sessions based on battery level and rover displacement velocity.

Keywords: GNSS, GSM, landslide, long-term, network, solar, spatial resolution, sub-centimeter.

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Authors: Qingxin Chen, Liben Jiang, Andrew Smith, Karim Hadjri

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Since 2007, the Chinese food industry has undergone serious food contamination in the baby dairy industry, especially milk powder contamination. One of the milk powder products was found to contain melamine and a significant number (294,000) of babies were affected by kidney stones. Due to growing concerns among consumers about food safety and protection, and high pressure from central government, companies must take radical action to ensure food quality protection through the use of an appropriate quality management system. Previously, though researchers have investigated the health and safety aspects of food industries and products, quality issues concerning food products in China have been largely over-looked. Issues associated with baby dairy products and their quality issues have not been discussed in depth. This paper investigates the impact of quality management systems on the Chinese baby dairy product industry. A literature review was carried out to analyse the use of quality management systems within the Chinese milk power market. Moreover, quality concepts, relevant standards, laws, regulations and special issues (such as Melamine, Flavacin M1 contamination) have been analysed in detail. A qualitative research approach is employed, whereby preliminary analysis was conducted by interview, and data analysis based on interview responses from four selected Chinese baby dairy product companies was carried out. Through the analysis of literature review and data findings, it has been revealed that for quality management system that has been designed by many practitioners, many theories, models, conceptualisation, and systems are present. These standards and procedures should be followed in order to provide quality products to consumers, but the implementation is lacking in the Chinese baby dairy industry. Quality management systems have been applied by the selected companies but the implementation still needs improvement. For instance, the companies have to take measures to improve their processes and procedures with relevant standards. The government need to make more interventions and take a greater supervisory role in the production process. In general, this research presents implications for the regulatory bodies, Chinese Government and dairy food companies. There are food safety laws prevalent in China but they have not been widely practiced by companies. Regulatory bodies must take a greater role in ensuring compliance with laws and regulations. The Chinese government must also play a special role in urging companies to implement relevant quality control processes. The baby dairy companies not only have to accept the interventions from the regulatory bodies and government, they also need to ensure that production, storage, distribution and other processes will follow the relevant rules and standards.

Keywords: baby dairy product, food quality, milk powder contamination, quality management system

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Authors: Musarrat Jabeen

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Thoughtful intelligence offers a sustainable position to enhance the influence of decision-makers. Thoughtful Intelligence implies the understanding to realize the impact of one’s thoughts, words and actions on the survival, dignity and development of the individuals, groups and nations. Thoughtful intelligence has received minimal consideration in the area of Decision Support Systems, with an end goal to evaluate the quantity of knowledge and its viability. This pattern degraded the imbibed contribution of thoughtful intelligence required for sustainable decision making. Given the concern, this paper concentrates on the question: How to present a model of Thoughtful Decision Support System (TDSS)? The aim of this paper is to appreciate the concepts of thoughtful intelligence and insinuate a Decision Support System based on thoughtful intelligence. Thoughtful intelligence includes three dynamic competencies: i) Realization about long term impacts of decisions that are made in a specific time and space, ii) A great sense of taking actions, iii) Intense interconnectivity with people and nature and; seven associate competencies, of Righteousness, Purposefulness, Understanding, Contemplation, Sincerity, Mindfulness, and Nurturing. The study utilizes two methods: Focused group discussion to count prevailing Decision Support Systems; 70% results of focus group discussions found six decision support systems and the positive inexistence of thoughtful intelligence among decision support systems regarding sustainable decision making. Delphi focused on defining thoughtful intelligence to model (TDSS). 65% results helped to conceptualize (definition and description) of thoughtful intelligence. TDSS is offered here as an addition in the decision making literature. The clients are top leaders.

Keywords: thoughtful intelligence, sustainable decision making, thoughtful decision support system

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Authors: A. Bortkiewcz, A. Dudarewicz, P. Małecki, M. Kłaczyński, T. Wszołek, Małgorzata Pawlaczyk-Łuszczyńska

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Low-frequency noise (LFN) has been recognized as a special environmental pollutant. It is usually considered a broadband noise with the dominant content of low frequencies from 10 Hz to 250 Hz. A growing body of data shows that LFN differs in nature from other environmental noises, which are at comparable levels but not dominated by low-frequency components. The primary and most frequent adverse effect of LFN exposure is annoyance. Moreover, some recent investigations showed that LFN at relatively low A-weighted sound pressure levels (40−45 dB) occurring in office-like areas could adversely affect the mental performance, especially of high-sensitive subjects. It is well documented that high-frequency noise disturbs various types of human functions; however, there is very little data on the impact of LFN on well-being and health, including the cardiovascular system. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a sensitive marker of autonomic regulation of the circulatory system. Walker and co-workers found that LFN has a significantly more negative impact on cardiovascular response than exposure to high-frequency noise and that changes in HRV parameters resulting from LFN exposure tend to persist over time. The negative reactions of the cardiovascular system in response to LFN generated by wind turbines (20-200 Hz) were confirmed by Chiu. The scientific aim of the study is to assess the relationship between the spectral-temporal characteristics of LFN and the activity of the autonomic nervous system, considering the subjective assessment of annoyance, sensitivity to this type of noise, and cognitive and general health status. The study will be conducted in 20 male students in a special, acoustically prepared, constantly supervised room. Each person will be tested 4 times (4 sessions), under conditions of non-exposure (sham) and exposure to noise of wind turbines recorded at a distance of 250 meters from the turbine with different frequencies and frequency ranges: acoustic band 20 Hz-20 kHz, infrasound band 5-20 Hz, acoustic band + infrasound band. The order of sessions of the experiment will be randomly selected. Each session will last 1 h. There will be a 2-3 days break between sessions to exclude the possibility of the earlier session influencing the results of the next one. Before the first exposure, a questionnaire will be conducted on noise sensitivity, general health status using the GHQ questionnaire, hearing organ status and sociodemographic data. Before each of the 4 exposures, subjects will complete a brief questionnaire on their mood and sleep quality the night before the test. After the test, the subjects will be asked about any discomfort and subjective symptoms during the exposure. Before the test begins, Holter ECG monitoring equipment will be installed. HRV will be analyzed from the ECG recordings, including time and frequency domain parameters. The tests will always be performed in the morning (9-12) to avoid the influence of diurnal rhythm on HRV results. Students will perform psychological tests 15 minutes before the end of the test (Vienna Test System).

Keywords: neurovegetative control, heart rate variability (HRV), cognitive processes, low frequency noise

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Authors: S. Sabatino, V. Calderaro, V. Galdi, G. Graber, L. Ippolito

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Climate change is a rapidly growing global threat caused mainly by increased emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere. These emissions come from multiple sources, including industry, power generation, and the transport sector. The need to tackle climate change and reduce CO₂ emissions is indisputable. A crucial solution to achieving decarbonization in the transport sector is the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). These vehicles use lithium (Li-Ion) batteries as an energy source, making them extremely efficient and with low direct emissions. However, Li-Ion batteries are not without problems, including the risk of overheating and performance degradation. To ensure its safety and longevity, it is essential to use a battery management system (BMS). The BMS constantly monitors battery status, adjusts temperature and cell balance, ensuring optimal performance and preventing dangerous situations. From the monitoring carried out, it is also able to optimally manage the battery to increase its life. Among the parameters monitored by the BMS, the main ones are State of Charge (SoC), State of Health (SoH), and State of Power (SoP). The evaluation of these parameters can be carried out in two ways: offline, using benchtop batteries tested in the laboratory, or online, using batteries installed in moving vehicles. Online estimation is the preferred approach, as it relies on capturing real-time data from batteries while operating in real-life situations, such as in everyday EV use. Actual battery usage conditions are highly variable. Moving vehicles are exposed to a wide range of factors, including temperature variations, different driving styles, and complex charge/discharge cycles. This variability is difficult to replicate in a controlled laboratory environment and can greatly affect performance and battery life. Online estimation captures this variety of conditions, providing a more accurate assessment of battery behavior in real-world situations. In this article, a hybrid approach based on a neural network and a statistical method for real-time estimation of SoC, SoH, and SoP parameters of interest is proposed. These parameters are estimated from the analysis of a one-day driving profile of an electric vehicle, assumed to be divided into the following four phases: (i) Partial discharge (SoC 100% - SoC 50%), (ii) Partial discharge (SoC 50% - SoC 80%), (iii) Deep Discharge (SoC 80% - SoC 30%) (iv) Full charge (SoC 30% - SoC 100%). The neural network predicts the values of ohmic resistance and incremental capacity, while the statistical method is used to estimate the parameters of interest. This reduces the complexity of the model and improves its prediction accuracy. The effectiveness of the proposed model is evaluated by analyzing its performance in terms of square mean error (RMSE) and percentage error (MAPE) and comparing it with the reference method found in the literature.

Keywords: electric vehicle, Li-Ion battery, BMS, state-of-charge, state-of-health, state-of-power, artificial neural networks

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Authors: S. Lemoussu, J. C. Chaudemar, R. A. Vingerhoeds

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The aeronautics sector is currently living an unprecedented growth largely due to innovative projects. In several cases, such innovative developments are being carried out by Small and Medium sized-Enterprises (SMEs). For instance, in Europe, a handful of SMEs are leading projects like airships, large civil drones, or flying cars. These SMEs have all limited resources, must make strategic decisions, take considerable financial risks and in the same time must take into account the constraints of safety, cost, time and performance as any commercial organization in this industry. Moreover, today, no international regulations fully exist for the development and certification of this kind of projects. The absence of such a precise and sufficiently detailed regulatory framework requires a very close contact with regulatory instances. But, SMEs do not always have sufficient resources and internal knowledge to handle this complexity and to discuss these issues. This poses additional challenges for those SMEs that have system integration responsibilities and that must provide all the necessary means of compliance to demonstrate their ability to design, produce, and operate airships with the expected level of safety and reliability. The final objective of our research is thus to provide a methodological framework supporting SMEs in their development taking into account recent innovation and institutional rules of the sector. We aim to provide a contribution to the problematic by developing a specific Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach. Airspace regulation, aeronautics standards and international norms on systems engineering are taken on board to be formalized in a set of models. This paper presents the on-going research project combining Systems Engineering and Project Management process modeling and taking into account the metamodeling problematic.

Keywords: aeronautics, certification, process modeling, project management, SME, systems engineering

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Authors: K. C. Wong

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This paper demonstrates a number of examples in the hope to shed some light on the possibility of designing future operating systems in a more adaptation-based manner. A modern operating system, we conceive, should possess the capability of 'learning' in such a way that it can dynamically adjust its services and behavior according to the current status of the environment in which it operates. In other words, a modern operating system should play a more proactive role during the session of providing system services to users. As such, a modern operating system is expected to create a computing environment, in which its users are provided with system services more matching their dynamically changing needs. The examples demonstrated in this paper show that user's resource access patterns 'learned' and determined during a session can be utilized to improve system performance and hence to provide users with a better and more effective computing environment. The paper also discusses how to use the frequency, the continuity, and the duration of resource accesses in a session to quantitatively measure and determine user's resource access patterns for the examples shown in the paper.

Keywords: adaptation-based systems, operating systems, resource access patterns, system performance

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Authors: Shereif. H. Mahmoud

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Egypt has limited water resources, and it will be under water stress by the year 2030. Therefore, Egypt should consider natural and non-conventional water resources to overcome such a problem. Rain harvesting is one solution. This Paper presents a geographic information system (GIS) methodology - based on decision support system (DSS) that uses remote sensing data, filed survey, and GIS to identify potential RWH areas. The input into the DSS includes a map of rainfall surplus, slope, potential runoff coefficient (PRC), land cover/use, soil texture. In addition, the outputs are map showing potential sites for RWH. Identifying suitable RWH sites implemented in the ArcGIS model environment using the model builder of ArcGIS 10.1. Based on Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) analysis taking into account five layers, the spatial extents of RWH suitability areas identified using Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE). The suitability model generated a suitability map for RWH with four suitability classes, i.e. Excellent, Moderate, Poor, and unsuitable. The spatial distribution of the suitability map showed that the excellent suitable areas for RWH concentrated in the northern part of Egypt. According to their averages, 3.24% of the total area have excellent and good suitability for RWH, while 45.04 % and 51.48 % of the total area are moderate and unsuitable suitability, respectively. The majority of the areas with excellent suitability have slopes between 2 and 8% and with an intensively cultivated area. The major soil type in the excellent suitable area is loam and the rainfall range from 100 up to 200 mm. Validation of the used technique depends on comparing existing RWH structures locations with the generated suitability map using proximity analysis tool of ArcGIS 10.1. The result shows that most of exiting RWH structures categorized as successful.

Keywords: rainwater harvesting (RWH), geographic information system (GIS), analytical hierarchy process (AHP), multi-criteria evaluation (MCE), decision support system (DSS)

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Authors: M. R. Zaman, M. S. Bari, M. Kajal

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A field experiment was conducted at the Agroforestry and Environment Research Field, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur during 2013 to investigate the potentiality of three napier fodder varieties under Litchi orchard. The experiment was consisted of 2 factors RCBD with 3 replications. Among the two factors, factor A was two production systems; S1= Litchi + fodder and S2 = Fodder (sole crop); another factor B was three napier varieties: V1= BARI Napier -1 (Bazra), V2= BARI Napier - 2 (Arusha) and V3= BARI Napier -3 (Hybrid). The experimental results revealed that there were significant variation among the varieties in terms of leaf growth and yield. The maximum number of leaf plant -1 was recorded in variety Bazra (V1) whereas the minimum number was recorded in hybrid variety (V3).Significantly the highest (13.75, 14.53 and14.84 tha-1 at 1st, 2nd and 3rd harvest respectively) yield was also recorded in variety Bazra whereas the lowest (5.89, 6.36 and 9.11 tha-1 at 1st, 2nd v and 3rd harvest respectively) yield was in hybrid variety. Again, in case of production systems, there were also significant differences between the two production systems were founded. The maximum number of leaf plant -1 was recorded under Litchi based AGF system (T1) whereas the minimum was recorded in open condition (T2). Similarly, significantly the highest (12.00, 12.35 and 13.31 tha-1 at 1st, 2nd and 3rd harvest respectively) yield of napier was recorded under Litchi based AGF system where as the lowest (9.73, 10.47 and 11.66 tha-1 at 1st, 2nd and 3rd harvest respectively) yield was recorded in open condition i.e. napier in sole cropping. Furthermore, the interaction effect of napier variety and production systems were also gave significant deviation result in terms of growth and yield. The maximum number of leaf plant -1 was recorded under Litchi based AGF systems with Bazra variety whereas the minimum was recorded in open condition with hybrid variety. The highest yield (14.42, 16.14 and 16.15 tha-1 at 1st, 2nd and 3rd harvest respectively) of napier was found under Litchi based AGF systems with Bazra variety. Significantly the lowest (5.33, 5.79 and 8.48 tha-1 at 1st, 2nd and 3rd harvest respectively) yield was found in open condition i.e. sole cropping with hybrid variety. In case of the quality perspective, the highest nutritive value (DM, ASH, CP, CF, EE, and NFE) was found in Bazra (V1) and the lowest value was found in hybrid variety (V3). Therefore, the suitability of napier production under Litchi based AGF system may be ranked as Bazra > Arusha > Hybrid variety. Finally, the economic analysis showed that maximum BCR (5.20) was found in the Litchi based AGF systems over sole cropping (BCR=4.38). From the findings of the taken investigation, it may be concluded that the cultivation of Bazra napier varieties in the floor of Litchi orchard ensures higher revenue to the farmers compared to its sole cropping.

Keywords: potentiality, Litchi, fodder, agroforestry

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Authors: Sepideh Jabbari Behnam, Zahrasadat Saide Zarabadi

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A city is an intertwined texture from the relationship of different components in a whole which is united in a one, so designing the whole complex and its planning is not an easy matter. By considering that a city is a complex system with infinite components and communications, providing flexible layouts that can respond to the unpredictable character of the city, which is a result of its complexity, is inevitable. Parametric design approach as a new approach can produce flexible and transformative layouts in any stage of design. This study aimed to introduce parametric design as a modern approach to respond to complex urban issues by using descriptive and analytical methods. This paper firstly introduces complex systems and then giving a brief characteristic of complex systems. The flexible design and layout flexibility is another matter in response and simulation of complex urban systems that should be considered in design, which is discussed in this study. In this regard, after describing the nature of the parametric approach as a flexible approach, as well as a tool and appropriate way to respond to features such as limited predictability, reciprocating nature, complex communications, and being sensitive to initial conditions and hierarchy, this paper introduces parametric design.

Keywords: complexity theory, complex system, flexibility, parametric design

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Authors: Raul G. Angeles, Rowena R. De Guzman

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The future workforce for health in a globalized context highlights better health human resource planning. Health sciences students are challenged to develop skills needed for global migration. Advancing health sciences education is crucial in preparing them to overcome border challenges. The purpose of this mixed-method, two-part study was to determine the extent by which the current instructional planning and implementation (IPI) framework is reframed with teaching approaches that foster students' 21st-century skills development and to examine participants’ over-all insights on learner-centered teaching and learning (LCTL) particularly in health sciences classrooms. Participants were groups of teachers and students drawn from a national sample through the Philippine higher education institutions (HEIs). To the participants, the use of technology, practices driven by students’ interests and enriching learning experiences through project-based learning are the approaches that must be incorporated with great extent in IPI to encourage student engagement, active learning and collaboration. Participants were asked to detail their insights of learner-centered teaching and learning and using thematic content analysis parallel insights between the groups of participants lead to three emerging themes: opportunities, challenges and prospects. More contemporary understanding of LTCL in today’s health sciences classrooms were demonstrated by the participants. Armed with true understanding, educational leaders can provide interventions appropriate to the students’ level of need, teachers’ preparation and school’s readiness in terms of resources. Health sciences classrooms are innovated to meet the needs of the current and future students.

Keywords: globalization, health workforce, role of education, student-centered teaching and learning, technology in education

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Authors: Sarah Nauwelaerts, Koen De Cremer, Alfred Bernard, Meredith Verlooy, Kristel Heremans, Natalia Bustos Sierra, Katrien Tersago, Tim Nawrot, Jordy Vercauteren, Christophe Stroobants, Sigrid C. J. De Keersmaecker, Nancy Roosens

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Projected climate changes could lead to exacerbation of respiratory disorders associated with reduced air quality. Air pollution and climate changes influence each other through complex interactions. The poor air quality in urban and rural areas includes high levels of particulate matter (PM), ozone (O3) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), representing a major threat to public health and especially for the most vulnerable population strata, and especially young children. In this study, we aim to develop generic standardized policy supporting tools and methods that allow evaluating in future follow-up larger scale epidemiological studies the risks of the combined short-term effects of O3 and PM on the cardiorespiratory system of children. We will use non-invasive indicators of airway damage/inflammation and of genetic or epigenetic variations by using urine or saliva as alternative to blood samples. Therefore, a multi-phase field study will be organized in order to assess the sensitivity and applicability of these tests in large cohorts of children during episodes of air pollution. A first test phase was planned in March 2018, not yet taking into account ‘critical’ pollution periods. Working with non-invasive samples, choosing the right set-up for the field work and the volunteer selection were parameters to consider, as they significantly influence the feasibility of this type of study. During this test phase, the selection of the volunteers was done in collaboration with medical doctors from the Centre for Student Assistance (CLB), by choosing a class of pre-pubertal children of 9-11 years old in a primary school in Flemish Brabant, Belgium. A questionnaire, collecting information on the health and background of children and an informed consent document were drawn up for the parents as well as a simplified cartoon-version of this document for the children. A detailed study protocol was established, giving clear information on the study objectives, the recruitment, the sample types, the medical examinations to be performed, the strategy to ensure anonymity, and finally on the sample processing. Furthermore, the protocol describes how this field study will be conducted in relation with the prevision and monitoring of air pollutants for the future phases. Potential protein, genetic and epigenetic biomarkers reflecting the respiratory function and the levels of air pollution will be measured in the collected samples using unconventional technologies. The test phase results will be used to address the most important bottlenecks before proceeding to the following phases of the study where the combined effect of O3 and PM during pollution peaks will be examined. This feasibility study will allow identifying possible bottlenecks and providing missing scientific knowledge, necessary for the preparation, implementation and evaluation of federal policies/strategies, based on the most appropriate epidemiological studies on the health effects of air pollution. The research leading to these results has been funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office through contract No.: BR/165/PI/PMOLLUGENIX-V2.

Keywords: air pollution, biomarkers, children, field study, feasibility study, non-invasive

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Authors: Yu Hua Yan

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Background: This research attempts to extend and apply the concept of service dominant logic on My Health Bank platform, analyzed to find out are there any significant difference in wills to participate (potential factors for value) on the results of value co-creation? Methods: The questionnaires were delivered from August 2017 to October 2017 in hospitals. 167 valid ones were received, with an effective response rate of 98.2%. Results: This research employed the questionnaire method in collecting research data, with patients that have used My Health Bank as objects, to whom questionnaires were sent. Regarding the factors influencing therapeutic effects, in the statistics of capability and interaction, it reached a significant level (p <0.1). Regarding the factors influencing satisfaction on medical service, in the statistics of capability and interaction, it reached a significant level (p <0.001). Conclusion: Regarding the contributions of this research, it is possible to clarify its contents with the studies on value co-creation to enrich the literature of the studies of service dominant logic and value co-creation in Taiwan. Regarding its contribution in practice, the results of this research allows the value advocator – the government, to have a broader view in the consideration of making the policies on value co-creation.

Keywords: My Health Bank, interactive, participation, value creation

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Authors: Carla Aramouny

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Digital fabrication, between advancements in software and machinery, is pushing practice today towards more complexity in design, allowing for unparalleled explorations. It is giving designers the immediate capacity to apply their imagined objects into physical results. Yet at no time have questions of material knowledge become more relevant and crucial, as technological advancements approach a radical re-invention of the design process. As more and more designers look towards tactile crafts for material know-how, an interest in natural behaviors has also emerged trying to embed intelligence from nature into the designed objects. Concerned with enhancing their immediate environment, designers today are pushing the boundaries of design by bringing in natural systems, materiality, and advanced fabrication as essential processes to produce active designs. New Territories, a yearly architecture and design course on digital design and materiality, allows students to explore processes of digital fabrication in intersection with natural systems and hands-on experiments. This paper will highlight the importance of learning from nature and from physical materiality in a digital design process, and how the simultaneous move between the digital and physical realms has become an essential design method. It will detail the work done over the course of three years, on themes of natural systems, crafts, concrete plasticity, and active composite materials. The aim throughout the course is to explore the design of products and active systems, be it modular facades, intelligent cladding, or adaptable seating, by embedding current digital technologies with an understanding of natural systems and a physical know-how of material behavior. From this aim, three main themes of inquiry have emerged through the varied explorations across the three years, each one approaching materiality and digital technologies through a different lens. The first theme involves crossing the study of naturals systems as precedents for intelligent formal assemblies with traditional crafts methods. The students worked on designing performative facade systems, starting from the study of relevant natural systems and a specific craft, and then using parametric modeling to develop their modular facades. The second theme looks at the cross of craft and digital technologies through form-finding techniques and elastic material properties, bringing in flexible formwork into the digital fabrication process. Students explored concrete plasticity and behaviors with natural references, as they worked on the design of an exterior seating installation using lightweight concrete composites and complex casting methods. The third theme brings in bio-composite material properties with additive fabrication and environmental concerns to create performative cladding systems. Students experimented in concrete composites materials, biomaterials and clay 3D printing to produce different cladding and tiling prototypes that actively enhance their immediate environment. This paper thus will detail the work process done by the students under these three themes of inquiry, describing their material experimentation, digital and analog design methodologies, and their final results. It aims to shed light on the persisting importance of material knowledge as it intersects with advanced digital fabrication and the significance of learning from natural systems and biological properties to embed an active performance in today’s design process.

Keywords: digital fabrication, design and craft, materiality, natural systems

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Authors: Douglas Nyathi, Mxolisi Sibanda, Joram Ndlovuu, Thulani Dube, Innocent T. Mahiya

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Communication of sexual matters between the parents and adolescents has been seen as one of the strategies that could play a cardinal role in encouraging adolescents to be responsible and delay sexual debut or avoid unprotected sexual intercourse. The increasing rate of teenage pregnancies and new HIV/AIDS infections among adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa makes the phenomenon worth analysis. The purpose of this paper is to interrogate the dynamics of parent-adolescent communication on sexual and reproductive health in Sub-Sahara. Specifically the paper focuses on barriers to communication between parents and adolescents on sexual and reproductive health and its policy implications. It emanates from the paper that communication on sexual and reproductive health at household level is triggered by death of a relative from a sexual related illness, suspicion on sexual activity, radio programmes and in some instances fliers. Literature engagement reveals that communication between parents and adolescents on sexual and reproductive health is made difficult by economic factors (poverty, lack of privacy and low self-esteem), household demographics (age, sex, class, death), socio-cultural factors (beliefs and religious values) as well as social media. We argue that there is need to use broadcast mediato come up with radio and television programmes that create family environments in which sexual and reproductive health issues are discussed. We also recommend that government departments and Non-Governmental Organisations concerned with sexuality issues need to undertake studies that can help dismantle taboos, prejudices and stereotypes that impede sexual and reproductive health communication between parents and adolescents.

Keywords: parent, adolecsent, communication, sexual and reproductive health

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Authors: P. Góes, J. Manzi

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This paper focuses on the development of an energy efficiency index that will be applied to reactive systems, which is based in the First and Second Law of Thermodynamics, by giving particular consideration to the concept of maximum entropy. Among the requirements of such energy efficiency index, the practical feasibility must be essential. To illustrate the performance of the proposed index, such an index was used as decisive factor of evaluation for the optimization process of an industrial reactor. The results allow the conclusion to be drawn that the energy efficiency index applied to the reactive system is consistent because it extracts the information expected of an efficient indicator, and that it is useful as an analytical tool besides being feasible from a practical standpoint. Furthermore, it has proved to be much simpler to use than tools based on traditional methodologies.

Keywords: energy, efficiency, entropy, reactive

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Authors: Sandra T. Matarneh, Mark Danso-Amoako, Salam Al-Bizri, Mark Gaterell

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Today’s facilities are ever more sophisticated and the need for available and reliable information for operation and maintenance activities is vital. The key challenge for facilities managers is to have real-time accurate and complete information to perform their day-to-day activities and to provide their senior management with accurate information for decision-making process. Currently, there are various technology platforms, data repositories, or database systems such as Computer-Aided Facility Management (CAFM) that are used for these purposes in different facilities. In most current practices, the data is extracted from paper construction documents and is re-entered manually in one of these computerized information systems. Construction Operations Building information exchange (COBie), is a non-proprietary data format that contains the asset non-geometric data which was captured and collected during the design and construction phases for owners and facility managers use. Recently software vendors developed add-in applications to generate COBie spreadsheet automatically. However, most of these add-in applications are capable of generating a limited amount of COBie data, in which considerable time is still required to enter the remaining data manually to complete the COBie spreadsheet. Some of the data which cannot be generated by these COBie add-ins is essential for facilities manager’s day-to-day activities such as job sheet which includes preventive maintenance schedules. To facilitate a seamless data transfer between BIM models and facilities management systems, we developed a framework that enables automated data generation using the data extracted directly from BIM models to external web database, and then enabling different stakeholders to access to the external web database to enter the required asset data directly to generate a rich COBie spreadsheet that contains most of the required asset data for efficient facilities management operations. The proposed framework is a part of ongoing research and will be demonstrated and validated on a typical university building. Moreover, the proposed framework supplements the existing body of knowledge in facilities management domain by providing a novel framework that facilitates seamless data transfer between BIM models and facilities management systems.

Keywords: building information modeling, BIM, facilities management systems, interoperability, information management

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Authors: Margarida Maria Cabugueira Csutódio dos Santos, Joana Filipa Pintéus Pereira

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The way children understand the concept of health and illness influences their reaction in contexts where these concepts are present (e.g.,illness; vaccination). The recognition of the importance of children's beliefs/representations about health and disease has led to the development of models that seek to explain the development process of these concepts. In the construction of their representations, children are influenced not only by their cognitive competence but also by their life experiences. In the last 3 years, children have experienced a pandemic health crisis that has exposed them to anomalous and stressful situations. Objective: the aim of this study was (1) to identify children’s representations about disease (including symptoms, causes, control/treatment) and prevention (including health procedures and vaccines) and (2) whether COVID19 is mentioned and influences their representations. Methodology: a qualitative study in which 67 children with 7 to 10 years old (mean 8,8) participated. A semi-structured interview was used following the Bibace and Walsh model, focusing on the representation of the disease and its prevention. Results show a marked influence of the lived experience with regard to causes of the disease, disease control and treatment, and adherence to vaccination. Age-dependent differences were found with older children being able to talk about illness and contamination process and younger displaying more basic, concrete and rigid representations. Conclusions: The results of this study bring clues to the adequacy of communication with the child in the context of health and illness and discriminately in a future health pandemic crisis.

Keywords: childen, health beliefs, pediatrics, covid19, vaccines

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Authors: Maria Jędrzejczak, Patryk Pieniążek

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The European legal reality is on the eve of significant change. In European Union law, there is talk of a “fourth industrial revolution”, which is driven by massive data resources linked to powerful algorithms and powerful computing capacity. The above is closely linked to technological developments in the area of artificial intelligence, which has prompted an analysis covering both the legal environment as well as the economic and social impact, also from an ethical perspective. The discussion on the regulation of artificial intelligence is one of the most serious yet widely held at both European Union and Member State level. The literature expects legal solutions to guarantee security for fundamental rights, including privacy, in artificial intelligence systems. There is no doubt that personal data have been increasingly processed in recent years. It would be impossible for artificial intelligence to function without processing large amounts of data (both personal and non-personal). The main driving force behind the current development of artificial intelligence is advances in computing, but also the increasing availability of data. High-quality data are crucial to the effectiveness of many artificial intelligence systems, particularly when using techniques involving model training. The use of computers and artificial intelligence technology allows for an increase in the speed and efficiency of the actions taken, but also creates security risks for the data processed of an unprecedented magnitude. The proposed regulation in the field of artificial intelligence requires analysis in terms of its impact on the regulation on personal data protection. It is necessary to determine what the mutual relationship between these regulations is and what areas are particularly important in the personal data protection regulation for processing personal data in artificial intelligence systems. The adopted axis of considerations is a preliminary assessment of two issues: 1) what principles of data protection should be applied in particular during processing personal data in artificial intelligence systems, 2) what regulation on liability for personal data breaches is in such systems. The need to change the regulations regarding the rights and obligations of data subjects and entities processing personal data cannot be excluded. It is possible that changes will be required in the provisions regarding the assignment of liability for a breach of personal data protection processed in artificial intelligence systems. The research process in this case concerns the identification of areas in the field of personal data protection that are particularly important (and may require re-regulation) due to the introduction of the proposed legal regulation regarding artificial intelligence. The main question that the authors want to answer is how the European Union regulation against data protection breaches in artificial intelligence systems is shaping up. The answer to this question will include examples to illustrate the practical implications of these legal regulations.

Keywords: data protection law, personal data, AI law, personal data breach

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Authors: Aijing Luo, Zirui Xin, Yifeng Yuan

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Background: With the rapid development of the online health community, more and more patients or families are seeking health information on the Internet. Objective: This study aimed to discuss how to fully reveal the health information needs expressed by hypertensive patients in their questions in the online environment. Methods: This study randomly selected 1,000 text records from the question data of hypertensive patients from 2008 to 2018 collected from the website www.haodf.com and constructed a classification system through literature research and content analysis. This paper identified the background characteristics and questioning the intention of each hypertensive patient based on the patient’s question and used co-occurrence network analysis to explore the features of the health information needs of hypertensive patients. Results: The classification system for health information needs of patients with hypertension is composed of 9 parts: 355 kinds of drugs, 395 kinds of symptoms and signs, 545 kinds of tests and examinations , 526 kinds of demographic data, 80 kinds of diseases, 37 kinds of risk factors, 43 kinds of emotions, 6 kinds of lifestyles, 49 kinds of questions. The characteristics of the explored online health information needs of the hypertensive patients include: i)more than 49% of patients describe the features such as drugs, symptoms and signs, tests and examinations, demographic data, diseases, etc. ii) these groups are most concerned about treatment (77.8%), followed by diagnosis (32.3%); iii) 65.8% of hypertensive patients will ask doctors online several questions at the same time. 28.3% of the patients are very concerned about how to adjust the medication, and they will ask other treatment-related questions at the same time, including drug side effects, whether to take drugs, how to treat a disease, etc.; secondly, 17.6% of the patients will consult the doctors online about the causes of the clinical findings, including the relationship between the clinical findings and a disease, the treatment of a disease, medication, and examinations. Conclusion: In the online environment, the health information needs expressed by Chinese hypertensive patients to doctors are personalized; that is, patients with different background features express their questioning intentions to doctors. The classification system constructed in this study can guide health information service providers in the construction of online health resources, to help solve the problem of information asymmetry in communication between doctors and patients.

Keywords: online health community, health information needs, hypertensive patients, doctor-patient communication

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Authors: Akbar Rostamabadi, Adel Mazloumi, Abbas Rahimi Foroushani

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This study aimed to determine the Work Ability Index (WAI) and examine the influence of health dimensions and demographic variables on the work ability of Iranian farmers working in small farm enterprises. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 294 male farmers. The WAI and SF-36 questionnaires were used to determine work ability and health status. The effect of demographics variables on the work ability index was investigated with the independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA. Also, multiple linear regression analysis was used to test the association between the mean WAI score and the SF-36 scales. The mean WAI score was 35.1 (SD=10.6). One-way ANOVA revealed a significant relationship between the mean WAI and age. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that work ability was more influenced by physical scales of the health dimensions, such as physical function, role-physical, and general health, whereas a lower association was found for mental scales such as mental health. The average WAI was at a moderate work ability level for the sample population of farmers in this study. Based on the WAI guidelines, improvement of work ability and identification of factors affecting it should be considered a priority in interventional programs. Given the influence of health dimensions on WAI, any intervention program for preservation and promotion work ability among the studied farmers should be based on balancing and optimizing the physical and psychosocial work environments, with a special focus on reducing physical work load.

Keywords: farmers, SF-36, Work Ability Index (WAI), Iran

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Authors: Kaan Karaoglu, Raif Bayir

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In this study, a cartesian robot is developed to improve the performance and efficiency of wireless charging of electric vehicles. The cartesian robot has three axes, each of which moves linearly. Magnetic positioning is used to align the cartesian robot transmitter charging pad. There are two different wireless charging methods, static and dynamic, for charging electric vehicles. The current state of charge information (SOC State of Charge) and location information are received wirelessly from the electric vehicle. Based on this information, the power to be transmitted is determined, and the transmitter and receiver charging pads are aligned for maximum efficiency. With this study, a fully automated cartesian robot structure will be used to charge electric vehicles with the highest possible efficiency. With the wireless communication established between the electric vehicle and the charging station, the charging status will be monitored in real-time. The cartesian robot developed in this study is a fully automatic system that can be easily used in static wireless charging systems with vehicle-machine communication.

Keywords: electric vehicle, wireless charging systems, energy efficiency, cartesian robot, location detection, trajectory planning

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Authors: A. A. Betah

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This research was performed to evaluate the attitudes of rural women towards education, health and work outside the home. The study was based on a random sample of 147 rural women, Kafr-Rahmaniyah village was chosen for the study because its life expectancy at birth for females, education and percentage of females in the labor force, were the highest in the district. The study data were collected from rural female respondents, using a face-to-face questionnaire. In addition, the study estimated several factors like age, main occupation, family size, monthly household income, geographic cosmopolites, and degree of social participation for rural women respondents. Using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), data were analyzed by non-parametric statistical methods. The main finding in this study was a significant relationship between each of the previous variables and each of rural women’s attitudes toward education, health, and work outside home. The study concluded with some recommendations. The most important element is ensuring attention to rural women’s needs, requirements and rights via raising their health awareness, education and their contributions in their society.

Keywords: attitudes, education, health, rural women, work outside home

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Authors: Ciwang Teyra, A. H. Y. Lai

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Introduction: Indigenous LGBTQ individuals face with significant life stress such as racial and gender discrimination and microaggressions, which may lead to negative impacts of their mental health. Although studies relevant to Taiwanese indigenous LGBTQpeople gradually increase, most of them are primarily conceptual or qualitative in nature. This research aims to fulfill the gap by offering empirical quantitative evidence, especially investigating the impact of racial and gender microaggressions on mental health among Taiwanese indigenous LGBTQindividuals with an intersectional perspective, as well as examine whether social support can help them to cope with microaggressions. Methods: Participants were (n=200; mean age=29.51; Female=31%, Male=61%, Others=8%). A cross-sectional quantitative design was implemented using data collected in the year 2020. Standardised measurements was used, including Racial Microaggression Scale (10 items), Gender Microaggression Scale (9 items), Social Support Questionnaire-SF(6 items); Patient Health Questionnaire(9-item); and Generalised Anxiety Disorder(7-item). Covariates were age, gender, and perceived economic hardships. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed using Mplus 8.0 with the latent variables of depression and anxiety as outcomes. A main effect SEM model was first established (Model1).To test the moderation effects of perceived social support, an interaction effect model (Model 2) was created with interaction terms entered into Model1. Numerical integration was used with maximum likelihood estimation to estimate the interaction model. Results: Model fit statistics of the Model 1:X2(df)=1308.1 (795), p<.05; CFI/TLI=0.92/0.91; RMSEA=0.06; SRMR=0.06. For Model, the AIC and BIC values of Model 2 improved slightly compared to Model 1(AIC =15631 (Model1) vs. 15629 (Model2); BIC=16098 (Model1) vs. 16103 (Model2)). Model 2 was adopted as the final model. In main effect model 1, racialmicroaggressionand perceived social support were associated with depression and anxiety, but not sexual orientation microaggression(Indigenous microaggression: b = 0.27 for depression; b=0.38 for anxiety; Social support: b=-0.37 for depression; b=-0.34 for anxiety). Thus, an interaction term between social support and indigenous microaggression was added in Model 2. In the final Model 2, indigenous microaggression and perceived social support continues to be statistically significant predictors of both depression and anxiety. Social support moderated the effect of indigenous microaggression of depression (b=-0.22), but not anxiety. All covariates were not statistically significant. Implications: Results indicated that racial microaggressions have a significant impact on indigenous LGBTQ people’s mental health. Social support plays as a crucial role to buffer the negative impact of racial microaggression. To promote indigenous LGBTQ people’s wellbeing, it is important to consider how to support them to develop social support network systems.

Keywords: microaggressions, intersectionality, indigenous population, mental health, social support

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Authors: Adriano Mortada

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Human history is rife with conflict, and the question of refugee status determination and their rehabilitation has been up for debate since. Refugee Status Determination is the administrative or legal process by which UNHCR or governments determine whether a person seeking international protection or asylum can be identified as a refugee under international, regional, or national law. Refugee Status Determination is considered to be a vital process in aiding refugees’ realization of their rights under international law. One of the major reasons why the refugee status determination is considered an “issue”, and is one that is much debated upon annually, is the fact that the national bureaucratic systems are rigid and unbending. This is particularly concerning in the 21st century despite human advancement in policy and diplomacy, working in tandem with the United Nations and their charters and resolutions on human rights and dignity. The paper seeks to criticize the European member states' response to the refugee crisis and their inflexible and prejudiced bureaucratic systems when it comes to refugee status determination. The paper looks at multiple case studies as primary evidence and the alternate case studies where the system helped refugees, like those in Jordan, Pakistan, Turkey, and Lebanon. The main concern of the paper is to highlight the bias in the selected European systems, which do not stem from the Human Rights Charter but rather on the basis of geographical backgrounds, cultural and religious affiliations of those seeking refugee status or asylum in their respective countries. The paper hopes to not only create awareness about this issue but also provide a research background to advocacy programs to bring a change in the systems.

Keywords: refugee status determination, human rights, bureaucracy, United Nations, European Union

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Authors: H. Masaeli, R. Ziaei, F. Khoshnoudian

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Shock response analysis of the soil–structure systems induced by near–fault pulses is investigated. Vibration transmissibility of the soil–structure systems is evaluated by Shock Response Spectra (SRS). Medium–to–high rise buildings with different aspect ratios located on different soil types as well as different foundations with respect to vertical load bearing safety factors are studied. Two types of mathematical near–fault pulses, i.e. forward directivity and fling step, with different pulse periods as well as pulse amplitudes are selected as incident ground shock. Linear versus nonlinear Soil–Structure Interaction (SSI) condition are considered alternatively and the corresponding results are compared. The results show that nonlinear SSI is likely to amplify the acceleration responses when subjected to long–period incident pulses with normalized period exceeding a threshold. It is also shown that this threshold correlates with soil type, so that increased shear–wave velocity of the underlying soil makes the threshold period decrease.

Keywords: nonlinear soil–structure interaction, shock response spectrum, near–fault ground shock, rocking isolation

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Authors: Jesse D. Cano, Marlon J. Remedios

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Cuban tourism has developed so much in the last 30 years to the point of becoming one of the engines of the Cuban economy. With such a development, Cuban companies opting for e-tourism as a way to publicize their products and attract customers has also grown. Despite this fact, the majority of Cuban tourism-themed websites simply provide information on the different products and services they offer which results in many cases, in the user getting overwhelmed with the amount of information available which results in the user abandoning the search before he can find a product that fits his needs. Customization has been recognized as a critical factor for successful electronic tourism business and the use of recommender systems is the best approach to address the problem of personalization. This paper aims to outline a preliminary technique to obtain predictions about which products a particular user would give a better evaluation; these products would be those which the website would show in the first place. To achieve this, the theoretical elements of the Cuban tourism environment are discussed; recommendation systems and geographic information systems as tools for information representation are also discussed. Finally, for each structural component identified, we define a set of rules that allows obtaining an electronic tourism system that handles the personalization of the service provided effectively.

Keywords: geographic information system, technique, tourism products, recommendation

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Authors: S. Adhirai Subramaniyam, Paramjit Singh

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This paper presents major issues in cloud computing. The paper describes different cloud computing deployment models and cloud service models available in the field of cloud computing. The paper then concentrates on various issues in the field. The issues such as cloud compatibility, compliance of the cloud, standardizing cloud technology, monitoring while on the cloud and cloud security are described. The paper suggests solutions for these issues and concludes that hybrid cloud infrastructure is a real boon for organizations.

Keywords: cloud, cloud computing, mobile cloud computing, private cloud, public cloud, hybrid cloud, SAAS, PAAS, IAAS, cloud security

Procedia PDF Downloads 326