Search results for: after-school mathematics program

Authors: Myung-Soo Lee, Sun-Jin Jo, Kyoung-Sae Na, Joo-Eon Park

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Early intervention after a disaster is important for recovery of disaster victims and each country has its own professional mental health service system such as Disaster Psychiatric Assistant Team in Japan and Crisis Counseling Program in the USA. The purpose of this study was to determine key prior components of the Korean Disaster Psychiatric Assistant Team (K-DPAT) for building up Korean disaster mental health service system. We conducted an Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP) with disaster mental health experts using pairwise comparison questionnaire which compares the relative importance of the key components of Korean disaster mental health service system. Forty-one experts answered the first online survey, and among them, 36 responded to the second. Ten experts were participated in panel meeting and discussed the results of the survey and AHP process. Participants decided the relative importance of the Korean disaster mental health service system regarding initial professional intervention as follows. K-DPAT could be organized at a national level (43.0%) or regional level (40.0%). K-DPAT members should be managed (59.0%) and educated (52.1%) by national level than regional or local level. K-DPAT should be organized independent of the preexisting mental health system (70.1%). Funding for K-DPAT should be from the Ministry of Public Safety and the system could be managed by Ministry of Health (65.8%). Experts agreed K-DPAT leader is suitable for key decision maker for most types of disaster except infectious disease. We expect new model for disaster mental health services can improve insufficiency of the system such as fragmentation and decrease the unmet needs of early professional intervention for the disaster victims.

Keywords: analytic hierarchy process, decision making, disaster, DPAT, mental health services

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Authors: Ahmad Idris, Armaya`u Suleiman Labo, Ado Yusuf Abdulfatah, Murtala Umar

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Super pave is the short form of Superior Performing Asphalt Pavement and represents a basis for specifying component materials, asphalt mixture design and analysis, and pavement performance prediction. This new technology is the result of long research projects conducted by the strategic Highway Research program (SHRP) of the Federal Highway Administration. This research was aimed at examining the suitability of Aggregates found in Kano for used in super pave design method. Aggregates samples were collected from different sources in Kano Nigeria and their Engineering properties, as they relate to the SUPERPAVE design requirements were determined. The average result of Coarse Aggregate Angularity in Kano was found to be 87% and 86% of one fractured face and two or more fractured faces respectively with a standard of 80% and 85% respectively. Fine Aggregate Angularity average result was found to be 47% with a requirement of 45% minimum. A flat and elongated particle which was found to be 10% has a maximum criterion of 10%. Sand equivalent was found to be 51% with the criteria of 45% minimum. Strength tests were also carried out, and the results reflect the requirements of the standards. The tests include Impact value test, Aggregate crushing value and Aggregate Abrasion tests and the results are 27.5%, 26.7% and 13% respectively with a maximum criteria of 30%. Specific gravity was also carried out and the result was found to have an average value of 2.52 with a criterion of 2.6 to 2.9 and Water absorption was found to be 1.41% with maximum criteria of 0.6%. From the study, the result of the tests indicated that the aggregates properties have met the requirements of Super pave design method based on the specifications of ASTMD 5821, ASTM D 4791, AASHTO T176, AASHTO T33 and BS815.

Keywords: aggregates, construction, road design, super pave

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Authors: Pei-Ti Hsu, I-Ju Chen, Jeu-Jung Chen, Cheng-Fen Chang, Shiu-Yan Yang

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Taiwan now is an aging society Research on the elderly should not be confined to caring for seniors, but should also be focused on ways to improve health and the quality of life. Senior citizens who participate in volunteer services could become less lonely, have new growth opportunities, and regain a sense of accomplishment. Thus, the question of how to get the elderly to participate in volunteer service is worth exploring. Apply the Transtheoretical Model to understand stages of change in regular volunteer service and voluntary service behaviour among the seniors. 1525 adults over the age of 65 from the Renai district of Keelung City were interviewed. The research tool was a self-constructed questionnaire and individual interviews were conducted to collect data. Then the data was processed and analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 20 (Windows version) statistical software program. In the past six months, research subjects averaged 9.92 days of volunteer services. A majority of these elderly individuals had no intention to change their regular volunteer services. We discovered that during the maintenance stage, the self-efficacy for volunteer services was higher than during all other stages, but self-perceived barriers were less during the preparation stage and action stage. Self-perceived benefits were found to have an important predictive power for those with regular volunteer service behaviors in the previous stage, and self-efficacy was found to have an important predictive power for those with regular volunteer service behaviors in later stages. The research results support the conclusion that community nursing staff should group elders based on their regular volunteer services change stages and design appropriate behavioral change strategies.

Keywords: seniors, stages of change in regular volunteer services, volunteer service behavior, self-efficacy, self-perceived benefits

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Authors: Kim Dongwon, Yu Songjin

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This study identifies the business value of VOC (Voice of Customer) on the business. Precisely, we intend to demonstrate how much negative and positive sentiment of VOC has an influence on car sales market share in the unites states. We extract 7 emotions such as sadness, shame, anger, fear, frustration, delight and satisfaction from the VOC data, 23,204 pieces of opinions, that had been posted on car-related on-line community from 2007 to 2009(a part of data collection from 2007 to 2015), and intend to clarify the correlation between negative and positive sentimental keywords and contribution to market share. In order to develop a lexicon for each category of negative and positive sentiment, we took advantage of Corpus program, Antconc 3.4.1.w and on-line sentimental data, SentiWordNet and identified the part of speech(POS) information of words in the customers' opinion by using a part-of-speech tagging function provided by TextAnalysisOnline. For the purpose of this present study, a total of 45,741 pieces of customers' opinions of 28 car manufacturing companies had been collected including titles and status information. We conducted an experiment to examine whether the inclusion, frequency and intensity of terms with negative and positive emotions in each category affect the adoption of customer opinions for vehicle organizations' market share. In the experiment, we statistically verified that there is correlation between customer ideas containing negative and positive emotions and variation of marker share. Particularly, "Anger," a domain of negative domains, is significantly influential to car sales market share. The domain "Delight" and "Satisfaction" increased in proportion to growth of market share.

Keywords: data mining, opinion mining, sentiment analysis, VOC

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Authors: Emmanuel Mkambankhani, Tiwonge Manda

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Software platform architecture includes system components, their relationships, and design, as well as evolution principles. Software architecture and documentation affect a platform's customizability and openness to external innovators, thus affecting developer productivity. Malawi Point of Care (POC) Electronic Medical Records System (EMRS) follows some architectural design standards, but it lacks third-party innovators and is difficult to customize as compared to CommCare and District Health Information System 2 (DHIS2). Improving software architecture and documentation for the Malawi POC will increase productivity and third-party contributions. A conceptual framework based on Generativity and Boundary Resource Model (BRM) was used to compare the three platforms. Interviews, observations, and document analysis were used to collect primary and secondary data. Themes were found by analyzing qualitative and quantitative data, which led to the following results. Configurable, flexible, and cross-platform software platforms and the availability of interfaces (Boundary Resources) that let internal and external developers interact with the platform's core functionality, hence boosting developer productivity. Furthermore, documentation increases developer productivity, while its absence inhibits the use of resources. The study suggests that the architecture and openness of the Malawi POC EMR software platform will be improved by standardizing web application program interfaces (APIs) and making interfaces that can be changed by the user. In addition, increasing the availability of documentation and training will improve the use of boundary resources, thus improving internal and third-party development productivity.

Keywords: health systems, configurable platforms, software architecture, software documentation, software development productivity

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Authors: Nisha Thapa, Ram Prasad Mainali, Prakriti Chand

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Broadleaf mustard is a commercialized leafy vegetable of Nepal. However, its utilization is hindered in terms of production and productivity due to the high intensity of insects, pests, and diseases causing great loss. The plant protection part of the crop’s disease and damage intensity has not been studied much from research perspectives in Nepal. The research aimed to evaluate broadleaf mustard genotypes for resistance against different diseases. A total of 35 native genotypes of broadleaf mustard were screened at weekly intervals by scoring the plants for ten weeks. Five different diseases, such as Rhizoctonia root rot, Alternaria blight, black rot, turnip mosaic virus disease, and white rust, were reported from the broad leaf mustard genotypes. Out of 35 genotypes, 23 genotypes were found with very high Rhizoctonia Root Rot severity, whereas 8 genotypes showed very high Alternaria blight severity. Likewise, 3 genotypes were found with high Black rot severity, and 1 genotype was found with very high Turnip mosaic virus disease incidence. Similarly, 2 genotypes were found to have very high White rust severity. Among the disease of national importance, Rhizoctonia root rot was found to be the most severe disease with the greatest loss. Broadleaf mustard genotypes like Rato Rayo, CO 1002, and CO 11007 showed average to the high level of field resistance; therefore, these genotypes should be used, conserved, and stored in a mustard improvement program as the disease resistance quality or susceptibility of these genotypes can be helpful for seed producing farmers, companies and other stakeholders through varietal improvement and developmental works that further aids in sustainable disease management of the vegetable.

Keywords: genotype, disease resistance, Rhizoctonia root rot severity, varietal improvement

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Authors: Rostam Abdi, Ahmad Abdi, Zahra Vahedi Langrodi

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The aim of this study is to investigate four-week resistance exercise and milk supplement on NT-proBNP and plasma troponin I of male students. Concerning the methodology of the study, 21 senior high school students of Ardebil city were selected. The selected subjects were randomly shared in three groups of control, exercise- water and exercise- milk. The exercise program includes resistance exercise for a big muscle group. The subjects of control group rested during the study and did not participate in any training. The subjects of exercise- water experimental group immediately received 400 cc water after exercise and exercise- milk group immediately received 400 cc low fat milk. Control-water groups consumed the same amount of water. 48 hours before and after the last exercise session, the blood sample of the subjects were taken for measuring the variables. NT-proBNP and Troponin I concentrations were measured by ELISA. For data analysis, one-way variance analysis test, correlated t-test and Bonferroni post hoc test were used. The significant difference of p ≤ 0.05 was accepted. Resistance training along with milk consumption leads to increase of plasma NT-proBNP, however; this increase has not reached the significant level. Furthermore, meaningful increase was observed in plasma NT–proBNP in exercise group between pretest and posttest values. Furthermore, no meaningful difference was observed between groups in terms of Troponin I after milk consumption. It seems that endurance exercises lead to change in the structure of heart muscle and is along with an increase of NT-proBNP. Furthermore, there is the possibility that milk consumption can lead to release of heart troponin I. The mechanism through which protein supplements have been put on heart troponin I is unknown and requires more research.

Keywords: resistance exercise, milk, NT-proBNP, Troponin I

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Authors: Pui Hong Chung, Wing Chi Ho, Jun Li, Cyrus Leung, Ek Yeoh

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Background: Cigarette smoking is associated with poor tuberculosis (TB) outcomes in terms of progression of active TB, relapse of TB and TB-related mortality, but the association with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is unclear. The systematic review conducted aimed at studying the association between active smoking and LTBI, and likelihood of dose-response relationship. Methods: Two independent reviewers searched three electronic databases comprising PudMed, Medline by EBSCOHOST, ExcerptaMedica Database (EMBASE), from inception up to 31st Dec 2015 for studies reporting data on current smoking and the LTBI with tuberculin skin test (TST) or interferon-γ release assays (IGRAs) results, comparing the odds ratios (ORs) of outcome measure of TST or IGRAs among current smokers with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Seven studies were identified, including six cross-sectional studies and one longitudinal cohort study. The outcome measures from three studies were in TST, three studies in IGRAs and one for both tests. For TST, OR ranging from 1.39 to 3.40 (95% CI) with all studies shown positive association between cigarette smoking and LTBI. For IGRAs, OR ranging from 0.47 to 1.89 (95% CI) with one study shown the negative association that might be related to impaired interferon-gamma production in immunosuppressive persons. One identified study demonstrated positive dose-response relationship in TST result. Conclusions: Cigarette smoking is likely to be a risk factor of LTBI. There is the important implication for TB and tobacco control program to halt TB by empowering public health policy. Further study is also needed to provide more evidence of the dose-response model/relationship.

Keywords: latent tuberculosis infection, systematic review, active smoking, model

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Authors: Erik Jon Byker

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Government leaders and education policymakers have increasingly focused on ways that teachers can better prepare children for life in a global society. Such preparation includes the development of global citizenship among young people. Yet, scholars point out that many elementary school educators and teacher candidates have limited awareness of being global citizens in an interdependent world. More and more teacher preparation programs aim to integrate global citizenship in their program plans and use educational technology to help develop global citizenship. Many non-governmental organizations (NGOs), like the Asia Society and Partnership for 21st Century Skills, have led the way in creating global citizenship frameworks that prepare teachers and students with global competencies. The development of global citizenship among teachers needs to begin even before teachers sign their first contract. Global citizenship development should start when teacher candidates are being prepared to teach. Using the Critical Cosmopolitan Theory as a conceptual lens, this paper examines the integration of global citizenship curricula in teacher education programs in North Carolina and Texas in the United States of America. Using a case study methodology, the paper describes and compares the teacher candidates’ (n=136) perceptions of the global citizenship curricula delivered with the aid of educational technology. The study found that after participating in the global citizenship curricula, participants: (1) made conceptual leaps in their global citizenship definitions; (2) developed a stronger commitment for their future role as educators in developing global citizens; and (3) were more willing to take action for social justice-related issues in education. In sum, this paper discusses empirical findings related to the ways to integrate educational technology in preparing globally competent teachers.

Keywords: educational technology, global education, intercultural awareness, teacher candidates

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Authors: Kim Byeong-Gon, Lee Pureun-Haneul, Hong Jisu, Jang An-Soo

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Background: Diesel exhaust particles (DEPs) lead to trigger airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and airway dysfunction or inflammation in respiratory systems. Whether tight junction protein changes can contribute to development or exacerbations of airway diseases remain to be clarified. Objective: The aim of this study was to observe the effect of DEP on tight junction proteins in one airway both nose and lung in a mouse model. Methods: Mice were treated with saline (Sham) and exposed to 100 μg/m³ DEPs 1 hour a day for 5 days a week for 4 weeks and 8 weeks in a closed-system chamber attached to a ultrasonic nebulizer. Airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) was measured and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, nasal lavage (NAL) fluid, lung and nasal tissue was collected. The effects of DEP on tight junction proteins were estimated using western blot, immunohistochemical in lung and nasal tissue. Results: Airway hyperresponsiveness and number of inflammatory cells were higher in DEP exposure group than in control group, and were higher in 4 and 8 weeks model than in control group. The expression of tight junction proteins CLND4, -5, and -17 in both lung and nasal tissue were significantly increased in DEP exposure group than in the control group. Conclusion: These results suggesting that CLDN4, -5 and -17 may be involved in the airway both nose and lung, suggesting that air pollutants cause to disruption of epithelial and endothelial cell barriers. Acknowledgment: This research was supported by Korea Ministry of Environment (MOE) as 'The Environmental Health Action Program' (2016001360009) and Soonchunhyang University Research Fund.

Keywords: diesel exhaust particles, air pollutant, tight junction, Claudin, Airway inflammation

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Authors: R. Saravanakumar, A. Siva, R. Banupriya, K. Balasubramanian

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Slurry infiltrated fibrous concrete (SIFCON) is one of the recently developed construction material that can be considered as a special type of high performance fibre reinforced concrete (HPFRC) with higher fibre content. Fibre reinforced concrete is essentially a composite material in which fibres out of waste having higher modulus of elasticity. SIFCON is a special type of high fibrous concrete and it is having a high cementious content and sand. The matrix usually consists of cement-sand slurry or fluent mortar. The construction industry is in need of finding cost effective materials for increasing the strength of concrete structures hence an endeavour has been made in the present investigations to study the influence of addition of waste material like Lathe waste from workshop at different dosages to the total weight of concrete. The waste of steel scrap material which is available from the lathe is used as a steel fibre for innovative construction industry. To get sustainable and environmental benefits, lathe scrap as recycled fibres with concrete are likely to be used. An experimental program was carried out to investigate the flexural behavior of Slurry infiltrated fibrous concrete (SIFCON) in which the fibres having an aspect ratio of 100 is used. The investigations were done using M25 mix and tests were carried out as per recommended procedures by appropriate codes. SIFCON specimens with 8%, 10% and 12% volume of fraction fibres are used in this study. Test results were presented in comparison of SIFCON with and without conventional steel reinforcement. The load carrying capacity of SIFCON specimen is higher than conventional concrete and it also reduced crack width. In the SIFCON specimen less number of cracks as compared with conventional concrete.

Keywords: SIFCON, lathe waste, RCC, fibre volume, flexural behaviour

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Authors: Nouira Mariem, Ennigrou Samir

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Background and aims: Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) represent a major public health problem worldwide. They represent one of the most serious adverse events in health care. The objectives of our study were to estimate the prevalence of HAI at the Charles Nicolle Hospital (CNH) and to identify the main associated factors as well as to estimate the frequency of antibiotic use. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study at the CNH with a unique passage per department (October-December 2018). All patients present at the wards for more than 48 hours were included. All patients from outpatient consultations, emergency, and dialysis departments were not included. The site definitions of infections proposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were used. Only clinically and/or microbiologically confirmed active HAIs were included. Results: A total of 318 patients were included, with a mean age of 52 years and a sex ratio (female/male) of 1.05. A total of 41 patients had one or more active HAIs, corresponding to a prevalence of 13.1% (95% CI: 9.3%-16.9%). The most frequent site infections were urinary tract infections and pneumonia. Multivariate analysis among adult patients (>=18 years) (n=261) revealed that infection on admission (p=0.01), alcoholism (p=0.01), high blood pressure (p=0.008), having at least one invasive device inserted (p=0.004), and history of recent surgery (p=0.03), increased the risk of HAIs significantly. More than 1 of 3 patients (35.4%) were under antibiotics on the day of the survey, of which more than half (57.4%) were under two or more types of antibiotics. Conclusion: The prevalence of HAIs and antibiotic prescriptions at the CNH were considerably high. An infection prevention and control committee, as well as the development of an antibiotic stewardship program with continuous monitoring using repeated prevalence surveys, must be implemented to limit the frequency of these infections effectively.

Keywords: prevalence, healthcare associated infection, antibiotic, Tunisia

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Authors: Wen-Te Chang, Yun-Hsin Pai

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Purpose: Based on the interdisciplinary of lower grade Elementary School with the integration of STEAM concept, related wooden toy and pedagogy plans were developed and evaluated. The research goal was to benefit elementary school education. Design/methodology/approach: The subjects were teachers from two primary school teachers and students from the department of design of universities in Taipei. Amount of 103participants (Male: 34, Female: 69) were invited to participate in the research. The research tools are “STEAM toy design” and “questionnaire of STEAM toy Pedagogy plan.” The STEAM toy pedagogy plans were evaluated after the activity of “The interdisciplinary literacy discipline guiding study program--STEAM wooden workshop,” Finding/results: The study results: (1) As factors analyzing of the questionnaire indicated the percentage on the major factors were cognition teaching 68.61%, affection 80.18% and technique 80.14%, with α=.936 of validity. The assessment tools were proved to be valid for STEAM pedagogy plan evaluation; (2) The analysis of the questionnaires investigation confirmed that the main effect of the teaching factors was not significant (affection = technique = cognition); however, the interaction between STEAM factors revealed to be significant (F (8, 1164) =5.51, p < .01); (3) The main effect of the six pedagogy plans was significant (climbing toy > bird toy = gondola toy > frog castanets > train toy > balancing toy), and an interactive effect between STEAM factors also reached a significant level, (F (8, 1164) =5.51, p < .01), especially on the artistic (A/ Art) aspect. Originality/value: The main achievement of research: (1) A pedagogy plan evaluation was successfully developed. (2) The interactive effect between the STEAM and the teaching factors reached a significant level. (3) An interactive effect between the STEAM factors and the pedagogy plans reached a significant level too.

Keywords: STEAM, toy design, pedagogy plans, evaluation

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Authors: Zerubabel Mihret

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Background: Work-related stress is a pattern of reactions to work demands unmatched by worker’s knowledge, skills, or abilities. Healthcare institutions are considered high-risk and intensive work areas for work-related stress. However, there is the nonexistence of clear and strong data about the magnitude of work-related stress on sanitation workers in hospitals in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to determine the magnitude of work-related stress among sanitation workers in public hospitals during COVID-19 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: Institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2021 to February 2022 among 494 sanitation workers who were selected from 4 hospitals. HSE (Health and Safety Executive of UK) standard data collection tool was used, and an interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data using KOBO collect application. The collected data were cleaned and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Both binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses were done to identify important factors having an association with work-related stress. Variables with p-value ≤ 0.25 in the bivariate analysis were entered into the multivariable logistic regression model. A statistically significant level was declared at a p-value ≤ 0.05. Results: This study revealed that the magnitude of work-related stress among sanitation workers was 49.2% (95% CI 45-54). Significant proportions (72.7%) of sanitation workers were dissatisfied with their current job. Sex, age, experience, and chewing khat were significantly associated with work-related stress. Conclusion: Work-related stress is significantly high among sanitation workers. Sex, age, experience, and chewing khat were identified as factors associated with work-related stress. Intervention program focusing on the prevention and control of stress is desired by hospitals.

Keywords: work-related stress, sanitation workers, Likert scale, public hospitals, Ethiopia

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Authors: Eun Hui Bae, Sang Yeob Lim, Bongseong Kim, Tae Ryom Oh, Su Hyun Song, Sang Heon Suh, Hong Sang Choi, Eun Mi Yang, Chang Seong Kim, Seong Kwon Ma, Kyung-Do Han, Soo Wan Kim

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Background: Recent hypertension guidelines have recommended lower blood pressure (BP) targets in high-risk patients. However, there are no specific guidelines based on age or systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP, respectively). We aimed to assess the effects of age-related BP on the development of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in patients with diabetes. Methods: A total of 2,563,870 patients with DM aged >20 years were selected from the Korean National Health Screening Program from 2009 to 2012 and followed up until the end of 2019. Participants were categorized into age and BP groups, and the hazard ratios (HRs) for ESRD were calculated. Results: During a median follow-up of 7.15 years, the incidence rates of ESRD increased with increasing SBP and DBP. The HR for ESRD was the highest in patients younger than 40 years of age with DBP ≥ 100 mmHg. The effect of SBP and DBP on ESRD development was attenuated with age (interaction p-value was <0.0001 for age and SBP and 0.0022 for age and DBP). The subgroup analysis for sex, anti-hypertension medication, and history of chronic kidney disease (CKD) showed higher HRs for ESRD among males younger than 40 years, not taking anti-hypertension medications and CKD compared to those among females older than 40 years, anti-hypertension medication and non-CKD groups. Conclusions: Higher SBP and DBP increase the risk of developing ESRD in patients with diabetes, and in particular, younger individuals face greater risk. Therefore, intensive BP management is warranted in younger patients to prevent ESRD.

Keywords: hypertension, young adult, end-stage renal disease, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, blood pressure

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Authors: Vagolu S. Krishna, Shan Zheng, Estharla M. Rekha, Luke W. Guddat, Dharmarajan Sriram

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Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major threat to human health. This due to the fact that current drug treatments are less than optimal as well as the rising occurrence of multi drug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant strains of the etiological agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mt). Given the wide-spread significance of this disease, we have undertaken a design and evaluation program to discover new anti-TB drug leads. Here, our attention is focused on ketol-acid reductoisomerase (KARI), the second enzyme in the branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis pathway. Importantly, this enzyme is present in bacteria but not in humans, making it an attractive proposition for drug discovery. In the present work, we used high-throughput virtual screening to identify seventeen potential inhibitors of KARI using the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in-house database. Compounds were selected based on high docking scores, which were assigned as the result of favourable interactions between the compound and the active site of KARI. The Ki values for two leads, compounds 14 and 16 are 3.71 and 3.06 µM, respectively for Mt KARI. To assess the mode of binding, 100 ns molecular dynamics simulations for these two compounds in association with Mt KARI were performed and showed that the complex was stable with an average RMSD of less than 2.5 Å for all atoms. Compound 16 showed an MIC of 2.06 ± 0.91 µM and a 1.9 fold logarithmic reduction in the growth of Mt in an infected macrophage model. The two compounds exhibited low toxicity against murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cell lines. Thus, both compounds are promising candidates for development as an anti-TB drug leads.

Keywords: ketol-acid reductoisomerase, macrophage, molecular docking and dynamics, tuberculosis

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Authors: Mulu G. Gencha, Gebremedhin Simon, Menna Olango

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This study was conducted at Hawassa University (HwU) in the Southern Nation Nationalities Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS) of Ethiopia. The prime concern of this study was to examine the writing performances of experimental and control group students, perception of experimental group students, and subject instructors. The course was blended learning (BL). Blended learning is a hybrid of classroom and on-line learning. Participants were eighty students from the School of Computer Science. Forty students attended the BL delivery involved using Face-to-Face (FTF) and campus-based online instruction. All instructors, fifty, of School of Language and Communication Studies along with 10 FGD members participated in the study. The experimental group went to the computer lab two times a week for four months, March-June, 2012, using the local area network (LAN), and software (MOODLE) writing program. On the other hand, the control group, forty students, took the FTF writing course five times a week for four months in similar academic calendar. The three instruments, the attitude questionnaire, tests and FGD were designed to identify views of students, instructors, and FGD participants on BL. At the end of the study, students’ final course scores were evaluated. Data were analyzed using independent samples t-tests. A statistically, significant difference was found between the FTF and BL (p<0.05). The analysis showed that the BL group was more successful than the conventional group. Besides, both instructors and students had positive attitude towards BL. The final section of the thesis showed the potential benefits and challenges, considering the pedagogical implications for the BL, and recommended possible avenues for further works.

Keywords: blended learning, computer attitudes, computer usefulness, computer liking, computer confidence, computer phobia

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Authors: Marjorie Miguel

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Globalization offers better career opportunities hence demands more competent professionals efficient for the job. With the transformation of the world industry from competition to collaboration coupled with the rapid development in the field of science and technology, engineers need not only to be technically proficient, but also multilingual-skilled: two characteristics that a global engineer possesses. English often serves as the global language between people from different cultures being the medium mostly used in international business. Ironically, most universities worldwide adapt engineering curriculum heavily built around the language of mathematics not realizing that the goal of an engineer is not only to create and design, but more importantly to promote his creations and designs to the general public through effective communication. This premise led to some developments in the teaching process of English subjects in the tertiary level which include the integration of the technical knowledge related to the area of specialization of the students in the English subjects that they are taking. This is also known as English for Specific Purposes. This study focused on the development of English for Specific Purposes-Based Instructional Materials for Engineering Students of Bulacan State University (BulSU). The materials were tailor-made in which the contents and structure were designed to meet the specific needs of the students as well as the industry. Based on the needs analysis, the needs of the students and the industry were determined to make the study descriptive in nature. The major respondents included fifty engineering students and ten professional engineers from selected institutions. The needs analysis was done and the results showed the common writing difficulties of the students and the writing skills needed among the engineers in the industry. The topics in the instructional materials were established after the needs analysis was conducted. Simple statistical treatment including frequency distribution, percentages, mean, standard deviation, and weighted mean were used. The findings showed that the greatest number of the respondents had an average proficiency rating in writing, and the much-needed skills that must be developed by the engineers are directly related to the preparation and presentation of technical reports about their projects, as well as to the different communications they transmit to their colleagues and superiors. The researcher undertook the following phases in the development of the instructional materials: a design phase, development phase, and evaluation phase. Evaluations are given by some college instructors about the instructional materials generally helped in its usefulness and significance making the study beneficial not only as a career enhancer for BulSU engineering students, but also creating the university one of the educational institutions ready for the new millennium.

Keywords: English for specific purposes, instructional materials, needs analysis, write (right) job description

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Authors: Carolina Aparicio-Fernández, Alejandro Vilar Abad, Mar Cañada Soriano, Jose-Luis Vivancos

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The building sector is responsible for 40% of the total energy consumption in the European Union (EU). Thus, implementation of strategies for quantifying and reducing buildings energy consumption is indispensable for reaching the EU’s carbon neutrality and energy efficiency goals. Each Member State has transposed the European Directives according to its own peculiarities: existing technical legislation, constructive solutions, climatic zones, etc. Therefore, in accordance with the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, Member States have developed different Energy Performance Certificate schemes, using proposed energy simulation software-tool for each national or regional area. Energy Performance Certificates provide a powerful and comprehensive information to predict, analyze and improve the energy demand of new and existing buildings. Energy simulation software and databases allow a better understanding of the current constructive reality of the European building stock. However, Energy Performance Certificates still have to face several issues to consider them as a reliable and global source of information since different calculation tools are used that do not allow the connection between them. In this document, TRNSYS (TRaNsient System Simulation program) software is used to calculate the energy demand of a building, and it is compared with the energy labeling obtained with Spanish Official software-tools. We demonstrate the possibility of using not official software-tools to calculate the Energy Performance Certificate. Thus, this approach could be used throughout the EU and compare the results in all possible cases proposed by the EU Member States. To implement the simulations, an isolated single-family house with different construction solutions is considered. The results are obtained for every climatic zone of the Spanish Technical Building Code.

Keywords: energy demand, energy performance certificate EPBD, trnsys, buildings

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Authors: Allen Seylani

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Lysosome-dependent autophagy is a nutrient-deprivation-induced evolutionarily conserved intracellular recycling program that sequestrates intracellular cargo into autophagosomes (AP), which then fuse with lysosomes to form autolysosomes (ALs) for cargo digestion. To restore free lysosomes, autophagic lysosome reformation (ALR) is initiated by extrusion of tubular structures from autolysosomes at the final stage of autophagy, in a process called lysosomal tubulation (LT). This project aimed to investigate the molecular mechanism of GCN5L1 in LT and the following lysosomal signaling. GCN5L1 belongs to the BORC multiprotein complexes and is involved in controlling lysosomal trafficking; however, the effect of GCN5L1 on lysosome tubulation remains largely unknown. Genetic ablation of GCN5L1 in the mouse primary hepatocytes showed dramatically increased autolysosomes (ALs), decreased lysosome regeneration and absence of lysosomal tubulation. This phenotype suggests the possibility of disruption in lysosome tubulation, which results in the disturbance of the overall lysosome homeostasis. The formation of tubulars from ALs requires kinesin motor protein KIF5B. Immunoprecipitation was employed and confirmed the interaction of GCN5L1 with the ARL8B-KIF5B complex, which recruited KIF5B to ALs. At the same time, GCN5L1 interacted with WHAMM, which promotes the actin nucleation factor, which brings actin cytoskeleton to ALs and initiates LT. Furthermore, impaired LT in GCN5L1 deficient hepatocytes was restored by overexpression of GCN5L1, and this rescue effect was attenuated by knockdown of KIF5B. Additionally, lysosomal mTORC1 activity was upregulated in GCN5L1-/- hepatocytes, while inhibition of mTORC1 abrogated the GCN5L1 mediated rescue of LT in knockout hepatocytes. Altogether these findings revealed a novel mechanism of ALR, in which a simultaneous interaction of GCN5L1 with KIF5B and WHAMM is required for LT and downstream mTORC1 signaling.

Keywords: autophagy, autolysosome, GCN5L1, lysosome

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Authors: R. Barros, J. Azevedo, P. Padrão, M. Gregório, I. Pádua, C. Almeida, C. Rodrigues, P. Fontes, A. Coelho

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Recent evidence shows a positive association between nutritional literacy and healthy eating. Traditional nutrition education strategies for childhood obesity prevention have shown weak effect. The Nutriscience project aims to create and evaluate an innovative and multidisciplinary strategy for promoting effective and accessible nutritional information to children, their families, and educators. Nutriscience is a one-year prospective follow-up evaluation study including pre-school children (3-5 y), who attend national schools’ network (29). The project is structured around a web-based intervention, using an on-line interactive platform, and focus on increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, and reducing sugar and salt intake. The platform acts as a social network where educational materials, games, and nutritional challenges are proposed in a gamification approach that promotes family and community social ties. A nutrition Massive Online Open Course is developed for educators, and a national healthy culinary contest will be promoted on TV channel. A parental self-reported questionnaire assessing sociodemographic and nutritional literacy (knowledge, attitudes, skills) is administered (baseline and end of the intervention). We expect that results on nutritional literacy from the presented strategy intervention will give us important information about the best practices for health intervention with kindergarten families. This intervention program using a digital interactive platform could be an educational tool easily adapted and disseminated for childhood obesity prevention.

Keywords: childhood obesity, educational tool, nutritional literacy, web-based intervention

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Authors: Javier Comes Fayos, Isabel RodríGuez Moreno, Sara Bressanutti, Marisol Lila, Angel Romero MartíNez, Luis Moya Albiol

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Given the great impact produced by gender-based violence, its comprehensive approach seems essential. Consequently, research has focused on risk factors for violent behaviour, linking various psychosocial variables, as well as cognitive and neuropsychological deficits with the aggressors. However, studies on affective processing are scarce, so the present study investigates possible emotional alterations in men convicted of gender violence. The participants were 51 aggressors, who attended the CONTEXTO program with sentences of less than two years, and 47 men with no history of violence. The sample did not differ in age, socioeconomic level, education, or alcohol and other substances consumption. Anger, alexithymia and facial recognition of other people´s emotions were assessed through the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI-2), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and Reading the mind in the eyes (REM), respectively. Men convicted of gender-based violence showed higher scores on the anger trait and temperament dimensions, as well as on the anger expression index. They also scored higher on alexithymia and in the identification and emotional expression subscales. In addition, they showed greater difficulties in the facial recognition of emotions by having a lower score in the REM. These results seem to show difficulties in different affective areas in men condemned for gender violence. The deficits are reflected in greater difficulty in identifying and expressing emotions, in processing anger and in recognizing the emotions of others. All these difficulties have been related to the use of violent behavior. Consequently, it is essential and necessary to include emotional regulation in intervention programs for men who have been convicted of gender-based violence.

Keywords: alexithymia, anger, emotional processing, emotional recognition, empathy, intimate partner violence

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Authors: Jui-Chen Huang

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The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of telecare on preventing and delaying the quality of disability care in elderly people with portable comfort Bluetooth brainwave devices with remote healthcare functions. Through the teaching videos and remotely teaching the elderly, which had ever learned the care courses of the prevent and delay disability, these elderly did muscle strength training. Then this paper explores the effect of training with the data by SPSS 18.0 statistical software. The data is collected with pre-test, post-test and analyze data from the measure of the Bluetooth brain wave equipment including the pressure index, relaxation index, attention and fatigue index of the elderly. In this study, 30 elderly people who had taken preventive and delayed disability care courses were studied to explore the effect of their care quality improvement. The results showed that the pressure index, relaxation index, attention, and fatigue index of the elderly had statistically significant differences in two months. It can be seen that elderly people who have been treated to prevent and delay disability care courses can significantly improve their care quality if they continue to receive intensive training to prevent and delay disability through remote mode. This telecare is applied to the elderly program that has been used to prevent and delay disability care courses. It is worth continuing to promote, and it is recommended that follow-up studies be conducted in a longer-term manner to explore long-term benefits. It can solve the current insufficiency of long-term care resources, but the demand is urgent.

Keywords: telecare, bluetooth brainwave equipment, prevention and delay of disability, the elderly, care quality

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Authors: Miyako Oulevey, David Lavallee, Naohiko Kohtake

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Retirement from sport can be stressful to athletes for many reasons. Accordingly, it is necessary to match coping strategies depending on the stressors. One of the athlete career assistance programs for Japanese top athletes in Japan, the Japan Olympic Committee Career Academy (JCA), has focused on the service contents regarding occupational supports which can be said to cope with financial and occupational stress; however, other supports such as psychological support were unclear due to the lack of psychological professionals in the JCA. Tailoring the program, it is important to match the needs of the athletes at athletic retirement with the service contents. Japanese Olympic athletes have been found to retire for different reasons. Especially female athletes who competed in the Summer Olympic Games were found to retire with psychological reasons. The purpose of this research was to investigate the types of stressors Japanese female athletes experience as a result of athletic retirement. As part of the study, 44 female retired athletes from 13 competitive sports completed an open-ended questionnaire. The KJ method was used to analyze stress experienced as a result of retirement. As a result, nine conceptualized stressors were aggregated such as “Conflict with athletic identity”, “Desire to live as an athlete”, and “Career plan after retirement”. In order to match the coping strategies according to the stressors, each stressor was classified with the four types of adjustments; psychological, social, financial, and occupational changes. As a result, the stressor relating to psychological adjustment accounted for 69.0% of coping-related needs, the financial and occupational adjustment was 21.8%, and social adjustment was 9.2%. In conclusion, coping strategies according to the stressors are suggested.

Keywords: athletic retirement, coping, female athlete, stress

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Authors: José Batista de Souza Neto

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This research project has as its theme the implementation of public policies to support micro and small businesses (MSEs). The research problem defined was how public policies for access to markets that drive the entrepreneurial ecosystem of MSEs are implemented. The general objective of this research is to understand the process of implementing a public policy to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem of MSEs by the Support Service for Micro and Small Enterprises of the State of São Paulo (SEBRAESP). Public policies are constituent elements of entrepreneurship ecosystems that influence the creation and development of ventures from the action of the entrepreneur. At the end of the research, it is expected to achieve the results for the following specific objectives: (a) understand how the entrepreneurial ecosystem of MSEs is constituted; (b) understand how market access public policies for MSEs are designed and implemented; (c) understand SEBRAE's role in the entrepreneurship ecosystem; and (d) offer an action plan and monitor its execution up to march, 2023. The field research will be conducted based on Action Research, with a qualitative and longitudinal approach to the data. Data collection will be based on narratives produced since 2019 when the decision to implement Comércio Brasil program, a public policy focused on generating market access for 4280 MSEs yearly, was made. The narratives will be analyzed by the method of document analysis and narrative analysis. It is expected that the research will consolidate the relevance of public policies to market access for MSEs and the role of SEBRAE as a protagonist in the implementation of these public policies in the entrepreneurship ecosystem will be demonstrated. Action research is recognized as an intervention method, it is expected that this research will corroborate its role in supporting management processes.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship ecosystem, public policies, SEBRAE, action research

Procedia PDF Downloads 187

Authors: Orhan Akınoğlu, Arif Çömek, Ersin Elmacı, Tuğba Gündoğdu

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The concept map is known to be a powerful tool to organize the ideas and concepts of an individuals’ mind. This tool is a kind of visual map that illustrates the relationships between the concepts of a certain subject. The effect of concept mapping on cognitive and affective qualities is one of the research topics among educational researchers for last decades. We educators want to utilize it both as an instructional tool or an assessment tool in classes. For that reason, this study aimed to determine the effect of concept mapping as a learning strategy in science classes on students’ academic achievement and attitude. The research employed a randomized pre-test post-test control group design. Data collected from 60 sixth grade students participated in the study from a randomly selected primary school in Turkey. Sixth-grade classes of the school were analyzed according to students’ academic achievement, science attitude, gender, mathematics, science courses grades, and their GPAs before the implementation. Two of the classes found to be equivalent (t=0,983, p>0,05) and one of them was defined as experimental and the other one control group randomly. During a 5-weeks period, the experimental group students (N=30) used the paper-based concept mapping method while the control group students (N=30) were taught with the traditional approach according to the science and technology education curriculum for light and sound subject. Both groups were taught by the same teacher who is experienced using concept mapping in science classes. Before the implementation, the teacher explained the theory of the concept maps and showed how to create paper-based concept mapping individually to the experimental group students for two hours. Then for two following hours she asked them to create some concept maps related to their former science subjects and gave them feedback by reviewing their concept maps to be sure that they can create during the implementation. The data were collected by science achievement test, science attitude scale and personal information form. Science achievement test and science attitude scale were implemented as pre-test and post-test while personal information form was implemented just as once. The reliability coefficient of the achievement test was KR20=0,76 and Cronbach’s Alpha of the attitude scale was 0,89. SPSS statistical software was used to analyze the data. According to the results, there was a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control group for academic achievement but not for attitude. The experimental group had significantly greater gains from academic achievement test than the control group (t=0,02, p<0,05). The findings showed that the paper-and-pencil concept mapping can be used as an effective method for students’ academic achievement in science classes. The results have implications for further researches.

Keywords: concept mapping, science education, constructivism, academic achievement, science attitude

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Authors: Veruska C. Dutra, Mary L. G. S. Senna, Afonso R. Aquino

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Tourists bring many benefits to a local community, encouraging it to be involved in that activity; however, it may also have detrimental effects like garbage, noise, violence, external culture and the damaging of the natural environment among others, which may promote community dissatisfaction. The contact between the tourist and the local community is a concern, especially when the community is located near protected areas. In this case, the community must know the tourist destination well, so it can collaborate in the tourism development without harming the environment. In this context, the present article aims to demonstrate the results of a research study conducted as part of a doctorate program in Sciences from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. It had as an objective to elaborate a methodology proposal to measure the local community satisfaction indicator, with applicability on a case study in the Mateiros community located in the surrounding area of the Parque Estadual do Jalapão –PEJ conservation unit in the state of Tocantins, Brazil. This is a study of an interdisciplinary nature that had the deductive method as its guide. The indicator result is going to be presented in this study. It pointed out as negative factors: there is no involvement between the local community and the tourism sector, and there is also dissatisfaction with regard to the town’s basic services. The study showed as positive the local community knowledge about the various attractions in the surrounding area and that the group recognizes the importance of the tourism for the town and life. Concerning the methodology that was used, the results showed that it can collaborate in seeking actions of improvement and involvement of the community in the planning and development of the local tourism. It comes out as an efficient analysis tool, thus enabling the perceiving of the local community point of view.

Keywords: satisfaction indicator, tourism, community, Jalapão

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Authors: Moet Moet Myint Lay

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Continuing professional development involves acquiring new knowledge and skills for current work and improving career opportunities in the field through continuing education (OECD, 2000). This article examines the effectiveness of CPD in improving teacher quality and the resulting need for CPD for teacher educators in Myanmar. The purpose of this study is to explore a deeper understanding of teacher-to-teacher continuing professional development in improving teacher education programs. Research questions: (1) How do teachers in Myanmar understand the idea of continuous professional development for professional development? (2) What CPD activities are required for all teachers in teachers' colleges? (3) What are the main challenges of CPD implementation in Myanmar Education College? A qualitative method using semi-structured interviews was used in this study. Seven teacher educators from Mandalay Education College participated in this study. There are three male teacher educators and four female teacher educators. All participants who responded to the semi-structured interviews were between 29 and 45 years old.The interviews revealed that professional development involves acquiring the necessary pedagogical knowledge and skills to encourage students to think creatively and critically. Teachers must participate in a variety of activities, including professional interviews, lesson study, training programs, workshops, and seminars. All results showed that teachers need English and ICT skills for teaching and learning, including extended ICT courses for those who have completed a foundation course, access to e-libraries, and inclusive education (including language teaching and learning), facilitate the assessment (formative and summative), practicum, mentoring, and coaching skills. The study concludes with practical findings that suggest an urgent need for CPD activities for teachers.

Keywords: continuous professional development, teacher educator, teacher training program), mentoring

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Authors: Chen Zhi-Wei, Hsieh Wei-Fang

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Taiwan annual rainfall is global average of 2.5 times, plus city excessive development, green constantly to reduced, instead of is big area of artificial base disc, makes Taiwan rainy season during occurred of storm cannot timely of emissions, led to flood constantly, and rain also cannot was retained again using, led to city hydrological balance suffered damage, and to Regulation city of by brings of negative effect, increased green covered rate became most effective of method, and city land limited, so roof green gradually became a alternative program. Green roofs have become one of the Central and local government policy initiatives for urban development, in foreign countries, such as the United States, and Japan, and Singapore etc. Development of roof greening as an important policy, has become a trend of the times. In recent years, many experts and scholars are also on the roof greening all aspects of research, mostly for green roof for the environmental impact of benefits, such as: carbon reduction, cooling, thermostat, but research on the benefits of green roofs under water cut but it is rare. Therefore, this research literature from green roof in to view and analyze what kind of medium suitable for roof greening and use of green base plate combination simulated green roof structure, via different proportions of the medium with water retention plate and drainage board, experiment with different planting base plate combination of water conservation performance. Research will want to test the effect of roof planting base mix, promotion of relevant departments and agencies in future implementation of green roofs, prompted the development of green roofs, which in the end Taiwan achieve sustainable development of the urban environment help.

Keywords: thin-layer roof greening and planting medium, water efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 354

Authors: Farhad Abbas Gandomkar, Mona Danesh

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This paper aims to determine Fundamental Natural Frequency (FNF) of a structural composite floor system known as Chromite. To achieve this purpose, FNFs of studied panels are determined by development of Finite Element Models (FEMs) in ABAQUS program. American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) code in Steel Design Guide Series 11, presents a fundamental formula to calculate FNF of a steel framed floor system. This formula has been used to verify results of the FEMs. The variability in the FNF of the studied system under various parameters such as dimensions of floor, boundary conditions, rigidity of main and secondary beams around the floor, thickness of concrete slab, height of composite joists, distance between composite joists, thickness of top and bottom flanges of the open web steel joists, and adding tie beam perpendicular on the composite joists, is determined. The results show that changing in dimensions of the system, its boundary conditions, rigidity of main beam, and also adding tie beam, significant changes the FNF of the system up to 452.9%, 50.8%, -52.2%, %52.6%, respectively. In addition, increasing thickness of concrete slab increases the FNF of the system up to 10.8%. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that variation in rigidity of secondary beam, height of composite joist, and distance between composite joists, and thickness of top and bottom flanges of open web steel joists insignificant changes the FNF of the studied system up to -0.02%, -3%, -6.1%, and 0.96%, respectively. Finally, the results of this study help designer predict occurrence of resonance, comfortableness, and design criteria of the studied system.

Keywords: Fundamental Natural Frequency, Chromite Composite Floor System, Finite Element Method, low and high frequency floors, Comfortableness, resonance.

Procedia PDF Downloads 457