Search results for: measuring intellectual capital

Authors: Sayed Mansour, Mohammad Aldoasri, Nagib Elmarzugi, Nadia A. Al-Mouallimi

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The archaeological large stone used in construction of ancient Pharaonic tombs, temples, obelisks and other sculptures, always subject to physicomechanical deterioration and destructive forces, leading to their partial or total broken. The task of reassembling this type of artifact represent a big challenge for the conservators. Recently, the researchers are turning to new technologies to improve the properties of traditional adhesive materials and techniques used in re-assembly of broken large stone. The epoxy resins are used extensively in stone conservation and re-assembly of broken stone because of their outstanding mechanical properties. The introduction of nanoparticles to polymeric adhesives at low percentages may lead to substantial improvements of their mechanical performances in structural joints and large objects. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of clay nanoparticles in enhancing the performances of epoxy adhesives used in re-assembly of archaeological massive stone by adding proper amounts of those nanoparticles. The nanoparticles reinforced epoxy nanocomposite was prepared by direct melt mixing with a nanoparticles content of 3% (w/v), and then mould forming in the form of rectangular samples, and used as adhesive for experimental stone samples. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to investigate the morphology of the prepared nanocomposites, and the distribution of nanoparticles inside the composites. The stability and efficiency of the prepared epoxy-nanocomposites and stone block assemblies with new formulated adhesives were tested by aging artificially the samples under different environmental conditions. The effect of incorporating clay nanoparticles on the mechanical properties of epoxy adhesives was evaluated comparatively before and after aging by measuring the tensile, compressive, and Elongation strength tests. The morphological studies revealed that the mixture process between epoxy and nanoparticles has succeeded with a relatively homogeneous morphology and good dispersion in low nano-particles loadings in epoxy matrix was obtained. The results show that the epoxy-clay nanocomposites exhibited superior tensile, compressive, and Elongation strength. Moreover, a marked improvement of the mechanical properties of stone joints increased in all states by adding nano-clay to epoxy in comparison with pure epoxy resin.

Keywords: epoxy resins, nanocomposites, clay nanoparticles, re-assembly, archaeological massive stones, mechanical properties

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Authors: Asena Biber, Ates Gul Ergun, Seda Bulut

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Based on the literature, there are large numbers of studies investigating the relationship between culture and leadership effectiveness. Although giving effective speeches is vital characteristic for a leader to be perceived as effective, to our knowledge, there is no research study the determinants of perceived effective leader speech. The aim of this study is to find the effects of both culture and voice pitch on perceptions of leader's speech effectiveness. Our hypothesis is that people from high power distance countries will perceive leaders' speech effective when the leader's voice pitch is high, comparing with people from relatively low power distance countries. The participants of the study were 36 undergraduate students (12 Pakistanis, 12 Nigerians, and 12 Turks) who are studying in Turkey. National power distance scores of Nigerians ranked as first, Turks ranked as second and Pakistanis ranked as third. There are two independent variables in this study; three nationality groups that representing three levels of power distance and voice pitch of the leader which is manipulated as high and low levels. Researchers prepared an audio to manipulate high and low conditions of voice pitch. A professional whose native language is English read the predetermined speech in high and low voice pitch conditions. Voice pitch was measured using Hertz (Hz) and Decibel (dB). Each nationality group (Pakistan, Nigeria, and Turkey) were divided into groups of six students who listened to either the low or high pitch conditions in the cubicles of the laboratory. It was expected from participants to listen to the audio and fill in the questionnaire which was measuring the leadership effectiveness on a response scale ranging from 1 to 5. To determine the effects of nationality and voice pitch on perceived effectiveness of leader' voice pitch, 3 (Pakistani, Nigerian, and Turk) x 2 (low voice pitch and high voice pitch) two way between subjects analysis of variances was carried out. The results indicated that there was no significant main effect of voice pitch and interaction effect on perceived effectiveness of the leader’s voice pitch. However, there was a significant main effect of nationality on perceived effectiveness of the leader's voice pitch. Based on the results of Turkey’s HSD post-hoc test, only the perceived effectiveness of the leader's speech difference between Pakistanis and Nigerians was statistically significant. The results show that the hypothesis of this study was not supported. As limitations of the study, it is of importance to mention that the sample size should be bigger. Also, the language of the questionnaire and speech should be in the participant’s native language in further studies.

Keywords: culture, leadership effectiveness, power distance, voice pitch

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Authors: Cathal Merz, Gareth O’Donnell

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Coil reinforced thin-walled (CRTW) tubes are used in medicine to treat problems affecting blood vessels within the body through minimally invasive procedures. The CRTW tube considered in this research makes up part of such a device and is inserted into the patient via their femoral or brachial arteries and manually navigated to the site in need of treatment. This procedure replaces the requirement to perform open surgery but is limited by reduction of blood vessel lumen diameter and increase in tortuosity of blood vessels deep in the brain. In order to maximize the capability of these procedures, CRTW tube devices are being manufactured with decreasing wall thicknesses in order to deliver treatment deeper into the body and to allow passage of other devices through its inner diameter. This introduces significant stresses to the device materials which have resulted in an observed increase in the breaking of the proximal segment of the device into two separate pieces after it has failed by buckling. As there is currently no international standard for measuring the mechanical properties of these CRTW tube devices, it is difficult to accurately analyze this problem. The aim of the current work is to address this discrepancy in the biomedical device industry by developing a measurement system that can be used to quantify the effect of process and design changes on CRTW tube performance, aiding in the development of better performing, next generation devices. Using materials testing frames, micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) imaging, experiment planning, analysis of variance (ANOVA), T-tests and regression analysis, test methods have been developed for assessing the impact of process and design changes on the device. The major findings of this study have been an insight into the suitability of buckle and three-point bend tests for the measurement of the effect of varying processing factors on the device’s performance, and guidelines for interpreting the output data from the test methods. The findings of this study are of significant interest with respect to verifying and validating key process and design changes associated with the device structure and material condition. Test method integrity evaluation is explored throughout.

Keywords: neurovascular catheter, coil reinforced tube, buckling, three-point bend, tensile

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Authors: Mohamed Abdelkareem

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Remote sensing data contributed on predicting the prospective areas of water resources. Integration of microwave and multispectral data along with climatic, hydrologic, and geological data has been used here. In this article, Sentinel-2, Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), and Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array Type L‐band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) data were utilized to identify the geological, hydrologic and structural features of Wadi Asyuti which represents a defunct tributary of the Nile basin, in the eastern Sahara. The image transformation of Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 data allowed characterizing the different varieties of rock units. Integration of microwave remotely-sensed data and GIS techniques provided information on physical characteristics of catchments and rainfall zones that are of a crucial role for mapping groundwater prospective zones. A fused Landsat-8 OLI and ALOS/PALSAR data improved the structural elements that difficult to reveal using optical data. Lineament extraction and interpretation indicated that the area is clearly shaped by the NE-SW graben that is cut by NW-SE trend. Such structures allowed the accumulation of thick sediments in the downstream area. Processing of recent OLI data acquired on March 15, 2014, verified the flood potential maps and offered the opportunity to extract the extent of the flooding zone of the recent flash flood event (March 9, 2014), as well as revealed infiltration characteristics. Several layers including geology, slope, topography, drainage density, lineament density, soil characteristics, rainfall, and morphometric characteristics were combined after assigning a weight for each using a GIS-based knowledge-driven approach. The results revealed that the predicted groundwater potential zones (GPZs) can be arranged into six distinctive groups, depending on their probability for groundwater, namely very low, low, moderate, high very, high, and excellent. Field and well data validated the delineated zones.

Keywords: GIS, remote sensing, groundwater, Egypt

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Authors: Ahmad Odeh, Ahmad Jrade

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Energy assessment is an evidently significant factor when evaluating the sustainability of structures especially at the early design stage. Today design practices revolve around the selection of material that reduces the operational energy and yet meets their displinary need. Operational energy represents a substantial part of the building lifecycle energy usage but the fact remains that embodied energy is an important aspect unaccounted for in the carbon footprint. At the moment, little or no consideration is given to embodied energy mainly due to the complexity of calculation and the various factors involved. The equipment used, the fuel needed, and electricity required for each material vary with location and thus the embodied energy will differ for each project. Moreover, the method and the technique used in manufacturing, transporting and putting in place will have a significant influence on the materials’ embodied energy. This anomaly has made it difficult to calculate or even bench mark the usage of such energies. This paper presents a model aimed at helping designers select the construction materials based on their embodied energy. Moreover, this paper presents a systematic approach that uses an efficient method of calculation and ultimately provides new insight into construction material selection. The model is developed in a BIM environment targeting the quantification of embodied energy for construction materials through the three main stages of their life: manufacturing, transportation and placement. The model contains three major databases each of which contains a set of the most commonly used construction materials. The first dataset holds information about the energy required to manufacture any type of materials, the second includes information about the energy required for transporting the materials while the third stores information about the energy required by tools and cranes needed to place an item in its intended location. The model provides designers with sets of all available construction materials and their associated embodied energies to use for the selection during the design process. Through geospatial data and dimensional material analysis, the model will also be able to automatically calculate the distance between the factories and the construction site. To remain within the sustainability criteria set by LEED, a final database is created and used to calculate the overall construction cost based on R.M.S. means cost data and then automatically recalculate the costs for any modifications. Design criteria including both operational and embodied energies will cause designers to revaluate the current material selection for cost, energy, and most importantly sustainability.

Keywords: building information modelling, energy, life cycle analysis, sustainablity

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Authors: You-Kai Jhang, Yang-Cheng Lu

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Major contributions of this study are threefold: designing a new model of planar-membrane humidifier for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC), an index to measure the Effectiveness (εT) of that humidifier, and an air compressor system to replicate related planar-membrane humidifier experiments. PEMFC as a kind of renewable energy has become more and more important in recent years due to its reliability and durability. To maintain the efficiency of the fuel cell, the membrane of PEMFC need to be controlled in a good hydration condition. How to maintain proper membrane humidity is one of the key issues to optimize PEMFC. We developed new humidifier to recycle water vapor from cathode air outlet so as to keep the moisture content of cathode air inlet in a PEMFC. By measuring parameters such as dry side air outlet dew point temperature, dry side air inlet temperature and humidity, wet side air inlet temperature and humidity, and differential pressure between dry side and wet side, we calculated indices obtained by dew point approach temperature (DPAT), water flux (J), water recovery ratio (WRR), effectiveness (εT), and differential pressure (ΔP). We discussed six topics including sealing effect, flow rate effect, flow direction effect, channel effect, temperature effect, and humidity effect by using these indices. Gas cylinders are used as sources of air supply in many studies of humidifiers. Gas cylinder depletes quickly during experiment at 1kW air flow rate, and it causes replication difficult. In order to ensure high stable air quality and better replication of experimental data, this study designs an air supply system to overcome this difficulty. The experimental result shows that the best rate of pressure loss of humidifier is 0.133×10³ Pa(g)/min at the torque of 25 (N.m). The best humidifier performance ranges from 30-40 (LPM) of air flow rates. The counter flow configured humidifies moisturizes the dry side inlet air more effectively than the parallel flow humidifier. From the performance measurements of the channel plates various rib widths studied in this study, it is found that the narrower the rib width is, the more the performance of humidifier improves. Raising channel width in same hydraulic diameter (Dh ) will obtain higher εT and lower ΔP. Moreover, increasing the dry side air inlet temperature or humidity will lead to lower εT. In addition, when the dry side air inlet temperature exceeds 50°C, the effect becomes even more obvious.

Keywords: PEM fuel cell, water management, membrane humidifier, heat and mass transfer, humidifier performance

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Authors: Kenza Benali

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Over the past decade, a number of remarkable projects in urban brownfield reconversion emerged across Canada, including the reconversion of former military bases owned by the Canada Lands Company (CLC) into sustainable communities. However, unlike other developments, the regeneration project of the former Canadian Forces Base Rockcliffe in Ottawa – which was announced as one of the most ambitious Smart growth projects in Canada – faced serious obstacles in terms of social acceptance by the local community, particularly urban minorities composed of Francophones, Indigenous and vulnerable groups who live near or on the Base. This turn of events led to the project being postponed and even reconsidered. Through an analysis of its press coverage, this research aims to understand the causes of this urban conflict which lasted for nearly ten years. The findings reveal that the conflict is not limited to the “standard” issues common to most conflicts related to urban mega-projects in the world – e.g., proximity issues (threads to the quality of the surrounding neighbourhoods; noise, traffic, pollution, New-build gentrification) often associated with NIMBY phenomena. In this case, the local actors questioned the purpose of the project (for whom and for what types of uses is it conceived?), its local implementation (to what extent are the local history and existing environment taken into account?), and the degree of implication of the local population in the decision-making process (with whom is the project built?). Moreover, the interests of the local actors have “jumped scales” and transcend the micro-territorial level of their daily life to take on a national and even international dimension. They defined an alternative view of how this project, considered strategic by his location in the nation’s capital, should be a reference as well as an international showcase of Canadian ambition and achievement in terms of urban sustainability. This vision promoted, actually, a territorial and national identity approach - in which some cultural values are highly significant (respect of social justice, inclusivity, ethnical diversity, cultural heritage, etc.)- as a counterweight to planners’ vision which is criticized as a normative/ universalist logic that ignore the territorial peculiarities.

Keywords: smart growth, brownfield reconversion, sustainable neighborhoods, Canada Lands Company, Canadian Forces Base Rockcliffe, urban conflicts

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Authors: V. Ziegler, F. Schneider, M. Pesch

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With the EDM264, GRIMM offers a solution for mobile short- and long-term measurements in outdoor areas and at production sites. For research as well as permanent areal observations on a near reference quality base. The model EDM264 features a powerful and robust measuring cell based on optical particle counting (OPC) principle with all the advantages that users of GRIMM's portable aerosol spectrometers are used to. The system is embedded in a compact weather-protection housing with all-weather sampling, heated inlet system, data logger, and meteorological sensor. With TSP, PM10, PM4, PM2.5, PM1, and PMcoarse, the EDM264 provides all fine dust fractions real-time, valid for outdoor applications and calculated with the proven GRIMM enviro-algorithm, as well as six additional dust mass fractions pm10, pm2.5, pm1, inhalable, thoracic and respirable for IAQ and workplace measurements. This highly versatile instrument performs real-time monitoring of particle number, particle size and provides information on particle surface distribution as well as dust mass distribution. GRIMM's EDM264 has 31 equidistant size channels, which are PSL traceable. A high-end data logger enables data acquisition and wireless communication via LTE, WLAN, or wired via Ethernet. Backup copies of the measurement data are stored in the device directly. The rinsing air function, which protects the laser and detector in the optical cell, further increases the reliability and long term stability of the EDM264 under different environmental and climatic conditions. The entire sample volume flow of 1.2 L/min is analyzed by 100% in the optical cell, which assures excellent counting efficiency at low and high concentrations and complies with the ISO 21501-1standard for OPCs. With all these features, the EDM264 is a world-leading dust monitor for precise monitoring of particulate matter and particle number concentration. This highly reliable instrument is an indispensable tool for many users who need to measure aerosol levels and air quality outdoors, on construction sites, or at production facilities.

Keywords: aerosol research, aerial observation, fence line monitoring, wild fire detection

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Authors: Sharon Milberger, Jane Turner, Denise White-Perkins

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Michigan shares the overall U.S. national need for more highly qualified professionals who have knowledge and experience in the use of evidence-based practices to meet the special health care needs of children, adolescents, and adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities including autism spectrum disorder (DD/ASD). The Michigan Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (MI-LEND) program is a consortium of six universities that spans the state of Michigan and serves more than 181,800 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. The purpose of the MI LEND program is to improve the health of infants, children and adolescents with disabilities in Michigan by training individuals from different disciplines to assume leadership roles in their respective fields and work across disciplines. The MI-LEND program integrates “L.I.F.E.” perspectives into all training components. L.I.F.E. is an acronym for Leadership, Interdisciplinary, Family-Centered and Equity perspectives. This paper will describe how L.I.F.E. perspectives are embedded into all aspects of the MI-LEND training program including the application process, didactic training, community and clinical experiences, discussions, journaling and projects. Specific curriculum components will be described including content from a training module dedicated to Equity. Upon completion of the Equity module, trainees are expected to be able to: 1) Use a population health framework to identify key social determinants impacting families and children; 2) Explain how addressing bias and providing culturally appropriate linguistic care/services can influence patient/client health and wellbeing; and 3) Describe the impact of policy and structural/institutional factors influencing care and services for children with DD/ASD and their families. Each trainee completes two self-assessments: the Cultural and Linguistic Competence Health Practitioner Assessment and the other assessing social attitudes/implicit bias. Trainees also conduct interviews with a family with a child with DD/ASD. In addition, interdisciplinary Equity-related group activities are incorporated into face-to-face training sessions. Each MI-LEND trainee has multiple ongoing opportunities for self-reflection through discussion and journaling and completion of a L.I.F.E. project as a culminating component of the program. The poster will also discuss the challenges related to teaching and measuring successful outcomes related to diversity/equity perspectives.

Keywords: disability, diversity, equity, training

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Authors: Castillo-Acevedo J, Mena-Rivero R, Silva-Poot H

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In Mexico, as largely of the developing countries, the rural housing is a study object, since the diversity of constructive idiosyncrasies for locality, involves various factors that make it vulnerable; an important aspect of study is the progressive deterioration that is seen in the rural housing. Various social programs, contribute financial resources in the field of housing to provide support for families living in rural areas, however, they do not provide a coordination with the self-construction that is usually the way in which is built in these areas. The present study, exposes the physical situation and an economic assessment that presents the rural self-constructed housing in three rural communities in the south of the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico, which were built with funding from federal social programs. The information compilation was carried out in a period of seven months in which there was used the intentional sampling of typical cases, where the object study was the housing constructed with supports of the program “Rural Housing” between the year 2009 and 2014. Instruments were used as the interview, ballot papers of observation, ballot papers of technical verification and various measuring equipment laboratory for the classification of pathologies; for the determination of some pathologies constructive Mexican standards were applied how NMX-C-192-ONNCCE, NMX-C-111-ONNCCE, NMX-C-404-ONNCCE and finally used the software of Opus CMS ® with the help of tables of the National Consumer Price Index (CPI) for update of costs and wages according to the line of being applied in Mexico, were used for an economic valuation. The results show 11 different constructive pathologies and exposes greater presence with the 22.50% to the segregation of the concrete; the economic assessment shows that 80% of self-constructed housing, exceed the cost of construction it would have compared to a similar dwelling built by a construction company; It is also exposed to the 46.10% of the universe of study represent economic losses in materials to the social activities by houses not built. The system of self-construction used by the social programs, affect to some extent the program objectives applied in underserved areas, as implicit and additional costs affect the economic capacity of beneficiaries who invest time and effort in an activity that are not specialists, which this research provides foundations for sustainable alternatives or possibly eliminate the practice of self-construction of implemented social programs in marginalized rural communities in the south of state of Quintana Roo, Mexico.

Keywords: economic valuation, pathologies constructive, rural housing, social programs

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Authors: Siri Marthe Arbo, Afaf Saai, Sture Sørli, Mette Nedreberg

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This work aims to establish a reliable approach for optimizing a Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) process for a critical maritime component, based on the material properties and structural performance required by the maritime industry. The component of interest is a water jet impeller, for which specific requirements for material properties are defined. The developed approach is based on the assessment of the effects of LMD process parameters on microstructure and material performance of standard AM 2205 duplex stainless steel powder. Duplex stainless steel offers attractive properties for maritime applications, combining high strength, enhanced ductility and excellent corrosion resistance due to the specific amounts of ferrite and austenite. These properties are strongly affected by the microstructural characteristics in addition to microstructural defects such as porosity and welding defects, all strongly influenced by the chosen LMD process parameters. In this study, the influence of deposition speed and heat input was evaluated. First, the influences of deposition speed and heat input on the microstructure characteristics, including ferrite/austenite fraction, amount of porosity and welding defects, were evaluated. Then, the achieved mechanical properties were evaluated by standard testing methods, measuring the hardness, tensile strength and elongation, bending force and impact energy. The measured properties were compared to the requirements of the water jet impeller. The results show that the required amounts of ferrite and austenite can be achieved directly by the LMD process without post-weld heat treatments. No intermetallic phases were observed in the material produced by the investigated process parameters. A high deposition speed was found to reduce the ductility due to the formation of welding defects. An increased heat input was associated with reduced strength due to the coarsening of the ferrite/austenite microstructure. The microstructure characterizations and measured mechanical performance demonstrate the great potential of the LMD process and generate a valuable database for the optimization of the LMD process for duplex stainless steels.

Keywords: duplex stainless steel, laser metal deposition, process optimization, microstructure, mechanical properties

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Authors: Jiang Niu, Yue Jiang

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With the ultimate goal to automatically generate translated texts with high quality, machine translation has made tremendous improvements. However, its translations of literary works are still plagued with problems in coherence, esp. the translation between distant language pairs. One of the causes of the problems is probably the lack of linguistic knowledge to be incorporated into the training of machine translation systems. In order to enable readers to better understand the problems of machine translation in coherence, to seek out the potential knowledge to be incorporated, and thus to improve the quality of machine translation products, this study applies Theme-Rheme structure to examine how a machine-translated literary text is organized and developed in terms of coherence. Theme-Rheme structure in Systemic Functional Linguistics is a useful tool for analysis of textual coherence. Theme is the departure point of a clause and Rheme is the rest of the clause. In a text, as Themes and Rhemes may be connected with each other in meaning, they form thematic and rhematic progressions throughout the text. Based on this structure, we can look into how a text is organized and developed in terms of coherence. Methodologically, we chose Chinese and English as the language pair to be studied. Specifically, we built a comparable corpus with two modes of English translations, viz. machine translation (MT) and human translation (HT) of one Chinese literary source text. The translated texts were annotated with Themes, Rhemes and their progressions throughout the texts. The annotated texts were analyzed from two respects, the different types of Themes functioning differently in achieving coherence, and the different types of thematic and rhematic progressions functioning differently in constructing texts. By analyzing and contrasting the two modes of translations, it is found that compared with the HT, 1) the MT features “pseudo-coherence”, with lots of ill-connected fragments of information using “and”; 2) the MT system produces a static and less interconnected text that reads like a list; these two points, in turn, lead to the less coherent organization and development of the MT than that of the HT; 3) novel to traditional and previous studies, Rhemes do contribute to textual connection and coherence though less than Themes do and thus are worthy of notice in further studies. Hence, the findings suggest that Theme-Rheme structure be applied to measuring and assessing the coherence of machine translation, to being incorporated into the training of the machine translation system, and Rheme be taken into account when studying the textual coherence of both MT and HT.

Keywords: coherence, corpus-based, literary translation, machine translation, Theme-Rheme structure

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Authors: Jiaxin Shi, Kaifeng Hao, Qingfan An, Zeng Peng

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Due to a lack of data sources and data processing techniques, it has always been difficult to quantify public space quality, which includes urban construction quality and how it is perceived by people, especially in large urban areas. This study proposes a quantitative research method based on the consideration of emotional health and physical health of the built environment. It highlights the low quality of public areas in Tianjin, China, where there are many negative elements. Deep learning technology is then used to measure how effectively people perceive urban areas. First, this work suggests a deep learning model that might simulate how people can perceive the quality of urban construction. Second, we perform semantic segmentation on street images to identify visual elements influencing scene perception. Finally, this study correlated the scene perception score with the proportion of visual elements to determine the surrounding environmental elements that influence scene perception. Using a small-scale labeled Tianjin street view data set based on transfer learning, this study trains five negative spatial discriminant models in order to explore the negative space distribution and quality improvement of urban streets. Then it uses all Tianjin street-level imagery to make predictions and calculate the proportion of negative space. Visualizing the spatial distribution of negative space along the Tianjin Inner Ring Road reveals that the negative elements are mainly found close to the five key districts. The map of Tianjin was combined with the experimental data to perform the visual analysis. Based on the emotional assessment, the distribution of negative materials, and the direction of street guidelines, we suggest guidance content and design strategy points of the negative phenomena in Tianjin street space in the two dimensions of perception and substance. This work demonstrates the utilization of deep learning techniques to understand how people appreciate high-quality urban construction, and it complements both theory and practice in urban planning. It illustrates the connection between human perception and the actual physical public space environment, allowing researchers to make urban interventions.

Keywords: human perception, public space quality, deep learning, negative elements, street images

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Authors: Klea Ramaj

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Objectives: There have recently been increasing calls to better understand the intergenerational transmission of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). In particular, little is known about the links between maternal (ACEs), maternal stress, maternal depression, and child abuse against toddlers in countries in South-East Europe. This paper, therefore, aims to present new descriptive data on the epidemiology of maternal mental well-being and maternal ACEs in the capital of Albania, Tirana. It also aims to advance our understanding of the overlap between maternal stress, maternal depression, maternal exposure to ACEs, and child abuse toward two-to-three-year-old. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted with a representative sample of 328 mothers of two-to-three-year-olds, recruited through public nurseries located in 8 diverse socio-economic and geographical areas in Tirana, Albania. Maternal stress was measured through the perceived stress scale (α = 0.78); maternal depression was measured via the patient health questionnaire (α = 0.77); maternal exposure to ACEs was captured via the ACEs international questionnaire (α = 0.77); and child maltreatment was captured via ISPCAN ICAST-P (α = 0.66). The main outcome examined here will be child maltreatment. The paper will first present estimates of maternal stress, depression, and child maltreatment by demographic groups. It will then use multiple regression to examine associations between child maltreatment and risk factors in the domains of maternal stress, maternal depression, and maternal ACEs. Results: Mothers' mean age was 32.3 (SD = 4.24), 87.5% were married, 51% had one child, and 83.5% had completed higher education. Analyses show high levels of stress and exposure to childhood adversity among mothers in Tirana. 97.5% of mothers perceived stress during the last month, and 89% had experienced at least one childhood adversity as measured by the ACE questionnaire, with 20.2% having experienced 4+ ACEs. Analyses show significant positive associations between maternal ACEs and maternal stress r(325) = 0.25, p = 0.00. Mothers with a high number of ACEs were more likely to abuse their children r(327) = .43, p = 0.00. 32% of mothers have used physical discipline with their 2–3-year-old, 84% have used psychological discipline, and 35% have neglected their toddler at least once or twice. The mothers’ depression levels were also positively and significantly associated with child maltreatment r(327) = .34, p = 0.00. Conclusions: This study provides cross-sectional data on the link between maternal exposure to early adversity, maternal mental well-being, and child maltreatment within the context of Tirana, Albania. The results highlight the importance of establishing policies that encourage maternal support, positive parenting, and family well-being in order to help break the cycle of transgenerational violence.

Keywords: child maltreatment, maternal mental well-being, intergenerational abuse, Tirana, Albania

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Authors: Wanru Huang, Fujun Wang, Chaoyue Wang, Yuan Tang, Zhifeng Yao, Ruofu Xiao, Xin Chen

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Rotating stall in centrifugal pump is an unsteady flow phenomenon that causes instabilities and high hydraulic losses. It typically occurs at low flow rates due to large flow separation in impeller blade passage. In order to reveal the influence of incoming flow conditions on rotating stall in centrifugal pump, a numerical method for investigating rotating stall was established. This method is based on a modified SST k-ω turbulence model and a fine mesh model was adopted. The calculated flow velocity in impeller by this method was in good agreement with PIV results. The effects of flow rate and sealing-ring leakage on stall characteristics of centrifugal pump were studied by using the proposed numerical approach. The flow structures in impeller under typical flow rates and typical sealing-ring leakages were analyzed. It is found that the stall vortex frequency and circumferential propagation velocity increase as flow rate decreases. With the flow rate decreases from 0.40Qd to 0.30Qd, the stall vortex frequency increases from 1.50Hz to 2.34Hz, the circumferential propagation velocity of the stall vortex increases from 3.14rad/s to 4.90rad/s. Under almost all flow rate conditions where rotating stall is present, there is low frequency of pressure pulsation between 0Hz-5Hz. The corresponding pressure pulsation amplitude increases with flow rate decreases. Taking the measuring point at the leading edge of the blade pressure surface as an example, the flow rate decreases from 0.40Qd to 0.30Qd, the pressure fluctuation amplitude increases by 86.9%. With the increase of leakage, the flow structure in the impeller becomes more complex, and the 8-shaped stall vortex is no longer stable. On the basis of the 8-shaped stall vortex, new vortex nuclei are constantly generated and fused with the original vortex nuclei under large leakage. The upstream and downstream vortex structures of the 8-shaped stall vortex have different degrees of swimming in the flow passage, and the downstream vortex swimming is more obvious. The results show that the proposed numerical approach could capture the detail vortex characteristics, and the incoming flow conditions have significant effects on the stall vortex in centrifugal pumps.

Keywords: centrifugal pump, rotating stall, numerical simulation, flow condition, vortex frequency

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Authors: Alaa Osman, Sara Elgazzar, Breksal Elmiligy

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The Supply Chain Operation Reference (SCOR) model is considered one of the most widely implemented supply chain performance measurement systems (SCPMSs). Several studies have been proposed on the SCOR model adaptation in developed countries context; while there is a limited availability of previous work on the SCPMSs application generally and the SCOR model specifically in developing nations. This paper presents a research agenda on the SCOR model adaptation in the developing countries. It aims at investigating the challenges of adapting the SCOR model to manage and measure supply chain performance in developing countries. The research will exemplify the system in the Egyptian automotive sector to gain a comprehensive understanding of how the application of the SCOR model can affect the performance of automotive companies in Egypt, with a necessary understanding of challenges and obstacles faced the adaptation of the model in the Egyptian supply chain context. An empirical study was conducted on the Egyptian automotive sector in three companies considering three different classes: BMW, Hyundai and Brilliance. First, in-depth interviews were carried out to gain an insight into the implementation and the relevance of the concepts of supply chain management and performance measurement in the Egyptian automotive industry. Then, a formal survey was designed based on the SCOR model five main processes (plan, source, make, deliver and return) and best practices to investigate the challenges and obstacles faced the adaptation of the SCOR model in the Egyptian automotive supply chain. Finally, based on the survey results, the appropriate best practices for each process were identified in order to overcome the SCOR model adaptation challenges. The results showed that the implementation of the SCOR model faced different challenges and unavailability of the required enablers. The survey highlighted the low integration of end-to-end supply chain, lacks commitment for the innovative ideas and technologies, financial constraints and lack of practical training and support as the main challenges faced the adaptation of the SCOR model in the Egyptian automotive supply chain. The research provides an original contribution to knowledge by proposing a procedure to identify challenges encountered during the process of SCOR model adoption which can pave a way for further research in the area of SCPMSs adaptation, particularly in the developing countries. The research can help managers and organizations to identify obstacles and difficulties of the SCOR model adaptation, subsequently this can facilitate measuring the improved performance or changes in the organizational performance.

Keywords: automotive sector, developing countries, SCOR model, supply chain performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: Pablo González Álvarez, Anna Vinaixa Vergés, Paula Sol Ventura, Paula Fernández, Mercè Redorta, Gemma Ginovart Galiana, Maria Méndez Hernández

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Context: The use of music therapy is gaining popularity worldwide, and it has shown positive effects in neonatology. Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol has recently established a music therapy unit and initiated a project in their neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Research Aim: The aim of this study is to measure the effect of a music therapy intervention in the NICU of Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol in Spain. Methodology: The study will be an observational analytical case-control study. All newborns admitted to the neonatology unit, both term and preterm, and their parents will be offered a session of music therapy. Data will be collected from families who receive at least two music therapy sessions. Maternal and paternal anxiety levels will be measured through a pre- and post-intervention test. Findings: The study aims to demonstrate the benefits and acceptance of music therapy by patients, parents, and healthcare workers in the neonatal unit. The findings are expected to show a reduction in maternal and paternal anxiety levels following the music therapy sessions. Theoretical Importance: This study contributes to the growing body of literature on the effectiveness of music therapy in neonatal care. It will provide evidence of the acceptance and potential benefits of music therapy in reducing anxiety levels in both parents and babies in the NICU setting. Data Collection: Data will be collected from families who receive at least two music therapy sessions. This will include pre- and post-intervention test results to measure anxiety levels. Analysis Procedures: The collected data will be analyzed using appropriate statistical methods to determine the impact of music therapy on reducing anxiety levels in parents. Questions Addressed: - What is the effect of music therapy on maternal anxiety levels? - What is the effect of music therapy on paternal anxiety levels? - What is the acceptability and perceived benefits of music therapy among patients and healthcare workers in the NICU? Conclusion: The study aims to provide evidence supporting the value of music therapy in the neonatal intensive care unit. It seeks to demonstrate the positive effect of music therapy on reducing anxiety levels among parents.

Keywords: neonatology, music therapy, neonatal intensive care unit, babies, parents

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Authors: Loreta Kaklauskiene, Arturas Kaklauskas

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The Integrated Human Resources and Work Environment Management (HOWE) System optimises employee productivity, improves the work environment, and, at the same time, meets the employer’s strategic goals. The HOWE system has been designed to ensure an organisation can successfully compete in the global market, thanks to the high performance of its employees. The HOWE system focuses on raising workforce productivity and improving work conditions to boost employee performance and motivation. The methods used in our research are linear correlation, INVAR multiple criteria analysis, digital twin, and affective computing. The HOWE system is based on two patents issued in Lithuania (LT 6866, LT 6841) and one European Patent application (No: EP 4 020 134 A1). Our research analyses ways to make human resource management more efficient and boost labour productivity by improving and adapting a personalised work environment. The efficiency of human capital and labour productivity can be increased by applying personalised workplace improvement systems that can optimise lighting colours and intensity, scents, data, information, knowledge, activities, media, games, videos, music, air pollution, humidity, temperature, vibrations, and other workplace aspects. HOWE generates and maintains a personalised workspace for an employee, taking into account the person’s affective, physiological and emotional (APSE) states. The purpose of this project was to create a HOWE for the customisation of quality control in smart workspaces taking into account the user’s APSE states in an integrated manner as a single unit. This customised management of quality control covers the levels of lighting and colour intensities, scents, media, information, activities, learning materials, games, music, videos, temperature, energy efficiency, the carbon footprint of a workspace, humidity, air pollution, vibrations and other aspects of smart spaces. The system is based on Digital Twins technology, seen as a logical extension of BIM.

Keywords: human resource management, health economics, work environment, organizational behaviour and employee productivity, prosperity in work, smart system

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Authors: Xingyu Gao, Qiang Wu, Yuanyuan Liu, Yue Yang

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In the era of the knowledge economy, the relationship between scientific knowledge and patents has garnered significant attention. Understanding the intricate interplay between the foundations of science and technological innovation has emerged as a pivotal challenge for both researchers and policymakers. This study establishes a coupled network of artificial intelligence patents based on co-cited scientific papers. Leveraging centrality metrics from network analysis offers a fresh perspective on understanding the influence of information flow and knowledge sharing within the network on patent impact. The study initially obtained patent numbers for 446,890 granted US AI patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s artificial intelligence patent database for the years 2002-2020. Subsequently, specific information regarding these patents was acquired using the Lens patent retrieval platform. Additionally, a search and deduplication process was performed on scientific non-patent references (SNPRs) using the Web of Science database, resulting in the selection of 184,603 patents that cited 37,467 unique SNPRs. Finally, this study constructs a coupled network comprising 59,379 artificial intelligence patents by utilizing scientific papers co-cited in patent backward citations. In this network, nodes represent patents, and if patents reference the same scientific papers, connections are established between them, serving as edges within the network. Nodes and edges collectively constitute the patent coupling network. Structural characteristics such as node degree centrality, betweenness centrality, and closeness centrality are employed to assess the scientific connections between patents, while citation count is utilized as a quantitative metric for patent influence. Finally, a negative binomial model is employed to test the nonlinear relationship between these network structural features and patent influence. The research findings indicate that network structural features such as node degree centrality, betweenness centrality, and closeness centrality exhibit inverted U-shaped relationships with patent influence. Specifically, as these centrality metrics increase, patent influence initially shows an upward trend, but once these features reach a certain threshold, patent influence starts to decline. This discovery suggests that moderate network centrality is beneficial for enhancing patent influence, while excessively high centrality may have a detrimental effect on patent influence. This finding offers crucial insights for policymakers, emphasizing the importance of encouraging moderate knowledge flow and sharing to promote innovation when formulating technology policies. It suggests that in certain situations, data sharing and integration can contribute to innovation. Consequently, policymakers can take measures to promote data-sharing policies, such as open data initiatives, to facilitate the flow of knowledge and the generation of innovation. Additionally, governments and relevant agencies can achieve broader knowledge dissemination by supporting collaborative research projects, adjusting intellectual property policies to enhance flexibility, or nurturing technology entrepreneurship ecosystems.

Keywords: centrality, patent coupling network, patent influence, social network analysis

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Authors: Marta Nawrocka

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In each of the legal proceedings, in which expert evidence is carried out, a major concern is the assessment of the evidential value of expert reports. Judicial institutions, while making decisions, rely heavily on the expert reports, because they usually do not possess 'special knowledge' from a certain fields of science which makes it impossible for them to verify the results presented in the processes. In handwriting studies, the standards of analysis are developed. They unify procedures used by experts in comparing signs and in constructing expert reports. However, the methods used by experts are usually of a qualitative nature. They rely on the application of knowledge and experience of expert and in effect give significant range of margin in the assessment. Moreover, the standards used by experts are still not very precise and the process of reaching the conclusions is poorly understood. The above-mentioned circumstances indicate that expert opinions in the field of handwriting analysis, for many reasons, may not be sufficiently reliable. It is assumed that this state of affairs has its source in a very low level of intersubjectivity of measuring scales and analysis procedures, which consist elements of this kind of analysis. Intersubjectivity is a feature of cognition which (in relation to methods) indicates the degree of consistency of results that different people receive using the same method. The higher the level of intersubjectivity is, the more reliable and credible the method can be considered. The aim of the conducted research was to determine the degree of intersubjectivity of the methods used by the experts from the scope of handwriting analysis. 30 experts took part in the study and each of them received two signatures, with varying degrees of readability, for analysis. Their task was to distinguish graphic characteristics in the signature, estimate the evidential value of the found characteristics and estimate the evidential value of the signature. The obtained results were compared with each other using the Alpha Krippendorff’s statistic, which numerically determines the degree of compatibility of the results (assessments) that different people receive under the same conditions using the same method. The estimation of the degree of compatibility of the experts' results for each of these tasks allowed to determine the degree of intersubjectivity of the studied method. The study showed that during the analysis, the experts identified different signature characteristics and attributed different evidential value to them. In this scope, intersubjectivity turned out to be low. In addition, it turned out that experts in various ways called and described the same characteristics, and the language used was often inconsistent and imprecise. Thus, significant differences have been noted on the basis of language and applied nomenclature. On the other hand, experts attributed a similar evidential value to the entire signature (set of characteristics), which indicates that in this range, they were relatively consistent.

Keywords: forensic sciences experts, handwriting analysis, inter-rater reliability, reliability of methods

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Authors: Olga Mironiuk, Małgorzata Kossowska

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The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of Situational Attribution Training on reducing automatic in-group stereotyping in females. The experiment was conducted with the control of age and level of prejudice. 90 female participants were randomly assigned to two conditions: experimental and control group (each group was also divided into younger- and older-aged condition). Participants from the experimental condition were subjected to more extensive training. In the first part of the experiment, the experimental group took part in the first session of Situational Attribution Training while the control group participated in the Grammatical Training Control. In the second part of the research both groups took part in the Situational Attribution Training (which was considered as the second training session for the experimental group and the first one for the control condition). The training procedure was based on the descriptions of ambiguous situations which could be explained using situational or dispositional attributions. The participant’s task was to choose the situational explanation from two alternatives, out of which the second one presented the explanation based on neutral or stereotypically associated with women traits. Moreover, the experimental group took part in the third training session after two- day time delay, in order to check the persistence of the training effect. The main hypothesis stated that among participants taking part in the more extensive training, the automatic in-group stereotyping would be less frequent after having finished training sessions. The effectiveness of the training was tested by measuring the response time and the correctness of answers: the longer response time for the examples where one of two possible answers was based on the stereotype trait and higher correctness of answers was considered to be a proof of the training effectiveness. As the participants’ level of prejudice was controlled (using the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory), it was also assumed that the training effect would be weaker for participants revealing a higher level of prejudice. The obtained results did not confirm the hypothesis based on the response time: participants from the experimental group responded faster in case of situations where one of the possible explanations was based on stereotype trait. However, an interesting observation was made during the analysis of the answers’ correctness: regardless the condition and age group affiliation, participants made more mistakes while choosing the situational explanations when the alternative was based on stereotypical trait associated with the dimension of warmth. What is more, the correctness of answers was higher in the third training session for the experimental group in case when the alternative of situational explanation was based on the stereotype trait associated with the dimension of competence. The obtained results partially confirm the effectiveness of the training.

Keywords: female, in-group stereotyping, prejudice, situational attribution training

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Authors: Sumit Roy, A. Uddin

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One of the significant reasons that increase the delay time in the intersections at heterogeneous traffic condition is a sudden reduction of the capacity of the roads. In this study, the delay for this sudden capacity reduction is estimated. Two intersections at Dhaka city were brought in to thestudy, i.e., Kakrail intersection, and SAARC Foara intersection. At Kakrail intersection, the sudden reduction of capacity in the roads is seen at three downstream legs of the intersection, which are because of slowing down or stopping of buses for loading and unloading of passengers. At SAARC Foara intersection, sudden reduction of capacity was seen at two downstream legs. At one leg, it was due to loading and unloading of buses, and at another leg, it was for both loading and unloading of buses and reduction of the number of lanes. With these considerations, the delay due to intentional stoppage or slowing down of buses and reduction of the number of lanes for these two intersections are estimated. Here the delay was calculated by two approaches. The first approach came from the concept of shock waves in traffic streams. Here the delay was calculated by determining the flow, density, and speed before and after the sudden capacity reduction. The second approach came from the deterministic analysis of queues. Here the delay is calculated by determining the volume, capacity and reduced capacity of the road. After determining the delay from these two approaches, the results were compared. For this study, the video of each of the two intersections was recorded for one hour at the evening peak. Necessary geometric data were also taken to determine speed, flow, and density, etc. parameters. The delay was calculated for one hour with one-hour data at both intersections. In case of Kakrail intersection, the per hour delay for Kakrail circle leg was 5.79, and 7.15 minutes, for Shantinagar cross intersection leg they were 13.02 and 15.65 minutes, and for Paltan T intersection leg, they were 3 and 1.3 minutes for 1st and 2nd approaches respectively. In the case of SAARC Foara intersection, the delay at Shahbag leg was only due to intentional stopping or slowing down of busses, which were 3.2 and 3 minutes respectively for both approaches. For the Karwan Bazar leg, the delays for buses by both approaches were 5 and 7.5 minutes respectively, and for reduction of the number of lanes, the delays for both approaches were 2 and 1.78 minutes respectively. Measuring the delay per hour for the Kakrail leg at Kakrail circle, it is seen that, with consideration of the first approach of delay estimation, the intentional stoppage and lowering of speed by buses contribute to 26.24% of total delay at Kakrail circle. If the loading and unloading of buses at intersection is made forbidden near intersection, and any other measures for loading and unloading of passengers are established far enough from the intersections, then the delay at intersections can be reduced at significant scale, and the performance of the intersections can be enhanced.

Keywords: delay, deterministic queue analysis, shock wave, passenger loading-unloading

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: N. S. Risqina, G. Edijanti, P. S. Nurita, L. Endang, R. A. Siti, R. Tri

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Skin is an important and vital organs and also as a mirror of health and life. Facial skin care is one of the main emphasis to get the beautiful, healthy, and fresh skin. Potentially antioxidant phenolic compounds shows, antimutagen, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer. Flavonoids are a group of polyphenolic compounds that have the nature of free radicals, inhibiting the oxidative and hydrolytic enzymes as well as anti-inflammatory. Bitter melon (Momordica charantia Linn) is a plant that contains flavonoids, and phenolic antioxidant activity. Bitter melon has strong antioxidant activity that can counteract the free radicals.These compounds can prevent free radicals that cause premature aging. Gel masks including depth cleansing is the cosmetics which work in depth and could raise the dead skin cells. Measurement of antioxidant activity of the extract and gel mask is done by using the immersion method of DPPH. IC50 value of ethanol extract of bitter melon fruit of 287.932 ppm. The preparation of gel mask bitter melon fruit extract, necessary to test the effectiveness of antioxidants using DPPH method is done by measuring the inhibition of DPPH and using UV spectrophotometer at the wavelength of maximum DPPH solution. Tests conducted at the beginning and end of the evaluation (day 0 and day 28). The purpose of this study is to determine the antioxidant activity of the bitter melon's extract and to determine the antioxidant activity of ethanol extract gel mask pare in varying concentrations, ie 1xIC100 (0.295%), 2xIC100 (0.590%) and 4xIC100 (1.180%). Evaluation of physical properties of the preparation on (Day-0,7,14,21, and 28) and evaluation of antioxidant activity (day 0 and 28). Data were analyzed using One Way ANOVA to determine differences in the physical properties of each formula. The statistical results showed that differences in the formula and storage time affects the adhesion, dispersive power, dry time and pH it is shown on a significant value of p <0.05, but longer storage does not affect the pH because the significance value p> 0,05. The antioxidant test showed that there are differences in antioxidant activity in all formulas. Measurement of antioxidant activity of bitter melon fruit extract gel mask on day 0 with a concentration of 0.295%, 0.590%, and 1.180%, respectively, are 124,209.277 ppm, ppm 83819.223 and 47323.592 ppm, whereas day 28 consecutive 130 411, 495 ppm, and 53239.806 95561.645 ppm ppm. The Conclusions drawn that there are antioxidant activity in preparation gel mask of bitter melon fruit extract. The antioxidant activity of bitter melon fruit extract gel mask on the day 0 with a concentration of 0.295%, 0.590%, and 1.180%, respectively, are 124,209.277 ppm, ppm 83819.223 and 47323.592 ppm, whereas on day 28 of antioxidant activity gel mask bitter melon fruit extract with a concentration of 0.295%, 0.590%, and 1.180% in succession, namely: 130,411.495 ppm, ppm 95561.645 and 53239.806 ppm.

Keywords: antioxdant, bitter melon, gel mask, IC50

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Authors: K. Volkonitskaya, S. Lyapina

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According to the National Monitoring Centre of innovation infrastructure, scientific and technical activities and regional innovation systems by December 2014. 166 technology parks were established in Russia. Comparative analysis of technological parks performance in Russia, the USA, Israel and the European Union countries revealed significant reduction of key performance indicators in Russian innovation infrastructure institutes. The largest deviations were determined in the following indicators: new products and services launched, number of companies and jobs, amount of venture capital invested. Lower performance indicators of Russian technology parks can be partly explained by slack demand for national high-tech products and services, lack of qualified specialists in the sphere of innovation management and insufficient cooperation between different innovation infrastructure institutes. In spite of all constraints in innovation segment of Russian economy in 2010-2012 private investors for the first time proceeded to finance building of technological parks. The general purpose of the research is to answer two questions: why despite the significant investment risks private investors continue to implement such comprehensive infrastructure projects in Russia and is business model of private technological park more efficient than strategies of state innovation infrastructure institutes? The goal of the research was achieved by analyzing business models of private technological parks in Moscow, Kaliningrad, Astrakhan and Kazan. The research was conducted in two stages: the on-line survey of key performance indicators of private and state Russian technological parks and in-depth interviews with top managers and investors, who have already build private technological parks in by 2014 or are going to complete investment stage in 2014-2016. The results anticipated are intended to identify the reasons of efficient and inefficient technological parks performance. Furthermore, recommendations for improving the efficiency of state technological and industrial parks were formulated. Particularly, the recommendations affect the following issues: networking with other infrastructural institutes, services and infrastructure provided, mechanisms of public-private partnership and investment attraction. In general intensive study of private technological parks performance and development of effective mechanisms of state support can have a positive impact on the growth rates of the number of Russian technological, industrial and science parks.

Keywords: innovation development, innovation infrastructure, private technology park, public-private partnership

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Authors: Natalia Sypion-Dutkowska

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Abstract — The main research objective of the paper is to discover the relationship between the age groups of residents and crime in particular districts of a large city. The basic analytical tool is specific crime rates, calculated not in relation to the total population, but for age groups in a different social situation - property, housing, work, and representing different generations with different behavior patterns. They are the communities from which criminals and victims of crimes come. The analysis of literature and national police reports gives rise to hypotheses about the ability of a given age group to generate crime as a source of offenders and as a group of victims. These specific indicators are spatially differentiated, which makes it possible to detect socio-demographic determinants of spatial patterns of urban crime. A multi-feature classification of districts was also carried out, in which specific crime rates are the diagnostic features. In this way, areas with a similar structure of socio-demographic determinants of spatial patterns on urban crime were designated. The case study is the city of Szczecin in Poland. It has about 400,000 inhabitants and its area is about 300 sq km. Szczecin is located in the immediate vicinity of Germany and is the economic, academic and cultural capital of the region. It also has a seaport and an airport. Moreover, according to ESPON 2007, Szczecin is the Transnational and National Functional Urban Area. Szczecin is divided into 37 districts - auxiliary administrative units of the municipal government. The population of each of them in 2015-17 was divided into 8 age groups: babes (0-2 yrs.), children (3-11 yrs.), teens (12-17 yrs.), younger adults (18-30 yrs.), middle-age adults (31-45 yrs.), older adults (46-65 yrs.), early older (66-80) and late older (from 81 yrs.). The crimes reported in 2015-17 in each of the districts were divided into 10 groups: fights and beatings, other theft, car theft, robbery offenses, burglary into an apartment, break-in into a commercial facility, car break-in, break-in into other facilities, drug offenses, property damage. In total, 80 specific crime rates have been calculated for each of the districts. The analysis was carried out on an intra-city scale, this is a novel approach as this type of analysis is usually carried out at the national or regional level. Another innovative research approach is the use of specific crime rates in relation to age groups instead of standard crime rates. Acknowledgments: This research was funded by the National Science Centre, Poland, registration number 2019/35/D/HS4/02942.

Keywords: age groups, determinants of crime, spatial crime pattern, urban crime

Procedia PDF Downloads 168

Authors: Subrat Kumar Bhattamisra, Vivian Lee Yean Yan, Chin Koh Lee, Chew Hui Kuean, Yun Khoon Liew, Mayuren Candasamy

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Geraniol, an acyclic monoterpenoid is the main active constituent in the essential oils of rose and palmorosa. Antioxidant, antibacterial, anticancer and antiulcer activity of geraniol was reported by many researchers. The present investigation was designed to study in vivo antiulcer and anti-Helicobacter pylori activity of geraniol. Antiulcer and anti-H. pylori activity of geraniol was evaluated on acetic acid plus H. pylori induced ulcer in rats. Acetic acid (0.03 mL) was injected to the sub-serosal layer of the stomach through laparotomy under anaesthesia. Orogastric inoculation of H. pylori (ATCC 43504) was done twice daily for 7 days. Geraniol (15 and 30 mg/kg), vehicle and standard drugs (Amoxicillin, 50 mg/kg; clarithromycin, 25 mg/kg & omeprazole, 20 mg/kg) was administered twice daily for 14 days. Antiulcer activity of geraniol was examined by the determination of gastric ulcer index, measuring the volume of gastric juice, pH and total acidity, myeloperoxidase activity and histopathological examination. Histopathological investigation for the presence of inflammation, white blood cell infiltration, edema, the mucosal damage was studied. The presence of H. pylori was detected by placing a biopsy sample from antral part of the stomach into rapid urease test. Ulcer index in H. pylori inoculated control group was 4.13 ± 0.85 and was significantly (P < 0.05) lowered in geraniol (30 mg/kg) and reference drug treated group. Geraniol increase the pH of the gastric juice (2.18 ± 0.13 in control vs. 4.14 ± 0.57 in geraniol 30mg/kg) and lower total acidity significantly (P < 0.01) in geraniol (15 & 30 mg/kg). Myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity was measured in stomach homogenate of all the groups. H. pylori control group has significant (P < 0.05) increase in MPO activity compared to normal control group. Geraniol (30 mg/kg) was showed significant (P < 0.05) and most effective among all the groups. Histopathological examination of rat stomach was scored and the total score for H. pylori control group was 8. After geraniol (30 mg/kg) and reference drug treatment, the histopathological score was significantly decreased and it was observed to be 3.5 and 2.0 respectively. Percentage inhibition of H. pylori infection in geraniol (30 mg/kg) and reference drug were found to be 40% and 50% respectively whereas, 100% infection in H. pylori control group was observed. Geraniol exhibited significant antiulcer and anti- H. pylori activity in the rats. Thus, geraniol has the potential for the further development as an effective medication in treating H. pylori associated ulcer.

Keywords: geraniol, helicobacter pylori atcc 43504, myeloperoxidase, ulcer

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Authors: Madeleine Cox

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Objective: Discussion of diagnosis and management options for myometrial ectopic pregnancy Case: A 30 yo G1P0 presented to the emergency department with vaginal bleeding for the last 4 days. She had a positive home urine pregnancy test, confirmed with a serum HCG. When she presented for an ultrasound, there was no intrauterine pregnancy, no evidence of adnexal pregnancy, however, the anterior myometrium of the uterus was noted to be markedly abnormal. When she presented to the emergency department of a busy tertiary hospital in Queensland, she had a small amount of vaginal bleeding, was anxious but well, observations normal. Repeat blood testes demonstrated a serum HCG of 9246 IU/L, haemoglobin of 143g/L. The patient had an interesting history of a right oophorectomy and open myomectomy in another country. A repeat ultrasound again showed an abnormality within the myometrium of the uterus, which was initially reported as concerning for an AVM, or potentially invasive gestational trophoblastic disease. An MRI was organised 2 days later, which demonstrated a intramural/subserosal irregularity in the right lateral body measuring 35x38x42mm with peripheral enhancement and central cystic components, favouring a myometrial ectopic most likely at the site of previous myomectomy. Alternative diagnosis of AVM, GTD were considered less likely. After discussion with the patient, IV methotrexate was administered as an in patient 4 days after her initial presentation to emergency. After this, her HCG fell to 1236 IU/L on day 6 post treatment. Weekly reviews showed stable ultrasound appearances with a steadily dropping HCG level. A repeat MRI was performed 3 weeks after methotrexate administration which confirmed involution of the myometrial ectopic, however, showed ongoing progression of vascularity surrounding the site. Despite resolution of HCG, the patient persisted to have ongoing bleeding associated with this and went to have uterine artery embolisation. Follow up ultrasound showed resolution of abnormal vascularity and negative HCG levels. Conclusion: Myometrial ectopic pregnancies are a rare occurrence and require a multidisciplinary approach to achieve timely management for these patients. This patient was in a very well resourced setting with excellent access to Interventional Radiology and specialist Radiologists who could work together with the Obstetrics, Gynaecology, and Maternal Fetal Medicine team to provide multiple options of management which preserved her fertility. This case has a very good outcome, with the patient being referred back to our service 12 months later with an early intrauterine pregnancy.

Keywords: ectopic, pregnancy, miscarriage, gynaecology

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Authors: Tomoko Fukuyama, Osamu Senbu

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Prestressed concrete is used a lot in infrastructures such as roads or bridges. However, poor grout filling and PC steel corrosion are currently major issues of prestressed concrete structures. One of the problems with nondestructive corrosion detection of PC steel is a plastic pipe which covers PC steel. The insulative property of pipe makes a nondestructive diagnosis difficult; therefore a practical technology to detect these defects is necessary for the maintenance of infrastructures. The goal of the research is a development of an electrochemical technique which enables to detect internal defects from the surface of prestressed concrete nondestructively. Ideally, the measurements should be conducted from the surface of structural members to diagnose non-destructively. In the present experiment, a prestressed concrete member is simplified as a layered specimen to simulate a current path between an input and an output electrode on a member surface. The specimens which are layered by mortar and the prestressed concrete constitution materials (steel, polyethylene, stainless steel, or galvanized steel plates) were provided to the alternating current impedance measurement. The magnitude of an applied electric field was 0.01-volt or 1-volt, and the frequency range was from 106 Hz to 10-2 Hz. The frequency spectrums of impedance, which relate to charge reactions activated by an electric field, were measured to clarify the effects of the material configurations or the properties. In the civil engineering field, the Nyquist diagram is popular to analyze impedance and it is a good way to grasp electric relaxation using a shape of the plot. However, it is slightly not suitable to figure out an influence of a measurement frequency which is reciprocal of reaction time. Hence, Bode diagram is also applied to describe charge reactions in the present paper. From the experiment results, the alternating current impedance method looks to be applicable to the insulative material measurement and eventually prestressed concrete diagnosis. At the same time, the frequency spectrums of impedance show the difference of the material configuration. This is because the charge mobility reflects the variety of substances and also the measuring frequency of the electric field determines migration length of charges which are under the influence of the electric field. However, it could not distinguish the differences of the material thickness and is inferred the difficulties of prestressed concrete diagnosis to identify the amount of an air void or a layer of corrosion product by the technique.

Keywords: capacitance, conductance, prestressed concrete, susceptance

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Authors: Naif Mohsen Alharbi

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This paper present failure occurred on flexible coupling installed at oil anf gas operation. Also it presents maintenance ideas implemented on the flexible coupling installed to transmit high torque from gearbox to pump. Basically, the machine train is including steam turbine which drives the pump and there is gearbox located in between for speed reduction. investigation are identifying the root causes, solving and developing the technology designs or bad actor. This report provides the study intentionally for continues operation optimization, utilize the advanced opportunity and implement a improvement. Objective: The main objectives of the investigation are identifying the root causes, solving and developing the technology designs or bad actor. Ultimately, fulfilling the operation productivity, also ensuring better technology, quality and design by solutions. This report provides the study intentionally for continues operation optimization, utilize the advanced opportunity and implemet improvement. Method: The method used in this project was a very focused root cause analysis procedure that incorporated engineering analysis and measurements. The analysis method extensively covers the measuring of the complete coupling dimensions. Including the membranes thickness, hubs, bore diameter and total length, dismantle flexible coupling to diagnose how deep the coupling has been affected. Also, defining failure modes, so that the causes could be identified and verified. Moreover, Vibration analysis and metallurgy test. Lastly applying several solutions by advanced tools (will be mentioned in detail). Results and observation: Design capacity: Coupling capacity is an inadequate to fulfil 100% of operating conditions. Therefore, design modification of service factor to be at least 2.07 is crucial to address this issue and prevent recurrence of similar scenario, especially for the new upgrading project. Discharge fluctuation: High torque flexible coupling encountered during the operation. Therefore, discharge valve behaviour, tuning, set point and general conditions revaluated and modified subsequently, it can be used as baseline for upcoming Coupling design project. Metallurgy test: Material of flexible coupling membrane (discs) tested at the lab, for a detailed metallurgical investigation, better material grade has been selected for our operating conditions,

Keywords: high speed machine, reliabilty, flexible coupling, rotating equipment

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Authors: Benedictus Asriparusa, Lathifah Al Hakimi, Aulia Husada

Abstract:

A large amount of energy is being wasted by the release of natural gas associated with the oil industry. This release interrupts the environment particularly atmosphere layer condition globally which contributes to global warming impact. This research presents an overview of the methods employed by researchers in PT. Chevron Pacific Indonesia in the Minas area to determine a new prediction method of measuring and reducing gas flaring and its emission. The method emphasizes advanced research which involved analytical studies, numerical studies, modeling, and computer simulations, amongst other techniques. A flaring system is the controlled burning of natural gas in the course of routine oil and gas production operations. This burning occurs at the end of a flare stack or boom. The combustion process releases emissions of greenhouse gases such as NO2, CO2, SO2, etc. This condition will affect the chemical composition of air and environment around the boundary layer mainly during transition season. Transition season in Indonesia is absolutely very difficult condition to predict its pattern caused by the difference of two air mass conditions. This paper research focused on transition season in 2013. A simulation to create the new pattern of the pollutants distribution is needed. This paper has outlines trends in gas flaring modeling and current developments to predict the dominant variables in the pollutants distribution. A Fluent model is used to simulate the distribution of pollutants gas coming out of the stack, whereas WRF model output is used to overcome the limitations of the analysis of meteorological data and atmospheric conditions in the study area. Based on the running model, the most influence factor was wind speed. The goal of the simulation is to predict the new pattern based on the time of fastest wind and slowest wind occurs for pollutants distribution. According to the simulation results, it can be seen that the fastest wind (last of March) moves pollutants in a horizontal direction and the slowest wind (middle of May) moves pollutants vertically. Besides, the design of flare stack in compliance according to EPA Oil and Gas Facility Stack Parameters likely shows pollutants concentration remains on the under threshold NAAQS (National Ambient Air Quality Standards).

Keywords: flare motion, new prediction, pollutants distribution, transition season, WRF model

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