Search results for: data quality filtering

Authors: Jerome Dalphinis, Vishal Patel

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The Bailiwick of Jersey is an island British crown dependency situated off the coast of France. Jersey General Hospital’s emergency department sees approximately 40,000 patients a year. It’s outside the NHS, with secondary care being free at the point of care. Sedation is a continuum which extends from a normal conscious level to being fully unresponsive. Procedural sedation produces a minimally depressed level of consciousness in which the patient retains the ability to maintain an airway, and they respond appropriately to physical stimulation. The goals of it are to improve patient comfort and tolerance of the procedure and alleviate associated anxiety. Indications can be stratified by acuity, emergency (cardioversion for life-threatening dysrhythmia), and urgency (joint reduction). In the emergency department, this is most often achieved using a combination of opioids and benzodiazepines. Some departments also use ketamine to produce dissociative sedation, a cataleptic state of profound analgesia and amnesia. The response to pharmacological agents is highly individual, and the drugs used occasionally have unpredictable pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, which can always result in progression between levels of sedation irrespective of the intention. Therefore, practitioners must be able to ‘rescue’ patients from deeper sedation. These practitioners need to be senior clinicians with advanced airway skills (AAS) training. It can lead to adverse effects such as dangerous hypoxia and unintended loss of consciousness if incorrectly undertaken; studies by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) have reported avoidable deaths. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine, UK (RCEM) released an updated ‘Safe Sedation of Adults in the Emergency Department’ guidance in 2017 detailing a series of standards for staff competencies, and the required environment and equipment, which are required for each target sedation depth. The emergency department in Jersey undertook audit research in 2018 to assess their current practice. It showed gaps in clinical competency, the need for uniform care, and improved documentation. This spurred the development of a checklist incorporating the above RCEM standards, including contraindication for procedural sedation and difficult airway assessment. This was approved following discussion with the relevant heads of departments and the patient safety directorates. Following this, a second audit research was carried out in 2019 with 17 completed checklists (11 relocation of joints, 6 cardioversions). Data was obtained from looking at the controlled resuscitation drugs book containing documented use of ketamine, alfentanil, and fentanyl. TrakCare, which is the patient electronic record system, was then referenced to obtain further information. The results showed dramatic improvement compared to 2018, and they have been subdivided into six categories; pre-procedure assessment recording of significant medical history and ASA grade (2 fold increase), informed consent (100% documentation), pre-oxygenation (88%), staff (90% were AAS practitioners) and monitoring (92% use of non-invasive blood pressure, pulse oximetry, capnography, and cardiac rhythm monitoring) during procedure, and discharge instructions including the documented return of normal vitals and consciousness (82%). This procedural sedation checklist is a safe intervention that identifies pertinent information about the patient and provides a standardised checklist for the delivery of gold standard of care.

Keywords: advanced airway skills, checklist, procedural sedation, resuscitation

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Authors: Farideh Namvar, Rosfarizan Mohamed

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In the field of nanotechnology, the use of various biological units instead of toxic chemicals for the reduction and stabilization of nanoparticles, has received extensive attention. This use of biological entities to create nanoparticles has designated as “Green” synthesis and it is considered to be far more beneficial due to being economical, eco-friendly and applicable for large-scale synthesis as it operates on low pressure, less input of energy and low temperatures. The lack of toxic byproducts and consequent decrease in degradation of the product renders this technique more preferable over physical and classical chemical methods. The variety of biomass having reduction properties to produce nanoparticles makes them an ideal candidate for fabrication. Metal oxide nanoparticles have been said to represent a "fundamental cornerstone of nanoscience and nanotechnology" due to their variety of properties and potential applications. However, this also provides evidence of the fact that metal oxides include many diverse types of nanoparticles with large differences in chemical composition and behaviour. In this study, iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4-NPs) were synthesized using a rapid, single step and completely green biosynthetic method by reduction of ferric chloride solution with brown seaweed (Sargassum muticum) water extract containing polysaccharides as a main factor which acts as reducing agent and efficient stabilizer. Antimicrobial activity against six microorganisms was tested using well diffusion method. The resulting S-IONPs are crystalline in nature, with a cubic shape. The average particle diameter, as determined by TEM, was found to be 18.01 nm. The S-IONPs were efficiently inhibited the growth of Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli and Candida species. Our favorable results suggest that S-IONPs could be a promising candidate for development of future antimicrobial therapies. The nature of biosynthesis and the therapeutic potential by S-IONPs could pave the way for further research on design of green synthesis therapeutic agents, particularly nanomedicine, to deal with treatment of infections. Further studies are needed to fully characterize the toxicity and the mechanisms involved with the antimicrobial activity of these particles. Antioxidant activity of S-IONPs synthesized by green method was measured by ABTS (2, 2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (IC50= 1000µg) radical scavenging activity. Also, with the increasing concentration of S-IONPs, catalase gene expression compared to control gene GAPDH increased. For anti-angiogenesis study the Ross fertilized eggs were divided into four groups; the control and three experimental groups. The gelatin sponges containing albumin were placed on the chorioalantoic membrane and soaked with different concentrations of S-IONPs. All the cases were photographed using a photo stereomicroscope. The number and the lengths of the vessels were measured using Image J software. The crown rump (CR) and weight of the embryo were also recorded. According to the data analysis, the number and length of the blood vessels, as well as the CR and weight of the embryos reduced significantly compared to the control (p < 0.05), dose dependently. The total hemoglobin was quantified as an indicator of the blood vessel formation, and in the treated samples decreased, which showed its inhibitory effect on angiogenesis.

Keywords: anti-angiogenesis, antimicrobial, antioxidant, biosynthesis, iron oxide (fe3o4) nanoparticles, sargassum muticum, seaweed

Procedia PDF Downloads 316

Authors: Boris Nemzer, Nebiyu Abshiru, Z. B. Pietrzkowski

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Coffee cherry is one of the most ubiquitous agricultural commodities which possess nutritional and human health beneficial properties. Between the two most widely used coffee cherries Coffea arabica (Arabica) and Coffea canephora (Robusta), Coffea arabica remains superior due to its sensory properties and, therefore, remains in great demand in the global coffee market. In this study, the phytochemical contents and pharmacokinetics of Coffeeberry® Energy (CBE), a commercially available Arabica whole coffee fruit caffeine extract, are investigated. For phytochemical screening, 20 mg of CBE was dissolved in an aqueous methanol solution for analysis by mass spectrometry (MS). Quantification of caffeine and chlorogenic acids (CGAs) contents of CBE was performed using HPLC. For the bioavailability study, serum samples were collected from human subjects before and after 1, 2 and 3 h post-ingestion of 150mg CBE extract. Protein precipitation and extraction were carried out using methanol. Identification of compounds was performed using an untargeted metabolomic approach on Q-Exactive Orbitrap MS coupled to reversed-phase chromatography. Data processing was performed using Thermo Scientific Compound Discover 3.3 software. Phytochemical screening identified a total of 170 compounds, including organic acids, phenolic acids, CGAs, diterpenoids and hydroxytryptamine. Caffeine & CGAs make up more than, respectively, 70% & 9% of the total CBE composition. For serum samples, a total of 82 metabolites representing 32 caffeine- and 50 phenolic-derived metabolites were identified. Volcano plot analysis revealed 32 differential metabolites (24 caffeine- and 8 phenolic-derived) that showed an increase in serum level post-CBE dosing. Caffeine, uric acid, and trimethyluric acid isomers exhibited 4- to 10-fold increase in serum abundance post-dosing. 7-Methyluric acid, 1,7-dimethyluric acid, paraxanthine and theophylline exhibited a minimum of 1.5-fold increase in serum level. Among the phenolic-derived metabolites, iso-feruloyl quinic acid isomers (3-, 4- and 5-iFQA) showed the highest increase in serum level. These compounds were essentially absent in serum collected before dosage. More interestingly, the iFQA isomers were not originally present in the CBE extract, as our phytochemical screen did not identify these compounds. This suggests the potential formation of the isomers during the digestion and absorption processes. Pharmacokinetics parameters (Cmax, Tmax and AUC0-3h) of caffeine- and phenolic-derived metabolites were also investigated. Caffeine was rapidly absorbed, reaching a maximum concentration (Cmax) of 10.95 µg/ml in just 1 hour. Thereafter, caffeine level steadily dropped from the peak level, although it did not return to baseline within the 3-hour dosing period. The disappearance of caffeine from circulation was mirrored by the rise in the concentration of its methylxanthine metabolites. Similarly, serum concentration of iFQA isomers steadily increased, reaching maximum (Cmax: 3-iFQA, 1.54 ng/ml; 4-iFQA, 2.47 ng/ml; 5-iFQA, 2.91 ng/ml) at tmax of 1.5 hours. The isomers remained well above the baseline during the 3-hour dosing period, allowing them to remain in circulation long enough for absorption into the body. Overall, the current study provides evidence of the potential health benefits of a uniquely formulated whole coffee fruit product. Consumption of this product resulted in a distinct serum profile of bioactive compounds, as demonstrated by the more than 32 metabolites that exhibited a significant change in systemic exposure.

Keywords: phytochemicals, mass spectrometry, pharmacokinetics, differential metabolites, chlorogenic acids

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Authors: Nursuhaili Najwa Masrol, Nur Hafizah Mohammed, Nur Nadhirah Rusyda Rosnan, Vijaya Subramaniam, Sim Choon Cheak

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Replanting in oil palm cultivation is vital to enable the introduction of planting materials and provides an opportunity to improve the road, drainage, terrace design, and planting density. Oil palm replanting is fundamentally necessary every 25 years. The adoption of the digital replanting blueprint is imperative as it can assist the Malaysia Oil Palm industry in addressing challenges such as labour shortages and limited expertise related to replanting tasks. Effective replanting planning should commence at least 6 months prior to the actual replanting process. Therefore, this study will help to plan and design the replanting blueprint with high-precision translation on the ground. With the advancement of geospatial technology, it is now feasible to engage in thoroughly researched planning, which can help maximize the potential yield. A blueprint designed before replanting is to enhance management’s ability to optimize the planting program, address manpower issues, or even increase productivity. In terrace planting blueprints, geographic tools have been utilized to design the roads, drainages, terraces, and planting points based on the ARM standards. These designs are mapped with location information and undergo statistical analysis. The geospatial approach is essential in precision agriculture and ensuring an accurate translation of design to the ground by implementing high-accuracy technologies. In this study, geospatial and remote sensing technologies played a vital role. LiDAR data was employed to determine the Digital Elevation Model (DEM), enabling the precise selection of terraces, while ortho imagery was used for validation purposes. Throughout the designing process, Geographical Information System (GIS) tools were extensively utilized. To assess the design’s reliability on the ground compared with the current conventional method, high-precision GPS instruments like EOS Arrow Gold and HIPER VR GNSS were used, with both offering accuracy levels between 0.3 cm and 0.5cm. Nearest Distance Analysis was generated to compare the design with actual planting on the ground. The analysis revealed that it could not be applied to the roads due to discrepancies between actual roads and the blueprint design, which resulted in minimal variance. In contrast, the terraces closely adhered to the GPS markings, with the most variance distance being less than 0.5 meters compared to actual terraces constructed. Considering the required slope degrees for terrace planting, which must be greater than 6 degrees, the study found that approximately 65% of the terracing was constructed at a 12-degree slope, while over 50% of the terracing was constructed at slopes exceeding the minimum degrees. Utilizing blueprint replanting promising strategies for optimizing land utilization in agriculture. This approach harnesses technology and meticulous planning to yield advantages, including increased efficiency, enhanced sustainability, and cost reduction. From this study, practical implementation of this technique can lead to tangible and significant improvements in agricultural sectors. In boosting further efficiencies, future initiatives will require more sophisticated techniques and the incorporation of precision GPS devices for upcoming blueprint replanting projects besides strategic progression aims to guarantee the precision of both blueprint design stages and its subsequent implementation on the field. Looking ahead, automating digital blueprints are necessary to reduce time, workforce, and costs in commercial production.

Keywords: replanting, geospatial, precision agriculture, blueprint

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Authors: Dawid Jakimiuk, Krzysztof Mitura, Leszek Szpakowski, Sławomir Pilip, Daniel Celiński

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The Emergency Medical Teams (EMS) of the Ambulance Service in Siedlce serve the population living in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship (the area of eastern Poland with approximately 550,000 inhabitants). They provide health services at the pre-hospital stage to all life-threatening patients. The analysis covered the interventions of emergency medical teams in cases of suicide attempts that occurred in the years 2015-2018. The study was retrospective. The data was obtained on the basis of digital medical records of completed call-outs. When defining the disease entity, the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Health Problems ICD-10 prepared by WHO was used. The relationship between selected disease entities and the area of EMT intervention, the patient's sex and age, and the time of occurrence of the event were investigated. Non-urban area was defined as the area inhabited by a population below 10,000 residents. Statistical analysis was performed using Pearson's Chi ^ 2 test and presenting the percentage of cases in the study group. Of all the suicide attempts, drug abuse cases were the most frequent, including: X60 (Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to nonopioid analgesics, antipyretics and antirheumatics); X61 (Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to antiepileptic, sedative-hypnotic, antiparkinsonian and psychotropic drugs, not elsewhere classified); X62 (Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to narcotics and psycholeptics [hallucinogens], not elsewhere classified); X63 (Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to other drugs acting on the autonomic nervous system); X64 (Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to other and unspecified drugs, medicaments and biological substance) oraz X70 (Intentional self-harm by hanging, strangulation and suffocation). In total, they accounted for 69.4% of all interventions to suicide attempts in the studied period. Statistical analysis shows significant differences (χ2 = 39.30239, p <0.0001, n = 561) between the area of EMT intervention and the type of suicide attempt. In non-urban areas, a higher percentage of X70 diagnoses was recorded (55.67%), while in urban areas, X60-X64 (72.53%). In non-urban areas, a higher proportion of patients attempting suicide was observed compared to patients living in urban areas. For X70 and X60 - X64 in total, the incidence rates in non-urban areas were 80.8% and 56%, respectively. Significant differences were found (χ2 = 119.3304, p <0.0001, n = 561) depending on the method of attempting suicide in relation to the patient's sex. The percentage of women diagnosed with X60-X64 versus X70 was 87.50%, which was the largest number of patients (n = 154) as compared to men. In the case of X70 in relation to X60-X64, the percentage of men was 62.08%, which was the largest number of patients (n = 239) as compared to women (n = 22). In the case of X70, the percentage of men compared to women was as high as 92%. Significant differences were observed (χ2 = 14.94848, p <0.01058) between the hour of EMT intervention and the type of suicide attempt. The highest percentage of X70 occurred between 04:01 - 08:00 (64.44%), while X60-X64 between 00:01 - 04:00 (70.45%). The largest number of cases of all tested suicide attempts was recorded between 16:01 - 20:00 for X70 (n = 62), X60 - X64 (n = 82), respectively. The highest percentage of patients undertaking all suicide attempts studied at work was observed in the age range of 18-30 (31.5%), while the lowest was in the age group over 60 years of age. (11%). There was no significant correlation between the day of the week or individual months of the year and the type of suicide attempt - respectively (χ2 = 6.281729, p <0.39238, n = 561) and (χ2 = 3.348913, p <0.9857, n = 561). There were also no significant differences in the incidence of suicide attempts for each year in the study period (χ2 = 3.348913, p <0.9857 n = 561). The obtained results suggest the necessity to undertake preventive measures in order to minimize the number of suicide attempts. Such activities should be directed especially at young patients living in non-urban areas.

Keywords: emergency med, emergency medical team, attempted suicide, pre-hospital

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Authors: Harold M. Carag, April Charmaine D. Camacho, Girlie Nora A. Abrigo, Florencia G. Palis, Ma. Larissa Lelu P. Gata

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A technology impact assessment on the use of microbial inoculants in the reforestation and rehabilitation of forest ancestral lands of the Magbukün Aytas in Morong, Bataan was conducted. This two-year rainforestation technology aimed to determine the optimum condition for the improvement of seedling survival rate in the nursery and in the field to hasten the process of forest regeneration of Magbukün Ayta’s ancestral land. A combination of qualitative methods (key informant interviews, focus groups and participant observation), participated by the farmers who were directly involved in the project, community men and women, the council of elders and the project staff, was employed to complete this impact assessment. The recorded data were transcribed, and the accounts were broadly categorized on the following aspects: social (gender, institutional, anthropological), economic and environmental. The Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) framework was primarily used for the impact analysis while the Harvard Analytical Framework was specifically used for the gender impact analysis. Through this technology, a wildling nursery with more than one thousand seedlings was successfully established and served as a good area for the healthy growth of seedlings that would be planted in the forest. Results showed that this technology affected positively and negatively the various gender roles present in the community although household work remained to be the women’s responsibility. The technology introduced directly added up to the workload done by the men and women (preparing and applying fertilizer, making pots etc.) but this, in turn, provided ways to increase their sources of livelihood. The gender roles that were already present were further strengthened after the project and men remained to be in control. The technology or project in turn also benefited from the already present roles since they no longer have to assign things to them, the execution of the various roles was smoothly executed. In the anthropological aspect, their assigned task to manage the nursery was an easy responsibility because of their deep connection to the environment and their fear and beliefs on ‘engkato’ and ‘anito’ was helpful in guarding the forest. As the cultural value of these trees increases, their mindset of safeguarding the forest also heightens. Meanwhile, the welfare of the whole tribe is the ultimate determinant of the swift entry of projects. The past institutions brought ephemeral reliefs on the subsistence of the Magbukün Aytas. These were good ‘conditioning’ factors for the adoption of the technology of the project. As an attempt to turn away from the dependent of harmful chemical, the project’s way of introducing organic inputs was slowly gaining popularity in the community. Economically, the project was able to provide additional income to the farmers. However, the slow mode of payment dismayed other farmers and abandoned their roles. Lastly, major environmental effects weren’t that much observed after the application of the technology. The minor effects concentrated more on the improved conditions of the soil and water in the community. Because of the introduced technology, soil conditions became more favorable specifically for the species that were planted. The organic fertilizers used were in turn not harmful for the residents living in Sitio Kanawan. There were no human diseases caused by the technology. The conservation of the biodiversity of the forest is clearly the most evident long-term result of the project.

Keywords: ancestral lands, impact assessment, microbial inculants, reforestation

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Authors: Joel A. Gordon, Nazmiye Balta-Ozkan, Seyed Ali Nabavi

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Hydrogen-fueled technologies are rapidly advancing as a critical component of the low-carbon energy transition. In countries historically reliant on natural gas for home heating, such as the UK, hydrogen may prove fundamental for decarbonizing the residential sector, alongside other technologies such as heat pumps and district heat networks. While the UK government is set to take a long-term policy decision on the role of domestic hydrogen by 2026, there are considerable uncertainties regarding consumer preferences for ‘hydrogen homes’ (i.e., hydrogen-fueled appliances for space heating, hot water, and cooking. In comparison to other hydrogen energy technologies, such as road transport applications, to date, few studies have engaged with the social acceptance aspects of the domestic hydrogen transition, resulting in a stark knowledge deficit and pronounced risk to policymaking efforts. In response, this study aims to safeguard against undesirable policy measures by revealing the underlying relationships between the factors of domestic hydrogen acceptance and their respective dimensions: attitudinal, socio-political, community, market, and behavioral acceptance. The study employs an online survey (n=~2100) to gauge how different UK householders perceive the proposition of switching from natural gas to hydrogen-fueled appliances. In addition to accounting for housing characteristics (i.e., housing tenure, property type and number of occupants per dwelling) and several other socio-structural variables (e.g. age, gender, and location), the study explores the impacts of consumer heterogeneity on hydrogen acceptance by recruiting respondents from across five distinct groups: (1) fuel poor householders, (2) technology engaged householders, (3) environmentally engaged householders, (4) technology and environmentally engaged householders, and (5) a baseline group (n=~700) which filters out each of the smaller targeted groups (n=~350). This research design reflects the notion that supporting a socially fair and efficient transition to hydrogen will require parallel engagement with potential early adopters and demographic groups impacted by fuel poverty while also accounting strongly for public attitudes towards net zero. Employing a second-order multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in Mplus, the proposed hydrogen acceptance model is tested to fit the data through a partial least squares (PLS) approach. In addition to testing differences between and within groups, the findings provide policymakers with critical insights regarding the significance of knowledge and awareness, safety perceptions, perceived community impacts, cost factors, and trust in key actors and stakeholders as potential explanatory factors of hydrogen acceptance. Preliminary results suggest that knowledge and awareness of hydrogen are positively associated with support for domestic hydrogen at the household, community, and national levels. However, with the exception of technology and/or environmentally engaged citizens, much of the population remains unfamiliar with hydrogen and somewhat skeptical of its application in homes. Knowledge and awareness present as critical to facilitating positive safety perceptions, alongside higher levels of trust and more favorable expectations for community benefits, appliance performance, and potential cost savings. Based on these preliminary findings, policymakers should be put on red alert about diffusing hydrogen into the public consciousness in alignment with energy security, fuel poverty, and net-zero agendas.

Keywords: hydrogen homes, social acceptance, consumer heterogeneity, heat decarbonization

Procedia PDF Downloads 116

Authors: Michelle C. S. Azevedo, Priscila M. Colavite, Carolina F. Francisconi, Ana P. Trombone, Gustavo P. Garlet

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VIP (vasoactive intestinal peptide) know as a potential protective factor in the view of its marked immunosuppressive properties. In this work, we investigated a possible association of VIP with the clinical status of experimental periapical granulomas and the association with expression markers in the lesions potentially associated with periapical lesions pathogenesis. C57BL/6WT mice were treated or not with recombinant VIP. Animals with active/progressive (N=40), inactive/stable (N=70) periapical granulomas and controls (N=50) were anesthetized and the right mandibular first molar was surgically opened, allowing exposure of dental pulp. Endodontic pathogenic bacterial strains were inoculated: Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella nigrescens, Actinomyces viscosus, and Fusobacterium nucleatum subsp. polymorphum. The cavity was not sealed after bacterial inoculation. During lesion development, animals were treated or not with recombinant VIP 3 days post infection. Animals were killed after 3, 7, 14, and 21 days of infection and the jaws were dissected. The extraction of total RNA from periodontal tissues was performed and the integrity of samples was checked. qPCR reaction using TaqMan chemistry with inventoried primers were performed in ViiA7 equipment. The results, depicted as the relative levels of gene expression, were calculated in reference to GAPDH and β-actin expression. Periodontal tissues from upper molars were vested and incubated supplemented RPMI, followed by processing with 0.05% DNase. Cell viability and couting were determined by Neubauer chamber analysis. For flow cytometry analysis, after cell counting the cells were stained with the optimal dilution of each antibody; (PE)-conjugated and (FITC)-conjugated antibodies against CD4, CD25, FOXP3, IL-4, IL-17 and IFN-γ antibodies, as well their respective isotype controls. Cells were analyzed by FACScan and CellQuest software. Results are presented as the number of cells in the periodontal tissues or the number of positive cells for each marker in the CD4+FOXp3+, CD4+IL-4+, CD4+IFNg+ and CD4+IL-17+ subpopulations. The levels mRNA were measured by qPCR. The VIP expression was predominated in inactive lesions, as well part of the clusters of cytokine/Th markers identified as protective factors and a negative correlation between VIP expression and lesion evolution was observed. A quantitative analysis of IL1β, IL17, TNF, IFN, MMP2, RANKL, OPG, IL10, TGFβ, CTLA4, COL5A1, CTGF, CXCL11, FGF7, ITGA4, ITGA5, SERP1 and VTN expression was measured in experimental periapical lesions treated with VIP 7 and 14 days after lesion induction and healthy animals. After 7 days, all targets presented a significate increase in comparison to untreated animals. About migration kinetics, profile of chemokine receptors expression of TCD4+ subsets and phenotypic analysis of Tregs, Th1, Th2 and Th17 cells during the course of experimental periodontal disease evaluated by flow cytometry and depicted as the number of positive cells for each marker. CD4+IFNg+ and CD4+FOXp3+ cells migration were significate increased 7 days post VIP treatment. CD4+IL17+ cells migration were significate increased 7 and 14 days post VIP treatment, CD4+IL4+ cells migration were significate increased 14 and 21 days post VIP treatment compared to the control group. In conclusion, our experimental data support VIP involvement in determining the inactivity of periapical lesions. Financial support: FAPESP #2015/25618-2.

Keywords: chronic inflammation, cytokines, osteolytic lesions, VIP (Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide)

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Authors: Thaveesha Dheerasekera, Dileeka Sandamali Alwis

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The escalating prevalence of mental health issues, such as depression and suicidal ideation, is a matter of significant global concern. It is plausible that a variety of factors, such as life events, social isolation, and preexisting physiological or psychological health conditions, could instigate or exacerbate these conditions. Traditional approaches to diagnosing depression entail a considerable amount of time and necessitate the involvement of adept practitioners. This underscores the necessity for automated systems capable of promptly detecting and diagnosing symptoms of depression. The PsyVBot system employs sophisticated natural language processing and machine learning methodologies, including the use of the NLTK toolkit for dataset preprocessing and the utilization of a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model. The PsyVBot exhibits a remarkable ability to diagnose depression with a 94% accuracy rate through the analysis of user input. Consequently, this resource proves to be efficacious for individuals, particularly those enrolled in academic institutions, who may encounter challenges pertaining to their psychological well-being. The PsyVBot employs a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model that comprises a total of three layers, namely an embedding layer, an LSTM layer, and a dense layer. The stratification of these layers facilitates a precise examination of linguistic patterns that are associated with the condition of depression. The PsyVBot has the capability to accurately assess an individual's level of depression through the identification of linguistic and contextual cues. The task is achieved via a rigorous training regimen, which is executed by utilizing a dataset comprising information sourced from the subreddit r/SuicideWatch. The diverse data present in the dataset ensures precise and delicate identification of symptoms linked with depression, thereby guaranteeing accuracy. PsyVBot not only possesses diagnostic capabilities but also enhances the user experience through the utilization of audio outputs. This feature enables users to engage in more captivating and interactive interactions. The PsyVBot platform offers individuals the opportunity to conveniently diagnose mental health challenges through a confidential and user-friendly interface. Regarding the advancement of PsyVBot, maintaining user confidentiality and upholding ethical principles are of paramount significance. It is imperative to note that diligent efforts are undertaken to adhere to ethical standards, thereby safeguarding the confidentiality of user information and ensuring its security. Moreover, the chatbot fosters a conducive atmosphere that is supportive and compassionate, thereby promoting psychological welfare. In brief, PsyVBot is an automated conversational agent that utilizes an LSTM model to assess the level of depression in accordance with the input provided by the user. The demonstrated accuracy rate of 94% serves as a promising indication of the potential efficacy of employing natural language processing and machine learning techniques in tackling challenges associated with mental health. The reliability of PsyVBot is further improved by the fact that it makes use of the Reddit dataset and incorporates Natural Language Toolkit (NLTK) for preprocessing. PsyVBot represents a pioneering and user-centric solution that furnishes an easily accessible and confidential medium for seeking assistance. The present platform is offered as a modality to tackle the pervasive issue of depression and the contemplation of suicide.

Keywords: chatbot, depression diagnosis, LSTM model, natural language process

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Authors: Sopio Totibadze

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Although the legal framework of Georgia reflects the main principles of gender equality and is in line with the international situation (UNDP, 2018), Georgia remains a male-dominated society. This means that men prevail in many areas of social, economic, and political life, which frequently gives women a subordinate status in society and the family (UN women). According to the latest study, “violence against women and girls in Georgia is also recognized as a public problem, and it is necessary to focus on it” (UN women). Moreover, the Public Defender's report on the protection of human rights in Georgia (2019) reveals that “in the last five years, 151 women were killed in Georgia due to gender and family violence”. Sadly, these statistics have increased significantly since that time. The issue was acutely reflected in the document published by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, “Gender Hate Crime” (March 10, 2021). “Unfortunately, the rates of femicide ..... are still high in the country, and distrust of law enforcement agencies often makes such cases invisible, which requires special attention from the state.” More precisely, the cited document considers that there are frequent cases of crimes based on gender-based oppression in Georgia, which pose a threat not only to women but also to people of any gender whose desires and aspirations do not correspond to the gender norms and roles prevailing in society. According to the study, this type of crime has a “significant and lasting impact on the victim(s) and also undermines the safety and cohesion of society and gender equality”. It is well-known that language is often used as a tool for gender oppression (Rusieshvili-Cartledge and Dolidze, 2021; Totibadze, 2021). Therefore, feminist and gender studies in linguistics ultimately serve to represent the problem, reflect on it, and propose ways to solve it. Together with technical advancement in communication, a new form of discrimination has arisen- hate language against women in electronic media discourse. Due to the nature of social media and the internet, messages containing hate language can spread in seconds and reach millions of people. However, only a few know about the detrimental effects they may have on the addressee and society. This paper aims to analyse the hateful comments directed at women on various media platforms to determine (1) the linguistic strategies used while attacking women and (2) the reasons why women may fall victim to this type of hate language. The data have been collected over six months, and overall, 500 comments will be examined for the paper. Qualitative and quantitative analysis was chosen for the methodology of the study. The comments posted on various media platforms, including social media posts, articles, or pictures, have been selected manually due to several reasons, the most important being the problem of identifying hate speech as it can disguise itself in different ways- humour, memes, etc. The comments on the articles, posts, pictures, and videos selected for sociolinguistic analysis depict a woman, a taboo topic, or a scandalous event centred on a woman that triggered a lot of hatred and hate language towards the person to whom the post/article was dedicated. The study has revealed that a woman can become a victim of hatred directed at them if they do something considered to be a deviation from a societal norm, namely, get a divorce, be sexually active, be vocal about feministic values, and talk about taboos. Interestingly, people who utilize hate language are not only men trying to “normalize” the prejudiced patriarchal values but also women who are equally active in bringing down a "strong" woman. The paper also aims to raise awareness about the hate language directed at women, as being knowledgeable about the issue at hand is the first step to tackling it.

Keywords: femicide, hate language, media discourse, sociolinguistics

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Authors: Loretta Ichim, Dan Popescu, Grigore Stamatescu

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The paper reports the collaboration between a top university from Romania and three companies for the implementation of a research project in a multidisciplinary domain, focusing on the impact and benefits both for the education and industry. The joint activities were developed under the Space Technology and Advanced Research Program (STAR), funded by the Romanian Space Agency (ROSA) for a university-industry partnership. The context was defined by linking the European Space Agency optional programs, with the development and promotion national research, with the educational and industrial capabilities in the aeronautics, security and related areas by increasing the collaboration between academic and industrial entities as well as by realizing high-level scientific production. The project name is Multisensory Robotic System for Aerial Monitoring of Critical Infrastructure Systems (MUROS), which was carried 2013-2016. The project included the University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest (coordinator) and three companies, which manufacture and market unmanned aerial systems. The project had as main objective the development of an integrated system for combined ground wireless sensor networks and UAV monitoring in various application scenarios for critical infrastructure surveillance. This included specific activities related to fundamental and applied research, technology transfer, prototype implementation and result dissemination. The core area of the contributions laid in distributed data processing and communication mechanisms, advanced image processing and embedded system development. Special focus is given by the paper to analyzing the impact the project implementation in the educational process, directly or indirectly, through the faculty members (professors and students) involved in the research team. Three main directions are discussed: a) enabling students to carry out internships at the partner companies, b) handling advanced topics and industry requirements at the master's level, c) experiments and concept validation for doctoral thesis. The impact of the research work (as the educational component) developed by the faculty members on the increasing performances of the companies’ products is highlighted. The collaboration between university and companies was well balanced both for contributions and results. The paper also presents the outcomes of the project which reveals the efficient collaboration between high education and industry: master thesis, doctoral thesis, conference papers, journal papers, technical documentation for technology transfer, prototype, and patent. The experience can provide useful practices of blending research and education within an academia-industry cooperation framework while the lessons learned represent a starting point in debating the new role of advanced research and development performing companies in association with higher education. This partnership, promoted at UE level, has a broad impact beyond the constrained scope of a single project and can develop into long-lasting collaboration while benefiting all stakeholders: students, universities and the surrounding knowledge-based economic and industrial ecosystem. Due to the exchange of experiences between the university (UPB) and the manufacturing company (AFT Design), a new project, SIMUL, under the Bridge Grant Program (Romanian executive agency UEFISCDI) was started (2016 – 2017). This project will continue the educational research for innovation on master and doctoral studies in MUROS thematic (collaborative multi-UAV application for flood detection).

Keywords: education process, multisensory robotic system, research and innovation project, technology transfer, university-industry partnership

Procedia PDF Downloads 243

Authors: Anne E. Goodenough

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One of the most important roles of higher education professionals is to ensure that graduates have excellent employment prospects. This means providing students with the skills necessary to be immediately effective in the workplace. Increasingly, universities are seeking to achieve this by moving from lecture-based and campus-delivered curricula to more varied delivery, which takes students out of their academic comfort zone and allows them to engage with, and be challenged by, real world issues. One popular approach is integration of problem-based learning (PBL) projects into curricula. However, although the potential benefits of PBL are considerable, it can be difficult to devise projects that are meaningful, such that they can be regarded as mere ‘hoop jumping’ exercises. This study examines three-way partnerships between academics, students, and external link organizations. It studied the experiences of all partners involved in different collaborative projects to identify how benefits can be maximized and challenges overcome. Focal collaborations included: (1) development of real-world modules with novel assessment whereby the organization became the ‘client’ for student consultancy work; (2) frameworks where students collected/analyzed data for link organizations in research methods modules; (3) placement-based internships and dissertations; (4) immersive fieldwork projects in novel locations; and (5) students working as partners on staff-led research with link organizations. Focus groups, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used to identify opportunities and barriers, while quantitative analysis of students’ grades was used to determine academic effectiveness. Common challenges identified by academics were finding suitable link organizations and devising projects that simultaneously provided education opportunities and tangible benefits. There was no ‘one size fits all’ formula for success, but careful planning and ensuring clarity of roles/responsibilities were vital. Students were very positive about collaboration projects. They identified benefits to confidence, time-keeping and communication, as well as conveying their enthusiasm when their work was of benefit to the wider community. They frequently highlighted employability opportunities that collaborative projects opened up and analysis of grades demonstrated the potential for such projects to increase attainment. Organizations generally recognized the value of project outputs, but often required considerable assistance to put the right scaffolding in place to ensure projects worked. Benefits were maximized by ensuring projects were well-designed, innovative, and challenging. Co-publication of projects in peer-reviewed journals sometimes gave additional benefits for all involved, being especially beneficial for student curriculum vitae. PBL and student projects are by no means new pedagogic approaches: the novelty here came from creating meaningful three-way partnerships between academics, students, and link organizations at all undergraduate levels. Such collaborations can allow students to make a genuine contribution to knowledge, answer real questions, solve actual problems, all while providing tangible benefits to organizations. Because projects are actually needed, students tend to engage with learning at a deep level. This enhances student experience, increases attainment, encourages development of subject-specific and transferable skills, and promotes networking opportunities. Such projects frequently rely upon students and staff working collaboratively, thereby also acting to break down the traditional teacher/learner division that is typically unhelpful in developing students as advanced learners.

Keywords: higher education, employability, link organizations, innovative teaching and learning methods, interactions between enterprise and education, student experience

Procedia PDF Downloads 184

Authors: Joel Rookwood

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Sports mega events have become increasingly significant in sporting, political and economic terms, with analysis often focusing on issues including resource expenditure, development, legacy and sustainability. Transnational tournaments can inspire interest from a variety of demographics, and the operational management of such events can involve contributions from a range of personnel. In addition to television audiences events also attract attending spectators, and in football contexts the temporary migration of fans from potentially rival nations and teams can present event organising committees and security personnel with various challenges in relation to crowd management. The behaviour, interaction and control of supporters has previously led to incidents of disorder and hooliganism, with damage to property as well as injuries and deaths proving significant consequences. The Heysel tragedy at the 1985 European Cup final in Brussels is a notable example, where 39 fans died following crowd disorder and mismanagement. Football disasters and disorder, particularly in the context of international competition, have inspired responses from police, law makers, event organisers, clubs and associations, including stadium improvements, legislative developments and crowd management practice to improve the effectiveness of spectator safety. The growth and internationalisation of fandom and developments in event management and tourism have seen various responses to the evolving challenges associated with hosting large numbers of visiting spectators at mega events. In football contexts ‘fan parks’ are a notable example. Since the first widespread introduction in European football competitions at the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, these facilities have become a staple element of such mega events. This qualitative, longitudinal, multi-continent research draws on extensive semi-structured interview and observation data. As a frame of reference, this work considers football events staged before and after the development of fan parks. Research was undertaken at four World Cup finals (Japan 2002, Germany 2006, South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014), four European Championships (Portugal 2004, Switzerland/Austria 2008, Poland/Ukraine 2012 and France 2016), four other confederation tournaments (Ghana 2008, Qatar 2011, USA 2011 and Chile 2015), and four European club finals (Istanbul 2005, Athens 2007, Rome 2009 and Basle 2016). This work found that these parks are typically temporarily erected, specifically located zones where supporters congregate together irrespective of allegiances to watch matches on large screens, and partake in other forms of organised on-site entertainment. Such facilities can also allow organisers to control the behaviour, confine the movement and monitor the alcohol consumption of supporters. This represents a notable shift in policy from previous football tournaments, when the widely assumed causal link between alcohol and hooliganism which frequently shaped legislative and police responses to disorder, also dissuaded some authorities from permitting fans to consume alcohol in and around stadia. It also reflects changing attitudes towards modern football fans. The work also found that in certain contexts supporters have increasingly engaged with such provision which impacts fan behaviour, but that this is relative to factors including location, facilities, management and security.

Keywords: event, facility, fan, management, park

Procedia PDF Downloads 313

Authors: E. Cascarosa-Salillas, J. Pozuelo-Muñoz, C. Rodríguez-Casals, A. de Echave

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This study focuses on improving the understanding of the capillarity phenomenon among Primary and Secondary Education students. Despite being a common concept in daily life and covered in various subjects, students’ comprehension remains limited. This work explores inquiry-based teaching methods to build a conceptual foundation of capillarity by examining the forces involved. The study adopts an inquiry-based teaching approach supported by research emphasizing the importance of modeling in science education. Scientific modeling aids students in applying knowledge across varied contexts and developing systemic thinking, allowing them to construct scientific models applicable to everyday situations. This methodology fosters the development of scientific competencies such as observation, hypothesis formulation, and communication. The research was structured as a case study with activities designed for Spanish Primary and Secondary Education students aged 9 to 13. The process included curriculum analysis, the design of an activity sequence, and its implementation in classrooms. Implementation began with questions that students needed to resolve using available materials, encouraging observation, experimentation, and the re-contextualization of activities to everyday phenomena where capillarity is observed. Data collection tools included audio and video recordings of the sessions, which were transcribed and analyzed alongside the students' written work. Students' drawings on capillarity were also collected and categorized. Qualitative analyses of the activities showed that, through inquiry, students managed to construct various models of capillarity, reflecting an improved understanding of the phenomenon. Initial activities allowed students to express prior ideas and formulate hypotheses, which were then refined and expanded in subsequent sessions. The generalization and use of graphical representations of their ideas on capillarity, analyzed alongside their written work, enabled the categorization of capillarity models: Intuitive Model: A visual and straightforward representation without explanations of how or why it occurs. Simple symbolic elements, such as arrows to indicate water rising, are used without detailed or causal understanding. It reflects an initial, immediate perception of the phenomenon, interpreted as something that happens "on its own" without delving into the microscopic level. Explanatory Intuitive Model: Students begin to incorporate causal explanations, though still limited and without complete scientific accuracy. They represent the role of materials and use basic terms such as ‘absorption’ or ‘attraction’ to describe the rise of water. This model shows a more complex understanding where the phenomenon is not only observed but also partially explained in terms of interaction, though without microscopic detail. School Scientific Model: This model reflects a more advanced and detailed understanding. Students represent the phenomenon using specific scientific concepts like ‘surface tension,’ cohesion,’ and ‘adhesion,’ including structured explanations connecting microscopic and macroscopic levels. At this level, students model the phenomenon as a coherent system, demonstrating how various forces or properties interact in the capillarity process, with representations on a microscopic level. The study demonstrated that the capillarity phenomenon can be effectively approached in class through the experimental observation of everyday phenomena, explained through guided inquiry learning. The methodology facilitated students’ construction of capillarity models and served to analyze an interaction phenomenon of different forces occurring at the microscopic level.

Keywords: capillarity, inquiry-based learning, scientific modeling, primary and secondary education, conceptual understanding, Drawing analysis.

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Authors: Denis Jordan, Daniel Golkowski, Mathias Lukas, Katharina Merz, Caroline Mlynarcik, Max Maurer, Valentin Riedl, Stefan Foerster, Eberhard F. Kochs, Andreas Bender, Ruediger Ilg

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Introduction: So far, clinical assessments that rely on behavioral responses to differentiate coma states or even predict outcome in coma patients are unreliable, e.g. because of some patients’ motor disabilities. The present study was aimed to provide prognosis in coma patients using markers from electroencephalogram (EEG), blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET). Unsuperwised principal component analysis (PCA) was used for multimodal integration of markers. Methods: Approved by the local ethics committee of the Technical University of Munich (Germany) 20 patients (aged 18-89) with severe brain damage were acquired through intensive care units at the Klinikum rechts der Isar in Munich and at the Therapiezentrum Burgau (Germany). At the day of EEG/fMRI/PET measurement (date I) patients (<3.5 month in coma) were grouped in the minimal conscious state (MCS) or vegetative state (VS) on the basis of their clinical presentation (coma recovery scale-revised, CRS-R). Follow-up assessment (date II) was also based on CRS-R in a period of 8 to 24 month after date I. At date I, 63 channel EEG (Brain Products, Gilching, Germany) was recorded outside the scanner, and subsequently simultaneous FDG-PET/fMRI was acquired on an integrated Siemens Biograph mMR 3T scanner (Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen Germany). Power spectral densities, permutation entropy (PE) and symbolic transfer entropy (STE) were calculated in/between frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital EEG channels. PE and STE are based on symbolic time series analysis and were already introduced as robust markers separating wakefulness from unconsciousness in EEG during general anesthesia. While PE quantifies the regularity structure of the neighboring order of signal values (a surrogate of cortical information processing), STE reflects information transfer between two signals (a surrogate of directed connectivity in cortical networks). fMRI was carried out using SPM12 (Wellcome Trust Center for Neuroimaging, University of London, UK). Functional images were realigned, segmented, normalized and smoothed. PET was acquired for 45 minutes in list-mode. For absolute quantification of brain’s glucose consumption rate in FDG-PET, kinetic modelling was performed with Patlak’s plot method. BOLD signal intensity in fMRI and glucose uptake in PET was calculated in 8 distinct cortical areas. PCA was performed over all markers from EEG/fMRI/PET. Prognosis (persistent VS and deceased patients vs. recovery to MCS/awake from date I to date II) was evaluated using the area under the curve (AUC) including bootstrap confidence intervals (CI, *: p<0.05). Results: Prognosis was reliably indicated by the first component of PCA (AUC=0.99*, CI=0.92-1.00) showing a higher AUC when compared to the best single markers (EEG: AUC<0.96*, fMRI: AUC<0.86*, PET: AUC<0.60). CRS-R did not show prediction (AUC=0.51, CI=0.29-0.78). Conclusion: In a multimodal analysis of EEG/fMRI/PET in coma patients, PCA lead to a reliable prognosis. The impact of this result is evident, as clinical estimates of prognosis are inapt at time and could be supported by quantitative biomarkers from EEG, fMRI and PET. Due to the small sample size, further investigations are required, in particular allowing superwised learning instead of the basic approach of unsuperwised PCA.

Keywords: coma states and prognosis, electroencephalogram, entropy, functional magnetic resonance imaging, machine learning, positron emission tomography, principal component analysis

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Authors: Haruka Ando

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Undernutrition of children is a critical issue, especially for people in the remote areas of the Republic of Djibouti, since household food insecurity, inadequate child caring and feeding, unhealthy environment and lack of clean water, as well as insufficient maternal and child healthcare, are underlying causes which affect. Nomadic pastoralists living in the Dikhil region (Dikhil) are socio-economically and geographically more vulnerable due to displacement, which in turn worsens the situation of child stunting. A high prevalence of inappropriate complementary feeding among pastoral mothers might be a significant barrier to child growth. This study aims to identify health promotion intervention strategies that would support an increase in optimal complementary feeding among pastoral mothers of children aged 6-23 months in Dikhil. There are four objectives; to explore and to understand the existing practice of complementary feeding among pastoral mothers in Dikhil; to identify the barriers in appropriate complementary feeding among the mothers; to critically explore and analyse the strategies for an increase in complementary feeding among the mothers; to make pragmatic recommendations to address the barriers in Djibouti. This is an in-depth study utilizing a conceptual framework, the behaviour change wheel, to analyse the determinants of complementary feeding and categorize health promotion interventions for increasing optimal complementary feeding among pastoral mothers living in Dikhil. The analytical tool was utilized to appraise the strategies to mitigate the selected barriers against optimal complementary feeding. The data sources were secondary literature from both published and unpublished sources. The literature was systematically collected. The findings of the determinants including the barriers of optimal complementary feeding were identified: heavy household workload, caring for multiple children under five, lack of education, cultural norms and traditional eating habits, lack of husbands' support, poverty and food insecurity, lack of clean water, low media coverage, insufficient health services on complementary feeding, fear, poor personal hygiene, and mothers' low decision-making ability and lack of motivation for food choice. To mitigate selected barriers of optimal complementary feeding, four intervention strategies based on interpersonal communication at the community-level were chosen: scaling up mothers' support groups, nutrition education, grandmother-inclusive approach, and training for complementary feeding counseling. The strategies were appraised through the criteria of effectiveness and feasibility. Scaling up mothers' support groups could be the best approach. Mid-term and long-term recommendations are suggested based on the situation analysis and appraisal of intervention strategies. Mid-term recommendations include complementary feeding promotion interventions are integrated into the healthcare service providing system in Dikhil, and donor agencies advocate and lobby the Ministry of Health Djibouti (MoHD) to increase budgetary allocation on complementary feeding promotion to implement interventions at a community level. Moreover, the recommendations include a community health management team in Dikhil training healthcare workers and mother support groups by using complementary feeding communication guidelines and monitors behaviour change of pastoral mothers and health outcome of their children. Long-term recommendations are the MoHD develops complementary feeding guidelines to cover sector-wide collaboration for multi-sectoral related barriers.

Keywords: Afar, child food, child nutrition, complementary feeding, complementary food, developing countries, Djibouti, East Africa, hard-to-reach areas, Horn of Africa, nomad, pastoral, rural area, Somali, Sub-Saharan Africa

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: S. Fadda, M. Fiori, C. Matzuzzi

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Mineralized formations in the bottom sediments of a Miocene transgression have been discovered in Sardinia. The mineral assemblage consists of copper sulphides and oxidates suggesting fluctuations of redox conditions in neutral to high-pH restricted shallow-water coastal basins. Azurite/malachite has been observed as authigenic and occurs as loose spheroidal crystalline particles associated with the transitional-littoral horizon forming the bottom of the marine transgression. Many field observations are consistent with a supergenic circulation of metals involving terrestrial groundwater-seawater mixing. Both clastic materials and metals come from Tertiary volcanic edifices while the main precipitating anions, carbonates, and sulphides species are of both continental and marine origin. Formation of Cu carbonates as a supergene secondary 'oxide' assemblage, does not agree with field evidences, petrographic observations along with textural evidences in the host-rock types. Samples were collected along the sedimentary sequence for different analyses: the majority of elements were determined by X-ray fluorescence and plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy. Mineral identification was obtained by X-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microprobe. Thin sections of the samples were examined in microscopy while porosity measurements were made using a mercury intrusion porosimeter. Cu-carbonates deposited at a temperature below 100 C° which is consistent with the clay minerals in the matrix of the host rock dominated by illite and montmorillonite. Azurite nodules grew during the early diagenetic stage through reaction of cupriferous solutions with CO₂ imported from the overlying groundwater and circulating through the sandstones during shallow burial. Decomposition of organic matter in the bottom anoxic waters released additional carbon dioxide to pore fluids for azurite stability. In this manner localized reducing environments were also generated in which Cu was fixed as Cu-sulphide and sulphosalts. Microscopic examinations of textural features of azurite nodules give evidence of primary malachite/azurite deposition rather than supergene oxidation in place of primary sulfides. Photomicrographs show nuclei of azurite and malachite surrounded by newly formed microcrystalline carbonates which constitute the matrix. The typical pleochroism of crystals can be observed also when this mineral fills microscopic fissures or cracks. Sedimentological evidence of transgression and regression indicates that the pore water would have been a variable mixture of marine water and groundwaters with a possible meteoric component in an alternatively exposed and subaqueous environment owing to water-level fluctuation. Salinity data of the pore fluids, assessed at random intervals along the mineralised strata confirmed the values between about 7000 and 30,000 ppm measured in coeval sediments at the base of Miocene falling in the range of a more or less diluted sea water. This suggests a variation in mean pore-fluids pH between 5.5 and 8.5, compatible with the oxidized and reduced mineral paragenesis described in this work. The results of stable isotopes studies reflect the marine transgressive-regressive cyclicity of events and are compatibile with carbon derivation from sea water. During the last oxidative stage of diagenesis, under surface conditions of higher activity of H₂O and O₂, CO₂ partial pressure decreased, and malachite becomes the stable Cu mineral. The potential for these small but high grade deposits does exist.

Keywords: sedimentary, Cu-carbonates, authigenic, tertiary, Sardinia

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Authors: Liza L. S. Choi

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Organizational burnout in higher education presents a critical challenge, undermining faculty well-being and institutional effectiveness. This study adopts a systemic perspective, addressing burnout through evidence-based strategies beyond individual coping mechanisms. Utilizing a meta-synthesis of existing literature, the author examines the underlying causes of burnout through the lenses of relational leadership, interpretivist theory, nudge theory, and the ADKAR model. The methodology synthesizes secondary data from peer-reviewed research, comprehensively analyzing key contributors to burnout, including excessive workloads, inadequate leadership, insufficient resources, and the absence of psychological safety. Key findings reveal that addressing burnout requires multi-faceted interventions. Effective implementation begins with leadership training programs grounded in relational leadership principles. These programs empower leaders to build trust by acknowledging and addressing faculty's unique challenges, such as workload inequities and insufficient support. For example, leaders can utilize interpretivist approaches to collect qualitative feedback through focus groups or anonymous surveys, providing actionable insights into the lived experiences of faculty. Institutions should establish policies encouraging open communication and normalizing feedback mechanisms to promote psychological safety. These initiatives include regular town halls, anonymous feedback portals, and structured team-building activities. They create environments where faculty feel supported and valued, reducing the stigma of voicing concerns. Drawing inspiration from successful practices in the healthcare sector, the author advocates for adopting an Associate Vice President (AVP) of Wellness role to lead organizational well-being initiatives. This role would centralize efforts to address faculty burnout and job satisfaction, ensuring alignment across departments and breaking down silos of operation. By fostering cross-departmental collaboration, this approach can lead to more integrated and efficient solutions, maximizing resource utilization and enhancing institutional resilience. The ADKAR model offers a structured framework for managing organizational change, emphasizing Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement. Specific applications include facilitating workshops to raise awareness of burnout's impact, providing professional development programs that enhance faculty time management skills, and embedding well-being practices—such as flexible scheduling and equitable resource distribution—into institutional policies. Nudge theory further supports these efforts by employing subtle cues, such as reminders and default options, to encourage healthier work habits and foster collaboration. Finally, institutions should regularly evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions by implementing metrics such as faculty engagement scores, turnover rates, and utilization of wellness resources. By adopting a holistic and scalable framework that includes the AVP Wellness role and eliminates operational silos, this study provides academic institutions with practical tools to enhance morale, foster collaboration, and build resilience, ultimately addressing organizational burnout and creating a supportive educational environment.

Keywords: higher education, organizational burnout, relational leadership, culture of well-being and engagement

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Authors: Savvas Rogotis, Nikolaos Kalatzis, Stergios Dimou-Sakellariou, Nikolaos Marianos

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As precision holds the key for the introduction of distinct benefits in agriculture (e.g., energy savings, reduced labor costs, optimal application of inputs, improved products, and yields), it steadily becomes evident that new initiatives should focus on rendering Precision Agriculture (PA) more accessible to the average farmer. PA leverages on technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), earth observation, robotics and positioning systems (e.g., the Global Navigation Satellite System – GNSS - as well as individual positioning systems like GPS, Glonass, Galileo) that allow: from simple data georeferencing to optimal navigation of agricultural machinery to even more complex tasks like Variable Rate Applications. An identified customer pain point is that, from one hand, typical triangulation-based positioning systems are not accurate enough (with errors up to several meters), while on the other hand, high precision positioning systems reaching centimeter-level accuracy, are very costly (up to thousands of euros). Within this paper, a Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS) is introduced, that can be adapted to any existing IoT field-sensing station infrastructure. The latter should cover a minimum set of requirements, and in particular, each station should operate as a fixed, obstruction-free towards the sky, energy supplying unit. Station augmentation will allow them to function in pairs with GNSS rovers following the differential GNSS base-rover paradigm. This constitutes a key innovation element for the proposed solution that encompasses differential GNSS capabilities into an IoT field-sensing infrastructure. Integrating this kind of information supports the provision of several additional PA beneficial services such as spatial mapping, route planning, and automatic field navigation of unmanned vehicles (UVs). Right at the heart of the designed system, there is a high-end GNSS toolkit with base-rover variants and Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) capabilities. The GNSS toolkit had to tackle all availability, performance, interfacing, and energy-related challenges that are faced for a real-time, low-power, and reliable in the field operation. Specifically, in terms of performance, preliminary findings exhibit a high rover positioning precision that can even reach less than 10-centimeters. As this precision is propagated to the full dataset collection, it enables tractors, UVs, Android-powered devices, and measuring units to deal with challenging real-world scenarios. The system is validated with the help of Gaiatrons, a mature network of agro-climatic telemetry stations with presence all over Greece and beyond ( > 60.000ha of agricultural land covered) that constitutes part of “gaiasense” (www.gaiasense.gr) smart farming (SF) solution. Gaiatrons constantly monitor atmospheric and soil parameters, thus, providing exact fit to operational requirements asked from modern SF infrastructures. Gaiatrons are ultra-low-cost, compact, and energy-autonomous stations with a modular design that enables the integration of advanced GNSS base station capabilities on top of them. A set of demanding pilot demonstrations has been initiated in Stimagka, Greece, an area with a diverse geomorphological landscape where grape cultivation is particularly popular. Pilot demonstrations are in the course of validating the preliminary system findings in its intended environment, tackle all technical challenges, and effectively highlight the added-value offered by the system in action.

Keywords: GNSS, GBAS, precision agriculture, RTK, smart farming

Procedia PDF Downloads 116

Authors: Hooshag Asadi Haroni, Maryam Veiskarami, Yongjun Lu

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The Dalli gold-rich porphyry deposit (17 Mt @ 0.5% Cu and 0.65 g/t Au) is located in the Urumieh-Dokhtar Magmatic Arc (UDMA), a small segment of the Tethyan metallogenic belt, hosting several porphyry Cu (Mo-Au) systems in Iran. This research characterizes the Dalli deposit to define exploration criteria in advanced exploration such as the drilling of possible blind porphyry centers. Geological map, trench/drill hole geochemical and ground magnetic data, and age dating and isotope trace element analyses, carried out at the John De Laeter Research Center of Curtin University, were used to characterize the Delli deposit. Mineralization at Dalli is hosted by NE-trending quartz-diorite porphyry stocks (~ 200m in diameter) intruded by a wall-rock andesite porphyry. Disseminated and stockwork Cu-Au mineralization is related to potassic alteration, comprising magnetite, late K-feldspar and biotite, and quartz-sericite-specularite overprint, surrounded by extensive barren argillic and propylitic alterations. In the peripheries of the porphyry centers, there are N-trending vuggy quartz veins, hosting epithermal Au-Ag-As-Sb mineralization. Geochemical analyses of drill core samples showed that the core of the porphyry stocks is low-grade, whereas the high-grade disseminated and stockwork mineralization (~ 1% Cu and ~ 1.2 g/t Au) occurred at the contact of the porphyry stocks and andesite porphyry. Geochemical studies of the drill hole and trench samples showed a strong correlation between Cu and Au and both show a second-order correlation with Fe and As. Magnetic survey revealed two significant magnetic anomalies, associated with intensive potassic alteration, in the reduced-to-the-pole magnetic map of the area. A relatively weaker magnetic anomaly, showing no surface porphyry expressions, is located on a lithocap, consisting of advanced argillic alteration, vuggy quartz veins, and surface expressions of epithermal geochemical signatures. The association of the lithocap and the weak magnetic anomaly could be indicative of a hidden mineralized porphyry center. Litho-geochemical analyses of the least altered Dalli intrusions and volcanic rocks indicated high Sr/Y (49-61) and Eu/Eu* (0.89-0.92), features typical of Cu porphyries. The U-Pb dating of zircons of the mineralized quartz diorite and andesite porphyry, carried out by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, yielded magmatic crystallization ages of 15.4-16.0 Ma (Middle Miocene). The zircon trace element concentrations of Dalli are characterized by high Eu/Eu* (0.3-0.8), (Ce/Nd)/Y (0.01-0.3), and 10000*(Eu/Eu*)/Y (2-15) ratios, similar to fertile porphyry suites such as the giant Sar-Cheshmeh and Qulong porphyry Cu deposits along the Tethyan belt. This suggests that the Middle Miocene Dalli intrusions are fertile and require extensive deep drillings to define their potential. Chondrite-normalized rare earth element (REE) patterns show no significant Eu anomalies, and are characterized by light-REE enrichments (La/Sm)n = 2.57–6.40). In normalized multi-element diagrams, analyzed rocks are characterized by enrichments in large ion lithophile elements (LILE) and depletions in high field strength elements (HFSE), and display typical features of subduction-related calc-alkaline magmas. The characteristics of the Dalli deposit provided several recognition criteria for detailed exploration of Cu-Au porphyry deposits and highlighted the importance of the UDMA as a potentially significant, economically important, but relatively underexplored porphyry province.

Keywords: porphyry, gold, geochronology, magnetic, exploration

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Authors: G. Senoga, D. Nakimuli, B. Ndagire, B. Lukwago, D. Kyamagwa

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Background: The COVID-19 epidemic affected the education sector, with some private schools closing while other children missed schooling for fear contracting COVID-19. Post COVID-19, PSIU in collaborated with Kampala City Council Authority Directorate of Education and Social Science, Water and Sanitation department, and Directorate of Public Health and Environment to improve sanitation and hygiene among pupils and staff in 50 public and private school system in Kampala city. The “Be Clean, Stay Healthy Campaign” used a behavioral change approach in educating, reinforcing and engaging learners on proper hand washing behaviors, proper toilet usage and garbage disposal. In April 2022, 40 Washa lots were constructed, to reduce the pupil - hand wash station ratio; distributed KCCA approved printed materials; oriented 50 teachers, WASH committees to execute and implement hygiene promotion. To ensure sustainability, WASH messages were memorized and practiced through hand washing songs, Pledge, prayer, Poems, Skits, Music, dance and drama, coupled with participatory, practical demonstrations using peer to peer approach, guest speakers at assemblies and in classes. This improved hygiene and sanitation practices. Premised on this, PSI conducted an end line assessment to explore the impact of a hand washing campaign in regards to improvements in hand washing practices and hand hygiene among pupils, accessibility, functionality and usage of the constructed hygiene and sanitation facilities. Method: A cross-sectional post intervention assessment using a mixed methods approach, targeting headteachers, wash committee members and pupils less <17 years was used. Quantitative approaches with a mix of open-ended questions were used in purposively selected respondents in 50 schools. Primary three to primary seven pupils were randomly selected, data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) Outcomes and Findings: 46,989 pupils (51% female), 1,127 and 524 teaching and non-teaching staff were reached by the intervention, respectively. 96% of schools trained on sanitation, sustainable water usage and hygiene constituted 17-man school WASH committees with teacher, parents and pupils representatives. (31%) of the WASH committees developed workplans, (78%) held WASH meetings monthly. This resulted into improved sanitation, water usage, waste management, proper use of toilets, and improved pupils’ health with reduced occurrences of stomach upsets, diarrhoea initially attributed to improper use of latrines and general waste management. Teachers reported reduced number of school absenteeism due to improved hygiene and general waste management at school, especially proper management of sanitary pads. School administrations response rate in purchase of hygiene equipment’s and detergents like soap improved. Regular WASH meetings in classes, teachers and community supervision ensured WASH facilities are used appropriately. Conclusion and Recommendations: Practical behaviour change innovations improves pupil’s knowledge and understanding of hygiene messages and usage. Over 70% of pupils had clear recall of key WASH Messages. There is need for continuous water flow in the Washa lots, harvesting rain water would reduce water bills while complementing National water supply coupled with increasing on Washa lots in densely populated schools.

Keywords: handwashing, hygyiene, sanitation, behaviour change

Procedia PDF Downloads 93

Authors: Arthur Müller

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The study treats human dimensions of hunting by conducting statistical data analysis and providing decision-making support by examples of good prefectural governance and successful wildlife management, crucial to reduce pest species and sustain a stable hunter population in the future. Therefore it analyzes recent revision of wildlife legislation, reveals differences in administrative management structures, as well as socio-demographic characteristics of hunters in correlation with harvest trends of sika deer and wild boar in 47 prefectures in Japan between 1990 and 2013. In a wider context, Japan’s decentralized license hunting system might take the potential future role of a regional pioneer in East Asia. Consequently, the study contributes to similar issues in premature hunting systems of South Korea and Taiwan. Firstly, a quantitative comparison of seven mainland regions was conducted in Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, Chubu, Kinki, Chugoku, and Kyushu. Example prefectures were chosen by a cluster analysis. Shifts, differences, mean values and exponential growth rates between trap and gun hunters, age classes and common occupation types of hunters were statistically exterminated. While western Japan is characterized by high numbers of aged trap-hunters, occupied in agricultural- and forestry, the north-eastern prefectures show higher relative numbers of younger gun-hunters occupied in the field of production and process workers. With the exception of Okinawa island, most hunters in all prefectures are 60 years and older. Hence, unemployed and retired hunters are the fastest growing occupation group. Despite to drastic decrease in hunter population in absolute numbers, Hunting Recruitment Index indicated that all age classes tend to continue their hunting activity over a longer period, above ten years from 2004 to 2013 than during the former decade. Associated with a rapid population increase and distribution of sika deer and wild boar since 1978, a number of harvest from hunting and culling also have been rapidly increasing. Both wild boar hunting and culling is particularly high in western Japan, while sika hunting and culling proofs most successful in Hokkaido, central and western Japan. Since the Wildlife Protection and Proper Hunting Act in 1999 distinct prefectural hunting management authorities with different power, sets apply management approaches under the principles of subsidiarity and guidelines of the Ministry of Environment. Additionally, the Act on Special Measures for Prevention of Damage Related to Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Caused by Wildlife from 2008 supports local hunters in damage prevention measures through subsidies by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, which caused a rise of trap hunting, especially in western Japan. Secondly, prefectural staff in charge of wildlife management in seven regions was contacted. In summary, Hokkaido serves as a role model for dynamic, integrative, adaptive “feedback” management of Ezo sika deer, as well as a diverse network between management organizations, while Hyogo takes active measures to trap-hunt wild boars effectively. Both prefectures take the leadership in institutional performance and capacity. Northern prefectures in Tohoku, Chubu and Kanto region, firstly confronted with the emergence of wild boars and rising sika deer numbers, demand new institution and capacity building, as well as organizational learning.

Keywords: hunting and culling harvest trends, hunter socio-demographics, regional comparison, wildlife management approach

Procedia PDF Downloads 281

Authors: Kyriaki Hatziagapiou, Eleni Kakouri, Konstantinos Bethanis, Alexandra Nikola, Eleni Koniari, Charalabos Kanakis, Elias Christoforides, George Lambrou, Petros Tarantilis

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Medulloblastoma is a highly invasive tumour, as it tends to disseminate throughout the central nervous system early in its course. Despite the high 5-year-survival rate, a significant number of patients demonstrate serious long- or short-term sequelae (e.g., myelosuppression, endocrine dysfunction, cardiotoxicity, neurological deficits and cognitive impairment) and higher mortality rates, unrelated to the initial malignancy itself but rather to the aggressive treatment. A strong rationale exists for the use of Crocus sativus L (saffron) and its bioactive constituents (crocin, crocetin, safranal) as pharmaceutical agents, as they exert significant health-promoting properties. Crocins are water soluble carotenoids. Unlike other carotenoids, crocins are highly water-soluble compounds, with relatively low toxicity as they are not stored in adipose and liver tissues. Crocins have attracted wide attention as promising anti-cancer agents, due to their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects, interference with transduction pathways implicated in tumorigenesis, angiogenesis, and metastasis (disruption of mitotic spindle assembly, inhibition of DNA topoisomerases, cell-cycle arrest, apoptosis or cell differentiation) and sensitization of cancer cells to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The current research aimed to study the potential cytotoxic effect of crocins on TE671 medulloblastoma cell line, which may be useful in the optimization of existing and development of new therapeutic strategies. Crocins were extracted from stigmas of saffron in ultrasonic bath, using petroleum-ether, diethylether and methanol 70%v/v as solvents and the final extract was lyophilized. Identification of crocins according to high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis was determined comparing the UV-vis spectra and the retention time (tR) of the peaks with literature data. For the biological assays crocin was diluted to nuclease and protease free water. TE671 cells were incubated with a range of concentrations of crocins (16, 8, 4, 2, 1, 0.5 and 0.25 mg/ml) for 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours. Analysis of cell viability after incubation with crocins was performed with Alamar Blue viability assay. The active ingredient of Alamar Blue, resazurin, is a blue, nontoxic, cell permeable compound virtually nonfluorescent. Upon entering cells, resazurin is reduced to a pink and fluorescent molecule, resorufin. Viable cells continuously convert resazurin to resorufin, generating a quantitative measure of viability. The colour of resorufin was quantified by measuring the absorbance of the solution at 600 nm with a spectrophotometer. HPLC analysis indicated that the most abundant crocins in our extract were trans-crocin-4 and trans-crocin-3. Crocins exerted significant cytotoxicity in a dose and time-dependent manner (p < 0.005 for exposed cells to any concentration at 48, 72 and 96 hours versus cells not exposed); as their concentration and time of exposure increased, the reduction of resazurin to resofurin decreased, indicating reduction in cell viability. IC50 values for each time point were calculated ~3.738, 1.725, 0.878 and 0.7566 mg/ml at 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours, respectively. The results of our study could afford the basis of research regarding the use of natural carotenoids as anticancer agents and the shift to targeted therapy with higher efficacy and limited toxicity. Acknowledgements: The research was funded by Fellowships of Excellence for Postgraduate Studies IKY-Siemens Programme.

Keywords: crocetin, crocin, medulloblastoma, saffron

Procedia PDF Downloads 216

Authors: Angshuman Raha, Abesh Kumar Sanyal, Uttaran Bandyopadhyay, Kaushik Mallick, Kamalika Bhattacharyya, Subrata Gayen, Gaurab Nandi Das, Mohd. Ali, Kailash Chandra

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Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), due to its sheer latitudinal and altitudinal expanse, acts as a mixing ground for different zoogeographic faunal elements. The innumerable unique and distributional restricted rare species of IHR are constantly being threatened with extinction by the ongoing climate change scenario. Many of which might have faced extinction without even being noticed or discovered. Monitoring the community dynamics of a suitable taxon is indispensable to assess the effect of this global perturbation at micro-habitat level. Lepidoptera, particularly moths are suitable for this purpose due to their huge diversity and strict herbivorous nature. The present study aimed to collate scattered historical records of moths from IHR and spatially disseminate the same in Geographic Information System (GIS) domain. The study also intended to identify moth species with significant altitudinal shifts which could be prioritised for monitoring programme to assess the effect of climate change on biodiversity. A robust database on moths recorded from IHR was prepared from voluminous secondary literature and museum collections. Historical sampling points were transformed into richness grids which were spatially overlaid on altitude, annual precipitation and vegetation layers separately to show moth richness patterns along major environmental gradients. Primary samplings were done by setting standard light traps at 11 Protected Areas representing five Indian Himalayan biogeographic provinces. To identify significant altitudinal shifts, past and present altitudinal records of the identified species from primary samplings were compared. A consolidated list of 4107 species belonging to 1726 genera of 62 families of moths was prepared from a total of 10,685 historical records from IHR. Family-wise assemblage revealed Erebidae to be the most speciose family with 913 species under 348 genera, followed by Geometridae with 879 species under 309 genera and Noctuidae with 525 species under 207 genera. Among biogeographic provinces, Central Himalaya represented maximum records with 2248 species, followed by Western and North-western Himalaya with 1799 and 877 species, respectively. Spatial analysis revealed species richness was more or less uniform (up to 150 species record per cell) across IHR. Throughout IHR, the middle elevation zones between 1000-2000m encompassed high species richness. Temperate coniferous forest associated with 1500-2000mm rainfall zone showed maximum species richness. Total 752 species of moths were identified representing 23 families from the present sampling. 13 genera were identified which were restricted to specialized habitats of alpine meadows over 3500m. Five historical localities with high richness of >150 species were selected which could be considered for repeat sampling to assess climate change influence on moth assemblage. Of the 7 species exhibiting significant altitudinal ascend of >2000m, Trachea auriplena, Diphtherocome fasciata (Noctuidae) and Actias winbrechlini (Saturniidae) showed maximum range shift of >2500m, indicating intensive monitoring of these species. Great Himalayan National Park harbours most diverse assemblage of high-altitude restricted species and should be a priority site for habitat conservation. Among the 13 range restricted genera, Arichanna, Opisthograptis, Photoscotosia (Geometridae), Phlogophora, Anaplectoides and Paraxestia (Noctuidae) were dominant and require rigorous monitoring, as they are most susceptible to climatic perturbations.

Keywords: altitudinal shifts, climate change, historical records, Indian Himalayan region, Lepidoptera

Procedia PDF Downloads 172

Authors: Mazlum Çelik, Burcu Gürkan Ercan, Ahmet Ayaz, Hilal Yakut İpekoğlu, Furkan Baltacı, Mustafa Kurtoğlu, Bilge Kalkavan, Sinem Küçükyılmaz, Hikmet Çağrı Yardımcı, Şeyma Sevgican, Cemile Gökçe Elkovan, Bilal Çayır, Mehmet Emin Düzcan

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The earthquake research literature generally examines emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses after an earthquake. Studies concerning the behavioral responses to earthquakes reveal that after the earthquake, people either flee in a panic or do not act according to the stereotype that they act irrationally and anti-socially and sometimes give rational and adaptive reactions. However, the rareness of research dealing with human behavior experiencing the earthquake moment makes it necessary to pay particular attention to these behavior patterns. In this direction, this study aims to examine human behavior indoors in case of rising earthquake intensity. In Turkey, located on geography in the earthquake zone, devastating earthquakes took place, such as in "Istanbul" with a magnitude of 7.4 in 1999 and in "Elazığ" with a magnitude of 6.8 in 2020. Occurred recently, the "Kahramanmaraş" earthquake affected 11 provinces, with a magnitude of 7.7 and 7.6 in 2023. In addition, there is expected to be a devastating earthquake in Istanbul, experts warn. For this reason, it is essential to understand human behavior for disaster risk. Management and pre-disaster preparedness to be effective and efficient and to take realistic measures to protect human life. Mazlum Çelik, Burcu Gürkan Ercan, Ahmet Ayaz, Hilal Yakut İpekoğlu, Furkan Baltacı, Mustafa Kurtoğlu, Bilge Kalkavan, Sinem Küçükyılmaz, Hikmet Çağrı Yardımcı, Şeyma Sevgican, Cemile Gökçe Elkovan, Bilal Çayır, Mehmet Emin Düzcan. In this study, which is currently part of a project supported by The Scientific and Technological Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), the indoor recordings during the earthquakes in Elazig on January 24, 2020, and in İzmir on October 30, 2020, are examined, and the people's behavior during the earthquake is analyzed. In this direction, video recordings taken from the YouTube archives of İzmir and Elazığ Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) Directorates and metropolitan municipalities are examined. The researchers have created an observation form in line with the information in the relevant literature to classify people's behavior during an earthquake. It is intended to determine the behavioral patterns by classifying according to the form and video analysis of the people heading toward the door, remaining stable, taking protective measures, turning to people, and engaging in "other" behaviors outside of these behaviors during the earthquake. A total of 60 video analyzes are carried out from Elazığ and İzmir. The descriptive statistic has been used with the SPSS 23.0 package program in the data analysis. It is found that in the event of an increase in the severity of the earthquake, unlike Elazığ, in İzmir, protective action is preferred to the act of remaining stable. In addition, it is observed that with the increase in the earthquake's intensity, women attempt to take more protective action while men head toward the door. In contrast, a rise is observed in the behavior of young people heading toward the door and taking protective actions, while there is a decrease in their behavior directing to people. These findings, unlike the literature, reveal that human behavior during earthquakes cannot be reduced to a single behavior pattern, such as drop-cover-hold-on. The results show that it is necessary to understand the behaviors of individuals during the earthquake and to develop practical policy proposals for combating earthquakes by considering sociocultural, geographical, and demographic variables.

Keywords: descriptive analysis, earthquake, human behaviour, disaster policy.

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Authors: Ghidey Ghebreyohanes, Eltahir Awad Gasim Khalil, Zemenfes Tsighe, Faiza Ali

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Background: reproductive health (RH) is a state of physical, mental and social well-being in all matters relating to the reproductive system at all stages of life. In East Africa including Eritrea, adolescents comprise more than a quarter of the population. The region holds the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion with its complications. Young girls carry the highest burden of reproductive health problems due to their risk taking behavior, lack of knowledge, peer pressure, physiologic immaturity and low socioeconomic status. Design: this was a Community-based, randomized, case-controlled and pre-test-post-test intervention study. Setting: Zoba Debub was randomly selected out of the six zobas in Eritrea. The four high schools out of the 26 in Zoba Debub were randomly selected as study target schools. Over three quarter of the people live on farming. The target population was female students attending grade nine with majority of these girls live in the distant villages and walk to school. The study participants were randomly selected (n=165) from each school. Furthermore, the 1 intervention and 3 controls for the study arms were assigned randomly. Objectives: this study aimed to assess the effectiveness of peer reproductive health education in improving knowledge, attitude, and health service use of high school adolescent girls in Eritrea Methods: the protocol was reviewed and approved by the Scientific and Ethics Committees of Faculty of Nursing Sciences, University of Khartoum. Data was collected using pre-designed and pretested questionnaire emphasizing on reproductive health knowledge, attitude and practice. Sample size was calculated using proportion formula (α 0.01; power of 95%). Measures used were scores and proportions. Descriptive and inferential statistics, t-test and chi square at (α .01), 99% confidence interval were used to compare changes of pre and post-intervention scores using SPSS soft ware. Seventeen students were selected for peer educators by the school principals and other teachers based on inclusion criteria that include: good academic performance and acceptable behavior. One peer educator educated one group composed of 8-10 students for two months. One faculty member was selected to supervise peer educators. The principal investigator conducted the training of trainers and provided supervision and discussion to peer educators every two weeks until the end of intervention. Results: following informed consent, 627 students [164 in intervention and 463 in the control group] with a ratio of 1 to 3, were enrolled in the study. The mean age for the total study population was 15.4±1.0 years. The intervention group mean age was 15.3±1.0 year; while the control group had a mean age of 15.4±1.0. The mean ages for the study arms were similar (p= 0.4). The majority (96 %) of the study participants are from Tigrigna ethnic group. Reproductive knowledge scores which was calculated out of a total 61 grade points: intervention group (pretest 6.7 %, post-test 33.6 %; p= 0.0001); control group (pretest 7.3 %, posttest 7.3 %, p= 0.92). Proportion difference in attitude calculated out of 100%: intervention group (pretest 42.3 % post test 54.7% p= 0.001); controls group (pretest 45%, post test 44.8 p= 0.7). Proportion difference in Practice calculated out of 100 %: intervention group (pretest 15.4%, post test 80.4 % p= 0.0001); control group (pretest 16.8%, posttest 16.9 % p= 0.8). Mothers were quoted as major (> 90 %) source of reproductive health information. All focus group discussants and most of survey participants agreed on the urgent need of reproductive health information and services for adolescent girls. Conclusion: reproductive health knowledge and use of facilities is poor among adolescent girls in sub-urban Eretria. School-based peer reproductive health education is effective and is the best strategy to improve reproductive health knowledge and attitudes.

Keywords: reproductive health, adolescent girls, eretria, health education

Procedia PDF Downloads 363

Authors: F. Varga, Z. Liber, J. Jakše, A. Turudić, Z. Šatović, I. Radosavljević, N. Jeran, M. Grdiša

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Dalmatian pyrethrum (Tanacetum cinerariifolium (Trevir.) Sch. Bip.; Asteraceae), a source of the commercially dominant plant insecticide pyrethrin, is a species endemic to the eastern Adriatic. Genetic diversity of T. cinerariifolium was previously studied using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. However, microsatellite markers (single sequence repeats - SSRs) are more informative because they are codominant, highly polymorphic, locus-specific, and more reproducible, and thus are most often used to assess the genetic diversity of plant species. Dalmatian pyrethrum is an outcrossing diploid (2n = 18) whose large genome size and high repeatability have prevented the success of the traditional approach to SSR markers development. The advent of next-generation sequencing combined with the specifically developed method recently enabled the development of, to the author's best knowledge, the first set of SSRs for genomic characterization of Dalmatian pyrethrum, which is essential from the perspective of plant genetic resources conservation. To evaluate the effectiveness of the developed SSR markers in genetic differentiation of Dalmatian pyrethrum populations, a preliminary genetic diversity study was conducted on 30 individuals from three geographically distinct natural populations in Croatia (northern Adriatic island of Mali Lošinj, southern Adriatic island of Čiovo, and Mount Biokovo) based on 12 SSR loci. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) by randomization test with 10,000 permutations was performed in Arlequin 3.5. The average number of alleles per locus, observed and expected heterozygosity, probability of deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, and inbreeding coefficient was calculated using GENEPOP 4.4. Genetic distance based on the proportion of common alleles (DPSA) was calculated using MICROSAT. Cluster analysis using the neighbor-joining method with 1,000 bootstraps was performed with PHYLIP to generate a dendrogram. The results of the AMOVA analysis showed that the total SSR diversity was 23% within and 77% between the three populations. A slight deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was observed in the Mali Lošinj population. Allele richness ranged from 2.92 to 3.92, with the highest number of private alleles observed in the Mali Lošinj population (17). The average observed DPSA between 30 individuals was 0.557. The highest DPSA (0.875) was observed between several pairs of Dalmatian pyrethrum individuals from the Mali Lošinj and Mt. Biokovo populations, and the lowest between two individuals from the Čiovo population. Neighbor-joining trees, based on DPSA, grouped individuals into clusters according to their population affiliation. The separation of Mt. Biokovo clade was supported (bootstrap value 58%), which is consistent with the previous study on AFLP markers, where isolated populations from Mt. Biokovo differed from the rest of the populations. The developed SSR markers are an effective tool for assessing the genetic diversity and structure of natural Dalmatian pyrethrum populations. These preliminary results are encouraging for a future comprehensive study with a larger sample size across the species' range. Combined with the biochemical data, these highly informative markers could help identify potential genotypes of interest for future development of breeding lines and cultivars that are both resistant to environmental stress and high in pyrethrins. Acknowledgment: This work has been supported by the Croatian Science Foundation under the project ‘Genetic background of Dalmatian pyrethrum (Tanacetum cinerariifolium /Trevir./ Sch. Bip.) insecticidal potential’- (PyrDiv) (IP-06-2016-9034) and by project KK.01.1.1.01.0005, Biodiversity and Molecular Plant Breeding, at the Centre of Excellence for Biodiversity and Molecular Plant Breeding (CoE CroP-BioDiv), Zagreb, Croatia.

Keywords: Asteraceae, genetic diversity, genomic SSRs, NGS, pyrethrum, Tanacetum cinerariifolium

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Suparna Bagchi

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Education as a discipline will probably be shaped by the importance it places on a conceptual, curricular, and pedagogical need to shift the emphasis toward transformative classrooms working for positive change through cultural diversity. Awareness of cultural diversity and race equality has heightened following George Floyd’s killing in the USA in 2020. This increasing awareness is particularly relevant in areas of historically low ethnic diversity which have lately experienced a rise in ethnic minority populations and where inclusive growth is a challenge. This research study aims to explore the perspectives of practitioners, students, and parents towards multiculturalism in four South West England primary schools. A qualitative case study methodology has been adopted framed by sociocultural theory. Data were collected through virtually conducted semi-structured interviews with school practitioners and parents, observation of students’ classroom activities, and documentary analysis of classroom displays. Although one-third of the school population includes ethnically diverse children, BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) characters featured in children's books published in Britain in 2019 were almost invisible, let alone a BAME main character. The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) are vocal about extending the Curriculum beyond the academic and technical arenas for pupils’ broader development and creation of an understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity. However, race equality and community cohesion which could help in the students’ broader development are not Ofsted’s school inspection criteria. The absence of culturally diverse content in the school curriculum highlighted by the 1985 Swann Report and 2007 Ajegbo Report makes England’s National Curriculum look like a Brexit policy three decades before Brexit. A revised National Curriculum may be the starting point with the teachers as curriculum framers playing a significant part. The task design is crucial where teachers can place equal importance on the interwoven elements of “how”, “what” and “why” the task is taught. Teachers need to build confidence in encouraging difficult conversations around racism, fear, indifference, and ignorance breaking the stereotypical barriers, thus helping to create students’ conception of a multicultural Britain. Research showed that trainee teachers in predominantly White areas often exhibit confined perspectives while educating children. Irrespective of the geographical location, school teachers can be equipped with culturally responsive initial and continuous professional development necessary to impart multicultural education. This may aid in the reduction of employees’ unconscious bias. This becomes distinctly pertinent to avoid horrific cases in the future like the recent one in Hackney where a Black teenager was strip-searched during period wrongly suspected of cannabis possession. Early research findings show participants’ eagerness for more ethnic diversity content incorporated in teaching and learning. However, schools are considerably dependent on the knowledge-focused Primary National Curriculum in England. Moreover, they handle issues around the intersectionality of disability, poverty, and gender. Teachers were trained in times when foregrounding ethnicity matters was not happening. Therefore, preoccupied with Curriculum requirements, intersectionality issues, and teacher preparations, schools exhibit an incapacity due to which keeping momentum on ethnic diversity is somewhat endangered.

Keywords: case study, curriculum decolonisation, inclusive education, multiculturalism, qualitative research in Covid19 times

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Authors: Leila Safazadeh, Brad Berron

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Self-assembled monolayers have tremendous impact in interfacial science, due to the unique opportunity they offer to tailor surface properties. Low-density self-assembled monolayers are an emerging class of monolayers where the environment-interfacing portion of the adsorbate has a greater level of conformational freedom when compared to traditional monolayer chemistries. This greater range of motion and increased spacing between surface-bound molecules offers new opportunities in tailoring adsorption phenomena in sensing systems. In particular, we expect low-density surfaces to offer a unique opportunity to intercalate surface bound ligands into the secondary structure of protiens and other macromolecules. Additionally, as many conventional sensing surfaces are built upon gold surfaces (SPR or QCM), these surfaces must be compatible with gold substrates. Here, we present the first stable method of generating low-density self assembled monolayer surfaces on gold for the analysis of their interactions with protein targets. Our approach is based on the 2:1 addition of thiol-yne chemistry to develop new classes of y-shaped adsorbates on gold, where the environment-interfacing group is spaced laterally from neighboring chemical groups. This technique involves an initial deposition of a crystalline monolayer of 1,10 decanedithiol on the gold substrate, followed by grafting of a low-packed monolayer on through a photoinitiated thiol-yne reaction in presence of light. Orthogonality of the thiol-yne chemistry (commonly referred to as a click chemistry) allows for preparation of low-density monolayers with variety of functional groups. To date, carboxyl, amine, alcohol, and alkyl terminated monolayers have been prepared using this core technology. Results from surface characterization techniques such as FTIR, contact angle goniometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy confirm the proposed low chain-chain interactions of the environment interfacing groups. Reductive desorption measurements suggest a higher stability for the click-LDMs compared to traditional SAMs, along with the equivalent packing density at the substrate interface, which confirms the proposed stability of the monolayer-gold interface. In addition, contact angle measurements change in the presence of an applied potential, supporting our description of a surface structure which allows the alkyl chains to freely orient themselves in response to different environments. We are studying the differences in protein adsorption phenomena between well packed and our loosely packed surfaces, and we expect this data will be ready to present at the GRC meeting. This work aims to contribute biotechnology science in the following manner: Molecularly imprinted polymers are a promising recognition mode with several advantages over natural antibodies in the recognition of small molecules. However, because of their bulk polymer structure, they are poorly suited for the rapid diffusion desired for recognition of proteins and other macromolecules. Molecularly imprinted monolayers are an emerging class of materials where the surface is imprinted, and there is not a bulk material to impede mass transfer. Further, the short distance between the binding site and the signal transduction material improves many modes of detection. My dissertation project is to develop a new chemistry for protein-imprinted self-assembled monolayers on gold, for incorporation into SPR sensors. Our unique contribution is the spatial imprinting of not only physical cues (seen in current imprinted monolayer techniques), but to also incorporate complementary chemical cues. This is accomplished through a photo-click grafting of preassembled ligands around a protein template. This conference is important for my development as a graduate student to broaden my appreciation of the sensor development beyond surface chemistry.

Keywords: low-density self-assembled monolayers, thiol-yne click reaction, molecular imprinting

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Authors: Surbhi Kaura, Sachin Kandhari, Shahiduz Zafar

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Chronic stroke, characterized by persistent motor deficits, often necessitates comprehensive rehabilitation interventions to improve functional outcomes and mitigate long-term dependency. Luna neurorobotic devices, integrated with EMG feedback systems, provide an innovative platform for facilitating neuroplasticity and functional improvement in stroke survivors. This retrospective study aims to investigate the impact of EMG-based Luna neurorobotic interventions on the strengthening of the affected side in chronic stroke patients. In rehabilitation, active patient participation significantly activates the sensorimotor network during motor control, unlike passive movement. Stroke is a debilitating condition that, when not effectively treated, can result in significant deficits and lifelong dependency. Common issues like neglecting the use of limbs can lead to weakness in chronic stroke cases. In rehabilitation, active patient participation significantly activates the sensorimotor network during motor control, unlike passive movement. This study aims to assess how electromyographic triggering (EMG-triggered) robotic treatments affect walking, ankle muscle force after an ischemic stroke, and the coactivation of agonist and antagonist muscles, which contributes to neuroplasticity with the assistance of biofeedback using robotics. Methods: The study utilized robotic techniques based on electromyography (EMG) for daily rehabilitation in long-term stroke patients, offering feedback and monitoring progress. Each patient received one session per day for two weeks, with the intervention group undergoing 45 minutes of robot-assisted training and exercise at the hospital, while the control group performed exercises at home. Eight participants with impaired motor function and gait after stroke were involved in the study. EMG-based biofeedback exercises were administered through the LUNA neuro-robotic machine, progressing from trigger and release mode to trigger and hold, and later transitioning to dynamic mode. Assessments were conducted at baseline and after two weeks, including the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, a 10-meter walk test (10m), Berg Balance Scale (BBG), and gait parameters like cadence, step length, upper limb strength measured by EMG threshold in microvolts, and force in Newton meters. Results: The study utilized a scale to assess motor strength and balance, illustrating the benefits of EMG-biofeedback following LUNA robotic therapy. In the analysis of the left hemiparetic group, an increase in strength post-rehabilitation was observed. The pre-TUG mean value was 72.4, which decreased to 42.4 ± 0.03880133 seconds post-rehabilitation, with a significant difference indicated by a p-value below 0.05, reflecting a reduced task completion time. Similarly, in the force-based task, the pre-knee dynamic force in Newton meters was 18.2NM, which increased to 31.26NM during knee extension post-rehabilitation. The post-student t-test showed a p-value of 0.026, signifying a significant difference. This indicated an increase in the strength of knee extensor muscles after LUNA robotic rehabilitation. Lastly, at baseline, the EMG value for ankle dorsiflexion was 5.11 (µV), which increased to 43.4 ± 0.06 µV post-rehabilitation, signifying an increase in the threshold and the patient's ability to generate more motor units during left ankle dorsiflexion. Conclusion: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of EMG and dynamic force-based rehabilitation devices on walking and strength of the affected side in chronic stroke patients without nominal data comparisons among stroke patients. Additionally, it provides insights into the inclusion of EMG-triggered neurorehabilitation robots in the daily rehabilitation of patients.

Keywords: neurorehabilitation, robotic therapy, stroke, strength, paralysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 63