Search results for: external relational capital

Authors: Chanhoe Kang, Changhyun Lee, Seock-Hee Jun, Yeong-Tae Oh

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Offshore floating structure under the various environmental conditions maintains a fixed position by mooring system. Environmental conditions, vessel motions and mooring loads are applied to mooring lines as the dynamic tension. Because global responses of mooring system in deep water are specified as wave frequency and low frequency response, they should be calculated from the time-domain analysis due to non-linear dynamic characteristics. To take into account all mooring loads, environmental conditions, added mass and damping terms at each time step, a lot of computation time and capacities are required. Thus, under the premise that reliable fatigue damage could be derived through reasonable analysis method, it is necessary to reduce the analysis cases through the sensitivity studies and appropriate assumptions. In this paper, effects in fatigue are studied for spread mooring system connected with oil FPSO which is positioned in deep water of West Africa offshore. The target FPSO with two Mbbls storage has 16 spread mooring lines (4 bundles x 4 lines). The various sensitivity studies are performed for environmental loads, type of responses, vessel offsets, mooring position, loading conditions and riser behavior. Each parameter applied to the sensitivity studies is investigated from the effects of fatigue damage through fatigue analysis. Based on the sensitivity studies, the following results are presented: Wave loads are more dominant in terms of fatigue than other environment conditions. Wave frequency response causes the higher fatigue damage than low frequency response. The larger vessel offset increases the mean tension and so it results in the increased fatigue damage. The external line of each bundle shows the highest fatigue damage by the governed vessel pitch motion due to swell wave conditions. Among three kinds of loading conditions, ballast condition has the highest fatigue damage due to higher tension. The riser damping occurred by riser behavior tends to reduce the fatigue damage. The various analysis results obtained from these sensitivity studies can be used for a simplified fatigue analysis of spread mooring line as the reference.

Keywords: mooring system, fatigue analysis, time domain, non-linear dynamic characteristics

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Authors: Ashutosh Biswas, Poonam Coushic, Kalpana Baruah, Paras Singla, A. C. Dhariwal, Pawana Murthy

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Burden of Dengue in Northern India Ashutosh Biswas, Poonam Coushic, Kalpana Baruah, Paras Singla, AC Dhariwal, Pawana Murthy. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, NVBDCP,WHO New Delhi, India Aim: This study was conducted to estimate the burden of dengue in capital region of India. Methodology:Seropositivity of Dengue for IgM Ab, NS1 Ag and IgG Ab were performed among the blood donors’ samples from blood bank, those who were coming to donate blood for the requirement of blood for the admitted patients in hospital. Blood samplles were collected through out the year to estimate seroprevalance of dengue with or without outbreak season. All the subjects were asymptomatic at the time of blood donation. Results: A total of 1558 donors were screened for the study. On the basis of inclusion/ exclusion criteria, we enrolled 1531subjects for the study.Twenty seven donors were excluded from the study, out of which 6 were detected HIV +ve, 11 were positive for HBsAg and 10 were found positive for HCV.Mean age was 30.51 ± 7.75 years.Of 1531subjects, 18 (1.18%) had a past history of typhoid fever, 28 (1.83%) had chikungunya fever, 9 (0.59%) had malaria and 43 subjects (2.81%) had a past history of symptomatic dengue infection.About 2.22% (34) of subjects were found to have sero-positive for NS1 Ag with a peak point prevalence of 7.14% in the month of October and sero-positive of IgM Ab was observed about 5.49% (84)with a peak point prevalence of 14.29% in the month of October. Sero-prevalnce of IgGwas detected in about 64.21% (983) of subjects. Conclusion: Acute asymptomatic dengue (NS1 Ag+ve) was observed in 7.14%, as the subjects were having no symptoms at the time of sampling. This group of subjects poses a potential public health threat for transmitting dengue infection through blood transfusion (TTI) in the community as evident by presence of active viral infection due to NS1Ag +VE. Therefore a policy may be implemented in the blood bank for testing NS1 Ag to look for active dengue infection for preventing dengue transmission through blood transfusion (TTI). Acute or Subacute dengue infection ( IgM Ab+ve) was observed from 5.49% to 14.29% which is a peak point prevalence in the month of October. About 64.21% of the population were immunized by natural dengue infection ( IgG Ab+ve) in theNorthern province of India. This might be helpful for implementing the dengue vaccine in a region. Blood samples in blood banks should be tested for dengue before transfusion to any other person to prevent transfusion transmitted dengue infection as we estimated upto 7.14% positivity of NS1 Ag in our study which indicates presence of dengue virus in blood donors’ samples.

Keywords: Dengue Burden, Seroprevalance, Asymptomatic dengue, Dengue transmission through blood transfusion

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Authors: Mohamed Sadok Bensalem, Soulef Amamria, Khaled Lazzez, Mohamed Ghanmi

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The southern-central Tunisian Atlas presents a typical example of an external zone. It occupies a particular position in the North African chains: firstly, it is the eastern limit of atlassic structures; secondly, it is the edges between the belts structures to the north and the stable Saharan platform in the south. The evolution of deformation study is based on several methods, such as classical or numerical methods. The principals parameters controlling the genesis of folds in the southern central Tunisian Atlas are; the reactivation of pre-existing faults during the later compressive phase, the evolution of decollement level, and the relation between thin and thick-skinned. One of the more principal characters of the southern-central Tunisian Atlas is the variation of belts structures directions determined by: NE-SW direction, named the attlassic direction in Tunisia, the NW-SE direction carried along the Gafsa fault (the oriental limit of southern atlassic accident), and the E-W direction defined in the southern Tunisian Atlas. This variation of direction is the result of important variation of deformation during different tectonics phases. A classical modelling of the Jebel ElKebar anticline, based on faults throw of the pre-existing faults and its reactivation during compressive phases, shows the importance of extensional deformation, particular during Aptian-Albian period, comparing with that of later compression (Alpine phases). A numerical modelling, based on the software Rampe E.M. 1.5.0, applied on the anticline of Jebel Orbata confirms the interpretation of “fault related fold” with decollement level within the Triassic successions. The other important parameter of evolution of deformation is the vertical migration of decollement level; indeed, more than the decollement level is in the recent series, most that the deformation is accentuated. The evolution of deformation is marked the development of duplex structure in Jebel At Taghli (eastern limit of Jebel Orbata). Consequently, the evolution of deformation is proportional to the depth of the decollement level, the most important deformation is in the higher successions; thus, is associated to the thin-skinned deformation; the decollement level permit the passive transfer of deformation in the cover.

Keywords: evolution of deformation, pre-existing faults, decollement level, thin-skinned

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Authors: Shazwanis Shukri

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The Mediterranean Sea, at the crossroads of three continents has always been the focus of pan-European and worldwide attention. Over the past decade, the Mediterranean Sea has become a hotbed for irregular migration particularly from the African continent toward the Europe. Among the major transit routes in the Mediterranean Sea include the Strait of Gibraltar, Canary Island and island of Lampedusa. In recent years, Mediterranean Sea has witnessed significant numbers of accidents and shipwrecks involving the irregular migrants and refugees trying to reach Europe via the sea. The shipwrecks and traffickers exploitation of migrants draw most of the attention particularly for the European Union (EU). This incident has been a wakeup call for the EU and become the top political agenda in the EU policy to tackle irregular migration and human smuggling at sea. EU has repeatedly addressed irregular migration as one of the threats the EU and its citizens may be confronted with and therefore immediate measures are crucial to tackle the crisis. In light of this, various initiatives have been adopted by the EU to strengthen external border control and restrict access to irregular migrants, notably through the enforcement of Frontex and Eunavfor Med. This paper analyses current development of counter-migration operations by the EU in response to migration crisis in the Mediterranean Sea. The analysis is threefold. First, this study examines the patterns and trends of irregular migration’s movements from recent perspective. Second, this study concentrates on the evolution of the EU operations that are in place in the Mediterranean Sea, notably by Frontex and Eunavfor Med to curb the influx of irregular migrants to the European countries, including, among others, Greece and Italy. Third, this study investigates the EU approaches to fight against the proliferation of human trafficking networks at sea. This study is essential to determine the roles of the EU in tackling migration crisis and human trafficking in the Mediterranean Sea and the effectiveness of their counter-migration operations to reduce the number of irregular migrants travelling via the sea. Elite interviews and document analysis were used as a methodology in this study. The study discovers that the EU operations have successfully contributed to reduce the numbers of irregular migrant’s arrival to Europe. The study also shows that the operations were effective to disrupt smugglers business models particularly from Libya. This study provides essential understanding about the roles of the EU not limited to tackle the migration crisis and disrupt trafficking networks, but also pledged to prevent further loss of lives at sea.

Keywords: European union, frontex, irregular migration, Mediterranean sea

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Authors: Rossella Marzullo

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Family plays a central role in the Calabrian criminal organization, which draws its strength from blood ties and gender stereotypes that still impose a strong verticalization of intra-family relationships for the benefit of men. However, female figures are of great importance in the organizational structure of the 'Ndrangheta families, despite the fact that they appear to be formally suffocated by the culture of gender subordination still strongly present in the archaic world of criminal organizations. And this is so much true that over time, the women of the 'Ndrangheta have added to the function of ‘internal containment’, the increasingly explicit function of intermediaries in the ‘external’ activities of the clan. But what happens in the 'Ndrangheta if women break the bond and decide to speak? The results are shocking. When a woman starts talking to ask the institutions for help, the system ‘goes crazy’, because the woman is considered the means of consolidating and transmitting family codes: she educates, forges, holds the structure together. If a woman from the 'Ndrangheta decides to speak out and get out of the family bottlenecks of the clan, she does not exclusively destroy the family; she destroys the system. This happens because, while not playing the same roles as men within organizations, women carry out support activities as intermediaries for the circulation of communications, thus ensuring the operability of the gang in practice and on a daily basis. Crossing the border means breaking the bonds of belonging, thus questioning one's own identity and reconstructing it according to other points of reference. How much these disruptive choices are feared by the men of the 'Ndrangheta has been seen in the dramatic stories of Lea Garofalo and Maria Concetta Cacciola: the fear of the breaking of the family pact, of the earthquake that arises from within, has marked their fate of death, useful both to stop the judicial action and to recompose the organization's estate under the aegis of terror. With physical, psychological violence, underhanded torture, and moral blackmail, the men of the mafia family tried to heal the shock caused by the voices of women, relying on violence and yet another attempt to subordinate them. This proves that the 'Ndrangheta is really afraid of them. The female voices of the 'Ndrangheta, who have shaken a consolidated and considered intangible system, represent the anti-'ndrangheta par excellence; in their choices, there is an even stronger desire to break with the mafia world.

Keywords: families, gender, ‘Ndrangheta, stereotypes

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Authors: S. Vaibhav Kant Sahu, Surabhi Bipin Seth

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Human well-being has multiple constituents including the basic material for a good life, freedom and choice, health, good social relations, and security. Poverty is also multidimensional and has been defined as the pronounced deprivation of well-being. Dhurwa tribe of Bastar (India) have symbiotic relation with nature, it provisions ecosystem service such as food, fuel and fiber; regulating services such as climate regulation and non-material benefits such as spiritual or aesthetic benefits and they are managing their forest from ages. The demand for ecosystem services is now so great that trade-off among services become rule. Aim of study to explore evidences for linkages between ecosystem services and well-being of indigenous community, how much it helps them in poverty reduction and interaction between them. Objective of study was to find drivers of change and evidence concerning link between ecosystem, human development and sustainability, evidence in decision making does it opt for multi sectoral objectives. Which means human well-being as the central focus for assessment, while recognizing that biodiversity and ecosystems also have intrinsic value. Ecosystem changes that may have little impact on human well-being over days or weeks may have pronounced impacts over years or decades; so assessments needed to be conducted at spatial and temporal scales under social, political, economic scales to have high-resolution data. Researcher used framework developed by Millennium ecosystem assessment; since human action now directly or unknowingly virtually alter ecosystem. Researcher used ethnography study to get primary qualitative data, secondary data collected from panchayat office. The responses were transcribed and translated into English, as interview held in Hindi and local indigenous language. Focus group discussion were held with group of 10 women at Tiriya village. Researcher concluded with well-being is not just gap between ecosystem service supply but also increases vulnerability. Decision can have consequences external to the decision framework these consequences are called externalities because they are not part of the decision-making calculus.

Keywords: Bastar, Dhurwa tribe, ecosystem services, millennium ecosystem assessment, sustainability

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Authors: Joanne Danker, Iva Strnadová, Therese Cumming

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As a consequence of the increased evidence of the bi-directional relationship between student well-being and positive educational outcomes, there has been a surge in the number of research studies dedicated to understanding the notion of student well-being and the ways to enhance it. In spite of these efforts, the concept of student well-being remains elusive. Additionally, studies on student well-being mainly consulted adults' perspectives and failed to take into account students' views, which if considered, could contribute to a clearer understanding of the complex concept of student well-being. Furthermore, there is a lack of studies focusing on the well-being of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and these students continue to fare worse in post-school outcomes as compared to students without disabilities, indicating a significant gap in the current research literature. Findings from research conducted on students without disabilities may not be applicable to students with ASD as their educational experiences may differ due to the characteristics associated with ASD. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore how students with ASD, their parents, and teachers conceptualise student well-being. It also aims to identify the barriers and assets of the well-being of these students. To collect data, 19 teachers and 11 parents participated in interviews while 16 high school students with ASD were involved in a photovoice project regarding their well-being in school. Grounded theory approaches such as open and axial coding, memo-writing, diagramming, and making constant comparisons were adopted to analyse the data. All three groups of participants conceptualised student well-being as a multidimensional construct consisting of several domains. These domains were relationships, engagement, positive/negative emotions, and accomplishment. Three categories of barriers were identified. These were environmental, attitudes and behaviours of others, and impact of characteristics associated with ASD. The identified internal assets that could contribute to student well-being were acceptance, resilience, self-regulation, and ability to work with others. External assets were knowledgeable and inclusive school community, and having access to various school programs and resources. It is crucial that schools and policymakers provide ample resources and programs to adequately support the development of each identified domain of student well-being. This could in turn enhance student well-being and lead to more successful educational outcomes for students with ASD.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, grounded theory approach, school experiences, student well-being

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Authors: Tanja Ecken, Laura Fricke, Anika Wehling, Maren M. Michaelsen, Tobias Esch

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Studies and applied experiences evidence severe and traumatic accidents not only require physical rehabilitation and recovery but also necessitate a psychological adaption and reorganization to the changed living conditions. Neurobiological models underpinning the experience of happiness and satisfaction postulate life shocks to potentially enhance the experience of happiness and life satisfaction, i.e., posttraumatic growth (PTG). This present study aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the underlying psychological processes of PTG and to outline its consequences on subjective happiness and life satisfaction. To explore the aforementioned, Esch’s ABC Model was used as guidance for the development of a questionnaire assessing changes in happiness and life satisfaction and for a schematic model postulating the development of PTG in the context of paraplegia. Two-stage qualitative interview procedures explored participants’ experiences of paraplegia. Specifically, narrative, semi-structured interviews (N=28) focused on the time before and after the accident, the availability of supportive resources, and potential changes in the perception of happiness and life satisfaction. Qualitative analysis (Grounded Theory) indicated an initial phase of reorganization was followed by a gradual psychological adaption to novel, albeit reduced, opportunities in life. Participants reportedly experienced a ‘compelled’ slowing down and elements of mindfulness, subsequently instilling a sense of gratitude and joy in relation to life’s presumed trivialities. Despite physical limitations and difficulties, participants reported an enhanced ability to relate to oneself and others and a reduction of perceived everyday nuisances. Concluding, PTG can be experienced in response to severe, traumatic life events and has the potential to enrich the lives of affected persons in numerous, unexpected and yet challenging ways. PTG appears to be a spectrum comprised of an interplay of internal and external resources underpinned by neurobiological processes. Participants experienced PTG irrelevant of age, gender, marital status, income or level of education.

Keywords: post traumatic growth, happiness, life satisfaction, traumatic life events, paraplegia, ABC model, trauma

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Authors: Inas Hussein

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Communication in the modern world is increasingly becoming multimodal due to globalization and the digital space we live in which have remarkably affected how people communicate. Accordingly, Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA) is an emerging paradigm in discourse studies with the underlying assumption that other semiotic resources such as images, colours, scientific symbolism, gestures, actions, music and sound, etc. combine with language in order to  communicate meaning. One of the effective multimodal media that combines both verbal and non-verbal elements to create meaning is political cartoons. Furthermore, since political and social issues are mirrored in political cartoons, these are regarded as potential objects of discourse analysis since they not only reflect the thoughts of the public but they also have the power to influence them. The aim of this paper is to analyze some selected cartoons on the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital by the American President, Donald Trump, adopting a multimodal approach. More specifically, the present research examines how the various semiotic tools and resources utilized by the cartoonists function in projecting the intended meaning. Ten political cartoons, among a surge of editorial cartoons highlighted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) - an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States - as publications in different Arabic-language newspapers in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Iran and UK, were purposively selected for semiotic analysis. These editorial cartoons, all published during 6^th–18^th December 2017, invariably suggest one theme: Jewish and Israeli domination of the United States. The data were analyzed using the framework of Visual Social Semiotics. In accordance with this methodological framework, the selected visual compositions were analyzed in terms of three aspects of meaning: representational, interactive and compositional. In analyzing the selected cartoons, an interpretative approach is being adopted. This approach prioritizes depth to breadth and enables insightful analyses of the chosen cartoons. The findings of the study reveal that semiotic resources are key elements of political cartoons due to the inherent political communication they convey. It is proved that adequate interpretation of the three aspects of meaning is a prerequisite for understanding the intended meaning of political cartoons. It is recommended that further research should be conducted to provide more insightful analyses of political cartoons from a multimodal perspective.

Keywords: Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA), multimodal text, political cartoons, visual modality

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Authors: Peizhu Liu

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Dual language education, also known as immersion education, differs from traditional language programs that teach a second or foreign language as a subject. Instead, dual language programs adopt a content-based approach, using both a majority language (e.g., English, in the case of the United States) and a minority language (e.g., Spanish or Chinese) as a medium of instruction to teach math, science, and social studies. By granting each language of instruction equal status, dual language education seeks to educate not only meaningfully but equitably and to foster tolerance and appreciation of diversity, making it essential for immigrants, refugees, indigenous peoples, and other marginalized students. Despite the cognitive and academic benefits of dual language education, recent literature has revealed that English is disproportionately privileged across dual language programs. Scholars have expressed concerns about the unbalanced status of majority and minority languages in dual language education, as favoring English in this context may inadvertently reaffirm its dominance and moreover fail to serve the needs of children whose primary language is not English. Through a year-long study of a Chinese-English dual language program, the extensively disproportionate use of English has also been observed by the researcher. However, despite the fact that Chinese-English dual language programs are the second-most popular program type after Spanish in the United States, this issue remains underexplored in the existing literature on Chinese-English dual language education. In fact, the number of Chinese-English dual language programs being offered in the U.S. has grown rapidly, from 8 in 1988 to 331 as of 2023. Using Norton and Darvin's investment model theory, the current study investigates teachers' language use and investment in teaching Chinese and English in a Chinese-English dual language program at an urban public school in New York City. The program caters to a significant number of minority children from working-class families. Adopting an ethnographic and discourse analytic approach, this study seeks to understand language use dynamics in the program and how micro- and macro-factors, such as students' identity construction, parents' and teachers' language ideologies, and the capital associated with each language, influence teachers' investment in teaching Chinese and English. The research will help educators and policymakers understand the obstacles that stand in the way of the goal of dual language education—that is, the creation of a more inclusive classroom, which is achieved by regarding both languages of instruction as equally valuable resources. The implications for how to balance the use of the majority and minority languages will also be discussed.

Keywords: dual language education, bilingual education, language immersion education, content-based language teaching

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Authors: Fernanda Ludmilla Rossi Rocha, Thamiris Cavazzani Vegro, Silvia Helena Henriques Camelo, Carmen Silvia Gabriel, Andrea Bernardes

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Introduction: Organizations are cultural, symbolic and imaginary systems composed by values and norms. These values and norms represent the organizational culture, which determines the behavior of the workers, guides the work practices and impacts the quality of care and the safety culture of health services worldwide. Objective: To analyze the organizational culture of a public and a private hospital in Brazil. Method: Descriptive study with quantitative approach developed in a public and in a private hospital of Brazil. Sample was composed by 281 nursing workers, of which 73 nurses and 208 nursing auxiliaries and technicians. The data collection instrument comprised the Brazilian Instrument for Assessing Organizational Culture. Data were collected from March to December 2013. Results: At the public hospital, the results showed an average score of 2.85 for the values concerning cooperative professionalism (CP); 3.02 for values related to hierarchical rigidity and the centralization of power (HR); 2.23 for individualistic professionalism and competition at work (IP); 2.22 for values related to satisfaction, well-being and motivation of workers (SW); 3.47 for external integration (EI); 2.03 for rewarding and training practices (RT); 2.75 for practices related to the promotion of interpersonal relationships (IR) About the private hospital, the results showed an average score of 3.24 for the CP; 2.83 for HR; 2.69 for IP; 2.71 for SW; 3.73 for EI; 2.56 for RT; 2.83 for IR at the hospital. Discussion: The analysis of organizational values of the studied hospitals shows that workers find the existence of hierarchical rigidity and the centralization of power in the institutions; believed there was cooperation at workplace, though they perceived individualism and competition; believed that values associated with the workers’ well-being, satisfaction and motivation were seldom acknowledged by the hospital; believed in the adoption of strategic planning actions within the institution, but considered interpersonal relationship promotion, continuous education and the rewarding of workers to be little valued by the institution. Conclusion: This work context can lead to professional dissatisfaction, compromising the quality of care and contributing to the occurrence of occupational diseases.

Keywords: nursing management, organizational culture, quality of care, interpersonal relationships

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Authors: Mohamad Bolandmartabe, Nafiseh Hassani, Saeed Abdi Darake, Maryam Asghari

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Dogs are highly susceptible to diseases, nutritional problems, toxins, and parasites, with parasitic infections being common and causing hardship in their lives. Some important internal parasites include worms (such as roundworms and tapeworms) and protozoa, which can lead to anemia in dogs. Important bloodborne parasites in dogs include microfilariae and adult forms of Dirofilaria immitis, Dipetalonema reconditum, Babesia, Trypanosoma, Hepatozoon, Leishmania, Ehrlichia, and Hemobartonella. Babesia and Hemobartonella are parasites that reside inside red blood cells and cause regenerative anemia by directly destroying the red blood cells. Hepatozoon, Leishmania, and Ehrlichia are also parasites that reside within white blood cells and can infiltrate other tissues, such as the liver and lymph nodes. Since intermediate hosts are more commonly found in the open environment, the prevalence of parasites in stray and free-roaming dogs is higher compared to pet dogs. Furthermore, pet dogs are less exposed to internal and external parasites due to better care, hygiene, and being predominantly indoors. Therefore, they are less likely to be affected by them. Among the parasites, Leishmania carries significant importance as it is shared between dogs and humans, causing a dangerous disease known as visceral Leishmaniasis or kala-azar and cutaneous Leishmaniasis. Furthermore, dogs can act as reservoirs and spread the disease agent within human communities. Therefore, timely and accurate diagnosis of these diseases in dogs can be highly beneficial in preventing their occurrence in humans. In this article, we employed the Giemsa staining technique under a light microscope for the identification of bloodborne parasites in dogs. However, considering the negative impact of these parasites on the natural life of dogs, the development of chronic diseases, and the gradual loss of the animal's well-being, rapid and timely diagnosis is essential. Serological methods and PCR are available for the diagnosis of certain parasites, which have high sensitivity and desirable characteristics. Therefore, this research aims to investigate the molecular aspects of bloodborne parasites in dogs referred to veterinary hospitals in Tehran city.

Keywords: leishmaniasis, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, dirofilariasis, hepatozoonosis

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Authors: Priya Sepaha

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Commercial Surrogacy refers to a contract in which a woman carries a pregnancy for intended parents. There are two types of surrogacy; first, Traditional Surrogacy, in which, sperm of the donor or father is artificially inseminated in the women and carries the fetus till birth. Second, Gestational Surrogacy, in which the egg and sperm of the intended parent are collected for artificial fertilization through In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) technique and after the embryo formation, it is transferred into the womb of a surrogate mother with the help of Assisted Reproductive Technique. Surrogacy has become so widespread in India that it has now been nicknamed the "rent-a-womb" capital of the world due to relatively low cost and lack of stringent regulatory legalisation. The legal aspects surrounding surrogacy are complex, diverse and mostly unsettled. Although this appears to be beneficial for the parties concerned, there are certain sensitive issues which need to be addressed to ensure ample protection to all stakeholders. Commercial surrogacy is an emerging business and a new means of human trafficking particularly in India. Poor and illiterate women are often lured in such deals by their spouse or broker for earning easy money. Traffickers also use force, fraud, or coercion at times to intimidate the probable surrogate mothers. A major chunk of money received from covert surrogacy agreement is taken away by the brokers. The Law Commission of India has specifically reviewed the issue as India is emerging as a major global surrogacy destination. The Supreme Court of India held in the Manji's case in 2008, that commercial surrogacy can be permitted with certain restrictions but had directed the Legislature to pass an appropriate Law for governing Surrogacy in India. The draft Assisted Reproductive Technique (ART) Bill, 2010 is still pending for approval. At present, the Surrogacy Contract between the parties and the ART Clinics Guidelines are perhaps the only guiding force. The Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA), 1956 and Sections 366(A) and 372 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 are perhaps the only existing laws, which deal with human trafficking. Yet, none of these provisions specifically deal with the serious issue of trafficking for the purpose of Commercial Surrogacy. India remains one of the few countries that still allow commercial surrogacy. International Surrogacy involves bilateral issues, where the laws of both the nations have to be at par in order to ensure that the concerns and interests of parties involved get amicably resolved. There is urgent need to pass a comprehensive law by incorporating the latest developments in this field in order to make it ethical on the one hand and to curb disguised human trafficking on the other.

Keywords: business, human trafficking, legal, surrogacy

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Authors: Domenica Bona

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Colin Chant and David Goodman argue that historians of Chinese pre-industrial cities tend to underestimate revolutions and overestimate cyclic patterns: periods of peace and prosperity in the earl part of each d nast , followed b peasants’ rebellions and upheavals. Boyd described these cyclic patterns as part of the background of Chinese town planning and architecture. Thus old ideals of city planning-square plan, southward orientation and a palace along the central axis - are revived again and again in the ascendant phases of several d nastic c cles (e.g. Chang’an, Kaifen, and Beijing). Along this line of thought, m paper questions the relationship between the “magic square rule” and modern Chinese urban- planning. As a matter of fact, the classical theme of “cosmic Taoist urbanism” is still a reference for planning cities and new urban developments, whenever there is the intention to express nationalist ideals and “cultural straightforwardness.” Besides, some case studies can be related to “modern d nasties”: the first Republic under the Kuo Min Tang, the red People’s Republic and the post-Maoist open country of Deng Xiao Ping. Considering the project for the new capital of Nanjing in the Thirties, Beijing’s Tianan Men area in the ifties, and Shenzhen’s utian CBD in late 20th century, I argue that cyclic patterns are still in place, though with deformations related to westernization, private interests and lack of spirituality. How far new Chinese cities are - or simply seem to be - westernized? Symbolism, invisible frameworks, repeating features and behavioural patterns make urban China just “superficiall” western. This can be well noticed in cities previousl occupied b foreigners, like Hong Kong, or in newly founded ones, like Shenzhen, where both Asians and non-Asian people can feel the gender-shift from New-York-like landscapes to something else. Current planning in main metropolitan areas shows a blurred relationship between public policies and private investments: two levels of decisions and actions, one addressing the larger scale and infrastructures, the other concerning the micro scale and development of single plots. While zoning is instrumental in this process, master plans are often laid out over a very poor cartography, so much that any relation between the formal characters of new cities and the centuries-old structure of the related territory gets lost.

Keywords: China, contemporary cities, cultural heritage, shenzhen, urban planning

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Authors: Mohamed Ahmed Madkour, Haitham Magdy Hamad

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This research aims to study of the surgery science and imaging in ancient Egypt, and how to diagnose the surgical cases, whether due to injuries or disease that requires surgical intervention, Medical diagnosis and how to treat it. The ancient Egyptian physician tried to change over from magic and theological thinking to become a stand-alone experimental science, they were able to distinguish between diseases and they divide them into internal and external diseases even this division exists to date in modern medicine. There is no evidence to recognize the amount of human knowledge in the prehistoric knowledge of medicine and surgery except skeleton. It is not far from the human being in those times familiar with some means of treatment, Surgery in the Stone age was rudimentary, Flint stone was used after trimming in a certain way as a lancet to slit and open the skin. Wooden tree branches were used to make splints to treat bone fractures. Surgery developed further when copper was discovered, it led to the advancement of Egyptian civilization, then modern and advanced tools appeared in the operating theater like a knife or a scalpel. The climate and environmental conditions have preserved medical papyri and human remains that have confirmed their knowledge of surgical methods including sedation. The ancient Egyptians reached a great importance in surgery, evidenced by the scenes that depict the pathological image and the surgical process, but the image alone is not sufficient to prove the pathology, its presence in ancient Egypt and its treatment method. As there are a number of medical papyri, especially Edwin Smith and Ebris, which prove the ancient Egyptian surgeon's knowledge of the pathological condition that It requires a surgical intervention, otherwise its diagnosis and the method of treatment will not be described with such accuracy through these texts. Some surgeries are described in the department of surgery at Ebris papyrus. The level of surgery in ancient Egypt was high, and they performed surgery such as hernias and Aneurysm, however we have not received a lengthy explanation of the various surgeries and the surgeon has usually only said “treated surgically”. It is evident in the Ebris papyrus that they used sharp surgical tools and cautery in operations where bleeding is expected, such as hernias, arterial sacs and tumors.

Keywords: ancient Egypt, archaeology, Egyptian history, ancient asurgical imaging, Egyptian civilization, civilization

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Authors: Keping Zuo, Foad Kabinejadian, Gideon Praveen Kumar Vijayakumar, Fangsen Cui, Pei Ho, Hwa Liang Leo

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Carotid artery stenting (CAS) is the standard procedure for patients with severe carotid stenosis at high risk for carotid endarterectomy (CAE). A major drawback of CAS is the higher incidence of procedure-related stroke compared with traditional open surgical treatment for carotid stenosis - CEA, even with the use of the embolic protection devices (EPD). As the currently available bare metal stents cannot address this problem, our research group developed a novel preferential covered-stent for carotid artery aims to prevent friable fragments of atherosclerotic plaques from flowing into the cerebral circulation, and yet maintaining the flow of the external carotid artery. The preliminary animal studies have demonstrated the potential of this novel covered-stent design for the treatment of carotid atherosclerotic stenosis. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of membrane coating on the stent flexibility in order to improve the clinical performance of our novel covered stents. A total of 21 stents were evaluated in this study: 15 self expanding bare nitinol stents and 6 PTFE-covered stents. 10 of the bare stents were coated with 11%, 16% and 22% Polyurethane(PU), 4%, 6.25% and 11% EE, as well as 22% PU plus 5 μm Parylene. Different laser cutting designs were performed on 4 of the PTFE covert stents. All the stents, with or without the covered membrane, were subjected to a three-point flexural test. The stents were placed on two supports that are 30 mm apart, and the actuator is applying a force in the exact middle of the two supports with a loading pin with radius 2.5 mm. The loading pin displacement change, the force and the variation in stent shape were recorded for analysis. The flexibility of the stents was evaluated by the lumen area preservation at three displacement bending levels: 5mm, 7mm, and 10mm. All the lumen areas in all stents decreased with the increase of the displacement from 0 to 10 mm. The bare stents were able to maintain 0.864 ± 0.015, 0.740 ± 0.025 and 0.597 ± 0.031of original lumen area at 5 mm, 7 mm and 10mm displacement respectively. For covered stents, the stents with EE coating membrane showed the best lumen area preservation (0.839 ± 0.005, 0.7334 ± 0.043 and 0.559 ± 0.014), whereas, the stents with PU and Parylene coating were only 0.662, 0.439 and 0.305. Bending stiffness was also calculated and compared. These results provided optimal material information and it was crucial for enhancing clinical performance of our novel covered stents.

Keywords: carotid artery, covered stent, nonlinear, hyperelastic, stress, strain

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Authors: Ruyang Ren, Yaohua Zhao, Yanhua Diao

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The intermittent and unstable characteristics of renewable energy such as solar energy can be effectively solved through battery energy storage system. Lithium-ion battery is widely used in battery energy storage system because of its advantages of high energy density, small internal resistance, low self-discharge rate, no memory effect and long service life. However, the performance and service life of lithium-ion battery is seriously affected by its operating temperature. Thus, the safety operation of the lithium-ion battery module is inseparable from an effective thermal management system (TMS). In this study, a new type of TMS based on micro heat pipe array (MHPA) for lithium-ion battery is established, and the TMS is applied to a battery energy storage box that needs to operate at a high temperature environment of 40 °C all year round. MHPA is a flat shape metal body with high thermal conductivity and excellent temperature uniformity. The battery energy storage box is composed of four battery modules, with a nominal voltage of 51.2 V, a nominal capacity of 400 Ah. Through the excellent heat transfer characteristics of the MHPA, the heat generated by the charge and discharge process can be quickly transferred out of the battery module. In addition, if only the MHPA cannot meet the heat dissipation requirements of the battery module, the TMS can automatically control the opening of the external fan outside the battery module according to the temperature of the battery, so as to further enhance the heat dissipation of the battery module. The thermal management performance of lithium-ion battery TMS based on MHPA is studied experimentally under different ambient temperatures and the condition to turn on the fan or not. Results show that when the ambient temperature is 40 °C and the fan is not turned on in the whole charge and discharge process, the maximum temperature of the battery in the energy storage box is 53.1 °C and the maximum temperature difference in the battery module is 2.4 °C. After the fan is turned on in the whole charge and discharge process, the maximum temperature is reduced to 50.1 °C, and the maximum temperature difference is reduced to 1.7 °C. Obviously, the lithium-ion battery TMS based on MHPA not only could control the maximum temperature of the battery below 55 °C, but also ensure the excellent temperature uniformity of the battery module. In conclusion, the lithium-ion battery TMS based on MHPA can ensure the safe and stable operation of the battery energy storage box in high temperature environment.

Keywords: heat dissipation, lithium-ion battery thermal management, micro heat pipe array, temperature uniformity

Procedia PDF Downloads 152

Authors: Adel Pasztor

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International doctoral mobility is a largely under-researched component of academic mobility and migration. This is in stark contrast to the case of student mobility where much research has been undertaken on Erasmus students; or the growing research on academic staff mobility which can be viewed as a key part of highly skilled migration. The aim of this paper is to remedy the situation by specifically focusing on international doctoral students studying at elite higher education institutions in the United Kingdom. In doing so, in-depth qualitative interviews with doctoral students and recent graduates were carried out in order to identify the signifiers of an internationally mobile doctoral student and unpack the decision-making processes leading onto the choice of higher education institution abroad. Overall, a diverse range of degree subjects from within the humanities and the social sciences were covered with a relatively large spread of nationalities which include the following countries: Italy, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Australia, USA, China, and Chile. The interview questions were designed to probe the motivations, choices, educational trajectories and career plans of international doctoral students relative to their social class background, gender, nationality or funding. It was clear from the interviews that there were two main types of international doctoral students: those who ‘did not think anything else was ever a serious possibility’, contrasted with the other, more opportune type, to whom ‘it happened to be a PhD’. There were marked differences between the two types since initial access to university, mainly because educational decisions such as the doctorate do not happen in a vacuum, rather are built on the individual’s higher education aspirations and previous educational choices. The results were in line with existing literature suggesting that those with higher educated parents and from schools strongly supporting the choice process fared better as they were able to make well informed, well thought through as well as strategic decisions for their future involving the very best universities within the national boundaries. Being ‘at the right place’ often meant access to prestigious doctoral scholarships thus, the route of the PhD has been chosen even if it did not necessarily enhance career opportunities. At the same time, the initial higher education choices of those with limited capital were played out locally, although they did aim for the best universities within their geographically constrained landscape of choice. Here, the majority of students referred to some ‘turning points’ in their lives which lead them towards considering international doctoral opportunities but essentially their proactive, do-it-yourself attitude was behind the life-changing educational opportunities.

Keywords: choice, doctoral students, international mobility, PhD, UK

Procedia PDF Downloads 243

Authors: Qiushi Ning

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The nitrogen (N) is an important limiting factor of various ecosystems, and the N deposition rate is increasing unprecedentedly due to anthropogenic activities. The N deposition altered the microbial growth and activity, and microbial mediated N cycling through changing soil pH, the availability of N and carbon (C). The CO2, CH4 and N2O are important greenhouse gas which threaten the sustainability and function of the ecosystem. With the prolonged and increasing N enrichment, the soil acidification and C limitation will be aggravated, and the microbial biomass will be further declined. The soil acidification and lack of C induced by N addition are argued as two important factors regulating the microbial activity and growth, and the studies combined soil acidification with lack of C on microbial community are scarce. In order to restore the ecosystem affected by chronic N loading, we determined the responses of microbial activity and GHG emssions to lime and glucose (control, 1‰ lime, 2‰ lime, glucose, 1‰ lime×glucose and 2‰ lime×glucose) addition which was used to alleviate the soil acidification and supply C resource into soils with N addition rates 0-50 g N m–2yr–1. The results showed no significant responses of soil respiration and microbial biomass (MBC and MBN) to lime addition, however, the glucose substantially improved the soil respiration and microbial biomass (MBC and MBN); the cumulative CO2 emission and microbial biomass of lime×glucose treatments were not significantly higher than those of only glucose treatment. The glucose and lime×glucose treatments reduced the net mineralization and nitrification rate, due to inspired microbial growth via C supply incorporating more inorganic N to the biomass, and mineralization of organic N was relatively reduced. The glucose addition also increased the CH4 and N2O emissions, CH4 emissions was regulated mainly by C resource as a substrate for methanogen. However, the N2O emissions were regulated by both C resources and soil pH, the C was important energy and the increased soil pH could benefit the nitrifiers and denitrifiers which were primary producers of N2O. The soil respiration and N2O emissions increased with increasing N addition rates in all glucose treatments, as the external C resource improved microbial N utilization. Compared with alleviated soil acidification, the improved availability of C substantially increased microbial activity, therefore, the C should be the main limiting factor in long-term N loading soils. The most important, when we use the organic C fertilization to improve the production of the ecosystems, the GHG emissions and consequent warming potentials should be carefully considered.

Keywords: acidification and C limitation, greenhouse gas emission, microbial activity, N deposition

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Authors: Tsegaw Abebe, Temesgen Abebe

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Land degradation is one of a serious environmental challenge in Ethiopia and is one of the major underlying causes for declining agricultural productivity. The Ethiopia government realized the significance of environmental restoration specifically on deforested and degraded land after the 1973 and 1984/85 major famines that struck the country. Among the various conservation strategies, the establishment of area exclosures have been regarded as an effective response to halt and reverse the problems of land degradation. There are limited studies in Ethiopia dealing how the conversion of free grazing lands and degraded lands by closures increase biomass accumulation. However, these studies are not sufficient to conclude about the strength of area closures to restore degraded vegetations at the diverse agro-ecological condition. The overall objective of this study was, therefore, to assess and evaluate the usefulness of area closure technique in enhancing rehabilitation of degraded ecosystem and thereby increase the natural capital in the study site (southern Ethiopia). Woody plant species were collected from area exclosure for eight year and adjacent degraded land with similar landscape positions using systematic sampling plot design technique. Woody species diversity was determined by Shannon diversity. Comparative assessment result of woody plant species analysis showed that the density of woody species in the exclosure and degraded site were 778 and 222 individuals per hectare, respectively. A total of 16 woody species, representing 12 families were recorded in the study site. Out of the 12 families, all were recorded in the exclosure while 5 were recorded in the degraded site. Out of the 16 species, 15 were recorded in the exclosure while six were in the degraded site. A total of 10 species were recorded in the exclosure, which were absent in the degraded site. Similarly, one species was recorded in the degraded site which was not present in the exclosure. The results showed that protecting of degraded site from human and animal disturbances promotes woody plant species regenerations and productivity Apart from increasing woody plant species, the local communities have benefited from the exclosure in the form of both products (grass harvesting) and services (ecological). Due to this reason the local communities have positive attitudes and contribute a lot for the success of enclosures in the study site. The present study clearly showed that area closure interventions should be oriented towards managing and improving the productivity of the degraded land, in such a way that both the need for conservation of biodiversity and environmental sustainability, and the demands of the local people for biomass resources can be achieved.

Keywords: degraded land, exclosure, land restoration, woody vegetation

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Authors: U. Isyaku, C. Upton, J. Dickinson

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Critical institutional approach for understanding pathways to shared prosperity among forest communities enabled questioning the underlying rational choice assumptions that have dominated traditional institutional thinking in natural resources management. Common pool resources framing assumes that communities as social groups share collective interests and values towards achieving greater development. Hence, policies related to natural resources management in the global South prioritise economic prosperity by focusing on how to maximise material benefits and improve the livelihood options of resource dependent communities. Recent trends in commodification and marketization of ecosystem goods and services into tradable natural capital and incentivising conservation are structured in this paradigm. Several researchers however, have problematized this emerging market-based model because it undermines cultural basis for protecting natural ecosystems. By exploring how forest people’s motivations for conservation differ within the context of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) project in Nigeria, we aim to provide an alternative approach to conceptualising prosperity beyond the traditional economic thinking. Through in depth empirical work over seven months with five communities in Nigeria’s Cross River State, Q methodology was used to uncover communities’ perspectives and meanings of forest values that underpin contemporary and historic conservation practices, expected benefits, and willingness to participate in the REDD+ process. Our study finds six discourses about forest and conservation values that transcend wealth creation, poverty reduction and livelihoods. We argue that communities’ decisions about forest conservation consist of a complex mixture of economic, emotional, moral, and ecological justice concerns that constitute new meanings and dimensions of prosperity. Prosperity is thus reconfigured as having socio-cultural and psychological pathways that could be derived through place identity and attachment, connectedness to nature, family ties, and ability to participate in everyday social life. We therefore suggest that natural resources policy making and development interventions should consider institutional arrangements that also include the psycho-cultural dimensions of prosperity among diverse community groups.

Keywords: critical institutionalism, Q methodology, REDD+, shared prosperity

Procedia PDF Downloads 321

Authors: Bader Eddin Al Asali, N. Srinivasa Reddy

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Cities are dynamic in nature and are characterized by concentration of people, infrastructure, services and markets, which offer opportunities for production and consumption. Often growth and development in urban areas is not systematic, and is directed by number of factors like natural growth, land prices, housing availability, job locations-the central business district (CBD’s), transportation routes, distribution of resources, geographical boundaries, administrative policies, etc. One sided spatial and geographical development in cities leads to the unequal spatial distribution of population and jobs, resulting in high transportation activity. City development can be measured by the parameters such as urban size, urban form, urban shape, and urban structure. Urban Size is the city size and defined by the population of the city, and urban form is the location and size of the economic activity (CBD) over the geographical space. Urban shape is the geometrical shape of the city over which the distribution of population and economic activity occupied. And Urban Structure is the transport network within which the population and activity centers are connected by hierarchy of roads. Among the urban land-use systems transportation plays significant role and is one of the largest energy consuming sector. Transportation interaction among the land uses is measured in Passenger-Km and mean trip length, and is often used as a proxy for measurement of energy consumption in transportation sector. Among the trips generated in cities, work trips constitute more than 70 percent. Work trips are originated from the place of residence and destination to the place of employment. To understand the role of urban parameters on transportation interaction, theoretical cities of different size and urban specifications are generated through building block exercise using a specially developed interactive C++ programme and land use transportation modeling is carried. The land-use transportation modeling exercise helps in understanding the role of urban parameters and also to classify the cities for their urban form, structure, and shape. Muscat the capital city of Oman underwent rapid urbanization over the last four decades is taken as a case study for its classification. Also, a pilot survey is carried to capture urban travel characteristics. Analysis of land-use transportation modeling with field data classified Muscat as a linear city with polycentric CBD. Conclusions are drawn suggestion are given for policy making for the sustainability of Muscat City.

Keywords: land-use transportation, transportation modeling urban form, urban structure, urban rule parameters

Procedia PDF Downloads 254

Authors: Erica Siqueira, Adriana Bin, Rachel Stefanuto

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The paper aims to identify and to discuss the impact and results of ex-ante, mid-term and ex-post evaluation initiatives in Brazilian Social Enterprises from the point of view of the entrepreneurs and investors, highlighting the processes involved in these activities and their aftereffects. The study was conducted using a descriptive methodology, primarily qualitative. A multiple-case study was used, and, for that, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten entrepreneurs in the (i) social finance, (ii) education, (iii) health, (iv) citizenship and (v) green tech fields, as well as three representatives of various impact investments, which are (i) venture capital, (ii) loan and (iii) equity interest areas. Convenience (non-probabilistic) sampling was adopted to select both businesses and investors, who voluntarily contributed to the research. The evaluation is still incipient in most of the studied business cases. Some stand out by adopting well-known methodologies like Global Impact Investing Report System (GIIRS), but still, have a lot to improve in several aspects. Most of these enterprises use nonexperimental research conducted by their own employees, which is ordinarily not understood as 'golden standard' to some authors in the area. Nevertheless, from the entrepreneur point of view, it is possible to identify that most of them including those routines in some extent in their day-by-day activities, despite the difficulty they have of the business in general. In turn, the investors do not have overall directions to establish evaluation initiatives in respective enterprises; they are funding. There is a mechanism of trust, and this is, usually, enough to prove the impact for all stakeholders. The work concludes that there is a large gap between what the literature states in regard to what should be the best practices in these businesses and what the enterprises really do. The evaluation initiatives must be included in some extension in all enterprises in order to confirm social impact that they realize. Here it is recommended the development and adoption of more flexible evaluation mechanisms that consider the complexity involved in these businesses’ routines. The reflections of the research also suggest important implications for the field of Social Enterprises, whose practices are far from what the theory preaches. It highlights the risk of the legitimacy of these enterprises that identify themselves as 'social impact', sometimes without the proper proof based on causality data. Consequently, this makes the field of social entrepreneurship fragile and susceptible to questioning, weakening the ecosystem as a whole. In this way, the top priorities of these enterprises must be handled together with the results and impact measurement activities. Likewise, it is recommended to perform further investigations that consider the trade-offs between impact versus profit. In addition, research about gender, the entrepreneur motivation to call themselves as Social Enterprises, and the possible unintended consequences from these businesses also should be investigated.

Keywords: evaluation practices, impact, results, social enterprise, social entrepreneurship ecosystem

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Paris Binos

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The present work investigates developmental aspects of the duration of isolated vowels in infants with normal hearing compared to those who received cochlear implants (CIs) before two years of age. Infants with normal hearing produced shorter vowel duration since this find related with more mature production abilities. First isolated vowels are transparent during the protophonic stage as evidence of an increased motor and linguistic control. Vowel duration is a crucial factor for the transition of prelexical speech to normal adult speech. Despite current knowledge of data for infants with normal hearing more research is needed to unravel productions skills in early implanted children. Thus, isolated vowel productions by two congenitally hearing-impaired Greek infants (implantation ages 1:4-1:11; post-implant ages 0:6-1:3) were recorded and sampled for six months after implantation with a Nucleus-24. The results compared with the productions of three normal hearing infants (chronological ages 0:8-1:1). Vegetative data and vocalizations masked by external noise or sounds were excluded. Participants had no other disabilities and had unknown deafness etiology. Prior to implantation the infants had an average unaided hearing loss of 95-110 dB HL while the post-implantation PTA decreased to 10-38 dB HL. The current research offers a methodology for the processing of the prelinguistic productions based on a combination of acoustical and auditory analyses. Based on the current methodological framework, duration measured through spectrograms based on wideband analysis, from the voicing onset to the end of the vowel. The end marked by two co-occurring events: 1) The onset of aperiodicity with a rapid change in amplitude in the waveform and 2) a loss in formant’s energy. Cut-off levels of significance were set at 0.05 for all tests. Bonferroni post hoc tests indicated that difference was significant between the mean duration of vowels of infants wearing CIs and their normal hearing peers. Thus, the mean vowel duration of CIs measured longer compared to the normal hearing peers (0.000). The current longitudinal findings contribute to the existing data for the performance of children wearing CIs at a very young age and enrich also the data of the Greek language. The above described weakness for CI’s performance is a challenge for future work in speech processing and CI’s processing strategies.

Keywords: cochlear implant, duration, spectrogram, vowel

Procedia PDF Downloads 240

Authors: Reem Alshiha, Tanzila Saba

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Physical rehabilitation is the process of helping people to recover and be able to go back to their former activities that have been delayed due to external factors such as car accidents, old age and victims of strokes (chronic diseases and accidents, and those related to sport activities).The cost of hiring a personal nurse or driving the patient to and from the hospital could be costly and time-consuming. Also, there are other factors to take into account such as forgetfulness, boredom and lack of motivation. In order to solve this dilemma, some experts came up with rehabilitation software to be used with Microsoft Kinect to help the patients and their families for in-home rehabilitation. In home rehabilitation software is becoming more and more popular, since it is more convenient for all parties affiliated with the patient. In contrast to the other costly market-based systems that have no portability, Microsoft’s Kinect is a portable motion sensor that reads body movements and interprets it. New software development has made rehabilitation games available to be used at home for the convenience of the patient. The game will benefit its users (rehabilitation patients) in saving time and money. There are many software's that are used with the Kinect for rehabilitation, but the software that is chosen in this research is Kinectotherapy. Kinectotherapy software is used for rehabilitation patients in Riyadh clinics to test its acceptance by patients and their physicians. In this study, we used Kinect because it was affordable, portable and easy to access in contrast to expensive market-based motion sensors. This paper explores the importance of in-home rehabilitation by using Kinect with Kinectotherapy software. The software targets both upper and lower limbs, but in this research, the main focus is on upper-limb functionality. However, the in-home rehabilitation is applicable to be used by all patients with motor disability, since the patient must have some self-reliance. The targeted subjects are patients with minor motor impairment that are somewhat independent in their mobility. The presented work is the first to consider the implementation of in-home rehabilitation with real-time feedback to the patient and physician. This research proposes the implementation of in-home rehabilitation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The findings show that most of the patients are interested and motivated in using the in-home rehabilitation system in the future. The main value of the software application is due to these factors: improve patient engagement through stimulating rehabilitation, be a low cost rehabilitation tool and reduce the need for expensive one-to-one clinical contact. Rehabilitation is a crucial treatment that can improve the quality of life and confidence of the patient as well as their self-esteem.

Keywords: x-box, rehabilitation, physical therapy, rehabilitation software, kinect

Procedia PDF Downloads 324

Authors: David Ofosu-Hamilton, John K. E. Edumadze

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Universities have come to recognize the role Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills plays in the daily activities of tertiary students. The ability to use ICT – essentially, computers and their diverse applications – are important resources that influence an individual’s economic and social participation and human capital development. Our society now increasingly relies on the Internet, and the Cloud as a means to communicate and disseminate information. The educated individual should, therefore, be able to use ICT to create and share knowledge that will improve society. It is, therefore, important that universities require incoming students to demonstrate a level of computer proficiency or trained to do so at a minimal cost by deploying advanced educational technologies. The training and standardized assessment of all in-coming first-year students of the University of Cape Coast in Information Technology Skills (ITS) have become a necessity as students’ most often than not highly overestimate their digital skill and digital ignorance is costly to any economy. The one-semester course is targeted at fresh students and aimed at enhancing the productivity and software skills of students. In this respect, emphasis is placed on skills that will enable students to be proficient in using Microsoft Office and Google Apps for Education for their academic work and future professional work whiles using emerging digital multimedia technologies in a safe, ethical, responsible, and legal manner. The course is delivered in blended mode - online and self-paced (student centered) using Alison’s free cloud-based tutorial (Moodle) of Microsoft Office videos. Online support is provided via discussion forums on the University’s Moodle platform and tutor-directed and assisted at the ICT Centre and Google E-learning laboratory. All students are required to register for the ITS course during either the first or second semester of the first year and must participate and complete it within a semester. Assessment focuses on Alison online assessment on Microsoft Office, Alison online assessment on ALISON ABC IT, Peer assessment on e-portfolio created using Google Apps/Office 365 and an End of Semester’s online assessment at the ICT Centre whenever the student was ready in the cause of the semester. This paper, therefore, focuses on the digital culture approach of hybrid teaching, learning and paperless examinations and the possible adoption by other courses or programs at the University of Cape Coast.

Keywords: assessment, blended, cloud, paperless

Procedia PDF Downloads 239

Authors: Ali Kazemi

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Those within the volatile and interconnected international economic markets, appropriately predicting market trends, hold substantial fees for traders and financial establishments. Traditional device mastering strategies have made full-size strides in forecasting marketplace movements; however, monetary data's complicated and networked nature calls for extra sophisticated processes. This observation offers a groundbreaking method for monetary marketplace prediction that leverages the synergistic capability of Graph Convolutional Networks (GCNs) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks. Our suggested algorithm is meticulously designed to forecast the traits of inventory market indices and cryptocurrency costs, utilizing a comprehensive dataset spanning from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2023. This era, marked by sizable volatility and transformation in financial markets, affords a solid basis for schooling and checking out our predictive version. Our algorithm integrates diverse facts to construct a dynamic economic graph that correctly reflects market intricacies. We meticulously collect opening, closing, and high and low costs daily for key inventory marketplace indices (e.g., S&P 500, NASDAQ) and widespread cryptocurrencies (e.g., Bitcoin, Ethereum), ensuring a holistic view of marketplace traits. Daily trading volumes are also incorporated to seize marketplace pastime and liquidity, providing critical insights into the market's shopping for and selling dynamics. Furthermore, recognizing the profound influence of the monetary surroundings on financial markets, we integrate critical macroeconomic signs with hobby fees, inflation rates, GDP increase, and unemployment costs into our model. Our GCN algorithm is adept at learning the relational patterns amongst specific financial devices represented as nodes in a comprehensive market graph. Edges in this graph encapsulate the relationships based totally on co-movement styles and sentiment correlations, enabling our version to grasp the complicated community of influences governing marketplace moves. Complementing this, our LSTM algorithm is trained on sequences of the spatial-temporal illustration discovered through the GCN, enriched with historic fee and extent records. This lets the LSTM seize and expect temporal marketplace developments accurately. Inside the complete assessment of our GCN-LSTM algorithm across the inventory marketplace and cryptocurrency datasets, the version confirmed advanced predictive accuracy and profitability compared to conventional and opportunity machine learning to know benchmarks. Specifically, the model performed a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 0.85%, indicating high precision in predicting day-by-day charge movements. The RMSE was recorded at 1.2%, underscoring the model's effectiveness in minimizing tremendous prediction mistakes, which is vital in volatile markets. Furthermore, when assessing the model's predictive performance on directional market movements, it achieved an accuracy rate of 78%, significantly outperforming the benchmark models, averaging an accuracy of 65%. This high degree of accuracy is instrumental for techniques that predict the course of price moves. This study showcases the efficacy of mixing graph-based totally and sequential deep learning knowledge in economic marketplace prediction and highlights the fee of a comprehensive, records-pushed evaluation framework. Our findings promise to revolutionize investment techniques and hazard management practices, offering investors and economic analysts a powerful device to navigate the complexities of cutting-edge economic markets.

Keywords: financial market prediction, graph convolutional networks (GCNs), long short-term memory (LSTM), cryptocurrency forecasting

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Authors: L. Obeid, A. Bee, D. Talbot, S. Abramson, M. Welschbillig

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The adsorption process is one of the most efficient methods to remove pollutants from wastewater provided that suitable adsorbents are used. In order to produce environmentally safe adsorbents, natural polymers have received increasing attention in recent years. Thus, alginate and chitosane are extensively used as inexpensive, non-toxic and efficient biosorbents. Alginate is an anionic polysaccharide extracted from brown seaweeds. Chitosan is an amino-polysaccharide; this cationic polymer is obtained by deacetylation of chitin the major constituent of crustaceans. Furthermore, it has been shown that the encapsulation of magnetic materials in alginate and chitosan beads facilitates their recovery from wastewater after the adsorption step, by the use of an external magnetic field gradient, obtained with a magnet or an electromagnet. In the present work, we have studied the adsorption affinity of magnetic alginate beads and magnetic chitosan beads (called magsorbents) for methyl orange (MO) (an anionic dye), methylene blue (MB) (a cationic dye) and p-nitrophenol (PNP) (a hydrophobic pollutant). The effect of different parameters (pH solution, contact time, pollutant initial concentration…) on the adsorption of pollutant on the magnetic beads was investigated. The adsorption of anionic and cationic pollutants is mainly due to electrostatic interactions. Consequently methyl orange is highly adsorbed by chitosan beads in acidic medium and methylene blue by alginate beads in basic medium. In the case of a hydrophobic pollutant, which is weakly adsorbed, we have shown that the adsorption is enhanced by adding a surfactant. Cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), a cationic surfactant, was used to increase the adsorption of PNP by magnetic alginate beads. Adsorption of CPC by alginate beads occurs through two mechanisms: (i) electrostatic attractions between cationic head groups of CPC and negative carboxylate functions of alginate; (ii) interaction between the hydrocarbon chains of CPC. The hydrophobic pollutant is adsolubilized within the surface aggregated structures of surfactant. Figure c shows that PNP can reach up to 95% of adsorption in presence of CPC. At highest CPC concentrations, desorption occurs due to the formation of micelles in the solution. Our magsorbents appear to efficiently remove ionic and hydrophobic pollutants and we hope that this fundamental research will be helpful for the future development of magnetically assisted processes in water treatment plants.

Keywords: adsorption, alginate, chitosan, magsorbent, magnetic, organic pollutant

Procedia PDF Downloads 238

Authors: Meenakshi Pappu

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The terms like liveability, Sustainable Development Goals and pandemic have been widely analysed in proving sustainable cities and community living in growing urban areas by 2030. The pandemic has made us all ruminate about how we look into different fast-growing cities which vary in geographical location, climatic zones, terrains, land use and varying cultural backgrounds & traditions belong to the mother soil. India has taken up huge steps to move towards achieving UN-SDGs. Smart city missions have played a vital role in moving towards SDG. Visakhapatnam city is the executive capital in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Located on the Eastern Ghats in South India, it is surrounded by a mountain range on three sides and the Indian Ocean on one side. This unique geographical location and fast urbanization in the last two decades, has put up immense pressure on the natural environment and recourses. It's observed that a lot of investigation to address the existing and proposed land-use, spatial, natural resources, air quality, environmental challenges, and a range of socio-economic, economic challenges were identified during the assessment phase. The citizen concerns with quality and quantity of access to water, sewerage, energy, transportation (public & private) and safety for the public were found out through surveying. Urban infrastructure plays a major part in city building. These cities are occupied by people who come for a better living. This paper aims to provide off-center way of approach to citizens-oriented community habits by addressing SDG 11: Sustainable cities & community by enkindling a characteristic framework of amalgamating 1.eco-design principal, 2. three factors of liveability and 3. a local traditional planning solution. Aiming towards a sustainable development utilized with the focus on the quality of the life and experience of the people who live in urban areas integrating life with soil & water. Building strong social agenda that includes affordable housing for all levels of households, secure and place for good quality public realm for the local people with activity in green corridor, open meeting space & adding recreational places for advantage..

Keywords: livability, eco-design, smart city mission, sustainable

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: Ahmed Hefny Mohamed El-Badwy

Abstract:

This research aims to study of the surgery science and imaging in ancient Egypt, and how to diagnose the surgical cases, whether due to injuries or disease that requires surgical intervention, Medical diagnosis and how to treat it. The ancient Egyptian physician tried to change over from magic and theological thinking to become a stand-alone experimental science, they were able to distinguish between diseases, and they divide them into internal and external diseases even this division exists to date in modern medicine. There is no evidence to recognize the amount of human knowledge in the prehistoric knowledge of medicine and surgery except skeleton. It is not far from the human being in those times familiar with some means of treatment, Surgery in the Stone age was rudimentary, Flint stone was used after trimming in a certain way as a lancet to slit and open the skin. Wooden tree branches were used to make splints to treat bone fractures. Surgery developed further when copper was discovered, it led to the advancement of Egyptian civilization, then modern and advanced tools appeared in the operating theater, like a knife or a scalpel, there is evidence of surgery performed in ancient Egypt during the dynastic period (323 – 3200 BC). The climate and environmental conditions have preserved medical papyri and human remains that have confirmed their knowledge of surgical methods, including sedation. The ancient Egyptians reached a great importance in surgery, evidenced by the scenes that depict the pathological image and the surgical process, but the image alone is not sufficient to prove the pathology, its presence in ancient Egypt and its treatment method. As there are a number of medical papyri, especially Edwin Smith and Ebris, which prove the ancient Egyptian surgeon's knowledge of the pathological condition that It requires a surgical intervention, otherwise, its diagnosis and the method of treatment will not be described with such accuracy through these texts. Some surgeries are described in the department of surgery at Ebris papyrus (recipes from 863 to 877). The level of surgery in ancient Egypt was high, and they performed surgery such as hernias and Aneurysm, however, we have not received a lengthy explanation of the various surgeries, and the surgeon has usually only said “treated surgically”. It is evident in the Ebris papyrus that they used sharp surgical tools and cautery in operations where bleeding is expected, such as hernias, arterial sacs and tumors.

Keywords: ancientegypt, egypt, archaeology, the ancient egyptian

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