Search results for: comprehensive examination result
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 14245

Search results for: comprehensive examination result

11035 Protective Effect of Diosgenin against Silica-Induced Tuberculosis in Rat Model

Authors: Williams A. Adu, Cynthia A. Danquah, Paul P. S. Ossei, Selase Ativui, Michael Ofori, James Asenso, George Owusu

Abstract:

Background Silicosis is an occupational disease of the lung that is caused by chronic exposure to silica dust. There is a higher frequency of co-existence of silicosis with tuberculosis (TB), ultimately resulting in lung fibrosis and respiratory failure. Chronic intake of synthetic drugs has resulted in undesirable side effects. Diosgenin is a steroidal saponin that has been shown to exert a therapeutic effect on lung injury. Therefore, we investigated the ability of diosgenin to reduce the susceptibility of silica-induced TB in rats. Method Silicosis was induced by intratracheal instillation of 50 mg/kg crystalline silica in Sprague Dawley rats. Different doses of diosgenin (1, 10, and 100 mg/kg), Mycobacterium smegmatis and saline were administered for 30 days. Afterwards, 5 of the rats from each group were sacrificed, and the 5 remaining rats in each group, except the control, received Mycobacterium smegmatis. Treatment of diosgenin continued until the 50th day, and the rats were sacrificed at the end of the experiment. The result was analysed using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with a Graph-pad prism Result At a half-maximal inhibition concentration of 48.27 µM, diosgenin inhibited the growth of Mycobacterium smegmatis. There was a marked decline in the levels of immune cell infiltration and cytokines production. Lactate dehydrogenase and total protein levels were significantly reduced compared to control. There was an increase in the survival rate of the treatment group compared to the control. Conclusion Diosgenin ameliorated silica-induced pulmonary tuberculosis by declining the levels of inflammatory and pro-inflammatory cytokines and, in effect, significantly reduced the susceptibility of rats to pulmonary TB.

Keywords: silicosis, tuberculosis, diosgenin, fibrosis, crystalline silica

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11034 The Soft and Hard Palate Cleft’s Impact on the Auditory Tube Function

Authors: Fedor Semenov

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One of the most widespread facial bones’ malformations – the congenital palatoschisis – significant impact on drainage and ventilation of the middle ear through the incorrect work of soft palate muscles, which results in recurrent middle ear inflammation and subsequently leads to the hearing dysfunction. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the auditory tube function and hearing condition before the operative treatment (uranoplasty) and after 3 and 12 months. 42 patients aged from 6 months to 17 years who had soft and hard palate cleft and B and C type tympanogram were included in that study. The examination includes otoscopy, pure tone audiometry (for patients older than 8 years – 11 patients), tympanometry. According to the otoscopy results all the patients were divided into two groups: those who had a retracted eardrum and those who had a normal one. The results of pure tone audiometry showed that there were six patients with an air-bone gap of more than 10 dB and the five with normal audiograms. According to the results of this research, uranoplasty demonstrated strongly positive effects on the auditory tube function: normalization of eardrum view upon otoscopy was observed in 64% of children with a retracted eardrum three month after surgery and 85 % twelve months. The quantity of patients with A-type of tympanogram improved in 25 children out of 41 in 3 month and in 35 out of 41 in twelve months after operation. While before the operative treatment, six patients older than 8 years had had an air-bone gap of more than 10 dB; only two of them still had it in 12 months, and the others’ audiograms were normal. To sum it up, the uranoplasty showed a significant contribution in the restoration of auditory tube functioning. Some patients had signs of auditory dysfunction even after the operative treatment. That group of children needs further treatment by an otorhinolaryngologist.

Keywords: auditory tube dysfunction, palatoschisis, uranoplasy, otitis

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11033 A Risk-Based Comprehensive Framework for the Assessment of the Security of Multi-Modal Transport Systems

Authors: Mireille Elhajj, Washington Ochieng, Deeph Chana

Abstract:

The challenges of the rapid growth in the demand for transport has traditionally been seen within the context of the problems of congestion, air quality, climate change, safety, and affordability. However, there are increasing threats including those related to crime such as cyber-attacks that threaten the security of the transport of people and goods. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper presents for the first time, a comprehensive framework for the assessment of the current and future security issues of multi-modal transport systems. The approach or method proposed is based on a structured framework starting with a detailed specification of the transport asset map (transport system architecture), followed by the identification of vulnerabilities. The asset map and vulnerabilities are used to identify the various approaches for exploitation of the vulnerabilities, leading to the creation of a set of threat scenarios. The threat scenarios are then transformed into risks and their categories, and include insights for their mitigation. The consideration of the mitigation space is holistic and includes the formulation of appropriate policies and tactics and/or technical interventions. The quality of the framework is ensured through a structured and logical process that identifies the stakeholders, reviews the relevant documents including policies and identifies gaps, incorporates targeted surveys to augment the reviews, and uses subject matter experts for validation. The approach to categorising security risks is an extension of the current methods that are typically employed. Specifically, the partitioning of risks into either physical or cyber categories is too limited for developing mitigation policies and tactics/interventions for transport systems where an interplay between physical and cyber processes is very often the norm. This interplay is rapidly taking on increasing significance for security as the emergence of cyber-physical technologies, are shaping the future of all transport modes. Examples include: Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) in road transport; the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) in rail transport; Automatic Identification System (AIS) in maritime transport; advanced Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) technologies in air transport; and the Internet of Things (IoT). The framework adopts a risk categorisation scheme that considers risks as falling within the following threat→impact relationships: Physical→Physical, Cyber→Cyber, Cyber→Physical, and Physical→Cyber). Thus the framework enables a more complete risk picture to be developed for today’s transport systems and, more importantly, is readily extendable to account for emerging trends in the sector that will define future transport systems. The framework facilitates the audit and retro-fitting of mitigations in current transport operations and the analysis of security management options for the next generation of Transport enabling strategic aspirations such as systems with security-by-design and co-design of safety and security to be achieved. An initial application of the framework to transport systems has shown that intra-modal consideration of security measures is sub-optimal and that a holistic and multi-modal approach that also addresses the intersections/transition points of such networks is required as their vulnerability is high. This is in-line with traveler-centric transport service provision, widely accepted as the future of mobility services. In summary, a risk-based framework is proposed for use by the stakeholders to comprehensively and holistically assess the security of transport systems. It requires a detailed understanding of the transport architecture to enable a detailed vulnerabilities analysis to be undertaken, creates threat scenarios and transforms them into risks which form the basis for the formulation of interventions.

Keywords: mitigations, risk, transport, security, vulnerabilities

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11032 Developing Serious Games to Increase Children’s Knowledge of Diet and Nutrition

Authors: N. Liu, N. Tuah, D. Ying

Abstract:

This research aims to identify and test whether serious games can help children learn and pick up healthy eating habits. The practical component takes the form of digitalizing an already existing educational board game called “All you can eat” (AYCE), designed with the nutritious subject matter in mind. This time with the added features of online playability, which will widen its availability and accessibility to reach more players compared to the physical iteration. The game will be deployed alongside the conducting of theoretical research, which also involves teachers leading children to play said digital version. The research methodology utilizes two experiments, such as handing out surveys to gather feedback from both the partners and students. The research was carried out in several countries, namely Brunei, Malaysia, and Taiwan. The results are to be used for validating the concept of “serious games,” particularly when tied to the health aspect of the players, which in this case were children. As for the research outcomes, they can be applied to a variety of serious games that are related to health topics more broadly and not simply limited to healthy eating habits alone, adopting a balanced combination of practical and theoretical considerations. The study will also help other researchers in the correlated fields of serious game development and pediatrics to better comprehend the needs of children. On the theoretical side, these findings can enable further technological advancements to be made possible, a case in point being more serious games, to provide the appropriate social support precisely on the matter of health-related issues. Not just individuals but rather communities could benefit from improved health and well-being as a result of the project, which, when done right, will potentially improve their quality of life and have fun while doing it. AYCE will be demonstrated to support a wide range of health issues as a result of this research case.

Keywords: culture heritage, digital games, digitalization, traditional religious culture

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11031 Parametric Study of Underground Opening Stability under Uncertainty Conditions

Authors: Aram Yakoby, Yossef H. Hatzor, Shmulik Pinkert

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This work presents an applied engineering method for evaluating the stability of underground openings under conditions of uncertainty. The developed method is demonstrated by a comprehensive parametric study on a case of large-diameter vertical borehole stability analysis, with uncertainties regarding the in-situ stress distribution. To this aim, a safety factor analysis is performed for the stability of both supported and unsupported boreholes. In the analysis, we used analytic geomechanical calculations and advanced numerical modeling to evaluate the estimated stress field. In addition, the work presents the development of a boundary condition for the numerical model that fits the nature of the problem and yields excellent accuracy. The borehole stability analysis is studied in terms of (1) the stress ratio in the vertical and horizontal directions, (2) the mechanical properties and geometry of the support system, and (3) the parametric sensitivity. The method's results are studied in light of a real case study of an underground waste disposal site. The conclusions of this study focus on the developed method for capturing the parametric uncertainty, the definition of critical geological depths, the criteria for implementing structural support, and the effectiveness of further in-situ investigations.

Keywords: borehole stability, in-situ stress, parametric study, factor of safety

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11030 Youth Branches of the Ruling Political Party as an Intersection Point: An Examination in Context of Capital Type

Authors: Merve Ak Efe

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Youth branches in Turkey are one of the sub-fields where political ideologies are intersected with daily life practices. When the youth branches are examined within the framework of daily life practices, a social area can be defined where many types of capital turn into gains. The relationship between politics and capital is not only financial but can also be observed in the form of social, cultural, or emotional capital. This paper examines the political mobilization of young people who are members of the Youth Branch of the Justice and Development Party. The reason why JDP (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi) was chosen is that they have been the ruling party for twenty years, and there is a considerable number of young members within the party. Since Bayrampaşa is a district where JDP is politically active, This study is based on Bayrampaşa youth branches. The study examines how young people who are members of the party are mobilized and the everyday life practices and emotions underlying this mobilization. The data was collected through in-depth interviews with 13 young people, and the participant observation method was applied at the weekly meetings of the Justice and Development Party Bayrampaşa Youth Branch. Youth Branches represent a political space in which emotions turn into action for the young people who are involved in the party. During the field study at the micro level, it has been observed that the Bayrampaşa JDP Youth Branch hosted a transformation that incorporates political and social practices into modern tactics. One of the other results shows that being a member of youth branches causes a significant rise in social capital for young people. On the other hand, for the members with low cultural capital, there is an increase in social capital; however, an increase in cultural capital is not prominent.

Keywords: political mobilization, everyday practices, emotional capital, social capital, cultural capital

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11029 An Adaptive Application of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy with Trans and Nonbinary Couples

Authors: Reihaneh Mahdavishahri, Dumayi Gutierrez

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Emotionally focused couple therapy (EFCT) is one of the most effective and evidence-based approaches to couple therapy. Yet, literature is scarce of its effective application with trans and non-binary couples. It is estimated that 1.4 million trans adults live in the United Stated, with about 40% of these individuals experiencing serious psychological distress within the past month. Trans and nonbinary adults are significantly likely to experience discrimination, harassment, family rejection, and relationship challenges throughout the course of their lives. As systemic therapists, applying an informed lens when working with trans and nonbinary couples can contribute to providing effective mental health care to these individuals. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive, intersectional, and culturally informed application of EFCT with trans and nonbinary couples. We will address the current literature on applications of EFCT with diverse couples, EFCT’s strengths and limitations on cultural humility, and the gaps within current systems of care for trans and nonbinary couples. We will then provide an adaptive application of EFCT to help trans, and nonbinary couples recover from potential attachment injuries in their relationships, intersecting gender minority stressors, and achieve healing and restoration in their interpersonal dynamics.

Keywords: attachment, culturally informed care, emotionally focused couple therapy, trans and nonbinary couples

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11028 Evaluating India's Smart Cities against the Sustainable Development Goals

Authors: Suneet Jagdev

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17 Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by the world leaders in September 2015 at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit. These goals were adopted by UN member states to promote prosperity, health and human rights while protecting the planet. Around the same time, the Government of India launched the Smart City Initiative to speed up development of state of the art infrastructure and services in 100 cities with a focus on sustainable and inclusive development. These cities are meant to become role models for other cities in India and promote sustainable regional development. This paper examines goals set under the Smart City Initiative and evaluates them in terms of the Sustainable Development Goals, using case studies of selected Smart Cities in India. The study concludes that most Smart City projects at present actually consist of individual solutions to individual problems identified in a community rather than comprehensive models for complex issues in cities across India. Systematic, logical and comparative analysis of important literature and data has been done, collected from government sources, government papers, research papers by various experts on the topic, and results from some online surveys. Case studies have been used for a graphical analysis highlighting the issues of migration, ecology, economy and social equity in these Smart Cities.

Keywords: housing, migration, smart cities, sustainable development goals, urban infrastructure

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11027 Sustainable Material Selection for Buildings: Analytic Network Process Method and Life Cycle Assessment Approach

Authors: Samira Mahmoudkelayeh, Katayoun Taghizade, Mitra Pourvaziri, Elnaz Asadian

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Over the recent decades, depletion of resources and environmental concerns made researchers and practitioners present sustainable approaches. Since construction process consumes a great deal of both renewable and non-renewable resources, it is of great significance regarding environmental impacts. Choosing sustainable construction materials is a remarkable strategy presented in many researches and has a significant effect on building’s environmental footprint. This paper represents an assessment framework for selecting best sustainable materials for exterior enclosure in the city of Tehran based on sustainability principles (eco-friendly, cost effective and socio-cultural viable solutions). To perform a comprehensive analysis of environmental impacts, life cycle assessment, a cradle to grave approach is used. A questionnaire survey of construction experts has been conducted to determine the relative importance of criteria. Analytic Network Process (ANP) is applied as a multi-criteria decision-making method to choose sustainable material which consider interdependencies of criteria and sub-criteria. Finally, it prioritizes and aggregates relevant criteria into ultimate assessed score.

Keywords: sustainable materials, building, analytic network process, life cycle assessment

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11026 Derivation of a Risk-Based Level of Service Index for Surface Street Network Using Reliability Analysis

Authors: Chang-Jen Lan

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Current Level of Service (LOS) index adopted in Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) for signalized intersections on surface streets is based on the intersection average delay. The delay thresholds for defining LOS grades are subjective and is unrelated to critical traffic condition. For example, an intersection delay of 80 sec per vehicle for failing LOS grade F does not necessarily correspond to the intersection capacity. Also, a specific measure of average delay may result from delay minimization, delay equality, or other meaningful optimization criteria. To that end, a reliability version of the intersection critical degree of saturation (v/c) as the LOS index is introduced. Traditionally, the level of saturation at a signalized intersection is defined as the ratio of critical volume sum (per lane) to the average saturation flow (per lane) during all available effective green time within a cycle. The critical sum is the sum of the maximal conflicting movement-pair volumes in northbound-southbound and eastbound/westbound right of ways. In this study, both movement volume and saturation flow are assumed log-normal distributions. Because, when the conditions of central limit theorem obtain, multiplication of the independent, positive random variables tends to result in a log-normal distributed outcome in the limit, the critical degree of saturation is expected to be a log-normal distribution as well. Derivation of the risk index predictive limits is complex due to the maximum and absolute value operators, as well as the ratio of random variables. A fairly accurate functional form for the predictive limit at a user-specified significant level is yielded. The predictive limit is then compared with the designated LOS thresholds for the intersection critical degree of saturation (denoted as X

Keywords: reliability analysis, level of service, intersection critical degree of saturation, risk based index

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11025 Measuring Quality of Participation Processes: A Literature Review and Case Study to Determine Criteria for the Influence of Digital Tools

Authors: Michaela Kaineder, Beate Bartlmae, Stefan Gaebler, Miriam Gutleder, Marlene Wuerfl

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Digital tools and e-participation processes have seen a steady increase in popularity in recent years. While online trends come with the premise of new opportunities and easier participatory possibilities, there are still manifold challenges that smart city initiators and developers need to face. In this paper, innovative quality criteria of citizen participation processes was suggested by defining meaningful and measurable evaluation categories. Considering various developments, including the global megatrend of connectivity, a need for a fundamental examination of the basic structure of citizen participation processes was identified. To this end, the application of methods and tools through different points in the policy cycle is required. In order to provide an overview of the current challenges and problems in the field of participation, this paper analyzes those issues by carrying out a literature review that also focuses on disparities in the civic sector that might hinder residents in their desire for engagement. Additionally, a case study was chosen to demonstrate the potential that e-participation tools offer to planning experts and public authorities when integrating citizen’s creativity and experience at a large scale. This online co-creation process finally leads to offline events – such as local co-design workshops - with professional planners. The findings of this paper subsequently suggest a combination of e-participation and analogue forms to merge the benefits of both worlds, resulting in a broader audience and higher quality for participation processes.

Keywords: citizen participation, disparities, e-participation, integrated urban development, sustainable development goals, sustainable urban development

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11024 Effects of Blast Load on Historic Stone Masonry Buildings in Canada: A Review and Analytical Study

Authors: Abass Braimah, Maha Hussein Abdallah

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The global ascendancy of terrorist attacks on building infrastructure with economic and heritage significance has increased awareness of the possibility of terrorism in Canada. Many structures in Canada that are at risk of terrorist attacks include government buildings, built many years ago of historic stone masonry construction. Although many researchers are investigating ways to retrofit masonry stone buildings to mitigate the effect of blast loadings, lack of knowledge on the dynamic behavior of historic stone masonry structures under blast loads makes it difficult to ascertain the effectiveness of the retrofitting techniques. This paper presents a review of open-source literature for the experimental and numerical stone masonry structures under blast loads. This review yielded very little information of the response of the historic stone masonry structures under blast loads. Thus, a comprehensive study is needed to understand the blast load effects on historic stone masonry buildings. The out-of-plane response of historic masonry structures to blast loads is investigated by using single-degree-of-freedom analysis. This approach presents equations that can be used effectively in the analysis of historic masonry walls to out-of-plane blast loading.

Keywords: blast loads, historical buildings, masonry structure, single-degree-of-freedom analysis

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11023 Retrospective Study on the Prognosis of Patients with New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation to Evaluate the Risk of Developing Occult Cancer in Absence of Concurrent Chronic Inflammatory Disease

Authors: Helen Huang, Francisco Javier Quesada Ocet, Blanca Quesada Oce, Javier Jimenez Bello, Victor Palanca Gil, Alba Cervero Rubio, Ana Paya Chaume, Alejandro Herreros-Pomares, Fernando Vidal-Vanaclocha, Rafael Paya Serrano, Aurelio Quesada Dorador, Monica Soliman

Abstract:

Background: Cancer favors both the pro-inflammatory state and autonomic dysfunction, two important mechanisms in the genesis of AF. Atrial remodeling might be caused as a result of paraneoplastic conditions or the result of direct expression of neoplasia. Here, we hypothesize that cancer, through inflammatory mediators, may favor the appearance of AF and patients with the first episode of AF could have a higher risk of developing cancer. Method: Data was collected from patients who attended the emergency department of our hospital for the first episode of AF, diagnosed electrocardiographically, between 2010-2015 (n = 712). The minimum follow-up was 2 years, recording the appearance of cancer, total mortality, recurrences of AF and other events. Patients who developed cancer and those who did not during the 2 years after the onset of AF were compared, as well as with the incidence of cancer in Spain in 2012. Results: After 2 years, 35 patients (4.91%) were diagnosed with cancer, with an annual incidence of 2.45%. Hematological neoplasms were the most frequent (34.28%). The cancer group was older (76.68 +/-12.75 years vs 74.16 +/-12.71; p <0.05) and had fewer typical symptoms (palpitations) (33.38% vs 14.28% , p <0.05). The incidence of cancer in Spain during 2012 was 0.46%, much lower than our sample. When comparing the incidence by age, these differences were maintained both in those over 65 years of age and in those under 65 years of age (2.17% vs. 0.28%; 0.28% vs. 0.18% respectively). Discussion: Therefore, a high incidence of cancer in patients with the first episode of AF was observed (the annual incidence of 2.45% after the onset of AF is 6.1 times that of the general population). After the evaluation of patients with AF in their first detected episode, surveillance of the appearance of cancer should be considered in clinical practice.

Keywords: cancer, cardiovascular outcomes, atrial fibrillation, inflammation

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11022 Probiotic Antibacterial Test of Pediococcus pentosaceus Isolated from Dadih in Inhibiting Periodontitis Bacteria: In Vitro Study on Bacteria Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans

Authors: Nurlaili Syafar Wulan, Almurdi, Suprianto Kosno

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Introduction: Periodontitis defined as an inflammatory disease of teeth supporting tissue with irritation of specific pathogens as the main aetiology. Periodontitis can be cured by giving medical action accompanied by administration of an antibiotic, but the use of antibiotic has a side effect that can cause bacterial resistance. This side effect can be corrected by probiotic, which has antibiotic-like substance but do not have bacterial resistance effect; it makes probiotic became a promising future periodontitis medication. West Sumatran people has their own typical traditional food product made from fermented buffalo’s milk called dadih, and it contained probiotics. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the ability of probiotic Pediococcus pentosaceus isolated from dadih in inhibiting the growth of bacteria Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans. Material and Method: This was a true experimental study with post-test and control group design. This study was conducted on 36 samples of 2 treatment groups, the test group with probiotic Pediococcus pentosacesus isolated from dadih and the negative control group with sterile aquadest. The antibacterial effect was tested using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method and calculated by measuring the zone of inhibition on MHA around paper disk using a sliding caliper with 0.5 mm accuracy. Result: The result of bivariate analysis using Independent t-test was p=0.00 where p < 0.05 means that there is a significant difference between the tested group and negative control group. Conclusion: Probiotic Pediococcus pentosaceus isolated from dadih are able to inhibit the growth of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans.

Keywords: aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, antibacterial activities, periodontitis, probiotic Pediococcus pentosaceus

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11021 A Study on the Effectiveness of Alternative Commercial Ventilation Inlets That Improve Energy Efficiency of Building Ventilation Systems

Authors: Brian Considine, Aonghus McNabola, John Gallagher, Prashant Kumar

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Passive air pollution control devices known as aspiration efficiency reducers (AER) have been developed using aspiration efficiency (AE) concepts. Their purpose is to reduce the concentration of particulate matter (PM) drawn into a building air handling unit (AHU) through alterations in the inlet design improving energy consumption. In this paper an examination is conducted into the effect of installing a deflector system around an AER-AHU inlet for both a forward and rear-facing orientations relative to the wind. The results of the study found that these deflectors are an effective passive control method for reducing AE at various ambient wind speeds over a range of microparticles of varying diameter. The deflector system was found to induce a large wake zone at low ambient wind speeds for a rear-facing AER-AHU, resulting in significantly lower AE in comparison to without. As the wind speed increased, both contained a wake zone but have much lower concentration gradients with the deflectors. For the forward-facing models, the deflector system at low ambient wind speed was preferred at higher Stokes numbers but there was negligible difference as the Stokes number decreased. Similarly, there was no significant difference at higher wind speeds across the Stokes number range tested. The results demonstrate that a deflector system is a viable passive control method for the reduction of ventilation energy consumption.

Keywords: air handling unit, air pollution, aspiration efficiency, energy efficiency, particulate matter, ventilation

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11020 Sensitivity Analysis of the Thermal Properties in Early Age Modeling of Mass Concrete

Authors: Farzad Danaei, Yilmaz Akkaya

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In many civil engineering applications, especially in the construction of large concrete structures, the early age behavior of concrete has shown to be a crucial problem. The uneven rise in temperature within the concrete in these constructions is the fundamental issue for quality control. Therefore, developing accurate and fast temperature prediction models is essential. The thermal properties of concrete fluctuate over time as it hardens, but taking into account all of these fluctuations makes numerical models more complex. Experimental measurement of the thermal properties at the laboratory conditions also can not accurately predict the variance of these properties at site conditions. Therefore, specific heat capacity and the heat conductivity coefficient are two variables that are considered constant values in many of the models previously recommended. The proposed equations demonstrate that these two quantities are linearly decreasing as cement hydrates, and their value are related to the degree of hydration. The effects of changing the thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity values on the maximum temperature and the time it takes for concrete to reach that temperature are examined in this study using numerical sensibility analysis, and the results are compared to models that take a fixed value for these two thermal properties. The current study is conducted in 7 different mix designs of concrete with varying amounts of supplementary cementitious materials (fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag). It is concluded that the maximum temperature will not change as a result of the constant conductivity coefficient, but variable specific heat capacity must be taken into account, also about duration when a concrete's central node reaches its max value again variable specific heat capacity can have a considerable effect on the final result. Also, the usage of GGBFS has more influence compared to fly ash.

Keywords: early-age concrete, mass concrete, specific heat capacity, thermal conductivity coefficient

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11019 Economic Growth: The Nexus of Oil Price Volatility and Renewable Energy Resources among Selected Developed and Developing Economies

Authors: Muhammad Siddique, Volodymyr Lugovskyy

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This paper explores how nations might mitigate the unfavorable impacts of oil price volatility on economic growth by switching to renewable energy sources. The impacts of uncertain factor prices on economic activity are examined by looking at the Realized Volatility (RV) of oil prices rather than the more traditional method of looking at oil price shocks. The United States of America (USA), China (C), India (I), United Kingdom (UK), Germany (G), Malaysia (M), and Pakistan (P) are all included to round out the traditional literature's examination of selected nations, which focuses on oil-importing and exporting economies. Granger Causality Tests (GCT), Impulse Response Functions (IRF), and Variance Decompositions (VD) demonstrate that in a Vector Auto-Regressive (VAR) scenario, the negative impacts of oil price volatility extend beyond what can be explained by oil price shocks alone for all of the nations in the sample. Different nations have different levels of vulnerability to changes in oil prices and other factors that may play a role in a sectoral composition and the energy mix. The conventional method, which only takes into account whether a country is a net oil importer or exporter, is inadequate. The potential economic advantages of initiatives to decouple the macroeconomy from volatile commodities markets are shown through simulations of volatility shocks in alternative energy mixes (with greater proportions of renewables). It is determined that in developing countries like Pakistan, increasing the use of renewable energy sources might lessen an economy's sensitivity to changes in oil prices; nonetheless, a country-specific study is required to identify particular policy actions. In sum, the research provides an innovative justification for mitigating economic growth's dependence on stable oil prices in our sample countries.

Keywords: oil price volatility, renewable energy, economic growth, developed and developing economies

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11018 Dual Metal Organic Framework Derived N-Doped Fe3C Nanocages Decorated with Ultrathin ZnIn2S4 Nanosheets for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Generation

Authors: D. Amaranatha Reddy

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Highly efficient and stable co-catalysts materials is of great important for boosting photo charge carrier’s separation, transportation efficiency, and accelerating the catalytic reactive sites of semiconductor photocatalysts. As a result, it is of decisive importance to fabricate low price noble metal free co-catalysts with high catalytic reactivity, but it remains very challenging. Considering this challenge here, dual metal organic frame work derived N-Doped Fe3C nanocages have been rationally designed and decorated with ultrathin ZnIn2S4 nanosheets for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen generation. The fabrication strategy precisely integrates co-catalyst nanocages with ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor nanosheets by providing tightly interconnected nano-junctions and helps to suppress the charge carrier’s recombination rate. Furthermore, constructed highly porous hybrid structures expose ample active sites for catalytic reduction reactions and harvest visible light more effectively by light scattering. As a result, fabricated nanostructures exhibit superior solar driven hydrogen evolution rate (9600 µmol/g/h) with an apparent quantum efficiency of 3.6 %, which is relatively higher than the Pt noble metal co-catalyst systems and earlier reported ZnIn2S4 based nanohybrids. We believe that the present work promotes the application of sulfide based nanostructures in solar driven hydrogen production.

Keywords: photocatalysis, water splitting, hydrogen fuel production, solar-driven hydrogen

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11017 Building an E-Platform for Virtual Research Teams in Educational Science

Authors: Hanan A. Abdulhameed, Huda Y. Alyami

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The study presents a new international direction to conduct collaborative educational research. It follows a qualitative and quantitative methodology in investigating the main requirements to build an e-platform for Virtual Research Teams (VRTs). The e-platform considers three main components: First, the human and cultural structure, second, the institutional/organizational structure, and third, the technological structure. The study mainly focuses on the third component, the technological structure (the e-platform), and studies how to incorporate the other components: The human/cultural structure and the institutional/organizational structure in order to build an effective e-platform. The importance of the study is that it presents a comprehensive study about VRTs in terms of definition, types, structure, and main challenges. In addition, it suggests a practical way that benefits from the information and communication technology to conduct collaborative educational research by building and managing virtual research teams through an effective e-platform. The study draws the main framework to build an e-platform for collaborative educational research teams in Arab World. Thus, it tackles mainly the theoretical aspects, the framework of an effective e-platform. Then, it presents the evaluation of 18 Arab educational experts' to the proposed e-platform.

Keywords: collaborative research, educational science, E-platform, social research networks sites (SRNS), virtual research teams (VRTs)

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11016 Influence of Gravity on the Performance of Closed Loop Pulsating Heat Pipe

Authors: Vipul M. Patel, H. B. Mehta

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Closed Loop Pulsating Heat Pipe (CLPHP) is a passive two-phase heat transfer device having potential to achieve high heat transfer rates over conventional cooling techniques. It is found in electronics cooling due to its outstanding characteristics such as excellent heat transfer performance, simple, reliable, cost effective, compact structure and no external mechanical power requirement etc. Comprehensive understanding of the thermo-hydrodynamic mechanism of CLPHP is still lacking due to its contradictory results available in the literature. The present paper discusses the experimental study on 9 turn CLPHP. Inner and outer diameters of the copper tube are 2 mm and 4 mm respectively. The lengths of the evaporator, adiabatic and condenser sections are 40 mm, 100 mm and 50 mm respectively. Water is used as working fluid. The Filling Ratio (FR) is kept as 50% throughout the investigations. The gravitational effect is studied by placing the evaporator heater at different orientations such as horizontal (90 degree), vertical top (180 degree) and bottom (0 degree) as well as inclined top (135 degree) and bottom (45 degree). Heat input is supplied in the range of 10-50 Watt. Heat transfer mechanism is natural convection in the condenser section. Vacuum pump is used to evacuate the system up to 10-5 bar. The results demonstrate the influence of input heat flux and gravity on the thermal performance of the CLPHP.

Keywords: CLPHP, gravity effect, start up, two-phase flow

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11015 Foreign Artificial Intelligence Investments and National Security Exceptions in International Investment Law

Authors: Ying Zhu

Abstract:

Recent years have witnessed a boom of foreign investments in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Foreign investments provide critical capital for AI development but also trigger national security concerns of host states. A notable example is an increasing number of cases in which the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has denied Chinese acquisitions of US technology companies on national security grounds. On July 19, 2018, the Congress has reached a deal on the final draft of a new provision to strengthen CFIUS’s authority to review overseas transactions involving sensitive US technology. The question is: how to reconcile the emerging tension between, on the one hand, foreign AI investors’ expectations of a predictable investment environment, and on the other hand, host states’ regulatory power on national security? This paper provides a methodology to reconcile this tension under international investment law. Based on an examination, the national security exception clauses in international investment treaties and the application of national security justification in investor-state arbitration jurisprudence, the paper argues that a traditional interpretation of the national security exception, based on the necessity concept in customary international law, fails to take into account new risks faced by countries, including security concerns over strategic industries such as AI. To overcome this shortage, the paper proposes to incorporate an integrated national security clause in international investment treaties, which includes a two-tier test: a ‘self-judging’ test in the pre-establishment period and a ‘proportionality’ test in the post-establishment period. At the end, the paper drafts a model national security clause for future treaty-drafting practice.

Keywords: foreign investment, artificial intelligence, international investment law, national security exception

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11014 Quantitative Analysis of Nutrient Inflow from River and Groundwater to Imazu Bay in Fukuoka, Japan

Authors: Keisuke Konishi, Yoshinari Hiroshiro, Kento Terashima, Atsushi Tsutsumi

Abstract:

Imazu Bay plays an important role for endangered species such as horseshoe crabs and black-faced spoonbills that stay in the bay for spawning or the passing of winter. However, this bay is semi-enclosed with slow water exchange, which could lead to eutrophication under the condition of excess nutrient inflow to the bay. Therefore, quantification of nutrient inflow is of great importance. Generally, analysis of nutrient inflow to the bays takes into consideration nutrient inflow from only the river, but that from groundwater should not be ignored for more accurate results. The main objective of this study is to estimate the amounts of nutrient inflow from river and groundwater to Imazu Bay by analyzing water budget in Zuibaiji River Basin and loads of T-N, T-P, NO3-N and NH4-N. The water budget computation in the basin is performed using groundwater recharge model and quasi three-dimensional two-phase groundwater flow model, and the multiplication of the measured amount of nutrient inflow with the computed discharge gives the total amount of nutrient inflow to the bay. In addition, in order to evaluate nutrient inflow to the bay, the result is compared with nutrient inflow from geologically similar river basins. The result shows that the discharge is 3.50×107 m3/year from the river and 1.04×107 m3/year from groundwater. The submarine groundwater discharge accounts for approximately 23 % of the total discharge, which is large compared to the other river basins. It is also revealed that the total nutrient inflow is not particularly large. The sum of NO3-N and NH4-N loadings from groundwater is less than 10 % of that from the river because of denitrification in groundwater. The Shin Seibu Sewage Treatment Plant located below the observation points discharges treated water of 15,400 m3/day and plans to increase it. However, the loads of T-N and T-P from the treatment plant are 3.9 mg/L and 0.19 mg/L, so that it does not contribute a lot to eutrophication.

Keywords: Eutrophication, groundwater recharge model, nutrient inflow, quasi three-dimensional two-phase groundwater flow model, submarine groundwater discharge

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11013 Recent Developments in Coping Strategies Focusing on Music Performance Anxiety: A Systematic Review

Authors: Parham Bakhtiari

Abstract:

Music performance anxiety (MPA) is a prevalent concern among musicians, manifesting through cognitive, physiological, and behavioral symptoms that can severely impact performance quality and overall well-being. This systematic review synthesizes research on coping strategies employed by musicians to manage MPA from 2016 to 2023, identifying a range of psychological and physical interventions, including acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness, and yoga. Findings reveal that these interventions significantly reduce anxiety and enhance psychological resilience, with ACT showing notable improvements in psychological flexibility. Physical approaches also proved effective in mitigating physiological symptoms associated with MPA. However, challenges such as small sample sizes and methodological limitations hinder the generalizability of results. The review underscores the necessity for multi-faceted intervention strategies tailored to the unique needs of different musicians and emphasizes the importance of future research employing larger, randomized controlled designs to further validate these findings. Overall, this review serves as a comprehensive resource for musicians seeking effective coping strategies for managing performance anxiety, highlighting the critical interplay between mental and physical approaches in promoting optimal performance outcomes.

Keywords: anxiety, performance, coping, music, strategy

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11012 A Multidimensional Exploration of Narcissistic Personality Disorder Through Psycholinguistic Analysis and Neuroscientific Correlates

Authors: Dalia Elleuch

Abstract:

Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) manifests as a personality disorder marked by inflated self-importance, heightened sensitivity to criticism, a lack of empathy, a preoccupation with appearance over substance, and features such as arrogance, grandiosity, a constant need for admiration, a tendency to exploit others, and an inclination towards demanding special treatment due to a sense of excessive entitlement (APA, 2013). This interdisciplinary study delves into NPD through the systematic synthesis of psycholinguistic analysis and neuroscientific correlates. The cognitive and emotional dimensions of NPD reveal linguistic patterns, including grandiosity, entitlement, and manipulative communication. Neuroscientific investigations reveal structural brain differences and alterations in functional connectivity, further explaining the neural underpinnings of social cognition deficits observed in individuals with NPD. Genetic predispositions and neurotransmitter imbalances add a layer of complexity to the understanding of NPD. The necessity for linguistic intervention in diagnosing and treating Narcissistic Personality Disorder is underscored by an interdisciplinary study that intricately synthesizes psycholinguistic analysis and neuroscientific correlates, offering a comprehensive understanding of NPD’s cognitive, emotional, and neural dimensions and paving the way for future practical, theoretical, and pedagogical approaches to address the complexities of this personality disorder.

Keywords: Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), psycholinguistic analysis, neuroscientific correlates, interpersonal dysfunction, cognitive empathy

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11011 An Examination of Social Isolation and Loneliness in Adults with Hearing Loss

Authors: Christine Maleesha Withanachchi, Eithne Heffernan, Derek Hoare

Abstract:

Background: Social isolation (SI} is a major consequence of hearing loss (HL}. Isolation can lead to serious health problems (e.g., dementia and depression). Hearing Aids (HA) is the primary intervention for HL. However, these are less effective in social situations. Interventions are needed for SI in adults with hearing loss (AHL). Objectives: Investigated the relationship between HL and SI. Explored the views of AHL and hearing healthcare professionals (HHP) towards interventions for isolation. Methods: Individual and group semi-structured interviews were conducted. Interviews were conducted at the Nottingham Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). Six AHL and seven HHP were recruited via maximum variation sampling. The interview transcripts were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: Social impacts of HL: Most participants described that HL hurt them. This was in the form of social withdrawal, strain on relationships, and identity loss. Downstream effects of HL: Most audiologists acknowledged that isolation from HL could lead to depression. HL can also lead to exhaustion and unemployment. Impact of stigma: There are negative connotations around HL and HA (e.g. old age) and there is difficulty talking about isolation. The complexity of SI: There can be difficulty separating SI due to HL from SI due to other contributing factors (e.g. comorbidities). Potential intervention for isolation: Participants were unfamiliar with interventions for isolation and few, if any, were targeted for AHL specifically. Most participants thought an intervention should be patient-centered and run by an AHL in the community. Opinions differed regarding whether it should hear specific or generic. Implementation of intervention: Challenges to the implementation of an intervention for SI exist due to the sensitivity of the subject. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that SI is a major consequence of HL and uncovered novel findings related to its interventions. Uptake of interventions offered to AHL to reduce loneliness and social isolation is expected to be better if led by AHL in the community as opposed to HHP led interventions in the hospital or clinic settings.

Keywords: adults with hearing loss, hearing aids, interventions, social isolation

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11010 Clinical and Radiological Features of Adenomyosis and Its Histopathological Correlation

Authors: Surabhi Agrawal Kohli, Sunita Gupta, Esha Khanuja, Parul Garg, P. Gupta

Abstract:

Background: Adenomyosis is a common gynaecological condition that affects the menstruating women. Uterine enlargement, dysmenorrhoea, and menorrhagia are regarded as the cardinal clinical symptoms of adenomyosis. Classically it was thought, compared with ultrasonography, when adenomyosis is suspected, MRI enables more accurate diagnosis of the disease. Materials and Methods: 172 subjects were enrolled after an informed consent that had complaints of HMB, dyspareunia, dysmenorrhea, and chronic pelvic pain. Detailed history of the enrolled subjects was taken, followed by a clinical examination. These patients were then subjected to TVS where myometrial echo texture, presence of myometrial cysts, blurring of endomyometrial junction was noted. MRI was followed which noted the presence of junctional zone thickness and myometrial cysts. After hysterectomy, histopathological diagnosis was obtained. Results: 78 participants were analysed. The mean age was 44.2 years. 43.5% had parity of 4 or more. heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) was present in 97.8% and dysmenorrhea in 93.48 % of HPE positive patient. Transvaginal sonography (TVS) and MRI had a sensitivity of 89.13% and 80.43%, specificity of 90.62% and 84.37%, positive likelihood ratio of 9.51 and 5.15, negative likelihood ratio of 0.12 and 0.23, positive predictive value of 93.18% and 88.1%, negative predictive value of 85.29% and 75% and a diagnostic accuracy of 89.74% and 82.5%. Comparison of sensitivity (p=0.289) and specificity (p=0.625) showed no statistically significant difference between TVS and MRI. Conclusion: Prevalence of 30.23%. HMB with dysmenorrhoea and chronic pelvic pain helps in diagnosis. TVS (Endomyometrial junction blurring) is both sensitive and specific in diagnosing adenomyosis without need for additional diagnostic tool. Both TVS and MRI are equally efficient, however because of certain additional advantages of TVS over MRI, it may be used as the first choice of imaging. MRI may be used additionally in difficult cases as well as in patients with existing co-pathologies.

Keywords: adenomyosis, heavy menstrual bleeding, MRI, TVS

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11009 Analysis of a Damage-Control Target Displacement of Reinforced Concrete Bridge Pier for Seismic Design

Authors: Mohd Ritzman Abdul Karim, Zhaohui Huang

Abstract:

A current focus in seismic engineering practice is the development of seismic design approach that focuses on the performance-based design. Performance-based design aims to design the structures to achieve specified performance based on the damage limit states. This damage limit is more restrictive limit than life safety and needs to be carefully estimated to avoid damage in piers due to failure in transverse reinforcement. In this paper, a different perspective of damage limit states has been explored by integrating two damage control material limit state, concrete and reinforcement by introduced parameters such as expected yield stress of transverse reinforcement where peak tension strain prior to bar buckling is introduced in a recent study. The different perspective of damage limit states with modified yield displacement and the modified plastic-hinge length is used in order to predict damage-control target displacement for reinforced concreate (RC) bridge pier. Three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) model has been developed for estimating damage target displacement to validate proposed damage limit states. The result from 3D FE analysis was validated with experimental study found in the literature. The validated model then was applied to predict the damage target displacement for RC bridge pier and to validate the proposed study. The tensile strain on reinforcement and compression on concrete were used to determine the predicted damage target displacement and compared with the proposed study. The result shows that the proposed damage limit states were efficient in predicting damage-control target displacement consistent with FE simulations.

Keywords: damage-control target displacement, damage limit states, reinforced concrete bridge pier, yield displacement

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11008 Exploring Social Impact of Emerging Technologies from Futuristic Data

Authors: Heeyeul Kwon, Yongtae Park

Abstract:

Despite the highly touted benefits, emerging technologies have unleashed pervasive concerns regarding unintended and unforeseen social impacts. Thus, those wishing to create safe and socially acceptable products need to identify such side effects and mitigate them prior to the market proliferation. Various methodologies in the field of technology assessment (TA), namely Delphi, impact assessment, and scenario planning, have been widely incorporated in such a circumstance. However, literatures face a major limitation in terms of sole reliance on participatory workshop activities. They unfortunately missed out the availability of a massive untapped data source of futuristic information flooding through the Internet. This research thus seeks to gain insights into utilization of futuristic data, future-oriented documents from the Internet, as a supplementary method to generate social impact scenarios whilst capturing perspectives of experts from a wide variety of disciplines. To this end, network analysis is conducted based on the social keywords extracted from the futuristic documents by text mining, which is then used as a guide to produce a comprehensive set of detailed scenarios. Our proposed approach facilitates harmonized depictions of possible hazardous consequences of emerging technologies and thereby makes decision makers more aware of, and responsive to, broad qualitative uncertainties.

Keywords: emerging technologies, futuristic data, scenario, text mining

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11007 Referrals to Occupational Therapy Driving Assessors: A Qualitative Study of General Practitioners

Authors: Mary Butler

Abstract:

Background: Screening programmes for older drivers in Europe (though not the UK), and in many states in the US and in Australia are based on medical assessment of fitness to drive. These programmes require physicians (including general practitioners) to carry out an assessment of fitness to drive in their offices. In 2006, New Zealand changed from doing on-road driving tests with all older drivers from the age of 80, to a screening programme that uses medical assessment of fitness to drive only. Aim: This study set out to understand the experience of New Zealand GPs as they manage the process of medical assessment of fitness to drive assessments for older people. In particular, it aimed to establish how GPs understand the role of specialist driving assessment and rehabilitation carried out by occupational therapists. Design and setting: The study used an interpretive descriptive approach to analyze data from ten interviews with GPs in New Zealand. Results: The results indicated that GPs lack understanding about how occupational therapists can assist their patients, and tend to refer only when there is a disagreement with the patient. Conclusion: There are problems with the medical assessment of fitness to drive carried out by GPs, and there is a need for a more comprehensive community approach to driving cessation. Patients, families and the multidisciplinary team all have a role in deciding when driving cessation should occur. Occupational therapists have a particular responsibility for strategic leadership in this area of practice.

Keywords: assessment, driving, older people, occupational therapy

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11006 Computer Server Virtualization

Authors: Pradeep M. C. Chand

Abstract:

Virtual infrastructure initiatives often spring from data center server consolidation projects, which focus on reducing existing infrastructure “box count”, retiring older hardware or life-extending legacy applications. Server consolidation benefits result from a reduction in the overall number of systems and related recurring costs (power, cooling, rack space, etc.) and also helps in the reduction of heat to the environment.

Keywords: server virtualization, data center, consolidation, project

Procedia PDF Downloads 532