Search results for: wildfire behavior

Authors: A. M. H. Shokry, N. S. M. El-Tayeb

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The environmental impacts caused by fertilizers call for the adaptation of more sustainable technologies in order to increase agricultural production and reduce pollution due to high nutrient emissions. One particular technique has been to coat urea fertilizer granules with less-soluble chemicals that permit the gradual release of nutrients in a slow and controlled manner. The aim of this research is to develop a biodegradable slow-release fertilizer (SRF) with materials that come from sustainable sources; starch and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The slow-release behavior and water retention capacity of the coated granules were determined. In addition, the aqueous release and absorbency rates were also tested. Results confirmed that the release rate from coated granules was slower than through plain membranes; and that the water absorption capacity of the coated urea decreased as PVA content increased. The SRF was also tested and gave positive results that confirmed the integrity of the product.

Keywords: biodegradability, nitrogen-use efficiency, poly-vinyl alcohol, slow-release fertilizer, sustainability

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Authors: Sharon Campbell-Phillips, Serlange Campbell, Daneil Phillips

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Students attending secondary schools in Tobago are said be spending a lot of time watching television and are falling back in their school work, and they are displaying violent behaviour. Violence is on the increase within the secondary schools in Tobago; therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate if there is a relationship between television violence and persons ’behaviour. We are living in an age where information is readily available and easily accessible throughout the world and it allows us to broaden our horizon academically and otherwise. This is very possible because of social media, which is the largest platform in which persons can socialize, get information and gain knowledge, and there are many sites to choose from depending on their interest. However, despite the good and valuable information that persons can acquire, there are the promotion of violence which is also accessible. To gather information for this study, questionnaires were administered to students attending secondary schools in Tobago and teachers and parents were interviewed. The findings were carefully analyzed and aim to assist in dealing with violent behaviour among school children, and with recommendations for future research.

Keywords: media, violence, television, school children

Procedia PDF Downloads 155

Authors: Raghad A. Altowairgi

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With the wide spread of social media platforms, young people tend to use them extensively as the first means of communication due to their ease and modernity. But these platforms often create a fertile ground for bullies to practice their aggressive behavior against their victims. Platform usage cannot be reduced, but intelligent mechanisms can be implemented to reduce the abuse. This is where machine learning comes in. Understanding and classifying text can be helpful in order to minimize the act of cyberbullying. Artificial intelligence techniques have expanded to formulate an applied tool to address the phenomenon of cyberbullying. In this research, machine learning models are built to classify text into two classes; cyberbullying and non-cyberbullying. After preprocessing the data in 4 stages; removing characters that do not provide meaningful information to the models, tokenization, removing stop words, and lowering text. BoW and TF-IDF are used as the main features for the five classifiers, which are; logistic regression, Naïve Bayes, Random Forest, XGboost, and Catboost classifiers. Each of them scores 92%, 90%, 92%, 91%, 86% respectively.

Keywords: cyberbullying, machine learning, Bag-of-Words, term frequency-inverse document frequency, natural language processing, Catboost

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Authors: Omar Hussein El Ayadi, EmadY. El-Mansouri, Mohamed B. Dozan

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Production oil process require specific details i.e. oil composition. Generally, types of oil or differentiation between reservoir fluids depend specifically on composition. The main purpose of this study is to correlate and predict the Libyan oil (reservoir fluid and residual) composition utilizing tri-angle-coordinate plots discovered and tasked with Excel. The reservoir fluid data (61 old + 47 new), the residual oil data (33 new) collected from most of Libyan reservoirs were correlated with each others. Moreover, find a relation between stock tank molecular weight and stock tank oil gravity (oAPI), the molecular weight oh (C7+) versus residual oil gravity (oAPI). The average value of every oil composition was estimated including non-hydrocarbon (H2S, CO2, and N2). Nevertheless, the isomers (i-…) and normal (n-…) structure of (C4) and (C5) were also obtained. The summary of the conclusion is; utilizing excel Microsoft office to draw triangle coordinates to find two unknown component if only one is known. However, it is recommended to use the obtained oil composition plots and equations for any oil composition dependents i.e. optimum separator pressure.

Keywords: PVT, phase behavior, petroleum, chemical engineering

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Authors: Berengere Vire, Nicolas Salvetat, Yoann Lannay, Guillaume Marcellin, Siem Van Der Laan, Franck Molina, Dinah Weissmann

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Predicting suicidal behaviors is one of the most complex challenges of daily psychiatric practices. Today, suicide risk prediction using biological tools is not validated and is only based on subjective clinical reports of the at-risk individual. Therefore, there is a great need to identify biomarkers that would allow early identification of individuals at risk of suicide. Alterations of adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing of neurotransmitter receptors and other proteins have been shown to be involved in etiology of different psychiatric disorders and linked to suicidal behavior. RNA editing is a co- or post-transcriptional process leading to a site-specific alteration in RNA sequences. It plays an important role in the epi transcriptomic regulation of RNA metabolism. On postmortem human brain tissue (prefrontal cortex) of depressed suicide victims, Alcediag found specific alterations of RNA editing activity on the mRNA coding for the serotonin 2C receptor (5-HT2cR). Additionally, an increase in expression levels of ADARs, the RNA editing enzymes, and modifications of RNA editing profiles of prime targets, such as phosphodiesterase 8A (PDE8A) mRNA, have also been observed. Interestingly, the PDE8A gene is located on chromosome 15q25.3, a genomic region that has recurrently been associated with the early-onset major depressive disorder (MDD). In the current study, we examined whether modifications in RNA editing profile of prime targets allow identifying disease-relevant blood biomarkers and evaluating suicide risk in patients. To address this question, we performed a clinical study to identify an RNA editing signature in blood of depressed patients with and without the history of suicide attempts. Patient’s samples were drawn in PAXgene tubes and analyzed on Alcediag’s proprietary RNA editing platform using next generation sequencing technology. In addition, gene expression analysis by quantitative PCR was performed. We generated a multivariate algorithm comprising various selected biomarkers to detect patients with a high risk to attempt suicide. We evaluated the diagnostic performance using the relative proportion of PDE8A mRNA editing at different sites and/or isoforms as well as the expression of PDE8A and the ADARs. The significance of these biomarkers for suicidality was evaluated using the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC). The generated algorithm comprising the biomarkers was found to have strong diagnostic performances with high specificity and sensitivity. In conclusion, we developed tools to measure disease-specific biomarkers in blood samples of patients for identifying individuals at the greatest risk for future suicide attempts. This technology not only fosters patient management but is also suitable to predict the risk of drug-induced psychiatric side effects such as iatrogenic increase of suicidal ideas/behaviors.

Keywords: blood biomarker, next-generation-sequencing, RNA editing, suicide

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Authors: Hafiz Md. HasanBabu, Khandaker Mohammad Mohi Uddin, Md. IstiakJaman Ami, Rahat Hossain Faisal

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Computing in biomolecular programming performs through the different types of reactions. Proteins and nucleic acids are used to store the information generated by biomolecular programming. DNA (Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid) can be used to build a molecular computing system and operating system for its predictable molecular behavior property. The DNA device has clear advantages over conventional devices when applied to problems that can be divided into separate, non-sequential tasks. The reason is that DNA strands can hold so much data in memory and conduct multiple operations at once, thus solving decomposable problems much faster. Programmable Logic Array, abbreviated as PLA is a programmable device having programmable AND operations and OR operations. In this paper, a DNA PLA is designed by different molecular operations using DNA molecules with the proposed algorithms. The molecular PLA could take advantage of DNA's physical properties to store information and perform calculations. These include extremely dense information storage, enormous parallelism, and extraordinary energy efficiency.

Keywords: biological systems, DNA computing, parallel computing, programmable logic array, PLA, DNA

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Khalid H. Abass

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Al-Ni-Cr alloy contains different ratios of Ni and Cr was prepared by mixing Al, Ni and Cr at 800oC under an argon atmosphere. The prepared alloys were heated for 1300 hr to 560oC, and then cooled rapidly by water at the ambient temperature. Surface morphology for alloys is studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The resultant homogeneous surface is a result of heat treatment. The X-ray diffraction patterns showed (111), (200), and (220) diffraction lines from cubic Al crystal structure, and suggested that the intensity of peak (111) orientation is predominant. Three binary phases were observed and grown in alloys: Al3Ni (Orthorhombic, a = 6.598Ǻ, b = 7.352 Ǻ, c = 4.802 Ǻ), Cr9Al17 (Rhombohedra, a = 12.910 Ǻ, c = 15.677), and Ni2Cr3 (Tetragonal, a = 8.82 Ǻ, c = 4.58 Ǻ). The average crystallite sizes of the prepared samples were found to be from 3000 to 3094 nm by SEM, which is much smaller than that estimated from XRD data. Corrosion resistance increases with increasing Ni-Cr content in Al alloys. The electrical volume resistivity decreased with increasing Ni-Cr content at low frequency. This behavior can be seen generally at 50Hz, where the electrical volume resistivity reached the value of 3.98×10-8Ω.cm for the ratio Al-1.8 at.%Ni-0.18at.%Cr.

Keywords: Al-Ni-Cr alloy, corrosion current, electrical volume resistivity, binary phase, homogeneous surface

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Authors: Mahdi Sadeghian, Mahmoud Hassanlourad, Alireza Ardakani, Reza Dinarvand

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In this research, the behavior of monopiles, under lateral loads, was investigated with vertical and oblique piles by Finite Element Method. In engineering practice when soil-pile interaction comes to the picture some simplifications are applied to reduce the design time. As a simplified replacement of soil and pile interaction analysis, pile could be replaced by a column. The height of the column would be equal to the free length of the pile plus a portion of the embedded length of it. One of the important factors studied in this study was that columns with an equivalent length (free length plus a part of buried depth) could be used instead of soil and pile modeling. The results of the analysis show that the more internal friction angle of the soil increases, the more the bearing capacity of the soil is achieved. This additional length is 6 to 11 times of the pile diameter in dense soil although in loose sandy soil this range might increase.

Keywords: Depth of fixity, Lateral bearing capacity, Oblique pile, Pile group, Soil-structure interaction

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Authors: Steven Woods

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The use of Corporate Social Responsibility Statements has become ubiquitous in society. The appeal to consumers by being a well-behaved social entity has become a strategy not just to ensure brand loyalty but also to further larger scale projects of corporate interests. Specifically, the use of CSR to position corporations as good planetary citizens involves not just self-promotion but also a way of transferring responsibility from systems to individuals. By using techniques labeled as “greenwashing” and emphasizing ethical consumption choices as the solution, corporations present themselves as good members of the community and pursuing sustainability. Ultimately, the primary function of Corporate Social Responsibility statements is to maintain the economic status quo of ongoing growth and consumption while presenting and environmentally progressive image to the public, as well as reassuring them corporate behavior is superior to government intervention. By analyzing the communication techniques utilized through content analysis of specific examples, along with an analysis of the frames of meaning constructed in the CSR statements, the practices of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability will be addressed from an ethical perspective.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, ethics, greenwashing, sustainability

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Authors: Alaa H. J. Al-Rkaby, A. Chegenizadeh, H. R. Nikraz

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The technique of reinforcing soil is an efficient, reliable and cost-effective alternative way for improving the performance of soil in civil engineering applications. Despite the anisotropic states of stresses induced within soil elements by many geotechnical structures such as footings, highways and offshore, most of the previous studies have been carried out under isotropic conditions. The anisotropic stress state in term of the inclined principal stress and the inequality of the intermediate and minor principal stresses cannot be investigated using conventional devices. Therefore, the advanced hollow cylinder apparatus, used in this work, provides a great opportunity to simulate such anisotropic stress states. To date, very little consideration has been given to how the direction of principal stress α and intermediate principal stress ratio b can affect the performance of the reinforced sand. This study presented that the anisotropic conditions of α and b resulted in significant variations in the deviator stress and volumetric strain of sand reinforced with geosynthetics. Anisotropic effect has been decreased by adding clay content.

Keywords: anisotropy, reinforced sand, direction of principal stress, intermediate principal stress ratio

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Authors: Li Xu, Yang Hong, T. Zhao Wen

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Experimental results of many RC beam-column subassemblage indicate that slippage of longitudinal beam rebar within the joint and the shear deformation of joint core have significant influence on seismic behavior of the subassemblage. However, rigid joint assumption has been generally used in the seismic response analysis of RC frames, in which two kinds of inelastic deformation of joint have been ignored. Based on OpenSees platform, ‘Super Joint Element Model’ with more detailed inelastic mechanism is used to simulate the inelastic response of joints. Two finite element models of typical RC plane frame, namely considering or ignoring the inelastic deformation of joint respectively, were established and analyzed under seven strong earthquake waves. The simulated global and local inelastic deformations of the RC plane frame is shown and discussed. The analyses also confirm the security of the earthquake-resistant frame designed according to Chinese codes.

Keywords: frame structure, beam-column joint, longitudinal bar slippage, shear deformation, nonlinear analysis

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Authors: Isa Ahmadi, Ramin Khamedi

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In this paper, the elasto-plastic and cyclic torsion of a shaft is studied using a finite element method. The Prager kinematic hardening theory of plasticity with the Ramberg and Osgood stress-strain equation is used to evaluate the cyclic loading behavior of the shaft under the torsional loading. The material of shaft is assumed to follow the non-linear strain hardening property based on the Prager model. The finite element method with C1 continuity is developed and used for solution of the governing equations of the problem. The successive substitution iterative method is used to calculate the distribution of stresses and plastic strains in the shaft due to cyclic loads. The shear stress, effective stress, residual stress and elastic and plastic shear strain distribution are presented in the numerical results.

Keywords: cyclic loading, finite element analysis, Prager kinematic hardening model, torsion of shaft

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Authors: Wajdan Al Malwi, Karen Renaud, Lewis Mackenzie

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The privacy paradox describes a phenomenon whereby there is no connection between stated privacy concerns and privacy behaviours. We need to understand the underlying reasons for this paradox if we are to help users to preserve their privacy more effectively. In particular, the Social Networking System (SNS) domain offers a rich area of investigation due to the risks of unwise information disclosure decisions. Our study thus aims to untangle the complicated nature and underlying mechanisms of online privacy-related decisions in SNSs. In this paper, we report on the findings of a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) that revealed a number of factors that are likely to influence online privacy decisions. Our deductive analysis approach was informed by Communicative Privacy Management (CPM) theory. We uncovered a lack of clarity around privacy attitudes and their link to behaviours, which makes it challenging to design privacy-protecting SNS platforms and to craft legislation to ensure that users’ privacy is preserved.

Keywords: privacy paradox, self-disclosure, privacy attitude, privacy behavior, social networking sites

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Authors: Makenzy Lee Gilbert

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This literature review explores the role of attractor neural networks (ANNs) in modeling psychological processes in artificial and biological systems. By synthesizing research from dynamical systems theory, psychology, and computational neuroscience, the review provides an overview of the current understanding of ANN function in memory formation, reinforcement, retrieval, and forgetting. Key mathematical foundations, including dynamical systems theory and energy functions, are discussed to explain the behavior and stability of these networks. The review also examines empirical applications of ANNs in cognitive processes such as semantic memory and episodic recall, as well as highlighting the hippocampus's role in pattern separation and completion. The review addresses challenges like catastrophic forgetting and noise effects on memory retrieval. By identifying gaps between theoretical models and empirical findings, it highlights the interdisciplinary nature of ANN research and suggests future exploration areas.

Keywords: attractor neural networks, connectionism, computational modeling, cognitive neuroscience

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Authors: Adnan I. O. Zaid

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As aluminum solidifies in columnar structure with large grain size which reduces its surface quality and mechanical strength; therefore it is normally grain refined either by titanium or titanium + boron (Ti or Ti + B). In this paper, the effect of addition of either Ti or Ti + B to commercially pure aluminum on its grain size, Vickers hardness, mechanical strength and fatigue strength and life is presented and discussed. Similarly, the effect of vanadium addition to Al grain refined by Ti or Ti+ B is presented and discussed. Two binary master alloys Al-Ti and Al-Vi were laboratory prepared from which five different micro-alloys in addition to the commercially pure aluminum namely Al-Ti, Al-Ti-B, Al-V, Al-Ti-V and Al-Ti-B-V were prepared for the investigation. Finally, the effect of their addition on the fatigue cracks initiation and propagation, using scanning electron microscope, SEM, is also presented and discussed. Photomirographs and photoscans are included in the paper.

Keywords: aluminum, fatigue, grain refinement, titanium, titanium+boron, vanadium

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Authors: Suprihatin Soewarto

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The background of writing this paper is to assess the truth of rejection of some Muslim scholars who develop Islamic economics on the concept of consumer satisfaction and replace it with the concept of maslahah. In the perspective of Islamic law, this rejection attitude needs to be verified in order to know the accuracy of the replacement of this concept of satisfaction with maslahah as part of consumer behavior. This is done so that replacement of rejection of the term satisfaction with maslahah is objective. This objective replacement of the term will surely be more enlightening and more just than the subjective substitution. Therefore the writing of this paper aims to get an answer whether the concept of satisfaction needs to be replaced? is it possible for Islamic law to confirm the theory of consumer satisfaction? The method of writing this paper using the method of literature with a critical analysis approach. The results of this study is an explanation of the similarities and differences of consumer satisfaction theory and consumer theory maslahah according to Islamic law. disclosure of the concept of consumer gratitude according to Islamic law and its implementation in Muslim consumer demand theory.

Keywords: consumer's gratitude, islamic law, confirmation, satisfaction consumer's

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Authors: Sabina Akter, Osiris Valdez Banda, Pentti Kujala, Jani Romanoff

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This paper examines the relationship between on-board environmental factors and customer overall satisfaction in the context of the cruise on-board experience. The on-board environmental factors considered are ambient, layout/design, social, product/service and on-board enjoyment factors. The study presents a data-driven framework and model for the on-board cruise experience. The data are collected from 893 respondents in an application of a self-administered online questionnaire of their cruise experience. This study reveals the cruise passengers’ on-board experience through the customer decision journey based on the publicly available data. Pearson correlation and regression analysis have been applied, and the results show a positive and a significant relationship between the environmental factors and on-board experience. These data help understand the cruise passengers’ on-board experience, which will be used for the ultimate decision-making process in cruise ship design.

Keywords: cruise behavior, customer activities, on-board environmental factors, on-board experience, user or customer satisfaction

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Authors: Chui-Hsin Chen, Yu-Ting Chen

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Special concentrically braced frames is one of the seismic load resisting systems, which dissipates seismic energy when bracing members within the frames undergo yielding and buckling while sustaining their axial tension and compression load capacities. Most of the inelastic deformation of a buckling bracing member concentrates in the mid-length region. While experiencing cyclic loading, the region dissipates most of the seismic energy being input into the frame. Such a concentration makes the braces vulnerable to failure modes associated with low-cycle fatigue. In this research, a strategy to improve the cyclic behavior of the conventional steel bracing member is proposed by filling the Hollow Structural Shape (HSS) member with reinforcement. It prevents the local section from concentrating large plastic deformation caused by cyclic loading. The infill helps spread over the plastic hinge region into a wider area hence postpone the initiation of local buckling or even the rupture of the braces. The finite element method is introduced to simulate the complicated bracing member behavior and member-versus-infill interaction under cyclic loading. Fifteen 3-D-element-based models are built by ABAQUS software. The verification of the FEM model is done with unreinforced (UR) HSS bracing members’ cyclic test data and aluminum honeycomb plates’ bending test data. Numerical models include UR and filled HSS bracing members with various compactness ratios based on the specification of AISC-2016 and AISC-1989. The primary variables to be investigated include the relative bending stiffness and the material of the filling reinforcement. The distributions of von Mises stress and equivalent plastic strain (PEEQ) are used as indices to tell the strengths and shortcomings of each model. The result indicates that the change of relative bending stiffness of the infill is much more influential than the change of material in use to increase the energy dissipation capacity. Strengthen the relative bending stiffness of the reinforcement results in additional energy dissipation capacity to the extent of 24% and 46% in model based on AISC-2016 (16-series) and AISC-1989 (89-series), respectively. HSS members with infill show growth in 𝜂Local Buckling, normalized energy cumulated until the happening of local buckling, comparing to UR bracing members. The 89-series infill-reinforced members have more energy dissipation capacity than unreinforced 16-series members by 117% to 166%. The flexural rigidity of infills should be less than 29% and 13% of the member section itself for 16-series and 89-series bracing members accordingly, thereby guaranteeing the spread over of the plastic hinge and the happening of it within the reinforced section. If the parameters are properly configured, the ductility, energy dissipation capacity, and fatigue-life of HSS SCBF bracing members can be improved prominently by the infill-reinforced method.

Keywords: special concentrically braced frames, HSS, cyclic loading, infill reinforcement, finite element analysis, PEEQ

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Authors: Anjana Sreedharan, Harish Rao

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Background: India has the world’s third largest population of people living with HIV/AIDS, with a prevalence rate of 0.69 in the state of Karnataka. This study aims at assessing the HIV/AIDS related knowledge, attitude and behavior of the medical personnel in 3 hospitals in the city of Mangalore. Methods: Surgeons, Anesthetists, OT staff nurses, ward nursing staff, House surgeons working in the hospitals associated with Kasturba Medical college, Mangalore were given questionnaires and interviewed. Their knowledge about HIV, their attitude towards HIV positive patients and bias in management of the patients was assessed. Conclusion: So far, it has been found that amongst doctors, discrimination was mainly in the form of HIV testing without consent and a lack of confidentiality. However, the doctors rarely changed the treatment plan on knowing the HIV status of the patient. Amongst the nursing staff and interns, there is a serious lacuna of knowledge regarding HIV transmission, as compared to consultants. The patient seldom faced verbal abuse from the team. Use of universal precautions is less among the entire team due to insufficient availability of the same.

Keywords: discrimination, HIV/ AIDS, medical colleges, stigma

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Authors: Cinzia Carrodano, Dimitri Konstantas

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Risk is part of our lives. In today’s society risk is connected to our safety and safety has become a major priority in our life. Each person lives his/her life based on the evaluation of the risk he/she is ready to accept and sustain, and the level of safety he/she wishes to reach, based on highly personal criteria. The assessment of risk a person takes in a complex environment and the impact of actions of other people’actions and events on our perception of risk are alements to be considered. The concept of Holistic Risk Assessment (HRA) aims in developing a methodology and a model that will allow us to take into account elements outside the direct influence of the individual, and provide a personalized risk assessment. The concept is based on the fact that in the near future, we will be able to gather and process extremely large amounts of data about an individual and his/her environment in real time. The interaction and correlation of these data is the key element of the holistic risk assessment. In this paper, we present the HRA concept and describe the most important elements and considerations.

Keywords: continuous data, dynamic risk, holistic risk assessment, risk concept

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Ameri, Ali Massumi, Behnam Mahboubi

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The performance of masonry infilled frames during the past earthquakes shows that the infill panels play a major role as earthquake-resistant elements. The present study examines the influence of infill panels on seismic behavior of RC frame structures. For this purpose, several low- and mid-rise RC frames (two-, four-, seven-, and ten story) were numerically investigated. Reinforced masonry infill panels were then placed within the frames and the models were subjected to several nonlinear incremental static and dynamic analyses. The results of analyses showed that the use of reinforced masonry infill panels in RC frame structures can have beneficial effects on structural performance. It was confirmed that the use of masonry infill panels results in an increment in strength and stiffness of the framed buildings, followed by a reduction in displacement demand for the structural systems.

Keywords: reinforced masonry infill panels, nonlinear static analysis, incremental dynamic analysis, low-rise reinforced concrete frames, mid-rise reinforced concrete frames

Procedia PDF Downloads 319

Authors: Jasna Milošević Đorđević, Jelisaveta Blagojević, Jovana Timotijević, Alison Mckinley

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Young people in Serbia, have grown up in turbulent times during the Balkan wars, in a cultural and economic isolation without adequate education on (ethnic, gender, social,..) equality. They often have very strong patriarchal gender stereotypes. The perception of gender in Serbia is still heavily influenced by traditional worldview and young people have little opportunity in traditional educational system to challenge it, receiving no formal sex education. Educational policies have addressed achieving gender equality as one of the goals, supporting all young people to gain better educational opportunities, but there are obvious shortcomings of the official education system in implementation of those goals. Therefore new approaches should be implemented. We evaluate the impact of non traditional approach, such as participatory theatre performance with strong transformative potential, especially in relation to gender issues. Theatre based intervention (TBI) was created to provoke the young people to become aware of their gender constructs. Engaging young people in modern form of education such as transformative gender intervention through participatory theatre could have positive impact on their sex knowledge and understanding gender roles. The transformative process in TBI happens on two levels – the affective and the cognitive. The founding agency of the project and evaluation is IPPF. The most important aim of this survey is evaluation of the transformative TBI, as a new educational approach related to better understanding gender as social construct. To reach this goal, we have measured attitude change in three indicators: a) gender identity/ perception of feminine identity, perception of masculine identity, importance of gender for personal identity, b) gender roles on the labor market, c) Gender equality in partnership & sexual behavior. Our main hypothesis is that participatory theatre-based intervention can have a transformational potential in challenging traditional gender knowledge and attitudes among youth in Serbia. To evaluate the impact of TB intervention, we implement: online baseline and end-line survey with nonparticipants of the TBI on the representative sample in targeted towns (control group). Additionally we conducted testing the experimental group twice: pretest at the beginning of each TBI and post testing of participants after the play. A sample of 500 respondents aged 18-30 years, from 9 towns in Serbia responded to online questionnaire in September 2017, in a baseline research. Pre and post measurement of all tested variables among participants in nine towns would be performed. End-line survey with 500 respondents would be conducted at the end of the project (early year 2018). After the first TBI (60 participants) no impact was detected on measured indicators: perception of desirable characteristics of man F(1,59)= 1.291, p=.260; perception of desirable characteristics of women F(1,55)=1.386, p= .244; gender identity importance F(1,63)= .050, p=.824; sex related behavior F(1,61)=1,145, p=.289; gender equality on labor market F(1,63)=.076, p=.783; gender equality in partnership F(1,61)=.201, p=.656; However, we hope that following intervention would bring more data showing that participatory theatre intervention explaining gender as a social construct could have additional positive impact in traditional educational system.

Keywords: educational impact, gender identity, gender role, participatory theatre based intervention

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Authors: Zahra Kouzehgari

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Since the early emergence of chaos theory in the 1970s in mathematics and physical science, it has increasingly been developed and adapted in social sciences as well. The non-linear and dynamic characteristics of the theory make it a useful conceptual framework to interpret the complex social systems behavior. Regarding chaotic approach principals, sensitivity to initial conditions, dynamic adoption, strange attractors and unpredictability this paper aims to examine whether chaos approach could interpret the ancient social changes. To do this, at first, a brief history of the chaos theory, its development and application in social science as well as the principals making the theory, then its application in archaeological since has been reviewed. The study demonstrates that although based on existing archaeological records reconstruct the whole social system of the human past, the non-linear approaches in studying social complex systems would be of a great help in finding general order of the ancient societies and would enable us to shed light on some of the social phenomena in the human history or to make sense of them.

Keywords: archaeology, non-linear approach, chaos theory, ancient social systems

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Authors: A. Mavrikos, N. Petsas, E. Kaltsi, D. Kaliampakos

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The lignite-fired power plants in the Western Macedonia Lignite Center produce more than 8 106 t of fly ash per year. Approximately 90% of this quantity is used for restoration-reclamation of exhausted open-cast lignite mines and slope stabilization of the overburden. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the environmental behavior of the mixture of waste rock and fly ash that is being used in the external deposition site of the South Field lignite mine. For this reason, a borehole was made within the site and 86 samples were taken and subjected to chemical analyses and leaching tests. The results showed very limited leaching of trace elements and heavy metals from this mixture. Moreover, when compared to the limit values set for waste acceptable in inert waste landfills, only few excesses were observed, indicating only minor risk for groundwater pollution. However, due to the complexity of both the leaching process and the contaminant pathway, more boreholes and analyses should be made in nearby locations and a systematic groundwater monitoring program should be implemented both downstream and within the external deposition site.

Keywords: co-deposition, fly ash, leaching tests, lignite, waste rock

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Authors: Lenka Mynaříková, Hedvika Boukalová

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The study looks at the ability to detect nonverbal deception among police officers and management students in the Czech Republic. Respondents from police departments (n=197) and university students of human resources (n=161) completed a deception detection task and evaluated veracity of the statements of suspects in 21 video clips from real crime investigations. Their evaluations were based on nonverbal behavior. Voices in the video clips were modified so that words were not recognizable, yet paraverbal voice characteristics were preserved. Results suggest that respondents have a tendency to lie bias based on their profession. In the evaluation of video clips, stereotypes also played a significant role. The statements of suspects of a different ethnicity, younger age or specific visual features were considered deceitful more often. Research might be beneficial for training in professions that are in need of deception detection techniques.

Keywords: deception detection, police officers, human resources, forensic psychology, forensic studies, organizational psychology

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Authors: Partha Pratim Kalita

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As sound can be converted to light, light can also be deduced to sound. There are technologies to convert light to sound, but there are not many technologies related to the field where sound can be converted to a distinct vibrational sequence of light. Like the laws under which the principles of sound work, there are principles for the light to become quantum in nature. Thus, as we move from sound to the subtler aspects of light, we are moving from 3D to 5D. Either we will be making technologies of 3D in today’s world, or we will be really interested in making technologies of the 5D, depends on our understanding of how quantum 5D works. Right now, the entire world is talking about quantum, which is about the nature and behavior of subatomic particles, which is 5D. In practice, they are using metals and machines based on atomic structures. If we talk of quantum without taking note of the technologies of 5D and beyond, we will only be reinterpreting relative theories in the name of quantum. This paper, therefore, will explore the possibilities of moving towards quantum in its real essence with the Shoonya ecosystem (zero-point energy). In this context, the author shall highlight certain working models developed by him, which are currently in discussion with the Indian government.

Keywords: quantum mechanics, quantum technologies, healthcare, shoonya ecosystem, energy, human consciousness

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Authors: Dan Frederick Orcherton, Maria Orcherton, Matthew Kensen

Abstract:

This study takes an in-depth look at how traditional healing practices (THPs) are perceived by the iTaukei people living in villages and periurban areas in Fiji Islands. The research used both qualitative and quantitative knowledge/data gathered from six villages in Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, to determine, first, the perception(s) of THPs among the iTaukei; second, what THPs successfully survive and are still important to the iTaukei way of life; and third, what factors influence the iTaukei’s health-seeking behavior or choices between Western and traditional medical systems in their villages. Results confirm that the knowledge healers used to hold to cure common illnesses is now more dispersed and shared with community members; healers/elders’ roles in iTaukei villages are important for cultural–spiritual–social causes of illnesses, and for more complex cases, there are specialized iTaukei healers. Recommendations in the form of categories of practices are offered for practitioners to work more effectively and affectively with the iTaukei.

Keywords: iTaukei peoples, traditional healing practices, traditional healers, categories of practice

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Authors: Milorad Pavlovic, Anna Manzato, Antonella Cecchi

Abstract:

Cultural heritage conservation is a challenge for contemporary society. In recent decades, significant resources have been allocated for the conservation and restoration of architectural heritage. Historical buildings were restored, protected and reinforced with the intent to limit the risks of degradation or loss, due to phenomena of structural damage and to external factors such as differential settlements, earthquake effects, etc. The wide diffusion of historic masonry constructions in Italy, Europe and the Mediterranean area requires reliable tools for the evaluation of their structural safety. In this paper is presented a free modal analysis performed on a minor historical architecture located in the village of Bagno Grande, near the city of L’Aquila in Italy. The location is characterized by a complex urban context, seriously damaged by the earthquake of 2009. The aim of this work is to check the structural behavior of a masonry building characterized by several boundary conditions imposed by adjacent buildings and infrastructural facilities.

Keywords: FEM, masonry, minor historical architecture, modal analysis

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Authors: Mostefa Mimoune

Abstract:

Test results on concrete-filled steel tubular stub columns under axial compression are presented. The study was mainly focused on square hollow section SHS columns; 27 columns were tested. The main experimental parameters considered were the thickness of the tube, columns length and cross section sizes. Existing design codes and theoretical model were used to predict load-carrying capacities of composite section to compare the accuracy of the predictions by using the recommendations of DTR-BC (Algerian code), CSA (Canadian standard), AIJ, EC4, DBJ, AISC, BS and EC4. Experimental results indicate that the studied parameters have significant influence on both the compressive load capacity and the column failure mode. All codes used in the comparison, provide higher resistance compared to those of tests. Equation method has been suggested to evaluate the axial capacity of the composite section seem to be in agreement with tests.

Keywords: axial loading, composite section, concrete-filled steel tubes, square hollow section

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Authors: Thanh-Phong Dao, Shyh-Chour Huang

Abstract:

This study presents the optimal design and formulation of a kinematic model of a flexible slider crank mechanism. The objective of the proposed innovative design is to take extra advantage of the compliant mechanism and maximize the fatigue life by applying the Taguchi method. A formulated kinematic model is developed using a Pseudo-Rigid-Body Model (PRBM). By means of mathematic models, the kinematic behaviors of the flexible slider crank mechanism are captured using MATLAB software. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is used to show the stress distribution. The results show that the optimal shape of the flexible hinge includes a force of 8.5N, a width of 9mm and a thickness of 1.1mm. Analysis of variance shows that the thickness of the proposed hinge is the most significant parameter, with an F test of 15.5. Finally, a prototype is manufactured to prepare for testing the kinematic and dynamic behaviors.

Keywords: kinematic behavior, fatigue life, pseudo-rigid-body model, flexible slider crank mechanism

Procedia PDF Downloads 457