Search results for: case discovery program

Authors: Ye Wei, Sitalakshmi Venkatraman, Fahri Benli, Fiona Wahr

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The present digital world poses many challenges to various stakeholders in the education sector. In particular, lecturers of higher education (HE) are faced with the problem of ensuring that students are able to achieve the required learning outcomes despite rapid changes taking place worldwide. Different strategies are adopted to retain student engagement and commitment in classrooms to address the differences in learning habits, preferences, and styles of the digital generation of students recently. Further, the onset of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in online teaching being mandatory. These changes have compounded the problems in the learning engagement and short attention span of HE students. New agile methodologies that have been successfully employed to manage projects in different fields are gaining prominence in the education domain. In this paper, we present the application of Scrum as an agile methodology to enhance student learning and engagement in an online smart classroom environment. We demonstrate the use of our proposed approach using a case study to teach key topics in information technology that require students to gain technical and business-related data analytics skills.

Keywords: agile methodology, Scrum, online learning, smart classroom environment, student engagement, active learning

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Authors: Yi Sun, George Ed Rainger, Steve P. Watson

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Background: Beyond the classical roles in haemostasis and thrombosis, platelets are important in the initiation and development of various thrombo-inflammatory diseases. In atherosclerosis and deep vein thrombosis, for example, platelets bridge monocytes with endothelium and form heterotypic aggregates with monocytes in the circulation. This can alter monocyte phenotype by inducing their activation, stimulating adhesion and migration. These interactions involve cell surface receptor-ligand pairs on both cells. This list is likely incomplete as new interactions of importance to platelet biology are continuing to be discovered as illustrated by our discovery of PEAR-1 binding to FcεR1α. Results: We have developed a highly sensitive avidity-based assay to identify novel extracellular interactions among 126 recombinantly-expressed platelet cell surface and secreted proteins involved in platelet aggregation. In this study, we will use this method to identify novel platelet-monocyte interactions. We aim to identify ligands for orphan receptors and novel partners of well-known proteins. Identified interactions will be studied in preliminary functional assays to demonstrate relevance to the inflammatory processes supporting atherogenesis. Conclusions: Platelet-monocyte interactions are essential for the development of thromboinflammatory disease. Up until relatively recently, technologies only allow us to limit our studies on each individual protein interaction at a single time. These studies propose for the first time to study the cell surface platelet-monocyte interactions in a systematic large-scale approach using a reliable screening method we have developed. If successful, this will likely to identify previously unknown ligands for important receptors that will be investigated in details and also provide a list of novel interactions for the field. This should stimulate studies on developing alternative therapeutic strategies to treat vascular inflammatory disorders such as atherosclerosis, DVT and sepsis and other clinically important inflammatory conditions.

Keywords: membrane proteins, large-scale screening, platelets, recombinant expression

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Authors: Yoji Yamato

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In this paper, we propose an automatic verification technology of software patches for user virtual environments on IaaS Cloud to decrease verification costs of patches. In these days, IaaS services have been spread and many users can customize virtual machines on IaaS Cloud like their own private servers. Regarding to software patches of OS or middleware installed on virtual machines, users need to adopt and verify these patches by themselves. This task increases operation costs of users. Our proposed method replicates user virtual environments, extracts verification test cases for user virtual environments from test case DB, distributes patches to virtual machines on replicated environments and conducts those test cases automatically on replicated environments. We have implemented the proposed method on OpenStack using Jenkins and confirmed the feasibility. Using the implementation, we confirmed the effectiveness of test case creation efforts by our proposed idea of 2-tier abstraction of software functions and test cases. We also evaluated the automatic verification performance of environment replications, test cases extractions and test cases conductions.

Keywords: OpenStack, cloud computing, automatic verification, jenkins

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Authors: Ejoh Nonso Francis

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: Irrigation scheduling is a critical aspect of sustainable agriculture as it ensures optimal use of water resources, reduces water waste, and enhances crop yields. This paper presents a case study of a farm in Onitsha, Anambra State, Nigeria, where irrigation scheduling was optimized using a combination of soil moisture sensors and weather data. The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach in improving water use efficiency and crop productivity. The results showed that the optimized irrigation scheduling approach led to a 30% reduction in water use while increasing crop yield by 20%. The study demonstrates the potential of technology-based irrigation scheduling to enhance sustainable agriculture in Nigeria and beyond.

Keywords: irrigation scheduling, sustainable agriculture, soil moisture sensors, weather data, water use efficiency, crop productivity, nigeria, onitsha, anambra state, technology-based irrigation scheduling, water resources, environmental degradation, crop water requirements, overwatering, water waste, farming systems, scalability

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Authors: David Armany, Matthew Allaway, Preet Gosal, Senarath Edirimanne

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A potentially devastating complication of routine laparoscopic cholecystectomy includes iatrogenic bile duct injuries, which represent a stable incidence rate of 0.3% over the past three decades. Whilst related to several relative risks such as surgeon experience and patient factors (older age, male sex), misinterpretation of biliary tree anatomy remains the most common cause, accounting for 80% of iatrogenic Common Bile Duct injuries. Whilst extremely rare, a duplicate common bile duct anomaly remains a potential variation to encounter during biliary surgery, with 30 recognised cases in the worldwide literature, of which type Vb accounts for 4. We report the case of a rare type Vb variation encountered during intra-operative laparoscopic cholecystectomy and confirmed on cholangiogram. To our knowledge, this is the first documented Type Vb case encountered in an Australian population. Given these anomalies are asymptomatic and can perpetuate iatrogenic common bile duct injuries, awareness of all subtypes is crucial. Irrevocably, preoperative Magnetic Resonance Cholangiopancreatography can help recognise these anomalies before the operating theatre; however, their widespread adoption is limited by expensive and availability.

Keywords: duplicated common bile duct, type Vb, cholecystitis, MRCP, cholangiogram, iatrogenic CBD

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Authors: Richard Nelson

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The knowledge, skills, and identity of the Higher Education professional are constantly challenged with a demanding environment of teaching, research, administration, and pastoral care. It is more important than ever for professors and lecturers to maintain their professional development in a constantly changing environment. The importance of professional development has become more focused as new skills are needed to meet the demands of remote teaching and learning during a pandemic. Uncertainty and performance pressures influence teachers to try to return to physical spaces or recreate lecture and seminar rooms despite more effective online spaces being available. This case study uses the Boys’ spatial triad as a framework for qualitative interviews to capture the Lecturers’ experiences in Universities in the UK and the USA of moving to online learning spaces. The study finds that without effective professional development and time to reflect critically on remote learning innovation in their teaching practices, lecturers attempt to defer to lecture theatres and seminar rooms, or similes of, as their preferred space for teaching and learning. Professional Development is needed to encourage teachers to reflect on their professional identity and relationship to the teaching space.

Keywords: professional identity, learning, online, remote

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Authors: Nadjiba Meziou-Chebouti, Amel Merabet, Yahia Chebouti, Nassima Behidj, Salahedine Doumandji

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Among the Anacardiaceae, the fruit (Pistacia vera L.) is the only species that produces edible fruits. The introduction of real pistachio was made in the early sixties by an FAO program in Algeria in several regions in the northern part of Algeria: Tlemcen, Sidi Bel Abbes, Batna, Bouira M'sila. Chemical analyzes of seeds pistachios were made on seeds from an orchard that localizes to Bechloul (Bouira) located in bioclimatic sub-humid temperate winter floor. Analyzes reveal dry matter content of 3.60±0.45%, the water rate is 7.21±0.36%. However, the fat content is 46.00±0.90%, in average blood sugar, it is 4.02±0.47%, the protein reached 29.88±0.76%. Given the very interesting that high-fat food nutritional values, culture pistachio must be considered for its extension in Algeria.

Keywords: pistachio, dry matter, fat, sugar, protein

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Authors: Vivek Paul, Abel Nelly, Shoeb A Adeel, R. Tilak, S. Maheshwaran, S. Pulikeshi, Roshan Antony, C. S. Suraj

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This paper presents the complete design and development cycle of a 20 cm span fixed wing micro air vehicle that was developed at CSIR-NAL, under the micro air vehicle development program. The design is a cropped delta flying wing MAV with a modified N22 airfoil of 12.3% thickness. The design was fabricated using the fused deposition method- RPT technique. COTS components were procured and integrated into this RPT prototype. A commercial autopilot that was proven in the earlier MAV designs was used for this MAV. The MAV was flown fully autonomous for 14mins at an open field. The flight data showed good performance as expected from the MAV design. The paper also describes about the process involved in the design of MAVs.

Keywords: autopilot, autonomous mode, flight testing, MAV, RPT

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Authors: Barry Ardley, Abi Hunt, Nick Taylor

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As a theoretical and practical framework, this study uses the student-as-producer approach to learning in higher education, as adopted by the Lincoln International Business School, University of Lincoln, UK. Students as producer positions learners as skilled and capable agents, able to participate as partners with tutors in live research projects. To illuminate the nature of this approach to learning and to highlight its critical issues, the authors report on two guided student consultancy projects. These were set up with the assistance of two local organisations in the city of Lincoln, UK. Using the student as a producer model to deliver the projects enabled learners to acquire and develop a range of key skills and knowledge not easily accessible in more traditional educational settings. This paper presents a systematic case study analysis of the eight organising principles of the student-as-producer model, as adopted by university tutors. The experience of tutors implementing students as producers suggests that the model can be widely applied to benefit not only the learning and teaching experiences of higher education students and staff but additionally a university’s research programme and its community partners.

Keywords: consultancy, learning, student as producer, research

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Authors: S. Aneeka, S.M. Phyoe, R. Guo, Z.W. Zhong

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Arrival flights tend to spend long waiting times at holding stacks if the arrival airport is congested. However, the waiting time spent in the air in the vicinity of the arrival airport may be reduced if the delays are distributed to the cruising phase of the arrival flights by means of speed control. Here, a case study was conducted for the flights arriving at Changi Airport. The flights that were assigned holdings were simulated to fly at a reduced speed during the cruising phase. As the study involves a single airport and is limited to imposing speed constraints to arrivals within 200 NM from its location, the simulation setup in this study could be considered as an application of the Extended Arrival Management (E-AMAN) technique, which is proven to result in considerable fuel savings and more efficient management of delays. The objective of this experiment was to quantify the benefits of imposing cruise speed constraints to arrivals at Changi Airport and to assess the effects on controllers’ workload. The simulation results indicated considerable fuel savings, reduced aircraft emissions and reduced controller workload.

Keywords: aircraft emissions, air traffic flow management, controller workload, fuel consumption

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Authors: Daly M. J, Condron C, Mulhall C, Eppich W, O'Neill J.

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Introduction: In contemporary clinical cardiology, comprehensive and holistic bedside evaluation including accurate cardiac auscultation is in decline despite having positive effects on patients and their outcomes. Methods: Scripted histories and scoring checklists for three clinical scenarios in cardiology were co-created and refined through iterative consensus by a panel of clinical experts; these were then paired with recordings of auscultatory findings from three actual patients with known valvular heart disease. A wearable vest with embedded pressure-sensitive panel speakers was developed to transmit these recordings when examined at the standard auscultation points. RCSI medical students volunteered for a series of three formative long case examinations in cardiology (LC1 – LC3) using this hybrid simulation. Participants were randomised into two groups: Group 1 received individual teaching from an expert trainer between LC1 and LC2; Group 2 received the same intervention between LC2 and LC3. Each participant’s long case examination performance was recorded and blindly scored by two peer participants and two RCSI examiners. Results: Sixty-eight participants were included in the study (age 27.6 ± 0.1 years; 74% female) and randomised into two groups; there were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between groups. Overall, the median total faculty examiner score was 39.8% (35.8 – 44.6%) in LC1 and increased to 63.3% (56.9 – 66.4%) in LC3, with those in Group 1 showing a greater improvement in LC2 total score than that observed in Group 2 (p < .001). Using the novel checklist, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were excellent between examiners in all cases: ICC .994 – .997 (p < .001); correlation between peers and examiners improved in LC2 following peer grading of LC1 performances: ICC .857 – .867 (p < .001). Conclusion: Hybrid simulation and quantitative grading improve learning, standardisation of assessment, and direct comparisons of both performance and acumen in clinical cardiology.

Keywords: cardiology, clinical skills, long case examination, hybrid simulation, checklist

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Authors: Bualak Naksongkaew

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The purposes of this study were to compare pre- and post-test achievement of Thai language skills. The samples consisted of 40 tenth grader of Secondary Demonstration School of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University in the first semester of the academic year 2010. The researcher prepared the Thai lesson plans, the pre- and post-achievement test at the end program. Data analyses were carried out using means, standard deviations and descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test analysis for comparison pre- and post-test. The study showed that there were a statistically significant difference at α= 0.05; therefore the use multiple intelligences theory can develop Thai languages skills. The results after using the multiple intelligences theory for Thai lessons had higher level than standard.

Keywords: multiple intelligences theory, Thai language skills, development, pre- and post-test achievement

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Authors: Birsel Canan Demirbag, Kıymet Yesilcicek Calik, Hacer Kobya Bulut

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Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the problems of women over 65 with incontinence diagnosis. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted with women over 65 with incontinence diagnosis in four Family Health Centers in a city in Eastern Black Sea region between November 1, and December 20, 2015. 203, 107, 178, 180 women over 65 were registered in these centers and 262 had incontinence diagnosis at least once and had an ongoing complaint. 177 women were volunteers for the study. During home visits and using face-to-face survey methodology, participants were given socio-demographic characteristics survey, Sandvik severity scale, Incontinence Quality of Life Scale, Urogenital Distress Inventory and a questionnaire including challenges experienced due to incontinence developed by the researcher. Data were analyzed with SPSS program using percentages, numbers, Chi-square, Man-Whitney U and t test with 95% confidence interval and a significance level p <0.05. Findings: 67 ± 1.4 was the mean age, 2.05 ± 0.04 was parity, 44.5 ± 2.12 was menopause age, 66.3% were primary school graduates, 45.7% had deceased spouse, 44.4% lived in a large family, 67.2% had their own room, 77.8% had income, 89.2% could meet self- care, 73.2% had a diagnosis of mixed incontinence, 87.5% suffered for 6-20 years % 78.2 had diuretics, antidepressants and heart medicines, 20.5% had urinary fecal cases, 80.5% had bladder training at least once, 90.1% didn’t have bladder diary calendar/control training programs, 31.1% had hysterectomy for prolapse, 97.1'i% was treated with lower urinary tract infection at least once, 66.3% saw a doctor to get drug in the last three months, 76.2 could not go out alone, 99.2 % had at least one chronic disease, 87.6 % had constipation complain, 2.9% had chronic cough., 45.1% fell due to a sudden rise for toilet. Incontinence Impact Questionnaire Average score was (QOL) 54.3 ± 21.1, Sandvik score was 12.1 ± 2.5, Urogenital Distress Inventory was 47.7 ± 9.2. Difficulties experienced due to incontinence were 99.5% feeling of unhappiness, 67.1% constant feeling of urine smell due to failing to change briefs frequently, % 87.2 move away from social life, 89.7 unable to use pad, 99.2% feeling of disturbing households / other individuals, 87.5% feel dizziness/fall due to sudden rise, 87.4% feeling of others’ imperceptions about the situation, % 94.3 insomnia, 78.2 lack of assistance, 84.7% couldn’t afford urine protection briefs. Results: With this study, it was found out that there were a lot of unsolved issues at individual and community level affecting the life quality of women with incontinence. In accordance with this common problem in women, to facilitate daily life it is obvious that regular home care training programs at institutional level in our country will be effective.

Keywords: health problems, incontinence, incontinence quality of life questionnaire, old age, urinary urogenital distress inventory, Sandviken severity, women

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Authors: Jian-Heng Wu, Bor-Shen Lin

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The temperature-salinity relationship is one of the most important characteristics used for identifying water masses in marine research. Temperature-salinity characteristics, however, may change dynamically with respect to the geographic location and is quite sensitive to the depth at the same location. When depth is taken into consideration, however, it is not easy to compare the characteristics of different water masses efficiently for a wide range of areas of the ocean. In this paper, the Gaussian mixture model was proposed to analyze the temperature-salinity-depth characteristics of water masses, based on which comparison between water masses may be conducted. Gaussian mixture model could model the distribution of a random vector and is formulated as the weighting sum for a set of multivariate normal distributions. The temperature-salinity-depth data for different locations are first used to train a set of Gaussian mixture models individually. The distance between two Gaussian mixture models can then be defined as the weighting sum of pairwise Bhattacharyya distances among the Gaussian distributions. Consequently, the distance between two water masses may be measured fast, which allows the automatic and efficient comparison of the water masses for a wide range area. The proposed approach not only can approximate the distribution of temperature, salinity, and depth directly without the prior knowledge for assuming the regression family, but may restrict the complexity by controlling the number of mixtures when the amounts of samples are unevenly distributed. In addition, it is critical for knowledge discovery in marine research to represent, manage and share the temperature-salinity-depth characteristics flexibly and responsively. The proposed approach has been applied to a real-time visualization system of ocean data, which may facilitate the comparison of water masses by aggregating the data without degrading the discriminating capabilities. This system provides an interface for querying geographic locations with similar temperature-salinity-depth characteristics interactively and for tracking specific patterns of water masses, such as the Kuroshio near Taiwan or those in the South China Sea.

Keywords: water mass, Gaussian mixture model, data visualization, system framework

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Authors: Beatrice Arthur

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The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed various industries, enabling faster and more accurate decision-making processes. However, with these advancements come increased risks, including data privacy issues, systemic biases, and challenges related to transparency and accountability. As AI technologies become more integrated into business processes, there is a growing need for comprehensive auditing and assurance frameworks to manage these risks and ensure ethical use. This paper provides a literature review on AI auditing and assurance programs, highlighting the importance of adapting traditional audit methodologies to the complexities of AI-driven systems. Objective: The objective of this review is to explore current AI audit practices and their role in mitigating risks, ensuring accountability, and fostering trust in AI systems. The study aims to provide a structured framework for developing audit programs tailored to AI technologies while also investigating how AI impacts governance, risk management, and regulatory compliance in various sectors. Methodology: This research synthesizes findings from academic publications and industry reports from 2014 to 2024, focusing on the intersection of AI technologies and IT assurance practices. The study employs a qualitative review of existing audit methodologies and frameworks, particularly the COBIT 2019 framework, to understand how audit processes can be aligned with AI governance and compliance standards. The review also considers real-time auditing as an emerging necessity for influencing AI system design during early development stages. Outcomes: Preliminary findings indicate that while AI auditing is still in its infancy, it is rapidly gaining traction as both a risk management strategy and a potential driver of business innovation. Auditors are increasingly being called upon to develop controls that address the ethical and operational risks posed by AI systems. The study highlights the need for continuous monitoring and adaptable audit techniques to handle the dynamic nature of AI technologies. Future Directions: Future research will explore the development of AI-specific audit tools and real-time auditing capabilities that can keep pace with evolving technologies. There is also a need for cross-industry collaboration to establish universal standards for AI auditing, particularly in high-risk sectors like healthcare and finance. Further work will involve engaging with industry practitioners and policymakers to refine the proposed governance and audit frameworks. Funding/Support Acknowledgements: This research is supported by the Information Systems Assurance Management Program at Concordia University of Edmonton.

Keywords: AI auditing, assurance, risk management, governance, COBIT 2019, transparency, accountability, machine learning, compliance

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Authors: J. R. Wang, W. Y. Li, H. T. Lin, J. H. Yang, C. Shih, S. W. Chen

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Fuel rod analysis program transient (FRAPTRAN) code was used to study the fuel rod performance during a postulated large break loss of coolant accident (LBLOCA) in Maanshan nuclear power plant (NPP). Previous transient results from thermal hydraulic code, TRACE, with the same LBLOCA scenario, were used as input boundary conditions for FRAPTRAN. The simulation results showed that the peak cladding temperatures and the fuel center line temperatures were all below the 10CFR50.46 LOCA criteria. In addition, the maximum hoop stress was 18 MPa and the oxide thickness was 0.003 mm for the present simulation cases, which are all within the safety operation ranges. The present study confirms that this analysis method, the FRAPTRAN code combined with TRACE, is an appropriate approach to predict the fuel integrity under LBLOCA with operational ECCS.

Keywords: FRAPTRAN, TRACE, LOCA, PWR

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Authors: Huyen T. Pham, Nhue P. Nguyen, Tien Q. Phi, Phuong T. Dang, Hy G. Le

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Since the marine environmental conditions are extremely different from the other ones, so that marine actinomycetes might produce novel bioactive compounds. Therefore, actinomycete strains were screened from marine water and sediment samples collected from the coastal areas of Northern Vietnam. Ninety-nine actinomycete strains were obtained on starch-casein agar media by dilution technique, only seven strains, named HP112, HP12, HP411, HPN11, HP 11, HPT13 and HPX12, showed significant antibacterial activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria (Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Staphylococcus epidemidis ATCC 12228, Escherichia coli ATCC 11105). Further studies were carried out with the most active HP411strain against Candida albicans ATCC 10231. This strain could grow rapidly on starch casein agar and other media with high salt containing 7-10% NaCl at 28-30oC. Spore-chain of HP411 showed an elongated and circular shape with 10 to 30 spores/chain. Identification of the strain was carried out by employing the taxonomical studies including the 16S rRNA sequence. Based on phylogenetic and phenotypic evidence it is proposed that HP411 to be belongs to species Streptomyces variabilis. The potent of the crude extract of fermentation broth of HP411that are effective against wide range of pathogens: both gram-positive, gram-negative and fungi. Further studies revealed that the crude extract HP411 could obtain the anticancer activity for cancer cell lines: Hep-G2 (liver cancer cell line); RD (cardiac and skeletal muscle letters cell line); FL (membrane of the uterus cancer cell line). However, the actinomycetes from marine ecosystem will be useful for the discovery of new drugs in the furture.

Keywords: marine actinomycetes, antibacterial, anticancer, Streptomyces variabilis

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Authors: Alice Abiodun Atolagbe, Samson Abiodun Atolagbe

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All over the world and in the history of mankind, festivals have evolved to celebrate one thing or the other. The Yoruba people are no exemptions and they have several festivals which they celebrate at different times, for different reasons and in different communities. Because mankind is mainly of male and female, most of the festivals involve the two sexes, though different roles are usually assigned. In this paper, the writers examine the influence of gender in Yoruba festival using ‘Agbaasin’ festival in Isanlu-Isin, Kwara State of Nigeria as a case study. A research was conducted by visiting the priests, worshipers, and shrine of ‘Agbaasin’ during which interviews were conducted, documented, and analyzed. It was, thereafter, discovered that men dominated the process of celebrating the ‘Agbaasin’ festival even to the extent of cooking by themselves. The paper recommends that women should be more involved in political and communal activities, government should encourage and sponsor researches on gender issues and that, authors of books and writers of plays should create some fora to encourage women empowerment among the Yoruba people. It is hoped that this paper would contribute to the pool of literature available on gender issues among the Yoruba people of Nigeria.

Keywords: gender, Yoruba, festival, Agbaasin, Isanlu-Isin, Kwara State

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Authors: Kenneth Christie

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Syria and Iraq are Arabian nightmares at the local, the regional and global levels in terms of human security and the protection of the vulnerable. Wracked by civil war, ethnic and political violence in the last 5 years in the case of Syria and 13 years in the case of Iraq, the body count now is staggering; the humanitarian crisis continues and there appears no end to this. A crisis that has claimed the lives of 200,000 people so far in Syria, sparked a humanitarian catastrophe fuelled violent Islamic extremism and exposed serious splits in the international community who appear to have no consensus. The international community’s failure to act is simply another sign of the desperate situation which has developed over conflicts that appears unsolvable in the immediate future and may be intractable in the long range. Three things are really at stake I’m going to argue in these continuing crises and how it will affect the human security dimensions of the conflict. Firstly, the protection of vulnerable individuals and civilians in the war, 2ndly, the dire consequences for regional instability as a result and thirdly the risks for minority and ethnic identities who are caught up in this, within and across these volatile borders. This paper will examine these elements and the consequences of the conflict in terms of human security, migration and development.

Keywords: human security, migration, Syria and Iraq, conflict and development

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Authors: Xia Yang, Zheng Yang, Haiyong Sun, Yan Fang, Jingyu Liu, Jia Song

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The smart contract in Ethereum is a unique program deployed on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to help manage cryptocurrency. The security of this smart contract is critical to Ethereum’s operation and highly sensitive. In this paper, we present a formal model for smart contract, using the separated term-obligation (STO) strategy to formalize and verify the smart contract. We use the IBM smart sponsor contract (SSC) as an example to elaborate the detail of the formalizing process. We also propose a formal smart sponsor contract model (FSSCM) and verify SSC’s security properties with an interactive theorem prover Coq. We found the 'Unchecked-Send' vulnerability in the SSC, using our formal model and verification method. Finally, we demonstrate how we can formalize and verify other smart contracts with this approach, and our work indicates that this formal verification can effectively verify the correctness and security of smart contracts.

Keywords: smart contract, formal verification, Ethereum, Coq

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Authors: Bismina Akbar, Smitha M. V.

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Flooding is a global phenomenon that causes widespread devastation, economic damage, and loss of human lives. In the past twenty years, the number of reported flood events has increased significantly. Millions of people around the globe are at risk of flooding from coastal, dam breaks, groundwater, and urban surface water and wastewater sources. Climate change is one of the important causes for them since it affects, directly and indirectly, the river network. Although the contribution of climate change is undeniable, human contributions are there to increase the frequency of floods. There are different types of floods, such as Flash floods, Coastal floods, Urban floods, River (or fluvial) floods, and Ponding (or pluvial flooding). This study focuses on formulating mitigation strategies for urban flood risk reduction through analysis of different best practice case studies, including China, Japan, Indonesia, and Brazil. The mitigation measures suggest that apart from the structural and non-structural measures, environmental considerations like blue-green solutions are beneficial for flood risk reduction. And also, Risk-Informed Master plans are essential nowadays to take risk-based decision processes that enable more sustainability and resilience.

Keywords: hazard, mitigation, risk reduction, urban flood

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Authors: Sinchai Poolklai

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The purpose of this research paper was aimed to examine the level of satisfaction of the faculty members who participated in the ASEAN camp, Chantaburi, Thailand. The population of this study included all the faculty members of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University who participated in the training and activities of the ASEAN camp during March, 2014. Among a total of 200 faculty members who answered the questionnaire, the data was complied by using SPSS program. Percentage, mean and standard deviation were utilized in analyzing the data. The findings revealed that the average mean of satisfaction was 4.37, and standard deviation was 0.7810. Moreover, the mean average can be used to rank the level of satisfaction from each of the following factors: lower cost, less time consuming, faster delivery, more effective learning, and lower environment impact.

Keywords: ASEAN camp, e-learning, satisfaction, application

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Authors: Gianluca Castelnuovo, Gian Mauro Manzoni, Giada Pietrabissa, Stefania Corti, Emanuele Giusti, Roberto Cattivelli, Enrico Molinari, Susan Simpson

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Obesity is currently an important public health problem of epidemic proportions (globesity). Moreover Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is typically connected with obesity, even if not occurring exclusively in conjunction with overweight conditions. Typically obesity with BED requires a longer term treatment in comparison with simple obesity. Rehabilitation interventions that aim at improving weight-loss, reducing obesity-related complications and changing dysfunctional behaviors, should ideally be carried out in a multidisciplinary context with a clinical team composed of psychologists, dieticians, psychiatrists, endocrinologists, nutritionists, physiotherapists, etc. Long-term outpatient multidisciplinary treatments are likely to constitute an essential aspect of rehabilitation, due to the growing costs of a limited inpatient approach. Internet-based technologies can improve long-term obesity rehabilitation within a collaborative approach. The new m health (m-health, mobile health) paradigm, defined as clinical practices supported by up to date mobile communication devices, could increase compliance- engagement and contribute to a significant cost reduction in BED and obesity rehabilitation. Five psychological components need to be considered for successful m Health-based obesity rehabilitation in order to facilitate weight-loss.1) Self-monitoring. Portable body monitors, pedometers and smartphones are mobile and, therefore, can be easily used, resulting in continuous self-monitoring. 2) Counselor feedback and communication. A functional approach is to provide online weight-loss interventions with brief weekly or monthly counselor or psychologist visits. 3) Social support. A group treatment format is typically preferred for behavioral weight-loss interventions. 4) Structured program. Technology-based weight-loss programs incorporate principles of behavior therapy and change with structured weekly protocolos including nutrition, exercise, stimulus control, self-regulation strategies, goal-setting. 5) Individually tailored program. Interventions specifically designed around individual’s goals typically record higher rates of adherence and weight loss. Opportunities and limitations of m health approach in clinical psychology for obesity and BED are discussed, taking into account future research directions in this promising area.

Keywords: obesity, rehabilitation, out-patient, new technologies, tele medicine, tele care, m health, clinical psychology, psychotherapy, chronic care management

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Authors: Sharmeen Rahman, Daniel Schmidt, Jane Hughes

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Paratya australiensis Kemp (Decapoda: Atyidae) is a widely distributed indigenous freshwater shrimp, highly abundant in eastern Australia. This species has been considered as a model stream organism to study genetics, dispersal, biology, behaviour and evolution in Atyids. Paratya has a filter feeding and scavenging habit which plays a significant role in the formation of lotic community structure. It has been shown to reduce periphyton and sediment from hard substrates of coastal streams and hence acts as a strongly-interacting ecosystem macroconsumer. Besides, Paratya is one of the major food sources for stream dwelling fishes. Paratya australiensis is a cryptic species complex consisting of 9 highly divergent mitochondrial DNA lineages. Among them, one lineage has been observed to favour upstream sites at higher altitudes, with cooler water temperatures. This study aims to identify local adaptation in upstream and downstream populations of this lineage in three streams in the Conondale Range, North-eastern Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Two populations (up and down stream) from each stream have been chosen to test for local adaptation, and a parallel pattern of adaptation is expected across all streams. Six populations each consisting of 24 individuals were sequenced using the Restriction Site Associated DNA-seq (RAD-seq) technique. Genetic markers (SNPs) were developed using double digest RAD sequencing (ddRAD-seq). These were used for de novo assembly of Paratya genome. De novo assembly was done using the STACKs program and produced 56, 344 loci for 47 individuals from one stream. Among these individuals, 39 individuals shared 5819 loci, and these markers are being used to test for local adaptation using Fst outlier tests (Arlequin) and Bayesian analysis (BayeScan) between up and downstream populations. Fst outlier test detected 27 loci likely to be under selection and the Bayesian analysis also detected 27 loci as under selection. Among these 27 loci, 3 loci showed evidence of selection at a significance level using BayeScan program. On the other hand, up and downstream populations are strongly diverged at neutral loci with a Fst =0.37. Similar analysis will be done with all six populations to determine if there is a parallel pattern of adaptation across all streams. Furthermore, multi-locus among population covariance analysis will be done to identify potential markers under selection as well as to compare single locus versus multi-locus approaches for detecting local adaptation. Adaptive genes identified in this study can be used for future studies to design primers and test for adaptation in related crustacean species.

Keywords: Paratya australiensis, rainforest streams, selection, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs)

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Authors: Ali Cheshmehzangi, Ayotunde Dawodu

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In urban planning, Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of the site plays a major role in the multiplicity of performances, from humane living environments to energy performance. When one considers the astounding volume of new housing that is going to be constructed across the globe during the next few decades due to growing urbanisation (e.g. particularly in developing world), it is imperative that we have an empirically grounded grasp of which building configurations are more energy efficient. As a common planning metric, it would be helpful to know exactly how managing FAR connects with energy efficiency. Hence, this study puts together a set of modelling of various FARs for a typical residential compound and address the considerations of energy planning integration in the practice of building configuration and urban planning. Such decision makings at the planning and design stage enable us to provide pathways of optimising urban climate at mesoscale of the built environment, i.e. the neighbourhood or community level. In this study, a comparative study is conducted using Eco-Tect Software, using a case study in the City of Ningbo, China. Findings of the study contribute to identifying scenarios of various FAR use and energy planning at mesoscale. The final results contribute to studies in urban climate, from the perspectives of urban planning, energy planning, and urban modelling.

Keywords: China, energy planning, FAR, floor-area-ratio, mesoscale, urban climate, urban modelling

Procedia PDF Downloads 169

Authors: Mubita Namuyamba

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Despite an increase in the number of cancer programs and partnerships in cancer care provision, the burden of cancer in Zambia is increasingly having a significant impact on morbidity and mortality rates. The increase in cancer morbidity and mortality rates has given rise to psychological and psycho social implications (PPsI) in cancer care. Cancer patients, care givers and health care providers are faced with a multitude of PPsIs in cancer care that mainly impact negatively on the management of cancer patients. The study adopted a case study design and was purposively conducted at the Cancer Diseases Hospital in Lusaka (Zambia) after obtaining ethical clearance from the Ethics committee. The sample for this study included 70 cancer patients, 20 care givers and 5 hospital staff (4 nurses and 1 doctor). Data was collected using interviews guides, focus group discussion guides and questionnaires respectively. The qualitative data was analysed thematically. The various psychological and psychosocial challenges that conspire to deter the provision of effective cancer care nursing and improved methods of minimizing the psychological and psychosocial implications in cancer care are the products of this study.

Keywords: case study, enquiry, psychological and psycho social aspects, Zambia

Procedia PDF Downloads 341

Authors: Michael A. Sprayberry, Vincent C. Paquit

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Process parameter optimization in metal powder bed electron beam melting (MPBEBM) is crucial to ensure the technology's repeatability, control, and industry-continued adoption. Despite continued efforts to address the challenges via the traditional design of experiments and process mapping techniques, there needs to be more successful in an on-the-fly optimization framework that can be adapted to MPBEBM systems. Additionally, data-intensive physics-based modeling and simulation methods are difficult to support by a metal AM alloy or system due to cost restrictions. To mitigate the challenge of resource-intensive experiments and models, this paper introduces a Multi-Objective Reinforcement Learning (MORL) methodology defined as an optimization problem for MPBEBM. An off-policy MORL framework based on policy gradient is proposed to discover optimal sets of beam power (P) – beam velocity (v) combinations to maintain a steady-state melt pool depth and phase transformation. For this, an experimentally validated Eagar-Tsai melt pool model is used to simulate the MPBEBM environment, where the beam acts as the agent across the P – v space to maximize returns for the uncertain powder bed environment producing a melt pool and phase transformation closer to the optimum. The culmination of the training process yields a set of process parameters {power, speed, hatch spacing, layer depth, and preheat} where the state (P,v) with the highest returns corresponds to a refined process parameter mapping. The resultant objects and mapping of returns to the P-v space show convergence with experimental observations. The framework, therefore, provides a model-free multi-objective approach to discovery without the need for trial-and-error experiments.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, metal powder bed fusion, reinforcement learning, process parameter optimization

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Authors: Fortune Mangara

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The world is undergoing the largest wave of urban growth in history due to rapid urbanization. Africa’s fast rate of urbanization is being driven by several factors such as population growth and migration. Urbanization results in development pressure on existing infrastructure, and numerous existing buildings are being destroyed in the process. Many of these buildings are built by environmental heritage resources which are part of the city's heritage and are therefore valuable. Many built environment heritage resources are currently being destroyed due to development pressure, while others are facing the risk of destruction or abandonment. There are different approaches that inform urban development and urban conservation. The modernist and post-modernist dichotomy has played an influencing role on how development or conservation of built environment heritage resources are approached. The fragmented nature of historical urban conservation paradigms and theories are also reflected in the evolution of policy and legislation that guide urban development and conservation of built heritage resources. Urban development and conservation have a long history of being guided by separated policies and legislation. However, recent international and South African policy and legislation had started to acknowledge the importance of integrating urban development and urban conservation. Spatial planning guides urban development and can be used as an integrative tool. With the aforementioned in mind, the main research question that guides this study is: What role does spatial planning play in the coexistence of urban development and urban conservation in a city in transition? The main purpose of this research is to use spatial planning as a tool for integrating urban conservation and urban development with reference to built environmental heritage resources. A qualitative research methodology is going to be employed in which a singular case study will be used as the research design. A qualitative document analysis will be used to collect data. Potchefstroom is going to be used as a case study as it is the oldest town in the North West province therefore is rich in built environmental heritage resources.

Keywords: built environmental heritage resources, document analysis, spatial planning, urban conservation, urban development

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Y. Galerkin, K. Soldatova, A. Drozdov

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The 6th version of Universal modeling method for centrifugal compressor stage calculation is described. Identification of the new mathematical model was made. As a result of identification the uniform set of empirical coefficients is received. The efficiency definition error is 0,86 % at a design point. The efficiency definition error at five flow rate points (except a point of the maximum flow rate) is 1,22 %. Several variants of the stage with 3D impellers designed by 6th version program and quasi three-dimensional calculation programs were compared by their gas dynamic performances CFD (NUMECA FINE TURBO). Performance comparison demonstrated general principles of design validity and leads to some design recommendations.

Keywords: compressor design, loss model, performance prediction, test data, model stages, flow rate coefficient, work coefficient

Procedia PDF Downloads 414

Authors: Mohit Kumar, Beklashwar Salona, Shiv Murti, Mukesh Singh

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We report here a case of five-months old male baby, born as second child of non-consanguineous parents with no considerable history of genetic abnormality which was referred to our cytogenetic laboratory for chromosomal analysis. Physical dysmorphic facial features including mongoloid face, cleft palate, simian crease, and developmental delay were observed. We present this case with unique balanced autosomal translocation of t(3;10)(p21;p13). The risk of phenotypic abnormalities based on de novo balanced translocation was estimated to be 7%. The association of balanced chromosomal rearrangement with Down syndrome features such as multiple congenital anomalies, facial dysmorphism and congenital heart anomalies are very rare in a 5-months old male child. Trisomy-21 is not uncommon in chromosomal abnormality with the birth defect and balanced translocations are frequently observed in patients with secondary infertility or recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA). Two ml heparinized peripheral blood cells cultured in RPMI-1640 for 72 hours supplemented with 20% fetal bovine serum, phytohemagglutinin (PHA), and antibiotics were used for chromosomal analysis. A total 30 metaphases images were captured using Olympus-BX51 microscope and analyzed using Bio-view karyotyping software through GTG-banding (G bands by trypsin and Giemsa) according to International System for Human Cytogenetic Nomenclature 2016. The results showed balanced translocation between short arm of chromosome # 3 and short arm of chromosome # 10. The karyotype of the child was found to be 46,XY,t(3;10)(p21; p13). Chromosomal abnormalities are one of the major causes of birth defect in new born babies. Also, balanced translocations are frequently observed in patients with secondary infertility or recurrent spontaneous abortion. The index case presented with dysmorphic facial features and had a balanced translocation 46,XY,t(3;10)(p21;p13). This translocation with break points at (p21; p13) has not been reported in the literature in a child with facial dysmorphism. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of novel balanced translocation t(3;10) with break points in a child with dysmorphic features. We found balanced chromosomal translocation instead of any trisomy or unbalanced aberrations along with some phenotypic abnormalities. Therefore, we suggest that such novel balanced translocation with abnormal phenotype should be reported in order to enable the pathologist, pediatrician, and gynecologist to have a better insight into the intricacies of chromosomal abnormalities and their associated phenotypic features. We hypothesized that dysmorphic features as seen in this case may be the result of change in the pattern of genes located at the breakpoint area in balanced translocations or may be due to deletion or mutation of genes located on the p-arm of chromosome # 3 and p-arm of chromosome # 10.

Keywords: balanced translocation, karyotyping, phenotypic abnormalities, facial dimorphisms

Procedia PDF Downloads 210