Search results for: Variable- fidelity modelling

Authors: Melvin Sethobya, Sithule Xanga, Sechaba Lenong, Lunga Nolakana, Gbenga Adesola

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Mining has been the cornerstone of the South African economy for the last century. Most of the gold mining in South Africa was conducted within the Witwatersrand basin, which contributed to the rapid growth of the city of Johannesburg and capitulated the city to becoming the business and wealth capital of the country. But with gradual depletion of resources, a stoppage in the extraction of underground water from mines and other factors relating to survival of the mining operations over a lengthy period, most of the mines were abandoned and left to pollute the local waterways and groundwater with toxins, heavy metal residue and increased acid mine drainage ensued. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy commissioned a project whose aim is to monitor, maintain, and mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of polluted water mine water flowing into local streams affecting local ecosystems and livelihoods downstream. As part of mitigation efforts, the diagnosis and monitoring of groundwater or surface water polluted sites has become important. Geophysical surveys, in particular, Resistivity and Magnetics surveys, were selected as some of most suitable techniques for investigation of local ingress points along of one the major streams cutting through the Witwatersrand basin, namely the Blesbokspruit, which is found in the eastern part of the basin. The aim of the surveys was to provide information that could be used to assist in determining possible water loss/ ingress from the Blesbokspriut stream. Modelling of geophysical surveys results offered an in-depth insight into the interaction and pathways of polluted water through mapping of possible ingress channels near the Blesbokspruit. The resistivity - depth profile of the surveyed site exhibit a three(3) layered model with low resistivity values (10 to 200 Ω.m) overburden, which is underlain by a moderate resistivity weathered layer (>300 Ω.m), which sits on a more resistive crystalline bedrock (>500 Ω.m). Two locations of potential ingress channels were mapped across the two traverses at the site. The magnetic survey conducted at the site mapped a major NE-SW trending regional linearment with a strong magnetic signature, which was modeled to depth beyond 100m, with the potential to act as a conduit for dispersion of stream water away from the stream, as it shared a similar orientation with the potential ingress channels as mapped using the resistivity method.

Keywords: eletrictrical resistivity, magnetics survey, blesbokspruit, ingress

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Authors: Liqin Zhang, Liang Yan

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This paper addresses the speed synchronization control problem for a network-based multi-motor system from the perspective of cluster consensus theory. Each motor is considered as a single agent connected through fixed and undirected network. This paper presents an improved control protocol from three aspects. First, for the purpose of improving both tracking and synchronization performance, this paper presents a distributed leader-following method. The improved control protocol takes the importance of each motor’s speed into consideration, and all motors are divided into different groups according to speed weights. Specifically, by using control parameters optimization, the synchronization error and tracking error can be regulated and decoupled to some extent. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed strategy. In practical engineering, the simplified models are unrealistic, such as single-integrator and double-integrator. And previous algorithms require the acceleration information of the leader available to all followers if the leader has a varying velocity, which is also difficult to realize. Therefore, the method focuses on an observer-based variable structure algorithm for consensus tracking, which gets rid of the leader acceleration. The presented scheme optimizes synchronization performance, as well as provides satisfactory robustness. What’s more, the existing algorithms can obtain a stable synchronous system; however, the obtained stable system may encounter some disturbances that may destroy the synchronization. Focus on this challenging technological problem, a state-dependent-switching approach is introduced. In the presence of unmeasured angular speed and unknown failures, this paper investigates a distributed fault-tolerant consensus tracking algorithm for a group non-identical motors. The failures are modeled by nonlinear functions, and the sliding mode observer is designed to estimate the angular speed and nonlinear failures. The convergence and stability of the given multi-motor system are proved. Simulation results have shown that all followers asymptotically converge to a consistent state when one follower fails to follow the virtual leader during a large enough disturbance, which illustrates the good performance of synchronization control accuracy.

Keywords: consensus control, distributed follow, fault-tolerant control, multi-motor system, speed synchronization

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Authors: Mohd Khairul Bazli Mohd Aziz, Fadhilah Yusof, Zulkifli Yusop, Zalina Mohd Daud, Mohammad Afif Kasno

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Recent developed rainfall network design techniques have been discussed and compared by many researchers worldwide due to the demand of acquiring higher levels of accuracy from collected data. In many studies, rain-gauge networks are designed to provide good estimation for areal rainfall and for flood modelling and prediction. In a certain study, even using lumped models for flood forecasting, a proper gauge network can significantly improve the results. Therefore existing rainfall network in Johor must be optimized and redesigned in order to meet the required level of accuracy preset by rainfall data users. The well-known geostatistics method (variance-reduction method) that is combined with simulated annealing was used as an algorithm of optimization in this study to obtain the optimal number and locations of the rain gauges. Rain gauge network structure is not only dependent on the station density; station location also plays an important role in determining whether information is acquired accurately. The existing network of 84 rain gauges in Johor is optimized and redesigned by using rainfall, humidity, solar radiation, temperature and wind speed data during monsoon season (November – February) for the period of 1975 – 2008. Three different semivariogram models which are Spherical, Gaussian and Exponential were used and their performances were also compared in this study. Cross validation technique was applied to compute the errors and the result showed that exponential model is the best semivariogram. It was found that the proposed method was satisfied by a network of 64 rain gauges with the minimum estimated variance and 20 of the existing ones were removed and relocated. An existing network may consist of redundant stations that may make little or no contribution to the network performance for providing quality data. Therefore, two different cases were considered in this study. The first case considered the removed stations that were optimally relocated into new locations to investigate their influence in the calculated estimated variance and the second case explored the possibility to relocate all 84 existing stations into new locations to determine the optimal position. The relocations of the stations in both cases have shown that the new optimal locations have managed to reduce the estimated variance and it has proven that locations played an important role in determining the optimal network.

Keywords: geostatistics, simulated annealing, semivariogram, optimization

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Authors: Idit Kalisher, Israel Luski

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One result of the growing dynamicity of labor markets in recent decades is a wider scope of employment mobility – i.e., transitions between employers, either within or between careers. Employment mobility decisions are primarily affected by the current employment status of the worker, which is reflected in wage and tenure. Using 34,328 observations from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLS79), which were derived from the USA population between 1990 and 2012, this paper aims to investigate the effects of wage and tenure over employment mobility choices, and additionally to examine the effects of other personal characteristics, individual labor market characteristics and macroeconomic factors. The estimation strategy was designed to address two challenges that arise from the combination of the model and the data: (a) endogeneity of the wage and the tenure in the choice equation; and (b) unobserved heterogeneity, as the data of this research is longitudinal. To address (a), estimation was performed using two-stage limited dependent variable procedure (2SLDV); and to address (b), the second stage was estimated using femlogit – an implementation of the multinomial logit model with fixed effects. Among workers who have experienced at least one turnover, the wage was found to have a main effect on career turnover likelihood of all workers, whereas the wage effect on job turnover likelihood was found to be dependent on individual characteristics. The wage was found to negatively affect the turnover likelihood and the effect was found to vary across wage level: high-wage workers were more affected compared to low-wage workers. Tenure was found to have a main positive effect on both turnover types’ likelihoods, though the effect was moderated by the wage. The findings also reveal that as their wage increases, women are more likely to turnover than men, and academically educated workers are more likely to turnover within careers. Minorities were found to be as likely as Caucasians to turnover post wage-increase, but less likely to turnover with each additional tenure year. The wage and the tenure effects were found to vary also between careers. The difference in attitude towards money, labor market opportunities and risk aversion could explain these findings. Additionally, the likelihood of a turnover was found to be affected by previous unemployment spells, age, and other labor market and personal characteristics. The results of this research could assist policymakers as well as business owners and employers. The former may be able to encourage women and older workers’ employment by considering the effects of gender and age on the probability of a turnover, and the latter may be able to assess their employees’ likelihood of a turnover by considering the effects of their personal characteristics.

Keywords: employment mobility, endogeneity, femlogit, turnover

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Authors: Antti Lanki, Justiina Halonen, Juuso Punnonen, Emmi Rantavuo

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Marine oil spill response operation requires extensive vessel maneuvering and navigation skills. At-sea oil containment and recovery include both single vessel and multi-vessel operations. Towing long oil containment booms that are several hundreds of meters in length, is a challenge in itself. Boom deployment and towing in multi-vessel configurations is an added challenge that requires precise coordination and control of the vessels. Efficient communication, as a prerequisite for shared situational awareness, is needed in order to execute the response task effectively. To gain and maintain adequate maritime skills, practical training is needed. Field exercises are the most effective way of learning, but especially the related vessel operations are resource-intensive and costly. Field exercises may also be affected by environmental limitations such as high sea-state or other adverse weather conditions. In Finland, the seasonal ice-coverage also limits the training period to summer seasons only. In addition, environmental sensitiveness of the sea area restricts the use of real oil or other target substances. This paper examines, whether maritime simulator training can offer a complementary method to overcome the training challenges related to field exercises. The objective is to assess the efficiency and the learning impact of simulator training, and the specific skills that can be trained most effectively in simulators. This paper provides an overview of learning results from two oil spill response pilot courses, in which maritime navigational bridge simulators were used to train the oil spill response authorities. The simulators were equipped with an oil spill functionality module. The courses were targeted at coastal Fire and Rescue Services responsible for near shore oil spill response in Finland. The competence levels of the participants were surveyed before and after the course in order to measure potential shifts in competencies due to the simulator training. In addition to the quantitative analysis, the efficiency of the simulator training is evaluated qualitatively through feedback from the participants. The results indicate that simulator training is a valid and effective method for developing marine oil spill response competencies that complement traditional field exercises. Simulator training provides a safe environment for assessing various oil containment and recovery tactics. One of the main benefits of the simulator training was found to be the immediate feedback the spill modelling software provides on the oil spill behaviour as a reaction to response measures.

Keywords: maritime training, oil spill response, simulation, vessel manoeuvring

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Authors: Ogemdi Chinwendu Anika, Anna Strzelecka, Yadira Bajón-Fernández, Raffaella Villa

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Anaerobic digestion (AD) has been used since time in memorial to take care of organic wastes in the environment, especially for sewage and wastewater treatments. Recently, the rising demand/need to increase renewable energy from organic matter has caused the AD substrates spectrum to expand and include a wider variety of organic materials such as agricultural residues and farm manure which is annually generated at around 140 billion metric tons globally. The problem, however, is that agricultural wastes are composed of materials that are heterogeneous and too difficult to degrade -particularly lignin, that make up about 0–40% of the total lignocellulose content. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of varying concentrations of lignin on biogas yields and their subsequent response to a commercial yeast-based bioadditive in batch anaerobic digesters. The experiments were carried out in batches for a retention time of 56 days with different lignin concentrations (200 mg, 300 mg, 400 mg, 500 mg, and 600 mg) treated to different conditions to first determine the concentration of the bioadditive that was most optimal for overall process improvement and yields increase. The batch experiments were set up using 130 mL bottles with a working volume of 60mL, maintained at 38°C in an incubator shaker (150rpm). Digestate obtained from a local plant operating at mesophilic conditions was used as the starting inoculum, and commercial kraft lignin was used as feedstock. Biogas measurements were carried out using the displacement method and were corrected to standard temperature and pressure using standard gas equations. Furthermore, the modified Gompertz equation model was used to non-linearly regress the resulting data to estimate gas production potential, production rates, and the duration of lag phases as indicatives of degrees of lignin inhibition. The results showed that lignin had a strong inhibitory effect on the AD process, and the higher the lignin concentration, the more the inhibition. Also, the modelling showed that the rates of gas production were influenced by the concentrations of the lignin substrate added to the system – the higher the lignin concentrations in mg (0, 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600) the lower the respective rate of gas production in ml/gVS.day (3.3, 2.2, 2.3, 1.6, 1.3, and 1.1), although the 300 mg increased by 0.1 ml/gVS.day over that of the 200 mg. The impact of the yeast-based bioaddition on the rate of production was most significant in the 400 mg and 500 mg as the rate was improved by 0.1 ml/gVS.day and 0.2 ml/gVS.day respectively. This indicates that agricultural residues with higher lignin content may be more responsive to inhibition alleviation by yeast-based bioadditive; therefore, further study on its application to the AD of agricultural residues of high lignin content will be the next step in this research.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, renewable energy, lignin valorisation, biogas

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Authors: Mikhail V. Khachaturyan, Inga A. Koryagina, Eugenia V. Klicheva

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In modern conditions, scientific judgment of problems in developing mechanisms of value creation and risk management acquires special relevance. Formation of economic knowledge has resulted in the constant analysis of consumer behavior for all players from national and world markets. Effective mechanisms development of the demand analysis, crucial for consumer's characteristics of future production, and the risks connected with the development of this production are the main objectives of control systems in modern conditions. The modern period of economic development is characterized by a high level of globalization of business and rigidity of competition. At the same time, the considerable share of new products and services costs has a non-material intellectual nature. The most successful in Russia is the contemporary development of small innovative firms. Such firms, through their unique technologies and new approaches to process management, which form the basis of their intellectual capital, can show flexibility and succeed in the market. As a rule, such enterprises should have very variable structure excluding the tough scheme of submission and demanding essentially new incentives for inclusion of personnel in innovative activity. Realization of similar structures, as well as a new approach to management, can be constructed based on value-oriented management which is directed to gradual change of consciousness of personnel and formation from groups of adherents included in the solution of the general innovative tasks. At the same time, valuable changes can gradually capture not only innovative firm staff, but also the structure of its corporate partners. Introduction of new technologies is the significant factor contributing to the development of new valuable imperatives and acceleration of the changing values systems of the organization. It relates to the fact that new technologies change the internal environment of the organization in a way that the old system of values becomes inefficient in new conditions. Introduction of new technologies often demands change in the structure of employee’s interaction and training in their new principles of work. During the introduction of new technologies and the accompanying change in the value system, the structure of the management of the values of the organization is changing. This is due to the need to attract more staff to justify and consolidate the new value system and bring their view into the motivational potential of the new value system of the organization.

Keywords: value, risk, creation, problems, organization

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Authors: Dangut Maren David, Skaf Zakwan

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Adequate monitoring of vehicle component in other to obtain high uptime is the goal of predictive maintenance, the major challenge faced by businesses in industries is the significant cost associated with a delay in service delivery due to system downtime. Most of those businesses are interested in predicting those problems and proactively prevent them in advance before it occurs, which is the core advantage of Prognostic Health Management (PHM) application. The recent emergence of industry 4.0 or industrial internet of things (IIoT) has led to the need for monitoring systems activities and enhancing system-to-system or component-to- component interactions, this has resulted to a large generation of data known as big data. Analysis of big data represents an increasingly important, however, due to complexity inherently in the dataset such as imbalance classification problems, it becomes extremely difficult to build a model with accurate high precision. Data-driven predictive modeling for condition-based maintenance (CBM) has recently drowned research interest with growing attention to both academics and industries. The large data generated from industrial process inherently comes with a different degree of complexity which posed a challenge for analytics. Thus, imbalance classification problem exists perversely in industrial datasets which can affect the performance of learning algorithms yielding to poor classifier accuracy in model development. Misclassification of faults can result in unplanned breakdown leading economic loss. In this paper, an advanced approach for handling imbalance classification problem is proposed and then a prognostic model for predicting aircraft component replacement is developed to predict component replacement in advanced by exploring aircraft historical data, the approached is based on hybrid ensemble-based method which improves the prediction of the minority class during learning, we also investigate the impact of our approach on multiclass imbalance problem. We validate the feasibility and effectiveness in terms of the performance of our approach using real-world aircraft operation and maintenance datasets, which spans over 7 years. Our approach shows better performance compared to other similar approaches. We also validate our approach strength for handling multiclass imbalanced dataset, our results also show good performance compared to other based classifiers.

Keywords: prognostics, data-driven, imbalance classification, deep learning

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Authors: Priscilla Echeverria

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This paper addresses initial teacher formation as a formative space in which pedagogy students develop a pedagogical agency capacity to contribute to social justice, considering ethical, political, and epistemic dimensions. This paper is structured by discussing first the concepts of agency, pedagogical interaction, and social justice from a critical perspective; and continues offering preliminary results on the capacity of pedagogical agency in novice teachers after the analysis of critical incidents as a research methodology. This study is motivated by the concern that responding to the current neoliberal scenario, many initial teacher formation (ITF) programs have reduced the meaning of education to instruction, and pedagogy to methodology, favouring the formation of a technical professional over a reflective or critical one. From this concern, this study proposes that the restitution of the subject is an urgent task in teacher formation, so it is essential to enable him in his capacity for action and advance in eliminating institutionalized oppression insofar as it affects that capacity. Given that oppression takes place in human interaction, through this work, I propose that initial teacher formation develops sensitivity and educates the gaze to identify oppression and take action against it, both in pedagogical interactions -which configure political, ethical, and epistemic subjectivities- as in the hidden and official curriculum. All this from the premise that modelling democratic and dialogical interactions are basic for any program that seeks to contribute to a more just and empowered society. The contribution of this study lies in the fact that it opens a discussion in an area about which we know little: the impact of the type of interactions offered by university teaching at ITF on the capacity of future teachers to be pedagogical agents. For this reason, this study seeks to gather evidence of the result of this formation, analysing the capacity of pedagogical agency of novice teachers, or, in other words, how capable the graduates of secondary pedagogies are in their first pedagogical experiences to act and make decisions putting the formative purposes that they are capable of autonomously defining before technical or bureaucratic issues imposed by the curriculum or the official culture. This discussion is part of my doctoral research, "The importance of developing the capacity for ethical-political-epistemic agency in novice teachers during initial teacher formation to contribute to social justice", which I am currently developing in the Educational Research program of the University of Lancaster, United Kingdom, as a Conicyt fellow for the 2019 cohort.

Keywords: initial teacher formation, pedagogical agency, pedagogical interaction, social justice, hidden curriculum

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Authors: Misuk Kim, Seokho Kang, Jehyuk Lee, Hyunchang Cho, Sungzoon Cho

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In semiconductor manufacturing, virtual metrology (VM) refers to methods to predict properties of a wafer based on machine parameters and sensor data of the production equipment, without performing the (costly) physical measurement of the wafer properties (Wikipedia). Additional benefits include avoidance of human bias and identification of important factors affecting the quality of the process which allow improving the process quality in the future. It is however rare to find VM applied to other areas of manufacturing. In this work, we propose to use VM to copper clad laminate (CCL) manufacturing. CCL is a core element of a printed circuit board (PCB) which is used in smartphones, tablets, digital cameras, and laptop computers. The manufacturing of CCL consists of three processes: Treating, lay-up, and pressing. Treating, the most important process among the three, puts resin on glass cloth, heat up in a drying oven, then produces prepreg for lay-up process. In this process, three important quality factors are inspected: Treated weight (T/W), Minimum Viscosity (M/V), and Gel Time (G/T). They are manually inspected, incurring heavy cost in terms of time and money, which makes it a good candidate for VM application. We developed prediction models of the three quality factors T/W, M/V, and G/T, respectively, with process variables, raw material, and environment variables. The actual process data was obtained from a CCL manufacturer. A variety of variable selection methods and learning algorithms were employed to find the best prediction model. We obtained prediction models of M/V and G/T with a high enough accuracy. They also provided us with information on “important” predictor variables, some of which the process engineers had been already aware and the rest of which they had not. They were quite excited to find new insights that the model revealed and set out to do further analysis on them to gain process control implications. T/W did not turn out to be possible to predict with a reasonable accuracy with given factors. The very fact indicates that the factors currently monitored may not affect T/W, thus an effort has to be made to find other factors which are not currently monitored in order to understand the process better and improve the quality of it. In conclusion, VM application to CCL’s treating process was quite successful. The newly built quality prediction model allowed one to reduce the cost associated with actual metrology as well as reveal some insights on the factors affecting the important quality factors and on the level of our less than perfect understanding of the treating process.

Keywords: copper clad laminate, predictive modeling, quality control, virtual metrology

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Authors: Janaina Pereira, Barbara Gonzalez, Valentina Chitas, Teresa Molina

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Intro: The positive impact of opioid maintenance programs on the health of heroin addicts, and on public health in general, has been widely recognized, namely on the prevalence reduction of infectious diseases as HIV, and on the social reintegration of this population. Nevertheless, a part of patients in these programs cannot remain heroin abstinent, or has relapses, during the treatment. Method: Thus, this cross-sectional research aims at analyzing the relation between a set of psychological and psychosocial variables, which have been associated with the onset of heroin use, and assess if they are also associated with absence of abstinence in participants in an opioid maintenance program. A total of 62 patients, aged between 26 and 58 years old (M= 40.87, DP= 7.39) with a time in opioid maintenance program between 1 and 10 years (M= 5.42, DP= 3.05), 77.4% male and 22.6% female, participated in this research. To assess the criterion variable (heroin use) we used the mean value of positive results in urine tests during the participation in the program, weighted according to the number of months in program. The predictor variables were the coping strategies, the dispositional sensation seeking, and the existence of Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Results: The results showed that only 33.87% of the patients were totally abstinent of heroin use since the beginning of the program, and the absence of abstinence, as the number of positive heroin tests, was primarily predicted by less proactive coping, and secondarily by a higher level of sensation seeking. 16.13% of the sample fulfilled diagnosis criteria for PTSD, and 67.74 % had at least one traumatic experience throughout their lives. The total of PTSD symptoms had a positive correlation with the number of physical health problems, and with the lack of professional occupation. These results have several implications for the clinical practice in this field, and we suggest the promotion of proactive coping strategies should integrate these opioid maintenance programs, as they represent the tendency to face future events as challenges and opportunities, being positively related to positive results on several fields. The early identification of PTSD in the participants, before entering the opioid maintenance programs, would be important as it is related to negative features that hinder social reintegration, Finally, to identify individuals with a sensation seeking profile would be relevant, not only because they face a higher risk of relapse, but also because the therapeutical approaches should not ignore this dispositional feature in the alternatives they propose to the patients.

Keywords: opioid maintenance programs, proactive coping, PTSD, sensation seeking

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Authors: Mohiuddin Ahsanul Kabir Chowdhury, Ahmed Ehsanur Rahman, Nazia Binte Ali, Abdullah Nurus Salam Khan, Afrin Iqbal, Mohammad Mehedi Hasan, Salma Morium, Afsana Bhuiyan, Shams El Arifeen

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Violence against women has been treated as a global epidemic which is as fatal as any serious disease or accidents. Like many other low-income countries it is also common in Bangladesh. In spite of existence of a few documented evidences in some other countries, in Bangladesh, domestic violence against women (DVAW) is not considered as a factor for malnutrition in children yet. Hence, the aim of the study was to investigate the association between DVAW and the nutritional status of their under-5 children in the context of slum areas of Chittagong, Bangladesh. A Cross-sectional survey was conducted among 87 women of reproductive age having at least one child under-5 years of age and staying with husband for at least last 1 year in selected slums under Chittagong City Corporation area. Data collection tools were structured questionnaire for the study participants and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) to measure the nutritional status of the under-5 children. The data underwent descriptive and regression analysis. Out of 87 respondents, 50 (57.5%) reported to suffer from domestic violence by their husband during last one year. Physical violence was found to be significantly associated with age (p=0.02), age at marriage (p=0.043), wealth score (p=0.000), and with knowledge regarding law (p=0.017). According to the measurement of mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) 21% children were suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and the same percentage of children were suffering from moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). However, unadjusted odds ratio suggested that there was negative association with domestic violence and nutritional status. But, the logistic regression confounding for other variable showed significant association with total family income (p=0.006), wealth score (p=0.031), age at marriage (p=0.029) and number of child (p=0.006). Domestic violence against women and under nutrition of the children, both are highly prevalent in Bangladesh. More extensive research should be performed to identify the factors contributing to the high prevalence of domestic violence and malnutrition in urban slums of Bangladesh. Household-based intervention is needed to limit this burning problem. In a nutshell, effective community participation, education and counseling are essential to create awareness among the community.

Keywords: Bangladesh, cross sectional survey, domestic violence against women, nutritional status, under-5 children, urban slums

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Authors: Lucksini Raveendran

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Introduction: This mixed-methods study focuses on the experiences of ethnocultural youth and families in Canada, identifying key barriers and opportunities to inform service programming and policies that can better meet their mental health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Methods: Mental Health Commission of Canada's Headstrong initiative administered the youth survey (April – June 2020) and family survey (June – August 2020) with a total sample size of 137 and 481 respondents, respectively. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify key challenges faced, coping strategies used, and help-seeking behaviours. A similar approach was also applied to the family survey data, but instead, a representative sample was collated to analyze geographically variable and ethnically diverse subgroups. Results and analysis: Multiple challenges have impacted families, including increased feelings of loneliness and distress from border travel restrictions, especially among those navigating pregnancy alone or managing children with developmental needs, which is often understudied. Also, marginalized groups were disproportionately affected by inequitable access to communication technologies, further deepening the digital divide. Some reported living in congregated homes with regular conflicts, thus leading to increased anxiety and exposure to violence. For many families, urbanicity and ethnicity played a key role in how families reported coping with feelings of uncertainty while managing work commitments, navigating community resources, fulfilling care responsibilities, and homeschooling children of all ages. Despite these challenges, there was evidence of post-traumatic growth and building community resiliency. Conclusions and implications for policy, practice, or additional research: There is a need to foster opportunities to promote and sustain mental health, wellness, and resilience for families through social connections. Also, intersectionality must be embedded in the collection, analysis, and application of data to improve equitable access to evidence-based and recovery-oriented mental health supports among diverse families in Canada. Lastly, address future research on the long-term COVID-19 impacts of travel border restrictions on family wellness.

Keywords: mental health, youth mental health, family wellness, health equity

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Authors: Tetyana Kendzerska, David T. Zhu, Michael Pugliese, Douglas Manuel, Mohsen Sadatsafavi, Marcus Povitz, Therese A. Stukel, Teresa To, Shawn D. Aaron, Sunita Mulpuru, Melanie Chin, Claire E. Kendall, Kednapa Thavorn, Rebecca Robillard, Andrea S. Gershon

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The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the management of ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) remains unknown. To compare observed and expected (projected based on previous years) trends in all-cause mortality and healthcare use for ACSCs in the first year of the pandemic (March 2020 - March 2021). A population-based study using provincial health administrative data.General adult population (Ontario, Canada). Monthly all-cause mortality, and hospitalizations, emergency department (ED) and outpatient visit rates (per 100,000 people at-risk) for seven combined ACSCs (asthma, COPD, angina, congestive heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, and epilepsy) during the first year were compared with similar periods in previous years (2016-2019) by fitting monthly time series auto-regressive integrated moving-average models. Compared to previous years, all-cause mortality rates increased at the beginning of the pandemic (observed rate in March-May 2020 of 79.98 vs. projected of 71.24 [66.35-76.50]) and then returned to expected in June 2020—except among immigrants and people with mental health conditions where they remained elevated. Hospitalization and ED visit rates for ACSCs remained lower than projected throughout the first year: observed hospitalization rate of 37.29 vs. projected of 52.07 (47.84-56.68); observed ED visit rate of 92.55 vs. projected of 134.72 (124.89-145.33). ACSC outpatient visit rates decreased initially (observed rate of 4,299.57 vs. projected of 5,060.23 [4,712.64-5,433.46]) and then returned to expected in June 2020. Reductions in outpatient visits for ACSCs at the beginning of the pandemic combined with reduced hospital admissions may have been associated with temporally increased mortality—disproportionately experienced by immigrants and those with mental health conditions. The Ottawa Hospital Academic Medical Organization

Keywords: COVID-19, chronic disease, all-cause mortality, hospitalizations, emergency department visits, outpatient visits, modelling, population-based study, asthma, COPD, angina, heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, epilepsy

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Authors: H. Minor-Pérez, A. M. Mota-Silva, S. Ortiz-Barrios

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Substances of vegetable origin with antioxidant capacity have a high potential for application on the conservation of some foods, can prevent or reduce for example oxidation of lipids. However a food is a complex system whose wide variety of components wich can reduce or eliminate this antioxidant capacity. The antioxidant activity can be determined with the ABTS technique. The radical ABTS+ is generated from the acid 2, 2´ - Azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS). This radical is a composite color bluish-green, stable and with a spectrum of absorption into the UV-visible. The addition of antioxidants causes discoloration, value that can be reported as a percentage of inhibition of the cation radical ABTS+. The objective of this study was evaluated the effect of the combination of the pH and the essential oil of cinnamon (EOC) on inhibition of the radical ABTS+, using statistical design of central point (Design Expert) to obtain mathematical models that describe this phenomenon. Were evaluated 17 treatments with combinations of pH 5, 6 and 7 (citrate-phosphate buffer) and the concentration of essential oil of cinnamon (C): 0 µg/mL, 100 µg/mL and 200 µg/mL. The samples were analyzed using the ABTS technique. The reagent was dissolved in methanol 80% to standardized the absorbance to 0.7 +/- 0.1 at 754 nm. Then samples were mixed with reagent standardized ABTS and after 1 min and 7 min absorbance was read for each treatment at 754 nm. Was used a curve pattern with vitamin C and reported the values as inhibition (%) of radical ABTS+. The statistical analysis shows the experimental results were adjusted to a quadratic model, to the times of 1 min and 7 min. This model describes the influence of the factors investigated independently: pH and cinnamon essential oil (µg/mL) and the effect of the interaction between pH*C, as well as the square of the pH2 and C2. The model obtained was Y = 10.33684 - 3.98118*pH + 1.17031*C + 0.62745*pH2 - 3.26675*10-3*C2 - 0.013112*pH*C, where Y is the response variable. The coefficient of determination was 0.9949 for 1 min. The equation was obtained at 7 min and = - 10.89710 + 1.52341*pH + 1.32892*C + 0.47953*pH2 - 3.56605*10- *C2 - 0.034687*pH*C. The coefficient of determination was 0.9970. This means that only 1% of the total variation is not explained by the developed models. At 100 µg/mL of EOC was obtained an inhibition percentage of 80%, 84% and 97% for the pH values of 5,6 and 7 respectively, while a value of 200 µg/mL the inhibition (%) was very similar for the treatments. In these values of pH was obtained an inhibition close 97%. In conclusion the pH does not have a significant effect on the antioxidant capacity, while the concentration of EOC was decisive for the antioxidant capacity. The authors acknowledge the funding provided by the CONACYT for the project 131998.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, ABTS technique, essential oil of cinnamon, mathematical models

Procedia PDF Downloads 399

Authors: Henrie Yunianto, Dermawan Wibisono

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PT. XYZ is a family business (private company) in Indonesia that provide an educational program and consultation services. Since its establishment in 2011, the company has run without any strategic management system implemented. Though the company could survive until now. The management of PT. XYZ sees the business opportunity for such product is huge, even though the targeted market is very specific (niche), the volume is large (due to large population of Indonesia) and numbers of competitors are low (now). It can be said if the product life cycle is in between ‘Introduction stage’ and ‘growth’ stage. It is observed that nowadays the new entrants (competitors) are increasing, thus PT. XYZ consider reacting in facing the intense business rivalry by conducting the business in an appropriate manner. A Performance Management System is important to be implemented in accordance with the business sustainability and growth. The framework of Performance Management System chosen is Integrated Performance Management System (IPMS). IPMS framework has the advantages of its simplicity, linkage between its business variables and indicators where the company can see the connections between all factors measured. IPMS framework consists of perspectives: (1) Business Result, (2) Internal Processes, (3) Resource Availability. Variables and indicators were examined through deep analysis of the business external and internal environments, Strength-Weakness-Opportunity-Threat (SWOT) analysis, Porter’s five forces analysis. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis was then used to quantify the weight of each variable/indicators. AHP is needed since in this study, PT. XYZ, the data of existing performance indicator was not available. Later, where the IPMS is implemented, the real data measured can be examined to determine the weight factor of each indicators using correlation analysis (or other methods). In this study of IPMS design for PT. XYZ, the analysis shows that with current company goals, along with the AHP methodology, the critical indicators for each perspective are: (1) Business results: Customer satisfaction and Employee satisfaction, (2) Internal process: Marketing performance, Supplier quality, Production quality, Continues improvement; (3) Resources Availability: Leadership and company culture & value, Personal Competences, Productivity. Company and/or organization require performance management system to help them in achieving their vision and mission. Company strategy will be effectively defined and addressed by using performance management system. Integrated Performance Management System (IPMS) framework and AHP analysis help us in quantifying the factors which influence the business output expected.

Keywords: analytical hierarchy process, business strategy, differentiation strategy, integrated performance management system

Procedia PDF Downloads 302

Authors: Ciara Pienaar, J. W. Odendaal, J. Joubert, J. C. Smit

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Radar cross section (RCS) of dielectric objects play an important role in many applications, such as low observability technology development, drone detection, and monitoring as well as coastal surveillance. Various materials are used to construct the targets of interest such as metal, wood, composite materials, radar absorbent materials, and other dielectrics. Since simulated datasets are increasingly being used to supplement infield measurements, as it is more cost effective and a larger variety of targets can be simulated, it is important to have a high level of confidence in the predicted results. Confidence can be attained through validation. Various computational electromagnetic (CEM) methods are capable of predicting the RCS of dielectric targets. This study will extend previous studies by validating full-wave and asymptotic RCS simulations of dielectric targets with measured data. The paper will provide measured RCS data of a number of canonical dielectric targets exhibiting different material properties. As stated previously, these measurements are used to validate numerous CEM methods. The dielectric properties are accurately characterized to reduce the uncertainties in the simulations. Finally, an analysis of the sensitivity of oblique and normal incidence scattering predictions to material characteristics is also presented. In this paper, the ability of several CEM methods, including method of moments (MoM), and physical optics (PO), to calculate the RCS of dielectrics were validated with measured data. A few dielectrics, exhibiting different material properties, were selected and several canonical targets, such as flat plates and cylinders, were manufactured. The RCS of these dielectric targets were measured in a compact range at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, over a frequency range of 2 to 18 GHz and a 360° azimuth angle sweep. This study also investigated the effect of slight variations in the material properties on the calculated RCS results, by varying the material properties within a realistic tolerance range and comparing the calculated RCS results. Interesting measured and simulated results have been obtained. Large discrepancies were observed between the different methods as well as the measured data. It was also observed that the accuracy of the RCS data of the dielectrics can be frequency and angle dependent. The simulated RCS for some of these materials also exhibit high sensitivity to variations in the material properties. Comparison graphs between the measured and simulation RCS datasets will be presented and the validation thereof will be discussed. Finally, the effect that small tolerances in the material properties have on the calculated RCS results will be shown. Thus the importance of accurate dielectric material properties for validation purposes will be discussed.

Keywords: asymptotic, CEM, dielectric scattering, full-wave, measurements, radar cross section, validation

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Authors: M. Bonello, D. Micallef, S. P. Borg

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Driven by increased comfort standards, but at the same time high energy consciousness, energy-efficient space cooling has become an essential aspect of building design. Its aims are simple, aiming at providing satisfactory thermal comfort for individuals in an interior space using low energy consumption cooling systems. In this context, evaporative cooling is both an energy-efficient and an eco-friendly cooling process. In the past two decades, several academic studies have been performed to determine the resulting thermal comfort produced by an evaporative cooling system, including studies on temperature profiles, air speed profiles, effect of clothing and personnel activity. To the best knowledge of the authors, no studies have yet considered the analysis of relative humidity (RH) profiles in a space cooled using evaporative cooling. Such a study will determine the effect of different humidity levels on a person's thermal comfort and aid in the consequent improvement designs of such future systems. Under this premise, the research objective is to characterise the resulting different RH profiles in a chamber micro-climate using the evaporative cooling system in which the inlet air speed, temperature and humidity content are varied. The chamber shall be modelled using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in ANSYS Fluent. Relative humidity shall be modelled using a species transport model while the k-ε RNG formulation is the proposed turbulence model that is to be used. The model shall be validated with measurements taken using an identical test chamber in which tests are to be conducted under the different inlet conditions mentioned above, followed by the verification of the model's mesh and time step. The verified and validated model will then be used to simulate other inlet conditions which would be impractical to conduct in the actual chamber. More details of the modelling and experimental approach will be provided in the full paper The main conclusions from this work are two-fold: the micro-climatic relative humidity spatial distribution within the room is important to consider in the context of investigating comfort at occupant level; and the investigation of a human being's thermal comfort (based on Predicted Mean Vote – Predicted Percentage Dissatisfied [PMV-PPD] values) and its variation with different locations of relative humidity values. The study provides the necessary groundwork for investigating the micro-climatic RH conditions of environments cooled using evaporative cooling. Future work may also target the analysis of ways in which evaporative cooling systems may be improved to better the thermal comfort of human beings, specifically relating to the humidity content around a sedentary person.

Keywords: chamber micro-climate, evaporative cooling, relative humidity, thermal comfort

Procedia PDF Downloads 153

Authors: Olga S. Volodko, Lidiya A. Kompaniets, Ludmila V. Gavrilova

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The method of empirical orthogonal functions is the method of data analysis with a complex spatial-temporal structure. This method allows us to decompose the data into a finite number of modes determined by empirically finding the eigenfunctions of data correlation matrix. The modes have different scales and can be associated with various physical processes. The empirical orthogonal function method has been widely used for the analysis of hydrophysical characteristics, for example, the analysis of sea surface temperatures in the Western North Atlantic, ocean surface currents in the North Carolina, the study of tropical wave disturbances etc. The method used in this study has been applied to the analysis of temperature and velocity measurements in saline Lake Shira (Southern Siberia, Russia). Shira is a shallow lake with the maximum depth of 25 m. The lake Shira can be considered as a closed water site because of it has one small river providing inflow and but it has no outflows. The main factor that causes the motion of fluid is variable wind flows. In summer the lake is strongly stratified by temperature and saline. Long-term measurements of the temperatures and currents were conducted at several points during summer 2014-2015. The temperature has been measured with an accuracy of 0.1 ºC. The data were analyzed using the empirical orthogonal function method in the real version. The first empirical eigenmode accounts for 70-80 % of the energy and can be interpreted as temperature distribution with a thermocline. A thermocline is a thermal layer where the temperature decreases rapidly from the mixed upper layer of the lake to much colder deep water. The higher order modes can be interpreted as oscillations induced by internal waves. The currents measurements were recorded using Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers 600 kHz and 1200 kHz. The data were analyzed using the empirical orthogonal function method in the complex version. The first empirical eigenmode accounts for about 40 % of the energy and corresponds to the Ekman spiral occurring in the case of a stationary homogeneous fluid. Other modes describe the effects associated with the stratification of fluids. The second and next empirical eigenmodes were associated with dynamical modes. These modes were obtained for a simplified model of inhomogeneous three-level fluid at a water site with a flat bottom.

Keywords: Ekman spiral, empirical orthogonal functions, data analysis, stratified fluid, thermocline

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Jayanta Bora, Sukhvinder Kaur, Ashok Agarwal, Sangeeta Kaul

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Background: It is important for targeted interventions to consider vulnerabilities of female sex workers (FSWs) such as poverty, work-related mobility and literacy for effective human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention. This paper examines the association between vulnerability and behavioural outcomes among FSWs in Thane district, Maharashtra under USAID PHFI-PIPPSE project. Methods: Data were used from the Behavioural Tracking Survey, a cross-sectional behavioural study conducted in 2015 with 503 FSWs randomly selected from 12 TI-NGOs which were functioning and providing services to FSWs in Thane district prior to April 2014 in Thane district of Maharashtra. We have created the “vulnerability index”, a composite index of literacy, factors of dependence (alternative livelihood options, current debt), and aspects of sex work (mobility and duration in sex work) as a dependent variable. The key independent measures used were program exposure to intervention, service uptake, self-confidence, and self-identity. Bi-variate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to examine the study objectives. Results: A higher proportion of FSWs who were in the age-group 18–25 years from brothel/street /home/ lodge-based were categorized as highly vulnerable to HIV risk as compared to bar-based sex worker (74.1% versus 59.8%, P,0.002); regression analysis highlighted lower odds of vulnerability among FSWs who were aware of services and visited NGO clinic for medical check-up and counselling for STI [AOR= 0.092, 95% CI 0.018-0.460; P,0.004], However, lower odds of vulnerability on confident in supporting fellow sex worker in crisis [AOR= 0.601, 95% CI 0.476-0.758; P, 0.000] and were able to turn away clients when they refused to use a condom during sex [AOR= 0.524, 95% CI 0.342-0.802; P, 0.003]. Conclusion: The results highlight that FSWs associated with TIs and getting services are less vulnerable and highly empowered. As a result of behavioural change communication and other services provided by TIs, FSWs were able to successfully negotiate about condom use with their clients and manage solidarity in the crisis situation for fellow FSWs. Therefore, it is evident from study paper that TI prevention programs may transform the lives of masses considerably and may open a window of opportunity to infuse the information and awareness about HIV risk.

Keywords: female sex worker, HIV prevention, HIV service uptake, vulnerability

Procedia PDF Downloads 251

Authors: Mohammad Mahdi Mozaffari, Mehdi Ajalli, Delaram Jafargholi

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The main purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of the system of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and SCM (Supply Chain Management) on the competitive advantage and performance of Mamot Company. The methods for collecting information in this study are library studies and field research. A questionnaire was used to collect the data needed to determine the relationship between the variables of the research. This questionnaire contains 38 questions. The direction of the current research is applied. The statistical population of this study consists of managers and experts who are familiar with the SCM system and ERP. Number of statistical society is 210. The sampling method is simple in this research. The sample size is 136 people. Also, among the distributed questionnaires, Reliability of the Cronbach's Alpha Cronbach's Questionnaire is evaluated and its value is more than 70%. Therefore, it confirms reliability. And formal validity has been used to determine the validity of the questionnaire, and the validity of the questionnaire is confirmed by the fact that the score of the impact is greater than 1.5. In the present study, one variable analysis was used for central indicators, dispersion and deviation from symmetry, and a general picture of the society was obtained. Also, two variables were analyzed to test the hypotheses; measure the correlation coefficient between variables using structural equations, SPSS software was used. Finally, multivariate analysis was used with statistical techniques related to the SPLS structural equations to determine the effects of independent variables on the dependent variables of the research to determine the structural relationships between the variables. The results of the test of research hypotheses indicate that: 1. Supply chain management practices have a positive impact on the competitive advantage of the Mammoth industrial complex. 2. Supply chain management practices have a positive impact on the performance of the Mammoth industrial complex. 3. Planning system Organizational resources have a positive impact on the performance of the Mammoth industrial complex. 4. The system of enterprise resource planning has a positive impact on Mamot's competitive advantage. 5.The competitive advantage has a positive impact on the performance of the Mammoth industrial complex 6.The system of enterprise resource planning Mamot Industrial Complex Supply Chain Management has a positive impact. The above results indicate that the system of enterprise resource planning and supply chain management has an impact on the competitive advantage and corporate performance of Mamot Company.

Keywords: enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, competitive advantage, Mamot company performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 89

Authors: Sungeun Hyun, Sooin Lee, Gyewan Moon

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Work-Family Conflict has been an active research area for the past decades. Work-Family Conflict harms individuals and organizations, it is ultimately expected to bring the cost of losses to the company in the long run. WFC has mainly focused on effects of organizational effectiveness and job attitude such as Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, and Turnover Intention variables. This study is different from consequence variable with previous research. For this purpose, we selected the positive job attitude 'Work Engagement' as a consequence of WFC. This research has its primary research purpose in identifying the negative effects of the Work-Family Conflict, and started out from the recognition of the problem that the research on the direct relationship on the influence of the WFC on Work Engagement is lacking. Based on the COR(Conservation of resource theory) and JD-R(Job Demand- Resource model), the empirical study model to examine the negative effects of WFC with Emotional Exhaustion as the link between WFC and Work Engagement was suggested and validated. Also, it was analyzed how much Positive Psychological Capital may buffer the negative effects arising from WFC within this relationship, and the Mediated Moderation model controlling the indirect effect influencing the Work Engagement by the Positive Psychological Capital mediated by the WFC and Emotional Exhaustion was verified. Data was collected by using questionnaires distributed to 500 employees engaged manufacturing, services, finance, IT industry, education services, and other sectors, of which 389 were used in the statistical analysis. The data are analyzed by statistical package, SPSS 21.0, SPSS macro and AMOS 21.0. The hierarchical regression analysis, SPSS PROCESS macro and Bootstrapping method for hypothesis testing were conducted. Results showed that all hypotheses are supported. First, WFC showed a negative effect on Work Engagement. Specifically, WIF appeared to be on more negative effects than FIW. Second, Emotional exhaustion found to mediate the relationship between WFC and Work Engagement. Third, Positive Psychological Capital showed to moderate the relationship between WFC and Emotional Exhaustion. Fourth, the effect of mediated moderation through the integration verification, Positive Psychological Capital demonstrated to buffer the relationship among WFC, Emotional Exhastion, and Work Engagement. Also, WIF showed a more negative effects than FIW through verification of all hypotheses. Finally, we discussed the theoretical and practical implications on research and management of the WFC, and proposed limitations and future research directions of research.

Keywords: emotional exhaustion, positive psychological capital, work engagement, work-family conflict

Procedia PDF Downloads 218

Authors: E. Njuguna, S. Ilovi, P. Muiruri, K. Mutai, J. Kinuthia, P. Njoroge

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Introduction: Cervical cancer is the commonest cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality among women in developing countries in Sub Saharan Africa. Screening for cervical cancer in all women regardless of HIV status is crucial for the early detection of cancer of the cervix when treatment is most effective in curing the disease. It is particularly more important to screen HIV infected women as they are more at risk of developing the disease and progressing faster once infected with HPV (Human Papilloma Virus). We aimed to determine the factors affecting the utilization of cervical cancer screenings among HIV infected women above 18 years of age at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) Comprehensive Care Center (CCC). Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional mixed quantitative and qualitative study involving randomly and purposefully selected HIV positive female respectively was conducted. Qualitative data collection involved 4 focus group discussions of eligible female participants while quantitative data were acquired by one to one interviewer administered structured questionnaires. The outcome variable was the utilization of cervical cancer screening. Data were entered into Access data base and analyzed using Stata version 11.1. Qualitative data were analyzed after coding for significant clauses and transcribing to determine themes arising. Results: We enrolled a total of 387 patients, mean age (IQ range) 40 years (36-44). Cervical cancer screening utilization was 46% despite a health care provider recommendation of 85%. The screening results were reported as normal in 72 of 81 (88.9%) and abnormal 7 of 81(8.6%) of the cases. Those who did not know their result were 2 of 81(2.5%). Patients were less likely to utilize the service with increasing number of years attending the clinic (OR 0.9, 95% CI 0.86-0.99, p-value 0.02), but more likely to utilize the service if recommendation by a staff was made (OR 10, 95% CI 4.2-23.9, p<0.001), and if cervical screening had been done before joining KNH CCC (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.7-4.9, p < 0.001). Similarly, they were more likely to rate the services on cervical cancer screening as good (OR 5.0, 95% CI 1.7-3.4, p <0.001) and very good (OR 8.1, 95% CI 2.5-6.1, p<0.001) if they had utilized the service. The main barrier themes emerging from qualitative data included fear of screening due to excessive pain or bleeding, lack of proper communication on screening procedures and increased waiting time. Conclusions: Utilization of cervical cancer screening services was low despite health care recommendation. Patient socio-demographic characteristics did not influence whether or not they utilized the services, indicating the important role of the health care provider in the referral and provision of the service.

Keywords: cervical, cancer, HIV, women, comprehensive care center

Procedia PDF Downloads 268

Authors: Matthew E. Potter, Daniel J. Stewart, Lindsay M. Armstrong, Pier J. A. Sazio, Robert R. Raja

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Rising CO₂ levels in the atmosphere means that CO₂ is a highly desirable feedstock. This requires specific catalysts to be designed to activate this inert molecule, combining a catalytic site tailored for CO₂ transformations with a support that can readily adsorb CO₂. Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are regularly used as CO₂ sorbents. The organic nature of the linker molecules, connecting the metal nodes, offers many post-synthesis modifications to introduce catalytic active sites into the frameworks. However, the metal nodes may be coordinatively unsaturated, allowing them to bind to organic moieties. Imidazoles have shown promise catalyzing the formation of cyclic carbonates from epoxides with CO₂. Typically, this synthesis route employs toxic reagents such as phosgene, liberating HCl. Therefore an alternative route with CO₂ is highly appealing. In this work we design active sites for CO₂ activation, by tethering substituted-imidazole organocatalytic species to the available Cr3+ metal nodes of a Cr-MIL-101 MOF, for the first time, to create a tailored species for carbon capture utilization applications. Our tailored design strategy combining a CO₂ sorbent, Cr-MIL-101, with an anchored imidazole results in a highly active and selective multifunctional catalyst, achieving turnover frequencies of over 750 hr-1. These findings demonstrate the synergy between the MOF framework and imidazoles for CO₂ utilization applications. Further, the effect of substrate variation has been explored yielding mechanistic insights into this process. Through characterization, we show that the structural and compositional integrity of the Cr-MIL-101 has been preserved on functionalizing the imidazoles. Further, we show the binding of the imidazoles to the Cr3+ metal nodes. This can be seen through our EPR study, where the distortion of the Cr3+ on binding to the imidazole shows the CO₂ binding site is close to the active imidazole. This has a synergistic effect, improving catalytic performance. We believe the combination of MOF support and organocatalyst allows many possibilities to generate new multifunctional catalysts for CO₂ utilisation. In conclusion, we have validated our design procedure, combining a known CO₂ sorbent, with an active imidazole species to create a unique tailored multifunctional catalyst for CO₂ utilization. This species achieves high activity and selectivity for the formation of cyclic carbonates and offers a sustainable alternative to traditional synthesis methods. This work represents a unique design strategy for CO₂ utilization while offering exciting possibilities for further work in characterization, computational modelling, and post-synthesis modification.

Keywords: carbonate, catalysis, MOF, utilisation

Procedia PDF Downloads 175

Authors: Michael Mihalicz, Aziz Guergachi

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Background: The science of modelling choice preferences has evolved over centuries into an interdisciplinary field contributing to several branches of Microeconomics and Mathematical Psychology. Early theories in Decision Science rested on the logic of rationality, but as it and related fields matured, descriptive theories emerged capable of explaining systematic violations of rationality through cognitive mechanisms underlying the thought processes that guide human behaviour. Cognitive limitations are not, however, solely responsible for systematic deviations from rationality and many are now exploring the effect of visceral factors as the more dominant drivers. The current study builds on the existing literature by exploring sleep deprivation, thermal comfort, stress, hunger, fear, anger and sadness as moderators to three distinct elements that define individual risk preference under Cumulative Prospect Theory. Methodology: This study is designed to compare the risk preference of participants experiencing an elevated affective or visceral state to those in a neutral state using nonparametric elicitation methods across three domains. Two experiments will be conducted simultaneously using different methodologies. The first will determine visceral states and risk preferences randomly over a two-week period by prompting participants to complete an online survey remotely. In each round of questions, participants will be asked to self-assess their current state using Visual Analogue Scales before answering a series of lottery-style elicitation questions. The second experiment will be conducted in a laboratory setting using psychological primes to induce a desired state. In this experiment, emotional states will be recorded using emotion analytics and used a basis for comparison between the two methods. Significance: The expected results include a series of measurable and systematic effects on the subjective interpretations of gamble attributes and evidence supporting the proposition that a portion of the variability in human choice preferences unaccounted for by cognitive limitations can be explained by interacting visceral states. Significant results will promote awareness about the subconscious effect that emotions and other drive states have on the way people process and interpret information, and can guide more effective decision making by informing decision-makers of the sources and consequences of irrational behaviour.

Keywords: decision making, emotions, prospect theory, visceral factors

Procedia PDF Downloads 147

Authors: Selin Kara-Bahçekapılı, Bengisu Nehir Aydın

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Objective: In this study, it is aimed to examine the relationship between childhood traumas (overprotection-control, emotional/physical/sexual abuse, emotional/physical neglect), age, emotional regulation difficulties, and the tendency of violence in adults. In the study, the direct and indirect effects of 6 sub-factors of childhood traumas, emotion regulation difficulties, and age on tendency to violence are evaluated on a model that theoretically reveals. Method: The population of this cross-sectional study consists of individuals between the ages of 18-65 living in Turkey. The data from 527 participants were obtained by online surveys and convenience sampling method within the scope of the study. As a result of exclusion criteria and then outlier data analysis, the data of 443 participants were included in the analysis. Data were collected by demographic information form, childhood trauma scale, emotion regulation difficulty scale, and violence tendency scale. Research data were analyzed by SPSS and AMOS using correlation, path analysis, direct and indirect effects. Results: According to the research findings, the variables in the model explained 28.2% of the variance of the mean scores of the individuals' tendency to violence. Emotion regulation difficulties have the most direct effect on the tendency to violence (d=.387; p<.01). The effects of excessive protection and control, emotional neglect, and physical neglect variables on the tendency to violence are not significant. When the significant and indirect effects of the variables on tendency to violence over emotion regulation difficulties are examined, age has a negative effect, emotional neglect has a positive effect, emotional abuse has a positive effect, and overprotection-control has a positive effect. The indirect effects of sexual abuse, physical neglect, and physical abuse on tendency to violence are not significant. Childhood traumas and age variables in the model explained 24.1% of the variance of the mean scores of the individuals’ emotion regulation difficulties. The variable that most affects emotion regulation difficulties is age (d=-.268; p<.001). The direct effects of sexual abuse, physical neglect, and physical abuse on emotion regulation difficulties are not significant. Conclusion: The results of the research emphasize the critical role of difficulty in emotion regulation on the tendency to violence. Difficulty in emotion regulation affects the tendency to violence both directly and by mediating different variables. In addition, it is seen that some sub-factors of childhood traumas have direct and/or indirect effects on the tendency to violence. Emotional abuse and age have both direct and indirect effects on the tendency to violence over emotion regulation difficulties.

Keywords: childhood trauma, emotion regulation difficulties, tendency to violence, path analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: M. H. Arslan, U. K. Sahin, H. Acikgoz-Tufan, I. Gocek, I. Erdem

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Various exterior factors have perpetual effects on textile materials during wear, use and laundering in everyday life. In accordance with their frequency of use, textile materials are required to be laundered at certain intervals. The medium in which the laundering process takes place have inevitable detrimental physical and chemical effects on textile materials caused by the unique parameters of the process inherently existing. Connatural structures of various textile materials result in many different physical, chemical and mechanical characteristics. Because of their specific structures, these materials have different behaviors against several exterior factors. By modeling the behavior of commercial and test textiles as group-wise against laundering process, it is possible to disclose the relation in between these two groups of materials, which will lead to better understanding of their behaviors in terms of similarities and differences against the washing parameters of the laundering. Thus, the goal of the current research is to examine the behavior of two groups of textile materials as commercial textiles and as test textiles towards the main washing machine parameters during laundering process such as temperature, load quantity, mechanical action and level of water amount by concentrating on shrinkage, pilling, sewing defects, collar abrasion, the other defects other than sewing, whitening and overall properties of textiles. In this study, cotton fabrics were preferred as commercial textiles due to the fact that garments made of cotton are the most demanded products in the market by the textile consumers in daily life. Full factorial experimental set-up was used to design the experimental procedure. All profiles always including all of the commercial and the test textiles were laundered for 20 cycles by commercial home laundering machine to investigate the effects of the chosen parameters. For the laundering process, a modified version of ‘‘IEC 60456 Test Method’’ was utilized. The amount of detergent was altered as 0.5% gram per liter depending on varying load quantity levels. Datacolor 650®, EMPA Photographic Standards for Pilling Test and visual examination were utilized to test and characterize the textiles. Furthermore, in the current study the relation in between commercial and test textiles in terms of their performance was deeply investigated by the help of statistical analysis performed by MINITAB® package program modeling their behavior against the parameters of the laundering process. In the experimental work, the behaviors of both groups of textiles towards washing machine parameters were visually and quantitatively assessed in dry state.

Keywords: behavior against washing machine parameters, performance evaluation of textiles, statistical analysis, commercial and test textiles

Procedia PDF Downloads 357

Authors: Steven Walker

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This paper assesses recent data on the prevalence of poverty among children and young people diagnosed with mental health problems. The paper will demonstrate that the current hierarchy of risk factors for developing mental health problems needs adjusting to place poverty among the highest risk factors. Globally poverty is calculated to keep rising especially among less developed countries, and the post-Covid 19 economic recession in developed countries is set to rise. The experience of young people enduring Pandemic isolation is already being quantified and is expected to increase referrals for specialist intervention. Searches on several medical/psychological/social databases using keywords: poverty, children, mental illness were undertaken between 2018 and 2021. Worldwide, 700 million people still live in extreme poverty, half of whom are children. Children are physically and mentally disproportionately affected. Children who grow up impoverished lack the basic necessities they need to survive and thrive. 150 million children have been plunged into multidimensional poverty due to COVID-19. The poorest children are twice as likely to die in childhood than their wealthier peers. For those growing up in humanitarian crises such as Ukraine, the risks of deprivation and exclusion are magnified. In the world’s richest countries, one in seven children still live in poverty. Currently, one in four children in the European Union are at risk of falling into poverty. In Europe the impact of Brexit on the UK economy is predicted to reduce GDP by 5% in 2021 with a corresponding rise in poverty. According to the global charity Oxfam wealth inequality impacts levels of child abuse and affects women and girls worse and is a contributory factor in the risk of developing childhood mental illness. In the UK 2000 Foodbanks have opened since 2010, handing out 2 million food parcels annually, where there are currently 4 million children officially living in poverty. This research demonstrates that there is a strong association between families’ socio-economic circumstances and the chances that their children will experience mental illness. Evidence of this association is found repeatedly across developed countries. The paper will conclude by arguing that psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, social workers and CAMHS specialists need to place more importance on this critical socio-economic variable when assessing referred children and also advocate for political priorities in governments to reduce poverty and lower the risk of childhood mental illness.

Keywords: poverty, resilience, risk factor, socio economic, susceptibility

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Anna Ching-Yu Wong

Abstract:

Introduction: Textbooks play a sizable portion of the overall cost of higher education students. It is a board consent that open education resources (OER) reduce the te4xtbook costs and provide students a way to receive high-quality learning materials at little or no cost to them. However, there is less agreement over exactly how much. This study presents an approach for calculating OER savings by using SUNY Canton NON-OER courses (N=233) to estimate the potentially textbook savings for one semester – Fall 2022. The purpose in collecting data is to understand how much potentially saved from using OER materials and to have a record for future further studies. Literature Reviews: In the past years, researchers identified the rising cost of textbooks disproportionately harm students in higher education institutions and how much an average cost of a textbook. For example, Nyamweya (2018) found that on average students save $116.94 per course when OER adopted in place of traditional commercial textbooks by using a simple formula. Student PIRGs (2015) used reports of per-course savings when transforming a course from using a commercial textbook to OER to reach an estimate of $100 average cost savings per course. Allen and Wiley (2016) presented at the 2016 Open Education Conference on multiple cost-savings studies and concluded $100 was reasonable per-course savings estimates. Ruth (2018) calculated an average cost of a textbook was $79.37 per-course. Hilton, et al (2014) conducted a study with seven community colleges across the nation and found the average textbook cost to be $90.61. There is less agreement over exactly how much would be saved by adopting an OER course. This study used SUNY Canton as a case study to create an approach for estimating OER savings. Methodology: Step one: Identify NON-OER courses from UcanWeb Class Schedule. Step two: View textbook lists for the classes (Campus bookstore prices). Step three: Calculate the average textbook prices by averaging the new book and used book prices. Step four: Multiply the average textbook prices with the number of students in the course. Findings: The result of this calculation was straightforward. The average of a traditional textbooks is $132.45. Students potentially saved $1,091,879.94. Conclusion: (1) The result confirms what we have known: Adopting OER in place of traditional textbooks and materials achieves significant savings for students, as well as the parents and taxpayers who support them through grants and loans. (2) The average textbook savings for adopting an OER course is variable depending on the size of the college and as well as the number of enrollment students.

Keywords: textbook savings, open textbooks, textbook costs assessment, open access

Procedia PDF Downloads 71

Authors: Srinivasa Reddy Mallampati, Min Hee Park, Soo Mim Cho, Sung Hyeon Yoon

Abstract:

One of the issues of End of Life Vehicles (ELVs) recycling promotion is technology for the appropriate treatment of automotive shredder residue (ASR). Owing to its high heterogeneity and variable composition (plastic (23–41%), rubber/elastomers (9–21%), metals (6–13%), glass (10–20%) and dust (soil/sand) etc.), ASR can be classified as ‘hazardous waste’, on the basis of the presence of heavy metals (HMs), PCBs, BFRs, mineral oils, etc. Considering their relevant concentrations, these metals and plastics should be properly recovered for recycling purposes before ASR residues are disposed of. Brominated flame retardant additives in ABS/HIPS and PVC may generate dioxins and furans at elevated temperatures. Moreover, these BFRs additives present in plastic materials may leach into the environment during landfilling operations. ASR thermal process removes some of the organic material but concentrates, the heavy metals and POPs present in the ASR residues. In the present study, Fe/Ca/CaO nanoparticle assisted ozone treatment has been found to selectively hydrophilize the surface of ABS/HIPS and PVC plastics, enhancing its wettability and thereby promoting its separation from ASR plastics by means of froth flotation. The water contact angles, of ABS/HIPS and PVC decreased, about 18.7°, 18.3°, and 17.9° in ASR respectively. Under froth flotation conditions at 50 rpm, about 99.5% and 99.5% of HIPS in ASR samples sank, resulting in a purity of 98% and 99%. Furthermore, at 150 rpm a 100% PVC separation in the settled fraction, with 98% of purity in ASR, respectively. Total recovery of non-ABS/HIPS and PVC plastics reached nearly 100% in the floating fraction. This process improved the quality of recycled ASR plastics by removing surface contaminants or impurities. Further, a hybrid ball-milling and with Fe/Ca/CaO nanoparticle froth flotation process was established for the recovery of HMs from ASR. After ball-milling with Fe/Ca/CaO nanoparticle additives, the flotation efficiency increased to about 55 wt% and the HMs recovery were also increased about 90% for the 0.25 mm size fractions of ASR. Coating with Fe/Ca/CaO nanoparticles associated with subsequent microbubble froth flotation allowed the air bubbles to attach firmly on the HMs. SEM–EDS maps showed that the amounts of HMs were significant on the surface of the floating ASR fraction. This result, along with the low HM concentration in the settled fraction, was confirmed by elemental spectra and semi-quantitative SEM–EDS analysis. Developed hybrid preferential hazardous plastics and metals separation process from ASR is a simple, highly efficient, and sustainable procedure.

Keywords: end of life vehicles shredder residue, hazardous plastics, nanoparticle froth flotation, separation process

Procedia PDF Downloads 274