Search results for: North east China

Authors: Yan Yan, Erhong Sun, Lin Peng, Xuchun Ye

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Aims: The present study aimed to explore Intensive Care Unit(ICU) nurses’ mental workload (MWL) and associated factors with it in performing human-machine tasks. Background: A wide range of emerging technologies have penetrated widely in the field of health care, and ICU nurses are facing a dramatic increase in nursing human-machine tasks. However, there is still a paucity of literature reporting on the general MWL of ICU nurses performing human-machine tasks and the associated influencing factors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was employed. The data was collected from January to February 2021 from 9 tertiary hospitals in 6 provinces (Shanghai, Gansu, Guangdong, Liaoning, Shandong, and Hubei). Two-stage sampling was used to recruit eligible ICU nurses (n=427). The data were collected with an electronic questionnaire comprising sociodemographic characteristics and the measures of MWL, self-efficacy, system usability, and task difficulty. The univariate analysis, two-way analysis of variance(ANOVA), and a linear mixed model were used for data analysis. Results: Overall, the mental workload of ICU nurses in performing human-machine tasks was medium (score 52.04 on a 0-100 scale). Among the typical nursing human-machine tasks selected, the MWL of ICU nurses in completing first aid and life support tasks (‘Using a defibrillator to defibrillate’ and ‘Use of ventilator’) was significantly higher than others (p < .001). And ICU nurses’ MWL in performing human-machine tasks was also associated with age (p = .001), professional title (p = .002), years of working in ICU (p < .001), willingness to study emerging technology actively (p = .006), task difficulty (p < .001), and system usability (p < .001). Conclusion: The MWL of ICU nurses is at a moderate level in the context of a rapid increase in nursing human-machine tasks. However, there are significant differences in MWL when performing different types of human-machine tasks, and MWL can be influenced by a combination of factors. Nursing managers need to develop intervention strategies in multiple ways. Implications for practice: Multidimensional approaches are required to perform human-machine tasks better, including enhancing nurses' willingness to learn emerging technologies actively, developing training strategies that vary with tasks, and identifying obstacles in the process of human-machine system interaction.

Keywords: mental workload(MWL), nurse, ICU, human-machine, tasks, cross-sectional study, linear mixed model, China

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Authors: Richard Grant, Landolf Rhode-Barbarigos, Shouraseni Sen Roy, Lucas Brittan, Change Li, Aiden Rowe

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Ports are critical for the US economy, connecting farmers, manufacturers, retailers, consumers and an array of transport and storage operators. Port facilities vary widely in terms of their productivity, footprint, specializations, and governance. In this context, Port Miami is considered as one of the busiest ports providing both cargo and cruise services in connecting the wider region of the Caribbean and Mesoamerica to the global networks. It is considered as the “Cruise Capital of the World and Global Gateway of the Americas” and “leading container port in Florida.” Furthermore, it has also been ranked as one of the top container ports in the world and the second most efficient port in North America. In this regard, Port Miami has made significant investments in the strategic and capital infrastructure of about US$1 billion, including increasing the channel depth and other onshore infrastructural enhancements. Therefore, this study involves a detailed analysis of Port Miami’s network, using publicly available multiple years of data about marine vessel traffic, cargo, and connectivity and performance indices from 2015-2021. Through the analysis of cargo and cruise vessels to and from Port Miami and its relative performance at the global scale from 2015 to 2021, this study examines the port’s long-term resilience and future growth potential. The main results of the analyses indicate that the top category for both inbound and outbound cargo is manufactured products and textiles. In addition, there are a lot of fresh fruits, vegetables, and produce for inbound and processed food for outbound cargo. Furthermore, the top ten port connections for Port Miami are all located in the Caribbean region, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Southeast USA. About half of the inbound cargo comes from Savannah, Saint Thomas, and Puerto Plata, while outbound cargo is from Puerto Corte, Freeport, and Kingston. Additionally, for cruise vessels, a significantly large number of vessels originate from Nassau, followed by Freeport. The number of passenger's vessels pre-COVID was almost 1,000 per year, which dropped substantially in 2020 and 2021 to around 300 vessels. Finally, the resilience and competitiveness of Port Miami were also assessed in terms of its network connectivity by examining the inbound and outbound maritime vessel traffic. It is noteworthy that the most frequent port connections for Port Miami were Freeport and Savannah, followed by Kingston, Nassau, and New Orleans. However, several of these ports, Puerto Corte, Veracruz, Puerto Plata, and Santo Thomas, have low resilience and are highly vulnerable, which needs to be taken into consideration for the long-term resilience of Port Miami in the future.

Keywords: port, Miami, network, cargo, cruise

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Authors: Galina N. Parshina, Olga N. Shemshura, Ulzhan S. Mukiyanova, Gulnur M. Beisetbayeva

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From a medical point of view some species from the family Lamiaceae Lindl. attract the attention of scientists. Many plant species from this family are used in science and medicine. Some researchers believe that the medicinal properties of these plants are caused by the action on the organism of the individual components (camphor, menthol, thymol, eugenol, phenols, flavonoids, alcohols, and their derivatives) or the entire complex of essential oils. Biologically active substances (BAS), isolated from these medicinal plants can be an effective supplement in the complex treatment of infectious diseases. The substances of the phenolic group such as flavonoids and phenolic acids; and also alkaloids included in the component composition of the plants from the family Lamiaceae Lindl. present the scientific and practical interest for future investigations of their biological activity and development of medicinal products. The research objects are the species from the family Lamiaceae Lindl., cultivated in the North-Kazakhstan region. In this abstract, we present the results of the investigation of polyphenolic complex (flavonoids and phenolic acids) and alkaloids in aqueous and ethanol extracts. Investigation of the qualitative composition of flavonoids in the aqueous extracts showed that the species Monarda Diana contains flavone, Dracocephalum moldavica contains rutin, Ocimum basilicum (purple form) contains both ruin and quercetin. Biochemical analysis revealed that the ethanol extract of Monarda Diana has phenolic acids, similar to protocatechuic and benzoic acids by their chromatographic characteristics. But the aqueous extract contains four phenolic acids, one of which is an analogue of gentisic acid; and the other three are not identified yet. The phenolic acids such as benzoic and gentisic acids identified in ethanol extracts of species Ocimum basilicum (purple form) and Satureja hortensis, correspondingly. But the same phenolic acids did not appear in aqueous extracts. The phenolic acids were not determined neither in the ethanol or aqueous extracts of species Dracocephalum moldavica. The biochemical analysis did not reveal the content of alkaloids in aqueous extracts of investigated plants. However, the alkaloids in the amount of 5-13 components were identified in the ethanolic extracts of plants by the qualitative reactions. The results of analysis with reagent of Dragendorff showed that next amounts of alkaloids were identified in extracts of Monarda Diana (6-7), Satureja hortensis (6), Ocimum basilicum (7-9) and Dracocephalum moldavica (5-6). The reactions with reagent of Van-Urca showed that next amounts of alkaloids were identified in extracts of Monarda Diana (9-12), Satureja hortensis (9-10), two alkaloids of them with Rf6=0,39 and Rf6=0,31 similar to roquefortine), Ocimum basilicum (11) and Dracocephalum moldavica (13, two of them with Rf5=0,34 and Rf5=0,33 by their chromatographic characteristics similar to epikostaklavin).

Keywords: biologically active substances, Lamiaceae, component composition, medicinal plant

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Authors: Pei-Ru Yang, Yu-Chen Lin, Jia-Min Wu

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Background: A 58-year-old man with a history of osteoporosis and diabetes presented with chronic pain in his left knee due to severe knee joint degeneration. The knee replacement surgery was recommended by the doctor. But the patient suffered from low pain tolerance and wondered if virtual reality could relieve acute postoperative wound pain. Methods: We used the PICO (patient, intervention, comparison, and outcome) approach to generate indexed keywords and searched systematic review articles from 2017 to 2021 on the Cochran Library, PubMed, and Clinical Key databases. Results: The initial literature results included 38 articles, including 12 Cochrane library articles and 26 PubMed articles. One article was selected for further analysis after removing duplicates and off-topic articles. The eight trials included in this article were published between 2013 and 2019 and recruited a total of 723 participants. The studies, conducted in India, Lebanon, Iran, South Korea, Spain, and China, included adults who underwent hemorrhoidectomy, dental surgery, craniotomy or spine surgery, episiotomy repair, and knee surgery, with a mean age (24.1 ± 4.1 to 73.3 ± 6.5). Virtual reality is an emerging non-drug postoperative analgesia method. The findings showed that pain control was reduced by a mean of 1.48 points (95% CI: -2.02 to -0.95, p-value < 0.0001) in minor surgery and 0.32 points in major surgery (95% CI: -0.53 to -0.11, p-value < 0.03), and the overall postoperative satisfaction has improved. Discussion: Postoperative pain is a common clinical problem in surgical patients. Research has confirmed that virtual reality can create an immersive interactive environment, communicate with patients, and effectively relieve postoperative pain. However, virtual reality requires the purchase of hardware and software and other related computer equipment, and its high cost is a disadvantage. We selected the best literature based on clinical questions to answer the patient's question and used share decision making (SDM) to help the patient make decisions based on the clinical situation after knee replacement surgery to improve the quality of patient-centered care.

Keywords: knee replacement surgery, postoperative pain, share decision making, virtual reality

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Authors: David Hough

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Indigenous peoples can generally be described as the original or first peoples of a land prior to colonization. While there is no single definition of indigenous peoples, the United Nations has developed a general understanding based on self-identification and historical continuity with pre-colonial societies. Indigenous peoples are often traditional holders of unique languages, knowledge systems and beliefs who possess valuable knowledge and practices which support sustainable management of natural resources. They often have social, economic, political systems, languages and cultures, which are distinct from dominant groups in the society or state where they live. They generally resist attempts by the dominant culture at assimilation and endeavour to maintain and reproduce their ancestral environments and systems as distinctive peoples and communities. In 2007, the United Nations General Assembly passed a declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, known as UNDRIP. It (in addition to other international instruments such as ILO 169), sets out far-reaching guidelines, which – among other things – attempt to protect and promote indigenous languages and cultures. Paragraphs 13 and 14 of the declaration state the following regarding language, culture and education: Article 13, Paragraph 1: Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit for future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems, and literatures, and to designate and retain their own names for communities, places and persons. Article 14, Paragraph I: Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning. These two paragraphs call for the right of self-determination in education. Paragraph 13 gives indigenous peoples the right to control the content of their teaching, while Paragraph 14 states that the teaching of this content should be based on methods of teaching and learning which are appropriate to indigenous peoples. This paper reviews an approach to furthering linguistic and cultural human rights for indigenous peoples in education, which supports UNDRIP. It has been employed in countries in Asia and the Pacific, including the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Far East Russia and Nepal. It is based on bottom-up community-based initiatives where students, teachers and local knowledge holders come together to produce classroom materials in their own languages that reflect their traditional beliefs and value systems. They may include such things as knowledge about herbal medicines and traditional healing practices, local history, numerical systems, weights and measures, astronomy and navigation, canoe building, weaving and mat making, life rituals, feasts, festivals, songs, poems, etc. Many of these materials can then be mainstreamed into math, science language arts and social studies classes.

Keywords: Indigenous peoples, linguistic and cultural human rights, materials development, teacher training, traditional knowledge

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Authors: Ganga Brahma

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Boro employs verbs hooked up with morphemes which lead verbs to adjust with their arguments and hence, affecting the whole of sentence structures. This paper is based on few such syntactic parameters which are usually considered as argument decreasing parameters in linguistic works. Passivizing of few transitive clauses which are usually construed from the verbs occurring with certain morphemes and representation in middle constructions are few of such strategies which lead to conceptualizing of decreasing of syntactic arguments from a sentence. This paper focuses on the mentioned linguistic strategies and attempts to describe the linguistic processes as for how these parameters work in languages especially by concentrating on a particular Tibeto-Burman language i.e. Boro. Boro is a Tibeto-Burman language widely spoken in parts of the north-eastern regions of India. It has an agglutinative nature in forming words as well as clauses. There is a morpheme ‘za’ which means ‘to happen, become’ in Boro whose appearances with verb roots denotes an idea of the subject being passivized. Passivization, usually has notions that it is a reversed representation of its active sentence forms in the terms of argument placements. (However, it is not accountably true as passives and actives have some distinct features of their own and independent of one and the other.) This particular work will concentrate on the semantics of passivization at the same time along with its syntactic reality. The verb khɑo meaning ‘to steal’ offers a sense of passivization with the appearance of the morpheme zɑ which means ‘to happen, become’ (e.g Zunu-ɑ lama-ɑo phɯisɑ khɑo-zɑ-bɑi; Junu-NOM road-LOC money steal-PASS-PRES: Junu got her money stolen on the road). The focus, here, is more on the argument placed at the subject position (i.e. Zunu) and the event taken place. The semantics of such construction asks for the agent because without an agent the event could not have taken place. However, the syntactic elements fill the slots of relegated or temporarily deleted agent which, infact, is the actual subject cum agent in its active representation. Due to the event marker ‘zɑ’ in this presentation it affords to reduce one participant from such a situation which in actual is made up of three participants. Hence, the structure of di-transitive construction here reduces to mono-transitive structure. Unlike passivization, middle construction does not allow relegation of the agents. It permanently deletes agents. However, it also focuses on the fore-grounded subject and highlighting on the changed states on the subjects which happens to be the underlying objects of their respective transitive structures (with agents). This work intends to describe how these two parameters which are different at their semantic realization can meet together at a syntactic level in order to create a linguistic parameter that decreases participants from their actual structures which are with more than one participant.

Keywords: argument-decrease, middle-construction, passivization, transitivity-intransitivity

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Authors: Girija Jha

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This paper investigates the need of cotton to integrate sustainability. The methodology used in the paper is to do secondary research to find out the various environmental implications of cotton as textile material across its life cycle and try to look at ways and possibilities of minimizing its ecological footprint. Cotton is called ‘The Fabric of Our Lives’. History is replete with examples where this fabric used to be more than a fabric of lives. It used to be a miracle fabric, a symbol India’s pride and social Movement of Swaraj, Gandhijee’s clarion call to self reliance. Cotton is grown in more than 90 countries across the globe on 2.5 percent of the world's arable land in countries like China, India, United States, etc. accounting for almost three fourth of global production. But cotton as a raw material has come under the scanner of sustainability experts because of myriad reasons a few have been discussed here. It may take more than 20,000 liters of water to produce 1kg of cotton. Cotton harvest is primarily done from irrigated land which leads to Salinization and depletion of local water reservoirs, e.g., Drying up of Aral Sea. Cotton is cultivated on 2.4% of total world’s crop land but accounts for 24% usage of insecticide and shares the blame of 11% usage of pesticides leading to health hazards and having an alarmingly dangerous impact on the ecosystem. One of the possible solutions to these problems as proposed was GM, Genetically Modified cotton crop. However, use of GM cotton is still debatable and has many ethical issues. The practice of mass production and increasing consumerism and especially fast fashion has been major culprits to disrupt this delicate balance. Disposable fashion or fast fashion is on the rise and cotton being one of the major choices adds on to the problem. Denims – made of cotton and have a strong fashion statement and the washes being an integral part of their creation they share a lot of blame. These are just a few problems listed. Today Sustainability is the need of the hour and it is inevitable to incorporate have major changes in the way we cultivate and process cotton to make it a sustainable choice. The answer lies in adopting minimalism and boycotting fast fashion, in using Khadi, in saying no to washed denims and using selvedge denims or using better methods of finishing the washed out fabric so that the environment does not bleed blue. Truly, the answer lies in integrating state of art technology with age old sustainable practices so that the synergy of the two may help us come out of the vicious circle.

Keywords: cotton, sustainability, denim, Khadi

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Authors: Fida Isam Abdulhafiz

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Traditional vernacular architecture in the United Arab Emirates constituted namely of adobe houses with a limited number of openings in their facades. The thick mud and rubble walls and wooden window screens protected its inhabitants from the harsh desert climate and provided them with privacy and fulfilled their comfort zone needs to an extent. However, with the rise of the immediate post petroleum era reinforced concrete villas with glass and steel technology has replaced traditional vernacular dwellings. And more load was put on the mechanical cooling systems to ensure the satisfaction of today’s more demanding doweling inhabitants. However, In the early 21at century professionals started to pay more attention to the carbon footprint caused by the built constructions. In addition, many studies and innovative approaches are now dedicated to lower the impact of the existing operating buildings on their surrounding environments. The UAE government agencies started to regulate that aim to revive sustainable and environmental design through Local and international building codes and urban design policies such as Estidama and LEED. The focus in this paper is on the reduction of the emissions resulting from the use of energy sources in the cooling and heating systems, and that would be through using innovative screen designs and façade solutions to provide a green footprint and aesthetic architectural icons. Screens are one of the popular innovative techniques that can be added in the design process or used in existing building as a renovation techniques to develop a passive green buildings. Preparing future architects to understand the importance of environmental design was attempted through physical modelling of window screens as an educational means to combine theory with a hands on teaching approach. Designing screens proved to be a popular technique that helped them understand the importance of sustainable design and passive cooling. After creating models of prototype screens, several tests were conducted to calculate the amount of Sun, light and wind that goes through the screens affecting the heat load and light entering the building. Theory further explored concepts of green buildings and material that produce low carbon emissions. This paper highlights the importance of hands on experience for student architects and how physical modelling helped rise eco awareness in Design studio. The paper will study different types of façade screens and shading devices developed by Architecture students and explains the production of diverse patterns for traditional screens by student architects based on sustainable design concept that works properly with the climate requirements in the Middle East region.

Keywords: building’s screens modeling, façade design, sustainable architecture, sustainable dwellings, sustainable education

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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: Sara Zelman, Courtney Meyer, Hiren Patel, Lisa Philpotts, Sue Lahey, Thomas Burke

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Background: As the global burden of disease shifts from infectious diseases to noncommunicable diseases, there is growing urgency to provide treatment for time-sensitive illnesses, such as ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarctions (STEMIs). The standard of care for STEMIs in developed countries is Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI). However, this is inaccessible in resource-limited settings. Before the discovery of PCI, Streptokinase (STK) and other thrombolytic drugs were first-line treatments for STEMIs. STK has been recognized as a cost-effective and safe treatment for STEMIs; however, in settings which lack access to PCI, it has not become the established second-line therapy. A systematic literature review was conducted to geographically map the use of STK for STEMIs in resource-limited settings. Methods: Our literature review group searched the databases Cinhal, Embase, Ovid, Pubmed, Web of Science, and WHO’s Index Medicus. The search terms included ‘thrombolytics’ AND ‘myocardial infarction’ AND ‘resource-limited’ and were restricted to human studies and papers written in English. A considerable number of studies came from Latin America; however, these studies were not written in English and were excluded. The initial search yielded 3,487 articles, which was reduced to 3,196 papers after titles were screened. Three medical professionals then screened abstracts, from which 291 articles were selected for full-text review and 94 papers were chosen for final inclusion. These articles were then analyzed and mapped geographically. Results: This systematic literature review revealed that STK has been used for the treatment of STEMIs in 33 resource-limited countries, with 18 of 94 studies taking place in India. Furthermore, 13 studies occurred in Pakistan, followed by Iran (6), Sri Lanka (5), Brazil (4), China (4), and South Africa (4). Conclusion: Our systematic review revealed that STK has been used for the treatment of STEMIs in 33 resource-limited countries, with the highest utilization occurring in India. This demonstrates that even though STK has high utility for STEMI treatment in resource-limited settings, it still has not become the standard of care. Future research should investigate the barriers preventing the establishment of STK use as second-line treatment after PCI.

Keywords: cardiovascular disease, global health, resource-limited setting, ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction, Streptokinase

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Authors: Barbora Svechova, Monika Licbinska

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Geochemical modeling of mineralogical changes of various materials in contact with an aqueous solution is an important tool for predicting the processes and development of given materials at the site. The modeling focused on the mutual interaction of groundwater at the contact with the rock mass and its subsequent influence on concrete structures. The studied locality is located in Slovakia in the area of the Liptov Basin, which is a significant inter-mountain lowland, which is bordered on the north and south by the core mountains belt of the Tatras, where in the center the crystalline rises to the surface accompanied by Mesozoic cover. Groundwater in the area is bound to structures with complicated geological structures. From the hydrogeological point of view, it is an environment with a crack-fracture character. The area is characterized by a shallow surface circulation of groundwater without a significant collector structure, and from a chemical point of view, groundwater in the area has been classified as calcium bicarbonate with a high content of CO2 and SO4 ions. According to the European standard EN 206-1, these are waters with medium aggression towards the concrete. Three rock samples were taken from the area. Based on petrographic and mineralogical research, they were evaluated as calcareous shale, micritic limestone and crystalline shale. These three rock samples were placed in demineralized water for one month and the change in the chemical composition of the water was monitored. During the solution-rock interaction there was an increase in the concentrations of all major ions, except nitrates. There was an increase in concentration after a week, but at the end of the experiment, the concentration was lower than the initial value. Another experiment was the interaction of groundwater from the studied locality with a concrete structure. The concrete sample was also left in the water for 1 month. The results of the experiment confirmed the assumption of a reduction in the concentrations of calcium and bicarbonate ions in water due to the precipitation of amorphous forms of CaCO3 on the surface of the sample.Vice versa, it was surprising to increase the concentration of sulphates, sodium, iron and aluminum due to the leaching of concrete. Chemical analyzes from these experiments were performed in the PHREEQc program, which calculated the probability of the formation of amorphous forms of minerals. From the results of chemical analyses and hydrochemical modeling of water collected in situ and water from experiments, it was found: groundwater at the site is unsaturated and shows moderate aggression towards reinforced concrete structures according to EN 206-1a, which will affect the homogeneity and integrity of concrete structures; from the rocks in the given area, Ca, Na, Fe, HCO3 and SO4. Unsaturated waters will dissolve everything as soon as they come into contact with the solid matrix. The speed of this process then depends on the physicochemical parameters of the environment (T, ORP, p, n, water retention time in the environment, etc.).

Keywords: geochemical modeling, concrete , dissolution , PHREEQc

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Authors: Sunidhi Sood, Drashti Narendrakumar Shah, Aakarsh Sharma, Nirali Harsh Panchal, Maria Karizhenskaia

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Cancer is a global health concern, causing a significant number of deaths, with chemotherapy being a standard treatment method. However, chemotherapy often induces side effects that profoundly impact the physical and emotional well-being of patients, lowering their overall quality of life (QoL). This research aims to investigate the potential of music and art therapy as holistic adjunctive therapy for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, offering non-pharmacological support. This is achieved through a comprehensive review of existing literature with a focus on the following themes, including stress and anxiety alleviation, emotional expression and coping skill development, transformative changes, and pain management with mood upliftment. A systematic search was conducted using Medline, Google Scholar, and St. Lawrence College Library, considering original, peer-reviewed research papers published from 2014 to 2023. The review solely incorporated studies focusing on the impact of music and art therapy on the health and overall well-being of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in North America. The findings from 16 studies involving pediatric oncology patients, females affected by breast cancer, and general oncology patients show that music and art therapies significantly reduce anxiety (standardized mean difference: -1.10) and improve perceived stress (median change: -4.0) and overall quality of life in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Furthermore, music therapy has demonstrated the potential to decrease anxiety, depression, and pain during infusion treatments (average changes in resilience scale: 3.4 and 4.83 for instrumental and vocal music therapy, respectively). This data calls for consideration of the integration of music and art therapy into supportive care programs for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Moreover, it provides guidance to healthcare professionals and policymakers, facilitating the development of patient-centered strategies for cancer care in Canada. Further research is needed in collaboration with qualified therapists to examine its applicability and explore and evaluate patients' perceptions and expectations in order to optimize the therapeutic benefits and overall patient experience. In conclusion, integrating music and art therapy in cancer care promises to substantially enhance the well-being and psychosocial state of patients undergoing chemotherapy. However, due to the small population size considered in existing studies, further research is needed to bridge the knowledge gap and ensure a comprehensive, patient-centered approach, ultimately enhancing the quality of life (QoL) for individuals facing the challenges of cancer treatment.

Keywords: anxiety, cancer, chemotherapy, depression, music and art therapy, pain management, quality of life

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Authors: Weikang Peng

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The innovation corridor is an important spatial carrier to promote regional collaborative innovation, and its development process is the spatial re-organization process of regional innovation resources. This paper takes the Nanjing-Zhenjiang G312 Industrial Innovation Corridor, which involves seven municipal districts in Jiangsu Province, as empirical evidence. Based on multi-source spatial big data in 2010, 2016, and 2022, this paper applies triangulated irregular network (TIN), head/tail breaks, regional innovation ecosystem (RIE) niche fitness evaluation model, and social network analysis to carry out empirical research on the spatial organization and functional structural evolution characteristics of innovation corridors and their correlation with the structural evolution of collaborative innovation network. The results show, first, the development of innovation patches in the corridor has fractal characteristics in time and space and tends to be multi-center and cluster layout along the Nanjing Bypass Highway and National Highway G312. Second, there are large differences in the spatial distribution pattern of niche fitness in the corridor in various dimensions, and the niche fitness of innovation patches along the highway has increased significantly. Third, the scale of the collaborative innovation network in the corridor is expanding fast. The core of the network is shifting from the main urban area to the periphery of the city along the highway, with small-world and hierarchical levels, and the core-edge network structure is highlighted. With the development of the Innovation Corridor, the main collaborative mode in the corridor is changing from collaboration within innovation patches to collaboration between innovation patches, and innovation patches with high ecological suitability tend to be the active areas of collaborative innovation. Overall, polycentric spatial layout, graded functional structure, diversified innovation clusters, and differentiated environmental support play an important role in effectively constructing collaborative innovation linkages and the stable expansion of the scale of collaborative innovation within the innovation corridor.

Keywords: innovation corridor development, spatial structure, niche fitness evaluation model, head/tail breaks, innovation network

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Authors: Laura Isabel Guarin, Juliana Vargas, Philippe Chang

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The analysis and study of Open Channel flow dynamics for River applications has been based on flow modelling using discreet numerical models based on hydrodynamic equations. The overall spatial characteristics of rivers, i.e. its length to depth to width ratio generally allows one to correctly disregard processes occurring in the vertical or transverse dimensions thus imposing hydrostatic pressure conditions and considering solely a 1D flow model along the river length. Through a calibration process an accurate flow model may thus be developed allowing for channel study and extrapolation of various scenarios. The Magdalena River in Colombia is a large river basin draining the country from South to North with 1550 km with 0.0024 average slope and 275 average width across. The river displays high water level fluctuation and is characterized by a series of meanders. The city of La Dorada has been affected over the years by serious flooding in the rainy and dry seasons. As the meander is evolving at a steady pace repeated flooding has endangered a number of neighborhoods. This study has been undertaken in pro of correctly model flow characteristics of the river in this region in order to evaluate various scenarios and provide decision makers with erosion control measures options and a forecasting tool. Two field campaigns have been completed over the dry and rainy seasons including extensive topographical and channel survey using Topcon GR5 DGPS and River Surveyor ADCP. Also in order to characterize the erosion process occurring through the meander, extensive suspended and river bed samples were retrieved as well as soil perforation over the banks. Hence based on DEM ground digital mapping survey and field data a 2DH flow model was prepared using the Iber freeware based on the finite volume method in a non-structured mesh environment. The calibration process was carried out comparing available historical data of nearby hydrologic gauging station. Although the model was able to effectively predict overall flow processes in the region, its spatial characteristics and limitations related to pressure conditions did not allow for an accurate representation of erosion processes occurring over specific bank areas and dwellings. As such a significant helical flow has been observed through the meander. Furthermore, the rapidly changing channel cross section as a consequence of severe erosion has hindered the model’s ability to provide decision makers with a valid up to date planning tool.

Keywords: erosion, finite volume method, flow dynamics, flow modelling, meander

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Authors: Liang Sun, Yi He

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The origination and development of Chinese traditional villages have a strong link with clan society. Thousands of traditional villages are constituted by one big family who have the same surname. Villages’ basic social relationships are built on the basis of family kinship. Clan power controls family courtyards’ spatial structure and influences their evolvement process. Compared with other countries, research from perspective of clanism is a particular and universally applicable manner to recognize Chinese traditional villages’ space features. This paper takes traditional villages in astern Zhejiang province as examples, especially a single-clan village named Zoumatang. Through combining rural sociology with architecture, it clarifies the coupling relationship between clan structure and village space, reveals spatial composition and evolvement logic of family courtyards. Clan society pays much attention to the patrilineal kinship and genealogy. In astern Zhejiang province, clan is usually divided to ‘clan-branches-families’ three levels. Its structural relationship looks like pyramid, which results in ‘center-margin’ structure when projecting to villages’ space. Due to the cultural tradition of ancestor worship, family courtyards’ space exist similar ‘center-margin’ structure. Ancestor hall and family temple are respectively the space core of village and courtyard. Other parts of courtyard also shows order of superiority and inferiority. Elder and men must be the first. However, along with the disintegration of clan society, family courtyard gradually appears fragmentation trend. Its spatial structure becomes more and more flexible and its scale becomes smaller and smaller. Living conditions rather than ancestor worship turn out to be primary consideration. As a result, there are different courtyard historical prototype in different historic period. To some extent, Chinese present traditional villages’ conservation ignore the impact of clan society. This paper discovers the social significance of courtyard’s spatial texture and rebuilds the connection between society and space. It is expected to promote Chinese traditional villages’ conservation paying more attention to authenticity which defined in the historical process and integrity which built on the basis of social meaning.

Keywords: China, clanism, courtyard, evolvement process, spatial structure, traditional village

Procedia PDF Downloads 322

Authors: Fabienne Vozy, Anick Lepage

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Insects are displaying high nutritional value, low greenhouse gas emissions, low land use requirements and high food conversion efficiency. They can contribute to the food chain and be one of many solutions to protein shortages. Currently, in North America, nutritional entomology is under-developed and the needs to better understand its benefits remain to convince large-scale producers and consumers (both for human and agricultural needs). As such, large-scale production of mealworms offers a promising alternative to replacing traditional sources of protein and fatty acids. To proceed orderly, it is required to collect more data on the nutritional values of insects such as, a) Evaluate the diets of insects to improve their dietary value; b) Test the breeding conditions to optimize yields; c) Evaluate the use of by-products and organic residues as sources of food. Among the featured technical parameters, relative humidity (RH) percentage and temperature, optimal substrates and hydration sources are critical elements, thus establishing potential benchmarks for to optimize conversion rates of protein and fatty acids. This research is to establish the combination of the most influential rearing parameters with local food residues, to correlate the findings with the nutritional value of the larvae harvested. 125 same-monthly old adults/replica are randomly selected in the mealworm breeding pool then placed to oviposit in growth chambers preset at 26°C and 65% RH. Adults are removed after 7 days. Larvae are harvested upon the apparition of the first nymphosis signs and batches, are analyzed for their nutritional values using wet chemistry analysis. The first samples analyses include total weight of both fresh and dried larvae, residual humidity, crude proteins (CP%), and crude fats (CF%). Further analyses are scheduled to include soluble proteins and fatty acids. Although they are consistent with previous published data, the preliminary results show no significant differences between treatments for any type of analysis. Nutritional properties of each substrate combination have yet allowed to discriminate the most effective residue recipe. Technical issues such as the particles’ size of the various substrate combinations and larvae screen compatibility are to be investigated since it induced a variable percentage of lost larvae upon harvesting. To address those methodological issues are key to develop a standardized efficient procedure. The aim is to provide producers with easily reproducible conditions, without incurring additional excessive expenditure on their part in terms of equipment and workforce.

Keywords: entomophagy, nutritional value, rearing parameters optimization, Tenebrio molitor

Procedia PDF Downloads 113

Authors: Nadeem Munawar, Tariq Mahmood, Paula Rivadeneira, Ali Akhter

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In this paper, we review on rodent species which are common inhabitants of agricultural landscapes where they are an important prey source for a wide variety of avian, reptilian, and mammalian predators. Agricultural fields are surrounded by fallow land, which provide suitable sites for shelter and breeding for rodents, while shrubs, grasses, annual weeds and forbs may provide supplementary food. The assemblage of rodent’s fauna in the cropland habitats including cropped fields, meadows and adjacent field structures like hedgerows, woodland and field margins fluctuates seasonally. The mature agricultural crops provides good source of food and shelter to the rodents and these factors along with favorable climatic factors/season facilitate breeding activities of these rodent species. Changes in vegetation height and vegetative cover affect two important aspects of a rodent’s life: food and shelter. In addition, during non-crop period vegetation can be important for building nests above or below ground and it provides thermal protection for rodents from heat and cold. The review revealed that rodents form a very diverse group of mammals, ranging from tiny pigmy mice to big capybaras, from arboreal flying squirrels to subterranean mole rats, from opportunistic omnivores (e.g. Norway rats) to specialist feeders (e.g. the North African fat sand rats that feed on a single family of plants only). It is therefore no surprise that some species thrive well under the conditions that are found in agricultural fields. The review on the population dynamics of the rodent species indicated that they are agricultural pests probably due to the heterogeneous landscape and to the high rotativity of vegetable crop cultivation. They also cause damage to various crops, directly and indirectly, by gnawing, spoilage, contamination and hoarding activities, besides this behavior they have also significance importance in agricultural habitat. The burrowing activities of rodents alter the soil properties around their burrows which improve its aeration, infiltration, increase the water holding capacity and thus encourage plant growth. These properties are beneficial for the soil because they affect absorption of phosphorus, absorption zinc, copper, other nutrients and the uptake of water and thus rodents are known as indicator species in agricultural fields. Our review suggests that wide crop field’s borders, particularly those contiguous to various cropland fields, should be understood as priority sites for nesting, feeding, and cover for the rodent’s fauna. The goal of this review paper is to provide a comprehensive synthesis of understanding regarding rodent habitat and biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.

Keywords: agricultural landscapes, food, indicator species, shelter

Procedia PDF Downloads 170

Authors: Zafar Iqbal, Eugene Chan, Fareed Ahmed, Mohamed Jama, Avez Rizvi

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Advancements in Ultrasound Technology have enabled machines to capture 3D and 4D images with intricate features of the growing fetus. Sonographers can now capture clear 3D images and 4D videos of the fetus, especially of the face. Fetal faces are often seen on the ultrasound scan of the third trimester where anatomical features become more defined. Parents often want 3D/4D images and videos of their ultrasounds, and particularly image that capture the child’s face. Sidra Medicine developed a patient education mobile app called 10 Moons to improve care and provide useful information during the length of their pregnancy. In addition to general information, we built the ability to send ultrasound images directly from the modality to the mobile application, allowing expectant mothers to easily store and share images of their baby. 10 Moons represent the length of the pregnancy on a lunar calendar, which has both cultural and religious significance in the Middle East. During the third trimester scan, sonographers can capture 3D pictures of the fetus. Ultrasound machines are connected with a local 10 Moons Server with a Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) application running on it. Sonographers are able to send images directly to the DICOM server by a preprogrammed button on the ultrasound modality. Mothers can also request which pictures they would like to be available on the app. An internally built DICOM application receives the image and saves the patient information from DICOM header (for verification purpose). The application also anonymizes the image by removing all the DICOM header information and subsequently converts it into a lossless JPEG. Finally, and the application passes the image to the mobile application server. On the 10 Moons mobile app – patients enter their Medical Record Number (MRN) and Date of Birth (DOB) to receive a One Time Password (OTP) for security reasons to view the images. Patients can also share the images anonymized images with friends and family. Furthermore, patients can also request 3D printed mementos of their child through 10 Moons. 10 Moons is unique patient education and information application where expected mothers can also see 3D ultrasound images of their children. Sidra Medicine staff has the added benefit of a full content management administrative backend where updates to content can be made. The app is available on secure infrastructure with both local and public interfaces. The application is also available in both English and Arabic languages to facilitate most of the patients in the region. Innovation is at the heart of modern healthcare management. With Innovation being one of Sidra Medicine’s core values, our 10 Moons application provides expectant mothers with unique educational content as well as the ability to store and share images of their child and purchase 3D printed mementos.

Keywords: patient educational mobile application, ultrasound images, digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM), imaging informatics

Procedia PDF Downloads 142

Authors: Sina Kazemi, Farshid Torabi, Todd Peterson

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Drilling in shale formations is frequently time-consuming, challenging, and fraught with mechanical failures such as stuck pipes or hole packing off when the cutting removal rate is not sufficient to clean the bottom hole. Crossing the heavy oil shale and sand reservoirs with active shale and microfractures is generally associated with severe fluid losses causing a reduction in the rate of the cuttings removal. These circumstances compromise a well’s integrity and result in a lower rate of penetration (ROP). This study presents collective results of field studies and theoretical analysis conducted on data from South Pars and North Dome in an Iran-Qatar offshore field. Solutions to complications related to drilling in shale formations are proposed through systemically analyzing and applying modeling techniques to select field mud logging data. Field data measurements during actual drilling operations indicate that in a shale formation where the return flow of polymer mud was almost lost in the upper dolomite layer, the performance of hole cleaning and ROP progressively change when higher string rotations are initiated. Likewise, it was observed that this effect minimized the force of rotational torque and improved well integrity in the subsequent casing running. Given similar geologic conditions and drilling operations in reservoirs targeting shale as the producing zone like the Bakken formation within the Williston Basin and Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, a drill bench dynamic modeling simulation was used to simulate borehole cleaning efficiency and mud optimization. The results obtained by altering RPM (string revolution per minute) at the same pump rate and optimized mud properties exhibit a positive correlation with field measurements. The field investigation and developed model in this report show that increasing the speed of string revolution as far as geomechanics and drilling bit conditions permit can minimize the risk of mechanically stuck pipes while reaching a higher than expected ROP in shale formations. Data obtained from modeling and field data analysis, optimized drilling parameters, and hole cleaning procedures are suggested for minimizing the risk of a hole packing off and enhancing well integrity in shale reservoirs. Whereas optimization of ROP at a lower pump rate maintains the wellbore stability, it saves time for the operator while reducing carbon emissions and fatigue of mud motors and power supply engines.

Keywords: ROP, circulating density, drilling parameters, return flow, shale reservoir, well integrity

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Hosna Pourhashemi

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Chahar Bagh, the symbol of the world, displayed around the pool of life in the centre, attempts to emulate Eden. It represents a duality concept based on the division of the universe into two perceptional insights, a celestial and an earthly one. Chahar Bagh garden pattern refers to the Garden of Eden, that was watered and framed by main four rivers. This microcosm is combined with a mystical love of flowers, sweet-scented trees, the variety of colors, and the sense of eternal life. This symbol of the integration of spontaneous expressivity of the natural elements and reasoning awareness of man strives for the ideal of divine perfection. Through collecting and analyzing the data, the prevalence and continuous influence of Chahar Bagh concept on selected historical gardens was elaborated and evaluated. After the conquest of Persia by the Arabs in the 7th century, Chahar Bagh was adopted and spread throughout the Islamic expansion, from the Middle East, westward across northern Africa to Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula, and eastward through Iran to Central Asia and India. Furthermore, its continuity to the mid of 16th century Renaissance period is shown. By adapting the semiotic theory of Peirce and Saussure on the Persian garden, Chahar Bagh was defined as the basic pattern language for the garden culture. The hypothesis of the continuous influence of Chahar Bagh pattern language on today’s landscape architecture was examined on selected works of Dieter Kienast, as the important and relevant protagonist of his time (end of twentieth ct.) and up to our time. Chahar Bagh pattern language offers collective cultural sensitive healing wisdom transmitted down through the millennia. Through my reflections in Dieter Kienast’s works, I transformed my personal experience into a transpersonal understanding regarding the Sufi philosophy and the Jung psychology, which brings me to define new design theories and methods to form a spiritual, as I call it” Quaternary Perception Model” for landscape architecture. Based on a cognition process through self-journeying in this holistic model, human consciousness can be developed to access to “higher” levels of being and embrace the unity. The self-purification and mindfulness through transpersonal confrontation in the ”Quaternary Perception Model” generates a form of heart-based treatment. I adapted the seven spiritual levels of Sufi self-development on the perception of landscape, representing the stages of the self, ranging from absolutely self-centered to pure spiritual humanity. I redefine and reread the elements and features of Chahar Bagh pattern language for today’s landscape architecture. The “lost paradise” lies in our heart and can be perceived by all humans in landscapes and cities designed in the spirit of” Quaternary Model”.

Keywords: persian garden, pattern language of Chahar Bagh, wholistic Perception, dieter kienast, “quaternary model”

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Authors: Sima Hajiazizi

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Tehran is a capital of Iran, with the capitals of the world to natural disasters such as earthquake and flood vulnerable has known. City has stated on three faults, Ray, Mosha, and north according to report of JICA in 2000, the most casualties and destruction was the result of active fault Ray. In 2003, the prevention and management of crisis in Tehran to conduct prevention and rehabilitation of the city, under the Ministry has active. Given the breadth and lack of appropriate access in the city, was considered decentralized management for crisis management support, in each region, in order to position the crisis management headquarters at the time of crises and implementation of programs for prevention and education of the citizens and also to position the bases given in some areas of the neighboring provinces at the time of the accident for help and a number of databases to store food and equipment needed at the time of the disaster. In this study, the bases for one, six, nine and eleven regions of Tehran in the field of management and training are evaluated. Selected areas had local accident and experience of practice for disaster management and local training has been experiencing challenges. The research approach was used qualitative research methods underlying Ground theory. At first, the information obtained through the study of documents and Semi-structured interviews by administrators, officials of training and participant observation in the classroom, line by line, and then it was coded in two stages, by comparing and questioning concepts, categories and extract according to the indicators is obtained from literature studies, subjects were been central. Main articles according to the frequency and importance of the phenomenon were called and they were drawn diagram paradigm and at the end with the intersections phenomena and their causes with indicators extracted from the texts, approach each phenomenon and the effectiveness of the bases was measured. There are two phenomenons in management; 1. The inability to manage the vast and complex crisis events and to resolve minor incidents due to the mismatch between managers. 2. Weaknesses in the implementation of preventive measures and preparedness to manage crisis is causal of situations, fields and intervening. There are five phenomenons in the field of education; 1. In the six-region participation and interest is high. 2. In eleven-region training partnerships for crisis management were to low that next by maneuver in schools and local initiatives such as advertising and use of aid groups have increased. 3. In nine-region, contributions to education in the area of crisis management at the beginning were low that initiatives like maneuver in schools and communities to stimulate and increase participation have increased sensitivity. 4. Managers have been disagreement with the same training in all areas. Finally for the issues that are causing the main issues, with the help of concepts extracted from the literature, recommendations are provided.

Keywords: crises management, crisis management support bases, vulnerability, crisis management headquarters, prevention

Procedia PDF Downloads 175

Authors: Dina C. Castro, Rossana Boyd, Eugenia Papadaki

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Immigration within and across continents is currently a global reality. The number of people leaving their communities in search for a better life for them and their families has increased dramatically during the last twenty years. Therefore, young children of the 21st century around the World are growing up in diverse communities, exposed to many languages and cultures. One consequence of these migration movements is the increased linguistic diversity in school settings. Depending on the linguistic history and the status of languages in the communities (i.e., minority-majority; majority-majority) the instructional approaches will differ. This session will discuss how bilingualism is addressed in early education programs in both minority-majority and majority-majority language communities, analyzing experiences in three countries with very distinct societal and demographic characteristics: Peru (South America), the United States (North America), and Italy (European Union). The ultimate goal is to identify commonalities and differences across the three experiences that could lead to a discussion of bilingualism in early education from a global perspective. From Peru, we will discuss current national language and educational policies that have lead to the design and implementation of bilingual and intercultural education for children in indigenous communities. We will also discuss how those practices are being implemented in preschool programs, the progress made and challenges encountered. From the United States, we will discuss the early education of Spanish-English bilingual preschoolers, including the national policy environment, as well as variations in language of instruction approaches currently being used with these children. From Italy, we will describe early education practices in the Bilingual School of Monza, in northern Italy, a school that has 20 years promoting bilingualism and multilingualism in education. While the presentations from Peru and the United States will discuss bilingualism in a majority-minority language environment, this presentation will lead to a discussion on the opportunities and challenges of promoting bilingualism in a majority-majority language environment. It is evident that innovative models and policies are necessary to prevent inequality of opportunities for bilingual children beginning in their earliest years. The cross-cultural examination of bilingual education experiences for young children in three part of the World will allow us to learn from our success and challenges. The session will end with a discussion of the following question: To what extent are early care and education programs being effective in promoting positive development and learning among all children, including those from diverse language, ethnic and cultural backgrounds? We expect to identify, with participants to our session, a set of recommendations for policy and program development that could ensure access to high quality early education for all bilingual children.

Keywords: early education for bilingual children, global perspectives in early education, cross-cultural, language policies

Procedia PDF Downloads 300

Authors: Zayd Khayi

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This paper deals with the construction and analysis of the Tamazight text corpus. The grammatical structure of the Tamazight remains poorly understood, and a lack of comparative grammar leads to linguistic issues. In order to fill this gap, even though it is small, by constructed the diachronic corpus of the Tamazight language, and elaborated the program tool. In addition, this work is devoted to constructing that tool to analyze the different aspects of the Tamazight, with its different dialects used in the north of Africa, specifically in Morocco. It also focused on three Moroccan dialects: Tamazight, Tarifiyt, and Tachlhit. The Latin version was good choice because of the many sources it has. The corpus is based on the grammatical parameters and features of that language. The text collection contains more than 500 texts that cover a long historical period. It is free, and it will be useful for further investigations. The texts were transformed into an XML-format standardization goal. The corpus counts more than 200,000 words. Based on the linguistic rules and statistical methods, the original user interface and software prototype were developed by combining the technologies of web design and Python. The corpus presents more details and features about how this corpus provides users with the ability to distinguish easily between feminine/masculine nouns and verbs. The interface used has three languages: TMZ, FR, and EN. Selected texts were not initially categorized. This work was done in a manual way. Within corpus linguistics, there is currently no commonly accepted approach to the classification of texts. Texts are distinguished into ten categories. To describe and represent the texts in the corpus, we elaborated the XML structure according to the TEI recommendations. Using the search function may provide us with the types of words we would search for, like feminine/masculine nouns and verbs. Nouns are divided into two parts. The gender in the corpus has two forms. The neutral form of the word corresponds to masculine, while feminine is indicated by a double t-t affix (the prefix t- and the suffix -t), ex: Tarbat (girl), Tamtut (woman), Taxamt (tent), and Tislit (bride). However, there are some words whose feminine form contains only the prefix t- and the suffix –a, ex: Tasa (liver), tawja (family), and tarwa (progenitors). Generally, Tamazight masculine words have prefixes that distinguish them from other words. For instance, 'a', 'u', 'i', ex: Asklu (tree), udi (cheese), ighef (head). Verbs in the corpus are for the first person singular and plural that have suffixes 'agh','ex', 'egh', ex: 'ghrex' (I study), 'fegh' (I go out), 'nadagh' (I call). The program tool permits the following characteristics of this corpus: list of all tokens; list of unique words; lexical diversity; realize different grammatical requests. To conclude, this corpus has only focused on a small group of parts of speech in Tamazight language verbs, nouns. Work is still on the adjectives, prounouns, adverbs and others.

Keywords: Tamazight (Berber) language, corpus linguistic, grammar rules, statistical methods

Procedia PDF Downloads 68

Authors: Lexi Li, Vanessa H. K. Pang

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This study aims to demonstrate how native and learner corpora can be used to enhance modal verb treatment in EFL textbooks in mainland China. It contributes to a corpus-informed and learner-centered design of grammar presentation in EFL textbooks that enhances the authenticity and appropriateness of textbook language for target learners. The linguistic focus is will, would, can, could, may, might, shall, should, must. The native corpus is the spoken component of BNC2014 (hereafter BNCS2014). The spoken part is chosen because pedagogical purpose of the textbooks is communication-oriented. Using the standard query option of CQPweb, 5% of each of the nine modals was sampled from BNCS2014. The learner corpus is the POS-tagged Ten-thousand English Compositions of Chinese Learners (TECCL). All the essays under the 'secondary school' section were selected. A series of five secondary coursebooks comprise the textbook corpus. All the data in both the learner and the textbook corpora are retrieved through the concordance functions of WordSmith Tools (version, 5.0). Data analysis was divided into two parts. The first part compared the patterns of modal verbs in the textbook corpus and BNC2014 with respect to distributional features, semantic functions, and co-occurring constructions to examine whether the textbooks reflect the authentic use of English. Secondly, the learner corpus was analyzed in terms of the use (distributional features, semantic functions, and co-occurring constructions) and the misuse (syntactic errors, e.g., she can sings*.) of the nine modal verbs to uncover potential difficulties that confront learners. The analysis of distribution indicates several discrepancies between the textbook corpus and BNCS2014. The first four most frequent modal verbs in BNCS2014 are can, would, will, could, while can, will, should, could are the top four in the textbooks. Most strikingly, there is an unusually high proportion of can (41.1%) in the textbooks. The results on different meanings shows that will, would and must are the most problematic. For example, for will, the textbooks contain 20% more occurrences of 'volition' and 20% less of 'prediction' than those in BNCS2014. Regarding co-occurring structures, the textbooks over-represented the structure 'modal +do' across the nine modal verbs. Another major finding is that the structure of 'modal +have done' that frequently co-occur with could, would, should, and must is underused in textbooks. Besides, these four modal verbs are the most difficult for learners, as the error analysis shows. This study demonstrates how the synergy of native and learner corpora can be harnessed to improve EFL textbook presentation of modal verbs in a way that textbooks can provide not only authentic language used in natural discourse but also appropriate design tailed for the needs of target learners.

Keywords: English as Foreign Language, EFL textbooks, learner corpus, modal verbs, native corpus

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: Ni Zhenyu

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A human settlement is defined as the social activities, social relationships and lifestyles generated within a certain territory, which is also relatively independent territorial living space and domain composed of common people. Along with the advancement of technology and the development of society, the idea, presented in traditional research, that human settlements are deemed as substantial organic integrity with strong autonomy, are more often challenged nowadays. Spatial form of human settlements is one of the most outstanding external expressions with its subjectivity and autonomy, nevertheless, the projections of social, economic activities on certain territories are even more significant. What exactly is the relationship between human beings and the spatial form of the settlements where they live in? a question worth thinking over has been raised, that if a new view, a spatial anthropological one , can be constructed to review and respond to spatial form of human settlements based on research theories and methods of cultural anthropology within the profession of architecture. This article interprets how the typical spatial form of human settlements in the basin area of Bac Giang Province is formed under the collective impacts of local social order, land use condition, topographic features, and social contracts. A particular case of the settlement in Sizhai Village, City of Zhuji, Zhejiang Province is chosen to study for research purpose. Spatial form of human settlements are interpreted as a modeled integrity affected corporately by dominant economy, social patterns, key symbol marks and core values, etc.. Spatial form of human settlements, being a structured existence, is a materialized, behavioral, and social space; it can be considered as a place where human beings realize their behaviors and a path on which the continuity of their behaviors are kept, also for social practice a territory where currant social structure and social relationships are maintained, strengthened and rebuilt. This article aims to break the boundary of understanding that spatial form of human settlements is pure physical space, furthermore, endeavors to highlight the autonomy status of human beings, focusing on their relationships with certain territories, their interpersonal relationships, man-earth relationships and the state of existence of human beings, elaborating the deeper connotation behind spatial form of human settlements.

Keywords: spatial anthropology, human settlement, spatial pattern, spatial structure

Procedia PDF Downloads 412

Authors: Nabila Ihaddadene, Razika Ihaddadene, Abdelwahaab Betka

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1973 energy crisis (rising oil prices) pushed the world to consider other alternative energy resources to existing conventional energies consisting predominantly of hydrocarbons. Renewable energies such as solar, the wind and geothermal have received renewed interest, especially to preserve nature ( the low-temperature rise of global environmental problems). Solar energy as an available, cheap and environmental friendly alternative source has various applications such as heating, cooling, drying, power generation, etc. In short, there is no life on earth without this enormous nuclear reactor, called the sun. Among available solar collector designs, flat plate collector (FPC) is low-temperature applications (heating water, space heating, etc.) due to its simple design and ease of manufacturing. Flat plate collectors are permanently fixed in position and do not track the sun (non-concentrating collectors). They operate by converting solar radiation into heat and transferring that heat to a working fluid (usually air, water, water plus antifreeze additive) flowing through them. An FPC generally consists of the main following components: glazing, absorber plate of high absorptivity, fluid tubes welded to or can be an integral part of the absorber plate, insulation and container or casing of the above-mentioned components. Insulation is of prime importance in thermal applications. There are three main families of insulation: mineral insulation; vegetal insulation and synthetic organic insulation. The old houses of the inhabitants of North Africa were built of brick made of composite material that is clay and straw. These homes are characterized by their thermal comfort; i.e. the air inside these houses is cool in summer and warm in winter. So, the material composed from clay and straw act as a thermal insulation. In this research document, the polystyrene used as insulation in the ET200 flat plate solar collector is replaced by the cheapest natural material which is clay and straw. Trials were carried out on a solar energy demonstration system (ET 200). This system contains a solar collector, water storage tank, a high power lamp simulating solar energy and a control and command cabinet. In the experimental device, the polystyrene is placed under the absorber plate and in the edges of the casing containing the components of the solar collector. In this work, we have replaced the polystyrene of the edges by the composite material. The use of the clay and straw as insulation instead of the polystyrene increases temperature difference (T2-T1) between the inlet and the outlet of the absorber by 0.9°C; thus increases the useful power transmitted to water in the solar collector. Tank Water is well heated when using the clay and straw as insulation. However, it is less heated when using the polystyrene as insulation. Clay and straw material improves also the performance of the solar collector by 5.77%. Thus, it is recommended to use this cheapest non-polluting material instead of synthetic insulation to improve the performance of the solar collector.

Keywords: clay, insulation material, polystyrene, solar collector, straw

Procedia PDF Downloads 461

Authors: Etienne Gatera

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Many studies have been conducted on SDT. Most of them focus on developed countries because of influencing factors such as; education, health, labor force, female labor force participation, industrialization, urbanization and migration. However, this thesis project paper aims to assess the impact of the total fertility rate (TFR) on the trends of the SDR in Rwanda. We will mainly be based in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. Rwanda is located in East Africa, with approximately 13 million inhabitants. Thus, after the 1994 Tutsi genocide. The population growth rate exploded out of control with 6.17 children per woman in 1995. However, it's declined to 4.2 in 2014-2015 and declining to 4.1% in 2019-2020. Respectively with 3.4 children per woman in urban areas and 4.3 in rural areas. According to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda. Rwanda's population is expected to continue to grow for the rest of the century and reach 33.35 million people in 2099, with 2.1 children per woman in 2050. However, this project document aims to demonstrate the impact of the TFR on SDT trends in Rwanda. Thus, the decline in the TFR in Rwanda began with the introduction of family planning practices, which now account for 47.5% in 2019. Childbearing with three children for rural women compared to two children in the city, the increase in Divorce and separation caused by the behavior called "Kuza n'ijoro" or "coming at night" similar to cohabitation in developed countries. The decline in remarriage is caused by single mothers behavior who prefer to raise their children rather than remarry. Therefore, the study used probability sampling with (Stratified random sampling) method with a survey questionnaire of 1067 respondents in the 5 Districts (3 in rural areas and two in urban areas), with the target group of women Age between 15-49. The study demonstrated that the age of marriage in rural areas is two years higher than in urban areas. Divorce is more common in urban is with 6.2% with 5.2% in rural areas. However, separation is more common in rural areas than in urban areas, with a lower rate of 3%, due to the higher system called "Kuza n'ijoro" or "come at night", similar to cohabitation in developed countries. The study revealed that more than 85% of divorced people prefer to remain single, which confirms the low remarriage rate. Childbearing has started to decrease, especially for young singles in urban areas, due to the economic situation, with national statistics showing that unemployment in the youth community is still 16% higher. Therefore, the study concluded by confirming the hypothesis based on the results of the TFR indicators such as marriage, remarriage, divorce, separation, divorce, Kuza n'ijoro, childbearing] and abortion. The study consists of four sections, an introduction and background, a review of the literature, a description of the data and methodology, an analysis of the data, discussion results and a conclusion.

Keywords: Kuza n'ijoro, Rwanda, second demographic transition (SDT), total fertility rate (TFR)

Procedia PDF Downloads 170

Authors: Qiang Ren

Abstract:

In the past 20 years, under the high standard of international investment protection, there have been numerous cases of investors ignoring the host country's measures to protect human health. Examples include investment disputes triggered by the Argentine government's measures related to human health, quality, and price of drinking water under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Examples also include Philip Morris v. Australia, in which case the Australian government announced the passing of the Plain Packing of Cigarettes Act to address the threat of smoking to public health in 2010. In order to take advantage of the investment treaty protection between Hong Kong and Australia, Philip Morris Asia acquired Philip Morris Australia in February 2011 and initiated investment arbitration under the treaty before the passage of the Act in July 2011. Philip Morris claimed the Act constitutes indirect expropriation and violation of fair and equitable treatment and claimed 4.16 billion US dollars compensation. Fortunately, the case ended at the admissibility decision stage and did not enter the substantive stage. Generally, even if the host country raises a human health defense, most arbitral tribunals will rule that the host country revoke the corresponding policy and make huge compensation in accordance with the clauses in the bilateral investment treaty to protect the rights of investors. The significant imbalance in the rights and obligations of host states and investors in international investment treaties undermines the ability of host states to act in pursuit of human health and social interests beyond economic interests. This squeeze on the nation's public policy space and disregard for the human health costs of investors' activities raises the need to include human health in investment rulemaking. The current international investment law system that emphasizes investor protection fails to fully reflect the requirements of the host country for the healthy development of human beings and even often brings negative impacts to human health. At a critical moment in the reform of the international investment law system, in order to achieve mutual enhancement of investment returns and human health development, human health should play a greater role in influencing and shaping international investment rules. International investment agreements should not be limited to investment protection tools but should also be part of national development strategies to serve sustainable development and human health. In order to meet the requirements of the new sustainable development goals of the United Nations, human health should be emphasized in the formulation of international investment rules, and efforts should be made to shape a new generation of international investment rules that meet the requirements of human health and sustainable development.

Keywords: human health, international investment law, Philip Morris v. Australia, investor protection

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Authors: Ke Wang, Zhu Wang

Abstract:

Coordinating and promoting urban and rural development has been a new round of institutional change in Zhejiang province since 2004. And this plan was fully implemented, which showed that the isolation between the urban and rural areas had gradually diminished. Little by little, an infiltration interface that is dynamic, flexible and interactive is formed, and this morphological structure starts to appear on the landscape form in the surrounding villages. In order to study the specific function and formation of the structure in the context of industrial revolution, Bimen village located on the interface between Anji Township, Huzhou and Yuhang District, Hangzhou is taken as the case. Anji township is in the cross area between Yangtze River delta economic circle and innovation center in Hangzhou. Awarded with ‘Chinese beautiful village’, Bimen has witnessed the growing process of infiltration in ecology, economy, technology and culture on the interface. Within the opportunity, Bimen village presents internal reformation to adapt to the energy exchange with urban areas. In the research, the reformation is to adjust the industrial structure, to upgrade the local special bamboo crafts, to release space for activities, and to establish infrastructures on the interface. The characteristic of an interface is elasticity achieved by introducing an Internet platform using ‘O2O’ agriculture method to connect cities and farmlands. There is a platform of this kind in Bimen named ‘Xiao Mei’. ‘Xiao’ in Chinese means small, ‘Mei’ means beautiful, which indicates the method to refine the landscape form. It turns out that the new agriculture mode will strengthen the interface by orienting the Third Party Platform upon the old dynamic basis and will bring new vitality for economy development in Bimen village. The research concludes opportunities and challenges generated by the evolution of the infiltration interface. It also proposes strategies for how to organically adapt to the urbanization process. Finally it demonstrates what will happen by increasing flexibility in the landscape forms of suburbs in the Bimen village.

Keywords: Bimen village, infiltration interface, flexibility, suburban landscape form

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Authors: Shailendra Kumar Singh

Abstract:

In the 21st century, we are living through extraordinary times as we are linguistically blessed to live through an era in which the each sociolinguistic example of living appears to be refreshingly new without any precedence of the past. The word `New Linguistic World Order’ is no longer just the intangible fascination but an indication of the emerging reality that we are living through a time in which the word ‘linguistic purism’ no longer invokes the sense of self categorization and self identification. The contemporary world of today is linguistically rewarding. This is a time in which the very existence of global, powerful and local needs to be revisited in the context of power shift, demographic shift, social psychological shift and technological shift. Hence, the old linguistic world view has to be challenged in the midst of 21st century. The first years of the 21st century have thus far been marked by the rise global economy, technological revolution and demographic shift, now we are witnessing linguistic shift which is leading towards forming a new linguistic world order. On the other hand, with rising powers of China and India in Asia in tandem the notion of alternative west is set to become a lot more interesting linguistically. It comes at a point when the world is moving towards inclusive globalization due to vanishing power corridor of the west and ascending geopolitical impact of emerging superpower and superpower in waiting. Now it is a reality that the western world no longer continues to rise – in fact, it will have more pressure to act in situation when the alternative west is looking for balanced globalization. It is more than likely that demographically strong languages of alternative west will be in advantageous position. The paper challenges our preconceptions about the nature of sociolinguistic nature of world in the 21st century. It investigates what a linguistic world is likely to be in the future in contrast to what was a linguistic world before 21st century. In particular, the paper tries to answer the following questions: (a) What will be the common linguistic thread across world? (b) How unprecedented transformations can be mapped linguistically? (c) Do we need alternative linguistics to define inclusive globalization as the linguistic reality of the contemporary world has already been reshaped by increasingly integrated world economy, linguistic revolution and alternative west? (d) In which ways these issues can be addressed holistically? (e) Why linguistic world order is changing dramatically? (f) Is it true that the linguistic world around is changing faster than we can even really cope? (g) Is it true that what is coming next is linguistically greater than ever? (h) Do we need to prepare ourselves with new theoretical strategies to address emerging sociolinguistic reality?

Keywords: alternative linguistics, new linguistic world order, power shift, demographic shift, social psychological shift, technological shift

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