Search results for: FPGA tool

Authors: Agnes Anyango Andollo, Jane Achieng Achola

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The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has become one of the driving forces in facilitation of learning in most colleges. The ability to effectively harness the technology varies from college to college. The study objective was to determine the lecturers’, institutional attributes and policies that influence the utilization of ICT by the lecturers’. A cross sectional survey design was employed in order to empirically investigate the extent to which lecturers’ personal, institutional attributes and policies influence the utilization of ICT to facilitate learning. The target population of the study was 295 lecturers who facilitate learning at KMTC-Nairobi. Structured self-administered questionnaire was given to the lecturers. Quantitative data was scrutinized for completeness, accuracy and uniformity then coded. Data were analyzed in frequencies and percentages using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 19, this was a reliable tool for quantitative data analysis. A total of 155 completed questionnaires administered were obtained from the respondents for the study that were subjected to analysis. The study found out that 93 (60%) of the respondents were male while 62 (40%) of the respondents were female. Individual’s educational level, age, gender and educational experience had the greatest impact on use of ICT. Lecturers’ own beliefs, values, ideas and thinking had moderate impact on use of ICT. And that institutional support by provision of resources for ICT related training such as internet, computers, laptops and projectors had moderate impact (p = 0.049) at 5% significant level on use of ICT. The study concluded that institutional attributes and ICT policy were keys to utilization of ICT by lecturers at KMTC Nairobi also mandatory policy on use of ICT by lecturers to facilitate learning was key. It recommended that policies should be put in place for Technical support to lecturers when in problem during utilization of ICT and also a mechanism should be put in place to make the use of ICT in teaching and learning mandatory.

Keywords: policy, computers education, medical training institutions, ICTs

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Authors: Sudha Summarwar, Sudesh Agarwal, Deepali Lall, Nalini Kataria, Jyotsana Pandey

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Assessment of antioxidant status is an effective tool to appraise the presence of oxidative stress. A combination of assays can be used to evaluate the antioxidant status like serum catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and monoamine oxidase (MAO). In human medicine pregnancy is known to be associated with oxidative stress. Oxidative stress produces harmful effects to the developing foetus. Several metabolic changes occur in the maternal body to meet the demand of energy of developing foetus. Due to these changes susceptibility of maternal body increases to oxidative stress. There is paucity of research work on this aspect in nondescript goats. Therefore, the present study was intended to appraise the oxidative stress in pregnant and non-pregnant non-descript goat. Blood samples were collected for serum separation in otherwise healthy pregnant and non-pregnant nondescript goats. Mean values of serum CAT, SOD and MAO were found on a higher side (p≤0.05) with serum SOD values showing a rise of 2.5 times higher than the control healthy value. Correlations among all the three parameters were found to be highly significant (p≤0.01) especially greatest in youngest group of pregnant animals. Illustration of result enlightened the veracity of bumped up production of free radicals in pregnant animals. Technical savoir-faire of oxidative stress supervision is essential for upholding of health status of foetus. The upshot of present study undoubtedly implied the development of oxidative stress in pregnant goats on the basis of altered antioxidant status. These findings conclude that initially the oxidative stress due to pregnancy is critically combated by the intricate defensive mechanism of natural antioxidant system of the body. It appears that this imbalance between oxidant and antioxidant must be checked in time to prevent cellular damage by regularly appraising the antioxidant status through laboratory methods.

Keywords: antioxidant, oxidative stress, pregnancy, serum catalase

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Authors: Fatemeh Jaferi, Moslem Parsa, Heshmatolah Shams Khorramabadi

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In this modern fluctuating world, organizations need to outsource some parts of their activities (project) to providers in order to show a quick response to their changing requirements. In fact, a number of companies and institutes have contractors do their projects and have some specific criteria in contractor selection. Therefore, a set of scientific tools is needed to select the best contractors to execute the project according to appropriate criteria. Multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) has been employed in the present study as a powerful tool in ranking and selecting the appropriate contractor. In this study, devolving second-source (civil) project to contractors in the National Gas Company of Lorestan Province (Iran) has been found and therefore, 5 civil companies have been evaluated. Evaluation criteria include executive experience, qualification of technical staff, good experience and company's rate, technical interview, affordability, equipment and machinery. Criteria's weights are found through experts' opinions along with AHP and contractors ranked through TOPSIS and AHP. The order of ranking contractors based on MCDM methods differs by changing the formula in the study. In the next phase, the number of criteria and their weights has been sensitivity analysed through using AHP. Adding each criterion changed contractors' ranking. Similarly, changing weights resulted in a change in ranking. Adopting the stated strategy resulted in the facts that not only is an appropriate scientific method available to select the most qualified contractors to execute gas project, but also a great attention is paid to picking needed criteria for selecting contractors. Consequently, executing such project is undertaken by most qualified contractors resulted in optimum use of limited resource, accelerating the implementation of project, increasing quality and finally boosting organizational efficiency.

Keywords: multi-criteria decision making, project, management, contractor selection, gas company

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Authors: Vanessa A. Segovia, Sonia E. Ruiz

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The use of energy dissipation systems for seismic applications has increased worldwide, thus it is necessary to develop practical and modern criteria for their optimal design. Here, a direct displacement-based seismic design approach for frame buildings with hysteretic energy dissipation systems (HEDS) is applied. The building is constituted by two individual structural systems consisting of: 1) A main elastic structural frame designed for service loads and 2) A secondary system, corresponding to the HEDS, that controls the effects of lateral loads. The procedure implies to control two design parameters: A) The stiffness ratio (α=K_frame/K_(total system)), and B) The strength ratio (γ= V_damper / V_(total system)). The proposed damage-controlled approach contributes to the design of a more sustainable and resilient building because the structural damage is concentrated on the HEDS. The reduction of the design displacement spectrum is done by means of a damping factor (recently published) for elastic structural systems with HEDS, located in Mexico City. Two limit states are verified: Serviceability and near collapse. Instead of the traditional trial-error approach, a procedure that allows the designer to establish the preliminary sizes of the structural elements of both systems is proposed. The design methodology is applied to an 8-story steel building with buckling restrained braces, located in soft soil of Mexico City. With the aim of choosing the optimal design parameters, a parametric study is developed considering different values of α and γ. The simplified methodology is for preliminary sizing, design, and evaluation of the effectiveness of HEDS, and it constitutes a modern and practical tool that enables the structural designer to select the best design parameters.

Keywords: damage-controlled buildings, direct displacement-based seismic design, optimal hysteretic energy dissipation systems, hysteretic dampers

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Authors: S. K. Dewangan, K. R. Sahu, S. Soni

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Unemployment is today’s basic socio-economic problem eroding national income and living standards, aggravating national development and poverty alleviation. The farmers are encouraged to take up non-agriculture practices which are integrated with Sericulture. Sericulture is one of the primary occupations for livelihood of poor people in tribal area. Most of tribal are involved in Sericulture. Tasar, Eri are the main forest-based cultivation. Among these sericultures is the major crop adopted by the Tribal’s and practiced in respective areas. Out of the 6, 38,588 villages in India, sericultures are practiced in about 69000 villages providing employment to about 7.85 million people. Sericulture is providing livelihood for 9, 47,631 families. India continues to be the second largest producer of silk in the World. Among the four varieties of silk produced, as in 2012-13, Mulberry accounts for 18,715 MT, Eri 3116 MT, Tasar 1729 MT and Muga 119MT of the total raw silk production in the country. Sericulture with its unique features plays an important role in upgrading the socio-economic conditions of the rural folk and with employment opportunities to the educated rural youth and women. In view of the importance of sericulture enterprise for the biodiversity conservation as well as its cultural bondage, the paper tries to enlighten and discuss the significance of sericulture and strategies to be taken for the employment generation in Indian sericulture industry. The present paper explores the possible employment opportunities derived from problem analysis and strategies to be adopted aiming at revolutionary biodiversity conservation in the study area. The paper highlights the sericulture is a way for biodiversity conservation, employment generation in Raigarh district, their utilization and needs as they act as a tool for socio-economic change for tribal. The study concludes with some suggestions to improve the feasibility of sericulture in long term.

Keywords: bio-diversity, employment, sericulture, tribal, income, socio-economic

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Authors: Vinay Suhalka

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In India, the official nomenclature used by the State for persons with disability is divyang (literally, the one with a divine limb), a word coming from the Sanskrit language. Disability thus gets portrayed as divine, at least in the welfare sector from where it flows down even to the popular imagination where it gets equated to divinity. This paper looks at reference to persons with disabilities as divyangs and goes on to discusses what such usage for an already marginalized group achieves and misses out. The issue of nomenclature and language has always been a contested one when it comes to disability. At the same time, there is also an issue of who determines these labels for the persons with disability. Nomenclature and language used for disability can have real consequences for the population of persons with disability as it may empower or disempower them. Thus, this paper looks at the issue of what it means for persons with disabilities as ‘exceptionally gifted’ and hence divyang. Language can be a powerful tool to communicate meanings and messages associated with a term. When the persons with disabilities as a group are described as ‘exceptionally gifted, talented and the source of inspiration’, it essentially stereotypes and marginalizes them by putting a burden of performance that all of them ought to be achievers, and it is only then that they would be assimilated in the larger society. This paper also argues that such a situation creates a ‘double bind’ where the person is always trying to match up to the labels (the disabled as ‘achiever, overcomer, inspirational’) created by somebody else and looks at self through the eyes of others. This conceptual paper also presents an overview of disability labels while simultaneously looking at projecting disability as divinity which has the potential to wrongly portray the lives of persons with disability in India due to the official usage of the term. It also explores the question of visibility of disability since the idea of divyang implicitly assumes that all disabilities are visible. In reality, however, it may not be the case simply because all forms of disabilities are not visible, people may choose not to visibilize their disabilities if they can and pass as able-bodied, fearing the stigma that surrounds disability. Finally, it argues for an increased focus on understanding the everyday lived realities of those with disability in order to regard it as an important form of difference which could be a potential resource for the society.

Keywords: persons with disability, labels, language use, divinity

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Authors: ZhenlinJu, Christopher P. Vellano, RehanAkbani, Yiling Lu, Gordon B. Mills

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The epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process by which epithelial cells acquire mesenchymal characteristics, such as profound disruption of cell-cell junctions, loss of apical-basolateral polarity, and extensive reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton to induce cell motility and invasion. A hallmark of EMT is its capacity to promote metastasis, which is due in part to activation of several transcription factors and subsequent downregulation of E-cadherin. Unfortunately, current approaches have yet to uncover robust protein marker sets that can classify tumors as possessing strong EMT signatures. In this study, we utilize reverse phase protein array (RPPA) data and consensus clustering methods to successfully classify a subset of cervical squamous cell carcinoma and endocervical adenocarcinoma (CESC) tumors into an EMT protein signaling group (EMT group). The overall survival (OS) of patients in the EMT group is significantly worse than those in the other Hormone and PI3K/AKT signaling groups. In addition to a shrinkage and selection method for linear regression (LASSO), we applied training/test set and Monte Carlo resampling approaches to identify a set of protein markers that predicts the EMT status of CESC tumors. We fit a logistic model to these protein markers and developed a classifier, which was fixed in the training set and validated in the testing set. The classifier robustly predicted the EMT status of the testing set with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.975 by Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis. This method not only identifies a core set of proteins underlying an EMT signature in cervical cancer patients, but also provides a tool to examine protein predictors that drive molecular subtypes in other diseases.

Keywords: consensus clustering, TCGA CESC, Silhouette, Monte Carlo LASSO

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Authors: Denis Duagi, Ben Carter, Maria Farrelly, Stephen Lisk, June S. L. Brown

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Background: Adolescence represents a distinctive phase of development, and variables linked to this developmental period could affect the efficiency of prevention and treatment for depression and anxiety, as well as the long-term prognosis. The objectives of this study were to investigate the long-term effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for adolescents on depression and anxiety symptoms and to assess the influence of different intervention parameters on the long-term effects. Methods: Searches were carried out on the 11ᵗʰ of August 2022 using five databases (Cochrane Library, Embase, Medline, PsychInfo, Web of Science), as well as trial registers. Randomized controlled trials of psychosocial interventions targeting specifically adolescents were included if they assessed outcomes at 1-year post-intervention or more. The Cochrane risk of bias-2 quality assessment tool was used. The primary outcome was depression, and studies were pooled using a standardised mean difference, with an associated 95% confidence interval, p-value, and I². The study protocol was pre-registered (CRD42022348668). Findings: A total of 57 reports (n= 46,678 participants) were included in the review. Psychosocial interventions led to small reductions in depressive symptoms, with a standardised mean difference (SMD) at 1-year of -0.08 (95%CI -0.20, -0.03, p=0.002, I²=72%), 18-months SMD=-0.12, 95% CI -0.22, -0.01, p=0.03, I²=63%) and 2-years SMD=-0.12 (95% CI -0.20, -0.03, p=0.01, I²=68%). Sub-group analyses indicated that targeted interventions produced stronger effects, particularly when delivered by trained mental health professionals (K=18, SMD=-0.24, 95% CI -0.38, -0.10, p=0.001, I²=60%). No effects were detected for anxiety at any assessment. Conclusion: Psychosocial interventions specifically targeting adolescents were shown to have small but positive effects on depression symptoms but not anxiety symptoms, which were sustained for up to 2 years. These findings highlight the potential population-level preventive effects if such psychosocial interventions become widely implemented in accessible settings such as schools.

Keywords: psychosocial, adolescent, interventions, depression, anxiety, meta-analysis, randomized controlled trial

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Authors: Shadi Fathi, Moura Mehravar, Mujib Rahman

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The railwaytransportation network in the UK is over 100 years old and is known as one of the oldest mass transit systems in the world. This aged track network requires frequent closure for maintenance. One of the main reasons for closure is inadequate drainage due to the leakage in the buried drainage pipes. The leaking water can cause localised subgrade weakness, which subsequently can lead to major ground/substructure failure.Different condition assessment methods are available to assess the railway substructure. However, the existing condition assessment methods are not able to detect any local ground weakness/damageand provide details of the damage (e.g. size and location). To tackle this issue, a hybrid back-analysis technique based on artificial neural network (ANN) and genetic algorithm (GA) has been developed to predict the substructurelayers’ moduli and identify any soil weaknesses. At first, afinite element (FE) model of a railway track section under Falling Weight Deflection (FWD) testing was developed and validated against field trial. Then a drainage pipe and various scenarios of the local defect/ soil weakness around the buried pipe with various geometriesand physical properties were modelled. The impact of the soil local weaknesson the track surface deflection wasalso studied. The FE simulations results were used to generate a database for ANN training, and then a GA wasemployed as an optimisation tool to optimise and back-calculate layers’ moduli and soil weakness moduli (ANN’s input). The hybrid ANN-GA back-analysis technique is a computationally efficient method with no dependency on seed modulus values. The modelcan estimate substructures’ layer moduli and the presence of any localised foundation weakness.

Keywords: finite element (FE) model, drainage defect, falling weight deflectometer (FWD), hybrid ANN-GA

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Authors: Iva Trako, Maris Micaela Sviatschi, Guadalupe Kavanaugh

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Domestic violence is a major concern in developing countries, with important social, economic and health consequences. However, institutions do not usually address the problems facing women or ethnic and religious minorities. For example, the police do very little to stop domestic violence in rural areas of developing countries. This paper exploits the introduction of women’s justice centers (WJCs) in Peru to provide causal estimates on the effects of improving access to justice for women and children. These centers offer a new integrated public service model for women by including medical, psychological and legal support in cases of violence against women. Our empirical approach uses a difference in difference estimation exploiting variation over time and space in the opening of WJC together with province-by-year fixed effects. Exploiting administrative data from health providers and district attorney offices, we find that after the opening of these centers, there are important improvements on women's welfare: a large reduction in femicides and female hospitalizations for assault. Moreover, using geo-coded household surveys we find evidence that the existence of these services reduces domestic violence, improves women's health, increases women's threat points and, therefore, lead to household decisions that are more aligned with their interests. Using administrative data on the universe of schools, we find large gains on human capital for their children: affected children are more likely to enroll, attend school and have better grades in national exams, instead of working for the family. In sum, the evidence in this paper shows that providing access to justice for women can be a powerful tool to reduce domestic violence and increase education of children, suggesting a positive inter-generational benefit.

Keywords: access to justice, domestic violence, education, household bargaining

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Authors: F. S. Al-Anzi, M. Sarfraz, A. Elmi, A. R. Khan

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Researchers are responding to the environmental challenges of Kuwait in localized, innovative, effective and economic ways. One of the vital and significant examples of the natural challenges is lack or water and desertification. In this research, the project team focuses on redesigning a prototype, using Value Engineering Methodology, which would provide similar functionalities to the well-known technology of Waterboxx kits while reducing the capital and operational costs and simplifying the process of manufacturing and usability by regular farmers. The design employs used tires and recycled plastic sheets as raw materials. Hence, this approach is going to help not just fighting desertification but also helping in getting rid of ever growing huge tire dumpsters in Kuwait, as well as helping in avoiding hazards of tire fires yielding in a safer and friendlier environment. Several alternatives for implementing the prototype have been considered. The best alternative in terms of value has been selected after thorough Function Analysis System Technique (FAST) exercise has been developed. A prototype has been fabricated and tested in a controlled simulated lab environment that is being followed by real environment field testing. Water and soil analysis conducted on the site of the experiment to cross compare between the composition of the soil before and after the experiment to insure that the prototype being tested is actually going to be environment safe. Experimentation shows that the design was equally as effective as, and may exceed, the original design with significant savings in cost. An estimated total cost reduction using the VE approach of 43.84% over the original design. This cost reduction does not consider the intangible costs of environmental issue of waste recycling which many further intensify the total savings of using the alternative VE design. This case study shows that Value Engineering Methodology can be an important tool in innovating new designs for reducing costs.

Keywords: desertification, functional analysis, scrap tires, value engineering, waste recycling, water irrigation rationing

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Authors: Sami Ayad, Mengshan Lee

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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were designed to be the best possible blueprint to achieve peace, prosperity, and overall, a better and more sustainable future for the Earth and all its people, and such a blueprint is needed more than ever. The SDGs face many hurdles that will prevent them from becoming a reality, one of such hurdles, arguably, is the chemical pollution and unintended chemical impacts generated through the production of various goods and resources that we consume. Chemical Alternatives Assessment has proven to be a viable solution for chemical pollution management in terms of filtering out hazardous chemicals for a greener alternative. However, the current substitution practice lacks crucial quantitative datasets (exposures and life cycle impacts) to ensure no unintended trade-offs occur in the substitution process. A Chemical Life Cycle Alternative Assessment (CLiCAA) framework is proposed as a reliable and replicable alternative to Life Cycle Based Alternative Assessment (LCAA) as it integrates chemical molecular structure analysis and Chemical Life Cycle Collaborative (CLiCC) web-based tool to fill in data gaps that the former frameworks suffer from. The CLiCAA framework consists of a four filtering layers, the first two being mandatory, with the final two being optional assessment and data extrapolation steps. Each layer includes relevant impact categories of each chemical, ranging from human to environmental impacts, that will be assessed and aggregated into unique scores for overall comparable results, with little to no data. A feasibility study will demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of CLiCAA whilst bridging both cancer potency and exposure limit data, hoping to provide the necessary categorical impact information for every firm possible, especially those disadvantaged in terms of research and resource management.

Keywords: chemical alternative assessment, LCA, LCAA, CLiCC, CLiCAA, chemical substitution framework, cancer potency data, chemical molecular structure analysis

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Authors: Pankaj Dhiman, Simranjeet Kaur

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This research paper presents a comprehensive sentiment analysis of social media responses to videos on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram during the 2024 Indian general elections. The study focuses on the sentiment patterns of voters towards the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) on these platforms. The analysis aims to understand the impact of social media on voter sentiment and its correlation with the election outcome. The study employed a mixed-methods approach, combining both quantitative and qualitative methods. With a total of 200 posts analysed during general election-2024 final phase, the sentiment analysis was conducted using natural language processing (NLP) techniques, including sentiment dictionaries and machine learning algorithms. The results show that NDA received significantly more positive sentiment responses across all platforms, with a positive sentiment score of 47% compared to INDIA's score of 38.98 %. The analysis also revealed that Twitter and YouTube were the most influential platforms in shaping voter sentiment, with 60% of the total sentiment score coming from these two platforms. The study's findings suggest that social media sentiment analysis can be a valuable tool for understanding voter sentiment and predicting election outcomes. The results also highlight the importance of social media in shaping public opinion and the need for political parties to engage effectively with voters on these platforms. The study's implications are significant, as they indicate that social media can be a key factor in determining the outcome of elections. The findings also underscore the need for political parties to develop effective social media strategies to engage with voters and shape public opinion.

Keywords: Indian Elections-2024, NDA, INDIA, sentiment analysis, social media, democracy

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Authors: Basma Abdel Mohsen Al-Sheikh

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This study aimed to create textile designs inspired by Najdi Al-Sadu art, with the objective of highlighting Saudi identity and heritage. The research proposed clothing designs for women and children, utilizing textiles inspired by Najdi Al-Sadu art, and incorporated artificial intelligence techniques in the design process. The study employed a descriptive-analytical approach to describe Najdi Al-Sadu, and an experimental method involving the creation of textile designs inspired by Al-Sadu. The study sample consisted of 33 participants, including experts in the fashion and textile industry, fashion designers, lecturers, professors, and postgraduate students from King Abdulaziz University. A questionnaire was used as a tool to gather opinions regarding the proposed designs. The results demonstrated a clear acceptance of the designs inspired by Najdi Al-Sadu and incorporating artificial intelligence, with approval rates ranging from 22% to 81% across different designs. The study concluded that artificial intelligence applications have a significant impact on fashion design, particularly in the integration of Al-Sadu art. The findings also indicated a positive reception of the designs in terms of their aesthetic and functional aspects, although individual preferences led to some variations in opinions. The results highlighted a demand for designs that combine heritage and modern fashion, striking a balance between authenticity and contemporary style. The study recommended that designers continue to explore ways to integrate cultural heritage, such as Al-Sadu art, with contemporary design elements to achieve this balance. Furthermore, it emphasized the importance of enhancing the aesthetic and functional aspects of designs, taking into consideration the preferences of the target market and customer expectations. The effective utilization of artificial intelligence was also emphasized to improve design processes, expand creative possibilities, and foster innovation and authenticity.

Keywords: Najdi Al-Sadu art, artificial intelligence, women's and children's fashion, clothing designs

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Authors: Suphap Sikkhaphan, Muwanga Zake, Johnnie Wycliffe Frank

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The purposes of the study included a) investigating the authentic and transformational leadership model of the directors of tambon health promoting hospitals b) evaluating the relation between the authentic and transformation leadership of the directors of tambon health promoting hospitals and the effectiveness of their hospitals and c) assessing the invariance test of the authentic and transformation leadership of the directors of tambon health promoting hospitals. All 400 southern tambon health promoting hospital directors were enrolled into the study. Half were males (200), and another half were females (200). They were sampled via a stratified method. A research tool was a questionnaire paper containing 4 different sections. The Alpha-Cronbach’s Coefficient was equally to .98. Descriptive analysis was used for demographic data, and inferential statistics was used for the relation and invariance tests of authentic and transformational leadership of the directors of tambon health promoting hospitals. The findings revealed overall the authentic and transformation leadership model of the directors of tambon health promoting hospitals has the relation to the effectiveness of the hospitals. Only the factor of “strong community support” was statistically significantly related to the authentic leadership (p < .05). However, there were four latent variables statistically related to the transformational leadership including, competency and work climate, management system, network cooperation, and strong community support (p = .01). Regarding the relation between the authentic and transformation leadership of the directors of tambon health promoting hospitals and the effectiveness of their hospitals, four casual variables of authentic leadership were not related to those latent variables. In contrast, all four latent variables of transformational leadership has statistically significantly related to the effectiveness of tambon health promoting hospitals (p = .001). Furthermore, only management system variable was significantly related to those casual variables of the authentic leadership (p < .05). Regarding the invariance test, the result found no statistical significance of the authentic and transformational leadership model of the directors of tambon health promoting hospitals, especially between male and female genders (p > .05).

Keywords: authentic leadership, transformational leadership, tambon health promoting hospital

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Authors: Yasuyuki Takahashi, Hirotaka Shimada, Kyoko Saito

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Bone scintigraphy is widely used as a screening tool for bone metastases. However, the 180 to 240 minutes (min) waiting time after the intravenous (i.v.) injection of the tracer is both long and tiresome. To solve this shortcoming, a bone scan with a shorter waiting time is needed. In this study, we applied the Maximum Intensity Projection (MIP) and triple energy window (TEW) scatter correction to a whole body bone SPECT (Merged SPECT) and investigated shortening the waiting time. Methods: In a preliminary phantom study, hot gels of 99mTc-HMDP were inserted into sets of rods with diameters ranging from 4 to 19 mm. Each rod set covered a sector of a cylindrical phantom. The activity concentration of all rods was 2.5 times that of the background in the cylindrical body of the phantom. In the human study, SPECT images were obtained from chest to abdomen at 30 to 180 min after 99mTc- hydroxymethylene diphosphonate (HMDP) injection of healthy volunteers. For both studies, MIP images were reconstructed. Planar whole body images of the patients were also obtained. These were acquired at 200 min. The image quality of the SPECT and the planar images was compared. Additionally, 36 patients with breast cancer were scanned in the same way. The delectability of uptake regions (metastases) was compared visually. Results: In the phantom study, a 4 mm size hot gel was difficult to depict on the conventional SPECT, but MIP images could recognize it clearly. For both the healthy volunteers and the clinical patients, the accumulation of 99mTc-HMDP in the SPECT was good as early as 90 min. All findings of both image sets were in agreement. Conclusion: In phantoms, images from MIP with TEW scatter correction could detect all rods down to those with a diameter of 4 mm. In patients, MIP reconstruction with TEW scatter correction could improve the detectability of hot lesions. In addition, the time between injection and imaging could be shortened from that conventionally used for whole body scans.

Keywords: merged SPECT, MIP, TEW scatter correction, 99mTc-HMDP

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Authors: Salimah Hasnah, Namratha Radhakrishnan

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Communities play a vital role in mobilizing people and resources for the benefit of all. Since time immemorial, communities have been spear heading different activities ranging from disaster management, palliative care, local economic development and many more with laudable success. Urban agriculture is one such activity where communities can prove to make a real difference. Farming activities in cities across different developed countries have proved to have favorable outcomes in the form of increased food security, neighborhood revitalization, health benefits and local economic growth. However, urban agriculture in the developing nations have never been prioritized as an important planning tool to cater to the basic needs of the public. Urban agricultural practices are being carried out in a fragmented fashion without a formal backing. The urban dwellers rely heavily on their far-off rural counterparts for daily food requirements. With the onset of the pandemic and the recurring lockdowns, the significance of geographic proximity and its impact on the availability of food to the public are gradually being realized around the globe. This warrants a need for localized food systems by shortening the distance between production and consumption of food. The significance of communities in realizing these urban farming benefits is explored in this paper. A case-study approach is adopted to understand how different communities have overcome barriers to urban farming in cities. The applicability of these practices is validated against the state of Kerala in India wherein different community centered approaches have been successful in the past. The existing barriers are assessed and way forward to achieve a self-sufficient localized food systems is formulated with the key lessons from the case studies. These recommendations will be helpful to successfully establish and sustain farming activities in urban areas by leveraging the power of communities.

Keywords: community-centric, COVID-19, drivers and barriers, local food system, urban agriculture

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Authors: Nur Aziza Luxfiati

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Clustering is partitioning data sets into sub-sets or groups in such a way that elements certain properties have shared property settings with a high level of similarity within one group and a low level of similarity between groups. . The K-Means algorithm is one of thealgorithmsclustering as a grouping tool that is most widely used in scientific and industrial applications because the basic idea of the kalgorithm is-means very simple. In this research, applying the technique of clustering using the k-means algorithm as a method of solving the problem of national development imbalances between regions in Central Java Province based on macroeconomic indicators. The data sample used is secondary data obtained from the Central Java Provincial Statistics Agency regarding macroeconomic indicator data which is part of the publication of the 2019 National Socio-Economic Survey (Susenas) data. score and determine the number of clusters (k) using the elbow method. After the clustering process is carried out, the validation is tested using themethodsBetween-Class Variation (BCV) and Within-Class Variation (WCV). The results showed that detection outlier using z-score normalization showed no outliers. In addition, the results of the clustering test obtained a ratio value that was not high, namely 0.011%. There are two district/city clusters in Central Java Province which have economic similarities based on the variables used, namely the first cluster with a high economic level consisting of 13 districts/cities and theclustersecondwith a low economic level consisting of 22 districts/cities. And in the cluster second, namely, between low economies, the authors grouped districts/cities based on similarities to macroeconomic indicators such as 20 districts of Gross Regional Domestic Product, with a Poverty Depth Index of 19 districts, with 5 districts in Human Development, and as many as Open Unemployment Rate. 10 districts.

Keywords: clustering, K-Means algorithm, macroeconomic indicators, inequality, national development

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Authors: Abdul Sattar Jamali, Imdad Ali Memon, Maqsood Ahmed Memon

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Quality of production near to zero defects is an objective of every manufacturing and service organization. In order to maintain and improve the quality by reduction in defects, Statistical tools are being used by any organizations. There are many statistical tools are available to assess the quality. Keeping in view the importance of many statistical tools, traditional 7QC tools has been used in any manufacturing and automobile Industry. Therefore, the 7QC tools have been successfully applied at one of the Automobile Company Pakistan. Preliminary survey has been done for the implementation of 7QC tool in the assembly line of Automobile Industry. During preliminary survey two inspection points were decided to collect the data, which are Chassis line and trim line. The data for defects at Chassis line and trim line were collected for reduction in defects which ultimately improve productivity. Every 7QC tools has its benefits observed from the results. The flow charts developed for better understanding about inspection point for data collection. The check sheets developed for helps for defects data collection. Histogram represents the severity level of defects. Pareto charts show the cumulative effect of defects. The Cause and Effect diagrams developed for finding the root causes of each defects. Scatter diagram developed the relation of defects increasing or decreasing. The P-Control charts developed for showing out of control points beyond the limits for corrective actions. The successful implementation of 7QC tools at the inspection points at Automobile Industry concluded that the considerable amount of reduction on defects level, as in Chassis line from 132 defects to 13 defects. The total 90% defects were reduced in Chassis Line. In Trim line defects were reduced from 157 defects to 28 defects. The total 82% defects were reduced in Trim Line. As the Automobile Company exercised only few of the 7 QC tools, not fully getting the fruits by the application of 7 QC tools. Therefore, it is suggested the company may need to manage a mechanism for the application of 7 QC tools at every section.

Keywords: check sheet, cause and effect diagram, control chart, histogram

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Authors: Nawt Almutairi, Ramzi El-Haddadeh

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With the extensive increase in the number of online shops, loyalty becomes the most purpose for e-retailers by which they can maintain their exit customers and regular income instead of spending large deal of money to target new segmentation. To obtain customers’ loyalty e-marketers should firstly satisfy customers by providing a high quality of services that could fulfil their demand. They have to satisfy them to trust the web-site then increase their intention to re-visit it. This study intends to investigate to what extend the elements of e-service quality presented in the literature affect customers’ satisfaction and how these influences contribute to customers’ trust and loyalty. Three dimensions of service quality are estimated. The first element is web-site interactivity, which is perceived the quality of interactive support and the accessible communications-tool. The second aspect is security/privacy, which is perceived the quality of controlling security and privacy while transaction over the web-site. The third element is web-design that perceived a pleasant user interface with visual appealing. These elements present positive effects on shoppers’ satisfaction. Thus, To examine the proposed constructs of this research, some measurements scale-items adapted from similar prior studies. Survey data collected online from Saudi customers (n=106) were utilized to test the research hypotheses. After that, the hypotheses were analyzed by using a variety of regression tools. The analytical results of this study propose that perceived quality of interactivity and security/privacy affects customers’ satisfaction. As well as trust seems to be a substantial construct that highly affects loyalty in online shopping. This study provides a developed model to obtain a simple understanding of the series of customers’ loyalty in online shopping. One construct presenting in the research model is web-design appears to be not important antecedent of satisfaction (the path to loyalty) in online shopping.

Keywords: e-service, satisfaction, trust, loyalty

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Authors: Satu Lautamäki

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This paper presents findings from a multidisciplinary course (bachelor level) implemented at Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, Finland. The course aims to develop innovative thinking of students, by having projects given by companies, using design thinking methods as a tool for creativity and by integrating students into multidisciplinary teams working on the given projects. The course is obligatory for all first year bachelor students across four faculties (business and culture, food and agriculture, health care and social work, and technology). The course involves around 800 students and 30 pedagogical coaches, and it is implemented as an intensive one-week course each year. The paper discusses the pedagogy, structure and coordination of the course. Also, reflections on methods for the development of creative skills are given. Experts in contemporary, global context often work in teams, which consist of people who have different areas of expertise and represent various professional backgrounds. That is why there is a strong need for new training methods where multidisciplinary approach is at the heart of learning. Creative learning takes place when different parties bring information to the discussion and learn from each other. When students in different fields are looking for professional growth for themselves and take responsibility for the professional growth of other learners, they form a mutual learning relationship with each other. Multidisciplinary team members make decisions both individually and collectively, which helps them to understand and appreciate other disciplines. Our results show that creative and multidisciplinary project learning can develop diversity of knowledge and competences, for instance, students’ cultural knowledge, teamwork and innovation competences, time management and presentation skills as well as support a student’s personal development as an expert. It is highly recommended that higher education curricula should include various studies for students from different study fields to work in multidisciplinary teams.

Keywords: multidisciplinary learning, creative skills, innovative thinking, project-based learning

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Authors: Shobhit Mittal

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Headcount budgeting stands as a pivotal element in organizational financial management, extending beyond traditional budgeting to encompass strategic resource allocation for workforce-related expenses. This process is integral to maintaining financial stability and fostering a productive workforce, requiring a comprehensive analysis of factors such as market trends, business growth projections, and evolving workforce skill requirements. It demands a collaborative approach, primarily involving Human Resources (HR) and finance departments, to align workforce planning with an organization's financial capabilities and strategic objectives. The dynamic nature of headcount budgeting necessitates continuous monitoring and adjustment in response to economic fluctuations, business strategy shifts, technological advancements, and market dynamics. Its significance in talent management is also highlighted, aligning financial planning with talent acquisition and retention strategies to ensure a competitive edge in the market. The consequences of incorrect headcount budgeting are explored, showing how it can lead to financial strain, operational inefficiencies, and hindered strategic objectives. Examining case studies like IBM's strategic workforce rebalancing and Microsoft's shift for long-term success, the importance of aligning headcount budgeting with organizational goals is underscored. These examples illustrate that effective headcount budgeting transcends its role as a financial tool, emerging as a strategic element crucial for an organization's success. This necessitates continuous refinement and adaptation to align with evolving business goals and market conditions, highlighting its role as a key driver in organizational success and sustainability.

Keywords: strategic planning, fiscal budget, headcount planning, resource allocation, financial management, decision-making, operational efficiency, risk management, headcount budget

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Authors: My Hachem Aouragh, Hind Ragragui, Abdellah El-Hmaidi, Ali Essahlaoui, Abdelhadi El Ouali

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This study investigates soil erosion susceptibility in the Oued Mikkes watershed, located in the Meknes-Fez region of northern Morocco, utilizing advanced techniques such as deep learning algorithms and remote sensing integrated within Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Spanning approximately 1,920 km², the watershed is characterized by a semi-arid Mediterranean climate with irregular rainfall and limited water resources. The waterways within the watershed, especially the Oued Mikkes, are vital for agricultural irrigation and potable water supply. The research assesses the extent of erosion risk upstream of the Sidi Chahed dam while developing a spatial model of soil loss. Several important factors, including topography, land use/land cover, and climate, were analyzed, with data on slope, NDVI, and rainfall erosivity processed using deep learning models (DLNN, CNN, RNN). The results demonstrated excellent predictive performance, with AUC values of 0.92, 0.90, and 0.88 for DLNN, CNN, and RNN, respectively. The resulting susceptibility maps provide critical insights for soil management and conservation strategies, identifying regions at high risk for erosion across 24% of the study area. The most high-risk areas are concentrated on steep slopes, particularly near the Ifrane district and the surrounding mountains, while low-risk areas are located in flatter regions with less rugged topography. The combined use of remote sensing and deep learning offers a powerful tool for accurate erosion risk assessment and resource management in the Mikkes watershed, highlighting the implications of soil erosion on dam siltation and operational efficiency.

Keywords: soil erosion, GIS, remote sensing, deep learning, Mikkes Watershed, Morocco

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Authors: Sherif D. El Wakil, John Rice

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The aim of the current work was to employ the finite element method to model a slab, with a small hole across its width, undergoing plastic plane strain deformation. The computational model had, however, to be validated by comparing its results with those obtained experimentally. Since they were in good agreement, the finite element method can therefore be considered a reliable tool that can help gain better understanding of the mechanism of ductile failure in structural members having stress raisers. The finite element software used was ANSYS, and the PLANE183 element was utilized. It is a higher order 2-D, 8-node or 6-node element with quadratic displacement behavior. A bilinear stress-strain relationship was used to define the material properties, with constants similar to those of the material used in the experimental study. The model was run for several tensile loads in order to observe the progression of the plastic deformation region, and the stress concentration factor was determined in each case. The experimental study involved employing the visioplasticity technique, where a circular mesh (each circle was 0.5 mm in diameter, with 0.05 mm line thickness) was initially printed on the side of an aluminum slab having a small hole across its width. Tensile loading was then applied to produce a small increment of plastic deformation. Circles in the plastic region became ellipses, where the directions of the principal strains and stresses coincided with the major and minor axes of the ellipses. Next, we were able to determine the directions of the maximum and minimum shear stresses at the center of each ellipse, and the slip-line field was then constructed. We were then able to determine the stress at any point in the plastic deformation zone, and hence the stress concentration factor. The experimental results were found to be in good agreement with the analytical ones.

Keywords: finite element method to model a slab, slab undergoing plastic deformation, stress distribution around a circular hole, visioplasticity

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Authors: Andreas Johansson

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Conceptual understanding needs to be grounded on observation of physical phenomena, experiences or metaphors. Observation of physical phenomena using demonstration experiments has a long tradition within physics education and students need to develop mental models to relate the observations to concepts from scientific theories. This study investigates how live and video experiments involving an acoustic trap to visualize particle-field interaction, field properties and particle properties can help develop students' mental models and how they can be used differently to realize their potential as teaching tools. Initially, they were treated as analogs and the lesson designs were kept identical. With a design-based approach, the experimental and video designs, as well as best practices for a respective teaching tool, were then developed in iterations. Variation theory was used as a theoretical framework to analyze the planned respective realized pattern of variation and invariance in order to explain learning outcomes as measured by a pre-posttest consisting of conceptual multiple-choice questions inspired by the Force Concept Inventory and the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation. Interviews with students and teachers were used to inform the design of experiments and videos in each iteration. The lesson designs and the live and video experiments has been developed to help teachers improve student learning and make school physics more interesting by involving experimental setups that usually are out of reach and to bridge the gap between what happens in classrooms and in science research. As students’ conceptual knowledge also rises their interest in physics the aim is to increase their chances of pursuing careers within science, technology, engineering or mathematics.

Keywords: acoustic trap, design-based research, experiments, variation theory

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Authors: Nicodemus Tiendem, Arrey Mbayong Napoleon

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The heightening of competition and the quest for market share has left business persons and research communities re-examining and reinventing their competitive practices. A case in point is Porter’s generic strategy which has received a lot of criticism lately regarding its inability to maintain a company’s competitive power. This is because it focuses more on the organisation and ignores her external partners, who have a strong bearing on the company’s performance. This paper, therefore, sought to examine Porter’s generic strategies alongside supply chain quality management practices in terms of their effectiveness in building the competitive power of manufacturing companies in Cameroon. This was done with the use of primary data captured from a survey study across the supply chains of 20 manufacturing companies in Cameroon using a five-point Likert scale questionnaire. For each company, four 1st tier suppliers and four 1st tier distributors were carefully chosen to participate in the study alongside the companies themselves. In each case, attention was directed to persons involved in the supply chains of the companies. This gave a total of 180 entities comprising the supply chains of the 20 manufacturing companies involved in the study, making a total of 900 participants. The data was analysed using three multiple regression models to assess the effect of Porter’s generic strategy and supply chain quality management on the marketing performance of the companies. The findings proved that in such a competitive atmosphere, supply chain quality management is a better tool for marketing performance over Porter’s generic strategies and hence building the competitive power of the companies at all levels of the study. Although the study made use of convenience sampling, where sample selectivity biases the results, the findings aligned with many other recent developments in line with building the competitive power of manufacturing companies and thereby made the findings suitable for generalisation.

Keywords: supply chain quality management, Porter’s generic strategies, competitive power, marketing performance, manufacturing companies, Cameroon

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Authors: Q. Giraud, J. Gonçalvès, B. Paris

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Remediation of dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) represents a challenging issue because of their persistent behaviour in the environment. This pilot-scale study investigates, by means of in situ experiments and numerical modelling, the feasibility of the pulsed pumping process of a large amount of a DNAPL in an alluvial aquifer. The main compound of the DNAPL is hexachlorobutadiene, an emerging organic pollutant. A low-permeability keyed enclosure was built at the location of the DNAPL source zone in order to isolate a finite undisturbed volume of soil, and a 3-month pulsed pumping process was applied inside the enclosure to exclusively extract the DNAPL. The water/DNAPL interface elevation at both the pumping and observation wells and the cumulated pumped volume of DNAPL were also recorded. A total volume of about 20m³ of purely DNAPL was recovered since no water was extracted during the process. The three-dimensional and multiphase flow simulator TMVOC was used, and a conceptual model was elaborated and generated with the pre/post-processing tool mView. Numerical model consisted of 10 layers of variable thickness and 5060 grid cells. Numerical simulations reproduce the pulsed pumping process and show an excellent match between simulated, and field data of DNAPL cumulated pumped volume and a reasonable agreement between modelled and observed data for the evolution of the water/DNAPL interface elevations at the two wells. This study offers a new perspective in remediation since DNAPL pumping system optimisation may be performed where a large amount of DNAPL is encountered.

Keywords: dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL), hexachlorobutadiene, in situ pulsed pumping, multiphase flow, numerical modelling, porous media

Procedia PDF Downloads 174

Authors: R. L. P. De Lima, F. C. B. Boogaard, R. E. De Graaf-Van Dinther

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Blue-green algae blooms (cyanobacteria) is currently a relevant ecological problem that is being addressed by most water authorities in the Netherlands. These can affect recreation areas by originating unpleasant smells and toxins that can poison humans and animals (e.g. fish, ducks, dogs). Contamination events usually take place during summer months, and their frequency is increasing with climate change. Traditional monitoring of this bacteria is expensive, labor-intensive and provides only limited (point sampling) information about the spatial distribution of algae concentrations. Recently, a novel handheld sensor allowed water authorities to quicken their algae surveying and alarm systems. This study converted the mentioned algae sensor into a mobile platform, by combining it with an underwater remotely operated vehicle (also equipped with other sensors and cameras). This provides a spatial visualization (mapping) of algae concentrations variations within the area covered with the drone, and also in depth. Measurements took place in different locations in the Netherlands: i) lake with thick silt layers at the bottom, very eutrophic former bottom of the sea and frequent / intense mowing regime; ii) outlet of waste water into large reservoir; iii) urban canal system. Results allowed to identify probable dominant causes of blooms (i), provide recommendations for the placement of an outlet, day-night differences in algae behavior (ii), or the highlight / pinpoint higher algae concentration areas (iii). Although further research is still needed to fully characterize these processes and to optimize the measuring tool (underwater drone developments / improvements), the method here presented can already provide valuable information about algae behavior and spatial / temporal variability and shows potential as an efficient monitoring system.

Keywords: blue-green algae, cyanobacteria, underwater drones / ROV / AUV, water quality monitoring

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Authors: Styliani Kotrotsiou, Evagelia Kotrotsiou, Fani Mokia, Theodosis Paralikas, Konstantinos Tsaras

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Objective: The objective of this study was the investigation of the mental health of patients undergoing chronic or transient hemodialysis at Artificial Kidney Unit, as well as its relationship to the demographic characteristic of patients. Material and Method: The study took place in Larisa during the month of December in 2016 and the sample was composed of 60 patients undergoing in chronic or transient hemodialysis at Artificial Kidney Unit of the University General Hospital of Larisa. For the investigation of the physical and mental health of patients who participated in the study, the tool measurement << General Health Questionnaire- 28 >> (GHQ-28) was used. The questionnaires were administered with the interview method during the hemodialysis. This survey is designed for the existence or not of a mental disorder. It examines four factors (physical symptoms, anxiety, social dysfunction and depression). Results: The hemodialysis patients gave the following scores: -to the physical symptoms, women showed a higher average value than men (1,16 ± 1,26 against 0,49 ± 0,93), -at the anxiety scale, it seems that women are superior to men (1,68 ± 1,20 against 0,90 ± 1,22), -at the social dysfunction scale, the elderly patients ( > 65 years old) were presented a with higher average (2,59), and -at the depression scale, patients with a higher average value were those who lived in non-urban areas. The appearance of mental disorder, in relation to patient characteristics, did not show significant statistical correlation. The sex, the age and the place of residence affect more the assessment of mental health, while education did not seem to have any significant effect on the other. Conclusions: The hemodialysis process can significantly affect the patient’s Quality of Life and it can bring adverse changes in lifestyle, affecting the physical, social and psychological state of the individual. For that reason, hemodialysis should be aimed not only at extending life but in upgrading the Quality of Life.

Keywords: hemodialysis, chronic kidney disease, depression, social dysfunction, physical condition

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Authors: Vladimir Klepikov

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Countries of Central and Southern Europe have a typical feature: oil consumption in the region exceeds own commodity production capacity by far. So crude oil import prevails in the region’s crude oil consumption structure. Transportation using marine and pipeline transport is a common method of the imported oil delivery in the region. For certain refineries, in addition to possible transportation by oil pipelines from seaports, oil is delivered from Russian oil fields. With the view to these specific features and geographic location of the region’s refineries, three ways of imported oil delivery can be singled out: oil delivery by tankers to the port and subsequent transportation by pipeline transport of the port and the refinery; oil delivery by tanker fleet to the port and subsequent transportation by oil trunk pipeline transport; oil delivery from the fields by oil trunk pipelines to refineries. Oil is also delivered by road, internal water, and rail transport. However, the volumes transported this way are negligible in comparison to the three above transportation means. Multimodal oil transportation to refineries using the pipeline and marine transport is one of the biggest cargo flows worldwide. However, in scientific publications this problem is considered mainly for certain modes of transport. Therefore, this study is topical. To elaborate an efficient transportation policy of crude oil supply to Central and Southern Europe, in this paper the geographic concentration of oil refineries was determined and the capacities of the region’s refineries were assessed. The quantitative analysis method is used as a tool. The port infrastructure and the oil trunk pipeline system capacity were assessed in terms of delivery of raw materials to the refineries. The main groups of oil consuming countries were determined. The trends of crude oil production in the region were reviewed. The changes in production capacities and volumes at refineries in the last decade were shown. Based on the revealed refining trends, the scope of possible crude oil supplies to the refineries of the region under review was forecast. The existing transport infrastructure is able to handle the increased oil flow.

Keywords: European region, infrastructure, oil terminal capacity, pipeline capacity, refinery capacity, tanker draft

Procedia PDF Downloads 157