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Authors: Akram Abi, Mohammad Hossein Sarrafzadeh

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Because of their several advantages over chemical surfactants, biosurfactants have given rise to a growing interest in the past decades. Advantages such as lower toxicity, higher biodegradability, higher selectivity and applicable at extreme temperature and pH which enables them to be used in a variety of applications such as: enhanced oil recovery, environmental and pharmaceutical applications, etc. Bacillus subtilis produces a cyclic lipopeptide, called surfactin, which is one of the most powerful biosurfactants with ability to decrease surface tension of water from 72 mN/m to 27 mN/m. In addition to its biosurfactant character, surfactin exhibits interesting biological activities such as: inhibition of fibrin clot formation, lyses of erythrocytes and several bacterial spheroplasts, antiviral, anti-tumoral and antibacterial properties. Surfactin is an antibiotic substance and has been shown recently to possess anti-HIV activity. However, application of biosurfactants is limited by their high production cost. The cost can be reduced by optimizing biosurfactant production using cheap feed stock. Utilization of inexpensive substrates and unconventional carbon sources like urban or agro-industrial wastes is a promising strategy to decrease the production cost of biosurfactants. With suitable engineering optimization and microbiological modifications, these wastes can be used as substrates for large-scale production of biosurfactants. As an effort to fulfill this purpose, in this work we have tried to utilize olive oil as second carbon source and also yeast extract as second nitrogen source to investigate the effect on both biomass and biosurfactant production improvement in Bacillus subtilis cultures. Since the turbidity of the culture was affected by presence of the oil, optical density was compromised and no longer could be used as an index of growth and biomass concentration. Therefore, cell Dry Weight measurements with applying necessary tactics for removing oil drops to prevent interference with biomass weight were carried out to monitor biomass concentration during the growth of the bacterium. The surface tension and critical micelle dilutions (CMD-1, CMD-2) were considered as an indirect measurement of biosurfactant production. Distinctive and promising results were obtained in the cultures containing olive oil compared to cultures without it: more than two fold increase in biomass production (from 2 g/l to 5 g/l) and considerable reduction in surface tension, down to 40 mN/m at surprisingly early hours of culture time (only 5hr after inoculation). This early onset of biosurfactant production in this culture is specially interesting when compared to the conventional cultures at which this reduction in surface tension is not obtained until 30 hour of culture time. Reducing the production time is a very prominent result to be considered for large scale process development. Furthermore, these results can be used to develop strategies for utilization of agro-industrial wastes (such as olive oil mill residue, molasses, etc.) as cheap and easily accessible feed stocks to decrease the high costs of biosurfactant production.

Keywords: agro-industrial waste, bacillus subtilis, biosurfactant, fermentation, second carbon and nitrogen source, surfactin

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Authors: Yu Sin Syu

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Objective: The study aimed to improve the patient guidance satisfaction of patients hospitalized in iodine-131 isolation rooms, as well as the patient guidance completion rate for such patients. Method: A patient care guidance checklist and patient care guidance satisfaction questionnaire were administered to 29 patients who had previously been hospitalized in iodine-131 isolation rooms. The evaluation was conducted on a one-on-one basis, and its results showed that the patients’ satisfaction with patient guidance was only 3.7 points and that the completion rate for the patient guidance performed by nurses was only 67%. Therefore, various solutions were implemented to create a more complete patient guidance framework for nurses, including the incorporation of regular care-related training in in-service education courses; the establishment of patient care guidance standards for patients in iodine-131 isolation rooms; the establishment of inpatient care standards and auditing processes for iodine-131 isolation rooms; the creation of an introductory handbook on ward environment; Invite other the care team the revision of iodine-131 health education brochures; the creation of visual cards and videos covering equipment operation procedures; and introduction of QR codes. Results: Following the implementation of the above measures, the overall satisfaction of patients hospitalized in iodine-131 isolation rooms increased from 3.7 points to 4.6 points, and the completion rate for patient guidance rose from 67% to 100%. Conclusion: Given the excellent results achieved in this study, it is hoped that this nursing project can serve as a benchmark for other relevant departments.

Keywords: admission care guidance, guidance satisfaction, integrity, Iodine131 isolation

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Authors: Charléa M. Smith, Raiden L. Schodowski, Arletty Pinel

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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Faculty of Medical Sciences of The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona in Kingston, Jamaica, had to rapidly migrate to digital and blended learning. Students in the preclinical stage of the program transitioned to full-time online learning, while students in the clinical stage experienced decreased daily patient contact and the implementation of a blend of online lectures and virtual clinical practice. Such sudden changes were coupled with the institutional pressure of the need to introduce a novel approach to education without much time for preparation, as well as additional strain endured by the faculty, who were overwhelmed by serving as frontline workers. During the period July 20 to August 23, 2021, this study surveyed preclinical and clinical students to capture their experiences with these changes and their recommendations for future use of digital modalities of learning to enhance medical education. It was conducted with a fellow student of the 2021 cohort of the MultiPod mentoring program. A questionnaire was developed and distributed digitally via WhatsApp to all medical students of the UWI Mona campus to assess students’ experiences and perceptions of the advantages, challenges, and impact on individual knowledge proficiencies brought about by the transition to predominantly digital learning environments. 108 students replied, 53.7% preclinical and 46.3% clinical. 67.6% of the total were female and 30.6 % were male; 1.8% did not identify themselves by gender. 67.2% of preclinical students preferred blended learning and 60.3% considered that the content presented did not prepare them for clinical work. Only 31% considered that the online classes were interactive and encouraged student participation. 84.5% missed socialization with classmates and friends and 79.3% missed a focused environment for learning. 80% of the clinical students felt that they had not learned all that they expected and only 34% had virtual interaction with patients, mostly by telephone and video calls. Observing direct consultations was considered the most useful, yet this was the least-used modality. 96% of the preclinical students and 100% of the clinical ones supplemented their learning with additional online tools. The main recommendations from the survey are the use of interactive teaching strategies, more discussion time with lecturers, and increased virtual interactions with patients. Universities are returning to face-to-face learning, yet it is unlikely that blended education will disappear. This study demonstrates that students’ perceptions of their experience during mobility restrictions must be taken into consideration in creating more effective, inclusive, and efficient blended learning opportunities.

Keywords: blended learning, digital learning, medical education, student perceptions

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Authors: Surachai Ampawasuvan, Supornchai Utainarumol

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Most of fuel station’ customers, who drive on the major arterial road wants to use the stations to fill fuel to their vehicle during their journey to destinations. According to the survey of traffic volume of the vehicle using fuel stations by video cameras, automatic counting tools, or questionnaires, it was found that most users prefer to use fuel stations on holiday rather than on working day. They also prefer to use fuel stations in the morning rather than in the evening. When comparing the ratio of the distribution pattern of traffic volume of the vehicle using fuel stations by video cameras, automatic counting tools, there is no significant difference. However, when comparing the ratio of peak hour (peak hour rate) of the results from questionnaires at 13 to 14 percent with the results obtained by using the methods of the Institute of Transportation Engineering (ITE), it is found that the value is similar. However, it is different from a survey by video camera and automatic traffic counting at 6 to 7 percent of about half. So, this study suggests that in order to forecast trip generation of vehicle using fuel stations on major arterial road which is mostly characterized by Though Traffic, it is recommended to use the value of half of peak hour rate, which would make the forecast for trips generation to be more precise and accurate and compatible to surrounding environment.

Keywords: peak rate, trips generation, fuel station, arterial road

Procedia PDF Downloads 381

Authors: Muna Shafiq

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Growth in international immigration is a reflection of increased migration patterns in Canada and in other parts of the world. Canada continues to promote itself as a bilingual country, yet the bilingual French and English population numbers do not reflect this platform. Each province’s integration policies focus only on second language learning of either English or French. Moreover, since English Canadians outnumber French Canadians, maintaining, much less increasing, English-French bilingualism appears unrealistic. One solution to increasing Canadian bilingualism requires creating intercultural communication initiatives between youth in Quebec and the rest of Canada. Specifically, the focus is on active, experiential learning, where intercultural competencies develop outside traditional classroom settings. The target groups are Generation Y Millennials and Generation Z Linksters, the next generations in the career and parenthood lines. Today, Canada’s education system, like many others, must continually renegotiate lines between programs it offers its immigrant and native communities. While some purists or right-wing nationalists would disagree, the survival of bilingualism in Canada has little to do with reducing immigration. Children and youth immigrants play a valuable role in increasing Canada’s French and English speaking communities. For instance, a focus on more immersion, over core French education programs for immigrant children and youth would not only increase bilingual rates; it would develop meaningful intercultural attachments between Canadians. Moreover, a vigilant increase of funding in French immersion programs is critical, as are new initiatives that focus on experiential language learning for students in French and English language programs. A favorable argument supports the premise that other than French-speaking students in Québec and elsewhere in Canada, second and third generation immigrant students are excellent ambassadors to promote bilingualism in Canada. Most already speak another language at home and understand the value of speaking more than one language in their adopted communities. Their dialogue and participation in experiential language exchange workshops are necessary. If the proposed exchanges take place inter-provincially, the momentum to increase collective regional voices increases. This regional collectivity can unite Canadians differently than nation-targeted initiatives. The results from an experiential youth exchange organized in 2017 between students at the crossroads of Generation Y and Generation Z in Vancouver and Quebec City respectively offer a promising starting point in assessing the strength of bringing together different regional voices to promote bilingualism. Code-switching between standard, international French Vancouver students, learn in the classroom versus more regional forms of Quebec French spoken locally created regional connectivity between students. The exchange was equally rewarding for both groups. Increasing their appreciation for each other’s regional differences allowed them to contribute actively to their social and emotional development. Within a sociolinguistic frame, this proposed model of experiential learning does not focus on hands-on work experience. However, the benefits of such exchanges are as valuable as work experience initiatives developed in experiential education. Students who actively code switch between French and English in real, not simulated contexts appreciate bilingualism more meaningfully and experience its value in concrete terms.

Keywords: experiential learning, intercultural communication, social and emotional learning, sociolinguistic code-switching

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Authors: Dae Il Kim, Jungho Moon, Tae Yun Chung

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This paper presents a car parking monitoring system using a wireless sensor network. The presented sensor network has a line-shaped topology and adopts a TDMA-based protocol for allowing multi-hop communications. Sensor nodes are deployed in the ground of an outdoor parking lot in such a way that a sensor node monitors a parking space. Each sensor node detects the availability of the associated parking space and transmits the detection result to a sink node via intermediate sensor nodes existing between the source sensor node and the sink node. We evaluate the feasibility of the presented sensor network and the TDMA-based communication protocol through experiments using 11 sensor nodes deployed in a real parking lot. The result shows that the presented car parking monitoring system is robust to changes in the communication environments and efficient for monitoring parking spaces of outdoor parking lots.

Keywords: multi-hop communication, parking monitoring system, TDMA, wireless sensor network

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Authors: Fatemeh Torfi

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Estimation of stochastic demand in physical distribution in general and efficient transport routs management in particular is emerging as a crucial factor in urban planning domain. It is particularly important in some municipalities such as Tehran where a sound demand management calls for a realistic analysis of the routing system. The methodology involved critically investigating a fuzzy least-squares linear regression approach (FLLRs) to estimate the stochastic demands in the vehicle routing problem (VRP) bearing in mind the customer's preferences order. A FLLR method is proposed in solving the VRP with stochastic demands. Approximate-distance fuzzy least-squares (ADFL) estimator ADFL estimator is applied to original data taken from a case study. The SSR values of the ADFL estimator and real demand are obtained and then compared to SSR values of the nominal demand and real demand. Empirical results showed that the proposed methods can be viable in solving problems under circumstances of having vague and imprecise performance ratings. The results further proved that application of the ADFL was realistic and efficient estimator to face the stochastic demand challenges in vehicle routing system management and solve relevant problems.

Keywords: fuzzy least-squares, stochastic, location, routing problems

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Authors: Xunan Huang, Caicai Zhang

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This paper investigated the code-mixing features in Mandarin-English bilingual children in Singapore. First, it examined whether the code-mixing rate was different in Mandarin Chinese and English contexts. Second, it explored the syntactic categories of code-mixing in Singapore bilingual children. Moreover, this study investigated whether morphological information was preserved when inserting syntactic components into the matrix language. Data are derived from the Singapore Bilingual Corpus, in which the recordings and transcriptions of sixty English-Mandarin 5-to-6-year-old children were preserved for analysis. Results indicated that the rate of code-mixing was asymmetrical in the two language contexts, with the rate being significantly higher in the Mandarin context than that in the English context. The asymmetry is related to language dominance in that children are more likely to code-mix when using their nondominant language. Concerning the syntactic categories of code-mixing words in the Singaporean bilingual children, we found that noun-mixing, verb-mixing, and adjective-mixing are the three most frequently used categories in code-mixing in the Mandarin context. This pattern mirrors the syntactic categories of code-mixing in the Cantonese context in Cantonese-English bilingual children, and the general trend observed in lexical borrowing. Third, our results also indicated that English vocabularies that carry morphological information are embedded in bare forms in the Mandarin context. These findings shed light upon how bilingual children take advantage of the two languages in mixed utterances in a bilingual environment.

Keywords: bilingual children, code-mixing, English, Mandarin Chinese

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Authors: Ahmed H. Abdullah, Pavel Kroupa

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Globular clusters (GC) are important objects for tracing the early evolution of a galaxy. We study the correlation between the cluster population and the global properties of the host galaxy. We found that the correlation between cluster population (NGC) and the baryonic mass (Mb) of the host galaxy are best described as 10 −5.6038Mb. In order to understand the origin of the U -shape relation between the GC specific frequency (SN) and Mb (caused by the high value of SN for dwarfs galaxies and giant ellipticals and a minimum SN for intermediate mass galaxies≈ 1010M), we derive a theoretical model for the specific frequency (SNth). The theoretical model for SNth is based on the slope of the power-law embedded cluster mass function (β) and different time scale (Δt) of the forming galaxy. Our results show a good agreement between the observation and the model at a certain β and Δt. The model seems able to reproduce higher value of SNth of β = 1.5 at the midst formation time scale.

Keywords: galaxies: dwarf, globular cluster: specific frequency, number of globular clusters, formation time scale

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Authors: Nurten Tasdemir, Busra Baloglu, Zeynep Cingoz, Can Demirel, Zeki Gezer, Barıs Efe

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Student nurses are increasingly exposed to technology in the workplace after graduation with the growing numbers of electric health records (EHRs), handheld computers, barcode scanner medication dispensing systems, and automatic capture of patient data such as vital signs. Internationally, electronic health records (EHRs) systems are being implemented and evaluated. Students will inevitably encounter EHRs in the clinical learning environment and their professional practice. Nursing students must develop competency in the use of EHR. Aim: The study aimed to examine nursing students’ experiences of learning to use electronic health records (EHR) in clinical placements. Method: This study adopted a descriptive approach. The study population consisted of second and third-year nursing students at the Zonguldak School of Health in the West Black Sea Region of Turkey; the study was conducted during the 2015–2016 academic year. The sample consisted of 315 (74.1% of 425 students) nursing students who volunteered to participate. The students, who were involved in clinical practice, were invited to participate in the study Data were collected by a questionnaire designed by the researchers based on the relevant literature. Data were analyzed descriptively using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows version 16.0. The data are presented as means, standard deviations, and percentages. Approval for the study was obtained from the Ethical Committee of the University (Reg. Number: 29/03/2016/112) and the director of Nursing Department. Findings: A total of 315 students enrolled in this study, for a response rate of 74.1%. The mean age of the sample was 22.24 ± 1.37 (min: 19, max: 32) years, and most participants (79.7%) were female. Most of the nursing students (82.3%) stated that they use information technologies in clinical practice. Nearly half of the students (42.5%) reported that they have not accessed to EHR system. In addition, 61.6% of the students reported that insufficient computers available in clinical placement. Of the students, 84.7% reported that they prefer to have patient information from EHR system, and 63.8% of them found more effective to preparation for the clinical reporting. Conclusion: This survey indicated that nursing students experience to learn about EHR systems in clinical placements. For more effective learning environment nursing education should prepare nursing students for EHR systems in their educational life.

Keywords: electronic health record, clinical placement, nursing student, nursing education

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Authors: Aparna Radhakrishnan, Jancy Gupta, R. Dileepkumar

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This paper aims at assessing the Socio Economic Vulnerability (SEV) of dairy farmers to Climate Variability and Change (CVC) in 3 states of Western Ghat region in India. For this purpose, a composite SEV index has been developed on the basis of functional relationships amongst sensitivity, exposure and adaptive capacity using 30 indicators related to dairy farming underlying the principles of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Fussel framework for nomenclature of vulnerable situation. Household level data were collected through Participatory Rural Appraisal and personal interviews of 540 dairy farmers of nine taluks, three each from a district selected from Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra, complemented by thirty years of gridded weather data. The data were normalized and then combined into three indices for sensitivity, exposure and adaptive capacity, which were then averaged with weights given using principal component analysis, to obtain the overall SEV index. Results indicated that the taluks of Western Ghats are vulnerable to CVC. The dairy farmers of Pulpally taluka were most vulnerable having the SEV score +1.24 and 42.66% farmers under high-level vulnerability category. Even though the taluks are geographically closer, there is wide variation in SEV components. Policies for incentivizing the ‘climate risk adaptation’ costs for small and marginal farmers and livelihood infrastructure for mitigating risks and promoting grass root level innovations are necessary to sustain dairy farming of the region.

Keywords: climate change, dairy, vulnerability, livelihoods, adaptation strategies

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Authors: Natalia A. Salazar, Erika K. Méndez, Catalina Álvarez, Carlos E. Orrego

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Lyophilization, also called freeze-drying, is an important dehydration technique mainly used for pharmaceuticals. Food industry also uses lyophilization when it is important to retain most of the nutritional quality, taste, shape and size of dried products and to extend their shelf life. Vacuum-Induced during freezing cycle (VI) has been used in order to control ice nucleation and, consequently, to reduce the time of primary drying cycle of pharmaceuticals preserving quality properties of the final product. This procedure has not been applied in freeze drying of foods. The present work aims to investigate the effect of VI on the lyophilization drying time, final moisture content, density and reconstitutional properties of mango (Mangifera indica L.) slices (MS) and mango pulp-maltodextrin dispersions (MPM) (30% concentration of total solids). Control samples were run at each freezing rate without using induced vacuum. The lyophilization endpoint was the same for all treatments (constant difference between capacitance and Pirani vacuum gauges). From the experimental results it can be concluded that at the high freezing rate (0.4°C/min) reduced the overall process time up to 30% comparing process time required for the control and VI of the lower freeze rate (0.1°C/min) without affecting the quality characteristics of the dried product, which yields a reduction in costs and energy consumption for MS and MPM freeze drying. Controls and samples treated with VI at freezing rate of 0.4°C/min in MS showed similar results in moisture and density parameters. Furthermore, results from MPM dispersion showed favorable values when VI was applied because dried product with low moisture content and low density was obtained at shorter process time compared with the control. There were not found significant differences between reconstitutional properties (rehydration for MS and solubility for MPM) of freeze dried mango resulting from controls, and VI treatments.

Keywords: drying time, lyophilization, mango, vacuum induced freezing

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Authors: Davoud Maleki, Neda Zamani

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The present study aims at exploring the effective accountability model of Islamic Azad University using a qualitative approach of grounded theory. The data of this study were obtained from semi-structured interviews with 25 professors and scholars in Islamic Azad University of Tehran who were selected by theoretical sampling method. In the data analysis, the stepwise method and Strauss and Corbin analytical methods (1992) were used. After identification of the main component (balanced response to stakeholders’ needs) and using it to bring the categories together, expressions and ideas representing the relationships between the main and subcomponents, and finally, the revealed components were categorized into six dimensions of the paradigm model, with the relationships among them, including causal conditions (7 components), main component (balanced response to stakeholders’ needs), strategies (5 components), environmental conditions (5 components), intervention features (4 components), and consequences (3 components). Research findings show an exploratory model for describing the relationships between causal conditions, main components, accountability strategies, environmental conditions, university environmental features, and that consequences.

Keywords: accountability, effectiveness, Islamic Azad University, grounded theory

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Authors: Shayma Mohammed, Adel Trabelsi

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Radiopharmacy is the art of preparing high-quality, radioactive, medicinal products for use in diagnosis and therapy. Radiopharmaceuticals unlike normal medicines, this dual aspect (radioactive, medical) makes their management highly critical. One of the most convincing applications of modern technologies is the ability to delegate the execution of repetitive tasks to programming scripts. Automation has found its way to the most skilled jobs, to improve the company's overall performance by allowing human workers to focus on more important tasks than document filling. This project aims to contribute to implement a comprehensive system to insure rigorous management of radiopharmaceuticals through the use of a platform that links the Nuclear Medicine Service Management System to the Nuclear Radio-pharmacy Management System in accordance with the recommendations of World Health Organization (WHO) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In this project we attempt to build a web application that targets radiopharmacies, the platform is built atop the inherently compatible web stack which allows it to work in virtually any environment. Different technologies are used in this project (PHP, Symfony, MySQL Workbench, Bootstrap, Angular 7, Visual Studio Code and TypeScript). The operating principle of the platform is mainly based on two parts: Radiopharmaceutical Backoffice for the Radiopharmacian, who is responsible for the realization of radiopharmaceutical preparations and their delivery and Medical Backoffice for the Doctor, who holds the authorization for the possession and use of radionuclides and he/she is responsible for ordering radioactive products. The application consists of sven modules: Production, Quality Control/Quality Assurance, Release, General Management, References, Transport and Stock Management. It allows 8 classes of users: The Production Manager (PM), Quality Control Manager (QCM), Stock Manager (SM), General Manager (GM), Client (Doctor), Parking and Transport Manager (PTM), Qualified Person (QP) and Technical and Production Staff. Digital platform bringing together all players involved in the use of radiopharmaceuticals and integrating the stages of preparation, production and distribution, Web technologies, in particular, promise to offer all the benefits of automation while requiring no more than a web browser to act as a user client, which is a strength because the web stack is by nature multi-platform. This platform will provide a traceability system for radiopharmaceuticals products to ensure the safety and radioprotection of actors and of patients. The new integrated platform is an alternative to write all the boilerplate paperwork manually, which is a tedious and error-prone task. It would minimize manual human manipulation, which has proven to be the main source of error in nuclear medicine. A codified electronic transfer of information from radiopharmaceutical preparation to delivery will further reduce the risk of maladministration.

Keywords: automated system, management, radiopharmacy, technical papers

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Authors: Mohammad Javad Zehtab, S. Alireza Mirghasemi, Ali Majlesara, Parvin Tajik, Babak Siavashi

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Objective: There are different modalities proposed for tennis elbow treatment with few randomized trials comparing them. We designed a study to compare the effectiveness of five different modalities and determine the usefulness of recently proposed extensor grip test (EGT) in predicting the response to treatment. Methods: In a randomized controlled clinical trial 92 of 98 tennis elbow patients in Sina hospital of Tehran, Iran between 2006 and 2007 fulfill trial entry criteria, among these patients 56 (60.9%) had positive EGT result. Stratified on EGT result, patients allocated randomly to 5 treatment groups: Brace (B) group, physiotherapy (P), brace + physiotherapy (BP), injection (I) and injection + physiotherapy (IP). Results: Patients who had positive result of EGT had better response to treatments: less SOC (p = 0.06), less PFFQ and patients’ satisfaction scores (p < 0.001). Among the treatment IP was the most successful, then BP, P and B, respectively; injection was the worst treatment modality. Response to treatment was comparable in all groups between EGT positive and negative patients except bracing; in which positive EGT was correlated with a dramatic response to treatment. Conclusion: In all patients IP and then BP is recommended but in EGT negatives, bracing seems to be of no use. Injection alone is not recommended in either group.

Keywords: tennis elbow, extensor grip test, physiotherapy, tennis elbow treatment

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Authors: A. Al Hajeri, M. E. Minton, B. Haskins, F. H. Cummins

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The pre-hospital endotracheal intubation is fraught with difficulties; one solution offered has been video laryngoscopy (VL) which permits better visualization of the glottis than the standard method of direct laryngoscopy (DL). This method has resulted in a higher first attempt success rate and fewer failed intubations. However, VL has mainly been evaluated by experienced providers (experienced anesthetists), and as such the utility of this device for those whom infrequently intubate has not been thoroughly assessed. We sought to evaluate this equipment to determine whether in the hands of novice providers this equipment could prove an effective airway management adjunct. DL and two VL methods (C-Mac with distal screen/C-Mac with attached screen) were evaluated by simulating practice on a Laerdal airway management trainer manikin. Twenty Emergency Medical Technicians (basics) were recruited as novice practitioners. This group was used to eliminate bias, as these clinicians had no pre-hospital experience of intubation (although they did have basic airway skills). The following areas were assessed: Time taken to intubate, number of attempts required to successfully intubate, ease of use of equipment VL (attached screen) took on average longer for novice clinicians to successfully intubate and had a lower success rate and reported higher rating of difficulty compared to DL. However, VL (with distal screen) and DL were comparable on intubation times, success rate, gastric inflation rate and rating of difficulty by the user. This study highlights the routine use of VL by inexperienced clinicians would be of no added benefit over DL. Further studies are required to determine whether Emergency Medical Technicians (Paramedics) would benefit from this airway adjunct, and ascertain whether after initial mastery of VL (with a distal screen), lower intubation times and difficulty rating may be achievable.

Keywords: direct laryngoscopy, endotracheal intubation, pre-hospital, video laryngoscopy

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Authors: Feleke Terefe Fanta

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The existence of heavy metals and microbial contaminants in aquatic system of Akaki river basin, a sub city of Addis Ababa, has become a public concern as human population increases and land development continues. This is because effluents from chemical and pharmaceutical industries are directly discharged onto surrounding land, irrigation fields and surface water bodies. In the present study, we synthesised zeolites and copper- zeolite composite based adsorbent through cost effective and simple approach to mitigate the problem. The study presents determination of heavy metal content and microbial contamination level of waste water sample collected from Akaki river using zeolites and copper- doped zeolites as adsorbents. The synthesis of copper- zeolite X composite was carried out by ion exchange method of copper ions into zeolites frameworks. The optimum amount of copper ions loaded into the zeolites frameworks were studied using the pore size determination concept via iodine test. The copper- loaded zeolites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD analysis showed clear difference in phase purity of zeolite before and after copper ion exchange. The concentration of Cd, Cr, and Pb were determined in waste water sample using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The mean concentrations of Cd, Cr, and Pb in untreated sample were 0.795, 0.654 and 0.7025 mg/L respectively. The concentration of Cd, Cr, and Pb decreased to 0.005, 0.052 and BDL mg/L for sample treated with bare zeolite X while a further decrease in concentration of Cd, Cr, and Pb (0.005, BDL and BDL) mg/L respectively was observed for the sample treated with copper- zeolite composite. The antimicrobial activity was investigated by exposing the total coliform to the Zeolite X and Copper-modified Zeolite X. Zeolite X and Copper-modified Zeolite X showed complete elimination of microbilas after 90 and 50 minutes contact time respectively. This demonstrates effectiveness of copper- zeolite composite as efficient disinfectant. To understand the mode of heavy metals removal and antimicrobial activity of the copper-loaded zeolites; the adsorbent dose, contact time, temperature was studied. Overall, the results obtained in this study showed high antimicrobial disinfection and heavy metal removal efficiencies of the synthesized adsorbent.

Keywords: waste water, copper doped zeolite x, adsorption heavy metal, disinfection

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Authors: Ritu Sharma, Haifeng Shen

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Teaching introductory programming is a challenging task in tertiary education and various factors are believed to have influence on students’ learning of programming. However, these factors were largely studied independently in a chosen context. This paper aims to investigate whether interrelationships exist among the factors and whether the interrelationships are context-dependent. In this empirical study, two universities were chosen from two continents, which represent different cultures, teaching methodologies, assessment criteria and languages used to teach programming in west and east worlds respectively. The results reveal that some interrelationships are common across the two different contexts, while others appear context-dependent.

Keywords: introductory programming, tertiary education, factors, interrelationships, context, empirical study

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Authors: Biruk Abate

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Evaporative cooling occurs when air with high temperature and reduced humidity passes over a wet porous surface and a higher degree of cooling process is achieved for storage of fruits and vegetables due to greater rate of evaporation. The main objective of this reviewed study is to understand the effect of evaporative surface pad thickness and geometric configuration on the saturation efficiency of evaporative cooler and to state some related factors affecting the performance of the system. From this overview, selection of pad thickness and geometrical shape with suitable characteristics of heat and mass transfer and water holding capacity of the pads was reviewed as these parameters are important for saturation efficiency of evaporative cooling. Increasing the cooling pad thickness through increasing the face velocity increases the effectiveness of wet-bulb saturation. Increasing ambient temperature, inlet air speed and ambient air humidity decreases the wet bulb effectiveness and it increases with increasing length of the pad. Increasing the ambient temperature and inlet air velocity decreases the humidity ratio, but increases with increasing ambient air humidity and lengths of the pad. Increasing the temperature-humidity index is possible with increasing ambient temperature, inlet air velocity, ambient air humidity and pad length. Generally, all materials having a higher wetted surface area per unit volume give higher efficiency. Materials with higher thickness increase the wetted surface area for better mix-up of air and water to give higher efficiency for the same shape and this in turn helps to store fruits and vegetables.

Keywords: Degree of cooling, heat and mass transfer, evaporative cooling, porous surface

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Authors: Karim Matter, Heba Fayed, Ahmed Abd-Elaziz, Moustafa Hussein

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Due to the exponential growth of mobile devices and wireless services, a huge demand for radiofrequency has increased. The presence of several frequencies causes interference between cells, which must be minimized to get the lower Bit Error Rate (BER). For this reason, it is of great interest to use visible light communication (VLC). This paper suggests a VLC system that decreases the BER by applying a new LED distribution with a hexagonal shape using a Frequency Reuse (FR) concept to mitigate the interference between the reused frequencies inside the hexagonal shape. The BER is measured in two scenarios, Line of Sight (LoS) and Non-Line of Sight (Non-LoS), for each technique that we used. The recommended values of BER in the proposed model for Soft Frequency Reuse (SFR) in the case of Los at 4, 8, and 10 dB signal to noise ratio (SNR), are 3.6×10⁻⁶, 6.03×10⁻¹³, and 2.66×10⁻¹⁸, respectively.

Keywords: visible light communication (VLC), field of view (FoV), hexagonal array, frequency reuse

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Authors: Yuri Seu, Seong-Kyu Choi, Hyun Jin Park, Jin Seo Park, HongtaeKim, Mi-Sun Hur

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The aim of this study was to clarify the attachments of the distal oblique membrane (DOM) and distal oblique bundle (DOB) of the interosseous membrane of the forearm. The distal oblique membrane was investigated in the 21 specimens of 11 Korean cadavers. The muscles in the forearms were removed to observe the DOB. The DOB was found in 13 of 21 specimens (61.9 %). The DOB was attached to the distal radioulnar joint capsule and the septum between the tendons of the extensor digiti minimi (EDM) and extensor carpi ulnaris (ECU) as well as the radius and ulna. In the cases that the DOB was absent, a part of the DOM extended to the distal radioulnar joint capsule and the septum between the tendons of the EDM and ECU, as well as the radius and ulna in all specimens (100%). The DOM, including the DOB, was arranged obliquely in the anteroposterior direction, whereas the intermediate part of the interosseous membrane was arranged in the same plane between the radius and ulna. The extension of the DOM and DOB to the wrist region may stabilize the distal radioulnar joint during supination and pronation. These data will be useful when performing reconstructive surgeries.

Keywords: distal oblique membrane, distal oblique bundle, distal radioulnar joint capsule, interosseous membrane

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Authors: Obiamaka Nwobu, Samuel Faboyede, O. Oluseyi

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This study investigated the influence of gender on expectations and actual experiences from Industrial Work Experience, which is an aspect of the curriculum of undergraduate accounting students in selected Nigerian Universities. A survey research design was employed. Copies of a research questionnaire were made and administered to eighty (80) accounting students in selected Nigerian Universities who embarked on Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES). Their expectations were juxtaposed with their actual experiences gleaned from the Industrial Work Experience. The data for the purpose of this study was analyzed using independent sample t-test. A total of fifteen (15) male and forty four (44) female students responded to the survey. This resulted in a response rate of 73.8 per cent. The results of this study indicated that there was no significant difference in the expectation of male and female undergraduate accounting students that the internship experience will be able to prepare them for an accounting career in the future, impart relevant knowledge, relate theories to work environment, enhance knowledge in financial accounting, cost accounting, accounting software, and general practice of accounting; prepare financial statements, interpret financial statements, develop problem solving skills, communication skills, and interpersonal skills; improve personal confidence and self-esteem, increase exposure to latest technology in the workplace, build rapport and networks, provide earnings, job experience, provide information and experience to choose career path. Furthermore, findings from the survey showed that there were differences in the expectations of students and their actual experiences with respect to their ability to relate theories to work environment, enhance knowledge in financial accounting, cost accounting, accounting software and exposure to latest technology in the workplace. The study only examined the perceptions of students from two Universities in South-West Nigeria. The research instrument used in this study can be administered to undergraduate accounting students in other universities in Nigeria. The Industrial Work Experience Scheme for undergraduate accounting students should be highly encouraged by tertiary institutions in Nigeria. This will ultimately make the students well prepared for a career in accounting.

Keywords: gender, expectations, actual experiences, industrial work experience

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Authors: Rachid Benmoussa, Fatima Ezzahra Essaber, Roland De Guio, Fatima Zahra Ben Moussa

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Implementing green practices in supply chain management is a complex task mainly because ecological, economical and operational goals are usually in conflict. Green practices might thus face companies’ reluctance because managers can consider its implementation obviously as a performance lean degradation. To implement lean and green practices successfully, companies need relevant decision-making tools to highlight the correlation between them. To contribute to this issue, this work tries to answer the following research question: How to use simulation to assess correlation (antagonism or convergence) between lean and green goals? To answer this question, we propose in this paper a based simulation process that measures correlation generally between two variables. So as to prove its relevance, a logistics academic case study is used to illustrate all its stages. It shows, as for example, that Lean goal 'Stock' and Green goal 'CO₂ emission' are not conceptually correlated (linearly).

Keywords: simulation, lean, green, supply chain

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Authors: Alison L. Miles

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Almost all major financial institutions in the world suffered losses due to the financial crisis of 2007, but the extent varied widely. The causes of the crash of 2007 are well documented and predominately focus on the role and complexity of the financial markets. The dominant theme of the literature suggests the causes of the crash were a combination of globalization, financial sector innovation, moribund regulation and short termism. While these arguments are undoubtedly true, they do not tell the whole story. A key weakness in the current analysis is the lack of consideration of those leading the banks pre and during times of crisis. This purpose of this study is to examine the possible link between the leadership styles and characteristics of the CEO, CFO and chairman and the financial institutions that failed or needed recapitalization. As such, it contributes to the literature and debate on international financial crises and systemic risk and also to the debate on risk management and regulatory reform in the banking sector. In order to first test the proposition (p1) that there are prevalent leadership characteristics or traits in financial institutions, an initial study was conducted using a sample of the top 65 largest global banks and financial institutions according to the Banker Top 1000 banks 2014. Secondary data from publically available and official documents, annual reports, treasury and parliamentary reports together with a selection of press articles and analyst meeting transcripts was collected longitudinally from the period 1998 to 2013. A computer aided key word search was used in order to identify the leadership styles and characteristics of the chairman, CEO and CFO. The results were then compared with the leadership models to form a picture of leadership in the sector during the research period. As this resulted in separate results that needed combining, SPSS data editor was used to aggregate the results across the studies using the variables ‘leadership style’ and ‘company financial performance’ together with the size of the company. In order to test the proposition (p2) that there was a prevalent leadership style in the banks that failed and the proposition (P3) that this was different to those that did not, further quantitative analysis was carried out on the leadership styles of the chair, CEO and CFO of banks that needed recapitalization, were taken over, or required government bail-out assistance during 2007-8. These included: Lehman Bros, Merrill Lynch, Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS, Barclays, Northern Rock, Fortis and Allied Irish. The findings show that although regulatory reform has been a key mechanism of control of behavior in the banking sector, consideration of the leadership characteristics of those running the board are a key factor. They add weight to the argument that if each crisis is met with the same pattern of popular fury with the financier, increased regulation, followed by back to business as usual, the cycle of failure will always be repeated and show that through a different lens, new paradigms can be formed and future clashes avoided.

Keywords: banking, financial crisis, leadership, risk

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Authors: Rakesh Dubey, Vaishali Bahl, Dalveer Kaur

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The spiralling urge for high rate data transmission over wireless mediums needs intelligent use of electromagnetic resources considering restrictions like power ingestion, spectrum competence, robustness against multipath propagation and implementation intricacy. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a capable technique for next generation wireless communication systems. For such high rate data transfers there is requirement of proper allocation of resources like power and capacity amongst the sub channels. This paper illustrates various available methods of allocating power and the capacity requirement with the constraint of Shannon limit.

Keywords: Additive White Gaussian Noise, Multi-Carrier Modulation, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), Water Filling

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Authors: Yibeltal T. Bayou, Yohana S. Mashalla, Gloria Thupayagale-Tshweneagae

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Background: According to the World Health Organization, caesarean section delivery rates of more than 10-15% caesarean section deliveries in any specific geographic region in the world are not justifiable. The aim of the study was to describe the level and analyse determinants of caesarean section delivery in Addis Ababa. Methods: Data was collected in Addis Ababa using a structured questionnaire administered to 901 women aged 15-49 years through a stratified two-stage cluster sampling technique. Binary logistic regression model was employed to identify predictors of caesarean section delivery. Results: Among the 835 women who delivered their last birth at healthcare facilities, 19.2% of them gave birth by caesarean section. About 9.0% of the caesarean section births were due to mother’s request or service provider’s influence without any medical indication. The caesarean section delivery rate was much higher than the recommended rate particularly among the non-slum residents (27.2%); clients of private healthcare facilities (41.1%); currently married women (20.6%); women with secondary (22.2%) and tertiary (33.6%) level of education; and women belonging to the highest wealth quintile household (28.2%). The majority (65.8%) of the caesarean section clients were not informed about the consequences of caesarean section delivery by service providers. The logistic regression model shows that older age (30-49), secondary and above education, non-slum residence, high-risk pregnancy and receiving adequate antenatal care were significantly positively associated with caesarean section delivery. Conclusion: Despite the unreserved effort towards achieving MDG 5 through safe skilled delivery assistance among others, the high caesarean section rate beyond the recommend limit, and the finding that caesarean sections done without medical indications were also alarming. The government and city administration should take appropriate measures before the problems become setbacks in healthcare provision. Further investigations should focus on the effect of caesarean section delivery on maternal and child health outcomes in the study area.

Keywords: Addis Ababa, caesarean section, mode of delivery, slum residence

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Authors: Geetanjali Yadav, Arpit Mishra, Parthsarathi Ghosh, Ramkrishna Sen

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The world is facing problems of increasing global CO2 emissions, climate change and fuel crisis. Therefore, several renewable and sustainable energy alternatives should be investigated to replace non-renewable fuels in future. Algae presents itself a versatile feedstock for the production of variety of fuels (biodiesel, bioethanol, bio-hydrogen etc.) and high value compounds for food, fodder, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Microalgae are simple microorganisms that require water, light, CO2 and nutrients for growth by the process of photosynthesis and can grow in extreme environments, utilize waste gas (flue gas) and waste waters. Mixing, however, is a crucial parameter within the culture system for the uniform distribution of light, nutrients and gaseous exchange in addition to preventing settling/sedimentation, creation of dark zones etc. The overarching goal of the present study is to improve photobioreactor (PBR) design for enhancing dissolution of CO2 from ambient air (0.039%, v/v), pure CO2 and coal-fired flue gas (10 ± 2%) into microalgal PBRs. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD), a state-of-the-art technique has been used to solve partial differential equations with turbulence closure which represents the dynamics of fluid in a photobioreactor. In this paper, the hydrodynamic performance of the PBR has been characterized and compared with that of the conventional bubble column PBR using CFD. Parameters such as flow rate (Q), mean velocity (u), mean turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) were characterized for each experiment that was tested across different aeration schemes. The results showed that the modified PBR design had superior liquid circulation properties and gas-liquid transfer that resulted in creation of uniform environment inside PBR as compared to conventional bubble column PBR. The CFD technique has shown to be promising to successfully design and paves path for a future research in order to develop PBRs which can be commercially available for scale-up microalgal production.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, microalgae, bubble column photbioreactor, flue gas, simulation

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Authors: Deng Tingting

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The coordinated and integrated development of regions is an inevitable requirement for China to move towards high-quality, sustainable development. As one of the regions with the best economic foundation and the strongest economic strength in western China, it is a typical area with national importance and strong network connection characteristics in terms of the comprehensive effect of linking the inland hinterland and connecting the western and national urban networks. The integrated development of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle is of great strategic significance for the rapid and high-quality development of the western region. In the context of new urbanization, this paper takes 16 urban units within the economic circle as the research object, based on the 5-year panel data of population, regional economy, and spatial construction and development from 2016 to 2020, using the entropy method and Theil index to analyze the three target layers, and cause analysis. The research shows that there are temporal and spatial differences in the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, and there are significant differences between the core city and the surrounding cities. Therefore, by reforming and innovating the regional coordinated development mechanism, breaking administrative barriers, and strengthening the "polar nucleus" radiation function to release the driving force for economic development, especially in the gully areas of economic development belts, not only promote the coordinated development of internal regions but also promote the coordinated and sustainable development of the western region and take a high-quality development path.

Keywords: Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, new urbanization, coordinated regional development, Theil Index

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Authors: Tabassum Yasmin, Hamid Pahlevan

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HIV/Hepatitis C co-infection treatments have evolved substantially and they have similar sustained virologic response rates as those of Hepatitis C monoinfected population. There are a few studies on therapy of patients with dual genotypes, especially in HIV/Hepatic C coinfected group. Most studies portrayed case reports of dual genotype chronic Hepatitis C coinfection treatment with Sofosbuvir/Ledipasvir and Ribavirin. A 79-year-old male with a history of HIV on Truvada and Isentress had chronic Hepatitis C with 1a and 2 genotypes. The patient has a history of alcohol intake for 40 years but recently stopped drinking alcohol. He has a history of intravenous drug use in the past and currently is not using any recreational drugs. Patient has Fibro score of 0.7 with Metavir score F2 to F4. AFP is 3.2. The HCV RNA is 493,034 IU/ML. The HBV viral DNA is < 1.30 (not detected). The CD4 is 687CU/MM. The FIB 4 is 3.34 with APRI index 0.717. The HIV viral load is 101 copies/ML. MRI abdomen did not show any liver abnormality. Fixed dose Sofosbuvir/Ledipasvir was used for therapy without Ribavirin. He tolerated medication except for some minor gastrointestinal side effects like abdominal bloating. He demonstrated 100% adherence rate. Patient completed 12 weeks of therapy. HCV RNA was undetectable at 4 and 12 weeks. He achieved SVR at week 12 and subsequently had undetectable RNA for 2 years. Dual genotype prevalence in chronic hepatitis C population is rare, especially in HIV/hepatic coinfection. Our case demonstrates that dual genotypic cases can still be successfully treated with Direct Acting Antiviral agents. The newer agents for therapy for pan genotypes were not available at the time the patient was being treated. We demonstrated that dual agent therapy was still able to maintain SVR in our patient.

Keywords: HIV/Hepatitis C, SVR (sustained virologic response), DAA (direct active antiviral agents, dual genotype

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Authors: Priya Patel, Paresh Patel, Mihir Raval

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Silibinin, a flavanone as an antimicrotubular agent used in the treatment of cancer, was encapsulated in nanoparticles (NPs) of poly (lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) polymer using the spray-drying technique. The effects of various experimental parameters were optimized by box-behnken experimental design. Production yield, encapsulation efficiency and dissolution study along with characterization by scanning electron microscopy, DSC, FTIR followed by bioavailability study. Particle size and zeta potential were evaluated by using zetatrac particle size analyzer. Experimental design it was evaluated that inlet temperature and polymer concentration influence on the drug release. Feed flow rate impact on particle size. Results showed that spray drying technique yield 149 nm indicate nanosize range. The small size of the nanoparticle resulted in an enhanced cellular entry and greater bioavailability. Entrapment efficiency was found between 89.35% and 98.36%. Zeta potential shows good stability index of nanoparticle formulation. The in vitro release studies indicated the silibinin loaded PLGA nanoparticles provide controlled drug release over a period of 32 h. Pharmacokinetic studies demonstrated that after oral administration of silibinin-loaded PLGA nanoparticles to rats at a dose of 10 mg/kg, relative bioavailability was enhanced about 8.85-fold, compared to silibinin suspension as control hence, this investigation demonstrated the potential of the experimental design in understanding the effect of the formulation variables on the quality of silibinin loaded PLGA nanoparticles. These results describe an effective strategy of silibinin loaded PLGA nanoparticles and might provide a promising approach against the cancer.

Keywords: silibinin, cancer, nanoparticles, PLGA, bioavailability

Procedia PDF Downloads 405