Search results for: construction of symbolic group boundaries

Authors: Shabnam Monadizadeh, Charles Kibert, Jiaxuan Li, Janghoon Woo, Ashish Asutosh, Samira Roostaei, Maryam Kouhirostami

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A significant share of the technology that has emerged over the past several decades produces electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation. Communications devices, household appliances, industrial equipment, and medical devices all produce EMF radiation with a variety of frequencies, strengths, and ranges. Some EMF radiation, such as Extremely Low Frequency (ELF), Radio Frequency (RF), and the ionizing range have been shown to have harmful effects on human health. Depending on the frequency and strength of the radiation, EMF radiation can have health effects at the cellular level as well as at brain, nervous, and cardiovascular levels. Health authorities have enacted regulations locally and globally to set critical values to limit the adverse effects of EMF radiation. By introducing a more comprehensive field of EMF radiation study and practice, architects and designers can design for a safer electromagnetic (EM) indoor environment, and, as building and construction specialists, will be able to monitor and reduce EM radiation. This paper identifies the nature of EMF radiation in the built environment, the various EMF radiation sources, and its human health effects. It addresses European and US regulations for EMF radiation in buildings and provides a preliminary action plan. The challenges of developing measurement protocols for the various EMF radiation frequency ranges and determining the effects of EMF radiation on building occupants are discussed. This paper argues that a mature method for measuring EMF radiation in building environments and linking these measurements to human health impacts occupant health should be developed to provide adequate safeguards for human occupants of buildings for future research.

Keywords: biological affection, electromagnetic field, building regulation, human health, healthy building, clean construction

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Authors: Yu-Wei Chu, Marie Aja-Herrera, Denis Antoine, Mengjie Di

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The purpose of this paper is to explore the innovative perspective of the local traditional culture of garments from different continents. The relationship between the local culture, the indigenous traditional technique of textile manufacture, and modern womenswear will be investigated. This will include exploring and discussing traditional techniques to create textiles reflecting different cultures and relevant handicrafts, including the history of these different peoples and regions. However, along with the improvement of technology, the diversity of culture is usually unified into a single aesthetic element, which makes fashion lack traditional cultural layers. Local cultural awareness has been gradually emerging in womenswear in recent years with the strong sweep of globalization. The possible loss of traditional art and crafts became an awareness for different cultures, who realized the necessity to protect and preserve their individual uniqueness. Modern womenswear is one of the largest markets in the fashion and apparel marketplace. Therefore, the commonalities of traditional textiles and garments for modern womenswear will be researched. Localized traditional fabrics have some elements, such as weaving techniques and other related crafts, in common with more modern manufacturing methods. In addition, the common point of traditional clothing is the use of draping, construction, and fabric manipulation. This paper aims to explore these factors, as discussed above, and also apply, in an innovative and creative manner, some of these traditional arts and crafts to modern womenswear. The combination of textile manipulation and different construction techniques can support the development of innovative womenswear to include a diversity of aesthetics. The main contribution of the paper is to find out the solution to bring local culture into the formal womenswear market with modern aesthetics to realize the ideal of traditional culture reconstruction.

Keywords: traditional culture, modern womenswear, diversity, aesthetics

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Authors: Richard Krijnen, Alan Wang

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As the world is aiming to reach net zero around 2050, structural engineers must begin finding solutions to contribute to this global initiative. Approximately 40% of global energy-related emissions are due to buildings and construction, and a building’s structure accounts for 50% of its embodied carbon, which indicates that structural engineers are key contributors to finding solutions to reach carbon neutrality. However, this task presents a multifaceted challenge as structural engineers must navigate technical, safety and economic considerations while striving to reduce emissions. This study reviews several options and considerations to reduce carbon emissions that structural engineers can use in their future designs without compromising the structural integrity of their proposed design. Low-carbon structures should adhere to several guiding principles. Firstly, prioritize the selection of materials with low carbon footprints, such as recyclable or alternative materials. Optimization of design and engineering methods is crucial to minimize material usage. Encouraging the use of recyclable and renewable materials reduces dependency on natural resources. Energy efficiency is another key consideration involving the design of structures to minimize energy consumption across various systems. Choosing local materials and minimizing transportation distances help in reducing carbon emissions during transport. Innovation, such as pre-fabrication and modular design or low-carbon concrete, can further cut down carbon emissions during manufacturing and construction. Collaboration among stakeholders and sharing experiences and resources are essential for advancing the development and application of low-carbon structures. This paper identifies current available tools and solutions to reduce embodied carbon in structures, which can be used as part of daily structural engineering practice.

Keywords: efficient structural design, embodied carbon, low-carbon material, sustainable structural design

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Authors: Hala O. El-Mesallamy, Salwa M. Suwailem, Mae M. Seleem

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Visfatin and apelin are two new adipokines that recently gained a special interest in diabetes research. This study was conducted to study the interplay between these two adipokines and their correlation with other inflammatory and biochemical parameters in type 2 diabetic (T2D) postmenopausal women with CAD. Visfatin and apelin were measured by enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA). Visfatin was found to be significantly higher in the following groups: T2D patients without CAD, non-obese and obese T2D patients with CAD when compared to control group. Apelin was found to be significantly lower in non-obese and obese T2D patients with CAD when compared to control group. Visfatin and apelin were found to be significantly associated with each other and with other biochemical parameters. The current study provides evidence for the interplay between visfatin and apelin through the inflammatory milieu characteristic of T2D and their possible role in the pathogenesis of CAD complication of T2D.

Keywords: apelin, coronary artery disease, inflammation, type 2 diabetes, visfatin

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Authors: Sophie Del Fa, Loup Ducol

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This presentation will focus on the discursive practices of Les Soulèvements de la Terre (hereafter SdlT), a French environmentalist group mobilized against agribusiness. More specifically, we will use, as a case study, the violently repressed demonstration that took place in Sainte-Soline on March 25, 2023 (see after for details). The SdlT embodies the renewal of anti-capitalist and environmentalist struggles that began with Occupy Wall Street in 2009 and in France with the Nuit debout in 2016 and the yellow vests movement from 2019 to 2020. These struggles have three things in common: they are self-organized without official leaders, they rely mainly on occupations to reappropriate public places (squares, roundabouts, natural territories) and they are anti-capitalist. The SdlT was created in 2021 by activists coming from the Zone-to-Defend of Notre-Dame-des-Landes, a victorious 10 yearlong occupation movement against an airport near Nantes, France (from 2009 to 2018). The SdlT is not labeled as a formal association, nor as a constituted group, but as an anti-capitalist network of local struggles at the crossroads of ecology and social issues. Indeed, although they target agro-industry, land grabbing, soil artificialization and ecology without transition, the SdlT considers ecological and social questions as interdependent. Moreover, they have an encompassing vision of ecology that they consider as a concern for the living as a whole by erasing the division between Nature and Culture. Their radicality is structured around three main elements: federative and decentralized dimensions, the rhetoric of living alliances and militant creatives strategies. The objective of this reflexion is to understand how these three dimensions are articulated through the SdlT’s discursive practices. To explore these elements, we take as a case study one specific event: the demonstration against the ‘basins’ held in Sainte-Soline on March 25, 2023, on the construction site of new water storage infrastructure for agricultural irrigation in western France. This event represents a turning point for the SdlT. Indeed, the protest was violently repressed: 5000 grenades were fired by the police, hundreds of people were injured, and one person was still in a coma at the time of writing these lines. Moreover, following Saint-Soline’s events, the Minister of Interior Affairs, Gérald Darmin, threatened to dissolve the SdlT, thus adding fuel to the fire in an already tense social climate (with the ongoing strikes against the pensions reform). We anchor our reflexion on three types of data: 1) our own experiences (inspired by ethnography) of the Sainte-Soline demonstration; 2) the collection of more than 500 000 Tweets with the #SainteSoline hashtag and 3) a press review of texts and articles published after Sainte-Soline’s demonstration. The exploration of these data from a turning point in the history of the SdlT will allow us to analyze how the three dimensions highlighted earlier (federative and decentralized dimensions, rhetoric of living alliances and creatives militant strategies) are materialized through the discursive practices surrounding the Sainte-Soline event. This will allow us to shed light on how a new contemporary movement implements contemporary environmental struggles.

Keywords: discursive practices, Sainte-Soline, Ecology, radical ecology

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Authors: Nicola Bentham

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Drawing on the concept of the Ideal Worker and Intersectionality as a Critical Social theory, this research examines to what extent minority ethnic female workers are excluded from the Ideal Worker concept in non-profits, specifically whilst these organizations undergo change to become more professionalized. Critical Discourse Analysis was used to analyse semi-structured interviews from 21 workers, including minority ethnic female, male and non-binary workers, who all represent a range of job roles across the non-profit sector (e.g., trustees, consultants, fundraisers, recruiters, Human Resource (HR), Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) professionals, etc.). Organizational literature, which provides the symbolic capital for the Ideal Worker concept within this sector and used by these workers within career development and recruitment practices, was further examined. Non-profits present an interesting context of tensions, given their historical ethos of philanthropic social change, whilst changing their present-day organisational practices to reflect the professionalized for-profit sector. This research aims to examine the technologies of inclusion that are used to validate the Ideal Worker concept and the tensions between the projected organisational rhetoric advocating for societal change and those internalized organizational practices that perpetuate workplace inequalities for minority ethnic females. In doing so, this research will provide an insight into the interplay between inclusion, performativity and underrepresentation; examining whether the latter can improve. This research contributes to the call for action regarding effective inclusion practices within non-profit organizations by advocating the use of a critical framework to be incorporated within organizational equity and inclusion strategies; thereby enabling effective sector-wide representation for minoritized workers.

Keywords: critical discourse analysis, professionalization, organizational change, ideal worker, non-profit, third sector, charity, intersectionality, inclusion, minority ethnic female

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Authors: Adam Kok Wey Leong

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The comparison between the Western ways of war and Eastern ways of war has raised contemporary debates on the validity of these arguments. The Western way of war is popularly propounded by Victor Davis Hanson as originating from the Greek hoplite tactics, direct military maneuvers, democratic principles and social freedom and cohesion that has continued to yield military success for the Western powers for centuries. On the other hand, the Eastern way of war has been deemed as relying on indirect tactics, deception, and ruses. This often accepted notion of the divide between Western and Eastern style does not sustain in view of the available classical strategic texts from both sides from the same period that has proposed similar principles of warfare. This paper analyses the similarities between classical strategic texts on war from the Eastern perspective namely Sun Tzu’s Art of War with a similar temporal strategic text from the West which is Sextus Iuluis Frontinus’s Stratagematon, and deduces answers to this core research question - Does the hypothesis of the existence of distinctive Western and Eastern ways of warfare stands? The main thesis advanced by this research is that ways of warfare share universal principles, and it transcends cultural and spatial boundaries. Warfare is a human endeavour, and the same moral actions guide humans from different geo-cultural spheres in warfare’s objectives, which are winning over an enemy in the most economical way and serve as a mean to an end.

Keywords: ways of warfare, strategic culture, strategy, Sun Tzu, frontinus

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Authors: Hasan Coruk, Recep Cakir

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This study aimed at investigating the effect of multimedia containing ‘the structure and properties of matter’ unit on students’ academic achievement level and self-efficacy relating to science and technology course. The study used an experimental design with pre-test and post-test groups. The data collection tools were ‘Science and Technology Course Achievement Test’ and ‘Science and Technology Self-Efficacy Scale’. The sample of the study consisted of 8th grade students at a primary school in Tokat Province. The study was carried out with 42 students from two classes, 21 (8 males, 13 females) from experimental group and 21 (13 males and 8 females) from control group. The data were analyzed in SPSS.18 software. The findings of the study indicated that the use of multimedia increased the students’ academic achievement in science and technology course in comparison with traditional teaching methods. It was also determined that there was not a significant difference in students’ course-oriented self-efficacy levels regarding the two methods. Necessary and feasible suggestions were put forward for whom it concerns.

Keywords: multimedia learning, science and technology, the structure-properties of matter, self-efficacy, academic achievement

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Authors: Mitra Ghiasi, Roghayeh Ghorbani Bousari

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Nowadays, the aim of the organizations is to gain sustainable competitive. So, developing their intellectual capital, encouraging innovation, increasing suitable performance can be done by knowledge management. Knowledge turns into science if knowledge is used to improve decision making, decision quality and make effective decisions. The current research intends to investigate the relationship between cybernetics and knowledge management from the perspective of users who are members of electronic discussion groups (ALA, ALIA). The research methodology is survey method, and it is a type of correlation research. Cybernetics and knowledge management questionnaires used for collecting data. The questionnaire that was designed in electronic format, distributed among two electronic discussion groups during 30 days and completed by 100 members of each electronic discussion groups. The finding of this research showed that although cybernetics has an impact on knowledge management, there is no significant difference between the ALA and ALIA user's view regard to effect of cybernetics on knowledge management. The results also indicated that this conceptual model is consistent with the data collected from the sample.

Keywords: ALA discussion group, ALIA discussion group, cybernetics, knowledge management

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Authors: Xvelian Qin

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Urban "organic renewal" based on the development of existing resources in high-density urban areas has become the mainstream of urban development in the new era. As an important stock resource of public space in high-density urban areas, promoting its value remodeling is an effective way to alleviate the shortage of public space resources. However, due to the lack of evaluation links in the process of underpass space renewal, a large number of underpass space resources have been left idle, facing the problems of low space conversion efficiency, lack of accuracy in development decision-making, and low adaptability of functional positioning to citizens' needs. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to construct the evaluation system of under-bridge space renewal potential and explore the renewal mode. In this paper, some of the under-bridge spaces in the main urban area of Chongqing are selected as the research object. Through the questionnaire interviews with the users of the built excellent space under the bridge, three types of six levels and twenty-two potential evaluation indexes of "objective demand factor, construction feasibility factor and construction suitability factor" are selected, including six levels of land resources, infrastructure, accessibility, safety, space quality and ecological environment. The analytical hierarchy process and expert scoring method are used to determine the index weight, construct the potential evaluation system of the space under the bridge in high-density urban areas of Chongqing, and explore the direction of renewal and utilization of its suitability.

Keywords: space under bridge, potential evaluation, high density urban area, updated using

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Authors: Roman Graf, Sergiu Gordea, Heather M. Ryan

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This paper presents an approach for easy creation and classification of institutional risk profiles supporting endangerment analysis of file formats. The main contribution of this work is the employment of data mining techniques to support set up of the most important risk factors. Subsequently, risk profiles employ risk factors classifier and associated configurations to support digital preservation experts with a semi-automatic estimation of endangerment group for file format risk profiles. Our goal is to make use of an expert knowledge base, accuired through a digital preservation survey in order to detect preservation risks for a particular institution. Another contribution is support for visualisation of risk factors for a requried dimension for analysis. Using the naive Bayes method, the decision support system recommends to an expert the matching risk profile group for the previously selected institutional risk profile. The proposed methods improve the visibility of risk factor values and the quality of a digital preservation process. The presented approach is designed to facilitate decision making for the preservation of digital content in libraries and archives using domain expert knowledge and values of file format risk profiles. To facilitate decision-making, the aggregated information about the risk factors is presented as a multidimensional vector. The goal is to visualise particular dimensions of this vector for analysis by an expert and to define its profile group. The sample risk profile calculation and the visualisation of some risk factor dimensions is presented in the evaluation section.

Keywords: linked open data, information integration, digital libraries, data mining

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Authors: Nichole Haag, Kimberly Velk, Tyler McCune, Chun Wu

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Methicillin/multiple-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are infectious bacteria that are resistant to common antibiotics. A previous in silico study in our group has identified a hypothetical protein SAV1226 as one of the potential drug targets. In this study, we reported the bioinformatics characterization, as well as cloning, expression, purification and kinetic assays of hypothetical protein SAV1226 from methicillin/vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Mu50 strain. MALDI-TOF/MS analysis revealed a low degree of structural similarity with known proteins. Kinetic assays demonstrated that hypothetical protein SAV1226 is neither a domain of an ATP dependent dihydroxyacetone kinase nor of a phosphotransferase system (PTS) dihydroxyacetone kinase, suggesting that the function of hypothetical protein SAV1226 might be misannotated on public databases such as UniProt and InterProScan 5.

Keywords: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, dihydroxyacetone kinase, essential genes, drug target, phosphoryl group donor

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Authors: Taurino S. R. Neto, Epitácio D. S. Neto, Flávio Signorelli, Gustavo G. M. Balbi, Alex H. Higashi, Mário Luiz R. Monteiro, Eloisa Bonfá, Danieli C. O. Andrade, Leandro C. Zacharias

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Purpose: To perform a multimodal evaluation, including the use of Optical Coherence Angiotomography (OCTA), in patients with primary antiphospholipid syndrome (PAPS) without ocular complaints and to compare them with healthy individuals. Methods: A complete structural and functional ophthalmological evaluation using OCTA and microperimetry (MP) exam in patients with PAPS, followed at a tertiary rheumatology outpatient clinic, was performed. All ophthalmologic manifestations were recorded and then statistical analysis was performed for comparative purposes; p <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: 104 eyes of 52 subjects (26 patients with PAPS without ocular complaints and 26 healthy individuals) were included. Among PAPS patients, 21 were female (80.8%) and 21 (80.8%) were Caucasians. Thrombotic PAPS was the main clinical criteria manifestation (100%); 65.4% had venous and 34.6% had arterial thrombosis. Obstetrical criteria were present in 34.6% of all thrombotic PAPS patients. Lupus anticoagulant was present in all patients. 19.2% of PAPS patients presented ophthalmologic findings against none of the healthy individuals. The most common retinal change was paracentral acute middle maculopathy (PAMM) (3 patients, 5 eyes), followed by drusen-like deposits (1 patient, 2 eyes) and pachychoroid pigment epitheliopathy (1 patient, 1 eye). Systemic hypertension and hyperlipidaemia were present in 100% of the PAPS patients with PAMM, while only six patients (26.1%) with PAPS without PAMM presented these two risk factors together. In the quantitative OCTA evaluation, we found significant differences between PAPS patients and controls in both the superficial vascular complex (SVC) and deep vascular complex (DVC) in the high-speed protocol, as well as in the SVC in the high-resolution protocol. In the analysis of the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) parameters, the PAPS group had a larger area of FAZ in the DVC using the high-speed method compared to the control group (p=0.047). In the quantitative analysis of the MP, the PAPS group had lower central (p=0.041) and global (p<0.001) retinal sensitivity compared to the control group, as well as in the sector analysis, with the exception of the inferior sector. In the quantitative evaluation of fixation stability, there was a trend towards worse stability in the PAPS subgroup with PAMM in both studied methods. Conclusions: PAMM was observed in 11.5% of PAPS patients with no previous ocular complaints. Systemic hypertension concomitant with hyperlipidemia was the most commonly associated risk factor for PAMM in patients with PAPS. PAPS patients present lower vascular density and retinal sensitivity compared to the control group, even in patients without PAMM.

Keywords: antiphospholipid syndrome, optical coherence angio tomography, optical coherence tomography, retina

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Authors: Mohamed Ahmed Madkour, Haitham Magdy Hamad

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This research aims to study the means of securing graves in the Egyptian kingdom era, and revolves around many basic ideas used by the ancient Egyptian to protect his graves from thieves, which included architectural characteristics, which gave it importance only others. The most important of which was the choice of the place of the grave, which chose a kohl place in the desert to protect the graves, which is the valley of kings, and whether the choice of that place had an impact in protecting the grave or not, in addition to other elements followed in the architectural planning, which was in the valley of kings. The multiplicity of the tomb, the construction of the well chamber to deceive the thieves by the end of the graves suddenly, the construction of the wells of the tombs, which contained the burial chamber at the bottom of the main well and the effect of all these factors on the graves, and this shows the importance of the graves to the ancient Egyptian and his belief in resurrection and immortality. The Egyptian resorted to the elements of protection and was a religious worker by The protector gods and special texts to protect the deceased from any danger to protect the tomb. As for the human factor of securing the tomb through human guards (police) and security teams based on the guard and the words indicating the protection and the guard teams and the teams of the majai. The most important developments that arose on the cemetery from Tamit entrance, corridors, chambers, burial chamber and coffin, and the use of sand to close the well after from one cemetery to another and from time to time where it was built in the late period inside the temple campus to be under the attention of the priests and their protection, as the study dealt with an analytical study For the means of securing graves in the Egyptian kingdom period.

Keywords: archaeology, Egyptian kingdom era, graves, tombs, ancient Egyptian

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Authors: Sudikshya Bhandari, Jonathan K. London

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Barpak in northern Nepal represents a unique identity expressed through the local rituals, values, lifeways and the styles of vernacular architecture. The traditional residential buildings and construction practices adopted by the dominant ethnic groups: Ghales and Gurungs, reflect environmental, social, cultural and economic concerns. However, most of these buildings did not survive the Gorkha earthquake in 2015 that made many residents skeptical about their strength to resist future disasters. This led Barpak residents to prefer modern housing designs primarily for the strength but additionally for convenience and access to earthquake relief funds. Post-earthquake reconstruction has transformed the cohesive community, developed over hundreds of years into a haphazard settlement with the imposition of externally-driven building models. Housing guidelines provided for the community reconstruction and earthquake resilience have been used as a singular template, similar to other communities on different geographical locations. The design and construction of these buildings do not take into account the local, historical, environmental, social, cultural and economic context of Barpak. In addition to the physical transformation of houses and the settlement, the consequences continue to develop challenges to sustainability. This paper identifies the major challenges for environmental sustainability with the construction of new houses in post-earthquake Barpak. Mixed methods such as interviews, focus groups, site observation, and documentation, and analysis of housing and neighborhood design have been used for data collection. The discernible changing situation of this settlement due to the new housing has included reduced climatic adaptation and thermal comfort, increased consumption of agricultural land and water, minimized use of local building materials, and an increase in energy demand. The research has identified that reconstruction housing practices happening in Barpak, while responding to crucial needs for disaster recovery and resilience, are also leading this community towards an unsustainable future. This study has also integrated environmental, social, cultural and economic parameters into an assessment framework that could be used to develop place-based design guidelines in the context of other post-earthquake reconstruction efforts. This framework seeks to minimize the unintended repercussions of unsustainable reconstruction interventions, support the vitality of vernacular architecture and traditional lifeways and respond to context-based needs in coordination with residents.

Keywords: earthquake, environment, reconstruction, sustainability

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Authors: M. Khajezadeh, M. Saied Fallah Niasar, S. Ali Asli, D. Davani Davari, M. Godarzi, Y. Asgari

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This study aims to explore the joint application of both Boston and Ansoff matrices in the operational development of the product. We conduct deep analysis, by utilizing the Artificial Neural Network, to predict the position of the product in the market while the company is interested in increasing its share. The data are gathered from two industries, called hygiene and detergent. In doing so, the effort is being made by investigating the behavior of top player companies and, recommend strategic orientations. In conclusion, this combination analysis is appropriate for operational development; as well, it plays an important role in providing the position of the product in the market for both hygiene and detergent industries. More importantly, it will elaborate on the company’s strategies to increase its market share related to a combination of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix and Ansoff Matrix.

Keywords: artificial neural network, portfolio analysis, BCG matrix, Ansoff matrix

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Authors: Faizan Rathore, Naveed Sultan, Humphrey O. Connor

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This study was carried out from Jan '12-Dec'12 to assess current practice in Kerry General Hospital against the age-related indicators for colonoscopies. A total of 1474 colonoscopies were performed,1177(79.9%) were diagnostic and 297 (20.1%) were therapeutic, patients were divided into 4 age groups under 75, 75-80, 81-85, 86+. The trend analysis revealed an increase in diagnostic colonoscopies and decrease in therapeutic colonoscopies with age. 664(45.04%) of colonoscopies were reported normal which made up the majority of the total diagnoses, 1330 (90.2%) of colonoscopies occurred without any complications. Main complications were patient discomfort being the highest, present in 112(7.6%) of patients, and lowest being urticaria around the IV site present in 1 (0.1%) of the cases. Patient discomfort was higher in younger patients as evidenced by 98 cases aged <75 , followed by 11 cases aged 75-80, 2 cases aged 81-85 and 1 case aged >86. Highest percentage of poor tolerance was found in 14 (1.1%) of total patients <75, 1 (0.8%) of total patients aged 75-80, 1(1.7%) of total patients in age group 81-85 and none (0%) in age group >86. We have established the safety of colonoscopy, low rate of complications and a better tolerance in the elderly from this study, however, its utility, especially in the presence of other comorbidities in elderly is questionable.

Keywords: colonoscopy, elderly patients, utility, tolerance

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Authors: Leila Karshenas, Hamidreza Khodaei, Behnaz Mahdavi

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Ovulation is a physiologic process with an inflammatory response that depends on a coordinated activity of gonadotropins and steroid hormones, as well as inflammatory mediators such as cytokines, prostaglandins, leptin, nitric oxide (NO), etc. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is composed of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) found in dairy products, beef and lamb. There is strong evidence that dietary CLA affects mediators involved in ovulation. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of different doses of dietary CLA on systemic and local hormones and factors involved in ovulation. In this case-control study, 80 (50±2-day old) female mice were randomly divided into four groups (C as the controls and T1, T2 and T3 as the treatment groups). There were four replicates in each group and there were five mice in every replicate (20 mice, in total). The mice in the control group were fed with no CLA in their diet but the ones in the treatment group received 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5g/kg of CLA (replacing corn oil in the diet), respectively for 120 days. Later on, blood samples were obtained from the tails of animals that displayed estrus signs and estradiol (E2), progesterone (P4), LH, FSH, NO, leptin and TNFα were measured. Furthermore, the effects of CLA on the ovarian production of prostaglandins (PGs) and NO were investigated. The data were analyzed by SAS software.CLA significantly decreased serum levels of FSH (p<0.05), LH, estradiol, NO, leptin and TNFα (p<0.01). In addition, CLA decreased progesterone levels but this effect was statistically insignificant. The significantly negative effects of CLA were seen on the ovarian production of PGE2 and PGF2α (p<0.01).It seems that CLA may play an effective role in reducing the ovulation rate in mice as CLA adversely affected female reproduction and it had negative effects on systemic and local hormones involved in ovulation.

Keywords: conjugated linoleic acid, nitric oxide, ovary, ovulation, prostaglandin, gonadotropin

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Authors: Heroda Gebru, Berhanu Seyoum, Melake Damena, Gezahegn Tesfaye

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Background: In Ethiopia there is a population policy aimed at reducing fertility and increasing contraceptive prevalence. Objective: To assess the fertility preference and contraceptive use status of married women who were living in Dire Dawa administrative city. Methods: Cross sectional study which included a sample size of 421 married women of reproductive age were performed. Data was collected using structured questionnaire during house to house survey and semi-structured questionnaire during in-depth interview. Data was processed and analyzed using SPSS version 16 computer software. Univariate, bi variate and multi variate analysis was employed. Results: A total of 421 married women of reproductive age group were interviewed having a response rate of 100 percent. More than half (58.2%) of the respondent have desire of more children. While 41.8% want no more children. Regarding contraceptive use 52.5% of the respondents were using contraceptive at the time of survey. Fertility preference and contraceptive use were significantly associated with age of the respondent, history of child death, number of living children, religion and age at first birth. Conclusions: Those women with younger age group, who had no child death history and women with lesser number of surviving children were more likely desire additional children. Women with older age at first birth and protestant in religion were more likely practiced contraceptive use. Strong information and education regarding contraceptive for younger age group should be provided, advocacy at level of religious leader is important, comprehensive family planning counselling and education should be available for the community, husbands, and religious leaders and the aim for increasing contraceptive use should focus on the practical aspect.

Keywords: fertility preference, contraceptive use, univariate analysis, family planning

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Authors: Marcos Perez, Christian Dumont, Olivier Nodin, Sebastien Nouveau

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Nickel superalloys are used to manufacture high-temperature rotary engine parts such as high-pressure disks in gas turbine engines. High strength at high operating temperatures is required due to the levels of stress and heat the disk must withstand. Therefore it is necessary parts made from materials that can maintain mechanical strength at high temperatures whilst remain comparatively low in cost. A manufacturing process referred to as the triple melt process has made the production of cast and wrought (C&W) nickel superalloys possible. This means that the balance of cost and performance at high temperature may be optimized. AD730TM is a newly developed Ni-based superalloy for turbine disk applications, with reported superior service properties around 700°C when compared to Inconel 718 and several other alloys. The cast ingot is converted into billet during either cogging process or open die forging. The semi-finished billet is then further processed into its final geometry by forging, heat treating, and machining. Conventional ingot-to-billet conversion is an expensive and complex operation, requiring a significant amount of steps to break up the coarse as-cast structure and interdendritic regions. Due to the size of conventional ingots, it is difficult to achieve a uniformly high level of strain for recrystallization, resulting in non-recrystallized regions that retain large unrecrystallized grains. Non-uniform grain distributions will also affect the ultrasonic inspectability response, which is used to find defects in the final component. The main aim is to analyze the recrystallization behavior and microstructural evolution of AD730 at subsolvus temperatures from a semi-finished product (billet) under conditions representative of both cogging and hot forging operations. Special attention to the presence of large unrecrystallized grains was paid. Double truncated cones (DTCs) were hot forged at subsolvus temperatures in hydraulic press, followed by air cooling. SEM and EBSD analysis were conducted in the as-received (billet) and the as-forged conditions. AD730 from billet alloy presents a complex microstructure characterized by a mixture of several constituents. Large unrecrystallized grains present a substructure characterized by large misorientation gradients with the formation of medium to high angle boundaries in their interior, especially close to the grain boundaries, denoting inhomogeneous strain distribution. A fine distribution of intragranular precipitates was found in their interior, playing a key role on strain distribution and subsequent recrystallization behaviour during hot forging. Continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) mechanism was found to be operating in the large unrecrystallized grains, promoting the formation intragranular DRX grains and the gradual recrystallization of these grains. Evidences that hetero-epitaxial recrystallization mechanism is operating in AD730 billet material were found. Coherent γ-shells around primary γ’ precipitates were found. However, no significant contribution to the overall recrystallization during hot forging was found. By contrast, strain presents the strongest effect on the microstructural evolution of AD730, increasing the recrystallization fraction and refining the structure. Regions with low level of deformation (ε ≤ 0.6) were translated into large fractions of unrecrystallized structures (strain accumulation). The presence of undissolved secondary γ’ precipitates (pinning effect), prior to hot forging operations, could explain these results.

Keywords: AD730 alloy, continuous dynamic recrystallization, hot forging, γ’ precipitates

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Authors: Angela Meyer

Abstract:

The operation and maintenance cost for wind parks make up a major fraction of the park’s overall lifetime cost. To minimize the cost and risk involved, an optimal operation and maintenance strategy requires continuous monitoring and analysis. In order to facilitate this, we present a decision support system that automatically scans the stream of telemetry sensor data generated from the turbines. By learning decision boundaries and normal reference operating states using machine learning algorithms, the decision support system can detect anomalous operating behavior in individual wind turbines and diagnose the involved turbine sub-systems. Operating personal can be alerted if a normal operating state boundary is exceeded. The presented decision support system and method are applicable for any turbine type and manufacturer providing telemetry data of the turbine operating state. We demonstrate the successful detection and diagnosis of anomalous operating states in a case study at a German onshore wind park comprised of Vestas V112 turbines.

Keywords: anomaly detection, decision support, machine learning, monitoring, performance optimization, wind turbines

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Authors: Nermeen Elbeltagy, Sara Hassan, Tamer Hosny, Mostafa Abdelaziz

Abstract:

Introduction: Adequate postoperative analgesia after caesarean section (CS) is crucial as it impacts the distinct surgical recovery needs of the parturient. Over recent years, there has been increased interest in regional nerve block techniques with promising results on efficacy. These techniques reduce the need for additional analgesia, thereby lowering the incidence of drug-related side effects. As postoperative pain after cesarean is mainly due to abdominal incision, the transverses abdomenis plane ( TAP ) block is a relatively new abdominal nerve block with excellent efficacy after different abdominal surgeries, including cesarean section. Objective: The main objective is to compare ultrasound-guided TAP block provided by the anesthesiologist with TAP provided by the surgeon through a caesarean incision regarding the duration of postoperative analgesia, intensity of analgesia, timing of mobilization, and easiness of the procedure. Method: Ninety pregnant females at term who were scheduled for delivery by elective cesarean section were randomly distributed into two groups. The first group (45) received spinal anesthesia and postoperative ultrasound guided TAP block using 20ml on each side of 0.25% bupivacaine which was provided by the anesthesiologist. The second group (45) received spinal anesthesia plus a TAP block using 20ml on each side of 0.25% bupivacaine, which was provided by the surgeon through the cesarean incision. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used for the comparison between the two groups. Results: VAS score after four hours was higher among the TAP block group provided by the surgeon through the surgical incision than the postoperative analgesic profile using ultrasound-guided TAP block provided by the anesthesiologist (P=0.011). On the contrary, there was no statistical difference in the patient’s dose of analgesia after four hours of the TAP block (P=0.228). Conclusion: TAP block provided through the surgical incision is safe and enhances early patient’s mobilization.

Keywords: TAP block, CS, VAS, analgesia

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Authors: G. Alex Ambrose, Melissa Paulsen, Abrar Fitwi, Masud Akbari

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In 2016, a U.S. business college was awarded a sub grant to work with FHI360, a nonprofit human development organization, to support a university in Afghanistan funded by the State Department’s U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). A newly designed Master’s Degree in Finance and Accounting is being implemented to support Afghanistan’s goal of 20% females in higher education and industry by 2020 and to use finance and accounting international standards to attract capital investment for economic development. This paper will present a case study to describe the co-construction of an approach to an International Flipped Faculty Development Model grounded in blended learning theory. Like education in general, faculty development is also evolving from the traditional face to face environment and interactions to the fully online and now to a best of both blends. Flipped faculty development is both a means and a model for careful integration of the strengths of the synchronous and asynchronous dynamics and technologies with the combination of intentional sequencing to pre-online interactions that prepares and enhances the face to face faculty development and mentorship residencies with follow-up post-online support. Initial benefits from this model include giving the Afghan faculty an opportunity to experience and apply modern teaching and learning strategies with technology in their own classroom. Furthermore, beyond the technological and pedagogical affordances, the reciprocal benefits gained from the mentor-mentee, face-to-face relationship will be explored. Evidence to support this model includes: empirical findings from pre- and post-Faculty Mentor/ Mentee survey results, Faculty Mentorship group debriefs, Faculty Mentorship contact logs, and student early/end of semester feedback. In addition to presenting and evaluating this model, practical challenges and recommendations for replicating international flipped faculty development partnerships will be provided.

Keywords: educational development, faculty development, international development, flipped learning

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Authors: M. Riazat, H. Abdolvand, M. Baniassadi

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In this present work, 3D reconstruction of cathode of SOFC is developed with various volume fractions and porosity. Three Phase Boundary (TPB) of construction of such derived micro structures is calculated. The neural network is used to optimize the porosity and volume fraction of each phase to reach a structure with maximum TPB.

Keywords: fuel cell, solid oxide, TPB, 3D reconstruction

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Authors: Rima Zakzouk, Yasushi Shimada, Yuan Zhou, Yasunori Sumi, Junji Tagami

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Background and Purpose: Swept source optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an interferometric imaging technique that has been recently used in cariology. In spite of progress made in adhesive dentistry, the composite restoration has been failing due to secondary caries which occur due to environmental factors in oral cavities. Therefore, a precise assessment to effective marginal sealing of restoration is highly required. The aim of this study was evaluating gap formation at composite/cavity walls interface with or without phosphoric acid etching using SS-OCT. Materials and Methods: Round tapered cavities (2×2 mm) were prepared in three locations, mid-coronal, cervical, and root of bovine incisors teeth in two groups (SE and PA Groups). While self-etching adhesive (Clearfil SE Bond) was applied for the both groups, Group PA had been already pretreated with phosphoric acid etching (K-Etchant gel). Subsequently, both groups were restored by Estelite Flow Quick Flowable Composite Resin. Following 5000 thermal cycles, three cross-sectionals were obtained from each cavity using OCT at 1310-nm wavelength at 0°, 60°, 120° degrees. Scanning was repeated after two months to monitor the gap progress. Then the average percentage of gap length was calculated using image analysis software, and the difference of mean between both groups was statistically analyzed by t-test. Subsequently, the results were confirmed by sectioning and observing representative specimens under Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope (CLSM). Results: The results showed that pretreatment with phosphoric acid etching, Group PA, led to significantly bigger gaps in mid-coronal and cervical compared to SE group, while in the root cavity no significant difference was observed between both groups. On the other hand, the gaps formed in root’s cavities were significantly bigger than those in mid-coronal and cervical within the same group. This study investigated the effect of phosphoric acid on gap length progress on the composite restorations. In conclusions, phosphoric acid etching treatment did not reduce the gap formation even in different regions of the tooth. Significance: The cervical region of tooth was more exposing to gap formation than mid-coronal region, especially when we added pre-etching treatment.

Keywords: image analysis, optical coherence tomography, phosphoric acid etching, self-etch adhesives

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Authors: A. Chabert

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The present paper is motivated by the current influence of communicative approaches in language policies around the globe (especially through the Common European Framework of Reference), along with the exponential spread of English as a Lingua Franca worldwide. This study focuses on English language learning and teaching in the last year of primary education in Spain (in the bilingual Valencian region), Norway (in the Trondelag region), and China (in the Hunan region) and proposes a plurilingual communicative approach to ELT in line with ELF awareness and the current retheorisation of ELF within multilingualism (Jenkins, 2018). This study, interdisciplinary in nature, attempts to find a convergence point among English Language Teaching, English as a Lingua Franca, Language Ecology and Multilingualism, breaking with the boundaries that separate languages in language teaching and acknowledging English as international communication, while protecting the mother tongue and language diversity within multilingualism. Our experiment included over 400 students across Spain, Norway, and China, and the outcomes obtained demonstrate that despite the different factors involved in different cultures and contexts, a plurilingual approach to English learning improved English scores by 20% in each of the contexts. Through our study, we reflect on the underestimated value of the mother tongue in ELT, as well as the need for a sustainable ELF perspective in education worldwide.

Keywords: English as a Lingua Franca, English language teaching, language ecology, multilingualism

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Authors: Huong M. T. Nguyen, Hoa A. P. Nguyen, Chi V. Phan, Mai P. T. Nguyen, Ngoc D. Ngo, Van T. Ta, Hai T. Le

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Wilson’s disease is an autosomal recessive disorder of copper metabolism, which is caused by mutation in copper- transporting P-type ATPase (ATP7B). The mechanism of this disease is a failure of hepatic excretion of copper to the bile, and it leads to copper deposits in the liver and other organs. Most clinical symptoms of Wilson’s disease can present as liver disease and/or neurologic disease. Objective: The goal of the study is prenatal diagnosis for pregnant women at high risk of Wilson’s disease in Northern Vietnam. Material and method: Three probands with clinically diagnosed liver disease were detected in the mutations of 21 exons and exon-intron boundaries of the ATP7B gene by direct Sanger-sequencing. Prenatal diagnoses were performed by amniotic fluid sampling from pregnant women in the 16th-18th weeks of pregnancy after the genotypes of parents with the probands were identified. Result: A total of three different mutations of the probands, including of S105*, P1052L, P1273G, were detected. Among three fetuses which underwent prenatal genetic testing, one fetus was homozygote; two fetuses were carriers. Conclusion: Genetic testing provided a useful method for prenatal diagnosis, and is a basis for genetic counseling.

Keywords: ATP7B gene, genetic testing, prenatal diagnosis, pedigree, Wilson disease

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Authors: Ahmad Nazrun Shuid, Isa Naina Mohamed, Nurul Izzah Ibrahim, Norazlina Mohamed

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Studies have shown that oral tocotrienol, a potent vitamin E, promoted fracture healing of osteoporotic bone. In this study, tocotrienol was combined with a polymer carrier (PLGA), and injected to the fracture site. The slow and constant release of tocotrienol particles would promote fracture healing of post-menopausal osteoporosis rat model. Fracture healing was assessed using micro-CT. Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley rats were ovariectomised or sham-operated and the left tibiae were fractured and fixed with plate and screws. The fractures were created at the upper third of the left tibiae. The rats were divided into 3 groups: sham-operated (SO), ovariectomised-control (OVxC) and PLGA-incorporated tocotrienol treatment (OVx + TT) groups. After 4 weeks, the OVx + TT group showed significantly better callus fracture healing than the OVxC group. In conclusion, tocotrienol-incorporated PLGA was able to promote fracture healing of osteoporotic bone.

Keywords: osteoporosis, micro-CT, tocotrienol, PLGA, fracture

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Authors: Mohammadreza Vafaei, Amirali Moradi, Sophia C. Alih

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The method selected for the design of structures not only can affect their seismic vulnerability but also can affect their construction cost. For the design of steel structures, two distinct methods have been introduced by existing codes, namely allowable stress design (ASD) and load resistant factor design (LRFD). This study investigates the effect of using the aforementioned design methods on the seismic vulnerability and construction cost of steel structures. Specifically, a 20-story building equipped with special moment resisting frame and an eccentrically braced system was selected for this study. The building was designed for three different intensities of peak ground acceleration including 0.2 g, 0.25 g, and 0.3 g using the ASD and LRFD methods. The required sizes of beams, columns, and braces were obtained using response spectrum analysis. Then, the designed frames were subjected to nine natural earthquake records which were scaled to the designed response spectrum. For each frame, the base shear, story shears, and inter-story drifts were calculated and then were compared. Results indicated that the LRFD method led to a more economical design for the frames. In addition, the LRFD method resulted in lower base shears and larger inter-story drifts when compared with the ASD method. It was concluded that the application of the LRFD method not only reduced the weights of structural elements but also provided a higher safety margin against seismic actions when compared with the ASD method.

Keywords: allowable stress design, load resistant factor design, nonlinear time history analysis, seismic vulnerability, steel structures

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Authors: Pamela Del Rosario, Elisabetta Palumbo, Marzia Traverso

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The building sector plays an important role in addressing pressing environmental issues such as climate change and resource scarcity. The energy performance of buildings is considerably affected by the external envelope. In fact, a considerable proportion of the building energy demand is due to energy losses through the windows. Nevertheless, according to literature, to pay attention only to the contribution of windows to the building energy performance, i.e., their influence on energy use during building operation, could result in a partial evaluation. Hence, it is important to consider not only the building energy performance but also the environmental performance of windows, and this not only during the operational stage but along its complete life cycle. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) according to ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006+A1:2018 is one of the most adopted and robust methods to evaluate the environmental performance of products throughout their complete life cycle. This life-cycle based approach avoids the shift of environmental impacts of a life cycle stage to another, allowing to allocate them to the stage in which they originated and to adopt measures that optimize the environmental performance of the product. Moreover, the LCA method is widely implemented in the construction sector to assess whole buildings as well as construction products and materials. LCA is regulated by the European Standards EN 15978:2011, at the building level, and EN 15804:2012+A2:2019, at the level of construction products and materials. In this work, the environmental performance of wooden windows was assessed by implementing the LCA method and adopting primary data. More specifically, the emphasis is given to embedded and operational impacts. Furthermore, correlations are made between these environmental impacts and aspects such as type of wood and window transmittance. In the particular case of the operational impacts, special attention is set on the definition of suitable maintenance scenarios that consider the potential climate influence on the environmental impacts. For this purpose, a literature review was conducted, and expert consultation was carried out. The study underlined the variability of the embedded environmental impacts of wooden windows by considering different wood types and transmittance values. The results also highlighted the need to define appropriate maintenance scenarios for precise assessment results. It was found that both the service life and the window maintenance requirements in terms of treatment and its frequency are highly dependent not only on the wood type and its treatment during the manufacturing process but also on the weather conditions of the place where the window is installed. In particular, it became evident that maintenance-related environmental impacts were the highest for climate regions with the lowest temperatures and the greatest amount of precipitation.

Keywords: embedded impacts, environmental performance, life cycle assessment, LCA, maintenance stage, operational impacts, wooden windows

Procedia PDF Downloads 236