Search results for: exponentially weighted moving average

Authors: P. L. Cheng, I. N. Umar

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Online discussion forum is a popular e-learning technique that allows participants to interact and construct knowledge. This study aims to examine the levels of participation, categories of participants and the structure of their interactions in a forum. A convenience sampling of one course coordinator and 23 graduate students was selected in this study. The forums’ log file and the Social Network Analysis software were used in this study. The analysis reveals 610 activities (including viewing forum’s topic, viewing discussion thread, posting a new thread, replying to other participants’ post, updating an existing thread and deleting a post) performed by them in this forum, with an average of 3.83 threads posted. Also, this forum consists of five at-risk participants, six bridging participants, four isolated participants and five leaders of information. In addition, the network density value is 0.15 and there exist five reciprocal interactions in this forum. The closeness value varied between 28 and 68 while the eigen vector centrality value varied between 0.008 and 0.39. The finding indicates that the participants tend to listen more rather than express their opinions in the forum. It was also revealed that those who actively provide supports in the discussion forum were not the same people who received the most responses from their peers. This study found that cliques do not exist in the forum and the participants are not selective to whom they response to, rather, it was based on the content of the posts made by their peers. Based upon the findings, further analysis with different method and population, larger sample size and a longer time frame are recommended.

Keywords: e-learning, learning management system, online forum, social network analysis

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Authors: Bouthiba Amina

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The estimation of the statistics bound to the precipitation represents a vast domain, which puts numerous challenges to meteorologists and hydrologists. Sometimes, it is necessary, to approach in value the extreme events for sites where there is little, or no datum, as well as their periods of return. The search for a model of the frequency of the heights of daily rains dresses a big importance in operational hydrology: It establishes a basis for predicting the frequency and intensity of floods by estimating the amount of precipitation in past years. The most known and the most common approach is the statistical approach, It consists in looking for a law of probability that fits best the values observed by the random variable " daily maximal rain " after a comparison of various laws of probability and methods of estimation by means of tests of adequacy. Therefore, a frequent analysis of the annual series of daily maximal rains was realized on the data of 54 pluviometric stations of the pond of high and average. This choice was concerned with five laws usually applied to the study and the analysis of frequent maximal daily rains. The chosen period is from 1970 to 2013. It was of use to the forecast of quantiles. The used laws are the law generalized by extremes to three components, those of the extreme values to two components (Gumbel and log-normal) in two parameters, the law Pearson typifies III and Log-Pearson III in three parameters. In Algeria, Gumbel's law has been used for a long time to estimate the quantiles of maximum flows. However, and we will check and choose the most reliable law.

Keywords: return period, extreme flow, statistics laws, Gumbel, estimation

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Authors: Qiangqiang Xu, Xu Ji, Jingyang Han, Changchun Yang, Ming Li

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Replacing of complex solar concentrating unit, this paper designs a solar heat-concentrating medium-temperature steam-generating system. Solar radiation is collected by using a large solar collecting and heat concentrating plate and is converged to the metal evaporating pipe with high efficient heat transfer. In the meantime, the heat loss is reduced by employing a double-glazed cover and other heat insulating structures. Thus, a high temperature is reached in the metal evaporating pipe. The influences of the system's structure parameters on system performance are analyzed. The steam production rate and the steam production under different solar irradiance, solar collecting and heat concentrating plate area, solar collecting and heat concentrating plate temperature and heat loss are obtained. The results show that when solar irradiance is higher than 600 W/m², the effective heat collecting area is 7.6 m² and the double-glazing cover is adopted, the system heat loss amount is lower than the solar irradiance value. The stable steam is produced in the metal evaporating pipe at 100 ℃, 110 ℃, and 120 ℃, respectively. When the average solar irradiance is about 896 W/m², and the steaming cumulative time is about 5 hours, the daily steam production of the system is about 6.174 kg. In a single day, the solar irradiance is larger at noon, thus the steam production rate is large at that time. Before 9:00 and after 16:00, the solar irradiance is smaller, and the steam production rate is almost 0.

Keywords: heat concentrating, heat loss, medium temperature, solar steam production

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Authors: Mohammadhossein Moghimi, Robert Stone, Pia Rotshtein

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Recording psychological and physiological correlates of human performance within virtual environments and interpreting their impacts on human engagement, ‘immersion’ and related emotional or ‘effective’ states is both academically and technologically challenging. By exposing participants to an effective, real-time (game-like) virtual environment, designed and evaluated in an earlier study, a psychophysiological database containing the EEG, GSR and Heart Rate of 30 male and female gamers, exposed to 10 games, was constructed. Some 174 features were subsequently identified and extracted from a number of windows, with 28 different timing lengths (e.g. 2, 3, 5, etc. seconds). After reducing the number of features to 30, using a feature selection technique, K-Nearest Neighbour (KNN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) methods were subsequently employed for the classification process. The classifiers categorised the psychophysiological database into four effective clusters (defined based on a 3-dimensional space – valence, arousal and dominance) and eight emotion labels (relaxed, content, happy, excited, angry, afraid, sad, and bored). The KNN and SVM classifiers achieved average cross-validation accuracies of 97.01% (±1.3%) and 92.84% (±3.67%), respectively. However, no significant differences were found in the classification process based on effective clusters or emotion labels.

Keywords: virtual reality, effective computing, effective VR, emotion-based effective physiological database

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Authors: Bamidele Samson Alobalorun, Ifedotun Roseline Idowu

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Biometrics technologies apply the human body parts for their unique and reliable identification based on physiological traits. The iris recognition system is a biometric–based method for identification. The human iris has some discriminating characteristics which provide efficiency to the method. In order to achieve this efficiency, there is a need for feature extraction of the distinct features from the human iris in order to generate accurate authentication of persons. In this study, an approach for an iris recognition system using 2D Gabor for feature extraction is applied to iris templates. The 2D Gabor filter formulated the patterns that were used for training and equally sent to the hamming distance matching technique for recognition. A comparison of results is presented using two iris image subjects of different matching indices of 1,2,3,4,5 filter based on the CASIA iris image database. By comparing the two subject results, the actual computational time of the developed models, which is measured in terms of training and average testing time in processing the hamming distance classifier, is found with best recognition accuracy of 96.11% after capturing the iris localization or segmentation using the Daughman’s Integro-differential, the normalization is confined to the Daugman’s rubber sheet model.

Keywords: Daugman rubber sheet, feature extraction, Hamming distance, iris recognition system, 2D Gabor wavelet transform

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Authors: V. Emery David Jr., J. Wenchao, D. Mmereki, Y. John, F. Heriniaina

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Healthcare waste management continues to present an array of challenges for developing countries, and Liberia is of no exception. There is insufficient information available regarding the generation, handling, and disposal of health care waste. This face serves as an impediment to healthcare management schemes. The specific objective of this study is to present an evaluation of the current health care management practices in Liberia. It also presented procedures, techniques used, methods of handling, transportation, and disposal methods of wastes as well as the quantity and composition of health care waste. This study was conducted as an investigative case study, covering three different health care facilities; a hospital, a health center, and a clinic in Monrovia, Montserrado County. The average waste generation was found to be 0-7kg per day at the clinic and health center and 8-15kg per/day at the hospital. The composition of the waste includes hazardous and non-hazardous waste i.e. plastic, papers, sharps, and pathological elements etc. Nevertheless, the investigation showed that the healthcare waste generated by the surveyed healthcare facilities were not properly handled because of insufficient guidelines for separate collection, and classification, and adequate methods for storage and proper disposal of generated wastes. This therefore indicates that there is a need for improvement within the healthcare waste management system to improve the existing situation.

Keywords: disposal, healthcare waste, management, Montserrado County, Monrovia

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Authors: Ming Ma, Zhenyu Cai, Rui Li

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People are more vulnerable to health problems than ever before, such as overweight and obesity due to the change of built environment. In the high-rise buildings, the core-tube layout is closely associated with user’s physical activities which will affect human’s health in a long-term. As for the white-collars who spends the amount of time working in the office tower, using staircase seems to provide an opportunity for them to increase the physical activities in the workplaces. This paper is aiming to find out the specific relationship between health and core-tube in the office tower through analyzing the correlation between staircase’s layout and user’s health. The variables of staircase’s layout are consisted of two indicators: plan layout and space design, including nine factors while health variable is applying BIM as the only main factor. 14 office towers in downtown Shanghai are selected as the research samples because of its typical users’ pattern and similar core-tube layout. In the result, it is obvious that the users from these 14 cases have higher BMI than average partly because that the staircases are mainly designed for emergency and fire instead of daily use. After the regression and correlation analysis of the variables of health and staircases, it’s found that users’ BMI is significantly associated with the factors of floor guide-signs and distance from lobby to the staircase. In addition, the factors of comfort level of staircase such as width and daylighting have a certain correlation with users’ BMI.

Keywords: office tower, staircase, design, obesity, physical activity

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Authors: Abdulaziz Alakeel, Abdulrahman Alomair, Mohammed Fouda

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Introduction: Methotrexate (MTX) is an antimetabolite used to treat multiple conditions, including neoplastic diseases, severe psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Skin cancer is the out-of-control growth of abnormal cells in the epidermis, the outermost skin layer, caused by unrepaired DNA damage that triggers mutations. These mutations lead the skin cells to multiply rapidly and form malignant tumors. The aim of this review is to evaluate the risk of skin cancer associated with the use of methotrexate and to suggest regulatory recommendations if required. Methodology: Signal Detection team at Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) performed a safety review using National Pharmacovigilance Center (NPC) database as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) VigiBase, alongside with literature screening to retrieve related information for assessing the causality between skin cancer and methotrexate. The search conducted in July 2020. Results: Four published articles support the association seen while searching in literature, a recent randomized control trial published in 2020 revealed a statistically significant increase in skin cancer among MTX users. Another study mentioned methotrexate increases the risk of non-melanoma skin cancer when used in combination with immunosuppressant and biologic agents. In addition, the incidence of melanoma for methotrexate users was 3-fold more than the general population in a cohort study of rheumatoid arthritis patients. The last article estimated the risk of cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) in a cohort study shows a statistically significant risk increase for CMM was observed in MTX exposed patients. The WHO database (VigiBase) searched for individual case safety reports (ICSRs) reported for “Skin Cancer” and 'Methotrexate' use, which yielded 121 ICSRs. The initial review revealed that 106 cases are insufficiently documented for proper medical assessment. However, the remaining fifteen cases have extensively evaluated by applying the WHO criteria of causality assessment. As a result, 30 percent of the cases showed that MTX could possibly cause skin cancer; five cases provide unlikely association and five un-assessable cases due to lack of information. The Saudi NPC database searched to retrieve any reported cases for the combined terms methotrexate/skin cancer; however, no local cases reported up to date. The data mining of the observed and the expected reporting rate for drug/adverse drug reaction pair is estimated using information component (IC), a tool developed by the WHO Uppsala Monitoring Centre to measure the reporting ratio. Positive IC reflects higher statistical association, while negative values translated as a less statistical association, considering the null value equal to zero. Results showed that a combination of 'Methotrexate' and 'Skin cancer' observed more than expected when compared to other medications in the WHO database (IC value is 1.2). Conclusion: The weighted cumulative pieces of evidence identified from global cases, data mining, and published literature are sufficient to support a causal association between the risk of skin cancer and methotrexate. Therefore, health care professionals should be aware of this possible risk and may consider monitoring any signs or symptoms of skin cancer in patients treated with methotrexate.

Keywords: methotrexate, skin cancer, signal detection, pharmacovigilance

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Authors: Sophie-Bo Heinkel, Andrea Rechenburg, Thomas Kistemann

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The current status of wellbeing and life satisfaction of subsistence farmers in a wetland in Uganda and the contributing role of place attachment has been assessed. The aim of this study is to shed light on environmental factors supporting wellbeing in a wetland setting. Furthermore, it has been assessed, how the emotional bonding to the wetland as ‘place’ influences the peoples’ wellbeing and life satisfaction. The results shed light on the human-environment-relationship. A survey was carried out in three communities in urban and rural areas in a wetland basin in Uganda. A sample (n=235) provided information about the attachment to the wetland, the participants’ relation to the place of their residence and their emotional wellbeing. The Wellbeing Index (WHO-5) was assessed as well as the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem scale (RSE). Furthermore, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) was applied as well as the Place Attachment Inventory (PAI), which consists of the two intertwined dimensions of place identity and place dependence. Beside this, binary indicators as ‘feeling save’ and ‘feeling comfortable’ and ‘enjoying to live at the place of residence’ have been assessed. A bivariate correlation analysis revealed a high interconnectivity between all metric scales. Especially, the subscale ‘place identity’ showed significances with all other scales. A cluster analysis revealed three groups, which differed in the perception of place-related indicators and their attachment to the wetland as well as the status of wellbeing. First, a cluster whose majority is dissatisfied with their lives, but mainly had a good status of emotional well-being. This group does not feel attached to the wetland and lives in a town. Comparably less persons of this group feel safe and comfortable at their place of residence. In the second cluster, persons feel highly attached to the wetland and identify with it. This group was characterized by the high number of persons preferring their current place of residence and do not consider moving. All persons feel well and satisfied with their lives. The third group of persons is mainly living in rural areas and feels highly attached to the wetland. They are satisfied with their lives, but only a small minority is in a good emotional state of wellbeing. The emotional attachment to a place influences life satisfaction and, indirectly, the emotional wellbeing. In the present study it could be shown that subsistence farmers are attached to the wetland, as it is the source of their livelihood. While those living in areas with a good infrastructure are less dependent on the wetland and, therefore, less attached to. This feeling also was mirrored in the perception of a place as being safe and comfortable. The identification with a place is crucial for the feeling of being at “home”. Subsistence farmers feel attached to the ecosystem, but they also might be exposed to environmental and social stressors influencing their short-term emotional wellbeing. The provision of place identity is an ecosystem service provided by wetlands, which supports the status of wellbeing in human beings.

Keywords: mental health, positive environments, quality of life, wellbeing

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Authors: Jiun-De Lin

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The main purpose of this study was to investigate the empowerment effect of the older people through a structured reminiscence play therapeutic group program in Changhua county of Taiwan. This program was used Taiwanese traditional culture as the main concept based on the topic of reminiscence. In order to assimilate into the process for older people, thematic group activities were easy to operate. During the reminiscence play activities, they would improve their personal control and competence, the same as empowerment. A counselor who acted as a group leader led 10 elderly people participated in this reminiscence group play therapy. The participants of the study were 10 older people consisting of 7 males and 3 females who lived in a rehabilitation center in Changhua county of Taiwan. The participants’ average age was 72.5 years old. The study adopted the methods of survey research and the instruments in this study included subjects’ demographic information and the empowerment inventory for adults. A one-group pretest-posttest design was adopted by researchers to test the study hypothesis. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, and Wilcoxon matched paired signed-ranks test. The main finding of this study was that the reminiscence group play therapy had a significant effect (Z= 2.382, p < .05) to promote the state of empowerment of older people participated in this group play therapy. Based on the conclusion of this study, the suggestions and implications were proposed for the practices and future research.

Keywords: empowerment, group play therapy, older people, reminiscence

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Authors: S. alireza Mirghasemi, Shervin Rashidinia, Mohammadsaleh Sadeghi, Mohsen Talebizadeh, Narges Rahimi Gabaran, S. Shahin Eftekhari, Sara Shahmoradi

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Purpose: There are various pin-in-plaster methods for treating distal radius fractures. This study is meant to introduce a modified technique of pin-in-plaster. Materials and methods: Fifty-four patients with distal radius fractures were followed up for one year. Patients were excluded if they had type B fractures according to AO classification, multiple injuries or pathological fractures, and were treated more than 7 days after injury. Range of motion and functional results were evaluated. Radiographic parameters including radial inclination, tilt, and height, were measured preoperatively and postoperatively. Results: The average radial tilt was 10.6° and radial height was 10.2 mm at the sixth month postoperatively. Three cases of pin tract infection were recorded, who were treated totally with oral antibiotics. There was no case of pin loosening. Of total 73 patients underwent surgery, three cases of radial nerve irritation were recorded at the time of cast removal. All of them resolved at the 6th month follow up. No median nerve compression and carpal tunnel syndrome have found. We also had no case of tendon injury. Conclusion: Our modified technique is effective to restore anatomic congruity and maintain reduction.

Keywords: distal radius fracture, percutaneous pinning, pin-in-plaster, modified method of pin-in-plaster, operative treatment

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Authors: Carmel Khrisna Wong Moreno, Dinah M. Espina

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The increasing price of feed ingredients has prompted farmers to seek feasible feed alternatives like the utilization of locally-grown protein-rich feedstuff which is cheaper but gives a positive result in poultry production. Trichanthera gigantea, a fodder tree which is an excellent alternative as feed ingredient in the Philippines has now gained popularity as feed supplement. This study was conducted to determine the growth and laying performance of commercial hens fed with varying levels of Trichanthera gigantea leaf meal. The incorporation of Trichanthera gigantea leaf meal at 5%, 10%, and 15% into the diet of commercial hens did not affect the growth and laying performance. Results of the study revealed that the weight gain of the birds fed with Trichanthera gigantea supplemented diets was not significantly different with the control (100% commercial layer mash). The voluntary feed intake, feed conversion ratio, weekly average egg weight and egg production of the commercial hens fed with T. gigantea leaf meal supplemented diets were not significantly different from the control. Results of the study showed that the supplementation of Trichanthera gigantea leaf meal of up to 15% into the diets of commercial hens is highly acceptable since it does not affect the growth and laying performance of the birds. In addition, it would mean a 15% savings in production cost from commercial feeds.

Keywords: egg production, growth, laying performance, trichanthera gigantea (nees)

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Authors: Edilene Machado, Carolina Karoly, Amanda Britz, Luciane Salvi, Claudineia Brazil

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Climate teleconnections refer to the climatic relationships between geographically distant regions, where changes in one location can influence weather patterns in another. These connections can occur through atmospheric and oceanic processes, leading to variations in temperature, precipitation, and other climatic elements. Studying teleconnections is crucial for better understanding the mechanisms that govern global climate and the potential consequences of climate change. A notable example of a teleconnection is the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which involves the interaction between the Equatorial Pacific Ocean and the atmosphere. During El Niño episodes, there is anomalous warming of the surface waters in the Equatorial Pacific, resulting in significant changes in global climate patterns. These changes can affect rainfall distribution, wind patterns, and temperatures in different parts of the world. The cold phase of ENSO, known as La Niña, is often associated with reduced precipitation and below-average temperatures in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Therefore, the objective of this research is to identify patterns between El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events in their different phases and dengue transmission. Meteorological data and dengue case records for the city of Porto Alegre, in the southern region of Brazil, were used for the development of this research. The study highlighted that the highest incidence of dengue cases occurred during the cold phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

Keywords: climate patterns, climate teleconnections, climate variability, dengue, El Niño-Southern oscillation

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Authors: Zhiyuan Du, Baisravan Hom Chaudhuri, Pierluigi Pisu

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In connected vehicle systems where wireless communication is available among the involved vehicles and intersection controllers, it is possible to design an intersection coordination strategy that leads the connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) travel through the road intersections without the conventional traffic light control. In this paper, we present a distributed coordination strategy for the CAVs at multiple interconnected intersections that aims at improving system fuel efficiency and system mobility. We present a distributed control solution where in the higher level, the intersection controllers calculate the road desired average velocity and optimally assign reference velocities of each vehicle. In the lower level, every vehicle is considered to use model predictive control (MPC) to track their reference velocity obtained from the higher level controller. The proposed method has been implemented on a simulation-based case with two-interconnected intersection network. Additionally, the effects of mixed vehicle types on the coordination strategy has been explored. Simulation results indicate the improvement on vehicle fuel efficiency and traffic mobility of the proposed method.

Keywords: connected vehicles, automated vehicles, intersection coordination systems, multiple interconnected intersections, model predictive control

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Authors: Pijush Roy, Vinay Kumar Rai

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The present study highlights the estimation of soil loss and identification of critical area for implementation of best management practice is central to the success of soil conservation programme. The quantification of morphometric and Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) factors using remote sensing and GIS for prioritization of micro-watersheds in Asan River catchment, western Doon valley at foothills of Siwalik ranges in the Dehradun districts of Uttarakhand, India. The watershed has classified as a dendritic pattern with sixth order stream. The area is classified into very high, high, moderately high, medium and low susceptibility zones. High to very high erosion zone exists in the urban area and agricultural land. Average annual soil loss of 64 tons/ha/year has been estimated for the watershed. The optimum management practices proposed for micro-watersheds of Asan River basin are; afforestation, contour bunding suitable sites for water harvesting structure as check dam and soil conservation, agronomical measure and bench terrace.

Keywords: erosion susceptibility zones, morphometric characteristics, prioritization, remote sensing and GIS, universal soil loss equation

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Authors: Efe Mary Isike

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The variety of relationships between migrants and host communities is an enduring theme of migration studies. On one extreme, there are numerous examples of hostility towards ‘strangers’ who are either ejected from society or denied access to jobs, housing, education, healthcare and other aspects of normal life. More moderate treatments of those identified as different include expectations of assimilation in which host communities expect socially marginalized groups to conform to norms that they define. Both exclusion and assimilation attempt to manage the problem of difference by removing it. South Africa experienced great influx of African immigrants who worked in mines and farms under harsh and exploitative conditions before and after the institutionalization of apartheid. Although these labour migrants contributed a great deal to the economic development of South Africa, they were not given citizenship status. The formal democratization in 1994 came with dreams and expectations of a more inclusive South Africa, where black South Africans hoped to maximize their potential in a more free, fair and equal society. In the same vein, it also opened spaces for an influx of especially African immigrants into the country which set the stage for a new form of contest for belonging between South African citizens and African migrant settlers. One major manifestation of this contest was the violent xenophobic attacks against African immigrants which predate that of May 2008 and has continued with lower intensity across the country since then. While it is doubtless possible to find abundant evidence of antagonism in the relations between South Africans and African immigrants, the purpose of this study is to investigate the everyday realities of migrants in ordinary places who interact with a variety of people through their livelihood activities, marriages and social relationships, moving around towns and cities, in their residential areas, in faith-based organizations and other elements of everyday life. Rather than assuming all relations are hostile, this study intends to look at the breadth of everyday relationships within a specific context. Based on the foregoing, the main task of this study is to holistically examine and explain the nature of interactions between African migrants and South African citizens by analysing the social network ties that connect them in the specific case of Umhlathuze municipality. It will also investigate the variety of networks that exists between African migrants and South Africans and examine the nature of the linkages in the various networks identified between these two groups in Umhlathuze Municipality. Apart from a review of relevant literature, policies and other official documents, this paper will employ a purposive sample survey and in-depth interview of African immigrants and South Africans within their networks in selected suburbs in KwaZulu-Natal.

Keywords: migration, networks, development, host communities

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Authors: Juliane Spaak

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A life-cycle assessment was performed, looking at seven retrofit projects in New Zealand using LCAQuickV3.5. The study found that retrofits save up to 80% of embodied carbon emissions for the structural elements compared to a new building. In other words, it is only a 20% carbon investment to transform and extend a building’s life. In addition, the systems were evaluated by looking at environmental impacts over the design life of these buildings and resilience using FEMA P58 and PACT software. With the increasing interest in Zero Carbon targets, significant changes in the building and construction sector are required. Emissions for buildings arise from both embodied carbon and operations. Based on the significant advancements in building energy technology, the focus is moving more toward embodied carbon, a large portion of which is associated with the structure. Since older buildings make up most of the real estate stock of our cities around the world, their reuse through structural retrofit and wider refurbishment plays an important role in extending the life of a building’s embodied carbon. New Zealand’s building owners and engineers have learned a lot about seismic issues following a decade of significant earthquakes. Recent earthquakes have brought to light the necessity to move away from constructing code-minimum structures that are designed for life safety but are frequently ‘disposable’ after a moderate earthquake event, especially in relation to a structure’s ability to minimize damage. This means weaker buildings sit as ‘carbon liabilities’, with considerably more carbon likely to be expended remediating damage after a shake. Renovating and retrofitting older assets plays a big part in reducing the carbon profile of the buildings sector, as breathing new life into a building’s structure is vastly more sustainable than the highest quality ‘green’ new builds, which are inherently more carbon-intensive. The demolition of viable older buildings (often including heritage buildings) is increasingly at odds with society’s desire for a lower carbon economy. Bringing seismic resilience and carbon best practice together in decision-making can open the door to commercially attractive outcomes, with retrofits that include structural and sustainability upgrades transforming the asset’s revenue generation. Across the global real estate market, tenants are increasingly demanding the buildings they occupy be resilient and aligned with their own climate targets. The relationship between seismic performance and ‘sustainable design’ has yet to fully mature, yet in a wider context is of profound consequence. A whole-of-life carbon perspective on a building means designing for the likely natural hazards within the asset’s expected lifespan, be that earthquake, storms, damage, bushfires, fires, and so on, ¬with financial mitigation (e.g., insurance) part, but not all, of the picture.

Keywords: retrofit, sustainability, earthquake, reuse, carbon, resilient

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Authors: Rita Rostika, Junianto, Zulfiqar W. Ibrahim, Iskandar, Lantun P. Dewanti

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The purpose of this research is to determine the influence of asparagus bean powder and its most effective administration dose to improve the gonad maturity of nilem carp (Osteochilus hasselti). The research is conducted in October-July 2017 located at Cirata Reservoir and Aquaculture Laboratory, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, Padjadjaran University, Jatinangor. The research employs an experimental method using a Complete Random Design (RAL) with six treatments and three repetitions. The treatments include the addition of asparagus bean powder by 0% (Control), 4% per kg of feed, 5% per kg of feed, 6% per kg of feed, 7% per kg of feed, as well as the addition of vitamin E essential as the control. The results show that the addition of asparagus bean powder to the feed may influence the gonad maturity of nilem carp shown by its Gonado Somatic Index (GSI) parameter, fecundity, egg diameter and egg reaching its maturity phase or GVBD (Germinal Vesicle Breakdown). The best administration dose influencing nilem carp is the addition of asparagus bean powder by 7% per kg of feed with the average GSI of 15.02%, relative fecundity of 137 eggs/g of fish parent weight, egg diameter of 1,263 mm, and egg reaching its maturity phase (GVBD) of 78.15%.

Keywords: asparagus bean powder, nilem carp, gonad maturity, Cirata reservoir

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Authors: Rozhgar A. Khailany, Mehri Igci, Emine Bayraktar, Sakip Erturhan, Metin Karakok, Ahmet Arslan

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Kidney cancer is the most lethal urological cancer accounting for 3% of adult malignancies. VHL, a tumor-suppressor gene, is best known to be associated with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The VHL functions as negative regulator of hypoxia inducible factors. Recent sequencing efforts have identified several novel frequent mutations of histone modifying and chromatin remodeling genes in ccRCC (clear cell RCC) including PBRM1 and SETD2. The PBRM1 gene encodes the BAF180 protein, which involved in transcriptional activation and repression of selected genes. SETD2 encodes a histone methyltransferase, which may play a role in suppressing tumor development. In this study, RNAs of 30 paired tumor and normal samples that were grouped according to the types of kidney cancer and clinical characteristics of patients, including gender and average age were examined by RT-PCR, SSCP and sequencing techniques. VHL, PBRM1 and SETD2 expressions were relatively down-regulated. However, statistically no significance was found (Wilcoxon signed rank test, p > 0.05). Interestingly, no mutation was observed on the contrary of previous studies. Understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of RCC has aided the development of molecular-targeted drugs for kidney cancer. Further analysis is required to identify the responsible genes rather than VHL, PBRM1 and SETD2 in kidney cancer.

Keywords: kidney cancer, molecular biomarker, expression analysis, mutation screening

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Authors: Atoum Abdullah

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The purpose of this research is to determine the extent to which computer animation and narration affect students’ understanding of complex scientific concepts and improve their exam performance, this is compared to traditional lectures that include PowerPoints with texts and static images. A mixed-method design in data collection was used, including quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data was collected using a pre and post-test method and a close-ended questionnaire. Qualitative data was collected through an open-ended questionnaire. A pre and posttest strategy was used to measure the level of students’ understanding with and without the use of animation. The test included multiple-choice questions to test factual knowledge, open-ended questions to test conceptual knowledge, and to label the diagram questions to test application knowledge. The results showed that students on average, performed significantly higher on the posttest as compared to the pretest on all areas of acquired knowledge. However, the increase in the posttest score with respect to the acquisition of conceptual and application knowledge was higher compared to the increase in the posttest score with respect to the acquisition of factual knowledge. This result demonstrates that animation is more beneficial when acquiring deeper, conceptual, and cognitive knowledge than when only factual knowledge is acquired.

Keywords: animation, narration, science, teaching

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Authors: Christopher Baiyegunhi, Oswald Gwavava

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The location/source of the Beattie magnetic anomaly (BMA) and interconnectivity of geologic structures at depth have been a topic of investigation for over 30 years. Up to now, no relationship between geological structures (interconnectivity of dolerite intrusions) at depth has been established. Therefore, the environmental impact of fracking the Karoo for shale gas could not be assessed despite the fact that dolerite dykes are groundwater localizers in the Karoo. In this paper, we shed more light to the unanswered questions concerning the possible location of the source of the BMA, the connectivity of geologic structures like dolerite dykes and sills at depth and this relationship needs to be established before the tectonic evolution of the Karoo basin can be fully understood and related to fracking of the Karoo for shale gas. The result of the magnetic investigation and modelling of four gravity profiles that crosses the BMA in the study area reveals that the anomaly, which is part of the Beattie magnetic anomaly tends to divide into two anomalies and continue to trend in an NE-SW direction, the dominant gravity signatures is of long wavelength that is due to a deep source/interface inland and shallows towards the coast, the average depth to the top of the shallow and deep magnetic sources was estimated to be approximately 0.6 km and 15 km, respectively. The BMA become stronger with depth which could be an indication that the source(s) is deep possibly a buried body in the basement. The bean-shaped anomaly also behaves in a similar manner like the BMA thus it could possibly share the same source(s) with the BMA.

Keywords: Beattie magnetic anomaly, magnetic sources, modelling, Karoo Basin

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Authors: Swapnil Kumar Singh

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Gamma-ray bursts (GRB's), short and intense pulses of low-energy γ rays, have fascinated astronomers and astrophysicists since their unexpected discovery in the late sixties. GRB'sare accompanied by long-lasting afterglows, and they are associated with core-collapse supernovae. The detection of delayed emission in X-ray, optical, and radio wavelength, or "afterglow," following a γ-ray burst can be described as the emission of a relativistic shell decelerating upon collision with the interstellar medium. While it is fair to say that there is strong diversity amongst the afterglow population, probably reflecting diversity in the energy, luminosity, shock efficiency, baryon loading, progenitor properties, circumstellar medium, and more, the afterglows of GRBs do appear more similar than the bursts themselves, and it is possible to identify common features within afterglows that lead to some canonical expectations. After an initial flash of gamma rays, a longer-lived "afterglow" is usually emitted at longer wavelengths (X-ray, ultraviolet, optical, infrared, microwave, and radio). It is a slowly fading emission at longer wavelengths created by collisions between the burst ejecta and interstellar gas. In X-ray wavelengths, the GRB afterglow fades quickly at first, then transitions to a less-steep drop-off (it does other stuff after that, but we'll ignore that for now). During these early phases, the X-ray afterglow has a spectrum that looks like a power law: flux F∝ E^β, where E is energy and beta is some number called the spectral index. This kind of spectrum is characteristic of synchrotron emission, which is produced when charged particles spiral around magnetic field lines at close to the speed of light. In addition to the outgoing forward shock that ploughs into the interstellar medium, there is also a so-called reverse shock, which propagates backward through the ejecta. In many ways," reverse" shock can be misleading; this shock is still moving outward from the restframe of the star at relativistic velocity but is ploughing backward through the ejecta in their frame and is slowing the expansion. This reverse shock can be dynamically important, as it can carry comparable energy to the forward shock. The early phases of the GRB afterglow still provide a good description even if the GRB is highly collimated since the individual emitting regions of the outflow are not in causal contact at large angles and so behave as though they are expanding isotropically. The majority of afterglows, at times typically observed, fall in the slow cooling regime, and the cooling break lies between the optical and the X-ray. Numerous observations support this broad picture for afterglows in the spectral energy distribution of the afterglow of the very bright GRB. The bluer light (optical and X-ray) appears to follow a typical synchrotron forward shock expectation (note that the apparent features in the X-ray and optical spectrum are due to the presence of dust within the host galaxy). We need more research in GRB and Particle Physics in order to unfold the mysteries of afterglow.

Keywords: GRB, synchrotron, X-ray, isotropic energy

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Authors: Jeong Woo Kang, MiYoung Baek, Ki-Suk Kim, Kwang-Jick Lee, ByungJae So

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Introduction: A fast, easy and sensitive detection method was developed and validated by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of marbofloxacin in pig plasma which was further applied to study the pharmacokinetics of marbofloxacin. Materials and Methods: The plasma sample (500 μL) was mixed with 1.5 ml of 0.1% formic acid in MeCN to precipitate plasma proteins. After shaking for 20 min, The mixture was centrifuged at 5,000 × g for 30 min. It was dried under a nitrogen flow at 50℃. 500 μL aliquot of the sample was injected into the LC-MS/MS system. Chromatographic analysis was carried out mobile phase gradient consisting 0.1% formic acid in D.W. (A) and 0.1% formic acid in MeCN (B) with C18 reverse phase column. Mass spectrometry was performed using the positive ion mode and the selected ion monitoring (MRM). Results and Conclusions: The method validation was performed in the sample matrix. Good linearities (R2>0.999) were observed and the quantified average recoveries of marbofloxacin were 87 - 92% at level of 10 ng g-1 -100 ng g-1. The percent of coefficient of variation (CV) for the described method was less than 10 % over the range of concentrations studied. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were 2 and 5 ng g-1, respectively. This method has also been applied successfully to pharmacokinetic analysis of marbofloxacin after intravenous (IV), intramuscular (IM) and oral administration (PO). The mean peak plasma concentration (Cmax) was 2,597 ng g-1at 0.25 h, 2,587 ng g-1at 0.44 h and 2,355 ng g-1at 1.58 h for IV, IM and PO, respectively. The area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC0–t) was 24.8, 29.0 and 25.2 h μg/mL for IV, IM and PO, respectively. The elimination half-life (T1/2) was 8.6, 13.1 and 9.5 for IV, IM and PO, respectively. Bioavailability (F) of the marbofloxacin in pig was 117 and 101 % for IM and PO, respectively. Based on these result, marbofloxacin does not have any obstacles as therapeutics to develop the oral formulations such as tablets and capsules.

Keywords: marbofloxacin, LC-MS/MS, pharmacokinetics, chromatographic

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Authors: Bircan Demiral

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Cognitive radio (CR) is the promising technology that addresses the spectrum scarcity problem for future wireless communications. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology provides more power band ratios for cognitive radio networks (CRNs). While CR is a solution to the spectrum scarcity, it also brings up the capacity problem. In this paper, a novel power allocation algorithm that aims at maximizing the sum capacity in the OFDM based cognitive radio networks is proposed. Proposed allocation algorithm is based on the previously developed water-filling algorithm. To reduce the computational complexity calculating in water filling algorithm, proposed algorithm allocates the total power according to each subcarrier. The power allocated to the subcarriers increases sum capacity. To see this increase, Matlab program was used, and the proposed power allocation was compared with average power allocation, water filling and general power allocation algorithms. The water filling algorithm performed worse than the proposed algorithm while it performed better than the other two algorithms. The proposed algorithm is better than other algorithms in terms of capacity increase. In addition the effect of the change in the number of subcarriers on capacity was discussed. Simulation results show that the increase in the number of subcarrier increases the capacity.

Keywords: cognitive radio network, OFDM, power allocation, water filling

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Authors: Taehyun Kim

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As a result of rapid urbanization, energy demands for lighting, heating and cooling of households have been concentrated in metropolitan areas. The energy resources for housing in urban areas are dominantly fossil fuel whose uses contribute to increase cost of living and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission. To achieve environmentally and economically sustainable residential development, it is important to know how energy use and cost of living can be reduced by planning and design. The purpose of this study is to examine which type of building requires less energy for housing. To do so, carbon footprint (CF) quiz survey was employed which estimates the amount of carbon dioxide required to support households’ consumption of energy uses for housing. The housing carbon footprints (HCF) of 500 households of Seoul, Korea in summer and winter were estimated and compared in three major types of housing: single-family (detached), row-house and apartment. In addition, its differences of HCF were estimated between tower and flat type of apartment. The results of T-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) provide statistical evidence that housing type is related to housing energy use. Average HCF of detached house was higher than other housing types. Between two types of apartment, tower type shows higher HCF than flat type in winter. These findings may provide new perspectives on CF application in sustainable architecture and urban design.

Keywords: analysis of variance, carbon footprint, energy use, housing type

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Authors: Kshanaprava Dhalsamant, Punyadarshini P. Tripathy, Shanker L. Shrivastava

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With present high global population, the need for rising food usage by minimizing food wastage and investment is highly necessary to achieve food security. The purpose of this study is to enlighten the effect of pre-drying treatment on rehydration, color, texture, nanohardness, microstructure and surface morphology of solar dried potato samples dried in the mixed-mode solar dryer. Locally bought potatoes were cleaned and cut into cylindrical pieces and pretreated with sodium metabisulfite (0.5%) for 10 min before placing them in natural convection solar dryer designed and developed in Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India. Advanced quality characteristics were studied using Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and nanoindentation method, along with color, texture and water activity. The rehydration indices of solar dried potatoes were significantly biased by pretreatment followed by rehydration temperature. A lower redness index (a*) with a higher value of yellowness index (b*), chroma (C*) and hue angle (h*) were obtained for pretreated samples. Also, the average nanohardness (H) of untreated samples exhibited substantial lower value (18.46%) compared to pretreated samples. Additionally, a creep displacement of 43.27 nm during 20 s dwell time under constant load of 200

Keywords: pretreatment, nanohardness, microstructure, surface morphology

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Authors: Lam Hong Lan

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The textile industry is said to be the second-largest polluter, responsible for 92 million tonnes of waste annually. There is an urgent need to practice the circular economy to increase the use and reuse around the world. By its nature, the pre-owned fashion business is considered part of the circular economy as it helps to eliminate waste and circulate products. Second-hand clothes and accessories used to be associated with a ‘cheap image’ that carried ‘old energy’ in Vietnam. This perception has been shifted, especially amongst the younger generation. Vietnamese consumer is spending more on products and services that increase self-esteem. The same consumer is moving away from a collectivist social identity towards a ‘me, not we’ outlook as they look for a way to express their individual identity. And pre-owned fashion is one of their solutions as it values money, can create a unique personal style for the wearer and links with sustainability. The design of this study is based on the second-hand shopping motivation theory. A semi-structured online survey with 100 consumers from one pre-owned clothing community and one pre-owned e-commerce site in Vietnam. The findings show that in contrast with Vietnamese older consumers (55+yo) who, in the previous study, generally associated pre-owned fashion with ‘low-cost’, ‘cheap image’ that carried ‘old energy’, young customers (20-30 yo) were actively promoted their pre-owned fashion items to the public via outlet’s social platforms and their social media. This cultural shift comes from the impact of global and local discourse around sustainable fashion and the growth of digital platforms in the pre-owned fashion business in the last five years, which has generally supported wider interest in pre-owned fashion in Vietnam. It can be summarised in three areas: (1) global and local celebrity influencers. A number of celebrities have been photographed wearing vintage items in music videos, photoshoots or at red carpet events. (2) E-commerce and intermediaries. International e-commerce sites – e.g., Vinted, TheRealReal – and/or local apps – e.g., Re.Loved – can influence attitudes and behaviors towards pre-owned consumption. (3) Eco-awareness. The increased online coverage of climate change and environmental pollution has encouraged customers to adopt a more eco-friendly approach to their wardrobes. While sustainable biomaterials and designs are still navigating their way into sustainability, sustainable consumerism via pre-owned fashion seems to be an immediate solution to lengthen the clothes lifecycle. This study has found that young consumers are primarily seeking value for money and/or a unique personal style from pre-owned/vintage fashion while using these purchases to promote their own “eco-awareness” via their social media networks. This is a good indication for fashion designers to keep in mind in their design process and for fashion enterprises in their business model’s choice to not overproduce fashion items.

Keywords: cultural shift, pre-owned fashion, sustainable consumption, sustainable fashion.

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Authors: Tohid Eskandarzadeh, Nader Bahlouli, Turaj Behnam, Azra Jafarzadeh

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The purpose of the study reported in this paper was to propose an optimal pattern to evaluate the staff management performance of the water and sewage organization. The performance prism-model was used to evaluate the following significant dimensions of performance: organizational strategies, organizational processes, organization capabilities, stakeholders’ partnership and satisfaction. In the present study, a standard, valid and reliable questionnaire was used to obtain data about the five dimensions of the performance prism model. 169 sample respondents were used for responding the questionnaire who were selected from the staff of water and waste-water organization in western Azerbaijan, Iran. Also, Alpha coefficient was used to check the reliability of the data-collection instrument which was measured to be beyond 0.7. The obtained data were statistically analyzed by means of SPSS version 18. The results obtained from the data analysis indicated that the performance of the staff management of the water and waste-water organization in western Azerbaijan was acceptable in terms of organizational strategies, organizational process, stakeholders’ partnership and satisfaction. Nevertheless, it was found that the performance of the staff management with respect to organizational abilities was average. Indeed, the researchers drew the conclusion that the current performance of the staff management in this organization in western Azerbaijan was less than ideal performance.

Keywords: performance evaluation, performance prism model, water, waste-water organization

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Authors: Sabir Hussain, Mujtaba Hassan, Kashif Rasool, Asif Shahzad

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Fine particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) was collected in Islamabad from November 2022 to January 2023, at urban sites. The average mass concentrations of PM2.5 varied, ranging from 90.5 to 133 μg m−3 in urban areas. Environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) analysis revealed that Islamabad's PM2.5 comprised soot aggregates, ashes, minerals, bio-particles, and unidentified particles. Results from inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) indicated a gradual increase in total elemental concentrations in Islamabad PM2.5 in winter, with relatively high levels in December. Significantly different elemental compositions were observed in urban PM2.5. Enrichment factor (EF) analysis suggested that elements such as K, Na, Ca, Mg, Al, Fe, Ba, and Sr were of natural origin, while As, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Mn, Ni, and Se originated from anthropogenic sources. Plasmid DNA assays demonstrated varying levels of potential toxicity in Islamabad PM2.5 collected from urban sites, as well as across different seasons. Notably, the urban winter PM2.5 sample exhibited much stronger toxicity compared to other samples. The presence of heavy metals in Islamabad PM2.5, including Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Cr, Mn, and Ni, may have synergistic effects on human health.

Keywords: islamabad particulate matter pm2.5, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy(sem-eds), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(ftir), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy(icp-oes)

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Authors: Vladimir Siska, Lukas Kober

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Introduction: The research deals with the work satisfaction of nurses working in healthcare institutions in the Slovak Republic, and factors influencing it. Employers should create working conditions that are consonant with the requirements of their employees and make the most of motivation strategies to help them answer to the employess' needs in concordance with various needs and motivation process theories. Methodology: In our research, we aimed to investigate the level of work satisfaction in nurses by carrying out a quantitative analysis using the standardized McCloskey/Mueller Satisfaction scale questionnaire. We used the descriptive positioning characteristics (average, median and variability, standard deviation, minimum and maximum) to process the collected data and, to verify our hypotheses; we employed the double-selection Student T-test, Mann-Whitney U test, and a one-way analysis of variance (One-way ANOVA). Results: Nurses´satisfaction with external rewards is influenced by their age, years of experience, and level of completed education, with all of the abovementioned factors also impacting on the nurses' satisfaction with their work schedule. The type of founding authority of the healthcare institution also constitutes an influence on the nurses' satisfaction concerning relationships in the workplace. Conclusion: The feelling of work dissatisfaction can influence employees in many ways, e.g., it can take the form of burn-out syndrome, absenteeism, or increased fluctuation. Therefore, it is important to pay increased attention to all employees of an organisation, regardless of their position.

Keywords: motivation, nurse, work satisfaction, McCloskey/Mueller satisfaction scale

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