Search results for: radial installation limit error

Authors: Beatriz González-rodrigo, Diego Hidalgo-leiva, Omar Flores, Claudia Germoso, Maribel Jiménez-martínez, Laura Navas-sánchez, Belén Orta, Nicola Tarque, Orlando Hernández- Rubio, Miguel Marchamalo, Juan Gregorio Rejas, Belén Benito-oterino

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Cities facing seismic hazard necessitate detailed risk assessments for effective urban planning and vulnerability identification, ensuring the safety and sustainability of urban infrastructure. Comprehensive studies involving seismic hazard, vulnerability, and exposure evaluations are pivotal for estimating potential losses and guiding proactive measures against seismic events. However, broad-scale traditional risk studies limit consideration of specific local threats and identify vulnerable housing within a structural typology. Achieving precise results at neighbourhood levels demands higher resolution seismic hazard exposure, and vulnerability studies. This research aims to bolster sustainability and safety against seismic disasters in three Central American and Caribbean capitals. It integrates geospatial techniques and artificial intelligence into seismic risk studies, proposing cost-effective methods for exposure data collection and damage prediction. The methodology relies on prior seismic threat studies in pilot zones, utilizing existing exposure and vulnerability data in the region. Emphasizing detailed building attributes enables the consideration of behaviour modifiers affecting seismic response. The approach aims to generate detailed risk scenarios, facilitating prioritization of preventive actions pre-, during, and post-seismic events, enhancing decision-making certainty. Detailed risk scenarios necessitate substantial investment in fieldwork, training, research, and methodology development. Regional cooperation becomes crucial given similar seismic threats, urban planning, and construction systems among involved countries. The outcomes hold significance for emergency planning and national and regional construction regulations. The success of this methodology depends on cooperation, investment, and innovative approaches, offering insights and lessons applicable to regions facing moderate seismic threats with vulnerable constructions. Thus, this framework aims to fortify resilience in seismic-prone areas and serves as a reference for global urban planning and disaster management strategies. In conclusion, this research proposes a comprehensive framework for seismic risk assessment in high-risk urban areas, emphasizing detailed studies at finer resolutions for precise vulnerability evaluations. The approach integrates regional cooperation, geospatial technologies, and adaptive fragility curve adjustments to enhance risk assessment accuracy, guiding effective mitigation strategies and emergency management plans.

Keywords: assessment, behaviour modifiers, emergency management, mitigation strategies, resilience, vulnerability

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Authors: Sami Alanazi

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Teamwork practices have been recognized as a significant strategy to improve patient safety, quality of care, and staff and patient satisfaction in healthcare settings, particularly within the emergency department (ED). The EDs depend heavily on teams of interdisciplinary healthcare staff to carry out their operational goals and core business of providing care to the serious illness and injured. The ED is also recognized as a high-risk area in relation to service demand and the potential for human error. Few studies have considered the perceptions and experiences of the ED staff (physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, and administration staff) about the practice of teamwork, especially in Saudi Arabia (SA), and no studies have been conducted to explore the practices of teamwork in the EDs. Aim: To explore the practices of teamwork from the perspectives and experiences of staff (physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, and administration staff) when interacting with each other in the admission areas in the ED of a public hospital in the Northern Border region of SA. Method: A qualitative case study design was utilized, drawing on two methods for the data collection, comprising of semi-structured interviews (n=22) with physicians (6), nurses (10), allied health professionals (3), and administrative members (3) working in the ED of a hospital in the Northern Border region of SA. The second method is non-participant direct observation. All data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings: The main themes that emerged from the analysis were as follows: the meaningful of teamwork, reasons of teamwork, the ED environmental factors, the organizational factors, the value of communication, leadership, teamwork skills in the ED, team members' behaviors, multicultural teamwork, and patients and families behaviors theme. Discussion: Working in the ED environment played a major role in affecting work performance as well as team dynamics. However, Communication, time management, fast-paced performance, multitasking, motivation, leadership, and stress management were highlighted by the participants as fundamental skills that have a major impact on team members and patients in the ED. It was found that the behaviors of the team members impacted the team dynamics as well as ED health services. Behaviors such as disputes among team members, conflict, cooperation, uncooperative members, neglect, and emotions of the members. Besides that, the behaviors of the patients and their accompanies had a direct impact on the team and the quality of the services. In addition, the differences in the cultures have separated the team members and created undesirable gaps such the gender segregation, national origin discrimination, and similarity and different in interests. Conclusion: Effective teamwork, in the context of the emergency department, was recognized as an essential element to obtain the quality of care as well as improve staff satisfaction.

Keywords: teamwork, barrier, facilitator, emergencydepartment

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Authors: Maciej Szeląg

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The changing nature of environmental impacts, in which cement composites are operating, are causing in the structure of the material a number of phenomena, which result in volume deformation of the composite. These strains can cause composite cracking. Cracks are merging by propagation or intersect to form a characteristic structure of cracks known as the cluster cracks. This characteristic mesh of cracks is crucial to almost all building materials, which are working in service loads conditions. Particularly dangerous for a cement matrix is a sudden load of elevated temperature – the thermal shock. Resulting in a relatively short period of time a large value of a temperature gradient between the outer surface and the material’s interior can result in cracks formation on the surface and in the volume of the material. In the paper, in order to analyze the geometry of the cluster cracks of the cement pastes, the image analysis tools were used. Tested were 4 series of specimens made of two different Portland cement. In addition, two series include microsilica as a substitute for the 10% of the cement. Within each series, specimens were performed in three w/b indicators (water/binder): 0.4; 0.5; 0.6. The cluster cracks were created by sudden loading the samples by elevated temperature of 250°C. Images of the cracked surfaces were obtained via scanning at 2400 DPI. Digital processing and measurements were performed using ImageJ v. 1.46r software. To describe the structure of the cluster cracks three stereological parameters were proposed: the average cluster area - A ̅, the average length of cluster perimeter - L ̅, and the average opening width of a crack between clusters - I ̅. The aim of the study was to identify and evaluate the relationships between measured stereological parameters, and the compressive strength and the bulk density of the modified cement pastes. The tests of the mechanical and physical feature have been carried out in accordance with EN standards. The curves describing the relationships have been developed using the least squares method, and the quality of the curve fitting to the empirical data was evaluated using three diagnostic statistics: the coefficient of determination – R2, the standard error of estimation - Se, and the coefficient of random variation – W. The use of image analysis allowed for a quantitative description of the cluster cracks’ geometry. Based on the obtained results, it was found a strong correlation between the A ̅ and L ̅ – reflecting the fractal nature of the cluster cracks formation process. It was noted that the compressive strength and the bulk density of cement pastes decrease with an increase in the values of the stereological parameters. It was also found that the main factors, which impact on the cluster cracks’ geometry are the cement particles’ size and the general content of the binder in a volume of the material. The microsilica caused the reduction in the A ̅, L ̅ and I ̅ values compared to the values obtained by the classical cement paste’s samples, which is caused by the pozzolanic properties of the microsilica.

Keywords: cement paste, cluster cracks, elevated temperature, image analysis, microsilica, stereological parameters

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Authors: Akbar Gharbali, Ali Abbasian Ardekani, Afshin Mohammadi

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Introduction: Thyroid nodules have an incidence of 33-68% in the general population. More than 5-15% of these nodules are malignant. Early detection and treatment of thyroid nodules increase the cure rate and provide optimal treatment. Between the medical imaging methods, Ultrasound is the chosen imaging technique for assessment of thyroid nodules. The confirming of the diagnosis usually demands repeated fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB). So, current management has morbidity and non-zero mortality. Objective: To explore diagnostic potential of automatic texture analysis (TA) methods in differentiation benign and malignant thyroid nodules by ultrasound imaging in order to help for reliable diagnosis and monitoring of the thyroid nodules in their early stages with no need biopsy. Material and Methods: The thyroid US image database consists of 70 patients (26 benign and 44 malignant) which were reported by Radiologist and proven by the biopsy. Two slices per patient were loaded in Mazda Software version 4.6 for automatic texture analysis. Regions of interests (ROIs) were defined within the abnormal part of the thyroid nodules ultrasound images. Gray levels within an ROI normalized according to three normalization schemes: N1: default or original gray levels, N2: +/- 3 Sigma or dynamic intensity limited to µ+/- 3σ, and N3: present intensity limited to 1% - 99%. Up to 270 multiscale texture features parameters per ROIs per each normalization schemes were computed from well-known statistical methods employed in Mazda software. From the statistical point of view, all calculated texture features parameters are not useful for texture analysis. So, the features based on maximum Fisher coefficient and the minimum probability of classification error and average correlation coefficients (POE+ACC) eliminated to 10 best and most effective features per normalization schemes. We analyze this feature under two standardization states (standard (S) and non-standard (NS)) with Principle Component Analysis (PCA), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and Non-Linear Discriminant Analysis (NDA). The 1NN classifier was performed to distinguish between benign and malignant tumors. The confusion matrix and Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were used for the formulation of more reliable criteria of the performance of employed texture analysis methods. Results: The results demonstrated the influence of the normalization schemes and reduction methods on the effectiveness of the obtained features as a descriptor on discrimination power and classification results. The selected subset features under 1%-99% normalization, POE+ACC reduction and NDA texture analysis yielded a high discrimination performance with the area under the ROC curve (Az) of 0.9722, in distinguishing Benign from Malignant Thyroid Nodules which correspond to sensitivity of 94.45%, specificity of 100%, and accuracy of 97.14%. Conclusions: Our results indicate computer-aided diagnosis is a reliable method, and can provide useful information to help radiologists in the detection and classification of benign and malignant thyroid nodules.

Keywords: ultrasound imaging, thyroid nodules, computer aided diagnosis, texture analysis, PCA, LDA, NDA

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Authors: Ana L. Sánchez Regla, Igor A. Rivera González, María del Pilar Monserrat Pérez Hernández

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The ability of an organization to identify and get useful information from external sources, assimilate it, transform and apply to generate products or services with added value is called absorptive capacity. Absorptive capabilities contribute to have market opportunities to firms and get a leader position with respect to others competitors. The Bioprocess Development and Research Unit (UDIBI) is a Research and Development (R&D) laboratory that belongs to the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), which is a higher education institute in Mexico. The UDIBI was created with the purpose of carrying out R and D activities for the Transferon®, a biopharmaceutical product developed and patented by IPN. The evolution of competence and scientific and technological platform made UDIBI expand its scope by providing technological services (preclínical studies and bio-compatibility evaluation) to the national pharmaceutical industry and biopharmaceutical industry. The relevance of this study is that those industries are classified as high scientific and technological intensity, and yet, after a review of the state of the art, there is only one study of absorption capabilities in biopharmaceutical industry with a similar scope to this research; in the case of Mexico, there is none. In addition to this, UDIBI belongs to a public university and its operation does not depend on the federal budget, but on the income generated by its external technological services. This fact represents a highly remarkable case in Mexico's public higher education context. This current doctoral research (2015-2019) is contextualized within a case study, its main objective is to identify and analyze the absorptive capabilities that characterise the UDIBI that allows it had become in a one of two third authorized laboratory by the sanitary authority in Mexico for developed bio-comparability studies to bio-pharmaceutical products. The development of this work in the field is divided into two phases. In a first phase, 15 interviews were conducted with the UDIBI personnel, covering management levels, heads of services, project leaders and laboratory personnel. These interviews were structured under a questionnaire, which was designed to integrate open questions and to a lesser extent, others, whose answers would be answered on a Likert-type rating scale. From the information obtained in this phase, a scientific article was made (in review and a proposal of presentation was submitted in different academic forums. A second stage will be made from the conduct of an ethnographic study within this organization under study that will last about 3 months. On the other hand, it is intended to carry out interviews with external actors around the UDIBI (suppliers, advisors, IPN officials, including contact with an academic specialized in absorption capacities to express their comments on this thesis. The inicial findings had shown two lines: i) exist institutional, technological and organizational management elements that encourage and/or limit the creation of absorption capacities in this scientific and technological laboratory and, ii) UDIBI has had created a set of multiple transfer technology of knowledge mechanisms which have had permitted to build a huge base of prior knowledge.

Keywords: absorptive capabilities, biopharmaceutical industry, high research and development intensity industries, knowledge management, transfer of knowledge

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Authors: Azza Zagouani

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Introduction: In the work of William Faulkner, characters often evade the boundaries and categories of patriarchal standards of order. Female characters like Lena Grove and Joanna Burden cross thresholds in attempts to gain liberation, while others fail to do so. They stand as non-conformists and refuse established patterns of feminine behavior, such as marriage and motherhood after. They refute submissiveness, domesticity and abstinence to reshape their own identities. The presence of independent and creative women represents new, unconventional images of female subjectivity. This paper will examine the structures of submission and oppression faced by Lena and Joanna, and will show how, in the end, they reshape themselves and their identities, and disrupt or even destroy patriarchal structures. Objectives: Participants will understand through the examples of Lena Grove and Joanna Burden that female subjectivities are constructions, and are constantly subject to change. Approaches: Two approaches will be used in the analysis of the subjectivity formation of Lena Grove and Joanna Burden. Following the arguments propounded by Judith Butler, We explore the ways in which Lena Grove maneuvers around the restrictions and the limitations imposed on her without any physical or psychological violence. She does this by properly performing the roles prescribed to her gendered body. Her repetitious performances of these roles are both the ones that are constructed to confine women and the vehicle for her travel. Her performance parodies the prescriptive roles and thereby reveals that they are cultural constructions. Second, We will explore the argument propounded by Kristeva that subjectivity is always in a state of development because we are always changing in context with changing circumstances. For example, in Light in August, Lena Grove changes the way she defines herself in light of the events of the novel. Also, Kristeva talks about stages of development: the semiotic stage and the symbolic stage. In Light in August, Joanna shows different levels of subjectivity as time passes. Early in the novel, Joanna is very connected to her upbringing. This suggests Kristeva’s concept of the semiotic, in which the daughter identifies closely to her parents. Kristeva relates the semiotic to a strong daughter/mother connection, but in the novel it is strong daughter/father/grandfather identification instead. Then as Joanna becomes sexually involved with Joe, she breaks off, and seems to go into an identity crisis. To me, this represents Kristeva’s move from the semiotic to the symbolic. When Joanna returns to a religious fanaticism, she is returning to a semiotic state. Detailed outline: At the outset of this paper, We will investigate the subjugation of women: social constraints, and the formation of the feminine identity in Light in August. Then, through the examples of Lena Grove’s attempt to cross the boundaries of community moralities and Joanna Burden’s refusal to submit to the standards of submissiveness, domesticity, and obstinance, We will reveal the tension between progressive conceptions of individual freedom and social constraints that limit this freedom. In the second part of the paper, We will underscore the rhetoric of femininity in Light in August: subjugation through naming. The implications of both female’s names offer a powerful contrast between the two different forms of subjectivity. Conclusion: Through Faulkner’s novel, We demonstrate that female subjectivity is an open-ended issue. The spiral shaping of its form maintains its characteristics as a process changing according to different circumstances.

Keywords: female subjectivity, Faulkner’s light August, gender, sexuality, diversity

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Authors: Stephen L. Green, Alexander N. Gorban, Ivan Y. Tyukin

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Within the past decade, using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN)’s to create Deep Learning systems capable of translating Sign Language into text has been a breakthrough in breaking the communication barrier for deaf-mute people. Conventional research on this subject has been concerned with training the network to recognize the fingerspelling gestures of a given language and produce their corresponding alphanumerics. One of the problems with the current developing technology is that images are scarce, with little variations in the gestures being presented to the recognition program, often skewed towards single skin tones and hand sizes that makes a percentage of the population’s fingerspelling harder to detect. Along with this, current gesture detection programs are only trained on one finger spelling language despite there being one hundred and forty-two known variants so far. All of this presents a limitation for traditional exploitation for the state of current technologies such as CNN’s, due to their large number of required parameters. This work aims to present a technology that aims to resolve this issue by combining a pretrained legacy AI system for a generic object recognition task with a corrector method to uptrain the legacy network. This is a computationally efficient procedure that does not require large volumes of data even when covering a broad range of sign languages such as American Sign Language, British Sign Language and Chinese Sign Language (Pinyin). Implementing recent results on method concentration, namely the stochastic separation theorem, an AI system is supposed as an operate mapping an input present in the set of images u ∈ U to an output that exists in a set of predicted class labels q ∈ Q of the alphanumeric that q represents and the language it comes from. These inputs and outputs, along with the interval variables z ∈ Z represent the system’s current state which implies a mapping that assigns an element x ∈ ℝⁿ to the triple (u, z, q). As all xi are i.i.d vectors drawn from a product mean distribution, over a period of time the AI generates a large set of measurements xi called S that are grouped into two categories: the correct predictions M and the incorrect predictions Y. Once the network has made its predictions, a corrector can then be applied through centering S and Y by subtracting their means. The data is then regularized by applying the Kaiser rule to the resulting eigenmatrix and then whitened before being split into pairwise, positively correlated clusters. Each of these clusters produces a unique hyperplane and if any element x falls outside the region bounded by these lines then it is reported as an error. As a result of this methodology, a self-correcting recognition process is created that can identify fingerspelling from a variety of sign language and successfully identify the corresponding alphanumeric and what language the gesture originates from which no other neural network has been able to replicate.

Keywords: convolutional neural networks, deep learning, shallow correctors, sign language

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Authors: Loyd R. Hook, Maryam Moharek

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With the envisioned future growth of low altitude urban aircraft operations for airborne delivery service and advanced air mobility, strategies to coordinate and deconflict aircraft flight paths must be prioritized. Autonomous coordination and planning of flight trajectories is the preferred approach to the future vision in order to increase safety, density, and efficiency over manual methods employed today. Difficulties arise because any conflict resolution must be constrained by all other aircraft, all airspace restrictions, and all ground-based obstacles in the vicinity. These considerations make pair-wise tactical deconfliction difficult at best and unlikely to find a suitable solution for the entire system of vehicles. In addition, more traditional methods which rely on long time scales and large protected zones will artificially limit vehicle density and drastically decrease efficiency. Instead, strategic planning, which is able to respond to highly dynamic conditions and still account for high density operations, will be required to coordinate multiple vehicles in the highly constrained low altitude urban environment. This paper develops and evaluates such a planning algorithm which can be implemented autonomously across multiple aircraft and situations. Data from this evaluation provide promising results with simulations showing up to 10 aircraft deconflicted through a relatively narrow low-altitude urban canyon without any vehicle to vehicle or obstacle conflict. The algorithm achieves this level of coordination beginning with the assumption that each vehicle is controlled to follow an independently constructed flight path, which is itself free of obstacle conflict and restricted airspace. Then, by preferencing speed change deconfliction maneuvers constrained by the vehicles flight envelope, vehicles can remain as close to the original planned path and prevent cascading vehicle to vehicle conflicts. Performing the search for a set of commands which can simultaneously ensure separation for each pair-wise aircraft interaction and optimize the total velocities of all the aircraft is further complicated by the fact that each aircraft's flight plan could contain multiple segments. This means that relative velocities will change when any aircraft achieves a waypoint and changes course. Additionally, the timing of when that aircraft will achieve a waypoint (or, more directly, the order upon which all of the aircraft will achieve their respective waypoints) will change with the commanded speed. Put all together, the continuous relative velocity of each vehicle pair and the discretized change in relative velocity at waypoints resembles a hybrid reachability problem - a form of control reachability. This paper proposes two methods for finding solutions to these multi-body problems. First, an analytical formulation of the continuous problem is developed with an exhaustive search of the combined state space. However, because of computational complexity, this technique is only computable for pairwise interactions. For more complicated scenarios, including the proposed 10 vehicle example, a discretized search space is used, and a depth-first search with early stopping is employed to find the first solution that solves the constraints.

Keywords: strategic planning, autonomous, aircraft, deconfliction

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Authors: Peggy M. Randon, Lisa Randon

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Introduction: The post-COVID-19 era has presented unique challenges for addressing complex mental health issues, particularly due to exacerbated stress, increased social isolation, and disrupted continuity of care. This article outlines relevant health disparities and policy implications within the context of the United States while maintaining international relevance. Methods: A comprehensive literature review (including studies, reports, and policy documents) was conducted to examine concerns related to childhood-onset schizophrenia and the impact on patients and their families. Qualitative and quantitative data were synthesized to provide insights into the complex etiology of schizophrenia, the effects of the pandemic, and the challenges faced by socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. Case studies were employed to illustrate real-world examples and areas requiring policy reform. Results: Early intervention in childhood is crucial for preventing or mitigating the long-term impact of complex psychotic disorders, particularly schizophrenia. A comprehensive understanding of the genetic, environmental, and physiological factors contributing to the development of schizophrenia is essential. The COVID-19 pandemic worsened symptoms and disrupted treatment for many adolescent patients with schizophrenia, emphasizing the need for adaptive interventions and the utilization of virtual platforms. Health disparities, including stigma, financial constraints, and language or cultural barriers, further limit access to care, especially for socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. Policy implications: Current US health policies inadequately support patients with schizophrenia. The limited availability of longitudinal care, insufficient resources for families, and stigmatization represent ongoing policy challenges. Addressing these issues necessitates increased research funding, improved access to affordable treatment plans, and cultural competency training for healthcare providers. Public awareness campaigns are crucial to promote knowledge, awareness, and acceptance of mental health disorders. Conclusion: The unique challenges faced by children and families in the US affected by schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders have yet to be adequately addressed on institutional and systemic levels. The relevance of findings to an international audience is emphasized by examining the complex factors contributing to the onset of psychotic disorders and their global policy implications. The broad impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health underscores the need for adaptive interventions and global responses. Addressing policy challenges, improving access to care, and reducing the stigma associated with mental health disorders are crucial steps toward enhancing the lives of adolescents and young adults with schizophrenia and their family members. The implementation of virtual platforms can help overcome barriers and ensure equitable access to support and resources for all patients, enabling them to lead healthy and fulfilling lives.

Keywords: childhood, schizophrenia, policy, United, States, health, disparities

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Authors: Julia A. Ermakova

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In today's multicultural societies, dialogue, self-respect, and cultural etiquette play a vital role in fostering mutual respect and understanding. Whether viewed from an Islamic or secular perspective, the importance of these values cannot be overstated. Firstly, dialogue is essential in multicultural societies as it allows individuals from different cultural backgrounds to exchange ideas, opinions, and experiences. To engage in dialogue, one must be open and willing to listen, understand, and respect the views of others. This requires a level of self-awareness, where individuals must know themselves and their interlocutors to create a productive and respectful conversation. Secondly, self-respect is crucial for individuals living in multicultural societies (McLarney). One must have adequately high self-esteem and self-confidence to interact with others positively. By valuing oneself, individuals can create healthy relationships and foster mutual respect, which is essential in diverse communities. Thirdly, cultural etiquette is a way of demonstrating the beauty of one's culture by exhibiting good temperament (Al-Ghazali). Adab, a concept that encompasses good manners, praiseworthy words and deeds, and the pursuit of what is considered good, is highly valued in Islamic teachings. By adhering to Adab, individuals can guard against making mistakes and demonstrate respect for others. Islamic teachings provide etiquette for every situation in life, making up the way of life for Muslims. In the Islamic view, an elegant Muslim woman has several essential qualities, including cultural speech and erudition, speaking style, awareness of how to greet, the ability to receive compliments, lack of desire to argue, polite behavior, avoiding personal insults, and having good intentions (Al-Ghazali). The Quran highlights the inclination of people towards arguing, bickering, and disputes (Qur'an, 4:114). Therefore, it is imperative to avoid useless arguments and disputes, for they are poison that poisons our lives. The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, warned that the most hateful person to Allah is an irreconcilable disputant (Al-Ghazali). By refraining from such behavior, individuals can foster respect and understanding in multicultural societies. From a secular perspective, respecting the views of others is crucial to engage in productive dialogue. The rule of argument emphasizes the importance of showing respect for the other person's views, allowing for the possibility of error on one's part, and avoiding telling someone they are wrong (Atamali). By exhibiting polite behavior and having respect for everyone, individuals can create a welcoming environment and avoid conflict. In conclusion, the importance of dialogue, self-respect, and cultural etiquette in multicultural societies cannot be overstated. By engaging in dialogue, respecting oneself and others, and adhering to cultural etiquette, individuals can foster mutual respect and understanding in diverse communities. Whether viewed from an Islamic or secular perspective, these values are essential for creating harmonious societies.

Keywords: multiculturalism, self-respect, cultural etiquette, adab, ethics, secular perspective

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Authors: Katerina Krizova, Inigo Molina

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The ongoing climate change affects various natural processes resulting in significant changes in human life. Since there is still a growing human population on the planet with more or less limited resources, agricultural production became an issue and a satisfactory amount of food has to be reassured. To achieve this, agriculture is being studied in a very wide context. The main aim here is to increase primary production on a spatial unit while consuming as low amounts of resources as possible. In Europe, nowadays, the staple issue comes from significantly changing the spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation. Recent growing seasons have been considerably affected by long drought periods that have led to quantitative as well as qualitative yield losses. To cope with such kind of conditions, new techniques and technologies are being implemented in current practices. However, behind assessing the right management, there is always a set of the necessary information about plot properties that need to be acquired. Remotely sensed data had gained attention in recent decades since they provide spatial information about the studied surface based on its spectral behavior. A number of space platforms have been launched carrying various types of sensors. Spectral indices based on calculations with reflectance in visible and NIR bands are nowadays quite commonly used to describe the crop status. However, there is still the staple limit by this kind of data - cloudiness. Relatively frequent revisit of modern satellites cannot be fully utilized since the information is hidden under the clouds. Therefore, microwave remote sensing, which can penetrate the atmosphere, is on its rise today. The scientific literature describes the potential of radar data to estimate staple soil (roughness, moisture) and vegetation (LAI, biomass, height) properties. Although all of these are highly demanded in terms of agricultural monitoring, the crop moisture content is the utmost important parameter in terms of agricultural drought monitoring. The idea behind this study was to exploit the unique combination of SAR (Sentinel-1) and optical (Sentinel-2) data from one provider (ESA) to describe potential crop water stress during dry cropping season of 2019 at six winter wheat plots in the central Czech Republic. For the period of January to August, Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 images were obtained and processed. Sentinel-1 imagery carries information about C-band backscatter in two polarisations (VV, VH). Sentinel-2 was used to derive vegetation properties (LAI, FCV, NDWI, and SAVI) as support for Sentinel-1 results. For each term and plot, summary statistics were performed, including precipitation data and soil moisture content obtained through data loggers. Results were presented as summary layouts of VV and VH polarisations and related plots describing other properties. All plots performed along with the principle of the basic SAR backscatter equation. Considering the needs of practical applications, the vegetation moisture content may be assessed using SAR data to predict the drought impact on the final product quality and yields independently of cloud cover over the studied scene.

Keywords: precision agriculture, remote sensing, Sentinel-1, SAR, water content

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Authors: Alexander David Natanson

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This paper focuses on the effect of Sanctuary and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policies on local economies. "Sanctuary cities" refers to municipal jurisdictions that limit their cooperation with the federal government's efforts to enforce immigration. Using county-level data from the American Community Survey and ICE data on economic indicators from 2006 to 2018, this study isolates the effects of local immigration policies on U.S. counties. The investigation is accomplished by simultaneously studying the policies' effects in counties where immigrants' families are persecuted via collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in contrast to counties that provide protections. The analysis includes a difference-in-difference & two-way fixed effect model. Results are robust to nearest-neighbor matching, after the random assignment of treatment, after running estimations using different cutoffs for immigration policies, and with a regression discontinuity model comparing bordering counties with opposite policies. Results are also robust after restricting the data to a single-year policy adoption, using the Sun and Abraham estimator, and with event-study estimation to deal with the staggered treatment issue. In addition, the study reverses the estimation to understand what drives the decision to choose policies to detect the presence of reverse causality biases in the estimated policy impact on economic factors. The evidence demonstrates that providing protections to undocumented immigrants increases economic activity. The estimates show gains in per capita income ranging from 3.1 to 7.2, median wages between 1.7 to 2.6, and GDP between 2.4 to 4.1 percent. Regarding labor, sanctuary counties saw increases in total employment between 2.3 to 4 percent, and the unemployment rate declined from 12 to 17 percent. The data further shows that ICE policies have no statistically significant effects on income, median wages, or GDP but adverse effects on total employment, with declines from 1 to 2 percent, mostly in rural counties, and an increase in unemployment of around 7 percent in urban counties. In addition, results show a decline in the foreign-born population in ICE counties but no changes in sanctuary counties. The study also finds similar results for sanctuary counties when separating the data between urban, rural, educational attainment, gender, ethnic groups, economic quintiles, and the number of business establishments. The takeaway from this study is that institutional inclusion creates the dynamic nature of an economy, as inclusion allows for economic expansion due to the extension of fundamental freedoms to newcomers. Inclusive policies show positive effects on economic outcomes with no evident increase in population. To make sense of these results, the hypothesis and theoretical model propose that inclusive immigration policies play an essential role in conditioning the effect of immigration by decreasing uncertainties and constraints for immigrants' interaction in their communities, decreasing the cost from fear of deportation or the constant fear of criminalization and optimize their human capital.

Keywords: inclusive and exclusive institutions, post matching, fixed effect, time trend, regression discontinuity, difference-in-difference, randomization inference and sun, Abraham estimator

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Authors: A. Newman-Tancredi, R. Depoortère, P. Gruca, E. Litwa, M. Lason, M. Papp

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The N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor antagonist, ketamine, can elicit rapid-acting antidepressant (RAAD) effects in treatment-resistant patients, but it requires parenteral co-administration with a classical antidepressant under medical supervision. In addition, ketamine can also produce serious side effects that limit its long-term use, and there is much interest in identifying RAADs based on ketamine’s mechanism of action but with safer profiles. Ketamine elicits GABAergic interneuron inhibition, glutamatergic neuron stimulation, and, notably, activation of serotonin 5-HT1A receptors in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Direct activation of the latter receptor subpopulation with selective ‘biased agonists’ may therefore be a promising strategy to identify novel RAADs and, consistent with this hypothesis, the prototypical cortical biased agonist, NLX-101, exhibited robust RAAD-like activity in the chronic mild stress model of depression (CMS). The present study compared the effects of a novel, selective 5-HT1A receptor-biased agonist, NLX-204, with those of ketamine and NLX-101. Materials and methods: CMS procedure was conducted on Wistar rats; drugs were administered either intraperitoneally (i.p.) or by bilateral intracortical microinjection. Ketamine: 10 mg/kg i.p. or 10 µg/side in PFC; NLX-204 and NLX-101: 0.08 and 0.16 mg/kg i.p. or 16 µg/side in PFC. In addition, interaction studies were carried out with systemic NLX-204 or NLX-101 (each at 0.16 mg/kg i.p.) in combination with intracortical WAY-100635 (selective 5-HT1A receptor antagonist; 2 µg/side) or muscimol (GABA-A receptor agonist, 12.5 ng/side). Anhedonia was assessed by CMS-induced decrease in sucrose solution consumption; anxiety-like behavior was assessed using the Elevated Plus Maze (EPM), and cognitive impairment was assessed by the Novel Object Recognition (NOR) test. Results: A single administration of NLX-204 was sufficient to reverse the CMS-induced deficit in sucrose consumption, similarly to ketamine and NLX-101. NLX-204 also reduced CMS-induced anxiety in the EPM and abolished CMS-induced NOR deficits. These effects were maintained (EPM and NOR) or enhanced (sucrose consumption) over a subsequent 2-week period of treatment. The anti-anhedonic response of the drugs was also maintained for several weeks Following treatment discontinuation, suggesting that they had sustained effects on neuronal networks. A single PFC administration of NLX-204 reversed deficient sucrose consumption, similarly to ketamine and NLX-101. Moreover, the anti-anhedonic activities of systemic NLX-204 and NLX 101 were abolished by coadministration with intracortical WAY-100635 or muscimol. Conclusions: (i) The antidepressant-like activity of NLX-204 in the rat CMS model was as rapid as that of ketamine or NLX-101, supporting targeting cortical 5-HT1A receptors with selective, biased agonists to achieve RAAD effects. (ii)The anti-anhedonic activity of systemic NLX-204 was mimicked by local administration of the compound in the PFC, confirming the involvement of cortical circuits in its RAAD-like effects. (iii) Notably, the effects of systemic NLX-204 and NLX-101 were abolished by PFC administration of muscimol, indicating that they act by (indirectly) eliciting a reduction in cortical GABAergic neurotransmission. This is consistent with ketamine’s mechanism of action and suggests that there are converging NMDA and 5-HT1A receptor signaling cascades in PFC underlying the RAAD-like activities of ketamine and NLX-204. Acknowledgements: The study was financially supported by NCN grant no. 2019/35/B/NZ7/00787.

Keywords: depression, ketamine, serotonin, 5-HT1A receptor, chronic mild stress

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Authors: Piotr Wadolowski, Grzegorz Krzesinski, Piotr Gutowski

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The aim of the presented investigation is to recognize the possible mechanical issues of mini-plate connection used to treat mandible fractures and to check the impact of different factors for the stresses and displacements within the bone-stabilizer system. The mini-plate osteosynthesis technique is a common type of internal fixation using metal plates connected to the fractured bone parts by a set of screws. The selected two types of plate application methodology used by maxillofacial surgeons were investigated in the work. Those patterns differ in location and number of plates. The bone geometry was modeled on the base of computed tomography scans of hospitalized patient done just after mini-plate application. The solid volume geometry consisting of cortical and cancellous bone was created based on gained cloud of points. Temporomandibular joint and muscle system were simulated to imitate the real masticatory system behavior. Finite elements mesh and analysis were performed by ANSYS software. To simulate realistic connection behavior nonlinear contact conditions were used between the connecting elements and bones. The influence of the initial compression of the connected bone parts or the gap between them was analyzed. Nonlinear material properties of the bone tissues and elastic-plastic model of titanium alloy were used. The three cases of loading assuming the force of magnitude of 100N acting on the left molars, the right molars and the incisors were investigated. Stress distribution within connecting plate shows that the compression of the bone parts in the connection results in high stress concentration in the plate and the screws, however the maximum stress levels do not exceed material (titanium) yield limit. There are no significant differences between negative offset (gap) and no-offset conditions. The location of the external force influences the magnitude of stresses around both the plate and bone parts. Two-plate system gives generally lower von Misses stress under the same loading than the one-plating approach. Von Mises stress distribution within the cortical bone shows reduction of high stress field for the cases without the compression (neutral initial contact). For the initial prestressing there is a visible significant stress increase around the fixing holes at the bottom mini-plate due to the assembly stress. The local stress concentration may be the reason of bone destruction in those regions. The performed calculations prove that the bone-mini-plate system is able to properly stabilize the fractured mandible bone. There is visible strong dependency between the mini-plate location and stress distribution within the stabilizer structure and the surrounding bone tissue. The results (stresses within the bone tissues and within the devices, relative displacements of the bone parts at the interface) corresponding to different models of the connection provide a basis for the mechanical optimization of the mini-plate connections. The results of the performed numerical simulations were compared to clinical observation. They provide information helpful for better understanding of the load transfer in the mandible with the stabilizer and for improving stabilization techniques.

Keywords: finite element modeling, mandible fracture, mini-plate connection, osteosynthesis

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Authors: Vidhya Venugopal, Jeremiah Chinnadurai, Rebekah A. I. Lucas, Tord Kjellstrom, Bruno Lemke

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Introduction: The effects of climate change (CC) are largely discussed across the globe in terms of impacts on the environment and the general population, but the impacts on workers remain largely unexplored. The predicted rise in temperatures and heat events in the CC scenario have health implications on millions of workers in physically exerting jobs. The current health and productivity risks associated with heat exposures are characterized, future risk estimates as temperature rises and recommendations towards developing protective and preventive occupational health and safety guidelines for India are discussed. Methodology: Cross-sectional studies were conducted in several occupational sectors with workers engaged in moderate to heavy labor (n=1580). Quantitative data on heat exposures (WBGT°C), physiological heat strain indicators viz., Core temperature (CBT), Urine specific gravity (USG), Sweat rate (SwR) and qualitative data on heat-related health symptoms and productivity losses were collected. Data were analyzed for associations between heat exposures, health and productivity outcomes related to heat stress. Findings: Heat conditions exceeded the Threshold Limit Value (TLV) for safe manual work in 66% of the workers across several sectors (Avg.WBGT of 28.7°C±3.1°C). Widespread concerns about heat-related health outcomes (86%) were prevalent among workers exposed to high TLVs, with excessive sweating, fatigue and tiredness being commonly reported by workers. The heat stress indicators, core temperature (14%), Sweat rate (8%) and USG (9%), were above normal levels in the study population. A significant association was found between rise in Core Temperatures and WBGT exposures (p=0.000179) Elevated USG and SwR in the worker population indicate moderate dehydration, with potential risks of developing heat-related illnesses. In a steel industry with high heat exposures, an alarming 9% prevalence of kidney/urogenital anomalies was observed in a young workforce. Heat exposures above TLVs were associated with significantly increased odds of various adverse health outcomes (OR=2.43, 95% CI 1.88 to 3.13, p-value = <0.0001) and productivity losses (OR=1.79, 95% CI 1.32 to 2.4, p-value = 0.0002). Rough estimates for the number of workers who would be subjected to higher than TLV levels in the various RCP scenarios are RCP2.6 =79%, RCP4.5 & RCP6 = 81% and at RCP 8.5 = 85%. Rising temperatures due to CC has the capacity to further reduce already compromised health and productivity by subjecting the workers to increased heat exposures in the RCP scenarios are of concern for the country’s occupational health and economy. Conclusion: The findings of this study clearly identify that health protection from hot weather will become increasingly necessary in the Indian subcontinent and understanding the various adaptation techniques needs urgent attention. Further research with a multi-targeted approach to develop strategies for implementing interventions to protect the millions of workers is imperative. Approaches to include health aspects of climate change within sectoral and climate change specific policies should be encouraged, via a number of mechanisms, such as the “Health in All Policies” approach to avert adverse health and productivity consequences as climate change proceeds.

Keywords: heat stress, occupational health, productivity loss, heat strain, adverse health outcomes

Procedia PDF Downloads 323

Authors: C. Soffritti, A. Fortini, E. Baroni, M. Merlin, G. L. Garagnani

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Aluminum alloys are widely used in many engineering applications due to their advantages such ashigh electrical and thermal conductivities, low density, high strength to weight ratio, and good corrosion resistance. However, their low hardness and poor tribological properties still limit their use in industrial fields requiring sliding contacts. Hard anodizing is one of the most common solution for overcoming issues concerning the insufficient friction resistance of aluminum alloys. In this work, the tribological behavior ofhard-anodized AW-4006 aluminum alloys in dry and lubricated conditions was evaluated. Three different hard-anodizing treatments were selected: a conventional one (HA) and two innovative golden hard-anodizing treatments (named G and GP, respectively), which involve the sealing of the porosity of anodic aluminum oxides (AAO) with silver ions at different temperatures. Before wear tests, all AAO layers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (VPSEM/EDS), X-ray diffractometry, roughness (Ra and Rz), microhardness (HV0.01), nanoindentation, and scratch tests. Wear tests were carried out according to the ASTM G99-17 standard using a ball-on-disc tribometer. The tests were performed in triplicate under a 2 Hz constant frequency oscillatory motion, a maximum linear speed of 0.1 m/s, normal loads of 5, 10, and 15 N, and a sliding distance of 200 m. A 100Cr6 steel ball10 mm in diameter was used as counterpart material. All tests were conducted at room temperature, in dry and lubricated conditions. Considering the more recent regulations about the environmental hazard, four bio-lubricants were considered after assessing their chemical composition (in terms of Unsaturation Number, UN) and viscosity: olive, peanut, sunflower, and soybean oils. The friction coefficient was provided by the equipment. The wear rate of anodized surfaces was evaluated by measuring the cross-section area of the wear track with a non-contact 3D profilometer. Each area value, obtained as an average of four measurements of cross-section areas along the track, was used to determine the wear volume. The worn surfaces were analyzed by VPSEM/EDS. Finally, in agreement with DoE methodology, a statistical analysis was carried out to identify the most influencing factors on the friction coefficients and wear rates. In all conditions, results show that the friction coefficient increased with raising the normal load. Considering the wear tests in dry sliding conditions, irrespective of the type of anodizing treatments, metal transfer between the mating materials was observed over the anodic aluminum oxides. During sliding at higher loads, the detachment of the metallic film also caused the delamination of some regions of the wear track. For the wear tests in lubricated conditions, the natural oils with high percentages of oleic acid (i.e., olive and peanut oils) maintained high friction coefficients and low wear rates. Irrespective of the type of oil, smallmicrocraks were visible over the AAO layers. Based on the statistical analysis, the type of anodizing treatment and magnitude of applied load were the main factors of influence on the friction coefficient and wear rate values. Nevertheless, an interaction between bio-lubricants and load magnitude could occur during the tests.

Keywords: hard anodizing treatment, silver ions, bio-lubricants, sliding wear, statistical analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: Vasundhara H. Krishnani, Ajay Saini, Dibesh Karmacharya, Salit Kark

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Illegal Wildlife Trade is one of the most pressing global conservation challenges. Unregulated wildlife trade can threaten biodiversity, contribute to habitat loss, limit sustainable development efforts, and expedite species declines and extinctions. In low-income and middle-income countries, such as Nepal and other countries in Asia and Africa, many of the people engaged in the early stages of illegal wildlife trade, which includes the hunting and transportation of wildlife, belong to Indigenous tribes and local communities.These countries primarily rely on punitive measures to prevent and suppress Illegal Wildlife Trade. For example, in Nepal, people involved in wildlife crimes can often be sentenced to incarceration and a hefty fine and serve up to 15 years in prison. Despite these harsh punitive measures, illegal wildlife trade remains a significant conservation challenge in many countries. The aim of this study was to examine factors affecting the participation of Indigenous communities in Illegal Wildlife Trade while recording the experiences of members of the Indigenous Chepang community, some of whom were imprisoned for their alleged involvement in rhino poaching. Chepangs, belonging to traditionally a hunter-gatherer community, are often considered an isolated and marginalized Indigenous community, some of whom live around the Chitwan National Park in Nepal. Established in 1973, Chitwan National Park is situated in the Chitwan Valley of Nepal and was one of the first regions that was declared as a protected area in Nepal, aiming to protect the one-horned rhinoceros as a flagship species. Conducted over a period of three years, this study used semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions to collect data from Illegal Wildlife Trade offenders, family members of offenders, community Elders, NGO personnel, community forest representatives, Chepang community representatives, and Government school teachers from the region surrounding Chitwan National Park. The study also examined the social, cultural, health, and financial impacts that the imprisonment of offenders had on the families of the community members, especially women and children. The results suggest that involvement of the members of the Chepang community living around Chitwan National Park in the poaching of the one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) can be attributed to a range of factors, some of which include: lack of livelihood opportunities, lack of awareness regarding wildlife rules and regulations and poverty.This work emphasises the need for raising awareness and building programs to enhance alternative livelihood training and empower indigenous and marginalised communities that provide sustainable alternatives. Furthermore, the issue needs to be addressed as a community solution which includes all community members. We suggest this multi-pronged approach can benefit wildlife conservation by reducing illegal poaching and wildlife trade, as well as community conservation in regions with similar challenges. By actively involving and empowering local communities, the communities become key stakeholders in the conservation process. This involvement contributes to protecting wildlife and natural ecosystems while simultaneously providing sustainable livelihood options for local communities.

Keywords: alternative livelihoods, chepang community, illegal wildlife trade, low-and middle-income countries, nepal, one-horned rhinoceros

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Authors: Hai L. Tran

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When covering events and issues, the news media often employ both personal accounts as well as facts and figures. However, the process of using numbers and narratives in the newsroom is mostly operated through trial and error. There is a demonstrated need for the news industry to better understand the specific effects of storytelling and data-driven reporting on the audience as well as explanatory factors driving such effects. In the academic world, anecdotal evidence and statistical evidence have been studied in a mutually exclusive manner. Existing research tends to treat pertinent effects as though the use of one form precludes the other and as if a tradeoff is required. Meanwhile, narratives and statistical facts are often combined in various communication contexts, especially in news presentations. There is value in reconceptualizing and theorizing about both relative and collective impacts of numbers and narratives as well as the mechanism underlying such effects. The current undertaking seeks to link theory to practice by providing a complete picture of how and why people are influenced by information conveyed through quantitative and qualitative accounts. Specifically, the cognitive-experiential theory is invoked to argue that humans employ two distinct systems to process information. The rational system requires the processing of logical evidence effortful analytical cognitions, which are affect-free. Meanwhile, the experiential system is intuitive, rapid, automatic, and holistic, thereby demanding minimum cognitive resources and relating to the experience of affect. In certain situations, one system might dominate the other, but rational and experiential modes of processing operations in parallel and at the same time. As such, anecdotes and quantified facts impact audience response differently and a combination of data and narratives is more effective than either form of evidence. In addition, the present study identifies several media variables and human factors driving the effects of statistics and anecdotes. An integrative model is proposed to explain how message characteristics (modality, vividness, salience, congruency, position) and individual differences (involvement, numeracy skills, cognitive resources, cultural orientation) impact selective exposure, which in turn activates pertinent modes of processing, and thereby induces corresponding responses. The present study represents a step toward bridging theoretical frameworks from various disciplines to better understand the specific effects and the conditions under which the use of anecdotal evidence and/or statistical evidence enhances or undermines information processing. In addition to theoretical contributions, this research helps inform news professionals about the benefits and pitfalls of incorporating quantitative and qualitative accounts in reporting. It proposes a typology of possible scenarios and appropriate strategies for journalists to use when presenting news with anecdotes and numbers.

Keywords: data, narrative, number, anecdote, storytelling, news

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: Evgenia Iakovleva, Juha Koivisto, Pasi Karppinen, J. Inkinen, Mikko Alava

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Preventing the spread of infectious diseases throughout the worldwide is one of the most important tasks of modern health care. Infectious diseases not only account for one fifth of the deaths in the world, but also cause many pathological complications for the human health. Touch surfaces pose an important vector for the spread of infections by varying microorganisms, including antimicrobial resistant organisms. Further, antimicrobial resistance is reply of bacteria to the overused or inappropriate used of antibiotics everywhere. The biggest challenges in bacterial detection by existing methods are non-direct determination, long time of analysis, the sample preparation, use of chemicals and expensive equipment, and availability of qualified specialists. Therefore, a high-performance, rapid, real-time detection is demanded in rapid practical bacterial detection and to control the epidemiological hazard. Among the known methods for determining bacteria on the surfaces, Hyperspectral methods can be used as direct and rapid methods for microorganism detection on different kind of surfaces based on fluorescence without sampling, sample preparation and chemicals. The aim of this study was to assess the relevance of such systems to remote sensing of surfaces for microorganisms detection to prevent a global spread of infectious diseases. Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli with different concentrations (from 0 to 10x8 cell/100µL) were detected with hyperspectral camera using different filters as visible visualization of bacteria and background spots on the steel plate. A method of internal standards was applied for monitoring the correctness of the analysis results. Distances from sample to hyperspectral camera and light source are 25 cm and 40 cm, respectively. Each sample is optically imaged from the surface by hyperspectral imaging system, utilizing a JAI CM-140GE-UV camera. Light source is BeamZ FLATPAR DMX Tri-light, 3W tri-colour LEDs (red, blue and green). Light colors are changed through DMX USB Pro interface. The developed system was calibrated following a standard procedure of setting exposure and focused for light with λ=525 nm. The filter is ThorLabs KuriousTM hyperspectral filter controller with wavelengths from 420 to 720 nm. All data collection, pro-processing and multivariate analysis was performed using LabVIEW and Python software. The studied human eye visible and invisible bacterial stains clustered apart from a reference steel material by clustering analysis using different light sources and filter wavelengths. The calculation of random and systematic errors of the analysis results proved the applicability of the method in real conditions. Validation experiments have been carried out with photometry and ATP swab-test. The lower detection limit of developed method is several orders of magnitude lower than for both validation methods. All parameters of the experiments were the same, except for the light. Hyperspectral imaging method allows to separate not only bacteria and surfaces, but also different types of bacteria, such as Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis. Developed method allows skipping the sample preparation and the use of chemicals, unlike all other microbiological methods. The time of analysis with novel hyperspectral system is a few seconds, which is innovative in the field of microbiological tests.

Keywords: Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, hyperspectral imaging, microorganisms detection

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Authors: Aleksandra Zieminska-Stolarska, Ireneusz Zbicinski

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Introduction: The objective of the present work was to develop and validate a 3D CFD numerical model for simulating flow through 17 kilometers long dam reservoir of a complex bathymetry. In contrast to flowing waters, dam reservoirs were not emphasized in the early years of water quality modeling, as this issue has never been the major focus of urban development. Starting in the 1970s, however, it was recognized that natural and man-made lakes are equal, if not more important than estuaries and rivers from a recreational standpoint. The Sulejow Reservoir (Central Poland) was selected as the study area as representative of many lowland dam reservoirs and due availability of a large database of the ecological, hydrological and morphological parameters of the lake. Method: 3D, 2-phase and 1-phase CFD models were analysed to determine hydrodynamics in the Sulejow Reservoir. Development of 3D, 2-phase CFD model of flow requires a construction of mesh with millions of elements and overcome serious convergence problems. As 1-phase CFD model of flow in relation to 2-phase CFD model excludes from the simulations the dynamics of waves only, which should not change significantly water flow pattern for the case of lowland, dam reservoirs. In 1-phase CFD model, the phases (water-air) are separated by a plate which allows calculations of one phase (water) flow only. As the wind affects velocity of flow, to take into account the effect of the wind on hydrodynamics in 1-phase CFD model, the plate must move with speed and direction equal to the speed and direction of the upper water layer. To determine the velocity at which the plate will move on the water surface and interacts with the underlying layers of water and apply this value in 1-phase CFD model, the 2D, 2-phase model was elaborated. Result: Model was verified on the basis of the extensive flow measurements (StreamPro ADCP, USA). Excellent agreement (an average error less than 10%) between computed and measured velocity profiles was found. As a result of work, the following main conclusions can be presented: •The results indicate that the flow field in the Sulejow Reservoir is transient in nature, with swirl flows in the lower part of the lake. Recirculating zones, with the size of even half kilometer, may increase water retention time in this region •The results of simulations confirm the pronounced effect of the wind on the development of the water circulation zones in the reservoir which might affect the accumulation of nutrients in the epilimnion layer and result e.g. in the algae bloom. Conclusion: The resulting model is accurate and the methodology develop in the frame of this work can be applied to all types of storage reservoir configurations, characteristics, and hydrodynamics conditions. Large recirculating zones in the lake which increase water retention time and might affect the accumulation of nutrients were detected. Accurate CFD model of hydrodynamics in large water body could help in the development of forecast of water quality, especially in terms of eutrophication and water management of the big water bodies.

Keywords: CFD, mathematical modelling, dam reservoirs, hydrodynamics

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Authors: Faishal Muhammad, Erlinda Muslim, Nadia Faradilla, Sayidul Fikri

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To deal with the increase of mass transportation needs problem, PT. Kereta Commuter Jabodetabek (KCJ) implements Commuter Vending Machine (C-VIM) as the solution. For that background, C-VIM is implemented as a substitute to the conventional ticket windows with the purposes to make transaction process more efficient and to introduce self-service technology to the commuter line user. However, this implementation causing problems and long queues when the user is not accustomed to using the machine. The objective of this research is to evaluate user experience after using the commuter vending machine. The goal is to analyze the existing user experience problem and to achieve a better user experience design. The evaluation method is done by giving task scenario according to the features offered by the machine. The features are daily insured ticket sales, ticket refund, and multi-trip card top up. There 20 peoples that separated into two groups of respondents involved in this research, which consist of 5 males and 5 females each group. The experienced and inexperienced user to prove that there is a significant difference between both groups in the measurement. The user experience is measured by both quantitative and qualitative measurement. The quantitative measurement includes the user performance metrics such as task success, time on task, error, efficiency, and learnability. The qualitative measurement includes system usability scale questionnaire (SUS), questionnaire for user interface satisfaction (QUIS), and retrospective think aloud (RTA). Usability performance metrics shows that 4 out of 5 indicators are significantly different in both group. This shows that the inexperienced group is having a problem when using the C-VIM. Conventional ticket windows also show a better usability performance metrics compared to the C-VIM. From the data processing, the experienced group give the SUS score of 62 with the acceptability scale of 'marginal low', grade scale of “D”, and the adjective ratings of 'good' while the inexperienced group gives the SUS score of 51 with the acceptability scale of 'marginal low', grade scale of 'F', and the adjective ratings of 'ok'. This shows that both groups give a low score on the system usability scale. The QUIS score of the experienced group is 69,18 and the inexperienced group is 64,20. This shows the average QUIS score below 70 which indicate a problem with the user interface. RTA was done to obtain user experience issue when using C-VIM through interview protocols. The issue obtained then sorted using pareto concept and diagram. The solution of this research is interface redesign using activity relationship chart. This method resulted in a better interface with an average SUS score of 72,25, with the acceptable scale of 'acceptable', grade scale of 'B', and the adjective ratings of 'excellent'. From the time on task indicator of performance metrics also shows a significant better time by using the new interface design. Result in this study shows that C-VIM not yet have a good performance and user experience.

Keywords: activity relationship chart, commuter line vending machine, system usability scale, usability performance metrics, user experience evaluation

Procedia PDF Downloads 262

Authors: Shanlong Lu, Jiming Jin, Xiaochun Wang

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The Tibetan Plateau has the largest number of inland lakes with the highest elevation on the planet. These massive and large lakes are mostly in natural state and are less affected by human activities. Their shrinking or expansion can truly reflect regional climate and environmental changes and are sensitive indicators of global climate change. However, due to the sparsely populated nature of the plateau and the poor natural conditions, it is difficult to effectively obtain the change data of the lake, which has affected people's understanding of the temporal and spatial processes of lake water changes and their influencing factors. By using the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) MOD09Q1 surface reflectance images as basic data, this study produced the 8-day lake water surface data set of the Tibetan Plateau from 2000 to 2012 at 250 m spatial resolution, with a lake water surface extraction method of combined with lake water surface boundary buffer analyzing and lake by lake segmentation threshold determining. Then based on the dataset, the lake water surface variations and their influencing factors were analyzed, by using 4 typical natural geographical zones of Eastern Qinghai and Qilian, Southern Qinghai, Qiangtang, and Southern Tibet, and the watersheds of the top 10 lakes of Qinghai, Siling Co, Namco, Zhari NamCo, Tangra Yumco, Ngoring, UlanUla, Yamdrok Tso, Har and Gyaring as the analysis units. The accuracy analysis indicate that compared with water surface data of the 134 sample lakes extracted from the 30 m Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper ) images, the average overall accuracy of the lake water surface data set is 91.81% with average commission and omission error of 3.26% and 5.38%; the results also show strong linear (R2=0.9991) correlation with the global MODIS water mask dataset with overall accuracy of 86.30%; and the lake area difference between the Second National Lake Survey and this study is only 4.74%, respectively. This study provides reliable dataset for the lake change research of the plateau in the recent decade. The change trends and influencing factors analysis indicate that the total water surface area of lakes in the plateau showed overall increases, but only lakes with areas larger than 10 km2 had statistically significant increases. Furthermore, lakes with area larger than 100 km2 experienced an abrupt change in 2005. In addition, the annual average precipitation of Southern Tibet and Southern Qinghai experienced significant increasing and decreasing trends, and corresponding abrupt changes in 2004 and 2006, respectively. The annual average temperature of Southern Tibet and Qiangtang showed a significant increasing trend with an abrupt change in 2004. The major reason for the lake water surface variation in Eastern Qinghai and Qilian, Southern Qinghai and Southern Tibet is the changes of precipitation, and that for Qiangtang is the temperature variations.

Keywords: lake water surface variation, MODIS MOD09Q1, remote sensing, Tibetan Plateau

Procedia PDF Downloads 231

Authors: Maryamsadat Habibi

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Objective: pharmaceutical errors are avoidable occurrences that can result in inappropriate pharmaceutical use, patient harm, treatment failure, increased hospital costs and length of stay, and other outcomes that affect both the individual receiving treatment and the healthcare provider. This study aimed to perform a reconciliation of medications in the cardiovascular ward of Imam Reza Hospital in Mashhad, Iran, and evaluate the prevalence of medication discrepancies between the best medication list created for the patient by the pharmacist and the medication order of the treating physician there. Materials & Methods: The 97 patients in the cardiovascular ward of the Imam Reza Hospital in Mashhad were the subject of a cross-sectional study from June to September of 2021. After giving their informed consent and being admitted to the ward, all patients with at least one underlying condition and at least two medications being taken at home were included in the study. A medical reconciliation form was used to record patient demographics and medical histories during the first 24 hours of admission, and the information was contrasted with the doctors' orders. The doctor then discovered medication inconsistencies between the two lists and double-checked them to separate the intentional from the accidental anomalies. Finally, using SPSS software version 22, it was determined how common medical discrepancies are and how different sorts of discrepancies relate to various variables. Results: The average age of the participants in this study was 57.6915.84 years, with 57.7% of men and 42.3% of women. 95.9% of the patients among these people encountered at least one medication discrepancy, and 58.9% of them suffered at least one unintentional drug cessation. Out of the 659 medications registered in the study, 399 cases (60.54%) had inconsistencies, of which 161 cases (40.35%) involved the intentional stopping of a medication, 123 cases (30.82%) involved the stopping of a medication unintentionally, and 115 cases (28.82%) involved the continued use of a medication by adjusting the dose. Additionally, the category of cardiovascular pharmaceuticals and the category of gastrointestinal medications were found to have the highest medical inconsistencies in the current study. Furthermore, there was no correlation between the frequency of medical discrepancies and the following variables: age, ward, date of visit, type, and number of underlying diseases (P=0.13), P=0.61, P=0.72, P=0.82, P=0.44, and so forth. On the other hand, there was a statistically significant correlation between the number of medications taken at home (P=0.037) and the prevalence of medical discrepancies with gender (P=0.029). The results of this study revealed that 96% of patients admitted to the cardiovascular unit at Imam Reza Hospital had at least one medication error, which was typically an intentional drug discontinuance. According to the study's findings, patients admitted to Imam Reza Hospital's cardiovascular ward have a great potential for identifying and correcting various medication discrepancies as well as for avoiding prescription errors when the medication reconciliation method is used. As a result, it is essential to carry out a precise assessment to achieve the best treatment outcomes and avoid unintended medication discontinuation, unwanted drug-related events, and drug interactions between the patient's home medications and those prescribed in the hospital.

Keywords: drug combination, drug side effects, drug incompatibility, cardiovascular department

Procedia PDF Downloads 90

Authors: Elham Koohi, Silvio Jose Gumiere, Hossein Bonakdari, Saeid Homayouni

Abstract:

Water used in agricultural crops can be managed by irrigation scheduling based on soil moisture levels and plant water stress thresholds. Automated irrigation scheduling limits crop physiological damage and yield reduction. Knowledge of crop water stress monitoring approaches can be effective in optimizing the use of agricultural water. Understanding the physiological mechanisms of crop responding and adapting to water deficit ensures sustainable agricultural management and food supply. This aim could be achieved by analyzing and diagnosing crop characteristics and their interlinkage with the surrounding environment. Assessments of plant functional types (e.g., leaf area and structure, tree height, rate of evapotranspiration, rate of photosynthesis), controlling changes, and irrigated areas mapping. Calculating thresholds of soil water content parameters, crop water use efficiency, and Nitrogen status make irrigation scheduling decisions more accurate by preventing water limitations between irrigations. Combining Remote Sensing (RS), the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning Algorithms (MLAs) can improve measurement accuracies and automate irrigation scheduling. This paper is a review structured by surveying about 100 recent research studies to analyze varied approaches in terms of providing high spatial and temporal resolution mapping, sensor-based Variable Rate Application (VRA) mapping, the relation between spectral and thermal reflectance and different features of crop and soil. The other objective is to assess RS indices formed by choosing specific reflectance bands and identifying the correct spectral band to optimize classification techniques and analyze Proximal Optical Sensors (POSs) to control changes. The innovation of this paper can be defined as categorizing evaluation methodologies of precision irrigation (applying the right practice, at the right place, at the right time, with the right quantity) controlled by soil moisture levels and sensitiveness of crops to water stress, into pre-processing, processing (retrieval algorithms), and post-processing parts. Then, the main idea of this research is to analyze the error reasons and/or values in employing different approaches in three proposed parts reported by recent studies. Additionally, as an overview conclusion tried to decompose different approaches to optimizing indices, calibration methods for the sensors, thresholding and prediction models prone to errors, and improvements in classification accuracy for mapping changes.

Keywords: agricultural crops, crop water stress detection, irrigation scheduling, precision agriculture, remote sensing

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Authors: Alessandra Aparecida Vieira França, Adriana de Paula Lacerda Santos, Mauro Lacerda Santos Filho

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The purpose of this research i to study the behavior of precast prestressed hollow core slabs subjected to shear. In order to achieve this goal, shear tests were performed using hollow core slabs 26,5cm thick, with and without a concrete cover of 5 cm, without cores filled, with two cores filled and three cores filled with concrete. The tests were performed according to the procedures recommended by FIP (1992), the EN 1168:2005 and following the method presented in Costa (2009). The ultimate shear strength obtained within the tests was compared with the values of theoretical resistant shear calculated in accordance with the codes, which are being used in Brazil, noted: NBR 6118:2003 and NBR 14861:2011. When calculating the shear resistance through the equations presented in NBR 14861:2011, it was found that provision is much more accurate for the calculation of the shear strength of hollow core slabs than the NBR 6118 code. Due to the large difference between the calculated results, even for slabs without cores filled, the authors consulted the committee that drafted the NBR 14861:2011 and found that there is an error in the text of the standard, because the coefficient that is suggested, actually presents the double value than the needed one! The ABNT, later on, soon issued an amendment of NBR 14861:2011 with the necessary corrections. During the tests for the present study, it was confirmed that the concrete filling the cores contributes to increase the shear strength of hollow core slabs. But in case of slabs 26,5 cm thick, the quantity should be limited to a maximum of two cores filled, because most of the results for slabs with three cores filled were smaller. This confirmed the recommendation of NBR 14861:2011which is consistent with standard practice. After analyzing the configuration of cracking and failure mechanisms of hollow core slabs during the shear tests, strut and tie models were developed representing the forces acting on the slab at the moment of rupture. Through these models the authors were able to calculate the tensile stress acting on the concrete ties (ribs) and scaled the geometry of these ties. The conclusions of the research performed are the experiments results have shown that the mechanism of failure of the hollow-core slabs can be predicted using the strut-and-tie procedure, within a good range of accuracy. In addition, the needed of the correction of the Brazilian standard to review the correction factor σcp duplicated (in NBR14861/2011), and the limitation of the number of cores (Holes) to be filled with concrete, to increase the strength of the slab for the shear resistance. It is also suggested the increasing the amount of test results with 26.5 cm thick, and a larger range of thickness slabs, in order to obtain results of shear tests with cores concreted after the release of prestressing force. Another set of shear tests on slabs must be performed in slabs with cores filled and cover concrete reinforced with welded steel mesh for comparison with results of theoretical values calculated by the new revision of the standard NBR 14861:2011.

Keywords: prestressed hollow core slabs, shear, strut, tie models

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Authors: Lorenzo Casagrande, Antonio Bonati, Ferdinando Auricchio, Antonio Occhiuzzi

Abstract:

This paper summarizes the results of a survey on smart non-structural element dynamic dissipation when installed in modern high-rise mega-frame prototypes. An innovative glazed curtain wall was designed using Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) joints in order to increase the energy dissipation and enhance the seismic/wind response of the structures. The studied buildings consisted of thirty- and sixty-storey planar frames, extracted from reference three-dimensional steel Moment Resisting Frame (MRF) with outriggers and belt trusses. The internal core was composed of a CBF system, whilst outriggers were placed every fifteen stories to limit second order effects and inter-storey drifts. These structural systems were designed in accordance with European rules and numerical FE models were developed with an open-source code, able to account for geometric and material nonlinearities. With regard to the characterization of non-structural building components, full-scale crescendo tests were performed on aluminium/glass curtain wall units at the laboratory of the Construction Technologies Institute (ITC) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR), deriving force-displacement curves. Three-dimensional brick-based inelastic FE models were calibrated according to experimental results, simulating the fac¸ade response. Since recent seismic events and extreme dynamic wind loads have generated the large occurrence of non-structural components failure, which causes sensitive economic losses and represents a hazard for pedestrians safety, a more dissipative glazed curtain wall was studied. Taking advantage of the mechanical properties of SMA, advanced smart joints were designed with the aim to enhance both the dynamic performance of the single non-structural unit and the global behavior. Thus, three-dimensional brick-based plastic FE models were produced, based on the innovated non-structural system, simulating the evolution of mechanical degradation in aluminium-to-glass and SMA-to-glass connections when high deformations occurred. Consequently, equivalent nonlinear links were calibrated to reproduce the behavior of both tested and smart designed units, and implemented on the thirty- and sixty-storey structural planar frame FE models. Nonlinear time history analyses (NLTHAs) were performed to quantify the potential of the new system, when considered in the lateral resisting frame system (LRFS) of modern high-rise MRFs. Sensitivity to the structure height was explored comparing the responses of the two prototypes. Trends in global and local performance were discussed to show that, if accurately designed, advanced materials in non-structural elements provide new sources of energy dissipation.

Keywords: advanced technologies, glazed curtain walls, non-structural elements, seismic-action reduction, shape memory alloy

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Authors: Dimitra Das, Anuradha Mitra, Kalyan Kumar Chattopadhyay

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Organic polymers, constructed from light elements like carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sulphur, and boron atoms, are the emergent class of non-toxic, metal-free, environmental benign advanced materials. Covalent triazine-based polymers with a functional triazine group are significant class of organic materials due to their remarkable stability arising out of strong covalent bonds. They can conventionally form hydrogen bonds, favour π–π contacts, and they were recently revealed to be involved in interesting anion–π interactions. The present work mainly focuses upon the development of a single-crystalline, highly cross-linked triazine-based nitrogen-rich organic polymer with nanodendritic morphology and significant thermal stability. The polymer has been synthesized through hydrothermal treatment of melamine and ethylene glycol resulting in cross-polymerization via condensation-polymerization reaction. The crystal structure of the polymer has been evaluated by employing Rietveld whole profile fitting method. The polymer has been found to be composed of monoclinic melamine having space group P21/a. A detailed insight into the chemical structure of the as synthesized polymer has been elucidated by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopic analysis. X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopic (XPS) analysis has also been carried out for further understanding of the different types of linkages required to create the backbone of the polymer. The unique rod-like morphology of the triazine based polymer has been revealed from the images obtained from Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Interestingly, this polymer has been found to selectively detect mercury (Hg²⁺) ions at an extremely low concentration through fluorescent quenching with detection limit as low as 0.03 ppb. The high toxicity of mercury ions (Hg²⁺) arise from its strong affinity towards the sulphur atoms of biological building blocks. Even a trace quantity of this metal is dangerous for human health. Furthermore, owing to its small ionic radius and high solvation energy, Hg²⁺ ions remain encapsulated by water molecules making its detection a challenging task. There are some existing reports on fluorescent-based heavy metal ion sensors using covalent organic frameworks (COFs) but reports on mercury sensing using triazine based polymers are rather undeveloped. Thus, the importance of ultra-trace detection of Hg²⁺ ions with high level of selectivity and sensitivity has contemporary significance. A plausible sensing phenomenon by the polymer has been proposed to understand the applicability of the material as a potential sensor. The impressive sensitivity of the polymer sample towards Hg²⁺ is the very first report in the field of highly crystalline triazine based polymers (without the introduction of any sulphur groups or functionalization) towards mercury ion detection through photoluminescence quenching technique. This crystalline metal-free organic polymer being cheap, non-toxic and scalable has current relevance and could be a promising candidate for Hg²⁺ ion sensing at commercial level.

Keywords: fluorescence quenching , mercury ion sensing, single-crystalline, triazine-based polymer

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Authors: Mukul Sharma, Madhusmita Das, Sundeep Chaitanya Vedithi

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Leprosy is a chronic human disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, that cannot be cultured in vitro. Though treatable with multidrug therapy (MDT), recently, bacteria reported resistance to multiple antibiotics. Targeting DNA replication and repair pathways can serve as the foundation of developing new anti-leprosy drugs. Due to the absence of an axenic culture medium for the propagation of M. leprae, studying cellular processes, especially those belonging to DNA repair pathways, is challenging. Genomic understanding of M. Leprae harbors several protein-coding genes with no previously assigned function known as 'hypothetical proteins'. Here, we report identification and expression of known and hypothetical DNA repair genes from a human skin biopsy and mouse footpads that are involved in base excision repair, direct reversal repair, and SOS response. Initially, a bioinformatics approach was employed based on sequence similarity, identification of known protein domains to screen the hypothetical proteins in the genome of M. leprae, that are potentially related to DNA repair mechanisms. Before testing on clinical samples, pure stocks of bacterial reference DNA of M. leprae (NHDP63 strain) was used to construct standard graphs to validate and identify lower detection limit in the qPCR experiments. Primers were designed to amplify the respective transcripts, and PCR products of the predicted size were obtained. Later, excisional skin biopsies of newly diagnosed untreated, treated, and drug resistance leprosy cases from SIHR & LC hospital, Vellore, India were taken for the extraction of RNA. To determine the presence of the predicted transcripts, cDNA was generated from M. leprae mRNA isolated from clinically confirmed leprosy skin biopsy specimen across all the study groups. Melting curve analysis was performed to determine the integrity of the amplification and to rule out primer‑dimer formation. The Ct values obtained from qPCR were fitted to standard curve to determine transcript copy number. Same procedure was applied for M. leprae extracted after processing a footpad of nude mice of drug sensitive and drug resistant strains. 16S rRNA was used as positive control. Of all the 16 genes involved in BER, DR, and SOS, differential expression pattern of the genes was observed in terms of Ct values when compared to human samples; this was because of the different host and its immune response. However, no drastic variation in gene expression levels was observed in human samples except the nth gene. The higher expression of nth gene could be because of the mutations that may be associated with sequence diversity and drug resistance which suggests an important role in the repair mechanism and remains to be explored. In both human and mouse samples, SOS system – lexA and RecA, and BER genes AlkB and Ogt were expressing efficiently to deal with possible DNA damage. Together, the results of the present study suggest that DNA repair genes are constitutively expressed and may provide a reference for molecular diagnosis, therapeutic target selection, determination of treatment and prognostic judgment in M. leprae pathogenesis.

Keywords: DNA repair, human biopsy, hypothetical proteins, mouse footpads, Mycobacterium leprae, qPCR

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Authors: Getaneh Berie Tarekegn, Li-Chia Tai

Abstract:

With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, low-power built-in sensors on Internet of Things devices, and communication technologies, location-aware services have become increasingly popular and have permeated every aspect of people’s lives. Global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) are the default method of providing continuous positioning services for ground and aerial vehicles, as well as consumer devices (smartphones, watches, notepads, etc.). However, the environment affects satellite positioning systems, particularly indoors, in dense urban and suburban cities enclosed by skyscrapers, or when deep shadows obscure satellite signals. This is because (1) indoor environments are more complicated due to the presence of many objects surrounding them; (2) reflection within the building is highly dependent on the surrounding environment, including the positions of objects and human activity; and (3) satellite signals cannot be reached in an indoor environment, and GNSS doesn't have enough power to penetrate building walls. GPS is also highly power-hungry, which poses a severe challenge for battery-powered IoT devices. Due to these challenges, IoT applications are limited. Consequently, precise, seamless, and ubiquitous Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) systems are crucial for many artificial intelligence Internet of Things (AI-IoT) applications in the era of smart cities. Their applications include traffic monitoring, emergency alarms, environmental monitoring, location-based advertising, intelligent transportation, and smart health care. This paper proposes a generative AI-based positioning scheme for large-scale wireless settings using fingerprinting techniques. In this article, we presented a semi-supervised deep convolutional generative adversarial network (S-DCGAN)-based radio map construction method for real-time device localization. We also employed a reliable signal fingerprint feature extraction method with t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE), which extracts dominant features while eliminating noise from hybrid WLAN and long-term evolution (LTE) fingerprints. The proposed scheme reduced the workload of site surveying required to build the fingerprint database by up to 78.5% and significantly improved positioning accuracy. The results show that the average positioning error of GAILoc is less than 0.39 m, and more than 90% of the errors are less than 0.82 m. According to numerical results, SRCLoc improves positioning performance and reduces radio map construction costs significantly compared to traditional methods.

Keywords: location-aware services, feature extraction technique, generative adversarial network, long short-term memory, support vector machine

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Authors: Anastasiya Vouchak, Aliaksandr Volchak

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Belarus is not short of water. However, there is a problem of water quality. Its pollution has both natural and man-made origin. This research is based on data from State Water Cadastre of the Republic of Belarus registered from 1994 to 2014. We analyzed changes in such hydro-chemical criteria as concentration of ammonium ions, suspended matter, dissolved oxygen, oil-products, nitrites, phosphates in water, dichromate value, water impurity index, 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). Pollution of water with ammonium ions was observed in Belarus rivers of the Western Dvina, Polota, Schara, Usha, Muhavets, Berzina, Plissa, Svisloch, Pripiat, Yaselda in 2006-2014. The threshold limit value (TLV) was 1.5-3 times as much. Concentration of ammonia in the Berezina exceeded 3 – 5 times the TLVs in 2006-2010. Maximum excess of TLV was registered in the Svisloch (10 km downstream of Minsk) in 2006-2007. It was over 4 mg/dm³ whereas the norm is 0.39 mg/dm³. In 1997 there were ammonia pollution spots in the Dnieper, the Berezina, and the Svisloch Rivers. Since 2006 we have observed pollution spots in the Neman, Ross, Vilia, Sozh, Gorin Rivers, the Osipovichi and Soligorsk reservoirs. Dichromate value exceeds the TLVs in 40% cases. The most polluted waters are the Muhavets, Berezina, Pripiat, Yaselda, Gorin Rivers, the Vileyka and Soligorsk reservoirs. The Western Dvina, Neman, Viliya, Schara, Svisloch, and Plissa Rivers are less polluted. The Dnieper is the cleanest in this respect. In terms of BOD, water is polluted in the Neman, Muhavets, Svisloch, Yaselda, Gorin Rivers, the Osipovichi, Zaslavl, and Soligorsk reservoirs. The Western Dvina, Polota, Sozh, Iputs Rivers and Lake Naroch are not polluted in this respect. This criterion has been decreasing in 33 out of 42 cases. The least suspended matter is in the Berezina, Sozh, Iputs Rivers and Lake Naroch. The muddiest water is in the Neman, Usha, Svisloch, Pripyat, Yaselda Rivers, the Osipovichi and Soligorsk reservoirs. Water impurity index shows reduction of this criterion at all gauge stations. Multi-year average values predominantly (66.6%) correspond to the third class of water quality, i.e. moderately polluted. They include the Western Dvina, Ross, Usha, Muhavets, Dnieper, Berezina, Plissa, Iputs, Pripyat, Yaselda, Gorin Rivers, the Osipovichi and Soligorsk reservoirs. Water in the Svisloch River downstream of Minsk is of the forth quality class, i.e. most polluted. In the rest cases (33.3%) water is relatively clean. They include the Lidea, Schara, Viliya, Sozh Rivers, Lake Lukoml, Lake Naroch, Vileyka and Zaslavl reservoirs. Multi-year average values range from 7.0 to 9.5 mg О₂/dm³. The Yaselda has the least value - 6.7 mg О₂/dm³. A shortage of dissolved oxygen was found in the Berezina (2010), the Yaselda (2007), the Plissa (2011-2014), the Soligorsk reservoir (1996). Contamination of water with oil-products was observed everywhere in 1994-1999. Some spots were found in the Western Dvina, Vilia, Usha, Dnieper in 2003-2006, in the Svisloch in 2002-2012. We are observing gradual decrease of oil pollutants in surface water. The quality of 67 % surface water is referred to as moderately polluted.

Keywords: belarus, hydro-chemical criteria, water pollution, water quality

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