Search results for: space availability

Authors: Toka Aly

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Historically, marketplaces were the most important nodes and focal points of cities, where different activities took place. Commercial streets offer more than just spaces for shopping; they also offer choices for social activities and cultural exchange. They are considered the backbone of the city’s vibrancy and vitality. Despite that, the public life in Cairo’s commercial streets has deteriorated, where the shopping activities became reliant mainly on 'planned formal places', mainly in privatized or indoor spaces like shopping malls. The main aim of this paper is to explore the key elements and tools of assessing the successfulness of commercial streets in Cairo. The methodology followed in this paper is based on a case study methodology (multiple cases) that is based on assessing and analyzing the physical and social elements in historical and contemporary commercial streets in El Muiz Street and Baghdad Street in Cairo. The data collection is based on personal observations, photographs, maps and street sections. Findings indicate that the key factors of analyzing commercial streets are factors affecting the sensory experience, factors affecting the social behavior, and general aspects that attract people. Findings also indicate that urban features have clear influence on shopping pedestrian activities in both streets. Moreover, in order for a commercial street to be successful, shopping patterns must provide people with a quality public space that can provide easy navigation and accessibility, good visual continuity, and well-designed urban features and social gathering. Outcomes of this study will be a significant endeavor in providing a good background for urban designers on analyzing and assessing successfulness of commercial streets. The study will also help in understanding the different physical and social pattern of vending activities taking place in Cairo.

Keywords: activities, commercial street, marketplace, successful, vending

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Authors: Adya Uluwita, Fernando Pedrosa, Georgi Georgiev, Christian Bernard, Raoul Masterson

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CERN is an international organisation funded by 23 countries that provide the particle physics community with excellence in particle accelerators and other related facilities. Founded in 1954, CERN has a wide range of accelerators that allow groundbreaking science to be conducted. Accelerators bring particles to high levels of energy and make them collide with each other or with fixed targets, creating specific conditions that are of high interest to physicists. A chain of accelerators is used to ramp up the energy of particles and eventually inject them into the largest and most recent one: the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Among this chain of machines is, for instance the Proton Synchrotron, which was started in 1959 and is still in operation. These machines, called "injectors”, keep evolving over time, as well as the related infrastructure. Massive decommissioning of obsolete cables started in 2015 at CERN in the frame of the so-called "injectors de-cabling project phase 1". Its goal was to replace aging cables and remove unused ones, freeing space for new cables necessary for upgrades and consolidation campaigns. To proceed with the de-cabling, a project co-ordination team was assembled. The start of this project led to the investigation of legacy cables throughout the organisation. The identification of cables stacked over half a century proved to be arduous. Phase 1 of the injectors de-cabling was implemented for 3 years with success after overcoming some difficulties. Phase 2, started 3 years later, focused on improving safety and structure with the introduction of a quality assurance procedure. This paper discusses the implementation of this quality assurance procedure throughout phase 2 of the project and the transition between the two phases. Over hundreds of kilometres of cable were removed in the injectors complex at CERN from 2015 to 2023.

Keywords: CERN, de-cabling, injectors, quality assurance procedure

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Authors: S. M. Dissanayake, I. R. Palihakkara , K. G. Premathilaka

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Oil palm (Elaeisguineensis) is the world’s leading vegetable oil-producing plant and is well established as a perennial plantation crop in tropical countries. Oil palm in Sri Lanka has spread over 10,000 hectares in the wet zone of the Island. In immature plantations, land productivity can be increased with some selected intercrops. At the immature stage of the plantations (age up to 3-5 years), there is a large amount of free space available inside the plantations. This study attempts to determine the suitability of different intercrops during the immature phase of the oil palm. A field experiment is being conducted at Thalgaswella estate (WL2a) in Galle district, Sri Lanka. The objectives of the study are to evaluate and recommend a suitable immature oil palm-based intercropping system/s. This experiment was established with randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four treatments, including control in three replicates. Banana, ginger, and turmeric were selected as intercrops. Growth parameters of intercrops (plant height, length, width of D-leaf, and yield of intercrops) and girth, length, and number of leaflets of 17th frond in oil palms were taken at two months intervals. In addition to this, chlorophyll content was also measured in both intercrops and oil palm trees. Soil chemical parameters were measured annually. Results were statistically analyzed with SAS software. Results revealed that intercropped banana, turmeric, and ginger had given yields of 7.61Mt/ha, 4.92Mt/ha, and 4.53Mt/ha, respectively. When comparing these yields with mono-crop, banana, turmeric, and ginger intercrop yields as percentages of 16.9%, 24.6%, and 30.2%, respectively. The results of this study could be used to make appropriate policies to increase the unit land productivity in oil palm plantations in a low country wet zone (WL2a) of Sri Lanka.

Keywords: inter-cropping, oil palm, policies, mono-crop, land productivity

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Authors: Seongjun Kim, Jinwooung Kim, Sung-Ah Kim

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The development of information and communication technology also affects human cognition and thinking, especially in the field of design, new techniques are being tried. In architecture, new design methodologies such as machine learning or data-driven design are being applied. In particular, these methodologies are used in analyzing the factors related to the value of real estate or analyzing the feasibility in the early planning stage of the apartment housing. However, since the value of apartment buildings is often determined by external factors such as location and traffic conditions, rather than the interior elements of buildings, data is rarely used in the design process. Therefore, although the technical conditions are provided, the internal elements of the apartment are difficult to apply the data-driven design in the design process of the apartment. As a result, the designers of apartment housing were forced to rely on designer experience or modular design alternatives rather than data-driven design at the design stage, resulting in a uniform arrangement of space in the apartment house. The purpose of this study is to propose a methodology to support the designers to design the apartment unit plan with high consumer preference by deriving the correlation and importance of the floor plan elements of the apartment preferred by the consumers through the machine learning and reflecting this information from the early design process. The data on the pre-sale competition rate and the elements of the floor plan are collected as data, and the correlation between pre-sale competition rate and independent variables is analyzed through machine learning. This analytical model can be used to review the apartment unit plan produced by the designer and to assist the designer. Therefore, it is possible to make a floor plan of apartment housing with high preference because it is possible to feedback apartment unit plan by using trained model when it is used in floor plan design of apartment housing.

Keywords: apartment unit plan, data-driven design, design methodology, machine learning

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Authors: Lung-Lung Hu

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Ronald Dworkin offered a legal theory of ‘chain enterprise’ that all the judges in legal history altogether create a ‘law’ aiming a specific purpose. Those judges are like co-writers of a chain-story who not only create freely but also are constrained by the story made by the judges before them. The law created by Chinese traditional judges is another case, they, compared with the judges mentioned by Ronald Dworkin, have relatively narrower space of making a legal sentence according to their own discretions because the statutes in Chinese traditional law at the very beginning have been designed as panel code that leaves small room to judge’s discretion. Furthermore, because law is a representative of the authority of the government, i.e. the emperor, any misjudges and misuses deviated from the law will be considered as a challenge to the supreme power. However, different from judges as the defenders of law, Chinese litigation masters who want to win legal cases have to be offenders challenging the verdict that does not favor his or his client’s interest. Besides, litigation master as an illegal or non-authorized profession does not belong to any legal system, therefore, they are relatively freer to ‘create’ the law. According to Stanley Fish’s articles that question Ronald Dworkin and Owen Fiss’ ideas about law, he construes that, since law is made of language, law is open to interpretations that cannot be constrained by any rules or any particular legal purposes. Stanley Fish’s idea can also be applied on the analysis about the stories of Chinese litigation masters in traditional Chinese literature. These Chinese litigation masters’ legal opinions in the so-called chain enterprise are like an unexpected episode that tries to revise the fixed story told by law. Although they are not welcome to the officials and also to the society, their existence is still a phenomenon representing another version of justice different from the official’s and can be seen as a de-structural power to the government. Hence, in this present paper the language and strategy applied by Chinese litigation masters in Chinese legal stories will be analysed to see how they refute made legal judgments and challenge the official standard of justice.

Keywords: Chinese legal stories, interdisciplinary, litigation master, post-structuralism

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Authors: Juan Antonio Mondragon Sanchez, Ruben Santamaria

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The DNA G-quadruplex is a four-stranded DNA structure formed by stacked planes of four base paired guanines (G-quartet). Guanine rich DNA sequences appear in many sites of genomic DNA and can potential form G-quadruplexes, such as those occurring at 3'-terminus of the human telomeric DNA. The formation and stabilization of a G-quadruplex by small ligands at the telomeric region can inhibit the telomerase activity. In turn, the ligands can be used to down regulate oncogene expression making G-quadruplex an attractive target for anticancer therapy. Many G-quadruplex ligands have been proposed with a planar core to facilitate the pi–pi stacking and electrostatic interactions with the G-quartets. However, many drug candidates are impossibilitated to discriminate a G-quadruplex from a double helix DNA structure. In this context, it is important to investigate the site topology for the interaction of a G-quadruplex with a ligand. In this work, we determine the free energy surface of a G-quadruplex-ligand to study the binding modes of the G-quadruplex (TG4T) with the daunomycin (DM) drug. The complex TG4T-DM is studied using classical molecular dynamics in combination with metadynamics simulations. The metadynamics simulations permit an enhanced sampling of the conformational space with a modest computational cost and obtain free energy surfaces in terms of the collective variables (CV). The free energy surfaces of TG4T-DM exhibit other local minima, indicating the presence of additional binding modes of daunomycin that are not observed in short MD simulations without the metadynamics approach. The results are compared with similar calculations on a different structure (the mutated mu-G4T-DM where the 5' thymines on TG4T-DM have been deleted). The results should be of help to design new G-quadruplex drugs, and understand the differences in the recognition topology sites of the duplex and quadruplex DNA structures in their interaction with ligands.

Keywords: g-quadruplex, cancer, molecular dynamics, metadynamics

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Authors: Mohamed Elghorab, Vendra C. Madhav Rao, Jennifer X. Wen

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Turbulence modelling is still evolving, and efforts are on to improve and develop numerical methods to simulate the real turbulence structures by using the empirical and experimental information. The monotonically integrated large eddy simulation (MILES) is an attractive approach for modelling turbulence in high Re flows, which is based on the solving of the unfiltered flow equations with no explicit sub-grid scale (SGS) model. In the current work, this approach has been used, and the action of the SGS model has been included implicitly by intrinsic nonlinear high-frequency filters built into the convection discretization schemes. The MILES solver is developed using the opensource CFD OpenFOAM libraries. The role of flux limiters schemes namely, Gamma, superBee, van-Albada and van-Leer, is studied in predicting turbulent statistical quantities for a fully developed channel flow with a friction Reynolds number, Re_T = 180, and compared the numerical predictions with the well-established Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) results for studying the wall generated turbulence. It is inferred from the numerical predictions that Gamma, van-Leer and van-Albada limiters produced more diffusion and overpredicted the velocity profiles, while superBee scheme reproduced velocity profiles and turbulence statistical quantities in good agreement with the reference DNS data in the streamwise direction although it deviated slightly in the spanwise and normal to the wall directions. The simulation results are further discussed in terms of the turbulence intensities and Reynolds stresses averaged in time and space to draw conclusion on the flux limiter schemes performance in OpenFOAM context.

Keywords: flux limiters, implicit SGS, MILES, OpenFOAM, turbulence statistics

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Authors: Amin Abbasi, Fariborz Shekari, Seyed Bahman Mousavi

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Seed aging during storage is a complex biochemical and physiological processes that can lead to reduce seed germination. This phenomenon associated with increasing of total antioxidant activity during aging. To study the effects of hormones on seed aging, aged wheat seeds (control, 90 and 80% viabilities) were treated with GA3, Salicylic Acid, and paclobutrazol and antioxidant system were investigated as molecular biomarkers for seed vigor. The results showed that, seed priming treatment significantly affected germination percentage, normality seedling percentage, H2O2, MDA, CAT, APX, and GPX activates. Maximum germination percentage achieve in GA3 priming in control treatment. Germination percentage and normal seedling percentage increased in other GA3 priming treatment compared with other hormones. Also aging increased MDA, H2O2 content. MDA is considered sensitive marker commonly used for assessing membrane lipid peroxidation and H2O2result in toxicity to cellular membrane system and damages to plant cells. Amount of H2O2 and MDA declined in GA3 treatment. CAT, GPX and APX activities were reduced by increasing the aging time and at different levels of priming. The highest APX activity was observed in Salicylic Acid control treatment and the highest GPX and CAT activity was obtained in GA3 control treatment. The lowest MDA and H2O2 showed in GA3 control treatment, too. Hormone priming increased Antioxidant enzyme activity and decreased amount of reactive oxygen space and malondialdehyde (MDA) under aging treatment. Also, GA3 priming treatments have a significant effect on germination percentage and number of normal seedling. Generally aging seed, increase ROS and lipid peroxidation. Antioxidant enzymes activity of aged seeds increased after hormone priming.

Keywords: hormones priming, wheat, aging seed, antioxidant, lipid peroxidation

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Authors: Izabel Cristina Zattar, Gilberto Passos Lima, Guilherme Schünemann de Oliveira

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In Brazil, there are several institutions committed to the development of new businesses based on product innovation. Among them are business incubators, universities and science institutes. Business incubators can be defined as nurseries for new companies, which may be in the technology segment, discussed in this article. Business incubators provide services related to infrastructure, such as physical space and meeting rooms. Besides these services, incubators also offer assistance in the form of information and communication, access to finance, relationship networks and business monitoring and mentoring processes. Business incubators support not all technology companies. One of the business incubators tasks is to assess the nature and feasibility of new business proposals. To assist in this goal, this paper proposes a methodology for evaluating new business using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). This paper presents the concepts used in the assessing methodology application for new business, concepts that have been tested with positive results in practice. This study counts on three main steps: first, a hierarchy was built, based on new business manuals used by the business incubators. These books and manuals relate business selection requirements, such as the innovation status and other technological aspects. Then, a questionnaire was generated, in order to guide incubator experts in the parity comparisons at all hierarchy levels. The weights of each requirement are calculated from information obtained from the questionnaire responses. Finally, the proposed method was applied to evaluate five new business proposals, which were applying to be part of a company incubator. The main result is the classification of these new businesses, which helped the incubator experts to decide what companies were more eligible to work with. This classification may also be helpful to the decision-making process of business incubators in future selection processes.

Keywords: Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Brazilian companies incubators, technology companies, incubator

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Authors: Stehr Melanie

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The availability of apposite information is essential for the decision-making process of organizational buyers. Due to the constraints of the Covid-19 crisis, information channels that emphasize face-to-face contact (e.g. sales visits, trade shows) have been unavailable, and usage of digitally-driven information channels (e.g. videoconferencing, platforms) has skyrocketed. This paper explores the question in which areas the pandemic induced shift in the use of information channels could be sustainable and in which areas it is a temporary phenomenon. While information and buying behavior in B2C purchases has been regularly studied in the last decade, the last fundamental model of organizational buying behavior in B2B was introduced by Johnston and Lewin (1996) in times before the advent of the internet. Subsequently, research efforts in B2B marketing shifted from organizational buyers and their decision and information behavior to the business relationships between sellers and buyers. This study builds on the extensive literature on situational factors influencing organizational buying and information behavior and uses the economics of information theory as a theoretical framework. The research focuses on the German woodworking industry, which before the Covid-19 crisis was characterized by a rather low level of digitization of information channels. By focusing on an industry with traditional communication structures, a shift in information behavior induced by an exogenous shock is considered a ripe research setting. The study is exploratory in nature. The primary data source is 40 in-depth interviews based on the repertory-grid method. Thus, 120 typical buying situations in the woodworking industry and the information and channels relevant to them are identified. The results are combined into clusters, each of which shows similar information behavior in the procurement process. In the next step, the clusters are analyzed in terms of the post and pre-Covid-19 crisis’ behavior identifying stable and dynamic information behavior aspects. Initial results show that, for example, clusters representing search goods with low risk and complexity suggest a sustainable rise in the use of digitally-driven information channels. However, in clusters containing trust goods with high significance and novelty, an increased return to face-to-face information channels can be expected after the Covid-19 crisis. The results are interesting from both a scientific and a practical point of view. This study is one of the first to apply the economics of information theory to organizational buyers and their decision and information behavior in the digital information age. Especially the focus on the dynamic aspects of information behavior after an exogenous shock might contribute new impulses to theoretical debates related to the economics of information theory. For practitioners - especially suppliers’ marketing managers and intermediaries such as publishers or trade show organizers from the woodworking industry - the study shows wide-ranging starting points for a future-oriented segmentation of their marketing program by highlighting the dynamic and stable preferences of elaborated clusters in the choice of their information channels.

Keywords: B2B buying process, crisis, economics of information theory, information channel

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Authors: Isabel Medina, Mario Duran

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Although Problem-based learning provides students with multiple opportunities for rigorous instructional experiences in which students are challenged to address problems in the community; there are still gaps in connecting community leaders to the PBL process. At a south Texas high school, community participation serves as an integral component of the PBL process. Problem-based learning (PBL) has recently gained momentum due to the increase in global communities that value collaboration and critical thinking. As an instructional approach, PBL engages high school students in meaningful learning experiences. Furthermore, PBL focuses on providing students with a connection to real-world situations that require effective peer collaboration. For PBL leaders, providing students with a meaningful process is as important as the final PBL outcome. To achieve this goal, STEM high school strategically created a space for community involvement to be woven within the PBL fabric. This study examines the impact community members had on PBL students attending a STEM high school in South Texas. At STEM High School, community members represent a support system that works through the PBL process to ensure students receive real-life mentoring from business and industry leaders situated in the community. A phenomenological study using a semi-structured approach was used to collect data about students’ perception of community involvement within the PBL process for one South Texas high school. In our proposed presentation, we will discuss how community involvement in the PBL process academically impacted the educational experience of high school students at STEM high school. We address the instructional concerns PBL critics have with the lack of direct instruction, by providing a representation of how STEM high school utilizes community members to assist in impacting the academic experience of students.

Keywords: phenomenological, STEM education, student engagement, community involvement

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Authors: M. Marín-Ferrer, M. A. Hernández, T. Tollefsen, S. Vanzo, E. Nweke, P. V. Tognoli, M. De Cort

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Under the terms of Article 36 of the Euratom Treaty, European Union Member States (MSs) shall periodically communicate to the European Commission (EC) information on environmental radioactivity levels. Compilations of the information received have been published by the EC as a series of reports beginning in the early 1960s. The environmental radioactivity results received from the MSs have been introduced into the Radioactivity Environmental Monitoring database (REMdb) of the Institute for Transuranium Elements of the EC Joint Research Centre (JRC) sited in Ispra (Italy) as part of its Directorate General for Energy (DG ENER) support programme. The REMdb brings to the scientific community dealing with environmental radioactivity topics endless of research opportunities to exploit the near 200 millions of records received from MSs containing information of radioactivity levels in milk, water, air and mixed diet. The REM action was created shortly after Chernobyl crisis to support the EC in its responsibilities in providing qualified information to the European Parliament and the MSs on the levels of radioactive contamination of the various compartments of the environment (air, water, soil). Hence, the main line of REM’s activities concerns the improvement of procedures for the collection of environmental radioactivity concentrations for routine and emergency conditions, as well as making this information available to the general public. In this way, REM ensures the availability of tools for the inter-communication and access of users from the Member States and the other European countries to this information. Specific attention is given to further integrate the new MSs with the existing information exchange systems and to assist Candidate Countries in fulfilling these obligations in view of their membership of the EU. Article 36 of the EURATOM treaty requires the competent authorities of each MS to provide regularly the environmental radioactivity monitoring data resulting from their Article 35 obligations to the EC in order to keep EC informed on the levels of radioactivity in the environment (air, water, milk and mixed diet) which could affect population. The REMdb has mainly two objectives: to keep a historical record of the radiological accidents for further scientific study, and to collect the environmental radioactivity data gathered through the national environmental monitoring programs of the MSs to prepare the comprehensive annual monitoring reports (MR). The JRC continues his activity of collecting, assembling, analyzing and providing this information to public and MSs even during emergency situations. In addition, there is a growing concern with the general public about the radioactivity levels in the terrestrial and marine environment, as well about the potential risk of future nuclear accidents. To this context, a clear and transparent communication with the public is needed. EURDEP (European Radiological Data Exchange Platform) is both a standard format for radiological data and a network for the exchange of automatic monitoring data. The latest release of the format is version 2.0, which is in use since the beginning of 2002.

Keywords: environmental radioactivity, Euratom, monitoring report, REMdb

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Authors: Harman Jaggi, David Steinsaltz, Shripad Tuljapurkar

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Understanding the effect of fluctuations on populations is crucial in the context of increasing habitat fragmentation, climate change, and biological invasions, among others. Migration in response to environmental disturbances enables populations to escape unfavorable conditions, benefit from new environments and thereby ride out fluctuations in variable environments. Would populations disperse if there is no uncertainty? Karlin showed in 1982 that when sub-populations experience distinct but fixed growth rates at different sites, greater mixing of populations will lower the overall growth rate relative to the most favorable site. Here we ask if and when environmental variability favors migration over no-migration. Specifically, in random environments, would a small amount of migration increase the overall long-run growth rate relative to the zero migration case? We use analysis and simulations to show how long-run growth rate changes with migration rate. Our results show that when fitness (dis)advantages fluctuate over time across sites, migration may allow populations to benefit from variability. When there is one best site with highest growth rate, the effect of migration on long-run growth rate depends on the difference in expected growth between sites, scaled by the variance of the difference. When variance is large, there is a substantial probability of an inferior site experiencing higher growth rate than its average. Thus, a high variance can compensate for a difference in average growth rates between sites. Positive correlations in growth rates across sites favor less migration. With multiple sites and large fluctuations, the length of shortest cycle (excursion) from the best site (on average) matters, and we explore the interplay between excursion length, average differences between sites and the size of fluctuations. Our findings have implications for conservation biology: even when there are superior sites in a sea of poor habitats, variability and habitat quality across space may be key to determining the importance of migration.

Keywords: migration, variable-environments, random, dispersal, fluctuations, habitat-quality

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Authors: Kazuki Kamada, Haruka Yamashita

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In Japan, taxi is one of the popular transportations and taxi industry is one of the big businesses. However, in recent years, there has been a difficult problem of reducing the number of taxi drivers. In the taxi business, mainly three passenger catching methods are applied. One style is "cruising" that drivers catches passengers while driving on a road. Second is "waiting" that waits passengers near by the places with many requirements for taxies such as entrances of hospitals, train stations. The third one is "dispatching" that is allocated based on the contact from the taxi company. Above all, the cruising taxi drivers need the experience and intuition for finding passengers, and it is difficult to decide "the destination for cruising". The strong recommendation system for the cruising taxies supports the new drivers to find passengers, and it can be the solution for the decreasing the number of drivers in the taxi industry. In this research, we propose a method of recommending a destination for cruising taxi drivers. On the other hand, as a machine learning technique, the embedding models that embed the high dimensional data to a low dimensional space is widely used for the data analysis, in order to represent the relationship of the meaning between the data clearly. Taxi drivers have their favorite courses based on their experiences, and the courses are different for each driver. We assume that the course of cruising taxies has meaning such as the course for finding business man passengers (go around the business area of the city of go to main stations) and course for finding traveler passengers (go around the sightseeing places or big hotels), and extract the meaning of their destinations. We analyze the cruising history data of taxis based on the embedding model and propose the recommendation system for passengers. Finally, we demonstrate the recommendation of destinations for cruising taxi drivers based on the real-world data analysis using proposing method.

Keywords: taxi industry, decision making, recommendation system, embedding model

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Authors: Felix Eyben, Simon Schaffrath, Markus Feldmann

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A building should maximize the potential for use through its design. Therefore, flexible use is always important when designing a steel structure. To create flexibility, steel beams with web openings are increasingly used, because these offer the advantage that cables, pipes and other technical equipment can easily be routed through without detours, allowing for more space-saving and aesthetically pleasing construction. This can also significantly reduce the height of ceiling systems. Until now, beams with web openings were not explicitly considered in the European standard. However, this is to be done with the new EN 1993-1-13, in which design rules for different opening forms are defined. In order to further develop the design concepts, beams with web openings under bending are therefore to be investigated in terms of damage mechanics as part of a German national research project aiming to optimize the verifications for steel structures based on a wider database and a validated damage prediction. For this purpose, first, fundamental factors influencing the load-bearing behavior of girders with web openings under bending load were investigated numerically without taking material damage into account. Various parameter studies were carried out for this purpose. For example, the factors under study were the opening shape, size and position as well as structural aspects as the span length, arrangement of stiffeners and loading situation. The load-bearing behavior is evaluated using resulting load-deformation curves. These results are compared with the design rules and critically analyzed. Experimental tests are also planned based on these results. Moreover, the implementation of damage mechanics in the form of the modified Bai-Wierzbicki model was examined. After the experimental tests will have been carried out, the numerical models are validated and further influencing factors will be investigated on the basis of parametric studies.

Keywords: damage mechanics, finite element, steel structures, web openings

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Authors: Adrian Lo

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Since the beginning of modern architecture, ideas of free plan and transparency have proliferated well into current trends of building design, from houses to highrise office buildings. The movement’s notion of a spatially homogeneous, open, and limitless ‘free plan’ stands opposite to the spatially heterogeneous ‘separation of rooms’ defined by load-bearing walls, which in turn triggered new notions of transparency achieved by vast expanses of glazed walls. Similarly, transparency was also dichotomized as something that was physical or optical, as well as something conceptual, akin to spatial organization. As opposed to merely accepting the duality and possible incompatibility of these dichotomies, this paper seeks to ask how can space be both literally and phenomenally transparent, as well as display both homogeneous and heterogeneous qualities? This paper explores this potential destabilization or blurring of spatial phenomena by dissecting the transparent layers and volumes of a series of selected case studies to investigate how different architects have devised strategies of spatial ambivalence, ambiguity, and interpenetration. Projects by Peter Eisenman, Sou Fujimoto, and SANAA will be discussed and analyzed to show how the superimposition of geometries and spaces achieve different conditions of layering, transparency, and interstitiality. Their particular buildings will be explored to reveal various innovative kinds of spatial interpenetration produced through the articulate relations of the elements of architecture, which challenge conventional perceptions of interior and exterior whereby visual homogeneity blurs with spatial heterogeneity. The results show how spatial conceptions such as interpenetration and transparency have the ability to subvert not only inside-outside dialectics but could also produce multiple degrees of interiority within complex and indeterminate spatial dimensions in constant flux as well as present alternative forms of social interaction.

Keywords: interpenetration, literal and phenomenal transparency, spatial heterogeneity, visual homogeneity

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Authors: Audrey Ngambia, Ondrej Masek, Valentina Erastova

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Biochar is an amorphous carbon-rich material generated from the pyrolysis of biomass with multifarious properties and functionality. Biochar has shown proven applications in the treatment of flue gas and organic and inorganic pollutants in soil and water/wastewater as a result of its multiple surface functional groups and porous structures. These properties have also shown potential in energy storage and carbon capture. The availability of diverse sources of biomass to produce biochar has increased interest in it as a sustainable and environmentally friendly material. The properties and porous structures of biochar vary depending on the type of biomass and high heat treatment temperature (HHT). Biochars produced at HHT between 400°C – 800°C generally have lower H/C and O/C ratios, higher porosities, larger pore sizes and higher surface areas with temperature. While all is known experimentally, there is little knowledge on the porous role structure and functional groups play on processes occurring at the atomistic scale, which are extremely important for the optimization of biochar for application, especially in the adsorption of gases. Atomistic simulations methods have shown the potential to generate such amorphous materials; however, most of the models available are composed of only carbon atoms or graphitic sheets, which are very dense or with simple slit pores, all of which ignore the important role of heteroatoms such as O, N, S and pore morphologies. Hence, developing realistic models that integrate these parameters are important to understand their role in governing adsorption mechanisms that will aid in guiding the design and optimization of biochar materials for target applications. In this work, molecular dynamics simulations in the isobaric ensemble are used to generate realistic biochar models taking into account experimentally determined H/C, O/C, N/C, aromaticity, micropore size range, micropore volumes and true densities of biochars. A pore generation approach was developed using virtual atoms, which is a Lennard-Jones sphere of varying van der Waals radius and softness. Its interaction via a soft-core potential with the biochar matrix allows the creation of pores with rough surfaces while varying the van der Waals radius parameters gives control to the pore-size distribution. We focused on microporosity, creating average pore sizes of 0.5 - 2 nm in diameter and pore volumes in the range of 0.05 – 1 cm3/g, which corresponds to experimental gas adsorption micropore sizes of amorphous porous biochars. Realistic biochar models with surface functionalities, micropore size distribution and pore morphologies were developed, and they could aid in the study of adsorption processes in confined micropores.

Keywords: biochar, heteroatoms, micropore size, molecular dynamics simulations, surface functional groups, virtual atoms

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Authors: Norbert Tribl

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European contemporary scientific public opinion considers the concept of constitutional identity as a highlighted issue. Some scholars interpret the matter as the manifestation of a conflict of Europe. Nevertheless, constitutional identity is a bridge between the Member States and the EU rather than a river that will wash away the achievements of the integration. In accordance with the opinion of the author, the main problem of constitutional identity in Europe is the undetermined nature: the exact concept of constitutional identity has not been defined until now. However, this should be the first step to understand and use identity as a legal institution. Having regard to this undetermined nature, the legal-theoretical examination of constitutional identity is the main purpose of this study. The concept of constitutional identity appears in the Anglo-Saxon legal systems by a different approach than in the supranational system of European Integration. While the interpretation of legal institutions in conformity with the constitution is understood under it, the European concept is applied when possible conflicts arise between the legal system of the European supranational space and certain provisions of the national constitutions of the member states. The European concept of constitutional identity intends to offer input in determining the nature of the relationship between the constitutional provisions of the member states and the legal acts of the EU integration. In the EU system of multilevel constitutionalism, a long-standing central debate on integration surrounds the conflict between EU legal acts and the constitutional provisions of the member states. In spite of the fact that the Court of Justice of the European Union stated in Costa v. E.N.E.L. that the member states cannot refer to the provisions of their respective national constitutions against the integration. Based on the experience of more than 50 years since the above decision, and also in light of the Treaty of Lisbon, we now can clearly see that EU law has itself identified an obligation for the EU to protect the fundamental constitutional features of the Member States under Article 4 (2) of Treaty on European Union, by respecting the national identities of member states. In other words, the European concept intends to offer input for the determination of the nature of the relationship between the constitutional provisions of the member states and the legal acts of the EU integration.

Keywords: constitutional identity, EU law, European Integration, supranationalism

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: Ya-Ching Fu, An-Kuo Chou, Boon-Fatt Tan, Chi-Nien Chen, Wen-Chien Yang, Pou-Leng Cheong

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Blind oro-/naso-pharyngeal suction and feeding tube placement are very common practices in neonatal intensive care unit. Though esophageal perforation is a rare complication of these instrumentations, its prevalence is highest in extremely premature neonates. Due to its association with significant morbidity (including respiratory deterioration, pneumothorax, and sepsis) and even mortality, it is an important issue to prevent this iatrogenic complication in the field of premature care. We demonstrate an esophageal perforation in an extreme-low-birth-weight neonate after oro-gastric tube placement. This female baby weighing 680 grams was delivered by caesarean section at 25 weeks of gestational age. She initially received oro-tracheal intubation with mechanical ventilation which was smoothly weaned to non-invasive positive-pressure ventilation at 7-day-old. However, after insertion of a 5-French oro-gastric tube, the baby’s condition suddenly worsened with apnea requiring mechanical ventilation. Her chest radiogram showed the oro-gastric tube in right pleural space, and thus another oro-gastric tube was replaced, and its position was radiographically confirmed. The malpositioned tube was then removed. The baby received 2-week course of intravenous antibiotics for her esophageal perforation. Feeding was then reintroduced and increased to full feeds in a smooth course. She was discharged at 107-day-old. Esophageal perforation in newborn is very rare. Sudden respiratory deterioration in a neonate after naso-/oro-gastric tube placement should alarm us to consider esophageal perforation, and further radiological investigation is required for the diagnosis. Tube materials, patient condition, and age are major risk factors of esophageal perforation. The use of softer tube material, such as silicone, in extreme premature baby might prevent this fetal complication.

Keywords: esophageal perforation, preterm, newborn, feeding tube

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Authors: Chittana Phompila

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The current increased population pushes increasing demands for natural resources and living space. In Laos, urban areas have been expanding rapidly in recent years. The rapid urbanization can have negative impacts on landscapes, including forest and agriculture lands. The primary objective of this research were to map current urban areas in a large city in Savannakhet province, in Laos, 2) to compare changes in urbanization between 1990 and 2018, and 3) to estimate forest and agriculture areas lost due to expansions of urban areas during the last over twenty years within study area. Landsat 8 data was used and existing GIS data was collected including spatial data on rivers, lakes, roads, vegetated areas and other land use/land covers). GIS data was obtained from the government sectors. Object based classification (OBC) approach was applied in ECognition for image processing and analysis of urban area using. Historical data from other Landsat instruments (Landsat 5 and 7) were used to allow us comparing changes in urbanization in 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2018 in this study area. Only three main land cover classes were focused and classified, namely forest, agriculture and urban areas. Change detection approach was applied to illustrate changes in built-up areas in these periods. Our study shows that the overall accuracy of map was 95% assessed, kappa~ 0.8. It is found that that there is an ineffective control over forest and land-use conversions from forests and agriculture to urban areas in many main cities across the province. A large area of agriculture and forest has been decreased due to this conversion. Uncontrolled urban expansion and inappropriate land use planning can lead to creating a pressure in our resource utilisation. As consequence, it can lead to food insecurity and national economic downturn in a long term.

Keywords: urbanisation, forest cover, agriculture areas, Landsat 8 imagery

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Authors: Giacoma Pace

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The research seeks to evaluate whether students with impairments can achieve enhanced academic progress by actively engaging in collaborative problem-solving activities with teachers and peers, to overcome the obstacles rooted in socio-economic disparities. Furthermore, the research underscores the significance of fostering students' self-awareness regarding their learning process and encourages teachers to adopt a more interactive teaching approach. The research also posits that reducing conventional face-to-face lessons can motivate students to explore alternative learning methods, such as collaborative teamwork and peer education within the classroom. To address socio-cultural barriers it is imperative to assess their internet access and possession of technological devices, as these factors can contribute to a digital divide. The research features a case study of a Flipped Classroom Learning Unit, administered to six third-year high school classes: Scientific Lyceum, Technical School, and Vocational School, within the city of Turin, Italy. Data are about teachers and the students involved in the case study, some impaired students in each class, level of entry, students’ performance and attitude before using Flipped Classrooms, level of motivation, family’s involvement level, teachers’ attitude towards Flipped Classroom, goal obtained, the pros and cons of such activities, technology availability. The selected schools were contacted; meetings for the English teachers to gather information about their attitude and knowledge of the Flipped Classroom approach. Questionnaires to teachers and IT staff were administered. The information gathered, was used to outline the profile of the subjects involved in the study and was further compared with the second step of the study made up of a study conducted with the classes of the selected schools. The learning unit is the same, structure and content are decided together with the English colleagues of the classes involved. The pacing and content are matched in every lesson and all the classes participate in the same labs, use the same materials, homework, same assessment by summative and formative testing. Each step follows a precise scheme, in order to be as reliable as possible. The outcome of the case study will be statistically organised. The case study is accompanied by a study on the literature concerning EFL approaches and the Flipped Classroom. Document analysis method was employed, i.e. a qualitative research method in which printed and/or electronic documents containing information about the research subject are reviewed and evaluated with a systematic procedure. Articles in the Web of Science Core Collection, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Scopus and Science Direct databases were searched in order to determine the documents to be examined (years considered 2000-2022).

Keywords: flipped classroom, impaired, inclusivity, peer instruction

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Authors: Shahroz Khan, Erkan Gunpinar, Kemal Mart

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Recently parametric design techniques became a vital concept in the field of Computer Aided Design (CAD), which helps to provide sophisticated platform to the designer in order to automate the design process in efficient time. In these techniques, design process starts by parameterizing the important features of design models (typically the key dimensions), with the implementation of design constraints. The design constraints help to retain the overall shape of the model while modifying its parameters. However, the process of initializing an appropriate number of design parameters and constraints is the crucial part of parametric design techniques, especially for complex surface models such as yacht hull. This paper introduces a method to create complex surface models in favor of parametric design techniques, a method to define the right number of parameters and respective design constraints, and a system to implement design parameters in contract to design constraints schema. For this, in our proposed approach the design process starts by dividing the yacht hull into three sections. Each section consists of different shape lines, which form the overall shape of yacht hull. The shape lines are created using Cubic Bezier Curves, which allow larger design flexibility. Design parameters and constraints are defined on the shape lines in 3D design space to facilitate the designers for better and individual handling of parameters. Afterwards, shape modifiers are developed, which allow the modification of each parameter while satisfying the respective set of criteria and design constraints. Such as, geometric continuities should be maintained between the shape lines of the three sections, fairness of the hull surfaces should be preserved after modification and while design modification, effect of a single parameter should be negligible on other parameters. The constraints are defined individually on shape lines of each section and mutually between the shape lines of two connecting sections. In order to validate and visualize design results of our shape modifiers, a real time graphic interface is created.

Keywords: design parameter, design constraints, shape modifies, yacht hull

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Authors: N. V. Kazmiruk, Y. R. Nartsissov

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Phosphate activated glutaminase (GA, E.C. 3.5.1.2) plays a key role in glutamine/glutamate homeostasis in mammalian brain, catalyzing the hydrolytic deamidation of glutamine to glutamate and ammonium ions. GA is mainly localized in mitochondria, where it has the catalytically active form on the inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM) and the other soluble form, which is supposed to be dormant. At present time, the exact localization of the membrane glutaminase active site remains a controversial and an unresolved issue. The first hypothesis called c-side localization suggests that the catalytic site of GA faces the inter-membrane space and products of the deamidation reaction have immediate access to cytosolic metabolism. According to the alternative m-side localization hypothesis, GA orients to the matrix, making glutamate and ammonium available for the tricarboxylic acid cycle metabolism in mitochondria directly. In our study, we used a multi-compartment kinetic approach to simulate metabolism of glutamate and glutamine in the astrocytic cytosol and mitochondria. We used physiologically important ratio between the concentrations of glutamine inside the matrix of mitochondria [Glnₘᵢₜ] and glutamine in the cytosol [Glncyt] as a marker for precise functioning of the system. Since this ratio directly depends on the mitochondrial glutamine carrier (MGC) flow parameters, key observation was to investigate the dependence of the [Glnmit]/[Glncyt] ratio on the maximal velocity of MGC at different initial concentrations of mitochondrial glutamate. Another important task was to observe the similar dependence at different inhibition constants of the soluble GA. The simulation results confirmed the experimental c-side localization hypothesis, in which the glutaminase active site faces the outer surface of the IMM. Moreover, in the case of such localization of the enzyme, a 3-fold decrease in ammonium production was predicted.

Keywords: glutamate metabolism, glutaminase, kinetic approach, mitochondrial membrane, multi-compartment modeling

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Authors: Eniola Akande

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Introduction: English vocabulary and reading comprehension are core to academic achievement in many school subjects. Deficiency in both accounts for dismal performance in internal and external examinations among primary school pupils in Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria. Previous studies largely focused on factors influencing pupils’ achievement in English vocabulary and reading comprehension. In spite of what literature has shown, the problem still persists, implying the need for other kinds of intervention. This study was therefore carried out to determine the effect of two transactional strategies Picture Walk (PW) and Know-Want to Learn-Learnt (KWL) on primary four pupils’ achievement in English vocabulary and reading comprehension in Ibadan Metropolis. The moderating effects of gender and learning style were also examined. Methodology: The study was anchored on Rosenblatt’s Transactional Reading and Piaget’s Cognitive Development theories; pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design with 3x2x3 factorial matrix was adopted. Six public primary schools were purposively selected based on the availability of qualified English language teachers in Primary Education Studies. Six intact classes (one per school) with a total of 101 primary four pupils (48 males and 53 females) participated. The intact classes were randomly assigned to PW (27), KWL (44) and conventional (30) groups. Instruments used were English Vocabulary (r=0.83), Reading Comprehension (r=0.84) achievement tests, Pupils’ Learning Style Preference Scale (r=0.93) and instructional guides. Treatment lasted six weeks. Data were analysed using the Descriptive statistics, Analysis of Covariance and Bonferroni post-hoc test at 0.05 level of significance. The mean age was 8.86±0.84 years. Result: Treatment had a significant main effect on pupils’ reading comprehension (F(2,82)=3.17), but not on English vocabulary. Participants in KWL obtained the highest post achievement means score in reading comprehension (8.93), followed by PW (8.06) and control (7.21) groups. Pupils’ learning style had a significant main effect on pupils’ achievement in reading comprehension (F(2,82)=4.41), but not on English vocabulary. Pupils with preference for tactile learning style had the highest post achievement mean score in reading comprehension (9.40), followed by the auditory (7.43) and the visual learning style (7.37) groups. Gender had no significant main effect on English vocabulary and reading comprehension. There was no significant two-way interaction effect of treatment and gender on pupils’ achievement in English vocabulary and reading comprehension. The two-way interaction effect of treatment and learning style on pupils’ achievement in reading comprehension was significant (F(4,82)=3.37), in favour of pupils with tactile learning style in PW group. There was no significant two-way interaction effect of gender and learning style on pupils’ achievement in English vocabulary and reading comprehension. The three-way interaction effects were not significant on English vocabulary and reading comprehension. Conclusion: Picture Walk and Know-Want to learn-Learnt instructional strategies were effective in enhancing pupils’ achievement in reading comprehension but not on English vocabulary. Learning style contributed considerably to achievement in reading comprehension but not to English vocabulary. Primary school, English language teachers, should put into consideration pupils’ learning style when adopting both strategies in teaching reading comprehension for improved achievement in the subject.

Keywords: comprehension-based intervention, know-want to learn-learnt, learning style, picture walk, primary school pupils

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: Heikki Ruohomaa, Vesa Salminen

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Regions are facing huge competition to attract companies, businesses, inhabitants, students, etc. This way to improve living and business environment, which is rapidly changing due to digitalization. On the other hand, from the industry's point of view, the availability of a skilled labor force and an innovative environment are crucial factors. In this context, qualified staff has been seen to utilize the opportunities of digitalization and respond to the needs of future skills. World Manufacturing Forum has stated in the year 2019- report that in next five years, 40% of workers have to change their core competencies. Through digital transformation, new technologies like cloud, mobile, big data, 5G- infrastructure, platform- technology, data- analysis, and social networks with increasing intelligence and automation, enterprises can capitalize on new opportunities and optimize existing operations to achieve significant business improvement. Digitalization will be an important part of the everyday life of citizens and present in the working day of the average citizen and employee in the future. For that reason, the education system and education programs on all levels of education from diaper age to doctorate have been directed to fulfill this ecosystem strategy. Goal: The Fourth Industrial Revolution will bring unprecedented change to societies, education organizations and business environments. This article aims to identify how education, education content, the way education has proceeded, and overall whole the education business is changing. Most important is how we should respond to this inevitable co- evolution. Methodology: The study aims to verify how the learning process is boosted by new digital content, new learning software and tools, and customer-oriented learning environments. The change of education programs and individual education modules can be supported by applied research projects. You can use them in making proof- of- the concept of new technology, new ways to teach and train, and through the experiences gathered change education content, way to educate and finally education business as a whole. Major findings: Applied research projects can prove the concept- phases on real environment field labs to test technology opportunities and new tools for training purposes. Customer-oriented applied research projects are also excellent for students to make assignments and use new knowledge and content and teachers to test new tools and create new ways to educate. New content and problem-based learning are used in future education modules. This article introduces some case study experiences on customer-oriented digital transformation projects and how gathered knowledge on new digital content and a new way to educate has influenced education. The case study is related to experiences of research projects, customer-oriented field labs/learning environments and education programs of Häme University of Applied Sciences.

Keywords: education process, digitalization content, digital tools for education, learning environments, transdisciplinary co-operation

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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: Manav Sabharwal, Ruda Rai Md, Candace Parker, James Ridley

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Wheat is one of the most commonly consumed grains worldwide, which contains gluten. Nowadays, gluten intake is considered to be a trigger for GRDs, including Celiac disease (CD), a common genetic disease affecting 1% of the US population, non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) and wheat allergy. NCGS is being recognized as an acquired gluten-sensitive enteropathy that is prevalent across age, ethnic and geographic groups. The cause of this entity is not fully understood, and recent studies suggest that it is more common in participants with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), with iron deficiency anemia, symptoms of fatigue, and has considerable overlap in symptoms with IBS and Crohn’s disease. However, these studies were lacking in availability of complete serologies, imaging tests and/or pan-endoscopy. We performed a prospective study of 745 adult patients who presented to an outpatient clinic for evaluation of chronic upper gastro-intestinal symptoms and subsequently underwent an upper endoscopic (EGD) examination as standard of care. Evaluation comprised of comprehensive celiac antibody panel, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) serologic markers, duodenal biopsies and Small Bowel Video Capsule Endoscopy (VCE), when available. At least 6 biopsy specimens were obtained from the duodenum and proximal jejunum during EGD, and CD3+ Intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) and villous architecture were evaluated by a single experienced pathologist, and VCE was performed by a single experienced gastroenterologist. Of the 745 patients undergoing EGD, 12% (93/745) patients showed elevated CD3+ IELs in the duodenal biopsies. 52% (387/745) completed a comprehensive CD panel and 7.2% (28/387) were positive for at least 1 CD antibody (Tissue transglutaminase (tTG), being the most common antibody in 65% (18/28)). Of these patients, 18% (5/28) showed increased duodenal CD3+ IELs, but 0% showed villous blunting or distortion to meet criteria for CD. Surprisingly, 43% (12/28) were positive for at 1 IBD serology (ASCA, ANCA or expanded IBD panel (LabCorp)). Of these 28 patients, 29% (8/28) underwent a SB VCE, of which 100 % (8/8) showed significant jejuno-ileal mucosal lesions diagnostic for IBD. Findings of abnormal CD antibodies (7.2%, 28/387) and increased CD3+ IELs on duodenal biopsy (12%, 93/745) were observed frequently in patients with UGI symptoms undergoing EGD in an outpatient clinic. None met criteria for CD, and a high proportion (43%, 12/28) showed evidence of overlap with IBD. This suggests a potential causal link of acquired GRDs to underlying inflammation and gut mucosal barrier disruption. Further studies to investigate a role for abnormal antigen presentation of dietary gluten to gut associated lymphoid tissue as a cause are justified. This may explain a high prevalence of GRDs in the population and correlation with IBS, IBD and other gut inflammatory disorders.

Keywords: celiac, gluten sensitive enteropathy, lymphocitic enteritis, IBS, IBD

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Authors: Shanza Akram, Sameen Toor, Heba Harb Abu Alkass, Zainab Abdulsalam Altaha, Sara Taha Abdulla, Saleem Imran

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Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common disease and can be fatal. The clinical presentation is variable and nonspecific, making accurate diagnosis difficult. Testing patients with suspected acute PE has increased dramatically. However, the overuse of some tests, particularly CT and D-dimer measurement, may not improve care while potentially leading to patient harm and unnecessary expense. CTPA is the investigation of choice for PE. Its easy availability, accuracy and ability to provide alternative diagnosis has lowered the threshold for performing it, resulting in its overuse. Guidelines have recommended the use of clinical pretest probability tools such as ‘Wells score’ to assess risk of suspected PE. Unfortunately, implementation of guidelines in clinical practice is inconsistent. This has led to low risk patients being subjected to unnecessary imaging, exposure to radiation and possible contrast related complications. Aim: To study the diagnostic yield of CT PA, clinical pretest probability of patients according to wells score and to determine whether or not there was an overuse of CTPA in our service. Methods: CT scans done on patients with suspected P.E in our hospital from 1st January 2014 to 31st December 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Medical records were reviewed to study demographics, clinical presentation, final diagnosis, and to establish if Wells score and D-Dimer were used correctly in predicting the probability of PE and the need for subsequent CTPA. Results: 100 patients (51male) underwent CT PA in the time period. Mean age was 57 years (24-91 years). Majority of patients presented with shortness of breath (52%). Other presenting symptoms included chest pain 34%, palpitations 6%, collapse 5% and haemoptysis 5%. D Dimer test was done in 69%. Overall Wells score was low (<2) in 28 %, moderate (>2 - < 6) in 47% and high (> 6) in 15% of patients. Wells score was documented in medical notes of only 20% patients. PE was confirmed in 12% (8 male) patients. 4 had bilateral PE’s. In high-risk group (Wells > 6) (n=15), there were 5 diagnosed PEs. In moderate risk group (Wells >2 - < 6) (n=47), there were 6 and in low risk group (Wells <2) (n=28), one case of PE was confirmed. CT scans negative for PE showed pleural effusion in 30, Consolidation in 20, atelactasis in 15 and pulmonary nodule in 4 patients. 31 scans were completely normal. Conclusion: Yield of CT for pulmonary embolism was low in our cohort at 12%. A significant number of our patients who underwent CT PA had low Wells score. This suggests that CT PA is over utilized in our institution. Wells score was poorly documented in medical notes. CT-PA was able to detect alternative pulmonary abnormalities explaining the patient's clinical presentation. CT-PA requires concomitant pretest clinical probability assessment to be an effective diagnostic tool for confirming or excluding PE. . Clinicians should use validated clinical prediction rules to estimate pretest probability in patients in whom acute PE is being considered. Combining Wells scores with clinical and laboratory assessment may reduce the need for CTPA.

Keywords: CT PA, D dimer, pulmonary embolism, wells score

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Authors: Ana Belon Hercilla

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The study is developed in “Reactivos Jeans” company, in the city of Arequipa, whose main business is the laundry of garments at an industrial level. In 2012 the company initiated actions to provide a dry cleaning service of alpaca fiber garments, recognizing that this item is in a growth phase in Peru. Additionally this company took the initiative to use a new greenwashing technology which has not yet been developed in the country. To accomplish this, a redesign of both the process and the plant layout was required. For redesigning the plant, the methodology used was the Systemic Layout Planning, allowing this study divided into four stages. First stage is the information gathering and evaluation of the initial situation of the company, for which a description of the areas, facilities and initial equipment, distribution of the plant, the production process and flows of major operations was made. Second stage is the development of engineering techniques that allow the logging and analysis procedures, such as: Flow Diagram, Route Diagram, DOP (process flowchart), DAP (analysis diagram). Then the planning of the general distribution is carried out. At this stage, proximity factors of the areas are established, the Diagram Paths (TRA) is developed, and the Relational Diagram Activities (DRA). In order to obtain the General Grouping Diagram (DGC), further information is complemented by a time study and Guerchet method is used to calculate the space requirements for each area. Finally, the plant layout redesigning is presented and the implementation of the improvement is made, making it possible to obtain a model much more efficient than the initial design. The results indicate that the implementation of the new machinery, the adequacy of the plant facilities and equipment relocation resulted in a reduction of the production cycle time by 75.67%, routes were reduced by 68.88%, the number of activities during the process were reduced by 40%, waits and storage were removed 100%.

Keywords: redesign, time optimization, industrial laundry, greenwashing

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Authors: Rajkumar Ghosh

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Fluoride contamination is a growing concern in various regions across the globe, including North 24 Parganas in West Bengal, India. The presence of excessive fluoride in the environment can have detrimental effects on crops, soil quality, and water resources. This note aims to shed light on the implications of fluoride contamination and its impact on the agricultural sector in North 24 Parganas. The agricultural lands in North 24 Parganas have been significantly affected by fluoride contamination, leading to adverse consequences for crop production. Excessive fluoride uptake by plants can hinder their growth, reduce crop yields, and impact the quality of agricultural produce. Certain crops, such as paddy, vegetables, and fruits, are more susceptible to fluoride toxicity, resulting in stunted growth, leaf discoloration, and reduced nutritional value. Fluoride-contaminated water, often used for irrigation, contributes to the accumulation of fluoride in the soil. Over time, this can lead to soil degradation and reduced fertility. High fluoride levels can alter soil pH, disrupt the availability of essential nutrients, and impair microbial activity critical for nutrient cycling. Consequently, the overall health and productivity of the soil are compromised, making it increasingly challenging for farmers to sustain agricultural practices. Fluoride contamination in North 24 Parganas extends beyond the soil and affects water resources as well. The excess fluoride seeps into groundwater, making it unsafe for consumption. Long-term consumption of fluoride-contaminated water can lead to various health issues, including dental and skeletal fluorosis. These health concerns pose significant risks to the local population, especially those reliant on contaminated water sources for their daily needs. Addressing fluoride contamination requires concerted efforts from various stakeholders, including government authorities, researchers, and farmers. Implementing appropriate water treatment technologies, such as defluoridation units, can help reduce fluoride levels in drinking water sources. Additionally, promoting alternative irrigation methods and crop diversification strategies can aid in mitigating the impact of fluoride on agricultural productivity. Furthermore, creating awareness among farmers about the adverse effects of fluoride contamination and providing access to alternative water sources are crucial steps toward safeguarding the health of the community and sustaining agricultural activities in the region. Fluoride contamination poses significant challenges to crop production, soil health, and water resources in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. It is imperative to prioritize efforts to address this issue effectively and implement appropriate measures to mitigate fluoride contamination. By adopting sustainable practices and promoting awareness, the community can work towards restoring the agricultural productivity, soil quality and ensuring access to safe drinking water in the region.

Keywords: fluoride contamination, drinking water, toxicity, soil health

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