Search results for: Constant Correlation
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 5799

Search results for: Constant Correlation

1389 FT-NIR Method to Determine Moisture in Gluten Free Rice-Based Pasta during Drying

Authors: Navneet Singh Deora, Aastha Deswal, H. N. Mishra

Abstract:

Pasta is one of the most widely consumed food products around the world. Rapid determination of the moisture content in pasta will assist food processors to provide online quality control of pasta during large scale production. Rapid Fourier transform near-infrared method (FT-NIR) was developed for determining moisture content in pasta. A calibration set of 150 samples, a validation set of 30 samples and a prediction set of 25 samples of pasta were used. The diffuse reflection spectra of different types of pastas were measured by FT-NIR analyzer in the 4,000-12,000 cm-1 spectral range. Calibration and validation sets were designed for the conception and evaluation of the method adequacy in the range of moisture content 10 to 15 percent (w.b) of the pasta. The prediction models based on partial least squares (PLS) regression, were developed in the near-infrared. Conventional criteria such as the R2, the root mean square errors of cross validation (RMSECV), root mean square errors of estimation (RMSEE) as well as the number of PLS factors were considered for the selection of three pre-processing (vector normalization, minimum-maximum normalization and multiplicative scatter correction) methods. Spectra of pasta sample were treated with different mathematic pre-treatments before being used to build models between the spectral information and moisture content. The moisture content in pasta predicted by FT-NIR methods had very good correlation with their values determined via traditional methods (R2 = 0.983), which clearly indicated that FT-NIR methods could be used as an effective tool for rapid determination of moisture content in pasta. The best calibration model was developed with min-max normalization (MMN) spectral pre-processing (R2 = 0.9775). The MMN pre-processing method was found most suitable and the maximum coefficient of determination (R2) value of 0.9875 was obtained for the calibration model developed.

Keywords: FT-NIR, pasta, moisture determination, food engineering

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1388 Structural Property and Mechanical Behavior of Polypropylene–Elemental Sulfur (S8) Composites: Effect of Sulfur Loading

Authors: S. Vijay Kumar, Kishore K. Jena, Saeed M. Alhassan

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Elemental sulfur is currently produced on the level of 70 million tons annually by petroleum refining, majority of which is used in the production of sulfuric acid, fertilizer and other chemicals. Still, over 6 million tons of elemental sulfur is generated in excess, which creates exciting opportunities to develop new chemistry to utilize sulfur as a feedstock for polymers. Development of new polymer composite materials using sulfur is not widely explored and remains an important challenge in the field. Polymer nanocomposites prepared by carbon nanotube, graphene, silica and other nanomaterials were well established. However, utilization of sulfur as filler in the polymer matrix could be an interesting study. This work is to presents the possibility of utilizing elemental sulfur as reinforcing fillers in the polymer matrix. In this study we attempted to prepare polypropylene/sulfur nanocomposite. The physical, mechanical and morphological properties of the newly developed composites were studied according to the sulfur loading. In the sample preparation, four levels of elemental sulfur loading (5, 10, 20 and 30 wt. %) were designed. Composites were prepared by the melt mixing process by using laboratory scale mini twin screw extruder at 180°C for 15 min. The reaction time and temperature were maintained constant for all prepared composites. The structure and crystallization behavior of composites was investigated by Raman, FTIR, XRD and DSC analysis. It was observed that sulfur interfere with the crystalline arrangement of polypropylene and depresses the crystallization, which affects the melting point, mechanical and thermal stability. In the tensile test, one level of test temperature (room temperature) and crosshead speed (10 mm/min) was designed. Tensile strengths and tensile modulus of the composites were slightly decreased with increasing in filler loading, however, percentage of elongation improved by more than 350% compared to neat polypropylene. The effect of sulfur on the morphology of polypropylene was studied with TEM and SEM techniques. Microscope analysis revels that sulfur is homogeneously dispersed in polymer matrix and behaves as single phase arrangement in the polymer. The maximum elongation for the polypropylene can be achieved by adjusting the sulfur loading in the polymer. This study reviles the possibility of using elemental sulfur as a solid plasticizer in the polypropylene matrix.

Keywords: crystallization, elemental sulfur, morphology, thermo-mechanical properties, polypropylene, polymer nanocomposites

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1387 Study of Parking Demand for Offices – Case Study: Kolkata

Authors: Sanghamitra Roy

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In recent times, India has experienced the phenomenal rise in the number of registered vehicles and vehicular trips, particularly intra-city trips in most of its urban areas. The increase in vehicle ownership and use have increased parking demand immensely and accommodating the same is now a matter of big concern. Most cities do not have adequate off-street parking facilities thus forcing people to park on the streets. This has resulted in decreased carrying capacity, decreased traffic speed, increased congestion, and increased environmental problems. While integrated multi-modal transportation system is the answer to such problems, parking issues will continue to exist. In Kolkata, only 6.4% land is devoted for roads. The consequences of this huge crunch in road spaces coupled with increased parking demand are severe particularly in the CBD and major commercial areas, making the role of off-street parking facilities in Kolkata even more critical. To meaningfully address parking issues, it is important to identify the factors that influence parking demand so that it can be assessed and comprehensive parking policies and plans for the city can be formulated. This paper aims at identifying the factors that contribute towards parking demand for offices in Kolkata and their degree of correlation with parking demand. The study is limited to home-to-work trips located within Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) where parking related issues are most pronounced. The data for the study is collected through personal interviews, questionnaires and direct observations from offices across the wards of KMC. SPSS is used for classification of the data and analyses of the same. The findings of this study will help in re-assessment of the parking requirements specified in The Kolkata Municipal Corporation Building Rules as a step towards alleviating parking related issues in the city.

Keywords: building rules, office spaces, parking demand, urbanization

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1386 Preserving Urban Cultural Heritage with Deep Learning: Color Planning for Japanese Merchant Towns

Authors: Dongqi Li, Yunjia Huang, Tomo Inoue, Kohei Inoue

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With urbanization, urban cultural heritage is facing the impact and destruction of modernization and urbanization. Many historical areas are losing their historical information and regional cultural characteristics, so it is necessary to carry out systematic color planning for historical areas in conservation. As an early focus on urban color planning, Japan has a systematic approach to urban color planning. Hence, this paper selects five merchant towns from the category of important traditional building preservation areas in Japan as the subject of this study to explore the color structure and emotion of this type of historic area. First, the image semantic segmentation method identifies the buildings, roads, and landscape environments. Their color data were extracted for color composition and emotion analysis to summarize their common features. Second, the obtained Internet evaluations were extracted by natural language processing for keyword extraction. The correlation analysis of the color structure and keywords provides a valuable reference for conservation decisions for this historic area in the town. This paper also combines the color structure and Internet evaluation results with generative adversarial networks to generate predicted images of color structure improvements and color improvement schemes. The methods and conclusions of this paper can provide new ideas for the digital management of environmental colors in historic districts and provide a valuable reference for the inheritance of local traditional culture.

Keywords: historic districts, color planning, semantic segmentation, natural language processing

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1385 Motivation for Work and Organizational Commitment in an Engineering Public Faculty: A Perception of Technical and Administrative Employees

Authors: Fátima Aparecida de Carvalho, Ester Eliane Jeunon

Abstract:

This study addresses issues in the public service: motivation to work and organizational commitment. The goal of this research was to examine how it configures the motivation to work and organizational commitment of the technical and administrative effective staff of the School of Engineering at UFMG. For this purpose a descriptive research under a quantitative and qualitative approach has been performed. In the quantitative research it has been applied a questionnaire to all 146 technical and administrative institution effective staff, that configures a census research. This questionnaire was divided into three parts, the first one aimed at performing a socio-demographic survey of participants, the second one aimed to measure motivation and the third one aimed at measuring organizational commitment. The Bases Organizational Commitment Scale (EBACO) was used in the analysis of data obtained in the third part of the questionnaire. The qualitative research was conducted through interviews with 08 managers, with open-ended questions structured in an analysis category, thus contemplating the administrative structure of the School of Engineering. The results of the research revealed that there is no relevant difference between the hygiene and motivational indices, related to the staff´s gender and area of work. Nonetheless, it was observed higher motivational indices for staff with shorter duration of employment in the institution. Also, the results shown high organizational commitment of the staff with the institution, with a predominance of the component “Requirement for performance”, followed by commitments “Consistent line of activity”, “Affiliative” and “Affective”, which reached almost tge some average in this study. Finally the results showed that all commitment indices have positive moderated correlation to the motivational indices, except the “shortage of alternative” index.

Keywords: motivation to work, organizational commitment, public service, human resources

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1384 Inter-Complex Dependence of Production Technique and Preforms Construction on the Failure Pattern of Multilayer Homo-Polymer Composites

Authors: Ashraf Nawaz Khan, R. Alagirusamy, Apurba Das, Puneet Mahajan

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The thermoplastic-based fibre composites are acquiring a market sector of conventional as well as thermoset composites. However, replacing the thermoset with a thermoplastic composite has never been an easy task. The inherent high viscosity of thermoplastic resin reveals poor interface properties. In this work, a homo-polymer towpreg is produced through an electrostatic powder spray coating methodology. The produced flexible towpreg offers a low melt-flow distance during the consolidation of the laminate. The reduced melt-flow distance demonstrates a homogeneous fibre/matrix distribution (and low void content) on consolidation. The composite laminate has been fabricated with two manufacturing techniques such as conventional film stack (FS) and powder-coated (PC) technique. This helps in understanding the distinct response of produced laminates on applying load since the laminates produced through the two techniques are comprised of the same constituent fibre and matrix (constant fibre volume fraction). The changed behaviour is observed mainly due to the different fibre/matrix configurations within the laminate. The interface adhesion influences the load transfer between the fibre and matrix. Therefore, it influences the elastic, plastic, and failure patterns of the laminates. Moreover, the effect of preform geometries (plain weave and satin weave structure) are also studied for corresponding composite laminates in terms of various mechanical properties. The fracture analysis is carried out to study the effect of resin at the interlacement points through micro-CT analysis. The PC laminate reveals a considerably small matrix-rich and deficient zone in comparison to the FS laminate. The different load tensile, shear, fracture toughness, and drop weight impact test) is applied to the laminates, and corresponding damage behaviour is analysed in the successive stage of failure. The PC composite has shown superior mechanical properties in comparison to the FS composite. The damage that occurs in the laminate is captured through the SEM analysis to identify the prominent mode of failure, such as matrix cracking, fibre breakage, delamination, debonding, and other phenomena.

Keywords: composite, damage, fibre, manufacturing

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1383 The Construct of Assessment Instrument for Value, Attitude and Professionalism among Students Faculty of Sports Science and Coaching

Authors: Ahmad Hashim, Thariq Khan Azizuddin Khan, Zulakbal Abd Karim, Nohazira Abdul Karim

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This research aims to obtain the validity and reliability of a survey instrument to evaluate the values, attitudes, and professionalism of sports science students, from the Faculty of Sports Science and Coaching, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI). It is a survey which is divided into two components namely first; moral, self-esteem, proactive, self-reliant and voluntary and second; ethics and professionalism. Development of the survey instrument is based on the Malaysian Education Development Plan, Higher Education Malaysia. There are 50 items prepared based on the five-point Likert scale which were tested at the pilot test level. It involved 212 research subjects selected based on random sampling. In addition, the research method applied is in the form of pre-experimental one group pre-test-post-test. Results of the analysis showed that overall field expert validity is r = .89, while the Cronbach alpha reliability correlation value of outdoor education instrument evaluation survey is r = .85. Next, this survey was tested again for construct validity using the factor analysis method for statistical analysis which would validate each item tested was supposed to be in the right component. From the analysis, results show that Bartlett's test is significant p < .05 and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin index range is r = .87. The result showed 39 survey items are produced out of 50 items of the survey based on this factor analysis method. Research has shown that the survey instrument developed is valid and reliable to be used for the Faculty of Sports Sciences and Coaching, UPSI.

Keywords: values, attitudes, professionalism, ethics, professionalism

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1382 Use of a Symptom Scale Based on Degree of Functional Impairment for Acute Concussion

Authors: Matthew T. McCarthy, Sarah Janse, Natalie M. Pizzimenti, Anthony K. Savino, Brian Crosser, Sean C. Rose

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Concussion is diagnosed clinically using a comprehensive history and exam, supported by ancillary testing. Frequently, symptom checklists are used as part of the evaluation of concussion. Existing symptom scales are based on a subjective Likert scale, without relation of symptoms to clinical or functional impairment. This is a retrospective review of 133 patients under age 30 seen in an outpatient neurology practice within 30 days of a probable or definite concussion. Each patient completed 2 symptom checklists at the initial visit – the SCAT-3 symptom evaluation (22 symptoms, 0-6 scale) and a scale based on the degree of clinical impairment for each symptom (22 symptoms, 0-3 scale related to functional impact of the symptom). Final clearance date was determined by the treating physician. 60.9% of patients were male with mean age 15.7 years (SD 2.3). Mean time from concussion to first visit was 6.9 days (SD 6.2), and 101 patients had definite concussions (75.9%), while 32 were diagnosed as probable (24.1%). 94 patients had a known clearance date (70.7%) with mean clearance time of 20.6 days (SD 18.6) and median clearance time of 19 days (95% CI 16-21). Mean total symptom score was 27.2 (SD 22.9) on the SCAT-3 and 14.7 (SD 11.9) for the functional impairment scale. Pearson’s correlation between the two scales was 0.98 (p < 0.001). After adjusting for patient and injury characteristics, an equivalent increase in score on each scale was associated with longer time to clearance (SCAT-3 hazard ratio 0.885, 95%CI 0.835-0.938, p < 0.001; functional impairment scale hazard ratio 0.851, 95%CI 0.802-0.902, p < 0.001). A concussion symptom scale based on degree of functional impairment correlates strongly with the SCAT-3 scale and demonstrates a similar association with time to clearance. By assessing the degree of impact on clinical functioning, this symptom scale reflects a more intuitive approach to rating symptoms and can be used in the management of concussion.

Keywords: checklist, concussion, neurology, scale, sports, symptoms

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1381 Utility of Geospatial Techniques in Delineating Groundwater-Dependent Ecosystems in Arid Environments

Authors: Mangana B. Rampheri, Timothy Dube, Farai Dondofema, Tatenda Dalu

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Identifying and delineating groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) is critical to the well understanding of the GDEs spatial distribution as well as groundwater allocation. However, this information is inadequately understood due to limited available data for the most area of concerns. Thus, this study aims to address this gap using remotely sensed, analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and in-situ data to identify and delineate GDEs in Khakea-Bray Transboundary Aquifer. Our study developed GDEs index, which integrates seven explanatory variables, namely, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI), Land-use and landcover (LULC), slope, Topographic Wetness Index (TWI), flow accumulation and curvature. The GDEs map was delineated using the weighted overlay tool in ArcGIS environments. The map was spatially classified into two classes, namely, GDEs and Non-GDEs. The results showed that only 1,34 % (721,91 km2) of the area is characterised by GDEs. Finally, groundwater level (GWL) data was used for validation through correlation analysis. Our results indicated that: 1) GDEs are concentrated at the northern, central, and south-western part of our study area, and 2) the validation results showed that GDEs classes do not overlap with GWL located in the 22 boreholes found in the given area. However, the results show a possible delineation of GDEs in the study area using remote sensing and GIS techniques along with AHP. The results of this study further contribute to identifying and delineating priority areas where appropriate water conservation programs, as well as strategies for sustainable groundwater development, can be implemented.

Keywords: analytical hierarchy process (AHP), explanatory variables, groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs), khakea-bray transboundary aquifer, sentinel-2

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1380 Impact of Climate Variability on Dispersal and Distribution of Airborne Pollen and Fungal Spores in Nsukka, South-East Nigeria: Implication on Public Health

Authors: Dimphna Ezikanyi, Gloria Sakwari

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Airborne pollen and fungal spores are major triggers of allergies, and their abundance and seasonality depend on plant responses to climatic and meteorological variables. A survey of seasonal prevalence of airborne pollen and fungal spores in Nsukka, Enugu, South- East Nigeria and relationship to climatic variables were carried out from Jan-June, 2017. The aim of the study was to access climate change and variability over time in the area and their accrued influence on modern pollen and spores rain. Decadal change in climate was accessed from variables collected from meteorological centre in the study area. Airborne samples were collected monthly using a modified Tauber-like pollen samplers raised 5 ft above ground level. Aerosamples collected were subjected to acetolysis. Dominant pollen recorded were those of Poaceae, Elaeis guinensis Jacq. and Casuarina equisetifolia L. Change in weather brought by onset of rainfall evoked sporulation and dispersal of diverse spores into ambient air especially potent allergenic spores with the spores of Ovularia, Bispora, Curvularia, Nigrospora, Helminthosporium preponderant; these 'hydrophilic fungi' were abundant in the rainy season though in varying quantities. Total fungal spores correlated positively with monthly rainfall and humidity but negatively with temperature. There was a negative though not significant correlation between total pollen count and rainfall. The study revealed a strong influence of climatic variables on abundance and spatial distribution of pollen and fungal spores in the ambient atmosphere.

Keywords: allergy, fungal spores, pollen, weather parameters

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1379 Development of Optimized Eye Mascara Packages with Bioinspired Spiral Methodology

Authors: Daniela Brioschi, Rovilson Mafalda, Silvia Titotto

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In the present days, packages are considered a fundamental element in the commercialization of products and services. A good package is capable of helping to attract new customers and also increasing a product’s purchase intent. In this scenario, packaging design emerges as an important tool, since products and design of their packaging are so interconnected that they are no longer seen as separate elements. Packaging design is, in fact, capable of generating desire for a product. The packaging market for cosmetics, especially makeup market, has also been experiencing an increasing level of sophistication and requirements. Considering packaging represents an important link of communication with the final user and plays a significant role on the sales process, it is of great importance that packages accomplish not only with functional requirements but also with the visual appeal. One of the possibilities for the design of packages and, in this context, packages for make-up, is the bioinspired design – or biomimicry. The bio-inspired design presents a promising paradigm for innovation in both design and sustainable design, by using biological system analogies to develop solutions. It has gained importance as a widely diffused movement in design for environmentally conscious development and is also responsible for several useful and innovative designs. As eye mascara packages are also part of the constant evolution on the design for cosmetics area and the traditional packages present the disadvantage of product drying along time, this project aims to develop a new and innovative package for this product, by using a selected bioinspired design methodology during the development process and also suitable computational tools. In order to guide the development process of the package, it was chosen the spiral methodology, conceived by The Biomimicry Institut, which consists of a reliable tool, since it was based on traditional design methodologies. The spiral design comprises identification, translation, discovery, abstraction, emulation and evaluation steps, that can work iteratively as the process develops as a spiral. As support tool for packaging, 3D modelling is being used by the software Inventor Autodesk Inventor 2018. Although this is an ongoing research, first results showed that spiral methodology design, together with Autodesk Inventor, consist of suitable instruments for the bio-inspired design process, and also nature proved itself to be an amazing and inexhaustible source of inspiration.

Keywords: bio-inspired design, design methodology, packaging, cosmetics

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1378 Fast Bayesian Inference of Multivariate Block-Nearest Neighbor Gaussian Process (NNGP) Models for Large Data

Authors: Carlos Gonzales, Zaida Quiroz, Marcos Prates

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Several spatial variables collected at the same location that share a common spatial distribution can be modeled simultaneously through a multivariate geostatistical model that takes into account the correlation between these variables and the spatial autocorrelation. The main goal of this model is to perform spatial prediction of these variables in the region of study. Here we focus on a geostatistical multivariate formulation that relies on sharing common spatial random effect terms. In particular, the first response variable can be modeled by a mean that incorporates a shared random spatial effect, while the other response variables depend on this shared spatial term, in addition to specific random spatial effects. Each spatial random effect is defined through a Gaussian process with a valid covariance function, but in order to improve the computational efficiency when the data are large, each Gaussian process is approximated to a Gaussian random Markov field (GRMF), specifically to the block nearest neighbor Gaussian process (Block-NNGP). This approach involves dividing the spatial domain into several dependent blocks under certain constraints, where the cross blocks allow capturing the spatial dependence on a large scale, while each individual block captures the spatial dependence on a smaller scale. The multivariate geostatistical model belongs to the class of Latent Gaussian Models; thus, to achieve fast Bayesian inference, it is used the integrated nested Laplace approximation (INLA) method. The good performance of the proposed model is shown through simulations and applications for massive data.

Keywords: Block-NNGP, geostatistics, gaussian process, GRMF, INLA, multivariate models.

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1377 Associations Between Psychological Distress and COVID-19 Disease Course: A Retrospective Cohort Study of 3084 Cases in Belgium

Authors: Gwendy Darras, Mattias Desmet

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Previous research showed that psychological distress has a negative impact on the disease course of viral infections. For COVID-19, the same association was observed in small samples of specific segments of the population (e.g. health care workers). The present study presents a more refined analysis of this association, measuring a broader spectrum of psychological distress in a large sample (n=3084) of the general Flemish population. Several types of psychological distress (state, trait and health anxiety, depression, intra-, and interpersonal stress) are registered throughout three periods: one year before the contamination, one week before the contamination, and during the contamination. In doing so, validated scales such as DASS-21, IIP-32, and FCV-19S are used. Furthermore, the course of COVID-19 is registered in several ways: number of symptoms, number of days sick leave due to COVID-19, and number of days the symptoms have lasted. Also, different control variables such as vaccination status, medical and psychological history are taken into account. Statistical analysis shows that all types of psychological distress are positively correlated with the severity of the COVID-19 disease course. Anxiety during the contamination shows the strongest correlation, but psychological distress one year before the onset of COVID-19 was still significantly associated with the worsening of the disease course. As the assessment of the latter type of distress happened before the onset of the COVID-19 disease course, retrospective bias resulting in artificial associations between self-reported stress and COVID-19 severity is unlikely to have impacted the observations. In view of possible future pandemics, it is important to focus on general stress and anxiety reduction in the general population as soon as possible. It is also advisable to minimize the use of stress-inducing messages to encourage the population to adhere to the measures issued during a pandemic.

Keywords: anxiety, COVID-19, depression, psychoneuroimmunology, psychological distress, stress

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1376 Pyrethroid Resistance and Its Mechanism in Field Populations of the Sand Termite, Psammotermes hypostoma Desneux

Authors: Mai. M. Toughan, Ahmed A. A. Sallam, Ashraf O. Abd El-Latif

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Termites are eusocial insects that are found on all continents except Antarctica. Termites have serious destructive impact, damaging local huts and crops of poor subsistence. The annual cost of termite damage and its control is determined in the billions globally. In Egypt, most of these damages are due to the subterranean termite species especially the sand termite, P. hypostoma. Pyrethroids became the primary weapon for subterranean termite control, after the use of chlorpyrifos as a soil termiticide was banned. Despite the important role of pyrethroids in termite control, its extensive use in pest control led to the eventual rise of insecticide resistance which may make many of the pyrethroids ineffective. The ability to diagnose the precise mechanism of pyrethroid resistance in any insect species would be the key component of its management at specified location for a specific population. In the present study, detailed toxicological and biochemical studies was conducted on the mechanism of pyrethroid resistance in P. hypostoma. The susceptibility of field populations of P. hypostoma against deltamethrin, α-cypermethrin and ƛ-cyhalothrin was evaluated. The obtained results revealed that the workers of P. hypostoma have developed high resistance level against the tested pyrethroids. Studies carried out through estimation of detoxification enzyme activity indicated that enhanced esterase and cytochrome P450 activities were probably important mechanisms for pyrethroid resistance in field populations. Elevated esterase activity and also additional esterase isozyme were observed in the pyrethroid-resistant populations compared to the susceptible populations. Strong positive correlation between cytochrome P450 activity and pyrethroid resistance was also reported. |Deltamethrin could be recommended as a resistance-breaking pyrethroid that is active against resistant populations of P. hypostoma.

Keywords: Psammotermes hypostoma, pyrethroid resistance, esterase, cytochrome P450

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1375 Influence of Magnetized Water on the Split Tensile Strength of Concrete

Authors: Justine Cyril E. Nunag, Nestor B. Sabado Jr., Jienne Chester M. Tolosa

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Concrete has high compressive strength but a low-tension strength. The small tensile strength of concrete is regarded as its primary weakness, which is why it is typically reinforced with steel, a material that is resistant to tension. Even with steel, however, cracking can occur. In strengthening concrete, only a few researchers have modified the water to be used in a concrete mix. This study aims to compare the split tensile strength of normal structural concrete to concrete prepared with magnetic water and a quick setting admixture. In this context, magnetic water is defined as tap water that has undergone a magnetic process to become magnetized water. To test the hypothesis that magnetized concrete leads to higher split tensile strength, twenty concrete specimens were made. There were five groups, each with five samples, that were differentiated by the number of cycles (0, 50, 100, and 150). The data from the Universal Testing Machine's split tensile strength were then analyzed using various statistical models and tests to determine the significant effect of magnetized water. The result showed a moderate (+0.579) but still significant degree of correlation. The researchers also discovered that using magnetic water for 50 cycles did not result in a significant increase in the concrete's split tensile strength, which influenced the analysis of variance. These results suggest that a concrete mix containing magnetic water and a quick-setting admixture alters the typical split tensile strength of normal concrete. Magnetic water has a significant impact on concrete tensile strength. The hardness property of magnetic water influenced the split tensile strength of concrete. In addition, a higher number of cycles results in a strong water magnetism. The laboratory test results show that a higher cycle translates to a higher tensile strength.

Keywords: hardness property, magnetic water, quick-setting admixture, split tensile strength, universal testing machine

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1374 Verification of Satellite and Observation Measurements to Build Solar Energy Projects in North Africa

Authors: Samy A. Khalil, U. Ali Rahoma

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The measurements of solar radiation, satellite data has been routinely utilize to estimate solar energy. However, the temporal coverage of satellite data has some limits. The reanalysis, also known as "retrospective analysis" of the atmosphere's parameters, is produce by fusing the output of NWP (Numerical Weather Prediction) models with observation data from a variety of sources, including ground, and satellite, ship, and aircraft observation. The result is a comprehensive record of the parameters affecting weather and climate. The effectiveness of reanalysis datasets (ERA-5) for North Africa was evaluate against high-quality surfaces measured using statistical analysis. Estimating the distribution of global solar radiation (GSR) over five chosen areas in North Africa through ten-years during the period time from 2011 to 2020. To investigate seasonal change in dataset performance, a seasonal statistical analysis was conduct, which showed a considerable difference in mistakes throughout the year. By altering the temporal resolution of the data used for comparison, the performance of the dataset is alter. Better performance is indicate by the data's monthly mean values, but data accuracy is degraded. Solar resource assessment and power estimation are discuses using the ERA-5 solar radiation data. The average values of mean bias error (MBE), root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) of the reanalysis data of solar radiation vary from 0.079 to 0.222, 0.055 to 0.178, and 0.0145 to 0.198 respectively during the period time in the present research. The correlation coefficient (R2) varies from 0.93 to 99% during the period time in the present research. This research's objective is to provide a reliable representation of the world's solar radiation to aid in the use of solar energy in all sectors.

Keywords: solar energy, ERA-5 analysis data, global solar radiation, North Africa

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1373 The Nexus between Downstream Supply Chain Losses and Food Security in Nigeria: Empirical Evidence from the Yam Industry

Authors: Alban Igwe, Ijeoma Kalu, Alloy Ezirim

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Food insecurity is a global problem, and the search for food security has assumed a central stage in the global development agenda as the United Nations currently placed zero hunger as a goal number in its sustainable development goals. Nigeria currently ranks 107th out of 113 countries in the global food security index (GFSI), a metric that defines a country's ability to furnish its citizens with food and nutrients for healthy living. Paradoxically, Nigeria is a global leader in food production, ranking 1st in yam (over 70% of global output), beans (over 41% of global output), cassava (20% of global output) and shea nuts, where it commands 53% of global output. Furthermore, it ranks 2nd in millet, sweet potatoes, and cashew nuts. It is Africa's largest producer of rice. So, it is apparent that Nigeria's food insecurity woes must relate to a factor other than food production. We investigated the nexus between food security and downstream supply chain losses in the yam industry with secondary data from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAOSTAT) and the National Bureau of Statics for the decade 2012-2021. In analyzing the data, multiple regression techniques were used, and findings reveal that downstream losses have a strong positive correlation with food security (r = .763*) and a 58.3% variation in food security is explainable by post-downstream supply chain food losses. The study discovered that yam supply chain losses within the period under review averaged 50.6%, suggestive of the fact that downstream supply chain losses are the drainpipe and the major source of food insecurity in Nigeria. Therefore, the study concluded that there is a significant relationship between downstream supply chain losses and food insecurity and recommended the establishment of food supply chain structures and policies to enhance food security in Nigeria.

Keywords: food security, downstream supply chain losses, yam, nigeria, supply chain

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1372 Clinical and Radiological Features of Adenomyosis and Its Histopathological Correlation

Authors: Surabhi Agrawal Kohli, Sunita Gupta, Esha Khanuja, Parul Garg, P. Gupta

Abstract:

Background: Adenomyosis is a common gynaecological condition that affects the menstruating women. Uterine enlargement, dysmenorrhoea, and menorrhagia are regarded as the cardinal clinical symptoms of adenomyosis. Classically it was thought, compared with ultrasonography, when adenomyosis is suspected, MRI enables more accurate diagnosis of the disease. Materials and Methods: 172 subjects were enrolled after an informed consent that had complaints of HMB, dyspareunia, dysmenorrhea, and chronic pelvic pain. Detailed history of the enrolled subjects was taken, followed by a clinical examination. These patients were then subjected to TVS where myometrial echo texture, presence of myometrial cysts, blurring of endomyometrial junction was noted. MRI was followed which noted the presence of junctional zone thickness and myometrial cysts. After hysterectomy, histopathological diagnosis was obtained. Results: 78 participants were analysed. The mean age was 44.2 years. 43.5% had parity of 4 or more. heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) was present in 97.8% and dysmenorrhea in 93.48 % of HPE positive patient. Transvaginal sonography (TVS) and MRI had a sensitivity of 89.13% and 80.43%, specificity of 90.62% and 84.37%, positive likelihood ratio of 9.51 and 5.15, negative likelihood ratio of 0.12 and 0.23, positive predictive value of 93.18% and 88.1%, negative predictive value of 85.29% and 75% and a diagnostic accuracy of 89.74% and 82.5%. Comparison of sensitivity (p=0.289) and specificity (p=0.625) showed no statistically significant difference between TVS and MRI. Conclusion: Prevalence of 30.23%. HMB with dysmenorrhoea and chronic pelvic pain helps in diagnosis. TVS (Endomyometrial junction blurring) is both sensitive and specific in diagnosing adenomyosis without need for additional diagnostic tool. Both TVS and MRI are equally efficient, however because of certain additional advantages of TVS over MRI, it may be used as the first choice of imaging. MRI may be used additionally in difficult cases as well as in patients with existing co-pathologies.

Keywords: adenomyosis, heavy menstrual bleeding, MRI, TVS

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1371 Evaluation of the Irritation Potential of Three Topical Formulations of Minoxidil 5% Using Patch Test

Authors: Sule Pallavi, Shah Priyank, Thavkar Amit, Mehta Suyog, Rohira Poonam

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Minoxidil is used topically to help hair growth in the treatment of male androgenetic alopecia. The objective of this study is to compare irritation potential of three conventional formulation of minoxidil 5% topical solution of in human patch test. The study was a single centre, double blind, non-randomized controlled study in 56 healthy adult Indian subjects. Occlusive patch test for 24 hours was performed with three formulation of minoxidil 5% topical solution. Products tested included aqueous based minoxidil 5% (AnasureTM 5%, Sun Pharma, India – Brand A), alcohol based minoxidil 5% (Brand B) and aqueous based minoxidil 5% (Brand C). Isotonic saline 0.9% and 1% w/w sodium lauryl sulphate were included as negative control and positive control respectively. Patches were applied and removed after 24hours. The skin reaction was assessed and clinically scored 24 hours after the removal of the patches under constant artificial daylight source using Draize scale (0-4 points scale for erythema/wrinkles/dryness and for oedema). A combined mean score up to 2.0/8.0 indicates a product is “non-irritant” and score between 2.0/8.0 and 4.0/8.0 indicates “mildly irritant” and score above 4.0/8.0 indicates “irritant”. Follow-up was scheduled after one week to confirm recovery for any reaction. The procedure of the patch test followed the principles outlined by Bureau of Indian standards (BIS) (IS 4011:2018; Methods of Test for safety evaluation of Cosmetics-3rd revision). Fifty six subjects with mean age 30.9 years (27 males and 29 females) participated in the study. The combined mean score (± standard deviation) were: 0.13 ± 0.33 (Brand A), 0.39 ± 0.49 (Brand B), 0.22 ± 0.41 (Brand C), 2.91 ± 0.79 (Positive control) and 0.02 ± 0.13 (Negative control). The mean score of Brand A (Sun Pharma product) was significantly lower than Brand B (p=0.001) and was comparable with Brand C (p=0.21). The combined mean erythema score (± standard deviation) were: 0.09 ± 0.29 (Brand A), 0.27 ± 0.5 (Brand B), 0.18 ± 0.39 (Brand C), 2.02 ± 0.49 (Positive control) and 0.0 ± 0.0 (Negative control). The mean erythema score of Brand A was significantly lower than Brand B (p=0.01) and was comparable with Brand C (p=0.16). Any reaction observed at 24hours after patch removal subsided in a week. All the three topical formulation of minoxidil 5% were non-irritant. Brand A of 5% minoxidil (Sun Pharma) was found to be least irritant than Brand B and Brand C based on the combined mean score and mean erythema score in the human patch test as per the BIS, IS 4011;2018.

Keywords: erythema, irritation, minoxidil, patch test

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1370 Decline in Melon Yield and Its Contribution to Young Farmers' Diversification into Watermelon Farming in Oyo State, Nigeria

Authors: Oyediran Wasiu Oyeleke

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Melon is a popular economic cucurbit in Southwest, Nigeria. In recent time, many young farmers are shifting from melon to watermelon farming due to poor yield and low monetary returns. Hence, this study was carried out to assess the decline in melon yield and its contribution to young farmers’ diversification into watermelon farming in Oyo state, Nigeria. Purposive sampling technique was used in selecting 75 respondents from five villages in Ibarapa block of the Oyo State Agricultural Development Project (ADP). Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). Results show that majority of the respondents (77.3%) were between 31-40 years of age and 46.70% had secondary school education. Most of the respondents (80%) cultivated more than 3 ha of land for watermelon. Majority of the respondents (74.7%) intercropped melon with other crops while watermelon was cultivated as a sole crop. None of the respondents either grew improved melon seeds (certified seeds) or applied fertilizers but all respondents cultivated treated watermelon seeds, applied fertilizers, and agro-chemicals. The average yields of melon fell from 376.53kg/ha in 2009 to 280.70kg/ha in 2011. However, the respondents were shifting into watermelon production because of available quality seeds and its early maturity, easy harvest, and high sales. There was a significant relationship between melon output and young farmers’ diversification to watermelon in the study area at p < 0.05. The study concluded that decline in the melon yield discouraged youth to continue melon farming in the study area. It is hereby recommended that certified melon seeds should be made available while extension service providers should provide training support for the young farmers in order to reposition and boost melon production in the study area.

Keywords: decline, melon yield, contribution, watermelon, diversification, young farmers

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1369 Using Lean-Six Sigma Philosophy to Enhance Revenues and Improve Customer Satisfaction: Case Studies from Leading Telecommunications Service Providers in India

Authors: Senthil Kumar Anantharaman

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Providing telecommunications based network services in developing countries like India which has a population of 1.5 billion people, so that these services reach every individual, is one of the greatest challenges the country has been facing in its journey towards economic growth and development. With growing number of telecommunications service providers in the country, a constant challenge that has been faced by these providers is in providing not only quality but also delightful customer experience while simultaneously generating enhanced revenues and profits. Thus, the role played by process improvement methodologies like Six Sigma cannot be undermined and specifically in telecom service provider based operations, it has provided substantial benefits. Therefore, it advantages are quite comparable to its applications and advantages in other sectors like manufacturing, financial services, information technology-based services and Healthcare services. One of the key reasons that this methodology has been able to reap great benefits in telecommunications sector is that this methodology has been combined with many of its competing process improvement techniques like Theory of Constraints, Lean and Kaizen to give the maximum benefit to the service providers thereby creating a winning combination of organized process improvement methods for operational excellence thereby leading to business excellence. This paper discusses about some of the key projects and areas in the end to end ‘Quote to Cash’ process at big three Indian telecommunication companies that have been highly assisted by applying Six Sigma along with other process improvement techniques. While the telecommunication companies which we have considered, is primarily in India and run by both private operators and government based setups, the methodology can be applied equally well in any other part of developing countries around the world having similar context. This study also compares the enhanced revenues that can arise out of appropriate opportunities in emerging market scenarios, that Six Sigma as a philosophy and methodology can provide if applied with vigour and robustness. Finally, the paper also comes out with a winning framework in combining Six Sigma methodology with Kaizen, Lean and Theory of Constraints that will enhance both the top-line as well as the bottom-line while providing the customers a delightful experience.

Keywords: emerging markets, lean, process improvement, six sigma, telecommunications, theory of constraints

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1368 Effect of Packing Ratio on Fire Spread across Discrete Fuel Beds: An Experimental Analysis

Authors: Qianqian He, Naian Liu, Xiaodong Xie, Linhe Zhang, Yang Zhang, Weidong Yan

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In the wild, the vegetation layer with exceptionally complex fuel composition and heterogeneous spatial distribution strongly affects the rate of fire spread (ROS) and fire intensity. Clarifying the influence of fuel bed structure on fire spread behavior is of great significance to wildland fire management and prediction. The packing ratio is one of the key physical parameters describing the property of the fuel bed. There is a threshold value of the packing ratio for ROS, but little is known about the controlling mechanism. In this study, to address this deficiency, a series of fire spread experiments were performed across a discrete fuel bed composed of some regularly arranged laser-cut cardboards, with constant wind speed and different packing ratios (0.0125-0.0375). The experiment aims to explore the relative importance of the internal and surface heat transfer with packing ratio. The dependence of the measured ROS on the packing ratio was almost consistent with the previous researches. The data of the radiative and total heat fluxes show that the internal heat transfer and surface heat transfer are both enhanced with increasing packing ratio (referred to as ‘Stage 1’). The trend agrees well with the variation of the flame length. The results extracted from the video show that the flame length markedly increases with increasing packing ratio in Stage 1. Combustion intensity is suggested to be increased, which, in turn, enhances the heat radiation. The heat flux data shows that the surface heat transfer appears to be more important than the internal heat transfer (fuel preheating inside the fuel bed) in Stage 1. On the contrary, the internal heat transfer dominates the fuel preheating mechanism when the packing ratio further increases (referred to as ‘Stage 2’) because the surface heat flux keeps almost stable with the packing ratio in Stage 2. As for the heat convection, the flow velocity was measured using Pitot tubes both inside and on the upper surface of the fuel bed during the fire spread. Based on the gas velocity distribution ahead of the flame front, it is found that the airflow inside the fuel bed is restricted in Stage 2, which can reduce the internal heat convection in theory. However, the analysis indicates not the influence of inside flow on convection and combustion, but the decreased internal radiation of per unit fuel is responsible for the decrease of ROS.

Keywords: discrete fuel bed, fire spread, packing ratio, wildfire

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1367 The Relationship of Socioeconomic Status and Levels of Delinquency among Senior High School Students with Secured Attachment to Their Mothers

Authors: Aldrin Avergas, Quennie Mariel Peñaranda, Niña Karen San Miguel, Alexis Katrina Agustin, Peralta Xusha Mae, Maria Luisa Sison

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The research is entitled “The Relationship of Socioeconomic Status and Levels of Delinquency among Senior High School Students with Secured Attachment to their Mothers”. The researchers had explored the relationship between socioeconomic status and delinquent tendencies among grade 11 students. The objective of the research is to discover if delinquent behavior will have a relationship with the current socio-economic status of an adolescent student having a warm relationship with their mothers. The researchers utilized three questionnaires that would measure the three variables of the study, namely: (1) 1SEC 2012: The New Philippines Socioeconomic Classification System was used to show the current socioeconomic status of the respondents, (2) Self-Reported Delinquency – Problem Behavior Frequency Scale was utilized to determine the individual's frequency in engaging to delinquent behavior, and (3) Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment Revised (IPPA-R) was used to determine the attachment style of the respondents. The researchers utilized a quantitative research design, specifically correlation research. The study concluded that there is no significant relationship between socioeconomic status and academic delinquency despite the fact that these participants had secured attachment to their mother hence this research implies that delinquency is not just a problem for students belonging in the lower socio-economic status and that even having a warm and close relationship with their mothers is not sufficient enough for these students to completely be free from engaging in delinquent acts. There must be other factors (such as peer pressure, emotional quotient, self-esteem or etc.) that are might be contributing to delinquent behaviors.

Keywords: adolescents, delinquency, high school students, secured attachment style, socioeconomic status

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1366 Analyzing the Implementation of Education for Sustainability: Focusing on Leadership Skills in Secondary School in Côte d'Ivoire

Authors: Elysee Guy Yohou

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Côte d'Ivoire established a National Commission for Sustainable Development with a view to implementing the ESD. This study aims to understand the knowledge, attitude and practice about education for sustainability of teachers, students, principals, and staff in secondary schools in Côte d’Ivoire while exploring the barriers, levers and examines the leadership skills needed to help carrying out ESD. The data collection took place in October and December 2015. Questionnaires were administered to 400 participants, which involved teachers, students, principals and staff in 25 public and private secondary schools in four regional offices of education. 297 questionnaires were collected producing a collection-rate of 74.25%. Descriptive statistics, independent t-test, dependent sample t-test, One way ANOVA, Pearson correlation were used to analyze the data. Thereupon, knowledge, attitudes about education for sustainability of teachers, principals and staff in secondary school are better than students. However, there is little practice of ESD. 68.3% of participants are not familiar with the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. In addition, 92.8% of schools do not have a school Agenda 21. The major barriers that prevent the teaching of education for sustainability are lack of access to technical tools, insufficient funding and lack of information. The main levers are teacher and staff training, financing, awareness of students, and public engagement. Principals do possess good human and technical skills but limited conceptual skills. The study showed that conceptual and human skills are convenient assets which rhyme more with education for sustainability. Thereupon, if schools’ principal need to improve education for sustainability through practice, they need more conceptual skills.

Keywords: Côte d'Ivoire, education for sustainability, leadership skills, secondary school

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1365 The Correlation between Governance Mechanism and Changing Trends in the Ownership of Mongolian Companies

Authors: Ernest Nweke

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This paper examines the changing trend in ownership of Mongolian companies and how this trend has influenced corporate governance mechanisms in Mongolian companies. A study of this magnitude is essential as it x-rays the systematic transformation of Mongolia’s corporate world from the public to private ownership and the tremendous impact it has had on firm governance mechanisms. Owing to Mongolia’s Soviet past, much of the companies in Mongolia were state-owned, state-directed and state-controlled resulting in serious inefficiencies in these companies. This scenario is antithetical to the economic growth and development of any nation as it is grossly at variance with the fundamental principles of good corporate governance that drive prosperity. Consequently, the Mongolian government has in the past decades fine-tuned government policy to prioritize private ownership, establishing various frameworks that will strengthen corporate governance structures in Mongolia. These efforts have paid off and gone a long way in changing the trend in the ownership of companies in Mongolia reversing the old order. The expectation locally and internationally is that companies in post-socialist Mongolia will be more closely aligned to generally accepted corporate governance mechanisms, generally improving company performance and ultimately returns to shareholders. To achieve the research objectives, the survey research method was employed utilizing a sample of seventy randomly selected listed companies representing 22% of Mongolian Stock Exchange listings. Research hypotheses formulated to guide the conduct of the study were tested using Chi-Square analysis, and results show that ownership trend has drastically changed in the post-socialist Mongolia leading to better corporate governance practices in Mongolian companies. This result has important policy implications.

Keywords: corporate disclosure, free market, private ownership, Mongolia

Procedia PDF Downloads 127
1364 Remodeling of Gut Microbiome of Pakistani Expats in China After Intermittent Fasting/Ramadan Fasting

Authors: Hafiz Arbab Sakandar

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Time-restricted intermittent fasting (TRIF) impacts host’s physiology and health. Plenty of health benefits have been reported for TRIF in animal models. However, limited studies have been conducted on humans especially in underdeveloped economies. Here, we designed a study to investigate the impact of TRIF/Ramadan fasting (16:8) on the modulation of gut-microbiome structure, metabolic pathways, and predicted metabolites and explored the correlation among them at different time points (during and after the month of Ramadan) in Pakistani Expats living in China. We observed different trends of Shannon-Wiener index in different subjects; however, all subjects showed substantial change in bacterial diversity with the progression of TRIF. Moreover, the changes in gut microbial structure by the end of TRIF were higher vis-a-vis in the beginning, significant difference was observed among individuals. Additionally, metabolic pathways analysis revealed that amino acid, carbohydrate and energy metabolism, glycan biosynthesis metabolism of cofactors and vitamins were significantly affected by TRIF. Pyridoxamine, glutamate, citrulline, arachidonic acid, and short chain fatty acid showed substantial difference at different time points based on the predicted metabolism. In conclusion, these results contribute to further our understanding about the key relationship among, dietary intervention (TRIF), gut microbiome structure and function. The preliminary results from study demonstrate significant potential for elucidating the mechanisms underlying gut microbiome stability and enhancing the effectiveness of microbiome-tailored interventions among the Pakistani populace. Nonetheless, extensive, and rigorous large-scale research on the Pakistani population is necessary to expound on the association between diet, gut microbiome, and overall health.

Keywords: gut microbiome, health, fasting, functionality

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1363 The Effects of Functionality Level on Gait in Subjects with Low Back Pain

Authors: Vedat Kurt, Tansel Koyunoglu, Gamze Kurt, Ozgen Aras

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Low back pain is one of the most common health problem in public. Common symptoms that can be associated with low back pain include; pain, functional disability, gait disturbances. The aim of the study was to investigate the differences between disability scores and gait parameters in subjects with low back pain. Sixty participants are included in our study, (35 men, 25 women, mean age: 37.65±10.02 years). Demographic characteristics of participants were recorded. Pain (visual analog scale) and disability level (Oswestry Disability Index(ODI)) were evaluated. Gait parameters were measured with Zebris-FDM-2 platform. Independent samples t-test was used to analyse the differences between subjects with under 40 points (n=31, mean age:35.8±11.3) and above 40 points (n=29, mean age:39.6±8.1) of ODI scores. Significant level in statistical analysis was accepted as 0.05. There was no significant difference between the ODI scores and groups’ ages. Statistically significant differences were found in step width between subjects with under 40 points of ODI and above 40 points of ODI score(p < 0.05). But there were non-significant differences with other gait parameters (p > 0.05). The differences between gait parameters and pain scores were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Researchers generally agree that individuals with LBP walk slower and take shorter steps and have asymmetric step lengths when compared with than their age-matched pain-free counterparts. Also perceived general disability may have moderate correlation with walking performance. In the current study, the patients classified as minimal/moderate and severe disability level by using ODI scores. As a result, a patient with LBP who have higher disability level tends to increase support surface. On the other hand, we did not find any relation between pain intensity and gait parameters. It may be caused by the classification system of pain scores. Additional research is needed to investigate the effects of functionality level and pain intensity on gait in subjects with low back pain under different classification types.

Keywords: functionality, low back pain, gait, pain

Procedia PDF Downloads 273
1362 Incidence of Orphans Neonatal Puppies Attend in Veterinary Hospital – Causes, Consequences and Mortality

Authors: Maria L. G. Lourenço, Keylla H. N. P. Pereira, Viviane Y. Hibaru, Fabiana F. Souza, João C. P. Ferreira, Simone B. Chiacchio, Luiz H. A. Machado

Abstract:

Orphaned is a risk factor for mortality in newborns since it is a condition with total or partial absence of maternal care that is essential for neonatal survival, including nursing (nutrition, the transference of passive immunity and hydration), warmth, urination, and defecation stimuli, and protection. The most common causes of mortality in orphans are related to lack of assistance, handling mistakes and infections. This study aims to describe the orphans rates in neonatal puppies, the main causes, and the mortality rates. The study included 735 neonates admitted to the Sao Paulo State University (UNESP) Veterinary Hospital, Botucatu, Sao Paulo, Brazil, between January 2018 and November 2019. The orphans rate was 43.4% (319/735) of all neonates included, and the main causes for orphaned were related to maternal agalactia/hypogalactia (23.5%, 75/319); numerous litter (15.7%, 50/319), toxic milk syndrome due to maternal mastitis (14.4%, 46/319), absence of suction/weak neonate (12.2%, 39/319), maternal disease (9.4%, 30/319), cleft palate/lip (6.3%, 20/319), maternal death (5.9%, 19/319), prematurity (5.3%, 17/319), rejection/failure in maternal instinct (3.8%, 12/319) and abandonment by the owner/separation of mother and neonate (3.5%, 11/319). The main consequences of orphaned observed in the admitted neonates were hypoglycemia, hypothermia, dehydration, aspiration pneumonia, wasting syndrome, failure in the transference of passive immunity, infections and sepsis, which happened due to failure of identifying the problem early, lack of adequate assistance, negligence and handling mistakes by the owner. The total neonatal mortality rate was 8% (59/735) and the neonatal mortality rate among orphans was 18.5% (59/319). The orphaned and mortality rates were considered high, but even higher rates may be observed in locations without adequate neonatal assistance and owner orientation. The survival of these patients is related to constant monitoring of the litter, early diagnosis and assistance, and the implementation of effective handling for orphans. Understanding the correct handling for neonates and instructing the owners regarding proper handling are essential to minimize the consequences of orphaned and the mortality rates.

Keywords: orphans, neonatal care, puppies, newborn dogs

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1361 Multi-Index Performance Investigation of Rubberized Reclaimed Asphalt Mixture

Authors: Ling Xu, Giuseppe Loprencipe, Antonio D'Andrea

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Asphalt pavement with recycled and sustainable materials has become the most commonly adopted strategy for road construction, including reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and crumb rubber (CR) from waste tires. However, the adhesion and cohesion characteristics of rubberized reclaimed asphalt pavement were still ambiguous, resulting in deteriorated adhesion behavior and life performance. This research investigated the effect of bonding characteristics on rutting resistance and moisture susceptibility of rubberized reclaimed asphalt pavement in terms of two RAP sources with different oxidation levels and two tire rubber with different particle sizes. Firstly, the binder bond strength (BBS) test and bonding failure distinguishment were conducted to analyze the surface behaviors of binder-aggregate interaction. Then, the compatibility and penetration grade of rubberized RAP binder were evaluated by rotational viscosity test and penetration test, respectively. Hamburg wheel track (HWT) test with high-temperature viscoelastic deformation analysis was adopted, which illustrated the rutting resistance. Additionally, a water boiling test was employed to evaluate the moisture susceptibility of the mixture and the texture features were characterized with the statistical parameters of image colors. Finally, the colloid structure model of rubberized RAP binder with surface interaction was proposed, and statistical analysis was established to release the correlation among various indexes. This study concluded that the gel-phase colloid structure and molecular diffusion of the free light fraction would affect the surface interpretation with aggregate, determining the bonding characteristic of rubberized RAP asphalt.

Keywords: bonding characteristics, reclaimed asphalt pavement, rubberized asphalt, sustainable material

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1360 Sleep Disturbance in Indonesian School-Aged Children and Its Relationship to Nutritional Aspect

Authors: William Cheng, Rini Sekartini

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Background: Sleep is essential for children because it provides enhancement for the neural system activities that give physiologic effects for the body to support growth and development. One of the modifiable factors that relates with sleep is nutrition, which includes nutritional status, iron intake, and magnesium intake. Nutritional status represents the balance between nutritional intake and expenditure, while iron and magnesium are micronutrients that are related to sleep regulation. The aim of this study is to identify prevalence of sleep disturbance among Indonesian children and to evaluate its relation with aspect to nutrition. Methods : A cross-sectional study involving children aged 5 to 7-years-old in an urban primary health care between 2012 and 2013 was carried out. Related data includes anthropometric status, iron intake, and magnesium intake. Iron and magnesium intake was obtained by 24-hours food recall procedure. Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) was used as the diagnostic tool for sleep disturbance, with score under 39 indicating presence of problem. Results: Out of 128 school-aged children included in this study, 28 (23,1%) of them were found to have sleep disturbance. The majority of children had good nutritional status, with only 15,7% that were severely underweight or underweight, and 12,4% that were identified as stunted. On the contrary, 99 children (81,8%) were identified to have inadequate magnesium intake and 56 children (46,3%) with inadequate iron intake. Our analysis showed there was no significant relation between all of the nutritional status indicators and sleep disturbance (p>0,05%). Moreover, inadequate iron and magnesium intake also failed to prove significant relation with sleep disturbance in this population. Conclusion: Almost fourth of school-aged children in Indonesia were found to have sleep disturbance and further study are needed to overcome this problem. According to our finding, there is no correlation between nutritional status, iron intake, magnesium intake, and sleep disturbance.

Keywords: iron intake, magnesium intake, nutritional status, school-aged children, sleep disturbance

Procedia PDF Downloads 449