Search results for: early development phase

Authors: Barbara Heinisch, Mikael Snaprud

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A common, well understood language is crucial in critical situations like landing a plane. For e-Government solutions, a clear and common language is needed to allow users to successfully complete transactions online. Misunderstandings here may not risk a safe landing but can cause delays, resubmissions and drive costs. This holds also true for higher education, where misunderstandings can also arise due to inconsistent use of terminology. Thus, language barriers are a societal challenge that needs to be tackled. The major means to bridge language barriers is translation. However, achieving high-quality translation and making texts understandable and accessible require certain framework conditions. Therefore, the EU and individual projects take (strategic) actions. These actions include the identification, collection, processing, re-use and development of language resources. These language resources may be used for the development of machine translation systems and the provision of (public) services including higher education. This paper outlines some of the existing resources and indicate directions for further development to increase the quality and usage of these resources.

Keywords: language resources, machine translation, terminology, translation

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Authors: Nipun Agarwal, David Paul, Fareed Un Din

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Every organization develops a strategy that needs to be implemented and is undertaken through project delivery. In essence, project requirements should exactly replicate an organization’s strategy. In reality this does not happen, and behavioral factors deviate the project delivery from the strategic objectives. This occurs as project stakeholders can have competing objectives. Resultantly, requirements that are implemented through projects are less aligned to the strategy. This paper develops a game theoretic model to simulate why such deviations occur. That explains the difference between strategy development and implementation.

Keywords: strategy, simulation, project management, game theory

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Authors: Danièle Peto

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A qualitative research based on twenty-eight semi-structured interviews of students in Social Work, in Brussels (Belgium), showed specific results for the Arab and Muslim students: second and third generations immigrants build their identity on the basis of a mix of differentiation with and recognition of their parents' culture of origin. Building a bridge between Modernity and Tradition, they claim active citizenship; at the same time they show and live by values and religious believes which reinforce the link to their parents’ origins. But they present those values and believes as their own rational choices among other choices, all available and rich for our multicultural society. The way they speak of themselves is highly modern. But, they still have to build a third way to find a place for themselves in society: one allowing them to live their religion as a partially public matter (when the Occidental society leaves no such place for religion) while ensuring, at the same time, the development of independent critical thought. On this basis, other semi-structured interviews are being laid with Social workers working with families from diverse ethnic backgrounds. They will verify the reality of those identity and cultural bricolages when those young adults of second and third generations build their own family. In between the theoretical models of traditional family and modern family, shall we find a new model, hybrid and more or less stable, combining some aspects of the former and the latter? The exploratory research phase focuses on three aspects of building a family life in this context : the way those generations play, discursively or not, in between their parents and the society in which they grew up; the importance of intercultural dialogue in this process of building; and testing the hypothesis that some families, in our society, show a special way of courting Modernity.

Keywords: family models, identity bricolages, intercultural, modernity and tradition

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Authors: Hajer Chaker Ben Hadj Kacem, Thouraya Slama, Néjiba El Yetim Zribi

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This paper analyzes the effects of gender, affiliation, prior work experience, social work, and vicarious learning through family role models on entrepreneurial skills development by students when they have learned through the entrepreneurship method in Tunisia. Authors suggest that these variables enhance the development of students’ entrepreneurial skills when combined with teaching through entrepreneurship. The article assesses the impact of these combinations by comparing their effects on the development of thirteen students’ entrepreneurial competencies, namely entrepreneurial mindset, core self-evaluation, entrepreneurial attitude, entrepreneurial knowledge, creativity, financial literacy, managing ambiguity, marshaling of resources, planning, teaching methods, entrepreneurial teachers, innovative employee, and Entrepreneurial intention. Authors use a two-sample independent t-test to make the comparison, and the results indicate that, when combined with teaching through the entrepreneurship method, students with prior work experience developed better six entrepreneurial skills; students with social work developed better three entrepreneurial skills, men developed better four entrepreneurial skills than women. However, all students developed their entrepreneurial skills through this practical method regardless of their affiliation and their vicarious learning through family role models.

Keywords: affiliation, entrepreneurial skills, gender, role models, social work, teaching through entrepreneurship, vicarious learning, work experience

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Authors: Z. Arabshahi, I. Afara, A. Oloyede, H. Moody, J. Kashani, T. Klein

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Articular cartilage is a fluid-swollen tissue of synovial joints that functions by providing a lubricated surface for articulation and to facilitate the load transmission. The biomechanical function of this tissue is highly dependent on the integrity of its ultrastructural matrix. Any alteration of articular cartilage matrix, either by injury or degenerative conditions such as osteoarthritis (OA), compromises its functional behaviour. Therefore, the assessment of articular cartilage is important in early stages of degenerative process to prevent or reduce further joint damage with associated socio-economic impact. Therefore, there has been increasing research interest into the functional assessment of articular cartilage. This study developed a characterization parameter for articular cartilage assessment based on the response of cartilage surface to loading/unloading. This is because the response of articular cartilage to compressive loading is significantly depth-dependent, where the superficial zone and underlying matrix respond differently to deformation. In addition, the alteration of cartilage matrix in the early stages of degeneration is often characterized by PG loss in the superficial layer. In this study, it is hypothesized that the response of superficial layer is different in normal and proteoglycan depleted tissue. To establish the viability of this hypothesis, samples of visually intact and artificially proteoglycan-depleted bovine cartilage were subjected to compression at a constant rate to 30 percent strain using a ring-shaped indenter with an integrated ultrasound probe and then unloaded. The response of articular surface which was indirectly loaded was monitored using ultrasound during the time of loading/unloading (deformation/recovery). It was observed that the rate of cartilage surface response to loading/unloading was different for normal and PG-depleted cartilage samples. Principal Component Analysis was performed to identify the capability of the cartilage surface response to loading/unloading, to distinguish between normal and artificially degenerated cartilage samples. The classification analysis of this parameter showed an overlap between normal and degenerated samples during loading. While there was a clear distinction between normal and degenerated samples during unloading. This study showed that the cartilage surface response to loading/unloading has the potential to be used as a parameter for cartilage assessment.

Keywords: cartilage integrity parameter, cartilage deformation/recovery, cartilage functional assessment, ultrasound

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Authors: Martin Georgiev, Milena Nanova, Damyan Damov

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Architects, engineers, and developers need to analyse and implement a wide spectrum of data in different formats, if they want to produce viable residential developments. Usually, this data comes from a number of different sources and is not well structured. The main objective of this research project is to provide parametric tools working with real geodesic data that can generate residential solutions. Various codes, regulations and design constraints are described by variables and prioritized. In this way, we establish a common workflow for architects, geodesists, and other professionals involved in the building and investment process. This collaborative medium ensures that the generated design variants conform to various requirements, contributing to a more streamlined and informed decision-making process. The quantification of distinctive characteristics inherent to typical residential structures allows a systematic evaluation of the generated variants, focusing on factors crucial to designers, such as daylight simulation, circulation analysis, space utilization, view orientation, etc. Integrating real geodesic data offers a holistic view of the built environment, enhancing the accuracy and relevance of the design solutions. The use of generative algorithms and parametric models offers high productivity and flexibility of the design variants. It can be implemented in more conventional CAD and BIM workflow. Experts from different specialties can join their efforts, sharing a common digital workspace. In conclusion, our research demonstrates that a generative parametric approach based on real geodesic data and collaborative decision-making could be introduced in the early phases of the design process. This gives the designers powerful tools to explore diverse design possibilities, significantly improving the qualities of the building investment during its entire lifecycle.

Keywords: architectural design, residential buildings, urban development, geodesic data, generative design, parametric models, workflow optimization

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Authors: Shashank Bahri, Divyanshu Arya, Rajni Jain, Sreedevi Upadhyayula

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Petroleum products can be obtained from syngas catalytic conversion using Fischer Tropsch Reaction. The liquid fuels obtained from FTS are sulphur and nitrogen free and thus may easily meet the increasing stringent environment regulations. In the present work we have synthesized Meso porous ZSM-5 supported catalyst. Meso structure were created in H-ZSM-5 crystallites by demetalation via subsequent base and acid treatment. Desilication through base treatment provides H-ZSM-5 with pore size and volumes similar to amorphous SiO2 (Conventional Carrier). Modifying the zeolite texture and surface chemistry by Desilication and acid washing alters its accessibility and interactions with metal phase and consequently the CO adsorption behavior and hydrocarbon product distribution. Increasing the mesoporosity via desilication provides the micro porous zeolite with essential surface area to support optimally sized metal crystallites. This improves the metal dispersion and hence improve the activity of the catalyst. Transition metal (Co) was loaded using wet impregnation method. Synthesized catalysts were characterized by Infrared Spectroscopy, Powdered X-Ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), BET Method analytical techniques. Acidity of the catalyst which plays an important role in FTS reaction was measured by DRIFT setup pyridine adsorption instead of NH3 Temperature Programmed Desorption. The major difference is that, Pyridine Adsorption can distinguish between Lewis acidity and Bronsted Acidity, thus giving their relative strengths in the catalyst sample, whereas TPD gives total acidity including Lewis and Bronsted ones.

Keywords: mesopourus, fischer tropsch reaction, pyridine adsorrption, drift study

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Authors: Seung Oh, Satoshi Okada

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This study is information-intensive research that provides insight from the factual history, social perception, and robust ideas derived from the social conflict in the most progressively thriving district in the world, Times Square. The case study provides the socio-environmental setup since the Inceptive Point of the development, the Great Depression, the history archives, and evaluation based on the master-level journals as standard. The Great Depression invited macro-sized changes, including financial systems, to raise fluidity by gutting off the debt limit by the gold value, organizing the labor, and social problems in the major cities. The locality of Times Square was implemented by the socio-political changes, overturning ownerships of properties, including theaters, delocalizing tourism, and re-entering the labors with organizations through infrastructure projects and civil activities for minorities and preservations amid the progressive developments over time. Naturally, chasing the media for factual research before and after Inceptive Points. Times Square is understood not just the ‘tower with subway’ progression but also social conflicts raised for adjustment for civil rights, preservations, and progression to deliver the environmental background to trigger the 42nd Street Development (42DP) in the 1990s.

Keywords: development, district, progressive, preservation, social conflict, value chasing

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Authors: Lior Rake, Shmulik Pinkert

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Methane hydrate has been found in significant quantities in soils offshore within continental margins and in permafrost within arctic regions where low temperature and high pressure are present. The mechanical parameters for geotechnical engineering are commonly evaluated in geomechanical laboratories adapted to simulate the environmental conditions of methane hydrate-bearing sediments (MHBS). Due to the complexity and high cost of natural MHBS sampling, most laboratory investigations are conducted on artificially formed samples. MHBS artificial samples can be formed using different hydrate formation methods in the laboratory, where methane gas and water are supplied into the soil pore space under the methane hydrate phase conditions. The most commonly used formation method is the excess gas method which is considered a relatively simple, time-saving, and repeatable testing method. However, there are several differences in the procedures and techniques used to produce the hydrate using the excess gas method. As a result of the difference between the test facilities and the experimental approaches that were carried out in previous studies, different measurement criteria and analyses were proposed for MHBS geomechanics. The lack of uniformity among the various experimental investigations may adversely impact the reliability of integrating different data sets for unified mechanical model development. In this work, we address some fundamental aspects relevant to reliable MHBS geomechanical investigations, such as hydrate homogeneity in the sample, the hydrate formation duration criterion, the hydrate-saturation evaluation method, and the effect of temperature measurement accuracy. Finally, a set of recommendations for repeatable and reliable MHBS formation will be suggested for future standardization of MHBS geomechanical investigation.

Keywords: experimental study, laboratory investigation, excess gas, hydrate formation, standardization, methane hydrate-bearing sediment

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Authors: E. N. Vetrova, L.V. Lapochkina, N. V. Nikulina

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In the national economy, entrepreneurship plays the role of a buffer between economy and policy for it contributes to improving budget effectiveness and decreasing dependence of economy on the state. Entrepreneurship in industry makes it possible to increase the added value that is formed in production chains and to decrease dependence on import. Under the current circumstances, when sanctions are being imposed, this is especially relevant for Russia and for the realization of projects in the Russian Arctic. However, development of entrepreneurship in industry requires an enlightened state policy. The purpose of the research is elaboration of recommendations for improving economic effectiveness of the realization of the Arctic projects on the basis of conceptual proposals for the development of entrepreneurship in industry. The paper presents the studies of the extractive industry role in the Russian economy and proves its raw material character. The analysis of production chains in industry on the basis of the conception of the added value global chains demonstrated a low added value formed by Russian companies. The study of changes in the structure of economy based on systemic, statistical and comparative analyses revealed no positive changes in the structure of economy over the period under consideration. This is a manifestation of ineffectiveness of the Russian industrial policy in general and within the Arctic region in particular. The authors identified the problems information and implementation of the state industrial policy in the Arctic region and in the development of national entrepreneurship, analyzed the shortcomings of the current state policy in the sphere of the Russian industry. On the basis of the conducted studies, the authors formulated conceptual approaches to change the state policy in the Arctic. The basic idea of the authors is to substantiate the focus of the state regulation on the development of entrepreneurship in industry in the process of the Russian Arctic exploration. At the same time another problem is solved–that of the development of the manufacturing industry in the southern regions of the northwestern part of Russia. The criterion of effectiveness in this case is the economic effectiveness.

Keywords: entrepreneurship in industry, global chains of the added value, government regulation, industrial policies, production chains in the arctic region, economic effectiveness

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Authors: Olumuyiwa Ojo, Masengo Ilunga

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Artificial neural network (ANN) has broken the bounds of the convention programming, which is actually a function of garbage in garbage out by its ability to mimic the human brain. Its ability to adopt, adapt, adjust, evaluate, learn and recognize the relationship, behavior, and pattern of a series of data set administered to it, is tailored after the human reasoning and learning mechanism. Thus, the study aimed at modeling wastewater treatment process in order to accurately diagnose water control problems for effective treatment. For this study, a stage ANN model development and evaluation methodology were employed. The source data analysis stage involved a statistical analysis of the data used in modeling in the model development stage, candidate ANN architecture development and then evaluated using a historical data set. The model was developed using historical data obtained from Daspoort Wastewater Treatment plant South Africa. The resultant designed dimensions and model for wastewater treatment plant provided good results. Parameters considered were temperature, pH value, colour, turbidity, amount of solids and acidity. Others are total hardness, Ca hardness, Mg hardness, and chloride. This enables the ANN to handle and represent more complex problems that conventional programming is incapable of performing.

Keywords: ANN, artificial neural network, wastewater treatment, model, development

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Authors: Sehijpal Singh Khangura, Jai Inder Preet Singh, Vikas Dhawan

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Global warming, growing awareness of the environment, waste management issues, dwindling fossil resources, and rising oil prices resulted to increase the research in the materials that are friendly to our health and environment. Due to these reasons, green products are increasingly being promoted for sustainable development. In this work, fully biodegradable green composites have been developed using jute fibers as reinforcement and poly lactic acid as matrix material by film stacking technique. The effect of curing temperature during development of composites ranging from 160 °C, 170 °C, 180 °C and 190 °C was investigated for various mechanical properties. Results obtained from various tests indicate that impact strength decreases with an increase in curing temperature, but tensile and flexural strength increases till 180 °C, thereafter both the properties decrease. This study gives an optimum curing temperature for the development of jute/PLA composites.

Keywords: natural fibers, polymer matrix composites, jute, compression molding, biodegradation

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Authors: Vijaya Kumar, Vidayasagar Pagilla, Abraham Joshua, Rakshith Kedambadi, Prasanna Mithra

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Background: Post stroke rehabilitation are aimed to accelerate for optimal sensorimotor recovery, functional gain and to reduce long-term dependency. Intensive physical therapy interventions can enhance this recovery as experience-dependent neural plastic changes either directly act at cortical neural networks or at distal peripheral level (muscular components). Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES), a traditional bottom-up approach, mirror therapy (MT), a relatively new top down approach have found to be an effective adjuvant treatment methods for lower extremity motor and functional recovery in stroke rehabilitation. However there is a scarcity of evidence to compare their therapeutic gain in stroke recovery.Aim: To compare the efficacy of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and mirror therapy (MT) in very early phase of post stroke rehabilitation addressed to lower extremity motor recovery and balance. Design: observer blinded Randomized Clinical Trial. Setting: Neurorehabilitation Unit, Department of Physical Therapy, Tertiary Care Hospitals. Subjects: 32 acute stroke subjects with first episode of unilateral stroke with hemiparesis, referred for rehabilitation (onset < 3 weeks), Brunnstorm lower extremity recovery stages ≥3 and MMSE score more than 24 were randomized into two group [Group A-NMES and Group B-MT]. Interventions: Both the groups received eclectic approach to remediate lower extremity recovery which includes treatment components of Roods, Bobath and Motor learning approaches for 30 minutes a day for 6 days. Following which Group A (N=16) received 30 minutes of surface NMES training for six major paretic muscle groups (gluteus maximus and medius,quadriceps, hamstrings, tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius). Group B (N=16) was administered with 30 minutes of mirror therapy sessions to facilitate lower extremity motor recovery. Outcome measures: Lower extremity motor recovery, balance and activities of daily life (ADLs) were measured by Fugyl Meyer Assessment (FMA-LE), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Barthel Index (BI) before and after intervention. Results: Pre Post analysis of either group across the time revealed statistically significant improvement (p < 0.001) for all the outcome variables for the either group. All parameters of NMES had greater change scores compared to MT group as follows: FMA-LE (25.12±3.01 vs. 23.31±2.38), BBS (35.12±4.61 vs. 34.68±5.42) and BI (40.00±10.32 vs. 37.18±7.73). Between the groups comparison of pre post values showed no significance with FMA-LE (p=0.09), BBS (p=0.80) and BI (p=0.39) respectively. Conclusion: Though either groups had significant improvement (pre to post intervention), none of them were superior to other in lower extremity motor recovery and balance among acute stroke subjects. We conclude that eclectic approach is an effective treatment irrespective of NMES or MT as an adjunct.

Keywords: balance, motor recovery, mirror therapy, neuromuscular electrical stimulation, stroke

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Authors: Laura Beckmann, Sabrina Rutter, Isabell Van Ackeren, Nina Bremm, Esther Dominique Klein, Kathrin Racherbäumer

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Current evidence demonstrates that schools in socially disadvantaged contexts are often characterized by lower school performance and lower educational qualifications among the student body, compared to schools in more privileged socio-spacial contexts. At the same time, national and international findings on schools with structural and social challenges show that certain school and classroom development strategies, as well as human and material resources, can significantly contribute to improved school performance of students. The aim of this contribution is to present a 6-year mixed-methods study (Talent Schools in North Rhine-Westphalia), which is designed as a school experiment addressing the well-acknowledged inequality of educational opportunities in the German school system. Started in the year 2019 and funded by the Ministry for School and Education of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the study targets schools in socio-spatially disadvantaged areas, which have increasingly been the focus of both public debate and educational policy. In the German-speaking countries, however, there is little knowledge available on the structure and design of complex strategies for school and classroom development that describe successful approaches to the further development of schools in disadvantaged locations in a process-oriented manner. Given these shortcomings, the present study aims at a longitudinal analysis of school and classroom development processes within 60 ‘talent schools’, whereby concrete micro-progressions within individual schools are documented and aggregated to general processes that may either impede or promote development. The main research question is the following: With the help of which strategies and (teaching) concepts, with which use of resources and with which forms of cooperation can schools contribute to the development of student achievement, including educational qualifications and transition rates in education and employment? Thus, the ‘talent schools’ may serve as examples of how social background can successfully be decoupled from educational success at schools with special structural and procedural challenges. The major chances and challenges of this project will be discussed.

Keywords: educational inequality, school development, student achievement, mixed-methods study

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Authors: Jenn Gallup, Onur Kocaoz, Onder Islek

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In their pursuit of postsecondary transitions, individuals with disabilities tend to experience, academic, behavioral, and emotional challenges to a greater extent than their typically developing peers. These challenges result in lower rates of graduation, employment, independent living, and participation in college than their peers without disabilities. The lack of friendships and support systems has had a negative impact on those with a disability transitioning to postsecondary settings to include, employment, independent living, and university settings. Establishing friendships and support systems early on is an indicator of potential success and persistence in postsecondary education, employment, and independent living for typically developing college students. It is evident that a deficit in friendships and supports is a key deficit also for individuals with disabilities. To address the specific needs of this group, a mentor program was developed for a transition program held at the university for youth aged 18-21. Pre-service teachers enrolled in the special education program engaged with youth in the transition program in a variety of activities on campus. The mentorship program had two purposes: to assist young adults with disabilities who were transitioning to a workforce setting to help increase social skills, self-advocacy, supports and friendships, and confidence; and to give their peers without disabilities who were enrolled in a secondary special education course as a pre-service teacher the experience of interacting with and forming friendships with peers who had a disability for the purposes of career development. Additionally, according to researchers mobile technology has created a virtual world of equality and opportunity for a large segment of the population that was once marginalized due to physical and cognitive impairments. All of the participants had access to smart phones; therefore, technology was explored during this study to determine if it could be used as a compensatory tool to allow the young adults with disabilities to do things that otherwise would have been difficult because of their disabilities. Additionally, all participants were asked to incorporate technology such as smart phones to communicate beyond the activities, collaborate using virtual platform games which would support and promote social skills, soft-skills, socialization, and relationships. The findings of this study confirmed that a peer mentorship program that harnessed the power of technology supported outcomes specific to young adults with and without disabilities. Mobile technology and virtual game-based platforms, were identified as a significant contributor to personal, academic, and career growth for both groups. The technology encouraged friendships, provided an avenue for rich social interactions, and increased soft-skills. Results will be shared along with the development of the program and potential implications to the field.

Keywords: career outcomes, mentorship, soft-skills, technology, transition

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Authors: H. Hakim, C. Kibert, C. Fabre, S. Monadizadeh

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Construction industry is an industry saddled with chronic problems of high waste generation. Waste management that is to ensure materials are utilized in an efficient manner would make a major contribution to mitigating the negative environmental impacts of construction waste including finite resources depletion and growing occupied landfill areas to name a few. Furthermore, ‘material resource efficiency’ has been found an economically smart approach specially when considered during the design phase. One effective strategy is to utilizing off-site construction process which includes a series of prefabricated systems such as mobile, modular, and HUD construction (Department of Housing and Urban Development manufactured buildings). These types of buildings are by nature material and resource-efficient. Despite conventional construction that is exposed to adverse weather conditions, manufactured construction production line is capable of creating repetitive units in a factory controlled environment. A factory can have several parallel projects underway with a high speed and in a timely manner which simplifies the storage of excess materials and re-allocating to the next projects. The literature reports that prefabricated construction significantly helps reduce errors, site theft, rework, and delayed problems and can ultimately lead to a considerable waste reduction. However, there is not sufficient data to quantify this reduction when it comes to a regular modular house in the U.S. Therefore, this manuscript aims to provide an analysis of waste originated from a manufactured factory trend. The analysis was made possible with several visits and data collection of Homes of Merits, a Florida Manufactured and Modular Homebuilder. The results quantify and verify a noticeable construction waste reduction.

Keywords: construction waste, modular construction, prefabricated buildings, waste management

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Authors: S. Yesmin, N. F.Rahman, R. Akther, T. Begum, T. Tahmid, T. Chowdury, S. Afrin, J. D. Hamadani

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Abstract: Maternal depression is one of the risk factors of developmental delay in young children in low-income countries. Maternal depressions during pregnancy are rarely reported in Bangladesh. Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to examine the efficacy of a community based psychosocial intervention on women with mild to moderate depressive illness during the perinatal period and on their children from birth to 12 months on mothers’ mental status and their infants’ growth and development. Methodology: The study followed a prospective longitudinal approach with a randomized controlled design. Total 250 pregnant women aged between 15 and 40 years were enrolled in their third trimester of pregnancy of which 125 women were in the intervention group and 125 in the control group. Women in the intervention group received the “Thinking Healthy (CBT based) program” at their home setting, from their last month of pregnancy till 10 months after delivery. Their children received psychosocial stimulation from birth till 12 months. The following instruments were applied to get the outcome information- Bangla version of Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (BEPDS), Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI), Maternal Attachment Inventory (MAI), Bayley Scale of Infant Development-Third version (Bayley–III) and Family Care Indicator (FCI). In addition, sever morbidity; breastfeeding, immunization, socio-economic and demographic information were collected. Data were collected at three time points viz. baseline, midline (6 months after delivery) and endline (12 months after delivery). Results: There was no significant difference between any of the socioeconomic and demographic variables at baseline. A very preliminary analysis of the data shows an intervention effect on Socioemotional behaviour of children at endline (p<0.001), motor development at midline (p=0.016) and at endline (p=0.065), language development at midline (p=0.004) and at endline (p=0.023), cognitive development at midline (p=0.008) and at endline (p=0.002), and quality of psychosocial stimulation at midline (p=0.023) and at endline (p=0.010). EPDS at baseline was not different between the groups (p=0.419), but there was a significant improvement at midline (p=0.027) and at endline (p=0.024) between the groups following the intervention. Conclusion: Psychosocial intervention is found effective in reducing women’s low and moderate depressive illness to cope with mental health problem and improving development of young children in Bangladesh.

Keywords: mental health, maternal depression, infant development, CBT, EPDS

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Authors: Naniek Widayati Priyomarsono

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Introduction: In beginning of Karaton formation, namely, era of Javanese kingdom town had the power region outside castle town (called as Mancanegara), settlement of karaton can function as “the space-between” and “space-defense”, besides it was one of components from governmental structure and karaton power at that time (internal servant/abdi dalem and sentana dalem). Upon the Independence of Indonesia in 1945 “Kingdom-City” converted its political status into part of democratic town managed by statutes based on the classification. The latter affects local culture hierarchy alteration due to the physical development and events. Dynamics of social economy activities in Kampung Karaton surrounded by buildings of Complex of Karaton Kasunanan ini, have impact on the urban system disturbed into the región. Also cultural region image fades away with the weak visual access from existant cultural artefacts. That development lacks of giving appreciation to the established region image providing identity of Karaton Kasunanan particularly and identity of Surakarta city in general. Method used is strategy of grounded theory research (research providing strong base of a theory). Research is focused on actors active and passive relevantly getting involved in change process of Karaton settlement. Data accumulated is “Investigation Focus” oriented on actors affecting that change either internal or external. Investigation results are coupled with field observation data, documentation, literature study, thus it takes accurate findings. Findings: Karaton village has potential products as attraction, possessing human resource support, strong motivation from society still living in that settlement, possessing facilities and means supports, tourism event-supporting facilities, cultural art institution, available fields or development area. Data analyzed: To get the expected result it takes restoration in social cultural development direction, and economy, with ways of: Doing social cultural development strategy, economy, and politics. To-do steps are program socialization of Karaton village as Tourism Village, economical development of local society, regeneration pattern, filtering, and selection of tourism development, integrated planning system development, development with persuasive approach, regulation, market mechanism, social cultural event sector development, political development for region activity sector. Summary: In case the restoration is done by getting society involved as subject of that settlement (active participation in the field), managed and packed interestingly and naturally with tourism-supporting facilities development, village of Karaton Kasunanan Surakarta is ready to receive visit of domestic and foreign tourists.

Keywords: karaton village, finding, restoration, economy, Indonesia

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Authors: Chao Jen-Chih, Kuo-Wei Hsu

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Many venues and spaces in cities gradually become old and decayed as time goes by and develops. Urban regeneration is the critical strategy to promote local development, but the method of spatial reconstruction which is emphasized in the issue of urban regeneration is questioned for bringing cultural, social and economic impacts on old city areas. The idea of “Urban Regeneration Station (URS)” is proposed for Taipei City Government to introduce the entry and disturbance of communities and related groups with the concept of creative city. This study explored how an URS promotes local development again through the strength of communities and the energy of local residence community, and it established the Platform Strategy for URS. The research results are as follows: URS through the promotion of government agencies, experts, scholars and the third sector, to the selection of different types of units stationed in business, through exhibitions, seminars, and other activities to explore local development issues, vetting each stationed execution efficiency units, and different units stationed by URS establish URS overall network platform strategy.

Keywords: urban regeneration, platform strategy, creative city, Taipei city

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Authors: Manahil Alfuraydan, Jodie Croxall, Lisa Hurt, Mike Kerr, Sinead Brophy

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Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental condition characterised by impairment in terms of social communication, social interaction, and a repetitive or restricted pattern of interest, behaviour, and activity. There is a significant delay between seeking help and a confirmed diagnosis of ASD. This may result in delay in receiving early intervention services, which are critical for positive outcomes. The long wait times also cause stress for the individuals and their families. Telehealth potentially offers a way of improving the diagnostic pathway for ASD. This review of the literature aims to examine which telehealth approaches have been used in the diagnosis and assessment of autism in children and adults, whether they are feasible and acceptable, and how they compare with face-to-face diagnosis and assessment methods. A comprehensive search of following databases- MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus with Full text, Business Sources Complete, Web of Science, Scopus, PsycINFO and trail and systematic review databases including Cochrane Library, Health Technology Assessment, Database of Abstracts and Reviews of Effectiveness and NHS Economic Evaluation was conducted, combining the terms of autism and telehealth from 2000 to 2018. A total of 10 studies were identified for inclusion in the review. This review of the literature found there to be two methods of using telehealth: (a) video conferencing to enable teams in different areas to consult with the families and to assess the child/adult in real time and (b) a video upload to a web portal that enables the clinical assessment of behaviours in the family home. The findings were positive, finding there to be high agreement in terms of the diagnosis between remote methods and face to face methods and with high levels of satisfaction among the families and clinicians. This field is in the very early stages, and so only studies with small sample size were identified, but the findings suggest that there is potential for telehealth methods to improve assessment and diagnosis of autism used in conjunction with existing methods, especially for those with clear autism traits and adults with autism. Larger randomised controlled trials of this technology are warranted.

Keywords: assessment, autism spectrum disorder, diagnosis, telehealth

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Authors: Fabricio Costa Silva, Samuel Xavier de Souza

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A Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver is responsible to determine position, velocity and timing information by using satellite information. To get this information are necessary to combine an incoming and a locally generated signal. The procedure called acquisition need to found two information, the frequency and phase of the incoming signal. This is very time consuming, so there are several techniques to reduces the computational complexity, but each of then put projects issues in conflict. I this papers we present a method that can reduce the computational complexity by reducing the search space and paralleling the search.

Keywords: GPS, acquisition, complexity, parallelism

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Authors: O. M. Lemine

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The effect of milling parameters on the structural and magnetic properties of nickel powder was investigated. The samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The results did not reveal any phase change of nickel during the milling. The average crystallite size decreases with a prolongation of milling times, whereas the lattice parameters increase. The hysteresis loop reveals the intrinsic magnetic behaviour. It was observed an increase in the magnetization which can be correlated to the volume expansion showed by XRD results.

Keywords: nickel powders, nanocrystallines, XRD, VSM

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Authors: Lee A. Browne, K. Rumbold

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The first fluorinating enzyme, 5'-fluoro-5'-deoxyadenosine synthase (fluorinase) was isolated from the soil bacterium Streptomyces cattleya. Such an enzyme, with the ability to catalyze a C-F bond, presents great potential as a biocatalyst. Naturally fluorinated compounds are extremely rare in nature. As a result, the number of fluorinases identified remains relatively few. The field of fluorination is almost completely synthetic. However, with the increasing demand for fluorinated organic compounds of commercial value in the agrochemical, pharmaceutical and materials industries, it has become necessary to utilize biologically based methods such as biocatalysts. A key step in this crucial process is the large-scale production of the fluorinase enzyme in considerable quantities for industrial applications. Thus, this study aimed to optimize expression of the fluorinase enzyme in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic expression systems in order to obtain high protein yields. The fluorinase gene was cloned into the pET 41b(+) and pPinkα-HC vectors and used to transform the expression hosts, E.coli BL21(DE3) and Pichia pastoris (PichiaPink™ strains) respectively. Expression trials were conducted to select optimal conditions for expression in both expression systems. Fluorinase catalyses a reaction between S-adenosyl-L-Methionine (SAM) and fluoride ion to produce 5'-fluorodeoxyadenosine (5'FDA) and L-Methionine. The activity of the enzyme was determined using HPLC by measuring the product of the reaction 5'FDA. A gradient mobile phase of 95:5 v/v 50mM potassium phosphate buffer to a final mobile phase containing 80:20 v/v 50mM potassium phosphate buffer and acetonitrile were used. This resulted in the complete separation of SAM and 5’-FDA which eluted at 1.3 minutes and 3.4 minutes respectively. This proved that the fluorinase enzyme was active. Optimising expression of the fluorinase enzyme was successful in both E.coli and PichiaPink™ where high expression levels in both expression systems were achieved. Protein production will be scaled up in PichiaPink™ using fermentation to achieve large-scale protein production. High level expression of protein is essential in biocatalysis for the availability of enzymes for industrial applications.

Keywords: biocatalyst, expression, fluorinase, PichiaPink™

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Authors: Xiaoxin Zhao

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Because of the long-time dual structure development in urban and rural areas, the rapid urbanization in China devours the rural resources and causes the unbalanced development of cities and the countryside. On one side, the urban sprawl is swallowing the villages in the peripheral area of cities and forms the ‘urban village’. On the other side, people from traditional and vernacular villages immigrate to the metropolis that their homeland becomes the ‘hollowed village’. In 2005, the national state council noticed the significance of rural development and promoted the ‘beautiful countryside’ project when Minsu was rising. In the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (2017), president Xi Jinping announces the importance of ‘rural revitalization’ and states that the relationship between urban and rural areas should be an integrated development model. However, most Minsu projects in China was invested and managed by individual or group investors and focused on the profits but not the vernacular culture and rural development, and enhanced the urban-rural distinction. This paper introduces two Minsu projects in China designed by star-architects and advertised by social network media as case studies through photos and public comments collections. Architects as the servant to the investors, designed fancy houses, brings the urban life mode but expelled the real vernacular lifestyle as a cultural experience in rural areas. Moreover, to advertise the Minsu hotel, the social media propagates a distorted value that ‘luxury is good taste’ and motivates the vanity of people. Lastly, to maximize the profits, the investors set a high price that caused another unbalanced development in rural area since the price for one night in the Minsu hotel may exceed the monthly income of a local inhabitant. With these material, the author discusses the problems in Chinese Minsu industry and argues that the media, architects and investors play the negative role in the separation between Minsu cultural tourism and rural population. As a result, the author points out the significance of rural population participation that sharing the profits with them if we take Minsu industry as a method for rural revitalization in China.

Keywords: Minsu, vernacular, rural development, rural population participation

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Authors: Redha Elhuni, M. Munir Ahmad

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The main purpose of this research is to construct a generic model for successful implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) in oil sector, and to find out the effects of this model on the organizational sustainability development (OSD) performance of Libyan oil and gas companies using the structured equation modeling (SEM) approach. The research approach covers both quantitative and qualitative methods. A questionnaire was developed in order to identify the quality factors that are seen by Libyan oil and gas companies to be critical to the success of TQM implementation. Hypotheses were developed to evaluate the impact of TQM implementation on O SD. Data analysis reveals that there is a significant positive effect of the TQM implementation on OSD. 24 quality factors are found to be critical and absolutely essential for successful TQM implementation. The results generated a structure of the TQMSD implementation framework based on the four major road map constructs (Top management commitment, employee involvement and participation, customer-driven processes, and continuous improvement culture).

Keywords: total quality management, critical success factors, oil and gas, organizational sustainability development (SD), Libya

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Authors: K. Raghu, Sree Harsha

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The interrelationship between the technology and architecture of tall buildings is investigated from the emergence of tall buildings in late 19th century to the present. In the late 19th century early designs of tall buildings recognized the effectiveness of diagonal bracing members in resisting lateral forces. Most of the structural systems deployed for early tall buildings were steel frames with diagonal bracings of various configurations such as X, K, and eccentric. Though the historical research a filtering concept is developed original and remedial technology- through which one can clearly understand inter-relationship between the technical evolution and architectural esthetic and further stylistic transition buildings. Diagonalized grid structures – “diagrids” - have emerged as one of the most innovative and adaptable approaches to structuring buildings in this millennium. Variations of the diagrid system have evolved to the point of making its use non-exclusive to the tall building. Diagrid construction is also to be found in a range of innovative mid-rise steel projects. Contemporary design practice of tall buildings is reviewed and design guidelines are provided for new design trends. Investigated in depths are the behavioral characteristics and design methodology for diagrids structures, which emerge as a new direction in the design of tall buildings with their powerful structural rationale and symbolic architectural expression. Moreover, new technologies for tall building structures and facades are developed for performance enhancement through design integration, and their architectural potentials are explored. By considering the above data the analysis and design of 40-100 storey diagrids steel buildings is carried out using E-TABS software with diagrids of various angle to be found for entire building which will be helpful to reduce the steel requirement for the structure. The present project will have to undertake wind analysis, seismic analysis for lateral loads acting on the structure due to wind loads, earthquake loads, gravity loads. All structural members are designed as per IS 800-2007 considering all load combination. Comparison of results in terms of time period, top storey displacement and inter-storey drift to be carried out. The secondary effect like temperature variations are not considered in the design assuming small variation.

Keywords: diagrid, bracings, structural, building

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Authors: Suneeta Gireesh Panicker

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Aim: Aminopeptidase P (APP) is an enzyme that has specificity for proline, can specifically cleave Xaa-Proline peptides and is a metallo-aminopeptidase. The bonds nearby to the imino acid proline are tough to cleave by many peptidases, but APP can specifically break peptide bonds engaged with proline. Membrane-bound form and a cytosolic form are the two forms in which this enzyme exists. The exact physiological function of APP remains unclear and hence the present work attempts to determine it. Methods: In the present study, the expression pattern of cytosolic Aminopeptidase P (DAP) was determined in all the embryonic stages and larval stages of wild-type Drosophila by using polyclonal monospecific antibodies. To show the presence of DAP RNA in embryonic and larval stages, RNA in situ hybridization was performed. DAP promoter-LacZ fusion reporter gene vector was used to construct transgenic embryos to study the regulation pattern of DAP. To study the DAP expression profile, a transgenic fly consisting of a DAP promoter with β-gal and GFP reporter genes in front of it was constructed. Results: DAP protein expression was observed in neuroectodermal cells, posterior midgut primordium, proctodeum, ventral neuroblast and primordial stomatogastric nervous system. It was observed in the ventral cord and midgut in stage 12. The completely developed embryos showed the intense occurrence of it in the ventral cord and gut region. The eye-antennal disc, wing disc and leg disc also showed the presence of DAP protein. LacZ expression in transgenic embryos also showed the same pattern. Conclusion: Similar to various known multiple-functional proteins, DAP could be one with different functions at different stages and in different cells. Data presented here designates DAP functions in the early embryonic and imaginal dics differentiation and development, suggesting that it may be required for the metabolism of proteins like neuropeptides and tachykinins.

Keywords: aminopeptidase P, in situ hybridization, transgenic fly, embryonic stages

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Authors: Yapegue Bayogo, Ahmadou Halassi Dicko, Brahima Songore

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In developing countries, the road transportation system occupies an important place because of its flexibility and the low prices of infrastructure and rolling stock. While road transport is necessary for economic development, the movement of people and their goods, it is urgent to use transportation systems that minimize carbon emissions in order to ensure sustainable development. One of the main objectives of OEDC and the Word Bank is to ensure sustainable economic’ development. This paper aims to develop a road transport network taking into account environmental impacts. The methodology adopted consists of formulating a model optimizing the flow of goods and then collecting information relating to the transport of products. Our model was tested with data on product transport in CMDT areas in the Republic of Mali. The results of our study indicate that emissions from the transport sector can be significantly reduced by minimizing the traffic volume. According to our study, optimizing the transportation network, we benefit from a significant amount of tons of CO₂.

Keywords: road transport, transport sustainability, pollution, flexibility, optimized network

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Authors: Amani Hamdan

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A post-workshop of higher-order thinking skills (HOTS), for faculty from diverse academic disciplines, was conducted and the researcher surveyed the participants’ intentions and plans to include HOTS as a goal, as learning and teaching task in their practices. Follow-up interviews with a random sample of participants were used to determine if they fulfilled their intentions three 3 months after the workshop. The degree of planned and enacted HOTS then was analyzed against the post-workshop HOT ability and knowledge. This is one topic that has not been adequately explored in faculty professional development literature where measuring the effect of learning on their ability to use what they learned. This qualitative method study explored a group of male and female faculty members (n=85) enrolled in HOTS 2 day workshop. The results showed that 89% of faculty members although were mostly enthused to apply what they learned after a 3 months period they were caught up with routine presentations and lecturing.

Keywords: higher education, faculty development, Saudi Arabia, higher order thinking skills

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Authors: Geetakshi Arora, Danish Malhotra

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Diabetic wounds are serious health issues and often fail to heal, leading to limb amputation that makes the life of the patient miserable. Delayed wound healing has been characterized by an increase in matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9). Thus research throughout the world has been going on to develop selective MMP-9 inhibitors for aiding diabetic wound healing. Bioactive constituents from natural sources always served as potential leads in drug development with high rates of success. Considering the need for novel selective MMP-9 inhibitors and the importance of natural bioactive compounds in drug development, we have screened a library of bioactive constituents from plant sources that were effective in diabetic wound healing on human MMP-9 (hMMP-9) using molecular docking studies. Screened constituents are ranked according to their dock score, ∆G value (binding affinity), and Ligand efficiency evaluated from FleXX docking and Hyde scoring modules available with drug designing platform LeadIT. Rhamnocitrin showed the highest correlation between dock score, ∆G value (binding affinity), and Ligand efficiency was further explored for binding interactions with hMMP-9. The overall study suggest that Rhamnocitrin is sufficiently decorated with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic substitutions that perfectly block hMMP-9 and act as a potential lead in the design and development of selective hMMP-9 inhibitors.

Keywords: MMP-9, diabetic wound, molecular docking, phytoconstituents

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