Search results for: pattern recognition approach

Authors: Phillip F. Kanokanga, Patrick W. Mamimine, Molline Mwando, Charity Mapingure

Abstract:

Tourism development tends to follow anchor attractions, including cities and their surroundings, while marginalizing small towns and their environs. This is even though the small towns and their hinterlands can also offer competitive tourism products. The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) gathers visitor statistics of major tourist destinations only thereby sidelining the density of tourist traffic that either passes through or visits the small towns in the country. Unless this problem is addressed, the tourism potential of small towns and their hinterlands will not be fully tapped for economic development. Using qualitative research methodology, this study investigated the opportunities for tourism development in the Greater Chinhoyi Area. The study revealed that the Greater Chinhoyi area had potential for heritage tourism, village tourism, urban tourism, educational tourism, dark tourism, recreational tourism, agrotourism, and nature tourism. There is a need to link the various tourism resources in the Greater Chinhoyi area to anchor attractions in dominant resorts, then develop and present the tourism products in transit towns as ‘appetisers’ or ‘appetisser attractions’ before one gets to the main destination.

Keywords: anchor attractions, appetisers, heritage tourism, agrotourism, small towns, tourism corridor, systems approach, hidden treasures

Procedia PDF Downloads 84

Authors: Jiraporn Prommaha

Abstract:

The purpose of this research is to study the development of Thailand Brand Identity and the perception of its image in order to find any guidelines for the identity development and the image perception of Thailand Brand in Health and Wellness Tourism. The paper is conducted through mixed methods research, both the qualitative and quantitative researches. The qualitative focuses on the in-depth interview of executive administrations from public and private sectors involved scholars and experts in identity and image issue, main 11 people. The quantitative research was done by the questionnaires to collect data from foreign tourists 800; Chinese tourists 400 and UK tourists 400. The technique used for this was the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), this was to determine the relation between the structures of the variables by categorizing the variables into group by applying the Varimax rotation technique. This technique showed recognition the Thailand brand image related to the 2 countries, China and UK. The results found that guidelines for brand identity development and image perception of health and wellness tourism in Thailand; as following (1) Develop communication in order to understanding of the meaning of the word 'Health and beauty tourism' throughout the country, (2) Develop human resources as a national agenda, (3) Develop awareness rising in the conservation and preservation of natural resources of the country, (4) Develop the cooperation of all stakeholders in Health and Wellness Businesses, (5) Develop digital communication throughout the country and (6) Develop safety in Tourism.

Keywords: brand identity, image perception, nation branding, health and wellness tourism, mixed methods research

Procedia PDF Downloads 203

Authors: Valerie Alexander, Amanda Gutierrez, Veronica Campbell, Dara Schwartz, B. Charles Tatum

Abstract:

It has long been assumed that personality disorders (PD) originate in adolescence or early adulthood and that the maladaptive behaviors significantly attenuate over time. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 supports early onset of PD and views the pattern of behaviors as enduring and stable. The premise of this study is that PD may not always begin early in life, that behaviors may change over the lifespan, and that current treatment modalities may be beneficial in seniors. Self-injurious behaviors (SIB) exhibited earlier in life may, in older adults, be manifested in less overt high-risk behaviors but by refusal to take medication and get necessary medical treatment. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is a well-known treatment modality for teaching emotional regulation and distress tolerance and thus reducing self-injurious behaviors yet very little has been studied about SIB and treatment in older adults. The population for this study was older adults, with a history of SIB, a PD, and depression and/or anxiety. Participants learned an adapted version of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) as developed by DBT trained therapists. The results provided clinical potentials for the efficacy of DBT to reduce SIB, decrease depression and anxiety in the older adult population.

Keywords: anxiety, depression, dialectical behavioral therapy, personality disorders, self-harm behavior, treatment in older adults

Procedia PDF Downloads 306

Authors: Liz van Acker, Linda Colley

Abstract:

Political processes are shaped by the gendered culture of parliaments. This paper examines how the institution of parliament has been affected by the changing number of women in politics. In order to understand how and why gender change occurs, the paper employs a feminist historical institutionalism approach. It argues that while it is difficult to change the gendered nature of political institutions, it is possible, from a gender perspective, to understand the processes of change both formally and informally. Increasing women’s representation has been a slow process which has not occurred without political struggles. A broadly defined ‘feminist historical institutionalism’ has critiqued existing approaches to institutions and combined historical institutional analysis with tools of gender to enhance our understanding of institutional processes and change. The paper examines the gendered rules, norms, and practices that influence institutional design choices and processes. Institutions such as Parliament often are able to adjust to women’s entry and absorb them without too much interruption. Exploring the hidden aspects to informal institutions involves identifying unspoken and accepted norms that may guide decision-making – exposing and questioning the gender status quo. This paper examines the representation of women in the Queensland Parliament, Australia. It places the Queensland experience in historical context, as well as in the national and international context. The study is interesting, given that its gender representation has rocketed from one of the worst performing states in 2012 to one of the best performing in 2015 with further improvements in 2017. The state currently has a re-elected female Premier, a female Deputy Premier and a female-dominated cabinet – in fact, Queensland was the first ministry in Australia to have a majority of women in its Cabinet. However, it is unnecessary to dig far below these headlines to see that this is uncharacteristic of its history: progress towards this current position has been slow and patchy. The paper finds that matters such as the glass ceiling and the use of quotas explain women’s recent success in Queensland politics.

Keywords: feminist historical institutional approach, glass ceiling, quotas, women’s participation in politics

Procedia PDF Downloads 155

Authors: Tery Nehemia Nugraha Joseph, J. D. P. Wisnubroto

Abstract:

Thyroid cancer is a healthcare problem with high morbidity and mortality. Follicular adenoma and follicular carcinoma are thyroid tumors from the thyroid follicular cells differentiation with a microfollicular pattern that consists of follicular cuboidal cells. vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent and powerful mitogen for endothelial cells and increases vascular permeability. Therefore, due to an increase in thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), VEGF production is activated in the thyroid that leads to the end of mitogenic TSH stimulation and initiation of angiogenesis. The differences in VEGF levels in the follicular carcinoma of thyroid tissue with follicular adenoma thyroid can be used as a basis in differentiating the two types of neoplasms. This study aims to analyze VEGF in the serum so that it can be used to differentiate the types of thyroid carcinoma before surgery. This study uses a cross-sectional research design. Samples were carried out by taking serum samples, and the VEGF levels were calculated. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test. The results found a significant difference between VEGF levels in the follicular carcinoma thyroid group and VEGF levels in the follicular adenoma thyroid group with a value of p = 0.007 (p < 0.05). The results obtained are 560,427 ± 160,506 ng/mL in the type of follicular carcinoma thyroid and 320.943 ± 134.573 ng/mL in the type of follicular adenoma thyroid. VEGF levels between follicular adenoma and follicular carcinoma are different. VEGF levels are higher in follicular carcinoma thyroid than follicular adenoma thyroid.

Keywords: follicular adenoma thyroid, follicular carcinoma thyroid, thyroid, VEGF

Procedia PDF Downloads 153

Authors: Chong-Yang Qiao

Abstract:

Mobile augmented reality (MAR) tracking targets from the surroundings and aids operators for interactive data and procedures visualization, potential equipment and system understandably. Operators remotely communicate and coordinate with each other for the continuous tasks, information and data exchange between control room and work-site. In the routine work, distributed control system (DCS) monitoring and work-site manipulation require operators interact in real-time manners. The critical question is the improvement of user experience in cooperative works through applying Augmented Reality in the traditional industrial field. The purpose of this exploratory study is to find the cognitive model for the multiple task performance by MAR. In particular, the focus will be on the comparison between different tasks and environment factors which influence information processing. Three experiments use interface and interaction design, the content of start-up, maintenance and stop embedded in the mobile application. With the evaluation criteria of time demands and human errors, and analysis of the mental process and the behavior action during the multiple tasks, heuristic evaluation was used to find the operators performance with different situation factors, and record the information processing in recognition, interpretation, judgment and reasoning. The research will find the functional properties of MAR and constrain the development of the cognitive model. Conclusions can be drawn that suggest MAR is easy to use and useful for operators in the remote collaborative works.

Keywords: mobile augmented reality, remote collaboration, user experience, cognition model

Procedia PDF Downloads 198

Authors: Belgherbi Aicha, Hadjidj Ismahen, Bessaid Abdelhafid

Abstract:

Accurate Liver, spleen and kidneys segmentation in abdominal CT images is one of the most important steps for computer aided abdominal organs pathology diagnosis. In this paper, we have proposed a new semi-automatic algorithm for Liver, spleen and kidneys area extraction in abdominal CT images. Our proposed method is based on hierarchical segmentation and watershed algorithm. In our approach, a powerful technique has been designed to suppress over-segmentation based on mosaic image and on the computation of the watershed transform. The algorithm is currency in two parts. In the first, we seek to improve the quality of the gradient-mosaic image. In this step, we propose a method for improving the gradient-mosaic image by applying the anisotropic diffusion filter followed by the morphological filters. Thereafter we proceed to the hierarchical segmentation of the liver, spleen and kidney. To validate the segmentation technique proposed, we have tested it on several images. Our segmentation approach is evaluated by comparing our results with the manual segmentation performed by an expert. The experimental results are described in the last part of this work.

Keywords: anisotropic diffusion filter, CT images, morphological filter, mosaic image, multi-abdominal organ segmentation, mosaic image, the watershed algorithm

Procedia PDF Downloads 502

Authors: Jyoti Agrawal

Abstract:

Introduction: Renal diseases in children and young adult can be difficult to diagnose early as it may present only with few symptoms, tends to have different course than adult and respond variously to different treatment. The pattern of renal disease in children is different from developing countries as compared to developed countries. Methods: This study was a hospital based prospective observational study carried from March, 2014 to February 2015 at BP Koirala institute of health sciences. Patients with renal disease, both inpatient and outpatient from birth to 14 years of age were enrolled in the study. The diagnosis of renal disease was be made on clinical and laboratory criteria. Results: Total of 120 patients were enrolled in our study which contributed to 3.74% % of total admission. The commonest feature of presentation was edema (75%), followed by fever (65%), hypertension (60%), decreased urine output (45%) and hematuria (25%). Most common diagnosis was acute glomerulonephritis (40%) followed by Nephrotic syndrome (25%) and urinary tract infection (25%). Renal biopsy was done for 10% of cases and most of them were steroid dependent nephrotic syndrome. 5% of our cases expired because of multiorgan dysfunction syndrome, sepsis and acute kidney injury. Conclusion: Renal disease contributes to a large part of hospital pediatric admission as well as mortality and morbidity to the children.

Keywords: glomerulonephritis, nephrotic syndrome, renal disease, urinary tract infection

Procedia PDF Downloads 428

Authors: Rodrigo Buaiz Boabaid

Abstract:

Tokenization of Blue Bonds is an emerging Green Finance tool that has the potential to scale Blue Carbon Projects to fight climate change. This innovative solution has a huge potential to democratize the green finance market and catalyze innovations in the climate change finance sector. Switzerland has emerged as a leader in the Green Finance space and is well-positioned to drive the adoption of Tokenization of Blue & Green Bonds. This unique approach has the potential to unlock new sources of capital and enable global investors to participate in the financing of sustainable blue carbon projects. By leveraging the power of blockchain technology, Tokenization of Blue Bonds can provide greater transparency, efficiency, and security in the investment process, while also reducing transaction costs. Investments are in line with the highest regulations and designed according to the stringent legal framework and compliance standards set by Switzerland. The potential benefits of Tokenization of Blue Bonds are significant and could transform the way that sustainable projects are financed. By unlocking new sources of capital, this approach has the potential to accelerate the deployment of Blue Carbon projects and create new opportunities for investors to participate in the fight against climate change.

Keywords: blue carbon, blue bonds, green finance, Tokenization, blockchain solutions

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: Abigail M. Csik, Gabriel A. Radvansky

Abstract:

As people read through event-based narratives, they construct an event model that captures information about the characters, goals, location, time, and causality. For many reasons, memory for such narratives is represented at different levels, namely, the surface form, textbase, and event model levels. Rereading has been shown to decrease surface form memory, while, at the same time, increasing textbase and event model memories. More generally, distributed practice has consistently shown memory benefits over massed practice for different types of materials, including texts. However, little research has investigated distributed practice of narratives at different inter-study intervals and these effects on these three levels of memory. Recent work in our lab has indicated that there may be dramatic changes in patterns of forgetting around one week, which may affect the three levels of memory. The present experiment aimed to determine the effects of rereading on the three levels of memory as a factor of whether the texts were reread before versus after one week. Participants (N = 42) read a set of stories, re-read them either before or after one week (with an inter-study interval of three days, seven days, or fourteen days), and then took a recognition test, from which the three levels of representation were derived. Signal detection results from this study reveal that differential patterns at the three levels as a factor of whether the narratives were re-read prior to one week or after one week. In particular, an ANOVA revealed that surface form memory was lower (p = .08) while textbase (p = .02) and event model memory (p = .04) were greater if narratives were re-read 14 days later compared to memory when narratives were re-read 3 days later. These results have implications for what type of memory benefits from distributed practice at various inter-study intervals.

Keywords: memory, event cognition, distributed practice, consolidation

Procedia PDF Downloads 228

Authors: Rishabh Ambavanekar

Abstract:

Expressive Aphasia (EA) is an oral disability, common among stroke victims, in which the Broca’s area of the brain is damaged, interfering with verbal communication abilities. EA currently has no technological solutions and its only current viable solutions are inefficient or only available to the affluent. This prompts the need for an affordable, innovative solution to facilitate recovery and assist in speech generation. This project proposes a novel concept: using a wearable low-cost electroencephalography (EEG) device-based brain-computer interface (BCI) to translate a user’s inner dialogue into words. A low-cost EEG device was developed and found to be 10 to 100 times less expensive than any current EEG device on the market. As part of the BCI, a machine learning (ML) model was developed and trained using the EEG data. Two stages of testing were conducted to analyze the effectiveness of the device: a proof-of-concept and a final solution test. The proof-of-concept test demonstrated an average accuracy of above 90% and the final solution test demonstrated an average accuracy of above 75%. These two successful tests were used as a basis to demonstrate the viability of BCI research in developing lower-cost verbal communication devices. Additionally, the device proved to not only enable users to verbally communicate but has the potential to also assist in accelerated recovery from the disorder.

Keywords: neurotechnology, brain-computer interface, neuroscience, human-machine interface, BCI, HMI, aphasia, verbal disability, stroke, low-cost, machine learning, ML, image recognition, EEG, signal analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Armin Amindari

Abstract:

Hermetic compressors are used widely for refrigeration, heat pump, and air conditioning applications. With the improvement of energy conservation and environmental protection requirements, inverter compressors that operates at different speeds have become increasingly attractive in the industry. Although speed change capability is more efficient, passing through resonant frequencies may lead to excessive vibrations. In this work, an integrated vibration control approach based on flexible multi-body dynamics theory is used for optimizing the vibration amplitudes of the compressor at different operating speeds. To examine the compressor vibrations, all the forces and moments exerted on the cylinder block were clarified and minimized using balancers attached to the upper and lower ends of the motor rotor and crankshaft. The vibration response of the system was simulated using Motionview™ software. In addition, mass-spring optimization was adopted to shift the resonant frequencies out of the operating speeds. The modal shapes of the system were studied using Optistruct™ solver. Using this approach, the vibrations were reduced up to 56% through dynamic simulations. The results were in high agreement with various experimental test data. In addition, the vibration resonance problem observed at low speeds was solved by shifting the resonant frequencies through optimization studies.

Keywords: vibration, MBD, compressor, hermetic

Procedia PDF Downloads 105

Authors: Marzieh Khaleghi Baygi, Maryam Khaleghy Baygy

Abstract:

The main aim of this project was designing and making sustainable architectural wearable dress inspired by reconstruction project of Bam’s Bazar in Iran. To achieve the goals of this project, Bam Bazar became the architectural reference. A mixed research method (including applied, qualitative and case studies methods) was used. After research, data gathering and considering related intellectual, mental and cultural background, the garment was modeled by using 3ds Max's modeling tools and Marvelous. After making the pattern, the wearable architecture was built and an architectural and historical building converted to a clothing. The implementation of sustainable architectural clothing, took seventeen months. The result of this project was a cloth in a new form that had been worn on its architect body. The comparison between present project and previous research were focusing on the same subjects (architectural clothing) shows some dramatic differentiations, including, the architect, designer and executive of this project was the same person who was the main researcher. Also, in this research, special attention was paid to the sustainability, volume and forms. Most projects in this subject (especially pervious related Iranian research) relied on painting and not on the volumes and forms. The sustainable immovable architecture had worn on its architect, became a cloth on a human's body that was moving.

Keywords: wearable architecture, clothing, bam bazar, space, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 68

Authors: Manasi Roy, Raju Mondal

Abstract:

During last two decades the synthesis and design of MOFs or novel coordination polymers (CPs) has flourished as an emerging area of research due to their role as functional materials. Accordingly, ten new cobalt-based MOFs have been synthesized using a simple bispyrazole ligand, 4,4′-methylene-bispyrazole (H2MBP), and isophthalic acid (H2IPA) and its four 5-substituted derivatives R-H2IPA (R = COOH, OH, tBu, NH2). The major aim of this study was to validate the mutual influence of temperature and substitutions on the final structural self-assembly. Five different isophthalic acid derivatives were used to study the influence of substituents while each reaction was carried out at two different temperatures to assess the temperature effect. A clear correlation was observed between the reaction temperature and the coordination number of the cobalt atoms which consequently changes the self assembly pattern. Another fact that the periodical change in coordination number did bring about some systematic changes in the structural network via secondary building unit selectivity. With the presence of a tunable cavity inside the network, and unsaturated metal centers, MOFs show highly encouraging photocatalytic degradation of toxic dye with a potential application in waste water purification. Another fascinating aspect of this work is the construction of magnetic coordination polymers with the occurrence of a not-so-common MCE behavior of cobalt-based MOF.

Keywords: MOFs, temperature effect, MCE, dye degradation

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: Nihal Abdel Hamid Taha

Abstract:

Crack evaluation of flexure reinforced concrete (RC) member is considered an important step in the design process, since the formation of concrete cracks depends on the possibility of exposure to various conditions(pollution, humidity,..etc.). Because of the disparity between different grades of steel in the service load stresses, this affects the cracking behavior. This paper is concerned with the crack pattern and cracking load for concrete beams with T-section reinforced with two different grades of steel at the service load levels stages up to ultimate load. A practical program has been put up to investigate the difference between reinforced steel bars with yield strength 420 N/mm2 and 500 N/mm2 through six T-section reinforced beams. The beams were tested under static- monotonic two– point service loading up to ultimate failure under flexural stresses. The influence of parameters such as clear concrete cover and concrete compressive strength are considered for each of the two grades of steel used. Cracking load, spacing and width were determined. The experimental results demonstrated that increasing the concrete strength results in both of cracking and ultimate load increase, while no significant difference in yield load for the two steel grades used. It has also become obvious, that the number of cracks was more for the lower steel strength, which is followed by decrease in crack width and spacing.

Keywords: RC beams, cracking behavior, steel stress, crack width, crack spacing

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Marine Kobalava, Eter Narimanishvili, Nino Grigolaia

Abstract:

The paper analyzes the contemporary problems of public relations in Georgia. The approaches to public attitudes towards the relationship with the population of the country are studied on a global scale, the importance of forming the concept of public relations in Georgia in terms of globalization is justified. The basic components of public relations are characterized by the RACE system, namely analyzing research, action, communication, evaluation. The main challenges of public relations are identified in the research process; taking into consideration the scope of globalization, the influence of social, economic, and political changes in Georgia on PR development are identified. The article discusses the public relations as the strategic management function that facilitates communication with the society, recognition of public interests, and their prediction. In addition, the feminization of the sector is considered to be the most important achievement of public relations in the modern world. The conclusion is that the feminization indicator of the field is an unconditional increase in the employment rates of women. In the paper, the problems of globalization and public relations in the industrial countries are studied, the directions of improvement of public relations with the background of peculiarities of different countries and globalization process are proposed. Public relations under globalization are assessed in accordance with the theory of benefits and requirements, and the requirements are classified according to informational, self-identification, integration, social interaction, and other types of signs. In the article, conclusions on the current challenges of public relations in Georgia are made, and the recommendations for their solution, taking into consideration globalization processes in the world, are proposed.

Keywords: public relations, globalization, RACE system, public relationship concept, feminization

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: Akbar Ali

Abstract:

This study played an important role in the investigation of social adjustment of adolescent living with step parent families in Pakistan. Families plays an crucial role in the training and adjustment of adolescents’ personal, social and academic life. Adolescents living with parent families often experience different challenges which affects their social adjustment in the family and which further have impact on their academic and social life. One of central theme investigated in this study is parenting practice and other major theme is parental capital. The objectives of the study were to determine how different parenting styles being practiced in family affects adolescents’ adjustment and what is the role of parental capital in adolescents adjustment. qualitative approach was adopted for this research. Adolescents who are studying at college and living with step parent families participated in this study. Data was collected through interviews. Collected data was analyzed through NVIVO. Through findings, it is stated that parenting style and parental capital determining factors affecting adolescents’ adjustment and family experiences. The study suggest a comprehensive and practical approach for the adjustment of adolescents. Government should establish counselling and enabling facilities for adolescents’ for the wellbeing and better social adjustment.

Keywords: adolescents, academic life, parental capital, parental practices, social adjustment

Procedia PDF Downloads 19

Authors: Hichem Sassi

Abstract:

Pneumonia, being a respiratory infection, has garnered global attention due to its rapid transmission and relatively high mortality rates. Timely detection and treatment play a crucial role in significantly reducing mortality associated with pneumonia. Presently, X-ray diagnosis stands out as a reasonably effective method. However, the manual scrutiny of a patient's X-ray chest radiograph by a proficient practitioner usually requires 5 to 15 minutes. In situations where cases are concentrated, this places immense pressure on clinicians for timely diagnosis. Relying solely on the visual acumen of imaging doctors proves to be inefficient, particularly given the low speed of manual analysis. Therefore, the integration of artificial intelligence into the clinical image diagnosis of pneumonia becomes imperative. Additionally, AI recognition is notably rapid, with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) demonstrating superior performance compared to human counterparts in image identification tasks. To conduct our study, we utilized a dataset comprising chest X-ray images obtained from Kaggle, encompassing a total of 5216 training images and 624 test images, categorized into two classes: normal and pneumonia. Employing five mainstream network algorithms, we undertook a comprehensive analysis to classify these diseases within the dataset, subsequently comparing the results. The integration of artificial intelligence, particularly through improved network architectures, stands as a transformative step towards more efficient and accurate clinical diagnoses across various medical domains.

Keywords: deep learning, computer vision, pneumonia, models, comparative study

Procedia PDF Downloads 68

Authors: Eriba Christopher Inyila, Godwin Egena Oga

Abstract:

Statecraft appears to be one of the greatest cultural achievements in the history of man’s civilization. The state itself is often portrayed as the supreme community of the citizen’s collective goodness and will. However, history experience reveals that the state has often been held in captivity permanently in the hand of the political class to almost a total exclusion of the labouring class of workers, artisans and peasants. Consequently, the hallmark of the Nigerian state and society in contemporary era is state of permanent crisis characterized by poverty, unemployment and profound insecurity. A lasting solution to this state of anomie is often touted in terms of ethnic, religious and regional integration which border on non-material perception of realities. A neglected aspect of the approach to the study of recurrent problems in contemporary is the materialist conception of realties through class perspectives of the society. The cutting edge of the approach is found in the attempt to reconcile the contradiction between the productive forces and the social relation of production. In other words, the contemporary state is skewed in favour of ownership of properties/commanding height of economy predominantly in the hands of the few monopoly companies to the total exclusion of majority of Nigerian population classified as peasant, workers and artisan. The lopsided situation creates economic and social disequilibria.

Keywords: national development, class, the state, Nigeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 390

Authors: Elizelle Juanee Cilliers

Abstract:

Recent planning thinking has laid the foundations for a general sense of best practice that aims to enhance the quality of life, suggesting an open and participatory process. It is accepted that integration of top-down and bottom-up approaches may lead to efficient action in environments and sustainable planning and development, although it is also accepted that such an integrated approach has various challenges of implementation. A flexible framework in which the strengths of both the top-down and bottom-up approaches were explored in this research, based on the EU Interreg VALUE Added project and five case studies where student education and student involvement played a crucial role within the participation process of the redesign of the urban environment. It was found that international student workshops were an effective tool to integrate bottom-up and top-down structures, as it acted as catalyst for communication, interaction, creative design, quick transformation from planning to implementation, building social cohesion, finding mutual ground between stakeholders and thus enhancing overall quality of life and quality of environments. It offered a good alternative to traditional participation modes and created a platform for an integrative planning approach. The role and importance of education and integration within the urban environment were emphasized.

Keywords: top-down, bottom-up, flexible, student involvement

Procedia PDF Downloads 212

Authors: Yiqi Sun, Zhiyuan Zhang, Chenkun Ma

Abstract:

Regeneration of outmoded urban forms and restorative environments are now recognized as major assets towards achieving sustainable development. Shanghai, like many Chinese cities, is now shifting from an agitated industrial past to more livable development schemes. Therefore, a sustainable approach to Shanghai development consists in turning industrial heritage into places with high potential for improving citizen’s daily life as regard to the three pillars of sustainability, namely: environment, economy, and society. As such, this study focuses on the Corniche in Xuhui West Bund district; a former industrial area converted into recreational public spaces in Xuhui West Bund. This area was the birthplace of the aviation industry of China, and many of the industrial features were preserved. Unused areas have been transformed into exhibition halls and green spaces, integrating some of the original industrial, architectural forms. Our case study investigates the effects of this approach associating urban regeneration with restorative design, as well as its impact on the surrounding neighborhood. Information extracted from visitors’ answers to a questionnaire survey; on-site systematic observation, counts, and measurements allowed us to assess the sustainability of this intervention in terms of accessibility, functionality, cultural and restorative qualities. In general, we found that cycling is not highly encouraged by the current design and level of connectivity, while visitors widely acknowledge the enhancement of cultural heritage resulting from the intervention. Moreover, recreational and restorative areas were found to have a very positive effect on local communities. Indeed, such an approach can provide valuable insights on how future interventions in Chinese major cities could take full advantage of existing assets in creating a more environmental, more livable, and culturally richer city.

Keywords: architectural heritage conservation, cultural urban identity, sustainability assessment, restorative environment, urban regeneration

Procedia PDF Downloads 188

Authors: Sterlyn Poueriet Gil

Abstract:

Through the years, the construction of cultural identity in the Dominican Republic has been subject to multiple unfavorable conditions fostered by the elites. These conditions have led to the loss of a pattern that lasts over time; leaving this as a result of inconsistency and the diversity of elements that at first are theses and antitheses and gives form to the complexity of what we can call: "the culture of a people that tries to reinvent itself in each social-historical moment". Religion is one of those cultural elements that does not escape the will of the elites. In the country, there are multiple religious groups that, in one way or another, represent what the people are, their ancestral customs, their philosophy, and even their strengths as groups of a certain social environment. However, these have always been marginalized and discriminated against by the country's official religion and their respective denominations. The objective of this research was to verify to what extent interreligious discrimination was real, moving from the assumption to scientific evidence through the application of research techniques such as the survey, fieldwork, and qualitative analysis of the collected evidence, the supremacy of the dominant religion condemns its rites and in many cases the person himself. In many communities, freedom of worship is reserved for traditional groups, having cases in the country where the manifestations of rites such as the "gagá" and the "prillé" have been prohibited, considering them as diabolical and primitive practices; this seeks to deny the roots of a people marked by poverty and social conflicts but remains firm in the will to be.

Keywords: cultural identity, freedom of worship, gagá, popular demonstrations

Procedia PDF Downloads 180

Authors: Zemenu Yohannes

Abstract:

Introduction: The pandemic overstretched the weak health systems in developing countries, including Ethiopia. This study aims to assess and explore the effect of COVID-19 on antenatal care (ANC) provision. Methods: A concurrent mixed methods study was applied. An interrupted time series design was applied for the quantitative study, and in-depth interviews were implemented for the qualitative research to explore maternity care providers' perceptions of ANC provision during COVID-19. We used routine monthly collected data from the health management information system (HMIS) in fifteen hospitals in the Sidama region, Ethiopia, from March 2019 to February 2020 (12 months) before COVID-19 and from March to August 2020 (6 months) during COVID-19. We imported data into STATA V.17 for analysis. ANC provision's mean monthly incidence rate ratio (IRR) was calculated using Poisson regression with a 95% confidence interval. The qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings from quantitative and qualitative elements were integrated with a contiguous approach. Results: Our findings indicate the rate of ANC provision significantly decreased in the first six months of COVID-19. This study has three identified main themes: barriers to ANC provision, inadequate COVID-19 prevention approach, and delay in providing ANC. Conclusion and recommendation: Based on our findings, the pandemic affected ANC provision in the study area. The health bureau and stakeholders should take a novel and sustainable approach to prevent future pandemics. The health bureau and hospital administrators should establish a task force that relies on financial self-reliance to close gaps in future pandemics of medical supply shortages. Pregnant women should receive their care promptly from maternity care providers. In order to foster contact and avoid discrimination the future pandemics, hospital administrators should set up a platform for community members and maternity care providers.

Keywords: ANC provision, COVID-19, mixed methods study, Ethiopia

Procedia PDF Downloads 80

Authors: Roshika Tyagi, Shuvomoy Banerjee

Abstract:

Among various diseases, cancer has become a huge threat to human beings globally. In the context of viral infection, Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection is ubiquitous in nature world-wide as well as in India. Recepteur d’Origine Nantais (RON) receptor tyrosine kinase is overexpressed in Lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) but undetectable in primary B-cells. Biologically, RON expression was found to be essential for EBV transformed LCLs proliferation. In our study, we investigated whether EBV latent antigen EBNA3C is playing a crucial role in regulating RON receptor tyrosine kinase function in EBV-induced malignancies. Interestingly, we observed that expression pattern of RON was modulated by EBNA3C in EBV transformed LCLs compared with EBV negative BJAB cell line by PCR and western blot analysis. Moreover, in the absence of EBNA3C, RON expression was found low in western blot and immunofluorescence analysis and cell proliferation rate was significantly reduced in LCLs by cell viability assays. Therefore, our study clearly indicating the potential role of EBNA3C expressed in EBV-infected B-cells for modulating the functions of oncogenic kinases that leads to EBV induced B-cell transformation.

Keywords: apoptosis, cell proliferation, Epstein–barr virus, receptor tyrosine kinase

Procedia PDF Downloads 231

Authors: Héctor Rivera-Gómez, Eva Selene Hernández-Gress, Oscar Montaño-Arango, Jose Ramon Corona-Armenta

Abstract:

This research studies the joint production, maintenance and subcontracting control policy for an unreliable deteriorating manufacturing system. Production activities are controlled by a derivation of the Hedging Point Policy, and given that the system is subject to deterioration, it reduces progressively its capacity to satisfy product demand. Multiple deterioration effects are considered, reflected mainly in the quality of the parts produced and the reliability of the machine. Subcontracting is available as support to satisfy product demand; also overhaul maintenance can be conducted to reduce the effects of deterioration. The main objective of the research is to determine simultaneously the production, maintenance and subcontracting rate which minimize the total incurred cost. A stochastic dynamic programming model is developed and solved through a simulation-based approach composed of statistical analysis and optimization with the response surface methodology. The obtained results highlight the strong interactions between production, deterioration and quality which justify the development of an integrated model. A numerical example and a sensitivity analysis are presented to validate our results.

Keywords: subcontracting, optimal control, deterioration, simulation, production planning

Procedia PDF Downloads 585

Authors: Ali Gheshmi

Abstract:

The highest rate of death, after World War II, is due to the Coronavirus epidemic and more than 2 million people have died since the epidemic outbreak in December 2019, so the word “death” is one of the highest frequency words in social media; moreover, the use of social media has grown due to quarantine and successive restrictions and lockdowns. The most important aspects of the approach used by this study include the analysis of Iranian social media users’ reactions to the images of those who died due to Coronavirus, investigating if seeing such images via social media is effective on the users’ perception of the closeness of death, and evaluating the extent to which the fear of Coronavirus death is instrumental in persuading users to observe health protocols or causing mental problems in social media users. Since the goal of this study is to discover how social media users perceive and react to the images of people who died of Coronavirus, the cultural studies approach is used Receipt analysis method and in-depth interviews will be used for collecting data from Iranian users; also, snowball sampling is used in this study. The probable results would show that cyberspace users experience the closeness of “death” more than any time else and to cope with these annoying images, avoid viewing them or if they view, it will lead them to suffer from mental problems.

Keywords: death, receipt analysis method, mental health, social media, Covid-19

Procedia PDF Downloads 160

Authors: Marwa M. Ibrahim

Abstract:

The objective of this research is to study the technical and economic performance of wind/diesel/battery (W/D/B) off-grid system supplying a small remote gathering of four families using the HOMER software package. The second objective is to study the effect of wind energy system on the cost of generated electricity considering the cost of reducing CO₂ emissions as external benefit of wind turbines, no pollutant emission through the operational phase. The system consists of a small wind turbine, battery storage, and diesel generator. The electrical energy is to cater to the basic needs for which the daily load pattern is estimated at 8 kW peak. Net Present Cost (NPC) and Cost of Energy (COE) are used as economic criteria, while the measure of performance is % of power shortage. Technical and economic parameters are defined to estimate the feasibility of the system under study. Optimum system configurations are estimated for the selected site in Egypt. Using HOMER software, the simulation results shows that W/D/B systems are economical for the assumed community site as the price of generated electricity is about 0.285 $/kWh, without taking external benefits into considerations and 0.221 if CO₂ emissions taken into consideration W/D/B systems are more economical than alone diesel system as the COE is 0.432 $/kWh for diesel alone.

Keywords: renewable energy, hybrid energy system, on-off grid system, simulation, optimization and environmental impacts

Procedia PDF Downloads 109

Authors: Farhat Jabeen, Syed Asfaq Hussain Bukhari

Abstract:

In the wake of the contemporary period the basic objective of the research paper points out that socio-cultural scenario of Pakistan reveals that gender-based violence is deep rooted in the society irrespective of language and ethnicity. This paper would reconnaissance the possibility reforms in Pakistan for diminishing of violence. Women are not given their due role, rights, and respect. Furthermore, they are treated as chattels. This presentation will cover the socio-customary practices in the context of discrimination, stigmatization, and violence against women. This paper envisages justice in a broader sense of recognition of rights for women, and masculine structure of society, socio-customary practices and discrimination against women are a very serious concern which needs to be understood as a multidimensional problem. The paper will specially focus on understanding the existing obstacles of women in Pakistan in the constitutional scenario. Women stumble across discrimination and human rights manipulations, voluptuous violation and manipulation including domestic viciousness and are disadvantaged by laws, strategies, and programming that do not take their concerns into considerations. This presentation examines the role of honour killings among Pakistani community. This affects their self-assurance and capability to elevation integrity campaign where gender inequalities and discrimination in social, legal domain are to be put right. This paper brings to light the range of practices, laws and legal justice regarding the status of women and also covers attitude towards compensations for murders/killings, domestic violence, rape, adultery, social behavior and recourse to justice.

Keywords: discrimination, cultural, women, violence

Procedia PDF Downloads 328

Authors: Manpreet Singh, V. P. Agrawal, Gurmanjot Singh Bhatti

Abstract:

From the last decades, there is a significant technological advancement in the field of robotics, and a number of modular self-reconfigurable robots were introduced that can help in space exploration, bucket to stuff, search, and rescue operation during earthquake, etc. As there are numbers of self-reconfigurable robots, choosing the optimum one is always a concern for robot user since there is an increase in available features, facilities, complexity, etc. The objective of this research work is to present a multiple attribute decision making based methodology for coding, evaluation, comparison ranking and selection of modular self-reconfigurable robots using a technique for order preferences by similarity to ideal solution approach. However, 86 attributes that affect the structure and performance are identified. A database for modular self-reconfigurable robot on the basis of different pertinent attribute is generated. This database is very useful for the user, for selecting a robot that suits their operational needs. Two visual methods namely linear graph and spider chart are proposed for ranking of modular self-reconfigurable robots. Using five robots (Atron, Smores, Polybot, M-Tran 3, Superbot), an example is illustrated, and raking of the robots is successfully done, which shows that Smores is the best robot for the operational need illustrated, and this methodology is found to be very effective and simple to use.

Keywords: self-reconfigurable robots, MADM, TOPSIS, morphogenesis, scalability

Procedia PDF Downloads 225

Authors: Reynante E. Autida, Maria Ana T. Quimbo

Abstract:

The chemistry education curriculum provides an excellent avenue where students learn the principles and concepts in chemistry and at the same time, as a central science, better understand related fields. However, the teaching approach used by teachers affects student learning. Cased-based teaching (CBT) is one of the various forms of inductive method. The teacher starts with specifics then proceeds to the general principles. The students’ role in inductive learning shifts from being passive in the traditional approach to being active in learning. In this paper, the effects of Small-Group Case-Based Teaching (SGCBT) on college chemistry students’ achievement, critical thinking, and attitude toward chemistry including the relationships between each of these variables were determined. A quasi-experimental counterbalanced design with pre-post control group was used to determine the effects of SGCBT on Engineering students of four intact classes (two treatment groups and two control groups) in one of the State Universities in Mindanao. The independent variables are the type of teaching approach (SGCBT versus pure lecture-discussion teaching or PLDT) while the dependent variables are chemistry achievement (exam scores) and scores in critical thinking and chemistry attitude. Both Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and t-tests (within and between groups and gain scores) were used to compare the effects of SGCBT versus PLDT on students’ chemistry achievement, critical thinking, and attitude toward chemistry, while Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were calculated to determine the relationships between each of the variables. Results show that the use of SGCBT fosters positive attitude toward chemistry and provides some indications as well on improved chemistry achievement of students compared with PLDT. Meanwhile, the effects of PLDT and SGCBT on critical thinking are comparable. Furthermore, correlational analysis and focus group interviews indicate that the use of SGCBT not only supports development of positive attitude towards chemistry but also improves chemistry achievement of students. Implications are provided in view of the recent findings on SGCBT and topics for further research are presented as well.

Keywords: case-based teaching, small-group learning, chemistry cases, chemistry achievement, critical thinking, chemistry attitude

Procedia PDF Downloads 301