Search results for: quantitative microbial risk assessment tools
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 17480

Search results for: quantitative microbial risk assessment tools

12770 Building Data Infrastructure for Public Use and Informed Decision Making in Developing Countries-Nigeria

Authors: Busayo Fashoto, Abdulhakeem Shaibu, Justice Agbadu, Samuel Aiyeoribe

Abstract:

Data has gone from just rows and columns to being an infrastructure itself. The traditional medium of data infrastructure has been managed by individuals in different industries and saved on personal work tools; one of such is the laptop. This hinders data sharing and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9 for infrastructure sustainability across all countries and regions. However, there has been a constant demand for data across different agencies and ministries by investors and decision-makers. The rapid development and adoption of open-source technologies that promote the collection and processing of data in new ways and in ever-increasing volumes are creating new data infrastructure in sectors such as lands and health, among others. This paper examines the process of developing data infrastructure and, by extension, a data portal to provide baseline data for sustainable development and decision making in Nigeria. This paper employs the FAIR principle (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) of data management using open-source technology tools to develop data portals for public use. eHealth Africa, an organization that uses technology to drive public health interventions in Nigeria, developed a data portal which is a typical data infrastructure that serves as a repository for various datasets on administrative boundaries, points of interest, settlements, social infrastructure, amenities, and others. This portal makes it possible for users to have access to datasets of interest at any point in time at no cost. A skeletal infrastructure of this data portal encompasses the use of open-source technology such as Postgres database, GeoServer, GeoNetwork, and CKan. These tools made the infrastructure sustainable, thus promoting the achievement of SDG 9 (Industries, Innovation, and Infrastructure). As of 6th August 2021, a wider cross-section of 8192 users had been created, 2262 datasets had been downloaded, and 817 maps had been created from the platform. This paper shows the use of rapid development and adoption of technologies that facilitates data collection, processing, and publishing in new ways and in ever-increasing volumes. In addition, the paper is explicit on new data infrastructure in sectors such as health, social amenities, and agriculture. Furthermore, this paper reveals the importance of cross-sectional data infrastructures for planning and decision making, which in turn can form a central data repository for sustainable development across developing countries.

Keywords: data portal, data infrastructure, open source, sustainability

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12769 Contribution of PALB2 and BLM Mutations to Familial Breast Cancer Risk in BRCA1/2 Negative South African Breast Cancer Patients Detected Using High-Resolution Melting Analysis

Authors: N. C. van der Merwe, J. Oosthuizen, M. F. Makhetha, J. Adams, B. K. Dajee, S-R. Schneider

Abstract:

Women representing high-risk breast cancer families, who tested negative for pathogenic mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2, are four times more likely to develop breast cancer compared to women in the general population. Sequencing of genes involved in genomic stability and DNA repair led to the identification of novel contributors to familial breast cancer risk. These include BLM and PALB2. Bloom's syndrome is a rare homozygous autosomal recessive chromosomal instability disorder with a high incidence of various types of neoplasia and is associated with breast cancer when in a heterozygous state. PALB2, on the other hand, binds to BRCA2 and together, they partake actively in DNA damage repair. Archived DNA samples of 66 BRCA1/2 negative high-risk breast cancer patients were retrospectively selected based on the presence of an extensive family history of the disease ( > 3 affecteds per family). All coding regions and splice-site boundaries of both genes were screened using High-Resolution Melting Analysis. Samples exhibiting variation were bi-directionally automated Sanger sequenced. The clinical significance of each variant was assessed using various in silico and splice site prediction algorithms. Comprehensive screening identified a total of 11 BLM and 26 PALB2 variants. The variants detected ranged from global to rare and included three novel mutations. Three BLM and two PALB2 likely pathogenic mutations were identified that could account for the disease in these extensive breast cancer families in the absence of BRCA mutations (BLM c.11T > A, p.V4D; BLM c.2603C > T, p.P868L; BLM c.3961G > A, p.V1321I; PALB2 c.421C > T, p.Gln141Ter; PALB2 c.508A > T, p.Arg170Ter). Conclusion: The study confirmed the contribution of pathogenic mutations in BLM and PALB2 to the familial breast cancer burden in South Africa. It explained the presence of the disease in 7.5% of the BRCA1/2 negative families with an extensive family history of breast cancer. Segregation analysis will be performed to confirm the clinical impact of these mutations for each of these families. These results justify the inclusion of both these genes in a comprehensive breast and ovarian next generation sequencing cancer panel and should be screened simultaneously with BRCA1 and BRCA2 as it might explain a significant percentage of familial breast and ovarian cancer in South Africa.

Keywords: Bloom Syndrome, familial breast cancer, PALB2, South Africa

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12768 Effect of Nitrogen and Carbon Sources on Growth and Lipid Production from Mixotrophic Growth of Chlorella sp. KKU-S2

Authors: Ratanaporn Leesing, Thidarat Papone, Mutiyaporn Puangbut

Abstract:

Mixotrophic cultivation of the isolated freshwater microalgae Chlorella sp. KKU-S2 in batch shake flask for biomass and lipid productions, different concentration of glucose as carbon substrate, different nitrogen source and concentrations were investigated. Using 1.0g/L of NaNO3 as nitrogen source, the maximum biomass yield of 10.04g/L with biomass productivity of 1.673g/L d was obtained using 40g/L glucose, while a biomass of 7.09, 8.55 and 9.45g/L with biomass productivity of 1.182, 1.425 and 1.575g/L d were found at 20, 30 and 50g/L glucose, respectively. The maximum lipid yield of 3.99g/L with lipid productivity of 0.665g/L d was obtained when 40g/L glucose was used. Lipid yield of 1.50, 3.34 and 3.66g/L with lipid productivity of 0.250, 0.557 and 0.610g/L d were found when using the initial concentration of glucose at 20, 30 and 50g/L, respectively. Process product yield (YP/S) of 0.078, 0.119, 0.158 and 0.094 were observed when glucose concentration was 20, 30, 40 and 50 g/L, respectively. The results obtained from the study shows that mixotrophic culture of Chlorella sp. KKU-S2 is a desirable cultivation process for microbial lipid and biomass production.

Keywords: mixotrophic cultivation, microalgal lipid, Chlorella sp. KKU-S2

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12767 Coastal Adaptation to Climate Change: A Review of EU Tools, Legislation, National Strategies and Projects in the Mediterranean Basin

Authors: Dimitris Kokkinos, Panagiotis Prinos

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In the last three decades, climate change has been studied extensively from scientific community, and its consequences are more than clear all around the world. Most countries have carried out a great effort to reduce global warming rates with the ratification and implementation of several international treaties. Moreover, many of them have already adopted national plans in order to adapt to climate change effects and mitigate human and economic losses. Coastal environments, with their inherent physical sensitivity, will face important challenges as a result of projected changes in climate conditions and hundreds of millions of people will be affected. Coastal zones are of high social and economic value and this research focuses on the Mediterranean basin, which is a densely populated and highly urbanized area. With 40% of its land used for human activity and the inevitability of the impacts of the climate change, it is obvious that some form of adaptation measures will be necessary. In this regard, the EU tools, policies and legislation concerning adaptation to climate change are presented. Additionally, the National Adaptation Strategies of State members of the Mediterranean basin are compared and analyzed concerning the coastal areas, along with an overview of projects and programs results focused on coastal issues at different spatial scales. The purpose of this research is to stress the differences between Mediterranean State members at methodologies implemented, to highlight the possible gaps in co-ordination and to emphasize on research initiatives that EU can build upon moving towards an integrated adaptation planning on a region-wide basis.

Keywords: coastal adaptation, Mediterranean Basin, climate change, coastal environments

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12766 Evaluating Gene-Gene Interaction among Nicotine Dependence Genes on the Risk of Oral Clefts

Authors: Mengying Wang, Dongjing Liu, Holger Schwender, Ping Wang, Hongping Zhu, Tao Wu, Terri H Beaty

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Background: Maternal smoking is a recognized risk factor for nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P). It has been reported that the effect of maternal smoking on oral clefts is mediated through genes that influence nicotine dependence. The polymorphisms of cholinergic receptor nicotinic alpha (CHRNA) and beta (CHRNB) subunits genes have previously shown strong associations with nicotine dependence. Here, we attempted to investigate whether the above genes are associated with clefting risk through testing for potential gene-gene (G×G) and gene-environment (G×E) interaction. Methods: We selected 120 markers in 14 genes associated with nicotine dependence to conduct transmission disequilibrium tests among 806 Chinese NSCL/P case-parent trios ascertained in an international consortium which conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of oral clefts. We applied Cordell’s method using “TRIO” package in R to explore G×G as well as G×E interaction involving environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) based on conditional logistic regression model. Results: while no SNP showed significant association with NSCL/P after Bonferroni correction, we found signals for G×G interaction between 10 pairs of SNPs in CHRNA3, CHRNA5, and CHRNB4 (p<10-8), among which the most significant interaction was found between RS3743077 (CHRNA3) and RS11636753 (CHRNB4, p<8.2×10-12). Linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis revealed only low level of LD between these markers. However, there were no significant results for G×ETS interaction. Conclusion: This study fails to detect association between nicotine dependence genes and NSCL/P, but illustrates the importance of taking into account potential G×G interaction for genetic association analysis in NSCL/P. This study also suggests nicotine dependence genes should be considered as important candidate genes for NSCL/P in future studies.

Keywords: Gene-Gene Interaction, Maternal Smoking, Nicotine Dependence, Non-Syndromic Cleft Lip with or without Cleft Palate

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12765 Design and Development of an Application for the Evaluation of Personal Injury and Disability in Occupational and Forensic Medicine

Authors: Daniel Suárez, Jesús Tomas, Sandra Sendra, Sandra Viciano-Tudela, Luis Felipe Calle, Javier Urios, Jaime Lloret

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Our study is to develop a tool for the mobile phone to an assessment of body damage or determination of the degree of disability. This is a field of action of legal medicine and insurance with obvious economic implications. Those people who have suffered an accident or bodily harm demand a quantification of it. The assessment of bodily harm or disability by the expert medical professional is not exempt from complexity. Sometimes it is difficult to quantify pain; other times, the doctor faces simulators or exaggerators, and on many occasions, it is difficult to remember the extensive tables of scales whose details are complex to remember and apply. We present a tool, as a mobile application, that allows entering the sociodemographic date of the patient as well as the characteristics of the accident suffered by the person. With these preliminary data and introducing bodily damage, an approximate calculation of the compensation that the injured party should receive can be made. One of the results of this study is that it allows calculating joint mobility angles without the need to use a goniometer.

Keywords: mobile tool, body damage, personal injury and disability, telemedicine

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12764 A Life Cycle Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Traditional and Climate-smart Farming: A Case of Dhanusha District, Nepal

Authors: Arun Dhakal, Geoff Cockfield

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This paper examines the emission potential of different farming practices that the farmers have adopted in Dhanusha District of Nepal and scope of these practices in climate change mitigation. Which practice is more climate-smarter is the question that this aims to address through a life cycle assessment (LCA) of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The LCA was performed to assess if there is difference in emission potential of broadly two farming systems (agroforestry–based and traditional agriculture) but specifically four farming systems. The required data for this was collected through household survey of randomly selected households of 200. The sources of emissions across the farming systems were paddy cultivation, livestock, chemical fertilizer, fossil fuels and biomass (fuel-wood and crop residue) burning. However, the amount of emission from these sources varied with farming system adopted. Emissions from biomass burning appeared to be the highest while the source ‘fossil fuel’ caused the lowest emission in all systems. The emissions decreased gradually from agriculture towards the highly integrated agroforestry-based farming system (HIS), indicating that integrating trees into farming system not only sequester more carbon but also help in reducing emissions from the system. The annual emissions for HIS, Medium integrated agroforestry-based farming system (MIS), LIS (less integrated agroforestry-based farming system and subsistence agricultural system (SAS) were 6.67 t ha-1, 8.62 t ha-1, 10.75 t ha-1 and 17.85 t ha-1 respectively. In one agroforestry cycle, the HIS, MIS and LIS released 64%, 52% and 40% less GHG emission than that of SAS. Within agroforestry-based farming systems, the HIS produced 25% and 50% less emissions than those of MIS and LIS respectively. Our finding suggests that a tree-based farming system is more climate-smarter than a traditional farming. If other two benefits (carbon sequestered within the farm and in the natural forest because of agroforestry) are to be considered, a considerable amount of emissions is reduced from a climate-smart farming. Some policy intervention is required to motivate farmers towards adopting such climate-friendly farming practices in developing countries.

Keywords: life cycle assessment, greenhouse gas, climate change, farming systems, Nepal

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12763 Spatial Assessment of Soil Contamination from Informal E-Waste Recycling Site in Agbogbloshie, Ghana

Authors: Kyere Vincent Nartey, Klaus Greve, Atiemo Sampson

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E-waste is discarded electrical electronic equipment inclusive of all components, sub-assemblies and consumables which are part of the product at the time of discarding and known to contain both hazardous and valuable fractions. E-waste is recycled within the proposed ecological restoration of the Agbogbloshie enclave using crude and rudimental recycling procedures such as open burning and manual dismantling which result in pollution and contamination of soil, water and air. Using GIS, this study was conducted to examine the spatial distribution and extent of soil contamination by heavy metals from the e-waste recycling site in Agbogbloshie. From the month of August to November 2013, 146 soil samples were collected in addition to their coordinates using GPS. Elemental analysis performed on the collected soil samples using X-Ray fluorescence revealed over 30 elements including, Ni, Cr, Zn, Cu, Pb and Mn. Using geostatistical techniques in ArcGIS 10.1 spatial assessment and distribution maps were generated. Mathematical models or equations were used to estimate the degree of contamination and pollution index. Results from soil analysis from the Agbogbloshie enclave showed that levels of measured or observed elements were significantly higher than the Canadian EPA and Dutch environmental standards.

Keywords: e-waste, geostatistics, soil contamination, spatial distribution

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12762 Modern Agriculture and Industrialization Nexus in the Nigerian Context

Authors: Ese Urhie, Olabisi Popoola, Obindah Gershon, Olabanji Ewetan

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Modern agriculture involves the use of improved tools and equipment (instead of crude and ineffective tools) like tractors, hand operated planters, hand operated fertilizer drills and combined harvesters - which increase agricultural productivity. Farmers in Nigeria still have huge potentials to enhance their productivity. The study argues that the increase in agricultural output due to increased productivity, orchestrated by modern agriculture will promote forward linkages and opportunities in the processing sub-sector; both the manufacturing of machines and the processing of raw materials. Depending on existing incentives, foreign investment could be attracted to augment local investment in the sector. The availability of raw materials in large quantity – which prices are competitive – will attract investment in other industries. In addition, potentials for backward linkages will also be created. In a nutshell, adopting the unbalanced growth theory in favour of the agricultural sector could engender industrialization in a country with untapped potentials. The paper highlights the numerous potentials of modern agriculture that are yet to be tapped in Nigeria and also provides a theoretical analysis of how the realization of such potentials could promote industrialization in the country. The study adopts the Lewis’ theory of structural–change model and Hirschman’s theory of unbalanced growth in the design of the analytical framework. The framework will be useful in empirical studies that will guide policy formulation.

Keywords: modern agriculture, industrialization, structural change model, unbalanced growth

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12761 Papain Immobilized Polyurethane Film as an Antimicrobial Food Package

Authors: M. Cynthya, V. Prabhawathi, D. Mukesh

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Food contamination occurs during post process handling. This leads to spoilage and growth of pathogenic microorganisms in the food, thereby reducing its shelf life or spreading of food borne diseases. Several methods are tried and one of which is use of antimicrobial packaging. Here, papain, a protease enzyme, is covalently immobilized with the help of glutarldehyde on polyurethane and used as a food wrap to protect food from microbial contamination. Covalent immobilization of papain was achieved at a pH of 7.4; temperature of 4°C; glutaraldehyde concentration of 0.5%; incubation time of 24 h; and 50 mg of papain. The formation of -C=N- observed in the Fourier transform infrared spectrum confirmed the immobilization of the enzyme on the polymer. Immobilized enzyme retained higher activity than the native free enzyme. The efficacy of this was studied by wrapping it over S. aureus contaminated cottage cheese (paneer) and cheese and stored at a temperature of 4°C for 7 days. The modified film reduced the bacterial contamination by eight folds when compared to the bare film. FTIR also indicates reduction in lipids, sugars and proteins in the biofilm.

Keywords: cheese, papain, polyurethane, Staphylococcus aureus

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12760 Exploring the Meaning of Safety in Acute Mental Health Inpatient Units from the Consumer Perspective

Authors: Natalie Cutler, Lorna Moxham, Moira Stephens

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Safety is a priority in mental health services, and no more so than in the acute inpatient setting. Mental health service policies and accreditation frameworks commonly approach safety from a risk reduction or elimination perspective leading to service approaches that are arguably more focused on risk than on safety. An exploration what safety means for people who have experienced admission to an acute mental health inpatient unit is currently under way in Sydney, Australia. Using a phenomenographic research approach, this study is seeking to understand the meaning of safety from the perspective of people who use, rather than those who deliver mental health services. Preliminary findings suggest that the meanings of safety for users of mental health services vary from the meanings inherent in the policies and frameworks that inform how mental health services and mental health practice are delivered. This variance has implications for the physical and environmental design of acute mental health inpatient facilities, the policies and practices, and the education and training of mental health staff in particular nurses, who comprise the majority of the mental health workforce. These variances will be presented, along with their implications for the way quality and safety in mental health services are evaluated.

Keywords: acute inpatient, mental health, nursing, phenomenography, recovery, safety

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12759 Prevalence and Molecular Characterization of Extended-Spectrum–β Lactamase and Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacterales from Tunisian Seafood

Authors: Mehdi Soula, Yosra Mani, Estelle Saras, Antoine Drapeau, Raoudha Grami, Mahjoub Aouni, Jean-Yves Madec, Marisa Haenni, Wejdene Mansour

Abstract:

Multi-resistance to antibiotics in gram-negative bacilli and particularly in enterobacteriaceae, has become frequent in hospitals in Tunisia. However, data on antibiotic resistant bacteria in aquatic products are scarce. The aims of this study are to estimate the proportion of ESBL- and carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales in seafood (clams and fish) in Tunisia and to molecularly characterize the collected isolates. Two types of seafood were sampled in unrelated markets in four different regions in Tunisia (641 pieces of farmed fish and 1075 mediterranean clams divided into 215 pools, and each pool contained 5 pieces). Once purchased, all samples were incubated in tubes containing peptone salt broth for 24 to 48h at 37°C. After incubation, overnight cultures were isolated on selective MacConkey agar plates supplemented with either imipenem or cefotaxime, identified using API20E test strips (bioMérieux, Marcy-l’Étoile, France) and confirmed by Maldi-TOF MS. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by the disk diffusion method on Mueller-Hinton agar plates and results were interpreted according to CA-SFM 2021. ESBL-producing Enterobacterales were detected using the Double Disc Synergy Test (DDST). Carbapenem-resistance was detected using an ertapenem disk and was respectively confirmed using the ROSCO KPC/MBL and OXA-48 Confirm Kit (ROSCO Diagnostica, Taastrup, Denmark). DNA was extracted using a NucleoSpin Microbial DNA extraction kit (Macherey-Nagel, Hoerdt, France), according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Resistance genes were determined using the CGE online tools. The replicon content and plasmid formula were identified from the WGS data using PlasmidFinder 2.0.1 and pMLST 2.0. From farmed fishes, nine ESBL-producing strains (9/641, 1.4%) were isolated, which were identified as E. coli (n=6) and K. pneumoniae (n=3). Among the 215 pools of 5 clams analyzed, 18 ESBL-producing isolates were identified, including 14 E. coli and 4 K. pneumoniae. A low isolation rate of ESBL-producing Enterobacterales was detected 1.6% (18/1075) in clam pools. In fish, the ESBL phenotype was due to the presence of the blaCTX-M-15 gene in all nine isolates, but no carbapenemase gene was identified. In clams, the predominant ESBL phenotype was blaCTX-M-1 (n=6/18). blaCPE (NDM1, OXA48) was detected only in 3 isolates ‘K. pneumoniae isolates’. Replicon typing on the strains carring the ESBL and carbapenemase gene revelead that the major type plasmid carried ESBL were IncF (42.3%) [n=11/26]. In all, our results suggest that seafood can be a reservoir of multi-drug resistant bacteria, most probably of human origin but also by the selection pressure of antibiotic. Our findings raise concerns that seafood bought for consumption may serve as potential reservoirs of AMR genes and pose serious threat to public health.

Keywords: BLSE, carbapenemase, enterobacterales, tunisian seafood

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12758 A Review on Future Safety Conditions and Requirements for E-Bikes

Authors: Jonas Palmer, Leon Brüning, Lukas Himmelsbach

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The worldwide ambitions to transform the transportation sector are increasingly affecting the safety conditions for all traffic participants and the required infrastructure. To contribute to the transformation and for health aspects, individuals search for carbon-free alternatives that include physical excitation. Especially e-bikes experience a growing demand within the last few years and consequently change the safety requirements. E-cyclists are exposed to amplified risks due to higher velocity in comparison to classic cyclists. Furthermore, cyclists suffer from a lack of infrastructure, rider assistance systems as well as awareness of other road users. For minimizing the risk of accidents, it is crucial to identify, develop and implement safety measures for cyclists. The paper aims to contribute to future research with delivering an overview of the latest publications and to subsequently identify essential research gaps. Therefore, it is essential to analyze the areas of technical adjustments as well as legal aspects and the correlation of both. The review`s insights can intensify the awareness of safety issues related to e-bikes and promote the development and implementation of appropriate measures.

Keywords: e-bike safety measures, future mobility, risk management, road safety

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12757 Mending Broken Fences Policing: Developing the Intelligence-Led/Community-Based Policing Model(IP-CP) and Quality/Quantity/Crime(QQC) Model

Authors: Anil Anand

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Despite enormous strides made during the past decade, particularly with the adoption and expansion of community policing, there remains much that police leaders can do to improve police-public relations. The urgency is particularly evident in cities across the United States and Europe where an increasing number of police interactions over the past few years have ignited large, sometimes even national, protests against police policy and strategy, highlighting a gap between what police leaders feel they have archived in terms of public satisfaction, support, and legitimacy and the perception of bias among many marginalized communities. The decision on which one policing strategy is chosen over another, how many resources are allocated, and how strenuously the policy is applied resides primarily with the police and the units and subunits tasked with its enforcement. The scope and opportunity for police officers in impacting social attitudes and social policy are important elements that cannot be overstated. How do police leaders, for instance, decide when to apply one strategy—say community-based policing—over another, like intelligence-led policing? How do police leaders measure performance and success? Should these measures be based on quantitative preferences over qualitative, or should the preference be based on some other criteria? And how do police leaders define, allow, and control discretionary decision-making? Mending Broken Fences Policing provides police and security services leaders with a model based on social cohesion, that incorporates intelligence-led and community policing (IP-CP), supplemented by a quality/quantity/crime (QQC) framework to provide a four-step process for the articulable application of police intervention, performance measurement, and application of discretion.

Keywords: social cohesion, quantitative performance measurement, qualitative performance measurement, sustainable leadership

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12756 Environmental Assessment of Single-Industry Towns in Kazakhstan in the Context of Sustainable Development Goals

Authors: Almira Daulbayeva, Zhauhar Yessenkulova, Rassima Salimbayeva

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In this article, the regularities of the modern spatial and temporal distribution of main pollutants in the air space of single-industry towns are considered, and the level of pollutant emissions into the atmospheric air by urban areas of the Karaganda region is determined. We selected such cities as Temirtau, Abay, Saran, and Balkhash. Ecological and hygienic assessment of atmospheric air pollution in these cities for 2020 - 2023 and the beginning of 2024 was carried out on the materials of annual Information Bulletins on the state of the environment of the Republic of Kazakhstan, bulletins ‘On the state of atmospheric air in Karaganda region’. The general assessment of atmospheric air pollution in the territory was high, especially in 2020 and 2021, and corresponded to the level of ‘tense’. According to the results of the analysis of atmospheric air pollution, it was revealed that enterprises of thermal power engineering and mining industry (mines, enrichment plants, metallurgical production of ‘ArcelorMittal’ JSC) carry out emission of significant amounts of pollutants, particulate matter, and heavy metals into the atmosphere. The total number of ingredients present in the atmosphere of the city exceeds dozens, many of which belong to the first and second categories of hazard. The main pollutants were sulphur dioxide, carbon oxides, and nitrogen dioxide, as well as suspended solids. We have also considered and studied some types of major diseases of the population living in the region in different conditions in recent years. According to the results of the study, the cities with the highest rates and levels of morbidity were identified: Temirtau, Shakhtinsk, Abay, located in Karaganda region, where the main industrial facilities are concentrated, emitting harmful pollutants from ‘Corporation Kazakhmys’ LLP, ‘Arcelor Mittal’ JSC, Balkhash Mining and Metallurgical Combine.

Keywords: atmospheric air, pollutants, single-industry towns, Karaganda region, morbidity, sustainable development

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12755 A Hydrometallurgical Route for the Recovery of Molybdenum from Spent Mo-Co Catalyst

Authors: Bina Gupta, Rashmi Singh, Harshit Mahandra

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Molybdenum is a strategic metal and finds applications in petroleum refining, thermocouples, X-ray tubes and in making of steel alloy owing to its high melting temperature and tensile strength. The growing significance and economic value of molybdenum has increased interest in the development of efficient processes aiming its recovery from secondary sources. Main secondary sources of Mo are molybdenum catalysts which are used for hydrodesulphurisation process in petrochemical refineries. The activity of these catalysts gradually decreases with time during the desulphurisation process as the catalysts get contaminated with toxic material and are dumped as waste which leads to environmental issues. In this scenario, recovery of molybdenum from spent catalyst is significant from both economic and environmental point of view. Recently ionic liquids have gained prominence due to their low vapour pressure, high thermal stability, good extraction efficiency and recycling capacity. The present study reports recovery of molybdenum from Mo-Co spent leach liquor using Cyphos IL 102[trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium bromide] as an extractant. Spent catalyst was leached with 3.0 mol/L HCl, and the leach liquor containing Mo-870 ppm, Co-341 ppm, Al-508 ppm and Fe-42 ppm was subjected to extraction step. The effect of extractant concentration on the leach liquor was investigated and almost 85% extraction of Mo was achieved with 0.05 mol/L Cyphos IL 102. Results of stripping studies revealed that 2.0 mol/L HNO3 can effectively strip 94% of the extracted Mo from the loaded organic phase. McCabe- Thiele diagrams were constructed to determine the number of stages required for quantitative extraction and stripping of molybdenum and were confirmed by countercurrent simulation studies. According to McCabe- Thiele extraction and stripping isotherms, two stages are required for quantitative extraction and stripping of molybdenum at A/O= 1:1. Around 95.4% extraction of molybdenum was achieved in two-stage counter current at A/O= 1:1 with the negligible extraction of Co and Al. However, iron was coextracted and removed from the loaded organic phase by scrubbing with 0.01 mol/L HCl. Quantitative stripping (~99.5 %) of molybdenum was achieved with 2.0 mol/L HNO₃ in two stages at O/A=1:1. Overall ~95.0% molybdenum with 99 % purity was recovered from Mo-Co spent catalyst. From the strip solution, MoO₃ was obtained by crystallization followed by thermal decomposition. The product obtained after thermal decomposition was characterized by XRD, FE-SEM and EDX techniques. XRD peaks of MoO₃ correspond to molybdite Syn-MoO₃ structure. FE-SEM depicts the rod-like morphology of synthesized MoO₃. EDX analysis of MoO₃ shows 1:3 atomic percentage of molybdenum and oxygen. The synthesised MoO₃ can find application in gas sensors, electrodes of batteries, display devices, smart windows, lubricants and as a catalyst.

Keywords: cyphos Il 102, extraction, spent mo-co catalyst, recovery

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12754 Effect of the Birth Order and Arrival of Younger Siblings on the Development of a Child: Evidence from India

Authors: Swati Srivastava, Ashish Kumar Upadhyay

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Using longitudinal data from three waves of Young Lives Study and Ordinary Least Square methods, study has investigated the effect of birth order and arrival of younger siblings on child development in India. Study used child’s height for age z-score, weight for age z-score, BMI for age z-score, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-Score)c, maths score, Early Grade Reading Assessment Test (ERGA) score, and memory score to measure the physical and cognitive development of child during wave-3. Findings suggest that having a high birth order is detrimental for child development and the gap between adjacent siblings is larger for children late in the birth sequences than early in the birth sequences. Study also reported that not only older siblings but arrival of younger siblings before assessment of test also reduces the development of a child. The effects become stronger in case of female children than male children.

Keywords: height for age z-score, weight for age z-score, BMI for z-score, PPVT score, math score, EGRA score, memory score, birth order, siblings, Young Lives Study, India

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12753 Survey of Access Controls in Cloud Computing

Authors: Monirah Alkathiry, Hanan Aljarwan

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Cloud computing is one of the most significant technologies that the world deals with, in different sectors with different purposes and capabilities. The cloud faces various challenges in securing data from unauthorized access or modification. Consequently, security risks and levels have greatly increased. Therefore, cloud service providers (CSPs) and users need secure mechanisms that ensure that data are kept secret and safe from any disclosures or exploits. For this reason, CSPs need a number of techniques and technologies to manage and secure access to the cloud services to achieve security goals, such as confidentiality, integrity, identity access management (IAM), etc. Therefore, this paper will review and explore various access controls implemented in a cloud environment that achieve different security purposes. The methodology followed in this survey was conducting an assessment, evaluation, and comparison between those access controls mechanisms and technologies based on different factors, such as the security goals it achieves, usability, and cost-effectiveness. This assessment resulted in the fact that the technology used in an access control affects the security goals it achieves as well as there is no one access control method that achieves all security goals. Consequently, such a comparison would help decision-makers to choose properly the access controls that meet their requirements.

Keywords: access controls, cloud computing, confidentiality, identity and access management

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12752 Whether Asset Growth is Systematic Risk: Evidence from Thailand

Authors: Thitima Chaiyakul

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The number of previous literature regarding to the effect of asset growth and equity returns is small. Furthermore, those literature are mainly focus in the developed markets. According to my knowledge, there is no published paper examining the effect of asset growth and equity returns in the Stock Exchange of Thailand in different industry groups. The main objective in this research is the testing the effect of asset growth to equity returns in different industry groups. This study employs the data of the listed companies in the Stock Exchange of Thailand during January 1996 and December 2014. The data of financial industry are exclude from this study due to the different meaning of accounting terms. The results show the supported evidence that the asset growth positively affects the equity returns at a statistically significance level of at least 5% in Agro& Food Industry, Industrials, and Services Industry Groups. These results are inconsistent with the previous research testing in developed markets. Nevertheless, the statistically significances of the effect of asset growth to equity returns appear in some cases. In summary, the asset growth is a non-systematic risk and it is a mispricing factor.

Keywords: asset growth, asset pricing, equity returns, Thailand

Procedia PDF Downloads 352
12751 Application of Ground Penetrating Radar and Light Falling Weight Deflectometer in Ballast Quality Assessment

Authors: S. Cafiso, B. Capace, A. Di Graziano, C. D’Agostino

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Systematic monitoring of the trackbed is necessary to assure safety and quality of service in the railway system. Moreover, to produce effective management of the maintenance treatments, the assessment of bearing capacity of the railway trackbed must include ballast, sub-ballast and subgrade layers at different depths. Consequently, there is an increasing interest in obtaining a consistent measure of ballast bearing capacity with no destructive tests (NDTs) able to work in the physical and time restrictions of railway tracks in operation. Moreover, in the case of the local railway with reduced gauge, the use of the traditional high-speed track monitoring systems is not feasible. In that framework, this paper presents results from in site investigation carried out on ballast and sleepers with Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Light Falling Weight Deflectometer (LWD). These equipment are currently used in road pavement maintenance where they have shown their reliability and effectiveness. Application of such Non-Destructive Tests in railway maintenance is promising but in the early stage of the investigation. More specifically, LWD was used to estimate the stiffness of ballast and sleeper support, as well. LWD, despite the limited load (6 kN in the trial test) applied directly on the sleeper, was able to detect defects in the bearing capacity at the Sleeper/Ballast interface. A dual frequency GPR was applied to detect the presence of layers’ discontinuities at different depths due to fouling phenomena that are the main causes of changing in the layer dielectric proprieties within the ballast thickness. The frequency of 2000Mhz provided high-resolution data to approximately 0.4m depth, while frequency of 600Mhz showed greater depth penetration up to 1.5 m. In the paper literature review and trial in site experience are used to identify Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT analysis) of the application of GPR and LWD for the assessment of bearing capacity of railway track-bed.

Keywords: bearing capacity, GPR, LWD, no destructive test, railway track

Procedia PDF Downloads 128
12750 The Question of Choice in an Achievement Test: A Study on the Sudanese Case

Authors: Mahmoud Abdelrazig Mahmoud Barakat

Abstract:

Achievement tests administered at national level play a significant role in the lives of test-takers as well as the whole society. This paper aims to investigate the effect of giving students a choice between two optional questions on their overall performance in a high stake achievement test for university admission. It is hypothesized that questions targeting writing-based productive skills and language system necessitate display of abilities which are different from fact-based questions designed around story content. The two items are assumed to reflect different constructs that require different criteria of assessment. Consequently, the student’s overall score is affected by the item they choose to answer, which might not be reflective of their real language abilities. An open-ended interview was carried out with ten teachers working with grade 3 students in model secondary schools to investigate the nature of the two test items and their impact on the student’s performance. The data has proved that giving choice in an achievement test generates different performances that are assessed differently. It is recommended that in order to address the question of fairness, it is important to clearly define and balance the construct of the items that affect the student’s choice and performance.

Keywords: achievement test, assessment, choice, fairness performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 222
12749 Concrete Compressive Strengths of Major Existing Buildings in Kuwait

Authors: Zafer Sakka, Husain Al-Khaiat

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Due to social and economic considerations, owners all over the world desire to keep and use existing structures, including aging ones. However, these structures, especially those that are dear, need accurate condition assessment, and proper safety evaluation. More than half of the budget spent on construction activities in developed countries is related to the repair and maintenance of these reinforced concrete (R/C) structures. Also, periodical evaluation and assessment of relatively old concrete structures are vital and imperative. If the evaluation and assessment of structural components of a particular aging R/C structure reveal that repairs are essential for these components, these repairs should not be delayed. Delaying the repairs has the potential of losing serviceability of the whole structure and/or causing total failure and collapse of the structure. In addition, if repairs are delayed, the cost of maintenance will skyrocket as well. It can also be concluded from the above that the assessment of existing needs to receive more consideration and thought from the structural engineering societies and professionals. Ten major existing structures in Kuwait city that were constructed in the 1970s were assessed for structural reliability and integrity. Numerous concrete samples were extracted from the structural systems of the investigated buildings. This paper presents the results of the compressive strength tests that were conducted on the extracted cores. The results are compared for the buildings’ columns and beams elements and compared with the design strengths. The collected data were statistically analyzed. The average compressive strengths of the concrete cores that were extracted from the ten buildings had a large variation. The lowest average compressive strength for one of the buildings was 158 kg/cm². This building was deemed unsafe and economically unfeasible to be repaired; accordingly, it was demolished. The other buildings had an average compressive strengths fall in the range 215-317 kg/cm². Poor construction practices were the main cause for the strengths. Although most of the drawings and information for these buildings were lost during the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, however, information gathered indicated that the design strengths of the beams and columns for most of these buildings were in the range of 280-400 kg/cm². Following the study, measures were taken to rehabilitate the buildings for safety. The mean compressive strength for all cores taken from beams and columns of the ten buildings was 256.7 kg/cm². The values range was 139 to 394 kg/cm². For columns, the mean was 250.4 kg/cm², and the values ranged from 137 to 394 kg/cm². However, the mean compressive strength for the beams was higher than that of columns. It was 285.9 kg/cm², and the range was 181 to 383 kg/cm². In addition to the concrete cores that were extracted from the ten buildings, the 28-day compressive strengths of more than 24,660 concrete cubes were collected from a major ready-mixed concrete supplier in Kuwait. The data represented four different grades of ready-mix concrete (250, 300, 350, and 400 kg/cm²) manufactured between the year 2003 and 2018. The average concrete compressive strength for the different concrete grades (250, 300, 350 and 400 kg/cm²) was found to be 318, 382, 453 and 504 kg/cm², respectively, and the coefficients of variations were found to be 0.138, 0.140, 0.157 and 0.131, respectively.

Keywords: concrete compressive strength, concrete structures, existing building, statistical analysis.

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12748 The Effect of Aerobic Training and Consumption of Apple Vinegar on Cardiovascular Risk Factor in Older Women

Authors: S. Fazelifar, M. Ghasemi

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Aim: Recent studies on cardiovascular risk factors have been focused on the new markers of inflammatory diseases such as C-reactive protein (CRP). Research evidence shows that physical activity along with other factors such as reduced smoking, controlling blood pressure, control blood lipids TC, LDL-c, HDL-c and having a healthy weight can reduce the risk of chronic heart disease (CHD) .Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of twelve weeks aerobic exercise and consumption of apple vinegar on cardiovascular risk factor in older women. Methodology: 28 inactive women (mean body weight 72.13 ± 8.6 kg, height 157 ± 7.4cm, age 48.06 ± 5.18 years and BMI 28.2 ± 3.2 kg/m2) by recall and notice of investigation, among of the eligible voters recruited and randomly divided in 4 groups: control, apple vinegar, exercise, exercise + apple vinegar. The training program includes a 20-minute warm-up and stretching, running for 15 minutes in the first session with an intensity of 80% of maximum heart rate and an increase in one-minute run time in next training session. Also, subjects in experimental groups received daily specified amount of 50 ml apple vinegar. Blood samples were collected from the brachial vein in before and after training to measure CRP and blood lipids (cholesterol, HDL, VLDL, LDL). The levels of CRP were measured by ELISA way. K-S test to determine the normality of the data and analysis of variance for repeated measures was used to analyze the data. A significant difference in the p < 0/05 accepted. Results: The results indicated that individual characteristics including height, weight, age, and body mass index were not significantly different among the four groups. The results showed that levels of CRP and LDL cholesterol were significantly reduced in all groups at post-test compared to the pre-test. The HDL levels increased significantly in all groups in post-test compared to the pre-test. Analysis of the data indicates that levels of CRP, TC, and LDL were significantly reduced in all groups compared to the control group, while the changes in the other groups were not significant relative to each other. Conclusion: Results of this study showed that twelve weeks of aerobic exercise with apple vinegar cause a significant decrease in CRP, cholesterol, LDL, and significantly increased HDL levels. According to the results of this study, it is possible that aerobic exercise with apple vinegar can inhibit CRP and undesirable fats. Considering the strong association between the inflammatory indices and the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, every factor that decreases these indices can reduce the cardiovascular complications.

Keywords: aerobic exercise, apple vinegar, CRP, older women

Procedia PDF Downloads 472
12747 Assessing Students’ Readiness for an Open and Distance Learning Higher Education Environment

Authors: Upasana G. Singh, Meera Gungea

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Learning is no more confined to the traditional classroom, teacher, and student interaction. Many universities offer courses through the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode, attracting a diversity of learners in terms of age, gender, and profession to name a few. The ODL mode has surfaced as one of the famous sought-after modes of learning, allowing learners to invest in their educational growth without hampering their personal and professional commitments. This mode of learning, however, requires that those who ultimately choose to adopt it must be prepared to undertake studies through such medium. The purpose of this research is to assess whether students who join universities offering courses through the ODL mode are ready to embark and study within such a framework. This study will be helpful to unveil the challenges students face in such an environment and thus contribute to developing a framework to ease adoption and integration into the ODL environment. Prior to the implementation of e-learning, a readiness assessment is essential for any institution that wants to adopt any form of e-learning. Various e-learning readiness assessment models have been developed over the years. However, this study is based on a conceptual model for e-Learning Readiness Assessment which is a ‘hybrid model’. This hybrid model consists of 4 main parameters: 1) Technological readiness, 2) Culture readiness, 3) Content readiness, and 4) Demographics factors, with 4 sub-areas, namely, technology, innovation, people and self-development. The model also includes the attitudes of users towards the adoption of e-learning as an important aspect of assessing e-learning readiness. For this study, some factors and sub-factors of the hybrid model have been considered and adapted, together with the ‘Attitude’ component. A questionnaire was designed based on the models and students where the target population were students enrolled at the Open University of Mauritius, in undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Preliminary findings indicate that most (68%) learners have an average knowledge about ODL form of learning, despite not many (72%) having previous experience with ODL. Despite learning through ODL 74% of learners preferred hard copy learning material and 48% found difficulty in reading learning material on electronic devices.

Keywords: open learning, distance learning, student readiness, a hybrid model

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12746 Epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Animals of the Arabian Peninsula: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Authors: Ebtisam A. Al-Mslemani, Khalid A. Enan, Asmaa Abdelgadier, Nada Assaad, Zaynab Elhussein, Khalid Eltom

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Background: Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a zoonotic parasite that can be transmitted from animals to humans, with felids acting as its definitive host. Thus, understanding the epidemiology of this parasite in animal populations is vital to controlling its transmission to humans as well as to other animal groups. Objectives: This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to summarise and analyse reports of T. gondii infection in animal species residing in the Arabian Peninsula. Methods: It was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), with relevant studies being retrieved from MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar and ScienceDirect. All articles published in Arabic or English languages between January 2000 and December 2020 were screened for eligibility. The random effects model was used to calculate the pooled prevalence of T. gondii infection in different animal populations which were found to harbour this infection. The critical appraisal tool for prevalence studies designed by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) was used to assess the risk of bias in all included studies. Results: A total of 15 studies were retrieved, reporting prevalence estimates from 4 countries in this region and in 13 animal species. A quantitative meta-analysis estimated a pooled prevalence of 43% in felids [95% confidence interval (CI) = 23-64%, I2 index = 100%], 48% in sheep (95% CI = 27-70%, I2 = 99%) and 21% in camels (95% CI = 7-35%, I2 = 99%). Evidence of possible publication bias was found in both felids and sheep. Conclusions: This meta-analysis estimates a high prevalence of T. gondii infection in animal species that are of high economic and cultural importance to countries of this region. Hence, these findings provide valuable insight to public health authorities as well as economic and animal resources advisors in countries of the Arabian Peninsula.

Keywords: Arabian Peninsula, toxoplasma gondii, animals; meta-analysis, toxoplasmosis

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12745 Agricultural Mechanization for Transformation

Authors: Lawrence Gumbe

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Kenya Vision 2030 is the country's programme for transformation covering the period 2008 to 2030. Its objective is to help transform Kenya into a newly industrializing, middle-income, exceeding US$10000, country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens by 2030, in a clean and secure environment. Increased agricultural and production and productivity is crucial for the realization of Vision 2030. Mechanization of agriculture in order to achieve greater yields is the only way to achieve these objectives. There are contending groups and views on the strategy for agricultural mechanization. The first group are those who oppose the widespread adoption of advanced technologies (mostly internal combustion engines and tractors) in agricultural mechanization as entirely inappropriate in most situations in developing countries. This group argues that mechanically powered -agricultural mechanization often leads to displacement of labour and hence increased unemployment, and this results in a host of other socio-economic problems, amongst them, rural-urban migration, inequitable distribution of wealth and in many cases an increase in absolute poverty, balance of payments due to the need to import machinery, fuel and sometimes technical assistance to manage them. The second group comprises of those who view the use of the improved hand tools and animal powered technology as transitional step between the most rudimentary step in technological development (characterized by entire reliance on human muscle power) and the advanced technologies (characterized 'by reliance on tractors and other machinery). The third group comprises those who regard these intermediate technologies (ie. improved hand tools and draught animal technology in agriculture) as a ‘delaying’ tactic and they advocate the use of mechanical technologies as-the most appropriate. This group argues that alternatives to the mechanical technologies do not just exist as a practical matter, or, if they are available, they are inefficient and they cannot be compared to the mechanical technologies in terms of economics and productivity. The fourth group advocates a compromise between groups two and third above. This group views the improved hand tools and draught animal technology as more of an 18th century technology and the modem tractor and combine harvester as too advanced for developing countries. This group has been busy designing an ‘intermediate’, ‘appropriate’, ‘mini’, ‘micro’ tractor for use by farmers in developing countries. This paper analyses and concludes on the different agricultural mechanization strategies available to Kenya and other third world countries

Keywords: agriculture, mechanazation, transformation, industrialization

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12744 Gut Metabolite Profiling of the Ethnic Groups from Assam, India

Authors: Madhusmita Dehingia, Supriyo Sen, Bhuwan Bhaskar, Tulsi Joishy, Mojibur R. Khan

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Human gut microbes and their metabolites are important for maintaining homeostasis in the gut and are responsible for many metabolic and immune mediated diseases. In the present study, we determined the profiles of the gut metabolites of five different ethnic groups (Bodo, Tai-Phake, Karbi, Tea tribe and Tai-Aiton) of Assam. Fecal metabolite profiling of the 39 individuals belonging to the ethnic groups was carried out using Gas chromatography – Mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and comparison was performed among the tribes for common and unique metabolites produced within their gut. Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) of the metabolites suggested that the individuals grouped according to their ethnicity. Among the 66 abundant metabolites, 12 metabolites were found to be common among the five ethnic groups. Additionally, ethnicity wise some unique metabolites were also detected. For example, the tea tribe of Assam contained the tea components, Aniline and Benzoate more in their gut in comparison to others. Metabolites of microbial origin were also correlated with the already published metagenomic data of the same ethnic group and functional analysis were carried out based on human metabolome database.

Keywords: ethnicity, gut microbiota, GC-MS, metabolites

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12743 Investigating the Editing's Effect of Advertising Photos on the Virtual Purchase Decision Based on the Quantitative Electroencephalogram (EEG) Parameters

Authors: Parya Tabei, Maryam Habibifar

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Decision-making is an important cognitive function that can be defined as the process of choosing an option among available options to achieve a specific goal. Consumer ‘need’ is the main reason for purchasing decisions. Human decision-making while buying products online is subject to various factors, one of which is the quality and effect of advertising photos. Advertising photo editing can have a significant impact on people's virtual purchase decisions. This technique helps improve the quality and overall appearance of photos by adjusting various aspects such as brightness, contrast, colors, cropping, resizing, and adding filters. This study, by examining the effect of editing advertising photos on the virtual purchase decision using EEG data, tries to investigate the effect of edited images on the decision-making of customers. A group of 30 participants were asked to react to 24 edited and unedited images while their EEG was recorded. Analysis of the EEG data revealed increased alpha wave activity in the occipital regions (O1, O2) for both edited and unedited images, which is related to visual processing and attention. Additionally, there was an increase in beta wave activity in the frontal regions (FP1, FP2, F4, F8) when participants viewed edited images, suggesting involvement in cognitive processes such as decision-making and evaluating advertising content. Gamma wave activity also increased in various regions, especially the frontal and parietal regions, which are associated with higher cognitive functions, such as attention, memory, and perception, when viewing the edited images. While the visual processing reflected by alpha waves remained consistent across different visual conditions, editing advertising photos appeared to boost neural activity in frontal and parietal regions associated with decision-making processes. These Findings suggest that photo editing could potentially influence consumer perceptions during virtual shopping experiences by modulating brain activity related to product assessment and purchase decisions.

Keywords: virtual purchase decision, advertising photo, EEG parameters, decision Making

Procedia PDF Downloads 50
12742 Agricultural Knowledge Management System Design, Use, and Consequence for Knowledge Sharing and Integration

Authors: Dejen Alemu, Murray E. Jennex, Temtim Assefa

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This paper is investigated to understand the design, the use, and the consequence of Knowledge Management System (KMS) for knowledge systems sharing and integration. A KMS for knowledge systems sharing and integration is designed to meet the challenges raised by knowledge management researchers and practitioners: the technical, the human, and social factors. Agricultural KMS involves various members coming from different Communities of Practice (CoPs) who possess their own knowledge of multiple practices which need to be combined in the system development. However, the current development of the technology ignored the indigenous knowledge of the local communities, which is the key success factor for agriculture. This research employed the multi-methodological approach to KMS research in action research perspective which consists of four strategies: theory building, experimentation, observation, and system development. Using the KMS development practice of Ethiopian agricultural transformation agency as a case study, this research employed an interpretive analysis using primary qualitative data acquired through in-depth semi-structured interviews and participant observations. The Orlikowski's structuration model of technology has been used to understand the design, the use, and the consequence of the KMS. As a result, the research identified three basic components for the architecture of the shared KMS, namely, the people, the resources, and the implementation subsystems. The KMS were developed using web 2.0 tools to promote knowledge sharing and integration among diverse groups of users in a distributed environment. The use of a shared KMS allows users to access diverse knowledge from a number of users in different groups of participants, enhances the exchange of different forms of knowledge and experience, and creates high interaction and collaboration among participants. The consequences of a shared KMS on the social system includes, the elimination of hierarchical structure, enhance participation, collaboration, and negotiation among users from different CoPs having common interest, knowledge and skill development, integration of diverse knowledge resources, and the requirement of policy and guideline. The research contributes methodologically for the application of system development action research for understanding a conceptual framework for KMS development and use. The research have also theoretical contribution in extending structuration model of technology for the incorporation of variety of knowledge and practical implications to provide management understanding in developing strategies for the potential of web 2.0 tools for sharing and integration of indigenous knowledge.

Keywords: communities of practice, indigenous knowledge, participation, structuration model of technology, Web 2.0 tools

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12741 Uneven Habitat Characterisation by Using Geo-Gebra Software in the Lacewings (Insecta: Neuroptera), Knowing When to Calculate the Habitat: Creating More Informative Ecological Experiments

Authors: Hakan Bozdoğan

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A wide variety of traditional methodologies has been enhanced for characterising smooth habitats in order to find out different environmental objectives. The habitats were characterised based on size and shape by using Geo-Gebra Software. In this study, an innovative approach to researching habitat characterisation in the lacewing species, GeoGebra software is utilised. This approach is demonstrated using the example of ‘surface area’ as an analytical concept, wherein the goal was to increase clearness for researchers, and to improve the quality of researching in survey area. In conclusion, habitat characterisation using the mathematical programme provides a unique potential to collect more comprehensible and analytical information about in shapeless areas beyond the range of direct observations methods. This research contributes a new perspective for assessing the structure of habitat, providing a novel mathematical tool for the research and management of such habitats and environments. Further surveys should be undertaken at additional sites within the Amanos Mountains for a comprehensive assessment of lacewings habitat characterisation in an analytical plane. This paper is supported by Ahi Evran University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit, Projects No:TBY.E2.17.001 and TBY.A4.16.001.

Keywords: uneven habitat shape, habitat assessment, lacewings, Geo-Gebra Software

Procedia PDF Downloads 284