Search results for: earnings reports

Authors: W. Badla

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A significant portion of the buildings constructed in Algeria is structural frames with infill panels which are usually considered as non structural components and are neglected in the analysis. However, these masonry panels tend to influence the structural response. Thus, these structures can be regarded as seismic risk buildings, although in the Algerian seismic code there is little guidance on the seismic evaluation of infilled frame buildings. In this study, three RC frames with 2, 4, and 8 story and subjected to three recorded Algerian accelerograms are studied. The diagonal strut approach is adopted for modeling the infill panels and a fiber model is used to model RC members. This paper reports on the seismic evaluation of RC frames with brick infill panels. The results obtained show that the masonry panels enhance the load lateral capacity of the buildings and the infill panel configuration influences the response of the structures.

Keywords: seismic design, RC frames, infill panels, non linear dynamic analysis

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Authors: Fhumulani R. Ramukhwatho, Roelien du Plessis, Suzan H. H. Oelofse

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There are a growing number of scientific papers, journals and reports on household food waste, the reason being that food waste has become a significant global issue that is costing billions of Rands in resources. To reduce food waste in a sustainable manner, it requires an understanding of the generation of food waste. This paper assesses household food wastage in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (CTMM). A total of 210 interviewed participants using face-to-face interviews based on a structured questionnaire and the actual weighing of households’ food wasted was quantified using a weighing kitchen scale. Fifty-nine percent of respondents agreed that they wasted food, while 41% thought they did not waste food at all. Households wasted an average total of 6 kg of food waste per week per household. The study concluded that households buy and prepare more food that ends up wasted.

Keywords: assessment, developing country, food waste, household

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Authors: Khaled M. Alhawiti

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This paper investigates the future of medicine and the use of Natural language processing. The importance of having correct clinical information available online is remarkable; improving patient care at affordable costs could be achieved using automated applications to use the online clinical information. The major challenge towards the retrieval of such vital information is to have it appropriately coded. Majority of the online patient reports are not found to be coded and not accessible as its recorded in natural language text. The use of Natural Language processing provides a feasible solution by retrieving and organizing clinical information, available in text and transforming clinical data that is available for use. Systems used in NLP are rather complex to construct, as they entail considerable knowledge, however significant development has been made. Newly formed NLP systems have been tested and have established performance that is promising and considered as practical clinical applications.

Keywords: clinical information, information retrieval, natural language processing, automated applications

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Authors: Joao A. Labrincha, Rui M. Novais, L. Senff, J. Carvalheiras

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The development of multifunctional materials to tackle the energy consumption and improve the hygrothermal performance of buildings is very relevant. This work reports the development of porous geopolymers or bi-layered composites, composed by a highly porous top-layer and a dense bottom-layer, showing high ability to reduce the temperature swings inside buildings and simultaneously buffer the humidity levels. The use of phase change materials (PCM) strongly reduces the indoor thermal fluctuation (up to 5 °C). The potential to modulate indoor humidity is demonstrated by the very high practical MBV (2.71 g/m2 Δ%HR). Since geopolymer matrixes are produced from wastes (biomass fly ash, red mud) the developed solutions contribute to sustainable and energy efficient and healthy building.

Keywords: waste-based geopolymers, thermal insulation, temperature regulation, moisture buffer

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Authors: Nasser-Eddine Attari

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After the earthquake many structures were classified as slightly damaged and, being uneconomic to replace them, at least in the short term, suitable means of repairs of the beam column joint area are being studied. Furthermore, there exist a large number of buildings that need retrofitting of the joints before the next earthquake. The paper reports the results of the experimental programme, constituted of three beam-column reinforced concrete joints at a scale of one to three (1/3) tested under the effect of a pre-stressing axial load acting over the column. The beams were subjected at their ends to an alternate cyclic loading under displacement control to simulate a seismic action. Strain and cracking fields were monitored with the help a digital recording camera. Following the analysis of the results, a comparison can be made between the performances in terms of ductility, strength, and mode of failure of the different strengthening solution considered.

Keywords: fibre reinforced polymers, joints, reinforced concrete, beam columns

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Authors: Rameshwar Dahal, S. Ping Ho

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Although the demand for infrastructure development forms a promising market opportunity for international firms, the dominance of informal institutions over formal ones, investors are facing extraordinary institutional challenges when investing in emerging Least Developed Countries (LDCs). We believe that, in emerging LDCs, the project performance heavily depends on how well the entrants respond to the challenges exerted by the host institutional environments. Which primarily depends on how much they learn about the host institution and what strategy they apply in response. In Nepal, almost all international or global infrastructure projects are financed by international financers, so the procurement process of the infrastructure projects financed by foreign agencies is guided by the policies and regulations of the financer. Because of limited resources and the financers’ demand, contractors and consults are procured internationally. Moreover, the resources, including but not limited to construction material, manpower, and equipment, also need to be imported. Therefore, the involvement of international companies as an entrant in global infrastructure projects of LDCs is obvious. In a global project (GP), participants from different geographical and institutional environments hold different beliefs and have disparate interests. Therefore, the entrants face the challenges exerted by the host institutional environments. The entrants must either adapt to the institutions prevailing in the environment or resist the institutional pressures. It is hypothesized that, in emerging LDCs, the project performance heavily depends on how much the entrants learn about the host institutional knowledge and how well they respond to the institutional environments. While it is impossible to generalize the phenomenon and contextual conditions because of their vast diversity, this study has answered why and how participants’ level of institutional knowledge impacts the project's implementation performance. To draw that conclusion, firstly, we explored two typical GPs from Nepal. For this study, the data were collected by conducting interviews and examining the secondary data, such as the project reports published by the financers, project data provided by interviewees, and news reports. In an event analysis, firstly, we identify the sources, causes, or nature of the institutional challenges; secondly, we analyze the entrant’s responses to the exerted challenges and evaluate the impacts of the responses on the overall project performance. In this study, at first, the events occurred during the project implementation process have a causal link with the local institutions that demand the entrants’ response are extracted. Secondly, each event is scrutinized as the critical success factor of the case project. Finally, it is crucially examined whether and what institutional knowledge in these events played a critical role in project success or failure. The results also provide insights into the crucial institutional knowledge in LDCs and the subsequent strategy implications for undertaking projects in LDCs.

Keywords: emerging countries, LDC, project management, project performance, institutional knowledge, institutional theory

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Authors: Yong-Cin Chen, Meng-Jiy Wang

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This study reports to prepare cuprous oxide (Cu2O) particles with different dimension and shape for evaluating the antibacterial applications. In the preparation of Cu2O, the surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), was used as templates to modulate the size of the prepared Cu2O particles. Furthermore, ammonia water was used for adjusting the pH environment that four different shapes of particles including cubic, spherical, octahedral, and star-like Cu2O were synthesized. The physical characteristics of Cu2O particles were evaluated by scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV/VIS spectrophotometer, and zeta potential meter/particle size analyzer (ZetaPALS). The resistance to bacteria was investigated against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) by applying the synthesized Cu2O particles that the qualitative analyses were facilitated by measuring the inhibition zone on Agar plate.

Keywords: copper oxide, cupric oxide, nanoparticles, antibacetrial

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Authors: Michael Nicolosi, Karola Dillenburger

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The University of California at Los Angeles-Young Autism Project (UCLA-YAP) provides one of the best-known and most researched comprehensive applied behavior analysis-based intervention models for young children on the autism spectrum. This paper reports a systematic literature review of replication studies over more than 30 years. The data show that the relatively high-intensity UCLA-YAP model can be greatly beneficial for children on the autism spectrum, particularly with regard to their cognitive functioning and adaptive behavior. This review concludes that, while more research is always welcome, the impact of the UCLA-YAP model on autism interventions is justified by more than 30 years of outcome evidence.

Keywords: ABA, applied behavior analysis, autism, California at Los Angeles Young Autism project, intervention, Lovaas, UCLA-YAP

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Authors: Uche A. Nnawulezi

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This study evolved from the need to look at and evaluate the difficulties in the domestication of International Laws and Human Rights Laws in Nigeria. Essentially, the paper-based its examination on documentary evidence and depended much on secondary sources, for example, textbooks, journals, articles, periodicals and research reports emanating from suggestions of international law experts, jurists and human rights lawyers on the development challenges in domesticating international laws and human rights laws in Nigeria. These data were analyzed by the application of content analysis and careful observation of the current municipal laws which has posed great challenges in the domestication of International laws. This paper might follow the historical backdrop of the practices in the use of International law in Nigeria and should likewise consider the challenges inherent in these practices. The paper suggests that a sustainable domestication of International Laws and its application in Nigerian courts will ensure a better enforcement of human rights within the domestic jurisdiction.

Keywords: international law, human rights, domestication, challenges

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Authors: Francesco Gallucci, Mariangela Salerno, Ettore Guerriero, Manfredi Amalfi, Giancarlo Chiatti, Fulvio Palmieri

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The paper deals with the experimental activities on a biomass combustion test-bed. More in detail, experimental campaigns have been devoted to investigate the operation of a biomass moving grate furnace. A research-oriented facility based on a moving grate furnace (350kW) has been set up in order to perform experimental activities in a wide range of test configurations. The paper reports the description of the complete biomass-plant and the assessment of the system operation. As the first step, the chemical and physical properties of the used wooden biomass have been preliminarily investigated. Once the biomass fuel has been characterized, investigations have been devoted to point out the operation of the furnace. It has been operated at full load, highlighting the influence of biomass combustion parameters on particulate matter and gaseous emission.

Keywords: biomass, combustion, experimental, pollutants

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Authors: Jot Prakash Kaur

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The paper aims to showcase that with the introduction of anti-graft instruments and willingness of the governments towards their implementation, a significant change can be witnessed in the anti-corruption landscape of any country. Since the past decade anti-graft instruments have been introduced by several international non-governmental organizations with the vision of curbing corruption. Transparency International’s ‘Integrity Pact’ has been one such initiative. Integrity Pact has been described as a tool for preventing corruption in public contracting. Integrity Pact has found its relevance in a developing country like India where public procurement constitutes 25-30 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Corruption in public procurement has been a cause of concern even though India has in place a whole architecture of rules and regulations governing public procurement. Integrity Pact was first adopted by a leading Oil and Gas government company in 2006. Till May 2015, over ninety organizations had adopted Integrity Pact, of which majority of them are central government units. The methodology undertaken to understand impact of Integrity Pact on Public procurement is through analyzing information received from important stakeholders of the instrument. Government, information was sought through Right to Information Act 2005 about the details of adoption of this instrument by various government organizations and departments. Contractor, Company websites and annual reports were used to find out the steps taken towards implementation of Integrity Pact. Civil Society, Transparency International India’s resource materials which include publications and reports on Integrity Pact were also used to understand the impact of Integrity Pact. Some of the findings of the study include organizations adopting Integrity pacts in all kinds of contracts such that 90% of their procurements fall under Integrity Pact. Indian State governments have found merit in Integrity Pact and have adopted it in their procurement contracts. Integrity Pact has been instrumental in creating a brand image of companies. External Monitors, an essential feature of Integrity Pact have emerged as arbitrators for the bidders and are the first line of procurement auditors for the organizations. India has cancelled two defense contracts finding it conflicting with the provisions of Integrity Pact. Some of the clauses of Integrity Pact have been included in the proposed Public Procurement legislation. Integrity Pact has slowly but steadily grown to become an integral part of big ticket procurement in India. Government’s commitment to implement Integrity Pact has changed the way in which public procurement is conducted in India. Public Procurement was a segment infested with corruption but with the adoption of Integrity Pact a number of clean up acts have been performed to make procurement transparent. The paper is divided in five sections. First section elaborates on Integrity Pact. Second section talks about stakeholders of the instrument and the role it plays in its implementation. Third section talks about the efforts taken by the government to implement Integrity Pact in India. Fourth section talks about the role of External Monitor as Arbitrator. The final section puts forth suggestions to strengthen the existing form of Integrity Pact and increase its reach.

Keywords: corruption, integrity pact, procurement, vigilance

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Authors: Iliya Ibrahim Gimba

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Human beings or groups over the world have a traditional and cultural practices which guide and direct their ways of life. They value and promote these practices not minding the attitude of others towards them. In spite of the place of culture which is an embodiment of these practices in every human society some people still reduce the understanding of culture to idolatry and other archaic and anachronistic arts good perhaps only for the museum. Others consider culture to be just drumming and dancing. Whether a culture is “good” or “bad”, civilized or barbaric, it can be reformed for the betterment of the society. Hence, this paper focuses on reforming traditional and cultural practices in Nigeria for enhancing development in the 21st century using the Jukun people as a case study. Relevant literatures from journals, reports, published books among others will be consulted.

Keywords: Jukun, traditional and cultural practices, sustainable development, human

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Authors: Daniela Salih Khidir, Mohamed G. Al Kuwari, Mercia V. Walt, Izzeldin J. Ibrahim

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Background: University-based physical activity interventions aim to establish durable social patterns during the transition to adulthood. This study is a comprehensive evaluation of a 3-year intervention-based program to increase the culture of physical activity (PA) routine in Qatar campuses community, using a holistic approach. Methodology: General assessment methods: formative evaluation-SIH Campuses logic model design, stakeholders’ identification; process evaluation-members’ step counts analyze and qualitative Appreciative Inquiry session (4-D model); daily steps categorized as: ≤5,000, inactive; 5,000-7,499 low active; ≥7,500, physically active; outcome evaluation - records 3 years interventions. Holistic PA interventions methods: walking interventions - pedometers distributions and walking competitions for students and staff; educational interventions - in campuses implementation of bilingual educational materials, lectures, video related to PA in prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCD); articles published online; monthly emails and sms notifications for pedometer use; mass media campaign - radio advertising, yearly pre/post press releases; community stakeholders interventions-biyearly planning/reporting/achievements rewarding/ qualitative meetings; continuous follow-up communication, biweekly steps reports. Findings: Results formative evaluation - SIH in Campuses logic model identified the need of PA awareness and education within universities, resources, activities, health benefits, program continuity. Results process evaluation: walking interventions: Phase 1: 5 universities recruited, 2352 members, 3 months competition; Phase 2: 6 new universities recruited, 1328 members in addition, 4 months competition; Phase 3: 4 new universities recruited in addition, 1210 members, 6 months competition. Results phase 1 and 2: 1,299 members eligible for analyzes: 800 females (62%), 499 males (38%); 86% non-Qataris, 14% Qatari nationals, daily step count 5,681 steps, age groups 18–24 (n=841; 68%) students, 25–64; (n=458; 35.3%) staff; 38% - low active, 37% physically active and 25% inactive. The AI main themes engaging stakeholders: awareness/education - 5 points (100%); competition, multi levels of involvement in SIH, community-based program/motivation - 4 points each (80%). The AI points represent themes’ repetition within stakeholders’ discussions. Results education interventions: 2 videos implementation, 35 000 educational materials, 3 online articles, 11 walking benefits lectures, 40 emails and sms notifications. Results community stakeholders’ interventions: 6 stakeholders meetings, 3 rewarding gatherings, 1 focus meeting, 40 individual reports, 18 overall reports. Results mass media campaign: 1 radio campaign, 7 press releases, 52 campuses newsletters. Results outcome evaluation: overall 2013-2016, the study used: 1 logic model, 3 PA holistic interventions, partnerships 15 universities, registered 4890 students and staff (aged 18-64 years), engaged 30 campuses stakeholders and 14 internal stakeholders; Total registered population: 61.5% female (2999), 38.5% male (1891), 20.2% (988) Qatari nationals, 79.8% (3902) non-Qataris, 55.5% (2710) students aged 18 – 25 years, 44.5% (2180) staff aged 26 - 64 years. Overall campaign 1,558 members eligible for analyzes: daily step count 7,923; 37% - low active, 43% physically active and 20% inactive. Conclusion: The study outcomes confirm program effectiveness and engagement of young campuses community, specifically female, in PA. The authors recommend implementations of 'holistic PA intervention program approach in Qatar' aiming to impact the community at national level for PA guidelines achievement in support of NCD prevention.

Keywords: campuses, evaluation, Qatar, step-count

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Authors: Md Tasbirul Islam, Pablo Dias, Nazmul Huda

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E-waste/Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is one of the fastest growing waste streams across the globe. This paper aims to compare the e-waste management system in Switzerland and Australia in terms of four features - legislative initiatives, disposal practice, collection and financial mechanisms. The qualitative content analysis is employed as a research method in the study. Data were collected from various published academic research papers, industry reports, and web sources. In addition, a questionnaire survey is conducted in Australia to understand the public awareness and opinions on the features. The results of the study provide valuable insights to policymakers in Australia developing better e-waste management system in conjunction with the public consensus, and the state-of-the-art operational strategies currently being practiced in Switzerland.

Keywords: E-waste management, WEEE, awareness, pro-environmental behavior, Australia, Switzerland

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Authors: Maryam Mirzaei, Sinisa Krajnovic´

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The paper reports a study about the prediction of flows around simplified vehicles using Partially-Averaged Navier-Stokes (PANS). Numerical simulations are performed for two simplified vehicles: A slanted-back Ahmed body at Re=30 000 and a square back Ahmed body at Re=300 000. A comparison of the resolved and modeled physical flow scales is made with corresponding LES and experimental data for a better understanding of the performance of the PANS model. The PANS model is compared for coarse and fine grid resolutions and it is indicated that even a coarse-grid PANS simulation is able to produce fairly close flow predictions to those from a well-resolved LES simulation. The results indicate the possibility of improvement of the predictions by employing a finer grid resolution.

Keywords: partially-averaged Navier-Stokes, large eddy simulation, PANS, LES, Ahmed body

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Authors: Ali Vaezi, Jyotirmoy Dalal, Manish Verma

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The railroad is one of the primary transportation modes for hazardous materials (hazmat) shipments in North America. Installing an emergency response network capable of providing a commensurate response is one of the primary levers to contain (or mitigate) the adverse consequences from rail hazmat incidents. To this end, we propose a two-stage stochastic program to determine the location of and equipment packages to be stockpiled at each response facility. The raw input data collected from publicly available reports were processed, fed into the proposed optimization program, and then tested on a realistic railroad network in Ontario (Canada). From the resulting analyses, we conclude that the decisions based only on empirical datasets would undermine the effectiveness of the resulting network; coverage can be improved by redistributing equipment in the network, purchasing equipment with higher containment capacity, and making use of a disutility multiplier factor.

Keywords: hazmat, rail network, stochastic programming, emergency response

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Authors: Adriana Piatti-Crocker

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Drawing on archival documentation, digital platforms, academic journals, and reports, this research will explore the diffusion of a protest movement in Latin America. Starting in Argentina in 2015, this paper will explain how the hashtag #NiUnaMenos (“Not One Woman Less”), created to combat violence against women and girls, led to the spread of a regionwide movement. A year after its introduction, hundreds of thousands of activists mobilized on the streets of major cities in Latin America. Movements arose to protest against specific circumstances and contexts under the hashtag #NiUnaMenos, but the main goal of all of these protests was to fight against misogynist violence. Moreover, unlike previous social movements, the use of social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, and Twitter, changed the depth and scope of these protests and led to an unprecedented speed in helping transmit their messages, strategies, identities, and goals.

Keywords: social protests, #NiUnaMenos ( Not one woman less), diffusion of social protests, protests and mysoginist violence

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Authors: E. Akdur Öztürk, F. İrvasa Bilgiç, A. Ludovisi , O. Gülbahar, D. Dirim Erdoğan, M. Korkmaz, M. Á. Gómez Morales

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Anisakidosis is a zoonotic human fish-borne parasitic disease caused by accidental ingestion of anisakid third-stage larvae (L3) of members of the Anisakidae family present in infected marine fish or cephalopods. Infection with anisakid larvae can lead to gastric, intestinal, extra-gastrointestinal and gastroallergic forms of the disease. Anisakid parasites have been reported in almost all seas, particularly in the Mediterranean Sea. There is a remarkably high level of risk exposure to these zoonotic parasites as they are present in economically and ecologically important fish of Europe. Anisakid L3 larvae have been also detected in several fish species from the Aegean Sea. Turkey is a peninsular country surrounded by Black, Aegean and the Mediterranean Sea. In this country, fishing habit and fishery product consumption are highly common. In recent years, there was also an increase in the consumption of raw fish due to the increasing interest in the cuisine of the Far East countries. In different regions of Turkey, A. simplex (inMerluccius Merluccius Scomber japonicus, Trachurus mediterraneus, Sardina pilchardus, Engraulis encrasicolus, etc.), Anisakis spp., Contraceucum spp., Pseudoterronova spp. and, C. aduncum were identified as well. Although it is accepted both the presence of anisakid parasites in fish and fishery products in Turkey and the presence of Turkish people with allergic manifestations after fish consumption, there are no reports of human anisakiasis in this country. Given the high prevalence of anisakid parasites in the country, the absence of reports is likely not due to the absence of clinical cases rather to the unavailability of diagnostic tools and the low awareness of the presence of this infection. The aim of the study was to set up an IgE-Western Blot (WB) based test to detect the anisakidosis sensitization among Turkish people with a history of allergic manifestation related to fish consumption. To this end, crude worm antigens (CWA) and allergen enriched fraction (50-66% ) were prepared from L3 of A. simplex (s.l.) collected from Lepidopus caudatus fished in the Mediterranean Sea. These proteins were electrophoretically separated and transferred into the nitrocellulose membranes. By WB, specific proteins recognized by positive control serum samples from sensitized patients were visualized on nitrocellulose membranes by a colorimetric reaction. The CWA and 50–66% fraction showed specific bands, mainly due to Ani s 1 (20-22 kD) and Ani s 4 (9-10 kD). So far, a total of 7 serum samples from people with allergic manifestation and positive skin prick test (SPT) after fish consumption, have been tested and all of them resulted negative by WB, indicating the lack of sensitization to anisakids. This preliminary study allowed to set up a specific test and evidence the lack of correlation between both tests, SPT and WB. However, the sample size should be increased to estimate the anisakidosis burden in Turkish people.

Keywords: anisakidosis, fish parasite, serodiagnosis, Turkey

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Authors: Prince Amartey

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Water is critical to public health, quality of life, environmental preservation, economic activity, and long-term growth. In this environment, it is critical to ensure the ongoing improvement of all processes and practices that contribute to the quality and safety of water. Water safety plans (WSPs) developed by water companies are an essential public policy instrument for achieving these objectives. This manuscript examines international evidence of water safety planning adoption and implementation and reports on the current situation in Portugal as part of the necessary adaptation of the national legal framework to the publication of the Directive on water quality for human consumption. The goal is to take lessons from various successful WSP projects throughout the world while writing new legislation in Ghana and elsewhere. According to the findings, four crucial aspects and key factors of success in establishing and implementing WSPs exist commitment from leadership, technical proficiency, administration, and cooperation among agencies.

Keywords: safe drinking, risk, policy, implementation

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Authors: Anurag Devkota

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Foreign employment serves to be the strongest pillar in engendering employment options for a large number of the young Nepali population. Nepali workers are forced to leave the comfort of their homes and are exposed to precarious conditions while on a journey to earn enough money to live better their lives. The exponential rise in foreign labour migration has produced a snowball effect on the economy of the nation. The dramatic variation in the economic development of the state has proved to establish the fact that migration is increasingly significant for livelihood, economic development, political stability, academic discourse and policy planning in Nepal. The foreign employment practice in Nepal largely incorporates the role of individual agents in the entire process of migration. With the fraudulent acts and false promises of these agents, the problems associated with every Nepali migrant worker starts at home. The workers encounter tremendous pre-departure malpractice and exploitation at home by different individual agents during different stages of processing. Although these epidemic and repetitive ill activities of intermediaries are dominant and deeply rooted, the agents have been allowed to walk free in the absence of proper laws to curb their wrongdoings and misconduct. It has been found that the existing regulatory mechanisms have not been utilised to their full efficacy and often fall short in addressing the actual concerns of the workers because of the complex legal and judicial procedures. Structural changes in the judicial setting will help bring perpetrators under the law and victims towards access to justice. Thus, a qualitative improvement of the overall situation of Nepali migrant workers calls for a proper 'regulatory' arrangement vis-à-vis these brokers. Hence, the author aims to carry out a doctrinal study using reports and scholarly articles as a major source of data collection. Various reports published by different non-governmental and governmental organizations working in the field of labour migration will be examined and the research will focus on the inductive and deductive data analysis. Hence, the real challenge of establishing a pro-migrant worker regime in recent times is to bring the agents under the jurisdiction of the court in Nepal. The Gulf Visit Study Report, 2017 prepared and launched by the International Relation and Labour Committee of Legislature-Parliament of Nepal finds that solving the problems at home solves 80 percent of the problems concerning migrant workers in Nepal. Against this backdrop, this research study is intended to determine the ways and measures to curb the role of agents in the foreign employment and labour migration process of Nepal. It will further dig deeper into the regulatory mechanisms of Nepal and map out essential determinant behind the impunity of agents.

Keywords: foreign employment, labour migration, human rights, migrant workers

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Authors: Abdelaziz Hussien

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This article reports investigations of a study into the effectiveness of a traits cooperative learning (TCL) on teacher candidates’ writing achievement, composition, and attitudes towards traits of writing approach and small group learning. Mixed methodologies were used with the participants in a repeated measures quasi-experimental design. Forty-two class teacher candidates, enrolled in the Bahrain Teachers College, completed the pre and post author-developed measures. The results suggest that TCL has a positive effect on the participants’ writing achievement, composition, and attitudes towards traits of writing approach, but not on the attitudes towards small group learning. Further implications to teacher education are presented.

Keywords: trait-based language education, cooperative learning, writing achievement, writing composition, traits of writing, teacher education

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Authors: Jessica Cecchinelli, Amer Ali

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The continuing growth in road traffic and the resultant impact on the level of pollution and safety especially in urban areas have led local and national authorities to reduce traffic speed and flow in major towns and cities. Various boroughs of London have recently reduced the in-city speed limit from 30mph to 20mph mainly to calm traffic, improve safety and reduce noise and vibration. This paper reports the detailed field measurements using noise sensor and analyser and the corresponding theoretical calculations and analysis of the noise levels on a number of roads in the central London Borough of Camden where speed limit was reduced from 30mph to 20mph in all roads except the major routes of the ‘Transport for London (TfL)’. The measurements, which included the key noise levels and scales at residential streets and main roads, were conducted during weekdays and weekends normal and rush hours. The theoretical calculations were done according to the UK procedure ‘Calculation of Road Traffic Noise 1988’ and with conversion to the European L-day, L-evening, L-night, and L-den and other important levels. The current study also includes comparable data and analysis from previously measured noise in the Borough of Camden and other boroughs of central London. Classified traffic flow and speed on the roads concerned were observed and used in the calculation part of the study. Relevant data and description of the weather condition are reported. The paper also reports a field survey in the form of face-to-face interview questionnaires, which was carried out in parallel with the field measurement of noise, in order to ascertain the opinions and views of local residents and workers in the reduced speed zones of 20mph. The main findings are that the reduction in speed had reduced the noise pollution on the studied zones and that the measured and calculated noise levels for each speed zone are closely matched. Among the other findings was that of the field survey of the opinions and views of the local residents and workers in the reduced speed 20mph zones who supported the scheme and felt that it had improved the quality of life in their areas giving a sense of calmness and safety particularly for families with children, the elderly, and encouraged pedestrians and cyclists. The key conclusions are that lowering the speed limit in built-up areas would not just reduce the number of serious accidents but it would also reduce the noise pollution and promote clean modes of transport particularly walking and cycling. The details of the site observations and the corresponding calculations together with critical comparative analysis and relevant conclusions will be reported in the full version of the paper.

Keywords: noise calculation, noise field measurement, road traffic noise, speed limit in london, survey of people satisfaction

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Authors: Emma Dwi Ariyani, Dini Hadiani

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This article reports the descriptive analysis of self-compassion in polytechnic students. It has been long believed that self-compassion can improve students’ motivation in completing their studies. This research was conducted with the aim to see the degree of self-compassion in polytechnic students in Indonesia by using Neff's Self-Compassion Scale (short form) measurement tool consisting of 12 items. The research method used was descriptive study with survey technique on 255 students. The results showed that 78% of students had low self-compassion and 22% had high self-compassion. This revealed that polytechnic students still criticize themselves harshly, make a poor judgment and bad self-appraisal, and they also cannot accept their imperfection and consider it as a self-judgment. The students also tend to think that they are the only ones that experience failure and suffering. This can lead to a sense of isolation (self-isolation). Furthermore, the students are often too concerned with aspects that are not liked both in themselves and in life (over-identification). Improving the students’ level of self-compassion can be done by building an educational climate that not only criticizes the students but provides feedback as well. This should focus on the students’ real behavior rather than the students’ general character.

Keywords: descriptive study, polytechnic students, Indonesia, self-compassion

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Authors: Kulvinder Singh Mann

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The usability and simulation of information systems, known as Hospital Information System (HIS), Radiology Information System (RIS), and Picture Archiving, Communication System, for electronic medical records has shown a good impact for actors in the hospital. The objective is to help and make their work easier; such as for a nurse or administration staff to record the medical records of the patient, and for a patient to check their bill transparently. However, several limitations still exists on such area regarding the type of data being stored in the system, ability for data transfer, storage and protocols to support communication between medical devices and digital images. This paper reports the simulation result of integrating several systems to cope with those limitations by using the Modality Worklist and DICOM standard. It succeeds in documenting the reason of that failure so future research will gain better understanding and be able to integrate those systems.

Keywords: HIS, RIS, PACS, modality worklist, DICOM, digital images

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Authors: Kusum Tharani, Ratna Dahiya

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This paper aims to analyze the power flow of a grid connected 100-kW Photovoltaic(PV) array connected to a 25-kV grid via a DC-DC boost converter and a three-phase three-level Voltage Source Converter (VSC). Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) is implemented in the boost converter bymeans of a Simulink model using the 'Perturb & Observe' technique. First, related papers and technological reports were extensively studied and analyzed. Accordingly, the system is tested under various loading conditions. Power flow analysis is done using the Newton-Raphson method in Matlab environment. Finally, the system is subject to Single Line to Ground Fault and Three Phase short circuit. The results are simulated under the grid-connected operating model.

Keywords: grid connected PV Array, Newton-Raphson Method, power flow analysis, three phase fault

Procedia PDF Downloads 535

Authors: Diego Saldo Alves, Marcelo Paveck Ayub

Abstract:

The quality of accounting information is very important for the decision-making of managers, investors government and other information users. The opinion of the independent audit has a significant influence on the decision-making, especially the investors. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze the reasons that companies listed on Brazilian Stock Exchange B3, if they received qualified opinion and disclaimer of opinion of the independent auditors. We analyzed the reports of the independent auditors of 23 Brazilian companies listed in B3 that received qualified opinion and disclaimer of opinion between the years 2012 and 2017. The findings show that the companies do not comply the International Financial Reporting Standard, IFRS, also they did not provide documentation to prove the operations performed, did not account expenses, problems in corporate governance and internal controls.

Keywords: audit, disclaimer of opinion, independent auditors, qualified opinion

Procedia PDF Downloads 174

Authors: Nazeema Ahmed

Abstract:

Mental health in higher education has received increasing attention over the past few decades. The high academic demands of the engineering degree, coupled with students’ mental health challenges, have led to higher education institutions offering psychotherapeutic services to students. This paper discusses an evaluation of the psychotherapy service at the University of Cape Town. The aim was to determine (i) the efficacy of the service; and (ii) the impact of race, gender, and language of the therapist on the students’ therapeutic process. An online survey was sent to 109 students who attended psychotherapy. The majority expressed favorable experiences of psychotherapy, with reports of increased capacity to engage with their academic work. Most students did not experience the gender, race, or language of the psychologists to be barriers to their therapy. The findings point to a need for ongoing psychological support for students.

Keywords: psychotherapy, efficacy, engineering, education

Procedia PDF Downloads 103

Authors: Adeyemi, Samuel Olusegun

Abstract:

The paper reports on the result of experimental gill net assessment of the fishery of Gbedikere Lake in Kogi State between October 2006 and September 2008. Three stations A-C were sampled. Twelve species from ten families were represented in the experimental gill-net catches. These composed of families Protopteridae, Mormyridae, Clariidae, Mochokidae, Cichlidae, Cyprinidae, Malapteruridae, Osteoglossidae, Gymnarchidae, and Citharinidae. The Cichlids dominated the catches. This is made up of Oreochromis niloticus (17.90%), and Tilapia zilli (13.01%). These combined to make up 30.91% of the total number of fish caught. Also, the Cichlids formed 30.91% of the total catch by weight followed Heterotis niloticus (15.56%), Clarias gariepinus (13.16%), Gmynarchus niloticus (8.78%), Heterobranchus bidorsalis (7.14%), Synodontis nigrita (6.69%), Mormyrus rume (5.68%), Citharinus citharus (3.91%), Labeo senegalensis (2.93%), and Protopterus annectens (2.74%), respectively.

Keywords: experimental gill net, species diversity, abundance, distribution, Oxbow Lake and yield

Procedia PDF Downloads 484

Authors: Jenny Kwon

Abstract:

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic globally, another type of pandemic, ageism, appeared on the surface. Ageism, the stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination directed towards others or oneself based on chronological age, has adversely impacted older adults' lives during the pandemic. In the short term, older adults struggled with health issues (e.g., high rate of infection and mortality) and experienced social disconnection (e.g., loneliness and depression). Ultimately, older adults' self-perceptions of aging, self-esteem and intergenerational relationships were negatively influenced. To closely look into the impact of ageism during the pandemic on U.S. older adults' aging process, the current study has three specific purposes. First, the study introduces a theoretical foundation (i.e., stereotype embodiment theory) in the development of ageism research. Second, the study reports on examples of ageism toward U.S. older adults manifested in the context of COVID-19. Finally, collective responsibilities and future research directions are proposed to fight against ageism.

Keywords: ageism, COVID-19, older adults, pandemic, stereotype embodiment

Procedia PDF Downloads 104

Authors: Fuad A. A. Trayek, Tunku Badariah Tunku Ahmad, Mohamad Sahari Nordin, Mohammed AM Dwikat

Abstract:

This paper reports on the results of an exploratory factor analysis procedure applied on the e-learning readiness data obtained from a survey of four hundred and seventy-nine (N = 479) teachers from secondary schools in Nablus, Palestine. The data were drawn from a 23-item Likert questionnaire measuring e-learning readiness based on Chapnick's conception of the construct. Principal axis factoring (PAF) with Promax rotation applied on the data extracted four distinct factors supporting four of Chapnick's e-learning readiness dimensions, namely technological readiness, psychological readiness, infrastructure readiness and equipment readiness. Together these four dimensions explained 56% of the variance. These findings provide further support for the construct validity of the items and for the existence of these four factors that measure e-learning readiness.

Keywords: e-learning, e-learning readiness, technological readiness, psychological readiness, principal axis factoring

Procedia PDF Downloads 370