Search results for: three body interaction

Authors: Jennifer Foss, DNP, RN-BC, NEA-BC

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Stress and burnout in the bedside registered nurse have deleterious consequences for registered nurses, patients, and the hospitals that employ them. The objective of this study was to determine whether a sixty-minute mindfulness workshop was effective in reducing perceived levels of stress and decreasing mindfulness in registered nurses working in the acute care setting. Registered nurses at a community hospital in the Northeast part of the country were recruited through e-mail and flyers in breakrooms. Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) two weeks prior to taking part in the intervention and two weeks post intervention. Of the twenty-three registered nurses who completed the baseline questionnaires, 91% were female with an average age between 30-39 years. Sixty-five percent of subjects completed the questionnaires two weeks post intervention. Two weeks post intervention, registered nurses reported a decrease in perception of stress (pre and post PSS was .133) and was not significant (t=1.293, df=14, p=.217). Likewise, an increase in mindful attention .325 was reported two-weeks post intervention and indicated a favorable tendency to enter a mindful state. This finding was also not significant (t=-1.990, df=14, p=.066). In this study, nurses reported decreases in perceived stress and increases in mindfulness after attending a sixty-minute mindfulness workshop. Further research is needed to determine the long-term impact of mindfulness-based training on nurses' stress and mindfulness skills. The results of this study add to the body of literature that supports the benefits of mindfulness-based interventions in the healthcare setting.

Keywords: Stress, burnout, nursing, acute care nursing

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Authors: Eija Raatikainen

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The aim of the study is to examine psychological safety in the context of change in working life and continuous learning in social- and educational organizations. The participants in the study are social workers and vocational teachers working as employees and supervisors in the capital region of Finland (public and private sectors). Research data has been collected during 2022-2023 using the qualitative method called empathy-based stories (MEBS). Research participants were asked to write short stories about situations related to their work and work community. As researchers, we created and varied the framework narratives (MEBS) in line with the aim of the study and theoretical background. The data were analyzed with content analysis. According to the results, the barriers and prerequisites for psychological safety at work could be located in four different working culture dimensions. The work culture dimensions were named as follows: 1) a work culture focusing on interaction and emotional culture between colleagues, 2) communal work culture, 3) a work culture that enables learning, and 4) a work culture focused on structures and operating models. All these have detailed elements of barriers and prerequisites of psychological safety at work. The results derived from the enlivening methods can be utilized when working with the work community and have discussed psychological safety at work. Also, the method itself (MEBS) can prevent open discussion and reflection on psychological safety at work because of the sensitivity of the topic. Method aloud to imagine, not just talk and share your experiences directly. Additionally, the results of the study can offer one tool or framework while developing phycological safety at work.

Keywords: psychological safety, empathy, empathy-based stories, working life

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Authors: Hasan Basri Jumin, Danil Endriand Basri

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Isolated protoplast from embryogenic callus of orange Jessamine (Murraya paniculata L. (Jack) cultured and maintained under growth chamber at the temperature +25oC. The parameter observed are the plating efficiency, the number of spherical embryos, heard-shaped embryos-like structure, shoot formation, and plantlets obtained. Treatment was arranged with 0.0, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1 or 1.0 mg 1-1 Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), and 0, 300, 500 mg 1/l malt extract (ME) and 0.M sorbitol in the medium with 2.5 % sucrose. Interaction between 0.001 mg/l NAA and 500 mg/l was observed the higher percentage of planting efficiency. For embryo development from callus, the media was added to 0.0 mg/l, 0.001 mg/l, 0.01 ,mg/l, 0.1 mg/l, 1.0 mg/l NAA, and 1.0 %, 2.0 %, 3.0 %, 4.0 % sucrose. Media supplemented with 0.01mg/l NAA, and 1.0% sucrose was found to be a suitable medium for the development of spherical somatic embryos. A combination of 0.1 mg/ indole acetic acid (IAA) and 0.1 mg/l zeatin constituted the spherical somatic embryo became heart-shaped embryos-like structure. A combination between GA3 0.1 mg 1/l GA3 and 0.1 mg 1-1 zeatin is looking high, growing the heart-shaped embryos-like structure to form a shoot. Cells were developed into spherical embryos and grew into heart-shaped embryos, and then spherical somatic embryos developed into shoot formation. Sequence from single protoplast to plantlets was obtained by using a low concentration of plant growth regulator and sucrose; This recovery of single protoplast to be completed plantlets is a new technology in plant cell culture, and this could be used in genetic engineering in citrus.

Keywords: heart-shaped-embryos-like-structure, Muraya-paniculata, plant-growth-regulator, spherical- somatic-embryo, single protoplast, glucose

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Authors: Suminar Pratapa, Agus Riyanto, Silmi Machmudah, Sri Yani Purwaningsih

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The objective of this study was to investigate the optical properties of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and its prospective applications by adding crystalline silica which is usually used as a reinforcing agent. To do this, we synthesized and evaluated PVA-based composites reinforced with silica crystals, namely cristobalite, derived from rice husk. The experimental procedure involved the production of SiO2 particles using rice husk precursors, which were subsequently subjected to calcination at a rate of 10 °C/min for a duration of 3 hours. This process primarily resulted in the formation of SiO2 crystals in the cristobalite phase, according to X-ray diffraction (XRD). Following this, the crystals were incorporated into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) via a casting technique, resulting in the formation of composite sheets. The SiO2 contents in the composites were 0, 2.5, 5.0, and 10.%. XRD and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques provided confirmation of the composites' successful synthesis, i.e., it did not yield any indications of chemical bonding between polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and silicon dioxide (SiO2), indicating that the interaction was limited to interfacial reactions. The incorporation of SiO2 crystals resulted in a notable enhancement in UV-vis light absorption and a decrease in the optical band gap. Addition of 2.5, 5.0, and 10.% SiO2, for example, decreases the direct optical band gap of the composites form 5.37, 5.19, and 5.02 eV respectively, while the indirect band gaps of the samples were 4.44, 4.84, and 4.48 eV, correspondingly. These findings emphasize the efficacy of rice husk-derived SiO2 crystals as both reinforcement agents and modifiers of optical properties in the polymer composites, showcasing their significant potential to modify the composite's structural and optical characteristics.

Keywords: rice husk, cristaline SiO₂, PVA-based composites, structural characteristics, optical properties.

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Authors: Saira Iqbal

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Occupational Health and Safety issues nowadays have become an important esteem in the context of Industrial Production. This study is designed to measure the workplace hazards at Kohinoor Energy Limited. Mainly focused hazards were Heat Stress, Noise Level, Light Level and Ergonomics. Measurements for parameters like Wet, Dry, Globe, WBGTi and RH% were taken directly by visiting the Study Area. The temperature in Degrees was recoded at Control Room and Engine Hall. Highest Temperature was recoded in Engine Hall which was about 380C. Efforts were made to record emissions of Noise Levels from the main area of concern like Engines in Engine hall, parking area, and mechanical workshop. Permissible level for measuring Noise is 85 and its Unit of Measurement is dB (A). In Engine Hall Noise was very high which was about 109.6 dB (A) and that level was exceeding the limits. Illumination Level was also recorded at different areas of Power Plant. The light level was though under permissible limits but in some areas like Engine Hall and Boiler Room, level of light was very low especially in Engine Hall where the level was 29 lx. Practices were performed for measuring hazards in context of ergonomics like extended reaching, deviated body postures, mechanical stress, and vibration exposures of the worker at different units of plants by just observing workers during working hours. Since KEL is ISO 8000 and 14000 certified, the researcher found no serious problems in the parameter Ergonomics however it was a common scenario that workers were reluctant to apply PPEs.

Keywords: workplace hazards, heat hazard, noise hazard, illumination, ergonomics

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Authors: Sanaz Ahmadzadeh Siyahrood, Arghavan Ebrahimi, Mohammadjavad Mahdavinejad

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Islamic culture was accountable for a plethora of development in astronomy and science in the medieval term, and in geometry likewise. Geometric patterns are reputable in a considerable number of cultures, but in the Islamic culture the patterns have specific features that connect the Islamic faith to mathematics. In Islamic art, three fundamental shapes are generated from the circle shape: triangle, square and hexagon. Originating from their quiddity, each of these geometric shapes has its own specific structure. Even though the geometric patterns were generated from such simple forms as the circle and the square, they can be combined, duplicated, interlaced, and arranged in intricate combinations. So in order to explain geometrical interaction principles between square and equal triangle, in the first definition step, all types of their linear forces individually and in the second step, between them, would be illustrated. In this analysis, some angles will be created from intersection of their directions. All angles are categorized to some groups and the mathematical expressions among them are analyzed. Since the most geometric patterns in Islamic art and architecture are based on the repetition of a single motif, the evaluation results which are obtained from a small portion, is attributable to a large-scale domain while the development of infinitely repeating patterns can represent the unchanging laws. Geometric ornamentation in Islamic art offers the possibility of infinite growth and can accommodate the incorporation of other types of architectural layout as well, so the logic and mathematical relationships which have been obtained from this analysis are applicable in designing some architecture layers and developing the plan design.

Keywords: angle, equal triangle, square, structural hierarchy

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Authors: Hamilton V. Niculescu

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Following a three year study conducted on eighteen Irish people that are involved in growing vegetables in various community gardens around Dublin, Republic of Ireland, it was revealed that addition of some automated features aimed at improving agricultural practices represented a process which was regarded as potentially beneficial, and as a great tool to closely monitor climate conditions inside the greenhouses. The participants were provided with a free custom-built mobile app through which they could remotely monitor and control features such as irrigation, air ventilation, and windows to ensure optimal growing conditions for vegetables growing inside purpose-built greenhouses. While the initial interest was generally high, within weeks, the participants' level of interaction with the enclosures slowly declined. By employing a constructivist grounded theory methodology, following focus group discussions, in-depth semi-structured interviews, and observations, it was revealed that participants' trust in newer technologies, and renewables, in particular, was low. There are various reasons for this, but because the participants in this study consist of mainly working-class people, it can be argued that lack of education and knowledge are the main barriers acting against the adoption of innovations. Consequently, it was revealed that most participants eventually decided to "set and forget" the systems in automatic working mode, indicating that the immediate effect of introducing people to assisting technologies also introduced some unintended consequences into their lifestyle. It is argued that this occurrence also indicates the fact that people initially "read" newer technologies and only adopt those features that they find useful and less intrusive in regards to their current lifestyle.

Keywords: automation, communication, greenhouse, sustainable

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Authors: Andra Yount

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The purpose of this research project is to understand how focusing on movement can help English language learners acquire better reading, writing, and speaking skills. More specifically, this case study tests how Laban movement analysis, a tool often used in dance and physical education classes, contributes to advanced-level high school students’ English language acquisition at an international Swiss boarding school. This article shares theoretical bases for and findings from a teaching experiment in which LMA categories (body, effort, space, and shape) were adapted and introduced to students to encourage basic language acquisition and also cultural awareness and sensitivity. As part of the participatory action research process, data collection included pseudonym-protected questionnaires and written/video-taped responses to LMA language and task prompts. Responses from 43 participants were evaluated to determine the efficacy of using this system. Participants (ages 16-19) were enrolled in advanced English as an Additional Language (EAL) courses at a private, co-educational Swiss international boarding school. Final data analysis revealed that drawing attention to movement using LMA language as a stimulus creates better self-awareness and understanding/retention of key literary concepts and vocabulary but does not necessarily contribute to greater cultural sensitivity or eliminate the use of problematic (sexist, racist, or classist) language. Possibilities for future exploration and development are also explored.

Keywords: dance, English, Laban, pedagogy

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Authors: Ali Fallah Yeznabad, Mohammad H. Baziar, Alireza Saedi Azizkandi

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Rafts may be used when a low bearing capacity exists underneath the foundation and may be combined by piles in some special circumstances; such as to reduce settlements or high groundwater to control buoyancy. From structural point of view, these piles could be both connected or disconnected from the raft and are to be classified as Piled Rafts (PR) or Disconnected Piled Rafts (DPR). Although the researches about the behavior of piled rafts subjected to vertical loading is really extensive, in the context of dynamic load and earthquake loading, the studies are very limited. In this study, to clarify these foundations’ performance under dynamic loading, series of Shaking Table tests have been performed. The square raft and four piles in connected and disconnected configurations were used in dry silica sand and the model was experimented using a shaking table under 1-g conditions. Moreover, numerical investigation using finite element software have been conducted to better understand the differences and advantages. Our observations demonstrates that in connected Piled Rafts piles have to bear greater amount of moment in their upper parts, however this moments are approximately 40% lower in disconnected piled rafts in the same conditions and loading. Considering the Rafts’ lateral movement which be of crucial importance in foundations performance evaluation, connected piled rafts show much better performance with about 30% less lateral movement. Further, it was observed on confirmed both through laboratory tests and numerical analysis, that adding the superstructure over the piled raft foundation the raft separates from the soil and it significantly increases rocking of the raft which was observed to be the main reason of increase in piles’ moments under superstructure interaction with the foundation.

Keywords: Piled Rafts (PR), Disconnected Piled Rafts (DPR), dynamic loading, shaking table, seismic performance

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Authors: Marjan Mahdavi-Roshan, Arsalan Salari, Mahbobeh Gholipour

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Hypertension is one of the important reasons of morbidity and mortality in countries, including Iran. It has been shown that hypertension is a consequence of the interaction of genetics and environment. Nutrients have important roles in the controlling of blood pressure. We assessed dietary habit and anthropometric status in patients with hypertension in the north of Iran, and that have special dietary habit and according to their culture. This study was conducted on 127 patients with newly recognized hypertension and the 120 normotensive participants. Anthropometric status was measured and demographic characteristics, and medical condition were collected by valid questionnaires and dietary habit assessment was assessed with 3-day food recall (two weekdays and one weekend). The mean age of participants was 58 ± 6.7 years. The mean level of energy intake, saturated fat, vitamin D, potassium, zinc, dietary fiber, vitamin C, calcium, phosphorus, copper and magnesium was significantly lower in the hypertensive group compared to the control (p < 0.05). After adjusting for energy intake, positive association was observe between hypertension and some dietary nutrients including; Cholesterol [OR: 1.1, P: 0.001, B: 0.06], fiber [OR: 1.6, P: 0.001, B: 1.8], vitamin D [OR: 2.6, P: 0.006, B: 0.9] and zinc [OR: 1.4, P: 0.006, B: 0.3] intake. Logistic regression analysis showed that there was not significant association between hypertension, weight and waist circumference. In our study, the mean intake of some nutrients was lower in the hypertensive individuals compared to the normotensive individual. Health training about suitable dietary habits and easier access to vitamin D supplementation in patients with hypertension are cost-effective tools to improve outcomes in Iran.

Keywords: hypertension, north of Iran, dietary intake, weight

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Authors: Binish Ahmed

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Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is regarded as voluntary behaviors that contribute to the social welfare based on the concept of sustainable development. The corporations should not only stress on their economic and business outcomes but also pay attention to their effect on the society and environment. It could attract investors and customers, as well as maintain a positive interaction with the government. In spite of the broad diffusion, and its potential significance to employees' perspective, CSR is now examined and has built-in Organizational Behavior (OB), and Human Resource Management (HRM) look into the broad structure of relationship between employees' perspective, work attitudes and behavior to improve the research on CSR. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of employees’ perception of CSR on work attitudes and behaviors of employees. A conceptual framework is proposed, based on the literature and practices. The research would conduct the primary data survey of convenient sampling from the employees and managers-using detailed questionnaire- to address the following questions. The survey of 180 respondents of age greater than 20 having at least six-month experience from companies based in Karachi are source of data. The application of professional empirical models for data analysis and interpretation are source to draw the conclusion. 1. What are the dynamics of CSR in an organization? Why is it important to have a CSR department? What sort of business approach are CSR activities practiced? Do CSR activities improve the quality of life of workplace? And, how it linked with welfare of society? 2. How the positive job attitude and behavior does encourage the employees about the perception of CSR? How is it linked with the job satisfaction? What is the relationship between employees’ perception of CSR and job satisfaction?

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, work behaviors

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Authors: A: Annis Fathima, V. Vaidehi, S. Ajitha

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Face recognition system finds many applications in surveillance and human computer interaction systems. As the applications using face recognition systems are of much importance and demand more accuracy, more robustness in the face recognition system is expected with less computation time. In this paper, a hybrid approach for face recognition combining Gabor Wavelet and Linear Discriminant Analysis (HGWLDA) is proposed. The normalized input grayscale image is approximated and reduced in dimension to lower the processing overhead for Gabor filters. This image is convolved with bank of Gabor filters with varying scales and orientations. LDA, a subspace analysis techniques are used to reduce the intra-class space and maximize the inter-class space. The techniques used are 2-dimensional Linear Discriminant Analysis (2D-LDA), 2-dimensional bidirectional LDA ((2D)2LDA), Weighted 2-dimensional bidirectional Linear Discriminant Analysis (Wt (2D)2 LDA). LDA reduces the feature dimension by extracting the features with greater variance. k-Nearest Neighbour (k-NN) classifier is used to classify and recognize the test image by comparing its feature with each of the training set features. The HGWLDA approach is robust against illumination conditions as the Gabor features are illumination invariant. This approach also aims at a better recognition rate using less number of features for varying expressions. The performance of the proposed HGWLDA approaches is evaluated using AT&T database, MIT-India face database and faces94 database. It is found that the proposed HGWLDA approach provides better results than the existing Gabor approach.

Keywords: face recognition, Gabor wavelet, LDA, k-NN classifier

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Authors: Elhamalsadat Ghaffari, Moghan Amirhosseinian, Amir Khaleghipour

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Multifunctional bioactive glasses (BGs) are designed with a focus on the provision of bactericidal and biological properties desired for angiogenesis, osteogenesis, and ultimately potential applications in bone tissue engineering. To achieve these, six sol-gel copper/magnesium substituted derivatives of 58S-BG, i.e. a mol% series of 60SiO₂-4P₂O₅-5CuO-(31-x) CaO/xMgO (where x=0, 1, 3, 5, 8, and 10), were synthesized. Afterwards, the effect of MgO/CaO substitution on the in vitro formation of nano-hydroxyapatite (HA), osteoblast-like cell responses and BGs antibacterial performance were studied. During the BGs synthesis, the elimination of nitrates was achieved at 700 °C that prevented the BGs crystallization and stabilized the obtained dried gels. The structural and morphological evaluations were performed with X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). These characterizations revealed that Cu-substituted 58S-BG consisting of 5 mol% MgO (BG-5/5) slightly had retarded the formation of HA. In addition, Cu-substituted 58S-BGs consisting 8 mol% and 10 mol% MgO (BG-5/8 and BG-5/10) displayed lower bioactivity probably due to the lower ion release rate of Ca–Si into the simulated body fluid (SBF). The determination of 3-(4, 5 dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and alkaline phosphate (ALP) activities proved that the highest values of both differentiation and proliferation of MC3T3-E1 cells can be obtained from a 5 mol% MgO substituted BG, while the over addition of MgO (8 mol% and 10 mol%) decreased the bioactivity. Furthermore, these novel Cu/Mg-substituted 58S-BGs displayed antibacterial effect against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Taken together, the results suggest the equally-substituted BG-5/5 (i.e. the one consists of 5 mol% of both CuO and MgO) as a promising candidate for bone tissue engineering, among all newly designed BGs in this work, owing to its desirable cell proliferation, ALP activity and antibacterial properties.

Keywords: apatite, bioactivity, biomedical applications, sol-gel processes

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Authors: Barenten Suciu

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In this work, effects of the friction and truncation on the dynamics of a double-cone gravitational motor, self-propelled on a straight V-shaped horizontal rail, are evaluated. Such mechanism has a variable radius of contact, and, on one hand, it is similar to a pulley mechanism that changes the potential energy into the kinetic energy of rotation, but on the other hand, it is similar to a pendulum mechanism that converts the potential energy of the suspended body into the kinetic energy of translation along a circular path. Movies of the self- propelled double-cones, made of S45C carbon steel and wood, along rails made of aluminum alloy, were shot for various opening angles of the rails. Kinematical features of the double-cones were estimated through the slow-motion processing of the recorded movies. Then, a kinematical model is derived under assumption that the distance traveled by the contact points on the rectilinear rails is identical with the distance traveled by the contact points on the truncated conical surface. Additionally, a dynamic model, for this particular contact problem, was proposed and validated against the experimental results. Based on such model, the traction force and the traction torque acting on the double-cone are identified. One proved that the rolling traction force is always smaller than the sliding friction force; i.e., the double-cone is rolling without slipping. Results obtained in this work can be used to achieve the proper design of such gravitational motor.

Keywords: Truncated double-cone, friction, rolling and sliding, dynamic model, gravitational motor

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Authors: Diego Moya, Juan Paredes, Clay Aldas, Ramiro Tite, Prasad Kaparaju

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Globally, energy policy for geothermal development is addressed in different forms, depending on the economy, resources, country-development, environment aspects and technology access. Although some countries have established strong regulations and standards for geothermal exploration, exploitation and sustainable use at the policy level (government departments and institutions), others have discussed geothermal laws at legal levels (congress – a national legislative body of a country). Appropriate regulations are needed not only to meet local and international funding requirements but also to avoid speculation in the use of the geothermal resource. In this regards, this paper presents the results of a systematic, qualitative and critical literature review of geothermal energy policy worldwide addressing two scenarios: policy and legal levels. At first, literature is collected and classified from scientific and government sources regarding geothermal energy policy of the most advanced geothermal producing countries, including Iceland, New Zealand, Mexico, the USA, Central America, Italy, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, Kenia, and Australia. This is followed by a systematic review of the literature aiming to know the best geothermal practices and what remains uncertain regarding geothermal policy implementation. This analysis is made considering the stages of geothermal production. Furthermore, a qualitative analysis is conducted comparing the findings across geothermal policies in the countries mentioned above. Then, a critical review aims to identify significant items in the field to be applied in countries with geothermal potential but with no or weak geothermal policies. Finally, patterns and relationships are detected, and conclusions are drawn.

Keywords: assessment, geothermal, energy policy, worldwide

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Authors: Saria Almarzook, Monika Reissmann, Gudrun Brockmann

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Due to its history, occurrence in different ecosystems and diverse using, the modern horse (Equus caballus) shows large variability in size, appearance, behavior and habits. At all times, breeders try to create groups (breeds, strains) representing high homology but showing clear differences in comparison to other groups. A great interest of analyzing phenotypic and genetic traits looking for real diversity and genetic uniqueness existents for Arabian horses in Syria. 90 Arabian horses from governmental research center of Arabian horses in Damascus were included. The horses represent three strains (Kahlawi, Saklawi, Hamdani) originated from different geographical zones. They were raised on the same farm, under stable conditions. Twelve phenotypic traits were measured: wither height (WH), croup width (CW), croup height (CH), neck girth (NG), thorax girth (TG), chest girth (ChG), chest depth (ChD), chest width (ChW), back line length (BLL), body length (BL), fore cannon length (FCL) and hind cannon length (HCL). The horses were divided into groups according to age (less than 2 years, 2-4 years, 4-9 years, over 9 years) and to sex (male, female). The statistical analyzes show that age has significant influence of WH while the strain has only a very limited effect. On CW, NG, BLL, FCL and HCL, there is only a significant influence of sex. Age has significant effect on CH and BL. All sources of classes have a significant effect on TG, ChG, ChD and ChW. Strain has a significant effect on the BL. These results provide first information for real biodiversity in and between the strains and can be used to develop the breeding work in the Arabian horse breed.

Keywords: Arabian horse, phenotypic traits, strains, Syria

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Authors: Elad Vashdi

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It is common to find speech deficit among children diagnosed with Autism. It can be found in the clinical field and recently in research. One of the DSM-V criteria suggests a speech delay (Delay in, or total lack of, the development of spoken language), but doesn't explain the cause of it. A common perception among professionals and families is that the inability to talk results from the autism. Autism is a name for a syndrome which just describes a phenomenon and is defined behaviorally. Since it is not based yet on a physiological gold standard, one can not conclude the nature of a deficit based on the name of the syndrome. A wide retrospective research (n=270) which included children with motor speech difficulties was conducted in Israel. The study analyzed entry evaluations in a private clinic during the years 2006-2013. The data was extracted from the reports. High percentage of children diagnosed with Autism (60%) was found. This result demonstrates the high relationship between Autism and motor speech problem. It also supports recent findings in research of Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) occurrence among children with ASD. Only small percentage of the participants in this research (10%) were diagnosed with CAS even though their verbal deficits well fitted the guidelines for CAS diagnosis set by ASHA in 2007. This fact raises questions regarding the diagnostic procedure in Israel. The understanding that CAS might highly exist within Autism and can have a remarkable influence on the course of early development should be a guiding tool within the diagnosis procedure. CAS can explain the nature of the speech problem among some of the autistic children and guide the treatment in a more accurate way. Calculating the prevalence of CAS which includes the comorbidity with ASD reveals new numbers and suggests treating differently the CAS population.

Keywords: childhood apraxia of speech, Autism, treatment, speech

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Authors: Yulmaida Amir, Fahrul Rozi, Insany C. Kamil, Fanny Aryani

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ODAPUS (Orang dengan Lupus) is an Indonesian term for people with Lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease in which immune system of the body becomes hyperactive and attacks normal tissue. The number of ODAPUS indicate an increase in Indonesia, thereby helping to improve their quality of life to be important to help their recovery. This study aims to examine the effect of resilience, self-esteem, and social support on the quality of life of women who had been diagnosed as having Lupus. Data were collected from 64 ODAPUS in Indonesia, using the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL), Resilience Scale from Wagnil and Young (1993), self-esteem scale (developed from Coopersmith’s theory), and Social Support Questioner from Northouse (1988). Regression data analysis showed that resilience, social support, and self-esteem predict the quality of life of the ODAPUS simultaneously. If the variable was analysed individually, self-esteem did not significantly contribute to the quality of life. Resilience contributed most significantly to the quality of life, followed by social support. Of five sources of social supports included in the research, support from family members (parents and brother/sisters) has the most significant contribution to the quality of life, followed by support from spouse, and from friends. Interestingly, social support from medical personnel (medical doctors and nurses) had not a significant contribution to the quality of life of ODAPUS. As a conclusion, this research showed that the ability of ODAPUS to cope with difficulty in life, and support from family members, spouse, and friends were the significant predictors for their quality of life.

Keywords: quality of life, resilience, self-esteem, social supports

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Authors: Aikaterini Tsalampouni

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The European Union has long been the most developed model of economic and political integration that has brought a common market, a common currency and a standardization of national policies in certain areas in consistent with EU values and principles. To this direction, there is a parallel process of social integration that effect public policy decisions of member states. Even though social policy, i.e. social protection and moreover healthcare policy, still remains in state's responsibility to develop, EU applies different mechanisms in order to influence health policy systems, since from a more federalist point of view, EU ought to expand its regulatory and legislative roles in as many policy areas as possible. Recently, the pandemic has become a turning point for health care provision and at the same time has also highlighted the need to strengthen the EU’s role in coordinating health care. This paper analyses the EU health policy in general, as well as the response to COVID-19 pandemic with an attempt to identify indications of interaction between EU policies and the promotion of sustainable and resilient health systems. More analytically, the paper investigates the EU binding legal instruments, non-binding legal instruments, monitoring and assessment instruments and instruments for co-financing concerning health care provision in member states and records the evolution of health policies before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper concludes by articulating some remarks regarding the improvement of health policy in EU. Since the ability to deal with a pandemic depends on continuous and increased investment in health systems, the involvement of the EU can lead to a policy convergence, necessary for the resilience of the systems, maintaining at the same time, a strong health policy framework in Europe.

Keywords: EU health policy, EU response to COVID-19, European Health Union, health systems in Europe

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Authors: Daniel Canales, Fabián Alvarez, Pablo Varela, Marcela Saavedra, Claudio García, Paula Zapata

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Calcium oxide nanoparticles (n-CaO) ca. 8 nm were obtained from eggshell waste. The n-CaO was incorporated into Poly(lactic acid) PLA matrix in 10 and 20 wt.% of filler content by electrospinning process to obtain PLA/n-CaO nanocomposite fibers as a potential use in scaffold for bone tissue regeneration. The fibers morphology and diameter were homogeneity, the PLA had a diameter of 2.2 ± 0.8 µm and, with the nanoparticles incorporation (20wt.%), reached ca. 2.9 ± 0.9 µm. The PLA/n-CaO nanocomposites fibers showed in vitro bioactivity, capable of inducing the precipitation of hydroxyapatite (HA) layer in the fiber surface after 7 days in Simulated Body Solution (SBF). The biocidal and biological properties of PLA/n-Cao with 20 wt.% were evaluated, showing a 30% reduction in bacterial viability against S. aureus and 11% for E. coli after 6 hours of bacterial suspensions exposure. Furthermore, the fibers did not show a cytotoxic effect on the bone marrow ST-2 cell line, permitting the cell adhesion and proliferation in Roswell Park Memorial Institute medium (RPMI). The PLA/n-CaO with 20 wt.% of nanoparticles showed a higher capacity to promote the osteogenic differentiation, significantly increasing the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) expression after 7 days compared to PLA and cell control. The in vivo analysis corroborated the biocompatibility of scaffolds prepared, the presence of n-CaO in PLA reduced the formation of fibrous encapsulation of the material improve the healing process.

Keywords: electrospun scaffolds, PLA based nanocomposites, calcium oxide nanoparticles, bioactive materials, tissue engineering

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Authors: Aina Barcelona, Carolyn Oldham, Jordi Colomer, Teresa Serra

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The loss of seagrass meadows worldwide is being tackled by formulating coastal restoration strategies. Seagrass loss results in a network of vegetated patches which are barely interconnected, and consequently, the ecological services they provide may be highly compromised. Hence, there is a need to optimize coastal management efforts in order to implement successful restoration strategies, not only through modifying the architecture of the canopies but also by gathering together information on the hydrodynamic conditions of the seabeds. To obtain information on the hydrodynamics within the patches of vegetation, this study deals with the scale analysis of the minimum lengths of patch management strategies that can be effectively used on. To this aim, a set of laboratory experiments were conducted in a laboratory flume where the plant densities, patch lengths, and hydrodynamic conditions were varied to discern the vegetated patch lengths that can provide optimal ecosystem services for canopy development. Two possible patch behaviours based on the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) production were determined: one where plants do not interact with the flow and the other where plants interact with waves and produce TKE. Furthermore, this study determines the minimum patch lengths that can provide successful management restoration. A canopy will produce TKE, depending on its density, the length of the vegetated patch, and the wave velocities. Therefore, a vegetated patch will produce plant-wave interaction under high wave velocities when it presents large lengths and high canopy densities.

Keywords: seagrass, minimum patch size, turbulent kinetic energy, oscillatory flow

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Authors: Ali Hassan, Mian Muhammad Awais, Muhammad Rafique Shahid, Farazia Hassan, Shumaila Rasool

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Dusky cotton bug (Oxycarenus laetus) has attained the status of major insect pest of cotton. It is also known as seed bug due to its property of feeding on seeds. It causes floral abscission at flowering stage and reduction in seed germination. Present study was carried out to assess germination loss caused by dusky bug with respect to crop stage and insect intensity. Treatments consisted of three stages immature boll, mature boll and opened boll as well three levels of dusky bug i.e., 50 bugs per boll, 40 bugs per boll along with zero level kept as control. Results showed that the germination percentage was highest in control treatment where no insect was released followed by treatment where 40 insects released and minimum germination showed by treatment in which 50 insects were released. The germination percentage of seeds surpassed after control treatment in the treatment where dusky bugs exposure was given at boll opening stage than on mature boll stage. Minimum germination was observed in immature boll stage. Interaction between crop stages and dusky bug levels showed that germination percentage of seeds was maximum in control treatment then boll opening stage followed by mature boll stage. Minimum seed germination was recorded in dusky bug treatment at immature boll stage which was 34% where 50 insects were released. From the results it is clear that dusky bug should be managed properly at all reproductive stages but immature stage is most critical.

Keywords: Gossypium hirsutum, Oxycarenus laetus, seed bug, seed germination

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Authors: Vatsal M. Patel, Navin B. Patel

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The present studies deal with the developing a series bearing a diphenyl ethers nucleus using structure-based drug design concept. A newer series of diphenyl ether based azetidinone namely N-(3-chloro-2-oxo-4-(3-phenoxyphenyl)azetidin-1-yl)-2-(substituted amino)acetamide (2a-j) have been synthesized by condensation of m-phenoxybenzaldehyde with 2-(substituted-phenylamino)acetohydrazide followed by the cyclisation of resulting Schiff base (1a-j) by conventional method as well as microwave heating approach as a part of an environmentally benign synthetic protocol. All the synthesized compounds were characterized by spectral analysis and were screened for in vitro antimicrobial, antitubercular and antiprotozoal activity. The compound 2f was found to be most active M. tuberculosis (6.25 µM) MIC value in the primary screening as well as this same derivative has been found potency against L. mexicana and T. cruzi with MIC value 2.09 and 6.69 µM comparable to the reference drug Miltefosina and Nifurtimox. To provide understandable evidence to predict binding mode and approximate binding energy of a compound to a target in the terms of ligand-protein interaction, all synthesized compounds were docked against an enoyl-[acyl-carrier-protein] reductase of M. tuberculosis (PDB ID: 4u0j). The computational studies revealed that azetidinone derivatives have a high affinity for the active site of enzyme which provides a strong platform for new structure-based design efforts. The Lipinski’s parameters showed good drug-like properties and can be developed as an oral drug candidate.

Keywords: antimycobacterial, antiprotozoal, azetidinone, diphenylether, docking, microwave

Procedia PDF Downloads 144

Authors: Lamia Ismayil

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The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the everyday lives of people all over the world. This pandemic affects heavily the lifestyle of people in different aspects of life, including eating habits. The objective of this paper is to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on key factors affecting food habits among the Community College of Qatar (CCQ) students. Method: The research is a cross-sectional survey that deployed a questionnaire among 217 CCQ students. Results: The results showed that 47.5% of the respondents were male and 52.5% female. In our previous study about 30% percentage obesity with a BMI of 30-35 was shown. Surprisingly, during the pandemic, the obesity percentage remains almost the same, but the BMI range jumped to 30-46. The nutritional knowledge of CCQ students is at an average level. Besides, during pandemic the personal eating habits continued to be imbalanced and getting unhealthier than in the pre-pandemic period. Regarding the key factors that could affect eating habits, most of the respondents reported that during the pandemic in the absence of restaurants they had daily meals with their families, and had a lack of physical activity. Besides, most of the respondents agree that they gained weight during the pandemic. These findings indicate that the pandemic changed the food habits and the lifestyle of Qatari students. Accordingly, increasing the awareness among college students (and Qatari community at large) is recommended. College students can be given some recommendations related to healthy eating tips to overcome the effect of pandemic on their health status. The detailed comparative analysis between pre- and post-pandemic eating habits of students can help reveal the main differences and give effective guidance to improve body composition and health status of students.

Keywords: food habits, BMI, obesity, COVID-19, nutritional knowledge, community college of Qatar, pandemic

Procedia PDF Downloads 40

Authors: Yili Wang, Jarmo Kinos, Tuire Palonen, Tarja-Riitta Hurme

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This longitudinal study aims to examine how five- and six-year-old children’s peer relationships are formed and fostered during one preschool year in a southwestern Finnish preschool. All 16 kindergarteners participated in the study (at dyad level N=240; i.e., 16 x 15 relationships among the children). The children were divided into four daily groups, based on the table order during the daily routines, and four intervention groups, based on the teachers’ pedagogical plan. During the intervention, one iPad was given to each group in order to stimulate interaction among peers and, thus, enable the children to form new peer relationships. In the data gathering, sociometric nomination techniques were used to investigate the nature (i.e., stability and mutuality) of the peer relationships. The data was collected five times during the year to see what kind of peer relationship changes occurred at the dyad level and the group level, i.e., in establishing and losing friendship ties among the children. Social network analyses were used to analyze the data. The results indicate that the children’s preference for gender segregation was strong compared to age preference and intervention. In all, the number of reciprocal friendship ties and the mutual absence of friendship ties increased towards the end of the year, whereas the number of unilateral friendship ties decreased. This indicates that children’s nominations narrow down; thus, the group structure becomes more crystalized. Instead of extending their friendship networks, children seek stable and mutual relationships with their peers in their middle childhood years. The intervention only had a slightly negative influence on children’s peer relationships.

Keywords: intervention study, peer relationship, preschool education, social network analysis, sociometric ratings

Procedia PDF Downloads 250

Authors: In Hee Shim, Dong Sik Bae

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Introduction: Obesity and unfavorable lipid profile may be linked to depressive disorders. This study compared the levels of obesity, lipid profiles and depression severity of patients with depressive disorders. Methods: This study included 156 patients diagnosed with a depressive disorder who were hospitalized between March 2012 and February 2016. The patients were categorized into mild to moderate and severe depressive groups, based on Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores (Mild to moderate depression 8-23 vs. severe depression ≥ 24). The charts of the patients were reviewed to evaluate body mass index and lipid profiles, including total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and triglycerides (TG), confounding factors, such as other general medical disorders (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia), except smoking status (insufficient data). Demographic and clinical characteristics, such as age, sex, comorbidities, family history of mood disorders, psychotic features, and prescription patterns were also assessed. Results: Compared to the mild to the moderate depressive group, patients with severe depression had significantly lower rate of male and comorbidity. The patients with severe depression had a significantly lower TG than patients in the mild to moderate depressive group. After adjustment for the sex and comorbidity, there were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of the obesity and lipid profiles, including TG. Conclusion: These results did not show a significant difference in the association between obesity, lipid profiles and the depression severity. The role of obesity and lipid profiles in the pathophysiology of depression remains to be clarified.

Keywords: depression, HAM-D, lipid profiles, obesity

Procedia PDF Downloads 273

Authors: Ahmed ElAzab, Amira M. Idrees, Mahmoud A. Mahmoud, Hesham Hefny

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Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook attracts over 500 million users across the world, for those users, their social life, even their practical life, has become interrelated. Their interaction with social networking has affected their life forever. Accordingly, social networking sites have become among the main channels that are responsible for vast dissemination of different kinds of information during real time events. This popularity in Social networking has led to different problems including the possibility of exposing incorrect information to their users through fake accounts which results to the spread of malicious content during life events. This situation can result to a huge damage in the real world to the society in general including citizens, business entities, and others. In this paper, we present a classification method for detecting fake accounts on Twitter. The study determines the minimized set of the main factors that influence the detection of the fake accounts on Twitter, then the determined factors have been applied using different classification techniques, a comparison of the results for these techniques has been performed and the most accurate algorithm is selected according to the accuracy of the results. The study has been compared with different recent research in the same area, this comparison has proved the accuracy of the proposed study. We claim that this study can be continuously applied on Twitter social network to automatically detect the fake accounts, moreover, the study can be applied on different Social network sites such as Facebook with minor changes according to the nature of the social network which are discussed in this paper.

Keywords: fake accounts detection, classification algorithms, twitter accounts analysis, features based techniques

Procedia PDF Downloads 387

Authors: Sohail Ahmed, Ke Xing

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This research theoretically explored the evolution mechanism of enterprise technological innovation capability system (ETICS) from the perspective of complex adaptive systems (CAS). This research proposed an analytical framework for ETICS, its concepts, and theory by integrating CAS methodology into the management of the technological innovation capability of enterprises and discusses how to use the principles of complexity to analyze the composition, evolution, and realization of the technological innovation capabilities in complex dynamic environments. This paper introduces the concept and interaction of multi-agent, the theoretical background of CAS, and summarizes the sources of technological innovation, the elements of each subject, and the main clusters of adaptive interactions and innovation activities. The concept of multi-agents is applied through the linkages of enterprises, research institutions, and government agencies with the leading enterprises in industrial settings. The study was exploratory and based on CAS theory. Theoretical model is built by considering technological and innovation literature from foundational to state of the art projects of technological enterprises. On this basis, the theoretical model is developed to measure the evolution mechanism of the enterprise's technological innovation capability system. This paper concludes that the main characteristics for evolution in technological systems are based on the enterprise’s research and development personnel, investments in technological processes, and innovation resources are responsible for the evolution of enterprise technological innovation performance. The research specifically enriched the application process of technological innovation in institutional networks related to enterprises.

Keywords: complex adaptive system, echo model, enterprise technological innovation capability system, research institutions, multi-agents

Procedia PDF Downloads 116

Authors: Sanjin Kršćanski, Josip Brnić

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Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT) is a method used for calculating stress intensity factor (SIF) of a cracked body that is easily implemented on top of basic finite element (FE) codes and as such can be applied on the various component geometries. It is a relatively simple method that does not require any special finite elements to be used and is usually used for calculating stress intensity factors at the crack tip for components made of brittle materials. This paper studies applicability and accuracy of VCCT applied on standard metal specimens containing trough thickness crack, subjected to an in-plane bending load. Finite element analyses were performed using regular 4-node, regular 8-node and a modified quarter-point 8-node 2D elements. Stress intensity factor was calculated from the FE model results for a given crack length, using data available from FE analysis and a custom programmed algorithm based on virtual crack closure technique. Influence of the finite element size on the accuracy of calculated SIF was also studied. The final part of this paper includes a comparison of calculated stress intensity factors with results obtained from analytical expressions found in available literature and in ASTM standard. Results calculated by this algorithm based on VCCT were found to be in good correlation with results obtained with mentioned analytical expressions.

Keywords: VCCT, stress intensity factor, finite element analysis, 2D finite elements, bending

Procedia PDF Downloads 283

Authors: Azadeh Mottaghi, Reyhaneh Yousefi, Saeed Safari

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Background: Bariatric surgery is widely proposed as the most effective approach to mitigate the growing pace of morbid obesity. As bariatric surgery candidates suffer from pre-existing nutritional deficiencies, it is of great importance to assess nutritional status of candidates before surgery in order to establish appropriate nutritional interventions. Objectives: The present study assessed and represented baseline data according to the nutritional status among candidates for bariatric surgery. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of pre-surgery data was collected on 170 morbidly obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery between October 2017 and February 2018. Dietary intake data (evaluated through 147-item food frequency questionnaire), anthropometric measures and biochemical parameters were assessed. Results: Participants included 145 females (25 males) with average age of 37.3 ± 10.2 years, BMI of 45.7 ± 6.4 kg/m² and reported to have a total of 72.3 ± 22.2 kg excess body weight. The most common nutritional deficiencies referred to iron, ferritin, transferrin, albumin, vitamin B12, and vitamin D, the prevalence of which in the study population were as followed; 6.5, 6.5, 3, 2, 17.6 and 66%, respectively. Mean energy, protein, fat, and carbohydrate intake were 3887.3 ± 1748.32 kcal/day, 121.6 ± 57.1, 144.1 ± 83.05, and 552.4 ± 240.5 gr/day, respectively. The study population consumed lower levels of iron, calcium, folic acid, and vitamin B12 compared to the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) recommendations (2, 26, 2.5, and 13%, respectively). Conclusion: According to the poor dietary quality of bariatric surgery candidates, leading to nutritional deficiencies pre-operatively, close monitoring and tailored supplementation pre- and post-bariatric surgery are required.

Keywords: bariatric surgery, food frequency questionnaire, obesity, nutritional status

Procedia PDF Downloads 159