Search results for: artificial potential approach

Authors: Hasan Mahmud Reza

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Extensive studies of the human umbilical cord, both basic and translational, over the last three decades have unveiled a plethora of information. The cord lining harbors at least two phenotypically different multipotent stem cells: mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and cord lining epithelial stem cells (CLECs). These cells exhibit a mixed genetic profiling of both embryonic and adult stem cells, hence display a broader stem features than cells from other sources. We have observed that umbilical cord-derived cells are immunologically privileged and non-tumorigenic by animal study. These cells are ethically acceptable, thus provides a significant advantage over other stem cells. The high proliferative capacity, viability, differentiation potential, and superior harvest of these cells have made them better candidates in comparison to contemporary adult stem cells. Following 30 replication cycles, these cells have been observed to retain their stemness, with their phenotype and karyotype intact. Transplantation of bioengineered CLEC sheets in limbal stem cell-deficient rabbit eyes resulted in regeneration of clear cornea with phenotypic expression of the normal cornea-specific epithelial cytokeratin markers. The striking features of low immunogenicity protecting self along with co-transplanted allografts from rejection largely define the transplantation potential of umbilical cord-derived stem cells.

Keywords: cord lining epithelial stem cells, mesenchymal stem cell, regenerative medicine, umbilical cord

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Authors: Ishmael Obaeko Iwara

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The Point of Sale (POS) cash and cashless semi-formal business has emerged as a significant driver of employment in countries like Nigeria and Kenya, similar to other micro and small-scale enterprises. This business model enables individuals to establish cash in/out outlets, offering entrepreneurs and small business owners a lucrative opportunity to generate additional income. However, the benefits extend beyond employment, as the POS model has become an integral part of the payment system in these countries. It facilitates convenient fund transfers, cash deposits, and withdrawals for individuals residing in both urban and rural areas. Given South Africa's high youth unemployment rate and limited banking services in rural households, coupled with a vibrant informal business economy akin to Nigeria and Kenya, the POS model potentially presents a business opportunity for the unemployed and serves as a banking solution for remote communities. Nonetheless, its implementation within South Africa's entrepreneurial landscape remains a subject of contention. Through qualitative research employing a participatory community-led action research approach, this study analyzes feedback, critiques, and potential interventions from various stakeholders, including business actors, grassroots communities, financial institutions, and policymakers. The findings offer crucial insights into the challenges associated with the adoption of the POS model and suggest mitigating factors to facilitate its successful implementation.

Keywords: grassroots entrepreneurs, rural households, POS banking, youth employment

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Authors: Merkouche Wassila, Marchand Alain, Renaud Stéphane

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Organizations are facing competitive pressures constraining them to modify their practices and change initial work conditions of employees, however, these modifications have to sustain initial quality of work and engagements toward the workforce. We focus on the importance of promises in the perspective of psychological contract. According to this perspective, employees perceiving a breach of the expected obligations from the employer may become unsatisfied at work and develop organizational withdrawal behaviors. These are negative counterproductive behaviours aiming to damage the organisation according to the principle of reciprocity and social exchange. We present an integrative model of the determinants and manifestations of organizational withdrawal (OW), a set of behaviors allowing the employee to leave his job or avoid his assigned work. OW contains two main components often studied in silos: work withdrawal (delays, absenteeism and other adverse behaviors) and job withdrawal (turnover). We use the systemic micro, meso and macro sociological approach designing the individual at the heart of a system containing individual, organizational, and environmental determinants. Under the influence of these different factors, the individual assesses the type of behavior to adopt. We provide better lighting for understanding OW using both psychological contract approach through the perception of its respect by the organization and job embeddedness approach which explains why the employee does not leave the organization and then remains in his post while practicing negative and counterproductive behaviors such as OW. We study specifically cynicism as a type of OW as it is a dimension of burnout. We focus on the antecedents of cynicism to try to prevent it in the workplace.

Keywords: burnout, cynicism, job embeddedness, organizational withdrawal, psychological contract

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Authors: Charlotte Lucke

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This study contributes to the body of literature that analyzes and complicates oversimplified and sensationalized representations of trauma and violence through a close examination and complication of representations of perpetrators of domestic violence in the mass media. This study determines the ways the media frames perpetrators of domestic violence through a qualitative content analysis and socio-ecological approach to the perpetration of violence. While the qualitative analysis has not been carried out, through preliminary research, this study hypothesizes that the media represents perpetrators through tropes such as the 'predator' or 'offender,' or as a demonized 'other.' It is necessary to expose and work through such stereotypes because cultivation theory demonstrates that the mass media determines societal beliefs about and perceptions of the world. Thus, representations of domestic violence in the mass media can lead people to believe that perpetrators of violence are mere animals or criminals and overlook the trauma that many perpetrators experience. When the media represents perpetrators as pure evil, monsters, or absolute 'others,' it leaves out the complexities of what moves people to commit domestic violence. By analyzing and placing media representations of perpetrators into conversation with the socio-ecological approach to violence perpetration, this study complicates domestic violence stereotypes. The socio-ecological model allows researchers to consider the way the interplay between individuals and their families, friends, communities, and cultures can move people to act violently. Using this model, along with psychological and psychoanalytic approaches to the etiology of domestic violence, this paper argues that media stereotypes conceal the way people’s experiences of trauma, along with community and cultural norms, perpetuates the cycle of systemic trauma and violence in the home.

Keywords: domestic violence, media images, representing trauma, theorising trauma

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Authors: Punwath Prum

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Superfund site is recognized publicly to be a severe environmental problem to surrounding communities and biodiversity due to its hazardous chemical waste from industrial activities. It contaminates the soil and water but also is a leading potential point-source pollution affecting ecosystem in watershed areas from chemical substances. The risks of Superfund site on watershed can be effectively measured by utilizing publicly available data and geospatial analysis by free and open source application. This study analyzed the vegetation change within high risked contaminated watersheds in Wisconsin. The high risk watersheds were measured by which watershed contained high number Superfund sites. The study identified two potential risk watersheds in Lafayette and analyzed the temporal changes of vegetation within the areas based on Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) analysis. The raster statistic was used to compare the change of NDVI value over the period. The analysis results showed that the NDVI value within the Superfund sites’ boundary has a significant lower value than nearby surrounding and provides an analogy for environmental hazard affect by the chemical contamination in Superfund site.

Keywords: soil contamination, spatial analysis, watershed

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Authors: Mengying Wang, Xiaohui Wang, Chun Deng, Bei Liu, Changyu Sun, Guangjin Chen, Mahmoud El-Halwagi

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Significant amounts of natural gas hydrates (NGHs) are considered potential new sustainable energy resources in the future. However, common used methods for methane gas recovery from hydrate sediments require high investment but with low gas production efficiency, and may cause potential environment and security problems. Therefore, there is a need for effective gas production from hydrates. The natural gas hydrate production method by CO₂/H₂ replacement coupling steam methane reforming can improve the replacement effect and reduce the cost of gas separation. This paper develops a simulation model of the gas production process integrated with steam reforming and membrane separation. The process parameters (i.e., reactor temperature, pressure, H₂O/CH₄ ratio) and the composition of CO₂ and H₂ in the feed gas are analyzed. Energy analysis is also conducted. Two design scenarios with different composition of CO₂ and H₂ in the feed gas are proposed and evaluated to assess the energy efficiency of the novel system. Results show that when the composition of CO₂ in the feed gas is between 43 % and 72 %, there is a certain composition that can meet the requirement that the flow rate of recycled gas is equal to that of feed gas, so as to ensure that the subsequent production process does not need to add feed gas or discharge recycled gas. The energy efficiency of the CO₂ in feed gas at 43 % and 72 % is greater than 1, and the energy efficiency is relatively higher when the CO₂ mole fraction in feed gas is 72 %.

Keywords: Gas production, hydrate, process integration, steam reforming

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Authors: Joleen L. H. Lee, K. F. Yen, Janette W. P. Ng, D. Woon, Mandy M. Y. Lau, Ivan M. H. Woo, S. N. Goh

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Case assignment systems are created to meet a need for equity in work distribution and better match between medical social workers' (MSWs) competencies and patients' problems. However, there is no known study that has explored how MSWs in Singapore assign cases to achieve equity in work distribution. Focus group discussions were conducted with MSWs from public hospitals to understand their perception on equitable workload and case allocation. Three approaches to case allocation were found. First is the point system where points are allocated to cases based on a checklist of presenting issues identified most of the time by non-MSWs. Intensity of case is taken into consideration, but allocation of points is often subject to variation in appreciation of roles of MSWs by the source of referral. Second is the round robin system, where all MSWs are allocated cases based on a roster. This approach resulted in perceived equity due to element of luck, but it does not match case complexity with competencies of MSWs. Third approach is unit-based allocation, where MSWs are assigned to attend to cases from specific unit. This approach helps facilitate specialization among MSWs but may result in MSWs having difficulty providing transdisciplinary care due to narrow set of knowledge and skills. Trade-offs resulted across existing approaches for case allocation by MSWs. Conversations are needed among Singapore MSWs to decide on a case allocation system that comes with trade-offs that are acceptable for patients and other key stakeholders of the care delivery system.

Keywords: case allocation, equity, medical social worker, work distribution

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Authors: Annelien A. Van Rooyen, Carol S. Binnekade, Deon Scott, Christina C. Shuttleworth

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Society expects professional accountants to uphold fundamental principles of professional competence, confidentiality, and ethical behavior. Their work needs to be trusted by the public, clients and other stakeholders. However, self-interest, intimidation and even ignorance could create conditions in which accounting practitioners and their staff may act contradictory to these principles. Similarly, plagiarism and cheating occur regularly at higher education institutions, where students claim ignorance of these actions and the accompanying consequences. Teaching students ethical skills in a distance-learning environment where interaction between students and instructors is limited is a challenge for academics. This also applies to instructors who teach accounting subjects to potential professional accountants. The researchers wanted to understand the concerns of accounting practitioners regarding recently qualified accounting students’ understanding of ethics and the resulting influence on their conduct. A mixed method approach was used to obtain feedback from numerous accounting practitioners in South Africa. The research questions focused mainly on ethical conduct in the workplace and the influence of social media on the behavior of graduates. The findings of the research suggested, inter alia, that accounting practitioners are of the opinion that the ethical conduct of graduates starts at home, but higher education institutions play a pivotal role in providing students with an understanding of ethics in the workplace, including the role of social media. The paper concludes with recommendations on how academics in higher education institutions need to address these challenges.

Keywords: accounting profession, distance learning, ethics, workplace

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Authors: S. N. Al-Bahry, Y. M. Al-Wahaibi, S. J. Joshi, E. A. Elshafie, A. S. Al-Bimani

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Oman is one of the oil producing countries in the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf region. About 30-40 % of oil produced from the Gulf is transported globally along the seacoast of Oman. Oil pollution from normal tanker operations, ballast water, illegal discharges and accidental spills are always serious threats to terrestrial and marine habitats. Due to Oman’s geographical location at arid region where the temperature ranges between high 40s and low 50s Celsius in summers with low annual rainfall, the main source of fresh water is desalinated sea and brackish water. Oil pollution, therefore, pose a major threat to drinking water. Biosurfactants are secondary metabolites produced by microorganisms in hydrophobic environments to release nutrients from solid surfaces, such as oil. In this study, indigenous oil degrading thermophilic spore forming bacteria were isolated from oil fields contaminated soil. The isolates were identified using MALDI-TOF biotyper and 16s RNA. Their growth conditions were optimized for the production of biosurfactant. Surface tension, interfacial tensions and microbial oil biodegradation capabilities were tested. Some thermophilic bacteria degraded either completely or partially heavy crude oil (API 10-15) within 48h suggesting their high potential in oil spill bioremediation and avoiding the commonly used physical and chemical methods which usually lead to other environmental pollution.

Keywords: bacteria, bioremediation, biosurfactant, crude-oil-pollution

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Authors: Manasvi Pinnaka, Brianna Chrisman

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Cystic fibrosis patients often develop lung infections that range anywhere in severity from mild to life-threatening due to the presence of thick and sticky mucus that fills their airways. Since many of these infections are chronic, they not only affect a patient’s ability to breathe but also increase the chances of mortality by respiratory failure. With a publicly available dataset of DNA sequences from bacterial species in the lung microbiome of cystic fibrosis patients, the correlations between different microbial species in the lung and the extent of deterioration of lung function were investigated. 16S sequencing technologies were used to determine the microbiome composition of the samples in the dataset. For the statistical analyses, referencing helped distinguish between taxonomies, and the proportions of certain taxa relative to another were determined. It was found that the Fusobacterium, Actinomyces, and Leptotrichia microbial types all had a positive correlation with the FEV1 score, indicating the potential displacement of these species by pathogens as the disease progresses. However, the dominant pathogens themselves, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, did not have statistically significant negative correlations with the FEV1 score as described by past literature. Examining the lung microbiology of cystic fibrosis patients can help with the prediction of the current condition of lung function, with the potential to guide doctors when designing personalized treatment plans for patients.

Keywords: bacterial infections, cystic fibrosis, lung microbiome, 16S sequencing

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Authors: Christopher Thornton, Niina Kolehmainen, Kianoush Nazarpour

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Background: Accelerometers are widely used to measure physical activity behavior, including in children. The traditional method for processing acceleration data uses cut points, relying on calibration studies that relate the quantity of acceleration to energy expenditure. As these relationships do not generalise across diverse populations, they must be parametrised for each subpopulation, including different age groups, which is costly and makes studies across diverse populations difficult. A data-driven approach that allows physical activity intensity states to emerge from the data under study without relying on parameters derived from external populations offers a new perspective on this problem and potentially improved results. We evaluated the data-driven approach in a diverse population with a range of rapidly evolving physical and mental capabilities, namely very young children (9-38 months old), where this new approach may be particularly appropriate. Methods: We applied an unsupervised machine learning approach (a hidden semi-Markov model - HSMM) to segment and cluster the accelerometer data recorded from 275 children with a diverse range of physical and cognitive abilities. The HSMM was configured to identify a maximum of six physical activity intensity states and the output of the model was the time spent by each child in each of the states. For comparison, we also processed the accelerometer data using published cut points with available thresholds for the population. This provided us with time estimates for each child’s sedentary (SED), light physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Data on the children’s physical and cognitive abilities were collected using the Paediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI-CAT). Results: The HSMM identified two inactive states (INS, comparable to SED), two lightly active long duration states (LAS, comparable to LPA), and two short-duration high-intensity states (HIS, comparable to MVPA). Overall, the children spent on average 237/392 minutes per day in INS/SED, 211/129 minutes per day in LAS/LPA, and 178/168 minutes in HIS/MVPA. We found that INS overlapped with 53% of SED, LAS overlapped with 37% of LPA and HIS overlapped with 60% of MVPA. We also looked at the correlation between the time spent by a child in either HIS or MVPA and their physical and cognitive abilities. We found that HIS was more strongly correlated with physical mobility (R²HIS =0.5, R²MVPA= 0.28), cognitive ability (R²HIS =0.31, R²MVPA= 0.15), and age (R²HIS =0.15, R²MVPA= 0.09), indicating increased sensitivity to key attributes associated with a child’s mobility. Conclusion: An unsupervised machine learning technique can segment and cluster accelerometer data according to the intensity of movement at a given time. It provides a potentially more sensitive, appropriate, and cost-effective approach to analysing physical activity behavior in diverse populations, compared to the current cut points approach. This, in turn, supports research that is more inclusive across diverse populations.

Keywords: physical activity, machine learning, under 5s, disability, accelerometer

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Authors: O. Starineca

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Some organizations as employers have difficulties to attract job seekers and retain their employees. Strategic planning of Human Resources (HR) presumes broad analysis of perspectives including analysis of potential job seekers in the field. Human Resources Recruitment (HRR) influences employer brand of an organization and peculiarities of both external organizational factors and stakeholders. Defining peculiarities of the future job seekers, who could potentially become the employees of the organization, could help to adjust HRR tools and methods adapt to the youngest generation employees’ preferences and be more successful in selecting the best candidates, who are likely to be loyal to the employer. The aim of the empirical study is definition of some students’ as job seekers peculiarities and their requirements to their potential employer. The survey in Latvia, Lithuania and Spain. Respondents were students from these countries’ tertiary education institutions Public Administration (PA) or relevant study programs. All three countries students’ peculiarities have just a slight difference. Overall, they all wish to work for a socially responsible employer that is able to provide positive working environment and possibilities for professional development and learning. However, respondents from each country have own peculiarities. The study might have a practical application. PA of the examined countries might use the results developing employer brand and creating job advertisements focusing on recent graduates’ recruitment.

Keywords: generation Y, human resources recruitment, job seekers, public administration

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Authors: Hanaa A. S. Oraby, Amal A. M. Hassan, Mahmoud M. Sakr, Atef A. A. Haiba

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Applying the profiling approach for the assessment of proteomic variations due to genetic modification of the Egyptian tomato cultivar "Edkawy", three complementary approaches were used. These methods are amino acids analysis, gel electrophoresis, and Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The results of the present study Show evidence of proteomic variations between both modified tomato and its non-modified counterpart. Amino acids concentrations, and the protein patterns separation on the 1D SDS-PAGE were not similar in the case of transformed tomato compared to that of the non-transformed counterpart. These detected differences are most likely derived from the process of transformation. Results also revealed that the efficiency of GC/MS approach to identify a mixture of unknown proteins is limited. GC/MS analysis was only able to identify few number of protein molecules. Therefore, more advanced and specific technologies like MALDI-TOF-MS are recommended to be employed.

Keywords: GMOs, unintended effects, proteomic variations, 1D SDS-PAGE, GC/MS

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Authors: Khenfer-Koummich Fatima, Mesbahi Larbi, Hendel Fatiha

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This paper presents a recognition system for isolated words like robot commands. It’s carried out by Time Delay Neural Networks; TDNN. To teleoperate a robot for specific tasks as turn, close, etc… In industrial environment and taking into account the noise coming from the machine. The choice of TDNN is based on its generalization in terms of accuracy, in more it acts as a filter that allows the passage of certain desirable frequency characteristics of speech; the goal is to determine the parameters of this filter for making an adaptable system to the variability of speech signal and to noise especially, for this the back propagation technique was used in learning phase. The approach was applied on commands pronounced in two languages separately: The French and Arabic. The results for two test bases of 300 spoken words for each one are 87%, 97.6% in neutral environment and 77.67%, 92.67% when the white Gaussian noisy was added with a SNR of 35 dB.

Keywords: TDNN, neural networks, noise, speech recognition

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Authors: Tamara Bastianello, Rachele Ferrari, Marinella Majorano

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The adoption of the syllabic approach in preschool programmes could support and reinforce meta-phonological awareness and literacy skills in children. The introduction of a meta-phonological intervention in preschool could facilitate the transition to primary school, especially for children with learning fragilities. In the present contribution, we want to investigate the efficacy of "Simo-syl" intervention in enhancing emergent literacy skills in children (especially for reading). Simo-syl is a 12 weeks multimedia programme developed for children to improve their language and communication skills and later literacy development in preschool. During the intervention, Simo-syl, an invented character, leads children in a series of meta-phonological games. Forty-six Italian preschool children (i.e., the Simo-syl group) participated in the programme; seventeen preschool children (i.e., the control group) did not participate in the intervention. Children in the two groups were between 4;10 and 5;9 years. They were assessed on their vocabulary, morpho-syntactical, meta-phonological, phonological, and phono-articulatory skills twice: 1) at the beginning of the last year of the preschool through standardised paper-based assessment tools and 2) one week after the intervention. All children in the Simo-syl group took part in the meta-phonological programme based on the syllabic approach. The intervention lasted 12 weeks (three activities per week; week 1: activities focused on syllable blending and spelling and a first approach to the written code; weeks 2-11: activities focused on syllables recognition; week 12: activities focused on vowels recognition). Very few children (Simo-syl group = 21, control group = 9) were tested again (post-test) one week after the intervention. Before starting the intervention programme, the Simo-syl and the control groups had similar meta-phonological, phonological, lexical skills (all ps > .05). One week after the intervention, a significant difference emerged between the two groups in their meta-phonological skills (syllable blending, p = .029; syllable spelling, p = .032), in their vowel recognition ability (p = .032) and their word reading skills (p = .05). An ANOVA confirmed the effect of the group membership on the developmental growth for the word reading task (F (1,28) = 6.83, p = .014, ηp2 = .196). Taking part in the Simo-syl intervention has a positive effect on the ability to read in preschool children.

Keywords: intervention programme, literacy skills, meta-phonological skills, syllabic approach

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Authors: Saeed Anwar

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Foreign aid has long been a prominent tool in the pursuit of economic development in recipient countries. This research paper aims to analyze the impact of foreign aid on economic development and explore the effectiveness of aid in promoting sustainable growth, poverty reduction, and improvements in human development indicators. Drawing upon a comprehensive review of existing literature, both theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence are synthesized to provide insights into the complex relationship between foreign aid and economic development. The paper examines various channels through which foreign aid influences economic development, including infrastructure development, education and healthcare investments, technology transfer, and institutional capacity building. It explores the potential positive effects of aid in stimulating economic growth, reducing poverty, and enhancing human capital formation. Additionally, it investigates the potential challenges and limitations associated with aid, such as aid dependency, governance issues, and the potential crowding out of domestic resources. Furthermore, the study assesses the heterogeneity of aid effectiveness across different types of aid modalities, recipient country characteristics, and aid allocation mechanisms. It considers the role of aid conditionality, aid fragmentation, and aid targeting in influencing the effectiveness of aid in promoting economic development. The findings of this research contribute to the ongoing discourse on foreign aid and economic development by providing a comprehensive analysis of the existing literature. The study highlights the importance of context-specific factors, recipient country policies, and aid effectiveness frameworks in determining the impact of foreign aid on economic development outcomes. The insights derived from this research can inform policymakers, donor agencies, and practitioners in designing and implementing effective aid strategies to maximize the positive impact of foreign aid on economic development.

Keywords: foreign aid, economic development, sustainable growth, poverty reduction, human development indicators, infrastructure development, education, healthcare, technology transfer, institutional capacity building, aid effectiveness, aid dependency, governance, crowding out, aid conditionality, aid fragmentation, aid targeting, recipient country policies, aid strategies, donor agencies, policymaking

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Authors: Deon de Jager, Yahya Zweiri, Dimitrios Makris

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The three most important components in the cognitive architecture for cognitive robotics is memory representation, memory recall, and action-selection performed by the executive. In this paper, action selection, performed by the executive, is defined as a memory quantification and optimization process. The methodology describes the real-time construction of episodic memory through semantic memory optimization. The optimization is performed by set-based particle swarm optimization, using an adaptive entropy memory quantification approach for fitness evaluation. The performance of the approach is experimentally evaluated by simulation, where a UAV is tasked with the collection and delivery of a medical package. The experiments show that the UAV dynamically uses the episodic memory to autonomously control its velocity, while successfully completing its mission.

Keywords: cognitive robotics, semantic memory, episodic memory, maximum entropy principle, particle swarm optimization

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Authors: Chinedu F. Anochie

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The deterioration of materials as a result of their interaction with the environment has been a huge challenge to engineering. Many steps have been taking to tackle corrosion and its effects on harmful effects on engineering materials and structures. Corrosion inhibition, coating, passivation, materials selection, and cathodic protection are some of the methods utilized to curtail the rate at which materials corrode. The use of sacrificial anodes (magnesium, aluminum, or zinc) to protect the metal of interest is a widespread technique used to prevent corrosion in underground structures, ship hauls, and other structures susceptible to corrosion attack. However, certain factors, like resistivity, affect the performance of sacrificial anodes. To establish the effect of soil resistivity on the effectiveness of a cathodic protection system, a mild steel specimen was cathodically protected around Workshop 2 area, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria. Design calculations showed that one zinc anode was sufficient to protect the pipe. The specimen (mild steel pipe) was coated with white and black polykene tapes and was subsequently buried in a high resistivity soil. The pipe-to-soil potential measurements were obtained using a digital fluke multimeter. The protection potential obtained on installation was higher than the minimum protection criteria. However, the potential results obtained over a fourteen-day intervals continually decreased to a value significantly lower than the minimum protection criteria. This showed that the sacrificial anode (zinc) was rendered ineffective by the high resistivity of the area of installation. It has been shown that the resistivity of the soil has a marked effect on the feasibility of cathodic protection systems. This work justified that zinc anode cannot be used for cathodic protection around Workshop 2 area, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria, because of the high resistivity of the area. An experimental data which explains the effectiveness of galvanic anode cathodic protection system on corrosion control of a small steel structure, exposed to a soil of high resistivity has been established.

Keywords: cathodic protection, corrosion, pipe, sacrificial anode

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Authors: Laref Nora, Guessas Bettache

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Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have a major potential to be used in biopreservation methods because they are safe to consume (GRAS: generally regarded as safe) and they naturally occurring microflora of many foods. The preservative action of LAB is due to several antimicrobial metabolites, including lactic acid, acetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, bacteriocins, carbon dioxide, diacetyl, and reuterin. Several studies have focused on the antifungal activity compounds from natural sources for biopreservation in alternatives to chemical use. LAB has an antifungal activity which may inhibit food spoilage fungi. Lactobacillus strains isolated from silage prepared in our laboratory by fermentation of grass in anaerobic condition were screened for antifungal activity with overlay assay against Aspergillus spp. The antifungal compounds were originated from organic acids; inhibitory activity did not change after treatment with proteolytic enzymes. Lactobacillus strains were able also to inhibit Trichoderma spp, Penicillium spp, Fusarium roseum, and Stemphylim spp by confrontation assay. The inhibitory activity could be detected against the mould Aspergillus spp in the apricot juice but not in a bakery product. These antifungal compounds have the potential to be used as food biopreservation to inhibit conidia germination, and mycelia growth of spoilage fungi depending on food type, pH of food especially in heat, and cold processed foods.

Keywords: lactic acid bacteria, Lactobacillus, Aspergillus, antifungal activity

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Authors: Aikaterini Tavoulari

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This research aims to address the types of repetitive behaviours (RBs) observed by adults in children with vision impairment (VI) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the explanations the adults employ to interpret these behaviours, and the impact RBs have on the child, the caregiver, the professional and society. The underlying reason for this is an attempt to discover any potential differences between two different disabilities in a comparative fashion. The study is based on the interpretivism paradigm and follows a qualitative approach. A comparative case study design based on the ecological systems theory (EST) is adopted. Thirty-five caregivers and accredited professionals were recruited (17 for the VI group, out of whom 8 were caregivers and 9 were professionals, and 18 for the ASD group, out of whom 9 were caregivers and 9 were professionals). Following the completion of a pilot study, all participants were interviewed regarding one specific child – their own child/student – via semi-structured interviews. During the interviews, the researcher used a research diary as a methodological tool and video elicitation as a facilitation tool. A cross-case analysis was conducted, and data were analysed according to the method of thematic analysis. A link has been indicated between VI and ASD, which concerns perceptions about the socially constructed manner in which an RB is perceived. ASD is perceived by the participants as a disability with challenging characteristics, such as an RB. The ASD group perceived RB as linked to ableism, social stigmatisation, and taboo, in contrast to VI, where the existence of RB seems to be a consequence of sensory loss. Bi-directionality of EST seems to have been lost completely, and the macrosystem seems to drive the interactions between the ecological systems.

Keywords: ableism, social stigma, disability, repetitive behaviour, vision impairment, autism spectrum disorder, perceptions

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Authors: Slim Chokri

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Load forecasting is one of the central functions in power systems operations. Electricity cannot be stored, which means that for electric utility, the estimate of the future demand is necessary in managing the production and purchasing in an economically reasonable way. A majority of the recently reported approaches are based on neural network. The attraction of the methods lies in the assumption that neural networks are able to learn properties of the load. However, the development of the methods is not finished, and the lack of comparative results on different model variations is a problem. This paper presents a new approach in order to predict the Tunisia daily peak load. The proposed method employs a computational intelligence scheme based on the Fuzzy neural network (FNN) and support vector regression (SVR). Experimental results obtained indicate that our proposed FNN-SVR technique gives significantly good prediction accuracy compared to some classical techniques.

Keywords: neural network, load forecasting, fuzzy inference, machine learning, fuzzy modeling and rule extraction, support vector regression

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Authors: Aline F. Marcon, Eduardo F. da Silva, Marina Bouzon

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The impact of lean management on environmental sustainability is the research line that receives the most attention from academicians. Therefore, the social dimension of sustainable development has so far received less attention. This paper aims to evaluate the impact of intra-plant lean manufacturing practices on social sustainability indicators extracted from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) parameters. The method is two-phased, including MCDM approach to uncover the most relevant practices regarding social performance and Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) method to reveal the structural relationship among lean practices. Professionals from the academic and industrial fields answered the questionnaires. From the results of this paper, it is possible to verify that practices such as “Safety Improvement Programs”, “Total Quality Management” and “Cross-functional Workforce” are the ones which have the most positive influence on the set of GRI social indicators.

Keywords: indicators, ISM, lean, social, sustainability

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Authors: Alan (Avi) Kirschenbaum, Carmit Rapaport

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The behavior of bystanders in emergencies and disasters have been examined for over 50 years. Such acts have been cited as contributing to saving lives in terms of providing first responder help until official emergency units can arrive. Several reasons have been suggested for this type of behavior but most focused on a broad segment of individual psychological decision-making processes. Recent theoretical evidence suggests that the external factors for such bystander decisions, mainly disaster community based social contexts factors, are also important. We aim to test these competing arguments. Specifically, we examine alternative explanatory perspectives by focusing on self-efficacy as a proxy for the accepted individual psychological case and contrast it with potential bystander characteristics of the individual as well factors as embedded in the social context of the disaster community. To do so, we will utilize a random sampling of the population from a field study of an urban community in Israel that experienced five years of continuous terror attacks. The results strongly suggest that self-efficacy, as well as external factors: preparedness and having skills for intervention during emergencies along with gender best, predict potential helping behaviors. These results broaden our view of bystander behavior and open a window for enhancing this phenomenon as another element in disaster and crisis management.

Keywords: bystander behavior, disasters emergencies, psychological motivation to help, social context for helping

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Authors: Peter Burggräf, Moritz Krunke, Hanno Voet

Abstract:

Due to shortening product and technology lifecycles, many companies use standardization approaches in product development and factory planning to reduce costs and time to market. Unlike large companies, where modular systems are already widely used, small and medium-sized companies often show a much lower degree of standardization due to lower scale effects and missing capacities for the development of these standards. To overcome these challenges, the development of industry sector specific standards in cooperations or by third parties is an interesting approach. This paper analyzes which branches that are mainly dominated by small or medium-sized companies might be especially interesting for the development of factory standards using the example of the German industry. For this, a key performance indicator based approach was developed that will be presented in detail with its specific results for the German industry structure.

Keywords: factory planning, factory standards, industry sector specific standardization, production planning

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Authors: Eric Mxolisi Mkhondo

Abstract:

Geometrical deviations and interaction of mechanical parts influences the performance of miniature systems.These deviations tend to cause costly problems during assembly due to imperfections of components, which are invisible to a naked eye.They also tend to cause unsatisfactory performance during operation due to deformation cause by environmental conditions.One of the effective tools to manage the deviations and interaction of parts in the system is tolerance analysis.This is a quantitative tool for predicting the tolerance variations which are defined during the design process.Traditional tolerance analysis assumes that the assembly is static and the deviations come from the manufacturing discrepancies, overlooking the functionality of the whole system and deformation of parts due to effect of environmental conditions. This paper presents an integrated tolerance analysis approach for miniature system in operation.In this approach, a computer-aided design (CAD) model is developed from system’s specification.The CAD model is then used to specify the geometrical and dimensional tolerance limits (upper and lower limits) that vary component’s geometries and sizes while conforming to functional requirements.Worst-case tolerances are analyzed to determine the influenced of dimensional changes due to effects of operating temperatures.The method is used to evaluate the nominal conditions, and worse case conditions in maximum and minimum dimensions of assembled components.These three conditions will be evaluated under specific operating temperatures (-40°C,-18°C, 4°C, 26°C, 48°C, and 70°C). A case study on the mechanism of a zoom lens system is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the methodology.

Keywords: geometric dimensioning, tolerance analysis, worst-case analysis, zoom lens mechanism

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Authors: Sakinah Abdullah, Rosna Mat Taha

Abstract:

Antioxidants are compounds that protect cells against the damaging effects of reactive oxygen species such as singlet oxygen, superoxide, peroxyl radicals, and peroxynitrite which result in oxidative stress leading to cellular damage. Natural antioxidant are in high demand because of their potential in health promotion and disease prevention and their improved safety and consumer acceptability. Plants are rich sources of natural antioxidant. Dioscorea alata L. known as 'ubi badak' in Malaysia were well known for their antioxidant content, but this plant was seasonal. Thus, tissue culture technique was used to mass propagate this plant. In the present work, a comparative study between in vitro (from tissue culture) and in vivo (from intact plant) samples of Dioscorea alata L. for their antioxidant potential by 2,2-diphenil -1- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity method and their total phenolic and flavonoid contents were carried out. All samples had better radical scavenging activity but in vivo samples had the strongest radical scavenging activity compared to in vitro samples. Furthermore, tubers from in vivo samples showed the greatest free radical scavenging effect and comparatively greater phenolic content than in vitro samples.

Keywords: Dioscorea alata, tissue culture, antioxidant, in vivo, in vitro, DPPH

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Authors: Khader S. Al-Aidmat, Venus W. Samawi

Abstract:

Blurred vision in the misty atmosphere is essential problem which needs to be resolved. To solve this problem, we developed a technique to restore foggy degraded image from its original version using Back-propagation neural network (BP-NN). The suggested technique is based on mapping between foggy scene and its corresponding original scene. Seven different approaches are suggested based on type of features used in image restoration. Features are extracted from spatial and spatial-frequency domain (using DCT). Each of these approaches comes with its own BP-NN architecture depending on type and number of used features. The weight matrix resulted from training each BP-NN represents a fog filter. The performance of these filters are evaluated empirically (using PSNR), and perceptually. By comparing the performance of these filters, the effective features that suits BP-NN technique for restoring foggy images is recognized. This system proved its effectiveness and success in restoring moderate foggy images.

Keywords: artificial neural network, discrete cosine transform, feed forward neural network, foggy image restoration

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Authors: Chandralal Shrestha

Abstract:

In the developing countries like Nepal, the community based forest management approach has often been glorified as one of the best forest management alternatives to maximize the forest benefits. Though the approach has succeeded to construct a local level institution and conserve the forest biodiversity, how the local communities perceived about the forest benefits, the question always remains silent among the researchers and policy makers. The paper aims to explore the understanding of forest benefits from the perspective of local communities who used the forests in terms of institutional stability, equity and livelihood opportunity, and ecological stability. The paper revealed that the local communities have mixed understanding over the forest benefits. The institutional and ecological activities carried out by the local communities indicated that they have better understanding over the forest benefits. However, inequality while sharing the forest benefits, low pricing strategy and its negative consequences in valuation of forest products and limited livelihood opportunities indicated the poor understanding.

Keywords: community based forest management, forest benefits, lowland, Nepal

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Authors: Bárbara Durão, Pedro Almeida, David Ramilo, André Meneses, Rute Canejo-Teixeira

Abstract:

The importance of quality of life (QoL) assessment in veterinary medicine is an integral part of patient care. This is especially true in cases of chronic diseases, such as chronic kidney disease (CKD), where the ever more advanced treatment options prolong the patient’s life. Whether this prolongment of life comes with an acceptable quality of life remains has been called into question. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between CKD disease biomarkers and QoL in cats. Thirty-seven cats diagnosed with CKD and with no known concurrent illness were enrolled in an observational study. Through the course of several evaluations, renal biomarkers were assessed in blood and urine samples, and owners retrospectively described their cat’s quality of life using a validated instrument for this disease. Correlations between QoL scores (AWIS) and the biomarkers were assessed using Spearman’s rank test. Statistical significance was set at p-value < 0.05, and every serial sample was considered independent. Thirty-seven cats met the inclusion criteria, and all owners completed the questionnaire every time their pet was evaluated, giving a total of eighty-four questionnaires, and the average-weighted-impact-score was –0.5. Results showed there was a statistically significant correlation between the quality of life and most of 17 the studied biomarkers and confirmed that CKD has a negative impact on QoL in cats especially due to the management of the disease and secondary appetite disorders. To our knowledge, this is the attempt to assess the correlation between renal biomarkers and QoL in cats. Our results reveal a strong potential of this type of approach in clinical management, mainly in situations where it is not possible to measure biomarkers. Whilst health-related QoL is a reliable predictor of mortality and morbidity in humans; our findings can help improve the clinical practice in cats with CKD.

Keywords: chronic kidney disease, biomarkers, quality of life, feline

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Authors: Takahiro Hino, Michiharu Maeda

Abstract:

Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is an optimization approach that achieves the social model of bird flocking and fish schooling. PSO works in continuous space and can solve continuous optimization problem with high quality. Set-based particle swarm optimization (SPSO) functions in discrete space by using a set. SPSO can solve combinatorial optimization problem with high quality and is successful to apply to the large-scale problem. In this paper, we present an algorithm of SPSO with status memory to decide the position based on the previous position for solving traveling salesman problem (TSP). In order to show the effectiveness of our approach. We examine SPSOSM for TSP compared to the existing algorithms.

Keywords: combinatorial optimization problems, particle swarm optimization, set-based particle swarm optimization, traveling salesman problem

Procedia PDF Downloads 544