Search results for: counterproductive work behaviour

Authors: G. Amariei, K. Boltes, R. Rosal, P. Leton

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Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are supposed to hold an important place in the reduction of emerging contaminants, but provide an environment that has potential for the development and/or spread of adaptation, as bacteria are continuously mixed with contaminants at sub-inhibitory concentrations. Reviewing the literature, there are little data available regarding the use of adapted bacteria forming activated sludge community for toxicity assessment, and only individual validations have been performed. Therefore, the aim of this work was to study the toxicity of Triclosan (TCS) and Ibuprofen (IBU), individually and in binary combination, on adapted activated sludge (AS). For this purpose a battery of biomarkers were assessed, involving oxidative stress and cytotoxicity responses: glutation-S-transferase (GST), catalase (CAT) and viable cells with FDA. In addition, we compared the toxic effects on adapted bacteria with unadapted bacteria, from a previous research. Adapted AS comes from three continuous-flow AS laboratory systems; two systems received IBU and TCS, individually; while the other received the binary combination, for 14 days. After adaptation, each bacterial culture condition was exposure to IBU, TCS and the combination, at 12 h. The concentration of IBU and TCS ranged 0.5-4mg/L and 0.012-0.1 mg/L, respectively. Batch toxicity experiments were performed using Oxygraph system (Hansatech), for determining the activity of CAT enzyme based on the quantification of oxygen production rate. Fluorimetric technique was applied as well, using a Fluoroskan Ascent Fl (Thermo) for determining the activity of GST enzyme, using monochlorobimane-GSH as substrate, and to the estimation of viable cell of the sludge, by fluorescence staining using Fluorescein Diacetate (FDA). For IBU adapted sludge, CAT activity it was increased at low concentration of IBU, TCS and mixture. However, increasing the concentration the behavior was different: while IBU tends to stabilize the CAT activity, TCS and the mixture decreased this one. GST activity was significantly increased by TCS and mixture. For IBU, no variations it was observed. For TCS adapted sludge, no significant variations on CAT activity it was observed. GST activity it was significant decreased for all contaminants. For mixture adapted sludge the behaviour of CAT activity it was similar to IBU adapted sludge. GST activity it was decreased at all concentration of IBU. While the presence of TCS and mixture, respectively, increased the GST activity. These findings were consistent with the viability cells evaluation, which clearly showed a variation of sludge viability. Our results suggest that, compared with unadapted bacteria, the adapted bacteria conditions plays a relevant role in the toxicity behaviour towards activated sludge communities.

Keywords: adapted sludge community, mixture, PPCPs, toxicity

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Authors: M. De Filippo, J. S. Kuang

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In construction industry, reinforced concrete (RC) slabs represent fundamental elements of buildings and bridges. Different methods are available for analysing the structural behaviour of slabs. In the early ages of last century, the yield-line method has been proposed to attempt to solve such problem. Simple geometry problems could easily be solved by using traditional hand analyses which include plasticity theories. Nowadays, advanced finite element (FE) analyses have mainly found their way into applications of many engineering fields due to the wide range of geometries to which they can be applied. In such cases, the application of an elastic or a plastic constitutive model would completely change the approach of the analysis itself. Elastic methods are popular due to their easy applicability to automated computations. However, elastic analyses are limited since they do not consider any aspect of the material behaviour beyond its yield limit, which turns to be an essential aspect of RC structural performance. Furthermore, their applicability to non-linear analysis for modeling plastic behaviour gives very reliable results. Per contra, this type of analysis is computationally quite expensive, i.e. not well suited for solving daily engineering problems. In the past years, many researchers have worked on filling this gap between easy-to-implement elastic methods and computationally complex plastic analyses. This paper aims at proposing a numerical procedure, through which a pseudo-lower bound solution, not violating the yield criterion, is achieved. The advantages of moment distribution are taken into account, hence the increase in strength provided by plastic behaviour is considered. The lower bound solution is improved by detecting over-yielded moments, which are used to artificially rule the moment distribution among the rest of the non-yielded elements. The proposed technique obeys Nielsen’s yield criterion. The outcome of this analysis provides a simple, yet accurate, and non-time-consuming tool of predicting the lower-bound solution of the collapse load of RC slabs. By using this method, structural engineers can find the fracture patterns and ultimate load bearing capacity. The collapse triggering mechanism is found by detecting yield-lines. An application to the simple case of a square clamped slab is shown, and a good match was found with the exact values of collapse load.

Keywords: computational mechanics, lower bound method, reinforced concrete slabs, yield-line

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Authors: Mithlesh Chourase

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Health of the transgender is as important as any other population sub-groups. However, little is known about the issues of mental health problems and health seeking behaviour of transgender in India. This paper examines the depression, stigma problem and suicidality (risk of suicide) among the transgender people in Mumbai city. The study used the primary survey data conducted in Mumbai city among the transgender community with a total sample of 120 among the transgender. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected on demographic and socio-economic characteristic, general health and sexual health problems, mental health and health seeking behaviour among transgender. The quantitative results revealed that among the transgender, the prevalence of depression was very high. In this community 58.3% and 45.8 % of the transgender were suffered from depression and stigma problem respectively. On the other hand 42% and 48% of the transgender attempted suicide and experienced discrimination in the society. The qualitative results also revealed that the transgender were suffered from physical violence especially due to being a transgender, stressed due to being a transgender, experienced discrimination everywhere, experienced sexual health problems especially HIV, partner problem etc. As a result the prevalence of depression, self-harm attempt and suicidal attempt was common among this community.

Keywords: transgender, depression, Mumbai, mental health

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Authors: Neha Singh, Ananya Arora

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Facial expression measurement plays a crucial role in the identification of emotion. Facial expression plays a key role in psychophysiology, neural bases, and emotional disorder, to name a few. The Facial Action Coding System (FACS) has proven to be the most efficient and widely used of the various systems used to describe facial expressions. Coders can manually code facial expressions with FACS and, by viewing video-recorded facial behaviour at a specified frame rate and slow motion, can decompose into action units (AUs). Action units are the most minor visually discriminable facial movements. FACS explicitly differentiates between facial actions and inferences about what the actions mean. Action units are the fundamental unit of FACS methodology. It is regarded as the standard measure for facial behaviour and finds its application in various fields of study beyond emotion science. These include facial neuromuscular disorders, neuroscience, computer vision, computer graphics and animation, and face encoding for digital processing. This paper discusses the conceptual basis for FACS, a numerical listing of discrete facial movements identified by the system, the system's psychometric evaluation, and the software's recommended training requirements.

Keywords: facial action, action units, coding, machine learning

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Authors: Bisi S. Olawoyin

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This study attempts an exploration into behavioural finance in which the traditional assumptions of expected utility maximization with rational investors in efficient markets are dropped. It reviews prior research and evidence about how psychological biases affect investors behaviour and stock selection. This study examined the relationship between demographic variables and financial behaviour biases among public sector retirees who invested in the Nigerian Stock Exchange prior to their retirement. By using questionnaire survey method, a total of 214 valid convenient samples were collected in order to determine how specific demographic and psychological trait affect stock selection between dividend paying and non-dividend paying stocks. Descriptive statistics and OLS were used to analyse the results. Findings showed that most of the retirees prefer dividend paying stocks in few years preceding their retirement but still hold on to their non-dividend paying stock on retirement. A significant difference also exists between senior and junior retirees in preference for non-dividend paying stocks. These findings are consistent with the clientele theories of dividend.

Keywords: behavioural finance, clientele theories, dividend paying stocks, stock selection

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Authors: Bezzi Nacer

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The study focused on the qualitative and quantitative study of Trace elements contained in the natural phosphate ore of Djebel Onk layer and their behaviour to the various mineralurgic modes of treatment. The main objective is to locate the importance of these contents according to granulometry and their association with the existing mineralogical species and to define how the most appropriate treatment. The raw ore is in first submitted to a prior mechanical treatment consisting of homogenization operations, of grinding and of sifting, in order to separate it into three particle-size classes: fine <100 µm (F); medium 100-500 µm (I) and coarse > 500 µm (G), and then treated by calcination, washing and floatation. The identification of the different mineralogical phases, the chemical composition and the thermal behaviour of these samples were realized by various techniques: MEB, DRX, ATG-ATD, etc. The study of Trace elements, carried out by ICP-MS, identified thirty items, consisting mainly of rare earths and of transition metals. A close relation between trace elements and various minerals phases (apatite, dolomite and silicates), through operations of substitution. These elements are distributed between several mineralogical phases, in particular apatite (strontium, uranium, chrome, barium, cadmium) and silicates (strontium, sodium, nickel, zinc and copper).

Keywords: valorization of natural phosphate ore, heavy metals, qualitative and quantitative analysis, various mineralurgic

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Authors: Shady Adib, Vladimir Vinogradov, Peter Gosling

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Digital Twin (DT) technology is a new technology that appeared in the early 21st century. The DT is defined as the digital representation of living and non-living physical assets. By connecting the physical and virtual assets, data are transmitted smoothly, allowing the virtual asset to fully represent the physical asset. Although there are lots of studies conducted on the DT concept, there is still limited information about the ability of the DT models for monitoring and detecting unexpected changes in structural behaviour in real time. This is due to the large computational efforts required for the analysis and an excessively large amount of data transferred from sensors. This paper aims to develop the DT concept to be able to detect the abnormal changes in structural behaviour in real time using advanced modelling techniques, deep learning algorithms, and data acquisition systems, taking into consideration model uncertainties. finite element (FE) models were first developed offline to be used with a reduced basis (RB) model order reduction technique for the construction of low-dimensional space to speed the analysis during the online stage. The RB model was validated against experimental test results for the establishment of a DT model of a two-dimensional truss. The established DT model and deep learning algorithms were used to identify the location of damage once it has appeared during the online stage. Finally, the RB model was used again to identify the damage severity. It was found that using the RB model, constructed offline, speeds the FE analysis during the online stage. The constructed RB model showed higher accuracy for predicting the damage severity, while deep learning algorithms were found to be useful for estimating the location of damage with small severity.

Keywords: data acquisition system, deep learning, digital twin, model uncertainties, reduced basis, reduced order model

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Authors: Mustafa Mabruk

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Groups such as Al-Shabaab have managed to radicalize many individuals abroad, including the first American citizen to ever be radicalized. Yet the pathways of radicalization for these foreign individuals are understudied. Moreover, current measures to prevent foreign radicalization are ineffective, with privacy, screening and profiling implications that render current counter-radicalization efforts counterproductive. Such measures exhibit strictness, political bias, and harshness. As confirmed by recent studies, such counter-radicalization issues exacerbate existing grievances and channel fresh recruits to Al-Shabaab. Addressing these challenges is paramount, requiring alternative strategies to effectively reduce radicalization without triggering further harm. The development of counter-narratives emerges as a potential measure with minimal risk of exacerbating grievances, yet the development of such counter-narratives necessitates a thorough understanding of the radicalization pathways of foreign individuals that are understudied. This study investigates the success of Al-Shabaab in recruiting individuals abroad by analyzing their propaganda in conjunction with analyzing identity-focused theories of radicalization, including Framing Theory and Social Identity Theory. Qualitative content analysis is used to analyze various propaganda material, including tweets, speeches, and webpages. The analysis reveals that issues of identity are of major significance in the radicalization patterns identified and that grievances of Muslims worldwide are used to exploit identity-related grievances. Based on these findings, the paper argues that such evidence enhances our understanding of potential deradicalization pathways and present counter-narratives based on Islamic scripture.

Keywords: counter-narratives, foreign radicalization, identity grievances, propaganda analysis

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Authors: Leyla Noroozbabaee, David Nickerson

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We introduce a modular, consistent, reusable bond graph model of the renal nephron’s proximal convoluted tubule (PCT), which can reproduce biological behaviour. In this work, we focus on ion and volume transport in the proximal convoluted tubule of the renal nephron. Modelling complex systems requires complex modelling problems to be broken down into manageable pieces. This can be enabled by developing models of subsystems that are subsequently coupled hierarchically. Because they are based on a graph structure. In the current work, we define two modular subsystems: the resistive module representing the membrane and the capacitive module representing solution compartments. Each module is analyzed based on thermodynamic processes, and all the subsystems are reintegrated into circuit theory in network thermodynamics. The epithelial transport system we introduce in the current study consists of five transport membranes and four solution compartments. Coupled dissipations in the system occur in the membrane subsystems and coupled free-energy increasing, or decreasing processes appear in solution compartment subsystems. These structural subsystems also consist of elementary thermodynamic processes: dissipations, free-energy change, and power conversions. We provide free and open access to the Python implementation to ensure our model is accessible, enabling the reader to explore the model through setting their simulations and reproducibility tests.

Keywords: Bond Graph, Epithelial Transport, Water Transport, Mathematical Modeling

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Authors: Satish Kumar Dewangan, Santosh Kumar Senapati

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The present work focuses on the investigation of the effect of non-Newtonian behavior on the oil-water stratified flow in a horizontal channel using ANSYS Fluent. Coupled level set and volume of fluid (CLSVOF) has been used to capture the evolving interface assuming unsteady, coaxial flow with constant fluid properties. The diametric variation of oil volume fraction, mixture velocity, total pressure and pressure gradient has been studied. Non-Newtonian behavior of oil has been represented by the power law model in order to investigate the effect of flow behavior index. Stratified flow pattern tends to assume dispersed flow pattern with the change in the behavior of oil to non-Newtonian. The pressure gradient is found to be very much sensitive to the flow behavior index. The findings could be useful in designing the transportation pipe line in petroleum industries.

Keywords: oil-water stratified flow, horizontal channel, CLSVOF, non–Newtonian behaviour.

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Authors: Wid Daghustani, Alison Mackenzie

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This research aims to understand how teachers of autistic children responded to teaching remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic. Six teachers who work in an autism centre were interviewed in face-to-face, semi-structured interviews in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The interviews focused on three themes, the effectiveness of remote teaching strategies, the types of remote teachings employed, and the impact on student’s educational outcomes. WhatsApp video calls were used to conduct the remote teaching since it was easy for mothers to us. According to all teachers, the unprecedented change was quite challenging for autos and their families, especially the mothers being the primary caretakers. Additionally, the effectiveness of remote teaching mainly depended on the cooperation and the willingness of the mothers and on the behaviour of the autistic child. Overall, teachers have agreed that in comparison to face-to-face teaching, remote teaching was not a very successful experience.

Keywords: remote teaching, autistic, COVID-19, teachers

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Authors: Martina Drdlová, Michal Frank, Radek Řídký, Jaroslav Buchar, Josef Krátký

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The main aim of the presented experiments is to improve behaviour of sandwich structures under dynamic loading, such as crash or explosion. This paper describes experimental investigation on the response of new advanced materials to low and high velocity load. Blast wave energy absorbers were designed using two types of porous lightweight raw particle materials based on expanded glass and ceramics with dimensions of 0.5-1 mm, combined with polymeric binder. The effect of binder amount on the static and dynamic properties of designed materials was observed. Prism shaped specimens were prepared and loaded to obtain physico-mechanical parameters – bulk density, compressive and flexural strength under quasistatic load, the dynamic response was determined using Split Hopkinson Pressure bar apparatus. Numerical investigation of the material behaviour in sandwich structure was performed using implicit/explicit solver LS-Dyna. As the last step, the developed material was used as the interlayer of blast resistant litter bin, and it´s functionality was verified by real field blast tests.

Keywords: blast energy absorber, SHPB, expanded glass, expanded ceramics

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Authors: Yuliia Skrynnik

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This research focuses on the interaction of verbal, non-verbal, and super-verbal communicative components used by the speaker changing social roles in the marketing discourse. The changing/performing of social roles is implemented through communicative strategies and tactics, the structural, semantic, and linguo-pragmatic means of which are characterized by specific features and differ for the performance of either a role of a supplier or a customer. Communication within the marketing discourse is characterized by symmetrical roles’ relation between communicative opponents. The strategy of a supplier’s social role realization and the strategy of a customer’s role realization influence the discursive personality's linguistic repertoire in the marketing discourse. This study takes into account that one person can be both a supplier and a customer under different circumstances, thus, exploring the one individual who can be both a supplier and a customer. Cooperative and non-cooperative tactics are the instruments for the implementation of these strategies. In the marketing discourse, verbal and non-verbal behaviour of the speaker performing a customer’s social role is highly informative for speakers who perform the role of a supplier. The research methods include discourse, context-situational, pragmalinguistic, pragmasemantic analyses, the method of non-verbal components analysis. The methodology of the study includes 5 steps: 1) defining the configurations of speakers’ social roles on the selected material; 2) establishing the type of the discourse (marketing discourse); 3) describing the specific features of a discursive personality as a subject of the communication in the process of social roles realization; 4) selecting the strategies and tactics which direct the interaction in different roles configurations; 5) characterizing the structural, semantic and pragmatic features of the strategies and tactics realization, including the analysis of interaction between verbal and non-verbal components of communication. In the marketing discourse, non-verbal behaviour is usually spontaneous but not purposeful. Thus, the adequate decoding of a partner’s non-verbal behavior provides more opportunities both for the supplier and the customer. Super-verbal characteristics in the marketing discourse are crucial in defining the opponent's social status and social role at the initial stage of interaction. The research provides the scenario of stereotypical situations of the play of a supplier and a customer. The performed analysis has perspectives for further research connected with the study of discursive variativity of speakers' verbal and non-verbal behaviour considering the intercultural factor influencing the process of performing the social roles in the marketing discourse; and the formation of the methods for the scenario construction of non-stereotypical situations of social roles realization/change in the marketing discourse.

Keywords: discursive personality, marketing discourse, non-verbal component of communication, social role, strategy, super-verbal component of communication, tactic, verbal component of communication

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Authors: Vinh Duy Cao, Carlos Salas-Bringas, Anna M. Szczotok, Marianne Hiorth, Anna-Lena Kjøniksen

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The increasing cost of energy supply for the purposes of heating and cooling creates a demand for more energy efficient buildings. Improved construction techniques and enhanced material technology can greatly reduce the energy consumption needed for the buildings. Microencapsulated phase change materials (MPCM) suspensions utilized as heat transfer fluids for energy storage and heat transfer applications provide promising potential solutions. A full understanding of the flow and thermal characteristics of microcapsule suspensions is needed to optimize the design of energy storage systems, in order to reduce the capital cost, system size, and energy consumption. The MPCM suspensions exhibited pseudoplastic and thixotropic behaviour, and significantly improved the thermal performance of the suspensions. Three different models were used to characterize the thixotropic behaviour of the MPCM suspensions: the second-order structural, kinetic model was found to give a better fit to the experimental data than the Weltman and Figoni-Shoemaker models. For all samples, the initial shear stress increased, and the breakdown rate accelerated significantly with increasing concentration. The thermal performance and rheological properties, especially the selection of rheological models, will be useful for developing the applications of microcapsules as heat transfer fluids in thermal energy storage system such as calculation of an optimum MPCM concentration, pumping power requirement, and specific power consumption. The effect of temperature on the shear thinning properties of the samples suggests that some of the phase change material is located outside the capsules, and contributes to agglomeration of the samples.

Keywords: latent heat, microencapsulated phase change materials, pseudoplastic, suspension, thixotropic behaviour

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Authors: Douglas J. Kube

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At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canadian Red Cross deployed workers into long-term care homes across Canada to support our most vulnerable citizens. It began by recruiting and training small teams of workers to provide non-clinical services for facilities in outbreak. Deployed workers were trained on an approach based on successful Red Cross deployments used with Ebola in which zones were established, levels of protection used, and strict protocols followed to prevent exposure. This paper addresses aspects of human performance through a safety culture lens. The Red Cross deployments highlight valuable insights and are an excellent case study in the principles of human performance and organizational culture. This paper looks at human performance principles, including human fallibility, predictability of error-likely situations, avoiding events by understanding reasons mistakes occur, and the influence on behaviour by organizational factors. This study demonstrates how the Red Cross’s organizational culture and work design positively influenced performance to protect workers and residents/clients. Lastly, this paper shares lessons that can be applied in many workplaces to improve worker health and safety and safety culture. This critical examination is based on the author’s experience as a Senior Occupational Health and Safety Advisor with the Red Cross during the pandemic as part of the team responsible for developing and implementing biological safety practices in long-term care deployments.

Keywords: COVID, human performance, organizational culture, work design

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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: Maria Isabel Garcia-Planas, Maria Victoria Garcia-Camba

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The use of brain stem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) is a common way to study the auditory function of people, a way to learn the functionality of a part of the brain neuronal groups that intervene in the learning process by studying the behaviour of wave VI. The latest advances in neuroscience have revealed the existence of different brain activity in the learning process that can be highlighted through the use of innocuous, low-cost, and easy-access techniques such as, among others, the BAEP that can help us to detect early possible neurodevelopmental difficulties for their subsequent assessment and cure. To date and to the authors' best knowledge, only the latency data obtained, observing the first to V waves and mainly in the left ear, were taken into account. This work shows that it is essential to take into account both ears; with these latest data, it has been possible had diagnosed more precise some cases than with the previous data had been diagnosed as 'normal' despite showing signs of some alteration that motivated the new consultation to the specialist.

Keywords: ear, neurodevelopment, auditory evoked potentials, intervals of normality, learning disabilities

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Authors: D. P. Rollinson, B. J. Dilley, P. G. Ryan

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The white-chinned petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis) is the seabird species most commonly killed by Southern Hemisphere longline fisheries. Despite the importance of diving ability for mitigating longline bycatch, little is known of this species’ diving behaviour. We obtained data from temperature–depth recorders from nine white-chinned petrels breeding on Marion Island, southwestern Indian Ocean, during the late incubation and chickrearing period. Maximum dive depth (16 m) was slightly deeper than the previous estimate (13 m), but varied considerably among individuals (range 2–16 m). Males dived deeper than females, and birds feeding chicks dived deeper than incubating birds, but dive rate did not differ between the sexes. Time of day had no significant effect on dive depth or rate. Our findings will help to improve the design and performance of mitigation measures aimed at reducing seabird bycatch in longline fisheries, such as the calculation of minimum line sink rates and optimum aerial coverage of bird-scaring lines.

Keywords: dive depth, dive duration, temperature–depth recorders, seabirds, bird-scaring lines

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Authors: M. A. Hafiz, P. T. Matevenga

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Micro-level machining of metals is a developing field which has shown to be a prospective approach to produce features on the parts in the range of a few to a few hundred microns with acceptable machining quality. It is known that the mechanics (i.e. the material removal mechanism) of micro-machining and conventional machining have significant differences due to the scaling effects associated with tool-geometry, tool material and work piece material characteristics. Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are those metal alloys which display two exceptional properties, pseudoelasticity and the shape memory effect (SME). Nickel-titanium (NiTi) alloys are one of those unique metal alloys. NiTi alloys are known to be difficult-to-cut materials specifically by using conventional machining techniques due to their explicit properties. Their high ductility, high amount of strain hardening, and unusual stress–strain behaviour are the main properties accountable for their poor machinability in terms of tool wear and work piece quality. The motivation of this research work was to address the challenges and issues of micro-machining combining with those of machining of NiTi alloy which can affect the desired performance level of machining outputs. To explore the significance of range of cutting conditions on surface roughness and tool wear, machining tests were conducted on NiTi. Influence of different cutting conditions and cutting tools on surface and sub-surface deformation in work piece was investigated. Design of experiments strategy (L9 Array) was applied to determine the key process variables. The dominant cutting parameters were determined by analysis of variance. These findings showed that feed rate was the dominant factor on surface roughness whereas depth of cut found to be dominant factor as far as tool wear was concerned. The lowest surface roughness was achieved at the feed rate of equal to the cutting edge radius where as the lowest flank wear was observed at lowest depth of cut. Repeated machining trials have yet to be carried out in order to observe the tool life, sub-surface deformation and strain induced hardening which are also expecting to be amongst the critical issues in micro machining of NiTi. The machining performance using different cutting fluids and strategies have yet to be studied.

Keywords: nickel titanium, micro-machining, surface roughness, machinability

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Authors: Bassey Odiong Akan

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In recent decades potentially significant changes have taken place in the world of work and these have led to the emergence of new challenges in occupational safety and health. The working environment is now not only wroth with concerns about physical, biological and chemical risks but also emerging risks which are completely new risks that have never been seen before or previously known risks that are evolving in unexpected ways with unanticipated consequences. Psychosocial risk factors and its attendant hazards happen to be one of them and can impact health directly or indirectly, mediated by work-related stress. These risks are related to the way work is designed, organised and managed, as well as the economic and social contexts of work. It has become necessary to identify, explore and anticipate the dynamics of these risks factors and hazards with regards to how it affects women. This presentation is a review of information gathered from books of distinguished authors, research work and scientific/professional journals on the psychosocial work environment intended as a guide to stimulate discussion, raise awareness and encourage research and action at different levels.

Keywords: emerging risks, psychosocial hazards, psychosocial risk factors, work related stress

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Authors: Vithya Veeramani, Karunanidhi Subbaiah

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Emotional problems were found to be the predominant cause of suicide and second leading cause of death among adolescents in India. Emotional problems seem to be the underlying cause for various other severe psycho-social problems experienced in adolescence and also in later years of life. The Corporation schools in Chennai city are named as Chennai High School or Chennai Higher Secondary School run by the Corporation of Chennai. These schools fulfill the educational needs of students who hail from lower socio-economic status living in slums of the Chennai city. Adolescent students of Chennai schools tend to lack basic needs like food, clothes, shelter, etc. Some of the other significant problems faced by them are broken family, lack of parental support, frequent quarrel between parents, alcoholic parents, drug abuse and substance abuse among parents and neighbors, extended family, illiterate parents, deprivation of love and care, and lack of sense of belongingness. This prevailing condition may affect them emotionally and could lead to maladaptive behaviour, aggressiveness, poor interpersonal relationship with others, school refusal behaviour, school drop-out, suicide, etc. Therefore, it is very important to investigate the emotional problems faced by the adolescent students studying in Chennai schools, Chennai. A cross-sectional survey design was used to find the prevalence of emotional problems among adolescent students. Cluster sampling technique was used to select the schools for the present study considering the school as a cluster. In total, there are 15 zones, under the control of Chennai Corporation, of which only 7 zones have Corporation Schools in Chennai city, comprising of 32 Chennai Higher Secondary Schools and 38 Chennai High Schools. Out of these 70 schools, 29 schools comprising of 17 high schools and 12 higher secondary schools were selected randomly using lottery method. A sample of 2594 adolescent students from 9th standard and 11th standard was chosen for the study. Percentage analysis was done to find out the prevalence rate of emotional problems among adolescents students studying in Chennai Schools. Results of the study revealed that, out of 2594 students surveyed, 21.04% adolescent students were found to have academic problems (n = 546), 15.99% adolescent students had social problems (n = 415), behaviour problems was found to be prevalent among 12.87% adolescent students (n = 334), depression was prevalent among 15.88% adolescent students (n = 412) and anxiety was prevalent among 14.42% adolescent students (n = 374). Prevalence of emotional problems among male and female revealed that academic problems were more prevalent compared to other problems. Behaviour problems were least prevalent among boys and anxiety was least prevalent among girls than other problems. The overall prevalence rate of emotional problems was found to be on an increasing trend among adolescent students of low socio-economic status in Chennai city. The findings indicated the need for intervention to prevent and rehabilitate these adolescent students.

Keywords: adolescents, corporation schools, emotional problems, prevalence

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Authors: Amir Jalalian-Khakshour, T. N. Croft

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Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) systems are becoming increasingly popular as they have a number of advantages over traditional wind turbines. The advantages are reliability, ease of transportation and manufacturing. These attributes could make these technologies useful in developing economies. The performance characteristics of a VAWT are different from a horizontal axis wind turbine, which can be attributed to the low tip speed ratio operation. To unlock the potential of these VAWT systems, the operational behaviour in a number of system topologies and environmental conditions needs to be understood. In this study, a non-linear dynamic simulation method was developed in Matlab and validated against in field data of a large scale, 8-meter rotor diameter prototype. This simulation method has been utilised to determine the performance characteristics of a number of control methods and system topologies. The motivation for this research was to develop a simulation method which accurately captures the operating behaviour and is computationally inexpensive. The model was used to evaluate the performance through parametric studies and optimisation techniques. The study gave useful insights into the applications and energy generation potential of this technology.

Keywords: power generation, renewable energy, rotordynamics, wind energy

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Authors: K. Sandjak, B. Tiliouine

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This article presents the main results of three-dimensional (3-D) numerical investigation of asphalt pavement structures behaviour using a coupled Finite Element-Mapped Infinite Element (FE-MIE) model. The validation and numerical performance of this model are assessed by confronting critical pavement responses with Burmister’s solution and FEM simulation results for multi-layered elastic structures. The coupled model is then efficiently utilised to perform 3-D simulations of a typical asphalt pavement structure in order to investigate the impact of two tire configurations (conventional dual and new generation wide-base tires) on critical pavement response parameters. The numerical results obtained show the effectiveness and the accuracy of the coupled (FE-MIE) model. In addition, the simulation results indicate that, compared with conventional dual tire assembly, single wide base tire caused slightly greater fatigue asphalt cracking and subgrade rutting potentials and can thus be utilised in view of its potential to provide numerous mechanical, economic, and environmental benefits.

Keywords: 3-D numerical investigation, asphalt pavements, dual and wide base tires, Infinite elements

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Authors: Rodlyn Remina Hines

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Africans who migrate to the United States (U.S.) go through an acculturation period. When they join the U.S. workforce during the period they are still acquainting to the new geographic area and culture, they may experience work and family conflict in addition to the stressors of acculturation. This study investigated the impact of acculturation stress and work-family conflict on the health and wellbeing of African immigrants in the U.S. using a growing immigrant population. Ghanaian immigrants (n = 100, males= 43%; females= 56%) residing in New York and Massachusetts, United States (U.S.), were recruited via purposive sampling to investigate the role acculturation stress and work-family conflict play on the health and wellbeing of African immigrants in the U.S. Using the Sociocultural theory, three hypotheses were proposed: (1) High acculturation stress will lead to high work-family conflict, (2) High work-family conflict will result in poor health and wellbeing, and (3) Work-family conflict will mediate the relationship between acculturation stress and health and wellbeing. The results fully supported the first hypothesis and partially supported the second and third. High acculturation stress led to high work-family conflict. Although high work-family conflict resulted in poorer health and wellbeing, high family support mediated work-family conflict and health and wellbeing. Participants who reported poor health also reported a lack of family or other support and those who reported strong family or other support also reported excellent health and wellbeing even with high work-family conflict. The latter group did not expect their health and wellbeing to get worse. I draw on these findings to conclude that African immigrants in the U.S. experience significant acculturation stress and work-family conflict resulting in poor health and wellbeing during their acculturation period if there is a lack of family or other support. These findings have implications for practitioners and policymakers.

Keywords: acculturation stress, work-family conflict, Ghanaian immigrants, health and wellbeing

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Authors: Marcelo Costa Cardoso, Luciano Pessanha Moreira

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In this work, the plastic behaviour of cold-rolled zinc coated dual-phase steel sheets DP600 and DP800 grades is firstly investigated with the help of uniaxial, hydraulic bulge and Forming Limit Curve (FLC) tests. The uniaxial tensile tests were performed in three angular orientations with respect to the rolling direction to evaluate the strain-hardening and plastic anisotropy. True stress-strain curves at large strains were determined from hydraulic bulge testing and fitted to a work-hardening equation. The limit strains are defined at both localized necking and fracture conditions according to Nakajima’s hemispherical punch procedure. Also, an elasto-plastic localization model is proposed in order to predict strain and stress based forming limit curves. The investigated dual-phase sheets showed a good formability in the biaxial stretching and drawing FLC regions. For both DP600 and DP800 sheets, the corresponding numerical predictions overestimated and underestimated the experimental limit strains in the biaxial stretching and drawing FLC regions, respectively. This can be attributed to the restricted failure necking condition adopted in the numerical model, which is not suitable to describe the tensile and shear fracture mechanisms in advanced high strength steels under equibiaxial and biaxial stretching conditions.

Keywords: advanced high strength steels, forming limit curve, numerical modelling, sheet metal forming

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Authors: Christine K. Fulmer

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Social work education is competency based in nature. There is an expectation that graduates of social work programs throughout the world are to be prepared to practice at a level of competence, which is beneficial to both the well-being of individuals and community. Experiential learning is one way to prepare students for competent practice. The use of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a form experiential education that has been successful in a number of disciplines to bridge the gap between the theoretical concepts in the classroom to the real world. PBL aligns with the constructivist theoretical approach to learning, which emphasizes the integration of new knowledge with the beliefs students already hold. In addition, the basic tenants of PBL correspond well with the practice behaviors associated with social work practice including multi-disciplinary collaboration and critical thinking. This paper makes an argument for utilizing PBL in social work education.

Keywords: social work education, problem-based learning, pedagogy, experiential learning, constructivist theoretical approach

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Authors: Saurav S. Rath, Birendra K. David

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Generic pharmaceutical industry has to operate in strict timelines of product development and scale-up from lab to plant. Hence, detailed product & process understanding and implementation of appropriate mechanistic modelling and Quality-by-design (QbD) approaches are imperative in the product life cycle. This work provides example cases of such efforts in topical dosage products. Topical products are typically in the form of emulsions, gels, thick suspensions or even simple solutions. The efficacy of such products is determined by characteristics like rheology and morphology. Defining, and scaling up the right manufacturing process with a given set of ingredients, to achieve the right product characteristics presents as a challenge to the process engineer. For example, the non-Newtonian rheology varies not only with CPPs and CMAs but also is an implicit function of globule size (CQA). Hence, this calls for various mechanistic models, to help predict the product behaviour. This paper focusses on such models obtained from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) coupled with population balance modelling (PBM) and constitutive models (like shear, energy density). In a special case of the use of high shear homogenisers (HSHs) for the manufacture of thick emulsions/gels, this work presents some findings on (i) scale-up algorithm for HSH using shear strain, a novel scale-up parameter for estimating mixing parameters, (ii) non-linear relationship between viscosity and shear imparted into the system, (iii) effect of hold time on rheology of product. Specific examples of how this approach enabled scale-up across 1L, 10L, 200L, 500L and 1000L scales will be discussed.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, morphology, quality-by-design, rheology

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Authors: Yao Meng, Mahroo Eftekhari, Dennis Loveday

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Currently, there are two types of heating systems in Chinese residential buildings, with respect to the controllability of the heating system, one is an old heating system without any possibility of controlling room temperature and another is a new heating system that provides temperature control of individual rooms. This paper is aiming to evaluate the impact of potential variables on the energy performance of old and new buildings respectively in China, and to explore how the use of individual room temperature control would change occupants’ heating behaviour and thermal comfort in Chinese residential buildings and its impact on the building energy performance. In the study, two types of residential buildings have been chosen, the new building install personal control on the heating system, together with ‘pay for what you use’ tariffs. The old building comprised uncontrolled heating with payment based on floor area. The studies were carried out in each building, with a longitudinal monitoring of indoor air temperature, outdoor air temperature, window position. The occupants’ behaviour and thermal sensation were evaluated by questionnaires. Finally, use the simulated analytic method to identify the impact of influence variables on energy use for both types of buildings.

Keywords: residential buildings, China, design parameters, energy efficiency, simulation analytics method

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Authors: Sachin Saxena, Manju Srivastava

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The present study describes a stable, highly sensitive and selective analytical sensor. Fe-BTC was synthesized at room temperature using the noble Iron-trimesate system. The high surface area of as synthesized Fe-BTC proved MOFs as ideal modifiers for glassy carbon electrode. The characterization techniques such as TGA, XRD, FT-IR, BET (BET surface area= 1125 m2/gm) analysis explained the electrocatalytic behaviour of Fe-BTC towards these two drugs. The material formed is cost effective and exhibit higher catalytic behaviour towards analyte systems. The synergism between synthesized Fe-BTC and electroanalytical techniques helped in developing a highly sensitive analytical method for studying the redox fate of ARP and RZ, respectively. Cyclic voltammetry of ferricyanide system proved Fe-BTC/GCE with an increase in 132% enhancement in peak current value as compared to that of GCE. The response characteristics of cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV) revealed that the ARP and RZ could be effectively accumulated at Fe-BTC/GCE. On the basis of the electrochemical measurements, electrode dynamics parameters have been evaluated. Present study opens up new field of applications of MOFs modified GCE for drug sensing.

Keywords: MOFs, anti-psychotic, electrochemical sensor, anti-migraine drugs

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Authors: Florian Pfeffel, Valentin Nickolai, Christian Louis Kühner

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Digitalization has disrupted the traditional workplace environment by allowing many employees to work from anywhere at any time. This trend of working from home was further accelerated due to the COVID-19 crisis, which forced companies to rethink their workplace models. While in many companies, this shift happened out of pure necessity; many employees were left more satisfied with their job due to the opportunity to work from home. This study focuses on employees’ job satisfaction in the service sector in dependence on the different work models, which are defined as a “work from home” model, the traditional “work in office” model, and a hybrid model. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), these three work models have been analyzed based on 13 influencing factors on job satisfaction that have been further summarized in the three groups “classic influencing factors”, “influencing factors changed by remote working”, and “new remote working influencing factors”. Based on the influencing factors on job satisfaction, a survey has been conducted with n = 684 employees in the service sector. Cronbach’s alpha of the individual constructs was shown to be suitable. Furthermore, the construct validity of the constructs was confirmed by face validity, content validity, convergent validity (AVE > 0.5: CR > 0.7), and discriminant validity. Additionally, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed the model fit for the investigated sample (CMIN/DF: 2.567; CFI: 0.927; RMSEA: 0.048). The SEM-analysis has shown that the most significant influencing factor on job satisfaction is “identification with the work” with β = 0.540, followed by “Appreciation” (β = 0.151), “Compensation” (β = 0.124), “Work-Life-Balance” (β = 0.116), and “Communication and Exchange of Information” (β = 0.105). While the significance of each factor can vary depending on the work model, the SEM-analysis shows that the identification with the work is the most significant factor in all three work models and, in the case of the traditional office work model, it is the only significant influencing factor. The study shows that employees who work entirely remotely or have a hybrid work model are significantly more satisfied with their job, with a job satisfaction score of 5.0 respectively on a scale from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 7 (very satisfied), than employees do not have the option to work from home with a score of 4.6. This comes as a result of the lower identification with the work in the model without any remote working. Furthermore, the responses indicate that it is important to consider the individual preferences of each employee when it comes to the work model to achieve overall higher job satisfaction. Thus, it can be argued that companies can profit off of more motivation and higher productivity by considering the individual work model preferences, therefore, increasing the identification with the respective work.

Keywords: home-office, identification with work, job satisfaction, new work, remote work, structural equation modeling

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