Search results for: case report

Authors: M. Beusink, E. W. C. Coenen

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The increased application of novel structural materials, such as high grade asphalt, concrete and laminated composites, has sparked the need for a better understanding of the often complex, non-linear mechanical behavior of such materials. The effective macroscopic mechanical response is generally dependent on the applied load path. Moreover, it is also significantly influenced by the microstructure of the material, e.g. embedded fibers, voids and/or grain morphology. At present, multiscale techniques are widely adopted to assess micro-macro interactions in a numerically efficient way. Computational homogenization techniques have been successfully applied over a wide range of engineering cases, e.g. cases involving first order and second order continua, thin shells and cohesive zone models. Most of these homogenization methods rely on Representative Volume Elements (RVE), which model the relevant microstructural details in a confined volume. Imposed through kinematical constraints or boundary conditions, a RVE can be subjected to a microscopic load sequence. This provides the RVE's effective stress-strain response, which can serve as constitutive input for macroscale analyses. Simultaneously, such a study of a RVE gives insight into fine scale phenomena such as microstructural damage and its evolution. It has been reported by several authors that the type of boundary conditions applied to the RVE affect the resulting homogenized stress-strain response. As a consequence, dedicated boundary conditions have been proposed to appropriately deal with this concern. For the specific case of a planar assumption for the analyzed structure, e.g. plane strain, axisymmetric or plane stress, this assumption needs to be addressed consistently in all considered scales. Although in many multiscale studies a planar condition has been employed, the related impact on the multiscale solution has not been explicitly investigated. This work therefore focuses on the influence of the planar assumption for multiscale modeling. In particular the plane stress case is highlighted, by proposing three different implementation strategies which are compatible with a first-order computational homogenization framework. The first method consists of applying classical plane stress theory at the microscale, whereas with the second method a generalized plane stress condition is assumed at the RVE level. For the third method, the plane stress condition is applied at the macroscale by requiring that the resulting macroscopic out-of-plane forces are equal to zero. These strategies are assessed through a numerical study of a thin walled structure and the resulting effective macroscale stress-strain response is compared. It is shown that there is a clear influence of the length scale at which the planar condition is applied.

Keywords: first-order computational homogenization, planar analysis, multiscale, microstrucutures

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Authors: Tahsen Abdalwahab Ibraheem Albehege

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Exhaust fuel purification is of great importance to prevent the emission of major pollutants into the atmosphere such as diesel particulates and nitrogen oxides and meet environmental regulations, so environmental impacts are a primary concern of Diesel Exhaust Gas (DEG) which contains hazardous substances harmful to the environment as well as human health.We can not plasma formed through directing electrical energy to create free electrons, which in turn can react with gaseous species, but we can by used to treat engine exhaust gases. . By NO that has been reportedly oxidized to HNO3 and then into ammonium nitrate, and then condensed and removed. In general, thermal plasmas are formed by heating a system to high temperatures 2,000 degrees C, however this can be inefficient and can require extensive thermal management.

Keywords: plasma system application, project physics, oxidizing environment, electromagnetically

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Authors: Jill Stephenson, Marie Vaganay, Robert Cameron, Caoimhe McGurk, Neil Hewitt

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Purpose: The key aim of the research was to identify the secondary stressors experienced by businesses affected by single or repeated flooding and to determine to what extent businesses were affected by these stressors, along with any resulting impact on health. Additionally, the research aimed to establish the likelihood of businesses being re-exposed to the secondary stressors through assessing awareness of flood risk, implementation of property protection measures and level of community resilience. Design/methodology/approach: The chosen research method involved the distribution of a questionnaire survey to businesses affected by either single or repeated flood events. The questionnaire included the Impact of Event Scale (a 15-item self-report measure which assesses subjective distress caused by traumatic events). Findings: 55 completed questionnaires were returned by flood impacted businesses. 89% of the businesses had sustained internal flooding while 11% had experienced external flooding. The results established that the key secondary stressors experienced by businesses, in order of priority, were: flood damage, fear of reoccurring flooding, prevention of access to the premise/closure, loss of income, repair works, length of closure and insurance issues. There was a lack of preparedness for potential future floods and consequent vulnerability to the emergence of secondary stressors among flood affected businesses, as flood resistance or flood resilience measures had only been implemented by 11% and 13% respectively. In relation to the psychological repercussions, the Impact of Event scores suggested that potential prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was noted among 8 out of 55 respondents (l5%). Originality/value: The results improve understanding of the enduring repercussions of flood events on businesses, indicating that not only residents may be susceptible to the detrimental health impacts of flood events and single flood events may be just as likely as reoccurring flooding to contribute to ongoing stress. Lack of financial resources is a possible explanation for the lack of implementation of property protection measures among businesses, despite 49% experiencing flooding on multiple occasions. Therefore it is recommended that policymakers should consider potential sources of financial support or grants towards flood defences for flood impacted businesses. Any form of assistance should be made available to businesses at the earliest opportunity as there was no significant association between the time of the last flood event and the likelihood of experiencing PTSD symptoms.

Keywords: flood event, flood resilience, flood resistance, PTSD, secondary stressors

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Authors: Esraa A. Khalil, Mohamed N. AbouZeid

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Building materials selection is critical for the sustainability of any project. The choice of building materials has a huge impact on the built environment and cost of projects. Building materials emit huge amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) due to the use of cement as a basic component in the manufacturing process and as a binder, which harms our environment. Energy consumption from buildings has increased in the last few years; a huge amount of energy is being wasted from using unsustainable building and finishing materials, as well as from the process of heating and cooling of buildings. In addition, the construction sector in Egypt is taking a good portion of the economy; however, there is a lack of awareness of buildings environmental impacts on the built environment. Using advanced building materials and different wall systems can help in reducing heat consumption, the project’s initial and long-term costs, and minimizing the environmental impacts. Red Bricks is one of the materials that are being used widely in Egypt. There are many other types of bricks such as Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC); however, the use of Red Bricks is dominating the construction industry due to its affordability and availability. This research focuses on the New Egyptian Administrative Capital as a case study to investigate the potential of the influence of using different wall systems such as AAC on the project’s cost and the environment. The aim of this research is to conduct a comparative analysis between the traditional and most commonly used bricks in Egypt, which is Red Bricks, and AAC wall systems. Through an economic and environmental study, the difference between the two wall systems will be justified to encourage the utilization of uncommon techniques in the construction industry to build more affordable, energy efficient and sustainable buildings. The significance of this research is to show the potential of using AAC in the construction industry and its positive influences. The study analyzes the factors associated with choosing suitable building materials for different projects according to the need and criteria of each project and its nature without harming the environment and wasting materials that could be saved or recycled. The New Egyptian Administrative Capital is considered as the country’s new heart, where ideas regarding energy savings and environmental benefits are taken into consideration. Meaning that, Egypt is taking good steps to move towards more sustainable construction. According to the analysis and site visits, there is a potential in reducing the initial costs of buildings by 12.1% and saving energy by using different techniques up to 25%. Interviews with the mega structures project engineers and managers reveal that they are more open to introducing sustainable building materials that will help in saving the environment and moving towards green construction as well as to studying more effective techniques for energy conservation.

Keywords: AAC blocks, building material, environmental impact, modern construction, new Egyptian administrative capital

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Authors: Yeo Leng Leng

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Blended learning, with its combination of online and face-to-face instruction, presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities in terms of cultivating student agency. While it offers flexibility and personalized learning pathways, it also demands a higher degree of self-regulation and motivation from students. This paper presents the design of blended learning in a Chinese lesson and discusses the framework involved. It also talks about the Edtech tools adopted to engage the students. Some of the students’ works will be showcased. A qualitative case study research method was employed in this paper to find out more about students’ learning experiences and to give them a voice. The purpose is to seek improvement in the blended learning design of the Chinese lessons and to encourage students’ self-directed learning.

Keywords: blended learning, student agency, ed-tech tools, self-directed learning

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Authors: Jeremy Dixon

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Safeguarding adults forms a core part of social work practice. The Government in England and Wales has made efforts to standardise practices through The Care Act 2014. The Act states that local authorities have duties to make inquiries in cases where an adult with care or support needs is experiencing or at risk of abuse and is unable to protect themselves from abuse or neglect. Despite the importance given to safeguarding adults within law there remains little research about how social workers conduct such decisions on the ground. This presentation reports on findings from a pilot research study conducted within two social work teams in a Local Authority in England. The objective of the project was to find out how social workers interpreted safeguarding duties as laid out by The Care Act 2014 with a particular focus on how workers assessed and managed risk. Ethnographic research methods were used throughout the project. This paper focusses specifically on decisions made by workers in the assessment team. The paper reports on qualitative observation and interviews with five workers within this team. Drawing on governmentality theory, this paper analyses the techniques used by workers to manage risk from a distance. A high proportion of safeguarding referrals came from care workers or managers in residential care homes. Social workers conducting safeguarding assessments were aware that they had a duty to work in partnership with these agencies. However, their duty to safeguard adults also meant that they needed to view them as potential abusers. In making judgments about when it was proportionate to refer for a safeguarding assessment workers drew on a number of common beliefs about residential care workers which were then tested in conversations with them. Social workers held the belief that residential homes acted defensively, leading them to report any accident or danger. Social workers therefore encouraged residential workers to consider whether statutory criteria had been met and to use their own procedures to manage risk. In addition social workers carried out an assessment of the workers’ motives; specifically whether they were using safeguarding procedures as a shortcut for avoiding other assessments or as a means of accessing extra resources. Where potential abuse was identified social workers encouraged residential homes to use disciplinary policies as a means of isolating and managing risk. The study has implications for understanding risk within social work practice. It shows that whilst social workers use law to govern individuals, these laws are interpreted against cultural values. Additionally they also draw on assumptions about the culture of others.

Keywords: adult safeguarding, governmentality, risk, risk assessment

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Authors: Heidi von Korff

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The electricity grid is changing in terms of flexibility. Distributed generation (DG) policy is being discussed worldwide and implemented. Developers and utilities are seeking a pathway towards Zero Net Energy (ZNE) communities and the interconnection to the distribution grid. Using the VISDOM platform for establishing a method for managing and monitoring energy consumption loads of ZNE communities as a capacity resource for the grid. Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and energy security are primary policy drivers for incorporating high-performance energy standards and sustainability practices in residential households, such as a market transformation of ZNE and nearly ZNE (nZNE) communities. This research investigates how load data impacts ZNE, to see if there is a correlation to the daily load variations in a single ZNE home. Case studies will include a ZNE community in California and a nearly ZNE community (All – Electric) in the Netherlands, which both are in measurement and verification (M&V) phases and connected to the grid for simulations of methods.

Keywords: zero net energy, distributed generation, renewable energy, zero net energy community

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Authors: Richard Vuijk, Arnoud Arntz

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Rationale: To our knowledge treatment of personality disorder comorbidity in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is understudied and is still in its infancy: We do not know if treatment of personality disorders may be applicable to adults with ASD. In particular, it is unknown whether patients with ASD benefit from experiential techniques that are part of schema therapy developed for the treatment of personality disorders. Objective: The aim of the study is to investigate the efficacy of a schema mode focused treatment with adult clients with ASD and comorbid personality pathology (i.e. at least one personality disorder). Specifically, we investigate if they can benefit from both cognitive-behavioral, and experiential interventions. Study design: A multiple baseline case series study. Study population: Adult individuals (age > 21 years) with ASD and at least one personality disorder. Participants will be recruited from Sarr expertise center for autism in Rotterdam. The study requires 12 participants. Intervention: The treatment protocol consists of 35 weekly offered sessions, followed by 10 monthly booster sessions. A multiple baseline design will be used with baseline varying from 5 to 10 weeks, with weekly supportive sessions. After baseline, a 5-week exploration phase follows with weekly sessions during which current and past functioning, psychological symptoms, schema modes are explored, and information about the treatment will be given. Then 15 weekly sessions with cognitive-behavioral interventions and 15 weekly sessions with experiential interventions will be given. Finally, there will be a 10-month follow-up phase with monthly booster sessions. Participants are randomly assigned to baseline length, and respond weekly during treatment and monthly at follow-up on Belief Strength of negative core beliefs (by VAS), and fill out SMI, SCL-90 and SRS-A 7 times during screening procedure (i.e. before baseline), after baseline, after exploration, after cognitive and behavioral interventions, after experiential interventions, and after 5- and 10- month follow-up. The SCID-II will be administered during screening procedure (i.e. before baseline), at 5- and at 10-month follow-up. Main study parameters: The primary study parameter is negative core beliefs. Secondary study parameters include schema modes, personality disorder manifestations, psychological symptoms, and social interaction and communication. Discussion: To the best of author’s knowledge so far no study has been published on the application of schema mode focused interventions in adult patients with ASD and comorbid PD(s). This study offers the first systematic test of application of schema therapy for adults with ASD. The results of this study will provide initial evidence for the effectiveness of schema therapy in treating adults with both ASD and PD(s). The study intends to provide valuable information for future development and implementation of therapeutic interventions for adults with both ASD and PD(s).

Keywords: adults, autism spectrum disorder, personality disorder, schema therapy

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Authors: Toshiki Ito

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Mutual squiggle story making (MSSM ) is the development of Winnicott’s squiggle method in Japan. In the MSSM Method, a therapist has the client freely divide a piece of drawing paper into six spaces, and both the therapist and client do squiggle in each space. All six pictures finished, the therapist then asks the client to create a story using all the pictures. Making a story has the effect of reintegrating what is projected by consciousness. In this paper, the author presented a case with a junior high school girl using MSSM. And it is considered that the advantage of this technique is that (1) it enables non-verbal communication with children and adults who cannot express their feelings verbally. (2) Through this communication, the psychological content of the client and the characteristics of the client's mind can be understood, and (3) It can be said that mutual rapport is deepened by the supportive reaction of the therapist.

Keywords: MSSM, squiggle, Winnicott, drawing method

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Authors: Elena A. Troubitsyna

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Designers of modern safety-critical control systems are increasingly relying on networking to provide the systems with advanced functionality and satisfy customer’s needs. However, networking nature of modern control systems also brings new technological challenges associated with ensuring system safety in the presence of openness and hence, potential security threats. In this paper, we propose a methodology that relies on systems-theoretic analysis to enable an integrated analysis of safety and security requirements of controlling software. We demonstrate how to create a safety case – a structured argument about system safety – with explicit representation of both safety and security goals. Our approach provides the designers with a systematic approach to analysing safety and security interdependencies while designing safety-critical control systems.

Keywords: controlling software, integrated analysis, security, safety-security co-engineering

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Authors: Zarina Chokparova, Ighor Uzhinsky

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Carbon dioxide emissions resulting from burning of the fossil fuels on large scales, such as oil industry or power plants, leads to a plenty of severe implications including global temperature raise, air pollution and other adverse impacts on the environment. Besides some precarious and costly ways for the alleviation of CO₂ emissions detriment in industrial scales (such as liquefaction of CO₂ and its deep-water treatment, application of adsorbents and membranes, which require careful consideration of drawback effects and their mitigation), one physically and commercially available technology for its capture and disposal is supersonic system for inertial extraction of CO₂ in after-combustion streams. Due to the flue gas with a carbon dioxide concentration of 10-15 volume percent being emitted from the combustion system, the waste stream represents a rather diluted condition at low pressure. The supersonic system induces a flue gas mixture stream to expand using a converge-and-diverge operating nozzle; the flow velocity increases to the supersonic ranges resulting in rapid drop of temperature and pressure. Thus, conversion of potential energy into the kinetic power causes a desublimation of CO₂. Solidified carbon dioxide can be sent to the separate vessel for further disposal. The major advantages of the current solution are its economic efficiency, physical stability, and compactness of the system, as well as needlessness of addition any chemical media. However, there are several challenges yet to be regarded to optimize the system: the way for increasing the size of separated CO₂ particles (as they are represented on a micrometers scale of effective diameter), reduction of the concomitant gas separated together with carbon dioxide and provision of CO₂ downstream flow purity. Moreover, determination of thermodynamic conditions of the vapor-solid mixture including specification of the valid and accurate equation of state remains to be an essential goal. Due to high speeds and temperatures reached during the process, the influence of the emitted heat should be considered, and the applicable solution model for the compressible flow need to be determined. In this report, a brief overview of the current technology status will be presented and a program for further evaluation of this approach is going to be proposed.

Keywords: CO₂ sequestration, converging diverging nozzle, fossil fuel power plant emissions, inertial CO₂ extraction, supersonic post-combustion carbon dioxide capture

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Authors: Moreblessings Shoko

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Polymersomes are materials which are considered as artificial counterparts of natural vesicles. The nanotechnology of such smart nanovesicles is very useful to enhance the efficiency of many therapeutic and diagnostic drugs. Those compounds show a higher stability, flexibility, and mechanical strength to the membrane compared to natural liposomes. Also, they can be designed in detail, the permeability of the membrane can be controlled by different stimuli, and the surface can be functionalized with different biological molecules to facilitate monitoring and target. For this purpose, this study demonstrates the formation of multifunctional and pH sensitive polymersomes and their functionalization with different reactive groups or biomolecules inside and outside of polymersomes´ membrane providing by crossing the membrane and docking/undocking processes for biomedical applications. Overall, they are highly versatile and thus present new opportunities for the design of targeted and selective recognition systems, for example, in mimicking cell functions and in synthetic biology.

Keywords: women, geomatics, challenges, capacity building

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Authors: Po-Chien Li

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Despite the extant literature has hosted a wide-range of knowledge about trade shows, this knowledge base deserves to be further expanded and extended because there exist many unclear issues and overlooked topics. One area that needs much research attention is regarding the behavior and performance of booth workers at the exhibition site. Booth staffs play many key roles in interacting with booth visitors. Their exhibiting-related attitudes and motivations might have significant consequences on a firm’s exhibition results. However, to date, little research, if any, has studied how booth workers are affected and behave in the context of trade fair. The primary purpose of the current study is to develop and test a research model, derived from role theory and resource-based viewpoint, that depicts the effects of a firm’s pre-exhibition resource investment behavior on booth staff’s role perceptions and work behavior during the exhibition period. The author collects data with two survey questionnaires at two trade shows in 2016. One questionnaire is given to the booth head of an exhibiting company, asking about the firm’s resource commitment behavior prior to the exhibition period. In contrast, another questionnaire is provided for a booth worker of the same firm, requesting the individual staff to report his/her own role perceptions, degree of exhibition goal acceptance, and level of work effort during the exhibition period. The study has utilized the following analytic methods, including descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, reliability analysis, and regression analysis. The results of a set of regression analyses show that a firm’s pre-exhibition resource investment behavior has significant effects on a booth staff’s exhibiting perceptions and attitudes. Specifically, an exhibitor’s resource investment behavior has impacts on the factors of booth staff’s role clarity and role conflict. In addition, a booth worker’s role clarity is related to the degree of exhibition goal acceptance, but his/her role conflict is not. Finally, a booth worker’s exhibiting effort is significantly related to the individual’s role clarity, role conflict and goal acceptance. In general, the major contribution of the current research is that it offers insight into and early evidence on the links between an exhibiting firm’s resource commitment behavior and the work perceptions and attitudes of booth staffs during the exhibition period. The current research’s results can benefit the extant literature of exhibition marketing.

Keywords: exhibition resource investment, role perceptions, goal acceptance, work effort

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Authors: Getachew Demesa Bexa

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Building resilience to withstand extreme weather events through reduction and mitigation measures towards predicted disasters with appropriate contingency plans complemented by timely and effective emergency response demands committed and integrated/coordinated efforts. The 2006 flood disaster that claimed more than 200 people in Dire Dawa town shifted the paradigm from reactive to proactive engagement among government, NGOs and communities to contain future disasters through resilience building. Dire Dawa CMDRR Association is a model community organization that demonstrated the basic minimum and turning adversity into opportunity by mobilizing vulnerable community members. Meanwhile the birth of African Centre for Disaster Risk Management is a milestone in changing the image of the country and beyond in resilience building while linking relief and development.

Keywords: Dire Dawa, disaster, resilience, risk management

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Authors: Farhan Beg

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This paper presents a method for the efficient implementation of a unidirectional or bidirectional DC/DC converter. The DC/DC converter is used essentially for energy exchange between the low voltage service battery and a high voltage battery commonly found in Electric Vehicle applications. In these applications, apart from cost, efficiency of design is an important characteristic. A useful way to reduce the size of electronic equipment in the electric vehicles is proposed in this paper. The technique simplifies the mechanical complexity and maximizes the energy usage using the latest converter control techniques. Moreover a bidirectional battery charger for hybrid electric vehicles is also implemented in this paper. Several simulations on the test system have been carried out in Matlab/Simulink environment. The results exemplify the robustness of the proposed design methodology in case of a 1.5 KW DC-DC converter.

Keywords: DC-DC converters, electric vehicles, power electronics, direct current control

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Authors: Dembel Bonta Gebeyehu

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In the study area, the impacts of deforestation for environmental degradation and livelihood of farmers manifest in different faces. They are more vulnerable as they depend on rain-fed agriculture and immediate natural forests. On the other hand, after planting seedling, waste disposal and management system of the plastic cover is poorly practiced and administered in the country in general and in the study area in particular. If this situation continues, the plastic waste would also accentuate land degradation. Besides, there is the absence of empirical studies conducted comprehensively on the research under study the case. The results of the study could suffice to inform any intervention schemes or to contribute to the existing knowledge on these issues. The study employed a qualitative approach based on intensive fieldwork data collected via various tools namely open-ended interviews, focus group discussion, key-informant interview and non-participant observation. The collected data was duly transcribed and latter categorized into different labels based on pre-determined themes to make further analysis. The major causes of deforestation were the expansion of agricultural land, poor administration, population growth, and the absence of conservation methods. The farmers are vulnerable to soil erosion and soil infertility culminating in low agricultural production; loss of grazing land and decline of livestock production; climate change; and deterioration of social capital. Their adaptation and coping strategies include natural conservation measures, diversification of income sources, safety-net program, and migration. Due to participatory natural resource conservation measures, soil erosion has been decreased and protected, indigenous woodlands started to regenerate. These brought farmers’ attitudinal change. The existing forestation program has many flaws. Especially, after planting seedlings, there is no mechanism for the plastic waste disposal and management. It was also found out organizational challenges among the mandated offices In the studied area, deforestation is aggravated by a number of factors, which made the farmers vulnerable. The current forestation programs are not well-planned, implemented, and coordinated. Sustainable and efficient seedling plastic cover collection and reuse methods should be devised. This is possible through creating awareness, organizing micro and small enterprises to reuse, and generate income from the collected plastic etc.

Keywords: land-cover and land-dynamics, vulnerability, adaptation strategy, mitigation strategies, sustainable plastic waste management

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Authors: D. Tedesco, G. Feletti, P. Trucco

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The present study aims to develop a Decision Support System (DSS) to support the operational decision of the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) regarding the assignment of medical emergency requests to Emergency Departments (ED). In the literature, this problem is also known as “hospital selection” and concerns the definition of policies for the selection of the ED to which patients who require further treatment are transported by ambulance. The employed research methodology consists of the first phase of revision of the technical-scientific literature concerning DSSs to support the EMS management and, in particular, the hospital selection decision. From the literature analysis, it emerged that current studies are mainly focused on the EMS phases related to the ambulance service and consider a process that ends when the ambulance is available after completing a request. Therefore, all the ED-related issues are excluded and considered as part of a separate process. Indeed, the most studied hospital selection policy turned out to be proximity, thus allowing to minimize the transport time and release the ambulance in the shortest possible time. The purpose of the present study consists in developing an optimization model for assigning medical emergency requests to the EDs, considering information relating to the subsequent phases of the process, such as the case-mix, the expected service throughput times, and the operational capacity of different EDs in hospitals. To this end, a Discrete Event Simulation (DES) model was created to evaluate different hospital selection policies. Therefore, the next steps of the research consisted of the development of a general simulation architecture, its implementation in the AnyLogic software and its validation on a realistic dataset. The hospital selection policy that produced the best results was the minimization of the Time To Provider (TTP), considered as the time from the beginning of the ambulance journey to the ED at the beginning of the clinical evaluation by the doctor. Finally, two approaches were further compared: a static approach, which is based on a retrospective estimate of the TTP, and a dynamic approach, which is based on a predictive estimate of the TTP determined with a constantly updated Winters model. Findings reveal that considering the minimization of TTP as a hospital selection policy raises several benefits. It allows to significantly reduce service throughput times in the ED with a minimum increase in travel time. Furthermore, an immediate view of the saturation state of the ED is produced and the case-mix present in the ED structures (i.e., the different triage codes) is considered, as different severity codes correspond to different service throughput times. Besides, the use of a predictive approach is certainly more reliable in terms of TTP estimation than a retrospective approach but entails a more difficult application. These considerations can support decision-makers in introducing different hospital selection policies to enhance EMSs performance.

Keywords: discrete event simulation, emergency medical services, forecast model, hospital selection

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Authors: Ting-I Lin

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Purpose: This article explores the care experience of a 34-year-old female breast cancer patient who was admitted to the intensive care unit after undergoing a modified radical mastectomy. The patient discovered a lump in her right breast during a self-examination and, after mammography and ultrasound-guided biopsy, was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in the right breast. The tumor measured 1.5 x 1.4 x 2 cm, and the patient underwent a modified radical mastectomy. Postoperatively, she exhibited feelings of inferiority due to changes in her appearance. Method: During the care period, we engaged in conversations, observations, and active listening, using Gordon's Eleven Functional Health Patterns for a comprehensive assessment. In collaboration with the critical care team, a psychologist, and an oncology case manager, we conducted an interdisciplinary discussion and reached a consensus on key nursing issues. These included pain related to postoperative tumor excision and disturbed body image due to changes in appearance after surgery. Result: During the care period, a private space was provided to encourage the patient to express her feelings about her altered body image. Communication was conducted through active listening and a non-judgmental approach. The patient's anxiety level, as measured by the depression and anxiety scale, decreased from moderate to mild, and she was able to sleep for 6-8 hours at night. The oncology case manager was invited to provide education on breast reconstruction using breast models and videos to both the patient and her husband. This helped rebuild the patient's confidence. With the patient's consent, a support group was arranged where a peer with a similar experience shared her journey, offering emotional support and encouragement. This helped alleviate the psychological stress and shock caused by the cancer diagnosis. Additionally, pain management was achieved through adjusting the dosage of analgesics, administering Ultracet 37.5 mg/325 mg 1# Q6H PO, along with distraction techniques and acupressure therapy. These interventions helped the patient relax and alleviate discomfort, maintaining her pain score at a manageable level of 3, indicating mild pain. Conclusion: Disturbance in body image can cause significant psychological stress for patients. Through support group discussions, encouraging patients to express their feelings, and providing appropriate education on breast reconstruction and dressing techniques, the patient's self-concept was positively reinforced, and her emotions were stabilized. This led to renewed self-worth and confidence.

Keywords: breast cancer, modified radical mastectomy, acupressure therapy, Gordon's 11 functional health patterns

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Authors: Laura Southgate

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The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as much of the scholarship on the organisation, celebrates its ability to uphold the principle of regional autonomy, understood as upholding the norm of non-intervention by external powers in regional affairs. Yet, in practice, this has been repeatedly violated. This dichotomy between rhetoric and practice suggests an interesting avenue for further study. The East Timor crisis (1975-1999) has been selected as a case-study to test the dynamics of ASEAN state resistance to sovereignty violation in two distinct timeframes: Indonesia’s initial invasion of the territory in 1975, and the ensuing humanitarian crisis in 1999 which resulted in a UN-mandated, Australian-led peacekeeping intervention force. These time-periods demonstrate variation on the dependent variable. It is necessary to observe covariation in order to derive observations in support of a causal theory. To establish covariation, my independent variable is therefore a continuous variable characterised by variation in convergence of interest. Change of this variable should change the value of the dependent variable, thus establishing causal direction. This paper investigates the history of ASEAN’s relationship to the norm of non-intervention. It offers an alternative understanding of ASEAN’s history, written in terms of the relationship between a key ASEAN state, which I call a ‘vanguard state’, and selected external powers. This paper will consider when ASEAN resistance to sovereignty violation has succeeded, and when it has failed. It will contend that variation in outcomes associated with vanguard state resistance to sovereignty violation can be best explained by levels of interest convergence between the ASEAN vanguard state and designated external actors. Evidence will be provided to support the hypothesis that in 1999, ASEAN’s failure to resist violations to the sovereignty of Indonesia was a consequence of low interest convergence between Indonesia and the external powers. Conversely, in 1975, ASEAN’s ability to resist violations to the sovereignty of Indonesia was a consequence of high interest convergence between Indonesia and the external powers. As the vanguard state, Indonesia was able to apply pressure on the ASEAN states and obtain unanimous support for Indonesia’s East Timor policy in 1975 and 1999. However, the key factor explaining the variance in outcomes in both time periods resides in the critical role played by external actors. This view represents a serious challenge to much of the existing scholarship that emphasises ASEAN’s ability to defend regional autonomy. As these cases attempt to show, ASEAN autonomy is much more contingent than portrayed in the existing literature.

Keywords: ASEAN, east timor, intervention, sovereignty

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Authors: Samuel Bonato, Cineia Santos, Roberta Leite, Carla Ten Caten

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This paper aims to apply the A3 strategy deployment in a local department for healthcare. As a literature review, it was evaluated articles related to the period 2009 - 2018, considering the key-words A3, healthcare, public services and strategy deployment. The methodology used was action research, involving all the actors inside the secretary, beginning with the top management and deploying it through meetings and evaluation conferences with the participation of all secretary coordination. As main results, it is possible to highlight the development of 8 A3, one as the "mother A3" and 7 as "son A3", each one related to each coordination. In each A3, past results, new goals, new projects to achieve these goals and control deadlines were defined and implemented to a management strategy. In addition to this result, this paper is planning to present the use of this A3 during 6 months in 2019.

Keywords: A3 Strategy, strategy deployment, healthcare, Public services

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Authors: Mengqi Zhu, Chang Nyung Kim

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This study numerically investigates three-dimensional liquid-metal (LM) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flows in a misaligned duct under a uniform magnetic field. The duct consists of two misaligned horizontal channels (one is inflow channel, the other is outflow channel) and one central vertical channel. Computational fluid dynamics simulations are performed to predict the behavior of the MHD flows, using commercial code CFX. In the current study, a case with Hartmann number 1000 is considered. The electromagnetic features of LM MHD flows are elucidated to examine the interdependency of the flow velocity, current density, electric potential, pressure drop and Lorentz force. The results show that pressure decreases linearly along the main flow direction.

Keywords: CFX, liquid-metal magnetohydrodynamic flows, misaligned duct, pressure drop

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Authors: Headman Hebe, Arnold Taringa

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Background of the study: The benefits derived from Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) go beyond obtaining knowledge about the environment and the impact of human beings on the environment. Hence, it is sensible to expose learners to various resources that could enable meaningful environment-inclined pedagogy. The schoolgrounds, where they are utilised to promote ESE, benefit holistic learner development. However, empirical evidence, globally, suggests that young children’s contact with nature is declining due to urbanization, safety concerns by parents/guardians, and greater dependency on technology. Modern children spend much time on videogames and social media with very little time in the natural environment. Furthermore, national education departments in numerous countries have made tangible efforts to embed environmental and place-based learning to their school curricula. South Africa is one of those countries whose national school education curriculum advocates for ESE in pedagogy. Nevertheless, there is paucity of research conducted in South Africa on schoolgrounds as potential enablers of ESE and tools to foster a connection between youngsters and the natural environment. Accordingly, this study was essential as it seeks to determine the extent to which environmental learning is accommodated in pedagogy. Significantly, it investigates efforts made to use schoolgrounds for pedagogical purposes to connect children with the natural environment. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the accessibility and use of schoolgrounds for environment-inclined pedagogy in Natural and Social Sciences in two schools located in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. It tries to answer the question: To what extent are schoolgrounds used to promote environmental and sustainability education in the selected schools?The sub-questions: How do teachers and learners perceive the use of schoolgrounds for environmental and sustainability education activities? How does the organization of schoolgrounds offer opportunities for environmental education activities and accessibility for learners? Research method: This qualitative–interpretive case study used purposive and convenient sampling for participant selection. Forty-six respondents: 40 learners (twenty grade 7 learners per school), 2 school principals and 4 grade 7 participated in this study. Data collection tools were observations, interviews, audio-visual recordings and questionnaires while data analysis was done thematically. Major findings: The findings of the study point to: The lack of teacher training and infrastructure in the schoolgrounds and, no administrative support. Unclear curriculum guidelines on the use of schoolgrounds for ESE. The availability various elements in the schoolgrounds that could aid ESE activities. Learners denied access to certain parts of the schoolgrounds. Lack of time and curriculum demands constrain teachers from using schoolgrounds.

Keywords: affordances, environment and sustainability education, experiential learning, schoolgrounds

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Authors: Erika Ruiz, Nestor Ortiz

Abstract:

Lean philosophy has evolved over time and has been implemented both in manufacturing and services, more recently lean has been integrated in the companies of the health sector. Currently it is important to understand the successful way to implement this philosophy and try to identify barriers and enablers to the sustainability of lean healthcare. The main purpose of this research is to identify the barriers and enablers in the implementation of Lean Healthcare based on case studies of Colombian healthcare centers. In order to do so, we conducted semi-structured interviews based on a maturity model. The main results indicate that the success of Lean implementation depends on its adaptation to contextual factors. In addition, in the Colombian context were identified new factors such as organizational culture, management models, integration of the care and administrative departments and triple helix relationship.

Keywords: barriers, enablers, implementation, lean healthcare, sustainability

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Authors: You Lu Shi

Abstract:

The Sixteen Arhats evolved around the third and fourth centuries based on a discourse expounded by the great Arhat Nandimitra, the text of which was translated into Chinese by Xuanzang in the mid-seventh century. The iconographical form emerged soon after, in the ninth century. Subsequently, two more Arhats were introduced, which gave rise to the Eighteen Arhats. Today, the Eighteen Arhats at the Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum is not simply a recollection of the traditionally listed Eighteen Arhats; the roster includes three female Arhats as well. This paper aims to study the ideas that Venerable Master Hsing Yun envisioned when referring to these Eighteen Arhats, and what they represent in the modern world, in the context of Humanistic Buddhism. The differences between the traditional Eighteen Arhats and the new line-up erected at the Buddha Museum will be carefully examined.

Keywords: eighteen Arhats, humanistic Buddhism, Hsing Yun, Buddha Museum

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Authors: Ilknur Çevik Tekin, Serdar Öge

Abstract:

As a result of globalization and changing consumer preferences, the number of shopping malls has increased significantly in recent years. Consumers prefer shopping malls to both do comfortable shopping in a short time and benefit from the social facilities there. Employees, who are obliged to behave to the consumers in the way the company wants them to do, often spend intensive emotional effort because companies buy the emotions the employees must display to customers in order to ensure customer satisfaction. The emotions the employees constantly try to contain may lead to the phenomenon of burn-out in time. This study was conducted to reveal the relationship between the emotional labor and burn-out levels of shopping mall employees, who work in shopping malls and are supposed to reflect the corporate culture.

Keywords: emotional labor, burnout, shopping mall employees

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Authors: Mehdi Fuladipanah, Mehdi Jorabloo

Abstract:

Water flow management is one of the most important parts of river engineering. Non-uniformity distribution of rainfall and various flow demand with unreasonable flow management will be caused destroyed of river ecosystem. Then, it is very serious to determine ecosystem flow requirement. In this paper, flow duration curve indices method which has hydrological based was used to evaluate environmental flow in Gharasou River, Ardabil, Iran. Using flow duration curve, Q90 and Q95 for different return periods were calculated. Their magnitude were determined as 1-day, 3-day, 7-day, and 30 day. According the second method, hydraulic alteration indices often had low and medium range. In order to maintain river at an acceptable ecological condition, minimum daily discharge of index Q95 is 0.7 m3.s-1.

Keywords: ardabil, environmental flow, flow duration curve, Gharasou river

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Authors: Alison Power

Abstract:

Games-based learning aims to enhance students’ engagement with and enjoyment of learning opportunities using games-related principles to create a fun yet productive learning environment. Motivating students to learn in an online setting can be particularly challenging, so a cross-Faculty synchronous online session provided students with the opportunity to engage with ‘GAMING’: an interactive, flexible and scalable e-resource for students to work synchronously in groups to complete a series of e-tivities designed to enhance their skills of leadership, collaboration and negotiation. Findings from a post-session online survey found the majority of students had a positive learning experience, finding 'GAMING' to be an innovative and engaging e-resource which motivated their group to learn.

Keywords: collaboration, games-based learning, groupwork, synchronous online learning, teamwork

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: Haiyang Su, Kun Qian

Abstract:

We developed a novel plasmonic matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI MS) approach to detect small nutrients and toxin in complex biological emulsion samples. We used silver nanoshells (SiO₂@Ag) with optimized structures as matrices and achieved direct analysis of ~6 nL of human breast milk without any enrichment or separation. We performed identification and quantitation of small nutrients and toxins with limit-of-detection down to 0.4 pmol (for melamine) and reaction time shortened to minutes, superior to the conventional biochemical methods currently in use. Our approach contributed to the near-future application of MALDI MS in a broad field and personalized design of plasmonic materials for real case bio-analysis.

Keywords: plasmonic materials, laser desorption/ionization, mass spectrometry, small nutrients, toxins

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Authors: Ernesto Ghini

Abstract:

Workplace accidents are an unfortunate reality. However, they are also predictable and avoidable. We conducted research into a variety of legislation covering lone working, and conducted a study into the use of connected technology and how it can help improve the safety of lone workers in Latin America. We implemented quantitative research into regulations coupled with case study research into a real-life scenario that demonstrated the benefits of technology, and discuss our findings in this paper. Connected safety solutions can improve the bottom line, delivering significant return on investment in terms of improved efficiency and the avoidance of cost associated with worker injury. And, most importantly, such solutions, as demonstrated through our research, make the difference between life and death in time-critical incident situations.

Keywords: ione worker, legislation, technology, connected safety, connectivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: Guebli Abdelkader, Zerf Mohammed, Mekkades Moulay Idriss, BenGoua Ali, Atouti Nouredinne, Habchi Nawel

Abstract:

The paper aims to show the influence of angles in the results of triple jump. Whereas our background confirms that a series of motions are characterized by complex angles in the properties phase (hop, step, and jump) as a combination of the pushed phase on ultimate phases in the result. For the purpose, our results are obtained from the National Athletics Championship 2013, which was filmed and analysis by the software kinovea. Based on the statistical analysis we confirm: there is a positive relationship between angle of the leg, hip angle, angle of the trunk in the collision during (hop, step, and jump), and there is a negative correlation to the angle of the knee relationship in a collision during.

Keywords: kinematics variables, the triple jump, the finale results, digital achievement

Procedia PDF Downloads 324