Search results for: resilient supply chain strategy

Authors: A. Das, L. Hitihamillage, S. Moridpour

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Natural disasters are inevitable to the biodiversity. Disasters such as flood, tsunami and tornadoes could be brutal, harsh and devastating. In Australia, flooding is a major issue experienced by different parts of the country. In such crisis, delays in evacuation could decide the life and death of the people living in those regions. Congestion management could become a mammoth task if there are no steps taken before such situations. In the past to manage congestion in such circumstances, many strategies were utilised such as converting the road shoulders to extra lanes or changing the road geometry by adding more lanes. However, expansion of road to resolving congestion problems is not considered a viable option nowadays. The authorities avoid this option due to many reasons, such as lack of financial support and land space. They tend to focus their attention on optimising the current resources they possess and use traffic signals to overcome congestion problems. Traffic Signal Management strategy was considered a viable option, to alleviate congestion problems in the City of Geelong, Victoria. Arterial road with signalised intersections considered in this paper and the traffic data required for modelling collected from VicRoads. Traffic signalling software SIDRA used to model the roads, and the information gathered from VicRoads. In this paper, various signal parameters utilised to assess and improve the corridor performance to achieve the best possible Level of Services (LOS) for the arterial road.

Keywords: congestion, constraints, management, LOS

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Authors: Yiqi Zhu, Jean Francois Trani, Rameez Ulhassan

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Extreme weather phenomena increased by 46% between 2007 and 2017 and have become more intense with the rise in global average temperatures. This increased intensity of climate variations often induces humanitarian crises and particularly affects vulnerable populations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Expectant and lactating mothers are among the most vulnerable groups. Pakistan ranks 10th among the most affected countries by climate disasters. In 2022, monsoon floods submerged a third of the country, causing the loss of 1,500 lives. Approximately 650,000 expectant and lactating mothers faced systematic stress from climatic disasters. Our study used participatory methods to investigate the systematic impact of climatic disasters on maternal health. In March 2023, we conducted six Group Model Building (GMB) workshops with healthcare workers, fathers, and mothers separately in two of the most affected areas in Pakistan. This study was approved by the Islamic Relief Research Review Board. GMB workshops consist of three sessions. In the first session, participants discussed the factors that impact maternal health. After identifying the factors, they discussed the connections among them and explored the system structures that collectively impact maternal health. Based on the discussion, a causal loop diagram (CLD) was created. Finally, participants discussed action ideas that could improve the system to enhance maternal health. Based on our discussions and the causal loop diagram, we identified interconnected factors at the family, community, and policy levels. Mothers and children are directly impacted by three interrelated factors: food insecurity, unstable housing, and lack of income. These factors create a reinforcing cycle that negatively affects both mothers and newborns. After the flood, many mothers were unable to produce sufficient breastmilk due to their health status. Without breastmilk and sufficient food for complementary feeding, babies tend to get sick in damp and unhygienic environments resulting from temporary or unstable housing. When parents take care of sick children, they miss out on income-generating opportunities. At the community level, the lack of access to clean water and sanitation (WASH) and maternal healthcare further worsens the situation. Structural failures such as a lack of safety nets and programs associated with flood preparedness make families increasingly vulnerable with each disaster. Several families reported that they had not fully recovered from a flood that occurred ten years ago, and this latest disaster destroyed their lives again. Although over twenty non-profit organizations are working in these villages, few of them provide sustainable support. Therefore, participants called for systemic changes in response to the increasing frequency of climate disasters. The study reveals the systematic vulnerabilities of mothers and children after climatic disasters. The most vulnerable populations are often affected the most by climate change. Collaborative efforts are required to improve water and forest management, strengthen public infrastructure, increase access to WASH, and gradually build climate-resilient communities. Governments, non-governmental organizations, and the community should work together to develop and implement effective strategies to prevent, mitigate, and adapt to climate change and its impacts.

Keywords: climatic disasters, maternal health, Pakistan, systematic impact, flood, disaster relief.

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Authors: Rodolfo Lorbieski, Silvia Modesto Nassar

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Many supervised machine learning tasks require decision making across numerous different classes. Multi-class classification has several applications, such as face recognition, text recognition and medical diagnostics. The objective of this article is to analyze an adapted method of Stacking in multi-class problems, which combines ensembles within the ensemble itself. For this purpose, a training similar to Stacking was used, but with three levels, where the final decision-maker (level 2) performs its training by combining outputs from the tree-based pair of meta-classifiers (level 1) from Bayesian families. These are in turn trained by pairs of base classifiers (level 0) of the same family. This strategy seeks to promote diversity among the ensembles forming the meta-classifier level 2. Three performance measures were used: (1) accuracy, (2) area under the ROC curve, and (3) time for three factors: (a) datasets, (b) experiments and (c) levels. To compare the factors, ANOVA three-way test was executed for each performance measure, considering 5 datasets by 25 experiments by 3 levels. A triple interaction between factors was observed only in time. The accuracy and area under the ROC curve presented similar results, showing a double interaction between level and experiment, as well as for the dataset factor. It was concluded that level 2 had an average performance above the other levels and that the proposed method is especially efficient for multi-class problems when compared to binary problems.

Keywords: stacking, multi-layers, ensemble, multi-class

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Authors: K. C. Sony

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This paper investigates the coping strategies of households confronting disease in large cardamom (Amomum Subulatum Roxb.) in eastern Nepal. Cardamom farmers draw on various coping strategies to reduce the impact of crop disease in their livelihoods. Yet farmers face tremendous decline in production with a constant effort for revival. Past evidences provides dearth of information about coping strategies employed by farmers and institutional intervention to combat disease. Using factual data from Ilam district, and conducting a political economic analysis, this research addresses the gap by 1) understanding the impact of crop disease in farmers’ livelihoods, 2) identifying the coping strategies adopted by farmers and, 3) examining the existing institutional arrangements to address the disease. Coping strategies vary by household’s status defined by size of land, alternative income, and access to supporting institutions. Measures adopted are burning the cardamom field, changing land use pattern, diversifying crops, and visiting institutions for support. The local government’s support is limited to providing trainings and producing new varieties of cardamom. During crisis, farmers expect institutions to help revive the cardamom production, despite customary practice to combat disease. To retain and improve the livelihoods of farmers, there needs to be institutional innovation at the community level and policies that endorse immediate and sustainable support during hazards.

Keywords: cardamom, coping strategy, disease, institutions, Nepal

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Authors: Arun Dhakal, Rajesh Kumar Rai

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Agroforestry is long practiced in Nepal as a means of subsistence livelihoods. Given its potential to climate change mitigation, this practice is being recommended as a climate-smart farming practice in the recent years. However, the financial attractiveness of this practice is not well-documented in a labor scarce economy such as Nepal. This study attempts to examine the financial suitability of an agroforestry-based farming practice in the present socio-economic context of Nepal where labor is in short supply. A total of 200 households were randomly selected for household surveys in Dhanusha district during April to July 2015. Two farming practices were found to be dominant in the study area: 1) conventional farming (field crops only) in which at least two field crops are annually grown, and 2) agroforestry-based farming (agroforest, home garden and field crops combined) practice (ABFP). The ABFP was found to be less labor intensive than the conventional farming (137 Man days/yr/ha vs 218 Man days/yr/ha). The ex-ante financial analysis indicated that both the farming practices generated positive NPVs (Net Present Values) and B/C (Benefit-Cost) ratios greater than one, indicating both are financially attractive farming enterprises under the base discount rate of 12%. However, the ABFP generated higher NPV and greater B/C ratio than the conventional farming, indicating the former was financially more attractive than the later. The sensitivity analysis showed that the conventional farming was more sensitive to change in labor wage rate than that of the ABFP. Up to the 24% discount rate, the ABFP generated higher NPV and in case of B/C ratio, the ratio was found greater for ABFP even in 50% discount rate.

Keywords: agroforestry, benefit-cost analysis, conventional farming, net present value

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Authors: Aulia Dwi Nastiti

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A number of studies and reports on terrorism have continuously addressed the role of internet and online activism to support terrorist and extremist groups. In particular, they stress on social media’s usage that generally serves for the terrorist’s propaganda as well as justification of their causes. While those analyses are important to understand how social media is a vital tool for global network terrorism, they are inadequate to explain the online communication patterns that enable terrorism acts. Beyond apparent online narratives, there is a deep cyber sphere where the very vein of terrorism movement lies. That is a hidden space in the internet called ‘darknet’. Recent investigations, particularly in Middle Eastern context, have shed some lights that this invisible space in the internet is fundamental to maintain the terrorist activities. Despite that, limited number of research examines darknet within the issue of terrorist movements in Indonesian context—where the country is considered quite a hotbed for extremist groups. Therefore, this paper attempts to provide an insight of darknet operation in Indonesian cases. By exploring how the darknet is used by the Indonesian-based extremist groups, this paper maps out communication patterns of terrorist groups on the internet which appear as an intermingled network. It shows the usage of internet is differentiated in different level of anonymity for distinctive purposes. This paper further argues that the emerging terrorist communication network calls for a more comprehensive counterterrorism strategy on the Internet.

Keywords: communication pattern, counterterrorism, darknet, extremist groups, terrorism

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Authors: Mei Hong, Wei Liu, Xuemin Dai, Yanxiong Pan, Xiangling Ji

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Polyamic acid (PAA) is the precursor of polyimide (PI) prepared by a two-step method, its molecular weight and molecular weight distribution not only play an important role during the preparation and processing, but also influence the final performance of PI. However, precise characterization on molecular weight of PAA is still a challenge because of the existence of very complicated interactions in the solution system, including the electrostatic interaction, hydrogen bond interaction, dipole-dipole interaction, etc. Thus, it is necessary to establisha suitable strategy which can completely suppress these complex effects and get reasonable data on molecular weight. Herein, the gel permeation chromatography (GPC) coupled with differential refractive index (RI) and multi-angle laser light scattering (MALLS) detectors were applied to measure the molecular weight of (6FDA-DMB) PAA using different mobile phases, LiBr/DMF, LiBr/H3PO4/THF/DMF, LiBr/HAc/THF/DMF, and LiBr/HAc/DMF, respectively. It was found that combination of LiBr with HAc can shield the above-mentioned complex interactions and is more conducive to the separation of PAA than only addition of LiBr in DMF. LiBr/HAc/DMF was employed for the first time as a mild mobile phase to effectively separate PAA and determine its molecular weight. After a series of conditional experiments, 0.02M LiBr/0.2M HAc/DMF was fixed as an optimized mobile phase to measure the relative and absolute molecular weights of (6FDA-DMB) PAA prepared, and the obtained Mw from GPC-MALLS and GPC-RI were 35,300 g/mol and 125,000 g/mol, respectively. Particularly, such a mobile phase is also applicable to other PAA samples with different structures, and the final results on molecular weight are also reproducible.

Keywords: Polyamic acids, Polyelectrolyte effects, Gel permeation chromatography, Mobile phase, Molecular weight

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Authors: Ping-Lun Jiang, Hung-Jun Lin, Shen-Fu Lin, Mei-Yin Chien, Ting-Wei Li, Chun-Han Lin, Der-Zen Liu

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Mucosal vaccine induces both mucosal (secretory IgA) and systemic immune responses and it is considered an ideal vaccination strategy for prevention of infectious diseases. One important point to be considered in mucosal vaccination is effective antigen delivery system which can manage effective delivery of antigen to antigen-presenting cells (APCs) of mucosal. In the present study, cationic gelatin nanoparticles were prepared as ideal carriers for more efficient antigen delivery. The average diameter of cationic gelatin nanoparticle was approximate 190 nm, and the zeta potential was about +45 mV, then ovalbumin (OVA) was physically absorbed onto cationic gelatin nanoparticle. The OVA absorption rate was near 95% the zeta potential was about +20 mV. We show that cationic gelatin nanoparticle effectively facilitated antigen uptake by mice bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (mBMDCs) and RAW264.7 cells and induced higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. C57BL/6 mice twice immunized intranasally with OVA-absorbed cationic gelatin nanoparticle induced high levels of OVA-specific IgG in the serum and IgA in their in the nasal and lung wash fluid. These results indicate that nasal administration of cationic gelatin nanoparticles induced both mucosal and systemic immune responses and cationic gelatin nanoparticles might be a potential antigen delivery carrier for further clinical applications.

Keywords: antigen delivery, antigen-presenting cells, gelatin nanoparticle, mucosal vaccine

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Authors: Sonja Grobler

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Background: Leadership and specifically Leader, member exchange has a definite impact on employee behaviour and attitudes, and specifically their state of psychological capital. The interactionist construct of person-organisational fit (P-O fit), consisting of a combination of supplementary fit (indirect fit or value congruence) and complementary fit (direct or person-job fit, as well as needs-supply fit) may, however, impact on the relationship between LMX and psychological capital. The unique permutations of these relationships are important not only for conceptualisation purposes but also for intervention design to enhance the employees’ psychological capital; this would contribute to positive employee behaviour and attitudes. Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine whether a relationship exists between Leader, Member Exchange (LMX) and psychological capital, with possible mediation by P-O fit. Setting: The research was conducted with ± 60 employees from each of 43 private sectors and four public sector organisations in South Africa. Method: This study utilised a positivist methodology based on an empirical approach while using a cross-sectional design and quantitative analysis. The sample is relatively representative (in terms of race, gender, and the South African work force), as it consisted of 60 employees from each of the 43 South African organisations that participated in the study, with 2 486 respondents in total. Results: Significant, positive relationships were found between LMX, P-O fit, and psychological capital. Additionally, it was found that P-O fit partially mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and supervisory trust, confirming the proposed model. Conclusion: A strong, positive relationship exists between LMX (consisting of Affect, Loyalty, Contribution, and Professional Respect) and psychological capital (consisting of Self-efficacy, Hope, Resilience and Optimism) which is partially mediated by P-O fit (consisting of supplementary fit and complementary fit).

Keywords: leader and member exchange, person-organisational fit, psychological capital, positive psychology, interactionist approach

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Authors: Nicole M. Martino

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Reinforced concrete bridge deck condition assessments primarily use visual inspection methods, where an inspector looks for and records locations of cracks, potholes, efflorescence and other signs of probable deterioration. Sounding is another technique used to diagnose the condition of a bridge deck, however this method listens for damage within the subsurface as the surface is struck with a hammer or chain. Even though extensive procedures are in place for using these inspection techniques, neither one provides the inspector with a comprehensive understanding of the internal condition of a bridge deck – the location where damage originates from.  In order to make accurate estimates of repair locations and quantities, in addition to allocating the necessary funding, a total understanding of the deck’s deteriorated state is key. The research presented in this paper collected infrared thermography and ground penetrating radar data from reinforced concrete bridge decks without an asphalt overlay. These decks were of various ages and their condition varied from brand new, to in need of replacement. The goals of this work were to first verify that these nondestructive evaluation methods could identify similar areas of healthy and damaged concrete, and then to see if combining the results of both methods would provide a higher confidence than if the condition assessment was completed using only one method. The results from each method were presented as plan view color contour plots. The results from one of the decks assessed as a part of this research, including these plan view plots, are presented in this paper. Furthermore, in order to answer the interest of transportation agencies throughout the United States, this research developed a step-by-step guide which demonstrates how to collect and assess a bridge deck using these nondestructive evaluation methods. This guide addresses setup procedures on the deck during the day of data collection, system setups and settings for different bridge decks, data post-processing for each method, and data visualization and quantification.

Keywords: bridge deck deterioration, ground penetrating radar, infrared thermography, NDT of bridge decks

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Authors: Bouchiha Hanene, Rouabhi Rachid, Bouchama Khaled, Djebar Berrebbah Houraya, Djebar Mohamed Reda

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Recently, some natural products such as essentials oils (EOs) have been used in the fields as alternative to synthetic compounds, to minimize the negative impacts to the environment. This fact has led to questions about the possible impact of EOs on ecosystems. Currently in toxicology, the use of alternative models can help to understand the mechanisms of toxic action, at different levels of organization of ecosystems. Algae, protozoa and bacteria form the base of the food chain and protozoan cells are used as bioindicators often of pollution in environment. Unicellular organisms offer the possibility of direct study of independent cells with specific characteristics of individual cells and whole organisms at the same time. This unicellular facilitates the study of physiological processes, and effects of pollutants at the cellular level, which makes it widely used to assess the toxic effects of various xenobiotics. This study aimed to verify the effects of EOs of one famous plant used tremendously in our folk medicine, namely Artemisia herba alba in causing acute toxicity (24 hours) and chronic (15 days) toxicity for model cellular (Paramecium sp). To this end, cellular’s of paramecium were exposed to various concentrations (Three doses were chosen) of EOs extracted from plant (Artemisia herba alba). In the first experiment, the cellular s cultures were exposed for 48 hours to different concentrations to determine the median lethal concentration (DL50). We followed the evolution of physiological parameters (growth), biochemical (total proteins, respiratory metabolism), as well as the variations of a bio marker the GSH. Our results highlighted a light inhibition of the growth of the protozoa as well as a disturbance of the contents of total proteins and a reduction in the reduced rate of glutathione. The polarographic study revealed a stimulation of the consumption of O2 and this at the treated cells.

Keywords: essential oils, protozoa, bio indicators, toxicity, Growth, bio marker, proteins, polarographic

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Authors: Robyn Moloney, HuiLing Xu

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Many countries wish to produce Asia-literate citizens, through language education. International contexts of Chinese language education are seeking pedagogical innovation to meet local contextual factors frequently holding back learner success. In multicultural Australia, innovative pedagogy is urgently needed to support motivation in sustained study, with greater strategic integration of technology. This research took a qualitative approach to identify need and solutions. The paper analyses strategies that three secondary school teachers are adopting to meet specific challenges in the Australian context. The data include teacher interviews, classroom observations and student interviews. We highlight the use of task-based learning and differentiated teaching for multilevel classes, and the role which digital technologies play in facilitating both areas. The strategy examples are analysed in reference both to a research-based framework for describing quality teaching, and to current understandings of motivation in language learning. The analysis of data identifies learning featuring deep knowledge, higher-order thinking, engagement, social support, utilisation of background knowledge, and connectedness, all of which work towards the learners having a sense of autonomy and an imagination of becoming an adult Chinese language user.

Keywords: Chinese pedagogy, digital technologies, motivation, secondary school

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Authors: Hanan. Al Chaghouri, Mohammad Azad Malik, P. John Thomas, Paul O’Brien

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The process of assembling metal nanoparticles at the interface of two liquids has received a great interest over the past few years due to a wide range of important applications and their unusual properties compared to bulk materials. We present a low cost, simple and cheap synthesis of metal nanoparticles, core/shell structures and semiconductors followed by assembly of these particles between immiscible liquids. The aim of this talk is divided to three parts: firstly, to describe the achievement of a closed loop recycling for producing cadmium sulphide as powders and/or nanostructured thin films for solar cells or other optoelectronic devices applications by using a different chain length of commercially available secondary amines of dithiocarbamato complexes. The approach can be extended to other metal sulphides such as those of Zn, Pb, Cu, or Fe and many transition metals and oxides. Secondly, to synthesis significantly cheaper magnetic particles suited for the mass market. Ni/NiO nanoparticles with ferromagnetic properties at room temperature were among the smallest and strongest magnets (5 nm) were made in solution. The applications of this work can be applied to produce viable storage devices and the other possibility is to disperse these nanocrystals in solution and use it to make ferro-fluids which have a number of mature applications. The third part is about preparing and assembling of submicron silver, cobalt and nickel particles by using polyol methods and liquid/liquid interface, respectively. Noble metal like gold, copper and silver are suitable for plasmonic thin film solar cells because of their low resistivity and strong interactions with visible light waves. Silver is the best choice for solar cell application since it has low absorption losses and high radiative efficiency compared to gold and copper. Assembled cobalt and nickel as films are promising for spintronic, magnetic and magneto-electronic and biomedics.

Keywords: assembling nanoparticles, liquid/liquid interface, thin film, core/shell, solar cells, recording media

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Authors: Guillaume P. Fernandez

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Individual language use is a matter of choice in particular interactions. The paper proposes a conceptual and theoretical framework with methodological consideration to develop how language produced in dyadic relations is to be considered and situated in the larger social configuration the interaction is embedded within. An integrated and comprehensive view is taken: social interactions are expected to be ruled by a normative context, defined by the chain of interdependences that structures the personal network. In this approach, the determinants of discursive practices are not only constrained by the moment of production and isolated from broader influences. Instead, the position the individual and the dyad have in the personal network influences the discursive practices in a twofold manner: on the one hand, the network limits the access to linguistic resources available within it, and, on the other hand, the structure of the network influences the agency of the individual, by the social control inherent to particular network characteristics. Concretely, we investigate how and to what extent consistent ego is from one interaction to another in his or her use of adverbs. To do so, social network analysis (SNA) methods are mobilized. Participants (N=130) are college students recruited in the french speaking part of Switzerland. The personal network of significant ones of each individual is created using name generators and edge interpreters, with a focus on social support and conflict. For the linguistic parts, respondents were asked to record themselves with five of their close relations. From the recordings, we computed an average similarity score based on the adverb used across interactions. In terms of analyses, two are envisaged: First, OLS regressions including network-level measures, such as density and reciprocity, and individual-level measures, such as centralities, are performed to understand the tenets of linguistic similarity from one interaction to another. The second analysis considers each social tie as nested within ego networks. Multilevel models are performed to investigate how the different types of ties may influence the likelihood to use adverbs, by controlling structural properties of the personal network. Primary results suggest that the more cohesive the network, the less likely is the individual to change his or her manner of speaking, and social support increases the use of adverbs in interactions. While promising results emerge, further research should consider a longitudinal approach to able the claim of causality.

Keywords: personal network, adverbs, interactions, social influence

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Authors: Natália Bruno Chaves, Richardes Caúla, Roosevelt do Vale, Daniela Toneti, Rafaela Carvalho, Renata Silva Lopes, Antônio Carlos Júnior, Adner Nobre, Viviane Santiago, Yara Alana Caldato, Estefania Rodriguez Urrego, André Buarque Lemos, Catarina Nucci Stetner, Marcos Mauro Barreto, Stefany Moreira Lima, Mara Cavalcante, Ticiane Ribeiro

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The Well Born (Nascer Bem – in Portuguese) Program was created in the Hapvida health network with the aim of improving access to safe and quality prenatal care for users. In addition to offering a line of prenatal care, the inclusion of obstetric nursing and the decentralization of childbirth, bring security that professionals did not indicate the route of delivery for professional convenience. The introduction of the nursing consultation came to reinforce the care to our users, strengthening their bond and reception. In 2021, the program maintained an average of 40% of normal births in the north, northeast and central-west regions of Brazil, an average above that observed in the rest of the country's private health systems, around 20%. In addition, the neonatal hospitalization rate of this population remained around 5.1%, a figure below the national average. With these data, the “Nascer Bem” program is affirmed as a safe and effective strategy for the promotion of safe normal birth.

Keywords: quality, safe, prenatal, obstetric nursing

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Authors: Mohsen Noroozi, Maryam Khalili

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Creating cities, objects and spaces that are economically, environmentally and socially sustainable and which meet the challenge of social interaction and generation change will be one of the biggest tasks of designers. Social sustainability is about how individuals, communities and societies live with each other and set out to achieve the objectives of development model which they have chosen for themselves. Urban lightning as one of the most important elements of urban furniture that people constantly interact with it in public spaces; can be a significant object for designers. Using intelligence by internet of things for urban lighting makes it more interactive in public environments. It can encourage individuals to carry out appropriate behaviors and provides them the social awareness through new interactions. The greatest strength of this technology is its strong impact on many aspects of everyday life and users' behaviors. The analytical phase of the research is based on a multiple method survey strategy. Smart lighting proposed in this paper is an urban lighting designed on results obtained from a collective point of view about the social sustainability. In this paper, referring to behavioral design methods, the social behaviors of the people has been studied. Data show that people demands for a deeper experience of social participation, safety perception and energy saving with the meaningful use of interactive and colourful lighting effects. By using intelligent technology, some suggestions are provided in the field of future lighting to consider the new forms of social sustainability.

Keywords: behavior pattern, internet of things, social sustainability, urban lighting

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Authors: Marla Wendy Spergel

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The purpose of this qualitative study is to showcase graduated high school students’ to voice on the impact past teachers had on their motivation to learn, and if this impact has affected their post-high-school lives. Through a focus group strategy, 21 graduated high school alumni participated in three separate focus groups. Participants discussed their former teacher’s emotional intelligence skills, which influenced their motivation to learn or not. A focused review of the literature revealed that teachers are a major factor in a student’s motivation to learn. This research was guided by Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory of Motivation and constructs related to learning and motivation from Carl Rogers’ Humanistic Views of Personality, and from Brain-Based Learning perspectives with a major focus on the area of Emotional Intelligence. Findings revealed that the majority of participants identified teachers who most motivated them to learn and demonstrated skills associated with emotional intelligence. An important and disturbing finding relates to the saliency of negative experiences. Further work is recommended to expand this line of study in Higher Education, perform a long-term study to better gain insight into long-term benefits attributable to experiencing positive teachers, study the negative impact teachers have on students’ motivation to learn, specifically focusing on student anxiety and acquired helplessness.

Keywords: emotional intelligence, learning, motivation, pedagogy

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Authors: Nino Kupatadze, Shorena Tskhadadze, Mzevinar Bedinashvili, David Tugushi, Ramaz Katsarava

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Surgical device-associated infection and biofilm formation are some of the major problems in biomedicine for today. The losing protection ability of conventional antimicrobial-drugs leads to the challenges in the current antibiotic therapy, the most serious of which is antibiotic resistance. Our strategy to overcome the biofilm formation consists in coating devices with polymeric film containing nanosilver(AgNPs) as a bactericidal agent. Such bionanocomposites are also promising as wound dressing materials. For this purpose, we have developed a new generation of AgNPs containing polymeric composites in which amino acid based biodegradable poly(ester amide)s (PEAs) were served as both matrices and AgNPs stabilizers. The AgNPs were formed by photochemical (daylight) reduction of AgNO3 in ethanol solution. The formation of AgNPs was monitored by coloring the solution in brownish-red and appearance of the absorption maximum at 420-430 nm in UV spectrum. Comparative studies of PEAs with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as particle stabilizers were carried out. It was found that PVP is better stabilizer in terms of particles yield and stability. Therefore, in subsequent experiments blends of PEAs and PVP were used as stabilizers for fabricating AgNPs. As expected, PVP increased the stabilizing effect and this apparently observed in the UV spectrum of the samples after 7 h daylight irradiation: for pure PVP λmax = 430 nm, D = 2.03, for pure PEA λmax= 420 nm, D = 0.65, and for the blend of PVP and PEA λmax = 435 nm, D = 1.88. Further study of the obtained nanobiocomposites is in progress now.

Keywords: biodegradation, bionanocompositions, polymer, nanosilver

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Authors: Farhana Nosheen, Moeez Ahmad

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Throughout the food chain, the food waste from initial agricultural production to final household consumption has become a serious concern for global sustainability because of its adverse impacts on food security, natural resources, the environment, and human health. About a third of tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) delivered to processing plants end as processing waste. The amount of such waste material is estimated to have increased with the emergence of mechanical harvesting. Experiments were made to determine the nutritional profile and antioxidant activity of tomato processing waste and to explore the bioactive compound in tomato waste, i.e., Lycopene. Tomato Variety of ‘SAHARA F1’ was used to make tomato waste. The tomatoes were properly cleaned, and then unwanted impurities were removed properly. The tomatoes were blanched at 90 ℃ for 5 minutes. After which, the skin of the tomatoes was removed, and the remaining part passed through the electric pulper. The pulp and seeds were collected separately. The seeds and skin of tomatoes were mixed and saved in a sterilized jar. The samples of tomato waste were found to contain 89.11±0.006 g/100g moisture, 10.13±0.115 g/100g protein, 2.066±0.57 g/100g fat, 4.81±0.10 g/100g crude fiber, and 4.06±0.057 g/100g ash and NFE 78.92±0.066 g/100g. The results confirmed that tomato waste contains a considerable amount of Lycopene 51.0667±0.00577 mg/100g and exhibited good antioxidant properties. Total phenolics showed average contents of 122.9600±0.01000 mg GAE/100g, of which flavonoids accounted for 41.5367±0.00577 mg QE/100g. Antioxidant activity of tomato processing waste was found 0.6833±0.00577 mmol Trolox/100g. Unsaturated fatty acids represent the major portion of total fatty acids, Linoleic acid being the major one. The mineral content of tomato waste showed a good amount of potassium 3030.1767 mg/100g and calcium 131.80 mg/100g, respectively were present in it. These findings suggest that tomato processing waste is rich in nutrients, antioxidants, fatty acids, and minerals. I recommend that this waste should be sun-dried to be used in the combination of feed of the animals. It can also be used in making some other products like lycopene tea or several other health-beneficial products.

Keywords: food waste, tomato, bioactive compound, sustainable management

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Authors: Ida Ngurah

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Indonesia is one of the most prone disaster countries, which has earthquake, tsunami or high wave, flood and landslide as well as volcano eruption and drought. Disaster risk reduction has been developing extensively and comprehensively, particularly after tsunami hit in 2004. Yet, saving people live including children and youth from disaster risk is still far from succeed. Poor management of environment, poor development of policy and high level of corruption has become challenges for Indonesia to save its people from disaster impact. Indonesia is struggling to ensure its future best investment, children and youth to have better protection when disaster strike in school hours and have basic knowledge on disaster risk reduction. The program of safe school is being initiated and developed by Plan Indonesia since 2010, yet this effort still needs to be elaborated. This paper is reviewing sporadic safe school programs that have been implemented or currently being implemented Plan Indonesia in few areas of Indonesia, including both rural and urban setting. Methods used are in-depth interview with dedicated person for the program from Plan Indonesia and its implementing patners and analysis of project documents. The review includes program’s goal and objectives, implementation activity, result and achievement as well as its monitoring and evaluation scheme. Moreover, paper will be showing challenges, lesson learned and best practices of the program. Eventually, paper will come up with recommendation for strategy for better implementation of safe school program in Indonesia.

Keywords: disaster impact, safe school, programs, children, youth

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Authors: Anouschka Swart

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In 2023, sport faces a plethora of challenges including but not limited to match-fixing, corruption and doping to its integrity that, threatens both the commercial and public appeal. The continuous changes and commercialisation that has occurred within sport have led to a variety of consequences resulting in the need for ethics to be revived, as it used to be in the past to ensure sport is not in danger. In order to understand governance better, the Institute of Directors in Southern Africa, a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services, outlined a process explaining all elements with regards to corporate governance. This process illustrates a governing body’s responsibilities as strategy, policy, oversight and accountability. These responsibilities are further elucidated to 16 governing principles which are highlighted as essential for all organisations in order to achieve and deliver on effective governance outcomes. These outcomes are good ethical culture, good performance, effective control and legitimacy therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate the general state of governance within the clubs affiliated with a rugby club in South Africa by utilizing the King IV Code as the framework. The results indicated that the King Code IV principles are implemented by these rugby clubs to ensure they demonstrate commitment to corporate governance to both internal and external stakeholders. It is however evident that a similar report focused solely on sport is a necessity in the industry as this will provide more clarity on sport specific problems.

Keywords: South Africa, sport, King IV, responsibilities

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Authors: Nafiseh Mollaei, Reihaneh Kardehi Moghaddam

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In case of Diabetes Mellitus the controlling of insulin is very difficult. This illness is an incurable disease affecting millions of people worldwide. Glucose is a sugar which provides energy to the cells. Insulin is a hormone which supports the absorption of glucose. Fuzzy control strategy is attractive for glucose control because it mimics the first and second phase responses that the pancreas beta cells use to control glucose. We propose two control algorithms a type-1 fuzzy controller and an interval type-2 fuzzy method for the insulin infusion. The closed loop system has been simulated for different patients with different parameters, in present of the food intake disturbance and it has been shown that the blood glucose concentrations at a normoglycemic level of 110 mg/dl in the reasonable amount of time. This paper deals with type 1 diabetes as a nonlinear model, which has been simulated in MATLAB-SIMULINK environment. The novel model, termed the Augmented Minimal Model is used in the simulations. There are some uncertainties in this model due to factors such as blood glucose, daily meals or sudden stress. In addition to eliminate the effects of uncertainty, different control methods may be utilized. In this article, fuzzy controller performance were assessed in terms of its ability to track a normoglycemic set point (110 mg/dl) in response to a [0-10] g meal disturbance. Finally, the development reported in this paper is supposed to simplify the insulin delivery, so increasing the quality of life of the patient.

Keywords: interval type-2, fuzzy controller, minimal augmented model, uncertainty

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Authors: Supriadi Hardianto, Aditya Daniswara

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Today's workplace, flooded by millennial Generation or known also as Generation Y. A common problem that faced by the company towards Gen Y is a high turnover rate, attitudes problem, communication style, and different work style than the older generation. This is common in private sector. The objective of this study is to get a better understanding of the Gen Y Career Attitude at the workplace. The subject of this study is focusing on 430 respondent of Gen Y which age between 20 – 35 years old who works for a private company. The Questionnaire as primary data source captured 9 aspects of career attitude based on Career Attitudes Strategy Inventory (CASI). This Survey distributes randomly among Gen Y in the IT Industry (125 Respondent) and Manufacture Company (305 Respondent). A Random deep interview was conducted to get the better understanding of the etiology of their primary obstacles. The study showed that most of Indonesia Gen Y have a moderate score on Job satisfaction but in the other aspects, Gen Y has the lowest score on Skill Development, Career Worries, Risk-Taking Style, Dominant Style, Work Involvement, Geographical Barrier, Interpersonal Abuse, and Family Commitment. The top 5 obstacles outside that 9 aspects that faced by Gen Y are 1. Lower communication & networking support; 2. Self-confidence issues; 3. Financial Problem; 4. Emotional issues; 5. Age. We also found that parent perspective toward the way they are nurturing their child are not aligned with their child’s real life. This research fundamentally helps the organization and other Gen Y’s Stakeholders to have a better understanding of Gen Y Career Attitude at the workplace.

Keywords: career attitudes, CASI, Gen Y, career attitude at workplace

Procedia PDF Downloads 160

Authors: Jaswinder Kaur, Nitika, Navneet Kaur, Rajesh Khanna

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A hand-fan shaped microstrip patch antenna (MPA) for L-band and S-band applications is designed, and its characteristics have been reconnoitered. The proposed microstrip patch antenna with double U-slot defected ground structure (DGS) is fabricated on an FR4 substrate which is a very readily available and inexpensive material. The suggested antenna is optimized using Orthogonal Design Method (ODM) of Design of Experiments (DOE) to cover the frequency range from 0.91-2.82 GHz for L-band and S-band applications. The L-band covers the frequency range of 1-2 GHz, which is allocated to telemetry, aeronautical, and military systems for passive satellite sensors, weather radars, radio astronomy, and mobile communication. The S-band covers the frequency range of 2-3 GHz, which is used by weather radars, surface ship radars and communication satellites and is also reserved for various wireless applications such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (Wi-MAX), super high frequency radio frequency identification (SHF RFID), industrial, scientific and medical bands (ISM), Bluetooth, wireless broadband (Wi-Bro) and wireless local area network (WLAN). The proposed method of optimization is very time efficient and accurate as compared to the conventional evolutionary algorithms due to its statistical strategy. Moreover, the antenna is tested, followed by the comparison of simulated and measured results.

Keywords: design of experiments, hand fan shaped MPA, L-Band, orthogonal design method, S-Band

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Bulcha Belay Etana, Benny Malengier, Janarthanan Krishnamoorthy, Timothy Kwa, Lieva VanLangenhove

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Electromyography measures the electrical activity of muscles using surface electrodes or needle electrodes to monitor various disease conditions. Recent developments in the signal acquisition of electromyograms using textile electrodes facilitate wearable devices, enabling patients to monitor and control their health status outside of healthcare facilities. Here, we have developed and tested wearable textile electrodes to acquire electromyography signals from patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease and incorporated a feedback-control system to relieve muscle cramping through thermal stimulus. In brief, the textile electrodes made of stainless steel was knitted into a textile fabric as a sleeve, and their electrical characteristic, such as signal-to-noise ratio, was compared with traditional electrodes. To relieve muscle cramping, a heating element made of stainless-steel conductive yarn sewn onto cotton fabric, coupled with a vibration system, was developed. The system integrated a microcontroller and a Myoware muscle sensor to activate the heating element as well as the vibration motor when cramping occurs, and at the same time, the element gets deactivated when the muscle cramping subsides. An optimum therapeutic temperature of 35.5 °C is regulated by continuous temperature monitoring to deactivate the heating system when this threshold value is reached. The textile electrode exhibited a signal-to-noise ratio of 6.38dB, comparable to that of the traditional electrode’s value of 7.05 dB. For a given 9 V power supply, the rise time was about 6 minutes for the developed heating element to reach an optimum temperature.

Keywords: smart textile system, wearable electronic textile, electromyography, heating textile, vibration therapy, Parkinson’s disease

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Authors: Sita Yuliastuti Amijaya, Wiyatiningsih Wiyatiningsih, Paulus Bawole

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Weaving skills were not originally a way to earn money for the traditional people on Sumba Island. Weaving is a leisure activity carried out between farming and caring for families. It is quite understandable if the weavers are women. At this time, weaving crafts become a unique potential inherent in an area, so that the weaver women also have the potential to drive economic activity in regional tourism sector. This study aims to measure the sustainability of traditional weaving business activities in Anajiaka Village, Umbu Ratu Nggay Barat, Central Sumba Regency, which is able to support the creative economy. The analysis was performed using qualitative descriptive methods by comparing the criteria of smart living and smart economy in the study of smart city. This study found that business sustainability will be better maintained if it is bound in a joint commitment, for example by forming a group of craftsmen. Other challenges besides the commitment of the group members are aspects of local government support and related agencies, in the form of guidance, funding, and promotion. In addition, fabric order targets, maintaining family and community balance, are recognized as obstacles for craftsmen. The modern marketing model is not yet mastered by the craftsmen group, so it needs assistance for future development.

Keywords: agriculture, craftsmen, creativepreneur, smart economy, smart living

Procedia PDF Downloads 172

Authors: Thomas A. Fuller

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Over the past fifteen years, virtual schooling has been introduced and implemented in varying degrees throughout the public education system in the United States. It is possible in some states for students to voluntarily take all of their course load online, without ever having to step in a classroom. Experts foresee a dramatic rise in the number of courses taken online by public school students in the United States, with some predicting that by 2019 as many as 50% of public high school courses will be delivered online. This electronic delivery of public education offers tremendous potential to the scientific community because it calls for innovation and is funded by public school revenue. Public accountability provides a ready supply of statistical data for measuring the progress of virtual schools as they are implemented into the public school arena. This allows for a survey of the current use of virtual schooling through examination of past statistical data, as well as forecasting forward for future years based upon this past data. Virtual schooling is on the rise in the United States, but its growth has been tempered by practical problems of implementation. The greatest and best use of virtual schooling thus far has been to supplement the courses offered by public schools (e.g., offering unique language courses, elective courses, and games-based math and science courses). The weaknesses of virtual schooling lay in the problematic accountability in allowing students to take courses online at home and the lack of supportive infrastructure in the public school arena. Virtual schooling holds great promise for the public school education system in the United States, as well as the scientific community. Online courses allow students access to a much greater catalog of courses than is offered through classroom instruction in their local public school. This promising sector needs assistance from the scientific community in implementing new pedagogical methodologies.

Keywords: virtual schools, online classroom, electronic delivery, technological innovation

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Authors: Dewan Hasin Mahtab, Farzana Sadia

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At present, wastewater treatment has become essential to maintain a constant supply of safe water as well as to protect the environment. Due to overpopulation and overconsumption, the water quality from various surface water sources is degrading every day. Being one of the megacities in the world, Dhaka City, is going through rapid industrialization and urbanization. The effluents from these industries and factories are mostly discharged directly into the rivers without any treatment. As such, the quality of water of Buriganga is being afflicted with a noisome problem of pollution. The water of the Buriganga River has become detrimental to humans, animals, and the environment. It has become crucial to conserve the environment so that we can save both ourselves and the environment. The first step towards it should be analyzing the wastewater to decide the further steps of the treatment process. Increased population and increased consumption both contribute to water pollution. Mohammadpur is a developing area of Dhaka City, and Kamrangirchar is one of the largest slum areas in Dhaka City. The total study area is 6.13 sq. Km of Dhaka city with a population of 4,73,310 people. Of them, 86.47% had their own latrine, 47% were directly connected to the drain, 55% had septic tanks, and 70.09% of them cleaned their septic tank once a year. The pH, Dissolved Oxygen, Chemical Oxygen Demand, Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Total Dissolved Solid, Total Suspended and total coliforms of wastewater from two samples of both Mohammadpur and Kamrangirchar was analyzed. The DO level from the water bodies of Kamrangirchar was found very low, making the water bodies inhabitable for aquatic plants and animals. The BOD and COD level was extremely high from samples collected from Mohammadpur. The total coliforms count was found too high during the wet season, making it a potential health concern in the wet season in these two areas.

Keywords: Dhaka, environmental conservation rule, sanitation, wastewater

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Authors: Lican Guzmán, José Manuel Lattus, Mariana Cervetto, Mauricio Calderón

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Today the estimation of effects produced by climate change in high Andean wetland environments is confronted by big challenges. This study provides a way to an analysis by remote sensing how some Ambiental aspects have evolved on the Maricunga salt flat in the last 30 years, divided into the summer and winter seasons, and if global warming is conditioning these changes. The first step to achieve this goal was the recompilation of geological, hydrological, and morphometric antecedents to ensure an adequate contextualization of its environmental parameters. After this, software processing and analysis of Landsat 5,7 and 8 satellite imagery was required to get the vegetation, water, surface temperature, and soil moisture indexes (NDVI, NDWI, LST, and SMI) in order to see how their spatial-temporal conditions have evolved in the area of study during recent decades. Results show a tendency of regular increase in surface temperature and disponibility of water during both seasons but with slight drought periods during summer. Soil moisture factor behaves as a constant during the dry season and with a tendency to increase during wintertime. Vegetation analysis shows an areal and quality increase of its surface sustained through time that is consistent with the increase of water supply and temperature in the basin mentioned before. Roughly, the effects of climate change can be described as positive for the Maricunga salt flat; however, the lack of exact correlation in dates of the imagery available to remote sensing analysis could be a factor for misleading in the interpretation of results.

Keywords: global warming, geology, SIG, Atacama Desert, Salar de Maricunga, environmental geology, NDVI, SMI, LST, NDWI, Landsat

Procedia PDF Downloads 85

Authors: Mads Kirk Larsen

Abstract:

Strict air pollution control is today high on the agenda world-wide. By reducing the particular emission, not only the mg/Nm3 will be reduced – also parts of mercury and other hazardous matters attached to the particles will be reduced. Furthermore, it is possible to catch the fine particles (PM2.5). For particulate control, the precipitators are still the preferred choice and much efforts have been done to improve the efficiencies. Many ESP’s have seen electrical upgrading by changing the traditional 1 phase power system into either 3 phase or SMPS (High Frequency) units. However, there exist a 4th type of power supply – the pulse type. This is unfortunately widely unknown, but may be of great benefit to power plants. The FLSmidth type is called COROMAX® and it is a high voltage pulse generator for precipitators using a semiconductor switch operating at medium potential. The generated high voltage pulses have rated amplitude of 80 kV and duration of 75 μs and are superimposed on a variable base voltage of 60 kV rated voltage. Hereby, achieving a peak voltage of 140 kV. COROMAX® has the ability to increase the voltage beyond the natural spark limit inside the precipitator. Voltage levels may often be twice as high after installation of COROMAX®. Hereby also the migration velocity increases and thereby the efficiency. As the collection efficiency is proportional to the voltage peak and mean values, this also increases the collection efficiency of the fine particles where test has shown 80% removal of particles less than 0.07 micron. Another great advantage is the indifference to back-corona. Simultaneously with emission reduction, the power consumption will also be reduced. Another great advantage of the COROMAX® system is that the emission can be improved without the need to change the internal parts or enlarge the ESP. Recently, more than 150 units have been installed in China, where emissions have been reduced to ultra-low levels.

Keywords: eleectrostatic precipitator, high resistivity dust, micropulse energization, particulate removal

Procedia PDF Downloads 303