Search results for: patient reported symptom burden

Authors: M. Abuqebitah, H. Tanyildizi, N. Yeyin, I. Cavdar, M. Demir, L. Kabasakal

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Aim: Targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) is an increasingly used treatment modality for wide range of cancers. Presently dosimetry is highly required either to plan treatment or to ascertain the absorbed dose delivered to critical organs during treatment. Methods and Materials: The study comprised 7 patients suffered from prostate cancer with progressive disease and candidate to undergo Lu-177-DOTA-617 therapy following to PSMA- PET/CT imaging for all patients. (5.2±0.3 mCi) was intravenously injected. To evaluate bone marrow absorbed dose 2 cc blood samples were withdrawn in short variable times (3, 15, 30, 60, 180 minutes) after injection. Furthermore, whole body scans were performed using scintillation gama camera in 4, 24, 48, and 120 hours after injection and in order to quantify the activity taken up in the body, kidneys , liver, right parotid, and left parotid the geometric mean of anterior and posterior counts were determined through ROI analysis, after that background subtraction and attenuation correction were applied using patients PSMA- PET/CT images taking in a consideration: organ thickness, body thickness, and Hounsfield unites from CT scan. OLINDA/EXM dosimetry program was used for curve fitting, residence time calculation, and absorbed dose calculations. Findings: Absorbed doses of bone marrow, left kidney, right kidney, liver, left parotid, right parotid, total body were 1.28±0.52, 32.36±16.36, 32.7±13.68, 10.35±3.45, 38.67±21.29, 37.55±19.77, 2.25±0.95 (mGy/mCi), respectively. Conclusion: Our first results clarify that Lu-177-DOTA-617 is safe and reliable therapy as there were no complications seen. In the other hand, the observable variation in the absorbed dose of the critical organs among the patients necessitate patient-specific dosimetry approach to save body organs and particularly highly exposed kidneys and parotid gland.

Keywords: Lu-177-PSMA, prostate cancer, radionuclide therapy

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Authors: Hamed Nazeri, Pierre Mertiny, Yongsheng Ma, Kajsa Duke

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The background of the present study is the use of environment-friendly biopolymer and biocomposite materials. Among the recently introduced biopolymers, poly (propylene carbonate) (PPC) has been gaining attention. This study focuses on the size of representative volume elements (RVE) in order to simulate PPC composites reinforced by cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) as a bio-nanocomposite. Before manufacturing nanocomposites, numerical modeling should be implemented to explore and predict mechanical properties, which may be accomplished by creating and studying a suitable RVE. In other studies, modeling of composites with rod shaped fillers has been reported assuming that fillers are unidirectionally aligned. But, modeling of non-aligned filler dispersions is considerably more difficult. This study investigates the minimum RVE size to enable subsequent FEA modeling. The matrix and nano-fillers were modeled using the finite element software ABAQUS, assuming randomly dispersed fillers with a filler mass fraction of 1.5%. To simulate filler dispersion, a Monte Carlo technique was employed. The numerical simulation was implemented to find composite elastic moduli. After commencing the simulation with a single filler particle, the number of particles was increased to assess the minimum number of filler particles that satisfies the requirements for an RVE, providing the composite elastic modulus in a reliable fashion.

Keywords: biocomposite, Monte Carlo method, nanocomposite, representative volume element

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Authors: Ganetsou Evanthia, Koutsikos Emmanouil, Austin Anna Maria

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Information technology has long served the needs of individuals for learning and entertainment, but much less for children in sickness. The aim of the proposed online video game is to provide immersive learning opportunities as well as essential social and emotional scenarios for hospital-bound children with long-term illness. Online self-paced courses on chosen school subjects, including specialised software and multisensory assessments, aim at enhancing children’s academic achievement and sense of inclusion, while doctor minigames familiarise and educate young patients on their medical conditions. Online ethical dilemmas will offer children opportunities to contemplate on the importance of medical procedures and following assigned medication, often challenging for young patients; they will therefore reflect on their condition, reevaluate their perceptions about hospitalisation, and assume greater personal responsibility for their progress. Children’s emotional and psychosocial needs are addressed by engaging in social conventions, such as interactive, daily, collaborative mini games with other hospitalised peers, like virtual competitive sports games, weekly group psychodrama sessions, and online birthday parties or sleepovers. Social bonding is also fostered by having a virtual pet to interact with and take care of, as well as a virtual nurse to discuss and reflect on the mood of the day, engage in constructive dialogue and perspective taking, and offer reminders. Access to the platform will be available throughout the day depending on the patient’s health status. The program is designed to minimise escapism and feelings of exclusion, and can flexibly be adapted to offer post-treatment and a support online system at home.

Keywords: long-term illness, children, hospital, interactive games, cognitive, socioemotional development

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Authors: Dhruv Mehta, Alexander van Zuijlen, Hester Bijl

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Large Eddy Simulation (LES) numerically resolves the large energy-containing eddies of a turbulent flow, while modelling the small dissipative eddies. On a wind farm, these large scales carry the energy wind turbines extracts and are also responsible for transporting the turbines’ wakes, which may interact with downstream turbines and certainly with the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). In this situation, it is important to conserve the energy that these wake’s carry and which could be altered artificially through numerical dissipation brought about by the schemes used for the spatial discretisation and temporal integration. Numerical dissipation has been reported to cause the premature recovery of turbine wakes, leading to an over prediction in the power produced by wind farms.An energy-conserving scheme is free from numerical dissipation and ensures that the energy of the wakes is increased or decreased only by the action of molecular viscosity or the action of wind turbines (body forces). The aim is to create an LES package with energy-conserving schemes to simulate wind turbine wakes correctly to gain insight into power-production, wake meandering etc. Such knowledge will be useful in designing more efficient wind farms with minimal wake interaction, which if unchecked could lead to major losses in energy production per unit area of the wind farm. For their research, the authors intend to use the Energy-Conserving Navier-Stokes code developed by the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands.

Keywords: energy-conserving schemes, modelling turbulence, Large Eddy Simulation, atmospheric boundary layer

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Authors: Mimoza Canga, Alketa Qafmolla, Vergjini Mulo, Irene Malagnino

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Aim: Assessment of oral health in young people aged 18-29 years after the Covid-19 pandemic in Albania. Materials and methods: The present study was conducted at the University of Medicine in Tirana, Albania, from March 2023 to September 2023. This is s cross-sectional study. In our research, 104 students participated, of which 64 were females (61.5%) and 40 were males (38.5%). In the present survey, the participants were divided into four age groups: 18-20, 21-23, 24-26, and 27-29 years old. Majority of the sample (69%) were 18-20 years. Participants were instructed to complete the questionnaire. The study had no dropouts. The current study was conducted in accordance to Helsinki declaration. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 23.0, Microsoft Windows Linux, Chicago, IL, USA. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: This study reported that 80 (76.9%) of the participants had passed Covid-19, while 24 (23.1%) of them had not passed Covid-19. Based on our data analysis, 70 (67.3%) of the participants had symptoms such as of fever 38°C- 40.5°C and headache. They stated that were treated with Azithromycin 500 mg tablets, Augmentin 625 mg tablets, Vitamin C 1000 mg, Magnesium, and Vitamin D. 40(38.4%) of the participants noticed hypersensitivity in gums (p = 0.004) and sensitive teeth (p = 0.001) after having passed Covid-19 compared to pre-pandemic. Nearly 40 (38.4%) of the participants who passed Covid-19 were treated with painful relievers for the gums and teeth, such as ibuprofen (Advil), used Sensodyne Toothpaste for sensitive teeth and Clove oil. Conclusion: Within the limitations of this study conducted in Albania, can concluded that Covid-19 has a direct impact on oral health.

Keywords: albania, Covid19, cross-sectional study, oral health

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Authors: Anthara Vivek, Manisha Shukla, Mahesh Narayan, Prakash Narayan

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Sickle cell disease disproportionately affects sub-Saharan Africa and certain tribal populaces in India and has consequently drawn little intertest from Pharma. In sickle cell patients, adhesion of erythrocytes or reticulocytes to one another and the vessel wall results in painful ischemic episodes with few, if any, effective treatments for vaso-occlusive crises. Identification of disease-associated adhesion markers on erythrocytes or reticulocytes might inform the use of more effective therapies against vaso-occlusive crises. Increased expression of one or more of bcam, itga4, cd44, cd47, rap1a, vcam1, or icam4 has been reported in sickle cell subjects. Using the miRNet ontology knowledgebase, peripheral blood interactomes were generated by seeding various combinations of the afore-referenced mRNA. These interactomes yielded an array of miR targets. As examples, targeting hsa-miR-155-5p can potentially neutralize the rap1a-bcam-cd44-itga4-vcam1 erythrocyte/reticulocyte adhesion interactome whereas targeting hsa-miRs-103a-3p or 107 can potentially neutralize adhesion in cells overexpressing icam4-cd47-bcam-itga4-cd36. AM3380 (MIRacle™) is an off-the shelf hsa-miR-155-5p agomiR that can potentially neutralize the rap1a-bcam-cd44-itga4-vcam1 signaling axis. Phlebotomy coupled with transcriptomics represents a potentially feasible and effective precision medicine strategy to mitigate vaso-occlusive crises in sickle cell patients.

Keywords: adhesion, interactome, precision, medicine

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Authors: Zohreh Fallah, Edward P. L. Roberts

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One of the big challenges for produced water treatment is removing oil from water in the form of emulsified droplets which are not easily separated. An attractive approach is adsorption, as it is a simple and effective process. However, adsorbents must be regenerated in order to make the process cost effective. Several sorbents have been tested for treating oily wastewater. However, some issues such as high energy consumption for activated carbon thermal regeneration have been reported. Due to their significant electrical conductivity, Graphite Intercalation Compounds (GIC) were found to be suitable to be regenerated electrochemically. They are non-porous materials with low surface area and fast adsorptive capacity which are useful for removal of low concentration of organics. An innovative adsorption/regeneration process has been developed at the University of Manchester in which adsorption of organics are done by using a patented GIC adsorbent coupled with subsequent electrochemical regeneration. The oxidation of adsorbed organics enables 100% regeneration so that the adsorbent can be reused over multiple adsorption cycles. GIC adsorbents are capable of removing a wide range of organics and pollutants; however, no comparable report is available for removal of emulsified oil in produced water using abovementioned process. In this study the performance of this technology for the removal of emulsified oil in wastewater was evaluated. Batch experiments were carried out to determine the adsorption kinetics and equilibrium isotherm for both real produced water and model emulsions. The amount of oil in wastewater was measured by using the toluene extraction/fluorescence analysis before and after adsorption and electrochemical regeneration cycles. It was found that oil in water emulsion could be successfully treated by the treatment process and More than 70% of oil was removed.

Keywords: adsorption, electrochemical regeneration, emulsified oil, produced water

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Authors: Jarrod Sio Jyh Lih

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This paper discusses the factors contributing to student achievement in literacy and numeracy in primary schools within Sibu division. The study involved 694 level 1 primary schoolteachers. Using descriptive statistics, the study observed high levels of practice for teacher efficacy, instructional leadership and professional learning communities (PLCs). The differences between gender, teaching experience and academic qualification were analyzed using the t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The study reported significant differences in respondent perceptions based on teaching experience vis-à-vis teacher efficacy. Here, the post hoc Tukey test revealed that efficaciousness grows with experience. A correlation test observed positive and significant correlations between all independent variables. Binary logistic regression was applied to predict the independent variables’ influence on student achievement. The findings revealed that a dimension of instructional leadership – ‘monitoring student progress’ - emerged as the best predictor of student achievement for literacy and numeracy. The result indicated the students were more than 4 times more likely to achieve the national key performance index for both literacy and numeracy when student progress was monitored. In conclusion, ‘monitoring student progress’ had a positive influence on students’ achievement for literacy and numeracy, hence making it a possible course of action for school heads. However, more comprehensive studies are needed to ascertain its consistency within the context of Malaysia.

Keywords: efficacy, instructional, literacy, numeracy

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Authors: A. D. Zikiryahodjaev, L. V. Bolotina, A. S. Sukhotko

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Purpose. To evaluate the expediency and timeliness of performance of surgical treatment as a component of multi-therapy treatment of patients with stage IV breast cancers. Materials and Methods. This investigation comparatively analyzed the results of complex treatment with or without surgery in patients with metastatic breast cancer. We analyzed retrospectively treatment experience of 196 patients with generalized breast cancer in the department of oncology and breast reconstructive surgery of P.A. Herzen Moscow Cancer Research Institute from 2000 to 2012. The average age was (58±1,1) years. Invasive ductul carcinoma was verified in128 patients (65,3%), invasive lobular carcinoma-33 (16,8%), complex form - 19 (9,7%). Complex palliative care involving drug and radiation therapies was performed in two patient groups. The first group includes 124 patients who underwent surgical intervention as complex treatment, the second group includes 72 patients with only medical therapy. Standard systemic therapy was given to all patients. Results. Overall, 3-and 5-year survival in fist group was 43,8 and 21%, in second - 15,1 and 9,3% respectively [p=0,00002 log-rank]. Median survival in patients with surgical treatment composed 32 months, in patients with only systemic therapy-21. The factors having influencing an influence on the prognosis and the quality of life outcomes for of patients with generalized breast cancer were are also studied: hormone-dependent tumor, Her2/neu hyper-expression, reproductive function status (age, menopause existence). Conclusion.Removing primary breast tumor in patients with generalized breast cancer improve long-term outcomes. Three- and five-year survival increased by 28,7 and 16,3% respectively, and median survival–for 11 months. These patients may benefit from resection of the breast tumor. One explanation for the effect of this resection is that reducing the tumor load influences metastatic growth.

Keywords: breast cancer, combination therapy, factors of prognosis, primary tumor

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Authors: Shreya Mishra, Manosi Chaudhuri, Ajoy K. Dey

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Workplace bullying is a social phenomenon which has proved to be hazardous not only for employees’ well-being but also organizations. Despite being prevalent across geographical boundaries, Indian organizations have failed to acknowledge its vices. This paper aims to understand targets’ perception on what makes bullying nurture in organizations. The paper suggests that person-led Indian work settings give birth to bullying behavior as it lacks professional acumen and systems. An analysis of 13 in-depth interviews of employees from the organized sector suggests that organizations, where decision making lies with single individual, may be a hub of hostile behavior due to the culture which promotes ‘yesmanship’, ‘authoritarianism’ and/or blind belief of leaders on certain set of employees. The study used constructivist grounded theory approach, and the data was analyzed using R Based Qualitative Data Analysis (RQDA) software. Respondents reported that bullying behavior is taken lightly by the management with 'just ignore it' attitude. According to the respondents, the behavior prolong as the perpetrator have a direct approach to the top authority. The study concludes that person-led organizations may create a family-like environment which is favored by employees; however, authoritative leaders are unable to gain the trust of employees. Also, employees who are close to the leader may either be a perpetrator or a target of bullying. It is recommended that leaders in such organizations need to acknowledge the presence of bullying which affects an employees’ commitment towards their job and/or organization. They need to have an assertive check on individuals who hide behind ‘yesman’ attitude. This may help employees feel safe in such work settings.

Keywords: constructivist grounded theory, person-led organization, RQDA, workplace bullying

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Authors: Amit Syal, Madeline Grade, Alister Martin

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Background: Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies demonstrate an association between health and voting. Furthermore, voting enables populations to support policies that impact their health via social determinants like income, education, housing, and healthcare access. Unfortunately, many barriers exist which disproportionately affect the civic participation of certain minority groups. Health professionals have an important role to play in addressing the civic health of all patients and empowering underrepresented communities. Description: Vot-ER is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization that aims to reduce barriers to civic participation by helping patients register to vote while in healthcare settings. The initial approach involved iPad-based kiosks in the emergency department waiting rooms, allowing patients to register themselves while waiting. After the COVID-19 pandemic began, Vot-ER expanded its touchless digital approaches. Vot-ER provides healthcare workers across the country with “Healthy Democracy Kits” consisting of badge backers, posters, discharge paperwork, and other resources. These contain QR and text codes that direct users to an online platform for registering to vote or requesting a mail-in ballot, available in English or Spanish. Outcomes: From May to November 2020, Vot-ER helped prepare 46,320 people to vote. 13,192 individual healthcare providers across all 50 states signed up for and received Healthy Democracy Kits. 80 medical schools participated in the Healthy Democracy Campaign competition. Over 500 institutions ordered site-based materials. Conclusions: A healthy democracy is one in which all individuals in a community have equal and fair opportunities for their voices to be heard. Healthcare settings, such as hospitals, are appropriate and effective venues for increasing both voter registration and education.

Keywords: civic health, enfranchisement, physician, voting

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Authors: Jikhil Joseph, S. R. Satish Kumar

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Steel Structures are commonly used for rapid erections and multistory constructions due to its inherent advantages. However, the high accuracy required in detailing and heavier sections, make it difficult to erect in place and transport. Cold Formed steel which are specially made by reducing carbon and other alloys are used nowadays to make thin-walled structures. Various types of connections are being reported as well as practiced for the thin-walled members such as bolting, riveting, welding and other mechanical connections. Commonly self-drilling screw connections are used for cold-formed purlin sheeting connection. In this paper an attempt is made to develop a moment resting frame which can be rapidly and remotely constructed with thin walled sections and self-drilling screws. Semi-rigid Moment connections are developed with Rectangular thin-walled tubes and the screws. The Finite Element Analysis programme ABAQUS is used for modelling the screwed connections. The various modelling procedures for simulating the connection behavior such as tie-constraint model, oriented spring model and solid interaction modelling are compared and are critically reviewed. From the experimental validations the solid-interaction modelling identified to be the most accurate one and are used for predicting the connection behaviors. From the finite element analysis, hysteresis curves and the modes of failure were identified. Parametric studies were done on the connection model to optimize the connection configurations to get desired connection characteristics.

Keywords: buckling, cold formed steel, finite element analysis, screwed connections

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Authors: Eunkyo Kang, Jihye Lee, Jiyeon Choo

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Background: Pediatric palliative care has been increasing, and the number of studies has focused on the age at which pediatric patient can be notified their terminal illness, pediatric advanced care planning (ACP) and palliative care. However, there is a lack of research on health professionals’ perception. Aim: We aimed to investigate the perceptions of healthcare professionals about appropriate age disclosing terminal illness, awareness of ACP, and the relationship between ACP knowledge and the preference for palliative care for children. Methods: We administered nationwide questionnaires to 928 physicians from the 12 hospitals and the Korean Medical Association and 1,241 individuals of the general Korean population. We asked about the age at which the pediatric patients could be notified of their terminal illness, by 4 groups; 4 years old or older, 12 years old or older, 15 years old or older, or not. In addition, we surveyed the questionnaires about the knowledge of ACP of the medical staff, the preference of the pediatric hospice palliative care, aggressive treatment, and life-sustaining treatment preference. Results: In the appropriate age disclosing terminal illness, there were more respondents in the physicians than in the general population who thought that it was possible even at a younger age. Palliative care preference in pediatric patients who were expected to expire within months was higher when health care professionals had knowledge of ACPs compared to those without knowledge. The same results were obtained when deaths were expected within weeks or days. The age of the terminal status notification, the health care professionals who thought to be available at a lower age have a higher preference for palliative care and has less preference for aggressive treatment and life-sustaining treatment. Conclusion: Despite the importance of pediatric palliative care, our study confirmed that there is a difference in the preference of the health care professionals for pediatric palliative care according to the ACP knowledge of the medical staff or the appropriate age disclosing terminal illness. Future research should focus on strategies for inducing changes in perceptions of health care professionals and identifying other obstacles for the pediatric palliative care.

Keywords: pediatric palliative care, disclosing terminal illness, palliative care, advanced care planning

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Authors: Haniyeh Okhovat, Mahmood Hosseini, Omid Kaveh Ahangari, Mona Zaryoun

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Shavadoon is a type of underground living space, formerly used in urban residences of Dezful and Shooshtar cities in southwestern Iran. In spite of their high efficiency in creating cool spaces for hot summers of that area, Shavadoons were abandoned, like many other components of vernacular architecture, as a result of the modernism movement. However, Shavadoons were used by the local people as shelters during the 8-year Iran-Iraq war, and although several cases of bombardment happened during those years, no case of damage was reported in those two cities. On this basis, and regarding the high seismicity of Iran, the use of Shavadoons as post-disasters shelters can be considered as a good issue for research. This paper presents the results of a thorough study conducted on these spaces and their seismic behavior. First, the architectural aspects of Shavadoon and their construction technique are presented. Then, the results of seismic evaluation of a sample Shavadoon, conducted by a series of time history analyses, using Plaxis software and a set of selected earthquakes, are briefly explained. These results show that Shavadoons have good stability against seismic excitations. This stability is mainly because of the high strength of conglomerate materials inside which the Shavadoons have been excavated. On this basis, and considering other merits of this components of vernacular architecture in southwest of Iran, it is recommended that the revival of these components is seriously reconsidered by both architects and civil engineers.

Keywords: Shavadoon, Iran high seismicity, Conglomerate, Modeling in Plaxis, Vernacular sustainable architecture

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Authors: P. Moskal, T. Bednarski, P. Bialas, E. Czerwinski, A. Gajos, A. Gruntowski, D. Kaminska, L. Kaplon, G. Korcyl, P. Kowalski, T. Kozik, W. Krzemien, E. Kubicz, Sz. Niedzwiecki, M. Palka, L. Raczynski, Z. Rudy, P. Salabura, N. G. Sharma, M. Silarski, A. Slomski, J. Smyrski, A. Strzelecki, A. Wieczorek, W. Wislicki, M. Zielinski, N. Zon

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A new concept and results of the performance tests of the TOF-PET detection system developed at the Jagiellonian University will be presented. The novelty of the concept lies in employing long strips of polymer scintillators instead of crystals as detectors of annihilation quanta, and in using predominantly the timing of signals instead of their amplitudes for the reconstruction of Lines-of-Response. The diagnostic chamber consists of plastic scintillator strips readout by pairs of photo multipliers arranged axially around a cylindrical surface. To take advantage of the superior timing properties of plastic scintillators the signals are probed in the voltage domain with the accuracy of 20 ps by a newly developed electronics, and the data are collected by the novel trigger-less and reconfigurable data acquisition system. The hit-position and hit-time are reconstructed by the dedicated reconstruction methods based on the compressing sensing theory and the library of synchronized model signals. The solutions are subject to twelve patent applications. So far a time-of-flight resolution of ~120 ps (sigma) was achieved for a double-strip prototype with 30 cm field-of-view (FOV). It is by more than a factor of two better than TOF resolution achievable in current TOF-PET modalities and at the same time the FOV of 30 cm long prototype is significantly larger with respect to typical commercial PET devices. The Jagiellonian PET (J-PET) detector with plastic scintillators arranged axially possesses also another advantage. Its diagnostic chamber is free of any electronic devices and magnetic materials thus giving unique possibilities of combining J-PET with CT and J-PET with MRI for scanning the same part of a patient at the same time with both methods.

Keywords: PET-CT, PET-MRI, TOF-PET, scintillator

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Authors: Marie Boost

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Despite activation policies, forced personal initiative to step out of unemployment and a general prosper economic situation, poverty and financial hardship constitute a crucial role in the daily lives of many families in Germany. In 2015, ~16 million persons (20.2%) of the German population are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. This is illustrated by an unemployment rate of 13.3% in the research area, located in East Germany. Despite this high amount of persons living in vulnerable households, we know little about how they manage to stabilize their lives or even overcome poverty – apart from solely relying on welfare state benefits or entering in a stable, well-paid job. Most of them are struggling in precarious living circumstances, switching from one or several short-term, low-paid jobs into self-employment or unemployment, sometimes accompanied by welfare state benefits. Hence, insecurity and uncertain future expectation form a crucial part of their lives. Within the EU-funded project “RESCuE”, resilient practices of vulnerable households were investigated in nine European countries. Approximately, 15 expert interviews with policy makers, representatives from welfare state agencies, NGOs and charity organizations and 25 household interviews have been conducted within each country. It aims to find out more about the chances and conditions of social resilience. The research is based on the triangulation of biographical narrative interviews, followed by participatory photo interviews, asking the household members to portray their typical everyday life. The presentation is focusing on the explanatory strength of this mixed-methods approach in order to show the potential of household practices to overcome financial hardship. The methodological combination allows an in-depth analysis of the families and households everyday living circumstances, including their poverty and employment situation, whether formal and informal. Active household budgeting practices, such as saving and consumption practices are based on subsistence or Do-It-Yourself work. Especially due to the photo-interviews, the importance of inherent cultural and tacit knowledge becomes obvious as it pictures their typical practices, like cultivation and gathering fruits and vegetables or going fishing. One of the central findings is the multiple purposes of these practices. They contribute to ease financial burden through consumption reduction and strengthen social ties, as they are mostly conducted with close friends or family members. In general, non-commodified practices are found to be re-commodified and to contribute to ease financial hardship, e.g. by the use of commons, barter trade or simple mutual exchange (gift exchange). These practices can substitute external purchases and reduce expenses or even generate a small income. Mixing different income sources are found to be the most likely way out of poverty within the context of a precarious labor market. But these resilient household practices take its toll as they are highly preconditioned, and many persons put themselves into risk of overstressing themselves. Thus, the potentials and risks of resilient household practices are reflected in the presentation.

Keywords: consumption practices, labor market, qualitative research, resilience

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Authors: R. Echeverría Echeverría, C. Carrillo Trujillo, N. Evia Alamilla

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Today, bullying is an expression of violence. It is a present problem in different contexts. Bullying and harassment have become subject matter of professional psychology , anthropology and other social sciences and related areas. However, most research on bullying have focused on peer violence and basic education. There is little attention to harassment in higher education. It also has little generation of research and interventions in universities, undergraduate and postgraduate level. The aim of this paper is to present a proposal for intervention to the attention of college students who have had an experience of harassment and / or bullying in a Public University of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. The methodology was qualitative phenomenological. Semiestructura interview techniques and focus groups were used. 6 students participated who have lived harassment or bullying. Also they are participating teachers and university leaders who play an important role in the presence of such cases. The purpose is to analyze the presence of policies for the prevention, treatment and punishment of those problems. The qualitative data analysis will be based on the general proposal of Rodriguez Gomez Gil Flores and García Jiménez (1999). The results show the need to create a body entrusted to provide timely attention to cases of bullying or harassment that are reported. It is important to take legal and psychological support of the University authorities. It is proposed to create a mechanism to ensure timely care and not victimized who has had the experience; in addition to the punishment of those who exercised to ensure that violence. In discussing the successes and failures of the proposal are highlighted. And the processes that have been facilitated or hampered progress for the project.

Keywords: bullying, harassment, intervention, public university

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Authors: Massimo Zucchetti

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In the US, the SPARC-ARC projects of compact tokamaks are being developed: both are aimed at the technological demonstration of fusion power reactors with cutting-edge technology but following different design approaches. However, they show more similarities than differences in the fuel cycle, safety, radiation protection, environmental, waste and decommissioning aspects: all reactors, either experimental or demonstration ones, have to fulfill certain "essential" requirements to pass from virtual to real machines, to be built in the real world. The paper will discuss these "essential" requirements. Some of the relevant activities in these fields, carried out by our research group (ESSENTIAL group), will be briefly reported, with the aim of showing some methodology aspects that have been developed and might be of wider interest. Also, a non-competitive comparison between our results for different projects will be included when useful. The question of advanced D-He3 fuel cycles to be used for those machines will be addressed briefly. In the past, the IGNITOR project of a compact high-magnetic field D-T ignition experiment was found to be able to sustain limited D-He3 plasmas, while the Candor project was a more decisive step toward D-He3 fusion reactors. The following topics will be treated: Waste management and radioactive safety studies for advanced fusion power plants; development of compact high-field advanced fusion reactors; behavior of nuclear materials under irradiation: neutron-induced radioactivity due to side DT reactions, radiation damage; accident analysis; reactor siting.

Keywords: advanced fuel fusion reactors, deuterium-helium3, high-field tokamaks, fusion safety

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Authors: V. Veeraprathap, G. S. Harish, G. Narendra Kumar

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Uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the lung in the form of tumor can be either benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Patients with Lung Cancer (LC) have an average of five years life span expectancy provided diagnosis, detection and prediction, which reduces many treatment options to risk of invasive surgery increasing survival rate. Computed Tomography (CT), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) for earlier detection of cancer are common. Gaussian filter along with median filter used for smoothing and noise removal, Histogram Equalization (HE) for image enhancement gives the best results without inviting further opinions. Lung cavities are extracted and the background portion other than two lung cavities is completely removed with right and left lungs segmented separately. Region properties measurements area, perimeter, diameter, centroid and eccentricity measured for the tumor segmented image, while texture is characterized by Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) functions, feature extraction provides Region of Interest (ROI) given as input to classifier. Two levels of classifications, K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) is used for determining patient condition as normal or abnormal, while Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) is used for identifying the cancer stage is employed. Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) algorithm is used for the main feature extraction leading to best efficiency. The developed technology finds encouraging results for real time information and on line detection for future research.

Keywords: artificial neural networks, ANN, discrete wavelet transform, DWT, gray-level co-occurrence matrix, GLCM, k-nearest neighbor, KNN, region of interest, ROI

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Authors: Antonella Hadzich, Santiago Flores

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Alkyds have become essential raw materials in the coating and paint industry, due to their low cost, good application properties and lower environmental impact in comparison with petroleum-based polymers. The properties of these oil-modified materials depend on the type of polyunsaturated vegetable oil used for its manufacturing, since a higher degree of unsaturation provides a better crosslinking of the cured paint. Linum usitatissimum L. (flax) oil is widely used to develop alkyd resins due to its high degree of unsaturation. Although it is intended to find non-traditional sources and increase their commercial value, to authors’ best knowledge a natural source that can replace flaxseed oil has not yet been found. However, Plukenetia volubilis L. oil, of Peruvian origin, contains a similar fatty acid polyunsaturated content to the one reported for Linum usitatissimum L. oil. In this perspective, medium alkyd resins were prepared with a mixture of 50% of Linum usitatissimum L. oil and 50% of Plukenetia volubilis L. oil. Pure Linum usitatissimum L. oil was also used for comparison purposes. Three different resins were obtained by varying the amount of glycerol and pentaerythritol. The synthesized alkyd resins were characterized by FT-IR, and physicochemical properties like acid value, colour, viscosity, density and drying time were evaluated by standard methods. The pencil hardness and chemical resistance behaviour of the cured resins were also studied. Overall, it can be concluded that medium alkyd resins containing Plukenetia volubilis L. oil have an equivalent behaviour compared to those prepared purely with Linum usitatissimum L. oil. Both Plukenetia volubilis L. oil and pentaerythritol have a remarkable influence on certain physicochemical properties of medium alkyd resins.

Keywords: alkyd resins, flaxseed oil, pentaerythritol, Plukenetia volubilis L. oil, protective coating

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Authors: Yong Jae Yu, Jae-Yeol Cho

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In the design of structural concrete for impact loading, design or model codes often employ a dynamic increase factor (DIF) to impose dynamic effect on static response. Dynamic increase factors that are obtained from laboratory material test results and that are commonly given as a function of strain rate only are quite different from each other depending on the design concept of design codes like ACI 349M-06, fib Model Code 2010 and ACI 370R-14. Because the dynamic increase factors currently adopted in the codes are too simple and limited to consider a variety of strength of materials, their application in practical design is questionable. In this study, the dynamic increase factors used in the three codes were validated through the finite element analysis of reinforced concrete slab elements which were tested and reported by other researcher. The test was intended to simulate a wall element of the containment building in nuclear power plants that is assumed to be subject to impact scenario that the Pentagon experienced on September 11, 2001. The finite element analysis was performed using the ABAQAUS 6.10 and the plasticity models were employed for the concrete, reinforcement. The dynamic increase factors given in the three codes were applied to the stress-strain curves of the materials. To estimate the dynamic increase factors, strain rate was adopted as a parameter. Comparison of the test and analysis was done with regard to perforation depth, maximum deflection, and surface crack area of the slab. Consequently, it was found that DIF has so great an effect on the behavior of the reinforced concrete structures that selection of DIF should be very careful. The result implies that DIF should be provided in design codes in more delicate format considering various influence factors.

Keywords: impact, strain rate, DIF, slab elements

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Authors: Nimmy Maria Joseph, Muhammed Hafiludheen

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On September 16, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, died in Tehran after she was arrested by the ‘Morality police’ for an accusation of not wearing a hijab according to the standards laid down by the Iran Government. Suspicions aroused as the incident happened while Mahsa Amini was under the custody of Iran police. People of Iran accused that she was severely beaten up by the police, which led to her death. This initiated an array of women-led protests in Iran, leading to the ignition of massive uproars in the country. The Law Enforcement Command of Iran reported that she collapsed due to a heart attack and not due to police brutality. However, as a result, Iran faced a series of conflicts between the Government of Iran and the civilians, especially women. The research paper presents the framing analysis of online news stories on Mahsa Amini’s death and the resultant protest in Iran. The researcher analysed the online news stories of two popular newspapers, Tehran Times (Iran) and The Wall Street Journal (USA). The focus of the study is to have a comparative analysis of the frames of the news stories used and find out their agenda-setting pattern. It helps to comprehend how the news stories of popular news organisations try to channelise the perception of their audience on social issues. The researcher analysed the news stories considering their frames, valence, polysemy, rhetoric devices, and technical devices.

Keywords: mahsa amini, iran protest, framing analysis, valence, rhetoric device, tehran times, the wall street journal

Procedia PDF Downloads 108

Authors: Ya-Ching Fu, An-Kuo Chou, Boon-Fatt Tan, Chi-Nien Chen, Wen-Chien Yang, Pou-Leng Cheong

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Blind oro-/naso-pharyngeal suction and feeding tube placement are very common practices in neonatal intensive care unit. Though esophageal perforation is a rare complication of these instrumentations, its prevalence is highest in extremely premature neonates. Due to its association with significant morbidity (including respiratory deterioration, pneumothorax, and sepsis) and even mortality, it is an important issue to prevent this iatrogenic complication in the field of premature care. We demonstrate an esophageal perforation in an extreme-low-birth-weight neonate after oro-gastric tube placement. This female baby weighing 680 grams was delivered by caesarean section at 25 weeks of gestational age. She initially received oro-tracheal intubation with mechanical ventilation which was smoothly weaned to non-invasive positive-pressure ventilation at 7-day-old. However, after insertion of a 5-French oro-gastric tube, the baby’s condition suddenly worsened with apnea requiring mechanical ventilation. Her chest radiogram showed the oro-gastric tube in right pleural space, and thus another oro-gastric tube was replaced, and its position was radiographically confirmed. The malpositioned tube was then removed. The baby received 2-week course of intravenous antibiotics for her esophageal perforation. Feeding was then reintroduced and increased to full feeds in a smooth course. She was discharged at 107-day-old. Esophageal perforation in newborn is very rare. Sudden respiratory deterioration in a neonate after naso-/oro-gastric tube placement should alarm us to consider esophageal perforation, and further radiological investigation is required for the diagnosis. Tube materials, patient condition, and age are major risk factors of esophageal perforation. The use of softer tube material, such as silicone, in extreme premature baby might prevent this fetal complication.

Keywords: esophageal perforation, preterm, newborn, feeding tube

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Authors: V. V. Lakshmi, Y. V. S. Annapurna

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Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common infectious diseases seen in the community. Susceptible individuals experience multiple episodes, and progress to acute pyelonephritis or uro-sepsis or develop asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU). Ability to cause extraintestinal infections depends on several virulence factors required for survival at extraintestinal sites. Presence of virulence phenotypes enhances the pathogenicity of these otherwise commensal organisms and thus augments its ability to cause extraintestinal infections, the most frequent in urinary tract infections(UTI). The present study focuses on detection of the virulence characters exhibited by the uropathogenic organism and most common factors exhibited in the local pathogens. A total of 700 isolates of E.coli and Klebsiella spp were included in the study.These were isolated from patients from local hospitals reported to be suffering with UTI over a period of three years. Isolation and identification was done based on Gram character and IMVIC reactions. Antibiotic sensitivity profile was carried out by disc diffusion method and multi drug resistant strains with MAR index of 0.7 were further selected. Virulence features examined included their ability to produce exopolysaccharides, protease- gelatinase production, hemolysin production, haemagglutination and hydrophobicity test. Exopolysaccharide production was most predominant virulence feature among the isolates when checked by congo red method. The biofilms production examined by microtitre plates using ELISA reader confirmed that this is the major factor contributing to virulencity of the pathogens followed by hemolysin production.

Keywords: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp, Uropathogens, virulence features

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Authors: Swati Kapoor, Rajeev Upreti, Monica Mahajan, Abhaya Indrayan, Dinesh Srivastava

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Enteric Fever is caused by gram negative bacilli Salmonella typhi and paratyphi. It is associated with high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Timely initiation of treatment is a crucial step for prevention of any complications. Cultures of body fluids are diagnostic, but not always conclusive or practically feasible in most centers. Moreover, the results of cultures delay the treatment initiation. Serological tests lack diagnostic value. The blood counts can offer a promising option in diagnosis. A retrospective study to find out the relevance of leucopenia and eosinopenia was conducted on 203 culture proven enteric fever patients and 159 culture proven non-enteric fever patients in a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi. The patient details were retrieved from the electronic medical records section of the hospital. Absolute eosinopenia was considered as absolute eosinophil count (AEC) of less than 40/mm³ (normal level: 40-400/mm³) using LH-750 Beckman Coulter Automated machine. Leucopoenia was defined as total leucocyte count (TLC) of less than 4 X 10⁹/l. Blood cultures were done using BacT/ALERT FA plus automated blood culture system before first antibiotic dose was given. Case and control groups were compared using Pearson Chi square test. It was observed that absolute eosinophil count (AEC) of 0-19/mm³ was a significant finding (p < 0.001) in enteric fever patients, whereas leucopenia was not a significant finding (p=0.096). Using Receiving Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves, it was observed that patients with both AEC < 14/mm³ and TCL < 8 x 10⁹/l had 95.6% chance of being diagnosed as enteric fever and only 4.4% chance of being diagnosed as non-enteric fever. This result was highly significant with p < 0.001. This is a very useful association of AEC and TLC found in enteric fever patients of this study which can be used for the early initiation of treatment in clinically suspected enteric fever patients.

Keywords: absolute eosinopenia, absolute eosinophil count, enteric fever, leucopenia, total leucocyte count

Procedia PDF Downloads 175

Authors: Korosh Khorshidi, Mohammad Khodadadi

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In this paper, exact close form solution for out of plate free flexural vibration of moderately thick rectangular nanoplates are presented based on nonlocal modified trigonometric shear deformation theory, with assumptions of the Levy's type boundary conditions, for the first time. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of small-scale parameters on the frequency parameters of the moderately thick rectangular nano-plates. To describe the effects of small-scale parameters on vibrations of rectangular nanoplates, the Eringen theory is used. The Levy's type boundary conditions are combination of six different boundary conditions; specifically, two opposite edges are simply supported and any of the other two edges can be simply supported, clamped or free. Governing equations of motion and boundary conditions of the plate are derived by using the Hamilton’s principle. The present analytical solution can be obtained with any required accuracy and can be used as benchmark. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method compared to other methods reported in the literature. Finally, the effect of boundary conditions, aspect ratios, small scale parameter and thickness ratios on nondimensional natural frequency parameters and frequency ratios are examined and discussed in detail.

Keywords: exact solution, nonlocal modified sinusoidal shear deformation theory, out of plane vibration, moderately thick rectangular plate

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Authors: Theresa Campbell, Camille Bowen-Forbes, William Aalbersberg

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Differences in the sensory properties of two subtly distinct varieties of Rubus rosifolius lead to the examination of their anthocyanin, essential oil and polyphenol profiles. In both cases, notable differences were identified. Pelargonidin-3-rhutinoside (17.2 mg/100 g FW) and Cyanidin-3-glucoside (66.2 mg/100g FW) proved to be the dominant anthocyanins in the red and wine red varieties respectively. Linalool and terpineol were the major constituents of the essential oil from the red variety; however, those of the wine red variety are unidentified. In regard to phenolic compounds, caffeic acid and quercetin were in a higher concentration in the red variety (1.85 and 0.73 mg/100g FW respectively, compared to 1.22 and 0.34 mg/100g FW respectively in the wine red fruits); while ellagic acid and ferulic acid were of a higher concentration in the wine red variety (0.92 and 0.84mg/100g FW respectively, compared to 0.15 and 0.48 mg/100g FW respectively in the red variety). The methanol extract of both fruit varieties showed great antioxidant activity. Analysis of the antimicrobial activity of the fruit extracts against the growth of drug resistant pathogens revealed that they are active against methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA), rifampicin resistant S. aureus (RRSA), wild-type S. aureus (WTSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF). Activity was also reported against several food-borne pathogens including two strains of E. coli, L. monocytogenes and Enterobacter aerogenes. The cytotoxicity of the various extracts was assessed and the essential oil extracts exhibited superior activity. The phenolic composition and biological activity of the fruits indicate that their consumption is beneficial to health and also that their incorporation into functional foods and nutraceuticals should be considered.

Keywords: phytochemicals, antimicrobial, cytotoxic, Rubus rosifolius

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Authors: Jacob J. Shila, Xiaoyu O. Wu

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As the applications of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) continue to increase across the world, it is critical to understand the factors that contribute to incidents and accidents associated with these systems. Given the variety of daily applications that could utilize the operations of the UAV (e.g., medical, security operations, construction activities, landscape activities), the main discussion has been how to safely incorporate the UAV into the national airspace system. The types of UAV incidents being reported range from near sightings by other pilots to actual collisions with aircraft or UAV. These incidents have the potential to impact the rest of aviation operations in a variety of ways, including human lives, liability costs, and delay costs. One of the largest causes of these incidents cited is the human factor; other causes cited include maintenance, aircraft, and others. This work investigates the key human factors associated with UAV incidents. To that end, the data related to UAV incidents that have occurred in the United States is both reviewed and analyzed to identify key human factors related to UAV incidents. The data utilized in this work is gathered from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) drone database. This study adopts the human factor analysis and classification system (HFACS) to identify key human factors that have contributed to some of the UAV failures to date. The uniqueness of this work is the incorporation of UAV incident data from a variety of applications and not just military data. In addition, identifying the specific human factors is crucial towards developing safety operational models and human factor guidelines for the UAV. The findings of these common human factors are also compared to similar studies in other countries to determine whether these factors are common internationally.

Keywords: human factors, incidents and accidents, safety, UAS, UAV

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: Abdul M. Khan, Ayesha Iqbal

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In this paper, new dental remains of Merycopotamus (Anthracotheriidae) are described. The specimens were collected during field work by the authors from the well dated fossiliferous locality 'Hasnot' belonging to the Dhok Pathan Formation, and from 'Tatrot' village belonging to Tatrot Formation of the Potwar Plateau, Pakistan. The stratigraphic age of the Neogene deposits around Hasnot is 7 - 5 Ma; whereas the age of the Tatrot Formation is from 3.4 - 2.6 Ma. The newly discovered material when compared with the previous records of the genus Merycopotamus from the Siwaliks led us to identify all the three reported species of this genus from the Siwaliks of Pakistan. As the sample comprises only the dental remains so the identification of the specimens is solely based upon the morpho-metric analysis. The occlusal pattern of the upper molar in Merycopotamus dissimilis is different from Merycopotamus medioximus and Merycopotamus nanus in having a mesostyle fully divided, forming two prominent cusps, while mesostyle in M. medioximus is partly divided and small lateral crests are present on the mesostyle. A continuous loop like mesostyle is present in Merycopotamus nanus. The entoconid fold is present in Merycopotamus dissimilis on the lower molars whereas it is absent in Merycopotamus medioximus and Merycopotamus nanus. The hypoconulid in M. dissimilis is relatively simple but a loop like hypoconulid is present in M. medioximus and M. nanus. The results of the present findings are in line with the previous records of the genus Merycopotamus, with M. nanus, M. medioximus and M. dissimilis in the Late Miocene – Early Pliocene Dhok Pathan Formation, and M. dissimilis in the Late Pliocene Tatrot sediments of Pakistan.

Keywords: Dhok Pathan, late miocene, merycopotamus, pliocene, Tatrot

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Authors: Serpa A. M., Gómez Hoyos C., Velásquez-Cock J. A., Ruiz L. F., Vélez Acosta L. M., Gañan P., Zuluaga R.

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Turmeric (Curcuma Longa L) is an Indian rhizome known for its biological properties, derived from its active compounds such as curcuminoids. Curcumin, the main polyphenol in turmeric, only represents around 3.5% of the dehydrated rhizome and extraction yields between 41 and 90% have been reported. Therefore, for every 1000 tons of turmeric powder used for the extraction of curcumin, around 970 tons of residues are generated. The present study evaluates the effect of different mechanical treatments (waring blender, grinder and high-pressure homogenization) on the physical and chemical properties of turmeric, as an alternative for the transformation of the entire rhizome. Suspensions of turmeric (10, 20 y 30%) were processed by waring blender during 3 min at 12000 rpm, while the samples treated by grinder were processed evaluating two different Gaps (-1 and -1,5). Finally, the process by high-pressure homogenization, was carried out at 500 bar. According to the results, the luminosity of the samples increases with the severity of the mechanical treatment, due to the stabilization of the color associated with the inactivation of the oxidative enzymes. Additionally, according to the microstructure of the samples, the process by grinder (Gap -1,5) and by high-pressure homogenization allowed the largest size reduction, reaching sizes up to 3 m (measured by optical microscopy). This processes disrupts the cells and breaks their fragments into small suspended particles. The infrared spectra obtained from the samples using an attenuated total reflectance accessory indicates changes in the 800-1200 cm⁻¹ region, related mainly to changes in the starch structure. Finally, the thermogravimetric analysis shows the presence of starch, curcumin and some minerals in the suspensions.

Keywords: characterization, mechanical treatments, suspensions, turmeric rhizome

Procedia PDF Downloads 166