Search results for: constant returns to scale

Authors: Charles L. Sigmund, M. A. Aed, Lissa Graciela Rivera Picado

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One critical component of the training development process is the evaluation of the impact and value of the program. Oftentimes, however, learning organizations bypass this phase either because they are unfamiliar with effective methods for measuring the success or effect of the training or because they believe the effort to be too time-consuming or cumbersome. As a result, most organizations that do conduct evaluation limit their scope to Kirkpatrick L1 (reaction) and L2 (learning), or at most carry through to L4 (results). In 2021 Microsoft made a strategic decision to assess the measurable and monetized impact for all training launches and designed a scalable and program-agnostic tool for providing full-scale L5 return on investment (ROI) estimates for each. In producing this measurement tool, the learning and development organization built a framework for making business prioritizations and resource allocations that is based on the projected ROI of a course. The analysis and measurement posed by this process use a combination of training data and operational metrics to calculate the effective net benefit derived from a given training effort. Business experts in the learning field generally consider a 10% ROI to be an outstanding demonstration of the value of a project. Initial findings from this work applied to a critical customer-facing program yielded an estimated ROI of more than 49%. This information directed the organization to make a more concerted and concentrated effort in this specific line of business and resulted in additional investment in the training methods and technologies being used.

Keywords: evaluation, measurement, return on investment, value

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Authors: Ebtsam Aly Abou Hashish, Sharifah Abdulmuttalib Alsayed, Hend Abdu Alnajjar

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Background: Academic nurse educators play a crucial role in the educational environment, but the demands of their profession can lead to workaholism, which could result in an imbalance between work and personal life. Purpose: The study aimed to explore workaholism and life balance among academic nursing educators, as well as investigate the factors associated with workaholism. Methods: A mixed-methods design based on the ‘concurrent triangulation’ approach was employed. A convenience sample of 76 nurse educators completed the Dutch Work Addiction Scale (DUWAS) and the Life Balance Inventory (LBI), while a purposive sample of 20 nurse educators participated in semi-structured interviews. Inferential statistics and thematic analysis were used to analyze the data. Results: The researchers found a notable prevalence of workaholism among nurse educators, with 59.0 % reporting a mean score above 2.5 and 86.8 % perceiving an unbalanced life. Regression analysis indicated that workaholism negatively predicted life balance (B = 􀀀 0.404, p < 0.001). The qualitative findings derived three themes as determinants of workaholism: antecedents, consequences, and personal and institutional strategies to mitigate workaholism among nursing educators. Conclusion: Educational institutions should develop comprehensive approaches to support and develop their academicians, fostering a positive work environment, work-life balance, employee well-being, and professional development.

Keywords: workaholism, life balance, academic nurse educators, mixed-method

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Authors: Carmela Mariano

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The literature, the scientific and disciplinary debate related to the impacts of climate change on the territory has highlighted, in recent years, the need for climate-proof and resilient tools of urban planning that adopt an integrated and inter-scalar approach for the construction of urban regeneration strategies by the objectives of the European Strategy on adaptation to climate change, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Climate Conference. This article addresses the operational implications of urban climate resilience in urban planning tools as a priority objective of policymakers (government bodies, institutions, etc.) to respond to the risks of climate change-related impacts on the environment. Within the general framework of the research activities carried out by the author, this article provides a critical synthesis of the analysis and evaluation of some case studies from the Italian national context, which enabled, through an inductive method, the assessment of the process of implementing the adaptation to climate change within the regional urban planning frameworks (regional urban laws), specific regional adaptation strategies or local adaptation plans and within the territorial and urban planning tools of a metropolitan or local scale. This study aims to identify theoretical–methodological, and operational references for the innovation and integration of planning tools concerning climate change that allow local planners to test these references in specific territorial contexts to practical adaptation strategies for local action.

Keywords: urban resilience, urban regeneration, climate-proof-planning, urban planning

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Authors: Luz Stella Cadavid-Rodriguez, Viviana E. Castro-Lopez

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Fish waste (FW) has a high content of potentially biodegradable components, so it is amenable to be digested anaerobically. In this line, anaerobic digestion (AD) of FW has been studied for biogas production. Nevertheless, intermediate products such as volatile fatty acids (VFA), generated during the acidogenic stage, have been scarce investigated, even though they have a high potential as a renewable source of carbon. In the literature, there are few studies about the Inoculum-Substrate (I/S) ratio on acidogenesis. On the other hand, it is well known that pH is a critical factor in the production of VFA. The optimum pH for the production of VFA seems to change depending on the substrate and can vary in a range between 5.25 and 11. Nonetheless, the literature about VFA production from protein-rich waste, such as FW, is scarce. In this context, it is necessary to deepen on the determination of the optimal operating conditions of acidogenic fermentation for VFA production from protein-rich waste. Therefore, the aim of this research was to optimize the volatile fatty acid production from artisanal fishing waste, studying the effect of pH and the I/S ratio on the acidogenic process. For this research, the inoculum used was a methanogenic sludge (MS) obtained from a UASB reactor treating wastewater of a slaughterhouse plant, and the FW was collected in the port of Tumaco (Colombia) from the local artisanal fishers. The acidogenic fermentation experiments were conducted in batch mode, in 500 mL glass bottles as anaerobic reactors, equipped with rubber stoppers provided with a valve to release biogas. The effective volume used was 300 mL. The experiments were carried out for 15 days at a mesophilic temperature of 37± 2 °C and constant agitation of 200 rpm. The effect of 3 pH levels: 5, 7, 9, coupled with five I/S ratios, corresponding to 0.20, 0.15, 0.10, 0.05, 0.00 was evaluated taking as a response variable the production of VFA. A complete randomized block design was selected for the experiments in a 5x3 factorial arrangement, with two repetitions per treatment. At the beginning and during the process, pH in the experimental reactors was adjusted to the corresponding values of 5, 7, and 9 using 1M NaOH or 1M H2SO4, as was appropriated. In addition, once the optimum I/S ratio was determined, the process was evaluated at this condition without pH control. The results indicated that pH is the main factor in the production of VFA, obtaining the highest concentration with neutral pH. By reducing the I/S ratio, as low as 0.05, it was possible to maximize VFA production. Thus, the optimum conditions found were natural pH (6.6-7.7) and I/S ratio of 0.05, with which it was possible to reach a maximum total VFA concentration of 70.3 g Ac/L, whose major components were acetic acid (35%) and butyric acid (32%). The findings showed that the acidogenic fermentation of FW is an efficient way of producing VFA and that the operating conditions can be simple and economical.

Keywords: acidogenesis, artisanal fishing waste, inoculum to substrate ratio, volatile fatty acids

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Authors: Ng Ziyi Zoe, Yow Wei Quin

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Humor plays a pivotal role in our interaction with people. According to the age-related positivity effect, older adults (OA) demonstrate more positive emotions and are better able to modulate negative emotional states than younger adults (YA), suggesting an increase in humor appreciation with age. However, different types of humor might show different patterns of change in appreciation with age (e.g., incongruity-resolution humor, aggressive humor, self-vs.-other-deprecating humor). Thus, we aim to explore age-related effects in the perception of different types of humor in a single study, including the impact of local slang in humor appreciation. Twenty OA aged 60-and-above and 24 YA aged 13-20 were watched four short videos (i.e., benign, violent, satire+local slang, and others-deprecating humor) and rated how funny the videos were (from a scale of 1-not funny-at-all to 5-very funny). Participants were also asked to rank the videos in the order of most- to least-entertaining. Repeated measures of ANOVA found significant main effects of age, F(3,39)=12,88, p < .001, where OA gave higher ratings than YA (M=3.20 vs. 2.63), and humor type, F(3,123)=19.66, p < .001. Post-hoc analyses revealed a significant linear contrast where benign and violent humor had the lowest ratings while others-deprecating humor had the highest ratings. No significant interaction effect was found. The distribution of ranking ratings also differed between OA and YA (e.g., preferred satire+local slang and others-deprecating humor vs. overwhelmingly preferred other-deprecating humor, respectively). Overall, OA displayed a greater appreciation across various types of humor than YA. Humor perception will be discussed in the larger context of cognitive, societal, and cultural implications.

Keywords: humor, older adults, perception, age differences

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Authors: Selin Öztürk Demirkiran

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Approaches towards sustainability and energy efficiency are significant topics of our era. These approaches need to be addressed across various fields and are relevant to multiple disciplines. Building facades, as the first surface encountering external weather conditions, should be considered and analyzed within this context. Current seasonal changes due to global warming and the influence on climates have highlighted the necessity for building systems to adapt to these changes, emphasizing the need for long-lasting solutions. Therefore, this study aims to examine adaptive system applications using examples from similar climatic regions and buildings of different functions, classifying them according to adaptive system criteria. It also aims to explore and evaluate the current stage of such systems in Turkey and the potential for their implementation. In this study, six building examples with different functions, including two examples for each adaptive type, were analyzed from regions with climates similar to those in Turkey, with detailed examination sheets prepared. The purpose of this study is to contribute to ongoing developments by presenting findings on current concepts and analyses and proposing a distinct approach for the characterization of these elements at the scale of Turkey. From this perspective, there is a considerable amount of literature on adaptive facade designs, and while application examples exist, adaptive approaches have been developed and partially implemented. It is expected that innovative solutions in this field will find a place in Turkey in the near future, following the increasing number of examples globally.

Keywords: adaptive facade, smart building facades, facade innovation, sustainability.

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Authors: Emad Matar Alotaibi

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In line with other Arabic countries, Saudi Arabia is currently undergoing large scale school reform in response to key factors brought about by globalization. While there is a growing body of research exploring these systemic changes in urban environments, there is very little published research regarding rural schools. In fact, rural schools are still under-examined globally comparing to their urban and suburban counterparts over a range of reform dimensions. In Saudi Arabia, there are around 1128 rural areas that contain about 3200 schools. Several challenges face rural schools, especially in relation to recruitment, retention, and professional development opportunities for teachers and school leaders. However, there is very little in depth research which explores these issues “on the ground”. The aim of this research is fill this knowledge gap and explore teachers’ and leaders’ perceptions and experiences of working in rural schools in KSA. In Saudi Arabia, there is a growing body of research into school leadership. However, there is very little published research specifically exploring rural schools. By using an in-depth case study approach and adopting an analytical framework based on the interlinking concepts of leadership practices, culture, and CPD, this study offers and significant and original contribution to knowledge in this area. This study also will adopt a qualitative multiple case studies, which is going to employ semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and documentary analysis.

Keywords: leadership practice, school culture, continuing professional development, rural school

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Authors: Silvia Lucciarini, Antonio Corasaniti

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The issue of democracy in capitalist countries has once again become the focus of debate in recent years. A number of socio-economic and political tensions have triggered discussion of this topic from various perspectives and disciplines. Political developments, the rise of both right-wing parties and populism and the constant growth of inequalities in a context of welfare downsizing, have led scholars to question if European capitalist countries are really capable of creating and redistributing resources and look for elements that might make democratic capital in European countries more dense. The aim of the work is to shed light on the trajectories, intensity and convergence or divergence between political and associative participation, on one hand, and organization, on the other, as these constitute two of the main points of connection between the norms, values and actions that bind citizens to the state. Using the European Social Survey database, some studies have sought to analyse degrees of unionization by investigating the relationship between systems of industrial relations and vulnerable groups (in terms of value-oriented practices or political participation). This paper instead aims to investigate the relationship between union participation and civil/political participation, comparing union members and non-members and then distinguishing between employees and self-employed professionals to better understand participatory behaviors among different workers. The first component of the research will employ a multilinear logistic model to examine a sample of 10 countries selected according to a grid that combines the industrial relations models identified by Visser (2006) and the Welfare State systems identified by Esping-Andersen (1990). On the basis of this sample, we propose to compare the choices made by workers and their propensity to join trade unions, together with their level of social and political participation, from 2002 to 2016. In the second component, we aim to verify whether workers within the same system of industrial relations and welfare show a similar propensity to engage in civil participation through political bodies and associations, or if instead these tendencies take on more specific and varied forms. The results will allow us to see: (1) if political participation is higher among unionized workers than it is among the non-unionized. (2) what are the differences in unionisation and civil/political participation between self-employed, temporary and full-time employees and (3) whether the trajectories within industrial relations and welfare models display greater inclusiveness and participation, thereby confirming or disproving the patterns that have been documented among the different European countries.

Keywords: union membership, participation, democracy, industrial relations, welfare systems

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Authors: Neda Valizadeh, Mani Mofidi, Sama Haghighi, Ali Hashemaghaee, Soudabeh Shafiee Ardestani

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Background: There are many systems and parameters to evaluate trauma patients in the emergency department. Most of these evaluations are to distinguish patients with worse conditions so that the care systems have a better prediction of condition for a better care-giving. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between axillary body temperature and mortality in patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) with multiple traumas and with other clinical and para-clinical factors. Methods: All patients between 16 and 75 years old with multiple traumas who were admitted into Emergency Department then hospitalized in the ICU were included in our study. An axillary temperature in the first and the second day of admission, Glasgow cola scale (GCS), systolic blood pressure, Serum glucose levels, and white blood cell counts of all patients at the admission day were recorded and their relationship with mortality were analyzed by SPSS software with suitable statistical tests. Results: Axillary body temperatures in the first and second day were statistically lower in expired traumatic patients (p=0.001 and p<0,001 respectively). Patients with lower GCS had a significantly lower first-day temperature and a significantly higher mortality. (p=0.006 and p=0.006 respectively). Furthermore, the first-day axillary temperature was significantly lower in patients with a lower first-day systolic blood pressure (p=0.014). Conclusion: Our results showed that lower axillary body temperature in the first day is associated with higher mortality, lower GCS, and lower systolic blood pressure. Thus, this could be used as a predictor of mortality in evaluation of traumatic patients in emergency settings.

Keywords: fever, trauma, mortality, emergency

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Authors: Hussain Jiffry, Kypros Pilakoutas, Reyes Garcia Lopez

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This study examines the effect of tsunami loads on reinforced concrete (RC) frame buildings analytically. The impact of tsunami wave loads and waterborne objects are analyzed using a typical substandard full-scale two-story RC frame building tested as part of the EU-funded Ecoleader project. The building was subjected to shake table tests in bare condition and subsequently strengthened using Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) composites and retested. Numerical models of the building in both bare and CFRP-strengthened conditions are calibrated in DRAIN-3DX software to match the test results. To investigate the response of wave loads and impact forces, the numerical models are subjected to nonlinear dynamic analyses using force-time history input records. The analytical results are compared in terms of displacements at the floors and the 'impact point' of a boat. The results show that the roof displacement of the CFRP-strengthened building reduced by 63% when compared to the bare building. The results also indicate that strengthening only the mid-height of the impact column using CFRP is more efficient at reducing damage when compared to strengthening other parts of the column. Alternative solutions to mitigate damage due to tsunami loads are suggested.

Keywords: tsunami loads, hydrodynamic load, impact load, waterborne objects, RC buildings

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Authors: Mennani Maha, Attak El Houssain

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Under the massive effect of the Covid-19 health crisis, marked by a loss of competitiveness, a slowdown in growth and an accumulation of the repercussions of socio-economic inequalities, a considerable effort must be combined, in Morocco, to put into perspective macro-political, macro-economic and social opportunities. The development of a new economic and social approach is essential in order to respond to the authenticity of the new development model that will be used by the country. The appropriation of strategies of solidarity and social cohesion constitutes a participatory, competitive and inclusive approach to support the functionalities of the economic, social and political system. Therefore, the search for alternative financial resources has become a necessity to achieve the objectives of sustainable socio-economic growth on the one hand; and to promote, on the other hands, the dynamics, of large scale, social investments. The zakat remains a site of the Islamic economy dedicated to stimulating the bases of a collective adhesion of the population on the economic, as well as on the social level, thanks to a fair and equitable distribution of the zakat funds. However, Morocco is one of the few Muslim countries that has not yet had an institution for collecting and distributing this Islamic duty, which makes it difficult to measure the socio-economic impact of zakat. This theoretical document essentially ensures the development of the crucial utility of institutionalizing zakat in order to reinforce the objectives of social solidarity in Morocco in line with the process of conceptualizing a new development model.

Keywords: zakat, socio-economic development, solidarity, social investment

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Authors: Izabela Zielinska

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Kinesio Taping is classified as physiotherapy method supporting rehabilitation and modulating some physiological processes. It is commonly used in sports medicine and orthopedics. This sensory method has influence on muscle function, pain sensation, intensifies lymphatic system as well as improves microcirculation. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of Kinesio Taping in patients with ongoing treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD). The study group comprised 60 patients (stadium II B at Fontain's scale). All patients were divided into two groups (30 person/each), where 12 weeks long treadmill training was administrated. In the second group, the Kinesio Taping was applied to support the function of the gastrocnemius muscle. The measurements of distance and time until claudication pain, blood flow of arteries in lower limbs and ankle brachial index were taken under evaluation. Examination performed after Kinesio Taping therapy showed statistically significant increase in gait parameters and muscle strength in patients with intermittent claudication. The Kinesio Taping method has clinically significant effects on enhancement of pain-free distance and time until claudication pain in patients with peripheral artery disease. Kinesio Taping application can be used to support non-invasive treatment in patients with intermittent claudication. Kinesio Taping can be employed as an alternative way of therapy for patients with orthopedic or cardiac contraindications to be treated with treadmill training.

Keywords: intermittent claudication, kinesiotaping, peripheral artery disease, treadmill training

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Authors: Babatunde Osabiya

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Cybersecurity has emerged as a pressing policy problem in recent years, affecting individuals, businesses, and governments worldwide. This research paper aims to critically review the literature on cybersecurity policy and apply policy theory to propose a policy approach that balances the freedom to access and use technology with the human rights risks and threats posed by cyber. Drawing on various credible sources, the paper examines the scale and seriousness of cyber threats, highlighting the growing threat posed by cybercriminals, hackers, and nation-states. The paper also identifies the key challenges facing policymakers, including the need for more significant investment in cybersecurity research and development and the importance of balancing the benefits of technological innovation with the risks to privacy, security, and human rights. To address these challenges, the paper proposes a policy approach emphasizing investing in cybersecurity research and development to maintain a technological edge over potential adversaries. This approach also highlights the need for greater collaboration between government, industry, and civil society to develop effective cybersecurity policies and practices that protect the rights and freedoms of people while mitigating the risks posed by cyber threats. This paper will contribute to the growing body of literature on cybersecurity policy and offers a policy framework for addressing this critical policy challenge.

Keywords: security risk, legal framework, cyber security and policy, national security

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Authors: Sanjeet Kumar Singh, Shantanu Bhatacharya

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Design of high-efficiency low, frequency (<1000Hz) soundproof window or wall absorber which is transparent to airflow is presented. Due to the massive rise in human population and modernization, environmental noise has significantly risen globally. Prolonged noise exposure can cause severe physiological and psychological symptoms like nausea, headaches, fatigue, and insomnia. There has been continuous growth in building construction and infrastructure like offices, bus stops, and airports due to the urban population. Generally, a ventilated window is used for getting fresh air into the room, but at the same time, unwanted noise comes along. Researchers used traditional approaches like noise barrier mats in front of the window or designed the entire window using sound-absorbing materials. However, this solution is not aesthetically pleasing, and at the same time, it's heavy and not adequate for low-frequency noise shielding. To address this challenge, we design a transparent hexagonal panel based on the Sierpiński fractal triangle, which is aesthetically pleasing and demonstrates a normal incident sound absorption coefficient of more than 0.96 around 700 Hz and transmission loss of around 23 dB while maintaining e air circulation through the triangular cutout. Next, we present a concept of fabrication of large acoustic panels for large-scale applications, which leads to suppressing urban noise pollution.

Keywords: acoustic metamaterials, ventilation, urban noise pollution, noise control

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Authors: Bahareh Asefi, Fereidoun Farzaneh, Ghazaleh Asefi

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Continuous increasing food waste produced on a global as well as national scale may lead to burgeoning environmental and economic problems. Simultaneously, decreasing the use efficiencies of natural resources such as land, water, and energy is occurring. On the other hand, food waste has a high-energy content, which seems ideal to achieve dual benefits in terms of energy recovery and the improvement of resource use efficiencies. Therefore, to decrease the environmental impacts of food waste and resource conservation, the researcher has focused on traditional methods of using food waste as a resource through different approaches such as anaerobic digestion, composting, incineration, and landfill. The adverse environmental effects of growing food waste make it difficult for traditional food waste treatment and management methods to balance social, economic, and environmental benefits. The old technology does not need to develop, but several new technologies such as microbial fuel cells, food waste disposal, and bio-converting food waste technology still need to establish or appropriately considered. It is pointed out that some new technologies can take into account various benefits. Since the information about food waste and its management method is critical for executable policy, a review of the latest information regarding the source of food waste and its management technology in some counties is provided in this study.

Keywords: food waste, management technology, innovative method, bio converting food waste, microbial fuel cell

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Authors: Popoola M. Oyenola

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Concrete plays the important role and a huge percentage of concrete is being utilized in every construction practices. Natural river sand is one of the major ingredients of concrete, is becoming expensive due to excessive cost of accessibility from sources. Also large scale depletion of sources creates environmental problems. Therefore, there is a need of economic alternative materials. Quarry dust is a waste obtained during quarrying process. It has been rampantly used in different construction practices and could be used as an effective fine aggregate instead of river sand. Partial and total replacement of fine aggregate in conventional concrete with quarry dust has been empirically conducted with the view to examining primarily the compressive strength of the resulting composite and possible total utilization of quarry dust as fine aggregate in the production of medium grade concrete. The results of the study showed that its specific gravity, porosity and water absorption showed satisfactory performance. The percentage replacement of natural river sand with quarry dust for a designed strength of 25N/mm2 varied at intervals of 10% up to a maximum value of 100%. A total of 132 cubes of 150 x 150 x 150mm were cast and tested at 7, 14 and 28 days of hydration. Compressive strength increases with curing age in all the mixes. Compressive strength decreases with increase in percentage of quarry dust. Generally the compressive strength of concrete incorporating quarry dust attained strength of 22.47 N/mm2 after 28 days which makes it a suitable aggregate for the production medium grade concrete.

Keywords: quarry dust, concrete, aggregates, compressive strength

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Authors: S. El-Azzeh, A. Al-Aqqad, M. Salem, H. Al-Khaldi, S. Thaher

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Thermal comfort studies are very important during the early stages of the building’s design. If this study was ignored, problems will start to occur for the occupants in the future. In hot climates, where solar radiations are entering buildings all year long, occupant’s thermal comfort in office buildings needs to be examined. This study aims to investigate the thermal comfort at an existing office building at the Australian College of Kuwait and test its validity and improve occupant’s thermal satisfaction by covering windows with a heat rejection tint material that enables sunlight to pass through the office while reflecting solar heat outside. Environmental variables were measured using thermal comfort data logger INNOVA 1221 to find the predicted mean vote (PMV) in the selected location. Also, subjective variables were measured to find the actual mean vote (AMV) through surveys distributed among occupants in the selected case study office. All the variables collected were analyzed and classified according to international standards ISO 7730 and ASHRAE55. The results of this study showed improvement in both PMV and AMV. The mean value of PMV based on the original design was 0.691 which dropped to 0.32 after installation and it still at comfort zone. Also, the mean value of the AMV has improved for the first occupant, where before it was -0.46 and it became -1 which is cooler. For the other occupant, it was slightly warm with a mean value of 0.9 and it was improved and became cooler with a -0.25 mean value based on American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) seven-point scale.

Keywords: thermal comfort, office buildings, indoor environments, predicted mean vote

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Authors: Sharareh Hekmat, Michelle Lane

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Pregnancy during adolescence affects both the growth and development of mother and baby, particularly in low socioeconomic and food insecure areas. This mixed methods study is aimed at discovering a need for a community-based probiotic yogurt program to assist pregnant women in the Mukuru slum Nairobi, Kenya. Surveys were conducted with pregnant women (14-25 years old, n=43), which included questionnaires on dietary intake, food access, and health/quality of life perception. The frequency and means procedure was used to analyze maternal characteristics, Women’s Dietary Diversity Score (WDDS) and Household Hunger Scale. 24-hour recalls were analyzed via ESHA Food Processor, and median nutrient intakes were reported as a percent of recommendations. An environmental scan was conducted to assess food availability, accessibility, and quality. WDDS reflected a low-moderate diet variation (3.86 food groups out of 9, SD ± 1.3) among the women. The 24-hour recall suggested an inadequate intake of many nutrients, most significantly B12, potassium and calcium. 86% of women reported little to no household hunger. However, the environmental scan revealed low quality and poor sanitation of food. This study provides evidence that a probiotic program would be desirable, and contribute to the nutritional status of women in the Mukuru community.

Keywords: dietary diversity, pregnant women, probiotics, urban slum, Kenya

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Authors: Marzieh Yassin, Azizeh Parandnia, Javad Sarrafzadeh, Reza Salehi

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Background: Myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) are one of the main causes of musculoskeletal pain syndromes and are associated with pain, tenderness, and limited range of motion (ROM). This study compared the effectiveness of high-intensity laser therapy (HILT) and dry needling (DN) on pain intensity, pain pressure threshold, cervical range of motion and disability in people with chronic neck pain. Method and Material: 30 patients with chronic neck pain were randomly divided into two groups: a HILT group (n=15) and a DN group (n=15). Treatment sessions were performed for three weeks, and all participants received related intervention twice a week (5 sessions). The pain level was measured using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS); the pain pressure threshold (PPT) was measured using a digital algometer; perceived disability was measured using the neck disability index (NDI); and cervical range of movements (CROMs) were measured using an iPhone app (lateral flexion) and a goniometer (Rotation). Results: In both the dry needling and high-intensity laser therapy groups, the pain and neck disability were significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Also, the pain pressure threshold and cervical range of motions were significantly increased in both groups. However, there was no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Both high-intensity laser therapy and dry needling can be used to treat chronic neck pain.

Keywords: chronic neck pain, dry needling, high intensity laser therapy (HILT), pain, pain pressure threshold

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Authors: Thanida Sritangthong, Suksun Amornraksa

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By-product upgrading is crucial in hydrocarbon industries as it can increase overall profit margin of the business. Microwave-assisted pyrolysis is relatively new technique which induces heat directly to raw materials. This results in a more energy saving and more energy-efficient process. It is also a promising method to enhance and accelerate chemical reactions, thus reducing the pyrolysis reaction time and increasing the quality of value-added products from different kinds of feedstocks. In this study, upgrading opportunity of fuel oil by-product from an olefins plant is investigated by means of microwave pyrolysis. The experiment was conducted in a lab-scale quartz reactor placed inside a 1,100 watts household microwave oven. Operating temperature was varied from 500 to 900C to observe the consequence on the quality of pyrolysis products. Several microwave receptors i.e. activated carbon, silicon carbide (SiC) and copper oxide (CuO) were used as a material to enhance the heating and reaction in the reactor. The effect of residence time was determined by adjusting flow rate of N2 carrier gas. The chemical composition and product yield were analyzed by using gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The results showed that hydrogen, methane, ethylene, and ethane were obtained as the main gaseous products from all operating temperatures while the main liquid products were alkane, cycloalkane and polycyclic aromatic groups. The results indicated that microwave pyrolysis has a potential to upgrade low value hydrocarbons to high value products.

Keywords: fuel oil, heavy hydrocarbons, microwave pyrolysis, pyrolysis

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Authors: Sukovatov K.Yu., Bezuglova N.N.

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Winter precipitation variability over the Altai Krai was investigated by retrieving temporal patterns. The spectral singular analysis was used to describe the variance distribution and to reduce the precipitation data into a few components (modes). The associated time series were related to large-scale atmospheric and oceanic circulation indices by using lag cross-correlation and wavelet-coherence analysis. GPCC monthly precipitation data for rectangular field limited by 50-550N, 77-880E and monthly climatological circulation index data for the cold season were used to perform SSA decomposition and retrieve statistics for analyzed parameters on the time period 1951-2017. Interannual variability of winter precipitation over the Altai Krai are mostly caused by three natural factors: intensity variations of momentum exchange between mid and polar latitudes over the North Atlantic (explained variance 11.4%); wind speed variations in equatorial stratosphere (quasi-biennial oscillation, explained variance 15.3%); and surface temperature variations for equatorial Pacific sea (ENSO, explained variance 2.8%). It is concluded that under the current climate conditions (Arctic amplification and increasing frequency of meridional processes in mid-latitudes) the second and the third factors are giving more significant contribution into explained variance of interannual variability for cold season atmospheric precipitation over the Altai Krai than the first factor.

Keywords: interannual variability, winter precipitation, Altai Krai, wavelet-coherence

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Authors: Mania Nosratinia, Zahra Deris

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The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between EFL learners' self-regulation (SR) and willingness to communicate (WTC). To this end, 520 male and female EFL learners, ranging between 19 and 34 years old (Mage = 26), majoring in English Translation, English Language Teaching and English Literature at Islamic Azad University, Fars Province, were randomly selected. They were given two questionnaires: Self-Regulation Questionnaire devised by Brown, Miller, and Lawendowski (1999) and Willingness to Communicate Scale devised by McCroskey and Baer (1985). Preliminarily, pertinent analyses were performed on the data to check the assumptions of normality, linearity, and homoscedasticity. Since the assumption of normality was violated, Spearman's rank-order correlation was employed to probe the relationships between SR and WTC. The results indicated a significant and positive correlation between the two variables, ρ = .56, n = 520, p < .05, which signified a large effect size supplemented by a very small confidence interval (0.503 – 0.619). The results of the Kruskal-Wallis tests indicated that there is a statistically significant difference in WTC score between the different levels of SR, χ2(2) = 157.843, p = 0.000 with a mean rank SR score of 128.13 for low-SR level, 286.64 for mid-SR level, and 341.12 for high-SR level. Also, a post-hoc comparison through running a Dwass-Steel-Critchlow-Fligner indicated significant differences among the SR level groups on WTC scores. Given the findings of the study, the obtained results may help EFL teachers, teacher trainers, and material developers to possess a broader perspective towards the TEFL practice and to take practical steps towards the attainments of the desired objectives and effective instruction.

Keywords: EFL learner, self-regulation, willingness to communicate, relationship

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Authors: Toake Endoh

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Cross-border migration of people is a critical driver for sustainable economic development in the Asia-Pacific region. Meanwhile, the region is susceptible to mega-scale natural disasters, such as tsunami, earthquakes, and typhoons. When migrants are stranded in a foreign country by a disaster, who should be responsible for their safety and security? What legal or moral foundation is there to advocate for the protection and assistance of “migrants at risk (M@R)”? How can the states practice “good governance” in their response to displacement of the foreign migrants? This paper inquires how to protect foreign migrants displaced by a natural disaster under international law and proposes protective actions to be taken by of migrant-receiver governments. First, the paper discusses the theoretical foundation for protection of M@R and argues that the nation-states are charged of responsibility to protect at-risk foreigners as “internally displaced persons” in the light of the United Nations’ Guiding Principles of Internal Displacement (1998). Second, through the case study of the Kobe Earthquake in Japan (1995), the Tsunami in Thailand (2004), and the Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. (2005), the paper evaluates how effectively (or poorly) institutions and state actors addressed the specific vulnerability felt by M@R in these crises.

Keywords: internal displaced persons, natural disaster, international migration, responsibility to protect

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Authors: Umar Adli Amran, Tan Choon Chek, Mohd Shahkhirat Norizan, Then Kek Hoe

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Controlled release fertilizer (CRF) enables a regulated nutrients release for more efficient plant uptake compared to the normal granular fertilizer. It reduces nutrients loss via surface run-off and leaching, hence promotes sustainable agriculture. Although the performance of CRF in providing consistent and timely nutrients supply is well known, its expensive price limits it usage in a large scale plantation. This study is conducted to evaluate the properties and performance of bio-based polyurethane (PU)-coated CRF via laboratory and oil palm main nursery trial. The CRF is produced by coating of a normal commercial compound granular fertilizer from FGV Fertiliser Sdn. Bhd., namely Felda 10 (10.5-8-20-3+0.5B), and designated as CRF FGV10. Based on laboratory evaluation, the CRF FGV10 can sustain nutrients release for more than 6 months. Vegetative growth parameters such as girth size, palm height, third frond length, and the total number of fronds produced were recorded. Besides that, dry biomass of the oil palm seedlings was also determined. From the evaluation, it is proved that at 50% reduction of nutrients application rate and for only two times application (T3), CRF FGV10 enabled the oil palm seedlings to achieve similar vegetative growth with the control samples (T1). It is also proven that only PU-coated CRF FGV10 had allowed the reduction of fertilizer rate and application rounds.

Keywords: nutrition, oil palm seedlings, polyurethane, sustainable manuring, vegetative growth

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Authors: Hassan Abo-Salem, Huang Xiaolin

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Background and Purpose: The effectiveness of mirror therapy (MT) has been investigated in acute hemiplegia. The present study examines whether MT, given during chronic stroke, was more effective in promoting motor recovery of the lower extremity and walking speed than standard rehabilitation alone. Methods: The study enrolled 30 patients with chronic stroke. Fifteen patients each were assigned to the treatment group and the control group. All patients received a conventional rehabilitation program for a 4-week period. In addition to this rehabilitation program, patients in the treatment group received mirror therapy for 4 weeks, 5 days a week. Main measures: Passive ankle joint dorsiflexion range of motion, gait speed, Brunnstrom stages of motor recovery, plantarflexor muscle tone by Modified Ashworth Scale. Results: Results: No significant difference was found in the outcome measures among groups before treatment. When compared with standard rehabilitation, mirror therapy improved Ankle ROM, Brunnstrom stages and waking speed (p < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences between two groups on MAS (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Mirror therapy combined with a conventional stroke rehabilitation program enhances lower-extremity motor recovery and walking speed in chronic stroke patients.

Keywords: mirror therapy, stroke, MAS, walking speed

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Authors: Moschos Vogiatzis, K. Perakis

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Spatial-explicit and up-to-date land use/land cover information is fundamental for spatial planning, land management, sustainable development, and sound decision-making. In the last decade, many satellite-derived land cover products at different spatial, spectral, and temporal resolutions have been developed, such as the European Copernicus Land Cover product. However, more efficient and detailed information for land use/land cover is required at the regional or local scale. A typical Mediterranean basin with a complex landscape comprised of various forest types, crops, artificial surfaces, and wetlands was selected to test and develop our approach. In this study, we investigate the improvement of Copernicus Land Cover product (CLC2018) using Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 pixel-based classification based on all available existing geospatial data (Forest Maps, LPIS, Natura2000 habitats, cadastral parcels, etc.). We examined and compared the performance of the Random Forest classifier for land use/land cover mapping. In total, 10 land use/land cover categories were recognized in Landsat 8 and 11 in Sentinel-2A. A comparison of the overall classification accuracies for 2018 shows that Landsat 8 classification accuracy was slightly higher than Sentinel-2A (82,99% vs. 80,30%). We concluded that the main land use/land cover types of CLC2018, even within a heterogeneous area, can be successfully mapped and updated according to CLC nomenclature. Future research should be oriented toward integrating spatiotemporal information from seasonal bands and spectral indexes in the classification process.

Keywords: classification, land use/land cover, mapping, random forest

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Authors: Mbongeni Mabaso, Kandasamy Moodley, Gan Redhi

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The recovery of industrially valuable organic solvents from liquid waste, generated in chemical processes, is economically crucial to countries which need to import organic solvents. In view of this, the main objective of this study was to determine the ability of selected ionic liquids, namely, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethylsulphate, [EMIM] [ESO4] and 1-ethyl-3-methylpyridinium ethylsulphate, [EMpy][ESO4] to recover aromatic components from spent paint solvents. Preliminary studies done on the liquid waste, received from a paint manufacturing company, showed that the aromatic components were present in the range 6 - 21 % by volume. The separation of the aromatic components was performed with the ionic liquids listed above. The phases, resulting from the separation of the mixtures, were analysed with a Gas Chromatograph (GC) coupled to a FID detector. Chromatograms illustrate that the chosen ZB-Wax-Plus column gave excellent separation of all components of interest from the mixtures, including the isomers of xylene. The concentrations of aromatics recovered from the spent solvents were found to be the % ranges 13-33 and 23-49 respectively for imidazolium and pyridinium ionic liquids. These results also show that there is a significant correlation between π-character of ionic liquids and the level of extraction. It is therefore concluded that ionic liquids have the potential for macro-scale recovery of re-useable solvents present in liquid waste emanating from paint manufacture.

Keywords: synthesis, ionic liquid, imidazolium, pyridinium, extraction, aromatic solvents, spent paint organic solvents

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Authors: Megi Surmanidze

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The relations between tourists and the population is essentially important to develop tourism. This global branch is an incoming stream and plays the huge economy role in the country is development. This branch is important for adjarian region as well as for Batumi as a touristic city. When lots of tourists visit our city, the relationship and attitudes between tourists and the local population is too important and play the determinant role whether they will visit the country again or not. Receptivness is on actual accompanying process typical for tourism as a growing incoming business direction, and its necessary to be studied the problems and touristic relationships. The aim of the article is to show the importance of receptibility in the business touristic industry also, the topic was to show the dimension scale of receptibility revearing in Batumi population. The topic itself is of hight importance as the touristic business is growing day by day, though the helpful and disturbing social couses were left out of focus were dencely connected to the relations between tourists and the local population. The value is real and directly proportional to the relationship between tourists and the population. The qualitative social research was fulfield. The method to get information was deepened interview. the method gave us the opportunity to get acquented to the actors points of view, also it was suitable points of view, also it was suitable to create favourable conditions to respodents be sincere during interviev and don’t hide their real emotions and the opinions.

Keywords: tourism industry, receptiveness, cultural identity, xenophobia

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Authors: Shivani Kolarkar

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Splendid growth in Indian IT has generated women employment on a large scale in India and continues to do it. Indian IT industry has achieved this in spite of total masculine dominance in other Indian engineering industries, where the ratio of women employment is almost negligible as compared to men. Indian IT today proudly enjoys a strong pool of technically educated, intellectual, and skillful women employees. IT industry has encouraged technical education for women in India, to a great extent. The software industry has definitely contributed to developing a positive and dignified role and status of women employees in Indian IT industry. It has promoted women’s social and economic role and status. In spite of all, gender discrimination still persists in Indian IT, also, which is low as compared to other industries, but it is a matter of concern. An Indian woman is bound to carry dual roles which are equally over-stressed for IT women employees. Long working hours, night shifts, work pressures and insufficient safety majors and necessary facilities for women contributes to making her physical-mental life, family and married life troublesome. Which forces her either to cluster at low-end jobs in IT/elsewhere or to sacrifice her career. Nature, role and status of HRM needs to be broadened, deepened and shaped into research-oriented multidimensional perspective in the context of really enhancing role and status of Indian IT women with high appreciation of women employees’ dignity and entity.

Keywords: attrition, gender discrimination, HRM, Indian IT, software industry, job satisfaction, safety, technical education, women employment

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Authors: Feng Tao, Han Ye, Shaoyi Liao

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City constructions collapse after earthquake and people will be buried under ruins. Search and rescue should be conducted as soon as possible to save them. Therefore, according to the complicated environment, irregular aftershocks and rescue allow of no delay, a kind of target localization method based on RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication) is proposed in this article. The target localization technology based on RSSI with the features of low cost and low complexity has been widely applied to nodes localization in WSN (Wireless Sensor Networks). Based on the theory of RSSI transmission and the environment impact to RSSI, this article conducts the experiments in five scenes, and multiple filtering algorithms are applied to original RSSI value in order to establish the signal propagation model with minimum test error respectively. Target location can be calculated from the distance, which can be estimated from signal propagation model, through improved centroid algorithm. Result shows that the localization technology based on RSSI is suitable for large-scale nodes localization. Among filtering algorithms, mixed filtering algorithm (average of average, median and Gaussian filtering) performs better than any other single filtering algorithm, and by using the signal propagation model, the minimum error of distance between known nodes and target node in the five scene is about 3.06m.

Keywords: signal propagation model, centroid algorithm, localization, mixed filtering, RSSI

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