Search results for: theory of resources and capabilities

Authors: Johanna Aromaa

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This paper presents a development project aimed at enhancing student-teachers' awareness of the role of the body in teaching and learning. In this project, theory and practice are brought into dialogue through workshops of body work that utilize art-based and somatic methods. They are carried out in a special course for educating teachers in a Finnish University. Expected results from the project include: 1) the participants become aware of the multiple roles that the body has in educational encounters, and with it, develop a more holistic approach to teaching and learning, 2) the participants gain access to and learn to form bodily knowledge, 3) a working model on enhancing student-teachers' awareness of the role of bodily knowledge in teacher’s work is developed. Innovative methods as well as a radical rethinking of the nature of teaching and learning are needed if we are to appreciate knowing body in the future schools.

Keywords: bodily knowledge, the body, somatic methods, teacher education

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Authors: Pavan K. Rallabandi, Kailash C. Patidar

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In this paper, we present an optimization technique or a learning algorithm using the hybrid architecture by combining the most popular sequence recognition models such as Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) and Hidden Markov models (HMMs). In order to improve the sequence or pattern recognition/ classification performance by applying a hybrid/neural symbolic approach, a gradient descent learning algorithm is developed using the Real Time Recurrent Learning of Recurrent Neural Network for processing the knowledge represented in trained Hidden Markov Models. The developed hybrid algorithm is implemented on automata theory as a sample test beds and the performance of the designed algorithm is demonstrated and evaluated on learning the deterministic finite state automata.

Keywords: hybrid systems, hidden markov models, recurrent neural networks, deterministic finite state automata

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Authors: Lauren G. Coggins

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Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) and central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) are among the most common healthcare-associated infections (HAI), contributing to prolonged lengths of stay, greater costs of patient care, and increased patient mortality. Evidence-based preventative care bundles exist to establish consistent, safe patient-care practices throughout an entire organization, helping to ensure the collective application of care strategies that aim to improve patient outcomes and minimize complications. The cardiac intensive care unit at a nationally ranked teaching and research hospital in the United States exceeded its annual CAUTI and CLABSI targets in the fiscal year 2019, prompting examination into the unit’s infection prevention efforts that included preventative care bundles for both HAIs. Adherence to the CAUTI and CLABSI preventative care bundles was evaluated through frequent audits conducted over three months, using standards and resources from The Joint Commission, a globally recognized leader in quality improvement in healthcare and patient care safety. The bundle elements with the lowest scores were identified as the most commonly missed elements. Three elements from both bundles, six elements in total, served as key content areas for the educational interventions targeted to bedside nurses. The CAUTI elements included appropriate urinary catheter order, appropriate continuation criteria, and urinary catheter care. The CLABSI elements included primary tubing compliance, needleless connector compliance, and dressing change compliance. An integrated, multi-platform education campaign featured content on each CAUTI and CLABSI preventative care bundle in its entirety, with additional reinforcement focused on the lowest scoring elements. One-on-one educational materials included an informational pamphlet, badge buddy, a presentation to reinforce nursing care standards, and real-time application through case studies and electronic health record demonstrations. A digital hub was developed on the hospital’s Intranet for quick access to unit resources, and a bulletin board helped track the number of days since the last CAUTI and CLABSI incident. Audits continued to be conducted throughout the education campaign, and staff were given real-time feedback to address any gaps in adherence. Nearly every nurse in the cardiac intensive care unit received all educational materials, and adherence to all six key bundle elements increased after the implementation of educational interventions. Recommendations from this implementation include providing consistent, comprehensive education across multiple teaching tools and regular audits to track adherence. The multi-platform education campaign brought focus to the evidence-based CAUTI and CLABSI bundles, which in turn will help to reduce CAUTI and CLABSI rates in clinical practice.

Keywords: education, healthcare-associated infections, infection, nursing, prevention

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Authors: Luis A. Paipa-Galeano, Yavar Jarrah-Nezhad, César A. Bernal-Torres

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This paper presents a case study of four companies in an emerging economy to identify the key success factors and barriers to sustaining continuous improvement practices. The study analyzes the empirical evidence and compares it to the literature review to provide insights for companies looking to increase their maturity level in this area. The five success factors identified are the availability of resources, commitment and support from management, participation of employees in identifying tasks to improve, clear and realistic objectives for continuous improvement, and the existence of a leader or responsible for continuous improvement. The major barriers to success are a lack of alignment between the organization’s strategic objectives and continuous improvement objectives, a lack of motivation in the team, and resistance to change. The paper concludes with recommendations for companies to reduce the risk of improvement failure and increase their maturity level in continuous improvement.

Keywords: emerging economies, Kaizen, continuous improvement sustainability, maturity model

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Authors: Katherine Denise Queri

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The effects of sick workers have an impact in administration of labor. This study aims to provide knowledge on the disease that is Alzheimer’s while presenting an answer to the research question of when and how is the disease considered as a disaster inside the workplace. The study has the following as its research objectives: 1. Define Alzheimer’s disease, 2. Evaluate the effects and consequences of an employee suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, 3. Determine the concept of organizational effectiveness in the area of Human Resources, and 4. Identify common figures associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The researcher gathered important data from books, video presentations, and interviews of workers suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and from the internet. After using all the relevant data collection instruments mentioned, the following data emerged: 1. Alzheimer’s disease has certain consequences inside the workplace, 2. The occurrence of Alzheimer’s Disease in an employee’s life greatly affects the company where the worker is employed, and 3. The concept of workplace efficiency suggests that an employer must prepare for such disasters that Alzheimer’s disease may bring to the company where one is employed. Alzheimer’s disease can present disaster in any workplace.

Keywords: administration, Alzheimer's disease, conflict, disaster, employment

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Authors: Zhi Huang

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This study follows on from previous survey and focus group research exploring the effective teaching process in a translation classroom in Australian universities through case study method. The data analysis draws on social constructivist theory in translation teaching and focuses on teaching process aiming to discover how effective translation teachers conduct teaching in the classroom. The results suggest that effective teaching requires the teacher to have ability in four aspects: classroom management, classroom pedagogy, classroom communication, and teacher roles. Effective translation teachers are able to control the whole learning process, facilitate students in independent learning, guide students to be more critical about translation, giving both positive and negative feedback for students to reflect on their own, and being supportive, patient and encouraging to students for better classroom communication and learning outcomes. This study can be applied to other teachers in translation so that they can reflect on their own teaching in their education contexts and strive for being a more qualified translation teacher and achieving teaching effectiveness.

Keywords: case study, classroom observation, classroom teaching, effective translation teaching, teacher effectiveness

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Authors: Ainul Haque, Ameeye Kumar Nayak

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Flow enhancement and species transport in a slit hydrophobic microchannel is studied for non-Newtonian fluids with the externally imposed electric field and pressure gradient. The incompressible Poisson-Nernst-Plank equations and the Navier-Stokes equations are approximated by lubrication theory to quantify the flow structure due to hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces. The analytical quantification of velocity and pressure of electroosmotic flow (EOF) is made with the numerical results due to the staggered grid based finite volume method for flow governing equations. The resistance force due to fluid friction and shear force along the surface are decreased by the hydrophobicity, enables the faster movement of fluid particles. The resulting flow enhancement factor Ef is increased with the low viscous fluid and provides maximum species transport. Also, the analytical comparison of EOF with pressure driven EOF justifies the flow enhancement due to hydrophobicity and shear impact on flow variation.

Keywords: electroosmotic flow, hydrophobic surface, power-law fluid, shear effect

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Authors: Yasemi Mehran, Parsa Mehran, Farzingohar Mehrnaz

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Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing has been identified as one of the most serious threats to the sustainability of the world’s fisheries. In the present study, illegal and unreported fishing of different species in waters of Persian Gulf and Oman Sea (Hormozgan province) were evaluated. Among 47 species of 33 families identified in this study, with 39 species belong to teleosts, 4 species belong to elasmobranchs and 4 species belong to invertebrate. The total weight of illegal and unreported catch were 78525.22 tonnes. Maximum and minimum values were found for Dussumiera acuta (20640.74 tonnes) and Tenualosa ilisha (0.733 tonnes), respectively. The most commercial species group was scombridae, carangidae and clupeidae, respectively. Teleosts with 91.15%, elasmobranchs with 4.82 and invertebrates with 4.03% constituted total weight of illegal and unreported fishing. Results of this study provide valuable information in order to access a sustainable management on fish resources.

Keywords: catch composition, illegal, unreported fishing, Hormozgan province

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Authors: Khalid Obaed Mahmod, Mesut Cevik

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The term smart city has appeared recently and was accompanied by many definitions and concepts, but as a simplified and clear definition, it can be said that the smart city is a geographical location that has gained efficiency and flexibility in providing public services to citizens through its use of technological and communication technologies, and this is what distinguishes it from other cities. Smart cities connect the various components of the city through the main and sub-networks in addition to a set of applications and thus be able to collect data that is the basis for providing technological solutions to manage resources and provide services. The basis of the work of the smart city is the use of artificial intelligence and the technology of the Internet of Things. The work presents the concept of smart cities, the pillars, standards, and evaluation indicators on which smart cities depend, and the reasons that prompted the world to move towards its establishment. It also provides a simplified hypothetical way to measure the ideal smart city model by defining some indicators and key pillars, simulating them with logic circuits, and testing them to determine if the city can be considered an ideal smart city or not.

Keywords: factors, indicators, logic gates, pillars, smart city

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Authors: Isa Ahmadi, Ramin Khamedi

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In this paper, the elasto-plastic and cyclic torsion of a shaft is studied using a finite element method. The Prager kinematic hardening theory of plasticity with the Ramberg and Osgood stress-strain equation is used to evaluate the cyclic loading behavior of the shaft under the torsional loading. The material of shaft is assumed to follow the non-linear strain hardening property based on the Prager model. The finite element method with C1 continuity is developed and used for solution of the governing equations of the problem. The successive substitution iterative method is used to calculate the distribution of stresses and plastic strains in the shaft due to cyclic loads. The shear stress, effective stress, residual stress and elastic and plastic shear strain distribution are presented in the numerical results.

Keywords: cyclic loading, finite element analysis, Prager kinematic hardening model, torsion of shaft

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Authors: Wajdan Al Malwi, Karen Renaud, Lewis Mackenzie

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The privacy paradox describes a phenomenon whereby there is no connection between stated privacy concerns and privacy behaviours. We need to understand the underlying reasons for this paradox if we are to help users to preserve their privacy more effectively. In particular, the Social Networking System (SNS) domain offers a rich area of investigation due to the risks of unwise information disclosure decisions. Our study thus aims to untangle the complicated nature and underlying mechanisms of online privacy-related decisions in SNSs. In this paper, we report on the findings of a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) that revealed a number of factors that are likely to influence online privacy decisions. Our deductive analysis approach was informed by Communicative Privacy Management (CPM) theory. We uncovered a lack of clarity around privacy attitudes and their link to behaviours, which makes it challenging to design privacy-protecting SNS platforms and to craft legislation to ensure that users’ privacy is preserved.

Keywords: privacy paradox, self-disclosure, privacy attitude, privacy behavior, social networking sites

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Authors: Gabriela Prins, Quinette Louw, Dawn Ernstzen

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Background: Access to rehabilitation services is a major challenge globally, especially in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs) where resources and infrastructure are extremely limited. Telerehabilitation (TR) has emerged in recent decades as a highly promising method to dramatically expand accessibility to rehabilitation services globally. TR provides rehabilitation care remotely using communication technologies such as video conferencing, smartphones, and internet-connected devices. This boosts accessibility to underprivileged regions and allows for greater flexibility for patients. Despite this, TR is hindered by several factors, including limited technological resources, high costs, lack of digital access, and the unavailability of healthcare systems, which are major barriers to widespread adoption among LMIC patients. These barriers have collectively hindered the potential implementation and adoption of TR services in LMICs healthcare settings. Adoption of TR will also require the buy-in of end users and limited information is known on the perspectives of the SA population. Aim: The study aimed to understand patients' perspectives regarding the use of digital technology as part of their OA rehabilitation at a public community healthcare centre in the Cape Metropole Area. Methods: A qualitative descriptive study design was used on 10 OA patients from a public community rehabilitation centre in South Africa. Data collection included semi-structured interviews and patient-reported outcome measures (PSFS, ASES-8, and EuroQol EQ-5D-5L) on functioning and quality of life. Transcribed interview data were coded in Atlas.ti. 22.2 and analyzed using thematic analysis. The results were narratively documented. Results: Four themes arose from the interviews. The themes were Telerehabilitation awareness (Use of Digital Technology Information Sources and Prior Experience with Technology /TR), Telerehabilitation Benefits (Access to healthcare providers, Access to educational information, Convenience, Time and Resource Efficiency and Facilitating Family Involvement), Telerehabilitation Implementation Considerations (Openness towards TR Implementation, Learning about TR and Technology, Therapeutic relationship, and Privacy) and Future use of Telerehabilitation (Personal Preference and TR for the next generation). The ten participants demonstrated limited awareness and exposure to TR, as well as minimal digital literacy and skills. Skepticism was shown when comparing the effectiveness of TR to in-person rehabilitation and valued physical interactions with health professionals. However, some recognized potential benefits of TR for accessibility, convenience, family involvement and improving community health in the long term. Willingness existed to try TR with sufficient training. Conclusion: With targeted efforts addressing identified barriers around awareness, technological literacy, clinician readiness and resource availability, perspectives on TR may shift positively from uncertainty towards endorsement of this expanding approach for simpler rehabilitation access in LMICs.

Keywords: digital technology, osteoarthritis, primary health care, telerehabilitation

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Authors: Sehba Saleem

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A country with a spread of only 2.4 percent of the total land surface area of the world, India is home to 17.5 percent of the world population. This fact is sufficient enough to delineate as well as simultaneously bringing to fore the paradox which exists between land and human population. It is evident that the relation which exists between both is an unequal one where the latter has the ability to multiply self, but the former remains constant. This unequal relation that exists has very significantly contributed to the depletion in the quality of land. This is because construction of every kind and nature has been forced on the land to assimilate the ever increasing population which has altered the not only the land but the environment which existed on the land. To get behind this alteration, it becomes imperative to delve into concepts like urbanization, ecology and their amalgam viz. urban ecology. The concept of urban ecology does not only involve study of buildings, flora, and fauna which exists in a given land space. It goes further into establishing a relation between construction on land and the consequent harm, which the same is causing to the environmental resources like air, water etc. This paper shall try cerebrating concepts of urbanization, ecology and urban ecology in the light of relation which exists between man and nature.

Keywords: asymmetrical growth, environment, urbanisation, urban space

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Authors: Rama Seth, Luise Noring, Pratim Majumdar

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Based on an extensive literature review, this paper presents distinct approaches to value, quantify and trade ecosystem services, with particular emphasis on services provided by mangroves and wetlands. Building on diverse monetary and market-based systems for the improved allocation of natural resources, such trading and exchange-based methods can help tackle the degradation of ecosystem services in a more targeted and structured manner than achievable with stand-alone policy and administrative regulations. Using various threads of literature, the paper proposes a platform that serves as the skeletal foundation for developing an efficient global market for ecosystem services trading. The paper bridges a significant research and practice gap by recommending how to establish an equilibrium in the biosphere via trading mechanisms while also discovering other research gaps and future research potential in the domain of ecosystem valuation.

Keywords: environment, economics, mangroves, wetlands, markets, ESG, global capital, climate investments, valuation, ecosystem services

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Authors: Ivy Chen XQ

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This research places a much-needed focus on the conservation of the Blue Economy (BE) by focusing on the design and development of monitoring systems to track critical indicators on the status of the BE. In this process, local experiences provide an insight into important community issues, as well as the necessity to cooperate and collaborate in order to achieve sustainable options. Researchers worldwide and industry initiatives over the last decade show that the exploitation of marine resources has resulted in a significant decrease in the share of total allowable catch (TAC). The result has been strengthening law enforcement, yet the results have shown that problems were related to poor policies, a lack of understanding of over-exploitation, biological uncertainty and political pressures. This reality and other statistics that show a significant negative impact on the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), warrant an emphasis on the development of national M&E systems, in order to provide evidence-based information, on the nature and scale of especially transnational fisheries crime and under-sea marine resources in the BE. In particular, a need exists to establish a compendium of relevant BE indicators to assess such impact against the SDGs by using selected SDG indicators for this purpose. The research methodology consists of ATLAS.ti qualitative approach and a case study will be developed of Illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) poaching and Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) as component of the BE as it relates to the case of abalone in southern Africa and Far East. This research project will make an original contribution through the analysis and comparative assessment of available indicators, in the design process of M&E systems and developing indicators and monitoring frameworks in order to track critical trends and tendencies on the status of the BE, to ensure specific objectives to be aligned with the indicators of the SDGs framework. The research will provide a set of recommendations to governments and stakeholders involved in such projects on lessons learned, as well as priorities for future research. The research findings will enable scholars, civil society institutions, donors and public servants, to understand the capability of the M&E systems, the importance of showing multi-level governance, in the coordination of information management, together with knowledge management (KM) and M&E at the international, regional, national and local levels. This coordination should focus on a sustainable development management approach, based on addressing socio-economic challenges to the potential and sustainability of BE, with an emphasis on ecosystem resilience, social equity and resource efficiency. This research and study focus are timely as the opportunities of the post-Covid-19 crisis recovery package will be grasped to set the economy on a path to sustainable development in line with the UN 2030 Agenda. The pandemic raises more awareness for the world to eliminate IUU poaching and illegal wildlife trade (IWT).

Keywords: Blue Economy (BE), transnational governance, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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Authors: Quan Wen, Tianxiao Chang, Shaolu Shi, Yushi Wang, Guangyu Wang

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As a kind of working environment of the fuze, the spin rate decaying law of projectile in exterior trajectory is of great value in the design of the rotation count fixed distance fuze. In addition, it is significant in the field of devices for simulation tests of fuze exterior ballistic environment, flight stability, and dispersion accuracy of gun projectile and opening and scattering design of submunition and illuminating cartridges. Besides, the self-destroying mechanism of the fuze in small-caliber projectile often works by utilizing the attenuation of centrifugal force. In the theory of projectile aerodynamics and fuze design, there are many formulas describing the change law of projectile angular velocity in external ballistic such as Roggla formula, exponential function formula, and power function formula. However, these formulas are mostly semi-empirical due to the poor test conditions and insufficient test data at that time. These formulas are difficult to meet the design requirements of modern fuze because they are not accurate enough and have a narrow range of applications now. In order to provide more accurate ballistic environment parameters for the design of a hemispherical head projectile fuze, the projectile’s spin rate decaying law in exterior trajectory under the effect of air resistance was studied. In the analysis, the projectile shape was simplified as hemisphere head, cylindrical part, rotating band part, and anti-truncated conical tail. The main assumptions are as follows: a) The shape and mass are symmetrical about the longitudinal axis, b) There is a smooth transition between the ball hea, c) The air flow on the outer surface is set as a flat plate flow with the same area as the expanded outer surface of the projectile, and the boundary layer is turbulent, d) The polar damping moment attributed to the wrench hole and rifling mark on the projectile is not considered, e) The groove of the rifle on the rotating band is uniform, smooth and regular. The impacts of the four parts on aerodynamic moment of the projectile rotation were obtained by aerodynamic theory. The surface friction stress of the projectile, the polar damping moment formed by the head of the projectile, the surface friction moment formed by the cylindrical part, the rotating band, and the anti-truncated conical tail were obtained by mathematical derivation. After that, the mathematical model of angular spin rate attenuation was established. In the whole trajectory with the maximum range angle (38°), the absolute error of the polar damping torque coefficient obtained by simulation and the coefficient calculated by the mathematical model established in this paper is not more than 7%. Therefore, the credibility of the mathematical model was verified. The mathematical model can be described as a first-order nonlinear differential equation, which has no analytical solution. The solution can be only gained as a numerical solution by connecting the model with projectile mass motion equations in exterior ballistics.

Keywords: ammunition engineering, fuze technology, spin rate, numerical simulation

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Authors: Draou Azeddine, Mazin Alahmadi, Abdulrahmane Alkassem, Alamri Abdullah

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The demand for electric power in Saudi Arabia is steadily increasing with economic growth. More power plants should be installed to increase generation capacity and meet demand. Electricity in Saudi Arabia is mainly dependent on fossil fuels, which are a major problem as they deplete natural resources and increase CO₂ emissions. In this research work, performance and techno-economic analyzes are conducted to evaluate a microgrid system based on hybrid PV/wind diesel power sources as a stand-alone system for rural electrification in Saudi Arabia. The total power flow, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) efficiency, effectiveness of the proposed control strategy, and total harmonic distortion (THD) are analyzed in MATLAB/Simulink environment. Various simulation studies have been carried out under different irradiation conditions. The sizing, optimization, and economic feasibility analysis were performed using Homer energy software.

Keywords: WIND, solar, microgrid, energy

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Authors: Md. Aminul Islam, Adel Merabet, Rachid Beguenane, Hussein Ibrahim

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This paper presents a simulation and mathematical model of stand-alone solar-wind-diesel based hybrid energy system (HES). A power management system is designed for multiple energy resources in a stand-alone hybrid energy system. Both Solar photovoltaic and wind energy conversion system consists of maximum power point tracking (MPPT), voltage regulation, and basic power electronic interfaces. An additional diesel generator is included to support and improve the reliability of stand-alone system when renewable energy sources are not available. A power management strategy is introduced to distribute the generated power among resistive load banks. The frequency regulation is developed with conventional phase locked loop (PLL) system. The power management algorithm was applied in Matlab®/Simulink® to simulate the results.

Keywords: solar photovoltaic, wind energy, diesel engine, hybrid energy system, power management, frequency and voltage regulation

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Authors: Shashi Kant Verma, S. L. Sinha, D. K. Chandraker

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Numerical simulations of selected subchannel tracer (Potassium Nitrate) based experiments have been performed to study the capabilities of state-of-the-art of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) codes. The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methodology can be useful for investigating the spacer effect on turbulent mixing to predict turbulent flow behavior such as Dimensionless mixing scalar distributions, radial velocity and vortices in the nuclear fuel assembly. A Gibson and Launder (GL) Reynolds stress model (RSM) has been selected as the primary turbulence model to be applied for the simulation case as it has been previously found reasonably accurate to predict flows inside rod bundles. As a comparison, the case is also simulated using a standard k-ε turbulence model that is widely used in industry. Despite being an isotropic turbulence model, it has also been used in the modeling of flow in rod bundles and to produce lateral velocities after thorough mixing of coolant fairly. Both these models have been solved numerically to find out fully developed isothermal turbulent flow in a 30º segment of a 54-rod bundle. Numerical simulation has been carried out for the study of natural mixing of a Tracer (Passive scalar) to characterize the growth of turbulent diffusion in an injected sub-channel and, afterwards on, cross-mixing between adjacent sub-channels. The mixing with water has been numerically studied by means of steady state CFD simulations with the commercial code STAR-CCM+. Flow enters into the computational domain through the mass inflow at the three subchannel faces. Turbulence intensity and hydraulic diameter of 1% and 5.9 mm respectively were used for the inlet. A passive scalar (Potassium nitrate) is injected through the mass fraction of 5.536 PPM at subchannel 2 (Upstream of the mixing section). Flow exited the domain through the pressure outlet boundary (0 Pa), and the reference pressure was 1 atm. Simulation results have been extracted at different locations of the mixing zone and downstream zone. The local mass fraction shows uniform mixing. The effect of the applied turbulence model is nearly negligible just before the outlet plane because the distributions look like almost identical and the flow is fully developed. On the other hand, quantitatively the dimensionless mixing scalar distributions change noticeably, which is visible in the different scale of the colour bars.

Keywords: single-phase flow, turbulent mixing, tracer, sub channel analysis

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Authors: Dimitriu Corneliu-Ioan, Gheorghe FrațIlă

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Romania has one of the highest rates of road deaths among European Union Member States, and there is a concern that the country will not meet its goal of "zero deaths" by 2050. The European Union also aims to halve the number of people seriously injured in road accidents by 2030. Therefore, there is a need to improve road infrastructure safety management in Romania. The aim of this study is to analyze road accident data through statistical methods to assess the current state of road infrastructure safety in Bucharest. The study also aims to identify trends and make forecasts regarding serious road accidents and their consequences. The objective is to provide insights that can help prioritize measures to increase road safety, particularly in urban areas. The research utilizes statistical analysis methods, including exploratory analysis and descriptive statistics. Databases from the Traffic Police and the Romanian Road Authority are analyzed using Excel. Road risks are compared with the main causes of road accidents to identify correlations. The study emphasizes the need for better quality and more diverse collection of road accident data for effective analysis in the field of road infrastructure engineering. The research findings highlight the importance of prioritizing measures to improve road safety in urban areas, where serious accidents and their consequences are more frequent. There is a correlation between the measures ordered by road safety auditors and the main causes of serious accidents in Bucharest. The study also reveals the significant social costs of road accidents, amounting to approximately 3% of GDP, emphasizing the need for collaboration between local and central administrations in allocating resources for road safety. This research contributes to a clearer understanding of the current road infrastructure safety situation in Romania. The findings provide critical insights that can aid decision-makers in allocating resources efficiently and institutionally cooperating to achieve sustainable road safety. The data used for this study are collected from the Traffic Police and the Romanian Road Authority. The data processing involves exploratory analysis and descriptive statistics using the Excel tool. The analysis allows for a better understanding of the factors contributing to the current road safety situation and helps inform managerial decisions to eliminate or reduce road risks. The study addresses the state of road infrastructure safety in Bucharest and analyzes the trends and forecasts regarding serious road accidents and their consequences. It studies the correlation between road safety measures and the main causes of serious accidents. To improve road safety, cooperation between local and central administrations towards joint financial efforts is important. This research highlights the need for statistical data processing methods to substantiate managerial decisions in road infrastructure management. It emphasizes the importance of improving the quality and diversity of road accident data collection. The research findings provide a critical perspective on the current road safety situation in Romania and offer insights to identify appropriate solutions to reduce the number of serious road accidents in the future.

Keywords: road death rate, strategic objective, serious road accidents, road safety, statistical analysis

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Authors: Mahdi Shamsi, Tohid Yousefi Rezaii, Siavash Eftekharifar

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Compressed sensing (CS) is a new powerful mathematical theory concentrating on sparse signals which is widely used in signal processing. The main idea is to sense sparse signals by far fewer measurements than the Nyquist sampling rate, but the reconstruction process becomes nonlinear and more complicated. Common dilemma in sparse signal recovery in CS is the lack of knowledge about sparsity order of the signal, which can be viewed as model order selection procedure. In this paper, we address the problem of sparsity order estimation in sparse signal recovery. This is of main interest in situations where the signal sparsity is unknown or the signal to be recovered is approximately sparse. It is shown that the proposed method also leads to some kind of signal denoising, where the observations are contaminated with noise. Finally, the performance of the proposed approach is evaluated in different scenarios and compared to an existing method, which shows the effectiveness of the proposed method in terms of order selection as well as denoising.

Keywords: compressed sensing, data denoising, model order selection, sparse representation

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Authors: Shweta Shriwas, Sumeet Dwivedi

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Knowledge of use of traditional medicine is as old as human civilization in almost every system of medicine. Traditional practitioner viz., vaidhayas, ojha, hakim have their own herbal therapy in the treatment of infertility among women’s. Infertility is very common in developed and developing countries due to busy life style of women’s. The present study was initiated with an aim to identify medicinal plants resources from traditional practitioners of Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh to treat infertility. An ethnomedicinal study of Malwa region viz., Indore, Dewas, Ratlam, Ujjain, Dhar, Mandsour and Neemuch of Madhya Pradesh, India comprising fifty-seven study site was conducted during Jan-217 to June-2017. During the course of present investigation, the traditional use of medicinal plants for infertility in women was revealed by traditional practitioner. The botanical name, family, local name, part used, habit along with mode of their administration and dose duration were enumerated.

Keywords: herbal medicine, infertility, traditional, Malwa, Madhya Pradesh

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Authors: Asma Bettahar, Imed Eldine Nezli, Sameh Habes

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Groundwater resources in the Oued Righ valley are represented like the parts of the eastern basin of the Algerian Sahara, superposed by two major aquifers: the Intercalary Continental (IC) and the Terminal Complex (TC). From a qualitative point of view, various studies have highlighted that the waters of this region showed excessive mineralization, including the waters of the terminal complex (EC Avg equal 5854.61 S/cm). The present article is a statistical approach by two multi methods various complementary (ACP CAH), applied to the analytical data of multilayered aquifer waters Terminal Complex of the Oued Righ valley. The approach is to establish a correlation between the chemical composition of water and the lithological nature of different aquifer levels formations, and predict possible connection between groundwater’s layers. The results show that the mineralization of water is from geological origin. They concern the composition of the layers that make up the complex terminal.

Keywords: oued righ, complex terminal, infill continental, mineralization

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Authors: Vaisnavy Govindasamy, Saba Ishrat

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Introduction: The Dexamethasone Intravitreal Implant 0.7 mg (OzurdexTM, Allergan®) is a biodegradable corticosteroid implant approved by the FDA for managing diabetic macular edema (DMO), macular edema following branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) or central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), and posterior segment non-infectious uveitis. This implant can release dexamethasone over a six-month period, exhibiting peak effectiveness between 60 and 90 days post-administration. The intravitreal injection should be performed under sterile conditions. At James Cook University Hospital (JCUH), Ozurdex injections are currently administered in the Vitreo-Retinal (VR) theatre. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and potential advantages of establishing a dedicated clinic for Ozurdex administration separate from the VR theatre setting. Method: Retrospectively, data of all Ozurdex injections administered between October 2021 to October 2022 was collected from operating theatre registers at JCUH. Data pertaining to the indications for Ozurdex; waiting times from referral date to date of injection; duration of theatre time consumed; and post-injection complications were collected from electronic notes. The resources needed to establish a dedicated Ozurdex clinic were evaluated. Over a six-month period from October 2023 to March 2024, we gathered data on utilization of theatre 28. Results: A total of 135 Ozurdex injections were administered. Among the indications, uveitis represented 47.3% of cases, DMO with 23.6% and RVO with 22.9%. Remaining cases lacked sufficient data. Each Ozurdex injection procedure consumed 15 minutes in the VR theatre list. Complications arose in 5% of injections, totaling 7 cases. These included glaucoma, ocular hypertension, subconjunctival haemorrhage and implant migration. Waiting times averaged 6 weeks from date for referral to procedure date. We also found that, on an average theatre 28 was offered but remained unused for 4 days, totalling eight sessions in a month. Analysis: Establishing a sperate Ozurdex clinic would improve the quality of patient care in following ways: 1.Decrease injection waiting times (currently averaging 6 weeks), leading to better visual outcomes. 2.Free up approximately three hours of theatre time in Vitreo-Retina theatres each month, allowing for 3-4 additional surgeries. Reduce waiting times for critical retinal surgeries and enhance visual outcomes. 3.Provide additional training opportunities for trainees and retina fellows, improving their skills. 4.Optimize the use of empty theatre slots (theatre 28) currently experiencing underutilization of resources. Conclusion: These findings support the implementation of a separate clinic for administering Ozurdex injections at JCUH. It is evident that introducing a dedicated clinic will enhance operational efficiency, optimise resource utilsation, and improve overall quality of care for patients undergoing this treatment.

Keywords: opthalmology, ozurdex, efficiency, complication

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Authors: Arvind Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Dattatraya H. Nagaraj, Amanpreet Singh, Jayanthi Prattapati

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In recent years, the use of renewable energy resources instead of pollutant fossil fuels and other forms has increased. Photovoltaic generation is becoming increasingly important as a renewable resource since it does not cause in fuel costs, pollution, maintenance, and emitting noise compared with other alternatives used in power applications. In this paper, Perturb and Observe and Incremental Conductance methods are used to improve energy conversion efficiency under different environmental conditions. PI controllers are used to control easily DC-link voltage, active and reactive currents. The whole system is simulated under standard climatic conditions (1000 W/m2, 250C) in MATLAB and the irradiance is varied from 1000 W/m2 to 300 W/m2. The use of PI controller makes it easy to directly control the power of the grid connected PV system. Finally the validity of the system will be verified through the simulations in MATLAB/Simulink environment.

Keywords: incremental conductance algorithm, modeling of PV panel, perturb and observe algorithm, photovoltaic system and simulation results

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Authors: Yumeng He

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The purpose of this paper is to establish the “extenics” of children music education, the “extenics” thought and methods are introduced into the children music education field. Discussions are made from the perspective of children music education on how to generate new music cognitive from music cognitive, how to generate new music education from music education and how to generate music learning from music learning. The research methods including the extensibility of music art, extensibility of music education, extensibility of music capability and extensibility of music learning. Results of this study indicate that the thought and research methods of children’s extended music education not only have developed the “extenics” concept and ideological methods, meanwhile, the brand-new thought and innovative research perspective have been employed in discussing the children music education. As indicated in research, the children’s extended music education has extended the horizon of children music education, and has endowed the children music education field with a new thought and research method.

Keywords: comprehensive evaluations, extension thought, extension cognition music education, extensibility

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Authors: Pat Nelson

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Since the release of the 21^st century policing report in the United States, the techniques of de-escalation have received a lot of attention and focus in political systems, policy changes, and the media. The challenge in professional peace officer education is that there is a vast range of defining de-escalation and understanding the various techniques involved, many of which are based on popular media. This research surveyed professional peace officer education university students on their definition of de-escalation and the techniques associated with de-escalation before specific communications coursework was completed. The students were then surveyed after the communication coursework was completed to determine the changes in defining and understanding de-escalation techniques. This research has found that clearly defining de-escalation and emphasizing the broad range of techniques available enhances the students’ understanding and application of proper de-escalation. This research demonstrates the need for professional peace officer education to move students from media concepts of law enforcement to theoretical concepts.

Keywords: criminal justice education, communication theory, de-escalation, peace officer communication

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Authors: Odile Amoncou, Djedje-Kossu Zahui

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The integration of a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) approach within a company appears nowadays as a fundamental system of response to the different problems that threaten our planet. The abusive exploitation of natural resources, social inequalities, discrimination and poverty are some examples. Thus, faced with these different global problems, each company must include in its operating system measures or actions with the aim not only of achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but also for the improvement of its performance and its brand internationally. The objective of this article is to assess the implementation of CSR by telecommunication companies. It is our belief that given its high energy consumption and proximity to society, the telecom sector must pay particular attention to environmental and social issues. Our study examines the CSR of three Ivorian telecom operators, namely ORANGE CI, MOOV Africa and MTN, by applying a series of performance indicators related to CSR management. We hope that our study will raise awareness about sustainability issues for all other Ivorian companies but also sub-Sahara African companies in general in order to encourage CEOs to make CSR concept a top priority.

Keywords: CSR, telecom, SDGs, cote d’Ivoire

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Authors: Gerard Lawrence

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This paper gives an in-depth discussion on Motivation in the Malaysian Armed Forces; highlighting it as a powerful and important tool upon which the well-being of an entire (or any) organization rests. It starts with the literal definition of the word and then the psychological aspects of it detailing the intricate mechanics and fundamentals in order to accurately and systematically harness it to create a motivated workforce. It then describes the types of motivation; positive and negative, its many facets and manifestation, clearly identifying each one point by point as well as drawing examples. The paper also deals with certain controversial practices like favoritism; nepotism and provides examples of military motivation both in historic and contemporary context. It strips the current system (and its flaws) to build, nurture and maintain motivation in the future. It shows how “past practice” may not necessarily be “best practice”, by providing the building blocks necessary to move forward and cautions on the inter-relation and differences between morale and motivation. As a conclusion the paper coins a theory of working in shifts for the military and urges careful research and planning as to IF this can raise if not maintain motivation in the new era.

Keywords: armed forces, Malaysia, motivation, military psychology

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Authors: Begona del Pino, Beatriz Prieto, Alberto Prieto

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Two opposite approaches to teaching can be considered: in-class learning (teacher-oriented) versus virtual learning (student-oriented). The most known example of the latter is Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs). Both methodologies have pros and cons. Nowadays there is an increasing trend towards combining both of them. Blending learning is considered a valuable tool for improving learning since it combines student-centred interactive e-learning and face to face instruction. The aim of this contribution is to exchange and share the experience and research results of a blended-learning project that took place in the University of Granada (Spain). The research objective was to prove how combining didactic resources of a MOOC with in-class teaching, interacting directly with students, can substantially improve academic results, as well as student acceptance. The proposed methodology is based on the use of flipped learning technics applied to the subject ‘Fundamentals of Computer Science’ of the first course of two degrees: Telecommunications Engineering, and Industrial Electronics. In this proposal, students acquire the theoretical knowledges at home through a MOOC platform, where they watch video-lectures, do self-evaluation tests, and use other academic multimedia online resources. Afterwards, they have to attend to in-class teaching where they do other activities in order to interact with teachers and the rest of students (discussing of the videos, solving of doubts and practical exercises, etc.), trying to overcome the disadvantages of self-regulated learning. The results are obtained through the grades of the students and their assessment of the blended experience, based on an opinion survey conducted at the end of the course. The major findings of the study are the following: The percentage of students passing the subject has grown from 53% (average from 2011 to 2014 using traditional learning methodology) to 76% (average from 2015 to 2018 using blended methodology). The average grade has improved from 5.20±1.99 to 6.38±1.66. The results of the opinion survey indicate that most students preferred blended methodology to traditional approaches, and positively valued both courses. In fact, 69% of students felt ‘quite’ or ‘very’ satisfied with the classroom activities; 65% of students preferred the flipped classroom methodology to traditional in-class lectures, and finally, 79% said they were ‘quite’ or ‘very’ satisfied with the course in general. The main conclusions of the experience are the improvement in academic results, as well as the highly satisfactory assessments obtained in the opinion surveys. The results confirm the huge potential of combining MOOCs in formal undergraduate studies with on-campus learning activities. Nevertheless, the results in terms of students’ participation and follow-up have a wide margin for improvement. The method is highly demanding for both students and teachers. As a recommendation, students must perform the assigned tasks with perseverance, every week, in order to take advantage of the face-to-face classes. This perseverance is precisely what needs to be promoted among students because it clearly brings about an improvement in learning.

Keywords: blended learning, educational paradigm, flipped classroom, flipped learning technologies, lessons learned, massive online open course, MOOC, teacher roles through technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 180