Search results for: health system reconstruction

Authors: Robert Rorie, Lisa Fern

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The integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS) poses a variety of technical challenges to UAS developers and aviation regulators. In response to growing demand for access to civil airspace in the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has produced a roadmap identifying key areas requiring further research and development. One such technical challenge is the development of a ‘detect and avoid’ system (DAA; previously referred to as ‘sense and avoid’) to replace the ‘see and avoid’ requirement in manned aviation. The purpose of the DAA system is to support the pilot, situated at a ground control station (GCS) rather than in the cockpit of the aircraft, in maintaining ‘well clear’ of nearby aircraft through the use of GCS displays and alerts. In addition to its primary function of aiding the pilot in maintaining well clear, the DAA system must also safely interoperate with existing NAS systems and operations, such as the airspace management procedures of air traffic controllers (ATC) and collision avoidance (CA) systems currently in use by manned aircraft, namely the Traffic alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) II. It is anticipated that many UAS architectures will integrate both a DAA system and a TCAS II. It is therefore necessary to explicitly study the integration of DAA and TCAS II alerting structures and maneuver guidance formats to ensure that pilots understand the appropriate type and urgency of their response to the various alerts. This paper presents a concept of interoperability for the two systems. The concept was developed with the goal of avoiding any negative impact on the performance level of TCAS II (understanding that TCAS II must largely be left as-is) while retaining a DAA system that still effectively enables pilots to maintain well clear, and, as a result, successfully reduces the frequency of collision hazards. The interoperability concept described in the paper focuses primarily on facilitating the transition from a late-stage DAA encounter (where a loss of well clear is imminent) to a TCAS II corrective Resolution Advisory (RA), which requires pilot compliance with the directive RA guidance (e.g., climb, descend) within five seconds of its issuance. The interoperability concept was presented to 10 participants (6 active UAS pilots and 4 active commercial pilots) in a medium-fidelity, human-in-the-loop simulation designed to stress different aspects of the DAA and TCAS II systems. Pilot response times, compliance rates and subjective assessments were recorded. Results indicated that pilots exhibited comprehension of, and appropriate prioritization within, the DAA-TCAS II combined alert structure. Pilots demonstrated a high rate of compliance with TCAS II RAs and were also seen to respond to corrective RAs within the five second requirement established for manned aircraft. The DAA system presented under test was also shown to be effective in supporting pilots’ ability to maintain well clear in the overwhelming majority of cases in which pilots had sufficient time to respond. The paper ends with a discussion of next steps for research on integrating UAS into civil airspace.

Keywords: detect and avoid, interoperability, traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS II), unmanned aircraft systems

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Authors: Nguyen Xuan Thuy

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The provisions on life imprisonment in the legal system enable to differentiate criminal liability and individualize the penalties for particularly serious crimes. This punishment acts as an intermediary between the determined imprisonment of a maximum of 20 years and the capital punishment, enabling the penalty system to maintain its internal unity. However, the practice of applying the punishment has been posing many problems that need to be studied in order to come up with solutions to improve the provisions related to the penalty and its effectiveness in the fight against crimes. The article summarizes the law on life imprisonment sentence in the current criminal law to highlight its characteristics and role in Vietnam's Penal Code. It also suggests some solutions to improve the law and its effectiveness in preventing and combating crimes.

Keywords: life imprisonment, Vietnam, law, penalty, provisions

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Authors: Carolina Gouveia, José Vieira, Pedro Pinho

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The cardiopulmonary signal monitoring, without the usage of contact electrodes or any type of in-body sensors, has several applications such as sleeping monitoring and continuous monitoring of vital signals in bedridden patients. This system has also applications in the vehicular environment to monitor the driver, in order to avoid any possible accident in case of cardiac failure. Thus, the bio-radar system proposed in this paper, can measure vital signals accurately by using the Doppler effect principle that relates the received signal properties with the distance change between the radar antennas and the person’s chest-wall. Once the bio-radar aim is to monitor subjects in real-time and during long periods of time, it is impossible to guarantee the patient immobilization, hence their random motion will interfere in the acquired signals. In this paper, a mathematical model of the bio-radar is presented, as well as its simulation in MATLAB. The used algorithm for breath rate extraction is explained and a method for DC offsets removal based in a motion detection system is proposed. Furthermore, experimental tests were conducted with a view to prove that the unavoidable random motion can be used to estimate the DC offsets accurately and thus remove them successfully.

Keywords: bio-signals, DC component, Doppler effect, ellipse fitting, radar, SDR

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Authors: Arefeh Hesaraki

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The application of photovoltaic-thermal hybrids (PVT), which delivers both electricity and heat simultaneously from the same system, has become more popular during the past few years. This study addresses techno-economic and environmental impacts assessment of photovoltaic/thermal systems combined with a ground-source heat pump (GSHP) for three single-family houses located in Stockholm, Sweden. Three case studies were: (1) A renovated building built in 1936, (2) A renovated building built in 1973, and (3) A new building built-in 2013. Two simulation programs of SimaPro 9.1 and IDA Indoor Climate and Energy 4.8 (IDA ICE) were applied to analyze environmental impacts and energy usage, respectively. The cost-effectiveness of the system was evaluated using net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and discounted payback time (DPBT) methods. In addition to cost payback time, the studied PVT system was evaluated using the energy payback time (EPBT) method. EPBT presents the time that is needed for the installed system to generate the same amount of energy which was utilized during the whole lifecycle (fabrication, installation, transportation, and end-of-life) of the system itself. Energy calculation by IDA ICE showed that a 5 m² PVT was sufficient to create a balance between the maximum heat production and the domestic hot water consumption during the summer months for all three case studies. The techno-economic analysis revealed that combining a 5 m² PVT with GSHP in the second case study possess the smallest DPBT and the highest NPV and IRR among the three case studies. It means that DPBTs (IRR) were 10.8 years (6%), 12.6 years (4%), and 13.8 years (3%) for the second, first, and the third case study, respectively. Moreover, environmental assessment of embodied energy during cradle- to- grave life cycle of the studied PVT, including fabrication, delivery of energy and raw materials, manufacture process, installation, transportation, operation phase, and end of life, revealed approximately two years of EPBT in all cases.

Keywords: life-cycle cost, life-cycle assessment, photovoltaic/thermal, IDA ICE, net present value

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Authors: Saroj Pandey

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COVID-19, declared by the World Health Organization a pandemic (WHO,2020), has created an unprecedented crisis world over endangering the human survival itself. Corona induced lockdowns forced approximately 140 million students of 190 countries at various levels of education from preprimary to higher education to remain confined to their homes. In India, approximately 360 million students were affected by the forced shut down of schools due to the countrywide lockdown in March 2020 and resultant disruption of education. After the initial shock and anxiety the Indian polity and education system bounced back with a number of initiatives, and online education came as a major rescuer for the education system of the country. The distance and online mode of learning that was treated as the poor cousin of conventional mode and often criticized for its quality became the major crusader overnight changing the entire ecosystem of traditional teaching -leaning towards the virtual mode. Teachers who were averse to technology were forced to remodel their educational pedagogies and reorient themselves overnight to use various online platforms such as Zoom, Google meet, and other such platforms to reach the learners. This metamorphosis through ensured students was meaningfully engaged in their studies during the lockdown period but it has its own set of challenges. This paper deals with the government initiatives, and teachers' self-efforts to keep the channel of teaching learning on providing academic and socio emotional support to students during the most difficult period of their life as well as the digital divide between the rich and poor, rural and urban, and boys and girls in India and resultant challenges. It also provides an overview of few significant self-initiatives of teachers to reach their students during the crisis period, who did not have internet and smartphone facilities as well as the initiatives being taken at the government level to address the learning needs and mitigate the learning gaps of learners, bridge the digital divide, strategic planning and upskilling of teachers to overcome the effect of COVID-19 crisis.

Keywords: COVID-19, online education, initiatives, challenges

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Authors: Bao Li, Aike Qiao, Gaoyang Li, Youjun Liu

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Background: Lumped parameter model (LPM) is a common numerical model for hemodynamic calculation. LPM uses circuit elements to simulate the human blood circulatory system. Physiological indicators and characteristics can be acquired through the model. However, due to the different physiological indicators of each individual, parameters in LPM should be personalized in order for convincing calculated results, which can reflect the individual physiological information. This study aimed to develop an automatic and effective optimization method to personalize the parameters in LPM of the blood circulatory system, which is of great significance to the numerical simulation of individual hemodynamics. Methods: A closed-loop LPM of the human blood circulatory system that is applicable for most persons were established based on the anatomical structures and physiological parameters. The patient-specific physiological data of 5 volunteers were non-invasively collected as personalized objectives of individual LPM. In this study, the blood pressure and flow rate of heart, brain, and limbs were the main concerns. The collected systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, cardiac output, and heart rate were set as objective data, and the waveforms of carotid artery flow and ankle pressure were set as objective waveforms. Aiming at the collected data and waveforms, sensitivity analysis of each parameter in LPM was conducted to determine the sensitive parameters that have an obvious influence on the objectives. Simulated annealing was adopted to iteratively optimize the sensitive parameters, and the objective function during optimization was the root mean square error between the collected waveforms and data and simulated waveforms and data. Each parameter in LPM was optimized 500 times. Results: In this study, the sensitive parameters in LPM were optimized according to the collected data of 5 individuals. Results show a slight error between collected and simulated data. The average relative root mean square error of all optimization objectives of 5 samples were 2.21%, 3.59%, 4.75%, 4.24%, and 3.56%, respectively. Conclusions: Slight error demonstrated good effects of optimization. The individual modeling algorithm developed in this study can effectively achieve the individualization of LPM for the blood circulatory system. LPM with individual parameters can output the individual physiological indicators after optimization, which are applicable for the numerical simulation of patient-specific hemodynamics.

Keywords: blood circulatory system, individual physiological indicators, lumped parameter model, optimization algorithm

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Authors: Bita Mashayekhi, Mohammad Ara

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The purpose of this study is to provide some empirical evidence about implementing Activity-Based Costing (ABC) in the hospitality industry in Iran. For this purpose, we consider the Tabriz International Hotel as our sample hotel and then gather the relevant data from its cost accounting system in 2012. Then, we use ABC as our costing method and compare the cost of each service unit with that cost which had been extracted for the traditional costing method. The results show a different cost per unit for two methods. Also, because of its more precise and detailed provided information, an ABC system facilitates the decision-making process for managers on decisions related to profitability analysis, budgeting, pricing, and so on.

Keywords: Activity-Based Costing (ABC), activity, cost driver, hospitality industry

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Authors: Atucungwiire Rwebiita

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Introduction: In Uganda, provision of adolescent sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services for key population is still hindered by negative attitudes, stigma and discrimination (S&D) at both the community and facility levels. To address this barrier, Integrated Community Based Initiatives (ICOBI) with support from SIDA is currently implementing a quality improvement (QI) innovative approach for strengthening the capacity of key population (KP) peer leaders and health workers to deliver friendly SRHR services without S&D. Methods: Our innovative approach involves continuous mentorship and coaching of 8 QI teams at 8 health facilities and their catchment areas. Each of the 8 teams (comprised of 5 health workers and 5 KP peer leaders) are facilitated twice a month by two QI Mentors in a 2-hour mentorship session over a period of 4 months. The QI mentors were provided a 2-weeks training on QI approaches for reducing S&D against young key populations in the delivery of SRHR Services. The mentorship sessions are guided by a manual where teams base to analyse root causes of S&D and develop key performance indicators (KPIs) in the 1st and 2nd second sessions respectively. The teams then develop action plans in the 3rd session and review implementation progress on KPIs at the end of subsequent sessions. The KPIs capture information on the attitude of health workers and peer leaders and the general service delivery setting as well as clients’ experience. A dashboard is developed to routinely track the KPIs for S&D across all the supported health facilities and catchment areas. After 4 months, QI teams share documented QI best practices and tested change packages on S&D in a learning and exchange session involving all the teams. Findings: The implementation of this approach is showing positive results. So far, QI teams have already identified the root causes of S&D against key populations including: poor information among health workers, fear of a perceived risk of infection, perceived links between HIV and disreputable behaviour. Others are perceptions that HIV & STIs are divine punishment, sex work and homosexuality are against religion and cultural values. They have also noted the perception that MSM are mentally sick and a danger to everyone. Eight QI teams have developed action plans to address the root causes of S&D. Conclusion: This approach is promising, offers a novel and scalable means to implement stigma-reduction interventions in facility and community settings.

Keywords: key populations, sexual reproductive health and rights, stigma and discrimination , quality improvement approach

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Authors: Madikeri Rohit

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As energy efficiency is the key concern in many aircraft manufacturing companies regenerative braking is a technique using which energy lost due to friction while braking can be regained. In the operation of an aircraft, significant energy is lost during deceleration or braking which occurs during its landing phase. This problem can be overcome using Regenerative Breaking System (RBS) in landing gear. The major problem faced is regarding the batteries and the overall efficiency gained in competence with the added weight. As the amount of energy required to store is huge we need batteries with high capacity for storage. Another obstacle by using high capacity batteries is the added weight which undermines the efficiency obtained using RBS. An approach to this problem is to either use the obtained energy immediately without storage or to store in other forms such as mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic. Problem faced with mechanical systems is the weight of the flywheel needed to obtain required efficiency. Pneumatic and hydraulic systems are a better option at present. Using hydraulic systems for storing energy is efficient as it integrates into the overall hydraulic system present in the aircraft. Another obstacle is faced with the redundancy of this system. Conventional braking must be used along with RBS in order to provide redundancy. Major benefits obtained using RBS is with the help of the energy obtained during landing which can be used of engine less taxing. This reduces fuel consumption as well as noise and air pollution. Another added benefit of using RBS is to provide electrical supply to lighting systems, cabin pressurization system and can be used for emergency power supply in case of electric failure. This paper discusses about using RBS in landing gear, problems, prospects and new techniques being pursued to improve RBS.

Keywords: regenerative braking, types of energy conversion, landing gear, energy storage

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Authors: Jennifer Buz, Alvin Spivey

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The most common greenhouse gas emitted through human activities, carbon dioxide (CO2), is naturally consumed by plants during photosynthesis. This process is actively being monetized by companies wishing to offset their carbon dioxide emissions. For example, companies are now able to purchase protections for vegetated land due-to-be clear cut or purchase barren land for reforestation. Therefore, by actively preventing the destruction/decay of plant matter or by introducing more plant matter (reforestation), a company can theoretically offset some of their emissions. One of the biggest issues in the carbon credit market is validating and verifying carbon offsets. There is a need for a system that can accurately and frequently ensure that the areas sold for carbon credits have the vegetation mass (and therefore for carbon offset capability) they claim. Traditional techniques for measuring vegetation mass and determining health are costly and require many person-hours. Orbital Sidekick offers an alternative approach that accurately quantifies carbon mass and assesses vegetation health through satellite hyperspectral imagery, a technique which enables us to remotely identify material composition (including plant species) and condition (e.g., health and growth stage). How much carbon a plant is capable of storing ultimately is tied to many factors, including material density (primarily species-dependent), plant size, and health (trees that are actively decaying are not effectively storing carbon). All of these factors are capable of being observed through satellite hyperspectral imagery. This abstract focuses on speciation. To build a species classification model, we matched pixels in our remote sensing imagery to plants on the ground for which we know the species. To accomplish this, we collaborated with the researchers at the Teakettle Experimental Forest. Our remote sensing data comes from our airborne “Kato” sensor, which flew over the study area and acquired hyperspectral imagery (400-2500 nm, 472 bands) at ~0.5 m/pixel resolution. Coverage of the entire teakettle experimental forest required capturing dozens of individual hyperspectral images. In order to combine these images into a mosaic, we accounted for potential variations of atmospheric conditions throughout the data collection. To do this, we ran an open source atmospheric correction routine called ISOFIT1 (Imaging Spectrometer Optiman FITting), which converted all of our remote sensing data from radiance to reflectance. A database of reflectance spectra for each of the tree species within the study area was acquired using the Teakettle stem map and the geo-referenced hyperspectral images. We found that a wide variety of machine learning classifiers were able to identify the species within our images with high (>95%) accuracy. For the most robust quantification of carbon mass and the best assessment of the health of a vegetated area, speciation is critical. Through the use of high resolution hyperspectral data, ground-truth databases, and complex analytical techniques, we are able to determine the species present within a pixel to a high degree of accuracy. These species identifications will feed directly into our carbon mass model.

Keywords: hyperspectral, satellite, carbon, imagery, python, machine learning, speciation

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Authors: Seon-Ho Yoon, Jin-Young Choi, Dong-Jun Won

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This paper presents hierarchical operation strategies which are minimizing operation error between day ahead operation plan and real time operation. Operating power systems between centralized and decentralized approaches can be represented as hierarchical control scheme, featured as primary control, secondary control and tertiary control. Primary control is known as local control, featuring fast response. Secondary control is referred to as microgrid Energy Management System (EMS). Tertiary control is responsible of coordinating the operations of multi-microgrids. In this paper, we formulated 3 stage microgrid operation strategies which are similar to hierarchical control scheme. First stage is to set a day ahead scheduled output power of Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) which is only controllable source in microgrid and it is optimized to minimize cost of exchanged power with main grid using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) method. Second stage is to control the active and reactive power of BESS to be operated in day ahead scheduled plan in case that State of Charge (SOC) error occurs between real time and scheduled plan. The third is rescheduling the system when the predicted error is over the limited value. The first stage can be compared with the secondary control in that it adjusts the active power. The second stage is comparable to the primary control in that it controls the error in local manner. The third stage is compared with the secondary control in that it manages power balancing. The proposed strategies will be applied to one of the buildings in Electronics and Telecommunication Research Institute (ETRI). The building microgrid is composed of Photovoltaic (PV) generation, BESS and load and it will be interconnected with the main grid. Main purpose of that is minimizing operation cost and to be operated in scheduled plan. Simulation results support validation of proposed strategies.

Keywords: Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), Energy Management System (EMS), Microgrid (MG), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO)

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Authors: Enjia Zhang

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During the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic, all communities in China were gated and under strict management, which was highly effective in preventing the spread of the epidemic from spreading. Based on the TRIZ theory, this paper intends to propose green design strategies of community control in response to public health emergencies and to optimize community control facilities according to the principle of minimum transformation. Through the questionnaire method, this paper investigates and summarizes the situation and problems of community control during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on these problems, the TRIZ theory is introduced to figure out the problems and associates them with prefabricated facilities. Afterward, the innovation points and solutions of prefabricated community control measures are proposed by using the contradiction matrix. This paper summarizes the current situation of community control under public health emergencies and concludes the problems such as simple forms of temporary roadblocks, sudden increase of community traffic pressure, and difficulties to access public spaces. The importance of entrance and exit control in community control is emphasized. Therefore, the community control measures are supposed to focus on traffic control, and the external access control measures, including motor vehicles, non-motor vehicles, residents and non-residents access control, and internal public space access control measures, including public space control shared with the society or adjacent communities, are proposed in order to make the community keep the open characteristics and have the flexibility to deal with sudden public health emergencies in the future.

Keywords: green design, community control, prefabricated structure, public health emergency

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Authors: Tahra ElObeid, Omnya Ahmed, Reem Al-Sharshani, Doaa Dalloul, Jannat Alnattei

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Background: Camelus dormedarius camels are also called ‘the Arabian camels’ and are present in the desert area of North Africa and the Middle East. Recently, camel’s milk has a great attention globally because of their proteins and peptides that have been reported to be beneficial for the health and in the management of many diseases. Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the antioxidant, antimicrobial activity and to evaluate the total phenolic content of camel’s milk proteins in Qatar. Methods: Fresh two camel’s milk samples from Omani breed and called Muhajer (camel’s milk A and B) were collected on the 1st of the December. Both samples were from the same location Al- Shahaniyah, Doha, Qatar, but from different local private farms and feeding system. Camel’s milk A and B were defatted by centrifugation and their proteins were extracted by acid and thermal precipitation. The antioxidant activity was determined by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. Total phenolic compound (TPC) was evaluated by Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (FCR). On the other hand, the antimicrobial activity against eight different type of pathogenic bacteria was evaluated by disc diffusion method and the zone of inhibition was measured. Results: The of the total phenolic content of whole milk in both camel’s milk A and B were significantly the highest among the protein extracts. The % of the DPPH radical inhibition of casein protein in both camel’s milk A and B were significantly the highest among the protein extracts. In this study, there were marked changes in the antibacterial activity in the different camel milk protein extracts. All extracts showed bacterial overgrowth. Conclusion: The antioxidant activity of the camel milk protein extracts correlated to their unique phenolic compounds and bioactive protein peptides. The antimicrobial activity was not detected perhaps due to the technique, the quality, or the extraction method. Overall, camel's milk exhibits a high antioxidant activity, which is responsible for many health benefits besides the nutritional values.

Keywords: camels milk, antioxidant content, antimicrobial activity, proteins, Qatar

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Authors: Mehrzad Mohabbi Yadollahi, Ramazan Demirboğa, Majid Atashafrazeh

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Geopolymers are highly complex materials which involve many variables which makes modeling its properties very difficult. There is no systematic approach in mix design for Geopolymers. Since the amounts of silica modulus, Na2O content, w/b ratios and curing time have a great influence on the compressive strength an ANFIS (Adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system) method has been established for predicting compressive strength of ground pumice based Geopolymers and the possibilities of ANFIS for predicting the compressive strength has been studied. Consequently, ANFIS can be used for geopolymer compressive strength prediction with acceptable accuracy.

Keywords: geopolymer, ANFIS, compressive strength, mix design

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Authors: F. Amirarfaei, K. Khorasani

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In this paper, reconfigurable consensus achievement of a team of agents with marginally stable linear dynamics and single input channel has been considered. The control algorithm is based on a first order linear protocol. After occurrence of a LOE fault in one of the actuators, using the imperfect information of the effectiveness of the actuators from fault detection and identification module, the control gain is redesigned in a way to still reach consensus. The idea is based on the modeling of change in effectiveness as change of Laplacian matrix. Then as special cases of this class of systems, a team of single integrators as well as double integrators are considered and their behavior subject to a LOE fault is considered. The well-known relative measurements consensus protocol is applied to a leaderless team of single integrator as well as double integrator systems, and Gersgorin disk theorem is employed to determine whether fault occurrence has an effect on system stability and team consensus achievement or not. The analyses show that loss of effectiveness fault in actuator(s) of integrator systems affects neither system stability nor consensus achievement.

Keywords: multi-agent system, actuator fault, stability analysis, consensus achievement

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Authors: Shane D. Inder, Mehrdad Khamooshi

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Efficient energy storage is a crucial factor in facilitating the uptake of renewable energy resources. Among the many options available for energy storage systems required to balance imbalanced supply and demand cycles, compressed air energy storage (CAES) is a proven technology in grid-scale applications. This paper reviews the current state of micro scale CAES technology and describes a micro-scale advanced adiabatic CAES (A-CAES) system, where heat generated during compression is stored for use in the discharge phase. It will also describe a thermodynamic model, developed in EES (Engineering Equation Solver) to evaluate the performance and critical parameters of the discharge phase of the proposed system. Three configurations are explained including: single turbine without preheater, two turbines with preheaters, and three turbines with preheaters. It is shown that the micro-scale A-CAES is highly dependent upon key parameters including; regulator pressure, air pressure and volume, thermal energy storage temperature and flow rate and the number of turbines. It was found that a micro-scale AA-CAES, when optimized with an appropriate configuration, could deliver energy input to output efficiency of up to 70%.

Keywords: CAES, adiabatic compressed air energy storage, expansion phase, micro generation, thermodynamic

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Authors: Efren Lopez Jimenez, Maria Isabel Cajero, J. Irving-Vasqueza

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The use and processing of digital images have opened up new opportunities for the resolution of problems of various kinds, such as the calculation of different vegetation indexes, among other things, differentiating healthy vegetation from humid vegetation. However, obtaining images from which these indexes are calculated is still the exclusive subject of active research. In the present work, we propose to obtain these images using a low cost embedded system (Raspberry Pi) and its processing, using a set of libraries of open code called OpenCV, in order to obtain the Normalized Red-Green Difference Index (NGRDI).

Keywords: Raspberry Pi, vegetation index, Normalized Red-Green Difference Index (NGRDI), OpenCV

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Authors: Bernice Boafoaa Gyapong, Anne Jones, Sam Bassett, Janet Anderson

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Background: Maternal mortality and morbidity are global concerns, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Most maternal mortalities occur at the time of birth. Quality intrapartum care is essential for improving maternal and newborn health outcomes. This scoping review aimed to assess and describe the quality of care during childbirth in SSA to provide an overview of the regional trend of the quality of intrapartum care, the challenges to quality care provision, and identify research gaps. Methods: A scoping review based on Arksey and O’Malley’s scoping review framework was conducted. Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and maternal-infant databases were searched to identify the relevant studies for this review. A narrative summary was presented using themes based on the Donabedian structure, process, and outcome quality of care model. Results: A total of five hundred and forty-seven (547) publications were identified. Fifty-six (56) studies conducted in twenty (20) countries were included in the review. Thirty-four (34) were quantitative, sixteen (16) were qualitative, and six (6) were mixed methods. Most of the studies were related to the process component of quality of care. The provision of emergency obstetric care services, infrastructure, and availability of essential staff and equipment for perinatal care was inadequate in many facilities, particularly rural and peripheral health facilities. Many women experienced disrespectful care during childbirth. Routine care during labour and delivery was observed to be sub-optimal, yet some women reported high satisfaction with care. The use of health facilities for delivery was lower in health centres compared to hospitals. Conclusion: There are variations in the quality of maternity care provided in SSA. Intrapartum care quality is generally deficient in SSA, particularly in peripheral health facilities, health centres, and community clinics. Many of the quality-of-care issues identified are related to the structure component. Stakeholders must develop interventions that comprehensively address these interrelated issues to improve maternal healthcare quality, especially in primary healthcare facilities.

Keywords: quality of care, maternity health, Sub-Saharan Africa, intrapartum

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Authors: Ren Zuo Wang

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In this paper, in order to investigate the joint behaviors of the Dieh-Dou structure. A pushover experiment of Dieh-Dou Jia-Dong is implemented. NDI, LVDT and image measurement system are used to measure displacements of joints and deformations of Dieh-Dou Jia-Dong. In addition, joint rotation-moment relationships of column restoring force, purlin-supporting, Dou-Shu, Dou-Gong brackets, primary beam-Gua Tong, secondary beam-Gua Tong, Tertiary beam are builied. From Jia-Dong experiments, formulations of joint rotation are proposed.

Keywords: pushover experiment, Dieh-Dou timber frame, image measurement system, joint rotation-moment relationships

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Authors: Behnam Mahdiyan Nasl

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In a lab-scale research, the effects of feeding whey into the biogas system and how to solve the probable problems arising were analysed. In the study a semi-continuous glass reactor, having a total capacity of 13 liters and having a working capacity of 10 liters, was placed in an incubator, and the temperature was tried to be held at 38 °C. At first, the reactor was operated by adding 5 liters of animal manure and water with a ratio of 1/1. By passing time, the production rate of the gas reduced intensively that on the fourth day there was no production of gas and the system stopped working. In this condition, the pH was adjusted and by adding NaOH, it was increased from 5.4 to 7. On 48th day, the first gas measurement was done and an amount of 12.07 % of CH₄ was detected. After making buffer in the ambient, the number of bacteria existing in the cattle’s manure and contributing to the gas production was thought to be not adequate, and up to 20 % of its volume 2 liters of mud was added to the reactor. 7 days after adding the anaerobic mud, second gas measurement was carried out, and biogas including 43 % CH₄ was obtained. From the 61st day of the study, the cheese whey with the animal manure was started to be added with an amount of 40 mL per day. However, by passing time, the raising of the microorganisms existed in the whey (especially Ni and Co), the percent of methane in the biogas decreased. In fact, 2 weeks after adding PAS, the gas measurement was done and 36,97 % CH₄ was detected. 0,06 mL Ni-Co (to gain a concentration of 0.05 mg/L in the reactor’s mixture) solution was added to the system for 15 days. To find out the effect of the solution on archaea, 7 days after stopping addition of the solution, methane gas was found to have a 9,03 % increase and reach 46 %. Lastly, the effects of adding molasses to the reactor were investigated. The effects of its activity on the bacteria was analysed by adding 4 grams of it to the system. After adding molasses in 10 days, according to the last measurement, the amount of methane gas reached up to 49%.

Keywords: biogas, cheese whey, cattle manure, energy

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Authors: Dinka Fikadu, Mulugeta Shegaze

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Background: Currently in health facility, provider-initiated human immunodeficiency virus testing is the key entry point to prevention, care, treatment and support services, but most people remains unaware of their HIV status due to various reasons. In many high-prevalence countries, fewer than one in ten people with HIV are aware of their HIV status. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, “acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, "has become one of the world’s most serious health and development challenges. Reaching individuals with HIV who do not know their serostatus is a global public health priority. Objective: To assess utilization of provider initiated HIV testing and counseling and associated factors among adult outpatient department patients. Methods: Health facility based cross sectional study was conducted among 392 adult outpatient department patients in Wonchi woreda from February 24 to March 24 /2013. The study participant was recruited patients from all adult outpatient department patients of all four public health facilities of wonchi woreda using systematic sampling. A structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used to elicit all important variables from the study participants and multiple logistic regression analysis was used. Result: A total of 371 adult outpatient department patients aged between 15 to 64 years were actively participated in the study and 291(78.4%) of them utilized provider initiated HIV testing and counseling and 80(21.6%) of them refused. Knowledge on HIV is low in the study population; majority of the participants didn’t have comprehensive knowledge (64.7%) and (35.3%) fail to reject misconception about means of HIV transmission and prevention. Utilization of provider-initiated HIV testing and counseling were associated with divorced/widowed marital status[AOR (95%CI) = 0.32(0.15, 0.69)], being male sex [AOR (95%CI) =1.81(1.01, 3.24)], having comprehensive knowledge on HIV [AOR (95%CI) =0.408(0.220,0.759)],having awareness about provider initiated HIV testing and counseling [AOR(95%CI) =2.89(1.48,5.66)] and receiving test on HIV before[AOR (95%CI)=4.15(2.30, 7.47)]. Conclusion: Utilization of provider initiated HIV testing and counseling among adult outpatient departments in wonchi woreda public health facility was [(78.4%)].Strengthening health information through mass media and peer education on HIV to address barrier to testing in the community such as low awareness on PITC, to increase up take of PITC among adult OPD patients.

Keywords: utilization, human immune deficiency, testing, provider, initiate

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Authors: Maria Corazon Tapang-Lopez, Alyn Joy Dela Cruz Baltazar, Bobby Jones Villanueva Domdom

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The requisite for an organization implementing quality management system to sustain its compliance to the requirements and commitment for continuous improvement is even higher. It is expected that the offices and units has high and consistent compliance to the established processes and procedures. The Development Academy of the Philippines has been operating under project management to which is has a quality management certification. To further realize its mandate as a think-tank and capacity builder of the government, DAP expanded its operation and started to grant graduate degree through its Graduate School of Public and Development Management (GSPDM). As the academic arm of the Academy, GSPDM offers graduate degree programs on public management and productivity & quality aligned to the institutional trusts. For a time, the documented procedures and processes of a project management seem to fit the Graduate School. However, there has been a significant growth in the operations of the GSPDM in terms of the graduate programs offered that directly increase the number of students. There is an apparent necessity to align the project management system into a more educational system otherwise it will no longer be responsive to the development that are taking place. The strongly advocate and encourage its students to pursue internal and external improvement to cope up with the challenges of providing quality service to their own clients and to our country. If innovation will not take roots in the grounds of GSPDM, then how will it serve the purpose of “walking the talk”? This research was conducted to assess the diverse flow of the existing internal operations and processes of the DAP’s project management and GSPDM’s school management that will serve as basis to develop a system that will harmonize into one, the Learning Management System. The study documented the existing process of GSPDM following the project management phases of conceptualization & development, negotiation & contracting, mobilization, implementation, and closure into different flow charts of the key activities. The primary source of information as respondents were the different groups involved into the delivery of graduate programs - the executive, learning management team and administrative support offices. The Learning Management System (LMS) shall capture the unique and critical processes of the GSPDM as a degree-granting unit of the Academy. The LMS is the harmonized project management and school management system that shall serve as the standard system and procedure for all the programs within the GSPDM. The unique processes cover the three important areas of school management – student, curriculum, and faculty. The required processes of these main areas such as enrolment, course syllabus development, and faculty evaluation were appropriately placed within the phases of the project management system. Further, the research shall identify critical reports and generate manageable documents and records to ensure accuracy, consistency and reliable information. The researchers had an in-depth review of the DAP-GSDPM’s mandate, analyze the various documents, and conducted series of focused group discussions. A comprehensive review on flow chart system prior and various models of school management systems were made. Subsequently, the final output of the research is a work instructions manual that will be presented to the Academy’s Quality Management Council and eventually an additional scope for ISO certification. The manual shall include documented forms, iterative flow charts and program Gantt chart that will have a parallel development of automated systems.

Keywords: productivity, quality, learning management system, agency-based graduate school

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Authors: Radwa El Shorbagy, Alaa El Din Balbaa, Khaled Ayad, Waleed Reda

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Introduction: Ankle sprain is a common lower limb injury that is complicated by high recurrence rate. The cause of recurrence is not clear; however, changes in motor control have been postulated. Objective: to determine the contribution of proximal hip strategy to dynamic postural control in patients with recurrent ankle sprain. Methods: Fifteen subjects with recurrent ankle sprain (group A) and fifteen healthy control subjects (group B) participated in this study. Abductor-adductors as well as flexor-extensor hip musculatures control was abolished by fatigue using the Biodex Isokinetic System. Dynamic postural control was measured before and after fatigue by the Biodex Balance System Results: Repeated measures MANOVA was used to compare between and within group differences, In group A fatiguing of hip muscles (flexors-extensors and abductors-adductors) increased overall stability index (OASI), anteroposterior stability index (APSI) and mediolateral stability index (MLSI) significantly (p= 0.00) whereas; in group B fatiguing of hip flexors-extensors increased significantly OASI and APSI only (p= 0.017, 0.010; respectively) while fatiguing of hip abductors-adductors has no significant effect on these variables. Moreover, patients with ankle sprain had significantly lower dynamic balance after hip muscles fatigue compared to the control group. Specifically, after hip flexor-extensor fatigue, the OASI, APSI and MLSI were increased significantly than those of the control values (p= 0.002, 0.011, and 0.003, respectively) whereas fatiguing of hip abductors-adductors increased significantly in OASI and APSI only (p=0.012, 0.026, respectively). Conclusion: To maintain dynamic balance, patients with recurrent ankle sprain seem to relay more on the hip strategy. This means that those patients depend on a top to down instead of down to top strategy clinical relevance: patients with recurrent ankle sprain less efficient in maintaining the dynamic postural control due to the change in motor strategies. Indicating that health care providers and rehabilitation specialists should treat CAI as a global/central and not just as a simple local or peripheral injury.

Keywords: ankle sprain, fatigue hip muscles, dynamic balance

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Authors: Azim Khodadadi, Sahar Sadaat Vakili, Ebrahim Babaei

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This study presents a numerical method to optimize the failure rate and repair time of a typical radial distribution system. Failure rate and repair time are effective parameters in customer and energy based indices of reliability. Decrease of these parameters improves reliability indices. Thus, system stability will be boost. The penalty functions indirectly reflect the cost of investment which spent to improve these indices. Constraints on customer and energy based indices, i.e. SAIFI, SAIDI, CAIDI and AENS have been considered by using a new method which reduces optimization algorithm controlling parameters. Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA) used as main optimization technique and particle swarm optimization (PSO), simulated annealing (SA) and differential evolution (DE) has been applied for further investigation. These algorithms have been implemented on a test system by MATLAB. Obtained results have been compared with each other. The optimized values of repair time and failure rate are much lower than current values which this achievement reduced investment cost and also ICA gives better answer than the other used algorithms.

Keywords: imperialist competitive algorithm, failure rate, repair time, radial distribution network

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Authors: Solomon Weldegebriel Gebrelibanos

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Water is one of the most important substances in human life that can give a human liberality with its cost and availability. Water comes from rainfall and runoff and reaches the ground as runoff that is stored in a river, ponds, and big water bodies, including sea and ocean and the remaining water portion is infiltrated into the ground to store in the aquifer. Water can serve human beings in various ways, including irrigation, water supply, hydropower and soon. Water supply is the main pillar of the water service to the human being. Water supply distribution in Addis Ababa arises from Legedadi, Akakai, and Gefersa. The objective of the study is to measure the performance of the water supply distribution in Addis Ababa city. The water supply distribution model is developed by computer-aided design software. The model can analyze the operational change, loss of water, and performance of the network. The two design criteria that have been employed to analyze the network system are velocity and pressure. The result shows that the customers are using the water at high pressure with low demand. The water distribution system is older than the expected service life with more leakage. Hence the study recommended that fixing Pressure valves and new distribution facilities can resolve the performance of the water supply system

Keywords: distribution, model, pressure, velocity

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Authors: Ljubica Milanović Glavan, Vesna Bosilj Vukšić, Dalia Suša

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In order to gain a competitive advantage, many companies are focusing on reorganization of their business processes and implementing process-based management. In this context, assessing process performance is essential because it enables individuals and groups to assess where they stand in comparison to their competitors. In this paper, it is argued that process performance measurement is a necessity for a modern process-oriented company and it should be supported by a holistic process performance measurement system. It seems very unlikely that a universal set of performance indicators can be applied successfully to all business processes. Thus, performance indicators must be process-specific and have to be derived from both the strategic enterprise-wide goals and the process goals. Based on the extensive literature review and interviews conducted in Croatian company a conceptual framework for process performance measurement system was developed. The main objective of such system is to help process managers by providing comprehensive and timely information on the performance of business processes. This information can be used to communicate goals and current performance of a business process directly to the process team, to improve resource allocation and process output regarding quantity and quality, to give early warning signals, to make a diagnosis of the weaknesses of a business process, to decide whether corrective actions are needed and to assess the impact of actions taken.

Keywords: Croatia, key performance indicators, performance measurement, process performance

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Authors: Jhonas Geraldo Peixoto Flauzino, Pedro Pompeo Boechat Araujo, Alexia Allis Rocha Lima, Giovanna Biângulo Lacerda Chaves, Victor Ryan Ferrão Chaves

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Schizophrenia is characterized as a set of psychiatric signs and symptoms (syndrome) that commonly erupt in the stages of adolescence or early adulthood, being recognized as one of the most serious diseases, as it causes important problems during the life of the patient. carrier - both in mental health and in physical health and in social life. Objectives: This is an integrative literature review that aimed to verify what has been produced of scientific knowledge in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry regarding schizophrenia in these stages of life, correlated to the most discussed themes and methodologies of choice for the preparation of studies. Methods: Articles were selected from the following databases: Virtual Health Library and CAPES Journal Portal, published in the last five years; and on Google Scholar, published in 2021, totaling 62 works, searched in September 2021. Results: The studies focus mainly on diagnosis through the DSM-V (25.8%), on drug treatment (25.8%) and in psychotherapy (24.2%), most of them in the literature review format: integrative (27.4%) and systematic (24.2%). Conclusion: The themes and study methods are redundant, and do not cover in depth the immense aspects that encompass Schizophrenia in Childhood and Adolescence, giving attention to the disease in a general way or focusing on the adult patient.

Keywords: schizophrenia, mental health, childhood, adolescence

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Authors: S. Potgieter-Vermaak, N. Bain, A. Brown, K. Shaw

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It is well-known from public news media that air pollution is a health hazard and is responsible for early deaths. The quantification of the relationship between air quality and health is a probing question not easily answered. It is known that airborne particulate matter (APM) <2.5µm deposits in the tracheal and alveoli zones and our research probes the possibility of quantifying pulmonary injury by linking reactive oxygen species (ROS) in these particles to DNA damage. Currently, APM mass concentration is linked to early deaths and limited studies probe the influence of other properties on human health. To predict the full extent and type of impact, particles need to be characterised for chemical composition and structure. APMs are routinely analysed for their bulk composition, but of late analysis on a micro level probing single particle character, using micro-analytical techniques, are considered. The latter, single particle analysis (SPA), permits one to obtain detailed information on chemical character from nano- to micron-sized particles. This paper aims to provide a snapshot of studies using data obtained from chemical characterisation and its link with in-vitro studies to inform on personal health risks. For this purpose, two studies will be compared, namely, the bioaccessibility of the inhalable fraction of urban road dust versus total suspended solids (TSP) collected in the same urban environment. The significant influence of metals such as Cu and Fe in TSP on DNA damage is illustrated. The speciation of Hg (determined by SPA) in different urban environments proved to dictate its bioaccessibility in artificial lung fluids rather than its concentration.

Keywords: air pollution, human health, in-vitro studies, particulate matter

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Authors: Mhd. Zakiul Fikri, M. Agus Maulidi

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Indonesia is a constitutional state. As the constitutional state, Indonesia is not only using a single legal system, but also adopting three legal systems consist of: The European continental legal system or positive law of Indonesia, adat law system, and legal system of religion. This study will discuss Marosok tradition in the process of buying and selling cattle in Payakumbuh: a comparative study between adat law and positive law of Indonesia. The objectives of this research are: First, to find the meaning of the philosophical of Marosok tradition in Payakumbuh. Second, to find the legal implications of the Marosok tradition reviewed aspects of adat law and positive law of Indonesia. Third, to find legal procedure in arbitrating the dispute wich is potentially appear in the post-process of buying and selling cattle based on positive law and adat law adopted in Indonesia. This research is empirical legal research that using two model approaches which are statute approach and conceptual approach. Data was obtained through interviews, observations, and documents or books. Then a method of data analysis used is inductive analysis. Finally, this study found that: First, tradition of Marosok contains the meaning of harmonization of social life that keep people from negative debate, envy, and arrogant. Second, Marosok tradition is one of the adat law in Indonesia; it is one of contract law in the process of buying and selling. If the comparison between the practice Marosok tradition as adat law with the provisions of Article 1320 book of civil code about the terms of the validity of a contract, the elements contained in the provisions of these regulations are met in practice Marosok. Thus, the practice of Marosok in buying and selling cattle process in Payakumbuh justified in view of the positive law of Indonesia. Last of all, all kinds of disputes arising due to contracts made by Marosok tradition can be resolved by positive law and adat law of Indonesia.

Keywords: Adat law, contract, Indonesia, Marosok

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Authors: Yasar N. Kavil, Yasser A. Shaban, Radwan K. Al Farawati, Mohamed I. Orif, Shahed U. M. Khanc

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Photocatalytic way of reduction of CO₂ in polluted seawater into chemical fuel, methanol, was successfully gained over Cu/C-co-doped TiO₂ nanoparticles under UV and natural sunlight. A homemade stirred batch annular reactor was used to carry out the photocatalytic reduction experiments. Photocatalysts with various Cu loadings (0, 0.5, 1, 3, 5 and 7 wt.%) were synthesized by the sol-gel procedure and were characterized by XRD, SEM, UV–Vis, FTIR, and XPS. The photocatalytic production of methanol was promoted by the co-doping with C and Cu into TiO₂. This improvement was attributed to the modification of bandgap energy and the hindrance of the charges recombination. The polluted seawater showing the yield depended on its background hydrographic parameters. We assessed two types of polluted seawater system, the observed yield was 2910 and 990 µmol g⁻¹ after 5 h of illumination under UV and natural sunlight respectively in system 1 and the corresponding yield in system 2 was 2250 and 910 µmol g⁻¹ after 5 h of illumination. The production of methanol in the case of oxygen-depleted water was low, this is mainly attributed to the competition of methanogenic bacteria over methanol production. The results indicated that the methanol yield produced by Cu-C/TiO₂ was much higher than those of carbon-modified titanium oxide (C/TiO₂) and Degussa (P25-TiO₂). Under the current experimental condition, the optimum loading was achieved by the doping of 3 wt % of Cu. The highest methanol yield was obtained over 1 g L-1 of 3wt% Cu/C-TiO₂.

Keywords: CO₂ photoreduction, copper, Cu/C-co-doped TiO₂, methanol, seawater

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